Part 445
With Sarah’s rehearsal over, the group gathered to make plans for dinner.
"The show starts at eight and it’s four-thirty now," said Kevin. "What do we want to do between now and then?"
"We should go out to eat to celebrate your birthday," suggested Brian. "How about ‘Monsoon’? It’s an Asian restaurant."
Everyone looked at Brian curiously and he said defensively, "I got Sarah to look it up on the Internet."
"Kevin, you like Asian food," said AJ. "I think it’s a good idea."
Everyone else agreed.
"You guys go ahead," said Howie. "I want Sarah to get some sleep before the show. And Bec…leave Garrett with us. We’ll look out for him."
"Sarah’s gotta eat something," said Becca.
"I’m gonna get her something," said Raoul who was looming behind his ‘boss’.
"Okay, but if Sarah’s gonna be sleeping, are you sure you want to deal with Garrett too?"
"Yeah," said Howie. "You two enjoy dinner. I can handle Garrett AND Sarah."
"Well, since you ARE married to Sarah, you are VERY experienced with children," teased Nick.
"More like he’s hung around YOU for so long is why he can handle Garrett," shot Sarah as she put her head on Howie’s shoulder.
"Thank you, Howie," said Becca gratefully. "I’ll go fix a bottle for him."
"We’ll be on the bus," said Howie as he put his arm around Sarah.
Sarah looked up at Kevin. "I’m sorry we aren’t going with you to celebrate, ‘Boo’."
"It’s cool, baby. Go get some rest before the show."
Kevin gave Sarah a kiss on the cheek and then the group headed to get ready for dinner.
As Howie and Sarah were headed out to their buses, the guys from ‘Nsync arrived. Howie looked for Chris since they were friends and spotted him at the back of the group, his arm around a red head but Howie couldn’t make out who it was because JC was in the way.
"Hey, ‘D’!" greeted Lance. "What’s going on?"
"Not much. Sarah just finished her sound check and rehearsal," greeted Howie shaking his hand.
Chris spoke up, "Howie!"
That’s when Howie and Sarah both saw the red head clearly and were shocked. Sarah looked behind her for Kevin as Howie said, "Hey, Chris."
Surprised to see Sarah, Vanessa rushed to greet her. "Sarah!! What are you doing here?"
"I’m…uh…I’m opening for them," stammered Sarah. There was no way she could let Kevin run into Vanessa. "What are you doing here?"
"Chris and I are seeing each other and since I had the time off anyway, I decided to come with him tonight. This is so AWESOME. Who else is with you two?"
Sarah looked to Howie for help but before either could say anything, Kevin’s laugh could be heard coming through the door and they all turned to see Kevin with his arm around Lynne coming toward them followed by the rest of the group.
Vanessa’s eyes turned to the familiar voice and Sarah saw what she thought was hurt spread over her friend’s face.
Kevin looked up to see Vanessa at the same time. Not sure what to do or say, Kevin managed, "Vanessa?"
"Hi, Kevin," she mumbled.
Chris said, "All of you are here?"
"Yeah, Sarah wanted them here for her show," explained Howie. "They were just headed out to dinner."
"Nah…guys! You need to hang out here for dinner," said Joey not sensing the tension between Kevin and Vanessa. "This is awesome…’Nsync and Backstreet together. That should shut the fans up for a while."
"Uh…no, we’re going out for my birthday," said Kevin pulling Lynne just a tad closer as everyone formed a circle to talk.
"We’ll be here," offered Howie. "I was just taking Sarah out to get some rest before the show. What are you guys gonna do?"
"Sound checks," explained Justin. "I’m headed in. Are you guys staying for our show too?"
"Yeah," answered Kevin. "We’ll be here for it. Johnny has already arranged for passes for us."
Alison spoke up, "I’m gonna hang out here, if you don’t mind, Kevin."
"No, that’s fine."
AJ spoke up, "Ali, I kinda want to go with Kevin and the others."
"Go ahead. I want to visit with Vanessa…tell her our news," bubbled Alison.
The awkwardness was intensified with AJ’s loyalties being tested. He looked helplessly to Kevin who shrugged his shoulders. Hesitantly, AJ said, "Okay, I’ll stay with you then."
"We’ll see you later," said Kevin wanting to get out of the situation as quickly as possible. He practically pulled Lynne with him.
Ignorant to it all, Joey said, "What was up Kevin’s butt?"
Chris shook his head, "God, Joey! How stupid can you be?"
"What’s THAT suppose to mean?"
Vanessa spoke up, "I use to date Kevin and we were suppose to be spending his birthday together."
"OH!" was all Joey could say.
"I’m really sorry, Vanessa," said Sarah. "I had NO idea that you were seeing Chris."
"It’s okay. We were bound to run into each other eventually. He didn’t waste any time finding someone new. Who was that?"
Sarah once again looked to Howie but got no help.
It was Alison who spoke up to rescue her, "What difference does it make? You’re with Chris now and you’re happy. Come on, girl. I’ve got SO much to tell you."
The crowd remaining watched the two go back inside and a collective sigh of relief that the awkward situation hadn’t grown ugly.