For Better Or For Worse | Rihanna

XIV; May 24th, 2004

The scorching sun had set aside today, making it the perfect day for a beachfront party. Forty was turning 30 today, and though he was very well-known for his shady business endeavours, his name (and money) still opened a wide away of doors.

Today, the doors of the Sandy Lane Resort had openly welcomed him to throw one of the biggest birthday bash's Barbados had seen yet. Somehow having proven himself to be quite the event planner, he had reserved the luxurious hotel's beach view venue to accommodate him and his closest friends and business associates.

The party was well on its way by now, the Sun had set and most people had moved through the double doors giving out on the hotel's private terrasse that spanned until their own section of the beach.

Tables, cabanas and lounge chairs were set up on the sand and a boisterous group of islanders were toasting and partying. Eden was here too, of course.

Now only two months ago from turning 16, she felt as though the world was her oyster, and life was just one continuous eccentric beach party. Everything had been going her way as of late. She had managed to climb up the "echelons" of drug dealing at an impressive speed. It seemed as though Forty had taken a liking to her and had made it his mission to keep her under his wing.

When she first got into the business, drugs and all of its gang-related activities were something Eden only saw as a past time and quick easy money, but as the years went by she became genuinely interested in it. Forty couldn't be happier as it seemed, he was almost prepping her to take after him.

There was an unspoken and inexplicable yet wholesome bond between the two. It went without saying that Eden was as removed from her father as one can be. Their already sour relationship had deteriorated rapidly over the last year and a half, and she now found herself spending most of her time either in the streets or at Forty's house.

Him and his girlfriend never seemed to mind Eden's presence, though she rarely ever slept in his house. There was a certain line that Eden didn't feel need to be crossed, as she hated feeling like a charity case.

Nevertheless, Eden had been invited to his party and had made sure to be in attendance. She was a few rum punches down the hole already; she hadn't been sober to a party in a while. The hotel had a very strict no smoking policy on its property, a property that was too vast for Eden to care about crossing just for a blunt, so she'd stick with the open bar tonight.

Not too far on the same property, a girl Eden had swore to never run into again was preparing her grand entrance to the very same party. Along with other forms of live entertainment, Forty had contracted a group of girls that he had heard were making quite the splash on the island. Between song covers and original content, the trio of young women were on a warpath to make their voices heard.

"Y'all ready?" Robyn leaned over to ask her band mates as she fixed the baby blue tube top her mother would never approve of.

There were no rules of showbiz that dictated that Robyn had to show some skin if she wanted to make it big, but as the self appointed leader — don't tell the other girls — Robyn had done extensive research on what made female stars the icons they were, and what they all had in common.

She came to the conclusion that besides undeniable talent, they each had undeniable sex appeal. They were all hot, Marylin Monroe, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, they were all mesmerizingly beautiful women whom you couldn't take your eyes off. These were all some of Robyn's inspirations to begin with, so she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to emulate them.

New extensions; new clothes; new makeup kits; Robyn was not skimping out.

The group was planning a grand entrance, mic's in hand just waiting to hear the music cue. Neither Robyn nor Eden knew they were about to be in the same room for the first time since that awful day in September 2002.