Chapter 17
Dan was in the kitchen making breakfast when Trevor joined him. "Hey, Danny, how you feelin’?" It was the next morning and no one was really awake yet.
"Better," Dan said, his voice still scratchy, but audible.
"Good. It sucks that we have rehearsal on a Sunday morning. I hope Doc and Ed go easier on us," Trevor said as he poured some milk into a bowl of cereal.
"I think they’re gonna get harder on us the closer we get to the tour," Dan told him. Trevor shook his head.
"Great," he said, sarcastically.
"What’s ‘great?’" Maria asked coming into the kitchen. She still had her pajamas on and Trevor almost choked on his cereal. Usually people looked horrible in the morning, but not Maria. She looked as stunning as he always thought she did. "Are you okay?" she asked, hitting him lightly on the back.
"Yeah, I’m fine," Trevor coughed. Maria nodded.
"I heard that your mom’s in town," Dan said. Maria rolled her eyes.
"Don’t remind me," she said as she opened a cabinet, looking at all the cereal boxes. "You guys label your cereal?" she asked, grabbing a Jacob-labeled box of Apple Jacks.
"We’re very territorial about our cereal," Ashley said as he joined them.
"Wow, you’re up early," Trevor joked. Ashley smiled.
"See, I’m not as irresponsible as you all think," he said.
"Dan must be rubbing off on you," Trevor told him. Maria smiled as she added milk to her cereal.
"Is Jake up?" Ashley asked her. She shook her head.
"Not yet. I can go wake him if you want," she said.
"That’s okay, we have time. Late night?" Ashley then asked with a sly smile. Maria hit him.
"No. We spent most of it talking. I showed him some pictures that my wonderful co-worker had developed without telling me. They were of September 11th," she said, looking into her bowl.
"Oh. Is that why you were so upset yesterday?" Trevor asked. Maria nodded.
Jacob then wandered into the kitchen, just wearing a pair of long shorts. He was still half asleep and yawning. Maria smiled.
"And I thought that you couldn’t get any messier looking," she said. Jacob kissed her cheek and rubbed his eyes.
"What time is rehearsal, Dan?" he asked, stretching.
"Ten," he said. Jacob nodded. He looked at the box of Apple Jacks on the counter.
"That’s mine," he said. Maria frowned.
"I didn’t think you’d mind. It’s called ‘sharing,’" she said. Jacob shrugged and put his arms around her waist. Trevor watched them. He so wanted a relationship like that, but it was hard because he was so shy. He still had feelings for Maria, too. As much as he didn’t want to, he did. He knew that Jacob knew and it was a little awkward, but Trevor couldn’t help how he felt and he didn’t know how to make his feelings go away.
"What are your plans for today?" Jacob asked Maria, his mouth close to her ear.
"I should go see my mom, but I don’t really want to. I think I’ll call my dad and see what’s going on with the baby," she said.
"The baby was born?" Ashley asked. Maria nodded.
"He was premature and is in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, though," she said, sadly. Jacob tightened his arms around her.
"That’s too bad. I hope he’s okay," Dan said. Maria nodded.
"Me, too," she said. "I can’t help but feel guilty for not being excited when my dad told me about the baby, but it was a shock, you know? I definitely didn’t want the poor thing to be born sick or anything."
"Your dad knows that. I’m sure he doesn’t think that you wanted anything bad to happen to the baby," Jacob told her.
"I know. I still feel guilty, though," Maria said. Suddenly a man and a woman, who was carrying a camera, came into the kitchen.
"Time to get hooked up, guys," the guy said as he approached Ashley, who stood with his arms out. The guy proceeded to wrap a mic pack around Ashley’s waist. Maria frowned.
"I haven’t signed the papers yet," she said. She noticed that Jacob had let go of her and backed off when the camera appeared.
"No problem," the woman with the camera said, "We won’t film you until you do." Maria looked at Jacob. With a nod of his head, he gestured to the guesthouse. Maria went with him to his room---no camera followed.
"Who are they?" she asked after he had closed the door.
"The guy is Seth. He’s in charge of production for the show and Gillian is the camera operator, although, that changes sometimes. It depends on who’s on duty," Jacob told her as he got out some clothes. Maria nodded.
"I guess I should sign the necessary paperwork to be on your show. How exciting," she said, but didn’t sound all that excited. Jacob walked over to her.
"If you don’t want to be a part of the show, you don’t have to," he said. Maria sighed.
"I know, but if they’re with you all the time, I don’t want to be the ‘faceless girl’ in the background. I don’t want to stay away from you because of the cameras," she told him. Jacob smiled. He was glad to hear her say that. He had been a little unsure of how Maria would feel about the cameras. He knew from experience that it took a lot of getting used to. "We decided, though, that our relationship wouldn’t be shown, right?" she asked.
"I think it would be best to not include it right now. They’ll probably focus on the tour and our songwriting that we have to do. All the relationship stuff was last season, so the fans pretty much know what’s going on in our love lives."
"Not everyone’s love life," Maria said, smirking. She leaned forward and kissed him deeply. Jacob wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, deepening the kiss even more. He was just about to lie her down on the bed when a knock came at the door.
"Jacob? It’s Seth. We have to get this mic on you." Jacob groaned. Maria sat up and quickly collected her clothes.
"He’s gonna see me with you. The bathroom is across the hall, so I can’t really hide," she said. Jacob shrugged.
"I’ll talk to him," he said, opening the door. Seth stood there with Jacob’s mic pack. Maria smiled and walked right by him to go into the bathroom. Seth watched her, and then turned back to Jacob, his eyebrows raised. "It’s not something that’s gonna be filmed, Seth."
"Why not? She’s hot," he said. Jacob sighed. He changed into jeans and stood patiently while Seth put the mic pack on him. "Fans like to know who you guys are with, you know?"
"No. Not yet," Jacob told him. Seth nodded. He didn’t want to argue with Jacob, knowing what kind of a temper he had.
"Okay. I’ll tell Gillian and respect your wishes, but if, what’s her name?"
"Maria."
"If Maria signs those forms, then she’ll be on the show," Seth told him.
"I know that, but I don’t want her to be labeled as my ‘girlfriend.’ Got it?"
"Got it," Seth said and hurried down the stairs. Jacob put on a red tee shirt and tied a red and white bandanna over his head. He pulled on his socks and sneakers and then headed back to the main house.
Kyle had just sat down at his desk when an angry-looking Susan appeared before him. "Can I help you?" he asked her.
"What is your problem?" Susan asked, closing the door. "You almost lost Maria yesterday and I want to know why? And don’t tell me that you think Jocelyn is more talented because you know that that’s not true."
"I realize that you’re close with Maria and I respect that. It’s nothing personal, really. I just think that Maria will be leaving eventually and I need someone like Jocelyn to take her place." Susan frowned.
"But, Maria’s still here. It looks like you’re pushing her aside before she’s even gone. She’s had her share of personal problems lately, but you can’t fault her for that," Susan told him. Kyle sighed.
"I know and I’m not punishing her in any way. I love her like a daughter, you know that."
"Then why are you being so harsh with her? Why can’t you find someplace else for Jocelyn to work until Maria does, indeed, leave?" Susan asked.
"Okay. I will try and work something out since they don’t get along," Kyle told her. "Actually, Susan, I wanted to talk to you about something. I was talking to O-Town’s management, specifically Mike Cronin and Mike Morin. They said that the record company was impressed with Maria’s O-Town article and the pictures. It was great exposure for the group."
"I know. The issue came out great. But did you expect anything less from Maria?" Susan asked, sitting down in a chair in front of Kyle’s desk. Kyle smiled.
"No, I guess not. Anyway, they asked if Maria did any private work, you know, exclusively for any artists or groups."
"You mean freelancing stuff?" Susan asked. Kyle nodded.
"I guess, in a way that’s what they meant. They wanted to know if they could ‘borrow’ her for the Britney tour." Susan looked surprised.
"’Borrow’ her? Wow. She could make some big bucks."
"I know and so could the record company. See, they want Maria to be the only photographer to take exclusive concert photos and then the company would sell them to magazines that may want to use them. The pictures would only be of O-Town, though, not Britney Spears," Kyle explained. Susan nodded. "There wouldn’t be as much press around either, since it’s such a huge tour and not a lot of extra personnel room to begin with. What do you think?"
"It’s a great opportunity for Maria. I’m wondering, though, will her relationship with Jacob interfere? They got really close and I don’t know if there would be a problem since they’re involved," Susan said. Kyle frowned slightly.
"That happened awfully quick. You were supposed to be there chaperoning so something like that wouldn’t happen," he said, half-jokingly. Susan smiled.
"Sorry. I didn’t intend for my mom to get sick."
"How ‘involved’ are they?" Kyle then asked. Susan shrugged.
"I don’t know a lot of the details and I wouldn’t want to pry. You should ask Alex that one. She was there and Maria tells her more than she tells me," she said. Kyle nodded.
"Fine. Let me know when Alexandra gets here," he said. Susan stood up.
"I will," she said as she left the office. Kyle sat back in his chair. He had to talk to Maria---before she quit for good.
Sarah rolled her eyes. Her mother was bitching again. "This is ridiculous! I came here to see Maria and she leaves to go do whatever with that, that boy. I want you to take me to her," Caroline told Sarah. Emily came into the kitchen.
"Good morning. Is something wrong?" she asked.
"When is something not wrong?" Sarah asked back as she left the kitchen to go get dressed.
"Emily, I know that you understand. I just want to see Maria. I never meant to force her out of her home. I know that she won’t call and I need to talk to her, but I can’t because I have no idea where she is!" Caroline said with a desperate look on her face.
"Relax, Aunt Caroline. Maria’s fine. O-Town’s house isn’t that far from here," Emily said.
"Then can you take me there? Please. I just want to talk to my daughter. She almost died for crying out loud and she didn’t even call her mother!" Caroline exclaimed. Sarah came back in wearing jeans and a yellow crop-top.
"Fine! If we bring you over there will you shut up?" she practically shouted. Caroline frowned and nodded. Emily looked at Sarah, giving her an, ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea,’ look. Sarah pulled Emily into the living room.
"She will go on and on like this until she sees Maria. Now, I don’t want to have a headache for the rest of my life, so it’s either bring her over there or live with her whining and bitching until she leaves," Sarah said. Emily sighed.
"Okay, but don’t you think we should call and warn them first? I mean it’s the band’s house. We can’t just show up," she said.
"No, we can’t warn them. Maria will take off if she knows we’re bringing Mom over there. I know it sounds mean, but that’s the way their relationship is. Just trust me. If we tell Maria, she’ll disappear," Sarah told her. Emily nodded.
"I just hope that we don’t get the guys in any trouble," she said as she went to change to go over to O-Town’s house.
Maria was sitting at the long table, her feet tucked under her as she read the agreement about filming for the show. She had changed into jeans and a white tank top with a flowy, white, sheer shirt over it. Her hair was pulled back and clipped at the nape of her neck.
"Interesting reading material?" Trevor asked, sitting down beside her. Maria shook her head. She had a pen in her mouth and was chewing on the cap.
"I have no idea what most of this means. Just as long as I don’t look like an idiot, I’ll be fine," she said, flipping to the last page where the dotted line was. The agreement was complicated, but she knew that if there was ever a problem, she could just tell Jacob and he’d take care of it. She signed her name with a flourish. "I now ‘belong’ to the people behind Making the Band," she said, smiling. Trevor smiled back.
"How are you?" he asked. Maria sighed.
"I’m better, Trevor. Thanks for caring," she said.
"I do, you know. If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here for you," he said, bashfully. Maria smiled again. She reached over and hugged him lightly.
"Thank you," she said. He swallowed hard when her arms were around him. Erik walked into the room, Gillian and her camera following him.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we need to get going, Trev," he said. Trevor stood up quickly.
"Yeah, let’s go," he said. Maria also stood up. Dan, Ashley and Jacob then appeared, their bags slung over their shoulders. Mike C. entered the house.
"You guys ready?" he asked. They nodded. "Let’s go, then." Maria walked over to him and handed him the agreement that she had signed.
"Mike, I signed this. I don’t know who to give it to," she said. Mike smiled. "I’ll take it. Thanks. Make yourself at home. The cameras are with us, so you won’t be bothered." She nodded. Jacob winked at her as he left the house. Maria smiled at him before she shut the door. She stood, listening to the silence. ‘Should I go to work?’ she asked herself. She didn’t even know if Kyle wanted her there or not.
"I guess I’ll look around," she said out loud to herself as she headed upstairs.
Alex walked into photo studio building slowly. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. All she kept thinking about was what Carlos had said about Erik. She didn’t know why she was starting to doubt her relationship with Erik. So far, he’d been nothing but good to her, but what if he was too good to be true? He seemed to truly care about her and she knew that she cared for him, so what was the problem?
"Damn you, Carlos!" she exclaimed.
"What?" Susan asked, coming out of her office.
"Nothing. I was talking to myself," Alex said.
"Kyle needs to see you." Alex looked at her, frowning. "Oh, it’s nothing bad. He just, well, he wants to speak to you about Maria and Jacob."
"What? Why?" Alex asked, surprised.
"Well, O-Town’s management approached Kyle about using Maria to take exclusive concert photos of the band on the Britney Spears tour. He wants to know how serious Maria and Jacob are because it might interfere with her working for them. Or something like that. Anyway, he just wants to see you as soon as possible," Susan told her. Alex nodded.
"Okay. Do you think that Maria will come in today?" she asked. Susan shrugged.
"I really don’t know," she said. "I’m gonna either go see her or call her to see what she’s planning to do about work." Alex nodded and continued down the hall to the ‘Home Ec’ room.
The band made their way into the rehearsal studio. Doc cornered Jacob the minute he saw him. "Well, you decided to join us today? That’s great. Guess what? You get to stay an extra hour because of what you missed yesterday," he said. Jacob smiled.
"Look, I’m sorry about yesterday and I’m willing to stay longer because of it," he said. Doc nodded.
"Good, because you have no choice," he said as he left the studio. Jacob put his things down. The other guys didn’t say anything to him. Ed then walked into the room.
"Okay, fellas. Let’s run through what you’ve been having the most trouble with," he said. The guys spread out to stretch and prepare for another long rehearsal.
Maria finished wandering around the house. She didn’t intrude by going into the guys’ bedrooms or anything. She just wanted to see the basic layout of the house. She stood by the pool, looking down into the clear water. How had she gotten here? ‘Assignment O-Town’ that’s how. An assignment she hadn’t even wanted. Now, she had a cover article with photo credits on the group, she had an ex-boyfriend and a new guy in her life---a guy that she hadn’t even liked when she had first met him. Maria had also survived a horrific tragedy that had affected the country, if not the world, and she had a new baby half-brother, who was very sick. So much had changed in such a short amount of time. It was too much for Maria to take all at once.