Chapter 9

    Nick woke with a start, sitting up so fast, his heart was beating a million miles a minute. As sweat rolled down his brow, he wiped it quickly with the back of a shaking hand. The images of crushed steel, rain and death still haunted his dreams and although he knew he should be used to it by now, his heart still ached at the memory of finding Faith amidst the twisted metal.

He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. What he’d give to stay in his room for the rest of his life, no outside world, no responsibilities, no meetings, no…

He stopped himself before he went down that slippery self-destructive slope. It had been two years without Faith but it was also two wonderful years of watching Matty grow before his eyes, walking, talking, charming the pants off everyone they met.

He wouldn’t trade those years for the world.

Nick took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Matty would be up soon and he needed to be ‘Fun Dad’ first.

He turned to the alarm clock by his bed and was surprised when it read 8 o’clock. Matty was normally up earlier than this. He usually heard him wake up as well, through the baby monitor.

For the second time that morning, his heart went into overdrive as he turned to the baby monitor and saw Matty’s crib empty.

Pulling up the pajama bottoms he abandoned during the night, he rushed to Matty’s room. “Matty?” He looked through every corner, through the bathroom and nothing.

Rushing out, he noted that the baby gate wasn’t even open so either Damon picked Matty up early or… “Matty! Damon! Where the fuck are you?”

Every other room on the floor was closed, even Tasha’s. Barefoot, he ran down the stairs and grabbed a cordless phone from its stand. Pushing 1 on speed dial for the security office, he was ready to rip someone a new one when he heard laughter coming from the kitchen.

Confused, and possibly still high on adrenalin, he walked over to the kitchen gingerly, and was greeted with squeals of baby laughter.

“Oh my, such a big nose for Mickey!” He heard Tasha’s laughter before he even saw her. “What about a mouth? He can’t talk without a mouth, Matty!”

Nick didn’t catch what Matty said but that was fine because he saw his son sitting comfortably by the kitchen table atop his booster seat. He exhaled the breath he didn’t even know he was holding and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Hey, Sleepy, you’ll be late for your eight thirty with Kevin and Mike,” Damon said from behind him, handing him his usual cup of black coffee. “Long night?”

Nick took a sip and slowly felt like himself again. “You have no idea.”

Matty turned at the sound of his father’s voice. Upon seeing Nick, he raised both his arms in excitement. “Daddy!”

Nick couldn’t help but smile at his son’s enthusiasm. Every morning, when Matty woke up, he never cried…at least not unless he was sick. He always woke up laughing. And Nick didn’t know what he did to deserve such a happy undemanding child.

“You snuck out of your room, baby.” Nick said with a laugh as he picked up Matty from his seat. “You had Daddy worried a little bit.”

“I pancays, Daddy! Tash and Mickey and ewws.”

“I see. Mickey with ears, eh? Are Mickey’s ears bigger than yours? Because yours are massive.”

“I ewws like you, Daddy. And stawbew nose!” With that, Matty squeezed Nick’s nose as if to make a point.

“Ow. My nose is real Matty, not strawberry.” He pulled on his son’s small nose. “Your nose is a strawberry.”

Matty giggled.

Nick turned to Tasha, who was watching their exchange with amusement. “Good morning, Tasha.”

She gave him a slow smile. “Morning. Sorry about kidnapping Matty. I heard him awake when I was coming down and thought we’d give you a chance to sleep in. I left you a note on your door.”

Nick shook his head. Of course she left a note on the door. In his panic, he didn’t even notice. “The door. Of course. I didn’t even check.”

Tasha stood up. “Pancakes? I saved Minnie for you.” She lifted a plate with a very close replica of a Minnie Mouse pancake on it. “Damon’s been eying it but I give a pretty good stink eye. I think he was scared.”

Damon snorted as he sat next to Tasha. “Scared of you, tiny thing? I was being a gentleman.” And he nodded to Nick. “And I’m pretty sure Mr. Health Nut over there isn’t going to touch that. I’ll just be biding my time.”

Nick sat across from Tasha with Matty on his lap and grabbed her offered plate. “Stay away from my pancakes, D. Clearly, it’s all mine.”

“Daddy get Minnie! I stwawbew?”

“Matty, look, I got you more strawberries!” Tasha said happily, trying to distract the little boy from finishing his father’s breakfast. “And blueberries!”

Matty promptly raised his arms in excitement over new fruit and let himself be moved from Nick’s lap to his booster seat.

Nick couldn’t help but laugh. “I see the favourites have changed overnight. Fruits first, daddy second.”

“I fruit monster!” Matty shouted. “Rawr!” He chose that moment to pop two blueberries in his mouth and chew triumphantly. “Bewwies in mah belly!”

Nick leaned back and shook his head as the rest of Matty’s audience laughed at his antics. Crazy kid.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Tasha pushed a small jar in front of him. “Try the pancakes with this. I couldn’t find syrup so I made compote.”

Nick blinked in surprise. “You MADE compote? Today?” He glanced at the wall clock. “It’s only eight.”

“She was down here at six.” Damon volunteered with a nod. “With Matty. And made compote. And pancakes. And cleaned the kitchen spotless.”

“Ah ah. Don’t forget freshly squeezed orange juice.” Tasha grinned at Damon before turning to Nick. “There’s some in the fridge too, if you want.”

He couldn’t help it. His mouth dropped open. “How in the H-E-L-L did you do that? I couldn’t even get Matty to sit still for five minutes and you get him to behave for two hours? You must have some magic juju on you, Tash.”

A part of him enjoyed her blushing. “Oh Matty was well behaved. We were talking the whole time, weren’t we, Matty?”

Matty nodded and turned to his father, a serious look on his face. “Matty smart. Tash pretty. Pancays yummy.” His eyes widened with mischief. “In mah BELLY!” he shouted with glee in his monster voice.

Nick was still shaking his head and regarded Tasha with a grateful smile. “You are quite possibly the best houseguest we’ve ever had. I don’t think you should ever leave.”

“And you, Carter, are the worst dressed host in the history of the world,” a voice from behind him laughed. “Put some clothes on, will you?”

Leigh Dorough, Howie’s better half, walked in the kitchen, looking efficient, and frankly, ready to do battle. With her iPad in one arm and James in another, the brightness of her sundress belied the fact that she was a woman on a mission...and on a schedule.

She put down her three-year-old on the seat next to Matty. “Please tell me you’re not running on Backstreet time, Nick.”

Nick was smart enough to take a big bite of his pancake while shaking his head.

“Good because Kevin is on his way here with Mike and he’s always at least five minutes early. Better eat quick and shower. You have fifteen minutes.”

Nick was trying not to eat his food too fast and savour but sometimes Leigh inspired the fear of God in him so much that he just wanted to do what she said, no questions. He gestured to both women, hoping they understood that he was doing introductions in spite of the fact that he was soon going to choke on half a strawberry Minnie Mouse nose.

He was glad Leigh understood Nick-speak. Leigh turned to Tasha. “You must be Tasha. Hi, I’m Leigh,” she said, offering her hand. “You have no idea how excited I am to meet you. We’ve all been curious about this wonderful talent who’s got our Nicky inspired again.”

Tasha’s cheeks flushed pink for the second time that morning. Someone strike him dead if he didn’t think Tasha’s embarrassment was adorable. “Oh the pleasure is all mine, Leigh. Damon tells me you’re the one who actually runs the show around here. I’ve heard only good things.”

Matty shook his head at Nick as he downed his coffee to help keep the choking from happening. “Daddy, chew. Or tummy ache.”

“Damon never lies,” Leigh laughed. “So whatever he told you was true.”

Nick stood up quickly as soon as he was sure all his food went down his gullet. “I’m getting my show on the road. Tash, you’re in good hands with Leigh. I’ll see you at the photo shoot.” He dropped a quick kiss on Matty’s forehead, and turned to Leigh. “Be good. No crazy makeovers, okay? Tasha looks pretty perfect right now.”

“You have your job and I have mine, Nicky.” She pushed him away. “Fourteen minutes and counting. Go, ya bum.”

With a grin he ran off and took the quickest shower known to man. He made it to the main building, freshly changed into jeans and a t-shirt just as Kevin’s SUV was pulling into the driveway.

To anyone who remembered Kevin Richardson as a part of a boyband back in the day will see no trace of that in his demeanor now. He was all business, dressed in a dark suit and sunglasses. It didn’t matter that it was a sweltering Saturday morning in Malibu. He was always dressed like he was running the most successful record company in the world.

He was, after all, the CEO of Millennium Records.

“Morning, Kev. Where’s Mike?” Nick asked, closing the door to his office as soon as Kevin walked in.

Kevin motioned to the car. “He’s finishing up a phone call. We can start without him. I needed a word with you anyway. Can we chat for a few minutes?”

“Sure. About my note last night?” Nick asked as he sat down behind his desk.

“Yes.”

Nick leaned back on his seat and waited.

Kevin looked confused. “I didn’t understand your email. You want me to SIGN Tasha this morning? Before tonight’s competition? Isn’t that the whole purpose of the showcase? To find someone to sign?”

“No, I want to give you the option to sign Tasha first, before anyone else hears her sing.” Nick kept his expression guarded, his face not giving Kevin any clue as to where he was going with this proposal. “We both know our guys from Universal, Warner and Sony are going to be in attendance tonight. Our standing as the biggest fish among the big four will seriously be jeopardized if someone else signs her.”

Kevin shook his head. “Nick, come on. Tasha’s no Adele. I’ve seen her tapes, I’ve seen her on YouTube. She’s original, yes, but not so original as to inspire a musical revolution.” Kevin leaned forward. “And besides, have you seen Brian’s guy? A country music genius. At 15!” With that he shook his head. “So no deal.”

Nick nodded. “Are you absolutely positive? Because I haven’t even begun working with her. Her potential…” Nick shrugged. “As long as you’re sure.”

“What’s going on, Nick?” This whole conversation wasn’t feeling right to Kevin. “Why do I feel like you’re deliberately setting me up for something? It’s easier just to tell me, you know.”

He shrugged and grinned almost evilly. “Kev, nothing is going on. I just wanted to make sure the label got first dibs. I mean, really. We both know whoever wins tonight is going to change the industry. I’m just making sure you have the option to make the right decision. I am, after all, the best ear in the industry.”

Kevin laughed. “That’s cold, Nick. We both know insulting me AND bragging about your so-called ‘ear’ is not going to make me change my mind.”

There was an unmistakable twinkle in Nick’s eyes. “Kev, come on, we both know that your talent is business. MY talent is finding talent. Whoever Brian, Howie or AJ have,” Nick shook his head. “They don’t stand a chance.”

“Nick,” Kevin chose to tread lightly. “You’ve been out of the talent game for two years. Brian’s been picking up where you left off. And he’s gotten good. No offence, but if you’re not busy producing B-sides for lesser known artists, you’re busy watching Sesame Street with Matty. That doesn’t necessarily inspire trust in your ‘ear.’”

Nick hoped his poker face didn’t give his growing anger away. “How about a wager, then? If you’re right about Tasha and she doesn’t win tonight, you can forget about paying rent at the studios for a year. I’ll even throw in free accommodations at the Artist House.”

Kevin was always a sucker for free things. “And if you’re right?”

“If I’m right and Tasha wins tonight, you double the prize money and instead of a two album deal, I want three, including a nationwide tour for her first album release.”

Kevin was already shaking his head. “You know you’re going to lose, Nick. Don’t waste your potential income for the Compound by betting against me.”

“Do we have a deal?” Nick raised one of his eyebrows. “Don’t be chicken, Kev. Are you chicken?” He started making squawking noises, to Kevin’s obvious annoyance. This was too easy. Nick held out his hand.

“Okay, OKAY.” Kevin grudgingly shook the other man’s hand. “Deal. But Nick, you know I don’t make bets I can’t win. So enjoy not having income for the next year.”

Nick let Kevin enjoy this brief feeling of cockiness as Mike, the boys’ lead investigator, walked into the room. Like Damon, Mike was a giant at six foot five and was formerly the head of the Backstreet Boys’ security team. Now, he worked at the Compound as Nick’s co-head of security and the label’s lead investigator. They were meeting this morning to go over security requirements for tonight’s party as well as the dossier of guests who had special security requests.

Kevin was nothing if not hands on. This party was the biggest one they throw every year and he wasn’t leaving the details to chance. Not even the efficiency of Leigh Dorough offered comfort.

“Sorry I’m late.” Mike said as he dropped a sealed Manila envelope on Nick’s desk. “That’s the background check you requested, Nick. And that video you were looking for? It’s in there.”

Nick looked at the envelope with renewed interest. After his conversation with Tasha last night, he made a call to Mike and requested an expedited check and some forensic online research for Tasha’s “sex tape”. And Mike just pulled through in a big way.

He shouldn’t watch the video. He shouldn’t even want to. Tasha would hate him if he did.

But damn if he wasn’t dying to.