When Brian escorted Sally to the club that night, he insisted on bringing her all the way to the stage door. Sally had wanted to have him backstage with her while she got ready to take the stage, but the tightly-cramped quarters left him feeling very claustrophobic. He promised to meet her at the door after the show, and with a kiss they parted ways.

Brian found himself a seat near the front of the stage and couldn't help but look around at the colorful patrons surrounding him. He could swear that just about every "woman" in this place was a drag queen. The amount of smoke in the air was enough to make him gag, and he found it difficult to remember why exactly he'd agreed to this again. But the moment Sally hit the stage, it all came flooding back to him, and he felt an overwhelming sense of pride as Sally sang, danced, and completely owned that stage.

Although Sally had always prided herself as being one to try and connect with each and every member of her audiences personally, Brian noticed that tonight, her eyes barely left his - especially when the lyrics seemed pertinent to him. He could swear some of these were aimed directly towards him...

What good is sitting alone in your room?
Come hear the music play...

Well, you can't get much more direct than that, now can you? Brian watched, mesmerized by her voice, the words, even the shimmer of the stage lights bouncing off the blue beads dangling down the middle of her purple silken dress. Every last move she made was magical, and for a few moments, Brian forgot that this was the first time he was having these sort of feelings about a woman.

As soon as her segment was over, while the applause were still flooding in, Brian raced for the stage door, wanting to get there before any chance of another man getting there in place of him and sweeping Sally off for the night with him. Meeting her just as she was walking down the steps off the side of the stage, he swept her into his arms and kissed her cheek.

"You were wonderful, Sally," Brian said, smiling as he eased her back down to the floor after twirling her around with him in his arms.

She smiled up at him, seemingly unaware of the bustling busyness brushing past them as they embraced in the middle of the corridor. "See why I've been trying to get you to come see me for so long now, darling?" Hints of teasing peeked through her playful exterior.

Brian chuckled and offered a nod. Sally's eyes twinkled mischievously as it became apparent she was getting an idea. As she dipped into her pocket, he asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm making our mark on the world, darling!" she exclaimed exuberantly with all the grandeur in the world as she pulled her tube of crimson lipstick from her pocket and quickly uncapped t.

"Sally, no, don't-- you're going to ruin your--"

But his words couldn't escape the confines of his mouth fast enough, as Sally had already turned toward the brick wall behind her, brought her hand up, and scrawled S.B. + B.R. inside of a heart.

Brian covered his face with his hand in almost embarrassment, feeling his cheeks go warm from blushing. "What am I going to do with you?"

Sally turned back to him and rested her hands on his chest, leaning almost dangerously close to his face, and whispered "You can start by buying me a drink." She stole a quick kiss from him before he could object, giggling. It was contagious, and again he couldn't help but smile.

Finding himself once again back in the present, he quickly wiped away a tear that threatened to escape, and realizing just how much he had lost when he made the decision to return to England.