(Part II: The Craig Kilborn Show and Boomtown Wrap Party)

Around 5:30 PM, Erin and I (after much confusion) ended up back at the CBS Studios for the Craig Kilborn Show. When we got out of the cab, I ran into some fans I knew and I explained that I had to go inside. Then we went inside and up the elevator. We found an employee of the show in order to be directed to Donnie’s dressing room. As soon as we got there, Jamie and Vincent were already there getting ready for Donnie. I introduced Erin to them and then I went in and sat down on the couch while Erin stood up against the wall.

Donnie came in a little while later in a black jacket, black turtleneck and kind of beige pants. He once again had on his sunglasses and he looked over at Erin.

“Are you Jennifer’s friend?” (That’s when I realized he really did know my first name!)

“Yeah I’m Erin.”

“Well then you need to give me a hug.”

After he gave Erin a hug, he looked at Jamie and announced that Erin was his “doll-maker.” (Erin had made a Band of Brothers doll out of his New Kids on the Block doll and one of Mark as a Three Kings’ doll, which I sent to them.)

Then, he looked at me and said, “We kept Mark’s though.”

I smiled and said, “That’s okay. Like Mark is important!”

Then Jamie started to do his hair and makeup. After that, Evelyn, his publicist came in, as did a ton of other people. I am almost positive that I was introduced to them, but I really can’t recall their names! (I apologize to them if they ever read this; I really am horrible with names!)

Then the producer came in to go over with Donnie what they were going to discuss that night, and somehow they got to talking about bad horror movies that Donnie had seen. He started discussing a movie called (I think) “Sleep Away Camp,” where twins, a boy and a girl, go to a sleep-away camp and the boy ends up dying. Years later the girl goes back to the camp and people start dying. It turns out that some girl is doing the killing but in the end the girl turns out to be the guy that supposedly died. (I don’t know where Donnie finds these movies!)

The guy also explains that Donnie will go out first to play Yambo because Jamie Gertz had to go host something and thus had to leave soon.

After awhile we were shooed out of the room so that Donnie could change into his suit for the show. Once he was done, they opened up the room again and we stood and watched Craig Kilborn do his opening. All I can really recall about that time is that Donnie spent a lot of that time laughing at him.

Eventually Donnie came out and they put his jacket and his mike on him and then he and his publicist went to the stage area. The rest of us sat down and watched him play Yambo on the TV in the room.

For those who saw the show, you know that Donnie eventually won and then gave the roses to Jamie Gertz.

When he came back in, he sat in the chair beside me and took off his jacket. However, he had to keep it in his lap because it was still attached to his mike pack. He then asked everyone what we thought of the game. One of the guys commented that it was very “gentlemanly” of him to give Jamie the roses.

We then found out that he was back with us because they were having to sweep up the confetti so that he could go back out and do his interview because they wanted it to look like the interview had happened first.

A little while later, they came back to get him and he had to put his jacket back on. However, he put it on wrong and the mike wire was in front of his chest instead of behind his back.

So, he looked at me and asked, “The wire’s not supposed to go in the front, right?”

And I was like, “No, Donnie.”

After that, he went back out to do his interview.

When he came back, we were shooed back out while he changed back into his other clothes. When we were allowed back in, he asked us if Kenny (Erin’s husband) was coming with us to the Boomtown Wrap Party and I told him that I didn’t know because he was back at the hotel. We had left him there because we weren’t sure if Donnie was heading straight from the show to the airport or if he was going to stop by the party.

However, someone asked Donnie something and he got distracted. Then, we all left with Erin carrying Donnie’s clothes that he was going to take with him to NY.

When we got back to the car, the fans I saw earlier were waiting for him and asked him for a picture. He took the picture and then they talked for a few minutes. After that, he turned to me,

“Freestone, you get in first.”

So I got in the car.

He motioned for Erin to get in the back but she said that she would just sit in the front.

“No, I don’t want you to sit in the front…but, wait, you’re a cop, you can protect me up there.”

So Erin got in the front seat and Donnie got in the backseat with me.

Then Donnie grabbed his cell phone, which he had left plugged into the car’s cigarette lighter.

He looked at me, “I already have 6 messages.”

Then he called his family.

While he was on the phone with his family, he was drumming his fingers on the top of one of the water bottles that was between us. After awhile I started to mess with my ring on my left hand and suddenly there was a bottle of water in my hand that he had tossed into it. I looked at him perplexed as to why he had tossed me a bottle of water and then I put it back.

However, he once again began drumming his fingers on the top of it so I yanked it back away from him. When we got to where we were going, I tried to put it back but he had his hand in the way. I tried tapping his hand, but he didn’t move it, so I kept tapping the top of it and telling him to move his hand.

As he finished his phone call, I got out of the car and the driver got Donnie’s clothes out of the trunk of the car. Since Donnie was still on the phone, I told the driver to give me the clothes and I would carry them in for Donnie. However when Donnie got out, he tried to go into the bakery we were parked in front of.

“Is this it?”

“No, Donnie. I think that it is that place down there.”

It was a club a few doors down. As we started walking towards the club, Donnie looked over at me and took the clothes from me, saying

“Here, let me carry that.”

Then we went over to the guy at the door who said hi to Donnie. Donnie said hi and then said,

“These 2 lovely ladies are with me.”

So we followed him into this dark and loud club. He went to try to hang his clothes on a door handle (the man obviously has a thing about clothes and door handles), but then someone told him that that was the smoker’s door and people would be going in and out of it all night. In the end, he just laid his clothes across the back of one of the chairs.

We didn’t recognize anyone but Donnie. We weren’t in there long when Donnie suggested we go get something to eat and drink, so we went and stood by a wall.

After awhile, we went up to the bar and got something to drink. Then we went and sat down in one of the chairs near the door, but first we moved Donnie’s clothes onto the table beside us so that they wouldn’t wrinkle. That is basically where we spent the rest of the party, just “people-watching”. We would try and see if we recognized people when they came in (mostly we didn’t). However, we did see Jason (Tom), Nina (Andrea), Megan (Kelly, Joel’s wife). Donnie also brought over Lana (Teresa) to introduce her to us since Kenny wanted to meet her so badly. She was so sweet and cute! I complimented her on her shoes and she was so gracious about it!

Not long after that, a little dark-haired kid came running in and of course I recognized him as Xavier. He talked to Donnie for a little while, then he ran out again. Before he got out the door I said hi to him and he just stopped and said hi. However, I could tell I made him uncomfortable.

A little while later, Donnie brought him over to introduce him to us but he was too shy and kind of pulled away from Donnie.

Then Donnie asked, “Did you say hi to him?”

When I said I did, he just said, “Oh okay.”

Then Xavier saw Jason and ran over to him, “Jason! Jason! I’m going to New York!” (He was too cute with Jason!)

Then Donnie came over and said he had to leave to go to the airport. Erin asked him if she could get a picture outside before he left and he said yeah and starting walking out the door.

Erin and I both realized he was forgetting his clothes, so Erin grabbed his arm and said, “Donnie your clothes.”

“Oh yeah, thanks.”

So then we got outside and Donnie told us that we could stay at the party as long as we wanted to and started to walk off. Then Erin reminded him about the picture. Donnie apologized and explained that he was just so nervous about flying.

After I took the picture of them, I went to pick up my purse, which I had set down to take the picture. That is when Erin started to shove me towards him for me to take a picture with him.

I tried to explain to them that I hate pictures and that I didn’t want one. However, Erin kept insisting that I take a picture with him. (Of course she is still pushing me towards him and my heels are getting all tangled in my purse straps. Somehow I managed to get untangled before I fell on him.)

As Erin continued to tell me that I needed to take a picture with him and I kept insisting that I didn’t want a picture, Donnie chimed in with,

“You need to take a picture with me so you can take down that crappy photo on your site.”

“What crappy photo?”

“The one you took the first time we met.”

That is when Erin took the picture and I looked at him,

“Hey! I almost killed myself for that crappy picture!”

“I’m sorry.”

Then he told me that he had to go, but that he would get in contact with me if he came home before I left for Houston. After that, he started walking away, but suddenly turned, looked at me and said,

“Get some sleep!”

That was the last time I saw him….