My after party outfit was a pair of jeans and a five hundred dollar shirt that I, of course, did not buy. Its not that I didn�t believe in spending money on clothes. I had outgrown the mentality that dressing up meant getting something out of Abercrombie and Fitch; something that I bought brand new even though it looked like it had been through the washer and dryer fifty times. But I was still shocked by price tags every now and then. As we (Brian, Leighanne and I) rode along in the limo I started thinking about what I was going to do with Jill tomorrow night. One of our people took care of the reservations for Marrakech but that wasn�t enough. I couldn�t take her to a movie. This wasn�t some college girl. What was I going to do?
�Hey man, you look deep in thought.� I looked over at Brian.
�Nothing much.� He didn�t seem to buy it. I think everyone has learned to never take my first answer as gospel. I always try to get out of admitting the truth at first.
�Really Nick. Come on maybe we can help. Does it have to do with Sarah?� For the love of�he was obsessed.
�No, its actually one of her friends.� They both put on their best �I�m listening� faces,
�At the fundraiser they had the bachelor and bachelorette auction.� As usual, Brian had to interrupt,
�Yeah, Howie told me about that. You had the highest bid or something like that.� I nodded not going into detail about the exact amount,
�Yep. Well, one of Sarah�s friends, Jill, won a date with me and she�s going to be here tomorrow and she wants to have the date.� I shrugged, �Anyway, I don�t know what kind of date to plan. I called Sarah and she told me about a restaurant but I don�t know what else to do.� I looked at them in search of an answer. They both seemed to be genuinely caught up in my little problem; like they really wanted to help.
�Why don�t you take her to a show?� I really wasn�t into seeing Siegfried and Roy or whatever their names were. And Wayne Newton wasn�t high on my lost either.
�What kind of show?� She shrugged,
�I don�t know. There are so many here; some really good ones. Some of them are like Broadway shows. Have the concierge pick out a good one when we get back to the hotel.� Sounded like a plan. I smiled at her,
�Thanks Leighanne.� She snuggled next to Brian and wrapped her arms around his arm. They were making me miss the relationship thing. There is nothing worse than being around two people in love.
Ah, the red carpet. The holy territory of the attention-starved. Having to keep a smile on your face and act like you�re eating the attention up is hard. I would prefer to go through the back door but you can�t do that. We need the media more than we would like to admit. And they�d never admit it but they need us too. We posed for a few pictures. Some with Leighanne; some with just Brian and me. Kevin, Howie and AJ arrived at the party before us. They decided not to change clothes. I know that may seem weird to anyone hearing that. You�d think things would be reversed. You�d think Howie, AJ and Kevin (the clotheshorses of the group) would want to style and profile but that wasn�t the case.
I leaned against one of the bars after the bartender handed me a beer and surveyed the room. I learned you always start out with a beer. Mainly beer and a few shots in between mixed with a lot of water will not have you waking up regretting whatever it was you did the night before that you didn�t remember. Drinking hadn�t always been so easy to me. Trying to keep up with AJ two years ago was the worst. He would have me drinking everything under the sun. And while he was able to survive it, I was stuck with my head in the toilet close to alcohol poison. I couldn�t help but laugh, boy was I stupid.
�What's so funny?� I turned to see Natalie next to me in a pretty black dress. It wasn�t something wild, it was simple and sure not to confuse her with any of the celebrities. She definitely looked like someone who worked with the talent.
�Nothing.� I held up my drink to her, �Just remembering how bad I was at controlling my liquor.� She nodded absentmindedly as if she really wasn�t listening to what I was saying,
�What's wrong?� She looked over at me and seemed to think about telling me for a moment but then thought better of it,
�Nothing much.� I stared at her hard and she gave in,
�My father is a little sick. He has a doctor�s appointment tomorrow. I�m just worried about him.�
�Why don�t you go home to see him?� She sighed,
�I can�t. I have a job to do.� I frowned,
�A job to do? What? Hang out around us? Please.� She grabbed a drink off the bar,
�Nick, this isn�t a job where you can use a sick day. You give up a lot when you decide to work with celebrities. It�s a trade off for the money, the position, the connections.� I shook my head,
�That�s stupid. Have you even tried to get a couple of days off?� We weren�t that cold hearted. There was more than one public relations person on the tour and we aren�t controversial; its not like we couldn�t survive a couple of days without and entire entourage of people waiting to fix our mistakes.
�Its fine. My family will call; there might not even be a need for me to go.� I clinked her glass with my own,
�Lets have some fun tonight.� She was a little hesitant at first but she seemed to throw caution to the wind,
�Sure, why not?� I grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor where I threw caution to the wind and decided to dance. We both had our drinks in our hands as we cut loose. For someone who could be stiff and serious all the time Natalie really could move a little. I mean, she wouldn�t be confused with one of our dancers but they are professionals so it�s not a fair comparison.
�You know you're pretty good.� Soon the music changed and she wrapped her arm around my neck,
�Of course I am. Why�d you think I wouldn�t be?� AJ came up behind Natalie and began to dance with us.
�Nat-a-tat tat. Go girl, go.� We stopped and migrated off the dance floor and stood around,
�I am so alive tonight. I feel like I�m floating!� I looked at him and tried to examine just why he felt he was floating. He has been doing so well with the rehab thing. He�s had his rough patches but that�s to be expected; we have a stressful schedule and go through a lot of highs and lows.
�Well, don�t go off and be too crazy. The less you do, the better for me.� She patted me on the arm,
�I�ll be around.� I smiled,
�Save me a dance.� She winked and walked off. I turned to see AJ staring at me,
�I know you're not-� I knew what he was going to say even before he got it all out,
�Of course not; never.� He shrugged,
�You�ve been known to sleep with an employee or seven.� Don�t I know it. AJ, Howie and I were known for keeping it in the family from time to time. The only difference is that Howie actually got serious with one of his. AJ and I had flings. We also happened to usually have girlfriends at the time as well. Dancers were just so hard to refrain from. Those tight little bodies, flat stomachs, lean thighs. They were begging to be had and they were so close and always around. How could a guy not want to get busy from time to time. Most of them were professional though, and never gave any signs that they were willing to get a little personal. But every now and then, one would stand out from the crowd and just go for it. This tour I have Jessica but she�s acting crazy right now so that�s over and done with. I don�t want to deal with that drama and I don�t have to. That�s a major difference with me now. I don�t allow myself to get caught up in the bullshit.
Chapter 125
Stranger Than Fiction
Stories