Part 518
Nick looked at his watch for the millionth time in less than five minutes. The attorneys were due any minute and Howie and Sarah still hadn’t come out of the bedroom. All he wanted was for the next few hours to end so they could get on with their lives.
"Nick, checking your watch every five seconds isn’t going to speed up time," said Kevin. "Just relax."
Kevin was trying to reassure him but Nick’s nerves were raw. He shot Kevin a nasty look and started to say something when Howie emerged from the bedroom. His aggravation over Kevin’s attempts to calm him was directed at Howie instead as he snapped, "’Bout time you decided to stop doing the horizontal mambo with your wife. Where is the diva anyway?"
Howie knew Nick was on edge so he let the comment slide. "She’s behind me."
From the bedroom, Sarah called, "I’m gonna diva your ASS if you keep on, Nickolas."
Becca scolded, "WHY do you insist on tormenting her?"
"Because she loves it," smirked Nick as Sarah followed Howie into the room.
"Don’t be so sure about that, you BIG BLONDE BIMBO," Sarah teased playfully pushing his head.
Nick’s tension was eased having Howie and Sarah there with them now. Taking Garrett from Becca, he held the little boy over his head and said, "Hey, buddy! Your Aunt Sarah thinks she’s funny calling me a bimbo."
Sarah just shook her head as she said, "Becca, I need your help in the kitchen."
As the five guys started talking, Sarah and Becca headed over to the kitchen where Sarah started pulling out stuff to make coffee. She directed Becca to the glasses as she said, "Look, I probably should warn you about Steve before he gets here."
"What’s there to warn me about?"
"Steve’s an awesome attorney, very cut-throat, and Howie likes him because he gets the job done with our best interest as his priority."
"That’s what we need in this case. Why warn me?"
"Because when it comes to matters of the heart, Steve is extremely cold. He’s the type to do EXACTLY what Andrew did AND have made a tape of it."
"Oh!" Becca mulled over what Sarah had said. "How do you and Howie put up with him?"
"Howie doesn’t take me with him when they have business to discuss unless I’m involved and Howie’s seen to it that I generally don’t need to be there even when I AM involved."
There was a knock at the door, then Billy ushered in room service. Sarah directed them to where she wanted everything and began to get things ready for lunch with Becca’s help.
It was while Sarah was dealing with lunch that the attorneys for the Boys arrived. All four, Alexis, Dave, Jeff, and Charles, made their way into the room carrying their briefcases and looking extremely somber. Kevin was the first one up to greet them followed by Howie, AJ, and Brian. Nick used Garrett as an excuse to hang back, not feeling completely comfortable.
Sarah nudged Becca. "Is Nick okay?"
Watching him, Becca mumbled, "I hope so."
Kevin gestured towards the food, "Sarah’s ordered lunch for us and it looks like she’s ready. I figured we could eat while we discussed all this."
"I thought Howie’s personal attorney was coming," commented Alexis.
"He’s on his way," replied Howie.
This was the first time Becca had ever been around the Boys when business was being handled and she saw a tremendous difference. All five men, even Nick despite his reluctance to be around them, were completely straight, all business.
As Howie answered, Steve walked in followed by a very curvaceous petite blonde and all the men in the room seemed to drop their jaws. Sarah and Becca looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
"I apologize for being late but we had trouble getting a cab. Let me introduce my new paralegal, Kryss Kahill."
Kevin was the closest to Kryss so he introduced himself first but Kryss’ attention was NOT on him. She had locked her gaze on Howie.
Becca nudged Sarah as Howie stepped up next to welcome Kryss. "Hope she’s wearing Depends."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "She may need to borrow one of Garrett’s bibs."
The two looked at each other and whispered simultaneously, "Meow!"
Kryss’ voice was sickeningly sweet as she said, "It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Dorough. I am a huge supporter of the DLF and tried to raise as much money as possible for the foundation."
"That’s really cool. Thank you," and he gave Kryss his trademark wink.
Sarah and Becca thought Kryss was going to have an orgasm right there.
"What does Steve have you doing?"
"A little of everything."
AJ quipped, "I’ll bet."
Kryss was so star-struck that she could barely speak and she was practically falling into Howie’s arms. Sarah had had MORE than enough of this and moved quickly to Howie’s side. Putting her arms around Howie’s waist, she said, "Hi, I’m Sarah, Howie’s WIFE."
The emphasis Sarah put on the word ‘wife’ caused everyone in the room to snicker but it didn’t seem to faze Kryss. It had been obvious to everyone that she had been putting the moves on Howie and they had been waiting to see what Sarah was going to do.
Kryss gushed in the same overly enthusiastic tone, "You are FAR more beautiful than your pictures show. I’m SO glad Steve brought me along so I could finally meet both of you. How in the world do you manage to perform and do all the things you do while pregnant…with twins no less?"
"It’s NOT that hard. I have a wonderful husband who supports me. Howie, lunch is ready and we have sound checks to do."
"Sarah’s right," said Dave. "We need to get to the business at hand. We’ve arranged to meet with Mr. Pearlman at the Pepsi Center. It’s neutral ground and you boys won’t have to rush to get to sound checks. I trust everyone is prepared."
The comment was directed more towards Becca and Sarah so Kevin spoke up, "Becca and Sarah aren’t going to be in this meeting with Mr. Pearlman. They’ll tell you everything and answer any questions here over lunch."
Charles said, "They really should be included."
Steve spoke now. "You gentlemen haven’t seen the tape. Given Sarah’s pregnancy, I’d rather NOT have her present and I’m also aware of Mrs. Carter’s recent delivery with all the circumstances involved. Neither lady needs the added stress that being face to face with Mr. Pearlman is possibly going to cause."
Sarah was a little surprised that Steve was being so protective of her but it went along with having their best interest in mind. She just hoped the other four attorneys agreed.
Alexis said, "Mr. Sequra is right. Neither lady needs the stress."
"I guess it’s settled then," said Dave.
Jeff smiled, "So, Sarah. What did you order for lunch?"
"All your favorites, Jeff," smiled Sarah. "Help yourselves. There’s coffee and tea ready and the bar is stocked. Nick, you wanna play bartender?"
"Sure, Sarah. Bec…take GT?"
Becca moved to take Garrett and as the entire group began to fix their lunches, Howie pulled Sarah away from the group. Leaning his forehead to hers, he whispered, "Your hormones are in overdrive, ‘Angel’. Don’t let that little green monster get in the way."
"But ‘D’, she was all but taking her clothes off," protested Sarah playing with his hand as he held hers.
"So? BEHAVE! I love you and you know it."
"But she’s so pretty and thin."
"And you’re breathtakingly gorgeous and pregnant with MY children. WE have business to take care of. I don’t have time to fight off the little green monster. Now give me a kiss, draw in your claws, and BEHAVE."
"Yes dear," answered Sarah as she gave Howie a kiss. "Are you sure we should have Kryss hearing all this? I mean, she’s obviously a fan."
"Steve must trust her and she’s probably already seen most of the tape."
"Talk to Steve….please."
Howie saw the look in Sarah’s eyes and knew she was truly concerned, that this wasn’t jealousy talking. "I’ll talk to him in a minute."
"Thank you."