Just A Dream...

A Gabor Legacy
 

Chapter Fourteen: At Misfit Music

"What are you doin' 'ere?"
Jetta stood in the doorway of her office, eying the intruder with a confused frown. "You got some nerve to show up 'ere, what's the deal?"
"I came to see my mother, if she's here." Sirena said quietly, offering Jetta an innocent smile. Jetta's grey eyes narrowed.
"Well, she ain't." She said shortly. "She 'ad business and she's out. So you can go...I'm sure it'll be no loss to 'er to know she missed your visit."
"On the contrary." Sirena purred. "Mother and I had a long talk yesterday about things, and she offered me a recording contract with Misfit Music, now my one with Rory has come to an abrupt end."
"What?" Jetta looked startled. "You're kiddin' me!"
"No, I'm not." Sirena shook her head. "Why, hasn't she spoken to you about it? How strange!"
"I ain't seen 'er since yesterday mornin'." Jetta spoke coldly. "I don't know what game you're playin', Emily, but I don't like it. Your Ma don't need you messin' up her mind and her life, you got me?"
"It's okay, Jetta. It's settled." Phyllis' voice came from the far end of the corridor at that moment, startling both parties. Jetta sent her partner an incredulous look.
"What do you mean, settled?" she demanded.
"Emily's signing on with me." Phyllis said simply. "Didn't she tell you?"
"Yeah...but Pizzazz, are you sure you know what you're doin'?"
"Listen, Jetta." Phyllis spoke in low tones. "You want the best for Nancy, right?"
"Sure." Jetta looked taken aback. "She's me daughter, of course I do."
"Well, Emily is mine." Phyllis replied quietly. "Do you expect me to turn my back on her if she needs me?"
"I didn't realise that you had such an attachment to 'er." Jetta replied. Then she frowned. "Well, maybe I did...but I 'oped you'd get over it. She ain't nothin' but trouble."
"If you can't handle me, that's your problem, not mine." Sirena said sweetly. Jetta glared at the young singer.
"You've tried your best at messin' with my daughter as much as you possibly could...that's what I got a problem with." She snapped.
"Okay, time out." Phyllis raised her hands. "Jetta, this is my company and I make the decisions. Emily's gonna sign on here when the baby's born and she wants to come back to singing...in fact, I'll sign her on before then, so you got time to get used to the idea. And Emily, you gotta promise not to cause trouble for Jewel any more. They're your colleagues now, not your rivals...you don't have to like them, but I want you to let them alone. Nancy especially."
Sirena frowned.
"All right." She agreed. "I'm bored with them anyway."
"Jetta?"
"Oh, do what the 'ell you like!" Jetta exclaimed. "Not like you care what I think anyway!"
And with that she stormed back into her office, slamming the door behind her. Sirena winced.
"She really hates me, doesn't she?" She observed.
"I'll deal with her." Phyllis shrugged. "C'mon. Might as well get your contract situation settled. I spoke to Rory, by the way...he told me to send you to him and he'd settle with you."
"Cool." Sirena smiled.
"I didn't expect you in Los Angeles, I thought you were staying in San Diego."
"I am...but I came home to sort my things out." Sirena replied. "And prove to the press what a bunch of losers they are. I talked to Grandfather last night and I'm gonna stay there with him till the baby's born...then I'm gonna come back to LA and find someplace to settle."
"Okay." Phyllis shrugged again, pushing open the door of her own office. "Sit down, huh? Sooner we get this settled the better."
Downstairs in one of Misfit Music's many practice rooms, Jewel had been running through tracks for the imminent recording of their new album, and had heard the raised voices and slammed door.
"What do you suppose that's about?" Topaz wondered, glancing up towards the ceiling.
"Aunt Phyl having a tantrum, perhaps." Nancy smiled. "I dunno. Probably isn't safe to go up and find out."
"If they're just gonna make a noise, we oughta go complain." Sylva frowned. Copper laughed.
"Oh yes, I'm sure we'd be real popular if we started telling Phyllis and Jetta what to do." She said ironically.
"Copper's right." Topaz agreed. "We're better staying out of it. Come on, let's do that track again, huh? I'm still not sure I got the bassline totally straight as it is, and it's gotta be perfect if we're laying down the music tomorrow."
"Okay, works for me." Nancy agreed, checking the tuning of her guitar. "Oh, dammit!" As one of the strings snapped. "Now I gotta change the stupid thing!"
"Guess we're taking a time out, then." Copper grinned. "I got some cookies in my bag - anyone hungry?"
"Me." Sylva admitted. "I missed breakfast cos I overslept. I hate early morning practice sessions."
"Here." Copper held out the pack of biscuits to her friend. "Help yourself. There's plenty. I just grabbed them in case someone was hungry."
Nancy rifled through her guitar case for the right string, eventually finding it and perching herself on the unit to change it.
"Hey, Nance, while we got a moment's break, what's the situation with you and Dean?" Topaz asked, helping herself to a biscuit as she did so. "Are you on or off?"
"I dunno." Nancy blushed slightly. "It's more a case of 'we'll see what happens'. I mean, I don't think we're going out...but we both know we like each other. So maybe it'll work out...neither of us want to rush into anything."
"Bah, boring." Sylva snorted. "Trust Nancy to fall in love at snail's pace."
"And how many guys have you fallen in love with since we began this band?" Nancy put her hands on her hips. "I don't mean casual flirting, either! Practice what you preach, Sylvina!"
"Oh, shut up." Sylva retorted. "I'm not looking for that kind of setup. I just wanna have fun. I'm only nineteen, it's not like I wanna get married. It's just that in your case you should take every chance you get, cos there ain't gonna be many guys who'll dare go near you for fear of having their head bitten off."
"Syl, that's not nice." Copper chided, but Nancy shrugged.
"It's okay, Copper. It's just sour grapes." She said airily, casting her foe an infuriating smile. "She can't take the fact that she's the only one of us who doesn't have a guy interested."
"Why have one guy when you got the adoring masses?" Sylva returned neatly. "How long does it take to change a guitar string, anyway?"
"Longer, with you bleating on at me." Nancy told her. "Here, make yourself useful and get rid of this, will you?" She held out the broken string. Sylva rolled her eyes, but took it with very bad grace, tossing it into the bin.
"What a nice, happy group you are this morning." A voice came from the doorway and the four girls turned, each one of them registering surprise at the sight of Sirena watching them. "Do you always practice in such harmony?"
"What are you doing here?" Sylva snapped. "The papers said you were dead!"
"Well, I'm not." Sirena said simply. "Sorry to disappoint you, Sylva."
"Why are you here, then?" Nancy demanded.
"I came to see my mother. Why else?"
"Your mother?" Copper frowned. "I didn't know you had family here, Sirena."
"Nancy didn't tell you?" Sirena looked surprised. "I thought you girls were the kind to whisper and giggle secrets in corners to each other."
"We're not highschool airheads." Nancy told her levelly. "And no, I didn't. I promised I wouldn't."
"Well, well." Sirena smiled slightly. "Looks like I have the chance to drop the bombshell on you all myself. Fun...say, you don't mind my intruding, do you? You don't seem to be too busy playing."
"We mind you even breathing." Sylva spat out.
"Syl, quit it." Copper told her firmly. "No catfighting, remember?"
"What's the bombshell then?" Topaz asked.
"Well, perhaps it would give you a clue to who my mother is if I told you that from now on my name...my real name...is Emily Gabor."
"What?" Sylva stared at her. "You're Phyllis' daughter? No way!"
"It's true, Syl." Nancy said. "I've known a while now." She frowned. "But I didn't think she wanted it made public."
"Well, things change." Sirena shrugged. "Mother has offered me a contract with Misfit Music and as of this morning I'm signed to the same label as you girls. So I suppose we'd better learn to get along, hadn't we?"
"I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you, Gabor or not." Sylva retorted.
"Charming." Sirena raised an eyebrow. "Well, all I can say is I'm fond of you too, Sylva. Nice to see how much you've grown up in a year."
"Let her alone." Nancy said wearily. "It's my job to snap at Syl, not yours."
"I think that if Sirena's signing to Misfit Music we ought to bury the hatchet." Copper said slowly.
"Never." Sylva folded her arms, shaking her head firmly.
"I'm game." Topaz nodded. "I never saw the point in the rivalry anyway, to be honest."
"Nancy?" Copper sent her friend a beseeching look. Nancy sighed, then,
"I think I understand better why you hate us so much." She said to Sirena. "And...to be honest, I've given it some thought. I'm sorry if you thought I was taking your mother's attention...I didn't know about you and really, she's never been a mother to me, only an adoptive aunt. I know from how she behaved when I talked to her that she still cared about you, only she didn't really know how to deal with it. I'm glad you made up your differences and...and if Copper wants peace, I'm in."
Sirena looked taken aback at this, then she smiled slightly.
"Well, I came to call a truce too, kinda." She admitted. "I promised Mother that I'd not hassle you any more, and really, I can't be bothered with it. I got other things to worry about now than kiddish pranks."
"Are you really pregnant?" Copper asked hesitantly. Sirena nodded her head.
"Yes." She agreed. "That's one of the things I mean. I haven't time to be running round acting like a child now...I have to learn to be a mother instead, and that ain't gonna be easy."
"Well, you guys can get all friendly and pally if you like, but count me out." Sylva adopted a petulant scowl. "She's nothing but trouble and I'm not having anything to do with her!"
"If that's how you feel, then we can't stop you." Copper sounded resigned. "I'm sorry, Sirena."
"It doesn't bother me." Sirena shrugged. "If she wants to be a baby about it, then let her. I don't care."
"I'm not a baby!" Sylva exclaimed.
"Then quit acting like one." Sirena retorted.
"I've had enough of this." Sylva scowled, getting to her feet and pushing past the singer, slamming the door behind her. The remaining members of the band exchanged looks, and Nancy rolled her eyes.
"That's Syl for you." She said simply. Sirena laughed.
"Well, if she wants to hate me, then I don't have a problem with it." She said with a shrug. "I gotta go, I got things to do. Don't work too hard, will you?"
And with that, she was gone.
"There's something different about her." It was Topaz who spoke first, her expression thoughtful. "Is it just me or does anyone else think she sounded...well...more mature?"
"She did." Copper nodded. "She's only a year older than me, but she sounded a lot older then. I dunno. It's gonna be tough at first but maybe we can hold out this truce, even if Syl isn't keen."
"I'll talk to Syl." Topaz promised. "See if I can't at least get her to be civil in public."
"Well, I for one am all for peace." Nancy admitted. "I've felt guilty ever since I knew about Aunt Phyl's secret, that it's been my fault Sirena hated us so bad. I did spend a lot of time with Aunt Phyllis growing up...and I guess I can see why she was jealous. I just want it all behind us."
"Well said." Copper smiled. "Come on, we're not gonna get practice done today, with Syl off in a sulk. How about we go downtown and get ice cream, huh, to celebrate the end of a feud!"
"I'm with that!" Topaz grinned. "Let's go!"
 
 

PART SIX: A GABOR LEGACY
Prologue: Twenty One Years Ago
Chapter One: Sirena And Blade
Chapter Two: Nancy's Heart
Chapter Three: Coup D'Etat
Chapter Four: The Reaction
Chapter Five: Nancy Finds Out
Chapter Six: Dilemma
Chapter Seven: Facing Phyllis
Chapter Eight: Scandal!
Chapter Nine: An Unexpected Shock
Chapter Ten: A Revelation
Chapter Eleven: Harvey Takes A Hand
Chapter Twelve: Sirena vs Pizzazz
Chapter Thirteen: Settling Rory
Chapter Fourteen: At Misfit Music
Epilogue: A New Beginning

JEWELFIC MAIN PAGE:
Copper, Nancy, Sylvie, Anna, Blade, Sirena, Topaz, Aaron, Sophie, Justin, Elliot, Rosita, Luis and any other characters in this fiction which do not appear in the animated Jem series are copyrighted to me (E.A Woolley) as of January 2002 <unless otherwise specified> and are not to be reproduced without permission ANYWHERE. Jetta, Pizzazz, Stormer, Roxy, Raya and all other original Jem characters are the copyright of Hasbro Inc, Sunbow, Christy Marx and the other writers of the Jem series.