Managed 1: A Rock Star Romance

by Clarissa Carlyle

  Jasper held the door open for Hailey as she got into the car. Carl was already behind the wheel ready to take them to the kid’s home. Jasper had to admit that seeing Hailey in one of his oversized band T-shirts was as hot as the tank top. The center wasn't far away, and when they pulled up, ten grungy kids ran toward the car. They all stopped when Carl's hulking frame stepped out.

  Carl opened the door and Hailey practically crawled over Jasper to get to the kids. She got down on her knees while she talked to every one of them and asked them what they had been up to that day.

  All the little eyes were on her as she spoke. Even with a rock star behind her, Hailey's tiny form commanded they pay attention to her. Hailey finally stood back up and introduced Jasper to each kid.

  Jasper tried to lock all of their names in his head, but there were a lot of them. A scrawny little boy with dark hair and even darker eyes couldn't tear his eyes from Hailey. Jasper smiled, thinking that he was in the same boat. Hailey challenged them to a race, and they all set off in the direction they came.

  “Come on, Big Bird,” Hailey screamed over her shoulder. “You too, Carl. We need all the help we can get.”

  Jasper stood there in a daze as Hailey sprinted across the manicured lawn. When Carl bumped into him, only then did Jasper move too.

  When he reached the flowerbeds, a little girl handed him some flowers and pointed to the row he was supposed to put them in.

  “Here you go, you put that plant there.” She pointed.

  “Okay,” he chuckled at how demanding the tiny girl was.

  “Like this?” he asked and dug a small hole the plant wouldn’t fit in.

  “No, move. I’ll just do it myself.” The tiny girl huffed and scooped up a big handful of dirt looking at him as she put the plant in the ground.

  Jasper slid over to Hailey's side and helped her plant the row she was working on.

  “That chick is bossy,” Jasper said, “reminds me of someone I know.” He smirked at her.

  She had a dirt streak on her cheek. He reached over to wipe it off but ended up smearing more dirt on her.

  “Hey,” she said before taking her hand and sliding it down his face covering it with dirt.

  “What was that for,” Jasper asked as all the kids burst out laughing.

  “You smeared dirt on my face,” she answered.

  “I was trying to wipe it off.”

  “Oh, well so was I,” Hailey squealed, as he ran more dirt down her face.

  “Are you playing or being mean?” the little bossy pants asked, her tiny hands planted on her hips.

  “We were playing, but you did good trying to stick up for someone. I wish you were around when I was in school,” Hailey said, giving her a hug.

  Jasper eyes widened as he listened to Hailey. His blood boiled as he thought of someone bullying Hailey when she was younger. He had been right the charities she had chosen were close to her, and at that moment, he wanted to pull her on his lap and tell her he wouldn't let anyone hurt her again. Even himself.

  A camera snapped like wild, pulling him out of his thoughts. So wrapped up in Hailey, he’d forgotten the media was there. “Alright, kids, the time has come for us to go,” Jasper said, getting to his feet and holding out his hand to help up Hailey.

  She looked at it for a moment, but finally laid her hand in his. After they said goodbyes and received a bunch of dirty hugs, the three of them were back in the car headed back to the hotel.

  “Did you not have any fun?” Hailey asked.

  “I had a blast. Why would you ask that?” Jasper asked confused where Hailey was coming from.

  “Well you just wanted to leave abruptly. I thought we were having a good time, and then you wanted to leave.”

  “I was enjoying it, but when the media started taking pictures it felt wrong. I didn't want to do it only for the publicity. I wanted to spend time with the kids,” he admitted, shrugging.

  “But we were doing it for the publicity. That's kind of my job.”

  “You're good at your job. I don't doubt that you will have my reputation pristine in no time. But you can't tell me you were doing that just for the publicity. I saw how much fun you were having with the kids. Were you bullied when you were younger?” He hadn't meant to ask her, but the question had flown out of his mouth.

  Hailey's cheeks reddened, and Jasper had the urge to pull her to him and kiss her dirt-streaked face.

  “I was,” she said. “The kids used to make fun of my small frame and large butt. I started to wear big clothing to hide everything. Then of course they made fun of me for wearing what I wore, but by then I didn't really care what they said about me. And my clothes were comfortable. So I kept them.”

  Hailey smiled, and it took Jasper's breath away. He had to stop himself from leaning forward and wrapping himself around her. She was so strong and giving he had the urge to protect her.

  Just before he acted on that urge, Carl pulled up to his building.

  They were quiet as they made their way back to Jasper's room. Right when they entered, Hailey's phone rang. She cocked an eyebrow before she answered it.

  Jasper went to the kitchen, pulled out two bottles of water, and handed her one right after she hung up. Hailey opened her water and took a big drink.

  “What's up?” Jasper asked, when Hailey continued to stare at nothing.

  “That was Matthew. He asked me out tonight. For a date not a business thing.” Her voice sounded off, as if she was processing the call.

  “Why do you look so confused?” he asked, as they stood in the middle of the room.

  “He has never shown any interest in me before. He started to about a week ago. I’m not sure what I did to make him see me differently. It's weird going out with a co-worker, right?” Hailey asked, her big doe eyes locked on him.

  Jasper took a long drink of his water as he thought of how to answer her. He already determined the brown-nosed ass-wipe was not right for Hailey, but who was he to stop her from going out with him. Jasper's life was a mess right now and getting involved with his PR person was something he shouldn't even consider. He took another drink and let the bitter words out.

  “You should go out with him. We accomplished a lot today. I'm not planning to leave the room, and Tara will be tied up with her PR all day so I can't get in any trouble tonight. You deserve a fun night out.” Jasper was surprised at how nasty those words had tasted.

  Hailey stared at him for a moment, and Jasper wanted to take back everything he had just said.

  “You're right. Can I use your bathroom?” She looked down at her dirty hands.

  Jasper forced himself to smile at her as he pointed to the bathroom in his room. She came out minutes later. Her face was washed clean from any dirt and some light, fresh make-up and she looked like she was glowing.

  “I can't believe you are reading Steinbeck,” she exclaimed, throwing Jasper for another loop. This girl was always surprising him.

  “He's my favorite,” he admitted, wondering what she was going to say next.

  “He’s my favorite too.” She jumped up and down still wearing his T-shirt and making his jeans uncomfortable again. Hailey stopped jumping after a moment and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Well I guess I'll get going. Start thinking of something you would like to do with charities that I can set up for us.”

  “That's your job. I'm going to go read,” Jasper didn't want to be a jerk to her, but she was leaving him for another man, and he was having a hard time being civil. There really was something wrong with him.

  Hailey gave a nervous laugh as she pulled her purse higher on her shoulder. “I had fun today. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She tucked her chin down to her chest hindering Jasper's view of her.

  “I had fun today too, Little Bird. See you tomorrow.” Jasper couldn't force himself to tell her to have a good time. He let out a surprise breath when Hailey wrapped her small arms around him.

  “Thank you for being so good with the kids today.�
�� She kissed him on the cheek before disappearing out of his door. He stared at the door for a long time after it had closed.

  Chapter Six

  Hailey fidgeted as she got out of the cab. The cab felt foreign to her. Matthew was waiting for her at the entrance of the restaurant, and waved her over, not moving from his spot by the door. Hailey smiled widely, excited to finally get to go out with him.

  Matthew wore a blue suit she’d seen him wear many times in the office. His hair was combed as if he had just gotten out of the shower. He looked amazing, just like he always did

  “Hailey, you look fabulous.” He placed his hand on her lower back, leading her into a fancy Italian restaurant.

  Hailey had a slight pain thinking that she would be eating Italian food that Mama Mechie didn't cook. When Jasper had taken her to Mama Mechie's, she told herself she would never eat it anywhere else. Not three days later Hailey was breaking her vow. The restaurant was beyond nice, and she once again compared the hole in the wall restaurants Jasper had taken her to, with the one Matthew picked. She hated to admit it, but she liked Jasper's choices better.

  “The food here is five star,” Matthew said into her ear, as the hostess took them back to their seat.

  When their order was placed he smiled at Hailey, making her stomach flutter.

  “So how is the Jasper account going?” His eyes gleamed with an emotion Hailey couldn't quite decipher.

  “It’s going great, a little rocky at first but I think we are getting a handle on things. The press today was a positive start.”

  “Well, you clearly don’t have control of him.”

  “Excuse me?” Hailey blinked at him.

  “If you need some advice…”

  “I’ll ask if I need help, thank you,” she said cutting him off.

  “It’s just I do have more tenure than you do and will gladly help,” he said bluntly.

  Hailey sat back in her chair, her arms crossing. The nerve of him.

  “I saw the blondes…”

  “A minor setback,” she spoke over him, “The media has reacted really well to the statement he issued, and it’s only been a couple of hours. Give it a day or two and more will come about. Can we talk about something besides work, Matthew?”

  “Of course we can. If you want any help, you know I’m good at my job.”

  He winked at her and the way he said it made her feel like he was implying she wasn’t good at hers. She tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was just bad at first dates.

  “I’m good at mine as well. I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, trying to keep the sarcasm to a minimum.

  Their food came, breaking the awkward tension between them. Matthew became very interested in his pasta so she ate quietly for a little while before breaking the silence.

  “I met some great kids today while helping them plant flowers. They were all so happy to be out in the sunlight and around people. We should be more like that, you know.”

  “I saw. Personally, I would have had him working with something a little more mature. Going for the kids just seems like a desperate move. You got cute kids around a rock star and of course it looks great.”

  “Matthew, I was talking about my day, not Jasper’s day. Besides, he didn't want the media to see him. He wanted to do it just for fun.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. My mind just goes there. I don’t mean for it to. I like you, Hailey, and I want you to succeed. Let’s change the subject. Tell me about your family.”

  “Yes, let's do that.” Hailey smiled and started to tell Matthew about herself, happy he was finally listening to her and not trying to give her professional advice.

  Mathew’s comment about desperation sat in the back of her mind. Try as she might, she couldn’t let it go. Still, they were able to finish dinner, and as the conversation drifted away from work, he reminded her of why she had a crush, and to finally be out with him enjoying food and company was completely surreal.

  “Let’s go for a walk.” Matthew suggested and Hailey thought that sounded like a great idea.

  They walked down the street and Matthew slipped his hand into hers, causing butterflies to flit about in her stomach. They walked quietly, and Hailey enjoyed the peace of it all and being with Matthew outside of work. She felt excited to see where the relationship might go, after such an up and down first date. She would try. The time had come for her to start living her life. With the Jasper account and a potential boyfriend, she could see her life starting to become what she wanted it to be.

  They stopped at a small bridge that overlooked a small creek. Either way it was nice with the dusk settling around them and the fireflies coming out. Hailey saw after a moment they weren’t fire flies, but the lights across the water coming on because it was getting dark. Oh well, living in the city you took beauty where you could get it.

  Matthew turned to her and took her shoulders in his hands. “You look lovely tonight. Thank you for coming out with me. I'm sorry for the way I acted. I really do like you, and I just want to help you. Sometimes I come off harsh when I talk about work. I won't do it again.”

  That was more like it, Hailey thought.

  He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, causing them to tingle, and she brought her arms around his neck to give him the option to deepen it. It was a perfect moment for a kiss and his tongue ran along the outside of her mouth prompting her to open for him. She let him in and a dizzy warmth rushed through her body. He tightened his arms around her waist and pushed his tongue against hers, taking her cue. A perfect kiss for the perfect moment and it was over too soon.

  “Well, you have plans tomorrow with Jasper?” Matthew asked pulling her from her head swimming moment.

  “Um, yes, we have some stuff to go over. You want to go out again? I won't be with him all day. I'm sure we can make it work.”

  “Oh yeah sure.” Matthew’s eyes were darting all over the place, but refusing to land on Hailey's face.

  Hailey wanted to get his full attention, so she could try to read his face, but his dodgy demeanor wasn't allowing it. Part of her thought it was because they’d kissed and he’d been as taken by it as she was.

  “Great that will be fun. Just text me and let me know what time you want to go out.” She hesitated with the next part. “Or if you want to, you can come back to my place.”

  Leaning toward him, she put a hand on his arm. She wanted him to know she wouldn’t mind if things escalated. This was a bold move for her, but she was trying to live her life instead of letting it pass her by. He smiled at her, not saying anything, and she thought he might kiss her again, but he pulled her into a hug.

  “I would, but I have a lot of things to do tomorrow, and I should probably get to bed. I’ll take a rain check though.” He didn’t even wait to walk her back to the road to hail a cab; he just took off walking back toward the restaurant. “I had a great time tonight, Hailey,” he said over his shoulder.

  Hailey was left with a mix of emotions. On the one hand, she had the mind-blowing kiss to think about, but on the other, there was his hot and cold attitude that left her confused. She wondered if she was doing something wrong. It had been a long time since she had a first date. He did explain he wanted to help her, and as much as she wanted that to be true, she couldn't help but throw up her guard. She realized she couldn't do anything until she saw him again and was able to gauge his reaction, so she pushed all thoughts of Matthew aside and walked to her car.

  ***

  “You should get in on this, Jasper. It’s Grade A premium coke.” Liam the drummer of the Weeds was always trying to convince him he should do drugs with them.

  Jasper never took them up on it. Why keep asking? He didn't know if they did it out of courtesy, or if they thought he would eventually take him up on their offer.

  “No one will know for sure, you know,” Dustin said, going right along with Liam. “They think you do all the drugs and women anyway. You might as well have a little fun. In their minds, y
ou are already guilty, so really it isn't like you would disappoint them.”

  Jasper had done coke before when they first started to get a little bit of money. It just wasn’t for him. When he took it, he had been hoping it would open his artistic mind and allow him to create something special. All it did instead was make him jumpy where he couldn't sit down long enough to write one sentence. “It clouds my brain and I can’t get any writing done.”

  “You haven’t been writing any at all anyway,” Liam said, and Dustin hit him. “It’s true, D, you don’t have to slap me. We have been feeding our fans that shit for a while now.”

  “Actually I have something I wanted to play for you guys. It’s raw, so it’s not going to be ready for the public or anything, but I wanted to run it by you.” Jasper wasn't going to tell them about his newest project until later, if at all. Their goading had struck a nerve, and he wanted them to see he hadn't completely sold out in life.

  “Hell, yes,” Dustin forever the cheerleader said as he moved forward. “See Liam you don’t know what you’re talking about. Lay it on us.”

  Jasper tuned his guitar, strummed a few notes to get his pitch, and launched into his song. He had been scribbling relentlessly in his tattered notebook. So much so, he had to get another one. The song was about a girl who was pretty inside and out but hid herself from the world. She was a bright spot in the darkness and didn’t know her own light. He sang about the hurt he felt seeing the light trying to be extinguished by her own demons.

  He hadn’t realized the song was about Hailey, but now that he was singing it, there was no one else it could have been about. She had infiltrated his mind more than he had realized. He had fun hanging out with her lately, but it seemed his brain knew something he was still figuring out. She was the one who hid herself in all her big clothes; she was the one who was helping him be himself. She was special. The ending lyrics came to him as he sang, and he hurried to write them down once he’d finished singing.

  “There you have it, mates. My new lyrics.”

  Both men stared at him for a minute, making Jasper extremely nervous. Finally, Dustin broke the silence: “That was sick, man, really good. You have to play that for the label.”