Ain't Nobody Like You

Chapter Thirteen

 September 9, 1999

I don't know who started this whole red carpet thing, but I seriously dislike them.

"Katherine over here!" "Katherine!" "How do you feel about being nominated!" "Miss Arden, look here" "Smile!" "Where's your date?" "Look at me!" "Katherine!" "Katherine!" "Katherine!"

From the second I stepped out of the limo, it was cameras flashing and words being yelled at me and the sound of screaming fans in the distance. It's disorientating and a bit overwhelming, even after all these years. You can't quite tune out all the noise.

I'm only able to quickly wave to the crowd of fans when I'm ushered into a queue of bodies, making their way into the venue. Fellow celebrities such as Britney Spears, Lil' Kim, N'sync and J-Lo & Puffy are already here. Jeff, who has been following closely behind me, directs me to my first interview on the red carpet.

"Katherine, hello!" a female reporter greets me with a smile. "How are you?!"

"Hi, I'm well, thanks. How are you?" I always try to treat the interviewers as kindly as possible. I might not want to answer the same questions over and over, but as long as they're nice, I have no problem with them.

"I'm great! So, you're nominated for two awards...Which one are you more excited to win?"

"Oh, either would be great to win. I'm just excited to be nominated. No matter how many times I've been or have won, it's still a wonderful feeling. Win or lose, I'm grateful to be here and to have fun, you know?" The interviewer nods her head

"Which performance are you looking forward to the most tonight? We heard Kid Rock is playing, TLC, Ricky Martin, and a bunch more...Who do you want to see hit the stage?"

"I'm excited for everyone." I smile. 

"You didn't want to be apart of the performances?" She asks, curious.

"I would have loved to, but it didn't work with my schedule." I was asked, but with touring and moving, I wasn't able to put time in to plan a performance or rehearse.

I answer a few questions about my music before I move on to the next reporter. He's a bald, middle aged man, and the lanyard around his neck indicates he's from a local radio station I haven't heard of.

"Katherine, you look absolutely stunning tonight." he tells me, leering. 

I'm wearing a skirt and crop top set, that showed a lot of skin. The fabric was black with gold sequins and the straps were thin and tied in the back. But looking around, it was clearly not the craziest outfit here. My makeup was neutral and my hair was straightened, reaching down to my breasts and swept off to one side.

I thank him and he asks a few questions about my outfit and the show tonight before he asks, "So are you flying solo tonight?"

"Just me and my manager" I force a sweet smile, pointing to Jeff, who gives the interviewer the signal to wrap it up.

"I'm sure you'll be leaving with someone later though, right?" He winks, laughing lightly. My smile falters. Ugh. Is this his attempt at a joke?

"No. I won't be." I say, annoyed.

The interviewer has the decency to look ashamed for a moment, before Jeff steps in.

"We're done here." he says sharply.

With that, the interview is over and we move on. I'm only able to briefly thank Jeff before I have to pose for more pictures.

Screaming comes from the entryway again, and I take a moment and look over to see Dre waving at the crowd of people. I smile, glad to see him. It's been too long since I've seen him, the last time being at his studio when I met-