Part 225
About that time, Becca came out of the green room with Nick. When she saw Sarah, she tried to hurry to her calling out, "Sarah! Where have you been?"
"Sarah…" started Kevin but Sarah cut him off not wanting to talk to him any longer.
"Bec! What is going on?" laughed Sarah.
She could tell Becca was excited about something but what had her even more amused was the way Becca was walking. Due in just over a week, Becca had reached the ‘waddling’ stage and now as she attempted to rush over, it was even more pronounced.
Sarah teased, "You know, you do an awesome imitation of a duck."
"Sarah…BITE ME!" smirked Becca. Her eyes were bright with excitement. "You will NOT believe who’s here!" she bubbled.
By now, Howie had joined Sarah and had his arm around her. He asked looking at Nick, "Did they make it?"
"Waiting in the green room," smirked Nick.
Sarah’s eyes lit up. "You’re kidding?"
Becca shook her head trying desperately to contain her excitement but giving in to the giggles characteristic of the young fans that worshipped their husbands. "They’re BOTH here."
Kevin said sullenly, "I was coming to get you, Sarah. Richie and Jon
arrived about ten minutes ago."
Sarah looked at Howie who smiled, "Go on, Angel. They’re here to see you."
"Aren’t you coming?"
"No, go on and enjoy," answered Howie giving her a kiss. "This is your moment to shine."
Sarah linked arms with Becca and the two friends headed to the green room laughing and giggling like a couple of teenagers.
Nick laughed, "God, I certainly hope Sarah’s not as pathetic as Becca was. She couldn’t say a word. She just kept staring at them."
"We should get pictures," said Howie.
"Brian’s got the camera," said Kevin. "Come on, let’s go watch."
The three followed the girls into the green room where Sarah was talking to Richie and Jon about music and Becca stood staring at the two men in awe. It was amusing to watch Becca as Sarah, Richie, Jon, and AJ talked trying to draw her into the conversation. Normally, very eager to discuss music, Becca now seemed lost.
Jeff stuck his head in, "Sarah, it’s time."
Richie said, "Guess we’d better take our seats. Sarah, we’ll see you after the show."
"Are you gonna stick around for the guys’ show too?"
"Sure," said Jon.
"Cool. Enjoy the show," said Sarah as Richie gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Kevin said, "We’ll join you two."
Sarah looked at Kevin in disbelief. "You’re watching me tonight?"
Howie snickered, "He wants to make sure you don’t change anything."
Richie and Jon went with Kevin and AJ out to their seats in the VIP seating as Howie and Brian went with Sarah into the ‘underworld’. It was Brian’s turn to introduce Sarah and Howie never let her go on without a kiss.
Sarah took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"Are you okay, Angel?"
"Just fighting this incredible urge to throw up."
Howie put his hands on her waist and kissed her lightly. "You’ll be okay, Angel."
"God…what if I screw up?"
Howie smiled, "If you can sing on national television, you’ll be fine."
Sarah looked into his, "I love you."
From onstage, Sarah and Howie both heard Brian say, "Sweet D’s Angel!"
Howie kissed her quickly, "Focus, Angel, and knock ‘em dead."
Sarah took the stage and set the crowd on fire working them to perfection. She used the guys to flirt and tease and would then bounce across the stage extremely pleased with herself. It was by far the best performance to date and she knew it.
**************
Rifling through AJ’s cabinets in his kitchenette, Sarah asked, "Bone, what else do you have to eat?"
"You’ve SEEN all there is, ‘Tig’, except what’s in the frig. What do you want?"
"I don’t know. I’ve got a craving for something but I don’t know what," said Sarah as she tossed Howie a bag of salt and vinegar chips.
Howie groaned, "God…the cravings have started." Sarah stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed. "You gonna use that thing or is it just for show?"
"What do you think?"
AJ laughed as the two made faces at each other and he said, "There’s some fruit in the refrigerator and some beer for Howie."
Howie shook his head, "I’ll just take a soda or some water,
Angel."
Sarah grabbed a bottle of water and tossed it to Howie. "Ice cream…I want some ice cream. A BIG bowl of cookies and cream!"
"Sorry, ‘Tigger’…no dice. We could stop and get some if you want."
"Please?" begged Sarah.
AJ went to the front of the bus to let the driver know they wanted to stop at a store. When he returned, Sarah was settled on the couch leaning against Howie.
"Where’s ‘Little One’?" asked AJ as he plopped down in the chair across from the couple.
"After my set, I got Jess and Chelsea straight and sent them on to Boston…no sense in them hanging around when Chelsea could get her to bed in Boston. It was her bedtime anyway."
"Cool…kinda miss her though. You two wanna watch a movie?"
"Got any new porn flicks?" asked Howie.
Sarah groaned. "You two can go ONE trip without watching that stuff!"
Both men laughed and Howie said, "I don’t recall you ever complaining."
"No…I’m NOT stupid. I like the benefits but YOU said you weren’t
up to…."
Howie cut her off. "Never mind." And he changed the conversation to
the show.
Sarah was still excited by the fact that Richie and Jon had come to the show and spent the entire evening with her talking about music. What had her even more excited was the fact that they had asked her to open for them in the future and if they could do some songs for her. Howie and Kevin had readily agreed to both knowing that it was a HUGE break for her.
The three felt the bus coming to a stop and AJ looked out the window. "Cool! There’s a video store here too. ‘Tig’…while you’re at the store, we’re gonna go get us some movies."
"Okay…D, I need some money."
Howie reached in his back pocket for his wallet as Sarah pulled on her tennis shoes. "Get me some shampoo and shaving cream while you’re in there, please."
"Alex, you want anything?"
"Yeah, I need some soap and get some more munchies…the usual."
Sarah gave each man a kiss and bounced happily off the bus towards the store.
Since it was so late, the video store was practically deserted allowing the guys to look undisturbed.
"D, I know it’s none of my business, and Sarah will kill me if she finds out I mentioned this…"
"But you’re going to anyway?"
"Yeah…because I love you two and don’t want to see anything happen to your relationship."
Howie laughed, "Our relationship is fine, ‘J’…never been better."
"Is it?" asked AJ as he raised his eyebrows.
Howie stopped and looked at AJ. "What’s going on, AJ?"
"You…Sarah…never taking her to Toronto…having dinner with your ex-girlfriend who just happens to still be deeply in love with you."
"Sarah say something?"
"This afternoon, but she was tired and she knew it. D, Sarah’s NOT
gonna say anything because she doesn’t want to upset you or…"
"Or act jealous," finished Howie shaking his head. "God…I’ve been so blind."
"Not really. I think…no, I know she meant it when she said she was okay with you having dinner with Claudia but I think you need to SHOW her that her faith is justified on this situation. She knows she has nothing to worry about on your part and you can’t change the fact that she’s headed to LA…that’s gotta be done, but you could cancel dinner. At the very least, don’t see her alone. Have one of us with you or in a situation where there are people around. It’ll give Sarah the message that she’s right and it’ll tell Claudia that you’re over her and very much in love with your wife."
Howie considered what AJ had said as he set the movie down that he’d been looking at. He looked at what AJ was holding and said, "Sarah will like that one."
"I know, that’s why I’m getting it. Let’s skip the porn tonight and get something for her."
"No problem," smiled Howie. He picked up another one that he knew Sarah would enjoy and they headed to the counter.
Back on the bus, the two men tried to settle in for the ride expecting Sarah to return any minute but when she didn’t, they began to get anxious.
"What could be keeping her?" asked AJ as he looked out the window for the hundredth time in less than three minutes.
"I have NO clue. Come on. Let’s go find her."