Chapter 19

 

"Lady, can you please just give me the room number for Angela Connors?"  Kevin was becoming very frustrated with the woman behind the front desk.

"For the last time sir, I'm not allowed to release that information to you."
 

 "Isn't there anything I can do to see her please?"

"Well, you can-  Wait a minute!  Aren't you from that new group the Backstreet Boys?"

"Yes, I am.  Why?"

"Well, my daughter loves you guys and if you give me your autograph, I'll give you the info.  Deal?"
 

 "Deal."  He signed the paper that the lady shoved toward him and she gave him the room number.  He then rolled his eyes at the lady and walked towards the elevator.

Orlando's Odyssey

"Do you think he found her yet?" Brian asked, his voice muffled by the table.
 

"I don't know Brian," Krista replied.  She hoped as much as Brian did that Kevin would find her soon; Brian almost sounded delirious.
 

Suddenly, Brian's head popped up.  "You know what?"  The look in his eyes startled Krista and Nick because it was the exact opposite of what they were two minutes ago.  "This isn't my fault.  She's overreacting."
   

Uh-oh, Nick thought.  "Bri, come on man..." he started.
    

"No," Brian interrupted.  "I say one thing and she just can't put it behind me.  I mean, this is a little ridiculous."
    

"This isn't good," Nick whispered to Krista.

At the hotel

 

"347.  This is it," Kevin thought to himself.  He knocked on the door and prayed for the best.
       

No answer.  So he knocked again.
     

On the other side of the door, Angela rolled over.  She thought she was hearing things.  But when Kevin knocked for a third time, she realized that somebody was really there.  She got up to get the door.
      

 The deadbolt clicked as she opened the door the little bit that the chain would let her.  Angela peered through the crack to see who interrupted her slumber.   "Kevin?" she asked uncertainly.
      

He smiled at her when he saw the happy look cross her face.  She flung open the door and gave him a huge hug.  "It's so good to see you again!  How did you find me?  And why are you here?"
       

"One thing at a time," he laughed.  "Let's go back in and we'll talk."  They went in and sat on the beds.

         

"Well, I found you by hunting in and out of stores until someone knew something.  I just happened to stumble across the pizza place and the kid there told me.  I then had to give an autograph to the lady at the desk for her daughter so she would give me your room number.  I'm here because Krista called me and told me what happened."  Kevin watched Angela's face darken.  "I'm sorry Angela.  But I had to come for him.  Hey, on the plus side, I get to see your beautiful face again."
    

 She blushed and laughed at him.  "Quite a story you have there."
     

"Anyway, Brian is pretty upset and he really wanted to hear from you."
     

"No.  Not now," she shook her head.  "I need some time to think."
        

"How long are you gonna be here for?" he wanted to know.
   

"Maybe overnight or a couple of days.  I really don't know."
 

"Alright," Kevin said.  "At least I know you're OK and I can go back and tell everyone that.  If you need anything, call me.  Here's my cell phone number.  It's always on."  He gave a paper with his number on it.
  

"Angela reached over and gave him a hug.  "Thanks Kev.  When all this blows over, we'll chill."
       

"That sounds good.  See you later," he replied and left.
         

Angela sat on her bed and thought for a moment.  She couldn't believe that they had actually sent someone out after her to make sure that she was alright.  I'm a big girl now, she thought.  But she was very happy to see Kevin again.  That made her feel a bit better.
     

But Brian... he was a different story.  She wanted to feel bad, but couldn't.  What he did to her really hurt.  It was just the whole principle of the thing.
            

She got up and went in the bathroom.  Unsure of whether she wanted to see herself, she hesitated to turn on the light.  She flickered it on anyway.  Her reflection wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.  Besides her bangs needing to be fixed, her hair was alright otherwise.  Her brown eyes were still somewhat blood shot from all the crying she had done.  And her cheeks were tearstreaked and flushed.
       

"Now what?" she thought.

Orlando's Odyssey

 

Kevin walked into the club to find Brian going off about something to Nick and Krista.  "Now what's going on?" he wondered.
  

 "What happened?  Where's Angela?" Krista asked, interrupting Brian.

"Well," he started as he sat down.  "It didn't take me too long to find her, it was getting her room number that was the problem."  And he proceeded to tell the story.
       

"In other words, she had no place to go, so she ran to a hotel," Brian concluded.
         

"And you know that she's not gonna want to talk to anybody.   She's good for keeping her problems to herself," Krista added.
         

"What are you gonna do about it?" Nick asked.
    

"Absolutely nothing," Brian said, standing up.  "We know she's fine and when she's ready to come home and apologize for overreacting, we'll take it from there."  He started to walk out.
         

Krista, Nick, and Kevin all followed him.  "I'll tell you this right now," Kevin said  "They're both never wrong."