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Second Guessing a novel by Gail Ward Olmsted Rags to Riches: Insider News & Views NY, NY Simon Sez A little birdy has confirmed that pop star Ben Fein, former Five2ndRulez super hunk, now a successful solo artist, is reported to be getting quite cozy with songwriter Jill Griffin, the widow of music legend Jamie Sheridan. Despite a 14-year age difference (he’s 28, she’s 42) the two have been spotted in a number of local eateries, mostly in Ms. Griffin’s Upper East Side neighborhood. Fein (nee Benjamin Feinstein) was reportedly Griffin’s first choice to perform in the upcoming live tribute concert featuring music originally performed by her late husband. The platinum selling album Guessing at Normal was released 20 years ago and Sheridan would have turned 50 this year. Hmmmm. Perhaps Fein can help blow out some of the candles on the birthday cake? Stay tuned for more! ### Chapter 1 Jill “Son of a bitch! What a spineless turd! Who the hell is that Simon to think he can just write whatever the hell he pleases?” Jill Griffin was pacing back and forth in her sunny kitchen, in the home that she shared with her daughter Carly. Her brother Ted was trying to cajole her out of the foul mood she had been in for the last hour, since receiving a text about the article. “It’s called ‘freedom of the press, Jilly. Google it. Besides, nobody even reads that rag.” “Ben told me that his publicist’s phone is blowing up with all of the calls. So yeah Ted, I think people read it.” “So, are you?” “Am I what?” “Are you getting cozy with Ben Fein? Is he your boyfriend?” he asked in a singsong voice. “Screw you, Teddy. We’re just friends.” “Hey, I don’t care who you sleep with. Well, I mean, I care. I love you and you’re my sister and all. I’m not judging you, honey. I just want to know…” His sister looked at him with such hopefulness in her eyes, that he almost stopped himself. Almost. “…if you need help updating your Facebook status. Are you two official or what?” Jill stopped pacing briefly to take a long, hard look at Ted. She was furious and thought for a second about hauling off and smacking the shit out of him. Her ‘little’ brother, who stood a foot taller than her and outweighed her by a hundred pounds or more. He would never hit back. But as fast as her anger had surfaced, it evaporated just as quickly. She sagged against the marble countertop. Ted wasn’t the problem. She knew that. But there was a problem, that much was certain. Maybe it would be good to talk about it. “It’s um, crap Teddy, this is hard for me,” she began tentatively. If he responded with ‘that’s what she said’, she would seriously reconsider violence. But Ted just pulled out a couple of the stools surrounding the huge kitchen island, sat on one and waited. Jill wasn’t ready to sit just yet and she continued to pace. “You know I’ve been writing songs, right?” 2 Ted rolled his eyes at her. “Yes, Jill. Everyone on the planet knows you write songs and win Grammys and…” “No, I mean for Ben. I write for Ben.” He nodded again and she continued. “His people came to me last year. They told me in confidence that he was going to be leaving the band and needed some new material.” “Broke the heart of every teenage girl in America when he left, if I recall. Wasn’t Carly one of them?” Ted fondly recalled his niece during her days as a love-struck teenage girl drooling over the young performer. The fact that Carly was currently in love with Emily, a girl from her English Comp class at Columbia was, well, irrelevant to this conversation. Jill glared at Ted. “Can I continue?” she asked in an icy tone. Ted meekly nodded his assent and Jill went on. “Anywho, I met Ben in his manager’s office last spring. He was easy to work with and seemed to appreciate my work. That’s when I wrote Missing You and Last Night and Ben split from the band and released both singles simultaneously. Non-compete clause be damned. I mean, who does that? The guy has some stones alright,” she added with a grin. “I know all that, Jill. Thanks to an ABC special and his pretty mug gracing the cover of People magazine, it’s a matter of public record. Get to the juicy stuff.” “Eww, as if, you perv. I’m not telling you a thing about my love life.” “I knew it!” Ted pumped his fist in the air in jubilation. “I knew that article hit the nail on the head. That’s why you’re so pissed off. Your secret is out. Wait, does Carly know?” “Nooooo, she doesn’t.” Jill collapsed into a heap on the floor. “She’ll kill me. But first she’ll hate me. What am I going to do?” Ted walked over to his sister and squatted down in front of her. “Listen to me. Carly won’t hate you, okay? She may want to kill you, but she won’t. She’ll be…” “Pissed off? Humiliated? Embarrassed by her cradle-robbing mother?” Ted snickered at that, before he saw Jill glaring at him. He leaned against the cabinet and turned to face her. “Yeah, probably all that too. I was just gonna say she’ll be anxious to meet him, you know?” But Jill wasn’t buying it. “She’s already met him. I know I told Marnie how Carly and I were backstage at one of Ben’s concerts last year and I introduced her to him. Don’t you and your wife ever talk?” 3 “Don’t turn this on me, sweetheart. I meant, has she met him since you two have been, you know? Getting’ horizontal? Bumpin’ uglies? Doin’ the nasty?” “You are so immature. “ “Hey, I could go all night here.” “That’s what she said,” Jill responded with a forced grin, which Ted failed to return. “But seriously, did Marnie know about you two?” “No, no one knew. Not Marnie. Not Beth. And you know how much I suck at keeping secrets.” “Wow, if you didn’t even tell Beth…” “How could I? I mean, Ben is almost the same age as Jesse. It’s too freakin’ weird.” Jill’s best friend Beth had gotten pregnant at the age of eighteen and had raised her son Jesse with help from her parents. Jill viewed him as a nephew, almost like a son. Ted shook his head and grimaced. “Yeah, that is pretty screwed up. But seriously, is it serious? How long have you…?” “Since Christmas. What, six months? We worked together last spring, and then I ran into him late last year at a follow up meeting with his label. I said something about how crazy everything was at Christmas time and he reminded me that he was Jewish. Then he invited me to celebrate with him anyway. A movie and Chinese food. Carly was leaving that morning to go on that cruise with Em’s family and you and Marnie weren’t around. So Carly and I woke up on Christmas Day and opened presents. We made pancakes, then I took her to the airport, and I went to hang out with Ben. We saw some action film and went for dinner. Then we…” “Christ, you’re blushing. That little…” “He’s not little, Ted. He’s normal height. I can’t help it if you and James are so freakishly tall.” At the sound of her late husband’s name, Jill’s voice caught just a bit. “I mean, were so tall,” she corrected herself. Tears welled up in her eyes. She had been with James since she was 21. The last two years since his death had been difficult ones and especially lonely for Jill. She buried her face in her hands. Ted reached over and pulled her hands away, so she had no choice but to look at him. “Hey Jilly, it’s okay. Believe me, I’m the last person you should go to for advice about your love life. He makes you happy and that makes me happy.” Jill studied her brother closely. “What’s going on, Ted? Something is up with you, I can tell. You’ve been…” 4 “Forget it. Let’s not go there today, huh? Marnie and I are, well, it doesn’t matter right now, okay? Maybe there’s a silver lining here. At least you’re not obsessing about the concert anymore.” Over lunch, Jill had filled Ted in on her role in organizing and promoting a concert that would take place in the fall. Her late husband James had released the hit album Guessing at Normal twenty years earlier. Since then, it sold over twenty million copies. Looking to resurrect interest in the album and bring in some much-needed revenue, his former record label Topflite Entertainment was putting together a tribute concert. Each of the songs from the album would be performed by a different group or solo act from rock, pop, country and hip-hop genres. An accompanying album would be recorded this summer. A portion of the proceeds from the album and ticket sales from the live event would be donated to the newly established Sheridan Fund to support music education in public schools around the country.

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