She was right behind him, with Tim and Scott (who still seems a little annoyed with her presence) as they entered the hotel room. Scott walked past them and immediately began introductions,
�Kevin, Howie, Nick, Brian and AJ this is Joy Kohlman. Her father is Senator Kohlman from New Hampshire.� She wasn�t at all what Shayna expected. She was thinking more along the lines of a ten year old with glasses and freckles on her nose. Instead, she got a woman with the perfect shade of blonde hair. In fact, it was the color she was going for the last time she dyed her own hair. Along with Joy were her friends.
�And these are her friends Suzie and Patrice.� Kevin was the first to welcome them as he shook their hands and told them how happy he was to meet them. The rest of the guys followed suit and soon everyone had shook hands.
�So do you live here in D.C.?� Howie was next to engage them in conversation. Joy answered,
�Yes, we all go to college here.� Shayna thought they would be in school too but fifth grade instead of college. She continued to stand in the background as the eight of them talked about the girls� experiences at American University and being so close to the political scene. She noticed a couple of times the girls looking over at her and it wasn�t long before it was suggested that it be best if she waited for Nick in their room. She didn�t bother to argue the fact that Nick asked her to come with him. She slid out the room and made her way down the hall.
It didn�t go unnoticed, in her eyes anyway, that Nick was clearly Joy�s favorite. She couldn�t help but wonder what would happen if she wasn�t there. She shook her head and told herself no. If Nick wanted to fool around he wouldn�t have asked her to stay the entire tour with him. She still couldn�t help but feel a little unnerved with an attractive blonde with trendy hip clothes right out of a magazine having the eye for her man. When Shayna was walking out the door Joy was sitting down next to Nick smiling and tossing her hair.
She walked into their room and flopped down on the bed. Just as she was in the middle of kicking her boots off her cell phone rang. She ran over hoping she didn�t miss it but just as she said hello she could hear the other end hanging up.
�Damn.� Whoever it was would leave a message if it were important. She went over to her suitcase and pulled out a T-shirt to replace her warm sweater. Just as the sweater and the tank top were over her head her phone rang again,
�Figures.� She didn�t bother to rush after the phone. Either they would call back or leave a message, she wasn�t going to look like an idiot rushing to the phone anymore. She put her clothes in her suitcase, zipped it up and placed it on the floor. Her phone rang once again and she answered it quickly,
�Hello?!� She sat down on the bed and waited.
�Hey, what's wrong with you?� It was Carrie, her little sister.
�Nothing, why are you calling? What's wrong?� Maybe it was her mother. She was feeling guilty for not taking as much time as she should for her family.
�Nothing is wrong. I was just calling to say hi. Are you busy?� Leave it to her sister to blow her phone up just to say hi.
�Carrie, no I�m not busy. What do you need?� She could hear Carrie snort,
�What's up your ass? Like I said I just called to say hi. If I didn�t, there is no telling how long it would be before we heard from you.� She was right. Ever since she started preparing for her extended stay on the road she hadn�t had time for anything or anyone that didn�t have to do with Nick. It had probably been almost a month since she�d talk to her mom and her sister.
�I�m sorry. Just a little anxious. Leighanne is coming into town and some VIP fan has a thing for Nick and she�s with him right now.�
�Alone?� Ever since she and Nick broke up and Carrie admitted hearing about all the stories involving Nick and other girls Shayna opened up to her little sister a little more than before about her relationship with Nick. Not that that was saying much. She never talked about anything but the positive regarding Nick until they broke up. Everyone thought they had the best relationship ever. At least she thought that was the popular thinking. Of course once she and Nick separated everyone expressed their much suppressed opinions that she and Nick just weren�t suited for each other and that the end of their relationship was for the best. Once everyone had shown her their true colors about her relationship with Nick it made for a lot of discomfort when she and Nick reconciled. She only remained friends with a couple of people because of it.
�No, not alone. He and the rest of the guys are with her and her friends; their PR people are there too.� Saying that aloud made her feel better about the situation. There was nothing that was going to happen. There were too many people and Nick wouldn�t do that while they were on tour together.
�Just because the guys are around means nothing. I�ll bet the guys were around and knew he was cheating before and never said anything to you.� It was just like her sister to see the negative in everything. Sure, she was more than likely right. There really wasn�t doubt that the other four knew Nick cheated on her yet they smiled in her face when she came around like nothing was happening. At that moment, for the first time, she wondered if Kristin knew about all the girls Nick cheated with. Did Kristin know and not say anything or did they keep that away from the wives and girlfriends? It would be smart. If one significant other saw one of the guys cheating, it would make her question the fidelity in her own relationship. More than that, she just didn�t want Kristin to be capable of keeping something like that from her.
�Yeah, I don�t want to talk about any of that. It�s in the past Carrie. Nick and I are together. He was the one who wanted me to go on tour with him.� She opened the doors to the balcony and walked outside. She sat down on one of the lounge chairs and propped her feet up on the railing,
�This leg of the tour; but what about all the others? You�re not always going to be around. You gonna tag along behind him all your life just to make sure he doesn�t cheat because he doesn�t know how to be faithful?� Carrie always had to push the issue. She never knew how to just shut up.
�Drop it Carrie. You�re seventeen. You don�t know the first thing about a relationship. Don�t sit there and judge me and Nick. Give him more credit than that. You make him sound like such a jerk. He�s been nothing but nice and giving to you.� When Shayna told Nick about her mother�s car breaking down he wrote her a check for eight thousand dollars for the used car she wanted. When Carrie couldn�t come up with the money for cheerleading camp Shayna was going to pay it but Nick found out and paid for it himself. Not to mention when Shayna bought Carrie a new TV for her bedroom, Nick bought a DVD player.
�Fine Shayna, whatever. For the record I�ll be eighteen soon. So where are you right now?� Even if it was an abrupt one she welcomed the change of subject,
�D.C. Just got here a few hours ago.� She loved the capital. It seemed like a place she would really like. It was a place where adults lived. Nothing against Tampa, it was small and that�s one of the reasons she loved it but sometimes she dreamed of a grander locale. Sometimes she dreamed of getting dressed up and going to fancy restaurants and balls. She wanted to have dinner parties with friends that served posh foods and expensive wine. But that wasn�t going to happen with Nick. And if it ever did it was a long way off.
�When are you guys going to some place exciting? Maybe I can come out on tour.� She smiled,
�You must have been reading my mind. Next week we�re going to be in Toronto. Want to come out then?� She heard her sister make an unenthusiastic sound,
�Eh, what else you got?� She heard Toronto was a cool place and she was excited about going there. Leave it to Carrie. She probably wanted to go to Amsterdam or somewhere outrageous.
�I�ll have to look at the schedule and let you know. Tell mom to think about a time when she will want to come out too.� Her mother really needed to get out more. She deserved it.
