Stereo (32 page)

As the water splashed down her skin she felt anything but warm relief.  Her friend had no idea how hard all of this was.  Running around frantically trying to keep this secret from him, being unable to truly explore their growing relationship, and getting caught damn near red handed by Veronica was taking a serious toll on Shaun’s physical and mental health.  At this point she really didn’t see any way out of it but to tell Adam the truth.

As she stepped out of the shower and dried off, Shaun caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.  Dropping the towel from her hands, she took in the sight of her naked figure, something that, once upon a time, would have reduce her to tears.  Now, as her eyes ran over the subtle dips and curves of her body she realized that she actually really
liked
herself… just the way she was.

She knew that she wouldn’t have been able to say that about herself before Adam.  He’d helped her grow to love herself and hate herself all at once.  She had to purge the hatred, and she knew the only way to do that was not to send in the article.

But was Celia right?  Would telling Adam the truth really disgust him so much that he would never want anything to do with her again?  And, better yet, did he really want anything serious with her, at all?  Sure, he’d made the fact that he wanted to sleep with her crystal clear, but would he ever see her as anything more than that? 

Perhaps if the article was never published there would be no reason to tell him, at all.

Shaun watched herself in the mirror, contemplating her next move, and nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone rang on the bathroom counter.

It was Adam.

“Hey,” she breathed, relieved that it wasn’t Jackson.

“Hey, did you get your schoolwork done last night?”

If by schoolwork you mean running into your psycho ex-girlfriend at the job I’ve been lying to you about having then, yeah,
she thought
.
“Yeah I got it done.”

“I can’t wait to see you tonight.”

“Likewise.”

“I been thinkin’ about you.”

“Yeah?  I’ve been thinking about you, too, Adam.”  She caught a glimpse of her smiling face in the mirror.  She looked happy, happier than she’d ever been.  Adam made her this way. How could a man who made her feel this good have any motive that wasn’t genuine?  He had to feel the same way about her as she felt about him… right?

“What are you wearing tonight?”

“It’s a surprise,” she said, grinning as she eyed the lime green bandage dress that she’d gotten as a gift from her last photo shoot.  The dress hit her every curve perfectly, and the green color wasn’t too dull or too bright.  It was just enough, the perfect offset to her chocolate skin and the gold accessories she had lying out on her counter.  “I’m just getting dressed right now.”

“What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on that wall.”

A blush crept to her cheeks.

“We got some early numbers for the album sales and the projections are pretty high, babe.”

“How high?”

“They’re thinking 500,000.”

“Wow.” 

“I know.”  Adam took an audible breath.  “It’s all because of you.”

“I didn’t write the beautiful music.  I didn’t make the appearances or do the interviews…”

“You and I both know that my stupid fucking mouth almost sank my entire career, and even if it hadn’t me not being able to finish that album would have definitely done the job.  Then you walk in, and a month later, the album is done. It will probably go platinum within the year.  I have more fans that I ever have. They’re even boosting sales on albums from years ago. You woke me up, Shaun… “

Shaun finally dropped the earring that she’d been shakily trying to put in her ear when his words became too much.

That was it.  She was done. She was done fielding Jackson’s calls and done running from the mess she’d made.  It was time to clean it up.

“I can’t wait to see you.”

Shaun sighed.  He hadn’t seen her, not really, but he would soon.

She could only hope he would still be able to say those words once he really knew her.  The real her.

--

An hour later Adam and Shaun were all over each other in the backseat of the limo that was speeding down the 405, and Shaun was not complaining.  The limo driver had put up the divider within five minutes of Shaun getting into the car because Adam had been going at her non-stop.

She threw her head back against the leather seat, enjoying the feel of his rampant kisses up and  down her neck.

“Adam,” she breathed against his lips, gasping as his wandering hands began moving lower.  “Adam… we’re here.”

He cursed, turning to look out of the window where what looked to be hundreds of fans were lined up outside of
Carpe,
the club where the release party was being held.  He turned back to Shaun and his eyes ran her up and down. “Let’s skip it, babe.”

“Adam!”  Shaun laughed out loud and dodged his mouth as he leaned in for more.  “Look at all of these people here for you.”

“Half of them are probably here for you now.”

“Oh please.”

His eyes ran over her face adoringly. “My little model,” he teased.  “How many pairs of heels have you rocked since we met a month ago?”

Shaun reached up and adjusted his fitted black jacket and skinny tie.  “A lot.”

“You remember our first date when you couldn’t even get through the door in those shoes you were wearing?”

“I remember.”

“And look at you now.” He suddenly squinted at her. “Why in the world did you wear those shoes, anyway?  Huh?  You knew you wouldn’t be able to walk in them.”

“I guess I was just trying to impress you.”

“By forcing me to catch your fall all night?”

Shaun avoided his eyes.

“I remember you from that night.  I was the last person on earth you’d ever want to impress.  You hated me for what I said.”

“I didn’t.”  Shaun finished adjusting his tie.  “I didn’t even know what you’d said until the end of the dinner remember?”

“Did you want me before you found out what I said?” His eyes fell to her lips. “Did you find me attractive?”

She decided to be honest.  “Not really. I thought you were obnoxious.”

“And now?”

“Adam…”  She pushed at his chest.  “Everyone’s waiting for you, common.”

“Just answer that one question.”

“Like I said, we’re not blowing this off.”  She stroked his cheek. “You and I have all night to blow a few things off.”

Adam’s breathing picked up.

“Now come on,” she beamed. “Out of the limo.”

With a grin he placed one last kiss on her lips before grabbing her hand and climbing out of the open door.  They were met with the screams of fans waiting outside and, to Shaun’s surprise, Adam was right.

A ton of the screams were just for her.

--

“Molten!  I saw you hogging up all the camera time outside you little media whore. Get over here.”

Shaun walked into Noodle’s open arms with a smile.  The White Keys and all of their friends and family had a few private tables elevated above the bumping club.  Each table was scattered with dozens of bottles featuring different alcohols and champagnes from which to get completely wasted.
Carpe
was jam packed with people and blasting every White Keys hit ever created.  Shaun felt like, for the first time in her life, she was sitting at the cool kids table.

“Oh, Noodle, you always did know how to make an entrance.”  She squealed when he circled his arms around her tightly and lifted her feet off the ground, still not used to grown men picking her up so easily.

“All right,” Adam said protectively from where he was nursing his beer a few feet away.

“Relax, man.  She’s part of the group now, right?” Yoshi asked from next to him, sipping his own beer.

Adam continued to watch them out of the corner of his eye.  “Yeah, I guess she is.”

“Pretty funny how quick that happened.   In fact… I think it’s pretty funny how quickly all of this has happened,” Yoshi said, turning to face Adam completely.

“Yeah, I guess.” Adam continued to watch Noodle, who was still hugging Shaun way too closely for his liking.  His entire body relaxed when his insane friend finally released Shaun from his claws.  The urge to steal her back was strong, but he willed himself to give her some space and not look like some needy freak.  When Shaun excused herself to the bathroom he watched her go, relieved that she’d found a way to remove herself from Noodle’s crazy claws.

“You said you guys met at the P.R. firm?”

Adam finally turned to Yoshi, confused by his line of questioning.  “Yeah, that’s what I said.”

“And you’ve never seen her or heard of her before then?”

“No, man… where is this going?”

“I just think it’s weird that she doesn’t have a profile up on the Wilhelmina website even though she supposedly models for them, she’s never worked in the industry before she met you, and she just happened to be at your P.R. firm the same week that you said all that shit about black women?  Look man if something’s funny and you know about it you can tell me, but if it’s not then I have to tell you…
something’s funny
.” Yoshi held his hands up when he saw a fight coming from his friend.  “I’m just saying man… there’s something way off here.  Veronica thinks so, too.  And I found this paper that she’d been writing on when we were in Sydney and—“

Adam didn’t even let him finish.  “Wait a minute… Veronica?  You’re fucking with me right?”

Yoshi continued to speak as calmly as he could.  “I would never speak her name to you, bro, but she told me that she thinks something’s weird about Shaun, too.”

“Veronica,” Adam screamed, again.

“If you keep screaming my name like that it’s going to give people the wrong idea, Adam.”

Adam and Yoshi both turned to see Veronica standing behind them.

“Oh Christ,” Yoshi breathed.

--

“What the fuck do you mean you’re not writing the article?”

Shaun cringed at the sound of Jackson screaming at her from her cell phone and she checked, once again, that all of the bathroom stalls were empty before she responded.  “Jackson, I’m really sorry.”

“You’re sorry,” he screamed.  “This was one of the top stories—a cover story, and we go to press tomorrow.  I had your word that this would be done and now you’re telling me it’s not because you’re having an attack of conscience? Fuck your conscience!”

“Jackson…”  Shaun tried to stay calm.  “It’s not just an attack of conscience I…”  She went tall and silent when someone came into the bathroom.  “I care about him,” she whispered, once they were safely in the stall.

“If I don’t have that article by midnight tonight, you’re fucking fired.”

She sighed.  “I figured that--”

Jackson disconnected the call before Shaun could say another word.  She stared at the phone waiting to feel the emptiness she thought she would, surprised when it never came.

There was a reason for that.  She was doing the right thing, and her conscience knew it too.

A ray of hope came alive inside of her.  Perhaps she wouldn’t have to tell Adam.  Perhaps Jackson would simply scrap her story and make sure she never wrote for another publishing house for as long as she lived, and Adam would never have to know.  She loved writing, she really did, but at that point giving up a career in writing seemed like a small price to pay if it meant she could have Adam.

Feeling about a million pounds lighter Shaun left the bathroom with a smile, anxious to find her man.

--

Adam immediately ran a frustrated hand down his face, unable to believe the sight before him.  Veronica looked perfect, as always, and was arm in arm with a man who had to be twice her age.

Shaun came up next to Adam, and the moment she saw Veronica, the short lived feeling of peace she’d had in the bathroom came to a crashing, fiery halt.  Her heartbeat increased about a million miles a minute.   Adam looked enraged.  What had been said?  What had been done?  Shaun struggled to keep cool. “Veronica.”

“Shaun.” Veronica sneered.  “I was just stopping by to congratulate Adam on the wildly successful album and party.”  Veronica turned to the man who she was arm in arm with.  “This is Steve Goldenberg, he’s the CEO of Hearst Magazines.”

Shaun’s wide eyes flew to Steve Goldenberg, a man whose name she heard in her worst nightmares.  A man even Jackson himself feared, her boss’ boss.  So that was why Veronica had been at the Cosmopolitan offices that night.  She was dating the magazine’s owner.  Shaun swallowed thickly.  If Steven recognized her, he didn’t show it, and for that she was thankful.

“Nice to meet you,” Adam said dryly, before turning back to Veronica. “You want to tell me what the fuck you’re doing here?”