I wanted to take this time to thank ALL of my readers for the extreme patience you all have because I know I've been posting chapters at long intervals, and I know the feeling; it must be irritating to wait for a chapter to come. So with that, I send my apologies and thanks to you all; just know you guys are always in my thoughts, everyday 3 You guys are the absolute greatest!

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Chapter 3

With a soft moan and a stretch of her body, Brittany gracefully rose to a sitting position in her bed, the bright sun beaming upon her face; something straight from a fairy tale, one can presume. Through blurred vision, she saw that the clock had just struck eight o'clock, and even she found that to be slightly late. Maybe all of the negative excitement from the previous night had something to do with her 'sleeping in'. Brittany carefully climbed to her feet and moseyed her way to her night stand and grabbed for her phone; she needed to make that appointment fast, or else someone could take the studio time.

She called for Tony Lloyd.

Tony Lloyd was a caramel-skinned, tall and slinky man with the brightest blue eyes imaginable. He was a suave, yet clumsy fellow with a work ethic of a thousand bees ready to impress their queen who kept the sassy Brittany on her toes. She saw this immediately upon meeting him when she was only fifteen, and he, eighteen. She knew she had to have him as a manager when her and her sisters decided to break up the group.

She clamped the phone between her ear and shoulder and made her way for the kitchen to get morning coffee started. The dial tone filled her ears until a handsome, baritone voice interrupted the tone.

"Britt Brat, Skit Scat!"

Brittany giggled to her heart's content at the overplayed, yet joyful greeting that the one and only Tony Lloyd ever used on Brittany.

"Having a wonderful morning, Miss Brittany?"

The twenty-three-year-old shuffled through his own condo, sweeping the floors and organizing his outdated magazines on his coffee stand, but his phone laid on speaker just on the other side of the room.

Brittany sighed before giving a, "It's okay, I suppose."

Tony hesitated to respond to her dry comment, but proceeded after a few seconds. "You know Brittany, I've known you since I met with you at the interview where you chose me to manage you and your career. That was nearly five years ago!" he reminded with raised eyebrows. "And by now, I know you pretty well. That party didn't go well at all, did it?"

"Tony, it was a disaster!" she spewed as tears immediately came rushing down her blushing cheeks. "Alvin was with another girl after he specifically promised that he'd take me out!"

Tony sighed with a shake of his head as he rushed to his phone and deactivated the speaker phone. "Brittany, I know you're head-over-heels for the boy, but I don't like to hear you cry. Did you at least get to talk to him?"

"No!" Brittany spat with a scoff. "I've been ignoring him since yesterday…"

"I think you should have at least told him…"

Brittany's stomach began to do cartwheels to the point she wasn't so sure she would be able to hold her sweet coffee inside. She almost had completely dismissed disclosing her plans to the morally far-gone boy. As a matter of fact… the only person to know her full plan was the person she was currently conversing with. She took her tiny hand and roughly grazed her face in irritation. "I completely forgot…"

"Britt, are you sure this is what you want to do?" he asked, wanting a confirmation. "This is a big step for the both of us. If it's too big of a step… some things might go wrong. We can lose quite a bit."

"Tony, if I want to skyrocket into the stars above… then yes, I'm positive. I'm just not sure how I'll tell the others."

"What's this all about, Britt?"

Brittany heaved the heaviest sigh, her eyes fluttering close at the question. She could feel a single tear slip down her face at the mere question, but she knew she had to answer it sooner or later. "We're being held back. From our record company… all the way down to Alvin… I know I can shine brighter than this. I just know it."

Tony chuckled in agreement with a nod of his head. "Listen, you're a beauty and you got it all; you can sing, dance, make others smile… and I borderline agree with what you're saying. My only problem is that we can't leave without telling anybody!"

"I know, I know!"

"So, when we head downtown today… I suggest you do…"