After Leslie woke up she changed clothes, and started warming up. As she ran through some vocal exercises Nick entered. "Hi, Leslie. Doin' any better?"

Leslie rolled her eyes. "Yes, Nick."

There was a knock at the door. Then a redhead entered. Nick's jaw dropped to the ground. He had never seen such a unique beauty. She had long wavy red hair to her waist, dark brown eyes and an ivory complexion. The redhead smiled. "Hi, Leslie, will it bother you if I go ahead and start applying my make-up?"

"Nah. Go right ahead." Leslie noticed Nick's expression. "Nick, I'd like you to meet my backup singer. This is Karen."

Nick kissed her hand. "Nice to meet you, Karen."

Karen blushed. "Pleased to meet you, Nick."

"If he starts bugging you, throw him out," Leslie informed her.

Karen glanced up at his blue eyes. "Oh, I doubt he'll be a bother."

"See if you feel that way in a month," Leslie laughed.

Nick sat down beside Karen. "So, how do you like singing with Leslie?"

"It's nice."

Leslie pulled her hair into a ponytail. "I don't know why Karen even performs with me. She has a record deal."

"Really, Karen?"

She spoke in a shy voice. "Well, yeah. I'm signed with Maverick, but right now they're still finding songs for me to record."

"But if you already had a record deal, why are you with Leslie?"

"I already had this commitment. Then I got signed. Once I make a commitment I don't break it."

"That's a great philosophy," Nick stated.

Leslie shoved a tube of lipstick in her pocket. "Hmmmm.....I can't seem to find any lipstick. Guess I'll have to go find BJ. Be back in a sec." She hurried out leaving them alone.

>>>>>

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