“Never going to happen,” I tell her through clenched teeth, while my head asks me why.
“I think Justin Bieber said it best. Never say never.” She smiles and then her head snaps back to Kellie who is running out of the bedroom. She threw on blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and she is wearing cowboy boots.
“I was watching Shameless,” she tells Cori. “Brian is going to take me on a tour of Chicago.”
She looks over at me as we walk out of the hotel room, the door closing with a click behind us. “Is he now?” she asks with a smirk.
“He is,” Kellie answers, pressing the button to go down. “I want to go to the bean, and then I want to go to meet the Gallaghers.”
“You know that they don’t really exist, right?” I ask her and then look at Cori.
“I was hoping we could maybe swing by Firehouse 51 and see if Severide can come and light my fire.” Cori looks at me and sees the confused look on my face. “Chicago Fire.”
“Never heard of it,” I say, and Cori and Kellie both look at me in shock.
“Oh my God,” Cori says while Kellie just shakes her head.
“He used to date Lady Gaga,” Kellie informs me. “Taylor Kinney.” She looks at back at Cori. “You think he’s still single?”
I look back at her. “No dating,” I hiss out, and they both look at me. Cori’s smiling, and Kellie’s glaring. “You said you wouldn’t date till after the tour is over.” Neither of them says anything because the elevator dings, and the doors open. Kellie walks, or better yet, storms into the elevator and presses the button. I step in at the same time as Cori, who snickers under her breath.
The drive to the venue is quiet with no conversation. Once we get into the venue, she disappears and goes onto the stage where I can’t follow her. “That’s interesting, right?” Cori says from beside me, sitting in the front row. It’s where I always sit when she rehearses. “That she said she wasn’t going to date. Especially when she is usually always out with someone.”
I look over at her. “Don’t spin this into something it’s not.” I turn to look at the stage when Kellie’s soft voice comes out. “It’s easier to make sure she stays under the radar for the tour.”
“If you say so,” she singsongs, and when I finally look over at her, I see that she is up and out of her seat, walking to the side. I watch as Kellie transforms into the star on stage. Gone is the girl with no makeup, gone is the girl who just lies on her side watching television with me, and in its place is a girl who is Hollywood’s princess.
I watch her until she finally gets her sound the way she likes it and walks off the stage. I meet her at the side and walk with her to her backstage room. No matter where we go, the room always has the same white draping.
“Are you sure you don’t want to spend an extra night here and just leave in the morning?” Cori asks her, and she just nods her head.
“Yes. I’d rather just get it over with.” She grabs a bottle of water and snaps it open. “Do you not want to do that?”
“Well, if it’s okay, I don’t mind coming with the crew tomorrow,” Cori says. “It’s fine if you say no.”
Kellie shakes her head. “No, it’s good.” She turns back and looks at me. “I’m going to get some food before makeup gets here.” I get up and walk with her to the big dining area. Four tables of food are set up along two walls, and tables are everywhere. The backstage crew occupies most of the tables. I speak to Trisha and Jackie, who both wave hello. “Go grab yourself a plate,” Kellie says. “I have to go to the bathroom.” She turns and walks away with Cori, and I walk up, filling my plate with a bit of everything. I spot an empty table and walk over to sit down at it.
“Is this seat taken?” I hear a smooth female voice beside me and look up to see it’s one of the backup dancers. I shake my head, and she places her plate on the table and then sits down. “I don’t think we’ve formally met.” She starts talking, pushing her blond hair behind her shoulder. Her brown eyes shine as she smiles at me. “I’m Stacey.” She holds out her hand, and I lean forward, grabbing it.
“I’m Brian,” I tell her, and she finally lets go of my hand.
“I know.” She grabs her fork and then starts eating. “I’ve asked around.” She looks at me from the side.
“Have you?” I finally start eating, looking at her.
“I have. It’s not everyday a smoking hot guy starts hanging around,” she says, laughing. “I mean—”
I laugh at her. “I get it.”
“So, Brian,” she starts, “besides being Kellie’s shadow, what else do you do?”
“I’m not her shadow,” I tell her. “It’s my job to make sure she is safe.” Stacey reaches out and puts her hand on mine.
“I wouldn’t mind you being my shadow,” she says to me, and I look at her hand and see her fingers are rubbing a circle on my arm.
“Oh.” I hear Kellie from beside me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You aren’t interrupting anything.” I look at her and see her looking from me to Stacey to her fingers on my arm. “Stacey was just introducing herself to me.”
“I was,” Stacey says. Taking her hands off me, she grabs her plate. “It was nice chatting, Brian. Hopefully, we can catch up again soon.” She smiles at Kellie, who smiles back at her, but I see it’s a forced smile.
“I’m sorry,” Kellie says, sitting down in the other empty seat at the table. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your—”
“You didn’t interrupt anything,” I cut her off before she says something else. “She came and introduced herself, and that is the end of it.”
I watch her, and her eyes never look up at me. She just stares at her plate as she eats her food or better yet scoots it around on her plate. “I’m not hungry anymore.” She gets up, and I watch her walk to the garbage and throw her plate out.
Cori sits next to me, and I look over at her. “What in the hell just happened?”
“It’s called jealousy.” She smirks. “By the way, it’s only the two of you on the bus tonight. The rest of the crew is leaving tomorrow evening.”
“Jealous?” It’s the only thing I took from her side of the conversation. “Jealousy?” I push my chair back and pick up my plate. “What the hell is she jealous of?”
“Oh, you silly, silly man.” Cori just laughs at me. “It’s no fun if I give you all the answers.” I turn and walk away, racking my brain for what the hell she is jealous of now.
“Brian.” I hear my name being called right before I am about to head into Kellie’s dressing room. Turning, I see Stacey running toward me. “I just wanted you to have my number,” she says, holding out a white card. My hand automatically takes it, seeing her name and number on it. “I hope that you use it,” she says and then turns and walks away. I look down at the card and then turn to my right to look into the room. Kellie is sitting there in her chair, watching the whole exchange.