[Vfw-times] Cassie story :-) "Surprise, Surprise!" pt 1 of 2

[Rufinoform at aol.com]

Surprise, Surprise!

Written by & copyright of Andre' Cotton Wolfie8898 at hotmail.com

Featuring Cassie, Alex (Cassie's drummer), Cindy (Cassie's bassist), Laretta 
(Cassie's
rhythm guitarist), Rachel (Cassie's keyboardist), Vixina (Casie's fiddler) 
and Slim (Cassie's
cheif roadie)

Cassie, the Rock & Roll Vixen
http://members.aol.com/rufinoform/Cassie.htm

Please read the prequil, "And the Winner Is..." featuring Cassie and her band 
at
http://members.aol.com/CassieRockVixen4/and_the_winner_is.txt

All characters created by & copyright of Earl Bacon except Laretta & Victor 
Hernandez, who
is created by and copyright of Andrew Cotton, Alex, who is created by and 
copyright of
Donna Fritz, and Vixina & Cloudchaser, who is created by and copyright of
Cloudchaser Shaconage

Cassie took her time to go through her preening.  She combed back her smooth 
black mane
of hair and brushed back the orange and white pelt on her face to give 
herself as neat
an appearance as possible.  Things were going very well for the band.  Their 
recent winning
of the “Best New Artist” Morphy award gave the band a surge of popularity.  
This gave
an optimistic outlook for the band’s upcoming album, titled “Renaissance.”  
Today was also
the day the Zetag company representatives were to arrive and negotiate the 
terms of
the album’s release.  They too were very excited about the band’s award, and 
were even
hopeful of penetrating markets outside their traditional consumer base.

The band was also going to engage in a brief yet energetic promotion of the 
album.  The
band appreciated the loyal following of their American fans and wanted to 
make sure they
knew about the album’s release, however limited it would be.  Cassie also 
wanted to take
some time with the band to practice a couple songs she wanted to get “just 
right” before
a special concert they were to give in conjunction with the album’s 
promotion, with the
help of a local radio station.  Even though it was just going to be practice, 
Cassie
still insisted on looking her best.  She adjusted the straps of her trademark 
blue
evening dress, slitted up to both thighs, and adjusted the garter holding up 
her
see-through blue nylons.  She gave a reluctant sigh before she slipped on her 
blue
spike-heeled pumps.  She always preferred going shoeless whenever possible, 
and shoes
like these made her feel unsteady and removed the natural, reassuring contact 
she felt
with the ground.  Still, she had to admit they looked beautiful and 
complemented her
ensemble wonderfully.  There were times when looking one’s best was most 
appropriate,
and Cassie preferred to err on the side of formality for this occasion.

Things were definitely looking up for everyone.  The award they had received 
was evidence
of all their effort and teamwork.  Cassie smiled and became wistful as she 
reflected on
how proud she was of her friends for making it possible.   She was so lost in 
thought that
she didn’t realize that Andy, the band’s manager, was at the dressing room 
door trying to
get her attention.  “Didn’t mean to bother you, Cassie,” he said politely, “
I’m just here
to let you know that the Zetag reps will be arriving any minute now.”  Cassie
recomposed herself, “Okay, thanks Andy!  I was just making sure I looked my 
best.”
Andy chuckled, “You look great, as always!  I mean, how can you possibly 
improve
on perfection?”  Cassie smirked and gave him a friendly swat on the shoulder.

“I’ll tell the others that we’ll be busy for a while,” Cassie said as she 
got up from
her dressing table.  “Um, Cassie?”  Andy said as he cleared his throat and 
adjusted
his necktie.  “Yes, what is it, Andy?”  Cassie replied, giving the wolf 
manager a slightly
odd look.  “I never got a chance to thank you for entrusting me with looking 
after the
Morphy award,” said in a very kindly expression.  Cassie smiled, “Oh, think 
nothing of
it, Andy!  It was only natural, after all, since you do so much hard work to 
keep us
all together.  Furthermore, you’d have to thank all the others, since it was 
a
group decision!”  Andy nodded, “I know, but honestly, it really means a lot 
to me.”  He
sighed slightly before continuing, “When I was younger, a lot of people 
thought I
wouldn’t amount to much, if anything.  That included my parents and teachers. 
 For a time,
I had no idea where my life was going, and I really didn’t care much about it.
”  He smiled
and looked tenderly at Cassie, “Now that I see how well you all are doing, 
though, I have
no regrets whatsoever.”  Cassie smiled and hugged Andy, “I can tell you, 
Andy, we
wouldn’t want to be working under anyone except you!”  They both laughed a 
little and went
to take care of their duties.

Cassie arrived at the band’s break room to find the others relaxing or 
tending to
their personal business.  Rachel and Alex were engaged in a lively game on a 
Fussball
table.  Alex let out a cheerful yelp as she scored a point against Rachel, 
who just gave
a frustrated grunt.  Laretta was relaxing and humming to herself in a 
recliner, filing
her claws so that they were a suitable length for strumming her guitar 
strings.  She sat
in her usual style, slung sideways in the chair, with her tail dangling over 
one chair arm
and her legs hanging over the other arm.  In a very relaxed manner, both her 
black
stiletto pumps were loosely dangling on the toes of her sock clad feet.  
Cindy was seated
on an old sofa on the opposite side of the room.  She scowled as she glanced 
through
a mainstream entertainment magazine covering the Morphy awards ceremony.  
Vixina,
however, appeared to be absent.  “Awright y’all, give me yer honest 
ahpinyons!”  her
familiar drawl called out from the dressing room in the back.  She had been 
experimenting
with ideas for a new look for some time now, and was eager to show off what 
she had
settled upon.

Everyone’s eyes turned towards the Southern red vixen as she emerged.  She’d 
kept some of
the old familiar elements of her style - her cross pendant necklace, golden 
armband,
jeweled navel ring with an attached gold waistlet, and torn jean cutoffs 
cropped
temptingly close to her crotch, allowing the jeans’ pockets to peak out from 
underneath
the torn hems.  She had opted for a green short-sleeved bowling shirt with 
her monogram,
‘VY’, stenciled in curved white letters just above her left breast.  The 
shirt was
buttoned just so that the edges of her breasts peeked out, yet were otherwise 
firmly
enclosed within the polyester fabric.  Instead of buttoning it down, she had 
tied the
edges together into a large knot just below her breasts, exposing her 
midriff.
This effectively substituted for the torn T-shirt she had worn for so long.  
She had
also restyled her long red hair.  She had tied it into two long braids that 
hung over each
of her shoulders.  She also left a few loose bangs in front of her forehead, 
which she
brushed back from her round wire-framed glasses.  Completing her look was the 
golden
anklet enclosed around the ankle of her white furred leg, with the initials ‘
VY & CS’
etched into the gold backing of the emerald jewel attached to the band.

She smiled and posed to the cheers and applause of her band mates.  “You look 
terrific,
Vixy!”  said Laretta, who applauded politely.  Cassie smiled and nodded, “I 
agree.
You’ve found just the right match!”  Vixina smiled sweetly, “Thanks, y’all! 
 Ah’m glad ah
din’ spend all that time mixin’ and matchin’ fer nuthin’!”  Alex meanwhile 
took advantage
of the distraction to score another point against Rachel.  The gothic deer 
snorted and
fixed her gaze on the small arctic vixen, “When the boss lady comes in, that 
means
‘time-out’, so that last one didn’t count!”  Alex just giggled and stuck 
out her tongue,
“Says you!”  She then turned and smiled towards the dark haired vixen, “So 
what’s
new, Cassie?”

The others had focused their attention on her.  Cassie replied with a smile, “
I just wanted
to let you all know that Foxonian, Andy, and I are meeting with the Zetag 
reps today to
talk over our new album’s release promotion.”  She ticked off the fingers on 
her black
hand-like paw, as she mentally went through her checklist, “Then, I’d like 
for us to
practice a couple songs for tomorrow’s promo concert with the WPGT studio.  
Until then,
you gals can just chill, but we shouldn’t be disturbed during the meeting.  
Does that
sound okay?”

Everyone in the room nodded in agreement.  “Sounds cool, Cass,” Cindy 
remarked, tugging on
her T-shirt to straighten it out, “You’d better not keep the suits waiting!  
We’ll take
care of ourselves.”  Cassie nodded, “All right, thanks for understanding!  I’
ll check
back again later.”

After Cassie left, Cindy frowned as she glanced back at the glossy magazine 
in her hands.
The article was ‘The Morphy Awards Show:  Fashion Hits & Misses’, and 
evidently it did
not give the kindest opinion of Cindy.

“TROUBLE AFOOT”
- ‘Last night’s Morphy awards ceremony showed off some chic and classy 
displays of fashion,
as well as a few gaffes.  The young and attractive ladies of ‘Cassie’s Band’ 
were their
usual fetching selves as they accepted their award.  Fiddle-playing vixen 
Vixina Yeehaw
was especially smartly dressed, sporting an ensemble with an elegant and 
authentic Old
Western flavor.’

- ‘Snow leopardess bass player Cindy McCormick, however, seemed a little 
forgetful about
one minor detail of her outfit.  Apparently, in her case, the shoe wasn’t on 
*either*
foot.  One should always put their best foot forward, but in Miss McCormick’s 
case, she
comes up just a foot short...or two!  Is she looking to start a new footloose 
and
fancy-free trend?  We’ll just wait for the other shoe to drop on that one!’  
The article
was accompanied with a photo of Cindy striding towards the stage, dressed in 
a formal
black satin blouse and leather skirt and, as expected, barefoot.

“Lousy fashionistas!”  she snarled as she shredded the magazine with her 
claws, “I’d like
to see them be that funny if they had to wear stilettos all night long!”  
Laretta
couldn’t help but laugh at this, “Gee Cindy, I never thought of you as the 
type to get
upset over something like that!”  Cindy just rolled her eyes and crossed her 
arms,
“Yeah, whatever.  It’s not like they’re real journalists or anything, but it 
still gets on
my nerves!  Who the hell are they to say who dresses ‘right’ and who doesn’t?
”  Rachel
smiled and replied, “Just ignore those idiots, Cindy.  I always thought you 
should
dress however makes you feel happy and comfortable, and not worry about what 
everyone thinks.”

Cindy nodded and grinned a little, reclaiming her composure, “Thanks, gals.  
I thought
it would be fun to try and ‘dress up’ especially for one night, but the 
whole idea
just doesn’t ‘click’ with me, you catch my drift?”  Just then, another 
familiar face
came forth.  “Hello, Missus!”  said the short brown-furred otter in a 
tattered T-shirt
and jeans.  “Hi, Slim!”  the ladies responded in unison, in a coy tone of 
voice.  They
could scarcely suppress their giggles as Slim the stage hand shook his head 
and pushed in
a medium sized wheeled cart.  “Ya know,” he replied, “Sometimes I wonder why 
I put up
with this!”  Cindy grinned and batted her eyes, “Why, Slim!  Are you 
implying that you
might be tired of our hormone-inducing presence?”  Slim chuckled, “Well, I 
suppose
it’s because you haven’t sent me to the funny farm.”  He paused and gave a 
funny look to
Alex, “As far as most of you are concerned!”

He chuckled and reached into the cart.  “Anyhoo, it’s time for mail call!  
Here’s mail for
all you ladies,” he said as he distributed various envelopes to the band 
members.
He pretended to search around the bottom of the cart before giving anything 
to Cindy.
“Come on, Slim, what’s the hold up?”  the snow leopardess asked impatiently. 
 “Hang
on, snowcat,” he chuckled, “I’m just checking to see if those shoes you 
ordered for the
awards show finally came through the backlog!”  Everyone except Cindy laughed 
out loud.
Cindy seized the grinning otter by the collar and snarled, exposing her sharp 
fangs,
“Now don’t YOU start!!!”  Slim held up his hands and feigned being 
terrified, “Whoa,
easy!  Got yer mail right here!”

Cindy just grabbed her mail out of Slim’s hand and set him down.  “Thank 
you, Slim,”
she replied coolly.  Everyone knew that Cindy would never really seriously 
hurt Slim,
she genuinely liked him too much.  However, there were times that he severely 
tested
her limits, and he needed to be forcibly reminded of this.  The otter 
straightened himself
out and continued, “But seriously, you gals were a class act that night.  I 
speak for
the whole crew when I say that you rightfully earned that award!”

“Thanks, Slim!”  they all replied as the smiling otter tipped his hat and 
returned to
his duties.  Just then, Laretta snapped to attention.  “All right, they came!”
  she said
as her leg twitched, causing one of her pumps to slip off her foot and hit 
the floor with
a thud.  “What is it, Laretta?”  asked Cindy.  Ignoring Alex’s giggling, the 
she-wolf
replied, “A little while ago, I asked some artists if they’d be interested 
in drawing
my portrait.  A few of them said yes and here are the finished products!”  
she grinned as
she held up a few large brown envelopes.

“Oooh, can we see ‘em, Laretta?”  Alex grinned, running up behind the 
she-wolf.  “Hold
your horses!  I’ve got to be careful with these!”  Laretta responded, giving 
Alex an
annoyed look.  Cindy, Rachel, and Vixina also drew close as Laretta tore open 
the
envelopes.  She had a satisfied grin as she held up the illustrations for all 
to see.
“Oh wow, you look really cute in this one!”  Alex giggled as she looked at 
one of
Laretta sitting on the edge of the stage with a huge smile on her face, 
holding her
favorite guitar.

Cindy peered closer, “That style looks familiar.  It’s by Jennifer Osiecki, 
isn’t it?”  Laretta smiled and nodded, “Yep, that’s right!  She had such a 
cute, charming style, that
I convinced her to draw me on the empty stage at our Boston venue.”  Vixina 
smiled,
“Ah remembah that she did some purty drawin’s o’ Cass an’ me!  Yew done 
well ta ask
‘er, Laretta!”  She showed them another one, of her balancing on one foot 
and playing
her guitar, “This artist, MehndiX, also drew Cassie.  Even if it was just me 
in a
general pose, she’s got a cool, smooth style and a good way of using colors!”


(continued in part 2)