Soundtrack to My Life

CHAPTER FOUR

    Kingly was waiting for me at the gate in a sort of disguise. His long hair was pulled back into a pony tail and he had traded his navy suit for a Hawaiian shirt that hung loosely off his skinny frame. He traded his square glasses for aviators and a base ball hat.
    “Hello, darling! How was your trip to London? I missed you my darling daughter!” Kingly ran to me and wrapped me in a hug. “Play along,” he whispered in my ear.
    I didn’t need the hint. It was a game Kingly and I had played since I was a baby so people wouldn’t notice us. Acting had never been an issue for me- it ran in my blood.
    “Oh Papa, it was amazing! But I missed you so...when can we go back to the house? I want to see Mama,” I laughed as we got my bags.
    “Yes, she very excited to see you,” Kingly said stiffly.
    I had almost forgotten how big the mansion was when we pulled up. Although, no doubt, it had gotten bigger since I had left. It’s good to know I was truly missed. The white villa style house was covered in vines, as usual, but huge hedges and and a new brass gate stood in new ground. I took a deep breath and walked up the marble steps and opened the gold doors.
    I let my eyes sweep the empty marble floors and huge winding staircase. Creepy portraits of my mother hung on the walls.
    “Delilah!”
    My head snapped to see Raoul, my mother’s stylist. “Hi, Raoul,” I smiled.
    “My goodness! You let your self go! Merde I have so much to do!” Raoul was, as always, yelling in his thick French accent.
    “Good too see you too Raoul,” I muttered.
    Raoul didn’t seem to notice I said anything and clapped his hands. I looked about confused only to be smothered by a group of beauticians who lead me up to the styling room. It wasn’t really the greeting I had hopped for, but oh well.
    “The idea,” Raoul mumbled through a hair clip, is too make you look as you did when you left.”
    I folded my arms angrily, “And I suppose this was Marie’s idea.”
    “She’d prefer, Mother,” Raoul said sheepishly.
    “Where is she anyway?” I snapped.
    “At a meeting.”
    “Humph.”
    An hour later I was staring at an older version of me two years ago. My hair was a rich shade of blonde and perfectly curled. My face was caked in the sort of make up only movie stars can get away with. Then there was the clothes. I was wearing a skimpy sundress with high wedges. I raised my now perfectly manicured hands to my expertly glossed lips.
    “Like it?” Raoul smirked. “It’s exactly what your mother would want.”
    “I’m going to be sick,” I mumbled.
    “Pardon?” Raoul’s smirk disappeared quickly.
    “I’m going to puke all over this shit,” I said slowly, in a monotone.
    Raoul’s hand which had been near his mouth dropped and so did his smile. “I see you haven’t changed a bit in your absence,” he frowned before stalking out of the room.
    I turned in a circle across my room looking for something familiar. The walls were light blue instead of hot pink (thank the Lord!) and the curtains where white. The white iron bed had blue sheets and a white duvet. The room was simply decorated- it could tell it had been another ‘guest’ room. I rolled my eyes and flopped back onto the bed, covering my eyes.
    “Fuck!” I yelled to myself.
    “Better watch you language,” my mother’s voice wafted from behind me. I heard her footsteps coming closer and i pushed even harder on my eyes. “And you make up and hair if you keep this up.” She sighed and lifted a strand of my fake hair.
    “Don’t touch me!” snarled as I snapped up.
    And there she was in front of me, looking the same as she did two years ago, but older. Her eyes were watery and empty, and her was brittle. Through the mounds of foundation you could see wrinkles forming. But somehow, she was still beautiful and I hated that. She was like Barbie’s mom.
    “Hello honeybee,” she smiled.
    I didn’t move. I just sat there trying not to grind my newly bleached teeth.
    “Fine,” her fake smile dropped, “I’ll be down stairs in the lounge. When your ready.”
    When she was walking out of the room I noticed something. She was undoubtedly knocked up. After a second I asked without turning around, “Who’s the dad?”
    “Want to meet him?”
    “Not really,” I said flatly.
    I heard her sigh as she padded out of my room. After a minuet I knew exactly what I was going to do. I picked up the house phone and dialed her number, crossing my fingers that her number hadn’t changed.
    “Hello?”
    “Hi, Venus? Any good parties tonight?”
    _._

    I knew how to sneak out- I had done it before when I didn’t want to meet one of Marie’s boy friends. I would play sick or tired. Jet lag was a perfect excuse. I totally skipped dinner and pretended to pass out around eight. When Kingly came in I gave him a twenty to make sure no one came in. Then I went to work on my hair and make up. After I was satisfied with my curls and gloss I went to the giant wardrobe. I threw it open, half expecting a lion to jump out and find Narnia. It didn’t happen. Instead I found oodles of sundresses, a couple pairs of shorts, and some silky tank tops. I groaned looking for my secret stash of party clothes from two years ago. With any luck my boobs hadn’t gotten that big and no one had found the compartment. After a few minutes of groping I puled out a little black dress and pumps. The dress fit, but I looked a bit like a ho. Whatever.
    When I finished putting my jewelry on I turned my phone on for the the first time since my flight. Immediately two texts from Colby popped up.

    Colby Crowe: What happened?
    Colby Crowe: Did I do something? If I did Im so Sorry

    Venus Lopez: were Here!

    I bit my lip. How do you explain to someone you’re majorly crushing on and only just met- that your Hollywood royalty? Even though he knew I was from a famous family,  the rest was a mystery to him. He’d never take it well and he’d probably end up hating me. My best bet was to make up some crazy lie and cross my fingers he believed it. Lying was something you needed to be expert at in my family. But I knew deep down I couldn’t lie to him. Procrastinating, I deleted the texts and walked over to the window. I gently slid off my pumps and shimmied out the window climbing down the vines and ran into Mikah’s Volkswagen Bug.
    “Glad your back in town,” Mikah smiled over her shoulder.
    “You must be, like, psychic for coming back on the best party of the year,” Macy popped her gum.
    “Whose is it again?” I asked, leaning down to strap on my heels.
    After a minute I notice it was quiet. I looked up from my shoe to see the three of them looking at me nervously.
    “Brennan King,” Venus said at last.
    All eyes were on me as I choked. Brennan was my boyfriend before I ran. I could almost see the cameras flash as we pulled up onto the red carpet and photos were taken. As he was an up and coming actor/model/musician, we were the it couple. I shivered at the thought of seeing him again tonight.
    “Don’t worry baba,” Venus patted my shoulder as she applied even more lip gloss to her huge lips, “you always looked hot, but he’ll shit himself when he sees you now. Besides, he never got over you. He hasn’t dated anyone since you left.”
    She gave me a wink with her big blue eyes as the others just gaped at her. Venus had always been the dippy one in our group, so I was used to it. She didn’t seem to notice her stupidity, but I’m not sure she’d care. ‘Brains don’t get you anywhere in showbiz,’ my mom’s words echoed in my head when I’d spend hours on my studies. And really, when you have people to think for you and your a Victoria’s Secret model like Venus, you don’t need brains. She had her long legs, perfect figure, and golden tresses to take care of that.
    Macy was an actress. She wasn’t stupid, but then again she wasn’t a genius. She knew how to read people and her mind was so complex. When looking for help getting your revenge, she’s the first one to call. She’s red so many scripts she can think of even the quirkiest things. It was hard to tell her natural hair color because she had been dying it for roles for as long as anyone can remember, but her eyes were a piercing shade of green. She could express anything she wanted through them- it’s no wonder she’s Hollywood’s highest paid teen actress.
    Mikah has been my best friend for all of my life. In fact, I was the one who got her famous. Before she was Mikah Klein model/actress starlet, she was Mikah Klein- the maid’s daughter. When we were little we’d escape to a secret area of my mothers huge gardens. We’d sit for hours and play with flowers. Sometimes Grandpa Jack would come and find us and play tag or hide and seek with us. When he got tired, he’s sit on an old stump and tell us fairy stories. Of course my mother disapproved of me befriending those who weren’t Hollywood royalty, be we didn’t listen.
    Growing up she’d always croon about how lucky I was to be a model and how she wished she could have my job. I could tell she was serious, so one day when I was supposed to go out for an interview (I was only twelve then), I snuck Mikah in. They were blown away by Mikah’s natural, yet exotic beauty and decided to go a different route. They would produce images of girls (including Mikah) with natural beauty and wouldn’t airbrush them. Now where ever you went you could see Mikah’s mocha skin and chocolate curls on every magazine. It was pretty cool to look at those huge yellow, daring eyes and think Gee, and to think I started that.
    We pulled up at Brennan’s mansion about five minutes later. I had decided to use  my famous poker face and act like a) I didn’t care that I was at Brennan’s party b) this wasn’t insanely awkward for me and c) the party was boring compared to the ones I went to when I was absent. The best part was that I didn’t feel at all rusty on it.
    So when our bug pulled up and I climbed out and with my best fake smile. I followed my friends up the huge steps. My body was vibrating from the booming music as I turned the knob gently.
    “You got this,” I think I heard Mikah whisper over the music as I thrust the door open.
    There was people every where, dancing, drinking, passed out, smoking, and some just talking. I let my eyes drift about the room calmly, until I saw him. Brennan King was standing by his huge ass TV and laughing with some friends. I saw his eyes shit to me, and I imeadiatly looked away.
    “Let’s go get something to drink,” I said to Mikah, pulling her towards the kitchen area.
    Venus had already gravitated towards a cute boy from an up coming movie, and Macy was entertaining a group of glamourous looking girls. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Brennan staring as he pushed through the crowd. His buddies were gaping curiously as he was approaching.
    I was at the entrench of the kitchen when it happened.
    “Delilah!” he yelled in that voice that made girls across the universe weep.
    The room went dead quiet, except the pulse of the stereo. All eyes were on me.
    “Hi?” I croaked.
    “I didn’t know you were back,” he whispered as he came to a stop in front of me.
    “Yeah, well I did.” I said uncomfortably.
    “We need to catch up,” he grinned. “You free?”
    “Actually...” I gulped looking to my side to see Mikah had gone. The room had returned to it’s normal craziness. I’d have to find and skin her later. “I was about to get a drink?” I struggled at last.
    “I’ll show you where they are. But I’m sure you remember.” Brennan’s eyes were twinkling, the way they always did when he was about to laugh.
    “Thanks,” I shrugged, melting a bit inside.
    After pouring me some vodka, Brennan led me out to the garden. We sat on a bench by the fountain. I looked around at the perfectly tangled vines and blooming flowers. Above us in the leafy trees I could see twinkling garden lights.
    “I missed you so much,” his violet eyes were filled with sadness. “I was worried you had been hurt or something.”
    “I’ve been laying low in Boston,” I shrugged and took a sip of my drink.
    “What have you been up to?”
    “Nothing really. Just living like a normal person. Playing my songs in the park, working in a grocery store.” I looked away from his intense gaze, pretending that his eyes didn’t make me melt.
    “Like you always dreamed of.”
    It wasn’t a question, but a statement. I was shocked he had remembered how I would always talk about living a normal life.
    “Yeah,” I said looking at him in a new light. “What about you? What have you been doing?”
    “Ugh,” he rolled his eyes, “movies, photo shoots, parties, boring shit. It’s hard to enjoy that stuff when I don’t have you next to me.”
    “Really?” I asked, mesmerized.
    “Yeah. I’ve really missed you, Delilah. Ask anyone- I haven’t been the same since you left. I love you.”
    That was the last straw. I let my empty cup drop to the floor and began to kiss him. With every second that ticked by, I felt my self get drunker. Slowly I was turning back into the fourteen year old girl, angry with the world and wrapped up in a superficial dream. All that mattered to me right then was Brennan and how much he loved me.