September 6, 1999
Nick walked into the VIP lounge at Orlando International Airport and glanced around. He chuckled slightly to himself. Of course he was the last to arrive. He always was. He walked over to Becca and sat down. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Hey there.”
“Hey yourself,” She smiled. “What took you so long?” He slipped an arm around her shoulders. “Traffic.”
“You should’ve just stayed at the beach house last night. It would’ve made much more sense and we both wouldn’t have had to sleep alone.” Becca wiggled her eyebrows at him, suggestively, and Nick laughed nervously. He still didn’t know what to think of their whole situation.
A few feet away, Ang eyed the two. “They seem awful cozy,” she whispered, leaning closer to Brian.
“Who?” Brian asked, looking around.
Ang rolled her eyes. “Them,” she answered, nodding in the direction of Nick and Becca.
“So?” Brian shrugged. “They’ve been hanging out a lot lately. They’re good friends.”
“I think it’s more than that,” Ang observed. “There’s definitely something going on there.”
Brian shrugged again. “So what? Good for Nick. It’s about time he found someone who isn’t a complete bitch.”
“Brian?!” Ang exclaimed, perhaps a little too loudly.
All eyes turned towards them. “Keep your voice down, Ang,” he whispered. “And all I’m saying is that from the moment he and Katelin got together, she played him like a yo-yo. It’s about time he found someone that will respect him for who he is.” Before Ang got a chance to respond, their flight to New York was announced. Everyone gathered their stuff together and made their way towards the gate. When they landed in New York three hours later, Fatima instructed them to rest for a few hours before they would go to the Met to rehearse for the VMA’s. Everyone separated and went to their respective rooms.
“Kev honey,” Brooke said as they put their stuff down. “I’m gonna take a shower, okay?”
“Sure,” Kevin smiled. “I’ll just be out here laying there.”
No sooner had Brooke closed the bathroom door when Kevin’s cell phone rang. “Hello?”
“Mr. Richardson?”
“Yes?”
“This is Ryan at First National Bank in Orlando. I was calling to verify with you the significant amounts of money that has been withdrawn from your account in the last few weeks. I was concerned because your account hasn’t ever had this much activity.”
“Hold on one second,” Kevin said, bewildered. He reached for Brooke’s purse to find a pen and paper so he could write everything down. He pulled out a piece of paper and was about to begin talking when he noticed his account number written across the page.
“Exactly how much were they for?” Kevin asked, surprisingly calm.
“The first one was on August 27th for ten thousand dollars and the second one was for the same amount taken out on September 4th. They have both been transferred to an account here at the same bank with a name of Brooke Alexander. Are these both valid transfers?”
“Yes,” Kevin lied. He was going to kill his girlfriend. Why the hell would she be stealing from him?
“Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Bye.”
“Bye,” Kevin said, through gritted teeth.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Alright guys!” Fstima said, clapping her hands together. “Let’s get in position.” Everyone assembled into their places as the music for ‘Larger Than Life’ began to play. They went through the routine a few times and were now on the last run-through. When it came time for the Boys to throw the girls to the other guys, there was an accident. Nick lost his footing just as he was about to toss Erin to Tyler, causing her to be thrown no where near him. She landed with a loud THUD on the stage. “OW!” she cried as she landed on her ankle. She sat there rubbing it for a minute.
“Nickolas!” Fatima scolded. “Pay attention!”
“I slipped!” Nick defended. “I didn’t mean to drop her!”
Erin attempted to stand up but ended up collapsing back onto the stage. “Uh…I can’t get up.”
“Take your shoe off,” Fatima instructed. “Let me have a look at it. Krista, go get her some ice.” Krista walked backstage to find some ice as everyone else crowded around Erin.
“Ooh. That looks bad,” Howie commented. He slapped Nick upside the head. “Nice one, Kaos.”
Nick glared at him. “Shut up.”
A huge bump and bruise had begun to form on Erin’s left ankle. Krista came back from getting ice and handed it to Erin.. “Here. Put this on it.”
Fatima sighed. “We’re going to have to get her to the emergency room. I have a feeling it’s broken.”
“Broken?” Erin asked, tears forming in her eyes. “What are we going to do?”
“Let’s see if it is, first,” Krista told her. “Then we’ll worry about it.” Fatima told everyone to go back to the hotel while she and Dave took Erin to the hospital. When she returned to the hotel around five o’clock, she went straight to AJ and Krista’s hotel room. Sure enough, Erin’s ankle was broken and she was instructed to stay off of it for at least six weeks. That meant that she was definitely out for the tour, but most importantly, they were short one dancer for the VMA’s. They needed to find a replacement and they needed to find one fast. Very fast.
“What the hell are we going to do?” Fatima whined as she collapsed onto the bed.
Krista thought for a minute. “I may have an idea. But I’m warning you. It’s a long shot.”
Fatima’s eyes lit up. “Well, anything’s worth a try right now. What did you have in mind?”
Krista grabbed her purse. “Come with me. I’ll explain on the way.”
The cab pulled up to a huge building on Park Avenue. Krista paid the driver and she and Fatima climbed out and walked inside. After talking to the doorman, he directed them to the very top floor. They rode the elevator all the way up to the penthouse in silence, both praying that this would work out. When they reached the top floor, they exited the elevator and rang the doorbell at the huge wooden door that stood in front of them. A woman, probably in her mid-fifties, answered it about a minute later. “Can I help you?” Fatima and Krista explained who they were and they were led into the living room to wait.
“Jesus,” Fatima breathed, as the woman disappeared up the stairs. “Would you look at this place?”
“I know,” Krista agreed. “I knew the girl had money but this is insane.” They saw Mary walk down the stairs again.
“She’ll be with you in a minute,” she informed them before she disappeared down a hallway. They waited patiently for a few more minutes before they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Krista looked up and grinned. “Hey stranger! Bet you never thought that you’d see us again so soon.”
Katelin smiled warily as she made her way over to them. “Hey guys. Uh, what are you doing here?”
“Uh-uh,” Krista said, shaking her head. “First, I get a hug.”
Katelin smiled and pulled Krista into a hug. “You look good! You’re starting to show.”
“I know.” Krista patted her stomach. “Soon I won’t fit into anything that I own. Second of all, why haven’t you returned any of my calls?”
Katelin shrugged and looked away. “I don’t know. I just didn’t feel like talking to anyone, you know?” She sat down on the couch across from them. “So, now tell me why you both are here.”
Fatima glanced nervously at Krista and then back to Kate. “Um…well…you see…we’ve sort of got a little problem. Actually, a huge problem, and we could really, really use your help.”
Katelin narrowed her eyes at them. “Why do I not like the sound of this?”
“One of the dancers broke her ankle,” Fatima explained. “The VMA’s are in three days and we don’t have enough time to find someone and teach them the routine in that amount of time. You’re already familiar with it, except for the few changes here and there, and you would catch on so easily.”
“Please Katelin,” Krista begged. “I know it’s probably the last thing you want to do but we have no where else to turn.”
“I guess it won’t kill me,” Katelin sighed. “It’s only a few days, right?” Fatima and Krista exchanged yet another nervous glance. Katelin noticed. “What was that for?” she asked. “What else do you need me to do?”
“Well,” Krista began. “The, um, tour is starting in a little over a week and—“
“Uh-uh! No way in hell!” Katelin interrupted. “You cannot expect me to do that. I won’t!”
“Kate,” Krista pleaded. “You have to. How are we supposed to teach someone all of the dances in one week. That’s impossible. You know I wouldn’t ask you to do this if there were any other way. Please?! I’ll make you the baby’s godmother!”
“Krista,” Katelin whined, quietly. “I can’t. You don’t understand. I can’t see him every day. I’m trying to forget how much he hurt me. If I’m around him all of the time, that hurt will always be there. You can’t expect me to do this.” Krista stood up and went to sit next to Katelin, putting her arm around her. “I know you’re hurt, Kate. But you don’t need to associate with him on a personal level. Just think of it as strictly business. You know how hard Fatima works us. You won’t even have time to think about him.”
Both Fatima and Katelin giggled. “So what do you say?” Fatima asked, timidly. Inside, she was silently praying that this would work out or else they were completely screwed.
Katelin sighed, heavily. “I guess I could do it. Just for you guys, though. I probably owe you, Kris, for that last day in Europe. You kept what little sanity I had left.”
“Yeah Kate!” Krista jumped up and hugged her. “You’re the best!”
“Thanks,” Katelin laughed. “But I’m still expecting to be the baby’s godmother.”
“Don’t worry,” Krista told her. “You will.”
“Well, we should get going,” Fatima said as she stood up from the couch. “Thank you so much, Kate. You’re really saving our asses.”
Katelin began to walk them to the door. “Don’t tell anyone I’m doing this. I don’t want to give Nick any time to practice what he might say to me. I want him to be completely blind-sided by this.”
“We won’t,” Fatima laughed. “Be at the Met at eight tomorrow morning so I can teach you the new steps.”
“I will.” Katelin nodded. “Bye guys!”
“Bye!” They both chorused. Katelin closed the door after them and leaned against it, sighing heavily. In just a few more hours she was going to come fact to face with Nick Carter again.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Brooke collapsed on the bed, exhausted. They had been up for hours on end and had to rehearse all afternoon and all she wanted was to crawl into bed and never have to get up.
“I wonder who Fatima’s going to get to replace Erin,” she said to Kevin, who was sitting on the bed with his back to her, taking his shoes off. He shrugged but didn’t say anything. “You’ve been awfully quiet,” she remarked.
“Just tired, I guess,” Kevin lied. Brooke eyed him carefully for a minute before going into the bathroom to get ready for bed.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Hey Chrissy baby,” Howie said as soon as he heard her voice on the other end of the phone.
“Hey Howie,” she answered. “How’s New York?”
“Alright,” Howie sighed. “I wish you were here, though.”
“I know. I wish I was there too. But I have to work and my mom flew in today. We’re going to work on some wedding plans.”
“Ooh. Fun,” he teased.
“Shut up! Anyway, how’s everything going? Anything exciting happen yet?”
“Well, Nick broke one of the dancer’s ankles.”
“He did what?!” Christine exclaimed. “How the hell did he manage that?”
Howie laughed. “It was an accident. He lost his balance and dropped her.”
“Fatima must be having a heart attack.”
“I think that they’ve found someone else. I’m not sure who, though. We’ll find out tomorrow.”
“Alright, babe. I gotta go.”
“Yeah. Me too,” Howie responded.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too. Bye Chris.”
“Bye, baby.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“So, who is this new dancer we’re getting tomorrow?” AJ asked as he and Krista lay in bed that night.
“You’ll find out tomorrow with everyone else, nosy,” she told him, slapping him playfully.
“Come on, Kris,” he whined. “Just tell me.” He already had a sneaking suspicion of who it was but he wanted to hear her say it.
“AJ, stop whining. It’s really not you,” she commented. AJ moved his head to rest on her stomach. “You hear that baby? Your mommy’s mean. Whenever you want something, come to me.”
“Yeah right,” Krista laughed. “At that rate, they’ll have tattoos and piercings by the time they can talk.”
“No he won’t,” AJ defended.
“He?” Krista asked.
“Yeah,” AJ answered proudly. “He. Now tell me her name.”
She playfully shoved him off of her. “Stop! I’m not telling you! You’ll just have to wait and see.” AJ pretended to pout but he was sure he knew who it was. He couldn’t wait to see what everyone’s reaction would be. Especially Nick’s.