Queen of Kings

by RH Tucker

  “You’re not kidding?” I shake my head, my grin still firmly in place. “The Queen of Kings is recording at Rich Records? That’s crazy. Is she hot? I mean, she always looked hot, but I’ve only ever seen her on TV.”

  “Dude, she’s incredible. And she sang this song that was … I don’t know, mesmerizing. She’s freaking amazing. It was soft and delicate, and I could almost feel her pain in those lyrics. She’s …” The words escape me as I continue shaking my head, remembering it.

  “Uh-oh.” He starts chuckling. “Is someone a little smitten?”

  I lift my shoulders, letting out an unbelieving chuckle. “I can’t help it. Not only is she beautiful, but she’s an incredible musician, and those lyrics are nothing short of … of … breathtaking.”

  “Damn, you do got it bad. And that’s after meeting her one time? Ask her out, then, man!”

  My eyes narrow, my jaw drops, and I stare at him. Then my head falls back, and a hysterical laugh echoes through our apartment. “Right. Yeah, just ask out Jade Barkley. Me, a college freshman going out with the hottest bass player on the planet. Sure, that’s gonna happen.”

  “Why not?”

  “Did you not just hear what I said?”

  “Bull!” he shouts at me, with a mouthful of pizza. “Yeah, you’re a college freshman, but you’re not even gonna try and act like you’re not who you are. You’re Austin Richards. Heir to Rich Records. You’re gonna tell me you don’t have a chance? You’re almost like a socialite or something. Regular people don’t recognize you, but get you in a room full of certain industry people and you know as well as I do people pay attention.”

  “You know as well as I do that they only pay attention to me because of my name,” I retort. “But …” Cringing, I reach over the table we’re sitting at and grab my bottle of soda. “There is one little problem with that.” He shakes his head at me, confused. “She doesn’t know who I am.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I let out a pathetic laugh. “I mean, she was kind of pissed off when she arrived. She wanted to be listed as Kristen King as an alias, just in case paparazzi or something found out she was coming in. She was all disguised and stuff. When I found out who she was, she basically tore my dad a new one and felt sorry that I had to work for him. She thought I was just a guy who works in the building.”

  “You didn’t tell her?”

  “How could I? What? Was I gonna be all, ‘Hey, you know the guy you degraded and called a conniving snake? Yeah, that’s my pops. It’s cool, though’? No way. And then, I told her my last name was Hernandez.”

  “Hernandez?”

  “It’s my mom’s maiden name. I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want her thinking I was like my dad.”

  He starts laughing, picking up a new slice of pizza, taking a bite. “Yeah, I guess that would make it awkward. What are you gonna do?”

  “What do you mean, ‘what am I gonna do?’ I’m not gonna do anything.”

  “Austin! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Jade Barkley is recording at your record studio. You have direct access to her.”

  “You’re insane, you know that? First of all, it’s not my record studio.”

  “Semantics.”

  “Secondly, I don’t have direct access. It’s not like I can just show up whenever I want. She’s working on stuff. I’ve been around enough artists to realize when they are working on their craft, they do not like to be interrupted. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, I’m not gonna do anything because she has a boyfriend.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah. Oh.”

  “You should’ve led with that. But, you know, you can at least make yourself seen a little when she’s there. Do you know when she’s coming in next?”

  “No. I’m not gonna stalk her, man.”

  “I’ll hook you up,” he says. “If I see her, I’ll let you know she’s in the building. You better get out of whatever class you’re in if I do.”

  I start laughing, taking another drink. “You’re crazy.”

  He chuckles again, and I return to eating a new slice. It’s not like I haven’t thought about it since I met her. Not about asking her out or anything like that, but just being around her more. Not because she’s famous and beautiful, but I haven’t gotten her lyrics out of my head yet.

  Ever since I decided I wanted to be a music teacher, I’ve dove into some of the most well-known songs in the world. The pop hits, Grammy award winners, and classics that people don’t know but are revered by those in the industry. There are different aspects to lyrics in various songs that don’t only apply to their genres. A rap song could have an earth-shattering motivational lyric, or a pop song could have a touching line about love or death.

  I think rhythm gets a person hooked, but the lyrics are truly what can move and inspire people. Jade’s words did that for me that day. I would love to be around that more.

  7

  Jade

  “Stop. Stop!” I yell out, giggling the entire time.

  “He’s cute!”

  “You cannot be serious.” I push her shoulder. “He’s like forty!”

  “Silver fox, Jade!” She cackles, continuing to ogle the picture of Blake Danielson, a leading actor who she’s been crushing on for the last few years.

  We continue on our way in the back of our Lyft. I could ask for a car service set up, driving me back and forth—or anywhere else around the city—if I want to, but I don’t. While I’m staying at Peter’s, I’m trying to use this as a college experience, if you will.

  Yes, the guys and I have free rein to do anything when we’re together. And, yes, I already answer to practically no one. My parents, Peter, everyone else; they all trust me. However, this is the first time I’m alone alone. I’m living in Peter’s beautiful penthouse in L.A., but it feels like it’s my own little place, and I’m on my own. It’s nerve-wracking and thrilling at the same time. Now I want to get this music out of my system before the guys and I start recording our next album.

  “Here you go,” our Lyft driver calls out from the front seat.

  “Uh, Jade?” Lily taps my shoulder.

  Turning off my phone, I glance over at her. She doesn’t make eye contact. Instead, she lifts her hand, pointing out of the window toward the front of Rich Records. Blocking the doorway is a handful of paparazzi, all with their cameras out and pointed inside, snapping pictures.

  “I can’t believe this. I trusted that guy!”

  “Who?” Lily asks.

  “Some guy I met who showed me the studio the other day. He said he’d make sure my name was changed so this wouldn’t happen. I’m so stupid.”

  Annoyingly, I pull the hoodie over my hair and slip on my oversized sunglasses. Lily starts laughing. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna do you any good now.”

  “Whatever. Come on,” I hiss, waving for her to follow me since she was going to hang out with me in the studio today.

  Getting out of the car, the cameramen in front of the building hear the car door slam shut behind them and turn around. They stare at me for a moment, and there’s a splinter of hope that they don’t recognize me. But that evaporates in seconds.

  “Jade! Jade!”

  “Jade, what are you doing at Rich Records?”

  “Are you leaving the Kings?”

  “Did the Kings break up?”

  Taking Lily’s hand, I hurry us into the building, where a large security guard who wasn’t here the first day allows me to pass. I hear the shouting, but it dies out as he keeps the photographers at bay, shutting the door behind me.

  Behind the small desk where Austin sat a few days ago sits a different guy. Wearing a white, pressed uniform shirt and black slacks, this one looks like he’s actually a security guard. With shorter hair that’s just long enough to comb it slightly forward, he looks me up and down. I roll my eyes at his expression.

  “Who are you?” I snap at him. I know it’s rude, but I’m already annoyed by all of this. “Where’s
Austin?”

  “Um, he’s not here today. Are you Ms. King?”

  “Oh, don’t you even start that with me,” I spit out, pointing a finger at him. “I trusted that dirtbag! He told me he’d change my name in your log system. Now look at this.” I motion behind me, waving. “I wanted to avoid this exact scenario!”

  “First of all, I want to apologize for that, Ms. Barkley. But I assure you, Austin did change your name. I have you right here.” He points down at his paper, then brings it up for me to see. “You’re down as Kristen King. No other name is listed for you. There’s someone here who—”

  “What a joke!” I shout at him. I’ve never felt like any kind of diva, but I seriously want to give this guy a piece of my mind right now. “Who says you couldn’t have changed things? Or Austin, whoever that guy was, didn’t just completely forget.”

  “Yo, babe!” I hear Bret call out, coming out from around the corner. “You made it. The bathroom in this place is like a museum or something. Did you know they have gold records lined around the toilets?”

  I wrinkle my nose at him, more grossed out than surprised that he’s here. “Bret? What are you doing here?”

  “Nice!” he practically yells, stepping closer to me, but keeps his eyes on the front of the building. “I wasn’t sure my tipoff was going to pan out.”

  “Tipoff?”

  He nods enthusiastically. “I hit up this small blogger I know. Told him you’d be at Rich Records today to hopefully get you some good exposure.”

  My face drops. Looking at the security guard, I notice he seems as shocked as I feel.

  I jab a finger into Bret’s chest. “You tipped off the paparazzi? Bret, what is wrong with you?”

  “What?” he asks, and he’s genuinely confused. “Babe, the media exposure will get people talking. You want a buzz to be built around this, and you want it started early. Who knows, when you release this album, it might—”

  “Bret!” I shout, stamping my foot. “I can’t believe you! You know this isn’t something I’m doing for a release. What is wrong with you?” He still looks confused. “You know what? Forget it.” I wave him off. “Come on, Lily.”

  I hurry past him when he grabs my wrist, turning me around. “Jade, are you seriously mad at me? I thought I was helping.”

  “Helping?” I shout at him. “Bret, you did this for yourself. You knew—you knew—I wanted this thing to be private. You were at the meeting when I—”

  “Babe, I was only—”

  “No! Don’t babe me! Just leave me alone.” Turning back around, I catch sight of the security guard, watching the entire drama play out before him. Guilt pours through me. He has a small, silver name tag. “Shawn?” He nods nervously. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t … I’m just sorry.”

  He shakes his head. “It’s all good. You’re all set up in your studio.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Babe? Jade!” Bret yells again, but I wave him off with my back to him.

  “Just leave, Bret!”

  He doesn’t call back, and I release a deep sigh, trying to get to the studio as fast as possible. Getting into the studio, I sit in front of the mixing board, hanging my head back over the chair. Another long breath seeps out of me. Pulling a chair closer, Lily takes a seat next to me and reaches over, holding my arm.

  “You okay?”

  I shake my head and stare at the small lights lining the ceiling of the room. “Why? Why, Lily, why? He does things like that all the time, and I just forgive him. He knew I wanted to keep this as low profile as I could! And now who knows how long those freaks with the cameras will be hounding the building.”

  “You know he’s always looking for a break for his band.”

  “I know that, but I’m doing what I can to help with that. For crying out loud, I took this entire gig of recording here for him. He’s getting a potential record deal out of it because Richards thinks he’ll be able to sleaze his way into my life and sign me. He won’t, but I figured as long as he thinks he can, I can help Bret out. But then he goes and pulls things like this. Sometimes …”

  The words trail off, and I shake my head. I’ve never let the words slip out, but I’ve thought them on more than one occasion. Sometimes I wonder if this relationship is worth the trouble.

  Bret has this cute, sexy thing to him. He’s always dressed the part of a rock star with skinny jeans that are ripped, a snuggly fit shirt, at least four necklaces wrapped around his neck, and different-sized leather bracelets around his wrists. His pitch-back hair is usually either combed down in front of his face, a style his entire band has adopted, or wildly out of control—not in a way that he doesn’t pay attention to it, but in a way that he styles it specifically so he looks crazy. I’ve known him only a little longer than we’ve gone out, which is almost a year, and for all of that time, he’s wanted nothing more than for his band to make it.

  “Okay, okay,” Lily speaks up, slapping my shoulder. “Enough about all that. We’re here to record some music, right?”

  Eyeing her carefully, I nod.

  “So let’s do it, girl!”

  8

  Austin

  “Dude, what the hell happened?” I nearly shout, sliding to a stop at the front desk.

  Paparazzi are lingering near the front doors, peeking through the glass, their cameras high waiting for any sign of Jade. Shawn texted me fifteen minutes ago, and since our apartment is only a ten-minute walk away, I threw on my shoes and ran right over here. Not because Jade is here but because he made it sound like a national emergency.

  “I don’t know. This dude showed up, like, twenty minutes before her, and there were already some photographers out there. By the time she got here—”

  “Wait, wait. This dude? Who?”

  “I guess he’s her boyfriend or something. Although she was truly pissed off, so who knows how much longer that thing’s going to be going on for.” He chuckles.

  “Shawn, this isn’t funny. I promised her—”

  “No, it’s all good, man. She thought it was your fault at first, but when she saw her boyfriend, he told her what he did.”

  “Still, I need to make sure she knows I changed everything.”

  “I told her.”

  “Yeah, but still,” I call out, already making my way back toward the studio.

  I shouldn’t feel guilty or responsible for anything, but I do. I gave her my word, and even if it’s not my fault that the media found out she was going to be at Rich Records, I feel horrible that she had to go through that.

  Entering into the mixing studio, I find a different blonde girl. She’s a little thinner, her hair’s shorter, and she’s wearing more makeup than Jade. Her head snaps over at me as I open the door. I immediately hear lyrics when I walk in.

  “Sorry,” I whisper, and approach the mixing board. “I’m Austin.”

  “Lily.” She smiles at me.

  Listening to Jade, I watch inside of her studio, and she sits by the microphone. Strumming her fingers over the guitar, she leans closer to the microphone, humming.

  “I wish a had even an ounce of the talent she has in her pinky finger,” Lily whispers over to me.

  “It’s … incredible.”

  “Ugh, that’s horrible!” Jade shouts from the studio, directing her attention to us. “Oh, Austin. I thought the guy at the front said you weren’t coming in today.”

  “Yeah, I wasn’t.” I scan the small room I’m in before looking back at her. “I’m sorry about the mix-up. I just wanted to come down and let you know I had nothing to do with it and anything I could do to make it up to you, believe me, I’ll do.”

  She giggles, which eases my nerves and makes me smile. “Thanks. What exactly do you do around here? You sound like you run the place.”

  Nervously, I glance down at Lily, who stares at me curiously.

  “Uh … No. Nothing like that, it’s just … I’m like a superintendent or something. You know, I watch over studio reservations, th
ings like that.”

  Jade twists her head, seeming confused. “Okay.” Looking at Lily, Jade sets the guitar she’s holding down. “Hey, Lil, I’m starving. Want to grab some burgers? Then we can come back—”

  “I got it!” I blurt out, surprising both of them. “It’s the least I can do. What do you guys like? Big Burger? In-n-Out? Charley’s?”

  “Oh, Charley’s!” Lily shouts. “A double bacon avocado burger!”

  Jade laughs. “That does sound good. Here, let me give you some money.”

  She heads over toward the door, but I wave her off. “No, no. I got it.” She waves back, making her way into the mixing board room. “Seriously, Jade. My treat. For the complete screwup that happened earlier.”

  “Austin, it wasn’t your fault. I kind of flipped out on your door guy, too. Sorry about that.”

  I let out a laugh. “I would’ve, too. Don’t worry about it. So, two double bacon avocado burgers?”

  “Austin, seriously, let me get you—”

  “Not a chance.” I smirk. “Any fries or drinks?”

  “Pepsi,” Lily replies first.

  Glancing at Jade, she nods with a small smile. “Great. I’ll be back in a few.”

  I hurry out of the studio, stopping back at the front desk. “Shawn, I need to use your car.”

  “For what?”

  “I have to run to Charley’s. Jade and her friend are hungry. I told them I’d get them food.”

  “Dude, no. You don’t ask a girl out without taking her along,” he replies, laughing.

  “It’s not funny. I want to make sure she can trust me.”

  “I told her already you had nothing to do with it. It was that douchebag boyfriend she has.”

  “Still, man! Let me use your car.”

  “On one condition.” He takes his keys, holding them up for me. I reach for them, but he pulls them back. “I want a mushroom swiss cheeseburger and a large chocolate shake.”

  “Fine!”

  He laughs, handing me the keys, and I run through the door, the remaining cameramen outside still looking for a glimpse of Jade.