"It'd be horrible if we went to a work function and there are tons of photographers and press people rushing around and we're like, 'Oh my God, they don't know who we are...' I hope that day never comes!" - AJ McLean

On a crossroad at a busy business district area, a young lady kept trying to fan herself with her plastic files. While waiting for the signal to cross the road, she began to sing softly along to the song she was listening. A couple of people gave her a weird look and as usual, she ignored them.

"Athena!" a lady, around the same age as her, called out. Oh yeah, stupid me. She's listening to her discman. she thought. Just when she wanted to tap her friend on her shoulder, the green light came on. Athena practically dashed across the road and zoomed her way straight to her workplace. "Typical Athena." she said, shaking her head.

When Athena had finally reached her workplace, she walked straight to her colleagues and slapped one plastic file onto each of their desk. "It's done, people! Ten minutes for you to prepare and get into the meeting room." she said briskly and hurried her way to her own office room. The rest of the colleagues were left to prepare their documents and mumbling to each other about the two special executives who are going to step into their workplace in half an hour's time.

In Athena's sophiscated office room, two unfitting posters were spotted right above the wall of her file cabinet. She grinned silly at the poster and tuned up her Sony stereo to a certain volume, singing along as she tried to sort her documents out. "...When I look into your spanish eyes... I know the reason why I am alive... And the world is so beautiful tonight..."

Outside her office, a small commotion was taking place. It was the arrival of the two executives.

"Those guys look so familiar." one of the people commented to the other.

The older man with the dark looking eyebrows and chiseled jaws heard that comment and swallowed hard. The younger man gave a small sigh. "Let me show you to Miss Danes' office." one of the ladies offered and both men followed her.

As they stood in front of Athena's office, an awfully familiar music filtered into their ears. The younger man gave a knowing glance to the older man and when the door was opened, they were surprised to hear the song Spanish Eyes.

"Athena, Mr Richardson and Mr McLean is here."

Athena's eyes widened. "Kay, could you please stall some time for me while I-" She looked over at Kay's shoulder and almost went speechless. "Oops, too late." she muttered under her breath. "Never mind, Kay. Could you please make us some coffee?" Kay nodded and went straight to the pantry, leaving Athena standing there like a dummy. "Good morning, erm, Mr Richardson and Mr McLean."

"Good morning to you too, Miss Danes." Both greeted as Athena show them into her office.

The younger man looked around her office and noticed the two posters. Eyeing intensely at the posters, he quickly nudged his partner. The older man's jaw dropped slightly when he looked at the posters, the past memory came back almost in an instant. The usual music, stage lights, crying people and the thunderous chanting of a certain music group name were still ringing fresh in his mind.

When Athena saw that the both of them were starring with heavy emotions in their eyes, she did not have the heart to disturb them. However, when Kay came knocking on the door with coffee, both men quickly shifted their attention back.

"Sorry about that." the two apologized.

"It's all right... I understand." Athena said and gave Kay the signal to leave the office. She went through her files on the table, picking out two documents and handling it to them. "Mr. Richard-"

"Just call me Kevin." Kevin interrupted. "And you know that's AJ. Just go by our name and put away the formalities."

"Yeah, I got kinda sick with-" Before AJ could finish his sentence, Kevin kicked his leg.

Athena gave a small nervous chuckle and was in awe with their down-to-earth attitude. Most importantly, she still felt that superstar presence in them even after such a long time. "Kevin... You can call me Athena." she said and smiled. "Regarding the project which you have proposed to our company, my boss had handled me this task. And I have finalized all the details and later on, we'll go to the meeting room for a slide show on the whole project." she finished what she had to say and kept silent while they studied the documents, conversing softly with each other in between.

When she saw Kevin nodding his head with total approval as he read the details, her heart was skipping more than just a few beats. As she sat there, gazing dreamily at them, she softly sang along to the next song on the play list. "...Oh mystery lady, you've got something I like, tell me you're here to stay..." She was singing but her heart was obviously elsewhere. She could not pick up a reason as to why they had to left the stage and their fans behind so quietly. No real reasons were given and ridiculous rumors were spreading throughout the entire entertainment industry like wildfire.

She recalled that time when she received the news that the Backstreet Boys was no more. It was a shocked moment for her and many fans around the globe. How could the group who had been with her through her ups and downs leave the music industry without giving a proper reason? They still owned their fans an answer! Her life reached one of the lowest point and she practically hugged her Backstreet Boys posters to bed every night with tear-stained eyes. Athena was only 19 at that time.

Backstreet Boys were just like any other boy band to most people. However, to devote fans like Athena who had been following them since day one of their career, they mean more than that. They are a vocal group and were practically one of the pioneers of the pop industry. Their down-to-earth attitude, seriousness and devotion to their work, the love and concern they had for their fans are only a fraction of what they possessed. It was impossible not to love and adore these guys.

Yet, four years later, on this sunny morning, two of the men from the Backstreet Boys, once taking the stage with such energy and spirit, are sitting in her office discussing business that was not music related at all. This is not what they should be doing!' she thought. They belong to the stage! Oh man... How do I even began telling them that I'm their fan and wish to know why they left just like this?

"Athena? Athena?"

Athena heard Kevin calling her name and quickly snapped out of her thoughts. "Yes, erm, sorry... I wasn't concentrating."

"Don't worry about that. Well, you were singing along to our song... I was just curious, are you, ya know, a fan?"

Athena bit her lips. "Yeah... I've been a... a really huge fan..." she chuckled nervously.

AJ wanted to say something when someone knocked on the door and walked in. "Athena, could you please stop rushing like hell to office all the damn time? It won't run away, you know?" It was that lady whom had approached Athena this morning when she was listening to her discman.

"Eliza... erm-" Athena coughed and Eliza turned and discover that her friend had company.

"Oh gosh... I'm sorry to intrude like this. Please excuse me..." Eliza blushed in her deepest shade of red and hurried her way out of Athena's office.

Color drained from Athena's face as she turned to face Kevin and AJ. "I'm so sorry about that." She smiled sheepishly and blamed her friend in her thoughts for all the embarrassments.

"Hey! We do have enough apologies going around!" Kevin laughed.

AJ agreed. "Yup! What's with all the apologies, man? This is only the first time we've met."

"Well, actually, no. I met you guys way back at the Millennium and Black & Blue tour." Athena corrected.

"Really?" Kevin and AJ said at the same time. "That's really cool! I guess we have much to talk on after the meeting. Wanna do lunch?" AJ beamed.

Athena almost fainted with joy. This was a Backstreet Boy asking her to lunch. If it were back in her teenage days, she would have screamed like no tomorrow. Oh, how sweet to be in those days. she thought. "Sure! I have many things to share with you guys. You know, I think the both of you might be interested in how your fan's mind actually work." she chuckled. "You've got one here to help you answer that. But first, let's head on to the meeting."

Kevin and AJ smile to each other. They felt loved all over again. That dimension was somewhere that they thought only exist in their Backstreet Boys days. But now, it's all coming back.

...

"I can't believe that the two of you would be going into hotel business. I supposed Kevin would be going into his own music production or maybe acting and you, AJ, probably going solo or opening a disco." Athena said, wiping her mouth with the serviette.

"We kinda decide that the limelight is a little too much. And you ought to be surprised that little brat, commonly known as Nick, became the youngest ever president of the National Ocean Society!" AJ said.

"Well, he loves ocean. Can't be too surprised on that even though he's a tab too young to be, erm, a president?" she chuckled. "At least we know that Kevin is vice-president and things wouldn't go out of hand. I believed the ocean would be in utter chaos if Kevin wasn't by Nick's side, guiding him."

"You're still keeping up with us? Wow, you do know your news and sources very well, Athena." Kevin commented.

"Remember what Brian had mentioned before? BSB fans are like secret agents!" Athena chuckled, reminiscing the time when they were on the 100-hour around the world tour.

"Brian's so right on that." AJ chimed and recalled one of his fondest memories of a fan that managed to slip into his 25th birthday party. It appeared that it was AJ's dearest aunt, Darlene, who had absently-mindedly dropped the invitation card somewhere and that lucky fan found it. "Man, those were the days. Ah, that sentence makes us sound so old all of a sudden."

"At least, we're still young at heart." Kevin corrected.

"Uh-huh." AJ agreed and make a goofy smile. "Hey, which one of us is your favorite? We know how everyone had favorites and I'm curious." AJ asked.

"I would have to confess that it's Nick," Athena said with all honesty.

AJ shot Kevin a glance. "We would have guessed that. The cutie, adorable and highly annoying, Nicky."

"And, Kevin." Athena added.

Kevin raised his eyebrows. "Oh. What an honor! Thank you, Athena." he beamed with sincerity.

"Aww, where's the love, girl? Perhaps I should get away from here and leave you two some private moments..."

"Hey AJ, I didn't mean it that way." Athena said, trying to defend herself.

AJ laughed. "I'm just kidding, lady! Take it easy!"

Athena rolled her eyes and randomly stirred her glass of juice. "Here's my whole story on the favorism deal. Brian was my favorite from the start. I just kinda got blinded over and never opened my eyes to discover the goodness in the rest of you. Well, Nick particularly weird me out a little. I have no idea where that came from but you know, he just weird me out. And I think the period when Kevin started to grow his moustache... That's when I began to notice the existence of the rest of you guys. I am bad, I know. And all of a sudden, I had this liking for Nick and Kevin..." she said, blushing a little. "Well, and slowly, I've learned to love the whole group. So now, favorism over any of you isn't a big deal anymore 'cause everyone of you are my favorite."

"Wow." Kevin breathed.

"So Kevin's moustache saved the day, huh?" AJ responded with a grin.

"I guess so... And it to some serious thought on that issue, I guess." Athena chuckled at her small favorism speech and took a sip from her glass of orange juice. "You know, there are always a million reasons behind all those craziness. Some might be very silly but they knew that being crazy for you guys is worth it all."

"Pardon me for being stupid, but I still don't understand." AJ said. "All right, tell me. Why do those girls always cry when they saw us? I mean, we are normal guys, ya know. Like normal guys whom they saw and talk to almost everyday." AJ asked and Kevin nodded in agreement.

Athena shook her head wisely. "That's where you're wrong." she put down her glass and pick another breadstick from the small basket. "We don't get to see or talk to you guys like the 'normal guys' everyday. God, many fans out there don't even know if they will ever get the chance to see you guys in person. And when they saw you in person and realize how much they love you, they cry. It's one of the most natural thing to do. You're in the crowd of 'extra-ordinary normal guys'. You should understand that."

"Then why aren't you crying?" Kevin teased.

Athena finished chewing her breadstick and put on a serious look. "Because you guys had abandoned us," she replied ruefully. Kevin and AJ stopped what they are doing as their face fell. "There's no real reason for all of you to leave the music industry. You owe us, the fans, reasons. Leaving so quietly and so sudden doesn't seems right at all!" Athena furrowed her eyebrows and looked away from them. She realized the harshness in her choice of words but her anger and love for them had taken its toll on her emotion for years. She could not control it.

Now, sitting in front of Kevin and AJ was one angry fan. They exchanged glances and silently wished that the other three were here to face this together with them. "Athena... The world doesn't revolves around the Backstreet Boys," AJ comforted. "There comes a time for the other singers to shine and a time for us to become history. This is like a life cycle. Besides, we have our own life too. We have been the Backstreet Boys for so long and along the way, we've come to learn and experienced many things. Ya know, like we've found other things which interest us. Since the time has come, we won't force ourselves to continue on blindly..."

"Continue blindly?" Athena's voice turned hoarse, her heart grimaced in pain and tears were fighting to get out of her eyes. "This is what you all have always wanna do... The stage belongs to the Backstreet Boys and being in this group is your life. You're all just lacking of confidence because of the sudden surfacing of so many music groups. But that can't be taken as an excuse! The fans need BSB!"

"I'd like to assume that we don't have many fans left..." Kevin said bluntly.

"Then what am I? And what are my friends? And the fan club!"

"Fan club?" Kevin gave a quizzical look.

"Yes!" Athena replied firmly. "The fan club which was started the moment you guys came out. Forever BSB Fan Club. It might sound cheesy but the love and appreciation we had for you guys who won us over with your music and big heart was real."

Kevin cocked his head a little. "That club sounds kinda familiar..."

AJ nodded in agreement, rubbing the rough patch of moustache under his chin. "Does all the club members had a musical bracelet on their wrists?"

"You... Wow..." Athena's eyes widened. "You remember us." she grasped, her earlier anger slowly diminished.

"Well-" AJ laughed. "Those bracelets are eye-catching and I do remember that Nicky boy had a short crush on one of the members on a meet-and-greet session. Don't tell anyone this but..." AJ wiggled his finger for Athena to come closer. "That girl happens to give her bracelet to him and for a good whole month, he kept bugging us with his crush until he finally crush on another." he whispered into her ears and they leaned back on their chairs, laughing. "That was actually the longest crush registered in our mind."

"AJ, forget about Nicky's warning, huh? He's gonna be on your head if he found out that you have break your promise and go shooting off about his personal stuff." Kevin reminded.

"Dude, do you even take his so-called warnings seriously? I remember you have him up the wall the other time he tried to mess his warnings on ya."

"I'm supposed to be his big brother, man, and he don't try to mess around with me or else-"

"Yeah. You've forgotten that we're not in the group anymore."

"It's not over." Athena croaked. "Get back to the stage for your fans. For the love and passion for music. You know the passion is still there, waiting and urging y'all to get on there and perform for us... again."

Kevin exchanged glances with AJ and managed a smile. "Yeah, I guess we do miss our life on the stage."

"And the way you dance and thrust. Whoa, I'm sure the fans do missed that."

"Are you trying to be sarcastic, Alex? Well, I'm sure they missed your floor humping more."

"Of course they do!" AJ replied smugly. "'Cause they know I hump the floor better than Nick did!"

Athena pretended to clear her throat to get their attention to the surrounding stares that they were getting. She had wished a hole would open up right in front of the floor and jump into it. "Guys..." she whispered. "Keep the excitement down, please?"

Both men took the hint and tried to muffle their chuckles. "We're trying, Athena. We are..." AJ said. "Well Kev, we should rang the guys up and talk to them about this. What do you say?"

"I agree with you completely. And if they gave a negative answer, I'm gonna go down to their house and kick their ass. I'm still the leader and father of the group and I have every rights to do that!" Kevin joked.

"Remember what Nick had said before? As long as Backstreet Boys have fans, Backstreet Boys can conquer anything." Athena said, an unexplainable glimmer of joy shone in her eyes. "It's not the end. Not until we, the fans, said so and that is not going to happen at all. Never."

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