“My lady,” Aj said, walking to the passenger door and holding out his hand for Melody. She smiled and slid her hand into his. They walked up to the studio, seeing Nick and Brian playing around outside.
“Next time you are SO going down!” Nick joked, trying to put Brian in a headlock. Brian ducked out from under it and spun around behind Nick.
“I don’t think so,” Brian laughed as he put firmly held Nick’s arms behind his back.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” Melody asked, stopping next to them.
“You’re late man,” Brian said seriously.
“Yeah dude, Kevin is going to chew you a new butt hole,” Nick snickered. Just as he said that, the door opened. Howie popped his head out and motioned for them to all come in. Kevin immediately came up to Aj, he noticed Melody was with him, so he pulled Aj aside.
“Just because you have a new play thing doesn’t mean you can start showing up late to work, this is work you know. It isn’t some big game that you can play whenever you feel up to it. You have a responsibility, now start acting like it,” Kevin scolded.
Melody watch Aj and Kevin. Aj listened to Kevin with a blank emotionless face while Kevin’s face was contorted with anger. I guess this isn’t the first time he’s shown up late, Melody thought. Melody felt bad for Aj, she watched him stroll back to her like nothing was wrong, a smile plastered on his face.
“Ready to go see what a photo shoot really is?” he asked. She smiled and nodded. Melody watched as they led Aj to a make up table, he sat down in a tall wooden chair. She watched in fascination as the woman piled make up onto his face. I guess you aren’t aloud to have any blemishes when you are a pop star, she reasoned. Next, came wardrobe, and Aj wouldn’t seem to cooperate. The stylist wanted an entire blue outfit; Aj wanted the shiny yellow pants and an orange sleeveless top. Finally the stylist gave up and let Aj pick out his own outfit.
“What do you think?” he asked, holding up the yellow pants and a see-through black shirt.
“Great, I especially like the pants, they go with mine,” she commented. Aj returned back from the dressing room a minute later in the outfit, just as the stylist led Nick into the room.
“Now here is one boy that I know will always need my help,” she joked, poking Nick in the ribs. It was obvious that she was a regular employee of The Backstreet Boys.
“Hey, I like t-shirts and jeans,” he said in defense, “they are comfy.”
“I’m sure they are, come on boy, lets see what I can find.”
Melody snickered as she left the room. She always enjoyed herself around the guys. Not to mention she had a cute story to tell Vallery about Nick now.
“Aj!” the photographer yelled from behind the camera. They hurried over; the guy was getting impatient.
"Let’s get started,” Aj side, strolling in front of the camera. From watching him, Melody could tell he had done this many times before. Melody sat and watched for ten minutes, not in the least bored. It was fun to see Aj pose for the camera.
“Okay, last shot,” the photographer said, then turned to Melody. “Why don’t you get in the shot with him?”
“Oh no, I couldn’t,” Melody protested, but Aj had moved his way to her and was already pulling off the ground. Melody submitted, letting Aj guide her to the camera. Aj stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waste.
“Ready, one two, three,” the guy said, snapping the picture. Just as the flash went off Aj leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “That’s gonna be a keeper. Alright, who’s next, Nick!!”
“Okay, chill out, here I am,” he said, running forward in a sapphire blue sweater and khakis.
“How you holdin’ up babe?” Aj asked as he sat at the make up table, yet again, having his make up removed.
“Fine,” she said, stretching out across a small couch near his chair.
“You look a little pale.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t expect to look perfect in my last few days, and YOU forced me to get my picture taken.”
“I hardly forced you.”
“Ok, so you didn’t exactly force me…”
“You got it,” he said, jumping down from the chair and sitting next to her. She scooted over so he could lie down next to her. Melody rested her head against Aj and soon fell asleep. Aj let her rest, he had to wait for the other guys to finish before he could leave anyway. He could smell her scent, a sweet scent that reminded him of roses.
An hour later everyone had finished, Aj got up slowly, making sure not to wake Melody. He had to go do something, and she couldn’t know about it. Melody woke on her own a minute later, she wondered where Aj had gone. She slowly made her way outside, to find everybody except for him.
“Hey Mel, sweetie, how are you?” Howie asked, always concerned for her. Melody thought he was one of the nicest people she had ever met.
“I’m good,” she lied, “have you seen Aj?” They all shrugged their shoulders; Kevin even appeared a little annoyed. Five minutes later Aj came rushing out the door.
“We have to go to a press conference,” Kevin informed them. “Jive left a message on my cell phone this morning. Melody can just come on the bus with us, the driver shouldn’t have a problem taking her home. Aj, you can come back and get your car later.” Aj nodded and took Melody’s hand to head to the bus. Everyone crowded into the back of the bus. The ride to Melody’s house was silent, nobody said a word to each other. Melody sensed that she was causing the tension in the bus. She didn’t know for sure, she could just feel it. A little while later Melody was back at her house. She gave Aj a quick kiss before hurrying to the door.
