Note: I DON'T own Vince, Howard or Naboo, but I DO own Sapphire and Peter, and my lovely sims Serendipity, Artemis and Kuni:)


The band started playing. Mild taps on the crash cymbal and gentle chords on the guitars, Sapphire started singing "Your beauty is beyond compare, with flaming locks or auburn hair, with ivory skin and eyes of emerald green…" in a sweet voice.

Until the chorus, where the mild taps became solid whacks coupled with deafening drum fills, where the gentle chords became wailing notes and Sapphire's sweet voice turned to screams and roars as she sang "Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene - I'm begging of you please don't take my man…"

Then, the volume went down in the verse, and up in the chorus. It was amazing. Howard had recorded it on the video player. Vince was playing the bass guitar with expertise whilst dancing around the stage. He looked happier than Howard had seen him in a while. At the end of the song, Sapphire, Vince and the guitarist took a bow and the drummer played a few drums then whacked a cymbal. Howard pressed 'stop' then ran downstairs to tell the others.

"Hey, you won't believe what I just saw!!" He said excitedly.

"Was it something to do with Vince and Sapphire?" Peter asked, with equal enthusiasm.

"Yeah, they were just on TV! They're in a band!"

"What was the band called?" Naboo enquired.

"Bubblegum Bonfire I think." Howard replied. "They were amazing! They were doing a cover of that song 'Jolene' and they were brilliant! Vince was playing bass and Sapphire was singing and playing guitar and-"

Howard was babbling so much that he didn't notice Naboo going upstairs to his room. He plugged a keyboard into his crystal ball and typed in "Bubblegum Bonfire" It gave him a picture and a map of where they were situated. Then he plugged in a printer and printed this out. He picked it up and went downstairs.

"-And they've reached number one with it already! I've taped it, so you can watch it later." Howard obviously hadn't stopped talking since Naboo had left.

"Yeah, sounds amazing!" Peter answered. "Naboo? Where did you just go?"

"I've got a map to the place where Bubblegum Bonfire are located." Naboo told them. "They might not be there now but we can wait until closing time to go and see them."

"I think Peter should go and see them." Howard suggested. "Vince is probably still fuming with me."

"No, I think both of you should go. Both of you go at closing time." Naboo insisted.

Bubblegum Bonfire were in their changing room. They'd been given refreshments after their concert and they'd been there for half an hour.

"Mmm, I love Jelly Tots!" Sapphire cried, spotting a packet on the tray.

"Me too!" Vince agreed, reaching for the packet.

"I'd rather a Mars bar." Seren said.

"Hm, can I have some fair-trade dark chocolate?" Artemis asked, browsing the tray.

They all munched happily.

"I wonder if Howard or Peter saw the performance?" Sapphire thought to herself.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Seren shouted.

A man, about 23, with messy black hair wearing a denim jacket and brown skinny jeans came in. He and Artemis recognised each other immediately.

"Artemis!" The man cried. "It's me, Kuni! I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Hey Kuni." Artemis replied with no enthusiasm at all. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a huge promotion. I'm a producer for Pieface Records now! And I want to produce your band!" Kuni replied excitedly.

"H'ng on." Vince swallowed his mouthful of Jelly Tots. "Where du you two know each other from?"

"Kuni's his half-brother in law." Seren explained.

"That's what I get from having a big family." Artemis muttered, picking up his chocolate.

"Of course you can produce our band!" Vince and Sapphire said simultaneously. "This is a dream come true!" Sapphire added.

"Cool. I'll go and tell my boss that you agreed." Kuni waved as he left the room.

"Ok. Let's go home before he comes back." Artemis suggested, getting up to leave.

"Wait. One of us should hang around here for him so we can give him contact details." Sapphire pointed out.

"I'll stay." Vince said.

"Yeah, ok." General agreement from everyone.

Howard and Peter had just reached the block of flats where Bubblegum Bonfire were located. It was huge. Also, they had no idea which flat they were in.

"Let's just wait until someone comes to the flats and ask them which one it is." Peter suggested, sitting down next to the door.

"Good idea." Howard concurred, joining him.

Not long after, they heard a group of people coming towards the flats.

"Let's ask them." Peter said, standing up and walking towards the people.

"Excuse me-" He stopped, shocked. He was talking to Sapphire, who looked equally shocked.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"We came to see you. Naboo found out where you were living." Peter explained.

"Oh, okay. D'you want to come in?"

"Yeah, thanks. Where's Vince?"

"He should be here soon. He's just giving our new producer contact details."

"Wow. You've got a producer already?!" Peter was surprised.

"Yeah. He's related to Artemis."

"Oh, right."

As they entered the building, Sapphire and Peter decided to have a race up the stairs as the lift could only hold five people and their equipment weighed quite a bit.

"Last one there's a rotten jazz record!" Sapphire yelled as they ran.

"Hey, that's not fair!"

"Aaw, sweet." Seren smiled then turned to Howard. "So, what happening with you, Harold?"

Before Howard could correct her on his name, Vince came through the door. When he saw Howard, Howard saw the fury still alight in Vince's eyes.