Night Chat

Cassandra and Howie left the club not too long after their dance. She said that she felt a headache coming on because of the loud music and all the smoke. She wanted to go back to Howie's place, but he didn't think it was a good idea since he still lived at home. She laughed slightly when he told her that. For some reason, it irked him.

"Didn't you tell me you were a Backstreet Boy?" she asked, grinning.

"I am, but that doesn't mean I have to live in a fancy, schmancy mansion like AJ. I like the simple life. And honestly, since we're not home all that often, the time that I do get to spend at home is valuable to me and living at home allows me to be around my family more. They're the most important thing in my life." His eyes misted as thoughts of Caroline, his older sister who had passed away in September 1998, came to mind.

Cassandra noticed the change in his expression and let the subject drop. She gave Howie directions to her house. Twenty minutes later they pulled up in front of a large colonial-style house in the nearby town of Kissimmee.

*******************

Howie walked around Cassandra's house, amazed at the size. "Wow! This is a gorgeous house."

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "It was my parent's house." She walked towards the kitchen. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Sure. Do you have Sex on the Beach?"

"No, but I could," she tittered. "The beach isn't too far from here."

Howie's face went red. "No, I meant...."

She cut him off, laughing. "Howie, I know what you meant and yes, I have some. Please have a seat in the living-room and I'll be out in a minute."

Her minute turned out to be at least ten minutes. When she came back, she had changed into a kimono and pinned her hair up, leaving slight curls falling at the sides. She looked delicious and Howie had to restrain himself from jumping her. She saw him gawking or was that drooling, because she said, "I take it that you approve?"

Howie felt his face go red again. Get a grip, Howie, he chided himself. You're not 18 years old. "Sorry," he apologized to her. "I didn't mean to stare. It's just that you're very beautiful."

She preened. "Thank you." She took a seat next to him. Very close. He could smell her perfume filling his nostrils. A very erotic scent.

"Howie, I wanted to apologize about before. When I laughed at you in the car. I didn't mean to insult you. It's great that you're so close to your family."

Howie smiled softly. "No harm done. I was thinking about one of my sisters. She died in September 98. Her name was Caroline and she had Lupus. It's still hurts when I think about her."

"Oh!" Cassandra looked chagrined. "I'm so sorry. But I can relate. I...I lost my family...all of them." She looked down at her lap and Howie could see tears forming in her beautiful eyes. He finally noticed they were a strange yet beautiful blue...more like a violet.

"That's horrible, Cassandra. May I ask how? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to stir up painful memories."

"No, it's ok. They were on their way to pick me up at school when a drunk driver slammed headfirst into their car. My parents died on impact, and my brother and sister died a few hours later in the hospital."

"Oh my God!" Howie was sad for her. He couldn't imagine life without his family. Losing Caroline was hard enough, but to lose your entire family all at once? How did she find the heart to go on? "I'm really sorry. How old were you when this happened?"

"Sixteen." He looked even more horrified, but she smiled. "It's ok. It's been eight years now. Time does heal all wounds. And a good therapist helps, too. I don't want to talk depressing thoughts. Why don't you tell me about the Backstreet Boys."

Howie couldn't help but laugh. "I can't believe that you've never heard of us. We've been together since 1993, but we finally hit it big here in the US in 1998. We've done two major US tours. We've done a ton of TV appearances, mainly talk shows. We were given the key to Orlando back in October 98. It was on the news. Don't tell me you've never seen us, ever?"

She shook her heard. "I don't watch TV, read the paper, or listen to the radio much. What songs do you have that I might know?"

"There's "I'll Never Break Your Heart" which was a number one hit here, "As Long As You Love Me," "Everybody," "Larger than Life"...any of them sound familiar?"

"Yes, actually, I heard some of them, but I had no idea who sang them. I thought it was a group called N Sync."

Howie cringed. "No, no. They're...another group. You mean to tell me that you've heard of N Sync and not of The Backstreet Boys?"

"It must have been in one of my rare moments of watching MTV." She changed the subject. "When are you going back on tour?"

"In a few weeks for six weeks. Then it's back in the studio to work on the next album. We're on vacation right now. A much-deserved vacation, I might add."

"I reckon you must get really tired of all the travelling and performing."

"I do. But the rush I get from seeing our fans so happy is worth it. The only thing I really hate about touring for so long, apart from not being able to do laundry when I feel like it, is that I get lonely."

"But surely with all the fans out there, the beautiful girls throwing themselves at your feet every day, you can find someone to take the loneliness away?"

Howie laughed. "Yea, well, first of all, a lot of our fans are younger than me. Second, I do "get it on" while on tour, but it doesn't take away the loneliness. Just the horniness. Even that's short-lived."

Her eyes narrowed, but Howie didn't notice. He was too busy staring at her hands. She had long fingers. Hmmm....he smiled. He always had a thing about a woman with long fingers. He realized she had said something and focused his attention back on her.

"Have you slept with many fans?" was what she had asked him.

"No, not really." Howie was quick to answer. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her away.

"Oh good." She seemed relieved.

They sat there chatting some more. She wanted to know about the other guys, who had girlfriends, who was single. Howie talked her ear off for a few hours. When he glanced at his watch and saw that it was 2am, he got up quickly. "I'm sorry to have kept you up so late," he apologized. "I've a tendency to get carried away when I talk. Especially when it's to someone as attentive and interested as yourself."

She gave him another seductive smile. Howie felt his knees wobble. "I loved talking to you, too. Do you think we can get together again soon?"

"Definitely! I'll call you."

He gave her a kiss on the cheek and was gone. Cassandra sat down on the sofa. The evening had turned out exactly like she planned. He was putty in her hands.

This is going to be too easy, she said to herself.