| Chapter 91 "Lyn! Lyn!" Nick yelled. She was in the kitchen making coffee when she heard him. She ran into his room, "What's wrong?" Nick was standing in the closet, with every piece of clothing he owned thrown on the floor. He looked up at her, "I don't have anything to wear tonight." Lyn reached down and grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it at him, "Gezz Nick, you scared me, I thought something was wrong." He dodged the pillow and smiled at her, "I'm sorry hon, but I really don't have anything to wear." Lyn walked over, picking clothes up as she went and hanging them back in the closet. "I guess we can run downtown and find you something," she said. "OK," he said, sitting down on the bed and looking at her, "Lyn, I'm really nervous about this thing." "Yeah, I can tell," she said, hanging the last of his clothes back up. "What if people don't like it?" Nick asked. "Then they don't know good art when they see it," she said, sitting next to him. They sat there for a few moments, just looking at each other. "Lyn, I hate to ask this, but I don't want to wear the aid tonight. Do you care to interpret for me?" Nick asked. "No, I don't care, but why don't you want to wear it?" she asked. "I'm just afraid that all the noise of everyone will be a little to much for me to handle," he said. "It's OK. No one said you had to wear that thing 24/7 anyway," she said smiling at him. "Thanks," he said. "Well, let's get ready and go downtown so we can come back and you can rest before we have to be there," she said standing up. Nick reached up and took the aid out of his ear, and laid it on the nightstand, then got up and headed into the bathroom to get ready. Lyn stood there for a moment, looking at the little device that changed Nick's life forever, then she shrugged her shoulders and went back to the kitchen to finish the coffee. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin had just gotten out of the shower and was drying off when he looked up into the mirror above the sink. "Oh my God!" he yelled. Kristin ran into the bathroom, hearing him yell. "What's wrong?" she asked, then saw it. She started laughing hysterically, "How did she do that?" "Kris, this isn't funny," Kevin said looking in the mirror. His normally jet black hair was now completely blonde. "I'm sorry hon," she said, still laughing, "But you look like A.J. got ahold of you." Kevin reached into the shower and pulled out the shampoo bottle, unscrewing the lid and pouring some in the sink. "How did she get in here and switch this?" he said. "I don't know," Kristin said, looking at the dye in the sink. "Do you think this is permanent, or will it wash out?" Kevin asked. "I think it's permanent, I can smell the peroxide in it," she said. "Oh this is just great. I look like, man, I just look wack," he said staring at himself in the mirror. "Well, if it's permanent you might as well put some on your eyebrows so they match the rest of you," Kristin said, laughing so hard she almost couldn't talk. "Kris!" Kevin said, then started laughing himself. "You better hurry up, you told Howie we'd be over in an hour," she said. "Oh crap! I forgot. I can't go like this, we have to find a salon or something and get this fixed," he said. "Kev, if you look like this, just imagine what D looks like," she said. "Oh God, quick hand me the phone," Kevin said. Kristin handed him the phone, and it rang in his hand. "Hello," Kevin said. "Kev, man please tell me you haven't taken a shower yet," Howie said. "What color did she stick you with?" Kevin asked. "Fire engine red," Howie replied, "What about you?" "Blonde," Kevin said. They both started laughing. "Man, you still coming over," Howie finally asked. "Yeah, you want to go together to get this fixed?" Kevin said. "Yeah, come on over and we can leave from here," Howie said. "OK, see ya in a few," Kevin said, and hung up the phone. He turned around just as Kristin snapped a picture of him. "Baby!" he said. "Oh no, this is to good not to have some evidence of," she said running out of the room with the camera. Kevin just shook his head, and went back to looking at himself in the mirror. Note to self, Don't piss off any more angels, he thought. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn went to the door, and opened it. Ted was standing there. "Hey," she said, letting him in. "You look beautiful," he said, coming in, "You guys going somewhere?" "Yeah, the gallery opening is tonight," she said. "Oh, I forgot about that," he said, "I just came by to see how Nick was doing, and if you guys needed anything." Nick walked out of his room, in a suit, and barefoot. "Hey Ted," he said. "Hi there," Ted said. Nick looked at Lyn, "Well, what do ya think?" "It looks good, but aren't you forgetting something?" she said. Nick looked down, "Oh damn. Be right back," he said, going back into his room. Lyn and Ted laughed. "He is so nervous about this," she said. "I see that," Ted said, smiling. Nick came back out with his shoes in his hand, and sat down on the couch, putting them on. "Nick, I just came by to see how you were feeling," Ted said. "Pretty good. Although right now my stomach is doing flip flops," he said. Ted laughed, "I'm sure your work will do well." Nick finished putting his shoes on and stood up, "I hope so." Lyn looked at him, inspecting his clothes. "You ready to leave?" she asked. "Um, well....you can't see my scar can you?" he asked. She looked at his hair, he had it spiked up. "No, not at all," she answered. Nick looked over at Ted. "No, you really can't," he said, "You know that's gonna be a problem when we take your stitches out?" "Yeah, I know," Nick said, "But you aren't shaving my head again." Ted laughed, "OK, we'll just have to dig for them I guess." Ted started toward the door, "You guys have fun tonight." "We will," Lyn said. Ted left, and Lyn looked back over to Nick. "You really look handsome." He smiled at her, "And you look gorgeous." She laughed, "You ready?" "Yeah, just one thing," he said, taking the aid from his ear and laying it on the coffee table. "Now I'm ready," he signed. Lyn took his hand, and together they walked out the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kira opened the door and started laughing hysterically. "Yeah, yeah I know," Kevin said walking in, and going into the living room. Howie was sitting on the couch. He turned around and saw Kevin walk in. They both started laughing when they saw each other. "OK, does anyone know how she did this?" Kevin asked. Everyone shook their heads. Just then the bell rang. Kevin looked at Howie, "Was someone else coming?" "No, not that I know of," he said. Kira went to answer it, and came back with Brian and Tara. Brian had a video camera in his hand, recording Kevin and Howie's expression when they saw Tara. "Tara, this wasn't funny," Kevin said. "Neither was you two snooping around our house, and telling the whole world about it," she said, a stern look on her face. "Hey, we thought something happened to you," Howie said. "Uh huh," Tara said, walking closer to them. Kevin and Howie both instinctually stepped backwards, until they were both against the wall, Tara standing in front of them. Kira, Kristin, and Brian watched as Howie and Kevin found they had no where else to go. "Tara, we're sorry OK," Kevin said. "Yeah, we've learned our lesson," Howie said. "Oh really? You have, have you?" she said. Howie and Kevin looked nervously at each other, then back to her. "Bri, help us out here man," Howie said. "Oh no, you two are on you're own," he said, still recording. Kevin was staring into her green eyes, and a familiar chill went down his spine. "I'm going to teach you two a lesson you will never forget," Tara said, reaching up and grabbing them both by their hair. Just then the lights went out, and Kevin and Howie both screamed. When the lights came back on, Tara was across the room, standing next to Brian. Howie and Kevin where huddled together on the floor. Kristin and Kira were laughing so hard they couldn't breathe. Kevin looked up, then stood up, giving Howie a hand. They both looked at Tara, realizing that she had done absolutely nothing to them. Brian was laughing, "Oh you should have seen your face when she grabbed you." Tara walked over and high fived Kristin and Kira, "Thanks guys." Kevin and Howie looked at them shocked. "You did this?" Kevin asked Kristin, pointing at his hair. She just smiled at him and nodded her head. Howie looked at Kira, "Why red?" "I like red," she said, laughing. "So you didn't do any of this?" Kevin asked. "Nope," Tara said, smiling, "All I had to do was put the fear in ya, and your ladies took care of the rest." "Man, that was cruel," Howie said, "I almost pissed my pants when the lights went out." Everyone laughed. "Yeah, but it was so funny," Brian said. "Ohh, take the tape out, you guys have to see your face," Kira said. Brian took out the tape and put it in the VCR, rewinding it, then playing it. Everyone sat down and watched. Kevin and Howie couldn't help but laugh, their expressions were truly classic. When the tape finished, Tara walked over to them and held out her hand, "Truce?" They looked at each other, then back to her, "Truce." They both reached out and grabbed her, pulling her down on top of them, then proceeded to tickle her until she cried for them to stop. They let her up, then both stood up and looked at Kristin and Kira. "Now it's your turn for doing this," Howie said. Kira and Kristin both got up and ran out of the room, Howie and Kevin on their heels. When they left the room, Tara looked at Brian, "Thanks for thinking of this, it was priceless." He smiled, "You're welcome. Now we should probably go save the girls." They got up and headed in the direction of the laughter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn and Nick walked up to the door of the gallery. Nick stopped and took a deep breath. Lyn looked at him, "Just relax and be yourself," she signed. He smiled at her, then opened the door and walked in. The gallery was already full of people milling around, looking at the paintings. Lyn could see Thomas across the room, talking to some people. She caught his eye, and he excused himself and walked over. "Hi Nick," he said. "Hi," Nick said, shaking his hand. "If you'll come with me, there are some people who want to meet you," Thomas said. Lyn signed to him, and she and Nick followed Thomas through the gallery, over to where Nick's paintings were displayed. Several people were looking at them. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Nick Carter," Thomas said. Nick watched Lyn as she interpreted what everyone was saying to him, and he was completely shocked that they liked his work. With Lyn's help he talked to several of them about his work. He had many offers to buy his paintings, which completely took him by surprise. "I wouldn't know what to charge for them," he told Thomas. "I'm sure we could settle on a price," he said. Nick looked at Lyn, "What do you think? Should I sell them, or keep them?" "Do what you want," she signed to him. Nick looked at the paintings, trying to decide. "OK, I'll sell everything except this one and this one," he signed, pointing to the night scene of the ocean, and the portraite of Tracy. Lyn told Thomas, which made him very happy. Thomas took the prospective buyers into his office to broker the deal, while Nick and Lyn stood there staring at each other. "See I told you people would like them," she signed to him. "Yeah, but I never thought in a million years that someone would actually want to buy one," Nick said. Nick and Lyn milled around the gallery, looking at the other paintings, and talking to several of the other artists. Thomas caught up to them, "Will you guys step into my office, I have something for you." They followed him back to his office, walking in and sitting down. Thomas walked around the desk, and pulled out an envelope, handing it to Nick. "Go ahead and open it," Thomas said. Nick opened the envelope and pulled out a check from the gallery. He gasp, and almost dropped it. Lyn tapped him on the arm, and he looked at her. "What is it?" she asked. He flipped the check around and showed it to her. "Oh my God," she said. "Thomas, this can't be right, he only sold six paintings," Lyn said. "Oh no, that's right," Thomas said, smiling, "And he has a waiting list of people who want to purchase whatever he does next." Lyn signed to Nick, telling him what Thomas said. Nick looked over at him, in complete shock. Thomas got up and walked around the desk, to the door, "Well, I need to get back out there. Feel free to stay in here as long as you like." "Thanks," Lyn said as he walked out the door. Nick looked at her, "I can't believe this." "I know, $37,600.00 for six paintings!" Lyn said. "Who would pay that for a painting? That's like, six thousand a piece," Nick signed. Lyn laughed, "You are quite popular." "Yeah, I guess," he signed. "You ready to go back out there?" Lyn asked. Nick stuck the check back in the envelope and put it in his jacket pocket, "Yeah." They stood up and Lyn hugged him, then kissed him. Nick didn't want to let her go, but she pulled away. "Let's not keep your public waiting," she signed smiling. Nick just laughed as they walked out of the office, hand in hand. Chapter 92 |