NOTE: I do not own Kenny Chesney (though I wish I did, that would be great… xD), any of his songs, ESPN, any of their programming, or anything else affiliated with Kenny Chesney or CSI.
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Next up on ESPN was the World Series of Poker. Nick picked up the remote and turned the channel to CMT. The video for "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" had just ended, and a commercial for Kenny Chesney's "Somewhere In The Sun" tour had come on. As he waited for a website to load Nick read the upcoming venues: Green Bay, Madison, Denver, Salt Lake City… Las Vegas. "That's in two weeks," Nick muttered, "I wonder if…" There was an idea forming in the back of his mind, but even he wasn't sure about what it was. He went back to his computer, logged on to Kenny Chesney's official website, and somehow stumbled upon a number to contact Holly Gleason, Chesney's publicist. He wrote the number down and glanced at the digital clock at the bottom of the screen. 11:15. Nick closed his laptop, and set the scrap of paper on top of it. He walked to his bedroom, changed clothes, and crawled into bed. He sighed as he rolled over on his side and slowly fell asleep.
The next day, Nick woke up, his plan completely formed in his mind. After he'd showered and dressed, he returned to the living room. He grabbed the piece of paper from his computer. Picking up the phone, he started to dial, but decided he should probably make sure he had tickets to the show first. Nick hung up the phone, picked it back up again, and dialed another number.
"TicketStar Las Vegas, this is Kate, how may I help you?" answered a friendly woman's voice.
"What are the best seats left for the Kenny Chesney show?" Nick asked.
"Um, let me see," the woman replied. "There are two seats available, sixth row, right side of the stage."
"Great. I'll take them."
"Okay, would you like to pay for them over the phone?"
"Yes, please, by credit card."
Five minutes later, Nick picked up the phone again and began to dial the publicist's number.
"Hello, Holly Gleason speaking."
"Hi, my name is Nick Stokes," he began. Then, he proceeded to explain the special connection that he and Sara shared, and asked if there was any way to arrange for something special on the night of the concert.
"Well, you sound very sincere. I'm meeting with Kenny in an hour… I'll tell him what you told me, and see what I can do."
"Thank you so much."
"No problem, Mr. Stokes, have a good day. Bye, now," she said, and hung up the phone.
Now all he had to do was wait for a call. Nick sat outside on a front porch swing, staring up into the clear blue sky. He was thinking, about her… about Sara. She was the one woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Without her, he didn't feel quite complete. A song ran slowly through his head, though it seemed as though it would have a faster melody; 'Staring' out into the wild blue yonder, so many thoughts to sit and ponder 'bout life and love and the lack of, and this emptiness in my heart…'
Two hours later Nick stood in his kitchen making himself a sandwich when the telephone rang.
"Hello."
"Nick Stokes?" asked a man's voice.
"Speaking. Who's this?" Nick asked.
"I'm Kenny Chesney. I think you talked to Holly, my publicist, before?"
"Yes. Wow, thank you for calling me back so soon. There's this girl in my life that means absolutely everything to me. I need a way to surprise her, and I was wondering if there was something that I could do at your concert here in Vegas," Nick replied.
"She's that special, huh?" Kenny said.
"Yes. Totally."
"Well, I'm really happy for you. That kind of love is something very special and extremely valuable. I'll tell you what," Kenny replied, and he went on to tell Nick what he could plan to do.
When he finished, Nick said, "Wow! That's great! Thank you so much, I can't tell you how much this means to me!"
"Glad I could help. Congratulations, and I'll see you in two weeks," Kenny said.
"Again, thank you so much! Goodbye."
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"Really? Upgraded? Great!" Pause. "So we're al set, then?" Nick said into his cell phone as he sat in the break room after shift. "Okay, awesome, thanks."
"Who was that, Nicky?" Sara asked as she grabbed a cup of coffee and sat next to him.
"Oh, no one."
"Okay…" Sara said, raising an eyebrow and looking at him skeptically.
"Hey, I got front row tickets to a concert next Friday night… do you want to go with me?" Nick asked her.
"Who's playing?"
"Kenny Chesney."
"Oh.. er.. sure, why not?" Try as she might, Sara couldn't say no to Nick, especially when he was smiling at her… and he was now.
"Great. I'll be at your place at six next Friday."
"Awesome."
On the day of the concert, Sara was increasingly nervous. She'd never heard any of Kenny Chesney's songs, only the few she'd downloaded last night. Now, she was going to a concert where she knew almost none of the music… oh, joy.
At six o'clock sharp that night, Sara's doorbell rang, and she knew it was Nick. He was always punctual. She opened the door and let him in.
"Hey," Nick said. "Is that what you're wearing?"
"Yeah," Sara said, "Why?" She was wearing one-and-a-half-inch heeled boots, a knee-length skirt, a red halter-top, and her hair was pulled back.
"Can I see what other clothes you have?"
"Err…. Sure, follow me," Sara said, and led him to the bedroom. Nick began rummaging through the drawers and the closet. A few minutes later, he turned to her with a pile of clothes in his hands. He was holding a pair of blue jeans and an everyday, run of the mill t-shirt.
"Put this on, keep those shoes, and let your hair down," Nick told her.
"Why?"
"For me?" he said, giving her his very saddest puppy eyes.
She laughed, and rolled her eyes. "Okay." She snatched the clothes from his hands and darted into the bathroom to change. A minute later, she came back out. "What do you think?"
Nick stood and walked to her. "You look so good I could… kiss you!" He gave her a kiss on the cheek, like a little boy would to his mother. They both started to laugh. He took a look at his watch. Quarter after six.
"We'd better get going, show starts at seven."
Soon after, when they were in Nick's Tahoe, Sara spoke. "Nick, listen, about the party last week…"
"I've been thinking. I'll talk to you about it, but let's just go to the concert tonight, okay?" he said, and put a hand on her shoulder. "As friends."
She smiled. He'd been thinking about her. "Okay, sounds good."
Twenty-five minutes later, Nick and Sara were sitting in their front row seats. An hour and a half passed while the opening acts, Phil Vassar and Miranda Lambert, were playing.
After Vassar was through his show and the stage sets were changed, a DJ from a local radio station walked on stage. Everyone started cheering, and the DJ began to speak.
"You guys ready to party!" Cheers. "It gives me great pleasure to ask you to please welcome Kenny Chesney!" A roar from the crowd went up as the lights went down. Smoke clouded the stage and thunder could be heard as "Live Those Songs" began to play. A spotlight cast the silhouette of the singer through the huge curtain that hung in front of the stage as the lyrics began. "I saw him sitting' on a sidewalk in Fresno, braided hair and a tie-dye t-shirt on, talking to himself about Vietnam, 'bout the tour he did and the deal he got…" The large curtain dropped and there he was: Kenny Chesney. Sara waved to him, and he waved back. She couldn't help but grin. He was almost as hot as Nick… almost. She sang along with the next few songs, but how she had no idea.
About halfway through the show, the music stopped, except for a light piano melody in the background. Kenny stood at center stage, right in front of Nick and Sara.
"You know, every now and then a love comes along that means everything to two people. When that happens, it's truly special. I talk to a guy on the phone a couple days ago, a guy who's here tonight. He's got that kind of love in his life right now. C'mon up here, Nick," Kenny said, and Nick climbed up on stage. "Take it away," Kenny said as he handed Nick the microphone.
"Thanks, Kenny. There's someone very, very special to me here tonight, someone that I really, really care about. She's one of my best friends in the whole wide world, and now I want to make her more than that." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small black box. Then, he dropped to one knee at the edge of the stage. "Sara, I love you with all of my heart, and I always will. Would you do me a great honor, and be my wife?" he asked, eyes welling with tears.
At the same time, tears streamed down Sara's cheeks. "Oh, Nick…" she cried, "of course! Oh, I love you so much!" She hugged him tightly, and he pulled her up by him. As they embraced, music began to play.
'Ordinary, no,
Really don't think so,
Not a love this true.
Common destiny,
We were meant to be,
Me and you…
Like a perfect scene
From a movie screen
We're a dream come true.
Suited perfectly for eternity
Me and you
Every day I need you even more
And the nighttime, too
There's no way I could ever let you go
Even if I wanted to…
Every day I live I try my best to give all I have to you
Thank the stars above that we share this love
Me and you
Ordinary, no,
Really don't think so,
Just a precious few ever make it last
Get as lucky as…
Me and you
Me and you…'
Sara looked up at Nick, her eyes gleaming, then she leaned up and kissed him. He returned the kiss, placing one hand on her cheek. Nick put his arm around her shoulders and she placed her around waist.
Kenny turned the microphone off. "Good luck, guys. And congratulations." He shook Nick's hand and hugged Sara. Nick and Sara walked off stage hand-in-hand, teary-eyed and completely in love, to the congratulatory cheers of the twenty-thousand-plus people in the arena.