He thought back, I gave the maid the year off and I like my dirty mind.
She couldn’t small talk him anymore, so she just blurted out, I’ve got to do something, Austen, because this is killing me! Please let me give him a push-push? She wished she could go back in time to the only time she had made love to Derek!
Austen said, Don’t go there, Sis. We are a long way from home, and in case I have to remind you, we are responsible for this ship and the crew. He could hear her sniveling in his head, but he could tell she was sucking it up for Queen and country, etc., etc.
Tim had left the gym, and Austen wiped his sweat off his face and said, Look, in an hour everybody on this ship will be on the lower deck for a meeting. We do it all the time. We captains go around and talk to each cadet personally. You just show up on the upper deck, and I’ll send Bubba in there by telling him a special cadet needs to talk with him alone.
She said in his mind, A lie?
Austen thought, It won’t be the first or the last lie I tell him due to unforeseen circumstances.
She asked him, And the rules?
Austen shook his head back and forth, The same as always, but ask him out on a date or something. She told him she had tried several times, but he kept saying "No." She was and had been so frustrated she couldn’t stand it anymore.
Austen said in his mind, Oh and you’re just going to give up? Isn’t that how this whole thing got started so many years ago? Don’t take no for an answer. You can use cleavage, duct tape, pillow voice, body language, and I’ll take care of the music.
She said she would do it and Austen stood up to leave. He said, I’m going to take a shower, maybe a cold, long shower. She giggled, and thanked him. She wished she had something other than the spacesuit to wear, but oh well.
Later that evening, Deana used her abilities not to be noticed as she walked to the upper bridge through all of the cadets assembled on the massive lower bridge. She thought, This invisibility Kim taught me really works sometimes.
Austen was in the bathroom that most of his cadets used, looking at his watch and dreading talking with all those cadets. He was nervous with stage-fright like he always got.
Derek was in the bathroom that most of his cadets used, looking at his watch and jumping up and down like he was doing a concert again. He said, “3, 2, 1, and let’s do it." He left the bathroom and headed for the bridge.
Both captains left their bathrooms at the same time. Austen was thinking, I hate this part. As he walked down the hallway, his legs felt funny. When he entered the bridge on the lower deck, everybody was looking in Derek’s direction.
Derek was saying, “I’m here all week, People, and thank you for showing up. How’s my hair?” He was smiling for everyone showing off his perfect teeth. He enjoyed being in space with friends and family, and he loved crowds too.
Austen always liked it when his brother put on a show and directed the attention away from him. Austen was having trouble breathing around so many cadets. He hated when that happened, and it happened often.
The cadets were giving Derek a standing ovation, and Austen was sure that any girl who could was giving him wolf calls and blowing kisses at his brother. Austen didn’t mind if the cadets let off some steam from time to time, so he kept quiet.
Deana had the sound proof hatch closed, but she couldn’t help but hear the ruckus and wolf calls. She was trying not to be jealous. JR came out and looked at Deana rolling her eyes and said to her, “Why didn’t anyone tell me there was a party going on?” He opened the hatch and left, leaving the hatch slightly opened and letting in the noise.
Deana put her fingers in her ears, but it didn’t help. When Austen and Derek had had a band, she and JR were always allowed backstage where it was deafening like it was then. She knew the cadets were just letting off some steam, but really.
She thought back to those days - the wild days when the press would always take her picture when she was with the guys, whether it was backstage or getting out of a limo. One time during an interview the two Houstons were asked, “Is she one of your girlfriends?” Both of them pretended that their microphones didn’t work. It was hilarious, but the next day Deana’s picture was in every news clip across the nation with a big question mark beside it. She didn’t like that much attention.
A week later Derek asked her out on a date, but she had said no. A couple of weeks after that the band broke up. They sold more music disks that year than any of the other years put together. Kirk still couldn’t believe that his dad and uncle were in a popular band, even though he heard their songs everywhere, even in commercials. He had told his dad five years ago how embarrassing it was to be his son sometimes.
IF she had said yes to that date, they’d still be rich thanks to their music, but she would have had four kids by then instead of waiting on Derek, and he might still be in that band. She wished her life had gone in that direction sometimes.
Derek was waving a hand in front of her face. She had zoned out thinking of the past with her fingers in her ears. She snapped out of it and took her fingers out of her ears. She said, “I’m sorry What?”
Derek said, “Austen said that you needed to talk to me? Man, do you hear that crowd? I felt like I was back on stage again!”
She laughed and replied, “Oh my God, that is exactly what I was just thinking about.”
Derek said, “We always did think alike, great minds and all.” She asked him if he would close the hatch, but she had to repeat it louder again. He went over and closed the hatch and said, “I’m sorry, I had to close the hatch because I couldn’t hear you." Everything was muffled, but the party could still be heard. Deana took a step towards him and all of a sudden you could hear a pin drop. Derek said, “It sure got quiet in there real quick.”
She said, “It’s because the entertainer is in here!” She took another step his way. He was looking at his boots wondering if he had gotten caught looking at her bosom. She took another step closer to him while he was looking away.
He said, “So, you ...” He quit talking when he heard music and she heard it too. She smiled so big that she covered her mouth with both hands. One of his songs came over the speakers. The one he wrote for her so many years ago.
They were both surprised. Eighteen years before exactly, on his last music disk, there was a release of a song that Derek had written - a love song to Deana. It was a duet, but Derek had to write both pieces and put music to it. He had said that, not being a girl, it was a bit difficult to get in touch with his feminine side to write what a girl would feel and say, but he pulled it off majestically.
All these years later, people, especially girls, were still buying that last music disk released by Derek. For that duet and nine other number ones, it was the best of the best. Derek had begged Austen to sing the girl’s part of the duet, but Austen refused. Austen told Derek to sing the part, but Derek couldn’t hit the high notes like Austen could. Their sister Mary ended up doing the duet with the band. It started her career off, and to that day she was still on tour by herself. She couldn’t have done it without her brothers or their agent, and to that day, Derek still wrote all her material.
The combination of the duet was called "I know a good thing when I see one," and the girl’s part of the song was called "I need a knight in shining armor and here comes one." The girl’s part went really high, and it was sung twice as fast as Derek’s part of the duet, but the chorus was the same. It was an awesome song! It won single that year, and when Derek accepted the award, he said to the crowd, “I’ve done what no one else could do; win a single with a duet.” However he wasn’t proud of it, because he was heartbroken from being turned down by his love, Deana.
Right then all the cadets were singing their part of "One," and they were doing it well. The women sang the girl’s part like they had been singing it all their lives. Derek took the two remaining steps to Deana and asked,