‘Well, nice to meet you, where should I set up?’
‘The dressing room is down two. The dancers are taken care of, so we need you, obviously, to pay full attention to Brooke. And you’ll do her hair as well I’m assuming?’ he asked bitchily, raising an eyebrow.
‘Yeah–yes, of course. Of course I know how to…’ I stuttered, afraid he’d call someone else if he knew that the extent of my experience actually doing hair was limited to helping Lauren flatten her impossibly curly tresses before dates. But really, how hard could it be? Brushing, teasing, curling–I knew how to do all of that.
‘Great,’ he cut me off, turning on his heel, off to his next drama.
As I located the dressing room, I nearly head-butted a boy bounding out of it. A bit shocked as I was, I jumped back, clutching my set bag as tightly as I could, but he smiled at me. Though I’d never seen their picture, I was able to peg him as one of the Emerson Brothers. From what little I knew about them, compliments of Sheryl, they were a pop sensation trio that had made it big with the ‘tween crowd when their song, ‘Let Your Body Do the Talkin”, appeared on a Nickelodeon sitcom. Now they were traveling the country, much to the delight of twelve-year-old girls everywhere, performing songs like ‘Girlfy,’ and ‘Break-up Box.’ The boy standing directly in front of me appeared to be about eighteen years old and was dressed exceptionally trendy–a shrunken twill blazer over a v-neck T-shirt that accented a black-and-silver lariat necklace, skintight slub denim pants, and argyle-printed Vans–thanks to the styling of Robert, I guessed. He exchanged a knowing look with an older, heavyset Latina woman who was standing next to one of the makeup counters before taking off in the opposite direction.
‘Boy! You are a troublemaker, I tell you that,’ she called out after him before letting out a gregarious laugh from deep inside.
Unzipping my rolling duffel, I timidly rifled through a mess of compacts, tweezers, and small spray cans of Evian mineral water as the woman turned to me and smiled.
‘I’m Sasha,’ she laughed, placing a fleshy hand on her chest before nodding her head toward the door. ‘That one runnin’ out the door there was Jesse, but you probably already knew that,’ she laughed.
‘Yeah, I recognize him. He’s one of the Emerson Brothers–quite a talented family, huh?’ I mused as she wrinkled up her face as if she was puzzled. ‘Jesse and the others I mean…’ She suddenly let out another boisterous laugh.
‘They ain’t brothers, at least not by blood…that’s just what the band’s called. The other two that ain’t here, are Landon and Nolan. It’s Jesse, you know, that’s sweet on Brooke so that’s why he’s roaming around. Came to watch her shoot her first music video.’ She smiled.
‘I’m Jackie, I’m here to do Brooke’s makeup,’ I said, realizing I hadn’t even introduced myself. ‘Do you work on the music videos?’
‘Heck no,’ she said laughing again as if the question were unheard of. ‘I work for the label.’
‘Sunshine Records, right?’ I asked nervously.
‘Close–Sun Splash.’
‘Oh. I didn’t–I didn’t know. I was hired out of Steve Green’s office.’ I muttered foolishly as the PDA that was clipped to Sasha’s belt began to chime. Looking down at the waist of her jeans–first to the left as if she had forgotten just where exactly she had attached it–she seized it from the magnesium case on her right hip. ‘Damn things be clipped all over me,’ she told me with an exaggerated frown. ‘Hello?’ she barked before quickly snapping, ‘Uh-uh, no way. I told them they can schedule those little meetings another time. Folks in A&R be hustlin’ me before we even got time to get the promos out the damn door.’ She put a chubby digit up to her other ear to drown out the background noise, listening to the person on the other end for a moment before continuing. ‘I told them I wasn’t trying to rush, rush, rush all the time. Well, tell ‘em, please.’ Flustered, Sasha hung up the phone, clipping it back into place on her belt.
‘Sounds pretty intense,’ I said, breaking the silence.
‘It is. Believe me.’ Shaking her head back and forth, she soon changed gears, cracking a smile once more. ‘I should probably tell you a little bit about myself–I’m one of the label’s publicists–I work the younger musicians mainly. Basically, when the big guys give me a go ‘head after decidin’ a performer is ready I put the publicity wheels in action.’
‘Setting up interviews and things…’ I offered.
‘Yep, yep…that and a combination of marketing, helpin’ to create an image for the musician that the label can use as a brand communication tool.’
‘To be honest, I wasn’t really filled in too much about Brooke…or her image,’ I admitted. Was that something I was supposed to know? And if so, why didn’t Sheryl download me?
‘Don’t you worry yourself, she’s comin’ right off this dinky little mall tour, so we haven’t done much with her yet. They’re adding her to the last leg of the Emersons tour now though, that’s actually why I’m here…gotta start plannin’ the press kits.’
It was suddenly clear to me that Sasha–the label’s ‘image maker’–had the power to make or break my career and many others like me. ‘Is there anything in particular you’re looking for from me? You know–image-wise?’
Sasha started laughing uncontrollably again. ‘No pageant stuff–she likes all that sparkly, spangly garbage. Think fresh-faced–it’s all about youth these days you know.’
As if on cue, Brooke breezed through the door with a stocky man in his mid-forties following behind her. Because the only image I’d ever seen of Brooke was thanks to a quick Google search–which only led me to a few tiny thumbnails of a girl wearing a tiara–I fully expected her to be the quintessential pageant girl. And she was, to a degree. Platinum locks, toned and tan with green doe eyes and dressed in several shades of pink: she was the antithesis of a girl like me, a girl whose skin never saw the sun in order to keep freckles at bay, and who, if forced into a gym, wouldn’t know the first thing to do there.
‘Hi!’ She grinned, looking around the makeup trailer. ‘I can’t believe this is really happening–a real music video–sorry, I’m such a nerd.’ I watched as she chomped down on the wad of gum in her mouth before blowing a bubble that exploded on her face as she leapt into the makeup chair. ‘Oh my gawsh!’ She laughed so hard that she made a faint snorting noise, which made her laugh even harder. This was Miss Teen Florida? I thought to myself, any predetermined stereotypes I had of her suddenly fading away.
‘Brooke, love! You really need to lose the gum.’ A familiar-looking man with an even more familiar-sounding British accent behind her scrunched his face in mock disgust, as if he were trying to mask his amusement, before turning in my direction. ‘Hi, I’m Steve Green, Brooke’s manager,’ he said, hooking a pair of sunglasses over the opening of his salmon-colored collar, before extending a hand to me. Grasping his palm with a firm shake I suddenly realized where I knew him from. He had been a longtime manager and constant companion of the heavily photographed eighties music phenomenon Krizia. He had discovered her himself, spotting her on the dance floor at a London hot spot, Annabel’s. This earned him a reputation in the business as a serious hustler, and before long both Steve and Krizia found themselves among L.A.’s glitterati. As time passed Krizia’s star power dwindled, and though she was a pop culture legend, Steve knew she’d be unable to compete with the new generation of film, T.V., and video game vixens. No longer pulling in the paychecks that had made them both fabulously wealthy, they both disappeared from the public eye. And here he was now standing right in front of me with fresh blood–a girl he hoped to mold into the next big…star, paycheck, it was all the same. Clad in a crisp pair of