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Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Tanya Sloan opened her eyes as she felt the sun burn onto her face. "Okay, I'm awake!" she exclaimed to her assistant, who was sitting in a chair next to her bed.
"About time!" her assistant said, flipping through a magazine. She looked at her BlackBerry, pressing a couple of buttons. "You've got a radio show with Vida Rocca and her sister, Madison is gonna be filming it for that documentary she's putting together. Later, you're in the studio with Cassie Chen and Xander Bly and then you've got to shoot those pickup scenes on the beach later. Come on, Tanya, get up!"
Tanya turned to look at her assistant. "I'm not even out of bed yet and you've got me doing three million things, already, Jen!" She sat up and threw the covers off of her. "Oh, but Jen Scotts, where would I be without you?"
Jen pursed her lips and gave Tanya a stern look. "Late and disorganized." She pointed to the bathroom. "Get going and I'll let Ronny know to get the car ready." Tanya nodded, stretching her arms over her head as she headed to the bathroom.
Thirty minutes later, Tanya and Jen emerged from the hotel into a waiting Lincoln Town Car. Tanya's driver, Ronny Robinson looked back and saw that Tanya and Jen were safely in the car.
"Good morning, Ronny," Tanya said with a grin. "How are you?"
Ronny shrugged, pulling away from the curb. "I'm doing good. How about you?"
"I can already feel how busy I am going to be today."
Ronny laughed. "It'll be over before you know it."
A few minutes later, Ronny parked the car and Jen and Tanya hurried into the radio station. They were greeted in the front lobby by one of the radio show's producers, TJ Johnson, and were ushered into the studio.
"It's nice to see you again," Vida Rocca, a young lady with short dark hair, said as she hugged Tanya. Vida handed Tanya a set of headphones and gestured for her to sit.
"You too!" Tanya sat down before facing the microphone and putting her headphones on. "Although...I have no idea how you wake up so early every morning!"
Vida smiled and laughed. "You get used to it after awhile."
"So your sister's filming, right?"
Vida nodded. "She should be here soon." The two of them looked as they heard the door open. "There she is. Hey Maddie!" Vida said, waving to her sister.
Madison Rocca waved to Vida and Tanya. "Sorry for being a little late. I was filming at the beach this morning. Some beach volleyball players and their training methods. They wake up earlier than Vida! The sun's not even up, yet." She made a face. "And they do that almost every day!"
Tanya made a face to match Maddie's. "I could barely wake up for this. And it's not even that early. Ask Jen." She pointed to her pink-clad assistant who sat nearby.
Jen nodded. "It's a struggle everyday," she said, matter-of-factly.
"Ten seconds," TJ said. He held up a hand and started counting down his fingers.
Vida waited for TJ's signal before speaking into the microphone. "And that was the new one from Tanya Sloan. I'm Vida Roc and I've got a surprise for you: Tanya Sloan is in the studio with us today!"
Tanya leaned forward. "Hi everyone!"
"Tanya's here to answer some of the questions that any of you crazy fans out there might have. So call us up, you know the number." Vida paused, taking a breath. "So, Tanya, love the new song. What inspired you to write it?"
Tanya leaned forward again to answer Vida's question. She continued answering questions from Vida and fans until she noticed Jen tapping her wrist in the corner. TJ faced Vida with the same motion.
"All right, well, that's all the time we have with Tanya Sloan today," said Vida.
"Thanks Vida," replied Tanya. "I'll see you around." She leaned into the microphone again. "Thanks everyone! I love answering all of your questions!"
"Sorry to cut you off," said Jen. "But we've really got to head to the studio. We didn't get to reserve much time."
Tanya nodded and stood, shaking hands with TJ and Vida. Maddie still had the camera on her and Tanya smiled and blew a kiss at the camera. Maddie gave her a thumbs and grinned. "I'll see you guys. Thanks!" She waved as she and Jen headed out of the studio.
The two of them headed down and jumped in the car. Ronny promptly pulled into traffic and dropped them off in front of the recording studio. Tanya and Jen hurried into the studio and joined a booth where two people were already in the midst of mixing something together.
"Hey guys," Tanya said, sliding into a chair.
"Tanya, you've got only about five hours or so," said Jen.
"Five hours? I thought we didn't have much time."
Jen gave her a stern look. "You know how you are when you get going in the studio. Never want to come out."
Tanya laughed, along with the other two who were with her. She nodded. "Yeah, that is true. Well, why don't you go take a break or something. Tell Ronny she could go ahead and go, too."
Jen nodded. "We'll be back before you know it."
"I'm sure you will," Tanya said with a grin. Jen walked out and Tanya turned to her producers, Xander Bly and Cassie Chen.
"Listen to this, Tanya," Cassie said, pressing a button. Soft guitar strums played over the speakers. "This is the singer I was telling Xander about earlier. I found her at a local cafe," she continued. "She's about to graduate from high school and she's really good."
Xander nodded. "We were listening earlier and she is really good," he said in his Australian accent. "How do you feel working with her?"
Tanya nodded. "Yeah, of course! What's her name?"
"Kira Ford," answered Cassie. "Good, right? So everyone's cool with me asking her to come in and run a few tracks?"
Tanya and Xander looked at each other and nodded. "Yeah, that's fine," Xander said. He and Cassie have been producing partners for as long as Tanya could remember. And they've been producing Tanya since she first got started in the business.
"Yeah," agreed Tanya. "I'd love to run some tracks with her if that's cool with you two."
"That'd be great!" exclaimed Cassie.
Xander pressed another button to play a different song. "Since that's settled, what do you think of this song, Tanya?"
Tanya was quiet, listening to music for a bit. "I like it," she said. Xander handed over the sheet music and she began to study it.
A quick five hours later, Jen walked in the studio and motioned to Tanya, who was still in the booth. Tanya nodded to Jen and walked out as soon as she finished her song.
"Thanks, you guys," she said, picking up her things. "Where in the world did the time go?"
"Yeah, it just flew by," said Xander, pulling off his creme and green plaid hoody. He brushed his shaggy hair from his eyes.
"I'll let you know about Kira," Cassie said. She stood and gave Tanya a hug. "I'll see you later or something."
"Yeah." Tanya gave Cassie a hug and then Xander. "I'll see you guys. Bye. And thanks again!" Tanya and Jen waved to them as they headed out. "So, where to now?" she asked Jen.
"Beach," answered Jen, typing away at her BlackBerry. "You're shooting those pickup scenes for the video there." She looked at Tanya. "It shouldn't take too long."
"Can we stop by Starbucks first? I want to grab something."
Jen sighed and looked at her BlackBerry again. "I guess we have some time."
"So is that a yes for Starbucks?" asked Ronny from the front seat.
"Yeah," Jen answered. "Please."
"No problem," Ronny called from the front seat. She stopped in front of a restaurant, waving a blue SUV to go ahead of her even though she had the right of way. The Asian man who was driving held up a hand in thanks. Ronny nodded and pulled in to the closest Starbucks and Jen and Tanya jumped out.
They approached the counter and ordered their drinks: a tall coffee for Jen, a tall green tea frappaccino for Tanya, and a tall caramel macchiato for Ronny. They waited for the barista to make their drinks and stepped forward to claim them as soon as the barista called it out.
The African-American woman, wearing a long-sleeved yellow shirt looked up as Jen and Tanya reached out hands to grab their drinks. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "You're Tanya Sloan!" she said in awe. "I'm a big fan."
Tanya grinned and stuck out her hand. "Awesome! And thanks. What's your name?"
"My name's Katie." She nervously wiped her hands on her apron before reaching across the counter to shake Tanya's hand.
"Nice to meet you, Katie. I like your shirt," Tanya said, gesturing to Katie. "Yellow's my favorite color."
Katie grinned. "Mine too."
Tanya smiled. "Well, we've got to be going. It was great meeting you, Katie." She held up her drink. "Thanks for the drink!"
"My pleasure." Katie waved to them as they headed out for the car.
"Here you go," Tanya said, handing Ronny her drink.
"Ooh, thanks!" she said, taking a sip as she waited for Tanya and Jen to buckle their seatbelts.
About twenty minutes later, they arrived at a local beach. Tanya opened her door and jumped out, putting yellow sunglasses on her face. "Whoa, crowded much?" she said, walking towards the boardwalk with Jen. "Where are we out here?"
"A bit further down," answered Jen. She dodged a woman, dressed in a white tank top and yellow shorts, who was walking two big dogs. "Excuse me."
"No, I'm sorry," the woman said.
Jen and Tanya continued down the crowded boardwalk. "Look down there," Tanya said, pointing. "Volleyball. I want to play."
"Hmm," Jen said, not looking up. "Maybe later or something," she replied curtly.
Tanya looked around and saw two teenagers running up to her. She noticed that two men were walking awayf rom them, one dressed in jeans and a black long-sleeve shirt and the other dressed in slacks and a red shirt. "Hi!" she said as the teenagers approached her, one in a light blue wetsuit and the other in a navy wetsuit.
"Tanya Sloan!" exclaimed the one in light blue. She had long blonde hair and striking blue eyes that matched her wetsuit. "I'm Tori Hanson. A big fan of yours."
"Thanks Tori." Tanya grinned at the two of them. "So, you two enjoying the waves so far?"
Tori laughed. "Trying to. Blake over here is in need of a serious lesson."
Tanya laughed, looking at the young Asian teenager who stood next to Tori. "Well, I don't want to hold you two up. Have a great day, kids!"
"You too!" Tori and Blake turned to run as fast as they could down the beach.
"Okay, don't kill me, Jen. Let's go." Tanya and Jen hurried down the crowded boardwalk, not paying attention to where they were walking. Tanya was accidently pushed back by a man in slacks and a red shirt. He looked at her with recognition in his eyes.
"Oh, excuse me," he kindly said.
"It's okay," Tanya said. She was about to walk around the man and his friend when his friend, dressed in jeans and a black shirt turned and bumped into her, knocking Tanya to the ground. A fleeting, strange flash of images overcame Tanya. She shook her head a bit and looked up at the man.
"Tanya..." he said, reaching out a hand.
Tanya furrowed her brow, unsure if she should take it. She grabbed his hand and a rush of memories flooded her mind. She saw herself morphing into the yellow Zeo ranger and later, the yellow Turbo ranger. She saw herself and Adam staying up late, studying and watching movies. She remembered Adam teaching her different martial arts moves and being in awe of how patient he was with her. She saw herself pitching on a baseball team and remembered how she and Tommy had once sang during an entire fight with the Machine Empire. She saw herself celebrating Kwanzaa with the other rangers, although they had celebrated all different types of holidays. As her memories faded to a close, she saw herself smiling at Adam, realizing that it wasn't some weird dream.
"Adam..." she said, throwing her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged Tanya tightly. "Oh, Adam..." she said tenderly. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he said, gazing at her with love in his eyes. He ran his fingers through her hair.
She smiled up at him for a long time before taking her eyes off of him and noticing Rocky standing next to them. "Oh, and Rocky..." Tanya unwrapped her arms from Adam and held them out for Rocky.
"Hey Tanya," he said, grinning and hugging her. He took a step back, getting tangled in dog leashes. "Oh..."
"I'm so sorry." The same woman that almost ran into Jen earlier tried to detangle the leashes.
"It's o-whoa!" Rocky threw out his arm and the woman grabbed it, trying to catch him before he fell. She threw him a startled look, letting go of him, dropping Rocky abruptly to the floor.
"I'm so sorry!" she repeated.
"It's okay," Rocky said. "Aisha...it's okay."
Aisha Campbell looked at him in shock. "You saw that, too?" she asked. Rocky grinned, nodding before he stood up. He put his hands on both sides of her face. She took a step back in fear. "No..." she protested.
"Yes..." Rocky said, taking a step closer to her. Once again, he put his hands on her face. "Just let it come to you, you'll understand." He looked deeply into her dark brown eyes. "Just let it come to you..." he said, softly.
There's that chapter! Please review! Thanks for reading!
Next chapter: Aisha.