"So what kinda dog did you get Frack?"
"A Tibetan Terrier. Oh man, he’s great."
Brian laughs, "Sounds like true love. What’s his name?"
"Jack."
"Jack?! Not a name I’d think of for a DOG."
"Jen’s idea. It suits him. Really."
"So when can I meet JACK then?"
"Whenever."
Brian looks at Nick, "How are things?"
"Good."
"Y’know what I mean."
"Ah, OK." He shrugs. "AJ told you right?" Brian nods. "Figures."
"So you don’t need one of my pep talks then?" Nick laughs and shakes his head. "Damn I had one all worked out!"
"So THIS is a BSB concert."
Sara grins at Jenny, "Yeah! Great isn’t it?"
"Loud is the word I’d choose." Jenny winces and puts her hands over her ears. She glares at the girl next to her who seems to be on a mission to burst her eardrums.
"Thanks for getting me a ticket."
"Huh? Sorry, think my hearing’s given up tonight."
Sara laughs, "Oh it’ll get worse when they come on."
"Is it too late to leave?" The lights dim and the sounds of ‘We’ve Got It Goin’ On’ belt out of the speakers next to the security men. Jenny moves over to one of them,
"Hey….do me a favour?"
"No passes backstage, sorry."
"Already got one. You haven’t got some spare ear plugs?"
He looks at her and grins.
"Sure." He hands her a packet and she puts them in her ears and sighs.
She walks back over to Sara.
"This is good Sara."
The BSBs arrive on stage to a wall of screams and grin out into the audience.
"Oh man, Nick is lookin’ damn sexy tonight."
Jenny looks at Sara and laughs, "Whatever. Personally I don’t think the BMX suit is a good look."
"Hey, give the guy a break!"
Jenny grins, "He’s my housemate…..it’s practically a law to be tough on your housemate!"
They watch the guys dance and sing their way through a number of hi-energy songs, then the guys go off leaving Brian and his guitar behind. He sings a solo, ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’
"Aww that was gorgeous" Sara sighs happily and Jenny smiles. She had taken the plugs out of her ears.
"Yes he’s very good."
AJ appears in a vest showing off all his tattoos and sings his solo ‘Lay Down Beside Me. Then Nick appears in a classy black suit to sing his solo, ‘I Need You Tonight’.
"Wow, I’m in love."
"You already were Sara! But yeah, that suit’s a definite improvement on the biker look."
Sara whistles. "You don’t need to tell ME that Hun."
Jenny looks round the crowded club for a familiar face. She sees Nick sat up against the bar talking to some people and goes over.
"Hey there. You were great tonight."
"You liked it?"
"Oh yeah. Thanks for the tickets."
He smiles and gives her a quick hug.
"Thanks for coming."
"Whose idea was those BMX outfits?"
"Our stylist. Didn’t you like them?"
"Let’s just say, I was happy when you got changed." He laughs.
"Oh Nick looks perfect in EVERYthing." Jen looks at the girl stood next to Nick and smiles.
"Eye of the beholder and all that. Well Nick, I have to go find Sara so I’ll leave you in the safe clutches of the harem." She winks at him and walks away.
AJ comes over and gives her a hug.
"Hey! Enjoy the show?"
"Yeah, it was fantastic. Had a great time."
He grins at her, "Did you ever take those ear plugs out?"
She gasps at him, "How’d you know that?!"
He laughs, "I have my ways…." She thumps him in the arm. "Owch! The security guy told me. He thought it was funny."
"It wasn’t cos of your music, it was the screaming. Honest."
He laughs.
"OK, believe you. C’mon….dance with me." He grabs her hands and pulls her over to a gap in the crowd. The DJ changes record and plays Marvin Gaye’s ‘Sexual Healing’.
Jenny looks at AJ and laughs.
"Is this a conspiracy or what?!" He shrugs and beckons her closer with his finger. They dance together until Lance and Chris from N SYNC rush over.
"Jenny-baybay!" Chris and Lance give her a huge hug. "A-Jayz!"
"Hullo guys." AJ high fives them both.
Jenny ruffles Chris’ hair.
"Good to see you finally got rid of that bad pineapple-do."
Chris laughs.
"Yep sure did."
"Great show AJ. I really enjoyed it."
"Thanks Lance. You gonna poach our set now?!" He laughs and Lance grins.
"Damn, you saw right through my cunning plan." He looks at Jenny. "We’re off to watch that film on DVD, y’know…"
"Oh yeah. You managed to get hold of it then?"
"Yeah. Wanna come along?"
"Yeah! I’d love to see it again."
They look at AJ.
"You in?"
"It’s my party man! I gotta stay. What’s the film anyway?"
"‘The Matrix’."
AJ groans. "Oh man, I really wanna see that!" Jen grins at him and backs away beckoning him with her finger. "Aww damn." He grabs her and runs out with Lance and Chris close behind.
"That was damn confusing. Who the hell was Neo?!"
Chris slaps AJ on the back. "AJ, don’t you listen? Neo was the one to save us from the androids."
"No, they weren’t androids. They were in a computer programme."
"Huh? Lance?! Was I watching a different film or what?"
Jenny laughs, "Yeah, the one in your head. AJ, the Matrix is a virtual reality that only exists inside some huge computer. Keanu’s mission was to try and get Earth out of it." They all stare at her. "I think."
AJ laughs, "So we just spent 2 hours watching this film and no-one understands what the hell happened? Great."
"Just think you could’ve spent those two hours at your party."
AJ shivers, "Man, did you see some of those girls?! I mean I like a lil flesh, a nice piece of booty but they were just WAY too exposed! A guy’s gotta have a lil somethin’ to look forward to unwrapping eh?" Chris and Lance laugh, Jenny just stares at him.
"Hey, sexist…lady here!"
"Huh? Where?" She thumps his arm. "Owch! I need a drink."
Jenny staggers into the kitchen. Nick is leant against the counter eating cereal. She smiles wanly at him.
"Feelin’ rough?"
"Uh, yeah." She pours herself some orange juice and sits down at the table.
"So where’d you go?"
"Huh?"
"You disappeared from the party. I looked for you, so did your friend Sara."
"Oh yeah. Lance and Chris invited us to watch a video with them."
Nick looks at her.
"Us?"
"Uh, AJ came too."
"I thought he was bein’ pretty quiet, kinda figures cos he wasn’t even there."
"Oh I just know I’m going to need my shades today."
"So you watched a video with Lance, Chris and AJ ‘til after 2am? You weren’t here when I got back."
"Ah yeah, we went for a drink after cos the film was so confusing."
"LANCE went for a drink?! I thought he was a Baptist."
"Oh it was just me and AJ at that stage." She looks up at Nick. "Uh Dad?! Stop questioning me, I had a flashback to my teenage years."
"I was worried."
"Thanks but please…I’m 22, old enough to stay out late if I want to."
"Can’t believe AJ got you drunk."
"I got HIM drunk." She stands up. "Now if Question Time is over, I need to go find my shades."
AJ wanders into the room wearing darker shades than usual.
Brian grins at him.
"Have fun last night huh Bone?!"
"Uh yeah. You?"
"Didn’t stay long."
"Me neither actually."
Nick walks in and glares at AJ, "You left our party!"
"Oh yeah. Had a better offer, y’know."
"Could’ve let me in on it. Jen IS my…"
AJ looks at him, "Your what?"
"Housemate." Nick sits down. "Y’know how I feel about her."
"Uh no….you said you liked her but then she said she wasn’t interested, so I figured you’d moved on."
"DID she say she didn’t like me, or did you just tell me that to open up the way for you?"
AJ stares at him.
"Nick, c’mon. You’re my buddy. I wouldn’t do that to you."
"So do you like her?"
"She’s just a friend Nick."
Kevin and Howie walk in and sit down.
Howie sighs, "Bad party last night. Too many flesh-showers eh AJ?"
"Yeah. That’s why I left."
"Thought you’d disappeared! Couldn’t have taken us along with you?!" Kevin grins. "I got cornered by 3 blondes at midnight. VERY scary moment."
"What’d you do?"
"Did the ole look ‘n’ duck trick. "Look, Howie’s stripping!" And ducked outta sight. Worked a charm."
Howie laughs, "They believed I would actually STRIP?!"
"Well they looked." Kevin grins. "Where’d you go anyway AJ?"
"Watched a video."
"Which one?"
"‘The Matrix’."
"Oh that’s great isn’t it?!"
AJ stares at him, "Nuh uh, we had no clue what was goin’ on. At no moment in time did any one of us have a snowball’s chance in hell of figuring out that plot!"
"AJ, it’s simple. Neo, anagram of One, is the one to save mankind from an eternal existence in a computer mainframe known as the Matrix. He has to fight the computer-generated agents for like forever to save us all cos he took the blue pill instead of the red one, which I guess we’re all on seeing as we remain oblivious to our existence within the Matrix." Kevin grins. "Simple." They all stare at him.
"OK, did that make sense to anyone?" AJ looks at the other guys. "Nope, thank you."
"Why do you look so rough AJ? Spend all night tryin’ to figure out the film?"
"No Howie. After that ball of confusion, I needed a drink so we went to a club. Got a lil liquored up."
"With LANCE?!"
"No Brian. Don’t worry, Lance is still a good boy just like you. It was just Jen and me then."
"Oooh!" Howie whistles and winks at AJ. "You sly dog."
"Once again, the word has to be NO."
Sara giggles at Jenny.
"God you look rough!"
"Thanks Sara. You really know how to make me feel better."
"Gonna take those shades off?"
"Nope." She shakes her head. "Owch. Remind me not to do that."
"I had a great time last night."
"Yeah? Good for you."
"I spoke to Nick." Sara smiles. "I asked him where you were."
"Bet that was a riveting conversation."
"Yeah….where WERE you anyway?"
"Watching ‘The Matrix’ on video, then had a few drinks."
"Who with? Nick was kinda pissed at your disappearing act."
"Yeah, he told me this morning. I was with Lance, Chris and AJ."
"Speak of the devil." Sara gestures towards a heavily shaded figure staggering through the door. He sees Jenny and sits on her desk.
"Hey AJ."
"You look like I feel."
"Worse I bet."
"Like the shades."
"Ditto."
"Just caught hell from Nick over last night."
"He was worse this morning."
"Hmm….anyway, gotta talk to you. Meet me for lunch?"
"Sure. About 1pm in SoulFood?"
"See you there." He stands up to leave. "Ah hello, goodbye." He waves his hand towards Sara and leaves.
Sara stares after him. "Y’know he’s kinda got a charisma about him." She smiles. "It’s nice."
"You guys undercover huh?" The waitress grins. "What do you want?"
"A strong coffee please."
"Make that two." The waitress smiles and leaves.
"I HATE coffee."
AJ stares at her, "Why order it then?"
"The taste’ll wake me up a bit."
"I guess. After this coffee I’m crawling home to bed."
"Lucky sod. I’ve got to work."
AJ grins, "No rest for the wicked huh?" The waitress brings over their coffees. "So Nick gave you a hard time this morning?"
"Yeah. For a moment I thought he’d morphed into my Dad. Not a pleasant feeling."
"He got kinda mad at me earlier too."
"Why? It’s not like we report to him or anything."
"Well, he thought I was makin’ a move for you after he said he likes you."
"Ah, he still likes me that way?"
"I don’t know. I guess he must do."
She takes a sip of her coffee and makes a face.
"Urrgggh! How can anyone voluntarily drink ground dirt?!"
AJ grins, "Wakes you up though."
"Oh yeah." She looks at him. "So is Nick OK now?"
"Well I had to swear we were just friends, but yeah."
"AJ, we ARE just friends"
"NOW we are."
"How’re you feelin’?"
"Like I need to hibernate." She takes off her shades and closes her eyes against the light.
Nick smiles.
"AJ was lookin’ pretty bad today too."
"Yeah….I bet." She opens her eyes. "Nick, do you like me?"
"Sure! I LIVE with ya." She looks at him. "Oh…. I did but AJ said you weren’t interested."
"So you don’t now?"
"Errr, well I COULD be but…you’re not interested right?"
"Sorry Nick."
"That’s cool. If you had more time over here, would you be interested?"
She smiles, "You’re a great guy Nick."
"No huh?" He shrugs. "Ain’t that always the way."