After dropping Nick off at the venue Shayna sat in the car and looked at all the bags that surrounded her. She had never bought so much at one time in all her life. There were definite benefits to being Nick�s girlfriend. At first, it was a little unnerving watching Nick take his credit card out every time they made it to another store�s checkout counter but it didn�t take long for it to feel damn good. The envious looks from the salesgirls made her love it even more. She knew they wondered what she did to get that attractive guy to spend so much money on her. She leaned over and pulled a shoe box out of a Nine West bag. Her eyes lit up as she opened the box and a pair of camel colored boots filled her vision. The moment she entered the store she made a beeline towards them and held them in her arms. And she left with them and a pair of olive green ankle-strapped stilettos and a pair of red sling backs.
She looked around the backseat as they pulled up to the hotel wondering how she was going to carry all the bags up to her room. She pulled her cell phone out of her bag and dialed Kristin�s number,
�Hello?� She was happy for the moment but she forgot. Kristin could easily have been at the venue with Kevin,
�Hi, it�s Shayna. Are you at the hotel?� The driver held the door open for her and she stepped out with the phone to her ear, sunglasses on her face and long blonde hair blowing in the Philadelphia breeze. She was sure she looked like some actress in a glamorous movie moment to the girls who were standing outside by the hotel entrance. No doubt they were fans as they tried hard to look as if they were standing around for some other reason besides the Backstreet Boys.
�Yep. What�s up?� She began to pull bags out of the backseat as the driver popped the trunk and began to place the bags onto the sidewalk next to the numerous bags Shayna had already sat down. The majority of the bags from the trunk were Nick�s sneakers along with the results of his mandatory shopping trips to Abercrombie and Fitch and Urban Outfitters.
�I have a ton of bags from shopping. You want to come down and help me?� She laughed,
�Shayna, you are not at the Quality Inn. That�s what the bellhops are for but sure I�ll be down.� She heard the click of Kristin hanging up and placed her phone in her bag. One of the bellhops, along with the driver, carried the bags into the hotel. She followed behind them as she noticed the girls watching her, trying miserably to look inconspicuous, poor girls. She wished she could tell them they were looking silly.
�Hi Shayna. Where�s Nick?� Shayna didn�t slow down as she walked into the hotel. Just before she entered she waved and called out,
�He�s at the arena.� The driver and the bellhop seemed to slow down as they awaited instructions,
�Over near the elevator please.� As she walked through the lobby she saw more females, girls and women, some in BSB paraphernalia, hanging out. She carried her bag in one hand and a Victoria�s Secret bag in the other. That bag was sure to be a gossip worthy piece of information. Once they were at the elevator she released them from their duty of taking care of her and sent them both off with a tip. The elevator doors opened and Kristin was greeted by Shayna and all her bags,
�Whoa! What did Nick do and how much did it cost him?� They pushed the bags into the elevator and waved at the fans who smiled and waved at them frantically enough to get their attention from across the lobby.
After putting on a thirty minute fashion show and tell for Kristin, Shayna flopped down on the her bed,
�I am so tired.� Kristin laughed as she palmed a black clutch bag,
�Well, you should be. You single handedly stimulated a slumping economy.� Shayna stretched her body, momentarily feeling lightheaded as the blood ran through her body,
�Just doing my part.� She loved all her new clothes, shoes, bags and belts and Nick really loved the lingerie. Kristin wondered why she needed more lingerie when she had just bought her little costumes. It was simple, she stated, s
he could never get enough of seeing the look on Nick�s face when he saw her in something sexy. It was a look she hoped she would never stop seeing.
�Are you going to the show tonight?� Kristin nodded her head,
�Of course and so are you. You know their egos would be crushed if we were in town and didn�t go.� She sighed,
�Ok, but you aren�t going to be on the tour all the time. I am, so does Nick really expect me to go to all these shows?� She knew the answer to that. Of course she was expected and with Nick it was expected even more. He was so sensitive and the slightest bit of criticism or appearance of disinterest made him even more thin-skinned. Kristin smirked at her,
�What do you think?� She laughed at the expression on Shayna�s face, �You know artists. They are such tortured souls. If you aren�t there Nick will automatically think it�s because you don�t enjoy the show and you don�t enjoy the show because it�s him. Because if he was entertaining at least you would go to see him, your boyfriend and you could just ignore everyone else.� Shayna shook her head and frowned at the absurdity of it all,
�Are you serious?� Kristin picked up a pair of satin capris with drawstrings around the bottom,
�Completely, I went through this with Kevin a long time ago. Always wanting me to be at every show.� She rolled her eyes,
�Why can�t I just be tired?� Kristin nodded as she laughed,
�That�s too simple. And besides, it doesn�t involve them. Everything is about them.� Stroking Nick�s ego was hard enough when he was home, how was she going to handle him in the midst of the craziness that made him feel everything was about him?
She made a mistake wearing a new pair of Levi�s. They were the tightest pair of pants she had ever squeezed herself into in her life. She and Kristin arrived at the arena about twenty minutes before the guys were set to go onstage and simply allowed security to escort them to their places just in front of the barricades that separated them from the fans. She was still getting accustomed to being on tour every night and pulled her Tampa Bay Lightning baseball cap low on her head. She wasn�t sure if by looking mysterious she brought more attention to herself but it made her feel more protected against the eyes of those who may be watching her. It always made her skin crawl to think people could be watching her and she wouldn�t even know it. She was an observer of people as well so she knew you could watch someone from a distance for hours and they would never know you were a fly on the wall of their life.
Chapter 15a