Center Stage - Chapter 13

I finished my sound check, but wasn’t really present for any of it. While I knew I hadn’t actually done anything wrong, life had taught me, again and again, that didn’t matter. The problem was, I couldn’t see how to ‘fix this’ as Phoenix had said.

Kat and Warren were countering the narrative on social media, but people tend to believe the worst. Especially with something like this.

If I was going to counter this, what I really needed was Alina to come out publicly to defend me. Warren hadn’t called or texted back with her number, but I didn’t have time to wait. Two weeks was not a lot of time to turn around public opinion.

So I tried a hail mary.

“Ambassador Arms,” a man said when he answered the phone.

“Hi. I don’t know if you know about what happened last night, but I’d helped a girl who was under the influence to her room last night and…”

“I remember you,” the guy said.

“Ohh. You were the doo… hotel employee? I wouldn’t have thought you were still working. That was like twenty hours ago.”

“I just came on shift. What can I do for you?”

“I know this is a wild thing to ask and you almost certainly can’t do it, but I was hoping I could talk to the girl I dropped off.”

“I’m sorry. It’s hotel policy we don’t connect people to rooms without permission of the guests.”

“I figured. The thing is, I’m in a lot of trouble because of what happened last night. Some people took pictures of me getting the girl, her name’s Alina, into a taxi and taking her to her hotel, and a gossip article came out this morning saying I took her back there and assaulted her. You and I both know that isn’t true, and you were with me the whole time, from the cab to her room and back down. But… people aren’t believing me when I say that, so I need her to confirm nothing happened, to get the people to put the pitchforks away.”

“Ohh,” he said, dropping the slightly disinterested customer service tone he’d had up to that point.

“Yeah. I really was just trying to help her out of a tough spot, cause she was at this party and guys were, umm, taking advantage of the fact that she wasn’t able to say no. And now I’m being kind of screwed over because of it. I really need some help.”

He was quiet for a moment, long enough that I was afraid he might tell me it wasn’t his problem or he had to follow policy, and that would be that.

Instead, he said, “Here’s what I can do. Since these are unusual circumstances, I can call up to her room, let her know you’re on the phone and who you are, and see if they’ll take your call.”

“Really? You’d do that? I’d really appreciate that.”

“Sure. I’m not promising anything. Just that I’ll ask.”

“Sure. Sure. Of course,” I said.

“Okay. Hold on a sec.”

The line clicked and some jazzy musak started playing. I waited as time ticked by. I wasn’t sure if a long time was a good sign, since it meant he wasn’t dismissed out of hand, or if short was good, like they said sure and hung up.

Unfortunately, he was kind of in between, neither short nor long.

“Sorry, but they said no, they don’t want to speak with you.”

“She said no?”

“Actually, it was one of her people, I think. Not the girl herself. I’ve heard her speak, and she’s got a little bit of an accent.”

“Ohh. And you explained that I was the one who helped her, had someone call them to let them know what was happening, and got her home safely?”

“I didn’t know about the calling part, but yeah, I made sure they knew who you were. They were even more adamant when I said that.”

“Damn,” I said.

I don’t know why he didn’t hang up, maybe pity, but he kept the line open.

“I’m really screwed here,” I said.

“Hey man, I get it. You did the right thing and honestly, I get the impression the girl doesn’t even know you called, but … I’m sorry. Policy is policy. Ya know?”

I noticed he was a lot more conversational now, losing the customer service voice entirely. I hoped that was a good sign and decided for a second long shot.

“So, I know this isn’t your job, and you can totally say no. I don’t want to get you in any kind of trouble by asking you to break policy, but I need to talk to her badly. Again, you can say no. I have my people trying to get a hold of her people, but that’s going to take time, and I am in danger of getting pulled from my tour if I don’t have this sorted out in two weeks.”

“Say no to what?” he asked, sounding very skeptical.

I decided to take him asking, instead of saying no outright, to mean he was at least willing.

“If I give you my number, could you, if you see her, slip her my number. If she chooses not to call me, that’s fine, but I’d like to give her that chance, and not just have her people block her. I know they’re probably trying to protect her, but then they would have had someone with her last night instead of leaving her in a bad situation. And none of this would have happened.”

Again, he was quiet enough that I thought he might say no. I wouldn’t blame him. This was a big ask and he didn’t know me. We’d only had the one conversation that lasted the short elevator ride down the night before, and now I was asking him to risk his job for me.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said and hung up.

It wasn’t a no, but it also wasn’t a yes. Which meant I was in limbo. Time for plan b.

I’d already gone to this well too many times, but I was short on options and I couldn’t think of anything else.

“Charlie, I’m surprised to hear from you,” Emerson said when he answered.

“I know and I’m sorry to bother you so much lately. I really appreciate you passing along that story about Dakota, and … I have another favor to ask,” Charlie said sheepishly. “I promise this will be the last one. I really do.”

“Don’t worry, you haven’t worn out your welcome yet. What do you need?”

“Do you know about the SpilledTea article?”

“No, but I don’t really follow them much. Their sourcing is bad and we’ve been burned a few times talking about something of theirs that turns out to be bunk.”

“Then you’ll find this interesting,” I said, and then walked him through the article, the accusations, and what really happened with Alina that night.

“That’s some rough stuff. I’m assuming you’re trying to find a way to get your version out there?”

“Yes. That’s exactly what I need. We’re putting it out on our social media, but we don’t have the reach the article had, and people are finding it hard to get people to accept my denial, since that’s what someone who was guilty would do too. We’re trying to talk to Alina, or her people, to see if we could get her to come out and deny it with us, but if we do, we need a big enough platform.”

“And you were hoping we could do it?”

“Yes. I know it’s a big ask.”

“Honestly, it’ll be a good story, but our show isn’t really the place for that kind of stuff. One of our production mandates is to mostly do lighter, feel-good segments. We stay away from drugs and … other stuff. That’s why I passed off the tip about Dakota to someone else.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Damn. I really need to figure out how to get the word out.”

“Well, your biggest problem is you’re looking at the article backward. I get it’s an attack on you, but it’s really about Alina. You’re a rising star, no doubt, but she’s the name that draws the viewers … or I guess clicks in this case. You don’t just need her to come out and deny the article, you need her to do it so the word gets out there. If she’s willing to go on one of these shows with you, that’s big enough news to get it picked up.”

“And if I get her, where do I go?”

“I hate to tell you, but I’m not your guy for this. I’m basically a talking head, and other than meeting some celebrities and people with interesting hobbies, I’m not much plugged into the news. You’re going to have to get your agents on it. I can make some calls, but I don’t think I’ll get anywhere. But I’m serious. You’re going to need the girl to make this work. Sorry, I know that’s not what you were looking for.”

“No, it’s what I need to hear. I appreciate the advice and sorry to keep hitting you up for stuff.”

“It’s all good, man. Keep in touch and let me know if you find anything. Deal?”

“Deal. Thanks again, Emerson,” I said, hanging up.

That was nice of him, and some good advice, but I was still left in the exact same spot. On to Plan C.

I wandered back through the hallway, weaving through until I found Dexter’s dressing room, typing something on his phone.

Knocking on the door frame, I said, “Dexter. Got a minute?”

“Sure,” he said, finishing typing on his phone and setting it aside.

“I need to get hold of Hal Steiner. I saw him last night at this party, and I wanted to ask him something.”

“Ohh. Man, I don’t know. He’s pretty private, and not big on giving out his personal cell. I can give you his office number and you could leave a message with his secretary?”

I’d been hoping for something faster than that, but I’d take what I could get.

“Yeah, I guess that works.”

Maybe he could hear the disappointment in my voice because he said, “I’m sorry mate, but it’s the best I can do. How about I send him a text and let him know you’ll be calling.”

“No, you’re fine. I get it, and yeah, it would be great if you could send him a text. That would help. I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.”

He gave me a kind smile as I left, and I did appreciate his help, but I still felt completely stuck.

***

The rumors had been squashed by the time I came back on Tuesday. They did such a good job that, at first, I thought maybe I’d misjudged how many people would read it, until a few classmates started to stop me and quietly tell me they were sorry I was getting so much heat and to tell me they didn’t believe it.

By third period, it had happened enough times that I was half thinking Warren should handle them to do my PR. Mostly, I was just glad things were kind of back to normal, or at least as normal as they could have been considering I was never there and still got stared at all the time.

As I did every day I was at school, I pulled out my phone to see if Kat had sent me a message, and was surprised to see several missed calls. I kept my phone on silent the whole school day, to keep from getting it taken away, and was surprised to see several missed calls. It wasn’t a number programmed into my phone, which wasn’t surprising, since everyone who knew me would have known I was in school.

My first thought was that it was Hal getting back to me. I wouldn’t have his number and he didn’t seem like the kind of person to just not call someone back, especially when he knew that person. Admittedly, my message had been a little vague, but still, he was the most likely person I could think of.

I went outside so the call would be a little quieter and more private and redialed the number.

After a few rings it picked up and a tentative female voice with a slight accent said, “Hello?” 

“Hi, this is Charlie Nelson. I received a call from this number.” 

“Yes. You gave your number to the doorman here to give to me. This is Alina. I’m sorry it took some time to call you back, but…after everything that happened I was a little worried to call you.”

“I understand, and it’s fine. Really. Actually, I’m sorry for not answering when you called. I was in class.”

“Class? Like…college class?”

“No. I’m a senior in high school.”

“High school? Really? Wait, how old are you? What were you even doing at that party?”

“I’m seventeen, and yea, I know I was probably the youngest person at the party. I’m a musician and on the Stage Finalists tour. We had a show in New York and GLR had some kind of hand in that party, or at least got us in, so I went with a few of the other artists.”

“Oh,” she said.

She was very quiet, and I was getting the sense she was very uncomfortable, although if it was because of what happened, the fact that it was all over the news, or something else, I didn’t know. Warren and then Emerson had made it clear the story wasn’t about me; I was just collateral damage. It was about her, and I knew if I were in her shoes, it would have bothered me quite a bit.

“So, um, how are you?” I asked.

“I’m... I don’t know. I don’t remember much from that night, honestly. Just bits and pieces. I remember being in a cab, then the elevator, and those guys, the ones who were bothering me, a little bit. I kind of remember you, but that’s it. My people keep telling me everything is fine, that there’s nothing to worry about, but they won’t share the details. It’s like they’re hiding something from me.”

“I can tell you nothing happened, at least not... the worst things. Those guys were all over you, but once they were gone, you were fine. I got you into the cab, and then the doorman helped me get you out of the cab, and we took you upstairs together. I called my manager, and he was able to get a hold of one of your people, and they showed up just as we got you to the room. I’m sorry about the paparazzi getting pictures of you getting into the cab. I didn’t realize they were down there and... I’m not sure how else I could have gotten you out of the party.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m glad you were there. It makes me feel much better.”

“Have you seen the article about it?” I asked a little trepidatiously.

“No, but I heard there was one.”

“It’s the main reason I’ve been trying to get you on the phone, and probably why your people have been blocking me from reaching you. The article basically accuses me of taking you back to your hotel and assaulting you. I also wanted to make sure you were okay, but this thing has been causing me a lot of problems.”

“What? That’s insane! I had no idea...”

“I know, and it’s not your fault, but GLR is threatening to kick me off of the tour because of the bad press.”

“I’m so sorry. I... I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. What can I do to help?”

“I was talking to some people, my manager, and a few others, and what we really need is for the two of us to publicly refute the allegations together. Preferably on a big enough platform so we only have to do it once. I think I can arrange for us to be on some talk show or something like that, with a big enough audience, but this only works if you’re with me.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

“I don’t know. I’m positive my agency doesn’t want to be involved in this, in the bad press.”

“I get that, I do, but you’re already involved. The story is out there, and it’s about you, not me. I’m just collateral damage. Who knows how they will keep pushing it if we don’t shut it down.”

“But what if they start asking questions about... about how I got like that at the party? There have been problems in the past with, stuff, and we’ve been trying very hard to get away from all of that.”

It had honestly not occurred to me that she would be more worried about implications of drug use than the assault allegations.

“Ohh. I … yeah, I don’t know how to deal with that. All I can say is I’ll do everything I can to keep the focus on the assault story and trying to cover anything else.”

She was quiet for a long time. This was really the linchpin of anything else I might do. The fact that her agency was trying to block her from dealing with it bothered me, since, no matter what I said, they could then convince her otherwise. I also worried that it might be worse. Maybe they played up the allegations, to get sympathy and distract from what was probably a history of drug use.

“Please, Alina. I only wanted to help you, and I’m glad I did, but I didn’t want to destroy my own career to do it.”

“Okay,” she said, very quietly after another moment. “Set it up. This is my cell number and you can call me when you have dates.”

“Thank you,” I said, relieved. “I’m so sorry to push you into this.”

“It’s okay,” she said, and hung up.

***

Thursday, I was just getting out of school when I got a text from Mr. Eaves to head straight home. While that is what I normally did, the weirder part was that it was from Mr. Eaves, since his schedule was usually pretty busy and he didn’t call me unless it was important.

The only thing I had going on, though, was the PR thing, which he wasn’t really involved with. That was mostly Warren and Benny. Still, if he said to be home, I went home, only to find the driveway and street full of cars. I recognized Seth and Lyla’s vehicles, as well as Mr. Eaves’ sedan, but not the large black SUV with a sticker in the window that said CSS.

Walking into the house, I found the people I expected from the cars outside, along with Mrs. Phillips and Warren, who I guess rode with Mr. Eaves. Aside from them, there were two men in nice suits I did not recognize. One had to be in his fifties, with almost white hair styled very neatly, who was in fairly good shape it seemed, although that kind of thing is hard to tell for someone in a suit.

The other was a very large black man with a goatee and close-cut hair. He was maybe twice my width and when he stood as I entered, he towered over me, and everyone else in the room. The guy was an absolute giant.

“Charlie, good, you’re here,” Mr. Eaves said. “This is Deke Albright and Isaiah Miller. Deke owns Citadel Security Solutions, who specialize in personal security, and they specialize in high-profile clients.”

I shook each of their hands. Deke’s handshake was firm, the asserting dominance kind, while Isaiah’s was surprisingly gentle, considering his hand dwarfed my own.

“We’ve talked to a lot of people over the last month and both myself and Jennifer agree that they would be a good fit for you. But we wanted you to meet them face to face and have a chance to ask them questions before deciding if you wanted to go with our recommendations.”

I looked to Mrs. Phillips, who gave a confirming nod. I hadn’t even realized she’d been involved in the search, although it made sense. She wasn’t my guardian, but she was very involved in my life and could handle these things while I was off on tour, and it was her house that would be getting security upgrades.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Charlie,” Deke said. “I guess we’ll start by telling you a little about who we are. CSS is made up of mostly ex-law enforcement with experience in security. We work with several very high-profile clients here in the US, as well as several in countries where security is often much trickier. I won’t mention any of our clients by name because valuing our clients’ privacy is a big part of what we do, but some of these are names you would have heard of, with significantly large profiles and correspondingly larger threats against them.”

“Our goal is to provide peace of mind so you can focus on your career without worrying about potential threats,” Isaiah said, his voice just as deep and resonating as I would have expected. “While we do both location and personal security, in your case, this will be mostly hands-off. The threats to you, so far, don’t seem to be pervasive, so we don’t think you’ll require personal protection, although we will, of course, reassess as new threats show themselves.”

“So what does that mean, specifically?” I asked.

“For now, it would mean securing the homes and vehicles of you and your bandmates, along with a few additional steps considering your frequent travel and performing in public venues. For your homes, we would set up full security systems that we would monitor and maintain for you directly. This is different from the home security systems you might have seen before, in that we aren’t a large organization with massive outsourced monitoring systems. Anyone monitoring your security, which would be twenty-four-seven, will be familiar with the specifics of your account, allowing us to respond quickly to any problems. We would also work directly with the sheriff here to ensure smooth service, should it be needed. For your vehicles, we will install trackers which we will also monitor, as well as installing tracking software on your phones. This would let us keep tabs on you as you travel and go about your day, and easily find you should there be an emergency. Finally, part of the software we put on your phones will include a panic button, which will allow you to activate a security response on your own, separate from the systems we install here and on your car. This is for all three of you. If you press the button, we will be able to access your camera and phone microphone, which we will do immediately, to understand the situation, know if calling you would put you in more danger, and start emergency services to you with as little delay as possible.”

“We understand there have been some threatening communications, mostly on social media, and part of our service would be to evaluate those types of things, involve the police when warranted, and suggest modifications to your protection if warranted. For that to work, though, we would need the cooperation of you and your team. Unless it becomes pervasive, we wouldn’t need to screen all of your correspondence, but instead have you or your people forward us any communications that seem even borderline concerning.”

“There have been threats?” I asked, turning to Mrs. Phillips.

I hadn’t heard anything about threats and assumed this was just about the guy who showed up at the house, but the way he made it sound, it was more than that.

“Some,” she said cautiously.

I could tell she was evaluating, seeing how I reacted to that.

“What kind of threats?” I asked, looking to Mr. Eaves and trying to keep my face as neutral as possible.

“Nothing major,” he said. “Nearly all of it is around the article this weekend and is mostly people with misplaced anger venting at someone they perceive as being ‘bad.’ As far as we can tell, there’s nothing serious there.”

“Once we’re brought on, we will, of course, reevaluate those. In most cases, threats, especially on social media, are not likely to extend into the outside world, but the five percent of times it does means we have to check anyway.”

“Okay,” I said.

“I mean, that sounds great and all, but that means you will be tracking us wherever we go and have access to our email and social media,” Lyla said. “It feels like a pretty extreme violation of our privacy.”

“It absolutely is,” Derek said. “And that’s something you have to get used to if you want this life. The larger your profile, the more people will feel entitled to a part of it, and the only way to protect you is to stay ahead of it. I think Charlie himself can attest to how readily people are to violate your privacy. Part of our job is to try and protect that a little bit, act as a buffer between you and the rest of the world. You kind of have to think of us like your priests. We are contractually obligated to keep your secrets for you, because of how much access we have to have.”

“He’s not wrong,” Charlie said. “I didn’t have it that bad, but I saw a little bit what people who did have and … it’s pretty frightening.”

“And we will try to protect you from a lot of that, but our main concern will still be your actual safety. As bad as the celebrity hunters are, the real thing we need to worry about are the crazies,” Isaiah said. “We do try and keep it fairly discrete, and unless you start getting a very high level of threats, we won’t be actively monitoring you or your communications. We’ll simply be a backstop for if something happens and a place to take the more concerning things.”

“What exactly qualifies as an emergency?” Seth asked.

“Anything that puts you in immediate danger,” Deke said. “Break-ins, stalkers, direct and specific letters containing threats. Stuff like that.”

“So?” Charlie asked them.

“I don’t love being monitored, but we’ve been a little freaked since that guy came by your house,” Lyla said, to which Tabitha nodded aggressively.

“Same,” Seth said.

“Okay, so what’s the next step?”

“First, we’ll conduct a thorough security assessment of each of your residences. Identify any weak points, suggest improvements. We’ll also get those monitoring systems set up on your phones and vehicles and show you how to use them,” Isaiah said. “After that, we’re mostly hands off. Call us if you have problems, and hit your panic button if it’s immediate and serious.”

“How long will all that take? The evaluations and setting up the tracking?” I asked. 

“About a week,” Deke said.

“At the pricing? What is this going to cost?” I asked. 

“It’s in line with the breakdown I sent you a few weeks ago,” Arthur said.

“Oh, okay. Good. I guess let’s do it then,” I said.

There were a few more minutes of discussion, mostly just clarifying things, before they got up to leave.

As Mr. Waves walked them out, Warren pulled me aside.

“I do have some good news for you, which is one of the reasons I tagged along for this. You and Alina are booked on The World According to Harlan Nash Monday night.”

The World According to Harlan Nash was a primetime comedy “talk” show that aired in primetime on GVN. I’d watched it, not often, but occasionally, although I’d seen a lot more through clips on social media. They would do fake or comedic takes on news stories and then have a real interview, although usually with jokes worked in. While it was exciting to be on yet another show I’d seen on TV, the audience for this show was also squarely in my demographic, and there was a good chance people who would buy or listen to my music would see this. 

If ever there was a way to get the word out, this was it. It was also surprising, since they only had on big names. Maybe Warren had managed to get it off of Alina’s name, although it was impressive that he could swing such a big show, even with that.

“Wow, good job.”

“Actually, it wasn’t me. Hal Steiner called me this morning and told me it was all set up. I’m basically a messenger.”

“Really? I called him on Sunday and left a message at his office, but I never heard back. I thought maybe he didn’t get it or, I don’t know, decided not to help.”

“Apparently not. He’s been working on this since Monday, but it took a few days to work out the details. He didn’t give me specifics, just that you’d requested some help and he’d set it up and confirmed with Alina’s people.”

“Wow. Okay. Wow. I don’t even know what to say.”

“I know. What’s important is you use this opportunity. Go out there, give your story and make sure Alina confirms it completely, and make sure everyone knows you two are friendly and nothing happens. That will go a long way.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Good,” he said, patting me on my shoulder. “Gotta run. I’ll have flight details and everything by tomorrow.”

I watched him climb into Mr. Eaves’ car, shocked that Hal had come through for me. Good things do sometimes happen.