Page 10 of Tiebreaker

“I’m sorry. She didn't really give me a lot of details,” I say.

Jenny gives me a sweet understanding smile.

“Well, no doubt. Did she tell you that she wasn't supposed to come? But she wouldn't pass on your contact information unless I offered her a ticket.”

“I… that sounds like her,” I say weakly. Jenna leans and winks.

“Well, let’s get you to work then,” she says, “now that she’s busy.” She beckons for me to follow her and I do…

But…work?

Four

Olivia

She guides me to a hallway.We go through a large set of double doors that clang shut behind us.

The silence that falls descends around my shoulders, and I'm surprised that there's no other fans back here. Well, she did say it was a private meet…

The dull sound of our footsteps over carpet is muffled. And I glance behind me.

“Is Mariah going to be able to find us?” I ask. Jenna makes a little noise under her breath.

“I’d rather you just let me handle her,” she says, “don’t worry, you can see her after.” She gives a shrug of her shoulders.”You know you make quite an impression.” She looks over at me up and down and tilts her head to the side. “Did you shave,” she asks, startling me.Uh… what?

That's a bit personal, that's like really personal. I had, though, with Toby watching me the entire time. And grooming himself in silent solidarity with me.

“Is that a requirement to a meet and greet?” I ask, half-laughing. I’ve never heard of a meet and greet have grooming standards before, but it kind of makes sense, I guess some fans are smelly.

I shrug it off. And she gives me a thin smile, one that makes me feel like I'm being evaluated. Her eyes are like lasers that sink under my skin.

“Alright. Here you are.” She opens the door sunk into the wall in the long corridor. A room blossoms beyond it and inside it’s all shadow. There's a red lamp in one corner, and a long low couch, leather. At one end of the room, a bar sits with booze set out already.

“Is this the where… the fans meet him?“ The question dies on my lips. It’s empty except for me and her. They’re really taking ‘private’ seriously. And I’m not even a fan. I mean, I pretty much told him to go fuck himself for being an arrogant sonuvabitch.

Nothing like I'm sure the rest of the girls that are showing up tonight are. I’ve been listening to his new album, trying to learn the lyrics but…yeah…

It's just kind of cool to be able to say that I've been here, that I'm doing this. Maybe I’m still secretly a 13 year old girl on the inside.

Jenna gives me an interested look.

“That's cute,” she says. “He'll go for that, that's a big thing for him.”

She glances down on my hands.

“I’m surprised you didn't bring a bag with your knickknacks and things like that. Do you need me to get you some baby wipes? There is a shower in the bathroom if you need it…” Something pings in the back of my mind, and very quickly I'm realizing that this situation is not exactly what Mariah told me it would be.

“Uh… I…”

She gives me another one of those brief smiles.

“Well don't worry about it. I'll be in afterwards with whatever you might need at that point. Mouthwash is in the bathroom,” she says pointedly. With that she gives me a gentle shove in the small my back and I stumble into the room.

What the ever loving fuck?

The door shuts behind me. The shadowy gloom nearly swallows me whole. The weird shaky feeling inside of me that told me something was going on that I wasn't going to like has grown into full out dread. I turn around and reach for the doorknob. But there isn't one. The door is smooth, it's a one way. That's not right. There should be a fire exit.

I glance around the room and see three other doors. One is the bathroom, I'm sure. The other two, maybe one leads to the outside. I don't know why I'm here. Actually I think I know why I'm here. And now everything makes sense. The $500 shopping spree, Mariah being so nice about it. Even though at first she was talking about selling the ticket to her friend. She never pushed me hard. She could have pushed me harder-

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