(A/N: Happy Saturday. Hope you enjoy. –James)
"Okay…you're all set. Two things you absolutely CANNOT DO: Touch your face and move the mic. If you touch your face the makeup will instantly smear. And if you move the mic you'll sound awful."
I nervously nod. "Ok."
The lead stylist marched away, and Mom's publicist walked back up to me.
The stylist basically shoved her out of the way.
"I know he's a jerk, but he's right. And more importantly, he's good at his job." She said, handing me a bottle of water.
"Why is he such a jerk? It doesn't exactly help." I say.
"He just views you as a normal 16 year old that for whatever reason is about to be on national TV. Plus he's been doing this since your mom broke onto the scene. So you know he's bitter he hasn't advanced."
I shrug.
"Any questions? You're coming up soon." She asked with a smile.
"Soon?" I blurt out?
"Next segment. 3 or 4 minutes."
Oh gosh.
I take a big sip of water.
I'm so nervous.
I flew all the way out to New York so that I could do press all day today.
The rest of the week I have off, and can do whatever I please. Then I fly back Sunday.
People are super excited for the cover album, even though there's nothing original on it.
That they know, that is.
Nobody has published a track list. That's part of the 2 segments I'm on today.
"60 until start!" Someone yelled.
"Remember, keep it all positive. All honesty. They'll keep it moving. If they ask about your biological father, say that you know the truth, and it's your business in the end."
"10!"
I nod and take another sip.
I wish Mom was here. She'd have something up her sleeve to make me relax a little.
The "LIVE" sign flashes back on in all it's red neon glory.
"Our next guest…well is a bit of a first here on Good Day America. She's been a mystery for her entire life, up until around a year ago. And today she's releasing a cover album that's available in stores now titled "Part of the Story". Please welcome to the show Sydney Valentine!"
The crowd outside started cheering, and the door in front of me rose.
Before I realize it, I'm already outside and waving to the crowd.
The first one to greet me is one of the hosts, who grabbed my hand and kissed my cheek. Then the female host hugged me and said "Welcome!" but quietly enough so that the mic wouldn't catch it.
Then she gestured to me the seat on the opposite side of the little table separating the two hosts and the guest.
Just like I've seen a thousand times on TV.
I wave to the studio crowd again, then sit and cross my legs.
"Sydney! Welcome!" The host, Brad said cheerfully.
"Thank you for having me!" I smile.
"You're tall!" Kate, the other host said.
I nervously laugh and smile.
"Sure? Thanks. I don't know."
To my surprise, the crowd laughed.
Then someone yelled "I LOVE YOU SYDNEY!"
The crowd laughed again, and I glance out into the crowd and see a guy in a polo standing.
"I think they're happy to see you." Kate said jokingly.
I laugh along with the crowd. "Yeah, I think they are."
"They definitely are! I know I'm excited about the release of this album. Can you tell us a bit about it?"
"Yeah! It's just an idea Ellie Oliver and I had one day coming home from school: Make an album of nothing but songs that we cover. She eventually gave the idea to me, and here we are."
"Cool! Did you guys do a couple of songs together?" Kate asked.
"Yeah, we did a few. She really helped me on my solo songs too. If she thought I could have did something better, she said so. I had a blast working on this with her." I smile.
Hopefully she's watching live.
"Did you have any rhyme or reason to the songs you chose? Or was it just random?" Brad asked.
"Uhm, we didn't have a system really. We just looked at songs we liked and thought we could sing really well, and went from there."
"Sounds like you've been busy with this project." Brad asked again.
"Yeah, but like I said it's been a lot of fun. I can't wait to get back in the studio and keep working on finding my own voice."
"Well Sydney, before we continue on here, we've got a little surprise for you."
"Cool!" I smile.
Stupid woman.
She pushed what I just said aside like it didn't matter.
The sound of the crowd murmuring catches my attention.
More security?
For what?
"Please welcome Cat Valentine and Austin Harper!"
WHAT?
The crowd behind me burst into mindless noise as Mom and Austin come out smiling.
I hop up and immediately Mom is hugging me with a huge smile on her face.
"Surprise!" She smiled, then laughed and let go.
I turn to Austin to see him smiling. "What she said."
I cover my mouth and laugh, then follow them and sit down back at my spot, with Mom then Austin next to me.
The crowd was still cheering and I nervously sipped to water they had sat out for me before all this happened.
"You said you weren't coming!" I say, when people finally started quieting down.
Then they really got quiet.
"Well it's not a surprise if we tell you!" Mom said.
"I asked you to come!" I say. "You said you had 'too many commitments sweetie'." I frown at her dramatically.
I can finally loosen up a little.
Playing off them is easy.
"You actually believed that?!" Austin said, sounding surprised.
"You're supposed to be at school!" I smile back at him.
"Not the first time he's skipped I've heard." Brad said, causing everyone to laugh.
"Yeah…" Austin shrugged. "I can't say I regret it."
"I think you have a decent excuse." Kate said.
"Even so, they have this show in the administrative office in the mornings, so…" Mom said.
Oh crap!
"Hi Principal Alsek!" Austin waved to the camera, getting us all to laugh again.
"Hopefully they won't be too mad, and regardless, welcome Cat and welcome Austin."
The crowd cheered again and both smiled.
"Thank you for having us! And for helping us spring our surprise."
"Happy to do it! The normal interview can get a bit stale. You need to spice things up a little." Brad said.
"Spice is good." Austin filled in the dead air.
No easy reply.
"Now Cat, I know you've had to had kept tabs on what Sydney's been working on. Tell us a little of your thoughts and what you think."
"I actually haven't heard too much. But what I have heard is really good." Mom said.
"You haven't heard much?" Kate asked.
Mom shook her head.
"Would you mind explaining why not Sydney? I…I'm a Dad with 2 kids. If they wanted to get into the news business I think they'd come to me early and often. Why didn't you go to your mom with your music?"
"Well, uhm…that's a good question. Really, I don't want to be a clone of her and have the same beats. I want to be good in my own way."
I glance at Brad and Kate and see their wheels spinning.
"Hold on, I don't think I made myself clear." I speak up. "I'm not trying to distance myself from Mom. That's not what I'm trying to do. I just want to do it so that nobody can say "Oh, Sydney is only famous because of her mom." I'd love her advice. Every piece of advice I've gotten from Mom has been really helpful. I just want to step out of her…I don't know how to say it."
"You just want to have the independence and name recognition a normal artist has, but you don't right now because you're Cat Valentine's daughter." Austin jumped in.
He would know.
We've talked about this a thousand times.
"Exactly. What he said." I say.
"Which is good!" Mom jumped in, turning to smile at me. "I don't want it that way either. I don't want to hurt your career at all."
"That makes sense. You're stepping away from her shadow, but sticking close to her in a way." Brad said.
"Yeah."
"It sounds like you guys have had this conversation before." Kate said.
"Not with them, no. Maybe they have, maybe not. I just know that Robbie and I talk about this kind of thing a lot. The last thing we want to do is give her another roadblock to do what she wants. It's hard enough to make it as a normal artist, or actor, or whatever. It's got to be 10 times harder as somebody who has been famous since they were born."
There was a small silence from everyone, then Mom jumped back in.
"Sorry sweetie. Didn't mean it."
The crowd laughed, I smile and Austin rolled his eyes.
"Hold on, now that I think of it Sydney…both you and Austin here are both related to very famous people. Have you put any thought into that? Maybe it's why you two got together?"
Mom quickly blurted out "No."
"No, I hadn't really thought about that. Did you?" I ask Austin.
"No, I was more nervous about not messing it up with you, and meeting your mom than thinking about that."
The crowd laughed.
"Well you guys seem to be really happy, that's for sure." Kate said.
I tried to stay focused on her as I can hear the producer yelling in Brad's ear thru his earpiece.
"Yeah, they really work well. It's always fun to get everybody together for dinner or something. Never boring." Mom smiled.
"That sounds fun." Brad said, as his earpiece is still going off.
"Now Austin, have you heard about Travis Storen's latest quotes about the last game you played?" Kate cut across Brad, not letting us answer.
I turn to Austin to see him looking confused.
He shook his head. "No, I haven't."
"Well if you look over on the board you can see them. Quote:
"I wasn't really all that impressed with how he (Austin) played last time out. I struck him out on 3 pitches. If he's all he's cracked up to be, I wouldn't have been able to do that. That, plus his famous girlfriend and his antics make him an overrated player in my eyes."
What do you have to say in reply Austin?" Kate asked.
I look back to Austin, and see he's rereading it.
I then glance back to Mom, who is biting her lip and frowning.
"Well, he didn't waste time now did he?" Austin said, getting a nervous laugh out of some of the audience.
"No he didn't." Brad said.
"Yup." Mom frowned.
"My reply? Right, that's what you asked for?" Austin asked Kate.
She nodded.
"Okay, well it's two parts. First off, I had a dislocated elbow and what turned out to be a strained UCL. Now I'm not making excuses, but I wasn't close to 100% that day. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have been playing, but we had nobody else to play my position, and I didn't want to leave my teammates out to dry. Lastly, I don't think his teammates would appreciate those comments. All they do is make him sound all big, and get a huge target on all of their backs. Some people like how I act on the field, some don't. But I let my play do the talking. And I'll see him on January 7th at 2 PM when we play at USC." Austin said.
"Good. I think things will go differently." Mom jumped in.
"They will." I say.
"Alright! Sydney, Cat, Austin, thank you so much for coming on! We'll be right back."
Huh?
Mom and Austin casually get up, and I follow their lead all the way to the dressing rooms.
"I…thought I was going to be on for 2 segments." I say quietly, as we're apparently leaving.
"They went long. It's happened with me before." Mom said, leading the way and not looking back. "They have to boot us out and catch up on their commercials. Don't be surprised if they call in a couple of days apologizing."
"I didn't even get to tell them the surprise on the album." I say sadly.
I was looking forward to that.
"We'll talk more in the limo. Hurry up." Mom said.
For the next minute, we weaving thru hallways until we hit a side door with a limo waiting for us.
I quietly hop in, then Austin slides next to me and Mom closes the door behind us.
The limo silently starts moving.
"That seemed like a weird interview." Austin said.
"I never got in a rhythm like you told me to. I tried, but they didn't time their questions right." I say defensively, looking to Mom.
"Remember, they're relatively new to the show as hosts. But you're right, you never could get in a rhythm. They kept plowing forward. Don't worry about it." Mom smiled.
I smile back, then hug Austin. "It's good to see you guys. Thank you for coming."
"Wouldn't have missed it for the world." Austin said.
I look up to see Mom smiling. "Are you hungry? I know a really good breakfast place near the apartment."
(10 hours later)
I walk back into the living room, where Austin is texting on his phone and Mom is flicking thru the TV channels with the flowers Dad bought me next to her.
"I'm ready." I say.
"Great! See you later." Mom smiled, as Austin stood up and got the door.
Once he shuts the door, I let out a breath, and he smiled at me.
"I still feel off about that interview."
"You couldn't get a word in edgewise. Plus people are bashing them about not letting you promote you and your mom's duet."
"As they should. Idiots. I'm never doing TV interviews again."
We hop into the elevator and start heading down to the lobby.
"The radio ones went well at least. Focus on those. And how the duet is number 1." Austin smiled.
"WHAT?" I blurt out.
I never checked. I meant to once we got home at noon, but I fell asleep.
Then we ate dinner and came back home.
"Yup. You have a number one hit. Congratulations." He smiled at me.
I smile and hug him.
The ding of the door is the only thing that broke us apart.
We stay silent until we're outside and waling to the park.
"Thank you for coming up with this idea. I needed to get out and take a walk." I say.
"You need to freeze in the park. It's a part of life." Austin joked, causing me to laugh.
"It's not that cold."
"No, it's cold. But there isn't much wind thankfully. Then we might be going back home by now." Austin said, steering us to a coffee cart.
"What do you want?" He asked.
"My usual." I say, digging in my purse.
"No, I got it." Austin said.
"Austin—"
"No. It's your day and I'm buying the coffee. Simple as that." He said, turning to the barista.
A minute later he handed me my coffee, plus the cream and sugar.
He always gets me the exact number I like.
And I never told him.
"C'mon. let's sit." He said, pointing to a bench next to the sidewalk.
I give him a odd look.
"Really? I thought we were walking."
"No, right now we're sitting." He smirked at me.
Fine.
I sit, and he sits next to me.
"So. Did you have fun today?" He asked, then sipped his coffee.
"Ehh…I guess I did. I'm not big on interviews." I shrug.
"I knew that." He monotoned, then smiled.
"Oh stop it."
"But really, was it a good day?"
…
"For my fans, yeah. They get some material from me. But I'm just tired. Call it a long day." I sigh and lean back on the bench.
…
"I didn't think you had a good day." Austin said quietly.
"Huh?" I pop back up.
"For a long time I had a hard time telling what your mood was. I couldn't get a read on you. But now I can mostly. And all day you were tense. Super tense. This is the first time you've relaxed all day."
Oh.
"Sorry."
"Don't be sorry. You're normal! It's your first time doing all of this. Plus that crappy interview on TV and it makes sense that you didn't have a good day."
…
…
"Luckily though, I have just the thing to cheer you up."
I sip my coffee, then say "And what's that?"
Austin smiled at me, then reached into his—
OH MY GOD.
…
I look up at him, then back to the little black box he's holding.
"It's not what you think. Take it. It's yours." He smied at me.
He's not proposing?
Heart pounding, I take the box and open it.
To find a silver ring inside with a open heart as the setting.
I look back up to him, and he's still smirking.
"Do you like it?"
"I…" I gasp out, feeling like I'm about to cry.
Austin suddenly looked nervous.
"No, not like that!" I say quickly, grabbing onto him. "I…why?" I finally sputter out.
"Simple. I love you. You deserve something special on such a special day. Yeah, in the moment it might have been shitty. But you know what? You got that, and hopefully it helps a little."
…
I'm just sitting here, mouth agape, looking at him.
"When'd you get it?"
"A couple of weeks back. I was looking for a Christmas present for you, walked into a jewelry store and that caught my eye. So I bought it."
…
"It's a little while until Christmas." I say.
"Not really. Barely 2 months." He smiled. "Plus, I can't give you a ring on Christmas. I'm giving you something…less intimate then." He smiled.
I smile, then kiss him softly.
"You're the best. Thank you."
"Glad you like it." He smiled at me.
