Rock n Roll Reality (Part 5)

By Myranda Patterson

China Doll is a collection of romantic short stories from Bryant Street Shorts. We recommend starting with "Obsession," the first story in this series, and then reading the rest in order. To find more stories in this series, simply scroll to “Titles In This Series,” located just below this description.

About China Doll

Alia Rose has the perfect life — or so it seems. She’s young, she’s beautiful, she has a hot boyfriend who thinks she hung the moon, and she recently started a promising career. There’s just one problem. Since her teens, Alia has had a secret obsession with the rock star Sam Gables, multi-Grammy winner and noted heartthrob.

Despite pining for this unattainable superstar for years, Alia has kept her admittedly crazy fantasies to herself. That is, until a girls’ trip to New Orleans, too much tequila, and a freaky bar called Killer’s Basement collide to bring her face-to-face with her idol.

He’s smitten, and she quickly understands that her life will never be the same. After a dizzying night — and a dose of unwanted social-media notoriety — Sam and Alia embark on a highly unusual courtship.

Alia finds out that falling in love with an eccentric rock star isn’t even close to what she expected. And despite his money and fame, Sam Gables soon comes to realize that he can learn a few lessons about life and love from the mysterious, practical, and very alluring Alia.

After unexpectedly meeting the rock star Sam Gables in New Orleans and beginning a relationship with him, Dr. Alia Rose struggles to balance her life across two worlds. She wants to be with Sam but also needs to honor her commitments — both to her regular dentistry patients and to those she serves at the free clinic.

Alia feels compelled to cut down on traveling — and on how much she sees Sam — and he begins to talk about quitting music for good. She uses her persuasive powers to keep Sam performing, however, and he surprises her with a romantic gesture that allows her to continue her career as well as be with the one man she loves.

About Bryant Street Shorts

Bryant Street Shorts is a new publisher specializing in exciting short-form fiction from talented and emerging writers. We’re passionate about creating immersive works that represent our readers and celebrate what matters to them, which is why our catalog of stories reflects a wide range of experiences and voices.

Many Bryant Street Shorts are collections of stories that follow ensembles of characters across multiple storylines. We suggest reading these stories in order to get the most out of your experience. Simply scroll down to “Titles In This Series,” located just below the description of every Bryant Street Short, to find the stories in their correct order.

To find more short stories and novellas on Scribd, simply search for “Bryant Street Shorts."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Shorts
• Release date: Apr 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781094409825

Book preview

Rock ‘n’ Roll Reality

Six months after I unexpectedly met the rock star Sam Gables in New Orleans, we were more in love than ever, and our relationship was going strong. As days turned into weeks and months, my life became a blur of my work, flights, screaming stadium crowds, rehearsals, sleeping at his place, him sleeping at my place, and both of us sleeping in hotels. I often woke up not immediately remembering where I was.

He was the perfect boyfriend. Considerate, thoughtful, and loving, he often sent flowers for no reason at all. When he visited my place, he’d order groceries in advance.

But for all his thoughtfulness, his status as a huge star made him a little clueless when it came to some of the practical matters of life. He’d had paid staff to do nearly everything for him since he was very young, and there were some things he just didn’t know how to do — although he tried his best.

One day while he was visiting, my car wouldn’t start. After raising the hood and staring at the engine for a few minutes, he said, Dammit!

What’s wrong?

Alia, I don’t know anything about cars.

That’s OK, Sam, I said, laughing. But he was not laughing.

No, it’s not! I should know how to fix something simple.

Sam, don’t be silly. I’ll call AAA. Don’t worry about it!

He was worried about it, though,