"Pop Life"

Chapter 70

I start to toss and turn in my bed. Finally I flop my arm over my eyes to cover them from the light.

"Just get up Adriana," I mumble to myself.

I slowly get out of bed and head toward my bathroom. When I open the door to my room to go across the hall, I hear voices coming from the family room. Sounds like Uncle Lance.

"I don't know," Britney says, shaking her head.

Justin's hand that has been lazily draped over Britney's thigh begins to rub it.

"That's why I wanted to talk to you first. I want to know what you think before I get Adriana into this too much," Lance says.

Justin looks between Britney and Lance.

"I think it's a good opportunity for her. It's a great endorsement," Justin says.

Britney stares straight ahead.

"Britney, tell me what is going through your mind," Lance says as he leans back in the chair.

"I want Adriana to be independent. Not tied to me. That's why we kept her identity a secret at first, right?" she asks looking between her husband and Lance.

Justin nods. "Yes, but now people know who she is and they've accepted her as a solo artist. They've accepted her and love her. Pepsi is a big deal Brit. You know that."

"But I don't want them comparing her to me. She needs to be her own person. People need to see her ads and say, there's Ana's Pepsi ads…not there's Ana, didn't her mom do Pepsi ads too?"

Lance runs his hands through his hair.

"I see your point but I don't think that's going to happen as much as you think it will. Anyway, it definitely won't have a negative impact on her endorsement. If you had gotten a bad wrap then I'd think otherwise," he kids.

Britney smiles. "Yeah well…I'm just concerned about her feelings. She'll be the one who deals with the questions. I look at what Jamie Lynn went through at first. Every single interview she had there was a question about me. I mean she was warned about it but I know she got tired of it after awhile."

Justin rubs his back because he remembers a time when his sister-in-law didn't talk to Britney for a couple of months because of built up resentment. It broke her heart…and his too.

"I think this is different," Lance says, still disagreeing.

"Maybe we should just let Adriana decide. We'll lay it out on the table for her and let her choose if she wants to be compared to you."

Britney looks over at Justin. "It's going to mean not touring or touring…I think we all know she'll do it and think about the consequences later."

Justin places his lips against her forehead. "Then let her," he says against her skin before pulling back.

She looks back at Lance. "Yeah I know, I should just let her."

"Morning," I say as I walk into the family room.

"Good afternoon," daddy winks at me.

I glance over at the clock and laugh. "Oh. Yeah."

I lean down and give him a kiss on the cheek and do the same with mama.

"Hey Uncle Lance," I say as I walk over to him and kiss him on the cheek.

"How's my favorite superstar doing?" he asks.

I laugh. "I'm too tired to know right now."

I sit down next to him and rub my eyes.

"I brought Krispie Kreme donuts," he says, nodding toward the kitchen.

"Really? Ohhhh," I say as I get up and walk to the kitchen.

The three of them chuckle as I walk away from them. I find Cody sitting at the table eating cereal.

"Did you just wake up too?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "No, I'm just eating cereal."

"Oh," I laugh. "Silly me."

I get a donut and start to eat it.

"Hey," I say sliding in next to Cody. "What did you think of the set last night?"

A slow smile creeps across his face. "I thought it looked good. I can't believe you did that," he says softly as he looks back down at the bowl of cereal.

"Why? It was a great idea. I used that as the whole theme."

"Yeah…it was cool."

I smile. "Good, I'm glad you liked it. I wanted to make sure it's what you had pictured."

"It was," he nods.

"You should do that kind of stuff more often."

"What do you mean?" he asks before he takes another bite of cereal.

"Well…I don't know. If you have something creative like that running through your mind, let mama or daddy know. I'm sure they know the right people to make it work."

He shrugs. "Yeah, I guess. I like acting though."

His face lights up when he says this.

"You're going to be in a musical in a couple of weeks, right?"

He nods as he takes another bite of cereal.

"Good…I'll get to see it. Mama and daddy have told me how much you've improved even since last year. Not that you were bad or anything."

"They like to gush."

"Yeah, they're good at that."

"Adriana, come in here please," I hear daddy yell.

"Uh ohhhhh," Cody says.

I stand up, push his head and walk into the family room.

"Yes?" I ask as I sit down next to Uncle Lance.

"Did you eat the whole box?" he teases me.

"I would have if you had given me a few more minutes. What's up?"

"We need to talk about your tour…and Pepsi," he says.

"Okay. What about it?"

Mama is looking at me funny.

"How would you feel endorsing Pepsi?" daddy asks.

"I would feel fine," I carefully say. "Why wouldn't I?"

"You should feel fine…see," Uncle Lance says, looking at my parents.

Mama keeps staring at me, like she's trying to read me.

"Mama, what is it?"

"Would it bother you if you were compared to me because of it?"

I shrug it off. "I'm always compared to you. I look at it as flattering…"

"But there would be the constant questions…."

I cut her off. "So I answer them. Or ignore them. Depends on my mood," I smile.

Daddy smiles and leans back.

"That's easier said than done," mama mumbles.

"Mama, do you not want me to do this?" I ask leaning forward a little.

She reaches out and takes one of my hands.

"Oh no honey, that's not what I'm saying. I just want you to be aware at how cutthroat the media can be. I want you to be an independent person who's making it out there on her own. Not in the shadow of your parents."

"But what's wrong with that shadow, mama? I am flattered when people compare me to you guys. I'll be okay, really."

Tears start to well up in her eyes. Daddy must sense this because he sits up and leans forward so he can wrap an arm around her and pull her closer to him.

"We know you will," he tells me.

"What do I have to do?" I ask Uncle Lance.

"You'll do a few commercials. Probably a press conference. We'll see."

I shrug. "Sounds easy enough."

He slaps his legs on his way to stand up. "Good. I'll work out the details…and show it to all of you," he says looking down at my parents.

Daddy smiles and nods. He trusts Uncle Lance completely but I'm still his little girl, he wants to know what I'm getting into.

He leans down and kisses the top of my head. "I'll see you later sweetie. Keep up the good work."

"I will, thanks."

He leans down and gives mama a kiss on the cheek as daddy stands up and walks him to the door. I watch them as they stand at the door and talk for a couple more minutes. When they hug, I look over at mama and smile. But I catch her rubbing her stomach and making a discomforting face. As soon as she notices that I'm looking at her, she smiles at me.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing," she says trying to sit up but another pained expression crosses her face quickly.

"Mama," I say as I immediately move over and sit next to her, grabbing one of her arms.

"It's just indigestion," she says patting my hand. "I'm really tired though. Tell your daddy I'm taking a nap."

She stands up and walks toward her bedroom…walks slowly to the bedroom.

Daddy walks back into the room and looks around.

"Where did your mom go?"

"She said she's tired so she's taking a nap."

"Hmm, okay. So, what do you have to do today?" he asks as he sits down next to me.

"I don't know. Tony hasn't called, has he?"

He shakes his head.

"Maybe I don't have anything on the agenda today then."

The phone rings and daddy picks it up.

"Hello? Yes Tony, she's right here," he says chuckling.

He hands me the phone. "You spoke too soon."

I take the phone and talk to Tony. While I'm on the phone Cody and Ashleigh join us and turn on the TV. Ashleigh climbs up and sits on daddy's lap.

"Okay. I'll be ready then. No, I have something I can wear. Bye Tony."

I hang up the phone and set it down.

"Got plans now?" daddy asks as Ashleigh leans back against his chest.

"Yeah…dinner plans. There's this thing Tony thinks I need to go to."

"A thing, huh? You have to dress up?"

I nod. "He said a nice evening gown. Nice and simple." I rub my temples. "I wish he would have given me more notice."

I look at the clock and realize I have a few hours until I have to get ready.

"Daddy?"

"Hmm?" he asks, his eyes on the TV.

"Can we have Brad over for dinner tomorrow?"

"I don't see why not."

"Yayyyy," Ashleigh says.

I laugh. "Good because we leave the next day and…" I can't finish my thoughts.

Daddy puts his hand on my leg and gives me a reassuring smile.

"And what?" Ashleigh asks.

"We leave for Orlando," daddy finishes.

"Isn't Brad coming to Orlando?"

"No," I say sadly.

"Oh. Where is he going?"

"I think he's staying here. Or maybe LA. God, I don't even know."


A couple of hours later I stare at myself in the mirror in my bedroom.

"This needs something," I say turning from side to side.

There's a soft knock on my door.

"Come in," I say, hoping that it's mama.

Instead it's Ashleigh.

"You look pretty," she says as she sits down on my bed.

"Thanks. Is mama up?"

She shakes her head.

"No? Really?" I look at the clock and realize she's been asleep for almost four hours now. "That's strange."

I stick my head out in the hallway.

"Daddy?"

In a few seconds he comes walking down the hall.

"You look beautiful," he says.

"Thanks. Isn't mama up yet?"

"No…not yet."

"Can you get her up? I'd really like her opinion."

"What, mine isn't good enough?" he teases, placing his hand over his heart.

I roll my eyes. "Not that kind of opinion. I think this needs something and I wanted her to fix my hair," I say pulling my hair back.

"Okay, give me a few minutes."

Justin walks into his bedroom. He sees Britney still sound asleep on their bed. He had actually been thinking about making sure she was all right when Adriana called for him. He sits down next to her and stretches his long frame against her small one. His hand moves to her waist as he pulls her hair back and kisses her neck.

"Brit," he whispers.

She moans.

Uh oh. He knew that moan and this wasn't the time to start anything.

"Baby wake up. Adriana wants you to help her."

She rolls over so she's facing Justin, her eyes still closed.

He runs his hand down her face.

"Wake up sleepy head."

"No," she moans.

He pushes the hair from her face and starts to gently blow on it.

Her face twitches and she accidentally swats him in the nose.

"Ow," he says, just a little too loudly.

"Huh?" she asks as she opens her eyes. "What are you doing?" she asks in a groggy tone when she sees her husband lying next to her, holding his nose.

"I'm trying to save my broken nose."

"What time is it?" she asks as she stretches.

"It's after five."

"In the morning?" She looks around.

"No, in the evening. You were napping."

"Oh God," she says. She rubs her face. "I didn't mean to sleep that long."

"Well I thought you needed the rest so I let you go. But Adriana has a dinner to go to tonight and she wants help with her hair and accessories."

"Hmmkay," she yawns.

In a few minutes, Britney gets up, splashes water on her face and heads into her daughter's bedroom.

"Wow, you look great in that dress," mama says looking at me from the doorway.

"How was your nap?" I giggle.

"It was too long actually. I didn't mean to sleep that much."

"Well, you are sleeping for two," I say rubbing her stomach.

She nods. "I have the perfect thing for your hair and I think I have a necklace that matches it," she says, holding a finger up.

I laugh as she leaves the room. I look over at Ashleigh. "See, I knew she would."

"Mommy has the best jewelry. She let me borrow her pearl earrings once."

"Did she?" I ask as I start to brush my hair.

"Uh huh," she says nodding.

Mama comes back and fixes my hair and puts the necklace on me. I'm wearing a pair of diamond studs they gave me for my birthday last year.

"Gorgeous. Here, let me touch up your makeup."

While mama is doing this the doorbell rings.

"Oh shoot. The driver is here already," I say.

"Hold on, we're not done," she says.

When I walk into the family room, I only see daddy standing with his back to me, talking to someone. He turns around and smiles.

"Wow, I didn't think you could look more beautiful than you did but I should have known your mama had the magic touch," he says leaning down to kiss my cheek.

"Thanks, daddy," I say almost shyly.

Then I look up and see Brad…in a suit.

"Oh…hi. I…no one…I mean, what are you doing here?" I finally manage.

He laughs. "I told Tony to keep it a surprise. I'll be taking you to dinner tonight."

Mama stands next to daddy and wraps her arm around his.

"Wow. That's cool."

That's cool? What the hell is that?

He laughs again. "The limo is waiting. You ready to go?" he asks as he holds his arm out.

Ashleigh walks up between me and daddy and leans into his side.

"Hey squirt," Brad says winking at Ashleigh.

She smiles and waves.

"I'm ready. Good night," I say kissing mama, daddy and Ashleigh.

"Good night, ma'am…sir. See you later Ashleigh."

"Bye," they all say as Brad and I walk out the door.

As we walk down the hall to the elevator I grab his arm and make him stop.

"What's going on?"

"It's a surprise," he smiles at me.

previous ~ main page ~ next ~ feedback