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Chapter Two

“I look so fat in this,” Adonica complained, looking in the full-length mirror in total disgust.

Alaura and Dulcia rolled their eyes, knowing just where this conversation was going. They’d been through it a million times before and knew that there were hundreds of times to come.

“No you don’t,” Alaura informed her, calmly, “You’ve lost so much weight. You look amazing.”

Dulcia nodded in agreement, “Exactly,” she said, “If you still weighed what you did five years ago, do you really think you would be a dancer right now? No offense or anything.”

Adonica stuck out her bottom lip in a hurt pout. The comment had stung her, but she knew that her friends were right. She’d lost over fifty pounds in the past year. Even she had to admit that she looked all right…most of the time. But there were still some times when she was unsatisfied with how she looked and felt like a buffalo. But those times were getting further and further apart. She just hoped, along with her friends, that those times would vanish completely sooner or later.

“What should I do with my hair tonight?” she asked, pulling it all up with her fist into a high ponytail, leaving a few strands framing her face, and then letting it all fall gently back to below her shoulders, its long, silky curls falling perfectly back into place.

“I say leave it down,” Alaura advised her, “It’s to pretty to hide behind you in a ponytail.”

“Up,” Dulcia instructed, making things difficult, “You know how hot it gets. Besides, does it really matter? It’s not like we’re being paid attention to. We’re just there to help put on the show.”

“More than you realize,” Adonica said, deciding to put it into a French braid, so she wouldn’t have one friend mad that she didn’t take their suggestion.

The girls worked on fixing themselves up to go on stage. They’d been in a rush before, but since Kevin was running late, they decided to take extra time that night. Dulcia whipped out her blue glitter lip-gloss and applied it for the tenth time that hour, while Adonica and Alaura carefully put eyeliner on.

“I wonder where Kevy disappeared to,” Dulcia asked, “I swear, since we’re always running late, I bet he is getting back at us now.”

They could make out the routy fans chanting “Backstreet Boys” over and over again, screaming it at the top of their lungs. She knew that they were getting impatient, and didn’t blame them. LFO had gone back out twice now to sing additional songs just to keep the mob of girls entertained until Kevin arrived. Every second that passed, the commotion seemed to get louder and louder. Adonica looked up at the clock on the wall and sighed.

“Yeah, but we’ve never been a half hour late,” she said, “This is totally unlike him.” She started to nibble on her bottom lip nervously. It was a habit she did when she felt something wasn’t right or was worried, “I hope nothing bad happened. I mean, jeez…normally he is right on the second. He’s usually on our ass trying to get us out of here on time. He hates making the fans wait. We all know that. I don’t think that there is anybody who doesn’t know that.”

“She’s right,” Alaura said, “Kevin wouldn’t purposely make us this late. Something isn’t right.”

Walking out of their dressing room, the three friends rounded the corner to backstage, meeting the three other guys. The girls groaned inwardly as they noticed that Nick was now missing.

“Any signs of him yet?” Dulcia asked

The guys shook their heads, as Nick ran over to them, breathless.

“He’s on is way,” he told them, “It sounded like he’d still been asleep.”

Anger boiled in Dulcia’s veins. He’d forced them to get up early, to catch the first flight of the morning, direct to Detroit, and then he had the nerve to go and find a place to sleep himself.

Adonica could feel a pair of strong arms wrapping around her firmly from behind. She could immediately identify it as Rich, as he kissed her neck. She could feel sweat dripping off of him.

“Damn, you look good,” he whispered huskily in her ear.

Turning around, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him down for a kiss, and then looked into his eyes, and smiled at him. He was always complimenting her, even though half the time, she didn’t think that she deserved it. He always told her that she didn’t give herself enough credit.

“You too,” she replied.

Seconds later, Devin and Brad ran into the room together, scanning it, as if looking for something. Brad’s eyes spotted Dulcia and he grinned, jogging over to her, with Devin right behind him on his way to see Alaura.

“I’m so glad I caught you before you went on,” Devin told Alaura, scooping her up into his arms.

Brad took Dulcia into his arms, and she ate up the attention. She normally wasn’t one to fall for somebody, but there was something about Brad that was hard to resist. They were a lot alike and he seemed different from most guys that she had dated in the past…caring being the main attribute. She hoped that he didn’t do anything to ever betray her trust in him, and she trusted that he wouldn’t.

“Kevin still not here?” he asked her.

Dulcia shook her head, “Nope. Nowhere to be seen since about four or five. Apparently, he went somewhere to rest.” Anger flashed in her eyes for a split second, but then it was gone, “He’s going to pay for this later. Me and the girls are coming up with a plan.”

“Oh really,” Devin asked, a mischievous tone in his voice, “Care to let me in on this one?”

Dulcia gave him an evil grin, and paused, before saying, “Nope. But if you’re lucky, once we have all the details worked out, you and the rest of the guys can help us out. Maybe.”

He could see the wheels turning in Dulcia’s head, knowing that it was full of ideas, which he knew were all bad. He loved her creative imagination and the kinds of things that she thought up. He knew that her payback on Kevin, whatever it might be, would be good.

Devin looked over at Rich embracing Adonica still, and Rich looked over at him. Devin gave him a look that said to hurry up and tell his girl what they’d been discussing just hours before. Rich scowled, and shook his head, motioning with one hand for him to go away. Adonica pulled back slightly, and looked up at him, with a questioning look in her deep brown eyes.

“Everything all right?” she asked him.

Startled, Rich looked down at her, and smiled, “Of course,” he told her, “Perfect. Everything is perfect.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Damnit,” Kevin cursed, “Just MOVE. The speed limit is sixty five…not forty you old fuck.”

The person in front of Kevin continued to drive at his own leisurely pace, and he laid his hand on the horn, blaring it for the whole highway to hear. Traffic in the left lane whizzed past him, as he tried for the fifth time to get over and pass the guy. Nobody let him in though, and he soon gave up, wanting nothing more to rear-end the guy, and speed off, leaving him for the cops to deal with.

“Fucking learn to drive,” he screamed, knowing that his patients was wearing very thin at that moment, “Or get off the road. Take a cab. Anything…just get out of my way. NOW.”

A group of girls drove by him, and slowed down, to stay at a steady side-by-side pace with him. Traffic began to back up in both lanes, and blares came from all directions. But the car of females didn’t seem to even notice or care that they were causing problems. The driver honked, and Kevin looked over, seeing all five of them giggling and waving, blowing kisses in his direction.

“So much for dark tinted windows,” Kevin muttered under his breath.

He gave them a quick, short nod, as one of them scribbled something onto a piece of paper, and held it up for him to read. He took a quick glance at it, making out exactly what it said. His face flushed a new shade of crimson, slowing down even more, so that the girls would be forced to pass him by. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with a bunch of fans. All he cared about was getting to the show at the quickest moment possible. The three in the backseat turned around, and waved to him, as their small red Hyundai disappeared from view.

Checking his rear-view mirror, Kevin could see an opening forming and prepared to take action and switch lanes. The gap came, and he quickly swerved into the lane, flying past the old man who was hunched over the steering wheel. Guilt came over Kevin for being so impatient with the guy, but he was in a hurry like he’d never been in before. He saw his exit coming up, and switched back over in front of the guy, cutting him off by inches, but was soon too far ahead of him for it to count. He looked at the time, and panic seized him. It was nine forty. The show should have started almost an hour ago. How could he have been so stupid? He could have lived without the sleep. Now, he knew he was going to pay.

Before he knew it, Kevin was pulling into the amphitheater parking lot. He was stopped by security and forced to show ID to prove who he was before being let back to the parking lot that was meant for bands and crewmembers only. He quickly got out of his car, and ran backstage, meeting the group of ten. They all saw him coming, and didn’t look pleased with him at all. His cousin had a scowl on his face the size of the state of Kentucky, while the girls stood, their arms crossed, tapping one foot, looking as if they wanted to kill him.

“I know, I screwed up,” he said, before anybody could speak, changing into his stage clothes right there as quickly as possible. He pulled up the pair of pants, and buttoned them, slipped on his shoes, and jumped up, “Okay everybody, it’s show time.”

“We’ve got a lot to talk about,” A.J. said, shaking his head, and running out onto stage for the intro song, “The Call”

“We’ll discuss it later.” Kevin promised, as he turned on his headset microphone, and A.J. started singing the first lines.

The girls started to leave, to take their positions, when Rich stopped Adonica.

“Good luck,” he told her, giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

“Thanks,” she said, joining her friends before they missed their part.

“And Adonica,” he called after her.

She turned her head to see what he wanted. He hesitated a little, and she wondered what he had wanted. She gave him a look with much question in her eyes, and he opened his mouth to speak.

“I love you,” he yelled

“What?”

“I LOVE YOU,”

Adonica smiled, and mouthed, “I love you too” back to him, as Dulcia drug her away to the edge of where the stage began. They lined up, Alaura, Adonica and then Dulcia, and one by one, walked out onto the stage to the beat of the music. Once all out on stage, they moved in sync with one another, putting on the show of their lives. They all knew what they had to do to make it up to the fans for being so late. Adonica couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. Rich loved her. It was the best thing she’d heard in a long time, and the words had sounded like sweet, harmonious music to her ears.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After the show was over, the guys quickly ushered Kevin away, to speak to him, while the girls went into their dressing room to change and clean up. They all wondered what the guys were saying to the older man. Four against one didn’t give him much of a shot, even if he was a good six foot two and pure muscle. Dulcia started to laugh to herself, making her friends wonder what had happened.

“What?” Alaura asked.

Dulcia began to laugh harder at the thought of all that had gone on that night. Looking back on it, it was pretty funny.

“What?” Alaura and Adonica asked together this time.

“This will definitely be a show that none of us will forget,” she said, after her laughter had subsided.

“No, it certainly wont,” Alaura agreed.

Dulcia knew that it wouldn’t be either. She had a feeling that it would be a story that she could pass down for generations to come.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You look so beautiful tonight,” Rich told Adonica, reaching across the candle lit table for two to hold her hands.

Adonica blushed a little. After the show, Rich had taken her to a fancy restaurant across town called Mitchell’s, that was open well into the early hours of the morning. He’d managed to get the guys to let him take her out for the special occasion.

“You look pretty gorgeous yourself,” she said.

She looked around the extravagant place in awe. She’d never quite been to a place this nice. Being a dancer didn’t bring in the kind of money that most people thought that it did.

“So, why did you bring me here tonight?” she asked him, “I really appreciate it, but there has to be a reason.”

A wounded expression came upon Rich’s face. The smile that he’d been wearing all night faded into a frown.

“I can’t believe you forgot.” He said sadly, loosing his grip on her hands, but not letting go completely.

Adonica looked at him, totally confused, “Forgot what?” she asked, hoping that it was nothing important, but knowing by his reaction that it was.

“You forgot that it is our five month anniversary,” he told her, looking deep into her eyes.

“No, it’s not…our anniversary is on the sixteenth. It’s only the…” she counted in her head for a moment, and her face fell, “The sixteenth.” She finished off lamely, “I’m so sorry baby. Time has been getting away from me lately.” She offered him a small smile, “Do you forgive me?”

Rich tried to keep a straight face, but couldn’t. A smile broke out, as he gripped her hands tighter again, “You know that I can’t be mad at you. Of course I forgive ya. Just remember that when I forget one of our anniversaries.” He joked.

Adonica laughed softly as their waitress came to the table and set down their meals.

“Now, I want you to forget about your diet and enjoy yourself tonight, all right?” Rich told her, “What you eat isn’t even enough to feed a family of birds.

Adonica nodded, fully intending on finishing the meal. She knew that the menu was extremely pricey and didn’t want him to pay for her only having a few nibbles of salad and a bite of steak.

“I really can’t believe that we’ve been together for this long already,” she said, “It’s been the best months of my life. I really couldn’t ask for a better boyfriend than you. You’re perfect.”

“You are too,” he told her, “I’ve never met anybody quite so amazing as you are. How do you do it?”

Adonica shrugged, as her stomach felt as if it were about to explode. She forced herself to take another bite, as her body started to reject it. She wasn’t used to eating so much, and felt bad for her small appetite ruining the meal.

“You okay?” he asked her, seeing the expression of pain on her face. She looked up to see concern in his eyes.

“Yeah,” she said, “Just getting full. I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t have to eat any more if you don’t want to,” he told her, “Take the rest home for tomorrow or something. Besides, at least you had more than your measly half of a cup of soup.”

“Hey!” Adonica defended jokingly, “I like my soup…besides, my grandma just sent, like, two hundred new cans of it. I’m gonna be living off of the stuff for awhile, I suppose.”

Rich threw his head back and laughed. He had yet to meet her grandma, who Dulcia referred to as being evil and crazy. Alaura had no comments about the old woman, so nobody really knew what her opinions were on her. For all they knew, she loved her to death.

“So, I overheard Dulcia telling Brad that you guys are planning revenge on Kevin,” Rich said, a look of interest in his eyes.

Adonica looked shocked at the bit of information, not knowing what he was talking about.

“She hasn’t mentioned anything to me about it.” She said, “Probably talk about it tonight.” She shook her head, and rolled her eyes, “With her, who knows what her plan is. For all I know, she is just all talk.”

The waitress came back to the table minutes later, and set their check down on the table. Adonica snuck a peek at the bill and sucked in her breath at the price of it, but didn’t let her shock and disapproval show. Rich was always doing nice things for her, and didn’t like it when she protested. She’d learned to keep her mouth shut about it really quickly and just let him do what he wanted. He paid the bill, and they left the restaurant hand in hand. They’d survived another month together, and Adonica knew that they had many more months together to come.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kevin sat, feeling guilty and miserable for being so late to the show. He knew nothing he could say or do would help him out of the mess that he’d put himself in. The guys had cornered him and there was nothing that he could do to save himself.

“Ten years,” Brian finally said, “We’ve been touring for ten years, and you’ve never been so much as a second late. Then, the one time you are, its astronomical. Fifty minutes. And LFO had to go back out to perform many times just to keep the fans from leaving. There were small children out there staying up past their bedtime for us. Some of them probably had no choice but to leave.”

“I said I was sorry,” Kevin defended, “I was up until god knows when making business arrangements while everybody else was fast asleep.”

“Ah-ha, so you were sleeping,” Howie said, “One hour my ass. This isn’t going to look good, you know that, don’t you.”

Kevin looked up, and glared at his band mates. They’d been late hundreds of times, yet when he was, it was if a crime had been commited.

“Yes, I know that,” Kevin spat out, “Jeez. Lay off of it, okay?”

Dread filled Kevin’s stomach though. Howie was right. Their show starting so late wouldn’t look good on their reputation. If tabloids got a hold of the fact that he’d disappeared for several hours, who knew what kind of scandalous story they’d come up with. He couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid to leave. This was just an added stress to his already everyday hectic life. Nick could tell that Kevin was worrying and wanted to help get the other guys off of his back.

“Guys,” he said, “Give him a break. I’m sure it won’t happen again.”

“This coming from he who makes us late every other time,” A.J. joked, slapping Nick on the back playfully.

“I’ll try harder too,” Nick promised, fully intending to keep it this time. He just hoped that he could.

Kevin’s mind couldn’t help but wander to Adonica. He didn’t know why he was suddenly so attracted to her. He’d gone three years without noticing her as more than a friend, and now that she had Rich, he was jealous. But jealousy didn’t quite fit what he was feeling. It was more of a longing. He took in a deep breath, and sighed. He wished that things weren’t so complicated.

“What are you thinking about?” A.J. asked him.

“Adonica,” Kevin slipped, then cringed, “I mean…nothing.” He said, trying to cover up his slip.

“I told you so,” Nick triumphantly stated.

Kevin knew he couldn’t deny anything anymore. They’d caught him and there was nothing he could do about it. He offered them a weak, embarrassed smile, hoping that they wouldn’t razz him about it until the end of time.

“Woah,” Brian said, “I don’t think anybody saw that coming.”

“I did,” Nick spoke up.

“Nick, shut up,” A.J said, and then turned back to Kevin, “How long have you liked her?”

Kevin shrugged, “I don’t know. I guess for about four and a half months now. Pretty much ever since her and Rich hooked up.”

He felt miserable. All he wanted was a special someone he could share his life with, and the one person he wanted was taken. He’d waited too long to make his move all because he’d found his feelings too late.

“Adonica is happy with Rich,” Howie told him, “Try to be happy for her. If you notice, she’s been doing better on stage this year. Don’t ruin it for her, okay? Just keep your mouth shut.”

Kevin nodded, knowing that that was what he had to do, and it was what he intended on doing. He prayed that the task he had to take on would be as easy as he thought that it would be. If not, things could get ugly between him, Adonica and Rich really quickly. And if he messed up things between Adonica and Rich, he would have Dulcia to deal with, and that was the one thing that he didn’t want to have to mess with.