AJ lead Summer and I through a winding corridor. I was so lost by now. All of these hallways looked the same, and I was still in a daze about being able to tour. I nearly ran into AJ when he stopped at a door marked ‘lounge'. I assumed that this was where everyone went to hang out, but I didn't expect anything quite like what I saw when I walked in. The walls of the large room were draped with a rich red fabric, and the room smelled vaguely of incense.
There was a pool table off to the left of the room, which was surrounded by five or six people, only two of which held pool cues. There was a television area on the other side of the room, at which two young men were playing Mario Kart. AJ nudged Summer and I into the room, closing te door behind us. I glanced at Sum and saw the same expression on her face as I'm sure was on mine. We felt as if we had just entered a private club which we were not exactly part of. AJ, however, seemed right at home.
He bounded over to the pool table, interrupting the game, which seemed highly competitive.
"Yo, yo! Train! D! You guys gotta meet a coupla people!" he yelled, not too subtly. Summer took a step forward, and I followed. The two men with pool cues looked up. AJ turned to us. "Don't be shy all of sudden, you two... come meet everyone!" He grabbed my hand, pulling me forward. "Everyone!" He yelled, as I managed to force a smile. "This fine young lady..." he grinned as the group snickered "is Cassandra Aspen, one of our new security crew members. And over here," he gestured to Summer, "Is Summer Holland, our new physio and massage assistant. I think we'll all get to know her pretty well..." Summer and I smiled and waved as everyone said hi.
"Well," said the taller man that was playing pool, "I'm Kevin, and this is Howie, over there attached to the t.v. are Nick and Brian. We're the other four members of the group. This is Leigh-Anne, Brian's fiancee," he said, pointing to a friendly looking blond woman, "and this is Kristin," he put his arm around the slender woman beside him, who also had dark hair and eyes, "my fiancee. Over there is Q, out main personal security guy, and Cole, one of our dancers." he finished. I smiled, dazed, knowing that there wasn't much of a chance that I would remember all of those names. I just nodded and said hi.
Summer and I attempted to mingle and get comfortable with the people that we would be spending most of our time with. I went to watch the rest of the pool game, being a pretty good player myself. It was Howie's turn, and there was only the eight ball and his last striped ball on the table, except for the cue. Kevin was ahead by one. Howie had a difficult shot coming up, and he was unsure about his best angle. After he analyzed it for a minute, I decided to help him out.
"Uh, Howie, can I make a suggestion?" He looked at me.
"Oh, of course! I think I'm stuck, anyway." He smiled bashfully, and I noticed his flawless smile and felt a familiar sensation along the back of my neck. Oh no. No. I did not just get shivers, I thought. I looked back down at the pool table, unable to look back up at Howie.
"If you bank it off the right side, about here, with a little topspin, the cue should hit your stripe, banking it off of here and into this corner pocket." I looked up. He nodded.
"Yeah, that might just work, thanks!" he smiled at me again, sending fresh shivers across the back of my neck. I shook them off and watched him set up for his shot. He did it perfectly, exactly as I said, sinking the stripe. After that, the eight was easy, and he won the game.
"No fair!" Kevin complained. "He had outside assistance!" He crossed his arms in mock anger. I laughed and Howie put his arm around my shoulder. I could swear he must have felt the shiver that time.
"I think that we make a pretty good team!" he squeezed me gently. I grinned stupidly, not nearly as shy as before. Another game soon started up, and the group chatted. After the first few shots, I heard a groan and then loud laughter coming from where Brian and Nick were playing video games.
"Haha! I beat the great Nick Carter at Mario Kart! Ha!" Brian taunted, as he stood and did a victory dance on the table. Nick sat slouched in the couch, looking dejected.
"Yeah, well, I'm having a bad day. " he mumbled, obviously sulking. Brian jumped off of the table.
"Relax, man! Don't worry about it so much. It's better for you this way." Brian said more softly. I wondered what was wrong, being the nosy chica that I am. I think that's one of my worst habits, nosiness... and I hate being wrong. I was about to ask what was wrong, when I heard Summer's voice.
"Did I hear someone say relax? That would be my line of work!" she walked over to stand behind the couch and Nick. Summer tends to get over shyness quickly, which was obvious when she put her hands on Nick's shoulders, gently massaging him. He flinched at first, but I heard her murmur gently to him, trying to relax him and loosen him up. I knew, out of experience, how good that felt. As her roommate, I had been practice for er massage course. It had been a heavenly five weeks.
After a bit, I noticed people slowly drifting out of the room, until AJ and I were the only ones, except Nick and Summer, still there. AJ leaned into my ear and whispered "We should go. I'll explain after we're out." I looked at him, puzzled, but nodded after I saw the seriousness in his eyes. As I walked past the couch, I saw the blissful expression on Nick's face, and the concentration on Summer's. They were in their own little bubble. I knew I'd hear her story when we went home, but I was curious to hear what AJ would say after we left the room.