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Chapter Twenty Six

My eyes were so bloodshot I couldn’t even attempt to put in new contacts. I spent the day wearing my thin-rimmed black glasses and moping. When my phone rang again shortly before sound check, I answered crossly.

“Hello?”

“Olivia?”

“Yes?” I said bitterly. “Who’s this?”

“This is Anderson Little. I was just calling to check in with you and go over a few things.”

I sucked in a little breath.

“Oh Anderson,” I said, my voice becoming overly saccharine to cover my previous faux pas. “Sorry, I didn’t recognize your voice. Good to hear from you.”

“How are things going?”

I almost laughed. The tour, good, I thought. My life? Well…

“The tour’s going great. Lots of great videos and photos. We’re keeping awfully busy
out here.”

“I’ve heard,” he said. “I’m just calling to let you know I’m looking at a completed cut of the Masquerade video right now.”

I sucked in a breath. “Really? How is it?”

Anderson laughed. “I must say, you have definitely exceeded expectations. We chose you for multimedia and you jumped in completely. The video’s choreography is great, the costumes are great; it’s great.”

“Well, the guys invested a lot in it,” I said, perhaps a little bitterly. It didn’t seem right for them to have to pay out of their own pockets.

“As great as it is, it’s a gamble,” Anderson explained. “Songs haven’t been doing well; but we still have faith in our boys. And, thanks to your great work, fan club membership is way, way up.”

“Well, thank you,” I said. “But, I’d say the Boys have a lot to do with that.”

“True, true. Hey, before I go there is one other thing I’d like you to do.”

“What?”

“We’ve noticed some feedback from fans expressing their interest in getting to know a little about the girl behind the camera. They’ve heard your voice and seen you a couple times. I thought maybe you could talk a little bit about what kind of fan you are, your interests, yada, yada. A five minute clip.”

I stifled a groan. I liked being behind camera, not on.

“I think I can do that.”

“Great! Oh, and I thought it would be cool if the guys could write up some questions and ask them to you. It will be like a role reversal.”

I could think of a million problems with that idea, especially concerning one cute, tall blonde.

“No problem,” I said a little reluctantly.

“Great! Well, Tony and I will be at the last stop in California before the break. We’ll see you then.”

“Okay, can’t wait,” I said. I disconnected the call and leaned back.

As if my day could get much worse, I learned right back into a puddle of mud.

----------------------------------------

After changing clothes, I did a quick update to the website, updated the Boys Twitter, and headed to sound check. By this time I had a method down to capturing video and pictures and allowed myself some time to actually enjoy the music. After the meet and greet, the guys gathered backstage, their minds on pizza. I had no appetite; thoughts of my little Brewster were weighing heavily on my mind.

“I have a favor to ask,” I said in an attempt to distract myself. I stared down at my fingers. A few bits of mud were still caked under my fingernails.

“You name it,” Brian said, tipping back in his folding chair.

“I got a call from Anderson Little today,” I explained. “And he asked me to do a little something for the fan club.”

“Like what?” AJ asked. “I can dropkick Nick again.” The corners of my mouth twitched ever so slightly; I couldn’t muster a smile.

“No. The fans,” I rolled my eyes. “They want to know more about me. So, Anderson thought it might be “fun” if you guys ask me some questions.”

Four identical grins gave me my answer; it was a resounding yes.

“When do we start?” Brian asked, rubbing his hands together.

Not today,” I said. “Go ahead and think of some questions tonight and then I’ll stand in front of the firing squad tomorrow.”

At that moment the pizza arrived. Howie and Brian hopped up quickly. Nick slid his chair closer to me.

“How are you doing?” he asked quietly. I shrugged.

“I wish I could do something,” Nick said.

“That’s really sweet of you,” I said. “But, there’s nothing you can do.”

Nick reached over and scraped a mud splatter off the corner of my glasses.

“You look really cute in those,” he said. “If I walked into a library and saw you, I’d want to go to story time every day.”

It was the corniest line I had ever heard. I ducked my head, my mouth betraying me. I cracked a small smile. Nick leaned even closer.

“I don’t have a library card, but I’d check you out any day.”

I turned my head so he couldn’t see my face. My smile widened, my shoulders shook slightly. He leaned closer still, whispering in my ear.

“You must be a great librarian, because baby you increase my circulation.”

I couldn’t help it. I let out a loud laugh. I turned and looked at him, shaking my head.

Having accomplished his goal, Nick grinned and kissed my forehead.

He got up and returned with a piece of pizza for both of us. Feeling slightly better, I nibbled on it.

“So,” Nick said slyly, making sure everyone else was out of earshot. “I just want to let you know you’re going to want to keep your camera going when AJ does Teenage Wildlife tonight.”

“He’s not doing Drive by Love?”

Nick shook his head. “Nope, he’s promoting his single.”

“And why do I need to keep the camera on?”

Nick smiled. “You’ll see.”

I didn’t trust that smile.

-----------------------------------

The concert was running smoothly. Even though a light rain fell, the crowd was impressive. The guys didn’t break out into any unplanned songs and the show was going according to plan. Halfway through, it was time for the solo songs. I watched as the guys ran off stage. Moments later AJ ran back on. He sported a different pair of sunglasses and a leather jacket. It was a simple, but effective change.

“So,” AJ said, walking the stage. I heard his name screamed from all directions. “I have this little solo album coming out this fall.” The crowd screamed.

“This is my new single, Teenage Wildlife. Hope you enjoy.”

He launched into the song. I turned on my camera, keeping it on him at all times. I couldn’t help but wonder what Nick had up his sleeve.

I found out soon enough. As AJ launched into the chorus, a gigantic tiger, panda bear, and owl danced out on stage. I gasped.

For those who hadn’t seen AJ’s music video, they probably wouldn’t understand. I had seen it a couple times so I got the connection. In the video, AJ walks into a club where all of these teenagers are dancing dressed as animals. He has a dance-off with a tiger and his posse over a girl chipmunk (at least I think it’s a chipmunk). He wins the dance-off, but the tiger jumps on his back and, well, it’s just weird. The first time I saw the video all I could say was what the fuck? The second time I tried to apply a little psychology. When that didn’t work, I just laughed my ass off. Now I was watching it unfold live.

At first AJ didn’t notice, but when he did it was priceless. He tried to maintain composure, but he couldn’t help but start to laugh.

I could only assume that Nick, Howie, and Brian were in the costumes. I saw the tiger go off stage; the panda bear and owl danced around AJ, continuing to destract him and throw him off. I was so intent on catching that action that I didn’t see the tiger emerge until he was back in frame. He was carrying a pie loaded down with whipped cream. With a roar, he hit AJ smack in the face.

The next thing I knew AJ was on the tiger’s back. Whipped cream dripped off his face and onto the tiger costume. The song ended with just beats; AJ was so focused on smacking the shit out of the tiger that he was incapable of singing. I watched as the owl and panda bear pried AJ off of the tiger. All four headed backstage.

I ran as fast as I could, my camera still on. I made it backstage just as the owl tugged the tiger’s head off. Nick was laughing hysterically. AJ was wiping his face with a towel.

“What the fuck, man?” AJ said.

The owl yanked off his head; it was Brian. Panda bear Howie was last. Leigh helped him out of the costume quickly. Howie walked onstage, cool and collected for his solo.

“That was priceless,” Nick said. “We got you bad, dawg.” Rochelle unzipped Brian and he hopped out, the owl collapsing in a feathered puddle on the floor. Rochelle was smiling; I could tell she had been in on it.

AJ scooped a handful of whipped cream out of his hair. With just a moment’s pause he flung it at Nick. Nick ducked, hitting Brian square in the face.

“Hey!” Brian cried out, wiping the goo off his face.

AJ snickered and then turned to Nick.

“Payback, Carter,” he said, giving him the middle finger. “When you least expect it,” he added as he walked off to the bathroom.

I walked over to Nick, unzipping the tiger costume. He stepped out completely unfazed. He pressed his face close to the camera.

“Best part of the job,” he explained. He gaze a tiger-like growl and licked my camera lens. I shut off the camera.

“So?” Nick said. I had managed to keep a straight face, but I couldn’t last any longer. I grinned.

“That was absolutely priceless.”

Nick gave me a one handed hug, kissing me on my temple.

“I’d throw a thousand pies to see that grin,” he said. He headed to the bathroom to clean up.

As I watched him walk away, I couldn’t help but think that I would have given a thousand anythings if only I had met Nick first. Life for me was just like that pie…

Messy.