18: Reintroductions

Alex and the others were rudely awakened by loud knocking on the door. It took a moment to figure out what was happening, but a second rapid knock got them focused.

“Quick, get in the bathroom,” Gail insisted as she grabbed her scattered clothes from the nearby chair. “I’ll answer the door, but if it’s a reporter I don’t want them to see you.”

“Who the hell could it be this time of day?” Cate asked, glancing at the door as she hurried to find something to put on. Clothes were rarely worn in Alex’s bed. “No one even knows we’re here.”

Cate continued to look for her clothing as Alex headed, naked, to the bathroom seeking refuge. His sister followed him after she’d put on her underwear and grabbed both of their clothes.

“Open up, sir, it’s the hotel management,” called out a gruff male voice, following a third rapid series of insistent knocks. Cate closed the bathroom door while peering out the sliver she’d left open, while Alex used the opportunity to throw some cold water on his face to wake himself up.

Settling herself, Gail checked the bathroom door one more time, and then unlatched and swung the front door open. She could have checked using the peephole, but didn’t think it would reveal much. Member of the press would know to stay clear of the door and she wouldn’t recognize them anyway. They also had nothing to fear from any organized groups like the police. She figured it was likely a new follower nearby seeking Alex out but who hadn’t wanted to approach him themselves.

“Surprise!” shouted out a familiar voice. Curious, Cate opened the bathroom door without a moment’s hesitation, leaving Alex standing there naked with a damp face.

There, standing in front of the door, stood Patricia and the members of her band, a guy and two girls, plus two other women standing nervously behind them. Alex couldn’t remember any of their names, but he didn’t let either that or his nakedness prevent him from serving as a gracious host.

“Damn, I should have figured it was you,” he told her as he strolled unconcerned towards the door to envelop her in a big hug. The other band members grinned, having met Alex before and having heard plenty of stories about him. The two new girls looked more nervous than anything else. “I really expected you last night. Whatever took you so long?”

“It’s a long story,” Patricia told him. “While it was true that Jordan had an accident,” she said, indicating a tall dirty blond, “we spent most of the day helping cover for you,” she explained. “That little incident you pulled before you left took a bit of handling. Thankfully there were quite a few people just hoping for the opportunity to help you out. When everyone started pulling their cell phones out while you were curing that woman’s daughter, they helped to block their view. Brian, Rose’s boyfriend who you gave the job helping fix everyone’s computers, developed something just for that scenario. It was just blind luck he happened to be there at the time.

“He fixed a powerful electro-magnet in the sleeve of his jacket. He wandered around anyone who looked like they were taking pictures and asked to see their pictures. Anyone with anything incriminating, he triggered his device and it zeroed out the memories of the person’s camera or cell phone. It was localized, so it didn’t impact anyone else, but a few tourists found themselves without any pictures of their vacations.

“We spent the day sending out messages to the area discussion groups, talking about how no one was able to take a picture of you because you’d cause any electronic devices to die. It won’t make those with dead phones feel any better, since they didn’t know, but given enough time they’re likely to mention it to people and they’ll do a search, and someone will associate the behavior with you. Not only will it help establish your reputation, hopefully it’ll prevent at least a couple of people from trying to film you next time.”

“Wow, I’m certainly glad I’ve got so many resourceful people helping me out,” Alex said, turning to acknowledge the others. “Come on in. There’s no sense standing outside. Cate, do we have any coffee we can make for our friends?”

“Yeah, you’d better all come in. Otherwise Alex will continue flashing his junk for the entire neighborhood to see,” Cate teased.

“Don’t worry about drinks,” one of the girls said. “We brought everything for breakfast. We’ve got coffee, Danish, omelets, the works.”

“Well hurry up and bring it in,” Gail told them. “We’ll get this one dressed while you’re getting everything ready.”

The others brought in the breakfast goodies, closing the door behind them, while Patricia gave both Cate and Gail welcoming hugs as well.

“So, I can tell you haven’t yet recovered from last night,” Patricia said with a smile. “I imagine having done without for the last week that Gail and Cate must have been totally primed last night.”

“We sure were,” Cate confessed. “But we didn’t let him indulge in any gentle lovemaking this time. Instead we had him raw and wild. I even got to fistfuck someone for the first time,” she said with obvious delight and an odd sense of pride in herself.

Patricia glanced at Alex and Gail before looking at Cate again. “I’m hoping you’re talking about Gail, otherwise Alex is a whole lot kinkier than I suspected,” she said with a grin.

Alex grunted as he fastened his jeans around his waist. “Let’s just say I wasn’t the only one getting carried away last night.”

“What about Clara?” Patricia asked, as the others set their booty on the table. “Did you get a chance to speak to her?”

“Yeah, she called the station out of frustration, trying to defend me. She didn’t expect them to attack her, so she wasn’t prepared. As a result she was fumbling. We’re just lucky they didn’t push her for anything worthwhile.”

“Well, hopefully you convinced her to keep her mouth shut from now on?”

“Yes, I think she’s learned her lesson. She no longer thinks so highly of the Fox attack journalism now that she’s been on the receiving end of it.”

“So you managed to skate away from trouble once again,” asked the older bald guy who Alex remembered was Patricia’s pianist. Well, actually he’d been playing a synthesizer, but that was close enough for Alex.

“Yeah, so far I’ve been lucky,” Alex said, reaching out his hand. “I’m sorry, but I don’t recall your name.”

“It’s Sammy Tipton,” he said, introducing himself as he shook Alex’s hand. “If you’ll remember, I had a sister and an aunt who are both—”

“Watchers. Yeah, I remember,” Alex replied as another girl walked up with a cup of coffee.

“I’m Mac. I’m the drummer,” she said as Alex accepted his drink.

“Mac? Not a typical girl’s name, but it’s fitting for a drummer, I guess,” Alex told her.

“The real name is Mackenzie Schumacher, but that’s too long for most people, so I like to keep it simple.”

She seemed nice, although she had a bit of a stark face. But her eyes twinkled in delight at meeting Alex. She had long curly hair which framed her face.

“So do you have any other affiliation with our organization?” Alex asked.

“I like how you delicately phrase asking if I’m a Watcher or have the gene in my family,” she replied with an easy smile. “No, I’m just your typical musician. I knew Patricia from before, so when she said she was putting together a rock band I was glad to join in. I was overwhelmed when she told me about you and how her life had changed. Then when I started meeting the others I could hardly believe it. Trust me, if you accept outsiders, then I’d be glad to be a part of this movement of yours. This is bigger than anything else I’ve ever been involved in. I’d always hoped I could achieve some small degree of fame, but now it looks like I’m part of changing humanity.”

“Well, I don’t know about changing humanity,” Alex said, “right now I’m just trying to keep everyone around me safe. You realize you could be putting yourself in jeopardy if everyone discovers who we really are?”

“Yeah, I realize that. But then again it’s like helping the first humans defend themselves against the Neanderthals. There’s a lot more involved than my own personal safety.”

“Well, I’m impressed by your dedication,” Alex told her, “but please, try to keep yourself safe. For my sake, if for nothing else. I like to look after my followers, and I certainly count you amongst them.”

A cute blond walked up and handed them both an omelet sandwich. “I’m sure you don’t remember me, but I’m Erica Mayes. I’m the guitarist, and a Watcher. When we played for your birthday and your prom, it was all I could do not to stare at you the whole time. You’re truly amazing, and I’m proud we’ll be spending so much time together. Anything you might need, feel free to ask.”

“OK, Erica, tell me how someone your age ends up being the lead guitarist of a big band. Isn’t there something about paying your dues or maturing your craft?” Alex asked with a bit of a smirk, not being mean, but just trying to get her to talk about herself. He noticed that the others were sitting enjoying breakfast, listening to his conversation. He could see them whispering to each other, but he was afraid to ask what they might be discussing. He figured before they were done with their trip he wouldn’t have any secrets left. It was then he remembered Patricia had commented about Cate and Gail having had their way with him, and he realized they already knew all of his secrets.

“Well, my father was a professional musician and a member of a band for a long time, so I had a guitar in my hands practically my whole life, and I had exposure to being on stage as well. I’d meant to play with other groups long enough to get some decent exposure, then branch out into my own career, but now I’m thinking it’d be better to stick with Patricia. Not only does it look like she’s going to make a big splash, but it will keep me in your sphere of influence for a while. I figure when I do go out on my own I’ll do like Patty did, and orient each of my tunes around you.”

“Well, that’s a wonderful thought, but I think your typical audience would like something a little more generic,” Alex suggested. “After all, only a few people have the slightest clue who I am.”

“If we have anything to say about it, that’ll change. But for now, Patty’s managed to wrap the songs about you in terms the ‘typical’ person will understand, concealing the actual meaning while leaving it for those who’ll recognize the actual context,” Erica explained, showing she’d already spent too much time thinking about the topic.

“That may be, but it still is a bit much for everyone to be singing about me all the time,” Alex argued. “I might have a hard time dealing with it. In fact, I may skip several of the—”

“Whoa,” Patricia said, standing up and poking her finger in Alex’s chest. “Let’s just put that thought to rest right now. Natalie and I have very carefully scheduled these concerts for maximum effect. Not only were they arranged to reach the most people as well as to draw people to you, but we’ve made arrangements with many of your followers’ families to seek us out during the concerts. You don’t have to listen to the music if you don’t want to, but you’ll need to be there for each one.” When Alex started to reply she cut him off, continuing with her explanation.

“You can go searching for new followers while we’re setting up during the day. But at night we need you there at the concert. We’ll be in populated areas, which is a draw in itself, plus we’ll pull in a substantial number of people. Not only that, but the advertising for the concerts is geared to your followers. This is the ‘Trust Your Feelings’ Tour. So anyone that has these sensations but doesn’t understand them will be likely to visit, just to see if we reveal anything they can relate to. So it’s the perfect opportunity for you.”

Cate was getting ready to say something as well, but Alex knew he’d already lost the argument so he waved his hands in front of him. “All right, I concede. You’ve made your point. I’d ask you to throw in a couple of non-Alex songs, but I figure the arrangements were also prepared long in advance, so I guess that’s asking for too much?”

Patricia and Erica both nodded, so Alex grunted at them, but he clearly understood there was no way he could change it at this late date. That was just one of the penalties in assigning others to arrange things for you. They had a tendency to paint you into corners which were good for you, rather than doing it the way you preferred.

“So, Erica, you say you come from a musical family, how do they feel about you putting your musical ambitions aside to follow someone like me around?” Alex asked, trying to move the discussion away from the current impasse.

“Oh, I’m hardly sidetracking my career with this,” Erica informed him. “Patricia’s going to be big. This album looks like it’s going to hit the big time. But I’ve already told them about you. I’ve told both of my parents that the genes that have made me a Watcher might originate with them, so they’re both expecting to meet you when we get to California, and they’ll bring my nieces and nephews as well.”

Alex groaned involuntarily at that idea, but caught himself and put on a weak smile. The others knew how reluctant he was with what he had to do, so it didn’t bother them. As long as he could do what he needed to do they’d each try to help him wrestle with his unease with it, since they each knew just how important what he was doing was.

Alex turned to the other two girls, both of whom were now sitting on the bed with Gail and Cate.

“OK, I take it that neither of you are musicians, since you don’t exactly look the part and I don’t recognize you from before.”

“No,” said the first, a fuller breasted dirty blond with a big smile. “We’re part of the support personnel. Once the album is released there’ll likely be many more of us, but until then Patty only has a single van, so she was limited to who she could include. I’m Jordan Sterling, and I do the make-up and help run errands. Chelsea here does the wardrobe. We’re relying on each stadium to handle the sound, stage and lighting effects,” she explained.

“Pleased to meet you both,” Alex told them cordially. “Were you both hired for your particular skills, or do you have your own association to me?”

“Jordan’s known Patricia for some time, though she hired me because I’m known for my work with traveling performers,” Chelsea explained. As she spoke Alex gave her a once over. She was a cute brunette with a nice smile. You could tell she took great pains with her own clothing, as it looked quite nice while still being unique. Alex could also tell that both girls were likely to be handfuls as well.

“Patty told us all about you when we first signed on,” Chelsea continued, “knowing just how much time we’d be spending together. She said she wanted to ensure we knew what we were getting into. She also told us that the band and their music are only secondary, that anything you said takes priority over anything else. We aren’t used to self-centered musicians telling us something like that, so that got our attention.”

Jordan laughed, which really lit up her face even more. But Alex warned himself to watch it. The last thing he needed was to get involved with others besides his many followers. “Yeah, that told us just how serious she was about this. We also spent time talking to the others in the community, so we’re fairly well informed about what’s involved. I’ve got to say, though, this really brings this whole thing into much sharper focus for us. It is one thing being a part of a major act, but this goes way beyond that. This is, like, something real. This could affect millions of people for the next thousand years at least,” she said with a look of intense concentration on her face.

“Yeah, anything we can do for you, just let us know,” Chelsea said. “We’ve heard so many stories of what you’ve done and how caring and protective you are, we’re anxious to learn even more than we already know.”

“And in case you’re interested,” Jordan said, glancing at him with a raised eyebrow, “I can clean up those wild eyebrows for you, unless you’re purposely going for a wild cult-leader look?”

Alex blushed, but Cate and Gail both laughed.

“He’s lived with it for all this time, he’s never once asked me to clip them for him,” Cate told her.

“Do you really think it looks that bad?” Alex asked, having never thought seriously about his looks before. “I know they’re a little thick, but...”

“It does look a bit wild,” Chelsea offered.

“Well, I guess as long as you’re offering,” Alex hedged, “but can you do anything about it long term, or would it need to be done continually?”

Jordan walked up and played with his errant eyebrows. “I was thinking of just trimming them. You’d have to get them trimmed periodically, though. There are a couple that are longer than the others. If you were interested, you could get them treated so they wouldn’t stick out by themselves, but I’d still recommend trimming it. But then again, what you have now is a unique look. It sort of says ‘I’m not a handsome rock star, instead I’m an average man.’ So think of which look you want. Either way, I can make you look good.”

“Yeah, like I need to attract any more women. Actually, if you could make me look uglier it might make my life easier.”

“Alex, you could look like Quasimodo and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference,” Cate informed him. Alex glanced questioningly at Gail and Patricia.

“Hey, he has eyebrows? I never noticed,” Gail replied with a laugh. Alex then glanced at Erica.

“I’m attracted to your power. Your looks are an added benefit, but it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Power is like money, it makes up for a lot of other things. It’s sexy in a way that looks just can’t compare with. Why do you think women go for rich and powerful guys? It’s because they influence and control a lot of people and things. You fill that category in spades.”

Alex grimaced, but turned, spreading his arms, to appeal to the collection of women in the room. “So what do you say? Eyebrows or not?”

“Personally, I’d trim it back so it’s a little more under control, if I were you,” Cate laughed. “There’s eccentric, but then there’s the Meth lab look.”

“Actually, you should think longer term,” Jordan advised him. “While it doesn’t detract from your followers at the moment, you’re likely to get exposed eventually. All it’ll take is a random photo showing up. When that happens, you have to consider how you’ll appear to the public at large. Looking like you do now, while not bad in and of itself, might foster the wild cult image in people’s minds.” She regarded the looks she was getting and hurried to explain further. “It’s part of my job to create the correct look for public figures. It’s part of what I do.”

“All right,” Alex said, turning back to Jordan with a smile, “I’ll let you do your magic on me. Just try to not make me too irresistible, huh?”

“Well, it’ll probably be easier if we do it during the evening, when we have some time,” Jordan said.

“Uh, yeah, I had something else to tell you,” Patricia said, looking a little put out. “Although I told you that whenever we left was up to you, well that was only true up to a point. We’ve got a schedule to keep. Our staying behind to clean up details cost us more time than we really had. Our first concert dates are tonight and Wednesday in Houston. So we need to get to Houston in a hurry so we can go over the preparations. It’s especially important since this is the first performance in a whole series.”

“Oh, do we need—” Alex started to ask before Patricia cut him off.

“You don’t need to do anything,” she told him. “We need to be there. But I heard how many stops you typically make, so we thought it would be better if we headed off on our own. That way you can take as much time dealing with new followers as you need to. As long as you make it there before the performance you should be OK.”

“I guess that means you’ll be—”

“Leaving soon? Yeah,” Patricia replied. “We planned on leaving as soon as we finished breakfast. I’ll give Cate the address of the hotel so you know how to get there. You can talk to me when you get there and I’ll tell you where to meet us.”

“Well, that was quick,” Alex said. “Though I appreciate whatever time I can spend with you, I’m beginning to think you’re avoiding me.”

Patricia laughed. “As if I need to avoid you. All I need is to wait a couple of minutes and you’ll have another bunch of women around you. Besides, all you need is an old lady like me hanging around you.”

“Hey, enough of that. I wouldn’t put up with it from Anh and I won’t put up with it from you. You’re the mother of my future child, and you’re a huge part of my life. Yes, I’m busy, but if you need the time I’ll make it for you. Now I don’t know what the next several nights will be like, but I’m expecting to spend some time with you. I haven’t spent more than a few spare moments with you since my birthday.”

“Don’t worry,” Patricia told him, kissing him on the cheek. “We’ll spend some time together. I’ve been planning on it, but I wanted to give the girls in New Orleans a chance at you. You take your time getting to Houston. Do what you need to do, just be there in time for the performance. But then I know you, you’ll be on time come hell or high water. You don’t let your friends down. I may be busy the next couple of days, but I’ll make time for you. I’ll always make time for you,” she told him.

Everyone said goodbye and they all hugged Alex, or shook his hand in Sammy’s case, and soon they were on their way out the door again.

Once everyone had left and Alex and Cate had waved goodbye to their departing van, Alex turned to Gail and his sister. “I guess we’d better get on the road. We had an easy time of it yesterday, but I wouldn’t count on that to continue.”

“You know, I’m really looking forward to the coming school year,” Daniel informed his steady girlfriend, Grace. “Being seniors is going to be a big deal, but with a little work I think we can both get into one of the better schools together. That would be great. Can you imagine it, living on our own in dorms where we can spend the night whenever we feel like it?”

“Yeah, I can imagine it,” Grace replied with a feral grin all her own, “but I’m especially thinking of all the partying we can do next year. The pressure will be off of us at school, and we can kick back and have some fun,” she said with a smile as her eyes seemed to envision it in her own mind.

“Yeah, but don’t forget there’s still a lot of work we have to do, we can’t party all the time. Neither one of us has been accepted at any universities yet, so we need extras to help push us over. We need to work at our respective sports, some awards wouldn’t hurt, and maybe some volunteer work or some other extracurricular activities. We can’t slack off. Although it’s nice we both got summer jobs together this year, I’d like to see if I can get into some form of internship next summer.”

“Man, you certainly know how to bring me down,” Grace groused. “I’m just looking forward to taking it easy all summer and having some fun with you. All that stuff will take care of itself. We’ll get serious about life when we have to, but for now we’re just a couple of high school kids on summer break, and aside from our part time jobs we’ve got no real responsibilities. Don’t go spoiling that for me.”

“You always were the party girl, that’s partly why I liked you so much, but I worked hard to get to where I am now, and I can’t take the chance of letting good opportunities pass me by.”

“Ha, what we do now isn’t going to make that big a difference. As long as we graduate from college with a decent major we should be able to get a decent job. Then we can get serious about life, but there’s no rush to grow up. You’ve got to learn to go with the flow. Worrying about your future makes you a dull boy, and while that intrigued me initially, I don’t want you ‘harshing my mellow, man‘,” she teased.

It was true; they had come from two different worlds. Daniel was a hardworking overachiever who studied as hard as he played basketball and track. School didn’t come easy for him, and since it meant so much to him he worked hard at it. He knew he wasn’t likely to win any athletic scholarships, but being involved in a decent sports team would give him a leg up, so he worked hard to make the team each year, but it was a decent education that was going to win him a good paying job.

But Grace didn’t quite see things that way. Everything seemed to come easy for her. She was beautiful and she hardly had to work at much of anything. If she didn’t get high grades right away, she’d flirt with some nerd and he’d offer to tutor her for free. If she couldn’t get a decent job, she’d flirt with the manager at a local store and he’d offer her one on the spot. She was a social queen, and she really wasn’t ready to give that up. She could afford to coast at this point, whereas Daniel couldn’t.

Still, they made an interesting pair. Daniel was intense and serious, thoughtful and a careful planner, whereas Grace was fun loving and impetuous. She could get Daniel to relax and let his hair down, while he could get Grace to do what was necessary for her to succeed. She knew she had to do well, and she’d used her charms on Daniel to help her do that, but he really took himself much too seriously sometimes. If he kept at it like he wanted to all the time, he’d be dead before he got very far in whatever job he wanted.

“You know, it’s great that we both got jobs at the mall during the summer,” he said. “This idea of driving to work together every day is great. That way our parents don’t question us spending so much time together, and we can spend time with each other during our break.”

“Yeah, well don’t count on it today, Romeo, as I’ve got some shopping to do. Ramona told me that that Casual Girls got a new shipment of these darling fashions in today, and we’re all heading over to check them out.”

“You do that,” he told her, “and I’m sure you’ll drag me to yet another party where you’ll get the chance to wear them, but I’m going to focus on making an impression on Mr. Lopenso. I think he could give me a great letter of recommendation, and I want to make sure he thinks highly enough of me to lie for me,” Daniel answered with a smile, glad that Grace was comfortable enough for him to joke about such things with.

Grace came from a much different background than Daniel did. Both she and her mother were young, thin and gorgeous, and knew how to ‘work it’ to get ahead. Not only that, but her father was already a professional with a good job, unlike Daniel’s immigrant parents. True, they were first generation, but they hadn’t made it up the corporate ladder yet. That was Daniel’s job. Everyone in his family expected him to get a good education and win that high paying job that made all the difference in America. And Daniel knew he couldn’t let his family down. For Grace, her father actively encouraged her to take it easy. With any luck she could win a rich husband so she wouldn’t have to work and slave like her father did. Their parents had very different lifestyles planned for the two of them. Though each had aggressive plans for their children, they had a different roadmap for how to get ahead in life.

“I think I could get you one of those...” Grace unexpectedly halted mid-sentence, seemingly staring off into space, which was so unlike her that it make Daniel turn to see what was up.

“What is it, babe? Think of something you forget?” he asked.

“No, I think there’s something we should see ahead of us. Can you step on the gas a little? We need to move faster or we might miss it.”

“Miss what? If I drive any faster I could get a ticket, and you know that jobs and colleges check out insurance rates and police records. If I get pulled for speeding my insurance would go up, and then I’d have to explain why I’m such a ‘reckless youth’.”

“Uh, I really don’t know what, but whatever it is, it’s important. Much more important than avoiding a damn ticket,” she said with a stern note to her voice.

“Yeah, and what’s so important it’s worth getting a ticket I can’t afford?” he asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know, but you’re aware how I always seem to know who to avoid and who to follow at school, well it’s like that. I just have this feeling that we should move farther up in traffic. There’s something or someone that we should see if we can get close to them. You know how I got you involved with that silly choir group, because I told you they’d have good connections. Well it’s like that. I just know there’ll be a positive outcome if we get up there now,” she insisted.

Daniel certainly couldn’t deny her that. Despite her having no clue who anyone on the men’s choir was, she’d insisted he join, even pointing out whom to establish friendships with. It had certainly worked out well, as the job he was heading to now had been won by the connections he’d made. She’d also warned him about a variety of her friends. She’d told him that some of her friends were cutthroat, despite their pleasant demeanors, and she’d warned him away from some of the popular kids, something that had saved him from several embarrassing situations. So if she said to do something for some unexplained reason, he wasn’t about to argue. She’d proven her worth on that front several times over.