Chapter 24

Samantha came into work a little early, knowing that she hadn’t checked her email and she’d probably have quite a few messages from the listeners. She turned her computer on, grabbing her jumbo-sized coffee and sitting down at her desk.

She opened her inbox on the station’s website, looking to see a huge list pop up.

“Shit,” she thought. “462 messages in two days? What the hell?”

Samantha began to read through them, seeing that they were all basically about the same thing. Nick had told some fans in a press conference that he wrote “Rain” for her. Samantha sat back in her seat, tears beginning to well up. Wasn’t it bad enough that a few weeks ago the station started playing that song? She had told Rich she downright refused to play that song during her show. He was going to argue with her, but when she gave him a ‘Don’t-try-me’ look, he let it go. She thought that in a few months the song would fade away and it would be over. Now what?

Samantha’s thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on the door, and Rich peeked his head in.

“Hey,” he said, “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“What is it? she asked, erasing all of the messages in her email.

“There’s been some discussion about you and Nick Carter on our message board. The Backstreet fans are going nuts,” he said.

“I don’t want to know what they are saying, do not tell me,” she ordered.

“Why didn’t you tell me that song “Rain” was for you?” he asked.

“It was a long time ago, it doesn’t matter now. We were friends a very long time ago,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

“I think it’s cool Sam, look at the attention it’s bringing,” he said.

“Attention? Oh yeah, great, that’s exactly what I need,” she snapped.

Samantha flipped the switch to the radio in her office so she could listen to that instead of Rich, hoping he would get the point and get out.

The morning DJ’s were about to wrap up their show, and she sat there listening to them.

“Well, before we go, let’s tell them our big announcement,” Opal, one half of the morning team, said.

“Oh yeah, the announcement, what is it? I don’t even know. We’ve only been waiting all morning! Get on with it girl,” Dan, the other morning DJ, said.

“You know that new Backstreet song, “Rain” right?” Opal asked.

“Yeah I think I’ve heard it,” Dan said jokingly.

“Well guess what I found out? Nick Carter, you know the cute one, he wrote that song for our very own Samantha Morgan. It’s been all over the internet,” she informed the audience.

“Really?” Dan asked, “How did that happen?”

“I have no idea, but folks, she’s up later on this afternoon, so if ya wanna know, call up the request line and ask,” Opal answered.

“Wait a minute, what are you doing online looking at Backstreet websites? Aren’t you a little old?” Dan said, while he was laughing at her.

“Shut up,” Opal replied, “Well, we’ll see everyone here tomorrow, same time, same station,” Opal said, as the credits to the show ran, and they went off the air.

Samantha yanked off the radio, putting her head down, and banging it on the desk. This was going to be a long day.

Samantha opened her car door, plopping herself down in the seat. She started the car, and immediately turned the radio off. That was the last thing she wanted to hear right now. She rubbed her temples, she’d had a splitting headache all day, and nothing seemed to be working to get rid of it. She opened her purse, downing three more aspirin. Samantha sighed, hoping the aspirin would work this time as she put her car in drive and pulled out of the parking lot.

Samantha drove the familiar route to Megan’s daycare, with one hand on the wheel, and the other trying to rub the throbbing out of her head. As she drove, her thoughts drifted back to her nightmare of a day.

106.7 request line, what can I play for ya?

Fine.

Samantha jumped when the car horn behind her was blaring. She looked up to see the traffic light was green now, and she stepped on the gas. She smiled remembering how good it felt to hang up on that caller. And that was the tenth caller in the first hour of her show calling about the same damn thing. After that, she had her assistant answer the phones for the rest of her shift.

Eventually, Samantha had to make an on-air announcement, denying that she and Nick are or were ever dating. She told everyone that they had lost touch a few years back, and weren’t more than childhood friends. Okay, so that was stretching the truth a little bit, but she figured it didn’t really matter, since the fans were going to believe what they wanted to hear anyway.

Samantha pulled up to the daycare, and walked up to the door. All she could think about was getting home, putting Megan to bed, and taking a nice long and hot bath.

“Mommy!” Megan yelled from across the playroom.

“Hey baby!” Samantha answered, picking her up and hugging her. “Did ya have a good day?”

“Yep,” Megan said cheerily.

“Go on and get your backpack,” Samantha said, as she put her down.

“Otay Mommy,” Megan sang, as she skipped over to get her things.

“I heard the radio on the way to work this morning,” Lizzie said, as Samantha just put her hand up in response.

“I don’t want to talk about it. I’m so aggravated I could kill someone. I’ve had the day from he….well a bad day,” she said, smiling at the toddler in Lizzie’s arm. “I just want to go home so this day will be over.”

Megan had forgotten about her backpack and was playing on the floor with her friends.

“Meggy! Let’s go baby,” Samantha said, “Mommy had a bad day at work and has a big headache.”

“Otay,” Megan called, as she took her backpack off of the shelf and walked over.

“Bye Lizzie,” Samantha said, as she took Megan’s hand and they walked out of the door.

Samantha strapped Megan in her car seat and put her Britney Spears CD on for her, hoping to keep her quiet on the ride home.

“Mommy?” Megan asked. “Mommy!” she asked louder when Samantha didn’t respond the first time.

No such luck for silence on the way home.

“Yes Meggy?” Samantha asked her, trying her best not to sound annoyed.

“Can we call Nick when we get home? Please Mommy?” she asked.

Samantha sat there thinking for a minute. Giving him a piece of her mind might make her feel better.

“Mommy!” Megan said, trying to get Samantha’s attention.

“Yeah Meggy, we’ll call him after we have dinner and you have your bath. How does that sound?” Samantha asked her, as she went to rubbing her temples again.

“Yay!” Megan said in her response, clapping her hands.

A few hours later, Samantha was lying with her head back on the couch, grateful that her headache had finally gone away. This was the first time she had felt relaxed all day.

“Mommy!” Megan yelled, running across the room with the portable phone in her hand, “Let’s call Nick.”

Samantha was trying to ignore her.

“Can we call Nick now?” she asked.

Samantha wasn’t up to talking to him, her headache had finally gone away and she just wanted to get to bed and forget the whole day.

“Call him Mommy,” Megan said, as she handed Samantha the phone.

“Meggy, it’s late and he’s probably asleep, why don’t we call another time?” Samantha asked.

“No Mommy, it’s daytime over there. Because it’s dark outside here, remember?” Megan asked.

Samantha rolled her eyes, that damn girl was too smart for her own good.

“Okay, let’s call,” Samantha said, finally giving in. She knew if she didn’t, Megan would just bother her to no end. Reluctantly, Samantha picked the phone up and dialed Nick’s number.