He woke up and looked around to see an empty room. He went to call for Shayna but his throat wouldn�t let him. He shook his head, the tour had just started and he was already getting sick. They should schedule their concerts around the weather, its January and they were in Philadelphia. He didn�t like the cold and what he hated even more was having to dress for the cold weather. He couldn�t miss a show, he had never done that before and it wasn�t something he took pride in. He was going to have to hold back for the upcoming concerts not sing as loud, not dance as hard. He stood up slowly, maybe she was in the bathroom but once he walked over, he saw that he was alone. He grabbed the remote on his way back to the bed and noticed the letter on the nightstand. Shopping, she was shopping with Kristin, that girl loved to shop. If she was at the mall he hoped she had thought about the fact that she was going to be seen.
She was already nagging about his fans and the time he spent with them and they were in the fourth city on this tour. He hadn�t even spent that much time downstairs, maybe fifteen minutes. He was in a good mood and they were being calm and well behaved so he decided to talk with them for a little bit. What was the big deal? When he was done he came right up to her. She had always been good with the fans and they seemed to like her for the most part. He couldn�t handle that, he could not handle her getting into it with fans the way his former girlfriend did. That was such drama, such a strain, as if his career, tours and his commitments weren�t enough to stress him out. That was something he absolutely refused to deal with ever again. He loved Shayna but he brought her out to make him happy if she became a problem she would have to go. He wasn�t going to deal with psycho girlfriends and he wasn�t going to deal with overly jealous fans either. He just wanted to enjoy himself, he loved being on tour and he wanted to have even more fun than it usually brought him. This was like a new beginning to him, he wasn�t sure why but he just thought this tour was going to be the start of the new phase in his life.
There was a knock on the door and he walked over to see AJ standing before him,
�Hey dude, where�s Shayna?� Nick frowned,
�Why are you coming over here and asking for my girlfriend?� AJ walked past him and turned to face him,
�Don�t get all over protective man. I just wanted to talk to her about something.� That only made him more curious,
�Talk to her about what?� AJ shook his head and sat on the couch,
�Dude seriously you need to get a grip. Are you serious?� Nick wasn�t sure why he was acting that way, he needed more sleep, and he was way too moody. AJ and Shayna had always got along when she could come around,
�I just woke up and I�m still tired man. She ain�t here, she went shopping with Kristin.� AJ sighed,
�I told her to call me if she did something. I�m going to kick your girlfriend�s ass.� Nick shrugged,
�Sorry. You bored?� He flopped down next to AJ and stared at the TV, not really watching it,
�As hell. I need something to do. This is a big city, there has to be something to do.� Nick yawned,
�Go to sleep.� He cleared his throat and AJ looked over at him,
�Are you getting sick? Kevin is going to be pissed.� Yes, he was getting sick and he knew Kevin was going to be pissed. He did things like that, got crazy over things that people couldn�t control. He was going to stress over Nick�s sickness like he was coming down with some incurable unknown jungle disease. Nick had performed so many times while he was sick it was almost standard. He knew how to sing while he was sick, he knew how to adjust his voice. He had it down to a science.
�I�ll be fine, I�m already taking care of it.� AJ frowned and he pointed at the remainder of his room service,
�Vitamin C and tea with honey.� AJ smiled and nodded his head,
�Shayna did that.� Nick shook his head,
�Perfect Shayna.� AJ rolled his head and shook his head,
�No, do nothing Nick. You�re one of those people that try to just wait out being sick and don�t take anything or do anything for it.� That was true, he always figured he could get away without having to take any medication. He hated it, the taste and more than anything he was just too lazy to take something every four hours.
�Come on Nick, let�s go out.� He wasn�t in the mood to just go hang out somewhere,
�Where? I don�t want to just walk around somewhere AJ.� AJ was about to say something to her but his cell phone rang,
�Hello?� He watched AJ started walking around the room. He needed to make a mental note to go check out AJ�s room because AJ was looking around like his room was nothing like the one he was standing in,
�Hi Nick, what�s up? It�s Lexi.� What in the hell? This had to be a joke. He hadn�t heard from Lexi in a few months and now out of the blue she was calling him; just like that.
�Um hi, what�s up?� Why was she calling after all this time?
�Nothing much. How are you? I was just calling to say hi really.� Wow, talk about out of the blue,
�Hey, how�s LA treating you?� He really had nothing to say to her or he just really didn�t know what to say,
�Actually I�m in New York right now. I�ve been here for the past month and a half, I transferred; wanted to be near my family and I missed the city. There�s nothing like New York City.� Lexi was someone he spent time with when he and Shayna ended their relationship. He thought she was cool at first, he still did, but she lied to him and he never forgot that, and in the end he couldn�t and wouldn�t forget that. Once she started showing signs that she wanted them to be more serious, it was time to move on. He could handle messing around but she had already shown him that she couldn�t be what he wanted in a girlfriend.
�That�s cool. You all settled in?� He could hear talking in the background and she began to talk to whoever it was,
�Sorry about that. Yeah, pretty much. When are you going to be this way?� This phone call was no coincidence, she knew he was near and she was setting it up so they could get together by the time he got there,
�In the next week or two I think, I don�t have the tour schedule in front of me.�
�Maybe we can hook up when you get here.� He nodded,
�Un yeah, give me your number and I�ll call you if we have some time.� He stood up and found a pen and a pad on the desk and wrote down her name and number,
�Alright have a good day, I�ll talk to you later.� He hung up and turned to see AJ staring at him,
�Who was that?� He wished AJ wasn't there,
�A friend.� He nodded,
�A female friend who�s number you have that you�re going to see in the next week or two.� AJ and Shayna bonded pretty well and he knew AJ liked Shayna. Before he and Shayna became exclusive, when he was dating a lot of girls AJ would joke that he needed to give Shayna to him. Part of the reason he chose Shayna was because all the guys seemed to be into her so much, always talking about her looks, her body and complimenting her. Nick looked at AJ and shook his head,
�Drop it AJ, I mean it and make sure you keep your mouth shut.� AJ shook his head,
"You're going to fuck Shayna over like that? She's on damn tour with you?" He shook his head,
"I'm not doing anything." AJ stood up and nodded his head,
"Does this chick know you and Shayna are together? That Shayna is on tour with you?" Nick sighed,
"Shayna knows her, we all hung out together so shut the hell up." He knew it wasn't how he made it seem to AJ but he wanted to shut him up, he didn't need a lecture, especially since he had no plans of seeing Lexi.
