Out of the Blue

by Dee J. Adams

  Olivia walked to a room on the other side of the expansive office. “Casey, you can leave your bags here. A PA will bring them later when we get to the house. Everything’ll be safe. You can keep your purse if you want.”

  She wanted. “Okay.” She left her bags in a neat pile near the door.

  “So,” Olivia said. “You’re scheduled to be the first person in the house which means you’re first for everything today. We’ll start the three of you in hair and makeup then go in for introductions, then Casey goes into the house. One of the PAs will take you down the hall to get started.”

  “Hair and makeup?” Casey had no idea they were going to this extent for the opening.

  “Yes.” Olivia smiled and lifted her brows. “We want everyone looking their best for the intros.” She looked between the three of them. “Although I see you guys won’t be taking much time in there. You’re already gorgeous.” Olivia blushed and took them out the door on the other side of the room. They walked down a different hallway and into a virtual maze before cutting right into a brightly lit room where four women waited in different stations.

  “This is the makeup department,” Olivia said, pointing to two women on the left. “And this is the hair department.” She gestured to the women on her right.

  One by one the ladies introduced themselves. Lucia and Jani made up the hair department and Erin and Michelle did makeup. Casey figured there wasn’t much to do with her long, straight hair, so she sat down in Erin’s chair for makeup.

  Twenty-five minutes later, Casey, Zoe and Vic were escorted to another room where a camera and lighting setup surrounded a small set with three silver metal chairs and red backdrop.

  The hot seats.

  Olivia turned to the three of them. “Okay, ladies. This is where you say good-bye. After we shoot the three of you together, Casey will shoot a section by herself then we’ll take her out a different door and get the two of you by yourselves. From here on out, everything is on camera. I’ll give you a minute alone while I make sure we’re all set to go.” Olivia left them and Casey’s knees started shaking like a bowl of Jell-O in a massive earthquake.

  “Oh my, God,” Casey muttered. “I can’t do this.”

  Zoe glanced at Vic and they each huddled closer. “Yes, you can,” her sister said. “This is your dream coming true.”

  “Not if I don’t win,” Casey whispered. “Then I’m just a huge public failure, exactly like Jeff said.”

  “Hey!” Vic squeezed her hand. “Cut it out.” The seriousness in her eyes caught Casey’s full attention. “Jeff is a dickhead. That’s been established.” Vic probably knew more about Jeff than anyone. She hadn’t been a fan for over a year. Jeff had slipped his usual cool and told her to shut the hell up during a conversation about politics. Vic never forgot it, so she’d been thrilled when the wedding had been called off. “You are a great songwriter and you’re about to show it to the rest of the country. Just go do what you’re good at and don’t think about anything else. You got it?” Vic was always good at cutting to the chase. “You got this far so there’s no reason you can’t win this thing.”

  Casey glanced between her sister and best friend. They believed in her. Hell, she believed in herself. She just needed a little extra kick-start to get going. “Okay,” she said, psyching herself up for the next week or two or six or however long she’d manage to stay in the game. “I can do this.” She took a deep breath. “Thanks for being here. Thanks for agreeing to do this. I know it’s asking a lot.” They’d lose their anonymity too, because of this. They’d be on national TV once a week for as long as Casey managed to stay on the show.

  “No sweat,” Vic said with a wink. “I could use more Instagram followers.” Working for a PR firm, Vic was all about publicity. Her bosses were all for this weekly side gig in case it brought more attention to their business. They made crazy money handling some very high profile celebrities.

  “I owe you guys so huge. I don’t know how, but I’m going to repay you and it’s going to be big. Bigger than big. It’s going to be giant.” The doorknob turned and Casey’s heart stuttered along. It was happening too fast. “Oh my, God.”

  Zoe and Vic snatched her closer for a group hug.

  Vic’s lavender perfume mixed with Zoe’s vanilla and she breathed in their confidence. “You got this, girl,” Vic said. “We’re here for you no matter what.”

  Casey didn’t get a chance to say anything because Olivia was back and she had a couple of men with her.

  “Okay, ladies, this is Don and Michael. They’ll be helping us today. Don will set you up with RF microphones and Michael will be shooting you. Our producer, Karen, will be right in and she’ll be running everything from here.” She smiled and looked at Casey. “It was great meeting. Good luck!” She left, closing the door behind her.

  Casey’s mouth went dirt dry exactly as her pits began to sweat. Great. Don attached a little microphone to her collar and clipped the small box on the belt of her dress. It only took him a couple minutes to outfit the other two. As he did that, bright lights flipped on from different directions and all three of them swallowed back tension. Casey knew Zoe and Vic were nearly as nervous as she was. “What does RF stand for,” Casey asked.

  “Radio frequency,” Don answered. “Not so much wireless as battery powered,” he explained.

  The door opened and a woman walked in. She wore gray suit pants, a fitted white button up shirt and high gray pumps. Her shiny dark hair shone almost blue in the bright lights. She went straight for Casey. “Casey, nice to meet you. I’m Karen Sales, the producer. “I’ll be asking the questions.” She gestured to the seats. “Casey, you can sit on the end here,” she said, indicating the far left seat.

  “I’m just going to ask a few questions and I want you to answer as honestly as you can.”

  “Sure,” Casey said.

  Karen signaled to Michael and the red light flashed on the camera in front of them. “Casey, let’s start with you. Tell us your name, a little bit about yourself and introduce us to your outside team.”

  “I’m Casey Turner. I’m twenty-four and from Los Angeles and…” A blank. Already she had nothing to say. How the hell was she going to write songs if she couldn’t even say more than ten words at a time? “And I recently went on my honeymoon alone.” Holy shit! What had she just done? Hurry! Something else! “This is my big sister Zoe and my best friend Victoria.”

  “You can call me Vic,” Vic said, smiling for the camera. Casey wouldn’t be surprised if Vic scored some major press with her introduction to America. She was the stuff cover girls were made of. Not to say that her sister was anything less than gorgeous, they were just polar opposites. All three of them. They were a triangle, circle and square, each very different and with strong personalities even if Casey’s was just emerging.

  “Casey, tell us about your solo honeymoon. What prompted that?”

  “Uh…”

  “Her ex gave her an ultimatum,” Vic volunteered. “When she didn’t cave, he called off the wedding.”

  Casey almost had a coronary. She was sure her face registered Vic’s declaration like a bomb, but she couldn’t do anything to stop the fallout. Holy shit, there was going to be fall out. Vic obviously didn’t care how Jeff was going to take this news because she’d never been a fan of the guy. Maybe Casey had inadvertently blurted out the honeymoon part, but her information hadn’t needed to be shared with America. This was the exact thing Casey had wanted to avoid and it was all out in under thirty seconds.

  “Vic,” Casey said a little too sharply, her eyes as wide as the camera lens catching all of it.

  Vic had the courtesy to blush. “Oh. Sorry. TMI. My bad.” Except Casey saw in her eyes, she wasn’t feeling bad at all. She’d totally nailed Jeff to the wall on purpose.

  “We love TMI,” Karen said, her dark eyes sparkling with enjoyment.

  “I’ll bet,” Zoe mumbled. She glanced at Casey, a knowing look in her eyes. This was the kind of thing
Vic did purposely. She played the ditz when in reality she was super smart. She used her looks to get what she wanted and she surprised people for shock value. Usually the shock value wasn’t anything of this magnitude.

  Didn’t matter that Casey was still sitting down, thanks to Vic, she’d totally stepped into the shit. She prayed the show hired an editor who would have mercy on her soul.

  Right.

  Chapter Nine

  “Okay, Brendan, it was nice meeting you and your brothers. We’re going to talk to them for a few more minutes while you head to the house. You’ll see them next week for the second episode.” The producer, Karen, smiled as he gave his brothers a partying two-fingered salute and headed out.

  He couldn’t believe he was really doing this. He’d already been told the order of people entering the house and he was last. He didn’t even have names. The list only had contestants listed by number. The fact that he was last—number eight—didn’t make him feel especially positive. The show was a six week trial run, with someone being eliminated at the end of each week. So was he the only one who noticed the extra contestant?

  Actually, he felt more like he was about to walk into a trap. He was the last to see the house, the faces and the setup. The last to soak up everything before the show started in earnest. A definite disadvantage. No time to size people up. No time to get a feel for the place or the people.

  Brendan left the room and stepped into a large hallway where a man greeted him with an outstretched hand. Wearing black jeans and black boots, the guy had enough product in his dark slicked back hair to oil a garage door. “Hi, Brendan. I’m Miles Griffith, the executive producer.” Brendan had heard his name throughout the interview process, but had never met him. Miles was a well-known music producer getting his feet wet in television. Kind of like Simon Cowell without the accent. “We’re all really excited to have you on the show.”

  Miles gave him a strong handshake, but never stopped talking. “I just wanted to remind you that this opening is live for the East Coast and will be essentially live for this coast as well. Just be cognizant of that fact and watch your language. We wouldn’t want to get in trouble with the FCC on our first night.” He flashed a straight bright smile as Brendan regained his hand.

  “Sure,” Brendan said. He hoped he sounded calmer than he felt. The idea of live hadn’t actually hit him until this second. A healthy dose of paranoia swirled in his stomach.

  Miles led him through another maze of hallways and opened a door to a room on the right. “I believe this is yours, correct?” he asked, pointing to Brendan’s duffle bag. “Go ahead and grab it and we’ll head straight to the house.”

  Sweating palms had never been one of Brendan’s favorite things. He wiped a hand on his thigh as he hefted the bag over his shoulder.

  “Nervous?” Miles asked and they continued down the hallway. Pictures of the studio lot from the sixties lined the walls. Old Hollywood at its finest.

  “Little bit, I guess.” He didn’t see a reason to lie about it.

  They reached a heavy door marked Stage Eighteen in red lettering and Miles put his hand on the thick metal handle. “Okay. This is the spot. Once you’re inside, walk up to the front door and wait until you hear your name. Then go ahead and walk into the house. Remember, we have cameras set up in all rooms except the two bathrooms.”

  “Right. Cameras.” What the hell had he gotten himself into? A huge wave of regret mixed with the paranoia and stirred in his gut like acid. He never should have gotten into this mess. He hated reality TV like cats hated water and now he was about to be the ultimate hypocrite.

  “Okay then.” Miles beamed. “Break a leg.” He opened the door and Brendan hesitated before walking into the cool darkness of a soundstage. Too late to back out now.

  The whole thing was lit to look like the outside of a house. Painted hunter green, the craftsman styled home had a heavy wood door with bronze handles. The large porch spread out on either side where lush greenery disguised the outer edges that became nothing but a black void, essentially a large wraparound tunnel where the cameras must be filming the interior. As instructed, he walked to the front door and listened, unsure if they knew he was there or not. His heart thundered and his mouth went stone dry. He looked over his shoulder, about ready to retrace his steps when he heard, “Please welcome our final contestant, Brendan St. John.”

  Suck it up. Do it.

  Brendan opened the door and walked through. The large entry way looked like a regular house with new hardwood floors and a thick red oriental carpet in the foyer. Bright turquoise paint covered the biggest wall in the great room with a brown wall opposite and two different sitting areas in between. Farther inside what seemed to be a large sunroom, he saw a group of people, all holding drinks and all looking as if they’d already won the damn show. Brendan saw everyone had dropped their luggage near the front door so he did the same as he entered.

  He scoped out the competition as he moved forward. Four men including him and four ladies, but he couldn’t see one woman very well since her back was turned and a couple of guys blocked her.

  Focusing on the people closest to him, he did his best to smile.

  The host of the show, Steve Bardell, walked toward him with an outstretched hand. The guy had Hollywood looks and a smile to match. His thick dark hair looked Beverly Hills perfect. “Brendan, nice to meet you. What do you think of the house?”

  Brendan took another look at the large rooms that seemed to flow into one another in a subtle color scheme of tans, deep browns and turquoise. A big fireplace served as the center focal point.

  “It’s beautiful.” What else was he going to say?

  “Hopefully it’s beautiful enough to spark some creative songs from you and your fellow contestants.” Steve turned to the others in the room. “Now that we’re all here, let’s make the introductions official. Brendan this is Jack, Mitch, Dante and Kirby and over here we have Courtney, Lisa, April, and Casey.”

  Brendan locked eyes with Casey just as she turned. Everything stopped. Wearing a slinky black dress with a slit up the thigh and sexy heels that put her in his height range and showcased her long legs, she looked just as beautiful as she did the day he met her. He didn’t think her eyes could get any wider. Did he have that same look on his face? He worked really hard to look unaffected, to pretend that he didn’t know her, but acting wasn’t his forte. Never had been.

  He mumbled hellos to everyone and shook hands with the people nearest him. He didn’t want to touch Casey. He knew he’d feel the same spark she ignited in Hawaii. He saw it in her eyes and didn’t need to feel it in her touch.

  “Now that the contestants have met, it’s time to meet our judges,” Steve continued, forcing Brendan to concentrate on his words. “Please welcome Grammy- and Tony-nominated artist, Sara Bareilles, and Grammy winners Garth Brooks, Sarah McLachlan and Rob Thomas.”

  Shit. The surprises kept coming as the four entertainers strode into the house via the front door. Steve talked to each one individually, but Brendan lost track of his words as his gaze settled on Casey. She flashed her amazing ocean eyes in his direction then quickly looked back to Steve who picked up a crystal bowl with cards inside as the judges disappeared as quickly as they’d come in. “In here, we have our first game.” He shook the bowl. “Each card has the name of a celebrity singer who will appear on the show. A little while ago, we had a random draw to see who would go first using contestant numbers one through eight. Contestant number one was our first pick so Casey if you could come up and choose a card.”

  Brendan swallowed as Casey set her drink down and walked over. Her hair flowed around her like silk and her skin had a healthy glow. She pulled a card from the bowl.

  “Now open the front side flap,” Steve instructed. “And read the name.”

  She slid the flap up, her fingers shaking as she did. “Kanye West.” She looked at Steve like everyone else and Brendan forced his mind on the current process and not Casey’s mout
h.

  “Great. Now, our next contestant has the opportunity to either pick Kanye from you or they can choose to draw. That next contestant is Jack.” Steve held out the bowl and walked over.

  Jack looked around before he picked his card and when he lifted the flap, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped open. “Carrie Underwood.” A total look of wonderment passed over his face. “Holy sh—I mean, wow. Carrie Underwood!” He lifted the card so everyone could see her name.

  The group oohed and awed. “As each new name is revealed,” Steve explained, “each of you will have a choice to either pick a name you’ve heard, or take a name from a contestant who’s picked, forcing that contestant to pick again. Did I mention that the celebrity you choose now will be the person to sing your first song this week? Keep in mind as long as someone has to choose a name, you run the risk of losing your celebrity for the first week.” Steve looked around the room.

  Holy shit! Jack already had Carrie Underwood in the bag unless someone took her. But who else might be in there?

  A sudden flop sweat had Brendan wiping a hand down his face. What if his boss’s name was in that hat? Oh shit, what if he lost his job and his place on this show because he never mentioned the connection to Seger in his application? Instead of working his intestines into a knot, he blew out a breath and concentrated on the game.

  Lisa picked next and she drew Kristen Chenoweth. Clearly there wasn’t a bad name in the bunch. At least not yet. So why did people have the option to take a celebrity away from someone? There had to be a trick somewhere.

  Brendan went next and he chose to draw from the hat. He picked Rihanna. He couldn’t believe his luck.

  April chose Ed Sheeran. Courtney chose Pitbull. Dante chose Ryan Tedder. Only one person left to draw and Mitch sauntered up to Steve and his magic hat of celebrities. He pulled his card and lifted the flap. A massive grin split his face before he looked up. “Seger Hughes,” he said, showing his card the way all the others had done before him.