“Aiden,” she said with her arms wide open and welcoming me in for a hug.
“What’s up, Mom,” I replied and hugged her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of two guys with cameras coming towards us. Delilah noticed it too.
“We’d better get out of here,” she suggested. “I believe you’ve been recognized. I told you to stay in the car.”
“Recognized?” my father finally spoke up. “By who?”
“Paparazzi,” I explained. “We need to go before they swarm us.”
I grabbed both suitcases and made a beeline for the back of my Tahoe. Delilah ushered my parents into the car. As soon as everyone was buckled in, I pulled out of parking space, coming dangerously close to hitting another car.
“Good getaway,” Delilah laughed. “That was a close one.”
My mother sat in the backseat with Delilah, smiling and oozing excitement. My father sat expressionless beside me.
“I can’t believe my son is a celebrity!” my mother laughed. “This must be so exciting for you!”
“It is,” Delilah answered. “We travel everywhere, all over the country. I’ve met so many other celebrities, Mom. Some even ask me out but I don’t have time to date since Aiden’s so busy.”
I checked my rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of my mother looking at me. She smiled at me and mouthed “I love you.” I nodded.
“You guys are going to have an amazing time,” Delilah promised. “Aiden and I have a ton of things planned for us to do.”
Aiden and I?
I haven’t planned anything for my parents to do while they’re here. I have to work. Songs don’t write themselves. I do have one surprise for my parents, something I know my dad will appreciate. I haven’t even told Delilah about it because she can’t keep a secret to save her life.
“So, Aiden, I read somewhere that you’ve been dating that actress, Isabella. Is that true?”
“Mom,” I laughed. “Since when do you read the gossip rags?”
She laughed too, a genuine laugh that I haven’t heard in years.
“Typically I don’t. But since you never call home, I have to get my information from the Internet or your sisters.”
“You know, you could do a better job of that,” my father finally spoke. “No parent should have to find out what is going on with their kid from E! News.”
I almost slammed on the brakes. How dare he? The last time I called home, my dad had ripped me a new one for being photographed coming out of a club drunk. He’d actually used the word “embarrassment”.
“Well, if I remember correctly, the phone works the same way for everyone. You never call me either.”
My father changed the subject. “How’s Paulie?”
“Paulie’s fine. You’ll see him at the house.”
“I can’t wait to see him,” my mother replied. “His dad has nothing but good things to say about him. He’s so proud of him.”
“Unlike my dad,” I replied too quickly, before I even thought about it.
Almost instantly, my phone vibrated in the holder. I picked it up and read the text message from Delilah.
U PROMISED!!
I shook my head. Yeah, I had promised to be on my best behavior.
“It’s not that I’m not proud of what you’ve accomplished, Aiden,” my dad started to say.
“You don’t have to explain,” I interrupted. “I didn’t mean that.”
We only have five days to spend together. I can endure this. Believe me; I’ve endured much worse than my father’s displeasure.
****
Delilah did a horrible job prepping my parents for their trip out here. If she had explained that my life is a paparazzi nightmare, they might have been prepared. It’s virtually impossible for me to set foot out the house without attracting the attention of the paparazzi. I’m used to it. Paulie’s used to it, and Delilah loves it.
My parents almost had a stroke when a photo of us having dinner appeared on the front page of Page 6.
After two days of being followed around L.A, my parents quickly became content on staying in the house and doing nothing. My mom was happy lying outside by the pool with Delilah, soaking up the California rays and gossiping about celebrities and Sara. My father was actually enjoying sitting in my music room listening to old music and smoking cigars. As long as there isn’t anyone snapping pictures and shouting questions at them, they were fine.
I’m used to it. I ignore them. It’s just part of my life, just like making music is. They have their good uses. If it weren’t for the paparazzi, no one in L.A would give a shit about me.
Friday morning, the fourth day of my parents’ visit, I woke up to find my mother cooking breakfast. I was the last to arrive in the kitchen.
“Where’d you get food?”
Paulie, Delilah, and I have a horrible habit of surviving on take out. There’s rarely any actual food in the state of the art kitchen that we had to have. Just a bunch of take out menus and to-go boxes. If we ate better, the three of us probably wouldn’t have to spend so much time in the gym.
“Delilah and I went grocery shopping,” my mother answered. “I figured the best way to avoid the people with the cameras was to go without you. And judging by the lack of decent food in this house, none of you like the grocery store anyway.”
“Nope. Just the liquor store,” I said and sat down at the breakfast counter.
“Mom and I are going shopping on Rodeo,” Delilah announced.
Dad and I groaned. When it comes to spending my money, Delilah is my accountant’s worst nightmare. Judging from my dad’s expression, she must get it from our mother.
“And what are you gonna do while Mom’s shopping?” I asked my father.
“Hang out here.”
“Wanna go to sound check with me?” This was the first time I’d brought up that I have a show tonight.
“What sound check?” Delilah screeched and immediately reached for her Blackberry. “You don’t have a show tonight.”
“It’s not my show. It’s a charity thing that I was asked to do. I was approached by Jesse Flan and he asked me to do one song with the band tonight.”
Jesse Flan is a well known promoter in L.A. When he asks you to do something directly, without going through Roxy, you do it.
“Which band?” Delilah asked pointedly.
I grinned at my dad. “The Stones. But don’t say anything, Dee-Lee,” I warned. “This is very low key, very private. They’re not doing it to get press. That’s why I didn’t tell you or Tracy that I’m doing this.”
“Tracy and Roxy are going to shit bricks! Are you getting paid for this?” Delilah asked.
“It’s for charity. Why the hell would they pay me for one song?”
I looked over at my Dad. “You wanna tag along?”
He looked like his heart was about to stop beating. For a second I was worried.
“This isn’t a joke? You’re serious?” he sputtered.
“I’m serious,” I told him. “Jesse called me last week about doing the gig with Joey. It’s like one of those “Make a Wish” things. Some kid’s last wish is to see the Stones, so they’ve set this private show up for him. It sounds pretty damn cool if you ask me.”
“You’re really going to play with The Stones?” his voice shook with excitement.
I knew he’d be happy. He’s the one who gave me my first guitar. I remember how proud he was to give me something that had been autographed by his favorite musician.
Inadvertently, my father is the reason why I am where I am. We may not get along that well, but I owe everything to him. That’s a hard concept for me to grasp, let alone openly admit, but it’s true, one way or another.
I’ve accomplished everything that I thought would make my father proud of me. If he’s not proud of the fact that he has a Grammy award winning musician as a son, oh well. The least we can do is enjoy the lifestyle.
“I can come to sound check?” Dad as
ked. “Will I be able to meet them?” He sounded just as star struck as my sisters had when I first moved to Los Angeles.
“Yeah. If you all want to, you can come to the show tonight.”
I spoke nonchalantly, like I do this type of thing often. The truth is, I’m excited as hell. The Rolling Stones want me to play on one of their songs! My main guitar is autographed by Keith Richards! This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.
“Can I come too?” Paulie asked. I rolled my eyes.
“Seriously, are you really asking? Of course you’re coming.”
I started eating the food that my mother sat in front of me. I looked over at Paulie who was grinning harder than my father.
“By the way, you have to pick up your dad at LAX in an hour.”
Paulie’s eyes widened. Law school is so intense, plus he has the internship so he rarely gets to go back to Mt. Vernon. Eric doesn’t have the money to fly out here that often. When I was approached about doing this charity show, I knew that I had to get Eric to come out here. It wasn’t supposed to be a surprise but I forgot to tell Paulie. I just remembered that he was coming last night.
“My dad’s coming?”
“Yeah,” was all I said. I finished my food while my family started talking excitedly about the events for the evening. After I was done, I showered and got ready for sound check. My mother came into my room and sat on my bed while I was combing my hair.
“What’s up, Mom?”
“I just wanted to tell you that what you’re doing for your dad is wonderful. He hasn’t been this excited over anything since Delilah was born.”
“Glad I could help.”
“You know, Aiden, he is proud of you. He may not say it, but he is. We both are.”
“Thanks for telling me that,” I finally answered after a long pause. “I really want to hear him say it, though.”
I sat down next to her. If we’re gonna have this conversation, might as well get it over with.
“I’ve said it over and over; I never set out to piss you guys off. I just wanted to play my guitar. I knew that I could do it. I knew that I could make damn good music.”
“Well, you’ve done it and proved us both wrong,” Dina answered. “I hear the way people talk about your music, even before your album came out. I remember when you did the House of Blues show in Chicago. Some of your father’s co-workers came back from that show amazed at how talented you are. Aside from all of the stupid things that you do, people are just in love with your music. Aiden, your music is really inspiring to a lot of people. That makes me proud.”
“You’ve listened to my music?”
She laughed. “Well, I had to see what all the fuss was about.”
For some reason, that made me happy. I grinned and hugged my mother. Her words, as simple as they were, had just made every argument, every show, every disagreement with Joey and the band, every long boring interview, and the endless paparazzi pictures totally worth it.
“I love you, Mom.”
She ruffled my unruly hair. “I love you too, Superstar.”
Chapter 32
“Aiden!” Delilah called from her office upstairs. “Come up here.”
I sighed and sat Dee-Dee on the thick gray carpet of my music room. After my parents’ visit and finishing the latest round of shows, I finally get a chance to write some new material and Delilah won’t stop calling me.
I walked into Delilah’s office and immediately felt like I walked into page 142 of an IKEA catalog. She sat behind her pink desk, laptop open and her desktop computer on as well.
“What are you doing?”
“Reading your show reviews and putting stupid rumors to rest on the Internet. Your celebrity speed dating doesn’t make my job any easier, you know.”
“I went out with two people last week,” I protested.
“One who happens to have a movie coming out next month and the other is a damn swimsuit model,” Delilah snapped. “TMZ has footage of you rubbing on her ass while standing outside of Luna Park the other night.”
“So. Who cares about TMZ? You and Roxy get too worked up over that kind of stuff. I’m twenty-four years old. If I’m not dating hot girls, they’re going to say that I’m gay. I’d rather not deal with that.”
“Anyway,” she said. “I just got off the phone with Roxy. You have to go to Atlanta. Power thinks it’s time to put out a new album. So we’re flying there tomorrow to meet with Dre, Rayshawn.”
Good. I never thought I’d get sick of hearing my music. It is time to put out something new. Two years is a long time to play the same songs every night.
“Do you want me to call Sunny and let her know we’re coming?”
I looked up quickly from the blog I was reading on the laptop. “What? Why?”
“Because, we’re going to be there for awhile. Aren’t we staying at your apartment?”
“It’s her apartment.”
“Technically, it’s still your apartment,” Delilah answered. “You’ve been paying the lease on the thing for two years.”
“It’s her apartment,” I repeated. “I’m not staying there.”
“Whatever,” Delilah said.
“You wanna grab something to eat?” I asked her and stood up.
“No, I have work to do. Please don’t make any headlines while you’re out.”
I didn’t go far. There’s a small bar around the corner from my house that I really like. It’s a small Irish pub that looks like it belongs on a dirty street in New York.
O’Connor’s is my secret place. People leave me alone here and call me Aiden...not Aiden Tyler or A.T. It’s my L.A equivalent of Rabbit’s, except no one expects me to strap on a guitar when I walk through the door.
I hung out with the owner’s sons, Liam and Cody, until it started to get dark. We talked about everything from hot girls we scored with to the new ’67 Mustang that Cody’s trying to restore on his own.
“I gotta fly to Atlanta for a week,” I told my friends. “But when I get back, I wanna help with the car.”
“Sure thing,” Cody replied.
I sat some money on the table. Liam scowled at me.
“You know your money’s no good here.”
“I know, it’s for Callie.”
Liam whooped. “You’re given that lazy broad fifty bucks? No wonder the girls love you so much here. Sucker!”
I laughed. “See you in a week.
****
Walking into Power Music with a multi-platinum record and two Grammys under my belt is a lot less intimidating than it was when I was just a local artist. Now I walk through the hallways with the same confidence as the other artists, if not more. I have single handedly outsold every artist on this label. I’m the reason that more artists are giving Power Music a chance.
I brushed past the new receptionist who looked like she didn’t want to be there.
“Excuse me!” she yelled. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Got a meeting with Dre,” I called over my shoulder and pushed through the ornate glass doors that led to the office suites.
Dre had moved into the bigger corner office. Why shouldn’t he? He was responsible for signing me. I walked past his assistant and into his office. I was the last to arrive. Roxy and Rayshawn were already there.
“What’s up A.T?” Dre greeted me with a grin.
Over the last year or so, Dre has abandoned his hip-hop style for a more professional look that’s better suited to stand next to me and Roxy on the red carpet. Before, he just looked like my bodyguard.
“Nothing much,” I said as I sat down in one of the expensive leather chairs.
“You playin’ at Rabbit’s tonight?”
I nodded. “You know Kat will kill me if I don’t make an appearance.”
Dre and I have grown pretty close since I signed my deal. Our professional relationship is better than most artists have with their label rep. It’s a shame that he and Roxy still don’t get along. He�
��s probably in a hurry to get her out of his office.
“Delilah said that you want me to start working on a new album, right?”
“Yes, we think it’s time.”
“Limited Edition is doing great, but we need a fresh sound from you,” Dre said. “I don’t want to wait another six months before you start working on it.”
“That’s fine with me. When do I start?”
“I would like to have a single out in a month or two. I’d really like your sophomore album to hit the stores in six months.”
“Impossible,” Roxy interjected. “We need more time. This is the most important album he’ll ever make. This one can make or break his career.”
Leave it to my manager to freak me out over something, but she’s right. An artist’s second album can make or break his career. If it isn’t perfect or if it isn’t what my fans want to hear, then I’m screwed. I’ve heard of artists getting dropped from their label, never to be heard from again, after their second album flopped.
Plus, I really haven’t been writing anything really good. All of my good material is dated. Is six months enough time to create enough new songs to fill up an album?
I ran my fingers through my tangled hair and felt my heart starting to race. I couldn’t stop my leg from bouncing up and down. The room was getting smaller as I struggled to maintain even breaths.
These feelings have been happening more frequently over the last two years. Delilah swears that they are panic attacks and I should see a doctor. I don’t believe it. I’ve never had a panic attack in my life. I just get a little anxious, that’s all. I don’t need to see a doctor.
Roxy looked at me with a worried expression. “Aiden, are you okay?”
I nodded. “Can I have some water?”
“Of course,” Dre said. “I’ll get Rachel to get you some.”
“No, I’ll get it.” I stood up and walked out of the office to the break room.
I took a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and pressed it against my forehead. The coolness started to calm me as I took deep breaths to slow my heartbeat.
I chugged half of the water and walked back into Dre’s office a little calmer.
“Better?” he asked.
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