Diamond Revelation (8 page)

Nina returned to her seat and collapsed in her chair. The producer was still reviewing the track and giving notes to Sky.

At this rate I'll never get out of here.
Sky had a lot of work to do, and the visit from Niki and Kyle had totally interrupted her flow. She put her head in her hands and wondered for the thousandth time what she had gotten herself into, and then her mind went to Topaz. Kyle had told her in so many words that he felt she had made a mistake by passing on her project and signing Sky. She got up and whispered a request in the producer's ear.

“Sure.” He grinned at Nina, exposing a platinum and diamond-encrusted grill and reached into his bag. “Anything for you, pretty lady.”

Nina took what he gave her and headed outside. It had been a long time and she didn't feel comfortable doing it in front of strangers. She climbed into her Range Rover, her favorite vehicle. It always represented an accomplishment to her because she saved and purchased it with money she earned working for Topaz and Jamil. She took out the blunt, lit it with a match, and inhaled. It had been years since she had smoked, and now she felt the drug enter her body almost immediately. She took a second hit and felt the stress she had been carrying for months lift. After a few more hits, thoughts of Kyle, Niki, Topaz, Sky, and Revelation Music also vanished into the night air as she exhaled.

S
abre and her publicist, Mimi, were in the greenroom at
The Tyra Banks Show
. Sabre walked around the room, nibbling on carrots from a vegetable tray. It was a very important interview and she wasn't about to admit to anyone how nervous she was. The label had also just released the second single from her CD, and it was the most requested song at radio stations everywhere.

Mimi was the typical southern California blonde who could have been a beach babe and married well by being some rich man's trophy wife. But while Mimi was obviously beautiful, she was also as smart as a whip. She chatted away on her BlackBerry as she flipped through the latest issue of
InStyle
magazine. Mimi, who only represented A-list hotties, promised VMG that she would take Sabre's career to the next level.

The Tyra Banks Show
was just one of several major promotional efforts Mimi promised and delivered. Mimi also convinced the label to hire a new wardrobe stylist as well as a hairstylist and makeup artist to accompany Sabre on all of her personal appearances. No more half-done make-up and hair. Sabre's glam squad had already done their thing, and she looked like a million dollars.

“You should get dressed now, Sabe. You're going on first.” Mimi looked her up and down and went back to the magazine. “You look hot.”

“Thanks, Mimi.”
My name is Sabre,
she always wanted to remind Mimi.
I can't stand it when she calls me that.
But Mimi was pretty cool for a white girl and Sabre really liked her so she let her get away with it. Mimi was fun like a big sister. She was always telling Sabre funny little stories about other celebrities and giving her pointers and tips on the latest hot designers that anyone who was anyone had to wear. She also treated Sabre like a star and made sure everyone else did too.

For
The Tyra Banks Show
performance, Sabre was wearing an orange halter dress trimmed in gold with gold Jimmy Choos and orange and gold Swarovski crystal earrings that were designed to go with the dress. Ever since Topaz stepped up the game by performing in couture fashions, new young singers had to follow suit. Dawn, her new stylist, knew where to shop and she had great connections. She practically threw away all of Sabre's old clothing.

Sabre's hair was done on the set. Eduardo, her too-pretty-for-a-man stylist, claimed to be anything but black. Creole, Indian, Italian, or Puerto Rican, he was a different ethnicity for every day of the week. “Create the fantasy,” he constantly told her, gesticulating with his hands and a crazed look in his eyes.

“Miss Thing,” as he sometimes referred to himself, added extensions to Sabre's hair and it had never looked better. It was super thick, super long, and flowing. Sabre was delighted because everyone thought it was really all her hair.

The stage manager came in and informed Sabre that it was time for her to go on. She took one last sip of tea and followed him out of the greenroom to the stage. Sabre stood there anticipating the first strains of the track. The curtain went up, and she transformed into an entirely different personality.

“I'm so in love with you. I'll do whatever you want me to because I want to be yours.” She sang from deep down within her soul like she meant it. When she completed the song, her face was wet with tears. She crumpled into a ball and dropped to the floor. The audience gave her a standing ovation. Sabre couldn't speak or think. She had emptied herself completely. She felt reborn, brand new. The stage manager tapped her on the shoulder, and she rose to her feet. She was glad he was there to lead her back to the greenroom, so she didn't have to think.

Mimi grabbed Sabre and hugged her when she walked into the room. For the first time in her young life, she didn't feel repulsed because someone touched her. “You were fantabulous.” When Mimi finally released her there were tears in her clear blue eyes.

“She created the fantasy,” Sabre heard Eduardo say.

Sabre smiled as Dawn pushed her into the dressing room and handed her the cherry and black halter top she would wear over cropped jeans with black beaded stilettos. The top was really cute on Sabre, who made a mental once again to get herself some implants. Eduardo whisked her hair up into a ponytail with bangs across her face. Dawn handed her a large pair of gold hoop earrings that almost touched her shoulders. Lolita, her makeup artist, was a soft-spoken Filipino young lady who could beat a face. She touched up Sabre's lipstick and back onstage she went. When Tyra introduced her, she strutted down that runway like a model at the Collections.

Tyra greeted her warmly as the audience continued to cheer.
They really do love me,
Sabre thought as she looked out at the audience into a sea of faces.

“Thank you,” Sabre said ever so sweetly. The applause finally subsided, and the interview began.

Tyra started her first question right away. “What was it like working with a fabulous producer like Jamil?”

“Jamil changed my life,” Sabre solemnly said.

She thought about the diamond he had custom designed for her, and a lump came in her throat. She reached up to touch it, but Dawn made her take it off. She wasn't having that blingy shit interfere with her outfit. “Jamil taught So Fine the business of the business. He recorded our album that went platinum.”

“Y'all remember ‘First Kiss'?” Sabre grinned when the audience cheered. When she sang a bit of the hook, everyone joined in. “That was Jamil, y'all. May he rest in peace.” It was actually Nina and Char, but nobody wanted to hear about them.

A clip of So Fine performing on the VH1 Divas special providing backup vocals for Topaz was shown next. Sabre felt her demons stirring within because she knew a question about Topaz would be asked. She fought the urge to yell “fuck that old bitch” as she smiled ever so sweetly.

“Meeting Topaz was awesome. Our manager went to high school with Topaz's cousin, Nina. When we auditioned, Topaz was there. She invited us to her house and gave us lots of advice. I'm even wearing her dress in that clip. It was So Fine's first television performance. When I had that dress on, I knew I was a diva too.” Sabre grinned. She was really enjoying herself.

“I felt so fortunate to work with Jamil because I was always a huge fan of Topaz's. He produced her hits and then he produced our hits. When I was a little girl, I'd read the credits on her CD and dream about being a star with my own CD. My dream came true.” Sabre looked into the camera and smiled as prettily as she could.

Let the bitch ever say I stole her fucking dress after this and she'll look like a damn fool,
Sabre thought as she continued the interview.

Tyra chatted with Sabre like they were girlfriends hanging out on the sofa in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn. Sabre was really comfortable.

Mimi also secured a layout in a holiday edition of
Seventeen
. With Tyra's connections in the fashion industry, the show's producers were able to get a photo from the shoot. There was a collective gasp throughout the audience when the photo appeared on the monitors. Sabre was breathtakingly gorgeous in a midnight blue party dress accented with bold silver jewelry. With silver lipstick and dark smoky eyes, she was almost unrecognizable and looked like another person…extremely sophisticated and very worldly.

“Sure, I have a couple of hidden talents,” Sabre confessed to Tyra, and giggled. “Watch this.” The camera went in for a close-up as Sabre stuck her tongue on her nose. Then she moved off the sofa and did a full split, which drew howls and cat whistles from the audience.

“You guys are funny,” Sabre said, and laughed. “I had to do splits because I was a cheerleader.” After she performed her smash hit single, Sabre's segment was over.

When Sabre arrived backstage, Eduardo ran up to her.

“You are such a star, Miss Thing. I bow humbly before you.”

“Ahhhh,” the rest of Sabre's glam squad chorused as Eduardo handed her a rose.

“Thank you, guys. You're the best team in the world.” Sabre was sweeter than sugar.

“Girlfriend, when you did that split I said, oh no, she didn't. You're going to have every man on the planet groveling at your feet. I can't stand that much competition,” Eduardo declared as he tried to focus the attention back on himself.

“She going to have the universe groveling at her feet. I hear Oprah calling, darling, because you just became an OPP.” Mimi smiled proudly.

“What's an OPP?” Lolita asked quietly.

“Oh, chile, where were you?” Eduardo was in the middle of the group gyrating his hips. “Everybody knows OPP means other people's puss…”

“Don't say it,” Dawn cut in. “Boy, you are so nasty. We can't take you nowhere. Cuttin' up like this at
The Tyra Banks Show
.”

“Aw, hell. Let's call Miss Tyra in here and ask her because you know girlfriend knows what it means.” Eduardo grinned.

“Well, it certainly doesn't mean other people's puss or whatever it was you were about to say,” Mimi chided while the others burst into laughter. “What?” She stared at them with a blank expression on her face.

“It means other people's property. It's from an old song by Naughty by Nature,” Dawn explained quietly. “Eduardo was just being his usual nasty self.”

Mimi looked totally irritated with the glam squad. She turned to Sabre and focused her attention solely on her. “Well, in this case, it doesn't mean any of that. It means Oprah's personal friend, which Tyra definitely is and you will be too.” She put her arm around Sabre and led her to the door. “Come on. Let's go have a drink and celebrate. Dawn can drop those things by your place.”

Everyone had to hug and kiss Sabre before she could leave. Mimi stood by the door like a watchdog, waiting with a smile plastered on her face. After all, she would be leaving with the star, not them. Their work was done.

“Make sure you do something I would do.” Eduardo laughed happily.

“Mimi, can you hook me up with an organization that does stuff for breast cancer? My grandmother died from breast cancer and I'd really like to do something to help them out in memory of my grandmother,” Sabre asked as Mimi drove them down Melrose in her BMW to their next destination.

“Oh, sweetie. I'm so sorry.” Mimi turned her big blue eyes on Sabre when they paused in traffic. “There are lots of things we can find for you to do like the Revlon walk that Halle does every year.”

“That sounds interesting. I'd like to do something else, something different.” Sabre thought about the Chocolate Affair that the “Black Friends” recently held but decided against mentioning it.

“I'll do some research. We'll come up with something absolutely perfect.” Mimi did a U-turn on Melrose and stopped the car in front of a nondescript building with a line of people waiting to go inside. A parking attendant opened the door.

“You've been to Dolce before, haven't you?” Mimi asked as they walked right inside. Sabre looked blank so Mimi kept talking. “Ashton Kutcher is one of the owners. You do know who he is, don't you?”

Sabre resisted the urge to kick Mimi's ass right there in the middle of Dolce. Instead she ignored her.
Do I know who Ashton Kutcher is? Stupid ass bitch.
But Mimi was much too valuable to her, so she focused on the black leather tablecloths covering the table in the booth.

The dimly lit restaurant was noisy, but Sabre immediately loved its clublike atmosphere. She eagerly opened the menu the waiter placed in front of her. Much to her chagrin, it was written in Italian, and what few words there were in English she couldn't understand.
Don't they have any cheeseburgers in this fucking place?
Sabre continued flipping through the menu, frustrated. She couldn't even buy a clue. She tossed her menu back on the table and looked up to see Jennifer Aniston and her date being seated at a nearby table.

“Is that the girl from
Friends
that was married to Brad Pitt?” Sabre tried her best not to yell.

“Yes.” Mimi smiled and closed her menu. “What do you want to eat?”

“I'm not hungry,” Sabre lied. She hadn't eaten all day because she was nervous about doing Tyra's show and now her stomach was growling.

“Sure you are,” Mimi replied, taking charge as usual. When the waiter came she ordered salmon for herself, spaghetti with seafood for Sabre, Caesar salad, and chocolate soufflé with vanilla bean ice cream for them to share. “Diddy's here with a bunch of friends. We'll have to go to the Hamptons to one of his parties,” Mimi offered. “I want you to come here as often as you can so you can be photographed and written about in the tabloids. Bring your friends.”

Maybe I can bring Victor here
. Sabre tentatively cut into the pasta covered with white sauce. She had never eaten spaghetti that wasn't drenched in red tomato sauce. She was surprised when she actually liked it. She would have to get the name of the dish from Mimi before she came again.

Her mind drifted to Sky.
This would be the perfect spot for us to have drinks and talk to all the rich cuties.
But she hadn't spoken to Sky since they had lunch at The Ivy with Nina. She knew she had behaved like a real bitch, and now she was sorry. It would be a miracle if Sky even spoke to her.
Maybe we can be stars together. I can't always hang out with Mimi.

A waiter brought the soufflé and served it. Sabre had never tasted anything as good as that soufflé in her life. She finished her portion before she realized it and caught herself eyeing Mimi's, who was sending text messages on her BlackBerry. She pushed the plate across the table to Sabre.

“Here sweetie, finish mine. You're the one with the trainer.”

“No thanks, Mimi. I can't eat another bite.” Sabre wanted the rest of that soufflé badly, but she wasn't eating anyone's leftovers again, not even Mimi's. She did enough of that when she was in foster care. Now she was a bona fide A-list star and everyone knew it. She had fought all of her life and survived.
I made it.
The realization suddenly hit her.
Like Grandma always said, cream rises to the top.