Cake: A Love Story (2 page)

The sensational story lit up the news channels and printing presses for months. The media hounded Jake. He could not step foot outside his door without cameras in his face. It was a feeding frenzy and the prey was a traumatized thirteen-year-old kid. I remember as a young teen seeing a picture of Jake in some magazine and being affected by the defeated look in his eyes. I could not imagine what it must have been like for him to survive what he had and then be treated so harshly by the media. However, as with all big news stories, Jake’s eventually faded from the headlines and he, presumably, went on to lead a private life.

But, as it turned out, that was not the end of his story. Jake resurfaced a few years later as a solo rock musician and was, almost immediately, catapulted into super-stardom. He was hailed as a musical prodigy, and truly, his talents were undeniable. With his soaring rock anthems, haunting ballads, and his knack for writing one mega hit song after another; Jake was, arguably, the world’s most famous rock star.

Yet, despite all his success, Jake was a bit of an enigma. He lived a giant life but little was known about him privately. Aside from work related appearances, Jake was rarely spotted out in public. He didn’t frequent typical celebrity establishments, seldom appeared on TV, and steadfastly refused all interviews…much to the dismay of the collective media worldwide. Really though, who could blame him for snubbing the media after how they had treated him as a child?

Jake’s silence, however, only seemed to fuel the fire of mystery surrounding him. Rumors swirled. Reports of him being unhinged or suicidal or gay or having HIV or harboring homicidal fantasies was front-page fodder for the trash magazines. Jake was commonly described as someone who was dangerously unstable, antisocial and severely messed up. And without him telling his side of the story, that was the version most people believed.

But I was never so sure. The very few times I’d seen Jake appear on TV, he seemed like a fairly personable guy. He smiled and interacted like any other person would. And when he performed, Jake was really engaging and energetic. I’d always kind of thought that maybe Jake wasn’t the recluse he was portrayed to be in the media. Maybe he just liked his privacy. Plenty of people had survived traumatic childhoods and had turned out to be perfectly normal adults. I mean, talent and looks alone could not have gotten Jake to where he was today without, at least, some social skills. Besides, getting up on stage in front of thousands of people…that took tenacity and resolve…certainly not common traits found among deranged, homicidal loners.

No it wasn’t so much Jake I was worried about but myself. I always turned into a blabbering idiot when I was around reserved people. There was always that need to fill in the blanks. I could almost picture the look on the poor guy’s face when I started jabbering on endlessly about trivial stuff. He was going to think I was such a weirdo.

It didn’t help my nervousness when my dad went all ‘paternal’ on me after learning I would be paired with Jake. It was an instant distrust and he wasn’t shy about voicing his opinion. My dad even got my two older brothers involved so I was getting it from all angles. I found myself feebly trying to defend a guy I didn’t even know just because they were so relentlessly bashing on him. Obviously no father would want his beloved daughter that close to a rock star, especially one as notorious as Jake McKallister, but geez, it was just one evening. It wasn’t like I would ever see him again.

Thankfully my mother was the polar opposite of the men in my family. She was giddy with excitement that I was getting the unique opportunity to meet, and maybe even hang out with, one of the world’s most elusive stars. She couldn’t wait to hear every last detail. My mom was into celebrities and read People magazine faithfully. She knew everything there was to know about every celebrity out there except, of course, Jake McKallister…the one celebrity that even the media knew nothing about.

When Kate told me a couple of years ago that she was dating Jake McKallister’s half-brother, I figured she’d met him already. But the reality was, Jake and Mitch were not close. They shared a dad but not much else. Mitch’s mom and dad had never married and split while he was still a baby. Growing up, Mitch lived primarily with his mother in Arizona and only visited his dad and half-siblings in California during the summer and holidays. The age gap between him and Jake was just too wide. When Jake was starting kindergarten, Mitch was already a teenager in high school. The last thing he wanted to do was hang out with a little kid. By the time Mitch was fifteen, and was active in high school sports, he stopped visiting his dad during the summers. He saw his half-siblings only occasionally after that.

After the kidnapping, Mitch tried to bridge the gap between himself and Jake but it was too late. Since he’d never been a constant in his little brother’s life, Mitch was not a person that Jake wanted to lean on as he healed from his ordeal. Their relationship was more like that of distant cousins…they didn’t dislike each other, they just lived their own lives and knew very little about one another. By the time the wedding rolled around, Mitch and Jake hadn’t seen each other in a couple of years. Kate told me that Mitch was surprised that Jake was even coming to the wedding at all.

Chapter 2

Casey

The day of the wedding rehearsal, I was a nervous wreck. It had started out bad after having to clean up my roommate’s puke off the bathroom floor, don’t ask, and things just continued downhill…well okay there really wasn’t much worse than cleaning up puke…but still, every little thing that could go wrong did. So it wasn’t so farfetched for me to believe that my first meeting with Jake was going to be a disastrous affair. And the closer it got to the rehearsal the worse the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach became. As I drove to the hotel, I reviewed the little lists in my head of topics that I could talk about with Jake if conversation lulled. Usually I didn’t have a problem chatting with men, but then, Jake McKallister was no ordinary man. I’d never been so anxious in all my life.

After I checked into the hotel, I began the arduous task of picking out what I would wear to the rehearsal and then later at dinner. I tried to predict what Jake would like: Sophisticated? Cute and flirty? Sexy? In the end, I decided to dress in what I would feel most comfortable in since, let’s be honest, he probably wasn’t even going to talk to me beyond the required niceties so there would be no reason to try and impress him. I chose casual chic, or at least as chic as my limited income could afford. Tan slacks that accentuated my butt and a white pheasant top. After the outfit was picked, I soothed my dark hair with a flat iron and applied limited makeup…just enough, really, to give my skin a natural glow and to accentuate my big, brown eyes, which I felt, aside from my dimpled smile, was my best feature.

I arrived at the rehearsal a few minutes late and anxiously scanned the room for the groomsman I was paired with. Jake was nowhere in sight. I sighed with relief and, if I wanted to be completely honest, just the slightest bit of disappointment. The rehearsal started without him. Everyone was paired with someone except for me. I consoled myself by observing Jake’s family instead. And there were plenty of them to observe. The whole McKallister clan, minus Jake, had come from California the night before. Brothers and sisters, ranging in age from teens to mid twenties, parents and a set of paternal grandparents named Jim and Sue. The only reason I knew that was because their grandchildren called them JimSuey. I thought it was pretty inventive.

Both of Jake’s parents, Scott and Michelle, looked to be in their early fifties. Scott was tall and handsome…for an older guy. You could tell in his earlier years he was probably quite the stud muffin. The way he was dressed, as well as the way he carried himself, told me a lot about him. This was a blue-collar man working hard for his money. He had an easy rapport with his kids and it was clear to me that they adored him.

One thing I found surprisingly familiar to my own family was the way the McKallister’s all teased each other. Just in the short time I was observing them I’d heard Scott razed by his sons for the shirt he was wearing, a patch of thinning hair on his head, and his inappropriate use of the phrase ‘on fleek’. Obviously Scott was used to this type treatment and had prepared plenty of insults of his own to sling back at his boys. Just by his interaction with his kids, I could tell that Scott was the fun parent…not the disciplinarian. That job, I was certain, went to Jake’s mom, Michelle. She seemed more serious than her husband and kept reprimanding her kids when they teased Scott or got rowdy. But she also found her brood humorous, which was evidenced by the smile she was always attempting to suppress. Michelle had medium length auburn hair and gorgeous light blue eyes. She dressed nice and was well kept but she didn’t drip in wealth. She just seemed like a normal, middle class mom.

I couldn’t catch the names of all Jake’s siblings. There were just too many of them. I did figure out that Jake had two sisters and four brothers, including Mitch. I wasn’t sure who was older or younger except for the two teenagers. Looks-wise they were all good-looking people. I could see a slight similarity between them and their famous brother but it wasn’t obvious. They all had their own look, except for the youngest boy, who was clearly trying to channel his big brother in both looks and mannerisms.

The rehearsal lasted about an hour and after it was over I walked up to Kate.

“Sorry Casey.”

“Is Jake not coming?”

“I’m not sure. He was supposed to be here. No one seems to be able to get in touch with him.”

“Geez I hope everything is okay.”

“Yeah, hopefully he just missed a flight.”

“He’ll be here, don’t worry, and if not, I’ll be a vision of loveliness walking down the aisle by myself?”

“That you’ll be, Case.”

That evening at the rehearsal dinner, Jake was still a no-show. But word had arrived that his flight had been delayed by three hours leaving Frankfurt causing him to miss his connecting flight to Phoenix. Mitch and Kate’s wedding actually fell right in the middle of his 8-month world tour. Jake had just taken the weekend off to attend the nuptials and would be on a plane back to Europe Sunday night. Although he was not expected to make it in time for the rehearsal dinner, he would definitely be at the wedding tomorrow. My nervousness dissipated knowing that I would not have to talk to him that night.

About halfway through the dinner, a commotion rose outside the banquet room. A shrill scream could be heard coming from the main dining area. I whipped my head in that direction, startled, and instantly worried that perhaps there was an active shooter in the restaurant. I was seconds away from diving under the table for protection when the door to the private room we were in swung open and Jake McKallister coolly walked through it.

He was clutching a duffle bag in one hand and a backpack in the other. Slung casually over his back was a guitar case…the only indication that he was, in fact, a universally renowned rockstar; because, certainly, his attire did not scream it. He was simply dressed in a light grey, body-hugging, button up shirt, severely scuffed up leather boots and faded black denim jeans that fit with such perfection that they molded effortlessly onto his note-worthy ass like a glove. This clearly was not the universally accepted rockstar uniform of black leather, chains, body piercings and guy liner. No, the way he was dressed almost seemed to confirm that Jake McKallister was the real deal, a talent far beyond his years. He didn’t need any trickery or costumes to prove he was someone special.

And, judging him just by looks alone, Jake was indeed something special. Hypnotizing was more like it. The minute he walked in the room, it was as if he drained all the oxygen from it. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath in admiration of the young man who had sauntered in so non-chalantly. Wow, slow clap for the smoking hot rockstar!

Not known for my subtlety, my mouth dropped open at just the sight of him. I’d seen him plenty of times in magazines and on television but, in person, Jake McKallister was truly striking. I scanned his famous face as if it were the first time I’d ever seen him…his beautifully rugged bone structure, his tanned, unblemished skin, his full, delectable lips, and those show-stopping eyes…lord. I couldn’t even really tell what color they were…like an extremely light, translucent, greenish-gray shade with an aqua blue color outlining the iris making the lighter color in his eyes pop. And, as if that wasn’t impressive enough, those babies were framed in long, dark lashes. I gulped. I couldn’t remember ever seeing eyes as pretty as his. But maybe it was more about the history behind them that made them so striking. There was something so hauntingly expressive about them…like the story of his life, no doubt an excruciating one, was hiding just behind the surface.

Jake’s brown hair was shoulder length and fell in careless waves over his handsome, clean-shaven face. Some strands hung over his eyes. He didn’t make much of an effort to remove them. As opposed to some of those vain men who incessantly flipped and ran their hands through their long locks, something told me Jake’s hair was not so much a fashion accessory as it was a protective shield. It gave him a dangerous ‘leave-me-alone’ type vibe.

As beautiful and talented as he was, even at first glance, it was easy to see why the media would describe him as reserved. There was an unapproachable quality to him...almost like he was daring people to bother him. Jake made me nervous just looking at him. If I weren’t already paired with him, I wouldn’t dare go up and talk to him. In fact I was actively regretting my decision to be his partner for the wedding. He was so far out of my comfort zone.

Still I couldn’t help but admire his physical attributes. My eyes travelled the length of his body. He was an impressive guy. He had to be around 6’0 feet tall with long legs and a long, lean muscled torso. He took care of himself and was strong and powerful, that much was obvious. His shirt was opened a few buttons exposing a strapping chest as the fabric clung to his sculpted muscles. My body tingled in response. Keep on dreamin’ girl! You’re not even in the same league as this guy.

Jake’s brother, whom I’d seen at the rehearsal, had gone over to greet him as he propped his guitar against the wall then dropped his bags. After a quick exchange, Jake turned toward all of us in the rehearsal party just as a commotion from the entrance caught his attention. A girl from the restaurant burst through the door and lunged for him. Jake didn’t even flinch, not even when she was inches from grabbing onto his arm. His brother and the restaurant manager simultaneously pulled her back, pushing her from the room. The manager then shut the door on a gaggle of teenagers ready to take the girl’s place.

I saw a flash of annoyance cross over his face but he immediately masked it. He replaced that second of irritation with a strained smile, like he knew he was being watched and had to put on a show for us. As Jake moved across the room he radiated strength and prominence. He was an imposing figure. I wondered how old he was. From what I remembered about him, we were close in age, but the way he carried himself made him seem so much older. There was a maturity to him that went far beyond his years…and one which could only be borne through living and learning. And there was no doubt in my mind that Jake had lived through more than his fair share. By all accounts, he’d grown up quickly and had learned some pretty tough life lessons at a very young age.

Jake walked directly over to Mitch and Kate. He hugged his brother and apologized for being late. He then took a step back and shook Kate’s hand, introducing himself. Jake was neutral in his expression but he seemed genuine upon meeting his future sister-in-law. As for poor Kate…well, I had to smile. She was blushing and smiling like a fangirl meeting her idol for the first time. Even though Jake was about to become her brother-in-law, she was still hopelessly star-struck.

We all were. Jake exuded a dynamic presence. It wasn’t just the fact that he was a beautiful specimen of a man or that he was universally famous; there was something else about him…something that made you feel that you were in the company of someone special. My attraction to him was instantaneous. Of course, a quick glance around the room at all the swooning women told me that I was not the only one having that reaction.

And something also told me that Jake was well aware of the response he was eliciting from his female admirers. Really he was a bit of a walking contradiction. He may have been a reserved person but he was no shrinking violet. He had the commanding, quiet confidence of a person who knew exactly who he was. All that worrying I’d done about him being introverted or broken was all for naught. If anything, Jake McKallister appeared to be the complete opposite of what I’d imagined. This was a guy who could get any girl in the room and he knew it.

As Jake turned toward the crowd, he scanned the wedding party. I felt my heart race as his pretty eyes rolled over me. He didn’t linger. In fact, I doubt he saw me at all. He was clearly seeking out his family and when he found them, he cut across the room. Hushed whispering filled the air. Jake paid no attention to it…although there was no way he couldn’t have heard it. As he passed, every head turned. Jake didn’t reciprocate. He did not have to. He was the star, and, as such, was used to displays of adoration. I wondered what it must feel like to command that kind of attention everywhere you went. Surprisingly it didn’t seem to bother Jake. In fact, he appeared to be totally unaffected by the way he was affecting everyone else. I wasn’t sure if he was just an expert at guarding his emotions or if he really was just that indifferent to the opinion of others. Strangely enough, his apathetic attitude didn’t come across as cocky. Maybe it was just the knowledge of who he was and what he had survived that made him somewhat immune to the typical stereotypes. I’d always been attracted to the smiley, outgoing types but even I had to admit, I found everything about Jake McKallister to be incredibly appealing. Suddenly I wanted to know more…much more…about him.

With all eyes on him, Jake greeted JimSuey, then his mother, father and two sisters before settling down between his three brothers. Then, as if someone flipped a switch, Jake’s demeanor changed completely. It was like the wall came down around him. Here, amongst his family, he was entirely comfortable and it showed. I watched him interact with his siblings in an easy, relaxed way. The strained smile from earlier was replaced with a genuinely charming lop-sided grin. I was surprised to see him throw his head back when he laughed. To me, that had always been a sign of a person with a good sense of humor. The wariness in his eyes had also vanished. This Jake did not even remotely resemble the same guarded guy who walked in five minutes earlier. Was this the Jake McKallister that was shielded from public view? Was this the real man behind the mask? I found myself becoming more stalker-ish as the minutes passed. I had to will myself to stop staring.