Author's Note: To keep the point of views alternating, I had to do a combo chapter. Sorry for the confusion. Also: I own NOTHING!
HALEY WANTS YOU TO KNOW THAT:
I ran into Gerard at Janet's concert, and I asked him to give me a deadline, because I was pretty sure Celeste Goddard hadn't intended for me to stay here forever. Instead of giving me a deadline, Gerard told me that my assignment would last for as long as it took for me to get a decent interview.
"What do you mean by 'decent'?"
I had covered all of the basics of a typical celebrity interview, and everything I hadn't thought to ask could be answered by watching Perfect Harmony.
"A decent interview includes answers to questions that no one else has thought to ask."
That settles it: I'm screwed! How am I supposed to think of questions that veterans haven't thought of? The closest I had come was asking Harmony what she did for Mother's Day.
"I know your mom isn't in the picture, but I was wondering if you celebrated for her?"
"Has anyone ever told you that you ask A LOT of questions?"
That was Harmony's go-to joke. And yet...sometimes I got the feeling that she was surprised that I was asking her questions. And her surprise surprised me. Had the media frenzy that surrounded her taught her nothing about what reporters did?
Even though thinking of questions to ask was a bitch, and finding opportunities to ask them was a bitch, because Harmony was ALWAYS talking, and knowing that most of Harmony's answers, assuming she was willing to play along, weren't worth writing down was a bitch, I was determined to see my assignment through to the end, which I suspected would be bitter.
In the most secret places in my heart, I knew I was sticking it out for Sven Echnovich, who had impressed me with his attentiveness to Harmony's father. I knew from firsthand experience what a handful Michael Woodwin could be, and Sven had gone so far as to command the housekeeping staff to keep the fire burning, because 'Mr. Woodwin mustn't to be catching a cold.' Granted, it was the middle of August, but I appreciated the gesture. Even if the men in suits, and the women with makeup running down their faces, did not.
Harmony was convinced that Sven liked me, because he was everywhere I was, but I knew better: he wasn't following me; he was following Harmony.
"He's here for you, Harmony," I would say.
"But I wasn't the one he was talking to by the refreshment table for, like, a billion years!"
"He was talking about YOU."
"But he was looking at YOU, and it was super intense."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah."
She sounded so certain that I started buying everything she was selling. Everything Sven said had something to do with Harmony, but it was easy enough to convince myself that he was REALLY focused on his job, which was taking pictures for the piece I was supposed to be writing. Hadn't I told Robbie a camera man would just appear? And, all of a sudden...BOOM! I had collided with one. Maybe Harmony was right. Maybe Fate had brought us together.
As I was re-watching my all-time favorite movie, Never Been Kissed, not that I needed to watch it, because I had it memorized, I began to wonder if my first attempt at reporting would mirror Josie's. Would my finished product be less about Harmony and more about how my journey had changed me? Up to this point, how had I changed? For starters: I had hidden Robbie's "Take all the time you need. I'm not going anywhere." note in the bottom of my suitcase, and I hadn't seen him since Janet's concert.
"This is Robbie," Evan had said, as he pointed at my overall-wearing former best friend.
Everyone mumbled unenthusiastic hellos, and Evan glared at Harmony. For about a second, I wondered what had happened that I wasn't aware of, but Sven had put his arm around my shoulders, and he was announcing that he was going to give me a ride, so nothing else mattered.
"Bye, Hales," Robbie had said, and I just nodded, before following Sven.
But what was most troubling, or most romantic, was my growing collection of Sven mementos. I had saved ticket stubs from movies, and place cards with his name on them, and the tissue he had given me, and the pictures of me he had payed to have framed.
Between obsessing about Sven, neglecting my assignment, and lying to Gerard about how much work I had done whenever I saw him, which was a disturbing amount, because...if he wasn't gay, I would have sworn he was stalking me, I didn't realize just how far in over my head I had gotten.
HARMONY WANTS YOU TO KNOW THAT:
After Sylas swept me off my feet, literally, and carried me off of the stage, we became inseparable. Which is as it should be. Warren was immediately overcome by the groovy-ness of his half-brother and his wife's best friend being meant to be. It took True five seconds longer to come around. She understood Sylas's obligation to his aunt in theory, but he had to explain it in his own words before she was able to fully let go of the resentment she had been harboring toward his absence from her wedding.
"True, I know you must hate me for missing the wedding, because I hate me for missing the wedding, but I just couldn't get here sooner! In fact, I'd STILL be in Europe if my aunt didn't have a company here that needed saving. After my mother died, I would have ended up on the street if she hadn't given me a place to stay. She also kept me fed, and clothed, and educated, and she showed me the world. However, I can't forgive her for not letting me have a relationship with Warren, especially now that I've met you, and I know what I would have missed out on if I hadn't been given this opportunity to visit."
Was he laying the charm on a little thick? Perhaps, but I was willing to let it slide, because I wanted True to get along with my destiny.
I happened to glance down at my diamond-encrusted watch, and I saw just how screwed I was.
"Holy shit! I'm late for a press conference!"
True pulls me off the couch.
"Oh God! WHERE'S MY PHONE? I HAVE TO call Evan!"
"I can take you, Harmy."
Harmy? That's adorable! Sylas puts a steadying hand on my shoulder, and I force myself to breathe.
"I couldn't ask you to do that. It's too much trouble," I bat my eyelashes.
How was I able to be coy at a time like this? Apparently, I have greater powers than I realized.
"Nonsense," he takes my hand, and he leads me to his car. My fingers are still tingling long after he lets go.
At the press conference, Sylas makes the crowd part, so I can get to the stage, and he sits beside me, like he belongs there. A stunned silence follows, before we are blinded by a million camera flashes. Sylas waits for the ruckus to die down, and then, he addresses the salivating masses.
"As you can see, Harmony Woodwin and I are very much in love."
Then, he takes me in his arms, and he dips me. The photographs make it seem like we were making out, but he was really winking at me, and whispering, "If they want a show, what do you say we give 'em one?"
"I say "HELL YEAH"," I whispered back.
We were on the cover of every tabloid for weeks, which was how long Evan wouldn't talk to me.
"True, I don't know how much longer I can stand this," I whine.
I had come to visit Sylas, but he was at work, so I aired my grievances about Evan to True.
"I can't understand what I've done to make Evan stop talking to me."
"Really?"
Disbelief is written all over her face, which makes me even more confused, and a little angry.
"Really!"
"Well, when did it start?"
"He's been avoiding me since Janet's concert."
"What happened at Janet's concert?"
Had Janet done something worth remembering? Suddenly, I felt a pang of regret, as I recalled the moment when Evan had introduced Robbie to the group, and his eyes had pierced me, because he knew that I had tried to keep Robbie away from Haley. Of course, that hadn't been such a big deal.
"Sylas showed up."
"Maybe Evan has a problem with Sylas."
"That doesn't make sense! Evan has known that I'm going to end up with Sylas for years, and he's been fine with it."
"Maybe he's not fine with it now that it's really happening."
"I don't know what you're trying to say, True!"
"I'm saying that I'll sort this out, and you can go get ready for your date tonight. You and Sylas are going to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show, right?"
"Yep. We're going to the midnight showing, and Sylas is going to be one HOT drag queen!"
And he was, with his fishnets, and thigh-high boots, and leather jacket, and leather skirt, and Bride of Frankenstein wig, and enormous hoop earrings, and makeup, and fake boobs.
At 11:30, when we arrived at the theater, Evan and Janet were already there.
"Hey," Evan says to me.
Janet doesn't say anything. I guess she used up all of her words during the non-conversation we had before her concert. Evan looks glum, probably because all of the other guys are dressed like Sylas, and he and Janet are dressed like they're going to a church picnic.
"Hey," I smile, and he smiles back.
It's a start, and I'm relieved.
"I need salt," Sylas says.
"I need sugar," I say.
"We'll go save some seats," Evan says, and I get an odd feeling in the pit of my stomach as Janet follows him.
What if something happens between them in the dark? After all, Rocky Horror is all about releasing your inhibitions. I'm imagining Janet singing "Touch-A Touch-A Touch Me" to Evan, when Sylas gives me my sugar. I tear into the package right there.
"You're a little bit scary," Sylas says, and he pats me on the head.
"So...Evan and Janet...Do you think there's something there?"
"God no," I snort.
"But they're here TOGETHER."
"True invited Evan because she wanted him to start talking to me again, and she probably included Janet because she felt sorry for her."
"I can see that, because Janet doesn't have many friends."
"Because she's always on tour?"
"Because she's put-you-into-a-coma BOR-ING."
"But you sang with her, so she can't be THAT bad."
I'd been wondering how their duet had come to pass.
"Boring people can have good voices, but singing is all I would EVER do with the likes of Janet Featherstone."
It seems that Sylas hates Janet, which is just another reason to love him.
When Sylas heard the knock on the door, he wasn't expecting to find Evan on the other side.
"If the media is right about you dating Harmony...DON'T break her heart, because I know people who can make you disappear."
Evan walked away before Sylas could think of a response that wouldn't inspire Evan to make good on his threat.
non-damsel: MUAHAHAHAHA! It is finished! I think I was struggling so much because this is a transition chapter, and I SUCK at transition chapters.
