by Zuri Day
She took the one hundred dollar bill almost reverently from his hand. “I can’t believe you’re in here,” she said breathily. “And in my section! Is there any way I can get a picture?”
“Not right now, sweetheart. But bring back your number with my juice and I’ll shoot one over to your phone.”
Jan watched and marveled at a true player in action. It was easy to see how Starr attracted the women. Not just his looks. Everything about him was mesmerizing. Which for Jan was all the more reason to stay focused and alert. Now was not the time for a girl crush, but to be a grown woman handling her business like the professional she was.
“So what do you think? If I go to bat for you and can get a spot opened up, will you come on the show?”
“I don’t know, Nick. A lot is coming at me right now. A lot to think about.”
“I understand. But you’ve got to know what a national platform like reality TV can do for your career and your status. You can research any of the franchises and know why reality shows are not going away anytime soon.”
“I know they’re really popular.”
“Baby, they can make your career. I don’t have to count off the names. You know the Grammy winners, Broadway stars, and super celebs doing their thing thanks to the small box.”
“I do. And I appreciate your interest.” She looked at her watch and stood. “I have to head to work. Let me talk to a few people and get back with you, okay?”
“Sure, sweetheart. But don’t keep the Starr waiting, make me lose my twinkle.”
She laughed, genuinely amused. Three months ago and the same invitation would have sent her to the moon that Crystal had mentioned. But today there was “Who I Am” and a man who called her juicy, a man who’d quenched every bit of her thirst and dimmed Starr’s shine for real.
As soon as she got into the car, she rang her cousin. “Hang on, Crystal. Let me get Doug on the line. I need both of you on this.” She put Crystal on hold.
“What happened?” was Doug’s greeting.
“I’ve got Crystal holding on the other line. Let me bring her in, okay?”
“Sure.”
She conferenced the call. “So, guys, long story short. Nick wants me on the show.”
“I told you that’s what he wanted,” Doug said.
“How do you feel about that?” Crystal asked.
Jan pondered the question as she navigated traffic. “All kinds of ways. One part of me wants to tell him to shove that reality show where the stars don’t . . . twinkle, and the other part says, hey, this is a shot at continuous national exposure, a way to build on the popularity of my song. To not let ego and hurt feelings keep me from taking it. Doug, I think I know your answer, but I’ll ask anyway. What do you think I should do?”
“Turn him down, straight out. You don’t need him now.”
“Cuz?”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think it’s an offer you should seriously consider.”
“You’re right. I don’t believe you’re saying that.”
“It’s because of what you just pointed out, a way to build upon what’s happening right now. You’ve got a hit song. Starr Power is going to be a hit show. Now that your name is out there and you’re headed toward fame, I think you’ll have more control over your story line and not have to stoop to the level some reality stars go to get more airtime. You can command it on talent alone.”
“Just when I thought this situation couldn’t get more complicated . . .”
“What are you going to do?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
“Are you headed to work right now?”
“Yes, Doug. Are you?”
“I am now. Sounds like you can use a little support right now.”
“Whatever your decision,” Crystal said, “I’ll support you.”
“Does that go for you, too, Doug?”
“You know I’ve got you, babe. Whatever happens, that won’t change.”
Or would it?
45
A week later it was Valentine’s Day. Doug was taking Jan to dinner. He wanted everything to be perfect and had worked on the evening’s details for over a month. Researched to find just the right place. Shopped for the perfect gift. Had tailored a sharp black suit for their five-star evening aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Not trusting the pictures, he’d called the place. They assured him that the ambiance was as had been described, and with reservations they’d make sure he had the perfect table with an immaculate view of the Pacific Ocean. He’d booked a table for two that very day. That’s how sure he’d been about this location and what he’d planned.
Now he was on the phone with brothers Byron and Nelson, pacing the room with the phone on speaker, not sure about anything. At all.
“She’s seriously thinking about doing his show! This is the same man who told her straight out that she didn’t have the looks to be a singer in today’s market. Who sat there in over ten auditions, watched her sing her heart out week after week, and then chose women who couldn’t carry a tune five feet in a bucket but looked the part and made the cut. Now she’s getting fifteen minutes and he wants to jump in the picture. It’s so obvious that he’s using her. I can’t understand why she can’t see it.”
“Maybe she does,” Byron said. “And maybe she’s using him, too. If it gets her to where she needs to be, does it matter?”
“I don’t know, man,” Nelson said. “I’m kind of with Doug on this one. After all, he’s the reason she’s hot right now, indirectly. He’s always had her back, drove me crazy talking about her, and been supporting her through this whole thing. Then Starr swoops through like Robin Hood saving a damsel, offering something that may or may not be real, and off she goes like he’s the man. That would mess with me, too.”
“But this shouldn’t be about you, Doug. This should be about Jan and what’s best for her, and supporting her no matter what she decides. Better for her to check it out and not have regrets than for you to dissuade her, his show blows up like The Voice or American Idol, the winner get a multimillion dollar record deal, and you get blamed. The last person you want to be in a relationship with is one who is unhappy, unfulfilled, and blaming you.”
“What about the fact that being in a relationship with her while she’s in one with that fool will make me unhappy?”
“Ah, Doug.” Nelson’s voice was gentle. “Are you in your feelings? Is that what this is about?”
“Yes, and I don’t mind saying it. He’s a snake, and if it was anybody else she’d have seen it a long time ago. But this is the dude she had a crush on since the running was walking.”
“Man, stop sounding like your mama,” Byron said with a chuckle.
“I don’t trust him around her.”
“Him,” Nelson asked, “or her?”
“Her around him. I know the kind of player he is, man. He can get in her head. I don’t want her to get caught up behind his scheming behind.”
“Look, bro,” Byron’s voice rang with big brother authority. “Why don’t you just chill out, watch the show, and see what happens?”
“I guess I could. But doing that will kind of jack up the plans I had for tonight.”
“What plans were those?” Nelson asked.
“Putting a ring on it. Now . . . I don’t know.”
After talking to his brothers, Doug made one final call. “Pops! What’s up?”
“Hey now, Douglas.”
“Since you’re answering the phone, Mama must not be home.”
“You know it.”
“Where is she?”
“Ava came over and they went somewhere. They should be back directly, or you can probably reach her on her cell.”
“I’m surprised you let her out of the house.”
“Boy, talk plain.”
“It’s Valentine’s Day, Dad.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“I guess nothing after thirty-two yea
rs.”
“Didn’t mean nothing to me after two years, or two months for that matter. Son, it didn’t take a man-made holiday for me to wine and dine your mama. I give her flowers and presents for no reason, cards out of season, and my heart every single day of the year, three sixty-five for the past thirty-two. Ain’t no box of chocolates and a card with words somebody else wrote that can top that kind of love.”
“Man, Dad, the only comeback I have to that is ‘wow.’ Those words just shut any other argument all the way down. Funny thing, though, I don’t remember you giving Mama flowers and stuff when we were coming up. Plus, half the time you were gone off fighting for your country.”
“There’s a lot of stuff goes on between a husband and wife that the children don’t see, or at least shouldn’t. Ask your mama about the letters I wrote her, sometimes daily, when I was away. Or about anything else I said. She’ll back it up, might even bring out proof.”
“She still has all the presents you bought her?”
“And the letters. And the cards.”
“Willie Carter! Teaching a player how to play the game! Maybe it’s good I got you instead of Mama. There’s something on my mind that I need to run by you.”
“I’m listening.”
“It’s about Jan.”
“Fine young woman you got there. Talented, too. Ava downloaded that song for me and your mama. You know I’m strictly R & B old school, but I have to admit that number’s hot.”
“I agree with everything you said, so much so that I was thinking about asking her to marry me.”
“Son, I’m afraid I can’t help you do that kind of thinking. That’s a decision a man needs to make on his own.”
“Understood. That’s not the problem.”
“What is?”
“Another dude.”
“She’s two-timing?”
“Not exactly.” Doug gave Willie a brief rundown of the history between Nick and Jan, her competing for the reality TV show, being denied and then invited once her song became a breakout hit. “I don’t understand why she can’t see the obvious. Starr is only after her now because it will make him look good. I don’t like him using her, or them being together. Or that she seems to still have feelings for him. Carter men don’t have competition. That’s what you always said.”
“And I meant it. So why do you feel like you have to compete?”
“That’s just it. I’m not going to try and compete with the likes of a Nick Starr. And I’m not going to stay in a place where I have to wonder if that’s necessary. I told her not to do it. She should have listened.”
Willie’s chuckle was slow and low. “Boy, if you’re waiting for a woman to listen to you, you have a lot to learn, and you might die before she admits that you were right about something. Number one, you can’t make up somebody else’s mind. And number two, if there’s no trust in the relationship, then you can’t make that work either.”
“I trust Jan. I don’t trust Starr.”
“You’re not in a relationship with him, so you don’t have to. Jan is the only one you need to believe. Now, the fact that you’re worried somebody might take her from you tells me that you’re the one who needs to step up his game.”
“Me?”
“Uh-huh. That she’s even looking at another man with any interest other than business, if that is what’s happening, tells me you’re not putting it down right. You’ve got to love her hard, son, and make sure she knows it. You’ve got to find out what it is that drives her crazy in the bedroom, and then every time you’re in there send her to the looney bin.”
“Uh, Dad, this might be a little too much information. It is my mama we’re talking about.”
“No, we’re talking about you and your woman. If I’ve taught you boys anything it’s to always do your best and be the best. I was in the service for twenty years, and was away from you children and the wife for months at a time. But every single night that I was home, and especially on that last night before I shipped out, I’d go to work, son, making sure your mama was more than satisfied, in every way. That if there was a need, I was taking care of it. When I left, it was with absolute confidence that no other man was going to turn the head of Elizabeth Carter, I didn’t care who it was. Could have been the biggest star in the world, the President of the United States, and I knew Elizabeth Carter would be right there, with you children, waiting for her man.”
“And she was. I can’t remember even seeing Mama talking to other men, outside of the neighbors or a repairman or something.”
“Of course not. She had me. I was all she needed then, and all she needs now. And one more thing. I know it was hard on my family, but sometimes those long stints away from each other did our marriage good. It doesn’t hurt for them to miss you every once in a while. Let her feel her world without you in it. Then go back and rock it again.
“Trust your woman, son, and your own abilities to be the best man for her, the only one. Then go about making sure that you’re setting that bar too high for any other man to reach it, or even come close.”
46
It had been a week since Valentine’s Day, and the wonderful dinner and evening Doug had meticulously planned, but one observing her life may have thought the holiday was still in full force. She’d awakened to romantic, sexy, or nasty text messages every morning and twice similar cards had been slid into her locker at work. Over the weekend, Doug had taken her car to get it detailed, on Sunday he’d bypassed the Carter crowd to cook them another steak dinner at his house. And in the bedroom, Doug was handling her body like it was a job and he was getting paid to work overtime. Jan didn’t know what was happening, but she was loving it so much that it scared her. She found herself thinking about him constantly, unconsciously noting his whereabouts at work, feening for him on the nights they weren’t together. Heck, last night, he showed up in her dreams! She was already falling in love with Doug, but if this behavior continued, she’d become addicted, maybe even possessed! The thing about it was, if someone suggested an exorcism or that she go to rehab to get over this feeling, she’d have a ready answer for them. No, no, no!
As if Doug’s attentiveness wasn’t enough to send her over the moon, Nick had called her to a meeting to discuss her being on Starr Power. She was headed to a meeting about an opportunity she thought had been denied her. And it had. Until the song she wrote had gotten recorded, uploaded to the Internet, and taken viral. The song inspired by a response to actions meant to hurt her had helped her in ways she couldn’t have imagined. Crazy how life happened, and how the dream she’d had since she and Crystal grabbed brooms and sang in front of the mirror was becoming reality.
Jan wasn’t accustomed to being in love and having life go her way, all at the same time. It was almost too much.
Following the GPS directions, Jan entered a neighborhood that looked straight out of the movies. Houses, if you could see them, sat far back away from the curb. The landscaping was so meticulous it looked fake. Flowering bushes were plentiful and vibrant, not one dead branch appeared on the lush palm trees lining the streets, and the ocean could be seen sparkling in the distance.
“You have arrived at your destination.”
Jan laughed at the double meaning of the computerized statement. She had indeed arrived at the palatial estate of Nicholas Starr and, in turn, had reached her goal of being a successful recording artist. Today’s visit was one step to ensuring she didn’t become a one-hit wonder.
She looked at the tall wrought-iron gates of the home that was once featured in Ebony magazine. Last night when with Doug, she’d pulled it up on the Internet. Remembering his comments made her smile, and relieved a tiny bit of her nervousness.
“Looks like a prison.”
“If it wasn’t gated,” she replied, “he would probably get robbed. Or run over by groupies. Or both.”
“Give me his address, in case you need rescuing. Me and the Ace Imperials will jump that ten-inch fence like child’s play and help you es
cape.”
“I’ll keep my phone handy. You’re already on speed dial. That means my knight in shining armor is only one click away.”
After she announced herself, the gates swung open revealing a vast front yard and a circular drive. To the right was a separate building that appeared to be a multicar garage. Jan parked her car in the circular drive and, after one last calming breath, got out of the car. A housekeeper opened the door and led her to an open-air dining area that was too upscale to be called a patio. Whatever the name, it was stunning. The meticulous landscaping of bushes, flowers, and trees that was seen on the street continued in this intimate garden atmosphere. Water spewed from the mouth of an upraised black panther into a fountain that flowed into a pool. A stark white awning provided relief from the sun and complemented perfectly the black glass top and stainless steel table. Bright splashes of color came courtesy of the upholstered dining chairs. She didn’t sit down, though. Rather she wandered through the garden, touching the leaves, smelling the petals, and imagining how life would be if this were her house.
“Ms. Baker!”
Turning around, she was glad she’d braced herself. In white baggy pants, a white shirt, and dark glasses, Nick looked every inch the star. Sun hitting the multicarat stud diamond in his right ear cast rainbows on the glass table. He wore black sandals and carried a drink, lemonade she expected. His stance was casual, inviting. His smile produced goose bumps and caused her to wonder how many women had been seduced in this garden with those pearly whites. The thought was like ice water waking her from his spell. She could take a picture of him with her cell phone that would be worthy of any fashion or entertainment magazine. No doubt he was gorgeous. But he wouldn’t be getting in the panties. This wasn’t personal. This was business.
With this in mind, Jan chose to be sparing with her compliments and focus on why she was there. “Hello, Nick.”
Her outstretched hand was ignored for a hug. The designer cologne she loved so much assailed her nostrils. She broke the embrace and smiled. “You have a lovely home.”