Rock Idol (Reality With a Twist Series) (15 page)

“It
may not be fair,” Ember agreed, “but it’s the hand we hold.”

Rick
kicked at an imaginary pile of dirt. “Damn! And I bought a big box of condoms
this week.”

His
petulant expression made Ember smile. “What type?” It did make a difference.

“Trojan
Ultra Thins,” Rick told her. “I may have to wear it but I want to feel
everything I can.”

Ember
spontaneously hugged him. “Even when the news is bad you make me feel good.”

The
dressing room door opened and Hillary Tempest entered without bothering to
knock first. “Rick, Fawn wants to talk to you.”

Ember
let go of Rick quickly, but not before Hillary saw them together.

The
self-absorbed singer eyed the two meaningfully, but didn’t make a comment. She
turned and started back out the door. “She’s in her dressing room. And make
sure you tell her I’m not your errand girl.”

The
door swung closed behind her leaving Ember and Rick staring at each other.

Rick
finally broke the silence. “What do you think she wants?”

“Probably
nothing,” Ember told him.

“I’m
getting very sick of Fawn,” Rick announced as he left to find out what was up.

“Well,
Hillary,” Mitch said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but for the first time
since this competition started, I think you might have a problem.”

Had
Mitch just said that the world was flat, Ember didn’t think that Hillary
Tempest could look any more incredulous. “What are you talking about?” she
demanded. “I’m hands down the best singer in this competition. Hell, even
calling it a competition is demeaning to me.”

Mitch
frowned. “I almost agree with that statement and yet Rick Rogers just got half
the audience to stand up and applaud and all that you got was a mostly polite
round of clapping.”

Hillary
sullenly acknowledged this by glaring at the audience.

“How
do you explain that?” Mitch asked her.

Hillary
moved her glare to Ember. “Rick’s attracting the lovesick female vote. No one
who truly appreciates talent is going to support him.”

Mitch
shook his head. “You know, I have sat here week after week arguing in favor of
raw talent over dimples, but the simple reality is that there are a lot of
stars out there with far less talent than you and Rick who are making a very
good living. There has to be some middle ground. Talent alone isn’t enough. You
have to have some charisma and sex appeal too. You have to be able to put on a
show. If you can’t start developing those other skills immediately, I no longer
think you’re going to win
Rock Idol
.”

Mitch
sat back in his chair and passed the baton to Fawn, who took a few moments to
pull her thoughts together.

 
“Hillary, your singing is magnificent, but it
wouldn’t hurt you if the audience liked you more. It’s wonderful to stand up
for your art, but it isn’t selling out to smile a little and be nice to
people.”

The
way that Fawn phrased her criticism made Ember wonder if something new had
happened to make the coke-addled judge feel she had to defend her own career.

But
Ember had no time to think about that now. It was her turn in the spotlight and
she had to comment on Tempest’s performance.

“Hillary,
I still think you have the potential to win this competition. What’s more, I
think you’ve a real chance to build an impressive career beyond
Rock Idol
.
But—brace yourself, Mitch—Mitch is right about you. You aren’t auditioning for
the church choir. A rock star has to have a charisma that goes far beyond her
technical vocal prowess. I’ve said this to you week after week now: you need to
start paying attention to your stagecraft. We’re past the halfway point in the
competition now. It’s time to start pushing your boundaries and pressing your
comfort zone.”

Hillary
smirked. “Like Rick Rogers is doing?”

Fawn
laughed out loud. “Ha!”

Ember
struggled to contain her frown. What the hell was going on? “Rick’s strengths
and weaknesses are the opposite of yours. You would do well to learn from each
other.”

“Of
course you’d say that,” Hillary said.

Jonathan
King intervened. He looked a bit bewildered and even concerned. “Well, thank
you, Hillary. Remember America, anyone who’d
like to vote for Hillary can phone or text to the numbers on the screen just as
soon as our show ends.”

Despite
her incredible talent, not many people voted for Hillary that night. But the trouble
didn’t start until she started giving interviews after she went home.

Week Nine and a Half

Ember
sat down at the conference table noting the half dozen scandal sheets scattered
across the surface. The headlines told the entire story, ranging from the
ridiculous
Ember Sells Vote for Sex
to the somewhat more accurate
Sex,
Drugs and Rock Idol
. It had not been a good few days and if the expression
on Fox Atwood’s face was any indication, it was about to get a whole lot worse.

Fox
picked up one of the papers with its:
Tempest-Tantrum
headline and shook
it at Ember, Mitch, Fawn and the gathered producers. “Did I not open this
season by telling each and every one of you that I wanted a scandal free
season?” he asked.

The
question sounded calm and rational. His voice did not!

“I
don’t know why you’re blaming us for this mess,” Fawn said. “Ember is the one
who—”

“Shut
up!” Fox snapped. He snatched another paper off the table and scanned the story
until he found the passage he wanted. “
And if it wasn’t bad enough to have
to watch Rick and Ember sneaking around on the set
,” he read, “
I had to
listen to Fawn Fields complain about it between snorts of cocaine.
”

Fawn
surged to her feet. “I’ve already talked to my lawyers about that libel!” she
shouted.

“Sit
down and shut up!” Fox shouted back.

“I
don’t—”

Fox
stood up and towered over her. “Do it, now!”

Fawn
sat.

Mitch
stepped into the fray. “I don’t understand what you’re so upset about,” he told
Fox. “I’ve read each and every one of these articles. It’s all speculation and
sour grapes. She didn’t actually see Ember and Rick doing anything. They talked
together in the hall and she knocked on Ember’s door a couple of times and
didn’t get in. I mean, how ridiculous is this?”

“She’s
says it’s common knowledge,” Fox said.

“Well,
how common could it really be?” Mitch asked. “I certainly didn’t have any idea
this was happening and I’ll bet none of the rest of you did either—even if—and
I really mean
if
—there’s anything to this story in the first place.
Hell, a couple of weeks ago you all thought Ember was running around with me.”

“And
Hillary has told them I made up that story to cover for Ember and Rick!” Fox
shouted.

“Well
did you?” Mitch asked.

“No!”
Fox shouted. “But it sure as hell will look like I did since just about
everybody knows now you two really aren’t together.”

“Well
you can’t very well blame Ember for that now, can you?” Mitch shouted back.
“You decided to do pull that stunt all on your own!”

Fawn
tried to bring the focus back to Ember. “Look at her! She won’t even deny it.”

“I
can’t prove a negative,” Ember said. “That’s one of the things that’s so nasty
about these stories. A disgruntled contestant can say whatever she wants. She
doesn’t have to actually prove anything. I’m obviously considered guilty until
proven innocent.”

“But
you’re not denying it, and you certainly favored Rick in the competition.”

“Now
wait a minute!” Mitch snapped. The vehemence of his continued defense surprised
Ember. He was really getting hot under the collar about this. “I don’t think
that’s true. She certainly disagreed with us over Rick, but that doesn’t mean
she favored him. Ember has always striven to give balanced criticism—something
the contestant does well and something that still needs improvement. I haven’t
reviewed all the segments again, but I doubt very seriously that she deviated
from that pattern with Rick.”

“Oh
come on,” Fawn protested. “She’s up there casting mooneyes at him and he’s
obviously singing to her. And they’re constantly together.”

“Fawn,”
Ember said, “I live in New York. How much time
do you think I spend out here?”

Fawn
smirked. It was easy to see that she thought she had Ember. “I’ve caught him
coming into your dressing room.”

“You’ve
seen
him coming into my dressing room,” Ember corrected her. “You were
actually there at the time. Are you alleging now that
we
are having an
affair too?”

Mitch
actually laughed. God bless him. “Oh, I’d love to see that headline,” he said.

Fox
stepped back into the conversation. “No, we wouldn’t! So let’s sum up—Fawn thinks
Ember and Rick are having an affair and Mitch doesn’t. Anyone else have an
opinion?”

None
of the producers put themselves forward.

“Okay
then,” Fox said, “I think it’s time that Ember and I speak alone.”

Fawn
grinned in triumphant.

“Fawn,
I’m sorry it’s come to this, but I need that drug test now.” He waved to his
assistant, Gina Hartley. “Escort her straight to a bathroom and don’t let her
take her purse inside with her.”

Fawn’s
grin fell and she clutched at her purse. “You can’t do that!” she said.

“Yes,
I can, Fawn,” he said. “Now all of you get out!”

It
took some time, but the room cleared.

Ember
had known Fox Atwood her entire adult life. He’d taken the chance on her that
resulted in her first career. And he’d taken the chance that had given her a
second one. Both times she screwed it up in part over sex. She felt incredibly
foolish, even though she didn’t believe that this time she’d done anything
wrong.

Fox
let down the façade of power and sat before her as a tired old man. “I warned
you, Ember. I thought I was warning, Mitch, but you heard the threat.”

“So
you’ve made up your mind then?” she asked.

“I’d
like you to resign,” he said. “You could plead exhaustion and maybe check
yourself into a clinic to get some help.”

“Help
for what?” Ember said. “I’m not Fawn. I’m not doing drugs again.”

“Maybe
for sex addiction,” Fox said.

Ember
laughed. The comment shouldn’t have been funny under the circumstances, but the
idea that resigning from the show to avoid scandal and then playing Tiger Woods
in some sex clinic was so patently absurd she couldn’t help herself.

“Well
what other explanation is there?”

“Fox,
you’ve been married four times,” Ember reminded him. “Why did you keep doing it
after the first couple failed?”

Fox
shrugged and smiled. It lifted ten years off his apparent age. “I liked them,”
he said.