Free Diva NashVegas by Rachel Hauck Page B

money, they camp outside my house and wait for me to come out.
    Scott: Well, beer money is important.
    AJ: Naturally. My privacy is worth the price of a six pack.
    Scott: [smiling] Okay, next fact. Five times you’ve made People ’s Most Beautiful list. Twice on the cover. Do you look at your reflection in the mirror and think, “I’m People magazine’s Most Beautiful?”
    AJ: Good grief, Scott. No. And if I did I wouldn’t confess it to you. Scott: Hey, just trying to get the Inside story.
    AJ: To be honest—and this is from right here [patting her stom-ach]— I get up in the morning and wonder why I can’t find the dental floss.
    Scott: [laughing] Now that would be annoying.
    AJ: Priorities are so skewed in this world. Two-thirds of the population wakes up hungry on a daily basis, and People magazine is worried about who’s the Most Beautiful. It’s ridiculous. There’s probably women in the mountains of Peru who blow me away in terms of beauty, but we’ll never know them.
    Scott: Then you’re not honored.
    AJ: Of course, I’m honored . I’m not stupid. Who wouldn’t be? However, it’s not a part of my résumé.
    For me, I can’t help but notice a Grand Canyon-sized chasm between People and people. Impoverished citizens around the world sell their children into slavery for the equivalent of three hundred American dollars. Where’s that story? Or all of the human rights abuse around the world. People in prison and tortured for their faith. Where’s that story? We only like to wave our social justice flag when the issue is comfortable.
    Scott: Is the poor your passion? The tortured?
    AJ: Justice is my passion. It’s a stupid passion, but there you go.
    Scott: Why is it a stupid passion?
    AJ: By whose scale is justice being doled out? Mine, yours, the liberals, the conservatives? It’s not an exact science. So, mostly I am passionate about the hypocrisy of the elite in our country who tell the middle class and the poor they aren’t doing enough and to depend more and more on the government to take care of everything. It frightens me.
    Scott: You’ve obviously thought a lot about this.
    AJ: Touring does that to me. We see so many people, hear so many stories.
    Scott: Do I hear a future political candidate?
    AJ: No. Absolutely not. I can do more as a celebrity than as a politician because I don’t have to play the games.
    Scott: You had another surprise, besides fainting, during CMA Fest. You became engaged.
    AJ: I did.
    Scott: Engaged to Brown “Car” Carmichael. Congratulations. Set a date yet?
    AJ: Not yet. But probably in the spring. He’s busy with the SoBro development project downtown, and I’m tied up with this annoying interview thingy.
    Scott: [smiling] Right. It’s all my fault. So, how’d you two meet?
    AJ: Right here in our little Belle Meade community. My assistant Piper and I were in Bread & Co. for lunch, and my order got mixed up with Car’s. Really weird. We talked for few seconds, and I kept waiting for him to ask for my autograph, but he never did.
    Piper and I left, came home to find my new furniture being delivered, and while we were watching the movers, Car drove by in his Humvee. He came back ten minutes later with an invitation to a barbecue with his parents. One year ago this month. He was very charming, yet down to earth. Which for me and my romantic past was refreshing.
    Scott: And the rest, as they say, is history?
    AJ: And the rest, as they say, is history.

9
    â€œI wish Melanie Daniels all the best in her endeavors.”
    â€”Aubrey James, press release response to Melanie Daniels’ article
    Aubrey
    As Zach drives east down West End Avenue toward Music Row and the SongTunes offices, he peeks at me from the corner of his eye.
    â€œLooks to me like somebody had a good time today.” Zach brakes as a green light switches to yellow.
    I smile, watching