"We’re going to be accompanied on all of our radio shows by a photographer who is going to do a feature article on us as a group and also write up individual profiles of us?" he asked.
"Wait, where is that? I didn’t get that page," Erik spoke up, as he flipped through his papers.
"We’re gonna be spied on?" Ashley asked. Mike C. shook his head.
"No. The photographer will be mostly in the background just watching you. It’s for a magazine called Star Power. The photographer is Kyle Walsh. He’s excellent," he said. Ashley perked up.
"I know that magazine. They do awesome articles on up-and-coming people in the entertainment industry. Actors, singers, writers, bands. It’s, like, a great magazine. And the pictures are all sophisticated and stuff. They’re not cheesy," he said. Mike M. nodded.
"That’s why when Walsh called us with the offer of doing a cover story on O-Town, we accepted. The arrangements haven’t been finalized yet, but we’re waiting to hear from him," he told them. "At this early point in your careers, a cover feature in a well-known and respected magazine will help you greatly." The guys all looked at each other. Jacob was falling asleep. Mike C. noticed.
"Go get some sleep. We have an appearance tomorrow morning at 11, so you can sleep in a little," he said.
"Halleluiah!" Erik exclaimed as they all got up, Ashley pulling Jacob up out of his chair.
"Man, you don’t look so good, Jake. I think that you’re not over being sick yet," he said. Jacob just shook his head.
"Let’s just go," he said as he headed for the elevators with the others.
Orlando
Maria woke up and stretched. The sun was shining brightly into the bedroom. She smiled. ‘Rain, rain went away,’ she thought. ‘Don’t come back another day.’ Maria turned over and looked at Geoff, who was still sleeping. She felt guilty about not spending a lot of time with him lately, but her work came first. He knew that and he just had to accept it. Getting up and out of the bed, Maria pulled on an oversized tee shirt. She walked into the kitchen where Heathcliff was playing with one of his many toys on the floor. Maria bent down and picked him up.
"Good morning," she said, smiling as he meowed at her. She kissed him and put him down as she got out a can of food for him. After she fed him, she went to put the coffee on.
"Your mom called." Maria turned to see Geoff walking towards her. He was wearing just boxers and he had that ‘I just got up’ look. He yawned.
"What did she want?" Maria asked him as she continued to prepare the coffee.
"I don’t know. She just ordered me to tell you that she called and to have you call her back ASAP. I don’t think it’s a dire emergency, but you better call just so she doesn’t freak out," he said. Geoff didn’t like Maria’s mother. Maria didn’t blame him. Her mother didn’t like Geoff either and was often rude to him. Maria didn’t care if her mother didn’t like Geoff. Maria lived her own life and if her mother didn’t like the way that she lived it…tough.
"I’ll call her later," Maria said. Geoff walked over and put his arms around Maria. She smiled. "I really will make up for the missed dinners," she said. He put his mouth close to her ear.
"I think you did pretty well last night," he said. Maria blushed. Geoff kissed her quickly on the cheek and went back to the bedroom to change. Maria got two mugs out of the cabinet for the coffee and began to make breakfast.
Maria arrived at the studio at 8:30 am. She parked her blue jeep and jumped out, grabbing her coffee and her bag with all of her ‘work’ in it, meaning the prints that she had done last night. A lot of them had come out well and she was excited to show them to Kyle this morning.
She met Susan on her way into the building. It was a two-story building that contained the photo studio, the lab and offices. "Good morning. You’re up early," Susan said in greeting. Maria pulled off her sunglasses.
"I can’t wait to show Kyle these prints. They came out great," she said. Susan nodded.
"I’m sure that they did, but Kyle won’t be in until later," she said. Maria frowned.
"Why not?" she asked as Susan unlocked the door and they entered the building.
"He’s got an assignment that he’s arranging. He was on the phone late last night," she said. Maria’s eyebrows shot up.
"Oh? And why exactly were you with Kyle ‘late last night?’" she asked as they went into Susan’s office. Susan gave Maria a ‘don’t go there’ look. Maria smiled. "You two would be great together. He’s handsome and smart and successful…and single. Don’t tell me that you haven’t thought about it." Susan sat down behind her desk.
"I will not discuss this. Now, go arrange those prints. I’m sure once Kyle gets here, he’ll want to take a look at them," she said and looked down at her calendar. Maria, knowing that she had just been dismissed, got up and left the office.
Once inside the photo lab, which Maria considered her ‘office,’ she took out her cell phone and dialed her mother’s number. Maria knew that she was always up early.
"Hello?"
"Hi, mom, it’s me. Geoff told me that you called yesterday," Maria said as she took out her binder of prints and started looking through them.
"Yes, I did. Why didn’t you get back to me sooner?" Caroline Larson asked her daughter. Maria sighed.
"Because. Did you want something?" she asked.
"I just wanted to know how you were. You never call, Maria, and it worries me," Caroline said. Maria rolled her eyes.
"Mom, I’m fine. I’m just busy. How’re Sarah and Joey?" she asked. Sarah was her 18-year-old sister and Joey was her 20-year-old brother. They both still lived at home, which was in Southport, Connecticut. Maria had been lucky and had gotten out right after she had graduated high school. She had been in Orlando ever since.
"Sarah’s wild, Maria. I’m going to have to do something soon if she doesn’t shape up," Caroline told her.
"Why don’t you send her to stay with Dad for a while?" Maria asked.
"I’m not sending her all the way across the country to live with him and her," Caroline said. The ‘her’ her mother had referred to was Maria’s father’s fiancée, Marilyn Clark. Caroline was bitter because Joseph, Maria’s father, had seemingly moved Marilyn in with him the minute the divorce had been finalized. It was obvious that something had been going on while Joseph and Caroline had still been married.
"Marilyn is nice, mom. You need to let it go already," Maria said. It was the wrong thing to say.
"That woman ruined my marriage, Maria. I will not let her take my children too," Caroline whined.
"You ruined your marriage, mom. Don’t blame Marilyn. Dad couldn’t do anything right in your eyes. I happen to think that he did the right thing by getting out of the marriage. Everyone was unhappy. Now, he’s happy and I’m glad. You just need to move on," Maria said. Her mother was silent and Maria immediately felt guilty. "Mom?"
"I’ll talk to you soon, Maria. Take care," Caroline said and hung up. Maria sighed as she, too, hung up. Maybe Maria was being too hard on her mother, but she was living in denial. She did have a lot to do with her marriage falling apart and for her to blame Marilyn was just wrong. Maria put her phone away and returned to her work.
New York
"Ashley, wake up," Jacob said wearily as he stood over Ashley’s bed. When Ashley didn’t respond, Jacob shook him. "Come on, dude. Get up," he said. Ashley opened his eyes.
"I thought that we could sleep in today," he said as he yawned.
"We did. It’s 10 o’clock. We have to be ready in a half hour," Jacob told him as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Ashley sat up and looked over at Dan who was already ready.
"Man, how do you do it? You’re always up on time," Ashley said to him. Dan shrugged.
"Someone has to be responsible," he said with a smile.
"You’re a brown noser, dude. You just want the Mikes to like you and hate us," Ashley told him. Dan threw a pillow at him.
"Come on, get up or the Mikes will be after you and really hate you," Dan said. Ashley sighed and proceeded to get up.
The guys could hear the screaming before they were even in sight of the record store where they were making their appearance. It was a cool, overcast day; so the guys had dressed warmly…meaning jeans, long sleeve shirts and jackets. Jacob pulled his black leather jacket closer around him as the limo made its way closer to the store---and the screaming. His head felt better, but he’d had trouble sleeping and was tired. Maybe Ashley had been right and he hadn’t totally gotten over his pneumonia. Still, his job didn’t allow for ‘sick days’ so he just had to grin and bear it.
As the limo pulled up in front of the record store, security personnel appeared to make sure the group got into the store safely. Girls were going crazy, trying to catch a glimpse of the guys inside the limo.
"This is nuts," Ashley remarked. He was still amazed by O-Town’s success so far. The critics had been pretty brutal, but the fans were great and the crowds that came to see them got bigger and bigger every time the guys made a personal appearance.
"I’ll go first, you guys follow and Mike will bring up the rear. No stopping, understand?" Mike M. said. The guys nodded. They managed to make their way into the store unscathed, although they had been grabbed a couple of times.
"Okay, let’s set you guys up," Mike C. said as the manager of the store came over to talk to them. Jacob sighed. ‘Here we go again,’ he thought as he yawned and followed the guys over to a long table that was set up in front of a display of O-Town’s debut CD.
Orlando
At noon, Maria decided to take a break. She was anxiously waiting for Kyle to see her prints, but he had yet to make an appearance. Maria exited the lab and looked into the studio. No one was in there, so she went to Susan’s office. Susan was on the phone. Maria waited until Susan had finished her call. Susan smiled when she saw Maria standing in the doorway. She quickly finished her call.
"What’s up? Taking a break?" she asked as she hung up her phone.
"Yeah. Where’s Kyle? You said that he’d be in, right?" Maria asked her. Susan nodded and stood up. She shoved a file into the filing cabinet and closed it.
"He’ll be in after lunch," she said.
"Who will?" Kyle asked as he suddenly appeared at the door behind Maria.
"You," Maria answered with a smile. He smiled back.
"Sorry I’m late. I have some things that I need to discuss with you, Maria, and you too, Susan. So, go get some lunch and we’ll meet in my office at, say, one o’clock?" he asked. Maria and Susan nodded. Kyle then continued down the hallway to his office.
"What’re these ‘things’ that he needs to discuss with us?" Maria asked as Susan closed the door to her office and they headed for the exit.
"Probably that assignment. It sounds interesting and I think that he just might want to include you," Susan said, smiling.
Maria was intrigued. What kind of assignment would Kyle want her for? Usually, she just helped him out in the studio. She never went on any freelancing jobs with him. After she got behind the wheel of her jeep, she turned to Susan, who was putting her seat belt on. "What kind of an assignment is he going on?" she asked. Susan shrugged.
"I don’t know exactly. He’ll tell you after lunch. Let’s go," she said. Maria put on her sunglasses and started her jeep.
New York
After the guys had signed autographs for a good hour and a half, they performed an acapella version of ‘All Or Nothing’ and then went to eat lunch.
"So, Mike, tell us more about this photographer that’s gonna be following us around. When is he coming and how long will he be with us?" Trevor asked as he took a bite out of his hamburger. Mike C. ate some French fries before responding.
"Well, he’s going to basically be part of your posse," he said, smiling. "Don’t worry, the photo shoots will be scheduled when you’re not so busy and we’ll also come up with an interview schedule. I think that he wants to have a group interview, then do individuals when convenient."
"He’ll be traveling on the bus with us?" Jacob asked as he sipped his soda. Mike M. nodded.
"Yeah. There’s plenty of room and he’ll only write down what you guys want. Everything is off the record unless you say it’s okay. He’s very accommodating, so don’t go getting all nervous that every little thing that you say and do in front of him will be put in the article," he told them.
"Hey, we lived with cameras in our faces for how long? I think having a reporter around won’t be a big deal," Erik commented. Jacob had already made the decision to try and stay away from their ‘guest.’ He valued his privacy and although he had eventually gotten used to the cameras for the TV show, a guy eavesdropping on their private lives was different.
"When’s he coming?" Dan asked. Mike M. looked at a daily planner that was in his hands.
"He’ll be meeting us in Orlando. His studio is based there, actually. Probably a week after we return. I’m still talking to him, but it looks good. We leave for our first show on April 27th, so we’ll definitely meet with him and discuss things beforehand," he said. The guys nodded. "Oh," Mike added. "He’s also bringing an assistant and a stylist."
"The more, the merrier," Ashley said with a smile. Jacob ate the last of his chicken McNuggets and piled all of his garbage up on his tray. He got up to throw it out and then he wandered outside into the cool, spring air. He saw some girls staring at him and sighed. Jacob had always wanted to be a ‘star’ but he hadn’t known the price that he’d have to pay would be so very high. His privacy was gone. He never saw his family or friends at home in California. His life was traveling and performing, posing for pictures and signing autographs.
"Hi, Jacob. Can I have your autograph?" Jacob smiled at the young girl who stood before him. He took her pen and signed a magazine that had O-Town on the cover. He didn’t even look at his own face staring back at him. "You’re the best. Thanks!" the girl gushed.
"You’re welcome," Jacob said politely. The girl looked like she didn’t want to leave, so Jacob turned around and headed back inside to the rest of the group. He sat down next to Erik, who looked at him.
"Where’d you go?" he asked.
"To get some air," Jacob answered. Dan laughed.
"New York air?" he asked. "Mustn’t have been too fresh." Jacob smiled. The Mikes then told the guys to hurry up and finish eating. When they had finished, they made their way back to their hotel.
Orlando
Maria and Susan sat in Kyle’s large office. It was on the second floor of the building and had a nice view of a park that wasn’t far away. Kyle came in and closed the door. He went to sit behind his desk, shuffling through a pile of papers. He opened a binder that had official-looking documents in it. Finally, he looked up at Maria and Susan. Maria took a bite of a Snickers bar. She was addicted to the damn things. Which wasn’t that bad, since she never had time to eat much else.
"Ladies, I have an amazing opportunity here and I want you to listen before commenting on it," Kyle said to both of them, but he was looking at Maria. Maria swallowed her candy bar and nodded. "I am planning on doing a cover story on an up-and-coming group for the August edition of Star Power."
Maria forgot about the ‘don’t comment until I’m done’ part. "August? Why so far away?" she asked.
"Listen, Maria," Kyle scolded. Maria took another bite of her candy bar and listened. "It’s for a music group and they have some radio shows coming up. Actually, the shows span three months. In that time, I want them to be interviewed both as a group and separately for the story. The pictures will also be done in that time span. The schedule for the interviews and the photo shoots still has to be arranged with the group’s management," he said. Maria nodded.
"What group is it?" she asked. Kyle looked at Susan and smiled.
"O-Town," he said, looking back at Maria, who frowned.
"That boy band that was put together on TV?" she asked. She had never watched the show, but living in Orlando, the ‘boy band capital of the world,’ she couldn’t escape seeing things written about it. Kyle nodded.
"Yes. I think it’s a fascinating story. I mean, imagine what those five young men have been through and what they’re still going through. It’s like they’re living a dream and they had to do most of it in front of cameras that were taping their every move. Now they have to prove that they’re a legitimate musical group and not some ‘made for TV’ bogus band," Kyle said. "I think the exposure in Star Power will help them."
"Why do you want to help them?" Maria asked. It sounded like a fluff piece to her. "We don’t exactly cater to the ‘screaming teeny bopper’ crowd," she added.
"I knew that you would be skeptical, Maria. That’s why I want you to do it all," Kyle told her as he stood up. Maria’s jaw dropped.
"What?" she asked, looking at Susan, who shrugged, but was trying to hide a smile.
"I want you to write the article and take the pictures. I want you to be the one to go with the group," Kyle answered.
"With you, right? I mean, Kyle, I’ve never written anything for the magazine and the pictures I’ve taken weren’t a big deal. Why all of a sudden would you be giving me a cover story?" she asked. Kyle walked around the desk. Maria shoved her candy wrapper in her purse and also stood up.
"Maria, if I didn’t have faith in you, do you think that I’d offer you this chance? You’re good. You’re a good writer and an excellent photographer. You can do this…I know you can. Besides, Time magazine asked that I go out of the country to take some photos for their next issue," he told her. Maria looked at him.
"What if I don’t want to do it?" she asked. Kyle sighed.
"Then you’ll be giving up one hell of a learning experience. It may seem like nothing to you, but in the end, you’ll regret that you didn’t go for it. Now, I’m supposed to meet the group next week. I was hoping that you’d be with me so that I could explain that you’d be the one doing the story. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by, Maria," Kyle said as he picked up the binder. "Susan, I was planning on having you go with Maria as her assistant. I’ll need to know what your decision is by tomorrow, Maria." With that, Kyle left his office. Maria sat back down. She put a hand on her forehead and sighed.
"You’ve always wanted a chance to take pictures and write an article," Susan said to her. Maria nodded.
"Yeah, but not on some boy band. How boring is that? I can’t believe that Kyle is actually interested in them," she said. Susan got up.
"You think hard about it. Everyone has to start somewhere," she told her as she started to leave the office. "Besides, it might not be that bad. They might be cute," Susan added with a smile right before she left. Maria closed her eyes. ‘What should I do?’ she asked herself.