Chapter 1
“If you make that face at me again while I’m on stage, I’ll shoot you.”
Vi halted where she stood, double checking the positions of the rest of her security detail before pulling the mic of her headset away from her face to regard Caitlyn with a grin.
“What face?”
The idol shot her a glare, though she quickly had to look away as her lips began to twitch and curl upwards.
“I’m serious, Violet.” The upbeat song by the opening band cut off, and deafening cheers echoed from the crowds. Vi would’ve liked to believe Cait was serious, she really would’ve, but the corners of the idol’s mouth were still fighting a valiant battle to stay down and yeah, it couldn’t be that serious.
“This is the biggest stadium we’ve ever played. We need to be professional.” While true, the warning went in one ear and out the other because Cait said that every time. “Plus, it’s a cheap strategy. Completely overused.”
That gave Vi immediate pause. She turned to fully face the idol with crossed arms. Cait was seated elegantly on a small black foldable chair with a bottle of water on the floor nearby, facing out towards the stage.
“Excuse me, Cupcake?”
“Don’t even start.” Cait giggled at the exaggerated offence in her bodyguard’s voice. She suddenly groaned, leaning forward to put her head in her hands. “I should have never made that bet with you in the first place. You’re relentless.”
“Hey, you were the one who said I wasn’t funny,” Vi shrugged. She looked down at the taller woman who reached her shoulder when seated. Final sound checks echoed through the headset and the bodyguard was experienced enough to be able to effortlessly tune them out by now. “If you wanna give in, admit I’m actually hilarious and finally try something from Jericho’s instead of staring at me with silent judgement every time we go, I’d be more than happy to let you off the hook-“
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage,”
“Not a chance in hell.” Cait interrupted.
Then she was standing, the silky black material that had been draped over her shoulders was discarded, revealing her outfit of the night in all its glory.
Yellow, sleeveless, sparkling and fuck, it barely reached past her thighs. A window in the shape of a love heart sat at the chest, bordered by silver studs that continued to dot around the dress and was it just Vi or were these outfits getting more and more revealing with every show?
“Caitlyn Kiramman!”
The crowd went crazy, far crazier than usual, and Vi winced at the feedback she got from her earpiece.
Vi had been working as security for Kiramman Records since the second become qualified. They were the only company to look past her rap sheet and over the years she had steadily climbed the ranks until last year, where Cassandra Kiramman herself had sat her down and entrusted her with taking care of her daughter.
The figurehead had been nothing but analytical in the meeting. Vi had been with the company for five years, she’d proven herself to be effective in multiple roles and positions, including as support, site management, leadership and private security.
She’d shown that she wasn’t afraid to put herself in harms way to ensure the safety of clients, and she had a 99.86% success rate with predicting and obstructing potential threats before they became an issue.
All of this was done with a mask of cold professional indifference, but from the stories she’d heard of how protective Cassandra Kiramman could be of her daughter, this was a big deal.
Assigning Vi of all people to act - not only as her daughter’s personal bodyguard, but head of her entire security detail showed an immense amount of respect and trust that Vi wasn’t used to receiving from people like Cassandra Kiramman.
After the meeting, once Vi was alone in her apartment behind firmly closed doors, she may have shed a tear or two.
It was such an important role and it could either make the fuck or break the fuck outta her career, and Vi could only hope she didn’t screw it up somehow.
“Possible forgeries at left entrance, how should we proceed?” Came a staticky voice through the headset.
Vi chewed her lip. As Caitlyn’s music grew more and more popular, there were a lot more people willing to do anything to get into one of her shows. Including forging tickets.
There were a few ways to go about this. Let them in, run checks and if they come back as forgeries, find and boot them from the concert. Or, she could make them wait outside to run checks, but this had the added negative of holding up whatever people were behind them still trying to get in.
If the tickets were legit and fans were made to wait even longer, it could be a real PR problem later on.
But if they weren’t properly screened . . . Vi sent a furtive glance to Caitlyn. “Postpone entry until the tickets are verified. Offer some complimentary merch if things check out.”
“Copy.”
The rest of the concert was more of the same. Vi fielded questions from her team posted at different areas throughout the stadium, all while keeping a watchful eye on Caitlyn and the ever encroaching crowd.
While Vi always had to be ready for any fans who tried to storm the stage, or barrier breaks or any other potential security risks, she’d already run threat assessments numerous times and felt secure in her judgement that this was a tame audience, and things like that wouldn’t be happening.
She allowed herself to relax, let her head nod to the beat of the song she’d heard Cait perform about a hundred times.
Somehow, Vi never grew bored of hearing Cait sing. The backing tracks could get tiring, looping around and around in her head till she hated it but she could never hate Caitlyn’s singing voice. The way her accent lilted on every word, the melodic tones in every sentence, the increase and decrease in pitch on beat.
Hell, if Vi let herself, she could pinpoint every single feature of each of Cait’s performances.
From the cute little breaths she took between bars, the insurmountable voice control Caitlyn possessed to sing so high and for so long, the rare, teeny tiny cracks in her voice when she performed live that were fully due to nerves and said nothing on her singing ability.
The latter was something Vi had assured Caitlyn of countless times but she never listened, despite the fact that her and Vi were almost certainly the only two who noticed.
At one point halfway through the set list, Vi caught Caitlyn’s eye as she sung and she saw the singer’s brow twitch in warning.
Don’t do it. It said, all while effortlessly continuing the performance and Vi was taken once again with just how talented the idol was.
Vi grinned, giving a big thumbs up instead of being a shit and she saw Cait’s features relax into a soft smile before she turned back to the crowd, belting the next lyrics with vigour.
Their latest bet was one Vi was definitely winning, so she let the singer off the hook today
If she managed to make Cait break on stage during the tour at least four times, she’d finally try something from Vi’s favourite unsanitary fast food place. If Cait won, Vi would perform one of Caitlyn’s own songs at Karaoke.
The star had developed an obsession with trying to hear Vi sing after she’d caught her butchering the unreleased song Cait had been working on while cooking breakfast one morning.
They’d had a late night watching movies and eating takeout and Vi insisted on Cait staying over before completely forgetting she was there in the morning.
In her defence, the singer had spent about three weeks locked in the studio replaying and replaying that same track and where Cait went, Vi went, so it was only inevitable the bullshit catchy pop song had gotten stuck in her head.
She still remembered that day. Jumping out out of her skin at the sound of Cait’s phone clattering to the floor and looking up to see the singer wearing - fuck - nothing but one of Vi’s oversized white t shirts - fuck - and some black shorts that left miles and miles of long legs and pale skin on display, - fuuuuck - a look of shock painted on her face.
Ever since that day, Cait had been relentless in her quest to get Vi to sing for her again (“I’m serious, Violet, you sounded really good.”) Which was not happening because Vi was not about to embarrass herself trying to sing in front of a professional fucking singer.
She knew Cait would never make fun of her, and it was probable Cait had deluded herself into believing Vi genuinely sounded good, but it was almost certainly in the same way a professional painter said a four year old’s crappy drawing was ‘good’.
Either way, Cait’s new mission in life besides releasing new music that topped charts was watching her poor bodyguard embarrass herself, and Caitlyn Kiramman never failed a mission.
Vi snapped back into focus when she saw Caitlyn glance over. Concern was painted on her face, and Vi followed her gaze as she looked out into the front row of the crowd.
Someone was practically hanging over the steel barricade, looking faint. Vi quickly sent one of the security guards on the concert floor to check on her, before gathering a few water bottles to give to the fan.
She motioned over someone else on security detail to take up her post and briefly left her spot behind the curtain to immediately hop off stage and check on the fan.
After making them drink some water and ensuring the girl was alright, Vi got some people to escort her and two of her friends backstage to get some air.
The song came to a close, applause and wild cheering erupted but Cait immediately cut in, voice booming across the stadium from the microphone. “Is she alright?”
Vi turned, ignoring the cameras as they now turned to her, she focused solely on Cait and nodded.
Relief visibly flooded Caitlyn. Vi knew how much she cared about her audience, she knew the reaction was genuine and not for the thousands of eyes and cameras zoned in on her face.
“Can we give a big thank you to my amazing security team, who’s constantly looking out for me and all of you guys?”
Raucous shouts and cries of support came from the crowd. Vi felt her face grow hot as she saw her and a few other members of her team show up on the large screen behind the stage. She clapped for her teammates, slapping a few of them on the back as she discreetly retreating behind stage, silently cursing the singer for not waiting till she was out of view for her little congratulations.
——————————-
“I didn’t know you were camera shy.” Caitlyn said the minute they were settled into her Bentley after the show.
“I’m not.” Vi’s gaze remained firmly on the road ahead as she drove them both to the studio.
She could practically feel the disbelief in Caitlyn’s eyes, boring into the side of her face.
“I don’t mind being on camera,” Vi amended, “But if I can avoid it, I will.”
“Oh.” Cait was silent for a moment, considering. She had changed into a casual jeans and oversized blue sweater, while Vi remained in her all black outfit of a baggy hoodie and jeans. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“Don’t even worry about it.” Vi rushed out because she was fine and Caitlyn absolutely didn’t need to worry about her on top of everything else. “I’ve been on camera before. I’m on camera practically every time I go work. It only really bothers me if I’m the only one, you know?”
Cait hummed in a way that said, no, she didn’t know, spurring Vi to continue.
“Like, you know those livestreams you do? That’s what would make me uncomfortable. Just- being on camera by myself. I hate it.”
Caitlyn frowned. “So you are camera shy?”
“No, I’m. . . You know- how do I- it’s like . . . Crackers.”
That got a raised brow. “Crackers?”
“Yeah.” Vi glanced over to the singer with a frantic expression. “Hear me out. It’s like, I’m not gonna go out and buy crackers. They’re boring and they taste like shit. But, if I’m at a party and there’s nothing else to eat, then hell yeah I want some crackers. You know what I mean?”
“So you would never willingly put yourself on camera,” Cait began slowly, like she was trying to wrap her head around Vi’s weird analogy.
“Nope.”
“And you wouldn’t do it by yourself,”
“Nuh-uh.”
“But if you have to,”
“Yep.”
“You will? And- and you don’t hate it?”
“You hit the nail on the head there, Cupcake.” Caitlyn huffed at the nickname, rolling her eyes fondly.
“Why didn’t you just say that then? Now I want crackers because of your convoluted metaphor.”
Vi didn’t take her eyes off the road as she reached over to open the glove compartment, revealing a crisp and unopened box of Saltine crackers.
“What?“ Caitlyn gasped. Carefully, with reverence that those simultaneously too salty and too flavourless crackers didn’t deserve, Cait pulled the box into her lap and began to tear it open. “I thought you didn’t like crackers.”
“I don’t.” Vi said simply. “But you do.”
“Oh my god,” Cait moaned, biting into one of them with a crunch. Vi felt her knuckles tighten on the wheel. “I love you so much right now.”
The bodyguard tried to ignore the way those words affected her. The way her heart stuttered and swelled.
“Yeah.” She managed. “Love you too, Cupcake.”
Caitlyn threw her a cheeky smile. She finished chewing her bite, swallowing. “I was talking to the cracker.”
——————————-
The concept for the music video was simple.
It was a Romeo and Juliette type of vibe, with Caitlyn singing a ballad to an actor who played her male love interest.
Simple concept. Nothing too fancy or original. It’d been done a thousand times before.
Cait would dream of the actor every night in her solitary room in the castle, the time they’d spent together in the past, falling in love, until the final scene where the actor climbs through the window and a sequence of co-ordinated and seductive touches, pets and actions alludes to what happened next.
Caitlyn’s brand had long been associated with the child-like innocence she’d started out with.
She’d been making music since she was around 18, and the vast majority of her songs were about love, platonic or otherwise.
In the past year after she’d signed with her mother’s company, Cait and her team had decided to go bolder. More adult.
With the rebrand, along with the marketing and material support from Kiramman Records, Cait had skyrocketed out of her semi-popular-semi-indie artist status and became an overnight sensation.
She was selling out shows, concerts, her tour had been one of the most successful in Kiramman Records history and the song from the music video they were about to record had topped the charts in one day.
So there was a lot riding on this for Cait. It had to be perfect.
“Have you called the guy yet?” Jinx demanded, sitting up in her Director’s chair and glaring at the stage hand who jolted at the attention.
“Uhh, yes ma’am-“
“Did he pick up?”
“No ma’am.”
“So why the fuck are you still here? Call him again!”
The poor guy nodded once, twice, thrice before he scurried off to find a phone.
Everything was in place. They’d booked the set for the day’s shoot, everyone had been fitted for wardrobe, the crew was all here, all that was left was to film the actual video.
They were on a tight schedule. The release date was the day after tomorrow which was already a huge risk, but the actor they’d hired as Caitlyn’s love interest was out of the country, and the only day that worked with both their schedules was today.
All the other shots for the video were filmed. The final scene was all that was left and the guy was a no-show.
Vi stood uselessly off to the side. There was little she could do to help the situation short of going to the guy’s house and dragging him to set.
Though from the look on her sister’s face, that option wasn’t fully off the table.
“I got a hold of him.” Caitlyn emerged from her dressing room with a deep frown and a sheer lilac dressing gown over a satin lilac chemise and matching shorts. “The flight was delayed.”
A chorus of groans erupted from the crew and Vi couldn’t help but echo the sentiment.
Everyone present had worked hard to ensure the video was perfect.
Makeup had done outstanding work, set and costumes design were all perfect and Vi herself had helped camera crew lug 500lbs of equipment up three flights of stairs so she knew exactly how hard they’d worked to be here.
Caitlyn had been tearing herself apart about the video for weeks. She’d organised every aspect, down to the last detail and had contingencies for her contingencies.
She had been staunchly opposed to the idea of cutting it this close, but the release had already been announced because the guy had agreed, only to tell Caitlyn’s team that they had to film everything today.
Her only shortcoming was trusting her fellow entertainer to actually be reliable when the time came.
The guy they’d chosen was to be one of the best up and coming male actors of the year.
It was supposed to be a surprise, generating a larger audience for the video and acting as good promotion for his later projects.
Cait could only be grateful for the fact that they hadn’t announced his presence in the video, seeing as she didn’t want to disappoint her fans any further.
“Fuck, fuck, fucking fuck!” Jinx put her head in her hands and laughed maniacally. “I’m gonna kill him. I’m gonna shoot down his plane, and cut open his little six pack and pull every organ-“
“Can we not find a replacement?” Vi cut in before Jinx could get anymore graphic. “I know it’s short notice, but won’t most actors jump at the chance to be in a Caitlyn Kiramman video?”
“No one with the same presence.” Viktor, one of the veteran managers on Caitlyn’s PR team cut in. He was staring down at his iPad, using one hand to rest heavily on his cane. “We could call in a lookalike, but they would be-“
“A nobody.” Jinx threw her hands up. “A fucking nobody. We’re gonna have to trust a fucking nobody on a time crunch.”
“That does not have to be the case.” Viktor turned to Caitlyn, who had seated herself on the extravagant Queen-sized bed that’d been done up to look fit for a princess. “We could simply use someone we trust and change the storyline.”
Jinx froze for a moment, and Vi was certain she’d explode at Viktor for trying to alter her precious storyline before she suddenly shot out of her chair, sending it slamming backwards into an intern. “Yes! That’s great!”
She whirled around, long blue braids flying while everyone in sight cowered in fear. “She thinks she wants Guy number 1 since they have all that history, but then BOOM!”
Vi was sure she heard some of the stage hands audibly yelp as she spun around to face the room again. “Guy number 2 swoops in, he’s all over her and she’s swept off her feet. Perfect! All I need is my Guy number 2. Princess?”
Caitlyn had long since tired of protesting the nickname. She’d muttered scornfully to Vi that being infuriating must’ve run in the family.
“Yes?”
“Do you have anyone else you trust to do the scene?” Jinx was surprisingly soft spoken as she asked. “It doesn’t have to be an actor since the scene’s literally just some heavy petting. All we need is someone you trust, who you’re comfortable doing this with.”
Somehow, for some reason, Caitlyn’s eyes went straight to Vi.
“Ew.” Jinx muttered, scrunching her nose before sighing. “Okay! You’re in, fat hands!”
“Wait, what?”
With a clap of her powerful Director hands, Vi was being swarmed by wardrobe and makeup. Poked, prodded and dragged off set, with the sound of Caitlyn’s protests growing further and further away.
“We need her unrecognisable!” Jinx called. “Cover up those tats. Oh and get rid of the piercings while you’re there. Is it too late for hair dye?”
———————————
Caitlyn was an idiot.
How stupid must she be to not plan for the actor of her love interest, such a crucial part of the video, to not show up?
Statistically speaking, around 20% of flights are delayed per day. It was a low percentage, sure, but it was high enough to be something Cait should’ve considered.
That’s not even counting the other factors that could’ve stopped him from attending. If the flight had crashed, if the country he visited declared civil war, if he had a sudden heart failure.
All in all, Caitlyn knew better than to not be prepared for this. But she wasn’t.
And now Vi had to suffer the consequences.
Caitlyn had been opposed to the idea of a bodyguard at first. She’d never reached a level of fame where she had to worry about something like private security for her, whatever security was at the venue she performed at was usually enough.
She also wasn’t too fond of some random man hired by her mother following her around and watching her every move.
Her initial thought was that her mother was being overprotective again. It was the one of the main reasons Cait had waited so long to sign with her mother’s label.
That was, until the messages started coming.
One after another to her social media accounts on all platforms, full of death threats and other harassment. Cait had written it off until the culprit had somehow managed to get ahold of her personal number.
It was a frightening experience, one that had never happened before and one that had gone on for months before Cait was finally shaken up enough to agree to hiring private security.
Vi was a complete contrast to every preconceived notion Cait had.
First off, she wasn’t a man.
Second, she was kind. She didn’t push Cait to stop interacting with fans for so long after shows despite Cait knowing it was deemed a security risk. She didn’t stick around if Cait asked for privacy, and she drove her around wherever she needed to go without complaint.
At first, Vi only spoke when she was spoken to. Gradually, as time went on, the bodyguard began to initiate conversation more. Growing more relaxed, cracking more jokes.
Caitlyn could still remember the moment she truly began to saw Vi as a friend.
She was six months in to her first year at Kiramman Records, playing one of the largest venues she’d ever played (Vi was right, she really did say that every time) and she’d had a panic attack.
It felt like she was dying. The singer hadn’t had any attacks since she was a kid, and she thought she’d completely gotten over her anxiety with performing but just before she was supposed to go on, she felt the familiar clench of her heart, the tightening of her throat.
Vi had been there in an instant. Sitting her down against the wall, murmuring reassurances. Grabbing her hand and letting Cait squeeze tight to ground herself.
When Cait had tentatively asked if Vi would tell her mother about the episode, fearing she already knew the answer, Vi had simply said, “And why would I do that?”
The pop star still remembered the way her heart had stuttered at the words. Plain and simple, with such genuine confusion that Cait was certain the idea had never even crossed the bodyguard’s mind.
Caitlyn thought that moment had told her all she needed to know about the other woman, while somehow filling her with the intense need to know more.
And now, Cait was storming down the hallway. Vi was stuck in this position because of me.
The stagehand Cait had approached told her Vi had been taken to her own dressing room in order to cover up her tattoos, and the singer was ready to storm in and demand for Vi to be left alone when she froze.
Her bodyguard was topless.
The baggy black hoodie she usually wore had been stripped off and strewn across the floor somewhere Cait couldn’t see, though she hadn’t really tried to find it.
No, instead her focus was taken up by the large expanse of Vi’s back.
Cait had seen the tattoos peeking around Vi’s neck, the backs of her arms. Even the one on her face.
She knew Vi had tattoos, but nothing could have prepared her for the image in front of her.
Intricate patterns of cogs and gears intertwined, coupled with flares of smoke and clouds from a mechanism that extended down to reach Vi’s lower back before being obscured by the waistband of her jeans. All in black ink.
Caitlyn absently wondered how far down they went.
Even through the tattoos, Cait could see the muscle there. The sheer width of her shoulders, the contours and dips and shadows present even when the bodyguard wasn’t tensing.
It must’ve been the work of countless hours spent in the gym. The reward for dedication, strength, discipline and other adjectives that Cait was too distracted to come up with.
Vi was straddling a black leather styling chair. She rested her chin on one arm folded over the back while the other extended straight out, hand limp at the wrist.
Her upper body was fully pressed against the chair, but Caitlyn could see enough to know Vi was fully topless.
The bodyguard wore a bored expression as the makeup artists used heaps of concealer to cover up her ink. Her eyes went from the floor, to the ceiling, to the door when she jolted, sitting up a little straighter and thankfully - or unthankfully - her front remained pressed to the back of the chair.
“Hey, Cait.” Her head tilted so her cheek was resting against the back of her forearm and she sent Cait a roguish grin.
The singer felt her eyes widen and cheeks heat at the picturesque image in front of her. Her heart felt like it was about to hammer out of her chest and she distantly registered her hand that was still raised to knock.
She forced it down, clasping her wrist behind her back.
“Um,” Cait stumbled on her words, mind blank. She swallowed down her heart that had somehow leapt into her throat. “You don’t have to do this, Vi.”
Something similar to amusement crossed the bodyguard’s face, and she lifted her head to look straight at Caitlyn.
“I know. I want to.” She said earnestly. “You guys have been working hard on this thing for so long. I’m glad I can help out.”
Cait opened her mouth to cut in when the makeup artist chuckled. “You were right. Guess I owe you a dollar.”
“Owe you-“ Caitlyn paused, and all the affection she’d felt swelling inside her began to form a familiar feeling of annoyance. “You bet on me talking you out of this?”
“I actually bet on you being guilty about it, but potato, tomato.” Vi shrugged.
“Never mind.” Caitlyn groaned, “Forget any sympathy I had for you. I don’t feel bad. You can suffer, for all I care.”
“Come on, Cupcake,” Vi teased, “You don’t mean that.”
“I do. Truly.”
“You know you love me.” Vi was oozing a cockiness Cait would normally roll her eyes at, all shit-eating grin and waggling brows.
Normally, Cait would rattle off another quip or witty reply that’d have Vi scoffing in mock offence, making the next move in their typical song and dance but this time the words were stuck in her throat.
Because this time her heart was pounding out of her chest. Her breaths were stuttering and her hands were clammy and she felt like a sweaty, awkward teenager again.
Caitlyn smiled tersely, nodding her head before leaving.
She cursed herself the entire way back to set because that was weird and why didn’t she say anything back and why did it feel like her chest was about to explode?
Cait closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, then continuing on her way.
She must’ve been coming down with something, the singer decided.
She managed to calm herself down enough to act like a professional once she reached set. She, Jinx and Viktor ironed out a few kinks in the storyline, redrew some of their plans and put the finishing touches on their final idea. By that time, Cait was beginning to feel a little better.
When Vi returned to set, wearing a form fitting black dress shirt with the top buttons tastefully undone, Cait felt her heart jumpstart into motion once more.
Yeah, She couldn’t take her eyes off her bodyguard as she walked over to speak to Jinx. Definitely coming down with something.