Gabriella never imagined that every step of her journey would lead her here... to the beautiful Avalon Hotel in the heart of New York City... to him. To complicate matters further, she will be forced to make a choice between the dream that's just beyond her grasp and the uncertain reality of a complete stranger.

A low rumble sounded in the distance as Gabriella peeked her head over the cab door, surveying the scene before her. Glancing over her shoulder at her best friend Amy, she posed the question of the night, “So what about here?”

Amy scooted over in the seat and snaked her body beside Gabriella’s, taking in the view her friend had already seen. Amy shrugged, “Honestly Gabby…to me, every street corner in this city looks the same. And besides, we’re not going to have time to check them all out and this one looks pretty popular, so it’s fine by me. You decide, but remember, the cabby is still charging us to sit here and gawk.”

Gabriella rolled her eyes at her friend and ducked her head back inside the cab. Leaning over the headrest of the front seat, she nodded to the cabby, “This will do.”

The cabby glanced up in his rearview mirror and nodded, moving his gaze to the meter. Popping the top of the machine, he smiled as it choked out a small printed slip of paper. Handing it over the seat to Gabriella, he quipped in a distinctly Yankee accent, “That’ll be 45 dollars miss.”

Gabriella took the slip of paper from the cabbie’s age stained fingers and slid it into her back pocket, pulling a small wad of cash from the bottom of it. Rifling through it, she found two twenty dollar bills and a ten and pushed the crumpled bills into the cabby’s waiting hand.

“Keep the change.”

Gabriella reached into the floorboard and wrapped her slender hand around her backpack before ducking out of the cab, never giving the cabby a chance to respond. Within moments, the shadow of her friend appeared beside her and she could hear the cab’s tires squealing off to another client.

“Those guys are sooo weird.”

Gabrielle looked at Amy and laughed, “Thanks for stating the obvious. What normal person would drive around New York all day and deliver bitchy customers to some of the rankest street corners in America?”

Amy smirked, “Good point Gabby. So let‘s see… we‘ve been here for two nights so far. We‘ve met at least three homeless people, managed to get a room at a four star hotel dirt cheap, been harassed by a man wearing tights and taken one of the dirtiest cab rides of my life. Tell me, what else IS there to do in New York?”

Smirking at Amy’s sarcasm, Gabriella reached down and gripped her friend’s hand tightly, “Well getting lost in the red light district is not on my list of things to do.”

Amy nodded, glancing around at their surroundings, “So what did you see here that was so amazing?”

“Not a damn thing, but that cabby was weirding me out a little bit and besides, didn’t you hear the thunder? It’s gonna storm soon and I would rather be inside than out in it. Running for cover through a sea of bodies in an unfamiliar city is not my idea of fun.”

Glancing around, Amy noticed a quaint little club on the opposite street corner from where they were standing. Nudging Gabriella in the ribs gently, she pointed, “Let’s try over there. It doesn’t look too overly crowded.

Gabriella nodded, “And by that, you must mean there’s not a line waiting outside halfway around the block?”

Amy smirked, “Exactly. Now get off my wavelength and quit reading my mind.”

“Make me fussy-pants.”
Amy laughed at her friend, “Okay…so…what am I thinking now?”

Gabriella stood and surveyed her friend for a moment. Licking her lips slowly, she grinned as her hand suddenly came off of her hip and made a snapping motion, “Oh…you’re right. It’s not crowded because nobody can get in. Shit… I’m sure as hell not special. “

Rolling her eyes, Amy shook her head, “I swear… we think way too much alike. What about if we…?”

“It would never work Amy… we’ve tried it before.”

Amy wrinkled her nose at Gabriella “It certainly won’t hurt to try, now will it? We DO have boobs… it could work.”

Gabriella eyed her friend for a moment before shrugging, “Guess it won’t hurt… if we don’t get in, we could always just go try to cram our way into the packed normal people clubs.” She smirked as she made air quotations.

The two friends giggled quietly, but quickly stopped when they heard a defiant grunt behind them. Turning on their heels, Gabriella and Amy found themselves face to chest with a man who reeked of cheap cologne. Slowly trailing their eyes up the man’s body, they found themselves gazing into a stone set face that didn’t seem to be amused.

“Excuse me ladies… either enter the club or vamoose…”

Casting a sideways glance at Amy, Gabriella attempted to brush past the burly bouncer, but one well defined arm arrested her suddenly in her stride. Again, the bouncer’s gruff voice infiltrated the air, “I’m sorry miss… but I’m going to need to see some ID.”

Grunting softly from the unexpected barricade, Gabriella fumbled in her backpack for her driver’s license and handed it over to the bouncer. With a deep chuckle, he handed it back to her without even glancing at it, “Not that kind of ID miss. This here…” he said as he motioned to the club behind him, “…is a VIP club, meaning I need to see your membership ID.”

Amy gasped softly behind her, but Gabriella ignored it, glaring intently up at the man, “And if I left it at home?”

“Then I am sorry to say but I cannot let you inside. Too many people ‘forget’ their IDs for me to believe that load of…”

“They’re with us, Gus.”

The man looked past the two girls and nodded in acknowledgement, “Right… I’m sorry. Go ahead then ladies.”

Not even turning to see who had spoken for them, Gabriella reached her hand back behind her and grabbed hold of Amy’s wrist, pulling her inside the club.

Once inside, Gabriella turned to look at Amy who looked dumbfounded. “Amy…snap out of it - we’re in!”

All Amy could manage was a small nod, curiously searching over her shoulder for something.

“Amy…girl… what are you looking for?!? Hello? We just got into one of New York’s trendiest clubs without much of a hassle at all. I swear I thought Mr. Macho was gonna kick our asses to the curb!”

Amy swallowed the lump in her throat and stared at Gabriella in disbelief, “You…you didn’t even say thanks.”

Gabriella blushed furiously, remembering the manners that has so easily failed her. “Right um… I didn’t… Amy…what the hell are you looking for?”

“Not what Gabby…who…”

Gabriella rolled her eyes at her friend’s odd behavior. “Okay fine…then who?”

Amy turned back to look at Gabriella, “Them… the guys that got us inside. Did you see who they were?”

Shaking her head, Gabriella gave her friend the closest look to “duh” she could manage, “Um…no. Mr. Macho said we could go in and I wasn’t gonna hang around long enough for him to change his mind. Why? Amy, what has gotten INTO you?”

Amy put her hand on Gabriella’s shoulder as her eyes widened to the size of saucers. Gabriella waved her hand furiously in front of Amy’s face, checking for signs of life, “Earth to Amy… this is Earth calling Amy…”

Gabriella sighed at her friend’s sudden ineptness and turned to see what Amy was gawking at. As her eyes rose from the floor, they met the deepest pair of cerulean orbs she had ever witnessed and for a moment, she felt immobilized and frozen to the spot.

Gabriella tore her eyes from the haunting stare as she heard someone clear their throat. Shaking off the weird sensation that had overcome her, she looked past the figure in front of her and her eyes narrowed at what she saw.

“Oh…”

Amy suddenly came to life behind Gabriella and jabbed her in the back, leaning to whisper to her, “That’s all you can say? Oh?”

Gabriella turned to face Amy, looking rather annoyed. “Amy, what would you have me do? Drop to my knees, start crying and profess my undying love?”

A male voice chuckled behind her and she whipped her gaze back to the man from whence it came. Feeling a flash of boldness sear through her, she snapped without thinking, “Is that what YOU expect me to do too? Well let me get out my little pillow because I refuse to put my knees on a public floor…”

The man raised one eyebrow, eyeing her curiously. Slowly, a smirk spread across his face. “So, are you always this nice to people who do you favors?”

Gabriella tapped her forefinger to her lips for a few moments, then nodded, “Yep… I must admit I am… thanks for noticing.” She winked at him and turned back to Amy, who was again staring at the two men.

“Amy come on… put your eyes back in your head. They’re just people who were nice enough to get us into a club they happen to have membership in.”

Taking in a sharp breath of defeat, Gabriella turned her face back to the two men and offered them the first genuine smile she had mustered all night, “Thank you kindly for giving us access to this place. We greatly appreciate not being squished like sardines into the club across the street.”

The man lowered his eyebrow, turned to blue eyes and smirked, then motioned towards the back of the club with his head before he disappeared into the throng of people. The blue eyed man lingered longer, slowly assessing the girls standing before him.

For the first time in their encounter, he spoke, “Do you two pretty ladies have a name?”

Amy snapped out of her stupor long enough to extend her arm over Gabriella and grip his waiting handshake, “I’m Amy… this here… well, she’s just Gabriella… my best friend. She may look sweet, but don’t piss her off - she’s got the mouth from the South and she ain’t scared to use it… and she will…on ANYBODY.”

The man gripped Amy’s hand tightly, giving it a small shake, then slipped his palm free, turning slightly to offer it to Gabriella.

Speaking in a gentle tone, but one laced with authority, he stated, “Hello Gabriella…I’m Nick…”

Gabriella looked at his hand, then up to his face and back again. After a few moments, she brought her hand up and took his, giving it a firm but quick shake, “Yeah, um, hi…Nick… as she ratted me out, I’m Gabriella. Uhm… thanks…”

Nick smirked as he slowly slid his hand free of her grasp, “Maybe I’ll…see you later?”

Gabriella shrugged, turning to Amy. With a grunt of rejection, Nick shuffled away from the girls to the VIP room where his friend was waiting on his arrival to order drinks.

Meanwhile, back near the entrance, Amy gawked at Gabriella in disbelief, “You so did not just brush off Nick Carter!”

Gabriella sighed, grabbing her friend’s wrist and dragging her to the dance floor, “Amy…he’s human… just like you and me… he bleeds, he craps...I think he feels… “ Amy opened her mouth to protest, but Gabriella quickly put her hand over her mouth, “Amy…I know he’s a Backstreet Boy…and so was his friend…AJ… big freaking whoop-ti-doo…”

Amy laughed at Gabriella as they took their place among the sweaty bodies on the dance floor, “You know… you never cease to amaze me Gabby. You can go to one of their concerts and flip the hell out on me when Nick does his little dance on stage, but you meet him in person and act like you stepped on an ant.”

Gabriella shook her head, smirking, “No…I cared more than I would about the ant, but like I said…he’s human… at least, I think he is. He seems basically human. Maybe a little egotistical, but still human. Besides, I’m sure he wouldn’t have appreciated me stomping my feet like a monkey and screaming in his ear upon recognition.”

Moving away from Gabriella slightly, Amy shrugged, “Yeah, if you say so Gabby… meet back in a hour?”

Gabriella waved her hand in the air in acknowledgement as her friend disappeared into the sea of bodies. Feeling a sudden pang of thirst, she turned to the bar, thankful at least that this was a club with a bar. Hopping up onto one of the stools, she slapped both palms onto the smooth wooden surface.

Within moments, a man in his mid-twenties appeared in front of her, asking her what would she would like.

Searching through her backpack, she pulled out a five dollar bill and slapped it on the counter, “A Bud Light please…long neck…”

The bartender nodded cheerily and disappeared, only to return moments later with a frosty bottle, which he opened under the bar and set down in front of her, “4.50 miss.”

Gabriella pushed the money across the bar and said, “Keep the change.”

The bartender smiled and pocketed the bill, then posed a question, “You’re new around here, aren’t you?”

Taking a sip of her beer, Gabriella shrugged, “Visiting…why?”

“Oh no reason, just haven’t see you around here before. I saw you come in with Nick. He’s a regular here.”

Gabriella rolled her eyes and muttered, “Why does that not shock me?”

Hiding a smile, the bartender brushed her hand, “Hey…I’ll be around if you need anything. Just holler or wave me down or whatever you want to do to get my attention.”

Nodding, Gabriella took another sip of her beer and leaned back on her stool, wrapping her feet around its legs. Taking in the room, she smiled to herself. She and Amy had done good to get into a swanky place like this. The floors were clean, the service was polite and the music was good, not to mention the beer was cold.

Grinning at her lucky fortune, she turned around on her stool to watch the people dance. From within the crowd, she could see Amy dancing with an unidentified man and woman. She looked like she was having fun which made Gabriella happy. Amy deserved to have a little bit of fun in her life once in a while. Just two more months and they would both be able to pull their noses out of enormous over-priced textbooks forever.

Gabriella sat there watching the dancers for a few moments until she felt someone watching her. Glancing beside her, she met a pair of familiar eyes. It was him. How long had he been standing there? And was he watching her?

Gabriella was about to slide off of her stool and make a hasty exit when he spoke, “Why don’t you like me?”

Feeling a bit taken aback, she turned her gazed back to him, “I never said I didn’t like you.”

Nick shrugged a little bit, taking the stool beside her, “Sure could’ve fooled me. “

She gave him an icy stare.

“Ooo…is it getting cold in here or is it just me?”

She rolled her eyes and turned her gaze back to the dance floor, “Just because I don’t drop to my knees and kiss the ground you walk on doesn’t mean I’m not a fan. Yes, I said I’m a fan.”

A small smile curved Nick’s lips as he asked, “You’re a fan, eh? Prove it…”

Sighing heavily, she turned back to Nick, her green eyes staring him down, “You’re asking me to prove I’m a fan? That’s fucking stupid Nick. Yeah, I have a couple albums and I’ve been to some shows, but I couldn’t tell you when or where you were born. I’m not a psycho stalker.”

Nick’s smile widened a little bit as he continued, “So I guess that means you wouldn’t sleep with me either, huh?”

Gabriella nearly choked on the sip of beer she had just consumed. She turned back to the bar and slammed her bottle down on it, causing some of the malted liquid to slosh over the top, “Where on God’s green Earth did you get the idea that I would…or for that matter wanted to sleep with you?”

Shrugging, Nick’s smile remained, undeterred, “Eh…just you know… thirteen years of craziness and girls begging me to sleep with them. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to pose the idea to you.”

Wrinkling her nose slightly, Gabriella asked incredulously, “So you would just randomly sleep with a girl you just met on the streets of New York trying to sleaze her way into an upscale bar?”

Nick bit down on his lip slightly for a moment, then looked dead at her and nodded, “Honestly? If nobody would ever find out about it…at this particular moment, if it was offered to me…more than likely…”

“That is disgusting Nick! What if I’m walking around New York just itching to give some gonorrhea? You want gonorrhea?”

Shifting on his stool slightly, he leaned closer to her, “Are you?”

Gabriella blushed slightly, uncomfortable at both the conversation and the direction in which it was headed, “Well, no…. but I was just trying to make a point.”

“Point taken Gabriella…”

She flinched slightly from the use of her name and shifted on her stool again. Something about him made her uncomfortably comfortable around him.

Nick slid off his stool and leaned against the bar, resting his back against the countertop, “I’ll tell you what…since you won’t sleep with me…how about I buy you a drink?”

Gabriella licked her lips an slid off her stool as well, approaching Nick. She leaned against him so that her face was inches from his and she could feel the breath puffing nervously from his nose. Bringing her hand to rest on his arm, she leaned her face to his ear and whispered, “That’d be real nice and all Nick…and no, I won’t sleep with you…but there’s just one little problem…”

Nick closed his eyes at the closeness of her body and stuttered, “Wh...what’s that?”

Gabriella smiled and stood back from him, sliding her hand off of his arm and onto her beer, grasping the bottle in her palm. Licking her lips, she smirked and turned to go, but looked over her shoulder once before disappearing into the crowd to state, “I don’t drink…”

Nearly an hour passed before Gabriella untangled herself from the sea of arms and legs and retreated back to the bar. The bartender gave her a look of acknowledgement as he walked over to her, “What can I get for the lady?”

Gabriella shrugged, scanning the bar for Amy, “Well…have you seen a blonde girl…about oh, 5’6... slim… busty?”

The bartender chuckled and made a sweep of the room with his hand, “Sweetie, you just described half the girls in this place. But if you’re talking about the lady you came in with, no…I haven’t seen her.”

Groaning, Gabriella rolled her eyes slightly and nodded at the man, “Okay, then another Bud Light please…”

Nodding, the man disappeared and again returned within moments with a frosty bottle. Gabriella reached into her bag to get another five, but the man leaned over the counter and stayed her hand, “No no miss… this one’s on the house.”

Gabriella gave him a look of bewilderment and he shrugged, motioning to the VIP room, “Mr. Carter insisted… it’s on the house miss.”

Looking at the beer, she considered leaving it on the bar to make a statement, but her thirst got the better of her and she wrapped her hand around it, muttering to herself. Taking a sip of it, she again scanned the room for any sign of Amy, but still did not see her friend.

“Oh…miss?”

Gabriella turned around at the sound of the bartender’s voice and offered him a small smile, “Yeah?”

“I hate to be a bother, but there’s a note here for you. I think your friend left it… the other bartender told me a blonde left it here about 20 minutes ago and said to give it to you.”

She took the folded paper from the bartender and thanked him. Curiously opening it, she recognized Amy’s handwriting immediately:

Gabby,

I’m soooo sorry girl, but I had to head back to the hotel. I’m not feeling too good. I tried to find you, but I had no idea where you were, and I knew you’d be back for a drink, so I left this note. Please know I’m perfectly okay. I’m not drunk or anything, just tired. Love you girl. And I’ll pay you back for our cab fare.


“Great,” she muttered to anybody who was listening, “…well at least she let me know.”

Swallowing another sip of her beer, Gabriella realized that the club was beginning to wind down for the night. People were leaving and the bartender behind her called out Last Call. Checking her watch, she smiled to see that it was nearly 3 AM. Maybe it had been more than an hour since she had last seen Amy…

Gabriella shrugged and slung her backpack over her shoulder, letting the bag portion rest against her chest. She folded up Amy’s note and shoved it down into her pocket.

Feeling a sudden urge to visit the ladies’ room, she set her empty bottle on the counter of the bar and began weaving her way through the customers that were heading for the exit. To her dismay, the line for the restroom was two deep as far as she could see.

She sighed as she looked around for another possible avenue to relieve herself. Noticing another restroom sign on the second floor, she slipped through the crowd to the stairs and hurried up them, taking them nearly two at a time. Once she had reached the top landing, she glanced around to regain her bearings. Oh yes, to the left.

Taking a quick left, she hurriedly made her way to the bathroom, relieved to find no patrons waiting. Walking inside, she nearly gasped at her surroundings. There was a couch with two armchairs in the outer room and delicately painted walls. Walking into the adjoining room, she was even more amazed by the intricate details on the faucets and the stall doors. Only her bodily warning system pulled her from her admiration.

Moments later she emerged from the stall and approached the sink to wash her hands when she heard something outside the door. It sounded like a scuffle, but the walls muffled the voices just enough to make their words incoherent.

Quickly washing her hands, she wiped them on her jeans to dry them and moved closer to the outer wall to eavesdrop. It sounded like someone was angry and she could hear at least three different voices yelling. One of them sounded familiar.

With a gasp, Gabrielle jumped away from the wall. The voice she recognized was Nick’s. He was in an argument? With whom? Leaning into the wall again, she tried to pick out the other voices. Both sounded familiar and then it dawned on her. The deeper one… maybe that bouncer from outside? Whoever it was sounded mad, but what was he saying?

Stepping closer to the exit, she strained to hear what was being said.

“Listen…I will not tolerate this shit in my club. I am asking you nicely to leave before I call the cops.”

Gabriella’s eyes widened at the gruff man’s voice. What had Nick done? Still trying to lean closer to the exit, she lost her footing and tumbled head first out into the hallway. Gasping softly, she scrambled to get up and hide, but a voice stopped her dead in her tracks, “What the hell are you doing up here? The club is closed.”

She struggled to find her voice, but managed to squeak out, “I…was just leaving.”

Without making eye contact with the man again, she scurried up off the floor and made for the stairs. Before she had even dropped her foot onto the first step, the arguing behind her resumed, louder than ever.

“Fine, call the cops. See if I fucking care! I’m Nick Carter… “

She paused on the step, trying to take in as much of the conversation as she could.

The gruff man’s voice got even louder, “I do not tolerate drugs in my establishment… I don’t care if it’s pot or it’s heroin! None of it flies here Carter! I am giving you the chance to come down off your high horse and leave but if you refuse, I WILL call the cops.”

Nick huffed, obviously being stubborn, “Like I said…call them…”

Gabriella turned around on the steps and slowly approached the arguing group. Unsure of what she was going to say, she cleared her throat. Quickly, the man wheeled around on her.

In as nice a voice as he could muster, he informed her, “I thought I told you to leave. This is none of your business.”

Speaking as if the words weren’t coming from her own mouth, Gabriella quipped, “He’s with me. I’ll take him home.”
Both the man and Nick looked at her in awe. Nick shook his head violently, “I don’t know her.”

Gabriella sighed and walked over to Nick, brushing up against him and curtly saying to where only he could hear, “You’ve got two options. Suck it up and go with me… or go to jail. Recent DUI ring a bell?”

Nick’s eyes widened at her as he surveyed her expression. Through clenched teeth, he replied, “I thought you didn’t know anything about me?”

Gabriella turned to the man, “He’s coming with me. He’s so belligerent when he’s drunk. I apologize for this sir, I am very sorry.”

The man nodded and motioned towards the stairs, “Fine, just get him out of my club. I don’t want to ever see either of you here again or I will call the cops without a second thought.”

Gabrielle bit her tongue and nodded at the man, then turned to Nick, grabbing hold of his arm and pulling towards the stairs. Once out of earshot, she hastily quipped, “I said I didn’t know MUCH about you Carter… and that doesn’t mean I don’t read the news…”