by Mercy Amare
I reach down to unbuckle his jeans, and he pushes my hand back.
“So impatient…”
This makes me laugh. “Says the guy who picked me up and carried me in here.”
His smile is mischievous. “And now that I’ve got you in here, I’m going to take my time. We’ve got the rest of our lives. Why hurry now? I want our first time to be memorable. I want to show you just how special you to me.” He unclasps my bra, and then flips me over on my back. He slowly traces his finger around my nipple. “I am so lucky that I found you. How many eighteen year olds can say they found their soul mate?”
“How can you be sure that I’m it?” I ask. “Maybe I suck in bed.”
“I hope you suck.” He raises his eyebrow at me, and I laugh.
“Oh my God! You so know what I meant!”
Stephan ignores my comment, and puts his lips on my nipple. He begins to slowly suck, and I am getting so turned on that I can hardly stand it.
“Do you enjoy torturing me?” I ask.
Stephan sticks a hand up my skirt. I’m currently not wearing any underwear, so he has very easy access. He begins massaging my clit with his finger. “You consider this torturing?”
Unable to speak, I just nod my head yes. My breath is coming too fast.
“What would be less torturous?”
Stephan pulls his hand away, and I hear myself whimper. “You. Inside of me. That’s what I want,” I answer. I pull off my skirt and throw it.
“Why, Scarlett Ryan, I do believe that you’re naked.”
I nod. “Yes. Why aren’t you?”
He grins. “Do you remember when you told me ‘you will never see me naked. EVER.’ And then I said, ‘One day very soon, I will prove you’re wrong. And when I do, I am going to remind you of this very conversation.’ This is me reminding you.”
Why the hell is he bringing this up right now? “Shut up and just kiss me.”
“I just want to gloat a little longer,” he says.
I sit up a little. “Stephan Montgomery! If you don’t make love to me, I am just going to get myself off.”
“That could be fun to watch…” He shakes his head. “Later. Right now, it’s my turn.”
His lips once again are on mine, and I reach down and unzip his jeans. I pull at them. I want every inch of clothing between us gone. He stops kissing me long enough to pull off his jeans, and then kisses me again.
“You are on the pill, right?” he asks.
I nod. “Definitely.”
“Good.”
Maybe we should have talked about this before now.
He starts kissing me again, as he massages my breast. I feel the length of him start to push inside me.
Sex for me before has always been just sex. But with Stephan, this moment feels different. It feels amazing. Not just physically, but emotionally. With every other guy, I always felt guilt. I knew that I didn’t want to be with them. But I do want to be with Stephan — forever. He’s my husband. He’s mine. And it isn’t just sex. We are making love, because this is what people in love do.
Stephan starts to move in and out of me as we continue kiss each other. With every kiss and every touch, I feel myself falling even more in love with him. He leaves a trail of soft kisses down my neck, and I can feel the pleasure starting to build. Stephan pushes in and out of me faster and harder. He gently pulls my hair, and I can feel myself going over the edge.
“I love you, Scarlett,” he whispers.
“I love you, Stephan.” I love saying that I love him. I intend to say it every day for the rest of our lives.
Saturday, November 8
5:47 AM
Follow you.
Alec bangs on my door way too early the next morning. He opens my door, and I realize that I’m laying in bed naked. I quickly pull the sheet over myself.
“What the fuck, Alec!” I yell. “Seriously? You’re supposed to wait until I say come in before you just barge in.”
He is smiling, as he looks over at Stephan, who is now sitting up. He’s naked too, but covered. “Well, I didn’t know you’d have company. I thought you two weren’t sleeping together.”
I throw my pillow at Alec. “Get out so I can get dressed!”
“Fine,” he tosses the pillow back at me. “We have to be downtown at 7:30. Which means we need to leave in like fifteen minutes. So hurry up and get ready.”
He shuts the door, and I get up. I’m glad Stephan and me took a shower last night before falling asleep. I quickly comb out my hair, leaving it wavy. I put on a short, black, A-line skirt, a blue tank top, and black bumps. When I come out of the bathroom, Stephan is already dressed.
When we go downstairs, Bridgett, Alec, Bob, Ken, and Larry are all waiting. Alec is grinning at Stephan and me, so I glare at him. He is seriously the most immature twenty one year old on the planet.
Geez, Alec, announce it to the whole world why don’t you?
“Peter and the rest of the crew will be here in five minutes,” Alec tells us.
I roll my eyes. “Joy.” My voice is full of sarcasm. For a moment, I had almost forgot about the stupid documentary.
“They are going to start airing the documentary in three weeks,” he informs me. “They usually don’t do it in such a rush, but they want your story told by them first. They have already started airing commercials. This afternoon we all have to go in for a photo shoot, and they are going to film some promotional stuff.”
I groan. “Are you serious?”
Alec nods.
“What about my senior year of high school?”
He shrugs. “I know you wanted to have a normal life. But right now, you have to choose. Your career, or your senior year of high school.”
Well, when he puts it like that…
“You know how I said you were going to be doing a Christmas tour?” Alec asks.
“Yeah.”
“I’m pretty sure that Barry is changing the tour. It’s going to start January third, and go to December first of next year… And it isn’t just the United States,” he says. “You’ll be touring Europe, and Japan as well.”
I look over at Stephan. He’s watching me, and I can’t help but wonder what he is thinking. I know what I’m thinking — what does this tour mean for Stephan and me? I turn my attention back to Alec. “So what about breaks? How much time off would I have during this tour?”
He clears his throat. “Well, you would do about fifteen to eighteen shows in a row, and then you would get a three day break. Then you do it all over again.”
“But that doesn’t give me enough time to fly to the US and spend time with Stephan.” I feel myself start to panic. I can’t lose Stephan, and if I left him for this tour I am not sure if our relationship would survive the distance.
“Like I said… You’re choice. Life or career.” Alec says it like it’s not big deal. But it is. I look at Stephan again. How is that fair? How am I supposed to choose between my husband and my career. I’ve waited so long for this moment. How can I pass it by?
“You could always take Stephan with you. You can get a tutor, and finish your senior year on the road.” Alec turns to Stephan. “Do you think your mom would let you do that?”
This makes Stephan laugh. “Alec, I’m eighteen. Not seven.”
“Are you willing to do that? For one year? Just pack up and leave?” I have to ask. I know that if it came down to Stephan or my career, I would choose Stephan. Always. Which I know would be stupid, but I can’t help it. I’m totally, and completely crazy in love with him. But I don’t want to chose. I want both.
He considers this for a second before replying. “You know how miserable I am there. Without you, I wouldn’t want to go to school anyway. I would follow you anywhere, Scar.” He gently kisses my lips. “I love you.”
“Aw!” I hear Bridgett. “You finally told each other!”
I kiss Stephan back, and ignore the audience until the front door opens. Peter and the camera crew just walks right in. With
out knocking.
“Does nobody knock around here?” I complain as I pull back from Stephan.
“Nope,” Peter and Alec both say at the same time.
Just perfect.
8:33 AM
Already wrote the song.
We are all sitting in Barry’s conference room. Peter has the camera on me, and one on Barry as he explains his plan. Basically it’s the same thing Alec told me. The tour will start on January third. The first half of the tour I will be in the U.S., and then I’ll be going to Japan for two months, Europe for three, and back to the U.S. to finish up the tour. My album will be recorded before I leave for the tour.
“I thought we weren’t recording until we knew my song was going to be a success…”
“We are very confident in the song, Scarlett,” Barry says. I can hear the confidence in his voice. He doesn’t like to take risks, so he must be one hundred percent certain. “And we have learned that MTV is going to document the whole experience. From recording the CD, and then they are going to follow you on tour. We very much have a lot of confidence in you. Don’t let us down.”
Right.
“We have a lot of work to do. We plan on releasing your new single one week after the documentary airs,” Barry continues. “We want to have the video ready then. I know this is a lot of pressure, but I know you can handle it.”
I force a smile. I have just over two months to record the rest of my album, film a music video, promote my single, promote the documentary, and get ready for an eleven-month tour. Oh, and not to mention, I have a new husband who I have to spend time with. I’m tired just thinking about it.
Stephan squeezes my hand. He’s reassuring me. He thinks I can do it.
Barry, Bridgett, and Alec go over my schedule. There are not a lot of breaks scheduled.
“Alec, what about your music career?” I ask him.
“Oh, did I not tell you? This is a Scarlett and Alec tour.”
“Really?” I am getting excited.
“That was another thing…” Barry jumps in. “I was wondering if the two of you would be willing to sing a duet on Scarlett’s new album.”
“I already wrote the song for it,” Alec answers him. “Actually, Bridgett and I wrote it.”
I look at Bridgett, who is now blushing. “It was mostly Alec.”
“Excellent,” Barry says. “Scarlett, we are very excited for your career. You only thought you were famous before.”
I’m not sure how I feel about his statement. I’m famous enough. How can I get any more famous?
“Think Elvis. Or Michael Jackson,” Barry continues. “There won’t be a person who doesn’t know the name Scarlett Ryan.”
But they’re dead.
I smile and nod.
Oh my God… What did I get myself into?
After that, we say our goodbyes and leave to grab some brunch before heading over to studio to do all our promotional shots for MTV. I’m hoping that we can get a lot of good shots today, so we won’t have to do anymore. Though, that probably won’t be the case.
“I get the feeling that even though I’m going to be here with you, I probably won’t actually get to spend time with you,” Stephan says once were in the limo. What he’s saying is true — we probably won’t get a lot of time together.
“This life is hectic. But it’s just a year. After this year, I can slow down. I won’t have to tour as much,” I tell him. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? It’s not too late for you to back out. I would understand if you did.”
“Actually,” he whispers, “it is too late to back out. I promised you forever, and forever is what I meant.”
“But you were drunk,” I counter. I keep my voice down. Alec and Bridgett are having their own conversation, so they’re not paying attention. Peter and the rest of the camera crew are following in their SUV. We promised not to talk about anything Barry-related until we went to brunch. I just needed a minute to clear my head.
“Drunk or not, I meant what I said with my whole heart.” He kisses the side of my face. “You’re stuck with me, Scarlett. Besides, it’s just a year. How bad can it be?”
I really wish he wouldn’t have said that… Because in my experience, it can get very bad, very fast.
“Scar, you excited about the song we’re singing together?” Alec asks me.
“I’m curious,” I answer. “I think it’s awesome that you and Bridge wrote a song together. I can’t wait to hear it.”
“We will start working on it after you finish your music video,” he says.
I can’t help but wince. Starting Monday, I will be working with Nancy Hunter. That bitch is crazy. “Considering who is directing my video, I’d say it will only take two, three days tops.”
“Oh, and you need to have auditions for your new band,” he informs me.
“What’s wrong with my current band?”
“For one, you’ve changed sounds. The record company feels like a new band would be in your best interest. And two, they’re on tour with Demi Lovato right now.”
“Right.” I really liked my band. I have toured with them since I was sixteen years old. It’s like I’m losing part of my family, and it makes me sad. Also, I really hate getting used to new people. I have to spend like ninety percent of my waking hours with them on tour.
“Barry seems very confident in you. It’s a huge change from a few weeks ago when he didn’t want to give you a shot,” Alec comments. “I wonder what changed his mind…”
“I don’t know, but I’m glad he did.”
“Maybe they realized that they were going to lose you if they didn’t realize how amazingly talented you are,” Bridgett adds. “Seriously, I don’t understand why they held you back for so long. You’re unique. There is nobody else out there like you. I’m just glad you have a chance to prove yourself.”
We come to a stop in front of a small restaurant. When the limo driver opens the door, I see a ton of paparazzi snapping pictures of us. I smile and walk inside the restaurant, even though I’d love nothing more than to flip them off. Our bodyguards and the camera crew follows us.
“I guess I can kiss my privacy goodbye,” Stephan whispers.
I laugh. “Privacy? What’s that?”
One thing is for sure — once you’re in the spotlight, you can’t hide.
11:11 PM
Make a wish.
“It’s 11:11,” Alec yells excitedly. “Make a wish!”
“I wish to never have another picture taken as long as I live,” Stephan wishes out loud. I second it.
Today was the longest day ever. After brunch, we headed to the studio to take promotional pictures for the documentary. First, we had to get our hair and makeup done, then we met with wardrobe. Stephan complained about every outfit they put on me — too short, too tight, or too low… Every single outfit. And when I tried to reason with him, he countered that I was his wife and that no other guy should be allowed to look at me except him. This aggravated me to no end.
I have to talk to Stephan about this.
Also, I must leave him at home when I do my music video. There is no way I can handle both him and Nancy Hunter.
When we get back to the house, I decide I will talk to him. Maybe convince him that he should stay home.
“So,” I say to Stephan once we get to my room. “I’ve been thinking… Maybe you should go back to Florida on Monday. I’m going to be crazy busy with the music video, and you need to get your stuff. Plus, you need to tell your mom that you’re moving here. A phone call doesn’t seem like the best option.”
Stephan considers this. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“No,” I lie.
I’m a terrible liar.
“Is this because of the whole dress thing today?” he asks.
I nod my head. “Most definitely. Today would have been a lot smoother if you wouldn’t have complained about every outfit they put on me. I can’t deal with it again on Monday. I’m sorry.”
; “I’m sorry, too.” He sighs sadly. “I just keep thinking about all the guys that are going to jack off to pictures of you in those tiny dresses, and it makes me mad. You’re mine.”
I shake my head at him. “Stephan, you’re right. I am yours. Only yours. I don’t want anybody else. I chose you.” I pause for a second, putting my hand on his shoulders. “I’m a rock star. And I know that this is new to you, but this has been my whole life. I can handle myself. You just need to back off a little. If that director wasn’t so nice, you would have been kicked off the set.”
Stephan shakes his head sadly. “I have been acting like a jealous idiot. I’m sorry.”
“Just remember what I said.” I smile, thinking of a compromise for our previous dilemma. “I’ve been thinking about the whole name thing… What if I changed my name to Scarlett Montgomery, but kept Scarlett Ryan as my stage name?”
“You’d do that? For me?”
I nod.
“Can we do it first thing Monday morning?”
“NO!” I laugh. “Nobody knows yet. I’m pretty sure if my last name suddenly changed, people would put two and two together.”
“Would it be so bad if people knew? I mean we are married…”
“Stephan, we dated two months before we got married. I’m pretty sure everybody, including your mom, would freak out. I’m thinking we wait until this tour is over, and then we can tell everybody.”
“One year. I can do that.” Stephan rolls over on top of me and starts kissing me.
“Are you seriously horny right now?”
“I’m always horny,” he replies as he pulls my tank top over my head. “I’ve been wanting to do this all day. Ever since Alec barged into the room early this morning.”
“Tomorrow is my day off,” I inform him, as he kisses my neck. “I’m okay with spending all day in this bed.”
“I love that idea.”
Me too.
Sunday, November 9
9:47 AM
One in a billion.