Going Up (Up & Down Book 1), page 15
“I’ve been there once, as a teenager. My family went one Christmas, you’ll love it.” Josh soothed, obviously attempting to set my mind at ease.
“I’ve never been in a plane, I might be scared of flying.” I fretted, looking up at Josh with a frown.
“We’ll all be there together, You, Me, Janie, Marc and Nick, you’ll be fine.”
“Plus five others.” I added, as if it was the most important information available.
“Yes, plus five others. So you’ll be fine.”
I nodded uneasily and whispered a “yea, sure.” under my breath.
I helped Josh clean up after dinner and we all sat down together and watched some trashy reality show. Josh and I sat on the sofa, as far apart as humanly possible while Marc and Janie sat snuggled together on the armchair. Their relationship had altered slightly since they came back. Although I’d only been here in the house a day or two before they had to go to the funeral of Janie's Uncle they’d been outwardly like friends, and behind closed doors they were lovers.
The friends with benefits deal had obviously grown and Marc “Vin Depp” Thompson was a wannabe lady killer no more.
“I guess on this holiday it might be you and I more than either of us expected” Josh laughed gazing over to the lovebirds. I nodded uncomfortably, he was right. Marc and Janie would probably end up doing couple stuff, I didn’t even know who the others in our group were and it was almost a given Nick wouldn’t exactly be wooing me on the beach front.
After our “date” I’d never managed to tell him that while he was a great guy, I just couldn’t see him as more than a friend. Spending an entire week with him in Hawaii could be just be creating a recipe for disaster.
“Relax Sarah, I know that you’re not in to me, I meant as friends.”
“Oh of course, I guess I am still just worried about the plane trip.”
And Nick.
Always Nick.
I went to be around 11pm, and although it took me almost an hour to drift off, when I woke in the morning I felt refreshed.
I showered and dressed before walking in to the kitchen to pour a coffee
“You’re looking better this morning Sarah.” Janie remarked as she looked up at me from the table.
“I feel better. Guess I just needed a good sleep.”
We all left for the office a little while later. We parked in the basement and took the elevator up. When we exited the elevator we were flanked by security guards who checked our ID tags.
“Nick’s going a bit overboard on the security detail huh.” I remarked as we walked away
“I didn’t know anything about this. Nick would have got me to send a memo out. Something is going on.”
Janie picked up her pace and headed to her office. I walked down to my cubicle and sat down. It took a few minutes to sign in to my computer and I didn’t think much of our entrance in to the office until my email loaded and I had an unread message from Nick.
To: Sarah Roxy SRoxy@bookedout.com
From: Nikolai Jackson Nikolai@bookedout.com
Subject: Are you here?
You didn’t answer your phone this morning, are you here? If you are, you need to come down to my office.
Nick.
I sighed and stood up. What had happened now?
Feeling frustrated I dragged my feet out of my cubicle and down the hallways until I got to Nick’s office. I knocked and waited for Janie to open the door.
“You better head in there, he’s expecting you. Boy is he stressing out.”
“Do you know what’s wrong?”
“He won’t speak to me about it.”
I walked into the room then across to Nick’s door. I opened the door without knocking, walked inside and closed the door again.
“What’s up?”
“Have you been out the front this morning?”
“No. Marc parked in the basement. Why?”
“She bloody did it.”
“What?” I replied confused, Nick was being far too vague for me to understand him.
“She went to the media about my entire history. There’s a media storm down there.”
“But, you, we…. I don’t understand Nick.”
“I just didn’t think she had it in her to be so cold. I guess I gave her a little too much credit. I don’t know what to do. You know how ashamed I am of my actions and how they affected my little sister. How do I deal with this Sarah?”
Nick looked at me with utter fear in his eyes. I knew deep down it wasn’t his childhood that scared him. It was seeing and talking to his little sister again.
“I’m not an expert Nick, but I think you need to talk to your sister.”
“It’s been 9 years. She probably doesn’t even remember me. Not to mention the fact I walked out of her life and her foster parents don’t think letting me back in is a good Idea. They’d be right too. Why would a 16 year old girl want to get involved with this shit?”
I frowned and looked down at the floor. I took a step toward Nick then thought about it and stopped. Giving Nick a hug was unlikely to solve his problems; in fact it would probably create them.
“She’s 16. Give her the choice.”
“You’re right. I guess I should just be thankful Amelia has no idea what my sisters name is.”
“Yes. What a blessing.”
“I’m sorry I called you in here, I rely on you far too much.”
“It’s alright. We’re friends.”
Nick smiled and nodded then leaned back in his chair.
“Friends,” He mimicked, with a chuckle. “right.”
“Nick. You know until Amelia walks away from the contract it’s all we can be.”
“I know.”
I walked back over to the office door and placed my hand on the handle.
“I should get back to work.”
“Yeah sorry to drag you away.”
“Let me know how talking to Alex goes alright?” I smiled, looking over at nick again. I found myself wondering if she looked like him. If she was tall like her is. Did she share the same mahogany tinted hair, the same startling crystal blue eyes? Nick’s lips curled in to a smile that melted my heart and it took every fiber in my body to hold back from kissing him.
Without thinking I opened my mouth and shocked myself with the words that left my lips.
“Oh, Nick. Put me on the books. I want to make something of my life. I want to inspire other girls.”
Nicks eyes widened and his mouth dropped slightly open.
“Really?!” He almost shouted, jumping to his feet.
“Uh, well if you’re going to get weird about it… no.” I teased.
“Sorry. I just, well ever since I heard you singing Creep I knew you were going places. A boy can get a little overexcited when he’s proved right okay.”
I frowned and leaned against the door.
“Don’t get a head of yourself bud, you’re just putting me on the books. Not signing a record deal for me.”
“Actually. I kind of called a friend and told him about you, he’s been waiting for my call since last week.”
“Awww, you have friends.” I teased again.
“Ha ha, very funny. He’s an executive producer at a very famous record label. So a friend well worth having given the job I do.”
My heart skipped a few beats and I wasn’t sure I was ready for anything like this to happen. Life had changed so quickly and it wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Except for Nick and I. We were on ice. I left Nick’s office, talked to Janie for a short while and then walked back to my cubicle to begin working. By the end of the day Nick had sent me four emails about meeting with his record executive friend. When I got one more at 3:30pm I’d imagined it was much the same. However it was different.
To: Sarah Roxy SRoxy@bookedout.com
From: Nikolai Nikolai@bookedout.com
Subject: Thank you.
I called the number I had for Alex. Her foster parents agreed she is at an age where she can make her own decisions. She wants to meet with me Sarah.
I’ve invited her to mine for dinner tonight; turns out she still lives in the area. I said I’d have a friend there. I wanted to make her feel at ease.
Can you make it?
I replied without thinking, and said of course.
Playing happy couples with Nick for his sister wasn’t on the menu though; she knew her brother and who he is engaged to. She’d probably be expecting Amelia to be there instead.
And she was just going to get boring old me.
Crap.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Janie sent out a memo before lunch advising the staff members not to speak to the media and if they wished to stay in for lunch “Mr Jackson” had organized lunch in the staff room. Josh came by and we walked to the staff room together.
“Did you hear about the media storm downstairs? One of the tech guys said that he got asked about Nick’s abusive childhood.” Josh whispered as we walked down the hall.
“Oh um, yeah the media guys. Like vultures to a carcass huh.” I replied, guilt surged through me, even though ultimately the only person at fault was Amelia for being such a hardhearted bitch.
Josh and I walked into the staff-room and met up with Marc and Janie. The spread Nick had organized was vast and looked amazingly delicious; I grabbed a filled roll and sat down at a table in the corner. Once the others had joined me I looked up at Janie and sort of smiled.
“I’m going on the books.”
“Really?!” Janie exclaimed, grabbing my hand from across the table.
I shrugged and nodded, looking down at my lunch. Merely mentioning going on the books had rendered my appetite defunct. It wasn’t because I didn’t want make music, because I did.
It just meant opening myself up. Letting people in. What if Nick just thought I was good because he had “Sarah goggles” on? What if the record exec just laughed at me and kicked me out.
Since Nick had mentioned it last week the thought had been festering in my head, behind everything else. Never really coming to the forefront of my mind, but never really disappearing all together.
Now that I’d made a decision about my life I realized more than anything else, it was what I wanted to do with my life.
Finally, at least, I knew what I wanted to do.
“Oh my God! That’s amazing!” Janie almost shouted, taken aback. I looked up to see that some of the other staff members were staring at us.
“What the heck is she talking about?” Josh asked in a hushed voice.
“It’s a long story, basically it comes down to Nick hearing me sing and wanting to put me on the books.”
Marc congratulated me, but josh didn’t say a thing.
“You and Nick…. You’re not just friends are you?” He said finally. Enunciating nick’s name like it was dirt on the ground.
“Josh…” Janie started, she looked around the room to ensure that the people who’d been looking a few moments ago had returned to their own business. Thankfully they had.
“No… I want to know. I mean seriously, the other night at dinner, he took you home and didn’t leave our place until after I got home from the hospital. He was the one you called when… well when the house was broken in to. I feel like I’m missing a part of the story, but I think I can piece it together enough to work out that there’s something going on here.” Josh’s voice was raised slightly, and I felt a little guilty. I could tell from his tone that he wasn’t jealous in the slightest, which was a bonus, but he was angry.
“We’re just friends.” I replied honestly.
“I hope so. The guy is engaged. I didn’t think you’d be that kind of girl.”
My stomach flipped and I frowned. I was that kind of girl though. I’d been with Nick before I knew about the contract. Being that kind of girl had gotten me in to nothing but trouble. Being that kind of girl had made it so sordid and horrifying details about Nick’s childhood were leaked.
“So, when are you recording a demo? Can I watch?” Janie said, attempting to change the direction of the discussion. I smiled in her direction, silently thanking her for her efforts.
“I’m not sure, but yeah, of course you can.”
Lunch sped by thankfully, because Josh’s mood hadn’t lifted since he’d put two and two together. I was pretty certain he hadn’t bought my response in the slightest.
The rest of the day went pretty quickly too. After work the four of us filed into the elevator together with a few of the others and began the descent to the parking basement. The elevator stopped on the ground floor and the doors opened the other people emptied out leaving the four of us alone. There was media swarming the lobby in front of the swipe card entry Nick had luckily just had installed, cameras flashing in the direction of the elevator.
“They’ve been here all day. Why are they so dead set on benefiting from something that was so miserable for another person.” I whispered sadly.
“Because they see this as a job, the more miserable, the better for them. Sad isn’t it.” Janie replied.
“Nick’s a big boy, he can handle it.” Josh added as the doors closed and the elevator continued moving down.
“It’s not just about him though.” I replied, without thinking. Instantly my hands flew to my mouth. I quickly composed myself then continued. “I mean he’s engaged isn’t he. He has his fiancee to think about.”
The words tasted like poison as I said them and I felt bad for lying to Josh. I hated that he wasn’t happy with me right now and I wished I could tell him the absolute truth, but even Janie didn’t know everything and Nick had told me everything he had, in complete confidence.
Finally the doors opened again and walked over to Marc’s car.
“I was thinking we could all go out for dinner tonight?” Marc asked suddenly, as he unlocked the car door. My stomach dropped, how was I going to explain that I had plans.
“I can’t, I’d love to… but I kind of promised I’d do something for someone tonight.”
I avoided eye contact from anyone and hopped into the car without another word.
“I’m in.” Janie said sweetly.
“Great babe, how about you Josh?”
“I think I might stay home.” He moaned, putting his seat belt on.
“It’s my treat Joshie.” Marc teased.
I looked over at josh who was struggling not to smile, he shrugged then mumbled fine.
When we finally got home I walked down to my bedroom and grabbed a pair of jeans a t-shirt and a hoody, then I went and showered. I walked back in to my room feeling refreshed and picked my phone up. There was a missed call from Nick.
I dialed his number then waited for him to answer.
“Hey, I tried to call but you didn’t answer.”
“I was showering.” I replied.
Nick didn’t reply for a short while and I heard him clear his throat.
“Nick, you sound like a creep on one of those heavy breathing prank calls.” I laughed.
“If only you could read my thoughts.”
“Oh.” My faced suddenly felt hot.
Nick cleared his throat again.
“Look, I’ll pick you up in half an hour alright? I don’t want you catching the bus, not with all this media craziness.”
“Fine, I think the others will have left for dinner by then. I don’t want Josh asking me any more questions when I can’t answer them. He already thinks I am a scarlet woman.”
“I’m sorry I cause you so much trouble Sarah.”
“Don’t be sorry. Tonight isn’t about me... tonight is about you and your sister.”
“I’m scared” Nick said, his voice wavered, if he’d been standing in front of me I would have wrapped my arms around him and reassured him that everything would be fine.
An embrace that would have led to one of our mind blowing electrical kisses. One that would’ve ignited the passion I was forcing to lie dormant. Finally it would have led to us falling in to bed together again.
Thank god I was here, and he was there.
“It’ll be okay Nick, She is your sister. She wants to see you.”
A short while later we said goodbyes and Nick left to come and pick me up. I exited my room as the others were leaving.
“Have fun, I’ll see you guys later on.” I called out as they walked out the door.
“Bye!” Janie called back.
Marc waved and Josh just shrugged.
Once they were gone I sat down on the couch and attempted to wash myself of my own nerves. Meeting Alex was going to be strange given that she had no idea who I was. It wasn’t about me though. Nick was having me there as someone to put Alex at ease, not because he loved me.
When Nick finally arrived I left the house and locked it behind me. I walked across the path to the car and hopped in.
“She just text, she’s on her way. I can’t believe this is really happening.” Nick mumbled.
“Relax,” I whispered, placing my hand on Nicks shoulder.
Our eyes met, I could almost feel myself pulling toward Nick, like a magnet.
Nick’s hand left the steering wheel and moved to my cheek.
As our faces moved slowly toward one another, my breathing seemed to stop.
Even though it was wrong and incredibly stupid to be like this, practically out in the open, our lips pressed gently against one another. We kissed slowly, sensually and my heart felt like it was speeding up and slowing down at the same time. The kiss reminded me of our first, but this time the depth of emotion soaring through me was more than I knew I was capable of feeling and it made me both happy and sad at the same time.
We pulled apart before things could get too heated, our foreheads touched, as we caught our breath. Nicks hand slipped from my cheek and finally he shifted back into his seat properly and placed his hands back on the wheel.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered, sounding anything but.
“Me too.” I replied with a laugh.
Nick drove off, and we headed back to his place. It was just before 6.30 when we got back. We waited in the car park lobby for Alex to arrive.
A car entered around five minutes after we did and Nick took a deep breath. We hopped out of the car and walked across to the entry door. A man and a woman who looked around 50 hopped out first and walked over to Nick.
