‹ Prequel: The Fire
Sequel: Feed the Fire ›
Fallen Embers
I Never Should Have Started Loving.... Howard?
Monday morning Toby went to JFK to pick up the new guitar player while Sabrina and Adie went to the NBC building and up to the Saturday Night Live studio space. Sabrina's band was already there setting up their equipment. Sabrina let them know about the new guitar player and that she was on her way from the airport and when she got here; they needed to get her up to speed as quickly as possible, since David Letterman was Wednesday night and the SNL telecast was Saturday, and within two weeks was Sessions and Storytellers in which she needed to know a bunch of songs.
Sabrina left her band and Adie and she went to a room where the first production meeting was being held. Upon walking into the room that seemed to be overflowing with people, she immediately felt welcomed. Even though the cast and crew were technically on summer schedule, they genuinely seemed happy to be grinding out a new show just for Sabrina. Jimmy Fallon was even there to guest perform since he was such a big fan of Sabrina's.
The meeting lasted a few hours as the ideas went round the table for skits. Sabrina was amazed on how the creative process worked for the show, even though it was a different medium, it was not unlike writing new songs with another person. When Toby came into the room, Sabrina stood and excused herself to go rehearse with her band. She let everyone know that it was cool to come and listen and visit the band practice that was about to happen in the studio. With that Sabrina left the room and walked back to the studio where everyone was waiting.
Beth was standing talking with the guys as they were waiting for Sabrina to come back. She was enjoying the music that she was learning, and she was looking forward to meeting Sabrina face to face. She remembered that night at the bar when Sabrina and her friends were there, and the memory of the tall dark-haired man was like a broken record in her mind. She couldn't shake it. She remembered that he also came into the store earlier that day. She smiled as she thought about his music choice, and wondered if he had played it yet.
When Sabrina came into the room, she made a beeline for Beth. The older woman sized up Beth and extended her hand to the younger woman. Beth grasped Sabrina's hand and they had a firm handshake. "Welcome aboard." Sabrina said. "I hope the guys treated you okay."
"Yea, they were fine... I think I have the hang of 'Only Women Bleed' and 'Dedication'."
"Great you think you ready to do some jamming? We have this really bad habit of not doing our songs during sound checks and band practice." Sabrina admitted rather sheepishly.
"Sure, I know a ton of country and classic rock songs, so I should be able to keep up. It's that punk and heavy metal stuff I might have some problems with." The younger woman admitted.
Sabrina smiled as the young woman picked up her thin acoustic guitar and went over to stand but Gary, the first guitar player. "Let's do our 'Break Song', key of C on Gary." Sabrina shouted. Gary started a fast bluesy beat and the whole band came in. Beth listened for a few seconds and jumped into with a rhythm guitar part that filled in the gaps between Gary's guitar and Danny's keyboards.
Sabrina took her mic stand and went and stood in front of the band. Toby came over to stand by her and nudged the woman. He smiled his agreement to the new fuller band sound, and Sabrina smiled. She started to sing the nursery rhyme lyrics and agreed with the Toby's assessment of the new sound. When the chorus came along, Beth joined in harmony and rounded out the sound there as well. By the time the song was over, Sabrina was ecstatic with Beth and what she brought to the band sound, and begin cheering and clapping.
Beth finished the song and smiled as the people who were standing around followed in with clapping as led by Sabrina. I can get used to this. she thought to herself. She basked in the glow of the applause and gained a little understanding of this world of "Rock Stars."
Danny started a country steel guitar sounding riff on his keyboard and 'Walking after Midnight' began to filter through the studio. Beth was pleasantly surprised at the fact that Sabrina had the country bone and was able to sing it and not sound cheesy. Sabrina's rich deep voice that was not that different from her own, sang the lonesome words that made Patsy Cline famous.
A cell phone broke through with a loud ringing and Adie quickly answered it before anyone got disturbed. "Hello?"
"Hey babe, it's me." her husband's voice spoke.
"Hey hunny, how are you and the boys doing?"
"Great, great. We are here at Mike's having a BBQ with everyone. I have you are speaker, so holler."
"HI EVERYONE!!" Adie laughed into the phone. The noise caught Sabrina's attention but she got distracted when Danny got out his saxophone and started a slow Marshall Tucker tune. A startled look to Sabrina's face, because she knew the band's rules for practice, 'You play what is played'. This wasn't one of their normal tunes they played but she knew the words like the back of her hand. With a deep breath, she plunged headfirst into words that hit home for her.
There's something in your eyes that remind me
Of all the love I've left behind me
I see it in your face it keeps telling me
That I should have never started loving you
All the background noise stopped as on the other end of the phone as Adie knew that everyone could hear what the band was playing. The silence on the Oakland side of the phone call was deafening.
It was true when they said that I was mean and cruel
When it came to love I've broken all the rules
I see it in your eyes, they keep telling me
That I should have never started loving you
As Sabrina sang the last line, Beth's voice filtered in the background with a surprisingly high harmony and blended with Sabrina's melody like they were born to sing together.
I should have never started loving you
After all the things that I've put you through
I want to spent my whole life with you
I should have never started loving you
"Oh my god." Adie heard from the phone, though she couldn't decipher who exactly had said it.
When I look back at the things we've done
All the good times and all the fun
I see in your eyes, they keep telling me
That I should have never started loving you
Beth once again joined in on the last line and through the chorus with Sabrina, though the words had a different meaning for the younger woman. The people in the room could hear that the song affected the women singing; one was obviously singing about a lost love and the other the reason wasn't known for sure.
I should have never started loving you
After all the things you've put through
I wish I could spend my whole life with you
I should have never started loving you
When Sabrina sang the previous verse she became drained of energy, all she wanted to do was go bury her head and not come out of the sand. What possessed Danny to start this song was beyond her, and she didn't like it at all. The words spoke volumes for her and what she felt about Tre. She closed her eyes to the memories that flooded her consciousness. Their first dance, the truth or dare game, the wedding, the tattoos, New Years' Eve and all the times after that. The faithful day at the hospital invaded the pleasant thoughts, which was followed quickly by the weeks of being alone in the Oakland house that was once called 'home'. The pain of the day she was served with divorce papers shattered her mind. Tears finally seeped from her eyes. She swallowed hard to keep from crying in order to continue,
There's something in your eyes that remind me
Of all the love I've left behind me
I see it in your face it keeps telling me
That I should have never started loving you
I should have never started loving you
After all the things that we've been through
I want to spend my whole life with you
I should have never started loving you
I should have never started loving you
I should have never started loving you
I should have never... started loving you
Sabrina sang the last line, and the room was silent. "Stick a fork in me boys, I'm done." She said as she walked off of the stage and out the doors to the backstage area. The band started to turn off their instruments and the crowd that had gathered to listen, dispersed. Adie stood paralyzed until she heard "Adie... Adie... ADIE!" She shook her head as if to clear cobwebs out of it and turned her attention back to the phone.
"Sorry Hun, I was caught a little off guard there for a minute." She explained.
"Join the club on that one. Tre just left like his ass was on fire. Poor guy, I really feel for him. I wish there was something we could do with those two." Billie sighed.
"Me too," Adie whispered back, "I love you and I am glad that we aren't in a place like that anymore."
"I love you too baby. Well, I'll let you go, tomorrow is Howard Stern right?"
"Yes."
"Great cause I'm going to stay up and listen. I can't wait to see Howard asks her." He giggled.
"Hun, you know that to listen live, you have to be awake at 3am Oakland time."
"Yea I know, actually we are all planning on listening in. Mike and Tre are coming over to the house and we're gonna stay up."
"Awww," Adie cooed, "are the big boys having a sleepover?"
"Yes, we are for your information, woman." Billie admitted grudgingly.
Adie laughed as she said goodbye to her husband and went to go see if she could find Sabrina. She walked over to Toby who was talking with the band and Beth about what happened. Beth looked annoyed, but everyone else was okay with Sabrina walking away. They knew that it was still hard for the woman. Toby finished up and Beth, Adie and himself went to off to find where Sabrina might have gone.
The three found the missing woman perched on top of some road cases that where sitting in a hallway. When she saw the group come up to her, she jumped down and walked up to join them. "I'm starving... let's go find some decent food." She said with a hand on her stomach.
"Dam Sabrina, I swear the only other person who eats as much as you is Tre. Adie admitted with a laugh at the older woman.
Sabrina smiled and didn't say a word as the group made their way down to street level and into a waiting limo. As Sabrina got into the limo, she paused to speak to the driver. "Surprise up and take up to a good restaurant." She said with a smile. The man nodded and when his passengers were safely inside, he got in and pulled the limo out into traffic.
They arrived at a nice out of the way place where it was small and intimate. There was no crowd or paparazzi, so the friends were able to enjoy the surprisingly delicious Italian cuisine. When they finally left the little restaurant, they made some new friends and promised to eat there again when in town. They piled back into the limo and drove back to Sabrina's downtown penthouse. The gang of four hit the sack early since they needed to get up at 4:30am in order to be at Howard's Sirius studio by 5:30am.
The next morning Sabrina's phone rang at 4:15am with her wake up call from her message service. She felt as though she had only just fallen asleep an hour or so before, but she willed herself to get out of bed. She padded to the bathroom half conscious and started the shower in order to wake up. Within 15 minutes she was somewhat more alert, dried and dressed in a pair of jeans, her green plaid vans, and tank top which was covered up by her Adeline Skully hoodie. With her hair pulled back into a ponytail and makeup free, Sabrina still looked pretty damn good for 45 years old and being that early in the morning.
She went out into the kitchen and came across a pair of weary looking people. Toby and Adie looked as though they just woke up, which in fact they did and they were nursing cups of coffee. She smiled at them and went into the Sub Zero and pulled out a granny smith apple and a Diet Pepsi, which was her normal breakfast. She pulled up a chair along side of Toby and smiled again at the two as she twisted open her soda and took a long draught from it.
"How the fuck are you so chipper this early?" Toby mumbled into his cup.
"I took a shower to wake up, and besides that, this is just a little earlier than I normally wake up anyway. I need to be on my toes with Howard, since I'm sure within 10 minutes of me on the air; we will be talking about sex and whatnot. That's not a good topic of conversation while you are half asleep." She said as she ruffled the cranky man's hair.
"Bitch... " he muttered.
"Drama queen." She laughed back.
After drinking enough coffee to stop being cranky, Toby was ready to go to the Sirius studios. He, Adie, and Sabrina left and grabbed a cab to take them the short distance. Upon arriving, the trio piled out and entered the building which housed Sirius Satellite Radio, and was home to the Howard Stern show. Gary; Howard's long time producer met them as they exited the elevator on Howard's floor, which housed not only his studio spaces, but his and his staff's offices. "Hey Sabrina, long time no see." Gary said while leaning in for a quick hug and kiss.
"Hi Gary, yea it has been a while since I was on the show. You remember Toby Mann my manager?" The producer shook the outstretched hand of the manager. "And Adrienne Armstrong, who is here representing Adeline Records, which is the new label I'm on."
"Hi, it's nice to meet you again. We met years ago on a flight one time." Gary said while shaking Adie's hand. "Follow me to the green room, and we'll get you settled in. Howard doesn't have any other guests scheduled because he wanted as much air time with you as possible." Gary explained. "I made sure that there is plenty of Diet Pepsi here for you Sabrina, I remembered from last time; also I have brought some doughnuts and bagels and coffee for the normal morning people." he said as he led the trio down a hallway and into a room that had some couches and tables in it. He turned on a TV that was on the wall and a re-run of a show which was playing until Howard came on live at 6am. "I'll come get you went it's time Sabrina, so relax until then." He paused before walking out the door, "I heard that your trivia knowledge of music is good, so Howard wants us to play 'Stump the Booey'." Ending with that, Baba Booey left the room.
Sabrina grabbed another soda and whole wheat bagel and plopped down on to one of the couches to wait until it was time to go live with Howard. At 6am on the dot, Howard started his show and Sabrina listened as he touted her coming on the air in a little bit. The show went into commercial and Gary appeared at the door to whisk Sabrina away to the studio. Sabrina started to hum the 'funeral march' as she rose up from the couch to follow Gary.
Sabrina followed the small man down some hallways to the studio door which when she looked through, she was able to see Howard sitting at his desk. "Just to remind you, that there are cameras filming." Gary said as he opened the studio door for Sabrina to walk through, and then following behind her. He waited for Sabrina to say her hellos before showing her to a seat on a red couch and giving her a set of headphones.
"Sabrina God DAMN, you are looking fine this morning." Howard started off. "You look amazing, She is wearing some tight jeans and a hooded sweatshirt and she is wearing her hair in a pony tail. I swear you look like a 30 year old. Can you stand up and give us a spin?"
Sabrina laughed at Howard's comments and stood up and pulled out her ponytail and unzipped her hoodie as she spun around on her toes. She heard the wolf whistles from the men in the room as she sat back down with an innocent look on her face.
"Oh my god, you are so hot." Howard said, "You're so sexy, I think you started to give me a boner."
"Well, let the sex talk begin Howard. I predicted to Toby, my manager; that we would be talking about sex within 10 minutes of me being on air. And," as she dropped her head to glance at her watch, "It's officially less than 2 minutes of being on air."
The group laughed at Sabrina comments. "Well what else did you think the men would want to talk about? Robin asked.
"Robin, I have found out in my life time that men do have TWO brains, but only enough blood to run ONE of them at a time." Sabrina retorted. "Okay Howard, since there is no holds barred now since you are off terrestrial radio, I'll tell you what, you may ask me anything about anything, and I will answer for you truthfully. No nudity or stuff like that," she said which brought a groan from the men, "HEY, I only show my stuff to the guys I have been with, and that is a very SHORT list. I believe it's sexier to CONCEAL rather than REVEAL. Where is the mystery or the intrigue if I show my junk?"
"Wait, Howard said, "What do you mean a short list? You must have banged a lot of guys in your time?"
"Nope, I can count everyone I have been with on less than 10 fingers."
"What? A hot sexy chick like yourself has been with less than 10 guys? Name them."
"Okay, first is the guy I lost my virginity to, Barry; when I was 17 in Florida while we were down there racing. Then I met Nikki Sixx at 18. I followed that up with getting back with the first guy. After I left that abusive relationship, I went back to date Nikki for a while. I met the next guy, Ricky while working down in Atlanta for NWA wrestling. When he left me, I went back again for the third time to Nikki and that was when we got engaged. Less than a year later, he cheated on me with the woman he went on to marry, Donna D'Errico. I went without anyone for a few years until I met up with another wrestler, Roadie; who was my first younger man. We were only together for a little bit since he was separated from his wife and she finally decided she wanted him back. I went a few more years without and then got with my final wrestler, JBL who incidentally is the cousin of the first guy I was with. After he broke it off, I went almost 4 years being celibate until I met Tre in December of 2005. Now I have a fuck buddy or two, one of whom is Tre. So that's... let's see... " she counted on her fingers, "7 men total." Sabrina conviently left out naming Mike.
"Wait... you have a fuck buddy?"
"Yea, what's wrong with that? I mean... it isn't the FIRST fuck buddy I've had... cause Nikki was one of those back in the beginning."
"Who is this mystery guy? C'mon... you can tell me... " Howard begged.
"Nope," Sabrina chuckled. "My lips are sealed." She replied with a wink.
Howard laughed, "Okay... fair enough. Now what can we ask you... " he thought out loud. "Oh, I know... what are your turn on's?"
"Geez Howard, that's an easy one... Sticks and stone may break my bones, but whips, leather AND chains excite me. I am a kink at heart." She admitted.
"Oh my god, I love you. Have sex with me." Howard quipped. "Okay, with that information, did you have a fellow kink?"
"Oh god... he might have a fit... " she thought out loud. "Wait, what am I thinking... shit, he is probably sleeping." She looked back to Howard, "Tre was my kink buddy. I thought Nikki was kinky, but my wonderful ex totally kicks ass in the department."
Back in the green room Adie and Toby were listening and watching the TV feed from the studio. Sabrina was spinning around for the guys in the studio when Adie's phone rang. She glanced at the call ID and laughed at who was calling.
"Aww if it isn't the sleepover boys." She cooed into the phone.
"Ugh, I'm telling you Adie... " her husband warned.
She laughed at his tone and soon heard his laughter also. "I see that you are all awake."
"Yea, we are listening to Howard right now... and let the sex begin... " Billie chuckled at Sabrina's comment. "Oh my god, is she counting off her sex partners?"
"Seems so... " Adie murmured as she tried to listen to two things at once.
"Uh oh, there goes Tre grabbing his phone, I think he's going to call... "
'Dominated Love Slave' began to play on Sabrina's cell phone right after she had mentioned Tre's name. "Well speaking of the Devil... " Sabrina quipped.
"Let Gary answer it, so we can get Tre to call our line and patch him through." Howard said to the woman as she pulled off her phone to hand to the producer. She watched Gary speak into her phone and within a minute, a phone in the studio rang and Tre's voice joined the conversation.
"Hiya, Howard. Good morning Sweets." Tre's voice intoned over the headphones.
"Hey Tre my man, how are you doing?" Howard asked. "Where are you calling from?"
"Well I'm calling from Billie's house. He, Mike and myself got together to listen to Sabrina and you."
"Oh god... all three of you are listening?" Sabrina groaned. "Great, let the teasing began for months after this."
Tre's evil laughter rang throughout the studio as Sabrina groaned again. She knew that this was going to be interesting now that Tre was involved and that Billie and Mike was also listening in. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "Let the flogging began." She muttered.
The interview went on with Howard asking wild questions about Sabrina and Tre's love life. She answered each question with honestly and Tre supplied the missing parts. They laughed and Sabrina enjoyed this new version of relationship or whatever it was they were having at that moment. They joked around like best friends and spoke of their sexual habits without shame. Tre did stutter for a moment when Howard asked who her best lay was and she answered hands down it was Tre; that he blew all the competition out of the water.
The three hours seemed to go by quickly and Sabrina soon found herself saying her goodbyes to Howard and the others in the studio and being escorted back to the green room where Adie and Toby were waiting. The woman grinned sheepishly at seeing her two friends. Adie was still on her cell and Sabrina grabbed hers and with a flick of the wrist opened it and hit one button and brought the phone up to her ear.
On the third ring a familiar voice spoke, "Can't get enough of me?"
"Nope, I just wanted to say thanks, I actually had fun talking with you like that." She admitted.
"Me too, it was cool. I thought it was gonna be weird but in the end it wasn't."
"Does this mean we are starting to become 'ok' again?" she asked her ex husband. "I mean 'ok' as in being able to be around each other and not flake out?"
"Maybe, Sabrina, maybe." He said thoughtfully.
Sabrina left her band and Adie and she went to a room where the first production meeting was being held. Upon walking into the room that seemed to be overflowing with people, she immediately felt welcomed. Even though the cast and crew were technically on summer schedule, they genuinely seemed happy to be grinding out a new show just for Sabrina. Jimmy Fallon was even there to guest perform since he was such a big fan of Sabrina's.
The meeting lasted a few hours as the ideas went round the table for skits. Sabrina was amazed on how the creative process worked for the show, even though it was a different medium, it was not unlike writing new songs with another person. When Toby came into the room, Sabrina stood and excused herself to go rehearse with her band. She let everyone know that it was cool to come and listen and visit the band practice that was about to happen in the studio. With that Sabrina left the room and walked back to the studio where everyone was waiting.
Beth was standing talking with the guys as they were waiting for Sabrina to come back. She was enjoying the music that she was learning, and she was looking forward to meeting Sabrina face to face. She remembered that night at the bar when Sabrina and her friends were there, and the memory of the tall dark-haired man was like a broken record in her mind. She couldn't shake it. She remembered that he also came into the store earlier that day. She smiled as she thought about his music choice, and wondered if he had played it yet.
When Sabrina came into the room, she made a beeline for Beth. The older woman sized up Beth and extended her hand to the younger woman. Beth grasped Sabrina's hand and they had a firm handshake. "Welcome aboard." Sabrina said. "I hope the guys treated you okay."
"Yea, they were fine... I think I have the hang of 'Only Women Bleed' and 'Dedication'."
"Great you think you ready to do some jamming? We have this really bad habit of not doing our songs during sound checks and band practice." Sabrina admitted rather sheepishly.
"Sure, I know a ton of country and classic rock songs, so I should be able to keep up. It's that punk and heavy metal stuff I might have some problems with." The younger woman admitted.
Sabrina smiled as the young woman picked up her thin acoustic guitar and went over to stand but Gary, the first guitar player. "Let's do our 'Break Song', key of C on Gary." Sabrina shouted. Gary started a fast bluesy beat and the whole band came in. Beth listened for a few seconds and jumped into with a rhythm guitar part that filled in the gaps between Gary's guitar and Danny's keyboards.
Sabrina took her mic stand and went and stood in front of the band. Toby came over to stand by her and nudged the woman. He smiled his agreement to the new fuller band sound, and Sabrina smiled. She started to sing the nursery rhyme lyrics and agreed with the Toby's assessment of the new sound. When the chorus came along, Beth joined in harmony and rounded out the sound there as well. By the time the song was over, Sabrina was ecstatic with Beth and what she brought to the band sound, and begin cheering and clapping.
Beth finished the song and smiled as the people who were standing around followed in with clapping as led by Sabrina. I can get used to this. she thought to herself. She basked in the glow of the applause and gained a little understanding of this world of "Rock Stars."
Danny started a country steel guitar sounding riff on his keyboard and 'Walking after Midnight' began to filter through the studio. Beth was pleasantly surprised at the fact that Sabrina had the country bone and was able to sing it and not sound cheesy. Sabrina's rich deep voice that was not that different from her own, sang the lonesome words that made Patsy Cline famous.
A cell phone broke through with a loud ringing and Adie quickly answered it before anyone got disturbed. "Hello?"
"Hey babe, it's me." her husband's voice spoke.
"Hey hunny, how are you and the boys doing?"
"Great, great. We are here at Mike's having a BBQ with everyone. I have you are speaker, so holler."
"HI EVERYONE!!" Adie laughed into the phone. The noise caught Sabrina's attention but she got distracted when Danny got out his saxophone and started a slow Marshall Tucker tune. A startled look to Sabrina's face, because she knew the band's rules for practice, 'You play what is played'. This wasn't one of their normal tunes they played but she knew the words like the back of her hand. With a deep breath, she plunged headfirst into words that hit home for her.
There's something in your eyes that remind me
Of all the love I've left behind me
I see it in your face it keeps telling me
That I should have never started loving you
All the background noise stopped as on the other end of the phone as Adie knew that everyone could hear what the band was playing. The silence on the Oakland side of the phone call was deafening.
It was true when they said that I was mean and cruel
When it came to love I've broken all the rules
I see it in your eyes, they keep telling me
That I should have never started loving you
As Sabrina sang the last line, Beth's voice filtered in the background with a surprisingly high harmony and blended with Sabrina's melody like they were born to sing together.
I should have never started loving you
After all the things that I've put you through
I want to spent my whole life with you
I should have never started loving you
"Oh my god." Adie heard from the phone, though she couldn't decipher who exactly had said it.
When I look back at the things we've done
All the good times and all the fun
I see in your eyes, they keep telling me
That I should have never started loving you
Beth once again joined in on the last line and through the chorus with Sabrina, though the words had a different meaning for the younger woman. The people in the room could hear that the song affected the women singing; one was obviously singing about a lost love and the other the reason wasn't known for sure.
I should have never started loving you
After all the things you've put through
I wish I could spend my whole life with you
I should have never started loving you
When Sabrina sang the previous verse she became drained of energy, all she wanted to do was go bury her head and not come out of the sand. What possessed Danny to start this song was beyond her, and she didn't like it at all. The words spoke volumes for her and what she felt about Tre. She closed her eyes to the memories that flooded her consciousness. Their first dance, the truth or dare game, the wedding, the tattoos, New Years' Eve and all the times after that. The faithful day at the hospital invaded the pleasant thoughts, which was followed quickly by the weeks of being alone in the Oakland house that was once called 'home'. The pain of the day she was served with divorce papers shattered her mind. Tears finally seeped from her eyes. She swallowed hard to keep from crying in order to continue,
There's something in your eyes that remind me
Of all the love I've left behind me
I see it in your face it keeps telling me
That I should have never started loving you
I should have never started loving you
After all the things that we've been through
I want to spend my whole life with you
I should have never started loving you
I should have never started loving you
I should have never started loving you
I should have never... started loving you
Sabrina sang the last line, and the room was silent. "Stick a fork in me boys, I'm done." She said as she walked off of the stage and out the doors to the backstage area. The band started to turn off their instruments and the crowd that had gathered to listen, dispersed. Adie stood paralyzed until she heard "Adie... Adie... ADIE!" She shook her head as if to clear cobwebs out of it and turned her attention back to the phone.
"Sorry Hun, I was caught a little off guard there for a minute." She explained.
"Join the club on that one. Tre just left like his ass was on fire. Poor guy, I really feel for him. I wish there was something we could do with those two." Billie sighed.
"Me too," Adie whispered back, "I love you and I am glad that we aren't in a place like that anymore."
"I love you too baby. Well, I'll let you go, tomorrow is Howard Stern right?"
"Yes."
"Great cause I'm going to stay up and listen. I can't wait to see Howard asks her." He giggled.
"Hun, you know that to listen live, you have to be awake at 3am Oakland time."
"Yea I know, actually we are all planning on listening in. Mike and Tre are coming over to the house and we're gonna stay up."
"Awww," Adie cooed, "are the big boys having a sleepover?"
"Yes, we are for your information, woman." Billie admitted grudgingly.
Adie laughed as she said goodbye to her husband and went to go see if she could find Sabrina. She walked over to Toby who was talking with the band and Beth about what happened. Beth looked annoyed, but everyone else was okay with Sabrina walking away. They knew that it was still hard for the woman. Toby finished up and Beth, Adie and himself went to off to find where Sabrina might have gone.
The three found the missing woman perched on top of some road cases that where sitting in a hallway. When she saw the group come up to her, she jumped down and walked up to join them. "I'm starving... let's go find some decent food." She said with a hand on her stomach.
"Dam Sabrina, I swear the only other person who eats as much as you is Tre. Adie admitted with a laugh at the older woman.
Sabrina smiled and didn't say a word as the group made their way down to street level and into a waiting limo. As Sabrina got into the limo, she paused to speak to the driver. "Surprise up and take up to a good restaurant." She said with a smile. The man nodded and when his passengers were safely inside, he got in and pulled the limo out into traffic.
They arrived at a nice out of the way place where it was small and intimate. There was no crowd or paparazzi, so the friends were able to enjoy the surprisingly delicious Italian cuisine. When they finally left the little restaurant, they made some new friends and promised to eat there again when in town. They piled back into the limo and drove back to Sabrina's downtown penthouse. The gang of four hit the sack early since they needed to get up at 4:30am in order to be at Howard's Sirius studio by 5:30am.
The next morning Sabrina's phone rang at 4:15am with her wake up call from her message service. She felt as though she had only just fallen asleep an hour or so before, but she willed herself to get out of bed. She padded to the bathroom half conscious and started the shower in order to wake up. Within 15 minutes she was somewhat more alert, dried and dressed in a pair of jeans, her green plaid vans, and tank top which was covered up by her Adeline Skully hoodie. With her hair pulled back into a ponytail and makeup free, Sabrina still looked pretty damn good for 45 years old and being that early in the morning.
She went out into the kitchen and came across a pair of weary looking people. Toby and Adie looked as though they just woke up, which in fact they did and they were nursing cups of coffee. She smiled at them and went into the Sub Zero and pulled out a granny smith apple and a Diet Pepsi, which was her normal breakfast. She pulled up a chair along side of Toby and smiled again at the two as she twisted open her soda and took a long draught from it.
"How the fuck are you so chipper this early?" Toby mumbled into his cup.
"I took a shower to wake up, and besides that, this is just a little earlier than I normally wake up anyway. I need to be on my toes with Howard, since I'm sure within 10 minutes of me on the air; we will be talking about sex and whatnot. That's not a good topic of conversation while you are half asleep." She said as she ruffled the cranky man's hair.
"Bitch... " he muttered.
"Drama queen." She laughed back.
After drinking enough coffee to stop being cranky, Toby was ready to go to the Sirius studios. He, Adie, and Sabrina left and grabbed a cab to take them the short distance. Upon arriving, the trio piled out and entered the building which housed Sirius Satellite Radio, and was home to the Howard Stern show. Gary; Howard's long time producer met them as they exited the elevator on Howard's floor, which housed not only his studio spaces, but his and his staff's offices. "Hey Sabrina, long time no see." Gary said while leaning in for a quick hug and kiss.
"Hi Gary, yea it has been a while since I was on the show. You remember Toby Mann my manager?" The producer shook the outstretched hand of the manager. "And Adrienne Armstrong, who is here representing Adeline Records, which is the new label I'm on."
"Hi, it's nice to meet you again. We met years ago on a flight one time." Gary said while shaking Adie's hand. "Follow me to the green room, and we'll get you settled in. Howard doesn't have any other guests scheduled because he wanted as much air time with you as possible." Gary explained. "I made sure that there is plenty of Diet Pepsi here for you Sabrina, I remembered from last time; also I have brought some doughnuts and bagels and coffee for the normal morning people." he said as he led the trio down a hallway and into a room that had some couches and tables in it. He turned on a TV that was on the wall and a re-run of a show which was playing until Howard came on live at 6am. "I'll come get you went it's time Sabrina, so relax until then." He paused before walking out the door, "I heard that your trivia knowledge of music is good, so Howard wants us to play 'Stump the Booey'." Ending with that, Baba Booey left the room.
Sabrina grabbed another soda and whole wheat bagel and plopped down on to one of the couches to wait until it was time to go live with Howard. At 6am on the dot, Howard started his show and Sabrina listened as he touted her coming on the air in a little bit. The show went into commercial and Gary appeared at the door to whisk Sabrina away to the studio. Sabrina started to hum the 'funeral march' as she rose up from the couch to follow Gary.
Sabrina followed the small man down some hallways to the studio door which when she looked through, she was able to see Howard sitting at his desk. "Just to remind you, that there are cameras filming." Gary said as he opened the studio door for Sabrina to walk through, and then following behind her. He waited for Sabrina to say her hellos before showing her to a seat on a red couch and giving her a set of headphones.
"Sabrina God DAMN, you are looking fine this morning." Howard started off. "You look amazing, She is wearing some tight jeans and a hooded sweatshirt and she is wearing her hair in a pony tail. I swear you look like a 30 year old. Can you stand up and give us a spin?"
Sabrina laughed at Howard's comments and stood up and pulled out her ponytail and unzipped her hoodie as she spun around on her toes. She heard the wolf whistles from the men in the room as she sat back down with an innocent look on her face.
"Oh my god, you are so hot." Howard said, "You're so sexy, I think you started to give me a boner."
"Well, let the sex talk begin Howard. I predicted to Toby, my manager; that we would be talking about sex within 10 minutes of me being on air. And," as she dropped her head to glance at her watch, "It's officially less than 2 minutes of being on air."
The group laughed at Sabrina comments. "Well what else did you think the men would want to talk about? Robin asked.
"Robin, I have found out in my life time that men do have TWO brains, but only enough blood to run ONE of them at a time." Sabrina retorted. "Okay Howard, since there is no holds barred now since you are off terrestrial radio, I'll tell you what, you may ask me anything about anything, and I will answer for you truthfully. No nudity or stuff like that," she said which brought a groan from the men, "HEY, I only show my stuff to the guys I have been with, and that is a very SHORT list. I believe it's sexier to CONCEAL rather than REVEAL. Where is the mystery or the intrigue if I show my junk?"
"Wait, Howard said, "What do you mean a short list? You must have banged a lot of guys in your time?"
"Nope, I can count everyone I have been with on less than 10 fingers."
"What? A hot sexy chick like yourself has been with less than 10 guys? Name them."
"Okay, first is the guy I lost my virginity to, Barry; when I was 17 in Florida while we were down there racing. Then I met Nikki Sixx at 18. I followed that up with getting back with the first guy. After I left that abusive relationship, I went back to date Nikki for a while. I met the next guy, Ricky while working down in Atlanta for NWA wrestling. When he left me, I went back again for the third time to Nikki and that was when we got engaged. Less than a year later, he cheated on me with the woman he went on to marry, Donna D'Errico. I went without anyone for a few years until I met up with another wrestler, Roadie; who was my first younger man. We were only together for a little bit since he was separated from his wife and she finally decided she wanted him back. I went a few more years without and then got with my final wrestler, JBL who incidentally is the cousin of the first guy I was with. After he broke it off, I went almost 4 years being celibate until I met Tre in December of 2005. Now I have a fuck buddy or two, one of whom is Tre. So that's... let's see... " she counted on her fingers, "7 men total." Sabrina conviently left out naming Mike.
"Wait... you have a fuck buddy?"
"Yea, what's wrong with that? I mean... it isn't the FIRST fuck buddy I've had... cause Nikki was one of those back in the beginning."
"Who is this mystery guy? C'mon... you can tell me... " Howard begged.
"Nope," Sabrina chuckled. "My lips are sealed." She replied with a wink.
Howard laughed, "Okay... fair enough. Now what can we ask you... " he thought out loud. "Oh, I know... what are your turn on's?"
"Geez Howard, that's an easy one... Sticks and stone may break my bones, but whips, leather AND chains excite me. I am a kink at heart." She admitted.
"Oh my god, I love you. Have sex with me." Howard quipped. "Okay, with that information, did you have a fellow kink?"
"Oh god... he might have a fit... " she thought out loud. "Wait, what am I thinking... shit, he is probably sleeping." She looked back to Howard, "Tre was my kink buddy. I thought Nikki was kinky, but my wonderful ex totally kicks ass in the department."
Back in the green room Adie and Toby were listening and watching the TV feed from the studio. Sabrina was spinning around for the guys in the studio when Adie's phone rang. She glanced at the call ID and laughed at who was calling.
"Aww if it isn't the sleepover boys." She cooed into the phone.
"Ugh, I'm telling you Adie... " her husband warned.
She laughed at his tone and soon heard his laughter also. "I see that you are all awake."
"Yea, we are listening to Howard right now... and let the sex begin... " Billie chuckled at Sabrina's comment. "Oh my god, is she counting off her sex partners?"
"Seems so... " Adie murmured as she tried to listen to two things at once.
"Uh oh, there goes Tre grabbing his phone, I think he's going to call... "
'Dominated Love Slave' began to play on Sabrina's cell phone right after she had mentioned Tre's name. "Well speaking of the Devil... " Sabrina quipped.
"Let Gary answer it, so we can get Tre to call our line and patch him through." Howard said to the woman as she pulled off her phone to hand to the producer. She watched Gary speak into her phone and within a minute, a phone in the studio rang and Tre's voice joined the conversation.
"Hiya, Howard. Good morning Sweets." Tre's voice intoned over the headphones.
"Hey Tre my man, how are you doing?" Howard asked. "Where are you calling from?"
"Well I'm calling from Billie's house. He, Mike and myself got together to listen to Sabrina and you."
"Oh god... all three of you are listening?" Sabrina groaned. "Great, let the teasing began for months after this."
Tre's evil laughter rang throughout the studio as Sabrina groaned again. She knew that this was going to be interesting now that Tre was involved and that Billie and Mike was also listening in. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "Let the flogging began." She muttered.
The interview went on with Howard asking wild questions about Sabrina and Tre's love life. She answered each question with honestly and Tre supplied the missing parts. They laughed and Sabrina enjoyed this new version of relationship or whatever it was they were having at that moment. They joked around like best friends and spoke of their sexual habits without shame. Tre did stutter for a moment when Howard asked who her best lay was and she answered hands down it was Tre; that he blew all the competition out of the water.
The three hours seemed to go by quickly and Sabrina soon found herself saying her goodbyes to Howard and the others in the studio and being escorted back to the green room where Adie and Toby were waiting. The woman grinned sheepishly at seeing her two friends. Adie was still on her cell and Sabrina grabbed hers and with a flick of the wrist opened it and hit one button and brought the phone up to her ear.
On the third ring a familiar voice spoke, "Can't get enough of me?"
"Nope, I just wanted to say thanks, I actually had fun talking with you like that." She admitted.
"Me too, it was cool. I thought it was gonna be weird but in the end it wasn't."
"Does this mean we are starting to become 'ok' again?" she asked her ex husband. "I mean 'ok' as in being able to be around each other and not flake out?"
"Maybe, Sabrina, maybe." He said thoughtfully.