Author's Note: Here's the promised fic I've been working on for quite awhile now. It's kind of fluffy and silly but the idea entered my brain and wouldn't leave so here it is. This first chapter is pretty short but the entire fic is completed so I'll post every Monday and there will be no long waits this time around. If you like this at all, you should give a big thanks to luckyj525 b/c she's pretty much the only reason this ever got finished. She rocks and everyone should go tell her that. Seriously. MDealsWithIt made an incredible banner to go along with this fic (as well as provided the title since I'm incapable of coming up with titles) so you should check that out on my profile page. Also, each chapter has a song attached to it (of course) and I'll try to remember to post links on my profile page but if I forget you should still go listen to them b/c they are all awesome songs.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, as always. It's all Stephenie Meyer's. The song is "Guaranteed" and it belongs to Eddie Vedder. Go check it out.
Chap. 1—Guaranteed
"Leave it to me as I find a way to be
Consider me a satellite, forever orbiting
I knew all the rules
But the rules did not know me
Guaranteed…"
Alice Brandon groaned as she read the harsh headlines splashed across the homepage of the celebrity gossip website she currently had displayed on her computer. The young, male musician whose picture filled Alice's screen, was as familiar to her as the pictures of her family and friends that covered her desk. His blonde shaggy hair was longer than usual and Alice had been after him to get a haircut for months now even though he insisted the shaggy hair was all a part of his "image". A pair of dark Ray-Ban sunglasses covered his green eyes even though the pictures were taken at night. He had his arm slung around the shoulders of a skinny, dark haired girl Alice knew was a model. The two of them were stumbling out of a club in most of the pictures.
The drunken stumbling out of a club with a random girl, Alice could handle. That was nothing unusual or especially shocking, especially when it came to Jasper. However, the next few pictures showed the young rock star punching a bouncer just outside the club's entrance. Alice sighed, clicking through a few other sites she usually checked up on. All of them were running the same story and the same pictures.
The headlines spoke volumes—Jasper Hale Starts Fight Outside Nightclub, Rock Star Hale Attacks Innocent Man, Hollywood Bad-Boy Jasper Hale Lives Up to His Reputation.
Alice rubbed her forehead. It was early and she already had a headache. The door to her office swung open and a young brunette girl walked in and sank into one of the chairs in front of Alice's desk. She placed a familiar Starbucks cup on Alice's desk.
"Based on your expression, I'm guessing you've already read what your little rock star was up to last night," Bella Swan, Alice's best friend and colleague said. "And I thought you could use this," she added, nodding at the coffee.
"He's not my rock star," Alice grumbled. "And yes, I saw everything." Alice sighed. "Does he have to act like an ass on a daily basis?" Alice asked. "I don't get paid enough for that."
Alice took a long sip of the coffee, sighing in contentment as the warm drink slid easily down her throat. "Thanks, Bella," she said.
Bella nodded. "Hey, you could have Edward as a client instead of Jasper," Bella said. "The rock star who stays at home every night and refuses to do anything that may be deemed inappropriate."
Alice laughed. "I'd switch you any day," she said. "My job would be a breeze if I only had to worry about my dear cousin's image."
Bella shook her head. "You can't have him," she said, grinning at Alice. The two young women worked as publicists for a prestigious LA-based company. Their respective clients, the badass party boy Jasper Hale and the pretentious do-gooder Edward Cullen, were currently both members of the same band, Eclipse. The two young men had known each other since they were kids and as teenagers, they had both been members of one of the best selling boy bands of all time.
Edward also happened to be Alice's cousin—Alice had been sent to live with her aunt and uncle, Edward's parents, when she was 12. Alice had never met her father and her mother was currently residing in an institution for people with severe mental illness.
When Alice's mother's schizophrenia became so de-habilitating, she could no longer take care of herself, much less her twelve-year-old daughter, Alice had gone to live with her mother's sister. Edward was five years older than Alice and was already running around the country with the band when Alice moved into the Cullen house but they had always been close. It was Edward who had helped Alice get the rather competitive position she now held.
As they got older, Jasper and Edward broke away from the bubblegum pop of the boy band word that had made them famous to try something new. They had recruited an old musician friend of Jasper's, Garrett, and a young drumming phenomenon named Seth Clearwater, to round out the band. They had made the transition from boy band idols to serious musicians rather easily and Eclipse was currently one of the biggest bands in the country—not only were they insanely popular, they were also quite critically acclaimed, despite early reservations about the legitimacy of Jasper and Edward's boy band past.
However, Jasper and Edward's formation of Eclipse hadn't all gone smoothly. Their original band, Midnight Sun,included two other young musicians—Jacob Black, and Embry Call. When Jasper and Edward quit, they didn't ask the others to join them on their new musical ventures. Jacob especially had been rather upset over what he saw as Edward and Jasper's abandonment of him and the band.
When Jasper and Edward convinced the young Seth, who was a friend of Jacob's, to join Eclipse as a drummer, Jacob grew even angrier. What resulted was a long legal battle over songs and money and contracts from their teenage years. Eventually, they had all come to an agreement and Jacob and Embry had also formed a new band—The Wolf Pack—with another friend of theirs, Paul. However, the guys had never really gotten over their rocky past and things were still tense whenever they were together. It didn't help that Bella had dated Jacob Black for a while and eventually broke up with him because she was madly in love with Edward Cullen. Of course, Edward hadn't yet realized his sweet young publicist was basically throwing herself at him and remained oblivious to Bella's obvious feelings.
When Alice began working for the agency, she had right away been "assigned" to Jasper. Because of her connection to Edward, Alice had known Jasper, in some capacity anyway, since she was a young girl. In the beginning, he had been a relatively easy client but quickly he had turned into the worst kind of rock star; the kind who kept Alice running around like crazy trying to protect some shred of Jasper's reputation. However, the harder Alice tried, the more Jasper seemed determined to destroy what little good image he had left.
"What time is it?" Alice asked, looking over at Bella.
"8:30," Bella answered. "Why?"
"Because if that jackass is going to spend his nights getting into drunken bar fights, I'm going to call and wake him up," Alice said.
Bella laughed and waved as she headed out of Alice's office and Alice reached for her phone, dialing Jasper's familiar number. The phone rang and rang and then Jasper's scratchy voicemail message picked up. Alice hung up and then promptly redialed the number.
Finally, after roughly ten rotations of hanging up and calling back, Jasper picked up. "Fuck, Alice, why are you calling me so early?" Jasper's voice sounded tired and raspy and Alice took some strange pleasure in knowing she had woken him up.
"We have to talk," Alice said. "About your little adventure last night."
"Alice, it was a rough night," Jasper said as Alice heard sheets rustling and the soft voice of a girl. "Can we talk later?"
"No," Alice said, sighing impatiently. "I'm going to have to release some kind of statement. So you need to get down here and tell me what happened."
"Fine, fine," Jasper muttered. "I know you're just dying to see me."
"Luckily I'm not like the thousands of brainless girls who throw themselves at you on a daily basis, Jasper," Alice said.
"Some day you will darlin'," Jasper drawled, that annoying Southern accent he only used when he was trying to get what he wanted coming out.
"Don't use your fake Southern voice on me, Jasper," Alice said. "I know you only lived in Texas until you were eight."
"You know all my secrets," Jasper said, laughing slightly.
"Yes, I do," Alice responded. "Now, I'll see you soon?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there," Jasper answered as Alice hung up the phone.
Two hours later, just as Alice was about to call him again, there was knock and then her office door opened to reveal her assistant, Jessica. "Alice, Jasper's here," Jessica said, smiling a little, her face flushed slightly.
Alice rolled her eyes. "Send him in," she said, watching as Jessica pushed the door opened further and motioned for Jasper to walk though. He winked at her and Alice could see Jessica go weak in the knees as Jasper pushed the door shut behind him.
Jasper settled his long, lean body into one of the chairs across from Alice and propped his battered cowboy boots on her desk. His blonde hair had that perfectly tousled look and he took off his sunglasses to reveal the piercing green eyes Alice had always been secretly captivated by. There was a dark purple bruise forming around Jasper's left eye and Alice winced slightly when her eyes landed on it.
"Hi, Al," Jasper said, grinning widely. "How are you?"
"It's Alice," Alice corrected him. "And I'd be a lot better if you weren't spending your nights getting into fights," Alice said, swatting at Jasper's boots until he removed them from her desk.
"Alice," Jasper repeated. "I'm sorry. It just sort of happened."
"Really?" Alice asked skeptically, raising her eyebrows. "Can you explain that to me, Jasper? Because the last time I went out to a club, I managed to leave without punching anyone."
"You at a club?" Jasper asked, grinning. "I need a visual of this. What did you wear?" Jasper said, his eyes raking over Alice's body, covered by her modest and professional looking suit.
"Shut up, you pervert," Alice said, rolling her eyes a little. "Can we focus for a minute, please?"
"I didn't mean to punch him," Jasper said softly.
"So why did you?" Alice responded.
"I was drunk," Jasper said. "And he called me a pussy. Made fun of the band and I just lost it."
"Jasper, do you have any idea how difficult you make my job?" Alice asked. "You can't just go around punching people any time they say something you don't like."
"I'm sorry, Al," Jasper said. "Alice," he quickly amended when Alice started to open her mouth to correct him. "I know how hard you work to make me look good. And I appreciate it. I just can't stand when someone insults my music."
Alice sighed. Jasper was looking at her with an open, earnest expression. She liked it better when he was fucking up because it was easier to stay upset with him then.
"I'll release an apology statement for you," Alice said. "And you better hope the guy doesn't sue or something. I'll see if we can work out some kind of deal with him."
"A deal that involves me paying a lot of money?" Jasper muttered.
"That's better than you going to jail don't you think?" Alice asked.
"I suppose," Jasper said, leaning back in the chair so that only two legs rested on the ground. "With my ruggedly handsome good looks, I'd be very popular in jail."
"You certainly don't lack self confidence, do you?" Alice asked, pushing her short, dark hair away from her forehead.
"Not at all, darlin'," Jasper drawled again, winking at Alice. Jasper set the chair back down firmly on the ground and leaned forward. "So are we done here?" he asked.
"Yes, we're done," Alice said. "But Jasper," she called, stopping him as he strode across her office. "Can you try to behave for once? For just a little while?" Alice asked.
"For you, I'll try," Jasper told her and with a wave he was gone.
Alice slid into the seat across from Bella and smiled at her friend. Bella grinned back. "So, did you get Jasper straightened out this morning?" Bella asked as the waiter came over to take their lunch orders.
Alice sighed. "I released an apology statement from him and talked to the other guy's lawyer. Jasper's going to end up paying a lot of money but at least it will make it go away."
Bella nodded and took a drink of her water. "I don't know how you do it Alice," she said, shaking her head a little. "You know, with all the shit Jasper has been up to lately, Edward's worried about him."
"I know," Alice said. "I'm not sure what's going on with Jasper lately," she said softly. While Jasper had always been the "bad boy" of the group, he certainly hadn't gotten into this much trouble in the past. Lately, he was spiraling out of control and Alice didn't know what else she could do.
"I still blame Maria," Bella said as the waiter brought over their food. "I never liked her."
Alice's eyes narrowed. Maria was a young, beautifully exotic actress who Jasper had dated for awhile. Maria was the stereotypical young Hollywood starlet though—her life was full of clubs and alcohol and drugs and stupid stunts that she was lucky hadn't landed her in jail yet. Bella did have a point; Jasper's increasingly dangerous behavior had worsened when he started dating Maria last year.
"He broke up with Maria though," Alice pointed out, taking a bite of her sandwich. "He was with some model last night. I don't even know her name."
"Alice how many times has Jasper broken up with Maria?" Bella asked, raising her eyebrows slightly.
Alice made a face. Bella was right again. Jasper and Maria were the definition of on-again, off-again. "I just don't know what else I can do," Alice said with a shrug.
"Jasper's always listened to you," Bella said. "I'm sure you'll think of something. Edward always says Jasper's got a soft spot for you," Alice nodded along with Bella's words, wishing that she was feeling the same kind of confidence in her sway over Jasper as Bella was.
"So what about Edward?" Alice asked, changing the subject. "How's that going?"
Bella rolled her eyes. "He's clueless, as always," Bella said. "I'm pretty sure he's in love with his piano."
Alice laughed softly. "I'm serious," Bella said. "I'm about to give up on Edward Cullen and go crawling back to Jacob."
"Bella," Alice said, shaking her head. "Someday my rather dense cousin is going to realize how amazing you are. Trust me, I know," Alice said, smiling at her friend.
"Well, I hope someday is soon," Bella replied. "It's getting awfully boring waiting around for Edward Cullen."
Alice laughed again, thinking to herself that maybe having an asshole for a client wasn't so bad—at least Alice wasn't in love with him.
A/N: Chapter 2 will be up next Monday! Thanks for reading.