The worst possible nightmare had come true, Nick decided as he looked up from his drawing pad across the aisle. He had wished that Kevin’s announcement that Johnny had fired Clark was just an unsubstantiated rumor but soon realized how true it was when he heard Lou Pearlman’s deep voice as he approached the boys who had been standing in the lobby waiting to board the hotel shuttle van.
Now he was trapped in a foreign county with the sweaty manager that he knew would be dogging him 24/7 about everything under the sun. Johnny’s treatment was mild compared to what the demanding Lou Pearlman could hand out, Nick theorized. Lou seemed more sneaky about his ways of making Nick feel like he was a third wheel in the group and an unimportant member. Usually by the time Lou ever left a meeting that Nick had been in attendance, instead of feeling pumped up and excited about everything that was happening in his young life, he usually left feeling lost, worthless and disillusioned.
Sworn to secrecy by Lou in the beginning of the Backstreet Boys, Nick never told anyone how badly he was mentally abused by the older man. Deep inside, he thought that maybe he treated the others the same or that he probably did things to deserve the verbal assualts.
Judging by the body language from his bandmates, Nick wondered if they felt the same as he did about Lou joining them. The normal joking around was missing and they all were acting like they were attending a funeral, sober faces and sullen expressions.
“SAS Flight 492 to Oslo, now preparing to board,” a thickly accented voice announced over the lobby intercom.
“Guess that’s us,” Johnny groaned, stretching his lanky body as he stood up. He clapped his hands together several times, almost like a kindergarten teacher rounding up her students from recess. “Come on guys, let’s get moving, we don’t want miss the flight.”
Catching a glimpse of Lou pulling out a handerchief and wiping his sweaty face, Nick involuntarily shuddered.
“Carter, come on, we can’t wait for you,” Johnny snapped.
”I know,” Nick whined, lifting his backpack off the floor. “Just let me get my stuff put in here, alright?”
Nick hastily unzipped the green carryon bag, grabbing the pad of paper and pencils and shoving them in. He became angry when the bag refused to zip closed and he laid it against his stomach, shifting it back and forth in hopes of settling the treasures that were stashed inside.
“Come on boy, you’re going to make us late,” Lou growled.
In his haste to cooperate with the bulky manager, Nick didn’t realize that a few of his precious items escaped a gaping seam in the bag, slipping between the cushions of the chair, lost forever.
Slinging the backpack over his shoulder, Nick sprinted to catch up with his band brothers at the boarding gate.
“Always the last one in line,” Johnny mumbled as he shot a glare at the young blonde.
“I’m pacing myself,” Nick joked.
“I need to see your passport,” the flight attendant asked as Nick stepped up to the counter.
“Sure,” he casually replied, setting the backpack onto the floor. His smile slowly faded as he started patting the front pockets on his jeans in search of the thin booklet. Upon seeing the guys had already started walking down the tunnel to board the plane, a panicked expression started to form on Nick’s face.
“Sir? I need to see your passport,” the woman insisted.
“I-I’m looking for it,” Nick squeaked as he started to frantically pat down his pants pockets, shirt pocket, finally turning each pocket inside out.
Hearing the commotion that was going on from behind him, Lou jerked around. Anger flashed in his eyes when he witnessed the young teen frantically turning his pockets inside out.
“Did you check your carryon bag?” Lou snapped, approaching Nick.
Pulling at the stubborn nylon zipper, Nick discovered it was jammed. The adrenaline that coursed through his veins put his panic into overdrive as he tugged at the seams on the bag, finally ripping the nylon zipper apart. Peering inside, he realized that the plane could possibly leave him stranded in a foreign country and quickly turned the bag over, spilling the contents onto the tile floor.
Watching the contents of the bag splatter onto the floor, pencils and pens rolling away in opposite directions, half eaten food and wrappers, CD’s and a walkman clattering when they made contact with the hard tile, Lou could only shake his head in disgust.
He and Johnny had been having a converstation when he first arrived at the hotel about the things that had been going on with the boys and the main topic of the converstation was Nick.
Seeing the empty candy wrappers and bags of potato chips and half eaten cupcakes that littered the floor in front of the young man, there was no denying where the weight came from that had seem to settle on the boy’s stomach, hips and face. Over a few months time from when Lou had last seen him, Nick had gone from a cute, gangly looking teen to a chubby on the verge of getting bigger, acne complected teen.
Somewhere along the way, Johnny had lost control of Nick and his out of control eating habits. With the boy being the ringer to the group’s success, Lou knew the reigns had to be tightened on Nick soon before it was too late.
“I-I can’t find it! It’s not here!” Nick moaned as he sifted through the pile on the floor.
“He cannot board without a passport,” the flight attendant stated crisply.
Looking up at the manager, Nick’s blue eyes widened in terror. “Don’t leave me here! I’m sorry!”
“Calm down,” Lou snapped. Gesturing with a chubby finger towards the door, he asked, “Can I go on the plane and explain our situation?”
“We normally wouldn’t allow---”
“Look lady, I have four kids on that flight and I have a conflict here and he can’t go, so I need to relay a message to my co-manager.” Pushing his arm against the woman as he walked by, Lou gruffly added over his shoulder, “Nick pick up that mess, I’ll be back in a minute.”
Tears blurring his vision, Nick hiccuped as he tried to hold off the sobs that stung his throat. For some strange reason, he doubted that Lou Pearlman would return. He was afraid that the fat man was going to leave him there, stranded. Blindly, he scooped up the items and shoved them back into his broken backpack. After he completed his task, he inched slowly away from the counter, never taking his eyes off the door for fear he would miss the manager’s return.
Seconds seemed like minutes as Nick stood waiting for the manager to return from the plane. Fear gripped his heart and he was certain that the man would leave without him. They all seemed to hate him, but Mr. Pearlman seemed to dislike him the most, Nick decided. He had done the ultimate screw up and there would be no living this one down for a long time.
Relief washed over Nick when he saw the manager walk toward him. If someone had told him yesterday that he would be happy to see Lou Pearlman’s face, Nick knew he would have died laughing. Funny how feelings change when the circumstances put you in a desperate situation.
“Well, first things first son,” Lou stated as he placed a ‘fatherly-like’ hand on the young man’s shoulder. “I need to make some calls when we get to a hotel, we need to have your papers faxed so we can get a passport ASAP.”
Nick could only shyly nod his head in agreement, not sure if he could respond without making the manager angrier than he probably was at him already.
Standing in the middle of a clothing store, Nick groaned. Things probably couldn’t get any worse, but Lou had insisted that since their luggage was already in Oslo and they had to spend the night in Germany, a change of clothes was in order. Normally, Nick would be happy at the prospect of buying something while he was traveling, but the way Lou stared at him when he told him that they needed to buy some clothes made Nick want to cover his head and hide.
‘You look like you poured yourself into those jeans. I bet it’s hard to breathe in those.’
Lou’s words hurt Nick and kept playing in his head over and over again. At first he was angry that the manager had the balls to ever make such a comment given the fact that he wasn’t mister fit and trim himself. After cooling down a bit, Brian’s and Kevin’s words played in his head about how he looked like he had been gaining weight. Nick had comforted himself with the opinion that he was going through growth changes and that it was normal for his bodyweight to fluctuate from time to time, but now he was wondering if the stabbing remarks were true; that he was becoming a fat slob.
“We better buy a few pairs of jeans, I doubt the ones you have in your luggage fit you anymore,” Lou muttered as Nick approached the fat man with his purchases.
“God, do you want to check my crotch to make sure I got the inseam right?” Nick snapped back as he rolled his eyes. The glare the man shot at Nick made him squirm. After the sale was completed, the manager told Nick to change his clothes so they could go out for dinner.
“You’re not serious are you?”
“Dead serious. You might as well be comfortable. I’m guessing you can’t even zip up the pants you have on right now.”
Nick could feel the heat rise to his cheeks as he tugged at the hem of the sports jersey that hung loosely over his body.
“But we’re in the middle of a mall, you want me to use a public restroom to change my clothes?”
“It’s that or strip down by this fountain.”
Sighing, Nick motioned with his head to the silent bodyguard to follow him towards the restrooms. “I feel so stupid,” Nick mumbled as he entered the bathroom, ignoring the stares and finger pointing from young girls that scattered when he walked down the small hallway.
Nick hated to admit it, but after sliding on the new pair of jeans he felt more comfortable and was glad to be rid of the older pair. He debated about putting the old pair in his bag but quickly decided against it, throwing them in the trash. “Won’t be needing those anymore.”
Nick’s mouth watered as he looked over the menu in the small, modest Italian restaurant. He was starving and all of his worries about being stranded in Germany with Mr. Pearlman had quickly disappeared. His main concerns now were of taking care of the gnawing hunger that clawed at his insides.
A tall waitress approached the table, “Hello, my name is Sylvie, what is your pleasure this evening?”
Clearing his throat, Lou laid his menu down. “I’ll have the pasta combination and a large tossed salad, Bleu Cheese dressing, and a glass of red wine. The boy will be having a house salad, no cheese added to the salad only garden vegetables and a cup of your light house dressing on the side and also a bottle of purified water.”
Before Nick could speak after the waitress left, the manager leaned closer and locked eyes with the young man. “This is for your own good Nick. I’ve noticed how you’ve been putting on weight and you need to start eating healthier.” He stopped his conversation when the waitress reappeared with the beverages, setting them on the table. Waiting for her to leave, Pearlman continued his one sided discussion with Nick.
“I know this is an embarrassing subject for you, but Nick, you realize you’re what makes the Backstreet Boys a seller. Sure we have Kevin, Brian, AJ and Howie, but to be honest with you, you’re the one the girls buy the songs for and you’re the one they come to see at the concerts.”
Nick could see the manager’s mouth moving but he couldn’t hear the words. He absently played with the water bottle and nodded when he thought it was appropriate to do so.
Drawing a breath in, the manager continued. Something about Lou’s expression snapped Nick out of his self pitying daze and he listened. “Now Nick, Brian will be having surgery soon so you will have plenty of time to lay around and grow fat and lazy but that’s not going to happen with you because we are adressing this now and getting you into shape before it’s too late. You need to be the star and stars don’t get sick or get soft. You can do this for the fans. It will be tough going in the beginning, but you will soon learn to love salads and water. This will be good for your health and your face too. You’re getting too many pimples too.”
Nick quickly placed a hand on his face when the manager pointed out the pimples that always seemed to come and go at will. He could have made an agruement about the make up that was slathtered on his face every night for the concerts but decided to keep his mouth shut and silently listen to the unfair judgements that were being handed down by the short, fat, sweaty manager.
When the waitress set the house salad in front of Nick, he wanted to cry. The scent of food that the manager ordered for himself teased his nostrils and made his mouth water.
“Dig in boy so we can go back and get some rest before the flight out tomorrow.”
The meal was a complete waste of time in Nick’s opinion. He left the restaurant feeling anything but satisfied. He laid on the bed in the room that Lou cheaply rented for the night, trying to ignore the loud, obnoxious snoring that came from the fat manager on the other side of the room in his king sized bed. After tossing and turning a few times, putting a pillow over his head to drown the noise out, a feeling kept coming back and as time passed by, the feelings got stronger, almost painful.
Grabbing his wallet from the nightstand and the room card, Nick quietly padded towards the door and into the hallway, barefoot and in search of a vending machine.
Down at the end of the hall and around a corner, Nick was rewarded with not one vending machine but four. All filled with various candies, chips and cakes. He had hit the mother load. He ate until his wallet was emptied of all of the foreign currency, feeling uncomfortably full but satisfied.
Quietly, as he slipped back into his room, Nick discovered that the manager was still sleeping. Breathing a sigh of relief, he decided that he was successful in his night time vending machine raid.
There was no way he was going to let Lou ‘the pig’ Pearlman run his life!
