| Chapter 47: We’re Coming Out! “I can’t believe you can’t come to Chicago with me Lau,” Alex said to Lauralee on the phone. “I know, but my last day is then, and I can’t bail out,” Lauralee almost had to stop herself from giggling. “But you know that I’ll be there the next day, and I’ll be watching from my job.” “True,” said Alex. “Well look, I have to get ready cause Marcus is picking me up in a few to go to the airport.” “OK, I’ll call ya tomorrow,” Lauralee said. “Bye.” “Bye.” Lauralee looked over her suitcase, packing up her things. The girls were flying out that evening to Chicago to start. ~*~ Lauralee looked over the Chicago skyline, sipping a glass of wine she had ordered from room service. “Operation Elegance,” as the girls called it, was put into full alert. The girls were kept in a hotel clear across town from where the boys were staying, and had to stay inside the hotel, as to not being seen by the boys or any fans of theirs, since some fans knew who they were, thanks to the Internet. They had used one of the conference rooms to do final rehearsals for the performance the next day, and even then, they had to keep the volume down low, as to not have anyone hear the music in the hallways. The girls did their vocal rehearsals in either one of the girl’s rooms. Laura stepped out of the shower, wearing her pajamas and drying her hair with a towel. “Shower’s free Lau.” Lauralee still had her eye out the window. “Lau? Lee?” Laura walked over to her. “Earth to Lauralee!” “Huh? Oh, sorry Laura.” “You OK?” “Yeah, just thinking,” she took another sip of wine. “There’s the bottle, help yourself.” Laura poured herself a glass of wine and looked out the window with Lauralee. “Beautiful view.” “Yeah.” “Nervous?” “My stomach is flipping and it’s not because of the alcohol.” “Mine too,” Laura sighed. “God, I can’t believe it’s actually happening.” “Me either. Laura, you believe in fate?” “After what has been happening the past 2 years, absolutely. Think about what has happened to us. We get the greatest men in the world, not to mention that they’re the most famous singers in the world, and now, we’re the ones with careers.” “Too scary,” Lauralee finished her wine. “If someone asked me 5 years ago that this would be my life, I would never believed them.” “True,” Laura smiled. “Listen, we better turn in, we’ve got a big day tomorrow.” They climbed into their beds. “The biggest day of our lives,” Lauralee sighed as she turned out the light. ~*~ The girls sat around the spare dressing room at Harpo studios, where their make-up artist had done her finishing touches on the girls. They had done their stretching, did a vocal warm-up, and did a light run through of the dance routine. Riley had come into the room. “This is it. You ready?” “Does the words ‘I’m gonna throw up’ ring a bell?” asked Bianca, smoothing out her black pants. “Yup, that’ll do it. I’ll come and get you when they want you. They’ll have the studio blackened, so even they can’t see you when you go out. So everything is set.” “Great,” Lauralee took a deep breath. “I just want to say that I am so proud of you girls,” Riley smiled. “I was worried that we could pull this off, keeping you a secret to the world. But we did, and now you ladies have blossomed from singing in the back of a studio to becoming a group. I am honored that I am here with you.” Elizabeth put her hand on Riley’s shoulder. “And we are honored that you are here with us.” “So, just relax, you can watch it from the monitor, and I’ll come back in about half an hour or so.” “Right,” Veronica rung her hands. “Good luck Elegance,” Riley closed the door behind him. ~*~ The girls crowded around the monitor as the show started with Oprah introducing the boys, and they performed their song “I Want it That Way.” Then Oprah did and interview with them, asking about the album, their struggle, and their lives in general. Half an hour later, there was a knock at the door. “OK, they’re ready for ya,” Riley had come inside and led the girls to the back hallway to the studio. They looked at the monitor in the hallway, as Oprah was finishing before the commercial break. “Coming up, we have a little surprise for everyone, as well as the Backstreet Boys, when we return.” They saw the boys look surprised as the audience cheered when they went to break. The girls said a group prayer during the break, which seemed like eternity to them, as the front lights were dimmed and the boys were led to the front of the audience with Oprah. “OK, were back with the Backstreet Boys,” Oprah said as she turned to the boys. “You have an opening act for your tour?” “Um, yeah. First there’s going to be this group called EYC for the first half and then we’re having the group Elegance join us for the rest of the tour,” said Howie as the audience cheered when they heard Elegance’s name mentioned. “The group that no one knows who they are correct?” “We don’t even know who they are,” Nick responded. “You like their music then?” “Yeah, I think they have an amazing song. We have the same management as them, but we haven’t met them yet,” said Brian. “What if I said that they were here doing their national television appearance today?” The audience cheered as the boys looked at each other. “Um, OK,” Alex responded, completely dumbfounded. Oprah turned to the camera. “People have been buzzing about the group Elegance for the past 6 weeks or so, because, no one knows their identities. There has been no pictures, no video, nothing except they have been blowing up the radio with their smash hit ‘The Roof.’ I will say this, the boys will be, elegantly, surprised. Ladies and gentlemen, making their television premiere, here is, finally, Elegance.” The audience cheered when a steady bass sound blared from the stage and the girls’ silhouettes were only showed walking to their positions. Then the song started, with a slow beginning and Lauralee adding a little harmony to it. The lights came on in a flash, with the girls finally being revealed to the world. The boys’ mouths gaped open and stood frozen as the girls began their song, with Lauralee and Bianca taking lead. It wasn’t raining yet But it was definitely a little misty on That warm November night And my heart was pounding My inner voice resounding Begging me to turn away But I just had to see your face To feel alive And then you casually walked in the room And I was twisted in the web Of my desire for you My apprehension blew away I only wanted you To taste my sadness As you kissed me in the dark Every time I feel the need I envision you caressing me And go back in time To relive the splendor of you and I On the rooftop that rainy night And so we finished the Moet and I started feeling liberated And I surrendered as you took me in your arms I was so caught in the moment Couldn’t bear to let you go yet So I threw caution to the wind And started listening to my longing heart And then you softly pressed you lips to mine And feelings surfaced that I suppressed for such a long time And for a while I forgot the sorrow and the pain And melted with you As we stood there in the rain Every time I feel the need I envision you caressing me And go back in time To relive the splendor of you and I On the rooftop that rainy night Last night I dreamed of you Whispered the words I love you And touched you so very subtly As we were kissing in the dark (Pretty baby- how I’m missing you) Every time I feel the need I envision you caressing me And go back in time To relive the splendor of you and I On the rooftop that rainy night Every time I feel the need I envision you caressing me And go back in time To relive the splendor of you and I On the rooftop that rainy night The audience gave the girls a standing ovation as the girls gave a bow and couldn’t control their emotion as they gave each other a group hug. The boys cheered loudly over the rest of the crowd. Oprah went on stage and shook their hands. “What a performance!” she turned to the boys. “Sounds like you know these girls.” Alex had to regain his breath. “Oh yeah we do!” “Those are our girlfriends!” yelled Nick as the girls laughed on stage. “So, ladies, why don’t you introduce yourself to the world,” said Oprah. “I’m Lauralee.” “I’m Veronica.” “I’m Bianca.” “I’m Laura.” “And I’m Elizabeth.” “So, is this why you ladies kept your identities a secret?” Oprah asked. “In a way yes,” Lauralee responded. “So many groups are being criticized because they feel like they are manufactured, a gimmick. We wanted to be recognized for our music, because we felt if we came out with our faces then we would only be known as the ‘Backstreet girlfriends.’ Not to mention that we are an R & B group, and the industry for that seems to be a little racially divided. So, our manager had the idea of us coming out anonymously and letting the music speak for itself.” “And you girls were friends before you met the Backstreet Boys?” “Definitely,” Laura said. “Lauralee, Veronica and I have been friends since high school, Bianca was a friend of Lauralee through her aunt, and Elizabeth and Lauralee went to college together. So we were all connected way before any of this started to happen.” “I’m sure the world has a ton of questions for you all, especially the guys who look completely bewildered right now, but we don’t have time. I want to thank the Backstreet Boys and Elegance for coming. We’ll see you tomorrow.” The audience applauded as the boys went up to the girls and embraced them. They all went to the green room, where Oprah congratulated them, as well as Riley. They left both groups alone in the green room. “I’m sure you all do have questions for us,” Lauralee said. “More like: who, what, when, where, and how comes to mind,” Howie looked at the girls. “I think we all need to have a nice, long talk,” sighed Veronica. Chapter 48 Contents Chapter 46 |