Thankfully because of the buzz of me becoming the new CEO of Freedom Records, none of the press had time to figure out that Mitchie would be my date for the award show, frankly, all news about Mitchie and I actually settled down for a few days. I soaked it in as much as possible and so did she.
"People have finally stopped asking me about you at school. It was starting to get on my nerves. I had to even transfer out of some classes." Mitchie admitted as we walked hand in hand in her neighborhood park.
"I'm sorry." I told her truthfully, "I wish that it wouldn't have to be like this. It's not fair." Mitchie shook her head, "Shane, it's not a bad thing. It's made me stronger in a lot of ways. I've learned a whole new definition of patience and privacy. It's a good thing, trust me. I just thought I would share that things have settled." She squeezed my hand to reassure me.
"Tomorrow morning I'll pick you up so you can go with me to run through the award show. Sadly, that will take almost all day. And then we'll go to your school to get your makeup work." I told her as we turned down a narrow pathway.
"I already got my school work and completed it. So we don't need to worry about that. We can just relax after the run through. Couldn't we go back to your house?" Mitchie asked me with a soft smile, "I wanna just relax and watch some movies. We haven't done that since Homecoming." She pleaded.
"Mitchie, Lance is out of town filing some paperwork for me. I can't disobey your father's wishes, you know that." I told her softly. She frowned in return. "Please?" She begged, her bottom lip quivering playfully. I looked into her deep brown eyes. I couldn't say no to her.
"Okay. Fine." She gave me a warm hug and kissed my cheek. "Thank you." I shrugged, "I can't say no to you. Just don't take advantage of that." She eyed me cooly, "Well, know that I know, I might just take advantage of that. You know, I have been needing a new pair of shoes." She winked at me playfully.
"Hey now, no need to be a gold digger." I opened her car door for her, and she climbed in, laughing in response. I went in on the driver's side. "So I was thinking a quick stop for some froyo? And then we can have to go get wardrobe fitted downtown. They'll be paparazzi swarming. Just wanted to let you know because you haven't experienced downtown LA with me yet." Mitchie nodded her head and gave me a soft smile. Her eyes were focused on something in the distance. "I'm ready for anything, Shane. Just as long as you are here beside me." I kissed the top of her hand warmly.
"I wanted something simple, just the usual tux and a tie. I want my tie to match whatever Mitchie's dress is though." I told my stylist. She winked at me playfully. "Are you going for the usual Calvin Klein?" Her and her team measured my body size. "No, I was thinking of Ralph Lauren this time. Little bit more edge to it, I suppose." She nodded as her team finished up, she wrote down a few things.
"Marcus, be a doll and go get find these measurements in the back okay? Make sure they're new. We want the best for Mr. Gray." Kenzie then turned to Mitchie, "Now, hello darling. My name is Kenzie, and I'm Shane's stylist. Do you already know what designer you'd like to wear tomorrow?" Mitchie eyed me bewildered; her rosy cheeks becoming more prominent in embarrassment.
"She has yet to wear designer. This will be her first time. Just tell her what type of dress you may have in mind? Or maybe a celebrity who's style we can go off of." I reassured her as she stepped on the stand to get measured.
"I'll just be taking a few measurements so we can get your dress to fit you perfectly." Mitchie gulped and took in a sharp breath.
"Mitchie, look at me." Her eyes turned away from herself in the mirror to me and her tension faded quickly. I mouthed 'It's okay' and she smiled in return. Just as Mitchie was finally composed, Kenzie's team returned with my tux.
"I have to go get fitted alright? You okay in here?" Mitchie nodded with a soft smile. Kenzie began to ask her a few questions to lighten the tension as I left.
About an hour after being fitted and adjustments being made, I paid for my tux and made my way back to the room Mitchie was in. Kenzie was standing outside the room to greet me. "She's just finishing up. Here's the tie to match her dress." The tie was a coral blue with silver streaks throughout it. It definitely had the edge I wanted.
"She went with Jovani. She really liked the lace so we mixed it up a little and were able to line the seams of her dress with blue rhinestones and diamonds, the lace is white but slowly fades to the light blue to match her train of the dress. I think you'll like it."
I couldn't wait to see her in it. Kenzie disappeared into the dressing room to help Mitchie. I took a seat on one of the couches and pulled out my phone and tweeted. 'Looking forward to seeing my fellow musicians at the AMA's tomorrow. Just got fitted for my tux. Guess what designer I went with? ;)' I scrolled through some of my mentions. Some people were tagging me and Mitchie in tweets. Some of the tweets were of us walking the streets of my neighborhood the other day; frankly enough I hadn't seen any paparazzi so was surprised when a shot of Mitchie writing with the sharpie on my hand popped up on a fans tweet. I sighed. That was something really personal between us and now it isn't. All well. I scrolled down some more; a few tweets were people saying some really mean things about Mitchie. One read " shanegray mitchietor92 Mitchie is a sleaze and needs to back tf off of Shane. #whore #golddigger #myman". Another read "Idk wat shanegray sees in mitchietor92 she's not even that pretty."
I went to both of the twitter pages. Their headers claimed that they were die hard Shane Gray fans. I may regret it later, but I replied to those two tweets; after putting their usernames I wrote: 'Excuse yourself if you think you're a true fan because that's not what real fans would say. #morelovelesshate' I tweeted it just as the door opened to the room. "You can come in now Shane." Kenzie's voice brought me back to reality and what really mattered: Mitchie. I walked in the room where Mitchie was standing on the platform in her dress. It was strapless and it showed off her curves beautifully, the top brought her breasts up more than usual but it accentuated her long waist and curvy hips. The slit in the dress was at her upper thigh and her legs looked stunning in the dress. The front of the dress cut off at her knees while the train flowed easily behind her.
"I've never seen someone so beautiful before." Mitchie blushed at my compliment, her beautiful smile stunned me. I bit my lip in urgency. Watching her in that dress was going to drive me crazy. She looked older, sexier, and she looked like the best damn thing I'd ever seen. I walked towards her and let her step down towards me. I admired her blue bejeweled shoes. "You're stunning, baby." She kissed me softly, "I can tell by the way you're looking at me. You've never looked at me like that before." Little did she know it was only a look I gave when my urges got the best of me, however I just shrugged it off and tried to get my mind off what she was doing to my body and the growing member in between my legs.
"Excuse me if you will. I just remembered I have to call Lance. Feel free to pick out any jewelry you would like to go with that." I gave Kenzie a soft look, refusing to let myself look at Mitchie anymore. Kenzie chuckled in response, knowing me very well. I escaped to the bathroom and washed my face with some cool water. I decided that I might as well do what I said I was going to. I dialed Lance's number.
"Hey Shane. What's up bud?" "Nothing. Just finished suiting up for the show tomorrow. Mitchie's getting her outfit together now. I had to excuse myself, if you know what I mean. Said I needed to call you." Lance chuckled on the other line; I could imagine him rolling his eyes. "She look that good, eh?" I sighed, "Yeah. Real good." I had to change the subject before my hormones became a problem. "How's the paperwork going?" I heard him chuckle on the other line sarcastically. "It's crazy. James failed to mention a few crucial details. Like the exact amount of his bankruptcy. So buying his company is a bit more expensive than I would have liked, but no worries, the extra is on me. You won't have to pay me for a few months to cover it. I'm working on getting all of the taxes for the company and all of the labels into your name now. There's some paperwork I'll need your pretty little signature for so I'll be bringing some of it home for you to do." Lance sounded a bit stressed as he explained the situation. "Lance, feel free to take as much time as you'd like to get all that done. There's no rush. I can handle doing a few minor details to get the tour into play. Just send me any suggestions if you feel the need. I don't need my main man stressing too much. Don't worry about the extra money. You're working hard and still deserve to be paid. Just keep doing what you're doing okay? I gotta go. Let me know when you're coming back into town. We'll have to go out."
"Sometimes I think you're a little wiser than me, kid. Thanks Shane. Don't exert yourself too much at the show tomorrow. You have some interviews this weekend. I'll send over your schedule. Good luck Shane. And treat your girl right." I thanked him and agreed to obey his wishes.
"Shane, why is my online twitter feed blowing up with all these tweets you supposedly wrote?" Mitchie walked out of the dressing room in the outfit she came in. "My bestfriends even texted me about it." Mitchie looked confused and a bit hurt.
"Some of my fans were saying some stuff that they shouldn't have. I just told them it wasn't right." I grabbed her dress and bags that contained her jewelry and shoes. Mitchie gave me a cold look, "It's only causing drama Shane. You didn't need to say those things." I brought her close to me, "I was defending you, Mitch. Come on, what kind of guy would I be if I ignored those things said about you?" She eyed me softer, "I guess you have a point. Thank you. But please, don't do that anymore. It stresses me out." I agreed as we walked out to my car. As per usual, the paparazzi swarmed. Yeah, tweeting about the fitting was probably a bad idea. I really should stop getting ahead of myself.
Mitchie hid her face the best she could, I opened her door and upon closing it I could see the look in her eyes. It was a frightening look. And it was all because of me. I know she wasn't used to this many paparazzi around; they swarmed the car and were literally stepping on our heels and feet as we got in. As I shut my door, I turned to her, "I'm sorry, Mitchie. I'm really sorry. I didn't think." She breathed in deeply and breathed out. "I'm not mad Shane. Please just think next time. It's different when I'm not with you for a fitting, but it was nerve racking enough to go in there and do that, let alone come out here to twenty cameras flashing in my face." I leaned towards her to give her a kiss and she pulled away. I knew it was because of the cameras. "Michelle" Her expression eased instantly as she looked into my eyes. "Forget the cameras. It's just you and me right now. Please don't deny me a kiss. It really hurts my ego." I gave her a playful wink. She put her hand on my chin and gave me a soft kiss, "Let's get out of here." I pecked her lips once more and then moved back into my seat, starting the car. I had to honk to get some of the paparazzi to move.
"Mom and Dad want you to have dinner with us tonight, you free?" Mitchie asked me as I pulled into her driveway. I nodded warmly and smiled. "I love dinner with your family." The look in her eyes was warm and soothing. I stepped out of my car and walked over to open the door for her, "You don't have to get my door every time Shane." I kissed her head, "I know I don't. I want to." She grabbed my hand as we walked to her front door. "How's your mom doing? She recovering okay?" I smiled, I absolutely loved that she cared about my family as much as I did. "Yeah I talked to her this morning. She is recovering really well. She isn't letting anything slow her down. She wants us to send her pictures tomorrow. She really adores you." Mitchie listened to my every word, stopping before we walked inside. She pulled out the sharpie and opened up my hand and scrawled something on my palm.
'Family is the truest love of all'. "Why'd you write that?" I looked at her curiously. "Because" She said in a soft tone, almost innocent, "I want you to know that you're family means a lot to me. And I love them as if they were my own." I kissed her forehead, "And same to you. You're family has been so kind to me and I would do anything for them if they needed it."
"Dallas heads back to college next week." Eddie said proudly. Dallas shrugged it off, "Lance introduced me to accounting and business. I really like it so I'm going to try a few classes at UCLA. I'm gonna live on campus for a few months and see how it goes." Lance and Dallas were hitting it off more than I thought. But I appreciated that Lance shared his love life on his own terms, not everyone else's. I respect him for it. I learned a lot from him.
"Dallas going back to school has reminded us that you'll need to start applying for some colleges, Mitchie. Do you have any majors in mind?" Dianne questioned Mitchie as she gave each of us a sloppy-joe and some green beans. Mitchie bit her lip and kept quiet, "Well, I don't know if I want to go to college." Eddie gave Mitchie a hard look, "Why not?" I could tell he was trying to keep his composure. "I'm more interested in my writing and traveling right now. I think that I could take out my work money and travel for the summer. Maybe I'll be able to find a publishing company somewhere out East. I might find something in LA." Mitchie had mentioned being a strong writer. She refused to show me any of her writing though. She said if it wasn't perfect, no one could see it.
"Is it cause you wanna go on tour with Shane, Mitch?" Maddie interjected. Mitchie shook her head. "I mean, it's definitely a possibility, but that's not the only rea—"
"Mitchie, all of your work money will barely last you the summer. Are you just going to settle somewhere that you're unfamiliar with? That's not exactly the best scenario sweetie." Dianne tried to be sympathetic while also forming her own opinion.
"I'm just not interested in college. I believe that I could accomplish more with my writing if I traveled. All I'm asking is you to support me. I can provide for myself." Eddie shook his head, "You mean support yourself through Shane?" I sat awkwardly and quietly. Were the meaning to make this about me?
"Stop it!" Mitchie raised her voice. Ed became enraged. "Do not raise your voice to me Michelle. You know better." Mitchie got up from the table and in a calm voice said, "None of this has to do with Shane. It has to do with what I want to do for the rest of my life. I'm sorry that it isn't what you want me to do but I will accomplish becoming a writer one way or another. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to Shane's for a bit to calm down." I could see Dallas shaking her head knowingly. Mitchie gave her a look but I could see that her mother caught it.
"Something you girls want to share?" Dianne eyed Dallas and Mitchie. "No mom. I just think that Mitchie has a good mind set. At least she knows what she wants to do. I feel like we should support her, not tear her down. It's not like she plans to work in a restaurant the rest of her life." Ed spoke up, "I'm sorry for reacting the way I did, Michelle. And Shane, I hope you don't take any of this personal. Please forgive me?" I shook his hand, "No problem sir. I understand how important Mitchie's future is to you all. And just so you know, if she does need any help, it isn't a bother for me to help out. I trust Mitchie and I know that she wouldn't ever ask for help unless she really needed it. And even then she wouldn't ask. But I also wanted to extend the offer to all of you, if any of you need help with anything, please let me know. You all mean a lot to me. It's not just about Mitchie, I respect and care for each and every one of you as well." Dianne was tearing up, Maddie was confused, Dallas was smiling and Ed was stunned.
"So does that mean I get a new IPad?!" Maddie exclaimed with a big smile. "I tell you what, if you get all A's this year I'll get you an IPad, if that's okay with your mom and dad. But it has to be for the entire year." Maddie was ecstatic. "Thank you Shane. You two have a good time. Stay out as long as you'd like tonight, Mitchie. We love you." Ed told us warmly. Dianne hugged us and Dallas hugged us next. Maddie continued to eat her french fries.
"I appreciate what you did back there." I shrugged, "It's really not a problem, beautiful. I meant what I said earlier. You're family means just as much as you do to me." Mitchie kissed me warmly, her lips eager and tempting. Her hands pulled through my hair, I pulled away swiftly, "Not here." She nodded, "Okay, we'll continue this at your house?" She said with a playful wink. "You better watch what you say." I said putting my arm around her, "Oh yeah? Why's that?" She questioned. I leaned in towards her ear, "Because, once you ask for it, I bring it." She smirked, "What exactly is 'it'?" I backed away, and outstretched my arms like wings, "It? It is me. Irresistible good 'ol me." She shot me a playful glare.
As much as I hate to admit it, I began to feel as though I was falling in love with her. But could I tell her that I loved her? I mean, did she even feel the same about me? I doubt it. It's only been a month and a half. There's no way that she could feel this way about me. She's barely eighteen; my emotions are more in depth and developed than hers at this point anyway, right? Ugh. I pushed the thought from my mind. I just need to focus on spending some quality time with her, hopefully getting to know some things about her that I don't know already. Although, that's probably rare considering we talk every night on the phone. That's our designated time to talk about ourselves, so we can know each other better because it's hard to do during our hangout times because we're so engulfed in one another's presence.
I've learned so much about this beautiful young lady- woman. Yeah, she's definitely becoming a woman. Yet something in me was wary. Did I know everything? These emotions feel almost too good to be true. Mitchie seems almost too good to be true. Hell, who knows? She just might think the same as me. I need to just man up and ask her.
