Managed 1: A Rock Star Romance

by Clarissa Carlyle

  “Open the door,” Tara yelled through the thick wooden door.

  Jasper threw himself down on his couch as she continued screaming and banging on his door. After five minutes of continuous beating, in which he was sure she had removed her shoes to be making the amount of noise she was, Jasper turned on his TV to drown out the noise.

  He heard her start throwing herself against the door with loud thuds. She was going to hurt herself, but he didn’t need to engage her. Something broke against the door and he heard it shatter. Great, now she was damaging hotel property. She was going to get him tossed out.

  He stormed over to the door and tore it open. “Tara, chill the hell out!”

  She threw a smaller vase from the hall at him and hit him in the head. He touched the spot to make sure it wasn’t bleeding. She came tearing into the room. First, she slammed herself against the wall and started breaking things in his room. Finally, she let out a shriek and went back out of the room. He slammed the door behind her. Something else shattered against the door, she’d gone to a different hallway to find more things to damage. She pounded herself into the door again, there was no way she wasn’t bruising her whole body. She was doing it on purpose so she could say he was beating her so he couldn’t let her back in, he needed the police.

  Another five minutes went by before Tara gave up. At least he thought she had given up. There was a swift knock on the door. Jasper ignored it wondering what tactic Tara was going to employ since her tantrum didn't work.

  “This is the NYPD. Open the door,” an authoritative voice sounded from the other side of the door. To his relief it seemed someone else had called the police.

  Jasper jumped to his feet and ran to the door. He checked the peephole to make sure Tara didn't learn how to imitate a New York City police officer. When Jasper saw the cop standing outside while another looked as if he was trying to detain Tara.

  “Can I help you officer?” Jasper asked, pulling the door open. He didn't know why he was nervous. He hadn't done anything wrong. Hell, he didn't do anything wrong the first time, and he was the one paying for Tara's stunt.

  “We received noise complaints from your neighbors. Regarding this young lady. Can you tell us what happened?”

  “He wouldn't let me in his apartment. He is my boyfriend. Don't you know who I am?” Tara screamed, her usually polished hair was wild. She tried to escape the cop's clutches but her tiny body was no match.

  “Miss, I'm going to need you to be quiet or I will have my partner escort you to the car.”

  “You can't do that. I'm Tara Jackson.”

  “Take her to the car. I will be down as soon as I get a statement,” the officer that knocked on his door said. The officer holding Tara nodded his head as he led Tara down the hall to the elevator.

  “I can help,” one of his neighbors came out and showed the officer a video. “She was throwing herself against the door hard so he opened it so she wouldn’t hurt herself. Then she ran in and destroyed a bunch of his things and came back out to do the same thing.”

  “Yes, seems she’s lost her mind,” the police said.

  “Is she your girlfriend?”

  “No, she’s not anymore and I think the rejection has sent her into some kind of murderous frenzy. She threw a vase at my head and destroyed property.

  “Do you need an ambulance, sir?”

  “No, I think I’m going to be okay.”

  “Do you want to press charges?”

  “No, I don’t think I should.”

  “I do. I pay a lot of money for a penthouse room. She should know we don't tolerate that type of behavior,” the neighbor lady was mad at the level of damage around her.

  “I do too,” the owner of the hotel had been called and now he stood behind the police officer.

  “Mr. Thompson, can you please tell your employees not to let Miss Jackson anywhere near my room in the future?” Jasper asked the hotel owner.

  “You’ve got it, Mr. Daly, I’m sorry this happened to you.”

  “Thank you but it’s not your fault. I'm sorry for the damage she caused.” Jasper knew they treated those guests staying in the hotel’s penthouse apartments differently. He still felt bad the owner was apologizing for something that damaged his building.

  Jasper returned to his room and sank onto the bed. Tara was still going to make his life hell even when she was out of it. This would be fun to explain to Hailey in the morning. He needed a drink.

  Chapter Four

  Hailey woke up before her alarm clock and laid awake before she realized it was Saturday and she didn’t have to go to work. She was going to spend some time getting as much good PR out there for Jasper as she could. There was a girl who blogged entertainment on a site called Entertainment with Jem. She had once been romantically involved with Jasper, but was now a celebrity in her own right and dating a very well known reality star. She thought an interview with the wholesome Jemma would get him some good exposure. She just needed to reach out to her.

  Grabbing her phone off the bedside table, she was surprised to see she had six missed calls. Scrolling through them she saw they were all from Jasper. She couldn’t imagine what was so serious he called her so many times, unless one of the girls he’d gone home with had been a prostitute. Or maybe both of them were. How crazy and messed up that would have been. She wasn’t sure she could bring him back from a double blonde floozy scandal.

  She was about to call him back when he called her again. Letting it ring three times, she finally answered it. He’d made her mad the night before, there was no reason he couldn’t wait a bit.

  “Where have you been, I’ve called you all morning?” Jasper sounded a bit panicked.

  “I was sleeping like normal people do, Jasper, I turn my ringer off at night.”

  “Then I guess you haven’t seen the news. She was an animal last night, Hailey. I couldn’t control her. I wish I’d never seen her. I don’t know what to make of how crazy she actually is. I deserve this for allowing myself to be with her, to let her into my personal bubble of trust.”

  “You aren’t making any sense. Are you talking about the girl you took home last night?”

  “Tara,” Jasper yelled in her ear. “Turn on The Buzz right now and look.”

  Hailey looked for the remote as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. She almost wished she’d stayed in bed and not looked at her phone. Finally, she found the remote and turned the television to the Entertainment channel. Breaking News flashed across the screen and the reporter was talking quickly.

  “Tara Jackson was reportedly arrested last night because of a dispute with off again on again lover Jasper Daly. She allegedly showed up at his hotel room and proceeded to engage in a huge fight with him. She threw things in the hotel breaking them and injured the rock star enough that the police had to be called. Jasper was cooperative with the police and at this point there’s no sign that the domestic violence was anything but one-sided. They have not released the details of Miss Jackson’s toxicology report, but once they do, we’ll have that information for everyone.”

  Hailey couldn’t believe it. “She hurt you?”

  “Just a cut on my head, but she’s completely insane. Once she gets out of jail, she’s going to say I hit her or provoked her or something.”

  “You have the police to back you up and you’re hurt,” Hailey said.

  “You know it doesn’t matter. The press will have a field day. My label is going to be really pissed because they’ll tell me I could have prevented this somehow. This morning Rugby Time Shoes dropped me as their sponsor. The rest will follow. I tell you I’m freaking out over here. Can you come over please? We have to get ahead of this.”

  “Okay, yes, calm down and give me some time to get woken up.”

  “Okay, hurry, I’m going to have some mimosas.”

  “Drinking this early?”

  “Yes, Hailey, hurry.”

  Hailey tried to relax and not freak out. Jasper was one huge publicity n
ightmare. She needed to figure out how they could get ahead of Tara. They’d need to release a statement before she did. If she was making bail as they spoke, then they didn’t have much time. It would have to be well thought out and compassionate to Tara. That would be the only way to get away with this whole issue if he pretended to be worried about her well-being. She jumped up and got into the shower, washing her hair and trying to think of the best thing to say.

  She blew her hair mostly dry and scrunched some gel in it. It would curl up on its own and there wasn’t much else that could be done with it. She was almost out of clean clothes and needed to put something decent on, in case she had to visit some of the press. Finally, she decided on a fitted tank top and a pair of tight black jeans. Not being able to help it, she grabbed a large vest that had tassels on the bottom and put it over to hide the tank top’s tightness.

  She put on some lip-gloss and mascara and headed out the door to call a cab. It should have taken only a few minutes to get from her apartment to his hotel, but traffic was terrible so she was there in about forty. She looked at the address in her phone for the room number and went up to knock on his door. He was on the highest floor and she realized if someone got a hold of his room number, the only thing between him and some crazy fan coming up was the flimsy hotel security.

  He opened the door and stood in front of her in only a pair of sweatpants and no shirt. She’d never seen him without a shirt and it took her a minute to look away from his nice abs. The definition had drool pooling in her mouth. When she swallowed it was audible, and she wished the floor would crack open so she could swan dive into it.

  “What took you so long?” he huffed out, as he ran his fingers through his hair making it stick-up everywhere, revealing the cut on his head.

  “Sorry, there was traffic. How are you doing?”

  “How do you think I'm doing?” He paced the room.

  “I'm not going to lie. This is not the greatest thing that could have happened right now.”

  He turned and looked at Hailey with a death glare. It didn't stop her.

  “But, I can turn this around. As long as we jump on this now, we can stop all of your sponsors from dropping. So stop your scowling and let's get to work. While we are at it, we need to fix this as well.” Hailey pulled out her phone and tapped on the screen. The picture of Jasper and the two females she left him with at the bar were wrapped around him as they exited the club. “Jasper, you need to tone this down. I know you aren't used to having the restraints we are placing on you, but it is for your own good. Let this all die down before you go back to your ways.”

  “My ways, huh?” He grinned at her and she speculated if he had multiple personalities for a moment. One minute angry, the next a Cheshire cat grin on his face.

  She tried to keep the disgust out of her voice when she talked to him. She refused to get jealous over a rock star who bedded everyone he saw. Hailey reminded herself he was a client, and she needed to start being professional. When she finished getting Jasper's reputation on the up-and-up, she was going to treat herself to a long vacation. After this, she would deserve it and the promotion by proving she could handle Jasper's case.

  ***

  “An email,” he muttered.

  “What?” Hailey asked.

  Jasper startled when she spoke. He hadn't realized he had said anything out loud. “Rugby Time Shoes. They sent me an email to let me know they were dropping me. I’ve made them a ton of money since I signed with them, and they couldn't even give me the courtesy of a phone call so I could explain it wasn't my fault, that Tara went off the deep end.”

  “Jasper, you need to get your head in the game. I can't have you worried over some shoe company.”

  “Some company.” He couldn't believe she wasn't more concerned.

  “I get it. It sucks that they disregarded you that way. I will do my best to fix this, but I need you to help me out. It isn't your fault Tara went crazy on you. Wait, did she get upset when you showed up with those two girls from the club?”

  “I didn't leave with them.” He went over to the couch and flopped down on it, throwing his head back.

  “First, I don't think lying is the best strategy,” Hailey explained, as she sat next to him. Her hand traced the cut on his forehead. He froze at her soft touch. “I'm sorry she did this to you,” Hailey whispered, finally taking her hand back.

  Jasper resisted the urge to bring it back. He got a whiff of her clean perfume when she’d moved to touch him. It was better than anything the girls at the clubs seemed to bathe in. He turned until he was leaning on the arm of the couch so he could look at her while they talked. “I'm not lying, Little Bird. I walked them out and got them a cab. Carl drove me home where Tara was waiting for me.”

  Jasper smirked at the confused look on Hailey's face. He liked catching her off-guard. It bruised his good-guy ego that she thought so little of him, but the way he acted at the club, he really didn't give her a choice to think any other way.

  “Why?”

  “I just wasn't feeling it. Now enough talk about that, what are we going to do?”

  “Well, the thing is, we can't stop talking about that. They are a part of your night of debauchery. What we need to do is make a statement immediately explaining that you were not at fault in the Tara situation. If you are telling the truth and just walked those two girls out to a cab that will help your story, that you are trying to be on your best behavior.”

  “You don't believe me?” Jasper felt a combination of hurt and anger that Hailey didn't believe he didn't leave with those two girls.

  “Jasper, there are hundreds of pictures of you and them leaving the club. I'm sorry but not many people are going to believe you.”

  “The bouncer can vouch for me. They have surveillance on the outside of the bar. I'm sure there's a recording of me leaving them as they climbed into a cab and I left with Carl.”

  Jasper held his breath as Hailey turned her head to the side thinking about what he had said.

  “That's a good idea,” Hailey grabbed her tablet out of her purse. “Oh yeah. I want to take pictures of your head injury,” she said pulling out a digital camera

  “If you wanted a picture of me, Little Bird, all you had to do is ask.” Jasper smiled when Hailey rolled her eyes at him. She really didn't care that he was a rock star, and he loved it.

  “Jasper, shut-up and look pathetic.” Hailey held up the camera and waited for him to comply.

  “Pathetic? I don't think I'm capable of that.”

  “Well, you’re going to have to learn.”

  Jasper willed his face to stop smiling as he watched Hailey get more frustrated because he wouldn't listen to her request. After snapping a dozen pictures, Hailey seemed to give up on him.

  “I guess this one will have to do,” Hailey grumbled as she toggled through the pictures taken.

  “Let me see,” Jasper said, taking the camera out of her hand. Hailey had captured him with his eyes in a half-blink. His mouth tilted in an awkward fashion. “You’re not using this picture, Hailey.” He moved to delete it, but Hailey pulled the camera out of his hand. “Don't touch. I'm doing my job. If you won't make a pathetic face. I will use this one.”

  Jasper liked that Hailey used her voice to stand up for herself. “Alright. I'll give you your picture.” He schooled his features to look pathetic.

  Hailey laughed at his face and he couldn't stop himself from laughing with her.

  “Stop, Jasper. We need to get this picture out there so I can write your statement. We need to beat Tara in making a statement. She is famous, she won't be in jail very long.”

  At the thought of Tara, Jasper's face dropped.

  “That's it,” Hailey cried as she snapped the picture. “Perfect.” She looked at the picture. She tapped on the camera's screen and connected it to her tablet. “There, that's a start.” Hailey smiled at him, and Jasper's heart stopped for a second.

  Her face was void of all the caked on make-up t
he girls he hung out with normally had. She had a fresh innocence about her that made Jasper more at ease.

  “Alright. I'm going to write your statement. There are paparazzi swarming downstairs. Once we get it to your liking, I will set up a conference and we’ll deliver it. Go take a shower while I write it so you're ready to go.”

  Jasper had to bite his tongue from asking Hailey if she wanted to join him. She made him feel safe, and he needed to stop being a jerk to her just to keep her from getting into his head any further than she already was. That sudden thought about her made him feel like the dirty rock star she thought he was.

  He jumped in the shower and washed up. His stomach churned as he thought about having to make a statement. He felt his claustrophobia starting to push in on him. He needed to do this to help pull his reputation out of the gutter. He trusted Hailey. She seemed to know what she was talking about and he didn't want to let her down. It wasn't going to be easy, but he would get through it.

  When Jasper walked out into the living room, Hailey was curled up on the couch typing furiously on her tablet. He kept his eyes on her as she chewed on the side of her lip. It took him a minute to notice she had removed the horrible vest she was wearing when she came in and was now sporting a black tank top. A tight black tank top. Who would have guessed the little bird was rocking a killer body under all those frumpy clothes?

  “What should I wear,” he asked, strolling over to the couch. His eyes roamed over her small pert breasts that were standing at attention under the restraint of her tank top. Her stomach was flat and slipped into her tight jeans. He couldn't stop thinking he would have liked to slip into her jeans as well.

  Hailey jumped when he came over to her. “What?” she asked, blinking at his towel-covered body.

  Her face turned red as she tore her gaze from his body. Thankfully, while she was eyeing him, Jasper was able to get a good look at her. Maybe she hid herself because of the full hips. She definitely had more to love on the bottom, but he dug it. She was sexy. Jasper shifted on his feet to hide the effect her stare and black tank top was doing to his bottom half.