- The coffee’s alright – Alfie said, sitting on a couch in the green room of the studio – Collins’ is better, of course. But the donuts and the cupcakes are absolute delish. Want one? - he grabbed the plate and put it under my nose.

- Is everything alright here? - an assistant put her head in the room, as I pushed the plate away from me – Do you need anything?

- Soundcheck – I said quickly, as she seemed ready to bolt away the moment we even muttered a no – We need to make the soundcheck.

- Soundcheck? – she furrowed her brows and flipped through the pages on her clipboard – We don’t do live music.

I got up and walked over to her – We do, because we’re debuting a new song. It’s been talked over.

The assistant excused herself and left, saying she would send someone over in a minute.

- Lady Chaos just stepped foot in Tinseltown and is already sowing her seeds of confusion – Simon chuckled.

- As one should – I grinned. I enjoyed the idea of stirring things up. Not necessarily making people’s jobs more difficult, but just creating a buzz.

A different voice called out from behind me – Eleanora’s Sundown?

- That’s us – I turned around.

- What are you playing? - people had, apparently, no time to lose around these parts.

- It’s called Until Death and then do us part, in brackets.

He did not even look at me as he wrote it down – Album?

- No album. It’s new.

- Hmm-mm… - the man was chewing gum obnoxiously violently and I must confess I feared for the integrity of his jaw – Did it go through anyone?

As if it had been approved? How could it? I had only played it for Adam and rehearsed it with the boys.

- Sure – Si sounded so convincing, that I just shut my mouth and gave the producer a tight smile. I could not lie. Not like that.

- Follow me, then. You’ll get five for your soundcheck, so make it count – he was already disappearing around the corner, and we all hurried up behind him.

- Please don’t lie to me like that. Ever – I whispered as I fell into step next to Simon, looking up.

- I didn’t lie, tidbit – he grinned, maliciously – it did go through someone. Someone who just happened to be us.

I opened my mouth, to try to reason with that flawed logic, but he just touched the tip of his nose with his finger, chipped nail polish adding to his rough image. But that was just what Simon was about, his rough image. Because deep down, he was always a teddy bear.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

We went back to the green room for another round of waiting about and the boys took their time to chit-chat with the other guests, a couple of very famous actors who were there to promote their movies. I was still not in the mood for nice small talk and, to be honest, I don’t think I would do a very good job, even if I tried to.

- Nervous? - Martin nudged me with his elbow, when he realised how quiet I was.

I just nodded, partly because it was true, but not because of our song. That was very solid and I knew it. I was nervous because I was still very conscious about that episode, that I could not explain and how it had affected me so much. I had no idea what post-traumatic stress disorder was, at the time, and I had absolutely no clue how to navigate such waters alone.

- She should be – Simon was laid back, his forearm over his eyes.

- She knows what she’s doing, mate – Freddy said, slowly. It caught my ear, that cadence of speech, which seemed unusual in him, but I dismissed it.

- I know she knows, Freddy-boy. I wouldn’t be here if she didn’t.

The guests went out, one by one, as they were being picked up by the staff on cue. It would be our own time to go on stage soon.

- Eleanor’s sunset? - someone called from the door and Martin laughed loudly. - you’re up in five.

- Come on, Eleanor – he said to me, as he got up – I never thought I’d have to play with a complete stranger on such short notice.

We took our places on the soundstage. Jimmy Gordon was still talking his head off with one of the guests and we were told to stay put until we got the official go.

We’d been on television before, but never with the prospect of such a big audience, as Jimmy had.

A producer signalled to us that we were up next.

- And now our musical guests. All the way from Her Majesty’s merry old England, we’ve got Eleanora’s Sundown.

The arrangement we had somewhat improvised, in the course of just a few days was brilliant and it felt like it had been part of our repertoire for ages. By then, we were a well-oiled musical machine and we worked beautifully together.

Playing on that soundstage, on the other hand, felt very short of organic. After all, it was rather an amorphous setting, with the little red eye shifting from one camera to the next and the audience who was not really there for us. But I gave it all I had for whoever wanted to hear us, from the other side of the lens or sitting in front of us.

The boys were, as always, flawless.

I made a point of looking directly to the camera and giving a little smiley pout, as I sang about that very gruesome and very one-sided love story. From the corner of my eye, I saw a lot of inquisitive looks being passed around, followed by a silent argument.

I bowed deeply when we finished playing and waved at the audience that was cheering on command, as Jimmy said his last goodbyes.

- I was just told by Susan that you said your song had gone through the production team – Jimmy Gordon himself followed us out. - What was that all about?

Si stopped and gave him a half-grin – Maybe something lost in translation, from TV slang to proper English, who knows?

- There’s nothing wrong with the song, Mr. Gordon. - I reached out my hand – It’s nice to meet you. I’m Eleanora, by the way.

- Nothing wrong? Come on… This is a family show.

I knitted my eyebrows, looking confused – Can you pinpoint what, if anything at all, about the song was inappropriate, Mr Gordon?

He pointed a finger at me – You were the last people on this soundstage not to lip-sync. Never again!

I curtsied, with a very polished smile – It was an honour, then.

- You’re such a little shit – Si laughed, mimicking my bow, as soon as we left the studio – Do you realise that?

- Aww, thank you for noticing – I was in too deep now, to not understand how some of my attitudes could be perceived as obnoxious by people who were really not all that acquainted with my very special personality – I try my best to be as insufferable as possible.

- See? All the hard work pays off, in the end.

Waiting for me, at the hotel, was a bouquet of black roses with a card that read Welcome to America. Adam