When The Hammer Falls...

"...`Cause when the hammer falls and it hits my balls it's cool, cause I'm Unbroken..."

The two brunettes made their way down the crowded hall that fluxed with people ebbing in and out of rooms. With each open door they passed, the different stages of moving in could be distinguished by the sounds coming out of every occupied area. The noise from the assorted radios, CD players, or televisions could be heard blending into a cacophony of culturally tinged reverie that only the young can enjoy.

Trying to stay near her sister who was leading, the taller one took each bump or jostle that came in her direction and simply rolled her eyes behind her dark sunglasses in annoyance. Loaded down like a pack mule, she heard the smaller woman in front of her laugh although she couldn't see her.

"What are you laughing at?" The deep, contralto voice asked, obviously irked as she wiggled her nose trying to keep the dark glasses in place.

"Come on, Brooke. Stop growling. I can hear you. This is the last of it and we're almost there so don't get your shorts in a wad. And don't even think that I don't know you're rolling your eyes at me back there."

The older woman did what she did best when she was annoyed, she began to roll her eyes, only to stop suddenly, sighing in disgust as she realized just how well her youngest sister knew her. "I'm surprised you can hear a damn thing with all of this racket going on out here."

"Yeah, whatever...Come on, old lady," the younger woman teased as she unlocked the door to her dorm room, holding it open for her sister.

Brooke walked in and placed the boxes on the floor by the bed. She stood up, placed her hands against her lower back and leaned back to pop it. "Yeah... I've got your 'old lady'. Next time I'll just make you carry your own shit."

She removed her sunglasses and placed them on top of her head, forcing her blue eyes to squint against the bright August sun that streamed through the window. Glancing around at the room's tight quarters, she wondered how two people were supposed to live in such a cramped space. Especially two people who hadn't even met or knew if they would get along.

Shaking her head, Brooke turned around to address her sister. "C.C., why are you doing this? You've got one year left. Why don't you just stay at Mom and Dad's?"

"Oh really? Are you prepared to haul all of my shit back over there?"

Brooke glared at her youngest sister. "Don't even go there. You know what I mean."

"Yeah, Brooke. I do know and that's just it. I have one year left here. I can't stay with Mom and Dad forever. It's about time I move out," C.C. answered as she began to unpack her clothes, putting them into the closet.

The older woman sat in a chair at the small desk in the room and picked at some imaginary lint on her jeans. "You could always stay at my house if you had to," Brooke offered quietly. She looked up as C.C. rolled her eyes. The look on her face told Brooke exactly what she thought of that idea.

"Oh yeah, right. We both know how well that would work out," C.C. answered sarcastically as she mimicked her sister with a jerk of her head. "I'd be looking over my shoulder every five minutes. God only knows when you'd sneak up from behind and grab me by my ankles. Yeah, go on, laugh Brooke. Holding me upside down to bang my head on the floor while you're standing on the coffee table isn't my idea of fun." C.C. thought about Brooke's favorite pastime when they were growing up.

"Hey, I couldn't do that now. My coffee table is glass and it would shatter if I tried to stand on it. Besides, I stopped doing that years ago."

"Yeah, three years ago, when I was eighteen."

Brooke held her hands up in front of herself defensively. "Hey, it wasn't my fault. You told me I couldn't. I just wanted to show you that I still could."

"Yeah, whatever, show-off. Go on. Get out of here. Go do whatever it is that you do so I can get unpacked."

C.C. offered a hand to her older sister to help her stand. As Brooke stood up, she was embraced in a sisterly hug.

"Thanks, Brooke. I owe you one."

"You owe me several. Call me if you need anything."

The younger woman forcefully turned her sister to face the door and began to push her in that direction. "Okay, you big worry wart. I'll see you at Mom's for dinner next Sunday."

Brooke turned around to smile at her sister. Replacing her sunglasses, she walked out the door, pulling it shut behind her.

Anxious to get through the hustle-bustle of new and returning students moving into the dorm, Brooke maneuvered quickly toward the exit doors. Her long stride navigated the obstacles in the hall until she met the petite blonde heading in the opposite direction, her arms full of luggage. The tall woman barely managed to get past her without being slammed into the wall. Brooke then made a quick detour to the right where she found herself on the landing of the stairwell. Looking down the length of the hall, she decided that it just might be more prudent to take the three flights of stairs to the ground floor than to try for the elevator.

Reaching the bottom, she forced open the steel safety door and ran to her car that was parked next to her sister's truck. She unlocked the silver Nissan 300Z and got in. After cranking the engine, fiddling with the stereo and adjusting her seatbelt, she headed back toward her office at the beach.

The young woman looked down at the small piece of paper in her hands and then up to the number over the door. She shifted her luggage a bit and tried to knock on the door. With the combination of her short stature and the amount of bags occupying her hands, she had no such luck. Hearing someone moving around on the other side of the door, the woman tried to knock again, this time with her foot. The weight of the bags pulled at her strength as she waited patiently. Just when she thought she was going to drop them, the door began to open. The tall woman on the other side was met by tumbling pieces of luggage that had seemingly been sucked right out of the shorter woman's grip in the vacuum created by the open door.

"Hey now. Let me give you a hand with those." C.C. offered. She grabbed a few of the bags to give the girl the opportunity to make it into the room before losing the rest of her load.

"Thank you. I am so sorry," she apologized immediately. "I'm Samantha. Looks like I'm your new roommate."

"No sweat. I just got here myself. Come on in." The brunette backed away from the door allowing the small woman to enter.

"I hope you don't mind but I went ahead and started unpacking on this side of the room." Pointing to the side with the windows, C.C. placed the luggage down on the bed opposite from the one she had chosen then turned around to face the shorter girl offering her hand. "Hi, I'm C.C."

Letting the bags that were still in her arms fall next to the bed, she turned and grasped the hand offered to her. "Sam," she said with a smile, "and this side is fine."

"Nice to meet you, Sam." Releasing the handshake, C.C. smiled politely. "Well, I guess I'll let you get settled in." She watched as the blonde nodded in agreement, then returned to her own unpacking.

Each woman worked in silence, unpacking, cleaning, and getting a grasp on her new space. Over time a casually thrown muttering by one would elicit a response from the other as each tried to get a feel for her new roommate. In a short time, the Spartan style dormitory room became more like home and the students began conversing as if they were old friends who had not seen one another for a length of time, rather than new acquaintances.

With Sam standing tiptoed on a chair trying to reach the far corners of the top shelf in her closet, they were interrupted by a knock at the door. "God, who could that be? Company already?" Sam asked as she looked over her shoulder, noticing that C.C. had a somewhat sheepish expression on her face.

"Ooh, yeah... sorry. My sister said she'd bring by a pizza for dinner. You don't mind do you? I mean... you're more than welcome to join us if you'd like."

Sam's eyes lit up at the mention of food. "Mind? Why would I mind? Isn't pizza the universal room warming meal?" Just hearing the word pizza caused her stomach to growl and both girls' eyes were drawn to the source of the noise. They giggled as another knock was heard at the door.

"Well, I guess your stomach answered that question. We better feed that beast." The brunette teased her new roommate as she made her way through the mess to the door, opening it to find her sister.

"Hey C.C., how's the new squat?" The woman dressed in hospital scrubs held a pizza box and six-pack of soda up in the air when she saw her sister. "Sister bearing gifts. Aren't you going to ask me in?"

"Come on in." C.C. moved out of the way so her older sister could walk in. "It's small, but it's ours."

Sam came down from the chair to make an empty spot on the desk, where she placed the six-pack of soda that the older woman handed her.

"Terri, this is my new roommate, Sam. Sam, this is one of my older sisters, Terri."

"Hi, Terri." Sam wiped a hand on her jeans, then offered it in friendship. "Don't mind the mess. We're just getting settled in."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Terri shook the hand offered to her. "No problem with the mess. I grew up with that one," she added, jerking her thumb in C.C.'s direction. "Hungry? Care to join us?" Terri offered as she held out the pizza box and offered it to Sam.

"Are we ever. Thanks so much." Sam replied as she fingered the lid of the box.

"Anytime. Someone has to make sure Ms. Thing over there eats more than Cheetos and Pop-Tarts," Terri shrugged her shoulders, "Not that pizza is much better, but it's a start."

"I never knew that moving in could make you so famished." Sam opened up the lid to the pizza box, allowing the steam to escape.

Terri looked around the room, settling first on Sam, then to C.C. "Wow, this place is tiny. You mean Brooke actually fit in here while she was moving all your shit?"

"Brooke?" Sam's eyes grew wide. "Who's Brooke?" The blonde looked to C.C. before taking a bite of pizza.

"Yeah, Brooke's our older sister. She helped me move my stuff in here today."

Terri and C.C. each grabbed a slice from the box and sat in a semi-cleared spot on C.C.'s bed, while Sam occupied a pile of clothes on the floor.

"What is she... some kind of giant?" Sam asked.

"She likes to think she is." C.C. responded without missing a beat.

Terri poked C.C. on the arm to defend their sister. "She does not. Brooke just likes to have a lot of space." The scrub clad woman looked over at Sam. "But, she is over six feet tall."

"Yeah, well... it all depends on her mood." After shoving the last of her pizza slice into her mouth, C.C. wiped her hands on her jeans.

Terri rolled her eyes at the display. "God, Chase. You can be such a pig. Use a napkin for crying out loud." She chastised her sister and handed her a napkin from the pizzeria. "Besides, she's not that bad. So she banged you on your head a couple of times growing up. You shouldn't have pissed her off." Terri pointed out.

"Excuse me? A couple?" Brown eyes bugged out as C.C. voiced her doubt, positive that she had misunderstood her sister.

"Okay, a couple hundred..." Terri amended. "Point is, you still didn't get what you deserved. There's quite a bit of crap you pulled that we never tormented you over. You werea real brat."

"You were the one away at school. How would you know? Besides, you've never seen her when she picks up those sticks," C.C. pointed out as she grabbed another slice of pizza.

"Does she still? She had given it a rest the last time we talked about it." Terri was curious now.

"Sticks? What are you two talking about?" Sam inquired as she helped herself to another slice of pizza.

"Well, you know C.C., it's not like she was always around either. She was gone for a couple of years, too. Remember?" Terri reminded C.C., not hearing the quiet question from Sam.

"Wow, first you call her a giant, now you have her picking up sticks. Next you'll be telling me she slays dragons." Sam joked as she listened to the two sisters talk about their older sibling.

"Nah... that's only when she gets bored." C.C. replied with a wink at her roommate.

"What is she, Super Sister?" Sam asked, curious about the topic of their conversation.

"That would be her." C.C. answered, then turned her gaze towards Terri. "Just don't tell Randi I said that. She'd get jealous." C.C. smirked.

"Hmmm… I'll think about it," Terri said before turning towards Sam to answer her question. "Let's just say that she's lived many a lifetime in her world."

"How many sisters do you have?" It seemed that every other moment Sam was hearing about a different sister.

"Well, you could find out at dinner. Chase, why don't you bring her by on Sunday? You don't have any plans do you, Sam?" Terri offered as C.C. nodded her head with wide-eyed enthusiasm.

Sam was speechless at the invitation. "Well, I uh... what I mean is," she looked from one sister to the other. "I won't be intruding, will I?"

"No, of course not. We wouldn't have invited you if we thought you would. It's just the girls' family dinner. Well, except for Dad. He'll be there. Nothing special, we've done it for years. Mom picks a Sunday of every month at the beginning of each year. No significant others allowed," Terri elaborated on one of their few family traditions.

"Yeah, Sam, maybe they'll be nice to me with a new face to add to the conversation." The younger sister wished it to be true but somehow knew better than to get her hopes up.

Terri's first response was to laugh at her sister. "Yeah right. Not likely, kiddo. You should know better. Just watch out for Mom. She's been on the warpath lately. The other day, when you went to the movies, Brooke stopped by and parked on the new grass that Mom planted a couple of weeks ago."

The woman scrunched her nose up at hearing this. She couldn't believe Brooke was still alive if what Terri said was true. Her mother lived for her garden, flowerbeds, and the overall appearance of her yard. "Ooh... I bet that went over real big."

"Are you kidding? Mom had a litter of puppies over it, then started in on the whole relationship bit. Brooke's not too happy right now."

"Oh, no. Not again," C.C. groaned at Brooke's luck as of late. Then watched as Terri nodded her head to verify the truth of her statement.

"Oh, yeah. Dad just walks out of the room. He doesn't even want to get in the middle of it."

"Smart man. Boy, I'm really going to miss all those discussions not living at home this year."

"Oh, yeah... like Mom would really give it a rest when you visit and not fill you in on all the dirt. You know the woman, sometimes she just has no couth." Terri tried to reassure her sister. She knew the upcoming months would be difficult on C.C. since the girl had never lived away from home before, and she was glad that home was only a thirty-minute drive away.

"Excuse me for asking..." Sam interrupted, shyly. "But, what's wrong with Brooke's relationship?"

"She's not in one." C.C. shrugged her shoulders at her roommate. "That's just it."

"So, what's wrong with that? Lots of people aren't." Sam couldn't understand why not being in a relationship was such a big deal.

Terri and C.C. looked at each other as if to get their timing right before pulling off the perfect imitation of their mother, "You really should be seeing someone. You're not getting any younger and you shouldn't have to worry about spending the rest of your life all alone."

The sisters shared a laugh and Sam couldn't help but to join in as she witnessed their camaraderie. Finally Terri was able to speak. "Ah, you know Mom is just trying to look out for her, the way she does for all of us."

"At least she hasn't started on me, yet." The young woman stated as she got up and made her way over to the desk to open one of the sodas Terri had brought.

"The operative word there being 'yet', C.C." Terri pointed out. "Just give it time." She didn't want C.C. to think that she would be immune to their mother's prodding.

With a wave of her hand, C.C. blew off the warning. "Hey, she's too concerned with Brooke right now to worry about me. I'm safe for a few years at least."

"What's up with this?" C.C. turned toward her sister and held up the six-pack. "No beer?" She offered a can to Terri and then one to Sam, who thanked her.

"Nope. I'm going to work and you two are underage." Terri answered with a shake of her head.

"Hey, I'll be 21 in less than a month. Or have you forgotten?"

"No, I haven't forgotten."

"I'll be there in October," Sam added to the conversation.

"See? We're not that much under." The woman tried to reason with Terri, her light brown eyes twinkling. She knew it would do no good but she just loved to irritate her sister.

"Yeah, well... it's still under. I am not going to get in trouble for you, not with Mom. You seem to forget I've got a license to keep. Who would trust a pediatrician that was convicted of corrupting the morals of a minor?"

"Wuss." The insult was thrown at Terri, not expecting it to really accomplish anything and C.C. watched as her sister rolled her eyes in response.

"So, Sam... what's your major?" Terri sipped at her soda, ignoring her younger sister who was making faces at her, trying to get her attention.

"Major..." Sam sighed at the question, oblivious now to the antics of her roommate. "Do I have to pick one thing?" She laughed and Terri joined in as she pushed C.C. down on the bed one handedly, without ever taking her eyes off of Sam.

"Okay, then... majors?" Terri amended her question.

"Living, mostly." She giggled, "But my aunt says that's not enough so I'm taking music history and public relations."

The two sisters straightened up, looking at each other with a raised eyebrow.

Finally Terri spoke. "Music? My, my... that sounds fascinating. Anything in particular?"

Sam got up and cleared off a spot on her bed, then sat down cross-legged on it. "Well, I like the modern groups but I'm not stuck up enough to forget the older ones either. Without them, music would have never progressed."

"Very cool." Terri listened attentively as the young girl spoke of her passion for music.

"Just give me something with a good rhythm and I'm ready for action, moving to the beat." The young woman demonstrated her limited moves, as she remained seated.

Turning to her sister, C.C. grinned, then smacked Terri lightly on her shoulder. "No. Now that's cool," and she imitated a few of Sam's moves.

Once again, Terri rolled her eyes. "So, who's your favorite oldie but goodie group, Sam?"

The blonde looked to the ceiling in thought before answering. "Well, my favorite all guy group is Europe, my chick group is Vixen. I just LOVE that 1980's hair band sound."

"Well, that wasn't quite what I meant by 'oldie but goodie' but, it'll do."

"Oh, no. I really love some of the older ones, too. The Doors, The Runaways, Janis Joplin... I'll listen to just about anything. But my all around favorite, male or female, old or semi-old is Anti-Zero." Terri and C.C. looked at each other wide-eyed and mouth gaping, neither believing what they had just heard.

"No way!" C.C. exclaimed, turning to look directly at her roommate. "Really? Anti-Zero? I've uhm... I've heard of them. Haven't you, Terri?" The woman was starting to giggle.

"Yeah, somewhere… in the distant past." The two sisters began laughing out loud now.

Sam assumed they were laughing at her and became defensive. "Hey, why are you two laughing at me? They were an amazing musical group who didn't get half the recognition they deserved."

Both sisters struggled desperately to regain their composure, not wanting to upset their new friend.

"Honey, don't worry. We're not laughing at you. Actually our mother loved that band. Right C.C.?" Terri tried to assure Sam.

"Really?" Sam thought for a moment. Their mom must be pretty cool if she liked Anti-Zero.

"Yeah, let's just say that they were one of Brooke's little projects. We all knew their songs inside and out..." C.C. confirmed.

"Backwards and forwards, even..." Terri added.

"In our sleep..." They said in unison, then looked at each other and shared another laugh.

Sam couldn't believe that they were serious. She decided to find out for herself and began singing her favorite part of the band's theme song.

"Oh, no... not me, I'll be a rainbow in your eyes...Oh, yeah it's me, I'm like a strobe light, overdrive..."

The two sisters joined in singing without skipping a beat.

"I'll be your Anti-Zero, your super hero charm... I'll be your Anti-Zero, your true Diniro star..."

Sam was elated that her new friends knew the songs as well as she did. "Whoa, you're right, you do know them."

Terri stood up and stretched. "Well, ladies... thanks for the company over dinner but, I should probably be getting to work." She stretched her long frame out, then walked the few feet to the door.

"Yeah, and I have to find this bed to sleep in tonight." C.C. looked around her as she stood up.

"Thanks for the pizza and sodas, Terri. That was very nice of you. It was great meeting you." Sam thanked the slightly older woman for her kindness as she held out her hand.

"You are very welcome. At least somebody appreciates it." Terri added as she grinned.

"Hey, I appreciate you." C.C. retorted with her hands placed firmly on her hips.

Terri laughed. "Yeah, right. Whatever, C.C." The woman in scrubs made her way to the door. "Oh and Sam, it was nice meeting you as well. See you at dinner on Sunday?" Terri asked again, one last time before leaving.

"Yeah, sure. That sounds great. If C.C. will let me, I'll be there."

"Oh, girl... you are so there!" C.C. told her new roommate.

"Well, have fun girls. C.C., stay out of trouble." Terri bid them "Goodbye" and hugged her youngest sibling before leaving for work.

The brunette shut the door after her sister's departure, turning back around to face the mess of a room she and Sam still had to contend with.

"I like her C.C. Are they all that friendly?" Sam asked as she went back to putting her clothes away.

The woman thought about it for a moment. The answer was positive but she couldn't resist tweaking her new roommate some. "Sometimes… at the right moments, or when they need to be."

Clearing the last of her clothes off the mattress, C.C. began to make the bed with the clean set of sheets she had brought along with her. Now all she had to do was figure out what to do with all the boxes.

"I hope Sunday is the right time," Sam said quietly as she thought about the upcoming dinner with her new friend's family.

"Oh, it will be. I'm just kidding you. They're all great." Eyeing the pillow in her hands, C.C. tossed it across the room at the unsuspecting woman.

Stunned by the action at first, Sam returned it with a devilish grin, following it with her own pillow thrown in sequence. Before long, damn near everything was tossed back and forth that could be in a friendly fashion. By the time they were finished, the room was an even bigger mess of clothing and trinkets than before. It was then that both women realized that the getting acquainted time was over and that they were settling in to being roomies.

It had taken both women several hours to clean up their dorm room, arranging everything in an order they could both live with. What they gave up in space they gained in comfort with their own bathroom, not big mind you, but private. While Sam was in the bathroom finishing with her shower, C.C. was lying in bed reading a book. Sam came out of the steam-filled room, her hair still damp from the shower and walked over to her bed where she sat down to brush her hair.

Lowering her book, C.C. glanced over it and noticed the t-shirt Sam had chosen to sleep in. The front of it proclaimed in bold letters, "The Family Tree Stops Here". The young woman giggled then went back to reading while she offered a comment on the shirt. "Nice shirt. I should get it for my sister."

A look of confusion came across Sam's face at C.C.'s statement until she glanced down and saw which shirt she was wearing. Feeling the heat rise to her face, she wondered what the girl across the room must think of her now. She had just reached into her drawer and grabbed the first one. Okay... definitely need to start paying attention to my attire. "Um... why would you get her this shirt? You do know what it means, don't you?"

"Of course I know what it means and she's gay so, she'd love it. Where'd you get it? I could use it for her Christmas gift or something."

Her answer was matter of fact and left Sam wondering exactly which sister she was referring to. Sam looked down at her shirt and shook her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so... ah… so... gay. I just grabbed the first shirt I saw. I guess I should really start paying attention."

"No sweat. Don't worry about it. Nothing I'm not used to. Actually, you're pretty subtle about it." C.C. looked up momentarily to address her roommate then went back to reading her book.

"You aren't bothered sharing a room with me then?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"No way. I shared a house with my sister for damn near twenty years."

"Well, if you haven't been infected by now, I guess you're safe." Sam tried to make light of their conversation.

"Yeah, she told me there's no recruiting involved so why should I care?" C.C. shrugged her shoulders as if this topic was one she was very comfortable with. "She told me that the Golden Toaster Oven was nothing more than a myth."

"Golden Toaster Oven?" Sam didn't quite understand what C.C. was talking about.

Hearing that, the tall brunette placed her book in her lap and sat up in bed as if in shock. "Oh, come on! You're a lesbian and you don't know about the Golden Toaster Oven?"

Sam shook her head in denial. "Nope, not a clue."

Thinking about it for a moment, C.C. tried to remember it exactly as she had heard the tale. "Well, according to my sister, you receive the Golden Toaster Oven after," the woman held up both hands and made quotation marks in the air, "recruiting a select number of straight women to the joys of lesbianism." She finished with her hands reaching up to the ceiling as if preaching to an entire congregation. "Or, something like that. Apparently, it's even hand delivered to your home by Melissa Etheridge." The woman giggled and then noticed her friend's somber mood.

"Sorry, I must have been absent the day they gave out the manuals. Or maybe that was the day my mother grounded me for coming out."

C.C. knew a nerve had been struck and placed a bookmark in her paperback before resting it on the nightstand. "Ooh, that bad?"

"Well, it wasn't pretty." Sam ran a hand through her damp locks. "That's why I've been living with my aunt for the last year or so. I decided that it was time for me to be on my own and now, I'm here in the dorm this year."

The brunette reached across the small space between their beds and placed a hand against her friend's arm in sympathy. "Ouch, sorry, Sam. Well, you'll have no such worries around the Gordon household. They'll welcome you with open arms," she laughed, "and ears."

Sam looked up confused. "Ears? Why ears?"

Rolling her eyes, C.C. thought about the nosey nature of some of her family members. "Oh yeah, ears too. They'll listen for any little tidbit to remind you about and then rag you with it at a later date. That goes for the eyes as well. We're exactly like the people in the commercial for the Olive Garden Restaurant. When you're there, you're family, as soon as you walk in the door."

The blonde smiled at C.C.'s ramblings and after a few seconds, both roomies were left feeling better.

Sam laughed. "Okay, I get the picture. Now, if I could just get the girl... any girl..."

"You, my dear, they will absolutely adore!" The roommate looked at the small woman in the next bed, her head tilting from one side to the other. "Hmm… and we'll just have to see what we can do about getting you that girl as well." C.C. delivered the last of her statement with a wink of an eye as she took a sip from the water glass on the nightstand next to her bed.

Sam thought about it briefly. "Well, as long as you're filling out my request card, can you make it on the order of... oh, I don't know…" The young woman thought for a moment. "I've always had a thing for drummers. How about Loran from Anti-Zero?"

Water suddenly came spewing back into the glass as C.C. choked briefly at the request. "Loran? You mean as in Brooke Loran?"

Not noticing her friend's distress, the dreamy eyed blonde gazed thoughtfully into space as she conjured up the image of the female drummer: short dark hair, sunglasses hiding a well chiseled face, on an incredibly tall frame that oozed nothing but strength and power. "Yeah, she's an oldie but I'd bet anything she's a goodie."

"Ahh, yes... that was the drummer's name, wasn't it?" C.C. covered her slip, thankful that her friend hadn't noticed. Then again, by the look on her face, she probably wouldn't notice a Mack truck if it were to hit her right now.

The small woman nodded her head in agreement as she got under the covers, thinking about the wonder that was Brooke Loran. Now that woman, by far, was the biggest crush she had ever had on anyone, not to mention the longest. With the thought of the wild drummer beating out a rhythm in her head, Sam was sure that she would have some sweet dreams tonight. "Yeah, and what a beat that girl could keep up. Why, she makes my heart race just thinking about her."

The last thing that C.C. saw was the dreamy expression on her new friend's face as Sam reached up and turned out her light. Smiling at her roommate's expression, C.C. followed her lead and reached for her own small light source next to her bed.

"Good night, C.C. Sweet dreams." Sam said as she curled up on her side and waited for Morpheus' hold to claim her.

"Good night, Sam." The brunette turned over and wrapped one arm around her pillow as she thought about her sister. Ooh, Brooke... we need to have a talk!

The tall, dark haired woman sat at her desk. She was facing the window, staring out at her view of the ocean. The rolling waves always acted as a source to soothe and calm her when her mind was troubled. Her thoughts drifted back to earlier in the day when an ex-band mate of hers had called, asking if she was available to produce his new project. She hadn't spoken to James since the band broke up three years earlier, which had seriously bothered her. They had been best friends and with a few cross words one night after a show, they had lost each other.

Her mind drifted out of the distant past, letting her once again think of what James had told her earlier in that phone conversation; he wanted the best, and knew that it was her. She had ended their conversation by telling him she would think about it and give him a call in the next week or so. Her mind still mulled the conversation over even now, hours later. It was something that she was going to have to think long and hard about before getting back to him.

The insistent ringing of the telephone slowly pulled the woman from her musings. She picked up the handset, placing it next to her ear, and spoke in her most business-like voice. "Brownstone Records. Brooke Gordon speaking..."

"You know, you have got to get a secretary. I could be any whacko trying to find you." The voice on the other end spoke with familiarity.

Brooke smiled at the teasing banter of her youngest sister. "Well, thank God the only whacko who can find me is my kid sister. What's up, C.C.?" The executive said as she wondered what her sister needed now.

"Not much. I called your house and didn't get an answer so I took a chance that you were at the studio. You okay? You sound kind of out of it."

"Yeah, I'm fine, nothing major. I'll tell you all about it later. So, is there a reasonfor you calling me or what?" Brooke could already tell by the tone of C.C.'s voice that the younger girl was up to something.

"Well, I was just wondering..."

"Yeah, wondering what?" Brooke shuffled through some papers piled on her desk, pulling out one or two and shoving the rest back.

"Well, you see I met this girl and..."

"No, C.C." Brooke cut her off in mid sentence as she threw the papers down onto the desktop, to make her point more emphatically.

"But, Brooke, she's really cool." Then C.C. added in a whisper, "And I know that this one's gay."

Brooke rolled her eyes as she leaned forward with the start of her rebuttal. "C.C., I am not going to take out every gay woman... or girl... that you meet. You tried to set me up once and we both know what happened with that one. Just because your friend is gay, does not mean that I'd like her or get along with her." Brooke sat back in her chair, trying to calm down, positive that she had made her point clear.

"But, Brooke... she's really nice, a total sweetheart, and she's a huge Anti-Zero fan. Can't you at least meet her and see for yourself?" C.C. tried to persuade her stubborn sister.

Brooke's sigh was audible over the phone. "C.C., I'm out of the crush stage. In fact, I never was into it to begin with. So,why don't we just forget that we even had this little conversation?" Brooke listened for an answer, but hearing none, she prompted. "Okay?" When she heard C.C.'s sigh of defeat, she knew she could relax.

"Well, okay." C.C.'s voice showed her rejection. "Hey look, I need to go see about registering for a couple of classes."

"Nothing like waiting until the last minute." Brooke replied as she beat the top of her desk with a couple of pens, tapping out the rhythm to an old song she had written several years back.

"Yeah, well... they had some last minute openings." Then, the idea struck her; "Hey maybe we can check out a movie or something next weekend. What do ya think?"

"Yeah sure, that sounds okay," Brooke answered absentmindedly. "I'll let you go. I've got some contracts to look over. I'll see you at Mom's on Sunday."

"Okay, Sis. Love you. Take care."

"No problem and love you, too." Brooke thought for a moment then quickly added, "And C.C., thanks for not pressuring me on that little issue. It's just not something I'm interested in right now. Talk to you later."

"Yeah, whatever you say, sis." C.C. paused for a moment before uttering her last words. "Bye Brooke."

"Bye C.C."

After hanging up the phone, each woman was left with her own thoughts. Brooke's about the request of her longtime friend and ex-band mate, C.C.'s on the stubbornness of her sister. Each one running in similar lines but with different agendas.

Not interested… huh? That's what you think. We'll just have to wait and see about that.

Ahhhh... still in its original format from the original posting! Let us know if you guys want more!