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ONE WEEK


From Bangalore, we traveled to Seoul, Taipei City, Manila and Suntec City in Singapore. The week went like crazy-fast, a blur. Each night while we were on the stage, Victoria stood with me and guided me through the moves. She’d become a staple part of the show for me, a security blanket as we moved through the choreography and songs. She laughed and pointed out fans who were being especially crazy in the audience.

As pictures began to surface on the Internet of our performances, the fans were going nuts. There’s something different about Nick, they kept writing on forums, You can see it in his eyes.

Victoria smiled over my shoulder as I looked through the comments on the fan forums in Singapore. “See, this is good for you,” she whispered, kissing my cheek, “The fans love it. You get so hot with me there… and they’re lapping it up.” I turned my face to kiss her and she wrapped her arms around my neck, under my chin. “Are you happy, Nicky?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said without hesitation.

She smiled, “Good.”

A knock at the door made her disappear, though. Dammit, I thought. I’d been doing so good keeping her there, even with distractions. I dropped the screen to the lap top and went to the door, peeked through the peephole, and opened it up, allowing Brian into the room.

“Hey Nick,” Brian said, standing there awkwardly. He looked at his shoes, “I got to talk to you.”

“What’s up?” I asked.

Brian sighed heavily, “Nick, what’s going on? Seriously?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Brian’s eyebrow raised. “What do I mean? You’ve been acting weird all week. You never want to hang out with us, you’re distant when you do. You’ve said like four sentences all week at the soundcheck parties for the fans…” he sighed, “And you’ve been in your own little world on stage. Seriously? What do I mean?”

“I was just looking at fan photos,” I said, gesturing toward the computer, “They seem to like it okay.”

Brian shook his head, “They aren’t here, they aren’t seeing the whole thing. Nick, you’ve been acting really weird and honestly the fact that you don’t recognize that scares the hell out of me.” He paused. “Who is this girlfriend of yours anyway? The Internet girl?”

“She’s just this really great girl I met, that’s all,” I answered, “Her name is Victoria, and she’s gorgeous.” I smiled happily, feeling my mouth go all dopey. The more time I spent with Victoria, the more I realized how right she’d been that she was my soulmate, that she was perfect for me, that we did belong together…

Brian pointed at me, “See, this is what I’m talking about…”

“What?” I asked, confused.

“That dopey, weird grin you just got there,” he said, “That’s what you’ve been doing all week. You don’t actually answer or do anything, you just grin like a crazy person and stare off into the horizon.”

I laughed, “Brian, I’m just happy. Can’t I just be happy?”

“Yeah but I’m worried, Nick. I mean this all started with you getting sick in Tokyo. What if there’s some weird thing going on? Maybe when we get to Australia we should have you get checked.”

“Brian, I don’t need to get checked,” I protested. “Honestly, I’m fine.”

He stared at me, his face clearly showing that he wasn’t certain he believed that. “I’m just worried, that’s all,” he said finally.

After a few minutes of talking about the show that night, and the after party, I showed Brian to the door and closed it behind me, returning to the computer screen. “Vicky?” I called out. I didn’t hear her anywhere in the room. I sighed, and stared at the computer. My mind worked over the things Brian had said as I looked at the fan comments. There’s something different about Nick, you can see it in his eyes.

Well that’s a good thing, right?

“Here I am,” she was at my side and I instantly felt the stress melt out of me. “It’s okay baby,” she said kissing my shoulder.

“Why does my being happy make him so worried for?” I asked her, “Why can’t Brian just be happy that I’m happy?”

“Maybe he’s jealous,” Victoria suggested, running her hand across my chest.

I laughed, “Brian? Jealous of me? Yeah right. Brian’s got everything, why would he be jealous of me?”

Victoria kissed the soft spot just behind my ear lobe. I thought I was gonna die from the feeling of her mouth softly sucking on the sensitive skin there. I melted backwards into her, and completely forgot about Brian.