Kiss the Girl

Chapter 20 "BURLESQUE"

(AJ's POV)

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. Everything is in a complete blur. Another morning is starting soon and I have tons of stuff to do with the casting calls and meetings with the whole production. I don't want to fail Mr. Webber. We still have to finalize things on the set design, the orchestra and we still have the auditions for the female lead role. Christine Daae's role is vital. She's a beautiful stunning girl with a voice of an angel.

I stopped at the middle of my thought.

I was glad to finally apologize to Kristina last week. Not being able to speak to her whenever she is around is a bit awkward especially she's now my best friend's girlfriend. I stared at my coffee for a few seconds and released a sigh as I start my daily routine.

I went to the bathroom to shower then after that I laid down on my bed what I was going to wear, I chose to wear a white long sleeve shirt and a pair of black slacks. I tucked my shirt in and wore my navy blue tie. I put on my black socks and my black Oxfords plus my trusty old hanky. Before I could even leave my apartment, my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey buddy! I have an exciting news for you!! Your aunt wants you to come to The Riff this evening! We have a new segment and she wants to know your opinion about it. This time, it's not about just dancing. We have discovered that some of our dancers can also sing so we decided to perform a song from a musical film. We have been practicing it for about a week now. You are the expert on this so help us out, AJ. Please??" said Jessie with an excited tone on her voice.

"Jess, I can't promise that I can stop by this evening 'cause I'm having dinner with our potential sponsors for our production." Hmmm... this is why I didn't see Jessie that much at the café, I thought to myself.

"Dude, this is important. PLEASE??" pleaded Jessie.

"Jess... I-"

I was about to turn her down but before I could even finish, Jessie butted in. "A... J... Kingsley. Your aunt figured out that you would have excuses on not going so she wants me to tell you this in case that you don't want to show up. She wants you to know that if she doesn't see your face this evening at The Riff, she is going to tell everybody your real name. The name that your father and mother had given you and not this nickname you always use plus, she is going to bring your childhood photos and show them to everybody."

"What?!! Is this some sort of a joke, Jessie?" I asked with a bit of disgust.

"Buddy, you know that whenever she threatens someone she always do it. Right? You don't want to upset her 'cause she'll definitely go crazy."

"Oh bollocks!! Fine, I'll stop by The Riff later. You happy?"

"More than ever! I'll see you later, dude! I promise you won't regret this!" Jessie hanged up.

Ugghhh... I can't believe Carol would do that to me. She knows I'm knackered and I have a lot of things going on. Why would they need me anyway? It's not like I own that place! I am really upset right now. I went to my kitchen and opened the refrigerator to get me some water. After that, I headed outside to where my car is parked. I opened the car door and got in.

"AJ, it's morning. Why do you look tired?" Asked Alastair.

"Our aunt is driving me crazy. She's been calling and texting me all morning about this new segment that she and Jessie made. It's ridiculous really." I said in my most frustrated voice.

"What about this new segment?" asked Alastair while drinking his cup of coffee.

"I have no idea. They both want me to come later tonight or else... Ugh!"