by India Lee
“Nice meeting you, Aubrey. Good seeing you again, Damian, but we were actually about to go speak to someone,” Tyler said. Gemma furrowed her brows, confused but knowing better than to challenge him. She followed Tyler reluctantly, Andro and Mike looking quite reluctant as well.
“Who are we speaking to?” Gemma asked once they were far enough so that Damian was out of earshot.
“There’s this record producer, here that I used to work with a couple years ago,” Tyler said. “His name’s Burrow and he’s doing a solo venture right now and he’s starting up a new indie record label.”
“Oh,” Gemma replied. “Are you planning on switching labels?”
“Well, maybe,” Tyler said. “I am looking for a different vibe and feel once I start recording again so I think it’s a good idea to start shopping around for someone who knows how to fulfill what I’m going after, you know?”
“That sounds great, Tyler!” Gemma said, pulling him in to give him a kiss. He smiled a quick smile, looking genuinely happy for the first time since Belize.
“But there’s something else too.” Tyler stopped and took her hands in his. “He’s interested in signing you too and if you sign on, I’ll definitely sign on. And I’m telling you now, ahead of time, because I know last time I was wrong to just spring the whole Carbine thing on you. How great would it be, you and me starting everything over with a new label?”
“Tyler, you know – I mean – I’ve told you that I’m not in a place to think about this right now,” Gemma sighed, exasperated. “I just need some time to think what my next move will be.”
“I know, I know,” Tyler said, squeezing Gemma’s hands. “I know. Which is why I’m just having you meet him first to see if you like him and you can think about it for as long as you need to and we’ll figure it out from – “
“No, Tyler,” Gemma pried her hands from his grasp. “I’ll figure it out. I on my own will figure it out.”
“Why on your own, Gemma? I don’t get it,” Tyler said under his breath, eying Andro and Mike to make sure they were keeping their distance. “I know I fucked up with the engagement ring so soon and everything but we’re a couple and couple’s are supposed to make decisions together. Aren’t they?” Gemma stared at Tyler, nodding, but not really knowing why. She wasn’t nodding in reply to Tyler and she certainly wasn’t nodding in agreement. There were a multitude of thoughts flying through her mind but none were appropriate to say aloud. She wanted to though – she wanted to say how she had never made a major decision on her own and that she was sick of everyone around her choosing things for her. Whether it was what she wore or what she did, it was always someone else telling her what to do.
She thought she’d have freedom when she graduated high school. She thought she’d have freedom when her Aunt Mira stepped down from her position. She thought she’d have freedom when she moved to Los Angeles. But there were always hiccups, always bumps in the road. Even then she was hopeful that freedom was just around the corner. She thought she’d have her own say once Oro was out of the picture and she had a moment to think without security but that moment was fleeting. It had been so long since Gemma made a true decision for herself that no one around her trusted to do so anymore.
“Will you at least come with me to say hi to Burrow?” Tyler asked. “I told him I’d be right back.”
“I need to use the restroom,” Gemma said. “So why don’t you go first?”
“Okay, fine,” Tyler sighed. “I scheduled a lunch with him tomorrow so you can meet him then.” He signaled for Mike and Andro to follow Gemma.
“I’m going to use the bathroom, guys.” Gemma rolled her eyes. “Go with Tyler.” Mike and Andro stayed still for a moment while walked away, back towards the VIP area. In the reflection of a banister in front of her, Gemma caught Tyler signaling for Mike and Andro to follow her again. They did as they were told. Gemma pulled the hemline of her dress up, hoping it would give her just enough room to quicken her pace just a little bit more. As she reached the entryway, Gemma turned to find herself face to face again with Mike and Andro.
“I know you two are just doing your jobs but do you have any shame at all?” Gemma spat. “You’re following me to the bathroom for God’s sake and at the request of my boyfriend. I know he’s in a weird place right now so he gets a pass though he really shouldn’t, but how about the two of you? Don’t you see how wrong all this is? Tracing my credit card, following me to San Francisco, dragging me back to L.A.”
“We’re just trying to keep you safe, Bee,” Andro replied. “That’s been my relationship with you since day one.”
“But it’s changed and you know that,” Gemma said. “Like you said, you work for Tyler now and he doesn’t have the right to use you guys like guard dogs on his girlfriend. You’re no longer protecting me as Oro’s precious cargo, you’re protecting my boyfriend from having to ever wonder where his girlfriend is because that’s apparently something he can’t handle.”
“Bee,” Andro shook his head. “Like you said, you know where he’s coming from right now. I found you in a hotel room with Damian.”
“Which you should have never told him because you know it wasn’t like that!”
“I never told him. He assumed it and correctly so. I mean, you were in San Francisco, the Bay Area, I think anyone could assume what you were up there doing.”
“I didn’t go there on purpose, Andro, I just ended up there.”
“Right,” he scoffed.
“You can believe me or not but all I’m asking you is to be human for a second and be the person you were with me before the insanity with Elizabeth and before Perrin and Tyler tightened the ropes around you guys,” Gemma reasoned. “Or at the very least, just wait out here for me and let me go past this point on my own.”
“The vanity area is unisex, we’ll wait in there,” Mike said, following her again.
“No,” Gemma exhaled. “Give me some breathing room. You guys can stand outside the vanity area. Unless you girls need to touch up your lip gloss or something.”
“Alright, point taken,” Mike replied, shrugging as he backed off. Andro nodded, backing off as well. Gemma pushed her way into the empty vanity room where she had been touching up her makeup with Zoe and Harper. She had wished that they’d be in there somehow, not having seen them on her way to the VIP area. Gemma just needed a moment with her girls, even if it was just sitting side by side on the chaise beside the mirror.
She plopped onto the lounge, staring out into space. The music was different in the vanity room, the spa-like chimes and bells a stark contrast from the lively jazz outside. Gemma exhaled, leaning back against the wall and wondering how much time she could get away with just sitting there. Just as she was about to close her eyes, the door to the men’s room swung open. Damian stepped out, a big smile on his face as he spotted her.
“Hey there,” he said, walking over and taking a seat next to her. “If you’re waiting for Tyler, I don’t think I saw him in there.”
“No, I’m not waiting for Tyler,” Gemma laughed. “Just needed a moment.”
“Oh,” Damian furrowed his brows. “Should I go then? I just need to wait for Aubrey, she should be any second.”
“No, you don’t have to go,” Gemma said. “I don’t own this vanity room.”
“Just wanted to give you your space if that’s what you’re looking for.”
“I appreciate it, but I don’t think you can give me the space I’m looking for. Andro and Mike are literally right outside the door.”
“Why?” Damian laughed. “Don’t tell me they do that with you when you’re home too.” Gemma frowned.
“No, they pretty much do,” she replied. “I had a week without them but now that Tyler’s wrapped up shooting and Andro’s back on duty to make sure I don’t ‘run away again,’ I’m pretty much surrounded.”
“Gem, all kidding aside about your excessive security and everything, you don’t sound very happy these days,” Damian said. �
��Actually, I don’t think I’ve seen you truly happy in awhile.”
“I know,” she sighed. “You only ever see the sad me. The one who complains about her life all the time even though she should really just be grateful.”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Damian explained. “If you’re unhappy, then there has to be a reason and if there’s a reason, we can tackle it.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It is,” Damian insisted. “What can you do right now to make you happy?”
“That question’s too hard, Damian.”
“Just say the first thing that comes to mind,” Damian said. “This works, I swear. My mom used to do this to me all the time. This is how I made the decision to leave UCLA.”
“Really?” Gemma smiled. “Okay, I guess I can give it a try…”
“Just clear your mind, close your eyes,” Damian instructed. Gemma did as she was told. “First thing that comes to mind. Go.”
“I want to jump off a cliff.”
“What?” Damian laughed, uncomfortably. “No. I have to officially veto that, sorry.”
“Not to like, kill myself,” Gemma opened her eyes only to narrow them at Damian. “I’d hope you know me better than to think that.”
“Then what were you trying to say?”
“I mean like,” Gemma sighed. “I want to fly. Like the photo Darlene took of us. But actually flying. With nothing binding me. Just for a second.”
“I can teach you how to dunk,” Damian suggested. “People say that sort of feels like flying.”
“There’s a smaller chance of me dunking a basketball successfully than actually sprouting wings and flying.”
“We can all go trapezing? They have trapezes in Santa Monica.”
“No,” Gemma laughed, tickled by Damian’s ongoing suggestions. “I’d still be holding onto the trapeze. So it won’t feel like flying.”
“This is a tough one,” Damian said, shrugging. “I mean, I don’t think our bones are meant to be, like, aerodynamic, so…”
“Okay, stop!” Gemma put a hand on his knee, giggling. “That’s not quite what I mean, don’t kill my dream.”
“That’s not what I meant to do, I’m sorry.” Damian put a hand over hers. “Let’s try one more time. And we’ll go with whatever you say. What can you do right now to make you happy? Close your eyes, clear your mind. Go.”
“I want to leave this party,” Gemma blurted out, her eyes closed.
“That’s easy enough,” Damian laughed.
“By myself,” she opened her eyes to see Damian’s surprise. “Without security. Without Tyler. Just by myself. No questions asked.”
“Okay,” Damian nodded. Before Gemma they could venture into how, Aubrey stepped out of the ladies’ room. She smiled, choosing the seat next to Gemma instead of the one next to Damian.
“Hi again!” she said casually, flipping her perfectly straight, waist-length hair. “What’re we talking about?”
“I have an idea,” Damian said, smiling at Aubrey. Aubrey flashed her eyebrows, smiling a goofy smile back.
“An idea about what?”
“Gemma needs a little help,” Damian continued. “She needs an escape route.”
“From what?” Aubrey said, looking at Gemma with genuine concern.
“My life,” Gemma replied.
“Very dramatic,” Aubrey nodded. “I like that. What can I do?”
“Just follow my lead,” Damian said, standing up. He turned to Gemma. “Andro and Mike are right outside, you said?”
“Yeah.” Gemma watched as Damian opened the door.
“Andro?” Damian waved Andro and Mike in. They stepped in, looking serious until they caught sight of Aubrey sitting with Gemma on the chaise lounge. “Hey man, you said you’re from Croatia, right?”
“Yeah,” Andro replied, struggling to keep his eyes on Damian. Mike didn’t even bother, smiling shyly as he continued to look at Aubrey.
“Croatia?” Aubrey said, uncrossing her long bronze legs to make her way over to Andro. “Damian and I wanted to take a trip together and he says he wants to do Croatia but I said there’s nothing to do there. Am I right?”
“I’m not Croatian,” Mike interjected. “But I’ve been there and it’s just great, really. It’s a great vacationing place.” Gemma bit her lip to keep from laughing. It wasn’t as if Andro and Mike had been sheltered from girls. In fact, with their job sending them to major Hollywood and industry events with Gemma and Tyler, they were often exposed to the most beautiful women in the world – supermodels and actors alike. Gemma was just lucky enough to have the one they were previously obsessed with on hand.
“Well then tell me,” Aubrey said, taking their hands and leading them to a cozy corner of the room. She twirled her hair around her finger, biting her glossy lips as she looked up through her lashes. “What’s so great about Croatia that we should spend out precious vacation time there?”
Damian gestured for Gemma to follow him into the men’s room. She did so without hesitation, wondering how long Aubrey could keep them distracted. Gemma took her baby steps, teetering in her high heeled sandals and narrow skirt.
“You can barely walk in that,” Damian squinted at the hem of her skirt. “But I’m going to need you to climb in about a second.”
“What?” Gemma asked, looking at what Damian was pointing to. There was a window above one of the sinks. It was cracked open.
“That leads to the parking lot,” Damian said. “But you didn’t drive here on your own, did you?”
“Of course not.”
“I didn’t think so,” Damian said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ticket. “My valet ticket.”
“What? Don’t you need it to get back to the hotel? Or home?”
“No, that’s just a rental. I flew in and just picked up a car by LAX. We can call a car back to the hotel, it’s no big deal. My teammates will be in town soon too so I’ll find a ride from there.”
“Okay.” Gemma could still hear Andro talking to Aubrey outside.
“You jumped off a cliff?” She could hear Aubrey saying through the door. Damian cocked his head, looking at Gemma.
“Is this a theme today, or…?”
“Yeah, cliff diving. You go into the water so it’s not as dangerous as it sounds but of course there is always a risk to it,” Andro replied with fanfare. Damian arched an eyebrow at Gemma.
“I see,” he said to her, smiling. “You daredevil.”
“It was just a thought,” Gemma laughed. “He tells this story all the time so he kind of planted it in my head.”
“How about you, Mike?” Aubrey purred. “Are you brave like Andro?” She could hear an immediate argument between the two guards as Aubrey giggled. Gemma covered her mouth to stifle her laugh.
“Your girl knows how to work it,” Gemma said. “It’s good she’s buying me time, it’s going to take me awhile to climb out of here. I don’t even know how to start.”
“I don’t think you should have your heels on when you’re climbing onto the sink, it’ll be too slippery,” Damian suggested as he studied her feet.
“You’re telling me to take my shoes off in a public men’s room?”
“I know, but I think it’ll be easier for you that way,” Damian laughed. “Here, hand me the shoe when you take it off and step on my feet so you don’t have to touch the floor.” Gemma threw her clutch in the sink and put her hands on his shoulders, kicking off her sandals and stepping on his white leather shoes. In a swift motion, he hoisted her up so that she could steady her feet on the sink.
“Oh my God, I don’t think I can do this,” Gemma said, struggling to balance with her legs wrapped tightly by the dress.
“You can’t climb on a sink but you want to jump off a cliff?” Damian teased. “Besides, there’s an easy solution to this. Hold onto the window ledge.” Gemma held on, looking down at Damian as he held the hem of her dress in both hands. With a quick motion, he tore the fabric.
Gemma felt a breeze up the left side of her leg. There was suddenly a makeshift slit in her dress, all the way up to her hip.
“Damian!” she said urgently in a hushed voice. “This isn’t my dress.”
“I’ll have Thierry bill me,” he shrugged. “But hurry or Aubrey’s going to have to start stripping to keep them from realizing you’re gone and I’ll feel really bad if it comes to that.” Gemma laughed, turning towards the window and feeling for what was outside. She could tell they were likely partially underground since the bottom ledge of the window was just inches above a patch of grass.
“I like Aubrey. You’re going to have to thank her for me. How did you two meet, anyway?” Gemma asked as she anchored a foot on the faucet, pushing herself out of the window. She felt Damian inch beneath her, spotting her moves from a distance.
“We met today,” Damian replied. “When my PR team introduced us at the bar in the lobby of my hotel.”
“Seriously?” Gemma laughed.
“Yeah,” Damian shrugged. “You know how it is.” He smiled up at her
“I like her though,” Gemma said. “And you guys seem to be getting along really well.”
“Yeah, she’s pretty cool,” Damian replied. “And I can still hear them going, she’s still got them pretty wrapped up.” He laughed. “How are you doing? You got a good grip there?”
“Yeah!” Gemma said. She could feel how much she needed to launch herself up and had a clear view of the space she was about to jump into. It would be a soft landing, a small stretch of lawn lining the building before the pavement of the parking lot.
“You okay getting up on your own or do you need a boost?” Damian asked. Without answering, Gemma pulled herself through the window, tucking her legs in as she rolled onto the grass. She giggled as she rolled onto her stomach, sticking her head back through the window.
