Plain and Simple

[zydrate]

Sasha Hart was the next big thing. Since the age of 12, she had been an overnight sensation. Her first public appearance was a local talent show where she had won first place. And from there, it just seemed to skyrocket her fame.

Now, at the age of 18, she was going to be heading out on her first big tour where she would be head-lining it. The thing was, her tour would take her through Germany, the UK, China and then finally down to Austrailia with an over night detour in Cairo before heading back to the United States.

The tour was no trouble at all. The opening acts were booked as was the road crew. The only thing the record company had trouble with was the security. Sure, there was the rent-a-cops along the way but they could only do so much and really, they were not willing to risk their lives for anything.

And that was probably fine for some other act. But not for Sasha Hart. Her talent was true. She didn't sync any of her music, she didn't fake it, her music was real. It was different than anything out there. Her voice was suited for just about anything, from Jazz to Blues to matching even some of the best 'pop' stars are there today.

That was why only the best was to be hired to take care of her, make sure she was well protected.

Of course rumor superceeded anything that wasn't remotely true. Some said that Sasha was a diva. Well, she wasn't. If anything, she was down to Earth, simple but because of those managing her career, they made sure the best was hired so she could sell....sell music and sell the label.

She was their star. She needed protection. Plain and simple.

*****
Open to one male RPer who writes in detail and not one liners. Please send me a pm with a response to this story.

Thank you, Zy

 

[patrick1]

=====

 

[zydrate]

Sasha Hart was the next big thing. Since the age of 12, she had been an overnight sensation. Her first public appearance was a local talent show where she had won first place. And from there, it just seemed to skyrocket her fame.

Now, at the age of 18, she was going to be heading out on her first big tour where she would be head-lining it. The thing was, her tour would take her through Germany, the UK, China and then finally down to Austrailia with an over night detour in Cairo before heading back to the United States.

The tour was no trouble at all. The opening acts were booked as was the road crew. The only thing the record company had trouble with was the security. Sure, there was the rent-a-cops along the way but they could only do so much and really, they were not willing to risk their lives for anything.

And that was probably fine for some other act. But not for Sasha Hart. Her talent was true. She didn't sync any of her music, she didn't fake it, her music was real. It was different than anything out there. Her voice was suited for just about anything, from Jazz to Blues to matching even some of the best 'pop' stars are there today.

That was why only the best was to be hired to take care of her, make sure she was well protected.

Of course rumor superceeded anything that wasn't remotely true. Some said that Sasha was a diva. Well, she wasn't. If anything, she was down to Earth, simple but because of those managing her career, they made sure the best was hired so she could sell....sell music and sell the label.

She was their star. She needed protection. Plain and simple.




*****
Role Filled

 

[AgntSmth]

2 Years Ago

Justin Turner was swarmed by a small but persistent band of reporters as he exited the courtroom. He’d just been on the losing end of a high-profile and costly civil suit for assault and battery, and the press wanted their bite at the apple. Justin’s lawyer, who looked as glum as Justin felt, half-heartedly shooed the eager reporters away.

As Justin reached the exit of the courthouse, a well-built gentleman dressed in a sharp suit approached him.

“Look, I’m not giving a statement to the press,” Justin said in anticipation.

“It’s all right, Mr. Turner, I’m not with the press,” the man replied. “I’m here to offer you a job working security.”

Justin scoffed.

“In case you didn’t notice, a jury just decided I used excessive force in my last security gig because I had the audacity to take some douchebag down and make sure he was unconscious before letting up, and now I owe him pretty much every dollar I’ve made in the past five years plus a whole lot more.”

“We’ve been following the details of your case closely,” the man said, “and believe me, our company would not have hung you out to dry like your previous employer did. We believe that you displayed exactly the tenacity, instinct, and training that we need for this line of work, and if you came to work for us, you can be sure we’d have your back the entire way. As for that jury verdict, we’d be happy to cover the entire payment--and any future verdicts incurred as a result of your employment with us--as a recruitment incentive.”

That stopped Justin in his tracks, which elicited a smile from the gentleman, who procured a business card.

“Why don’t you come by our offices tomorrow...”

Present Day

The obnoxious buzz of his cell phone vibrating on the bedside table roused Justin from a very satisfying sleep. Sunlight was already peeping in through the blinds, which obscured the floor to ceiling windows of the corporate apartment provided to him by Obsidian Security. He gently eased the naked, sleeping form of his petite female companion off of him and swung himself out of bed, snatching the vibrating phone in his hand and walking into the bathroom before answering the call.

“Justin, it’s Daniel,” the familiar voice of Justin’s supervisor said. “I’m going to need you to come in today for a briefing. New job just came in, and they want our best.”

“So what the hell are you bothering me for, Dan?” Justin asked with a soft laugh, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Justin, you know you’re one of the best we’ve got. Sorry to cut into what was supposed to be a day off, but this is big, and there could be a lot of money in it for everyone involved if it pans out.”

“All right, all right, I’ll be there in an hour.”

“Oh, one other thing,” Daniel added. “I’m trying to find Lea. Have you heard from her? She’s not answering her phone. The client was very specific about needing a woman on the team.”

Justin glanced back toward his bedroom, where the king-sized bed made Lea look like a dwarf as she slept soundly, sprawled across his sheets.

“Yeah, I think I can track her down,” he said with a smile. “We’ll see you in a bit.”

After disconnecting the call, Justin walked back to the bedroom and gave Lea’s bare ass a sharp smack with the palm of his hand.

“Rise and shine, newbie,” he said, as he pulled on a pair of jeans. “Duty calls.”

 

[zydrate]

"I told you that I don't need protection!" Sasha told Marty, her manager, the one who took care of her all this time, in the sense that he had been with her since the beginning of her career.

"Sasha, I told you, it's not a choice. The label wants you protected and they are paying good money for your protection. We are going through very hostile territory and--"

"I know what you said but you know that doesn't mean I have to like it!!" In a small fit of defiance, Sasha crossed her arms under her breasts and tried to pout. Usually she was easy going and didn't pull these sort of 'acts'. But today, she felt she needed to.

It seemed there were a lot more restrictions on her since she turned 18--or perhaps they were more noticable because she was old enough to decide for herself for once. What ever the case was, she still felt out of the loop about her career. 'They' were still making decisions for her, telling her what to do, how to dress, what to sing....

"Now, if I remember right, you have to get to the studio, so go! The driver is waiting Sasha, don't make him wait any more than he has to!" There was no protesting from Sasha as she was literally pushed out his office door. Marty's assistant, Gwen, was waiting for Sasha. She also served as Sasha's assistant, making sure the young star was always accompanied to her appointments or even shopping or what not.

Deep down, Sasha hated it. She didn't need a babysitter but yet, she had one.... 24/7.

 

[AgntSmth]

An hour later, as promised, Justin and Lea were seated around a conference room table in Obsidian Security’s main office. Two of Obsidian’s other staff were with them, making up the core team for their new assignment: Eric, the stereotypical strong, silent type, and Janelle, one of Obsidian’s cyber-security experts. Soon after the team was assembled, Daniel entered the room and handed each person a file.

As Daniel thanked everyone for coming in on short notice, Justin thumbed through the file, stopping to scrutinize the profile sheet adorned with a photograph of a young woman -- or a girl, he couldn’t quite tell -- with bright red hair and intricate tattoos covering her arm.

“A pop star?” he interrupted in disbelief, as he read the details of the file.

“Sasha Hart,” Daniel replied, appearing mildly annoyed that Justin was fast-forwarding the briefing. “Yes, a pop star. Have you heard of her?”

“I think I might have seen her on YouTube somewhere,” Justin said dismissively.

“She was an overnight sensation,” Lea interjected emphatically. “People are saying she’s the real deal.”

“Lea would know,” Justin said with a roll of his eyes. “You’re what, Lea, seventeen?”

“Very funny, Justin.”

“All right, enough of that,” Daniel interrupted, taking control over the briefing. “Yes, people are saying she’s the real deal, which is why her label is paying us good money to handle her security.”

“What, the mall ninjas who guard that Bieber kid weren’t good enough?” Justin mumbled.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Daniel responded. “What matters is that they’re paying out the nose for our services. Remember that job we did awhile back for that royal escort? Yeah, they’re paying us even more than that.”

Justin perked up at that. Obsidian and his team had banked quite a solid chunk of cash from the royal escort job. If they were getting paid even more, it might be worth babysitting an 18 year old diva.

“Hart’s heading out on a world concert tour soon, so the client wants us on the job ASAP,” Daniel explained. “They were very clear that there needs to be at least one Obsidian team member on her at all times. They don’t want this kid having her period without us knowing. Justin is the team lead, but the label didn’t want a male team member sleeping in Hart’s room...”

“So not my type,” Justin interjected.

“... which is where Lea comes in,” Daniel finished, ignoring Justin’s comment. “Lea, you’re basically going to be Hart’s shadow throughout the job. I would’ve preferred someone more seasoned for a job this important, but you fit the profile perfectly, and if Justin says you’re ready...”

“She’s ready,” Justin confirmed, with a wink in Lea’s direction.

“Good. Hart’s at the studio right now, but they’re expecting the team to meet her at the Ritz as soon as she’s done, which means you all should head over right now. We’ll have a quartermaster team deliver your gear. Don’t fuck this up, people.”

As the team filed out of the conference room into the hallways, Justin sidled up to Lea and nudged her in the ribs with his elbow.

“You ready to move in with your new roommate, rookie?” he asked teasingly.

“Please,” Lea sighed. “I’ve heard she’s a total princess. You’d better convince Daniel to let me carry for this job, in case I need to shoot myself.”

“Well, just remember I’ll be in the room right next door,” Justin replied with a sly smile. “If it gets bad, just sneak over once the princess is down for the night and I’ll give you a little supplemental ‘training’ to blow off the steam.”

“We’ll see about that,” Lea replied with a smirk, as the team reached the garage, where two plain black sedans awaited them. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go get into pop diva groupie mode.”

Justin watched Lea get into the lead vehicle, then climbed into the second car, mentally preparing himself for several weeks of warding off psychotic teeny boppers.

 

[zydrate]

Sasha finished off a bottle of water just as rehearsals had wrapped up. There were still little things that needed to be recorded, background vocals and such for next CD which wouldn’t be out for at least another 3 months…she was bound to finish it earlier while out on tour. As everyone was leaving and telling her what a great job she had done, she saw Marty and an executive from the label enter the studio and stand by the control board as they waited for her. With a puzzled look on her face, she walked out of the recording area and gave Marty a small smile, “Hey Marty…what’s going on?”

“You came to me earlier Sash, all about why you need more detailed security and well, I think it’s time to be honest about all this. We gave you the excuse of we’re going to be in hostile territory and a threat among foreigners…Mr. Marcus disagrees with this but really, I thought you should know…” he put down a letter received in the mail…and written in red ink was Sasha’s name all over it…

“What’s this?” She asked. Of course she could see what it was but still, she asked.

How was Marty going to tell Sasha this? The label and Marty had kept it all so well hidden from Sasha that she had a stalker…someone who had been following her since she burst onto the scene. With a serious look on his face, Marty gestured for Sasha to have a seat at an empty chair. He sighed and pulled out a binder which was jammed packed of pictures, letters, magazine cut outs…from what she saw, it contained more but she could get the picture…

“No one knows about this Sash, not you, not your parents…not even the security firm we've hired. I did all I could to keep you safe but that’s getting harder each day and well, this guy, he—“

“WAIT!” Sasha said, jumping up from the chair, “Why the hell didn’t I know about this before?! How the hell could you keep this from me!?!” She looked at both Marty and Mr. Marcus, who stood there with a smug look on his face. He cleared his throat and spoke up.

“We didn’t tell you because we had it all under control Ms. Hart. You were in no immediate danger...” he stopped, as if he wanted to say something more but didn’t. He looked at Marty, who quickly took over.

“Sasha, honey—“

“Don’t you dare Marty? This is my life we’re talking about…fuck!! I can’t believe you all did this to me!!!”

“Let me finish!” Marty said, standing up and stood close to Sasha…he was a short man, compared to Sasha’s 5’6”, he stood just under 5’3”, “There was no danger at first Sash…this person just wrote to you a lot, that’s all. We had the letters intercepted and researched yet we came up with nothing. There was no trail, no fingerprints, nothing. Nothing was remotely threatening until just recently Sash, once you hit 18 he became more demanding, more threatening. Trust me, Sash it’s all taken care of…these people the label has hired are the best. Expensive, but the best, we just need you to do as they say…let us worry about it. You just do what you do best OK?”

There was no answer from Sasha. She glared at the two men and walked out of the studio to the car waiting for her. Outside, she was fuming, but inside, she was scared to death…

 

[AgntSmth]

Justin and his team arrived at the Ritz Carlton well before Sasha returned from her time in the studio, which gave them ample time to set up and get to know their surroundings. They wouldn’t be there long before departing on tour, but it was standard protocol.

Sasha, Justin, and the core Obsidian team were all to live in the same suite. Sasha and Lea were to share the largest bedroom, while Justin had a smaller room, connected to Sasha’s through a very expansive shared bathroom. Eric and Janelle occupied an additional bedroom in the suite, where Janelle had already set up her computer equipment and was busy securing the suite’s internet and telephone connections. Sasha’s assistants and road crew were booked in a separate suite across the hall, which would be monitored by a secondary security team from Obsidian.

The supply team arrived shortly after, bringing with them several large, unmarked black cases. From the outside, the cases looked just like the cases used by traveling musical acts to carry their electronics, speakers, microphones, and the like, but Justin knew better. So did Eric, who wasted no time popping open one of the cases and field stripping the submachine gun that he pulled from the foam padding within.

“That’s a lot of firepower for a pop singer, don’t you think?” Justin asked, as Eric took the weapon apart with near-mechanical precision.

Eric just shrugged without missing a beat.

“Do they think this girl is going to kick off World War III or something?” Lea asked, emerging from the master bedroom dressed in the trendy outfit provided to her by Obsidian. With her hair pulled back in a braided ponytail, she had no trouble passing for 18, possibly even less.

“Dunno,” Justin said, cracking open another weapons case. “But it looks like you got your wish.”

He tossed a small magazine to Lea and followed by presenting her with a subcompact pistol from the case.

“Try not to put a bullet in your head too soon,” he teased.

After helping the team get squared away, Justin watched out the windows for Sasha’s arrival. When he saw a small caravan of vehicles pulling up to the hotel entrance, swarmed by reporters and paparazzi, he knew it was time to go to work.

“Let’s go people,” he said, gesturing for the team to follow him. “The boss is here.”

Justin and the team arrived in the lobby just in time to see Sasha climbing out of the backseat of her car. Justin’s first thought at the sight of the petite fiery-haired songstress was to feel old; he couldn’t believe that he was looking at an eighteen year old. His next thought was that she appeared highly irritated to see him.

“Right this way, Miss Hart,” he said, extending an arm to shield Sasha from the swarm of press all around them. “I’m Justin Turner. I’ll be in charge of your security from now on.”