High Priestess

1.1

April 1976

At 27, Stephanie, Stevie, Nicks was ready to get on with her life. She had graduated from San Jose State with a business major and a minor in speech communication and she was just ready to embark on her life. San Francisco was fine and dandy but she didn't feel like she could be herself as much as she wanted to or needed to for that matter. San Francisco was filled with Businessmen who had set up stakes in the silicon valley subdivisions. Their wives were stuck up rich women with sticks up their asses and unwelcome opinions and what Stevie wanted to do would not fall under the radar of San Francisco women appropriate. 

She had gotten in with a group of girls at San Jose State, Robin Snyder, Sharon Celani, and Marilyn Martin or Minnie as she preferred. She didn't really fall in with Robin, they had been friends since the third grade, but she and Robin fell in with Marilyn and Sharon. Sharon was a fortune teller-something she had inherited from her mother and Marilyn could read Auras. While Stevie and Robin couldn't do any of those the ideas of Crystals and Spirits, and mystical things such as that, they were enamored by the whole situation and they got in with the group. Stevie soon learned how to read Tarot cards, and she had bonded with the High Priestess. The High Priestess was her guiding spirit and she often spoke to her through dreams, or funny enough-crows. If Crows started to freak out when she was near them she knew that she needed to medidate and talk to the High Priestess because some shit was going down. 

As the group went through college together-Minnie married a man named Richard Martin who was a marine and was sent to Vietnam and was finally back home after the war had come to a screeching halt on the American part of things, and Robin married Kim Anderson another business student at San Jose State, but despite all of that at ages ranging from 25-30 they were all ready to get on with their lives after graduation. 

They had collectively decided that they wanted to start a company. But not just any company. Stevie had been predisposed to the idea of Magic and special abilities because of her Aunt's Alice and Carmel. They both considered themselves-Carmel put it as Mystics-but Stevie didn't know if that was the correct term. When Barbara found out that Stevie had taken a liking to the subject she immediately cursed out her sisters who had just grinned and beamed. They had set her up with many crystals, incenses, tarot cards, and shawls and the girls had a practicallty full inventory, and not to mention places where she could procure her own stuff as well, but San Francisco wasn't going to be too kind to them if they were to open their business in the SIlicon Valley. 

At their daily coffee meeting at the Daly City Plant and Cafe, Robin was biting her thumbnail nervously.

"Robby what's going on with you?" Marilyn asks after a moment.

"Kim and I have to move." She sighs.

"What do you mean you have to move?" Stevie asks sipping on her soy vanilla latte.

"He got a job at an insurance company in Los Angeles. We're due there the first of the month." She explains.

"Robin that's great, he can stop bartending now and you'll actually start bringing in a steady income." Sharon tries to reason.

"Did you not just catch the fact that I have to move six hours away." Robin states. 

"Wait Robin," Stevie perks up.

"What?" She sighs.

"We could go with you." Stevie smiles.

"We what?" Sharon inquires.

"Sharon, you're from Hawaii you just came here to go to college. Minnie you and Richard got married when he was drafted and he left right away, you guys haven't even had a chance to get settled yet, he's only been back for a week. He doesn't have a job yet or anything. I have nothing tying me here as my parents are moving back to Phoenix at the end of the year and my dad retires. We can go to Los Angeles with Robin and Kim and open up Divinity there. Think about it. There are a lot of celebrities who like the holistic approach to things and what better way to aid them in that is there, except to take our shop to them. I think it would do amazing guys." Stevie explains.

Sharon thinks on it for a moment and then she sits up straighter and closes her eyes, her fingertips finding her temples. The girls at the table know what she's doing so they just grab hands and transfer their energies to her and after about five minutes she breaks her concentration. 

"Let's do it. I saw mostly good things." She shrugs.

"Mostly?" Minnie cocks an eyebrow.

"Well there was an outline of black. Usually when there's an outline of black it means that something bad can happen but it wasn't a prominant black line and if it was any smaller I would've missed it. I say let's do this." Sharon smiles.

"Oh wonderful! I'll start making arrangements about finding places to live. I mean Sharon you and I can rent together. Let the married couples alone. This is so exciting, I can't wait to embark on this adventure with you guys. We're going to do it, we're going to start Divinity." Stevie cheers.

"Yeah we are, this is exciting." Robin giggles after a moment.

***

Arriving in Los Angeles was tough to say the least. Kim and Robin had been given an apartment curtesy of Kim's company and while Richard and Marilyn opted into blowing all of their finances on a very tiny house. Sharon and Stevie had decided on an apartment in the building across the street from Kim and Robin. It was funny really, one side of the street was prim and pristine with newly renovated house while the other side of the street was run down, but it didn't bother Sharon or Stevie and once it was cleansed to the best of it's ability by sage and other incenses such as Nag Champa and Patchouli they had made the two bedroom one bath unit work for them. 

They had been in Los Angeles for about a month and while they were still living on nesteggs, Sharon and Stevie mostly as Richard got a job working at an autoshop and obviously Kim was in insurance, they were actively looking for investors. 

As they gathered at Minnie and Richard's house the night after their 12th investors meeting, this one Stevie and Sharon attended alone, Stevie was angry and everyone could tell by her energy in the room Despite her ability to mask her feelings with her face. 

"What happened?" Robin dared to ask.

"What always happened. We were turned down flat because we're women and they didn't think our business would bring in a decent profit. "Stevie hisses grabbing at her wine and sipping at it. 

"It was all sweetums, and baby, and sugarlips." Sharon rolls her eyes.

"Well what are we going to do?" Minnie collapses back into her chair.

"We're going to do it ourselves. We can get jobs, and just save up the money that way. We don't need that big of a commercial space and we literally have everything we need so all we'll need to pay is the downpayment." Robin starts.

"Yes, and the electricity, and heat, and water." Stevie replies.

"And I know that, but we can make it work. Come on, let's look for some jobs and finally get to open Divinity. I've been looking forward to this for six years, don't take it away from me now. We obviously aren't going to get anywhere with anybody but ourselves. We can do this." Robin urges.

"Well alright, let's do it." Stevie submits. 

***

Within two weeks the girls had gotten themselves jobs, Sharon was singing at a bar at night, a jazz bar of all places but it was close to their apartment. Robin started working in a hospital gift shop, Minnie got a job waiting tables, and Stevie took a job at Fleetwood Recordings. 

She was a secretary for a big Record Producer and Label, and she's not entirely sure how she got the job but she did and she wasn't going to question it. But it at least allowed her to put her business major to use.