2015
"..., but there is more to the story, that has been in the headlines for the past couple of days! A close inside source told us that Nicks might have planned to be caught with her ex-lover. The source says the famous singer has never really gotten over Buckingham and seeing him happily married with children has been bothering Nicks for years. The information received is shocking, it has been claimed that Nicks had someone install video cameras in her own dressing room, from where the footage of her and Buckingham was leaked earlier this week..."
"Will you stop reading this bullshit?!" Christine yanked yet another magazine from Stevie's hands and threw it across the room. Stevie cocked her head back, fighting back more tears, eventually dissolving into loud sobs. Christine sighed, her heart breaking for her best friend, as she sat down and pulled the other blond into her arms. "You know it's not true. You're killing yourself with these fucking articles."
"Doesn't matter that I know, everyone else seems to be buying it." Stevie reached for a tissue, soaking it as soon as she brought it up to dry her face. "I can't do this Chris, I can't." She breathed out heavily, breaking away from Christine, as she rested her elbows on her knees, putting her head in her hands. "They're all going to hate me! I'll lose everyone. I'll lose my family, my friends, my fans! They all told me time and time again, Lindsey is married, leave him alone, move on, find someone else. Did I listen? No! I had to listen to my fucking heart!"
"Stevie, you're not going to lose anyone, especially not us or your family. Everyone makes mistakes."
"Not when there's so much at risk, they don't. So many years of marriage and three beautiful kids, Christine... He always wanted a life like that, he got it and I ruined it."
"You can't put all of the blame on yourself. It's not like you dragged him in with you against his will! I hate to say it, but... Well, we've all seen he was more than willing to participate. You barely got to lock the door."
"Who puts video cameras in dressing rooms?! They should have told us! What the fuck happened to privacy? And then they leaked it... Don't they, whoever did this, realize how much at stake there is? I don't care about my image, I've been called a homewrecking whore only for the past, what... forty years? But Lindsey..."
"Stevie, stop it. It's not solely your fault! He's just as guilty."
"But he has a family, Chris. I don't, I don't have anyone to answer to." Stevie got up from the couch to pour herself a drink, from the mini-fridge that was in her dressing room. She knew she shouldn't be drinking before a show, but she needed to calm down to be able to perform. If there were going to be any fans attending anyway, she thought...
"Maybe his marriage isn't that wonderful that he had to keep seeing you."
"But there's still something they share. If Lindsey wanted it, he would have left Kristen by now, don't you think?"
"I just think that you two need to have a serious, long conversation."
"No." Stevie said firmly. "I can't look him in the eyes."
"We're about to perform in front of thousands of people and if you're set on ignoring Lindsey, you know the show is going to suck."
"God, all those people out there... How can I go out on stage, Chris?" She asked, tearing up again. "I'm not some twenty year old wannabe. I'm a sixty six year old woman, who's supposed to be mature and smart about the decisions she makes. How many of our audience do you think has seen me half naked, straddling Lindsey, with his mouth on my tits and his hands up my skirt?"
"Think of it this way, the bastard who let the footage out on to the internet could have uploaded the whole thing..."
"Gee, thanks! That calmed me down!"
"Fuck, Stevie, I'm trying to help!"
"I know, I'm sorry I yelled." She ran a hand through her hair, sitting down on the armrest by Christine's side. "It's just really hard." Her voice breaking, she leaned in to the older woman again.
They remained silent for a moment, Christine with Stevie in her arms, glad they still had quite a lot of time before showtime. They were interrupted by someone knocking on the door. Stevie wasn't going to open, but then... "Steph, baby, let me in."
"DON'T." She raised her voice enough for him and only him to hear.
Stevie refused to see and talk to Lindsey ever since their affair was out in the open. She had Karen tell him, he had to stay away before more damage would be done.
"Talk to him, Stevie." Christine said. "Don't get into the whole thing, just tell him how you feel and what's going on in your head."
Maybe she should, not because she desired to, but because the tension would be unbearable and the show would be horrible. Stevie nodded, standing up, so did Christine.
"Chris, hi..." Lindsey cursed himself, thinking of how he referred to Stevie, without knowing she wasn't alone.
"Hey." She replied and went past him and down the corridor to her own dressing room.
"What do you want?" Stevie asked sharply, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I wanted to know that you don't hate me."
"I don't hate you. I'm upset and disappointed in both of us. First, we should have stopped our stupid games years ago, second, if we weren't capable of doing that, at least we should have waited until we made it to our hotel!"
"Steph, please..."
"No, don't Steph me, don't baby me. We fucked up badly this time, Lindsey. It's not just the band or the crew that knows, the whole fucking world knows! Because of me, you might lose your family and that can't happen. I won't be responsible for another marriage failing."
"Listen, Stevie..."
"No, you listen." She said, pointing at him. "Here are the rules from now on, Lindsey. We're bandmates, we work together, we have as little contact as possible, we end our interactions on stage, you stop holding my hand, you don't kiss me, you don't hug me, you don't look at me, you don't talk to me unless it's necessary. When it's time to take a bow, Christine and I are switching places. After the show, our paths don't cross and I start staying in different hotels again."
"This is insane! I can't stay away from you and neither can you, Stevie!"
"It's going to hurt and it's going to be the hardest thing we might ever have done or will have to do, but there's no other way."
"You love me." That had always been his best argument.
"And I won't ever stop, but I won't let you lose everything you've always wanted."
"It's not just your decision, maybe I..."
"Maybe you nothing, Lindsey. This is it. It's the end of you and I, we have to stop."
"We'll see how long you can stand by those rules." He said angrily and stormed out.
She shut the door and leaned against it, sliding down to the ground, pulling her knees to her chest as she once again broke down in tears.
