ALEXANDRA listened from just outside the green room. The Sammy P. Higgins Live show was in full swing. She would be called up anytime now, and tonight she was ready.

From her spot, she heard Sammy announce, “Our next guest tonight is one of the top female music artists in the world. In the past three years alone she has sold over thirteen million songs on iTunes, toured in countless countries, and has been cheated on, then proposed to by some of the biggest jerks in the entertainment industry.”

Sammy P. Higgins was high on humor tonight. The audience went into overdrive from that intro, with real audience laughter billowing over the pre-recorded sounds they would normally air to bolster the entertainment factor for TV viewers.

His sidekick on the second stage shouted out, “Not nice, Sammy P. You realize she’s your guest, right?”

“I didn’t make up a word, for heaven’s sake. It’s on the damn cue cards.” He turned to look stage right and said, “It’s all fun and games until the celebrity guest pokes my eye out. What were you writers thinking, anyway?” More laughter spewed from the audience. “Let’s get her up here! Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome Lexxi Rock!”

Alexandra walked out on stage—with her black, curly hair bouncing around her face, and the purple wig in her hand. The crowd went perfectly silent. Even Sammy did a double take. She handed Sammy the wig, and as he took it, he looked down at it with stunned awe.

“Well. That’s a first.” He looked at the surprised audience again, and they broke into tumultuous laughter again. Sammy turned side stage once more, realizing he needed to go with the flow. “Where’s hair and makeup when you need it?” When no one came on stage, Sammy stood up and put the wig on his own head. Even Alexandra was laughing now.

Deadpan, with the wig on his head, he asked, “So…how are you doing, Lexxi?”

Alexandra stifled her laugh and shook her black curls around her face. “Much better now. How about you, Sammy?”

“You sure you want an answer, Lexxi?”

“Sure. Hit me.”

He leaned in close to her and snapped his neck so the hair of the purple wig hit Alexandra in the face. “I’m much better now too.”

There was an uproar in the crowd now, which Sammy fueled further by ripping the wig off his head and walking to the edge of the stage. “Who wants to be Lexxi next?” He turned his back to the crowd like he was the bride at a wedding and the wig was the bridal bouquet. With a powerful over-the-head shot, it flew into the crowd and a crazed male fan practically clotheslined a tiny woman for the purple tresses.

Sammy nodded to his sidekick and he queued the live band, who seamlessly delivered twenty seconds of the Benny Hill theme song. He ran along the aisles among the crowd as audience members threw it from person to person so Sammy wouldn’t get it back. It was as though Alexandra’s stunt had been planned from the beginning. He ended up having to go to commercial so the wig could be taken away by one of the big, burly set security guys.

At the end of the commercial break, when they were back on air, Sammy asked her, “We need to know, Lexxi. Have you been donning this wig since your career started? Because it would take a heck of a lot of crazy glue to pull off those head swings you do at your live concerts.”

Smiling, she answered, “Did I mention I own 3M stock?”

More laughter went off in the audience, but Sammy brought it back under control long enough for Alexandra to say, “No, Sammy. All kidding aside, I cut my hair about six weeks ago.” She turned to the crowd and asked, “How do you all like it?”

They answered with whistles and loud applause.

Sammy waved his hands again. “That’s quite the transformation. How do you like it?”

“I’m loving it.”

“So tell us Lexxi. Your fans want to know…are you engaged to Wilkes Barracks?”

“The simple answer is no.”

“And the not so simple answer?”

“Still no, Sammy. By the way, how come you’re so obsessed with my love life?”

“Well…the simple answer is I don’t have one of my own.”

Alexandra laughed with the crowd. “And the not so simple answer?”

“Well, um…it’s still no…wait a minute. I ask the questions around here.”

“Seems to me you have a little too much fun doing that, Sammy. So much so, I’d like to try that out.”

“Try out what?”

“Asking you the questions…putting you on the spot.”

“Hmmm.” Looking slightly nervous, Sammy added, “I think it’s time for another commercial break, ladies and gentlemen.”

“Did I hit a nerve, Sammy?”

“More like cut off the blood circulation with that wig.”

“That’s because your head is twice the size of mine.”

With the audience in an uproar again, Sammy looked over at his sidekick, who nodded for the musicians to play the piece they normally used when cutting to commercial. “Lexxi Rock will be performing in a little bit, ladies and gents. Don’t go anywhere.”

Once the show cut to the commercial break, Sammy gave Lexxi a warm hug. “You’re such a natural at this! We have to have you back here soon.”

“Thanks,” she answered, getting up to her feet. “I’ll be in wardrobe. See you later, Sammy.”

As she walked off stage, Lexxi had the broadest grin. She wouldn’t hear the end of it from Rita or Rick once they found out she defied their instructions and went on Sammy’s show without the wig. She didn’t care either. She was one step closer to releasing the real Alexandra Storme to her fans.

* * *

The next day, Alexandra’s father phoned.

“Hi Daddy.”

“Alexandra. Do you know how many calls I’ve gotten, asking me how I felt about you vacationing while I was sick? How do these people get private numbers so easily? This is such harassment.”

“Hmmm. That’s all they called about?”

“What, that’s not enough?”

“It’s plenty, Daddy. I’m sorry they found you, but now do you see why I went to such drastic lengths to stay in disguise?”

She heard laughter from Rosa in the background. Dad must have put her on speakerphone. “Hi Rosa. How’s Dad been behaving?”

“Not too bad, Alexandra. How about you? Are you all set to get back to business?”

Alexandra rolled her eyes. “I wish I were, but to be honest I’d rather hang out without them for a while longer. You should see the itinerary Rick has lined up. I’m gonna be busy, busy, busy for probably the next few months. No matter what, I plan on making regular trips home.”

“Trust me, I know how it can be when you get personally invested in your work,” Rosa joked, referring to Dad. He didn’t reply, but laughed briefly in the background.

“Yes I agree,” Alexandra said. “It’s great when it’s something you can put your heart into. The music has and will always be good for me. It’s everything else I have to do to support it that’s more of a hassle now. Plus I have this contract with the label…” she tapered off uncomfortably.

Knowing Dad, he would take Alexandra’s complaining as a sign he needed to step in and fix things for her. She didn’t want him worrying, so she dropped it. It was too late, though. Dad picked up on her uneasiness and asked Rosa to give him a minute alone. He turned off the speakerphone and said, “Anytime you need a good lawyer to cut through that contract, it can be arranged. Make sure you let Rick know he’s supposed to be shielding you from this bullshit.”

“Everything’s under control, Daddy. All I have to do is finish this album and things will lighten up for me. Anyway, I’m glad you’re sounding so well. I miss you.”

“Awww honey. I miss you too. Seriously Alexandra, I want you to remember something. What you do shouldn’t be your life. Your life should include much more than your profession. When the balance tilts too much in one direction or the other, you’ll suffer for it. The minute you devote too much of your time to work, or to family and friends, or even to the one you love, you’ll start to feel like you’re missing something, because you will be. You need love. You need stability. You need happiness, but you’ve gotta have a little stress and strain to help you appreciate all the good. Right now it sounds like the label is causing way too much stress.”

“Thanks for the advice, Dad. I’ll remember that when I call in to make sure you’re not piling on too much work on your plate,” she teased.

Dad laughed heartily. “No, but I’m serious, honey. When you get to be my age, you realize there are many things you would have devoted your life to because you thought they were so important, when at the end of the day they really weren’t that pivotal. What you’ll regret most isn’t what you did wrong, honey. It’s the things you didn’t do, and the areas in your life where you knew you could have tried harder. I regret not being there for you more… and I regret instilling this horrid work ethic in you.”

“You’re too sweet to me, Dad. Don’t ever think that. You’ve always been there for me when it mattered.”

Dad paused and let out a breath. “Okay, honey. And when are you coming home again?”

“Soon, Daddy. I just don’t know exactly when.”

“And whatever happened to that country guy you were seeing? Walters.”

“His name is Wilkes, Dad.”

“Yes, him.”

“It’s over.”

“Good. Now you can give a real man a chance.”

“What?”

“Sebastian. You’ll give him a chance now, won’t you?”

“I promise I’ll think about it.” It was easier to say that for now, and nothing more. As much as she enjoyed what was happening with Bash, she felt it needed more time before she could say much more to her father.

“Good.”