Chapter 48
I ended up sleeping for four hours and woke at 10 am, bright-eyed and ready to go. After a quick shower and shave, I used my hair gel and comb to slick my hair back, like it had been at the club the night before. I was impressed at how fashionable and great it looked. Feeling a little more confident than usual, I pulled on a white shirt and blue jeans and went to go grab the awning I planned to bolt into place today on the roof.
When I grabbed my phone, I saw a couple text messages, one from Brooke, another from Julia, and the last, surprisingly from Everette Vanderlite. I checked the last one first, curious why he tracked down my number and messaged me.
--bro you move fast!
--I’m impressed! Are they still looking to sign with someone? Think you can get me an in bro?!?
Below the two messages was a screenshot of a news article on Page 6 that read: Hot Young Pop Stars, Spotted With Billionaire Playboy.
Below the headline was a grainy image snapped of Clara and Monique holding hands and slipping out of their dressing room. The picture perfectly captured their smiling, shining faces as they look back at me. I barely recognized myself as I stood in the dressing room, slouched on one hip with a confident smile on my lips as I looked back. I didn’t even recognize myself and ended up rereading the headline three times and double-checking the image to make sure.
Brooke and Julia were commenting on the photo as well, and both had more news to share. Brooke said she would be over to talk this afternoon, that the picture put things into motion faster than she’d been planning. She said not to worry and not to leave the building in case there were paparazzi outside. Ava was on her way back in from the countryside and would be joining her. I text back that they didn’t have to waste their weekends, but she responded immediately, warning me not to leave.
The message from Julia was much the same, saying she had been in contact with Brooke and was working on containing any fallout with publicists at the company. Her tone was less damage control though and more about opportunity. She said she was already having stories pushed out in the media that I was working to sign the girls on my new record label.
--If we leverage this properly, we can turn all three of you into celebrities!
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I was just growing comfortable with how my life had become lately. In truth, I knew that once I stepped up and took the helm of the company, that I would instantly become a person with articles written about them. It was less about giving up ownership of my own narrative, although that was a concern, and more about how it might affect my newfound mental health and lifestyle. I had no desire to compromise on either.
I was just about to type out a message to Julia, telling her to squash the idea and keep me out of it as much as possible when there was a loud knock at my door, and Gia’s breathless voice came through to me.
“Connor! Connor, are you awake?!”
I hopped out of bed and unlatched the door, and the older woman bustled in all breathless energy as she went over and tugged the drapes, double-checking that they were closed tight. All the while, she babbled, full of excitement.
“You’re never going to believe what’s happening outside, there are dozens of people crowded out there, wanting to get in and speak with you. I told them to stay out, or we’d call the cops, not that I’m sure what the cops would do, you understand. It’s just so exciting, though, don’t you think?” She turned to me, flashing a broad smile that fell when she saw my boxers.
“You need to put something on this minute! Oh my, Connor… when did you get so hard-muscled… never mind that! Where are your pants?”
“Gia, calm down,” I said, pressing her to sit on my bed, “It’s going to be ok, I’ll have them gone soon.”
“Don’t do that!” The woman said, her voice almost a shriek as she grabbed my arm, almost making me drop my phone, “No, no, this is so perfect for you and for the girls! Don’t you see what an opportunity this is for you? Every enemy of your father has had spies following you since you were born. They all know the young man who showed up on our stoop months ago, but this young man… this gorgeous, brilliant, confident, and charming young man they know nothing about. Oh, quiet,” She said, shushing me when I went to protest, “I know you’re the same man. Just with a better hairstyle, some abs, and with the confidence to talk with women like they’re humans and not mythical creatures. But what’s important is the perception. Don’t you remember from your lessons in literature?”
“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head, seeing what she meant but unsure if it could work, “You mean they carry in their own expectations of what a young, successful CEO is, but I can break that mold, keep them all guessing and off their toes, gain an edge for deals.”
“Not just that,” she said, hand reaching up and fingers flexing on my thigh. “There is a value in celebrity, a value that is beyond priceless. If you want to protect your new girlfriends as they wander their new reality, there is no quicker, better way.”
I contemplated what she said, slowly working through the problem, seeing it from every angle. Using logic and long-practiced techniques to see where I might make mistakes and how I would have to correct for them. Looking several moves down and weighing each outcome against the others, determining what would be best. In the end, I agreed with Gia’s assessment, but there would have to be some clear guidelines established, for me to be able to operate my life as intended.
When I picked my head up, I saw an odd expression on Gia’s face.
“You just did your whole thing again, didn’t you?” She asked, a broad smile on her lips. When I gave her a puzzled frown, she laughed, “That thing you do when you see a problem you want to solve. Come on, tell me the answer to all this paparazzi mess, I know you just figured it out.”
“I didn’t think anyone noticed that,” I said, feeling a touch flattered she had, “The paparazzi are going to be easy to deal with, it’s the rooftop I’m worried about.”
In the end, both proved to be simple to fix. Three actors disguised to look like Clara, Monique, and I were spotted across town, leaving a well-known brunch spot. That dragged the paparazzi away, and a news release dropped an hour later from the Whitaker Industries Press Office, about the new label launching soon to support the talents of two new contestants on a top-ranked Asian Idol show.
The head fake from Pop Stars to Idol Stars flashed through both western and eastern media. Timed with three individuals who looked suspiciously like us, getting onto a Whitaker Industries private jet. The planes itinerary marking its final destination as Seoul, by way of a private resort on Bali, had the tabloid press buzzing in major markets around the world with a juicy new story of young wealth and talent colliding in romantic adventures and locations.
In truth, the reality was much more prosaic and beautiful.