Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 23:06:13 +0000
From: Charles Underwood <lankymon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Life Saga-Life Begins: Chapter 6

Disclaimer: This story contains scenes and actions of an adult homosexual
and homoerotic nature. If you are resident in a country where your age does
not permit you to view such material, please leave this page immediately.
This story also contains references to real people. The author makes no
claim to know the sexualities of any of the characters within the story
including in particular the members of the Backstreet Boys. This story is
entirely fiction and does not represent the views of any of the members of
the sites with which it is affiliated. Thank you.

Life Begins:

Chapter Five: A New Beginning


Five rings. Five, long, slow rings. Any more and the call would not have
taken place. A third ring. He almost put the handset down. A fourth ring.
What was the point of this anyway? He didn't need to...A fifth ring. He would
end it. It was not worth it and he didn't want to cause any trouble.
"Hello?"

"Hi, can I speak to Ryan please?"

"Hang on a sec; I'll just pull him away from the pc." Charles waited a
further two minutes, all the while wondering why he had made this call.
"Hello?"

"Hi bro..."

"HEY! Where the hell have you been? Man I've been so worried about you!
Damn! Are you OK? I heard some crap about a cruise accident and what the
fuck have you been doing??" Charles listened to the torrent of concern and
smiled mildly to himself.

"I'm fine really. I just...needed to get a few things sorted and I kinda got
bugged down with work and all. Sorry I didn't call earlier; I haven't been
able to get online cos my laptop died and so..."

"Hmmm I guess so. But I missed you k? Don't you go pulling a stunt like that
too often you hear me?"

"Yeah sure. Look I hate to cut to the chase and hell I'd love to chat but
time is short and I need to ask you a favour." Charles left a small gap of
silence as if to make the next sentence somewhat separate and more
important. "I'm currently stuck in New York and I need a place to crash. Can
I borrow your flat..."

"You're asking? Dammit bro, you know you don't have to ask! You have a set
of keys anyhoo just go in and crash! Hey, we were planning on taking a trip
back up there soon anyhow. We must meet up and catch up on stuff..."

"No." The word echoed harshly down the line. "I'm sorry Ryan," Charles
sighed, "that came out way too harsh. I can't stick around for very long;
I've got some things to take care of in Orlando and I need to find a job and
locate stuff and..."

"A job? They fired you?? Why! You were their best!"

"Good question. Anyhoo, I have to love you and leave you. I'll try to get
online as soon as and we can chat some more. Thanks bro. Love ya."

"Love ya. By."

The phone clicked lightly and then the line played that mono dead tone that
for some reason always reminded Charles of a funeral. He placed the receiver
down slowly and stepped out of the pay phone. Then, he took a deep breath
and headed over the road to the mall. The building was old and a little
shabby for the glittering skyline of New York, but it had several good shops
that unique traders used away from the glare of the multi-billion
corporations that tended to drown out their small time competitors. He
headed past the collage of fast food businesses and went down a floor
through the bustling crowds into a small dark warehouse type boutique.

It was a strange place yet despite the musty smell and old world look, upon
the shelves, the latest graphics and memory upgrades shone underneath the
dim lighting like jewels in a cave. Charles strode past the few computer
geeks who hung back in the shadows, pawing over the new Radeon graphics
systems and cooling appliances and passed through a door near the back
marked `staff only'. Inside the small back office, a corridor extended into
a large workshop. It looked like a minefield. Pieces of case and hard disk
littered the floor while old monitors either stood in towering wobbly piles
or sat upon mountains of cds, floppy and zip disks displaying green and
white Matrix style code.

Fans whirred constantly; their perpetual noise broken only by Charles' heavy
footsteps. "You're back I see. What can I do you for?" the voice spoke
calmly and wearily from a face that shone with knowledge and passion. His
dark hair was swept back and his hands were charred from electrical shocks
and bitten by metal shards. "I need an upgrade. Max power. All accessories.
No programs. The usual." The man nodded and turned walked briskly into the
workshop. Charles waited by the entrance and felt his mind soothed by the
mechanical whirr.

The recent mirage of events had now been sorted into their correct places
and all were successfully filed away bar one. Nick. The night at the hotel
still bugged him and he did not know how to think or react. What was that
feeling he had woken with? A kind of...safety? He couldn't place it. And why
had he not called back as he had promised. It was over a week now and he had
been running from hotel to hotel in an attempt to dodge the somewhat
inevitable meeting. He snapped back from his thoughts as the computer giant
returned carrying a small vinyl case. "Here you go then mate. Usual
account?" Charles took the bag and, feelings its weight, nodded. "I'll be in
touch."

He left the mall and within an hour was standing outside a large suburban
house surrounded by trees and a large lawn. He took out a set of keys from
his pocket and inserted one into the front lock. The bolts slid back and the
door opened smoothly. Shaking his head, he reluctantly took the offer of
help and closed the door behind. He almost felt a pang of guilt or perhaps
unease when he remembered that he had already parked his car in the garage
and had placed a large pile of papers and documents upon the dining room
table. But he shrugged it off as irrelevant and sat down to crunch some
numbers.

The laptop fired up with incredible speed and after three minutes and two
DVDs worth of information, was powered with the latest in technical
software. He accessed the virtual wireless internet and engaged the I.P.
bypassing engine. A further minute and a half passed before the internet in
complete capacity, including the excluded, government and militant nets lay
open before him. At that time, however, he was not going to hack anything.
He located his secure banking site and accessed the withdrawal function. The
large nine figure display proved that they had been good to their word and
his funds had been taken care of. He accepted the pending outpayment and in
a trice several thousand disappeared from the account.

However, the debit was somewhat irrelevant when a moment later; another huge
payment racked back more than twice what had just been taken out. The
numbers rolled around electronically and the secure insurance bond paid its
dividend into the account. He checked the figures and, satisfied that
everything was in order, logged off the machine and left it to system check
and install a number of useful programs. He went to the fridge and snapped
open a can of pepsi and searched for his bottle of Smirnoff Blue. Adding a
generous amount of the clear vodka to the coke, he sat down to ponder on his
next move.

At that moment, his cell rang. Unknown number scrolled across the top of the
screen. He waited two rings until the sophisticated PDA style device tracked
the caller down and fed back the information. An office block in Orlando. He
accepted and listened with surprise as the receptionist informed him of his
successful job application.

"When can we expect your arrival?" she asked, after confirming his bank
details.

"At present, I don't know. Although I would be happy to fly out at once if
there is space available," Charles replied. Even though they were states
apart, Charles knew the girl was smiling.

"We can put you on a flight tomorrow evening, first class. It departs at
18:00 and check-in closes promptly at 17:30. Is that OK?"

"No problem at all. I look forward to it. When will I be introduced to my
manager?" He could not believe he had been so blind and so dismissive of the
bright young girl on the end of the phone.

"Oh you've already met her. Hi, my name is Ms. Wright. Please call me
Margaret." Charles didn't know what to say. He almost stammered but he
quickly collected his thoughts and after the minimal of pauses, spoke in
return,

"Forgive my ignorance. I am delighted to speak to you."

"Not at all, Charles. I shall discuss further arrangements of your
employment with us upon your arrival. Until then, goodbye."

"Goodbye." The conversation ended smartly and with all of the finesse
expected of such a high ranking global corporation. Charles sat back down
and smiled to himself. At last there was some success. His mind cut into his
thoughts and in a flash eradicated the slight feeling of bliss. He had work
to do. Sighing, he picked up his cell and dialed a familiar number. A few
moments later, it was answered by a deep heavy voice, "Hello?"

"Hey, is Emma there please?"

"Yeah, sure. One moment." Charles heard the rustle of cloth as the handset
was passed from one person to the other.

"Heigh-hos," she said lightly into the receiver.

"Hey, who's Mr. Manly over there?" asked Charles, the playful interest all
too obvious in his voice. Emma laughed and answered in a tone that conveyed
hiding and intrigue.

"His name is Mark and we met at that club."

"Is he nice?-he sounds it!"

"God yes! He is amazing! He is soo kind and caring and fantastic in bed!"
she added with a laugh.

"Well it's good to see you having some luck for once. I hope it goes well.
Anyhoo, I thought I had better ring and let you know I'm leaving New York
now and heading down to Orlando. I shall call you soon and meet up for lunch
or something."

"OK, thanks for letting me know, I'll chat online if I'm free."

"Yeah, if you can drag yourself away from your hunk you mean!" Charles
laughed.

"Hmpf!"

"No worries, love you, bye!"

"Bye!"

`It was about time something good happened to her,' Charles thought to
himself. He checked the time and finding it surprisingly late, fixed a
sandwich before returning to the laptop and continuing with a number of
programs that he wrote totally oblivious to anything else around him. It was
two a.m. before he finally closed the machine down and headed for bed. There
was a lot to do in the morning and as he lay down and closed his eyes to
power sleep away part of the darkness and try to rebuild his defenses that
had as ever endured a mighty assault during the day; an additional comfort
soothed his whirling thoughts. Unknowingly focusing on Nick's angelic face,
he soon drifted off into a strange dark world that greeted him each time he
closed his eyes.

This night, however, it was blissfully silent.


*  *  *  *  *

Nick wondered around his flat for the seventh time trying to remember
anything else about that night. He could still picture it exactly as it
happened; waking up and finding Charles moving to an invisible force with
such peace and might on his face; the embarrassment of forgetting his
nudity; the joy of talking and being near his saviour. He just could not
recall Charles saying anything about where he was going or would be? What
were his words? `Nowhere special.' That could mean anything! Frustration
grabbed him again and he flung his body down into the sofa. The muted TV's
glaring image did little to comfort him and he found himself once more
standing up with restlessness.

He had already rung round the city hotels for descriptions and had used his
influence to search but all routes had been in vain. Some things had turned
out right that week anyway, even if not being able to locate Charles wasn't
one of them. He had managed to fully reconcile with al of the other band
members, well all save Brian that was, and was joining them in Orlando that
evening for talks with management over the new tour and potential for a
second return album. In fact the taxi was waiting outside the flat now for
him to show. Exasperated at having to leave his pursuits, he picked up his
keys and laptop before closing the front door.

Within the hour, he was sitting on the plane and connecting to the private
wireless network. He logged in as he standard anonymous username, Nikon, and
entered the virtual chat. It was not a long flight and he had enough time to
scan through the forums before opting for a low user room containing five
other people. Two of the five were engaged in a jargon battle or at least
that what it appeared to Nick. Lance and Termial66 sent high paced chains of
script running across the screen until in an instant, Terminal66 was booted
from the room and vanished from the list of online users.

`Odd' thought Nick to himself as he started up a conversation. I'm looking
for someone; can anyone help me? He typed. As usual with new people in what
appeared to be a well established set of four people, no one replied. Sorry
about that. Rogue bot. Any more strange things happening red? Lance asked
another user. Nothing of importance. I'll keep you posted. Thanks, Lance.
Lucia then spoke up. How do you configure Radeon with OSX? Mine isn't
working right on the network... Two messages answered at once. The first was
from red, detailing the protocol and scripting commands needed to run such a
configuration. The second and more valuable one was directed at Nick.

You looking for someone in Orlando or New York, Nikon?  Nick was surprised.
How did Lance know where he was or what his destination was. Feeling more
than a little uneasy, he checked his firewall settings before answering. I'm
not sure. They were in New York but I lost them. I have details of the hotel
they used and what they look like but nothing further. A few minutes passed
before Lance replied. In the meantime, red, Lucia and now Yoda all joined in
a heated discussion about the benefit of using the new Java script as oppose
to C++. Lance then cut in twice to say that both were terrible and everyone
of any caliber should use Terraform before answering Nick.

Send me the photo and details and I'll crack the database. Nick was
surprised at how easily and calmly he appeared to word his answer. He typed
out the information he had managed to weed from the hotel and then proceeded
to upload a blurred pc generated image of the man he longed to catch up
with. The photo was half way through transferring when the fasten-seatbelt
sign illuminated seconds before the plane hit a sudden rush of turbulence.
In a trice the connection was terminated and the data was lost. Nick
exclaimed and hastened to fasten his belt as the craft began to jump around
alarmingly.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are experiencing some unexpected turbulence and
would ask you to please remain calm. We will climb to a high altitude to
escape it, should the winds persist. Thank you for your attention." Nick
braced himself and pushed his body firmly into the seat. He hated
turbulence. Take off and landing he could just about deal with but when
things started to shake, he had to be in his seat. Luckily it did not last
for long and in fifteen minutes, the plane was stable. Nick, however, was
not. Almost green with fright, he raced to the toilets as soon as the
seatbelt light was turned off.

It was lucky that no one else needed to go that badly for it was a further
half hour before he returned, very much whiter and a little shaky, he sat
down. He considered using the laptop again to resume the discussion but
decided against it. If one person on a random forum had the knowledge and
access to find Charles, there would be someone else somewhere on the
internet who could do a similar search. For the moment at least he was
content with that thought.

He was ushered through customs with no problems and was just checking he had
not forgotten anything when someone familiar brushed past. He looked up and
stared for a whole minute while the man walked up, collected his baggage and
then headed out of the terminal. Suddenly realizing who it could be, Nick
ran out of the airport building, getting entangled in the revolving doors as
he left. He tripped up and stumbled forward across the road, narrowly
avoiding several cars and trucks before mounting the pavement
unceremoniously and running headlong into a lamppost. He span around and
scanned the road for the stranger. But no one was there. Cursing, he
shuffled back into the terminal where he joined his waiting security
personnel and was chauffeured to a nearby hotel.

He was the last to arrive. The other 4 band members were already seated
upstairs on their reserved floor. He entered slowly, unsure of their
reaction. Surprisingly, he was greeted with 3 grins and a mediocre smile;
much better than he had been expecting. Kevin sat him down while AJ got him
a drink. Once settled, Howie set the ball in motion. "OK should we do
another album? I mean we love doing it and I've got a tone of new ideas and
the fans would love us for it. Any thoughts?"

"I agree we should go for it," replied Kevin. "I mean we don't need money
and the chance to get out and perform again is what I hope we all enjoy;
hell I know I do!"

"Yeah I'm game," added AJ. "I mean I need the focus in my life and spending
more time with you guys is always a plus."

The conversation was cut short by the dread atmosphere that had descended on
the room. "Guys, would you excuse us for a moment please?" asked Brian,
looking across at Nick. They nodded and the pair got up and headed out on
the balcony to talk. "Let's get one thing straight OK?" began Brian.

"What is there to get straight exactly? I mean I'm the same person and the
others accept me for that. Who I fancy is really none of your business!"
Nick launched a full attack on the man he had once regarded as a brother.
"It is my business. You mean a lot to me and I don't want to end up falling
out over such a...trivial thing!" Brian replied hastily. He truly did not want
to loose his friendship with Nick and he knew that he was the one who had
been in the wrong before. "Trivial? You think this means nothing to me? Oh
you can forget it! I've had it with you! You know, not everyone has the
luxury of choosing to be the honorable blue-eyed perfect choir boy!" Nick
screamed the words at him before running out of the room, tears streaming
down his face and slammed the door behind him.

"What did you say to him?" asked Kevin angrily.

"Nothing! Honestly, I tried to tell him I was sorry but he just took it the
wrong way and flipped out on me!" The water in Brian's eyes combined with
his indignant tone told the group he was being truthful. "Well we have to go
after him!" urged AJ. "There's no telling what he might do!" Howie nodded
but Brian was already opening the door. In a trice, he was through it and
chasing after Nick. "Dammit!" Kevin exclaimed. But there was nothing more
they could do other than race out after the two feuding men. "I just hope we
get to them before they do something stupid."


*  *  *  *  *

The flight was somewhat boring. First class of course and on the private jet
there was access to wi-fi systems. He was a little annoyed that his data
stream had been interrupted due to turbulence and on his return to the
client, his contact was no longer available. However, on arrival at the
airport everything went smoothly. He almost ran into someone at baggage
collection but nothing was made of it and he was able to quickly pass
through security and get to where his taxi was waiting. The journey 	had
passed quickly and within the hour they reached the hotel. "Ms. Wright will
meet you for diner at eight. Please do not delay." The receptionist droned
on for a few minutes about standard hotel protocol and the events occurring
at the hotel in the forthcoming week. It was a wonder he remembered it all
but more of a amazement that he did not tire from reciting the endless
charade of diners and music performances; all complete with times and
seating arrangements.

When he had finally recited the last of the events and handed over the keys
to room 43, Charles turned at once to the main stairwell. He never took the
lift where he could avoid it and the four floor climb would do him good. He
rounded the corner and then stopped dead. Standing in front of him, looking
him straight in the eyes having run down stairs, was Nick. "Hey," Charles
said, unable to look away from Nick's piercing eyes. "Hey," nick replied,
suddenly overcome at his presence. All earlier thoughts of his discussion
with Brian and the anger he felt vanished from his mind and he saw only
Charles' sapphire eyes.

"I didn't expect to see you here," inquired Charles.

"Well you know, small world and all!" replied Nick nervously. "Look, there's
something I want to..." he broke off.

"What?" asked Charles, "What is up? Do you need to talk again?" by this
point had moved to the side and were leaning against the bar, which was at
the time, thankfully closed. "No, it's not that, I just...I don't know...It's
hard for me you know?"

"I know," whispered Charles, more to himself, than to Nick. For a moment he
wished he could leave his past behind, that he could just find the
confidence he needed to do what he wanted and to be the person he needed to
be. Nick heard and caught Charles' sudden depressed shift in his gaze.
Ignoring all inhibitions, he moved forward and kissed him full on the lips.
They stood there for a moment, before Nick pulled away and looked back at
Charles' face; the expression upon it impossible to read. `I've done it
now,' he thought. `From here on in, only time will tell.'


*  *  *  *  *

OK this is a better part than the last lol; actually get some plot movement.
Anyhoo, cheers for the reading and thumbs up go to Emma and Pansy-Boy Ryan
for their support. Keep on reading and enjoy!! As ever: lankymon@hotmail.com