“See Alex I told you. Dinner my ass. It’s a freakin’ party in there.” Kiki pointed to the cars in her parents’ driveway and lined up on both sides of the street. “They set us up.”
“Looks like its packed.” Tori commented from the backseat as they pulled up to the expansive split level house.
“Should we leave?” Alex didn’t want to leave and neither did Tori. She liked Kiki’s family and it wasn’t like she had her own in the area to throw her a going away party.
Kiki shot Alex an incredulous look. “So we can get cussed out? No. It’s too late now. Just park and let’s get this over with.” She was not in the mood for a party especially a going away party. Yes, she was a 21 year old who had never been away from home. She freely admitted it and she would also admit that she was probably going to be a little homesick during the tour. Begin around friends and family right now would only make here want to cry. She was not going to cry……At least not now. Tonight, alone in my bedroom maybe.
He found a parking spot and the three climbed out of the car and walked up towards the house. Some guests hanging on the porch saw them coming and no doubt ran into the house to warn everyone of their arrival.
Alex opened the front door and once they were all in the foyer, everyone inside yelled. “Surprise,” as they stood under a banner that read “Good Luck Kiki, Alex and Tori.”
The house was filled with what looked like the whole staff of Key West, Nina and Frederick’s co workers, old friends of Kiki's and Alex’s, neighbors and even Maya's and Derek’s friends. When Kiki saw them all there she was overwhelmed by all their support and felt tears building in her eyes. She needed to distract herself, so she cracked a joke.
“Not much of a surprise. We could hear your loud asses down the street.”
The crowd laughed before the three dancers were engulfed by hugs and well wishes. Moving further into the house, they found Kiki’s siblings and Tami and Marissa hanging by the bar. They received hugs from them all and Kiki was picked at for the pout she was now sporting.
“Don’t even try to look annoyed cause you shouldn’t be. You knew Mamí was going to throw a going away party for you.” Derek said from behind the bar where he was playing bartender with Rhea for the night.
“Where are Nina and Frederick by the way?”
“In the kitchen.” Maya pointed her thumb behind her shoulder. “Be gentle Mamí’s having a tough time. Daddy said she was crying last night.” Derek confirmed her claim with a nod and he frowned thinking about his mother being upset.
Kiki’s annoyance deflated and her sadness grew. Just like she had never been away from home, her mother never had her youngest child away from home.
“I’m not mad. I know she just wants to show me how proud of me she is. I just don’t want to cry you guys.” She pouted. “I’m gonna need a strong drink after this so get to work bartender.”
Derek saluted to her and Kiki forlornly made her way to the kitchen.
She came into the room to find her parents all alone holding each other. She knew her mother was crying and those tears she’d been trying to hold in broke free. Her parents heard the sob she let out and let go of each other to see who had found them. Nina saw her tears and rushed over to hug her daughter. She rocked Kiki back and forth as she cried on her shoulder. Her sobs quieted and Nina whispered in her ear. “I know you probably didn’t want a party but appease your poor mother whose baby girl is going way for months tomorrow.”
They pulled away from each other and Kiki let out a small laugh as she wiped her tears away. “It’s ok. Now that I’m here I’m actually glad you put this together otherwise I’d probably go home and cry myself to sleep instead of celebrating.” Nina cupped her face and told her.
“Te amo mi hijita y soy muy orgulloso de ti.” Using her thumbs she wiped the last few tears that popped out from Kiki’s cheek.
“Te amo también.” She mumbled and sniffled slightly with her head down. “I’m gonna miss you guys.”
Frederick approached the two then and put his arms around them both. “We’re going to miss you too.” Kiki looked up at her father and let a small smile spread on her face. “I’m very happy you’re taking this opportunity. You are going to be wonderful.” Her smile got even bigger and Frederick kissed her on the forehead.
“Uh, excuse me, but we have a baby sister that we’re going to miss too. Can we get in on the lovin’?” Derek and Maya had both been in the doorway leading to the den watching them. Maya had even shed a few tears thinking about how her hermanita wouldn’t be around to hang out with her.
“Get over here.” Frederick extended an arm and the last two Lewises jumped into the big family hug. They held each other in a circle for few moments before it go weird.
“Ok. That’s enough. We’re gettin’ a little too Brady Bunch up in here.” Derek cracked and they all released each other.
Derek, Maya and Kiki stood in front of their parents now and Nina couldn’t control herself and started sobbing all over again at the sight of her three babies all grown up. Frederick rolled his eyes at how emotional she was tonight. He nodded towards the den. “I’m going to get your mother a drink.”
Minutes after Frederick and Nina left, Marissa and Tori came into the kitchen.
“Nima walked into the room, saw Tami and Alex and is now bawling in their arms.” Marissa informed the siblings. “What did you guys do to her?”
“She’ll be okay. All cry babies are. Like Kiki over there.” Maya cracked at her sister who was at the sink wiping her tear stained face with a wet paper towel.
“Shut up.” Kiki joined the group at the table they were all sitting round. “Where’s my drink?” She nudged Derek.
“I’m not going back in there until Pop has Mamí good and drunk.”
“Jesus I feel like I should go change my shirt.” Alex rushed into the room with a visible wet spot on his shoulder. Tami was behind him wiping tears from her face. She signed up for a party, not a damn cry fest.
“She started drink yet?” Kiki asked as she hugged her best friend who came over to share her seat with her.
“She’s crying all over your wife now.” Alex told Derek. “While Freddy’s mixing her a margarita as we speak.”
“I give her a half an hour. Until then I’m gonna go mingle and stay far away from the den.” Kiki gave up the chair to Tami and left them in the kitchen to go catch up with her other guests.
Hours had gone by and she had chatted with almost everyone in the house. Nina was plenty buzzed and was now smiling and prancing around like the proud mama and consummate hostess. It left the bar open for Kiki to finally get her drink without having her mother cry all over her. Rhea made her a Long Island Ice Tea, one of her favorites, with plenty of liquor that would last her the rest of night.
Later on, she and the girls had moved outside to sit poolside and talking. Marissa, Maya and Tori left to take Trent - Marissa’s fiancée, Kevin and Alex up on their challenge to a game of pool. Tami used the alone time to bring up what she’d been dying to all night.
“JC tells me that you and Justin have mended fence.”
“How’d he know that?”
“Trace told him.”
Kiki snorted a laugh. “I guess I don’t have to give you updates while I’m gone with the grapevine ya’ll got going already.”
“So... Is it true? What happened?” Tami anxiously asked. She wanted to know if her theory was coming to fruition yet.
“He totally flipped the script on me and now we’re friends.”
“Yeah?” Kiki nodded with a coy smile on her face. I knew it! Tami wanted to exclaim, but she’d save that for when they hooked up. “That’s good then. It’s best to have a health working relationship. You know.”
“Mmhmm.” Relationship?
Before she could think any deeper into that unlikely possibility, Tami interrupted her. “So are you ready? You all packed up?”
“Yup. And speaking of...” Kiki looked at her watch as saw that is it was almost 1 and they had to be at WEG by 7. “We probably should be getting out of here.”
Tami got up with her and they went in the house to collect Tori and Alex before saying goodbye to everyone. At the front door, they received last minute hugs and affirmation from Kiki’s family that they would be at the LA show at the end of the summer. Thankfully no one cried again and Kiki was confident she wouldn’t be crying in bed tonight.
For their last night in LA, she, Alex and Tori all bunked out at her condo, having a mini sleepover in her den. The next morning Alex and Tori helped her do a safety check of her apartment before they left. All her appliances, with the exception of the empty refrigerator, were unplugged, windows locked and all the lights were turned off. The last one out, Kiki said a silent goodbye to her home, set her alarm and locked up.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
At WEG, the whole crew sat in a conference room as bus assignments, finalized itineraries and id badges were handed out. Johnny went over rules and regulations once again. And after they handed in their completed In Case of Emergency Forms, he wished them good luck and they were released to go load up.
In the parking lot, where the buses were waiting, groups of the crew’s families were there to send them off. Kiki smiled as she thought of her sent off last night.
“What are you smiling about?” She turned around to face Justin sipping on a cup of coffee. He had on a t-shirt, some baggy sweats, a skully on his head and a pair of sunglasses on. He looked like he had a rough night.
“I can guess what you were doing last night.”
“It’s not like I’m driving.” He shrugged and Kiki giggled. “Back to my question “ What were you smiling at?”
She nodded towards Sarah who was getting hugs and kisses from her parents and her boyfriend. “Just thinking about the bon voyage party my parents threw for us last night. It was fun, but you know it was sad too.” She frowned a little.
“Aww poor baby.”
“Shut up. I know it’s pathetic that I’m 21 and this is my first time being away from home. I can’t help that I’m a big baby.”
“It’s okay. I’ve been doing this since I was 14 and I still get homesick.” Kiki shrugged, feeling a bout of that coming on herself. Justin could tell she was feeling a little down and he slipped a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Besides you got a new family to take care of you now.” It was impossible for her not to brighten when he said that.
In the background, Anthony, the tour manager, was calling for everyone to get on board. It was time to head out.
“Which bus are you on?”
“Number 3.”
“Come on then I’ll walk you there.” With his arm still around her, he escorted her to the girl’s bus. They were all standing outside the closed door waiting to be let on. “Now ladies I don’t want to hear about any craziness on this bus or I might have to come on board and join in.”
“No boys allowed.” Gina stuck her tongue out at him.
The door opened then and the girls started climbing on board while the loaders were putting their bag under the bus. Kiki was the last to board after saying goodbye to Justin. When she got on she saw that the bus was pretty much what she had expected. In the back, she went to get the last bunk unoccupied underneath Sarah. The girls did a little tour of the bus before the driver, who introduced his self as Earl, came over the loud speaker to tell them to get seated because they were pulling out. Sarah and Candice opened a few of the windows and send out last minute goodbyes to their friends and family watching the buses takes off.
On the road for an hour, the girls were in the back watching a movie and Kiki was sitting at the dining nook working on the budget when she got a phone call from an unknown number. She answered it anyway.
“Hello?”
“Hi.” Was all the anonymous caller said.
“Who is this?”
“Are you doing your homework?” He sat on the couch in his bus, grinning at the thought of what her face looked like trying to figure out who it was.
Homework?, Kiki thought momentarily before it dawned on her who she was talking to. “Justin. How did you get this number?”
“You work for me. How do you think I got it?” He had her phone number and address for quite some time now.
What is it with everyone looking through my personnel flies? “You know that’s invasion of privacy right?”
“So sue me.”
“I just might.” She volleyed. “Why are you calling me?”
“Just wanted to make sure you were doing your homework like a good little girl so you don’t miss the party tomorrow night.”
“Oh don’t you worry about that. I never miss a good party.”
“Good I’d be hurt if you didn’t come.” And that was the truth. He was looking forward to actually spending time with her during this gathering. “What do you think about the bus?”
“It’s nice. I’m a big fan of road trips and this is the best mode of transportation I have ever ridden in during one.”
“I’ll ask you that question again in a few weeks.” The novelty took that long to ware off.
“Why so when I’m miserable you can then gloat about the pimped out bus I hear you’re rollin’ in.”
“Don’t hate. Don’t hate.”
“Whatever.”
“Whatever.” He mocked her.
She just rolled her eyes at his immaturity sometimes. “So tell me what does Portland, Oregon have to offer for entertainment.”
“The Trailblazer.”
“Oh gawh you sound like my brother.” Life was all about sports particularly basketball for him.
“NBA fan?”
“And employee.”
“Your brother works for the NBA? As what?”
“He’s one of the athletic trainers for the Lakers.”
“No shit. That means he knows…”
“Yes he knows Kobe and no he cannot get you his phone number.” She joked by feeding him the line she told to people who asked her to get the basketball star’s information from Derek.
“Girl please, that’s my boy. I already got his number.”
“Oh I bet your rolodex reads like the A list.”
“You know it. I’m the man.”
“You are so in love with yourself.”
They continued to talk and the next thing Kiki knew over an hour had passed and she had barely gotten to the meat of her paperwork.
“Oh shit Justin. I have to go. I have to finish this.”
He noticed the time too and was surprised that it didn’t feel like they had been talking that long. “Yeah I probably should get some work done myself.” He had to look over his schedule for tomorrow and confirm a few plans. “I’ll talk to you later and you have fun making money.”
“Well so far it looks like I may have made a pretty penny. So I will be having a LOT of fun.” She giggled.
Damn that’s a cute little giggle. “Ooh that means you can buy me a congratulatory gift after kick off.”
“No.” She deadpanned.
“You’re mean.”
“I have to go.” She emphasized.
“Alright, alright. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye.” And they both hung up.
Ten minutes later Kiki was getting back into her groove, punching figures into her calculator. When her cell rang again and again it was Justin.
“What?”
“You’re doing your homework right?”
“Justin.” She warned.
“I was just checking.” He exclaimed.
“Goodbye Justin.” She hung up this time without letting him say the same.
Five minutes later, her cell rang again and she almost ripped the keypad off when she flipped it open.
“Stop calling me!” He was cackling on the other end and she couldn’t help but laugh with him. He was certifiable. “You are crazy you know that? Don’t call me again. I have work to do.”
“You’re no fun.” She could hear his pout over the line. “But I’ll be good from now on.”
“Thank you.”
“Ok. See you at the hotel.”
“Alright.”
“Ok.”
“Justin!”
“Ok! Bye for real this time.” She said goodbye and then he actually did hang up and didn’t call back again.
By the time they got to the Marriott in Portland, Key West’s March budget proposal was all done and ready to be faxed.
In the hotel parking lot, they had to wait for Anthony to come to their buses to assign their rooms and deliver their key cards so they wouldn’t congest the lobby. Finally all the buses were unloaded and after Kiki had settled into her room with Tori - her roommate for the tour - she went back down to the lobby to find a fax machine. While waiting in line at the front desk to be directed to the public fax, Kiki caught a glimpse of Justin and his bodyguards on the elevator going up to his room. He had stay on his bus until traffic in the lobby was at a minimal to ensure his safety. They made eye contact and he winked at her before the doors closed.
%%%%%%%%%%%
From door to vanity, Justin paced his dressing room, trying to calm his jittering nerves. His eyes kept shifting to the clock on the wall. He was both looking forward to and dreading that the next 45 minutes would pass. Both his parents and step parents had tried to distract him, but the only thing it accomplished was to make him even more anxious. So he politely asked them to leave, he needed some quiet alone time to focus. This was his first show of his first solo tour, everything had to be perfect. People were either counting on him to come through or watching to see him fall flat on his face. He had all the confidence that he would put on a great performance, but other things out of his control could go wrong. He just prayed to God, luck or whatever was on his side tonight that everything would be fine.
Refocusing on the positive, his pacing was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
The door cracked and when he saw long curly brown hair peak through even before he saw her face, he smiled.
“Hey.” Kiki’s happy smile was a breath of fresh air for him. This was her first time out period and she didn’t look the least bit worried. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah.” He had stopped pacing and sat on the swivel chair in front of the vanity.
Kiki came into the room and stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. She took a good look at his face and his demeanor. “Good, you don’t look nervous.”
“Usually I’m not. Anxious, but not nervous. This time is different. I’m flying solo. It’s all on me this time.”
“Well you’re way too cocky to think you’re going to mess up.” She teased and they both laughed. “But I just wanted to let you know that I don’t think you have anything to worry about. We all have worked hard and we’re not going to fail you or ourselves. We won’t let you fall on your face.” She assured. “I won’t let you fall. We are partners after all.”
Justin just stared at her in wonder after she said that. Her words were so sincerely and from the heart. It was almost magical the way she made everything seem like it would be fine.
“Ok you've settled my nerves a little. Can you tell me how to deal with the weird ass feeling I have about not having my 4 best friends next to me on stage?”
“That’s easy. Now you have 9 friends “ 8 new ones with you. Most importantly me because we all know I’m the coolest person on this tour.” He let out a deep chuckle and shook his head at her arrogance. “Plus when everyone’s asking who’s the hot chick on the Justified tour, you get to say that you get to hump her practically on a daily basis.”
His head fell back and he laughed even harder as she grinned cutely.
He was full out laughing and smiling now, not the least bit nervous or anxious. This girl, who was practically his sworn enemy not too long ago, slipped into his room and erased every one of his bad thoughts and feelings. Looking at her now with her warm brown eyes shining and her face alit with a smile, she was like positive energy for him to feed off of. He was damn lucky to have her with him.
“Thank you.” He genuinely stated.
“You’re welcome…Now.” She looked up at the clock and noticed. “Showtime’s in 15 minutes. We gotta get ready!” She exclaimed with excitement. She was quite the cute little motivator standing there bouncing on her toes.
He got up from his chair and stood in front of her. “Don’t trip on my feet.” He joked and she smirked.
“Don’t get caught lip syncing.”
“Haha. Very funny.”
“I know.” She quipped over her shoulder as she walked to the door. Justin followed her, but she stopped before she opened the door.
Kiki couldn’t explain the impulse so she just went with it and turned back around to hug Justin. He was a little taken aback, but didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around her. They held each other close, maybe too close to an outsider watching, but for Kiki and Justin it felt good to hold each other like this. The warm embrace was a nice comfort for both of them when they were about to step out into the unknown. It was nice to know they had each other for support on and off the stage.
Pulling away, Kiki brushed the shoulders of his shirt to straight them out and smiled up at him. “Go get ‘em tiger.”
“What the fuck.” Justin let out a snort of laughter while Kiki giggled at herself.
“I’ll see you out there.” She gave him one last encouraging smile and left the room.
Soon Anthony was knocking on his door and he was on his way to his entrance mark where the dancers were waiting. They all stood in a circle and said a quick prayer lead by Ralphie, wished each other good luck and broke out. Right before he was going to walk through the curtain Justin looked behind him and made eye contact with Kiki. She winked, then stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed just as she had hoped. He’d be going out there on a high note. As far as she was concerned that was a guarantee that he would blow everyone away tonight and cement himself as the real thing in the music world.
%%%%%%%%%%%
When the last song of the show ended, Justin said his goodbyes and thank yous to the crowd. He and the dancers left the stage, and headed through the halls back to the dressing rooms. They were all cheering and laughing, adrenaline was still flow through them, feeling great about the show. Justin in particular was on a high, everything was perfect. The crowd was electric, the band was in totally synch with his voice that was steady and strong throughout and the dance steps were flawless. Speaking of dance steps, where was Kiki?
He stopped walking and turned around to search for her through the mass of people. He soon found her standing to the side apparently raving about the show with Tori. They were jumping around with excitement hugging each other.
Kiki was feeling awesome, it had been purely exhilarating. The energy from the crowd was amazing, she had never experienced it at that level. She felt drunk and giddy with joy over her personal success, and everyone else’s tonight. This feeling was why she decided to do the tour, to think she had almost passed it up. She never felt more sure about coming here right now than she did about anything in her life.
“Kiki!” she heard someone call out to her while she and Tori were hugging. She turned around and was promptly scooped up into another pairs of arms, these ones much stronger. “You were amazing!” She looked down into Justin’s sweaty yet, purely happy face.
“Me?” She awed as he set her down on the ground. “You were the amazing one. Justin….. I am so proud of you. That was…” She smiled brightly and shook her head, lost for words. “Spectacular.” They both laughed and he wrapped her up in a hug again.
They were interrupted when his parents and stepparents approached them, and to both their surprise, they were joined by Joey, JC and Tami. Justin was so thrilled to see his band mates there supporting him. Lynn had tears in her eyes and hugged him fiercely telling him how proud she was of him. Once she let him go, he got hugs and compliments from the rest of his parents.
Trace came out of nowhere and jumped on him. “Dude that shit was on point. You were awesome.” They clutched hands and pulled each other in for a hug.
Kiki was almost in tears when she saw her best friend there and the two of them jumped around hugging and cheering. When Alex joined them, the three ended up making a little spectacle of themselves, but they didn’t care. They were too happy to care.
“You guys were crazy, you were absolutely beautiful up there.” Tami exalted. “I wanted to cry watching you two. It was…it was just amazing. I’m so proud of you.” She wrapped one arm around each and hugged them tight.
Joey and JC squeezed in to give their congratulations, hugs with Kiki and clutch hands with Alex. Lynn came over and she and Kiki shared a hug. She fawned over Kiki and her talents, making her blush.
“You and my son, oh my gawh, you two were wonderful up there.” She gushed. “And I’m so happy to hear you guys made up and are friends now.”
“Yeah you don’t have to worry about losing your only child anymore.” They laughed together and then Lynn introduced Kiki to the rest of Justin’s parents. Paul in particular because she had told him all about her and the day they met. She also wanted Paul’s opinion on Kiki for Justin since her tour spy “ Trace “ had told her the two were getting “cozy.”
Introductions between strangers were passed as the group stood back stage together. Things were getting hectic back there plus Justin had some press to do, so Lynn suggested that they all have dinner together at the hotel restaurant. Everyone agreed before they dispersed to take care of their individual business.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%
They regrouped at the hotel lobby; Justin, Kiki and Alex were all freshly showered and dressed in their normal clothes. In the restaurant the group was given the large banquet room in the back to fit them all. They spent their dinner regaling about the show and general conversation about each other. Lynn and Randy told embarrassing stories about Justin, giving Kiki plenty ammunition to clown him for the duration of the tour. Kiki and Alex got to see the progress that Tami and Joey’s relationship had made. The two looked to be getting very serious. On the other hand Justin and Kiki were giving off some major flirtatious vibes with the teasing and general comfort they shared with each other as they sat side by side. Lynn smiled as she saw for herself what Trace had been talking about and she was overjoyed. She eyed Paul and he gave her a subtle nodded. He thought Kiki was a very nice girl; confident, funny and polite. No wonder Justin was attracted to her. Lynn couldn’t help but hope that her son had finally found the right one.
Once dinner was over the younger group excused themselves and went straight to the after party. The crew was already there and they joined in to make a toast to an amazing kick off.
