Finding Kat (6 page)

Damn he’s hot. I want to lick his face.

“Let’s talk about your upcoming projects Katie. We know about your movie Blind Date. What else is in the works for you?” Jimmy asked

“I’m looking into a few things now. I got a few scripts I’m going over. I have a few offers but I’m looking to branch out with my next project. Maybe something out of my comfort zone. I want a challenge.” I told him.

That was my big moment. Now the world knew my plans. Before my parents too. This whole day was going to cause me a lot of problems.

“That’s interesting. I had the author of Damaged, Sarah Billings, here yesterday. They’ve optioned off her book to be made into a movie soon. I asked her who she envisioned as her leading lady. She said she would love to have you play Lily Wright. It’s a little sexier than what you normally do. Would you consider doing something like this?” Jimmy asked.

I was surprised. I hadn’t heard anything about the project. But I had read the book. It appealed to my darker, kinkier side. I would love to do something just like that.

“Wow! Really? I am blown away. I had no idea. I am incredibly honored that she mentioned me. I have to say, a movie like that is really appealing. You never know what I could do next.” I replied.

Suddenly I was giddy with excitement. That was exactly the opportunity I was looking for.

I was pulled away from my thoughts by Cade’s sexy voice. How I forgot he was there, I have no idea. He had been quietly observing our conversation.

“I would love to see you do something like that Kat. I bet you’d be great.” He smiled at me.

I felt butterflies flit through my stomach. This guy was too much. Suddenly I was overwhelmed by his presence next to me. The spicy scent of him. It wasn’t cologne. It was too subtle. And utterly enticing.

“Maybe you should play Jackson, the alpha male love interest, Cade. I could see it. You’ve both got chemistry. You look good together. I’d go see it. Maybe I could even get paid for putting it all together.” Fallon laughed.

I laughed too, imagining Cade acting like a millionaire businessman. He had the power and presence but he wasn’t quite right for that role.

“I’m not sure I could pull that one off. I don’t think anyone would want to see a movie I was in.” Cade protested.

“Are you kidding? I’d watch it. Especially if you took your shirt, off. I’ve seen that Rolling Stone cover you did. It was pretty hot.” I said eyeing him. “I bet America would love it too. What do you think?” I said looking out at the audience and grinning when the women present went wild.

“What about me? I look alright with my shirt off.” Fallon joked.

“Sure. We can come up with our own screenplay. We can call it Deranged.” Cade quipped.

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at that one. I was almost surprised by his sense of humor. I never dreamed his good looks would come with a great personality too.

“I’d love to make it my directorial debut.” I said, “I think it could be a hit.” I laughed.

“Directing? That’s something you’d like to do in the future?” Jimmy asked getting back to the interview.

“Oh sure! I’d love to do it all. Writing. Producing. All parts of film making appeal to me. When I read a script I get a vision of how I would direct it. I have to pull myself out of it sometimes. Some directors aren’t very open to input.” I gushed a bit. Movies were my job but also a huge passion. Equal to music in my mind.

“You’ve been in the business since your first movie at the age of 5. I’m sure you have a lot of experience to draw from. What has been your favorite project? Tell us something about it we haven’t heard before.” Jimmy compelled.

“Wow. That’s something I haven’t been asked before. My favorite is easily the first movie I ever did. A little something called The Chosen. It won an Academy Award. It was such an amazing movie. I still love to watch it. I got to follow around the biggest stars of the time and watch them do what they do best. They were so compelling. I would get so wrapped up in watching them I would lose track of time and forget what I was supposed to be doing. Which at the time was school or something. I was five. But I was watching one day when they filmed the scene in the movie that everyone knows. Where Daniel and Elizabeth were burying their baby girl. Maybe I shouldn’t have been allowed to watch on that day, but I was bitten by the acting bug while watching them sob over this little girl who I was playing in the movie. It was so powerful and such a huge moment that even as a child I couldn’t help but be swept up in it all. When they yelled cut they came over to me and they hugged me for a long time. I was crying, they were crying, and we didn’t really know why except that we had become this family for a little while and we had to mourn its ending. By the time, we finally stopped crying we looked up and everyone was looking at us, so Daniel says What the hell are you all staring at? It’s time to get back to work! So everyone went back to whatever they were doing. That is something I’ll never forget. It’s when I realized that movies had the power to make people feel. To take you to another time, another place.”

There was a long pause as everyone absorbed everything I’d shared. Jimmy announced the commercial break then turned to me.

“I can’t wait to see what project you choose next.” Jimmy said. “You are going places.”

“I completely agree. Kat, you seem so humble for someone who has lived this for so long. It’s such a rare thing to find. It’s why I felt the need to chase you down while on live TV.” Cade confessed with a laugh.

“I can’t believe you did that, by the way. You are so insanely talented why would you feel the need to track me down?” I had to ask even though we had an audience.

He leaned forward and put his mouth so close to my ear I couldn’t help the shiver at the feel of his breath on my neck.

“I want to get to know you Kat. You are a beautiful person, and I have always been drawn to beautiful things.”

He looked at me then and I got lost in the warmth of his eyes. Our eyes stayed locked in some silent communication until the director pulled our attention by ending the commercial break. We had changed seats and it was now Cade’s turn in the spotlight.

“We are back here with Cade Walker from the band Occam’s Razor. You just got back from a long tour that went all around the world. How does it feel to be back and in the studio? How long is the break you’ve got planned while you work on your new album?” Jimmy asked

“We went all over the place. We met some amazing fans but the guys and I were ready for a nice long vacation. We will hang around LA and work on the new album for a while. We haven’t had much of a break in a really long time. We plan to take a year or so, maybe more or less. We have a lot of stuff to record, plus we are still writing. It’s one of those things they don’t tell you, that you record so much music and only a little bit actually goes onto the album.” Cade said.

I couldn’t help but perk up at this.

“So there’s a whole unknown quantity of Occam’s Razor music that is unreleased? I am fangirling out over here. You should have never mentioned that. You have to let me hear some of that stuff. For real!” I was bouncing in my chair and being a dork on live TV but I couldn’t care less.

Cade looked over at me, tilted his head back, and laughed. He put his hand on my knee (OMG!) and winked at me.

“Sure Kat. I’m sure the guys would love to hang out with you again. You’ll have to come by the studio soon.”

“Sorry Jimmy. I’ll be quiet now.” I laughed

“Oh no. Don’t let me stop you. I’ll be able to say that my show was where your romance began.” Jimmy chuckled.

I just smiled. I knew rumors were going to be rampant later and my parents would freak out about it. But I would love to be in an imaginary relationship with Cade to say nothing of a real one.

“We will give you all the credit Jimmy. Don’t worry.” Cade joked.

“Your past relationships helped you write your last album. What is the theme of the new music you’ve been writing?” Jimmy asked

I kept my mouth shut even though I was dying to butt in. I thought this was a good question and something I was really interested to know.

“As a writer of music I draw from everything. A person I see when walking around. A memory of something important that I’ve been through. A story I hear about on the news. So many things can be turned into relevant music. I want to write songs about things people are going through. I’m not so far removed from the real world I don’t know that times are hard for people right now. And I want to be there for them in the only way I can.”

This guy just can’t be real. I am blown away by his answer. I feel such a connection to that part of him. I feel the need to touch him somehow but I keep my hands to myself because I don’t know him that well -yet. But at this point, it feels inevitable.

Cade turned and looked at me then. A spark of awareness jumped inside me. He smiled a little at me. We were going to see each other again, I knew it.

We took a commercial break and Jimmy talked to Cade and me about the game we were going to play. I knew in advance that we were doing a lip sync battle and brought two songs to do. I thought it would be a blast but suddenly being silly in front of Cade made me a little nervous.

“First up in our lip sync battle is Katie. I know this isn’t what you do for a living, unlike Cade. But this is a competition and we can’t go easy on you.” Jimmy taunted me.

“OK. OK. I see how this is going to be. Well don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I laughed and walked to my spot on the stage.

“My first song is for all the women out there who have ever been hurt in love. This is ‘What is Love’ by Haddaway.”

I could hear Jimmy and Cade laughing and I closed my eyes to get into the zone. I wasn’t going to hold back. Nope, I was going to wipe the floor with these guys.
Not go easy on me my ass.

The song started and I swayed to the music and tossed my head dramatically. With every phrase, I posed and acted out the words, sometimes pausing for added humor and emphasis. I could hear everyone laughing but I kept my eyes closed, playing at being so taken away by the meaning of what I was lip-syncing. At the conclusion of the part of the song I picked, I draped my arm dramatically over my face and froze for a few beats. Then I took it off, laughed, and bowed to the audience who were cheering me on and laughing.

“OK. OK. I see someone put their game face on. Cade it’s your turn. I know you lip sync for a living. I mean sing for a living. So this should be easy for you.” Jimmy patted him on the back and Cade walked to his spot on the floor.

“My first song is self-explanatory. This is ‘Say My Name’ Destiny’s Child.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his choice. It was pretty genius. A male rock star doing a 90’s pop song by a girl group. It was going to be hilarious.

Cade lip-syncing that song was epic. He posed and made angry scorned faces like only a diva could make. The audience was eating it up. And looking over at Jimmy he was cracking up too. I had to give it to him. He wasn’t afraid of being ridiculous to get a laugh. I really liked that about him. Score one for the Rock Star.

When he finished his song, he walked over to me with a huge grin on his face and I held up my fist to bump.

“Well played, Walker.” I shook my head in feigned worry.

Jimmy grabbed the mic from Cade and took his place.

“This song is about love and devotion. This is ‘Baby Got Back, By Sir Mix A Lot”

Cade and I looked at each other and burst into laughter. This was one of the most fun things I had ever done in my life.

Jimmy was a master at working the stage and playing to the audience. He twerked and moved and had all of us laughing uncontrollably.

Next, it was my turn again. I took a deep breath and stepped into position.

“This song is transcendent. It’s moving and emotional. ‘Wiggle, Jason Derulo.’