Tangled Mess (3 page)

“Someone go
and get him,” said Joe. He turned back to us. “Now, remember, millions of people are going to be watching, so be professional but keep it entertaining. Tyrone, you do what you do best, be a critical prick, Deidra, you keep the audience on your side, and Ransom... I want you to charm the pants off of the women. Even the fucking scary ones who can’t sing worth shit, and look like descendants of Sasquatch.”

“Anything for you
, Joe,” I said. The truth was I just wanted to get this bullshit over with.

Taylor appeared shortly
with his makeup artist, who prepped him as we glared at each other with mutual loathing. When she was finished powdering his face, he swaggered over.

“Ransom,” he said
, breaking the tense silence between us.

“Taylor,” I answered, wrinkling my nose. “Did you step in shit or is that your
cheap-assed cologne I smell in the air.”

His lips thinned.
“Your sister picked it out.”

“I guess anything smells better than your A
u-naturel,” I replied.

“At least
my Au-Naturel doesn’t reek of stale whiskey,” he said.

“It’s stale Tequila, Taylor,” I said. “You should recognize that smell from the stripper’s
navel you licked clean last weekend.”

“
Don’t start with the guilt trip, Ransom, it was my bachelor party.”

“Oh, you remembered?
I’d thought that maybe you’d forgotten that you were actually getting married.”

Taylor was e
ngaged to my younger sister, and I couldn’t stand the prick. He’d cheated on her at least once, but because it had been before they were engaged, Remy had given him another chance. Then, during his bachelor party, he’d disappeared with a stripper for fifteen minutes, and from the satisfied look on his face, along with her disappointed one, it was obvious he’d pulled his dick out.

“We are live in thirty seconds!” hollered the director.

“Oh my,” whispered Deidra, as Taylor walked away, “not much love between you two, is there?”

“He’s a douchebag,” I said under my breath.
“The only thing I love about him is that he lives in another state.”

Where I lived in Californi
a, Taylor and Remy shared a penthouse in New York.

Tyrone chuckled.
“You just earned some respect, Cuz,” he said, running a finger along his goatee. “I can’t stand that prick, either. Guy is a slippery as they come. He’s engaged to your sister?”

“Yep.”

He shook his head. “Oh, man…that’s fucked up. You have my condolences, man. Hopefully your sister will see him for what he really is, and kick his ass to the curb.”

“Agreed.”

The familiar music started, we went live, and less than an hour later, life got a little more interesting.

Tiffany

The audition lines were longer than any of us had expected
. Wondering if it was a sign, I tried backing out again, but Sinclair wouldn’t have it.

“You had to have expected this,” she said. “This show attracts every fruit-loop in the city, and not just the talented ones.”

“I know but…”

“This is a once
in a lifetime chance and you can’t let a crowd like this intimidate you, hon. Besides, Jesse knows someone who can get us in right away,” she said as we got out of the car.

Jesse re-tucked t
he bottom of his plaid blue and white shirt into his jeans. “That’s right, because there’s no way in hell I’d wait all day among all of those freaks, even for you Tiffany.”

“You’d better call your friend
,” said Sinclair.

He pulled out his phone as we started
walking out of the parking towards the large coliseum, where the tryouts were being held. Lines of people surrounded the building and went all the way to the edge of the parking lot.

“
Okay,” said Jesse, hanging up. “We’re supposed to go around to the back of the building, and my guy, Phillip, will get us in.”

I raised my eyebrows. “It’s that easy?”

“I don’t know about easy. More like, expensive. I now owe him several drinks and a steak dinner this weekend,” said Jesse.

“Seriously?” I said. “Let me buy, Jesse. It’s the least I can do.”

“Honey,” said Jesse. “The bill will be over a grand by the time we’re finished, so don’t worry about it. Sinclair and I have it covered.”

Sinclair’s eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?” 

“A grand?” I gasped. “For dinner and drinks?”

“
Yeah, and Sinclair is going to sweet talk my brother into joining us. Reed in turn, will feel like he has to pay because he’s pussy-whipped, and will want to impress Sinclair, and yes a grand because Phillip won’t expect anything less.”

“
What if Reed and I already have plans?” asked Sinclair.

Jesse smirked.
“You can get your asses out of bed to eat.”

“You’re a sick guy, Jesse,” she replied.

He cocked an eyebrow. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

She shook her head and smiled.

“How’s Reed doing, by the way?” I asked. “I haven’t heard you mention him all week.”

“He’s doing fine,”
she replied. “Actually, he’s been working a lot of long hours lately. Some big case that he can’t discuss.”

From the pensive look on her face, something
was definitely bothering her.

“Have you guys found a place yet?” I asked. I knew they’d been talking about moving in together
, for the past couple of months.

She snorted. “Are you kidding? He barely has time to call me let alone go looking for a house.”

“It’s that bad?” I asked.

“Yes. I mean, we meet for lunch a few times a week
, but it’s not the same.”

“
Have you met his new assistant, Nina?” asked Jesse.

Sinclair frowned
. “The blonde with the big boobs? How can anyone miss her?”

“I
personally don’t care for her,” said Jesse. “Every time I call him at the office, she puts me on hold for such a long time, I wonder if she’s doing it on purpose.”

“She does it to me
, too,” said Sinclair. “It drives me crazy. Reed said he’d talk to her about it. Now I just call his cellphone.”

“Is she respectful to
wards you in person?” asked Jesse.

“She’s always been nice. I mean, I don’t think I have anything to worry about
, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“Reed adores you,”
I said. “You can tell by the way he looks at you.”

“
I…I know.”

“He loves you, Sin,” replied Jesse. “He hasn’t been this faithful with anyone before.
Well, he was with his ex, until he met you. But that says a lot. Believe me, he’s been bitten by the love-bug.”

“
I wouldn’t go that far. He’s never actually told me that he loved me.”

“
Have you told him?” asked Jesse.

She smiled sheepishly. “No, I guess not.”

“Do you?” I asked.

She blushed.
“Yes, definitely.”

“That’s what I thought,” I sai
d. “Maybe if you told him first? You guys have been together for a while now. I guess I’m kind of surprised that you never told him.”

She shrugged.
“I guess I just didn’t want to scare him away.”

“If that scares him away, then good riddance,” replied Jesse. “Brother
or not, I’m rooting for you, Sin.”

“Thanks,” she said.

As we started rounding the building, many of the other contestants were beginning to take notice of us.

“Where
you
going, sexy?” hollered a tall dark-skinned, cross-dresser who was beaming at Jesse.

“Far way, thank God,” said Jesse under his breath. He looked at Sinclair. “That dress is gaudy
, and those purple platform shoes are grotesque on those big feet. He gives transvestites a bad name.”

“Wait!” T
he person yelled, moving out of line towards us. “Wait, a minute!”

“Oh no,” groaned Jesse. “Why did God
have to make me so damn hot?”

“Jesse!
Don’t you remember me?”

We stopped walking
, and Jesse’s eyes widened in recognition. “Oh, Yolanda! Girlfriend, I didn’t recognize you with the blonde wig.”

Yolanda stopped
, and threw his arms around Jesse. “We’ve missed you down at the club! Where’ve you been?”

“Oh, here and there,” he answered, stepping back
. “I have a new man, you know. We’ve been… busy.”

“I heard,”
replied Yolanda, staring down at us with her heavily made-up face. Unfortunately, he didn’t make a very attractive woman. There were too many angles in his face, and he didn’t know the first thing about applying makeup. He was also very tall, almost seven feet with the platforms. “So, who are your friends? Are they competing?”

Jesse introduced us
, and then looked towards the back of the building. “Look, we really have to go.”

Yolanda’s
eyes narrowed. “Jesse, what are you up to? Did you get a special pass inside or something?”

“Actually,
I have this friend who we’re meeting-.”

“You’re getting in another way, aren’t you
?” he said, lowering his voice. “I know you’ve got connections all over Hollywood.”

“Well-,”

“Get me in too, please,” he begged. “I can’t wait out here all day. My makeup is already beginning to run.”

“I
really can’t,” said Jesse. “My hands are tied.”

Yolanda’s eyes grew large
. “Jesse, if you don’t get me in, I’m going to tell everyone about that time in Vegas, when you were so drunk you…”

“Follow us,”
he interrupted, his voice clipped.

Yolanda winked at us as Jesse walked ahead.

Sinclair grinned at me. “I’ll get it out of him later.”

“It must be really bad,” I whispered.

“I know. I can’t wait to hear,” she replied as we followed Yolanda and Jesse.

When we made it to the back of the building, an extremely attractive guy
, who reminded me of Matt Damon, was standing by the entrance, looking nervous.

“Come on,” he waved. “We have to hurry.”

“Oh, look at that yummy morsel,” murmured Yolanda, fluttering his eyelashes as he stepped closer to Phillip.

Phillip frowned and pointed towards Yolanda.
“Who is this? I thought you said it was just going to be you and two girls?” 

“
Um, I need to get Yolanda in too, Phillip,” whispered Jesse.

“Oh, no,” he said shaking his head
, vehemently. “It was hard enough getting Tiffany in. Which one of you is Tiffany?”

I waved at him
.

He nodded in approval.
“Okay, we have to hurry. You’re almost up.”

“Wh
oa… what about me?” asked Yolanda.

“Sorry, you’ll have to go to the end of the line,” said Phillip.
“I can’t help you.”

He put a hand on his hip and shook his finger at Phillip
. “Hell no. You get me in or I’ll grab one of those reporters outside, and tell them you’ all are cheating.”

“
Yolanda…” groaned Jesse. “What the hell?”

“What the hell, nothing. I don’t want to wait around all day
, either. Now, what’s it going to be? You going to get me in, or what?”

“Oh, fine,” sighed Phillip, staring at his clipboard. “I’ll figure something out. Just get inside.”

We followed Phillip into the building, through a locker room, and then back outside to the football field. 

“This way,” ordered
Phillip, moving quickly towards a large group of contestants. “Here is your entry information,” he said handing me a large card. “Now, the very first try-out is with one of the casting-directors,” he said, pointing to a line of several tables of men and women. “You have thirty seconds to ‘wow’ one of them, and then, if you pass, you’ll be sent to the other side of the field, where the celebrity judges will determine if you can go any further in the competition.”

I looked over
to the other side of the field, which was surrounded by security, where the real action was taking place. Cameras were already rolling as finalists stood before the celebrity judges. Although I couldn’t see him from this distance, I knew that Ransom was there. I could almost feel his presence in the pit of my stomach.

Crap.

“Okay,” I replied.

“You
can
sing, can’t you?” he asked. “I mean you look the part, thank goodness. But can you carry a tune?”

“
So I’ve been told,” I said.

I knew others enjoyed hearing me sing, especially my mother when she was still alive. After she’d been diagnosed with ca
ncer, and had to go through chemo, I’d made a CD for her, which she’d played during her treatments. She’d said that listening to me always everything a little more bearable.

“
So, have you ever had any singing lessons?” he asked.

“No, but I was in the church choir for several years,” I said.

He sighed. “But you’ve never had any voice lessons?”

“
Oh, she has a fantastic voice,” said Jesse, who’d never heard me sing before. “She’s going all the way, you’ll see, Phillip.”

“I just don’t want to
waste my time here,” he said. “I’m risking my ass getting you in front of all the other contestants.”

I smiled, gratefully.
“And I appreciate it.”

“
I have a voice too,” said Yolanda. “I’ve been told that I sound like Whitney Houston or Beyonce.”

Phillip wrinkled his nose.
“Really?”

“
That’s right. Now, where’s my entry card?” ask Yolanda.

“
Patience,” he replied. “I’ll get you one in a few minutes.”

“
You’d better,” said Yolanda, glancing down at his long red nails. “I want to go and have my nails filled this afternoon, so the sooner I’m up, the better.”

“Be ready, Tiffany,” replied
Phillip, ignoring Yolanda. “You’re almost up. Just watch the screen for your number.”

“Thanks Phillip,” I replied.

He nodded and walked away with Yolanda on his heels.

“Ready
, honey?” asked Sinclair.

I blew out a long breath.
“I think so. I’m just still so freaking nervous.”

“You’ll do great,” she said. “I have faith in you.”

“Do you need any water or anything?” asked Jesse. “I can try and find you something.”

Sinclair reached into her over-sized p
urse. “I brought some.”

“I wish I was as prepared as you were,” I said to Sinclair as she handed me the bottle. “
How do you feel about auditioning for me?”

“Would you like to lose?” smirked Jesse. “Sinclair couldn’t hold a note if she tried.”

She nodded. “This is true.”

“Isn’t that your number?” asked Jesse, staring up at the screen.

I looked down at my card and swallowed hard. “Yes.”