| Chapter 52: The Big Day The girls waited in the limousine with anxiety as they pulled up to Planet Hollywood. Here it was, the big day, where their album was released. The day was packed, with the girls doing a radio interview, the Rosie O’Donnell Show, and headed to Virgin Megastore in Times Square for an album signing and private concert for the fans. They were lined up around the block since early that morning, waiting to catch a glimpse of them and to get their album signed. Lauralee gave her mother her first copy of the album, which Sandy played proudly all day. Now here they were, at the album release party following a press conference, with personnel, celebrities, as well as for the first time, they had invited all of their family and friends to see them in action. The limousine pulled up as Mario came out of the passenger seat and opened their door. “The world’s waiting for ya,” he smiled as he helped Lauralee out first, followed by the rest of the girls. The crowd cheered as the girls waved, signed autographs, and talked to press lining the ropes as they walked inside. Sony had thrown them the party, not only for the release of the album, but for their single remaining at number one for the past month straight. The girls gasped at the sight: press was everywhere, their seats were in front of the stage. The stage had a huge backdrop of their album cover, where a table was set with 5 microphones and a nametag with each of their names attached to it. “Whoa,” Bianca whispered as they went backstage. After a few minutes, the girls waited on the side of the stage as Tommy Mottola introduced them. “Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Since May, you all have been wondering about a group that Sony has signed. There was no photos, not one shred of an identity. Since then, the world has been introduced to Elegance through radio and television, but the last mystery has been revealed today, the release of their album. I would like to introduce you all to Elegance.” The audience roared with applause as the girls walked out on stage and stood for a few moments as the press took pictures of them. They finally took a seat as Riley stepped up with a microphone in hand. “Any questions?” “James McDonnell from People Magazine. How long are you ladies going out with the Backstreet Boys?” “Too long,” Laura smiled as the press laughed. “Uh, Lauralee just celebrated an anniversary of 2 years, Veronica and myself almost 2 years, as Elizabeth and Bianca are on their little over a year and a half mark.” “Mary Connelly from the New York Post. Will you be headlining a tour in the near future?” “It really depends on how album sales go,” answered Elizabeth. “We’re just happy that we get to go on tour with the Backstreet Boys, so we’ll see what happens.” “Michelle Robertson from Vibe Magazine. Ladies, are you worried that people won’t take you as seriously now that people have seen your faces and know your relationship with Backstreet?” “You know, then that’s the type of fans that we don’t want. There may be some people who are into ‘Oh, they’re white, so I won’t buy their stuff’ or ‘Ew, they go out with Backstreet, I don’t want anything to do with them.’ The people who won’t be judgmental are the ones who will buy the album. So, to be blunt, no, we’re not worried because, frankly, the charts have already spoken.” They girls answered questions for about another hour and the press conference ended. The girls headed to the dressing rooms while the party was set up. ~*~ The girls were waiting on the side of the stage, and they heard the bustling of the crowd. “Boy am I nervous, even more than the Oprah show,” Bianca leaned out to overlook the crowd. “Bi, it’s just our friends and stuff,” Elizabeth remarked. “Exactly,” Bianca took a deep breath. Riley came up to them. “You ready?” “As we’ll ever be,” Veronica said. “OK, I’ll introduce y’all and come out. Then you’ll mingle and in a little while you’ll perform.” The girls nodded and they all got in a huddle with Riley to psyche themselves up. “1, 2, 3, Elegance!” They all broke and Riley went out on stage. “Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please. First of all, thank you all for coming. The girls are all really excited to see you and to celebrate the release of their album with all of their family and friends, as well as all of you who have worked so hard for them. So, I won’t keep them or you in suspense. Ladies and gentlemen, here is Lauralee, Bianca, Elizabeth, Laura and Veronica, Elegance!” The crowd roared as the girls came out on stage. Lauralee spotted her family quickly: her mother taking pictures, her grandmother clapping with her hands over her head, and her Aunt Charlene whistling with Dominic jumping up and down. They waved to the crowd, tears brimming in their eyes. Riley put down the microphone. “You want to say something?” “Go ahead Lau,” Laura smiled. Lauralee cleared her throat as she took the microphone. “Um, first, on behalf of the girls and myself, we just want to thank each and every one of you. First, to all of the producers, choreographers, stylists, and everyone else who worked so hard to get this album done, not only on such a short period of time, but to do all of this under wraps. Second we want to thank Tommy Mottola, and Riley Thomas, who took such a big chance on us, not realizing what they were getting into.” The crowd laughed at her remark. “And last but definitely not least, we want to thank all of our family and friends. I’m sure that we’ll all see you on the floor, but we want to say that we appreciate all of your love and support throughout us keeping this a secret from you all, and especially for supporting us now. We know that we hurt you sometimes, but I guess it’s all worked out for the best. So thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. We love you so much.” The crowd erupted in applause. “So, I guess, let’s celebrate!” Riley took the microphone. “Before we continue the festivities, there’s some people who couldn’t be here tonight, but they wanted to express their congratulations to Elegance. So, if you would all turn you attention to the screen on stage.” The girls turned their attention to the screen as the guys’ faces appeared. “Hey everyone! We’re so sorry we couldn’t be there,” Howie said. “Yeah, but we gotta earn a living too, so we’re on tour right now, but we are really excited about the girls coming on tour with us,” Nick said. “So, we figured we could send this tape, hoping it could be the next best thing,” said Brian. “So, to Laura, Bianca, Veronica, Elizabeth, and especially my baby,” Alex smiled. “We just want to say how proud we are of you.” “You girls have so much heart, and when the world sees how special you are, everyone will be ‘elegantly’ pleased,” said Kevin. “So ladies, we just want to say, congratulations, we can’t wait to see you in LA, and, what else are we forgetting?” Brian turned his head to the guys. “Duh!” Nick rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah!” Brian snapped his fingers. “WE LOVE YOU!” they said in unison. The girls laughed as the guys all blew a kiss to them. The screen went blank. “Aw!” the crowd said. “Alright everyone, let’s party!” Laura said as she hopped off the stage ~*~ Lauralee flopped on the couch as her mother flopped with her. “That was some party,” her mother said. “Sony knows how to throw a bash,” Lauralee agreed. “So,” Sandy took a deep breath. “You all packed?” “Yup, just got to pack my makeup and stuff,” Lauralee looked at her mother. “Limo’s picking us up at 6.” “I’m really gonna miss you.” “I’m gonna miss you too. But I’ll call any chance I get, and I’ll e-mail you.” “You better.” “And you’ll come out for a few shows right?” “Whenever I can get the chance.” “Well, look I better get to bed,” Lauralee stood up. “Got a big day tomorrow.” “More of a big life,” Sandy gave Lauralee a hug. “Good night honey.” “Good night Mom,” Lauralee headed for bed. Chapter 53 Contents Chapter 51 |