"What time did Mom say this television guy was gonna arrive?"
Nancy Pelligrini turned away from the window, letting the curtain fall as she returned to her seat, her expression troubled. Her companion, Elizabeth Santiago or 'Copper', Jewel's drummer, sent her a smile.
"Eight-thirty." She said, amused. "For the third time, Nance. Calm down, huh? We agreed we'd do this, it's too late to go back now."
"I know, but I wish I'd not said okay." Nancy sighed. "I only agreed because you folk seemed okay with it and we could use the hype. I don't like the idea of some stranger entering our private lives, you know? I like Starlight Mansion, it's safe and, well, ours. It's Jewel's own world and I'm worried this will change things."
"It's just for a week." Her companion pointed out. "And it's not like this guy is some weirdo. Dean knows him, remember?"
"Yeah, I know." Nancy acknowledged. Dean Stacey, one of California's hottest young presenters was also her boyfriend of just over a year and when she had relayed the whole idea of the documentary to him, he had assured her that their houseguest was a reasonable man. "But it doesn't make it any easier. Can you believe what it's going to mean? Not only is there going to be a strange guy roaming the house trying to get shots of Jewel in nightgowns for the viewing public, but he's going to be at our practices, our shows, our photoshoots, our record signing, even our dates and our free time!"
"But it's only a week!" Copper repeated, laughing. "I know it's gonna be something of a pain, Nance, but we can handle it, right?"
"I hope so." Nancy sighed heavily.
"Is she still griping?" Sylvina Martescu, Jewel's synth player entered the sitting room at that moment, the final Jewel Aurora Stapleton or 'Topaz' in tow. "Nancy, I hope you're not gonna be like this on film. Last thing people want to see is you being, well, you, I suppose."
"Syl, that's cruel." Topaz looked amused. "Nancy will be fine - we all will. Jetta and Phyllis have drilled us firmly on what we seriously mustn't do over the next week, and that's fine by me." She looked rueful. "I think I got a double drilling, actually, after the fiasco with Luca last December."
"Aunt Phyl has a long memory." Nancy acknowledged. "But even though you and Cameron are broken up at the moment, I reckon it's probably not a good week to get a date, okay?"
"And Aaron and Copper will have to refrain from anything more than the odd sneaked kiss." Sylva's eyes twinkled as Copper blushed. "I don't have to warn Nancy about that kinda thing."
"Oh, grow up." Nancy shot back scornfully.
"I hope there aren't gonna be any spats like this this week." Copper said warningly.
"Well, the public want to know the real Jewel." Sylva pointed out. "We can't act all week, Copper...it's not possible and not what the public want to see."
"No, but there are certain unneccessary things that can be prevented." Copper said pointedly. Topaz nodded.
"Copper is right." She agreed. "We have to be ourselves, but without taking things to the extremes we sometimes do when there's just us hanging out. Okay?"
"Okay, okay." Sylva rolled her eyes, then. "I think I heard a car!"
There was immediate silence as all four girls tried to listen for a hint of their houseguest's arrival. Sure enough, the sound of a car engine was clearly audible, and then footsteps up the gravel drive. The girls exchanged looks. Now the moment was upon them, each of them felt more than slightly apprehensive about what the week might bring.
Then there was a knock at the door, and, not without a few misgivings, Copper got to her feet to answer it.
As soon as she did so, she found herself face to face with a video camera.
"Hi there!" A voice greeted her warmly. "I'm Benjamin Rayner, presenter-reporter of The Public Eye!"
"Guess you'd better come on in, then." Copper's natural sweetness overcame her surprise and she pushed the door further open to allow in the guest, his camera and his case. "Straight through to the lounge...we're all here to greet you."
"Fab." Benjamin responded, not lowering his camera until he was well inside the living room. Then he switched it off, casting a grin around at the intrigued faces.
"Hi girls." He said amiably. "Sorry about the full on entrance, I kinda have to film my arrival at a new place before I do anything else."
"What exactly are you going to want from us?" Topaz asked.
"Most of all, I want you to be yourselves and just do as you would if I weren't here." Benjamin responded. "We'll have full camera crews out on location when you have a show or something public like that, but the handheld camera is to capture the behind the scenes stuff that the people never get to see. The real Jewel, if you like."
"Well, we don't have much to hide." Sylva dimpled. "We're pretty much what you see is what you get, so I don't think that's gonna be a problem."
"Shall I show you where you're staying?" Copper offered. "We've set aside a spare room on the top floor for you to sleep and store your stuff while you're here."
"Why not!" Benjamin beamed at her. "Then I'd like to do some film of the house, if I may...get a picture of how Jewel live."
"Mm. Great." Nancy murmured. Benjamin shot her a smile.
"Not convinced?" He asked gently. Nancy looked startled.
"It's just something new to get used to." she said, smiling slightly. "That's all."
"Dean's mentioned you to me." Benjamin admitted. "Off the record, of course. He said you were a little nervous about all of this going on...but you needn't worry. I'm not here to ruin your careers. If you had something to hide then I very much doubt you would've invited me here in the first place, so you might well find you enjoy yourself by the time we're done."
"We'll be fine. It was a team decision to do this." Sylva put in firmly, her expression daring Nancy to contradict her.
The guitarist shrugged.
"I'm not a very public person as a rule." She said softly. "But I'm game for the challenge. Like Syl said, it's a team decision."
"I'm glad to hear it." Benjamin grinned. "Hey, chin up, girl. Dean thinks a lot of you, you know."
"Have you known Dean long, then?" Topaz sounded interested, as Nancy was struck into stunned silence by this remark.
"Yeah, since high school." Benjamin agreed. He winked. "It's a long time."
He turned to Copper. "Okay, so where can I ditch things?"
"Follow me." Copper smiled. "It's this way...let's go."