Marooned with the Rock Star (A Crazily Sensual Rock Star Romance, with Humor) (17 page)

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

I take a deep breath.

What I am about to say I do mean from the
bottom of my heart.

I say in a low voice, “Just in case I don’t
get to say it later, because of . . . you know – ”

Rebecca blinks her pretty green eyes and
listens with bated breath.

I go on, “I lo—”

“No, don’t say it.” She quickly puts her
fingers on my lips. “I’m afraid you’ll jinx us.”

I am surprised, because I thought she was
waiting for me to say it.

“I won’t jinx us,” I say in a lame voice.

“Oh yes, you will. That’s what the hero
always says to the heroine before something awful happens.”

“Yeah, but the hero always manages to get the
heroine out of that something awful before it happens.”

“I still don’t want to jinx us.” Her eyes are
large and solemn as she says this.

I nod and lean down to seal my mouth over
hers in a long, lingering kiss. She smiles up at me gratefully.

“Later,” she whispers. “We’ll both get to say
it later.”

“Later,” I promise.

*

At ten p.m., the tally is $8.9 million.

I am nervous and fidgety, with good reason. I
keep rubbing my left little finger, which is twitching inconsolably
for some reason.

“When are Tyler and the rest of the band
coming up with the money?” Rebecca asks. She is just as anxious as
I am. For some reason, she keeps rubbing my little finger too.

“Tomorrow, I hope. What they come up with
will tide us over for another few days, at least.”

I hope.

I’m like that with money and tracks that hit
the Billboard Top 100. I won’t believe anything will happen until I
actually see it happening.

The door to our room swings open. Two men
with Joker masks come in. Uh oh. It’s Showtime.

They set the camera up again. Then they tie
both me and Rebecca up in our two chairs, with our hands bound
behind our backs.

The show begins.

“Speak,” says one of the men.

I recite my well-rehearsed notes.

“It’s now ten thirty p.m. on the first day,”
I say in a strangled voice to the faceless camera. “Please . . .
the first day tally now stands at $9 million. I need one more
million to go. Please . . . ”

One of the Jokers stands behind me. He now
ensnares my neck in the crook of his elbow. His grip is very tight
and he is compressing my throat so that I almost cannot speak.

“Sing for them,” he says in a doctored voice.
Obviously he has stuffed cotton wool down his throat or
something.

My trachea is squeezed. Rebecca looks
stricken.

“Please,” she says, “don’t hurt him.”

“If you’d let me go a little,” I manage to
wheeze.

My captor’s grip loosens, and I go into a
spurt of coughing.

“Sing,” the Joker insists.

I begin to sing, but it’s not one of my usual
songs. It’s an old, old one by Charlie Chaplin, and I doubt most of
my fans would know it. But it’s the song that is most apt for what
we’re going through now, and I can’t get it out of my head.

“Smile, though your heart is aching

Smile even though it’s breaking

When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get
by

If you smile through your fear and sorrow

Smile and maybe tomorrow

You’ll see the sun come shining through for
you

Light up your face with gladness

Hide every trace of sadness

Although a tear may be ever so near

That’s the time you must keep on trying

Smile, what’s the use of crying

You’ll find that life is still worthwhile

If you just smile.”

I don’t do much acapella, but I am surprised
to hear my own voice ring true and strong, like an opera tenor. I
guess all those singing lessons must have paid off.

When I look over to Rebecca, tears are
falling unashamedly down her cheeks. I feel choked up myself. It
was a beautiful song.

From then until midnight, the donations to
our cause keep pouring in. And by the magical stroke of twelve, the
website tally goes ka-ching to $10.5 million.

We are saved.

For the day.

REBECCA

The next day, the megabucks pour in from
Kurt’s band members and the Band Aid formed by the megastars, as I
would like to call it. The tally shoots up to forty million, a sum
that almost has me reeling with dizziness.

This will tide us over for three more
days.

Meanwhile, to keep our audience of hundreds
of millions interested, Kurt goes on camera periodically to remind
people why they should keep both of us alive.

He sings songs. He tells people about his
life so that they will see him as a real person, not a
larger-than-life caricature.

He brings me into the picture, describing me
as ‘his girlfriend’. And for the first time, I hear what Kurt
Taylor has gone through growing up. In many ways, it is a catharsis
for both of us, and we are both more able to understand why we are
made to be the way we are.

KURT: I grew up in a trailer. My Mom was a
single mother, trying to make ends meet. There were five of us, and
we were always poor, though never hungry. People around us in the
trailer park fed us lots. In fact, I think my older brother was
obese. He certainly sat on us a lot to make us behave when we were
growing up.

Growing up on food stamps and with my Mom
periodically unemployed, I was determined to make a better life for
myself. All of us were. We all started off with the best of
intentions. My eldest sister got pregnant and ran away from home
when she was fourteen. We never saw her again. My brother, Tom, the
obese one, shed a lot of weight on his way to become a gym trainer.
My two younger sisters are still in school, and one is going to
college now because I now have the money to put her up for it.

Then there was me. I didn’t quite know what I
wanted to be when I was growing up. I knew I wasn’t smart enough to
go to college without a sports scholarship, and yet I wasn’t good
enough to get a basketball scholarship. All I knew was I didn’t
want to be in a trailer park all my life, watching TV and drinking
beer and getting a beer belly.

And so when I went for the
American Rock
Star
audition, I didn’t think I would ultimately win it. And I
didn’t. I got second place. All I wanted to do was get some
exposure and experience and get a few gigs singing in bars and
lounges and stuff. I thought that maybe having gone for an
audition, even if it was a failed one, would get me noticed by the
bar and lounge owners.

I never dreamt it would go so far.

But then I never dreamt I would be kidnapped
and held for ransom either.

*

KURT: I’m just kind of like a normal guy,
like the rest of you. I’m on my smartphone . . . a lot. During my
downtime, I play Candy Crush. I’m at Level 342, and quite proud of
myself for getting there. I will admit I bought a lot of boosters
and Facebook credits to help me along the way.

I like to chill out with some music when I’m
not working. I like to fiddle on my guitar and compose a tune. Hey,
wait, hang on. That’s work for me now. It’s so great to finally be
able to do what I love.

(Laughs.)

I’m a real simple guy. I like to lounge
around in my T-shirt and jeans most of the time. I’m not huge on
the party scene. It isn’t sex, drugs and rock-and-roll for us. At
least, not for me. I don’t even do drugs. I’m working hard, keeping
my nose clean. I work sixteen hour days sometimes, and at the end
of the day, I just want to collapse into bed. But it’s all worth
it. Because part of me is always convinced I’m in a dream and I
would wake up and it would all disappear.

I don’t want it to ever disappear, because it
means I wouldn’t have left the trailer park then. Not really, no
matter where I am.

*

KURT: This is my girlfriend, Rebecca.

(pulls Rebecca into the picture.)

REBECCA: (nervously) Hi, Mom. Hi,
everyone.

KURT: I have known Rebecca since she was in
high school. But we didn’t get together as a couple until, uh,
recently on the island.

REBECCA: That’s true.

KURT: (looks at Rebecca lovingly) Rebecca is
so great to be with. She’s so funny and caring and real. She always
tells you like it is. You can always expect the truth from Rebecca,
even if it’s not what you want to hear. Because most of the time,
it’s what you
need
to hear.

REBECCA: (gushing) I’m not very good at
public speaking, but since I can’t see all of you right now and I’m
just talking into the videocam, I’m not as nervous as I should be.
But I just want you all to know that if it weren’t for this man
here beside me, I would not be alive today.

You see, the reason why Kurt is here with me
is because he jumped in when I was swept off the ship during a
freak storm. And get this . . . I have recently found out that Kurt
jumped in to get me . . . even though he
can’t swim.
I mean,
what sort of guy does that?

(Kurt blushes)

KURT: Uh, it was the only thing I could do
under the circumstances. And when I fell off a cliff into the sea
recently, it was Rebecca who dived in to pull me out. So I wouldn’t
be alive if it wasn’t for her either.

(They both look at each other lovingly.)

REBECCA: (with heartfelt meaning) Thank
you.

KURT: (seeming to forget the camera for a
moment) No . . . thank
you
.

*

Meanwhile, the press coverage goes on.

REPORTER: (standing in front of a Billboard
chart) Sales of Red Velvet’s latest album,
Aggression
, have
shot through the roof. In the last four days, the album has sold
four million copies. It is currently the most downloaded album on
iTunes. There has been talk about a Red Velvet concert movie.
Providing Kurt Taylor gets back safely, of course.

NEWS ANCHOR: We wouldn’t want to see a Red
Velvet movie without Kurt Taylor now, do we, Amy?

REPORTER: Certainly not. Red Velvet has
certainly been through a lot of crises with their lead singers. But
it has certainly kept them exciting.

NEWS ANCHOR: And now we go to Odessa, Texas,
for an interview with Adeline Frost.

Cut screen to Adeline Frost in her home,
nicely tucked in an armchair.

REPORTER: Adeline Frost, how are you
today?

ADELINE: I’m fine. I’m surviving.

REPORTER: You have been paralyzed from the
neck down since your high school graduation, haven’t you?

ADELINE: (her eyes shining as she gazes into
the camera) That is correct.

REPORTER: Was Kurt Taylor your high school
sweetheart?

ADELINE: (pauses) Yes.

REPORTER: Are you still together?

ADELINE: No, we broke up.

REPORTER: When was this?

ADELINE: Soon right after my accident.

REPORTER: (shocked) He left you because you
were paralyzed?

ADELINE: Oh no. It wasn’t like that. We were
going different paths anyway. It wouldn’t have worked out.

REPORTER: How do you feel about him getting
on with Rebecca Hall? She was your best friend in high school, was
she not?

ADELINE: Yes, she was. I’m totally fine with
it.

(She looks into the camera. Tears visibly
spool from her eyes.)

I just wish . . . I wish things could have
different. I wish I wasn’t involved in that accident. Then who
knows what different paths we may have taken? Kurt might not ever
have gone for the audition and he would never have been a rock star
today.

REPORTER: Do you harbor resentment towards
Kurt Taylor and Rebecca Hall? I mean . . . it’s obvious they are
young and rich and in love and whole.

ADELINE: (looks away) Please . . . I don’t
want to talk anymore. I don’t resent the two of them being
together. They have gotten on with their lives and I obviously . .
. am finding it more difficult to get on with mine.

(holds up hand to ward off the camera)

I don’t want to do this anymore.

*

NEWSCASTER: There has been some public
backlash against Kurt Taylor after Adeline Frost’s interview. Some
people have taken to Twitter to call for a boycott of donations to
Kurt Taylor’s ransom fund.

Cut scene to a student protesting outside
Times Square, New York. He is holding up a sign that says: ‘DIE,
KURT TAYLOR, DIE!’ With him are other young people holding up
placards with ‘KURT TAYLOR IS NO SAINT’ and ‘KURT TAYLOR HATES
CRIPPLES!’ sentiments.

REPORTER: We are speaking here to Finnick
Corrigan. Finnick, you are a fan of Red Velvet, are you not?

FINNICK: Correction: I was a fan of Red
Velvet when Atticus Ford was lead singer. They had to replace who
was irreplaceable with that upstart, no-good, no-talent
wannabe.

(bares teeth into camera)

Kurt Taylor, are you listening? I’m not going
to give one red cent to your ransom fee. You should get your
fingers chopped off one by one, you no-good son of a bitch. I
always knew you were no good, and now your ex-girlfriend just
confirmed it. You left her, a cripple, when she needed you most.
What sort of man does that, huh?

REPORTER: (speaking to the camera) There are
also anti-Kurt Taylor fan clubs spreading all over the Internet,
including factions who don’t think we should be pandering to the
demands of kidnappers, lest it should set a precedent. What do you
think of those, Finnick? I understand you are the webhost of one
such online club.

FINNICK: You bet I am. I have always been
against Kurt Taylor. I ‘hated’ on all his YouTube videos. I left
‘hate’ comments all over his official websites. And you know what?
I was right all along. Kurt Taylor deserves not our pity, but our
contempt.