Chapter 29

Chapter 29 - BSB Back to Work?
By Chelle and Tess

Kevin walked through the lobby, his thoughts on his quick conversation with Tess. He still didn't think she looked well. But there wasn't much he could do about it. She had left him and moved on with her life. But somehow, he didn't think she was very happy. Maybe he could talk Chelle into asking her to stick around. Some fun and sun might just be what she needed. That and some good friends. And no matter what had happened in the past, that's what they were. Good friends. And this time he wasn't going to let so much time pass before they talked again.
As Kevin approached the elevators, he heard the 'ding' as the car reached the lobby.  He looked up and saw Davy stepping off the elevator.  “Kevin, um...are we...ah going to get some work done today? We really need to get some work done.”  "Yeah...I know....I was going to head up to the rooms and round them up." Kevin replied.
Davy paused and looked at Kevin. 'He didn't know? That girl hadn't told him?' he thought.
Kevin looked at him, curious about the way he was acting. This was not the Davy he knew. He was being too nice. Too meek. Something was up, but he had too much else on his mind to really be concerned about Davy. “Want me to help you round up the guys?”   "No...we'll meet you there, say in an hour."
Davy nodded his head, groaning softly. Kevin was always true to his word, but it was more wasted time...meaning more money. With that decision finalized, Davy made his way towards the hotel entrance to get things set up at the studio. Just as he left the hotel, his cell phone rang. "Hello?"
"David?  Walter James."
Davy blanched. The head of management calling him? "Mr. James....Ah...what can I do for you?"
"First you can explain to me why there's not more work getting done down there."
"Ah...I...well, we....I mean...we are working..."
"I have seen the papers, David. Looks more like the boys are playing to me. I am not paying for that studio for them to play all night and sleep all day. I am looking for results, David. I had better start seeing some."
"Ah...ye...yes sir." Davy stared at the phone. Mr. James had hung up on him. Damn! The head of management calling to read him the riot act. Damn those Backstreet Boys!! Well, he could fix that. Enough was enough. Just a few simple phone calls. And the problem would be resolved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~back in the girls’ suite~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So what are the plans for the day?” Sherry asked.
“Unfortunately, we are going to have to go back into the studios to get some work done.” Brian answered.
“well, I would ask if we could go along with you guys but after Chelle’s incident earlier that’s probably not a good idea now.” Tanya suggested.
“Yeah, definitely not a good idea. In fact, if I come face to face with that guy again he may get a dose of my New York attitude.” Chelle said
“What New York attitude?” Carmen questioned then said “Girl, you may think you’ve turned into a New Yorker..but you’re an LA girl by blood…and don’t you forget it.
“Yeah Chelle, what is with you trying to convince us that you’re a New Yorker now?” Sherry asked.
Shawn looked over at Chelle and was waiting to hear her response. Here was the perfect opportunity to bring up this conversation and there was no way she could back down with Nick sitting next to her.
Chelle sighed. This was not a conversation she was ready to have. But with everyone looking at her for an explanation, she knew she would have to say something.
"Well it's plain and simple. I live there, or have you all forgotten? And I do have a job, friends, and a life waiting back in New York for me."
"Chelle, I thought with Jared out of the picture you'd come back home. What is keeping you in New York?" Tanya asked.
Nick looked at Chelle, wondering the same thing, since he had asked her to come live with him in Florida. What was she planning on doing? Chelle was just about to answer, when the door opened and Kevin walked in, out of breath.
'Thank God' she thought....'Saved by the bell, so to speak'.
"We have to get to the studio...." Kevin said, still trying to catch his breath.
"Dammit!" Nick mumbled..."I am in no mood to deal with that son of a bitch today." Chelle grimaced, knowing that the frustration Nick felt was due partly to her run in with Davy earlier, and that she hadn't answered Tanya's question.
“well, neither am I Nick. But we have a lot to catch up on since we had a fun day yesterday.” Kevin said then added “besides, we can’t keep ditching our studio times. Come on Nick, we don't have time to discuss this…we have to go...Davy’s already acting weird and I don't want him to go ballistic on us," Kevin said, dragging Nick by the arm out the door. The other guys sighed and followed Kevin and Nick out the door, leaving the girls alone. As the door closed, Chelle closed her eyes and counted to ten, the silence of the room deafening in her head.  “Thanks a lot guys. Why couldn’t you have waited to talk about New York without the guys present. Do you realize what you just did?” Chelle shouted out. "Do you have any idea how complicated you just made things for me?"
“what do you mean… what we did? You were the one bragging about being the ‘New Yorker’ there. Sorry but I was bothered by that comment.” Sherry answered back “you somehow have forgotten that you have friends in California who miss you and want you to come back home.”
Chelle groaned in frustration. She hated confrontations but this was going to be unavoidable. “No I haven’t forgotten about my friends. But there is a lot going on in my life as well. You all seem to think I can just pick up and go back home well it’s not that easy anymore. I have responsibilities not to mention I now have another dilemma. "
“And what would that be?” Shawn asked.
“NICK!” Chelle gasped out as she fell back into the chair. She was falling for him big time. "Nick...he asked me to move to Florida with him."
"What did you say?" Shawn asked.
"I haven't answered him. And now you guys want me to come back to California too. I just can't handle all of this right now!" Chelle closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her forehead. "You know....everyone is pressuring me for an answer as to what I am going to do. But no matter what I decide to do, someone is going to get hurt. You all want me in California, Nick wants me in Florida...and Jared...hell he just wants me in hell!! I can't deal with this!!" she yelled and stormed out of the suite, leaving the other girls to stare at her retreating back.
“Shit.” Shawn hollered out. “I’ll go after her.”
“No, let her go Shawn. She has a lot of steam to blow. You know how she can get. And I can understand why she’s been avoiding that topic now. We have been pressuring her to move back home. And don’t get me wrong, I want her home too but we have to respect whatever she decides.” Tanya said. She knew how Chelle felt. She too had felt pressured by the other girls to move on with her life and part of her wasn’t ready just yet.
“Tanya’s right we have been pressuring Chelle to make a decision. We’ve been living in this dream world for the past few days but reality is about to set back in.” Carmen said then looked over at her friends “Our lives are changing as we all get older. I know we always said we’d stay together forever, but nothing changes if we don’t live in the same state. And we do have to support whatever Chelle’s decision is. Damn, I can’t believe Nick asked her to move to Florida.”
“Well, I can’t say that I am shocked. Those two really have become close over the past few days. Hell, I think we all have bonded with the guys. Let’s face it, our lives have changed a little since we met the Backstreet Boys” Shawn replied. The other girls all sat in silence after Shawn’s comment. Their thoughts all the same, what would come of their new relationships. Would they really become just another notch on the guys' belt or would something develop even further like Nick and Chelle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~with the guys~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once the guys made their way out of the hotel and into the car, they began to discuss what was about to happen. “Kevin, do you think that Davy would prevent us from spending any time with the girls? I mean I know we are here to work, but this is suppose to be a vacation for us as well. That is why we decided to come to Hawaii. Perhaps now is a good time to explain to Davy exactly who decides what we‘re going to do” Howie suggested.
“I honestly don’t know what Davy would do but I am pretty sure we wouldn’t benefit from his decisions. I think you’re right though. I think we need to remind Davy who’s working for who here.” Kevin replied.
“Yeah, I couldn’t agree with you more man. Especially after the way he treated Chelle this morning” Nick added in.
“yeah really” Brian agreed.
“woah, what are you talking about Nick? Davy treated Chelle? What…When did this happen?" Kevin asked curiously.
“He ran Chelle over at the elevators and I guess he recognized her from the newspaper” Nick explained then continued, “then he followed her on the elevator and began hounding her about our whereabouts. Which I still think he said a lot more then she has told me.”
“That son of a bitch! That explains his attitude this morning. He probably thought I already knew about this information.” Kevin said gritting his teeth and shaking his head. The guys tolerated Davy as much as they could over the years but recently he had been walking a fine line with the guys and especially with Kevin.
“yeah well he definitely stepped over the boundaries today. He had ticked Chelle off when he called her a groupie.” AJ added in.
"Damn, he was out of line. He has no right interrogating anyone we choose to go out with. Yeah, we’re definitely gonna have a chat with Davy today. He needs to be reminded alright of his place.” Kevin suggested.
“yeah, if he were to have confronted Tanya the same way I don’t think I could deal with that. She’s been through quite an ordeal herself and that is the last thing she needs. That prick definitely needs to take it down a notch.” Howie said.
“Well the only thing I would suggest is to not let on how serious we are with the girls” Kevin suggested then directly looked in Nick’s direction. “Nick, I know you and Chelle have really become close since we’ve been here and we are all very happy for the both of you man. But I would definitely suggest keeping that bit of information from Davy for the time being. Last thing we want him or anyone else to do is make the girls uncomfortable. We’ll just have to figure out a way to spend time with the girls without the hassles from management.”
“One way we can do that is to give it our 100 percent efforts from now on in the studios here regardless of Davy the dork” Brian suggested.
“Brian’s right. That is the best way to keep him off our backs. So let’s do put all this craziness out of mind for awhile. Agreed?” Kevin asked looking over at each of the guys.
A quiet ‘Yeah’ was heard from each of the guys.
“oh come on guys, we can do this. Cuz why? Cuz Backstreet’s Back baby!” AJ said in his best cheery voice.
Once the van arrived at the studios, the guys slowly worked their way inside the building and were ready to go to work. When the guys entered the studio, they didn’t see Davy anywhere. Kevin spotted Andy, one of the technicians, leaning against the wall in the hallway. “Hey man, do you know where Davy is?”
“Uh, yeah, he’s in the back office on the phone. He asked me to go ahead and get you guys set up in the studio. He said that he will join you guys there when he’s off the phone."
Kevin couldn’t shake the feeling that something was not quite right with Davy. This was definitely un Davy like. He would usually order everyone around for about thirty minutes before the guys would go to work.
“Kevin, you alright man?” Brian asked. He noticed that Kevin’s thoughts were a million miles away.
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Andy said that they are ready for us in the studio. Davy will join us in there in a bit.” Kevin answered then told the other guys, “come on guys let’s get to work” .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back at the hotel~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once Chelle left the girls’ suite, she decided that she needed to go some where to clear her mind. The best place she thought of was the beach. As she walked through the lobby of the hotel, she heard her name called out.
“Chelle, wait up”
Chelle turned around to see who the voice belonged too. “Tess? Oh hey” Chelle greeted her friend. Tess looked at Chelle’s ___expression and immediately knew something was wrong. She could tell her friend had been crying. That was something that didn’t happen very often.
“Chelle, what’s wrong?” Tess asked with a comforting voice. “Tess, I’m sorry. But I am really not in the mood to talk about it. Are you headed towards the beach?” Chelle asked hoping that her friend would change the subject.
Tess still couldn’t help but worry, “Chelle? There’s not a problem between you and Nick is there? Cuz I am here as your friend too.”
Chelle let out an exhausted sigh. “No Tess. Nick and I are fine. But really I am just not in the mood to talk about it now. Please understand that. If you don’t mind I really would like to go for a walk on the beach. The sun will be setting soon and I love watching the sun set. Would you mind coming along with me?”
“Sure, that sounds like a great plan. And I promise not to ask anymore questions. Maybe we can discuss my next book, if you’d like?” Tess suggested.
“No Tess, we’re not talking about work anymore today. We are girls, I am sure we’ll find something else to talk about.”
Tess laughed. “alright, you win. No shop talk.”
The two girls drifted towards the beach area and talked about everything that had been going on with each other and kept true to their word…no shop talk.
~~~~~~~~~~~Later with the other girls~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I can’t believe Chelle hasn’t come back yet. I don’t feel comfortable going to eat without her. Maybe I should wait here for her” Shawn said staring at the front door of the suite.
“Shawn, you need to quit worrying about Chelle. She's obviously not ready to talk to us so I think we should just wait until she is.” Sherry advised.
“Yeah I have to agree with Sherry. Chelle just needs her space for right now. Besides we’re leaving a note for her if she changes her mind and wants to join us.” Tanya said back to her friend.
Carmen stood and walked towards the front door and looked back at the others. “So let’s all give Chelle the time she needs. Meanwhile, I am not going to sit around like a bump on a log here. The guys are obviously going to working late since they started late. Just in case you all have forgotten, we are on a vacation…. So, let’s go have some fun. If I know Chelle, she’s probably already out there. Her idea of clearing her head is not thinking about her problems.”
“Now you’re talking. “ Sherry said as she got up from her chair and joined Carmen at the door.
“Oh alright. You’re right. We're on a vacation and we all deserve to have some fun too. If Chelle doesn’t want to talk to us, well then we’re not gonna beg her to.” Shawn agreed with her friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back with Chelle and Tess~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chelle and Tess walked along the beach, each lost in their own thoughts. The sun was setting into the water, causing the ocean to glow a brilliant orange-red. They had been walking along the beach for over two hours and neither had said much to the other. They had a close friendship that didn't need meaningless words to express how they felt. "Tess....." Chelle began. "I need some advice."
"Oh?"
"Yeah...I need to make a difficult choice. My friends want me to return home to California after this trip. But I have a life in New York. Not one that I am real happy with, but a life nonetheless."
"And you want me to help you decide?" Tess suggested.
"Well, I have a third option now. Nick wants me to come to Florida."
Tess stopped and looked at her. Nick wanted her to move in with him? Wow, he had it bad. Did Chelle feel the same way? "And what do you want? You have told me what Nick wants, and what your friends want...but what do you want?”
Chelle stared at her blankly. What did she want? She was so worried about what everyone else wanted that she hadn't really thought about what she wanted. Chelle stared out across the ocean....her gaze focused on a sailboat about a mile out. She smiled as she remembered the day she and Nick had gone sailing. As she asked herself what she wanted, she realized she already knew the answer. She wanted Nick. To be with him, to love him, to be loved by him.
Tess watched Chelle's face transform from somber to joyful. She had a feeling that Chelle had made her decision. "Hey you...penny for your thoughts?" Tess asked.
Chelle looked at her and laughed. "Sorry, the price has gone up....it's a nickel now!"
"Huh?" Tess looked confused.
"Nothing...that's Nick's price. And that's my decision....I want to be with Nick." Chelle replied staring out at the ocean.
“Well, he is a good guy.” Tess commented.
“What? How do you know?” Chelle looked over at her friend.
“Well, he has to be if you’re in love with him” Tess smiled at her friend, thinking how she had almost blown it. Chelle just smiled back then refocused her attention to the sailboat once again. Her heart feeling a sense of relief. Tess watched her friend stare off in a distance. She couldn’t believe the transformation in Chelle over the past few days. It had only been a few weeks since they’d seen each other last. It was obvious that her vacation had done wonders. 'Maybe a few days here is just what I need’ Tess thought.
"I'm hungry....what about you?" Tess asked.
"Starved....now that I'm not upset any more. Let's head back and go get something to eat." Chelle suggested.
Tess smiled and they turned back for the hotel. They had only walked as far as the grassy knoll when a man approached them. "Miss Wilson? Chelle Wilson?"
Chelle jumped, startled that the strange man knew her name.
"Just a quick question about your sordid affair with Backstreet Boy, Nick Carter. Was he your consolation prize for being the big winner at the Coconut Bay?" the strange man asked.
Chelle blanched at his question and pushed passed him, intent on returning to the hotel. The reporter tried to follow her, but Tess slipped her foot into his path, causing him to fall head long into a patch of sandy grass. "Asshole," she muttered then raced after Chelle.
The closer Chelle got to the hotel, the more reporters she ran into, each one throwing a horrible question at her about her relationship with Nick.
She was suddenly grabbed from behind and through her tears, she saw Tess.
"Come on...I am an old pro at this," Tess whispered. "Keep your head down," she said, then started pushing Chelle toward the elevators. "NO COMMENT!" Tess yelled as she steered Chelle away from the crowd of reporters.
"Hey aren't you Tess Dayne?" a question was yelled out.
"NO COMMENT!"
"Hey it is!!"
Suddenly, Tess felt someone grab her arm and Chelle was wrenched from her grasp. She was surrounded by dozens of eager reporters and she frantically searched for Chelle. She couldn't see her and was starting to panic. “CHELLE!” Tess’ heart felt as if it were about to burst. She couldn’t see Chelle anywhere.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~with the other girls~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Oh wow. I am glad you guys talked me into not missing dinner. This cheesecake is to die for.” Shawn moaned out.
Carmen laughed, “yup, the cheesecake and this key lime pie. Hmmmmm”
Sherry added in, “Man, Chelle doesn’t know what she is missing.”
“I am surprised that we didn’t see her already. I figured she would be back for dinner.” Shawn replied. As the girls were finishing up their meal, a flash went off from a bush that was near their table.
“What the hell? Did you guys see that? Someone just took a picture of us?” Carmen acknowledged.
“Yeah I saw that, and I also see those girls over there staring and pointing at us.” Tanya replied.
“What the heck is going on here?” Sherry questioned.
As the girls noticed other people staring at them, the person who took their picture appeared from behind the plant. “Hey aren’t you the girls that are dating the Backstreet Boys? What’s is like traveling with them?” The man continued asking more and more questions.
“Look mister. We would appreciate if you would just leave us alone.” Shawn barked out. As it became apparent that the crowd around them were going to continue to stare at them, they decided it was time to leave the restaurant. Once they made their way out of the restaurant, more girls were noticing who they were.
“Oh my god, they are the girls we saw on TV. They are the girlfriends of the Backstreet Boys” a girl shouted out. One by one, more girls were appearing and begging for an autograph or asking personal questions about their favorite Backstreet Boy.
Mr. Roark noticed the girls dilemma and had his security quickly assist them back to their suite. Once they were secured back in their suite, the girls all let out a big sigh of relief.
Shawn walked around the room and checked to make sure everything was in place then decided to check the rooms. “I will be right back” she advise. “Oh my god, do the guys have to go through this everywhere they go?” Tanya asked as she joined both Sherry and Carmen on the couch. Carmen nodded, “Unfortunately, that is what AJ told me. They barely get to leave their hotel rooms sometimes because of fans roaming the halls.” “Did you hear some of those questions out there? That one girl kept saying she wanted to have Howie’s baby. She couldn’t have been any older than fifteen years old. Where are the parents of these girls?" Sherry said shaking her head. They continued laughing about the many questions they heard when Shawn walked back into the room with a worried look on her face. “Hey Chelle’s still not back yet. I am worried about her. If we were interrogated like that, I bet you she was too. After all, she was the one who had her picture taken with the guys.” As Shawn pointed out that Chelle was not back, Tanya quickly picked up the phone to make a call. “Tanya who are you calling?” Sherry questioned. “Howie. I normally wouldn’t suggest interrupting them unless it was an emergency. Well, this is an emergency.” Tanya said as she anxiously waited for Howie to answer his phone. “Hey good thinking Tanya“ Shawn commended, “they need to be aware of what kind of mess is waiting for them when they get back."
“NO! I don’t want to leave a message. I want to talk to Howie. Shit!” Tanya shouted into the phone then slammed the phone back on the receiver. “Well, so much for my great idea.”
“Here let me try AJ’s phone.” Carmen suggested. “Ok, here” Tanya said handing the phone over. “Any luck?” Shawn asked. As Carmen heard AJ’s voicemail pick up she looked over at Shawn and shook her head no. “oh my god, We need to find Chelle. That is a mad house downstairs.” Shawn said as she began to pace the floor. Suddenly the phone rang.
“Hello, Howie?” Tanya answered.
“Sorry, No...I'm not Howie. Is Chelle there?” a female voice answered.
“who is this?” Tanya asked.
“I’m sorry. I’m Tess. A friend.”
“No, Chelle hasn't made it back yet," Tanya replied.
“Oh shit. I was with Chelle a little while ago down here in the lobby but the crowds got really crazy and I lost her in the crowd somewhere. I’ve been looking for her hoping to find her but I just figured she made her way back to her room by now.” Tess said out of breath.
“We haven’t seen Chelle in awhile but we‘ll tell her you called when she gets back.”
“Thanks, uh”
“oh, sorry. Tanya. I’m a one of Chelle’s friends also.”
“Tanya, would please tell Chelle to call me when she returns. I'll be in my room." Tess replied then hung up the phone.
“Oh my god.” Tanya gasped out with her mouth wide open, then advised the other girls what Tess told her. Shawn quickly picked up the phone and started dialing numbers. “Yes, I need to speak to Mr. Roark, please.”
“yes, ma’am one moment” the voice said in the phone. A few minutes passed before Mr. Roark answered. “Hello, this is Mr. Roark.”
“Mr. Roark, this is Shawn Rogers. We are looking for Chelle? You haven’t by any chance seen her have you?” Shawn asked.
“Well, right before I saw you ladies, I saw her along with another woman from a distance. But before I knew it, the hotel was swarmed with people. So, I was not able to see Chelle. But from where I was standing, I could see a man help her away from the crowds.” When Mr. Roark made that comment, all the color from Shawn’s faced had disappeared.
“YOU SAW CHELLE WITH WHO?” Shawn screamed into the phone.
“I am sorry Ms. But I couldn’t see exactly who she was with. Let me check with one of the workers that was there. He may have seen who Chelle was with. I will call you back in just a few minutes, ok? Mr. Roark suggested.
“I will be right next to the phone Mr. Roark” Shawn answered back then replaced the receiver on the phone. “OH MY GOD!” Shawn hollered out loud. “WHAT IS IT SHAWN?” Carmen asked. “Mr. Roark said he saw Chelle from a distance and it appeared that some man helped her out.” Shawn answered back, “but he didn’t get a good look of who was with her. He’s asking one of the workers that was there and see if he saw Chelle.
“Oh my god Shawn. Do you think someone kidnapped her?” Tanya blurted out. “Tanya, I don’t know. Oh my god. What if she was. I will never forgive myself. I knew I should’ve gone after her.” Shawn wailed out. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes from being so worried and scared.
“ok… let’s not jump to any conclusions till we hear anything. Maybe it’s someone who saw Chelle was having troubles and offered to help her.” Carmen suggested. “yeah maybe. And maybe it’s some monster out there.” Shawn answered back. “Shawn stop it. You’re not helping us by putting more horrific ideas out there for us.” Just then the phone rang. Shawn quickly answered, “Hello?” “hello, Ms. Rogers. I spoke with Pedro who was near Ms. Wilson earlier. He said that the person who helped her appeared to know her but that was all that he knew. He didn’t know who the person was. Only that this person was also a guest at the hotel.”
“Thank you, Mr. Roark. I think I may know who it is.” Shawn paused for a second then said, “Oh, Mr. Roark. Do you have any idea what the phone number is at the studios where the Backstreet Boys are ? I think they need to know what is happening here.”
“yes ma’am, I know where they are at. However, I’ve just called the studio and left a message for the boys.”
"Thank you Mr. Roark, I appreciate you getting back with me.”
“No problem. We will have this problem under control by tomorrow ms. Please call back if you need anything.”
“I will.”
When Shawn hung up the phone, each girl started throwing one question at a time at her.
“what did he say, Shawn?”
“He said that the person that helped her appeared to know who she was and that he was also a guest at the hotel.”
“Oh my god, Shawn. Some strange weirdo has taken her.” Tanya said in a panic. “actually, I think I know who it might be.” Shawn answered.
“Who?” The girls answered in unison.
“Think about it. What other guy does Chelle know at the hotel other than Nick and the guys.” Shawn advised.
“Oh shit! Jared!” Carmen replied.
“Yup, that’s exactly who I think it is.” Shawn said as she let out a breath.
“OH SHIT!” Tanya and Sherry said in unison.