“Nick, I cannot thank you enough,” Alex leaned over her seat and kissed Nick gratefully on the cheek. “You are a lifesaver.” She smiled. They had made it with about ten minutes to spare. Nick was even helpful while Alex tried to cover up the large bruise covering her face.
“No problem,” Nick yawned. Not only was he exhausted from being up for almost twenty-four hours, but from driving back and forth all day long. “How long do you think your meeting will last?”
“Probably thirty minutes to an hour,” Alex glanced at her watch. She realized Nick may be hinting at asking her to do something later in the day, so she quickly came back with a smile. “You should head back to the hotel and get some rest. You did a lot of driving and must be exhausted.”
Nick shrugged and winked. “Good luck with your meeting.” Alex pulled her things from the car and shook her head. She had a feeling he might wait for her. She was looking forward to it.
As Nick drove off, Alex headed into the main building. She sighed heavily and tried to run through what she had planned to say in her head before she was called into the meeting room. As her name was called out from the burly man standing in the large oak doorway, she smoothed out the length of her business skirt and plastered a smile on her face.
“Miss McIntosh, nice to see you,” Mr. Reynolds greeted. Alex was shocked. Not only was Mr. Reynolds at this meeting, but three other publishers as well as a few professors from Syracuse University. “I’d like to introduce you to a panel of critics and editors. I assumed you’d be ready to make a presentation?” He asked hopefully.
“Of course,” Alex smiled. She wondered if Mr. Reynolds would hate her after today. She was, after all, changing everything they had agreed on and talked about. “Thank you all for being here this morning.” She greeted the panel professionally as she extracted her laptop from her business bag. “Originally I had introduced an idea to Mr. Reynolds…” she began to explain the beginning. “Well, in the end, I found that true feelings really did establish between the contact and I.”
“Nick Carter?” One of the men questioned. Alex sucked in a deep breath and nodded her head.
“Miss McIntosh?” Mr. Reynolds asked. Alex could read the anger all over his face. He was pissed. “May I see you out in the hall for a moment?” He asked. Alex nodded. Here it was. This was the end. As the two stepped into the hallway and Mr. Reynolds excused them, he closed the door and looked at her as if he didn’t know what to say. “I give you a chance and this is how you repay me?”
“I promise you, Mr. Reynolds, I did not mean any harm by changing the idea,” she shook her head quickly. “It just…it popped into my head and I thought I would – …”
“You thought nothing, Miss McIntosh,” Mr. Reynolds bitterly ended her sentence. Alex could feel the salty tears forming in her big brown eyes. She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. “If you are smart you will go back in there and proceed with what we originally discussed. Why in the world would you want to throw away this opportunity?”
“I wouldn’t,” she shook her head feverishly and opened the door to the conference room.
“Don’t let me down,” he whispered as she entered the room and explained that after much consideration, she would be returning with the original idea. She figured she could still see Nick because she wanted to, and just pretend with the novel. Mr. Reynolds would never know she still had real feelings for Nick and everyone would be happy.
Alex sighed and opened her cell phone when she came out of the big publishing building with full intention of calling Kerstin. “So, how’d it go?” She heard a deep voice behind her.
“Nick! God, you scared me,” she sighed and smiled as he wrapped his arms around her lovingly. “I thought you were going back to the hotel to rest.”
Nick shrugged. “I wasn’t able to think. I wanted to make sure I didn’t have to beat this guy’s ass for dropping your book idea.” He winked. The butterflies fluttered in Alex’s stomach and her cheeks flushed. “I don’t have to beat any guy’s ass, do I?” He raised his eyebrows. Alex laughed and shook her head ‘no’. Why was he so perfect?
“He didn’t really accept the new idea…” Alex sighed. “But it’s okay. I mean, it’s understandable. We had a common agreement that I would write my original concept. So I’ll just stick with it.” She shrugged.
“Really?” Nick frowned as they began to walk hand-in-hand, to Alex’s pleasant surprise. “I, honestly, liked the second idea better than the first. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they’re both great. I just thought the new one was…better.” He smiled. Alex smiled at how ironic it was. Of course he would like the second idea better.
“Yeah, I liked the second one better, too,” she smiled. “But oh well.” She shrugged.
“That amazes me. You can just write…whatever,” Nick shrugged. Alex tried to compare it to something Nick did in his life so he wouldn’t think she was so amazing. She didn’t feel so amazing.
“It’s a lot like you, Nick. How many songs have you had to sing or perform in all your years?” Alex asked. Nick thought about it for a second.
“More than I could ever count,” he chuckled.
“Have you liked every song you’ve performed?” Alex questioned. Again, Nick thought for a minute and then shook his head ‘no’. “See? You’re amazing. You can perform things you don’t necessarily like. You can perform…whatever.” She smirked as she directly quoted him.
He smiled and glanced down at the pavement as they continued to walk down the crazy streets of New York City. “Thank you.” He muttered softly.
“For what?” Alex smirked. Nick brought the top of her hand to his lips like he had often done before and gently let his lips brush over it. She smirked and blushed.
“For making me feel normal,” he said simply. Alex laughed and frowned.
“I don’t understand,” she mumbled. He had thanked her like she had thanked him earlier that morning, only he was thanking her for making him feel…normal? She didn’t understand.
Nick stopped walking and turned towards Alex, placing his hands affectionately on her waist. “I don’t mean to sound like a cocky jerk…” he started. “But I’m Nick Carter. I’m in one of the biggest boy bands of all time. I’ve never been allowed to feel like a normal guy with girls. Either they’re too infatuated with being perfect or just being seen as perfect and I’m always behind it. All of my relationships have been made in the eyes of the public. You don’t care about that stuff, Allie,” he explained. Alex smiled at him calling her by her nickname. “You’re different. You let me be…me. And for that, I thank you.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
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