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CHAPTERTEN
Aurelia
So much has happenedsince I first arrived on Starling Key—the rehearsals, the first live show, the threat, the move into the Morrison villa. But I’m not struck by any of it as acutely as I’m struck by the moment Isaac first lays eyes on me in my white bikini. He hardly says a word as I walk past him onto the deck and dive straight into the sea. His eyes burn into me so hard my skin sizzles when I hit the water.
I swim back to the surface and push my hair back off my face. When my vision clears, I see him standing on the deck; he’d followed me out.
“Do you want to come in?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I can’t when I’m working.”
“So, you won’t be able to swim out here the whole time I’m on the island? That doesn’t seem fair.”
“I can’t do my job if I’m in the water.” He folds his arms across his chest and I can’t tell if he’s annoyed with me or bemused.
“Will it be easier for you if I come out?”
“It’s not up to you to make my job easier. Success for me is that you get to live your life the way you want to, without being afraid.”
I swim to the ladder and grip it with both hands. He steps closer to the edge and looks down. I notice the fine, dark hairs on his muscled calves, and swallow.
“I feel safer now than I’ve felt in a long time,” I say, quietly, pulling myself up the ladder.
He frowns and seems to do a double take. “What do you mean?”
I take a breath in and wonder if I should tell him. He is my bodyguard, not my confidante. But something tells me he is genuinely interested and I figure more knowledge might only help him to protect me better. I watch his jaw tick as I lift myself out of the water. “It’s a long story.”
“I have time on my hands if you do,” he says, stepping back and handing me a towel, his eyes diverted.
I wrap the towel around myself and walk to the nearest chair. I sit down and curl my legs up beneath me. A glass of sparkling water is already sitting there, so I take a long sip. Isaac sits in the chair opposite. He doesn’t say anything but leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, giving me his full attention.
“Before Chuck came along, it was just Mom and me. She was a different person back then. We used to do so many things together. She always loved her spa treatments and girly brunches, but she would often take me with her. I learned how to sit still, be polite, eat my food with good manners. I loved those times. It felt as though it was just the two of us in our little bubble—friends, really. And she was always so supportive of my career.”
“Did she push you at all?” Isaac asks.
“Yeah, of course, but no more than any other showbiz parent, I guess. She took me to singing and dance classes, entered me into competitions. She worked really hard to pay for all these too, as she keeps reminding me.” I add.
I notice the sweat beading on Isaac’s forehead. As if reading my mind, he wipes it away and pushes his hand through his hair, then rests his chin on it.
I continue. “She found me a manager, some small-time guy who talked the talk but didn’t know what he was doing. He got us a deal with the record company but the contract was terrible. AfterBreak His Hearthit number one, Mom met Chuck. They dated for a few weeks before he offered to look over the contract. He studied law in school so he at least knew a little bit about it. He pointed out to us all the clauses that didn’t work in our favor at all. Any lawyer could have done that, but Mom was just in awe of him. So, you know, he became my manager pretty quickly. Then he and Mom married soon afterwards.”
“So, he assimilated into your family and business pretty quickly,” Isaac says with a frown.
I sigh. “Yeah. It wasn’t long after that Mom started leaving us a lot to go do her thing, whatever that was. More frequent—and expensive—spa treatments, more lunches with friends and people from the industry. That was her job I guess, to schmooze with the execs and their wives, and she loved it. But I used to watch her leave and wish so hard that I was going with her. I really missed our lunches and spa days together. I felt as though I’d lost my best friend, you know? But Chuck was giving her money to go treat herself. More money than I ever saw from him. I don’t know, it was like he wanted her out of the way.”
“Do you think she realized that?”
“No, and I would never say it to her. She worships him.”
“Then, there was this one time when she eventually did take me on a shopping trip. I didn’t particularly want to buy anything; I just wanted to spend time with her. She went into a changing room with an armful of clothes and left me outside. I sat and read a book while I waited for her. But, when she came out, she’d completely forgotten I was there. I had my head deep inside my book, so I didn’t notice her come out. She walked straight past me, paid for her clothes and went home.”
I stare at my feet while I tell the story. When I look up, Isaac’s jaw is set hard.
“At the time, my face was everywhere, but thankfully, we’d managed to get into this shop without anyone recognizing me. I had no security at the time, and even then, fans were persistent and could get quite physical. When I realized she’d gone, I had a panic attack, my first one. I didn’t know what was happening. My heart beat so fast and I felt like I could hardly breathe. I’ll always remember the lovely sales girl helping me into a back office and calling Chuck. And I’ll never forget the feeling of being forgotten by my very own mother. I was fifteen, but as this young famous singer who everyone wanted a piece of, I was vulnerable.”
Isaac’s head moves slowly from side to side. “Did your mom realize what she’d done?”
“Not until Chuck called her. He was pissed and I think that’s what bothered her the most.” I shrug. “When I eventually got home, she yelled her head off at me.”
