Goddess of Song Pt. 02

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Chapter 3

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Damien surveyed the surroundings at the Getty Villa. Loretta was here for a Vogue magazine cover photoshoot to be titled "GODDESS OF SONG: Loretta opens up about love in her life." Neither Bryan nor Damien liked the lack of pre-detail, not to mention the venue was filled with tourists. The men were used to working for high-profile politicians where every detail was carefully laid out and there was minimal unplanned contact. But, this was their first day on the job and they knew to keep their mouth shut.

It was June in Los Angeles and close to 70 degrees. Jeanne had instructed the two men to show up in casual clothing. Without the ear piece, they would have looked like regular tourists.

When they first arrived, the photographer assistant had looked up at Damien and asked, "Are you part of the shoot?" Her eyes also said: If you are here for work, why are you dressed like that? We're going for an ancient Roman look today.

Damien simply stared at her and didn't answer. When Jeanne clarified they were the new bodyguards, the assistant mumbled under her breath, "Oh, wow."

"Not interested in becoming part of the shoot to earn some extra cash, Baby Face?" Bryan teased him by his Marine nickname.

Damien chuckled. Bryan always knew how to make him laugh, "Fuck you."

For the shoot, Loretta wore a dress that looked like a modernized toga. It was a single shoulder wrapped white dress with a long flowy tail that extended six feet out. Her hair was done up in a clean bun. The sunlight beamed off her shoulder. She looked iridescent with her charcoal-lined eyes and coral lips, sitting by the pool and looking seductively into the blue water.

Damien had his back against the photoshoot scene but could hear the photographer constantly shouting at Loretta, "Can you try reaching your hand towards the water -- not touching it, just almost -- there! Bellissimo! Hey, put her hair back! I cannot see her neck here -- look to the other side, like you are seeing a lover in the distance -- oooh, that's it right there -- perfezione! Smile -- just a little bit... sì, sì! That was fantastic my love!"

He turned and caught her staring in his direction, though he couldn't tell if it was per the photographer's instructions. Their eyes met. Loretta did not shy away from his gaze. He could not tell whether she was projecting hatred, indifference, or feigned arousal towards him. It seemed to be a mix of all the emotions. Her eyes seemed to tell him:

Come one step closer, and I will burn you down.

The morning photoshoot was completed. They drove towards their next destination, which was a music video shoot. Jeanne had packed Loretta's schedule so tightly that day that they didn't even have time to stop for lunch. Instead, they picked up quick bites from Whole Foods.

During the whole ride, Loretta was listening to her own song 'Love Me No More' on repeat on her phone, occasionally closing her eyes and moving her body to the rhythm. She ignored everything else.

"That's how she works." Jeanne explained to the men, "If she's focused, she won't pay any attention to the rest of us."

Jeanne further explained that Loretta was very involved in the concept design for the 'Love No Me More' video. Loretta had felt that her previous music videos were done without sufficient creative input from her and were perceived as just a vehicle to showcase her body. For 'Love Me No More', she wanted to use CG effects to create a surreal story about a robot who fell in love with a man but decided to leave him after she realized she was not a real person. The story started with scenes inside the man's home, with the robot, unaware of how and when she came to being, engaging in romantic acts with the man. Because the robot had never left home, she did not know she was a robot. Later in the story, the robot eventually ventured to the outside world and was confronted by reality. Seeing that she was immortal, meaning that she could not grow old with her man, and that she was infertile, meaning that she could not procreate with her man, she decided to leave the man so he could find a human companion.

Regular people would have nodded and approved the story. But Bryan and Damien weren't regular people. They exchanged glances. Bryan asked, "Has the street scene been shot?"

"No, after shooting the home scenes today, we plan on shooting it in downtown LA next week."

Bryan rolled his eyes. "I guess one week should be enough for me to get all the extra guys I need. In the future, Jeanne, can you please put in more details of what each of Miss Atkinson's agenda entails? Simply saying `shoot second half of music video` is not specific enough."

"Sure, I will, but damn, you are taking this so seriously!"

"You hired me, Jeanne!"

"You weren't this paranoid when you worked for my dad. He went everywhere and you were just like `OK` and followed him around!"

"Your dad was not a public figure, Jeanne. He wasn't having relationships with high-profile dignitaries. He also never had his house broken into."

"Oh, god, you make my dad sound so unworthy of protection except from his own paranoia!" Jeanne laughed.

"It's the truth. And when we get home tonight, you are working with me on those security cameras. Did you know that half of them do not work? How the hell did your old security team not tell you that?! Did you hire high school students for security? Jesus Christ!"

"They came highly recommended and were expensive, too." Jeanne smirked, "But yeah, they were shit. I think they just were very good at self-promotion."

They arrived at the music video shooting location. It was a modern one-story house perched half way up the hill towards Griffith Observatory. The early afternoon light shone brightly through the ceiling-to-wall glass panels. The inside of the house was furnished with futuristic-looking furniture: the coffee table looked like it was made from thousands of iridescent metal cubes, while the couch looked like a very uncomfortable cube to sit on. Everything was either metallic or white.

"I know it's cheesy, but the director said given the length of the video, we have to stick with cliché so the futuristic idea comes across." Jeanne snuffed.

Loretta was being made into a straight-haired, purple-eyed sci-fi doll. She wore a cat suit that was sheer white, with cutouts that revealed parts of her body.

Then, the "man" came in.

Bryan whistled and nudged Damien, "Hey, you recognize that guy? He's a model. I only know because Stacy buys magazines with him wearing just underwear on the ad pages."

The model was already dressed for the shoot. He wore a metallic gray shirt and black jeans. His hair was styled back and he had a one-day stubble. He was, by all means, an attractive male. The model approached Loretta and they did small talk. From their conversation, it looked like they had never worked together and this would be the first time.

The model, a star in his own right, exuded confidence and was strutting his feathers like a peacock around Loretta. He was borderline flirting with her, though, to be fair, they were supposed to flirt for the sake of the video.

"And...Action!" The director shouted.

'Love Me No More' played over the speaker.

Cameras rolled. The "man" sat on the couch looking handsome and pensive. Loretta moved around the house, pretending to be doing house chores while she lip-synced to the lyrics. Then, she approached the man and sat next to him on the couch. The song progressed to a bridge that consisted only of symphonic strings; it was building up the tension to the first chorus.

They stared at each other in silence, their eyes dreamy and sensual. The "man" caressed her hair with slow strokes while being careful to not have his arm cover her face from the camera. Loretta tilted her head as a response to the loving touch and closed her eyes.

"Good...good...continue..." The director stared at the camera screen and commanded, "Now go on his lap. Hair -- get that hair back!"

An assistant ran up to Loretta to comb her hair, while Loretta carefully straddled the model who was now leaning back onto the couch. While the assistant worked her hair and the cameras were off, the model said something quietly to her. It must have been a flirtatious joke. Loretta giggled and covered her hands with her mouth.

"And...action!" The director shouted. The song was rewound and started from the bridge again.

Loretta and the model continued to look at each other with slow, deliberate head movements.

"Closer...lean in..." The director ordered.

Loretta put her forehead against the model. She smiled at him. Their lips were inches away from each other.

"That is some hot shit!" Bryan murmured to Jeanne. This was all very new to him.

"Oh yeah," Jeanne's voice was full of pride, "When this comes out, we will hit a million views on YouTube in like six fucking hours!"

The song had progressed past the second verse, now heading into the last climatic chorus.

"And...show me that kiss!" The director shouted.

The "man" leaned his head towards the direction of the camera. He put his hand on the back of Loretta's neck, pulling her closer to him until their lips touched ever so slightly. No one said a word in the house. The heat in the air was palpable.

"And...cut!" The director shouted, "Good job! Take five!"

Loretta broke her character and winked at the camera crew. With a childish smile on her face, she dismounted the man.

While the rest of the crew took a break, Damien stepped outside the house. It was 4PM in the afternoon and 65 degrees. Another beautiful June day in Los Angeles, California.

He stood there and tried to focus on looking at the traffic to curb the dark temptation rising within him. He could not explain why, but the thought of punching the "man" in the gut and watching him double over with pain was fast becoming something he wanted to make happen in reality. He had to get out before he acted on his impulse.

The music video shoot was completed and Bryan drove them back to the house. Loretta was quiet on the way back. She was exhausted.

They picked up Thai takeout on the way home. Loretta took her dinner up to her bedroom and didn't come down for the rest of the evening. Jeanne, Bryan, and Damien worked at the kitchen table. Bryan listed all the hardware that needed to be updated: security cameras were broken or unlinked, the camera footages had no stable storage, the back of the house was easily accessible via their neighbor's garden, some of the house windows had no curtains, there was no backup generator in case of power outage... the list went on and on. It was almost midnight and they hadn't even gotten beyond the house.

Jeanne rubbed her eyes, "I say we call it a day. Why don't you go home and sleep?"

Bryan looked at Damien, "You OK with staying here for the night?"

"Yeah. I already put my stuff down in the room Jeanne gave us."

"Thanks," Bryan yawned again and sighed, "Tomorrow I'll get somebody ASAP so we don't have to do the graveyard shifts."

"OK. I'm going home too." Jeanne stood up and stretched, "I'll be back at 8AM."

Both of them left the house. Jeanne turned off most of the lights before she left.

He was left alone downstairs.

He walked around the first floor and the basement to familiarize himself with the house, but avoided heading up the stairs. He would not have been able to do anything anyway, since the stairs immediately led to the master bedroom where Loretta was.

He went outside and breathed in the warm night air. It was still 60 degrees at 2AM and he was in a T-shirt and jeans.

The neighborhood they were in was quiet. No backyard pool parties, no loud music playing, no nearby bar scenes. Tall trees, gardens, walls, and gates put large distances between each of the mansions. Loretta's was one of the smallest ones. Jeanne told him there were some very famous neighbors around and it was likely he and Bryan would start running into them or even see them on their morning jogs.

He walked around the perimeter, trying to get his head off the craziness of this first day of non-stop action with Loretta so close, yet so far.

* * *

The fateful call he received at the end of his freshman year in UCSD from his former swim teammate was:

"I'm joining the Marine Corps. Want to hang out before I ship?"

He met his friend at a local bar that was crawling with Marines. Deep in his depression, their unfiltered humor suddenly attractive. He yearned for something different; something that would pull him out of his dark mental state. He went with his buddy to the Recruit Depot. His competitive swimming background made passing PFT easy. Boot camp didn't faze him. He even sort of enjoyed the fuck fuck games: If he was tired enough, he wouldn't have the mind space to be depressed. It was with the same mentality of "I don't care anymore" that he signed a 03 contract to become a grunt.

By the time he had completed his training, however, he had changed. Then, when he was deployed overseas, his mind opened up like never before. He realized how small he was in the chaos of this world that was both messy and beautiful at the same time. He was everything to himself, and nothing to everyone else -- everyone, except for his family and his brothers.

His traits made him a good Marine. He could tolerate a lot of physical pain, learned quickly, and was utterly incapable of bullshit. By the time he was selected for MARSOC, Marine Corps' own version of special forces, Damien was not the same person he was when he graduated North Haven High School. He was mature in body and mind. He still had his baby face, but now being more senior in rank and age than the average enlisted, he didn't get called his nickname much anymore. It was also in MARSOC that he met Bryan and became good friends with him. Bryan was the sort of person that was always so happy that made one wonder what it would take to make him sad. His cheerfulness complemented Damien's reticence well.

Damien felt he was doing pretty well with life. He even began another serious relationship with a reporter working at LA times whose name was Miranda.

Then one day, while he was deployed overseas, a fellow Marine was playing a song on his laptop loud enough for him to hear. It gave him a déjà vu moment, like he'd heard it not recently, but a long time ago.

"Hey, what song are you listening to?" He asked.

"Oh this super hot chick who can really sing!" The Marine turned the laptop screen towards him, "I think her name is Loretta."

There was Loretta, dancing and swerving her body to the mid-tempo dance song that sounded uncannily like one he had heard years ago at her house when she was showing off her song ideas to him. Gone were the glasses and the pony tail, in were the contacts and wild wavy hair.

She had completed her metamorphosis.

* * *

Damien heard a squeal come from the backdoor.

He walked quietly around the house and found Loretta standing in the doorway, staring blankly at the ground with a mug in her hand. She was wearing a black silk night gown with a shawl over her shoulders. She was also wearing glasses.

"Don't leave the house without telling us."

"Ahhhhhhh!" Loretta nearly jumped up, "Don't scare me like that!!"

She looked at him like a deer in the headlights. It was 2AM and she had just woken up. In her half-awake state, there was no guarded look in her eyes; her scare was genuine.

Damien repeated, "Don't leave the house without telling us first. It defeats the purpose of having security." He paused, then added, "Please."

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking. I just got up..." Loretta tried to find her voice, "Is it just you here?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," Loretta's soft voice expressed confusion, "Aren't you going to sleep?"

Damien almost didn't know how to answer the question. "I'm staying here for the night shift. I'm not supposed to sleep."

He realized, then, that Loretta did not function very well when she was low on sleep. This had been a crazy day for her and his reemergence in her life had been so abrupt, that for a moment, she could not remember why he was there. It was almost like she was back in high school, looking adorable and innocent in her dorky glasses and unruly hair.

But the moment was fleeting. Damien watched as Loretta gradually regained consciousness and her look shifted from a dreamy state to the look of someone who had just identified her nemesis. She was on guard now, though her voice was gentle, "When do you have to stay awake till?"

"Bryan says he'd be back at 6AM, though I told him 8. Also, now that you're more awake, I'll say it again: Don't leave the house without telling us. That includes opening the back door."

Loretta looked at her feet. She was silent for a while, then without looking at him, she spoke: "You changed a lot."

"So did you."

Loretta's breathing got heavier. She seemed to be angry again -- that same cold, burning rage she had displayed towards him since their first re-encounter. It was an anger that she had to conceal while others were around, but now that there was no one except them, she let it all out.

Her voice was thick with hate:

"I will never forget what you did."

Damien's thoughts flew back to the years when his mind was at the bottom of the mental abyss. He had thought, in the small off chance he was ever to see Loretta again, what he would say to convey his remorse. How could he -- using as few words as possible -- convey the full breadth of the self-loathing he had inflicted upon himself, so that she would understand that he also never forgot what he did?

Hearing what Loretta just said, he realized the answer was: he couldn't.

Instead, he said, "Why did you hire us?"

Loretta straightened her body and raised her gaze to meet his.

"Because for once in my life, I want to know what it feels like to have power over you." Her voice was hard and cold, "I'm your employer now. If you can't handle it, you leave!"

She turned and closed the back door, leaving him alone outside the house.

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CHAPTER 4

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A week after the two men began working for Loretta, Bryan found new security to take over the nightshifts. He also recruited two more team members, Mark and David. Mark was a former police officer who was quiet and a bit older. David was a former fellow Marine who worked in intel. After four years of service, he got out and worked a series of cybersecurity jobs, the latest of which was a consulting gig for the Las Vegas police department on busting a child pornography ring. David was tall, skinny, and had a sense of humor that was different from that of Bryan's.

Bryan had asked David to look up Lufti Atwan even before he thought about hiring him. By the time David showed up at Loretta's house, he had done his homework.

"There's not much about him, at least not ones in English." Was David's report, "He owns hotels in the middle east and large shares in several US shipping companies. The worst thing I can find about him is that he uses escorts when he visits the US."

"Uh-hum," Bryan coughed and tried to get David to talk quieter, as Loretta was likely to have been near where they were speaking. Damien was also present in the room, "Escorts aren't so bad."

"Not at all, they're at least consenting adults!" David chuckled, "They share client reports like true professionals, too. Apparently, Atwan has a few fetishes like insisting on cumming on faces and peeing on the ladies..."

"Stop right there." Bryan rubbed his face.

"Sorry, was that TMI?" David remained cheerful, "By the way, why do you want to know about this guy?" He had been told by Bryan to look into Atwan without given the context. Publicly, there had been no tabloid reports between Atwan and Loretta. Bryan also did not tell him about Damien's past relationship.