"Ah! Liddy, you scared the crap outta me!"

My cat Liddy, short for Liddia, was my orange cat. Yes, I talked to her, mostly when I’m depressed or something, or when something big happens. But hey, I loved her all the same. And Liddy was another part of why Rachel was watching my apartment, I couldn’t let her go almost two months without being taken care of. I wouldn’t do that.

(beep)

Door. I had to buzz people up, so that was technically my doorbell.

"Hello?" So original I know.

"Hi, this is Amberly right? Or did I get the wrong number apartment?"

"Nope, I’m right here, um… can I ask who this is so maybe I won’t have to talk to you through my doorbell?"

"Sure, a new business employee."

"Oh… not helping, sorry."

"It’s Mr. McLean."

‘Hearing his name made me nervous, was something wrong with my papers? No, Alan had looked over them there. Did I do something wrong… ok just let him up.’

"Oh, sorry, I didn’t recognize you, sorry. Yeah, just pull when you hear a buzzing sound."

‘Oh my gosh! My house was a mess, well not really, but for AJ McLean it probably was. Ok, just, calm down and at least close your bedroom door…’

Ok, running down the hallway and upstairs I closed my door leading to my bedroom. I don’t know why I thought of this, it was upstairs. But whatever.

Answering the door was the hardest things I had to do considering that I thought something was wrong.

"Hey, what’s up?"

"Nothin’ just wanted to stop by and ask you a few questions." Then leaning over near my ear, he started whispering, "There a group of girls that spotted me, not to be mean, but I’m on a time rush, and I was wondering if I could um… come in."

"Oh, sorry, yeah…" I backed up and moved aside so he could enter. He was wearing dark blue jeans, a black tank with a gray and silver see threw button up tank. And a silver skullcap, and a pair of shades covering his eyes. I thought he was kinda hott, but who wouldn’t? Yet I was going to work with him for the next year or so, so I didn’t know if it was a good idea to think that he was hott or not. But I can’t hurt anything by just looking right?

"Hey, you didn’t hear me say thanks did ya?"

"Oops, sorry, dazed, hits me at the weirdest times." ‘Stupid remark, stupid, stupid, stupid…’

"Oh, so do you want to come in or just stay right here in the hall?"

"Oh, I’ll come in, if it’s ok. But what I came here for won’t take long… hopefully."

Ok, didn’t know what he wanted, probably to get anther paper signed or something.

"Hey, are you free tonight?"

"What?" I was sorta still dazed that he was here.

"I said, are you free tonight. Actually it was a question, but just answer, I guess." He talked with his hands making him so cute.

"Um… yeah, I think so. All my packing is done and I’ve cleaned enough for the next two months. So, yeah… why is something wrong?" Can you say corny?

"Naw, just wondering in case you wanted to accompany me, Kevin, and Howie tonight while at this club we found."

‘Wow, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that AJ McLean was asking me out! But he said accompany him, with two other guys. But hey, refuse an invitation from three of the Backstreet Boys… who would be stupid enough to do that?’

"Uh, sure, I guess." I wasn’t sure what he was asking.

"But… there’s alwaz a but at the end."

"Only if I’m busy, but I’m not busy. So, was that it? That’s what you wanted to ask me?"

Looking at his watch he started saying, "Yeah, so if you’re goin’ then I kinda wanna get going. It’s already 10."

"Uh, I’m not dressed right, could I have 5 minutes to change, I’ll be back down in no time."

I stood to get up and he nodded. I sorta ran up the stairs and flew into my bedroom making sure to shut it on my way in. ‘Wow, what to wear? Ok, oh, I got it!’

Walking down my stairs carrying my shoes, I was greeted by another question.

"Hey, what’s your cat’s name?"

Oh man, I forgot about Liddy. Hope he wasn’t allergic.

"Oh, her name’s Liddy. Short for Liddia. Liddy the kitty, another name."

He stood up and exited from my living room.

"Wow, you look awsome! We’re going to 5 Iron, a local I hope you know of."

"Yeah, I’ve been there once, but left because my date was a jerk."

"Hopefully this date won’t be as bad as that one."

‘So he did consider this a date. Well, I couldn’t have that bad of a time right?’

(car ride)

We were in his rental car, a dark blue Spider Eclipse with a sunroof. I had chosen to wear my sparkled flare jeans with a black tank top with a pic of a sparkled tiger on the front. Also my silver sandal boots, and a silver chain belt (I like silver, what can I say!) Snapping out of another daze, AJ had parked his car and told me to stay there. I gave him a confused look, but then realized that he was meaning to open the door for me.

"Aww, I didn’t deserve that. You didn’t have to."

"But I wanted to, only a celebrity treatment for my date!"

He beamed, not a cheesy grin this time, but an actual smile. He meant something, and I had to smile back. He led me around to the back and told me that he had an ID VIP for him and a guest.

As we entered, it was louder than I remembered it to be. There were so many lights and loud music. Not that I minded, until I realized AJ was trying to talk to me.

"I’m sorry, I can barely hear you!" I had to scream so he could here me.

"It’s ok, get used to this atmosphere, for the next 9 months, but screaming instead of music!" I heard him, and I believed it. I knew that too, I had actually been to their Millenium tour. And I knew that we were loud, but now I wasn’t a fan, I was part of their business, sorta.

We met up with Kevin and Howie, they looked awsome! Kevin looked hott, and Howie was just too adorable to pass up! I danced with AJ most of the night, but when he stepped out or found some one he knew, I danced with the other guys. But I still had fun!

(next morning)

I woke up a half-hour late, and I still had to get down to the airport. Rushing, I took a shower, fixed my hair in a ponytail, threw on my khaki Capri’s and a white baby tee. I called a cab and knew I would be at least ten minutes late. Calling Rachel, I told her to get over there now so I could explain to her what to do.

(1 hour later)

I had been late (not surprisingly). I handed my bags to a crew dude and realized that I wasn’t the latest one to get there. After about 20 minutes of waiting, a white van pulled up next to the plane. Out of the van came 5 very hott men, all looking as though they had never seen daylight before. Kevin came over to me gave me a hug and thanked me for the dances last night.

"Hey, no problem, you’re a really good dancer… well of course, you knew that!" I was mortified that I had said that, but hey, I would probably forget about it.

Throughout the plane ride to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida… I slept. I mean, I sorta didn’t sit anywhere near them, I sat where they didn’t, just so I wouldn’t be bothered during my sleep. I mean, I didn’t want to be rude or anything, just that I wasn’t a morning person. Hey, what can I say, I liked my sleep and I thought that flying was the perfect way to get some shut-eye. And no, I didn’t like flying, so I preferred to not think of flying. Yeah, perfect solution I know LOL!

(2.5 hours later)

"Hey sleepy head, you have to leave la-la-land and come do your job!"

I hadn’t even opened my eyes yet and I knew who it was, Brian. That little duck voice was SO adorable! I wasn’t going to say that though…

All the sudden cold water hit my face and my eyes were then open.

"Oh no you did not!" I opened my eyes to find an upside down Nick standing over me with this huge grin on his face and an empty cup in his hands.

"Hey, another way to wake her up! But maybe next time I’ll try the warm water trick" Nick pondered that while I got outta my seat and tried to find my book bag I had carried onto the plane with me.

‘I am SO not going to make a big deal outta this! Aiight…to get revenge or not to get revenge, that is the question.’

"So, are you awake now or do I have to do that again?" Nick seemed proud of what he did, sorta, what’s the word? Cocky!

"Nope, I’m all awake! No need to do that again! And hey, do you want a cookie for doing such a good job of waking me up?"

"Yeah sure, got any cookies with ya?" He asked as if I was serious!

I just shook my head in disbelief that he thought I was serious. Now, my next mission was to find AJ, I wanted to thank him for last night.

"Hey, what’s up?" Wow, AJ had caught up to me first, so search over… now what?

"Oh nothing, I was actually looking for you. I wanted to thank you for letting me tag along last night."

"Hey, tag along? Naw, that wasn’t tagging along, that was dating." He said that with a cheesy grin while looking at me over his huge glasses, shades, as he called them.

"A what?" I managed to choke out though I had thought the same thing.

"A date, you know… one of those things you go on with another person when you want to get some"

"Oh no, you did not even tell me that it was a date! And you haven’t been telling people that you got anything have you?"

"NO! Seriously! I haven’t told anyone that, it’s called a joke, chill! And I thought that you would think that it was a date, so I just didn’t bother asking you out as if it were a date."

Just then we were interrupted by his bodyguard, Luke.

"Hey, sorry to have to cut this so- fun- of-an-argument short, but I gotta go or I’ll be late to our interview that we have before to practice." He said and with that turned and left the plane.

‘Oh yeah, that went smooth, I was actually trying to con my way into another date. But hey, so what, not a big deal that I didn’t get another date with one of the hottest guys ever, right?

After careful consideration, I decided to check into the hotel that they the dancers were staying at (the group was staying at friend’s houses or at their own) and do some internet surfing. So my afternoon would be oh-so-fun!’