Chapter 27
"I trust you. It's Nick I don't trust," Sean said to Riana over the phone two days before Riana moved into the new house. She sighed.
"Listen, Nick is a good guy. He wouldn't dream of taking your place." She heard him sigh on the other end.
"He better not. I'll call you tomorrow, ok? I have some meeting for some big executives in about an hour," he said.
"Sure! I'll talk to you then."
"Bye baby, I love you."
"I love you too," Riana said and hung up the phone. She stretched her legs and arms and got up from the couch. AJ's house was awfully big and lonely when it was empty. The walls didn't echo with the familiar sounds of Brian's constant laughter or AJ's raspy voice, but instead echoed of Riana's own pitter patter footsteps as she walked into the kitchen that she had grown so accustomed to over the past four and a half months. She did admit that she was excited about moving in with Nick only because she wanted to have the friendship she had with him before they broke up. As she sat down at the kitchen counter, she saw the number for the moving company posted on the bulletin board. Feeling the need to remind them, she called the moving company.
"It's going to be a lot harder with everyone gone," Riana said aloud to herself. The Backstreet Boys were out doing some promo stuff in LA at the moment, and they weren't expected to be home until the next week. Not only did the BSB leave, Leah went with them too, leaving Riana all alone in Florida.
For the rest of the night, Riana made herself comfortable outside in a lawn chair before quickly falling asleep.
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"Only eighteen more hours until that house is mine!" Nick said gleefully as he jumped up and down on his hotel bed. Brian groaned before throwing a pillow at Nick who quickly caught it and threw it back at Brian. Brian rolled his eyes and kneeled at the side of his bed.
"Please," he said with his hands clasped together, "let Riana survive as she lives with this....thing...that we call human," he said. He blessed himself before he hopped under the covers and turned off the light that glistened above his bed.
"I'm going to call Riana, ok?" Nick asked. Brian didn't respond but instead inserted a finger into each ear. Nick laughed and reached for the phone that was placed on a table between the two beds. After dialing eleven digits and four rings, Riana picked up the phone.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Riana! It's Nick!" he screeched. She held the phone away from her ear as Nick's excited voice blared through the phone.
"Nick, did you forget that there is a time difference from where I am and where you are?"
"Oops...Sorry. I totally forgot." He said.
"It's ok."
"So is everything set for tomorrow? Like, you have all the moving guys coming in at precisely 8:00 in the morning and that all of the vans are gonna be there and no fans are going to find out where I live?"
"Woah. Say that again but this time ten times slower. No fans will no that you are moving in. And besides, which sane girl wants you?" She joked and laughed.
"Hey! I bet I could get more women that you!" Nick said.
"I bet you could," Riana said.
"No, you know what I mean. I bet you that by the time I come back home that I will have ten times more phone numbers from women then you."
"You're flying solo. I'm already seeing someone. Remember?"
"Oh yeah. Well, I still say I could get more numbers."
"Ok, I guess...ten numbers," said Riana, picking a random number. Nick laughed.
"So, tomorrow I'm going clubbing with AJ and Leah. I gotta go work on my pick up lines! How about this one: 'You know baby, if I saw you naked, I'd die happy'," Nick said.
"Ha! If I saw you naked I'd die laughing!" Riana blurted.
"I have better ones! Ok, try this one: Is your daddy a terrorist cuz you DA BOMB!!" shouted Nick. Riana was laughing so hard that she had trouble containing herself.
"Or how about this: "You know, that shirt looks really becoming on you...well, if I was on you I'd be coming too." How was that one?" Nick asked to her. Riana wiped the tears of laughter that had welled up in the corners of her eyes.
"For the sake of all women, PLEASE don't even GO to that club tonight," said Riana.
"Ha Ha Ha, Miss I-have-A-Boyfriend-So-I-Can't-Bet-With-Nick, I'll just hang up! And besides, Brian is stuffing his head underneath all of his pillows. I guess he's a little tired," Nick said.
"You're very observant!!" Riana heard Brian's muffled reply. She laughed.
"I'll see you soon, Nick. Don't forget to call me tomorrow and tell the others I said hi!" Riana said and hung up the phone. With a quick chuckle, Riana quickly drifted back to sleep.
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"Psst...Brian! Are you asleep?"
"Yes!" Brian hissed and rolled over so his back was facing Nick.
"I can't fall asleep. My mom used to read me stories when I was little," Nick said as he reflected on his past. He laid on his back and tucked his arms under the back of his head.
"No Nick. I am not reading you a bedtime story. I seriously don't know what you are on tonight, but if you don't shut up, I'm going to kick you out of this room and into the crowd of teenyboppers outside," Brian said.
"Oohh, is that a threat, Mr. Littrell?" Nick joked.
"No, it's not a threat. It's a promise."
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For once in her life, Riana was speechless. Once all of the boxes that Nick and Riana had were placed into her house, the realization hit her like a stone of bricks. This huge house was hers. The furniture was somewhat in place; Riana's waterbed was placed in her room and a table was set in the kitchen. One couch and one tiny TV were in the living room and the rest of the furniture were scattered amongst the huge house.
Once the movers had left the house, Riana went into every single room and admired each and every part of everything. She loved her room and couldn't wait until the next day came so she could put all of her belongings in it. Nick's stuff had been placed into one big heap in his room; Riana couldn't wait to see his reaction to that.
The more time she looked at and admired everything, the more tired she became. Satisfied, she changed out of her clothes and into her comfortable pajamas and headed to sleep.
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"There....perfect!!" exclaimed Riana as she moved the last piece of furniture into place. For the past three days, she had been putting everything into place. The living room was adorned with a beige wrap-around couch with throw pillows on the end. A sleek black table was in the middle of the couch and the big screen TV that Nick insisted on having. The too-elaborate stereo of Nick's was placed up against the wall with the speakers next to it. The stereo covered half of the wall and the speakers covered the rest. Downstairs was Riana's office and down the hall was Nick's office. Nick's office was covered with the many awards that Nick had gotten over the course of his career, while Riana's room was basically empty except for the framed picture of her when she did her modeling shoot for Teen last summer.
The kitchen was gorgeous with the hardwood floors and the marble counters and cabinets. In the kitchen was a back door that led to the wrap around deck. The deck had a table with a few chairs with an umbrella and the pool sparked from the squelching sun. As Riana, walked back into the house, she heard the faint sound of the doorbell ring and she walked over to open it.
"I don't need any more cake from neighbors," she mumbled to herself once she opened the door. When she opened the door, she was greeted with a beautiful woman with elegant black, silk hair that hung to her shoulder blades. Her piercing green eyes sparkled when she smiled.
"Hi, I'm sorry for bothering you, but I heard that you just moved in a few days ago. I wanted to introduce myself," she said in a soft voice. Riana smiled at her friendliness.
"I'm Riana Walker, nice to meet you."
"Melanie Kanset, " she said and took Riana's hand.
"This big house is just for you?" Melanie asked. Riana shook her head and laughed.
"No. My roommate is coming soon. He should be here in about four days."
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"Luuuucccyyy!! I'm home!!" Nick shouted as he stepped foot into his new house. Riana came running from the kitchen and she ran and hugged Nick.
"Do you like it?" she asked.
"Of course! Riana! You lost!!! I got way over ten numbers." Nick said. Riana groaned and remembered the bet that she had bet Nick.
"Everybody's trying to be my baby, everybody's trying to be my baby, everybody's trying to be my baby now!" he sang and twirled her around in a circle. Riana laughed.
"Well, they took some honey from a tree. Dressed it up and they called it me," Nick sang to her and she laughed.
"Was up last night till half past four. Fifty woman knocking on my door. Everybody's trying to be my baby, everybody's trying to be my baby, everybody's trying to be my baby now!"
"Went out last night. I didn't stay late. Before I went home I had nineteen dates! Everybody's trying to be my baby, everybody's trying to be my baby, everybody's trying to be my baby now!"
Nick finished the song and Riana laughed as he finished spinning her around the room. They both stopped laughing when they heard a giggle from the door.
"Am I interrupting anything?" Melanie asked with a smile. Riana laughed and walked over to her.
"Melanie, this is my roommate, Nick. Nick, this is our neighbor, Melanie." Introduced Riana. Nick smiled and shook her hand. Melanie smiled at him and his heart nearly skipped a beat from her beauty.
"It's nice to meet you, Melanie." He said and smiled.
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