I get on with life as a Beach Bum,
I'm a Happy kinda person.
I like Watching Waves on Sundays,
I like Relaxing during the week.
I like to contemplate Summer.
But when I start to daydream,
My mind turns straight to Oceans.
Oh oh oh!
Do I love Oceans more than Summer?
Do I love Oceans more than Summer?
I like to use words like 'Cool,'
I like to use words like 'Righteous.'
I like to use words about Summer.
But when I stop talking,
My mind turns straight to Oceans.
Oh oh oh!
Do I love Oceans more than Summer?
Do I love Oceans more than Summer?
I like to hang out with my friends,
I like to kick back with a cool drink
But when left alone,
My mind turns straight to Oceans.
Oh oh oh!
Do I love Oceans more than Summer?
Do I love Oceans more than Summer?
I'm not too fond of being alone,
I really hate Working,
But I just think back to Oceans,
And I'm happy once again.

Kassidy looks at the words she just jotted down to a new song. She picks up her rum and coke and takes a sip from it. She was enjoying the short vacation she and the band were on.

When they returned from doing several gigs months ago. They needed a break to recover. One of the popular radio stations in their hometown held a contest for an all-expense trip to Beverly Hills, California. Since her friend Rose lived in Beverly Hills, she entered the contest.

The contest consisted of identifying several short music clips in order. Not only had she identified the song clips and in order, but also what years the music first came out. She won the prize for the all-expense trip for her and four others.

They were staying at the Beverly Hills Marriott. She and Shawna were sharing a hotel room Jerry and his girlfriend Clair were sharing a room with their new guitar player Tony. Tony had joined them a month after they had returned to Fallon. Eddie ended up going to rehab for his drug problem and never returned to the band.

Shawna was lying next to Kassidy, on her belly with her top strings undone so she wouldn’t have tan lines on her back. She was lightly sleeping from staying out late last night partying. She had asked Kassidy to apply lotion to her back, so she wouldn’t burn.

Kassidy spotted Jerry, his girlfriend Cindy, and Tony enjoying themselves in the pool. Cindy was wearing a string bikini, but it acted more like a thong swimsuit. Most of her butt cheeks were exposed. Jerry and Tony were wearing speedos and showed off how well-hung they were.

A smirk appears on Kassidy’s face when she spots several women looking towards Tony. She had to admit he was a handsome fellow and well-built for a guitar player. He had a nice tan and loved to keep his body in shape.

Kassidy picks up her glass again and takes another sip from it. The bartender had asked to see her ID, because of how young she looked. Most women would have gotten upset about that, but she didn’t. If nothing else, she was a little pleased with it.

Kassidy relaxes against the back of her lounger and continues to write some more songs for them. She still needed to look over some songs Jerry, Tony, and Shawna had written. They had a gig in three weeks and they needed time to practice their new songs for it.

Their manager Cynthia at Gasket Productions was lining up several places for them to play at. Not only that, but Rose had asked her if they would open up for her when she came back from Australia. Rose’s band was doing a world tour and wouldn’t be back in the States for four months.

When Kassidy passed that information over to Cynthia. She knew Cynthia was impressed with her and agreed to the request. Rose’s band was almost as famous as some of the big names.

Kassidy orders another rum and coke and enjoys the relaxation. Since she joined Ecstasy, she has been treated better than she had been in some of the past bands she has sung for. She just hopes that their string of good luck holds out.

Tony gets out of the pool and walks over towards Shawna and Kassidy’s location. His lounger was near theirs, but several seats away.

“Not coming into the pool, Kassidy?” Tony knew Kassidy loved swimming pools.

Kassidy lowers her sunglasses to look over them towards Tony. She didn’t believe in dating bandmates. It led to problems and disruption in the band.

“I’ll be joining you in a few minutes. I want to finish my drink before jumping in.”

“Okay, I’m going to be waiting for you.” A smile appears on Tony’s face.

Tony turns around slowly so Kassidy gets a good look at his ass. He knew she liked looking at him and caught her a few times doing that. He walks away slowly so she can stare at him.

“I know what you are doing, Tony and it’s not going to work.” A smile appears on Kassidy’s face.

“You should let him fuck you once and get it over with.” Shawna turns her head to look at Kassidy. She was woken up by Kassidy yelling at Tony.

“You know my rule, Shawna. Not dating anyone in the band. There is always drama and disruption afterward.”

“Not always, Kassidy. Besides, don’t you think you should find someone?” Shawna knew Kassidy was lonely at times.

“I’m fine. I have you and several other girlfriends to support me and have fun with.” Kassidy wasn’t ready for a boyfriend yet.

“Well, I think it would do you some good.” Shawna recently met a nice military person and she liked him a lot.

“This coming from my best friend who is head over heels for a Navy pilot.”

“He’s an instructor and I think he’s a real nice guy.” Shawna had met him after one of their gigs.

“Well, I’m happy you found someone nice. I know a lot of men feel threatened with how tall you are.” Kassidy knew a lot of men that Shawna had dated in the past were intimidated by her tall height.

“Thanks, now we just have to find someone for you.” A smile appears on Shawna’s face as she closes her eyes again.

“I’m going swimming.” Kassidy gets up off her lounger and walks over to the pool.

She enters from the shallow end and slowly walks into the water, letting her warm body adjust to how cool the water feels. It felt nice against her warm body as she walked deeper and deeper into the water.

“Hell, with it.” Kassidy dives forward into the water.

She surfaces and shakes her head. The water felt refreshed against her body. She swims over into the deep end and enjoy herself.

Kassidy walks out of the bathroom with a towel covering her torso and her hair. She looks over toward Shawna’s bed and notices she is still passed out from last night's events. A smile appears on her face as she starts selecting some clothes to wear.

As Kassidy is getting dressed, her cell phone starts ringing. She wonders who would be calling her this early. She picks it up and notices it is Rose calling her. She presses accept, “Hello?”

“Kassidy, I hope I didn’t wake you.” Rose looks at the time on her watch.

“Nay, I just got out of the shower. What’s up?” Kassidy wondered why Rose was calling her.

“How is your visit to Beverly Hills?” Rose knew Kassidy and her bandmates won a prize from a popular radio station for an all-expensive stay in Beverly Hills.

“Good so far. How are things going with your tour?” Kassidy was a little envious of her friend.

“It’s going great. I hate to ask you for this favor. But, a talent agent I’m friends with needs a big favor, and I was wondering if you and your bandmates wouldn’t mind doing it for me.”

“Depends on the favor. What is it?”

“Well, I know you guys are on vacation, but would you and your bandmates like to earn some money while you are there?” Rose didn’t know how to word the request.

“What’s the favor? And you know we didn’t bring our instruments with us.”

“He needs a band for a three-night gig down at a club called The Forbidden Forest. As for instruments, one of my mothers' bandmates owns a music store. He can rent the instruments out to you or give you a huge discount if you want to buy them. If you want to buy them, I’ll pay for them myself.” Rose figures it is the least she could do for Kassidy.

“I’ll have to run this by the others, but I don’t mind doing it. I also have to inform our manager in Georgia as well. How soon do you need to know?” Kassidy wonders what the others will say.

“By tomorrow morning, what time would you be available?” Rose will let her friend Gilvar know.

“Alright, let me run this by Jerry and Cynthia. I’ll text you the answer.” Kassidy also knew she needed to let Cynthia know, since she was their manager.

“Okay, let them know. Also, let your manager know and tell her I’ll cover the cost of the instruments.” Rose knew Jack of Hearts (Richard Bachmann) would give them the family discount.

“Will do, and thanks for looking out for us.” Kassidy knew Rose didn’t have to offer her this opportunity.

“Hey, we're old friends, Kassidy. I look out for my friends.” Rose knew who Kassidy used to be and what happened to her.

“Thanks, Rose. Hey, would your mothers be okay with me and my bandmates visiting their studio while we were in town?”

“I don’t think my parents will mind. I’ll let them know, so someone can let you guys in.” Rose didn’t think her parents would mind.

“Thanks, Rose.”

“No problem. I’ll be waiting for your text.” Rose ends the phone call.

“So, what was that about?” Shawna had heard Kassidy talking and listened to her conversation.

Kassidy turns and looks at Shawna. “Sorry for waking you.”

“It’s no problem. So, what did your friend want?” Shawna sits up on the side of the bed.

“Rose wanted to know if we would want to play at a club this weekend. A friend of hers, a talent agent, needs a band to play at one of his client’s clubs for three nights.”

“We don’t have our instruments with us.” Shawna wonders how they are going to play without their instruments.

“Got it covered. Rose said we can either rent or buy the instruments, and she’ll cover the cost.”

“Do you know of any music stores here in Beverly Hills?” Shawna wasn’t familiar with the area.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” A smile appears on her face.

“I’m game if Jerry approves.” Shawna didn’t mind making a few extra dollars.

“I’ll go and talk with Jerry after I get dressed.” Kassidy starts getting dressed.

“You do that. I’m going to go and relieve my bladder. I’ll join you for breakfast after I take a shower.” Shawna gets up and walks towards the bathroom.

“Okay.” Kassidy finishes getting dressed and goes to find Jerry.

Kassidy finds Jerry and his girlfriend down in the hotel gym. Jerry’s girlfriend Cindy convinces Jerry to start living a healthier lifestyle. At first, Jerry resisted her suggestion, but one day after spending some time with her at her uncle’s farm, he gave in.

Kassidy finds Jerry at the weight machine, lifting weights, with Cindy spotting him. She walks over to the two of them “Hey guys.”

Cindy looks at Kassidy and wonders what she wants. She had suggested to Kassidy and Shawna that they should work out more. She knew Shawna was into yoga and cycling, and that Kassidy was into running. However, they could do more for their body.

“What brings you here this morning, Kassidy?” Cindy figures there was a reason Kassidy was here in the gym.

“Well, I got a call from my friend Rose this morning and she wants to know if we might be interested in doing a gig this weekend.” Kassidy looks at Cindy and Jerry.

“I thought you guys were on vacation?” Cindy was enjoying herself. She has always wanted to come to Beverly Hills.

“We are, but we are talking about Rose Wolfhart here. Her family and their band are well known in Beverly Hills.” Jerry knew Rose Wolfhart used to sing with Wild Fire and that her mother was a well-known stage magician.

“Still, you guys don’t have any of your gear or outfits.” Cindy wondered how they were going to play without instruments.

“Got that covered. Rose said if we agree to take the gig, she’ll pay for the instruments. We can go to one of the bandmates from her mother’s band that owns a music store to either buy new instruments or rent them at a discount. As for outfits, I know a place that sells quality second-hand outfits that they get from celebrities.”

“Which celebrities?” Cindy was curious. She wouldn’t mind owning a few dresses from one of her favorite celebrities.

“Depends, the stock always changes. Sometimes it's from famous female actresses and male actors. Sometimes, there are outfits from bands that are no longer around or who wanted to update their stage clothes.” Kassidy used to love browsing through their selection.

“How do you know so much about this place?” Cindy wonders how Kassidy knew so much about Beverly Hills.

“I grew up around here. I went to the same private high school that the Wolfhart family did.” Kassidy knew the only person who knew the whole truth was Jerry.

“Oh!” Cindywas surprised.

“So, do you want to do the gig, Jerry?” Kassidy turns her attention back to Jerry.

“How many nights is it? And where will it be?” Jerry wouldn’t mind getting their name out here in Beverly Hills. It could open doors for them.

“Three nights and a new club named The Forbidden Forest.”

“It would open doors for us and get our name out there.” Jerry could see the advantages of accepting the gig.

“True, and it's only for three nights.” Kassidy figures it should help them.

“Go ahead and let Rose know and where are we going to go to get instruments?” Jerry was curious about which of the Wild Fire bands owned a music store.

“Jack of Hearts. He owns his music store and makes custom guitars. Remember Gracie’s snowflake guitar?”

“Yeah.”

“He made that for her. He also made his guitar and several others. Even Slash and Joe Perry own guitars made from him.” Kassidy knew Mr. Bachmann made the best guitars around.

“Well, hopefully, he has other guitars in his store.”

“I’m sure he does. So, are we in agreement on taking the gig?”

“Yes. Go ahead and let Cynthia know, so she can handle the contract with the place.” Jerry was glad they had a manager to handle the paperwork. He wasn’t a good manager and sometimes they got ripped off by the people who they played for.

“Alright.” Kassidy pulls her cell phone out and sends Rose the answer.

“We’re going to need a van or something to transport everyone.” Jerry wishes they had their van.

“I got it covered, Jerry. So, when do you want to go and look at some instruments?” Kassidy knew they needed to shop for instruments.

“We have plans for this morning. Can you guys do it later or tomorrow?” Cindy wanted to spend time with Jerry and see some sights.

“I think tomorrow will be good. I’ll let Mr. Bachmann know.” Kassidy hears her cell phone beep.

She looks at the text Rose sent her. A smile appears on her face.

“What is it?” Jerry was curious.

“Rose says thanks and she’s going to let Mr. Bachmann know we're coming.”

“Cool.” Jerry was glad.

“Now, can we get back to excising?” Cindy wanted to finish up what they were doing.

“Yes, you two can.” Kassidy puts her cell phone back in her pocket and walks off.

“Here we are, guys.” Kassidy had driven the rental car they got when they arrived.

She pulls into the parking lot and parks next to an old 70’s van covered in playing cards. The van looked to be in perfect condition for an old van.

“I wonder if that van belongs to the owner?” Shawna gets out of the SUV and looks at the old van.

“Man, this van has been customized by an artist.” Tony was looking at the detail work of the pictures on the van.

“Well, every member of the Wildfire band is wealthy from playing music. So, they can afford to get the best work done.” Kassidy knew artists like
Aerosmith, Gun-n-Roses, and other famous bands made millions from the tours and albums they sold.

“I can’t wait until you guys start making that type of money.” Cindy knew Jerry’s luck had changed from having Kassidy in the band.

“Well, it's just a matter of time before we start touring. Cynthia said that Dusty Gaskets Productions has several gigs lined up for us when we return from vacation.” Kassidy called Cynthia and informed her about the gig Rose got for them. Cynthia was thrilled and said she’d have a few more for them.

“Is she going to get us a major label?” Jerry was curious.

“She didn’t say, but if we play our cards right. I bet one of the major labels will pick us up.” Kassidy leads everyone into the store.

“Wow! I’m in guitar heaven.” Tony was looking at the different guitars for sale.

“You’re not joking.” Shawna spotted a few bass guitars that piqued her interest.

“Where is the drum section?” Jerry wanted to see what drums this store had for sale.

“They’re over in that section.” Richard Bachmann had heard the buzzer on the door buzz when the door opened. He had been in the back, tending to some business.

When he came out to check on who had just entered his store, he spotted three women and two men standing at the entrance looking at the instruments he had on display. He didn’t recognize any of them, but his niece Rose Wolfhart did call him and said some friends of hers were coming to his store and would need some instruments for a gig this weekend. Would he put their purchases or rentals on her account and give them the family discount?

Everyone turns around when they hear an older man’s voice. The voice has a British accent, and the man it belonged to stands a few feet from them. He has an old-style rocker look to him. He has a medium build and wears a suit that makes him look like a modern-day gambler.

“You must be Richard Bachmann, the Jack of Hearts from Wildfire.” A smile forms on Kassidy’s face.

“That I am, little lady. You must be my niece’s friend, Kassidy Foster.” Rose had given Richard a description of Kassidy.

“That’s me, sir. These are my bandmates. Jerry Johnson is the leader and drummer of our band. Our bass player, Shawna Evans. Next is our
lead guitar player, Tony White. Standing next to Jerry is his girlfriend, Cindy Penn.”

“Nice to meet you, sir.” Cindy holds her hand out to Richard.

Richard shakes Cindy’s hand, followed by Jerry, Tony, and Shawna. He looks at all of them. “So, how long have all of you been playing?”

“Since high school, for me.” Shawna started playing the bass guitar in high school.

“Same for me,” Tony answers next.

“I’ve been playing the drums since middle school. I was in our school band.” Jerry smiles at Richard.

“How about you, Kassidy? Do you play any instruments, or are you strictly vocal?”

‘I play the guitar and synthesizer and sing as well. I’ve been chiefly singing since high school.” Kassidy learned to play the synthesizer from her spy mother.

“So, how do you know Rose?” Richard looks at the others.

“We haven’t met her yet, sir. Only Kassidy has.” Shawna wanted to meet Rose and her band.

“Oh?” Richard looks at Kassidy with a puzzled look on his face.

“I went to the same private school with Rose and her sisters, sir.” Kassidy liked the Wolfhart family.

“Ah! Well, that explains everything, then. Rose said you guys are on vacation and need instruments for a gig this weekend. Do you want to rent or buy?”

“That depends on what type of deal you can give us?” Jerry wouldn’t mind a backup set of drums.

“I think I can give you guys a good discount. After all, my niece said she would pay for everything. Why don’t you guys look around and see what interests you.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bachmann.” Kassidy already spotted a guitar that grabbed her interest.

Jerry and Cindy split from the group and checked out the drums for sale. Jerry noticed that Mr. Bachmann had a high-quality electronic drum set for sale. He grabbed a drummer's seat and looked towards Mr. Bachmann.

“Sir, would it be alright to try these out?” Jerry heard about the electronic drums and wanted to try them out.

“Sure, let me get you hooked up.” Richard walks over to the drum set and connects them. He grabs an amp from the back and hooks it up.

After everything is ready, Richard looks towards Jerry, “Give it a try.”

Jerry sits down and starts playing the electronic drums. He is having fun with them and has fallen in love with them.

Tony leans to Kassidy, “I think our fearless leader has found a new toy.”

“I think you’re right.” Kassidy watches Jerry as he enjoys himself.

While Tony looks at the guitars, Kassidy examines some of the synthesizers for sale. There was a four-synthesizer setup for sale. She usually plays the guitar at their gigs, but having a synthesizer set up in the band would work just as well.

Tony migrated over to the wall of guitars on display. Several of them looked interested, but two in particular caught his attention. The first one looked to be a custom-built one by Mr. Bachmann himself. He picked it up, loved how it felt in his hands, and hung it on his body. He plucked the strings and noticed it was a little out of tune. He tuned it up, plucking the strings again, and smiled.

He spots another one, a Fender Player Plus Telecaster. Tony takes the custom guitar off and examines the telecaster. He strokes the strings on it and loves how it sounds. He is torn between the two guitars and wonders if Mr. Bachmann will sell both of them to him.

Shawna found the selection of bass guitars and examined them. She spotted a jazz bass from Fender that she loved. It was like it was calling to Shawna. She walked over to it and picked it up off the display pegs. She hung it from her body and started stroking the strings.

She noticed someone had not tuned it properly and returned it. She tried it again and loved how it sounded. Shawna loved how it sounded and felt hanging on her body. A smile appears on her face as she heads towards the register with it.

After about two hours of looking around and getting all the equipment and accessories everyone needed for their instruments, Richard called them up and gave them the family discount of twenty percent off. The total came to twenty-five thousand dollars.

“Man, I didn’t think we spent that much.” Jerry looks at the total.

“The drum set and synthesizer set up is what did it. The three guitars only came to two thousand dollars. The rest is between you and Kassidy.” A smile appears on Richard’s face.

“Man, Rose is going to kill me.” Kassidy could already hear Rose complaining about the money they just spent.

“Don’t worry about it, Kassidy. She’s good, for it. Where do you want me to deliver everything else to?”

How about the Forbidden Forest Club?” Kassidy figures it would save them time.

“I can do that. Leave your synthesizers here. I’ll have my men set everything up for you.” Richard figures he could do that much for them.

“Can we use your men after we're done?” Kassidy looks at Richard when she asks that question.

“I think I can help you guys out. I can also help ship everything back to your home studio.”

“That would be a big help.” Jerry was wondering how they were going to get everything back.

“What time is your gig?” Richard pulls out a piece of paper and pen to write down the information.

“Here you go.” Kassidy shares the information she was given with Richard.

Richard copies everything down. When he is done, he looks at them. “I’ll have everything ready for you to start practicing.”

“Thanks, Mr. Bachmann.” Kassidy smiles sweetly at Richard.

“Now, all we need is an outfit for the next three nights.” As Kassidy leads everyone out of the store.

“I thought you had us covered for that?” Cindy looks towards Kassidy.

“I do, it’s our next stop.” As Kassidy unlocks the SUV.

“That was interesting.” Cindy wondered where they were heading next.

“You weren’t bored, sweetie?” Jerry looks at his girlfriend. He knew she wasn’t into musical instruments and such.

“Nope, I liked seeing how excited you get around your favorite instruments.” Cindy leans forward and places a kiss on Jerry’s cheek.

“Now, that the instruments are taken care of. We need to buy some outfits for the gig and arrange what songs we're going to play.” Kassidy knew they needed something unique to make them stand out.

“I thought you knew of a place we could buy some outfits?” Tony looks at Kassidy for an answer.

“I do, but if they don’t have anything suitable for me and Shawna to wear. We might want to visit the Gothic shop that Dusk and her son Moon own.”

“Who is Dusk?” Cindy looks at Kassidy for an answer.

“Dusk is Julia Elizabeth Mackay, and she is the drummer from Wildfire. She’s into the goth scene. She designs and sells gothic outfits and everything else you would need. Her son, Dave is one of the most requested heavy metal and techno drummers around.”

“I’ve heard of him. How do you know so much about Wildfire?” Jerry knew Kassidy had connections with Rose, but she seemed to know all about Wildfire as well.

“I told you. I went to school with the Wolfhart family. Which means, I went to school with all of the children from Wildfire as well. Mystic, Dusk, and Siren all sent their children to the same private school. Mystic has two daughters, and Dusk has a son and a daughter.”

“What does Dusk’s daughter do?” Cindy was curious.

“Angela is studying to become an architect. She’s not into the Gothic culture like her mother and older brother.” Kassidy gets in on the driver's side of the SUV.

“So, who is Dusk’s husband?” Cindy was curious.

“Some rich billionaire. I don’t know his name, but he’s in the top one percent on the Forbes list.” Kassidy couldn’t remember who Dusk’s husband was.

Once everyone is loaded into the SUV. Kassidy drives them to the upscaled clothing store. She had to look for a parking spot on the street because the parking lot was full. The store shared the parking lot with several other nearby businesses.

Everyone steps into the store and separates. Cindy finds several dresses that fit her. Jerry, with Cindy’s help, found a few simple outfits that would look good on stage. Tony locates a few shirts and faded jeans that would look good on him and fit him like a glove.

Shawna looks around and finds a few outfits that would look good, but not for the stage. She and Kassidy normally wear matching outfits on stage. Sometimes, they wore similar outfits, but different in design.

Kassidy couldn’t find anything that spoke to her to wear on stage. She looks over toward Shawna “Did you find anything that would look good on stage?”

“Some, but nothing me and you could wear. How about you?”

“There’s a lot of nice things here, but nothing that would be good for performing in on stage. Also, nothing we could match with each other. I
guess, we will have to go by Dusk’s Gothic shop and see what leather outfits she has.” Kassidy wishes the store had something for them to wear.

Once everyone was ready to leave. Kassidy drives them over to Dusk’s store. The store front and inside the store had a Gothic look to it. Dusk and her son weren’t working, but one of her employees. The guys decided to visit an old-style music store down the block from the Gothic store.
A young woman with blood-red hair smiles at them. She walks up to Shawna and Kassidy “Can I help you?”

Kassidy looks at the young woman “Yes, we’re looking for an outfit to perform in for this weekend.”

“Hhhmm?? I think I might be able to help you. If you’ll follow me, please. I think there might be something in the clearance rack that would work.” Amber leads Kassidy and Shawna over to the clearance rack.

Half an hour later, everyone is sitting around eating lunch at a nice restaurant. They had ordered different dishes.

“So, we have a four-hour-long gig. I have some idea what songs we should play. Also, we should try out some of our unique takes on a few songs as well.”

Jerry looks at Kassidy “Sounds good. Tony, do you think you're up to singing a few of the songs?”

“I think I can pull it off.” Tony normally didn’t sing, except as backup to certain songs.

“Cool, I think the songs we picked out will be good.” Kassidy takes a bite from her burger.

After lunch, the group spent some time walking around Hollywood and Rodeo Drive. Since none of them, except Kassidy have never visited either place. Shawna, Tony, and Jerry couldn’t believe how expensive things were in some of the shops they visited.

Some of the shops wouldn’t even let them into the store without a membership card. Luckily, Kassidy had one. The look she got from her bandmates when she produced the card was priceless.

“What? I come from a well-connected family.” Kassidy couldn’t believe the look on their faces.

“You are full of surprises, Kassidy.” Jerry was a little surprised that Kassidy would have a membership card.

“I have to agree with Jerry's statement, Kassidy.” Tony hadn’t known Kassidy long, but he was a little surprised at how much Kassidy knew.

"Thanks, I guess." Kassidy knew she couldn't let to many people know about her past. Jerry already knew a little about her past.

“Shawna, can you tighten the laces in the back for me, please?” Kassidy looks over towards Shawna.

She couldn’t believe how beautiful Shawna looked in the leather outfit they found at Dusk’s shop. She looked like an Amazon from Greek myths. The way her hair was styled and the way the makeup gave her face that warrior look.

“Sure, Kassidy.” Shawna walked over to where Kassidy was standing and tightened the leather laces on the back of the corset Kassidy was wearing.

Shawna starts pulling on the laces. She pulls tight “How’s that?”

Kassidy checked the front to make sure the corset supported her breasts. It was still a little loose.

“A little tighter, please?”

Shawna pulls tighter on the laces. She didn’t want to pull too tight, because Kassidy would have a hard time singing.

“How’s that?” Shawna holds the laces.

“Too tight, I need air.” Kassidy was having a hard time breathing and her chest was hurting.

Shawna loosens up on the laces.

“How’s that?”

“Perfect.” Kassidy was glad she could breathe again.

“Sorry.” Shawna ties the laces off and goes back to fixing her makeup.

“It’s alright and thanks again.”

Kassidy finishes putting her makeup on. She looked over towards Tony and couldn’t believe the look he was going with. He looked like the Under Taker from WWE Wrestling. Jerry on the other hand was wearing a leather vest over his chest faded blue jeans and black combat boots.

“Okay, are we ready to go out there and rock this joint?” Kassidy was getting excited.

“Okay, who spiked her drink with happy juice?” Shawna looks at their lead singer with a smirk on her face.

“Oh, come on guys. This is a new club and we have a bunch of good songs to perform. Remember, we're doing our version of Working For A
Living, I Want A New Drug, Shakedown, and Walk Like A Dinosaur.”

“Aren’t you going to be playing some of your creation?” Cindy was in the band room helping Jerry.

“Of course. We’re doing them between some of the cover songs we have rewritten with our style of music. And yes, we are doing our version of
Kenny Roger’s song The Gambler. I know that is your favorite song, Tony.” Kassidy knew Tony loved that song as well as Blazed Of Glory and Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi.

Knock, Knock

“Enter.” Jerry looks over towards the band room door.

A young man with blue short hair enters the room. He was wearing a black polo shirt with the lounge’s name printed on it.

Leonard looks at everyone in the room “Are you guys ready to go on?”

“We’re ready. Are you guys ready for us?” Jerry looks at Leonard.

“Yep, and if you guys sound as good as you did this morning. This should be a good show tonight.” Leo loved what he heard when the group was tuning up their instruments.

“Okay, people. Let’s go out there and rock this joint.” Kassidy was bouncing with excitement.

Everyone follows behind Leo towards the stage. Leo lets the band members pass him and go up on stage. He watches as Kassidy the lead singer goes towards the front. Her guitar was behind her, as well as the synthesizer rig the band set up earlier.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we are Ecstasy and we’re going to rock you tonight.” As she gives Jerry the signal to start playing.

Back at the hotel:
Kassidy wakes up and stumbles towards the bathroom. She sits down on the toilet and relieves her bladder. While she is sitting on the toilet, an idea for a song pops into her mind. She finishes her morning business.

Kassidy walks back into the room she is sharing with Shawna grabs her notepad off the dresser and starts writing the lyrics down. She doesn’t want to wake Shawna, so she doesn’t use her guitar to play a tune as she writes.

She knew Shawna would sleep for a bit, because after they had finished their performance. Tony, Jerry, Cindy, and Shawna enjoyed a few drinks. Since she was the one who was still sober. She drove them back to the hotel. Cindy only had a few drinks, so she managed to escort Jerry and Tony up to their room.

After writing down the lyrics for two and a half songs. Kassidy puts her notepad down and gets dressed. She figures Shawna is going to sleep a little longer. Normally, when they play late like they do, and stay up till six in the morning. They would sleep until two or three in the afternoon.

Since the lounge allowed them to stay until four in the morning. She figures everyone will wake up around five or six, so they can get ready to head back to the lounge to play again tonight.

After Kassidy gets dressed, she heads down to the in-house restaurant and enjoys a nice ground steak burger with fries. She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten a nice burger. After Kassidy finishes eating her burger, she leaves the hotel and takes a walk down the street.

The last time she was in this area of California. She was helping NCIS to track down her mother’s Russian contacts. Who would have thought there would be a whole network of sleepers in California?

While Kassidy is exploring and downing some window shopping. She spots a street musician with a keyboard performing. She stops and listens to her as she plays. The thing is, when she looked closer at the young woman, she noticed that the person wasn’t a girl, but a guy dressed as a girl. A smile appears on Kassidy’s face.

She was dressed in a Pop-punk style. Kassidy listens to the young woman as she sets the synthesizer to play a preprogram tune and she reaches beside her to pick up a guitar. Kassidy didn’t recognize the song until the woman was a few notes into the song.

She records the woman and sends the video to Jerry to listen to. The way the young woman played she would make a great addition to their group. Especially, when they started playing more of the popular songs from Radiohead, Evanescence, Tina Turner, and a few others that are popular or were popular.

Kassidy tosses a hundred-dollar bill into the woman’s guitar case along with a ticket for the lounge they are playing at. She hopes the young woman comes to hear them and talk with her. She continues her exploration of nearby shops. She stops at a store that sells puck rock accessories and wonders if this is where the girl, she just saw bought her stuff.

She ends up buying some makeup for herself and Shawna. She knows the guys can get away with wearing the same outfits, but she and Shawna need to change up their outfits. So, instead of going back to Dusk’s shop to buy additional items. She stops at a BDSM shop and buys a few items she could get away with wearing on stage.

She’ll have to bring Shawna down to this shop tomorrow or before they leave. She ends up buying two outfits. The first one consisted of a leather miniskirt, knee-high four-inch leather boots, and a leather halter top. The second one was a crop top with their band’s name on it, a low-cut miniskirt, that showed off her butt cheeks, black lace thong panties, and four-inch ankle-high boots. The underwear for the second one was sheer lace panties. It covered her ass but had a spiderweb design to the panties that showed up against her skin.

Kassidy picks up some unique panties for Cindy and Shawna as well. She knew both women would enjoy wearing them. Kassidy leaves the store feeling horny after being around all the sexy exotic clothes. She stops at a bar to have a few drinks before heading back to her hotel.

When she entered her hotel room, Shawna was awake and looking like someone used her hard and put her away roughly. A playful smile appears on her face “Did we have a hangover?”

Shawna looks at Kassidy with a scowl on her face. She wasn’t fully awake and her head was pounding. She noticed Kassidy had a few bags in her hands.

“Give me an hour and I’ll be fine.” Shawna stands up slowly to keep the world from spinning.

“Okay, Oh! I bought some things for you to wear tonight. I’ll set the items on your bed while you’re in the shower.” Kassidy knew after Shawna did her morning routine. Shawna will take a shower afterward.

“Thanks.” As Shawna stumbles into the bathroom.

Kassidy sets the bag of items she bought for Shawna on her bed and deliver the other items she bought for Cindy. When she went to leave the bag, Tony answered the door. He had the same look Shawna had, but Kassidy knew Tony could recover faster than Jerry and Shawna. He was an old fashion cowboy and this was just another skill of his.

Kassidy takes her guitar out and start composing the cords and such for the first two songs she wrote. She still had a lot to do for the third one. She’ll play the new songs for the group so they can tweak them when they get back home.

Several Hours Later:
Shawna looks at Kassidy in her new outfit. She shakes her head at how much of Kassidy’s ass you could see if you were close to the stage.

“You’re going to be giving some young men and maybe some older ones some major wood tonight.”

“I hope, so.” Kassidy liked her new look.

“I’m glad I have a girlfriend. Because I don’t think I could keep my attention off you tonight, Kassidy.” Jerry was lucky Cindy didn’t join them in the band room tonight.

“I’m glad Cindy isn’t in here or she would be majorly jealous.” Kassidy checks herself out in the mirror.

“That’s two of us. Oh, I checked out that video you sent me. I wouldn’t mind talking with that performer you found.”

“Hopefully, she’ll be out in the audience watching us. I left a VIP ticket for her, so she doesn’t have to pay an entrance fee.”

“You found another member to join us?” Tony looks towards Kassidy for an answer.

“Yeah, with some of the cover songs we’ll be playing. We need someone who can use my synthesizer rig and play guitar as well.” Kassidy knew Jerry left it up to her to organize their song list for their gigs.

“Do you mind if I’m there during the tryouts?” Tony wanted to be there if they did tryouts with this person.

“All of us will be there. Especially you two. You are both our guitar experts and if a person can’t blend well with you two, then we’ll turn them away.” Jerry loved how each member of the band harmonized with each other.

“Cool.”

“All right, let’s go out and have some fun.” Kassidy is the first out of the band room.

“She’s been hitting the sauce again.” Shawna follows behind Kassidy.

Jackie hands her Vip ticket to the bouncer before she enters the club. She was curious about the band currently playing at the venue. She enters the club after getting the top of her hand stamped. As she entered, she could already tell the band was already on stage playing. The song they were performing was Shakedown by Bob Seger.

After they finished that song, they started playing The Heart of Rock&Roll by Huey Lewis and The News. After they play The Heart of Rock&Roll, they slow down and play Eternal Flame by The Bangles. Jackie had to admit that the young woman she saw in front of her synthesizer was good at singing. The other members of the band did pretty well as well. She noticed that the bass player was female and she was wearing an outfit that matched the lead singer.

A smirk appears on her face when she flashes the people close to the stage. The lead singer had twirled and her short skirt had lifted exposing her cute behind. She wasn’t close enough to see what the lead singer was wearing, but it wasn’t bare skin.

Jackie moved as close as she could to the stage. The band played Dog and Butterfly and loved the emotion the lead singer put into the song. It brought tears to her eyes. The next song she recognized right away just from the first few beats. It was the opening to George Micheal’s song, Father Figure.

After that song ended, they started playing I Want a New Drug by Huey Lewis and The News. She listens for a few more minutes and when the band takes a minute break. She managed to get the lead singer's attention and was waved to come with them to the back along with another girl.

Jackie looks at the lead singer “You sounded good.”

Kassidy looked at the young woman and noticed she was dressed for clubbing. She wonders how the rest of the band will handle having a transgender in the band.

“Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Jerry, he’s our drummer and the leader of our band. Then there is his girlfriend, Cindy. She’s one of our groupies.” Kassidy smiles sweetly at Cindy.

Cindy shakes her head at Kassidy’s comment. Sure, she loved their music, but she loved Jerry a lot.

“This is Tony, he’s our lead guitar player and Shawna here is our bass player.”

Tony nods towards Jackie. While Shawna shakes Jackie’s hand.

Jackie shakes Shawna’s hand. She had to admit that Shawna looked gorgeous in the outfit she was wearing. Jackie turns to look back at Kassidy “So, why did you invite me, tonight?”

“Because Kassidy heard you play and we would like to invite you to play with us.” Jerry liked what he heard.

“What would I do in your group?” Jackie has been waiting to hear from a band to play in.

“Well, we have a nice synthesizer Rigg you could play, and also, having a rhythm guitarist in the band would be good as well. We’re looking to expand our playlist and we can’t do that with just us four.”

“How much will I get paid?” Jackie needed to know how much she’d be paid.

“We split the profits evenly, but all your meals and travel expenses are taken care of.” Kassidy worked out a deal to help Jerry out with the band.

“How about if I write a song and want to play it?”

“Then, we’ll listen to what you wrote, and if you don’t mind all of us contribute to it. We’ll register it as a group song.” Kassidy knew things like that were done differently, but that caused problems within the group.

“How about when the group starts bringing in a lot more money?” Jackie wanted to make sure she understood everything beforehand.

“Then, we’ll discuss if we want to stay with the evenly split pay or put people on salary. But, right now. The pay is going to be evenly split and if you need help purchasing supplies or if your instrument gets damaged. I’ll help you or our manager will reimburse you for the cost of a replacement.”

“Can I think about it? Also, do you want me to audition for the group?”

“Yes, you can think about it and yes, you have to audition for the position as well. We need to hear how well you blend in with the group.” Jerry looks at Jackie when he says that.

“When will you want to do the audition?” Jackie knew she had the next few days clear.

“We have one more gig here. So, how about Tuesday?” Kassidy looked at everyone to see if that would do.

“That’s fine. We’ll need to rent a place.” Jerry looks at Kassidy when he says that.

“You guys aren’t based here?” Jackie was curious about where these people were from.

“No, we were on vacation when a friend of ours asked if we could do this gig for her. We’re based out of Fallon, Nevada.”

“That might be a problem. I live here in California. I don’t know how I could join you guys.” Jackie didn’t know if she was willing to move.

“Look Jackie, I know it would be a big leap, but we can guarantee you that if you cut. You won’t regret it. Our business/tour manager has a bunch of gigs already lined up for us.” Jerry has been in contact with their manager.

“What type of gigs?” Jackie wanted to make sure she wasn’t sacrificing too much for too little.

“Some of the gigs are at venues we have played at before and some are at fairs and carnivals.” Jerry knew they had been booked at a few fairs.

“All right, let’s see how I do during the auditions and go from there.” Jackie was willing to give everything a chance.

“Sounds good. Well, we better get back on stage.” Jerry motions for everyone to join him.

Jackie follows behind them and goes back out to enjoy the rest of the night. She thinks about everything and wonders if she is ready to move on.

Wild Fire Studios, Los Angeles, California:
Gregory aka Mystic had been contacted by Rose and asked him if he wouldn’t mind giving a friend of hers a tour of the studio and if it was okay, to let them use it for a few hours. Mystic didn’t mind and was given the name of Rose’s friend. He was inside the studio talking to their receptionist.

He was checking up on how the studio was doing. Some of the new acts coming out and forming came in to record demos and to practice. The studios rented out their recording studio to other bands and individuals.

Kassidy pulls into the parking lot of Wild Fire Studios and parks. She spots a black Range Rover, which she knew belonged to Mystic. There was also a Honda Accord and several other newer cars parked in the parking lot as well.

“How did you manage to get us the use of Wild Fire Studios?” Jerry was impressed when he heard they were going to come to the studio.

“Mr. Bachmann arranged it for us. He said that his bandmate Mystic aka Gregory Allen Green, will be here to let us use the recording room reserved for Wild Fire only.”

“That was nice of him.” Tony gets out of the rental first and heads to the back to grab his guitar case.

Shawna follows Tony to grab her new bass. She loved the new bass she got at Mr. Bachmann’s music store.

Jerry didn’t bring his new drum set, because Mr. Bachmann said he could use the studio drum set Dusk keeps at the studio. Kassidy figures Mr. Bachmann already got permission from Dusk.

“Well, let's go inside and meet Mr. Green.” Jerry walks towards the entrance.

“He likes to be addressed as Mystic.” Kassidy knew out of everyone in the band. Mystic was the only one that went by his stage name.

Mystic was standing in the reception area when he noticed two women and two guys come walking into the building. He knew who one of the women was, from seeing her several years ago with Sasha's older daughter, Rose. He also noticed that three of them were carrying guitar cases with them.

“Welcome to Wild Fire Studios, you must be the group, Ecstasy.” A smile appears on Mystic’s face as several jokes pop into his head.

Tony, Shawna, Jerry, and Cindy look at the middle-aged Arabic-looking man talking to them. He was wearing a dark polo shirt and dress pants.

“Thank you for letting us use the studio today, Mr. Mystic.” Kassidy extends her hand to shake Mystic.

“Any friend of Rose is always welcome. So, let me guess who your band members are.” Mystic shakes Kassidy’s hand.

“This shouldn’t take long.” Shawna smiles at Mystic.

“Oh, I like you. Now, you must be Shawna, the bass player of the group. Now, the cowboy standing next to you must be Tony, the lead guitarist of the group, and the drummer and leader of the band is you, Jerry. As for you, young lady. That would make you Jerry’s girlfriend.” A playful smile appears on Mystic’s face.

“What about me? Don’t I count?” Kassidy looks at Mystic when she says that.

“Of course you do, my dear. You have such a lovely singing voice. However, you need to make sure that your mouth is always clear when you sing.”

“What are you talking about, Mystic?” Kassidy looks at Mystic with a confused look on her face.

Mystic walks over to Kassidy “Open your mouth.”

“Okay.” Kassidy opens her mouth.

Mystic looks inside Kassidy’s mouth. “Ah, here’s the problem.”

A pigeon flies out of Kassidy’s mouth. Kassidy starts coughing after the pigeon leaves her mouth.

“That was so cool.” Shawna was smiling at that trick.

“Now I know why you and Sasha get along so well.” Kassidy managed to stop coughing.

“How does your band handle having two jokers in the band?” Jerry wonders how Siren handles having two jokers.

“That is a secret you’ll have to find out for yourself. Now, why don’t I get you guys set up.” Mystic leads everyone to the private studio.

Everyone follows Mystic to the private studio. Mystic unlocks the studio door and lets them inside. “Here you go. Jerry, I will warn you now. Dusk likes her drums very much, so please be careful with them or she’ll skin you and use your skin for her drum covers.”

“I promise to be careful with Dusk’s drums.” Jerry planned on being very careful with Dusk’s drums.

“So, when is your person due here?” Mystic was curious.

Kassidy looks at her cell phone for the time. It shows that Jackie still had half an hour before she had to show up.

“She should be here in about thirty minutes.”

“Well, while we’re waiting. Let’s get a baseline of your sound.” Mystic walks into the recording studio.

The Trainyard Night Club, Norfolk, Va.:
Jackie covers her yawn as they enter the SUV hired to pick them up. She is feeling the jetlag from spending several hours aboard the plane. They just landed at Norfolk Airport and are heading towards their hotel room in downtown Norfolk.

Kassidy covered up a yawn and could tell the rest of the band was also feeling the jetlag. Since leaving California after their vacation, they have been busy playing at nightclubs and outside events. They had four events in Virginia and have been hired to play. Two events were in Richmond, and they had a gig in Hampton where they would play.

Jackie looks at their new road manager and notices she is busy on her tablet. When she visited them in California, she joined them in Fallon, Nevada. She still hasn’t found a place in Fallon, not that she had much time to look.

The ride to the hotel they were staying at took about twenty minutes from the airport. Since they arrived in the middle of the night, there wasn’t a lot of traffic. The SUV pulled in front of the hotel and unloaded their carry-on bags and instruments.

Some don't even change clothes when they are given their hotel rooms. Jackie, Kassidy, and Shawna shared a hotel room, while Tony, Jerry, and Cindy shared a hotel room. Their road manager, Janet Curtis, had her own hotel room, mainly because she always arranged things and ensured everything was ready for them.

It’s late in the afternoon when Kassidy wakes up. Shawna was still asleep, and Jackie was too. She stumbles towards the bathroom and does her morning business by the time she is done and has taken a shower. She stepped out of the bathroom and noticed everyone was still asleep. Since they weren’t to appear at the nightclub until later, she puts on a dress and heels and grabs her purse. She leaves a note informing everyone that she is stepping out for a while.

Since it was around one in the afternoon, Kassidy decided to go and get lunch. Exiting the hotel, she noticed it was down by the water. She headed to the building next to the hotel called Waterside and went inside.

Inside was a steakhouse restaurant. Since she hadn’t eaten anything since catching the airplane in Colorado last night, she stepped inside and was shown a table. Her waitress was a woman a little older than herself, and she brought her a menu. The restaurant looked busy as she looked at the menu.

When the waitress comes back with her drink, she places her order and waits. While Kassidy is waiting, she thinks about changing her look for the four shows. She’ll have to get with Shawna and discuss it with her. Normally, she and Shawna share a similar look. She noticed that Jackie had already decided on a look for herself, and she had to admit that it blended well with how everyone else looked.

While Kassidy is waiting on her food, she organizes the songs they are going to perform tonight. Since leaving California, they have come up with several new songs. One was Hurricane, which was becoming popular, followed by their version of Roxette's, Look. They were moving away from a lot of the cover songs they did to more of the songs they wrote themselves.

After a while, her waitress returns with her steak lunch. Kassidy takes a bite and enjoys it. It is a little different from what she gets in the Midwest, but it is still good. The tea was a lot sweeter than she usually got.

After lunch, Kassidy paid her bill and left a generous tip. Since this was her first time on the East Coast, she decided to explore. Downtown Norfolk had a few unusual places. There were a few high-end clothing stores, but nothing like those on the West Coast.

She noticed a casino and figured she better warn Jerry and Tony not to go there. She discovered that most of downtown Norfolk was banks and businesses. Sure, there were a few other places, but nothing like in some of the places they have been.

She noticed that Norfolk had a bus service, so she figured out which bus to take to the area where they were going to play. Sure, she could take a cab or Uber, but sometimes it was nice to be normal.

After some searching, she discovered that the area where the nightclub is located used to be where a lot of trains used to come through. According to the website, Norfolk was redoing many areas, trying to improve them.

She also learned that the Hampton Roads area had several military bases, and most of the area's income came from the military's presence. Across the bay was the Veterans Hospital and the Hampton Coliseum, where their new road manager was trying to get them booked for later in the year.

After a few hours of exploring and visiting the nightclub, Kassidy heads back to the hotel where they were staying. Janet texts her, asking where she is. She texts back, informing Janet she is back at the hotel.

She receives another text from Janet, letting Kassidy know she and the others are at a nearby coffee shop. She gives directions to the coffee shop.

Kassidy turns around and leaves the hotel, following the directions to the coffee shop, which is only a block down the street. She spotted her bandmates and Janet sitting outside by the water. She walks over to them and sits down at the table.

“Where did you go?” Tony looks at Kassidy and notices he has a big cup of coffee and a bear claw.

“She went exploring, Tony. You know how Kassidy is when we get to a new town.” Shawna saw the note Kassidy left her and Jackie.

“Did you see anything interesting?” Cindy was curious.

“Not really. Downtown Norfolk seems to be more suited for business than anything else. There were a few nice restaurants to have lunch at, but nothing to write home about.”

“Sounds boring.” Cindy takes a sip from her coffee cup.

“So, did you visit where we are playing tonight?” Jerry knew Kassidy liked to peek at the venues where they would play.

“It wasn’t opened when I went by, but it had a bunch of excellent restaurants and shops near it. There is plenty of parking.”

“Do you think you guys will pull in customers there?” Janet was curious.

“I think so. This is a navy town, after all. Plus, just from looking around in that area. It seemed to be popular with the college crowd as well.”

“Do you have your lineup of what songs you’ll be playing tonight?” Janet knew Kassidy always had a list of what songs the group would perform.

“Yep, and I think No Guts, No Glory should be one of our first songs, followed by Hurricane, Candle Stick, Wild Man, and Tony’s favorite, the Gambler. Afterward, some of the remixes of our favorite songs.”

“Sunset Rider should allow you guys to end the night.” Cindy liked the song they wrote together.

“I agree. It’s pretty much become our ending song.” Kassidy knew everyone in the group loved that song.

“It sounds like you have everything planned out. I'll see if I can get you some air time with the local radio station since we're in their backyard now.”

“We are?” Jackie looks at Janet with a puzzled look on her face.

“Yep, right over there.” Janet points to the building near their hotel.

“There’s a radio station in there?” Kassidy looks towards the building as well.

Everyone else does the same thing. They didn’t know the shadow of the building they were sitting in had a radio station.

“Cool. So, when are you going to meet with them?” Jerry looks towards Janet.

“In about two hours. Be ready to give an interview later or tomorrow.” Janet hopes she gets the radio station to interview the group.

After the meeting, everyone heads back to the hotel to double-check everything and make sure they don’t need to make any last-minute additions.

Jerry looks at Janet as they drink their coffee at a local Starbucks “How many more radio interviews are we going to be doing, Janet?”

Since they arrived in the Hampton Roads area. They made a lot of money during the two days they played at The Trainyard Night Club. They were scheduled to come back in a few weeks to play again.

“Six more, Jerry. You guys are popular with the college crowd right now and we need to keep the momentum going. So, far you guys are booked for the next six months up and down the East Coast. After that, we’ll head back to Fallon, Nevada for you guys to rest and work on your second album. Your first album is doing remarkably well on all the streaming services.” Janet couldn’t believe the numbers she had been getting from headquarters.

“So, where are we off to now?” Jerry takes a sip from his coffee.

He knew Cindy, Kassidy, Jackie, and Shawna were out doing some shopping. Tony met a nice girl last night and was having breakfast with her this morning. Since Jerry was technically the leader of the band, he and Janet were going over some concerns he had about the group.

Ever since Kassidy joined the group a few months back, she has been helping him stay straight and helping him with the band. Cindy has been a big help as well. Now, the band was doing extremely well and was making a better name for itself.

Patrick Henry Shopping Mall, Hampton, Va.:
“This is so cute, Kassidy.” Cindy shows Kassidy a dress she found that would be great for their next interview.

“I have you booked in Blackburg for two nights, Lexington for three nights, and Washington D.C. for four nights. After that, you’ll be heading to
Delaware for six nights, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Boston. I’m still working on getting you gigs in Philly, Connecticut, and a Halloween gig in Salem. After that, you’ll be heading to Fallon for the holidays and back on the road again after New Year.”

“I don’t think we have ever been this busy, before.” Jerry was amazed they were going to have so many gigs coming up.

“The bosses at Dusty Gaskets have several other bands on tour as well. You’ll be joining up with a few of them in New York.”

“Which ones?” Jerry was curious about who they might play with.

“Let me see.” Janet scrolls through her notes until she finds what she is looking for.

Jerry watches Janet as she scrolls through her notes on her iPad. He couldn’t complain about how good things were for him and the band right now.

“Paper Dolls is one, and the Zombie Girls are the next group.” Janet liked both groups. Her niece was part of the Zombie Girls.

“What type of music do the two groups play?” Jerry was curious.

“Paper Dolls is the same genre as your group and the Zombie Girls is more like KISS, and Metallica. You will like them.” Janey liked both groups.

“Cindy, does this dress look good on me?” Jackie holds up a dress she spotted.

Cindy looked at Jackie and the dress she was holding. Everyone knew about Jackie’s condition before she joined the band and no one cared at all.

“That looks cute, I think you should get it.” Shawna looked up from a rack she was browsing through.

“I have to agree, with the others, Jackie.” Kassidy looks towards Jackie. She had found a few new outfits as well.

Jackie selects several different styles of the same dress and looks over towards Kassidy. “Can you come with me to the dressing rooms, please?”

“Sure.” Kassidy knew Jackie didn’t like trying clothes on in a public dressing room.

Kassidy grabs a few outfits and goes into a stall in the dressing room to try the clothes on. She spots Jackie changing as well. Once Kassidy is changed, she steps out. Jackie steps out a few minutes after Kassidy does wearing the clothes she liked.

“That dress looks good on you, Jackie.” Cindy liked being the group’s fashion coordinator.

She felt she needed to pull her weight with the group, instead of mooching off of Jerry. She looks at the dress Kassidy had on, “That’s good for when we have those radio interviews Janet has been booking us for.”

“You know, we need to do some music videos for some of our popular songs.” Jackie changes her clothes.

“I’ll talk with Jerry and Janet about us doing some videos. We’re going to need a video team to film them for us.” Kassidy turns and heads back into the dressing room.

“I think I might know someone.” Shawna wonders if her cousin might be interested in doing the filming for them.

By the time the girls arrive back at the hotel they are staying with their purchases. Tony shows up with the woman he met at their Norfolk gig. She was in the military and had shore duty, instead of being stationed on a ship.

“Guys, I would like for you to meet, Wendy Collins. Wendy, these are my bandmates, Kassidy, Shawna, and Jackie, and you have already met
Jerry. Cindy here is Jerry’s girlfriend and now our fashion coordinator.”

“It’s nice meeting you guys. So, how long are you guys going to be here in Hampton?”

“We have a gig at a club called The Grind. After that, we head to Richmond for two-weekend gigs.”

“If you guys don’t mind. I have a week’s worth of leave I can take.” Wendy looks at Tony when she says that.

“I would love that.” A big smile appears on Tony’s face.

“Sounds good to me. I’ll let Janet know to rent us a spare room. That way you guys can have some privacy.” Jerry knew Cindy would like that as well.

“Janet, I need to talk with you for a minute.” Shawna looks towards Janet.

“Sure, what’s up?” Janet walked over to where Shawna was standing.

“Well, I’m going to go and put my purchases away.” Kassidy leaves the group and heads towards her hotel room.

Winslow Horse Ranch, Gore, Va.
Somewhere in the future
Far away from here
Trouble is waiting
On the last frontier

No guts no glory
We're taking a stand
Ready to prove it again

Tony finishes the song at the end, looking up at the sky. He was pretending to watch four old-fashioned rangers riding off into the distance.

“Cut! That was great.” Aviva loved the scene they just recorded for the song, No Guts, No Glory.

The band looks at the video crew that Janet hired to film videos for a few of their songs. Aviva directed the crew and had a haircut similar to that of the character Cressida from the Hunger Games movies. Her assistant, Carol, had long pink hair and anime-like eyes. She looked like she was cosplaying but wasn’t. The two sound men and the two cameramen in the group were friendly. Joey, one of the cameramen, was a muscular guy and used one of the newest cameras for live broadcasting. The other cameraman, Ralph, had an older model that did well.

The two sound men were good at their jobs and got everything they said and played. One guy was an Asian named Marko, and the other looked like he styled himself after Leonard from The Big Bang Show.

“Play the footage back on the monitor, and let me see how it turned out, Ralph.” Aviva wanted to see how it looked when it was played back.

“Right away, boss.” Ralph walks over to the monitoring equipment and plays the recording back.

“Take five, guys.” Carol looks over towards the band members.

“I’m glad we got that video in one shot.” Kassidy was dressed as a female ranger from the Old West. She was dressed all in black with a white shirt under her black vest.

Shawna and Jackie were dressed similarly to Kassidy but in lighter colors. All the guys were dressed differently as well, except Tony. He wore a trench coat and his iconic black cowboy hat and looked more Western than usual.

Cindy stood next to Janet, watching and listening to the band. They were in between gigs at the moment, and Janet decided to film some of their popular songs, especially their take on Working For a Living. The video showed all the occupations people worked daily, making low wages for their jobs.

They still had to make a video for their popular song "Hurricane" and planned to make one for the old song "Disco Duck." They rewrote and updated the song. When browsing YouTube, Kassidy came across the song and liked the idea of doing a silly song. She ran the idea to the rest of the group, and they liked it.

After watching the video, Aviva looks towards the band. They hadn’t gone far and could see they were relaxing.

“You guys did good on this one. This will be a big hit once the special effects are added.”

“That’s good.” Janet loved hearing that.

Jerry walks over to the cooler by the wooden fence, grabs a water bottle, opens it, and chugs down the cold water.

“Man, I had no idea we would be on the road this long.” Shawna was getting tired of traveling so often.

“I’ll try to get you guys less time on the road. However, all these gigs are doing good for your reputation.” Janet shows the information she’s been tracking about the group online.

Jerry normally didn’t like reading comments about the band on the web, but the ones he saw were encouraging. He looked at Janet. “You’re not nick-picking the comments, are you?”

“Nope, all these comments are straight from your social websites. Some of them are a little creepy, especially about girls.” Janet looks over toward Shawna, Jackie, and Kassidy.

“What are they saying?” Jackie was curious.

“Well, one guy wants to see more of your cleavage and wear skimpier outfits like Shawna and Kassidy do.” A smirk appears on Janet’s face.

Jackie blushes because her outfit is modest compared to Shawna and Kassidy's. Plus, she was near Jerry, behind Tony.

“I think we can rearrange things for Jackie to show off her body more.” Kassidy knew the guys in the audience, who were big fans of theirs. She reads some of the fan fiction, and some of it has been written on a few sites.

“Oh, there are few comments about you and Tony, Jerry.” Janet looks towards Jerry.

“I don’t want to know.” Jerry was trying to do better now and didn’t want to screw up last the last six times.

“Me neither. I found a woman I like a lot.” Tony liked the woman he met in Norfolk and planned to spend the holidays with her. They have been keeping in touch while the band traveled.

“Well, if that’s all the fans want, maybe we can do something to please them.” Kassidy would think about improving Jackie’s look.

While everyone is standing around, a teenage girl rides up to them on horseback. She stops a few feet from them.

“I hope you guys are hungry because we got a big spread laid out for you. If you're done shooting your video, come on up to the main house.”
Keli's mother had sent her to let the band and video crew know lunch was ready.

Janet turns to look at Keli; she smiles at the girl, “Thanks, Keli. We’ll be up in a few minutes.

“I’ll let my mother know, Ms. Curtis.” A smile appears on Keli’s face.

She turns her horse around and heads towards the main house to inform her mother and crew.

“All right, let’s pack everything up before we leave. It looks like it’s going to rain soon.” Jerry looks at the cloud cover.

“Okay, Jerry.” Kassidy goes about helping to pack their instruments up.

“Man, when is it going to stop raining?” Kassidy couldn’t believe how hard it was coming down outside.

The band was staying in clear geodesic dome homes in the Blue Ridge Mountains. They had been hired by the talent manager of the 5 Points Music Sanctuary in Roanoke, Va. Where the domes were set up, overlooked the town from a mountaintop. The view was remarkable, but since they arrived, it has been raining.

Kassidy, Jackie, and Shawna were sharing one geodesic dome, while Tony, Cindy, and Jerry were sharing another one. Janet, their manager Cynthia, and the roadies were sharing a smaller geodesic dome. The smaller dome was in the middle of the boys and girls.

“I don’t know, I kind of like it.” Jackie was sitting in a recliner listening to the raindrops as they hit the plastic roof of the dome.

Shawna was in the kitchen area fixing breakfast for the three of them. She had loved sleeping under the dome last night. She fell asleep staring up at the roof at the stars overhead.

“I have to agree with Jackie, Kassidy. I loved watching the stars last night as I fell asleep. As for the rain, listen to the drops as they hit the dome.
I bet you could create a song from the sound the drops make.” Kassidy finishes cooking the eggs and separate them. She puts an equal share on the three plates.

She was glad that the domes were already stocked when they arrived late last night. She didn’t feel like going out in this weather right now. She loved walking around in her nightshirt with nothing on underneath it. She noticed that Jackie was wearing a nightshirt as well, but was wearing panties. As for Kassidy, she was wearing a skimpy baby doll outfit with ruffle panties.

“Coffee is up and breakfast is ready.” Kassidy grabs her plate walks into the living room area and sits down on the sofa in there.

“Thanks for making breakfast, Shawna.” Jackie walks into the kitchen area and picks up a plate. She takes a couple of biscuits as well. She also makes herself a cup of coffee as well.

“Thanks, Shawna.” Kassidy walks into the kitchen area after Jackie leaves and takes a plate and a couple of biscuits as well.

“You know, I wouldn’t mind eating outside if it wasn’t raining.” Jackie liked how the dome had a wrap-around porch. It was already set up so you could eat outside.

“I just wish it would stop raining.” Kassidy has never lived anywhere, where it rained so much.

“You’re too much of a desert person, Kassidy.” Shawna takes a bite from her biscuit that she loaded up with scrambled eggs and pieces of ham.

“Maybe, I know we are going to be here for the next four nights. I wanted to take some pictures and send them back to my roomie.” Kassidy knew Jessica was home and was envious of her lifestyle.

Not that it has always been easy for her. There were months when Jessica had to cover all the bills because she was short on money. Sure, she had a job as a lounge singer, but it didn’t always pay that well.

The Boys Geodesic Dome:
Tony was sitting in the living room area drinking his coffee and strumming his guitar. A notepad sat on the table in front of him. It had some notes written on it. He called his new girlfriend this morning to let her know where he was. A smile appears on his face as he thinks about Georgia.

He loved how well the two of them got along. She was a career military person and loved what she did in the Navy. She had informed him that she was thinking about renewing her contract again with them.

Tony takes a sip from his coffee cup and strums a tone. He refines it a little until he gets the tone he wants. He writes the notes down on the notepad. He spots Cindy walking out of the bedroom she and Jerry had taken kind of funny.

He couldn’t help himself “I see you had a rough time last night riding the bronco.”

Cindy blushes, because she was a little loud last night as she rode Jerry hard. She loved how gifted he was and how he made her cum last night. She almost fell off him and the bed, because of the massive orgasm she had on top of him.

“Sorry for being so loud last night, Tony.” Cindy fixes herself a cup of coffee.

“It’s all good.” Tony takes another sip from his coffee cup.

“You know, I like this geodesic dome home. Too bad it’s raining. I would love to go outside and see what the town looks like from up here.” Cindy was enjoying traveling with Jerry.

“Me too. Maybe I should have one of these built on the ranch I’m looking at buying.” Tony has been wanting his ranch for a long time.

“That would be cool. I bet Georgia would like it.” Carol got a chance to meet Tony’s new girlfriend.

“I hope so.” Tony strums his guitar as another tone enters his mind.

“What are you working on, Tony?” Cindy walked over to the sofa where Tony was sitting.

“A new song, I don’t have a title for it yet.” Tony was still working on it.

“Well, you could get with the girls and see what you guys could come up with.” Carol knew Kassidy and Shawna were good at naming new songs.

“I’ll do that after I’ve worked out the song.” Tony writes down some more notes.

Cindy knew Jerry was still asleep in the bedroom. She wore him out last night. She has to admit, that he was slowly changing since she entered his life. She heard the rumors about him before they started dating. She was a little reluctant when he approached her and asked her out on a date, but now. She was slowly falling for him and was even thinking about what her life would be like if they ever got married.

Cynthia, Janet, and the roadies geodome:
Henry was in the kitchen fixing breakfast for everyone. His partner in crime, Frank was in the living room area drinking black coffee. Janet and their boss Cynthia were moving around in their bedroom. He knew Cynthia loved fresh brew coffee and had been up half the night after they arrived arranging new venues for them. Janet had been in contact with the video company that shot the band's video and they were going to
meet them in Delaware to record the concert they were going to be doing.

“Morning Henry, whatever you are cooking smells nice.” Janet walks out of the bedroom she was sharing with Cynthia.

“Morning and thanks. Is Cynthia up yet?” Henry looks at Janet as she walks into the kitchen to fix herself a cup of coffee.

“Nope, and I think she is going to sleep in today. She hates rainy weather and she was up late last night.” Janet knew Cynthia was busy all night and was worn out by the time she lay down.

“So, when do we need to go and set the band's equipment up?” Henry knew it was his and Frank’s job to have everything set up when they arrived.

“The band is scheduled to start playing around eight tomorrow. So, you’ll need to have everything set up by then.” Janet takes a sip from her coffee.

“So, nothing today?”

“Nope, today everyone has to rest and plan out what they want to do tomorrow.” Janet was glad they had a day to rest.

“Good.” Henry goes back to cooking.

Halfway To Philly:
Kassidy wakes up and finds herself in a hospital room. She was hooked up to several machines, and Shawna was beside her. She couldn’t move her right arm. And her leg felt heavy. She tries to clear the fogginess clouding her mind. The last thing she remembers was being on the bus playing a computer game with Jackie.

She turns her head and notices Shawna is also hooked up to several machines. She tries to move, but it hurts like hell when she does. She looked at her right arm and noticed it was in a cast. She saw her left leg was in a cast, and her right leg was covered up by bandages that went the length of her leg.

It finally dawns on her that she is in a hospital room. She locates the button to summon the nurse and presses it. After a few minutes, a nurse comes into the room.

Nurse Evans was on duty monitoring all the band members from the band Ecstasy. They had been involved in a serious car accident and were brought to the hospital where she worked. The press caught wind of it and were waiting around like vultures.

Several photographers had already been caught on the floor where the band members were located. Security had to be called in to protect the band's privacy. She was updating one of the members' medical files when one of the band members summoned her.

She noticed the signal was coming from the room where the bass player and lead singer were. She grabbed her tablet and walked into the room. When she entered, the lead singer was awake and looked confused.

Kassidy saw the door to the hospital room open. She and Shawna were in, and a middle-aged woman with short black hair came walking into the room.

“What happened?” Kassidy asked as soon as the woman was close enough to her.

“You and your bandmates were involved in a six-car accident.” Nurse Evans looks down at the young woman.

“Is everyone else okay?” Kassidy was worried about everyone else.

“Everyone is okay, but you all have various degrees of injuries. You’ll have to postpone your tour for several months. You all have multiple degrees of broken and bruised bones. Your bus driver and co-pilot won’t be able to drive a tour bus for a while.” Evans had seen how badly the bus driver and copilot were when they entered the emergency room.

Since they were in the front of the bus, they took the brunt of the crash. As for the others, they all sustained broken arms, legs, and head injuries. Their tour manager got stabbed by a loose knife.

“Just when our careers were going good.” Kassidy hated the fact they were going to need to cut their tour early.

“Well, you could uses the time to write and record some new music,” Nurse Evans figures the band could use the down time to recover and write new music.

“How long will recovery take?” Kassidy didn’t need her arm to sing, but she did need her legs to stand and dance.

“Several months. Since both your arm and leg is broken.”

“Well, since its close to the holidays, this should be okay, I guess.” Kassidy Didn’t want to end the tour early.

The next few days Kassidy and the group spend in the hospital. There was no way Tony, Jerry, Jackie, or Shawna could play their instruments. All of them were suffering either from broken bones or fracked wrist and tailbone. Jerry had to uses a donut cushison to sit on, because he fracked his tailbone.

The production company the group worked for, booked them a private flight back home. As for the gigs they were schedule to perform at. The production company assigned another band to the gigs.

When Kassidy walks into her apartment, she noticed Sally was sound asleep on her sofa. She asked Sally to look after her place while she was touring. She should see if Sally wouldn’t mind hanging around and helping her.

Kassidy makes her way to her bedroom with help from Cindy. Cindy was one of the lucky ones.

“Are you going to be okay, Kassidy?” Cindy looks at Kassidy with concern on her face.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll ask Sally if she feels like sticking around to help me.”

“Well, if you need anything, call me.” Cindy turns to leave.

No sooner does Cindy leaves, Sally comes walking into Kassidy’s bedroom rubbing her eyes. “Is everything okay, Kassidy?” Sally wokeup form hearing Cindy and Kassidy’s voice.

“I might need your help, if you don’t mind.” Kassidy looks towards Sally when she says that.

Sally noticed the cast on Kassidy’s arm and leg. She also notices the other bandages covering Kassidy’s body.

“What happened to you?” Sally walks over to Kassidy to help her.

“Our tour bus was involved in a car accident.” Kassidy lays back in her bed.

“You’re going to have to tell me more when you wake up.” Sally helps Kassidy get comfortable in bed.

The next few months are torture for Kassidy and the gang. They were big news for a week or so. The reason their tour bus had been wrecked was because a person had done a brake check in front of a semi-truck. The truck driver tried to avoid hitting the person doing the brake truck and ran right into their tour bus, sending it slamming into another truck.

It backed the interstate up for hours, while rescue personnel tried putting out an oil fire that had ignited. The two truck drivers were in serious condition and the person who caused the traffic accident was arrested thanks to video footage the truck drivers had from their dashcams. Their tour bus was beyond repair. It was going to take more money to fix it, than it was worth.

During the downtime, it gave Kassidy time to write a few more songs. Jerry stayed in contact with everyone by video conference. Tony had to go in and have his playing arm operated on. So, he wasn’t going to be able to play for the upcoming performance they had around Christmas time.

Dusty Gaskets, sent a temp player to cover for Tony until he could join them. Georgia, Tony’s new girlfriend was taking time off to take care of Tony while he recovered. She also renewed her contract with the Navy.

As for Jackie, and Shawna. Dusty Gaskets hired a full-time nurse to look after them while they recovered at home. It was the least they could do for the two of them.

As for Kassidy, she had her friend Sally helping her around her place and when Sally wasn’t available, her friend William (Billy) came by to help out. She and William were old friends and if she ever needed someone to help her move something or pick her up like Jerry did. She could call William for that. Plus, he has seen her naked before and didn’t get turned on from it.

Kassidy was sitting at her synthesizer playing one-handed when her doorbell rang. She used the ring app on her phone to see who it was. A smile appears on her face “Come on in, Billy.”

Billy opens the door and walks inside. He stopped at Taco Bell and bought a dozen tacos and drinks for them.

“I brought lunch, Kassidy.” Billy spots Kassidy sitting at her synthesizer in a pair of shorts and an oversized t-shirt.

“You’re a lifesaver, Billy.” Kassidy was feeling hungry.

“You look like you tried bungee jumping again.” Billy noticed the cast on Kassidy’s leg and arm.

“Nope, the tour bus me and my fellow bandmates were on was involved in an accident caused by an idiot. He tried break checking a semi-truck.”

“You were involved in that accident in Philly?” Billy saw the news about it.

“Yeah, unfortunately, our driver/roadie and stagehand were seriously injured from the accident and all of us sustained injuries that are going to sideline us for a few months.” Kassidy was enjoying the cities they were playing at.

“I’m sorry to hear that. From everything I’ve been hearing about you guys, your band was doing great.” Billy had gone to the band's website and saw footage posted there.

Every band member had their bio on the site along with pictures of them throughout the years. There were even samples of music they had played in the past. If the member was new, it showed the current music they either wrote or played.

“So, how long are you sidelined?” Billy was curious.

“At least three months or so. However, since it is the holiday season. We have two shows we have to do. We can’t cancel them and my bandmate Tony won’t be able to join us.”

“How come Tony can’t join you?” Billy was curious.

“The break to his playing arm caused some nerve damage and the doctors had to go back in and fix it. He’ll be okay, once his arm heals.”
Kassidy knew Tony was worried about his playing hand.

“Man, that has to suck.”

“It does. However, it had to be done. Our production company hired the best nerve doctor to work on his arm.”

“Man, it sounds like this record label you guys are contracted under looks out for you.” Billy knew most record labels wouldn’t care unless the band was extremely popular.

“I have to say, for an independent record label. They look out for their artist.” Kassidy has never known an independent record label to look after their people.

“Let’s eat before the tacos get too cold.”

Kassidy and Billy move to the sofa and put the tacos on the coffee table. Kassidy knew Sally was at her full-time job and wouldn’t be home until later. She enjoyed having Sally around to help her.

“I can’t believe we finished this album.” Kassidy looks at everyone as they wipe down their instruments.

“Well, we have to make up for the time down we were forced to take.” Jerry knew it hurt them, but they still got paid.

“I’m just glad I can use my hand again without pain.” Tony was happy the specialist he was forced to see managed to fix the nerve damage to his arm.

“Well, I’m just glad the holidays are over with.” Cindy was happy they were back to a normal schedule.

All the holiday gigs they had booked were hard on all of them, especially Tony, since he couldn’t play with the group. He traveled with them, along with his new girlfriend. The temp person that played with them, during the holidays did other jobs for their record label. They had to admit that the person was good.

“Well, we have one album done and the second one halfway completed.” Jerry was glad they had the first album done. Several songs on it were already hitting the top five spots on the music billboards.

They were making good money from their top songs. They even did a few music videos for the songs.

Kassidy looks at everyone, “So, I heard from Rose and she said that we’ve been requested to come back and play at that venue again.”

“Did you inform Cynthia?” Cindy has been learning a lot from Cynthia and Janet. She was thinking about becoming the band's road manager.

Janet was willing to let Cindy learn from her. She looks towards Cindy “I don’t think Cynthia will mind you guys taking the gig. I know she is planning a summer tour for you guys and if I’m not mistaken, she has a few new gigs coming up for you.”

“Cool. Well, at least we are starting the new year off on a good foot.” Jerry liked that they were rebounding on a good note.

After remixing and arranging the new songs on the album. The group heads home to relax and enjoy the rest of the week. Cynthia, Cindy, and Jerry fly to Dusty Gasket's main headquarters to see what they think of the album.

While Cynthia, Cindy, and Jerry are away, the rest of the band relaxes and takes care of personal business. All of them are looking for a fun year.