Fame, Love, and other Lessons

by Frances, Jo

  At exactly 5:25, Steve started straightening his tie. Carla got up and left the room, along with the other agents' assistants. At exactly 5:30, the NBA commissioner, John Watkins stepped onto the stage. The audience began their loud booing and hissing, as the cameramen ran to two different tables, training their lenses on Travis Simmons and Jordan Gibbs.

  "With the first pick in the NBA draft...." with those words, the room grew silent and still. "The Milwaukee Bucks select...Travis Simmons from the University of Kentucky." The crowd's shout of approval bounced off the walls, almost, but not quite drowning out the squeals of delight coming from Travis Simmons' family. Jamie noted with amusement that Travis must have been told the same thing Chase had been---hug your mother first. In this case, Travis' father was also there, and when Travis turned to hug him, his mother ended up throwing herself between the two of them, resulting in an awkward, but genuine family hug. A woman from the Bucks handed Travis a team cap and he put it on as he walked up to the stage. For a minute or so, Travis and the commissioner posed for pictures, then Travis walked off the stage.

  John Watkins returned the podium, inexplicably triggering another round of booing. He adjusted the microphone and said, "the Sacramento Kings now have ten minutes to announce their pick" before exiting the stage. There was the sound of a click and the clock began counting backwards from 9:59:59. Most of the cameras shut off, and the people who were sitting at Travis' table got up to follow him to the press room.

  Evelyn turned to Steve. "How come the camera people went up to Travis AND Jordan? Did they know who was going to be picked?"

  Steve shook his head. "No, they don't know...officially. The owners can still change their mind, or there could be a last minute trade. That's why they had cameras on both guys. But everyone knows, including the reporters, the general order that the guys are going to go."

  They saw this for themselves soon enough. Four minutes were left on the countdown clock when John Watkins strolled up to the microphone, a cameraman hustled to Jordan Gibbs' table, closely followed by a different woman holding a Sacramento Kings basketball hat. Jamie saw Jordan gulp and lower his head as if in prayer as John Watkins began to speak.

  "With the second pick in the NBA draft, the Sacramento Kings select...Jordan Gibbs!"

  Jordan, who was seated with his mother and three sisters, rose without any emotion. As his shrieking mother and sisters surrounded him and he stretched his arms to enclose them, his expression changed and he looked as if he had been just woken up. With the realization that the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders he broke out in a huge grin filled with relief. The crowd got behind Jordan as he loped to the stage, laughing with approval when he shook Watkins' hand so hard that the commissioner grimaced.

  This went on until the sixth pick was announced. Out of the corner of her eye, Jamie saw the cameras swivel in Chase's direction, and the camera crew began making their way quickly towards him. Chase tensed briefly, then flashed a brief inward smile.

  "With the sixth pick, the Orange County Waves select, Chase Reston from the University of North Carolina." Chase stood up and turned to Evelyn. "Congratulations son," she said to him, "I am so proud of you."

  There was no trace of nervousness when Chase replied, "Thank you mama."

  Now it was Jamie's turn. She stood up, and looked into Chase's shining face. As they embraced, Chase spontaneously picked her up, spun her around and let loose a triumphant, "yeah!" Jamie turned to see a camera pointing directly at her. Meanwhile, the audience voiced their support of his selection by chanting, "Chase, Chase" as he bounded up to the stage. Evelyn began crying tears of joy, and Jamie had to choke back tears herself when she saw Chase standing in the spotlight. Steve patted Evelyn's hand. "Get ready, Evelyn. His life is about to change."

  Before the next pick was announced, they got up and left the room. Steve escorted them to Carla, who was waiting right outside the interview room. "Gotta run," he told them by way of goodbye.. "I've gotta take care of my client."

  After he left, Carla turned to them awkwardly. "Weelll, I don't think there's anything more to do now except wait. There's a full round of media interviews, press opps, and if I know Steve he's going to try to get him to meet with as many possible sponsors as possible." She checked her watch. "It will be at least another three more hours. You guys can stay here, or I can arrange to have you driven back to the hotel." Jamie opted to go back. She didn't want Chase to worry about her, and everything that had happened in the past twenty four hours was catching up to her. "I'm exhausted," she told Carla. "Can you tell Chase---?"

  "Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it. I'll call and let you know what's going on. Just leave your cell phone on." Carla said quickly. She turned to Evelyn. "Mrs. Reston?"

  Not unexpectedly, Evelyn said, "I'm staying right here."

  Back at the hotel, Jamie's second call after ordering room service was to her parents. As soon as she heard her mother's calm voice, Jamie felt grounded again. "Hi Mom."

  "Hello sweetheart! How exciting was that draft?"

  "I know. Sixth pick. It was even better than his agent expected."

  Frances heard something in her daughter's voice, so she asked, "How is everything there?"

  "Crazy. It's another world."

  "Are you alright? You sound overwhelmed." When it came to her children, Frances was better than a detective at sensing the truth.

  "It's been a crazy few days---" Just then there was a knock on the door announcing room service. "Just a sec mom, my dinner is here." She opened the door and continued talking while her dinner was being set up.

  "Room service? But what about Chase?"

  "He's going to be busy with pictures and interviews, so I thought I'd just come back here and wait for him."

  "Oh. I see." Too late, Jamie realized she had just told her mother she and Chase were sharing a room.

  There was a beat as Frances decided to drop whatever she was going to say about the subject. "Anyway, your father was really excited when we saw you on TV."

  "You mean you saw Chase?" The bellhop held out the tab and Jamie signed it with a flourish, leaving a generous tip.

  "Well of course, but we saw you too. When he spun you around? That's being replayed all over the news."

  "Oh wow."

  "You looked great, honey." Her mother assured her. "Your hair was a little different, and you were wearing something new, right?" Jamie smiled. Only a mother would notice hair and a new outfit in the footage of the NBA's newest member.

  "Chase's agent; well, his assistant, arranged for his mother and me to get makeovers, and she had some clothes for me to try on."

  "How is his mother?" Frances' voice was conspiratorial. While Chase had met her family several times already, he had deliberately kept his mother away from the Cameron's.

  "She's...OK. She's protective of Chase, but she definitely has a sense of entitlement about who he is, too." Only with her mother would Jamie ever speak about anyone from Chase's family this way. Guiltily she added, "I think she's had a hard life, raising Chase alone, so I'm sure it's understandable."

  Her mother sounded worried. "Well, I know that's something Chase doesn't talk about...but she's been nice to you, right?"

  "I'm not sure about nice, but let's just say that she's not as mean as she was when I met her yesterday."

  "Oh dear."

  Jamie knew her mother would worry, and she didn't want to talk about the subject anymore. After all, she didn't even know if she and Chase would be together after tomorrow, which would make how his mother treated her beside the point. "Have you heard from Luke?" she asked.

  "Yes, he's still in California. He seems to like it there a lot. Oh," Frances suddenly thought of something. "Well, if he takes this job in Los Angeles, you'll have an excuse to visit Chase, won't you?"

  Jamie looked at the clock. "That reminds me. Mom, maybe I should call him now, before it gets to be too late...with the time difference and all."

  "Good id
ea. Well, call me tomorrow if you can. You're flying back the day after, right?"

  "Yes. I'll call you. Love you mom." Steve had scheduled an extra day in New York after the draft. If Chase had to fly to meet with his new team, it would have been easier to keep him in New York than to lose a day while they flew back to North Carolina.

  "Love you too. Here's Dad. He wants to say hello."

  "Hello?" Peter Cameron's voice immediately came on the line, which meant he must have been standing right next to his wife during the whole conversation.

  "Hi dad!" As she did with her mom, Jamie always felt at home when she heard her dad's voice.

  "Everything OK?" Peter's fatherly instincts caused him to begin every conversation by making sure that his children were safe and wanted for nothing.

  "It's great! I wish you could have been here, daddy. Everyone around here seems to know everything about basketball. They even know Chase," she said incredulously.

  Her father chuckled. "I think you're the only one who isn't aware of how famous your boyfriend is, Jamie. You and your mother seem to think that the only people who follow basketball are people who have a family member who plays the game." He paused, and Jamie knew he was thinking about Luke. "But I know you have to call your brother now, so we'll see you when you come back, OK? Just let us know when your flight is coming in---" Jamie could hear her mom in the background. "----oh, OK, your mother tells me she knows this already. So, we'll see you then."

  "Bye dad. Love you."

  "Yep, you too." His actions left no doubt about the love he had for his family, but her father had a hard time with, as he said, "the mushy stuff."

  Jamie called her brother next. He answered, yelling over the street noise in the background. "Hey, Jamie! Why aren't you out partying right now?"

  "You mean like you?" She teased him. "God, where are you? It sounds so loud in there!"

  "Yeah, I watched the draft with Mark and now we're waiting in line to get into a club." Mark Zimmer had been a year ahead of Luke at school, and was one of his best friends. His descriptions of the exciting L.A. lifestyle had been one of the incentives for Luke to interviews with firms in the area. "Tell Chase congratulations. He did awesome."

  Jamie felt a pang of sadness for her brother. He had loved basketball all his life, dedicated his life to it, and she wondered if he minded that it was over for him now, while Chase was going on to the next level. As if reading her mind, he added, "Tell him I want some courtside seats. It's going to be great to be a spectator now."

  "You got it," she told him confidently. "So how's the job search?"

  "It's going well. I think, umm, I'll probably stay here instead of going to London." Jamie heard Mark whoop in the back ground and heard the two of them slap hands in a high five.

  "It sounds like you just decided that."

  "Yeah, and you know, it feels like the right decision." His voice quickened. "Jamie, listen, I gotta go, they're waving us in."

  With a click, he was gone. Jamie clicked on the television and began to eat her dinner.

  A few hours later, Chase called. Judging from the bass thump in the background, he was also spending the evening in a bar, but from the female voices she could hear distinctly, he was clearly surrounded by a lot of women as well. "Jamie, I'm sending a car over for you. Come meet me, OK?"

  "OK," she forced her voice to sound light, but a small feeling of dread fluttered in the pit of her stomach. This was no different from their usual routine back at school. After games, she would go back to her dorm room while he did post game interviews, showered and changed. Chase would call or text her wherever the team was celebrating, and there would always be plenty of girls around when she walked in. So why was it different this time? Because those were college girls like her. Now he was somewhere without her, and whoever these women were, Jamie was quite sure they were a lot more sophisticated than the girls back home.

  Jamie's competitive streak, which had served her so well as a volleyball player, kicked in. She dressed quickly, wearing a short clingy dress and stilettos. She would usually only wear one provocative thing at a time: either a short dress, or high heels. But tonight she was not going to give anyone a clear field advantage by retreating into the background. She looked at herself in the mirror, feeling a little over-exposed, but she knew this was just her normally conservative style protesting. She was in New York, and if anything, she could have gone even shorter with her dress and higher with her heels. Game on, girls.

  Chapter 8

  As Jamie walked towards the waiting car, heads turned, swiveled, and spun at the young leggy blonde striding through the lobby. There was a photographer waiting outside the entrance, and he took several pictures of her as she left. The driver held the door open for her as he said, "Miss Cameron, I'll take you to Mr. Reston now." Jamie saw the photographer make a note of this, and as he nodded to the driver, she had a suspicion that the driver actually said that for the photographers benefit.

  The town car glided quickly across town to a warehouse space that had a red carpet in front and a small crowd waiting to get in. There was not one, but two bouncers flanking a statuesque woman managing the guest list. As the car slowed to a halt, the driver saw Jamie bite her lower lip nervously. "Go up there like you own the place." he told her. "Just tell them you're Chase's guest. I'm sure he put you on the list, and even if he forgot, or didn't know how to, there's no way they would turn anyone who looked like you away."

  Jamie faked a confidence she didn't feel and was quickly escorted to Chase's table towards the back of the club. Again, she felt the admiring eyes of the men in the room for her and it bolstered her, allowing her to smile seductively at Chase when she saw him. He was seated at the center, surrounded by two or three guys she recognized from the draft, each already paired with one or two women. There were plenty of women standing around the periphery, all trying to catch the players' eyes. Chase looked up as she approached, noting with pride the approval of the other guys of his girl. They made room for her in the banquet and Jamie was introduced to everyone there. Chase greeted her with a long and very public kiss. "You are the hottest chick here" he said, pulling her close. "And I'm the one taking you home tonight."

  Jamie felt herself flushing with excitement, but she didn't want Chase to feel that cocky about her. "Don't be so sure," she teased him. "There's a lot of cute guys here." She looked boldly around the room, then looked Chase up and down, assessing.

  Chase smiled but there was a tiny shadow of doubt in his eyes. "Really?" he said, his face inches from hers. "Do you think they can make you feel as good as I made you feel last night?"

  She offered her lips up to his then brushed them away. "Are you going to make me feel good again tonight?"

  "Mmm. Better." Chase's eyes were half-closed with desire, wanting her already. "Because I'm not going to hold back tonight." He looked at her then, supremely confident.

  Jamie's body responded, and she shifted in her seat. But the game wasn't over yet. She stood up. "Let's dance."

  Dancing was something they liked to do together and they did it well. Both of them had an athlete's natural grace and body control, while their sexual chemistry provided the rest.

  On the dance floor, the suggestive beat made it easier for Jamie to tease Chase. She pressed her palm against his chest, commanding him not to move. Then she took a few steps away from him and began undulating her body like a belly dancer as he watched. Chase nodded appreciatively. Even though he was clearly so masculine and dominant, he definitely had no problem when a woman was the aggressor. They locked eyes and Jamie circled him, her body in tune to the pulsating thump. As she stood in front of him, Chase began to move with her. Jamie saw the lust in his eyes for her, and she realized with a thrill that she didn't have to moderate her behavior here, either because their friends were watching, or because she didn't want to lose control with him.

  Tonight, they could both lose control.

  Chase spun her around and pressed his erectio
n against her. "Tease," he rumbled, his thigh parting the back of her legs. She leaned back against him and closed her eyes. Her gyrations felt like a wave against his body. Chase wrapped his arm around her waist, keeping her tight against him and moved with her. "Tell me you want me," he challenged her. Jamie shook her head no. "I haven't made up my mind yet."

  A flicker of jealousy went through Chase. He saw that other men wanted her; he could practically read what they wanted to do to her and he was surprised at the intensity of his possessiveness. He had never had to compete for Jamie before and it was an incredible turn on for him. "I hope you're enjoying this," he kissed the back of her neck. "Because when we get back to the hotel room, I'm going to show you that you belong to me."

  An edge in his tone made Jamie turn quickly towards him. He saw by her dilated eyes that she was excited by this and eager to play the game some more. Chase shook his head at her response. "You are bad." he said. "Really bad." Taking a deep breath, he grabbed her hand. "Let's go back to the table before I drag you to the bathroom."

  They drew out the celebration until two in the morning, when the young men, perhaps trained by the closing times in their states, collectively decided they were going to go back to their hotels.

  By this time, Chase had caught Jamie up on everything that had happened after she left. "The coach wants me to fly to L.A. on Sunday and work out with the team on Monday," he told her. "So how about instead of leaving on Saturday, you stay with me an extra day and fly back on Sunday?"

  "But what about my ticket?"

  Chase shrugged. "Who cares? We'll just buy a new one." He was surprised at how much he needed her to stay.

  Jamie nodded, understanding that things like non-refundable plane tickets were now a thing of the past for Chase.