The Interviews
Prince's POV
The several days of rehearsals before the Good Morning America performance and interview had flown by. The band was playing better than it ever had. It seemed sometimes that the members actually read Prince's mind when it came to his direction. They were becoming greater than he had ever envisioned. Sometimes he had to stop and remember that the vision was not his...it belonged to the Creator. In those moments he became extremely grateful to be allowed to play a part in this Grand Design from heaven. He had awakened early this morning and laid in bed with his Bella. She was sleeping with her head on is left shoulder and he did not want to wake her. He enjoyed these rare mornings where he woke first and had the pleasure of taking in her Vanilla Coconut scent from her hair and skin in the peace and serenity of the early dawn. Her eyelids began to flutter as he looked at her and soon those beautiful almond shaped, deeply brown orbs opened. Seeing him looking into her eyes she smiled and said "Good morning Prince". "Welcome to another day Bella", he whispered as he nuzzled her neck. She giggled. She got up and went into the bathroom to make her morning water and when she came out, he went and did the same. While he was washing his hands he saw her put on her robe and head toward the kitchen. Coffee would be brewing within minutes. He wandered into the kitchen to join her. "So today is the last rehearsal before the show on Monday", Bella said. He nodded yes in response. "Are you excited", she asked? Prince stopped to really think about his answer. "Yes" he said and meant it. It wasn't so much being on the Good Morning America show that excited him, although that was really an honor. It was instead being able to share the gift of the music and the dance with at least a small part of the world that excited him. It always had and always would. Only now it was even more fun. He got to do it with Bella and their two best friends in the world and musicians of an ilk that was mind blowing who also happened to be real friends. He felt very, very blessed indeed and yes...very excited. He shared his thoughts with Bella who smiled.
"Bella, let's go out to breakfast this morning. No bodyguards and no friends...just you and me". Bella looked at him like he was a little nuts. While she understood his feelings, she knew that was not an extremely wise idea and she also knew it probably would not happen in a city like this...ever again. She said nothing though which allowed him to come to his own conclusion.."I know that probably isn't the smartest idea I have had lately, but I really want to be someplace where we can just walk out of our front door without it taking coordination like I am the President or something...because I am not"! She put her arms around him and hugged him and said, Prince, at some point we will find someplace and build a home where we can have that kind of privacy. Let's ask the Lord to lead us to it. He smiled at her and thought she is always thinking of how to help me. "Okay Mama, let's do exactly that". He knocked on Frank's door and when he answered told him, "Bella and I would would like to go out to breakfast this morning. We would like to take the BMW and have you follow us. We need a little normal like time". "I understand, where would you like to go", Larry asked? "Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles...but I know it will be crowded so we will choose something else", Prince said. "You know the new location has a private room with a private entrance. Give me a minute and let me see what I can arrange", Frank said. After about 10 minutes, Frank came out to the patio where they were sitting and having coffee and said "we have the room in an hour. I said do arrangements for 6". "Call back and make it 8", Prince said. I think we all deserve to have some time relaxing with good food. "Will do" Frank said smiling. Prince went and knocked on Carlos's door and asked if they wanted to join them. "You betcha" he said and said they would be ready in 40 minutes. Prince and Bella jumped in the BMW alone and Carlos and Elaine took the Altima. They took to the air and almost felt like normal folks with only the two of them in each or their vehicles. The SUV followed with their bodyguards right behind though. Frank would not let them abandon their safety. They arrived at the private entrance which was well out of the view of the main entrance. It was however decorated like the rest of the restaurant. It was bright and cheery and had the traditional tables with red leather seats in the chairs. In the private room though, there was also a bar, which they would not use, and a big screen Visual Stream which when they entered was playing the video for When 2 R In Love. While that surprised them, it was a fun surprise. The room also had a stage. They ordered the chicken and waffles and dug in with gusto when the food arrived. Prince's fingers were greasy and he was happier than he had been in a while in a social setting. He loved the chicken and didn't care that it was fried. In this existence he was not quite a total vegetarian, although Bella made certain that for the most part his diet was very healthy. She was glad he ate a little meat as long as he did not go overboard. It helped him to maintain his weight which was very important to his overall health. It had worried her so when he became almost gaunt periodically in the last incarnation They drowned their meal in huge cold glasses of orange juice. Prince asked to see the manager and when he came in thanked him for allowing them the use of the room on such short notice and for preserving their privacy and the man, whose name was John Broome, shook his hand and said anytime, adding discretion was his middle name with a smile. Prince paid the bill and tipped the waitstaff generously and then returned to their vehicles and headed for home. As they pulled into the driveway and then into the garage, Prince leaned over and kissed Bella on the cheek and said "thank you Mama". "For what baby", she asked? "For always being willing to join me on adventures no matter how half baked the idea" he responded with his crooked little smile making a mischievous appearance. She laughed out loud and said "always baby" and kissed him back! They went inside and got ready for the afternoon rehearsal.
The Interviews
Andrea Williams POV
Across the country in New York City, while Prince and Bella were enjoying a Saturday morning outing with friends, Andrea Williams was putting the final things she would take with her to Los Angeles in her hanging bag and airline tote. She was taking the larger tote to be able to accommodate some personal things as well as her computer. Her phone chimed and picking it up the cab driver said he was downstairs. She picked up the tote, placed her purse inside after taking her wallet out and slung the hanging bag over her arm. She doubled locked her door and took the elevator downstairs. The driver took her bags, placed them in the trunk and then began the air drive to JFK. She was leaving early to have a weekend away and to try to develop some information on who the hell this Bella Borden person was that was in Royal's life. She had called one of her former boyfriends, the lead singer of the Dead Crows and he had agreed that they could hang out for the weekend. He had just broken up with the latest in a bevy of not so beautiful beauties and just happened to be available. In picking his brain about Royal, he was really impressed with his talent, but said that he was a very private person, who rarely hung out, rehearsed a lot in closed rehearsals at Arista and lived very quietly. Some crazy had tried to kidnap his girlfriend at the request of a former record executive, Jimmy Sanders earlier in the year. The kidnapper had ended up dead at the hands of one of their bodyguards and the guy behind the act had ended up in the nuthouse. He wasn't really sure why, but it had been a really crazy story he said. Jax went on to say that the incident had also brought down a lot of Crips who it seemed one of their own had informed on. No-one knew for sure, but it was rumored that Witness Protection had been invoked and the informant had been given a whole new identity. Hearing of a dead kidnapper due to the girl she was trying to learn about, rattled Andrea. She certainly didn't want her curiosity to bring on something like that.
She was staying at the Charlie Hotel, so named after Charlie Chaplin who stayed in the bungalow hotel with some of his cronies during Hollywood's golden age. It was a very nice place. Arriving at the airport, she paid the driver and gathered her things paying the extra to carry on both of her bags. Seated in the second row aisle in first class, Andrea settled in for the long flight to LA. The query had not turned up any real information on Bella. Just her name, that of her parents, who apparently had made big money in the IT market, as her father was a bit of a technical boy wunderkind. It also said that she was Detroit born and bred and that she and her closest friend Elaine Grady had been dancers with Prince since before he got his contract. Apparently she was really smart like him and was expected to graduate at the end of the new school year from her undergraduate program. She would be only 19 years old. They had known each other since she was 14, but their father's, hers, Royal's and Elaine's, had been friends since boyhood. That is all that she knew...she was determined to find out whatever else she needed to know to understand her hold on this full grown man. She was only 18; what did he see in this child?
The Interviews
Frank's POV
Breakfast this morning had been a nice diversion from the norm for the entire Prince household. He really treated not only Carlos and Elaine like the family they were, but his bodyguards also. Frank, his brothers and Ross had started to think of him as family too. When Frank had received the call from Andy telling him about Andrea Williams, he had called in some favors to not only get information about her, but also to monitor her comings and goings, as she sounded particularly dangerous to him. It was due to his being proactive that he was made aware of her flying into LAX today from JFK. He had worked dark ops in the military and still had many contacts within the structure. He did not abuse those relationships, which is why his friends would help him, but did not hesitate to use them when his gut told him he should and with this woman...his gut had been screaming do it! He had arranged for her to be observed from the time she got off the plane. He had been advised that she would be hanging with the lead singer of the Dead Crows, Jax Jepsen...real name James Jepsen, whose parents were NY Jews of Danish extraction, good people who loved their son and were proud of his work. Jax, while delivering the image of a crazy Rock star of huge proportions was actually a solid musician and vocalist who still sat Shiva with his family when one was lost, and whose mother would still call on him to play the part of a wedding singer for family and close friends. He was a good and loving son and he never told her no. At 33 years old Jax deeply wanted to marry and have a family. He had really liked Andrea, but he did not like her drinking as heavily as she did, and he had broken up with her over it. It was not something he wanted to pass on to his children. He would have enough to contend with if he married a Goya...one that drank was simply not worth the family fuss. All of this had been provided to Frank and passed to his team early this morning. He would be receiving similar updates throughout the day and until she left California soil and returned to New York.
Andrea had not gone off the deep end totally with anyone as of yet, although there had been some charges made by a woman that was dating a man that Andrea had some interest in a few years back. She had been accused of following the woman and having someone make threats of hurting her if she didn't stop seeing the guy. The charges had been made when she had lived in Indiana. They were dropped and there had been none since. Frank didn't like it. She had been younger then, but Leopards did not change their spots. They just learned to hide better in the bush.
Prince and Bella and Carlos and Elaine had come back from breakfast, the girls had done some domestic chores, the two guys had made some calls and paid some bills. They then got ready to go to the rehearsal. The Travel Vehicle would pull up right at 12:30 PM and they would be there to help unload the instruments and set them up so that rehearsal could start right at 2 PM. They were about ready to leave when Frank came into the study where Prince had been paying bills on the the computer. He shared with him that Andrea Williams would be touching down at the airport in an hour and that he would have eyes on her from the moment she did. He didn't like this woman's profile and wanted to be ready for any crazy thing she might do. He did not have to tell Bella if he didn't want to but...Prince said, "of course we will tell Bella; Carlos and Elaine should know too. These were level headed family members who had a right to know anything and everything as it related to their safety". He picked up the land line, hit the paging system and asked them to come into the study. When they had all entered, Prince asked Frank to tell them what was going on. When he had finished, he asked if there were any questions and they all said no. Prince told them he was sorry and Bella said "it is a part of the life we have chosen. It is not your fault...since the beginning of time, celebrity status has attracted crazies. We will be fine if we do as Frank tells us". Elaine and Carlos agreed and they all went to the garage got into the SUV and headed for the Arista Rehearsal hall.
They arrived at the hall moments before the travel vehicle. Frank and Larry checked the garage and the travel vehicle and gave the all clear. All of the body guards, Prince and Carlos began to unload the instruments and then Frank and Larry walked into the building and checked Rehearsal Hall #3. Given the all clear they took the instruments in and began setting them up. They were ready to go at 1:40. Prince said that they would begin at 2:00 straight up. Some went to use the facilities, others made some calls, Bella and Prince sat with on a sofa on the side of the room. His arm was around her and they chatted softly together. Carlos and Elaine also sat together protectively. At 1:50 PM Prince began playing chords so that the tuning of the instruments could be checked. At 2:00 PM they began. They started off with the two songs they would play on the show. If I Love You being first and Bella and Elaine danced their hearts out. The band played exquisitely and then moved directly into Living for the Music. Prince danced as he played the guitar and then got to the solo bridge saying "where da drums"? Carlos played like the mad drummer he was. It was an amazing performance. Prince then said "can I play my guitar"...and brought the party home. What amazing rifts! Combined with the dance movement the guitar playing made this a moment worth preserving in musical history. This was Prince and his band...The World Changers at their very best. Bella was so proud, her eyes were wet. They then played The Ladder and Future Soul Song and Holy River and The Cross. As they played something seemed to be happening to the room. The walls began to glow. The band noticed but did not seem to be especially surprised. Weird things always happened these days when Prince played the music from his Christian Catalog. Prince seemed not to notice the glowing of the room or the fact that he was glowing himself. He simply played the music that he was feeling in his bones. He then brought the band to a close and taking off his electric guitar, he picked up the acoustic one and began to play 4 the Tears in Your Eyes. When he strummed the last note and with a dropped head said "thank you" to his Creator...there was not a dry eye in the house. Some of the band members had broken into sobs. Prince walked over to those that were outwardly crying and embraced each of them saying you are loved by the Creator and by me too. When the crying stopped, Prince said, "I am so proud of each of you and I am so blessed to play with you. Thank you for a wonderful rehearsal and for being ready for Monday. Let's get the instruments back on the bus and get each of you home to your families". Bella looked at her Prince through tear stained lashes. He actually acknowledged the need for them to get home to their families. He had never done that in the 57 years he had lived previously that she was aware of. She was so proud of him and his growth. She was also once again humbled that her God would allow her to have this wonderful man to love and to love her. She was so happy! When he walked over to her she hugged him tight and said "I love you so Prince". He let new tears fall and said ..."don't you ever stop little girl". She shook her head no vigorously and then went downstairs and waited with Elaine while the men loaded up all of the instruments into the touring vehicle and then got into the SUV to return home.
Andrea Williams flight touched down on the Tarmac at LAX. It had landed right on time. She was looking forward to getting off of the plane and stretching her legs. She had not had a drink on the plane because it tended to make her higher than normal if she drank on a flight and she knew Jax didn't like her getting loaded...it was why he had broken up with her. Of all of the men she had dealt with in her adult life, he was the only one she regretted losing. But he had never rejected her friendship and for that she was grateful. He was picking her up from the airport and they would grab dinner someplace. She was looking forward to seeing him. They opened the doors and they began to de-plane and walk down the ramp into the airport. As she got to the door she saw him. She had to take a deep breath. She had forgotten how handsome Jax was. He was wearing his hair long; it touched the collar of his polo shirt. It was still as dark as his mother's was blond. He was olive toned in his skin and his hair was jet black. He favored his dad a lot. He stood leaning up against one of the support pillars, one leg bent at the knee and and his foot in contact with the pillar. But even so she could see and admire his slender masculine body and the tight polo hinted at his hidden abs, while the skin tight jeans revealed his beautifully shaped limbs. As she entered the gate lobby and he saw her and his face lit up in a smile. She walked up to him and he took her bags and setting the tote down gave her a big hug. Hey Andrea...good to see you, you look good. My car is out front with a police buddy of mine watching it...let's go. He picked up her tote and led her through the baggage area to the baggage lobby and out of the front doors to his car. They jumped into his red Benz and took off toward the beach cities. He had picked a wonderful place for a casual seafood dinner. Andrea was quite confused by all that she was currently feeling. She really needed to sort this out. She really was tired of making a fool of herself for reasons that often escaped her after she had done it. Jax dropped the top and she put her head back on the headrest and enjoyed the sea air blowing all over her.