The Inevitable Fanfiction

Chapter 15
They were already at the final four, and none of judges or America could believe it. American Idol had crept its way up peoples’ hearts during the season and they all simply adored Paula and adored hating Simon. It was quite irritating to deal with people booing him all the time, but he wasn’t about to do any special deeds for people he couldn’t care less about. There was only one person on Idol that he truly cared for, whether he admitted it or not, and for her, he had organised something very nice.
“Singing live – it’s something special for our friend... Paula Abdul!” Ryan shouts, and Paula isn’t sure what’s just happened.
‘Lost in a dream, I don’t know which way to go...’ The idols sing her song Straight Up together, while she stares and claps and still isn’t quite sure what to do with herself. She decided she’ll enjoy it while it lasts because this had to have been the nicest thing anyone had done for her in a long time.
They move onto Opposites Attract and Paula immediately taps Simon’s shoulder, giggling. “That’s our song!” she exclaims. Simon nods airily and lets her have her fun. ‘Cold Hearted’ is next and at this Paula jumps up to point to Simon, making a show of it. She’s enjoying herself and Simon laughs along with her, knowing that she wouldn’t be calling him a cold hearted snake if she knew he had prepared this medley for her.
‘It ain’t the trips to Brazil, it ain’t the weekends in Rome...’ Randy, Ryan and Justin get Paula out of her seat to sing with them on stage, her song ‘The Way That You Love Me.’ She lingers at the steps, a little shy of going up on stage again, but the contestants pull her up and soon she’s dancing along. She even sings a line before blushing back to her seat.
The medley ends with applause, even from Simon himself, as Paula hugs Ryan tightly. She’s still overwhelmed and smiling brightly at everyone and when they are off the air, she captures all the contestants in a ‘proud mummy’ moment embrace. She also looks for Nigel and Simon Fuller, to say thank-you.
“Simon?” She calls, meaning Fuller. She knocks at his office door softly.
“Come in!” She hears two voices call, both Fuller’s and Nigel’s. She opens the door to see them replaying the medley and watching from Nigel’s desk.
“It was brilliant, wasn’t it?” Nigel asks, clapping his hands. He goes over to Paula and gives her a one-armed hug.
“It was, and I wanted to say thank-you. It was a great surprise.” Now, she becomes slightly emotional at the impact of it all, and kisses Nigel’s cheek warmly.
“It’s not us you should be thanking, Paula,” says Simon Fuller.
“Cowell was the one who organised it,” adds Nigel, shocking Paula.
“Simon? Cowell?” She splutters. “But why?” ‘He’s just full of surprises, isn’t he?’ Paula thinks.
Nigel leads her out of the room, an arm around her shoulders, wanting to tell her something in hush hush. “Well he says it might make you want to stay on for another season, since you know, you haven’t yet signed, but between you and me, love, I think he’s gone a little soft for you.” He winks .
“I suppose I should thank him then...” Paula replies, choosing to ignore the later part of his statement, though it affects her greatly.
“You do that.”
“Thanks, Nigel.” Paula gives him a parting smile and scurries off to find her secret admirer, who amazingly enough, is Mr. Nasty himself.
“Simon!” Paula calls, loudly this time, at Simon’s door.
“It’s open,” he calls back.
She opens the door and sees his bare back, just as he slips a shirt over his head. She colours slightly and waits until he turns to her. “I wanted to say thank-you,” she says, shy all of a sudden.
“What are you talking about?” Simon asks.
“Don’t play coy – I know it was you who organised the medley and I wanted to thank you.”
This time it is Simon’s turn to be shy. He looks down at his crisp grey shirt with some graphics on it, and looks at her through his long lashes. “The idiots can’t keep anything to themselves,” he mumbles, ears turning pink. Suddenly, the craving to hug him close is unbearable. What a sweet man he could be under that mask.
“Thank-you,” says Paula and gives into her urge. She wraps her arms quickly around his waist and presses her face into his shoulder. It’s slightly awkward for a moment, until Simon returns the hug. “It was really nice.”
He smiles. “I’m glad you enjoyed it, darling.” He looks down at her small form, eyes watching him with such adoration and appreciation; he feels he’s looking a young child. She only becomes a woman again when the moment ends and she pulls away, readjusting her shirt. And then the terrible need to kiss her is back and yet again, he must resist.
“I’ve got to go now,” he tells her, eyes intent on her mouth. Paula notices this.
“Okay,” she says, but neither of them move.
“Could I...” Simon trails off, knowing better than to finish that question. His tongue runs along his own lips, moistening them.
She surprises him, as well as herself, by breathing a heavy, “yes.”
All Paula can think about is their lips meeting again, and be able to compare them to her fantasies of him. Simon’s fingers hold her cheek with a strange softness that melts her, while she steps closer to him, her full lips luring him down so that their lips are almost touching. And they would have kissed too, if they hadn’t been interrupted. A knock on the door brings them apart.
“It’s open!” Simon shouts, much louder than he needs to, pulling away from Paula with a cuss. Terri’s head pops in and Paula takes a sharp breath. “Oh, hello Terri.”
“I thought I’d surprise you! I took a taxi here, so we can go to dinner together.” Paula grimaces at the sound of her raspy voice.
“That’s nice, love,” Simon says, with little enthusiasm. It’s not that he isn’t happy, but given the situation, he isn’t sure what to do.
Terri pouts. “You don’t sound very pleased?” She’s such an eager to please kind of woman, it amuses him how contrasting she and Paula are.
“No, it sounds great, actually.” He smiles. “Paula, this is Terri.”
“Hi,” Paula smiles and sticks out one hand.
“Hello! Oh, you are lovely, aren’t you?” Terri kisses Paula’s cheeks, bubbling with excitement.
Paula isn’t sure what to say in return, so she smiles. “I won’t keep you. Bye Simon, Terri.” She nods at the woman, who though is obviously younger, is also much taller and even slightly intimidating, with those long legs that seem to go on for miles.
“Bye, Paula,” the two reply as they leave Simon’s dressing room. Paula heads to her own room, leaving the door open for Ryan who is eyeing her from the end of the corridor.
“I saw that!” Ryan says as soon as Simon and Terri are out of sight.
“Saw what?” Paula replies, closing the door behind Ryan. She raises an eyebrow.
“You glancing back at Cowell and Ms. Model over there.”
“She’s a model?” She gasps, not bothering to defend her case.
Ryan laughs, plopping down on the sofa. “That’s what I’ve heard. But she’s trying to get into the business now, doing little jobs and stuff. She wants to be a talk-show host.” They grimace together.
“Today was great huh?” He asks after a moment, and she nods.
“It really was an awesome surprise. I can’t believe we’re at the Top Four already.”
“Me neither. You coming back next season?” Ryan asks.
“I’d be crazy not to, Idol is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Yeah, true, it’s our big break. At least we have loads of time to recover before working with – ” Ryan makes a grand gesture of puffing out his chest and pulling his pants up to his navel, “again.” Paula giggles.
In a soft voice, Paula replies, “I don’t think he’s all that bad.”
Ryan blinks at her. “What? What happened to you hating his guts?’”
“I do! Of course I do... he’s a horrible jerk that crushes kids’ dreams... but maybe, just maybe he doesn’t do it just to be a horrible jerk.” A slight smile grazes her lips as she says this while Ryan stares blankly.
“Woah. Times do change, huh?” He shakes his head.
“I guess so.”
“All in good time, right?” They nod in agreement.

***
“I can’t believe it’s over!” Ryan says, minutes before they announce the first ever American Idol.
“Well, they have to crown Kelly first, Seacrest,” replies Simon, patting the younger man’s back.
“Dude!” Randy shakes his head. “Maybe Justin will surprise us?”
“Even I’m going to have to agree with Simon on this one – Kelly deserves to win,” Paula smiles.
And Kelly Clarkson does everyone proud, winning the title of the American Idol. After the show, Paula congratulates her with a motherly hug. “I’m so proud of you,” she says, tearing up.
“It means a lot to me, thank-you.” They hug some more, until other people want to congratulate the star of the show.
Backstage, they’re having a party, which Simon flees from. He pushes through the crowd to get to his dressing room, and meets many people along the way who he must talk formalities with including Kelly’s family and the other producers. Then, he comes face to face with Paula and laughs.
“Come on,” says Simon. He can see she is struggling to get through the crowd, as everyone at least a head taller than her. He takes her wrist in his hand and leads her into his dressing room, where she deflates on the couch. Immediately, she begins to take off her earrings and necklace, and she gets rid of her heels quicker than Simon can blink.
“I’m proud of Kelly,” she says, once her jewellery is off.
“I know. I could see you mothering her,” he chuckles. “Honestly, the kids all treat you like their mummy or something, always wanting to please you and make you proud.”
She smiles. “So does that make you the hard-to-please dad?”
“No, no, of course not,” Simon shrugs it off. Paula, sensing his discomfort, lets it drop. “So where is that baby of yours, anyway?”
This time it is Paula’s turn to shrug it off. “You were right when you said my schedule is too hectic for that. I think I’m going to focus on my career again, and when the right guy comes along, then we’ll see.”
If Simon realises that Paula had just admitted he was right, he doesn’t acknowledge it. “What about that Hank guy? I saw him in the audience earlier.”
“Who knows,” she shrugs again, and he nods understandingly. It’s too early to tell.
“Could I have your phone number?” Simon asks unexpectedly. “To keep in touch in the summer?”
Paula gapes at him. “Um, why?” She asks.
“Well, aren’t we friends?” he asks, hopefully, in return.
“I don’t know, are we?” She gives him a quizzical look, and he drops the subject.
“Never mind.”
The whole crew and all the finalists attend the after party, and while Simon sulks in one corner, feeling rejected, Paula knows the exact thing to cheer him up. She’s had a little to drink, and while she is certainly not drunk, she does feel a little on the reckless side. She orders a drink and asks the waiter to send it over to his table, along with a napkin.
When Simon receives it a few minutes later, he looks around, finding Paula watching him. She winks from across the room and he grins, all sulkiness forgotten. There, on his napkin, has a certain special phone number, which he copies quickly into his phone.
He texts her immediately, causing her phone to beep and it reads, ‘Cheeky.’
With a laugh, she replies, ‘I know.’
A few seconds later, she texts him again. ‘It’s been a good season.’
He agrees, ‘It has, hasn’t it?’
‘Friends?’ she inquires, as a peace offering.
‘Almost. You gonna miss me?’
‘Almost. Maybe. U? Will u miss me?’
‘I’ll almost miss you too. Maybe.’
‘We’ll be friends someday then. Maybe,’ Paula chuckles.
He raises his glass to her from across the room, and she raises hers, in a silent toast. ‘Maybe. In good time,’ Simon replies.

The End.