I didn’t really have a lot of connections in the town, and as anyone who has grown up in a small town knows, connections are everything. Most people got jobs through their parents, but my mom, who worked really hard to make sure I had a good life, never really made it anywhere careerwise, and so I didn’t have a lot of connections by the time I graduated.
I tried to get jobs doing anything in the PR field. Hell, I even tried to get jobs in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and even Chicago, but with the economy the way it was, I rarely got interviews, let alone an actual job. Meanwhile, interest on my student loans was starting to accumulate, I wasn’t able to find any work at all, and starting to get depressed about it. After all, I’d devoted a couple years of my life to this diploma. I didn’t want it all to go to waste. Eventually I went on the internet and read about starting my own business. After all, isn’t that the American dream?
It was a hell of a lot harder than I expected it to be. For a while I was working 50, 60 and sometimes even 70 hour weeks just trying to drum up business literally everywhere I could. Things started working out for me eventually though, and thanks to the low overhead, I quickly managed to actually be successful at it.
So, I was now running my own small PR firm in our small town in Ohio. Of course, it wasn’t like I was a superstar or anything. Mainly I just suggested to local business owners how to make attractive advertisements, or how to get some free airtime on the local radio station. The three major companies in town hired me to write the press releases they sent out every month or so, and that was enough to pay the bills, which was all I wanted.
What Jonathan was proposing though, that just completely blew me away. I read the next part of the letter aloud, just to make sure I’d gotten it right:
“I heard from Sally that you’re running a PR company in town, and a fairly successful one, which doesn’t surprise me at all. As I’m sure you can understand, I’ve got reservations now hiring an outside firm. If you were willing, I’d like for you to come to Los Angeles and run the PR for the band. We’ll pay you well, of course, but right now we need someone with experience that we can trust that we know would be amazing at the job, and we want that person to be you. In fact, I want that person to be you. I’ve already booked you a ticket, in a week. If you’re interested, then please come and see me. If not, well, I’ll be disappointed, but I’ll understand.”
I sank into the couch and let the letter fall to the floor. Grabbing the envelope, I pulled out the boarding pass for a first class flight to Los Angeles, dated about a week away. Suddenly I began to feel faint. Was this really happening? I hadn’t heard from Jonathan in a year, and he wanted me to suddenly pack my bags and go work for him? I mean, that was asking quite a lot, wasn’t it?
Of course, there was another complication. I had a boyfriend now. Kevin was kind, thoughtful and the kind of guy you could bring home to mom. I met Kevin in college: he was getting an accounting diploma and we shared an elective class. We sat next to each other a few times, got to talking and the next thing I knew we were dating.
Now Kevin worked for one of my clients, as a junior accountant, we shared a small apartment and were happily building our lives together. I assumed we would probably get engaged in the next year, then married and have a few kids by the time I turned thirty. After all, that’s what everyone did in this town. I was comfortable and settled in my life, happily going about my business, until this letter from Jonathan shattered everything.
Strangely enough, a part of me considered not telling Kevin about Jonathan’s letter at all. Kevin and I told each other everything, and this was an important thing to want to keep from him. A few seconds later I decided I would tell him, but the back of my mind still nagged at me that my instinct was to keep it away from Kevin. Why was I doing that? Why had I even considered hiding the letter from Kevin? Was it because I secretly still loved Jonathan? Surely not. I couldn’t still love him. He’d ripped my heart apart at the lake all those years ago, I couldn’t still love him.
The one thing I had never told Kevin about was my love for Jonathan. He knew everything else about me: how I cried every night for a month when my parents got divorced, how I felt guilty about taking Katina Lowry’s favourite doll in Kindergarten after she was mean to me, how much I hated being chubby in high school. Everything. Except for Jonathan.
I broached the topic that night as we ate dinner in front of the TV. I didn’t really know how to bring it up, so I just went for it:
“Hey, I got a letter from Sally’s brother today, offering me a gig in LA.”
Kevin’s attention immediately turned from the sitcom we were watching to me.
“Really? That guy from Knight Blindness?”
I nodded. “Yeah, you know that scandal they just had, well it turns out it was the head of their PR that leaked the story to get them more attention, so they fired the firm and need someone else. He wrote me offering me the job, complete with a first class plane ticket to LA next week.”
“Are you going to take it?”
“Well no, I wasn’t really going to. After all, we have a life here together.” It wasn’t strictly true, I had to admit a part of me really wanted to see Jonathan, as much as I tried to deny it. He was still my first love, after all, even if he’d broken my heart.
“But Sara, of course you have to take it. This is the opportunity of a lifetime! Can you imagine how much money you could make, how famous you would be in the PR world if you did it, even for a year or two? You could annihilate your student loan debt, you could start saving for things, like maybe a wedding in the future, that sort of thing.”
I had to admit, I was touched by Kevin’s reaction. I had expected him to be lukewarm about the idea at best, since obviously it would mean the two of us being apart for quite some time.
“But what about us? I mean, what’s going to happen if I go to LA?”
Kevin took my hands in his. “Sara, I love you. I love you with all my heart. We’re meant to be together. If that means you’re going to have to spend a little bit of time away from me, and that we’re going to have to do things long distance, well so be it. I want to see you succeed. I want to see your business succeed. And this is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that just needs to be taken.”
My head began to spin. I hadn’t expected this reaction, and the more Kevin talked me into it, the more it made sense. This was a huge opportunity for my career. Who knew what it could lead to in the future? Honestly, I’d kind of been leaning away from taking the job until Kevin, being the supportive boyfriend that he was, started to tell me how good of an idea it was. I was so thrilled with how much Kevin loved me. Honestly, it almost hurt how much I loved his reaction. It was so nice of him. I mean, a few years ago a friend of mine, Katie, was dating a guy named Mark. She ran into an old friend of ours Pete, at a book store and they grabbed a cup of coffee to catch up on things, since they hadn’t seen each other in years, as Pete moved away in high school. Mark found out about it and blew up on Katie, eventually hitting her so hard he broke her jaw. All over a guy that Katie had never even come close to having romantic feelings for.
No, Kevin’s reaction was so incredible, so perfectly Kevin, the reaction I wanted from my future husband. I swelled with joy as I realized that Kevin was well and truly the man for me. He was so nice, so caring, so thoughtful. I loved him so much, I knew it was going to make it even harder for me to leave him for a while and work for Jonathan’s band. Not to mention, Kevin’s brief mention of us getting married was a nice boost to the ego. We weren’t engaged, of course, but hearing him speak of the future like that still made me feel good. It made me feel wanted.
And after all, it would be stupid to ignore an opportunity like this just because Jonathan hurt me when I was a teenager. That was a decade ago. Surely I’d moved on now. I could go, see him and be a complete professional as we worked together to improve the band’s image in the media.
“You’re right Kevin, you’re absolutely right.
I think I should do it.”
Kevin beamed at me then reached over and wrapped his arms around me. “Awesome idea, Sara. You’re amazing, you’re going to do a fantastic job for that band.”
I blushed, wondering how I could be so silly as to worry about seeing Jonathan again when I had such a supportive, kind boyfriend here for me at home.
The next day I set out to get ready to leave for LA. I called Sally, who squealed with excitement when I told her the news.
“Are you serious? Jon didn’t even tell me!” she exclaimed, ecstatic. “Oh my God, this is going to give me so many awesome reasons to come and visit you! I never really bothered when it was just Jon over there, but with you gone as well I’m totally gonna come and see you!”
I laughed at Sally’s excitement. In many ways, she seemed to be even more excited about things than I was.
“But what about Kevin?” she asked.
“He’s actually super supportive, which is awesome. He thinks I should do it, and we’ll keep our relationship going long distance.”
Sally let out another squeal, this one so loud I took the phone away from my ear for a second for fear of going deaf.
After hanging up the phone, I called my mom to share the news. She was at least as excited as Sally.
I had to admit, with everyone I spoke to fully in support of this plan, I was getting excited about it too. After all, it had been ten years. I had nothing to worry about at all. I’d moved on, Jonathan had surely moved on as well, and this could truly be the opportunity of a lifetime for my business.
Chapter Three
One week later I was on a plane, flying across the country for the first time in my life. With every mile we came closer to the west coast I could feel my heart pounding just a little bit harder in my chest. What was Jonathan going to be like? He was famous now, surely he wouldn’t be the same as he was when we grew up. What if this was all a cruel joke? What if I was going to show up and he would laugh at me? What if this was an elaborate prank, and everyone was in on it?
Get it together, Sara I scolded myself. I hadn’t really had doubts like this since high school. It turned out mom was right, I did grow out of my baby fat. In grade 12 I finally grew two inches and lost about ten pounds. I had curves in all the right places and would never be anything even close to model thin, but I was definitely happier with my appearance, and in turn, my confidence had soared over the last few years. Sure, whenever I saw someone really beautiful in the street or at work my mind would work overtime, and I’d feel so inadequate, thinking surely I must look like a troll compared to her, but usually I was ok with how I felt in my body. I always thought I could stand to lose some more weight, but hey, doesn’t everyone?
Now I felt like an awkward, chubby, clumsy teenager again, trying to impress a boy. I shouldn’t, of course. Kevin dropped me off at the airport, and as he kissed me goodbye, tears welled in my eyes. He was so supportive, so nice. A part of me felt like I didn’t deserve someone like him. I didn’t love Jonathan Knight anymore, anyway. I’d convinced myself of that. But why, then, did I feel so awkward? Why was I so nervous? Why did I feel like I was going to throw up all over myself whenever I thought about this trip?
The plane landed and I was met with a rush of hot air as I left the plane. It was only April, and still it felt like midsummer already! I headed to the carousel to pick up my luggage, then saw a driver holding a placard with my name on it.
“Ummm… hi, I’m Sara” I told him as I went up to him, not really sure how to introduce myself. Oh God, you sound like a two year old I scolded myself, but the man didn’t seem to even blink at my awkward introduction.
“Excellent, I have a car waiting outside. I’m John, the driver.” I went to pick up my bags, but John reached down and took them from me, then led me out the terminal to the waiting car. As I followed behind, I couldn’t help but feel so out of place. I’d never had a man carry my things for me before! I felt so out of place, I was sure everyone was staring at me, wondering who the person who obviously couldn’t afford her own driver was, following the man through the airport like a little puppy dog. Finally, we arrived in front of a luxurious, brand new European model with very dark tinted windows. I didn’t know much about cars, but I knew that no one in our small town had ever owned one as nice as this. John held the door open for me and I slid into the plush leather seat, hoping I looked elegant.
John got in the front and zoomed off without asking me for a destination. Which was good, since after all, I didn’t have a clue as to where to go. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“I’m taking you to Jonathan Knight’s house” John replied. “I have been told that the band is there, waiting for you to arrive.”
My heart began to pound even harder in my chest. I hadn’t even really thought about where I was going to go after landing in LA, but I certainly never envisioned going straight to Jonathan’s house. Maybe a coffee shop, or a recording studio, or something. But his house? That was going to be really private, even with the other band members there. Keep it together, Sara. You can do this. You’re going to go to his house, act like a normal human being, and everything’s going to be fine.
We sped down the freeway, eventually turning off into a neighborhood where every house was nicer than the last. My eyes widened as John finally pulled up to a large wrought-iron gate, spoke into a speaker at the front for a moment, and then slowly drove through as the gate opened for us. What was even more amazing was the four or five security personnel surrounding the car, stopping the half dozen or so photographers camping out in front of the house. I had never seen anything like this before. Were these people simply waiting out here for Jonathan to come out of the house?
I gazed up at what John had described as Jonathan’s “house”. No sensible person would describe it as anything less than a mansion. The place was a mixture of classic Victorian and modern architecture, which worked surprisingly well to give the house both a modern and classic look. John led me to the entrance, where a maid opened the door and took my coat. I stood there with my mouth open, staring at the entry. It looked like a castle.
A grand marble stairway led upstairs to where I imagined were king sized bedrooms. The biggest chandelier I’d ever seen in my life hung from the ceiling. Statues of Greek figures and artwork I knew would have cost more than I made in a year hung from the walls. The maid led me down a long, elegant hallway, her heels clicking efficiently on the solid wood floor, finally opening a door into a living room. A huge TV lined one wall, couches spread across the floor, and sunlight poured in through the floor-to-ceiling windows and French doors leading to a pool with a view of the city. I couldn’t help but look around, amazed at the sight.
What really stood out to me, however, was Jonathan, sitting on one of the couches, a drink in his hand, reaching for another slice of pizza from one of the two boxes sitting on the table. The other members of the band surrounded him, they were obviously in the middle of talking about their next album. Notepads with song lyrics scribbled all over surrounded them.
As soon as he saw me, Jonathan jumped up and hugged me. I stiffened, not really sure how to react.
“Sara, how are you? I’m so glad you came” Jonathan told me, pulling away. I managed a small smile. I looked up at him. He was older, yes, but he still had that same wavy brown hair, that same mischievous look in his eye and the same smile that made me want to melt.
“Yeah… it’s uh, good to see you again” I replied, cringing inwardly at how uncomfortable I sounded. Jonathan had always been so good at telling how I felt, and immediately pulled away.
“You remember Eric and Jared, right?” he asked, motioning at the other two guys. I nodded and said hi. I had met them a few times when they were at Sally’s house, although I couldn’t really say I’d spoken more than a few words to either. They seemed nice enough, I guess.
Jonathan invited me to grab a slice of pizza and motioned for me to sit on one of the other couches, far away from him, which I
was thankful for. He knew I was uncomfortable, and I was thankful that he was doing his best to accommodate me. He’d always been so good like that. I grabbed a slice of pepperoni and sat down, the maid almost immediately appearing with a glass of water, and asking if I wanted anything else to drink. After thanking her, telling her just water was fine, Jonathan spoke again.
“Thanks for coming Sara. We really do appreciate it. I don’t know how much you read the gossip magazines or anything, but this has really been quite an ordeal for us. We didn’t know who we could trust, until your name came up. We all decided you’d be perfect to bring on as our PR team.”
“I’m glad you’ve considered me, but I really don’t think I’m as good as you think I am. Suggesting how to write ads to local companies is a bit different to managing the publicity of a world famous rock band.”
Jonathan shot me a smile. Oh, that smile. No. Get those thoughts out of your head, now. “Sara, if we didn’t think you could do it, we wouldn’t have asked you. Don’t worry, as long as you don’t spill secrets to the media you’ll already be better than the last firm we hired.”
The other guys looked pleased I was there as well, and I slowly began to feel a little bit more comfortable. I was vaguely aware of my heart palpitating every time Jonathan looked at me, but I forced the thoughts away. After all, I loved Kevin. This was just the feeling of being reunited with someone from my childhood, nothing else. After all, it couldn’t be anything else. I couldn’t allow the old feelings I had to come back. That’s all they were. Old feelings. This was just nostalgia, looking back on my teen years with longing.
Jonathan had a brand new laptop brought to me, and we immediately set about talking about what had to be done in terms of public relations for the band. They went into further detail about what had happened, Eric telling me everything that had happened with him and his girlfriend. I knew the basic facts from Jonathan’s letter, of course, but I had to know everything.
Rocked with Passion (A New Adult Rockstar Novel) Page 2
