Bubblegum

Part 13

Eden stood in the hotel suite that her label had gotten her to get ready in. It was close to the venue for the awards show, and made it difficult for Eden to try and see Jake before everything started. She had been woken up at 5am to the car outside her house to take her to the hotel, so she could start getting prepped and ready for the day. Showered, exfoliated, moisturized and tanned, she was sat in the makeup chair, her hair done silken and straight, parted down the middle. The pieces that normally framed her face where subtly slicked back behind her ears.

She had convinced the makeup artist to ditch the matching eyeshadow to the lilac purple mini dress she was supposed to wear and had them opt for a more subtle, natural look, with the exception of a thin black wing of eyeliner. Tonight was all about power, and Eden was taking hers back.

"There will be four press stops on the red carpet." Bryan paced in front of her once she was ready. She tugged at the skirt of the dress, the cut out slits on the sides of the dress were sexy, but she would prefer to wear something like that privately, for her and Jake's eyes only. Not in front of crowds of screaming strangers. "They've been fed questions to ask you, about your performance tonight and the new album. Be coy about the album, and excited." he instructed.

"I will." Eden nodded.

"What do you do if an interviewer goes rogue?" Bryan stopped, shooting a warning glance her way. Eden took a small breath in, holding back an eye roll.

"Divert the conversation to my upcoming project as best as possible." she answered in monotone, having answered the question before every big red carpet event in her career.

"Good." Bryan was focused on his phone again. "Isn't this easy, Eden? Play the game, and you win." Eden bit her tongue to avoid a snarky remark that would give away their whole plan. She tampered down the small rage burning in her stomach and nodded.

"You're right." she gave him a tight smile. Bryan's phone pinged and he grinned at it.

"The limo is here." he ushered her towards the door of the suite and into the elevator. "Remember, you are a cute, sunny pop star. You make fun music and love to dance and sing. Your dress is Gucci, shoes are Prada and jewelry is Cartier." Eden nodded as he spoke, nerves starting to set in. Would she really be able to pull this off? As they walked to the limo, Bryan kept going over the key points, the crash course in media training going in one ear and out the other.

"I got it, Bryan." Eden informed him as the limo door was opened for her. "I'm the good little puppet."

"You'd better be." he fixed her with a glare. "Or everything you've come to know is going to be snatched away so fast your head will spin." Eden shot him a glare back, sliding into her seat as modestly as she could and watched through the tinted window as Bryan slammed the door shut and retreated, waiting for his own car to bring him to the show.

As she situated herself on the seat and the car began to move, the divider window lowered.

"Helloooo nurse." Sam winked at her from the rearview window. Eden grinned and moved across the small space, seeing Danny sitting next to him in the passenger seat. Both of them were grinning, wearing chauffeur's hats.

"Where's-"

"Jake had something to take care of," Danny answered, turning his head to look at her. "Don't worry, you're in good hands."

"I don't doubt it." Eden gave him a smile.

"Your outfit is hanging on that hook there, we're gonna take the long way, have some fun." Sam told you as began to merge onto the road.

"Sam, are you sure you can drive this?" Eden grimaced as he hit the curb, jostling the entire vehicle.

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine." he took a hand off the wheel and waved her off. "Just focus on getting dressed."