Oreos for Breakfast: Chapter 37

Oreos For Breakfast: Chapter 37
By the Paperbag Princess and Pumpkin Coach

I could feel a photographer, somewhere nearby. I didn’t see anyone, but I was sure someone was out there, taking my picture, because they thought Paris was standing me up. No, it was just AJ standing me up. Two Backstreet Boys weren’t news. At least not news like anything and everything Paris Hilton did was.

Maybe I was just being paranoid. It wasn’t like we were meeting at the Ivy, which was Paris’ favorite place to go when she felt like she hadn’t been photographed enough recently. We were just meeting at this place that AJ suggested. I hadn’t thought about it when the hostess sat me at a table outside, but I’d been waiting for a few minutes now and I felt… exposed. Someone had surely figured out that I was Paris’ boyfriend, so they’d be waiting for her.

Okay, hanging out with her was making me crazy.

AJ came around the corner, talking on his cell, and I waved him over. He nodded and headed for our table, still talking. I could hear him as he got closer. “I’m here now, baby.”

AJ was allowed to call Sarah ‘baby’. Rachel had hated that. I had thought Paris was okay with it, but she had to be ‘princess’ now.

At least I assumed he was talking to Sarah. He could be talking to Rachel, for all I knew. Anna had told me that he talked to her all the time now, ever since he’d been in New York with her a couple of weeks ago.

“I’ll tell him you say ‘hi’. Okay. Yeah, I’ll call you when I get home.”

He closed his phone and sat down. “Sarah says ‘hi’.”

It was bad that I was a little disappointed by that, wasn’t it? I kinda wanted it to be Rachel. I mean, my birthday was a couple of days ago. I know we weren’t allowed to talk, but a card on my birthday might be okay. Just to know that she was still thinking about me.

“You gonna tell me what’s going on with her?” I said, watching as he looked at the menu.

“Do you care?” he said not looking up from his menu. I guess I deserved that.

“Did you just want to have lunch with me to bust my balls?”

He laughed at that. “Sorry. That would be crappy of me. Although you probably deserve it.”

“I suck. I know that. But I’m here now!”

He looked down at the menu again. “Forgiven. Let’s order, then I’ll tell you about Sarah. I’m fucking starving.”

We ordered and I looked at him. “Tell me about Sarah. I really should have called when I found out the wedding was postponed.”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t into talking to anyone then. It’s okay.”

He was into talking to Rachel, evidently. But we could talk about that later. Maybe. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to talk about Rachel with him.

“How did you find out?” he asked, and I thought for a second.

“Brian called. But… yeah, Paris told me first. I didn’t believe her until Brian called.”

AJ raised an eyebrow at me. “How did Paris find out?”

“She knows everything, man. Seriously, she runs, like, the gossip mafia.”

He smiled. “Give me something good.”

I shook my head, holding up my hands. “Me? I’ve got nothin’… I’m on a need to know basis. I’m always telling her something and she’s known about it for months.”

“Women,” he said, and I nodded.

“So, Sarah,” I prompted again.

He shrugged. “Did Brian tell you what I did?”

“Fuck some chick from AA?”

“Got drunk and fucked some ‘ho from AA,” he clarified, and I nodded. Yeah, Brian had told me the drunk part, too. “That tends to lead to a cancelled wedding.”

“Cancelled? Really? You don’t think she’ll come around?”

Our drinks arrived, and he waited for the server to leave before answering my question.

“There’s no ‘coming around,’ Nicky. I fucked up but good. I’m amazed that she’s talking to me at all.”

“Well, you live together. She has to talk to you.”

He shook his head. “Nope. She’s got her own place. Took the dogs and all her stuff while I was in New York.”

“Oh.” It was all I could say. That made it worse. “She took the dogs?”

“Fucking indignity,” he said. “The damn dogs love her more. Not that I blame them, but still. It’s fucking quiet there now.”

“Are you going to move?” That’s the only thing that saved me when Rachel broke up with me. We didn’t live together and didn’t have a house that was ‘ours.’ We had the Point, but that was hers. We’d had time there, but I was pretty sure she could still go there without being haunted by memories of us.

“April,” he said. “Three months. I figure we’ll be fixed by then or not. Then I might move. Maybe out of LA, even.”

“Out of LA? Where would you go?” Everything was in LA now. Howie and Kevin had houses here. Even Brian had a place here. He hadn’t been there since the baby was born, but he’d come back when Backstreet started up again.

He shrugged, not looking at me. “Florida. New York, maybe.”

New York? Rachel was…

Shit. Had something happened with Rachel and AJ? They’d always liked each other. Hell, for a while, when I’d first met her, most people thought that she and AJ were a couple.

He wouldn’t do that to me.

Would he?

“Aren’t we going to be doing Backstreet in April?” I asked, not wanting to know about him and Rachel. I was probably just being stupid. New York was a cool place to be. I’d liked living there and recording.

He just gave me a look. “I’m not putting my life on hold for anything to do with Backstreet. In April, something else will happen, and we’ll be taking another six months. Or maybe things will be fine with Sarah then. Or maybe I won’t hate it here so much.”

“You hate it here? LA is great, man.”

“When you’re dating the queen of the world, maybe. For the rest of us, it’s a half an hour drive to get anywhere and it’s annoying.”

I shrugged. I’d gotten used to the drives. I’d listen to music and think about stuff to do on the tour. Or talk to Paris on my cell phone. Driving was fine.

“I’m thinking about buying a place out here. After the tour.”

“Where are you now?” he asked.

“I have an apartment in Hollywood. But I spend most of my time with Paris,” I admitted.

“Anna mentioned that.”

I rolled my eyes. “Anna gets the place to herself. She’s fine.” Anna and I were supposed to be living together until the tour. That was another reason I spent most of my time with Paris.

“What happened with you and Anna?”

“Why? What did she tell you?”

AJ’s eyebrows shot up at my tone. “Just that she never sees you, and man, she does not like Paris. But Anna’s your best friend, Nick. Why are you avoiding her now?”

“I’m not avoiding Anna. She’s just mad because I have a girlfriend.”

He started to say something, but our food arrived, and we were quiet for a moment. “What were you going to say about Anna?”

“Just that…” He put down his sandwich and looked at me. Damnit. That was the truth look. I hated it when he did the ‘I can’t lie’ thing with me.

“I always thought that Anna was the best thing in your life. Well, next to Rachel. But Anna’s smart, Nick, and she’s a really good friend, and you’re ignoring her.”

I sighed, picking up my sandwich for another bite. “What did she tell you at dinner the other night?”

“Besides the fact that she needed to be protected from the rest of those assholes at the table, not much. She didn’t need to. I can see what’s going on, Nick.”

“Yeah? What’s going on?” I couldn’t help the defensive tone creeping into my voice. Everyone thought they knew Paris and her friends, just because they were in the tabloids all the time. Okay, there were plenty of times I didn’t like her friends – they were superficial and back-stabbing – but Paris could be sweet. Like on my birthday… surprising me with breakfast in bed. That was sweet.

“Paris’ friends are a bunch of back-stabbing, coke-snorting assholes, and I can’t believe you’re hanging out with them. I thought Vinnie was a dick, but he’s got nothing on them.”

I put down my food or I’d throw it at him. “You didn’t even talk to them.”

“I didn’t need to. I used to get coke from one of them, and he didn’t even say ‘hello’. Now that I’m sober, I’m not worth his time. What the fuck are you doing with her?”

“Paris isn’t like them,” I said. “They’re fun to party with, but that’s not who she really is.”

He snorted, but went back to his sandwich. “Okay. If that’s the choice you’re making, it’s your life.”

“What choice? I’m just dating her. I’m not going to marry her,” I argued, trying to keep my tone even, but knowing I was losing the battle.

“Are you going to break up with her before March, or wait to see what Rachel has to say first? Because I can tell you that the mere fact that you are just dating the woman is making Rachel’s decision pretty fucking easy.”

I could only stare at him for a minute. “What do you know about March?” What had she told him? Were they waiting until after March, so that Rachel could tell me that she was in love with another Backstreet Boy?

He’d said too much. I could read that on his face as soon as I questioned him, but he shook it off. “Rachel told me that you’re meeting up in March.”

“What did she say about it?” Did that sound eager? Or just like I was curious?

Eager, from AJ’s look, but he considered his words carefully. “She said she doesn’t know what she wants.”

Did she want him?

“What else did she say?”

He shook his head. “Nothing she’d want me to tell you. Just like I’m not going to tell her about the other night.”

“What about the other night? It was my birthday dinner.”

He gave me an impatient look. “And Paris and all her friends left the place drunk and high and no one ate any sushi. Well, except me and Howie and Anna.”

“I ate the sushi,” I told him, and that made him laugh.

“You restrained yourself from the drinking and the blow while I was there. I appreciate that.” He smiled at my look. “I do. Really.”

“Sorry. I didn’t know Paris had invited you, or I would have warned you.”

“I knew what I was getting into. I wouldn’t have gone if Howie wasn’t there. And Anna helped. We went out for coffee afterwards. She is a really great girl.”

“Did Anna complain about Paris the whole time?”

AJ smiled. “Just a little. Anna has good taste. She knows Paris is no good for you.”

“She’s just jealous,” I muttered, looking at my sandwich.

“Anna? You wish.”

I looked up at him. “She told me she was in love with me a while ago.”

“Who? Anna’s in love with you? What?”

“Shut up,” I said, looking around. You never knew who might be listening in LA.

I hadn’t told anyone about the Anna thing. Anna and I hadn’t talked about it since that night.

“Yes,” I said, when AJ was quiet. “She told me she was in love with me.”

AJ shook his head. “And you’re with Paris Hilton now? Instead of Anna?”

“Come on. If I couldn’t keep Rachel, I can’t keep Anna, either. They’re practically the same person.”

“No they’re not.”

I gave him a look and he considered for a minute. “Okay, they are a lot alike. But… Anna’s not Rachel,” he said slowly, and I shrugged. “And Anna knows that,” he finished.

“Yeah,” I admitted. “I wish I… I wish I could. But Anna should never be second best. And she would be.”

“So you’re dating the anti-Anna. And the anti-Rachel.”

“Pretty much.”

“Great plan, Nick,” AJ said sarcastically. “Piss off two amazing women to date a vapid cokehead. You were always good at the life decisions.”

“Shut up, therapy boy.” Rachel used to call him that sometimes, and we both realized that at the same time. “Not my best decision ever. I’m aware of that.”

“So why are you with her?”

“Because… she’s queen of the world, man. She’s pretty and when I’m with her, I feel important. And it’s easy.”

“Really? It didn’t look easy to me the other night. It’s not like you were hanging out with your friends and having a good time.”

“Yeah, but… how’s your sandwich?”

He cracked up. “Fine. We’ll stop talking about girls. Tell me about the tour.”

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