Stereo (10 page)

“I already have something to wear, okay?  Adam took me to Prada and… he bought me a dress.” She covered her face with her hands.  Just saying the words made her feel like she was setting the women’s movement back one hundred years.

“He
bought
you a
dress?”

“Are you going to spend this entire lunch repeating everything I say or are we going to have an actual conversation at some point?”

“I just…”  Celia sputtered. “I’m just… so proud.  Yes,” she said, deciding that ‘proud’ was exactly the word she was looking for. “I’m like a proud mama.”

“Anyway,” Shaun said with a wave. “I can’t see why it would be a problem getting you into the show.”

“Of course it wouldn’t be a problem since Adam is clearly in love with you!”

“He’s not in love with me.  He’s a man who knows how to keep up appearances.  Why wouldn’t he buy me a dress?  I’m his fake girlfriend.”

“You buy your fake girlfriend a dress from BEBE, okay?  Not from god damn mother-fucking
Prada,
” Celia gasped. “Holy shit, he already loves you.  You already have your story and it hasn’t even been a week.  I just…”  Tears came to Celia’s eyes and she covered her trembling mouth.

Shaun rolled her eyes. “Anyway,” she said, again, trying to stifle a laugh, “tell me what’s going on in your life, Lia.”

Celia was hunched so far over the small café table that her hair was almost touching her food.  “Fuck my life,” she declared, her mouth agape as she stared at Shaun in awe.

Shaun studied Celia for a few long moments before laughing out loud.  She was suddenly excited at the idea of Celia being at the MTV Awards with her. She needed her best friend if she was going to make it through the night.

Five

Celia and Shaun sat in the parking lot of Universal City.  Though they’d decided that it would be better if Celia didn’t accompany Shaun to the awards ceremony, they were still sitting in Celia’s car, an hour before the show—discussing what Shaun’s approach should be with Adam.  The conversation had started with Celia prepping Shaun on award show etiquette and quickly evolved into a conversation about the biggest obstacle Shaun faced... figuring out how to ‘nab’ Adam in 30 days.

Celia’s tips were only making Shaun more uneasy than she already was.

“Always tell him no,” Celia began. “Never accept last minute invitations. Never stay on the phone for longer than ten minutes and always be the first one to get off the phone—always.”

Shaun looked up from the passenger’s seat where she was scribbling on the pad in her lap. “Why?”

Celia gave her a look. “Just trust me, friend.  Trust me.”

“You should be the one writing this article,” Shaun said a little bitterly. “Is this the game you’ve been playing with every guy you’ve dated since middle school?”

“Men have been playing games with us women since the beginning of time.  Smart women not only know how to recognize these games, but also how to use them to her advantage.  It’s cliché, but men always want what they can’t have.  That cliché goes
double
for a guy like Adam since he probably doesn’t even know the meaning of the word ‘no’ anymore.  He never hears that word.”

“Janelle tells him no all the time,” Shaun said, recalling many of the conversations she’d overheard between Adam and Janelle.

“But Adam isn’t trying to sleep with Janelle.  She works for him. He pays her to tell him no.  Big difference.”

“He isn’t trying to sleep with me, either.”

“He bought you a thousand dollar dress.  He gave you a starring role in his video when there are hundreds of girls in line who would happily murder for that job.  He’s doing all kinds of shit he doesn’t have to do for you. Of course he’s trying to sleep with you… even if he doesn’t know it, yet.”

“Whatever you say.”

Celia snapped her finger. “One more thing!”

Shaun looked up from her pad. “What?”

“Never accept a last minute invitation from him.  I don’t care what it is.  Dinner, movies, a trip to Starbucks… anything.  I don’t give a shit.  If he doesn’t give you at least three days’ notice then you have plans.”

“But isn’t it supposed to be my job to be seen with him?  Wouldn’t apart of that job be to be available to him at all times?”

“Not if you want him to fall for you,” Celia reminded.

“He’s a busy guy, though.”

“And you’re a busy girl.”

“No I’m not.”

“I know you’re not, but
he
doesn’t.  Whenever he asks you out without at least three days’ notice tell him that you’re hanging out with a friend that day.”

“But he already knows that you’re my only friend.”

“He’s a man, Shaun.  When you tell him that you are hanging out with a ‘friend’ he is immediately going to assume that your ‘friend’ is some guy that you’re fucking.”

Shaun cringed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Trust me.  Tell him you’re hanging out with a friend.  Nothing more than that.  Make sure you use the word ‘friend’.  Don’t say anything about it being a man or a woman… just a ‘friend’.  Adam’s mind is immediately going to take that word and run with it…. Believe me.  The less detail you give him the more detail he’s going to invent in his head.  By the time his imagination is done he’ll be convinced that you’re out fucking some guy in the alley of a Denny’s or something.”

Shaun thought about what Celia was saying to her.  For as long as they’d been friends Celia had had even the most in demand, desirable men chasing her around like love-sick dogs. Shaun had always assumed they chased Celia the way that they did because she was outrageously beautiful.  Now she wasn’t so sure.  Perhaps Celia wasn’t just beautiful, but also a master manipulator.  She decided then and there that she was done questioning Celia. It wasn’t as if she was pulling this information out of her ass.  Shaun had seen it first hand, Celia knew how to get a man’s attention and keep it until she didn’t want it anymore.  If she was going to listen to anyone about how to snag Adam, it was going to be her.

“One last thing,” Celia said, “Don’t ever contact him first.  No calls, no texts, no nothing.  I don’t care how much time has passed.  Let him come to you.  Always.”

“Always,” Shaun repeated.

“No matter what.”

--

Shaun sat staring at the Word document open on the screen of her computer. Her fingers lingered over her keyboard, unable to continue typing as her eyes dashed across the one sentence she’d managed to write.

How to Nab a Rock Star in 30 Days

Rule #1: Do Everything a Glamor Girl Wouldn’t

Her heart was already seizing in her chest and she hadn’t even made it past the first rule out of the ten.  She and Adam had had their first outing together, The MTV Awards, just hours ago and she’d been secretly scribbling notes into her pad for the entire night. It had been a long, eventful evening and even though she’d been home for quite a while she just couldn’t sleep.  She wanted to get all of her ideas down before she forgot them for good, but she couldn’t force herself to write.

She couldn’t force herself to write about the sound of Adam’s laughter when she’d asked the MTV stylist if it would be okay to wear her Chucks instead of heels with the red Prada gown.

She couldn’t force herself to write the way Adam had secretly taken her backstage, lifted her onto a broken speaker and helped her unbuckle those very heels when she tripped over them on the way to her seat.

She couldn’t write about the way he’d slipped them off her feet and forced the stylist to fetch her Chucks from the dressing room, all the while teasing Shaun mercilessly.

She couldn’t write about him telling every journalist on the red carpet that her Chucks, “Gave the dress character,” when they inquired why in the world she was wearing them.

She couldn’t write about the way his eyes caught hers when, in the midst of being photographed, a photographer asked to see a kiss.

She couldn’t write about the way he seemed to be almost considering it.  Or the way the hand he had around her waist tightened a little, pulling her closer.  Asking.

She couldn’t write about the way she’d pulled back, not in a way that was apparent to anyone around them, but in a way that was definitely apparent to Adam.

She couldn’t write about the disappointment that was clear in his eyes.  Or the way he seemed to spend the rest of the night trying to figure out why.  How he doted on every little thing from making sure she always had something to drink to making sure her feet were comfortable in those Chucks.

She couldn’t write about the effect that an implied “no” had on a man that was so used to hearing the word “yes”.

She couldn’t write about any of it, but she knew she would eventually have to.

Her eyes jumped over the top of her laptop to where her dress was still hanging from the back of her closet door. The bottom was black and scuffed from having had so much contact with the dirty floors and street.

The phone ringing next to her scared her to death, but not nearly as much as seeing Adam’s name blaring across the screen.

“Hey,” she answered.

A long silence followed. “Hey yourself.”

She smiled into her lap, but the smile immediately fell when her eyes landed back on the screen.   They had only been away from each other for a few hours and he was already calling her.  It was now official.  Rule #1 was golden.

“So tonight was interesting.”  Adam’s voice was quieter than she was used to.

Shaun was now drumming her fingers against the keyboard and she deleted the words:

              Rule #1: Do Everything a Glamour Girl Wouldn’t             

Replacing them with:

Rule #1: When In Doubt, Tell him “No”

“It was fun,” she said, continuing to drum her fingers.

“It
was
fun,”  Adam agreed. “But…”

Her eyes narrowed away from the screen, curiosity peaked. “But…”

“I think we aren’t on the same page about a lot of things we should be on the same page on.”

“Like what?” Shaun asked.

“Not over the phone. Meet me for lunch tomorrow.”

Shaun had never noticed the way Adam rarely made requests, only demands, until that moment. She decided to test her rule. “No,” she said.

Another long silence passed. “No?”

She almost smiled at the shock evident in his voice. “No.  Tomorrow’s not good for me.”

“Fine.  Friday.”

“No.”  She tried to keep a serious tone around the smile on her face.  This was fun.

“Are you kidding me?”

“No!” she yelled.  This time her ‘no’ was genuine.  “What is this? Only rock stars are allowed to have a life? I’m not free on Friday okay?”

Adam sighed. ”What day is good for you, then?”

Shaun didn’t have a damn thing to do for the rest of the week except a little bit of schoolwork, but she wanted to test the waters. “I’m not available until Sunday.”  She checked her computer’s calendar.  Sunday was four days away.

“Fair enough, Miss Popular. I’ll plan something for us and get back to you with the details.”  He paused. “You must have some big plans this week.”

“Maybe I do.”

“Got a hot date, or what?”

She eyed the phone. “Just spending some time with a friend.”

“Ah. Celia?”

“No.”

The silence on Adam’s end was louder than a hurricane.

Her heart pounded as she recalled the rules she and Celia had discussed earlier.  She checked the clock on her computer.  She and Adam had been on the phone for a little over ten minutes. “I have to go. I’m right in the middle of something.”

“Uhm—“

“Okay, bye.”  She hung up the phone before he could finish and had to hold back a chuckle of disbelief when her phone chimed with a text from him just a few minutes later.

‘
Goodnight Miss Popular’,
was all the text said.

“Don’t respond,” Celia said sternly.  Shaun had immediately called her with all of the details, looking for guidance.

“Isn’t that rude?”  Shaun asked.

“No,” Celia said, “that’s your Rule #1.  You haven’t even been off of the phone for five minutes and he’s already texting you. He’s confused about why you’re not chasing him. This is a test and you’re going to pass with flying colors by not responding. Saying nothing is just as powerful as saying ‘no”…”

“You should be writing this damn article,” Shaun muttered. Her mind racing as she typed the first paragraph of her first rule.  Her fingers raced across the keys.

A rock star is surrounded by “yes men.”  Yes men are people that will agree with everything he says, do everything he does and worship every inch of the ground he walks on without a moment’s hesitation.  The word ‘yes’ is something that a rock star is expecting before it is even bestowed upon him.  This gives the word “no” the kind of power that has no equal in the rock star’s world.  If you are the only person in his life who doesn’t give him the “yes” he’s become so accustomed to, you will become the only person in his life that he is willing to go that extra mile for.   He will work harder for your yes than he will for anything else.  You will become a person of value to him—more valuable than everyone else in his life with the exception of his mother—and that’s only because she’s been telling him ‘no’ since the day he was born.