by D. R. Graham
She smiled at me.
“Uh, no. I’ve got shit I need to do before tomorrow. I can’t babysit all day,” I said.
She frowned and crossed her arms when I called it babysitting.
“What if your salary starts today?” Hal asked.
“Ten thousand?”
“Yeah. Do you have a problem with that?”
I smiled at how unbelievable it was to make that kind of money in one day. “No. I guess I don’t.”
“Good. There’s a car out front for you. I’ll meet you guys at the radio station.” He paused and pointed at me. “Tim, the head of security, will meet us there, too, for your background check.”
We all walked outside together. Hal waved a black SUV with a driver up to the curb for us, then he got into a silver Maserati that the valet had waiting. During the ride to her radio interview, Lincoln texted on her phone. “Sorry. I’m just interacting with my fans. It will only take a second.”
“You give out your number?”
“No, silly. On social media. I write what I’m doing. They go crazy and write me a bunch of messages. See.” She held her phone out and scrolled through all the messages from her fans.
“How many people read your messages?”
“I have just over twenty million followers.”
“Over twenty million people read every single thing you write?”
“I guess.”
“Don’t you worry about saying the wrong thing?”
She frowned and shrugged. “I’ve never really thought about it before.”
“What did you put in that last message?”
“On my way to KdubLA for interview with @SteelyDean. Make sure to listen.” She handed me her phone so I could read her other posts. The one she wrote the night before was, Going for a ride with C.
“Am I C?”
“Yeah.”
I handed the phone back to her. “Don’t ever mention me in one of these again.”
“Nobody knows it’s you. What’s the big deal?”
“Just don’t ever do it again.”
“Fine.” We pulled up in front of the radio station building and there were at least twenty cameramen and a crowd of young girls bouncing around the front door. We got out of the truck. She held onto my waist and buried her face against my back as I pushed through the crowd toward the front door. A security guard at the front let us in and closed the doors behind us. We went up to the twentieth floor and a woman escorted us to a waiting room.
Hal showed up ten minutes later with a muscular black guy in his late twenties. “Cain,” Hal said. “This is Tim Olifoya, head of security.”
I stood and shook his hand.
“There’s an office across the hall you guys can use,” Hal said as he grabbed a donut off the table and got comfortable on the couch.
Lincoln hugged Tim.
“How have you been, Linny?” he asked.
“Busy. And a little stressed.” She glanced at me and then gave him a pouty puppy dog face in an attempt to influence his decision. “I really need Cain to come with us on tour.”
He chuckled at her tactics to persuade him. “We’ll see.”
She winked at me as if it was a done deal. Tim and I left to meet in the office across the hall.
“So.” Tim sat down across the table from me and hovered a pen over a blank sheet of paper. “Cain Allen?”
“James Allen. Nineteen years old. Canadian citizen. I’m working under the table as an electrician. I live with three members of the Noir et Bleu Motorcycle Club. My dad was a former full-patch member, but I’m not associated with them, and I don’t have a criminal record.”
Tim appeared unsure whether to ask a question or write down what I already said. Eventually, he scribbled a few notes before he looked back up at me. “Do you have any previous security experience?”
“No.”
He put the pen down and leaned his elbows on the table. “Why did you want the job?”
“I really didn’t. Lincoln and Hal insisted.”
He shifted back and chuckled. “So, you’re doing it for the money?”
“Pretty much.”
He nodded and appeared amused. “All right. In that case. You get paid at the end of the forty-three days. If you do anything inappropriate or fuck up before then, you get nothing. Fair?”
The all or nothing condition wasn’t part of the original offer, but it didn’t matter since I wasn’t planning to half-ass it anyway. If I was going to do it, I was going to do it well. I sat back and crossed my arms. “How big is your security team? And why wasn’t anyone managing that mob out front?”
He raised his eyebrow. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was impressed or surprised that I even cared. “When she’s at home she doesn’t have any security unless specifically requested. When she travels, there are two other guys besides me who protect her. We hire out security companies in each of the cities to manage the crowd and venues.”
“What’s your background?”
He chuckled again because I was studying him as if he was the one being interviewed. “I was a Marine. I’ve worked for Lincoln for two years. I’m twenty-eight. Married. A kid on the way. Sagittarius. Anything else you’d like to know?”
I shook my head, satisfied that he knew what he was doing. “Nope.”
“All right. Here’s my card. Send me your social security number, contact information, and an emergency contact person along with a copy of your driver’s license.” He stood and shook my hand. “Welcome to the team.”
I snapped a photo of my license with my phone and emailed him the rest of the information. I returned to the waiting room just as Lincoln was ushered into the DJ booth. Hal and I stood outside and watched through the window. She held her thumb up and then tilted it down to ask me how the interview went. I gave her a thumbs up, which made her smile before she sat down across the desk from the DJ.
Lincoln was a total pro. She was kind of flirty and cut the DJ down a couple of times in a funny way. It was impressive to watch her work, but right near the end of the interview, he directed the conversation to a topic that made her neck turn red.
“So, Lincoln. It was in the news today that your father was thrown in jail again last night for assault. How are you coping with that news?”
Her posture straightened, and she stared down at the desk for a long pause. “Well, I think I speak for my entire family when I say that we are all very concerned for his well-being, and we are praying for him to get the help he needs to recover. Addiction is a terrible illness, and my father’s struggles have been my continued inspiration for being a drug and alcohol free role model for my fans. I hope everyone joins me in praying for my father’s speedy recovery.” She shot a look at Hal that could have broken the glass of the booth.
“Yeah, let’s hope your dad cleans up his act before he blows your entire fortune up his nose,” the DJ said and chuckled. Lincoln looked over her shoulder at Hal again, and the muscles in her jaw were rigid. “While we’re on the subject of last night,” the DJ continued, “you posted that you were going for a ride with ‘C’. All your fans are dying to know who this mysterious new friend is. How about you let your family at KdubLA hear it first. Is C a new boyfriend?”
“Oh, Dean, you know you’re the only boyfriend for me. Thanks everyone for listening. I love you all and don’t forget to check out the new behind-the-scenes documentary available on my website. Kisses.” She stood up and ripped the headphones off. The DJ smiled at her in a mischievous way, so she threw the headphones at him. The cord stopped them short of hitting him, but he flinched anyway. He laughed as she stormed out. “Hal, if you can’t keep these assholes from talking about my dad, then the least you can do is keep me up-to-date with what skeevy thing he’s done lately so I don’t look like a total idiot.”
Hal held his palms up in defense. “That was the first I heard of it, too. You didn’t look like an idiot. You handled it beautifully,” he reassured her.
She gr
abbed my hand and pulled me toward the elevators.
“Lunch is at Camelia Garden Bistro. The shoot is at Moreno’s, and dinner is at your mom’s house. There’s a car waiting downstairs for you guys,” he called after us.
Once we were alone inside the elevator, she moaned and leaned against the mirror. “Do you see what I have to deal with?”
“You handled it better than I would have.”
“It’s so stressful.” She clutched the roots of her hair.
“You can quit any time,” I reminded her.
She rolled onto her shoulder and rested her forehead on the mirror. “I can’t.”
“Why?”
She smiled sadly. “Well, like you said, it’s complicated.”
I nodded and gave her a hug because I understood exactly how she felt. As soon as she sunk into my chest, I knew I shouldn’t have done it.
Chapter Six
The black SUV was parked at the curb in front of the radio station waiting for us. Tim took the lead, and I shielded her to push through the crowd of people. Once Lincoln and I were in the vehicle, Tim hit the roof to signal the driver. Even though Tim was asking people to move off the street, we had to start and stop about ten times because guys with cameras kept jumping on the hood.
Fifteen minutes later, he dropped us off at the upscale restaurant. A manager showed us to a table near the window, and we waited for the songwriter. Lincoln played with her napkin, then bounced her spoon off the table. After a few minutes, she chuckled.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m not used to waiting. I’m usually running late for everything.”
“Well, get used to it. I work fast.” I drank some water and glanced around the restaurant. It felt like everyone was staring at us.
She raised her eyebrow and said in a breathy voice, “I hope you don’t do everything fast.”
I shook my head and studied the menu to ignore her provocative comment. I definitely shouldn’t have hugged her in the elevator. She obviously got the wrong idea, or the right idea, which was wrong for the situation.
Undeterred by my lack of reaction, she continued in the same flirty tone, “You know those pictures of us are going to be in the magazines all over the world by tomorrow.”
I glanced at her, and panic shot through me as I realized what that meant.
“Everyone is going to assume you’re my boyfriend.” She smiled. “I hope you’re prepared for that.”
“Shit.” I pulled out my phone and stood up. “I have to call Liv.”
Lincoln’s posture deflated. “Call her from here. You can’t leave me sitting alone.”
“You’ll be fine. I’ll be right back.”
Her eyebrows angled together, and she bit her bottom lip as she looked around the restaurant. “Hurry.”
I wandered out onto the patio and paced for a while to come up with what I wanted to say. No matter how I phrased it, she was going to be pissed, so I called Huck first since it would be easier.
“Wow, twice in one day,” she said as soon as she picked up the phone. Then she realized it might be bad news. “Wait. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. I’m calling to tell you something exciting.”
“You’re coming home?” she shrieked.
“No. I got a job working for Lincoln Todd. I’m going on tour with her to Europe.”
“Oh my God. Shut up!”
I laughed. “Jealous?”
“Yes.” She squealed and gave me a rapid fire list of everything she knew about Lincoln before she gave me a list of questions to ask her. “You have to send me pictures,” she said and finally took a breath.
“I will. I need to go, though. I’m supposed to be working right now.”
“Cool. Call me every day.”
“I’ll try. I love you.” After she said good bye and hung up, I paced a few more times and then dialed Liv’s number.
She inhaled in way that sounded irritated before she said, “Hi. What’s up?”
I looked through the window at Lincoln. “I have something to tell you. You’re not going to like it, so I’m just going to say it.”
“Okay,” she said hesitantly.
“A music executive offered me a job to be Lincoln Todd’s handler.”
“What’s a handler?”
“I don’t know really.”
“A job like that seems kind of permanent. Does that mean you’re planning to stay in L.A.?”
“No. It’s only for six weeks. He wants me to go on tour with them to Europe and hang out with her.”
“What does that mean? Are you a fucking gigolo?”
“A babysitter. He’s going to pay me ten thousand dollars a day.”
“A day?”
“A day.”
“For babysitting? That sounds more like what you pay a gigolo.”
I laughed. “She’s high maintenance. They have to pay that much for babysitting or nobody would do it.”
“Why does she need a babysitter?”
“She’s stressed out and on the verge of a breakdown. Her manager wants me there to keep her from freaking out so she’ll be able to do all the things he has planned for her. She wants me there because she’s lonely.”
“Was it her idea to ask you?”
“Uh, yeah, she asked me, but he’s the one who offered me the job.”
“Why?”
“Because she listens to me for some reason.”
“So, she likes you?”
“She’s sixteen, Liv.”
“Yeah, exactly.” She was quiet, and I could feel the tension through the phone. “This whole long distance thing is hard enough without you taking a job babysitting a beautiful girl.”
Being hired to babysit a teenage pop star seemed like less of a strain on the relationship than her hanging out with a guy in her class, but I didn’t want to fight, so I said, “The money will help me support Huck and my mom—if she survives.”
She was quiet for a long time. When she finally spoke, all she said was, “I don’t want to do this anymore, Jamie.”
She hung up, and I stood there with my eyes closed, listening to the dial tone.
When I looked up, ten people were swarmed around the table asking Lincoln for autographs and snapping photos. I jogged over. “Okay, everyone. Thanks. Give her some space.” I escorted them away, then sat down. “Geez, they’re like vultures.”
“I tried to warn you, and you didn’t believe me.”
“Sorry.”
“How did your girlfriend take the news?”
I massaged my neck. “Uh, about as well as I expected.”
Lincoln fidgeted with the napkin again. “So, you guys have a pretty serious relationship?” She looked optimistic that I would say no, but even with my relationship on the rocks, I wasn’t going to encourage hope. Nothing was going to happen with her.
“You know this is just a job for me, right?”
“Sure,” she muttered. “What else would it be?”
“I just want to be clear right now. I’m only doing this for the money. If you have any other ideas, you need to get rid of them. If you can’t, I shouldn’t take the job.”
She tilted her head to look at me with contempt. “Don’t flatter yourself, Cain. I just don’t like to be alone.”
“Okay. Good. So, we’re clear.”
“Yeah. Crystal.”
“And we’re cool?”
“Totally cool,” she snapped. She looked over her shoulder and shouted, “Can we get some service over here?”
The manager came over immediately. “Sorry, Miss Todd. We were giving you and your companion time to talk. I would be happy to take your orders.”
She raised her eyebrows as if she wanted me to go first. “I’ll have the salmon,” I said.
He nodded and then looked back at Lincoln.
She flipped through the pages of the menu. “What do you recommend?” she finally asked him.
“The beet and goat cheese salad is light. The c
urried chicken is popular if you want something a little more hardy.”
She thought for a while before she said, “I’ll have the salmon.”
He nodded and walked away. Lincoln’s cheeks turned red, and her eyes became teary. I didn’t say anything. We sat in awkward silence for about fifteen minutes before a woman in a long rainbow-colored skirt walked up to the table. She looked like a hippie throwback with the layers of wood bead necklaces and her hair woven in one long braid that rested over her shoulder.
“Lincoln, darling, you’re early. I didn’t mean to keep you waiting.” She leaned over and kissed Lincoln on the cheek. “Is everything okay?”
Lincoln forced a smile. “I’m just really tired. How are you, Gayle?”
“Fabulous.” She sat down and looked at me with interest. “You must be the mysterious C.”
“This is Cain,” Lincoln introduced us. “He’s just a handler. Nothing more,” she said with a bite to her tone. “In fact, he doesn’t need to be here for this meeting. Excuse us, Cain.”
I made eye contact with her for a second, then chuckled. “I’m glad we’re cool,” I mumbled as I moved to sit at the table right beside them. A waiter brought over our salmons and asked Gayle what she wanted.
The meeting was still going on two hours later. Lincoln looked over at me frequently, but I pretended not to notice in order to keep the relationship professional. Each time someone came over to ask for an autograph, I stepped in and told them she was working. While I sat staring out the window, two bikers wearing full patch cuts from the Boomslangs motorcycle club pulled up in front of the sports bar across the street. They unassed and lit cigarettes. The one guy appeared to be about my height, just over six feet. His hair was long and blond. He had a braided beard and a tattoo that ran up the right side of his neck. The other guy was shorter and had a big gut.
Neither was the one I was looking for. I watched them disappear into the bar and noticed the twenty other bikes parked along the side of the building. That many Boomslangs in one place meant there was a good chance the third guy might show his face. The Noir et Bleu, who had eyes everywhere, would likely be making their presence known. I needed to get Lincoln out of the vicinity in case something erupted.