AJ’s Point of View

Today was a busy day for me. I had a radio interview, photo shoot, and concert. There would hardly be any time to spend with Eden. Fuck my life. All I wanted to do was spend the day with my daughter hanging out. She probably wouldn’t want to hang out with me anyway. It sucked having your daughter hate you.

Just as I stepped out of the shower I heard a knock at the door. I found a towel and wrapped it around my waist. I padded to the door and opened it. Quickly I closed it again. I took a deep breath and counted to ten. This time I opened the door and walked away.

“Well that’s a nice, welcoming reception.” Leah replied indifferently. She entered the room with her usual frosty attitude.

“I think you’ve got the wrong room. Brian’s room is three doors down.” I leaned against the wall. It was her favorite position to see me in. She gave me a quick glance; her eyes penetrating my soul. Damn her, I hated her so much, but my body betrayed me. I just wanted to fuck her.

“I’m not here for Brian. We need to figure out what’s troubling Eden.” Leah sat down on the bed.

“Let me change and we can go down for breakfast and talk.” I grabbed my clothes and started to dress.

“Can’t you do that in the bathroom?”

“You’ve never minded before.” I grumbled and took my clothes to the bathroom. I loved pissing Leah off, but today I didn’t want to deal with her wrath.

A few minutes later I was dressed and ready to go. We headed down to the hotel restaurant. We both got some coffee and were sitting without saying a word. It was typical for us. If we weren’t fighting, then we weren’t talking.

“Why did you feel the need to come to Germany?” I asked.

“Because you would never find out what is wrong with our daughter.”

“That’s not true.” I raised my voice. Leah just stared at me for a moment.

“Brian said that you barely talk to Eden. He said all you do is fight.” Damn she looked good. Her shoulder length hair was perfectly tousled. Her dark eyes were brooding with fire and ice. Man, did I want what I couldn’t have.

“We don’t fight all the time.”

“Brian told me about the argument you had with her after our conversation. He said she was visibly upset especially after she heard your fight with him.”

“Enough about Brian.” I grabbed her wrist. “Just because he fucks you at night doesn’t give him the right to tell me how to be a father.” She pulled her hand out of my grasp.

“He’s been more of a father to Eden than you have.” Leah hissed. “I can’t help it your jealous of my relationship with Brian.”

“I’m not jealous of Brian. I feel sorry for him. He must like being the third Backstreet Boy to stick his dick in you.” It was a low blow, but I couldn’t help it. Leah pissed me off. She looked at me in surprise. Her eyes flickered with hate and then a trace of sadness. “Remember I’ll always be your first Backstreet fuck.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” Her voice faltered a little as she got the words out. She thought I didn’t know about her and Nick. I knew I got her. Score one point for AJ McLean. It was cruel, but I didn’t care.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” Her face paled. She could pretend all she wanted, I knew the truth.

“My love life is none of your business. Let’s get back to our daughter.”

“Did I hit a sore spot?” I laughed until I saw daggers shoot from her eyes. “I asked her about it, but she wouldn’t talk to me.”

“I’m just trying to understand it. She’s usually so levelheaded. This isn’t like her.” Her voice was filled with worry.

“Maybe we should talk to her together. Honestly, I don’t think she took that picture while she’s been here.”

“That worries me even more.” She sipped her coffee, while I played with my spoon. Neither of us knew what to do in this situation. Eden has always been the good girl. She got good grades and had more common sense then two of us combined. She never got into any trouble.

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Leah and I waited for Eden to come back from babysitting Howie’s daughter Amelia. It was the longest hour of my life. Neither of us was talking. The silence was killing me.  Finally the door opened and Eden walked in.

“Mom!”She ran over to Leah. “What are you doing here?”

“Eden, I’ve missed you so much. I came here to see you.” Leah hugged her mother. I felt a pang of jealously. Eden was never this happy to see me.

“Mom, I thought you were busy planning the wedding.”

“Baby, I can plan it from anywhere. Your dad and I need to talk to you.”

“Umm…okay. About what?” Eden sat on the couch in the living room of the suite.

“I saw the picture you posted on Twitter.”

“Oh.” Eden’s face didn’t show any emotions.  I wonder what she was thinking.

“Can you tell us about the photo?” I asked gently. I made a promise to myself to not freak out. I would remain cool, calm, and collected,

“It’s not what you think.” She answered quickly. It was a little to quick in my book. She was trying to hide something.

“Eden, don’t be afraid to tell us. We’re just concerned about you. That picture was in appropriate.” Leah looked at her daughter.

“Mom, it was taken a few weeks ago. Sierra, Maddy,  Arria, and I were bored.” She took a breath. “We decided to make ourselves up like superstars. I decided to be Britney Spears in Baby One More Time. We took some photos. I posted it on Twitter as a joke.” Eden stayed composed the whole time she told her story. Something wasn’t jiving with this story.

“Eden, you have to watch posting pictures like that. People are going to say things about you that aren’t true.” Leah explained to our daughter. “Boys might get ideas in their heads and try to take advantage of you.”

“I’m sorry mom and dad. I didn’t think about it. What’s my punishment?”

“Just take down the photo.” I told her.

“Okay. I’ll go do that now.” She stood up and went to her room.

“She’s not telling the truth.” I told Leah.

“Why would she lie? I believe her.” She gave me a disgusted look. We both knew Eden was a good girl, but my gut feeling was that she was lying.

“I don’t know, but her story doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Whatever AJ. I think you like to make things bigger than what they are.”

“That’s not true. You were the one that was so worried you flew to Germany. You could have asked her that on the phone. What’s the real reason you are here?”

“I’m here for my daughter which is more than I can say for you.” She got up. “I’ll be back later. I need some time away from you.” With that she left the suite.