Nick’s eyes widened as soon as he heard her voice from behind him and he saw her reflection in the mirror. Savannah sat behind him. She was wearing a blonde wig and when Nick turned around she took it off, still smiling at him. Nick felt his heart speed up, he froze in place. He couldn’t say anything.
“Surprised to see me here, aren’t you? I thought that I would come by and visit.”
“How...how did you…”
“How did I get in? It isn’t hard to get into one of your events when your brother works at the club. He’s a bartender.”
Nick made a mental note to tell Amanda to fire Jared immediately. Nick knew the bartender who worked five days a week, he was very friendly but never mentioned his sister.
“You can’t be in here.” Nick said, moving away as she got close to his face. She was wearing some kind of perfume that was suffocating him. He could feel himself freezing up, his anxiety kicking in. He had to think of something to get away….
“I can and I am. We have unfinished business.” Savannah whispered into his ear, he pushed her off and gave her a look of disgust. He wondered where everyone was and why nobody had come by the dressing room yet, why nobody checked to see where he was. Where was Mike? He didn’t dare call for help, he could handle a woman.
He was wrong. He knew he couldn’t and he felt completely helpless.
“Savannah, I’m married. I told you so many times,s but you don’t get it. I do not want you. I was trying to help you with your music. Please don’t throw your career away over this. You have a lot of talent.” Nick said. He hoped that if he distracted her by talking that he could stall long enough for Mike to get there and throw her out. He took out his phone to text Mike but Savannah hit it out of his hand and he dropped it. Savannah pushed him away from the phone, laughing at how desperate he was to reach it on the floor.
“Nick, you cannot deny we have chemistry. Give me a chance.”
“I’m married. I have a family and children. I am happy and in love. I’m not throwing it away for you.”
Savannah’s eyes got dark, if she could breathe fire Nick knew he’d have been burnt to a crisp by now. She moved closer, grabbed his neck despite him trying to push her away and shoved her mouth onto his. He was coaching himself to push her again but he froze, unable to do anything. Her tongue just barely got into his mouth before she was suddenly yanked away. Nick coughed, staring in stunned silence as he saw Mike and Amanda standing in the doorway of the dressing room. Amanda held a chunk of Savannah’s long hair in her hand, looking angry.
“GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF MY HUSBAND!!” Amanda shouted. She slapped her across the face and shoved her towards Mike. Nick was too stunned to say anything, he just kept watching. Savannah grabbed Amanda, throwing her down and they started fighting.
“DO NOT HIT ME, YOU BITCH!” Savannah yelled, pulling Amanda’s hair to get her off of her. Amanda had her pinned down and was shaking her.
“Amanda, stop!!” Nick shouted, trying to see if he could separate them. Amanda was clearly winning the fight, she got a few hits in, drawing blood from Savannah’s lip. Savannah was not that strong but Amanda could defend herself. Mike picked Savannah up and carried her out as she kicked and screamed.
“Nick, are you okay baby?” Amanda asked when Nick helped her up. Her hair was a mess, she’d broken a heel on one of her shoes and she had a swollen lip but otherwise she was fine.
“I….I’m fine…” he said softly, still reeling from the whole thing. He felt weak and humiliated that he couldn’t protect himself once again from a woman. He kept thinking about when Katie had punched him and gave him a black eye, when his mother abused him. Enough was enough.
“We heard noise from your dressing room. Are you sure you’re okay? Mike took off running so I followed him.”
“I’m so sorry….”
“Sweetheart, don’t apologize. She was after you. You have a right to be upset. Are you sure you’re okay?”
NIck hugged her, knowing her lip was bruised so he didn’t kiss her. He kissed her cheek instead.
“Baby, I’m fine. I guess I had a right to be paranoid after all. I had this feeling she was here all night.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. I am just glad nothing happened. We need a restraining order on her. What if she comes after you again and hurts you? She only kissed you this time but what about the next time? Or the time after that?” Amanda asked fearfully as Nick helped her out to the car.
“I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry. You need to rest, it’s your birthday tomorrow.”
They went home and lay in each other’s arms until they fell asleep. Nick fell asleep well after she did because he had too much on his mind especially about Savannah and the birthday party the next day. The whole incident scared him and also made him feel helpless at the same time. If he couldn’t handle a woman, how would he protect his wife? They were married and he didn’t feel like he could protect his family or even Amanda, something he’d been thinking about ever since his mother had kidnapped Celine. Nick knew he couldn’t be afraid of women his whole life. His child abuse was still leaving an impression despite all the therapy he’d done as a teenager and it scared him. He was abused by Katie. Abused now by Savannah. It was humiliating and he felt like a failure. He felt weak and helpless. There had to be something he could do. But what?
The next morning, Lisa took Amanda out to get her hair and nails done while Nick made final preparations with Amanda’s birthday party that night at the club. He was a nervous wreck especially from the night before. Brian had taken the day off to help out and so did AJ. Nick’s father was home with the babies and Aaron so everything was taken care of. He, Brian and AJ spent a good amount of the morning at the club setting things up until the New Kids On The Block arrived to go through everything that they would be doing.
“Hey, Donnie. Good to see you.” Nick said warmly as they walked in the room. Joey, Jon, Danny and Jordan trailed behind him, some of them with coffee cups.
“Are these your friends?” Donnie asked. Nick laughed as Brian went pink in the ears. Since Nick became a celebrity, Brian wasn’t really used to many famous people being around, other than JC Chasez. Nick kept his two lives pretty separate. AJ shook hands with the members of the group and they all exchanged hellos. He seemed a bit more comfortable.
“Yes, they are my best friends actually. They’re helping me set up the party today.” Nick explained.
“Nice tats, where did you get them done?” Donnie asked AJ when they shook hands.
“I actually own a shop downtown and I am a tattoo artist. I did the ones on Nick’s arm and back.”
Nick smiled and showed them his arm, showing off his newest one on his wrist...a skull and crossbones that read “old habits die hard”. He had gotten it to cover Katie’s name that he had gotten during their brief time together. One of the things he had regretted and was thankful AJ could help him out with it.
“Nice, I’ll have to get your number later.” Donnie said, and AJ smiled. Nick was happy to see everyone getting along.
“So did you ever choose a song for us to sing to your wife?” Joey McIntyre asked, and Nick suddenly remembered he’d forgotten to choose the song for them to serenade her. He knew they’d sing her Happy Birthday but he also had something else in mind and he knew that it was the perfect song.
Tonight was going to be a perfect night and he was going to make sure of it.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks so much for reading if you're still reading. I'm getting very close to complete the series. Please let me know what you think!!
