Toured Out - Part Two



~*~*~*~

AJ threw the covers off and reluctantly walked towards the door. He barely had the door open when Kevin pushed his way past AJ, nearly knocking him down. By the look that was on Kevin’s face, AJ knew that there wasn’t going to be an easy way around Kevin’s anger.

“So what the hell went on last night?”

AJ decided to play dumb. “What do you mean?”

Kevin raked a hand through his hair. “You know exactly what I mean. Good god AJ. Nick’s door wasn’t shut tight so naturally I went in to check and make sure he was okay. I found him laying ontop of the bed, in his clothes, his hand in a huge white bandage, blood stains on his pants and to top it all off he reeked of alcohol. I asked him what went on, but he couldn’t tell me or at least I couldn’t understand a word of what he told me.” Kevin paused for effect as he folded his arms across his chest. “So...... now, you want to tell me what exactly you two did last night?”

AJ leaned against the wall, suddenly feeling cornered. “Me and Nicky went for last call.”

“Last call my ass, tell me what you did!” Kevin demanded.

AJ put his hands up as if to deflect a punch that Kevin seemed to be wanting to deliver at any given moment. “I swear, it’s the truth. I took Nicky out for last call since you, Brian and Howie wanted us to get along.”

Kevin didn’t move from his place. “Keep going.”

AJ grabbed the pack of cigarettes off the nightstand and quickly lit up. Taking a deep drag from the cigarette, he waited a few moments before exhaling the smoke, feeling the icy stare of Kevin the whole time.

“Well, he was having a good time and the kid don’t know his limits---”

“Which is one reason not to take him to a nightclub,” Kevin interrupted.

“So after several mixed drinks, he kinda passed out and dropped a glass down on the table and he cut his hand.”

“Shit,” Kevin mumbled under his breath.

“Hey I covered it, I got Nick out of the booth and walked him out of the bar and took him to a walk in clinic, so there won’t be any press on this on, I handled it,” AJ replied, satisfied with himself in handling the situation.

“You got lucky this time then,” Kevin replied but stopped his sentence when Brian walked through the open door, looking down at a newspaper he was holding.

“Seems you and Nick had a little too much fun last night,” Brian stated softly as he turned the front page of the paper around to show Kevin and AJ.

Both Kevin and AJ stood there staring at the colored photo on the front page of the paper, mouths agape.

“Shit,” both men stated in unison.

The front page had a photo that had been taken of AJ and Nick while they were on their way out the front door of the bar. Nick appeared to be clearly drunk, the picture caught the full image of him leaning heavily against AJ, the blood on his shirt and pants and the cut still bleeding.

“Where’s Nick?” Brian asked as he glanced around the hotel room.

“He’s in his room sleeping it off,” came the short reply from AJ.

“Not the best idea AJ, he really shouldn’t be left alone,” Brian said as he quickly left the room.

“You are in a world of shit when Bruce gets ahold of this info,” Kevin spat angrily. “You know damn well not to pull this kind of crap ontour. God, I swear you’re so damn self centered it’s not even funny.”

*~*~*~*~*~

“Nick?” Brian called out softly as he pushed the door further open. His breath caught in his throat when he found his best friend sprawled out ontop of the bed. Brian quietly walked over to the bed and gently nudged Nick, ignoring the strong odor of alcohol.

Instinctively, Nick rolled away from Brian’s hand, but after several attempts at getting a response from Nick, he was rewarded.

“mmmmmm,” Nick moaned.

“Nick?”

“mmm, go away, ooooh. What the hell was I thinking?” Nick whispered.

“Hungover?” Brian whispered.

“yes.”

“The exact reason why I skip the nightclub scene Nick,” Brian replied.

Nick quickly pulled the bandaged hand away from himself when he touched his face. “what the hell?”

“Do you remember?”

“no.”

“Another reason why I don’t do the club scene,” Brian replied with a smile wasn’t being held in very well. “I suggest you put a shoe bag over your hand and take a long, hot shower. Kevin is going to want to talk to you and you might as well be cleaned up before the interrogation.” Brian held his hands up and made quote marks when he said the word interrogation. Kevin’s drills were well known by everyone in the group and those from management all the way down to the caterers on a video shoot.

“i don’t wanna,” Nick quietly protested.

“I know you don’t but you really don’t have too much of a choice and besides, you might feel better after a hot shower. I’ll see if I can find some Tylenol and then you can take it when you get cleaned up.”

Nick slowly got up off the bed and then paused to watch Brian look through the bags for the Tylenol.

“Bri?”

“mmm?” He didn’t face Nick, he kept looking through the luggage.

“Thanks.”

Brian glanced up at Nick. “Buddy, I’m always gonna be there for you and you know it.”

~*~*~*~

Nick stood in the shower, letting the hot water wash over his head and neck. Still shaky on his feet, he leaned heavily against the wall for support when he stepped out of the shower and throughout the entire time of getting dressed.

“Here, take these,” Brian held his hand out when Nick entered the room.

Nick scooped up the tylenol and took the glass of water that Brian offered. Nick’s head was pounding and he gingerly sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled the white hotel towel over over his face.

Brian stood there for a few moments, staring at Nick’s figure, hunched over on the edge of the bed, the towel hanging over his head. He spotted the pair of beach shoes in the corner and brought them over to Nick. “Hey, slip these on so we can go down to Kev’s room.”

“I’m not ready,” Nick softly moaned.

Brian narrowed his eyes at the toweled head. “Not ready or don’t want to?”

Nick slowly laid his body back across the bed. “I don’t wanna.”

Brian finally caught the logo on the front of the t-shirt Nick was wearing and smirked. “Well you have to, no other choice. Besides Nick, the sooner you do this, the sooner you can come back and crawl into bed. Oh, and nice shirt.”

Nick wasn’t sure why Brian was complimenting him on his shirt until he looked down. He was wearing the shirt that read: ‘Have a nice day someplace else.’ He smiled sheepishly under the towel.

“So are you ready? You have to face the music,” Brian coaxed.

Hearing that phrase, Nick groaned inwardly. He hated that phrase more than anything. It was sort of Brian’s private little motto. “Yeah I guess.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Nick and AJ sat in the chairs in the corner of the room while Brian leaned against a wall. Nobody said a word as Kevin paced the room. Nick’s hand was throbbing and he just wanted to get out of there and go back to bed and take care of the migraine he thought for sure he was getting.

Kevin grabbed the newspaper from Brian’s hands and tossed it on the table in front of Nick. “See this? It’s a good picture of you, I can see that scar on your forehead.”

Nick squinted as he tried to focus his bloodshot eyes on the front page photo. “Oh shit.”

“No kidding. Do you guys see what carefree clubbing can lead up to? From what I hear Nick didn’t remember how he cut his hand. What if you and dumbass AJ had picked up some girls? Would you remember what you did with them if he had?”

“Sure I would,” Nick quietly defended.

“No, I think not,” Kevin boomed. He seemed to take pleasure in watching Nick squirm in his chair. AJ looked uncomfortable but not as much as Kevin would have liked to see. “Both of you need to realize that there are girls out there, well girls and boys, that look up to you and imitate everything you say and do and I think getting shitfaced is not in the best of ideas that I’ve seen coming from you so far. I think they’d expect it from AJ, but god Nick, not you.”

“Hey now,” AJ growled. “Are you saying I drink too much and it’s expected of me?”

“If the shoe fits,” Kevin hissed.

“Good grief, would the both of you just calm down?” Brian sighed. “Kevin you’ve proved your point that you’re pissed at AJ and Nick. Let’s just clear the slate and go on from here okay? We have a few more shows to do and then we get our seven week break, let’s just get through this without killing each other.

“Just remember, NO MORE NIGHTCLUBS!” Kevin growled.

Nick flinched as the words reached his ears. Not a good thing to yell to someone with a hangover. Suddenly, he announced that he felt sick and clamped a hand across his mouth as he bolted towards the bathroom.

“Ah, that’s just peachy,” Kevin mumbled.

~*~*~*~*~

Brian watched as Nick slowly went through the motions of getting suited up for the first act of the show. His movements were stiff and mechanical. The migraine Nick had been expecting had shown up in full force.

Staring at Nick, he finally got him to look over at him. “Are you gonna be able to work tonight?”

“I have to, there’s no other choice,” Nick replied, his voice barely broke above a whisper.

“But look at you and listen to your voice, you can hardly move and you can’t talk loud. How the heck are you going to be able to sing?”

Nick repeated his reply again. “I have to, there’s no other choice.”

Leaving the green room, Brian brushed past a lazy AJ, legs flopped over the side of a chair, remote control in his hand.

“Where you off to in a hurry?” AJ called out.

Brian chose not to answer, he kept heading out the door down the hall towards where the PR manager and Kevin were likely to be. When he reached the meeting room door, Brian took a deep breath and knocked.

“It’s open,” Bruce yelled.

Brian clenched and unclenched his fists. He knew that Bruce was going to hit the ceiling but he had to tell him about Nick, there was no way around it. He entered the room, finding Kevin and Bruce sitting at a small table, papers layed out in front of them. Brian waited for Bruce to direct his attention towards him.

Brian decided to just plunge into it. “It’s Nick he’s too sick to go on tonight.”

An odd look came across Bruce’s face. “Well, Nick should have known better than to get all shitfaced last night. Sorry, I don’t allow cancellations of performers because of hangovers.”

“Oh come on Bruce, he can barely talk or move. He has a migraine,” Brian defended. He looked over at Kevin hoping that he would jump to Nick’s defense but was only met with a cold stare.

“Listen, he can and he will go out there and do his job,” Bruce demanded.

“Oh and if he doesn’t what are you gonna do, fire him?”

“Fire isn’t the word I would choose, it would be more like fine him.”

Brian shot a look at Kevin. “Aren’t you going to do anything? Come on Kev, have a heart!”

Kevin shrugged his shoulders and looked back down at the papers that were laying in front of him on the table.

“I can’t believe how cold and uncaring you two are! Nick can’t work like this and you two know it, what kind of a point are you trying to prove here?” Brian angrily stated.

Bruce chuckled. “The point I’m trying to prove is that you people have no business partying during a tour especially those of you that don’t know what the hell they’re doing and get hurt in the process and have media on their asses and me to cover it up.”

“I think Nick’s already learned his lesson,” Brian defended.

“Good, because he will surely be paying for it tonight,” Bruce replied casually.

Brian folded his arms across his chest defensively. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Bruce looked up. “Do you have anything else important to say because I am a busy man and I have things that need to be taken care of.”

Shaking his head, Brian turned and walked out of the room.

~*~*~*~*~

The paper skidded across the table on the bus. Nick barely lifted his head to see what the commotion was all about. He was still nursing the migraine headache as well as his throbbing hand from the cut.

“Well,” Kevin growled, “there it is, a shitty review, compliments of you.”

“What the hell crawled up your ass and died?” Nick hissed.

Kevin glared at Nick laying back across the seat. “YOU.”

“What the hell did I do to you?”

“For the love of God, what’s going on out here?” Brian asked as he popped his head out of the curtained bunk.

“Kev’s blaming a shitty review on me again,” Nick called out.

“Kev, leave Nick alone, we only have one more day and you can go back to Cali and chill, okay?”

Ignoring Brian’s suggestion, Kevin picked up the paper and started to read the article outloud:

Boyband leaves ticket holders unsure if they were seeing a concert or a pathetic charity event. When the Backstreet Boys hit the stage, all anticipation was in the air as the crowd expected to be wow’d by the group but were sadly disappointed the moment band member Nick Carter took the stage. Although they expected the slow and miscalculated dance steps from Carter, his voice was what left them stunned. Singing offkey at the times he was heard - which wasn’t very many - rumor had it he was suffering a migrane headache. Can we say hangover? The pictures clearly showed Carter leaving a bar leaning heavily on band member AJ McLean, his bloodied hand and clothes suggested a barfight gone bad. Even the rest of the group seemed out of sorts and not really wanting to be there in the first place. Will this band be around next year? Sometimes it’s better to stay in bed.

“Hey don’t be blaming that on Nick! I told you he had a headache,” Brian stepped up in Nick’s defense.

“Nick this last show better be perfect or I think we will be finished thanks to you,” Kevin spat as he turned and walked off.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Nick had a mixture of dread and relief when the bus ground to a halt outside of the hotel in Tampa. This was the stop all of them had been waiting for - the end of the four month tour stint. All of it would have been gread, Nick surmised, except for Kevin’s anger at the bar incident that no one had talked about since the last concert stop that generated the bad review.

“Hey Nicky, lemme help you with that,” AJ stated as he reached up and tugged at Nick’s backpack that had been stowed in a tight overhead compartment..

Nick managed a slight smile as he stood back to let AJ have a go at moving the stubborn object. “Thanks AJ, at least I know I have one friend around me.”

AJ pulled the backpack out of the compartment and heaved it onto the bus floor. “Nick, you know that’s not true, we’re not mad at you, it’s just that dumbass, Kevin. You know he’s trying to suck up to Bruce so he plays it up. That’s it, nothing else. Ignore him, he just needs this break as much as the rest of us.”

“Easier said than done,” Nick replied.

“Let’s go and find out our room assignments, I’m thinking of a long, hot shower and then bed,” AJ suggested.

~*~*~*~*~

Nick looked at Mike, one of the tour managers and then back at the room assignment slip. “There has to be some mistake,” he mumbled as he stared at the sheet in disbelief.

“Let me see that,” AJ growled as he reached over Nick’s shoulder and grabbed the yellow sheet of paper. “Okay, problem solved. I’m sure Kevin will adjust to being in a room all by himself,” AJ remarked in a sarcastic voice. “Give me your pen, Mike.”

Both men watched as AJ took the black marker and crossed Nick’s name out below Kevin’s. “Let’s go see if they have an extra room, this is plain assinine that they would have even considered putting you and Kevin in a room together when we’ve been having rooms to ourselves pretty much all along.”

AJ and Nick approached the counter in the lobby of the hotel. A young clerk smiled as she acknowledged their presence.

“I.... I need a room for tonight,” Nick stammered.

The young girl’s smile waned. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry, all the rooms are taken. This is a busy weekend with the concert you know.”

“Figures. Hey Nicky, I bet a fan wouldn’t mind sharing her room with you,” AJ grinned.

“Oh yeah, stick me in a room with some psycho and I would end up being accosted or something, no thanks.”

“Okay, then it’s settled, you bunk with me,” AJ stated firmly.

“No way man, I kinda need to be alone and you need your space, besides you snore.”

“Oh, like you don’t?” AJ retorted playfully.

Nick directed his attention back to the clerk at the counter. “Is there anyway possible that you could find out if there’s another hotel with a room available?”

“Well, I can, but I’m not sure what I would find. With the concert in town, all the good hotels are pretty booked up,” she replied.

“I don’t care if it’s a room at a gas station, I just need a room,” Nick stated.

~*~*~*~*~

The words ‘Jan’s Rooms’ seem to scream out as it flashed repeatidly in bright red neon colors, the sign perched outside the windows on the top floor of the motel. Adding insult to Nick’s injury were the words ‘Rooms by the hour.’

“Just peachy,” Nick mumbled as he handed the cabby money for fare plus tip.

“Are you sure you want out here?” the driver asked as he looked at the old brick building.

“Unfortunately, yeah, I’m sure,” Nick sighed as he exited the cab, slinging a dark green carryon bag over his shoulder.

He cautiously approached the worn out steps to the hotel. A ripped screen door seemed to be hanging percariously, threatening to drop off it’s hinges at any given moment. The smells of the stale motel hung in the air, a mixture of body odor and whiskey.

As he hesitantly approached the counter, he was greeted by a pencil thin woman, who appeared to be in her 40’s but was actually only 23. Her brown shoulder length hair was greasy and matted looking, her smile was missing a few front teeth. She took a deep drag off her cigarette before she acknowledged him.

“What do ya want?” she glared as she squashed the cigarette out in the glass ashtray.

“A room,” Nick replied, his voice barely audible.

“What? Speak up! I can’t hear you!”

Clearing his throat, Nick tried again. “I need a room.”

“Oh for chrissake,” the woman hissed as she slammed a thick ledger onto the counter. “Ya want it for an hour or something?”

Nick’s eyes widened when he realized what she meant. “Oh god, no. I need it for a day, twenty-four hours.”

“Thirty-five fifty, here’s a towel, phone is in the hall, bathroom is down the hall next to the phone,” she replied as she slammed a key onto the counter and a dingy white bath towel and washcloth. “I need the money and your driver’s license and step on it, I’m missin Springer.”

Nick quickly tossed the money on the counter along with his license. The woman snatched the identification up and quickly ran a photocopy of it and practically threw it back at Nick, with it nearly skidding off the edge when it slid to a stop.

“Enjoy your stay.”

Wordlessly, he grabbed the carryon bag and trudged up the stairs towards the top floor. The halls looked dark and dingy, fingerprints on the windows in the stair landings seemed to add to the creepiness of the motel. Sounds of a police siren in the distance didn’t help either. Nick found the door to his room, number 416 and inserted the key and cautiously pushed the door open. He found a twin sized bed, a small dresser and one hanger on a rack.

Noticing a flashing coming from the window in his room, Nick placed the bag ontop of the stained bedspread and walked cautiously towards the window.

“Ah shit, that figures,” he mumbled when he lifted the blinds to discover that the neon sign was situated directly outside the window in his room.

*~*~*~*~*~

“Where the hell is that kid at?” Kevin fumed as he paced the small green room. “He knows we have meet and greet at 6:30 and good god here it’s almost 6:15 and no Nick!”

“Kev, he’s probably stuck in traffic,” Brian quietly suggested.

“Traffic my ass, he’s probably playing some dumb assed Nintendo Game or god forbid he’s online in a chat house---”

“Chatroom,” Howie corrected, grinning.

“Wipe that stupid fucking grin off your face! You probably added the fuel to this whole Nick being gone thing and him screwing up at every damn chance he gets!”

“Kevin, wouldja just sit back down and chill, I’m sure he’s probably in the lot right now,” AJ soothed.

As he turned and walked towards the brown upholstered couch, Kevin made sure he made eye contact with all that were waiting in the green room, the video on Mtv seemed to add more fire to his anger.

~*~*~*~*~

“CARLOS, YOU FILTHY SWINE!”

Nick jerked awake when the yells waifed through the thin motel walls. He sleepily laid on the bed, trying to gather his surroundings, not sure if he really wanted to be awake just yet. The motel he was in provided no sound proof barriers, and he had a hard time catching sleep, if any during the night. Nick rolled over onto his side and glanced at the red digital numbers on his alarm clock.

5:46

Nick rolled onto his back. ‘Okay, this is going to be a long night.’

Suddenly, realty hit his sleep deprived brain and Nick sat up in bed.

“Oh shit! Sonofa bitch!” He looked around the room for the motel phone and then remembered that the phone was down the hall next to the bathrooms. His eyes fell onto the place where he had laid his cellphone after he checked into the room. Nick’s eyes trailed from the empty dresser top over towards half opened door to the room. “Awe shit!”

Springing from the bed, he raced over to the dresser and frantically started pulling drawers open, searching for his phone...wallet, anything he brought. The sick feeling that was gnawing in his stomach was confirmed. He had been robbed and the theives not only took his cellphone and his wallet, they took his travel bag as well. He was left wearing his blue boxers and a black South Park tee shirt.

Taking the stairs two steps at a time, Nick ran down to the lobby and slapped his palm on the silver bell that sat on the counter.

“KNOCK IT OFF!” A voice boomed from the back room.

“I need help!” Nick pleaded.

Evidentally the man in the back room didn’t seem to care. “Don’t we all?”

“No, I seriously need help, I’ve been robbed!”

“Better than being murdered,” came the reply.

“I need to get to The Ice Palace for the show,” Nick begged. “Let me use the phone.”

The man gestured over at the desk phone, it had a lock on the receiver. “You got the cash?”

“I just told you I was freakin robbed,” Nick stated through gritted teeth.

“Sorry to hear, but I still need money to place your personal calls, pal.”

Nick raked a hand through his hair, tears of frustaition coming to his eyes. He slumped against the lobby wall. “I’m in a world of shit with Kevin now.”

*~*~*~*~*

updated: 09/04/01

“Okay, okay, just calm down Nick, this will all work out,” Nick quietly told himself as thoughts ran through his mind. Walking barefoot out of the motel, he decided he didn’t need to annouce he was checking out, there was nothing left in the room to check. Swallowing his pride along with his fear, Nick hailed a cab.

“Oh thank god you came along, I need a ride to the Ice Palace--” Nick stated as he closed the door to the cab.

The driver sized Nick up in the rearview mirror. “You got the cash, kid?”

“Well... um... not on me at the moment,” Nick stammered.

“Get out of my cab,” the driver growled.

“I can give you the money when I reach the place, I’m good for it,” Nick insisted.

“No money, no deal, get out now!”

Watching the cab speed off after he reluctantly got out, Nick decided to vent his anger. “ASSHOLE!” With no other options in site, he folded his arms across his chest and started walking down the street towards the highway.

~*~*~*~*~

“Where’s Nick?” a young girl asked Kevin as she watched him hastily sign his name across a group picture.

Kevin gritted his teeth for a moment before he answered that particular question for the umpteemth time. “Nick’s been delayed, I’m sorry.”

“He’s not sick is he? I mean he’s okay isn’t he?” Another girl questioned Kevin a few fans later.

Kevin just smiled at the girl. As he looked down to sign his autograph, he mumbled through gritted teeth, “He’s okay now, but he won’t be for long.”

“What did you say? I didn’t hear you,” the girl asked as she accepted the paper from Kevin.

“I said he’s okay and he won’t be long,” Kevin lied with a smile.

~*~*~*~*~*~

As Nick walked up the onramp to the highway, he couldn’t help but see that the traffic was at a standstill.

“Oh just peachy.”

Walking along the shoulder, his eyes cast down towards the pavement, Nick kept walking. He glanced up once or twice and by the third time he saw it - a car that had words painted on the windows and the body. It read ‘BSB FANS 4 EVA.’ He also noticed some other cars with writing on them as well. One in particular caught his eye: ‘I LUV N’SYNC’.

“Oh shit, that’s why the traffic jam, assholes are having their staduim tour the same night. God, what lame assholes,” Nick mumbled.

“OHMYGOD!”

Hearing the screams, Nick looked around behind him. He couldn’t see anything out of place.

“OH MY GOD! THAT’S NICK CARTER!”

Nick winced when he heard his name screamed. His heart sank when he heard some car doors slamming and then footsteps rushing towards him.

“Nick? Is it you, Nick?”

Nick turned to look down at the girls that formed a semi-circle around him. “Don’t you think y’all should be in your cars?”

“You’re Nick Carter!” a tiny blond stated confidently.

He managed a slight grin. “Nope, you got me confused with him. I get this all the time.”

“Well you sure as heck look like him. Why are you walking on the road?”

“I seriously doubt Nick Carter would be out walking the streets, and I’m walking cause my car wouldn’t start and I got ripped off last night so I can’t afford a cab.”

The girls all nodded in agreement. “Yeah you’re right, Nick would be in a limo or something like that.”

Nick looked at them wearily. “So... um, are you girls headed to the concert tonight?”

“Yeah! We’ve been waiting for this for weeks,” they cheered.

“Backstreet concert?”

“Hell yeah! I wouldn’t pay a dime to see n’sync,” a girl in the crowd reassured.

“Okay, can you do me a huge favor?”

“Depends,” the older girl in the group replied.

“I need to catch a ride to that venue and I’m really late and I know my boss is pissed. Can I ride with you?”

“Well.... I don’t even know your name and besides, we’re in the middle of a traffic jam. I bet you would get there on foot before we would.”

“Okay, I can tell you how to get there a lot quicker on the backroads,” Nick replied with a smile.

“Sounds good, is that all?”

“I have connections, I’ll see if I can set you up.”

“Connections? You work with the band?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“Okay, I guess we could do that, you look harmless enough. My name’s Roberta Jean,” the girl replied as she stuck her hand out.

“Mine’s Ni.. Nate.”

*~*~*~*~*~*

“So Brian, you going to worry now? I have to tell Bruce, he needs to know that Nick’s AWOL.”

“Kev, just give him more time,” Brian begged.

Kevin narrowed his eyes at Brian. “How much more you thinking?”

“For the love of God, Kevin, let it go for now! God, you drive me to chain smoking, I swear!” AJ hissed from his chair.

As Brian opened his mouth to speak, the door to the greenroom swung open, slamming against the wall. All eyes turned towards the sound to find Nick breathing heavy, sweating and looking completely washed out.

“WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?” Kevin boomed.

“SHUT THE HELL UP! Where’s Devon?” Nick questioned.

“I dunno,” Howie answered. “You want me to page him?”

“Please,” Nick replied.

“Why do you want Devon? Did you get laid and need to pay her off now?” AJ suggested.

“God AJ, it’s not always all about sex,” Nick snapped.

“Who says?” AJ snickered.

An young man wearing a red polo shirt with the words ‘EVENT STAFF’ in bold white letters stepped in the doorway to the greenroom. “Did someone page me?”

“Yeah I did, I need six front row, can you get it?” Nick questioned.

“Best I can do Nick is six second row, center, will that do?” Devon replied as he pulled the tickets out of his pocket.

“Good, gimme,” Nick demanded as he held his hand out. “Thanks Dev.”

All watched as Nick turned and sprinted down the hall towards an exit. Within a minutes, he returned.

“I gotta shower quick and I’ll be back suited up, okay?”

“Whoa... whoa, wait! Just where the hell were you and why are you dressed in your sleepwear and why are you barefoot?” Kevin demanded.

“Long story Kevin, remind me to fill you in after the show,” Nick replied as he turned away to look for his dressing room.

“FREEZE!”

Nick stopped in his quest for a shower. “Okay, I was robbed at that damn shithole of a motel. What you see on me is what I have left. Happy?”

“No, but I guess it will do for now,” Kevin replied.

Part Three
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