Diamond in the Rough (4 page)

“This is beautiful, Tyler,” she breathed.  “You really didn’t have to.” 

He simply shrugged and smiled in response. 

“But I’m happy you did,” Gemma said genuinely.

It was hard to believe that they had even gotten to where they were.  Following the Today Show performance, Tyler had whispered a time and location for Gemma to meet him that night.  It was rather unexpected, though more unexpected than that was Mira’s decision to let her go.  Gemma was far too jubilant to be bothered by the three members of security that were sent to accompany her – they came in handy anyway, as Gemma arrived at the hotel to a flurry of fans and paparazzi.  Masked in large Chanel shades, no one knew that she had taken off her lavender contacts for Tyler. 

As she hurried into the lobby with screaming fans reaching for her, she flashed back to the security meltdown in L.A. during her March tour.  Tyler had surprised her by attending alone, and his very presence sparked a crowd frenzy that would force them to hide out together in a dark room.  In order to escape, Tyler helped Gemma undress from a skintight catsuit, her silhouette being all he could see.  Before disappearing into the night, Gemma allowed Tyler one small glimpse at her true identity – her emerald green eyes. 

Looking back on the memory gave her chills.  She was certain that after that fiasco, she would never be allowed to step outside without her full security team.  But now, on the roof with Tyler, she reveled in the fact that her three bodyguards were planted on the other sides of the exits, giving her as much privacy as she had ever had.

“Is it sad,” Gemma began as Tyler pulled her chair out for her.  “That this is completely wild to me?”

He took his seat across from her, a curious grin curling his lips.  “What is?”

“That I’m doing something that wasn’t penned into my schedule three months ago.”

Tyler dipped his head and smiled.  “That’s not sad,” he said.  “I was nervous about this all day.  And a little bit of yesterday.  I wasn’t sure your people would let you come.”

Gemma couldn’t help her giggle.  “I can’t believe that Tyler Chase gets nervous.”

“Well.”  He smiled and looked away sheepishly for a moment.  “I’m on my first date with the biggest crush I’ve ever had.  I’ll admit I’ve got a few butterflies.”

Gemma blushed, surprising herself.  She was in Queen Bee mode, but evidently, Queen Bee blushed every once in awhile.  Or rather, when around Tyler Chase.  She watched him as he poured her a glass of Côtes du Rhône, his smooth lips smiling that adorable smile.  Gemma’s phone rang.  She reached for it but Tyler took her hand.

“No work for tonight.  Let’s just relax.”

“Okay,” Gemma laughed.  “I’m not expecting any calls anyway.”

“I don’t even know how you do it,” Tyler said.

“Do what?”

“Live both lives.”  He gazed at her with the same awe and wonder that sparkled in his eyes when they first met.  “I didn’t know what to do with the fame when it first happened.  Just a few videos online and suddenly I’m a celebrity.”

“Well you can imagine how I felt,” Gemma said, recalling how Tyler announced his crush on her.  “Just one tweet from Tyler Chase, and suddenly, I’m a celebrity.”

Tyler laughed.  “I wanted to bring you down with me.  I needed someone to share tabloid covers with.”

“Tsk, tsk,” Gemma teased playfully.  She looked out at the buildings towering above them, their giant windows gleaming with reflected light.  “You think the paparazzi are in there?”

“Probably at the top of the Empire State Building with giant zoom lenses,” Tyler cracked.  He squinted up at the skyscraper.  “On second thought, they might actually be up there.  I swear – they’ve gotten pictures of me in places where I could’ve sworn I was alone.”

“So creepy.” Gemma shook her head.

“Actually, I’m kind of amazed they haven’t figured out who you are by now.  I thought if the paparazzi were to ever do me a favor, it’d be getting a picture of you without the disguise,” Tyler said with a mischievous smile. 

“Tyler…” Gemma looked down at her feet, laughing.  With Tyler, it always came back to this conversation.  She took a deep breath and started what she had rehearsed in preparation for this situation.  “If anyone understands what I’m going through, it would be you.  We have to do things to keep some form of our own lives, right? At first, the costumes and hair and makeup were all for show, but then it became a privacy issue.  Now, it’s truly a part of who I am.  So in a way, I’m not really hiding anything from you.”

“Okay.  You’re right,” Tyler nodded.  “I guess I should ‘fess up then.  This whole time I’ve been trying to get you to tell me your real identity when I’ve had a secret alter ego myself.”

“What do you mean?” Gemma cocked her head, curious.

“I have a Facebook profile.  Not the fan page, but like a personal one that I use to keep in contact with my friends from school – before the whole singing thing happened.  It started to get crazy after that, so I had to change my real name to something that people wouldn’t know to search.”

“Really? And what would that name be?”

“Freddy Space Astronaut.”

“Are you serious?”

“Completely.”

“Was that what you wanted to be when you were younger?”

“No, it was my fish’s name.”

“Did you name him that when you were a kid?”

“No, my mom did.” Tyler laughed into his wine glass.  “I just went with it.”  Gemma smiled.  Through interviews and magazine articles, it had always seemed like Tyler was an open book.  Fans wanted to know everything from his favorite color to what he snacked on.  They knew everything from his mother’s maiden name to his underwear preferences.  Apparently, his childhood fish’s name was something he managed to keep a secret.

“Freddy Space Astronaut,” Gemma repeated, nodding.  She held her hand out for Tyler to shake.  “Nice to meet you.”  Tyler stood, taking her hand.  But instead of shaking it, he pulled her into him.  He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close.

“If I could see you just once – your real hair, no makeup, in a T-shirt and jeans… I’d be the happiest guy alive,” he whispered.  Biting his lip back, he added, “Even happier if it were my T-shirt.”

The heat rushed to Gemma’s cheeks again.  “Maybe someday,” she said, peering up at Tyler from beneath her lashes.  They were the same words he had left her with in L.A., but in that moment, she found them to be more meaningful than ever.

BREAKING NEWS: TYLER CHASE AND QUEEN BEE SHARE A ROMANTIC ROOFTOP DINNER

The Pop Source

June 14
^th

What do you get an It girl who has everything? A rooftop dinner with the world’s hottest singer, Tyler Chase!

Chase surprised the songstress with not only a duet at her Today Show concert, but a post-performance dinner at the top of The Standard Hotel.  Sources close to Chase’s team reveal that the R&B crooner paid a considerable sum to rent the space for several hours and arranged for everything to be cleared, with the exception of a candle lit table for two.

All we can say is, here’s to pop’s newest royal couple!

“Late night, my darling,” Mira said as Gemma rolled in through the front door.

“Yes, but a good one,” Gemma giggled.  She plopped herself down on the couch next to Mira, expecting a hug.  Mira didn’t budge.

“You took the makeup and the wig and outfit off
before
you called your car?”

“Yes,” Gemma frowned.  Mira was being uncharacteristically cold and she wasn’t used to it.  “Don’t you want to hear what Tyler had planned for me?”

“I already know.  You’re trending on Twitter,” Mira sighed.  “I’m happy you’re being talked about so much, and as your manager, really, I’m just ecstatic.”

“Then why do you sound like you’re mad at me?”

“I’m not, sweetheart.  I just don’t want you falling headfirst into the insanity and coming out the other end a couple years later with no idea how you ended up there.”

“Aw, Aunt Mira I’m not going to end up like…
that,
” Gemma laughed, falling into Mira’s shoulder.  She still felt a little tipsy from the wine.  Mira remained stoic for a moment before softening and pulling Gemma into an embrace.

“Alright then, just be careful.  Okay?” Mira sighed as she sat up, taking Gemma’s hands into hers.  “Anyway, it’s well past midnight.”

“Yeah?”

“Which means you’re seventeen!” Mira exclaimed in a hushed voice.

“Oh my God!” Gemma laughed.  “I keep thinking of Queen Bee’s party date as my birthday.  I totally forgot.”

“Well I didn’t.  And neither did Lucas,” Mira said with a smirk.  “Although the poor kid left around one-thirty.”

“Lucas was here?” Gemma felt guilty though she was pretty sure they never made plans to meet that night.  She realized that he was probably the one texting her back on the rooftop.

“Yes, he was waiting in your room for awhile – I think he left you something.  I need to get to bed so why don’t you go upstairs and check it out?”

Gemma gave Mira a quick peck on the cheek and dashed up the stairs.

The moment she opened the door, she saw the outline of something unfamiliar.  She switched on the light.  An antique-looking, wooden room service trolley stood by her window.  She approached it, feeling bad for not answering his texts or at least letting him know that she’d be back late.  He had clearly gone through a lot of trouble to put something together for her birthday.  The trolley held two items: a silver dome covering a small glass plate and an empty white plate with a note on it.  Gemma picked up the note. 
Gemma, I made you dinner partially because it was your birthday but really because I wanted to prove to you I could cook.  Then I found out you already had dinner plans so I ate my half and put yours in the fridge (hope you don’t mind pasta for breakfast).  If I haven’t passed out from slaving over the stove for you all day, we can at least have dessert together.
 

The note ended with a smiley face.  Gemma giggled, sighing in relief.  She lifted the silver dome.  A perfect slice of birthday cake with a single candle in it sat atop the glass plate.  Classically frosted in chocolate and topped with rainbow sprinkles, the cake made Gemma’s mouth practically water.  She hadn’t been able to eat much around Tyler.

Just when she was about to look for something to light the birthday candle, a flicker of light came from outside her window.  She looked through the tree branches across to Lucas’s room where a small flame was burning on the windowsill.  His bedroom light switched on and Lucas appeared in a grey T-shirt and navy-blue drawstring pants, looking ready for bed.  His dark wavy hair was tousled, as if he had napped while waiting for her.  He stood behind an identical plate of birthday cake with a candle where the flame had come from.  She blushed, smiling a big smile.  It was easier to do without lipstick on.  Lucas opened his window and gestured for her to do the same.

“Happy birthday!” he said as Gemma waved out the window.

“Thank you, I can’t believe you did all this!” Gemma grabbed her plate of cake.  “Can I eat this now? I’m starving!”

“Starving? What, Tyler Chase can’t afford to buy you a real meal?”

Gemma giggled, holding a finger to her lips.  “Don’t go telling the whole town, Lucas.”

“Here,” he held his plate as far as he could out the window.  The flame flickered in the night breeze but held strong.  “Blow out the candle.”

“Are you kidding?” Despite her words, she leaned slightly out the window for an attempt.  She puckered her lips, blowing into the open air with no avail.

“Not even close,” Lucas laughed.  “Do you want me to blow it out for you?”

“Hold on, hold on.  Let me try one more time!” Gemma leaned just a little bit further.  She felt her long brown hair, free of wigs and pins, pick up in the breeze and blow across her face.  She straightened back up into her room, untangling the mess of hair from her eyes.  Through the wavy strands, she caught a glimpse of Lucas.  His head was cocked as he studied her, a quiet smile on his face.  She smiled back.  These were the looks he had given her during the school year that got her into trouble with Madison.  Gemma tucked her hair behind her ear, unsure of what to do or say next.  Lucas took the plate of cake back in through the window and blew the candle out for her.

“Hey!” Gemma protested, shaking her finger with mock disapproval.

“I’m just saving you some time,” Lucas said.  “I mean, after Tyler Chase starved you I just want to make sure you’re properly nourished.”  Gemma laughed, picking up her fork and taking a bite of cake.  She watched as Lucas did the same.

“You baked this yourself?” she asked.  He nodded as they each took their first bite.  The cake was perfectly soft and delicious.

“The cake’s my grandma’s recipe.  But the frosting is my own touch.”

“Really? How’d you make it?”

“Nutella.” 

Gemma and Lucas laughed, leaning out the window towards each other, eating their cake and talking through the night.

- Chapter 3 -

“My dear, we are so lucky to be related to Malcolm Hunter,” Mira declared as she stepped into the large gutted building.  “Even
I
couldn’t get a location like this for Queen Bee’s birthday party.”  Gemma looked around the old building.  It looked as if a fire had recently burned out the interior.  The windowpanes were yellowing and the metal beams across the ceiling looked rusted.

“Remind me again why we’re lucky?” Gemma cracked.  Mira gave her a playful smack on the arm.

“Your father didn’t get why I liked the space either.  He’s been trying to get a buyer on this location forever because apparently, no one wants it.  But just look at how beautiful it is!”

“Again, Aunt Mira… not trying to be rude but…”

“Oh Gemma, think about it,” Mira gestured to the back of the large space where a beautiful brass balcony loomed below a grand circular glass window.  “A masquerade.  Everyone dancing in their beautiful suits and gowns, faces hidden behind masks and all against this raw, industrial backdrop.  It’s so romantic.  Why aren’t you as excited as I am?”