Trouble In Shangri-La

There'll Be No More Crying

As soon as Stevie and Lindsey entered the party, the pair were swept off into groups of people either wanting to socialize or make deals. Stevie was glued to Lindsey's side, her hands wrapped around his bicep. She stared up at him adoringly, seldom taking her eyes off him. Lindsey, too, couldn't take his eyes off his wife. He pulled her into his side and kissed her, butterflies stirring up in her belly as if it were the first time.

"I love you" she whispered.

"I love you too" He smiled at her, going back to the conversation. They spoke briefly with executives, producers, people who worked lights and creative direction for stage shows...it was tiring but fun. Stevie loved to socialize. Lindsey went to the bar to grab them each a drink and Stevie continued to speak with a man about what it was like working on the video for Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top. As luck would have it, the rare moment she let go of Lindsey she felt an arm around her waist. She looked up and all the color drained from her face.

"Alan" she said.

"Yeah, how's it goin' beautiful? The old man left you here by yourself?"

Lindsey was thankfully coming their direction and he handed her the drinks to greet his friend. "Hey old dog!"

"Woof!" Alan said with a laugh, hugging his friend.

"Wh-what brings you here?" Stevie asked.

"Most recently, I produced a single for Billy Ocean."

"Oh, I--"

"You know he's a producer, Stevie."

"I'm not the riff raff." Alan joked, taking a sip of his scotch. "Hey, Linds, you got a light?"

"Nah, man. We both quit when we had Arabella."

"Oh, good for you! Nasty habit. Hey, I'm gonna find a light. Have a good night."

"Thanks" Lindsey said. Alan leaned in and gave Stevie a very unexpected kiss on the lips and left.

Christine and Mick made their way through the crowd to the couple, waving excitedly. Christine was dressed in a red sparkly skirt and jacket with beaded fringe and Mick was a regal king in a purple velvet vest and short pants, a white shirt and white stockings. He hugged Stevie for a long moment before moving on to Lindsey then Christine was next.

"How are you both? Oh Stevie, it looks like you've seen a ghost!" Christine said.

"I'm fine"

"We just saw Alan, my friend who is also a producer. He also just happens to be dating my wife"

"Yes, the experiment! How is it going?" Mick asked.

"It was going fine, I guess. It's stupid to me. She was supposed to be testing out someone new to see what she was missing. It's pretty much been me for almost twenty years. We were a couple long before we married and to him--" Lindsey told him truthfully.

"I don't want to talk about it" Stevie said.

"Okay, that's fine. Would you prefer to discuss what we talked about?"

"No" she said simply and Lindsey laughed.

"So how does this experiment work?" Christine asked.

"Um, well, we have no physical contact, we have to go on dates and record it in a journal, all the while I'm dating around, recording those dates as well. We have separate sessions with our therapist to discuss them, then at the end we go back in together."

"How long has it been going on?"

"Forever!" Lindsey exclaimed.

"Four months." Stevie told her and Christine gasped. "So you two haven't...in four months."

"Not exactly."

"Does he give, or do you?"

"Chris!" Stevie said with a giggle.

"Don't be shy! If you aren't allowed physical contact that includes sex, doesn't it?"

"It does but we also aren't supposed to be hugging or kissing and as you saw, we do plenty of that!"

"You naughty girl!" Christine high fived Stevie and Lindsey looked over at her, smiling. "Is it good?"

"So good! Probably even better than before and it was--" Stevie was then interrupted by Mick.

"Is it true?"

"Is what true?" Stevie asked.

"What Lindsey said" She became nervous and the churning in her stomach was awful. "You broke the rules?" She breathed a sigh of relief and she nodded. "How many times?"

"Why is everyone so curious? We're married!"

"That's why. Don't they say married couples don't have sex?"

"Well don't you worry your pretty little head about that, Michael. We are fine in that department."

"So how many times have to broken the rules with the deed?"

"Too many to count" Lindsey said and Stevie blushed.

"I heard you wanted to talk to us about something else. Let's switch gears."

"Let's not" Stevie mumbled under her breath. Lindsey pulled her into his side.

"Stevie and I have been discussing this for a couple years. You know how I felt about touring, this last record and well, I'm out."

"Lindsey, the tour had been pushed back to accommodate you and now you're not going? Do you know how much money we're out?!" Mick was livid. "Chris get me a drink, Stevie talk some sense into your thick skulled husband."

"She can't. We're both out. She's coming with me."

"And you decided this together? When?"

"Right after we had our baby. We need to do this on our own terms."

"What about the band's terms, hm? What about us? And John's not even here! It's gonna kill him when I tell him two valuable members just dropped out a company soirée."

"I will tell him then"

"No, you two have done enough. We took a chance on you both and now I'm coming to regret it! You've pushed back albums for a baby, tour because it was supposedly 'not the right time'...Jesus Christ!" Mick stared holes into them. "And you, Stevie, you said you'd never break up this band!"

"It wasn't what I wanted to do. I wish there was another way" Stevie said, tears falling down her face.

"Don't do that to her, Mick. Don't guilt my wife."

"She deserves to feel guilty, you both do! You're fucking the rest of us over!"

The churning inside didn't stop and Stevie began to feel hot, and dizzy. It felt as if the room were rocking like a ship on the sea and she pulled herself from Lindsey's arms. The two men continued to argue as Stevie found her way outside for air. Unable to control the way she felt, she threw up in a near by trash can. It was horrible as each heave brought up nothing but stomach acid. By magic, Christine found her and started to rub her back, holding her hair as well as the beads that were braided and sewn into her waves with her other hand.

"Did you have too much to drink?" Christine asked and Stevie shook her head, feeling weak and tired. Her makeup streamed down her face and she was in tears. Christine offered her a tissue from her purse and Stevie wiped under her eyes and her mouth, tossing it into the trash can. "Want me to get Lindsey?" Stevie shook her head. Christine took her into her arms and Stevie held on for dear life. She swayed and comforted her the best she could, trying to calm her down. The words to Songbird reached Stevie's ears and she cried even more. At a loss, Christine held onto the petite blonde a little tighter, singing through to the end only for a tiny voice to request she sing it again.

"I love you, Stevie. You and Lindsey leaving the band does nothing to our friendship." The tall blonde promised. Stevie pulled back and looked into her beautiful eyes. She knew that was the truth, hugging her once more as Christine sang her favorite song again, for only her to hear.