Stereo (18 page)

She turned to Adam who was sitting next to her, shoulder to shoulder, and wasn’t surprised to find him looking right back.  

“You okay?”  he asked.

“I’m fine but if you ask me that again I might have to kill you.”

“It’s just… you don’t
seem
fine.  The press just basically chewed you up and spit you out today.  Nobody’s fine after that… not even the biggest celebrities out there.”

“Hey,” Janelle chimed in while snapping her fingers. “Can we focus on the real problem here?”

Adam and Shaun both looked at her.

“Are you screwing Yoshi?” Janelle asked Shaun.

“Jesus Janelle.” Adam cringed.

“Of course not.”  Shaun frowned.  “I was a little drunk last night and I crashed in his room, but that was it.” Shaun looked to Adam and she was surprised at the look on his face.  It was almost… annoyed?  Hurt?  Maybe a little angry.  “We didn’t do anything,”  she said, more to him than Janelle.

“I know that.”

“Good.” Shaun said, “Because it would be really terrible if the two of you believed everything that the rest of the world believes about me now.  That I’m some groupie chick who’s hopping from one guy to the next.”

“The problem isn’t what people believe. It’s what you’re allowing them to believe.”

“And what exactly is she allowing them to believe, oh wise one?  Please enlighten us.”

The red headed powerhouse was pacing back and forth, eyes shooting daggers at Adam. “The reason that people are buying this story about Shaun and Yoshi is because they aren’t buying the two of you.  You aren’t convincing the public that this is real so they are looking for other explanations. 
Any
explanation that makes sense to them.”

Adam and Shaun gaped at her.

“Now I understand that neither of your acting abilities are exactly Oscar worthy but I need you to sell this.”  Janelle motioned back and forth between the two of them.  “This has nothing to do with race.  It has to do with the fact that, for whatever reason, the public doesn’t believe that you two are fucking each other’s brains out.  They’re not buying it.  You need to be more physical in public.  You need to look happier together when you’re in public and you need to be seen in public a lot more than you already are.  This Yoshi story will blow over, that’s not my main concern, but we do need to step this whole thing up a notch if we have even a chance of convincing anybody.”

“Okay, Janelle.  Take a breath,” Adam said.  He looked over to Shaun and raised his eyebrows.  “What do you think?”

Janelle rolled her eyes and turned away from them, walking towards the window of the hotel.

Shaun pressed her lips together and shrugged, internally relaxing when Adam placed a hand on her back.  “I think…I mean…. I guess you’ve been right all along.”

Adam grinned.  “Was that hard for you to say, babe?”

“Extremely.”  She sighed before looking Adam in the eye and smiling.  She hated admitting that he was right, and the smug smile on his face was doing nothing to change her mind on that.

Janelle quietly watched them, her eyes jumping back and forth, with her finger tapping on her chin. “Okay, that…”  She motioned to them. “
That
.  I need you guys to do that in public.”

Shaun and Adam both stared at her in dismay.  “Do what?”  Shaun asked.

“That moment you guys just had?  I bought that.  I totally bought it.”

Shaun and Adam looked at each other.  “But we weren’t doing anything.”

“For some reason… when there’s a camera in your faces the two of you freeze up like you both had bad Mexican for lunch.  What is it about a camera that throws you off, Shaun?  It’s your job to be in front of a camera, is it not?”

Shaun couldn’t speak.

“Or is it just Adam that’s throwing you off?”

“All right,” Adam said.  He could already see where Janelle was going and he didn’t like it.

“I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep this entire arrangement professional, Shaun.  Now I’ve already talked to Adam about it—“

“She’s completely professional Janelle, drop it.”

“But--”

“I said drop it.”

Janelle faltered, then laughed, softly.  “Fine.  I have a flight in an hour.”  She snatched up her bag and stalked toward the door.  Before opening it she threw them a look, “But I damn well better see lots of huggin’ and lovin’ in the next few editorials there are of you two or we’re going to have words, I promise you that.”  With another roll of her eyes Janelle left the room, slamming the door behind her.

“Ray of sunshine, as always,” Shaun muttered, standing from the bed and walking out onto the balcony.

Adam followed her, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his jeans.  The black t-shirt he wore fluttered against his skin as he stepped out after her onto the balcony.  Slowly, his eyes fell to the bright yellow heels she had on and slowly back up the equally bright, and tight, yellow dress she wore.  “Is that what you wore on the runway today?”

Shaun, who was holding on to the side of the balcony, looked down at the dress she wore. “Oh, yeah.  I wanted to change but Janelle was already dragging me out of there like a bat out of hell.  I didn’t even have time to find Tony and thank him.”

“Thank him, huh?”  Adam stopped behind her, still enjoying the view.  As the wind picked up the smell of her hair wafted past him. Adam’s eyes fluttered closed.  She smelled so damn good. “Sounds like it went well.”

“I didn’t fall,”  Shaun offered. “In fact, I think I did… kind of okay. I walked the runway right after I saw that news broadcast.  You know, the one that made it look like I’m having an affair with Yoshi.  It was like the anger I was feeling gave me balance.  Some kind of weird power.”

“I’m sorry about that. And I’m sorry I couldn’t make it back in time.”

“Don’t be.  It was stupid of me to assume that I wasn’t being watched.  It was a mistake to be that friendly with Yoshi in public.”  She could feel him come up behind her.  “I keep forgetting that my life isn’t mine anymore.”

“It can still be yours.”

Shaun could only laugh.   She turned on her heel and gasped.  Adam was close.  Dangerously close.   She found herself tracing the designs in his eyes.  They were brighter under the sunset.

“Did you know that you have green eyes?”  She tilted her head and peered closely.  “Have they always been so green?”

“They’re hazel, but...”

“No, they’re definitely green.”

“I think I know what color my eyes are.”

“I think you’ve been misled.”

“For my entire life?”

Shaun laughed.  “Yeah.  It must be a conspiracy.”

He bit his bottom lip, all while staring at hers.  When he released it, he was no longer smiling.  “I shouldn’t have let you walk out last night.”

Shaun lowered her eyes.  “I wasn’t exactly easy to deal with.”

“No,” Adam pressed. “I shouldn’t have let you walk out.  Anything could have happened to you.  I was just…”  He couldn’t finish.

Shaun knew that the things she’d said to him the night before had struck him and he’d let her leave out of hurt and anger.  “I guess I’m a mean drunk…”

“Not a mean drunk, maybe an honest drunk. It wasn’t fair for me to get pissed off at you for wanting to keep this at a professional level.  It’s wasn’t fair to you, even if I’m not necessarily on the same page.”

“What page
are
you on?” When he didn’t seem in a hurry to answer, Shaun added. “Don’t be so sure what page I’m on, okay? Pages get turned every second in the world.  Hell, someone in this hotel is probably turning a page right now.”

“Are we talking about actual books now or…”

“It’s just a metaphor.”

He smiled at her. “I want to take you somewhere.”

“Let’s see. You flew me out to Sydney.  You set me up with a runway gig with one of the biggest fashion houses in the country.  Mission accomplished.”

“Damn.  I’m still pissed I missed it.  You? On a runway?  And you didn’t fall on your ass?”  He laughed boisterously when she shoved him, grabbing a hold of her wrist.  “How did I miss that?  How is that even possible?  Are pigs flying or what?”

Shaun tried to reclaim her arm, which only made him hold it tighter.  “Screw you,” she whispered.

“Oh Janelle would love that.”  He said with a playful squint.

“Yeah.”  Shaun’s gaze fell to her arm as Adam slid his hand down slowly, until he was cupping her elbow.

“You look gorgeous, Shaun.  They did a good job on you.”

“That’s one backwards compliment if I ever heard one.”

Adam was confused for a second, and then his cheeks reddened ever so slightly.  “No.  I mean, you always look gorgeous.  I mean, obviously you’re gorgeous…”

“Relax I’m just teasing you,” Shaun said with a smile.

“Really…” he whispered. “Let’s go somewhere...”

“We are somewhere. What could be more somewhere than Sydney friggin’ Australia?”

“Exactly, and we’ve barely left the hotel the whole time we’ve been here.  That’s unacceptable.  Look at you.  You need to be seen right now, you’re something to see.”

Shaun couldn’t wipe the wide smile off her face as she shook her head. “Well where do you want to go? I don’t know this city.  And I have an early day tomorrow.”

“Ah, right.  That little modeling thing you have.”

“Yeah that little modeling thing.”

“You seem surprisingly calm about it.”

“Will you be there?”

He took a moment, his eyes searching her face.  “I’ll be there.”

Shaun wasn’t blind to his closeness, or how he seemed to grow closer to her with each passing second.

Adam took a deep breath. “Maybe we should just stay in the room tonight and focus on how we can be a more convincing couple before Janelle’s head blows clear off.”  He swallowed hard, unable to find the words to express what was on his mind. 

He’d been thinking about what happened between them the night before for far longer than he cared to.  Every time his mind went back to that night he just couldn’t imagine how he’d ever forgive himself for not kissing her when he had the chance.  For once she’d been willing to, not for an audience, not for a camera, just for him.  And he’d pissed all over it, all because of his stupid pride.  Now he didn’t know what page Shaun was on--wasn’t sure if he’d ever get there, again.

Shaun felt him step closer to her, still holding her elbow, searching her eyes nervously. Just as her eyes were about to flutter shut they caught sight of the TV blaring quietly inside the room, with her face splashed across it. 

“Oh, not again.”  She pushed Adam to the side, causing his lips to crush against her cheek.  With a soft groan, Adam turned, his face pressed against hers, and looked over his shoulder to see what she was looking at.

Shaun was already pushing past him and hurrying into the room just as a voiceover on the television spoke, “Adam Brand’s new girlfriend, Shaun, is an upcoming model from Los Angeles. With her sudden appearance on the rock star’s arm,
and
with rumors swirling that she’s already joined the band on their tour across Australia, the young bombshell has everyone asking… just
who is
Shaun Green? We have all the answers and more after the break.”

As the commercials began to play Shaun still couldn’t take her eyes off of the television.  She was shaking wildly.  Someone was going to figure out who she really was, she just knew it.  She and Celia had seriously underestimated the level of star that Adam actually was.  Being on his arm was making her a celebrity by default.  Someone that everyone wanted to know every little thing about—someone they
would
know every little thing about if the press kept after her the way they were.  What if they dug up her background at Cosmo?  It would ruin everything.  Shaun turned to Adam.  He was watching her from where he leaned against the open doors of the balcony.

“Just think of it as publicity, Shaun.  They say all press is good press and they’re not completely wrong.”

Shaun turned to face Adam, worry stricken. Watching him stand against the backdrop of the Sydney sunset, all Shaun could think was that she’d never seen a man more handsome than he was right at that moment.  The thought of losing even his friendship shook her all the way to her bones.

“Just try to look at it as a favor they’re doing for you. Every time they say your name they’re doing you a favor.  And if that weren’t enough, you’re walking in that huge show tomorrow.  Combine that with the press putting your face everywhere and you’ll be the biggest name in the modeling world before you open your eyes tomorrow morning. Who gives a shit what they say?  Just let those assholes say your name. Let them keep saying it. Let them. Your career will explode overnight.  All because they’re saying your name.”  Adam shook his head.  “Isn’t this what you wanted all along?  Exposure?  Notoriety? You got it, babe.”

Adam was right. What he didn’t know was that with every word he said, he was scaring Shaun ten times more.

--