by Wendy Louise
Ethan pulls in to the car park and the valet takes his keys. He tips him and takes my hand tightly in his as we all head in to the theatre. I catch the banner that is hanging over the entrance, announcing that tonight is a charity concert. Then I catch a glimpse of the names of some of the artists that are playing, including Jason Derulo. I can’t help the squeal that makes its way past my lips.
“You’re taking me to see Jason Derulo? I can’t believe it.” I throw my arms around Ethan’s neck and kiss him hard on the lips. My dad clears his throat from behind, indicating his discomfort with my public display of affection. I pull back reluctantly muttering, “Sorry Dad.”
Ethan laughs as he tucks me back against his side. “Not only am I taking you to see Jason, but all the other artists on that banner too, they’re all playing tonight. Guess who the opening act is?”
I shrug my shoulders.
“Awesome Rebel,” Ethan states proudly.
“Oh My God, Grayson and the guys must be so excited; I can’t wait to see them.”
“You’ll get to see them after the show, Gray has arranged back stage passes for all of us, and he has arranged for Jason to say hi.”
I think my feet are going to give way. I’m embarrassed that I’m having such a physical reaction to that, but I love Jason Derulo and I’m so excited to meet him. I can’t believe that Grayson and Ethan have arranged this. It feels like I have thousands of butterflies in my stomach and they are all flying in opposite directions trying to break free.
I look back up to the banner in awe of the names on it.
“C’mon, let’s get to our seats,” Ethan says, as he grabs my hand and drags me along behind him.
Grayson has arranged amazing seats for us. They are front and centre, and there are a large number of movie stars and celebrities in the surrounding seats, all doing their bit for charity and out to enjoy the night. I look to my mum and her face is as star-struck as mine is. She smiles at me and I return it, silently acknowledging the OMG moment that we are both having. Mum and I have always shared our celebrity obsession.
The lights dim and the spotlights illuminate Grayson on the stage. He looks amazing in this large venue. I feel a huge sense of pride for him. The band is really going places. Gray counts the band in and they start in on the first of many of their hit songs. The crowd is on their feet by the third one, everyone is dancing, and even my dad is up.
By the time Grayson has finished the set, the crowd is on fire.
A number of prominent artists follow Awesome Rebel, all of them more famous than the one before, until they announce that Jason Derulo is taking the stage. Ethan looks to me and wiggles his eye brows at me before starting to laugh, he loves to tease me.
By the time Jason strolls on to the stage, I am vibrating with excitement. He launches in to one of my favourite songs, The Other Side and I’m jumping and dancing along with the rest of the crowd, lost in his voice and mesmerised by his dance moves. He plays a full thirty minute set and covers off most of his number one songs. He is incredible. By the end of it I am sweating from all the dancing and adrenaline that is running through my veins.
By the time the final applause and cheers have died down, Ethan stands and moves us towards the backstage area. Each of us is wearing a pass on a lanyard to allow us access.
We make our way through a darkened area and into a large lit space that is overflowing with all the artists that we have just seen on stage, as well as many more famous faces. Grayson spots us from across the room and excuses himself from the person he is talking to. A cheeky grin is in place on that gorgeous face of his.
Ethan and Gray do their normal weird hand shake thing, and then Grayson bends to hug me. “Grayson, thanks so much for letting us come tonight, this was beyond amazing.”
“I’m glad you liked it,” he replies with a smile.
“You guys were incredible.”
“Thanks, it felt pretty amazing being up there on that stage. What did you think of Jason?” he says with a wink.
I just shake my head. “Words cannot describe it,” I respond.
Grayson laughs and moves to Liv, “Hey Liv.” He hugs her and whispers something in to her ear causing her to laugh.
He kisses my mum on her cheek and shakes my dad’s hand before turning us all towards a large bar that is overflowing with drinks.
Ethan takes my hand and introduces me to a few people that he knows in the Industry, many of them females who look over me with an appraising eye, trying to see how I’ve landed the gorgeous celebrity beside me. I’m glad that I have my grey dress on, it gives me confidence and goes some of the way to making me feel worthy of being with the beautiful man beside me.
There are photographers everywhere snapping shots of all the famous faces; no doubt we will be on the entertainment news again tomorrow.
I turn to see Grayson gesturing for me to join him. I pull on Ethan’s hand to grab his attention, “Grayson is calling us over.”
Ethan and I say goodbye to the people we’re talking to and head to Gray. As I get closer I realise that he is speaking to none other than Jason Derulo. My palms grow sweaty and my heart picks up its rhythm. I start to feel a little light-headed.
“I don’t want to do this,” I say to Ethan, stopping mid-step and pulling him back to me.
He smiles down at me and cocks his head to the side, “Why not?”
“I don’t know what to say, I’ll just embarrass myself and you…”
“C’mon babe, you’ll be fine, he’s just a person like me, Olivia….”
I shake my head, “No, you don’t understand, I really love him and I’m just so nervous.”
Ethan bends his head down and whispers against my ear. “I’m not sure that I’m happy that my girl is having such a reaction to another guy. Am I going to have to beat his ass?”
I give him a look and he laughs. I hate that he is so in control when I’m losing it.
He pulls me forward and I focus my eyes on Grayson, who is smiling at me.
Gray extends his hand to me once we reach them and introduces me to Jason. “Jason these are very special friends of mine, Ethan and Ava. Ava is a big fan of yours.”
Great Grayson, make me look like more of a loser than I already am!
Jason shakes both of our hands. “Ethan, nice to meet you man. Ava, great to meet you too.”
I can’t talk because my tongue seems to have lost its ability to move of its own free will, so I just smile like a lunatic and hope that my vocal chords kick back in soon.
Ethan, Grayson and Jason continue a conversation about the show and the movie Ethan is shooting, and all the while I just stare at Jason, not sure what to do. If this is what it’s like to be totally star struck, then I don’t like it. I feel like a total idiot. My body is letting me down in every way, and I can’t fire up my synapses to make it re-boot.
Ethan lightly squeezes my hand, trying to bring me back to Earth. Jason turns his smile to me and asks, “What did you think of the show?”
I take a deep breath, willing my voice to work; it comes out as a squeak. “You were amazing, just incredible, I loved it.” The words fly out of my mouth so fast that the three guys are now trying not to laugh at me, but failing miserably.
“Excuse Ava Jason, she’s a bit star struck by you,” Ethan says with a smile.
“It’s always great to meet a fan.” Jason replies kindly.
Ethan suggests that we get a photo, so I stand beside Jason while he shoots a few photos with Grayson and I, before Jason excuses himself and makes his way to the group beside us.
I let out the breath that I didn’t realise that I was holding and look up to see both Ethan and Grayson doubled over in laughter.
“That was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen,” Grayson says through his tears. “Ava you couldn’t even speak.”
“Are you okay babe?” Ethan asks, trying to control himself.
I feign anger. “Shut up both of you. I was a bit awe struck and didn’t
know what to say.”
“No kidding,” says Grayson, laughing again and holding his stomach as he does.
“Okay enough you two,” I say. “Wait until you both have your star struck moments and then we’ll talk.”
“There’s no one on this earth that I would react to like that,” Grayson says.
“I would probably act like that if I met Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas,” Ethan responds. I smile at his attempt to make me feel better about the pathetic display that I just put on.
“I need another drink,” I announce.
I start to make my way back to Liv and my parents, trying to ignore Grayson’s continued chuckling from behind me.
Liv and I leave our parents at the departure gate at LAX. We all had a little cry when we said goodbye, it’s been so great having them here. I’m so pleased that they got along so well with Ethan. They really like him.
Liv and I have one hour before she is due in hair and make-up back at the Studio, so we hightail it to her little red car and head straight to Universal. We have a few heavy days of shooting ahead of us, long days and locations, so it’s going to be really busy.
Ethan seemed fine while we were at the concert last night. I’m not sure what had him upset when he first arrived at my apartment, but it didn’t let him spoil the evening. I’m still concerned about him though, so I need to make some time today to make sure he is okay.
We pull in to Olivia’s parking spot and both make our way in to the building, readying ourselves for the long days and nights ahead.
Madeline Rose
It’s been two days since Nanny told me about my father and sister and I feel like I’m carrying around a ticking time bomb that is going to detonate at any second. I’m having trouble dealing with it all and I want so badly to talk to Ava about it, but I’ve made a promise to Nanny and I don’t think it’s fair to break that yet.
More than that, I think that Madeline deserves to know the truth. This is her story as much as it’s mine. I’m not the only child that was affected by the stupid decision that our parents made.
Ava has picked up on my mood and has asked me numerous times if anything is upsetting me. I don’t want to keep her in the dark, but I just can’t tell her yet. Not only because of my promise to Nanny, but I feel like talking about it will make it more real, and at the moment I think I’m living in denial.
Nanny and I spoke last night and we decided to speak with Madeline about what happened tonight. That also means that I’m going to get to meet my father tonight.
I’m so fuckin’ nervous.
Nanny has already told him that I’m aware of everything. She said that he took it well. I think in hindsight he knows that they made a fucked-up decision when we were born. Of course my mother is still totally oblivious to the fact that we’re meeting, or that I know anything. I’m going to need to sit down and talk to her once Nanny and I decide how to broach it with her. She’s going to be so pissed.
The first thing I need to do though is cancel my dinner with Ava tonight. Not something I want to do, but in this case it’s necessary. I need to get this shit worked out so I can move forward and live my life with Ava.
I swipe across the screen of my iphone to activate the screen. I press Ava’s details and press the green call button waiting for her to pick up. My heart is racing.
I hate keeping things from her.
She answers after a couple of rings. “Hi babe,” she says with that gorgeous accent. Will I ever get sick of hearing her call me that?
“Hi beautiful, what are you up to?”
“I’m just waiting for Liv to finish removing all her make-up and then we’re heading to the gym. I can’t wait to see you tonight, I feel like we’ve hardly had any time together over the last few days with how busy we’ve been at work.”
My heart clenches because I have to tell her that I’m cancelling on her tonight. I hate to disappoint her.
“About that, babe, I’m so sorry but something has come up with Nanny tonight and I have to cancel our dinner.” At least that’s not a total lie, this does involve Nanny.
The silence on the other end of the phone is palpable. Ava takes a deep breath before answering me, “Oh…. no worries, I’ll just spend the night in, I’m pretty beat anyway. I hope Nanny is okay?”
I can hear the disappointment in her voice and damn if that doesn’t rip my heart out. I almost decide to blurt out everything and bring Ava with me tonight for support, but I don’t.
“Nanny’s fine Ava, she just needs me to help her out tonight. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow night babe. It’ll just be you and me, all night.”
She hesitates; I can hear her breathing down the line. “Ethan, are you sure that everything’s okay, I mean if there’s something wrong you can tell me.”
She can see right through me, even at the other end of the telephone line. I need to lie to her to protect the lie that I’ve been living my entire life. It’s not the right time to tell her yet.
“I’m fine babe, we’re fine, don’t worry. It’s just tonight. I promise tomorrow night will be the best date we’ve ever had.”
“Even better than the Best First Date Ever that we had in Hawaii?” she asks. I can hear a smile in her voice so I think I’ve squashed any fears she had.
“Damn straight,” I reply, “…it will be the best date anyone has ever had in the history of dating.”
Ava laughs. “Well when you put it like that then I guess I can cope with missing you tonight. I love you.”
“Love you too babe, so much.” I reply.
And I do.
Ava signs off and just like that she’s gone. I take a steeling breath and head out to my car, ready to pick up Nanny and get this fucking thing started.
We pull in to the driveway of the luxury mansion that Madeline shares with her father, well, my father too.
Still trying to get my head around that.
Nanny takes my hand as I turn off the engine and turns to me. “Are you sure you’re ready for this sweetheart?”
I shrug. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
She squeezes my hand and we both exit the car, taking each other’s hands as we move towards the front door. We ring the bell and are welcomed by a small lady with dark hair. She must be the housekeeper. It looks like Madeline has lived a similar lifestyle to what I have. That thought makes me sad for her. I can only hope that our father made her life easier than our mother made mine.
Instantly I feel a prick of jealousy.
What if our father has given her a loving and secure life while mine has been so lacking in both?
I push that thought from my head as we are ushered into a large sitting room that overlooks the backyard. Where my house is very much a show piece, with expensive furnishings and artwork, this house is a home.
There is comfortable, yet stylish furniture throughout the room, which is there for use, not just to look at. There are a lot of photographs of Madeline and her father on the walls; it feels cosy and welcoming, just as a home should.
The housekeeper leaves Nanny and I waiting as she alerts Madeline and Grant of our presence. My heart is flip flopping in my chest and my stomach feels like it is about to come up through my throat. Nanny senses my apprehension and takes my hand again, giving it a squeeze.
A moment later we turn and they are in front of us. Madeline has a confused expression on her face. “Ethan, what are you doing here?”
Great, obviously our father failed to mention anything to her about our visit tonight.
Nanny moves her hand out of my grasp and moves forward to the man standing beside Madeline. I’ve seen him in movies before so of course I know what he looks like, but seeing him here in the flesh, I am overwhelmed by how alike we are.
He looks like an older version of me.
His blonde hair shows some sign of grey around the edges, but he still has it styled in his trademark messy way. The blue eyes that are staring back at me are mine. They’re identical in shade and
shape. He’s the same height and build as I am, and he’s dressed very well for an older guy.
Nanny reaches Grant and he bends to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Hi,” he says and gives her warm smile.
Nanny turns back and looks from me to Madeline. “Shall we all sit and talk?” she suggests.
“What is this all about?” Madeline asks, irritated for being kept out of the loop.
Grant turns to Madeline and takes her hand. “Come sit darling, we have some things to discuss.” The way he handles her calms her immediately. I’ve never seen anyone have that effect on Madeline; she is normally so forthright, bratty and demanding. They obviously have a good relationship.
That both warms and annoys me at the same time.
We all make ourselves comfortable on the sofa as the housekeeper serves us coffee. Once she has left the room we all stare at one another waiting to see who will speak first.
Grant keeps staring at me like he wants to say something, but until Madeline is in the loop, we can’t acknowledge anything; it wouldn’t be fair.
Nanny speaks up. “Perhaps I should explain why we are here to Madeline.”
Grant and I nod.
All I can think is what a coward he is, making Nanny tell his story. He and my mother are the ones that did this. They’re the ones who should have to face the music, not Nanny.
For the next thirty minutes we all listen intently as Nanny explains to Madeline what she told me.
Madeline’s eyes widen with shock at every new revelation. I notice that she doesn’t let go of Grant’s hand the whole time Nanny is talking. Madeline doesn’t speak; she just listens and nods occasionally. She looks as dumbfounded as I feel.
Madeline’s eyes fill with tears when Nanny tells her about our parents deciding to separate us and raise each of us independently of the other. She looks to her father for clarification, as if she is begging him to refute what Nanny is saying, but all she gets is a tight smile.
Once Nanny has finished telling Madeline everything, she turns to our father. “Daddy is all this true?”