"Did I dream that all this happened?" Molly asked, while falling onto her bed in the hotel room.
"You definitely didn't dream", Sarah answered happily. "Cause if this past hour and a half wasn't real, then the only possible explanation would be a mass hallucination!" Molly laughedd, shaking her head. Sarah sat down next to her and blurted out: "Isn't Nick the cutest guy ever?"
Molly looked at her surprised: "I always thought Brian was your fave!"
"Yeah, that's what I thought, too. Brian's great, he's gorgeous as ever, but... One look into Nick's beautiful eyes and I was melting away. And every time he smiles at you...WOW!"
"You're not falling in love, are you, Sarah?" Molly asked laughing.
Then the girls heard someone knock at the door. They looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders. Sarah stood up and, before she answered the door, turned around to Molly and whispered excitedly: "Maybe it's the boys?!"
She opened the door smiling widely, only to see - her father!
"I wish you'd always welcome me with such a beautiful smile", Mr. Schall laughed. "How are you girls?"
"Hey dad!"
"Great. And I need to thank you so much, once again, for allowing us to stay here! I've had the best day of my life!" Molly stated.
"And it's not even over yet", Sarah added. At this Molly sighed and smiled even more than she had before.
Mr. Schall was more than surprised. "What? You already met the band?" he asked. He needed no answer because he could see it from the funkles in the girls' eyes that he had guessed right. "Well, than I'm very happy that I helped making this little dream come true for you!"
"It's not just a LITTLE dream for me", Molly said. "And I still don't know how to thank you for it. I really appreciate this, more than you know."
"That was 'thank you' enough. It was no big problem to do this for you two, so..."
"Yeah, but I need to thank you, too, dad! And I promise next time you want me to visit grandma with you and mom, I will. Although it's so boring!"
"We'll see", Mr. Schall laughed. "I actually just wanted to check if everything's ok or if you need anything. But, you guys know you just need to call if you want anything."
"Yeah, we will. But for now, everything's great!"
"Good. Then I'm going back to work. Oh, and girls - don't empty the bar!"
"DAD!"
Mr. Schall laughed again and left. Sarah closed the door and turned around to Molly again: "By the way, what are we gonna wear tonight?"
"Don't know! But I think I have some clothes with me that will be fine for a club."
"Good enough for a club - yes. But good enough for the BSB?"
"What do you want, Sarah? I know you have something up your sleeve!"
"Well, we're here in Cologne. And what can you do in Cologne?" Molly just looked at her, awaiting the answer. "Let's go shopping!"
"I knew it", Molly smiled. She took a look at her watch. "Alright, whatever the boys gotta do today, i think we have enough time to find a good outfit!"
"Great, let's go!" sarah said enthusiastically, grabbed her purse and jacket and was out of the room so fast, Molly thought Sarah had beamed herself away. But then Sarah popped her head back into their room and said: "Wait for me down in the hall, k? I'm gonna go get my dad's credit card!"
Molly was left alone again, shaking her head. Credit card?! Molly put on her jacket and went down to the hall. She decided not to buy anything that would make her look over-styled, no matter what Sarah was gonna wear. Molly was curious to find out with what Sarah wanted to impress Nick...
* * *
"Howie? AJ? Are you ready to go?" Donna yelled across the hall on fifth floor. AJ came out of his room, shouting: "Come on, D.! The others are already off to the radio station!"
Finally also Howie joined them and the bodyguards, so they could leave in the second van and drive to the L1VE-radio station to do an interview. Again they had to leave through the underground car park. When they drove out of the car park all the fans came running towards the car and screamed, although they couldn't see who was in it because of the shaded windows. When the car drove too fast for the fans to follow, AJ again caught sight of his mysterious girl. She was walking up the flight of stony steps that led to the bridge over the river Rhein, in front of which the hotel was built. His eyes were fixed to that girl, that's why he didn't notice Sarah at all... What rotten luck!
Half an hour later they met Brian, Kevin and Nick again. The interview would start in a few minutes, so Nick took the time to tell the others about their plans tonight. "Hey guys, Frick and I got to know two girls today - very nice girls, by the way - and they would take us to a club tonight, if that's alright with you?"
"I don't know", Kevin said. "You think that's a good idea? I mean, for how long do you know these girls?"
"Don't worry 'bout that", Brian answered. "They're alright!"
"I trust you, B.", Kevin replied. "Fine, I'm with you then."
"Yeah, sounds good to me", Howie said.
"What about you, Bone?" Nick asked, when AJ gave no answer. There was still silence and Brian and Howie started giggling because AJ was in a world of his own.
"BONE?!" Nick shouted.
"Huh? What?" AJ was brought back to reality.
"Where've you been, man?" Kevin smiled.
"Are you gonna come with us tonight?" Nick stuck to the subject.
AJ was slightly confused because he hadn't followed the conversation. "Where to?"
Nick sighed. "Wake up, man! We wanna go to a club tonight."
"Don't know yet", AJ said. He wasn't in the mood to go dancing. Maybe he would just stay at the hotel - in order to look around for Ms. Mysterious!
Nick shrugged his shoulders, while Brian whispered to Kevin: "What's up with him?"
"Maybe it's still Amanda?!" Howie whispered, who had also heard Brian.
AJ not being in the mood for a little party was something that could make you worried! :o)
* * *
The girls came back from their shopping trip more than two hours later. There were not as many fans at the hotel as before because many had followed the BSB to the radio station. It was always surprising how they knew exactly where the band would be and when, although their schedule was top secret.
"Do you know when the Backstreet Boys be back?" a girl asked them excitedly. Some other girls came also running towards Sarah and Molly.
"No, we don't know", they answered.
As they walked towards the entrance, a young fan, maybe 14, shouted: "If you think Nick will f**k you then you're wrong. He's mine!"
Molly was slightly shocked. The BSB fans were like a big family usually, but as soon as the boys were near some(!) fans seemed to turn into little monsters. Sarah was about to give that "little monster" they had just met a reply to her shout, but Molly quickly grabbed her arm and dragged her into the hotel.
"Why didn't you let me speak a few words with that...that...GIRL!" Sarah asked upset.
"Cause it's not worth it. She didn't mean it - I hope."
"How do you know?"
"Well, she's just an obsessed fan who wishes she was in your place. You know, maybe she'll never get as near to the boys as you."
"But she doesn't know if we've talked to them, or even seen them!"
"Yeah, but you're...well, breathing the same air, know what I mean?!"
Sarah suddenly gave Molly a smile: "Molls, you're the cutest! I'd be going out there and...hell, I don't know what I would do to that kid, but she wouldn't like it. And you just keep calm and now I'm lost for words. You're so damn understanding! I love you, girl!" She gave Molly a hug.
"I guess I'm just being a fellow fan", Molly explained.
"No, you're not. Or would you be such a bitch, if you were standing outside this hotel and not in it?!"
"I definitely wouldn't be such a...bitch!"
"You see", Sarah laughed. "You'd be a perfect pop-star girlfriend - you know how to handle the fans!"
"Nothing's perfect, but even if, I'm afraid that wouldn't be enough to capture AJ's heart." Then she was grinning at Sarah: "And that also means there's no future for you and Nick, huh? For you're not very good in handling upset-and-jealous-fan-situations!" Molly laughed.
"HEY! I'll learn from you...", Sarah smiled.
Back in their room they decided to already get dressed in their new clothes. To Molly's surprise Sarah hadn't been looking for any too stylish clothes at all. She had just needed her dad's credit card because she hadn't taken enough money with her. After Molly had showered, Sarah disappeared into the bathroom, while Molly put on some make-up. After they had finished getting dressed and everything else, they stood side by side in front of the big mirror.
Sarah wore a tight short dress - it was green, of course, Nick's favorite color - and her long blonde hair was pulled up high. Molly wore black pants and a wine-red colored tight top, her long wavy brunette hair was untied. Molly gave thier reflection the thumbs up.
"Yeah, I guess we're looking quite good", Sarah agreed smiling.
It was past six when the phone finally rang. Molly fell onto the bed and reached over to the phone to answer it. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's Nick!"
"Oh, hey Nick!" Molly was grinning at Sarah, who died to get on the phone. "I thought Brian was gonna call."
Nick laughed: "I'll get him for you, if you want to. I thought you'd be satisfied with hearing me."
"I am", Molly answered, hoping Nick wouldn't think something wrong about her feelings for Brian. Although she thought Brian was amazing, she didn't feel attracted to him in a romantic way. But somehow she had a deep feeling for him, a feeling that told her it was good and right and destined for her to meet him. Like he had opened a new chapter in her life. She shook those thoughts away. She had only met him and hardly knew him - what deep feelings could she already have for him?! Her attention turned to Nick and their conversation again: "You're satisfying enough for me", she told him. Both laughed.
"Well, the guys and me just came back. We're gonna eat and then get ready for tonight."
"The guys?" Molly asked, as if she didn't know who he was talking about.
"Right, I forgot to tell you: two of our friends are gonna join us, probably three, if that's alright with you."
"Sure, no problem at all." Molly was wondering who of the boys wouldn't go with them. "Don't let it be AJ", she thought.
"Either Brian or me is coming to pick you up in about...umm, two hours time. Is that ok?"
"Yeah, fine! take your time, we'll be here."
"What about your friends? The ones you're visiting! They won't join us?"
"Quick - think of an answer", Molly thought. She still had no good answer when she began saying: "Umm, no, they can't!"
"Well, as long as you two are going...", Nick said. "So I'll see ya then!"
"Bye, Nick, see ya later!" She took a deep breath as she put the receiver down. What aluck he hadn't asked her why her friends wouldn't come! "Sarah? Who had that stupid idea of pretending we don't know the guys?"
"Gotta be one of us, honey!"
"Whoever - it was the dumbest idea of his life."
"Why? What happened?"
"He asked me if our friends would join us tonight!"
"So what?"
"SO WHAT? Well, I'm glad that you are so cool about lying to them all the time. But I'm afraid at one point I'll have no good answer in mind to keep up my little act. And I don't feel good about telling them lies!"
"And what about them? Have they told us they're members of the famous Backstreet Boys? No! They're not honest themselves."
"You know it's a totally different situation for them, Sarah."
"But it worked! Do you think you'd be going out with them tonight, if you had told them you're one of their fans? You wanted to get to know what they are really like, right? And now you will!"
"No, I won't. We'll never REALLY get to know them. I'll never know how they would've reacted if I told 'em I'm a fan. But that would also be part of their personalities, and that's something I can't find out anymore. I'll never get to know what they are like in really private moments or..." A strange feeling spread inside of her. Warm, but not welcomed. Like sad happiness, happy sadness. As if shadows and lights were fighting inside of her. Molly sighed: "This isn't more than meeting them and having a good time! But that's fine, I have no reason to complain. This is still a dream come true."
Sarah put her arms around Molly's shoulders and hugged her: "Hey girl! We have no time for depression, k? We're gonna have one hell of a good time with the hottest guys alive tonight, and all I want you to do us smile and shine - and dance!"
At quarter past eight the girls heard a knock on the door. Sarah quickly went to answer it. A smiling Brian stood in the hall, asking:
"So...are you ready for a lot of fun?"
"Sure!" Sarah answered.
"Let's go then." Brian waited 'til the girls had taken their jackets, then they left.
In the elevator Sarah wanted to press a button that would take them down, when Brian said: "Oh, we can't leave yet. Sorry, but the guys aren't ready yet." The girls giggled. "But I still came to pick you up already, I thought you wouldn't mind coming up and meeting the others. Or would you?"
"No, of course not", Molly answered.
They watched Brian tyoing in some secret code (that would make the elevator stop at the boys' floor) and Sarah asked: "What are you doing there?"
"Umm, that's to get on our floor", Brian explained.
Sarah looked over at Molly, not knowing if she should ask Brian for the reason why thier floor was "locked" and maybe get him to tell them he's a BSB. She had no time left to decide whether she should or not because the elevator stopped.
This floor was totally different from the girls' one - not because it looked different, but because it was...lively. There was always someone running around through the hall, many doors were opened and you could hear music and people talking everywhere. A bodyguard sat in front of the elevator, looking very serious, but he smiled as he realized it was Brian. The girls and him got out and Brian motioned them to follow him.
"I think Frack won't mind if we watch him getting dressed", Brian laughed.
"I don't mind at all", Sarah said grinning.
Molly was silent, feeling only butterflies in her stomach. She wanted to memorize every single moment she spent with the guys and she never wanted to lose that feeling of happiness and amazement she felt since this morning.
They sat down in Nick's room. Molly sat with Brian on the bed, while Sarah sat down in a chair by the window.
"Frack, you're not still under the shower, are you, man?"
"No, I'm... Oh, hey girls!" Nick said and smiled as he left the bathroom.
They started talking about the night ahead, while Nick was running around trying to find socks and the shoes he wanted to wear. The boys asked about the club the girls wanted to take them to and so on. They already had a lot of fun, especially with Brian, who was joking around all the time.
Sarah leaned towards the window, took a look outside and stated: "It's gonna be a great night!"
"How do you know?" Nick smiled. "Maybe we'll turn into really boring guys at midnight - or even before!"
"Who told you you're not boring already?" Molly asked dryly, kidding of course.
Brian, Nick and even Sarah looked at her surprised, then suddenly Brian and Molly burst into laughter - and didn't stop anytime soon. Nick and Sarah only shook thier heads at them, also smiling.
Nick, who was finally dressed, walked over to Sarah and also looked up at the sky. Sarah said: "You can see stars tonight, that's how I know it's gonna be a great night. Stars usually create a certain kind of atmosphere."
"Romantic?" Nick asked.
She looked at him. "Maybe..."
"Are you interested in stuff like that? Astrology?"
"Nah, not me", Sarah answered. "But Molly likes reading horoscopes and tarot and all that kinda things - but only for the fun of it, nothing serious!" Suddenly she asked: "Do you wanna get a really nice sight of Cologne at night? And the stars?"
"Now?"
"Yeah, we don't need to go far", Sarah laughed.
"Umm, sure. Why not?"
"Follow me", Sarah said. They left the room and Brian and Molly, who were laughing about something else by now.
~~~~~
"Have you seen 'There's Something About Mary'? I laughed my butt off,
when I watched it!"
Molly and Brian were talking about some funny movies they had
recently watched, when suddenly they heard a weird sound... It was
obviously Brian's stomach! Brian blushed and smiled.
Molly laughed, then said: "Know what? I'm hungry myself!"
"Well, it would be a bad idea to go dancing as long as we're hungry,
so..." He reached for the phone, took the receiver and dialled for the
room service.
~~~~~
Sarah led Nick to the highest floor of the hotel. There she opened a
door that obviously wasn't a door to a hotel room.
"Where are we going, Sarah?"
"Up on the roof", she yelled, while running up some stairs. Nick
followed her quickly. She opened another door and then they were
standing outside on the hotel's roof. They could see the city lights,
shining as bright as the stars in the sky.
"It's not such a beautiful skyline as you have in the big cities in
the States, but...I like it. It makes you feel small and big at the
same time, and it's peaceful somehow - as long as the train doesn't
pass!" Sarah laughed.
"How did you know where to go to get here?" Nick asked.
"Oh, umm...my dad was the manager here two years ago, but then we
moved to Munich and...that's why Molly and me are staying at this
hotel. It's cheaper for us because of my dad's job. How do you think we
can efford this?" Sarah smiled nervously. "Damn, Molly was right about
all these lies", she thought. But it was too late now. She wouldn't
take the risk of making Nick and the others angry by telling them the
truth, because she really wanted to be with him tonight. Having fun,
dancing...and maybe a little bit more. The more time she spent with
him, the more she was hypnotized by his eyes, his smile. Nick was such
a nice and smart guy - she was about to fall in love hopelessly.
"How come you guys are staying here?" she changed the subject. "Must
be a pretty nice job you have!" Part of her wanted to hear him telling
her another lie - or at least not telling her the full truth - so that
she wouldn't feel so bad about lying to him.
Nick looked away from her, staring at the city lights. The moment had
come to tell her what kind of job he had. He hoped that wouldn't change
anything between them, that she would still Nick, not the Backstreet
Boy. It was strange somehow...he loved being in the group, doing what
he was doing, and it wasn't as if people always treated him like he was
something special or different. But him knowing that they knew who he
was and what he did, changed the whole thing for himself. It wasn't
really the others who made the difference.
"Yeah, it is a pretty nice job", he started. "The guys and me, we're
in a singing group."
Sarah faked a look of surprise and pointed to the ground. "Those fans
down there..."
Nick nodded his head sadly. "These fans are our fans..."
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you."
"Don't be! You don't need to be sorry for that", Nick smiled. "We
don't consider ourselves V.I.P.s, who are known all over the world!"
"Yeah, but you must be very popular. There are A LOT of girls waiting
fo you there." She leaned over the railing a bit to see the fans. She
could only see dark figures, because it was already very dark in the
late evenings at this time of year. "The Backstreet Boys, huh?"
"The Backstreet Boys. Yeah, that's us." He stood by her side, but
didn't look down.
"I think I heard some of your songs on the radio. i just didn't know
who you guys are, I mean what you look like and stuff. Guess I'm too
old to read teen magazines, otherwise I'd probably seen you before."
Sarah felt guilty when she looked into his eyes again. He had told her
the truth. Was it her turn now? She couldn't...
"They'd be more than happy if they could see you now."
"It's too dark, I don't think they could see me", Nick said.
"But they can hear you!"
Nick smiled and said: "You're right." He leaned over the railing and
shouted: "Are there any Backstreet Boys fans out there?" The reply was
screaming that didn't seem to stop. The girls screamed the names of all
the boys, but the shouts calling for Nick were the loudest. He tried to
talk to them and hoped they would hear him, but they were still
screaming. Suddenly a light fell upon Nick and Sarah, coming from a
girl's flashlight. Sarah jumped back. She thought it wouldn't be such a
good idea to be seen with Nick by the fans. Nick waved to the fans and
shouted: "Good night! The Backstreet Boys love you! Keep the pride
alive!" He suggested to Sarah they should better head inside again. She
gratefully agreed, because it was very cold.
When they were back on the BSB's floor, they found the door to Nick's
room closed. They heard voices from the other side of the hall, but
what they could hear even better was the laughter coming from Nick's
room!
"What the heck...", Nick smiled. He looked at Sarah, who shrugged her
shoulders and was grinning. They put their ears to the door, so they
could hear what was going on in there. After a while they had so much
fun that they sat down on the floor, leaning against the door and
giggling about Brian and Molly. A few minutes later AJ walked along the
hall. He saw Nick and Sarah, stopped in front of them with a look
saying "What are you weirdos doing?!" and asked: "Kaos? What is this
here?"
Nick put his finger to his mouth, motioning for AJ to be quiet.
Sarah whispered instead: "We're trying to find out what Brian and my
best friend are doing in there!"
AJ held out his hand to Sarah: "Hey, I'm AJ!"
She shook his hand: "Hi, I'm Sarah!"
"Now...what ARE thye doing in there?"
"We don't really know", Nick giggled. "But they are laughing their
butts off!"
"Hmm", AJ said, raising his eye-brows and smiling. It was his typical
sarcastic-amused expression. "Then why don't you just go in?"
"It's more fun out here", Nick retorted grinning.
AJ just shook his head, laughing silently under his breath. "I'm in
my room!"
"Hey, Bone", Nick called after him. "Are you coming with us tonight?"
"No, I'm not", he answered, turning around and then disappearing into
his room.
Sarah felt sorry for Molly. She wouldn't be too happy about that. Of
all the boys it had to be AJ who stayed at the hotel...
~~~~~
Five minutes later Brian and Molly came walking out of the room - and almost fell over Sarah and Nick.
"Why are you sitting here in the hall?" they asked.
"Just for fun", the other two answered in unison.
"I doubt you had as much fun as we had - at least not as much as me", Molly said. "This guy here" - she pointed at Brian - "is the funniest guy I've ever met!"
"I think we could hear that", Nick said grinning.
"By the way", Brian started, "was it you two who caused the riot out there? I mean, all the screaming from the fans. Man, that was loud! ...Now let's get the other guys and then finally leave! Whoever isn't ready has to stay." Brian laughed, running down the hall, knocking at the other boys' doors and stepping into the last room.
"Bone's not going", Nick informed, running after him.
The girls glanced at each other. When they were alone, Sarah said: "I'm sorry, Molls! We'll still have time to meet him - well, I already have!"
"You met AJ?"
"Just shortly. We introduced ourselves and that was it." Molly sighed sadly. "Oh, by the way: Nick has told me who they are! I mean, that they're the BSB!"
"Brian has told me, too! Did you tell Nick about..."
"No!" Sarah interrupted, knowing what Molly wanted to ask. "I didn't dare to. I don't want him to be angry about it. Have you told Brian?" Molly shook her head sadly. "Molly, I'm afraid I'm falling in love!"
"With Nick? Oh girl...you know so many guys, but you wait to fall in love with the one you are most unlikely to get."
"It's not my fault. You can't help falling in love!"
"I know... Falling in love is excatly that: falling! You can't help it."
"And what about you and Brian?"
"What? There's nothing - NOTHING - going on between me and Brian. We just get along pretty well." Sarah glanced at her, letting her know she didn't believe a word. "Sarah! Believe me, there are no romantic feelings between us."
The conversation was stopped by the boys - Brian, Kevin, Howie and Nick - coming back and joining them. So the big party finally started. Unfortunately without AJ...
* * *
Donna heard music coming from AJ's room, so she walked over and knocked on the door. When she got no answer she thought he probably just forgot to turn his radiio off. She opened the door slowly and saw AJ lying on his bed, looking like he was sleeping. He must have noticed her, because he opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Hey...", he murmured.
"AJ! I thought you were gone with the others. What are you doing here?"
"I just didn't wanna go."
"Is everything alright? You wanna talk?" Of course she knew that AJ had broken up with his girlfriend not long ago, so she figured that might be on his mind. She walked over to him and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Are you down because of Amanda?"
"Kinda. It's not really because of her, it's just... it was nice having somebody, you know. Although we couldn't see each other as often as we wanted, it was nice just to be called in the mornings and tell her good night in the evening. It's not really missing HER, you know what I mean?! We're still friends and all. But I miss the feeling..."
"I know what you mean. I guess you can only help yourself getting through this now, but you know you can always count on us. We're here whenever you need us."
"I know. Thanks!"
"All I can add is that even pop-stars can have and DO have relationships, don't forget that."
"Well, I have the guys", AJ smiled and thought to himself: "And maybe I've found a girl that could be Mrs. Right!"
Donna smiled at him, patted his leg and left him alone again.
"Mrs. Right?!" AJ suddenly declared himself crazy, as he realized what he had just thought. "Geez, man, you only know what she looks like!" He shook his head at his own thoughts. What was it with him and this girl? He didn't know anything about her, except that she had an incredible smile and that she was beautiful. "Well, at least that's a start", he thought. "If I ever get to talk to her!"
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