Limelight

Part 1

Make Your Own Kind of Music

By Nick Maro

The morning after David and Roxy had returned from their trip, Roxy was in her room unpacking. Stormer helped her organize things. "I'll be right back. I want to show you the new songs I'm working on." Pausing in the doorway, she turned and cleared her throat, catching Roxy's attention. She pointed at the white fabric in the suitcase. She gave her friend a quizzical look. "What's with the white lacy dress? I thought you were more of a ripped jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. Did you and David sneak off and get married?" She hid her nervousness behind a chuckle.

Roxy pulled it out of the suitcase, looked at the dress in her hands and smirked. "It was the dress I was going to wear for my parent's anniversary party." She rolled her eyes and pointed to a faint stain. "I spilled wine on it within five minutes of putting it on. It's just one of the many reasons why Roxy isn't allowed to have nice things. She's a klutz." She grabbed a hanger from the closet and hung up the dress.

Letting out the breath she didn't know she was holding, Stormer giggled lightly. "Oh just ignore me. It's been a crazy few weeks. Dealing with my condition and with my brother coming back, I just haven't been sleeping well." She flashed a quick smile and ran down the stairs, returning moments later with her battered notebook of songs. "Now a lot of this was just writing to write. But I think I have some great material for the next ten albums."

"Next ten albums?!" Roxy asked looking amused. "Damn Mary, you are the optimist! We still have to release our first album. By the way, did we ever find a good engineer for the album? Or are we still bouncing from one college intern to another?" She took the notebook from Stormer and flipped the pages then handed it back after a few minutes.

"I never said it would all be for the Misfits. I have no problem writing for other bands." She looked up at her friend proudly. "Kimber and I have been collaborating together since we were kids. Some of these songs are for the Holograms. Some are just for Kim and me." She put the notebook on a table in the hall and began helping Roxy unpack. They made small talk until each agreed it was time for lunch.

Wincing at the feedback Rio turned down the volume to his monitor headphones. He pressed a button the side of the microphone and spoke into it. "Hey Phyllis, it sounds great, but I'm getting feedback on my end." He watched her make a few adjustments on her guitar and played a few test chords. Rio gave her thumbs up and the band went back to playing the instrumentals to the song.

The Misfits first album, Universal Appeal, was pressed and ready for release. Stormer had suggested they record a few extra songs for online singles. The rest of the band agreed after she said it would only be three new songs. They were each exhausted from the strenuous month of recording and wanted a brief rest. Pizzazz was relieved when Rio offered to engineer their album. She'd almost forgotten his father was a sound engineer.

Giving the signal the Misfits each finished the song and looked at the glass separating them from the sound booth. Rio slowly flipped a few switches and turned on the all clear sign. Jetta tucked her drum sticks in the top of her socks and sighed, "Bloody hell, I'm exhausted. Me shoulders haven't hurt this bad since I began me wrestlin' trainin' with the Yank." She placed her hand on her right shoulder and pressed on it as she stretched it. It gave a loud pop and she followed with a soft groan of relief. She then repeated on the other side.

"Well you ladies have a great evening. I'm off to meet up with Jerrica for dinner," Rio said in the doorway to the room the four women were in. "Phyllis, thank you again for letting me get behind the boards. It's been ages since I'd been able to do so. I'm supposed to work on the Holograms album, but who knows when that will happen."

"Trust me Rio, you were a far better selection than the students we had in and out of that booth." Pizzazz finished putting her guitar in its case. "It was Shana who reminded me what your father did for a living." She turned and looked at her friends. "I'm catching a ride with Rio. I left my car at Jerrica's last night."

Hefting her own guitar case on her shoulder Roxy smirked at the remaining two Misfits with her. "Well, looks like it's us three for the night. Dinner and then an evening of bad movies?"

Stormer and Jetta looked at each other and shrugged in turn. "Sounds good to me, Rox," Stormer said with a smile. "If you don't mind I'll invite my brother over. He's still adjusting to life with mom and I. Getting out of the house will do him some good too." She placed her guitar in the storage room and looked up at each woman in turn. "It's weird. He's my older brother but at times it's like he's a younger brother. Not in a bad way mind you. It's just hard to explain right."

"He has a wonderful and carin' little sister, Mary."

"Uh-oh, Sheila has a crush on someone!" Roxy dodged the backhand from Jetta with a chuckle.

"Speaking of significant others, where's David tonight?" Stormer pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. "Shouldn't the two of you be joined at the hip?"

Roxy stuck her tongue out at Jetta as she avoided another backhand attempt. "He's out with Kyoko tonight. She's in town visiting her father for a few days. Apparently she's also having some personal problems at home. I couldn't tell if it was serious or not. I only saw her for a few minutes today before I left for the studio."

Stormer nodded and called Craig on her phone. He answered after a couple of rings. "Hey, it's me. Sheila, Roxy and I are coming by and kidnapping you for dinner and a night of craptastic movies. So take a shower." She listened for a few moments and then rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know. I'm not mom but you need a shower." She lowered her voice a bit. "No, they're not standing right here."

"Ow! You limey tart!" Roxy rubbed the back of her head and glared at Jetta who wore a satisfied grin.

Covering her phone Stormer silently told the two best friends to be quiet. "No, no, that was the TV. Just be ready when we get there." She turned ended the call and backhanded both women on their upper arms. "You two are such children at times."

Jetta just looked at Roxy and giggled under her breath. "Let's get a move on. I need a hot shower meself. Shoulders are bloody killin' me here."

"Maybe Craig will give them a massage if you ask him nicely enough." Roxy let out a yelp when Stormer smacked the back of her head. "Okay, okay, I'll behave. Man you guys are no fun." She smiled when the other two laughed.

Sitting in her home office Jerrica rubbed her temples as she stared at the monitor of her computer. She slowly swore under her breath as she read the latest article on the Cool Trash website. Finally, she closed her browser and opened the door to her office with a slow simmering anger. She walked face first into the person standing outside of her doorway. "Why don't you watch where you're standing?"

"And hello to you too, Jer."

A wave of embarrassment washed over her as she realized it was Rio. She could hear Pizzazz down the hall in the kitchen talking with Mrs. Bailey. "I'm sorry Rio. I was just reading that damned Cool Trash article Aja told me about and it pissed me off." She led him into the kitchen and waved to Pizzazz. "They're saying that Jem and the Holograms are nothing but a fly by night sensation. They're criticizing our lack of an album as an excuse for the attack."

"You know what I say?" Pizzazz asked sitting next to Jerrica. "I say fuck em." She turned when Mrs. Bailey gasped at Pizzazz's language. She just smiled a little. "Sorry Mrs. B, but they have no idea what it takes to actually put an album together. It's hard work. The Misfits have been more in the open than the Holograms and we're getting constantly questioned if we'll be putting an album out." She put an arm around Jerrica's shoulders. "Besides, it's just the Cool Trash magazine. This is like getting angry over our old music teacher giving us criticism. It means nothing."

"Phyllis is right, dear. Your father faced a lot of opposing opinions on his technology. That never stopped him. It drove him to prove them wrong. Use their negativity to strive to be better than them. Because I know you'll do great things." Mrs. Bailey smiled and looked at the clock. "Now, I'll be here a little late tomorrow. I have a doctor's appointment for my knee. You three take care." She gave Jerrica and Pizzazz each a hug and waved to Rio as she left out the back door.

Jerrica just looked at Rio for his words of wisdom. He just grinned and gave a shrug. "Hey, they took the words out of my mouth. Maybe you could release a single to stay in the public eye. Bands are forgotten quickly in this age. Shana is still on leave. Kimber has free time after school since she's met all of her credits for graduation. But Aja is the one we'll have to catch up with. What the hell is going on with that woman, anyway?"

"I have no clue." Jerrica got up and started for the staircase in the kitchen to the second floor. "All I know is that she's been hanging out with that Jeff guy a lot. They're not dating, I would know if they were, but they're doing something." She began walking up the stairs and motioned for Rio to stay. "I'm just getting changed for dinner."

Rio glanced at Pizzazz and arched an eyebrow. "Joining us for dinner then?"

Pizzazz pulled her keys out of her pocket. "Nah, I'm going to give the tapes a listen through. The album comes out next week and I'm trying to distract myself as best as possible so I don't freak out." She turned around and gave Rio a wicked smirk. "And I might just go troll the Cool Trash comment pages. That's always worth a laugh or ten." She gave him a wink and opened the door to find Kimber looking for her keys. She gave her younger sister a hug and ran to her car.

Entering the house, Kimber yelled to let Jerrica know she was home. She gave Rio a lazy wave hello and grabbed a soft drink out of the fridge. "Where are the squirts at?"

"Vanessa, Carmen and Shana took them out for the day. Jerrica wanted to get some Starlight Music business done and didn't want the distractions." Rio leaned back in the kitchen chair. He motioned to Kimber to grab him a drink. "Where were you all day?"

After opening the fridge and tossing Rio a can she leaned on the counter and took a sip of her own drink. "I was out with Maeve since Mary was busy with Misfits stuff. Maeve took me out shopping as an early birthday gift." She pulled a pendant out of her shirt and showed it to her sister's boyfriend. "It's a keytar like from the eighties. She said it suited me."

Rio looked at it and chuckled, "You should learn to play one. I think my dad still has one lying around. I'll bring it by tomorrow."

"Oh great, another instrument to clutter up her room." Jerrica came down the stairs and greeted her sister. "Rio and I are heading out to dinner. The girls should be home in about an hour or so. Nessie took them all out to eat. Speaking of food, have you eaten yet?"

"Depends," Kimber said slowly drawing out the word, "are you giving me money for a pizza? Or am I making my own dinner?"

Jerrica made a show of getting money out of her purse. "I guess the Bank of Benton is handing out cash. You'll be okay by yourself?" Kimber rolled her eyes and nodded. "Alright, I'll see you tonight. If you go out just let Shana know."

"Shouldn't you tell her about the Cool Trash article?"

Kimber looked at the couple confused. "What article?" Her anger rose as Jerrica explained what she read she then tried to calm her sister down. "They can't say that! It's libel! Or—or slander! It's whatever the one is where it's written and untrue!" Kimber pulled her cell phone out and hit speed dial. "I'm calling Mary. I need to get out of here otherwise I'm going to do something stu—Hey, come pick me up. I need to get out of the house and vent." She leaned against the countertop again and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Keep the money, Kim. Go get some food with Mary. We'll see you tonight." Jerrica and Rio left the seething redhead in the kitchen.

Aja paced the length of Jeff's safe house and waited for his contact to get back to him. Jeff had finally decided that they did need help in finding out who was after him. Deep down Aja felt a twinge of excitement knowing that she was involved in an international conspiracy, but at the same time she was disappointed that it wasn't like the movies. In the movies everything happened within moments. In reality it was months of waiting, researching, reaching out for help and constantly looking over her shoulder. Jeff had assured her that she was safe, but he also told her to be cautious.

When the cell phone finally rang Aja felt her heart skip a beat. She didn't realize that she had actually jumped back. Holding her hand over her heart and catching her breath, Jeff just smiled and answered the phone. She watched his expression go from a lingering bit of hope to disappointment to, finally, acceptance. He sat back in the chair and let out a long sigh. "There's good news and bad news. Bad news my friend in Europe has no leads. Good news he was my first call." He looked at the clock on the wall and picked his phone up again. "My CIA buddy in Russia should still be up."

"Well I'm glad that you're the kind of agent who has friends everywhere."

Jeff smirked and set his phone down for a second. "I've told you before; forget all of the stuff you've seen in spy movies. It's actually much more boring and ordinary. Burning bridges doesn't help anyone." He found his friend's name in his phone's directory and made the phone call. Aja sat back in the chair next to him and drifted to sleep.

"I feel like such the stereotype right now," Kyoko said as she took photos of the Los Angeles skyline. She brought the camera to her eye again and snapped a few more pictures. David looked over her shoulder at the results. She shrugged a little as she went through the results. "They'll turn out better when I edit them."

Sitting on the concrete bench of the observatory David pulled out the bottle of sake and poured them each a wooden cupful. He waited until she finished taking another set of photos before giving it to her. "Photography has always been your passion." They saluted each other, lightly bumped the cups together and sipped the rice wine. "I wanted to ask you a favor while you were in town. The Misfits have a few club shows and I was wondering if you could be their photographer. I want to get pictures of them live on their website."

Putting the lens cap back on the camera and turning it off Kyoko sat next to her old friend. "If I'm in town I will. I do have to head back to Osaka shortly and take care of some band business." She nudged David in the ribs with her elbow. "We did lose a certain lead guitarist to an American band, unless you do plan on coming back and working on our new album with us. Eiji is almost finished with the new arrangements and does have you in mind." Kyoko took another sip of her drink.

"Yeah, I'm still in the band. I just needed to get to know my sister again." He looked off at the horizon and went silent for a long moment. "I've also fallen in love with someone I shouldn't be with. Well, I shouldn't say it like that. She's someone I really do care about and admire. We make a great match and I've met her family, who are absolutely insane." Letting his shoulders slump David looked into his cup of sake. "My luck with women hasn't been that great as you know. I'm just letting my old doubts come out with Roxy." He finished his cup in a single toss of his head.

Kyoko laughed softly, mostly to herself. "Ah, the Mighty Ikari has doubts about his love life again. I've seen the two of you together and you mesh so well. I've also seen how Roxy looks at you and it is how I look at Shin." She kissed the top of David's head. "Face it, you two were meant for each other and you're just scared." Kyoko quickly stood up and took a few quick pictures of David. Waving her arms a little, she stabilized herself as David got up and grabbed her arm. "Okay, so I stood way too fast." She put her arm around David's waist until her head stopped spinning. "And I drank too much sake."

"Take your time. You always were a light weight when it came to wine." David led her back to the concrete bench.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyway, my point is that you finally got over what's her name." Kyoko snapped her fingers in the air, trying to spark her memory. She pointed at him when she remembered. "Yuki! That was it. Man, she was a piece of work. Out of all the groupies you chose her crazy ass."

David made a visible grimace at the woman's name. "I still have the scars." He rolled up his sleeves to emphasize the point. "I'm glad she never hit the tendons." He rolled them back down and took a sip from the bottle of sake. "She's still locked up, right? Because last thing I need is her stalking me here. You know she'd do it too."

Putting her camera away in its bag, Kyoko nodded then shrugged. "I think so. I mean, I can check when I get back home. Dammit, that reminds me that I have to cancel the wedding invitations. We're not calling off anything, just postponing it to a better date." She put on her backpack and smiled sideways. "Shin wants us to finish the new album before we do anything. So, that's some motivation for you to come out and work on it." She made a face of concern. "I know that look you've been making it all night. I thought it was the whole Roxy thing. What is it?"

Leading her to his car, David opened the door for Kyoko. He leaned his arms on the roof of the car and gave his best friend a serious look. "There is a reason why I don't think Roxy and I should be together: Daisuke." As he had expected her eyes went wide then to rage. "As it turns out he spent time here in the States and trained as a wrestler with Roxy's family. He even tried to assault her while living with her family." He got into the car when Kyoko angrily sat down. He started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

"I ran into him at Roxy's parent's party. They never fully believed her when she accused him of attacking her. So he was invited and showed up."

"Did you kill him?"

"No. He managed to escape when we fell through the skylight." David glanced at her as he drove. As expected she grabbed the bottle of wine and took a long drink. "Easy there, I don't want to get pulled over. This is why I didn't want to tell you." Kyoko sat in silence for a long time. She finally let out a scream of rage and punched the dashboard over the glove compartment. David drove her back to the Gabor Estate. He knew she shouldn't be alone for the night.

Opening the door to the Gabor Estate, David helped Kyoko through the doorway. She had drunk the rest of the bottle of sake on the ride back to the mansion. He held her tight around her waist and shut the door with his foot carefully. Down the hall he heard the television and some soft laughter. Kyoko stumbled forward as David helped her keep her balance as they walked down the hallway. When they reached the living room, Roxy, Stormer, Craig and Jetta looked up and cheered. Kyoko drunkenly joined in as David looked confused. "What's going on here?"

Roxy pushed herself off the couch after a couple of tries. She wobbled on rubbery legs then found her balance. She helped David set Kyoko in an empty spot next to Stormer and then hugged him tight. "We're having bad movie and drinking night." She glanced at Kyoko and smirked a little. "Looks like she got a head start on all of us." Roxy lowered her voice a little. "She looks drunk and pissed, what did you do?"

David lowered his voice to match hers. "I told her about Daisuke. She was there when he went after my father and I told her about what he did to you. She finished off a whole bottle of rice wine on the drive back here. I brought her home so she could sleep things off and I didn't want her to be alone." He was cut off from his explanation by Roxy leaning up and kissing him. He broke the kiss and felt himself blush when Jetta and Stormer cheered the couple on. "We'll continue that later. "

Leaning against Stormer's shoulder, Kyoko began to fall asleep on it. She started talking incoherently in Japanese. Stormer cleared her throat, "Hey David, she's talking in tongues and scaring me."

"I'll get her into a spare room and then I'll be back." David lifted the Japanese woman up. "Rox, do you have a spare set of clothes she could sleep in?" Roxy nodded and followed him to the second floor. They returned fifteen minutes later hand in hand. David pointed at the trio on the couch. "Quiet. Roxy just helped me change her. For a tiny thing, she can put up a fight. It was like dressing a twenty-two year old toddler." He sat in a recliner and Roxy sat on his lap.

Jetta poured David a drink and handed Roxy hers. "What was she so upset about that she started drinkin' so much? Did she and Shin break up?"

"Nothing like that, I just told her about someone I ran into who hurt us both in the past. Don't worry too much about it."

Craig looked at his watch and started to stand up. "It's late and should get home. It was great hanging out with everyone."

"Bullshit. Sit your ass back down." Stormer yanked on the back of her brother's shirt, sending him back onto the couch. "Phyllis has plenty of room here. David can loan you a spare pair of jogging pants. Take the room next to the one that Kimber is sleeping in."

Settling back into the couch Craig gave a defeated shrug. "If you say so."

The rest of the evening was filled with laughter and drinking. Roxy nudged David as he started to drift to sleep. She pointed at Jetta and Craig cuddled together on the couch. She then threw a peanut at Stormer and got her attention. She mouthed the words I told you slowly and smirked. Stormer smiled and moved to another chair for the rest of the evening.

Pacing the length of her office at Misfits Music, Pizzazz checked her watch again. The shipment of the Misfits album would be arriving at any moment. She sat at her computer and refreshed the page she was on again. It showed the online sales report of the album. It had just barely broken a thousand copies downloaded so far. The physical CD sales were even less. She made a disappointed face and sat back. Deep down she knew she may expect sales like this. A light knock at her door brought Pizzazz out of her thoughts. She turned to see Jerrica open the door with a small wave. "Today is the big day, huh?"

Letting out a nervous laugh Pizzazz just looked at her adopted sister with scared eyes. "I'm freaking out here. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we've released an album. It's a part of my soul out there." She started lightly chewing at the side of her fingernail again.

"Stop that." Jerrica took her sister's hands in hers and looked her in the eye. "I haven't seen you this nervous since our high school graduation. Everything is going to be fine. Stop watching the sales reports for today and check them tomorrow. Today is the day you celebrate being a published recording artist. You've already beat me to making an album. Hell, the Holograms have only finished three quarters of it." Jerrica sat in one of the office chairs and sighed.

Pizzazz shut down her web browser and turned off her desk light. "Come on, Jer. You're coming with me to celebrate the release. You've always been my voice of calm and I'm glad you're there. I'd hate to think of a time and place where we'd be rivals." She gathered her things and put on a light jacket when there was another knock at the door.

Jerrica opened the door and let the delivery service man inside. He set the box down on Pizzazz's desk and held out the datapad to the two women. "Phyllis Gabor? Just sign here." He held out an electronic datapad, which Pizzazz took the stylus and signed her name quickly. The man nodded and wished them both a nice day.

Looking at each other with excitement, Pizzazz grabbed her letter opener and cut the tape on the box. Taking a deep breath she opened the box and then held back a yell of pure joy, when she saw the CDs. She immediately took one out and unsealed it. Taking the booklet out and grabbing a pen, she signed it, 'To Jerrica, Thank you for always being there and supporting me. Love your sister, Phyllis.' Then kissed it, leaving a faint lipstick mark, she put the thin piece of paper back into case and handed it to her sister.

"I want you to have the first signed CD. Without you there would be no Misfits." Pizzazz pulled Jerrica into a tight hug and felt her nervousness and stress vanish almost right away.

TO BE CONTINUED IN "THE BALLROOM BLITZ"

PART 2 OF LIMELIGHT