Swollen Issues - Chapter Nine
Wincing slightly, Nick rubbed the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes to block out the sight
of all the press people All he could think of was scrambled eggs. Eggs chopped, mixed,
scrambled into a goey yellow substance. Feeling his stomach churning he knew it had been
a bad idea to eat it. Very bad.
Nick swallowed hard, willing the rumbling in his stomach to stop, but all it did was add
another discomfort. His throat felt like it was burning. Burning like fire. His mind felt all
mushy and he started to hum silently on Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon’s song ‘Burning
likefire’ while playing with the caps of his water bottle.
A hard glare was given from Kevin and a silent "shutup" from AJ had him back into his
world again. His world that consisted of pain. Pain in all dimensions. It hadn´t been a
coincidence that he had choosen the word pain over at the Aids photo shoot. That was a
way to summon up his whole life. A pain in the butt!
That thought had him smiling, silently and he was received with another sharp look, this
time from Brian and it said "stop foolin´around." Once again his mind was back at his
nervous stomach and he could almost feel the eggs tying to make an entrance.
That would be some sight for sore eyes!
The journalists could ask him a question on N´sync or that bastard Lou Perlman who had
really messed up his life, and he could show his contempt by vomiting all over the desk.
Lay a pizza or more likely, some eggs!
Glaring at Kevin he thought about how he would react. He would probably be all pissed,
AJ would say something like "Way to go kaos" and Brian would be all concerned. Howie
would say in a calm voice "I knew it" and then Nick decided he could accuse Kevin for
not letting him use the bathroom while in need and….A sharp elbow hit his side, having
him back into reality again.
"Pay attention" the oldest member wheezed into his ear.
"Wha...what?" Nick mumbled a bit dazed, not hearing a word what the journalist had said.
Picking up the situation really fast he cleared his voice, "Can you please repeat the
question?" Shit, that hurt, Nick mentally moaned. His throat felt like it was being sliced up
with razor blades!
"Have you ever been really intoxicated?" a young Japanese female asked in an soft tone.
Duh. I´m twenty one years old, Nick wanted to scream, instead he said calmly "yes, but I
don´t like to drink. Alcohol is bad for your health and I feel that anyone can have just as
much fun sober too."
Liar....Liar. The little words were chanting in his head. He had been totally waxed
on several occassions and was not any where near the saint that the fans and the press
thought he was. He´d even used weed on some occassions, but didn´t like the feeling he´d
experienced and quickly skipped that part. He´d been offered some heavier stuff, but had
said no seeing how many of his pals in the music business were caught in the claws of the
drugs. Besides AJ´s bout with his drug abuse had Nick scared about the realities of drugs.
He could swear that a hint of amusement shone in Howies and AJ´s eyes over his
"truthful" answer. Bruce on the other hand seemed satisfield with the answer from his
golden boy, giving him a thumbs up.Management was really secretive about the boys real
life and there was a big difference between on camer and off camera. Having so many
teenage fans, the management was always concerned that if someone leaked about the
boys habit of clubbing and having girls there would be a big scandal and that was
something the management would try to avoid at all costs.
As always Kevin took over the lead, much to Nick’s relief and he spaced out again. His
mind once again sinking back to scrambled eggs. Stomach churning, headache reaching a
six on the ricther scale, throat burning, made him feel like he´d experienced a bad case of a
hangover. And he hadn´t touch a drop over the whole weekend. This shit sucked.
Adding to his discomfort the room felt suddenly stuffy and with a nervous glance, Nick
looked at the entrance.
Looking for an retreat.
The way things were picking up he would soon be hugging the bowl, he´djust hoped that
he´d have enough time to reach the facilities. But what was the word in Japanese? He had
no intention to make a fool of himself again, saying the wrong sentence. It was bad
enough that he had said to the journalist at the meet and greet that he had no underwear
on.
Another dumb remark to add to the list of Nick stupid quotes, he sighed.
"Nick! Bow!" Kevin’s harsh voice, made him jump up, all startled. It appeared that the
press conference was finally over and all the boys had risen and were thanking the
journalists. Following the example, Nick put on one of his most gorgeous smiles, hoping
that it didn´t look like a grimace.
Finally relief was in reach.
Chapter Ten