“Yeah, I know that. But what exactly do you want me to do about them?” I asked. “This is our life now. You don’t want your picture taken, then move back home with mom and dad. That’s the only way it’s not going to happen.”
“The first thing you can do is get rid of her. Ramey Hall is a...” Delilah paused abruptly when Ramey walked into the kitchen.
“Ramey Hall is a what?” Ramey challenged Delilah.
“A world class bitch,” Delilah replied. “But I'm sure you know that. I'm going out. Aiden, don't forget we have a meeting with your tour manager at three.”
Delilah grabbed her custom Ray Bans off the counter, swung her hair over her shoulder and slid out the kitchen. Ramey wrinkled her face at Delilah's exit.
“Don't say anything,” I spoke up. “I don't want to hear it.”
“But, Aiden, Delilah is...”
“I don't care,” I interrupted. “This is her house too. She's gonna be here so deal with it.”
“You didn’t tell her that I'm moving in here, did you?”
No, I haven't told my sister that Ramey was going to be staying with us while her apartment is being renovated. She's going to have a fit so why rush it?
“I thought you were going to tell your label to push back your tour so you can come to Paris and shoot the Armani campaign with me.”
I grabbed a beer out of the fridge and shook my head.
“No. I don't feel like going through the hassle. These shows are practically sold out. I'm not going to do that to my fans.”
“But I'm your girlfriend,” Ramey protested.
“So. You've been my girlfriend for two months. My fans have been there from the beginning. Nothing comes before them, you know that.”
“Oh God!” Ramey huffed. “You and your fans! My God, you act like you know them personally. They're just people who like your music, Aiden. Every celebrity has fans. Yours are no better than anyone else’s”
“I think they are.”
I guarantee that my fans are special people. It takes a special person to appreciate the kind of music I make. I get thousands of fan letters talking about how much people relate to my songs, even the ones that I don't like, people love them.
Ramey doesn't understand that because she's just a model. Most of her fans are men who jack off to her SI cover. Models don't have people waiting outside of the photography studio for hours just to get an autograph. Ramey just might be a little jealous.
****
“Did you hear the good news?” Delilah asked me while we were headed to dinner with Roxy, my publicist, Tracy, and my tour manager. Things are coming together rather smoothly for something that almost didn't happen. I guess this is what happens when you have an excellent team of people around you.
“What good news?” I asked.
“Sunny's in town. She quit BabyPhat and has a meeting with The Morris Group about coming on as a stylist.”
I knew Sunny had been thinking of leaving her job. She's too good at what she does to be stuck working for someone else. I'm glad she left.
“Maybe I should see about hiring her as my stylist,” I suggested.
“I don't think Sunny wants to work for you again, brother,” Delilah replied. “It didn't quite work out before.”
“Besides, Roxy has stylist meetings lined up all week for you,” Delilah added.
Hiring a new stylist was my idea. There's nothing wrong with the stylist that has been working with me, but she's with the label and I'm trying to cut all ties with them as subtly as I can.
As it turns out, hiring Sunny was a non-issue. She had already been approached by Roxy and turned her down. A tour this close after quitting is not a good career move, so she says. I know nothing about the fashion industry. She could be right or she could just be making excuses for not working with me.
Ramey and I were watching television, staying in for once instead of putting on the “Ramey & Aiden” show like we usually do. Unfortunately, I had to break the news to Dee-Lee that Ramey was moving in. She was pissed and even threatened to move out if I went through with it. I had to remind her that it is only until her apartment is done and we're leaving for a three month tour soon so she won't even have to deal with Ramey.
Roxy has expressly forbidden Ramey from coming out on tour with us. Actually, I'm kind of glad that the message came from Roxy and not me because I really don't want her to come either.
Ramey is that she's a bit possessive. I guess she has a right to be. I wouldn't want to be in her shoes. Women love rock stars. At my last show, some girl screamed that she wanted to have sex with me. Ramey was sitting ten feet away.
“Are you going to let your friend in?” Ramey asked.
The doorbell hadn't rung, but the security monitor showed Sunny's rental car pulling into the driveway.
“Can you go outside and see what she wants? I really don't feel like playing nice with Sunny today.”
“Deal with it,” I said and pushed her legs off of my lap. I opened the front door. Sunny and Erica walked into the house carrying liquor store bags.
“What's all this?” I smiled.
“We're celebrating,” Sunny announced. “Call your friends so we can party.”
“What exactly are we celebrating?” I asked.
Neither girl spoke to Ramey as we walked past her and into the kitchen. She didn't speak to them either. Sunny began unpacking the bags while Erica rinsed out the blender.
“Mike's in town,” Erica told us. “He has a gig with Shawn Frazier tonight, but I told him to come over after.”
Erica is always accusing me of being disconnected from the band since they all live in Atlanta and I'm in L.A. She doesn't realize that these guys are my friends. I talk to Mike and Eddie practically every day.
“Yeah, I talked to him yesterday. He'll come through. So what are we celebrating? Did you dump your fiancé?”
“Haha, Aiden. I'll get rid of mine when you dump that leech sitting on your couch,” Sunny answered.
I made a face. Score one for her.
“We're celebrating the fact that I just signed with The Morris Group. They are putting me to work right away. I'm styling three different red carpet events this month.”
“Wow, Sunny, that's great!” I hugged her tightly. “Is this what you want?”
Sunny nodded. “I think so. Don't get me wrong, designing is my passion, but I also love the styling aspect. I can do both, right?”
“Yeah. Maybe Ramey can hook you up-” I stopped talking, frozen by the icy look on Sunny's face.
“Nevermind.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I'm hoping to save at least a hundred thousand and then devote some time to developing my line.”
“You’re going to have to work your ass off trying to save that much money,” I told her. We all looked up as Ramey led Joey and his current girlfriend into the kitchen.
“Are we having a party that I didn't know about?” Ramey's question was directed towards me but she was glaring at Sunny and Erica.
“Not really,” I answered. “Just some friends hanging out without having to go out.”
“Why not just go out?” Ramey turned up her nose. “Why have a bunch of people getting drunk in your house?”
“I don't feel like being bothered. I'd much rather just chill at home.”
Ramey opened her mouth to respond. As soon as she did, Erica turned on the blender and started to mix her signature drink. Everyone started laughing but Ramey was not amused. She stormed out of the kitchen. I gave Erica a playful shove and followed Ramey back into the living room.
“Why don't you and your friends go out by the pool so I don't have to be surrounded by people who don't like me?”
“They barely even know you,” I told her. “You're going to have to take the first step if you want them to like you. We're a family and you are the new addition.”
“Whatever,” Ramey whined. “I'm going upstairs. Don't get too loud.”
“Come on babe, don
't do that. Kick it with us. You'll have fun. I won't let Erica and Sunny get out of hand.”
I pulled my girlfriend into my arms and squeezed her tight little ass. She giggled.
“Fine,” she agreed, smiling. “You think you can talk me into anything.”
“Or out of anything,” I added and winked.
“Hey guys,” I yelled into the kitchen. “Go out back to the pool! We’ll be out in a minute.”
Ramey smiled at me mischievously. This is one of the reasons why I like her. We’re always on the same page. She started up the stairs and I followed her into our room. I shut the door out of habit, just as Ramey was sliding off her short tennis dress, revealing her white lace thong.
I dropped my shorts to the floor. Ramey licked her lips seductively and dropped to her knees before taking my semi-erect penis in her mouth.
Ramey gives great head. The best thing is that she’s more of a giver than a receiver. That suits me just fine.
Right before I was about to bust, I lifted Ramey into a standing position and eased her to the bed.
“No, not the bed,” she whispered.
“Where?”
She eyed the balcony door. We’ve never had sex out there, simply for the fact that there are a few photographers out there with long lenses and Roxy will kill me if pictures or videos of me and Ramey fucking surface on the Internet. There’s already been one incident where we almost got caught having sex in the bathroom at a bar. Tracy and Roxy flipped out.
“No,” I whispered. “They can see us from the street.”
“I know,” Ramey smiled. “Come on baby.”
She slid open the balcony door and stepped outside. She slid off her panties and bent over the balcony railing, inviting me to join her. I couldn’t resist an invitation so tempting. I grabbed a condom from the nightstand and stepped outside.
Ramey moaned when I entered her from behind. I covered her mouth with my hand so her sex cries wouldn’t alert the paparazzi...or our neighbors. She moaned against my hand, backing her ass up against me while I pumped away inside of her until she climaxed and shuddered against the balcony railing.
“God, Aiden!” she moaned over and over until I came. Even though I was wearing a rubber, I pulled out anyway. I’m not taking any chances, not with Ramey or any other girl. The only girl I’ve ever had sex with and didn’t use protection with was Sunny. We both got lucky that time.
“Let’s go back in,” I told her.
Ramey laughed. “You’re so paranoid. They didn’t see us.”
Sunny was getting plastic cups when I walked into the kitchen. She looked at me and laughed.
“Wow, I recognize that guilty ass look! You don’t have to do a walk of shame in your own house, Aiden.”
“Yo,” I slightly whispered. “Keep an eye out for the paps, okay. We did it on the balcony and I’m worried that they saw us.”
“Please,” she laughed. “Xavier and I do it on the balcony all the time.”
“Yeah, but you live on the fifty-first floor in NYC. Nobody’s taking pictures of you from the street.”
I don’t want to think about Sunny having sex with anyone else. The image of her backed against the wall in our apartment, eyes closed, completely naked, is seared into my brain. No matter how cool we are or are committed to only being friends, whenever a conversation turns to sex, that’s the first image that pops into my head. It’s aggravating as hell. I quickly changed the subject.
“Tomorrow, you and I are going to see my accountant. It’s going to take you forever to save a hundred grand. Consider it pre-payment for styling me for the next awards season.”
“You’re just gonna give me a hundred grand?” Sunny asked in disbelief.
“I owe you more than that.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Sunny stammered.
“You don’t have to say anything but okay,” I replied.
Sunny jumped into my arms and squealed. She hugged me around my neck and kissed me on my cheek. I resisted the temptation to never let her go.
“You are the greatest friend in the world!” She kissed my cheeks again and unwrapped her legs from around my waist.
“Excuse me, but what the hell is going on in here?”
Sunny rolled her eyes at Ramey and grabbed some cups.
“Mike’s here,” she said. “Don’t be a bad host, Aiden, and spend all night arguing with this chick.”
Ramey waited until the back door closed before exploding.
“Did she just kiss you?”
“Calm down,” I ordered. “It was a kiss on the cheek.”
“She had her legs around you! Don’t tell me that was nothing!”
“Sunny and I have been close like that for years. Don’t go making a big deal out of nothing.”
“It sure as hell didn’t look like nothing!” Roxy grumbled.
“Shut up about it,” I barked. “I said it was nothing. I don’t care if my tongue was down her fucking throat! It’s Sunny! I don’t want to hear shit about it.”
I walked out of the back door. This is precisely why I’ve stayed single for so long. I can’t stand the complaining and whining shit that girls do over my relationships with Erica and Sunny. Ramey better get her shit together or I’ll be single again and she’ll be living in a hotel until her apartment is ready.
****
Three more days...
That’s it. Seventy-two hours and I’ll be in Virginia Beach and back on tour. That’s seventy-two hours of listening to Delilah and Ramey argue over flat irons and makeup. Seventy-two hours of listening to Ramey whine about how much she’s going to miss me and how unfair Roxy is being by not letting her go.
“Will you please stop standing over my shoulder?” I heard Delilah yell from upstairs. “I’m not packing any of your cheap ass clothes. You touch my bag one more time and I’m gonna slap the shit out of you!”
I took a deep breath. Delilah and Ramey are getting on my damn nerves. We need more than three months on the road, that’s for sure. Ramey’s apartment won’t be finished when we get back. Her designer says another four or five months. This isn’t going to work. She needs to be back in her place when we get back. I have the solution to this problem. I picked up my cell and called Roxy. She answered on the first ring.
“Hello, Aiden? What can I do for you at eleven o’clock at night?”
“How much work and how much money is it going to cost Power to extend my tour through December?”
“Why do you want to do that?”
“For a lot of different reasons. I’d really love for this tour to go through the end of the year since it’s starting so late.”
“Does this have anything to do with that annoying child you call a girlfriend?” Roxy asked.
“Yeah. Her apartment won’t be ready until the end of December,” I explained. No need to lie to Roxy. She’ll work her magic and do whatever I want, as long as I’m honest with her.
“Do you want me to try and reschedule the Atlanta show since you’re supposed to be spending Christmas with Kat?”
I thought about it for a minute.
“No. Let’s do two Atlanta shows. I don’t mind performing over Christmas.”
“I’ll talk to the label,” she said. “You just try to keep the peace in that house for the next few days. You have a crazy tour schedule, especially if we add more dates. Get some rest.”
Roxy hung up. I heard a crash and then glass break and Delilah screamed.
“Ramey!” I called, sounding just like my dad. “Get your ass down here so we can leave! We have dinner reservations!”
Three more days
Chapter 38
Ramey’s arm snaked around my waist while we stood off stage. Roaring cheers and applause rang through the arena as the last of my band members walked off stage.
It’s been a hectic five months on tour. We performed at least four times a week. We’re exhausted, but what a great tour!
“Aiden! Aiden! Aiden!”
; Nine thousand people in the Orleans Arena yelled my name.
A thunderous noise, like hands banging on chairs, filled the arenea. I glanced at Joey.
“Are they banging on the chairs?”
“They’re calling you back,” Joey grinned.
“Alright,” I laughed. “Let’s do one more.”
I rarely do a second encore. But this is the last show of the tour and we’re in Vegas, baby!
“I'll be right back,” I kissed Ramey on her forehead and unhooked her arm that was possessively wrapped around my waist.
The crowd erupted when I stepped back on the stage for the third time tonight.
“You guys are killing me,” I joked into the mic. “I’m going to get in trouble for this!”
This is true. I’ve already been on stage an hour longer than my contract says. Every minute that I’m up here is costing my record company a hell of a lot of money.
“We’re just going to do one more song,” I told the crowd. “Then we’re going to party on the strip! Who’s comin’ with me?”
Again, the crowd yelled and banged on the backs of their chairs. I glanced off the stage at Ramey and winked. This is the first time she’s seen me on stage since Roxy forbade her to come out on tour with us. She was still mad about it when I invited her to Vegas for the last show.
I played the opening chords of SRV’s The Sky is Crying. Joey once told me that when he saw Stevie Ray Vaughan perform, the man used to get totally lost in the music. It was like he wasn’t even present. That’s happened to me before, but mainly, I’m in a constant state of awareness when I’m on stage. I can hear everything happening around me; what Joey’s playing, what note Erica may have missed. I can even hear Sunny and Ramey arguing on the side of the stage.
Jesus! Not again. The two of them have been at each other’s throats since early this morning. Of course Sunny’s going to be at the last show. I don’t even understand why Ramey thought she wouldn’t. Just like I did earlier this morning, I ignored them. Nothing and no one is going to mess up my performance ever again.
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