| 1. Storms Will Come Saturday, June 31, 2001 2:32 pm A year earlier... "I hate being a woman." "What?" "Rob, I have cramps." "Well," the man in his late thirties man said, looking up from the Chicago-Sun Times he'd been scanning for the past half-hour, "despite the fact that was way too much information, I might feel sorry for you." "Did I mention I have PMS, too?" "When do you not?" he laughed. "Sarcasm does you no good, Landon." "Yeah, but I'm good at it, aren't I?" She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling at her manager. "Whatever." She stood up. "I'm going to lie down for a while. Wake me up for sound check, okay?" "Will do." He continued reading the newspaper as she stumbled to the break room, clutching her stomach dramatically, though the pain was no act. Once in the room, she fell on a couch, and nearly drifted off to sleep. Being sick and on the road and doing shows every night was taking it's toll on her nearly 19-year-old body. Perhaps that was why she'd been in pain the last two weeks. She'd attributed it to cramps, but those don't last that long, nor are that severe. Despite her pain, Meghan Whitley wouldn't give up this opportunity she'd been given for anything. She was one of the acts for the biggest tour in the music scene, Gold 2001, and it had brought her much success. The tour featured whom some would call �pop princesses�. The competition to steal the stage was stiff, as she was against the likes of Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, and Britney Spears, though she wasn�t too threatened by Britney�s vocal capabilities. Still, critics had described Meg as having "the soul of Aretha Franklin and the pipes of Celine Dion." She was rising to the top of her game, if anything. "Give me the strength and the courage to believe that I'll get there some day. And please show me the way..." a deep voice sang softly as the door opened, unbeknownst to the fact that Meg was half-asleep on the couch. "Did Chad borrow my Styx CD again?" A blonde man walked around to the front of the couch and sat down, putting her legs on his lap. "Yes Chad did and Chad likes." "I knew you would." She smiled, turning over on her back to face him. "You feel alright?" "I'm just tired, that's all." She didn't want to tell him she was in pain because Chad Bishop, her boyfriend of several months and the bass player in her backup band, tended to worry about her. "You look tired. Go to sleep." "I'd rather talk to you." "I'd rather talk to me, too," he joked. "Oh please..." She smiled. "Can you believe we have a week left on the tour?" "I can, I can," he said, relieved. She chuckled, then sobered. "What's going to happen to us after the whole thing is over?" "Nothing at all," he said confidently. "We have a month off, then I think you go on a headlining tour, don�t you?� �Yeah, but you�ll be there, too!� �Oh darn.� He smiled and tried to tickle her. She laughed, "Stop that!" She gritted her teeth as a sharp pain hit her abdomen, not a result of the tickling, obviously. "Ow," she winced. "What is it?" he asked, concerned. "Nothing. I have a migraine," she lied quickly. "Poor baby." "Oh, I'll live. I probably just need to sleep some more. Five hours isn't cutting it." "You'll get used to it." "Don't remind me, Mr. �I-Played-For-Janet-Jackson-on-the-Velvet-Rope-Tour�." She said tartly. "I'm going to go sleep on the bus. My bed out there is much more comfortable." "I never thought I'd see the day�" "Well, now you see it." She kissed him and stood up, trying to not make obvious the pain she was feeling. "Au revoir, my love." "Meg, you want me to walk you out there? You look like you're about to faint." "I'm fine, Chad," she assured him. "Really." He smiled. "Sweet dreams." He kissed her once more and she headed out to the bus. Once inside the confines of the bus, she let the tears flow. The pain had intensified and it disabled her to climb onto her bed. She finally fell asleep in a ball on the floor of her tiny room. 2. No Pressure 3:18 pm "Meg?" She slowly opened her eyes to find Rob on the floor staring her in the face. "Rob, you scared me!" she exclaimed, blinking. "Meg, you scared me! What's wrong with you?" "I'm fine, I'm just�cramping, if you really want to know." He paused. "Meg, are you pregnant?" She laughed at the thought. "Of course not! You know I'm not like that!" "Well, yeah, but you never know " "I'm fine, Rob. Really. You guys should stop worrying about lil� ol' me sometime." "I'm worried about your health, Meg. I'm telling Christina to do a longer set starting tomorrow. You're taking the rest of the week off." "But Rob--" "No buts about it. It's for your health, Meg. Please listen to me on this one." She sighed, "Just this week?" He paused, "Until you feel yourself again." "Okay." She sighed. "Just promise not to tell any of the guys, okay? Chad is worried enough as it is." "I promise." "Okay then." He helped her up and the two went to the sound check. |