Chapter 9
G-day minus 3 – Saturday, March 13
Saturday morning and afternoon was a slate of interviews again much like Sunday had been. This time, though, Reuben hadn't been able to get a meeting room in the hotel. They'd all been booked. So, the interviews were being held in the family suite.
The day was solidly booked with reporters from every city across the states or so it seemed. The family sat first as a group and then, after Danny, Chris and Tracy had left the room, they had split up into separate areas for individual interviews. Keith, naturally, had the most reporters gathered around at all times, but Shirley and Laurie were popular interviews too. Especially for those publications geared toward women. Not that the women's magazines didn't realize that Keith would sell their publication, they just knew that the women would also want to hear from Shirley and Laurie too.
By the middle of the morning, they took a small break and cleared the room out for the next set to be brought in.
"Is anyone else having as much trouble seeing as I am?" Keith asked as he flopped down on the couch.
"What do you mean?" Shirley smiled at her son who in his dramatic flop to the couch had ended up leaning against Laurie and then wiggled himself into a more comfortable position on her shoulder.
"I'm seeing spots. In fact, I can see your outline, but not your face. It's a blur." Keith said before closing his eyes to rest them.
"That's alright, though, isn't it? At least then you don't have to try to hold back your laughter when you see something green stuck in the teeth of one of your interviewers." Laurie said as she patted Keith's leg as it sat close to hers.
"Hmmmm….you saw that too?" Keith chuckled without opening his eyes.
Shirley giggled and her kids both looked at her. "Sorry, I noticed it too and it just tickled my funny bone."
"Mom, it's not like you to make fun of someone." Laurie said in mock horror.
"Well, just this once." Shirley threw them an impish grin that would have done Danny proud.
"Guess we know where Danny gets it from." Keith couldn't help pointing out.
"Why whatever do you mean?" Shirley feigned innocence.
As the three of them dissolved into laughter, Reuben stuck his head back in the door. "Next wave is on the way up. You ready?"
"Battle stations." Shirley said as she stood up and moved to the chair she had claimed for her interviews.
Keith and Laurie groaned but got up and by the time the reporters began streaming in the door, they all had smiles firmly fixed back on their faces.
During a slight break in questions, Shirley glanced over at her two eldest as they answered question after question. She'd watched in pride the night before as Keith and Laurie had made Wes's neighbor's kids feel comfortable first and then had happily answered all of their questions; deflecting those that were too personal and trying to be as honest as possible with the rest - all without giving away too much information. It was a skill they'd all garnered over the past year. Unfortunately, reporters were much more sophisticated at trying to get you to impart more information than you were willing to. At first, they'd been bitten several times by saying more than they should. Now she watched them handle the interviews with almost practiced ease. It made her smile.
Through trial and error, they'd learned how to handle personal and intrusive questions. Of course, the fans questions were so innocently asked that it was hard sometimes not to tell them everything they wanted to know. However, you needed to be careful or you could easily give them the wrong impression. They'd talked about it as a family often and had quickly become pros at interviews and meet and greets as well as performing on a stage. After all, an interview was just a performance at a different venue.
xoxo
Keith stood under the shower letting the needles of hot water soothe his stiff muscles. Once he was done with his back and shoulders, he was going to let the water soothe his aching facial muscles too. All that talking and smiling had given him a headache to beat the band. He rolled his neck trying to relieve some more tension and heard his upper spine crackle in relief. He sighed with pleasure.
He was just about feeling human again when Danny started pounding on the door. "Hey, hurry up in there. You're not the only one going to the dinner tonight."
Keith sighed again, this time in resignation. His break was over. Time to get back to the hectic schedule he'd committed himself to.
He shut off the water and pulled back the curtain grabbing the towel to dry himself off. The shower had relaxed him enough that he knew if he sat down he would be out like a light.
He swiped at the mirror to clear off a spot to look at his reflection. He looked tired. Well, why shouldn't he. He'd been catching sleep in small chunks for a week now. All in all, he thought he looked pretty good considering his schedule.
He jumped when Danny pounded on the door again. "Coming." He yelled just to get him to stop. He pulled on his robe and opened the door to his glaring brother.
"Geez, Keith. I know it takes you longer than most to get ready, but usually it's blow drying your hair. If you take that long in the shower we don't have a shot at making the dinner in time. We gotta be there in less than an hour." Danny stood there with his hands on his hips glaring at his brother who was toweling his wet hair.
"Stand there glaring at me any longer and you might just get left behind." Keith refused to let Danny get to him.
Danny suddenly realized Keith was right and ran into the bathroom slamming the door behind him. His mother had insisted he take a shower or he would be staying behind. He knew his long hair took just as long to dry as Keith's and Keith had a head start on him. Yikes!
Keith laughed at the look on Danny's face and pulled open the closet. He knew tonight would be relatively informal. In other words, no tuxes. What did that mean he should wear?
He figured his mom and Laurie would wear dresses. Should he wear a suit? No, that seemed too formal. He knew many of the other nominees would be casual. Jeans and a sweater would be just fine.
A half an hour later he stepped out into the suite to find his mother looking stunning in a long dress and perfectly applied make-up.
"Wow! You look great!" Keith walked up behind her and kissed her on the cheek.
"You look wond……Keith! Is that what you're wearing?" Shirley had expected him to wear a suit and tie.
"Yep. I figure there'll be plenty of people more casual than me." Keith shrugged.
"But….oh forget it. You look fine." Shirley agreed that Keith would likely be somewhere in between when it came to all of the attendees.
"Well, how do I look?" Laurie asked as she walked into the room.
"You look just lovely, honey." Shirley smiled at her daughter who was dressed as formally as she was.
"Hmmmm……I'll be the ugly step-sister tonight, won't I?" Keith agreed as he watched Laurie walk toward them.
"Fat chance." Laurie murmured as she looked at her handsome brother who would likely have all the girls' hearts at his feet within moments after arriving. It didn't matter what he wore. He could come in his birthday suit. Well, maybe that was going a bit far. If he came in his birthday suit, he'd have bigger problems than girls throwing themselves at him.
"What was that?" Keith raised an eyebrow at her mumbled words.
"Nothing. Just commenting on your inability to be an ugly step-sister." Laurie added in her head that he would have a very difficult time being considered an ugly anything. "Wrong sex." She clarified.
"Ready!" Danny bounded in the room in his Sunday best and then saw how Keith was dressed. "Hey, aren't you going?"
"Yes, he's going." Shirley assured her middle son.
"Dressed like that?" Danny looked at his brother in envy. He looked very comfortable in jeans and no tie to speak of.
"Yes, dressed like this." Keith assured him.
"I'm changing." Danny said and made to turn around.
Shirley caught him before he could take another step. "No, you're not. We're going to be late. We were supposed to meet Reuben downstairs five minutes ago. The limo should be waiting."
"Awe, mom." Danny complained.
"Sorry, too late. Let's go." Shirley said as she pulled Danny toward the door knowing that Keith and Laurie would follow.
xoxo
They were right on time. Not too early and not the last ones to show up.
The carpeted walkway was lined with photographers and fans. There was a roar of applause every time a limo door was opened that would either build or die slowly depending on who exited.
When they pulled to the curb, Keith got out first and the roar built to a high pitched screaming crescendo that lasted the whole time it took him to hand out his mom and sister with Danny following behind.
Shirley took Danny's arm letting Keith escort Laurie. She preferred that her daughter take center stage tonight with her son. They were the ones the young fans had come out to see. They stopped often to wave and smile and even attempted to talk to a reporter who was working the red carpet though they ended up abandoning the attempt. The screams were just too loud for Keith to hear her question. He smiled apologetically and shrugged causing another wave of screams to build.
Laurie grinned at the poor young woman who looked on in awe. She hadn't seen this reaction in quite some time.
Every time Keith would flash a grin at the fans, the screams would get a little bit louder. Although no one was quite sure how that could happen. Thankfully security was tight and the only thing they were accosted by was flashing bulbs from hundreds of cameras.
The next limo that had pulled up was instructed to wait until the Family had moved into the hotel. They would have been ignored until the very popular young man was out of the picture.
Shirley was also pleasantly surprised to see that Keith had been right. There were people at the dinner who were much more casually dressed than he was. However, most of the women were dressed to the nines. Shirley and Laurie shared a pleased smile to notice that they fit right in with the other women. Well, truthfully, they outshined most of the other women. They were just too pretty a picture; especially side by side.
The dinner was well attended. Not only by the nominees, but by record executives and other Hollywood notables. Keith smiled as he watched Judy Strangis walk by on the arm of some young man. Seeing her brought back his argument with Tina. Boy, wouldn't she just have to eat crow if she'd seen the girl that Keith was supposed to be with, on someone else's arm.
"Almost makes you want to take a picture and send it to her, doesn't it?" Laurie said in Keith's ear making him jump.
"What?" Keith said before realizing that Laurie had figured out exactly what he'd been thinking. "How'd you know what I was thinking?"
"Cause, brother dear, I know YOU." Laurie reminded him. "Besides, even though you denied it, I know that when Tina accused you of two timing her that it hurt. She claimed to know you so well, but she really messed up when she thought you were capable of something that low."
"Thanks." Keith said simply.
"She really is pretty though isn't she?" Laurie had to admit as she watched the petite girl go by.
"Yeah, I was thinking maybe I'd at least try to talk to her later. What do you think?" Keith cocked his head in thought.
'Poor girl doesn't stand a chance' was Laurie's first thought but she didn't want to stroke Keith's ego anymore than it already had been tonight so instead she said, "I don't know. The guy she's with would be pretty strong competition. Don't you think?"
"Sorry, I didn't even notice him." Keith admitted. He'd only seen the beautiful girl, not the guy she was with.
"Figures." Laurie laughed at her brother's myopic vision. Put a pretty girl in front of him and he became oblivious to everything else.
G-day minus 2 – Sunday, March 14
Shirley had waved Reuben, Laurie and Keith out of the hotel room before 7 the next morning. They were going to the studio early just as the Producer had suggested. Laurie tagged along at the last minute saying she couldn't wait for the recording to see Keith dancing. Keith reminded her that the script he'd read didn't require him to actually dance. Laurie refused to let it go so easily and the teasing continued into the hallway and likely all the way down the elevator and beyond. Shirley smiled at the antics of her two oldest. They loved to tease each other.
Shirley, her parents and the rest of the kids would be brought over by limo to watch the taping in the afternoon.
Shirley had let the other kids sleep in rather than trying to get them up for church. Normally, even on the road, they tried to attend church, but logistically this time it would be difficult. Their bus was moving their instruments from the recording studio to the Century Plaza Hotel. They'd be rehearsing on Monday and performing in just two short days. They also had another round of interviews stuck in between everything. Shirley was already exhausted just thinking about it.
She sat down to read the Sunday paper that had been waiting outside their hotel room door hoping to catch up on some world events rather than feeling like they were the only news happening.
She'd just started sipping her coffee and reading when her dad joined her.
"Hi dad. Sleep well?" She asked through the steam emanating up from her cup.
"Like a baby. What time did you get back last night?" He asked as he poured his own cup.
"A whole lot later than I'd have hoped; it was after midnight." Shirley frowned in remembrance.
"Why so late? I thought you said you wanted to make it an early night." Fred reminded her.
"I did, but you know how those official dinners go. They served a full seven course meal with pauses to allow you to digest in between." Shirley smiled in memory. The food had melted in her mouth and she and Laurie had had to watch every morsel as it was only another two days before they had to fit into those new dresses.
"Can I have a section?" Fred asked as he sat down next to her.
"Sure. What would you like, the sports?" Shirley asked as she flipped through the sections.
"Yes, that…..and the gossip section." Fred said with a little embarrassment.
"The gossip section. Whatever for?" Shirley asked. It was a section she usually avoided at all costs. Whatever she read there usually only had a fraction of the truth and if she read something about herself or one of her kids it usually just ended up making her mad.
"Just keeping up on the latest gossip about who's favored on Tuesday night." Fred said innocently.
Shirley handed over the sections he'd requested with a raised eyebrow but just went back to reading when he continued to look innocent. She always chuckled at her father's act. He and Danny were so alike. He always had something going on behind his innocent façade. It was usually quite fun to watch; if it wasn't driving her crazy, that is.
"Good morning, Sweetheart." Amanda said as she strolled into the room her nose following the scent of coffee to the carafe.
"Good morning, Mother. You look wonderful." Shirley smiled at her mother.
"I might say the same about you. How do you do it after so little sleep?" Amanda answered the question on Shirley's face without pause. "I heard you come in last night. Later than you planned, hmmm? I thought you wanted Keith to get more sleep."
"That was my plan. But the kids were having such a great time I didn't want to pull them away. They got to meet so many people that they'd only heard of by name before. There were even a couple of people who made me feel like a fan." Shirley said ruefully.
"You are a wonderful human being, you know that?" Amanda reminded her.
"I just wish being a wonderful human being and a good mother could find a happy medium." Shirley laughed. She'd struggled with putting an end to the amazing night while trying to get her kids more sleep. She'd lost all track of time when she'd started talking to Henry Mancini and Frank Sinatra.
"Oh, my." Fred said as he was reading the paper. "No, it can't be."
"What?" Both Shirley and Amanda said at the same time.
"Oh, um, nothing." Fred said as she glanced at them over the paper that he had in front of his face.
"It's not nothing, dear. Come on, spit it out." Amanda directed.
"Well, they don't actually use names." Fred hedged.
"Dad." Shirley said in warning.
"Alright, fine." Fred was just about to start reading when Danny bounded into the room in his robe.
"I'm starving. What's for breakfast?" He said in a loud voice.
"Keep it down. Your brother and sister are still sleeping." Shirley reminded him.
"What, Chris sleeps like a rock; an earthquake couldn't wake him." Danny pointed out but somehow forgot about Tracy.
Shirley just raised an eyebrow and he quietly slinked over to take a seat at the table.
"Dad you were saying?" Shirley glanced back at her father with an inquisitive look.
"Well, it just couldn't be, could it?" Fred posed the question knowing no one could answer it.
"Fred if you don't spit it out, I'll be forced to get up and you won't like the consequences." Amanda said in a half teasing half serious tone.
"Hmmm….how can you be so sure I wouldn't like the consequences." Fred said with a leer at his wife of over 40 years.
"Dad." Shirley gave him a warning look and then glanced at Danny who hadn't missed a thing. He knew exactly what his grandfather had been referring to even though Shirley wished he didn't. He was growing up way too fast for her.
"Sorry, Dear." Fred said and pulled the paper back up in order to read the excerpt that had caused his original comments. "It says here, and I quote, 'Which famous brother and sister duo showed up at the Whiskey A Go-Go a couple of nights ago and performed along with surprise guest Paul McCartney? This writer isn't about to spill the beans, but I will tell you that they performed with the singing legend and also did a couple of their own songs."
"Is that it?" Danny asked.
"Well, it does go on to say that the performance was well received and that the crowd had showed their appreciation with an ovation almost as loud as that given to Mr. McCartney." Fred finished importantly. He thought that last comment meant for sure that the siblings had to be Keith and Laurie.
"Well, it couldn't be who you think it is, the club you're talking about is a drinking establishment. Keith and Laurie couldn't get in." Danny had followed his grandfather's train of thought but nixed it almost immediately knowing that his brother and sister were no where near the 21 years of age they needed to be.
"Oh, right, I hadn't thought of that." Fred felt his bubble slowly deflating. He'd been so proud thinking that two of his grandchildren had been praised so profusely in the paper.
"That's right dad. Keith and Laurie would never be allowed in." Shirley quickly agreed with Danny while deep down inside she wondered. Keith and Laurie had been awfully tired the next morning. But then again, they hadn't been sleeping much since they'd gotten to L.A. But still, Keith had made what she'd been sure was a slip of the tongue at their Today interview. But, thinking back, Laurie had given a plausible reason for his answer.
Shirley couldn't be sure if it was her kids or not. If it wasn't, who could they be referring to?
"Well, if it wasn't Keith and Laurie, who could it have been?" Amanda asked putting Shirley's thoughts into words.
"It was probably Richard and Karen Carpenter." Danny said right away already having given the next most obvious answer.
"Oh, right, that's possible." Grandpa agreed quickly having noticed Shirley's frown building. "And, much more likely than my first thought." He reached over to pat Shirley's hand reassuringly.
"I'd have believed it if it was just Keith going to a club, but Laurie? Miss Goody-two-shoes? No way she'd even consider doing something so bad." Danny said smugly.
Shirley mulled over Danny's words and tended to agree with him. Still, it wouldn't hurt to broach the subject with them at the next earliest opportunity.
While she thought about how to approach the subject, her two youngest finally made an appearance and breakfast became the next topic of discussion pushing her worries temporarily from her mind.
