Fiction, Part I!

Disclaimer: This story is pure fiction. I'm writing it because I love fiction and mysteries and writing and all that goes with it. I'm going to write installments no more than twice a week (sometimes less) until no one is interested in reading it anymore. No outline, no pre-conceived plot or characters. I'm writing this soap opera style, with an ongoing storyline and characters that "build themselves." I will be using my experiences in the music business, the legal business, as a writer, as a mom, celebrities I've met, etc., but none of them will be real. I will also be using some of my favorite names, but they do NOT represent REAL PEOPLE. I know at least 8 or 9 musicians named Mark in real life--but the Mark in this story is not any of them! Names are names, nothing more. If you don't like the story, that's okay, but please don't get up in arms if I make a reference about Mick Jagger being too skinny or Pamela Anderson's breasts being too big--this is all for fun. Thanks for reading!

It was a dark and stormy night... It really was, and Sam, short for Samantha, Weber, was happy to be snuggled in her waterbed, a glass of wine next to her, a good mystery book in her hands. She was just beginning to doze off when lightning struck outside her window that made her jump. Then the phone rang and she almost knocked over her glass of wine.

"Yes, hello?!" she gasped, trying to mop up the wine with her nightshirt.

"Girl, where are you?! It's after 10 and you should have been here an hour ago!" Sam's best friend, Liz, was trying to shriek over the background noise.

"Supposed to be where?" Sam demanded, getting up to find a towel in the bathroom.

Liz sighed dramatically. "Girl, sometimes I swear you'd forget your ass if it wasn't attached to your backside! The Rainbow--helloooo.... video shoot at midnight on the dance floor. Anyone who was here by 9 gets to stay!"

"Oh hell." Sam groaned as she sopped up wine from the night table and the carpet. "Liz, really, I was just about to fall asleep--I've been in bed for almost two hours reading!"

"Well, get up!" Liz said in disgust. "You promised! I'm sitting here by myself for over an hour, and I am not giving up this spot!"

"And how do you propose I get in?!" Sam demanded. "It's way past 9:00. There's no way I'm getting in anyway."

"I already told the manager you went to get some money because we both ran out--he was fine with letting you back in, so get your ass in gear and get down here!"

"Liz, I'm exhausted! I've got three deadlines on Monday, which means I cannot be hung over tomorrow and--"

"La la la la la!" Liz sang. "I can't hear you! I'm not listening! My best friend wouldn't leave me here alone! I am the only black woman in this hard rock hell, and your butt better be here in 45 minutes or you're going to be black and blue when I get over there tomorrow!"

Sam sighed. There was no fighting Liz when she was in this kind of mood. She'd hoped Liz would bail--she hated going to the Rainbow. It was full of musicians and Hollywood types that Liz normally couldn't stand, but she'd always dutifully tagged along when Sam begged her to go with her. So tonight, with Liz actually excited about being there, Sam felt a twinge of guilt.

"Damn." She got up and looked in the bathroom mirror. How on God's green earth was she going to make herself presentable in 30 minutes or less? Finding parking on the Sunset Strip on a Friday night would be almost impossible, and it would take at least 15 minutes to get there. Making a face at herself in the mirror, she pulled her wavy hair back into a ponytail and stuck some toothpaste on her tooth brush. This was going to be a long night.

She arrived at the Rainbow Bar and Grill, a popular Hollywood night spot on Sunset Boulevard, sometime after 11:00. She told the bouncer at the door that she'd gone to get cash and the manager had said it was okay. He'd given her a look like he didn't believe it, but in the end--whether it was her push-up bra and low-cut tank top or the five-inch stiletto heels that accented her calves--he let her in. She found Liz the moment she went up the stairs--she was the only six-foot black woman with platinum blond hair in the place--and Liz silently handed her a drink.

"'Bout time you got here!" she muttered, her eyes slanted dangerously. "I was about to give up on you."

"I was ready for bed!" Sam shrugged. "You're lucky I'm here--so what's going on? What is this video you're up in arms about?"

"It's for LL Cool J!" Liz's eyes glittered. "And you know I am going to have that boy's baby!"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know. So does everyone we know!"

"And he is going to spot me tonight!" Liz said with a flourish, swaying her hips from side to side.

"Like he did the last five times we put ourselves in his air space?" Sam chuckled.

"The stars weren't in alignment those times," Liz pouted. "My horoscope today said that I was going to have an encounter with a person or distinction that will change my life."

Sam forced herself not to roll her eyes again; Liz did not appreciate it when people made fun of her love of astrology! "So, is he here?"

Liz eyed her. "Of course not! He won't arrive until he can make an entrance."

"Okey-dokey, then." Sam gulped down the entire glass of wine. "Get me a refill!"

The video shoot was over almost before it began, without any sign of LL Cool J. Apparently, the shoot was only for footage of people dancing at a night club. The star himself had never even been on the bill for the festivities. Of course, it had been almost 1:30 a.m. before Sam managed to find someone to give her that information, and she'd almost dragged Liz out by the hair. Of course, Liz had been so disappointed she didn't have the heart.

"I'm really sorry," Liz sighed as they made their way through the crowds towards the exit. "My friend Sasha--"

"This isn't the Sasha who told you that Mary J. Blige was staying at the Roosevelt Hotel? But it turned out to be some woman named Mary J. Blig from Duluth, Minnesota?"

Liz wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, that's her. But she's not always wrong!"

Sam refrained from making the comment on the tip of her lips. "Well, on the bright side, you owe me one!" she laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Liz had just reached the door. "You want to go for breakfast?" she asked. "My treat--" She whipped her head around. "Sam? Where are you?!" She stepped back into the main dining room. "Sam?!" She called as loud as she dared, but her friend was nowhere in sight.

"What the hell?" She scanned the room. 'Where the hell did she go?!"