~*~ Chapter 16 ~*~
NEW YORK CITY, NY - Kirstin's Loft
Kirstin woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. She had collapsed on her
couch, so she searched for the phone, with her eyes closed, in the small table
beside the couch. She placed the phone on her ear, sat up and saw on her wristwatch
that it was a quarter to nine. Knowing who it was, she answered:
“G, let me sleep!” she answered in an angry tone to her friend.
“Oh, you were sleeping! I’m sorry, baby! I’ll call you later.”
Realizing that the voice didn’t sound like her best friend’s, she questioned:
“Ashley?”
“Yeah, baby. That’s me. But if you were sleeping, I can call you later.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m up already.” Kirstin headed to the kitchen to pour herself
some water.
“Who’s G?”
“It’s Grace. My best friend. When I got home I had 2 messages from her on my
machine and I didn’t return her calls because I collapsed on my couch, so I
thought it was her calling again.”
“No, it’s just me. I got a little worried because you said you’d call when you'd
get there and I just got back from practice and still hadn’t got your call.
And when am I gonna meet Grace?”
“Well, I guess you can meet her next time you’re here. I know she wants to meet
you.” Kirstin was sitting on her couch again.
“Oh, so she knows all about me and I just found out about her?” Ashley joked,
sounding hurt.
“Oh, relax! I only told her about you like… 3 months ago, when we met again.
So she’s not that much ahead of you.”
“Good. Because I wanna know all your friends.”
“I don’t have so many close friends, so that won't be hard. But hey, I have
to meet yours too. I didn’t actually get to know them, we were just introduced.”
“Yeah, but don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of time to do that.”
“Yeah, guess you are right.”
“So, how was your flight?”
“Good, but I was so tired that I slept all the way over here.”
“You slept during your whole flight and then you got home and slept until now?”
“Yep!”
“That’s the Kirstin I know!” Ashley smiled. Kirstin was the person he knew that
most enjoyed spending time sleeping. She’d sleep for hours straight if she had
the time to.
“Oh, I just learned that tomorrow I’m gonna start working on your tapes. How
cool is that?” she was all excited.
“Really, baby? That’s really cool!”
“I know! Do you have any idea what the first times will be about?”
“I think most of them are about our tour with Britney Spears.
“Cool!” Kirstin then heard a beep on her phone “Ashley, I have to take this
call, it’s probably Grace. But I’ll call you tomorrow when I get home from work,
alright?”
“Ow, ok.” Ashley sounded really hurt “But do call me.”
“I will! Promise!”
“Ok. I miss you.”
“Me too. Very much. But I have to get Grace’s call. Call you tomorrow. Bye.”
she hung up just in time to get the other call “Hello?”
“Finally! I thought I was getting the machine again!”
“Oh, G, sorry. I was on the other line… with Ashley.”
“Ow, if that was Ashley, I forgive you. But that’s why I called you! You must
fill me in!!”
“I know. But listen, as we are not going out tonight…”
“What? Why? How…”
“Listen!” Kirstin interrupted her friend “I don’t wanna go out because
I’m too tired for that, G. So I was thinking you could come and sleep over here.
What do you say?”
“I’d say it’s a great idea!”
“Thank you very much! And on your way here, stop at BlockBuster and pick up
our movie.” The movie Kirstin was talking about was 'Notting Hill'. They had
seen it together when it was on the movie theater and they’d rent it whenever
they would have their sleepovers. They just loved that movie.
“Ok. Then I’ll be there in 45 minutes.”
“Alright. I’ll go take a bath and put on my pajamas on and wait for you, girl.”
“Right. See ya.”
“Bye.”
Just as Kirstin put on her pajamas and trailed down from her room to the living room, she heard a noise and Grace appeared by her door. She was the only one Kirstin trusted enough to give a copy of her keys. Not even Kirstin’s parents had it.
“Hey, just in time!” Kirstin greeted from the stairs. Grace placed her stuff on the kitchen’s counter
“Oh My God, come here you!” Grace ran with her arms opened and gave Kirstin a hug.
“Wow, slow down. I think you are happier than I am to see you.”
“It’s just that I can’t wait to hear what happened in Florida. And I know it’s a good thing, otherwise you would have told me over the phone.”
Kirstin grinned and motion for her friend to sit on her black leather couch.
After telling her friend everything that happened while in Florida, Grace wondered:
“Well, I don’t get it. If you are not his girlfriend, how does this work?”
“We get together whenever we are at the same town."
“And…” Grace was still confused “You are not suppose to get with other people?”
“Of course not, G! It’s gonna be even better because now I’ll have all the time in the world to get you guys! I know you don’t need that, but I’m doing that anyways!”
Grace went upstairs to change into her pajamas. The 2 friends had matching pajamas. Kirstin’s had a baby blue tank top and the shorts had white background with little baby blue hearts all over it. Grace’s was the same, but the top was white and the shorts had a baby blue background with little white hearts all over it. Blue was the girls’ favorite color.
“Yes.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
ORLANDO,
FL - Friday
All the O-Town members sat there on the floor, in front of the Mikes, who were
sitting on a couch. They were in the middle of dance practice when the Mikes
called in a meeting, the cameras never leaving their side.
“It’s not that urgent guys.” Morin started, looking at 5 sweaty guys, all of
them holding a bottle of water and towels around their necks “It’s just that
we closed some tour dates just now. We’re gonna be in Europe for 2 months…”
“2 months?" Ashley actually yelled, causing all his band mates to look
at him.
“Yes… is there a problem?” Cronin questioned.
Ashley stood quiet, staring at the wall. Dan asked:
“When are we leaving?”
“In a month.”
“In a month?” Ashley yelled again.
“Yes… what’s wrong with you Ashley?” Morin was confused. The Mikes knew about
the situation with Kirstin already. They seemed to be fine with that, but they
didn’t like too much the fact she worked on editing MTB. They were afraid it’d
get in the way of things.
“Nothing.” Ashley had a vague look upon his face.
“So, anyway, here’s the schedule. Don’t lose it.” Cronin handed them the schedule
and after that, the O-Town guys were sent back to rehearsal, the cameras following
them.
“Ash, are you ok?” Dan asked when all the other members and the camera crew
went to the rehearsal room and Ashley stayed sitting there on the floor.
“Not so much. No.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“I just got together with Kirstin and now I’m leaving for 2 months? How am I
suppose to be with her, to make her trust me and make this relationship grow
if I’m always here in stupid Orlando or somewhere in Europe for 2 months?”
“I know it’s hard Ashley. But… Do you love this girl?” Dan already knew the
answer, so he smirked before Ashley even said anything.
“I do, Dan. I love her so much.”
“I know. Just checking. And I’m sure she loves you too. That’s all you guys
need to make this thing works.”
“I don’t know. I’m not so sure she loves me back.”
“Why you say that?”
“I don’t know. Little things. Like yesterday, when we were on the phone, she
said she had to hang up because her friend was on the other line. When she was
saying goodbye, she was a little… cold, you know?”
“Ashley, you’re tripping, man!”
“Am I?”
“Of course you are! And here, look at the schedule.” Ashley had the paper in
his hand, but never bothered to look at it until Dan asked him to “See? Before
we go to Europe, we have 4 days in New York! What else do you want? It doesn’t
get better than that!”
Ashley was excited. They did have 4 days in New York. 4 whole days, just before
going to Europe. His face lit up.
“Yes! Oh my God! I gotta call K and tell her the good news.” Ashley abruptly
stood up.
“Hey, easy tiger.” Dan stood up after Ashley, calming his friend “You can't
call her now because we have rehearsal. And didn’t you say she starts working
today?” Ashley nodded “So, let’s go finish rehearsal. Then you can call her
when we get home. We won’t go home anytime soon anyways, so by the time we get
to the house, I bet she’ll be off work.”
“Yeah. You’re right.”
And with that, they headed back to where the rest of the band was.
~*~*~*~*~*~
NEW YORK CITY, NY – MTV Studios
Kirstin stepped foot on the 10th floor. She was nervous. Now her
work was definitely starting. She was so nervous, the minute she got out of
the elevator she forgot where Andrew’s office was. She stopped a girl that seemed
to be about her age to ask for directions.
“Hm, excuse me. I’m sorry but I’m a little lost. Can you tell me where Andrew
Jackson’s office is?”
The girl smiled, sensing the nervousness on Kirstin’s tone of voice.
“Yes, sure honey. Come with me.”
Kirstin smiled back and followed the girl as she introduced herself.
“I’m Lexie Gold.” the nice girl introduced herself. She was pretty. She had
blond hair that went all the way to her shoulders, blue eyes, was 5’5’’ and
about 115 lbs.
“Kirstin Addams.”
“So, Kirstin, you know Andrew?”
“Yes, I’m his assistant actually. I work here now. This is my first day.”
“Oh, I sensed you were nervous. So what are you working on?”
“Making the Band.”
“Nice! New show! A challenge!”
“Yeah, well… what about you? You work here on the editing floor too?”
“Yes. I’m an assistant too. For Kayla Watson. We work on ‘The Real World’.”
“Wow, Real World! That’s big!”
“Yes, it is. It has a big crew working on it.” Lexie stopped and pointed to
a closed door behind her “This is Andrew’s.”
“Oh, thank you so much. I should draw a map. This place looks like a labyrinth.”
“Yes, it’s hard to move around here at first. Listen, I get out around 6, what
do you say we go out for a coffee later? We’re floor buddies now, we should
hang out.”
“Sure! I’d love that. I could really use a friend at work.”
“So, ok! We’ll meet here at Andrew’s at 6, alright?”
“Right.”
“Good, then see ya.”
“Bye.”
Kirstin had made a new friend. She loved getting friends. She treasured her
friends more than her own family.
“Come in.”
“Excuse me.” she entered the room, closing the door behind her.
Around 5:50, Andrew excused Kirstin from work. They had worked only on 2 tapes,
but Andrew had a last minute meeting and had to go. Kirstin liked the work.
She spent almost 4 hours watching O-Town tapes. Andrew had explained her how
to work the editing board, which buttons to push, which ones not to push. That
day she had mostly watched Andrew do all the work, so she could learn better
from him. But still, she had fun. As Ashley said, the exciting scenes were most
from their tour with Britney Spears. Other than that, just scenes with the boys
playing videogame on the tour bus or eating. But Kirstin didn’t mind the parts
where they’d show Ashley taking a shower. She even laughed at her boss’ comment
when he said “Your friend sure takes a lot of baths.”
When Andrew and Kirstin left the editing room, Kirstin went back to Andrew’s
office to meet Lexie, but it was a little to early. She then decided to use
the phone in her boss’ office. She went through her purse and picked up her
phone book to find Ashley’s numbers. She called the house, but no one answered.
She got the machine, but hung up and tried the cell phone. Voice Mail.
“Hey, this is Ashley. Sorry I can’t come to the phone right now. But after the
beep, you know what to do.”
Kirstin smiled hearing Ashley’s voice and left her message.
“Hey Superman! I’m just calling as I promised I would. Just got out of work,
so call me whenever you hear this, ok? Bye.”
The minute she hung up, she heard a knock on the door. Not knowing what to do,
she got up from the chair she was sitting in to answer the door. She saw Lexie
standing there.
“Oh, hey. It’s you.”
“Yes, I heard someone talking in there so I decided to find out if it was you.
So, ready to go?”
“Yes, let me get my purse and coat.”
Outside the building, Kirstin asked:
“Where are we going to get coffee?”
“Well, I always go to this Dean and Deluca that is 4 blocks away from here.
I know it’s farther than these other coffee shops around the block, but there’s
this gorgeous guy that works there, so I always go there to check him out. But
I’ve never actually been there this late. Hope he’s still there.”
When they got there, Kirstin’s hands were freezing.
“Oh my God. My hands! Can’t believe I forgot my gloves. At least, it’s warm
here.”
They both took their coats off and sat down at this table, facing the counter.
“So… where is he?” Kirstin scanned the place, looking for any cute guy wearing
a Dean and Deluca t-shirt.
“Shit, he’s not here! I think he leaves at 6. We have… oh, no no no! Wait, wait!
He’s there. He’s on his back, I can’t see his face, but it’s definitely him
with that tooshie!”
“Where?”
“There, leaning on the counter. With that light red shirt and tight jeans. Jeez,
he looks damn good when he’s not wearing Dean and Deluca’s uniform!”
“Well, I can’t see his face, but he does look hot!” Kirstin knew she had Ashley
now, but look doesn’t hurt, right?
The guy was wearing a tight long sleeve red shirt that revealed all the muscles
on his fit body. He had also on blue jeans, tight to his body.
“Do you know his name? Maybe we can get you his number!”
“Yes, it’s… oh look, he’s turning around.”
* Thanx Caitlin for editing and correcting the grammar on this chapter
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