Syncopated Rhythm

by Erik Schubach

  I grinned. “My hero. Gawd I'd take you right here on the table if I could.” She blushed and threw a tiny piece of her hashbrowns at me. She was smiling now and I was happy to see her hands weren't shaking anymore.

  Then I added with comical delivery. “I blame your red haired temper.” She actually snorted at that. I grinned in satisfaction and continued to eat. Though I did notice that one table of people moved away from us. The mother was looking at us with a trace of disdain on her face.

  We finished up and dumped our trash then made our way back out to the car, waving at the manager and mouthing “Thank you.” as we left.

  We got into the car and she sat and looked at me for a second then started pumping the gas in preparation to start the Gremlin. “Zoom?”

  I nodded with a cheesy grin and agreed. “Zoom.”

  With an awesome backfire and plume of blue smoke the engine labored to life. I still have no clue why it amuses me so much. Maybe because it reminds me of the playful redhead beside me... it is just... so uniquely her.

  Minutes later we had arrived at the Terrace Ridge. She grabbed her bag and we exited Baltar. She paused and looked at him then squinted an eye then kicked his back tire and the engine finally died. I chuckled and she bumped our hips before she hurried past me. She called back, “Watch it, Cornfed.”

  I waggled a fist at her and called out, “Why I oughta!” Then ran to catch up with the smugly smiling imp.

  Her mother was in the rec room again. So we found her in the same spot as yesterday, on the couch, watching TV. Another lady, sitting beside her, saw us making a beeline for Marilyn. The woman smiled and stood and walked to another part of the room, by some people playing some sort of card game.

  Ky stood in front of her mother who looked up and Kylee said, “Hi mom.”

  Marilyn smiled but looked confused. She was studying her daughter's face. “You look like my daughter... Kylee.”

  My redhead was nodding, keeping her smile on like armor. “Yes, mom, it's me.” She glanced at me and continued. “Amber and I wanted to visit again before we had to go back to Seattle.”

  Her mother looked at me, I could tell that she was trying to place me. But then a shimmer of recognition came to her face. I thought she recognized me from yesterday. “You're that singer girl that my Kylee has a crush on! She has a poster of you in her room. Wait until I tell her I met you...” She trailed off looking around like she didn't recognize where she was, “...here?”

  Ky just sat beside her and took her hand, I sat beside them. Kylee said, “Yes mom. This is Amber LaLanie. She's much cuter in person than on a poster.”

  I could see Marilyn's eyes sharpen. Then she looked between the two of us. “Kylee?” My redhead was grinning and nodding.

  We all spoke for a few minutes then Marilyn whispered a confession to us, “I'm so scared knowing I'm losing my memories. Losing myself.”

  They hugged and I looked at Kylee's bag. “Ummm... Ky, why don't you share some of her memories?”

  She shook her head and her voice was hoarse, “It isn't finished... It will never be good enough.”

  Her mom spoke up, “Nonsense. You were always such a perfectionist Ky-Ky. I just know one day you will go to college and become a filmmaker like you dream of.”

  Kylee's eyes were watering and I grabbed her iPad out of her bag and she took it with a shaky hand. She pulled up the presentation and started it up then handed the tablet to her mother to watch.

  Marilyn watched it with rapt attention. There were times she brought her hand to her mouth as she was reminded of things. A tear would escape her eye from time to time. As emotional as I thought the presentation was, it was nothing compared to watching Marilyn's reactions. At one point she looked up at Ky. “You did it? You got your degree?”

  Kylee nodded and her mother hugged her. “I'm so proud of you Ky-Ky.” A tear finally rolled down my redhead's cheek. We sat back and watched as her mother finished watching the presentation.

  When it was over, the elder Nelson turned to her daughter. “I remember a lot of that. Some I didn't... I'm so glad you shared this with me. Reminding me of... of me.”

  She stayed fairly lucid for the rest of our visit, sometimes getting confused or afraid. But her sharp wit and their sarcastic banter were a treat to watch. I sometimes wonder about my mother. Did she even miss me? I know I shouldn't be so hard on her, she really was doing the best she could. But that isolation still haunts me today. I also wonder if I'll ever be able to sit in silence without feeling the terror of being alone.

  We left with Kylee in much better spirits than she left with yesterday. She stopped at the door and held up the iPad before stowing it in her bag and said softly, “Thanks.”

  I nodded with a smile. “Anytime, Potato. Just think, you can keep adding to it and show her each time. Remind her of who she is.”

  We zipped up our jackets and headed out into the cold.

  We stopped at a convenience store to fill up. She came in with me to grab some more oil and some sort of fuel additive. Minutes later we were back on the freeway heading back toward Seattle.

  It was almost a mirror image of our trip here, though the alphabet game was much easier heading west for some reason. We decided to forgo lunch and just snacked on our junk food and drove straight through, our bladders be damned. It was a little past six and dark outside when we pulled into the hotel parking garage. There were only a couple of reporters there so it wasn't a battle to get in this time.

  When we emerged into the lobby we looked over and Sylvester was over by the front desk. Was he always working like Ky? We gave him a little wave and he smiled and inclined his head to us a bit in acknowledgment and we headed up to our suites.

  I smiled when I got to my door. “Room service, your room, thirty minutes?”

  She shyly nodded and scooted off the her room. We looked at each other, and smiled then entered our rooms simultaneously.

  I put my suitcase by my bed and stretched and removed my wig. The silence was screaming at me, I felt so alone. I switched the radio on before I went to get ready for the night. But a soft voice called out from the connecting door. “You don't need that. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere Amber Lee.”

  Then she started humming one of my songs. I grinned and reached for the radio. I took a deep, shuddering breath and switched it off. I grinned and went into the bathroom, leaving the door open so I could hear her humming. It was odd but I was just fine with that. I cleaned off my makeup and concealer and showered. I hummed Deep Red to myself and was happy to hear her still humming at the door when I got out. I could feel a blush burning on my cheeks.

  I donned my night clothes and walked up to the door timidly then said, “Knock knock.” The humming stopped and I opened the door and just about tripped over Kylee. She was grinning up at me from where she sat with her back to the door frame. She cleared the screen on her iPad and jumped up to her feet. “Sorry.”

  I just grinned at her and flopped back on her bed dramatically with my arms spread wide. “No problem at all, and Ky?” She tilted her head and I continued. “Thanks.”

  She looked down shyly. “What are... ummm... whatever we are, for?”

  I gave a silly lopsided grin. “Colleagues...” I paused for effect. “...until Thanksgiving. Then hopefully, much, much more.”

  She grabbed her night clothes then scurried off into the bathroom without a word. I called after her, “I'll ring room service. Pasta?”

  “Yum,” she said from behind the bathroom door.

  The food arrived just before Ky was finished. Then we ate. I swear it was a contest over who could take the most seductive bite. I was heating up everywhere. Gawd I wanted her. I finally broke. “FINE! You win. Now stop that, it isn't fair if we can't do anything about it.”

  She smiled in satisfaction though she looked a little flushed too. “You're just a lightweight, Cornfed.”

  I waggled a fist at her as I scrunched up my face.

  After the
meal I found a news station on the TV as I laid back on my favorite Kylee shaped pillow as she worked on her storyboards. We both said nothing as a story that featured a video that has been going viral online was shown. The title of the video was 'Babette vs the Douche'. Someone this morning had taped the whole encounter with Chad on their cellphone. Holy bejesus! One point four million hits already. Then the news anchor announced some information on 'Babette'. A woman from Post Falls was being interviewed. She was saying. “I went to school with Babette Stevenson. Only she was Kylee Nelson back then. She was always an odd duck, but really nice. She would always stare at the cute guys and the cheerleaders. I heard she had gotten into film making but I never knew she had become so famous.”

  I murmured, “Shit.” Kylee was pale as a ghost. I shrugged apologeticly. “Again... welcome to hanging out with me. I'm sorry you're getting caught up in this mess. I'll have Chase come clean.”

  But then she surprised me with a wry grin. “No. Don't. Now that they know my real name... no publicity is bad publicity. Maybe people will know my name when my internship is over and give me a chance. Odds are nobody has seen it though.”

  I nodded in appreciation. We talked into the night and at some point we dozed off, me listening to the beating of her heart.

  Chapter 11 – The World Falls Apart

  In the morning she was up early chattering about getting me to the pre-shoot 'creative' meeting. I snorted when she reminded me to take my thyroid medication as I left her to go get ready. Again, she was humming through the door for me. Gawd she was such an awesome person. I felt so stupid that it was actually calming me.

  I kept staring at her iPad when it was her turn to get ready. What did she keep hiding from me?

  When we were pulling out of the parking garage, the mob was back. I could hear my name being shouted and 'Babette'. Both of our heads swiveled when we heard one reporter yelling, “Kylee, can we ask a question!?” We inched through to the road with the help of hotel security then we were on the way to Art in Motion.

  We pulled into the parking structure at the studio, there were quite a few paparazzi there too taking pictures as we entered. We spiraled to the bowels of hell again to park Baltar. He was extremely resistant to dying this time. Kylee crossed her arms with a look on her face like a mother chastising a misbehaving child. A few seconds later he sputtered to a stop.

  She shot a silly grin at me. I looped my arm into the crook of hers as she led the way inside. She scanned her ID badge and I scanned my VIP badge and went up to the same meeting room as last week. That Popsicle stick blonde girl... what was her name? Leanne blocked Kylee from the door by leaning against the frame.

  She almost sneered as she looked Kylee up and down. “I can't believe how far you'd go for this assignment.”

  Then she called back to me as she pushed past Ky. “Amber, if you ever want to upgrade from chubby chasing and trade up to a real woman, I could be gay. I'll let Evan know you are here.”

  I was shocked. Kylee was just staring at the ground in embarrassment and hugging her iPad and purse to her chest as she wordlessly went into the room and sat at the conference table, still looking down.

  I whispered, “What a skank.” Not even that coaxed a smile from her.

  I didn't know what to say. Leanne is the definition of the word bitch. Before I could come up with anything, Evan and his entourage entered the room with Leanne in tow.

  Ky was on autopilot as she pulled up some sort of word processor for note taking and some sort of audio recording application.

  Evan looked at me then at Kylee. He laid down some news articles and magazines with various headlines like “Who is Babette Stevenson” and “Amber LaLanie and Babette Stevenson Caught in Love Nest”. Kylee wouldn't look up at him.

  Then he turned to me after glancing back at Leanne. “Ms. LaLanie, it is not for us to judge, but when we assigned Ms. Nelson to you we didn't mean... we don't run THAT kind of business. After today, we will be assigning you a new personal assistant.” He paused and turned slightly to the blonde bitch queen. “Leanne. She will attend to your professional schedule for the remainder of the shoot.”

  I don't think Kylee was even breathing now. What the fuck did they think they were doing. I opened my mouth but a quick pleading glance from Ky made me snap it shut again.

  Leanne was reaching over the conference table to shake my hand. I ignored it and hissed at Evan. “Let's just get this over with.”

  Leanne looked hurt that I was ignoring her. Tough, bitch. Then Evan handed out storyboards and pulled them up on the conference room monitors. I noticed that not a single person was taking notes except Kylee, as their team tweaked the parameters of the shoot a bit. They were professional enough but I saw their weak links.

  When they walked through the concept. Kylee looked down again. I could tell she wanted to offer some input. I thought it was OK, but as Ky said about the other shoot, it was 'safe'. Didn't we want these videos to pack a punch?

  Then Evan opened the floor to questions or comments. When nobody said anything I saw Ky shaking her head. Evan caught it. “You have something to add Ms. Nelson?” He was deliberately not using her first name.

  She looked up nervously. “Well, it is an ok arrangement. But it doesn't really fit the person. I mean, the video should fit her personality, play to her strengths. With a few minor tweaks, it could resonate the fun that she embodies and make it memorable. If we just...”

  Evan cut her off. “We'll go with what we have. Ms. LaLanie will do just fine. Our plan is solid.” He was just dismissing her out of hand. I wanted to hear more from her.

  But then Kylee's head snapped up. I saw something in her eyes. A strength that I hadn't seen her show here at her job before. She said in strong unwavering voice, “No. I'm done being ignored here. You want to settle for safe and mediocre music videos? If you individualize each of these videos and play to the strengths and personalities of the artists, they would be ten times more successful! Not just Amber's, but all of them.”

  Evan stood. His voice was forceful now. “Ms. Nelson. Your services are no longer required at Art in Motion! Turn in your badge at the front desk and vacate the premises!”

  She stood, tears welling up in her eyes and ran out the door, leaving her iPad behind. I stood and yelled at Even, “What the fuck have you done? Are you mental? Are you that insecure that you can't listen to valid ideas or arguments?” I grabbed Kylee's iPad and left the room in search of her. Leanne was following me. Was that a smug look on her face?

  I spun on her. “Get the fuck away from me!” She looked confused as I walked off.

  I took the elevator to the lobby and didn't see Ky anywhere. I went up to the security desk. “Did Kylee Nelson come this way?”

  The tall muscular guy nodded and held up Kylee's badge. “She just turned this in. She was crying but wouldn't say what was wrong. I hope she is ok.” Me too.

  I thanked the man and exited into the parking structure. I got down to where she parks but her car was gone. “SHIT!” I yelled to nobody in particular.

  I went back in to the security desk. “Excuse me...” I looked at his badge. “Lemar, could you please arrange for a cab for me. I need to get back to the Seattle Royal.”

  The man smiled sympathetically and shook his head. “I can just call for a car from our motor pool. That would be faster and a little more... ummm... discreet.”

  I nodded. “Thanks Lemar. You are a good man.”

  He smiled and got on the phone. A couple minutes later he looked at me. “Miss LaLanie, the car is just right outside the door in the parking structure there. The driver will take you wherever you need to go.”

  I thanked him and rushed through the door. The driver rushed me to the hotel and I made my way up to our suites as fast as I could. I entered my room then knocked on the connecting door. “Ky... are you there?” There was no answer. The sense of urgency was tying my stomach in knots. I opened the door and looked around. I had missed her, everything
was gone. I was crying now. It was hard to breath. The silence was crashing in all around me. I felt like I was being choked.

  I straightened in resolve. I wouldn't fuck up her life like this! I wiped my eyes and made my way back to the parking structure. I had the driver bring me back to Art in Motion. Inside I spoke with the main office. They wouldn't give me Kylee's address. It was 'privileged' information, even for 'ex' employees.

  I went back o the hotel, I was alone... I turned on the radio full blast to keep the silence at bay. Then I grabbed the phone directory and looked her up. She hadn't even lived here a year so she wasn't listed in it. I called information and paid the damn three dollars for the listing only to find that she was unlisted. I stared at my cell phone. We had never exchanged numbers. Shit. How do I find her? Think Amber Lee.

  I suddenly grabbed my cell again as I shut the radio off. I was dialing the most level headed person I knew. “Hi Kim? Yeah it's me... Amber. Umm... the fricking studio fired Kylee. They implied improprieties then when she argued to make our videos better, the asshat fired her! Yes... yes... I know! Ok, I don't know how to locate her. I thought maybe you'd... oh. Frank Davenport! Yes, why didn't I think of that. Thanks Kim, I'll call him, you are a life saver. Bye.”

  I nodded. Level heads win the day. I took a moment to calm down. I took a deep breath then called my lawyer. Mandy has always said he had a knack for finding people. After laying it all out for him. He promised he'd have something for me by the morning. I thanked him then sat on the bed. Something hit my leg and I looked down. It was her iPad.

  Chapter 12 – Speechless

  I stared at her iPad for the longest time. I didn't even realize I didn't have the radio on. I shook my head and put the tablet on the nightstand then retrieved my netbook from my luggage. I powered it up and tethered it to the personal hotspot on my iPhone. I figured I didn't have the resources that Frank Davenport had, but I could do some investigation of my own.