“Hand me the popcorn!” Danica said as she tossed her long red hair over her shoulder, “The movie’s about to start.”
Lori absentmindedly passed her best friend the bowl of popcorn and concentrated on painting her long fingernails.
“Do your nails some other time! You’re messing up F.N.M.F.!”
F.N.M.F. was Friday night movie fest. It was a tradition with Lori and Danica. In the 10 years they’d known each other, they’d never missed spending a Friday night together, not even when Danica’s grandfather died. They had spent that night crying.
Lori put the nail polish away and concentrated on the movie. They’d rented “Top Gun” for the thousandth time and she wanted to watch it again. It was their all time favorite movie. The theme music cued and Lori and Danica sang along.
They went to bed about the usual time, 3:00 in the morning. After the movies were over, they’d stay up talking and listening to music. The night always ended when one of the two girls fell asleep.
The next morning, Danica woke up first and made breakfast. She started humming and a groggy Lori walked into the kitchen.
“What smells so good?”
“Cinnamon rolls.”
“What’s the special occasion?”
“What do you mean?”
“Usually it’s cold cereal or eggs. So what’s up?”
“Nothing’s up, Lori. I just wanted to make a nice breakfast. Is that so hard to believe?”
“Yes, it is. What’s up with you, Danica?”
“Okay, you caught me. I’m cooking a celebratory breakfast. I was listening to the radio this morning and I found out that the best band in the entire world is coming to Orlando.”
“Backstreet Boys are coming to town?”
“Maybe….” She said, teasing her.
“C’mon Dani! Are they coming or not?”
“YES!” she shouted.
Lori danced around the kitchen laughing while Danica laughed hysterically.
“Be quiet!” she warned, “You’ll wake mom up.”
“Does it look like I care? Backstreet’s coming to town!”
The door to Linda Brockman’s bedroom flew open.
“Is everything okay? I heard screaming.”
“Yeah mom, everything’s fine. Lori just found out that Backstreet Boys are coming to town.”
Danica had called Linda “Mom” since they met. Linda was one of the nicest people she had met and she wanted to keep her close.
“Sorry for waking you up,” Lori said apologetically.
“That’s okay. I wasn’t sleeping. I have to be at work in an hour. Hey, what smells so good?”
“Cinnamon rolls,” Lori and Danica said in unison.
Linda’s mouth started to water. Everyone in the house loved cinnamon rolls. She darted over to the bar and anxiously awaited Danica to get the cinnamon rolls out of the oven. As soon as they were removed from the oven, they smeared icing on them and devoured them while they were still steaming.
“So, Lori,” Linda said with her mouth full of cinnamon roll, “Tell me about these Backstreet Boys…..”
“Hello, Lori,” she answered.
“Damn caller ID. Hey what’s up?”
“Oh nothing much. I just found out that Backstreet tickets go on sale on Staurday. And I just happen to know someone that works at Ticket Master, so we can get him to reserve 3 tickets for us, that’s all. The only thing is, he doesn’t know where the seats will be. He just started a few days ago and isn’t sure about the system yet.”
“That’s okay. We still got tickets to Backstreet Boys! I can’t wait to see them live. Uh, Dani, what are their names again?”
“Lori! You said you wouldn’t forget again!”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Lori had only been listening to the Backstreet Boys for about 4 months, but she was already hooked.
“It’s Nick, A.J., Brian, Howie, and Kevin.”
“Okay, I remember now. Get the guy to reserve tickets for us. Hey, Angie called me. Do you want me to call her on 3-Way?”
“Yeah.”
Later on, there was a knock at the door in the secret code that Lori and Danica had made up when they were kids.
“Come in Dani,” Linda and Lori said in unison.
Danica walked in and smiled at her best friend.
“What?” she asked.
“Oh, nothing,” she said nonchalantly, “I just happen to have 3 vouchers for our Backstreet tickets. It’s nothing big.”
“ ‘Nothing big’ ” Lori said, jumping off the couch, “It’s BACKSTREET BOYS TICKETS!!!!
“Lori, chill. They’re just vouchers. Besides, we still have to call him when they go on sale and make sure we’ve got the tickets. So just relax, sit down and watch “Dawson.”
“Patrick Swayze is so fine.”
“Lori, shut up ad watch the movie. That’s all you’ve been saying since we put it in,” Danica teased.
They had rented “Ghost” for the millionth time and every time, it never failed, Lori would always say that Patrick Swayze was fine in every scene. Danica always teased her because of her inability to shut up about fine guys.
After the movie was over, they went straight to bed, almost. They still stayed up talking, but it wasn’t nearly as late as usual. They wanted to be able to wake up early enough to call Ryan at Ticket Master to make sure that they had the tickets and where they would be. Just before Danica drifted off to sleep, she heard Lori singing “All I Have To Give” in her sleep. Danica thought it was sweet and fell asleep with a smile on her face.
The next morning, Lori was the first to wake up, so she went to check her e-mails. She had 26 from Danica, Jennifer S., Angie, and Jenni M. She got about halfway through reading them when Danica woke up.
“Hey, I thought we agreed that we’d wake each other up.”
“We did. I just had to check my e-mail and I was going to wake you up after that.”
They glanced over at the clock. 9:34 am. The tickets went on sale at 10:00. Danica decided to go to the kitchen to make breakfast. At 9:57, Danica picked up the phone to call Ryan. They chatted while she waited for him to pick up the phone.
“How do you know that he’ll be the one to pick up? It’s not like you can ask for him. They’re gonna be really busy today.”
“The number I have for him is to his desk. He’s the only one that he can pick up.”
“Oh, I see.”
Lori watched and listened to Danica as she talked to Ryan. She tries to read her face to get an idea as to what he was saying but Danica hid it well as to whether the news was good or bad.
“Well?” she said as Danica hung up the phone.
“They’re not good. The seats are in the nosebleed section and they’re also obstructed view. We’re sitting right behind a pole, Lori.”
“Well, that’s okay. We’re still gonna hear them, right?”
“Of course we are.”
“Well, then that’s good enough for me.”
“That’s the right attitude to have.”
Linda had snuck up behind them.
“Mom, you scared me,” Lori said.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m going off to work now. I’ll see you two later.”
“Bye mom, we love you,” they said simultaneously. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I need to get out of the house,” Lori said, tossing Danica her keys.
“Hey Angie. Wussup?” Dancia said greeting her friend at the door., “LORI, HURRY UP! ANGIE’S HERE!” she shouted.
Lori was getting ready to go to the mall with Danica and Angie. The concert was the next day and she still didn’t have her outfit. She couldn’t find the “perfect” shirt.
“LORI!!” Angie and Danica called at the same time.
“HOLD ON!” she shouted back, “YOU DON”T HAVE TO RUSH ME!”
She finished applying her lipstick and ran out of the room to get into the car before they left her there. About halfway to the mall, a Backstreet Boys song came on the radio, so they cranked it and sang along, happy that they were going to the concert the next day.
Two hours before closing, Lori found the “perfect” shirt. It was a bluish-green that complimented her brown eyes and clung in all the right places. Danica and Angie had to go to the restroom so Lori went to Sam Goody to see if they had the new Brian McKnight CD.
She grabbed the last copy and turned to go and BAM! She smacked hard into someone and fell hard on her butt.
”This really sucks.” She thought.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” she said.
“That’s okay,” a man with a southern accent told her, “I wasn’t looking where I was going either. I was trying to see if they had any more Brian McKnight CDs. I still haven’t got the new one yet and I‘m dying to hear it. Here, let me help you up.”
He reached out his hand to help Lori up. “That’s okay. I wasn’t looking either. Oh, did you say Brian McKnight?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“I’m sorry again. I just got the last copy of it.”
“That’s okay. I’ll just have to find it when I get some more time. I’m Brian by the way.”
“I’m Lori.”
She reached out to shake his hand and knocked some CDs off the shelf.
“I’m also clumsy and embarrassed.”
“Don’t be. It happens to me all the time.”
They laughed for a second and Lori realized that she sill had to meet her friends by the restrooms.
“Oh my Lord! Dani and Angie are gonna kill me! I forgot I have to meet them in a bit and I still haven’t bought the CD!”
“Well, then you’d better hurry before your friends get mad at you. It was nice meeting you, Lori. I hope to one day, ‘bump into’ you again.”
“Same to you,” she said as she dashed to the cash register to make her purchase.
“He was FINE!” Lori thought as she walked out of Sam Goody. She went to find Danica and Angie and began humming “Quit Playin’ Games (With My Heart) as she walked. Danica and Angie weren’t at the restrooms, so she decided to check other stores. When she passed the food court, she realized she was thirsty. So she went to McDonald’s for a coke. She reached into her purse to get out some cash when she slammed into someone.
“Damnit!! That’s the second time I’ve walked into someone when I wasn’t looking.”
She looked up to see who it was.
“Oh, hi Brian.”
She had run into Brian again, literally.
“Hey there. How have you been in the 20 minutes we haven’t seen each other?”
They laughed and talked for a while and it was Lori’s turn to get her order. She asked for a large coke when a man walked up to Brian and pulled a gun. Lori turned to see what was going on and immediately, her instincts took over. She dead legged the man, sending him to the ground and kicked him in his chest, knocking the wind out of him. She disarmed the man, and held the gun on him while Brian ran to get Security.
“That was so awesome! Where did you learn to do that?” “My best friend Danica and I have been training in kickboxing for years. I never thought that it would pay off, though.”
“Thank God for your lessons, otherwise. I’m sure I’d be a goner. I’ve only got about 10 bucks on me. And that’s not enough to make anyone happy if they’re robbing someone to get it.”
“I guess so.”
“How can I ever repay you?"
“Forget it. You’d do the same for me.”
“Really, what can I do?”
“Nothing.”
“Hey, I got it. I’ve got this concert tomorrow and I can hook you up with really good tickets and backstage passes. That way, I can have a little extra time to think about how to pay you back for saving my life.”
“Sorry, Brian. I’m already going to a concert tomorrow with my friends.”
“Really? Which one?”
“Backstreet Boys.”
Brian chuckled. “Um, Lori, let me fully introduce myself. My name is Brian Littrell, the Backstreet Boy.”
At first, she didn’t believe him. Then she took a closer look at his face. It really was him!
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even realize it was you. I just started to listen to you guys, but I already think you’re the best.”
“Thank you. I’m flattered. So, where are your seats at?”
“The usual. Nosebleed, obstructed view, they’re pretty lousy.”
“What’s your last name?”
“Brockman.”
“And how many friends are going with you tomorrow?”
“Two.”
“Okay, when you get to the show tomorrow, go to the security booth and give them this and tell them your name and two friends. They’ll give you your tickets then.”
“Thanks Brian,” she said, stuffing he card he’d given her in her pocket, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He walked away and she stared in disbelief. She had just saved the life of Brian Littrell!
Danica just stared in disbelief.
“Yup. And I got us better seats. Plus, Backstage passes and we get to hang with the band before and after the concert.”
“How are you gonna prove to the people at the gate who you are?” Danica asked.
“With this card,” Lori said, pulling it out of her pocket.
Angie and Danica danced around the room.
“Wait, you guys, Brian didn’t give me a card. It just felt like a card because it was two slips of paper. Brian Littrell gave me his cell phone number!!”
The two girls stopped dead in their tracks, “He what?” they said in unison.
“Look. He gave me his cell phone number on this little slip of paper. The writing is a little hard to read, but it definitely says, ‘Lori, I really hope that you call me. I’d like to talk to you before and after the concert.’ He wants me to call him!!! Should I do it?”
“Duh!!” Danica and Angie both shouted.
Lori picked up the phone and dialed the number, praying he’d answer…
“I wanted to be the first one to greet my knight in shining kickboxing armor.” He said, laughing, “And you must be Angie and Danica.”
They were dumbfounded, but they shook his hand and mumbled something about their names. Brian took them on a personal tour of the venue.
“I thought it would be bigger,” Angie said.
“You always do,” Brian said chuckling.
He finally took the girls to meet the band and the rest of the Backstreet Boys. When they walked into the room where the Boys were sitting, Angie and Dani stopped dead in their tracks. They were face to face with THE Backstreet Boys! Lori pushed them into the room and made them sit down. They chatted for a while and got comfortable enough to joke around with the guys. Brian remembered he had something in his dressing room for Lori.
“Hey, Lori, would you come with me to my dressing room for a sec? I have something in there for you. It’s to thank you for last night.”
“Brian, I told you that the tickets were enough.”
“Please?”
“Okay,” she reluctantly agreed.
Lori got up and walked with Brian out of the room. The door closed behind them. Brian walked over to the small table he had in the corner of his room. He picked up a small box and gave it to her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Just open it.”
Lori carefully opened the box. Inside was a small gold locket. When she opened it, there was a picture of Brian and an inscription on the back. It said: LORI, THANK YOU FOR SAVING MY LIFE YOU’LL ALWAYS BE IN MY PRAYERS.
It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever given her. She hugged him. You really didn’t have to do this. I was totally cool with the tickets.”
“Lori, I’m from the South. We southerners believe in repaying our debts. And I’m not through thanking you. I’ll be in debt to you for the rest of my life.”
“That’s sweet. But really, you don’t have to. Honest.”
“I want to. Honest,” he smiled, “Maybe we should get back.”
They walked towards the door and Brian tried to turn the door handle and it broke off in his hands.”
“Just great,” he muttered.
“That’s okay. The guys will notice that we’ve been gone a while and come looking for us.”
“Actually, I have this horrible habit of running off to McDonald’s and not telling anyone. Sometimes I’m gone for a few hours at a time.”
“Great. Now we’re stuck.”
“You know, I think I have a deck of cards here somewhere. It’ll pass the time.”
“Break them out. Do you play poker?”
“Do I play poker? Lori, I’m an expert player.”
“Bring it on.”
They sat down and played poker and talked a lot about different topics. After about two hours passed, Lori had won almost every game they’d played.
“You know, you’re a lot of fun, Brian. I never thought that I’d have so much fun locked in a dressing room.”
“Me too. But you know something, I think we should quit playing poker. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I just can’t seem to win.”
They laughed and Lori said, “You know, it could be worse. The lights could be out and we wouldn’t be able to see well enough to play cards.”
Suddenly, the lights flickered and went out.
“Lori, what did you do?”
“Nothing, I swear!”
“Where are you?”
“I’m by your table. I think I might have some matches in my purse.”
She rummaged through her purse and found the matchbook she had put in there the last time she went to a hotel. She struck the match, praying it would work. It did, but the room got hotter when she lit it.
“Do you have a candle?”
“Yeah, let me see if I can find it. It’s small and I never use it.”
He rummaged through his things looking for the candle with a match Lori had lit.
“Here it is.”
They put the candle on the floor and lit another match. They lit the candle, noticing that it was getting a little warm in the room. The light the candle provided was no better than when they had the match lit, but every time they struck another match, it got hotter. Brian took off his long sleeve shirt and put on a tank top. He looked over at Lori, who was wearing her long sleeve shirt and jeans.
“Aren’t you hot on those clothes?”
“Yeah, but I don’t have anything to change in to.”
He walked over to his suitcase and took out his favorite tee shirt and a pair of shorts.
“Here, put these on,” he said as he turned away from her, “I won’t look.”
She quickly changed, thanking God for Brian being such a gentleman. After she was in the clothes, she breathed a sigh of relief. They sat back down by the candle. Since Lori couldn’t see Brian’s adorable face very well, she just stared into the candle. When she finally got up enough courage to look over at Brian, she caught him looking at her.
“I hate the dark,” she mumbled.
Brian leaned over and kissed her softly on her lips. “Don’t be afraid. It just a little darkness,” he said, kissing her again.
“I’m not afraid anymore,” she said, kissing him back. Brian pulled Lori closer to him and wrapped his arms around her waist while she put her arms around his neck. Brian traced the outline of her lips with his tongue, as if asking permission to enter She opened her mouth only slightly, but Brian took that as an “okay.” Lori was soon sitting in Brian’s lap while his hands roamed every inch of her body, but their mouths never parted. Lori slowly began to push Brian onto his back. He fell backwards and Lori fell right on top of him. All the while, they never stopped kissing.
“Do you mind if I try something?” Lori asked against Brian’s mouth.
“Go ahead.”
Lori pulled Brian up off the floor and took his tank top off of him. She threw it to the side and kissed him first on his forehead, and then began trailing down. She kissed the tip of his nose, his cheek, his lips, his neck, his chest, and finally, his stomach. She stayed at his stomach for a second, tracing the outline of his washboard stomach with her tongue. She then began to trail back up. He started to lift his grungy old tee shirt off her when the lights flickered on and they heard voices down the hall.
“I’ll bet that he knocked the door handle off. It’s been kind loose lately.” They heard Kevin say on the other side of the door.
Lori jumped up and headed straight for the bathroom to put her own clothes back on. Brian looked for the discarded tank top when he heard Nick talking to Kevin down the hall.
Maybe he did, we’ll just have to ask him to find out. HEY FRICK! ARE YOU IN THERE?”
“Yeah, Frack. Hey, the door handle fell off and Lori and I are stuck in here!”
“We thought you two had taken off for McDonald’s. Lori’s friends told us that she loves their Quarter Pounders with cheese, and she has a habit of wandering off too,” Nick said.
Brian just laughed.
“Hey, we’re gonna go ahead and kick the door down. There’s no way for us to get a locksmith here in time to get you out. Back up, okay guys?”
“Sure, Nick,” Brian answered.
He backed up a little so he wouldn’t get hit by the door when it fell.
Lori walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed in her clothes.
“What’s going on?” she whispered do Nick and Kevin wouldn’t hear.
“They’re gonna knock down the door. Back up a little.”
“Okay,” she said, backing up against Brian.
“Lori, listen, I don’t usually do things like that but---“
She cut him off, “I don’t either, I really don’t know what came over me.”
“Lori, can I finish?” He continued when she didn’t say anything, “I’m very attracted to you Lori, and I’m sorry that I took advantage of you in this situation.”
Lori laughed, “Wait a second, Brian. Didn’t I kiss back? Wasn’t I the one who took your shirt off?”
Brian just smiled at her, remembering full well that she did those things.
“Hey Brian? Lori? You still in there?”
“Yeah, Nick, we’re still in here.”
“Okay, we’re gonna knock down the door on the count of three. One…………..Two………….THREE!”
The door burst open and there stood Kevin and Nick. Nick rushed in and hugged his best friend.
“I thought you been kidnapped or killed!”
“Don’t over exaggerate, Nick,” Kevin said, “Lori, your friends are waiting for you in the lounge.”
“Thanks, they’re probably worried sick about me.”
As she went to leave, Brian grabbed her hand. “Lori, can I talk to you for a minute, in private?”
“Not right now, Brian. I need to go check in with my friends.”
“Lori wait-“ he said as she walked out the door.
”Brian, what happened in here?”
“You wouldn’t believe me, Nick. You just wouldn’t believe…” he said as he stared after her.
“Hey, we need to talk about what happened.”
“After soundcheck, Brian.”
“But---“
“After soundcheck,” she repeated, ‘Now go, I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
During soundcheck, Lori told her friends what had occurred in the dressing room.
“You’re so lucky,” Danica said.
Angie just stared dumbfounded.
When soundcheck was over, Brian pulled her to the side again.
“We need to talk.”
“Look, Brian, it happened, okay? Get over it. It was fun, but you’ve got your career and I’m going to college next fall. It just won’t work out between us.”
“Lori, I want it to happen again. I haven’t felt this way about someone in a long time.”
”We just met yesterday, Brian.”
“I know that! But spending those two hours with you has made me feel like I’ve known you all my life.”
“Brian, this can’t work. You’re leaving tomorrow and I wouldn’t be able to handle not being able to see you often.”
“I’m not leaving tomorrow. After tonight’s show, we have a week off, and then only another month of touring. Then we have the whole summer off, because we already finished the album.”
Lori just looked at him.
“So what exactly are you trying to tell me?”
“I’m going to stay here in Orlando all week to get to know you better. And when I get back, hopefully, you’ll want to go out with me?”
Lori smiled. That night was the best night of her life. The concert was awesome. When they sang “I’ll Never Break Your Heart,” Brian brought Lori up onstage and sang to her, while Kevin took Danica up onstage to sing to her, Nick brought Angie up, and Howie and A.J. brought these two girls named Michelle and Dee up that were sitting by Lori, Danica, and Angie. Lori never wanted the night to end. As the girls were leaving, Brian promised to call Lori in the morning. All she could do was smile at him. When they drove away, Brian was still waving.
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