CHAPTER 65

Kevin stared at her, speechless – for about five seconds. Then he started to get pissed. Her idea had hit a nerve.

“No way!” he fussed as he started picking things up from the kitchen counter and slamming them down again. “You can’t do that! I need you at home… Fuck! I told you we’d be together! The timing is just off right now – I’ll get this straight. I told you I would! Don’t you go making any travel plans – you don’t have to be in New York! I have to be on the road! I want you here! For Christ’s sake, I just got your ass here!”

Connie couldn’t understand the rest of this unexpected rant. She was dancing around Kevin, trying to get in front of him as he paced the length of the counter and back again, muttering and mumbling, his neck getting redder by the second. His hands were flying up, he was rubbing his face and turning back and forth. Connie couldn’t see his mouth and was missing much of his speech although his tone was made perfectly clear by the jack-o-lantern scowl on his face. She managed to catch isolated and unconnected words between slams and paces.

“Can’t….. need to know….. assholes!…. game!… venues… none of their fuckin’ business!… Jive…. sex lives!…”

Connie’s eyes narrowed. Whoa…. Sex lives? She positioned herself directly in his path, forcing him stop or run her down. Fortunately, he stopped.

“Hold up, Kevin!” she shouted, stabbing his chest with her finger. “Whose ‘sex lives’ are you talking about? What does my going to New York have to do with anybody’s sex life? I thought this was all about me not being able to hear!”

Kevin froze and stared into her turquoise eyes, which were growing darker by the second, glad that she couldn’t hear his audible gulp. Shit! Did I say that? Did she see me say that?… Kevin stumbled around for an explanation.

“It – it is!” he stammered. “I just meant that we wouldn’t be able to be together if you went to New York, that’s all!”

Connie crossed her arms and looked at him skeptically. “The way I figure it, we wouldn’t be ‘together’ if I was in Orlando, either…”

“Yeah, well…..”

“Look, Kevin…. You’re not making much sense to me right now. I’m not sure what you’re trying to say. Maybe it’s not the label at all! Maybe you don’t want me up your ass…”

“NO! That’s not true. I want you up my ass…” Connie’s eyebrows shot up and Kevin tried to rephrase. “You know what I mean…” he sighed. “It’s Jive. It’s business, plain and simple, and I’m caught between a rock and a hard place right now.”

“Just tell me, Kevin. Is this about my being deaf or not?”

“Yeeeeessss…” Kevin nodded. Then he stopped. His eyes dropped to the floor and then met Connie’s again. “Partly….”

*****

After a full morning of arguing, cursing and yelling across a conference table, neither side had budged. The insurance problems remained an issue and no special clauses would be added to accommodate Connie. She could travel on her own but not with the group on buses, planes or in vans. The label and its carrier used the reasoning that fans – sometimes hoards of fans – would likely be present when the group disembarked and Connie might find herself in some trouble especially if said fans had reason to think that she was, uh… associated… with Kevin.

“Associated?” Kevin asked slowly. “Are you saying that Connie being ‘associated’ with me is the real problem?” Kevin was ready to force the issue.

The was an uncomfortable silence and then finally, a company publicist muttered, “Well, sort of. Yes….”

“I’m ‘associated’ with lots of people, Mr. Drake..”, Kevin pushed as his anger unfolded. He was tired of playing games. “…many of those people will be traveling with us – with me.”

Robert Drake leaned forward. “Yes, but you’re not fucking them, are you Kevin… Don’t play dumb…”

“He ain’t playin’!” Nick piped up, eager to help his friend but unaware of his statement’s double meaning.

Kevin’s glare forced Nick to shrink back in his chair. Other execs chuckled at his remark, momentarily throwing the confrontation off track. Kevin had lost momentum.

Howie, who had remained quiet up until now, tried to ride to the rescue. He could see what was going to happen. Jive had some kind of problem with Connie and Kevin would eventually blow if this wasn’t resolved. When Kevin became angry, his emotions ran roughshod over his rationality. Jive would dig their heels in deeper and Kevin would be a pain in the ass for the entire tour. He decided he would try to steer this stand-off into a compromise of some sort but first he had to get Jive to give voice to the concerns they were avoiding. Kevin already suspected what those concerns were. They all did. Avoiding the real issues would result in a distrust that was already threatening to create business and legal problems down the road. Howie cleared his throat and shifted into his ‘peacemaker’ role.

“If I may…” Howie began, addressing the label execs. All eyes shifted to him, including Kevin’s – a fact for which Nick was extremely grateful. “I think it’s obvious that your problem is not totally based on Miss O’Rourke’s hearing defecit. You’ve just said as much.”

“I think that’s problem enough!” Drake interrupted. “Jesus! What difference does it make? Miss O’ Rourke would be a distraction at this point. It’s not like she could enjoy the shows…”

“How the fuck do you know what she could enjoy?” Kevin was halfway up out of his seat now.

Howie had to re-seize control of this arbitration. It went against his nature but he found himself slamming his fist on the table, effectively silencing both Kevin and Robert Drake. He glanced at Brian and AJ, who sat to his left. The years they had been together allowed them to read each other’s subtle signals. Howie was signaling for support. This was one of those times that they needed to stand together. All of them knew that the label’s reticence about Connie was only partially based on her deafness. They also knew that the label was loath to admit that in specific terms, considering the group’s history and past problems. Kevin was a stubborn son of a bitch but Jive was stubborn, too. The bottom line was that, in the long run, it would serve everyone well to keep Kevin happy. Howie wanted the concerns explicitly clear and on the table before he proposed a rather drastic compromise. The term ‘associations’ was a little too vague. The meeting was being transcribed. He just wanted Jive to ‘say it’. He smiled, rose and began walking around the room like a seasoned lawyer. He called upon his acting abilities to remain aloof and calm. Kevin was eyeing him suspiciously while Nick, Brian and AJ stared, wondering what he might propose.

“You know,” Howie smiled, “I spent a lot of time on the internet last night, surfing sites and chat rooms. It’s a good way to keep your finger on the pulse of the fans and their reactions to various things. I would imagine that you Jive guys do the same, right?” Several of the executives shifted in their seats and glanced at each other nervously. “I thought so,” he grinned. “You wouldn’t be very good businessmen if you didn’t and this is strictly business, right?”

“Right!” Drake spit. “What are you getting at, Howie?”

“Well, those fans talk about everything, don’t they….” Howie rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Especially our private lives and any women that we may enjoy….well, spending time with… “ ‘Associating’ with, you might say…”

Robert Drake let out an exaggerated sigh that complimented his scowl. “So?”

“Well, I couldn’t help but notice that Kevin seems to be getting a lot of attention on the internet these days. First, this engagement thing hits the presses, and then the story’s retracted. Lots of speculation there. Next thing you know, a picture of Connie shows up. Then another. Fans discover that she worked on the coffee table book. Then, she’s suddenly left New York. I read on one message board where this fan had called the publishing house and asked to speak to her. Apparently the fan wasn’t told about Connie’s deafness, but she was told that Connie had moved to Florida…”

AJ looked at Howie like he was crazy. He surfed those boards and sites and so did Marcus. Neither of them had seen anything like that.

“Well, I guess fans are curious…” Howie continued. “And I guess that from a ‘business’ standpoint, it would be better if Kevin was ‘available’, right? I mean especially since he was with another woman for a long time and all. It might look bad if he had this girlfriend tagging along all of a sudden – especially after this ‘engagement’ business. Lots of questions.”

Kevin’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t read the internet crap but had no reason to doubt what Howie was saying. It made a modicum of sense, listening to Howie, as to why Jive would prefer that Connie was out of sight for a while – until the tour was underway and things had settled down. The tour, interviews and TV appearances would give fans something else to focus on to a small degree, anyway. Nevertheless, he didn’t like it.

AJ shook his head slightly and smiled. That little fucker is lying his ass off… He suddenly saw that Howie was going someplace with this. He didn’t know where, exactly, but he knew that Jive had to admit to these concerns before a compromise could be worked out and that Howie was trying to make them do that.

After a minute or two of silence, Drake broke down and admitted that this was a problem from a ‘fan relations’ standpoint. They had nothing against Connie personally and although her disability was a very true concern and made her uninsurable by the company’s carrier, she couldn’t be kept away from public events. AJ was beginning to see the light. Howie was no dummy when it came to business.

“Well, Robert,” Howie smirked, “You could have a real problem here if Miss O’Rourke decided to pursue this matter legally…”

“What the hell…”

“You know, if she felt she was being discriminated against because of her disability…”

“But…”

“I know that isn’t the case and the courts may even back you up – right, Mr. Davenport?” Jason Davenport, one of Jive’s attorneys, tugged self consciously at his collar. He was squirming. “But the publicity would be bad and Kevin’s relationship with Connie would surface anyway. It wouldn’t hurt us so much, but I don’t think it would serve Jive very well. Do you?”

Robert Drake practically had steam coming out of his ears. “Are you trying to strong arm us, Mr. Dorough? Is this blackmail? Please remember that you’re under contract to Jive and we could make your lives and careers pretty damn miserable…”

Howie didn’t like the implied threat. None of them did.

“We have no control over what Connie may decide to do, Bob.” Howie’s shift into the familiar was pointed and firm. Kevin was quite impressed. “What I’m suggesting is a compromise – a solution that Kevin and Connie can live with…..”

Chapter 66

“This is some sort of joke, right?” Connie’s eye’s drilled into Kevin’s. “This is your idea of a compromise?”

“Not mine, exactly. Howie’s the one who came up with it, but it’s the only thing we could come up with that would make everybody happy, especially on such short notice. Jive settled and….”

“Jive settled?” Connie sounded incredulous. “Sounds like you’re the one who settled to me! What about your management? Who do they represent?”

Kevin was growing impatient. He didn’t like this idea. In fact, he hated it but it was a temporary solution – the key word being ‘temporary’. The group was being torn in many different directions right now. They had issues with the label, they had issues with management, they had personal issues. They had discussed these things amongst themselves, especially as the scheduled tour dates grew closer. They were trying to keep things as calm as possible until they could agree on the best way to advance their careers. They had signed contracts. They neither wanted, nor could they afford, any battles – legal or otherwise.

“They represent us, Connie. They represent the Backstreet Boys – not Kevin Richardson! I don’t like this any more than you do but it’s temporary. If you can come up with something better in the next few days, fine! You have no idea of how this works…”

“Please don’t patronize me, Kevin!” Connie began chopping carrots as she faced Kevin from the other side of the kitchen island. She was angry. At the rate she was moving the knife, Kevin wondered if she was making slaw instead of a salad. “I just wish you had talked to me about this! I feel like the Backstreet Boys have made some kind of decision about my life without consulting me…”

The ‘solution’ Howie had come up with had been a simple one. Kevin and Connie would just have to be seen with other people for a little while. This would make their relationship appear to be strictly casual in the public eye. Pictures of them together had already popped up on a couple of web sites but they hadn’t been incriminating in a romantic sort of way. Fans had already researched enough to know that Connie had edited the soon to be published book and that it would have been natural for her to strike up a friendship with the Backstreet Boys. No one, other than the immediate ‘family’ knew that there was anything more to this relationship and no one need know right now, especially on the heels of the Brandi fiasco and with a new tour starting up to boot. “Slow and easy’ was the battle cry of the label. The charade would allow Connie to be close by and would afford the couple time together – if they were discreet. Kevin would appear footloose and fancy -free. Connie would appear as a friend of Kevin’s and nothing more. In fact, it had been suggested that her presence be attributed to the ‘close friendship’ she had developed with Leighanne.

Experience had taught management, the label and the Boys themselves, that fans – who claimed to want the unadulterated truth - were happiest when the truth was revealed in a methodical and slow manner. Sudden revelations, that may prove to be disconcerting, often ended in the creation of ‘anti-girlfriend’ web sites and hostility. The label certainly didn’t want that. Kevin didn’t want that, either. Explaining the situation to Connie, however, was another matter. She was totally unfamiliar with this side of fame. She knew that young girls screamed, that young women fantasized and that older fans obsessed but she had been spared many of the gory details and frightening stories that permeated life on the road.

The kitchen was silent except for the unrelenting hammer of the chef’s knives banging against the carving board. Connie was attacking a small assortment of peppers now. Kevin wished that Howie and Nick weren’t coming over. He sighed and rubbed his fingers across his chin. Maybe some company will lift her mood…. Make her see reason… Before the evening was over, Kevin would find that proverbial bee had moved from Connie’s rear-end to his own.

*****

“Big ‘Bon Jour’ party this weekend! You’ll be there, won’t you, Connie?” Nick grinned before taking a swig of Corona.

He had pronounced ‘bon jour’ more like ‘bonjer’ and, while Kevin and Howie had understood what he was saying, Connie couldn’t make sense of the sounds his lips had formed. Bonjer… Bonjer? Her shoulders raised, marking her ignorance, as she shook her head and smiled apologetically.

“I don’t understand….”, she murmured, glancing from Nick to Howie.

Kevin shifted in his seat and casually raised his bottle to his lips. It had not gone unnoticed by him that she hadn’t glanced towards him for assistance. She was being a little cool. She had barely directed five spoken words his way since their ‘discussion’ a couple of hours ago. He wondered if Howie and Nick had noticed. They hadn’t seemed to. Of course Connie had been waiting on them as if they were fuckin’ royalty or something since they had arrived. He had half expected her to peel Nick’s shrimp for him…

“He means that it’s a going away type of party,” Howie explained. “You know, to kick off the tour..” Howie held his hand by the side of his face so that Nick couldn’t see his mouth move. “He means ‘Bon Voyage’… He always says ‘Bon Jour’… Howie rolled his eyes before lowing his hand.

“Ohhhh… Bon voyage….” Connie nodded.

“You’re gonna come, right?” Howie asked. “They’ll be food, booze, music and dancing and stuff like that…”

“Well, I don’t know…” Connie answered sweetly, deliberately avoiding Kevin’s glare. “It does sound like fun. Let me see if I can dig up a date…” She pretended not to notice the sharp vibration from the beer bottle that Kevin slammed down on the table or the heat emanating from his eyes, which Connie suspected were narrowed under furrowed brows.

“Oh, I see that Kevin’s told you about the meeting today. God, Connie – I’m glad you’re not upset…” Nick reached across the table and grabbed another handful of the steamed shrimp. “You know somebody you can ask?”

Nick’s question was innocent but Kevin thought he detected a note of…well, ‘hopefulness’. He was getting pissed.

“Yes..”

“NO!”

The responses sounded at the exact same moment. Of course, Connie hadn’t heard Kevin’s emphatic negative. She returned to her salad, as Howie and Nick turned their eyes to Kevin, both of them suddenly feeling they had entered a ‘No Trespassing’ zone.

“Who?” Kevin demanded loudly as Nick and Howie’s eyes darted back and forth between the two.

Connie didn’t hear him and continued to munch away, oblivious to Kevin’s rising agitation. Finally, he picked up a cherry tomato from the edge of his plate and tossed it towards her where it landed smack dab in the middle of her small serving of guacamole, capturing her attention.

“Hey!” Connie frowned, jerking her head toward the perpetrator.

“I asked, ‘Who?’,” Kevin scowled.

Connie shrugged her shoulders. “Well, I ran into Nick Lachey the other day and we talked for a….”

“NICK LACHEY!” Kevin shouted, throwing his napkin down on the table. “Where in the fuck did you happen to run into ‘Nick the Prick’?”

“At Publix!” Connie yelled back. “Why do you call him that? We talked for a long time. He was very nice to me!”

“Oh, I’ll bet…”

Kevin looked as if he had a bad taste in his mouth and Connie could tell that his comment was sarcastic. Meanwhile, Howie’s eyes had grown wide and Nick’s mouth had formed a little ‘o’ as their eyes bounced back and forth between the couple.

“He was!” Connie argued. “We talked about books…”

“Shit, Connie! The last thing Lachey probably read was ‘Charlotte’s Web’ or maybe ‘One Fish, Two Fish’…”

Connie frowned. “He was quite charming, Kevin…”

“Oh, he’s a charmer, alright… A charming octopus! I don’t suppose he mentioned his girlfriend…”

“As a matter of fact, he did…” Connie replied with a note of triumph. “He said they had broken up!”

“I don’t give a flyin’ fuck!” Kevin growled as he pushed his chair back from the table. “I don’t want you goin’ to the party with him. You don’t need a date, anyway…”

“I’m not going to a party unescorted, Kevin! Besides, you said that we were supposed to be seen with other people!…”

“Then I’ll pick out a date for you. I don’t want you goin’ out with Lachey!”

“Oh, no…. I don’t think so…” Connie laughed shaking her head further angering Kevin. “I’m a big girl. I think I can pick out my own dates…”

“Judging from your past choices of men, I’m not sure you can…”

Kevin immediately regretted those words, uttered in the heat of the moment. He felt cruel and ashamed. Connie looked like she had been slapped. She glanced quickly towards Howie and Nick who had begun mumbling about being full and wanting to go check out Kevin’s pool – an extremely thin excuse for inching themselves out of an embarrassing situation. Neither Connie nor Kevin spoke as the two men left the room and by the time she turned back to face him, her cheeks had flushed and she was fighting back tears.

“God, baby… I’m so sorry…” Kevin whispered reaching out to take her hand.

“Don’t be…” Connie said flatly, jerking her hand away. “Maybe you’re right. I do seem to make lousy choices about men….”

Connie stood and carefully folded her napkin, using those few seconds to recompose herself and rein in her emotions. She knew that Kevin hadn’t meant to be mean and that his callous remark was probably based on feeling a lack of control and maybe even a dose of old fashioned jealousy. Still, his words were unexpected and had stung her heart. She didn’t dare look at him as she ended the conversation.

“Please give my apologies to Nick and Howie but I’m feeling tired all of a sudden. Just leave the dishes. I think I’ll go to bed.”

She turned on her heel before Kevin could stop her.