Saved by the Celebutante (24 page)

I nervously lie down on the mat, experiencing a flashback of the scene in
Labyrinth
where Sarah falls down a hole and finds herself being groped by hundreds of pairs of “helping” hands. But surprisingly, it’s not like that at all. A single sponge drips soapy water onto my back, followed by several other respectful hands that make me feel at ease. It’s like going to a day spa, except I don’t have to pay an exorbitant fee for the privilege. Plus, I have nine people focused just on me! It’s actually quite delightful and I don’t even flinch when it’s time for me to turn over onto my back. I keep my eyes closed and enjoy being pampered.

When a sponge starts venturing a little close to my groin, I gently brush it away. I’m not feeling quite that liberated yet, and no one seems to mind.

Finally, the last sponge finishes its job and I sit up. I follow Oli out into a small fenced off area behind the dome where the previous bathers are lying on benches, air-drying.

“Come and hang out for a bit,” Oli says.

I must be in a desert-induced stupor because I do what he says. We lie side by side, letting the remaining water evaporate from our bodies in the sun. It is absolutely heavenly.

“How old are you?” Oli asks.

“Thirty-five. Why?”

“You’re pretty hot for thirty-five.”

“Gee, thanks.” I’m simultaneously flattered and offended. Like thirty-five is ancient. Although, I guess to a twenty-year old boy, it probably is.

“My brother could use someone like you,” he muses.

“In what way?”

“I don’t know. You just seem really cool. He needs someone to help him move on. His ex was a bit of a psycho.”

“Oh. That’s a shame.”

So! Matt has an ex. Could that be why he’s been so miserable?

“If you like him, you should do something about it.”

“Thanks for the advice.”

My skin is now dry, and I’m wary of delicate areas getting sunburnt, so I stand up and retrieve my clothes. “I might head back for some breakfast. You coming?”

“Maybe soon. I’m going to check out the tantric workshop next door first.”

“Er, okay. Well, thanks for being my bath house buddy.”

“No problem. Anytime.” He gives me a cheeky look. “And I do mean anytime.”

I roll my eyes at his suggestive tone and wander back to the camper. I feel so fresh and relaxed. I’m thinking if I can somehow get a lift to the towing company tomorrow morning, I’ll be able to drive all the way through without a stopover and still get Paulie’s van back when I said. The only difference is that Gia will have to wait a tiny bit longer for me to call, and I think she’d be okay with that.

Let the festivities officially begin!

THIRTY

Back at the camper, I notice that Matt hasn’t yet returned. I pour myself a bowl of cereal, grab a spoon and sit out under the awning to watch the people go by.

Today I’ll need to prepare better for the weather. I have a scarf in my bag that I can use for a dust mask. I have sunglasses too, but I’m not sure how effective they’ll be compared to goggles. And I didn’t bring any lip gloss, although I do have some lipstick in my purse, so that should kind of do the job.

Actually! Why shouldn’t I embrace the spirit of the festival and dress up? I quickly finish eating and go through my suitcase, looking for something fun to wear. I pull out a neon pink bra top and some low-waisted yoga pants – two items I normally wouldn’t wear on their own because they expose too much skin – and contemplate whether the outfit really fits my mood. I then catch a flash of bright color at the bottom of my suitcase. It’s the rainbow dolphin shorts – the ones I made at the shelter. The same ones I’d been determined to forget about after returning to Nikki’s. Funnily enough, they would be perfect for here. I tentatively try them out and find they actually fit. They’re small, but not too tight. I pick out a simple white t-shirt to go with them and look at what accessories I can add to my ensemble. 

After a bit more brainstorming, I get out two pairs of socks and cut holes in the toes of one pair, sliding them onto my arms as makeshift gloves. I put the other pair on my feet and pull them all the way up past my knees.

I lace up my boots and tie my scarf around my neck. I then spend a few moments painting my lips blood red and tying my hair up in a high ponytail. I only have a small hand held mirror so I can’t judge the overall effect, but I think I look okay.

I’m just stepping out of the camper when Matt finally appears. I’m not really sure how to react, and it appears he doesn’t either. He stands there for a moment, mouth agape. “Chrissie?”

“Yes?”

He seems dazed. “You look…”

“Silly?”

He shakes his head emphatically.

“Definitely not silly.” He keeps staring.

“Are you all right?” I ask.

“Yes, of course. Uh, so what time are you leaving?”

I look at him, confused. “I already left. Didn’t you see that my stuff was gone?”

Now he looks confused too. “What?”

“Oli already drove me back to my van, but it turns out it’s been towed. Lucky for you.” I say the last bit lightly, but I want him to know I noticed his absence.

“Oh, God. I didn’t realize you were planning on leaving so early. Obviously I got it wrong.”

He looks so genuinely apologetic that I can’t help but feel bad.

“Forget about it. It’s no big deal.”

“So your van was towed, huh? Bummer. You want me to drive you to the towing company?”

“Oh. You don’t have to do that. Besides, I don’t know where it is yet. I have to leave a note for them and then they’ll contact me tomorrow.”

His face brightens. “So you get to stay another day?”

“It appears so.”

“Great!” He catches himself. “I mean, good. Are you okay with that?”

“I think so. I’ve decided I can still make it back on time as long as I drive straight through tomorrow.”

“All right. Have you got any plans for the day?”

“Not really. Do you have any ideas?”

“Nope. But that shouldn’t be a problem. You want to go check out a few things with me?”

“Okay. As long as we can stop by the towing company’s mailbox first.”

“Done.”

He places his hand in the small of my back and gently pushes me back out into the chaos.

This should be interesting.

***

“Do you mind if I give your campsite details to the towing company?” I ask.

“Sure.”

I finish scribbling my info on a piece of paper and push it through the mailbox slot. There. I’ve done everything I can for now.

Matt produces a coin from his pocket. “I say we run our whole morning by playing heads or tails.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep. First one is heads, we go left, tails we go right.”

“All right. Do it.”

He flips the coin. It lands on heads.

We turn to the left, where I see a stall a few feet away offering free hugs. I laugh and sweep my hand towards the tent. “After you.”

He wrinkles his nose in distaste. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

“Don’t be a spoilsport. Here, I’ll go first.”

I approach the first hugger, an elderly lady who has her hair tied back in a long white braid and smells like patchouli. She hugs me firmly and for a really long time. At first it’s quite nice, but then it becomes a bit awkward. For me, anyway. My hugger doesn’t seem to notice.

Eventually she pulls away, but keeps a hold of my hands and stares at me, unblinking.

“Uh, thank you,” I say.

“You’re welcome, sweet child.”

I delicately extricate myself and turn to Matt.

“Your turn,” I whisper.

He fixes me with a
thanks-a-lot
expression and forces a smile at the woman. She envelopes him in a hug, her tiny frame wrapping around his torso. Her head only reaches up to the top of his stomach. I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to hug him myself.

Stop it, Chrissie. Don’t torment yourself.

The woman reaches up and strokes Matt’s face. “Be open to love,” she says softly.

He pulls away a lot more roughly than I did. “Thanks,” he says curtly and walks off.

I hurry after him, shooting an apologetic glance in the woman’s direction as I grab his arm.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry, I’m just not into that hippie-dippy crap.”

“You think hugs are hippie-dippy?”

“Well, obviously not with friends and family. I’m just not good at opening up to strangers.”

“You were pretty good with me,” I point out.

“You’re different,” he says. “You’re…”

We’re interrupted by a loud crash, followed by cursing. To our right is a stage and what looks to be the top half of a small woman sticking out of the floor.

Matt and I race over.

“Hey! Are you all right there? Can we help?” I ask.

She looks at me in disbelief. “What the fuck do you think? Yes! Get me the hell out of here!”

Matt and I each grab one of her arms and yank her out of the floor. She lies on her side, breathing heavily.

“We’re fucked,” she moans.

“What happened?”

“The Revelations are due to play on this stage in exactly two hours, but it appears some asshole set a fire last night and burned a hole in the damn thing.”

I inspect the hole. It does look that way.

“Okay. So I take it you’re one of the festival organizers? What’s your back-up plan?”

She narrows her eyes. “I’m not one of the organizers, I’m the band’s manager. And I don’t have a fucking back-up plan.”

“Shouldn’t you have a crew or something?”

“Don’t talk to me about the goddamn crew. I just fired the lot of them. All fucking high on God knows what. I don’t trust any of them to do their job without injuring themselves or the equipment.”

I jump into action. I faced challenges like this at Perry Tyler and I always managed to save the day.

“All right, let’s think this through logically. Can we move to another stage?”

“And how the fuck are we supposed to carry all this stuff over in time and let everyone know where we are?” She points to a large pile of band equipment sitting on the ground beside the stage. “We’re meant to be shooting some footage for a music video out here! We can’t do that without a crowd.”

“Can you postpone the show?”

“Oh, of course, why didn’t I think of that?” she says sarcastically. “Maybe because they’re accepting a Hall of Fame award tonight in LA and need to get out of this hellhole by 3p.m.”

“Let me help. I used to manage situations like this all the time. Sorry, what was your name?”

She looks at me dubiously. “Veronica.”

“Okay Veronica, I take it you’re not capable of any heavy lifting right now?”

She tries to stand up, but her ankle buckles underneath her. “Apparently not.”

“When is the band due to arrive?”

“They’ll be flying in by helicopter in half an hour.”

“Leave it to me. The stage near the pyramids is a similar size to this one and I’m pretty sure it only has shows scheduled at night, so we can move the band over there. I’ll sort out a crew to get your equipment set up, and I’ll also make sure your crowd is ready.”

She laughs. “If you can pull that off, sweetheart, I will kiss your goddamn feet.”

“That won’t be necessary. But I do want one thing in return.”

“Anything you like, darlin’.”

“I want a meet-and-greet with the band after the show.”

She smiles slyly. “Oh, a fan, huh? Sure. If you do what you say you can do, I’ll give you your meet-and-greet. Wait! Don’t tell me, it’s Davey you want, right? He’s the one all the girls love.”

“Uh, yeah.” I turn to Matt. “Can you help Veronica over to the other stage?”

He nods. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“You’re the one who said I needed to embrace the festival. This is me embracing.”

His eyes twinkle. “Okay then.”

Matt strides over and wraps Veronica’s arm around his neck. “Come on. I’ll help you walk until we find an easier way to get you around.”

I head towards the nearest tent and peer inside. It’s an in-session yoga class, so I leave them be. The next tent has a bunch of guys all smoking from a hookah, so I don’t bother them either. They’re probably Veronica’s old crew anyway. It takes a few more misses before I score two hits in a row. The first is a tent containing a college football team who all happen to be fans of the band and happily agree to help out. And the second tent has half a dozen young women dressed up in Harajuku fashion with brightly colored dresses and pink hair. They are more than willing to provide their crowd directing services for a good cause,  especially when I promise they can meet the band afterwards.

All I have to do now is draw up some signage. I borrow a sketchpad, some tape and a thick black marker from a tent offering art classes and proceed to make up ten flyers. I start at the old stage and stick one up in the most obvious place I can find before fastening the rest on tents at various intervals along the path to the new stage. I then hurry back to the old stage and join my Harajuku girl helpers, who are already directing early arrivals to the new location.

A helicopter flies overhead and lands out on the empty plains. It looks like the band has arrived.

After making sure the crowd is under control, I track down Veronica to see how she’s getting on. She is now sitting in a wheelchair, ordering people around and looking a lot more confident than when I first saw her.

“You’re a goddamn angel,” she says, seeing me approach. “The football guys have done a better job than my own crew ever did. I had to borrow some sound guys from one of the other acts, but so far everything is coming together effortlessly. We’re even going to look at incorporating those girls you’ve got helping us into the new video because it will save us having to hire other talent later.”

“Oh, good. I think they’re big fans so I’m sure they’ll love that.”

“I didn’t even get your name.”

“Chrissie.”

“Well, Chrissie, you’ve certainly earned your meet-and-greet.”

“Actually, it wasn’t for me. It was for all the volunteers. I know you have to fly out this afternoon, but if you can just allow fifteen minutes after the encore, they would really appreciate it.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, sure. But what about you? Don’t you want anything? Money? Drugs? Some alone time with Davey?”

I can’t tell if she’s joking. “Nah. The only thing I do need is a lift out of here, but I’m waiting to hear where my van is before I know where to actually go.”

She looks at me with what I hope is a combination of appreciation and respect. “Your experience shows. If you need a reference down the track, please give my name.” She produces a business card from her pocket and hands it to me.

“Thanks, Veronica. Hey, do you know where Matt went?”

“He was helping the crew earlier but I haven’t seen him for a while.”

“Oh, okay. Well, if you don’t need me anymore, I might go and tell the volunteers to meet you near the side of the stage after the show.”

“Sure, honey…hey, you know you’re welcome to attend the meet-and-greet too if you like.”

“I might take you up on that. Thank you.”

For a split second I contemplate trying to find Matt so we can watch the show together, but then I decide I’m more than happy to enjoy the concert on my own. There will be plenty of time to see him later.