“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Why are you sitting here in the dark?”
“I don’t feel like turning on a light.”
A.J. switched on the lamp beside the couch, “You’ve been crying.”
“A little.”
“Want to tell me what’s wrong?”
“Not really.”
“Come on, we said that we’d still be friends after this. Talk to me please.”
“Kevin and I got into a big fight and now we’re no longer friends.”
“What do you mean?”
“I kind of told him that I didn’t want him in my life and that he was a perfectionist control freak.”
“Oh man, the last person that said something like that to him, he hasn’t spoken to or seen in the past three years.”
“Maybe we need the time apart. In fact, I’m thinking about going to Europe to get away from all this.”
“All what?”
“The screaming fans, the publicity, everything. I’m tired of living the pop star lifestyle A.J. I want to be normal again.”
“I don’t know if that’s possible Kayla. If you walked away now, you’d be breaking your contract with Jive and there’d be a major lawsuit against you.”
“I’m going to talk to my lawyer and to the CEO of Jive. I think they’ll let me get out. I’m only taking a break for now.”
“I don’t know…”
“Sharks have families?”
“Be nice, they’re not all sharks.”
“You’re right, some are pond scum.”
A.J. laughed, “There’s the girl I know and love.”
With that, there was an uncomfortable silence between the two.
“You know, I’d better get going. My dad is expecting me to call him in a little while and I think he’s going to want to get together soon. He usually does around the holidays.”
“Yeah, and I’ve got to start making those calls.”
A.J. got up and gave Kayla a hug, “I’ll see you.”
“Later A.J.”
Kayla walked over to her phone and dialed her lawyer’s number, “Hi Kasey, this is Kayla. Is Marcia in?”
A.J. waved to her as he backed out of the driveway. The phone call to his dad had been a lie, but now that he thought about it, he did need to talk to his dad. They hadn’t done anything together around the holidays since their reunion and it was past time that they try to make up for the last few years.
Kayla managed to set up a meeting with Marcia and an exec from Jive, but she didn’t know which one. The secretary she talked to spoke with a thick accent and she didn’t quite understand everything that was said.
At lunch, Kayla dropped the bombshell that she was going to take a break for a while.
“How long is a while?”
“I’d say about a year or two. It’s been an exhausting eight years Phil, I can’t handle this anymore. My father just died and I barely had enough time to go to his funeral. That is so not balanced.”
“I know it’s not, but are you sure about this?”
“You’re making it sound like I’m quitting the business all together. I’m not; it’s just a year or so. I need this time off.”
“I know, but it seems like everyone is taking time off. Celine, Sarah, the Boys, and now you. Who’s next?”
“I don’t know, *N Sync?”
“That’s not even close to funny Marcia.”
“I’m sorry Phil, I thought it was.”
Kayla laughed, “I have to admit, I thought I was too.”
Phil scowled at them, “Your sense of humor hasn’t changed a bit I see.”
“I don’t think it ever will,” Kayla retorted.
“So, we’ll all get together on Monday to work all this out, is that cool?” Marcia asked, suddenly returning to business.
“It’s fine with me, I don’t have anything planned, how about you Phil?”
“That’s cool, I’ll see you two then.”
Phil left the table and the ladies had lunch. Kayla thought she saw Kevin, but the guy almost ran when she tried to get his attention.
“I wonder what’s up with that guy…” she thought out loud.
“I don’t know, maybe he’s a shy fan.”
“I guess…”
Kevin walked out of the restaurant as quickly as he could. When he said that he was going to stay out of her life, he meant it. He didn’t like to hold grudges against people, but when it came to something like this, he tried to stay as far away from the person he was angry with as possible, especially when it came to people he was close to. He got into his car and took off, looking for another place to eat at.
Kayla went to Kevin’s later on, hoping to catch him there so they could talk about what had been said. She didn’t really want him out of her life. He was a big part of it and she knew that she’d probably go crazy without talking to him. He’d helped her with so many of her problems and vice versa. They’d been friends since the day Kevin and Nick met. She used to baby sit Nick when they first moved to Florida and they’d become friends after his parents decided that he was old enough to take care of his brothers and sisters.
When she found that Kevin wasn’t home, she left him a note, asking him to call her a.s.a.p. She walked to her car and got in. Kevin watched her from his bedroom window as she drove away.
“Maybe I should have come to the door. She looked like she really needed to talk,” he thought out loud, “No, I did it for both of us. She doesn’t need to talk to me that bad. I need to give her some time to cool down, not to mention myself.”
Kevin ran his fingers through his dark hair and sat down on the bed. The phone brought him out of his trance. He checked the caller ID before picking it up.
“Hey Nick, what’s up?”
“Not a lot. Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to go out to this new club with me and the guys. It’ll be fun.”
“I don’t think so. I’m going to stay at home tonight. I’ve got some work to do and I can’t do it from a club. Thanks anyway Nick.”
“All right. See you tomorrow.”
“Bye.”
Kevin hung up the phone and sighed. He didn’t have any work to do; he just didn’t feel like going out. He laid down on the bed and let his mind wander. He found himself thinking about Kayla and remembered that she’d left a note on the door. He ran downstairs and opened the door. He pulled it off the doorknocker and read it.
Kevin,
I need to talk to you. It’s important. Please call me as soon as you can.
He closed the door behind him and sat down on the floor by the phone.
“Should I call?” he thought.
He debated over whether or not he should call for a few more minutes and then picked up the phone. He dialed her cell phone number and waited for her to pick up.
“What’s up Kayla?”
“Can we meet somewhere? We need to talk.”
“Why don’t you come to my place?”
“I don’t know… I mean, I was just there not too long ago and you were avoiding me.”
“I wasn’t exactly avoiding you, I was in the shower. ”
“Sure you were.”
“I was!”
“Yeah, anyway, I’ll be there in about 15 minutes or so.”
“Okay, see you in a few.”
He hung up the phone and made a mad dash for the shower. He managed to wash his hair and body in 8 minutes and be out and dressed before she got there. He was rather proud of himself. When the doorbell rang, he slowly walked to the door and opened it.
“I’ll be… you really were in the shower,” she said somewhat sarcastically.
“Told you. Would you like to come in, or are you just going to stand there?”
“I think I’m gonna come in,” she said, stepping past him.
They made their way into the living room and sat down.
“What’s up Kayla?”
“I’m just gonna get straight to it. I know that I’ve been a bitch lately, but you have been a real jerk too.”
“I realize that and I’m sorry.”
“Of all the people in the world, I thought that I’d be able to come to you first, especially given the circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
“My father just died. I would think that you would be able to give me the most comfort or the best advice or something.”
“I don’t know what to say to you. We handle things so differently. I choose to mourn in private, and you’re very open with your emotions.”
“I’m a very open person Kevin, it’s just how I am.”
“I understand that, but it’s awkward for me. I don’t know what to do or say or anything.”
“Why don’t you try Kevin? Look deep down inside yourself and think what you did when Jerald died. Then tell me what you think I should do.”
Kevin sat silent for a second, just thinking, “At first, I bawled like a little baby. Then, I threw myself into my work.”
“About that… I met up with my lawyer and an exec from Jive today. I’m taking a year off so I can get things together.”
“Hmm…”
“What?”
“People still think that you and A.J. are together, right?”
“Yeah, the vultures haven’t gotten wind of our breakup yet.”
“So they’re going to think that you’re taking a break with us to be with him.”
“Good point. I guess I’ll have to explain that when I do the press conference next week.”
“You work fast.”
“I have to. I’ve been thinking about this for while now. It’s time I take my life a little more seriously. I’m tired of all this. It was great at first, but how long can one person handle it? You’re lucky to have the guys with you.”
“Yeah. I guess I am.”
“I know you are. Hey Kevin, I don’t mean to change the subject, but why don’t we just chill here tonight like we used to? It’ll be fun.”
“It does sound like fun. Let’s pop some popcorn and rent a few movies.”
“Why don’t we order pay-per-view instead of renting? If we go out, we’ll probably be spotted and I don’t want to sign any autographs today.”
“Me neither. Good idea Kayla.”
“Thank you.”
They went to the kitchen to get the popcorn. As the popped the popcorn, they looked through the TV guide to see what was coming on. They settled for “The Matrix,” even though they’d both seen it at least 5 times already.
They sat down on the couch and watched the movie in silence. About halfway through it, Kevin started to doze off.
“Oh no you don’t!” Kayla said, pouring her water on Kevin’s head.
“Hey! That wasn’t cool!”
“I think it was, there was ice in the water.”
“Now I’m all cold and wet.”
“You look so funny.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Kevin grabbed the glass from her and poured the remaining liquid onto her head.
“How does that feel?”
“That’s freezing!”
“It’s not so funny when you’re the one getting all wet, is it?”
“No, it’s not. Truce?” she asked, holding out her hand.
Kevin reached out to take her hand, but got a face full of ice instead.
“Hey!” he shouted.
“All’s fair in love, war, and water fights!”
“In that case…” he said, getting up from the couch.
“Where are you going?”
“You said all’s fair, so I’m going to get my secret weapon.”
He disappeared into the guest bedroom and returned with Aaron’s water pistol. He took aim and fired, hitting her directly between the eyes.
“No fair!”
“Wait, didn’t you say that ‘all’s fair?’ “
“Yeah, but I meant for me all’s fair, not for you.”
Kevin laughed at her and then lunged at her, knocking her off the couch. He began tickling her until her eyes began to water from laughing so hard. Their heads had slowly moved towards each other until they were literally inches apart. Somehow, they ended up locked in a passionate embrace.
Kevin broke away from her, “Kayla, what are we doing?”
“Shut up Kevin, I don’t want to think right now.”
She pulled him back down to her and kissed him again. Somehow, they managed to find their way to the bedroom. Falling to the bed, they knew exactly what was going to happen next, but neither of them stopped it. Kayla woke up in Kevin’s arms the next morning.
“Oh God, Kevin, what did we do?”
“Well, what do you think?”
“It looks like…”
“Yeah, we did.”
“Why did we?”
“I don’t know, it just sort of happened.”
“What are we going to do about it?”
“I don’t know.”
“We need to talk about this.”
“Yeah.”
“First, could you hand me my shirt?”
He picked her shirt up off the floor and handed it to her, “Here.”
“Thank you,” she said, putting it on, “Now first thing’s first. We both know that last night shouldn’t have happened.”
“Yeah.”
“So we should just forget it happened, right?”
“Right.”
“Okay then, it never happened. Kevin, could you hand me my pants?”
“It’s kind of hard to forget it happened if you keep asking me to hand you your clothes.”
“I’m sorry, I need to get dressed so I can start forgetting.”
Kevin laughed and reached over to pick up her jeans from off the bedside table, “We got a little rowdy last night, didn’t we?”
“Yeah… Hey, it didn’t happen, remember?”
“Remember what?”
“Good boy.”
Kayla got up out of bed and walked to the bathroom. She quietly closed the door behind her and sat down on the side of the bathtub.
“It was never like that with A.J. He always had to have things romantic, like he was protecting his image of being the smoothest Backstreet Boy or something,” she thought, “But with Kevin… Snap out of it girl! It didn’t happen, remember?”
She stood up and splashed her face with water before going back into Kevin’s room.
“Kevin?”
“Yeah?”
“There’s just one thing I have to ask before we forget about this.”
“Shoot.”
“Why did we?”
“I don’t know Kayla. I honestly don’t know.”
She sighed, “I don’t either. We went from good friends to hating each other, back to good friends, then we hop in bed together all within 24 hours. Is that freaky or what?”
“It’s freaky, but hey, it didn’t happen, remember?”
“Oh yeah, I guess I forgot.”
Kevin smiled, “If it’s any consolation-“
“I don’t want to hear it Kevin. Don’t say anything.”
“Okay, I won’t.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
There was an awkward silence between them as they eyed each other, wondering what the other was thinking.
“I should probably go. Howie’s more than likely wondering what happened to me.”
“Yeah, you know how he worries.”
“Well, I guess I’ll see you later Kevin.”
“Yeah, later.”
Kayla left the house and went to her own, where Howie was still sleeping.
Kayla