Kathryn sighed and looked at her watch for what seemed to be the hundredth time. 6:30. She should've been on the plane right now, flying to Orlando. However, that little TV looking screen above her told otherwise. Next to "Flight 707- New York Airport to Orlando, Florida", was printed in bold, mocking letters....DELAYED. If there was one thing Kathryn loved, it was punctuality. Currently, Kathryn was not thrilled with the plane.
She brushed her hair back and sat down in one of the many blue chairs in the terminal. She didn't even have Mouse to keep her company...since the dear little kitten was going down to Orlando amongst other animals of people with a special service. Kathryn had insured that Mouse would be in the best hands possobile, and could sit in her seat in peace...that is, as close to peace as she could get while wondering where her plane was.
10 minutes slowly passed. Still no sign of the plane. Kathryn was starting to get a slight headache. She took out a book, a Stephen King novel and opened it up.
Another 10 minutes passed. By now Kathryn was a bit peeved. What was wrong with this flight? The few people around her were starting to look a bit restless.
Finally, after another 10 minutes, when Kathryn was ready to pounce on something, the flight attendants crisp, rehearsed, flat voice came over on the intercom. "Would all first class passengers, women and children on United Air Flight 707 to Orlando, Florida please board the plane now."
"Finally!" griped Kathryn quietly to herself. Boarding the plane, she reached her seat and grinned. Who didn't love first class?
After everyone was boarded, the usual announcements came over the plane. They flew up into the air, and the safety video was shown. Finally, after they were up and flying and about halfway to Orlando, dinner was served. Being served first, a tray was set in front of Kathryn.
"Thank you." said Kathryn to the stewardess politely, and stared down at her tray. Memories of grade school cafeteria food came rushing back to her. She had been told that she would be served vegetable lasagna, a roll, and salad. Struggling to identify the items on her tray, she glanced over at the man next to her to see how he was eating his food. The husky man was sleeping. Great. Kathryn was extremely hungry, so she stared skeptically at the food in front of her, and hunger won out. She took a bite of what she hoped was the lasagna and finished it. By then, she was so hungry she didn't care that the salad looked limp and not very tasty and wolfed that down too. She ended up taking a few bites of the roll. Finally she couldn't eat another bite. It may have been disgusting, but hey, that took care of her hunger.
NSA. No Strings Attached. THE TOUR. Kathryn couldn't help but think about it. 3 months of going on a bus, playing piano. The bus part, she wasn't really sure of, but she hoped it wouldn't be that bad. She wondered if she'd make any friends on the tour. Kathryn wasn't stupid, she knew she didn't have really any friends. Often the thought haunted her that is was really her fault. Maybe it was her personality, or her looks. Maybe she was just the type to repel people. Maybe she just wasn't MEANT to have friends. These thoughts plagued her every now and then, but Kathryn tried to ignore them. The man next to her snored loudly and continued to sleep.
She yawned. Sleep didn't seem so bad. It was only 7:40, and the flight would land at 8:10. Kathryn was lulled into sleep, and laid her head back. Curling up in her seat she fell asleep, with thoughts of being on the No Strings Attached tour, the pianist.
"Flight 707 has landed in Orlando, Florida. Please remain in your seat until the plane has come to a complete stop." This was the first thing that Kathryn heard as she woke up. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she looked at her trusty watch. 8:16. Kathryn sighed tiredly. It seemed like there was nothing worse than waking up after a restful sleep. Stumbling slightly as she stood up, she reached under the seat in front of her and took out her carry on luggage. Patiently, she waited and let a few young children walk in front of her, then made her way off the plane into the terminal.
Remembering someone was supposed to be there waiting for her, she looked around the slightest bit nervously. A large, dark skinned man was standing still, a sign in his hands that said, "Kathryn Alender". With him, was Mouse's cat carrier with a happy looking Mouse inside, and all of Kathryn's luggage. A bit anxiously she walked up to the man timidly and said in a soft voice, "Hi. My name is Kathryn...?"
Smiling the man said, "Great! So you're the pianist we've heard about from Steve! I have all your luggage and your, um, cat. We can head over to your apartment now, if you want. You look a mite tired." The man looked a slight bit concerned.
"Sure, that'd be great," said Kathryn wondering to herself if she really looked that bad, "Thank you very much for taking care of my luggage and everything Mr.....?" trailed off Kathryn realizing she had absolutely no clue who this man was.
"Oh! You can call me Mike. I'm a security guard for the guys, but I can do odds and ends." answered the man kindly. By, "the guys", Kathryn assumed he meant *N Sync, and grinned shyly. She held out her hand, "Nice to meet you Mike." And with that, the two headed to Kathryn's apartment.
The drive to her apartment was silent for the most part. The silence in the car was a friendly, thoughtful silence though, not cold. Mike tried starting conversation, but Kathryn politely answered briefly, and a bit quietly. Mike decided that she was too tired to talk and gave up.
Soon, they reached Kathryn's apartment. Kathryn took out her suitcases, bags and Mouse's carrier, and started to step out of the car. Mike surprised her by grabbing her suitcases from her and asked politely, "Which number are you?"
Katrhyn was surprised and said, "No! Really, it's okay! I can manage it by myself. I mean, it was awfully nice of you to get my things for me at the airport, but really, I can do this by myself. I really do appreciate you getting my things earlier, but I can manage..." Kathryn was cut off by a wave of Mike's hand.
"Kathryn, you're going to be part of the tour, and people on the tour become family." said Mike matter-of-factly, with an ALMOST stern edge to his voice.
After a little more feeble protesting, Kathryn finally gave up. "Okay, okay. Are you sur..." started Kathryn, but stopped at a raised eyebrow from Mike. "Room 147." said Kathryn in a sheepish tone.
Mike nodded and together the two brought Kathryn's luggage and Mouse upstairs to her apartment. "So, we'll be seeing you tomorrow at the studio at 6:00 a.m." said Mike after they were done.
"Okay." said Kathryn, nodding her head. "Steve sent me these directions for the studio, so I should be okay."
Mike said goodbye, and left then. Kathryn shut and locked the door after him. She only unpacked a few outfits for the next 3 days, since they'd be going on tour soon. Finally, letting Mouse out, and his litterbox, she studied her music a little bit. It wasn't very hard for Kathryn, and she smiled because nothing made her happier than music. Yawning widely, Kathryn realized that she had a long day ahead of her, and jumped into the bed that the landlords gave to their tenants for their stay. With one last yawn, she quickly fell asleep.
The next few days passed quickly for Kathryn. Basically, she dragged herself out of bed at 5, took a quick shower and all, dressed, jumped in her car and raced to the studio. There, all she did was meet with the rest of the band in one of the studios and they played their songs together. The other band members were all men, and they chatted with her a little bit, complimenting her playing. Surprisingly, they only played to a tape of the guys singing. Steve had told the band that the men of *N Sync were busy practicing their dance moves and rehearsing like mad for the "Tour of the Summer" as it was called.
Kathryn had already put her stuff onto her bus. She was on Bus #2, with the other women on tour, such as the make-up artists, hair dressers, and a chaperone.
Kathryn couldn't wait.
1 more day.
(May 4th, 3:45 a.m.)
Kathryn woke up yawning hugely. She closed her mouth abrubtly and groaned quietly to herself. She had been told that they had to wake up at 4 in the morning to avoid fans and get everyone onto the bus as soon as possible. So she had set her alarm clock for 3:30. Glancing at her clock, Kathryn's eyes boggled. 3:45!!! She must have overslept!!!! Hazily, Kathryn recalled slamming her hand over the "Snooze" button earlier in the morning. She raced to and fro barely getting wet in the shower, changing in record timing and grabbing Mouse's cat carrier just in time. She raced out the door, much to Mouse's annoyed meow.
Speeding to the studio, she finally reached there. She got out of her car looking around at everything, all the busy people, all the goodbyes going on.
Glancing at her watch she sighed, relieved. It was only 4:05. Fashionably late. What a relief! She put down Mouse's cat carrier next to her and brushed through her hair, putting it up in a bun. She reached down to take Mouse out and pet him, apologizing for the morning rush, but her hand hit the door of the carrier, which was swinging back and forth.
Baffled and panicky, she looked in the carrier carefully. Nothing was there. "Mouse?" said Kathryn nervously. Suddenly she heard a hiss and a few excited yelps of a...dog? A little grey pug was chasing a very harried, annoyed looking Mouse. The small kitten was helplessly running around, dodging people in it's quest to escape the dog. As Kathryn raced towards the cat, many people looked on in amusement.
"Mouse!" said Kathryn, not caring who heard her. She didn't want her most prized possession to be hurt in any way by a dog. Kathryn realized it was her own carelessness Mouse was out being chased by a dog. In her haste that morning, she hadn't locked the cat carrier, and Mouse was very clever.
In her haste to catch Mouse, she hadn't noticed a young man with spiky black hair chasing after the dog screaming, "Busta!!" Finally, Kathryn caught up to Mouse and dove upon the little kitten, wrapping her hands around it's furry gray body quickly. At that same second, the man chose to dove upon his small pug, and caught it with a satisfied grunt. However right after the grunt came a yelp. Kathryn and the man slammed heads into each other. Both people rocked backwards, falling on their bottoms. Shaking her head from the stars, Kathryn looked at the man. There was 2 of him...no wait...1. Standing up she brushed herself off, and gave Mouse a little hug. The kitten meowed indignantly, angry that he, Mouse, had been chased by a dog. The man was holding his dog, "Busta" she presumed and was staring at her. He looked strangely familiar. Kathryn knew she should know him, but was so disoriented she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"Who are you? Do you work here? Is that thing yours?" said the man blankly.
Taken aback, Kathryn responded, "I'm Kathryn Alender, piano player for the No Strings Attached Tour. And this isn't a THING, it's my pet, Mouse." said Kathryn defending her little animal. After all, it was HIS animal that attacked her dear pet. "And who are YOU?" asked Kathryn curiously, wondering if he was maybe a back up dancer or technician or something.
He dusted off his pants and held out his hand with a wide grin. "I. Am. Chris Kirkpatrick. The "S" in *N SYNC. And this is my dog Busta. Nice to meet you, welcome to the tour."