The Protege (8 page)

“That’s
the truth.  As loving and kind as she can sometimes be, the demands of the role
she has chosen to play among the obscenely rich sometimes takes its toll.  I
think much of it has whittled away the warm, compassionate woman she once was
and has left a cold and calculating one in its place.”

“Ouch,”
was all Serena could say.  Saddened by his assessment of his own mother, she
looked at him and wondered how he’d managed to come out unscathed by it all.

“Are
you close to your parents?” he asked.

The
workings of her fork on her plate suddenly took all her attention.  She pushed
the food around her plate a moment and swallowed the ball of emotion.  She was
more than willing to talk about him and his family, but was reluctant to open
up about her own life.

“I’m
sorry,” he said in a voice that was soft and comforting.  “Have I touched a
chord?”

“My
father left when I was eight.”  Her eyes remained on her plate as she made her
declaration.  “Other than his raging fits of anger and the back of his hand I
don’t remember much about him.  My mother tried to raise me alone, but her
bottle was more important than I was.  Before I turned nine, she drove herself
off a pier.”

Sebastian’s
warm hand enveloped her shoulder and pulled her closer.  He said nothing, but
she could feel his compassion for the childhood she’d had.

“It
wasn’t all that bad,” she said after a long moment of relishing his comforting
touch.  “My Nana raised me; my mom’s mother.  She wasn’t really prepared to
take on a little, and rather hotheaded girl, but… well, she did what she had to
do.”

“Looking
at you today, I’d say she did a pretty good job.”

Pressing
her lips tightly together as she remembered her grandmother, Serena looked at
Sebastian. “That’s far from what you said when I entered your office.”

“I
had my professional professor’s hat on then.  Now I’m your date.  It’s not the
same thing.”

“Bash,”
his mother’s voice called over their quiet and private conversation. “Need I
remind you there are other people at the table?”

He
pulled away and sat back.  “Yes, mother.  Forgive me for being so attentive to
my intriguing and fascinating date.  I just can’t pull away from her.”

Marika
sneered and shot him a killer glare.  “Your father was just talking about the
position he offered you at KSI.”

“Was
he?”

“It
seems like it would be a wonderful opportunity for you. With Theodore Fiennes
going into retirement, the timing couldn’t be more perfect.”

“From
your vantage point, perhaps, Mother, not from mine. 
Need I remind you
that I’ve students who depend on me, not to mention a musical score to finish?”

“Oh,
honey. I haven’t forgotten about this hobby of yours. What your father is
offering, however, is a true career. He’s offering not only financial
stability, but the opportunity to become a financial force in your own right.”
Marika clucked her tongue and glanced briefly at Serena before leaning in to
speak to Sebastian again.  “You're standing in the community could be at risk
if you insist on pursuing this musical nonsense much longer.  The Brookes have
been patient.  I’ve been patient.”

Her
icy glare came to rest on Serena.  “You can’t spend the rest of your life
surrounded by small minded musicians and…”

“That’s
enough, Mother. I won’t have you insulting my date… my guest.  I neither want
nor need your advice; not about my career, not about my love life… not about my
life in general.”

Marika
reached out to give his hand a patronizing tap.  “Of course you don’t dear. 
You’ve always been such a hothead.”

“Don’t
worry about it, Bash,” Willow called from across the table.  “I think your
hothead is your most endearing feature, but your mother is right.”

“That’s
right, Bash,” Mrs. Brooke threw in.  “Music can only bring you so far in life.
It’s an amusing pastime, but hardly something you want to spend your life
doing.”

“And
just think,” Willow went on, “with you at KSI and me heading up my father’s
company, we’d be a true force to be reckoned with.”

Michael
leaned in close to Serena. “Really, I have to ask again.  What is the draw of
this man?  I can understand the whole boy band ideology where tweens and teens
are concerned.  I can even understand the appeal of a real man like Elvis; I
mean millions of women can’t be wrong, right?”

Serena
smiled and tried to be amused, but the frustration level was beyond
manageable.  The whole table had ganged up on Sebastian causing a fire to burn
in her gut.

“I’ll
need your answer before next Friday, son,” Kaiser said, his hands solemnly
clasped before him.  “I have to find a replacement for Theodore before he
actually leaves us.  You’d get that great corner office.”

Sebastian
cocked a cynical brow at his father.  “Corner office?  You think that’ll do it
for me?  A corner office?”

“Bash,
honey,” Marika said.  “Mind your manners.  Your father is only trying to do
what’s best for you.  Why can’t you see that?”

Grinding
his teeth, Sebastian dropped his gaze to his plate.

“I’m
sorry.”  Mortified, Serena could not stay silent a moment longer.  “Have any of
you ever heard Sebastian’s music?  Have any of you ever bothered to sit back
and truly listen to the melodies, the harmonies, the lyrical musicality of
every single note he writes?”

For
a long and uncomfortable moment, everyone at the table was silent. Though
Michael seemed genuinely embarrassed for Sebastian, and Mr. and Mrs. Faris
fidgeted in discomfort, everyone else seemed ready to pounce on Serena.

“You're
his date for the night, darling,” Marika snarled.  “That hardly gives you the
right to speak about the direction he should take in his life.  I’m his
mother.  I raised him and I have a lifetime invested in him.  I will not sit
idly by and watch my son throw away his life, whether it be on a professional
level or a personal one.”

“Are
you aware, Mrs. Sorensen, that your son has
thrown away
his life on a
Tony and a few Oscars?  Are you aware just how the world of music loves him,
reveres him, admires him?  He is not just a flash in the pan.  He’s the real
deal.  Every student at Irvine loves him, and while it might be easy to assume
that it’s just because he’s sexy and good looking, I assure you they love him
for what he brings to his music and what he can bring to their music.”

“The
man is well into his twenties and he still hasn’t settled down,” Marika argued
with an indignant cluck of her tongue.  “Does he really think a woman like Willow will just sit around and wait endlessly for him?”

Serena
put her hand out and counted off on her fingers:  “
The Flight. Sands of
Time.  Insane Love.
  I bet you don’t even know what all that is.  Those are
songs his students can only dream of writing.  They’re musical masterpieces
that will far outlive everyone here.”

Sebastian
reached out to quiet her down with the gentle touch of his hand, but she was
too impassioned to stop.  “I cannot believe that you would try to silence such
a musical genius.”

“Serena,
dear,” Kaiser quietly said.  “I appreciate your desire to defend Sebastian, but
you are out of line.  As Marika has stated, we have a lifetime invested in
Bash.  You have what?  An invitation to a fundraiser?”

“No.
Apparently I’ve been invited to a session of intimidation. How hypocritical of
you.  It’s clear the only reason you invited Sebastian here is so that he could
draw in loads of rich people. You want to profit from his celebrity all the
while criticizing the very talent that made him so. You people disgust me.” She
threw her pretty linen napkin into her plate and stood.  “I think I’ve seen
quite enough for one night.  If you’ll excuse me, I think I need to return to
the world of the sane.”

Six
incredulous set of eyes stared back at her, but it was the amused smirk on
Michael’s face that caught her attention. She suddenly questioned her actions
and wondered if she’d gone too far.

Somber
faced and silent, Sebastian stood, took hold of her elbow and led her away.

Chapter 7

T
hey walked to Sebastian’s Roadster in silence.
When Sebastian opened the passenger door for her, he barely looked at her.  She
sat and stared straight ahead as he got in and started the car.  As he backed
out of the parking space and headed to the street, she noticed the tight hold
he had on the steering wheel as well as the hard and harsh manner in which he
maneuvered the car.

“I’m
sorry,” Serena said after another few minutes of excruciating silence. Staring
down at the pretty shoes Laura had loaned her, she cursed her hot temper. She’d
put so much effort into looking as elegant and classy as she could, only to let
her mouth show just how little class she actually had. “I’m so sorry I caused a
scene, Sebastian… um, Professor Sorensen. I know this isn’t…”

He
continued to stare straight ahead as if she weren’t there at all. Tears stung
her eyes as she realized the fool she’d made of herself. She’d ruined
everything.  There was no way he’d consider being her advisor now.  How stupid
could she be?

Sebastian
pulled the Roaster into a parking lot that overlooked the ocean.  At any other
times, this could have been romantic and dramatic.  Now the ocean appeared dull
and gray; unappealing in every way.  When he killed the engine, Serena bit her
lip in anticipation.  Surely he would let her have it.  Surely he would give
her hell for meddling where she had no business meddling.

“No
one has ever stood up for me like that before,” he said in a quiet, almost
crumbling voice.

“I
know it was none of my business…”

He
reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. “I’ve long passed the day when
I need someone to speak for me, but… I have to admit, I enjoyed that.  You came
to my defense in a way I never could.”

While
she remained calm and serene on the outside, inside she trembled from the
electric shock that shot through her. His touch was like fire, burning through
her skin while his words reached deep down inside her.

“So
you're not mad?” she managed to say.

“Far
from it.  If anything I’m even more fascinated by you than I already was.” He
sat back and leaned into the headrest. Closing his eyes he let out a long and
exasperated breath. “My family,” he grunted.  “They take some getting used to.”

His
last words were slightly slurred and his fingers slipped slowly away from hers
and went to his belly. She wondered if he’d not had too much to drink.  Wine
had flowed freely at the fundraiser, but she had only seen him take two or
three glasses throughout dinner.  Had he taken more and she simply hadn’t
noticed?

“You
know, you’ve had a big night,” Serena said.  “Why don’t you let me do the
driving?”

Without
opening his eyes, he said, “No, I’m fine. I’ll get you home.”

“Why? 
Don’t you trust me to drive this thing?”  She added a teasing tone to her voice
hoping to avoid a drunken argument.

Still
leaning into the headrest, he turned to look lazily at her, a crooked smile on
his lips. “You want to try driving it?”

“Sure. 
Could be fun.”  Without waiting for him to change his mind, she got out of the
car and ran around to open his door.

Though
he struggled to get to shaky feet, he tried to laugh it off. Walking the palms
of his hands along the side of his car to keep his balance, he made his way to
the passenger seat and got in.

“Aren’t
you going to buckle up?” Serena said as she got in and started the car, but he
was already out. She reached passed his limp body and pulled the seatbelt
across him. “Let’s get you home, music man.”

She
eased the car onto the road and though she lacked his skill with the smooth
curves, she managed to make it to her place in one piece. The moment she pulled
into the parking space beside her own car, she realized she’d not really solved
the problem; she’d only brought it home.

Now
that they were at her place, what was she going to do with him?

“Sebastian,
can you hear me?”

“Baby,
baby, baby.  I hear you loud and clear.  Are you having trouble with my
Roadster?”

Amused
by his uncharacteristic silly antics, Serena helped get him out of the car.

“You
know,” he said as she guided him up the stairs, “I don’t think I really feel so
good.”

“No.”
She shook her head as they reached her floor and she propped him up against the
wall beside her door.  “You really don’t.”

Once
she’d unlocked the door, she kicked it open and led Sebastian inside.  The
moment he stepped inside, he vomited all over her freshly cleaned hardwood
floor.

“Okay,”
she said with surprising calm. “You really don’t feel good.” Gripping his
shoulders, she led him to the sofa and let him fall back. “I’ll go clean up
your little mess and be right back.”

“Wow,
I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt so…” He gagged, but quickly brought it
under control.

Serena
quickly picked up his mess, but between his gagging and the awful smell of
partially digested meal, she found herself rushing to the bathroom to throw
cool water on her face.

“You
okay?” Sebastian called out.

“Yeah.” 

Before
he could be sick again, she hurried to the cabinet under the kitchen sink and
pulled out a bucket.  “Here,” she said as she came up and shoved it beside him.
“Use this if you still feel nauseated.”

He
sat up as he chocked and gagged and retched, but nothing came out and he
reclined once again.  “Get me out of this,” he muttered as he tugged on his
tie.

As
she pulled the knot of his tie apart and unbuttoned the first button of his
shirt, she noticed how hot his skin was. It wasn’t the smoldering and sexy heat
she’d felt early, but an unhealthy hotness that left his skin ashy and clammy.