Star Power

Former child star RJ Stone has made the transition from kid actor to having a huge career in major movies as a young adult. Handsome, talented, and not the brightest bulb on the string, he is sweet, kind, and smart enough to follow the directions of his crack staff. Roman heads up public relations and basic living skills, teaching RJ things like putting soiled clothing into a hamper, as in real life there is no wardrobe department. Silent, sexy (and deadly) Roy is in charge of security for the star, keeping stalkers at a distance and a secret to himself. Lupe runs everything else home related, from cooking and cleaning to rotating food out of the freezer, which leads Roman chasing across LA to retrieve what could be a very embarrassing item if it turned up as a spot on TMZ or Entertainment Tonight. From neighbors who resent living next to the star, to a possible black market poultry ring and some of his staff finding love in all the wrong places, the life of RJ Stone is overflowing with Star Power. Excerpt: Roman Wilson, RJ's assistant - that's me. Meaning, I'm also his teacher, stalker tender, companion, hand holder, sometimes friend, and frequently, reverse pimp. Yeah, I know. What is a reverse pimp? See, my employer, one of America's little sweethearts, has a huge schlong he would dip into every man and woman he met in place of a handshake if he could. Oh, RJ isn't gay or even bi. He's just a horny little toad who has been so isolated from the rest of the world and how it works that he doesn't know that not everyone gets pie and 'a little something extra' for dessert just because they are in the movies. ****** I had just fallen into a light sleep when my phone rang, making me jump bolt upright like it was the Bat Signal being shot into the sky. I had the phone to my ear when all I heard was a scared, anxious RJ managing to get out "Help!" I got him calmed down enough to know that he was not bleeding and that he was not out in public. If he was drunk or on anything, the shock of whatever was going down was killing his buzz. "Stop talking, take a deep breath, and calm down," I commanded. "Now tell me where you are and what's going on." The part of town I ended up in was seedy and run down. I left the car and made my way through a maze of alleys to a small dark house with the number on it that RJ had given me. The door was swung open a crack by a shivering RJ. Without lecturing, I followed him through the silent house to a bedroom in the back. From a lamp beside the bed I could see that the room was disheveled, drug paraphernalia spread out on the small night stand. The only thing that made the scene more unpleasant was the still figure lying across the rumpled tangle of bed covers. Slipping my fingers to his wrist, I checked for a pulse while RJ trembled in a corner of the room. After a moment of futile fumbling, I was certain the guy was dead, so I dropped his wrist and reached into my pocket for my phone. "NOOOOOOO!" RJ howled like a wounded animal, snatching at my telephone and wrapping his fingers around it. "Give me the phone," I said with gritted teeth. "Can't we just fix it?" "He's not a watch, RJ; he's a dead guy," I said softly, patience wearing thin as I reached out slowly for the phone, hoping not to startle him. "C'mon man, you can take care of this." There was a pause as the sexy young actor looked at me thoughtfully, then smiled. "I'll give you one of my cars." "Just give me the phone please, RJ." "Can't we just leave him?" "We could, but we aren't going to." "You know I've had sex with a lot of people," he began as a sudden change of course, curling the corner of his lip in the practiced seductive way I had seen employed many times, "but you've never hit on me. Ever wondered what it would be like?"