~chapter twenty-four: miles apart
Dana laughed, and tried to seem interested in what Curtis was telling she and Brette. Slowly, so it wasn't obvious, Dana reached for the portable phone, and backed away from the couple. Eventually, she leaned against the doorframe that lead to the hall. As soon as Curtis looked away, Dana ducked into the hall and ran towards her room. She locked the door quickly, and dialed even faster. Two and a half rings passed, and the cell phone was answered.
"Hello?" was what Brian intended to say, but he actually only said 'He-', before Dana interrupted.
"Bayyybeeee," Dana said in a sing-song tone.
"Bayyybeeee," Brian replied.
"How are you?" Dana asked.
"Good," he answered promptly. "I miss you."
"I miss you too," Dana smiled.
"Have you been by my house lately?"
"You've been gone for three days," Dana scoffed. "I haven't checked yet."
"Can you check today?" Brian asked with a whimper. "I don't want the mail to build up and people start to notice that I'm gone."
"You are such a wiener," she chastised.
"And make sure you lock the door on the way out," Brian continued. "Robbers and such."
"I will, I'm not dumb."
"Ermmm, I wouldn't be so sure," Brian teased.
Dana laughed. "Shut up!"
"Kiss me and I'll shut up," he countered.
"I'll kiss you in due time," Dana shot back. "You only have to wait another nine days."
"Oh, and it's so torturous," Brian moaned. "What'll I do when you come? I'll have to tell all my other girlfriends not to come by."
"Yeah, you better, or some of 'em might walk into a black eye or two." Dana drummed her fingernails on her desk. "Know what I mean, jelly bean?"
"And you have such a mean right hook, too."
Dana examined a chip in her desk, and tried to pull out the pieces of dust that had accumulated. "So how was the show last night?"
"It went good." Brian nodded. "Yeah, it went really good. I'm glad I have the night off though, I'm gonna call this sweet and sexy girl back in Florida."
She smiled. "So what were you doing at the exact second I called?"
"Nothing."
"No, seriously," Dana insisted. "Tell me."
"Well, I was headed back to the bathroom on the bus, ready to take one of the longest pisses of my life, when my phone started to ring." Brian grinned. "So now I've got my legs crossed and I'm clutching my crotch like a baby."
"Go pee!" Dana instructed. She laughed, and grabbed a big pillow. Holding it tightly, she tried to picture the inside of the bus. There were twelve bunks in the middle, a kitchen composed of a booth-like table and cupboards, and a 'living room' with a big couch and some electronic stuff.
"And," Brian continued, "I was planning our seven days together."
"What have you planned?"
"Time alone, time alone, more time alone... maybe go out for dinner before the Grammy's, then the Grammy's, then more time alone." Brian smiled. "I can't wait for them, I'm getting so excited. Can you believe that I'm gonna be on the same stage as Elton John? It's mind boggling!"
"I'm so proud of you sweetie," Dana told him. "You're on the Grammy's!" They were both quiet. "How's Tyk?"
"He's good, but he misses you too," Brian smiled.
"Give him a kiss for me," she requested.
"Sure, just a second." He set the phone down, and whistled. "Tyk, come here." Tyk's nails clicked along the floor, and he jumped into Brian's bunk. Brian reached for his phone. "He's right here."
"Did you kiss him?"
"No. I'll kiss Tyk when I can kiss you." Brian covered the mouthpiece on his phone, and kissed Tyk. He didn't want Tyk to develop any anti-affection complexes, as cheesy as it sounded. Brian set his dog on the floor, and resumed his conversation. "How's school going?"
"So-so. I have to write a paper about globalization, and the spread of information, technology, and disease through remote tribal cultures." She sighed. "it's massive and I really don't want to do it."
"No, I wouldn't want to do it either." Brian re-crossed his legs, and laid back on his bunk. "Of course, I don't study globalization, and the spread of stuff through a bunch of tribes either, but still. It doesn't sound too interesting."
"It's interesting," she countered. "It's for one of my favorite classes. I just don't feel like writing a two thouand word paper." Dana touched her lips, noting the dry skin. "Writing big essays isn't exactly a hobby of mine."
"And now that you're gone, I just wanna be with you."
"Hmm?" Dana asked.
Brian blinked out of his reverie. "What? Oh, just a little Enrique Iglasies." He searched through his backpack, and extracted a packet of gum. Spearmint, he noted, then unwrapped a piece and popped the green stick in his mouth. "It was on MTV yesterday afternoon, and the damn thing has been stuck in my head ever since then. It's a good song, but after having the song in my head for twenty some hours it's pretty annoying." He paused. "Hey Dana?"
"Yeah?"
"I know you like your privacy and all, but I've been thinking about us, and my position, and you, and..." he stopped. There was no great way to say it, no really simple way to ask. It would come out cheesy sounding, and pathetic, but that's the way it would have to be. "Right now the official word is that I'm single. I have never publically admitted to dating after breaking up with my last girlfriend, and so even though people may see us together, I'm officially single. If it's okay with you..." Brian swallowed. "I sorta want to change that."
She scratched her elbow, and sat in front of the dresser mirror. A smiling, twinkling eyed Dana stared right back. Her hair shone in the sunlight, and her cheeks were rosy. "If you want to, it's okay with me. It's not like you're gonna go 'Hey everyone, I'm dating DANA COMMONS, at U of SOUTH FLORIDA. SHE'S A STUDENT THERE!' Sure, you can." A beep blared into her ear, and Dana frowned. The reflection frowned back. "Sweetie, I've got a beep. Can you hang on a second?"
Brian checked his watch. "Actually, I should probably go, we're going for supper in a few minutes."
"Oh?" The brievity of the conversation startled Dana, she had expected a good hour or two of talk time. "Sure, I guess."
"I'll call you tomorrow," Brian promised.
"Okay. Don't you forget," Dana warned.
"I won't. See you in a little while baby." Brian waited for a response, and hung up after Dana provided him with one. He sighed, and rolled out of his bunk.
"I'll see you in a little while baby," Nick imitated smugly. "Somebody's a little loveydovey," he continued teasing.
Brian just smiled, and headed for the bathroom.
- - -early next morning- - -
Brette bit her lip and tried to surpress a smile. "Dana," she whispered, and patted Dana's comforter where a leg-resembling lump was. "Dana, get up, the phone's for you."
Dana stirred in her sleep, but didn't open her eyes. "What?" she whispered fiercly.
"The phone is for you," Brette replied.
"Who the hell is it?" Dana didn't appreciated the early morning wake-up call. She wasn't very fond of mornings.
"It's Brian."
Dana sighed with her still eyes closed. "Gimme the phone," she instructed, and held out her hands. "And open the blinds a bit, seeing as how you're up and I'm not gonna be in a few minutes."
Brette opened the blinds, and backed out of the bedroom.
Dana covered her eyes to block out the sunlight, and pressed the phone to her ear. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she hissed unpleasently. "Are you aware of the time?"
"It's 7:15 in the morning, same time as you," Brian answered with a grin. "Open up your eyes sweetie."
"Brian, I really don't wanna play games right now," Dana mumbled dozily. She buried her face deep in the pillow, but kept the earpiece next to her ear.
"Honest to God, open your eyes." He waited eagerly, impatient to hear her reaction.
Dana opened one eye, and gasped, "Oh, Brian."
He smiled ear to ear. "D'you like it?"
"Oh God," she breathed. White roses and yellow daffodils filled vases around the bedroom. Dana guessed that there were between ten and fifteen vases of six to eight flowers. Directly in front of her bed there was a huge white teddy bear. "This is amazing." Dana kicked off the covers, and crawled towards the teddy bear. It was soft, with plush 'fur'. There was a tag attached, and Dana reached for it slowly. She opened the card, and cradled the phone against her ear.
"Hey Honey,
Miss you loads, I can't wait to see you next week.
It'll be so great. You, me, the Grammy's. I'm so
excited, I'm gonna kiss you, and kiss you, and
kiss you again, and then after that I might kiss you
once more. Happy V-Day, wish I was there!
xoxo, and all the mushy stuff
Brian"
"Oh, sweetie, this is so great!" Dana closed her eyes, and inhaled the sweet smell of flowers that filled her room. "Thank you so much," Dana said softly. Sunlight glittered on the mirror, and the teddy bear seemed to grin at her.
"I mean what I said... um, wrote." Brian laughed a little. "I really, really miss you. Loads."
"Yeah, I miss you too." Dana smiled. "You didn't have to do this though. A card and one flower would have sufficed. God, this must have cost you a fortune, all these flowers, and white roses. You really shouldn't have done all of this."
"Too bad," Brian retorted, then smiled into the phone. "I wanted to."
"Bri, please tell me how much it cost," Dana murmured.
"No." Brian smiled triumphantly, though Dana couldn't see him.
"Tell me, please," she asked again.
"Nuh uh. You just sniff 'em, and hug it, and be happy." He waited for a couple seconds.
Finally she relented. The curiousity would kill her, and she would feel eternally guilt-ridden for being the cause of such an expense, but it would be easier just to sniff, hug, and be happy. "Thanks Bri. Thank you so much."
"Aw, no problem. Anything for my girl," he added sweetly. "So, how many days now?"
"Eight. But I really don't want to fly, it's too freaky." She was still dumb-struck by all the flowers. "I want to see you a lot, but if I have to fly then I 'm not so sure. I mean, you're my sexy guy and all, but me? Plane? Nope, they don't mix."
"Just take two sleeping pills, and as soon as you board ask for a pillow, and start to read. You'll be sleeping like a baby in no time flat," he explained with a yawn. Getting up so early hadn't been easy on him either.
"I really don't know." She slipped off the bed, and pulled the comforters up. "By the way, why did you call so early? And how did you get the flowers in here?"
"I wanted to hear your reaction to the flowers, and I got the flowers there by ordering them, getting them delievered, and paying Brette to set them up in your room and waking you up this morning." Brian punched the button on the mini Mr. Coffee, and opened the cupboard. He searched for a clean mug and a spoon. "And trust me, it was worth every single penny."
"How much did you say it was again?"
Brian smiled. "Ha ha, nice try."
- - -eight days later- - -
Flight 278, destined for Greenville, South Carolina, is now boarding. All passengers in rows seven through seventeen, seats a, b, c, d, and e, should now approached the flight desk.
Dana bit her lip. She crossed her legs, then uncrossed them and stood up. She promptly sat down. The sleeping pills had yet to kick in, and she was as antsy and nervous as ever. People filed towards the flight desk. Dana retrieved her ticket. Row twenty-one. Her stomache began to roll, and she clutched her bag. Dana thought that she was suddenly growing very warm, possibly feverish, and her heartbeat began to race. Abruptly she fished a quarter out of her purse and ran for a payphone. Dialing as if life depended on it, Dana prayed that he would pick up.
"Hey?"
"Brian I can't do this," Dana hyperventilated. "I can't."
"You've reached my voicemail. I'm can't take your call, and I'm obviously not here, or I might just be on my phone right now, or the phone is off right now. Whatever. So if you just wait for the beep and leave me a message, I'll talk to ya later... Okay?" His voice faded out, and there was a long tone.
"Brian?!" Dana demanded of the phone. "I can't do this, I can't. I don't wanna fly, I just want to see you. The plane's gonna crash, it's not okay, the pills aren't working, the cover of the book is all ruined cause I'm freaking out, I can't fly, I don't want to die!." She breathed extremely quickly, and was about to start talking again when there was another long tone.
"Time up," the voicemail blared.
Dana sighed and hung up. She turned with resolution, and faced the window. With quick strides, Dana dragged her backpack over to the window, and pressed her face against the glass. The plane sat just outside the thick glass pane, with the airline's logo emblazoned across the tail. "Listen," she hissed at the plane. "You and me don't get along, and I'm as much against this as you, but please make this easy for me. You wouldn't want me to puke everywhere and make you reek like crap, now would you?"
The engines gunned, and Dana nearly jumped at the loud roar.
She gritted her teeth, and scowled at the plane. "Too bad," she said harshly.
- - -a few minutes earlier- - -
"So how many ladies are up in there with you right now?" The DJ laughed. "Ten? Fifteen?"
"Yeah, almost," Brian laughed. "Naw, I'm all by myself right now. It's just me and my dog."
"Aww, that's sweet. Listen girls, he's all alone."
"You could say that," Brian agreed.
"On the subjuct of being all alone, which is the subject of girlfriends, how are things going for you?" The DJ paused. "Of all five guys, you were the most open about your relationship in the past, but lately people have been noticing that you're not talking about that anymore. We know you broke up with a girlfriend around late October of last year, but what about now? Are you single? Dating? Not telling?"
"No, I- I'm dating."
"Really? Is this the official word?"
"Yeah, this is the official word." Brian nodded. "You're the radio station that get's the official announcement."
"Care to spill any details about the lucky lady?"
Just at that moment his cell phone blasted a shrill ring. Brian cringed. He hated to ignore his cell, because it was usually an important call.
The DJ, hearing the phone, laughed. "Busy man, you hafta keep tabs on all your ladies, right?"
"Yeah," Brian half-laughed, half-scoffed. "No, I'm just kidding."
"So, back to my original question, care to talk about your girlfriend?"
"Emmm... not really," he said. "It's kinda private, the secret me."
"How long?"
"Three monthes or so." Brian knew the exact date, but he didn't say so.
"You happy?"
"Yeah, I am. It's a really great relationship."
"That's good. If you're gonna break millions of hearts, and increase the suicide rate, then at least be happy in doing so, right?"
They both laughed. "Yeah."
"So what are you thinking about Kevin being engaged? Any thoughts to tell?"
"It's really great for him. You know, he's happy, and she's a really great woman, and they're both really well suited for each other." Brian stopped. "And it's nice to know, that going by the fan reaction, if any other of us was to get engaged then people would support us and we would still have a fan base."
"Yeah."
"And it's also... like, it kind of shows that there are people who know that the Backstreet Boys are about music, and the fact that we're single, dating, married, or whatever is irrelevant as long as there is a good sound and a happy song."
"Well, I've gotta let you go, I know you must have a tight schedule right now. Thanks Brian."
"Hey, no problem." Brian leaned back against the chair.
"Ladies and gents, and especially the ladies, that was my good buddy Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys on KWZY 99.4 FM. Coming up now we have 'Quit Playin' Games With My Heart', the single that made them huge."
The DJ went off air, and thanked Brian again. They chatted for a few minutes, and Brian hung up the phone. He gazed around his hotel room, and rested his eyes on the digital clock. It was 2:31, and his day had yet to slow down in the slightest. Remembering, the ringing cell, Brian searched out his phone.
'New Message' scrolled across the little screen at the top. He punched in the voicemail code, and waited while the announcer revealed the vital statistics of the message. Finally the message itself started.
"Brian?!" There was a long silence. "I can't do this, I can't. I don't wanna fly, I just want to see you. The plane's gonna crash, it's not okay, the pills aren't working, the cover of the book is all tattered cause I'm a spaz, I can't fly, I don't want to die!"
He laughed a bit at the panicked message, and stretched out across the wide bed. "Oh, Dana," he murmured to himself, and closed his eyes. "Oh, Dana."
- - -a few hours later- - -
Dana examined herself in the mirror of the airport's washrooms. She was a little pale, but other than that she was totally okay. No major physical damage. After tossing back two sleeping pills Dana had drifted off almost instantly. She didn't wake up until the plane was landing, and being awake during landing was the reason for the pale blotches that covered her forehead and cheeks. She searched through her flight back until she located the smooth tub of Blistex lipgloss. Rubbing the medicated gloss over her chapped lips, Dana smiled. She had just made huge steps towards no fear of flying. Of course, the huge steps would have to be referred to as 'sleep-steps', because Dana had been asleep the whole flight, but that didn't really bother her at that moment. An elbow jammed into her ribs, and Dana grunted. "Ow!"
Wide brown eyes peered at her. "I'm soo sorry!"
Dana closed her eyes, and was surprised to find that her breathing was labourous. She was wheezing, something that almost never happened. Then again, she wheezed when she was flying, but she was currently at ground level and wheezing wasn't supposed to happen.
"Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine," Dana said with a quick exhalation. The pain was diminishing quickly, and the whistling in her breaths was gone. "You should just watch where you put your elbows."
"Yeah, it was a total mistake, I'm just so clumsy today," the girl with the brown eyes explained. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah." Dana rubbed her rib cage to check for any lumpy bruises developing, but none seemed to be showing up. She poked two fingers into her curls, and tucked a few loose strands of hair into her ponytail. The bathroom emptied, and Dana smiled at herself. She danced to an imaginary tune, and envisioned Brian standing in front of her.
"Do you wanna dance?" His eyes sparkled.
She grinned cheekily. "Only if you do."
"Always."
"Sure then, let's dance."
Dana was planning the moment, knowing that this trip would be the trip. She just felt that nothing could ruin her visit, and that it would be the most exhilerating experience of her youthful life. There were, of course, reasons that fueled her belief, the first of which being the Grammy's. She, simple lowly college girl Dana, would be attending the biggest event in music history. It was unheard of on campus for someone to go the the Grammy's. She would be a South Florida University legend. The second was the fact that she could bask in Brian, and rub her victory in Faith's face. 'Stupid Faith,' Dana thought with a laugh, before spinning to the song that didn't exist.
- - -later- - -
The hall was empty, except for the stern faced, solidly built, ready-to-punch-any-intruder guards that watched the elevators with iron clad fists. But when you belonged in the hall they were cute cheeked, soft stomached, huggable guards that only wanted to keep you safe. Dana wasn't sure where to catagorize them yet.
There were two men at the far end of the hall, and two men about half way down the hall, keeping a watchful eye over the twenty or so rooms that housed members of the Backstreet entourage on floor eleven. Each room service cart was inspected for stowaways, and bellhops and maids required a password, which changed each day, to enter any room between 1107 and 1130.
She eyed the hall skeptically, and examined a torn napkin. '1124' was written in her own comforting scrawl. Dana turned to check which room number she was at. Slowly she progressed forward one more door, and knocked with budding enthusiasm. Nobody answered. She knit her eyebrows in concern, and knocked again. Still silence. "Brian," she hissed at the door, and knocked still louder. Dana checked to make sure that no one was watching. Satisfied, she kicked the door with all her might. "Brian!"
Four security guard faces turned to look at her. Doors in the hall began to open, and everyone was looking for the source of the noise. In the middle of it all was a sweet-faced girl who was quickly written off as too angelic to make such a loud ruckus. Dana snickered. Her baby face had to be useful for something, and avoiding trouble was it.
The door abruptly swung open and a mess of bleach-blonde hair popped into the hall. "What?" It was a suspiciously femine voice, but experience had taught Dana that jumping to conclusions was not good.
"Is Brian there?" Dana asked as nicely as possible.
"No, wrong room," the girl mumbled, and began to close round the door.
Dana stuck her foot in the way. "Well then what room is he in?"
"I'm not allowed to tell you."
Dana sighed. "What's your name?"
"Holly."
"Holly, I'm Dana. I know that under normal circumstances you're not allowed to tell people what room Brian is in, and that's perfectly understandable. Since you can't tell me where he is, you can let me use your phone." And with that Dana pulled the door back open and marched into the pitch black room. She hit a light switch on the way in.
Stark grey eyes gave Dana the most unpleasent glare known to man.
Dana ignored the look and grabbed the phone. She dialed swiftly, suspecting that Holly was not appreciative of Dana's barging in. She surveyed the room while the phone rang, and her eyes rested on the closed bathroom door. Holly was perched on the edge of a bed, and was staring at the wall.
"Hello?"
"Sweetie?"
"Hey, what's up, why aren't you here yet, I've bee-"
"Because I'm in a room with Holly. Where are you?"
"In my room wh-"
"Which is?"
"1118, on-"
"Thank you."
"So we-"
"Bye sweetheart."
The swiftness of the conversation had a purpose. It wasn't Dana's intent to be rude to him, but she really wanted to escape the prying eyes of Holly and relax in the loving arms of Brian. With a thank you and a smile, Dana stood up and exited the room.
~chapter twenty-five~
~chapter index~
