“You were just great,” the host said. His eyes were shining bright, and he was smiling. He was obviously charmed by Maddy. “This might be our highest rated show all year!”
“Wow, thank you,” Maddy said, laughing.
Jacks remained slightly to the side, his hands in his pockets.
“Oh, and, Jacks, thanks for coming on. Really great to see you,” Taylor said, almost as an afterthought, shaking Jackson’s hand quickly.
Darcy was upon them in two seconds, hustling them off the stage towards the green room.
“Absolutely amazing. And you looked gorgeous, Maddy.”
“Do you really think so?” Maddy said.
“Absolutely,” Darcy said, putting her hand on Maddy’s shoulder.
Maddy looked at Jacks expectantly – he knew how she liked his opinion on things.
Jacks put on his best smile. “Darcy’s right, Mads. You nailed it there – you’re a natural-born Angel. And you looked great.”
Maddy blushed.
Darcy’s assistant ran up to Maddy and started taking off her microphone. Darcy took the opportunity to pull Jacks quickly to the side.
“What happened out there, Jacks?” she whispered under her breath.
“I . . . I don’t know.” He thought about that sense of total blindness under the lights, combined with a strange pitching back and forth. Just thinking about it made him feel like he was going to be seasick. “I just . . . maybe didn’t sleep so great last night.”
“You’ve got to let me know if you’re not . . . not feeling well or something.” His publicist tried to put a smile on. “I mean, just so we’re all on the same page, OK?”
“Sure, Darcy,” Jacks said, slightly irritated but trying not to show it. He wasn’t on drugs, for heaven’s sake.
A call came in on Darcy’s iPhone.
“And it begins,” she said, a smile flickering across her face as she answered. “Hi Terry . . . are you crazy? We won’t take less than double for that. This is Maddy we’re talking about.” Darcy lifted her finger to Jacks as if to say, “Just one second.”
Jacks wandered off to the side, the set still buzzing. He leaned against the wall, w
atching the bustling activity around him.
*
After the taping, Maddy and Jacks decided to get a late lunch at Angel City hotspot Urth Caffé. Jackson and Maddy had gone more than a few times to Urth; even though it was always a madhouse, Maddy liked the outdoor seating area.
The paparazzi outside Urth had somehow been tipped off – probably by Darcy – about the arrival of Jackson and Angel City’s hottest new nominee, and they began shouting. Urth’s security personnel helped corral the photographers on the pavement as Jacks and Maddy started walking up towards the entrance of the café.
MADDY! JACKS! MADDY!
MADDY! JACKS! MADDY!
MADDY! MADDY!
MADDY!
A reporter for a popular blog was doing a video segment outside Urth when he saw Jacks and Maddy arrive. “And just showing up at Urth Caffé is Angel City ‘It’ couple Maddy Montgomery and Jackson Godspeed.”
Jacks winced before he could help himself. Normally it was “‘it’ couple Jackson Godspeed and Maddy Montgomery” – not the other way around.
A girl, maybe sixteen, called out in a shriek: “Maddy! Can I just get your autograph??”