Chapter 2
"So, where are you from Fiachra? Did I pronounce it right?" Said Nick
while the lift moved upwards. I think that it was going faster now then it was the
last time that I was in it.
"I'm from Ireland, and yes, you pronounced my name correctly."
"Ireland?! Sorry, but that doesn't sound like an Irish accent to me."
"So you know Irish accents intimately then?" I said in my best country
accent. "How about this one?" That time I changed into my American accent.
"Whoa! I didn't understand that first one and the second one.. That's
too good. How come you can do an American accent so well?" Said Nick,
confused.
"The first one was a stereotypical Irish accent. Y'know, the type that
you get in films about leprechauns and pots of gold." I said bitterly. "And I
know a lot of Americans so that is why I can do your accents that well."
"Somebody doesn't like being stereotyped? Awww." Interjected Kevin.
Just after he said this, the doors opened and we were on the floor reserved for
the Backstreet Boys. (And company) Another big man in a suit seemed to be
standing guard at the door because as soon as he saw me he frowned. Billy went
quickly over to him and started explaining the situation to him.
"This way Fiachra, the others should be waiting in here. Waiting for
somebody who should have been on time but we won't mention any names now
will we?" This last part was said in one breath so it seemed like it was all one
word.
"Not my fault that some clumsy Irishman ran into me, is it?" Said Nick
gleefully and before I could respond he opened the door and ducked into the
room to avoid any backlash.
"Guys, this is Fiachra, we've invited him to join us on the trip down the
Washington. He's from Ireland. Just don't ask him about his pot of gold or he's
liable to hit you with it!" The others turned to look at me and I blushed. Too shy,
I thought to myself, always too shy. It really was one of my most serious
problems. It was so bad that I didn't even like answering questions in class. The
first to approach me was Brian.
"Hi Fiachra! It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Hey Frack! I think this time we've found him! He'll buy our music but
doesn't even scream when he sees us." Said Nick. That boy really was too
perky. You could almost hear the exclamation marks at the end of his sentences.
"It took him about 10 minutes to even recognise me." No exclamation mark?
"Yeah, and I'm even going to wait to get to know you better before
ripping off your clothes Nick, sometimes I think that I'm too kind." This
resulted in an outburst of laughter from Kevin who was sitting down on a sofa
next to A.J. and Howie. They both gave him questioning looks and he started to
explain what had happened.
"What is that boy talking about?" I said and before Brian responded he
sighed.
"Well, you know the Millennium album? I wrote a song for that called
-" I cut him off.
"The Perfect Fan! Oh god that's bad. I'm so sorry."
"Yeah. I mean, I wrote it about our parents, well my mum really you'd
think that they could leave it alone wouldn't you? But they just can't. It's very
sad."
"Just a bit! Are you performing tonight or just going down today?" Just
then Billy walked back into the room with another man in a suit and a scowl on
his face. He glanced over at me and gestured to Kevin to come over. Kevin
walked over to him with a neutral look on his face. It was very clear that there
was no love lost between the pair.
"Who's he?" I asked Brian. I noticed that the others were watching
what was happening between Kevin and the suit out of the corners of their eyes
while pretending to continue with conversation. Brian answered me.
"He's new to the Management Company. He hasn't learnt when to
back down yet. He still thinks that we can just be pushed around the whole
time."
"Can't you?" Brian greeted this comment with a wry smile.
"We've learnt a lot since the early days. We have a lot more say in
what we do now. I don't think that he is going to last with us for very long."
"What do you think that they are arguing about?" I already thought that
I knew what they were arguing about. Brian confirmed my suspicions.
"You." He said bluntly. "I don't think that he wants you to go on the
bus."
"If it's that much trouble."
"Don't be stupid! If Kevin didn't want you to come then they wouldn't
be arguing, and Nick obviously wants you to come." I looked over at Nick and
Brian was right. He looked quite anxious; he glanced over, saw me looking at
him and gave me a nervous smile. I blushed and looked down at the ground. I
felt Kevin's presence to my side.
"Fiachra, I guess that you know what we were arguing about." I
nodded. "You can still come with us." He assured me. "But they want to do a
security check. Is that ok?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Then go with Billy and him. Answer their questions and you'll be
back here in a couple of minutes." I saw the two who were mentioned looking at
me. Billy with a grin, he obviously didn't like the suit either, and the
aforementioned suit with the scowl back on his face. I walked towards them and
they walked out the door, Billy holding it open for me.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." He put a hand on my shoulder and whispered in my
ear. "Listen, if he asks you a question that you don't want to answer then don't.
He can't stop you going on the bus, Kevin just said ok to make him happier."
"Thanks." I whispered back. He nodded and let go of my shoulder. The
other man came to a room and opening the door walked in. I went in after him
and Billy started to come in when he was stopped.
"We don't need your help." Billy just pushed past him.
"That's nice. Fiachra, do you want me to be in here? I won't tell the
others anything that you say." I looked up at him, just grateful that I was not
going to be alone with the scowl.
"You heard him. He wants me in here." The scowl deepened. He sat
down at a table. Billy and I sat down on the opposite side.
"Right. I'm going to ask you series of questions. I'm going to use the
information to ascertain whether or not you have a criminal record in this
country or any other. We also want to make sure that you are not using an alias."
Ridiculous, I thought, it's not like I forced my way into their room or anything.
"What is your full name?"
"Fiachra Donal O' Neill. F-i-a-c-h-r-a D-o-n-a-l O N-e-i-l-l."
"Date of Birth?"
"14th of the 3rd, '84." I heard a gasp from Billy. Puzzled, I looked over
at him.
"You look at least 19!"
"I get that a lot. It come in handy sometimes so I don't mind." 'Scowl'
coughed to get my attention.
"Address?"
"No. 12, Rathgar Road, Dublin 6, Republic of Ireland."
"What countries have you been to?"
"Em," I paused to think about it. "Ireland, the U.K., France, Canada
and the States."
"Where were you born?"
"Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Ireland."
"Have you got any notable tattoos or marks?"
"I've got a scar on my right arm."
"Are you Gay?" I was shocked.
"What?! What the fuck sort of question is that? I don't think that you
need to know that to find out if I had a criminal record. And if you stopped to
think about it, how could I have a one? I was granted a fucking Visa wasn't I?" I
rose to get up. Billy joined me. "I think you know enough." We both stormed
out of the room.
"I'm really sorry about that, I thought that he might ask inappropriate
questions but."
"It's not your fault, so don't apologise, and I think that I'll get over it!"
"Well, I think that we should go back. We're already behind schedule,
the guy's stuff is already on the bus, you'll just have to carry yours."
"Are you coming?"
"Driver and BSB only on main bus. and you. I'll see you when we
get off right?"
"I don't know what's going to happen. I probably should." I paused. I
really needed to ring Ryan again. I was surprised that he had not rung me on my
mobile yet. It was off! That might be why. I turned my phone on; it found a
network and then rang almost immediately. So I answered it.
"Hello?" It was Ryan. He sounded very concerned.
"Hi Fiachra, what's going on, what are you doing to get down here? I
mean, I spend all that time convincing you to come and then you get stuck in
New York?!"
"Ryan, calm down! You sound like you are about to have a heart
attack. Breathe boy!" It was comical, how concerned he sounded. But then, he
didn't know about the lift that I was going to get. I guess that I would have been
panicking if I didn't know what I was going to do, and I guess that it is the job
of a friend to be concerned.
"What are you going to do? How are you going to get down here?"
Billy knocked and opened the door to the room where the others were waiting.
"I'm getting a lift."
"What? Are you sure? Did you know them already?" Ryan sounded
very surprised.
"In a manner of speaking. Hang on a sec." Then I addressed Kevin
"What time do you think we'll get down there for?"
"At this rate we should be down there for about 5:30."
"Where is your concert?"
"MCI Centre"
"Ryan, do you know where the MCI Centre is?"
"Sure, it's where all the big concerts are held."
"Could you pick me up there at about 6? I should be there by then."
"Are you sure that you'll be safe? We could pick you up in New York
if you wanted." I knew from that that Ryan was even more worried then he was
letting on. I mean, it's a six-hour journey!
"I'll be fine. Look, if I have any problems then I'll ring you, deal?"
"Deal, see you then, be safe. Bye." With that Ryan hung up. Now that
that was sorted out we guessed that we could go. I was right.
"Everybody ready? Then lets go." Said Kevin. He really did live up to
his reputation of being the one who took charge. We started filing out the door
and down the corridor, away from the main lifts. Howie must have seen the
puzzled look on my face.
"We usually take the service lifts and go out the back doors of the
hotel. If you had made it as for as the hotel doors this earlier you would have
seen a huge crowd. To this day I don't know how they figure out where we are
staying sometimes."
"I guess that if you're obsessive enough you can find out an awful lot
about someone."
"I guess. Do you know what someone said to me the other day? I love
the new shirt Howie! Can you believe that they would know my wardrobe? I
don't even know what clothes I have sometimes!" He then changed the subject.
"You're from Ireland? Where?"
"Dublin."
"Cool! Dublin's great for a party."
"Yeah, when were you there last?" I was glad that he had something
nice to say about my city. I really liked Dublin, but it had some big problems
too.
"I think that it was for the '99 Music Awards. Nick loved it, I know that
much. Your drinking age is lower then ours." I grinned at that comment. So
many people thought that that was a really good thing.
"You'd be amazed how Americans come for that reason. But most
European countries have lower drinking ages then American. In France you can
drink at 16."
"That must be why we get so many drunks at our Parisian concerts!"
We reached the end of the corridor, turned left, and were confronted by more
security. After more odd looks they stepped aside and I got into the service lift.
It was smaller then the ones for ordinary guests and we were all a bit cramped. I
was squashed up against Nick who was crushed against Brian etc., to my other
side was Kevin and Howie.
"Hey Nick - Is it always like this?"
"Sometimes it's worse. One time we were trying to get away from this
group of fans who had snuck into the hotel and we had to hide in a janitor's
closet."
"Ouch."
"Oh, it wasn't so bad. Except for A.J. - he had the broom stuck up his
ass!" Nick burst out laughing and I glanced over at A.J. who didn't look
amused.
"It was sticking into my back dumbass! And that was years ago - get
over it!" I turned to face A.J.
"Is it always this bad?"
"With the comments? Yeah, when you spend as much time with a
group of people as we spend together, then you really get to know each other
really well, and you know everything that they've done because you're there
with them. It can be really cool sometimes, but when this ass gets going he can
really embarrass us."
"Quit whining, you do the same thing to me." Said Nick.
"You always start it!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!" Then Brian interceded.
"Quit it you two! You'd swear that you were in six grade or
something." The doors opened and the group were ushered out by the security
that was waiting.
"What's it like out there?" Asked Howie.
"There are a couple of people waiting, but the bus has been around the
front for most of the morning so the real crowd is there." The Guard put is hand
to his ear, in order to hear what was coming from his earpiece more clearly.
"Ok, it's coming around now. Get ready to make a run for it. Security! Clear a
path to the bus when it comes around!" I looked over at Nick.
"Ready to get mobbed?" I laughed.
"I'm not the one who's going to get mobbed, and from what I've heard,
you're the one who gets attacked the most." Nick grimaced at the thought of it.
"So you do know something about the group after all." Before I could
respond we got the signal to run. We made a dash for it but we weren't quick
enough. Screaming fans overwhelmed the security that was present and
enveloped us before we got a chance to get as far as the bus. Even more security
personnel surrounded us and pushed the fans back, but it was too late. Nick,
Howie and Kevin were all topless and they all had torn clothes. Even my clothes
were torn but I was relatively unscathed. The fans were screaming for
autographs and the guys started signing T-shirt's, books and CD's. Even I was
getting pieces of paper shoved under my nose. Confused, I looked over to the
others. Nick laughed and Brian shrugged his shoulders as if to say - go with it.
So I started signing what was presented to me. I noticed a pattern emerging - as
they signed autographs they moved slowly towards the door of the bus.
Cunning, I thought. Once enough autographs had been signed to sate the
immediate crowd the guys jumped onto the bus and started waving to the throng.
I followed their lead, but without waving. After all, it was not as if they had
turned out to see me. The doors closed and people started moving to let the bus
move off.
Chapter 3
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