Rocky Road

Yes, I have just turned twenty-one and here I am, being escorted by my father, of all people, to a destination, which he refuses to divulge the reason for or the location of to me.

            I guess you could say that I have had a rather strange life, not in how it’s resulted, but how these things came about. First off, I have been raised in a single parent home. Nothing so unusual about that at all, except for the fact that it was my mother who left my father without a word a few days after I had been brought home from the hospital as a newborn. I never saw my mother again, that is not until I was about eighteen, and my mother turned up dead in California, a robber in a bank hold-up had shot her.

            Daddy loved mother dearly, and I can’t say how I felt towards her. She sent me lots of letters throughout the years, and she sent me lots of toys for my birthday and for Christmas, but she never cared enough about me to come and see me. But I got to see her every day of my life. There is a huge portrait of her hanging above the living room fireplace. She was truly beautiful, and I only hope that I grow to be as beautiful as she was. I have her hazel green eyes and flowing blonde hair, and am reasonably tall for a woman, at five nine, but she was five ten and skinnier than I am now. Somehow, I don’t think that it’s horribly fair for a woman to be fifty years old and still have the same basic figure as when she was twenty-five.

            Even though father told me repeatedly throughout the years that it was in no way my fault, I still cannot help but feel responsible for them breaking up. The psychologist that father sent me to when I was old enough and told him how I felt said that there wasn’t much to be done for it, simply that it was something that I wanted, and that I knew that I had at one point in time, and I knew that I’d never get it back. Dad loved me a whole lot, and was always there for me, and for that, and some other reasons, he never remarried.

            Now, it’s one thing to live in a big, urban area, where there’s poverty, and crime, and drugs and all of those other horrible things. Single parent homes are very common there. However, in the upper class, single-family homes are somewhat less common, especially when it’s your mother whom leaves your father, because “she didn’t need to be a mother”. So, for all intents and purposes, she was pretty much dead to me. I thought of her more like a working mother, who happened to be away all of the time.

            As I mentioned before, Father never remarried, partly because he didn’t want to devote his time to another woman and not me, and partly because he is so wealthy. He owns a large business empire. He travels all over the world, going to his various over-seas corporations to check up, and oversee them. As soon as I was old enough to start school, he got a private tutor for me and brought me with him. He said that he wanted me to see the world while I studied it, and he wanted to keep me close to him. As I became older, I learned about the various places we visited, and I learned the languages, so I would be able to have a grasp on them, for when I took the businesses over. We spent anywhere from six to nine months of the year moving around the world.

            At first I thought it was kind of strange not to really have a real home, where I had roots, later I found it a big comfort and considered it a privilege. Not only to go everywhere at such a young age, but to learn about the people and places, and especially to know that my father loved me and cared for me so much. I entered college at the age of sixteen, as I didn’t really go through grade levels with my tutor, I just went through subjects, and I didn’t really take extended summer breaks. I finished college in four years and started working with my father the day after my graduation practically.

            I am very proud of myself for all that I have accomplished in my life thus far. I’m happy, and I’m about as normal as you can expect, I suppose. Father forbid me to move out of the house, he was worried about me, and he was never home anyway, so I just stayed home and kind of held the fort down for him. So, here I am, twenty-one years old, out of college and pretty much running the my father’s business empire, at least the American division of it, and am being taken to who knows where on one kind of dark night in the beginning of October, October the eighth, to be exact. It’s threatening to storm any moment.

            “So, Dad, where are we going exactly?” I ask.

            “We’re almost there Kala, so I suppose that I’ll tell you now,” he says.

            “Okay, so where are we headed?” I ask.

            “To a concert,” he tells me.

            “Then why didn’t you tell me to bring my opera glasses?” I ask.

            “No, not that kind of concert,” he says.

            “Then what are you talking about?” I ask him.

            “A Backstreet Boys Concert,” he tells me.

            “Are you serious? That thing has been sold out for months,” I say. I love the Backstreet Boys. Well, I mean, I love their music, I don’t pay too much attention to their looks, all except for one of them, Kevin, he’s really handsome, and he seems nice, but then again, I really don’t know him. All I know is that he seems to be very devoted to his girlfriend, who goes by the name of Brooke, and from all accounts is extremely sweet, but horribly shy about being a public figure with her boyfriend. Of the one picture I’ve seen of her, she looks exactly like I do, though I don’t know how tall she is. That kind of scares me, and I don’t know why.

            “I got front row seats,” he says.

             “Really?” I ask in interest.

            “Of course, and one more thing,” he says as he reaches into his pocket. He brings out two rectangular passes, laminated, with blue cords attached to them.

            “Backstage passes!” I exclaim.

            “Yes,” he says.

            “Oh, I can’t wait to get there,” I say. We arrive at the stadium shortly afterwards. Father takes me to an area away from most of the screaming teenagers and their parents, weary from all of the chatter about who’s the hottest guy and why, and the freaking out that they’re about to see a concert.

            I was first introduced to the Backstreet Boys and their music while I was over in Europe when I was fourteen. I was in a car, in Germany, just breezing through the music channels, trying to find something decent, when I heard some group singing a song in English, I mean, real English. As if that weren’t enough to snag me by itself the song was actually really nice. Calm, and easy to listen to rather than all edgy and hard rock, as was the trend of the time.

            “Lloyd and Kala Pierson,” my father says to a man at the back door with a clipboard.

            “Mr. Pierson, please, come right in, Sir,” the guard says as he holds the door for us. Something strange is going on here, I mean certainly my father is world renowned, but to command that kind of respect, especially from a security guard seems, well, just plain eerie to me.

            I am escorted inside after my father clears things with the security guards at the doors. My father and I are shown into a room with lots and lots of younger and older people, most of them are women, with their daughters or their daughters and their neighbor’s daughters, or their daughters and their daughters’ friends. However it all shakes down, there are a whole lot of girls all freaking out because four guys walk into the room down a short staircase and instantly lost in the crowd that gathers around each one. I just sort of hang back and take it all in.

            Nick in a striped shirt, and Nike warm up sweatpants, and bedroom slippers. Howie D. in a very nice looking vest over a shirt with some nice slacks; AJ in his usual mix-and-match style, opted for leather pants, and a black button down shirt, buttoned down just enough to make the girls swoon, and the trademark sunglasses. Brian is the last to appear on the scene, in what I take to be a Kentucky University basketball jersey, and warm up pants as well. I am most surprised by who I don’t see; Kevin isn’t anywhere to be found. The guys all do the obligatory autographs and photos and such.

            I make eye contact with Howie for an instant and he actually does a double take, he starts making his way over to me. Apparently the other guys all notice me too, because they start coming over to me as well. I make it easy on everyone and walk over towards them, as they can’t get far fast, because their fans are everywhere.

            “Hello,” I say to Howie, who is the first one I encounter, as I reach my hand out to shake his.

            “Hi, what’s your name?” he asks as he shakes my hand warmly.

            “My name is Kala,” I respond.

            “How old are you?” AJ practically demands as he comes up from behind. I whirl around to face him.

            “I just turned twenty-one yesterday,” I say to him.

            “Oh, excellent,” Nick says as he too approaches me.

             “What’s going on he…Oh my goodness!” Brian exclaims. “You’re back! Kevin will be so pleased. I can’t believe that you’ve come back for him. He hasn’t been the same since you left him.”

             “Excuse me?” I ask. Howie still hasn’t released my hand.

            “It’s so good to see you again Brooke,” Brian says, ignoring my remark and giving me a giant hug.

            “Hold it, my name isn’t Brooke, it’s Kala,” I say.

             “What?” he asks.

             “I’m Kala Pierson, if you want to see Brooke, then go and ask Kevin where she is,” I tell him calmly.

            “We would but…,” Nick falters with his words.

            “But what?” I ask. “Has something happened? Is she all right?”

            “Oh, she’s just fine,” Howie says.

             “Well, then I’m afraid that I don’t understand,” I say.

            “That’s just it, she left Kevin a few weeks ago. All this time she was having an affair with another guy,” AJ tells me.

            “Oh, that’s horrible, poor Kevin,” I say.

            “Exactly,” Brian says

            “What happened?” I ask.

            “She was going with Kevin to stay close to the guy she really loved, he was part of our road crew; Kevin caught them making out backstage as things were being set up in another state a few weeks ago,” Howie says, still holding tightly to my hand.

            “Oh, that’s horrible,” I say.

             “What’s worse is that Kevin had a ring case with an eight karat diamond in his pocket, and he was looking for Brooke so that he could propose,” Nick says.

             “Oh no,” I say.

            “Well, we all had an interview to do, and Kevin came with us, when he got back, there was a note on his bed from Brooke, saying that she was leaving him for the other guy,” Nick says.

            “Oh, how upsetting,” I say. “So he isn’t here tonight then, huh?” I ask.

            “Who’s your favorite one of us?” Brian asks abruptly.

            “You mean as far as personality, looks or voice?” I ask.

             “All around, who’s your favorite?” AJ asks me.

            “Kevin across the board,” I say with a sheepish grin as I blush and look away. The four guys look at me incredulously. “What?” I ask. “Kevin is the only one that I keep up with as far as his life, he has a beautiful voice, and he seems like such a nice guy, and his looks certainly don’t hurt.”

            “He’s been devastated by this,” Howie says.

            “I can imagine,” I say.

            “And he could really use someone to be close to, to kind of talk to,” AJ hints.

            “He has you four,” I say.

            “Well, he does have the four of us, and the four of us have girlfriends, except Brian, who has a wife, and it seems to hurt him to see us with them when he doesn’t have anyone,” Nick tells me.

            “So, why are you all telling me this?” I ask.

            “He needs a surrogate Brooke,” AJ says.

            “So, you want me to pretend to be Brooke?” I ask. “And hurt and confuse him even more? I’m not even sorry to say that I won’t do that.”

            “No, that’s not it at all; you’re just like her, you look just like her, you even sound just like her, it’s almost scary, but she seemed to have a really soft, sweet heart, and would kind of coat Kevin in this love and protection, when I saw you across the room, I was hoping that I could find out if you had that ability, to be so warm, and I believe that you do. I’m getting the same feeling around you as I got whenever Brooke was around,” Howie says.

            “Are you sure that it’s not because you’ve been holding my hand since you said hi to me several minutes ago?” I ask him.

            “No. Oh, sorry about that,” he says as he gives me back my hand. Brian instantly takes it up.

            “So, what kind of feeling did you get from Brooke’s presence?” I ask.

            “Just this warm, loving, caring feeling, almost like a motherly person was nearby. She was wonderful for Kevin, everything he needed, protection when the media hounded him, she chilled him out when he got too tense, she was whatever he needed whenever he needed it, and she was all of this without being subservient or waiting on him hand and foot, and she didn’t let him wait on her like that either,” AJ says.

            “I know she saved my life a few times when I pulled some rather not nice pranks on Kevin that got him really angry,” Nick says.

            “So, why do you all seem to like her so much when she just broke your best friend’s heart?” I ask.

            “Well, we did like her before now, but we’re saying that everything she seemed to be, minus the cheating, you seem to be,” Howie says.

            “Ah, I see,” I say.

            “He’s so torn up, we thought that if we could find someone with that same kind of aura about them that it might help Kevin a little bit,” Nick says.

            “Well, do you want me to talk to him, or something?” I ask.

             “Please? He can’t bring himself to do the meet and greets anymore, he can barely bring himself to do the shows, he never smiles, he won’t come out with us and our girls before or after the shows anymore, he just crawls up to his hotel room and cries,” Howie pleads with me. “And or he buries himself in his music.”

            “Okay, fine, I’ll go, but I’m not promising anyone anything,” I say.

            “Oh, thank you, so much,” Brian says as he leads me off through the crowds, up the stairs, and through the doors.

            “So where are you taking me exactly?” I ask.

             “Kevin’s dressing room,” Brian says. He leads me down several corridors and finally we arrive outside of a door with Kevin’s name on a removable tag. Brian knocks on the door, as someone is inside, apparently sniffling.

            “Yes? Who is it?” Kevin asks.

            “It’s Brian, Kevin, I have someone here that I’d like you to meet,” he says.

            “Come on in,” Kevin says from inside the room. Brian opens the door and enters with me in tow, half wanting to run away. Once I get inside I see just how much this is affecting Kevin, there are crumpled up tissues all over the place. He looks at Brian from where he’s sitting in a chair, his eyes are red and watery, his nose is stuffed up; the poor man looks a complete mess. He stands up hurriedly as we enter.

             “Brooke,” he says he comes up to me, with a smile.

            “No, Kevin, this isn’t Brooke, her name Kala,” Brian answers. Kevin gets closer to me and looks at me, really hard.

            “This has to be Brooke,” he says.

            “Kevin, my name is Kala, I’ve met neither you nor Brooke before, but I’m truly sorry for what happened,” I tell him in a soft voice. He looks like he could benefit from a soft voice right now.

            He sinks onto the sofa, turning his back on both Brian and myself. “I’ll just leave you two alone,” Brian says as he leaves the room, closing the door behind himself.

            I sit down beside Kevin. He’s started to cry again, so I just softly put my hand on the back of his shoulder, just to let him know that I’m near. He turns around, shedding big tears from his emerald green eyes. He comes into my arms, and just lets me hold him close as he cries on my shoulder. He doesn’t say a word and I don’t try to make him. About ten minutes pass before he says anything at all.

            “I loved her so much,” he sniffles.

            “It certainly looks that way,” I say to him.

            “I can’t understand why she did this,” he says.

             “Because she wanted to be with a man that she loved, so she wrongly used you, manipulating you, to make you love her while she loved whom she liked,” I tell him softly.

            “I wish that I had her back,” he says.

            “No, you don’t, trust me, that’s the last thing that you want,” I say to him.

            “She seemed so nice,” he continues to cry.

            “Things aren’t always what they seem to be,” I tell him.

            “I know, but she was so wonderful, I couldn’t even have imagined her being anything else than what I saw in her,” he says, calming a little bit, but staying close to me.

            “Because you loved her,” I say. “Love blinds people to the truth about the one they love.”

            “Why do you care?” he asks, suddenly looking at me.

             “Because, I’ve heard accounts from people who have met you, they say how wonderfully kind, and gentle you are, and now you’ve been hurt badly by someone that didn’t deserve you, I want to see if I can help make you feel better,” I say to him.

            “You look just like her,” he says.

            “So I’ve heard,” I say to him.

            “You act just like her too, kind and sweet, loving and caring, warm and friendly, motherly and tender,” he says as he leans his head on my shoulder again, I think that he’s about to let loose with another crying fit, but he doesn’t, he stays still and silent. “Oh, I wish,” he says under his breath.

            “What, what is it that you wish, Kevin?” I ask as I look at him as much as I can.

            “I wish that I could find someone just like you,” he says.

            “You mean just like Brooke?” I ask him.

            “No, I mean just like you,” he says.

            “How so?” I ask.

            “The guys all have their girls; AJ has Sarah, Howie has a girl by the name of Elena, Nick has Celeste, and Brian has Leighanne.  They are all so much in love it hurts to have to see them acting all sweet towards each other, because at the end of the day, I still go back to an empty hotel room, remembering how nice it was to have Brooke to be with. I mean... we didn’t even have sex, I mean, ever. We just held each other close, or we’d cuddle up tight and watch some television and drift off to sleep that way, and that seemed like enough, for both of us. Now I have no one, but I remember her, and it hurts so badly, to know what I had and what the others still have. You seem so wonderful, just like her, but there was something in her that isn’t in you,” he says.

            “What do you mean?” I ask.

            “Well, now I know what it is, it was her deviousness, she’d never come with me to anything, she’d stay behind during interviews and photo shoots and awards shows, the only thing she’d come to were the concerts, but she’d disappear somewhere during them and show back up after the show was over. Now I know that she was going to meet the man that she loved, but at the time, I had no idea,” he says. He sits up, but still stays very close to me. “So that’s why I say I want someone like you.”

            “Well, in all honesty, you don’t need someone like me,” I say.

            “But I do,” he says.

            “Sh, Kevin, just listen,” I quiet him tenderly. “You don’t need someone like me, because if you really wanted, you could have me,” I tell him. “That is, unless there’s something you find displeasing about me.”

            “No, you look just like she did, and you act the same way, without the cold heart,” he says.

             “Actually, I think that you just need someone to be with you as a friend rather than a girlfriend at this point in time,” I say to him.

             “You’re probably right,” he says. “Could you be such a friend?” he asks.

            “Yes, I would be more than happy to be,” I say.

            “But, could you promise me to keep an open mind about romance with me?” he asks.

            “Kevin, your heart is broken, and trust me, I’m the second woman in line to put it back together for you,” I say.

            “Who’s the first?” he asks.

            “I’d figure that your mother is, mother’s are great for those sorts of things. Or so I’d imagine,” I mutter the last part.

            “What was that you just said?” he asks.

            Not wanting to add anything more onto his shoulders, I decide to refrain from going into my own life story with him at the moment. “Nothing, don’t worry about it. Here, Kevin, you look completely exhausted, and need some rest. There’s enough time before the show for you to grab a short nap,” I say to him. I stand up and arrange the pillows on the sofa for his head, he lies down and I cover him up with a blanket and dim the lights in the room so that he can get some rest.

            “Kala?” he asks.

            “Yes?” I ask him.

            “Will you sing to me?” he asks.

            “Huh?” I ask, in confusion.

            “Will you sing me a lullaby?” he asks.

            “Um, okay, I guess, but I’m not much good at singing,” I say.

            “That’s okay, I just need to hear something soothing to help me get to sleep,” he says.

             “Okay,” I say as I sit on the very edge of the sofa and run my fingers through his hair gently. I sing him the only lullaby that I remember from my own childhood. Even though my voice is rather shaky, and not refined and beautiful, like his own, he drifts right off to sleep. While he rests I clean the room up, throwing all of the tissues into the wastepaper basket. A little while later, I hear him moan in his sleep and he stirs, I go over to him and keel by his side. “Sh, hush, Kevin, it’s all right, everything’s going to be just fine, you’re in no danger, you’re just dreaming, it’s all a dream, I whisper softly to him.

             “Brooke, why’d you do it?” I hear him mumble somewhat.

            “Oh, Kevin,” I breathe as I stand back up and straighten a rack of clothing out. I hear him whimper and start to cry in his dream so I go back over to him.

            “Why, why, why?” I hear him say.

             “Kevin,” I call to him, trying to bring him out of the dream slowly. “Kevin, come on, it’s okay, come towards my voice, everything’s all right now, it’s Kala, Kevin, come on, come on now,” I say as his eyes flutter open.

             “Brooke?” he asks as he teeters between awake and asleep.

            “No, not Brooke, Kala,” I tell him softly, as I help him to sit up slowly. “That’s better, that’s much better,” I say after he has sat up on the sofa, allowing me to sit beside him.

            “Kala, why can’t I banish her and all she’s done from my mind?” he asks.

            “It was a very rude and unexpected shock, you need time to heal, and that’s something that you haven’t had much of yet, I’d presume,” I say.

            “Can I just lie in your arms again?” he asks.

            “Sure,” I say as I open my arms to him again. He starts to cry again, so I reach for the box of tissues and wipe his eyes dry. “Sh, there there now, there there, it’s all right, Kevin, you have your four best friends to help you through this time and you have their girls too,” I try to comfort him.

            “But I want someone of my own,” he cries.

            “I bet that you do,” I tell him. Kevin just lies in my arms for another few minutes, calming himself down and getting himself ready to go onstage.

            There is a knock at the door just then. “Yes, who is it?” he asks.

            “It’s me Kevin, may I come in?” a gruff man’s voice asks.

            “Sure, Todd, come right on in,” he says. A huge man comes in the door just then. “Todd this is Kala, she’s my date for the evening, can you please escort her to her seat?” Kevin asks.

            Excuse me, did I just hear right? I’m his date? Didn’t we just talk about how he needed a good friend rather than a girlfriend? Has he gone off his rocker? Does he simply envision me as Brooke? Can I ever get away from her likeness and shadow? Will I ever have my own distinct identity apart from her in Kevin’s eyes?

            “Sure,” Todd says.

            “Kala, who did you come with?” he asks.

            “My father brought me,” I say.

            “I want both of you to wait in your seats, after the show, and Todd will come and get you two,” he says.

            “Um, okay,” I say, a little unsure of just what I’ve gotten my father and myself into.

            “Where are your seats?” he asks.

            “The front row, center section,” I say.

            “Wait a second, you’re sitting in the front row?” he asks.

             “Yes,” I say.

            “But all of those seats were auctioned off for charity, to help the victims of the bombings in New York and Washington D.C., and crash in Pennsylvania,” he says.

            “All except for one pair,” I tell him. “My father said that he bought these months before the rest of the tickets went on sale.”

            “Right, and the one pair that didn’t go to auction was instantly bought up by the owner of the company that sponsored this tour,” he says.

             “What?” I ask.

             “That’s what we’ve been told,” he says.

            “Well, who is the owner?” I ask.

            “Lloyd Pierson,” he says.

            “That’s my father,” I say in shock.

            “Really?” he asks.

            “Yes, but he never told me anything about sponsoring your world tour,” I say.

            “Huh, isn’t that odd,” Kevin says.

             “Really,” I say.

            “No one ever told me what your name was, or how old you were, or how pretty you are,” he says.

             “Okay now I’m really confused, care to explain your comment to me?” I ask.

            “I’ll explain later, but for now, just tell me you’ll meet with me after the show,” he says.

            “Okay,” I say.

            I am unsure of what else to say to a man who has as little emotional stability as Kevin does at this juncture in time. Todd takes my father and myself out to our seats and thankfully, the opening act is just finishing up, so there is very little time between my Kevin sightings. The Boys are up next, as they make their first entrance, onto the stage, Kevin comes right up in front of me, and sings as though no one else exists. He actually smiles, which is something that I take he rarely does.

            A slow and romantic song comes up, and each one of the guys has a security guard go out and get a girl of their choosing. Kevin, however, comes down off the stage, and takes my hand, leads me back onto the stage, as the last girl to be brought up. The other four guys look absolutely elated at this. I start to worry a little when at the end of the song, while the other guys give their girls a soft peck on the cheek; Kevin chooses to kiss my lips instead. This is met by the audience’s approval; apparently they’ve heard about Kevin’s heart being crushed beyond belief by an evil woman and enjoy him seeming to find another to replace her. Man I hope that that doesn’t happen, not that I don’t want to get to know Kevin, and not that I couldn’t grow to love him, if given time, but I don’t want to be a stand-in for Brooke.

            The show goes smoothly after that, and when it ends everyone leaves. “Come on Kala, it’s time to go home for the night,” my father tells me.

            “Kevin asked us to stay here,” I say.

            “Oh did he really,” my father says.

            “Why didn’t you tell me that your companies sponsored this tour?” I ask.

            “I didn’t think it was important,” he says.

            “Ah, I see,” I tell him.

            “That’s why I got you these tickets and the backstage passes,” he says.

            “Okay,” I say.

            Just then Todd shows up. “Mr. Pierson, Miss Pierson, Kevin asked me to come and bring you two backstage.” We follow him and are led backstage where I am encased in four pairs of arms, all of which seem determined to squeeze me to death in appreciation.

            “Kala, thank you so much,” Nick says.

            “Kevin hasn’t given such a great performance since before you know what,” Howie says.

            “He was so happy onstage tonight, you made him so happy, thank you so much,” Brian says, nearly in tears.

            “I’ve never known him to smile so much,” AJ says.

            I tap the pair of arms that is around my neck. “Air please,” I say. All four pairs of appreciative arms instantly release me. “Thank you,” I say to all of them as I get my breath back. “So, how’s Kevin doing?” I ask as he is conspicuously missing again.

            “He’s just getting ready to go out with us tonight,” Howie says.

            “He hasn’t come out with all of us like this since before Brooke happened,” Nick says.

            “We’re going to have to make this night extra special for him,” AJ says, as he smiles at me.

            “Let’s get this clear right now, I am not Brooke, I don’t want to be Brooke, I never will be Brooke, I am not a substitute for Brooke. I am Kala Pierson, I always have been and I always will be. Kevin and I have reached an agreement whereby I will become a close friend of his and help him through this as much as I can, but he knows that I am not Brooke,” I say.

            “Of course, we’re sorry if we come across a little strangely, we’re just so thrilled that we’ve met you and that you’ve met Kevin and you seem to get along so well,” Brian says.

            “That’s fine, just please, keep Brooke in one part of your minds and give me my own identity,” I say.

            “Absolutely,” AJ agrees with me.

            Four other ladies enter the room just then; their men warmly greet them each of them. Introductions are made and just then I feel a pair of arms encase my shoulders and a warm kiss planted gingerly on my cheek.

            “Hi there, beautiful,” Kevin says to me.

            “Uh-oh,” I mutter to myself. I have got to set this guy straight about a few things right now before he gets any deeper into me. “Kevin, what is my name?” I ask him.

            “Kala,” he says.

            “What is my relationship to you?” I ask him.

            “Friend going on best friend going on girlfriend,” he answers.

            “Give me a time frame for those titles,” I say.

            “Friend a month or two, best friend two or three months, and girlfriend, until we split, or until I make you my fiancé,” he says.

            “Okay,” I say. “Then what was with the kiss onstage and just now?” I ask.

            “I just wanted to see if you kissed well,” he says.

            “Okay, just don’t do that anymore, people might talk,” I say. “And I don’t want you to get into trouble because of me,” I say.

            “Aw, you’re so sweet,” Kevin says as he hugs me again.

            “Oh my gosh, Kevin, do you have any concept of how strong you are?” I ask as my breath is again squeezed out of my body.

            “Sorry, Kala,” he says.

            “It’s okay,” I say to him. “Oh, before I forget, Kevin, this is my father.”

            “Well, Kevin, it’s been a while, how’ve you been?” he asks.

            “I’m doing very well. Why didn’t you and my dad tell me more about your daughter? She’s absolutely enchanting,” Kevin says.

            “Excuse me, what do you mean by ‘well, Kevin, it’s been a while’, Dad? Do you mean to tell me that you two know each other?” I ask.

            “Yes, we’ve known each other since Kevin was born, his parents are great friends of mine,” my father says.

            “So, how come we’ve never met before tonight?” I ask.

            “Because his father and I planned for you two to meet tonight, just to see how you got along,” my father tells me.

            “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I say.

            “Not in the least,” Kevin says.

            “You mean you were in on this too?” I ask.

            “Of course, I thought I’d be getting a new friend tonight, but you, you’re just too much for words, Kala, you’re just,” he leaves his sentence unfinished as he takes my hands into his and takes a step back to look at me. “Perfect.”

            “Okay,” I say. This night just keeps getting crazier and crazier as it goes on.

            “Mr. Pierson,” Kevin starts.

“Kevin, please, it’s Lloyd,” he says.

            “Okay, Lloyd, we were all going to go out to a dance club in the area, may Kala join us?” Kevin asks.

            “Certainly, just have her home before dawn,” my father says.

            “Sure, we’ll take good care of her,” Kevin tells my dad as he looks longingly at me, and strokes my face with his fingers.

            This is going to be harder than I first thought. I feel very drawn to the guy, and could easily let myself fall for him, but that wouldn’t be a healthy thing, for either one of us. He’s on the rebound, and I don’t want to get hurt. I thought that it’d be easy, he wouldn’t have feelings for me of any sort beyond friendship, and everything would be just peachy. Now he seems to want to continue what he had with Brooke, only with me in Brooke’s place. Resisting someone like him isn’t going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination. I only hope that I can count on his friends and their girls, to support me in creating an identity in Kevin’s mind separate from that of Brooke.

            Dad goes home, after giving Kevin explicit directions as to how to get to the estate. I say goodbye to my father, and give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and thank him for the wonderful evening, and tell him I love him. He says the same and then leaves.

            We all go out to a dance club. We all sit down for drinks, and as AJ won’t drink anything with alcohol in it, I’m glad to have someone that doesn’t mind that I don’t drink alcoholic beverages for once. A question and answer session develops between everyone and myself. My life story is dragged out by Kevin, and quickly eaten up with interest by AJ, whom, for much of his life found himself in my same predicament, of being in a one-parent home. In fact, I have an ironic connection to each one of the five guys. With AJ it is that one of my parents abandoned me, and the other raised me exclusively. With Brian it is my health problems, specifically with my heart. With Kevin and Howie it is the fact that I have lost family. I had a stepbrother, whom died in action several years ago, and I had always been extremely close to him.

            Of course we all go dancing, and I’m having so much fun that I almost forget about the time, that is until my cellular phone rings around midnight. “Hello?” I ask.

            “Kala, this is Frank,” he says.

            “Hi, Frank, is everything all right?” I ask.

            “No, come home right away,” he says.

            “Wait a second,” I say. I go into a quiet and darkened corner of the club. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

            “I said come home right away,” he says.

            “Frank, what’s happened?” I ask.

            “It’s your father,” he says.

            “Frank,” I warn him with a stern voice. “What’s happened to my father?” I ask. The storm chooses this exact moment to let loose with its fury.

            “He’s dead, Miss,” he tells me.

            “What?” I ask shocked.

            “He died in his home office, a maid went to check on him, to see if he wanted anything to eat or drink, and she found him slumped over his desk. He wasn’t breathing; the coroner and sheriff are both here right now,” he says.

            “I’ll be right there,” I tell him.

            I rush back to the table, my vision clouded by my unshed tears. Thankfully, the group is out on the dance floor. Only Kevin is at the table, when I left him to take the call we had been on the dance floor.

            “Kala, what’s the matter?” Kevin asks as he comes up to me when he sees me.

            “Kevin, can you please take me home?” I ask.

            “Sure, but why? Aren’t you having fun here?” he asks.

            “No, I mean I was but I’m not anymore,” I tell him.

            “Why not? What’s the matter?” he asks as he brings me close.

            “I just got a call from my chauffer,” I say. “My father is dead.”

            “What?” Kevin asks, horrified.

            “He went to his home office when he got home, and one of the maids went to ask him if he’d like something to eat or drink. When she came into the room, she found him slumped over on his desk, not breathing,” I say.

            “Oh, you poor baby,” Kevin says as he holds me close and lets me cry in his arms. We rush right out, unaware at the moment that we’ve been seen leaving by a member of our group. All the way home on the half an hour drive, Kevin just holds me close and encourages me to get rid of all of my tears. He promises me that he’ll stay with me for the night. Thankfully, the tour just ended tonight. As most of their summer shows were postponed, for AJ’s health and recovery, they were making shows up all the way into October. This was the last one that they had before they got a nice long break.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            On the way to her house, Kevin sits there deep in thought as Kala sits beside him, watching the darkness go on and on as though it has no end to it. He can't figure out why he is drawn to Kala as much as he is. Why does he feel so compelled to help her? Is it because their fathers were good friends and now she finds herself in the same position that he found himself in years ago? He decides that that must be it. He is normally a very caring person, but this is out of character for him. Oh well, he can't worry about that now. All that matters is that Kala trusts him and he wants to make her feel as safe and help her as much as possible during this time in her life. Kevin watches Kala as she moves her head to his chest and starts to cry again. Kevin takes her right into the house as soon as they arrive.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            “Will you please stay the night?” I ask.

            “Yes, of course I will,” Kevin says as he holds me all the tighter.

            “Come on, I’ll show you your rooms,” I say, hoping that he’ll want to stay for more than just the night. I feel strangely, as though I don’t know exactly what’s happened.

            “My rooms? Exactly how many are there?” he asks.

            “Um, there’s your bedroom, and your sitting room and the full bathroom and a nice big closet,” she says.

            “Okay,” he says. He figures that he’ll be able to handle that. That’s when he sees the rooms. In the sitting room there is a desk in one corner, a large window with a seat against one of the walls, and storage space underneath that. There is an entertainment system in the room, with a TV, a DVD player, and a stereo. There is a comfortable reclining, rocking, swiveling leather chair, and a mini-fridge. There also is a top rate computer with tons of aviation simulation games on it, and the equipment to play them.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            I look at him with curiosity. “What’s the matter?” I ask.

            “Kala, this room is huge, what am I going to do with all of this space?” he asks.

            “I really have no idea,” I say. “Come on, I’ll show you your bedroom.”

            “Okay,” he says as he follows me through an ornate glass door, which folds back to make an even more elaborate design. It has been specially made that way. It is magnificent. “Uh,” he exhales when he touches the glass and feels that it is etched.

            “Oh, yeah, that, whatever you do, don’t break the glass, the doors can be closed easily, but please, don’t break the glass if you can help it,” I say.

            “I’m just wondering how much this thing cost to have made,” he says.

            “Ummm, I think that it cost about eight thousand, five hundred, fifty-five dollars. It was a real steal, considering it is completely hand crafted and specially designed,” I say. I see Kevin’s jaw drops when he hears the figure. Then he looks into his bedroom, it is about twice the size of his sitting room. The bed is a huge king sized one, and it is utterly amazing. The dresser is fine mahogany wood, the closet is a huge walk-in one, with enough space to make Kevin draw back to admire it. There is a huge fireplace and an oil painting of a young man in an army uniform; around him are small circles of the young man during certain stages of his earlier life. Beneath it there is a date, 1970-1990.

            The bathroom is all marble. There is a shower that you walk into and turn the corner to actually get at the shower itself, there is a seat there, and a curtain at the opening that is drawn back like a theatre curtain. There is ample counter space, and the space below the sink as well as the medicine cabinet are fully stocked with everything that you might find in any bathroom, except for cleaning supplies. They aren’t anywhere to be seen. There is a full Jacuzzi tub, with candles on iron stands, the candles have not been burnt as there are no drips of wax, and the candles are solid. When he comes back out of the bathroom, he finds me looking at the painting of the young man above the mantle.

            “Kala, I have a question, who’s room is this?” he asks.

            “Oh, this used to be my brother’s room, but he joined the army and was killed,” I say.

            “Oh, I’m sorry. That’s him then?” Kevin asks about the picture.

            “Yes, my father was very proud of him, he was the product of father’s first marriage. That woman also passed away. Father married her because he loved her, it was rather strange, he never met her parents until the day of the wedding, and the lady never mentioned them to him before then, she had even given him her mother’s maiden name as her last name. All to cover up the fact that she was extremely wealthy. He only learned of her wealth at the wedding, and that was how she knew that he truly loved her. She bankrolled his company into what it is today. She passed away when she bore my brother into the world. Father remarried a few years later, he married my mother,” I say.

            “So, where’s your room?” Kevin asks.

            “I think that I’ll move my things into my father’s old room, it is right across the hall, call if you need me for anything at all,” I say. “Thank you so much for doing this Kevin. It means so much to me,” I say, I break and begin crying.

            Kevin comes and holds me close as he says, “There is nothing to thank me for Kala. I would have done this for any of my friends.”

            “You would have brought them home like this?” I ask.

            “Yes, absolutely,” he says. I just cry and cry and cry. Kevin takes me into my father’s room and puts me right to bed. He sings me to sleep and eventually I do drift off.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

             Meanwhile, Howie saw Kevin and Kala leaving the club, with Kala looking like she had been through something very upsetting. He told Brian, who told AJ, who in turn told Nick, those four and their girls all left a little while after Kevin and Kala. They are just getting onto the estate, after the guard lets them through the gates, as Kevin manages to get Kala to drift off to sleep.

            Brian knocks on the front door, the butler answers it. “Yes, can I help you, Sir?” he asks.

            “Yes, our friend, Kevin came in here with Kala Pierson,” Brian says.

            “Yes, please come in,” the butler says.

            He shows them into the living room, in the back of the house where Kevin is residing. He is deep in thought, he has only known her for a few hours and here she is welcoming him into her home. He still can't figure out why he is acting this way. “Kevin what happened?” Howie asks.

            “Her father is dead,” Kevin says. As if right on cue, the seven all sink into the sofa, or one of the other chairs. “We got home and by that time the sheriff and coroner had left, that made things considerably easier for me, I settled Kala down in her bed and sang her to sleep, she’s been in bed for about an hour,” Kevin says.

            “Do you know what happened though?” Brian asks.

            “Well, actually, all I know is that he died in his home office, a maid found him slumped over his desk,” Kevin says.

            “Okay,” Howie says. A tiny kitten that barely looks old enough to be away from its mother silently pads into the room. Kevin picks the tiny cat up, and holds it close to his chest in his hands.

            “This little kitten is one of the last gifts her father gave her,” he says. “The kitten was waiting here at the house for her when we got here.” At that a charming little boxer mix puppy comes into the room.

            “Aaa, that’s such a cute puppy!” AJ exclaims, remembering his old dog.

            “That’s the other last thing he gave to her, it was waiting with the kitten,” Kevin says.

            At that moment the piano in the music room is heard, then it suddenly stops, and no one needs to ask for an explanation, when a red-eyed Kala comes into the room.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            After sleeping for a while, the doorbell wakes me. I look around and find that my kitten and puppy are sleeping soundly nearby, curled up with each other in their basket. I shut my eyes, but memories of my father show up and keep me from sleeping. I hear chatting downstairs, and a song comes into my head and won’t leave. I go downstairs and creep into the music room and begin to play the haunting melody. It is sad, soft, and mournful, how appropriate. Once the song runs its course I hear that the chatting is still going on, so I follow the sound of it. It takes me into the informal living room, in the back of the house. Kevin and his friends are all there, talking. I hang on the outskirts of the doorway, just listening to what they’re all saying.