Stereo

by Trevion Burns

  The hundreds of people who had become chatty and distracted during the long interlude jumped to attention at the sound of Zizo screaming, and everyone began taking their place.

  Shaun watched Zizo saunter off and when she looked back to Adam she was flattered to find that he was still staring.

  With his mouth agape, Adam pointed behind him. “Uh, these are my band mates?” he said stupidly, his eyes roaming her body once more before peeking at Yoshi. “You’ve met Yoshi.” His gaze lingered on his longtime drummer, before he dragged it over to Jon. “And this is Jon, guitar. He’s been my best friend since…” Adam held a hand out, eyes wide, trying to think, “Forever. And that’s Zach, we call him Noodle. He’s a fuckin’ idiot.”

  “Fuck you, dude!” Zach spat, glaring at Adam. Finally, he looked at Shaun and his face lit up with a crooked smile as he held up a hand in greeting.

  Shaun considered Adam out of the corner of her eye, amused, before waving to the three men. She took them all in. “I would approach you but…” She looked down at the heels on her feet, “I don’t want to fall and ruin the moment.”

  Though his band mates stood confused behind him, Adam was watching Shaun from under his eyes and a tiny smile was playing at the edges of his lips.

  --

  Shaun pretended to slap Adam across the face as best she could, fighting back a smile when he pretended to be thrown back by the blow. He fell dramatically onto the empty street while The White Key’s fast paced, upbeat single played in the background. Watching him collapse onto the ground in response to her “punch”, Shaun gave Adam a look of approval. He was a great actor.

  “Cut!” Zizo hid his face from his high chair. After taking his red cheeks out of his hands, he held them out in claws. “Adam, you are a terrible actor.”

  “I guess that’s why they’re paying me the big bucks for the singing and not the acting,” Adam said, taking the arm Shaun offered and allowing her to pull him to his feet. He stared at her. They had been at this for the last four hours and she’d had four costume changes, all of which he highly approved of. The tight skinny jeans, black sandals and sparkly dress top she was wearing now was his favorite so far--probably because he hadn’t had to catch her fall for the entire scene.

  Zizo circled the camera and approached Shaun and Adam, squinting against the bright sun. “This isn’t a love story in the street. This is a brawl in the street! You are supposed to hate him okay? You hate him, but not really,” he said to Shaun while grabbing Adam and pulling him close. “You want him, but you don’t--” He pushed Adam away before pulling him back in. “You love him, but you want to kill him…” He pushed Adam away, again. “Listen! Change of plan. I don’t want you to pretend to hit him, I want you to really hit him. Beat the shit out of him if you have to…”

  Adam was now making a face. “Wait. What?”

  “That I can do,” Shaun agreed with a smile.

  “Great, then do that,” Zizo said, making his way back behind the camera.

  Just before Zizo called action, Adam and Shaun stood facing each other. Adam smiled at her. “I think we both know you’re not really going to hit me—“

  “Action!”

  Whack!

  --

  “Jesus.” Adam sat hunched over in a high chair holding a frozen pack of peas against his cheek and glaring up at Shaun from under his eyelids. Though he had to wonder about how random it was that someone had a pack of frozen peas on a music video set in the first place, he was hesitant to object to anything cold and hard after taking the beat down he had for the last two hours.

  Shaun was smiling like a schoolgirl in the high chair across from him, wiggling impatiently in her seat as workers and extras hustled around her in their haste to set up the final scene. “You know, Adam, I am really liking this.”

  “Liking this?” Adam mumbled against the pack of peas. “Who the hell are you kidding? You’re loving this.”

  Shaun attempted to look apologetic, but a glorious smile broke across her face.

  Adam took in the sight.

  “Okay,” she admitted, giddily. “I am. I’m loving it!” She clapped her hands together, then gasped dramatically.

  Adam’s eyes widened at her enthusiasm.

  Shaun spoke animatedly. “And this is perfect for us. You know, me appearing in your video. Very boyfriend and girlfriend like. I’ll be honest, when Celia first told me about this idea that you and Janelle came up with I had my doubts. But if I’m the star of your video in addition to you and I being seen around town, it’s only a matter of time before your name is cleared and I…” Shaun caught herself in the nick of time, biting her tongue.

  Adam, however, had been listening closely. “You what?”

  Shaun pretended to look off for a few seconds, and when her eyes met his she feigned confusion. “Huh?”

  “You said ‘it’s only a matter of time before your name is clear and I….’” His eyes bore into her. “You what?”

  Shaun couldn’t help but glare at him. When in the last two days had he started listening to her? “And I’ll… get to watch as all my dreams come true.” It wasn’t a lie.

  “Yeah? And what are those?”

  “What are what?”

  “What are your dreams?”

  Shaun was surprised by the question and even more surprised by how intently he was waiting for an answer. It was as if he really wanted to know. “You don’t have to do that.”

  Adam took the peas off of his face. “Do what?”

  “That. What you just did.” Shaun motioned between them. “I read that interview. You don’t have to pretend that you actually… give a damn about me.”

  Adam sat tall. “I just spent the last two hours getting the shit beat out of me… by you—“

  “To maintain the artistic credibility of this video—“

  “Wah, wah, wah, getting the shit beat out of me,” he repeated, “by you. I think that should earn me at least a few more minutes of you not throwing that fucking interview in my face.”

  “I don’t have to throw it in your face Adam. It’s already there. That interview is your new reality and just because I brought it up doesn’t mean that I’m some monster trying to attack you. If anything it means that I’m a black woman with a little self-respect who’s sitting across from a man who basically thinks he’s above her!”

  “I don’t think I’m above you.”

  Shaun laughed. “Are you really going to sit here and tell me that, after what you said, you don’t think you’re above black women in any way? That you don’t think you have the right to qualify us and take our inventory but we are somehow unworthy of doing the same to you because you’re a white man?”

  “I don’t think I’m better than you. You’re off…” He scoffed. “You’re way off.”

  “Am I?” She wasn’t even angry, and that was what bothered Adam the most.

  “Yeah, you are,” he said. With a huff, he brought the peas back up to his cheek.

  Shaun was suddenly upset, and grabbed the handles of her chair as she prepared to leave. “Just…” She closed her eyes as many thoughts zoomed through her mind. Finally, she looked over at him. At the sight of him with that pack of peas on his face, lips mushed off to the side, she almost wanted to stay and talk to him. He was truly a handsome man--tall, dark hair, bright playful eyes and a brilliant smile that he didn’t utilize nearly enough.

  Truth be told, he’d been nothing but nice to her that day, even introduced her to his band mates and let her hang out and talk with them. She hadn’t even attacked him just now because she was angry at him about the interview, but because she was angry at herself for what she was doing to a man who cared enough to ask her what her dreams were. The only people in her life who’d ever cared to ask her that question were her parents and Celia.

  She could have easily made up some bullshit “dream” about wanting to be on the cover of Vogue and he would have eaten it up in a second, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself
to do it. She knew that her real dream was to write for the L.A. Times and eventually publish her own novel, but she couldn’t tell him that because he was the very man she was going to be using to get there. Adam asking her about her dreams only reminded her of the vile things she was doing to achieve them. That was what had really made her angry.

  Now that his interview was on her mind however, she truly was irritated at him and him alone. No matter how nice Adam was to her, or even how much she felt herself growing to like him, the things he’d said would always be in the back of her mind.

  She stood from her chair. “Just don’t ask me about my life and I won’t ask you about yours.”

  “Fine,” Adam said, shaking his head and looking away from her.

  Zizo’s voice came rocketing through the loud speaker. “Places in ten!”

  Shaun looked at her watch then at Adam. “Hope you’re ready to get the shit beat out of you in ten.”

  “There with bells on.”

  “Good.” She tossed her hair and walked off.

  Adam watched her go.

  --

  It was the final shot of the day, they were quickly losing sunlight and Zizo was on the edge of his seat. “Okay beautiful! You ready?”

  Shaun gave him a look from where she was straddling Adam on the hood of a gleaming red Cadillac Fleetwood. She wasn’t sure when in the last twelve hours she’d gone from the bane of Zizo’s existence to his “little muneca” but she was happy that she was now on his good side. It had been a long day and she couldn’t say that sitting on top of Adam on the hood of a beautiful old car was how she’d imagined it would end. She was just glad it was ending.

  Adam clawed at Shaun’s waist, smiling when she wiggled furiously on top of him. Between takes he’d found her ticklish spot and had been taking full advantage.

  “I’m going to fucking kill you,” Shaun said through clenched teeth, wrapping her hands around Adam’s neck.

  “Just listen to me for a second,” he said softly, taking her wrists in his hands. “You were right back there. Yeah, I take women’s inventory. Not just black women, but I’m sure they get the shit end of the stick when I do.”

  Shaun swallowed hard, jamming her eyes shut. Why was he doing this here? Now? Why was he doing it at all? She wanted so badly to hit him just to shut him up but the cameras weren’t rolling so she didn’t have an excuse.

  Adam looked around him, saw that no one was really paying them any attention, and propped himself up. It took every inch of willpower in him to control himself as he looked up at this girl sitting on his crotch--a girl who was rapidly proving that she had a much bigger effect on him than he’d care to admit. In his entire lifetime Adam had only ever cared to explain himself to one woman and that woman had ripped his heart clear out, so the fact that he was now explaining himself to Shaun spoke volumes. “Look. I’m not a perfect man Shaun. Hell, I’m probably not even a good man. I’m rich and wildly successful, yeah….”

  Shaun cut her eyes at him. Was this his idea of an apology?

  Adam continued. “A million guys would probably do just about anything to be in my shoes, but…” He hesitated. “The only person on this planet who really loves me is my thirteen year old sister. And it’s probably only a matter of time before I fuck that up too...”

  Shaun had removed her hands from where they’d been playfully wrapped around his neck and was now clutching the neckline of her beaded top. Damn him for making her feel sorry for him.

  “Shaun, I won’t ever take your inventory. Just as long as you don’t take mine.”

  “What did I just say back there, Adam? We’re not going to do this.”

  “Do what?”

  “This,” she hissed. “Don’t tell me about your life. Don’t tell me about your thirteen year old sister. This is business right? Isn’t that what you said?”

  “Yeah…” Adam’s eyes fell to her hands, which were gripping the edge of the car. “I say a lot of things…”

  Unable to handle the serious turn this conversation was taking and even less the intense way in which Adam was looking at her, Shaun put her hand on his chest and shoved him. Adam’s back hit the hood of the car with a thud, his eyes wide and riveted to her as his lips curled into a slow smile of disbelief.

  “Perfecto!” Zizo cried. “Jes, now the kiss!”

  Shaun froze. “Uh, what?” She asked, tossing her head towards Zizo and groaning when her hair fell into her face. She bent her head forward, causing her hair to fan around Adam’s face, surrounding him with her scent. She closed her eyes and tossed it back, sighing thankfully when her vision was restored. This flat ironed hair was getting washed out the second she got home—what a pain in the ass. Her eyes went back to Zizo, unaware of Adam watching her. “What kiss?”

  Zizo looked at her like she was an idiot. “The kiss that will end the video, mi amore. We shoot the kiss and then we wrap!”

  At the sound of the word “wrap” many people started cheering, but Shaun was shaking her head. “No, no. No one said anything to me about any kiss.”

  “Ay, Mami. I have a daughter with a violin practice… a son with a tee ball, eh? I have no time for this.”

  “Just kiss me,” Adam said.

  “Shut up!” She pointed a finger at him.

  Zizo hid behind the camera. “Okay, we rolling in five…”

  Shaun panicked. “Wait—“

  “Four…“

  “No—“

  “Three…”

  “Zizo—“

  “Two…“

  “Please—“

  “One…”

  “I—“

  “ACTION!”

  “Oh fuck it.” Shaun brought her hands from Adam’s chest to his face, cupping his jaws in her hands before bending down and placing her lips over his, giving him a soft peck. She pulled away, tasting him, lingering, before letting her eyes slowly flutter open. She was stunned to see him staring right back at her, burying his hand in her hair. Before she could stop herself, she leaned down and covered his mouth with hers again, freezing ever so slightly when she felt his tongue brush against her lips. After a moment, she relaxed and opened her mouth, allowing him to taste her once, twice.

  “CUT!”

  Shaun abruptly pulled her lips from Adam’s with a smack, much to his alarm, looking to Zizo with wide eyes. “We good?” she asked.

  Adam was utterly disarmed, and because of this, taken aback at air of business that was present in her voice. His hand was still buried deep in her hair, eyes boring into her face as she looked to Zizo for approval.

  “Perfecto Mami. Beautiful, just beautiful. And THAT’S A WRAP ON THE WHITE KEYS!”

  Cheers erupted from all around at the announcement that this long day had finally come to a close. Shaun allowed Zizo to pull her off of Adam and off of the car, wrapping her in a hug.

  “I had so much fun, Zizo. You have no idea,” Shaun said, softly, surprising herself when tears came to her eyes. Being the center of attention was something that she’d avoided like the plague her whole life, something she dreaded, but after an entire day of being showered with it she couldn’t stand the emotions that came with how good it felt. For an entire day, she had mattered.

  As she pulled away from Zizo and looked over her shoulder at Adam, who was still sitting on the hood of the car, propped up on his elbows and staring into the distance, she knew that he was the reason.

  She’d be damned if she ever told him.

  --

  The voluptuous redhead clawed her fingers down Adam’s strong stomach, the beds of her hot pink nails trickling over each of his strong abs as they moved. Her irritated eyes traveled up his body. She’d been putting in good work on top of him for the better part of the hour and wasn’t getting the kind of response she’d grown accustomed to receiving from him.

  “What is it baby?” she purred, running her fingers along Adam’s torso while eyeing his manhood with disappointment.

  Adam’s hands were buried in his h
air as he stared up at the ceiling in dismay. This couldn’t be happening. “I’m just tired,” he lied. “The video shoot went on all day.” And he’d spent half of it vying for the approval of a woman who couldn’t have cared less. He’d given Shaun his all and he’d come home empty handed. That wasn’t something that happened in Adam’s world. He felt rejected after having pulled out all the stops. What was it going to take to convince Shaun that he was a good guy? Or at least not a horrible guy?

  He was too afraid to ask himself the questions that were really on his mind. What was it going to take to get Shaun into his bed? To taste her lips one more time? To feel them on his body, every inch of him? Did the rest of her taste as good as her lips? Did the rest of her feel as soft and warm as her sweet, wet tongue? His dick jumped slightly, eliciting an excited response from the redhead who had been working so hard with no result.

  Just as soon as his excitement was there, it was gone. Adam continued to stare up at the ceiling. He’d even opened up to Shaun about Katie and she’d shot him down in seconds, not wanting to hear it. Did she have any idea who the hell he was? He never spoke about Katie to anyone, didn’t Shaun understand that? He was trying for Christ’s sake!

  “I’m sorry baby, I’m too tired. I really am.” His hard-headed company didn’t seem to be getting the hint. “Maybe next time.”

  “You’re never too tired,” she whispered. When he didn’t respond she rolled over onto the end of his bed. “I should go,”

  Adam listened to her dress and didn’t put up a fight, even as she threw him one last look before making her way to the door of his bedroom.

  After she’d gone he continued to stare up at the ceiling in shock. Never in his life had he been unwilling to perform for a naked woman in his bed.

  “Fuck.” He grabbed a pillow and covered his face, attempting to smother himself.

  What the hell was happening to him?

  --

  Janelle sat hunched over the desk in her pitch black office, the light blaring from her laptop providing the only illumination in the room. She hit rewind and squinted at the screen.