Alex squinted out the light that was beginning to shine in through her blinds. Throwing the pillow over her head, she mumbled some profanities under her breath.
“Morning sunshine,” Kerstin smiled and entered the room with a tray. On the tray was a glass full of some dark, thick liquid Alex couldn’t make out, as well as a bowl of chicken noodle soup and some saltines. “Sleep well?”
“Why am I not asking you where the hell I am? Didn’t I meet that guy last night…?” Alex trailed off, completely forgetting the remains of the night except for the fact she met a man…Nick.
“Yes, you did meet a man last night. A real gentleman, if you ask me. He helped me get you out to a taxi and everything this morning. You were really messed up after all those drinks you had. He was such a nice guy,” Kerstin smiled.
“God damnit, Kerstin,” Alex mumbled and threw the pillow atop her head once more. “That’s not how it was supposed to happen! He was supposed to be an insensitive asshole that I went home with and now I have to figure out what to tell Mr. Reynolds.”
“Tell him the truth. You got a phone number last night,” Kerstin smirked. “But there’s always next time!” She added cheerfully.
“Wait a second…I got a phone number?” Alex frowned completely dumbfounded.
“Yeah, I was shocked too,” Kerstin shrugged. “I mean, he didn’t even think twice about putting you in the taxi to go home with me. I don’t understand, to be honest with you. I mean, you weren’t completely repulsive but still…I thought for sure he would try to take you home…”
“I don’t even know him,” Alex muttered at the thought of actually having to call this man that she had originally met in a men’s restroom. Could the beginning of her story be any more embarrassing? As she thought about it for a little while, it became even more interesting. She had never read a story before where the possible love interests met while one was puking her guts up in the opposite sex’s bathroom. “Besides, he obviously wasn’t that interested since he didn’t bring me home with him…”
“Does it really matter? You want this story to work, right? You really aren’t into the situation for his love,” Kerstin laughed and shook her head. “Drink this.” She handed her the dark contents.
“What is it?” Alex frowned as she took the glass from her best friend.
“This, my dear, was my hero in college,” Kerstin laughed. “It tastes like shit but it works magic, let me tell you. Get at least half of it down and your headache should disappear with the nauseous feeling in your stomach within…ten minutes?” She glanced at her watch.
Alex shrugged and chugged the glass, even though it did taste horrible.
Nick Carter rolled over in the empty bed and muttered a few choice words to himself. “Damn hangovers.” He sighed and allowed the emptiness of his bed confuse him. He tried to recall what had happened the night before.
As the memories replayed themselves in his head, he mentally slapped himself. He had run into his ex girlfriend, Macy, and had wanted to make her jealous. As he went into the bathroom, he found a not-so-bad looking girl puking her guts out on the bathroom floor, and after giving her a chance to rinse out the vomit from her mouth and get rid of the stench, he had made a lot of moves on her. He proceeded to make Macy believe he was taking her home, when really he helped her safely to a taxi and went his own separate way. However, he had given her his phone number at the hotel. Damn him. She probably wouldn’t call, though. God, please don’t call…he kept repeating in his head.
“Nick, you up, man?” Brian Littrell pounded on his best friend’s hotel door. “We have to be back in the studio in an hour.”
“I’m up,” Nick mumbled and shoved a pillow over his head. As the door slipped open, he threw a disgusted look with the pillow towards his intruder. “God damn, Brian! Can’t I have any privacy whatsoever?” He yelled loud enough for the lobby to hear four floors down.
“Chill,” Brian shook his head. Then, with a surprised glance towards the bed, he frowned. “Did the mistress leave already?” He frowned.
“I don’t have a damn mistress,” Nick rolled his eyes. “Can’t you realize I’m falling out of the ‘must have a woman every night’ phase? I don’t always need a girl.” He lied through his teeth. Brian busted out in laughter, almost falling flat on his face onto the carpeted hotel floor.
“Hah, yeah right,” he muttered and shook his head. “What about that girl I saw you with last night? She actually turned you down?”
“I didn’t offer,” Nick corrected and rolled out of bed with a huff. He headed towards his suitcase to pick out his clothing for the day. “She was a nerd and I was just trying to make Macy jealous.”
“Whoa, Macy was there?” Brian’s facial expression quickly changed. Macy had been the girl of Nick’s dreams. She was hot and smart, two things Nick didn’t have much luck running into these days. Brian plopped down on Nick’s bed. “Wait a second, so you were just using that beautiful girl?”
“Sorry to burst your Biblical ass, but yes. It’s what I’m famous for, remember?” He rolled his eyes as he made his way into the bathroom. “Besides, she might have been kinda cute, but she was disgusting. She was puking all over the men’s bathroom floor.”
“Wait, what the hell, man? She was a guy?! Jesus, Nick!” Brian yelled. It almost made Nick laugh how freaked out Brian was. “I mean, I understand the whole ‘using’ thing with Macy being there, but using a guy? That’s freaking disgusting, Nick.” Brian muttered, utterly disgusted and headed for the door to leave.
“No, no, no,” Nick shook his head with a chuckle and opened the bathroom door in a t-shirt and jeans. “She was a girl. She was so trashed she didn’t realize she was in the guy’s bathroom,” he laughed. “When I saw her there, I realized she was pretty cute. She didn’t seem into the whole ‘club scene’, so I figured she’d be an easy target. And she wasn’t that interested in me, so I thought that I would use her against Mace so she wouldn’t go back to the hotel with me…” Nick tried to explain.
Brian nodded and raised his eyebrows. “I’m impressed, Nick. Really, I am.”
“I just hope she doesn’t fucking call me,” Nick muttered and threw his t-shirt and boxers from the previous night back into his suitcase. Brian’s eyes widened.
“You gave her your phone number?” Brian shook his head. “Are you mentally ill, Nick? I mean, come on, man. Why the hell would you give the girl your phone number?!”
“Just the number at the hotel,” Nick rolled his eyes. “I just won’t answer the phone.” He shrugged. “Besides, Macy was watching me when I was talking to the girl, so I wrote my number down on the napkin and made sure she saw it.”
“That’s it, Nick. You’re retarded. Haven’t you ever heard of giving out a fake number? As in, one that isn’t your’s?” Brian shook his head and laughed. “And you do realize that the extension you gave her at the hotel is your room number, right?” He asked his friend. Nick closed his eyes momentarily and licked his lips.
“Y-Yeah, I know,” he lied. “And besides, if things get crazy, Marcus can take care of it and I’ll call the cops.” He shrugged. “No big deal.”
“Yeah, no big deal my ass, Nick,” Brian laughed as he left the room. “Be in the lobby in thirty minutes.”
As he shut the door, Nick fell back onto his bed. “Damn you, Nick.” He muttered to himself. The last thing he needed right now was a stalker. Why couldn’t he have thought about things before he just went into action?
“Mr. Reynolds, please?” Alex said into the phone as she lugged around her house in her pajamas from the night before. She heard the secretary push her through and sighed heavily.
“Miss McIntosh?” She heard Mr. Reynolds ask.
“Hi, Mr. Reynolds,” she tried to sound enthusiastic. “I just wanted to call and give you the name of the man I’m using in this scenario as well as give you a few details.” She glanced down at the note she had written out with the few details she could remember from the night before.
“Perfect,” he smiled to himself. “What did you get?”
“Well,” Alex sighed. “The man’s name is Nick Carter and--”
“Wait,” Mr. Reynolds stopped her. “The Nick Carter?” He asked her. Alex frowned and wondered what the hell he was talking about.
“I’m not following, sir,” she rubbed her forehead. Damn her for getting drunk. No, scratch that. Damn Kerstin for getting her so drunk. “Who is Nick Carter?”
“The Backstreet Boy?” Mr. Reynolds chuckled. “Oh, Alex, this is perfect!” He exclaimed. Alex’s eyes grew wide -- half out of fear and half out of surprise. First of all, he had finally called her Alex, meaning she was definitely in because he never called anyone by their first name unless he was completely sure they were worth it. Second of all, the Backstreet Boys?! As in, that old pop group that had faded with the 90s? No way. “I can’t believe this! You are genius! Do you understand how great this is for our company? I mean, to be able to say you collaborated with a Backstreet Boy! Get on this story ASAP. I want details as of Friday. Job well done.”
And with that, she heard the other line click. She looked down at the phone and then up at the blank wall in front of her. Details by Friday? Backstreet Boy? Was this really happening? It couldn’t be. Holy hell it was.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I was going to wait until tomorrow to put out this chapter, but I'm on a roll with writing so I decided to just do it now! Plus, there's kind of a lot of revelations in this chapter and I think it makes things easier to understand. Reviews are lovely!!
