Love Game

“Cate, you have mail!” Sasha called as she entered the apartment.

“Bills?” I asked.

“No something else.” I got up off of the couch and walked into the kitchen where she had gone.

“Who from?”

“Doesn’t say, and I don’t know the address.”

“Let me have it,” I said, holding out my hand. She placed the envelope in my hand and went back to flipping through our mail. I didn’t recognize the address either, something from Northern California, and I didn’t know anyone from there. I grabbed the letter opener, cutting the top of the envelope, and pulling out the contents. There was a piece of paper along with two tickets.

“Ooh, tickets,” Sasha said, noticing what I held in my hand. “To what and where?” I lifted the tickets so I could read the information.

“It’ll be in NYC next week,” I said. “Whoever sent them knew about Fashion Week.”

“Alright, so what’s it for?”

“Seether, 30 Seconds to Mars, and Papa Roach,” I replied. We looked and each other and sighed.

“Jacoby,” we said at the same time.

“I thought you told him off?” Sasha asked.

“I did. Apparently, he doesn’t give up easily.” I looked back down at the tickets. “Ooh, VIP tickets.”

“You’re not going to go are you?”

“Sash, they’re VIP. We have to go. And we both love the bands.”

“But you’re giving him satisfaction by doing this.”

“Who fucking cares? These are free tickets.”

“Cate,” Sasha whined.

“Look, nothing’s going to happen. We’ll be in NYC anyway, so why not go?”

“This is his way of trying to get in your pants, you know.” I shrugged.

“I promise that I’m not going to fuck him.”

“You know what I’ll do if you break it.” I nodded. “Alright, then we’ll go.”

“Yay!” I cried, smiling. She shook her head and went back to the mail. I decided to go ahead and read the note that accompanied the tickets. It wasn’t long, about half a page worth.

Miss you, Cate baby. So how about you bring your fine ass up to my show next week? It’ll be fun, and think of it as an apology for the incident. I’ll see you there.

I laughed at the note, shaking my head. Sasha looked at me curiously.

“What?” she asked.

“Jacoby’s just a little too cocky,” I said. “He already knows I’m going.”

“Another reason why you shouldn’t.”

“I want to go, Sash. You can’t change my mind.” She shrugged.

“Alright, but if this comes to bite you in the ass, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I rolled my eyes.

A week later

“So Chloe will be first,” Jake, the show organizer said, while all of us models were getting our hair and makeup done. “Rachel will be next followed by Taylor, Cate, and Alana.”

“You’ve been over this a million times,” Alana moaned. “We know what the order is. So like can you shut up about it?”

“Yeah, we’re sick of it,” Chloe chimed in. The rest of the models, makeup artists, stylists, and I all shouted our agreements, much to his disapproval. He glared at us before huffing and turning on his heels.

“Alana, you might be my fucking hero,” I said. She laughed.

“I was just so fucking sick of hearing his stupid voice. And he was treating us like kids. We only need directions once.”

“Amen, sister,” Taylor said. “I was about to strangle him.” We laughed.

“I tell you what,” I said. “I’d much rather deal with this pain in the ass pervert that keeps hitting on me than Jake.”

“Who’s this perv?” Chloe asked.

“The singer from Papa Roach. I mean, he’s hot and everything, but he’s too sex crazy for me.”

“A rock star?” Krissy, my makeup artist, asked. “Honey, you must be crazy to turn him down.” I laughed.

“I only met him once, during the shoot for their latest video. He kept flirting with me. I just think he only wants sex.”

“You forgot to mention that he sent you tickets to his concert tomorrow night,” Sasha interjected.

“Either he really wants to hit it that bad, or he’s interested in you in more than just sex,” Alana said. “I mean, sending tickets to a concert is pretty impressive.”

“Rock stars just want sex,” I said.

“Not always,” Chloe argued. “They can want love too. And seems to me that this guy wants your love.”

“I don’t know.”

“Go for it,” they all told me. I shrugged, not sure whether I should or not. Were they right? I mean, Sasha kept saying he was bad news, but maybe she was wrong? And I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to go for it. Hell, I was tempted to just fuck him as soon as I laid eyes on him. Then again, he’s a bit of an ass. Either way, he’s stuck in my head. Damn, this is way too confusing.

“Alright, girls, show time!” Jacob shouted, forcing me out of my thoughts. I stood up and fixed my dress before following the rest of the models to the left side of the stage, where we waited for our turns to walk down the catwalk.

After a few minutes, it was finally my turn to walk down the catwalk. The announcer read off the details of my dress as I posed, allowing cameras to take the pictures and then turned to walk off, only to go through a quick wardrobe change. I was already used to the process, so I was able to think about all sorts of things during the show. But I was really only thinking about one thing, Jacoby.

I jumped when Sasha tapped my shoulder after my third outfit change. She had that knowing look on her face, and I smiled sheepishly. She shook her head.

“You’re thinking about him aren’t you?”

“C’mon, Sash, we both know he’s hot,” I whined.

“And he pissed you off the day of the shoot.”

“But he’s sorry now.” She scoffed.

“Please. You actually believe that bullshit.” I sighed.

“No, but maybe I should give it a shot?” This time she sighed.

“I’ll support whatever you do.”

“Really?”

“That’s what best friends are for, right?” I smiled and hugged her. “Now get out there because you’re next.” I laughed but did as she said. So I decided that I’d let things happen as they unfolded at the concert.