Jackson sounded happy, something Shaun wasn’t used to, on the other end of the line. “Of course, of course. Just wanted to touch base and say that I love what you have so far.”
Love? Shaun wasn’t aware Jackson even knew the meaning of the word. “You do? That’s fantastic!” A tidal wave of hairspray landing right in her eye wiped the smile right off of Shaun’s face. “Ow!”
“Are you okay?” Jackson asked slowly.
“I’m fine,” Shaun said, holding one burning eye closed all the while choking on the hairspray. As the toxic cloud slowly dissipated, with her one good eye, Shaun caught sight of the flat screen TV propped up on the wall and almost screamed in horror when she saw her face on the screen. “Holy shit, I’m on TV.” She said, almost absently, as horror filled her veins.
“Right. About that,” Jackson said. “There’s been a few randoms coming into the office and asking questions about you. As far as they’re concerned I have no idea who you are. Your records with the company have been sealed to protect your identity.”
Shaun breathed a sigh of relief. She was both surprised and relieved to know that her editor had her back. Still, she knew that Jackson sealing her files at Cosmopolitan would prove no match for the gossip hungry reporters that swarmed Los Angeles on a daily basis. If they wanted to know who she was they would surely find out. It was only a matter of time. “Thank you Jackson. Look, I’m sorry but I have to go.”
“Understood. Keep me updated.”
“I will.” Shaun hung up and took in the screen in front of her.
Fully made-up and ten minutes away from walking the runway, all she could do was stare wide-eyed at the flat screen TV mounted against the backstage wall in horror. Her perfectly smoky eyes and stark red lips were both opened as wide as they would go as she listened to the blonde newscaster’s voice. A picture of she and Yoshi popped up on the screen. He had his arm around her and they were both smiling. It looked very intimate. Shaun had been in the lobby with Yoshi when that photo was taken and though she knew that moment was nothing more than two new friends having a laugh she was sure the public wouldn’t take it so innocently.
As if to solidify this, the newscaster’s voice chimed in in the background. “It appears that Shaun has been stroking the keys of more than one member of the band, as she’s seen photographed here going back to the hotel room of The White Keys’ drummer—who isn’t Adam.”
“No he certainly isn’t, Lacy.” The male co-host said with a laugh. “So why was the young model caught going into BOTH Adam and Yoshi’s hotel rooms? That seems to be the question of the hour. More when we come back.”
“Oh my god,” Shaun whispered. As a Charmin commercial began to play, her eyes began to water.
“Don’t cry, darling, you will destroy the eye,” Zedra said, dabbing a dry cotton ball under Shaun’s dark eyes and eyeing the broadcast at the same time. “Vultures, all of them. Don’t let them get you down.”
Veronica came breezing by, ready for her turn on the catwalk, and smirked at Shaun. “I knew something was off about this whole thing. Adam’s never looked twice at a black girl in his life.” She sauntered over to Shaun’s chair and held it on either side, leaning in. “So what’s your price? A pretty chocolate thing like you must go for a lot more than most girls your shade.”
Without thinking, Shaun released an animalistic growl and leapt from her chair, her hands clawing for Veronica’s neck.
Shaun lost her breath as a pair of bony—but surprisingly strong—arms, held her back from attacking Veronica, who was still smiling. The leggy blonde sauntered away, her smile having been upgraded to full out laughter.
Shaun was rocketed back into her seat, and she was surprised to come eye to eye with Janelle, who was now the one blocking her into her make-up chair. Thanks to that awful thirty second broadcast all eyes were now on Shaun in the backstage area, but no one looked surprised. It was the most quiet, the most still that she’d seen anyone in that room stand since the moment she’d arrived. Like a swarm of obedient moths, however, they all slowly went back to whatever tasks they had at hand. Soon the place was a madhouse, once again.
“Janelle?” Shaun’s chest heaved. “How did you? When did you?”
“I flew in last night. When I spoke to Adam on the phone this morning he seemed worried for you. I wasn’t sure what the hell he had to be worried about but now I know I made the right decision when I decided to listen to him and come check on you--apparently not a moment too soon.”
“They’re calling me a whore!” Shaun cried, pointing to the screen. “And that witch Veronica…” She couldn’t even finish her sentence she was so angry.
“I know.” Janelle jammed her blue eyes shut and took the chair across from Shaun while running her hands through her red locks. “One of my interns got wind of the story and came to me last night. I took the first flight out here. Shaun…” Janelle leaned in. “The story is already out there. It’s too late to reverse it, but we’re going to fix it.”
Shaun’s eyes widened even more than they already were.
“We have some serious damage control to do, my dear, but first… you have a runway to walk.”
And, just like that, Shaun was whisked away. She was the next to walk on the runway, and she could hardly breathe.
--
Later that night Shaun, Adam and Janelle were all holed up in Adam’s hotel room. Shaun and Adam sat on the edge of the bed while Janelle paced in front of them, hands placed squarely on her hips. Shaun was just as irritated as Janelle, but for different reasons. With arms crossed over her chest and eyes riveted to the opposite wall, she struggled to wrap her mind around the day’s events. The nasty things Veronica had said to her, the fact that the media was targeting her, the article that her boss loved but she wasn’t even sure she could still write… it was all becoming way too much, way too fast. Shaun felt like one false move would end everything, and she would lose everything.
She turned to Adam who was sitting next to her, shoulder to shoulder, and wasn’t surprised to find him looking right back.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine but if you ask me that again I might have to kill you.”
“It’s just… you don’t seem fine. The press just basically chewed you up and spit you out today. Nobody’s fine after that… not even the biggest celebrities out there.”
“Hey,” Janelle chimed in while snapping her fingers. “Can we focus on the real problem here?”
Adam and Shaun both looked at her.
“Are you screwing Yoshi?” Janelle asked Shaun.
“Jesus Janelle.” Adam cringed.
“Of course not.” Shaun frowned. “I was a little drunk last night and I crashed in his room, but that was it.” Shaun looked to Adam and she was surprised at the look on his face. It was almost… annoyed? Hurt? Maybe a little angry. “We didn’t do anything,” she said, more to him than Janelle.
“I know that.”
“Good.” Shaun said, “Because it would be really terrible if the two of you believed everything that the rest of the world believes about me now. That I’m some groupie chick who’s hopping from one guy to the next.”
“The problem isn’t what people believe. It’s what you’re allowing them to believe.”
“And what exactly is she allowing them to believe, oh wise one? Please enlighten us.”
The red headed powerhouse was pacing back and forth, eyes shooting daggers at Adam. “The reason that people are buying this story about Shaun and Yoshi is because they aren’t buying the two of you. You aren’t convincing the public that this is real so they are looking for other explanations. Any explanation that makes sense to them.”
Adam and Shaun gaped at her.
“Now I understand that neither of your acting abilities are exactly Oscar worthy but I need you to sell this.” Janelle motioned back and forth between the two of them. “This has nothing to do with race. It has to do with the fact that, for whatever reason, the pu
blic doesn’t believe that you two are fucking each other’s brains out. They’re not buying it. You need to be more physical in public. You need to look happier together when you’re in public and you need to be seen in public a lot more than you already are. This Yoshi story will blow over, that’s not my main concern, but we do need to step this whole thing up a notch if we have even a chance of convincing anybody.”
“Okay, Janelle. Take a breath,” Adam said. He looked over to Shaun and raised his eyebrows. “What do you think?”
Janelle rolled her eyes and turned away from them, walking towards the window of the hotel.
Shaun pressed her lips together and shrugged, internally relaxing when Adam placed a hand on her back. “I think…I mean…. I guess you’ve been right all along.”
Adam grinned. “Was that hard for you to say, babe?”
“Extremely.” She sighed before looking Adam in the eye and smiling. She hated admitting that he was right, and the smug smile on his face was doing nothing to change her mind on that.
Janelle quietly watched them, her eyes jumping back and forth, with her finger tapping on her chin. “Okay, that…” She motioned to them. “That. I need you guys to do that in public.”
Shaun and Adam both stared at her in dismay. “Do what?” Shaun asked.
“That moment you guys just had? I bought that. I totally bought it.”
Shaun and Adam looked at each other. “But we weren’t doing anything.”
“For some reason… when there’s a camera in your faces the two of you freeze up like you both had bad Mexican for lunch. What is it about a camera that throws you off, Shaun? It’s your job to be in front of a camera, is it not?”
Shaun couldn’t speak.
“Or is it just Adam that’s throwing you off?”
“All right,” Adam said. He could already see where Janelle was going and he didn’t like it.
“I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep this entire arrangement professional, Shaun. Now I’ve already talked to Adam about it—“
“She’s completely professional Janelle, drop it.”
“But--”
“I said drop it.”
Janelle faltered, then laughed, softly. “Fine. I have a flight in an hour.” She snatched up her bag and stalked toward the door. Before opening it she threw them a look, “But I damn well better see lots of huggin’ and lovin’ in the next few editorials there are of you two or we’re going to have words, I promise you that.” With another roll of her eyes Janelle left the room, slamming the door behind her.
“Ray of sunshine, as always,” Shaun muttered, standing from the bed and walking out onto the balcony.
Adam followed her, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his jeans. The black t-shirt he wore fluttered against his skin as he stepped out after her onto the balcony. Slowly, his eyes fell to the bright yellow heels she had on and slowly back up the equally bright, and tight, yellow dress she wore. “Is that what you wore on the runway today?”
Shaun, who was holding on to the side of the balcony, looked down at the dress she wore. “Oh, yeah. I wanted to change but Janelle was already dragging me out of there like a bat out of hell. I didn’t even have time to find Tony and thank him.”
“Thank him, huh?” Adam stopped behind her, still enjoying the view. As the wind picked up the smell of her hair wafted past him. Adam’s eyes fluttered closed. She smelled so damn good. “Sounds like it went well.”
“I didn’t fall,” Shaun offered. “In fact, I think I did… kind of okay. I walked the runway right after I saw that news broadcast. You know, the one that made it look like I’m having an affair with Yoshi. It was like the anger I was feeling gave me balance. Some kind of weird power.”
“I’m sorry about that. And I’m sorry I couldn’t make it back in time.”
“Don’t be. It was stupid of me to assume that I wasn’t being watched. It was a mistake to be that friendly with Yoshi in public.” She could feel him come up behind her. “I keep forgetting that my life isn’t mine anymore.”
“It can still be yours.”
Shaun could only laugh. She turned on her heel and gasped. Adam was close. Dangerously close. She found herself tracing the designs in his eyes. They were brighter under the sunset.
“Did you know that you have green eyes?” She tilted her head and peered closely. “Have they always been so green?”
“They’re hazel, but...”
“No, they’re definitely green.”
“I think I know what color my eyes are.”
“I think you’ve been misled.”
“For my entire life?”
Shaun laughed. “Yeah. It must be a conspiracy.”
He bit his bottom lip, all while staring at hers. When he released it, he was no longer smiling. “I shouldn’t have let you walk out last night.”
Shaun lowered her eyes. “I wasn’t exactly easy to deal with.”
“No,” Adam pressed. “I shouldn’t have let you walk out. Anything could have happened to you. I was just…” He couldn’t finish.
Shaun knew that the things she’d said to him the night before had struck him and he’d let her leave out of hurt and anger. “I guess I’m a mean drunk…”
“Not a mean drunk, maybe an honest drunk. It wasn’t fair for me to get pissed off at you for wanting to keep this at a professional level. It’s wasn’t fair to you, even if I’m not necessarily on the same page.”
“What page are you on?” When he didn’t seem in a hurry to answer, Shaun added. “Don’t be so sure what page I’m on, okay? Pages get turned every second in the world. Hell, someone in this hotel is probably turning a page right now.”
“Are we talking about actual books now or…”
“It’s just a metaphor.”
He smiled at her. “I want to take you somewhere.”
“Let’s see. You flew me out to Sydney. You set me up with a runway gig with one of the biggest fashion houses in the country. Mission accomplished.”
“Damn. I’m still pissed I missed it. You? On a runway? And you didn’t fall on your ass?” He laughed boisterously when she shoved him, grabbing a hold of her wrist. “How did I miss that? How is that even possible? Are pigs flying or what?”
Shaun tried to reclaim her arm, which only made him hold it tighter. “Screw you,” she whispered.
“Oh Janelle would love that.” He said with a playful squint.
“Yeah.” Shaun’s gaze fell to her arm as Adam slid his hand down slowly, until he was cupping her elbow.
“You look gorgeous, Shaun. They did a good job on you.”
“That’s one backwards compliment if I ever heard one.”
Adam was confused for a second, and then his cheeks reddened ever so slightly. “No. I mean, you always look gorgeous. I mean, obviously you’re gorgeous…”
“Relax I’m just teasing you,” Shaun said with a smile.
“Really…” he whispered. “Let’s go somewhere...”
“We are somewhere. What could be more somewhere than Sydney friggin’ Australia?”
“Exactly, and we’ve barely left the hotel the whole time we’ve been here. That’s unacceptable. Look at you. You need to be seen right now, you’re something to see.”
Shaun couldn’t wipe the wide smile off her face as she shook her head. “Well where do you want to go? I don’t know this city. And I have an early day tomorrow.”
“Ah, right. That little modeling thing you have.”
“Yeah that little modeling thing.”
“You seem surprisingly calm about it.”
“Will you be there?”
He took a moment, his eyes searching her face. “I’ll be there.”
Shaun wasn’t blind to his closeness, or how he seemed to grow closer to her with each passing second.
Adam took a deep breath. “Maybe we should just stay in the room tonight and focus on how we can be a more convincing couple before Janelle’s head blows clear off.” He swallo
wed hard, unable to find the words to express what was on his mind.
He’d been thinking about what happened between them the night before for far longer than he cared to. Every time his mind went back to that night he just couldn’t imagine how he’d ever forgive himself for not kissing her when he had the chance. For once she’d been willing to, not for an audience, not for a camera, just for him. And he’d pissed all over it, all because of his stupid pride. Now he didn’t know what page Shaun was on--wasn’t sure if he’d ever get there, again.
Shaun felt him step closer to her, still holding her elbow, searching her eyes nervously. Just as her eyes were about to flutter shut they caught sight of the TV blaring quietly inside the room, with her face splashed across it.
“Oh, not again.” She pushed Adam to the side, causing his lips to crush against her cheek. With a soft groan, Adam turned, his face pressed against hers, and looked over his shoulder to see what she was looking at.
Shaun was already pushing past him and hurrying into the room just as a voiceover on the television spoke, “Adam Brand’s new girlfriend, Shaun, is an upcoming model from Los Angeles. With her sudden appearance on the rock star’s arm, and with rumors swirling that she’s already joined the band on their tour across Australia, the young bombshell has everyone asking… just who is Shaun Green? We have all the answers and more after the break.”
As the commercials began to play Shaun still couldn’t take her eyes off of the television. She was shaking wildly. Someone was going to figure out who she really was, she just knew it. She and Celia had seriously underestimated the level of star that Adam actually was. Being on his arm was making her a celebrity by default. Someone that everyone wanted to know every little thing about—someone they would know every little thing about if the press kept after her the way they were. What if they dug up her background at Cosmo? It would ruin everything. Shaun turned to Adam. He was watching her from where he leaned against the open doors of the balcony.
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