IDOL

Jason was rubbing the palm of his hands on his jeans as Hank paced back and forth. They both never imagined to be in this situation.

“Where is that bastard?” Hank growled.

They were standing backstage at Layla’s concert. Layla LaLuna—the nation’s most treasured female superstar; idol. However, Jason knew her by the name she was born with—Mickayla. They were childhood friends. She was moving on to the last song. This was supposed to be the huge surprise she promised fans—it was a secret duet with Vincent Valentine, and he was nowhere to be seen. Although they were technically label-mates they had never done a song together before. He was from a subunit of the company—Golden Sun Entertainment’s sister company Gold Moon Entertainment. So, they actually had never met before this collaboration. He was a hard man to get work with because he was so popular. The crowd was blissfully unaware of everything that was happening behind the scenes as well as the actual collaboration itself. Layla went on with the song as planned, under the assumption that he was just running late, he’d be there any moment. Vincent was a good guy. The nation’s sweetheart. There’s no way he’d ever miss a performance.

“I'm eleven minutes away and I have missed you all day” the crowd went silent with anticipation as Layla began to sing, “I'm eleven minutes away, so why aren't you here?” She glanced back at her manager—Hank with slight concern.

“He’s not coming, is he?” Jason looked at Hank. Jason was wearing his signature ski mask that hid his identity—his eyes the only facial feature exposed to the world. Eyes trembling with anxiety.

“What do we do?” Hank’s voice was almost stuck in his throat.

Layla continued her performance, “I think I missed you calling on the other line. I'm just thinking all these thoughts up in my mind talking love, but I can't even read the signs.”

“Where’s his mic?” Jason’s words were heavy.

Hank froze momentarily, in shock, before getting Vincent’s mic ready.

“I would sell my soul for a bit more time, you stain all on my body like you're red wine. You're the fucking acid to my alkaline, you run your middle finger up and down my spine.” She was beginning to realize he wasn’t coming and that caused her hands to shake.

“Are you sure you can do this?” Hank asked Jason.

Layla’s confidence was gone, “I'm sorry there was no one to apologize.” A tear fell down Layla’s cheek as her voice wavered slightly. Her heart sank into the deepest and darkest pit of her stomach. She had worked so hard for this. How could Vincent just not show up?

“I wrote the fucking song.” Jason replied as he grabbed the mic out of Hank’s hand and sprang into action, “I'm so fucking sorry, I'm so fucking sorry” he began to sing Vincent’s part as he walked towards Layla on the stage. “I've been playing somebody and it's helping nobody” Layla immediately recognized her best friend’s voice as he walked out onto the stage—causing her to turn on her heels in shock, “And her lipstick arithmetic didn't stick” a huge wave of relief washed over Layla as she stared at Jason, “And now I'm sick, throwing fits and yeah, I've seen you in my head every fucking day since I left” the crowd was drawn into the raw emotion of the performance and were super curious about the sudden appearance of this unknown singer who wore her producer's mask, “You on the floor with your hands 'round your head and I'm down and depressed. All I want is your head on my chest touching feet in my bed.” He sounded even better than Vincent did on the track. You could feel Jason’s soul in each word.

Layla’s trembling faded away and a smile spread across her lips. She had never felt so loved before in her life, “I'm eleven minutes away and I have missed you all day. I'm eleven minutes away, so why aren't you here?” Her voice was now completely stable.

Jason and Layla’s chemistry was incredible as they made eye contact, “You're eleven minutes away and I have missed you all day. You're eleven minutes away, so why aren't you here?” Jason sang back.

Layla’s confidence was back as she sang to Jason. Singing with him is all that mattered, “Tell me what you need. I can make you more than what you are. Come and lay the roses on the floor every single Sunday, don't get bored. I just want to freeze. I can give you more than what you are. Now I see you standing all alone. I never thought the world would turn to stone” she sang beautifully.

They were now facing each other and singing in sync, “So call me stupid, call me sad. You're the best I've ever had. You're the worst I've ever had and that keeps fucking with my head. Call me stupid, call me sad. You're the best I've ever had. You're the worst I've ever had and that keeps fucking with my head”

The crowd was absolutely loving it. They were going wild. It was the response they wanted and needed.

Layla felt like she was floating on clouds, “I'm eleven minutes away and I have missed you all day. I'm eleven minutes away, so why aren't you here?”

“Why aren't you here?” The crowd echoed.

“You're eleven minutes away and I have missed you all day. You're eleven minutes away, so why aren't you here?” Jason was terrified but no one would ever know. Except Layla. She knew him better than anyone. She gently grabbed his hand.

“Why aren't you here?” The crowd echoed once more, screaming when Layla grabbed Jason’s hand.

“So, call me stupid, call me sad. You're the best I've ever had. You're the worst I've ever had and that keeps fucking with my head. Call me stupid, call me sad. You're the best I've ever had. You're the worst I've ever had and that keeps fucking with my head.” Jason let his voice fade out with his verse as he stepped away from Layla—the band slowly faded away as well.

Layla faced the crowd, “You're eleven minutes away and I have missed you all day.” She sang acapella, “So why aren't you here? Why aren't you here? Why aren't you here? Why aren't you here? Why aren't you here?”

The crowd roared.