Every Pearl Has Its Oyster

by India Lee

  “Oh. There’s nothing to talk about,” Gemma replied rather unconvincingly. She lowered her gaze to the grass, hoping Damian wouldn’t push past that.

  “Okay,” Damian said, putting an arm around her shoulders and giving her a quick squeeze. “Let me know when there is.”

  Before the conversation could continue, Thierry and Darlene had gestured for Gemma and Damian to approach the hanging silks. A crew member removed his sweatshirt, revealing an acrobatic physique underneath as he began to go over rules for safety. Once he finished up, a second crew member came over to go over the basics. Gemma listened intently, learning to wrap her foot and ankle in a way that would keep her secure but allow her to move freely up and down the hanging silk.

  As she twirled and climbed, her exhilaration soared. She was hardly bothered by the growing distance between her body and the ground. In fact, she felt lighter and freer as she ascended farther and farther away from Andro and Perrin. She giggled as she looked down at them, inverting herself so she was hanging upside down as she swung above their heads.

  “Careful!” Perrin yelled. Gemma could see Andro instinctively positioning himself below her as if he was preparing to catch her from a fall. Darlene just smiled, pushing him back.

  “You’re in my shot,” she said. She and Thierry shared a laugh.

  “You’re a natural, sweetheart!” Thierry called up to her. Gemma smiled, bowing her head slightly in thanks. Thierry nodded in Damian’s direction. “Your friend too!” Gemma pulled herself up, hanging on the drop of silk like a rope. She felt herself swing back and forth, catching glimpses of Damian between the bright rays of the sun. He had wrapped the silk around his shoulders and calves so that he was hanging above the ground Mission Impossible style. He looked up to see Gemma smiling at him.

  “Hold out your hand,” he said. Gemma did as he asked, leaning forward with an arm outstretched towards him. Damian freed a hand from the silks and swung himself over to grab her by the wrist. She wrapped her fingers around his strong forearms, giggling as they swung through the air.

  “Oh my goodness, that’s just perfect – don’t move!” Darlene said frantically, struggling to set up her camera. She sprawled across the ground, positioning herself to shoot straight up as she had discussed. “Someone grab a bounce board! Quickly!” A crewmember ran to grab a bounce board, positioning it so that just enough sun streamed across their faces for the first shot. Darlene rolled around the field, snapping shot after shot as she collected grass stains on her sweater.

  “Give me something else!” Darlene called out. “New poses!” Gemma let go of Damian’s hand, pulling her body into the silks and letting the lower half of them unravel. Her hands and feet slid down the silks, positioning herself in a graceful gazelle pose. She watched as Damian did the same, mirroring her motions before once again reaching out a hand to her. Gemma swung forward, placing her hand in his. He pulled her forward in a swift motion, letting go of his grip and replacing his arm around her waist. Gemma bit her lip, feeling slightly uncomfortable. She adjusted her hip so she could put some space between their torsos.

  “Bee, honey, you okay?” Darlene asked. To Gemma’s dismay, she had noticed her sudden uneasiness.

  “Yeah,” Gemma replied. “Just lost my grip a little.”

  “Did I hurt you when I pulled you in?” Damian asked, his eyebrows furrowed with concern.

  “No, no,” Gemma said, shaking her head as she tried to regain the pose she had before. “I just lost my grip, that’s all.” She could feel Damian’s eyes boring into her but she couldn’t bring herself to look up at him. When they last met at the gym, Gemma had noticed his cautiousness in the way he touched her. She had brushed it off as an overreaction but was now overcome with the same feeling. She thought about seeing Tyler with Madison, their chemistry on set and how much that had upset her. Of course, Madison wasn’t just any girl but then again Damian wasn’t just any boy. It was suddenly clear – their friendship couldn’t stay the same.

  Gemma swallowed, her sudden understanding of things making her that much more uncomfortable. She recognized now how lucky she had been with Lucas and Damian. They had done nearly all the work in the relationship, shielding Gemma from whatever elements posed a threat to the peace. If there was jealousy, she never heard of it and if she ever did anything to upset them, they seemed to just let it go. She saw now how downright spoiled she had been. And it wasn’t that Tyler wasn’t doing all in his power to make their relationship the best it could be, there was just a whole lot more work this time around. After all, together they had braved Tyler’s crazy fans, a stalker and the media. It was by no means an easy feat. Gemma saw what she had to do now. It was time for her to step up and take some of the weight off of Tyler’s shoulders

  “Let’s try again,” Damian said, hanging from the silks with his legs as he held Gemma’s waist with both hands. She stiffened in his grasp, reaching both hands to grip the silk above her. “Relax. You were doing fine just a second before.” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Damian unravel himself until he was holding onto his silks in an upright position. “Do you want to get down?”

  “I want to get this over with.”

  “Okay,” Damian said, his voice calm and soothing. “Let’s do that.” He stayed quiet, taking Gemma’s lead as she twirled herself back up into an inverted pose. She hung a couple feet above him, watching as he anchored his feet on the end of the silks and leaned back to look up at her. A small gust of wind picked up the end of the silk wrapped around her leg and blew it behind her. It billowed out, waving gently like a rising sail on a boat. Darlene snapped frame after frame as Gemma changed positions, propelling herself around Damian as she continued posing. She had no idea what she looked like but suspected things were going rather well considering the smile on everyone’s faces. They barely even noticed that each new pose she struck landed her just a little closer to the ground. Once she felt the tickle of the blades of grass beneath her, she let go of the silks and unwrapped her ankles. She looked up to see Damian doing the same.

  He eyed her with suspicion, sensing as always that something was on her mind. Gemma looked away for a moment, already sad for what she knew was about to come out of her mouth.

  “So we just have that one more thing, right? The launch party for Thierry and then our contract’s done,” Gemma started. Damian nodded. “You know, I was thinking, from now on we should probably keep everything between us professional.”

  “Professional?” Damian asked, confused. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean other than for work,” Gemma breathed. She exhaled before she finished. “Other than for work, we shouldn’t talk anymore.”

  “What?” Damian laughed, uncomfortably. “We barely get to talk now. It’s always just a few minutes at something like this or some group outing or sponsor event.” He furrowed his brows, his mouth agape as if he had more to say but couldn’t. He stopped himself, pressing his hands to his mouth. Gemma had never seen him look so disturbed. “Did I do something to upset you?”

  “No. Not me,” Gemma said, tears welling in her eyes. Damian raised an eyebrow.

  “Did Tyler ask you to do this?”

  “No!” Gemma exclaimed. “No, he didn’t ask me to do this, I just thought it was something I needed to do for our relationship. Because it upsets him.”

  “It upsets him that we talk a collective, I don’t know, hour or so a month? If at all?”

  “No, it’s not how much we talk,” Gemma shook her head. “He thinks I share more with you than I do with him.”

  “Do you?” Damian looked at her, eyes wide. She looked back for a moment before pursing her lips and casting her gaze towards the ground.

  “I can’t give Tyler the history that you and I have,” Gemma said.

  “So you’ll make it fair by giving him a present and future that I can’t share with you.”

  “Damian…” Gemma kept shaking her head, watching her tears drop to the ground.

 
“No, I get it, it’s fine. It makes sense,” Damian bit his lip as he thought about it. “I get it. You have to do what’s good for you. So let’s keep things professional.” He backed away, running his hands over his hair as he turned towards his trailer. Gemma watched as he turned to look at her again, as if to ask if she meant it. She stood her ground. He nodded, pursing his lips. “I’ll see you at the event.”

  “C’mon, Bee, how are you not changed yet?” Perrin yelled. Gemma turned to see her gesturing towards their car. “We need to get to Cliff before he leaves for Nashville and there is so much to discuss.”

  “I’m not going,” Gemma said, bitterly. “Do you even need me there? My opinion hardly seems to matter anymore.” She stormed towards her trailer, seeing Perrin heave a deep sigh from the corner of her eye.

  “What’s your problem these days?” Perrin yelled after her. Gemma didn’t answer. She wouldn’t know where to start.

  QUEEN BEE AND DAMIAN EVANS: ALMOST NUDE FOR WANDERLUST!

  The Durt

  September 20th

  Check out the latest picture snapped of Queen Bee and Damian Evans on their latest shoot for Thierry Marc fragrance, Wanderlust. Wearing just skintight white shorts, Evans shows off his NBA-toned muscles as he holds onto Bee in her equally tight, white bodysuit. Knowing all about Bee and Evans’ romantic history, would it be too much to assume that this sexy couple totally enjoyed seeing each other in spandex? We think not! And neither does a juicy source close to the set.

  “It honestly couldn’t be more obvious that Damian and Bee are into each other,” said our source. “They don’t even talk sometimes – they just give each other these looks. That only happens when people know each other real well.”

  Ooh baby. That’s the kind of Durt we love here! Sorry Tyler Chase, but put our names on the list of Supporters for the Union of Bee & Damian!

  “Zoe, get back in the car! People have literally died doing this!”

  Gemma grabbed Zoe by the tiered lace of her dress, wheezing with laughter as Harper helped to pull the top half of her body back into the car. Despite being held down in her seat, Zoe continued to whoop exuberantly out the window.

  “Ladies night, baby!” she screamed, blowing kisses at all the shocked fans who shrieked and waved at them from their own vehicles. They fumbled to grab their cameras and snap a picture of the trio in the backseat of the SUV, heading out for what Gemma had declared an “emergency girl’s night.” Between Oro’s impossible demands, Tyler wild temper and her recent cut-off from Damian, she’d been overwhelmingly stressed and in need of just one off night – one night to just have fun instead of discover something new to be stressed about. Thankfully whenever she fell upon such times, she could always rely on Zoe to distract her from her troubles. Zoe, after all, took her best friend duties very seriously. Before heading out for the club, she’d gone to Tyler’s house with a Trader Joe’s bag full of sugary snacks for Gemma to munch on while she whipped up homemade margaritas and helped her pick an outfit from the walk-in closet. She ultimately settled on one of Gemma’s own designs – a backless peplum-waist mini dress with a sexy halter neckline.

  “Yay, lovies! We’re here!” Zoe sang when the car stopped in front of the nightclub on Sunset. Huddled on the sidewalk in front of the building was a massive, standstill line of club goers as well as a good handful of photographers. “Ah shit, the paps are already here,” Zoe grumbled as she climbed out of the backseat in her strappy Jimmy Choos. She flashed Gemma an apologetic look. “Sorry, boo. I didn’t even tell anyone we were coming.”

  Gemma brushed it off, especially since the paparazzi didn’t even seem prepared for her as she approached the door with the girls. Like the fans on the street, they fumbled to ready their cameras for her, barely able to snap any shots or even shout her name before she disappeared into the club. That was weird, Gemma thought.

  “Maybe they weren’t here for Bee,” Harper mused as they headed for their private booth, escorted by two hostesses and tailed by security.

  “Pfft! Who would they be here for besides Bee?” Zoe asked, skipping merrily in her four-inch heels and running her fingers along the lace-covered walls. “God, I’m so happy to be done with that movie! Can we just go out every night for the next few months? I need to make up for lost time.” She stuck her tongue out when she was met with blank stares. “Ugh, never mind. Why did I even bother to ask Health Nut and Married Person?”

  Harper shrugged but Gemma snorted. “Married Person?”

  “You might as well be!” Zoe pouted, stomping her foot and feigning a tantrum – as if there weren’t enough people staring. Harper rolled her eyes as they all took a seat in the corner booth of the packed room.

  “Don’t even listen to her, Bee. She can’t really talk considering she Skypes with Gavin like, four nights a week.”

  Gemma blinked. “That’s it?”

  “That’s it?” Zoe repeated incredulously. “The boy has school and basketball to worry about! And I have… ” She turned to Harper. “What do I have again?”

  “You’re supposed to be reading scripts, but you’ve been going out instead.”

  “Oh yeah.” Zoe grinned, playing with the ends of her dark, wavy hair. “What can I say? I’m a child of the night. I’m fueled by champagne and music.”

  “Well here’s your champagne,” Harper said. She nodded towards the leggy cocktail waitress heading their way, cradling a magnum of Dom Perignon. “Did we order that?” she asked, looking quizzically at Gemma.

  “Who cares, it’s a sign! Now all I need is some good music and we’re ready to roll!” Zoe squealed, clapping her hands. She paused for a moment, tilting her ear towards the speakers to identify the song blaring from the DJ booth. Her pert nose crinkled. “Eugh, what is this?” she asked the waitress. Gemma listened. She recognized the racy verse.

  My trap is wild/My trap is strong/Once you’re inside it/It won’t be long/You are my prisoner/I know it’s wrong/I’ve got you baby/Where you belong.

  “It’s Romy,” the waitress answered before Gemma could.

  Harper squinted as she squeezed a wedge of lime into her seltzer. “Who’s Romy?”

  The waitress smiled evenly. Once she finished pouring the two flutes of champagne, she held the large bottle up. “The girl who sent you this,” she said before setting it down on the table and walking away. Gemma froze, her champagne flute just inches from her lips. Only then did she notice that the waitress had placed the bottle on top of a large white envelope. Gemma slid it out from under the champagne, frowning as she read the note scribbled on it in girly cursive.

  Cheers to you for being more ‘authentic’ than me... or so you claim.

  xo, Romy

  P.S Figured I’d get you the big bottle since your album is tanking ;)

  “What the fuck?” Zoe promptly sputtered after reading the note over Gemma’s shoulder. “She calls going like triple platinum tanking? Where is this bitch?” She jumped up on the booth, her heels digging into the leather upholstery before Harper pulled her down. “Screw this, I’m ordering my own magnum. Waitress!”

  “Zoe, stop. Hold on a second,” Gemma murmured, still staring at the note. “What’s this about being more ‘authentic’ than her? I never said anything like that.”

  “She’s probably on acid, Bee, I mean look at her. You have to be tripping to wear something like that,” Zoe said, pointing to the middle of the room. There, a massive entourage surrounded a square-shaped booth. Several members were already looking their way. When they parted, Gemma spotted Romy. It was hard to believe that she hadn’t spotted her earlier – she was wearing a black mesh jumpsuit with pasties shaped like leather paw prints. Framing her face was a fire-colored wig in the shape of a lion’s head. Gemma was almost too busy staring at how much more ridiculous she looked in person to notice her holding up both hands – or rather, both fingers.

  “Really?” Zoe sprang back up to her feet along with Harper, who, falling back on old habits, brought her drink t
o chest level in case she’d soon have to throw it.

  “Guys, stop! Don’t go over there, just wait a second,” Gemma said, slipping her fingers into the envelope and feeling a glossy stack of paper. She pulled it out – a magazine, though she was unsure which one. With trepidation, she turned it over to look at the front, unable to help the sense of dread in the pit of her stomach – as if she’d missed something. As if she might somehow be guilty for whatever Romy was accusing her of. Once it was flipped to the cover page, she and the girls stared.

  “What. The. Fuck?” Zoe’s anger had dissolved into total confusion. Gemma gawked, unsure if she was more disgusted or humiliated.

  Gracing the cover was Queen Bee – or at least Queen Bee’s face. She didn’t recognize the rest of herself because despite the seamless photoshopping, she knew it wasn’t her. From the neck down, someone else’s body wore only a garter and leather booty shorts while sticking up two middle fingers, strategically placed in front of her naked breasts. Once she got over the shock of the image, Gemma read the headlines.

  QB TELLS ALL ABOUT HER NEW LOOK & HER BEEF WITH ROMY!

  Before she knew it, her anxious hands had flipped to the page of her so-called interview. She read the quotes aloud with a mixture of awe and disbelief.

  “‘When asked about her competition with singer-slash-rapper Romy, Bee said, ‘I’d rather not acknowledge someone as pathetically manufactured as her… but I will say that her lyrics aren’t based on anything real or interesting like mine. Mine are authentic and the ordeal I’ve been through this past year has only brought more passion to my singing.’”