It was another typical Saturday night at The Wild Pussy Cat. It was jammed packed with people and Hannah was dancing and singing to Janet Jackson’s, ‘All 4 U’. She had her long hair in two low braided pigtails. She was wearing a one shoulder black, sparkly tank top and a pair of worn denim flares with hot pink cowboy boots. She had on a cowboy hat that matched her boots. In the middle of her song she looked toward the door of the bar and was speechless from shock. It was Nick! She finished up the song and jumped off the table she had been dancing on and ran into his arms.
“Nicky! What are you doing here?”
“Well, I got some unexpected vacation time and I owed a certain someone a visit, so…”
“Oh, fabulous! I’m so excited that you are here!” He laughed at he enthusiasm.
“I am too, Angel. You look absolutely amazing.”
“Thank you honey, you’re looking pretty good yourself. You’ve been working out haven’t you?”
“Oh not that much it’s mostly the dancing that keeps me in shape.”
“How long are you here for?” She asked.
“Until Friday, I have to be in Orlando by ten o’clock.”
“Or what you’ll turn into a pumpkin?” She retorted. He shook his head laughing.
“Yeah something like that.”
“Come on,” she said grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the bar, “I‘ll introduce you to my friends.”
“They’re all here?” he asked surprised.
“Yeah most of them work here with me and the others just happen to be hanging out here tonight.”
“Look who just walked in the door!” Anna looked and almost fainted.
“Oh my god, that’s, that’s-“ she stammered. She looked at Roxy and they screamed jumping up and down. A person at the bar banged his bottle wanting more beer. Roxy rolled his eyes at him and got him more beer.
“He’s so hot!” she said to Anna, “ What the hell is he doing here?”
“I don’t know, but I’m sure glad he is.” Anna replied.
“Don’t you have a boyfriend?” She asked.
“Boyfriends are null and void when it comes to rock stars.”
“I’m sure Garrett would love to hear that one.” Roxy joked. Anna spotted Hannah running up to Nick.
“Oh, no girl don’t.” Anna said. But a new wave of shock hit them when they saw that Nick was excited to see her and picked her up and swung her around hugging her. Roxy and Anna stared at each other.
“Hannah knows Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys!” They said in unanimously, not really believing what they were seeing.
“Don’t look now, but here she comes with him!” Anna said. Hannah came up to the bar.
“Hey girls I want you to meet someone.” Roxy, Anna and Kerrie, who had just shown up to work, came over.
“Girls, this is my best friend, Nick Carter. Nick these are my best girls, Roxy, Anna and Kerrie." The girls tried to play it cool, like it was no big deal that they were being introduced to a mega superstar. Nick held out his hand,
“It’s nice to meet all of you.”
“It’s an honor to meet you Nick, we’re some of your biggest fans.” Roxy said as they all shook his hand.
“Thank you, you gals are sweet.” He said kindly. Hannah hopped over the bar,
“Nick do you want anything to drink?”
“Yeah a beer would be great.”
“Coming right up.” Hannah grabbed one out of the cooler and handed it to Nick.
“Thanks Angel, keep a tab for me.” He said as he opened it and took a long drink.
“No way, Mr. Carter, you are my guest and drinks are on the house.”
“Okay, then keep a tab for your tips.” Nick smiled and winked at the three girls who instantly melted. Hannah hopped back over the bar,
“Come on, lover boy.” She said rolling her eyes and laughing. She led him over to Mike who was hanging out with Tim and Sam. Sam was on crowd control. The boys smiled as Hannah came over.
“Hey Hannah, great performance before.” Mike said as they kissed each other on the cheek.
“Thank you Mike.” She pulled Nick up next to her.
“Hey, I want to introduce you to someone. Nick this is my brother Mike, and my friends Tim and Sam. Boys this is my best friend, Nick Carter.” The boys all shook hands.
“It’s nice to finally meet you all, I've heard so much about everyone, especially you Mike.”
“Same here.” Mike said. Sam looked puzzled,
“Hey aren’t you, you’re in that pop band, Distinct, right?” Hannah laughed quietly.
“Uh, I think you mean, Nsync and no I’m from the Backstreet Boys.”
“Oh, sorry.” Sam blushed. He glanced toward the dance floor and saw some commotion.
“Looks like a fights gonna break out.” Sam said.
“I’ll go take care of it.” Hannah said but Sam stopped her.
“Hannah that’s what you pay me to do, let me do my job and earn my money.” Hannah smiled at Sam,
“Okay I guess so if you insist.” Sam headed off towards the commotion and Mike and Tim headed with him.
“We’re going to give him some back up. Catch you later, nice meeting you Nick.” Mike said before heading off after Sam and Tim. Nick waved after them. Hannah took Nick to meet Alex and Garrett who were working door. Nick liked them all, he thought that they were all great. It spread like wild fire that Nick was at the bar with Hannah and every girl was instantly jealous. People kept coming up for autographs, Nick obliged every time. Roxy yelled from the bar that they needed help. Hannah smiled at Nick and he nodded. She ran and slid over the bar and began serving. It was a mad house tonight, especially with Nick here.
“Nice of you to join us tonight.” Anna said jokingly. Hannah smiled at Anna,
“Well, I figured I should do something productive tonight.” She began whipping out bottles three at a time and taking orders just as fast. Hannah loved bartending it came so naturally to her, but so did most things. Hannah watched as Nick dealt with the fans. He had grown up a lot since the last time she had seen him. She never knew why she hadn’t noticed how handsome he was. Where was that scrawny little kid that she had grown up with?
Nick swiped sideways glances at Hannah, when he was with the fans. She was so gorgeous, he wondered what happened to that tomboy he grew up with. It had been a while since they had seen each other, almost two years now. She had really blossomed in that time. Not like she wasn’t beautiful before it was just now she was just, he couldn’t explain it.
Once things at the bar slowed down a bit Roxy dug into Hannah.
“So were you ever going to tell us that you knew Nick Carter intimately?”
“What do you mean, Roxy? I told you guys that Nick was my best friend.”
“Yeah, but you left out the little itty bitty detail that your Nick was the Nick Carter, international pop star.” Hannah smiled at her friend.
“That’s because to me he’s not Nick Carter, the international pop star. He’s the kid who practically lived with me growing up, he’s the boy who used to chase me and put mud in my hair and make me laugh. Really he’s nothing special. Nick to me is like Garrett to you.”
“But Garrett’s not a major celebrity.” Hannah sighed.
"Work with me here Roxy. Imagine that he was, it’s the same thing.”
“Okay, but do you have any more famous friends up your sleeve?”
“Well the rest of the Backstreet boys and Jim Jerome but he’s not really a celebrity.”
“Jim Jerome? As in James Jerome, Prince of Monaco, major hottie? One of the most eligible bachelors in the world?” Roxy said in disbelief.
“Yep, that’s him.”
“Eh, a prince I meet them all the time, nothing new.” She said mocking Hannah’s attitude toward the subject. “Are you for real? What did he grow up on your street too?” Roxy asked sarcastically.
“No, we dated. I met him while I was living in London.” She said nonchalantly.
“You dated a prince, why am I not surprised? You amaze me everyday I know you Hannah.”
“Well I try.” She said smiling.
“Hey sexy, can I get another beer?” Nick said coming up to the bar. Hannah smiled at him,
“Sure thing, baby.” But by time she turned to get the beer Roxy and Anna has beaten her to it.
“Wow, look at this service, you train them well Angel.”
“I don’t think I had anything to do with it. So have you autographed everything here yet?”
“No,” he replied with a smile, “I haven’t autographed you.”
“And you never will.” She retorted with a wink. Nick looked disappointed.
“You take all the fun out of it.”
“That’s right Mr. Big Shot. Someone around here has to make sure your ego doesn’t blow out of proportion. I do have a limited capacity in here you know.”
“Ha, ha, ha, funny, Hannah.”
“I thought it was.” Nick took off the leather jacket he was wearing revealing a gray sleeveless shirt underneath.
“Woo, it’s hot in here, do you have a place that I can put this?” Hannah nodded, took his jacket and put it the back. She came back and he was leaning against the bar waiting for her to return. She noticed his arm, there was a tattoo of a shark and a tribal band.
“What’s this?” She said pointing to the tattoos.
“What? My tattoos? Aren’t they neat?” He said flexing his muscles.
“Does your mother know that you have them?” Nick rolled his eyes at her.
“Yeah, she likes them. I have more on the other arm.”
“Nicholas Gene Carter, I’m shocked! What happened to that clean cut church going boy I grew up with?”
“He became an international pop star.” He said smirking.
“I can still cut you down, Mr. Pop Star, that may go somewhere with other girls but not me.”
“How come you don’t like them? Look at this one.” he said pointing to the tribal band, “Do you see what it says?” Hannah looked closely at it, and intertwined in the tribal band was the inscription, ‘Angel, my best friend, the one who will always protect me and catch me when I fall, because she is my guardian angel.’ She put a hand to her chest,
“Nicholas Gene Carter that is the sweetest thing.” Her eyes started to water.
“Oh no here come the water works.” He joked. She wiped her eyes before any tears could fall.
“Oh, stop, jerk.” She said playfully.
“Anyways, what time does this shindig close down?”
“Three, but I’m off at two tonight.”
“Okay, great, well my public awaits.” Nick said dramatically. Hannah shook her head laughing at him. The time quickly passed and soon it was time to leave. Nick was eager to leave wanting to have some alone time with Hannah. They walked outside after saying good-bye to everyone.
“Did you drive here?”
“No, I walked, of course I drove.”
“And you managed to find your way around town by yourself? I’m impressed Carter.”
“You should be. So do you want me to follow you home?”
“No, you lead the way.” She said sarcastically, Nick just rolled his eyes and got into his car. He followed her home and parked in her garage. So that people couldn’t get at his car.
After getting his luggage in, she gave him a tour of her house. He loved it, especially the recording studio she had installed in her basement.
“This is amazing.” Nick said as he sat down at the controls.
“Yeah well it was mostly for you.” She said. He looked at her,
“Really? For me, why?”
“Well, I figured that if you wanted to visit me and needed to do work in the studio, you could do it here and still visit.” Nick was in awe, he didn’t know what to say. She got up and headed towards the door,
“Come on, let’s go finish the tour.” She walked out of the room. Nick quickly got up to follow, she was so elegant and fluid when she walked. Nick couldn’t take his eyes off of her. The tour ended with Hannah showing Nick his room. She stretched,
“I’m beat, I think I’m gonna turn in. Do you need anything else?” Nick shook his head.
“Okay, good night honey. See you in the morning.”
“Good night, Angel.” They hugged and Hannah left. Nick sat down hard on the bed and put his head in his hands. He wanted her so bad. There was no denying it now. He thought that he was just lonely and visiting Hannah would set him straight, but it only increased his feelings. It was killing him knowing that she was just down the hall and he couldn’t hold her like he wanted to. Heck, he didn’t even know if she felt the same way. Nick was so confused on what to do. He went and got ready for bed hoping that a good night’s rest would help him clear his head.
As Hannah got ready for bed she thought about Nick. He was unusually quiet tonight, he wasn’t his normal goofy self. Usually when they got together alone she wouldn’t be able to stop laughing, but tonight he was actually serious. She wondered what was wrong. Hannah decided to ask him in the morning. She got into bed and turned of the light and fell fast asleep.