Uncovering Kaitlyn (10 page)

“We don’t
have time to change it. She’ll live.”

“We’re not
being rude, we’re being honest, so don’t take that attitude with me. Look at
her. That isn’t the reaction of a diva.”

I guessed I
looked a mess. I was crying and shaking and I could feel myself heating up.

“Could Mindy
leave us alone for a minute, please?”

Mindy glared
at us then stormed back out.

“Kaitlyn,
sweetie. You need to show the producer what’s going on.” Dad said holding my
hand. “It’s just her and us. And she’s not going to tell anyone.”

I pulled at
my scarf and took off my top. I grabbed an elastic band and put my hair back. 
I turned back to face the producer.

“I can’t
wear that. I need to be covered.”

She looked
for a moment then walked around me, inspecting me closely.

“We’ll bring
in Mindy and one of our hairdressers. Between them they’ll make sure you’re
covered up.”

Jamie

I was hoping
to see Kaitlyn during my break but the wardrobe girl came in throwing a fit
about Kaitlyn refusing to wear the clothes they gave her. She was beginning to
get a reputation as a diva but I really didn’t understand it. Whenever I spoke
to her she was down to earth and genuine. She seemed to get annoyed with any
attention she got, and seemed to just love her music. Kaitlyn wasn’t famous for
being famous, she lived through her music. Several times when I spoke to her
over the week she was writing or practising, even if it was the early hours, or
as late as four in the morning.

It’s obvious
that she has some issues, but I don’t get what could make her act up like that.
Kaitlyn is the girl next door. She’s beautiful on the outside and inside, she’s
kind and caring and funny and possibly the nicest girl I’d ever met. If Ryan
could hear me right now he’d probably try to knock some sense into me. He might
secretly love the whole girlfriend thing but he’d rip me for it. I wasn’t the
type and he knew it. He’d never let me forget it if I said anything, which is
why I went along with Kaitlyn’s secret date thing. I didn’t how I felt about
her, so this would save any agro until I worked it out.

Instead of
meeting her, I called Graham requested that we go out for lunch. During the day
I had a bodyguard to come with me outside the set. Details of me filming had
been released so I had crazy girls turn up most of the time. I also had shit
load of reporters pestering me for details of the petrol station incident,
which I always refused to acknowledge. The poor girl was sick and she didn’t
need me to tell the world that. When I got home the other night I called my
parents to explain what happened. I asked them to keep the details to
themselves for the girl’s sake and my mum looked up what happened to the girl
for me. Apparently she has a mental illness and can’t quite grasp reality from
fantasy. I never asked what it was, it wasn’t my right. She’d been discharged
from hospital so she could stay with the baby and Max, the man she was with. He
was her live in carer. I wished them luck and sent an anonymous card and gift
set to her, paid on one of my parents cards so she couldn’t trace it to me.
Graham turned up for lunch and we went to a restaurant in town. I smiled and
spoke to a lot of my fans and didn’t bother to ignore any of them while I ate.
Every now and then, I had a day where I tried hard with them to please Graham,
so he’d lay off for a bit.

When I got
back from lunch I had to prepare for my scene with Kaitlyn. I was prepped and
had to wait for ages for everyone to get ready. When Kaitlyn came out she was
still in her gown and surrounded by people. Somehow I knew that Jake would be
the one standing near her while everyone worked around him. Kaitlyn had said he
was like a brother to her, but their relationship was clearly quite intense. I
had deliberately said he was her brother earlier to see if it gained a reaction
but only the director seemed confused.

At the last
minute they took off her gown and fixed her hair and clothes. She was stunning.
I’m a grown man, and hate to think that I’m pervy at all, but I had to force my
tongue back into my mouth. She was wearing a red bikini with a see through
turquoise top, falling just below her arse. Her hair was pulled to one side and
tied loosely so it rested over her shoulder and came down past her chest. I had
to tear my ears away from her, and get people to repeat themselves as they got
the scene ready.

I made my
way onto the set at the same time as Kaitlyn.

“How are you
feeling, Missy?”

“Nervous.”

A man in a
black polo shirt went around checking on people in the room and asking some to
leave. Her Dad, Jake and Aaron stood together by a chair which she claimed when
she came in.

“See, I told
you they’d help you out with your nerves. Only essential people are around us.
I bet some people think we’re doing a sex scene” I teased her.

She didn’t
blush like I expected, she paled even more and nodded. People started shouting
directions and I heard an ‘action’.

It took five
takes, but considering Kaitlyn’s nerves it wasn’t that much. I heard a man
muttering about how she only had to say hello, and I shot him a glare. He
physically winced and shut up. He didn’t talk for the rest of the scene. As
soon as Kaitlyn’s part was finished for the day she put on her gown and went to
get changed.

I never had
chance to say bye, because I was busy waiting around for people to get
organised so I sent her a text instead.

Me- so
are we on for tomorrow?

I had to
wait for a reply while I did a few takes then checked my phone again. The other
day after simply putting her under Kaitlyn on my phone I renamed her Foxy
Jones. It wasn’t sleek like I usually tried but it was the best I could come up
with.

Foxy Jones-
You bet. You can’t chicken out now.

Me- I
wasn’t planning on chickening out. I’ll pick you up at six. That’s AM.

Foxy
Jones- That’s not going to put me off. I’ll see you then.

I finished
up for the night and went home. Ryan was lounging outside eating Chinese when I
walked through the door.

“So how was
today? Meet any supermodels?”

“Nah, not
today. I had a fan day, filmed a few scenes. Trust me when I say you’ll want to
go to the premiere.”

“Why?”

“Kaitlyn,
with only a flimsy top covering her bikini. You want to go.”

“I thought
she broke your rules.”

“Looking has
never broken my rules. It was strange this morning though. She threw a fit
about something then an hour later everyone was all friends.”

“She threw a
fit? She doesn’t look like the type to me.”

“I know. I
didn’t understand it either. Her family seemed to think it was normal though.”

“Alright if
I join you at work one day?”

“Should be,
I wouldn’t go in when Kaitlyn’s there though. For one thing, she gets way too
nervous as it is, and another, there’s something going on with her that’s
making it weird. Thursday maybe?”

“I think I
can find time in my schedule for that. So where are you off to tomorrow at
seven in the morning?”

“I’ve got
some work stuff to do”

“I have to
say you’re a brilliant actor, terrible liar. You’ve told Graham that you’re
busy tomorrow. So?”

“So, I’m
going out. I’m twenty-one. Over here that’s like an actual adult. It doesn’t
matter where.”

“Smooth
James, real smooth.”

“Am I in
trouble?”

“Why James?”

“I give up.
I’ll be going out tomorrow. I’ll be back in the afternoon so be up. I’m
thinking about getting a new car. I can’t stand you scrounging lifts.”

“Scrounging
lifts? How many lifts have you given me since I got here?”

“None, and
that’s exactly my point. How am I supposed to scrounge a lift off you, if
you’re not in debt? So new car, your debt, me sorted.”

“You’re
giving me your car? Do you have any idea how much that costs? I’m poor man.
Compared to you I may as well be a hooker with a heroin addiction.”

“I didn’t
know you were offering. I would have been more than happy to pay you for your
skills. How much do you charge? I reckon you’ll be $5 a go. Is that too much? I
don’t tip either.”

“I’m $6
actually, and I wouldn’t charge you. I’m free if the tabloids pay.”

“Anyway, I
figured I’ll buy myself a new car, and you can drive the old one. Then when you
go back, I’ll trade yours in. So I won’t be out of pocket unless you total it.
So don’t total it.”

“As if I
would. I’m offended.”

“You’re the
only person I know to write off three cars while learning how to drive.”

“The first
was not my fault. I got my pedals mixed up. It was an easy mistake to make.”

“And the
other two?”

“Misunderstandings.
The cars weren’t listening to me.”

“You weren’t
talking to them.”

“It’s all
about telepathy. They should have known the lights would change.”

“I can’t
believe I’m actually lending you my car. You can’t drive at rush hour, or near
any kids. I can see the headlines now ‘Jamie Stark’s friend kills school kids
with his car’.”

“Just as
well you’re pretty. You suck at journalism.”

“You should
see me in my prom dress!”

***

I waited
down the road from Kaitlyn’s hotel and scoped the area for paparazzi. It was
part of the reason I wanted to go out early. Mostly I was stalked in the
afternoons and evenings, so this was our best hope of some privacy. When I saw
her walk out the hotel in a pink T-shirt, black skirt and a dark pink scarf, I
swear my heart jumped. She was sexy, yet not over stated. She wore her hair
down and it cascaded down her back. I sent her a quick text giving her
directions to my car.

She tapped
on the window and I leaned over to open her door.

“You’ll have
to forgive me.  I’m not up with the dating rituals. So I’m not sure what goes.”

“Opening the
door is good. Not saying hello, or closing it is bad” She laughed.

“Morning,
Foxy. How’s that? What about you, do you know the dating rituals first hand?”

“Not that
great. Last boyfriend at fifteen, last date last year, but I’m sure I can fill
you in on what you’re supposed to do. Female intuition.”

“That’s the
thing that gets men into trouble and causes divorces, right?”

“It’s been
known to happen. Seeing how we’re not married, I think you could risk it.”

“So no
oversleeping? It’s early still.”

“I was up
with Oliver at five, so no problems there. Jake would be proud.”

“Oliver?”

Shit, she
didn’t have a kid did she? I’d hate to be the type of guy to ditch a girl
because of a kid, but I know I would be. That would explain Jake being around
all the time and why they were protective of her dating.

“He’s my
guitar. I don’t tend to mention the fact he’s got a name. People think you’re
crazy. So where are we going?”

“Breakfast.
Have any issues with food?”

“Apart from
the fact I haven’t had any yet today, none.”

“Good. So
why were you playing at five in the morning?”

“I woke up
early, and decided to play. I always used to when I was growing up as a way to
calm down so I could sleep again. It’s become a bad habit. At least now I can
say it is work for the album. People don’t mind so much then.”

I drove out
towards my favourite quiet café in LA. It was a twenty minute walk away from
the beach and they did great food.

“What about
the other people in the hotel? Do they mind you waking them up?”

“I think
Aaron may have paid somebody off. No one has complained. It’s strange.”

“That’s
something you’ll get used to, people being strange when they should be mad or
something.”

“Doesn’t
that drive you crazy?”

“Every
single day. I love that people love my acting and my films and stuff, but they
don’t know me. They know whatever is printed. Take the petrol station for
instance, no one knows what happened but everybody has an opinion on it or is
wishing me to get well. That sort of thing drives me crazy. For the most part
it’s amusing to watch and Ryan helps. He sees something good in everything.”

“It must be
hard, not having much privacy. People keep selling stories about me and I
barely know them.”

“It’s hard,
but it’s my life. I don’t think I’d change it. If I wanted to I’d just stop
acting but it’s all I’ve got. I couldn’t live without it.”

“That’s what
music is like for me.”

I pulled up
to a car park and made a point of being just out of focus of the CCTV. I’d been
caught out before with people selling the videos of me, and I didn’t want to
put Kaitlyn in that position. I opened her door and teased her as she climbed
out. The walk to the café was pleasant and we chatted comfortably. I told her a
bit about some of the films I’d been in and she told me about the album she was
making.