Page 20 of The Price of Fame

“Congratulations, Markus, your new song is number one in our charts, and it’s top ten around the world. Everyone is calling to congratulate you and find out more about the woman in the video clip. You are obviously in love. ” He froze at his mother’s words and gripped his phone tighter, hoping what he thought had happened hadn’t.

“Mama, I haven’t released a song. I’m working in the studio now.” An uneasy feeling settled over him. “Please tell me the song wasn’t called ‘My One and Only’.”

“Yes, that’s what it’s called, very catchy. So when do I get to meet the girl? Is this the woman you met on your getaway?”

Rubbing his hand over his face and feeling as though he needed to pull his hair out, he took a deep breath and gritted out, “With everything that’s just happened, I don’t know if you’ll ever meet her. Um, that song was just hers, Mama.”

“Oh, Markus, I’m sure she’ll understand if she loves you, and from the video clip of you together and the way she looks at you, I’d say she does. She would be crazy not to. I’ll let you go and sort this out. Your father and I are very proud of you. Love you.”

“Thanks, bye.” He hung up and debated who to call first, Kylie or his manager to find out what the hell was going on.

The choice of his manager won. “Please tell me ‘My One and Only’ wasn’t released to the public.”

“Fuck. I was trying to get it sorted out before you came up for air. It was leaked only hours after you sent it to your girlfriend. I was going to call you today. I have the record company telling me you’re going to perform it at the awards show. I have the awards show ringing and begging for you to do it. I’ve been fending off magazines and TV programs, all offering big bucks for you to go on their show. It’s in the top ten in America. I don’t think I can contain it. I’ve been trying.”

Markus roared into the phone, picked up the closest thing to him, and threw it. “Get me a flight to Sydney, and pray she forgives me because, otherwise, you’re fired.” He heard his manager trying to interrupt. “If you mention the awards ceremony or anything else related to this industry, I will fire you right now. Get me a flight now!”

Ending the call, he got in his car and drove to the airport, calling Kylie. Swearing when she didn’t answer either of her phones, he sped up, praying she would see him.

Kylie sat in her house with all the blinds shut and her home and mobile phones both going to voice mail. She’d gotten home on Sunday from her dancing class and was still in the mood for music. So she’d turned on the TV to MTV and danced for a while, cleaning her floors and doing the washing up until a very familiar song came on. Not believing what she was hearing, she wandered out to stare at the TV, freezing at the sight before her. She triple checked to make sure her DVD player hadn’t been switched on.

He’d lied to her. Tears slid down her cheeks, and she used the dishtowel to wipe her eyes. Her heart sank, and her body felt heavy at Markus’ betrayal. Kylie watched as snapshots of them together came up, along with the bad footage the old couple had taken for them. Starting to feel sick, she ran to her bathroom and emptied her stomach before she crawled to her bedroom, where she sat, feeling numb. She wouldn’t, couldn’t, move.

Her brain went wild with crazy thoughts. Why would Markus do this? He knew she wasn’t one for attention. He knew she didn’t want that song released. It was supposed to be for her ears only.

Kylie didn’t know how long she sat there in a trance-like state. She didn’t come around until Gemma and James both came in, arguing with each other.

“She should get her passport and go to him.” Gemma glared at James, who snorted.

“No way is she going wherever in hell that dickhead is. I got bombarded with media calls, and I know you did too. Kylie hates being in the spotlight.”

“She does your charity gigs for you just fine.”

“You don’t see her before she goes on. It takes hours to calm and soothe her.”

She turned to face them and yelled, “Shut up, both of you!” They stared at her, both mumbling apologies.

Gemma wrapped her arms around Kylie. “How about you go get a shower, and we’ll all go for a walk along the beach? I’ll even put up with that idiot over there for a while.”

Staring at her two closest friends, she nodded and slowly walked to the bathroom.

After her shower, she felt more herself and was surprised to find James and Gemma not arguing but opening her curtains and getting Buddha ready for his walk. James handed her a bottle of water, and they all walked out of her house. When they headed opposite the direction she usually went, she wondered what they were up to.

After a couple of minutes, she figured out they were taking her to another beach. They were avoiding the beach that was now famous, thanks to Markus.

Gemma finally broke the silence. “Maybe something happened, and it was leaked without his permission. It is a hot song.” Gemma nudged her and smiled. “Wow, I didn’t know he could sing like that. I love the accent.” Gemma stopped when Kylie shot her a glare.

James snarled. “Shut it, Gemma. He shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

This time Kylie shot the glare at James. “Look, just shut up about it, both of you.” She felt bad for snapping at them when they were trying to cheer her up. “Let’s go out tonight. I have to get out of the house. I need to not think about it all for a while.”

Gemma let out a moan. “I wish I could, but I have to work. Crap, don’t worry, I’ll get out of it—”

James butted in. “It’s okay. Go to work. I can go, Kylie. I just have to move things around, but it will be cool. Dinner, movie, sound good?”

Kylie smiled at her friends, feeling better for the first time in days.

Kylie was feeling human again. She’d been to dinner and gone to a movie and was now cuddling James on her sofa, laughing about stuff they’d done and the new gossip going around the dancing circuit.

---