Before she knew it, it was 6:25. "Damn I gotta get going," Laura said aloud as she reached for her car keys. Just as she was about to leave, her door buzzer rang. "Oh great!" she said, "Some people just have THE worst timing!" Laura walked over to her speaker. She sighed and clicked the talk button. "Yes?" she said, a little angry that someone had picked the wrong time to stop by.
"My name is Rick, and I was sent by Howie Dorough for you," the man said. "If you will come down, we can be at Mr. Dorough's home in just a few short minutes."
"OK, I'll be right down," Laura said. Damn, what service! Laura thought as she grabbed her keys again and locked her door behind her.
"I asked Howie for directions to his place. Why would he give them to me if he was just going to send a driver anyway?" Laura asked. "Mr. Dorough said that even though you said you could find his place, he could hear some uncertainty in your voice as you said it. Was he right?" Rick asked. "Quite honestly, Rick... yep, I had no clue," Laura chucked. Rick smiled. "Mr. Dorough is very perceptive sometimes, and he was just looking out for your safety, ma'am." Laura laughed... never had she been referred to as "ma'am." "Please, cut the ma'am thing... call me Laura," she said. "As you wish, Laura," Rick replied. By this time, they were just turning down the road to Howie's home. He wasn't kidding, Laura thought, that didn't take long at all!
Laura had never seen such a beautiful home. Not quite as big as she had expected, but then again, nothing so far has been as she expected. Rick opened her door for her and escorted her into the front foyer. He then told her he would go in and inform "Mr. Dorough" of her arrival. Before leaving he took her coat to hang up for her.
Not long after Rick left the foyer, Howie entered. His face lit up when he saw her. "Laura! You have no idea how glad I am that you're here," Howie said as he kissed her on the cheek. Wow a Backstreet Boy just kissed me! Laura thought. OK, just chill, it'll be OK... just calm down. It was as if Howie had read her mind. "Don't worry, Laura, they'll love ya! C'mon in, I'll introduce you, ok?" His voice was very soothing and Laura calmed down right away. "OK Howie," she said as he took her arm and escorted her into his living room.
Laura saw AJ over by the stereo, looking for a good CD to put on. "Hey, Bone, put on some Journey, will ya?" she heard from in front of the television. It was Nick. He was playing Nintendo. Laura chuckled to herself, I should have figured, she thought. She saw the back of Brian's head over the top of the couch, as Howie and she were standing behind it. And last but not least, Kevin was sitting in the chair by the window, reading a book. Howie got their attention by "coughing."
"AHEM!" he said as each guy looked over to where they were standing. Laura felt goosebumps on the back of her neck as Howie led her further into the room. "I'd like to present, Miss Laura Mitchell, barber extraordinaire!" he joked! They all smiled at Laura and one by one she shook their hands. First one was Brian.
"Well, hello Laura," Brian said warmly. His light southern drawl was even more appealing in person. Just then Nick came up behind Brian and said jokingly, "Hey Frick, don't hog this lovely lady all to yourself!" He pushed Brian's hand aside, teasingly of course. "Hi I'm Nick," he said.
"Hi Nick, it's so cool to meet you," Laura said. She felt as if she were walking on a cloud. "If it makes you feel any better, I think AJ should put some Journey on too!" Nick smiled at that. "Oh, you like them too, huh?" He cocked his head to one side as he asked her what her favorite Journey song was. Just as Laura was about to answer, AJ came up and chimed in.
"Nick, Nick, Nick! Don't poison this young lady with your choice of music," AJ joked. Nick punched him lightly in the shoulder as he turned to go back to playing his Nintendo. AJ continued "I'm AJ, and Howie told me that you love dying hair," he laughed, as did she. "Yes, actually that's one of my favorite things to do!" she replied enthusiastically. AJ smiled. "Well you're sure going to have your work cut out with me! I'll probably be requesting your services more than the other 4 guys combined!" he laughed. All of the guys laughed at that one, actually. Just then Kevin got up and walked over to where Laura and AJ were standing. Laura suddenly felt herself get nervous. Although she loved all the members of the group, she was drawn to Kevin the most. She watched him as he moved so smoothly across the room. When he got by Laura and AJ, he extended his hand.
"Hello there Laura... I think my hair will be the next that you cut. I need a cut so bad," he said, kind of embarrased. "We've been very busy the last few weeks with touring and it's grown out so bad." Kevin smiled as he spoke. Damn, he's even more handsome in person than in pictures, Laura thought as she told herself to stay calm. "Well nice to meet you Kevin," Laura said, "How soon did you want this haircut?" The sooner the better, she thought. Laura knew she wanted to get to know the guys better, but especially Kevin. "We can talk about that later. First of all, come and sit down with us. Let's just get to know each other right now. That is what tonight's all about, isn't it?" he asked. He was right. After all she was going to be spending a lot of time with these 5 guys. She had to know what she was getting into. Howie offered Laura a drink. "Whatever you want," he smiled. "Oh, I think I'll just have a Pepsi, thanks," she said as she smiled back at her gracious host. Laura went to sit down by Brian on the couch and Howie soon returned with her soda. "There you go, m'lady," Howie joked. Laura laughed. He's definitely a charmer, she thought.
Laura and the guys spent about an hour or two talking. Laura shared with them what it felt like when she moved to Orlando, how it took to adjust to the warmer weather. "You guys probably wouldn't know what to do if you got an inch of snow... the entire town would shut down!" she joked.
"Hey we aren't that--well, you're probably right," AJ laughed. They all smiled and laughed in agreement.
"Hey, why don't we order a pizza? I just remembered I didn't eat dinner... I'm starved," Nick said. He was, after all, a growing boy. No, a growing MAN. And a handsome young man at that. But then again, Nick always did look good. "Let's call Tony's, he's got the best stuff!" Everyone agreed on Tony's. Nick called and ordered 3 pizzas for everyone, even though no one else was all that hungry.
After dinner, Kevin spoke up. "Well I believe it's my turn to clean up! Am I getting any help?" No one answered him. "Oh thanks a lot guys," he said sarcastically and with a chuckle. Everyone smiled as they walked past him on their way back to the living room, saying comments like "Have fun!" or "OK, June Cleaver!" Kevin just shrugged their dumb little comments aside as he got to the task at hand.
Now's my chance to talk to him alone, Laura thought. She walked up and caught his attention. "Need any help?" She smiled. He smiled back at her. "Oh no you don't! You're the guest this evening. I can't have you helping me!" His smile grew wider as he said this, and his eyes looked warmly at her. She was ready to burst inside. "Are you sure?" she offered again. "Yes I'm sure," he assured her. Laura was just about to turn to walk to the living room, but Kevin spoke up and stopped her. "I could use some company though..." he said, his green eyes looking at her as if to tell her to say yes. And she did just that.
Kevin and Laura started chatting about everything and anything, from the weather to sports to music.
"So, please say you're a fan. The last personal stylist we had wasn't and we had to listen to her piss and moan all the time," Kevin laughed and smiled. "Of course I'm a fan!" Laura said enthusiastically. "I really love the way your voices all blend together so well, and how sometimes you have that 'do-wop' sound about you. I love 50's and 60's music, so I guess I just love anything that has that kind of feel to it. And of course I love the newer stuff, like Larger Than Life, and Don't Want You Back... the 'harder' stuff," she joked. "I just think you all are just amazingly talented guys," she finished. And amazingly good looking men, she thought to herself. She couldn't help but stare at him. He was the most beautiful man she's ever seen.
"Well, thanks. It's nice to hear someone not say, 'Because you're so cute!'" he joked. Laura was glad he couldn't read her mind.
"Well, I just view that as a fringe benefit," she joked. Kevin laughed. GAWD, that was a dumb comment... I'm glad he laughed anyway. Probably is getting sick of my corny jokes, she thought.
Little did she know what was running through Kevin's mind. Wow, she's really witty--I like that, not to mention she's smart, kind, sincere, and very pretty, he thought. This is DEFINITELY someone I want to get to know a bit better.
Not too much later the kitchen was all straightened out. "Well, Laura, I really appreciate the little talk," Kevin said as he handed her another soda and got one for himself as well. "A toast!" he said. They both raised their soda cans, laughing. "A toast... to many, many more talks like this!" Laura smiled, "Yes, I'll drink to that!" He smiled back at her. It was more than she could bear. Laura felt lucky that her knees didn't give out on her, because if she didn't have her other hand on the countertop, they just might have. Just then Howie came in. "OK, Kev, you've kept this lady to yourself long enough! C'mon out by the rest of us now!" he said to the both of them. Howie took her arm and led her back to the living room with Kevin following. Before they reached the living room, Laura looked back at Kevin. He smiled at her again, but it was somehow different from his other smiles. This one called to her soul. Damn! she thought. I want to know what THAT look was all about!
The rest of the night, Laura became more and more comfortable with these 5 men. I don't know what I was so worried about, she thought to herself, as she glanced Kevin's way. That man had a power over her, and that intrigued her, but scared her at the same time. The last time she felt that was when she first met Mike. NO! she commanded herself. Don't think about him! Don't let that bastard ruin your evening! Just then Laura glanced at the time. 3 AM! Where did that time go?
"Damn, you guys I hate to leave when I'm having such a good time, but if we're leaving in 2 days, I've got to get some sleep so I can get some stuff done tomorrow," Laura said. Everyone else agreed and Brian said, "Yeah, I think we should call it a night. I'm bushed!" Again with that southern accent, Brian... you tryin' to kill me? Laura thought. She always did have a thing for guys with southern accents. She noticed Kevin had it too. Laura smiled inwardly as she recalled their conversation from just a few hours earlier. She couldn't wait until they left for the tour.
"Laura, I could drive you home if you like," Howie offered. Kevin spoke up fast. "It's OK, D. I'm going too. I can take Laura on my way home. It's not out of my way at all." And just how did he know that? Laura thought. "Well, OK, Kev... that is, if it's OK with Laura." He looked to Laura for her approval. Of course Laura wasn't going to turn down this opportunity to spend more time with Kevin. She also spoke up quickly. "Yeah sure, Howie, that's fine with me," she smiled at him, then at Kevin. He was now smiling back at her. Her heart did a little flutter when she saw that.
Kevin got Laura's coat for her as she said good-bye to everyone else. She gave Howie a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for being such a great host," she said. Howie smiled and winked at her and said, "The pleasure was mine, Laura. Oh and if you need any help with what to pack or any last minute stuff, let me know! I'm your man!" he offered. "Thanks, that means a lot... I just may take you up on that offer," she said. Just then Kevin returned with her coat and helped her into it. Laura also noticed that as he did this, his hands were very gentle and once she had her coat on, his hand slid almost seductively down her back. This sent shivers down Laura's spine and she felt herself get goosebumps. GAWD, what the hell is he trying to do to me?! she thought. Before she could outwardly show any reaction to that, he said, "Well, this 'Train' is leavin'!" Everyone laughed at this little play on one of Kevin's nicknames. He turned to Laura. "Shall we?" he said as he extended his hand to her.
"We shall!" she replied as she placed her tiny hand inside Kevin's much bigger hand. Howie then saw them to the door and watched them get into Kevin's car and drive off.
Take me home, baby!
Email me and tell me I'm obsessed.
