CHAPTER 2

Chapter Two


By the time I completed almost four pages in length of my diary entry, I realized that the clock had struck 7:00 AM. I quickly took a shower and changed into my best clothes for the day. I wore a cute charcoal gray colored top, black pants and matching black boots. I wore my curly hair up in a ponytail because whenever I left it down, it tended to mess up in the blowing wind. I've always felt more at ease with my ponytail because it was my fashion trademark. It had somehow defined my personality throughout the years. I applied a bit of make-up on my porcelain white face, sprayed some CK One perfume on my neck and wore my watch. I felt completely refreshed and new for a Friday morning, especially even more on my birthday! I've always looked forward to every Friday of the week being that it is the last day of the work week. As I grabbed my cellular phone and stashed it into my black leather pocketbook, I quickly went into my closet to take out my computer laptop, and black blazer. I heard my mom Yolanda holler from downstairs in the kitchen, "Jessica, dear, breakfast is ready!, Come down quickly before it starts getting cold!" I immediately responded back, "Alright mom, I'll be right down!"

As I headed downstairs slowly towards the kitchen, I could smell the good aroma of crisp, smoky bacon that had just been taken out of the frying pan. There was also a strong smell of hot, freshly brewed black coffee sitting in a big pot. I heard voices and lots of laughter and the news coverage on TV from afar. As I put my things down on to the dining room table, I tiptoed gently and hid behind the kitchen door. I saw that my dad Cesar was dancing around jovially with our family dog Sunnie. I covered my mouth and giggled to myself at the sight of my dad with him. My dad always seemed to be in such a good mood whenever he was around Sunnie because he truly loved being by his side. He gave Sunnie a strip of his bacon out of his plate. As Sunnie breathed heavily wanting some more strips, my dad informed him, "No boy, I already gave you one andbesides you already had plenty of bacon strips to eat this morning!" I quickly turned my head to look at myself in the mirror beside the kitchen door. I adjusted my clothes carefully for a much neater appearance. I heaved slowly, but surely, and then finally made my entrance into the kitchen.

As soon as I walked into the kitchen, all eyes and faces were focused directly at me from left to right. There were also plenty of smiles galore. I smiled and greeted good morning to everyone and right before I sat down, everyone came up to address happy birthday to me. My dad gave me a big hug and said blissfully, "Happy Birthday sweetheart!", followed by a big kiss on the cheek. My mom did the same, followed by my brother, three sisters and two nephews.
"Wow, Jess!, that outfit looks great on you!", my sister Brenda said surprised.
"Thanks sis!", I said. "So what would the birthday girl want for breakfast this morning?", my brother asked me. "How about some birthday orange juice first, followed by some birthday coffee with milk!"
I replied, "It's ok, I'll get them myself bro!"
"No, I insist, let me do it sis, please!", my big brother Cesar Jr. said. All of a sudden, my precious, big brother served me a small glass of Tropicana Orange Juice and poured coffee with some milk in a big mug. "Here you go birthday girl!", he said. "Thank you big bro, you're way too kind!", I responded. "No problem, little sis, today's your birthday so I think you should be treated like a queen!", he said. "Awww, how sweet of you to say that!", I replied back. Meanwhile my mom handed me a big plate>heaped with 3 strips of bacon, some scrambled eggs and two medium size pancakes.
"Sorry, mom, I can't eat the bacon and pancakes, but I will eat the scrambled eggs with a slice of toast, because remember that I'm still following Sandra's strict diet regimen, so >thanks anyway!", I said.
"It's okay honey, as long as you take good care of yourself, that's what really counts!", my mom said.
"So how old are you now?", my sister Brenda asked. "I'm 24 years old, silly!, I can't believe you don't remember that!", I replied
"I'm sorry Jess, but I wasn't sure exactly how old you were turning out!", Brenda said apologetically. "That's ok, sis, I understand!", I said. "Wow, 24 years old!", my young sister Natalie responded in shock, "Wow you're really getting old!" "Hey, Nat, I'm not that old, I'm still young at heart remember?", I said. "Yeah, you're still young, but you're STILL getting old!
Hehehe!", Natalie replied. "Oh, stop teasing me, Nat!", I said. Suddenly I felt sharp fists hitting my right shoulder and a loud count of 24 starting off. "...23, 24 and one for good luck!", my oldest nephew Joao said cheerfully.
"Ow, hehehe, easy on the birthday punches will you?", I said with a delighted smile on my face.
"Sorry Aunt Jessie, didn't mean to punch you too hard!", Joao said.
"That's ok, now would you please let me finish >my breakfast Joao.", I said gently.
"Ok, Aunt.", Joao said. All of a sudden, I felt a light tap on my left shoulder and a question come about,
"Aunt Jess, will you play Super Mario Brothers on my Super Nintendo System with me after school today?", my youngest nephew Joshua asked.
"Sorry Joshy, but I can't play with you this afternoon since I'll be way too busy with work!", I said.
"That's ok, I understand Aunt.", Joshua replied sadly.
"Joshua, how any times, have I told you not to bother your Aunt Jessica?", my eldest sister Zully said, "Thousands of times!", Joshua replied sounding all upset.
"That's ok, Zully, I understand that he really wants me to spend more time with him but with my hectic work schedule, it makes it all too difficult at times.", I said sentimentally, "I'll try and see what days I have free next week in my planner book so that I can spend more time with both of my nephews."
"That would be great sis!", Zully said, "You know how my little Joshy here always bugs me about how he wants to spend more time with his favorite aunt!"
"Hey Josh, I promise to spend sometime with you and Joao next week!", I told Joshua happily.
"You promise, Aunt Jessie?", Joshua asked.
"I promise!", I said.
"Pinky swear that you will do it", Joshua said.
"Yeah, I pinky swear that I will spend time with you and your brother some time next week!", I said as I held out my pinky and joined it with his and pinky swore to the promise that I had made out to him at that very moment. "Ok, kids start walking off to school now before the both of you end up being late!", Zully said to both my nephews. All of a sudden, both of my nephews hugged me tightly. They kissed me on the cheek and said simultaneously, "Bye, Aunt Jess!, Have a happy >birthday!" "Thanks kids, good-bye, have a good day at school today!", I answered back. As they headed off to school, everyone else started getting ready to go off to work. Abruptly I heard the honking of a car coming from outside of the back driveway. "Ohhh, I've got to run, that's Kenny's limo honking!", I said to everyone, "I really don't want to be late for my recording session today!" I gathered all of my things together quickly, and thanked and blew out kisses to everyone. I immediately dashed off through the backdoor and headed directly towards the limo.

It was 7:30 AM and I had to be in the recording studio by at least 8:30 AM. As I sat down on the backseat of the long stretch black limo, I greeted a cheerful good morning to my personal limo driver Kenneth.

"Well, Good Morning Jessica, Happy Birthday!", he said.

"Thank you Kenny!", I replied. "So what are your plans for today?", he asked curiously.

"Well, as you know by now, I have to be at Santoni's Sound Studio first to join Kelsie, who's both my manager and agent, and Michael Santoni the producer to the Christmas compilation album that I'm collaborating along with the Backstreet Boys and other artists. Afterwards, I have to be at Madison Square Garden with Kels to watch the Backstreet Boys do their dance rehearsal for their upcoming new video with the help of Fatima Robinson, their choreographer, and Nigel Dick the director. After that I might hang out with them for a little while and then head straight back home.", I said.

"Oh I see!, Do you want me to pick you up afterwards?", Kenneth questioned.

"No, that's ok Kenny, I'm thinking of leaving with all of my friends!", I said. As he drove out of the driveway, I could see a couple of familiar and strange faces outside just lurking through the dark tinted windows of the limo. I also saw thousands of camera flashes from the paparazzi and even heard loud never-ending screams of, "Oh my Gosh!, Jessica Padilla's in there!", and "Happy Birthday Jessie, we love you!" There were even lots of birthday signs and thousands of ecstatic children in my view.

"Wow look at all these people, I never really knew how much they truly cared for me all this time!", I said to Kenneth in awe, "I feel so flattered, wow, this is so amazing!,"

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?, Ever since your first single hit big, you've been even more popular and famous than ever before!, Yep those kids do know how to recognize a star when they see one!, Heh, heh, heh!", Kenneth laughed

"Wow, what a difference a single song makes, huh?", I asked. "Yep, what a difference it makes!", Kenneth replied.

As Kenneth took the highway to Manhattan to drive me off to Santoni's Sound Studio, my cellular phone rang. "Hello", I answered as soon as I picked up.

"Hi Jessica, Good Morning and Happy Birthday!", Kelsie said cheerfully.

"Hi Kels, Good Morning and thanks!", I answered.

"So how's your birthday coming along so far?", Kelsie asked.

"So far it's going along great Kels!", I replied, "I just saw a small group of cheering fans outside my house as I was heading out."

"Wow! That sounds awesome!, Kelsie replied.

"I know right?, So what's up, Kels?", I asked.

"I just spoke to my parents in Ohio. They're both doing fine, working as hard as ever before!", Kelsie retorted, "They miss having me around the house."

"Why don't you bring them along to live with you here in New York City?", I inquired Kelsie.

"I offered them so many times before to move out here with me but they'd rather prefer staying in Ohio because they think New York City is just way too noisy and way too crazy of a place to live in! They would rather prefer living in good, old quiet Ohio than in any place else.", Kelsie informed me.

"Oh well, that's them! So where are you right now?", I asked. I arrived at the studio about ten minutes ago so I'm just waiting for your arrival right here in the lobby.", Kelsie said.

"Oh, ok, did Mike like any of the Christmas songs I wrote down on my list to sing on the album?", I asked.

"Yeah, out of all of them he chose the one that would perfectly fit your vocal range.", Kelsie declared.

"So, which one did he pick out of my list?", I questioned Kelsie.

"He picked out All I Want For Christmas Is You." So you'll be doing a cover of Mariah Carey's Christmas song, Jess!, What do you think?", Kelsie asked me out of interest.

"Wow, Kels, that sounds great!, I love that song!, It's definitely one of my favorite Christmas songs by far!", I said elatedly, "Kelsie you won't believe this at all but I had a dream about Howie this morning!"

"Oh really?, What type of dream did you have Jessie?, Kelsie asked curiously.

"It was one of those erotic and sexual dreams Kels! It was the first time that I had ever dreamt about Howie in that way!", I whispered softly to my cell phone's receiver so that Kenneth wouldn't hear what I was saying.

"Wow an erotic and sexual dream with Howard Dorough who you consider being just a best friend!, Hehehe! So spill me the details, girl!", Kelsie said sounding all too inquisitive.

"I can't right now because Kenny might listen and I don't want him to know. I'll tell you as soon as I see you, ok?, I replied.

"Ok, Jessie!", Kelsie said, "Did you get to read my e-mail message by any chance?"

"No, I haven't checked my e-mails as of yet, but wait I'm going to check them right now since I brought along my laptop along with me!", I said. I opened up my laptop and logged on to America On-Line. As I opened my mailbox to read Kelsie's message, I saw its subject line in big, bold, capital letters. It indicated "IMPORTANT SURPRISE MESSAGE-PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY!!!".Before opening up Kelsie's message to read its content, I wondered to myself what type of a surprise the message contained. I read the brief message and quickly responded back to Kelsie,

"Wow!, What a surprise!, So the rest of our friends are in town, huh?, Do you know how long they're staying in New York City?, So what's up with them?", I asked.

"Well, as far as I know, Jenny-Lynn's staying for a week to compete at a volleyball tournament with the rest of her high school team from Louisiana., Her team made it to the All-Around National Volleyball Championships., She's hoping that her team wins for a fifth time., She's also visiting Kevin while he's shooting for the video., Paula's staying for a week as well., She took a small break in between her national tour with the theater company she's been heavily involved with lately to visit AJ., It's been a long while since they haven't seen each other., The last time Paula saw AJ was when the Backstreet Boys toured in her home country of Canada a while back ago., She often wonders what type of hair color he's dyed his hair and wants to see the shade from up close!, She also wants to see what type of other tattoos he's placed on his body., And Stephanie's still hard at work with her dancing career., She loves being away from California and travelling all over but, misses her parents a bit., You're not going to believe this but she recently quit dancing for Britney Spears' current tour., She is now dancing along with none other than the Backstreet Boys!, She's been with them for a week already and everything is going great for her., She's now dating Brian Littrell!, You should see them together Jess!, They both make such a really cute couple!, Now that she's working along side the Backstreet Boys, Gilli and Brian are inseparable!, At least that's what she tells me through her e-mails and phone conversations!", Kelsie informed me all excitedly.

"Wow Kels! I can't believe that all of our friends are doing great! How cool is that!", I replied ecstatically.

"I feel a bit terrible for not having kept in touch with them all this time, I said feeling concerned.

"That's ok, Jess, they all truly understand that you've been extremely busy with your singing career lately and know that you don't have that much free time to spare., But now that they're all here, you can catch up on what you've missed.", Kelsie said.

"Yeah Kels, I can't wait to see all of our old friends reunite with us again!", I said.

"Me neither!, I can't wait to see Nick in person today!, I haven't seen him for such a long time., I really want to give him a big smooch on the lips!", Kelsie said sounding overjoyed.

"I know what you mean, you don't know how much I want to do that to Howie! But then again, if I do it, then Howie will think I'm crazy because we're simply platonic and everyone in sight will act totally surprised, so I'd rather wait instead.", I said sounding a bit somber.

"Oh c'mon Jess, why don't you tell him directly how you really feel about him?", Kelsie asked.

"Because I'm afraid he'll reject me in an instant!", I said immediately.

"Oh Jess, don't be a chicken, just do it! You'll never know unless you ask!", Kelsie advised me.

"You're so right Kels, but for me it has to come out at the right time and in the right place.", I replied,

"Listen Kels, my cell phone's just about to die out, so I'll talk to you as soon as I arrive at the studio, ok?"

"Ok Jess, I'll talk to you some more then!", Kelsie said.

I hung up and turned off my cell phone immediately. After closing my laptop, I told Kenneth to turn on the radio to listen to Casey Kasem's Top 40 Countdown on Z100 FM. As Kenneth tuned the radio on to 100.3 FM and I heard Casey Kasem's announcement:
"Ok, now on the countdown is the latest chart topper sung by a young lady originally from New York City whose birthday is today. It rises from last week's number 5 spot to this week's number 2 spot. Here is the single Crazy for Your Love by Jessica Padilla." Suddenly I heard the sweet bubble gum pop tune blasting to my ears.

"Wow Kenneth, my single's rising on top of the charts and I can't believe it!", I said surprisingly.

"Yep, it's incredible isn't it?, Kenneth replied.

"I truly love the sound to my song!", I said, "Now that's good music to my ears!" I heard my high-pitched voice on the radio. It seemed all too good to be true! Everyone in the media compared it to sounding very similar to Christina Aguilera's voice.

"You've got such a exceptional voice!", Kenneth told me, "It sounds so angelic, yet so soothing to listen to! How do you take good care of it?"

"I mainly follow Howie's advice every time. He's always suggested to drink lots of hot herbal tea with lots of lemon and honey before starting to sing, so that's how I take good care of my voice!", I replied.

"That's some good advice from Howie, eh?", Kenneth said.

"Yeah, it surely is good advice indeed!", I answered back. After my song played, Casey announced that the Backstreet Boys' Larger Than Life was still at the number one spot. It had been on the countdown for four consecutive weeks already.

"Yay!, They're still at number one!", I said excitedly.

"Yep, those Backstreet Boys still reign at number one in Casey's countdown!, Well here we are at Santoni's Sound Studio Jessica!", Kenneth replied with a friendly grin on his face, "Enjoy your birthday today and keep on doing what you do best!"

"Thank you so much for your compliment and the ride, Kenny. I surely will continue doing so! So will you pick me and Kelsie up afterwards and drop us off Madison Square Garden?", I asked.

"Of course I will!", Kenneth replied, "I won't forget to pick you and Kelsie up!"

"Thank you once again Kenny, I'll see you later then!", I said cheerfully.

I got off the limo, went inside the studio and took the elevator up to the fourth floor. Upon my arrival, I saw that Kelsie had been waiting and standing right beside Michael Santoni out in the lobby discussing about my song recording procedure with him. As soon as they both saw me, we all said our good-mornings to one another and we headed straight to the recording studio. Kelsie handed me a cup of hot herbal tea with lemon and honey. I drank it in small amounts and then did some vocal exercises. Michael then handed me the lyrics and I started to read the words to myself. After reading the lyrics, Michael told me to head directly to the sound-proof room where I immediately put my headphones on. Michael spoke to the microphone and told me to start as soon as he gave me the signal. After playing the background instrumental music, he gave me the signal and I started recording my voice. He recorded several takes of me singing the song and after the 15th take, he had finally stopped. He then re-played the 15th take which sounded all too perfect to his ears. By that time, I felt all too pleased by the sound of it.

"Wow, Jess, you sounded really great!", Kelsie said.

"Thanks Kels!", I replied. By the time I finished recording my track, Michael had played the Backstreet Boys' track to their version of Joy To The World solely by my request.

"Wow, they sound awesome!", I stated.

"Yeah, they sure do!", Kelsie agreed. Michael was genuinely excited about how great his work on the Christmas Compilation album had turned out to be so far. I noticed that my watch had indicated being 11:30AM so I thanked Michael and the rest of his recording engineering team from the studio and headed directly to the limo with Kelsie by my side, where Kenneth was waiting outside.

As soon as Kenneth drove Kelsie and I all the way to Madison Square Garden, we both entered the building showing our special all-access passes to the security guards. We needed to display them in order to ingress to the dance room where the Backstreet Boys were rehearsing their dance steps along with Fatima Robinson and the rest of the dancers.

As Kelsie and I walked along a long corridor to head towards the dance room, I gave Kelsie the details about my dream.

"Kelsie my erotic dream with Howie was so incredible. He made all the right moves on me and everything!", I said sounding all content.

"Wow Jess, did you see him in the nude?", Kelsie questioned me.

"Yeah I did, and he looked so hot!". I looked away and giggled to myself. "It's so strange because I never really dreamt about him in that way before, that is until now!, It seems that we were both meant for each other.", I said.

"Yeah, I agree!, That dream of yours must have meant that you're totally head over heals in love with him, right?", Kelsie asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah, Kels, I can't deny it, but I've always had felt something deeper for Howie ever since the beginning of our friendship. I loved him from the start but haven't had the courage to tell him straight out how I really feel for him because of fear of having him rejecting me right away.", I said.

"Hey, that's normal. I really think that now you should make your move, don't you think so? I mean six years of Howie being single and lonely without a girlfriend beside him is such a long time. I think that he's ready to have you as his girlfriend after you've been his best friend for a long time now.", Kelsie said.

"Yeah I know Kels, I should start making a move now but, I sometimes wonder whether he feels the same way for me as I feel for him?", I said.

"You won't know unless you ask him!", Kelsie said.

"I'm afraid Kelsie, I don't know how I should tell him about my dream. I never told him this morning after he called and sang Happy Birthday to me over the phone. After I recounted my dream again in my mind while he was talking to me, I laughed about it for a bit. He asked me what was wrong, so I had to make up some other story to cover up for the erotic dream that I had about him and I together. I laughed it off because I felt all too nervous to tell him about it Kels.", I said, "It was the first time I had ever lied to him, Kels.

"It's the first time you ever lied to Howie?, What lie did you make up and give him?", Kelsie asked.

"I made up some silly lie about my dog Sunnie accidentally falling on the floor over a pile of leaves while I supposedly took him out for a walk."

"Oh my gosh!, You used your dog as a cover up for your erotic dream with him?, Kelsie asked.

"Yeah, and I can't believe he actually fell for it Kels!", I said, "He sounded so concerned over my dog!, I feel so dumb for actually telling him that!, Now how do I tell him the truth?"

"Well, it's not going to be easy but take it one step at a time, be honest in telling him the reasons behind why you never got to tell him about it then, go on in telling him how you really feel about him!", Kelsie retorted.

"Yeah you're right, Kels but I can't tell him now, you know, because it will definitely ruin his whole dance rehearsal routine and I don't want to do that!", I remarked.

"How about setting up a date with him for next week?, Hang out with him or something!, Kelsie uttered.

"Yeah that's what I'll do!", I stated.

"Remember, don't be afraid, go with the flow., I'm pretty sure he'll get over it sooner or later!", Kelsie expressed.

"Yeah, I really hope so!", I replied, "Thanks Kels, you always have the greatest advice to give me!"

"No problem, Jess, that's what friends are for!", Kelsie answered.

Suddenly as we got closer and closer to the dance room, we both heard the song Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely playing loudly in the background, so we stopped talking to each other. We both hid behind the dance room door and peeked through the little windowpane. We saw the Backstreet Boys slow dancing with the rest of the dancers. Everyone was paired up with someone except for Nick and Howie.

"Oh my gosh Jess!", Kelsie remarked with a surprised look on her face, "Look at Nick, he looks so adorable!, Look at his cute, baby face and his golden blond hair!, He hasn't changed at all!"

"Yeah he's cute isn't he?", I noted, "But no other guy can compare to Howie Dorough!", I said sighing afterwards, "Look at him Kels, he's so handsome!, He's got awesome dark looks, a gorgeous body, and a great smile to go along with it!, You notice something Kels?, He and Nick don't have dance partners by their side?"

"I know right?, I wonder what happened to them Jess?", Kelsie said.

"Maybe it's us and we don't know about it yet!", I replied.

"Maybe!", Kelsie retorted sounding like she was hiding something away from me.

"Maybe?!, Is there something you know that I don't know about?", I asked Kelsie sounding very curious.

"No, but you'll never know, Jess!", Kelsie said with a sheepish grin on his face. Kelsie then changed the topic completely because she didn't want me to discover what she had been hiding away from me. "Ooohhh just look at our friends, Jess!, They're each dancing along with their boyfriends!", Kelsie said.

"Yeah, Oh my gosh!, They're dancing with the Backstreet Boys!", I said, "Are you ready to make our entrance, Kels?", I asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready when you are Jess!", Kelsie said sounding very excited.

We suddenly stopped talking to each other. As we soon as we opened the door that led directly to the dance room area, we heard a loud creak come out from it. It disrupted the dance rehearsal and so everyone had their eyes directly on both of us. We both looked at each other and at everyone. We heard Fatima Robinson announce loudly to everyone, "Ok guys, very good work, but we still need some more to be done!, We'll continue after lunch!, Let's take a one hour break now and rest!" Suddenly the Backstreet Boys, joined together with our three friends, came up to us in sheer delight. We looked at each other in pure amazement and talked to one another soon after that.

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