Plain Again (23 page)

Chapter Nineteen

I have a surprise for you.

Curious?

You’ll know soon.

<3

A.

Dali had greeted her at the airport, escorting her through the throngs of people, a few recognizing Amanda, without much of an incident. However, a bodyguard had trailed behind them, prepared to intervene in case there were any issues with a sudden mob. The car was waiting out front and they hurried into the backseat so that the driver could get them to the stadium in time.

“Does he know I’m here?”

Dali had given a slight shake of her head. “I don’t think he knows that you are coming.”

In response, Amanda frowned, glancing at her phone that she clutched in her hand. “I texted him before the plane left Philadelphia. But I didn’t tell him. I wanted to surprise him, so
danke
for not letting him know.” He hadn’t texted back to her.

As always, Dali traveled with her leather bag that contained her papers and her laptop. She reached overhead and flipped on the light before rummaging through her bag for a manila folder. “Here is your schedule for the weekend,” she said and handed the paper to Amanda.

“Schedule?”

“Sí.”
Dali slipped on a pair of reading glasses and began to read from her own sheet of paper. “He goes onstage at nine o’clock. The plan is to sneak you onto the stage when he is singing with the video playing.”

“Oh help,” Amanda muttered, her eyes looking down at the paper. “I really hadn’t planned on that, Dali.”

With a flicker of her eyes, Dali merely glanced at Amanda from over the top of her reading glasses. “You wanted to surprise him, no?”

Amanda sighed.

“After the concert tonight, he is scheduled to fly to Milwaukee. It’s a private jet, so there is no problem with you accompanying him. There is one radio interview in Milwaukee, and I believe he is scheduled to meet with some Hispanic leaders about a child care facility and then visit the children’s cancer center.”

“The what?” Despite having heard Dali correctly, Amanda was taken aback by what she had just been told. “The children’s cancer center?”

“At the children’s hospital,
sí
,” Dali replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world for Alejandro to do.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Amanda said. “Why would he do that?”

Dali took a deep breath and removed her glasses, staring at Amanda for a second before she responded. “A young Hispanic boy in the center wanted to meet Viper. The letter was vetted and everything checked out. Viper’s going to the hospital to meet him.” She slipped her glasses back on and returned her attention to the papers on her lap. “Besides, it’s a nice thing to do.”

Stunned, Amanda sat back in the leather seat and stared at the piece of paper.

“And I delayed his LA flight after the Milwaukee concert until Monday at two. Your flight leaves just before his.” She put her paper back into the leather bag. “Gives you a little time alone without appointments and rushing all over the place.”

Amanda nodded, only half listening to Dali. Instead, she was focused on surprising Alejandro. “I can’t thank you enough!” she gushed at Dali. “I’m so excited to see his reaction.”

Lifting her head from her bag, Dali reached up and removed her reading glasses. She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow and stared at Amanda.
“Sí,”
she said. “I think he will be excited.” But there was an edge to Dali’s voice, something left unspoken.

“What is it?”

Dali shook her head.
“Nada,
Amanda
.
”

Nothing? It was nothing? Amanda frowned, realizing that Dali’s idea of “
nada
” was most likely “something” in her own world. But she asked no more questions. Instead, she looked out the window at the passing signs on the highway as they headed toward the arena. It had taken quite a few phone calls back and forth with Dali to make all of the arrangements. Everything was orchestrated to keep her appearance secret, from the public as well as from her husband.

The parking lot was jam-packed with cars, and the arena lit up with brilliant lights. It was late, already past eight thirty, when the driver pulled the car up to security and rolled down his window. Amanda couldn’t hear what he said or see the identification that he showed the security guards, but she could see the crowd of people gathered around the barricade. It surprised her that there were people still waiting outside during the concert, and Dali quickly explained that those were people who didn’t have tickets but hoped to catch sight of Alejandro when he left the arena.

Inside the secure compound of the arena, Dali quickly escorted Amanda through the long corridors to a private dressing room. She checked with one of the men hurrying down the hallway to find out if Alejandro was already backstage or still at the VIP Meet and Greet with Bobby’s assistant.

“He’s backstage,” Dali said as she shut the door and leaned against it, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched two women begin to fuss over Amanda. An outfit was set aside for her to change into, and the stylists were helping her with her hair and makeup. “The plan is to have you wait until the video starts, Amanda. You’ll emerge from the shadows atop the large staircase so that when he turns around, he’ll see you there.”

Amanda tried to hide a nervous smile. She had been backstage at a few of his concerts, although he seemed to prefer having her escorted into the pit. He had told her that he liked knowing that she was right in front of the stage to watch him perform. While she was slowly getting used to the fans at the concerts, for they often went crazy when she was escorted to her seat, she had never stood on the stage in front of so many of them. Still, she could visualize the look on his face when he would see her. That image motivated her to shelve her fears and agree to surprise him onstage.

Someone rapped on the door as the hairstylist finished with Amanda’s hair: an updo, something different from her usual style. Curly tendrils hung down her neck and over her ears. For a few moments, Amanda stared in the mirror, barely recognizing herself.

“Five minutes,” the voice called out from the other side of the door.

Turning to look at Dali, Amanda blinked her eyes and swallowed, her nerves feeling as though they resided in her throat. “And he truly has no idea?”

Dali glanced at her phone, checking the time, then looked back at Amanda. “No, he does not,” she said, her eyes scanning approvingly over Amanda’s outfit. “And you look lovely, by the way.” She smiled. “You should wear your hair like that more often.”

“It’s so fancy,” Amanda complained, glancing back into the mirror. With the tight black dress of sequins and the soft leather high-heeled boots, Amanda felt like a different person and wondered if she even recognized herself. It was too much of a contrast with the image still in her mind, just earlier that day, when she said good-bye to her
mamm
and
daed
. Mamm had been dressed in her plain dark-green dress with her white prayer
kapp
pinned to her head. If her
mamm
could see her now, Amanda thought, what on earth would she think of her?

“I don’t know if he’ll recognize me!” she said, chewing on her lower lip as she stared at her reflection.

“¿Listo,
Amanda
?”

Was she ready? Amanda shifted her eyes in the reflection of the mirror toward Dali, who was watching her, an emotionless look on her face. Amanda swallowed, wondering what had ever possessed her to consider doing such a thing. How many thousands of people were in the arena? All of them would see her before Alejandro did. It was the perfect plan. Her palms were sweating, and she suddenly felt her stomach in complete turmoil. “I don’t know if I can do this,” she whispered.

Dali took a deep breath and reached into her pocket. “You can and you will,” she said matter-of-factly. “Now, take these and let’s go.” She extracted a pair of dark sunglasses and handed them to Amanda. “Just don’t fall down those stairs in those high boots, for crying out loud, even though that would be a grand entrance no one would forget!”

The serious look on Dali’s face caused Amanda to burst out laughing. A hint of relief swept through Dali’s expression, and she tried to hide a smile, but Amanda could see it. “I’ll try not to, then,” she replied, standing up and walking toward the door, her hand outstretched for the glasses. “
Danke
, Dali,” she said. “You are a right
gut
friend.”

“Humph! We’ll see about that when Viper gets a look at you.”

Amanda frowned at Dali, just long enough to challenge her. “We’ll see about that!” she shot back teasingly. Then, she opened the black sunglasses and put them on.
“¡Listo!”

This time, it was Dali who laughed. “I suspect you are,” she managed to say. “Let’s go, then.”

She could hear the music as they made their way to the stage. They walked down long corridors and passed groups of people dressed in black shirts and black jeans. No one seemed to pay any attention to Amanda as Dali led her toward the area directly behind the stage. Two men nodded at the women, one of them stepping forward to reach for Amanda’s arm.

Without a word, he helped her walk up the back steps so that she was standing behind a curtain. He leaned over and shouted into her ear, “When the lights dim after this song, you step through. There will be fireworks and then a brilliant light on you. The band will start the music, and two men will help you walk down the stairs to Viper.”

She nodded her head, her heart pounding. She could barely believe that she was doing this, but she knew that she was beyond any point of return. With a trembling hand, she reached out and grabbed the man’s arm, steadying herself as she waited, her breath coming in short gulps.

Calm down, she told herself. Do this for Alejandro.

And then, everything went dark. The man helped guide her through the split in the curtain, and she was suddenly standing atop a platform, her eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. She could barely see anything around her, but in the distance, she saw faint flickers of light coming from the audience. Her heart pounded so hard that, for just a moment, she felt faint and worried that she would collapse.

Two loud noises shook the stage, and seconds later, white lights flared into the air. Flashing lights almost blinded her, and she was thankful that Dali had forced the sunglasses on her. The music began and the lights remained on, a spotlight on Viper who was pandering to the crowd while a second spotlight focused on her.

The music began and Viper sang. The crowd began to notice her standing atop the platform, especially when two men in black suits stepped out from the shadows, each taking one of her arms and helping to slowly escort her down the stairs.

If the noise of the audience was loud and unruly before, when they realized that Amanda was descending the stairs and Viper was still singing, completely unaware, a loud roar almost drowned out his music.

He laughed at their enthusiasm and, in high spirits, turned to look at one of the band members. And that was when he saw her.

She was halfway down the stairs and paused, just long enough to make certain that he had, indeed, recognized her. The expression on his face caused her heart to soar. When he first glanced over his shoulder, he was smiling and laughing. But when he caught sight of her, his mouth fell open as he stopped in his tracks, staring at the apparition before him.

“Princesa?” he said, the microphone picking up his word and causing the audience to roar once again. He handed the microphone to one of the dancers and walked toward the staircase, a broad grin on his face as he reached a hand out to take hers as she approached the bottom and joined him onstage.

Not caring that tens of thousands of people were watching, he swept her into his arms and lifted her off her feet.

“What on earth . . .?”

She could barely hear him but laughed at the look of complete joy on his face. “I told you that I had a surprise for you,
ja
?”

Holding her hand, he walked toward the front of the stage and retrieved his microphone, returning to singing with Amanda by his side. When he danced in time to the music, he danced toward her, laughing when she blushed and backed away. At one point, she let him grab her hand to dance with him. When they parted, she looked at him and lowered her sunglasses, playfully leveling a look at him that prompted another roar from the audience.

He tossed his head back and lost the words to the song, laughing at her.

“Ay, mi madre,”
he said into the microphone before turning to the audience and gesturing toward Amanda.
“¡Mi
Princesa
!”
he shouted and the crowd screamed back, flashes from cameras lighting up the arena like tiny fireflies in a field at night.

She lifted her arm up and waved at the audience before blowing a kiss in his direction and then retreating offstage. Dali was waiting for her in the wings and greeted her with a beaming smile.

“It’s hot out there!” Amanda gushed as she took the bottle of chilled water from Dali.

“You were charming,” Dali admitted. “And you were right. He seemed not only surprised but delighted.”

Ninety minutes later, the concert was over and Alejandro burst into his dressing room. His face lit up when he saw her sitting there, ever so nonchalant on the leather sofa that was against the far wall. In three long strides, he was standing before her and pulling her to her feet, a smile on his face, his arms wrapped around her.

“You!”

She tried to act demure. “Me? What about me?”

“I forgot the words to my song because of you!”

A simple shrug of one shoulder and a lift of her eyebrows added to her gentle teasing. “I can’t help it if you don’t practice, I reckon,” she said.

He laughed and hugged her. “What a fabulous surprise, Princesa!”

Someone knocked on the dressing room door. “Five minutes, Viper. We have to get going.”

Pressing his hands on her cheeks, he knelt down and stared into her eyes. “What brought this on? What is the plan?”