Chris and Angelo left a couple hours ago and 'Drya already cleaned the house from top to bottom, room by room. It was quite amusing to watch her clean, the radio blaring and dancing around as she went about with various spray bottles attached to her belt loops and a sponge in one hand, a washcloth in the other. I called Nick and he agreed to stop by later on, seeing as he's staying at Howie's. He's coming by for lunch, Howie and the other guys might even come to make it a group thing.
Around 11:30, Kevin and Brian pull up and excitedly chattering about something. "Howie had it confirmed last night and Nick almost blurted it out to 'Drya this morning!" Brian says, worried.
"What did he almost blab?" I ask, greeting them as they come through the front screen door.
"Howie is going to fill you in when we have lunch," Kevin tells me, nudging Brian in the side.
"Whatever, Kevin." I roll my eyes and scoff.
Minutes later, I hear Howie and Nick much louder than Brian and Kevin had been. "I didn't though!"
"Nick, you were a split second from telling her!"
"But I didn't, D!"
"Not the point! We agreed to surprise them! She's going to be excited and broken hearted!"
"Why?"
Jeeze, this kid can be so dense sometimes! "Remember what we have to tell them?"
"Just because of that?"
"Yeah! Nick, come on! I told you what had been said to me! You know the stipulations!"
She bounds up to them, greeting them individually and cluelessly smiling and I bet she only heard Howie reminding Nick of stipulations they had obviously spoken about last night. "You insisted on meeting up for lunch here, so I made plantanos, beans, rice, pollo and Coke."
"Thank you, mija! It means so much to us that you're here today." He gives her a kiss on the forehead, acting like the brother he's become to her.
"De nada. Why does me being here mean so much?"
"Nick, why don't you help her get the plates set out so that we can tell her and AJ?" Kevin sternly suggests, clearing his throat.
I've figured out that it's major and it has to be big news, maybe having to do with our demos. What could be so important they have to tell me in person?
"Nick, stop being so vague and just tell me," she requests, a chortle attached at the end as she comes out with four plates on her arms and in her hands while he follows behind with one in each hand. She's used to doing almost everything on her own. She serves everyone but Nick and herself, taking a plate from him and it looks delicious. If I had a choice of a desert island with just her cooking or unlimited alcohol, I'd take her food any day.
"I can't, it's why the four of us wanted to meet up here like a group," he tells her, emphasizing the final syllable.
"I gathered that, but what about the group?"
Kevin half growls, half sighs at the youngest one here. "Howie?"
"I got a call yesterday from Lou Pearlman and Johnny Wright," he begins.
"The guys who said they had to talk to their parent label about our demos," I interject, hoping he's going to say what I think it might be.
He's got this shit eating grin on his face and his eyes are twinkling. "Now you can spill the beans and can be as excited as you were last night, Nick," Howie instructs the blonde 13 year old.
"WE GOT THE DEAL! We have to get in the studio next week and start recording, they have the first single picked and our first real music video is scheduled to be taped in just a few months!" I've never seen him THIS excited, he's creeping me out. Even 'Drya is concerned, I see it in her eyes.
"Oooookaaaayyyy," she slowly replies, giving him an odd look. The one look she gives Chris when he's being weird. "Explain what this means, Howie or Kevin or Brian," she demands softly. "Nick is being far too strange for me to even look at."
I chuckle to myself, Kevin smiling at her and collecting his thoughts. "It means that BMG Germany, Transcontinental's parent company, wants us to sign with Lou and have Johnny manage us and start recording our first album next week. Our first real music video is set to be taped after we get some songs done, in a couple years."
"A couple years is a few months to him?" she inquires, her index finger pointed at Nick and palm up.
"I guess his calculations are off?" Brian offers, unsure himself as he shrugs.
"What did my mom say?"
"She demanded a copy of the agreement be brought to her so she could read it over and think about it, Jane and Bob did the same. My parents said it was up to me," Brian surrenders the necessary information immediately. He'd just turned 18 a couple weeks back and is wrapping up high school, working at Universal Studios with Kevin, Howie, Chris and Angelo. He's close to his parents and brother, even closer to his grandad.
"What do you think?" 'Drya asks.
"I think it's pretty straight forward, we get a percentage of most of everything we put our names on and we have two years to make an album, pick a single, make a video and hope it sticks," Brian summarizes.
By law, I'm not old enough to make this decision on my own and I'll talk to my mom about it in the next few days to weigh it out. I know she and 'Drya will keep me grounded.
They stay for a couple hours and her nosy old bat of a neighbor sees them go, the two of us bidding them adieu. She mutters something under her breath, gaining my attention. I wave and smile at her, the way John Travolta did as Zuko in 'Grease' in the malt shop at the jock. This makes 'Drya chortle, covering her mouth and blushing as she yanks me inside the house. "Alexander, that was embarrassing," she tries to scold me between laughs. "I know Ms. Scorsini is a nosy old bat, but she's retired with nothing better to do except poke her nose in everyone else's business."
"I couldn't help it," I lightly defend, shrugging.
"Oy vey, Alex." She shakes her head, lips tight and dropping her red cheeked face into her hands.
I make a stellar dinner and follow it up with homemade banana splits with the works, she compliments me on both. We curl up on her bed and I can tell her mind is swamped with thoughts, no doubt about this whole thing. "You can talk to me, y'know."
"Alex, what if you go through all this trouble and it doesn't take off out here?"
"We might have to start off in Canada or Europe, but I'll love you without fail and you know it."
"I know. It's just what if I want to see you?"
"You tell me and I'll let our manager and Lou know, something can be figured out from there."
"While you're Stateside, you'll still make time for me?"
She's still scared I'll forget her, forget who stands behind me now and turn my back on her, my heart go cold. I can't do that to her, she's done too much for me to do that.Chris and Angelo left a couple hours ago and 'Drya already cleaned the house from top to bottom, room by room. It was quite amusing to watch her clean, the radio blaring and dancing around as she went about with various spray bottles attached to her belt loops and a sponge in one hand, a washcloth in the other. I called Nick and he agreed to stop by later on, seeing as he's staying at Howie's. He's coming by for lunch, Howie and the other guys might even come to make it a group thing.
Around 11:30, Kevin and Brian pull up and excitedly chattering about something. "Howie had it confirmed last night and Nick almost blurted it out to 'Drya this morning!" Brian says, worried.
"What did he almost blab?" I ask, greeting them as they come through the front screen door.
"Howie is going to fill you in when we have lunch," Kevin tells me, nudging Brian in the side.
"Whatever, Kevin." I roll my eyes and scoff.
Minutes later, I hear Howie and Nick much louder than Brian and Kevin had been. "I didn't though!"
"Nick, you were a split second from telling her!"
"But I didn't, D!"
"Not the point! We agreed to surprise them! She's going to be excited and broken hearted!"
"Why?"
Jeeze, this kid can be so dense sometimes! "Remember what we have to tell them?"
"Just because of that?"
"Yeah! Nick, come on! I told you what had been said to me! You know the stipulations!"
She bounds up to them, greeting them individually and cluelessly smiling and I bet she only heard Howie reminding Nick of stipulations they had obviously spoken about last night. "You insisted on meeting up for lunch here, so I made plantanos, beans, rice, pollo and Coke."
"Thank you, mija! It means so much to us that you're here today." He gives her a kiss on the forehead, acting like the brother he's become to her.
"De nada. Why does me being here mean so much?"
"Nick, why don't you help her get the plates set out so that we can tell her and AJ?" Kevin sternly suggests, clearing his throat.
I've figured out that it's major and it has to be big news, maybe having to do with our demos. What could be so important they have to tell me in person?
"Nick, stop being so vague and just tell me," she requests, a chortle attached at the end as she comes out with four plates on her arms and in her hands while he follows behind with one in each hand. She's used to doing almost everything on her own. She serves everyone but Nick and herself, taking a plate from him and it looks delicious. If I had a choice of a desert island with just her cooking or unlimited alcohol, I'd take her food any day.
"I can't, it's why the four of us wanted to meet up here like a group," he tells her, emphasizing the final syllable.
"I gathered that, but what about the group?"
Kevin half growls, half sighs at the youngest one here. "Howie?"
"I got a call yesterday from Lou Pearlman and Johnny Wright," he begins.
"The guys who said they had to talk to their parent label about our demos," I interject, hoping he's going to say what I think it might be.
He's got this shit eating grin on his face and his eyes are twinkling. "Now you can spill the beans and can be as excited as you were last night, Nick," Howie instructs the blonde 13 year old.
"WE GOT THE DEAL! We have to get in the studio next week and start recording, they have the first single picked and our first real music video is scheduled to be taped in just a few months!" I've never seen him THIS excited, he's creeping me out. Even 'Drya is concerned, I see it in her eyes.
"Oooookaaaayyyy," she slowly replies, giving him an odd look. The one look she gives Chris when he's being weird. "Explain what this means, Howie or Kevin or Brian," she demands softly. "Nick is being far too strange for me to even look at."
I chuckle to myself, Kevin smiling at her and collecting his thoughts. "It means that BMG Germany, Transcontinental's parent company, wants us to sign with Lou and have Johnny manage us and start recording our first album next week. Our first real music video is set to be taped after we get some songs done, in a couple years."
"A couple years is a few months to him?" she inquires, her index finger pointed at Nick and palm up.
"I guess his calculations are off?" Brian offers, unsure himself as he shrugs.
"What did my mom say?"
"She demanded a copy of the agreement be brought to her so she could read it over and think about it, Jane and Bob did the same. My parents said it was up to me," Brian surrenders the necessary information immediately. He'd just turned 18 a couple weeks back and is wrapping up high school, working at Universal Studios with Kevin, Howie, Chris and Angelo. He's close to his parents and brother, even closer to his grandad.
"What do you think?" 'Drya asks.
"I think it's pretty straight forward, we get a percentage of most of everything we put our names on and we have two years to make an album, pick a single, make a video and hope it sticks," Brian summarizes.
By law, I'm not old enough to make this decision on my own and I'll talk to my mom about it in the next few days to weigh it out. I know she and 'Drya will keep me grounded.
They stay for a couple hours and her nosy old bat of a neighbor sees them go, the two of us bidding them adieu. She mutters something under her breath, gaining my attention. I wave and smile at her, the way John Travolta did as Zuko in 'Grease' in the malt shop at the jock. This makes 'Drya chortle, covering her mouth and blushing as she yanks me inside the house. "Alexander, that was embarrassing," she tries to scold me between laughs. "I know Ms. Scorsini is a nosy old bat, but she's retired with nothing better to do except poke her nose in everyone else's business."
"I couldn't help it," I lightly defend, shrugging.
"Oy vey, Alex." She shakes her head, lips tight and dropping her red cheeked face into her hands.
I make a stellar dinner and follow it up with homemade banana splits with the works, she compliments me on both. We curl up on her bed and I can tell her mind is swamped with thoughts, no doubt about this whole thing. "You can talk to me, y'know."
"Alex, what if you go through all this trouble and it doesn't take off out here?"
"We might have to start off in Canada or Europe, but I'll love you without fail and you know it."
"I know. It's just what if I want to see you?"
"You tell me and I'll let our manager and Lou know, something can be figured out from there."
"While you're Stateside, you'll still make time for me?"
She's still scared I'll forget her, forget who stands behind me now and turn my back on her, my heart go cold. I can't do that to her, she's done too much for me to do that.
Completed
Kaotyk is the author of 47 other stories.
This story is part of the series, Love Is A Confusing Emotion. The next story in the series is It's Just The Beginning....
This story is part of the series, Love Is A Confusing Emotion. The next story in the series is It's Just The Beginning....
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