Chapter 9 - Chapter 8

If you thought New York was like every other major city in the United States; you would be mistaken. Sure, it had its high rise buildings, world renowned restaurants, thrilling theaters and entertaining street acts that were near any of the city's eye-popping stores that would grab your attention with just one look at one of their display windows.

That was the exact impression Tom had gotten when the private jet had landed at JFK airport. Annie, of course; wasn't amazed as Tom was since she had already been in New York but with it being Tom's first time traveling on a private jet and going to another country all together; she thought it'd be best to join in on Tom's excitement. Not to mention, just being able to be in New York not only excited Annie a bit but it also made her somewhat nervous. It wasn't like Nathan and his band mates were going to immediately run into Roxie right at the airport. For what Annie knew; she, Tom, Garrett and Lexie were going to be riding in a black van separate from Fifth Avenue Square and Cassie since there may be an immense crowd of paparazzi and fans of Fifth Avenue Square at the main entrance of the airport. Not only that; Lexie thought that it'd be best to have the four of them be at the hotel first to at least get somewhat settled in their individual hotel rooms before the chaos that was due to arrive at the hotel 15 minutes after. Usually most of the airports that the private jet would land in; it wouldn't be so crowded with paparazzi and fans, but with Fifth Avenue Square's next album release date coming up in a few months, practically everyone and their mother was either hyped up by Fifth Avenue Square's arrival or anticipating anymore news about the album and if there was going to be some type of reunion with Roxie. However, Scott made sure that if any of the press wanted Fifth Avenue Square or Cassie to answer any of their questions it would be at certain press conferences that the band had scheduled on their press tour.

Once the van that was driving Tom, Annie, Garrett and Lexie had arrived at the hotel where the group was staying at while in New York both Tom and Annie were in complete awestruck on how exquisite the hotel looked. What surprised Tom and Annie even more was the hotel's interior design. For starters, the only interior design Tom and Annie were used to seeing was the simple rustic countryside style of The Smouldering Hog, then again; The Smouldering Hog was the only actual hotel Tom and Annie have only known their whole lives.

"This place is pretty nice compared to the pub back at home." Tom whispered into Annie's ear.

"Tell me about it. I feel like a fish out of water." Annie replied as she looked at the hotel lobby. Pretty soon Lexie was walking towards the hotel's front desk to start checking in everyone into their hotel rooms. While Lexie was checking in everyone; Garrett, Annie and Tom were sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for Lexie to give them the keys to their hotel rooms.

"So Garrett; are you and Cassie thinking of giving all of us a little New York City tour?" Tom asked him.

"That depends; what do you plan on seeing while you are here in New York?"

"I was just really interested in seeing the main tourist hotspots like Times Square, the Statue of Liberty and Central Park unless Annie here wants to do something else." Tom suggested as he passively glanced at his older sister.

"If you want my honest opinion; you boys can do whatever you want tourist wise while we're here. I am probably going to stay up in the hotel room." Annie remarked.

"Come on, Annie; it's our first time traveling together to a different country! You'll be bored to death if you just stay cooped up in the hotel room every single day on this tour. Besides; you promised Mum that you were going to enjoy yourself." Tom complained.

"I actually agree with Tom on this. Just because you have been to New York already and have already seen some of these places doesn't mean you don't have to experience them again." Garrett pointed out.

"I know; I'm just saying as of right now all I want to do is sleep." Annie admitted.

"Now; that I can get behind on because this jet lag is going to kill me later." Tom chuckled. Annie and Garrett laughed along with Tom on his response. Pretty soon Lexie was walking over to where Tom, Annie and Garrett were sitting in the hotel lobby.

"Alright here are your hotel room keys. Garrett; I suggest you stay here until the boys and Cassie get here to the hotel. Annie and Tom you two are free to do whatever you want until it's time to get to bed," Lexie informed them. "Now, if you'll excuse me; I've got to make an important phone call." she added.

"Aww; I was really hoping to go out and explore the city a bit with Nathan and his band mates." Tom pouted.

"Yeah, you try to do that I wouldn't be surprised you boys get mobbed by a bunch of raging hormonal teenage girls." Annie scoffed.

"Annie's right; your best bet is to just explore with your sister for now. Besides Nathan and the boys have that early morning roll call tomorrow and I would hate for them to miss it." Lexie reported.

"Oh, come on Lexie. Let Tom and the boys have some fun. If it makes you feel any better; Cassie, Annie and I will tag along with them just in case." Garrett stated.

"You know I'm good with staying in the hotel room tonight if that's alright with everyone." Annie suggested. At that point Tom and Garrett rolled their eyes and groaned out of frustration. Pretty soon the van that was transporting Fifth Avenue Square and Cassie had arrived at the hotel's front entrance. Once the group had entered the hotel lobby, they walked over to where Tom, Annie, Lexie and Garrett were standing.

"Hey; I would think some of you would be unpacking and relaxing in your hotel room." Cassie mentioned.

"Yeah, but that was before Tom here decided it'd be a great idea to go explore the city with you and the boys." Annie grumbled.

"Exploring New York City does sound nice, but sadly we've got to get up at 4 in the morning tomorrow for the Early Morning Show." Paul pointed out.

"And also the fact of our fans trying to mob us every time we leave the hotel." Calvin added.

"Oh; come on guys! I did not agree to go on this tour just to stay cooped up in a hotel room." Tom remarked.

"Tom does have a good point. When I went on my midnight adventure a while back not too many fans came up to me." Nathan replied.

"Dude; you were the only one out of the 4 of us that went out that day." Landon said.

"Not to mention there's Lexie and security that we've got to deal with." Calvin added.

"Look; how about we try this: Annie wants to stay at the hotel and relax; a couple of us can stay here at the hotel with her while the rest of us go out and explore New York City." Cassie suggested.

"That really isn't that bad of an idea. I'm sure some of us would like to rest from the long flight from London." Garrett stated.

"Ok, fine; so who is going to want to stay behind with me?" Annie asked.

"I guess I'll stay. You lads know how I like to take my time getting ready in the morning," Calvin mentioned. "Not to mention; jet lag is going to be a pain tonight. I might as well try to rest right now before it gets even worse." he added.

"Ok; then I'll go talk to Lexie and let her know who's going out to explore New York City and who will stay back at the hotel." Garrett informed the group. As Garrett was talking to Lexie about the group's plans; Annie and Calvin went to the hotel elevators to head on up to their hotel rooms. Once Garrett got the clearance from Lexie to go out and explore; Cassie walked over to the hotel valet to call Fifth Avenue Square's driver. After a few minutes have passed, the van was parked at the front entrance of the hotel and the group piled into the van and were off to explore.

Usually when it came to exploring a certain city while being on tour; Nathan and his band mates would take turns or go in pairs just to ease crowds like their fans or the paparazzi. However; in this case that the boys were in at the moment; Nathan, Paul, and Landon along with Cassie and Garrett, thought that in order for Tom to get the best experience in New York and on the tour, was by having Tom take in each moment and place on his own. In other words; Nathan and the others would be just a few feet behind Tom as they were walking through the city streets. Not only that; both Garrett and Cassie were also keeping an eye on Nathan to make sure that if there was a possible chance anyone saw Roxie while they were exploring, that Nathan would be on his best behavior.

As for Nathan; he was taking the beginning of the press tour very well. At first, Nathan was somewhat calm and collected when he, his band mates, Cassie, Annie, Tom Garrett and Lexie had arrived in New York earlier that afternoon. But now that it was nearly dinner time; and everyone that was a local was out enjoying the city's night life, Nathan started to feel a bit anxiety while walking with the others through Times Square. Usually when Nathan would go out to explore a certain city while he was on tour with his band mates; he wouldn't be so aware of what or who was around him (when most of the time it was either a security guard or Paul, Calvin and Landon). However, due to past circumstances in the last 6 months Nathan hoped and wondered if there was a slight chance that Roxie would be out that night. Every once in a while Nathan and the others would walk by some type of restaurant, bar, coffee shop or retail store and Nathan could have possibly caught a glance of someone that looked like Roxie. However, Nathan would just shake his head and keep on walking and catch up with the others instead of going into the store to see if the person was Roxie.

"Hey guys; it's almost time for dinner. Where should we go to eat?" Landon asked both Cassie and Garrett.

"You in the mood for some unlimited buffalo wings and garlic fries?" Garrett suggested to Cassie.

"I'd thought you'd never ask." Cassie giggled. Garrett then called the band's driver and the group then drove to the bar where a familiar face happened to be working. Once the group had made it to where they were going to eat dinner; Nathan, Paul, Landon and Tom were overall impressed of how the bars interior design somehow referenced to the interior design of some of the pubs back in the UK.

"Do you think Kyle is working tonight?" Cassie whispered to Garrett.

"I'm not sure. I haven't spoken to Kyle in a few weeks. He should be though. Last I've heard he was working almost a double shift every week." Garrett replied.

"I can't blame him. The bar probably gets busy nowadays. Anyway; where should we sit?"

"That booth in the far corner looks like its available. You and the boys can go over there. I'm going to head over to the bar and check to see if Kyle is working." Garrett mentioned. Cassie agreed and had Nathan and the other boys sit with her in the empty booth while Garrett was at the bar looking for Kyle. Once Garrett had made it to the bar area of the restaurant; he peered over the bar to search for Kyle. It didn't take Garrett too long to find Kyle. As usual, Kyle was serving practically any girl who looked attractive.

"Typical Kyle," Garrett muttered. "Hey buddy; what does it take for a guy to get a beer over here?" he asked Kyle sarcastically. When Kyle saw Garrett; he was completely cut off guard and utterly surprised to see him.

"Garrett, hey! I didn't expect to see you here in New York for a long time. When did you fly in?" Kyle asked.

"About an hour ago. The one great perk about my new job is I get to travel back to the US every so often. How are things with you?"

"Good; Roxie and I are currently living together in a brown house in the Upper Eastside; thanks to the publishing company. Other than that; work has been busy as usual thanks to the summer crowds. Roxie is focusing on her book tour for the past month or so." Kyle explained.

"You and Roxie are living together? When did that happen?"

"A couple of months ago. It's kinda of a long story. Are you by yourself?" Kyle asked.

"No; Cassie is here along with the clients that I'm working with for the next several months. If you have time; you can come over to the booth in the back where we're sitting at to come say hi and introduce yourself." Garrett suggested.

"I guess I can; I've got another break coming up in a few minutes. How about this: I put in your guy's order and by the time I'm on break; your food would be ready." Kyle stated. Garrett agreed and reluctantly went back to the booth satisfied with his outcome.

Just like he promised; Kyle went over to where Garrett and the others were sitting, dropped of the group's order of food, said hi to Cassie and also introduced himself to Tom, Paul, Landon and Nathan. Nathan was surprised of how good looking Kyle was compared to himself. Out of the four boys of the band; (and this was according to some of the media and fans) Nathan was the most decent looking member of Fifth Avenue Square. According to recent stats; Nathan had the biggest fan following and interaction whether it was on social media, out on tour or in the public eye than the other boys. Which didn't seem to bother Paul, Calvin or Landon for the most part, but when Nathan met Kyle that night; something inside Nathan just made him feel self conscious about his looks. It wasn't that Nathan was incredibly jealous of Kyle. In fact; Nathan thought Kyle had a charming personality and overall persona about him that caught anyone's attention. The problem was that Nathan couldn't shake the feeling that Kyle might become a threat to Nathan's chance to reconnect with Roxie.

"So Kyle; Cassie told us that you, Garrett, Roxie and Cassie have known each other since college." Paul said.

"That's right. The 3 of us along with Roxie were in the same English Literature class during our first year of college and we have been inseparable ever since." Kyle proudly stated.

"Yeah; seems like only yesterday the 4 of us were over at NYU's tutoring center getting assistance for our weekly literary homework assignments," Cassie sighed. "Now we're all doing our own thing in the real world AND look at how that ended up." she added.

"Tell me about it. I'm temporarily assisting you and the biggest UK act of this century on a press tour in the US, Roxie is out accomplishing her dream of becoming a successful author and Kyle is a bartender." Garrett pointed out.

"Actually in a few weeks I won't be a bartender anymore." Kyle admitted.

"What do you mean? I thought you loved being a bartender here at Mc Dougal's?" Cassie asked.

"I do; believe me. It's just I have this new job in this small town near Boston at some newspaper. I couldn't give it up so I went and applied for the position and I got hired as the newspaper's new sports editor." Kyle explained.

"Kyle; that's incredible! Does Roxie know about all this?"

"She does and she was extremely happy for me. The problem is the job technically starts next week which sadly is also when Roxie starts the press tour for her book and she was hoping for me to join her. I just haven't found the right time to tell her that detail." Kyle sighed.

"Well; take it from someone who knows their way around when it comes to situations like this, you're better off telling Roxie the whole truth about your new job otherwise it's going to be downhill for the both of you. I've been there mate; and let me tell you it may be tough at first; but Roxie will eventually understand where you're coming from." Nathan reassured him.

"You know for some popstar you seem to know a lot about Roxie." Kyle remarked.

"Roxie stayed with me, Nathan, Landon and our other band mate Calvin while she was in the UK looking for a publisher. Throughout her time there; she got really close with all four of us along with Tom and his older sister Annie." Paul explained.

"Oh crap! I completely lost track of time! Lexie is going to kill me if I don't get you guys back to the hotel in time!" Garrett shrieked as he looked at his watch.

"We have to go already? I was having so much fun!" Tom whined.

"I know, but I promised Lexie to have you, Cassie, Nathan, Landon and Paul back at the hotel no later than 10:30. It's already 10:00 and with traffic in this city, it'll be a miracle to get all of us there safely right on time." Garrett pointed out.

"Garrett's right. If you boys thought the traffic in London was horrible, just wait until you experience New York City traffic. It's a nightmare." Cassie added.

"Well, then in that case; we better get a move on. Kyle, it was nice to meet you, please tell Roxie we all say hi and that we miss her." Landon stated.

"Why don't you guys tell her yourselves tomorrow night? Her publisher is having this evening dinner party at this 5 star Italian restaurant called Angelo's. If you guys aren't busy and I can if I can get you an invite." Kyle suggested.

"Wait; you'd do that for us?" Nathan asked.

"Are you kidding? Of course I would! When Roxie returned from her trip to the UK; she couldn't stop talking about what she experienced and about you guys. This will mean the world to her!" Kyle said.

"I mean it doesn't hurt to mention it to Lexie." Cassie whispered to Garrett.

"I can't guarantee a definite answer just yet, but I'll see what I can do. If anything; I'll just text you to see if we'll be joining you at the party. Anyway, come on guys." Garrett told Kyle. Kyle completely understood where Garrett was coming from. The group was on a tight schedule and they couldn't afford to get caught up in distractions like reconnecting with an old friend at an evening dinner. So Kyle just nodded his head and said his farewells to each of them before heading back to the bar area. Meanwhile; as the group was loading themselves into the van, Nathan was realizing that his chance finally reconnecting with Roxie was going to actually happen.