"Shouldn’t we be asking you that, Jade? Seems to me that you’re holding out on us all." Bianca supplied.
"Well, Nick and I … we’re together … I guess." I said and glanced quickly at Jordan. He raised his eyebrows and got up from the couch.
"You guess?" Was all he said. "All that kissing is just an, I guess? How would he feel if we told him that that’s what you said?" Jordan fired at me.
"Excuse me, Jordan, but you seem to have mistaken me for a lap dog. Not only do I not have to explain myself to you, but I have my girls here to back me up on the pig you are." I shot back.
"That’s not what you said last night, sweet thing." He said and got really close to my face.
"Oh really? When I was trying to tell you that I was going to tell my friends about the secret relationship you wanted to have, or the part where I turned you down after asking me out again?" I said and faced him so that I was square to him.
"You are crazy. How about when you were practically sitting in my lap making out with me?" He interjected.
"Or when she was asking you to stop? Jordan, you’re no longer welcome in this apartment, please leave. And if you don’t I’ll call Tess so fast you won’t even remember having a job with her firm." Savannah stood up and said. I was amazed that Vannah was sticking up for me like that.
"You’re going to be sorry for this girls, all of you will be sorry. I was the best thing that ever happened to any of you." He said.
"Jordan, get the fuck over yourself. We haven’t even done anything important yet. Shut the hell up and get your ass out of our house." Bianca said and practically shoved him out the door.
"Wow, that certainly was interesting. I really am going to get in touch with Tess though and tell her everything that’s happened." I said and picked up the phone. I dialed her cell phone number and laid everything on the line for her. I told her about the meeting with Jordan, of which she had had no prior knowledge, and how he came to the house and yelled at me, and my newly forming relationship with Backstreet Boy Nick Carter.
"Darling, you’re just going to have to calm down. Honestly, everything will be alright. You need to trust me. I’ll get rid of Jordan this instant and by morning, you’ll have a new manager. Have a good night dear and tell all of the girls that we’ll have a meeting at 9:00 tomorrow morning to deal with Jordan." Tess’s British accent flowed over the phone.
I hung up the phone and filled the girls in on my conversation with Tess. "So, Jade, tell us what happened with Nick!" Bianca squealed.
I told them about going to dinner, about Kirsten, and about kissing him.
"And it wasn’t the rough, sexual monster kissing, you know? It was slow, and sweet, and soft, and sensual. It was so many things. I can’t even put the feeling into words." I said.
"Jade, it’s been a long time since you’ve had a boyfriend, hasn’t it?" Savannah asked.
"Yeah, about 2 years. Landon was the last boyfriend I had." I said.
"The creep who took your virginity and ran?" Savannah questioned.
"Yeah. I don’t really wanna talk about it because it was very painful and I’m looking forward to all of the new beginnings that I’ve made over the past few years. Girls, I know that it’s still early, but I’m going to go to bed. I’m exhausted." I said and yawned to prove my point.
"Yeah, I guess that’s what a night full of kissing will do to you." Ames teased and I threw a couch pillow at her. I walked into my room and changed into my pajamas and fell into bed and into a wonderful land of dreams.
I woke up the next morning to the sound of an alarm that I didn’t remember setting. I rolled over to turn it off and to look at the time. I saw that it was 7:45 a.m. and next to my clock was a single lavender rose and a note. The writing on the note was really small, but I did my best to read it.
"Good morning Jade – I had the best time last night. I couldn’t sleep because I kept thinking of your lips on mine. I stayed up all night researching what the different rose colors meant and then got up this morning and found the perfect lavender rose for you. In case you didn’t know, Lavender is the color of Enchantment and Love at First Sight. That is how I feel with you Jade. You enchant me and have taken over my dreams. Please get dressed and join me for breakfast. – Nick"
By the time I had finished reading the note, I was tearing up and a single tear had fallen down my face. I looked out my window to see that it was sprinkling lightly.
"I love the rain." I said aloud to myself. I got dressed in a pair of jeans and a pink shirt and threw on my red and white track jacket. I walked out of my room and saw Nick standing in the living room looking at our DVD collection. The entire room was lit by candles and the aroma of pancakes and chocolate filled the air.
Nick turned and saw me. His face lit up the room brighter than any candle would have done. I practically ran to him and he embraced me in a hug. He kissed the top of my head and said, "I’ve missed you."
"Nick, I dreamt about you all night long." I said and looked up at him. He smiled at me again and then leaned in for a short, sweet kiss.
Nick’s POV
The feeling I got from kissing her scared me. It was so strong, and so mutual, and so … real. I have never felt something so beautiful in my entire life.
"Jade, you take my breath away." I said with every bit of honesty flowing from my body. "I made you breakfast. I called to talk to you last night, but Amethyst said that you were already asleep. So, I asked her what your favorite breakfast was and if I could come over and make it for you. She let me in this morning and went back to sleep." I said.
"Oh Nick, this is amazing." She said. I led her over to the table and sat her down across from me. I placed a plate of three pancakes in front her.
"I hope three’s not too many." I said.
"No, it’s fine. I LOVE chocolate chip pancakes! I can’t believe Ames remembered, I haven’t had them in SO long." She said and began to dig into them.
"So, what’s your schedule like today?" I asked. She even made eating look sexy.
She wiped away a piece of chocolate from her lips and said, "Well, Tess had to fire Jordan, so we have a meeting at 9:00 this morning to meet with our new manager."
"Oh wow. Why did you have to fire Jordan?" I asked.
"Well, it’s kind of a long story." She said and brushed her bangs out of her face. "You know that date we went on the other night? Well, he came over last night to throw it in my face and use it as a way to get the girls to go against me. He basically called me a whore and Savannah told him to leave." She informed me.
"Are you serious? I can’t wait to get my hands on that bastard!" I said, almost yelling. Then I remembered that there were three other girls asleep.
"No, it’s ok. I don’t think he’ll ever be coming around here again. Or anywhere near us for that matter." She said and finished her pancakes.
"Wow, first a hamburger, and now chocolate chip pancakes. And who says models don’t eat!" I laughed. I cleared our plates and began washing them in the sink and then put them in the dishwasher.
"Wow, first making breakfast, and then cleaning it up. Who says men weren’t made to stay home!" She laughed. She was always so cute when she laughed like that.
"Well, it’s only 8:15. Do you want to take a quick walk?" I asked her.
"I’d love to, especially if it’s still raining. I love the rain." She said and smiled. "Let me go wake up the girls first. We have to be back in 10 minutes."
"Alrighty." I said and waited for her to awake all of the girls.
"Ok, let’s go." She said.
I took her hand and used my thumb to caress the top. She was just so beautiful. I leaned over and kissed her forehead.
When we got outside, the sky was clearing up a little, but the rain was still falling lightly. "So Nick, what is your schedule like today?" She asked.
"Well, right now, I’m enjoying the company of my beautiful girlfriend, and then I have some press stuff and then the rest of the guys are coming into town." I said.
"OOH! Do I get to meet them? Please Nick?" She asked and got so excited.
"If you want to. Kevin might not like you though. He never likes any of my girlfriends." I said and squeezed her hand tighter.
"No way. He’ll love me. I’m different from all of the others." She said confidently and looked up at me through her bangs.
We turned around and started walking back to our building. "You know what, you’re probably right." I said and we kept walking. By the time we got back to the building, it was time for Jade to go and her limo was already waiting for her. I gave her a quick kiss good-bye, said a thank you to Ames and then said hi to Bianca and Savannah.
I watched the limo drive away and then felt a hand on my shoulder. "Hey man. Where have you been?" I heard AJ ask.
"I’ve been with the woman I’ve always dreamed of." I said and we walked back into the building.
Jade’s POV
"Good morning ladies." Tess said as we walked into her office.
"Hey Tess. How’s it going?" We all said in unison.
"Wow, you’re almost like, the spice girls, well, except that you don’t sing and you’re not British. Oh yeah, and there’s only four of you." She laughed. We all laughed as well. "Well girls, I’ll have you know that I got rid of Jordan as soon as you called me and he tried to turn it back on you all. Of course, I believe each of you before I even imagined believing him. So, I’ve found you another manager, however, I interviewed her myself and made sure that she’s in it for the right reasons."
We all nodded our heads. "She is very highly qualified to take you over, and she’s already set up publicity stuff for you guys. Like tomorrow, you have an interview with ‘Z-100’s Rayne and Mischa in the morning’. The interview will be live and callers will be able to call in and ask you questions. And she’s set up some photo shoots for you. Let’s meet her. She should be here by now."
The doors opened and I couldn’t believe my eyes. "Ladies, please meet your new manager, Kirsten Taylor."
"Hey girls. I heard about this wonderful thing you’re doing for the girls with low self-esteem and I thought ‘This is the perfect job to work on’. Jade, I hope you don’t mind." Wow. Was this the same Kirsten that used to date Nick? The sex-fiend? The crazy, jealous bitch? What had gotten into her?
"Um, yeah, wow. I can’t believe you wanted to work with us." I said.
"Hey girls, I’m Kirsten. I know your faces on paper, but it’s so nice to meet you in person." She said and hugged Bianca, Ames, and Savannah. "I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve already drawn up an itinerary for the first 3 months of the tour. I called the venues, booked the schools and made up fliers for the people who are going to be attending these seminars." She said excitedly.
"Wow, you’ve done more in one night than Jordan did in the 5 days he was with us." Ames said. "And she’s energetic guys, and she’s a girl! She’ll understand our mood-swings and she won’t try to get into our pants! This is great!" Ames was so excited.
"Try to get down your pants? What do you mean?" Kirsten asked.
We filled her in on what had happened with Jordan. She was seriously upset. I couldn’t believe the complete 360 she had done. She seemed like she was going to be the best candidate to work with.
"So Kirsten, are you still working with the Backstreet Boys?" I asked her.
"No, after Nick and I broke up, I called them to tell them that I couldn’t work with them anymore because I didn’t want to cause Nick any problems. Besides, I know he’s dating you now, and I couldn’t be happier for you." She said and hugged me.
"Well, can I ask you then, what caused the complete turn-around in your attitude?" Bianca asked.
"I fell in love, again. You see, when I was in high school, I used to date this guy named Glenn. He was a really great dancer, so he went to college for musical choreography and I went for Business Administration. Our colleges were on the complete opposite ends of the country and we tried to have a long distance relationship, but it didn’t work out. We broke up and then I dated a few guys, then I met Nick. He was the closest thing to love that I had felt in a long time.
"So we started dating and when we took that trip to Spain, things changed. A lot." She looked at me and I looked at the ground.
"Kirsten, I never meant to break you too up. Nick and I never did ANYTHING while you two were still together." I said apologizing profusely.
"No, honey, don’t feel bad. I’m not mad at you at all. It was actually an awakening for me. I realized that Nick wasn’t the man I wanted to be with because I still had all of these feelings for Glenn. Anyways, we came home and I went clubbing one night with my friends. All of a sudden, a pair of hands was on my hips and we were dancing and I knew it was Glenn, because he was the only one who knew "the move" that we used to do. Anyways, it was Glenn and I just knew that it was fate for us to be together." She explained.
"So I had nothing to do with you two breaking up?" I asked, carefully.
"No, not at all. Mine and Nick’s relationship was pretty much down the drain before we even went to Spain. We went there trying to salvage what was left, and we found out that there was nothing." She said and hugged me. "I’m so happy for you two."
"Yeah yeah yeah, they’re cute and all, but what I’m happy about is hooking up with AJ." Bianca said.
We all laughed and left together. The five of us went out for lunch and ended up back at our apartment to hang out. We had over 600 channels to surf, and we were bound and determined to see each and every one. Also, we needed to bond with our new manager and go over the schedules she had drawn up.
Once we had arrived back at the apartment, we all sat at the big round table and Kirsten took some papers out of her briefcase. "Here you go ladies. The schedules I was talking about. We’ve decided to stay in the New England region for the first 3 months of the tour. You’re pretty much going to be doing two schools a day where all of the girls come into the gymnasium or auditorium and you’ll be having a press conference where they each get to ask you questions. We’re trying to work in some contest winners and of course you’ll be taking pictures."
"This sounds like so much fun!" Ames exclaimed.
I couldn’t believe how packed everything for the next year. But the question that kept coming to mind was, Will Nick and I survive? Instantly I answered, “Of course we will”.
