The Rock Star Next Door, a Modern Fairytale (40 page)

“What did you see?” Madame Aria asked. “You seem very shaken, my child. Would you like to tell me what you dreamed this time?”

Jessie nodded
but clutched her throat. It was dry, chaffed within. Had she spoken during the time she’d been ‘under’, as they referred to the trance state in this establishment?  Madame Aria rose and glided across the room in her elegant, long purple
dress. She fussed around in a cabinet. When she returned to Jessie’s side, she handed her a glass of cool ice water. Jessie drank from it, soothing her sore throat.

“Did I speak at all?” She asked after a moment.

“No, but you made a terrible soun
d in your throat, a cry
of pain. That’s why I decided you needed to come out. If things become too painful or intense we always bring the client out of the induced trance state. It’s safer that way, better to view the unpleasantness in small pieces, so as not to cause too much distress to the soul.”

Jessie nodd
ed. It made sense. She sniffled
and then realized she had tears dripping down her cheeks. “He was cheating on me, deliberately sleeping with someone else, in the past. They were
talking about it together,
about how they planned to carry on their affair after he married me.”

“I’m sorry.” Madame Aria whispered in a soothing tone. “That is tragic. But it does explain your reluctance to simply trust him again in this life. Did you recognize the person he was unfaithful to you with in th
e past? Is it someone you know in this life?”

“Yes. It was my best friend, Kyra.”

Chapter Twenty

The air conditioning wasn’t working, Jessie thought as she
sat at the round
table in the c
onference room
at StarSign Records. It was July in
LA
, a hell of a time for the AC to go on vacation
. Jessie tried to remain discreet as she mopped her brow repeatedly and wiped her moist palms on her jeans beneath the table. She looked to her sibling fo
r signs of heat sickness. Jack
seemed as pale and cool as a corpse. 

Dangerous Liaisons
was
scheduled fo
r release in October
. The producer came
up with concept of vagabond gypsies in Western Europe.
Jack and t
he guys loved the idea.
Jessie found herself swept along with their excitement. They’d been trussed up in costum
es, placed in various backdrops for the cover art photos
and
now
the final prints were before them, awaiting the approval of the band members and the recor
d executives
.

Thankfully, from Jessie’s point of view, Kyra was absent. She didn’t know if she could face her oldest friend after the shocking past life revelation with Madame Aria yesterday. Kyra’s absences were becoming a serious problem
. S
he showed up late at the recordin
g studio with little enthusiasm
and had t
o be tracked down
merely to
co
mplete the photo shoot
. As soon as the
floodlights faded on the cover art project
she
’d left the country with Mike for
a
Caribbean vacation.
Now was not the time to flee the country.
There was
still much to do before the album’s
release, promotio
nal appearances on TV,
and scheduled
band
interviews with the
industry magazines, but Kyra’s
int
erest in the band had seriously
waned.

It was becoming
hard
er
to excuse Kyra when the res
t of the band was
so
angry
with her
and with good reason
. Kyra was inadvertently sabotaging
their progress
. She was
caus
ing countless delays in their
schedule
, to the point where
the execs were
noticing and they were
not
pl
eased
.

“I feel we should go with the
photo number 22.” The art director said as
his assistant dimmed the lights of th
e conference room
and began the slide show.

The
photo of the band decked out in
gypsy clothing
appeared on the screen
. A
tinker’s
wagon
was behind them and a roaring fire was in
the for
eground. The slideshow
continued as
the assistant clicked the remote
. Images whirred by
showing
the band in various poses
.

“This
one.” He froze the frame. In the guise of a gypsy dancer, Jessie was completing a spin, her face caught in a seductive po
se as her hair
fanned out in a blaze of
copper beneath the studio lights hidden from view
. Steve, her partner, stood holding her hand above her hea
d, a wicked gleam in his eyes and
his newly grown goatee framing a devilish smirk. Darrell was
standing
to their right, a fiddle in his hand, while Jack and Kyra flanked their left.

Jack had been cast in the role of highwayman.  He’d
even
grown a
scruffy beard for the occasion
and one eye sported a black patch. He
had one booted foot propped on
an antique treasure chest, a sword in one hand, a pistol in his belt. A long bla
ck cloak
swirled about him by
the use of
fans, again off camer
a, as his one eye glared
with obvious
challenge. Kyra stood beside him, between Jack and the swirling Jessie, cast as fortuneteller holding
up the tarot card of the tower
. A carpet
of
autumn leav
es shimmered beneath their feet and the full moon peeked between the star
k
trees
with twisted, claw-like branches
.
It was a h
aunting picture. E
ach person’
s face reflected danger or
intrigue.

“Perfect.
” The producer, Derek Marsh, affirmed
. “I like it.”

“Hold on to that tho
ught. With some CGI
magic
we’ve brought in a black cat, as
you can see in this next slide
and the
dark, moonlit
sky has been enhanced to look like a storm is brewing in the distance. It underscores the mood.”

Click. The visual changed. Stark black tree branches framed the
dark, churning skies of October. The full moon peeked out from a break in the clouds
and a black cat ap
peared at Kyra’s
feet
, and the edges of the photo were darkened, giving it a grunge appearance
.

“Provocative.” Derek agreed.

“Wai
t,” the assistant art director
protested. “I
’m not so sure about Darrell’s hair. I
f you’ll notice, the others have hairstyles that can be interpreted as late eighteenth ce
ntury, early nineteenth. Darrell’s
is so very Billy Ido
l. A
nd
with
t
hat cross dangling from his ear it’s too modern. It
conflict
s
with the period setting.”

“A modern vintage look is what we are stri
ving for.” The art director said
. “
If you’ll notice, the fortune teller has a rose tattoo on her right breast, just above the cl
eavage and below the shoulder,
hardly an eig
hteenth century foible. And Jack
has gold rings in both
ears. Yet, it works.
It could almost be a Steam-Punk cover.
If there are no further
objectio
ns
I suggest we call it a wrap.”

The rest of the suits concurred
and the guys nodded approval. Jessie nodded, too, as the lights were turned up once more.

“
I’m hungry.” Jack slapped the table and started to rise.

“Wait a moment, son
.” Charlie Zands, the head of StarSign Records cautioned. “There is still the matter of your appearance on MTV.” The executive producer turned to their bus
iness
manager, “Max, have we come to an agreement?”

“Yes.  We’re p
leased to accept the offer to guest host
the Halloween special.” Max officially informed the record execs as Jessie and the guys gave each other excited smiles.  “H
owever, we’re not certain if Kyra
Hansen,” he paused, seeing the confusion registering around the conference
table at the mention of Kyra’s
name, “The fortune teller,” He clarified. “We’re uncertain as to the av
ailability of Kyra
for the event.”

“Where is Kyra
?” Charlie Zands cocked a brow as he surveyed the group, realizing for the first time that one of the
five band members
was missing
.

“I’m not sure
.
Somewhere in the Caribbean.
” Jessie began. “We’re not certain that she intends to remain in the group.”

“We need the fortune teller for the MTV special.” Ellen, the press manager sighed, her long
red
fingernails splayed on the table. “It’s part of the allure.”

“We can hire a
model to stand
in the background with a guitar.
” Charlie waved the assistant’s comment aside with a flourish. “That’s not a problem. She’s a background piece. The twins are the focal point.”

“No.
” Jessie began, fearing his ne
xt words. “We’re all equal
--”

“Jessie.” Max
cautioned
in a warning tone. He was sitting beside her. He
took to patting her hand as he shook
his head. His message was clear, now was not the time to challenge the head of StarSign regarding their back up guitarist’s position in the group.

Charlie Zands fixed Jessie
with an autocratic glare. “Jessica
,
you and your brother are the front end of the band. As we’ve discussed previously, red
haired guitar playing twins are
a unique product
in the rock world
, one we’ve marketed with unri
valed success. If w
e have the two
of you;
we ha
ve the main product.”

“That’s not fair
.
”
Darrell protested
and Steve grumbled
in
agreement beside him.

“It may not be fair, gentleman, but life rarely is.” Charlie’s penetrating gaze shifted to the guys. “What matters is that the main selling point of Heartless is fresh, energetic talent wrapped in a
bi-sexual
package, the male audience is captivated by Jessica, and the female listeners scream for Jack. That is what sets you ap
art from a thousand other
bands trying to make it in this town. You don’t have to like it, gentlemen. Just be here when y
our part in the mix is required
or find yo
urself replaced, like Kyra Hansen
.”  

“This sucks
.
” Darrell stood.
“You’re telling us we’re nothing,
man, that Jack and Jessie
are the whole package
.
S
teve and I write half the music.
If not for us propping Jack’s coked out ass up, this whole thing would collapse
.
”

Jessie cringed, fearing Darrell’s bold stance would land him on the unemployment line. No one talked back to the vice president of the record company, no one who
coveted their job. Even she
learned to couch her words in pleasant suggestions, not demands.

“Madonna writes lyrics, other people help her with the music. Madonna is an image, a highly marketable image.” Charlie returned with authoritarian arrogance. “Pau
l Stanely and Gene Simmons
hired and fired numerous back up guitarists and drummers over the ye
ars, but Stanely and Simmons were the marketing image of
KISS.
Amy Lee is Evanescence
.
Image
sells.
I
mage
brings in the
fan base
and the
cash. And the
Kelly Twins are the image that sells Heartless. You are important, young man, as long as you ho
ld up your end of the contract--
but you are not irreplaceable.”