Nick walked in the studio with James and walked directly to the table to grab a banana and a bottle of water. Kevin looked over at him,
"You're only almost an hour late so of course take your time get something to eat." Nick didn't bother to answer he just flopped on the couch and began to open his water. Howie finished his call in the corner and walked over to Nick,
"You're late Nicky." Nick sighed deeply,
"No shit." He looked around the room at the guys,
"Did you get anything done?" AJ shook his head,
"Yeah, we got some stuff done, no thanks to you." Nick looked at him, his eyes stretched,
"Ok then, stop acting like you had to sit around and wait on me. I only have four lines in the damn song anyway." Brian shook his head and sighed,
"You are such a brat sometimes." He stood up and walked over to the sound board sitting next to Kevin. Nick let out a slow breath and closed his eyes as he lay his head back but was interrupted by Kevin,
"We're going to need you in ten minutes Nick so warm up, get ready, whatever you need to do." Nick looked over, Kevin hadn't even bothered to look at him as he spoke to him with a voice void of any emotion and he felt bad for being difficult. He was wrong, he was late and he didn't call and let them know, knowing they would be upset.
He was watching Brian recording and turned to see Steve walk in with Chloe Grant. She was one of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood, some thought the next generation's Julia Roberts. She was wearing a pair of jeans and small white T-shirt with San Francisco above the city's skyline. Her brown hair in a ponytail sticking out of her baseball cap,
"Hey guys I want you to meet Chloe Grant, Chloe this is Kevin, Howie, AJ, that's Brian coming out of the sound booth and of course Nick." He pointed out the guys and they waved hello, Howie and Brian shaking her hand as she moved her Starbuck's cup into her left hand. She smiled,
"Hi guys." AJ smiled,
"So what brings you here? You recording a CD?" She laughed,
"All actors think they are singers these days but no. I can't sing to save my life." Kevin walked over to her and smiled, being Mr. Charming as usual,
"I'm sure it's not that bad. Why don't you step in the booth?" She shook her head,
"Uh-uh, think Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend's Wedding and you got me. I came over to thank Nick actually." Everyone looked over at Nick and his shock registered more than anyone's as he stood up,
"Thank me? For what?" She walked over and stood near him,
"For the song you recorded for my new movie." The other guys looked around and he could see Kevin out of the corner of his eye,
"What song?" He shrugged,
"Oh, I just did the demo for a song Scott wrote for a movie." He turned his attention to Chloe,
"I didn't know what movie it was, I mean I didn't know you were in it. I just did the demo, they'll find someone else to sing it for the movie and stuff." She shook her head,
"No, we all liked it and we want you to record it. John, the producer of the movie, talked to the guy who wrote the song, I guess that's Scott and he said he could get you to change it up a little and sing it for the movie." He looked around the room and locked eyes with Steve,
"Hey, if you want to kid. There's no problem on the business side. It's up to you." Nick nodded and smiled,
"Yeah, I would love to do that." She smiled,
"Good, the movie will be released in four or five months. I was thinking they'll want you to come to the premiere so why not get a head start? I don't have anyone to go with me to my new movie's premiere next Wednesday if you're going to be here in LA why don't you come with me?" Nick looked over at Steve,
"I don't know what the schedule is like." Steve looked in his briefcase and took out a schedule,
"Let's see...you guys finish recording here tomorrow and you fly back to Florida. You guys are free as far as I'm concerned." She smiled as she placed her hand on his arm,
"Great, so you'll be there?" He nodded,
"Yeah, uh what do I wear?" She looked around and Nick noticed she was looking for someplace to sit her cup and took it from her. She smiled and took a card out of her wallet, handing it to Steve,
"Contact Alan, he's my manager and he'll handle the flight, the hotel and the stylist for the wardrobe." She smiled looked around the room,
"Nice meeting you guys. I'm running late as it is." She looked over at Nick,
"See you next week." He nodded and smiled as she walked out,
"Bye." He turned around and saw the guys looking at him,
"So, why didn't you tell us you recorded a song for a movie?" He sighed as he answered Howie,
"I didn't record it for the movie, I just did the demo. I just found out just now that it would be in the movie." Steve looked over at Nick,
"That's great publicity so work hard. On a different subject we need to talk about some stuff that's not so good publicity. The video that came out today of you and your friend." The other guys were clueless and their faces and it showed in their faces,
"There was home video footage aired earlier tonight of Nick and Lexi, I think her name is, fighting on the beach." Kevin looked over at Nick,
"This is getting crazy. These aren't little rumors and internet gossip with no pictures or verification. This is on TV shows. E!, Entertainment Tonight...." Steve spoke up as Kevin looked at him,
"This one was on Hard Copy. It showed them yelling, her kicking a ball out of his hand and Nick shoving her then walking off with another girl." Brian looked at Nick in confusion, "You shoved her?" Nick shook his head as he ran his hand through his hair,
"It wasn't like that." Steve shrugged as he sat on the couch,
"Maybe not but that's how it looked on the tape and it didn't look good. This footage is not going to just play once and that's it, this is the kind of stuff that has legs and goes on for days." Nick sat back on the couch and closed his eyes, the thought of having to deal with his personal life in public made his stomach hurt,
"I don't feel well." Kevin sighed,
"Well, we need to get as much done as we can because we're only going to be in the studio tomorrow for two hours so get in there and let's get started."
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Chapter 77