They arrived at the concert hall, entered through a back door, and were taken to Prince's dressing room via a golf cart. Emma assumed, correctly, that this was a joint saving measure for Prince, though she didn't think he would admit it if she asked.
The dressing room was familiar, and Kim and Cathy were there, as well. They greeted Emma warmly, and Prince remarked, 'Hey, I don't want to see any conspiracies growing here!' The women looked at each other and laughed. 'No worries there,' Emma replied. 'These are some great gals-it was nice to spend time with them today!'
'I hope they didn't let any secrets slip,' Prince directed that remark to his two employees in a very stern tone of voice. They just shook their heads.
In unison, the shook index fingers back and forth as they replied, 'Uh, Uh, Uh, boss! You know us better than that!'
Prince laughed out loud. 'Y'all three are a mess! I should know better than to try to go up against you. Girls, after we get me ready, when I leave to join the band, would you please show Emma where the backstage sofa is? I want her to have a unique view tonight.'
'Sure, boss, whatever you say,' Kim replied. 'Now, let's get you ready.'
'Would you like me to leave now?' Emma asked. 'I don't want to interfere.'
'Nonsense,' said Prince. 'You stay right where I can look at you.'
So that's what she did. It was fascinating to see Prince choose his outfits for the show, get his hair styled (Kim said the 'fro was so much easier to work with than his previous, more complicated styles, but it grew REALLY FAST!), go from his regular makeup to stage makeup, and just generally get glammed up. Emma just sat and soaked it all in, thinking how different this was than the performances she'd been a part of, where she was in charge of her own hair and makeup, usually changing in a crowded dressing room, or even a communal bathroom. Performers at Prince's level really did live in a different world.
Finally, he walked over, sat down next to her, and said to Kim and Cathy, 'Girls, could you give us a minute alone? Emma will be right out.' Kim and Cathy smirked and said, 'Sure, boss, whatever you say!' They winked at Emma, and stepped out of the dressing room, closing the door.
Prince pulled Emma closer and said, 'I don't know when I've had a harder time just sitting and looking at a woman without touching her. My hands kept twitching, wanting to touch you here'- a finger traced Emma's collarbone-'and here'-a palm cupped Emma's jaw-'and here'-both hands reached around Emma's shoulders, drawing her in for a passionate kiss that grew more intoxicating with each sigh or moan that came from Emma or Prince.
Breaking off the passionate embrace, Prince gave her a final quick peck on the lips, and said, 'See you out there. I hope you get to meet some friends of mine tonight. They said they'd be here, but travel schedules can get a little weird, so we'll see.
'I do have one cue for you. If you hear me say, 'Somebody come dance with me!', that means I'm expecting you on the stage to dance, as well as a few folks who've done this before, and my backup singers. You won't be the only guest out there dancing. I'm looking forward to some sexy moves; dance close to me so I can check you out!' With that, he spun on his light up heels and was out the door.
'Whew,' Emma remarked, as she followed him into the backstage area, finding Kim and Cathy. 'it's sort of like being in the middle of the whirlwind when he's like this.'
'Yeah,' Kim said. 'When he's gearing up to perform, we just say yes and stay out of the way.'
Then the girls took her around to the side stage sofa. Emma could see why Prince would use a golf cart, it was a very long walk. The sofa was large, and there was room for multiple people.
'You'll probably be joined by a couple of folks, maybe tour people, maybe guests. Don't worry, just be cool and everything will be fine,' Cathy said. 'Do you want a bottle of water or anything?'
'I'd love a bottle of water,' Emma replied. Cathy walked away briefly and came back with the bottle. 'The catering table and refrigerator is over there if you need anything else,' she said, pointing behind her. 'Enjoy yourself,' she continued. 'This will be an entirely different experience for you!'
Emma sat on the sofa alone for awhile, looking around, soaking in the atmosphere, memorizing all the details she could of this wild situation. Suddenly, a young, beautiful woman, much taller than Emma, came and plopped down on the sofa next to her.
'Hi, I'm Damaris,' smiled this beauty, shaking her long, wavy black hair onto bared ebony shoulders. 'Prince just told me to make sure you were taken care of tonight. You're going to love it!'
'Hi, I'm Emma. Damaris, if you don't mind my asking, how old are you?'
'I'm 22. Gotta admit, I love my Uncle P. He makes me laugh harder than anybody! When I can fit it in between modeling gigs, I dance in his shows. He saw me on the catwalk in Milan, followed up with a phone call, and the rest is history!' Damaris crossed her remarkably long legs in fishnet stockings nonchalantly, swinging one sky-high heeled shoe back and forth in time to the pre-show music playing in the hall. Emma looked at Damaris' super short costume, and suddenly felt out of shape, not classy, and OLD. On the other hand, this girl was the same age as Emma's older daughter, so she sort of knew where Damaris was coming from.
'It's great to meet you. I agree, Prince is a really funny guy!'
Damaris went on, giving Emma a slightly puzzled look, as if she was trying to get a read on Emma. 'Well, just between us, I haven't ever seen him like this about any woman he's been around since I've known him. It's like you've turned him inside out, got him sprung. You're all he would talk about before the soundcheck this afternoon. Oh, do you like the ring? I helped him pick it out. He wanted a bigger one, but I talked him out of it. I told him once you got past 5 carats total, things just start to look gaudy,' giggled Damaris.
'Thanks for that-I can't even imagine a larger ring. This is more than I ever needed, or expected, but he wouldn't let me refuse his gift,' Emma replied, noting how the design of the stones in the ring captured the light backstage. It seemed to glow on its own. 'It is beautiful, though. He has fine taste.'
'I can see why he's taken with you,' Damaris said. 'You are so REAL. Most people who meet him are so overcome with who he is, they don't ever talk to him like he's just another guy. Or they start asking him for things or favors. That happens to me a lot, too, since my modeling career took off. Real people are so relaxing after all that other nonsense.'
'I'll take that as a compliment. I will admit I've never been in a situation like this one. It is very nice to meet you, and I've gotta say, God did some good work when He made you! You really are a stunning young woman.' Emma picked up her bottle of water to take a drink, and she jumped a little when it was snatched out of her hand.
'What'cha doin' drinkin' my water, woman?' Prince grinned at them, and drank half of the bottle, handing it back with a smirk. 'I'll be back for the rest of that in a little bit. Time to make some money and have some fun.' Just like that, he was gone again. Emma found herself following him with her eyes as he strode away.
'He just sneaks up on you, doesn't he?' Emma turned to Damaris to see what her answer would be.
'Yeah, he's always kidding around, but only with people he's comfortable with. How long have you known him, anyway? I've never heard your name until today. He doesn't tell me everything, but the way he talked today, I figured it had been a while.' Damaris looked at her consideringly.
'We met last night,' Emma admitted. 'This sort of thing has only happened to me once before. I mean being so comfortable so quickly. Prince is the only person I've met at this level of this business.'
'Last night, really? Huh-Never would have guessed', Damaris said thoughtfully. 'So, you're a teacher?'
'A music teacher and a singer,' she replied. 'I sing classical music. I have friends in this world, just not at this level.'
'So you two have more in common than meets the eye,' Damaris remarked.
'Yeah, you could say that,' Emma smiled to herself thinking about how much she and Prince had shared already.
Damaris was a great hostess when she wasn't on stage dancing, introducing her to the folks who came and went on the sofa, simply saying, 'This is Emma.' No one asked for more info, everyone was too caught up in the show.
'What a show!' Emma thought to herself as she experienced excellence again. The set list was different, but the energy was just as high. Being that close to the lighting and smoke effects, and especially the sound, was amazing. Prince had to request a couple of changes to the side fills at the beginning, and give verbal cues for house lights, but the band and singers were as tight as ever.
Midway through the show, as the band and singers took over, Prince rushed over, grabbed the water bottle from Emma's hand, bent over and gave her a quick but intense kiss, while gently holding her face with his other hand, and kept rushing past for a costume change. All heads turned her way. She just smiled sheepishly; what else could she do in a situation like that?
Damaris leaned closer to her and whispered, 'Stella, you were just tagged. Hope you were ready for that!' Emma immediately understood the reference to one of Prince's movies, and thought, once again, that this might be going too fast.
She noticed that a very tall, handsome, older man dressed in white seated on the other side of Damaris looked very confused at what he'd just seen. He turned to Damaris and asked in a deep, velvety voice, 'Would you mind introducing us?'
'Not at all!' Damaris replied. 'Emma, this is Larry Graham. Larry, this is Emma-oops, I didn't catch your last name-I'm embarrassed now!' Damaris giggled at her mistake.
Emma stretched her hand toward Larry and said, 'Emma Leal, Mr. Graham. It's a pleasure to meet you.'
'Please, call me Larry, and this is my wife, Tina.' Larry smiled at Emma as she and Tina shook hands and greeted one another, but the smile didn't reach all the way to his eyes, she thought. Or maybe it was a trick of the light. He continued, 'Have we met before? I'm pretty good at faces, and one as lovely as yours wouldn't fade from my memory.'
'Thank you, that's very kind. No, I'm sure we haven't met before, I'd remember!' Emma smiled at the thought of being in this kind of situation before. 'I only met Prince yesterday, and I've never been to Switzerland before. I am a great admirer of your music, though. Your bass work during your time in Sly and the Family Stone changed my life, and I'm not exaggerating.'
'Well, thanks for the kind words. We look forward to perhaps visiting more later. It's hard for me to have a conversation when Baby Brother is performing.' With that, Larry turned his attention back to the stage. Damaris looked at Emma and winked. Emma felt completely out of her depth by then. At that point, there was nothing to do except enjoy the concert while pondering. Emma was good at pondering.
A/N-Thanks for voting and commenting, but most of all for reading!