" They looked sensational," he was saying as Kevin approached.
" Well, I tried to capture it through your eyes," the brunette replied.
" Hi, Johnny," Kevin said breaking into the conversation.
" Kevin! Hi. Glad you could make it."
" I had to see what you had did to the place. I like it."
" Thanks. Let me introduce you. This is Nadia Prinze. Nadia this is Kevin Richardson."
" Nice to meet you," her long slim fingers wrapped around his for a firm handshake.
He nodded, " You too."
She smiled. Then she turned back to Johnny.
" There's Rachael Leigh Cook. I need to talk to her about a shooting. I'll talk to later," she left glancing back to Kevin. " Nice to meet you."
" Nice to meet you."
" Pretty isn't she?"
" Yeah. But I thought you were happily married."
" I am. But never under estimate a pretty woman in business."
Kevin just looked at him a tiny bit confused.
Nadia took her coat from the entry way closet. It was late and she needed to head home. But she needed to say good-bye to Johnny. She laid her coat over her elbow and headed back into the party. Johnny was talking to his wife so she stopped to get a glass of punch not wanting to interrupt a martial conversation.
" Hi," someone from behind here said.
" Hi," she replied turning around. It was Kevin.
" I have a question."
" Shoot."
" Are you a singer?"
She shook her head.
" An actress?"
" No."
" Then what do you do? I seem to have heard of you before."
" I'm photographer and reporter. I do the celebrity home section of Our Home; Your Home."
" Really? You took those pictures of Will Smith's home?"
" Yep."
" They were very sharp. The colours looked good."
" Thank you."
" Are you leaving?" she said indicating to her jacket.
" Yeah, I was fixing to leave. I wanted to say good-bye to Johnny," she took a sip of her drink.
" How did you meet him?"
" I just took pictures of his house. They're in this month's issue."
" Oh. I should have known."
" I must say. I never expected you to be here."
" Why?"
" Well, the Goo Goo Dolls and the Backstreet Boys, don't exactly fit into the same music category."
" True. I met him at the Grammys."
" Ah. I watched it on TV Ricky Martin was amazing."
Kevin shook his head and laughed. " You mention the Grammys and they all say the same thing."
" Well, of course. I always think of two things; that and Brian's hair."
Kevin laughed again.
" Well, I need to go," she said. " Nice to talk to you."
Kevin watched her walk over to Johnny. They talked for several minutes and then she left.
" Kevin?" a voice said.
He turned and started a conversation with an old video director.
Nadia looked at herself in the mirror. She was plain and her boobs weren't big enough. She sighed. She never had much self-esteem. She turned out the light and got into bed. She didn't sleep right away. She relived the night over and over again. She had met many celebrities but Kevin stood out from them all. She was a Backstreet Boys fan, of course. But she was a fanatic. She had all the albums but she wasn't a teeny bopper. She was interested in their music but not them themselves. Her favorite voice was Brian. His voice was like a lullaby. She rolled over squeezing her pillow. Being star struck was not professional, she told herself. Besides she'd probably never see him again.
The next day, Nadia went into the office. She had her secretary call about scheduling a house shooting with Rachael Leigh Cook. Then Nadia sat down at her computer. She leaned back in her seat and logged on to the internet.
" Let's find out about this guy," she said surfing onto a Backstreet Boy website. Then there was a knock at the door.
" Miss Prinze?"
" Yes?"
" There's someone to see you."
" Alright. Let them in."
She closed the internet and Rick Marlin, one of the associate editors came in.
" I have an idea for a future celebrity."
" Shoot."
Brian Littrell sat over a piece of sheet music. He changed an E flat to a B natural. Then he sang the chorus to himself. He got up satisfied and left the room.
" Hey guys," he said. " I have the chords for the new song."
Nick was the only one there. He was drawing something at a table.
" Where's Kev?" he asked.
" They all went to lunch."
" Oh. What are you drawing?" he walked over.
" What's it about."
" I'm not sure. This is just the intro. I'm fixing to save this pretty blonde girl."
" Oh, really?"
" Yeah," he gave Brian a big smile.
Nadia came to back to the office from lunch.
" Any messages, Stephanie?"
" Yes, three phone messages," she flipped through the yellow pieces of paper. " Leslie Parks, about the new photo shoot with Rachael. Max St. John, about the article. And Miss Majors called. They want to do a feature on your house."
" Is that all?" Nadia had an air of disappointment to her voice.
" A man came by. He didn't leave his name."
" What did he look like?" Nadia grabbed the corners of the desk.
" Tall. Black hair. Beautiful green eyes."
" Yes they are," Nadia said in a strained voice.
" Sorry."
" What did he say?"
" Just looking for you; didn't leave a message."
Stephanie heard Nadia mutter something. She couldn't decipher it, but it was probably something along the lines of a cuss word.
" I'll be in my office," she slumped away obviously unhappy.
She slumped into her chair. She spun around in it till she was gazing out the window and into the streets.
Kevin bought a hotdog at a vendor. He ate as he walked along. He stopped at a newsstand. He glanced across the racks. A shiny magazine caught his attention. He bought it quickly and headed back to the studio.
" Where have you been?" Brian demanded.
" I got lunch," he said holding up the end of his hot dog. He ate the last bite.
" What's that?" Howie asked.
" A magazine," he handed it to Howie.
" Out Home; Your Home?" Howie asked surprised. " Are you redecorating?"
" Look at this pictures," he said opening the magazine and pointing.
" That's Johnny Rzeznick's house. Is that where you were the other night?"
He nodded.
" That's where he met that girl!" A.J. said putting two and two together.
" What was her name?" Nick said.
" Nadia...uh..." A.J. stopped.
" Prinze?" Howie asked looking up from the magazine.
" Yeah!" A.J. agreed.
" Nice pictures," Nick said looking over Howie's shoulder.
" They are," Kevin sat down.
Howie and A.J. shared a look.
" Nadia? " Stephanie asked opening her door.
" Yes?" she turned around in her chair half way excited.
" Miss Majors is on the phone."
" Thank you."
" And your mail is here," Stephanie handed her the mail and exited.
" Hello?" Nadia said picking up the phone.
" Nadia?"
" Yes?"
" This is Miss Majors."
" Yes?" she flipped her mail. Bill, bill, letter an interior decorator.
" Tomorrow, I want you to meet with the reporter that will do the article on your house."
" Will I still get to do the photos myself?" Nadia asked opening the letter.
" Yes. Her name is Tonya Walters."
" What time tomorrow?" she put down the letter and flipped through her personal calendar.
" Two-thirty."
" I can't do that. I have a mentoring session. Thursday I have a slot open. Friday I will be at Rachael Leigh Cook's house for preliminary pictures."
" I'll call her and get back to you."
" Alright," Nadia hung up the phone and picked up the letter. Then the door opened. Sophie Marks came in. Nadia's face fell.
" Well, I see how you feel about your best friend!" she teased.
" It's not you," she said with a sigh. " Do you rememember-"
The phone rang.
" Hello? Rick? Oh, no. I will not. Good-bye, Rick. Rick, I'm hanging up. Good-bye, Rick," she hung up.
" It was Rick again. He wants me to do a photo shoot with his client," she explained. " Hold on for a second."
Nadia picked up the phone, " Stephanie, please screen all calls from my ex-boyfriend Rick. I don't want to talk to him."
Nadia looked at Sophie.
" Anyway, remember that guy I was telling you-" she was interrupted by a knock on the door.
" Who is it now?" she said in a loud aggravated voice. She stood as she said this. Stephanie peeked her head in.
" Sorry to interrupt," she said aware of her outburst. " But there's someone out here to see you."
Stephanie steeped back to reveal the other person. Nadia's eyes went wide. She sat down slowly.
" Sit down," she said motioning to the other chair.
" This is Sophie Harling. Sophie this is Kevin Richardson."
Kevin parked his 4-Runner outside a small cookie cutter house the next evening. The outside was lavender with white trim. There was a big window with floral curtains. The house wasn't as grand as Kevin had expected. His got out of the car and headed up the cement driveway. He rang the doorbell. Nadia answered the door slipping on her shoes.
" Are you ready?" he asked.
" Yes," she smiled. " It's just that I've only been home for half an hour."
" Oh," Kevin said leading her out to the car. " What were you doing?"
" I had a mentoring section," she said getting in. Kevin closed the door behind her.
" Mentoring?" he said starting the car.
" Yes. It was set up through the Fight For Your Rights Campaign."
" Really? We contributed to the CD."
" I know. I have it."
" That's how I met Johnny. They were distributing the CD at some concert."
" I heard about that, but unfortunately I didn't get to go."
He nodded.
" Whose party are we going to?"
" It's Brian's. It's to celebrate the release of the new single."
Nadia nodded and stared out the window.
The place was hopping as they arrived. Nadia was used to parties but here she felt uncomfortable. Kevin lead her into the house. It was huge. Nadia looked around. The ceiling grabbed her attention. She stared up in awe.
" What?" Kevin asked.
" The ceiling is beautiful. It's what's called a cathedral ceiling. It also makes the room look bigger."
" O.K. Hey Bri!" he dragged her over. " Brian this is Nadia Prinze. Nadia, this is my cousin Brian."
" Hi, Nadia," he said. " Nice to meet you."
" Same here."
Nadia looked around. Images of wonderful photographs came to mind. From where she was standing see could see a peek of the kitchen. It would make the perfect photograph.
" What do you say?" Brian concluded.
" What? Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."
Brian and Kevin looked at her funny."
" Excuse me," she said. " But where is your bathroom?"
Brian pointed her the way and she left.
" She's, uh, different," Brian said.
" I know. That's part of her charm."
" What was she looking at?" he turned to see.
" The house."
" Sophie, Brian doesn't like me."
" You're joking. He's so-"
" Sophie, you don't know him. I don't know; I just have this feeling."
" You're just paranoid."
" No, I'm not."
Stephanie knocked on the door, " Miss Walters is here."
" Alright. Show her in. Listen, Sophie, I've gotta run," she hung up the phone as the red head entered the room.
" She's not your type," Brian told his cousin. " She's not on base. All she can think of is rooms, house, and pictures of rooms & houses!"
" What's wrong with that?" Kevin asked. " She's very dedicated to her work."
" She's a space case."
" She is not!"
" Who are you talking about?" Howie asked coming into the room.
" Nadia," Kevin answered.
" I like her. She's nice."
" Brian is saying that she's a space case."
" She is not."
" That's what I said."
" But she is a space case!" Brian exclaimed.
" Whatever," Kevin said. " It doesn't matter what you think."
" That's the spirit," Howie encouraged.
" Shut up, Howie," Brian responded.
Nadia sat on her futon in a pair of grey and blue Calvin Klein boxers and white camisole top. She flipped through the TV channels. There was nothing on. She got up and put in a Duncan Sheik CD. Then she heard the doorbell.
" Who can it be at eight o'clock at night?" she opened the door.
" Hi," Kevin said.
" Hi. Uh. Come in. Would you like some tea?"
" Sure."
She lead him into the kitchen. He sat down on a wood bench. The kitchen had a country motif.
" I like your kitchen," he said.
" Thank you," she said pouring the tea.
" Is the rest of the house like this?"
" No. The bedroom is romanticized. You know, big curtains, canopy bed, the works The computer room is really business like. The living room is very modern. The guest room is just whatever. Each room in the house is very different," she laughed. " I'm rambling."
Kevin smiled," It's alright."
" Here," she said bringing the cups over. " Would you care for something to eat?"
" No thank you."
She sat down near him.
" You know something?"
" What?"
" Brian think you're a space case."
" Oh?" Nadia looked down at her tea.
" But I think he's bananas."
" Oh," she smiled.
" Is that all you can say?"
" No. It's just I don't know how to reply."
" That's alright. You know something."
" What?" she raised her eyebrows. Not this again.
" I really like you."
" Oh."
They both laughed.
" I like you too," she said.
They both smiled. Kevin leaned over and gave her a soft kiss.
" See, I told you it was alright."