Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 18:19:58 EDT
From: ken ny <soulessazn@hotmail.com>
Subject: Nick Lachey

This is a work of fiction.  Don't go around thinking the celebrity
mentioned is gay or anything.  Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

	I felt so alone as I looked into the frosty window of the most
popular and sophisticated clothing store in our city.  Of course, like
everywhere else in the homophobic place, the mannequins featured straight
couples.  I sighed, my breath coming out in a cloud of white and fogging
the window.  Turning, I walked on, putting on my hood.  It was a chilly day
in December in Quinton.  People passed me as I strolled slowly down the
street.  I didn't have anywhere to get and I was in no rush.  My boss had
let me off for one day so I could get presents (so I lied to him), so I had
nothing to do.  Family was definitely not an option.
	The dazzling array of colorful Christmas lights made the snow
covered city seem so pleasant, but my spirits were far from happy.
Finally, I decided it was too damn cold so I stopped inside the coffeeshop
on 6th Street, called Blackie's.  It sounded like some cheap trucker stop
in the middle some desert in Arizona, but it had great coffee.  Plus, it
was dark and had a quiet atmosphere - something I had grown to love.
	As the bell above the door rang to alert someone I had come in, I
looked over towards the waiter, Jack, and nodded at him.  I was a regular
costumer so he knew my order.  Sitting myself down at my usual table for
two by the window, I looked out and scanned the passerbys.  Most of the
people were women dragging kids, running around doing Christmas shopping,
while others were business people carrying briefcases, walking briskly to
their own destinations.  Then of course, there were the lucky ones.  To
themselves, they were just frustrated people who couldn't find a present
for their loved ones, but to me, they were the most fortunate.  What
greater gift could anyone receive than the love of someone else?  The
attention alone would be enough, but then there would be joys and pleasures
shared in their own little world as life whizzed by.  I sighed, a new
habit, again and felt tears forming in the corner of my eyes again.

	"Hey, here's your French Vanilla," Jack said, interrupting my
thoughts.  As he turned to leave, he said, "You OK?  Are you crying?"

	Smiling weakly, I said, "Always the quick one huh?  Yeah, I'm good.
Thanks."

	"No problem," he said, smiling.

	I grabbed two bags of sugar and dumped them in; I loved sugar and
wanted it in almost everything.  Picking up the cup, I glanced out the
window again.  A white stretch limo was driving by, it's dark tinted
windows reflecting the people traversing by.  I wondered to myself who
could have been in it; after all, though Quinton was big, it wasn't exactly
the most popular city in the USA.  Suddenly, someone in the restaurant
yelled and I immediately turned to see who it was.

	One of the waiters kept mumbling, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry about
that.  I'll get a towel.  Please wait.  I'm so sorry."

	"It's OK.  Calm down.  Could you please just get the towel?"

	I checked out the guy who had spoken.  Even inside, he was wearing
dark mirror sunglasses.  The casual clothes he had on had no labels and he
was wearing a Nike hat that covered what appeared to be dark brown hair.
The guy had a nice build, as the clothes fit him tightly.  There was a
familiar feeling to him that I just brushed off.  I couldn't decide if I
liked him or not.  I needed to see his eyes.  His companion was just
sitting there laughing at him.
	The disturbance over, I turned back to sipping my French Vanilla
and looking out the window.  The limo I had forgotten about was still here.
It parked right outside as if waiting for someone.
	I decided to go home, so I quickly chugged down my drink and paid
the bill.  As I left the coffeeshop, I saw the guy was still cleaning
himself up.
	I walked rapidly as it was starting to snow again and my apartment
was a little distance away.  Reaching the small one room place I liked to
call home, I turned on the lights and heater.  After grabbing a Coke from
the barely full fridge, I made myself comfortable on my bed and clicked the
TV on.  Surfing through it, I found the only good thing on was MTV's Real
World Hawaii, which I had seen one too many times already.  So, turning the
TV off, I hit my stereo's play button and pressed Repeat1 on the remote.
My favorite Chinese song filled the room and I just lay there looking at
the peeling ceiling, thinking of the man in the shop.  The heat was making
me drowsy and I slowly drifted to sleep, imagining what he would look like
without sunglasses.

	A few hours later, I woke up, smelling something burning.  Scanning
the room, I saw my door was burning.  It took me a while, but when the
situation registered in my brain, I screamed.  Running to my phone, I
dialed 911.  I kept messing up though because I was so nervous, sometimes
dialing 119 and other times dialing 199.  Finally, after about the 5th try,
I got through.

	A woman's voice came through.  "Hello, 911."

	"Help!  There's a building in my fire.  I mean, fire in my
building."

	"Are you on 25th Street, building number 425?"

	"Yes, please hurry!"

	"We've already dispatched a truck, just don't panic."

	I thought, 'Don't panic?  My door is burning down and you're
telling me don't panic?'  I was going to scream again.

	"OK," her voice came through again, "do you know the procedure to
get out?"

	"Ummm...not really.  My door is sorta on fire."

	"Oh, that doesn't help.  OK then, do you have a fire escape outside
your window?"

	"No."

	"Oh, that doesn't help either."

	"No SHIT lady!"  I was losing my mind.

	"OK, you know, that doesn't help either.  They only trained us to
tell about the fire escape and door."

	"They WHAT!?!?"  I lost it.  Hanging up, I checked out the fire
again.  It had started to burn my TV, which was next to the door, and was
making loud crackling sounds.  I could feel the blistering heat and the
rancid smell of burning plastic filled the room.

	I racked my brain for what they taught us to do in elementary
school, but couldn't think of anything.  I decided thinking was no help and
just to do what instinct told me to do.  Of course, my instinct sucked
since the first thing I did was grab my CD's.  Even stupider, I got out the
CD that was in the stereo too.  Then, I was debating whether to go for my
computer or not when I heard the siren of help.  The firetruck had arrived.
	I ran to the window to see what they were doing.  The firemen ran
around, quickly connecting the firehose to a hydrant and started to spray
the building.  'Good thing it only has five floors,' I thought.  Then I
remembered something else, the building next to mine - it had a fire
escape.  Running to the window next to my bed, I checked out the distance
between us.  It was close.  I opened the window and glanced down.  A cold
wind bit my face, and combined with the snow that was still coming down, I
was frozen.  The four-floor drop looked pretty bad except for the fact that
there was a pile (or what I hoped was a pile) of snow beneath me.  Praying
the hardest I ever prayed, I jumped, CD's in one hand and the Discman I had
grabbed in the other.  I made it with a lot of space to spare.  I cheered
and scrambled down the stairs.  Running to the front of the building, I
joined the crowd that had formed.  Noone paid attention to me as I looked
around for an ambulance.  I spotted it hiding behind the fire truck and ran
towards it.

	"Hiiii," I said, my teeth chattering, "Could IIII getetet a
blanketetete pleasssse?"

	The attendant I was asking said, "Oh my God.  Sure.  Were you one
of the people in the building?  You must be freezing with just a T-shirt
and khakis."  At that moment, it dawned on me that the world was full of
stupid people and that unfortunately for the public, they were all public
servants.  "Hey, you wanna get in the truck too?  It's got a heater."

	Nodding, I jumped in, wrapping the blanket around me.  Slowly, I
warmed up again and I stopped chattering.  It got stuffy inside the
ambulance so I got out with the blanket still wrapped around me.  Checking
out my apartment building, I saw the snow had helped some and the fire was
almost out.  News vans from numerous stations had pulled up behind the
crowd and the police had fenced off the area.  A fireman walked towards me,
introducing himself as Chief Bill Pullman.

	"Hi, I was just wondering if you could answer a few questions,
sir."

	"Yeah, sure," I replied.

	He asked about how it started and where, but I couldn't answer any
of those.  All I told him was that I had woken up with my door burning and
how I got out.  Thanking me, though I know it was an empty thanks, he
walked away to talk to the other people.  I got back in the ambulance again
as I was going numb again.  This time, I jumped into the front.  There was
no driver, so I didn't have to do any explaining.  Suddenly, I heard some
commotion in the back of the truck and then someone yelled, "Drive!"

	I didn't know what to do.  The key was still in the ignition, but I
wasn't sure if I could drive this thing.  When the person yelled again, I
made a decision.  I moved into the driver's seat and started going for the
Middlesex County Hospital.  It was the only other thing of name in Quinton.
The place was huge with all the state of the art stuff inside.  As I pulled
away, I saw someone in a hospital uniform running after the truck in the
side mirror.
	Running all the red lights, I drove like a theif being chased.
Then I thought that maybe I should radio in and tell the hospital we were
coming.  I gave a short message saying I needed to go to the emergency
room.  A few minutes later, we arrived and I looked for the emergency room
entrance.  As soon as I stopped, the back doors opened and I saw someone
being pushed on a stretcher into the hospital.  Getting out, I ran to
follow.
	As I entered, I realized someone else had followed as well.
Looking behind me, I saw it was the guy from the restaurant!  I looked at
his eyes and even admist all the rush and worry, I saw they were a
beautiful crystal blue.  The tears surrounding them helped to enhance it
and I fell in love with those eyes.
	He ran to an attendant and started yelling, asking things like
where the patient went and how was he.  The attendant just told him to sit
down in one of the chairs in the waiting room and calm down and that
everything would be all right; then, she walked away.
	He just stood there for a few moments, but then started to pace
back and forth.  I decided to try and help comfort the guy.

	"Hey, my name's Kenny.  You OK?"

	"No does it look like I'm OK one of my closest friends has just
been put in the hospital with too much smoke in his lungs I don't know if
he'll live or even if he's OK I came to visit him and then something
started burning and we were just talking and then the fire and..."

	"OK, shh, shh, calm down.  You're just babbling now."

	I put my arms around him and put his head on my shoulder.  Now he
was sobbing out of control, the tears just coming.  I led him to one of the
ugly, plastic, yellow chairs and sat him down.  I sat down next to him,
still holding him.  After a couple minutes, the sobbing slowed and you
could hear him sniffing.  I glanced around and told him I'd be right back.
Running into the bathroom I had seen, I checked the stall for paper; it was
empty.  grabbed some paper towels and handed them to him.

	"Sorry, it's the best I can do.  I know they're rough, but the
stall was empty, so...."

	"Thanks."  He hiccupped.

	I smiled, "No prob."

	I sat down next to him and slowly, he became quiet.  We sat there
silently.  I scanned the people in the room.  Almost all of them looked
just like the guy next to me did, eyes red, face long.  They were all ages,
babies, small kids, old people, middle-aged.  I tried to guess what each
was here for, but I was soon bored of it so I watched the TV that was in
the corner.  Already, there was a news bulletin on it about the fire.  I
was engrossed, when suddenly, he talked.

	"Thanks.  Sorry about yelling and staining your shirt and being an
ass."

	I turned to face him.  "Huh?  Oh, it's OK.  Nothing big.  I
understand you were feeling bad.  Hey, when I called 911, I yelled at the
lady too."

	"When'd uou call 911?"

	"I was gonna report the fire, but thankfully, someone already did."

	"Oh, that's good.  How'd you know about it?"

	"My door was burning."

	"Oh...Oh...ohhhh.  You were INSIDE the building?"

	"Yeah, fourth floor, up the stairs, on the right."

	"Oh, god, that must've sucked.  How'd you get out?"

	"There was a fire escape next to my building and I jumped to it."

	"That's pretty smart.  Doesn't your own building have one?"

	"Other side of the building.  I think the builders expected us to
share the escape.  And it wasn't really smart.  It took me a while to
remember it.  Meanwhile, I had been grabbing my CD and Discman.  How smart
is that?  Oh damn, that reminds me, I left those somewhere."

	He laughed and said, "Inside your apartment?"

	"No...I remember taking them when I jumped.  After that, I climbed
down, and then...went into the ambulance."  I jumped up.  "I got it!  I
left them in the back of the ambulance."

	"Oh yeah!  I remember seeing a CD holder.  Plus, one of the
attendants had said something about stepping on something and then cursing
and muttering why and how it got there."

	"Stepped on something?  Oh crap, be right back."

	I ran out of the building towards the ambulance.  The back doors
were still open and I climbed in, searching for my stuff.  I found
everything, including the now broken Discman.  Dejectedly, I slowly walked
back in.

	"Ooh, sorry," he said when he saw what I held.

	I looked around for a garbage can and threw the thing out.  I sat
back down, putting my head back with, my eyes closed, against the wall and
sighing a big sigh.

	"It's not your fault.  Why you sorry?"

	"Well, I just feel bad.  It's one of those polite things to say."

	"OK, thanks."

	At that moment, someone came and called for a Nick.

	"That's me.  You wanna come along?" the guy next to me asked.

	I opened my eyes and saw him looking down at me.  "Oh, so that's
your name?  Well, I don't really know your friend..."

	"Yeah, but you know me."

	I thought for a moment then said yes.  We followed the intern down
a white corridor and then he stopped in front of door number 35A.  Nick
opened the door and we went in.  Sitting propped up by pillows was the
other guy that had been in Blackie's.  His eyes had been closed but they
flitted open immediately when he heard the door open.

	"Hey," he coughed, "Nick."

	"Shhh, don't talk.  This is Kenny.  He was out in the waiting room
with me.  I was crying on his shoulder."

	The guy on the bed smiled a small smile and then closed his eyes
again.

	"You want a drink, Mike?"

	Mike didn't say anything, but nodded.  Nick walked to the
nightstand next to the bed and poured some water into the glass next to the
pitcher of water.  He then held the glass up to Mike's mouth and Mike drank
it quickly.  I got a sense of a close bond between the two by Nick's
gentleness and how it seemed like he put feeling into just giving a drink.
I was just standing there and then I wondered why he was in the hospital.
Other than a dry throat, I couldn't detect anything wrong with him.

	"Hey, how come they brought you here?  You look fine to me," I
said.

	Nick answered for him.  "He took in a lot of smoke.  We were trying
to get down through the stairs, but then he fainted.  He had been walking
in front.  I carried him down the rest of the way."

	"Oh yeah, you said before.  Wow, what a brave guy.  You belong on
TV."

	"Yeah," he said, chuckling nervously.

	The intern came back, telling us to say our goodbyes since Mike
needed his rest.  Nick said he'd be back to visit him the next day and we
left.  Stepping outside, I was reminded again of how cold it was.  I ran
ahead and got the blanket from the ambulance, then went back to where he
was.

	"So, where are you off to?" he asked me.

	"Well, I'm guessing they won't let me back into my apartment, so
I'll probably have to get a place in The Heavens."

	"Huh?  Your going up to heaven?  Oh wait, the hotel?"

	Laughing, I said, "Yeah.  God that's gonna take a bite out of my
bank account."

	"Well, lucky for you, I've gotta stay there too.  I was staying
with Mike, but doesn't look like that'll be happening anytime soon.  We can
get a room together.  I'll pay the bill."

	"No, I can't do that.  I can do the sharing, but I'll pay half."

	"No, it's OK.  I can afford it.  Plus, you helped me so I gotta
help you."

	"OK.  I gave you a chance to back out, but since you're offering
again, let's go.  Now, how do we get there."

	"Hold on, I'll call my limo."

	As Nick walked in, I thought to myself, 'Limo?'  I couldn't give it
anymore thought as he immediately came back out and said, "It'll be right
here."

	True to his word, a white stretch limo, the same one I had seen in
front of Blackie's, pulled up.  Opening the door for me, Nick said,
"Please."

	I got in and scanned my surroundings.  A bar, phone, tinted middle
window, TV, stereo, all faced me.  It looked just like in the movies and
damn, was I excited.  Nick spoke through an intercom to the chauffeur,
telling him where to take us and then we were on our way.