Uncovering Kaitlyn (9 page)

Me-
Ha-ha. You really think your funny don’t you? But never?

Mr Smith-
I’ve been told so :P and when I was 14, and I swear you were on the show with
me!

Me- Hey.
That’s my line.

Mr Smith-
Lover’s tiff already, we’ve come so far.

Me- …

Mr Smith-
So when did you want to go out? I was thinking possibly sat.

Me- Can’t
do sat, Jake’s flying over. Next week?

Mr Smith-
I’m filming Monday and Tuesday.

Me- I’m
filming Tuesday
L
. Weds?

Mr Smith-
I can do weds, but early morning is better. Cheer up, you’ll put my teaching to
shame.

I said
goodnight and played for a bit longer before catching up on some sleep.

***

On Saturday
I met Jake at the airport. I couldn’t believe how long I’d been away from him.
Since I was nine we’d only gone about thirty six hours without seeing each
other, and before then we still saw each other at least every other day.

“Kaitlyn.
God I’ve missed you.” Jake pulled me close. “So how’s America been treating
you?”

“I’ve missed
you too. It’s not got much on England, but at least it’s got the weather. I
love waking up to the sunshine.”

“What’s
wrong with waking up to grey cloud and misery?”

“Nothing if
you want to be sickly pale and depressed for most your life. So what have you
been up to in England?”

“Not a lot,
I’ll tell you about it when we get to the hotel.”

We went to
the car and the driver pointed out some sights as he took us back to the hotel.
I picked up an extra key to my suite at reception for Jake. I smiled at a
photographer who seemed to be permanently based in the hotel lobby and somebody
took Jake’s bag upstairs for him as we took a detour through the bar.

We walked
into the suite with cocktails in hand and Jake laughed at the state I’d left
the place in.

“You’re not
usually messy. Is this fame for you?” He laughed.

“Hey. I’ve
been writing music.”

“And this is
inspiration?”

“I didn’t
want anyone to disturb me, and I was on a roll. So I didn’t do it either.”

“And Dad?”

It always
made me warm inside when Jake said Dad. He didn’t grow up with his parents and
I loved that he accepted my family like that.

“He listened
some, but he left me mostly. I was playing at three the other morning so he’s
been going out most days. I think he misses the peace and quiet.”

“Three in
the morning, that’s almost as bad as your friend Jamie.” He teased.

“I woke up.
It’s an art, you can’t choose when inspiration hits. I pointed out to Jamie
about that, he didn’t even think about the time difference.” I scooped up some
of the mess from the sofa, and piled it onto another chair. It wasn’t like I
was a pig. It was mainly a few towels and a lot of paper from my writing and
scribbled notes. I’d spent some time playing in my bedroom but had taken over
the living room for my notes and for breaks.

“I’m sure he
was telling the truth. Big famous celebrities never lie.”

“Jamie is
cocky and possibly arrogant. He isn’t a liar or that rude. Anyway, don’t change
the subject. Clearly something is going on with you, you wouldn’t tell me that
you’d tell me later if there wasn’t. So Spill it.”

“There’s not
much to say. I cleared all my stuff from Diana’s and I’ve rented a new house
within about ten minutes’ walk from yours.”

“I thought
you’d move in with us.”

“I can’t
Kaitlyn. It’s too much.”

I didn’t
mention it again. I knew that Jake was as messed up as I was and I hated it
when people pushed me because they didn’t understand. Jake got me and I got
him. He pushed me slowly with things he knew I’d more than likely handle.

“So what’s
the house like?”

“It’s a
simple two bedroom house. A room for you if you ever want to stay over, small
garden, driveway and best of all, it’s semi-furnished. The lease is only six
months. There isn’t a chance of it being extended because the landlord is
moving back then. That’s good because who knows what you’ll be doing in six
months. This way if you leave I can come with you, or find a more permanent
house in the village.”

I smiled at
him.

“So you’re
going to be one of those sad old men, with an obsession. Like a creepy
groupie?”

“What do you
mean ‘going to’? I already am.”

We finished
our cocktails, which disappointingly were both non-alcoholic since we were
under twenty-one and I played Jake my new song and the others I’d been working
on for the album. When I finished he stole Oliver and tried out his own songs.
Jake had picked up a few skills over the years from spending so much time
watching me (in a completely non-creepy way) but he was terrible. He sounded
like he was trying to torture the hotel by slowly making everyone’s ears bleed.

“Jake, stop
please. Jake, come on. People have been listening to me play for days, what if
they think it’s me?”

“Are trying
to tell me something about my talents?”

“Jake, to do
that, you’d actually have to have some to begin with. I’m telling you that
murder comes with the death penalty in some states and I’m not sure if this is
one of them and what happens if this you cause deaths across state lines.”

“There’s no
need to be mean. We can’t always be born musicians like you.” He faked tears.

“And we
don’t all have the flare for drama that you have.”

“I know
Katie, but you’ll learn. Unfortunately I’m too busy to teach you, but lucky I
got some Hollywood guy to teach you instead. How’s that going?”

“As good as
it could. We went over every scene and he gave me some tips. He’ll be there on
Tuesday. He said he’ll come see me and check that I’m coping ok. He says that
my acting should be fine. It’s just the nerves I need to worry about.”

I’d been
texting Jamie since Wednesday night, and I found him a generally interesting
person. He was always reassuring me about my first scenes and he offered to
help in any way he could. He was thinking of watching my first scene and was
going to be my ‘buddy’ for the day.

“Does he
think you have any reason to worry about your nerves?”

“Not really.
He says that they know I’ll be really nervous anyway, so they’ll do a bit to
help before I get there. He kept telling me that this will be easier than
Howard Collins because there isn’t an audience, so I can take a lot of attempts
if I need too. Basically his whole point was I can screw up as much as I want to.”

“Good
philosophy. Screw it up, and it doesn’t matter. I think I might just about like
this man, as long as he avoids calling me at stupid hours.”

“You were
awake anyway. Are you coming with me on Tuesday?”

“Do you want
me there? I was planning on it, but I’ll meet you for lunch or something
instead if you want.”

“Of course I
want you there. I couldn’t do that without you, I don’t think I’d last five
minutes. Dad is coming for a bit, and then he’s going to wait nearby in a café
or something. Aaron is flying in Monday. He’s going to be with me all day to
sort out any problems. He made it sound like he’s expecting there to be a lot
of problems.”

“I don’t
think you could do anything without drama. It’s like your purpose in life.”

“Thanks, I’m
feeling the love.”

“Always
Kaitlyn”

***

Tuesday
morning I was sick. I had to be at the studio by half eight but I woke up at
around four in the morning. I tried to go back to sleep but I got more nervous
by the minute. After an hour I was sick and by half six Jake came in and made
me get washed and dressed. Jamie had text me to check on me and wish me luck. I
replied that I was worse than on Howard Collins and he told me I should come in
to the studio early. He was there already and he thought it might help if I
could see what is going on.

I put on
some clothes while Dad and Jake packed me a selection of scarves and extra make
up. I didn’t mention that Jamie was the person who told me to come in early.
Jake and Dad would tease me relentlessly if they knew I was texting him and
Jake would more than likely go and threatened him. He loved me but he had been
known to go mental at people who flirted with me in the past. It wasn’t
anything romantic, just brotherly love. I answered the door to Aaron and we all
went down to a car that he had arranged.  We were met at the studio by
security. We all had to sign in and wait for somebody from the crew to come and
greet us. Jamie walked towards us alongside a middle aged man. He waved and
said something to the man.

“So how are
you feeling? Nervous, much?” Jamie asked me.

“I’d like to
say I’ve been worse but that would be lying.”

“You’ll be
fine. Remember you just need to be genuine.”

I smiled and
clung to Jake. Jamie looked at me oddly then introduced me to the man who
turned out to be the director.

“We should
be ready for you a bit later in the morning. We’ll let you have a good look
around and ask any questions you have. Then we’ll get you in wardrobe early so
then we can call you whenever.”

Aaron spoke
to him and introduced himself and Dad. Jake was currently trying to calm me
down a bit, to prevent me having a full blown panic attack.

“That’s
Jake” Jamie explained.

“Her
boyfriend?”

“Her
brother.”

“Oh”

“They have a
complicated family. She doesn’t talk about it. They’re good to come in?”

“We usually
only allow people’s core teams. That would be Aaron.”

“This is my
core team” I spoke, still pushing away my fear and panic. “They come to
everything.”

Aaron
stepped in to help me.

“They go
with Kaitlyn to all events. She isn’t allowed to be without them. It is part of
the agreement I have with her. Jake is going to stay all day, but her dad is
only staying for an hour or so. I can bring out my contract if that’s a
problem, I did forward it to you the other night though.”

“It’s fine,
they can have their visitor’s passes. I’ll see you later.”

The director
walked away and Jamie spoke to all of us.

“He was
going to get an assistant to give you a tour, but I offered instead. I don’t
have to be on set for a while and I didn’t want you to embarrass the Brits with
your bathroom visits”

“Bathroom
visits?” Dad questioned.

“The first
time I spoke to Jamie, he asked where Kaitlyn was. She was throwing up in the
bathroom.” Jake stepped back to avoid me hitting him.

“Jake,
you’re supposed to look after Kaitlyn”

“It didn’t
do her any harm. Character building is an essential part of growing up.”

“She is a
grown up. No wonder she was pissed off when you got home.”

“Dad, I’m
standing next to you.”

“We know
Katie” Jake hugged me. “And she was pissed off because I broke up with my
girlfriend over the phone, before I proposed.”

“You
wouldn’t break up after you proposed. That would be awkward.” Jamie laughed
with us.

He walked us
around the set and pointed some people out. He got called to set early so
dropped me off at the wardrobe department. Jake and Dad stayed outside and I
went in with Aaron.

“Hello, I’m
Mindy. You’re Kaitlyn right. We have your measurements, so this should fit you
fine.”

She picked
up a bag and pulled out some clothes.

“Now, I
don’t want you to panic because the clothes are decent. You’ll be covered.”

I glanced at
Aaron nervously. Mindy held up a dark bikini with shorts and some simple black
flip-flops.

“Oh God.” I
sat into a seat and tried not to cry.

“She can’t
wear that.”

“Its fine, I
promise. We do have a tank top just in case, although we do prefer the bikini.”

“Sorry, but
she can’t. Kaitlyn needs to change the whole outfit.”

“This was
Okayed by everyone. So it’s fine.”

“This isn’t
fine, and she isn’t wearing that.”

Mindy
scowled and stormed out. Dad and Jake came in and Aaron pointed to the clothes.

“I told them
that Kaitlyn had to have final say on the clothes.”

Jake shifted
me over and sat next to me and pulled me onto his lap.

“What’s
going on?” A lady demanded.

“She’s a
nightmare. She hasn’t even tried any of it on.” Mindy whined and complained.

“We were
under the impression Kaitlyn had a choice and final say with her clothes. Trust
me, Kaitlyn can’t wear that.”