by Vega, W. H.
It’s clear that I’m not a part of this trip, which I understand. I’m sure the last minute flights are expensive, especially at this time of a year, and the tour doesn’t need two tired singers in Kansas City.
“What about People magazine and the other things you mentioned?” Paige asks.
“I’m still waiting to hear from them. I haven’t talked to any Nashville radio stations yet either, but that would be something you would do next week when y’all are back in town.”
“Alright. Thanks for handling it.”
Liam starts going over travel details when my phone rings. I have to do a double take at the Caller ID.
“Excuse me,” I say stiffly, getting up and heading to the bedroom before closing the door.
“What do you want?” I growl into the phone.
“Well, hello to you, too,” Savannah drawls.
“I’ll ask again – what the hell do you want?”
“My, my, you seem to have lost all your manners since you took up with that new woman of yours.”
“Actually, it’s just how I choose to speak to you. And that woman you’re referring to is now my fiancé.”
There’s silence on the other end.
Good.
Savannah quickly recovers. “Yes, I figured the tabloids were reporting correctly.” Her tone is bored but I know her better. She’s been humiliated even more so. “Speaking of tabloids,” she purrs, “such a shame about what is being reported now.”
“Yes,” I say slowly, “but we were expecting that eventually.”
“Mmhmm, I’m sure you were,” she says absentmindedly. I can almost see her inspecting her nails like she used to when she would pretend that she was bored with the conversation, but was really just about to go in for the kill. “How sad that it came out right around the holidays.”
This call is timed all too well, and Savannah has no real reason to call me. The purpose becomes clear, and I feel my blood boil, but I’m not going to let Savannah get the best of me. She’s goading me; this is exactly what she wants – to send me over the edge.
“I really don’t have time for games, Savannah. Paige is in the next room, and we’re busy with wedding plans,” I say purposefully, hoping to piss Savannah off some more. “So if you called to brag about leaking the story about Paige, I really don’t care.”
Actually, I do care. I’m not a violent person, and I would never raise my hand to a woman, but if Savannah was in front of me now, I can’t guarantee that I wouldn’t punch her in the face. I want to cause her physical pain.
Savannah laughs gaily. “Oh, please Blake. Like you said, it was only a matter of time before that story got leaked. I mean, I may have mentioned it to one of my reporter friends, but geez, I don’t even remember.”
“Of course,” I say tightly, “I can see why the rape of your ex-finance’s new fiancé would certainly come up in conversation. I’m sure that happens all the time.” My carefully controlled voice is starting to slip.
Savannah laughs again. “Whoops.”
“Well, really we should be thanking you. This is going to bring Paige quite a lot of press, and all along her plan has been to put a positive spin on things. Looks like she’ll be selling a hell of a lot more records in time for the holidays.”
There’s silence on the other end.
“Well, this call has been fun, Blake,” she says in a tight voice, and I know I’ve succeeded in pissing her off. She didn’t think about how this would backfire and make Paige an even bigger star. “But I need to go.”
“Lovely talking to you too,” I spit, before I hit the end button. I take a deep breath to control myself, and then I head out to explain everything to Paige.
Twenty Four
Paige
I have so much on my mind, but I’m exhausted and sleep wins out. As soon as the plane reaches cruising altitude, I slip the eye mask over my eyes and lean against the pillow I have propped up against the window.
When I come to, I hear the captain saying that we are descending into New York. I look next to me, and see Liam stirring too.
“Did you sleep?” he asks me, rolling his neck.
“Yes.”
“Good. Things are going to get hectic this morning.”
We disembark the plane; bring our carry-on bags with us. It’s still dark when we go outside to catch a taxi, and I hug my coat tighter around me; the cold is chilling.
“I’m sorry that we have to do this,” Liam says quietly.
“It’s okay.”
I stare out the window and can’t help but think about how Savannah was the cause of this. I knew it was going to happen eventually, but it definitely was more painful knowing who was behind the leak. But while it angered and upset me, I was also determined to turn this into something positive, especially since Savannah was behind the leak.
I look down at the beautiful ring on my finger and remind myself that Blake loves me and that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together. Nothing or no one is going to stop us, and I just have to keep reminding myself of that.
Our taxi takes us directly to Rockefeller Plaza where the Today show films. It’s just after six a.m., but the studio is already bustling. A friendly assistant named Ellie, who is way too chipper for this hour of the morning, shows us to a dressing room. She embodies everything that I had noticed about the east coast while we were touring. She talks fast, moves fast, and is dressed to perfection.
“So,” she continues, hurrying through a winding hallway, “you’re going to speak with a producer first, then go into hair and makeup and Matt will probably stop by sometime then to say hello and introduce himself. We’re sorry that Savannah couldn’t be here to interview you, but she’s under the weather today.”
My heart is pounding at the mention of “Savannah” and then I realize that she means Savannah Gunthries, the female news anchor.
“It’s no problem,” I murmur quietly. I’m actually a bit star struck to meet Matt Lauer. I used to watch the Today show every morning in Bristol. It was always on in the coffee shop, and at home I turned it on while I was waking up and getting ready.
I have to nearly run to keep up with Ellie, and I feel like a slob in my sweatpants and hoodie. I remind myself that I just spent a night on an airplane.
Ellie deposits us in a comfortable dressing room, and closes the door behind her.
“Okay, so far?” Liam asks, sitting down and opening a bottle of water.
I plaster a smile on my face. “So far, so good.”
He nods, though I don’t think he quite believes me. The truth is, I’m nervous as hell, and my insides are rolling in a sickening fashion. It’s not just that I’m going to have to talk about my past, but that I’m doing it on national television with Matt Lauer.
Holy shit.
A female producer comes in and sits down with us, and she goes over the questions that Matt is going to ask. It’s actually not that bad, and she assures me that Matt does not expect me to go over any specific details, and it’s really just getting my story out there and showing how I’ve overcome my past.
I feel more comfortable, and she leads me to the hair and makeup room.
“Hi,” a pretty girl says as I sit down in the chair. Her hair is short and spiky, and she looks like a fairy. Her delicate facial features are in sharp contrast with her wild hair, yet it works for her. “I’m Jade. I’m going to be doing your hair and makeup today.”
“Hi. I’m Paige. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Have a seat,” she says, motioning to a chair. I sit down and she unties my ponytail and starts sifting through my hair.
“Wow! Your hair is gorgeous. I’m so jealous! And it’s in just the right shape for me to curl. Do curls work for you?”
“Yes, that would be great, thanks.”
“Alright. Let’s get that hoodie off you so we don’t mess your hair up when it’s finished.”
I pull the hoodie off, and sit in just my tank top and pants as she brings a
large barrel curling iron to my hair. Jade works at lightning speed as she clips up sections of my hair and curls the other pieces. Liam takes a seat in the back of the room and starts working on his phone.
There are other people in the makeup room, and while one woman looks vaguely familiar, I can’t place the rest of them. Just as Jade is curling the last sections of my hair, Matt Lauer comes in and walks towards me.
He’s not as tall as I had imagined him, and he gives me a warm smile as he sits next to me.
“Hi Paige, I’m Matt Lauer.”
“Yes,” I squeak, “I know.”
He chuckles. “I wanted to come by and introduce myself before your segment. I think it’s really brave that you’re coming on and I wanted you to know that.”
“Thank you.” What else can I say?
“So, just so you’re comfortable, I want to go through what we’re going to talk about it. It’s a five-minute segment, which might seem like forever to you, but I promise it will go by quickly once we start. I’m going to go briefly through what has been in the news and the reports that have come out.” He pauses. “Is that okay?”
I nod.
“Great. Then I’m going to ask you to briefly recount how old you were at the time and what happened. You can share as little or as many details as you like. I’m not expecting anything graphic. That’s not necessary.”
I nod again.
“Then I’ll ask you what happened next, meaning the trial and you leaving Nashville. But after that, I want to focus on how you turned it positive. You’ve recently returned to Nashville, and you just got engaged to your high school sweetheart, right?” He’s looking over his notes, and he looks back up at me expectantly. His eyes are warm and kind.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Great. Tell us about that and tell me how well you are doing – which you clearly are. Your career is taking off and you seem to have a great thing going right now. Put your positive spin on things.”
I take a deep breath and nod. “Sure. I can do that.”
“Perfect,” he says smiling. He reaches out and puts his hand on my shoulder. “You’ll do fine. And this will be a great way to promote your album and tour too.” He gives me a friendly smile and stands up. “See you out there soon.”
I smile back as he leaves the room.
“Isn’t he nice?” Jade whispers once he’s left.
“Yes!”
“I really like him,” she says, spinning me around to do my makeup.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m back in my dressing room, pulling on a red dress with black panel sides. I finish with black tights and black boots.
Liam gives me an approving nod, and then there’s a knock at the door.
“All ready?” Ellie asks, giving me a once over and a thumbs up.
“Yes, I think so.”
“Super! Follow me. You’re on in three.”
I’m assuming she means three minutes and I follow her through the hallways. Ellie leads me to a comfortable set with a sofa, and I’m glad we have this set and not one of those high chairs that I would have to climb into.
I get situated and Matt Lauer comes out. Before I know it, the cameras are rolling and Matt is recapping what happened to me.
“So, tell me,” he says, “This is what the news articles at the time reported, but what actually happened?”
I take a deep breath. “Well, the news articles are pretty accurate. My daddy and his friends had been drinking. I was fifteen. My daddy passed out on the porch, and his two friends took advantage of me.”
“Took advantage?”
“Raped me.” I look Matt directly in the eyes. “It was brutal.” I don’t elaborate anymore.
Matt nods. “What happened following the incident?”
“I left Nashville and stopped speaking to my father. I had to come back for the trial, and the men were sentenced to a lot of jail time. I then spent all my time in Bristol with my mother, trying to heal.”
“But you’re back in Nashville now, right? Your music is doing great and your album sales are growing.”
“Yes, I’ve returned to my hometown after being away for thirteen years. My daddy and I fixed our relationship, and it really helped me to put the past behind me. I also returned to Nashville to focus on my music career, which became a big part of my life after the attack.” I go on to explain how I reconnected with Blake through our music and how we had just gotten engaged. “Repairing my relationships and focusing on my music really helped me heal. I wasn’t going to let those men take any more from me than they already had.”
“Well, your story is truly inspiring, Paige. I think a lot of women are going to look up to you as a role model for moving past these kinds of things.”
“Thank you. I hope so.”
“Thank you for being here and sharing your story.”
“I’m glad that I could. I’ve realized that I have no reason to be ashamed about what happened, that there was nothing I could do to prevent it. And I made the choice to move forward and heal.”
We wrap up and the cameras stop rolling for the commercial break, Matt gives me a hug.
“Thank you so much for sharing. I hope we have you back on again sometime, and maybe you can play some music next time.”
“I’d love to! It was a pleasure meeting you.”
Liam and I bustle through the studio and get into a taxi to take us to an uptown restaurant for my Seventeen interview.
“That was really fantastic,” Liam raves. “You’re already getting great praise on the internet, twitter is blowing up.”
I smile. "I’m just relieved it’s over."
We step into the restaurant just after ten, and I’m seated with a petite editor named Gloria, who turns on a tape recorder as we speak. My order of eggs and toast arrive, and we continue to talk through the breakfast. The interview takes only a half hour and it was painless. I found it much easier to just talk to someone over a low-key breakfast than on national television.
“Thanks for being so honest and open, Paige,” she says, shaking my hand. “This will come out in our February issue, which hits newsstands in three weeks. We’re going to squeeze this in just before our deadline.”
Liam and I head out onto the street to catch a taxi to the airport. As Liam hails a taxi, I look around at the fancy boutiques that surround us. I do a double take and then feel my stomach drop. Crossing the street, and headed directly for us is Savannah and her mother, their arms laden with shopping bags.
Savannah doesn’t notice me, but Scarlet does and she tugs on Savannah’s arm and says something as they are crossing the street. Savannah’s entire face changes and she fixes her stare on me, narrowing her eyes.
“Get us a taxi, Liam,” I say tightly.
He looks at me, surprised at the sudden change of tone in my voice.
“Well, well, well,” Savannah says as she approaches us.
Scarlet tugs on Savannah’s expensive looking coat and says something quietly. She actually looks uncomfortable.
“Of all the coincidences in the world, we run into you in New York City.”
I’m shaking with anger, but I regain control of myself and try to steady my voice. “Yes, well we just came from our interviews with Matt Lauer and Seventeen magazine.”
Savannah’s look becomes even nastier. “Yes, I caught the Today Show,” she says through clenched teeth.
Liam is at my side, and while he doesn’t know who Savannah and Scarlet are, he can clearly see that there is a problem. He reassuringly puts his arm around my shoulder.
“Paige has been doing a great job shedding light on tough topics.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed.” Savannah says.
I see her eyes slide down to my ring and her gaze becomes even colder.
Mercifully, a taxi approaches, and Liam quickly sticks his hand out and the taxi pulls over. He opens the door for me and waits for me to enter.
“Thanks for all the press,” I snap and then slide into the
taxi.
“What was that about?” Liam asks, concerned and confused.
“That,” I explain, “was Blake’s ex-fiancé, who still hasn’t gotten over the fact that Blake ended things with her and then began dating me.” I sigh. “She apparently leaked the old news articles from my attack.”
Liam whistles. “I’ve heard she’s hell on wheels. I had no idea she was still causing problems. What the hell is she doing in New York?”
“I have no idea. Her family is loaded so maybe they’re here doing holiday shopping.” I think of all the bags they had.
Liam nods thoughtfully. “Right. She’s a Devlin, isn’t she?”
“Yes. And her mother is a Prescott.”
Liam whistles again. “The mother lode.”
“Precisely. An extremely rich and extremely pissed off family.”
Liam frowns. “I can’t quite picture Blake with her, or him fitting in with that family.”
“I know. That was always an issue for them. He doesn’t understand why the family got so bent out of shape since he wasn’t quite ‘Devlin-Prescott’ material anyway.”
“I’ll do some digging,” Liam says, and then we drop the subject. I don’t want to talk about Savannah anymore and I’m glad that I didn’t lose my cool. It made me perversely happy to see Savannah bothered by all the press and attention I was receiving.
I sink back into the leather seat of the taxi and watch as the New York skyline passes by. It’s been a whirlwind trip and I didn’t even get to enjoy the city.
Twenty Five
Paige
Back on tour, I throw myself into our final five shows. I love performing, and this tour has been more rewarding than I could have ever imagined, but I’m burnt out and I’m ready for some quality time at home. The five days off at Thanksgiving was a tease. It wasn’t quite enough to fully refresh, especially with everything going on with Grandma, and it only made me miss my home and family more.
Our last two shows are actually in Nashville, which is great planning on the label’s part. Not only will we be home with our families, but also it makes for two easy days and the crowds in Nashville are so unbelievable. After I finish my set on our final show before our holiday break, I wait breathlessly for Blake to join me onstage.
