"Mademoiselle," AJ flattered Samantha as he pulled back a chair from the round wooden table for her to take her place.
"Wow. We get to sit up front," Elisa shrieked.
"Only the best for our lovely ladies."
"You're too sweet, AJ," Candy responded. AJ and her have been great friends ever since Samantha and him started going out. In fact, it was she who hooked them up. They were always flirting and fooling around with each other. Although it never meant anything, Samantha took it to heart at times. So, the two have learned to keep their distance but they were still the best of friends.
"Okay, I have to go. Enjoy the show and we'll be with you soon," AJ said, lowering his glasses and giving a wink before he turned away.
"Wait, AJ!" Candy called for him.
He pivoted on his foot, turning back smoothly without a word.
"Do you trust me?"
"Ummm, no," AJ kidded. He walked to where Candy was sitting, across from Samantha and he placed a hand under her chin. "Of course I trust you, sweets."
"Okay, good." Candy quickly grabbed AJ's sunglasses to reveal his affectionate brown eyes.
"No, give me my shades back please," he pleaded as he reached for them behind her back.
"You have such beautiful eyes. You should show them to the world once in a while."
"I do."
"Yeah, he shows them to me," Samantha said in a mixture of anger and envy.
"Yeah, see? Anyway, I need them...you try being in the spotlight for hours everyday."
"AJ, you're doing an unplugged show today. Come on, just this once. Please."
"Fine but you owe me."
"Okay," Candy said in relief. "I owe you."
AJ got up, gave Samantha a peck on the cheek and walked off.
"Oh my God. AJ without glasses...that's like the Spice Girls without platforms," Elisa snickered.
Minutes later the lights dimmed and the chattering became whispers. There was a light breeze and a full moon in the late-night sky. All eyes were on the small, wooden stage which was a few feet away from the girls' table. The Backstreet Boys were seated in a semi-circle facing their audience. Each one of them had their own microphone in front of them. Brian spoke first. "Good evening everyone. We're the Backstreet Boys, and I'm Brian. This is Nick, AJ, Howie, and Kevin," he introduced, pointing to each as he said their names. "We hope you'll enjoy the show tonight. We're going to start off with a slow song, and it's called 'Who Do You Love?'"
Candy tried to keep her eyes away from the stage but she couldn't help singing along. Loneliness evaded her as the romantic music played in her heart and all around couples were cuddling up. She glanced over at Brian. "He doesn't care," she thought. His eyes were shut as he concentrated on the song. He'd open them and wave or smile at someone in the crowd once in a while.
Elisa and Samantha listened and watched the guys dreamily. "Isn't he so adorable?" Elisa sighed. Samantha just chuckled.
"Yeah, they're great," Candy said.
A Love Phenomenon
Backstreet Fanfiction