Chp 9
The next day, work went by quickly. Three was there in a flash and before she knew it she was en route to record. They didn't talk much on the ride, just listened to the radio. When they got inside the house, Rose was dismayed to find Howie’s parents at home. She said hell politely but sneered at their looks of disdain. She went downstairs and was surprised to find a woman in the studio.
“Polly!” Howie said in surprise. The yelled and hugged Howie.
“What a surprise! What are you doing here?”
“I decided to pay Mom and Dad a visit and they said you had a new project and I was snooping hoping to find at least a tape.”
“Snooping? I have the master copy of her demo in my car. Polly, this is Rose. Rose, Polly Ann, my sister.” Rose smiled and shook the woman’s hand. She instantly liked Polly; she had kind eyes and the same easy smile as her brother.
“Can I listen to it sometime?” Polly asked.
“I’ll run and get it.” Howie volunteered.
“No, I’ll go get it. It’s in the player?” Rose volunteered.
“Yeah” Howie said, handing her the keys. She ran out to the car and found the tape. She came back to the house and was jut about to go downstairs when she heard voices in the kitchen.
“Howard, I think you’re wasting your time and money on this.”
“Dad, really” came Howie’s tired reply.
“Your fathers right. She’s a mess. I doubt she'll ever go anywhere. She looks like trailer trash to me. Is she on drugs? I don’t appreciate her coming to this house”
“Mom!”
“Trash..”
Rose couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She knew his parents didn’t like her, but they obviously hated her. She looked downstairs and saw Polly standing on the steps. She dropped the tape and ran out of the house. She was thankful she wore sneakers because she ran all the way to the main road to a pay phone to call a cab.
Howie stared absolutely stunned at the front door. He heard Polly come up the steps and turned to her.
“What the hell just happened?” he asked.
“She heard Mom and Dad and you fighting.” She responded quietly. He could feel anger start to boil inside of him. He stormed back into the kitchen.
“Well, that was rude. Slamming my door.” His mother said.
“Do you have any idea what you just did.”
“Howard, “ she started to respond.
“No! You don’t understand at all. You don’t even know her and you pass judgement on her. You taught me better then that. This isn’t even about music, I love her.”
His mother practically choked. “She isn’t good enough for you”
“That’s my decision. I can’t believe you’re being so shallow about this. I just can’t believe this...” Howie flew past Polly Ann and his dad and got into his car and drove. He had no clue where to look for her. He pulled over to the side of the road and leaned his head on the steering wheel.
An hour later, she wasn’t answering her phone and if she was home she wasn’t answering the door. He searched everywhere then finally went to Rachel’s. He was disappointed she hadn’t seen her.
“Well, if you hear from her, please give me a call?” Howie asked.
“Sure” Rachel replied, her eyes showing concern. “Did you check the lake down the street from her place?”
“No, I’ll go check there now.” He ran to the car and drove to the park. He saw the lake and went towards it. He didn't see her at first, but as he rounded the trail, he saw her sitting by a huge tree. As he walked to her, he could see the dried tear stains on her cheeks. She didn’t move as he sat next to her.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you” He said softly.
“I needed to be alone” she replied.
“Listen, Rose, I’m sorry about my parents.”
“I should know that people pass judgement on me because of how I look. I’m used to it. That doesn’t make it hurt less. They don’t think I’m good enough to produce and I’m definitely not good enough to be in a relationship with you.”
“I don’t care what they think. I’ll be in a relationship with whoever I please” Rose crawled into his lap and slid her arms around his waist and leaned on his shoulder.
“I will pay for a studio out of my own pocket. Don’t make me go back there.”
“You’ll never have to go back there again. I promise.” He reassured.
Howie kept his word and they didn’t record at his parents house. Howie arranged for her to shoot a low budget music video for the first song off her demo. He knew that it would help get her a deal, and then the real fun would start.
“Ugh, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to flying” Nick mumbled. He took a sip of his vodka and tried to relax.
“You’ve flown a million times. You should not be nervous” Rose responded, taking his glass and downing some herself. This was only the 2nd timer she’d ever flown and she was scared to death. She was going to New York to appear on TRL. Somehow Howie had arranged for MTV to get her video and since shed met Carson Daly at the Christmas party he invited her up. Howie hadn’t been able to accompany her so she asked Nick. She was getting fond of him, since he and Howie had kept in touch.
“Well, we are a sight, both of us. I thought you’d be comforting me” Nick responded smiling.
“You were supposed to comfort me” Rose laughed. An hour later they touched down and went to the Plaza Hotel. Nick had made all of the arrangements, so it was almost like he was her road manager for this trip. Rose took a shower and got dressed carefully. Her hair was bright red and she decided to keep it loose. She added several braids and then applied her makeup. She decided on a pair of low cut python print leather pants and a black halter top. She met Nick in the elevator.
“You look extremely handsome” Rose remarked sarcastically, regarding his grungy jeans and T-shirt.
“I’m not the one going on TV. You look gorgeous by the way.” He responded ignoring her sarcasm. She did a little spin.
“Thank you, I plan to knock them dead.”
“You will sweetheart.”
They got into the waiting limo and went to thew studio. She met several people whom she recognized but couldn’t place. She was appearing first and time for her to go on came quickly. She did her little thing then sat around waiting for Nick to finish his yapping. TRL ended and she was still sitting around waiting. She got up and went searching for Nick. She found him on the third floor talking to several women.
“Nick” she said loudly as she walked into the room. The women looked at her and their bright smiles faded.
“Oh, hey Rose.” Nick said, barely looking over his shoulder at her.
“Fine, Nick. If you don’t even want to say hello to the mother of your children.” Rose said, teary eyed. She turned around and faced the wall as the women left.
“Thanks Rose...” he said grumpily.
“I’m sorry Nicky. They were skanks.”
“They could have been my skanks...” Nick mumbled. Rose laughed and wrapped an arm around him.
“We’ll find you some more.”
Howie paced the airport, impatiently looking at his watch. It been only 2 days, but he knew he couldn’t stand having her away from him that long again. Knowing she could change her mind about him, deciding she didn’t want to be involved with him. She didn’t realize the feelings involved and any bum in New York could steal her. She probably hadn’t even missed him at all. She had looked stunning on TV. All he could do was think about how he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life. It was the first time he’d ever felt like that. People started coming out of the terminal. He saw Nick first and waved wildly. Rose followed right behind him and when she saw Howie she smiled and started walking towards him. She got through the crowd and almost knocked him over as she jumped on him. He hugged her back as he practically choked the life out of him.
“I cant breath.” Howie said trying to pry her off of him. Rose pulled of and gave him a loud kiss.
“I missed you too” she said happily. “Nick and I thought we were going to die. I had 3 vodkas” she giggled
“Ah, that explains everything” Howie responded. He could tell Nick had at least 3 as well. “Enjoy the flight, man?”
“We had a wee bit of turbulence” Nick said.
“I figured you’d get over the whole airplane thing.”
“Nope. But the drinks helped us to get through it.”
“Let’s go get our luggage” Rose said very impatiently.
“Yes, let’s go get your luggage.” Howie put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned on him. They dropped Nick off first and then when they got to Roses apartment, he helped her into bed. “You take a nap, ok?”
“Alright, thanks” she said closing her eyes. He lay down beside her on the bed and watched her sleep. She snuggled up to him and slung one arm over him. He closed his eyes, realizing he was tired too and fell asleep.
Chp 10
Chp 8
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