The guys were showered and dressed amazingly early, considering their lack of sleep. Getting by on little sleep had become a way of life for them.
Their staff always tried to accommodate their rest, especially when they had back-to-back engagements or when one of the guys fell ill. But no matter how much rack time they got, they seemed to be perpetually tired. On the road, nights and days sometimes blended into one another and the names of the days of the week were often unclear or completely ignored. So many times they'd wake up in a city and look out the window only to wonder, "What town are we in again?" Time off was always welcomed with both open arms and tightly shut eyelids.
Despite the partying and goofing off the night before, they each had slept soundly. The house was quiet and safe and still. There was no need to pull extra-heavy drapes across the windows to block out camera flashes - there were no sudden, loud bursts of laughter or screaming just outside their doors - no annoying phone calls from giggly or semi-psychotic teenage girls who had mysteriously acquired their room number. It was peaceful.
Relatively rested, they were ready to work and gathered in the living room for an organized meeting. The girls would've been shocked to see the professional, down-to-business sides of the grown men as they'd only witnessed their unprofessional characters, playing, fighting, and having fun.
Kevin pulled a day planner from his bag that was propped beside the couch and flipped through it. "Okay, since Tori's gonna be here the rest of the week, I thought we might as well use that to our advantage and work on some of these loose ends. We have a lot in the works publicity-wise and she'll probably want to put some of these projects to bed anyway. We'll have her get in touch with folks to iron out details from here. That way we'll all be aware of the same plans and we won't have to deal with it when we get back on the road. All right?" His eyes panned from each of the guys to the other and he was pleased that all eyes were on him, paying attention to the tasks at hand.
"First off," he continued, still reading through his written notes, "the girls will probably come back from the house after Tori arrives." He looked at his watch to verify his estimation. "That'll pretty much eliminate any potential lectures from her on the subject."
"Kim Ann's still here," interrupted Howie. "She's upstairs sleeping."
Kevin frowned slightly that his plans weren't as clear-cut as he had thought, but shrugged it off. He nodded at Howie. "Then you need to go get her up and get her movin' on out. It's not THAT big of deal, it's just for appearance only. Don't make her feel threatened or anything. That's the last thing we need."
Howie stood up to leave. "Nothing to bitch about - n-o-o-o-o-o-o-o bitching." He had started the phrase alone, but Nick, Brian and AJ quickly joined in to finish the phrase with him. It was their favorite Tori phrase and they often murmured it behind her back to relieve tension and promote teamwork amongst themselves.
Kevin cracked a big, goofy, muppet-like smile during their chant but didn't join in. He knew that Tori could be over-zealous at times and was wound way too tightly for their tastes. But he also knew the guys valued her - not because of who she was or how she was, but because she was good at her job. Kevin's mind flashed back a few months as he was reminded of the fact that Tori nearly missed the whole ride.
Just before the Millennium tour took off, she had regretfully announced that she'd be leaving the management team due to some personal affairs. With the others' support, Kevin and Brian called an emergency meeting with her and not only asked her to stay but asked what they could do to help her personally. The gesture had touched her deeply. Reluctantly, she agreed to stay. But as far as there being anything they could do to help her out personally, there wasn't. And though she was typically a very public and open person, this time she was extremely tight-lipped about her private life and chose not to share the issues she was facing.
Kevin and Brian took great pride in knowing that they had saved themselves a whole lot of hassle - for the intervention wasn't all warm and fuzzy. In their eyes, Tori Winter was outstanding in her field and merciless in her craft. She had an innate sense of how to get the Backstreet Boys into the public's positive light and how to keep them out of hot water. She was known for catching even the most minute of details and very rarely did anything shady get past her. Nick had accused her of being a witch once because nothing slipped by her and she could predict outcomes before all the facts had presented themselves. The guys knew that if they were going to rise as fast as Jive and The Firm had projected, they would need help. They had management, a public relations firm and the label's marketing and promotions staffs all behind them. But they wanted to keep her in their arsenal; the one extra ass-kicker who could take care of day-to-day mundane things while making sure they appeared wholesome, got great press and came off smelling like roses. Selfishly, they wanted her to stay on the team. They not only trusted her but feared what might happen if they lost her and had to break in a new person… again… all ready.
"Next up," Kevin began again, despite Howie's temporary disappearance, "we need to decide for sure if we're gonna switch outfits on the last leg of the tour, with the comic book and everything comin' out."
Nick responded immediately. "I definitely think we should. It'll call attention to the book and give the fans something new."
"I don't care either way," AJ responded. "Howie's the one who's against it."
Nick turned to Brian for support. Brian knew it was extremely important to him so he voted in favor. "I'd like to shake it up a bit," he said to Kevin. Nick smiled and looked at Kevin for a positive response.
Kevin sighed. Originally he had sided with Howie, but Nick's enthusiasm for the whole thing was hard to deny. "I say yes, too."
Nick made a fist and shouted, "Yes!" victoriously.
"BUT!" Kevin added, "I'm NOT wearin' the helmet."
"Aw, come on, Kev!" Nick whined. "It'll be cool!"
"No," Kevin said firmly. "It's too weird. It's too juvenile for most of us now, and it ain't gonna happen." He wasn't going to budge.
Nick sat back, pouting. In his mind, it wouldn't be the same if they didn't wear the helmets. The helmets were IT.
AJ noted Nick's disappointment and decided to score some points with him for later, in case he was needed to get to Lexi. "I'll wear a helmet, Nick," he offered up. "I think it's damn cool!"
Nick beamed from the support and eyed Brian. "No!" Brian said quickly with a sarcastic chuckle and a shake of his head. "I'll wear the Batman costume, but I ain't wearin' the helmet." He rolled his eyes and looked away from Nick.
Nick turned back to AJ and grinned. "You and me, Bone. WE'LL be the cool ones."
"Yeah," replied AJ, with an affirming nod in Nick's direction. He couldn't believe he'd agreed to it. The helmets Nick had designed looked like fancy bedpans - but he found comfort in the fact that they would only be worn for the ride in on the boogie boards. "Piece of cake," he thought, trying to convince himself.
Howie returned from upstairs and plopped down beside Brian, shaking his head. "She is NOT a very pleasant person in the morning," he said, referencing Kim Ann.
"And how is that any different than the REST of the day?" asked Nick.
Howie ignored Nick's dig and instead asked what he'd missed. He'd heard shouting from Nick upstairs and it had made him hurry all the more to get back downstairs. "What did I miss?"
Kevin maintained straight-on eye contact with him as he broke the news of the costume change. "You were out-voted, four-to-one, on the outfit changes for the last leg."
Howie raised his eyebrows disapprovingly and looked away from everyone, obviously angry about the decision. The exchanges between the guys suddenly took a more serious tone and shown a harder business edge. "I just don't see the point," he said calmly while using hand gestures to emphasize his case. "It's a total waste of money."
Kevin clarified, "Well that's not really an issue at this point. They're basically done. They just want a final answer before they do any finishing touches - the final rigging, molding and fire retardant stuff. And besides, we've already paid for the design time whether we use the suits or not."
"And…the point IS," said Nick defiantly, "YOU were out-voted."
"NICK!" Kevin warned. "Chill!" He took in a deep breath and scribbled on his notebook as he explained the reasons to Howie. "We all just thought it would add something to the last leg, as well as emphasize the comic book, that's all. No big deal, we'll get through it."
"Howie leaned back on his hands and stretched out his legs in front of him. "I'm NOT wearing a helmet," he snapped back at Kevin.
Kevin pointed his pen at him and smiled. "Helmets are optional."
Howie smiled back at Kevin then eyed Nick. "Well, it's nice to see there's SOME sanity left in this room," he quipped.
"AJ and I are gonna wear the helmets!" Nick taunted back at him. He was hurt that Howie was so opposed to his ideas.
Howie laughed and looked at AJ in disbelief. "YOU are gonna wear a helmet?" he teased. He laughed again and shook his head. "You're gonna look like Robocop or somethin.'" The professional tone left the group as quickly as it had come.
Howie's jabs pissed AJ off. "Fuck you, D," he said while flipping him the bird. "It'll be cool. I will MAKE it cool."
"Whatever," Howie barked.
"Hey! As I recall, it was one Alex McLean who got millions of people around the world wearing funky clothes and zebra and cow print cowboy hats. I mean, who the hell thought that was cool until I did it? Now look. You watch. In three months, kids all over the planet will be wearing our helmets."
Howie chuckled again, but said nothing. He couldn't believe Nick had roped AJ into it, but he didn't think it was worth arguing over. He decided to let it alone. They could look like fools together.
Kevin tapped the pen loudly on the planner to call attention and spoke again, hoping to end the quibbling amongst the others. "I forgot to tell you it's official… Nephrotite and RoRo will be gone last leg. They're gonna go work with Will Smith. We've already got replacements lined up so it should be a smooth transition. I just wanted to make sure ya'll knew for sure."
Everyone looked at each other, but said nothing, so Kevin moved on again. "In the 'public appearance' department, The Pistons have invited us to sing the National Anthem when we're in Michigan. I assume ya'll are cool with that? It's not for sure yet, but it probably will be."
"Tha's cool," said AJ first, joined by the others in agreement.
"According to Tori's last fax, we've got a lot of press stuff coming up - all tour related," continued Kevin. "Plus they're working on some charity gigs and some guest appearances on shows in the spring. Rumor has it they're batting around an idea for an MTV thing and there's a VH1 special, for sure, that's being ironed out. And a few others."
"Do we have exclusivity yet on the VH1 gig?" asked Brian.
"David's working on that contract now. I assume we will. They know we won't go on with any other group in our genre and we're the top seller. I figure as long as we hold our spot, we shouldn't have an exclusivity problem," answered Kevin.
"I'm not going if they're there," said AJ decidedly, referring to the competition.
"Nobody's goin' if they're there," said Kev. "We're it or we're out, plain and simple. We're gonna be done touring and we'll be goin' back into the studio. We don't have time to mess around with anything that's not a sure thing."
Kevin crossed an item off his notes and turned the page in his planner. "Which leads me to the next item, and it's a biggie - we're still negotiating but closing in on our commit date with Jive. We all know they're talking big numbers here. And we're talkin' long-term, binding commitment. It'll be sealed soon. Anybody's gauge in the red on that one? Anything changed since we talked on the way up here?" The guys shook their heads but it was clear their level of comfort and commitment was in question. The money was impressive and alluring, but it didn't sit easily with them.
"They just better be on the up and up," said Nick. "We've been dicked enough. You know?" The others looked toward Nick. They did know. "They've been good so far with Millennium, but all this shit about 'N Sync coming on board….I don't like it. I don't like it at all."
"Well, here's another thing," Kevin said with a sigh. "The team says Jive wants us for a big corporate inter-label conference event. They want to feature us and have us host or appear as guests at the formal shindig. Problem is, legal thinks they want us to show before we sign."
"No way," said Brian. "What're they, on crack? That's horse shit."
"This is just another hook, line and sinker tactic," said AJ. "It's another dog 'n pony show so they can put us on display and 'show 'n tell' us to the other labels. I say 'show we me the money, then we talk.' There's no way I'm gonna stand up and represent a company I may not even sign with. Hell, I may not do it after I sign, unless it's in the bloody contract.'"
"That's pretty much a forgone conclusion, I think," said Kevin. "But I'll make sure the attorneys make our perspective clear when they brief them at the next status meeting."
Kevin shut the planner and concluded the meeting. "Well, that's basically it. We're good to go for now. I'm sure there's stuff I'm missing or don't know about yet and Tori will have more details about the charity and public stuff later." He sat quiet momentarily before his eyes fell on Nick.
"It looks like we have some time left so why don't you go and clean up that hell-hole of a mess before Tori and the girls get here? I don't know HOW you stand it, Nick," he chided.
Nick blushed a little, but still argued. "I know where everything is. It's organized chaos - AND, it's MY room."
"It's NOT your room," Kevin growled back. "And you're a GUEST in this HOUSE. The least you can do is have the courtesy to keep it picked up."
Nick snickered and elbowed AJ. "Angela'll clean it up for me anyway," he whispered loudly.
AJ smiled back at him. He'd been wondering why her name hadn't come up yet. He'd thought maybe there had been some problem last night. Still could've been - Nick would suck up to her despite any problems if it meant getting her to do his dirty work.
"No," Kevin warned Nick, "she won't. You made the mess. You clean it up."
"What were you doing nosin' around my room anyway, Kev?" Nick asked, accusingly.
"I was just making sure things were in order. We're supposed to be helping this project, not making another project for someone to clean up. Don't worry, I didn't snoop through all the CRAP you have on the floor," Kevin said dryly. Worried how it would sound, Kevin decided to say his next words, despite the fact that the guys would think he was controlled or whipped by their PR person. "Besides, it'd be nice if things looked somewhat in order when Tori gets here."
"Oh," Nick replied quickly. "I see…" He looked around to everyone before finishing. "It's ALL about Tori."
AJ was the only one with the nerve to laugh at Nick's jab at Kevin. Everyone else looked away uncomfortably, waiting for all hell to break loose. Admittedly, Kevin did probably give Tori too much credence and too much power and authority, but it certainly wasn't the time or the place for Nick to question it.
Kevin stared long and hard at Nick. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, after he'd been there for him last night. That information alone would embarrass the hell out of him and it was VERY tempting to let it fly.
As Nick stared back at Kevin defiantly, the realization hit him as to what was churning through Kevin's mind. His defiance quickly turned to a shocked expression and he looked away. "Sorry, Kevin," he apologized. "It was a bad joke." He held his breath, waiting and hoping that Kevin would let it go. He would DIE if everyone knew he'd backed out last night.
"Watch yourself, Nick," Kevin warned him. "Some things just aren't that funny, now ARE they?"
Nick looked up at him, relieved. "Nope," he agreed quickly.
Kevin stared at him blankly before winking at him to let him know he was off the hook. He stood up to signal the end of the meeting. "We've still got some painting to do today, and the closet organizer thingies. And we should probably do something with the landscaping, too," he said as he stretched. "But I think we've got plenty of time to get all that done this week, too. Let's try to make good on this Peace House thing but also maybe get some real work done."
"And relax," threw in AJ.
"And relax," repeated Kevin.
"Yeah," added Brian. "I wonder if there are any decent golf courses around here."
"Or BASKETBALL courts!" Nick shouted. "There HAS to be a park or somethin' around here, man!" His enthusiasm diminished, though, when it dawned on him that he'd not brought shoes or a ball with him. "Do you think the girls would run somewhere and buy me some shoes and a ball?" He asked everyone. "Angela will," he thought. Then she could come watch him play.
"Hey, just borrow my shoes, man," answered Brian with a snicker.
"Uh - yeah," scoffed Nick. "I could get my big TOE in 'em."
"I bet ANGELA would get you some shoes," AJ taunted. He wondered why Nick wasn't mentioning last night. It was driving him crazy. "And what happened last night, by the way?" he asked. "Are you a cherry-poppin' Daddy, or what?" AJ was a firm believer in bluntness.
"God, AJ!" Howie said, wincing. "Disgusting." Howie didn't seem to be in the mood for the "Boy" portion of the Backstreet Boys. He was taking on a more mature, moody attitude for the moment. He still seemed upset about the earlier conversations and held a serious, somber look. Still, his and everyone else's eyes were on Nick, waiting for an answer.
Nick squirmed and looked at Kevin before replying. "She… she freaked out on me," he stammered. "I couldn't FORCE her to or anything." He avoided looking at Kevin, knowing he would probably be unhappy with his lie.
Kevin smiled and looked away from everybody. Nick never ceased to amaze him with his craftiness at manipulating people. Besides, he thought to himself, it didn't really matter who freaked out on who. At least Nick wasn't lying and saying he HAD slept with her when he hadn't. That would have been where Kevin would have drawn the line.
AJ slugged Nick on the shoulder. "Don't worry, dude, Brother AJ'll find you a woman for tonight… a WILLING woman," he added, testing the waters at the suggestion of such a thing.
Thinking AJ was only joking, Nick joked back. "I can always count on you to pimp for me." He slugged AJ back. "That, and for bein' cool with the helmet," he said loudly for everyone else to hear, hoping to make them feel bad.
"Yeah, don't forget the helmet," AJ emphasized. "You OWE me one for that." Nick agreed again and AJ took it to heart. He was somewhat relieved that Angela had backed out on Nick. To him, it was a sign that things weren't as serious between them as he'd thought originally. And tonight, he thought, he and Nicky would have some REAL fun with some REAL women. "Come on," he said. "Come hang with me while I burn one?"
"Sure," said Nick, following AJ to the back door. Half-way through the kitchen AJ lit his cigarette and the first puff of smoke wafted through to the living room.
"Outside with the friggin' smokes!" shouted Kevin.
As the door slammed behind them AJ could hear Brian yell, "And CLOSE the DOOR!" He assumed the sentence that followed was something like, "I don't want to breathe that shit…"
But all Nick seemed to hear were his own thoughts of amazement. "I
can't believe AJ sided with me on the helmets."
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