The boys were due on stage in little less than thirty minutes now and Emma was worried about Kevin’s reaction. She refused to go back stage with Sarah; she didn’t want to cause problems. Instead, she sat in the pits, which is exactly where she didn’t want to be, and waited for the rest of the gang to meet her there.
If she‘d had her way…she would’ve been sitting with the rest of the fans in the venue. She didn’t belong in the pits anymore…
Leighanne was the first to show up, much to Emma’s dismay. Trying her best to hide her surprise, Leighanne made her way towards her. “Hi Emma.”
“Hello Leighanne.”
Leighanne sat down right next to her. “So, what brings you here?”
Thank God the venue was dark, Emma could roll her eyes then. “The guys, what else?”
“Does Kevin know you’re here?”
She lied, “Of course.” Honestly, she didn’t know whether or not Kevin knew. But, as sure as she was that the sun was going to rise in the morning…he’d find out sooner or later.
“Really? Hmmm…he didn’t say anything.”
Emma shrugged.
Leighanne turned her head towards Emma and lowered her voice. “So, what’s the deal with you two? You haven’t been around for a couple months now.”
“I’ve been in Arkansas, settling up my Aunt’s estate.” Total lie…obviously, if Kevin hadn’t filled them in yet on what was going on, she wasn’t about to either.
“Oh.” Leighanne didn’t buy that story at all. What estate? She knew herself that Betty didn’t have a pot to piss in.
Finally, Sarah walked into the pits and sat down next to Emma, whispering to her. “Kevin’s pretty upset about me asking you here.”
She winced. “I knew he would be…maybe I should just go,” she whispered back.
“Absolutely not…you’re my guest…you’re staying!” She smiled at Leighanne and then leaned over to whisper again, “Did Leighanne ask you like a thousand questions?”
“Yep.”
“Figured as much.”
When the boys finally came up on stage, Kevin did his best not to look down in the pits. He knew if he actually saw her, he’d probably end up screwing up his parts. He wasn’t about to let that happen, no way…no how. This was the last show and he was gonna give the fans a performance they wouldn’t forget.
Emma too…for that matter.
**********
When the show ended, all five of the guys grabbed hands and took a bow. It was during this time that Kevin finally looked down. Yep, just as he suspected…she made him nervous all right. Thank God the show was over. Smiling, he looked back into the audience and waived.
The girls were in total hysterics over the show. The crewmembers played a ton of pranks on them and it was funny as hell to watch. Ping-pong balls everywhere…the boys serenading the crew…Brian running across stage in only his boxers…it was a damn good show.
And it was probably to be the last one Emma would ever attend.
Getting up, Sarah pulled Emma close to her. “Stay with me, I’ll protect you back there.”
Emma pulled away. “Oh no…I’m not about to go backstage, no way in hell.”
“Ah come on…”
“I said no.”
“Hmph…fine then, I’ll get Sam and we’ll head back to the hotel and wait for them there. There’s a big party in the conference room at the hotel later…we’ll catch up with them there.”
Emma struggled to find the words, “Sarah…I filed for divorce.”
She turned around while waiving Sam down. “Yeah, I know.”
“You know?”
“Yeah, AJ told me. Don’t worry though, we’re the only ones that know anything about what’s going on.” When Sam walked over, she stopped talking to Emma. “Sam, let AJ know we’re gonna head back to the hotel and we’ll catch up with them there.”
Sam nodded, “Stay put, I’ll be right back.”
“Is Kevin really pissed at me?”
She shrugged. “AJ hasn’t been filling me in too much. I’m sure he’s not impressed. You don’t look it either for that matter.” She looked over at Leighanne and immediately shut up about the divorce situation. “Leighanne, we’re gonna head back now…you want to catch a ride with us?”
Leighanne nodded and walked towards the back of the stage. “Let me just tell Brian.”
Nick’s girlfriend, Savannah walked over to Emma. “Mind if I catch a ride with you too?”
Emma smiled. “Not at all…better let Nick know though.”
“Yeah…I’ll be right back.”
“Those too are awfully nosy…we gotta be careful we don’t talk to loud around them.” Sarah smiled, putting her arm around her friend’s shoulder. “So, you gonna tell me why you want out of the marriage?”
“I can’t really talk about it, but I think it’s the best thing to do.”
“God, when are you two gonna grow up and see this for what it really is?” Emma shrugged at her question, so Sarah elaborated further, “I don’t give a shit about how your marriage started out…it’s obvious, that over time, things changed between you two. When you guys gonna figure that out?”
Emma sighed, “Probably never Sarah.”
**********
The entire way back to the hotel, Emma was bombarded with question after question after question…coming from all directions. With her head bobbing in every direction, it was enough to make anyone sick.
“What’s going on with you two?”
“Are you leaving him?”
“Are you guys getting divorced?”
“Why haven’t you been around?”
“God doesn’t condone divorce, you know.”
“Are you seeing someone else?”
The last question hit a nerve. Emma immediately spoke up, “Absolutely not!”
Sarah glared at Leighanne and Savannah. “Come on guys, let’s lighten up a bit on Emma, okay? She came to party.” Turning to Emma, she smiled. “Didn’t you?”
Emma smiled back, not believing a single word she was going to say. “Yeah, I sure did.”
When Sarah and Emma got back to AJ’s room, they both collapsed on the bed, laughing. “God, I thought my head was going to explode if they asked you anymore questions!”
“No kidding…hopefully they got it all out of their system. I sure as hell don’t want to be asked that many questions all night.”
Sarah laughed even harder. “Honey…just wait until Nick, Howie and Brian start in on you…you’ll wish you were in the limo again.”
“Oh God,” she moaned, walking over to the refrigerator. “Mind?”
“Nope…as long as you give me one of what you’re having!”
For the next hour-n-half, they drank and drank and drank. They were both so tipsy; they could hardly stand up straight. And during the entire time they drank, they somehow managed to change clothes for the party.
Sarah was completely decked out in some fancy smancy dress that was about as low cut as you could get before you might as well not even bother. "AJ picked out that dress, didn't he?" Emma questioned.
Sarah smiled back at her friend. "Absolutely...and I should've had him pick out something for you as well," she moaned, eyeing Emma up and down. "You should be wearing something that Kevin would drool over...you know, make him realize what he's missing."
Emma looked down at her dress and frowned. It's true that it may have been a little on the conservative side, but it wasn't that bad. "I'm not here to make him drool."
"Bull shit," Sarah replied, laughing.
Looking in the mirror, Emma turned around to check out her back side. Even though the dress was ankle length and covering all her cleavage, there was a high slit in the back that traveled nearly up to her mid thigh. Didn't that count? "Oh well...next time," she mumbled while turning back around. “Oh man…do you think we should slow down with the alcohol for a while? I'm really starting to feel it.”
“I don’t know…should we?” Sarah asked, laughing. “I know I probably should…but in my opinion…you’ll need every ounce you can get down you.”
“Shit,” she mumbled. “Maybe I should just stay back.”
Sarah hit her on the arm. “No way.” Once she head the door to the room open, she swung her head back. “Uh-oh…AJ’s home!”
When AJ walked into the bedroom, he immediately went over to hug Emma. “Missed you babe.”
“You too AJ.”
He took a whiff of her breath and immediately stood back a few inches. “Damn girl, what’ve you been drinking?”
She shrugged and looked at the bottles on the nightstand. “Oh…just a couple of those.”
AJ laughed. “Are you sure only a couple?”
“Nope.”
He turned around to look at Sarah. “You too babe?”
“Yep.”
“Shit you guys,” he mumbled, laughing. “You girls didn’t make any phone sex calls…did you?”
Emma laughed, looking over at Sarah. “Damn…now why didn’t we think of that?”
“Great…just what I need tonight,” AJ said. “Two drunk girls to take to the ball!”
“We are NOT drunk…just buzzed!” Sarah walked over to him and planted a kiss on his nose.
“Oh yeah…sure, just buzzed. Come on, the rest of the guys are waiting for you.” He grabbed hold of their arms and walked to the door. “Hang on gals…it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”
Emma froze. AJ stopped and pulled her forward. “Come on now…you ain’t gonna chicken out on me, are you?”
