Duchess (8 page)

Chase ended his call and slowed down to match her pace. They walked in silence for a bit before he finally spoke.

“Are you doing all right?” She heard concern in his voice.

“What?” She tried to focus. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I need to get to my computer and make some more lists. I told her the latest doctor wasn’t doing enough. There’s a new treatment I heard about recently, and a couple of medical trials that she might qualify for. I need to get her signed up.”

“Katie, you know that all of it might not be enough, right?” His voice was gentle and soft, but his words weren’t what she wanted to hear.

“It will! There are cures out there. Some foods and natural spices have healing powers. We just have to find the one that will work for her.”

Chase had stopped walking, and she turned to see why. He was staring at her with his eyebrows raised.

“What?”

“I think …”

“Chase? Is that you?” A doctor stopped beside him, and they shook hands as the doctor continued, “How is your leg?”

Chase seemed to pale a little at the question. “It’s fine. Good as new.” He gave his knee a little pat. “Do you work here now?”

“I’m still at the Veteran’s Hospital too. What can I say? I get around.” They both laughed.

“Well, it was good seeing you, Doc.” Chase started to walk forward, and the doctor resumed his path the other way.

“You too, Chase. Take care.”

Katie couldn’t contain her curiosity. “What happened to your leg?”

“It’s just an old injury from my tour in Afghanistan.”

“You were in the military?” For some reason, she’d thought he was just a volunteer like her mother.

He nodded quickly, and she knew he didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “Let’s go see if the cab’s here.”

As they opened the hospital doors, a cab was parked at the curb, and Katie and Chase got in.

“Thanks for your help tonight.” Katie yawned as the cab rumbled down the street.

“Sure,” Chase answered.

“I really mean it. You were there for us tonight, and you barely know us.” Katie’s eyelids began to fall, and she leaned her head back against the seat of the car. A warm hand covered hers, and she couldn’t help the tiny smile that came to her face. Taking a deep, satisfying breath, safety and peace enveloped her as she drifted off to sleep. Her last thought was of how soft Chase’s hand felt against her skin.

Chapter Nine

Katie took a deep calming breath, and then another. Today would be Duchess’s first television interview. Although she’d been prepping for a month, she didn’t feel ready. Plus, her mother had spent the past three days in the hospital, and no one could tell her when she could bring her mother home. Frustration battled with nerves, and she wasn’t sure which would win out.

Katie had worked hard to fix every detail of Duchess’s persona. But could she do a television interview without blowing her cover? The answer was simple—she’d better. If she didn’t, the record label took everything. Including Duchess. She’d signed over the rights to Duchess in that fateful contract two years ago. She’d been so focused on getting signed that she hadn’t paid attention to the fine print. All she’d wanted was to make sure she could take care of her mother.

“Duchess?” A knock on the bedroom door brought her back to the task at hand.

“Coming, Maria.” Katie didn’t bother disguising her voice. Her loyal housekeeper was one of the few people who knew Duchess’s true identity. Katie wasn’t sure what she thought about it—she mostly spoke Spanish—but the woman hadn’t spilled her guts in the year she’d been with them.

Katie looked at her reflection in the mirror one more time before leaving the house. The wig was actually a light pink one today. It matched the Jane Austen-era dress. The wig was also styled in the same era, though she was pretty sure no one had hair the color of cotton candy two hundred years ago. Her contacts were violet. They made her eyes pop out amongst all the pink. The fake nose was flawless—she’d gotten really good at making it look real.

Before leaving, she added one final, but important, part of her costume. The synthesizing head mic nestled around the back of her wig, coming over her ear and hanging delicately next to her cheek. The tiny speaker attached to the inside of one of her sleeves. This way, no one would hear her real voice.

With a satisfied smile, she turned on her heel and left the house to the waiting limousine. The driver held the door open, and she carefully folded herself inside. Kyle sat on the seat across from hers. She was glad she wasn’t doing this alone. This gig didn’t allow for many friends—Kyle was probably the closest thing to a friend she had right now.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked, his voice emotionless, but Katie could tell he was nervous.

“Dahling, I was born for this!” Duchess waved her hands dismissively. This was how it always worked for her. At a moment’s notice, she could become Duchess, who had her own personality and characteristics all very different from her real self. Sometimes it was freeing to become a carefree pop diva whose most difficult choice that morning had been which contacts to wear. She didn’t have to be Katie. She didn’t have to be responsible. She didn’t have to worry about her mother in the hospital. She didn’t have to worry about what would happen if none of the treatments worked. She could just smile at the camera and act like she didn’t have a care in the world. And for a second, she could believe it.

“Well, remember to stick to the answers the PR team came up with.” Kyle reminded her, like Katie wasn’t the one who told the PR team to put the questions and answers together in the first place.

“I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises.” Duchess winked at him, and Kyle grimaced. He never did like talking to Duchess. Always said she had a way of talking down to him. Plus, it really creeped him out knowing it was Katie behind the makeup and the costume, but Duchess wouldn’t break character.

The car stopped, and Katie waited for the door to open.

“Duchess?” A person from the studio waited for her out front. “This way, please.”

Katie followed, and Kyle continued down the hallway, presumably to the room where he could watch the live feed.

The woman took her to the set. The anchor table was the focal point. The lights burned brightly down on the anchor behind the desk. Katie was glad she’d doubled up on her makeup, though with the heat of the lights, she hoped it didn’t melt off.

She reminded herself that she was Duchess and didn’t have a care in the world. She walked deliberately to the desk and sat down.

The news anchor introduced himself and gushed about how happy he was to have her there. Duchess nodded and then reminded him to stick to the questions. He agreed, of course, but something in his eyes made her uneasy.

Someone counted down, and Duchess could feel the heat of the lights already raising beads of sweat on her brow, though she supposed it could be from nerves.

The camera started to roll, and Duchess sat up straight, trying to look as royal and confident as possible. She had to stay in control. After all, this was her chance to shine. This was Duchess’s moment, and she was going to live it to its fullest because if the world ever found out who she really was, it would be over. Her fans had proven to her that they would never be able to accept a serious musician like Katie. They wanted drama, mystery—smoke and mirrors. She smiled and decided to enjoy herself.

“Welcome back, everyone,” the anchor said to the camera. “Just as we promised, I have the pop star Duchess here today in her first-ever interview in person.” He turned to Duchess and put on a smile she was sure he must have practiced in the mirror a thousand times or so. “Thank you for being here, Duchess. We’re excited to get to know you better.”

“Thanks for inviting me, dahling,” she drawled.

“The first question is this. How have you risen on the music charts so quickly?”

This was one of the prepared questions, so she was ready with her scripted answer. “Because I’m fabulous, of course! Why else? People know good, fun music when they hear it. Plus, I don’t follow the rules. I’m my own person.”

The lie tasted funny in her mouth, though she should be used to lies by now. Of course she followed the rules of the music industry, which was to look like you didn’t care what people thought. For some reason, that sold music.

“Why the mystery? Why not just tell us who you are?”

Again, she was ready for this one. “Everyone loves a good mystery. Why not give them one?”

The anchor didn’t seem satisfied with this answer. “Yes, but eventually we want to solve the mystery,” he prodded.

“Maybe you will,” she answered with a wink.

“What about the rumors that you’re really British royalty, but can’t reveal your true identity?”

That question definitely wasn’t on the list.

“What about it?” She tried to deflect the question. She could feel the sweat rolling down the back of her neck.

“Is it true?”

“It could be,” she said coyly. She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt at the moment.

“What about the rumor that you’re another musician in disguise? Many people say your music style reminds them of Lady Gaga.”

“Really? You’re asking me if I’m Lady Gaga in disguise?” Duchess threw her head back and laughed. “She’s already in disguise every time she goes on stage. Besides, I’m much more sophisticated than that.” She groaned inwardly, knowing there would probably be a tabloid headline tomorrow about a feud between Duchess and Lady Gaga. Perfect.

“Is your British accent real?”

Seriously? Was this guy going to use any more of the questions the PR team spent nights preparing?

“That information is top secret. I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” She winked again. The movement suddenly caused a slight shifting feeling on her face. Panic began to take hold as she realized her nose had moved.

“Was that a threat?”

Holy cow! This was getting out of control. She needed to finish this interview before her nose fell off in front of all of America.

She turned to the camera and thought about her fans and what they wanted. They wanted drama, so she would give them drama. Turning back to the anchor, she put on a sickly sweet smile. “Only if you want it to be. I prefer to think of it as a joke, but maybe you Americans don’t have a sense of humor. But then again, maybe it’s just you.”

“It’s actually quite difficult to tell if you’re joking or not, with that robotic-sounding voice of yours.” The news anchor gave her a pointed look, and Duchess knew she was in over her head. They never should have agreed to this interview. “What’s the point of the mystery?”

Katie plastered a smile on Duchess’s perfectly painted face and hoped her smile would push the sliding nose back up. “The point is that anyone could be Duchess!” The news anchor looked confused, so she went on. “It’s freeing to be someone else, if only for a time. That’s why everyone loves Halloween so much. Why not be that person you are too afraid to be?”

“Are you saying everyone should go around wearing wigs and makeup and disguising themselves?” He made sure the very thought sounded distasteful.

“I’m saying that I could be anyone. The lady in the grocery store with her screaming child, the school teacher you had a parent/ teacher conference with, or the telemarketer you hung up on. The point is that everyone wears a mask. What are you hiding behind that pearly white smile and perfectly combed hair?”

The news anchor got uncomfortable for a moment, then turned away from Duchess and looked into the camera. “It’s time for a commercial break. Thanks for coming, Duchess. It was . . .” He paused for a moment before finishing. “Enlightening.”

She waited until someone yelled “cut” and then put her hand over her nose and exited the stage quickly. She stalked down the hallway, but the platform shoes made it difficult to do so gracefully. Kyle began walking next to her. He stayed quiet, and she didn’t trust herself to speak right then. She waited until they got into the limo. She slammed the door behind her, then let her nose slide off into her hand before she reached up and pulled the mic off her head and raised the partition between the back of the car and the driver.

“What the heck was that?” It was all right to be Katie now.

Kyle looked apologetic. “I don’t know. We gave them the list of approved questions, but come on, Katie. You know they never listen to those. It’s all just part of the game.” He shrugged, and suddenly she was even more irritated.

“Maybe I don’t want to play their game.” Katie sighed. “We never should have done a television interview. I knew we should have stuck with radio interviews. If they get out of line, Duchess can just hang up the phone.”

“The record label wanted more exposure for Duchess.”

“Yes, they want exposure, but don’t want to expose who she is. They think they can have it all. They live in a dream world! Meanwhile, I’m here in reality, trying to juggle all the rumors and the prying news anchors. Duchess can’t handle this kind of scrutiny!” She continued to talk about Duchess in the third person mostly because it had become habit, but also because anyone could be listening.

“Katie.” Kyle lowered his voice. “Do you know why I agreed to this insane idea of yours?”

“Because it was so crazy, it was genius. You wanted to ride the cash wagon with me.”

“No.” He looked at her seriously now, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him like this before. “It’s because I know you, and I knew you had the best mind for this business. I saw how hard you worked at Julliard and all the extra hours you put into everything you did. I knew you wouldn’t let it fail.”

Katie could only stare at him. That couldn’t be the reason. No one had wanted her in the business before Duchess. “Then why didn’t you pick me up with my own music? Why did you only agree to work with me after I created Duchess?” Her voice came out as a whisper.

“Because you didn’t believe in your music the way you believe in Duchess.”

“What?” She gasped as a heavy feeling grew in her stomach.

“You were too timid and lacked confidence. The record label would have eaten you alive. But put a wig on you, and suddenly you became the force of nature I always knew you could be.”