Part 61
Sarah spotted Becca sitting by a bridal shop waiting on her. She hurried through the crowd but was stopped by several girls who recognized her. Lately, she had started carrying pictures of the guys for just this occasion so she talked to the girls for a couple minutes and gave them a picture of the guys. Then she went to join Becca.
"Hey, sorry I’m late but Howie came by the center and Kevin called."
"No problem. I haven’t been waiting that long…only two trips to the
bathroom."
Sarah laughed, "This little Carter is REALLY working on your bladder! Must
be a girl."
The two made their way into the shop and started looking through bride’s maid dresses. Sarah kept asking Becca what she wanted her to wear but Becca insisted that Sarah pick out the dress. Her comment was always the same, ‘You have to wear it, not me’ and it only frustrated Sarah.
After an hour of looking, Sarah had seen a couple she liked but nothing that really stood out at her. "Let’s go look somewhere else."
"What are you looking for?" asked Becca.
"What difference does it make? You said it was up to me," chided Sarah as they walked through the mall.
"Give me SOME idea of what you’re looking for so I can help, at least."
"Since you wouldn’t give me a color, I’m looking for something that’s aqua green…Nick’s favorite color."
Becca laughed, "What are you trying to do, woo my man away from me?"
"Hell no! I just want to make my little brother happy. Besides, it’s
not THAT bad a color."
"And with your tan, it will be perfect."
The two friends talked as they looked through a second store. Becca described her dress to Sarah and said that it would be ready by Thursday. They also discussed the plans for the wedding, party on Thursday, and the fact that the guys would be staying at the Marriot, which was only a block away from the venue.
"Why do they have to stay at a hotel when they all live within an hour?" asked Becca.
"Management wants them together. Howie had planned to have Nick’s bachelor party at…ah…. Well, now, he’s had to change his plans. They’re gonna have it at the hotel."
"Where was he planning to have it?" asked Becca suspiciously.
"Not important, Bec. Besides, he can’t do it now," answered Sarah casually. She pulled a dress off the rack and held it up. "What do you think of this?"
Sarah was holding a satin aqua green dress that had a halter bodice, pointed waistline, and fell to a tea-length ‘Peter Pan’ end.
"Go try it on," suggested Becca.
Sarah took the dress and went to the fitting room. Minutes later, she returned with the dress on and Becca fell in love with it. Sarah looked at herself in the mirror and decided it was EXACTLY what she was looking for.
"I’m buying it," announced Sarah.
Becca looked at the price tag and she gulped. "Sarah, do you really think you should? I mean, look at how much it costs."
Before leaving, Howie had told Sarah to forget costs and get whatever she wanted for Nick’s wedding. After all, it was Nick’s wedding and it was only going to happen once, they hoped. Now, she looked at Becca and said, "For your wedding, it doesn’t matter."
Sarah changed quickly and returned to pay for the dress. As she was standing at the cash register with Becca, the girl waiting on her looked at the credit card. It was Howie’s since she hadn’t had a chance to get her own with her married name. The girl looked at Sarah curiously and then whispered something to another employee whom in turn looked at Sarah.
It didn’t escape Sarah’s attention and she said to Becca in a whisper, "They’re trying to get up the courage."
"For what?"
"To ask if I know the Backstreet Boys."
Sarah shook her head as the cashier asked, "Excuse me, but are you aware that you have Howie Dorough’s credit card?"
"Howie Dorough…you mean the Backstreet Boy…Howie D.?"
"Ah…yeah."
Sarah laughed, "Yeah, I’m his wife. Would you please hurry along?"
"Oh my god!! You’re Howie’s wife!! Tell me, are the rumors true that Nick has a girlfriend? I will absolutely DIE if he does. He is so gorgeous!" gushed the girl.
Sarah smirked at Becca, who shook her head to tell Sarah NOT to say anything so she said, "I don’t know. Nick dates SO MANY girls. I can’t imagine him singling any one in particular out. Are you going to the show Friday night?"
"Yes!! We have floor seats. Can you tell us how we could meet them? I would SO love to meet Nick."
"Tell you what. When you get to the arena, go up to the stage area and
ask for Chris and then ask Chris for me. He’ll have a way of getting hold of
me and I’ll take you backstage."
"You’d do that for us?"
"Sure! The guys LOVE meeting their fans," said Sarah as she signed the receipt.
With that, Becca and Sarah left the store. On the way out, Becca said,
"Howie is gonna kill you for that."
"For what?"
"Agreeing to take them backstage."
"Nope. I’ve done it before. Bec, you’re still not ready for all this are you?"
"All what?"
"The celebrity issue…being in the spotlight. Nick is the most popular one of the guys and he’s got A LOT of fans. You might as well get use to sharing him and stop DODGING the fact."
Defensively, Becca said, "I’m not dodging anything. Nick and I agreed to come forth with the news, just not yet."
"Yeah…and when it comes time, you’ll back down and Nick won’t push the matter. You didn’t learn a DAMN thing in the five months you were gone, did you? Rebecca…."
Becca froze at Sarah calling her ‘Rebecca’. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because you HAVE GOT TO BE SURE, Becca. You have to be honest with Nick."
"I am honest with him."
"Oh yeah? Then why haven’t you told him about the fan fic stuff? Becca, its LITTLE stuff like that that can KILL a relationship. Not to mention the BIG things you aren’t ready to face…the spotlight, sharing Nick with the fans, the pressure of being on the road for months on end. Nick needs a wife who is gonna support him, not run every time something in the relationship gets in the way and believe me, his career has PLENTY of obstacles."
"I’ll tell him about the fan fic…when the time is right," said Becca. Sarah’s words completely sunk in and Becca said, "And what makes you such a damn expert on Nick?"
"Well, gee….let’s see, I’ve been with them for the last two years and seen Nick with other girls. I spent 5 months helping him deal with the pain of a girlfriend taking off because she was too stupid to realize that he loved her NO MATTER what," steamed Sarah. Then, calming her voice, she went on, "Becca, I love both of you and you’re like a sister, but you have to be sure. Neither one of you can afford to run again. First, I’m not sure Nick is gonna be able to take you back. And second, you’ve got another part of this equation to figure in."
As they started to move away from the stares of people, Becca asked sullenly,
"I suppose you’ve talked to Howie about this?"
"We mentioned it…after you two announced your engagement."
"And?"
"He’s got more faith in you than I do but he has his doubts too. Look, I don’t mean to upset you. I just want you BOTH to be happy."
The subject was dropped and the two left the mall. Sarah gave Becca a hug before the two parted and she watched as Becca made her way to her car. Sarah shook her head knowing that she shouldn’t have said all that she had but she was worried about Nick and Becca. She’d talk to Howie over dinner and maybe he’d know how she could fix this mess.