After everybody had left the party on the first night, Tom and his wife had stayed late to help clear up. His other friend Chris had stayed, and he had plenty of stories from back home to tell them. Chris had grown up with Jason and Tom but while Jason left the town for bigger things, Chris had stayed behind. While Tom’s mother had driven him to see Jason while he was working, Chris never visited. He would speak to Jason every now and then and each of them would ask about each other which would then be passed between people, but Chris’ mother never drove him to see Jason. Chris was a home bird, and while others left and pursued dreams elsewhere, he settled for an IT job in their hometown and married his high school sweetheart. They had their first child at twenty and had since had two more. Having a wife and three kids was the ultimate dream for him, and while Jason wasn’t one to judge, he sometimes wondered how things may have been different for Chris if he had left their small town. Still, he always saw him when he came home and they always laughed and joked like he had never left.
Tonight, on his second night, Jason was having a night in with his parents and grandparents watching TV and eating food. He hadn’t planned anything and for once, he didn’t want to. He was perfectly happy sitting in the company of his favourite people and not having to worry about some impending work. Sometimes he wondered how his life would be different if he had stayed home and got a regular job like the rest of his hometown. Maybe he would be happily married with a few kids by now, or maybe he would have been miserable, wishing for a way out. There wasn’t really any way to tell. Plus, it’s true what they say; the grass is always greener on the other side.
Later in the night, after his grandparents had left and he had polished off some of his mother’s famous cocktails, he started to look through his phone. He didn’t get a lot of time to surf the internet or use social media, so when he did, he took everything in. After signing into his Twitter account, he saw numerous messages from fans, varying from marriage proposals to kind words of admiration. He really was humbled by the loyalty of his fans, even after a lengthy break from releasing music, they were still there supporting him and waiting for the next instalment. He fumbled through his messages, trying to answer as many of them as he could. On some of them, he simply wrote ‘Thankyou so much’, on others, he tried to make it more personalised. After finding a message from a young lady who had battled breast cancer, he read on to find her naming his music as ‘the main thing that kept me going.’ He paused for a moment while he took it all in. He felt honoured and touched that somebody who was going through so much would still take time to support him. He decided something so great was worthy of more than a few words, so he took the time to write something longer.
“Dear Nicki,
I’m so sorry to hear about the hard year you’ve endured, but I’m glad you’re finally in remission and are feeling better. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me and my music, it means so much. Your children are beautiful; I’m sure they will be very proud of you and your strength. Keep smiling, and keep praying.
Jason xx “
As he sent off the message, he smiled, hoping the message would go some way to making that woman’s day better. After the alcohol he had consumed started to kick in, he decided sending back messages may not be the best of ideas now, and so he went back to his news feed. He retweeted a few people who had included him in their tweets, and a few funny quotes from some friends. It wasn’t long before he started to wonder about Dee, and if she had ever entered his number into her phone. While sober Jason may not bother, he typed in her name into the search box and before long, he found a profile that matched. He couldn’t mistake her long curly locks or her thick lips. @DeeThompson had posted on there just over 10 minutes ago. Hesitating, he paused for a while before he quickly pressed the ‘follow’ button. He then spent the next few minutes looking through her pictures, mesmerized by her beauty. He decided it wasn’t even all the makeup and hair that she wore when he saw her at the club, as there were a lot of bare-faced pictures, and he found this Dee so much more attractive. He knew it would probably sound corny to some, but he really did believe some women were more attractive without makeup, and she definitely had natural beauty.
Before he had chance to send her a message, his mother walked back into the room with a tray full of cocktails, smiling.
“Are you trying to get me drunk mom?” Jason asked, laughing.
“We’re celebrating you being home!” his mother insisted, taking a glass off the tray and handing one to her son and her husband.
“She’s drunk herself, so she needs drinking partners,” his stepdad chimed in, smirking as he took the first sip of the cocktail, as his wife nudged him in the arm and protested her innocence. She then sat down next to her husband and cuddled into his side, sipping from her own cocktail glass. It wasn’t very often Jason saw his mother drunk. Maybe at the odd party, but not usually at home. Still, he didn’t mind, he knew she was enjoying herself.
Halfway through his cocktail, there was an ad break on the TV and his mother got up to use the bathroom. Complaining that she had taken the nearest one, his stepdad hobbled onto his feet, cursing a dead leg and used the stairs to the next bathroom. As Jason sat alone, watching an ad about sofas, his phone, which was sat on his lap, received a notification. As he opened up the twitter app, he noticed Dee had sent him a message. While it was only a greeting, he smiled and replied.
Dee
“Who you texting?” Shaneeka Adams asked, trying to look over her best friend’s shoulder as she smoked a blunt. Shaneeka was taller than her friend, especially when she wore her Monolo Blahnik’s, but she was no match for Dee’s strength, which was currently elbowing her away.
“Nobody” Dee replied, moving further away from her friend so that she couldn’t see her phone. Playing it cool, Dee put the phone back into her jeans pocket and moved to the kitchen counter where she poured herself another Vodka and Cranberry. The kitchen of her friend’s house was packed with people, some drinking shots in the kitchen, some playing dice games outside, and some upstairs trying to take advantage of a spare room. Dee felt comfortable here, knowing it was owned by her best friend in the world. She had known Shaneeka since they were kids, maybe around six years old. Their mothers knew each other before they were born, and while they didn’t always see eye to eye, they got along for the sake of their girls, knowing they were such good friends.
Dee had literally been through everything with Shaneeka by her side. They had experienced all the usual things you did growing up, periods, boys, school, plus some darker things. She knew she always had a friend in this girl, despite anything. Sure, they had fought when they were younger, but there was nothing they couldn’t fix. Shaneeka was there for Dee when she had her son two years ago and Dee was there for Shaneeka when she had her twin boys six months ago. Shaneeka was one of the lucky ones, for now at least. Her babies’ father was still around, devoted to both Shaneeka and the boys, plus he had a real, paying job. That’s not to say he wasn’t doing anything else on the side, but to the world as they knew it, he had a real, legal job. Dee always had a feeling Dashal (Or Dash as they called him) was going to be good to her friend. They’d started dating when they were in school, in the same way Dee and Trey did. However, when Trey started to change, Dashal didn’t. He never felt the temptation of using drugs, or sleeping with other women, he was good to Shaneeka.
Noah and Caleb, her twin boys, were born six months ago, and Shaneeka had her hands full with the both of them. While Shaneeka joked during her pregnancy that she was going to give the boys ‘normal’ names and not ghetto ones like herself, she despaired that they were the most naughty babies she could have asked for, always getting into mischief. Dashal had told her they took after their mother, and Shaneeka couldn’t deny it. Still, she took to motherhood like water over a ducks back. Tonight, it was her time to let loose after months of staying in. She had organised a huge party around her house while Dashal’s mother had the boys, a
nd she was taking advantage. Dee had already seen her drink a few men under the table, and she only hoped that her friend made it to see the end of the night.
As the night progressed, and more drinks were consumed, Dee and Shaneeka had already joined in a strip poker game, played numerous drinking games and now, four hours later, they were sat side by side on a sofa sharing a blunt and winding down. Their best male friend Tip was sat on the opposite sofa with Dashal playing video games, shouting drunkly through the excitement and dismay at the others victory. Dee and Shaneeka watched them for a moment and laughed when they both stood up, Tip with his hands in the air celebrating and Dashal protesting and asking for a rematch. The girls rolled their eyes as the boys began a new game and as their shared blunt was stubbed out, Shaneeka turned to her friend.
“So, who was you texting earlier?” she asked, turning her body all the way round to face Dee.
Dee rolled her eyes and then smiled at her friend’s curiosity, and pulled out her phone. She couldn’t believe she’d remembered from hours ago and had kept the question on lockdown, just waiting to ask again. That was the thing about Shaneeka, she didn’t let things go. Sometimes it was a good thing, but sometimes, and more often than not, it was damn annoying, especially in an argument. Dee imagined Dashal never won an argument with her, probably just because he couldn’t be bothered.
As Dee scrolled through her phone looking for his profile to show her friend, she paused for a moment and looked at her friend.
“Shanny, don’t be all weird about it, but there was this guy...”
“Oooohh I knew it was a guy!” Shaneeka squealed before Dee could even finish her sentence.
“Let me finish!” Dee exclaimed. “This guy came into the club a few weeks ago or some’in, and we...sorta ended up going back to his hotel.”
“You dirty girl!” Shaneeka laughed, expressing this a bit too loudly. The boys who were sat playing on their game glanced over for a second, wondering what was said.
“Shut up!” Dee told her friend trying not to laugh.
“So, are you two like a thing now?” Shaneeka asked.
“No. I just saw him a few nights ago, he walked me home from work and we had a beer.”
“Aww, he walked you home? That sounds sweet.”
“Don’t get all mushy. He’s like, some rich dude.”
“Gold digger!” Shaneeka laughed, and this time Dee elbowed her hard.
“Ok Ok, show me a picture.” Shaneeka asked.
“Listen” Dee started. “I didn’t know who he was till the other night when we walked home, so don’t be weird about it.”
“What d’ya mean, who he is?”
Dee went onto his profile and handed her phone to her friend. Shaneeka took the phone from her and peered at the screen silently for a few seconds.
“Jason Taylor?”
Dee shrugged. She wasn’t sure whether Shaneeka was asking a question or simply expressing her surprise.
“Girl, he’s like mad famous, and you hitting that!”
“Shut up!” Dee growled, elbowing her friend again to keep quiet, but as they looked at each other they both began to laugh excitedly. It did feel weird to know he was so well known and she was messaging him right now.
Before Shaneeka could get a chance to start stalking his profile, Dee pulled her phone from her friend’s hand.
Chapter 9 – Friends
Jason
After spending a week quietly at home, Jason felt like he was going to pop from all the food his mother and grandmother were feeding him with. He knew it was their way of showing their love, and he appreciated it so much, but he knew by the time he got back on the road, his stomach would thank him for the break. Today, his grandmother had come over to make him a stack of pancakes with bacon and maple syrup. It looked delicious. Before he started to eat, he took a picture of it and uploaded it to the internet, like most people did these days. It was kind of normal now to show people your meals, especially one this good. Today, he could excuse all the calories he was going to consume for his breakfast as he had a full day planned on the golf course with his friends and stepdad. When he was a kid, his stepfather had always took him to play golf and taught him everything he knew. He always thought his stepfather could have gone pro, but he always said things were better enjoyed as a hobby than a career; otherwise they wouldn’t be a hobby anymore. Jason didn’t think that was true, after all, he loved his job more than anything, and singing had of course started off as a hobby.
His biological father had also played golf, and sometimes he had taken him as a kid too. However, when his father got remarried and had another two sons of his own, he started to take them out onto the golf course instead, sometimes forgetting about Jason. His stepfather Paul had never let him miss out. Whenever he was upset that his father hadn’t shown up to take him out, or had spent the day with his other two sons, Paul would take Jason out himself. Paul was like a real dad to Jason, and he never forgot what he did for him growing up. Having no children of his own, Paul treated Jason like his own and they had a special bond, half father/son and half friend. Taking his stepfather out with his friends wasn’t weird in his book; they all got on like a house on fire. One of Jason’s good friends was actually his cousin anyway, so family was always involved with his friends.
Tom had already rang him twice this morning to check it was still on today. The first time he rang Jason’s phone that morning, he was convinced they had organised it for the next day. As his wife had planned to go out herself, it meant he had Lydia to look after. He had told Jason to leave it with him and he would figure something out. The second time he had rang, he told Jason not to worry as Carmen was now going to change her plans so she could stay in with Lydia. Personally, Jason didn’t understand how Tom was so unorganised when it came to his personal life, when he was a personal assistant as a career. He was a good one, at that. Tom had never, ever messed up any of Jason’s meetings, shows, interviews or the like. However, ask him to schedule a haircut for himself and he was sure to turn up on the wrong day. Jason found it funny, really.
As Jason devoured his pancakes and bacon, his grandmother kept topping up his orange juice and asking him personal questions, such as when was he going to find a nice lady to bring home? And when would she have great-grandbabies? Jason knew his grandmother meant well, but he honestly wanted to answer with it was probably never going to happen in her life time. She was already in her late seventies and he hadn’t even met a woman yet, let alone got married or got someone pregnant. He didn’t imagine it would ever happen for him, he was far too focused on his career, and as bad as that may sound as an excuse, that was just the way it was and nothing could really change it, unless someone extremely special came along. He already had a high profile romance when he was younger with a fellow musician, and it proved to be too hard. They hardly saw each other, and the longer they spent apart, the more they grew apart. They began to get jealous of the other if they spent any amount of time with someone of the opposite sex, and in the end, the trust just wasn’t there. If anything, the break up had helped his career. It gave him new avenues to explore, new songs to write on heartbreak, more racy videos to film now that no one could get jealous from it. He just wasn’t sure how someone would handle him and his career now, he felt like he would probably have to choose.
At around 12 in the afternoon, Jason, Tom, Paul, and three of their friends made their way onto the golf course. They had all stopped by the bar first to get some beers for the course, and were chatting as they made their way to their first hole. Jason loved coming to his golf course, mainly because he now owned it. Using it avidly as a child and a teenager, once he had money and had already done all the things he should do, buying his family houses and cars, he bought his favourite golf course. It meant the staff here were like family, they all knew him and his family and the drinks were free. When he was working, his stepfather would come here often with his friends and fans would also often come to play, hoping to see a
glimpse of Jason. It was great for the clubs revenue, and meant more people were coming to the area. He was happy for it, and appreciative that even when they did come to see him, they never bothered him. They would take pictures from afar and watch him play, but never interrupt his time with his family. He loved that about his fans.
As the game began, he felt at ease, relaxed. The sun was shining down heavily and his sunglasses were protecting his eyes from the rays. The sun felt good on his skin and the cold beer soothed his thirst. He planned to stay most of the day, and he knew after they headed home with a suntan, slightly tipsy, his mother would have cooked them something delicious for dinner. It really was the perfect life, he couldn’t complain.
Dee
As Tushaun heard the click on the opening of the front door, he turned to see who entered.
“What up, what up” a man’s voice said, before the silhouette of his body came into view from the door. As he came closer, Tushaun and Dee saw a man’s face come into view as the door was pushed open. Thomas Ivan Palmer, or Tip to those who knew him, had been friends with Dee since their teen years. Over the years as they’d grown older, she could now call him her best friend alongside Shaneeka. As he entered the room, Tip smiled and bent down to avoid hitting his head on the door frame.
At 6”6, he stood taller than most people in any room. He had always towered over his friends, even as a teenager, and just when he thought he couldn’t grow any taller, he kept growing. He’d once read that basketball player Michael Jordan’s recorded height was 6”6 and it made him regretful that he never ended up in the same career.
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