Plain Again (19 page)

“Nee,”
Amanda said, glancing over her shoulder toward the open doorway. People were walking by, some glancing inside, but no one stopping. “Do you know where he is, then?”

Before the woman had a chance to answer, Amanda heard his voice in the corridor. He was speaking in Spanish to someone, and whatever he said, the response was laughter. Amanda turned and took a step toward the door just as he walked through it.

“¡Ah,
Princesa
!”
He greeted her with a warm embrace and kissed her lips before he turned to the other woman in the room. “You have met Dali,
sí
?”

“Dali?”

The young woman suddenly seemed a little nervous as she glanced from Amanda to Alejandro. “We hadn’t quite gotten that far yet, Viper.”

There was a familiarity between the two that did not go unnoticed by Amanda. Yet it was clearly a professional relationship. It piqued her curiosity since it was more than apparent this meeting was arranged for Amanda’s benefit.

“I see.” Alejandro turned to Amanda and rubbed his hand down her arm in a loving yet possessive gesture. His expression was not his usual one of adoration or love, but the look she often saw when he was in work mode. His next words explained why. “I have hired Dali to work for you. As your assistant.”

“Work for me?” She was stunned. What on earth did she need an assistant for? “I . . . I don’t know what to say.”

He gestured toward the sitting area for the three of them to be seated. A young man walked through the doorway, carrying a tray of beverages. He handed a glass to Alejandro and two bottles of water to the women. When he exited the room, he shut the door behind him.

“Dali will help you with scheduling and media relations, Princesa. She will monitor social media and the tabloids. She will also schedule interviews and social appearances.” He lifted his glass to his lips and took a long sip. “She will be a big help to you, Amanda.”

Amanda barely heard the last part of what he had said. She was stuck on the previous sentence. “Social appearances? Interviews? Whatever for?” She almost laughed, but, knowing that he was serious, thought twice about doing so.

Clearing her throat, Dali leaned forward and answered for Alejandro. “There is a lot of demand from the public for getting to know you better, Amanda. Whether you know it or not, you have become an overnight sensation.”

“I don’t want to be an overnight sensation,” she responded in a matter-of-fact tone, staring at the woman seated beside her. Dali stared back but gave no indication of any emotion nor made any attempt to conjure a response. Frustrated, Amanda looked at Alejandro. “I just want to be with you,” she whispered, too aware that this Dali woman was right there and listening. “I don’t want to do interviews or those other things.”

He reached out and touched her knee. His blue eyes met hers, and she could see that he was pleased with her response. Still, without him saying another word, she knew that she was fighting a losing battle. “Remember I told you once to trust me,
sí
? Do you?”

Amanda took a deep breath, biting her lip to hold back the tears that she sensed were close to the surface. She did remember that. It was after he had come to the farm to rescue her from the paparazzi who had found her parents’ farm and from the bishop who was insisting that she leave the community until the fervor died down. “
Ja
, this I do,” she said softly.

“Then I am asking you to trust me once again, Amanda,” he said, never once breaking eye contact with her. “Dali will help arrange your schedule and the logistics surrounding your appointments. There will be no inconvenience for you beyond just showing up at these events. But the public is enamored of you, Amanda, and to deny them some access, even if it is very sheltered access, will create more problems in the long run. You have to give them a little of what they want, but with Dali’s help, it will be structured and organized in a way that will limit the intrusions on your privacy.”

Knowing that she had no choice, Amanda swallowed and nodded her head, not trusting her voice to say anything.

“¡Bueno!”
He clapped his hands, looking pleased. “Now, Dali will have access to your cell phone. Since you have met, she will call you using her own phone and help you program her number into yours. That way you will know when she is calling and that it’s a safe phone call to answer.”

Amanda nodded again, finally understanding why a strange woman had called her using Alejandro’s phone. Long ago, he had instructed her to never answer her phone if it wasn’t from him or her family, should she choose to give them the phone number.

“There are two reporters coming in just a few minutes,” he continued as he stood up. “I want Dali with you when you speak to them as I must go get ready for the Meet and Greet. I’ll talk with them later. Dali will take good care of you, Princesa.” Leaning down, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “I know you will do wonderful, Amanda. And after the show, we can go out for a late-night cocktail at the Top of the Strand,
sí
?”

“Top of the Strand?”

He headed toward the door. “You’ll like it, Princesa. It’s quiet.” Then, with a quick wink, he opened the door and disappeared, leaving Amanda alone with this new personal assistant, Dali.

Immediately, Amanda realized that Dali was a “take charge” type of person. “Let’s sit for a moment, shall we?” she asked, and without waiting for Amanda to respond, she sat back down on the sofa and moved the papers off her laptop. “I have a few things scheduled already for tomorrow,” she said as she tapped at the keyboard and her eyes searched the computer screen. “Easy things to start; I think that is best.”

Sighing, Amanda sat down in the seat that Alejandro had just vacated. “What exactly are these ‘things’ that you are scheduling, then?”

Dali glanced up and smiled. “More reporters who want to interview you. New York is a bustling town, Amanda. Several companies have contacted us for endorsements, but Alejandro thought that was a bit too much.”

“Endorsements?” It was a word she didn’t understand in the context in which Dali used it.

“Advertisements, in a way,” Dali patiently explained. “Photos of you holding the product, videos of you recommending the product, stuff like that.”

That thought horrified Amanda. “Oh no!” she exclaimed, alarmed that something of that nature would even be considered. “I could never do that!”

To her surprise, Dali laughed. “That’s what Viper said.” She turned her attention back to the laptop and tapped a few more keys, the noise a clicking sound that seemed oddly out of place in the lounge room. “Now, he had asked me to look into charities for you. He felt you might like that . . . perhaps a bit more comfortable with such a role for the public.”

Charities? Amanda frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Again, Dali looked up and patiently explained. “Most celebrities have a cause, a charity that they support. Viper does not. He felt that it might be something of interest to you.”

“What do other people do?” Amanda asked, curious about this idea.

“Literacy, hunger, poverty, animal rescue, things of that nature,” was the simple response from Dali. Her answer didn’t really help narrow down what “charity” might interest Amanda.

“Religion?”

Dali shook her head. “Too controversial.”

“Religion is controversial?”

Again, Dali laughed. It was a gentle sound, not one that hinted at any sort of mockery. “You have no idea.”

Amanda frowned.
“Ja vell,”
she replied. “I have no idea, indeed.” Her frustration was rising. Alejandro had never mentioned this to her. When she married him, she thought she was to be his wife. Now she was getting the sense that there was much more involved in being married to Viper than what was required to be married to Alejandro, and that was not something she had considered beforehand.

“He made one suggestion,” Dali offered. “Helping disadvantaged children get educated.”

“Aren’t they already?”

“Not always,” Dali admitted. “Down in Miami, there is a lot of poverty. Many of those children have a hard time in school, and the schools are not equipped to deal with them. As a result, they drop out and work the streets. There are a lot of children with good potential who are overlooked and lost as a result.”

“That’s horrible,” Amanda gasped.

Dali scribbled something on a piece of paper and glanced at her cell phone. “It’s almost time for the first reporter. You think about that other idea and talk it over with Viper. There’s no need to decide today, Amanda.” She handed Amanda a piece of paper, then collected the rest of her things and put them into a leather bag that was beside the sofa. “Here’s your agenda for tonight.”

“Agenda?” She wasn’t even certain she knew what that was.

“Schedule,” Dali explained. “
Women Daily
is interviewing you at seven thirty and
People en Español
is scheduled at seven forty-five. They are both going to stay and take some photos of you and Viper during the Meet and Greet at eight. At eight forty-five, you will go to your stylist in the dressing room adjoining Viper’s. At nine thirty, you should be ready for an escort to your seat. Two guards will remain with you in case of any problems. But you should expect the crowd to react and be ready for requests for photos.”

It amazed Amanda that Dali was reciting the schedule from memory. Everything that she said was listed exactly the same on the paper in her hand. “Oh help,” she muttered. “I’ll never remember all of this.”

Standing up, Dali smiled at Amanda. “You don’t have to. That’s what I’m for!”

As if on cue, another woman was escorted into the room and Dali was quick to greet her. The first reporter had arrived, promptly at seven thirty. To Amanda’s relief, Dali took charge of the interview, first introducing the reporter to Amanda, then remaining nearby while the reporter asked her questions. The questions were no different from those asked by previous reporters: how had they met, what was life on the road like, did she miss her Amish community. When ten minutes had passed, Dali kindly indicated that the reporter had to wrap up her questions because an escort had been arranged for the reporter to stand backstage and watch the behind-the-scenes action before the Meet and Greet.

By the time the second interview was finished, Alejandro joined her in the room, pausing to greet the reporter from the
Latina Ahora
magazine. Then, at both Dali and Carlos’s urging, Alejandro led his wife toward a door at the back of the room to greet the fans who had been waiting for a chance to meet Viper and Amanda.

Unlike some of the other Meet and Greets, this one was more structured, with the people waiting in a queue for their turn to stand next to Viper and have their photos taken. He would spend a few seconds talking to them, but there was a noticeable lack of time spent with each guest. When she mentioned this observation to Dali, she was told that there were too many people to grant more time.

A few times, Alejandro waved Amanda into the photo. Dali had explained that there were a few extra-special people in the group: investors, producers, and other important people from the entertainment industry, and Alejandro had wanted to introduce them to Amanda and include her in the photos.

Before Amanda knew it, Dali was walking with her to the dressing room. An attendant handed an outfit to her, then pointed her toward a screen behind which to change into it. A stylist came in to brush out her hair and then, at Amanda’s insistence, restyle it in a bun. Only this time, the stylist added some flare to it, with tendrils hanging down Amanda’s neck and the bun twisted in a unique way so that it looked fuller. With her hair finished, a makeup artist came in and spent ten minutes putting foundation, blush, eye shadow, and lipstick on Amanda’s face.

“Is this really necessary?” she whispered to Dali.

Dali leaned forward and whispered back, “Yes.”

Amanda let out a big sigh, realizing that she was not going to get any empathy or support from this Dali woman, at least not on the makeup issue. While the man worked on her face, Amanda shut her eyes and wondered what her family was doing at that moment. Surely Daed was sleeping already. Mamm would be sitting in her chair under the kerosene lantern, the heat thrown from the light keeping her warm while she worked on a quilt. Knowing Anna, she was most likely crocheting an afghan. As for Jonas, he would probably be reading the
Budget
or the Bible, depending on whether he had yet to catch up on the weekly news.

If they could only see her now, she thought with a twinge of apprehension. While their day was winding down, hers was still in full swing. The concert would energize her. There was no doubt about that. Seeing Alejandro transform into Viper onstage, listening to the women screaming for him, listening to the music that he sang . . . all of it would pulsate throughout her entire body and awaken all of her senses. And then afterward, he wanted to take her to that rooftop lounge. Time alone to enjoy the beauty of the New York skyline before calling it a day.

The stark contrast between the two worlds was almost too much for her to grasp. How on earth had this happened?

“It’s time, Amanda,” Dali said, placing a gentle hand under her elbow to help her step down from the raised makeup chair.

Together they walked through the corridor and to an open doorway that was draped in black. Amanda glanced through the opening and saw Alejandro standing with some men, reviewing the set list. The dancers were stretching their muscles, ignoring the rest of the commotion as the stage crew finished changing the set from the opening band.

“This way, Amanda,” Dali urged, guiding her toward two large men dressed in black.

Obediently, Amanda followed her, watching the organized chaos that went on behind the scenes. Everyone seemed to know what they were doing, even though half of the stagehands were racing around as if in a panic.

“I wonder what they think . . .” she began to say.

“Who?”

“The people, before they go onstage to perform,” Amanda responded. “I can’t imagine doing something so . . . so public.”