Kiss the Flame

The dirty blonde haired woman idly looked out the window of the jet as the mountains around Los Angeles came into view. A script sat in her lap and her fingers were marking the pages she was learning. She popped a piece of gum in her mouth as the pilot came over the loudspeaker announcing their impending touchdown at LAX. It was early April and a prime time to be heading to LA.

Twenty minutes later she was in a car heading through the streets of the City of Angels on her way to Paramount Studios in Hollywood for her first day of work. As the sleek sedan pulled up to the security gate the driver pulled up and lowered his window to speak to the guard that came out. With a quick show of credentials a moment later the sedan continued on its journey. The woman watched through the tinted windows as each huge soundstage went by; surrounded by Star Trailers which housed each individual TV or movie star. After almost getting dizzy and totally getting lost the sedan stopped behind soundstage Twenty-three. Ten RVs turned dressing rooms sat in a neat line in front of the huge stage doors. With a quick thank you to the driver; the woman got out and still holding the script from the airplane she started to walk toward the smaller sized studio door. Just as the blonde started to feel lost; one of the doors on an RV opened and a familiar grizzled man emerged. Smiling as he caught sight of the woman, William Peterson ran over to meet her.

“Sabrina it is so good to see you again,” he said with a genuine smile gracing his face through his grayed beard as he wrapped her up in a hug.

Sabrina Sanders Wright felt immediately at ease at the feel of her friend’s arms around her and for the first time in a long time a smile played on her lips. “Bill, nice to see you too. Thank god you showed up or I would have been totally lost around here.”

An eyebrow arched as a puzzled look came over his face. “You mean you don’t have an assistant helping you?”

Moving out of his arms Sabrina cocked her head to the side, “No…” she said with a pause; “You know I don’t hold much bunk with that kind of stuff. I roll solo.”

“Sabrina you really should have a hand helping you out here. It makes it easier to maneuver around the lot.”

The woman sighed, “Okay. I’ll see if Toby can come down since Tre has TJ.” She quickly flipped open her phone and hit the speed dial for her manager when she heard a familiar voice.

“You don’t need to call… I’m right here,” smiled the man in question as he came up next to the two stars.

“How the fuck…” Sabrina started to say until she held up her hand and shook her head. “Never mind… I should know better than wonder how you do what you do.”

A laugh came from Toby’s mouth as he listened to his long time friend, “I was in the back of the plane with the crew and I waited until you left in the car before I got off the plane; you never saw me.”

Shaking her head Sabrina looked between the two men and smiled again. “Looks like I’m covered Bill,” she said as said man walked with her to a trailer set up on the end. Eyeing it she turned to Toby with a questioning look.

“Yup Boss, this one is yours and you’ll not needed in wardrobe and makeup for another hour or thereabouts so we can settle in.” Toby directed his next words to Bill; “I’ll have her ready to go and on set on time.”

Nodding to the two people Bill took his leave and walked away as Sabrina and Toby entered the trailer to relax before she was due to begin her new and exciting TV journey.

At the same time in Studio 880 in Oakland California, another woman was beginning on her own journey. Beth Pritchard was standing in front of a recording mic with a big set of headphones on. She chewed at a hangnail on one of her fingers as she waited uncomfortably for some direction. Glancing up into the sound booth sitting behind a huge soundboard that she couldn’t see was Rob Cavallo, Billie Joe Armstrong and her current lover; Mike Dirnt. The first two men didn’t bother her but the last one did to an extent. Beth didn’t know why Mike was getting involved when she stated just this morning that she didn’t need his help. Frowning, that last thought stewed in her mind as she waited for the men to get things ready. The music minus vocals for her very first song, ‘Ten’ had been recorded earlier in the day by Sabrina’s backup band who were pinch-hitting for Beth until she found her own musicians to work with. The recording process was overwhelming enough and Toby didn’t want her to completely freak out trying to do everything at once.

“Anytime now boys,” she grumbled throwing one last dark look at Mike before turning to look at the other men in the sound booth.

“Hold your damn horses woman,” Billie Joe cranked back. “You don’t tell us how to record and mix and we’ll not tell you how to fuckin’ sing your songs.”

“Touché`,” she replied as a slight smile played on her lips. Suddenly as soon as the words left her mouth the beginning strains of her song began to flow through the headphones.

“How’s the level?” inquired Rob without looking up as he playing with knobs on the board.

“Level?” Beth asked; starting to get that feeling that she was in over her head.

“Level means how is the volume of the music you hear through the headsets Beth,” Mike quickly chimed in as he saw the emotion play across her facial features.

Beth’s mouth formed a silent ‘Oh’ as she digested Mike’s words. “It could be a touch louder,” she ventured. Rob nodded and the music got louder. “That’s fine Rob, thanks.”

“Okay Beth do you want to hear the music first then start laying down the vocals on the second run through or would you rather start singing on the first go around?” Billie Joe said. “I personally would suggest listening first time so you can hear the music and how the band played it. It might be your song but hearing for the first time with a full band can take your breath away… I should know.”

Beth nodded her agreement and the song began again to flow through the headsets into her ears. She was speechless and amazed at something she wrote and only played on guitar by herself was a few steps away from being an actual recorded song for her first album. She closed her eyes and let her body sway with the sound as she became engrossed in the music.

The three men in the sound booth looked at one another as she lost herself in the sounds and chuckled amongst themselves. “She’ll do fine,” Rob laughed. “She’s a natural.” Billie and Mike nodded their agreement and sat back to wait for the song to end so they could start the real work of laying down the lead vocals and mixing them.

About ten minutes later Beth was on her way to recording the vocals. Her soulful rich voice filled the sound booth as she sang some interesting words. Mike listened in slight confusion wondering where in the world the meaning of the song came from. It was reminiscent of ‘Precious Things’ by Tori Amos, he thought to himself as some of those lyrics flowed into his mind;

I remember
Yes in my peach party dress
No one dared
No one cared
To tell me where the pretty girls are
Those demigods
With their nine-inch nails and little fascist panties tucked inside the heart of every nice girl

Another few minutes went by as Beth finished up the first go around of the vocals. She frowned slightly as she saw Rob and Billie engaged in what looked like a debate with Mike just sitting back not saying a word. “What’s wrong?” she asked almost scared for what the answer was going to be.

“Well remember when Billie said we won’t tell you how to fuckin' sing your song?” Rob spoke through the headsets. “Well…. Beth I think you can do better.”

Beth just stood there for a minute not knowing what say. Suddenly anger flowed through her veins. “What the fuck?” she screamed. “It’s my goddamn song and I think I’d fuckin' know how to sing it asshole!” She ripped off the ‘phones and threw them to the ground. “Fuck you and the fucking horse you two rode in on!” and with that she turned and stormed out of the studio door and down the hallway.

Stunned the men looked at each and then turned their gazes to Mike who had started to laugh. “What the fuck is funny Pritchard?” Billie asked trying not to get mad at his friend’s laughter.

“And you thought this would be easy…” he said between chuckles. “Like anyone can tell Beth what to do.”

Rob shook his head in confusion; “Well now what?”

“Give her a few minutes then Billie you can go out to talk with her. She’ll calm down in a bit and you can explain what you are looking for from her. Remember she’s new at this and more than likely feels overwhelmed and unprepared for it all,” Mike calmed explained to his befuddled colleagues.

"Fuck that... you can," came the reply.

Back in Hollywood there was a knock on the trailer door where Sabrina and Toby were waiting. “Come in,” Sabrina said quickly wondering who would be visiting her. Suddenly the door swung open and a smiling man entered into her domain. His dark eyes were behind stylish small frames which seemed to make them pop. A smile graced his chiseled features and his body was covered by a thin tee-shirt underneath a CSI crime lab vest.

“Hi,” the man said in an unmistakable Texas drawl. “I’m George Eads, thought I’d come over to introduce myself before we started our scenes.”

Sabrina was at a loss for words at the moment, seemingly paralyzed by the man in front of her. Toby glanced quickly at his charge and took over sensing Sabrina was not able to control herself at that particular time.

“Hi George, I’m Toby Mann and I’m Sab’s manager.” Turning toward the woman seated next to him, he jabbed her in the ribs to get her moving.

“Ouch dammit Tobe.” Sabrina flashed an evil look toward her managers’ way before turning back to George. Sticking out her hand to the Texan she smiled, “I’m Sabrina Sanders but you can call me Sab. Sabrina has too many syllables.”

“Okay Sab,” George said returning her smile and sticking out his own hand to grasp Sabrina’s. He started in surprise at her firm handshake and the warmth of her smile.

The two didn’t let go of each others’ hand until Toby spoke up, “Am I gonna have to pry you two apart or what?” He watched as Sabrina actually blushed and quickly dropped her co-star’s hand. He narrowed his eyes as cogs of his mind started to whirl at the information he had just acquired.

“So you have a horse farm; do you ride Western?” George said to start a conversation. He was unsure of himself and of the woman in front of him. Even though she was closer to fifty then he was; she looked as though she was in her 30’s. George glanced at her slim but toned body appreciably and felt his mind wander for a moment.

Sabrina for her part was trying not to blush again under the man’s gaze. “Yea I do but I don’t like it,” she started. “It’s too much saddle between me and the horse. With English I can feel the horse underneath me where I can be one with the horse.” Taking a quick glance at her watch Sabrina realized the time. “I would love to talk more but I am due in makeup and wardrobe in a few minutes.” Getting up she stuck out her hand again, “Glad to meet you George, I think we’ll work well together.”

Nodding his agreement George shook her hand again before taking his leave. “Okay, I’ll see you on set.” And with that he opened the door and was gone.

“Da’yam,” Toby whistled. “That is one fine lookin’ cowboy.” Quickly glancing at Sabrina he chuckled when she said nothing but got up and opened the door to head to makeup.

Mike wandered down the corridor looking for Beth. With a quick turn he changed direction and headed outside to the picnic tables. He smiled as she came into view sitting at a table seemingly staring off into nothingness. “Hey,” he said as he came up to her. “Can I join you?” When she didn’t reply he took that for a yes and sat across from her and waited. He didn’t have to wait long before a voice spoke up, filling the quietness that was between them.

“Dammit Mike, I know I could have done that better but did Rob have to point that out?”

Slightly smiling he replied, “Yea they do. It’s their job as producers and mixers to get the best performance that you can do; ‘cause only your best will do. If you can’t or won’t do that then we need to rethink this album.”

Nodding her head she turned and looked at him. “Yea I understand… I’m just not used to somebody pointing out that I can do better. I don’t take criticism well,” she finished off with a slight smile of her own.

“Totally understand Beth; been there and done that in the beginning myself. But I knew in my heart that I could do better and with each album and as I have grown older, I give a better performance from the last one.” He stood up and reached out his hand to her. “Whatta ya say? Ready to go back in there and blow Billie and Rob away and make them eat their words?” Mike said with a smile.

“With pleasure," she replied with a sinister grin.

Twenty minutes later the three men were grinning ear to ear as they listened to Beth’s deep soulful voice again singing the words to her song ‘Ten’.

I have the heart of a nine-year-old boy
Strangely effeminate
Won't you take my Polaroid
There's a dance that I know
But it's too hard to do
Waking my senses
I'd really like to be you

But the time's not right
The clock tower tolls
Let's go back in time
When nobody knows
As I try to change my name
My face and body aren't the same
But it's just a dream
Of what I could've been
I'm no longer nine years old
Now I'm ten

I played with dolls and I dressed Ken in drag
Sometimes homosexual
I guess he was my inner fag
But he looked really good
In his dress and high heels
Perfect plastic fetish
This is how a girl sometimes feels

But the time's not right
The clock tower tolls
Let's go back in time
When nobody knows
As I try to change my name
My face and body aren't the same
But it's just a dream
Of what I could've been
I'm no longer nine years old
Now I'm ten

Sometimes I wish that I was a boy
Things would be easier
Imagine the toys
Tonka trucks, Matchbox cars and GI Joe
And when I grow up I could be a whore
And no one would think less of me
Because when a guy gets around
He's a playboy of the western world
But when a lady gets around
She's a slut, a bitch, and a diseased girl

But the time's not right
The clock tower tolls
Let's go back in time
When nobody knows
As I try to change my name
My face and body aren't the same
But it's just a dream
Of what I could've been
I'm no longer nine years old
Now I'm ten

As the vocals faded away and the music came to an end Rob turned to Mike and Billie, “I think she can be the next Sabrina if she plays her cards right.”

The clock read 6pm when Sabrina finally climbed the steps to her trailer. She collapsed onto the couch and let her head fall back and closed her eyes. “Holy shit, I didn’t know hurry up and wait could be so tiring.” No sooner than the words left her mouth a knock sounded at the door. “Yea?” she said without opening her eyes.

“Hey,” a familiar drawl sounded. “I was wondering if you wanted maybe to go grab some dinner or something.”

Sabrina opened her eyes at the voice and looked at George. “No offense, but some Hollywood dinner isn’t my style.”

“Hollywood style?” George laughed and his rich timber filled the air around them. “Hell I’m a Texas boy born and bred. My style is a pitcher of beer and some wings or a burger.”

“Well then if that’s the case. Count me in,” Sabrina said with a smile as she got up off the couch.

About four hours later and with full bellys, George walked Sabrina back to her car. “I really had fun tonight Sab, thanks for the great dinner conversation.”

Sabrina stopped and turned toward the man after he opened her car door. “You know, I had a great time too,” she smiled.

Tension seemed to flow suddenly between them as they just looked at each other. George’s eyes asked Sabrina a question to which she acknowledged with a faint nod of her head. The last thing she remembered was the feel of his lips against her own.

**”Ten” as written by Holly Rinedoller**