Maneater

Chapter Thirty-Eight

    "I...hate...award shows." Austin's personal assistants flitted around him, gathering seemingly random articles of clothing that, once put together, would form a look. "Industry politics and nepotism. You scratch our back and we'll throw you a Grammy bullshit. Please tell me again why I'm attending this shit show?"

    Entertainment news played on his bedroom projection screen, and currently they were showing pre-red carpet show footage. Lord knows what people found entertaining about pre-red carpet show footage. Then again, Lord knew what people found fascinating about people walking down a carpet to go and sit at what was often a boring award show.

    "Because you have a single and an album to promote," his friend and confidante, Fresh King, replied. Dark-skinned with close-cropped hair, he stood near the door to Austin's bedroom. "And because although you hate award shows, every once in a blue moon it does help to show up at them. It gets people talking, gets up the hope that you'll attend the following year. Gets tongues to wagging when you don't. Reminds the academy that you're here."

    Austin rolled his eyes as he moved around his room in a casual state of undress. "As if they have a way to ignore my existence when I have the longest running chart hits," he grumbled. "There are more pressing things on my mind than a ridiculous award show."

    "The girl," Fresh said, his mouth slanting in disapproval.

    "I know it irks you all when I care about someone, but yes. A girl."

    "We don't object to you caring about a girl," Fresh informed him. "We object to you caring about a different one every other week, and object to the caring of these women interfering with your work."

    Austin arched a look over at Fresh. "Well thanks, bud." His phone rang, and an assistant rushed the phone over to him. "Yeah?"

    "There's an update on the girl you wanted us to look into," Oscar stated, his voice flat and monotone. "It seems that your girl has a bit a past."

    "I like my women with a future and a past," Austin joked, referencing one of his earlier song lyrics.

    Oscar proved to be a tough crowd. His only response was, "Cute."

    "What did you find out?" Austin asked, waving away one of his assistants.

    "We found out the full scope of her occupation."

    "I told you the full scope of her occupation," Austin pointed out. "She's an industry makeup artist. That's actually how I met her."

    "She's not just a makeup artist," Oscar told him. "There has been a woman who went around serving some sort of justice to known players and womanizers. A woman who makes men fall in love with her and then dumps them to teach them a lesson. Futuristic told us about her, remember?"

    Austin raised a hand to his forehead. "Yeah, vaguely. We all laughed about it. You guys kept cooking up possibilities for what would happen if I wound up coming across her, figured that if she was seeking out a womanizer then I'd probably be at the top of her target list or some shit."

    "Riiiiiight." Oscar went quiet on the other end of the line.

    Austin couldn't connect the two points together. How did that story at all relate to what had happened to Crystal? But then he remembered how distant Crystal had been at first, how skeptical she'd been. She'd been certain that he was a player. Even when there was a proven connection between them, she still hadn't wanted to give him a chance. "Wait a minute." He whirled around and laid his eyes on Fresh.

    Fresh realized who he must be talking to and lowered his eyes.

    Shaking his head and laughing, Austin said into the phone, "You can't be telling me what I think you're telling me."

    "Not only am I telling you what you think I'm telling you," Oscar echoed, "but there's something else. While we were digging into Crystal and who she really is...it's possible that we weren't as discreet as we usually are."

    "Meaning?" Austin prompted.

    "Breaking news," an entertainment news reporter said as the footage cut from red carpet footage to a shot taken from the E! News Channel studios. "We hate to distract from the current red carpet footage, but there is a developing story we first reported on two months ago. The story involved a vixen who took it upon herself to seduce some of the biggest names in music and film, only to break their hearts. For the longest time, the media has sought to find out this woman's identity. But we've just now been informed that the identity of this...romantic vigilante of sorts...is none other than well-reputed makeup artist Crystal Jennings."

    Austin turned to face the projector screen, barely able to continue holding the phone up to his ear. "Fuck," he whispered.

    "I'm sorry man," Oscar said, his voice faint.

    Raising the phone back up to his ear, Austin insisted, "This story can't be true. Crystal can't be...She would have told me something like that."

    "And yet she didn't," Oscar said. "Now why would that be? Why wouldn't she have told you who she really was?"

    I know where Oscar is trying to lead me right now, Austin thought to himself, but there's no way that I was just a mark to Crystal. We had moments there, genuine moments.

    "Reportedly, Crystal was skilled at making men fall in love with her. She knew just how to play even the biggest names in entertainment, knew how to get them eating out of her hand."

    Austin shook his head. She did reference that celebrities like me weren't used to having to chase a woman. Could her distance have really been a ploy? Could that really have been her entire end game? Get me to fall for her, only to let me down and break my heart? It can't have all been fake. I've seen how she responds to me, both in and out of bed. Then again, she could just be a great actress. My own acting skills have been praised even by the meanest of my exes. Who's to say that Crystal isn't just a phenomenal actress?

    "Are you okay, Aus?"

    "So if all of this was just a scam," the rapper said, his voice cracking. "If this was all some sort of plot just to break my heart, that would mean...it would mean that she hadn't fallen off the face of the earth. She's okay, she just...doesn't want anything to do with me?"

    "Bingo," Oscar confirmed.

    "And you know this for a fact? No one has reported her missing, or anything like that?"

    "No missing reports. You must have given her some indication that you have actually fallen for her, because she dropped off the map. You'd outlived your usefulness to her, I guess."

    Austin's temples throbbed, and an oncoming headache was just over the horizon. He stumbled over to his bed and collapsed on top of it. He didn't even remember what kind of closing he gave Oscar. His fingers pressed random buttons until the phone powered off. So she never fell for me? It was all an act? He shook his head again and said aloud, "I don't believe it." But even as he spoke those words, certain things made sense. Her involvement with the likes of someone like Disney. He'd been able to smell the douchery off of the guy from twenty feet away. An industry pro such as herself should have been able to detect it from her close proximity to him. But that's why she gave him the time of day. She wasn't interested in him, not really. Someone hired her to check into him or she decided to check into him herself. He was one of her marks. Fuck. Now the entire country is going to know her identity. I may be feeling a certain kind of way, but if harm hasn't come to her by now, it could come to her once some of her past marks discover that the only reason she paid them any mind was for the sole purpose of breaking their hearts. That won't sit well with some guys. Which...which means that...

    Austin's eyes lifted to meet Fresh's. "I still have to find her."