The Online Experience

December 9, 1995 (Sydney's POV)

To say Jamie had been right about the weather would be an understatement. Minneapolis was cold. I thought I knew cold from my little college town, but that was nothing compared to this bitter, unfriendly weather. When my plane touched down there was already snow on the ground and it had managed to snow off and on each day since then. Meg and I had spent my first full day in town just hanging around her nicely sized, crisply decorated apartment catching up on everything that had happened in our lives recently. Meg's new career. My first quarter of grad school. She talk about how much she really like John, they'd met at a local club one night where she literally ran into him while he was coming back from the restroom. Apparently that turned into a conversation and an exchange of numbers before he had to get back to work. At the time she had no idea he was part of the security team for the clubs VIP visitor that night...that was nine months ago. She explained she'd been to nearly all the Paisley Park shows since he'd told her about his job, mostly because it gave them a chance to see each other; apparently his free time was fairly nonexistent due to the demands of his employer. They weren't serious, at least that's what she claimed, but I quickly got the impression that was only because John didn't seem to have the time.

I even told her about Jamie, well mostly about him. I explained how we'd met online and he'd managed to help me work through the breakup with Miko. I even want so far as to explain some of the stranger aspects about our interactions, like his refusal to answer questions about his life. She didn't seem too think any of that was too out of the ordinary and she seemed happy I'd found another friend  outside of my typical sphere willing listen and able to help me see through some peoples bullshit, as she put it.

A few days had passed and it was finally here. Today was the day I was going to meet John and get to see Jamie's favorite musician in the flesh. Meg explained that these shows were less like attending a full on concert and more like a jam session in a club. With that in mind we spend the late afternoon going through all our clothes looking for the right outfits. I settled on a little black halter style dress with a large keyhole opening in the back and lace detail at the bottom where it rested at my mid thigh. Some simple black heals that tie around my
ankles, a few pieces of gold jewelry and a jean jacket rounded out my outfit.  Meg had opted for a short black dress with long sleeves and a cut out on the front exposing her cleavage half way down her abdomen. Her expert use of double stick tape with the dress told me this wasn't her first time in this type of outfit. Both excited and a little anxious we made it to Paisley Park just after the doors opened at 9pm.

Meg had driven by the facility earlier in the week to show me what the complex looked like from the outside, but standing inside was completely different from checking it out from the road. The place looked massive from the outside, but as soon as we were ushered inside it felt smaller, intimate if you will. People were funneled fairly quickly from the front entrance of the building into a large performance space.

"The stage looks the same as it has the last few shows he's held here." Meg's voice filled my ears as I take in the sight of the large stage with what looked like huge swags of gold cloth in the backdrop with that strange symbol is seen all over the new album displayed prominently in the center of the background. The stage was set with instruments just waiting for the warm bodies to take their places and bring the the strings and keys to life. The place was starting to fill up and people were dancing to the music that played through the sound system; a diverse collection of music, some of which I recognized as Prince and other more obscure artists I had no reference for.

"So when does this thing start?" Turning to find Meg craning her back through the crowd and intently watching a door over to the right of the stage.

"Oh anytime after now." Her attention was barely on me or my question. "Really it's just whenever he feels like coming out and getting started." Suddenly her face lit up and I followed her blue eyes to the sight of a tall, bulky man with a dark complexion walking towards is.