Tests of Friendship, Chapter Five:
By AD
Intro:
Well, this seems to be going quickly! Thanks for all your comments, good and bad, although
as yet Ive had no bad ones, only ones suggesting ways to make it better. I know
there are a few mistakes here and there, but no ones perfect. Always point out any
mistakes to me though, Ill correct them in future issue if relevant.
Usual legal stuff: dont read if you are under 18 or it is illegal to do so in your
country. This story doesnt mean to imply anything about the sexuality of the
Backstreet Boys or N Sync. Any similarities to real life are unintentional etc.
etc. etc. Read the other chapters for a full legal description. This story is
copyrighted to me, and any reproduction of the story is strictly prohibeted. Nifty
has exclusive publication rights as detailed under there terms and conditions.
Anyway, on with the story!
Chapter Five:
A small first class section was at the front, for about 20 odd people. It seemed
that we had this mainly to ourselves. The rest of the plane hadnt boarded yet,
so it was hard to say whether we would be completely alone or not. We took our
seats, and waited as the other passengers got on. I turned round as I heard someone
enter the first class section, and was surprised to see who it was.
I leaned forwards to the row in front of me and tapped Brian on his shoulder. He
turned round and I pointed out the man standing there. He almost jumped out of his
seat, but remained calm. "I take it youre glad to see him?" I asked Brian.
"I suppose that depends on what he has to say!" Brian said, before motioning the
man over to sit next to him. John saw him and sat down in the seat. There were
a few seconds of uncomfortable silence before they actually started speaking.
"Did you mean what you said at the concert?" John asked.
"Yes, I did." Brian replied.
"It was brave of you asking me like that. I suppose you must have been scared
shitless when I left quickly. You probably thought I was going to go to the press or
something like that?"
"I was. What are you doing here?"
"Well, I hoped I might see you."
"Oh, well...you see me. What did you want to see me for?" Brian asked, not
displaying much emotion yet.
"I thought I would set your mind at rest, and tell you I like you too. I
dont know whether Im ready for a relationship or not though. I would
like to get to know you, you seem to be a nice, down to earth kinda guy."
"I would like that." Brian said, smiling. John smiled back, and Brian held
his hand, until letting go quickly. He leaned over to John. "None of the other
guys know Im gay, except for Nick, Kevin and Simon. I dont want them to
know yet though, I want to give it some time first."
"So, you dont want any show of affection in front of them?"
"No, and I cant really have you staying with us, can I? Ill have
you booked into a hotel, and I can visit you. They would be suspicious if I had you
staying with us." Brian said, looking for Johns approval.
"Dont worry Bri, can I call you that?, I understand. Whats with
this Simon guy, touring with you?" he asked curiously
"He works for our management, he evaluates our concerts for them. He watches every
one, and tries to make the next one better by correcting mistakes." Brian
replied a little too quickly. John just nodded, seemingly content with the reply.
Brian didnt think he should tell John of Justins relationship with me,
at least not yet. He barely even knew the guy. He couldnt believe he
actually said he was attracted to him. He had never really been able to tell anyone
else before. It was only the pressure of the situation, and the uncertainty of what
to do that he came to me on the plane from England. I couldnt clearly hear
their conversation, but I did get the gist of it, and just smiled to myself. Brian
might actually cheer up slightly now. The plane was approaching the runway now, and
I could see Nick sitting by himself near the window. I motioned for him to come sit
in one of the three seats where Justin and myself were. He quickly moved over, and
sat opposite me. He was gripping the arm rests as the plane accelerated. He
sighed a sigh of relief as the plane left the ground. It was a relatively short
flight, barely an hour in duration. I looked over at Nick, who seemed relieved that
we were in the air.
"You know flying is safer than driving?"
"When a car breaks down you dont have a few thousand feet below you to fall
down." Nick said seriously.
"I suppose. The only thing is that airplanes are far more reliable.
Ive flown more than most, and Ive never had a problem yet. I dont
want to tempt fate though!" I said as I relaxed in the chair. I switched on the
tele in the back of the seat and flicked through the broadcast stations, stopping on MTV:
Deutschland. After about 10 minutes of watching, it came on about the European tour,
and the concert tomorrow. They played a couple of videos, before the European Top 20
came on. I turned off the LCD TV and waited for the stewardess to offer us some
drinks. She finally came round about 20 minutes into the flight. I had a
ginger ale, while Nick and Justin both had cokes. The flight went fine, except for a
slightly bumpy landing due to some ground wind, which really made Nick nervous. We
taxied to the terminal building and again found two limos waiting for us at the bottom of
the ladder. Brian let John come down with them but told him he couldnt really
stay with them, since he didnt want to arouse any suspicions. Brian had booked
him a hotel room during the flight nearby to his own hotel. We split into our
respective limos, as I stayed with Justin. John went into the BSB limo with Brian,
receiving a few questioning looks from the other guys. Brian just explained that his
hotel wasnt too far from where they were staying, and so he was giving him a lift.
Both limos arrived at the Frankfurt Hotel, and John made his way to the nearby
hotel where he was staying. We all went into the lobby and collected the key cards,
unhindered by fans. A leakage of false information on where we were staying had
helped to get rid of most of them. We went up to our reserved floor on the top.
The large penthouse floor had 8 penthouse apartments, each with three bedrooms.
We split into our respective rooms, unloading the luggage before meeting back in
the lobby. Management had made my tagging along official, by basically giving me the
job that Brian had described. It would make it far easier to explain my presence if
an official job was thought of. I didnt have to actually do anything, just
appear more than a person who tagged along doing nothing!
The first interview was for a live radio broadcast, including callers' questions.
All of the guys entered the broadcast room while I took a seat in the listening
booth. I put a pair of head phones on and listened to the interview, as well as
looking at the queue screen, on which stated who was calling. All callers called in
and stated there question, before being put into the queue. There was always a risk
someone would start off, but they would be dropped instantly. As soon as the song
finished the broadcaster, a man in his late 20s, introduced the Backstreet Boys and
N Sync. The interview was being done in English, and later rebroadcast with
the questions and answers translated into German. Already the board was jammed with
incoming calls as the two operators tried to put all the caller information on the screen.
Eventually all 20 lines were full, about 40 of the callers had to be turned away,
because someone else had already asked their question, or it was being covered by the
interviewer. It was a pretty standard interview, similar to the previous one in
Munich. Finally, after a series of boring questions they went to the phones.
Everything was going fine until they went to the third caller, who said on calling that he
was intending to ask about how the guys were enjoying touring Europe. Instead, it
was something very unexpected.
"I thought I would set your mind at rest, and tell you I like you too. I
dont know whether Im ready for a relationship or not though. I would
like to get to know you, you seem a nice, down to earth kinda guy." The voice of what
appeared to be a recording came over the headphones.
"I would like that. None of the other guys know Im gay, except for Nick, Kevin
and Simon. I dont want them to know yet though, I want to give it some time
first." That voice was definitely Brians however, despite slightly degraded
quality due to the recording.
"So you dont want any show of affection in front of them?" The first voice
came back on. By now I already knew who it was, and so did Brian. The
presenter hadnt cut off the call in time, and the damage had already been done.
Brian was keeping his composure extremely well.
"Who is this?" Brian said into his microphone. He was clearly shocked by
the recording. All he heard was the long tone indicating the other person had hung
up. The presenter was a bit confused, and was uncertain exactly how to respond to
the recording.
"Er... Brian, would you care to say anything about that?"
"Yes, I dont know what the hell it was. All I can say it was a fake.
Im definitely not gay, and I never said what you just heard on the
call."
"But it did seem to be in your voice none the less."
"People can imitate people, obvious the caller was trying to put me in a very
difficult position, which he seems to have succeeded in doing." Brian responded, his
voice extremely stressed.
"Anyway, I think we have established that this call was a fake, and whoever the
caller was, I hope he regrets his actions." Kevin spoke up for Brian. "Shall we
move on to the next caller?" The rest of the calls went fine, they answered another 5
questions or so before going off air.
"Brian, I am extremely sorry about that, I should have stopped the call as soon as it
started." The presenter apologised.
"Dont worry about it, it doesnt matter. It was just someones
bad idea of a joke." Brian said, laughing the incident off. The only thing on
his mind was how much he just wanted to kill John right now. He had trusted him,
only to be betrayed. Hopefully the call would come to nothing, the PR people would
set to work on it. The guys left and got in the limo.
"What was that about Brian?" AJ was the first to ask as they drove off.
"I suppose I might as well tell you guys now. That was a conversation I had on
the plane with John."
"You mean youre gay?" AJ responded. Brian just nodded, keeping his
head cast down.
"Nick and Kevin knew. I told Nick yesterday, but Kevins known for
ages." Brian said, bracing himself for there reactions.
"Ok, no problem. Dont worry Bri, you know it wont make any
difference." AJ said, lifting Brians head up, smiling. Brian was relieved
AJ took it well, but Howie on the other hand was silent. Brian looked over at him.
"Dont worry Bri, it doesnt bother me. Im just surprised,
thats all, so many people coming out over the past few days. Give me a while
to adjust. Youre still the same person, the same old Brian. Everyone
seems to be saying that lately. I wont act like Chris though, Ill just
accept it." Howie said, putting on a weak smile. Brian nodded and sank back in the
chair.
"Why did you keep it a secret from us two, and not those two?" AJ said, pointing
to Kevin and Nick.
"Kevin found out, I told Nick when he ran out the other day. I was trying to
make him feel better, if he was gay. I didnt have any idea." Brian said
calmly. AJ just nodded.
"So its not that you didnt trust me then?" AJ said jokingly.
"I wouldnt have let any of you find out if it could have been helped. I
didnt know how any of you would react. The response from Chris when Justin
came out made matters even worse."
"What are we going to do about this John person. He might get himself believed.
You should have been more careful, you should have never have told him you were gay
until you got to know him a lot better." Kevin said seriously.
"Dont lecture me, Kev. I dont want a lecture, I want to fix this
mess." Brian said, almost angry. Kevin backed down a little.
"Well, we cant really go and talk to him, can we?"
The N Sync limo:
The guys got into the limo, waiting till it pulled off. "How may more people are
going to come out. Am I going to be the only straight one left?" Chris said,
but with not so much anger in his voice, but rather irritation. "Im sorry
Justin for acting like I did when you came out. It was uncalled for."
"Dont worry Chris. I realise it must have been weird for you, but you did
overreact a little!" Justin replied.
"What is this thing with Brian then? Where did that call come from?" Lance
asked. I kept quiet, not wanting to say anything, but rather let Brian explain the
situation. "What do you know?" Lance directed at me, seeing my reaction,
putting my hand down, touching my face.
"Nothing, just ask Brian." I replied, trying to put as much force behind the
statement as possible. Lance just nodded and backed down. The rest of the
journey was in silence until we reached the hotel.
"What are we going to do to that John person then? I presume thats who
made the call?" JC spoke up
"I presume so." I replied.
"Why would someone do that? Obviously he set out with that in mind."
"He seemed a nice enough guy when I talked to him at the concert, we were sitting
next to each other. Shit! He must know I'm gay, and will probably have figured
out Im going out with one of you." I said, thinking out loud.
"Dont worry, no one will believe him. Well have him completely
discredited." Lance said.
"You would never do anything like that to me," Justin said, waiting a few
seconds before saying, "would you?" As soon as he said that I was really
hurt, and it showed. I pulled away from Justin slightly, and moved his hand off
mine. Justin looked sad in his eyes. "Im sorry, I didnt mean it
like that."
"You meant it like you dont trust me, thinking that I might actually be doing
this all just to go to the press and out you. Im hurt that you would think
that. I thought we had moved beyond that Justin." I said harshly.
"Now, you might not have thought about the full implications of what you were saying,
but you said it." I looked directly at Justin, tears almost forming in his
eyes. I pulled him into a hug, thinking I had punished him enough. "But
fortunately, I am a forgiving person. Just dont question my sincerity in this
relationship again, or you might really hurt me. I care for you Justin, dont
doubt that. Hopefully you feel the same for me." I said, softening my voice
down as I spoke. I wiped Justins eyes, to remove the slight tears that had
started to form. I pushed the sides of his lips up into a smile, making him laugh.
I edged back towards him slightly and the rest of the journey went in silence.
Both of the limos were going to the studio for the rescheduled magazine interview.
We pulled into the car park and were met by security who then guided us through to
the studio. I was stopped and told to stay outside. I explained my official
position and was allowed in. I sat out the way, in the back of the room. The
interview was standard, except for the added question of the phone call. Brian gave
the same explanation as he did earlier, and seemed to get away with it. The
interview took not much over half an hour, and we headed off to get some food afterwards.
We drove around until we found a nice looking multi-cultural restaurant. We
were given a secluded table, and handed our menus. Just about every imaginable
cuisine from around the world was available, from burgers and tandooris to German meat
selections. We spent a good few minutes going over the menu until we were ready to
order. I had a portion of teriyaki chicken with stir-fried vegetables. Nick,
yet again, stuck to a burger.
After we all finished eating, the waiter brought round the desert and wine menus again.
I ordered a bottle of the 53 Chardonnay on the menu, which was poured round
the table. I had a large piece of chocolate gateaux, along with Justin, Lance, AJ,
Nick and Brian. The others didnt bother with a dessert. I quickly
finished it, before tasting, and savouring the excellent wine. I drank it slowly,
since it cost almost 250DM. It was a very rare vintage to find, and extremely full
bodied.
"Zahlen bitte." I called out when we finished, and the waiter brought over
the bill. I handed over my credit card before anyone had a chance to object.
The waiter brought it back a few minutes later, along with the protests from the others
about me paying. I allowed the others to leave the tip, of 50DM, 5 each. We
left the restaurant and got back into the limo. We returned to the hotel, as it was
approaching 6pm. Kevin directed us all to his room to discuss the problem of the
phone call. We all entered and sat around the room.
"Well, first of all I might as well tell you all. Im gay and that
conversation was real. I talked to John on the plane. I had already told him I
was gay when I met him at the concert." Brian said quickly, hoping for a
generally good reaction. He waited a few seconds before continuing. "Obviously
he must have had this planned, and recorded the conversation, hoping to get through on the
phone in and play it back."
"You should have been more careful, but lets not worry about that.
Management is already trying to discredit him. We got his name from the concert in
England. I think we should go and see him really though, but that might arouse
suspicions." Kevin said.
"Ill go and see him. Not too many people know me." I offered.
The guys glanced around a bit before Kevin made an answer.
"Ok, you go and see him, but dont do anything stupid. Weve got to
sort this mess out diplomatically. The only thing is, I doubt hes still
staying at the hotel Brian booked for him. You probably wont find him."
"Ill find him. He cant have gone too far, I doubt he will have left
yet. Hell probably follow you guys around and try and accumulate more
evidence." I responded. Brian told me the hotel he checked him into and I left
to see if I could find him. I walked the half a kilometer to the hotel and entered
the lobby. I went straight to the elevator and headed for the 3rd floor. I
followed the sign for the room number and stood outside the door. I raised my hand
and knocked loudly. There was nothing for about 10 seconds until I heard footsteps
on the other side.
John pulled the door open crying. I barged in and slammed the door shut.
"What the hell do you think youre doing?! You obvious set out to do this,
otherwise you wouldnt have had the recorder. I dont know what
youre crying about, worried you might not have succeeded in your task?" I
shouted at him, angrily. He dried his eyes of slightly before sitting down.
"I didnt do anything! I never recorded anything. It wasnt me.
Yes, it was our conversation, but I didnt phone in, I didnt record it!"
he replied, his tears running slightly. "As soon as I heard it on the radio I
didnt know what to do. I knew everyone would think it would be me, who else
would have done it? Im really sorry about what happened, I couldnt
believe what I heard on the radio."
"What do you want, money? Ill write you a check out now if youll
shut up." I said calmly.
"It wasnt me, I didnt do it. I know it must be hard for you to
believe me, but its the Gods for honest truth!" He shouted back at me.
I was actually beginning to believe him, but I wanted to persue it further.
"What, half a million? A million? Thats whats on the
table."
"I didnt fuckin well do it!" he shouted at me, before letting a few
tears slip down his face.
"Ok, just stop crying. If you didnt do it, who did? Did someone
know you two were going to discuss your undying love for each other?"
"I dont know, it must have been on the plane, or one of the stewardesses.
I dont know!"
"Well get to the bottom of this, and if we do find it was you, you will really
regret lying to me." I said coldly, staring directly into his eyes. He looked
away slightly. "Come back to the hotel with me, and explain yourself to the guys.
All I can think of, if it wasnt you, is that it must have been one of the
cabin crew, or another passenger, but no one came into the first class section other than
you, unless they hid a recorder on the last flight, then picked it up on the next, hoping
to catch something interesting." He stood up and followed me downstairs.
To avoid anyone getting ideas, I told him to follow me in a couple of minutes later.
I entered the hotel, and gave instructions to the security people at the lobby to let John
through, as if he were a guest at the hotel. I waited in the elevator until he
walked in. We headed upto the guys floor and I lead John into Kevins room,
where the rest of the guys were still waiting. Brian had his hands round Johns
throat before I could even say something.
"What the hell did you do this to me for?! I liked you, and you betrayed
me!" Brian screamed while throttling the kid. I forced Brian off him and
attempted to keep him away from John.
"Brian, I dont think he did it. Someone else recorded your conversation I
think. He turned down one million pounds (1.6 million dollars approx.), so I think
he must be sincere."
"You offered him money to keep him quiet?"
"I would have cancelled the check if he accepted it, but I would have brought him
back to you first, and let you kill him, he would have deserved it. I dont
think he did it though, it was just a set up. Someone recorded you two talking, and
then phoned into the radio station. It could have been another passenger who left a
cassette recorder hidden earlier, or one of the cabin crew."
Brian looked at John, who just nodded, tears in his eyes. "I didnt know what to
do when I heard it on the radio. I knew you would think it was me. I just
cried, knowing that anything we might have had together was over. I didnt stop
crying until Simon came and knocked on my door." John said, again a few tears forming
in his eyes. Brian pulled him into a hug.
"Im sorry, it just seemed like it must have been you. I didnt think
it could have been anyone else." Brian said, holding John in his arms. "If
it was you though..." he said, not finishing his sentence. John just smiled at
Brian.
"You mean, we might still be able to make a go at this?" John said, a bit too
overeagerly.
"Well have to be very low profile with it, the media will be on the lookout for
any signs that Im gay after that. I cant have you travelling with us
like Simon now, its too much of a risk. I cant afford any more rumors.
Youll just have to follow us, and stay near us."
"Thats ok, I can do that." John replied, smiling eagerly. The only
question now was, if John didnt record the conversation, who did?
"Well guys, do you all want to go clubbing or something for a while?" Howie
asked. Everyone just nodded and we went to leave. We exited the hotel, via the
back and searched around for a nightclub. Eventually we came across one and entered.
We stayed for about four or five hours until we headed back to the hotel. No
one ended up drunk, and we got back to the hotel in peace. John headed back to his
hotel for the night.
I entered my room, or should I say our room, and looked around for Justin. He was
sitting in the corner, his head cast down. I walked over and sat next to him pulling
him into a hug. "Justin, Im sorry Ive not spent much time with you today,
but youve been busy, and then there was this matter of the radio phone call, and we
cant really do anything at a nightclub incase anyone sees us. Ill make
it up to you, I promise." I said, giving him a kiss on his nose. He smiled
slightly and we just sat there, holding each other for what seemed like an eternity.
I finally broke away to go get ready for bed. I got changed into some pjs and
collapsed on the bed. Justin followed suit. We both held onto each other as we
feel to sleep. I remember thinking how lucky I was.
I woke up the following morning at about 7am. I looked over and saw Justin lying at
my side, on top of the sheets. It was 8am in the morning when I walked over to use
the bathroom. I just got into the shower and lost track of time. The next
thing I knew, Justin was standing in front of me, shaking me, shouting my name.
"Whats wrong, whats the matter?" I said quickly.
"Youve been in the shower for almost an hour. Ive been shaking you
for the past ten minutes. What happened?"
"I dont know, I must have phased out or something. Sorry." I said,
stepping out of the shower. I put a towel round my waste and thought about what
Justin said. I could only remember stepping into the shower, what seemed like a few
minutes ago. Weird I said to myself, before finishing getting ready.
"Justin, when can I get this hair cut you promised, it needs something doing to
it." I called to him, as he was finishing in the shower.
"You can come down to the arena with us today, and Ill get one of our make up
people for you. Shell make you look as good as new!" Justin said smiling.
"What happened earlier when you were in the shower? You seemed way out of
it?"
"I dont know. I was just thinking, and I must have lost track of time.
I go into my own little world sometimes. I had this really weird dream last
night, and I suppose I was trying to figure it out." I forced a smile as I spoke, but
it actually bothered me. It had happened before, last year. I just completely
phased out watching TV. I remembered watching the start of the program, and the next
thing I know, its the end. The car ride too, back in England when I
nearly crashed. I never usually lose concentration like that. "Anyway,
lets go and get some breakfast." I said as I finished getting dressed. I headed
towards the breakfast room, and found nearly everyone but Nick and JC already there.
Justin walked in a few seconds after me. I poured a bowl of cereal and
reached for a paper. The headline was about the Kosovo crisis. I quickly read
the article, flicking through the pages, stopping at anything interesting. There was
a small piece about the concert towards the back, and a fan letter sent into the paper,
which they printed.
"Here, read this." I said, motioning towards the letter.
"Whats it say?" AJ asked, after staring at the German text for a second.
"Er.. She expresses her undying love for all of you, goes on to how great you are,
but is telling the paper how tickets for the show sold out within a few minutes of coming
on sale."
"And?" AJ asked inquisitively.
"Quiet down dear boy." I said, motioning my hand towards him. "She goes on
to say that her friends have been to an N Sync concert before, and really enjoyed
it, and how disappointed she is that she cant go. She hopes that you guys will
read this, feel sympathy and send her some tickets!" I said smiling slightly,
"The editor wishes her good luck. Theyll print anything in Germany."
"Whats the papers number?" Kevin asked, taking a sip of his orange
juice. I flicked through and found it at the front. He picked up the phone and
called the paper. After a few minutes of talking he scribbled down yet another phone
number. He dialed that into the phone. He suddenly realised he didnt
speak a word of German when she answered. He quickly passed the phone to me. An
older lady answered the phone. I asked for, presumably, her daughter.
"Oh hallo, sprechen Sie Englisch?"
"Yes, a little. Can I help you."
"No, but I think I can help you. I have someone here who would like to talk to
you, in regards to the letter you wrote into the newspaper." I replied in German,
before handing the phone to Kevin [Ive no intention of translating that!]
"Hello, this is Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys. I just read
youre letter in the paper, and I wanted to offer you tickets to tonights
concert." I could hear screaming from the other side of the phone, as Kevin told her
to calm down. He spoke for a few more minutes, before hanging up.
"Whyd you do that?"
"Because she wrote to the newspaper and asked. Itll be good
publicity."
"Fair enough. How are you getting the tickets to her?" AJ asked.
"Werent you listening? Im going round to her house to deliver them
personally." Kevin said smiling. "She wants Nick to come too. Speaking of
Nick, one of us better go and get him up." I stood up, since I was the only one who
had finished my light breakfast.
"Ill go." I said, walking out the room. I walked down to Nicks
room and knocked on the door. There was no answer at first, so I knocked again, a
bit harder. Nick opened the door, yawning, still wearing his boxers. He just
pushed his head through the crack in the door, not letting me in. "Wake up time Nick.
Any reason I cant come in?"
"Yep, there is. Thanks for getting me up. Ill come down in a
minute." He said. I shrugged and walked to JCs room. There was no
answer, and the door was unlocked, so I quickly looked inside, to find the room deserted.
I closed the door and walked back into the breakfast room.
"Ive got em up." I said as I sat back down next to Justin.
"What have you guys got lined up?"
"Weve got to get to the arena by 2, lunch break at 5, concert starts at 7.
Until then, weve got the day to ourselves." Lance responded. We
turned round to see Nick enter the room, still looking sleepy. A few seconds later
JC walked in and sat at the breakfast table. I looked at them questioningly, but
received no answer from either of them, so let it drop, at least for the time being.
When we finished breakfast, Kevin told the other two on how they were going round
to this girls house to give her the tickets. Everyone ended up going, since they had
nothing better to do. Kevin called to have the two limos prepared, and we walked to
the service elevator. We headed down to the kitchen and walked out towards the back
car park. We jumped in the limos in no particular order and drove off. Kevin
gave the driver the address, before they drove off. It didnt take long to
arrive, and they all jumped out the limo. I stayed put while they said their hellos.
I could see from the limo that she almost fainted when she opened the door to be
confronted by the ten BSB and N Sync guys. After a couple of minutes they got
back in the limo and we drove off. The limos pulled up outside a large shopping
center and we all jumped out the limos. I looked around the large shopping area in
front and walked towards the main entrance. We split into a few groups to try and
make us less obvious, while the guys pulled on some disguises, consisting of the highly
original baseball cap and glasses. Nick went shopping for sneakers (or trainers as
theyre called in England), while Justin, AJ and myself headed for Ka De We (a big
superstore in Germany). I lost track of the others, but I wasnt really
bothered.
After about 2 hours of shopping we all met back up at the limo, with about 20 odd bags
between us. We unloaded our luggage into the boots (trunks) of the two cars
and drove off towards the arena. The drivers took the bags back to the hotel while
the guys got prepared. I was introduced to Justins makeup lady/hairdresser and
had my hair adjusted to hide the scar, and not leave a much shorter part on
the back of my head. I was relatively pleased with the results. My hair ended
up quite short, slightly longer than Justins, and not quite as curly. I
thanked the lady before returning to see the guys practising some of their dance moves,
for it was a smaller performance area than previously, and some adjusting was needed.
At about 3pm, John turned up at the front of the arena. I walked over to the
guards to wave him in and lead him to the seating area. He watched Brian perform for
a few minutes before making his presence known by going backstage. They had a brief
exchange, and they both seemed happy. John returned and sat with me in the audience.
"So, whats it like travelling with the guys all the time?"
"Not that bad, you get nice hotel rooms, sometimes decent company, getting beaten in
pillow fights, half drowned in pools, the regular sort of stuff." I said smiling.
"What do you do then, publicity sort of stuff?"
"Not exactly, I evaluate their performances from an audience perspective, whether
that is an interview or a concert or a TV appearance." I replied, occasionally
looking at the stage from John. Let me try and describe him a bit, he looked about
18ish, but Brian told me he was 22, which surprised me. He had boyish, very cute, looks,
511 tall, blue eyes and blond hair.
"I see. Are there any problems with you being gay?"
"No, not really. One or two of them took a bit of adjustment of having a gay
guy touring with them, but no major problems other than that." I said, not wanting to
inform John of my relationship with Justin. I showed no signs of deceit, something
you pick up as a car dealer! We watched the guys finish one of more things before
they waved us backstage. We walked into their shared dressing room.
"Do you guys want to come and get something to eat with us?" Kevin asked, as he
finished changing back into his street clothes. We both nodded, before following the
guys out. We asked some of the German staff where a good place to eat was, and an
Italian restaurant was recommended, which was only round the corner. We walked over
to the restaurant, miraculously escaping the surrounding fans. We were shown a
secluded table and handed a set of menus by the Italian manager, who was at the door.
After a few minutes a waiter came along, who was clearly American.
"Hi, my names Jed, and Ill be your waiter for this afternoon. Can I
take any drink orders?" He went round the table taking orders, we basically had the
same as the previous night, John having a lemonade, while I had a glass of the house red.
He returned with the drinks a few minutes later, distributing them around.
"Are you ready to order yet?" He asked politely, pulling the notepad and pen
from his belt. We had all decided on what we were going to order.
"Ill have the tagliatelli carbonara with a helping of garlic bread." I
responded.
"The same please." John spoke up.
"And me!" Justin said.
"The pepperoni pizza for us three" AJ said, pointing towards Lance and Chris
"Me too." Nick jumped in.
"Ill just have the prawn salad." Joey said, closing his menu.
"Ill have the crab salad." JC said.
"Us three will all have the macaroni and cheese." Brian said, motioning towards
Kevin and Howie. The waiter nodded, collected the menus and headed off towards the
kitchen menu. I picked up my wine and took a few sips before putting the glass down.
I called for the waiter and he quickly came over.
"I would like another glass please, from a fresh bottle. This wine is corked and
warm, its a disgrace to serve it like this." I said calmly as the waiter, Jed,
took a sip of the wine, agreeing with me and returning with a fresh bottle. He
poured a taster this time, which I approved, before pouring the whole glass.
"How can you tell theres something wrong with it?" Justin asked, not
detecting anything wrong with the wine himself when he took a sip.
"When one associates with English higher society, which seems necessary to build up a
clientele, you end up drinking a lot of wine. You pick up a good taste eventually.
The English are the most class-divided country in existence. The highest
class is not the richest, the highest are the Lords and Ladies with inherited fortunes,
not always in the big country houses. The car, the dress, the voice, and drink and
the golf seem to be the most important things, along with going to house meetings.
You pick up a lot of clients associating." I replied.
"So in other words you spend half your spare time associating with upper class
snobs."
"Yep. They would turn their noses up at people like you."
"Why?" Justin enquired.
"Because youre young, and in their opinion, youve not done anything to
earn your money. I remember talking to a Lord someone or other, who actually called
the lower classes scum who didnt work, and thought the lottery brought scum into the
upper class society without them earning their position. He believed you should only
get money and a big house if you inherited it. I dont think he even liked
people who rose from the lower classes by earning their money."
"A generally nice guy then?" he said, laughing slightly.
"One of my best clients, he buys a brand new Rolls Royce every year. Cant
stand the man though, you cant help but wonder how he can exist in a modern world
like this." I said, as our food arrived. We all are quickly before paying the
bill, which was rather substantial. We left a generous tip before heading back to
the arena. This time we werent so lucky with fans, getting mobbed as we walked
back towards the arena.
The security people were quick to assist, and helped us through (again, German efficiency
for you). It was now 6:30, and the concert was due to start in only half an hour, so
the guys quickly ran off and got ready, while John and myself took up seats in the front
row.
"You still dont trust me do you?" John asked, the arena very crowded by
now.
"Everything pointed to you, but you seemed genuinely hurt by the incident, and very
upset. I dont think it was you, but I dont think it would be wise if I
completely let my guard down." I replied. We stopped talking for a while, and
it wasnt long until the concert started. We sat through the performance until
Justin came on stage by himself, taking a stand in the center.
"Hey, whassup yall?" Justin shouted out into the crowd, receiving a field
of screams, a few signs, such as Justin, will you marry me, and I love
you being waved about. "Im sorry for missing the last concert if any of
you were there, but Im feeling back up to full health now..." Justin said,
continuing.
"What happened at the previous concert?" John asked me quietly, not receiving
any reply, so he spoke up slightly. Still no reply, he shook me slightly, but I
remained unresponsive. He looked slightly concerned, and shouted in my ear, trying
to overpower the noise of the crowd, and Justins voice over the loud speaker system,
but to little avail. Justin noticed how John was shaking me, and trying to get me to
respond, a look of concern flashing across his face. As John shook me, I fell out
the chair onto the floor, making no effort to stop the fall. John looked up at
Justin, who was now very concerned. Not certain what to do, he ran over to the edge of the
stage, and looked down towards where I was lying, apparently unconscious on the floor.
"Is there a doctor here?" Justin asked in the crowd, one hand going up towards
the back, as an older man, in his late forties ran over to the front. He knelt
besides me, checking my pulse and breathing, before helping me sit upright. With little or
no equipment, there was little he could do to analyse my condition. "It looks like he
is in some kind of seizure, he should recover in a minute or so." The doctor said.
Justin seemed worried at how he said it was a seizure, but realised he
couldnt say much on the stage, with fear of giving our relationship away. "He
should go down to a hospital as soon as possible though." The doctor said.
"Ill take him down when he wakes up." John said. Justin just nodded
and went back to the stage. He wanted to go with me, but couldnt really afford
to.
"Sorry about the interruption, we had a slight medical crisis on the front row.
Itll be sorted out in a few minutes though, no need to worry." Justin
said into his mike. "Well, lets get on with the show." Justin said,
walking off the stage.
Suddenly I regained consciousness, lying down on the floor. John helped me up and
explained what happened. I was almost on the verge of crying, since I had managed to
dismiss all the previous seizures, this one was different however, since others witnessed
it. I walked out with John to his car, which was parked, and we drove off to the
hospital.
***********
Well, thats the end of chapter five. Keep your comments coming, theres not
been as many of late. Whats wrong with Simon, wait until the next issue and
find out. Im doing a lot of research here, to try and make it seem as realistic as
possible. Anyway, email me at trekster2@hotmail.com . I always like to hear peoples opinions and
make new friends. Thanks again to Sean, and my other little helper, who got a guest role
in this chapter as a thank you also proof reading, and making suggestions. Hopefully by
this issue, I should have worked out the bugs in terms of language problems!