Kira was ripped aggressively from her sleep by the shrill chirping of the radio alarm clock to find herself alone in the room. She looked around, wiping her eyes in the hope of bringing herself to full consciousness. Jason and herself had finally been found out last night, but while all had went well with their friends, she did not really enjoy having spent almost the entire night on the phone spreading the word to all the others. Not when she had an early marketing meeting this morning.
Rushing a shower, and quickly dressing, she made her way through to the kitchen, finding Tommy in the living room, wrapping presents.
"How can you be so awake?" She yawned, looking through the refrigerator for something for breakfast. "I only got about three hours sleep."
"Didn't sleep." Tommy replied, wrestling enthusiastically with the brightly coloured paper. "Time difference on Aquitar means I'll have to wait another couple of hours before I can use the communicator to call Billy."
"But…how are you so awake?" She asked.
"Wonders of caffeine." He yelled back, holding a large cup above his head. "Cuppaccino, I'd never have survived late night study sessions in college without them."
"Well try to get a little sleep." Kira groaned with a look of concern on her face as she began unzipping a banana. "I want you to meet me for lunch today, remember?"
"Of course, honey." He responded, not even looking up from his wrapping.
"If you can't call Billy for another couple of hours, why didn't you get some sleep?" She asked.
"Well, I figured I was already awake," Tommy began, biting some scotch tape, "and I still had all my presents to wrap…"
"There's still over a week to go." Kira reminded him.
"Just because you like to leave everything to the last minute." Tommy quipped, tossing another parcel on the pile. "Doesn't mean I like to. I like to get these things out of the way."
"Even if you have to wrap them twice?" She quizzed him.
"What do you mean?" He asked, slightly bemused.
"The parcels don't have name tags on them." She replied, kissing him on the cheek as she made to leave. "See you in the café at 1."
"Aw man!" He groaned, tossing the paper aside. "I really do need some sleep."
Kira arrived at the recording studio finding Barry and his accountant standing in the doorway.
"Eaten yet Sparky?" He asked.
"Not really." She remarked. "I had a banana in the apartment."
"Good for potassium, not much else." He quipped back with his usual enthusiasm. "Waffle house down the street, there's a couple of people I want you to meet."
"Who?" She asked, climbing into the back of his waiting limo.
"Well, we're having a morning marketing meeting with Jonathon Starmore, the owner of the Sound Room. Jake Matthews is also going to be there." He answered her. "Jonathon and I just wanted to make the final arrangements for launch night."
"So why's the lead singer of Aftershock going to be there?" She asked.
"He insisted on meeting the support act in person." Barry responded with a shrug. "Said he wanted to find out who was leading him in."
"That sounds a lot like an audition." Kira stated.
"Do you see any instruments?" Barry asked. Kira just shook her head slightly. "Look, just smile, answer any questions politely, and show them the spirited little Sparky we all know and love."
"So we're just going to have breakfast?" Kira asked, slightly confused by this point.
"No, Sparky. YOU'RE just going to have breakfast." Barry laughed, flashing that used-car salesman style smile of his. "I'm going to do what I do best. Make careers."
They arrived in the waffle house a little after ten, finding themselves being lead over to a table in the back room. Kira noticed a man in an expensive white Italian suit standing up from the table and crossing over to Barry, embracing the agent warmly.
"Jonny! Long time." Barry yelled enthusiastically. "How's Jill?"
"A lot happier since we came to that alternate arrangement about the money I owed you from the poker game on Friday." Jonathan answered.
"Since she didn't find out you mean." Barry laughed.
"Bingo." Jonathon answered. "Anyway, I'm sure you know Jake."
He gestured to the other man at the table. A heavy-set, heavily tattooed man in a black T-shirt with long, greasy hair.
"Good to meet the headline act for my performance." Barry announced, extending a hand. Jake shook his hand weakly, barely looking at him and without even getting out of his chair.
"Well this is the support act as requested." He gestured Kira to step forward. "Let me introduce Kira Ford. A brilliant young rising talent."
Kira extended a hand, but this time Jake didn't even acknowledge the gesture. Kira looked to Barry, furrowing her brow slightly, but Barry simply shook his head slightly in a barely-registered gesture to let it go.
"Anyway, I for one could use some coffee." Barry chuckled. "I know this town thrives on morning meetings, but I need at least a gallon of caffeine to function before noon."
"I've already taken the liberty of ordering." Jonathon informed them as he gestured to the waiter bringing in coffee and pastries. "You already won the exclusive rights to use the Sound Room on the 21st, last thing I need is for you to accuse me of being cheap on the tab."
"Never think of it." Barry answered, sitting down and gesturing Kira to do likewise. "Anyway Jake, it's not like you to come out so early. What can I do for you?"
"We agreed to do the gig." He barked aggressively. "So I wanted to see the support act for myself."
"Well, she's right there." Barry replied, sipping some coffee.
"You any good kid?" He snapped at Kira.
""I think so." She replied honestly. "The production company's happy with my work and…"
"Look, we're not looking for someone with a pretty face to play a few nice songs!" He sneered. "We're one of the hottest acts on the scene right now. We're looking for someone to make the crowd hot before we come on."
Kira's eyes shot open wide, she was going to hit a verbal broadside, but a gentle squeeze of her foot, and another barely registered shake of the head from Barry reined her in.
"Any of the audiences I've played to have left happy." She replied, smiling through her teeth as she took out her frustrations on a waffle.
"Trust me Jake. You won't be disappointed." Barry chimed in with his usual confident grin. "Kira will get a little exposure, and you'll get a hot support act and an even hotter audience. I can't say fairer than that."
"Well, I hope she doesn't screw up." He shot back, getting up and leaving.
Barry gently squeezed her foot again, and gestured for her to finish her breakfast. "Anyway, pleasure as always Jonathon. We have to do it again some time."
"Only the next time you fleece me at the table." Jonathon laughed.
"Same time next week then." He joked, shaking Jonathon's hand and rising from the table as Kira followed suit. "Anyway, things to do and all that, call me on the night when we can set up."
With that, they left the restaurant. Barry pulled kira in towards himself, and gently whispered, "when we get to the car." He knew immediately from the look on her face she was far from happy. Climbing into the back of the limo, Kira immediately unloaded.
"What the hell Barry! How could you let him talk to me like that?" She was glowing red beneath her flowing blonde hair. "He talked to me like an idiot! He totally disrespected me! He…"
"Is a useless, moronic loser." Barry interrupted her, lighting a cigar and pouring himself a glass of champagne. "Who we're going to use to springboard your career into the public eye on day one."
"B..but" She stammered.
"Listen Sparky. I'm sorry, normally I wouldn't have put you through that, but he insisted on meeting you. It was one of his conditions for performing." He apologised, removing his rayband sunglasses and looking into her eyes. "Usually it's my job to suck up to the morons and get talked to like crap."
"But why are you headlining him?" Kira asked. "If you don't like his music…"
"But the public do." He chimed back. "For now."
"Huh?" She grunted, more confused than ever.
He leaned in closer, taking her hands in his. "Doubtless these means of attaining power are cruel and destructive of all civilized life, and neither Christian nor even human, and should be avoided by every one. In fact, the life of a private citizen would be preferable to that of a king at the expense of the ruin of so many human beings."
"What's that?" She asked. "Some kind of philosophy?"
"Something like that." He replied cheekily. "Now, lets talk about a playlist."
Tommy had finally managed to get through to Billy on the communicator Billy had sent him, and given him the news. Billy had expressed his happiness for him and promised to attend the wedding. After getting a couple of hours sleep and re-wrapping all his presents, this time with name tags, he made his way over to the diner. He found Kira already there, sipping a soda as she scanned the menu."
"You're late." She groaned, not even looking up from the menu.
"Sorry beautiful." He responded, kissing her and sitting down, picking up his own menu. "How was the meeting?"
"A bit confusing really." Kira replied as the waiter arrived. "Mac and cheese thanks."
"Burger and a cola." Tommy stated, handing back the menu. "So what happened?"
"I'm not sure really. Barry met the owner of the Sound Room, who said something about losing a poker game and giving Barry exclusive rights to the store for the night to repay him." She answered, handing back her own menu. "Then the lead singer of Aftershock started insulting me."
"Sorry to hear about that. What did Barry say about it?" Tommy asked, taking her hand in his own.
"He made me sit back and take it." Kira snorted. "All the while playing nice to him and letting it happen. It was what happened in the limo that confused me."
"In the limo?" Tommy inquired.
"Barry said something about them being popular for now." Kira recalled. "He then apologized for taking me to get insulted, saying that was his job. Then he said something about using Jake to springboard my career and called him a loser." She furrowed her brow as she continued to recall. "Then he said some weird philosophical about kings and peasants and better lives."
"Well, I can't claim to know anything about the music business." Tommy answered her. "But I know a bit about office politics. I've had to pretend I like more than a few idiots myself. Barry seems to know what he's doing."
"He's got me this far I suppose." Kira shrugged.
"I think we should give Barry the benefit of the doubt for now." Tommy reassured her. "Like he said, that's what HE gets paid for." He looked into her eyes as the lunch arrived. "When you're on stage, and the album gets launched, don't you think that'll be worth putting up with a little rudeness?"
"I guess so." She said, picking up her cutlery. "So did you get through to Billy?"
"Sure did." Tommy replied.
"What did he have to say?" She asked.
"Well, Billy being Billy, I kinda missed most of it." He answered her honestly, a slight look of confusion on his face. "But the gist of it is, he's happy for us and he'll be here for the wedding."
"Great, it'll be good to finally meet him." Kira stated. "Everyone's told me so much about him."
"Well trust me, once you meet Billy, you'll never forget him." Tommy laughed.
Early that evening, Tommy and Kira arrived at a restaurant on the outskirts of town, where Jason and Trini had insisted on taking them out for a proper engagement party. Jason had complained slightly about being made to fork out for the meal, but Trini insisted as a way of apologizing for the mean trick he'd played when he first found out about their engagement. Being shown through to the main dining room, they found the rest of the guys already there.
"Properly dressed this time?" Jason asked, striding over to them, hugging them warmly.
"Of course." Kira replied, holding up her left hand. "We're not late are we?"
"Not fashionably so." Barry chimed in, entering the restaurant behind them.
"I invited my producer. I hope you don't mind." Kira introduced him. "This is Barry."
"Heard a lot about you." Jason greeted him, extending a hand.
"Let me guess, Jason Scott Lee." He shot back, accepting the handshake.
"How do you know…"
"I followed the martial arts scene for a while." Barry replied. "You were a bit of a west coast legend for a while there."
"Thanks." Jason accepted the compliment.
"I also heard you weren't a fan of my music back in the day." He stated. "And that you gave Sparky here a bit of a hard time when you got into town."
"Just a couple of stupid jokes." Jason explained. "We put it behind us."
"Well never let it be said I don't enjoy a little joke." Barry laughed. "For example, I called my cousin Dave, who runs the impound yard to tow your car."
Jason immediately bolted from the restaurant. Barry held up a hand as Trini got up, visibly upset.
"He'll be back shortly. I don't have a cousin Dave." He chuckled. "No one's allowed to mess with little Sparky here but me."
"You know Barry, some time you're going to have to tell us why you keep calling Kira 'Sparky'" Tommy told him, gesturing the waiter to add another chair.
"I don't know Sparky, it's up to you." Barry replied, sitting down.
"Oh all right." She groaned. "I suppose so."
"Well it's quite an adorable little story really." Barry began. "When Kira came into the studio to sign the contract, we had a little champagne to celebrate." Kira began to hide her face and pull a little closer to Tommy at this point. "Anyway, one of my other guitarists asked her to give a little demonstration. Poor little mite was so excited and nervous she couldn't stop shaking." He took a little sip of wine "So anyway, she puts her glass down on the edge of the amp, and it falls off, spilling over the junction cables and BANG." He gestured the bang. "Every light in the building goes out. Thank god for circuit breakers is all I can say or the poor little mite could've fried herself."
"Shut up!" Kira protested weakly as everyone began laughing, though she was laughing a little herself at the recollection.
"Anyway, I hope you're looking forward to the concert tomorrow night." Barry interjected. "I pretty much guarantee it'll put you on the map."
"Hey, are there any tickets left?" Rocky asked. By now Jason was arriving back, having found his car in the parking lot safe and sound.
"I have exclusive use of the store for the whole night." Barry answered him. "I was going to have Tommy and myself watch the show from the manager's office, so I don't see why you can't all come!"
"That'd be great." Conner chipped in. "It's been ages since I've been to a concert."
"Anyway, I took the liberty of ordering some champagne." Barry stated, as a waiter began passing around glasses.
"Can I have o.j.?" Zack asked, handing back his glass. "I don't drink anymore."
"Me too. I really shouldn't." Trini stated, also handing back her glass.
"Anyway, let me just say, here's to Kira. A wonderful young woman, and I hope she's very happy."
"Cheers." The group chorused, taking a sip.
Jason stood up, holding his own glass aloft. "Here's to Kira and Tommy. Now that they've FINALLY let us know what's happening. I just want to wish them all the happiness in the world. Kira and Tommy!"
"Kira and Tommy!" The group chorused.