challenging herself to blink. She wiped a sheen of sweat off her forehead with the bottom
of her ratty, hot pink, thin-strapped tank top. She rolled over the band of her gray,
American Eagle shorts and nodded her head to the monster stereo system, turned on at the
highest volume behind her.
Another woman no older than twenty-two, strolled over to the stereo in a lavender, Baby
Phat, halter top and Levis, low-rise jeans. She studied it for a minute, then pressed the
play button. The second woman leaned against the mirrored wall, crossed her arms over
her chest and intently watched the first woman. An upbeat, pop, mixed with hip-hop beats,
type song poured through the speaker. The first woman stopped her hip-thrusting and
swiftly turned around.
"Come on Nessa, I'm tired! It's past one PM and I didn't eat lunch yet!" she whined,
sounding like a spoiled two year old.
The second girl shook her head and laughed, filled with everything but sympathy.
"Gi Gi, it's only-" She paused to look down at her Mudd watch. "It's only 12:15, you had
a snack 3 minutes ago and you still have to get this dance down", Vanessa lightly scolded.
"Ugh. You're more of a slave driver than Wade!" Gillian moaned, turning her face forward
again.
"Oh, stop whining. Besides, don't be yellin at me when you get on stage and then trip and
fall on your ass", Vanessa advised. Gillian rolled her sapphire eyes and the music once
again filled the room.
"I bet Britney Spears doesn't have to do this crap", Gillian darkly muttered under her
breath. Vanessa laughed.
"I heard that!"
Twenty-two year old, Vanessa Bennett was the personal assistant and best friend of
new-found pop sensation, Gillian Canova. Besides attending to Gillian, she was an aspiring
writer, with almond-shaped eyes the color of Hershey's dark chocolate. Because Vanessa
had a mixed ethnic background (african-american and Filipino), her skin complexion was
of caramel. She was petite and curvy like Jennifer Lopez, but certainly not overweight.
Her hair was a sea of thick, tight curls that reached her mid-back.
Twenty-three year old, Gillian Canova, on the other hand was the complete opposite. At
5'11'', Gillian towered over Vanessa by six inches, with a figure of Christina Aguilera;
skinny but still muscular. Gillian had sky blue eyes, similar to the Heart Of The Ocean
diamond in 'Titanic'. Her stick-straight hair was the color of sand, that hung down to her
shoulders. Her skin was a peaches and cream color.
Despite their difference in looks, they had many things in common; from favorite colors to
views on life. The two friends had met in college, discovering they were room mates.
Gillian had always wanted to be a singer but it was a family tradition, so to speak, to
attend Columbia University. Not wanting to disappoint her parents, Gillian had reluctantly
studied at that college.
When Gillian had finally gotten a record deal with RCA, she didn't waste a minute to pick
up the phone, inform her best friend on the good news and offer her a job. In the
beginning, Gillian's talent had been overlooked and overshadowed by all the bubblegum,
teen queens in the business. She had immediately been thrown into the pile of 'one-hit
wonders'. But now, with the release of her second single called "Nobody But You', that
was rapidly scrambling up the billboard charts like a hot potato, the critics had eased up
and begin to praise the singer that had seemed to rise out of nowhere. With the vocal
power of Christina Aguilera and an octave range that could give Mariah Carey a run for
her money, Gillian Canova was winning fans and hearts each day.
RCA had noticed this too and thus decided they'd send Gillain on her first promotional
tour, where she'd stop at every record store in every major city. Both women were itching
with anticipation and excitement; Gillian more so than Vanessa. On this beautiful Saturday
in the heart of New York City, Gillian had been in the local dance studio; The Dance
Extension. The two had occupied the room since eight am, Gillian practicing for her first
appearance at the Virgin Megastore, in Times Square, which executed in three days. Or
more accurately, Gillian would languidly practice, then stop every three minutes to
complain, therefore receiving a verbal beat down from Vanessa.
Gillain had been taught all the dance moves weeks before, by none other than everyone's
favorite choreographer, Wade Robson. She was scheduled to have one last practice
session today but Wade had called in sick. Gillian gleefully snatched this as an opportunity
to putter around the house all day and watch horribly crafted, daytime soap operas and
talk shows but Vanessa rejected this idea and dragged her to the dance studio.
Now, Vanessa may be tiny in size but she has patience as short as a toothpick. Also, she
has enough sassiness to make anyone who'd first met her believe she'd been a native New
Yorker. Mix this in with a little ghetto trash talk and you have one very scary monster of a
girl. In more clearer terms, when pissed off, Vanessa can be scarier than a PMSed,
pregnant woman having twins.
So you can obviously see why Gillian didn't protest about tossing out her afternoon dream
of shouting profanities at the parade of freaks on Jerry Springer.
Finally, at 1:30, the pair gathered their belongings and headed out of the building and to
Vanessa's cherry red, Eclipse, which was parked a few blocks down. Vanessa unlocked
the doors and slid in the driver's seat. Gillian carelessly threw her dark blue duffel bag in
the back seat, hopped into the car and shut the door.
"So, where are we headed for lunch? Oh, can we go to Tony's; I'm craving for a pepperoni
pizza", Gillian suggested, referring to their favorite pizzeria. Vanessa started the car and
cautiously pulled into the traffic, heading towards Tony's.
"Sure. I was thinking the same thing", she agreed. As they waited at a red light, Gillian
reached over and turned on the radio. It tuned into the local radio station, Z105.
"Hey this is Z105, brightening your afternoon with songs by J-Lo, Nsync, Avril Lavigne
and Nelly. But right now, it's the final song of the all request lunch hour. It's an oldie but a
favorite. Here's Sir-Mix-Allot with 'Baby Got Back'.
The two grinned at announcement and Gillian cranked the volume up. The first words of
the song started at they picked up, singing along and never missing a beat. The light finally
turned green and Vanessa followed the endless line of cars in front of her.
"So, are you nervous about the tour?" Vanessa asked, once the song was over and
replaced with Avril Lavigne's 'Skater Boy'.
Gillian thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Of course I'm nervous; it's my first time performing and all. Everything has to be perfect.
I don't think I could deal with it if I screwed up. But at the same time, I'm really excited."
She paused for a minute, then laughed.
"It's like going to prom. Deciding what you're going to wear is half the fun!" Vanessa
laughed.
"Except for the fact instead of trying to impress a guy, you're tying to impress a couple
hundred strangers", she corrected.
Gillian nodded.
"Yeah. Thank God for that. Speaking of guys, how'd your date with Tyler go?" Gillian
curiously asked. Vanessa scrunched up her nose, like she'd gotten a large whiff of an old
diaper.
"Ugh. Don't bring back painful memories", Vanessa sourly answered.
"Are you kidding? Was it that bad?" Gillian replied, fairly shocked.
Tyler Rushmore was a guy Vanessa had met at a club a few nights ago. With the deep, yet
sexy voice of Ja-Rule, swoon-worthy smile like Sean Patrick Thomas and the face and
body of Usher, it was no surprise when Vanessa had melted to a lifeless puddle on the
floor. Gillian herself was inwardly drooling at the site of him.
After some conversation and a few too hot to handle dances, it was clear that Vanessa was
crushing on Tyler and vice versa. The two had exchanged numbers and Gillian predicted
her friend's crush would developed into something more. Vanessa nodded.
"For real, I'm not kidding. I mean yeah, Tyler's hot as hell but that's it. We have nothing in
common. It'd never work", Vanessa explained. Gillian frowned, sensing something lurking
behind Vanessa's explanation. Vanessa kept her eyes on the road, as if glancing at Gillian
would force her to crack and spill the secret she was keeping hidden inside.
"I know what this is about. It's about that guy-that guy from back home, in Mississippi,
right? I thought you said you got over him", Gillian correctly guessed. Vanessa shook her
head as she screeched into the always crowded, parking lot of Tony's.
"No. No way. I was over his ass a long time ago. Like I said, Tyler and I...we just don't
mesh well", Vanessa lied. Gillian knew that Vanessa was lying but she didn't know the
truth involved a certain member of a certain pop band.
"You don't mesh well? That's the saddest excuse I've ever heard. I know this is about that
guy and-"
Vanessa cut the engine and faced her friend, annoyance written all over her face.
"Look, ok so maybe I still have a thing for that guy. But really, it's not like I'm in love with
him, aight? Tyler and I just aren't compatible", Vanessa firmly interrupted. Gillian sighed,
deciding to let the argument go. For now.
"All right. Let's-"
Suddenly, the sound of a cell phone cut her off.
"It's coming from your duffel bag", Vanessa observed. Gillian reached into the back seat,
unzipped her bag and pulled out the cell phone.
"Hello? Oh hi! Yeah...we're at Tony's. Ok.................WHAT!? No! No, I mean I'm fine
with that. That's great! Ok. Ok. I'll see you later. Bye!"
Gillian ended the call and let out a jovial squeal.
"Um what are you so happy about? Did Brad Pit divorce Jennifer Aniston?" Vanessa
kidded. Gillian rolled her eyes, her wide grin unable to be erased.
"No, although that would have made my day too. But anyway, that was Greg, my
manager. He called to tell me that I'm only doing the first three dates on the promotional
tour", Gillian began.
"Only the first three, why?" Vanessa demanded, confused.
"Ok. Listen to this."
"I'm listening", Vanessa answered, anticipating her friend's news. Gillian let out a giggle
and sighed, her eyes twinkling like a disco ball.
"I'm going to be going- no we're, going to be GOING ON TOUR WITH NSYNC!!"
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