"Come ON you guys!" Fatima yelled as, once again, the guys muffed up the complex choreography. It was mid-morning on Friday and all the guys were pretty tired from the previous evening’s clubbing. "This is SO easy... I bet even Kristy could do it by now."
Kristy was sitting in Kevin’s director’s-type chair on the set where the Backstreet Boys were shooting their next video, and had been focusing on Kevin when she heard that remark. Fatima may have been a brilliant dancer, but she was a lousy actress. Kristy had felt her hostility ever since she, Jessica and Heather had gotten there that morning.
Kevin had run over to Kristy as they’d walked onto the sound stage and had given her a long welcome kiss. Kristy’d smiled at him, still holding him in her arms. "Really Kevin," she’d teased, "Was a limo necessary?"
"Since I couldn’t pick you up, I sent the next best thing!" he’d laughed.
Now Kristy and her friends were watching the guys struggle with the intricate dance steps Fatima had arranged. Kristy knew they all could do it, they’d been demonstrating some of the moves the night before at the dance clubs, but now they were having problems executing them under pressure. "Fatima..." Kevin said in a low, warning voice.
Kristy rose gracefully from the chair, smoothing her relaxed-fit jeans. Kevin thought she looked adorable in one of his crisp white oxfords she’d borrowed the day before, now unbuttoned and knotted at her waist over a white and blue striped tank top. "She’s right guys... it does look pretty easy," she lied, knowing how difficult the moves were.
"Will you do us the honors?" Fatima asked with a large sweeping motion of her arm towards the dance area. "Let’s just see ya try," she thought.
"Count it off," Kristy instructed, taking her starting pose.
"Five, six, seven, eight..." Fatima counted.
Kristy’d danced on her high school’s dance team, and although she’d never had formal dance training, she possessed natural rhythm, grace and style. She was intelligent and that made her a very quick learner. She performed Fatima’s choreography flawlessly; linking every step, hitting every beat, even including all the subtle gestures perfectly, just like Fatima had shown them.
The boys cheered wildly as Kristy hit the final pose. Kevin hugged her and spun her around. When he set her down she could see the pride and love in his eyes as he lowered his head and softly kissed her lips. "Have I told you lately how amazing you are?"
"Not for a couple hours," she giggled.
He laughed and kissed her again, whispering "I love you" before their lips met.
"OK, enough already!" Fatima yelled. Now she was really in a foul mood. What was with this woman? Was there anything she didn’t do?
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The boys were inspired by Kristy’s "performance" and successfully completed the routine five times in a row, providing ample footage for that section of the video. They were given a lunch break, but had to stay on site, so the girls suggested a picnic. They grabbed their food from the catering table and the three girls led the guys to their makeshift park. They sat on a couple of blankets amongst some artificial trees and a country-side backdrop they’d found in the prop department.
"So, Kristy..." Brian smiled as he watched Kevin feeding her a strawberry. "If you ever decide to give up pharmacy, wanna become one of our dancers?"
Kristy laughed, "Oh, I’m sure Fatima would LOVE working with me on a daily basis."
"Fatima might not, but I sure would!" Kevin said, picking up her hand and kissing it.
"I’d love it too!" Nick grinned, "‘Cause whenever you’re around, Kevin is SO much easier to work with."
Kevin shot Nick a semi-intimidating look, but his smile ruined the effect. "Yeah, I almost feel sorry for these guys... ‘cause when you have to leave, I’m gonna be a bear."
"Don’t go!" Brian and Nick yelled.
"Trust me," Kristy said, trying to smile, but looking like she was near tears, "I’m not looking forward to it either."
Kevin set his plate aside and pulled Kristy onto his lap and held her close. "But we’re gonna talk everyday, and you’re gonna join me for a couple of shows, and I’m gonna come out to Oregon next weekend..."
Kristy raised her head in surprise and searched his face, "Really?"
Kevin nodded, "I arranged it last night before we went out. I hope that’s OK with you."
Kristy kissed Kevin passionately, leaving them both a little dazed. "Thank you," she whispered and gave him a hug. "I love you."
Kevin held her closer; he never wanted to let go. It was hard for him to believe they’d only known each other for six days... it felt like he’d known her forever. Maybe that’s because he’d been waiting for her his entire life. But it had been worth it... he’d found his soulmate. ****************************************************************************
The rest of the video was going to include "candids" of the guys goofing around and shots of the boys playing during a charity basketball event later that day. For the remainder of the afternoon, they filmed the close-ups of them singing. When they weren’t performing, Kevin and the guys hung out with the girls, including Brian and Nick’s girlfriends who were coming to watch the game with Kristy, Jessica and Heather that evening.
Seeing Kevin and Kristy sitting together in his chair between takes, the director was inspired with an idea for a slightly different approach to the video. He continued to film the face shots with the guys singing, but instructed the camera crew to also start filming the guys and their ladies without them knowing it. He planned the same thing for the basketball game. While two of the cameras would film the on-court action, he wanted one camera on the crowd and a couple of other cameras on the girls at all times.
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"So why are we being called back to the studio?" Nick grumbled Saturday morning.
"Trust me, I don’t like this any better than you do. But Nigel said that he needed us there... and that we’re supposed to bring the girls," Kevin explained over the phone. He and Kristy had been woken early Saturday morning with instructions to gather the group and be at the studio by nine. "Anyway, you’re responsible for you and Melissa, Bri’s with Leighanne and since there wasn’t any answer at the girls’ suite, I’m assuming Jess and Heath are with AJ and D. I’m callin’ them next."
"No answer huh? Where’s Kris?" Nick asked, knowing fully well where she was.
"See ya at the studio Nick," Kevin continued, ignoring Nick’s obvious ploy to get information.
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"Thank you all for coming in," Nigel started, smiling brightly at the group of tired, attractive faces surrounding him. After the charity event all the couples had gone out to the piano bar on The Boardwalk and some had gone dancing afterwards. "I suspect some of you had a late night last night, but let me assure you I got less sleep than any of you."
"I wouldn’t bet on it," AJ laughed wickedly, causing Jessica to blush and smack him.
Nigel continued, ignoring AJ’s innuendo, "I was up all night piecing together your new video. It’s still a little rough, but I thought you’d want to see what I’ve come up with so far..."
Kristy turned to Kevin with a questioning look on her face, "I thought you said it would be weeks before you got to see even a rough cut," she whispered.
Nigel heard the whispers amongst the group and smiled, "I know it’s highly unusual to get this kind of turn around on a video, but I wanted to work on it while my inspiration was still fresh... and still in Orlando."
The group looked at him quizzically, "Huh?" Nick asked.
Nigel gestured to Kristy who was once again sitting on Kevin’s lap. "My muse is the lovely Miss Kristy," he smiled. Kevin possessively, although unconsciously, pulled her closer. Nigel grinned and explained, "I was watching all of you between takes yesterday and I was moved by how much love was in the room. It especially hit me when I watched Kristy and Kevin. Our normally stoic Kev was smiling and flirting and cuddling with this beautiful young woman, and I just had to capture it on film." With that by way of an introduction, he started the video.
The video started with the choreographed dance number that the boys had finally gotten down the day before and close-ups of them singing. Soon though, clips of the five guys with their respective ladies started appearing. There were also some good group shots, showing the entire gang goofing around and enjoying themselves between takes. Nigel had successfully captured the essence of each relationship: Nick and Melissa’s playfulness and young love; Brian and Leighanne’s humor and established relationship; Howie and Heather’s giving nature and quiet affection; AJ and Jessica’s outrageous flirting and wild chemistry; and Kevin and Kristy’s barely-contained passion and love.
The video had clips from the basketball game, including shots of the crowd going wild when the guys took the court. Nigel had also gotten footage of the girls cheering-on the guys, and linked the appropriate girl cheering with a great play by each of the guys. There was one especially cute clip that got "oohs" and "ahhs" from the entire group. Kevin had gotten fouled hard early in the fourth quarter, and had actually been down for a bit. The coach had substituted another player while Kevin rested for awhile and Kristy had traded places with Melissa so she could sit behind him while he was on "the bench." The clip showed Kristy touching Kevin’s slightly reddened cheekbone, where later a small bruise formed ,and kissing the spot gently. Kevin then pointed to another "owie" on his forehead, which Kristy also kissed softly. The scene ended as Kevin pointed to his slightly pouted lips and Kristy kissed away the "boo-boo" there too.
"Well? What do you think?" Nigel asked with an expectant look on his face.
The girls all looked slightly stunned, but the guys were grinning. Kevin summed up the group’s feelings, "I think it’s time for the world to meet the ‘Backstreet Girls’."
