That night, Shane took the two women to an LA recording studio to put Vickie through her paces as a drummer. He quizzed her on various rhythms and styles of playing, then had her play along on some recordings with the drum tracks muted and her playing to a click track. She had some difficulty on some of the faster songs but Shane felt good enough about her playing overall and declared she'd be acceptable as a drummer.

Trish and Vickie knew money was going to be tight for them for a while, now that they were no longer in Diva Delight. Trish moved out of her downtown LA apartment and moved into Vickie's house in Topanga Canyon. The tall brunette had always been very social and put the word out among her producer and musician friends that she and Trish were available for session work doing backing vocals. They got a few sessions here and there to keep themselves afloat, with the rest of their time being spent practicing and looking to the future.

The three all knew that a kick-ass lead guitarist was absolutely essential to getting a new band off the ground. Shane used his contacts around the music industry to try and find what they were looking for. Finding someone who was a high-caliber musician AND female was not easy. After listening to demo tapes and looking at pictures, they narrowed the list down to a dozen possible players to audition. Almost three months after Diva Delight blew up, the big day came for the auditions.

Shane had played in a jazz combo since college and offered to stand in on bass while they tried out guitar players. On that day, their first couple of tryouts didn't meet with success. They weren't bad musicians – they just weren't right.

After the third potential guitarist left, Shane called "Next!" and an Amer-Asian woman entered the room. Trish asked her name and she replied, "Malia Hosaka."

Vickie asked "What's your background?" and Malia answered "I've mainly done session work out of Philly, and I came out here last year. Mostly session work, nothing really permanent."

Trish said, "Okay, let's see what you can do. Do you know 'Drive Me Crazy'?"

Malia answered "Sure." Vickie clicked her drum sticks together and counted off "1,2,3,4" as they began playing. As they played, Trish and Vickie began to think she had potential.

As they played, none of them noticed the tattooed red-haired woman who walked in. During the outro solo of the song, they suddenly heard Malia's guitar go dead and someone else was coming through the amplifier. All of them turned to see the redhead – she had pulled the plug on Malia's guitar and plugged herself in instead.

Trish yelled at the gatecrasher, "Stop, STOP! Who the hell do you think you are? Wait your fucking turn!"

The redhead said, "Have it your way" and sat down on the floor beside the amps.

Trish turned to Malia and said, "I'm really sorry about that. Let's try it again."

They plugged Malia back in, started over and tried a few more songs, but the disruption had clearly thrown her off her game and she just didn't have it anymore. Afterwards, Shane walked her out and said, "We'll be in touch." As he walked back in, he pointed at the redhead and yelled, "You! After what you just pulled, you'd better be good!"

The redhead stood up, grabbed her Fender Mustang guitar, plugged herself into the amp and calmly said, "You'll find out soon enough."

The four played through a couple of songs. The redhead had a fire to her playing they liked. They also liked the way she moved – even though they were in a rehearsal studio, she moved and acted as though she were on stage at the Staples Center. She made a couple of minor mistakes during the solos, but her overall performance won them over.

Shane stopped and said, "Well, you can definitely play. What's your name?"

The redhead answered, "Lita Hardy".

Vickie recognized the name and she said, "Oh, I know you. You played with the Omegas."

Lita smiled and said, "Yep. For the last several years, going to back to when we were in high school."

Vickie asked, "Why did you leave? Aren't Matt and Jeff your brothers?"

Lita calmly explained, "No. In reality, Matt and I were married. Our first manager came up with the idea of us saying we were all siblings, that it would get people to focus on the music more than if we said we were a couple. Matt and I officially split up months ago. We tried to keep it together but it was too nerve-wracking for us to still be on the road together. Since Jeff didn't want to be without him, I was the one who got to leave."

They played through a couple of more songs, and Lita asked, "So, what do you think?"

Shane said, "Give us a moment" as he, Trish and Vickie huddled together. He then asked them what they thought.

Vickie declared, "She's the one! I can feel it! Didn't you feel it?"

Trish said, "I liked her playing, but her attitude needs work. Besides, we still have a few more players to try out. We owe it to them to give them a chance." She turned to Shane and asked, "What did you think?"

He replied, "I agree that she has a bit of an attitude, but she can definitely play. I also agree with Trish that we should hear the others out."

As they broke the huddle, Lita asked, "So, what's the verdict?"

Shane answered, "You're good, I'll give you that. Vickie there wants to call off the rest of the auditions, but we owe it to the others outside to give them a fair chance. We'll be in touch, but right now, you're in the lead."

Lita smiled and said, "I'll be in LA for a couple more days. Don't keep me waiting too long", as she packed her guitar back in its case and headed for the door.

The rest of the auditions went OK, but no one really caught their attention the way Lita did. Finally, there was just one person left.

Shane called, "Next!" and in walked a short brunette woman wearing yoga pants and a loose-fitting top, carrying a guitar case and had a large purse slung over her shoulder. She looked more like a housewife than a musician.

Shane said, "I'm sorry. Are you lost?"

The woman answered, "I'm here for the audition."

Trish asked, "So, what's your name?"

The brunette replied, "Nora Greenwald".

TO BE CONTINUED …

(A/N: For those who may not be familiar with her, Malia Hosaka was a woman who wrestled mainly on the indy circuit in the 90's and 00's. She had matches in ECW and WCW, and was signed to a WWF developmental deal in 1999. Originally, they had planned for her to be an unknown woman and challenge Ivory for the Women's title, but so many fans recognized her they had to abort it. In early 2000, she was slated to become Essa Rios' manager, but at the very last minute, they pulled her out and replaced her with Lita - and the rest is history.)