The Dance A/U Part 1: Crash Into Me

Sweet To Rock...

Warner Brothers Studios,

Burbank, California

February 2, 1997

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The skies around the car were getting progressively darker and more purple as Karen drove Stevie to her meeting with Fleetwood Mac and Warner Brothers that afternoon. She knew Stevie was a nervous wreck about seeing Lindsey for the first time in over a year, from the way she chewed her lower lip and played with her seatbelt. On the car radio, Alanis Morissette was wailing the heartfelt "Head Over Feet" from her Jagged Little Pill album, which Stevie had devoured two years earlier upon its release. Both women quietly sang along in their seats, not sharing a singalong but into themselves.

"You've already won me over in spite of me, and don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet...and don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are...I couldn't help it; it's all your fault..."

Stevie loved Alanis Morissette; she loved any songwriter who could take a concept as happy as finding a soulmate and turning it into something a little angsty. Karen didn't say a word to her in the car; she knew Stevie had to be with her thoughts. The silence between them was deafening, however, as they sang along to the verse...

"I've never felt this healthy before; I've never wanted something rational...I am aware now...I am aware now..."

Stevie sucked in a breath as the harmonica break played out; she was not going to fumble or cry or look like a jerk today! They would discuss the reunion, she'd be nice to everyone, and if Lindsey's words in 1995 had any validity, she'd let him come to her...

"You know I'm not going anywhere, right?"

"It's going to pour like a bastard," Karen said, breaking into Stevie's thoughts. "That should make PCH a pleasant road to travel home on!" She rolled her eyes.

"I know...I'm sorry." Stevie sat back in her seat like a scolded child. She knew Karen hated driving in the rain. They approached the gates of Warner Brothers through a purple fog, and it was going to come down any minute as Stevie told Karen to go do something fun and come back in an hour for her.

In the elevator, Stevie's anxiety was starting to become a problem. She was trembling, and she tried to think of how to conceal that. She checked her look in the mirrored wall of the elevator...not too bad for almost forty-nine! Her long blonde hair was holding onto its straightness despite the weather, falling against the black leather blazer she wore with black jeans and her usual tall black boots, an emerald green silk top to break up the black. She took a deep breath as she got off the elevator...It's just Lindsey. He won't bite you...unless things really go well! She managed a laugh to herself at her own joke and relaxed a bit.

"They're ready for you, Ms. Nicks," said a twenty-something receptionist in a Formica cubicle with flaming red hair and too many earrings up the sides of both ears. "Mr. Fleetwood and Mr. and Mrs. McVie see inside already...and Mr. Buckingham."

"Thank you." She smiled as she walked past the reception cubicle and took a deep breath as she entered the heavy double doors.

"Stevie! Good to see you! Even if you're the last to arrive." Elliot Schneider, the producer who'd called Lindsey and asked him to everyone to agree to a televised concert, stood up from his seat at a glass desk and offered a combination handshake and hug. He greeted her so quickly that she didn't even have time to notice Lindsey at all...but she did then...as he stood up and held out his arms for a hug.

"Hey there." He was grinning like a kid, totally unable to hide his happiness. Stevie walked into his embrace with a smile, and in full view of everyone in the room, he whispered into her ear, "I've missed you, angel." Stevie could not breathe for most of the meeting.