When Kevin headed into the restaurant twenty minutes later, AJ was the first one who caught his attention. “It’s about damn time…how’s she doing?”
Taking a seat, Kevin sighed. “She’s resting now…”
Carlos interjected, “Wore her out?”
Kevin’s head shot to the booth behind him. He froze momentarily and ignored his comment. There was no way he could know, is there? He thought they had been pretty quiet. Well, at least he was quiet. He couldn’t really say the same for Emma.
Oh well, it wouldn’t be the first time Carlos ever heard anything coming from that room and probably wouldn’t be the last either. At least this time, it was with his wife…that made it a little better, didn’t it?
Turning back to AJ, he continued. “She won’t be able to walk on it for a few days. It’s not broken or anything though, so that’s a good sign.” Kevin waived the waitress over and placed his order. “Oh and in about fifteen minutes, could you come back…I’ll need a carryout as well.”
The waitress smiled and winked. “Sure thing honey.” She placed her hands on the table and leaned over. “If you promise me I can get an autograph.”
AJ laughed and raised his eyebrows. “No problem.” When she left the table, he leaned over to talk quietly to Kevin. “How old do you think she is?”
Kevin shrugged. “Sixties maybe.” Laughing, he took a look back at her. “Maybe seventies…but hey, our fans come in all ages, right?”
For the next forty-five minutes or so, they all sat around talked about anything and everything that wasn’t Backstreet. Each one talked about what they were going to do after the tour was over and everyone joked about how they wouldn’t be spending any time together until the next tour…they needed some space.
Despite it all being made in jest, there was some truth behind it. Once this tour was over, they all felt like they needed a break…a really long break from Backstreet and from touring.
Finishing up the last of his meal, Kevin grabbed the bill and pulled out his wallet to pay.
AJ grabbed it out of his hands. “Oh no you're not…it’s Nick’s turn this time.”
Nick was sitting three booths down from AJ, but he heard him. “Alright, pass it over.”
When the waitress came back, AJ had to laugh. She had a piece of paper and pen ready and immediately made her way directly to him. “Okay, just put your little ole’ autographs on there and I’ll be happy.”
“Is this for you?” Howie questioned.
“Well, don’t take this wrong, but no…it’s not. I do love your music though, especially that new one…Shade of my Heart. But, it’s for my daughter and her kids.” Leaning over towards AJ, she smiled at him. “I think you’re my daughter’s favorite…she’s always talking about the one with the tattoos.”
Howie laughed. “Don’t you mean Shape of my Heart?”
"Shape?" she repeated. "Well how many different shapes can it be?" The waitress blushed while looking at Howie. “I don’t know…all you singers sound like you got a wad of gum in your mouths when you sing.”
Nick chimed in, “Hey thanks a lot and I might be your daughters favorite over here.” Lifting up his shirtsleeve, he nodded at his arm. “I’ve got some tattoos myself.”
“No,” the waitress said while shaking her head. “I distinctely remember my daughter always saying her favorite has a ton of tattoos and is losing his hair.” Walking over to Nick, she put her hand on his head and messed up his hair. “You’ve got a full head of hair son…I don’t think it’s you.” Removing her hand, she winked. “And it’s a nice head of hair at that.”
Everyone turned to see AJ frowning. “You tell your daughter that she hurt my feelings, would ya?”
She smiled and watched as each one of them signed her paper. When Nick handed her the bill and money, she walked towards the cash register. “Blondie…I’ll be back with your change.”
“Keep the change.” Nick smiled when he saw her gasp at the money in her hands. Looking at everyone, he shrugged. “I just made that old lady’s night.”
Brian piped in, “Why? How much tip did you give her?”
“Oh…about three hundred bucks or so.”
Kevin laughed. “Jesus Nick, the whole bill only came to a hundred bucks.”
“Yeah, I know.” Nick laughed while playing with his hair. “Hey…she liked my hair man.”
When they all left the restaurant, Kevin made his way back to the bus and wasn’t surprised when he found Emma half-asleep on the bed. The paperwork, however, did surprise him. He started gathering it all together when she heard him and woke up. “It’s okay…I can get it.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied while noticing the realtor’s card amongst her things. Quickly, he grabbed it and dropped it into his suitcase on the floor. “Here…I got you something to eat.”
“I’m not really hungry, thanks anyway.”
Kevin sat down on the bed and helped her prop herself up. “You gotta eat.”
Slowly, she took the food from him and half-smiled. “I guess.”
Kevin got up and started walking out. “I’ll be out there if you need me.”
“Thanks.”
**********
The next three days were spent quietly traveling and performing. Each night, the guys had a show and before they even knew what hit them, they'd be off to the next place. It left little or no time for anyone to do anything else. Another downside of lining up shows one right after another. And during this entire three day spread, Kevin was increasingly becoming more and more worried about AJ.
With Denise and Sarah leaving the tour for a while, Kevin noticed that AJ was out almost every night until wee hours of the morning. How he was able to perform and function every night was a mystery to everyone. Everyone except Kevin.
Without wanting to wait any longer, he called a meeting.
All four of them were huddled inside Kevin’s bus when the pow-wow took place. The only one missing…AJ. Being that Kevin was the oldest, he felt it was his responsibility to take matters into his own hands. “Okay guys, we need to talk about AJ.”
Nick was quiet, he considered AJ to be his best friend, next to Brian of course. But when Brian got married, AJ and him became closer. Not wanting to gang up on AJ, Nick stood up to leave.
“Sit down Nick, you’re not going anywhere.”
“Kev man, AJ’s fine…just let him be.”
“I can’t do that Nick, I’m worried about him.”
Howie added, “I am too. This has been going on for almost a year now and we need to figure out what we can do as a group to help him.”
Brian softly spoke, “I don’t think there is much we can do. Denise tried and failed. Even having Sarah by his side hasn’t changed him much.”
Nick sat back down. “He doesn’t have a problem guys, he just likes to party.”
Kevin’s voice grew louder. “Okay…that’s the first problem here…AJ does have a problem Nick, he knows it and we all know it. His partying has gone to far. You hear him out there night after night…this is starting to affect our shows now.”
“His voice is fine Kevin. Let it go man.”
Kevin stood up from the floor and started pacing. “Nick…he needs help! We can’t keep doing this. He’s even missing meetings now. This has got to stop.”
Emma could hear them arguing in the living room area but she tried desperately to tune them out. She felt like she was eavesdropping in on their conversation and really didn’t want to be there in the first place. But, because of her ankle, she was left with no other alternative. Picking up the phone, she made reservations for a flight to Arkansas.
The last remaining thing left to do…retrieve the tapes and pictures from the bank and move them home to Orlando. She wanted to surprise Kevin with them the next time they headed back.
Or did she? She knew that by giving him everything…he could very well get out of this marriage and it scared the crap out of her. She didn’t want that to happen, not now…not ever. But, she also knew that she needed to do the right thing and tell him. Whatever his decision would be, she would honor it. She had too…she loved him.
When the meeting ended, Kevin came into the room and noticed her awake and sitting up in bed. “Oh sorry hon, did we wake you?”
“Not really, I wasn’t sleeping.”
He sighed. “So did you hear everything?”
Emma bit her bottom lip. “Yeah, sorry…I tried not too.”
Kevin shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, you knew there was shit going on with AJ anyway…it’s not news to you or anyone else for that matter.”
She spoke quietly, “I didn’t realize how bad it was.”
“It’s bad…real bad.”
“I’m sorry.”
He laid back against the pillow next to her and shut his eyes. “I am too…I love him and this is hurting everyone in his life…he just doesn’t see it.”
“Kevin?”
“Hmmm…”
“The realtor called and I need to go back to Arkansas tomorrow morning.”
His eyes opened a bit. “What in hell for?”
Emma cringed at his tone. “Another offer has come through.”
Kevin sat up quickly and glared at her. “Emma, you can’t even walk.”
“Yes I can…I’ve talked to the doctor and he’s bring crutches by later this afternoon. I’ll be fine.”
He mumbled something under his breath and laid back down while never taking his eyes from her. “Have you booked your flight already?”
Emma acknowledged him with a slight nod.
“Figures…whatever Emma…” He trailed off before falling asleep.
She whispered to herself while looking down at him. “I’m doing this for you.”
