What You Need - by Lyric

Felicity Fiction

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The question was quiet. Abe's eyes lifted heavenward, praying she was wrong. Turning, she looked at Nick. It was evident he remembered meeting her. She watched as fury took over his body. He was towering over her after only three strides.

"I know who you are and you're fired."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are!"

"I'm sorry Nick, but I'm not."

"Why the fuck not?"

"You can't fire me. It's in my contract."

"I don't fuckin' believe you!"

"She's telling you the truth Nick," stated Roger coming up behind him.

Nick whirled around to look at the older man. His chest was heaving as he began loosing control of his emotions. He looked back at her and she recoiled from the look of pain in his eyes. Shoving past her, he disappeared down the hall.

"Nick," called Roger.

"What's going on," asked Brian, coming out of the rehearsal hall.

"I've got him," stated Abe, as she took off.

"Now what's wrong," asked Brian in a weary tone.

"Something he and AB will have to work out," replied Roger, steering Brian back into the rehearsal room.

She caught up to him before he stepped outside. She was out of breath, so she made a grab for his arm, which he roughly yanked free and spun around with a fist pulled back. Abe's hands immediately went in front of her. She really wasn't sure if he would take a swing, but she wasn't taking chances.

Gasping for air. "Woah!"

"What the fuck do you want?"

"Don't leave like this. Give me a second to catch my breath," she replied, bending over.

"What's goin' on," asked Mike, rounding the corner.

"Nothin' man," answered Nick.

"Mike, can you give us a few," asked Abe.

He looked at Nick then disappeared. Glancing to her right, Abe saw the receptionist sitting with her mouth hanging open.

Abe said, "Excuse me. Is anyone in C right now?

"Thank you." Turning to Nick she whispered, "Please don't make us do it out here in the open."

He pushed past her for the second time in less than five minutes. She decided to take her own pace, instead of trying to keep up with his long strides. He was pacing in the back of Studio C, when she walked in. He reminded her of Raj, the tiger from the photo shoot. He had paced in his cage. She supposed that's what Nick's life felt like to him�a cage.

"I can't fuckin' believe I have to put up with this shit! I don't need a damn assistant. It's not like I asked for one. And YOU! Of all the people. You hate me. Well are you going to sit on your ass and not say anything?"

"I'm merely waiting for you to come up for air."

"God, you piss me off!"

"You just do! And I can't fuckin' fire you!"

"No you can't. Do you know why?"

"Because then you would just have to start all over again with a new one."

"Maybe not."

"Nick, I hate to tell you this, but there will always be another one. Actually, that's not true. The truth is you're stuck with me until the end of the tour."

"I can make you so miserable you'll leave."

"Not happening."

"I have two brothers. They made me tough. Face it Carter, you are stuck with me. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. The decision is yours. Either way I'm gong to start doing my job."

"What's that mean?"

"It means I will do whatever is necessary to get you where you need to be when you need to be there. I don�t want to ride your ass, but I will if you don't cooperate."

"God, you are a bitch!"

"I can be blondie, but you can also be a spoiled, obnoxious brat. But you know what?"

"I think there is so much more to you. You just have to get out of your way." "Yeah. Whatever. I'm going back."

Abe watched him leave. Laying her head down on the table, she rested her eyes for a moment.

"Well he said he left you alive."

"Hey Roger."

"So how'd it go?"

"It went, but don't worry I laid down the law. Told him I would do my job one way or the other."

"Are you sure you're up for it?"

"Yes. It's not going to be pretty, but everyone needs to stay out of it. Nick and I will work through this."

"Deal. I really need him to start working out."

"Can't that wait for a bit?"

"I suppose. Why?"

"I need to get him into the routine of getting to rehearsals on time. I will tackle that land-mind next."

"Understand. Let's head back now."

The next morning found Nick again dead to the world. He had been out with Mike until 4 am. She had the fun of waking up Mike before getting him.

"Nick, wake up."

"Nick, are we doing this the hard way?

"Hard," he mumbled turning over and burying his face in the pillows.

Without another word, she pulled back the cover and dumped ice on hiss back. With a gasp, he sat straight up in the bed. Sheets and everything fell from his body. She got an eyeful of his backside, before turning away.

Abe moved to the side of the bed and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Another rule for you to remember blondie, don't call me that again."

"Whatever."

"Are we clear," she asked, tightening her fingers.

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah. Geesh. Why'd ya have to dump ice on me?"

"I told you yesterday we could do this the easy way or the hard way. You chose hard."

Softening her grip on his chin, she said, "Look Nick. You know you have rehearsals. This is part of your job. You know what time you have to be there. It's time for you to start taking your job seriously."

"I do! Sort of," he said, a sheepish grin curving his lips.

"It's the sort of that is making both our lives hell."

"How is it making your life hell?"

"Because you don't do what is expected of you and I'm forced to be a bitch."

"I wish I could just be normal and not have anyone tell me what to do."

"Guess what Nick? You're normal. In that, everyone and I do mean everyone has someone telling them what to do. It�s a fact of life. As long as your alive there will always be someone somewhere who tells you what to do. Now come on blondie, lets get you to rehearsals on time today and shock the heck out of them."

"Um�AB, I can't."

"I can't get out of bed with you in here," he said and looked down.

She started to look down, but caught herself in time. "OH!"

Without another word, she left the room. Her cheeks were bright pink when she closed the door. Nick chuckled as he headed for the bathroom.

Abe sat in a breakroom at Jives� West Hollywood offices, working on her laptop. Backstreet was in a conference room down the hall meeting a potential opening act for the tour.

She was busy making lists of everything she and Nick would need for the tour. The last two weeks had passed without any major blowups causing her to be cautiously optimistic. He was even making it to rehearsals on time and with a minimum amount of grumbling.

She was so engrossed in what she was working on that she didn�t notice the laughter and conversation out in the hallway.

�I think this is it.�

�Good.�

�I wonder how long we�ll have to wait? Woah! Who�s tubby?�

�Angelica,� scolded one of the voices, in a whisper.

�What?�

�Rude much,� whispered someone else.

�Who cares,� giggled Angelica.

Abe froze only a second upon hearing the tubby remark. She forced her attention back to the screen in front of her. She never acknowledged anyone was in the room.

�Angelica, where are you going?�

�To make new friends,� stage whispered the girl.

With a flip of her long blonde hair, she walked over to Abe's table. Taking a sit, while the other girl continued to work and ignore her.

�Hello new friend.�

Abe glanced to her right and saw Angelica. �Hello.�

The girl offered a perfectly manicured hand and said, �I�m Angelica Rawlings.�

�I�m AB Cavett,� replied Abe, forcing herself to shake the hand offered.

�This is Vanessa Patterson and Gretchen Hopewell.�

�Nice to meet you,� replied Abe, smiling at the other two girls as they greeted her.

Angelica continued, �we�re Main Xpress, the opening act for Backstreet.�

Vanessa interjected, �we hope. Are you auditioning too?�

This caused Angelica to laugh. Abe ignored her and replied, �No.�

�Do you work for them,� asked Gretchen.

Angelica, quickly tiring of pulling answers for this person, sarcastically snapped, �So, are you one of their dancers.� Abe�s face reddened for a moment causing Angelica to giggle. �No. I�m Nick Carter�s assistant.�

�Oh you are my new friend! My new best friend,� exclaimed Angelica.

�Oh God Ang,� moaned Vanessa, dropping her head to the table, causing her dark curls to bounce.

�Girls it�s time.�

�Coming Malcolm,� answered Angelica. �We will talk later.�

�Great,� muttered Abe.

�Bye AB,� called Gretchen and Vanessa.

Covering her eyes, Abe shook her head. She was briefly transported back to high school, a time when girls used her to get to her older brother Andrew. He was two years older and like all the men in the Cavett family, he was a big, good looking, athletic guy. Andy, like their father, was all-state in football. The all girls liked him and some thought the shortest way to him was through his sister. After being hurt a few times, Abe got better at spotting the users. Unfortunately, it made her more guarded. She had to endure two years of pain before he graduated. She was just glad she was out of high school by the time her baby brother, Allen, got there.

Almost everyone in Abe�s family was tall and big. Except for Nana Cavett, Abe�s fraternal grandmother. Unfortunately, for Abe she was built like Nana, this meant she got all of Nana's roundness and none of the height.

Even Abe�s mother, Barbara, was 5�7�. Her mother was a size 16, but no one would ever call her fat. She carried her weight in a way that Abe envied. Abe�s weight was only mentioned occasionally at home. Mainly she just blended in.

Barbara was a wonderful cook. However, her meals were geared for the athletes in the house, which meant loads of carbs and protein. Actually just loads of food. She joked if it weren�t for Sunday dinners at her mother-in-law�s, her husband would have starved to death the first six months of marriage. It had taken Abe�s mom that long to learn how to fix enough for an ex-football player.

Abe was surprised at how easily the memories came back. How easily they were triggered. Angelica reminded her of girls in school, the ones who used her. If she was lucky, once someone realized she had no control over who her brother dated, they would drop her. There were others though who would be mean and make fun of her. It was an odd situation, because she was liked by most people she met. Nevertheless, she also had those who were petty at one extreme, then at the other extreme were the football players. They knew her as Cavett's little sister and treated her like a mascot, which is why she fell so easily into the role when she began working on crews.

She had a few real friends. The closest was Michele Tabor. The girls met in English class the first day of freshman year. Chely was so quiet. She once told Abe she had seen her early in the day with the quarterback of the football team. Abe was so relaxed talking to the "big" senior and She longed to be like her. Abe explained she was just relaxed, because she knew him and he was always nice to her. She also made a point of introducing Chely to all the football players the next day. Abe smiled at the memory.

Looking at her watch, she decided to close up her computer and see if the meeting was about to wrap up, because Nick had to be at a radio station in just over an hour. Getting him to the interview on time was the real reason she was hanging out. It had become apparent that the best way to get him somewhere was for her to be present. As she reminded him almost daily, it was her job.

She headed for the conference room and passed Main Xpress on their way out.

"Hi AB," greeted Vanessa.

"Hello. How did it go?"

Gretchen was hopping along as she said, "we're going on tour with you guys!"

"Congratulations."

"Oh AB! We are going have a marvelous time. You just wait and see," gushed Angelica as she wrapped an arm around Abe's shoulders.

"Well I suppose I will be seeing you in a few weeks," replied Abe.

"Yes you will."

"Come on girls!"

"Coming Malcolm," they replied in unison as they waved goodbye to Abe.

Abe muttered, "please don't let it be like high school."

"What was that about high school?"

Abe spun around to see Kevin looking at her. He still made her nervous. "Oh nothing. Thinking out loud about something."

"Well, catch you later."

Mike opened the door to Nick's suite to find Abe standing with bags in hand. Moving aside, he let her in. Nick was sitting on the couch. Both guys watched her drop her bags in a corner of the room.

"What did I forget," asked Nick.

"Nothing. You just have a extra person for the night."

Turning to face him, she said, "me."

Nick and Mike exchanges glances.

Abe continued, "You have to be on a plane at 8:12 in the morning, which means we leave here at 6:00."

"So the only way I know to get you there is to spend the night with you."

Mike chuckled and Nick's face flushed.

"I don't need you to fuckin' babysit me. Anyway, we�re going out," he informed her as he got up and headed for the bedroom. "Mike get ready."

"Mike, where are we going tonight," asked she, after he disappeared into the other room.

"The Viper Room."

"Are you really going with us?"

"Yes I am. It's my butt if he's not on that plane. Do me a favor and pack before we leave."

"Okay," replied a puzzled Mike, disappearing into his room.

Abe knocked on Nick's door.

"May I come in?"

"Yeah," he replied, flatly

"Can I help you pack?"

"Yes," she said, working to keep her cool. He made it seem like pulling teeth sometimes. "I figure if we get you packed before we go out tonight, you can sleep longer."

"Fine you can stay here and pack my shit."

Abe looked at him for a moment. She weighed her options as she got madder. Arguing with him would be less affective than arguing with the wall. While he deserved to have his butt kicked, she would save it. Looking around she came up with her solution. He was now watching her. She locked eyes with him, and much to his chagrin, she began to smile.

Scooping up an arm-full of stuff, she walked over to the trashcan and dropped everything in it. He didn't find his voice until she picked up another armload.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"You said all of this was shit. I figure why pack shit. I throw shit away," she replied, adding the armload to the trash.

"Stop throwing my shit away!"

"Then get over here and help me pack it, because if I have to do it by myself it all goes in the trash."

"Where's Mike?"

"Packing," she said, depositing another load.

"Will you stop doing that?"

"Are you going to start packing?"

"Do I have a choice?"

He started helping. She had to fight laughing, because he's bottom lip was stuck out so far, she was surprised he didn't step on it. She started folding his clothes and laying them on the bed. He followed her lead. He was embarrassed when he saw her folding his underwear. She told him it was no biggie. She had men in her family. Although, she did teased him about never folding silk boxers before. He blushed bright red, while explaining they were a gift from a fan. He had kept them, because he thought they were funny. She let it drop.

Mike did a double take when he walked into the room and saw Nick helping neatly pack. He started helping too and soon they were done. While Nick got ready, Abe ducked into Mikes room to change. She rummaged through her suitcases looking for something appropriate. She settled for black jeans and black shirt with a cool patriotic design on the front and sheer long sleeves. She wanted to blend into the scenery as much as possible.

"Stay close until we get inside and find a table," directed Nick.

Stepping out of the car, Abe looked around. The Viper Room was a place she could never get into on her own. Yet, here she was being swept behind the velvet rope. She heard people in line complaining for only a second before the noises inside the club drown them out.

Mike was in front of Nick clearing a path to the VIP section. Nick felt her hand on the back of his shirt. He glanced back and was surprised to see how ill at ease she was. It was not something he was use to seeing. He reached back and he could tell by the look in her eyes she thought he was going to push her hand away. Instead, he took it and continued to follow Mike through the crowd. Once they reached a table in the VIP section, he let go. She gave him a shy smile. She felt like such a dork, but it had made her feel better when he took her hand. A waitress appeared and the guys ordered shots. Abe stuck to water.

She watched the two guys over the course of the next couple of hours. As the shots began to hit them, they started coming out of their shells. Girls were coming up and talking to them. Soon they were out on the dance floor. She sat at the table, drinking her water. She felt very out of place, because every woman there was a size 2 or smaller and half-dressed. By midnight, she was ready to go, but the boys were just getting started.

Abe looked around to see who was calling her name. "Chester!"

Pulling her into a hug, he said, "how you been girl?"

"Good. How about you?"

"I'm good. You remember my wife, Samantha?"

"Yes. Hi Samantha. By the way, congrats on the baby. He's going to be one soon, right?"

"Yep. He's growing up so fast. So what are you doing here?"

"Working. I work as an assistant to one of the Backstreet Boys."

"Way! We have an early flight in the morning. I'm here to make sure he's on it."

"Wow! Never expected you for that kind of gig."

"It's not a bad job."

"That's good to hear."

"Here he comes so be nice," she ordered.

Nick walked up to the table with Mike in tow. He had noticed someone talking to Abe the minute he stepped off the dance floor. His mouth fell open when he saw who it was.

"Nick, I don't believe you've met Chester Bennington of Linkin Park."

"Hey man. Nice to meet you," greeted Nick, while shaking the man's hand and trying to act cool.

"This is Samantha, Chester's wife. Chester and Samantha this is Nick Carter and his friend Mike."

More handshakes and hellos were exchanged. Chester and Samantha talked to them for a few minutes, before leaving. They had to get home to the baby.

After they left, Nick turned to Abe and said, "Why didn't you tell me you knew him?"

"You never asked."

"Well, who else do you know?"

"Nick its 1:30. Can we talk about this on the way back to the hotel?"

"Yeah Nick," interjected Mike.

"I guess. Let me pay. Mike get the car.

Mike disappeared into the crowd. Nick called the waitress over and paid the tab. She tried paying for her own drinks. He said he could pay for her waters. Mike returned and took the lead as the three of them headed for the door. One of the girls Nick had danced with earlier walked up and pushed her way between Abe and Nick. Abe felt the crowd starting to close in around her and thought she would be separated from Nick. She again took hold of the back of his shirt. This time he didn't take her hand.

The girl had his complete attention. They were both staggering slightly as they leaned on each other. Stepping outside, Nick turned to the girl.

"Thanks for dancing with me."

"I love dancing with you. So, where are we going?"

"We're heading back to the hotel."

"Great," replied the girl, taking a step toward the car's open door.

Nick laughed and said, "No. No. We're leaving."

"I'm going with you."

"Huh," asked Nick.

He wasn't prepared for how bold the girl was being. Abe looked at Mike. He was just watching everything from his spot by the open car door.

"Miss, did you come here with friends," asked Abe, trying to get the situation under control.

"Yeah. Why? Can they come too?"

"No and neither can you. I'm sorry, but Nick has a flight in just a couple of hours. So, good night. Come on Nick, get in the car."

"Nick! You're going to just leave me here."

"Sorry, but I gotta go catch a plane."

Suddenly the girl shoved Abe and launched herself at Nick. Mike hesitated for a second before trying to free him. She was begging Nick to take her with him. Abe stepped back, allowing the clubs security to help. They managed to get the girl off him, but in doing so helped her pull out some of his hair and scratch his neck.

"Fuck," bellowed Nick as he spun free of her.

"Get in the car, Nick," ordered Abe, pushing him inside and turning to face Mike and the security guys.

"Mike, get in. Gentlemen do you need anything else from us?"

"You fucking fat bitch," screamed the girl, attempting to kick her.

"No. We've got her. Go on."

"Thanks guys."

Abe hopped in, slamming the door.

"Take us back to the hotel," she instructed the driver before closing the partition to the front seat.

"Damn! I can't believer her. She pulled my fuckin' hair out."

"I'm sorry, man," apologized Mike.

Abe retrieved a bottle of water and found a napkin from the mini-frig.

"Nick let me see your neck."

"Did she do something to your neck," asked Mike.

"She clawed me," Nick said, turning to give Abe access to the back of his neck.

"Ow, she got you good," agreed Abe. She wet the napkin and wiped his neck causing him to wince. "Sorry. I'm trying to be gentle."

"I know," answered Nick.

They arrived at the hotel. She directed the guys to the elevator, while she stopped at the front desk and asked for a first-aid kit be sent to the room. The three of them rode the elevator in silence. Nick walked into the suite and immediately flopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. Mike joined him. Abe checked for messages. It was now after 2:00. She left a wake up call for 5:30. The were dosing off by the time room service delivered the first-aid kit.

"Mike, go to bed," she gently ordered.

"Yeah. Night."

"Later man."

"Night Mike. Come on Nick. Let's get you to bed. You can sleep after I take care of your neck."

He got up and without arguing walked into his bedroom. Pulling his shirt over his head, he fell face first onto the bed. She made him get up and she pulled back the covers. Kicking off his shoes and dropping his pants, he climbed into bed. He fussed only slightly when she used rubbing alcohol to clean the scratch. The girl had gotten him good. The scratch was about two inches long. Abe put Neosporin on then covered it with some gauze. She knew he wouldn't leave it on, but it would help for now. By the time she was finished, he was asleep. She ran her fingers through his hair wanting to see how much the girl had pulled out. Luckily, she hadn't taken a patch out. His hair was like silk sliding through her fingers. She couldn't resist running them through again. He moaned and shifted in his sleep. She immediately withdrew her hand and left the room, pulling the door closed.

Checking her watch, she sighed. It was 2:30. Two and half-hours of sleep if she was lucky. Stretching out on the couch, she figured she could get some sleep on the plane.

"What You Need" is a work of fiction.
The characters and events portrayed are fictitious,
and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.

Used with Permission
Copyright ©2002
All Rights Reserved
No part of this text may be copied or reprinted
without the author's permission.

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