<HTML><BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff">Cassie the Rock Vixen-Stage Sisters ch4 Stage Sisters chapter 4 Written by & copyright of Andrew Cotton  Wolfie8898@hotmail.com Featuring Laretta Morrigan (Cassie's rhythm guitarist) and Cassie Cassie, the Rock & Roll Vixen http://members.aol.com/rufinoform/Cassie.htm Laretta Morrigan http://velar.ctrl-c.liu.se/vcl/Artists/Richard-Foley/Laretta2.jpg Please read chapter five, featuring Laretta and Cassie at http://members.aol.com/CassieRockVixen2/stage_sisters_ch5.txt All characters created by & copyright of Earl Bacon except Laretta, who is created by and copyright of Andrew Cotton, Alex, who is created by and copyright of Donna Fritz and Vixina, who is created by and copyright of Cloudchaser Shaconage. Two days had passed since Laretta first met Cassie and rehearsed with her band.  To Laretta, it might as well have been two minutes.  So much had changed so quickly for her in this short amount of time.  She had become good friends with one of the most famous stars of furry rock music, and she was on the verge of becoming the band's newest addition.  She, Cassie, and the band had been practicing rigorously over the past two days, and for a good reason.  The Lone Star Metal Round-Up was the very next day, and Laretta's anxiety was starting to surface once again. She and Cassie's band had just wrapped up the day's session and everyone was satisfied and confident of a successful performance the next day, so they had already packed up and left to rest up and be prepared for tomorrow.  Laretta remained behind in the studio, claiming she wanted to tune up her guitar just right.  What she really needed, though, was some time to herself, to get her head clear and her nerves steady.  She thought she could best do this alone, so that no one would worry about her cracking up just before the performance. At least, she thought she was alone.  She was sitting by herself in the stage area, fully dressed in her stage outfit except her pumps which were lying on the floor, idly fingering her guitar when a door abruptly opened.  It was Cassie, looking as beautiful as she usually did, wearing light blue high heeled pumps on her feet.   Laretta was surprised, not expecting anyone to still be around, and nearly dropped her guitar. "Oh, Laretta," said the vixen.  "I'm sorry.  I thought everyone had left by now."  Even Slim and the rest of the crew have retired for the night.  "How come you're still here?"  Laretta regained her composure, not wanting to worry her companion.  "It's all right, Cassie," Laretta replied, "I just wanted to practice by myself for a little while.  It's no big deal."  Cassie just shrugged and went on, "All right.  Just be ready for the concert tomorrow.  Everyone's counting on a top performance." Laretta couldn't help but feel jittery by what Cassie said.  She knew she was ready for the next day's big performance.  After rehearsing extensively and exhaustingly, Laretta practically knew every piece to be played by heart.  She was also ready to face the crowd of fans.  Even though this would be the largest audience she would play in front of, she was used to playing before crowds of rowdy fans, and it helped that she would be playing close to home.  What she wasn't prepared for was the very real prospect of being thrust into the public eye once again.  She knew that being a member of Cassie's band meant having much more in her life to deal with, and bad past experiences did not help her with this prospect. "Uh, Cassie," she started as she rose from her seat, "Can I ask you a question?"  "Sure, go right ahead," the vixen replied, sensing a tone of worry in Laretta's voice. Laretta rose to her feet, searching for the right words to say.  "Cassie, you've been performing for a while now.  Have you ever worried about failure, or  being surpassed by new rising talent?"  She stared down at the toes of her sock clad feet, feeling slightly embarrassed.  Cassie responded in a gentle tone.  "Laretta, worrying about your career is always a large part of being a musician.  Yes, I have worried about failure quite a bit when I was new to the business, and sometimes I do worry a lot about not doing the best job I can." She walked over to Laretta and put her arm around her shoulders.  "You're still worried about tomorrow's concert, aren't you?"  Laretta sighed and leaned against Cassie.  "Well, sort of.  Can you keep a secret?" Cassie smiled, "Of course I can, but only if it's a secret worth keeping."  Laretta still felt uncomfortable, but she felt she could trust Cassie, and continued on.  "Your rep, Andy, told me not let this out, but I think it's too important.  He and my agent said that you're seriously thinking of making me a permanent addition to your band.  Is that actually true?" Cassie seemed a bit surprised at Laretta's admission, but inwardly decided that straight forward honesty was the best way to go henceforth.  "Yes, that's right," Cassie replied.  "I've really wanted someone to back me up with rhythm guitar and vocals for a while now and you seemed like a great candidate for the job.  My opinion hasn't changed at all, Laretta.  You have incredible talent.  We'd really love to have you with us." Laretta fidgeted slightly, and Cassie frowned, unsure of where the conversation was going.  "It's really not too late for you to back down.  I'm beginning to think that maybe we pushed you into this too soon." Laretta was quick to respond.  "Oh no!  That's really not what I meant, Cassie.  Playing with you is a dream come true for me.  I'm just worried that, well...it's just that I haven't had the greatest luck playing in professional bands."  Cassie nodded, understanding what Laretta meant by her words.  "Would you like to talk about it?" she asked, as the took a seat herself.  Laretta nodded and sat back down, folding her hands together between her knees, thinking about her past struggles.  "Well, I didn't tell you much about what happened after I played solo in the nightclub scene.   Several other furry musicians heard about how popular I had become, and contacted me with the idea of starting our own band.  It sounded like fun, so I managed to get a few together, and we called our band called 'Bloodlust'." "We did pretty well at first.  Since the others agreed that I had great name recognition and that I could carry the lead vocals and guitar playing, we decided that I would lead the band.  I felt great about it, that my career had real direction and a bright future," Laretta smiled, recalling the better part of the time with her first band.  "But then we discovered that success could be really hard to come by.  We were often passed over for human metal bands, who were considered less of a 'novelty.'  We got top billing for a concert only once and it sold poorly.  We also managed to get one album put out, but it sold even worse." Laretta frowned, continuing with her story. "That's when I realized the downside of being the leader.  The rest of the band made me their scapegoat for our lack of success.  They blamed me for not being aggressive enough, for not staking out a core audience of fans.  I knew we had to do something to draw attention to ourselves, but we were in total disagreement about how to do it.  The others liked the idea of picking up the 'death metal' genre.  I couldn't stand that kind of music!  I didn't like the idea of having rude, even perhaps violent, fans being our core audience.  Instead, I thought it would be better to try and blend our metal music with alternative styles.  I liked how it sounded with Celtic strings, to reflect my personal background, or with Latin rock, which I was sure would go over great with Latino audiences. I was completely unprepared for the band's reaction, though."  "What happened?" Cassie asked.  Laretta sighed, "They balked.  They said they thought it was a mistake for me to be the band's leader and they thought my ideas were just another bad mistake that would make us a laughing stock.  One by one, they walked out, signing up with other furry bands, until I was left by myself."  Cassie sighed and nodded to Laretta.   "I'm sorry to hear that.  I can understand why you have such unpleasant memories." "Well, it doesn't end there,"  Laretta replied.  "There's more?"  Cassie asked, a little unsure about whether this conversation would only add to Laretta's insecurity. Laretta nodded, a little surprised herself that she was this willing to divulge her past problems.  "You see, I wasn't ready to give up leading a band yet," she added with a frown.  "Although if I were smarter, I probably should have.  The news about Bloodlust's breakup spread quickly, as did rumors of it being my fault.  I knew I couldn't get another band back together just by asking around.  So I thought up of a new angle. How about getting together with other species who normally feel left out of mainstream bands?  I checked around for other furry musicians who felt unfairly excluded from the scene.  I had gotten a new band together, and all the other members were skunks.  We called the new band 'Scars and Stripes'." Cassie nodded and grinned, "That sounded like a neat idea, Laretta.  How did it work out?" "In the beginning, it went pretty well.  The skunks all knew about Bloodlust splitting up, but they didn't care that I took the blame for it.   They were happy to be playing together in a band, and since it was all my idea, they agreed to let me be the leader.  They didn't even mind that I proposed playing different styles of music, because we all thought of ourselves as a different band!"  Laretta replied thoughtfully. "I felt very happy and satisfied at the time.  We were happy together, we got plenty of attention, and we even played music we all liked. Eventually, though, things started to fall apart.  One member, the bass player, grew resentful of me making most of the band's decisions, and thought he should have had more influence in the band's leadership.  Another, the keyboard player, started drinking and taking drugs, began missing rehearsals and always messed up his parts whenever he did show up!  My accompanist also thought I was getting too much money and attention from male fans, and thought she deserved the spotlight all to herself.  The only one who never complained much or got into trouble was the drummer.  He was a real nice guy.  Unfortunately, things only went from bad to worse."  The she-wolf frowned, recalling how ugly some arguments got with her band mates. "That sounds awful, Laretta,"  Cassie said, trying hard to find the right words to say.  "Wasn't there a way to work things out?" "I believed so, and things began to look up when we got an exclusive engagement to open for Alice Cooper!  It was really exciting, and I honestly thought we'd pull through for the occasion.  It all fell to pieces when our keyboardist showed up completed drunk and stoned.  I was furious with him and tried to straighten him out, but that just made the bassist mad.  He stepped in and accused me of being an 'bossy dictator bitch'.  I tried to retaliate, but then my accompanist joined in, saying she deserved top billing.  The drummer didn't say a word, he was obviously terrified to get involved in the whole mess. It was almost time for us to go on, so in a last ditch effort I tried to get them all straightened out.  That turned out to be a huge mistake." "How so, Laretta?"  "They were all skunks, remember?  Except for the drummer, they all mooned me and doused me with their acidic spray.  It was absolutely awful!" Laretta sobbed, remembering the terrible stench and the fight that caused the band to split up.  "I knew there was no chance of us playing that night.  We were kicked out of the concert hall, and went our separate ways."  She sniffed and tried to go on, "You know what the worst part of it was?  I stunk so bad that no taxi or bus would pick me up to take me home!  I had to walk the whole way!" The she-wolf put her face in her hands and cried, remembering the terrible experience. Soon after being ejected from the concert, it started to downpour.  As she started the long trek, a heel broke off from one of her pumps, forcing her into a painful lopsided stagger.  She was splashed repeatedly with mud and sewage from passing vehicles.  Hours later, when she finally reached her brother's house, she was cold, soaked, tired, reeking of skunk spray, and devastated from seeing her dream shattered. The memories were too much for her, and she wept profusely in Cassie's arms.   For her part, Cassie just held Laretta and tried her best to comfort her.  "Laretta, I'm so sorry to hear all that.  I never realized just how much you've been through." Laretta tried her best to regain her composure.  "I'm really sorry Cassie," she sniffed as she dried her eyes, "I had no business dredging up old problems that had nothing to do with you.  I'm just really scared.  I don't think I can take another rejection!" "There now,"  Cassie gently replied as she rubbed Laretta's ears.  "It's really nothing to get too worried about.  Everyone in this business runs into rough spots now and then. Heaven knows that I've seen my share of good times gone sour.  Why, the break up of my last band, Furrosity, was such a mess that I wasn't sure I'd ever get over it!  I think you were just hit harder, and it's taken a toll on your self-esteem." Laretta just sighed and nodded, feeling a little ashamed of herself.  "You've been so nice to me, Cassie.  I really want to be the best I can, but I'm also afraid that if I strike out again, it would hurt you and your band mates, too." "Don't you worry about us," Cassie admonished.  "I know I'm still recovering from Furrosity's breakdown, though I can tell you this:  There will never be a setback so terrible that you can't bounce back from it, as long as you keep a positive outlook.  Tell me, do you think you'd even be here right now if you didn't have what it takes?" Laretta nodded and smiled a little, realizing what Cassie was trying to tell her. "I see what you mean.  Of course, I was able to get over that horrible night.  I was very grateful to have a loving family supporting me, and Karen's been wonderful too. No matter what obstacles I faced, she was always determined to get the best work for me."  Cassie smiled, "That's better.  Always count your blessings when times get tough. That thinking has always worked wonders for me."  Laretta seemed slightly startled. "Gosh, Cassie, I never thought of you as the type who would be struggling just to make it as a musician!"  The vixen just nodded, letting her long black hair sway slightly.  "It happens to us all.  If you ever need to talk about anything, you can turn to me, no matter what. Now, are you still thinking about backing down?"  Laretta appeared revived and charged with a new resolve.  "Heck no!  This is the chance I've always been waiting for, and I'm not going let you or anybody else down," she then added with a smile, "Including myself." Cassie smiled and patted her lupine companion on the shoulders.  "I'm glad to hear that, Laretta.  I know you're going to be a great success story, you just need to remember that you're the one who's writing it!"  Laretta smiled and gave Cassie a snug around the waist.  "Thanks Cassie.  You're the best friend and coach that anyone could ever ask for!" Cassie happily returned the snug, and added, "Why don't we go out for some ice cream?  That should help ease your stress." Laretta was thrilled by this idea.  "Sure!  What are we waiting for?" As she eagerly headed for the door, Cassie cleared her throat and hesitated.  "Don't forget your pumps!" she grinned as she held up Laretta's black stilettos.  "Whoops!"  Laretta slipped her pumps back on her sock clad feet, and also remembered to secure her guitar and have it ready for the next day's concert.  The two companions strode out into the night, feeling a very special kind of bond.  Friends, colleagues, confidants, mentor and student.  An amazing growth of a friendship in a very short amount of time. Latest revision August 12, 2001</HTML>