Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 13:12:25 -0500
From: music teacher <musicteacher2002@hotmail.com>
Subject: "This is the Night" chapter 6

Disclaimer:  I have an overactive imagination, the result of which is this
story.  I do not know Clay Aiken or any other celebrities mentioned in this
story, and I do not intend to imply anything about their true sexualities.
Simply file this in the "Wouldn't it be nice..?" portion of your mind.  Also,
if you are under legal age to be reading this sort of stuff (18 in most
areas), then leave now.  All the rest of you who ARE of age, please enjoy my
little mind trip away from the land of reality.

***

CHAPTER 6

***

Lee had, of course, been very excited by the invitation to the record
company party.  Actually, "excited" was very much an understatement.  The
phrase "screamed and giggled like a schoolgirl" would be more accurate.  Lee
brought up the idea that we needed to buy new clothes for this party.  Never
mind that we had just about bought out the mall two weeks earlier!

"Those were clothes we bought when we didn't have anybody to impress," had
been his argument.  Hell, I'm never one to argue against a shopping trip!
So I agreed.  However, Lee suggested that we shop separately this time, so
we could surprise each other with our new outfits.  That sounded like fun,
but I still needed a second opinion on what to buy.  So I called up my
friends Scott and Paul.

Scott and Paul were good friends of mine from way back.  I met Scott online,
actually, after I had read some fiction he had posted on an internet site
for amateur authors.  As it turned out, we were from the same area, so we
met in person and hit if off.  He introduced me to his boyfriend, Paul, and
the three of us all became very good friends.  Anyway, back to the shopping...

I met Paul and Scott at the mall at 10 AM the next day.  We grabbed a quick
bite to eat ("Gotta keep up our strength!" as Scott pointed out) and then
started on our journey.

"So, Randy," Paul said, "you haven't told us why you need these new clothes
all of a sudden."

Damn.  I should have known that question would come up.

"Oh," I said.  "I've got a, uh, party to go to tonight."

"And none of your clothes were good enough?" Scott asked.

"Well, this party is kind of important..." I said, knowing I had probably
already said too much.

"Why?  What's the big deal?" Paul wanted to know.

"It's, uh, being thrown by RCA.  What do you think of this shirt?" I said,
hoping they'd get distracted.

"Hold up...what??  How did you get invited to a record company party?" said
Scott.  I had their complete attention.

"One of the singers who works for them invited me."

"WHO?!"  They practically shouted in the middle of the store.

So I had no choice but to tell them who had invited me - in the middle of a
fake coughing fit, of course.

"What?!  Clay Aiken?!  How did you...when did you...?"  They were flabbergasted.

"I, uh, met him a couple of weeks ago while Lee and I were furniture
shopping.  We started talking, and then decided to hang out the next day.
We've gotten to know each other pretty well."  For Clay's sake, I didn't
mention how well we had gotten to know each other.

"That's awesome!" said Scott.

"Ohhhhhh, I get it!" said Paul.  "You want to buy new clothes so you can
look good for your beloved Claaaay!"  he teased.  OK, so my crush on Clay
hadn't exactly been a big secret during American Idol.

"Actually, yeah, I do," I said, blushing.  Hey, it wasn't a lie!

"Well, then what are we waiting for?  We've got to make you look HOT!" Scott
said.

The three of us shopped for almost four hours.  In the end, we found the
perfect outfit.  We celebrated our success by having ice cream, and then
headed out to the parking lot.  When we reached my car, Scott and Paul both
gave me a big hug.

"Take care, and have fun tonight!" said Paul.

"Haha, yeah, wear a condom!" Scott said.  I froze.

"What?" I asked, my eyes wide.

"Uh...I was joking, Randy..." Scott said, giving me a weird look.

"Oh!  Yeah...haha...I know."  Good, Randy.  Way to be smooth.

So after that little awkward moment, we said our goodbyes and left.  It was
about 3:00, and I was being picked up at 8 for the party.  I went home, made
myself an early dinner (hors d'ouerves were being served at the party), then
took a shower.

At 7:15, I was finished getting ready.  I looked at myself in the mirror.
My hair looked good.  I had put just a little bit of product in it - enough
to make it stay in one place, not so much that it became like plastic.  The
outfit Scott, Paul, and I had put together really did look good on me.  It
was a button-down shirt, slacks, new socks, new shoes...even new underwear.
Every bit of it was black, which I thought would look a little morbid, but
Scott and Paul assured me that it would look good.  They were right, as
usual.

So here I was with 45 minutes to spare.  There was only one thing I could
think of to pass the time...

Panic.

Tonight was going to be a HUGE night.  Essentially, it would be my first
public date with Clay.  I was going to be meeting some of his friends.  In
addition, it was going to be a record company party.  Famous people would be
there - some of whom were coming as much to meet me as well as to celebrate
Clay's success.  How was I supposed to act?  Yes, I know that Clay had told
me a thousand times the night before to just be myself.  But what if that
wasn't good enough?  What if I made a complete fool out of myself, and
therefore Clay?  Would Kimberley and Carmen like me, or would they tell Clay
that I'm a loser and he'd be better off with someone else?  What if...

Suddenly, a pair of hands was covering my eyes.  "Guess who?" he whispered.

"Um...if it's that hot male escort I hired this afternoon, you left your thong
by my bed.  But you better hurry, my boyfriend will be here any minute."

The hands went away, and I turned around to see Clay standing there with a
shocked look on his face.

"Oh," I said, pretending to be disappointed.  "Well, you'll do, too, I
guess."  I gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"You look really great," he said.

"Thanks!  So do you," I said.  And he did.  He was wearing a dark red shirt
with a dark blue tie and pants.  He had also gotten his hair cut and
re-highlighted, slightly more blond than before.  It looked awesome.  "Is it
really 8:00 already?"  I was counting on having much more time to panic -
and more importantly, calm myself down.

"No, it's only a quarter till.  Teacher time, remember?" said Clay, pointing
to his watch and winking.

"Of course," I said, smiling.

"Plus," he said, pulling me in closer, "I wanted to have a few minutes of
alone time with you while we have the chance."

"Well, OK," I said, "But if that escort shows up, he may get a little
jealous."

Clay laughed.  "Well, he'll just have to wait his turn...for a LONG time."

We spent the next few minutes just enjoying each other's company - kissing,
hugging, cuddling.  All too soon, there was a knock at the door.  I opened
it, and the chauffeur told us that it was time to go.  Yes, that's right -
another limo.  Was there *any* other way to travel?

We picked up Lee and traveled to the party.  When we got there, the
chauffeur opened the door, and we stepped out onto an honest-to-God red
carpet.

Well, I thought, here goes nothing!

As soon as we stepped out of the limo, Clay was whisked away by some
reporter.  Lee and I quickly made our way out of the mayhem and walked
inside.  Even from what little I could see from the lobby, I couldn't
believe my eyes.  This record company party was no small shindig.  There
were hundreds of people there, and every single one of them looked SO much
more comfortable than I felt.  The hall was decorated beautifully - simple,
yet tasteful centerpieces on the table, elegant black and white decorative
wall decorations, a jazz combo playing on a stage on the far end of the
room, with a dance floor in front of it.  It was all very upscale -
something neither Lee nor I were accustomed to.  I looked around, then
looked at Lee.

"What have we gotten ourselves..." I began.

"Hey, guys!" Clay walked up in between us.  "Sorry about that.  I can't
believe all this, can you?"  He seemed just as awestruck as Lee and I.

"Yeah, it's really something!" Lee said.  "So, uh, where are all those cute
guys from American Idol you promised me?"  Lee winked at us.

"You promised you'd be on your best behavior!" I said, frustrated.

"Relax, I was just joking," he said.  I did as I was told.  "I'm going to go
get a drink.  Anyone want anything?" Lee offered.  Neither Clay nor I was
thirsty, so we declined.  Lee went off toward the bar.

"I should probably go mingle.  So, are you ready to jump into the pool of
sharks?" Clay winked at me.  He was quickly learning that I can't say no to
that wink.

"Well, it might look weird if we just stood here all night.  What the hell,"
I said, gathering my nerves.

We walked into the room and everyone started clapping and cheering for us.
OK, it was all for Clay, but a guy can dream, can't he?  A huge banner
dropped from the ceiling that said, "Congratulations, Clay!  #1 Single in
America!"  Lots of people came up to greet us -- well, him.  Clay introduced
me to everyone, mostly record executives and other label-affiliated people.
I smiled and tried to remember their names, but wasn't having much luck.
Pretty soon, the record people left to go mingle with some other suits.

"Well, nothing like getting the most boring people out of the way first!"
Clay said.  "Come on, let's go find some people we might actually want to
talk to."  I followed him over to a group of people.  I actually recognized
a few people in this crowd.  Among others, there was Kimberley Locke, Simon
Cowell, and Ryan Seacrest.  When Clay came up, they all greeted him warmly.

"Oh, hey, everyone, this is Randy.  He's a music teacher.  I met him a
couple of weeks ago in the furniture store, and we hit it off right away, so
I invited him here tonight."

We all exchanged hellos and nice-to-meet-yous.  When I greeted Kimberley,
she gave me a warm smile, then pulled me into a hug.  When we hugged, she
whispered into my ear, "So nice to finally put a face with the name.  We'll
chat later, k?"  This made me nervous, but when we pulled away, she was
still smiling, so I felt a little better.

"So, a music teacher, eh?" said Simon.  I braced myself for whatever
criticism he might have for me.  "That's brilliant.  What ages?"  Wow, Simon
gave me a compliment!  Granted, my career didn't depend on that compliment,
but I think I got a small taste of how the American Idol contestants felt
week after week!

"I teach the young kids, primary level," I told him.

"That has to be rewarding," said Ryan.

"It really is.  Little kids have such an energy about them - it's
contagious!" I said.  "Sometimes, I find myself acting a little bit
immature.  It can be kind of embarrassing!"

"Well," said Simon, "Ryan knows all about acting immature, only he doesn't
get embarrassed by it.  In fact, he seems to quite enjoy it."

"Yeah, yeah," Ryan said.  "Don't you have a dream to squash somewhere?"
Everyone could tell by the look on Ryan's face that he was just joking.

"Actually, I was just on my way to the men's room."

"Oh, you're looking for a date, then!"

Simon just grinned.  "No, I wouldn't want to horn in on your regular
clientele," he said, walking away.

"Ooh!  That hurt!" said Ryan.  "Clay, what do you say we go get something to
drink?"  Before Clay could respond, Ryan was leading him away.  I was left
alone with Kim.

"Well, looks like it's just us!  May I have this dance?" I asked, taking
Kim's hand and bowing.

"Why of course," she said, giggling.  We made our way to the dance floor.

"So, I finally meet the famous Randy," she said with a huge smile on her
face.  "I gotta tell you, Clay has been talking non-stop about you!"

"Really?" I asked, blushing furiously.  "Well, you can't believe
*everything* you hear..."

"Well, the way he's been going on about you, it's hard for me to *not*
believe him!"

"Well, he has told me quite a bit about you as well!" I said, hoping to
change the subject.  "In fact, I think I'm more of a fan of yours now than I
was when I watched the show!"

"Aww, thanks, you're so sweet!  That was smooth!" said Kim, impressed.

"No, seriously!" I said.  "I love your voice!"

"Well, thank you very much!" she said.  "So, tell me more about yourself."

"Ahh, the inspection begins!" I said, smiling.  "Well, like Clay said, I'm a
music teacher.  I was born and raised in this area.  I'm very close with my
family.  In fact, they're always the first ones to come bail me out of jail
when I need it."

"Excuse me?" Kim said, stepping back a bit.  I started laughing.

"I'm kidding!"

"Oh thank goodness!" Kim said, finally laughing along.

"You should have seen your face!"

"Hey, Kim!" said a voice from behind me.  I turned around to see Carmen
Rasmusen standing there.

"Carmen!  Hi!"  said Kim.  The two hugged.  It was obvious they were good
friends.  "How are you?"

"I'm great!  Who's your friend?" she asked.

"This," Kim said, putting her arm around me and grinning wildly, "is Randy.
*Clay's* Randy."  Hmm, I rather liked the sound of that...

"AWWWWW!!!!" Carmen shrieked.  "It's SO nice to finally meet you!!"  Carmen
may be a little person, but damned if she didn't give me the strongest hug
I've ever received!

The three of us talked for quite a while.  We discussed everything from the
show to Carmen's college plans to, of course, Clay.

"So," Carmen said with a wicked smirk on her face, "what's Clay like on a
date?"

"Very charming, thank you very much," said Clay, walking up behind me.  "How
are you doing, Carmen?"  The two of them hugged.

"Sorry about that," he said to me.  "Ryan wanted to talk to me about some
publicity appearances."

"It's OK.  I was having a great time talking to Kim and Carmen," I told him.

"Yeah, I noticed you seemed to be getting along pretty well.  I'm still
trying to decide if that's a good or bad thing..." he joked.  We all laughed.

"I think you may have found yourself a winner here, Clay," Carmen said.  I
blushed for the hundredth time that night.

"I think so, too," Clay said, smiling at me.  "Now, I hate to leave you all
again, but they're calling me to the stage.  I guess they figured since we
are celebrating the single, they may as well have me perform it."

"OK, see ya!" said the girls.

Clay leaned over and whispered into my ear.  "This one's for you."  I just
about melted.

"Ladies and gentlemen, attention please!" One of the record executives, whom
I'd met earlier but couldn't remember his name for the life of me, began
announcing.  "Now for the man of the evening!  Singing the #1 song in the
country, it's CLAY AIKEN!!"

There was thunderous applause as Clay took the stage.

"Before I sing, I just want to thank you all for coming tonight.  Every
single person in this room is special to me, and I hope you all know that."
He looked right at me, and began to sing.

***

"When the world wasn't upside down, I could take all the time I had
But I'm not going to wait when a moment can vanish so fast

'Cuz every kiss is a kiss you can never get back

Lift me up in your eyes
If you told me that is what Heaven is, well, you'd be right
I've been waiting forever for this
This is the night

When the answer to all my dreams is as close as a touch away
Why am I here holding back what I'm trying to say?

Lift me up in your eyes
If you told me that is what Heaven is, well, you'd be right
Hold me close to your heart
I would go with you to the ends of the Earth and we'll fly
I've been waiting forever for this
This is the night

This is the night where we capture forever and our tomorrows begin
After tonight, we will never be lonely again

Lift me up in your eyes
If you told me that is what Heaven is, well, you'd be right
Hold me close to your heart
I would go with you to the ends of the Earth and we'll fly
I've been waiting forever for this
This is the night."

***

Clay and I never once lost eye contact during the song.  When he finished,
everyone applauded and cheered.  Still looking at me, Clay smiled and
winked.  I literally got weak in the knees, and had to search for a chair.

"Wow, you guys have it BAD for each other!" said Kim.

"Yeah," I agreed.  "We really do."

I then saw Clay walking up.  When he spotted me, he smiled and pointed
toward the exit.  I quickly followed.  When we got to the lobby, we ducked
around a corner, out of anyone else's sight.

"You know, I've listened to your single probably a hundred times, if not
more," I said.  "But that was possibly the most beautiful I have EVER heard
you sing that song."

"Well, what can I say?  I was inspired," he replied, smiling.

He put his hands on my hips, leaned in, and kissed me tenderly.  I put my
hands on his face and kissed him back.  We pulled away reluctantly.  Much as
we both wanted to stay like that for a long time, we knew we had to get back
to the party.

We walked back in, and once again, Clay was ushered away by adoring record
execs.  I realized that I hadn't seen Lee since he went off to get a drink
at the very beginning of the party, so I decided to find him, and see what
he was up to.  When I spotted him, he was deep in conversation with Ryan
Seacrest.

This ought to be fun to watch, I thought.  Lee was hanging on Ryan's every
word.  Expressions were coming across his face that could only mean one
thing - Lee was flirting.  And if I wasn't mistaken, Ryan was flirting back!
  I decided to leave those two alone and get a drink at the bar.

While I was sitting at the bar, sipping my drink (amaretto sour - yummy), I
just sat and watched the crowd.  I saw many people from American Idol,
including Paula Abdul and Julia DeMato.  There were other RCA recording
artists, like Christina Aguilera and Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters.  And of
course, there were all sorts of record executives.  This may have been a
party for Clay Aiken, but plenty of people were benefiting from the
publicity.  Such is life in the spotlight, I guess.

I looked around some more, and again saw Lee.  This time, however, he was
chatting up Jim Verraros, the hot Top 10 finalist from the first season of
American Idol!  I looked on incredulously as Lee gave him the same looks he
was giving Ryan not 20 minutes earlier.  I shook my head, ordered another
drink, and went in search of my man.

I found him deep in conversation with Kim Locke.  When they saw me, however,
Clay gestured for her to be quiet, and all conversation ceased.  They smiled
and greeted me warmly.

"Am I, uh, interrupting?" I said cautiously.

"No, not at all," said Clay.  "We were just talking about you.  All good,
don't worry."  He placed his hand on the small of my back.

"Oh," I said.  That should have made me feel better, but for some reason, it
didn't.

"Looks like the party is winding down," he said.  "Want to get out of here?"

"Yeah, that's fine," I said.  "We just need to find Lee."

"Why don't you do that while I say goodbye to people and tell the driver
we're ready?" he said.

So I went off to find Lee.  I couldn't find him anywhere, though.  I looked
all over.  I even asked some people I had talked to earlier if they had seen
him.  No one knew where he was.  When I was finally convinced that he wasn't
there, I walked outside, where Clay was waiting.

"I can't find Lee anywhere.  I think he may have left already," I told him.

"Hmm...that's odd," Clay said.

"I looked all over," I said.  "No one else knew where he was, either."

"Well, he's a big boy.  I'm sure he got home safely.  Besides, this means we
can be alone together..." Clay said with a smile.  We got into the limo, and
Clay leaned in to kiss me.  I ducked out of the way.

"Clay, did Kim really not like me?" I asked.

"What?!" he said, shocked.  "She loved you!  Seriously!"

"Then why did you guys just stop talking when I walked up at the end of the
party?"

"Oh!" Clay said, grabbing my hand.  "Kim was just going on and on about how
wonderful you were, and she said that she really thought we were good
together.  I know how easily you get embarrassed, so we stopped talking.
I'm REALLY sorry if we made you think otherwise," he said, still rubbing my
hand.

"I guess I'm still just waiting for the other shoe to drop," I told him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean that I keep thinking you're going to figure out someday that I'm
nothing special, and you'll tell me that it was fun while it lasted, but
it's over."  I turned my head and looked out the window of the limo.

"Randy," he said, putting his hand on the back of my neck.  I turned to look
at him.  "I told you I'm not going anywhere.  I mean it.  You *are*
something special.  I've certainly never felt this way about anyone before."

"Do you mean it?" I asked, still not quite certain.  He brought my hand to
his mouth and kissed it gently.

"Of course I mean it," he said.  I leaned in and kissed him quickly on the
mouth.

"Hey," I said after we separated, "We should go to Lee's house, see if he
made it home alright."

"Good idea."  Clay told the driver where to go, and we soon pulled up at
Lee's place.  We got out of the limo, walked up the path, and rang the
doorbell.  It took Lee a couple of minutes to answer the door.  When he did,
his hair was disheveled and he had his bed sheet wrapped around him, almost
like a toga.

"Hi!  Sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving..." he began.

"It's OK.  Are you not feeling well?" Clay asked, concerned.

"I'm, uh, feeling fine..." he said, suddenly fascinated with the doorknob.

"Lee?  Are you coming back to bed?" said a voice from behind him.  Lee
wasn't alone!!  Clay and I looked up to see who his mystery guest was.

"Oh...my...God..." We both said at once.  We had just interrupted Lee
having sex with...

***

Hmm, a cliffhanger!!!  Heeheehee, I'm so evil!  Who could it be?  From this
chapter, you can assume it's probably not Simon - or CAN you?  LOL.  Happy
guessing!

The usual thanks for this chapter - Lee for his editing, as well as Scott,
Paul, and Josh for their input on a story detail I was pondering.  And also,
thanks to EVERYONE who has written in.  I love getting feedback from
readers!  Please keep sending comments/suggestions to
musicteacher2002@hotmail.com  Thanks for reading!  More good stuff to
follow!