Life After That

by Barbara Kevin

  When they were all at the table, Mike Morin started:

  "Jacob, glad you could join us" Jacob gave him a half-smile "Alright, now let's get to the point. This is your schedule for the next 4 days starting tomorrow." Meanwhile, Cronin was handing the guys their schedules "As you can see, those appearances are all in NY, so we'll leave tomorrow morning and will be back by Friday. Everyday you'll have something to do on MTV, 'cause that is the most important channel for you guys right now. You made it onto TRL already, but you gotta stay there, so you have to show your faces there every time you get the chance. There are some other shows in there though, as you can see. Tomorrow we'll leave at 8 a.m., and don't be late! Does anyone wanna say anything?"

  "I do. I'm taking Janie, alright?" Jacob questioned.

  "If he's taking Janie, I'm taking Jen." Ashley said.

  "That's ok Jacob. That's ok Ashley. Anyone else?"

  "I wanna take someone too, but I just wish I had someone to take." Trevor said with a sad face.

  "Me too…" Dan and Erik said at the same time.

  "Well, we're not gonna stay here feeling sorry for your love lives. Does anyone else have anything to add? No? Then this meeting is over." Mike Morin then left the table.

  At the agreed time, the doorbell rang. Knowing who it was, Ashley went to answer it.

  "Hey baby!"

  "Oh my God! It's so good to see you! I've missed you so much!" Jen said hugging Ashley for a while. When they broke it, they kissed "And most of all, I missed this!" Jen was a beautiful girl. She was 21, 5'7", 110 pounds, blond hair, and green eyes. She really was beautiful. She met Ashley at a J Records party. She was one of the record label executive's niece. They were introduced, got to chat a little, and Ashley then asked her out on a date for the following day, and they have been together ever since. First time they met, Ashley thought she had a great conversation, was beautiful, so he used her to help him forget about Kirstin. He didn't like to think he had used her, but he had to face it. It was the truth.

  "So… what are we gonna do?"

  "Actually, I was thinking we could just hang here. Tomorrow we're gonna have to wake up early. At 8, we're off to NY."

  "Oh, and when are you guys coming back?"

  "Friday. And when I said 'we', I meant, me, the other guys, and you!"

  "Really? I'm going? You arranged for me to go? Wow! This is actually gonna be the first time I'm traveling with you guys."

  "I know! I promise you'll love it!"

  "I know I will. Thanks!" she said giving him a passionate kiss.

  "Hm… I liked that! Maybe I should do more nice things to you if what I'm getting in return is that." Jen giggled "C'mon. Let's go watch some TV."

  They watched TV for a while, went up to Ashley's room, fooled around a bit, and got to sleep.

  Little did Ashley know what was going to happen to him the next few days.

  Chapter 3

  ORLANDO, FL - TUESDAY

  "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! We're gonna be late!" Cronin yelled from the corridor. "Trevor, get up!" He said knocking on Trevor's door. "Erik, get up!" he knocked on Erik's door this time. "Dan, get…"

  "I'm up!" Dan said from his room.

  Cronin smiled and continued to Ashley's door. Knocking, he said "Ashley, get up!"

  "Jen, baby, wake up." Ashley brushed a lock of Jen's hair away from her face, and kissed her cheek.

  "Hm." Jen was sleeping next to Ashley on his bed. She opened her eyes. "Hey baby, good morning."

  "Good morning." Ashley smiled at her figure. She was beautiful. Why didn't he love her already? "C'mon, let's get ready. We gotta be downstairs in 30 minutes."

  "I left some clothes the last time I was here didn't I?

  "Yeah."

  "Great, so I'm bringing those."

  "Ok, so let's pack and get dressed."

  In exactly 30 minutes, Mike Morin was screaming from the living room:

  "Ashley, Erik! Get in here! We're running late!"

  Trevor, Dan, Jacob and Janie were already waiting on the couch.

  "We're gonna go from the airport straight to MTV?" Jacob asked Dan.

  "No, we're gonna stop at the hotel for a while and then go to MTV."

  "Do you want me to go to MTV with you?" Janie asked Jacob.

  "I don't think it's gonna be too exciting for you to be there. You will probably just wait in the dressing room. I want you there though, and Jen can stay with you so you won't be alone, but it's up to you honey."

  "I wanna go." She smiled hugging and kissing Jacob.

  "Oh Thank God you 2! Let's go!" Dan said to Erik and Ashley, rushing out the door. Ashley took Jen's hand and followed the others out off the house.

  NEW YORK - NYU - SAME DAY

  "Kirstin, wait up!" a female figure called at Kirstin.

  "Hey Steph. What's up?" Kirstin asked this short, redheaded girl. They were standing at the college hall.

  "What time do you start working today?"

  "I won't be working too much this week. My boss is not gonna be there this week, so he told me to go just to work on some files after lunch and I'll be out at 3, 3:30. Why?"

  "It's just that we gotta work on that paper for Mr. Connick's class."

  "Oh yeah! You're right! I totally forgot about that. Listen, the paper is due just for Friday and it's not a big paper, right?"

  "Yes. Why?"

  "Well, I don't feel like doing that today, so can we do it tomorrow, please?"

  "Yeah, sure. Is something wrong?"

  "No, I'm just not in the mood." You could tell something was wrong though. She was still thinking of Ashley. It wasn't going away. She tried so hard to forget about it since Thursday, the day she saw the video, but it wasn't working.

  "Oh ok. So if you want to, I can come pick you up at work tomorrow and we can go to the library."

  "At 3 then?"

  "Ok, then it's settled. I'll catch up with you later!"

  "Ok, bye!"

  NEW YORK - HOTEL

  "So, here are the keys to your rooms. Trevor is with Erik, Jacob is with Janie, Ashley is with Jen, and Dan is by himself." Cronin gave them their keys. "You only have an hour here, and then we're leaving for the MTV Studio, so go to your room, do whatever, and we'll meet in here at the lobby in an hour, alright?"

  "Ok!" They all answered and went to their rooms.

  "Hello dear!" this woman in her mid fourties, with grayish-blonde hair, tall and skinny, greeted Kirstin from her desk.

  "Hello Marge. How are you?" Kirstin asked in a sweet tone. Marge was Mr. Goodman's secretary and was a real sweet lady. Mr. Goodman was Kirstin's boss.

  "Good honey, and you?"

  "I'm good. Is Mr. Goodman's office locked?"

  "No, I unlocked it earlier for you."

  "Thank you Marge. If you need anything that's where I'll be."

  "Ok dear."

  Kristin's job, being an intern job, wasn't at all exciting. That week she had to work on filing some documents for Mr. Goodman, and organize those documents (such as memos, meeting transcripts, etc.) according to their dates. But in general, her job consisted on filing, yes, but tapes of shows and videos. She had to organize them in this audiovisual room and update whatever was new on the archive onto the computer. She didn't complain about her job. She liked it. There were some nice people there, and it was better than not having a job at all in that area. She had to start somewhere, but she never saw herself working at MTV in the next 5 years. She wanted something bigger.

  One hour later, everyone was in the lobby heading to the limo so they could go to MTV. When they got there, they were sent to the dressing room.

  "Man, it's kinda early isn't it? It's still 1:30 and we don't go live 'til 3:30!" Jacob was already complaining.

  "Yeah, but we gotta do make-up and you know how long it takes for Ashley to get that hair of his ready!" Trevor told him pointing to Ashley.

  "Oh, drop it!" Ashley pushed Trevor that was sitting by the edge of the couch and made him fall out of it. />
  "Stop it you two." said Morin. "We gotta go to the studio to see how the show is gonna be, your marks, sound check, and a lot of things before going to make-up, so let's do that already."

  "Jen, baby, are you gonna stay here?" Ashley asked his girlfriend.

  "Yes, Janie is gonna stay here, so I'm gonna keep her company."

  "All right, it won't take too long." He kissed her lips softly and left the dressing room.

  After doing everything they were suppose to do on the set, which took an hour or so, the O-Town guys got back to their dressing room. Jen and Janie were sitting on the couch watching TV.

  "Hey, you said it wouldn't take too long!" Jen got off of the couch and put her arms around Ashley's neck. He put his on her waist and said,

  "I know, I'm sorry. We had some problems with the mics and some other stuff."

  "Oh, I see…" She then gave him a passionate kiss.

  "Get a room you two!" Trevor joked from the couch. They separated from the kiss and Jen smirked to Ashley.

  Mike Cronin got into the dressing room and said,

  "Guy, you're needed in the make-up room. We're on in less than an hour!"

  "I'm gonna stay here. Will you come back before the show starts?" Jen asked her boyfriend.

  "Maybe. I don't know how long it will take in the make-up room."

  "Come back! I wanna wish you good luck before getting in."

  "Ok, so I'll definitely try to come back then!" he said kissing her and leaving the room.

  "You two are doing well, aren't you?" Janie asked when only the two of them were left in the dressing room.

  "I guess so. I really love him! We've been together for 5 months now, and I think it's going great. He's really kind to me and all."

  "Well, that's nice."

  "Yeah…" Jen smiled. She was happy with her relationship. Really happy.

  "Well Marge, I'm outta here. If you need me, call me on my cell phone, ok?"

  "Ok dear. Have a nice day and see you tomorrow."

  "Ok, see you!" Kirstin said leaving the office, heading to the elevator.

  "Guys, you're good to go." the make-up artist informed the O-Town members when his work was done.

  "Great, thanks!" Mike Morin said leading the other guys out of the room. "We gotta go to the set right away guys."

  "Oh Mike, I can't. I gotta go back to the dressing room real quick." Ashley told Mike, who was not happy at all with that.

  "Yeah, me too." Jacob said walking with Ashley on their way to the dressing room.

  "Ok, but don't be long!" Mike Morin told them, and then headed to the set with the other 3 guys.

  Ashley and Jacob were on the corridor on their way to the dressing room. They were kinda in a hurry, 'cause they couldn't take long. TRL was starting in less than 15 minutes.

  Then Ashley abruptly stopped. He saw standing there, in that same corridor, the girl he took to the prom. There, less than 30 feet away, was the one person he couldn't take his mind off. There, waiting for the elevator, was Kirstin Addams.

  Chapter 4

  "Ash, are you coming?" Jacob asked. But Ashley wasn't paying any attention to Jacob. Actually, Ashley wasn't paying attention to anything. He was staring at this one spot and his feet were glued to the floor. He just stared at Kirstin's figure waiting for the elevator. She was there, looking for something on her purse. She was gorgeous. She was just as he remembered. Her hair was longer now, but that was the only thing different about her that he could notice from where he was standing. He wanted to go there, but something wasn't letting him. Then, in a matter of seconds, she was gone. She had taken the elevator. A frown formed on Ashley's face and a moment later he felt a hand on his shoulder.

  "Ashley? Are you ok? Ashley?"

  "What?" he turned to face Jacob "Oh, I'm fine."

  "You were lost there for a moment, you were frowning and everything. Are you sure you're ok?"

  "Oh yeah, I'm fine. It's just that I thought I had seen someone I knew. It probably wasn't though…" he turned to look at the spot Kirstin was before, but instead a bald guy was standing where she had just been. "Yeah, it probably wasn't." Ashley said again, more to assure himself than to assure Jacob.

  "Let's go to the dressing room then."

  "Hey, baby!" Jacob said as he opened the door to the dressing room and headed towards Janie who was on the couch and kissed her softly on the lips.

  "We gotta be quick or Mike will cut our heads off." Ashley told Jen as she got off the couch and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  "I just wanted to wish you good luck on the show." she told him giving him a kiss and as she was about to deepen the kiss, he didn't let her.

  "Thanks, but we really gotta go. We're gonna be on soon."

  "Is something wrong?"

  Noticing the hurt look on his girlfriend's face, Ashley said,

  "No, baby, it's just that we really gotta go. We'll be back here as soon as it's finished, ok?" he kissed her lips softly. He didn't want to upset his girlfriend, so he tried to take whatever was on his mind that moment, aside for a while. "Let's go Jacob!" Ashley said pulling away from her and they both headed out of the dressing room.

  Kirstin got to her loft. She put her purse down on the counter at the kitchen and went to get a can of coke and a pack of Doritos. She was feeling pretty tired. She hadn't slept well the night before and at that moment she just wanted to relax, so she sat at the couch in front of the TV and flipped through some channels. Nothing interesting was on so she decided to leave it on MTV. TRL was just getting back from the breaks and Carson was shown. The camera was only focused on Carson at that moment and he started saying:

  "Welcome back everybody. Before the break, we were talking to the guys from O-Town." Screams were heard from the audience and then the image opened to show O-Town on set.

  Kirstin sat up. She couldn't believe it.

  Ashley managed to do TRL without thinking about what had happened before. But every time they went to a break, he would go back to his thoughts. Because of the concerned look on his face all of his band mates had checked on him to know if he was alright. He would always say yes, but he wasn't. And on their way to the hotel, Jen couldn't help but notice that too.

  "Ash, are you ok? You're quiet. You had barely said 2 words since we left MTV. What's going on?"

  "Nothing, really." he wanted to talk to somebody about it, but the last person he would do that would be Jen. "I just have a bad headache, that's all." He realized he had to stop thinking about seeing Kirstin and so he asked his girlfriend "Are you enjoying this? Being on the road with us, I mean."

  "Yeah. I get lonely sometimes when you're doing your stuff but Janie's a great person. We're having a good time."

  "Really? It's nice to know that you two are hitting off."

  "Yeah, we are…"

  At the hotel, Mike Cronin gathered them all near the elevators and Morin informed they were having a radio interview in an hour and a half and it would take probably 2 hours.

  On their way to their room, Jen asked,

  "Do you want me to go to this one too?"

  "It's really up to you. Are you up to it?"

  "I don't know. This radio thing starts at 7 right?"

  "Yeah…"

  "I'm kinda tired. I think I'll stay here, take a nice bath, eat something and wait for you then."

  "Ok, have it your way."

  "Hope when you get here I won't be sleeping already."

  Ashley smiled "Me too" and put his right arm around her waist and led her into their room.

  Kirstin was at the supermarket near her loft getting something for her dinner. She was thinking about O-Town being on MTV. A lot of questions kept popping into her mind 'Was Ashley there while I were there?' 'Did he see me?' 'If he did see me, why didn't he come talk to me?' 'Would he be glad to see me 2 years after what happened?' She couldn't help but wonder about so many things. 'If he was there, while I were there and we didn't see each other, maybe it's fate. Maybe it's supposed to be
this way. Maybe I should take it as a sign that we're not suppose to see each other ever again. Maybe I should just leave it behind already, because I'm going insane! He was there, he's not coming back any time soon and when he comes back, that if he does, it'll just be like this time, we won't see each other.'

  "Miss? Miss?"

  "Oh, I'm sorry. What?" Kirstin asked the cashier.

  "That'd be $9,25."

  "Here it is. Thanks" Kirstin got her bags and left the store heading to her loft.

  When Ashley got to his hotel room, Jen was already sleeping. He had come from the radio interview and decided to stay at the hotel bar. He went through all that had happened to him that day. He knew Kirstin was in NY, he knew he could bump into her in the city anytime soon, but MTV? What would she be doing on MTV? He couldn't find any explanation for that, as hard as he tried to, so he eventually gave up and went to his room. Seen Jen there, lying on the bed, he smiled, but he did have a concerned look on his face. If it indeed was Kirstin, what would happen now that he had found the girl that had been constantly on his mind for the past 2 years? He stripped to his boxers and joined Jen in the bed. It had been a long day.