He sighed as he listened to her voice mail message. Before it was time to leave a message he hung up. Why in the hell would she turn her phone off? And where was she, he thought. She had barely been on tour and she�d already missed some of the shows. If she didn�t want to be there that�s all she had to say.
�What�s up with you?� He sighed again as AJ sat down next to him.
�Nothing, just trying to get a hold of Shayna but she turned her phone off.�
�Or maybe she didn�t charge it. You know she has a habit of forgetting to do that.� It really annoyed him sometimes; AJ�s relationship with Shayna. At the very beginning he let Nick know he thought Shayna was very attractive. How did AJ know that about her? That she didn�t charge her phone. He was her boyfriend; they lived together for years and he didn�t know that. Sure, he probably knew Shayna forgot to charge her cell phone every now and then but he didn�t know it was a bad habit of hers like biting your nails or popping chewing gum; but AJ knew.
�Oh yeah, she does that all the time; such a pain in the ass.� AJ smiled and nodded,
�You can get on her when she shows up. She is coming to the show isn�t she?� AJ never had to worry about whether or not his girlfriends or �friends� being there; they were always right there with him. It makes sense; addictive clingy people find each other just like the kids of dysfunctional families, like him and Shayna, are drawn together.
�Yeah, she�ll be here.� He looked down at his cell phone,
�She�s pushing it isn�t she? We�ll be on in less than half an hour.� He needed to end the conversation, �What�s she doing?� It was if AJ knew Nick didn�t know where Shayna was and he was just being mean,
�She went out to the city; to see all the sites and stuff.� He knew that was what she was doing earlier but he couldn�t imagine where she was now. He hadn�t heard from her all day. Since she left she hadn�t called or left any kind of message. He hopped up before AJ could further give him the third degree.
�I�m going to make a phone call.� He walked out of the room and roamed through the arean until he found a quiet, private spot.
�Hello.� He was surprised his brother answered the phone. There were many times when Aaron wouldn�t even bother to answer the phone even though he knew it was him. He had watched his little brother do it to others when he was around him so more than likely he did it to Nick,
�Hey, its Nick. What�s been up with everyone?� He hadn�t heard anything about what was going on in his family.
�What�s up with everyone? Where have you been?� His stomach dropped and he could only think the worst. Did his dad hit his mother again? Did his mother do the hitting this time? Were the police involved?
�What happened? What�s going on Aaron?� He looked around; aware of the rise in his voice,
�Aaron just tell me damn it.�
�Mom moved out. She left and no one knows where she is. She didn�t leave a note, she didn�t tell anybody, she hasn�t called�nothing Nick nothing. What if some crime happened and no one is out there looking for her?� His heart flipped and flopped and finally landed in his throat. His mother, just the thought could bring tears to his eyes. Say whatever but he loved that woman and he couldn�t handle anything bad happening to her. He couldn�t handle not having her on this Earth.
�What did Pop say?�
�He doesn�t care. He won�t let us call the police. He says its one of mom�s tricks�that she just wants attention.� He didn�t want to think that about his mom but part of him knew exactly where his father was coming from. His mother had her share of devious plans in her history. When they were on the outs she manipulated the situations by using his love and sensitivity against him. He knew it for a fact. But she wasn�t a bad person. She really wasn�t. He couldn�t help but defend her.
�How long has she been missing?� He never thought he would hear himself ask that about anyone he knew and loved.
�Its been about a week�every since the day after dad hit her.� It had been that long? He forgot he wasn�t told right away. Days had gone by and his mother was missing before he even knew what was going on. He was a complete outsider when it came to his family sometimes; knowing less than fans at times. He hated being asked about his family, particularly Aaron and what he was doing, in an interview. He felt like it was obvious he didn�t know what was going on in his brother�s life. This is what being a star and working all the time, all over had done to him.
There was a time when family was everything to him and his relatives. Now, fame and fortune and totally changed that. Every time he thinks of how his family used to be before they were famous he thought about a special day. It was Christmas and the family posed for a picture in front of the Christmas tree. It was a great day, his mother looked so beautiful with her bright blonde hair done up nice. It was the picture that was in the book his mother wrote about his life. Even his most prized family moments were used to make money and was shared with the world. Sometimes he felt he had nothing to himself.
Sure, everyone didn�t know every little detail that occurred in his life but they did know everything. It was like they might now know every story but they knew the beginning, middle and end and when you know that much you can piece it together and know all you need to know. People didn�t know every woman he had sex with but they know about his at times excessive sex life. They knew his address, his family members, what his family members do (or don�t do) for a living. They know about his career. Everything, more than he wanted them to know.
�That long and no one has done anything? Aaron, you need to call someone.� It was funny that he was telling Aaron to do it�he was too scared to. He was just as capable as dialing the numbers himself.
�Dad told me not to. I don�t want to talk about it�or think about it. I�ll talk to you later. My date is here.� And with that Aaron hung up the phone. What kind of dysfunction was he living in? His date was there? His family never ceased to amaze him�never.
They were in the middle of a quick wardrobe change when one of the dancers tapped Nick quickly,
�You�re hot out there tonight�you're really on it. You�re keeping me hype.� It was Devin. He had thought of her many times. She was one of the reasons he was regretting having Shayna on tour. Honestly, he hadn�t thought of any reasons why he didn�t want Shayna around it was just that every now and then when he was around Devin and his body began to react he thought about what it would be like to have sex with her. Then he remembered he would never know because Shayna was on tour.
�Thanks�just a good night I guess.� She smiled as she pulled her top off and he could see her nipples poke through her bra. Damn he thought, he could imagine himself sucking on them.
