The Pop Star and the Dreamer

When I glanced across at Kiara, she was crying. "He's not gonna let up."

We drove in silence, before she said apologetically. "I'm sorry you got stuck in the middle of all this. You must hate me."

"It's not your fault, Kiara. The guy's an ass."

Again, the only sounds were the car, as the tires rumbled along the tarmac.

We were almost back in Malibu, when she asked. "Have you ever been to New Zealand, Nash?"

"No, I'm not sure I even know where it is."

"It's a little country, way down the bottom of the Pacific. It's a beautiful place."

Confused at her question, I replied, "Why did you ask?"

"Well, I've had a lot of time to think, and this trip has been wonderful. Just getting away from the house, I feel a lot better."

"Good."

"It got me thinking. I listened to you arguing with Ralph, and it hit me. I need to get away from the toxicity for a while. The beauty of New Zealand. I reckon it's like twenty years behind the rest of the world. We could take a short holiday, and nobody would recognize me. We could melt into the backdrop, just be plain old, "Billy Bob, and Charlene."

I grimaced, "You think I look like a Billy Bob?"

She giggled playfully. "Oh, hell no. You can be Charlene, the sexy cross-dresser."

"And you?"

"I'll be Billy Bob Crotchety, who jumped of the Tallahatchie bridge."

We laughed at her story, but she came back with a serious face on. "Are you interested?"

"Kiara, you are actually my boss. What you say goes."

She nodded confidently. "Okay then. When we get home, I want you to book us two months in New Zealand."

"Where in New Zealand?"

"There's a place in the South Island. It was really beautiful. I think it was called Queenstown."

"So where do you want to stay, hotels, or an apartment?"

She shook her head. "Nope, find us a house to rent, somewhere rural, no neighbors. I don't care how much it costs, just do it."

"You got it, sweet thing."

She smirked. "No more sweet thing, either."

"Okay, luscious."

"Oh my god, stop already," she said indignantly. "Fuck, Nash."

"Sorry, boss."

"That's better, and don't you forget it." The last was said with a smile.

I went to work, my instructions clear. Organize flights, visas and transport first. Then it was on to finding somewhere to stay for a month. I plowed though the internet, page after page of properties. If we had been looking for hotels, it would have been easy. Finding a rural furnished property to rent for two months, was far more difficult.

I must have telephoned, emailed, or texted fifty different agents. They didn't exactly laugh in my face, but they may as well have.

I was furiously typing, sending out even more emails, when Kiara walked in. "When do we leave?" She said questioningly.

Looking up from my computer, I said, "Flights are booked, just waiting for confirmation concerning visas. Shouldn't be much longer. Finding somewhere to stay is proving a little more difficult."

She smiled. It was full of warmth, but her body language said otherwise. Standing with her hands on her hips, she sighed. "You can do it, I have faith."

It's difficult to organize this stuff living in different time zones. Either I was waking them up, or I was up late waiting for calls.

The second day, finally threw up something. It was an old farm workers' cottage on a sheep station. It had been converted into a home stay. It was nice, panoramic views over Lake Wakitipu. The only tricky bit was it barely had a three-star rating. Kiara had always insisted on five stars, no exceptions.

This was pretty cool, though. It was humble, but well decorated, and looked comfortable. For a couple looking for a romantic getaway. It would be perfect. This was different; we were far from that. I decided to leave it, and keep looking, but as the day rolled by. It was obvious there was nothing else.

I went back and checked it again, it was secluded, set on the sheep station, it was set back among a forested area, had lockable gates and covered car parking. Set under the shadow of Ben Lomond, it was only ten minutes from the town center.

Picking up my laptop, I carried it in to show Kiara. She was apparently feeling it, curled in a little ball on the bed, her knees tucked under her chin.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, I whispered, "Do you want to look at this for a minute?"

She uncurled, and sat up. I placed the laptop on her knee, and said, "This is pretty much the only place I can find. The top of the market ones are already gone. There's plenty of hotels, but if you want privacy, this is the only thing I could find."

She scrolled through all the pictures, and I heard her gasp slightly, as she went from page to page, photo after photo. When she finished, she glanced at me quizzically. "What's the problem? I love it."

"Really? But you always said you wouldn't stay anywhere that wasn't at least five stars."

She nodded and passed me back the laptop. "This is different, Nash. Nobody must know who I am. I want to go over there and just be. I don't want fans chasing me. I don't want to live like a celebrity. I want to be just a person."

The tears started again. "Right, got it. I'll book it, but we will have to do all our own cooking, cleaning and laundry."

"Good, exactly what I wanted."

"There's no piano?"

"We can take the Roland; it will do."

"Okay, but if we get there, and you throw a hissy cow, I'm gonna be pissed."

She laughed softly. "As if I would ever do that!"

I burst into laughter. "Fuck, I've seen you have a hissy just because there were no flowers in your changing room. Jeez, I've seen you rip people new asses because they had the audacity to talk to you."

Her face turned white, her forehead creased in a deep frown. "Yes, I know, but that's not the real me. I never used to be like that. Christ, I've turned into a bitch."

"Yeah, but a very successful one," I added.

"Maybe it's time I thought about things." She sighed. "Assessed the important stuff."

"Well, you're going to have a month to contemplate who Kiara really is."

She pulled me into a hug. "Thank you, Nash. You've been a real friend."

Trying to lighten the moment, I replied. "Hey, I'm just trying to do my job."

With a quick kiss on my cheek, she said, "No, this goes deeper. Don't lie to me. You could have just let me die, or rung the cops and got me institutionalized. You saved me, Nash, and I'll never forget that."

"Shut up, we are friends, and I think of you as way more than just my boss."

The next day was spent packing the Roland, her favorite Martin D6, a small portable PA, mics, leads, and surprisingly, she asked me to pack up a portable recording unit. Just a digital interface, and a laptop, but I didn't even know it was there.

Then it was her clothes. Usually, that would take a day in itself. When what she packed fitted into one suitcase, I was more than stunned. Shit, even I had two suitcases.

"Nope," she sighed. "The whole point is to blend in. I'll do my shopping there. I am going incognito."

When, we were boarding at LAX and I passed over the tickets, Kiara had one of those moments. She saw I had booked my fare as business class, as usual. "Like hell," she spat. "Why did you do that?"

"It's what we always do?"

She grabbed the tickets and said to the check-in crew, "Can you upgrade this to first class, please?"

There were confused glares going back and forth. "Madam, we can't do that here. This is boarding."

"No, it will not do. If there is space in first class, I want this fare upgraded. I don't care how much it costs."

There were grumblings from the people behind us trying to board. The woman on the counter, said, "Perhaps if you step aside for a moment, and let the other passengers board. I'll see if I can get somebody down here to help."

She put both hands on the desk and leaned over, giving the woman a very dark glare. "I said, I want the ticket upgraded. I'm not being pushed aside. I will wait here."

That created a stir from the other crew, and there were phones and in action straight away.

Looking behind me, I saw at the angry faces, heard the, "Oh, for Pete's sake," grumbles.

"Oh yeah, you just want to blend in... Yeah, right."

She gave me a dark scowl. I added. "Let's just move out of the way, let the other passengers board."

I gave her a nudge, and we moved out of the way. "Thank god," the guy behind us snarled.

The deal was done, an assistant turned up with the upgraded ticket, and one sweep of the credit card and I was flying first class. Holy shit, what a difference. I never moaned about business class in the past, because it's pretty damn good, but wow, this was something else.

Room to stretch out, the seats folding into capsule beds. The food, damn it was good, didn't even taste like cardboard.

Eighteen hours later, we stepped off the plane.

I collected all the luggage and headed for the car rental desk. I had organized for a Toyota Prado. It looked big enough to carry all our shit, and wasn't going to stand out in a crowd. Everything was booked under my name. Kiara's didn't show up anywhere, none of the documents referred to her as anything other than my partner, Miss April Winters.

As I loaded the luggage into the Prado, Kiara walked around, just breathing in deeply. "God, I remember why I loved this place. The air, it's so fresh, so clean."

"She was right; we might still have been in the airport car park, but the air was crisp, and being summer, it was warmer than I expected.

As we pulled out of the car park, I said, "We better find a supermarket and get some supplies."

"Oh god no, not a supermarket. I couldn't handle that right now." Kiara sighed. "Can't we just go straight to the house?"

When I didn't respond, she pouted beseechingly. "Please?"

"Yeah, I suppose. You'll have to put up with what I get, though."

She clapped her hands. "I'll make you a list."

"Fuck," I gasped exasperatedly, thinking, What have I gotten myself into?

The drive around the shores of Wakitipu was exhilarating. We had the windows down, air rushing through the car, and I had to listen to the never ending gasps of, "Oh wow."

It was warranted. The views were spectacular.

The cottage wasn't hard to find, and the keys were under the mat at the front door as promised. The cottage, although set back from the road, still had panoramic views of the lake, and there was a huge deck so we could sit out there and just chill.

Inside, it was all crisp white paint. It had been renovated, but retained all the old charm of being what was initially: just a farm workers' cottage.

It was well appointed, the kitchen was modern, but with an old charm. The main living area had all been opened up, and was essentially open plan. There was a big log fireplace, the bedrooms were, how shall I describe them, cozy?

Kiara wandered around, seemingly in a daze. Her expression was hard to read. I thought she must be having second thoughts, or was unhappy with her choice. I finished unloading, and said, "I'm heading back to town, where's my list?"

She reached into her hand bag and pulled out a couple of pages. I took a quick look and couldn't hide my shock. "Jeez, there'll be nothing left on the shelves."

She just shrugged and continued her aimless wandering around. "Having second thoughts?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, not at all. I love it. I'm just surprised; it's exactly as I envisaged it to be."

I didn't quite empty the shelves, but it took me three shopping trolleys. Checking the time, it was getting late. By the time I got back and loaded this shit into the pantry, it would be too late to cook.

I found a pizza place, put in my order and walked out, having been told, "There's a half hour wait bro."

I wandered around, found a florist, and on a whim, bought a massive bouquet of flowers, and a card. The card read simply, "Thanks for the first class upgrade."

Back at the house, I found Kiara walking around at the back . Barefoot, she walked squiggling her toes in the lush green grass. I watched as she bent over, ran her hands through the foliage of the plants, sniffing the aromas.

I unloaded, and dished up the pizza. Popping my head out the kitchen door, I called out, "Food is ready."

As she walked in, I handed her the flowers. Her shock was apparent when she read the card. She hugged me tightly. "You are a special man, Nash. There was no need."

"Yeah, there was. I wanted to say thanks."

"For what?" she gasped."

"For bringing me along. You didn't have to."

"Like hell," she huffed. "I couldn't have done this without you. And, what's more, I wouldn't want to."

The hug turned into a quick kiss. "You saved my life, Nash. I will never forget that."

She let me go and rushed to the cupboards to find a vase.

We decided to sit out on the deck, overlooking the lake. We rested the plates on our knees as we drank our cokes, and feasted on pizza.

She gave me a curious glance. "Did you get wine?"

"Yeah, I had to buy local stuff, though. The ones you wanted weren't available."

"Oh well, lets find out if they're any good, shall we? If I can't have drugs, at least let's have wine."

I had found a bottle of a locally grown Cabernet.

I took the bottle, and a couple of glasses out to the deck.

I watched on with interest as Kiara, took a hesitant sip. I waited for her face to twist in disgust, but she smiled, licked her lips, and said, "Wow, this is good."

With her endorsement, I took a careful sip, just to check that she wasn't setting me up. Nope, she was right, it was good. The bottle disappeared in no time, and I was sent to the kitchen for a replacement.

It was a wonderful evening. We didn't say much, just relaxed, enjoying the changing vista. It changed continuously as the sun sank lower in the sky and the light reflected and the trees all changed color.

We dragged our asses off to bed late. The evening gone, the darkness fully enveloped us. Another wow, the darkness... Without city lights flooding the sky, a whole new miracle unfolded. The stars, wow, totally spectacular.

We were both tired, still coming to grips with jet lag.

We both slept late the next day, awakening to birdsong. With the forest just behind the cottage, it was alive with bird life. All had different calls, absolutely beautiful.

For the first time in a long time, Kiara asked me to set up her Roland. I went for a walk, and when I got back, she was sitting behind the keyboard, playing and singing. I sat on the deck, not telling her I was back. It was wonderful, so smooth, so lush. Her highs, so clear, her lows, full of gravel and bite. God, what a voice, like melting toffee.

I listened, my heart racing, my spirits elevated.

When I walked in, she jumped up and ran headlong into me, wrapping her arms and legs around me. "Thank you, Nash, I haven't felt like this for a very long time."

I let her down gently. The hug reaffirming how fragile she was. She was taller than me, but weighed so little, there was nothing to her.

"Lunch?" I asked.

"Yes, please, I don't care what Scott says, your sandwiches are yummy."

"Sandwiches it is."

We ate, washed up together. That was a first, Kiara doing something.

Afterwards, she said, "Lets go and explore."

We drove into town and wandered around the shopping center. This was Kiara's element. She sure knew how to shop, but this wasn't Rodeo Drive. The shops were different. She went into every shop, and wallowed in being invisible. When we got back to the car, she was weighed down with bags, but unlike her past days, she didn't go for the outlandish. She brought clothes like the ones the women around her wore.

We explored the surrounding country. There was a river flowing west, and I followed it. The traffic slowed as we got to a tourist attraction or something. Kiara was hanging out the window staring. "Oh my god, bungee jumping." Her face glowed as she said, "Can we go in and watch."

When I didn't respond straight away, she renewed her efforts. "Can we, please?"

At least she didn't play the boss card. We pulled into the car park and walked over to the big information board that proudly endorsed this was the original home of bungee jumping. We watched for a while, and I could see Kiara getting antsy. She wanted to do it, I could see it in her body language. Every time somebody leapt off, she just about wet herself with excitement.

"Do you want to do it?" I asked.

She screwed up her face, whispering. "Maybe, it looks scary, but fun."

I grabbed her hand and pulled her along after me. "Come on, let's do it."

She sounded shocked. "You're gonna have a go?"

"Yeah, I'm doing it."

As we got into the line, her reluctance deepened. "I don't know, Nash. It's a long way down."

"It'll be fine." I stepped forward as the line progressed, and I had to physically drag her behind me.

"No, Nash, I can't do it."

"Yes, you can. Just while we've been in the queue, at least ten people have jumped, and nobody has died."

"Shit, don't even joke about it."

There was a couple behind us, and they overheard. The girl leaned forward, gripping Kiara by the shoulders. "You'll love it. I was scared the first time, as well. This is my tenth time. I love it."

"Ten times," Kiara squealed in shock.

"Oh, Americans. Are you on your honeymoon?"

"What..." Kiara gushed. "No, we are just friends." She gave me a funny smirk. "Honeymoon, as if."

"Hey, you should be so lucky." I retorted with mock anger.

The girl grabbed Kiara's hand. "Hi, I'm Amy, and this is my husband Jerry. We are from Australia. This is our anniversary gift."

Jerry reached for my hand and we shook. "I'm Nash, and this is... Suddenly I didn't know what to call her. "April," I spluttered.

We finally got to the center of the bridge and the jumping platform. I felt Kiara pulling back, hesitant. Amy poked her head between us. "We could go first if you want. We're doing a tandem jump."

As they were getting tied off, she passed Kiara her phone, and said. "Could you video it please?"

Amy and Jerry were tied off facing each other, and they shred a little kiss before leaping off with ear piercing screams of delight. Kiara leaned out over the railing, trying to capture every moment for them.

The moment of truth arrived, and Kiara grabbed my hand. "Could we do a tandem jump?"

"Frigging chicken." I scoffed.

I asked the attendant, to video our leap of faith.

With the bungee cords tied off around our ankles, it was plain to see Kiara was scared. She trembled, her features gaunt.

As the assistants urged us out to the platform, Kiara gripped me tighter. "Oh god, what are we doing?"

"Having fun." I replied. "Just hold on tight, it will be fun."

As the guy told us to jump, I had to pull Kiara with me. As we toppled off the edge, she wrapped her arms around me, and her fearful scream filled my ears.

The world vanished behind us as we dived downwards, the water rushing up to meet us. Our heads actually dipped beneath the water as the cords stretched to the max. We catapulted back up, still locked together, although Kiara's scream were now ones of euphoria.

"Oh my god, oh holy shit." She screeched. "Nash..."

After bouncing up and down, for what felt like hours, we were lowered into boats in the river and we were then driven back to the top.

Amy and Jerry met us there, and the girls leaped into each other's arms. They gushed out their emotions, in a never ending stream of elation.

Jerry and I watched on in amusement. "Hey, we're going to have a dinner in town tonight. Would you guys like to join us?"

Seeing how well Amy and Kiara were getting along, I said, "Yeah, why not. Where should we meet up?"

"There's a pub right down by the waterfront. I saw it yesterday, an Irish name."

The girls had final hugs, and Kiara and I walked back to the car. As we did, Kiara kept hugging me, and crying, "Oh my god, oh my fucking god. We really did it. Fuck, Nash."