"Why
can't I listen?" Jessie whined. "God!"
Jeanie
stood her ground. This was bad enough without being watched. "Because,
it's business. Pure and simple."
"Yeah,
right. You know they're on tour. You're treating me like a kid!"
"You
are a kid," Jeanie stared her down. This was one fight her niece was not
going to win. She still wasn't sure she would even return Kevin's call.
"Jess, please, believe me. You know people call me all the time about
business at crazy hours and, yes, even when they're on tour." She was
suddenly painfully aware of how many Backstreet posters were plastered on
Jess's walls. She tried to not look at him...THEM...but it was useless. She
felt as if Kevin was staring at her from almost every single picture. "How
can you sleep at night with them staring at you?" she shook her head and
laughed.
"Who
says I sleep?" Jessie shot back, half-sarcastically. "I'm
sorry...it's just that it's KEVIN..."
"I
thought you loved Brian."
"I
do! But, see he's related to Kevin. Did you ever stop to think what our family
tree would look like if you married Kevin who is Brian's cousin...then I
married Brian and I'm your niece?" She made a silly face and crossed her
hazel eyes.
With
that, Jeanie walked out of the room. "Good bye..." she turned and
quickly added, "For the record, no I HAVE NOT! Also, you give that number
out to any of your friends or you call him and you will be one dead BSB fan.
Got it?"
Jessie
giggled. "Oh, man..."
"Jess..."
Jeanie warned.
"Fine,
but you better tell me everything he said!" She turned the volume up on
the CD player. "I'll Never Break Your Heart," filled the room.
Jeanie
took a deep breath and shut the door. "God help me," she mumbled.
************************
Instead
of going down to her office, Jeanie slipped into her bedroom and closed the
door. She turned on soft music, went into the bathroom and began filling the
tub with warm water.
She
slowly undressed then walked nude back to the full-length mirror and forced
herself to look. Her chin quivered slightly as she took in every bit of her
reflection.
It
had been almost a year since she met Kevin. She was down to a size 10...her
goal was size 6. She turned and looked at herself from behind. She wasn't an
idiot. She'd seen pictures of the women Kevin dated. Tonight, Mac made her feel
beautiful, but the woman looking back from the mirror wasn't beautiful. Better,
but not there.
She
reached for the yellow sticky note with Kevin's number on it. She folded it in
half, opened her jewelry box and put it inside.
The
warm bath water scented with jasmine was comforting. Closing her eyes, she
rested her head against the edge of the tub. Her tears were mixed with beads of
salty perspiration as they inched down her cheeks. "Oh Kevin," she
cried, "Please wait for me...I'm coming..."
*****************************
One
thing that Meg was right about...Jeanie and Mike Levine wrote good stuff. From
the minute they met, they clicked both personally and professionally. Mike
teased her mercilessly about being a hick and she dished it right back about
being a rude Yankee. But the Yankee and the hick seemed to find an amazing
common ground and they consistently turned out hit after hit. Now, artists were
contacting them and that was a very, very good thing.
Jeanie's
life seemed to continue to evolve, always for the better. She'd handwritten
Lindsay Connings a thank you note after Lindsay's initial fan letter. One
letter turned into two and pretty soon they were communicating on an ongoing
basis, both snail mail and email.
The
one thing that wasn't improving was her hectic schedule. She was scheduled to
be in New York in late May 1998. She and Mike were working on three songs for a
movie sound track. She was hopelessly behind in paperwork, both business and
personal. Correspondence was piling up. It seemed like all she did was write
and fly back and forth between the two coasts and Dallas. It was on her flight
into La Guardia that she had a brainstorm.
******************
"Hello?"
"Hi,
is Lindsay there?" Jeanie couldn't believe she was actually doing this.
"This
is Linds..." Lindsay's voice was very hesitant. She couldn't quite place
this accent.
"Lindsay,
hi! This is Jeanie Kirkpatrick..."
"Get
out of here! No way!" With that, Lindsay dropped the receiver,
disconnecting the phone call.
All
Jeanie could do is laugh and redial the number. Lindsay didn't even say
"hello" the second time. "Oh God. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. It's
you..."
"Jeanie
giggled. "It's me. How are you sweetie?"
Lindsay
covered the mouthpiece trying to stifle a scream. More than anything, she
wanted to be an actress, singer, something - somebody. Now, Jeanie Kirkpatrick
was calling her. "I'm okay. Well, maybe not. I'm sort of freaking right
now. Sorry."
"It's
cool, sweetie," Jeanie was becoming embarrassed. "Lindsay..."
"Call
me Linds."
"Okay,
Linds...I'm in town on business for the next week. I have a business
proposition for you and I was wondering if you'd like to meet me for drinks or
lunch." Jeanie held her breath.
"Well,
I can't drink...legally...I'm only twenty, remember?" Lindsay laughed.
"Mmmm, but lunch sounds good. Something healthy, right?" Jeanie had
confided in her young friend about her struggle to lose weight and was
surprised to find out that Lindsay was fighting the same battle.
"Right!
Linds, real fast, let me just ask you and this way you'll have time to think
about my idea."
"Okay..."
"I
need help," Jeanie started laughing at how pathetic that sounded.
"Wait a minute...we all know that! I mean, are you still looking for a
summer job?" Lindsay remained silent. "This is the deal. I own a
huge, huge ranch just outside Dallas...six bedrooms. You would have plenty of
space and privacy. My office is in my home that I share with my teenage niece.
You would be my assistant, take care of the business end of things. I'm
traveling a lot lately, so you would travel with me some of the time. Of
course, I will pay you...say $600 a week, plus room and board. Oh, also, I have
three cars so you'd have a car at your disposal..." Suddenly, Jeanie
became aware that Lindsay had quit talking altogether. "Hello?
Lindsay?"
"Huh?"
Lindsay mumbled, in shock. "You don't have to pay me..."
"Yes,
I do! Don't be silly," Jeanie chuckled. "Listen, you think about it
and give me your decision when we meet for lunch."
"Okay,
but Jeanie?"
"What
sweetie?"
"I don't
really have to think...I'm already packing!"