Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2004 04:33:55 -0400 From: Jason Leigh Subject: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL The story is fiction. It isn't based on any real characters, events, places and situations. There is no relationship between the names used and that of any real person. This is the first time I'm writing anything so send all comments and criticism to amabfab@hotmail.com CHAPTER 1 "Well that's it folks! I'm Shane Roderick. See you next week on Up Close and Personal when I'll be interviewing Leo Malone, lead singer of the well-known rock band, The Bones". Loud applause and the theme music began to play. "... and cut" yelled Jenny. "Good job as always Shane." "Thanks Jenny". Shane smiled at her in appreciation. Jenny Moe was sweet. She always knew the right thing to say. In truth, he knew he wasn't doing such a good job. As the host of Up Close and Personal, an hour long television talk show, he was supposed to appear cheerful, upbeat and happy. These days it was getting much harder to keep up the facade. Shane knew he was letting his personal life interfere with his work, but he couldn't help it. He felt pressure on his right arm and turned around to find Candace Romano gripping him tightly. "So Shane. how `bout me and you head out for lunch or maybe drinks?" `Uh.no thanks Candace, I've got other plans" Shane replied. "Maybe some other time." Leaning her head even closer, rubbing her ample cleavage against his arm and her emerald eyes gleaming Candace said, "You know I'm free all day.and all night too. So maybe if you wanna ." He never heard what it was she wanted to do because at that moment, Jenny appeared and cleared her throat. "Sorry to interrupt but Shane, you've got just 30 minutes till the next taping and you need to get ready." Shane smiled at her gratefully, and she winked back. He removed Candace gently from his arm and stepped backwards. "Sorry Candace. Gotta run. Take care of yourself and thanks for coming to the show. I'm sure your new movie's gonna do really well." With that, he walked away quickly from the two women. Candace watched the retreating figure of Shane Roderick as he left. "Fuck" she thought, as she turned around slowly. She'd been this close to scoring with him. Then she'd lost it thanks to this bitch. Who the hell did she think she was anyway? As if hearing Candace's thoughts, Jenny smiled, stretched out her hand and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Jenny Moe, Director of Up Close and Personal. We're really pleased to have you here." Candace tossed her long blonde hair and glared at Jenny. She ignored her outstretched hand and stalked away from her. Jenny grinned and let out a loud chuckle. She knew that she'd taken a huge risk interrupting Candace and Shane, but she'd done it anyway. Shane was going through a difficult time right now and he definitely didn't need an air headed celebrity like Candace Romano complicating things for him. Sure Candace Romano could act, and she was about the hottest starlet in Hollywood right now, but she was a tramp and the tabloids were having a ball with her affairs and exploits with various leading men. Come to think of it, hadn't she just seen Candace on the cover of People in a lip lock with Val Kilmer?... besides, this was her show, her baby. a distracted Shane Roderick means a bad show which means bad reviews which means low ratings which means her ass could be on the line.....Aaaaaaaah!!! She didn't even want to think about it. She'd really tried her best with Shane; it was left to him now. ******************************************* Shane walked slowly to his dressing room, mumbling automatic replies to cheery greetings from fellow co-workers. He couldn't really see them or hear them. He was caught up in his own world. Drew. That's whom he was thinking. Drew. He couldn't get him off his mind. You couldn't live with someone for two years and just leave them, without looking back even once. Could you? Yes. Drew had done that. It'd been Four weeks; two weeks and two days since he'd left their apartment. He hadn't called Shane. Not even once to find out how he was doing. Shane sighed as he pushed open his dressing room door slowly. Music played softly. Good thing he'd left Celine Dion's "The French Album" playing earlier. It helped to calm his nerves. He sat on the couch and ran his hands through his hair. He could really use a drink right now. They were done taping shows for the day; he smiled as he remembered that Jenny had lied to Candace that he had to get ready for a show. A shot of whiskey would be good. Or maybe two.three. Hell, he could do whatever he wanted. It was Friday. Maybe he should go home.no that would be depressing. Too many memories of Drew there. He could go clubbing tonight. It wasn't as much fun without Drew. Fuck. He had to stop thinking of him. Besides he had other friends besides Drew. There was Jason, Danny, Alex, Sarah.Yeah. He should probably call one of them. As he got up to pick the telephone, there was a soft knock on his door. Shane stared at the door with annoyance. "Who is it?" "It's Jenny." "Come in." Jenny walked in purposefully and shut the door firmly behind her. "What the fuck is your problem Roderick?" She only ever called him Roderick when she was angry. "Huh?....What the fuck are you talking about Moe? "Two can play that game" thought Shane. He stared at her and she stared back two. Silence. Absolute silence. Shane watched Jenny warily. He didn't know what to expect from her. Right now she was leaning against the door. At a charitable height of five three and the age of thirty four, Jenny was very small. Her abundant auburn hair was wrapped tightly in a bun. Her face was devoid of any make up and she had a light sprinkling of freckles across her nose. Her jaw was far too angular to ever consider her beautiful, but she was attractive in her own casual and unfussy way. She moistened her lips with her tongue. She was chewing her trademark bubblegum. Her outfits were never far off from a variation of jeans and a T shirt. Today she was wearing loose khaki pants with a black three quarter sleeved sleeved top. On her feet were white Nike sneakers. Jenny wasn't beautiful. In a crowd, you'd never pick out. The only thing that would ever make Jenny stand out in crowd was her character. And she was about to prove that to Shane. Clearing her throat, she began " Shane, you've got to get over this. Its been like six month since he left.." "Four months, two weeks and two days" interrupted Shane before he could stop himself. Jenny glared at him and continued. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. You're acting like a fucking baby. You're not the first person to have a broken heart. Yeah so he left you. I'm sorry. The whole fucking world is sorry. Now you've gotta pull yourself together. Hell, I've been through a divorce and so many relationships it would take a fucking hammer to break my heart. You're young Shane. You've got your life ahead of you. You're gonna meet better people out there. I know you still love him and you know what, you might never stop, but Drew's moved on so why can't you. He hasn't called you since he left. You don't even know where he is". "I know" whispered Shane. "What? How did you find."exclaimed Jenny. "I called Brian two days". Brian was Drew's best friend. "You know I call him almost everyday to see if he's heard from Drew. Well as usual, he's telling me that Drew's out of the country and then in the background, I hear a dog barking". "Jasmine" said Jenny. "Yeah.Jasmine. Drew never goes anywhere without her. The night we had the fight, he was so angry, he didn't take anything, but he still remembered to take her with him. He loves her so much.so much. Why couldn't he love me that way?... Brian finally confessed. He said Drew had been staying with him since he'd left me. I guess that's why he never let me in when I went over to his place." Shane took a deep breath and leaned against a bookcase. He couldn't even cry anymore. In the beginning there'd been a lot of tears and a lot of pain. Now he just felt hollow. The pain wasn't so bad anymore; it felt more of a dull thud. The tears had dried up. He'd slowly began too realize that Drew had never loved him as much as he loved him. Somehow that just made things worse. Shane smiled and laughed bitterly, "He didn't even love me as much as the fucking dog? He loved my Christmas gift to him more than he loved me. Ain't that funny Jen. You know, when he first left I thought I was going crazy. I didn't understand what was going on. I had a million questions to ask him. That's why I called Brian everyday. I wanted to talk to Drew so bad. On Wednesday I finally out where he was and I felt nothing. Brian begged me not to come over, but I already knew. I don't ever want to see Drew again. He hurt me. I know its over between us. He didn't deserve me. He took all my love and gave me nothing in return, and that's where the problem lies because now I'm running on empty. I'm like a shell Jenny. An empty shell" Jenny dropped the file she was holding and wiped the tears slowly streaming down her face. She walked to Shane and put her arms around him. Her head lying just halfway across his chest. Shane hugged her and put his chin on her head. "I'm sorry Shane. I'm so sorry for being mad at you" She said, whimpering and crying softly. "I had no idea you were feeling this way. I love you so much" Shane kissed her hair softly and said "I love you too Jenny. Thanks for talking to me. I really needed to talk about how I was feeling. I just didn't realize it" They stayed like that for a long time, Celine Dion singing softly in the background. ************************************* "Shane, you're going to Los Angeles tomorrow", said Jenny. "What are you talking about?" replied Shane. "The special we're doing next week on Leo Malone and The Bones, well we just got word that they're leaving for Japan next week Thursday, and so they won't be able to make it to New York for our interview. Leo offered to do a four part interview from Sunday to Wednesday instead. His gonna let our crew follow him around on Sunday and tape him doing what he usually does. Kinda like a reality show. Then on Monday, you get to interview the whole band. Now that was an offer I just couldn't refuse. We're gonna have so much footage we could even do a week long special on The Bones." She stared at Shane who said nothing. "Please Shane do this for me" She said. "Whose gonna stand in for me on the show?" "Well there's Susan Liu. She does a pretty good job whenever you're away. I was also thinking we could show a couple of reruns or maybe even have a guest celebrity host." "Why does all this sound so well planned Jenny? You've got everything figured out. I feel like a pawn" "Okay Okay. I'm sorry. Shane. I did plan this. You need some time away from here and this was the best I come up with. Its gonna be so much fun Shane. Los Angeles. Come on now. Its gonna be a nice short vacation. Go to the beach, meet some hunks, get a tan.." "Alright Jenny, I get the point. Sure I'll go. I guess I do need a break from this." Jenny smiled and got up to her feet. She picked up the file she'd dropped on the floor and threw it on his laps. "In there's everything you need for trip. Take care Shane and call me when you get there. At the door, she turned around to look at Shane and said "Trust me, everything's gonna be alright", Shane looked up and said "Yeah.I think so too." *************************** The camera flashes blinded him for a moment. If only he could get away from the photographers. They were always there. No matter where he went, inevitably there would be a bright flash then the pandemonium would start all over again. He'd just arrived in New York and it'd been barely two hours. The hotel made him feel claustrophobic. He'd been stuck in a plane for so long that he just wanted to be outside. Breathe some real fresh air. He'd walked for over an hour and was on his way back to the hotel, but at the last minute had stopped at a small drugstore to get a pack of cigarettes when he saw the first flash. This time, he had thought he would be able to avid them. He was wearing a cap and dark sunshades. What the fuck could've given him away. Someone in the fucking hotel must've called them. Goddamn paprazzi. He hated them all. He stuck his hands low in his pockets and continued walking. Ignoring them. Maybe they'll leave if he just ignored them. Nah. he knew better. They were gonna follow him until they could no longer catch sigh of him. "Come on.give us a smile". Flash Flash. If he was gonna give them anything he would give them the finger. Or maybe several kicks in the groin" He shook his head to clear those thoughts. No he wasn't gonna be violent. He could handle this. Just ignore them. Don't look at them now. Just look ahead. People on the streets were beginning to stare. Who the hell was this with so many photographers taking pictures? Some recognized him and began screaming out his name. He walked fast. He didn't want to give any autographs. Fans could be crazy and he could be stuck out there for hours. His bodyguard was waiting at the front door entrance to the Hotel. "Jack, don't let in any of those fucking reporters. I'm going to bed". "Sure boss" Jack replied. In the pent house suite, he lay on the King sized bed, flipping channels on the giant television. He had a long week ahead of him. There was a four day interview with some Shane something from Up close and Personal. Why the hell had he ever agreed to that? Then the band was leaving for a concert in Japan and they still had to fit in practice somewhere. Their album was still the no one album in the US for the seventh week in a row. It had gone platinum within its first week on release. He was on the cover of may magazines. He was desired by millions, he owned even more millions. Yet Leo Malone was a very lonely man.