Author's Note:
Hola my lovely readers!
I hope you are all well today?
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I'm currently having a terrible cold - thanks to the awful weather here -
which leaves me with tearing eyes, an itching throat and a bad headache -
so not the best requirement to write a lot or writen very often. Sorry!
Once I feel better there will be a longer update again, until then, I hope you enjoy this as well!
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I'm sending out my biggest thank's to my reviewers who are actually the reason I keep going with this story :)
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Disclaimer:
No. I'm not owning anything but Faye.
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IMPORTANT NOTE:
Even though I'm not planning on stopping this story anytime soon, I already have ideas for a new one!
There is link to a poll on my profile that gives you the opportunity to decide who my next story should be about.
[a link because I'm somehow not able to publish two polls at once... o.ô]
PLUS a poll of Entrance-Song suggestions for Faye -
I want to make this story a bit more interactive, so you - yes you - as my wonderful reader have a chance
to make some decisions concerning this story.
Go vote please! : )
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Yes she had to admit, it had been a very pleasant surprise to see the woman again who had actually been the first person Faye had met when she had entered the WWE headquarters.
Josefina- or Jo like she insisted on being called had smiled broadly when she had noticed the newest addition to the wrestling rooster entering the backstage area of the hall they'd be taping the latest SmackDown episode in.
"Told you we'd meet again," the striking had said, making her dark eyes sparkle with amusement and Faye ask herself if she unknowingly had met another fellow Diva. This wasn't the case as she was about to find out.
To be honest, Faye was glad to immediately be confronted with a familiar face after she had walked into the big Stamford arena – otherwise she probably had tried to follow the crowd of people that walked around until she would find the dressing and make-up room she was supposed to get ready in.
Luckily Jo had grabbed her by the wrist and walked ahead, greeting some people of the security staff, technicians and fellow backstage workers while Faye barely was able to wave an hello, walking straight into brightly lit room that had make-up scattered all over the big tables that where attached in front of the mirrors.
And now Faye had been sitting in there for a little above an hour since she came back from her little pampering marathon none other than Stephanie McMahon-Levesque had ordered her to undergo. Not that she really complained about it – it was a nice change of scenery to just enter that spar and let go. Most definitely one of the last times she would be able to do absolutely nothing in, well, at least a while. Just relaxing and do nothing for a couple of hours, she knew how exhausting the life on the road could be.
But there was nothing she wanted more, after all she had picked a life like this very voluntarily.
She made a decision all those years ago to become a professional wrestler, she knew how tiring a life like that could be, she had seen it on her brother. She had seen the bruises, visited him in the hospital often enough – especially during his first active years with TNA.
But she also had seen how fulfilling this life had been for him despite the injuries and the days on the road, despite the holidays he spend away from his family and the birthdays he missed.
No – if she had wanted a different life she had taken the scholarship she had been offered and would have become something entirely different. Something "secure", something that "didn't put your health on the line".
Those where the words of her mother as she tried to convince her to do something different with her life other than stepping into her older brothers footsteps. But deep down inside her mother must have known that her only daughter would want a life like this – otherwise Faye couldn't explain why she should have been okay with her decision to sign her contract with the Ohio Independent Circuit. To be honest she already had prepared to get into a fight with her - since Jennifer Harter was about as stubborn as she was- but no – with a "but be careful" her mother had embraced her into a tight hug and had been very supportive ever since. Thank god.
Especially now that she started something new it was good to know that her family had her back and it was definitely entertaining to hear that her mother had told her she had informed their whole Detroit neighborhood that her only daughter would be seen on national TV soon.
Faye could almost picture her barely 5 foot 2 whirlwind of a mother running through their backyard towards the fence that was bordering to the garden of their terribly nosy neighbor Mrs. Swimmer.
By now Mrs. Ruth Swimmer must have been 80 something year old, but even when Faye still had lived at home she couldn't stand that woman. No family that visited her that woman had lived alone for as long as Faye could remember, living only with her three dogs and god-knews how many cats, she was a mean, uptight person who liked no one. Especially not children.
Back in the day when they had played outside with friend or even on their own, that woman had always found a reason to complain about the noise they made. The laughing – too loud; they were playing soccer - "not near my house". And it got worse when both Josh and Faye started to get interested in wrestling as kids, scuffling on the ground, imitating their favorite wrestler's they had seen on TV – Mrs. Swimmer had the nerves to call the police on their parents because apparently they raised two "very violent children". Even the police had to roll their eyes at these accusations when her mother had tried to explain their situation to the officers as calm as possible despite the anger seething inside of her.
Some people just seemed to enjoy to make the life of others more complicated.
And with an absolute smug delight Jennifer Harter had informed their neighbor what her son was doing, instead Ruth should ever wonder why he'd come to visit her with a cast around his neck or a broken arm. Their father was the absolute opposite from his wife- calm, patient, always amused about her rants which sometimes made Faye wonder who's character traits she had inherited more...
So after she enjoyed hours of merely relaxing to soft and soothing music, getting massages and various face masks, manicure and pedicure she spend most of the afternoon at the hairdresser, texting back and forth with her mother who wanted to get an update on everything that the hairstylists were about to do to her. Not the most easiest thing to do when you don't know what they were about to do.
Faye wasn't that picky when it came to her looks – as long as she wouldn't exactly get jet black hair or a pixie cut- she'd be fine.
And even that worry of her's was washed away by a flamboyantly dressed male who assured her that they'd keep her hair length and just "freshen up" her look. Whatever that would mean. She trusted them, after all she wanted something new – she wasn't at SHIMMER anymore, so good-bye pink-purple-brunette hair.
After additional hours of smelling hair dye and conditioner she was finally able to get a glimpse at her new hairdo and – she liked it.
They had added some layers into her usual straight hair, adding some blonde highlights at the tips that now reached her chest in soft waves. It was something she easily could get used to and nothing too extraordinary – or so she thought.
Once she was finished and had immediately been brought to the Stamford arena where Jo had dragged her into the dressing room, the make-up artist did a double take as soon as Faye stood in the middle of the brightly lit room with the odd red pattern covering the wall.
"Oh my god!" the brunette had exclaimed with a loud gasp, holding her dark red painted hands up to cover her mouth, "you have Whitney Port hair!".
Well. Yeah.
Apparently this was a good thing since Jo danced around her giddily, grinning like a little child who just got a bucket full of candy. Now neither did Faye know who the heck Whitney Port was nor was she fully aware of the fact that now she apparently was a proud owner of an Ombre Hair Color. Which made her feel slightly left out for not knowing about the latest trends of the fashion industry but she blamed it on the fact that as a make-up artist, Jo had to know these things.
So, most of her hair was her natural light brown color, only the tips were lighter- enhanced by the fact that it was now layered Jo told her. She was pretty much a blonde now.
They didn't waste anymore time due to their rather tight schedule so Jo thankfully decided to fill her in on what would happen next.
"Well, I'll be doing your make-up and hair, that's my job after all," the brunette said with a laugh as she guided her towards a chair in the middle of a long row of still empty seats, "after that Stephanie ordered me to pick out some nice new clothes for you and then you are ready to rock your first TV segment, right?"
"I hope so," Faye replied with an uneasy smile as she tried to get her scrip out of her hopelessly stuffed bag. If she was stuck here now, she might as well could go over her lines again. It was nothing big she had to learn by heart, but she rather wanted to play safe than making an idiot out of herself for screwing up her parts.
"Oh, that's your script?" Jo's eyes lit up in excitement as she noticed the familiar blue folder that was so very typical for the SmackDown stars and she had seen many times before, "come on- tell me, what's your segment about?"
"Actually not that much," Faye replied humbly, looking down at the folder in her lap as she opened it, greeted by the highlighted green passages she had underlined to make her own parts more visible, "The first all about some sort of 'new girl is looking for the general manager' kind of moment where I'll be acting as if I'm lost as so I'll be asking the next best person for the directions to Theodore Long's office, he'll give me an attitude and then we will luckily be interrupted by the manager himself and I'm saved."
"And 'the next best person' will be?" Jo asked while she started to cover Faye's face with the first layer of foundation.
"Uhm- WadeBarrett?" Faye answered with closed eyes, her brows furrowed slightly as she tried to remember the right name that so prominently appeared all the way through her script over and over again.
"Ouh." Jo whistled lowly making the younger woman jump under her touch.
"What? Why?" Faye gasped out slightly worried, "He's no dick, ain't he?"
"No, no," Jo replied, chuckling slightly at Faye's choice of words, reaching out for the brightest tone of concealer, "Stu is actually a really nice guy once you actually talked to him for a bit longer – but his on-screen character Wade, well- yes, he's a dick."
"Hmm, I thought so," Faye sighed slightly as she closed her eyes again, feeling the soft sponge spreading the make-up over her face. She remembered the lines in her head and judging from that Wade Barrett wasn't exactly someone she'd consider Mister Nice-Guy. But as long as long as the person behind it was alright, she had nothing to worry about.
"You said that it's the first part- so what's the second one about?"
"Me- or better said 'on-scree-Faye' talking to Theodore Long who is welcoming her to SmackDown, then they will be interrupted by Barrett again – he is mean, she is throwing back some comments apparently not taking his shit at all, which is making him even more pissed and angry at her until Teddy will send him away for his match!"
"Touché" Jo said with a smile, actually liking what she was hearing about the new storyline.
"So, his real name is Stu?" Faye asked after a short while of silence.
"Yes, well- actually it's Stuart Bennett. But he insists on being called Stu," Jo explained as she began to powder the Detroit native's face, "you won't be able to miss him once you'll start filming, he's the really tall and brooding dark haired guy, big tattoo on his arm- oh and he's from England. Epic accent I might add!"
"Hmm," she hummed slightly, carefully taking the information in.
"Don't worry, he really isn't a bad guy off screen," she said, nudging the shoulder of a slightly pouting Faye with the tip of her make-up brush, "as long as you're not joking about that favorite football club of his, it's all good. Apparently that's a very touchy subject for him."
Faye raised an eyebrow at this.
"You know – this his one guy dared to do so and – he hasn't been seen since," Jo playfully mused as she stroked her chin in a playful matter, bursting out into loud laughter as she noticed Faye staring back at her looking anything but relaxed in this moment.
"Oh doll, relax," the darker haired woman said with a laugh, patting her shoulders reassuringly, "no one is going to eat you around here, okay?"
"I know," the blonde replied meekly, sinking deeply into her chair with a faint blush on her pale cheeks, "I'm just a little nervous, that's all."
"Well, that's understandable. But believe me, most of the guys and almost all of the girls here are pretty nice people to be around. Heck – I have to know, I'm dating one of those douches."
"You're dating one of the wrestlers?" Faye sat up as she registered what the brunette - who just turned around to the vanity table to grab some new brushes- had said.
"Yes, yes I do," Jo replied with a lazy grin as she turned around again, a pallet of dark eye-shadows in her hand, "he's with the RAW rooster though, so we're currently testing out the long-distant-relationship thing until either he gets drafted to SmackDown or I am able to snatch a job at RAW. Luckily we Make-Up artists aren't usually bound to one brand so- yeah, it's all good right now."
"What's his name?" Faye asked curiously
"Mike" Jo replied with a smile as she began to work on the newest WWE Diva's eyes, planning on giving her a very dark smokey eyes-look.
'Mike... Mike' Faye went over and over again in her brain, but the name Mike didn't ring a bell there. Admittedly, she didn't knew every wrestler's real name by heart, barely a few, Mike not being one of them. Mike could be short for Michael. Oh well, she'd find out sooner or later, right now she felt it to be inappropriate to be asking Jo any more personal questions- she did not really come off as nosy.
After that the two women fell into a comfortable conversation with each other about everything and nothing. Jo told her how she had become a Make-Up artist for the WWE were Faye explained her the long road from starting out in Ohio over to being signed up by Vince nearly 7 years later.
"So, is Miss Harter having a boyfriend back home?" Jo asked teasingly after she finished her eyeshadow, moving on to the final touch of mascara.
"No, no boyfriend at home, no boyfriend on the road, Faye is single!" the blonde replied with a short laugh, her hands raised as she smacked her lips to spread the nude lipstick on them.
"Oh, why that?" Jo asked while she applied a thin layer of light pink blush onto Faye's cheeks, "you're gorgeous, surely you must have had many admires back at your old brand- what was it called- SHIMMER?"
"Well, SHIMMER is an all-female brand, so dating one of my co-wrestlers was not an option since I'm not flowing that way," Faye said, tilting her head to the right with a smile, "we did spend time at many Ring of Honor events, but mostly for just one fight and we where back on the road again." She breathed in and out loudly, shrugging slightly as she realized how lonely she had been sometimes, "I guess it comes with the job, Wrestling isn't really something that is good for a relationship unless you are dating someone who absolutely understands the business."
"There are plenty of single guys out there though," Jo replied seriously, putting away the brushes as she sensed the younger woman's change of mood at the topic, "I'm so down to play the matchmaker for you- what's your type then?"
Despite her tries Faye couldn't help but giggle at Jo's sudden eagerness to be her wingwoman.
"Noo," she drawled, trying not to blush as she shielded her face from the other woman's intense stare with her hands, "I'm not even searching for a boyfriend at the moment, thank you very much!"
"Hmpf," the brunette let out with a huff, clearly not happy with an answer like that and clearly not believing her either, "well, if you should be interested-"
"But I'm not-"
"But if you are-" Jo playfully poked Faye's nose with the make-up brush, "let me know, and I'm going to hook you up with someone, you'll see- I will do that" she said with a wink, her laugh echoing though the room as Faye once again sunk further into her chair with an adorable red tinge rising up her cheeks.
"Gee, I don't know if I'm comfortable with this" she sighed in defeat, rubbing her heated cheeks with the tips of her fingers.
"Anyway," Jo exclaimed loudly, moving around the chair to the opposite side of the room, "we're done with your make-up, take a look in the mirror while I'll be busy with finding some clothes for you."
Pushing herself off the chair Faye took a close look in the mirror, halfway watching Jo out of the corner of her eyes before she checked her own appearance again.
'Wow' she mouthed slightly, clearly impressed with what she saw. Jo had did one hell of a job – the smokey-eyes looked pretty bad-ass, seeming to increase her already intense blue eyes ten times. It was definitely a bit more make-up than she would wear normally but now wasn't a normal occasion so she was okay with it. More than okay.
"Well, let's see- we've got your size an Stephanie told me to pick something rock-ish but not too over the top-" Jo began to mumble more to herself than to anyone else as she went through the amount of clothes that was attached to the big wardrobe in front of her, "god knows we don't want you looking as desperate as Miss Massaro did, right?"
Faye walked around the chair she just got up from once she was able to tear herself away from the mirror, leaning back against the seat, absently wondering who this Miss Massaro woman was. She bent one knee so one of her feet rested against the wood of the stool and simply watched Jo doing her thing. The brunette probably did not want to be interrupted anyway and she seemed to know better what style seemed to fit best for on-screen-Faye.
If she picked something hideous Faye assumed that she could still say no to it... right?
"No need to go out in bra and panties when you're shooting a backstage segment," Jo kept on talking with her back towards a very amused Faye before finally turning around with a pile of clothes in her arms.
"We've got these washed out Roy Rogers skinny Jeans," she said, as Faye pushed herself away from the chair to take the light blue pants from her, "and choose between the three tops here, they are all a bit more loosely cut so one side can hang over your shoulder and we can brush your hair over the other side, sound good?"
Faye merely nodded with a smile, actually liking her new attire.
"Don't worry, your ring wear will probably consist a very similar style," Jo continued as she looked around the room apparently searching for something, "you know, jeans shorts, cut up shirts similar like Kat Von D is wearing her's or jeggings, actually really cool stuff. Seems like Stephanie really put some effort to create a pretty bad-ass character for you style wise and not so very skimpy-skimpy likesome others are preferring their clothes."
"Unless you actually want clothes like that" Jo suddenly quickly turned around and looked at her with slightly widened brown eyes. "Oh, no, nono-" Faye waved her free hand that wasn't holding the new clothes dismissively actually feeling slightly uncomfortable at the thought of just running out into the ring in pretty much nothing – in front of a thousands of people. Millions even since it was aired world wide. Not to mention that she would probably earn a slap over the head by her mother the next time she'd be in Detroit.
"Hey, I'm not one to judge," the make-up artist said with a smile as she held up her hands in mock surrender, "who knows- maybe you have an exhibitionistic side I'm not aware of."
With a slight snort Faye shock her head, making her newly turned blonde hair jump around her slightly.
"Aha!" Jo suddenly let out, finally seeming to have found what she had been looking for.
"And you'll be also be wearing- these shoes!" she moaned a little, kneeling down to picked up a pair of really high high heels, obviously smitten judging by the way she looked at them. Now, if she stayed in a position like that, Faye have could bet money on the fact that she was about to drool at the sight of the leathery goods.
"Those shoes?" Faye replied with an arched eyebrow as she pointed to the pair in the brunette's hands, her black rimmed smokey eyes gazing up and down the admittedly slightly terrifying heels.
"Yes, these shoes!" Jo said again, demonstratively holding them up towards her, but Faye just shrugged slightly. Shoes were shoes- right? She loved shoes no doubt, but she wasn't a crazy shoe fanatic unlike the woman in front of her...
"No!" the brunette to her feet gasped dramatically, suddenly clutching the pair of shoes tightly to her chest, "heathen be gone! You are not worthy of these Giuseppe Zanotti Sharon Boots!"
"The- what?" Faye dared to ask, before barely jumping aside to not be hit by the Make-Up artist who apparently took great pride in knowing the brand of these- murder weapons.
"Hush you!" Jo laughed good-naturedly, handing her the pair with another dramatic sigh, "go now, try everything on, and don't you dare to tell me that they do not look fantastic!"
No, Faye didn't dared to, instead she chuckled amused, picking up the pair of black leather shoes and walked towards the corner of the room that had been changed into a changing cubicle.
Minutes later and after quite the fight against a very tight pair of jeans and a very high pair of shoes she stepped out it again, earning a loud appreciative whistle from Jo who stood not far away from her with her arms closed.
"You look fantastic!" the brunette said, eying her from head to toe, "turn around please?" she asked as she stepped up to her, picking up the dark gray-ish shirt so it asymmetrically hung from her shoulder. "You want to try on the other tops as well?"
"No," Faye said after she had looked at herself in the full-frontal mirror, "I think I actually like this one a lot. You think it's okay?"
"More than okay! Perfect to make a good and lasting first impression to the WWE universe if you ask me." Jo said, sending her another bright smile. "We're just going to put your hair over your shoulder like this-" she said, gently pulling most of Faye's hair over her left shoulder so the other one was slightly more exposed, "and all we need is to fix those waves with a whole lot of hairspray."
She quickly jumped away from her, running over to the make-up-covered tables, grabbing the biggest bottle of hairspray and started to spray it all over her for several seconds.
"Done!" Jo exclaimed happily as she looked at Faye, obviously very pleased with what she was seeing, "you're ready to go now and- well, you pretty much have to go now!"
Faye nodded quickly, taking one last look into the mirror before starting to walk towards the door again.
"You can leave your bag here until you are done," Jo said with a wave of her hand as she stopped to look out for said bag, "I'll be here the whole time, the other diva's will probably arrive soon as well."
"Alright," Faye said, sighing deeply before turning towards Jo again, "thank you so much!" she said jogging up two steps towards her, embracing the woman that from now on would be someone she'd be seeing for as long as she'd work for the WWE in a quick hug.
"Oh, doll, you're very welcome," the woman with the Italian background said before giving her a little push, "now go- rock that segment of yours."
"Aye, aye!" Faye laughed, giving her a two-fingered salute and then quickly walking out of the room with big steps. Or at least as big as the heels she was wearing where allowing her.
She was so lost in thoughts that were going over her lines over and over again, that she did not even looked out properly as she walked around the corner rather quickly-
"Ohh, hold on, hold on-" two strong hands suddenly grabbed her shoulders, preventing her from colliding with the person who steadied her rushed walk, "not so fast!"
Surprised, shocked and admittedly a bit embarrassed about her carelessness she looked up with big eyes, her features immediately lit up at the sight of the person who was standing in front of her.
"Bryan!" she let out happily, her face splitting into a big toothy grin, almost jumping up and down a bit. Yes, the sudden adrenaline rush sometimes made her react overly joyous.
"Hey-" he said, his face mirroring her happy expression, "wow, you look happy-" but then he stopped in mid-sentence, taking a step backwards "-wait, you look different!"
"Well yes," a small giggle escaped her lips "I'm officially trimmed to WWE Diva status now," Faye said, twirling around purposely, making her newly dyed hair fly around her. Apparently that was enough for him to stop talking and she didn't really know what to make of his reaction- he kept looking at her with slightly widened eyes which made her shift a bit awkwardly so she decided to guide the conversation away from her again.
"And you, having a match now?" she asked as she put her hair back over her shoulder again. He obviously was dressed in his ring attire, dressed in a white jacked with a ripped red pattern and white wrestling boots. She also realized that her heels almost made them equally tall. Almost. He was still an inch or so taller, thank to her being... well... small.
"Yeah I'm about to meet up with my opponent" Bryan said as he shifted the blue "Money in the Bank" briefcase that formerly was attached under his arms into his right hand.
"Oh- well, good luck with that I guess," she said, immediately furrowing her brows in sympathy at the sight of him grimacing, signaling that his loss was already scripted.
"And you, what's the rush about?"
"I'm about to shoot my first segment now to finally get this whole storyline thing going"
"Oh admit it, you just can not wait to get saved by me, right?" Bryan said with a grin, rubbing his bearded chin as he mentioned their connected storyline. She had to admit, there was worse than being put into a storyline with him. She had actually hoped for something like that – not that she'd say it out loud. Ever.
"Right!" Faye replied with a short laugh, pursing her lips to prevent her smirk from getting too big, "that's what my whole existence is centering around right? The fact that one day you'll be rescuing me from the big, bad wolf!"
"You know, that's what I do, I'm a nice guy like that."
For a few seconds they looked at each other, both with an equal smile on their faces, no one saying a word. Both probably thinking a lot, yet neither of them dared to say something out loud.
"Alright, alight" Faye eventually broke the silence with a small sigh as she stared don't at her feet before looking up again "I really have to go now, good luck with your match!" she said, quickly giving him a little wave, turning around on the tip of her heels to walk down the corridor again.
"Hey- wait," Bryan then said quickly, scratching the back of his head a bit awkwardly as she turned around, "some of us are planning to hit a bar after the show is done so.. Maybe you want to come along? You know to- get to know the others. And so on."
'Yeah, and so on,' Faye thought with a smile, barely able to hide her amusement as Bryan coughed a little then hesitantly meeting her eyes with an expectantly raised eyebrow.
"You'll be there as well?" she asked after a few seconds of silence with a tilt of her head, her mouth curled up in a tiny smile.
"Well, yes, of course," he said, the broad grin back on his face as he shifted the bright blue briefcase from one hand into the other, "- I don't drink, but that doesn't mean that I won't come."
"Hmm" Faye hummed as she took in the new information that he didn't drink any alcohol debating on what to think of it but quickly agreed with a nod of her head, "I'd love to tag along I guess- I haven't really gotten the chance to meet anyone yet, besides you and a handful of others."
It seemed like he sighed a bit in relief at hearing her agreeing to his offer before his face relaxed into an easy smile, his light blues eyes scanning her face. Oddly enough she felt her cheeks heat up under his gaze as she met his eyes so she quickly tried to overplay her reaction with a rather rushed clap into her clammy hands. 'Damn it,' she swore loudly in her mind, biting the insides of her lips slightly to prevent her from blushing some more.
"Well," Faye said after the clap, scratching her eyebrow with one finger, "I better get going, don't want Mr. Barrett to get a wrong first impression of me, do I?"
"Good luck with him," grinning again Bryan was already starting to walk backwards, seeming strangely pleased with himself, "just don't look him in the eyes!" he said mockingly which actually made Faye snort loudly in response.
"Gee, thanks a lot," she said sighing theatrically, actually silently thanking him that he was someone who was so easy to get along with and apparently someone who did not notice her blush – or so she thought –, "quite a way to be supportive here, Daniel."
Hearing him laugh at this she waved him off with a smile, also starting to walk backwards towards her destination. She quickly added a "see you later then" before he might regret his decision of inviting her along, jumping around quickly to walk back towards the backstage corridors finally shooting her first backstage segment with the infamous Wade Barrett.
Recalling her script he would be someone that was supposed to make the life of on-screen Faye Harter a little less bearable...
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I hope you enjoyed this - please don't forget to vote!
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Next Up: A night-out with Superstars.
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Give a poor little sick author a review to make her feel better? ;)
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Thank you for reading,
Moony M.