5
“This is a pretty big opportunity,” Thomas said when he handed Rick an embossed invitation the next day. “Especially to be invited to perform at the last minute. They must really see some potential in you.”
Rick stared at the invitation. ”The Association of Musicians and Musical Performers cordially invite you to attend and perform on stage during our 34th annual Modern Music of America Awards.” As far as Rick knew, he wasn’t nominated for anything. Not even in the Hispanic category. So why do I care about these people? “Sounds like a blast.”
“Come on, Rick.” They sat a table in a conference room, where only five minutes ago they had a rousing conversation about his future recording schedule. There was some issue with a producer… or something… Rick cared about as much as a snail sitting in front of a sign that said “Fun in only 250 miles!” Thomas, on the other hand, was paid to care. “This is one of the biggest award shows of the year for newcomers. Millions of people all over the country tune in to watch it. You performing one of your hit songs will not only be good for your publicity but also renew interest in your songs. That’s what the label wants to see before they start marketing your next album. You’re not really being given a choice here.”
He heard the words, but Rick was too caught up in his texting with Olivia to care. “Thinking about you ;)” he sent her only a few moments before. The words “Always thinking about you,” showed up the moment Thomas looked away again. “Oh, sorry. Yes, I’m really excited about performing on an award show. Yup. Let’s do it. Can’t wait.”
“Don’t be that way. The mere fact that they thought about you at all is a huge deal.”
“I know that. Sure. Reply and say I’ll be there. When is it again?”
“Next Friday.”
“Oh.” Rick had to delete the message saying he would like to see Olivia next Friday. “Sure then.”
Too late. Thomas had glanced at Rick’s phone. And he was wearing his glasses. That meant he caught every word… and who Rick was sending the message to.
“Olivia, huh?” Rick wasn’t sure he liked that tone in Thomas’s voice. “Hadn’t heard about her in a while. You two still seeing each other?”
“Yup.”
“Is it serious?”
“Dunno.”
“Uh huh.” Thomas snapped his fingers in front of Rick’s face to get his attention. “I don’t care if you’re seeing Olivia. Far worse women for you to be seeing. Like that… shit, what was her name? Fiona?”
“What’s wrong with Fiona?”
“Well for one, she’s pregnant…”
Rick looked away a little too quickly.
“Shit!” Both Thomas’s outburst and his slap to the table startled Rick. “You know, I wasn’t going to ask. I figured if it was a thing, you would tell me, but I can’t stand this elephant in the room. We’re about to get stepped on.”
That was Rick’s cue to get up, grab his jacket, pocket his phone, and wave goodbye.
“Oh, no.” Thomas clapped his hand on Rick’s shoulder and sat him back down. “We’re doing this. Now tell me… did you knock Fiona up?”
Rick shifted in his seat. What else was he supposed to do? Entertain the idea that he was cleared from this drama? “It’s a possibility,” he mumbled. He waited for Thomas to scoff or curse again, but his manager merely studied the table in front of them and shook his head. “Not what I wanted to hear, but it is what it is. She doesn’t know for sure?”
“You know how Fiona is.”
‘I don’t want to besmirch her reputation, but yes, I do. I thought you were okay with that behavior.”
“Yeah, it was casual.”
“Now you might be the father of this child. Did you get a DNA test?”
“Yeah, but it hasn’t come back yet. I only submitted the stuff a few days ago.”
Sighing, Thomas considered the air dancing in front of his eyes. Suddenly he looked much older than he actually was. “You’ll tell me the results, of course.”
“Of course.”
Another sigh. If Rick didn’t know any better, he would swear that Thomas had just aged twenty years. “Look, Rick, I won’t think any less of you if it turns out you’re going to be a dad… but it could affect your career.”
“You think I haven’t considered this?”
“You gonna marry her?”
“Nope.” The thought only fleetingly entered his mind until Fiona said she would never want such a thing. Thank goodness.
“It’s all right. I didn’t marry the woman I knocked up either.”
Now that got Rick’s full attention. “What? You?”
“Once upon a time, yes. In another life.”
“Was it that girl you told me about?”
“Yes. Very beautiful girl. I loved her a lot, but… she didn’t want me around anymore. She was finicky that way.”
“And the kid?”
“Honestly? I didn’t even know about him until a few years ago. I broke up with his mother before she knew she was pregnant. Or, if she did know, she made the conscious decision to not include me in his life. I always regret that a bit. I often wonder what it would have been like to raise a son.”
Rick didn’t know what to say. He always looked up to Thomas as a sort of father figure, but he had no idea this was going on in the background. What a bummer. “I’m sorry to hear all of that. Well, I do know about this kid, and if it turns out I’m the father, I’ll do the best that I can do to do right by it. I’m already paying for her prenatal care.”
“You are?” Thomas didn’t often look surprised, but when he did, his eyes widened and his cheeks puffed out until he looked about to explode. “Well… that’s quite kind of you.”
“I can be a kind guy once in a while.”
“So you are. How is Olivia taking this?”
“She knows.”
“That’s good. Depending on how serious things get with her she might become a stepmother soon enough.”
“Don’t know if I would go that far.”
“Either way.” Thomas stood, extending his hand to shake Rick’s like a man. “Take care of the women in your life. You never realize how empty life is until suddenly the girl you love disappears and you’re left with a broken heart.”
Thomas could be so dramatic. And yet Rick didn’t doubt for one second that he was being serious. Take his advice seriously. For all Rick knew, he would be dishing out his own advice to his son in twenty years.
He wondered if Olivia would be there to roll her eyes and tell him he didn’t know what he was talking about. He rather hoped so.
***
Glitter rained onto the table as Olivia blew some off the latest invitation she created. Beside her, Mrs. Owens used her fancy calligraphy to write down addresses and other variables on behalf of her youngest daughter Bethany. The same girl who sat on the other side of the table and drew up a list of birthday presents she wanted, all while glaring at Olivia from the corner of the family iPad.
“What’s your problem now?” Olivia barely looked at her sister while she sprinkled some glue onto another invitation. She was charged with bottles of purple and blue glitter since those were her sister’s favorite colors. This is what I get for spending my day off at home. In two days she would be performing on stage for the opening night of her troupe’s new show. Linda still complained about the lack of chemistry between Olivia and Dan, but nobody cared anymore. They knew they were good enough to fill the seats, and that was all that mattered.
Bethany tapped something on the tablet screen before resituating herself in her chair like the pretty princess she probably thought she was. “I’m still mad at you, you know.”
“What now?”
“You know! You went on that world tour and didn’t even get me anything. How self-centered of you!”
“Bethany!”
Olivia held up her hand to her mother. Of course, this only resulted in a flash of purple glitter getting into Mrs. Owens’s face and making her sneeze three times in a row. “Come on. I got you all sorts of things. Who is the big sister who bought you keychains for your collection?” Since she was ten, Bethany had gotten into the habit of collecting keychains from everywhere they traveled. She would put pushpins between the loops to create designs out of every keychain on a giant corkboard. I thought I was being nice and clever when I bought her those things in Mexico, Brazil, and even Germany. When Olivia hadn’t been trapped beneath Rick’s body in bed, she made sure to remember her family in the souvenir shops. “So don’t tell me I didn’t get you anything. Those weren’t free, you know.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
“And what the hell did you mean?”
Bethany crossed her arms with a huff. “You were supposed to give me an autograph from Rick, and you never did.”
While their mother sighed beside them, Olivia put down the bottles of glitter. “Oh, right. You did ask for that. Well, to be fair, he’s not that nice. You really should start fawning over somebody else.” The last thing Olivia needed was her sister stalking her and finding out about her relationship with Rick. Oh no, that would be a mess! Although she loved her sister, they were never close due to their age difference. They didn’t exactly stay up all night talking about boys and the birds and the bees. No way in hell was Olivia going to tell her little sister all about the way Rick Rodriguez, her idol, could make love like the passionate man he was. “If I see him again, I’ll be sure to get you one.”
“Now hold on,” Mrs. Owens put down an invitation. “You never said anything about him being rude or not nice. What went on during that tour? Was he rude to you? I knew it. This is why I didn’t want you to go on tour. Celebrity men are like that. You see it on the entertainment shows all the time. I’m glad you’re not with him anymore.”
“Don’t say such mean things about him!” Olivia couldn’t wait until her little sister was done with puberty. “He was nice, right, Olivia?”
“A perfect gentleman on stage.” Anything but elsewhere! Olivia had to suppress a giggle.
They went back to their silent tasks, but between fiddling with the cap on the blue glitter bottle and pouring purple glitter all over her hand, Olivia got a text message from someone Bethany could never know about.
“What’s up? ¿Me extrañas?” Rick was lazy with his flirtations. He knew that Olivia found the Spanish sexy, so he would send random texts in Spanish. One time she was sent running to her dictionary to find out that Rick was talking about some TV show that had nothing to do with anything. Apparently he thought I would find that sexy. Olivia hit the reply button and said, “Estoy asi asi. And of course I miss you. But right now I’m helping my mother make birthday party invitations for my little sister.”
It took a few minutes for him to get back to her. During that time Olivia finished decorating two more invitations. “Who are you talking to?” Bethany asked.
Olivia looked up from her phone as Rick got back to her. “No one in particular. Just people from work. Boring people.” It was true that people from her current work were boring. She would much rather be spending her day riding Rick until she passed out, but he was busy recording or doing dance practice or something else. Olivia couldn’t keep up with his schedule.
Bethany got up and followed their mother into the kitchen, complaining about something for the party. Probably the cake. Or food. Whatever it was, Mrs. Owens only rolled her eyes and mumbled something about getting food out for dinner. At least now Olivia could read her text message.
“Did you hear that I’m going to be on that award show next Friday? You should watch. And know that I’m singing about you.”
Olivia was glad that her family was in the other room, because she was blushing. “When can I see you? I miss you…” She had to translate something in her head, delaying her response. “Hazme el amor.”
Rick was quick to answer. “Next time I see you, I’ll make love to you until the sun comes up again.”
Laughing, Olivia put her phone away before anyone in her family could see. I bet those were song lyrics. She could imagine Rick sitting somewhere writing down every naughty thought in his head – and then scratching them out, because they were too vulgar for most mainstream radio stations.