by Laura Benson
He went back to the question. “I was having lunch with an old friend—”
The male DJ interrupted. “Who we’ve found out was your high school girlfriend.”
“Ex.” Joey nodded. “Yes, we dated in high school. We were surrounded by a mob of fans and the paps. Things escalated and she was knocked down. I was simply protecting a friend.”
Female DJ: “That must’ve been incredibly scary. Is your friend okay?”
I rolled my eyes. They didn’t care one iota about me. They just wanted juicy gossip.
Female DJ continued: “Were you lunching with her to woo her back?”
Joey barked a laugh at that one. “No, Charlie and I are just friends.”
Finally, they started talking about his concert that would take place tonight. During that line of questions, they held a contest for the ninety-fifth caller to win tickets. The surprise would be that Joey would answer the call after it went through producers. I let myself blow out a relieved breath. Joey handled himself really well, and I was proud of him. Though, I was kicking myself for not scouring the web this morning. I could only imagine what Matthew would say when he saw the pictures. And Lord knows, knowing Matthew, he’ll see them.
Matthew had been a no-show today, and I wasn’t sure if I was happy or relieved that he’d called Joey, begging off and telling him that he’d meet him at the Bowl. From the studio, Joey looked back at me, and I smiled toward him. Today was a slam dunk. He’d pulled it off and came across as funny, easygoing, and smart. Everything I was hoping for.
After about twenty-five minutes of on air time, they started to wrap everything up. During short commercial breaks or station ID breaks, I’d noticed the female DJ flirting and touching Joey’s arm. She may have looked innocent, but from one woman to another, I knew that was anything but. Joey was gorgeous, and any woman would have to be dead to not see that. But watching her outwardly flirt with him bothered me.
I knew I had no right to be jealous, especially with what was or wasn’t going on between me and Matthew. Joey and I had a history. And yes, I’d always have certain feelings for him, but I couldn’t allow myself to get caught up in anything relating to those feelings. I wouldn’t allow myself to give him any hope of the two of us getting back together. I would have to put my foot down and make him realize that I’m here to do a job and in order to do it well, feelings and emotions cannot and will not play a role. While thinking these very good points, Joey knocked on the window, indicating that he was finished. He hugged the female DJ and shook the other’s hand, then walked out into the corridor where I was waiting.
I noticed a wry smile on his face. “What?” I asked.
He put a hand into his back pocket and pulled out a post-it note (pink, of course) with a phone number on it. I just shook my head and tried to muffle my laugh with my hand.
“She was kind of obvious,” he said, trying to smother a laugh.
“Oh, yeah, I thought she’d be dry humping you by the end of the interview.”
He threw a look at me and barked out a laugh. “Oh, Charlie. No filter with you, huh?”
I shrugged my shoulders. Had I ever really had a filter?
The car I hired dropped Joey off at home since he had a ton of stuff to do before tonight’s show, and I headed back to Matthew’s office. I’d hired bodyguards for Joey, and they should’ve been at his house, waiting for him to get him safely to the venue. I was hoping to get a few things done and finally call my father back. I was being a neglectful daughter and an even worse employee. I’d also have to remember to call my mom and find out how Paco was doing. I missed my neurotic pup.
When I did call my dad, I was secretly hoping it’d go right into voicemail.
Unfortunately, I got, “Tad Banks.”
I rolled my eyes. He sounded so pretentious.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Well, it’s about time you called me back.” He sounded a bit annoyed with me and yeah, I deserved that. “How are things going?”
“Really well. Joey’s concert is tonight. We had an interview with the largest radio market in L.A. this morning. He’s been keeping it clean this week. I’m proud of him.”
He cleared his throat. “You guys aren’t doing anything…” The line of questioning dropped off.
“Dad!” I yelled. “Really?” Did he honestly think that I would get involved with a client?
He chuckled. “Just want to make sure you’re doing okay.”
I sighed and rubbed my forehead, feeling the beginning of a stress headache. “Things are status quo, Dad. I’m not interested in Joey like that anymore.” Now being his friend? Entirely different situation.
“Good,” he said firmly. “Glad to hear it. Your mother called me this morning. She saw the pictures of you nearly being trampled. Care to tell me what happened?” He sounded more concerned than pissed, typical dad.
I went over the ugly details, explaining that no one was at fault—except the paparazzi— and that I had a minor scrape on my head. I hated having to relive that episode again and again, but this was probably only the beginning. People were bound to ask questions. When I realized the time, I ended the call. I still needed to grab some food and caffeine. It was going to be a late night, and I’d need to be fully functional.
I started pacing around my office realizing that Matthew was nowhere to be found, and I found myself regretting that. I had a feeling that he was avoiding me and well with the concert tonight, he wouldn’t be able to avoid me all day. However, there was an entirely different emotion that I was feeling now that I thought about Matthew avoiding me. I felt hurt. I know we didn’t exactly leave on the best of terms, but he didn’t have to be mad at me for thinking rationally. Finished with pacing, I leaned against my closed door, closing my eyes and banging my head against it. I was fucking missing Matthew.
I was annoyed and pissed off. Matthew had completely blown off the radio show, and since then, I’d been fielding calls from other agencies wanting to book Joey on their shows. Jimmy Fallon wanted him in New York and Jimmy Kimmel wanted him in L.A. Obviously this was good for Joey, but I really needed Matthew to step up and make this happen. If we could get Joey on Kimmel first then Fallon, we’d have coverage on both coasts. It was a win-win, as far I thought.
I’d ended up back at the office for a few hours, but still no Matthew. When I finally looked at the wall clock, I noticed that time was getting away from me, and I needed to get ready for the concert. Fuck Matthew. If he wanted to play this way, then so be it. He could be the pouting brat avoiding me like I had cooties. With a shake of my head, I left the office and headed back to the hotel.
Right now deciding on what I was going to wear was becoming more of a pain in the ass. I had a few dresses that I brought, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go that route. I was thinking of gaucho-type pants with a glittery halter top. It was warm tonight, and I’d be outside for most of the evening. I plucked my silvery-blue halter; with silver palazzo pants. Adding my blue gladiator sandals was the cream on the top. I wore my hair in soft waves that hung loose around my shoulders. Make-up was kept minimal, knowing that I’d end up sweating it off at some point.
I’d hired a car to take me to the Hollywood Bowl. I was a nervous wreck the whole ride to the venue. I still hadn’t heard from Matthew, and Joey had been strangely silent as well since the radio show. I wasn’t sure what the pre-game show was like with these two, but I didn’t think going off the grid was common. When we finally arrived, the driver brought me to the back entrance of the location, where I could see tour buses and cars lined up, letting out VIPs and various big-named stars that were in for Joey. There was a separate location for the contest winners that I would head to after I found everyone I needed to. My first plan of attack was to find Joey and see how he was doing. I’d seen Joey perform live at small bars and pubs at home during high school, but I’ve never seen anything of this magnitude. So yeah, I was freaking out just a bit.
It took me a while to get through s
ecurity. These security guards took their jobs seriously which made my life a bit easier. Debbi mentioned groupies doing just about anything to get backstage to see Joey or any rock star, for that matter. When she told me that I just rolled my eyes and sighed deeply. I went in search of Joey’s dressing room. It was difficult getting through the throngs of people. Men and women were yelling into headsets directing people to their proper places. I saw guys up on the scaffolding, making last minute changes to the lights. Sound guys were rushing around, making sure that everything was plugged in, taped down, and working. I saw a brutish guy shouting directions to musicians who I was assuming were the opening act.
Backstage was a mass of labyrinthine proportions, and I started cursing myself for not showing up earlier. There was no way I would be able to find my way around with all this shit happening. A man holding thick electrical cords came bounding down the hallway, nearly crashing right into me. I managed to get out of his way at the last moment by pressing myself into a fake retaining wall that nearly collapsed with the weight of my body. So trying to steer clear of the workers, I looked around to see if I could find anyone I knew. Behind the scenes I could see everyone was moving at a frenzied pace. People in headsets were yelling into their mouthpieces. Men carrying around ladders and thick cords of black wire were scurrying to get to their locations. Joey had even hired FX guys to man the special effects. He was going all out with this concert, and you could tell that everyone was working double-time to get things moving.
Because I didn’t know my way around, I tried my damndest to stay out of the way of people working. Not easy when you find yourself going around in circles. Backstage at the Bowl was definitely a sight to behold. You’d think because it was an outdoor venue the back part would be pretty small. Nope. It was huge. There was a long corridor toward the left of the stage and the “green room”, where I would put the VIPs and the contest winners, had to be down here. Thankfully, it was well-lit so I wasn’t wandering around a dark space. That would just freak me out. More so than I already was.
I knocked on a few doors with no such luck. But, I did finally find the room that was being set up for pre-show stuff. I looked around the room and realized that it was not green, nor even remotely attractive. It had horrid orange sofas, some folding chairs, and mismatched side tables. Off to the long wall was a large buffet table set up with veggie platters, fruit platters, water, beer, and a bowl of skittles. I was tempted to grab a beer for nerves control.
I plopped down on one of the ugly sofas and opened up the bottle of water that I ended up grabbing. I knew that if I stayed here maybe I’d be found and that way I wouldn’t be wandering and getting into people’s way. I looked down at my phone to check the time. I still had a few hours before the contest winners would arrive. So I made myself at home and check email and fan sites. The radio show was a huge hit and the calls that they’d taken after Joey’s time brought in more traffic than they’d had in a while. Especially in the summer. I was pleased that people were excited for Joey again. It made my work seem like I was doing something positive.
I was just about to call Stefanie when the door banged open, and a gorgeous brunette came in ass first, her face stuck to guy that I couldn’t see. She was tall and in her heels, just as tall as the guy she was currently molesting with her tongue. My mouth dropped open when his hands slowly caressed her ass, squeezing her cheeks so she squealed loudly. My eyes became as big as saucers as he continued stroking her ass, I felt like I was intruding on their private moment. It took all I had to clear my throat, so they knew they weren’t alone. The Amazon stopped suddenly and whipped her head around.
She looked at me with disdain and a bit of a pout on her lips. I’d never seen her before so I wasn’t sure who she was here with. Until her partner slid beside her.
Matthew.
I could feel my brows bunch together and my face heating up. So this was why he was ignoring me. My heart broke into a million pieces watching him devour her the way that I wanted him to devour me.
I pushed my hair behind my ears wishing I was anywhere but here. Matthew looked down at me with such a conflicted look. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, but like a fool I stood up and introduced myself. Hoping that my palms were dry and not a sticky mess that I knew they probably were. Staring at her, I knew there was no way I could compete and it felt horrible.
I held my hand out as I approached Amazonian. “Hi, I’m Charlie Banks. Joey’s publicist.”
She gave me her most dazzling smile while looking down on me. She took my hand limply and gave me a brief handshake. “Eva Carnes. I’m a friend of Matthew’s.” I stole a glance at Matthew as his jaw did this clenching thing I noticed when he was in a mood. I gave her a smile and just nodded my head.
“Nice to meet you. How do you two know each other?” I asked as sweetly as possible but really dying inside.
Eva turned back to Matthew and wrapped her arms around his waist. I raised my eyebrows up a bit as I watched her cuddle him, his arm was firmly on her pert ass. “Matthew and I go way back,” she laughed. “We get together every time I’m in town and when he told me about the concert, well I had to be here to support Matthew and Joey.”
I bit my lip. “Nice. Matthew and I go way back too. High school.”
It was almost as if a light went off in her head. “Oh, you’re that Charlie.” I frowned while I stared at her. I must’ve scowled, because she amended, “I just meant that you’re Joe’s ex-girlfriend,” she corrected.
“Yeah, lucky me.” I closed my eyes and turned around to toss my water bottle into the recycle bin. “Do you happen to know where Joey is? I’m afraid I don’t know my way around here,” I asked Matthew, trying to leave out any timbre of emotion in my voice. I was still looking at Eva’s arms around his waist. Hating myself for the jealousy that was prickling up along my spine. As much as I loved Matthew’s kisses and his meaningful, lustful looks, watching him with the beauty queen was hard. So very hard.
“He’s about four doors down.” He tilted his head in the direction. Eva was looking up at him with such devotion that I knew if I stayed in that room one more minute I was likely to show every emotion that I was felt for Matthew. Jealousy was a horrible emotion and I didn’t want to be one of those girls, I couldn’t be that girl.
“Well you two continue on, and I’ll be on my way,” I said as brightly as possible and hightailed it out of there quickly.
Closing the door behind me, I leaned against it and closed my eyes for a minute. Who was I fooling? I was trying to keep the tears at bay because there was no way I would cry over that asshole. I had a job to do, and I needed to find Joey and make sure that we were on the same page regarding the meet and greet that was happening in a few hours.
Finally finding Joey’s door, I stopped in front of it, collected myself, and knocked. Nothing. I leaned my ear up against the door, but it was too thick for me to hear anything. I knocked again. Nothing. After a couple of minutes of standing out in the corridor I turned the knob to see if it was open. Thankfully, it was.
The front room was empty, but I could see there was an anteroom to this one. I heard some laughing and shouting coming from that area. So I opened the door and what I saw was enough to destroy everything.
On the coffee table, was a naked woman whose eyes were closed, and she was giggling. Joey was sitting on the couch behind the table, cutting lines of coke, and I’d walked in just as Joey took a few lines of coke from the woman’s stomach. The guy to the right of me was licking the girl’s pussy. For a moment, everything stopped, and I wondered if I entered through the looking glass. This was not fucking happening.
Slamming the door behind me, Joey looked up at me with that glazed, high look. “What the fuck, Charlie! Don’t you knock?” Both guys stopped what they were doing, looking up at me.
“Joey, you brought more entertainment?” the pussy sucker asked, as I threw him a disgusted look. The girl on the table was so wasted she couldn’t even open her eye
s.
“I did knock, you prick.” He shrugged his shoulder and took another snort of a line on her stomach. “What the fuck are you doing? Are you absolutely fucking crazy? You’re going on in a few hours, and how the hell are you supposed to perform if you’re high?” I yelled at him.
He looked at the ‘coke on body-shot girl’. “Please, this is nothing.” He bent down and took another line. “Want some?” he laughed at me. Was he really being serious here? I was at my wits end with the two guys I had to deal with, and today was not going according to plan. The guy on the left with the spoon finally filled his syringe and stuck it into his arm.
“You guys are fucking repulsive. Is this your pre-game ritual, Joey? Watching some skank get sucked off while you cut lines on her stomach?”
His eyes were bright red, and he was rubbing his nose. He stood up unsteadily and walked over toward me. “Yeah, baby. C’mon, let’s have some fun. Me and you, Charlie. You can get naked, and I can suck you off, too. My technique is better than ever.” He was slurring his words and swaying back and forth. I had to grab hold of him to stop him from falling down.
“Joey, I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole. You disgust me.” I pushed him away as he stumbled back, but caught himself before completely wiping out. I knew right then that I was out of my element, and I didn’t know what the fuck to do. Joey wasn’t about to stop his pre-gaming. Matthew was doing whatever the fuck he wanted.
As if Joey read my mind. “Where the hell is Matthew today?”
I counted to ten before I could answer him. “He’s having some quality time with Eva.” I snarled.
“Ah, Eva’s in town. Matthew’s the shit when it comes to her. Jeez, we won’t be seeing them for a while. After she leaves, Matthew is wiped out for two weeks. She drains him. Like a fucking succubus, but he says she sucks his dick like a Hoover.”