Recovery and Rebirth

            I am released from the hospital in just enough time to get back to the hotel and find that the first round of afternoon interviews have been canceled. The second round of them is set to start at three.

            Kevin helps me over to the dresser and just holds me as I put some new clothes on. After which we both go and lay back down in our bed, in each other’s arms. With the strength of Kevin’s arms around me, I feel safe enough to drift right off to sleep. However, just mere seconds after we have shut our eyes, Lou comes storming in, looking livid. Both Kevin and I know this is not going to be good. Lou slams the door behind him, which makes me jump and hold onto Kevin. “Kevin, I think Kala should leave. We need a few minutes alone,” Lou says, with a hint of anger in his voice.
            “Lou, anything you can say to me, you can say to Kala. I refuse to leave her alone right now,” Kevin says.
            “I really don't think you want Kala to hear this.” Lou warns, with a hand on his hip.
            “Why Lou? Are you going to try and tell me that I am not allowed to have a wife now? What can you possibly have to say?” Kevin says challenging Lou.

            “Well, you've become a smart boy all of a sudden haven't you? You're right Kevin. I want Kala on the first flight back to the US. Having Kala around has just been a distraction and do I have to remind you that you have a job,” Lou yells.
            I let go of Kevin so that he can take a stand on the issue. He lets me too so that he can make sure that Lou fully understands what he is saying.  He stands up and looks down into Lou's eyes, and says, “Let’s get some things clear here, Lou. I don't appreciate you disrespecting me by calling me a boy. You know better than anyone that I am not stupid,” Kevin makes the mistake of pausing.

            I pick right up, “And if you think I am going back to the United States without my dear husband, then you are sadly mistaken. All five of them know very well that they have a job to do and you know how hard the five of them all work. I have spoken to each one of them, and they have all told me the same thing. That they all have only one tiny regret,” I say.

            “And just what would that be?” Lou asks.

            “That they have given up any personal lives that they might have had for years,” I tell him.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            Kevin is shocked to death that Kala has not crumbled beneath the abuse, but flourished and risen above it. It is as though the abuse has given her the power to rise above everything terrible even that has happened in her life.

            “Now that I have found the person I am spending the rest of my life with, I am not going to let you tell me what to do. Do we have an understanding?” Kevin stands behind Kala and puts his hands on her shoulders; in hopes that Lou will get the drift that anything he does to break them apart will merely strengthen them.
             “Understood yes, but this is not the end of this Kevin. I will have my way.” Lou says as he turns to storm out of the room. Kevin knows very well that this isn’t the end, but he just wants to get Lou out of his face.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            “You are through running his life, Lou, and the others as well, I can promise you that,” I tell him with great intensity in my voice.

            “You’d better be able to back up that mouth of yours with more than fluff,” Lou says to me.

            “Count on it,” I blow up at him, he really has no clue about whom he’s dealing with here.

            When Lou looks at me and my eyes are blazing with anger and disgust, he is actually frightened of me and so leaves the room with as much dignity as possible, which is very little. Kevin removes his hands from my shoulders and turns me to face him. The anger, and disgust disintegrate almost instantly as I look into Kevin’s own eyes, but I am sure that he catches the last fleeting traces of it in my eyes though, I kiss him sweetly and he gently reciprocates as he takes me to lie back on the bed.
            For the next hour, everyone leaves Kevin and I alone. I now have my head resting on Kevin's chest, and he has managed to get me to drift off for a while, well, I’m partly sleeping. He lies there with his eyes closed when he hears someone enter the room quietly. When he opens his eyes, Brian, AJ, Nick and Howie are all in the room. Kevin manages to get off the bed, without waking me up, or so he thinks.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            He stands there for a few seconds and just looks at the other guys. Howie is the one to break the silence, “Kevin we are all here for you and Kala. We overhead the conversation between you and Lou, and we support you one hundred percent. We wouldn’t be where we are today without him, but he has to learn that we are not his puppets anymore. He can't control us.”

            As he listens to Howie, he feels a lonely tear slide down his cheek. Brian steps forward and embraces Kevin in a hug. Kevin feels like he is on the edge of loosing it, but knows he has to remain strong for Kala. He thanks the guys for their support and makes sure they know how much it means to him. Then he sets them straight as to who said what to Lou. The guys are shocked and all agree that this sudden aggressive behavior doesn’t seem normal in Kala. They all agree that the aggression only seems to be aimed at those whom have hurt, upset, or wronged her or them. They hope that it stays so contained and is not given off to any random person for no reason at all. They are quite happy to learn that Kala will not allow anyone to use her as a doormat.

            That’s when a very soft and timid voice behind them speaks up, “You know, years ago, my father decided to fund a starting company, who intended to make it big by managing musical groups, my corporation still owns the company to this day,” Kala says.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            All five gather around her as she has been speaking. “What are you saying, Kala?” Brian asks, keeping his voice calm, soft, and low, so as not to startle me terribly.

            “I’m saying that I looked over your contract with Lou, and you all have the option of going free at the end of this portion of this tour, you see, unlike a normal contract which says you have so many albums or tours you must complete with a certain company, this has an expiration date, that date is the first day that you are back in the United States,” I tell the guys. “If you would like, I can get you whatever you all desire out of this company in way of a representation contract. Plus, I can do it covertly, so that Lou need not know about it. Besides that, I’ve been crunching numbers and a lot of it doesn’t add up, so I got Lou’s set of numbers out, turns out he’s been embezzling a lot of money from you guys, and I mean you five directly, for some time now. On the positive side, your contract does state that the five of you have ownership of all songs, names, and logos, ” I say. Ten eyes stare at me in complete shock. “What?” I ask.

            “How did you find all of this out?” AJ asks in a soft voice. His curiosity about Kala’s mystery is back.

            “I accessed Lou’s laptop, I asked him if I could borrow it one day and stumbled across the information quite by accident and so I transferred it to a disk and put it into my laptop once it is recharged. Your business manager provided me with everything else,” she says. “I hope you all aren’t too mad at me,” I say. They sit down on the bed and thank me profusely for what I have done for them, I am given a very tender hug from each one of the guys and they each kiss my cheek, except for Kevin who kisses my lips.

            Then the five go into a huddle a little way away from the bed, and have about two seconds of discussion amongst themselves. They turn back to her and they all wear large smiles on their faces, they all nod in agreement. I am about to pick up my cellular phone, when it starts ringing.

             “Hello?” I ask. “There’s a what? Well what is it? A bird? Where? Wait, slow down, now tell me what it is. There is a bird in the ventilating system? Are you sure? And this requires me to come and check it out? You’re out of your mind? I’m in Europe with my husband right now. I’m not trekking across the Atlantic Ocean because there is a Canary in ventilating system. No, don’t kill it, open the system to the outside, close off the sections until the bird has nowhere to go other than the sector that is open, and it should fly right out into the daylight. Yes, now do it, please,” I say. “Thank you, we are. No, everything is just great. Yes, I have a real angel for a husband, okay. I’ll call you all later. Goodbye,” I say as I hang the phone up.

            “What is that?” Howie asks.

            “Somehow, a bird got into the ventilation system, so I told them how to release it back into the wild,” I say. I call my management firm and have contracts drawn up for the guys.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            With the support of Sarah and Celeste, Kevin joins the rest of the boys after lunch. With Jason in custody, Kevin is not worried about taking his eye off Kala, but he is concerned about her emotional well-being. She has endured so much in the past months that he is afraid this will make her snap into weakness, or into intense hatred for everyone, as a way to vent anger and pain which was put upon her by others. Kala, Kevin and everyone else go down for lunch, and Kala has a salad, then a dish of pasta, and an ice cream sundae, Kevin has never known Kala’s appetite to rage like this, but then again, she hasn’t eaten yet today. They all go to the interview, and Kala insists on coming with everyone else.
            Kevin tries to keep focus on the interview that they are doing, but from where he is sitting he can see Kala, much to his glee he sees that she is laughing quietly with the other girls. Even Natalia is there, Kevin is very happy that she hasn’t taken the blame for this upon herself. Kevin thinks that either the shock and consequent trauma will happen sometime early this afternoon, or not at all.  He continues to keep a close eye on Kala during the interview and panics when he sees Kala get up and run from the room. Howie, also sees this, and whispers, “Go on Kevin, we'll cover for you.”
            Kevin doesn’t think twice after hearing that, and he quickly gets up and runs out of the room. Celeste follows close behind, and says, “She said to tell you that she’s fine, just that her lunch wasn’t agreeing with her.”
            “Where did she go?” Kevin asks in a panic, not really hearing Celeste’s words.
            “She is in the women's bathroom over there.” Celeste says as she points to a bathroom just down the hall. “But there’s really no reason for you to panic, she said that she had just eaten too much and was getting indigestion from it.”
            “This is my wife, I’m going to be panicked no matter what, Celeste,” Kevin informs her. “Can you go in and see if anyone else is in there?”
            “I know Sarah followed her in, but sure I will check for you,” Celeste says as she enters the bathroom.
            Celeste emerges quickly and motions to Kevin that it is all right to enter. He walks past Celeste to find Kala sitting on the floor, with her head in her hands.
            Sarah steps aside and says, “She's okay, just sick to her stomach.”
            Kala feels Kevin sit down beside her, and feels more relaxed when she hears his deep soothing voice ask her if she is ok. She feels like she is going to be sick once again, and rushes towards one of the stalls. Kevin is not far behind her, and gently rubs her back with one hand, while he holds her hair in the other.
            After several minutes, Kala feels like the recent wave of nausea has come to an end. She stands up, and is able to do so on her own, but she is still thankful for Kevin's support. Because she doesn’t feel like she has too much extra energy to do much of anything. Kevin wraps his arms around Kala, and asks, “Do you think you can make it back up to the room?”

            “I think that I have the strength to go back to the other room and let you finish your interview, I just ate way too much at lunch Kevin, I over compensated for not having eaten breakfast, I’m fine now,” she says.

            “Oh no, you are going to go upstairs, and rest, you’ve been through a lot today,” Kevin says as he leads the way.
            Sarah and Celeste are still outside the bathroom, and Kevin says, “Tell the guys I will be there for the concert tonight. But I will like to ask you to stay here with her tonight during the concert.”

            “No, there’s n…” she starts to say, but Kevin’s hand stops her from saying that she’ll be fine if he wants to return to the interview and that she’ll be at the concert that evening to support him.
            “You can count on us.” Sarah says as she steps towards Kala. She pushes a strand of hair out of the way, and says, “We're here for you Kala. You are not alone.”

            Sarah is surprised that she receives a response from Kala; there is a nod from her head as she takes the two girls into her arms and hugs them tightly. “Sarah, and you too, Celeste, you’ve really been a big help to me,” she says as she lets go of them. Kevin is relieved to see this contact towards them.
            “I better get her upstairs. She doesn't have much energy, and I want to try and convince her to get some rest,” Kevin says as he walks towards the elevators.

            “No, I’ll be fine, you have your interview to finish up,” Kala insists as she strains against her husband.

            “Okay, I’ll make a deal with you,” Kevin starts, “I’ll let you sit through the rest of this interview, and once it’s over I’ll come and check with you, if you still feel this well, then I’ll stay and complete the rest of the interviews. For your side of the deal, if after this interview, you don’t feel well, then you’ll let me take you up to the hotel room.”

             “Done,” she says. Kevin takes her back to the interview room and the guys are relieved to see that Kala is on his arm.

            The interview ends and Kala says that she feels fine, but that she’s rather tired, so Kevin takes her up to the room. Once inside the hotel room, Kevin helps Kala out of her clothes, and into a nightgown so she can rest in bed. To his surprise, she falls asleep within minutes. He told her that he would be down with the other guys doing the rest of the interviews, but once he sees her sleeping peacefully, he only wants to watch over her. He takes a seat on the couch beside the bed, and just sits there and watches Kala sleep. He cannot believe how strong this incident has made her. He is especially grateful that she seems unfazed by the events because the day’s events are starting to take their toll on him. This is their last night in Germany, and the thought of going away the next day is comforting to Kevin.

            They fortunately have two weeks off before they start up on a tour of the United States, but that’s still nearly four months away. He isn’t sure what Kala will want to do, while he is touring. He suspects that she will want to go back to work. But he wishes that she will come with him, there are so many places that he wants to show her. His thoughts are interrupted by a light knock on the door. He gets up to answer it, and lets AJ into the room. Without saying a word, Kevin sits back down on the couch. AJ sits down on the chair opposite from Kevin.

            He looks over at Kala, and asks, “How is she doing?”
            “Oh, she’s just fine, just tired. She was sick earlier,” Kevin says quietly.

            “Ah, she had too much to eat at lunch,” AJ surmises.

             “Apparently so,” Kevin says.
            “Well Kevin, we're all here for both of you. We even had a small meeting before I came in here and we all agree that we can do the concert without you tonight. We'll just say that you are not feeling well.” AJ says.
             “Thanks for the support, but I want to do the concert tonight, AJ. Sarah and Celeste are going to stay behind at the hotel tonight and watch Kala for me,” Kevin says.
            “Well if you change your mind, the offer still stands,” AJ says. They sit there in silence for a few minutes, until AJ gets up from the chair, and sits down beside Kevin. He places his hand on Kevin's broad shoulder, and says, “Do you want to get anything off your chest?”
             “Thanks, AJ, it’d be great if I could just talk to someone,” he says.

            “Go for it,” AJ says.

            “Well, to be honest, I was so afraid this would send her over the edge, AJ. But I can’t believe how well she’s handled herself today. It’s like all of the anger she’s bottled up is being released on whomever caused it, it seems to be really good for her. She actually scared Lou into leaving us alone earlier,” Kevin says. “It’s like, she’s played the helpless victim once before when faced with this kind of a situation, where she’s been beaten black, blue, and every other imaginable color in between the two and beyond, and now she wants to play the empowered victim. The one who won’t take anything from anyone without throwing it right back at them and a bunch of other suffering, which they inflicted on her at an earlier time. I have to say that I’m very pleased to see that, but I just can’t believe that she got hurt because of my careless mistake of leaving her by herself when I knew that there was someone after her,” Kevin says.

            “Um, Kevin, not meaning to be nosy, but, whatever did happen to Kala? I mean how did it all begin? I mean, I know that she was attacked you said she was hurt by Jason, but, you never went into details,” AJ says.

            “It’s a very ugly tale AJ, I don’t want it repeated,” Kevin responds.

            “No problem, man, whatever you feel is best,” he says.

            “Well, I guess I could tell you, but only with the other guys and girls present, so that the story doesn’t get repeated, and the facts don’t get distorted.”

            “I’ll go round everyone up,” AJ says as he leaves. Then he pops his head back into the room, “By the way, we have cancelled the one remaining interview we has booked, so we're all doing our own thing for the rest of the afternoon. Brian is pretty concerned about you two and will probably be in to see you after he gets off the phone with your mother.”
            Kevin looks up quickly, and says, “I never even thought to call her. I will have to give her a call myself and try to assure her that Kala will be alright.”
            With that AJ turns and leaves the room. Kevin becomes alarmed when he hears Kala moan in her sleep. He lies down beside her, on the queen-sized bed, and gives her a light kiss on the forehead. She must have woken up for just a moment he thinks to himself, because she moves closer to Kevin, and seems content when Kevin puts his arms around her.
                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            I feel Kevin beside me on the bed. I want to feel his arms around me, so I move closer, and feel safe as soon as he wraps his arms around me. I try to get back to sleep, but the images from earlier in the day come flooding back. I let out a small cry, and just after that I hear Kevin start softly singing to me and running his fingers through my hair. A few tears escape as I think what a great person Kevin is.

             Moments later there is another soft knock at the door and I sit bolt upright, Kevin gets the door and lets the whole group in, I put a robe and slippers on, making myself look more presentable. Kevin asks if I would feel all right if he told everyone about Jason, the request upsets me, but I give a nod and a mumbled yes. I excuse myself to the bathroom. It is not long after that I turn the bathwater on and start to fill the tub as I turn a CD on in the bathroom.

            Kevin knows that I don’t want to drag up bad memories. I presume that he tells everyone exactly what Jason has done to me in the past. I have since come out of the bathroom, and my hair looks perfect, the rest of my body looks a mess though. Everyone leaves the room with a greater understanding and respect for me, and what I’ve been through.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            Just after that, Kevin calls his mother, who is all but hysterical because there are rumors running all around the press that someone has tried to kill Kala, and now there are rumors that this person tried to kidnap and rape her as well. Brain’s call helped to clear things up a little bit, but not too much. So, Kevin speaks to his mother and calms her down, he explains the whole situation.

                                    *            *            *            *            *            *            *                                 

            Just as he is about to hang the phone up, I hold my hand out for the phone and I speak to Ann for several minutes, assuring her that there is no damage other than some minor bumps, bruises, cuts and scratches, and that the kidnap and rape was serious, but that Kevin stopped it at the last moment. I also tell her that her son has already made arrangements for a private bodyguard for me. Ann is much relieved to know that I am well, and that her son is taking excellent care of me.

            Kevin insists that I stay in the room and not come to the concert with him that night, if for no reason other than my safety. So, I just sleep through the rest of the late afternoon, I have dinner in the room alone, Kevin comes in and kisses me goodbye. The moment he leaves I open my eyes. Kevin goes to the concert that night and upon his arrival at the backstage area at the end of the show, is astounded to find both Sarah and Celeste backstage.

             “Celeste, Sarah, I thought that you two were going to stay at the hotel with,” Kevin stops his thought suddenly, as he feels a soft hand take his own.

             “Kevin,” I call softly to my gentle giant of a husband. He turns and there is his wife, my bruises covered perfectly with make-up, my hair long, silky and newly washed and my clothes look great on me. I smile and we hold each other.