Fifteen Minutes

chapter 26

The show that night would go down in history. At least that’s what Cullen announced as they moved past the individual performances to the duets. Zack’s drinking song had been met by thunderous applause. He’d grinned and laughed, but he had never felt more empty in all his life. Now he had changed into his cutoff T-shirt and jeans and stood backstage with Zoey, trying to figure out what to feel, how to feel.

He was there when Gaines found him.

“I have a note for you from Meier.” Gaines was all business, a clipboard in his hand. He seemed to read something from the paper. “Here it is.” He looked up, serious. “Push-ups. Drop and give me twenty push-ups.”

Zack looked around at the other singers. “What?” Was this some kind of joke? He chuckled and took a step back. “What do you mean?”

“You heard me.” Gaines’s voice turned gruff. “We don’t have much time. Drop and give me twenty. They want you to look more buff during the duet.” He gave Zack’s bare biceps a once-over. “They look fine to me. But production wants your muscles to pop for this performance.”

Zack wasn’t sure whether to laugh or tell the man where to take his clipboard. He caught Samuel Meier watching him from the far corner of the room, surrounded by staff. His look told Zack no one was kidding. So with Zoey standing beside him and the other four contestants watching, Zack did as he was told. He dropped down and did twenty push-ups. Twenty became forty and forty became sixty. The push-ups became one sure way to release the anger he felt toward himself and the show and his compromises.

Finally Gaines returned. “That’s enough. You won’t be able to sing.”

Zack rattled off five more for good measure and then hopped to his feet. He was out of breath, but he felt more alive than he had since his talk with Chandra. Suddenly the noise of the contestant coordinator faded along with every other sound in the room. God . . . what am I . . . what am I doing here? What’s happened to me? The prayer came in fits and starts, but it was the first time he had prayed in longer than he could remember. Gaines’s mouth was moving, but Zack couldn’t hear him. Couldn’t hear anything but his pounding heart and the gentle whisper of the Holy Spirit.

I have been with you all along, son. . . . Turn to Me. I know the plans I have for you.

“Zack!” It was Zoey’s voice. “You okay?”

He looked around and saw her standing in front of him, searching his eyes. “Yeah, I’m . . .” Her blond hair looked fuller than usual and she wore a short tight black dress and boots. He let his eyes drift over the length of her before he caught himself. She looked gorgeous. If they were alone now he wasn’t sure . . .

What was he thinking? He blinked and stared at the ground. Panic seized him. Chandra had just warned him, and still he couldn’t stop the slide. A thought hit him square in the heart. Wherever Reese was tonight—if she watched the show—she would be sure she’d done the right thing.

“Zack, what’re you thinking?” Zoey moved closer, her voice a whisper. As if she didn’t want the others to think something was wrong. “Are you sick?”

“No.” He came back to the surface. “I’m all right.”

Across the room, Gaines called for them. “You’re up in thirty seconds.”

Zack took her hand and led her to the stage door. This was how they were supposed to enter, whether he liked it or not. He’d made his commitment to tonight’s show. Now he had to follow through. They could hear the countdown behind them and at the right time they walked onto the stage to a standing ovation. Zack remembered Meier’s statement from yesterday. America has never loved a Fifteen Minutes couple more than the two of you.

The lighting became more romantic and Zack noticed the setting, the one they had practiced with. There were trees and a small bridge and a park bench. He almost forgot the blocking. But as the song began, the movements came easily. Hand in hand they sauntered across the bridge, stopping to sing while looking into each other’s eyes. Next they moved to the bench and then to a pair of microphones at the center of the stage.

“We’ll make love tonight and make love last,” Zack sang to her.

“Like we never had a yesterday before today,” Zoey added.

They finished the song together. “Like we never had a past. Never had a past.”

Again the crowd was on its feet, screaming and applauding and making the walls of Carnegie Hall feel like they might fall from the sound. They each bowed and then Zoey caught his eyes. Before he could stop her, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. On impulse alone, his hand came to the side of her face as the kiss played out.

It didn’t last longer than a second or two, but it doubled the noise in the building. With that the two of them walked off, still holding hands. Zack didn’t take a breath until they were backstage. A production team seated at a distant table began to clap. “Perfect, you two.” Gaines added his applause to the mix. “The kiss was brilliant.”

Zack couldn’t speak. He led Zoey out of the room and down a long cement hall. There was precious little dressing room space in the back of the building, but Zack found a supply closet and pulled her in behind him. When they were alone—definitely alone—he faced her, hurt and seething. “How could you do that?”

“What?” Her own frustration added to the moment. “That kiss?” She glared at him. “Don’t worry. It didn’t mean a thing.” She was shaking. “The audience wanted something extra, so I gave it to them.”

“That wasn’t your choice. I had no idea.”

“Oh, right, . . . and you hated it. Just like you hated kissing me in that upper lobby.” She crossed her arms and laughed, sarcasm working its way around her words. “Whatever. Listen, Zack. I want to win this thing. If that means kissing you on a live show, so be it.”

“Yeah, well, maybe check with me first. How am I supposed to explain that?”

She hesitated, her silence consumed with what looked like a dozen conflicting emotions. Finally she dropped her voice and took a step closer. “How are you supposed to explain that kiss?” This time her laugh sounded bitter. “Come on, Zack. How are you going to explain the song about getting drunk? Or the way you let them dress you like some pinup boy tonight?” She tossed her hair, and her haughty eyes burned through him. “I’m the least of your troubles.”

With that she spun around and left.

Zack stayed in the closet another five minutes, fighting for control. Of all the things he hated about the night, he hated this most of all—the fact that she and Chandra were right. He had only himself to blame for the people he’d lost and for the person he had quickly become.

When he finally made his way to the main room backstage, the show was winding down. The last couple was onstage singing their duet. One of the production assistants saw him and motioned him closer. “Zoey isn’t doing so great.”

“What do you mean?” Zack scanned the room. He didn’t see her.

The guy chuckled. “She said you two were in a fight because of the kiss.”

More drama. Just what he needed. Zack could’ve pulled his hair out. “Which way did she go?”

“That way.” He pointed down a different hallway. “But don’t worry about her. They’re paying her plenty for your little love story.”

Time and motion and gravity all ceased. Zack stood anchored in place, just looking at the production assistant. “What . . . what do you mean?”

“Come on . . . they must be paying you, too.”

Mountains on all sides of him collapsed, burying him in the garbage of three straight months. They were paying Zoey? To give the show the appearance that the two of them were an item? He shut his eyes for a few seconds and then blinked them open. It wasn’t possible.

The guy was still talking, but like earlier with William Gaines, Zack couldn’t hear him. Suddenly he pictured a number of times when he had seen Zoey talking to Meier or Gaines. Was it really possible? He jogged down the hallway never feeling the floor, searching every doorway for Zoey until he found her in a dressing room that had Gaines’s name on it. She was alone, still in her black dress and boots, curled up in an oversized armchair, sobbing.

“Look at me.” Zack didn’t yell. His shock was too great. “Zoey, look at me.”

“It isn’t true.” She spun around to face him, her feet hitting the floor. “I was standing around the corner. I heard what he told you.” Her face was red, her eyes swollen. “You can’t believe that.”

“What am I supposed to think?”

She stared at him, clearly trying to find control. Sorrow and fear colored her expression, but they didn’t come close to the more obvious emotion consuming her. An emotion that could only be defined as guilt. “I’ve hated keeping this from you, Zack.” She breathed fast, on the verge of hyperventilating. “I’m sorry. I’ll tell you everything.”

Zack sank into the chair across from her. Whatever she had to say, he needed to be seated. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure he’d survive it. “Go ahead.” He held his head in his hands for several seconds before looking up at her again. “Talk to me.”

“I . . . didn’t want . . . to go along.”

“Are they paying you? I need to know that first.” His voice was louder, meaner than before. He had to force himself to find calm. He stood and closed the door and then returned to his spot across from her. “Tell me if they’re paying you.”

“No.” She shook her head fast and sharp. “No, I would never take money to . . . to be your friend, Zack. Never.” She hung her head and panic seemed to grab hold of her. Her breaths came even faster and she stood, panic frozen in her face. “I . . . I can’t breathe. Zack . . . help . . . me.”

His instincts took over and he came to her. With the compassion that once defined him, he held her and stroked her back. “Zoey, shhh. It’s okay. Breathe out. You’re okay.”

“I can’t . . . catch . . . my breath.”

He held her for several minutes until he felt the muscles along her spine relax. Finally she took a step back and covered her face, her tears flowing once again. When she sat down and lowered her hands, he could see that she was going to be okay. She was broken, but she was breathing.

“I didn’t . . . take money.” She shook her head, her eyes imploring him. “Please believe me.”

“Did they offer it?”

“Only as a joke.”

As a joke? Zack turned and paced to the opposite wall of the small room. He stayed there, trying to keep some sense of sanity. “Are you serious?” He turned and stared at her. “Who did that?”

“Gaines. But he was kidding.”

“So what . . . what did they promise you instead?” He knew there was something. He could sense it in her panic.

“They said . . . I had a better chance of staying on the show if—” She looked down at her lap.

“Say it. Come on, Zoey.” He walked closer, willing her to speak.

She looked up, her swollen eyes locked on his. “I had a better chance if I stayed near you. If people thought we . . . were an item.” Tears fell on her cheeks, but this time she didn’t look away. “I’m sorry.”

There it was, the whole story out in the open. The producers hadn’t only worked to find an angle, they had created one. With promises of fame, Zoey had played her part. Zack dropped to his seat and faced her, just stared at her. “I lost Reese for that? So you could fake your feelings for me?”

“I wasn’t faking it.” She looked horrified. “I am in love with you, Zack. Sure, I’m your friend, but that’s not all I feel.” She stood and threw her hands in the air. “I’m not that good an actress. Not for any amount of fame.”

Zack wanted her out of his sight. A memory flashed in his mind. The winter he was sixteen and working at the back of his family’s horse farm when a snowstorm came through. He needed to secure the stables, but by the time he did, the storm was a full-fledged blizzard. When he tried to make it back to the house, snow was flying in every direction. Zack had fallen to the ground, no longer sure which way was up. If his father hadn’t found him, he might’ve died out there.

That was how he felt now. No longer sure which way was up and in desperate need of rescue by his Father.

Zoey must’ve seen what he was feeling because she didn’t wait around for his next words. She stood and ran from the room and down the hall. He waited until he could no longer hear her boots on the floor before he slowly left Gaines’s dressing room. He had failed his God and his family, and he had absolutely failed his girl. He had no idea what the full consequences would be, but one thing was certain.

His eyes were open now.

One way or another he was headed back home to start rebuilding what he’d lost. He walked slowly down the hallway, and as he struggled to grasp which way was up, he remembered something. Chandra was praying for him. Chandra and his parents and his siblings, the kids back home at church. Even Reese. Reese, who would leave for London tomorrow. She was praying because that’s the sort of girl she was. No matter how he’d hurt her, she would pray for him. And with all those prayers, he could hope for only one thing.

That his trip back home might come sooner than any of them expected.

THE EPISODE WAS mercifully over. Reese felt like she could breathe for the first time in an hour.

Grandpa Dan turned off the TV. “I don’t recognize him.” He leaned on his cane and looked at Reese. “I have no words.”

None of them did. “It’s okay.” Reese couldn’t think of anything else to say. “It was my choice to be here tonight.”

She had to watch the show with them this one last time. Her flight to London was scheduled to leave tomorrow night. Once she landed, she would stay in an apartment at the horse facility and spend a few weeks getting to know the instructors and students. Then she’d begin teaching. In her spare time she would tour the city and get familiar with the underground. Her life ahead gave her hope in the darkest hours. God wasn’t finished with her.

But she couldn’t leave life here without this night. All day she had prayed for God to show her if she was wrong. If leaving Zack wasn’t part of the Lord’s plans, then she needed to know now. Before her plane took off. She imagined Zack singing something with a faith message and admitting to America that he’d made mistakes leading up to this point. She even wondered if maybe he would talk about missing her and his home back in Kentucky.

Instead . . . well, instead Zack’s performances had only shredded what was left of her heart. The guy singing on the TV screen wasn’t remotely like the one she’d kissed good-bye three months ago. He acted different and looked different and dressed different. And when he and Zoey sang their love song, Zack’s dad nearly turned off the TV in the middle of the performance.

Reese’s shock had held off her tears. But now she could feel the dam in her heart breaking. She needed to leave, needed to get home and finish packing. So she could cry in private. She stood. “I need to go.”

“I’m sorry.” Dara came to her and the two hugged. “Please . . . keep praying for him.” She looked deep into Reese’s eyes. “This isn’t him. You know that.”

Reese nodded. Of course it wasn’t him. The fame, the overnight success, had done to Zack what it did to nearly everyone in his position. It had changed him. No matter what promises Zack had made back at the beginning. She smiled at Zack’s mother. “I’ll miss you.” Tears stung her eyes. She wanted one thing—to feel the plane lifting off the ground, taking her to a new life far from this one.

Reese hugged Zack’s dad and Duke and AJ. The girl was sick again. She struggled to make it down the stairs, let alone to the stable. “You get better, okay?”

“Okay.” AJ took a step back. “We’ll go riding again when you get back.”

“We will.” This was the hardest part. Reese never imagined she’d say good-bye to these people. They were like her own family. “I’ll see you next year.”

AJ nodded and moved across the room to her mom. The two of them held on to each other, the sadness like a wave pulling them under the surface of all that once was.

Reese said good-bye to Grandpa Dan last. Here was the man who had promised Grandma Lucy that he’d take care of her. The man who had prayed for her and been certain when Zack brought her home that God had meant them for each other. Not anymore. He took her in his arms and held her the way her own father might. When they drew back, Reese saw tears on his cheeks. “I’ll pray for you. Every day.” His voice was scratchy beneath the obvious weight of his sorrow. “I promised your grandmother, and I’ll keep my promise.” He kissed her forehead. “God has good plans for you, Reese. Go find your life.” He stopped, gathering his composure. “Don’t forget us.”

She could hardly see through her own tears. “I won’t.” Once more she hugged him, and then she picked up her purse and said a final good-bye. She left without looking back. Zack Dylan and his world were behind her now. Every step put distance between them, the sort of distance she needed if she were going to find a new life apart from him. Her heart ached, because this wasn’t what she had wanted. She was leaving, but she still missed him. She climbed into her car and covered her face with her hands. The tears washed over her, tears for her shattered dreams and tears for the guy she loved. The one who no longer existed. Only one thought brought her comfort as she dried her face and started her car.

Tomorrow night at this time she would be boarding a plane to London.