Rock Idol (Reality With a Twist Series) (6 page)

Mitch
could take as well as he gave and he laughed along with Ember at the boss’s
comment.

“Now
back to Fawn,” Fox said. “Is she using? Usually I can tell up front, but this
time…”

Ember
did not like the way this conversation was going. She didn’t want to lie to
Fox, but she also refused to rat out a friend. “Fawn normally acts a little
high so it’s hard to tell the difference.”

“This
season has started out very well,” Fox said. “I don’t want anything to derail
it. I’ve decided to have a random drug test for the on air personalities—judges
and contestants—so that if Fawn is getting high we can deal with her before it
becomes a scandal. Is that going to be a problem for either of you?”

Mitch
shook his head. “Of course not.”

“Ember?”

“You
could end up creating the very scandal you’re trying to avoid,” Ember warned
him. “Just the rumor that you’re drug testing could set the tabloids onto this
story.”

Fox
clearly didn’t like that answer. “I think I can manage the tabloids,” he said.

“If
we could manage the tabloids,” Ember contradicted him, “you wouldn’t be worried
about a potential scandal.”

His
brow suddenly furrowed with concern. “
You’re
not using, are you Ember?”

Ember
sighed. “No, Fox, I’m not—not for a lot of years. I haven’t even done pot since
you brought me on
Rock Idol
.”

She
didn’t like the sudden scrutiny Fox gave her. Did he not believe her or was he
impressed? She felt the need to say something further. “Look, drugs had a lot
to do with the collapse of my career and the failure of my marriage. All Ned
wanted to do was get high. I cleaned myself up from the hard stuff a dozen
years ago and I’m never going to use it again.”

A
nasty thought occurred to her. “Hey, Fox, this isn’t about Fawn at all, is it?
Why are you worried about me?”

“I’m
not worried about you, Ember,” Fox assured her. “I’m just trying to decide if
Fawn will stay part of the team.”

“So
you’re looking to fire her?” Mitch asked.

“Not
in the middle of the season,” Fox assured them, “but Fawn’s contract is up and
I may be looking to replace her.”

That
was a warning to Mitch and her too, Ember noted. They’d all signed initial
three season deals.

Fox
stood up. “Now why don’t the two of you go mix with our contestants and see if
you can’t give them a few pointers that turn this into the best night yet in
Season Three?”

Rick
Rogers caught Ember’s eye from across the room and gave a little shake of his
head toward the hallway.

Ember
sighed. She liked him. He was a really attractive young man and a great kisser,
but she had a career to think about and she wasn’t going to let herself be
alone with him again.

“Why
doesn’t Mr. Atwood dedicate a night of the show to your old hits?” Zach
Donderhue asked her.

Ember
pulled her mind back into the conversation. “That would be really sweet, but I
think Mitch might lose his dinner if we made him listen to all of my old
songs.”

“Right
you are,” Mitch said as he joined the conversation. “Ember was great at filling
the wet dreams of horny teenagers when she took the stage, but have you ever
really read her lyrics?” He pantomimed holding a microphone in front of him. “
You
make me feel so hot, hot, hot—so very hot, hot, hot—oh I’m so hot!
”

He
couldn’t maintain his serious expression and burst into laughter.
 
“Honestly, Ember, you really were the hottest
woman in music in the late eighties, but those lyrics you sang—absolute
drivel.”

Ember
couldn’t help laughing either. “Some of them were pretty weak, weren’t they,
but damn those were fun days!”

“Your
career actually epitomized what you and Fox were trying to tell me earlier,”
Mitch continued. “Oh you had talent, but the music you had to work with wasn’t
always the best. The factor that put you up on top was a sort of magical
charisma that defies quantification. It was the
it
factor—or the
star
factor
as you called it earlier.”

“I
may have to sit down,” Ember joked. “Someone must have put some drugs in my
drink. If I’m not mistaken, Mitch just told me I was right
and
gave me a
compliment.”

“Don’t
let it go to your head,” Mitch said.

“So
you do admit that pure singing talent isn’t enough to win this competition?”
Ember asked.

“I
don’t like it,” Mitch admitted, “but it’s obviously true. And let’s face it,
that’s the only thing that keeps people like our boy Zach here or that puppy
dog over there who keeps trying to get your attention in the running.”

“Wait
a minute, I have talent,” Zach protested.

“Yes,
you do,” Mitch agreed. “You don’t have as much as you think you have, but you
have enough to do pretty well if you put your mind to it.”

Across
the room, Rick made the head gesture again. It wasn’t very subtle.

Mitch
raised an eyebrow at Ember. “Are you going to see what he wants? He’s going to
injure himself if you don’t help him soon.”

Ember
sighed. “I guess I’d better.”

She
excused herself and walked toward Rick.

As
soon as he saw her coming, he slipped out the door and into the hallway. Ember
sighed again and followed him while Mitch laughed at her.

Outside,
Rick looked contrite—even ashamed of himself. “Thanks for coming out here,
Ember. I’ve been thinking about this all week and I have something I really
need to say to you. Do you mind if we go talk in your dressing room?”

Ember
definitely didn’t like the sound of that. She was not going to be alone with
him again—at least not more alone than this, standing in a hallway right
outside a room full of people. “Why don’t you just tell me what’s on your
mind?”

“I
wanted to talk to you about last week.”

Ember
frowned. “Rick, I’ve said everything I’m going to say about that.”

He
swallowed hard and looked around. There was no one in the hall but it was in
the nature of corridors that someone could appear at any moment. “Are you sure
we can’t go somewhere private?”

There
was no question in Ember’s mind that she did not want to be truly alone with
this young man again. He’d stepped across the line last week and she wasn’t
going to give him the opportunity to put her in a compromising position
again—not with Fox in his anti-scandal fervor. And besides, she hadn’t been
exactly passive during that kiss. She wasn’t certain she trusted herself not to
do something stupid if a hunk like Rick made another move on her. “Yes, I’m
sure. What’s on your mind?”

Rick
looked her straight in the eye. “You, and the way I treated you last week. I’m
ashamed of myself. I wasn’t acting very professional. I wasn’t even acting like
I cared. You told me in no uncertain terms what the rules were and I pushed you
anyway. I’m sorry!”

This
was not what Ember had expected Rick to say to her. Frankly, it was much more
welcome than another attempt to kiss her. Still, she’d seen a lot of guys try a
lot of different come-ons over the years and she wasn’t completely certain that
this wasn’t just a strategy on Rick’s part to get close to her again. “Let’s
just put it behind us,” she suggested.

Rick
obviously wasn’t ready to do that yet. “I’ve been a fan of yours all my life.
Having you encourage me like that—I guess it went to my head. I’m truly sorry.”

“I
accept your apology,” Ember told him. She meant what she said. Despite her
cautious skepticism, she was pretty sure that Rick was sincere in his
words.
 
He was a young guy in a new
environment and he’d lost his head. “Let’s just pretend the last two weeks
never happened.”

Rick’s
cocky smile reappeared on his face. The smile that surfaced whenever he seemed to
be enjoying himself. “Oh, I don’t want to do that. Think about it for a moment.
I actually got to kiss my very own rock idol. I’m never going to forget.
 
To paraphrase Paul McCartney, I’ll still
remember that kiss when I’m sixty-four.”

Ember
cringed at the double mention of the kiss even as her body flushed in happy
memory. Fortunately, Rick didn’t dwell on
 
the word.

“Hey,
may I ask you something? I guess it’s asking for a favor—which I definitely
don’t deserve—but you’ve given me some great advice since I got here to
Rock
Idol
. Will you keep doing it? I really admire you and it really does make a
difference to me, thinking I have you in my corner.”

This
was a request Ember felt perfectly comfortable filling. “Of course, I will,
Rick.” She placed a hand reassuringly on his firm, muscular arm, then tried to
suppress the memory of how good this arm had felt as it wrapped around her
body. “And I
am
in your corner. I want all of our contestants to perform
as well as they possibly can.”

The
door behind Ember burst open and Fawn Fields stormed out into the hall, eyes
blazing with fury. “How could you? I trusted you! How could you do this to me?”

Ember
had no idea what Fawn was talking about. She opened her mouth to explain this
but Fawn didn’t stop talking long enough for her to do so.

“You!”
Fawn pointed her finger at Rick in an uncharacteristically assertive gesture.
“Go someplace else! Now!”

Rick
started to protest. “Wait a minute! What’s going on?”

“I
said
now
!” Fawn raged.

“You
better do as she says, sweetie,” Ember told him.

“
You
better do as she says, sweetie
,” Fawn mimicked. “Honestly, Ember, he’s half
your age.”

Rick
started to protest again but Ember shifted her hand to his back and urged him
to reenter the room with the other contestants. “Please, sweetie, why don’t you
go join the others? I obviously need to talk to Fawn.”

Rick
looked from Ember to Fawn and back again, trying to figure out if Ember really
needed him. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“
Are
you sure you’ll be okay?
” Fawn mimicked.

Ember
nodded to him and he left.

The
moment he was gone, Fawn attacked her again. “How could you?”

Ember
suppressed the urge to snap back at the woman. “I don’t know what you think
I’ve done to you, but we’re not talking about it here where absolutely anyone
can hear what we’re saying.” She started down the hall and found a small
conference room that wasn’t in use.

As
soon as the door closed behind them, Fawn started in on her again. “How could
you?”

Ember
had taken enough of the crap. “How could I do what?”

Fawn
face scrunched up as if she were about to burst into tears. “How could you tell
Fox I was using drugs again?”

“
What
?”
Ember asked. “I didn’t tell Fox that!”

“Don’t
you dare try and deny it!”

“I
didn’t tell him!” Ember insisted. “He came up with this idea for drug testing
all on his own.”

“He
asked if you thought it was a good idea and you agreed! Why do you have it in
for me?”

“I
did not…and he did not…and…” Ember’s voice trailed off, confused by all the
nots
that were coming out of her mouth. “Look, Fawn, I did not tell anyone you’re
using and I did not agree with Fox that drug testing was a good thing.”

“Mitch
said he asked you about me.”

Mitch!
Ember would have throttled the
troublemaker if he were standing in front of her right now. “You know you have
to listen carefully to what Mitch says. He enjoys stirring up trouble.”

“So
you’re saying Fox didn’t ask you if I was using again?”

“What?
No, I mean, Fox asked if I thought you were doing drugs, but I didn’t tell him
I found you snorting.”

“No!
You said I was so high all the time you couldn’t tell the difference!”

“That’s
right!” Ember snapped. “And I can’t tell! But I didn’t make it a bad thing. I
made it a joke to try and take the pressure off the situation.”