Westlife Romance -- Chapter 56
For Annette, the next few days simply flew by. She never imagined that being the stagehand for one of the world's hottest boybands would involve so much work. Despite all the pressure, she handled her job with poise, impressing everyone who worked backstage as well as the lads themselves. Despite all this, Annette knew that she was only a temporary help here and that a permanent stagehand would soon arrive from Dublin.
Over this period, Annette got to know Mark a bit better, and realized that he wasn't so hard to get along with after all. To her surprise, she was even feeling some attraction towards him, even though she had barely known Mark for a week. As for the other lads, they also apologized for their behaviour and they soon got along very well. Even though she was an "outsider," they did not make her feel awkward or out of place. And then there was Nicky. He was the reason that she even stayed with the group after that dreadful first day. She has gotten to know him the best out of the five lads. For some strange reason, she felt like she could tell Nicky anything and everything, even though they had known each other for such a short period of time. Perhaps it was because she knew the secret of Nicky's ill health. Nevertheless, she increasingly viewed Nicky as an older brother in whom she could confide. She knew that it was risky and indeed unwise to be so trusting, yet every time she looked into those blue eyes, she couldn't help but to let her defences down. Despite all this, she saw something behind those blue eyes, something that made her feel very strange, as if they were trying to tell her something.
Today was Annette's last day with Westlife. The new stagehand was due to arrive and Annette's work was done. Yet this time, she didn't want to leave the group. But she knew that she didn't really have a choice in the matter.
Sadly, she began to pack her belongings.
"Hey..." Nicky's now familiar voice called out.
"Hey, Nicky," Annette answered, turning around slowly to face Nicky.
"What's wrong?" Nicky asked, his eyes full of concern.
"Nothing," Annette answered not too convincingly.
Nicky knew that Annette was lying, but he didn't pursue it. "I came by to ask you something."
"What is it?" Annette wasn't really in the mood to answer questions, yet she didn't want to be rude to Nicky.
"Well..." Nicky hesitated. "Well, I was wondering...or hoping, actually, that you might be interested in continuing to work with us."
"What?" was all Annette could manage after hearing Nicky's question.
"I've talked with the rest of the lads and we really hope that you can stay with us and be our stagehand."
Annette was dumbfounded at Nicky's request. "But what about the new stagehand from Dublin?"
"You haven't answered my question yet," Nicky pointed out with a smile.
"I...I'd love to. But...but what about the new stagehand?" Annette asked again.
Nicky's smile grew. "Let me worry about that. So you're staying then?"
At first Annette thought Nicky was joking. But soon she realized that he was very serious. But she still needed to make sure. "This isn't a joke, right?"
"I was hoping that your answer was for real," Nicky answered. "We really want you to stay."
"Then I'll stay!!" Annette replied, perhaps a little too excitedly, eliciting a chuckle from Nicky.
"Great! Then I'll go and get everything settled." Nicky left the room with a wide grin. "Mark's gonna love this!!" he thought to himself as he walked down the corridor.
Annette wasn't the only one surprised by Nicky's request. Earlier in the day, the lads themselves were dumbfounded when Nicky presented them with the same question. Sure, they all liked Annette, but in their minds, they never really thought that she would stay with them. After all, management would never allow such an arrangement, even though the lads had no problems with having a female stagehand. Mark, of course, wanted Annette to stay badly, but didn't have the courage to actually make the request. Therefore, he was absolutely delighted when Nicky proposed the idea. They were even more surprised when Nicky told them that management was okay with the idea.
What they didn't know was the heated exchange that Nicky had with the management team earlier that morning. Just as the lads thought, management was adamantly against such an idea. After all, they knew nothing about this Annette and they didn't like the idea of having a female stagehand. Furthermore, the new stagehand was already on his way. But Nicky didn't back down. Instead, he went on the offensive, fighting hard for Annette. He was so forceful in his demands that management was taken off guard. In the end, they reluctantly agreed. Nicky, too, had to compromise, offering to pay the compensation for the formerly new stagehand out of his own pockets. Of course, he kept all these details to himself. After all, it was the end result that mattered.
The celebratory dinner for Annette was most enjoyable. Mark could not hide his delight over Annette staying and he thanked Nicky no less than a dozen times. Nicky was glad to see Mark smile, for lately he had begun to worry about his friend. Even though he looked fine on the surface, Nicky could sense that Mark felt lonely. He needed someone, just like Nicky had Bryan. When Annette showed up, Nicky didn't really think she would be the one for Mark, especially after their initial encounter. But the encounter backstage that day plus his observations over the past few days convinced Nicky that Annette and Mark would make a great couple, or at least great friends.
After dinner, everyone was so tired they decided to call it a night. Nicky sat on the bed watching television as Bryan came out of the shower, his blond hair still wet. Seeing Nicky sitting on the bed, with his adorable pout, watching television, reminded Bryan once again of how sexy his boyfriend was. Without even thinking, he felt himself walking towards Nicky. Nicky saw Bryan walking towards him and smiled. Bryan smiled back and got onto the bed with Nicky. He drew Nicky close to him and kissed him.
The short kiss grew into a longer and more passionate kiss. Bryan could feel his body react to his closeness with his boyfriend. His hands began to roam Nicky's body and soon, he was on top of Nicky as the older boy was lying on the bed. Bryan began to kiss all over the body and his hands were all over Nicky. He was so consumed with desire that it was several minutes before he heard Nicky's struggles. Immediately, he jumped back, realizing what he had done. His desires were replaced with absolute horror as he saw Nicky in tears.
"Oh god!" Bryan gasped. "I'm so sorry, Nix. I don't know what came over me..." Nicky didn't answer, his body still trembling slightly. Bryan was wracked with guilt, horrified at how insensitive and careless he had been. "I'm so sorry, Nix..." Bryan said again, on the verge of tears.
This time Nicky reacted. "I'm sorry, Bryan...I'm so sorry," Nicky said as he got up from the bed. "I'm so useless!" he said softly before running out of the room.
...to be continued...