Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 23:19:17 +0000 From: James Subject: Boy Bands - On The Streets - Season Two - Part 13 I don't know the Backstreet Boys or N'Sync, I have never met them, I don't own them, and this story is not meant to imply anything about anyone's sexuality - it is purely the product of my own imagination. I hope everyone enjoys reading it, but please remember it is just fiction. My favourite stories at the moment are: Bad Boy B-Rok My New Life Rebound Light in the Tunnel And a few others, but those are the ones I read in the last few days... Here's chapter Thirteen... On The Streets - Season Two - Chapter Thirteen >>>Jared's Point of View<<< Kevin and I walked downstairs. I still wasn't sure about what happened. Kevin had tied me up and I had panicked. Did this mean I didn't trust him? I was pretty sure that I hadn't had a flashback - I knew exactly where I was, and I had been scared. When we'd been out on the balcony, I'd done something that made me feel sick - I'd brought out my English accent, to make Kevin think it was just me remembering what it was like back at home. I carried on casting glances at Kevin, and asking myself stupid questions like 'how well do I really know him?' The thought of me not trusting Kevin scared me even more than the thought of being tied up again. I really did think I trusted him. "Good morning sirs!" Jake shouted from the kitchen as we just got to the bottom of the stairs. "Breakfast will be ready shortly!" We walked through to the kitchen, and Jake was piling food up onto various plates. We both smiled at the amount of food he was preparing. Just as we were about to sit down at the kitchen table, a phone started ringing down the hall, and then cut out. Jake wiped his hands, and disappeared for a second. Coming back, he had a roll of paper in his hands. "Mr. Richardson? This fax just came through for you." Kevin frowned deeply - he had ordered that he not be disturbed, so basically, we'd had our phones turned off the whole time, our address here hadn't been given out to anyone, and he had left this fax number with one person - his lawyer, in case anything went seriously wrong. Even the guys didn't have a way of reaching us, except in an emergency. "What's wrong?" I asked Kevin as he started reading the paper. "I just got it!" Kevin said in a slightly angry tone. I don't think he was actually angry at me, he just hadn't expected to be disturbed part way through our honeymoon. He got to the end of the sheet, and put it down. "Shit." He pushed it over for me to read, and I started. 'N'Sync clarification board meeting. May 18th. ALL board members required to attend. Topic in question: next album. Please get back to me on details of flight to Orlando. I will arrange for your presence however you see fit.' It was from Kevin's lawyer alright. His stock holdings in N'Sync had apparently come back and bitten him in the ass. He had never let on to any of the guys or the public that he held stock in N'Sync, only Lance and JC knew, and he didn't want people to know - it would look like he didn't have confidence in his own group. "I can't go." Kevin said succinctly. "Well, Kevin, you have to. There's no way to get out of it. He's underlined that everyone on the board has to go." I said to him gently. "Jared I can't go! If I turn up to that, then everyone will know I'm a stockholder, and it will look terrible for the Backstreet Boys. I have to... I don't know. Shit!" Kevin slammed his hand on the table from where he'd been resting it on his head. Jake started bringing trays of food over. "Look, just eat now, don't think about it - we'll sort it out, somehow." Kevin just frowned, but nodded and then we tucked in. *** "Sitting there worrying about it isn't going to help anything - you should phone your lawyer, or somebody, and try to see if you can get out of going." I stood at the doorway to the small office, and Kevin sat behind the table which stood as a makeshift desk. "I can't get through to my lawyer, I'll try him again later. But I don't think there is any way out of it. This meeting is a clarification meeting on the next album - it's the most important meeting we can attend. The entire group will be there, as will a great deal of press standing right outside. They'll definitely see me going in, even if it doesn't leak out on its own." I stood there in silence for a minute. "Couldn't you just phone up and say you were sick?" Kevin looked up slowly. "That... that might work." Kevin said slowly, and he looked down at the fax which he was clutching in his hand. Then he slowly smiled. "Actually, I've got a better plan that might just work." Kevin said, then he smiled broadly. "Well done Jared." Kevin said, almost laughing. I didn't get the joke, but I was glad he was happy again, so I left it. "Shall we spend the day on the beach?" Kevin picked up the cordless phone from the desk, presumably so that he could finish making phone calls from out there, and we headed outside. We spent the remainder of the morning on the beach. Around lunchtime, we heard a voice further along the beach. Kevin and I both looked up - nobody else had come along while we had been here, mostly because this was a private beach. Since we had arrived here, we had only seen Jake on this property and his... lady friend. Now, squinting, I could just about make out a single figure running down the beach. About 400 metres away now, I could see it was a small boy, probably no more than 10, and in the distance another group of people, but my eyesight didn't stretch to that distance. Finally, when the small boy was probably 100 metres from us, and what looked like his parents were about the same distance as the boy was originally, we heard the mother scream out: "Dean! Get back here!" She shouted at the top of her voice. "That's a private beach! Come back!" She screamed again. Kevin had stood up by this point, and the little boy carried on running. He was obviously playing with his parents, as he carried on diving to the sand, jumping up and running towards us again. He seemed to be giggling and laughing all the time as he came within 20 metres of us. Finally, he noticed Kevin standing there, and me lying on the ground. He froze. "Hey, Dean?" Kevin started with a smile in his voice. "I think your mom's calling you." Kevin said, pointing at the boy's parents running now to catch up with him. The boy ran the 100 metres back to his parents quicker than I would've thought possible. They were only about 70 metres away when the whole family was reunited as a group. They seemed reluctant to come any closer, probably considering that it was a private beach. Kevin started to call them over though, and they came up to us. I stood and shook hands with the man and woman, who introduced themselves as the MacKenzie's. "We're very sorry, we only noticed this was a private beach at that sign just up there." Mrs. MacKenzie, or Julia as she said to call her, pointed back the way they had just come. "It's quite alright, it's been very quiet around here and we have no problem with people coming onto the beach, just as long as they don't intrude - we came here to get away from it all, and for the past couple of weeks it has been great." Kevin replied. "Yes, it is great down here idn'it?" Mr. MacKenzie said in a thick accent. "I always wanted to come, and Julia 'n' I thought we'd take a second honeymoon, seein' as the kids were old enough now." I frowned, and they caught my expression. Julia smiled, and Michael, Mr. MacKenzie, pushed out Dean, while Julia reached behind her, and it was then I noticed a small pair of arms wrapped around her leg. A small, blond haired girl appeared, probably six years old, but no taller than my waist. She had a thoughtful expression on her face before she ran back behind her mother and hid. Kevin and I both laughed, and so did the MacKenzie's. "That was Sarah." Julia said, smiling. Jake chose that moment to come out the door. "Mr. Richardson?" He shouted from the back door of the house. "Would you like me to start making lunch for you now?" Kevin looked up, and then looked over at me. He gave me a look, and I nodded slightly. "Would you care to join us for lunch?" Kevin asked the MacKenzie's politely. "Oh no, we couldn't. We've already intruded far too much, we shouldn't have been down here at all. We couldn't." Julia quickly interjected. "Nonsense, we'd love to have some company." I put in. "We don't want to intrude, but if it's really no trouble..." Michael started. "It's not." Kevin said, and started to lead us towards the house. Once we got to the back door, Jake let us all in. "Jake, can you cater for an extra four people?" Kevin said once we were inside. "Of course!" Jake said grinning broadly. The two children seemed to please him, and he turned to both of them. "Now, two American children... I wonder what you guys would like for lunch, hmmm... whatever shall I make?" He looked at Dean intently. "I want French fries!" Dean said enthusiastically. "Dean!" Julia said crossly. "It's quite alright!" Jake started laughing. "I'll go put some on. Would you like me to just go ahead with the menu I'd arranged for today for the adults, or would you like to change it?" Jake asked Kevin. "You guys aren't vegetarians or anything?" Both the MacKenzie's shook their heads. "Just go ahead then, please Jake." He said, turning back to Jake. "Shall we go sit down while we're waiting?" Kevin asked. I smiled as he led us into the living room. It felt good to have other people in the house: not that I minded having just Kevin and me, but a little company occasionally was never an annoyance. I realised then that we weren't wearing any shirts, so as we passed, I grabbed a couple from the laundry room, and handed one to Kevin. We sat in the living room with the MacKenzie's. "So where're you guys from?" Julia asked. "Florida." Kevin replied. "Well, actually I'm from Kentucky and Jared's English, but we live in Florida. What about you?" "Well I'm originally from Chicago, but we live in Denver where Mike was born." Julia said. Kevin and I both nodded. I wasn't actually sure where Denver was, so, I just left it, and we carried on talking about different things. Dean had obviously grown tired though, and was walking around the room, looking at various things. Kevin and I had brought quite a lot of stuff with us when we came down, so that the place we were going to live in for the better part of a month felt more like home. So, Dean was looking at all of our little things, photographs, books, and other stuff, when he came over and asked who was in a photo with us. "Dean! Put it down, it's not yours." Dean had brought the photograph over to us in its frame. It was a photo of the boys backstage, and Nick was lying across the other four's laps. "That's the group I'm in." Kevin said, smiling at Dean. "That's where I knew you from!" Dean suddenly shouted. "Mom! He's one of the Backstreet Boys." He said, pointing at Kevin. "Dean! Don't point!" Julia said, in a tone which brooked no opposition. Dean dropped his hand, but then stood, staring expectantly at his mother. She finally turned towards Kevin and I. "So you're the guys from the Backstreet Boys?" "Oh no ma'am - Jared's not in the group." Kevin said sweetly. "I saw that piece about you on the news, about you two getting married." Julia said, ignoring Kevin. Kevin and I waited for something else from the two of them. "Congratulations." Julia and Michael said, almost at the same time. Kevin and I both smiled and said our thank you's. >>>Kevin's Point of View<<< The MacKenzie's joined us for lunch and we sat around the coffee table afterwards talking for a long time. About 4, the children were obviously getting restless, so we moved out to the beach, so that they could play outside. Jared, unfortunately, was also getting restless. He wanted to go play too! So he did - he played frisbee on the beach for about two and a half hours with the two children while I talked to Julia and Michael. *** >>>Nick's Point of View<<< Kevin and Jared have been gone for about 9 days now - the wedding was great, and all us guys got together and celebrated again afterwards at Brian's house, in other words, we all got pissed. Even Leo joined in because Leighanne was willing to stay with the baby. I realised just how happy Leo got when he wasn't constantly worrying about Laura then. So, the next day I went out and hired a nanny. I told Leo about it, and he agreed, but only as long as he still got to look after Laura most of the time, and just have the nanny to look after her when we wanted to go out or something. So, she moved into one of our spare rooms five days later, her name was Emily, and she was from Sweden. She would basically look after Laura's night time feedings, and prepare her bottles of food in the mornings, and if we ever went out, she would be able to stay home and look after Laura. The very first night, I took full advantage of her presence in the house... "Good night Nick." Leo said, though he didn't sound very tired. "Good night." I said, and rested back against my pillow. My cock was so hard, it felt like it was going to burst. I looked over at Leo, and he wasn't asleep, but he had his eyes shut. I shifted slightly, and he didn't open them, so I pulled myself down on the bed, and ducked under the covers. Leo's naked form was gorgeous. He had the perfect butt, and his cock was just incredible. I leant over, and it was still soft, but I picked it up between two fingers and put it in my mouth. It quickly hardened. Leo lifted up the sheets, and saw me with his cock between my lips. "Oh fuck!" Leo said as he started to enjoy the blowjob. He put the sheets back down so that he could just enjoy the sensation. I could feel his hands on my shoulders through the sheet. Then he moved them to the back of my head and he started bucking his hips, forcing his thick cock down towards the back of my mouth. Leo came down my throat. He sucked me off then, getting a similar response from me. Leo took full advantage of the nanny that night, and we fucked like rabbits until the early morning. *** >>>Kevin's Point of View - May 16th 2003<<< "What do you mean 'I can do it'?" Jared shouted at me. "Look Jared, there's no need to raise your voice!" "Yes there fucking is! You don't just presume I'll do your job for you, the same way I don't presume you're going to do mine for me!" "OK, I'm sorry, I said it wrong, I meant would you do it for me, rather than you'll do it..." "Kevin, all you had to do was ask in the first place." Jared said, I went over and hugged him. "When is it again?" "The 18th, day after tomorrow." Jared nodded his head slightly. "So, what? I have to fly up early in the morning?" "Well, really early... the time zone difference means that you'll have to be heading up there about 5." "Owch." I nodded, and both Jared and I laid back onto the bed. We started to fall asleep, we'd both had a long day doing various things. We'd gone to play golf for a bit at the resort, which I was very pleased about - it was the one sport I could still beat Jared at. Then we'd gone swimming, we'd sunbathed for a couple of hours before going for dinner at a restaurant in town with the MacKenzie's. "So, how does it feel to be a millionaire?" I asked as I turned to Jared. >>>Jared's Point of View<<< The clarification meeting that Kevin had to attend for N'Sync? Well, he wasn't going to have to attend it anymore - he'd transferred his entire holding in N'Sync into my name and as a result, I was legally required to attend the meeting, being a major stockholder in the group. It was a good idea - I'd give him that, but I wish the meeting was after our honeymoon, so that I didn't have to fly up and then come back down. >>>May 18th<<< Ok, I was exhausted - I had to leave the house at 3:30 in order to get to the airport to catch my flight and head up to Florida. I arrived in Florida at about 8:30 local time and headed straight for the offices. There was press hanging around outside, for some reason this was a big event, but Kevin had basically given me a run through of what to do - head straight into the building, ignoring any press. I did as he'd told me. I was dressed very sharply in an Armani suit that I actually borrowed off Kevin - I know it probably didn't fit me how it was meant to, but it fit ok. Once inside, I was escorted to a boardroom by one of the people who was waiting in the reception area for the stockholders. The boardroom was almost full. About seven seats remained at the table which could easily seat forty or so. I got a couple of confused glances as I sat down in front of a portfolio with my name on the cover. Kevin had briefed me about everything the meeting would be about, but had told me that some things I would just have to use my common sense on, and if I really wasn't sure, then I was to look over at JC and Lance and see what they were doing if there was a vote on anything. It was almost half an hour later of complete boredom before another person walked in. Everyone else here seemed to know each other, so I was basically excluded as they talked about everything to do with business. The guy who walked in was a black, middle-aged guy who sat just to the left of the head of the table. Finally, the group came in. They walked down the sides of the table towards the furthest end of the table from the door. In doing so, they had to walk past me. "Jared?" Justin said in a very high voice. He sounded shocked. I just waved slightly and smiled. They carried on, after JC had pushed Justin forwards. The guys all gave me confused looks, but they carried on nonetheless. An elderly gentleman at the end of the table stood up. "Right, now we're all here." He started in a Texan sounding accent. "Let's begin." The purpose of the meeting was to establish firstly whether the group would release another album, and considering their massive success it was almost a certainty, secondly what pay rates would vary and also certain minor issues such as tour length and number of concerts. A couple of other things had been added to the agenda in the previous 24 hours as well. We started listening to various propositions and voting this way and that. It came to the last item on the agenda, number of concerts. I was bored out of my mind. "So, I propose that we limit the number of concerts and we will be able not only to perform far better than if we are forced to do as many as you originally proposed, but we will also be less likely to fall ill, like we did so often during the last tour." Lance was speaking, begging the board, us, to vote for less concerts in the next tour. "Can you guarantee that you won't fall ill then?" One of the board members asked. "Well no, but..." Lance began. "So, in fact, you just made an assurance which you can't possibly back up?" Another board member began. "No, but, I mean, it's obvious isn't it?" Lance said. "Not to the board apparently..." The older man at the end began. I looked towards the group, and saw Justin just staring at the table. Joey and Chris were looking worried, and JC was just leaning there on his hands. I knew I felt out of place here, but I wanted to do something. "Excuse me, sorry, can I say something?" I raised my hand. "Of course, any member of the board must be recognised." The elderly man said with a smirk. "Especially one with as large a holdings as you Mr. Healey." I looked back at the guys, and they all looked shocked again besides JC and Lance, who knew about Kevin's investments. "Well, it's just, I don't about the business side of what you're arguing about, but I do know about the guys' health, and I'm pretty sure you'll find plenty of medical evidence to prove that exhaustion causes a decrease in the immune system's effectiveness. I know that the Backstreet Boys started to suffer from exhaustion towards the end of their world tour, and the number of dates which you're proposing for N'Sync is more than the Boys had. I would suggest you either cut the number of dates or provide more off-days, spreading the concerts out a bit more." I finished and felt my throat go dry. "Hmm... an insider's view, interesting. Would you be willing to propose the motion?" The guy at the head of the table asked. I sat up suddenly, realising he was talking to me. "Err... yes." He motioned me to raise my hand. A moment later he said three words which caused an instant change in the mood at the table. "I second that." He said softly, and raised his hand. The remainder of the table slowly acquiesced and raised their hands. The guys were grinning, mostly at me, but also all around the table. "Exact amounts of time off will be negotiated with the group and their agents." He continued, then lowered his hand. "Now, onto other business." All this 'other business' was covered in the portfolio in front of me - it was a thick folder, and I wondered why and how this had all been got together in the last 24 hours. But still, I opened it and cast my eyes over the first couple of pages. Thank God I can read quickly - it was practically a book! I finished the first twenty or so pages in about ten minutes and looked around, the other people at the table were still reading, so I read on to the end. A page of motions was listed at the end, that were all to be voted on. They seemed really unimportant, and I doubted that my vote would even make a difference, then I noticed one half way down: 'Work to be done on, and release of, second 'Justin Timberlake' album'. That looked fairly important. I sat around waiting for the rest of the board to finish. I wondered whether Kevin would still be awake when I got home - it would be about 11 o'clock Mexico time by the time I got back there - this meeting had already gone on six hours and, well, we had a whole list of motions left. The guy sitting at the head of the table started reading out the list of motions and most of the time, people just didn't vote, or followed whatever he said. He finally read out the Justin Timberlake one. "Stop!" Justin shouted out. "Before you vote, can I say something?" Justin seemed eager. "Of course, you hold stock too, you can speak." "It's just, last time, I was working on the album while we were working on the group's album, and, I well, I don't want to do that this time. I'd prefer to get finished on the group's album first, then start on my solo one. Why can't I do that?" "Well, last time we did it because your popularity is at its highest when the group's album comes out, hence, you are more likely to attract attention for your own album at the same time." "Yes, but I can't work as hard on our album, and I get tired too easily on the tour." Justin retorted. "But you maximise studio time, and you cash in on the added publicity the group's album gives you." A black man said at the end of the table. "But the album doesn't come out as good!" JC finally spoke up. "I must say though, it is more viable commercially to release the albums together." One of the board members stated. The guys and a few of the board members started arguing over the matter, and it got louder and louder. So, basically, the guys wanted to split them up so the albums were better, but the board, or most of it, wanted to put the albums out at the same time as it was better for business. If the guys did well, and made more money, wouldn't Kevin's, or my, stock increase in value? I actually realised there was a dilemma here. "We will put it to the vote." A voice said from the end of the table. "If you wish to split them, and release the albums separately, raise your hand. The guys' hands shot up, apparently they could vote, even though they had not done so so far. Then members of the board started raising their hands in sympathy for the boys. There were not many of them. But there did seem to be getting closer to half of the total number of people with their hands up. The head guy raised his hand, and a few more people followed. There were, I think forty people around the table, and it appeared to be a tie. Then I realised I hadn't decided. What to do? The guys were looking at me, surprised I think more than anything. "It is a tie. The motion will not pass that the albums will be released separately and instead they shall be released together as happened last..." "Stop!" I cut him off. The others still had their hands raised, and I put mine up too. "The motion has been passed." The guys let out a shout and clapped a few times, and I got a few scowls from various people around the table. But I felt better, so I'd probably lost Kevin some money, but, it's only money. *** >>>Kevin's Point of View<<< I can't believe Jared actually asked me earlier if I would still be awake by the time I got home! What kind of a husband does he think he am? He phoned me just as he was leaving Florida and we spoke for a bit. I was going to pick him up from the airport! He also apologised because he hadn't made the business-minded decision. I couldn't believe he was so worried over it. I finally just said that it was just money, and that made him really happy. I think Jared's a good influence on me. Anyway, I was waiting for him at the gate, and as he came out looking tired, I walked up to him and put my arms around him. He smiled, but his eyes were closing fast. He was dead tired, and I took his carry on, which had the portfolio from the board meeting in, and helped him out. "You came to pick me up." Jared said when we got in the car. He seemed surprised. "Yeah? Did you think I'd make you catch a cab?" "Well, I don't know, I guess I thought you might ask Jake to come pick me up, but I thought you'd be in bed by now." "I haven't had you around to tire me out all day - I'm wide awake still." Jared smiled a little, but he was dozing off. I drove him home, and once we got there, I helped him inside and undressed him. He wasn't really paying attention and as I laid his head on the pillow, I just let him gradually doze off. "Thank you so much for doing that today Jared." "Mmhmm." He just mumbled. He smiled slightly. "Thank me tomorrow." He mumbled out, before falling fast asleep. ***May 24th*** Jared and I spent the next couple of days just relaxing and hanging out on the beach, we went for a meal at the restaurant again yesterday, the bus boy who hit on Jared last time wasn't there, and it was a nice meal. Both Jared and I were fitter and healthier than when we left, probably because of the runs I'd been doing with him every morning, but the very regular sex sessions probably didn't hurt. We swam in the sea sometimes, and it was quite warm most days. We also both had healthy tans, even if I still reckoned that Jared looked a little bit too dark. Tomorrow we would be packing and then we were due to head home on the 26th. For now though, we were relaxing on the beach. "Race you to the water." Jared said as he leant over me. I was feeling dozy from lying in the sun so long, but I was never one to just let a challenge go, so I picked myself up and followed Jared down to the sea. He turned once he was up to his knees in the water and looked at me. "Come on slow coach!" He smirked, and carried on wading in. He got to waist high before diving forwards, and swimming till he could no longer touch the bottom. I was waist high by the time he turned around again, and he started coming towards me until his feet hit the bottom. The water was so clear that I could see his entire upper body, and I stood next to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he put his around my waist. "God you're sexy." He said as he leant forward to kiss me. I let him take control and he delved his tongue deeply into my mouth. I smiled slightly as I remembered where we were and the cool water swished around us. Jared moved his hands lower, and pushed my swimming trunks over my butt and gradually pushed them down. I smiled again and pulled back from the kiss. "And what do you think you're doing?" I asked him with a smirk on my face. "Takin' what's mine." He said with a grin. "Oh, so now it's yours is it?" "Uh huh." He replied. I turned and begun to swim away, but Jared grabbed a hold of the back of my trunks and carried on pulling them down, the only way for me to get away from him was to pull out of my trunks, so I did. I swum in a direction away from Jared and not quite parallel to the beach, so that I gradually approached it. When I was close enough, I started wading away. I turned and Jared was closer than I'd expected, I let out a yelp and started running really fast. I was butt naked, and it felt, exhilarating running along the beach with nothing on. I only got about 50 yards before Jared was practically jogging alongside me. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me towards him. As he did, my legs collided with his and we went tumbling to the ground. He ended up on top of me, looking down at my face. "Did I ever tell you how sexy you are?" Jared asked. "All the time." I replied with a smile. "Good." He leant down and kissed me again. "What if Jake comes out, or if someone walks along the beach?" I asked, suddenly concerned. "And shouldn't we be getting back sometime soon, it is getting dark..." I trailed off as Jared slipped inside me. "Everything'll be ok. I already told Jake to take the rest of the night off, and no one's gonna be coming up here." Jared eased out and back in again. He kissed me on the lips. I love him so much. We made love for hours, and slept on the hammock outside the back door of the house - Jared had been prepared and even put extra blankets out for us. ***May 25th*** The next day was our last full day in Merida, and Jared and I had to pack up our clothes. I'd shipped off some of the little things we'd bought with us a couple of days before, and they'd be waiting for us when we got home. We were done within a couple of hours and sat around the rest of the day, not really doing very much. We were on a 7 o'clock flight tomorrow morning, so we didn't want to get too tired. Jared and I spent the last day of our honeymoon just holding each other and watching the colour of the sky change from one hour to the next. The sun set about 9:30 and we watched it disappear into the deep blue sea before heading in, saying goodnight to Jake and heading to bed. ***May 26th*** Jared looked so sad to leave the house that I almost wanted to tell him we could just move down here, but our honeymoon was over, and we both had jobs to get back to. The tour was starting in less than a week, and Jared and I had to finish getting ready, not to mention the rehearsals I had to get done with. Jared walked around the house once more with a depressed expression on his face, then he let out a sigh and walked up to me and hugged me. "Let's go." He said, and we walked out arm in arm. Jake drove us to the airport. We said our goodbyes and walked in. We checked ourselves through and made our way to the gate. We didn't get harassed at all, and as soon as we boarded the plane and felt it start to taxi, we knew our honeymoon in paradise was over. End of Chapter 13