Oreos for Breakfast - Chapter 16
By The Paperbag Princess and The Pumpkin Coach

Corresponding Message Board Posts (Fictional!)

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We got to do a backing line. I bet NfuckingSync got to sing actual words. No wonder, Howie was about to screw up the freaking backing track. I hated charity singles, I hated fighting for the chance to sing 'ah' in five part fucking harmony which I could do in my sleep, but somehow still seemed to elude Howie.

Saved by the bell! My phone rang and I pulled it out of my pocket, glaring back at Kevin when he glared at me. Like I was doing any good here? I'd gotten my note about an hour ago, let Kevin coach Howie and reel in AJ's grandstanding for a second.

It was Rachel, her plane should have landed about an hour ago. "Do they have you in a good hotel, buttercup?" I asked, but she didn't answer me. "Rache?" It was her, right?

"Hi," she finally said, her voice small and quiet. Shit. I got up, moving away when Kevin tried to grab me back. He would get over it, but Rachel sounded really upset.

"What's wrong, honey?" I asked, settling on the hallway as the best I could do for private and quiet.

"Oh, I have had such a shitty day, bunny."

How? She flew from New York to L.A., not the best way to spend a day, but they were going on the record company's dime… "Did they not have you in first class?"

She laughed. "No, we were in first class. We were all of first class, actually. Thank god, only the flight attendants and my band witnessed me attempting to kill Amber. I need a manager, I can't handle this anymore. Think The Firm needs any new clients?"

"Probably. I'll have somebody call you, okay?" I'd made The Firm a lot of fucking money. They owed me. "But what happened with Amber, baby?"

"I hate her!" she exploded. "She's fucking evil! She is so trying to play me and Jeremy off of each other, and that shit is fucking tired. Using you is even worse."

"Hold up. What did she do?" Using me? What did I do?

Rachel sighed. "She had an advance of the Rolling Stone article. It's a really good article, Nick. Just the sort of thing I'd always dreamed about, ya know? Page and a half, really good performance shot, just… damn."

I had to grin at the phone. That was so fucking cool, my girl in Rolling Stone. I started to tell her how proud I was, but she went on, her voice growing annoyed again.

"And Amber had to point out that you're mentioned in the article. It's not even that bad! Just that you were at the show that day, that we're together. He even had this great bit… oh, I don't remember exactly, but something about at the show, he was trying to talk to you, but when we went onstage, he realized you weren't the story. How much does that rock, we're better than a Backstreet Boy? Oh… sorry…" her voice trailed off and I laughed.

"Rachel, it's cool. It's fucking awesome. When do I get to read it?"

I could hear her proud little smile through the phone. "I'll fax you a copy. But… oh. Yes. Amber made this big deal out of you being there, and what great fucking publicity that was for us, and by the time Jeremy got to read it, he was freaking the fuck out. I mean, seriously. So he started to grandstand that you couldn't be mentioned ever again, and I should just break up with you, and Amber thought that was short sighted of him, and it took me about fifteen minutes to realize that I was agreeing with her, so something had to be seriously wrong." She sighed, and her voice returned to a more level pitch. She'd been getting a little shrill there. "So I pulled Jeremy aside, and told him Amber was doing this to wind him up, and he had to stop. Which he didn't like hearing, and he accused me of dating musicians for the publicity, and I asked him what the fuck he was doing with Willa goddamn Ford last night if that was the case, and-"

I cut her off. "Wait, wait, wait. Jeremy and Mandy?" That could not be possible.

Rachel giggled. "Yeah. Jeremy and Willa. Can you stand it?"

"No! When did this happen?"

"Last night. We were a little distracted, remember?"

I smiled. Yeah, I remembered. I loved being famous and cool together. "Hey, what happened with James? Who did he hook up with?"

She giggled. "JC," she whispered.

"Again?" I yelled, and she shushed me.

"It's a secret! Where are you, anyway?"

"Doing that charity single for…" Fuck, what was it?

"World AIDS Day, you dork," Rachel finished for me. "Bono freaking asks you to do something and you can't remember what it is?"

"I've been going over one stupid backing track for the last two hours, Rache. I've lost sight of the big fucking picture."

"Ooooh…" she cooed. "A little annoyed with the fellas?"

"Howie is permanently off key."

"He is not!" she defended. "You just pick on him when you get cranky."

I scowled at the phone. Sometimes she knew me too well.

"Nick! We have work to do here!" Kevin barked, and I turned around to glare at him.

"I'm being summoned, buttercup. So what happened on the plane?"

She sighed. "Jeremy and I sniped at each other, then Darien gave us some champagne, and we retreated to our corners. It was not a fun flight. None of us slept, and half of us are hungover."

"Did Darien get some?"

"He knew one of the bartenders. Figures. Even Lola got some! But she won't say who with, the bitch. But you'd think we'd all be well laid and happy. Instead we're tired and cranky and have to do press in about 45 minutes."

"And Leno," I reminded her. I couldn't wait. It would get me through the long trip up to Boston after the show tonight.

"Oh, don't remind me," she groaned. "I'm fucking terrified."

"You are going to be so great, Rache. Fucking amazing, everyone is going to be blown away."

She was quiet for a second. "Thank you. I really needed to hear that."

Kevin grabbed my shoulder, marching me back to the studio, and I glared at him. "Kevin's making me leave, baby. I love you. You're going to be amazing."

"I love you, too. You're going to be amazing, too, I will buy a million copies of the single just to hear your 'ooohh's."

"You're a freak, Rachel Connor. Besides, it's 'ahhhhhhh.'"

She giggled and my heart leapt, "Now who's the freak, bunny? Go be brilliant and I'll talk to you later. Love you!"

I didn't even have time to say it back, the phone went dead and I smiled at it for a second, "My girl is gonna be in Rolling Stone!" I announced to no one in particular.

Brian caught my eye and laughed, "How many times have you told us that, dude? And she's on Leno tonight."

Kevin broke in, doing his best impersonation of a wet blanket, "We are all thrilled, Nicky. Think we can work now?"

I glared at him as he turned around. I didn't want to be fighting with Kevin or Howie or any of them, but I couldn't seem to stop. Just like Rachel and Jeremy. We knew each other too well and we just seemed to fall into it when we were tired and bored with each other's company.

Maybe that's what I needed. I pulled out my phone and called Vinnie. "Dude!"

"Dawg! Whassup?!"

I laughed, "Nothing. Bored. Recording some charity thing for Bono."

"Cool. Anyone good on it?"

"Me, you idiot!"

"Duh."

Kevin reached for the phone and I ducked away quickly before could get it, "Dude, we're in Boston this weekend…"

"I love Boston, Nicky. What hotel?"

"Ritz."

"Cool. See you there!"

I smiled, putting the phone back in my pocket as Kevin muttered something under his breath. I didn't care that he hated Vinnie. He was my friend and he'd keep me from wanting to kill Kevin all weekend, if nothing else. Good for a distraction.

Howie hit his note and we all turned and stared at him through the glass. Damn, that only took an hour!

"Rachel Connor," I said, not even bothering to glance at caller ID. It had to be Nick, right? Maybe he was done recording. It would be perfect timing, I had about three minutes before we went to do soundcheck. On Jay Leno. National fucking television, major network.

Oh, god, I was going to die.

"Rachel, this is Saffron Smith from The Firm. Your friend Nick Carter thought I should call you, I hope you don't mind."

Did she just… Nick did what?

I made some non-committal noise and she went on. Was this okay? I didn't want favors from Nick. But I did want management.

"Great. I want you to know, at the outset, that we here at The Firm are absolutely interested in working with Sudden Silence, and have been before Nick called me. We think you are an incredible band, and we can help you get the recognition you deserve."

"We're not doing Burger King toys," I informed her, and she cracked up. It wasn't a smarmy forced laugh, either. I think she actually thought I was funny.

Management was good at making you think that, right? Damnit. I knew nothing about this. I slumped against the wall, sighing to myself. Did this have to happen today? Right now? Did she have to call me? Jeremy was better at this stuff.

"Don't worry, that wouldn't exactly be the image we're going for. Although a girl action figure that plays guitar might be cool. Set a good example and all."

I had to smile. Was it possible that she actually got it? "It would kick ass."

"What's the next single going to be? A performance video would be good, let's show you playing guitar."

I don't care if Nick told her to say that. It was the right thing to say. "It's a new one called 'Three Small Words' for the UK. Haven't decided if there's going to be another one in America yet."

She snorted. "There's going to be another one, and that's gonna be it. It's excellent."

She knew it?

"You did it when you were in L.A., right?"

"Um… yeah. You were there?"

"I'm not trying to be smarmy here, Rachel, honestly. I got dragged to that show, mostly to watch over Backstreet, and I was blown away. Do you not listen to your voicemails?"

"What voicemails?"

"The several dozen I've left for you in the last few weeks. Along with most of the management companies in the country, I'm sure. I'm shocked that you answered the phone."

"I thought you were my boyfriend," I admitted, and she laughed.

"Good. Anyway, I know you're busy. It's three, that's about rehearsal time for Leno."

Dear Lord, she knows where I am. Is that scary or cool? "Yeah, I just got the five minute warning."

"Are you in L.A. all day, or are you flying out right after taping?"

I waved my hand at Lola, calling her over to me. "We're staying."

"Excellent. I'd love to meet with you today."

"Um, we've got a lot of stuff going on…" I hesitated, mouthing 'schedule' to Lola. She flipped to the right page in her clipboard and presented it to me. Radio, press, radio… we were doing an hour on KIIS? Why does no one ever tell me these things? "Sorry. We're not free until after 10." Lola shook her head at me and I sighed. "11." I looked past her and noticed that the boys were standing behind her, looking at me oddly.

"No free time until then? That's a record company schedule if I ever heard one. Eleven, then. I promise, I won't take much of your time, and it will be worth it. Hey, do you know Roscoe's?"

"It's only my favorite place in the world!" I couldn't stop myself from exclaiming. Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles was a Los Angeles institution. We had just been bitching about the fact that we might not get to go. Saffron laughed.

"Roscoe's on Sunset at 12, how's that sound? I make my best deals there."

I loved this girl. "It's a date. Will we find you in line?" There was always a line at Roscoe's.

"We have interns that wait in line for us. Just tell them you're Sudden Silence, it'll be good."

Hey, did being a rock star mean I didn't have to wait for tables any more? Dude. I told her we'd be there and I hadn't even closed the phone when the boys started pestering me about who I was talking to.

"Saffron Smith from The Firm."

"Backstreet's management?" Jeremy scowled. How did he know that? He probably knew that just so we'd never sign with them.

I scowled back. "Jeremy, we need management, and she got me on the phone. I know you get just as many calls that you ignore. Do we really want to deal with Amber any longer?" I lowered my voice, since she was across the room, talking to someone from Leno's staff.

Jeremy started to say something, but Darien interrupted him. "Do we really want another yellow?"

All four of us turned to stare at Darien like he'd grown another head, and he rolled his eyes.

"Christ, people, Amber and Saffron. Shades of yellow. Might be a bad omen, her name being Saffron."

"Are you sure you're not gay?" James questioned, earning a whack from Darien.

"No, I'm just literate, you freak. Saffron's the spice that turns paella yellow." He's calling James a freak?

"Please, not another gay one," Amber giggled, and we all looked at her. Not funny. She noted we weren't laughing and switched into business mode. "C'mon, they need you onstage, then we've got some promo spots to do before the taping."

"Amber, I think the band needs a little break after this," Lola told her calmly. "Who should I talk to about getting those promo spots done so we can clear some space on their schedule?"

"The band is fine," Amber smiled, and James grabbed my arm before I could say anything. He would have slapped a hand over my mouth if we hadn't been attempting to be professional.

"This is a big show," Lola said, much more nicely than I would have. "They need a little alone time."

One of the Leno flunkies got us before Lola and Amber resolved it. Since Jeremy wouldn't even look at me as we stumbled through soundcheck, I prayed that Lola won. We'd talked a little about getting management, but never the details. Jeremy and I both got calls that we just didn't return, since we didn't even know what to ask. But today Amber was at her worst, and I couldn't handle her any longer. I needed to be great on Leno, not worried about my annoying A/R rep from the record company.

"What's wrong, Nick?"

I stopped glaring at the numbers on the elevator display and glared at Brian instead. "Nothing," I told him shortly, earning a snort from Frank. Oh, fuck off.

"I don't believe you, you've been in a mood all day. What happened? Fight with Rachel?"

"No." A fight might be easier. Then I could be angry and hate her. But instead I just had to miss her. For almost two weeks this time.

The elevator finally stopped and I stepped out, Brian at my heels. "What, then?" he asked.

"I told you, Bri. Nothing. I'm fine. Just tired."

He considered me for a minute, and then shrugged. "Pack quick, let's go to the venue early and play some ball."

I sighed. He wanted to do that so we could talk, we always ended up talking about serious stuff on the court, half-distracted by baskets and blocking shots. I didn't have anything to say, but I knew he wouldn't let up. "Fine." I slammed my door behind me. I was sick of all of them. I was tired of dealing with egos and soundchecks and the same show, every night. I was just… tired.

But I wasn't allowed to be tired. I found my bag and started shoving things into it. It was easier to give into Brian than to tell him I wanted some time alone. Then again, what good was time alone going to do? I'd just sit here and brood about Rachel. She was probably busy… what time was it on the West Coast? Had they filmed Leno yet? I tried her, but got voicemail. I didn't even leave a message; I'd left enough today. Checking mine, I heard her excited voice and smiled, my bad mood instantly falling away. She was whispering, speaking quickly because she must be rushed.

"Baby, I actually answered the phone when Saffron from The Firm called."

Good, they needed management. Saffron had been there a while, I liked her, and she laughed when I gave her Rachel's number, telling me she called it at least once a day. They didn't need my help; The Firm wanted them already.

"Dude… we're about to have a band meeting. Jeremy is fucking pissed off, but I don't care. We don't have to sign with The Firm; we just need someone, anyone. This is getting us started, right? They wanted us anyway, it was just coincidence that you told her to call me and I answered. I was getting Nick vibes from the phone, that's why I picked up, you know I don't otherwise." I could hear noise in the background and she sighed. "Wish me luck, bunny. I love you."

She was so cute.

"Jeremy!" I finally yelled, leaning towards him. "I don't care if it's The Firm. But let's start somewhere. We're here, they're here, and Saffron is willing to meet with us at midnight. At Roscoe's. Let's just listen to her."

"I really don't want-"

I held up my hand. "To take Nick favors, whatever. I agree. Give me your phone."

He pulled it out, but didn't hand it to me. "What?"

"I know you. You saved all those voicemails you've gotten from management firms. Find someone in L.A. and let's set up a breakfast thing."

"We don't have time for a breakfast thing," Lola informed us. "We're leaving at nine. Do eleven at the hotel bar, I'll get you there by then."

I looked at Jeremy, motioning at his phone. "C'mon. Do it." Good. We could even meet with his guy before Saffron, show him I wasn't playing favorites.

"Why don't I get messages from management firms?" James whined, and I patted his knee, still looking at Jeremy.

"Because your phone number was never on our web site, sweetie. C'mon, J, pick one, any one."

We glared at each other for a second, but I was right, and he knew it. "Fine," he sighed, dialing in for voicemail. "Hand me a pen." Lola produced one and Jeremy started scribbling notes.

"Do you really get a lot of calls from management?" Darien asked, leaning over to me.

"Yeah… we never had time to deal with it, ya know? I just delete them. We've got a hit and no manager, I'm sure they can figure out these things. Hell, my number hasn't been on our website for months, and they keep calling. They found that somewhere."

They just wanted to take another chunk of our potential money. We weren't making enough to give any away… but maybe we'd make more if we had a professional guiding us, instead of just doing whatever the record company told us to do. In the last ten minutes, we'd agreed on that much. Jeremy was just hung up on the Nick thing.

"I bet I get voicemail," Jeremy predicted, dialing a number. "And he won't want to meet with us so late, this Saffron person is only doing it as a favor to their biggest client." He pushed a piece of paper over to me with a name I didn't recognize. Was this like buying a car? Was there some website we could go to that would tell us which management firms were nice to their artists and didn't take a huge cut? Probably not. I had no fucking idea from management, and I knew I should.

"Oh, hi," he said. "I'm calling for Sam Moore, this is Jeremy Nolan from-" He didn't even finish his sentence, looking over at me as someone talked in his ear. And talked. And talked. "Well. Yes. We'd like to meet with you, if we could. We're in L.A. today- yes, for Leno."

He raised his eyebrows at the three of us. Hell, Saffron knew when rehearsal started. "Well, we're booked fairly solid, but if you're free late this evening… Eleven?… Great." He looked shocked as he gave the name of our hotel and hung up.

"He sounded interested," Darien said.

"Is he cute?" James wondered.

"He doesn't sound cute. But he sure as fuck wanted to talk to me. That was even his direct number. Damn."

Lola sighed, looking at all of us. "You guys have no fucking idea how much money you could be making, do you? Album sales are nothing. It all comes from touring and merchandise. Every management company in the world wants a piece of you. Don't you dare sign anything until you talk to me, Nick, and anyone else in the industry you can think of. And I'm finding you a lawyer."

"Yes, ma'am," James said meekly, making all of us giggle.

"Seriously. Promise me you won't sign anything?" she begged, and we all nodded. I knew I wouldn't. Nick knew all about this, they'd been through the biggest management change in the history of the world, practically, I wouldn't sign a thing until I talked it over with him.

"What, were you practicing during your time off?" Brian teased as I sank a basket. I moved in front of him as he took the ball.

"Yeah, Rachel plays."

"She's like three feet tall!" he exclaimed, faking to the right and fooling me.

"She's quick, and fucking sneaky, like you," I answered, grabbing the ball and dribbling it to the other side of the court while Brian shadowed me.

"So even a girl can beat your ass?"

I smiled, remembering our basketball games. They were a lot more fun than this. Whoever lost had to do whatever the winner wanted. I never minded losing. Brian took advantage of my distraction and stole the ball from me. Bastard.

"Not that beating your ass is difficult," he cackled, sinking another basket. "One mention of the fair Rachel and you're lost."

Scowling, I took the ball, holding it against my hip. "If this is going to be a lecture about Rachel, save it."

He put up his hands in surrender, taking a step back. "It's not. I didn't… I barely know her, but I like her. She seems great."

"She is." Brian always had something to say about my girlfriends, so I waited for the next bit.

"But you saw her last night and now you've been a jerk all day."

I slammed the ball into the ground, resuming our game. "I didn't really sleep last night. And it's gonna be a while until I see her again."

"How long?" He was next to me again, trying to block my shot.

"Two weeks. Probably longer, you know how it is. Like last week, we were supposed to be together, then that Labor Day concert happened."

"That sucks." It sucks that he got the ball away from me, too. "It's tough, being with someone in the industry."

"She's worth it." I knew she was, and I wasn't going to listen to Brian quiz me about it.

"Good. You deserve it. Why did you call Saffron about her?"

I let him make the basket. He heard that? "Saffron's been trying to call her anyway. She didn't need my help." Brian just looked at me, his eyes questioning. "It's not like that, Bri. Come on, you know it's not. I'm a fucking liability to Rachel, they don't want our audience."

"You were all over the papers this morning."

We were. I'd had them all faxed to Rachel in L.A., I wonder if she'd gotten them…

"They don't have management, and the record company is making her completely insane today, I did her a favor. I swear, it's all I've ever done for her." But what else would I do, if she asked? She was just joking earlier today on the phone when she asked about The Firm, and I called them anyway.

"They don't have management?"

Ha, that surprised him so much he'd stopped being annoyed with me. "No. They've been doing it themselves, mostly Rachel and Jeremy. Saffron told me The Firm's been after them for weeks now."

"So why didn't Rachel make the call herself?"

"Because she ignores all the management calls, I think. I don't know, Bri, I talked to her for like five minutes today. She was upset because of something her A/R rep did, and I made a call. I got a voicemail from Rachel a bit ago and they're having a meeting tonight. It's not like they signed a contract or anything."

Brian tossed the ball to me, and I caught it, attempting to make a shot, which failed. "I just don't-" he started to say, and I interrupted him.

"It's not like that. It's just… not." I knew Rachel didn't want me for anything having anything to do with the business. I just knew it. There wasn't any specific reason why, we'd never really talked about it, but I knew that she loved me despite my celebrity, not because of it. Maybe I shouldn't have called Saffron, it would have happened without me anyway. But she was upset, and I wanted to help her, wasn't that what good boyfriends did?

"It's been really fast, Nick. Just a few weeks ago, it was a crush, and now you're freaking out when you don't talk to her 20 times a day."

I bounced the ball over to him. "One word for you, Bri. Leighanne." Or was that two words?

Brian just caught the ball, looking at me for a moment. "Leighanne?"

"You met her on a video set and that was it, right? Maybe Rachel's the same thing for me." I love her, I wanted to scream. I never wanted to be away from her, I thought about her all the time, and I couldn't imagine a tomorrow without her in it. The thought of marriage scared the crap outta me, but if it was going to be anyone, it was going to be her.

"Yeah… try and stop sulking when you're not gonna see her, okay? You're annoying the crap outta the rest of us." I scowled at him and tackled him for the ball. If he'd stop bringing her up, maybe I could lose myself in some basketball.

Chapter 16:
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