Part 21
The time between Halloween and the guys’ promotional tour was only a few weeks but it flew by. Sarah and Howie were extremely busy between the guys getting ready for the tour and Sarah getting set to take care of Howie’s business interests while he was gone.
There was also the situation with Becca and Nick. No matter how much Sarah tried to talk to Becca, she couldn’t get through to her. Nick tried calling her but Becca wouldn’t take his calls. Nick shadowed Sarah hoping that he’d be able to see Becca or at least hear from her but Becca avoided Sarah just as much as she did Nick. To make matters worse, she took on more responsibilities with her job which took her away even more.
Sarah’s eating problems also took precedence with all the guys. Howie tried to be with her for every meal but with his schedule, he couldn’t get to her for lunch sometimes. When he was tied up, he’d get Raoul or one of the guys to take her lunch and have them stay with her. Most of the time, Sarah didn’t mind but on days when she was extremely busy, it irked the hell out of her.
The day before Howie was to leave on the promotional tour was one of those days. Brian had taken Sarah lunch and she’d thrown it in the trash snapping at Brian that she didn’t need a babysitter. Brian had told Howie which caused Howie to get angry. At the time, he couldn’t do anything about it but he fully intended to confront her when he got home.
Dropping his keys on the table in the foyer, Howie called out, "Sarah."
"I’m in the kitchen, ‘D’."
Howie found her fixing dinner. "What the hell was lunch all about?"
Sarcastically, "Hi, Angel. I’m home. How was your day?"
"Answer me, Sarah," said Howie angrily.
Sarah put the stuff down that she was working with and her ‘wall’ went up. She was angry and scared because Howie was leaving. She faced him now and said, "I was busy and Brian was in my way."
"I don’t care how busy you were. That’s no excuse to skip lunch."
"Well, I did and there’s nothing you can do to change it. Get over it."
"NO! You’re not going to start this again, Sarah."
Sarah looked into Howie’s eyes and tried to stay angry but the fear of him leaving took over. She could feel her body shaking and the tears flowing down her cheeks. She struggled to say something but she couldn’t.
Howie couldn’t stay mad realizing how scared she was. He took her in his arms holding her close. "Angel, I’m sorry I yelled at you but I’m worried about you."
"D’, I don’t think I can do this," she sobbed. "I don’t want you to go."
"I know, Sarah, but we’ve talked about this. It’s only for five days."
"I know but then there’s the tour in January and that’s eleven months."
"Don’t look that far ahead, ‘Angel’. The counselor told you, take one obstacle at a time. Come on, let’s go sit down so I can hold you."
Howie led Sarah to the living room where they settled onto the couch. Sarah nestled into his arms holding on to him as if he was going to float away.
"Sarah, I love you and I don’t want to see you doing this to yourself."
"I love you too but I don’t think I can do this without you, ‘D’."
"Sure you can. You’ve been doing this on your own so far."
"No, I haven’t. You and the guys have been there the whole way and
now...."
"Now you still have us, Sarah. Just because we’re on the road doesn’t
mean that we aren’t going to help you. We’ll call every chance we can and
the time will fly by. Before you know it, you’ll be in my arms again in a
beautiful, romantic hotel where we’re going to spend several days WITHOUT the
guys and entourage hanging around. We’re going to go shopping together; we’re
going to have elegant candle-lit dinners; we’re going to dance together close;
and we’re going to make love until dawn, fall asleep in each other’s arms
and wake hours later to start it all over again, Angel."
"You mean...."
"I’ve made reservations for you too at the hotel we’re staying at when
we get back and when we’re done with the promotional stuff, you and I are
going to stay behind in New York to have some time together. I was going to
surprise you with it but you needed to know. You’re going to meet me in New
York when we get back, go with us to the show, and then it’ll be just the two
of us."
"How are we going to go shopping without Raoul?"
"Don’t worry about it, Angel. Then, when we’re finished with our
shopping, we’re headed to your parents’ house for Thanksgiving."
"But it’ll be over."
"I know. I talked to your parents and they’ve agreed to put it off until
I get back so that we can be there too! They were thrilled to hear that we were
back together."
Sarah’s eyes lit up like sparklers on the Fourth of July and Howie loved it.
Sarah hugged him close. "Thank you, Howie!"
"Sarah, you have to promise me though that you’ll take care of yourself.
I don’t want to come back and find out that you’ve been starving
yourself."
"I promise, ‘D’."
Howie kissed her and then said, "Go get ready. We’re going to ‘Tabu’
for dinner."
"But I’ve already started dinner here."
"Leave it for John. We’re not going to have any privacy here tonight so I
thought we’d go to the club for dinner."
***********************
The couple had stayed at Tabu until early morning and then driven home where they’d made love until almost dawn. Howie had held Sarah close, singing softly to her as she fell asleep in his arms. Then he’d lain awake watching her sleep. Despite the ‘front’ Sarah put up for everyone, Howie knew in his heart that she wasn’t strong enough yet. He could see the panic in her eyes every time the tour was even eluded to and this promotional tour was the first test for them. He had wanted to take her with him and could have managed it but her counselor had suggested that she stay behind to see how she handled being left alone. She had had to weigh herself at the counselor’s yesterday and was instructed to go back before leaving for New York. If she continued with her problems, her weight would reflect it.
The phone rang around seven and Howie reached over trying not to wake Sarah. "Yeah."
"It’s time to get a move on, ‘D’."
"Thanks, Bri. I’ll see you guys in a couple hours."
"How’s Sarah?"
"She’s asleep."
"Is she coming to see us off?"
"No. I don’t want her there."
"Give her a kiss for me then."
"Sure. Later."
Howie hung the phone up and then looked at Sarah laying in his arms. He kissed her softy before getting out of bed to get his shower. Sarah continue to sleep peacefully and when Howie returned from his shower, he decided to wake her.
Sitting on the side of the bed, Howie brushed her hair back and kissed her gently. "Sarah...wake up," he said softly.
Sarah rolled to him and whispered, "I’m awake, ‘D’. What time is it?"
"Almost seven-thirty. I’m getting ready to leave shortly."
Sarah looked up at him as the tears welled up in her eyes. "Okay."
"I’m going to call the first chance I get, ‘Angel’."
"I know."
"Sarah, one day at a time. You can do it."
"I’ll do my best."
Howie kissed her and then went to finish getting ready. Sarah got up and pulled on her robe before going to the kitchen to get something to drink. Howie came out a few minutes later and set his bag by the front door. The limo would be there soon but he had a few minutes. He found Sarah staring out at the ocean and he wrapped his arms around her.
"What ‘cha thinking about?"
"Us. Howie, we’ll be okay, won’t we?"
"Of course we will. WE get you through the next five days and we’ll have it licked."
"You have been so wonderful, ‘D’."
"That’s because I love you, Sarah," whispered Howie against her skin. He turned her in his arms to face him. He pushed her hair back and kissed her gently. "WE can do this, right?"
Sarah smiled up at him. "Yeah, we can."
"One day, in the not-so-distant future, you’re going to be kicking me out because all you want is some peace and quiet."
"I don’t THINK so. I’ve had ENOUGH time away from you and the only reason I’m not a mass of hysteria right now is because I love you and I know that your career is important to you. I want to go with you but I also know that you need someone here to look out for your business interests."
"That’s right, baby. I need you in more ways than one," said Howie as he pressed against her.
Sarah could feel his erection pressing against her and she grinned. "Baby, we don’t have time to take care of that," she teased.
"I can make them late," he rasped against her skin as the doorbell rang.
Sarah kissed him, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth as she ran her hand between their bodies. She stroked him through the material of his pants as he groaned into her mouth.
"Baby, I love you," whispered Sarah.
John came to the door, "Ahem.....Howard, your limo is waiting for you."
The two pulled away and without taking his eyes off Sarah, he said, "Thanks."
John left them alone and Sarah said tearfully, "I’ll see you in five days."
"You can count on that," he whispered as his own eyes filled with tears.
Howie kissed her and they walked to the door arm-in-arm. At the front door, Howie gave her one last kiss and went to the waiting limo. Sarah leaned against the door watching as the love of her life headed out to make thousands of girls happy.
John stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. "It’s going to be okay, Sarah."
Sarah looked back at him and put her hand on his. "Thanks, John."
******************
As the five men boarded the plane to fly to Stockholm, Kevin looked at Howie and Nick and said, "Look, you two....you’d better snap out of this ‘dark’ mood before we go in front of the cameras."
Howie looked up at Nick. "I take it you haven’t talked to
Becca lately."
"She wouldn’t answer the phone...at home or at work."
"Why didn’t you go by her job and talk to her?"
asked Brian as they took their seats on the plane.
"I drove by there a hundred times but didn’t have the guts to stop. Sarah
said to give her time."
"She’s doing the same thing to Sarah," said Howie. "Give it time. Maybe while we’re gone, Sarah will be able to get through to her."
With a distant look in his eyes, Nick said, "I hope so."