Oreos for Breakfast: Chapter 27

Oreos For Breakfast: Chapter 27
By the Paperbag Princess and Pumpkin Coach

"What does he think?"

I opened my eyes to find Jeremy sitting on the edge of my lounge chair, blocking my sun. Damnit. Darien had joined Nick, James and I about half an hour ago, and that was fine. We chatted about the sunshine, the merits of pina coladas versus frozen margaritas, and stories in the magazines we were all reading.

"What does who think about what?" But I knew. I didn't want to be thinking about work right now, but Jeremy wouldn't let me relax until we'd come to some sort of band consensus. I was a little worried if we hadn't made a decision about re-negotiating with EMI by the end of the day, Jeremy would just call Saffron and tell her to go ahead, intending to deal with the fallout when we all figured it out.

"What does boy toy think about the EMI thing? They went through this with Jive, right?"

"Like you'd ever take advice from Nick, J." I tried to go back to my magazine, but Jeremy kept talking.

"Why not? He's been through this and we haven't. Hell, he even did it with The Firm's guidance. What did he say?"

Sighing, I glanced over towards the bar where Nick and Darien were getting us another round of drinks. "He didn't say anything, because I didn't tell him."

"You didn't?" Jeremy was completely shocked. "I so thought that's why you didn't want to make a decision last night."

I glared at him. "I didn't want to make a decision last night because I was exhausted. I can make up my own fucking mind about this, Jeremy, without Nick's advice or yours."

He rolled his eyes at me. "He didn't even ask? He's the one that was freaked out that Jeff came to see us. Sounds like a lousy boyfriend to me, if he was more concerned with getting some last night than asking about your career."

"Get off my fucking chair," I hissed. "I am so not in the mood for this."

"But, wait, we're selling a lot more units than they are right now, aren't we?"

"Hey, Jeremy," Nick said, appearing from behind him. "Sorry, I didn't see you over here, or I would have gotten you a drink."

Did Nick hear what Jeremy just said? Did he get it? I couldn't read his eyes behind his dark sunglasses.

"Jeremy doesn't deserve a drink, because he's being a dick."

"Well, if that's true, he'll never drink again," Nick quipped, setting down the drinks he was holding and sitting in the chair next to mine.

Yeah, he caught Jeremy's comment.

One of the things I both loved and hated about Jeremy was his ability to stick to a point, ignoring any insults you might throw at him. "We were discussing our meeting with Jeff last night. Evidently you didn't ask about it."

"Maybe I didn't want to talk about it!" I defended. "Christ, Jeremy, you are not getting me to agree with you by being an asshole to my boyfriend."

"C'mon, Rache, be fair… Jeremy's an asshole to everyone," James corrected, sitting on the edge of Nick's lounge chair. I should have guessed that my yelling would get James to come over and protect me.

I didn't want to be protected, or to be badgered, or to think about work right now. I just wanted to be alone with my boyfriend and enjoy the sunshine. I'd gotten about an hour of that before Jeremy appeared. Fucking Jeremy. I was so glad I'd finally broken up with him. Why did I ever date this guy?

"I just want what's best for this fucking band, and you guys are being a bunch of pussies. Hell, even the freaking Backstreet Boys had the balls to re-negotiate with their record company."

"Fuck of a lot of good that did us," Nick grumbled, taking a sip of his drink. "Jive's still fucking us up the ass."

"Really?" James questioned, his eyebrows arched, and I had to giggle. Nick shook his head.

"Without lube, dude. They're so fucking us. It's all about *NSync, which is why we wanted to leave, and what they promised wouldn't get in the way."

"Hey, where am I supposed to sit?" Darien whined, handing James a drink. Darien's drink was already half finished. He must have drunk most of it while he was flirting with the bartender.

"Chair over there," Jeremy offered, and Darien dragged it over, sitting in between Nick and me.

"Now, what are we talking about?" Darien asked. "Let me guess."

I really wanted everyone to go away.

"We're getting Nick's advice on our situation," Jeremy told him, then turned back to Nick. "So, you threatened to leave Jive because of *NSync?"

Man, this was really fucking important to Jeremy, if he wanted Nick's advice. Just that fact alone almost made me want to go for it. Especially if it would shut Jeremy up.

"We're not stupid, Jeremy. There are an awful lot of similarities between us and *NSync. It's dumb for a record company to have two identical groups on the same label. Britney, Christina and Jessica are all on different labels, and they each get a ton of record company support. All the other fucking boybands are on different labels."

Man, Nick sounded really pretty pissed off about that. I knew there were issues with Backstreet and *NSync, but I always thought that was media hype, because Nick and I had never really talked about *NSync. Well, besides asking about JC… I caught James' eye and he stood up, poking Jeremy.

"Uh, trade seats with me, J."

We all laughed, and Nick motioned for James to sit down. "It's not them," he clarified. "They're cool enough. It's Jive. And Lou. And Johnny. And… well, a whole bunch of other people. But we threatened to leave Jive, and they promised us the world, and none of it materialized, but we'd signed our life away again."

If Nick hated Jive so much, why was he doing a solo album for them? Well, he probably hadn't had much choice… but, still. When he talked about them with his solo stuff, he loved them. I guess Backstreet was something else.

"None of it materialized?" I asked, shooting a look at Jeremy.

Nick shrugged. "Some of it did. We're making a little more money. But that was the least of what we wanted. So, is that why Jeff was here? You're renegotiating with EMI? I thought you had one more album."

"We do," I answered, but Jeremy talked over me. Typical.

I was so taking his birthday present back. And his Christmas present, if he wasn't careful.

"The European re-release counts. We're done."

"Maybe!" James yelled. "The Firm's lawyers think that's true, but we all know EMI's lawyers are going to read it differently."

"Dudes, don't get involved with a legal battle. It totally takes you out of the public eye, and you can't do shit. It sucks."

Did that happen to Nick? I tried to remember a time when Backstreet wasn't on MTV in constant rotation.

Jeremy raised an eyebrow at him. "Then you signed with The Firm and released 'Millennium,' right? I think you survived your legal battles."

"Reading up on Backstreet history?" Darien teased, and Jeremy glared at him.

"I did some research last night. You could have done the same thing."

"Whatever, dude," Darien answered. "I was sleeping."

So was I. After I'd had sex with my boyfriend, that is.

Jeremy needed a new girlfriend. I'd feel sorry for her, but then he might stop torturing the rest of us so much.

Jeremy just snorted and turned back to Nick. "Alright, given that No Doubt is not on EMI - thank god - don't you think we should try and renegotiate now, while we're hot?"

Nick held up his hands, shaking his head. "I'm so not answering that question. Not my decision."

He was such a good boy. He shot me a worried look, and I smiled at him, letting him know that was the right answer. I appreciated his advice about the business. He knew much more about it than I did. But I didn't want Jeremy badgering him into an answer.

"You are all such pussies," Jeremy snarled, and Darien handed Jeremy his drink.

"You need to chill out, man. Seriously. We're on fucking vacation. Rachel was so right last night. We're all tired and strung out, and this is a big decision. We all know what you think. But give the rest of us a couple of days to relax and consider the risks, okay?"

"Besides, Jeff said we should wait until after…"

He almost said it, and Darien and I shrieked, making Nick laugh. The tension was lifted, but only for a moment. Jeremy opened his mouth to say something, and Darien was out of his chair in an instant. Next thing we knew, he was dragging Jeremy over to the pool before he could get a word out. "Chill out," Darien commanded, and he shoved Jeremy into the water.

James almost choked on his drink, he was laughing so hard. Nick and I cracked up even more when Jeremy popped out of the water, and grabbed Darien's ankle, yanking him into the pool. Since Darien was facing us with a smug look on his face, he didn't even see Jeremy coming.

They got into a water fight, and the three of us just giggled at them for a minute. "I think Jeremy's getting the best of him," James decided. "He needs reinforcements."

James cannonballed into the water, just missing Jeremy. Damnit. Thank god we had this part of the pool to ourselves. I was so sure that someone was going to kick us out soon.

That was fine. Nick and I were just sitting here, nice and quiet. The hotel could kick the rest of my band out of the pool. That would be cool!

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Nick's voice was quiet, and I turned to look at him.

"What, sweetie?" she asked, and I tried to read her expression behind her sunglasses.

"Why didn't you tell me about what happened with Jeff last night?"

Smiling, she reached out for my hand. "We've been doing other things since then."

Sex and sleeping. Nothing important. She could have told me over breakfast this morning, but instead we watched the morning talk shows and discussed how good the bacon was at this hotel.

It was really good bacon. Maybe I could get a club sandwich for lunch… or a bacon cheeseburger. Mmm… cheeseburger. Was it lunchtime yet?

Right. Rachel's career and the future of her band. No wonder she didn't trust me with anything important!

"I suck," I admitted. "I didn't even ask."

"I didn't want you to ask," she countered. "Maybe I was subconsciously distracting you."

Oh. Were we not talking about her career anymore? Did something change while I wasn't looking?

She must have caught something in my expression, because she stroked my cheek, making me look at her again. "Bunny, you know I always value your opinion on this stuff. You know so much about it. I don't know what I would have done these last few months without you in my life. For a lot of reasons, but helping me navigate the business is one of them." She smiled at me, but I sat up, trying to be more serious. Serious was difficult when she was lying next to me, touching me.

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

Shaking her head, she sat up, leaning towards me. "Not because I don't trust you, baby. But I didn't want to talk about it. Jeremy gave me a headache, and all I wanted last night was to be with you."

"But… this morning."

"I'd put it out of my mind this morning. Please, Nick, don't be upset about this. I know I should have told you, because Jeremy was an ass and blindsided you just now. I'm sorry."

I wasn't angry about Jeremy being an ass. I'd gotten used to that. I was just… hurt. The business was one of the few things where I knew more than she did. I loved being able to help her with it. It made me feel smart and needed, and I didn't get to feel those two things together much.

That was sort of selfish of me, wasn't it?

Rachel slid off her chair and sat next to me, pulling off her sunglasses, and I saw the sadness in her eyes. "I needed you so badly last night, bunny," she said quietly. "I have been stretched to the breaking point these last couple of weeks. I'd gotten so used to being with you. I know it was only a few weeks, but November was just perfect, when we got to be together nearly every day. What was that you said once? About re-entry being tough? You have no idea. And when I feel like that… you are the only person who can put me back together."

"I do?" I asked softly. I didn't even know. I knew she sounded a little stressed out in our conversations lately, but she always just blew it off when I asked her.

Okay, I did know. I should have known she was covering up!

She leaned her forehead against my shoulder, and I had to lean down to hear her. "It's just my dad, and Christmas, and not being home. And we're trying to make all sorts of decisions about next year. This thing last night just put me over the edge, and I didn't want to talk when I came up to the room. You did exactly what I needed, bunny."

I rubbed her back, and she took a shaky breath, fighting back tears. Damnit! Now I'd made her cry.

"I wasn't trying to keep anything from you, honestly. I wanted to talk to you about it, just not right then."

"Okay," I told her, tilting her head up to look at me. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made such a big deal of it."

"No, I…" she started to protest, and I smiled.

"Shut up, Rache," I murmured, leaning down to kiss her. She responded hungrily, whimpering against my lips. Damn. If she just wanted me to make love to her, I would happily do that.

"I don't want to be here any more," she whispered, nuzzling my neck. "I'm tired of my band. Can we go back inside?"

This morning, all she'd wanted to do was to be out in the sunshine. She really was sick of them. "I'll tell them all to fuck off, if you want to enjoy the sun," I offered, but she shook her head against me.

"No. I just feel… I don't know. Raw. Exposed. Let's just go back to our room. Maybe I just need to sleep more. I don't know."

"Whatever you want, buttercup," I told her. "Maybe a bath?" I suggested. "We never did use the hot tub…"

Pulling away from me, she smiled. "Hot tubs are better at night. But a bath… that might help."

"Then that's what we'll do." Anything to make her smile again.

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