Fame and Shame

Chapter 3

The scent of my new perfume lingers between me and West as the journey to the studio finally ends. To my suprise, West has actually made an effort with a grey suit. During the 20minutes of awkwardness I estimate that we exchanged around 10 words. Most of which were West's sarcastic comments about his girlfriend who has apparently cheated on him. I can't act distraught or suprised to be honest.

I get out of the car and West comes round to help me.
"Thank you?"

"Believe it or not Aubrey but I'm not the complete dick you and everyone else thinks I am."

"Oh, don't worry, I think your more of a twat...but whatever floats your boat."

"Wow. Some sass. Don't think I have seen that side of you yet. I'm used to my PAs drooling over me but you are so reserved."

"Like I said, this job is my distraction."

"From what?"

I ignore his question and we enter the studio.
"You should go to hair and make-up, I am going to find the set manager and let them know your present."

Before he has time to react I walk away, half-elegantly - half-awkwardly. I am going to lose my shit.

About an hour later and I have now been seated on the front row of the audience at West's request. It may give me chance to see how he is on screen compared to his usual brooding self. Most of the time he just pisses me off with his flirtacious sarcasm; I guess I'm just not sure how to react. I'm used to giving orders not taking them and in particular I despise that he is so domineering. I am a fucking woman in the 21st century...I have rights and equality dickhead.

Mind rant is over and just in time as the host welcomes Mr Riley himself to the stage. His suit emphasises his manliness and pretty much every woman in the room sighs. As time has progressed over these past few months I have realised that maybe my crush on West is nothing but a distraction... I am slowly starting to feel like his actions show nothing more than a defected young child looking for hope in a world of disappoinment.

However on stage he potrays someone completely different; and I respect the façade. It's the only thing we have in common. After a short introduction, the woman jumps right in with the nitty-gritty questions.

"So, West our sources say you had a brief romance with Willow Dubois. Is this true?"

"It was anything but romantic, it was just a little fling. We met through an appearance and after a while she got too clingy around the house. I prefer to chase my woman."

He gives a short smoulder and then turns to me and gives me a smirk. I am completely caught off guard. That little bastard.

A few more meaningless questions are asked before she announces the break. Giving West three minutes to torment me.

I stand, completely transfixed by West's gaze as he walks towards me.

''What's wrong Aubrey?"

"Are you joking? Don't do shit like that because if someone had seen that, we could have been in deep shit. The press would murder you. I'm your PA and that is all. So don't think you can treat me like all your little followers and expect me to be in love with you. It ISN'T happening."

I look at him, waiting for a sly response but all I get is a smirk, and then he walks away. That was easier than I thought it was going to be.

Before long, the second half of the interview begins and I watch closely. She starts off with soft questions before she asks the juicy one.

"West, I think I speak for every woman in the room when I ask you this now. Are you available? Single and ready to mingle?"

"At the moment yes. However, I'm not one to stay alone for long so we will see. I'm exploring all options."

I watch on, but I am more engrossed in Candy Crush than anything. That is until West the poignant sound of cheers tears me from my game.

●●●

The car ride back to the house is silent, West was uncharacteristically quiet and I was so tired that I couldn't be arsed making conversation. I planned in my head ways to talk him down but eventually got distracted by how painful my heels are. I pull them off for the rest of the journey and when we get home I go straight to my office to sort out some fan mail and meetings. Some of these girls are way too desperate.

I am making my way through fan mail when West appears at the door in a pair of pajama bottoms and no top. Not a bad sight.

"Aubrey it's 2am, you should get some sleep."

"I don't sleep very well so I enjoy doing the bulk of my work at night. I get more done."

I take a sip of my coffee and wait for him to leave but he does the opposite as he drags a chair over and takes a seat.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, the sooner you go to the sleep the sooner I will be able to sleep. Therefore, I will sit here and help you get it done faster and we can go to bed."

His emphasis on 'we' makes me giggle as I hand him a pile of perfume covered love letters. Seperate beds Aubrey. These girls would kill for my view right now.

"So what do you like to do when you're not working?"

"I suppose anything creative really. I like to read and write my own stories. Back in New York I had a piano, so I loved to compose and establish new rhythms."

He continues to look at me and I cannot figure out what is wrong with him but his face seems cold and scrunched up. Maybe being an icon is not as easy as it appears.

"That's typical I guess. We do have a piano here though, it's in my music room. Actually it's one of the few instruments I haven't attempted to learn to play."

"I'm not very good so I won't be going anywhere near it."

"Something tells me that's not true Aubrey."

I get up after finishing the rest of my pile, say goodnight and excuse myself to my bedroom. As I get changed into my pajamas I glance at the clock. 3:30am..shit.