Hey Stranger || Jerrie

Jade began her Friday night with Chinese takeout and some good old trashy television. She knew she had plenty of other things she should be doing, but right then, all she wanted to do was relax. She knew she should have been either working on new songs, or keeping up public appearances at a club, but after a week of rehearsals, she really didn’t have the energy for it. She was fully content to sit on her couch all night watching E! That was, of course, until a story broke on the screen. It was a story about Danielle Peazer. Of course it was. She had to go and mess up Jade’s lazy night. Jade didn’t bother to pay attention to what the story was, opting instead to just turn off the TV. In the past few months, Danielle had grown more and more popular, and Jade knew that she was to thank for that. Not only because Danielle’s big break had been through going on tour with Jade, but also because of their disastrous relationship, a relationship that had played out across all media outlets. Jade, notoriously quiet about her personal life, didn’t realize until too late that Danielle had been playing her the entire time, feeding photos and stories to the press herself. She’d used Jade for her fame, then dumped her as soon as someone else came along that she could exploit, leaving Jade heartbroken and confused. Jade hoped she could use her current anger to start writing something new for her upcoming album and grabbed a pencil and one of her notebooks, opening to a blank space. Several hours later, Jade was sitting on a couch designed more for looks than comfort, tapping her pencil on the blank notebook paper, when her phone started to ring. Desperate for any kind of distraction from her writer’s block, she answered the phone without even bother to look at the caller ID. Before she even had a chance to say “Hello,” the speaker on the other end of the call started ranting quickly. “This is exactly why I told you I needed my phone charger back Jessica! My phone is dead and I’m stuck at the stupid bar you PROMISED you’d meet me at, alone. I’m having to use some random stranger’s phone to call you all because you A. stole my charger and B. never showed up to the girls night YOU planned. I should have just ignored you. Because I am one hundred percent over Zayn and don’t need to go club hopping with you to prove that. Now where are you? Don’t make me call Jonathan on you. You need to come pick me up.” Jade couldn’t help, but smile as she listened to the rant. Clearly the woman had the wrong number and was upset about being stood up by her friend, Jade found the random intrusion in to her own life somewhat entertaining. “Are you even listening to me Jesminda?” The voice spoke again and Jade realized she had to address the woman on the other end of the line. “Sorry, this is not Jessica,” she spoke, “I think you have the wrong number.” “s**t. Really?” The woman asked, “Isn’t this 203-555-0445?” Jade shook her head, but then realizing the woman couldn’t actually see her, responded, “Not quite. I think you dialed 0454 instead of 0445.” “Oh my god. I’m sorry for totally ranting at you; you should have just hung up.” “No worries, it’s fine.” Jade needed the interruption, she wasn’t getting any writing done and she knew she needed to start work on her new album, but she simply wasn’t getting anywhere. She had no real inspiration. “You clearly needed that rant, stranger.” “Perrie,” the woman spoke. “Sorry?” “My name is Perrie.” “Perrie,” Jade repeated. She liked the name. It was unique, and seemed to work on the sexy-voiced girl. She contemplated what name to give the woman, before settling on the one that only her close friends and family called her, “I’m Jade.” “Well Jade, I apologize again for calling you and interrupting whatever it is you were in the middle of,” Perrie spoke. Jade laughed as she responded, “Seriously, don’t worry about it. I was failing dismally at trying to get some work done and you were a much desired distraction.” “Wait, work?” the other woman asked, “It’s nearly midnight, why are you…oh. You’re in a different time zone, aren’t you?” Jade looked over at her clock and saw that it was, in fact, nearly midnight. “Same time zone,” she responded, “I guess I lost track of time. Everything is always kind of bright and loud in New York, and when you live alone it’s easy to lose track of time, especially at night.” Jade wasn’t sure why she was still talking to the stranger, but it was nice. “So New York City, huh?” Perrie asked. “I’ve never been, which is weird because being in Washington DC it’s not like I’m far. I’m kind of jealous that you live alone though. I’ve lived with my friends Jessica and Leigh-Anne since our senior year of college, and as you can probably tell, they’re not the most reliable people around.” Jade was shocked that Perrie had never been to New York. She assumed most people had. But then again, Jade had been to nearly every big city on the planet, so she wasn’t exactly the best judge. Even in their short conversation, Jade already felt less stressed than she was minutes earlier. “New York is overrated,” she explained, “And so is living alone. I’d much rather live with friends, and in a less lonely city.” What she didn’t say, was that she was never really sure who her real friends were. “The grass is always greener on the other side I guess,” Perrie sighed. The two sat there in silence for several beats before Jade spoke, “I guess you should probably call Jessica then. I don’t want to hold you up.” “The guy who’s phone I’m borrowing definitely seems to be getting anxious,” Perrielaughed in return. Jade liked the sound of the other woman’s laugh, it was earnest. “Who knew I would have gotten so lucky to have someone actually nice pick up when I called the wrong number? It was nice talking to you Jade the Stranger.” “You too Perrie,” Jade smiled in to the receiver, “I hope you reach Jessica now.” “Thanks.” “Good night.” “Good night.” Jade smiled as she hung up her phone. Seeing that she still had nothing on the paper in front of her, she decided to head to bed. She had a radio interview as well as a photo shoot for Rolling Stone the next day and knew she needed her rest, so she walked across her way too big for one person apartment and quickly fell asleep on her California King bed. When Jade woke the next morning at 6:00am she scrolled through her emails and texts, they never seemed to stop, but paused when she saw a text that wasn’t from Tulisa, Karl, Simon, Gary or Marcus, her entourage. She’d received the text at just after one in the morning. Unknown Number: Hey there Jade the Stranger. Not sure why I’m texting you, but I hope the city that never sleeps isn’t keeping you up and that you finally decided to get some sleep. Sorry again about ranting at you earlier! Jesy definitely got an earful from me after she finally arrived. Even though the text had no signature, she knew it was the woman from the phone call earlier. On a whim, she decided to save the number and give a response back. Jade the Stranger: I ended up going to bed just after getting off the phone with you. I’m glad Jesy finally arrived. Though she didn’t expect a response from the woman, she was hopeful nonetheless. She’d enjoyed the brief conversation she’d had with Perrie. It was a nice break from the conversations she had on a regular basis regarding her upcoming tour, the beginnings of her new album, and how she needed to promote herself more on social media. Remembering her publicist, Karl’s remarks about maintaining her presence on social media, Jade decided to post on i********: before heading off to her radio interview. She took a quick photo of the view from her window and added the caption: @AmeliaThirlwall: Only three more weeks of waking up to this great view and then the tour starts! Can’t wait! #ATTour It was the kind of post Jade knew Karl would approve of. It hinted at the fact that she was busy and acknowledged her upcoming sold-out world tour while still maintaining her relatability. The only qualm Karl would have was that she hadn’t included her face in it, but Jade was not one for posting morning selfies. It wasn't until that afternoon, while she sat getting her hair and makeup done that Jade received a response from Perrie. Jade tried hard not to be one of those Prima Donna celebrities who made things difficult for the people working around her, which is why she always sat still and had them work, but Jade couldn't resist checking her phone after seeing that the text was from her stranger caller. She apologized to the woman braiding her hair as she quickly leaned forward to grab the phone from the table in front of her. Perrie: All pleasantries aside, why the hell were you up at 6 am on a Saturday? Jade chuckled before she typed her own response. Jade the Stranger: work :( Jade imagined that after a night out, that Perrie was just waking up. She briefly wondered how old Perrie was. She sounded young on the phone and still lived with college friends, so she was probably around Jade’s own age. Perrie: no wonder you're able to afford your own apartment in NYC, you must be quite the workaholic. Jade the Stranger: I have one of those round the clock jobs Perrie: oooh. So I'm going to guess that means finance, journalism or you're a cop of some sort. Or maybe a doctor? Are you a doctor? Perrie: wow. Sorry, I just realized how weird that came off as. A total stranger asking your job and knowing where you live. I swear I'm not a creep, but you totally don't have to answer that. Jade chuckled at Perrie’s response. She liked the way she talked, or in this instance, texted. She was like a breath of fresh air. But there was no way Jade was going to reveal what she did, that would reveal who she really was and she couldn't risk that. Not when she could see herself potentially becoming friends with the stranger, and not after the whole Danielle ordeal. Not that this was the same thing at all, but she now knew better than to mix her personal life with her professional one, no matter how many times Karl insisted they were one and the same. Instead, Jade decided on a vague, though true response to send to Perrie. Jade the Stranger: well if you're a creep, than so am I. I know you're roommates’ names, where you live and the fact that you recently broke up with someone named Zayn. She wasn't sure if Zayn was male or female, and Jade certainly wasn't one to make assumptions, so she remained gender neutral. Jade the Stranger: and no, I'm none of the above. Though close-ish. I work in entertainment, so I basically do everything you think of when you think of journalism. What she didn't say, was that she was always on the side getting interviewed, not interviewing. Perrie: wow. So you're stalking me now ;) Perrie: that sounds like a whole lot of work. I bet it's cool; do you get to meet celebrities? Jade the Stranger: it can be, but it's more stressful than anything else. When it's good it's amazing, but most of the time I just travel a lot, talk to people who don't actually care about me as a person, and get very little sleep. Jade hit send before she had time to rethink her message. She'd never admitted that before to anyone, not even Karl. When you're an international celebrity with two double platinum albums and a third that is about to hit that, it sounds shallow to claim that people don't care about you. But to Jade, people cared about Amelia, the star who was expected to live an extravagant lifestyle of parties and rehab, not Jade, the young woman who grew up too fast thanks to a stage mom who never stopped. A young woman who wishes her life was simpler. Perrie: I know what you mean about talking to people who don't really care. I work at an art gallery and the people who come by are the rich snobby type, always trying to buy things because they're expensive and not because they actually enjoy art. Perrie: Rich people suck. Jade felt a bit awkward after Perrie’s response, after all it’s not like she was living frugally. She lived in a penthouse apartment that could house several families, and had apartments in other cities such as Los Angeles, London and Paris as well as a house in the Hamptons. And needless to say, her homes were all exquisitely decorated, though not by her, but rather someone she hired. “Amelia, it’s time for us to do your make up,” the woman spoke. Jade nodded and put her phone down so that the makeup artist had full access to her face after sending off one last text. Jade the Stranger: I’ve never met anyone who worked at an art gallery. It must be amazing to be around nice art all day. The brunette spent the afternoon alternating between different outfits and posing with multiple guitars in different settings with different backdrops, letting herself be manipulated in to positions to get the best shot. And after what felt like hours, she gave her interview and headed home to her empty apartment to continue to try and write new songs for the album that wouldn’t even be released for another year at least.