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I rode home in the limo completely depressed. Frank tried to ask me what was wrong about 30 times, but every time I snapped at him and told him that his job was to drive, not ask questions. Why did this admission of Nick’s bother me so much? Because, Jade, you really liked him, but you always knew that his girlfriend was going to keep you distant from each other, and this newly discovered lie just gives you a reason to accept it and move on.

Move on? Did I want to do that? No, but I had to. I lowered the partition and apologized to Frank for snapping at him. He told me that it was ok and he stopped so that I could ride up front with him. He asked me about what happened and I spilled my guts. I was touched by his concern, so I started to cry. I quickly got a hold of myself because we Carrolls do not cry for anything, crying just shows weakness. I remembered my father’s words clearly the day we lost our pet dog Chewy in a car accident.

Frank pulled up to the apartment building and let me out. I thanked him for helping me and getting me home safely. I watched him drive off as Johnny opened the door for me and escorted me to the elevator.

"There you go Ms. Carroll. Have a nice day." Johnny said as the doors closed. I tried to respond, but the elevator doors closed to fast. When I got upstairs, the girls rushed to me as soon as I got through the French Doors.

"Whoa, what happened?" I asked, very flustered.

"You got flowers! We’ve been waiting for you to find out who they’re from." Bianca pushed a bouquet of 23 yellow roses at me. "So, who are they from?"

"Probably Nick. Damn it! I told him to leave me alone!" I cried and went to the phone. I dialed his cell number as fast as I could. "Nick, why the hell are you sending me flowers after I told you to leave me alone?!"

"I didn’t send you flowers Jade. I don’t want to mess up the chance to have a friendship with you, so I didn’t want to contact you until you called me first." He explained.
"Whatever." I said into the phone and hung up on him. If they weren’t from Nick, who could they be from?

"What was that all about J?" Ames asked as I put down the phone. "Did you and Nick get into a fight?"

"Let’s just say that I really don’t want to talk about him right now. Our lunch didn’t go so well, and that’s all I’m going to say for now." I said. "Now, let’s find out who these flowers are from." I ripped open the card and read:

Jade – I’m so sorry about earlier. Please let me make it up to you. Meet me tonight outside of your building at 7:30 p.m. Thanks – Jordan.

"Jordan? Why would he want to meet with you?" Bianca asked as she read the note over my shoulder.

"I have no idea. I guess I have to though, I mean, he is technically my boss. Do you think that this is a formal occasion or informal?" I asked the girls.

"Probably informally formal," Savannah offered. We laughed at her suggestion and decided that it would probably be best if I dressed up a little more than usual, but not over the top. They all came to my rescue with clothes, make-up, and hair stuff.

Around 6:00 that night, I chose a simple black-strapless dress from Bianca’s closet, Savannah did my make-up in silver and black, and Ames curled my hair. I hoped that I didn’t look too over-done and expecting of a date. I mean, for goodness’ sake, I didn’t even like Jordan.

At exactly 7:27, the girls pushed me out the door and down the hallway to the elevator. When it opened, AJ stood in the door and whistled as I stepped inside. "Is that for Nick?" He asked me.

"Huh, yeah right. Nick and I are no longer on speaking terms, as of 2:00 this afternoon." I answered.

"Seriously? What happened?" He asked, sounding concerned.
"If he wants you to know, than he’ll tell you. It’s not my place to discuss Nick." I replied coldly.

"Jesus Jade, you don’t have to get an attitude with me. That’s probably what happened between you and Nick, huh? You got pissed and walked out before he could fully explain something." He interjected.

"How do you know AJ?" I screamed. "How is it, that everyone thinks that it’s my fault that Nick and I aren’t friends right now? For Christ’s sake we weren’t even dating!"

"Yeah, that’s true, but you’ve been more constant in his life than Kirsten has been lately. Honestly, he talks to you more than Kirsten. When they’re together, all she ever wants to do is have sex, and when he’s with you, he said that you’re a challenge because you have to be figured out. I’ve known Nick a long time Jade. Whatever it was that he did, it wasn’t in an attempt to hurt you, but probably in an attempt to save you from the life he lives." AJ explained.

"You mean as a Backstreet Boy? I’m not mad that he’s a Backstreet Boy, I’m mad that he didn’t tell me and that he wasn’t honest with me from the beginning." I said and leaned against the metal wall. Could this elevator be any slower? Honestly!

"That’s what he told you? And you’re mad? Most girls are freaking out at the chance to spend all of his money. Did it ever occur to you that maybe he didn’t want you to know because he wanted you to get to know him as Nick Carter, the person and not Nick Carter, the Backstreet Boy? He really likes you Jade. Don’t shut him out just because of something like that." AJ pleaded with me.

"Ok, well, than let me turn the tables. Does Bianca know that you’re a Backstreet Boy? What do you think she’s gonna do when she finds out that you are?" I cornered him.

"Probably freak out, but I’m willing to suffer the repercussions. Just like Nick is willing to do for you. But don’t string him along Jade. Don’t be mad at him just because you can’t get over yourself." AJ said. With that, the doors of the elevators opened and we walked out together. He walked over to Johnny and started talking to him as I reached the door and saw Jordan standing out front in a blue polo shirt and khaki pants. He saw me and smiled.

Has he always been this cute? Since this morning? I smiled back and he took my arm and led me to the awaiting limo. We both got inside and stared at each other.

Jordan broke the ice saying, "Jade, you look beautiful. Not that you don’t always, but tonight especially." I thanked him and looked out the window.

"What are we doing tonight Jordan? I mean, what is this whole thing all about?" I asked.

"Well, I’m taking you out to dinner to apologize for being such a dick earlier at the office. I didn’t mean to jump all over you about that phone call. How’s your grandmother by the way?" He asked and inched closer to me.

"She’s fine, she was always fine. There’s nothing wrong with my grandmother. I just made that up so that you would get off of my case about one silly phone call. It’s not like we were even in the middle of anything." I replied.

"I guess I got jealous." He said. I turned to him, completely stunned and said, "Excuse me? Jealous?"

"Jade, you’re gorgeous. I found you the greatest from the second I met you. You're a natural born leader and you have the wits of a whip. I’ve never been challenged the way you put me to shame earlier. I started forming a crush on you as soon as you walked through the door and then when you received that phone call, it sounded like you were talking to a boyfriend and I got jealous." He admitted.

"Wow, um, I don’t know whether I should be flattered or completely creeped out." I said.

"Don’t worry, it’s not like an obsession or anything, I just went into manager mode to hide my feelings for you. I just want you to be focused for the next 14 months and having a boyfriend is not the best way to do that." He said.

"So, you want me to date you instead? That makes a whole lot of sense." I replied sarcastically.

"Well, not date me, but at least give me a chance. Having someone with you, you’d never have to worry about infidelity or anything like that. Plus you’d always have a support system if things got crazy." He suggested.

"I don’t really know Jordan, I mean, dating my boss? That might be kind of weird. Especially seen from the other girls. They might think that I’m getting special treatment or something and I don’t want that to happen." I responded.

"Well, then I’ll let you decide. How about we find out if there’s any chemistry between the two of us before decided right away?" He looked at me and inched closer. I don’t know why, but I didn’t move away. I allowed his lips to get closer to me and eventually I felt myself succumbing to his tender lips.

We kissed for about 10 seconds, before he reached up and took my face in his hands. He pushed his tongue through my lips and deepened the kiss. I moaned against his mouth as we both moved closer and pushed our mouths together. God, he was such a good kisser. We broke the kiss and he looked at me expectantly. I smiled at him, but moved away. This was just way too much for me.

What am I going to do?