Sam kept her eyes slightly to the left and upward as they made their way up the circling stairs, smiling as she watched the gentle sway of Brooke’s rear end hidden by the faded, worn jeans.

Reaching the top, Brooke showed her around each room, letting her choose which one she would occupy for the night. Of course, Sam didn’t realize until after making her choice that the next room was Brooke’s. The tall woman placed the bag next to the bed while the blonde walked over to the window to gaze out over the property.

“My God, Brooke, it’s absolutely gorgeous here.”

Brooke looked over at Sam and ignored the view outside the window. “Yes, it is.”

Sam turned around to face her date and began to blush as she realized that they were discussing two different things.

“So…do you like this room?” Brooke asked trying to take some of the pressure off her guest.

Sam looked around at the spaciousness of the room with its large four poster bed before turning her eyes back to Brooke. “Yeah, it’ll do,” Sam answered with a grin.

Brooke turned back to the blonde at her side. “Tough to please, aren’t you?”

The young blonde grinned and stepped forward, tapping her finger on the tip of Brooke’s chin, then running it straight down her torso to the open-mouthed woman’s waist. Grabbing a belt loop, she pulled the taller woman against her and kissed Brooke’s chin.

“That depends on who’s doing the pleasing.” Sam winked before turning and walked out the bedroom door, leaving Brooke speechless in the process.

“Brooke?”

“Coming.” The stunned woman shook her head and walked out the door, meeting Sam at the top of the stairs, before descending them together.

“Well, ah…that’s the nickel tour, pretty much. Well, all except for the studio downstairs. Would you like to see it?” The enthusiastic nod of Sam’s head gave Brooke her answer. “Okay then, come on.”

Brooke walked in front of Sam and led her to a door off the main hallway. She opened the door to reveal another set of stairs leading underneath the house in what should have been the basement. The dark-haired woman flipped a switch and the stairway was illuminated.

Starting down the stairs, she turned around when she didn’t hear the sound of Sam’s steps behind her. “Come on. The studio’s down here.”

“In your basement?” Sam asked as she began to follow Brooke.

“No, in the studio. The basement is off of the kitchen.”

Brooke opened another door once they were at the bottom, revealing a long hallway. She entered, then waited on Sam to clear the door.

When she did, she was in awe at the numerous framed pictures that lined the walls. There were pictures of Anti-Zero from the time the band formed up until the time they broke up several years later.

Brooke stood back and watched as Sam intently studied each photograph to the extent of bringing her hands up to several of them and tracing her fingers along the figure of the short-haired drummer.

“Wow! Where did you find all of these? I mean…these must have cost you a small fortune. Loran hardly ever let her photo be taken. I can’t believe it.”

“Yeah, well…we uhm…we’ve known each other for a long time.”

Brooke smiled at the star-struck expression on Sam’s face as she walked up beside her.

Brooke hoped her explanation would fly, while inside she was praying that Sam wouldn’t recognize that she was, indeed, the drummer the young woman idolized. Even though she was extremely flattered that Sam had such a crush on her as Brooke Loran, she wanted Sam to be with her, for who she was now, not what fame tried to make of her years before.

“Loran pretty much liked to keep to herself,” the woman stumbled a bit, finding it a bit difficult to speak about herself in third person.

“With a body like that, I can see why.” Sam traced another photograph of Brooke as the woman in question tilted her head in thought.

“What do you mean?”

“Look at the lines of her arms and shoulders. God, what some would give for a body like that? Drummers are usually in the best shape out of all the musicians.”

Brooke nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, but she was much happier staying out of the limelight.”

“I bet, ” Sam began as she moved on to the next photograph. “Women were probably all over her.”

“They were. I mean…from what I’ve heard.”

“Is it really true that she was never into groupies?” Sam turned to look at the woman beside her. “I had heard that groupies followed all three members of the band everywhere they went, but Brooke was the only one to walk away from it.”

“Yeah it is. She never accepted an invitation from a groupie. Believe me she had plenty of opportunities to do so.”

They moved on down the hall towards the sound room, passing several smaller rooms on Brooke’s side of the hall, all of which had sound proofed glass for windows.

“I bet that must have taken some will power.” Sam rolled her eyes. “Did you know her for long? I mean…you still know her, don’t you?” Hopeful eyes stole a glance at the woman’s face.

“Yeah. I’ve…we’ve known each other for a long time. Most of my life actually. Why?”

Sam stopped and turned around to face Brooke. “What’s she really like? I mean…what turns her on?” The blonde looked away for a moment, embarrassed by what she was asking. “It’s just that she never told things like that when they interviewed her. She’s got to be one of the most mysterious people I can think of.”

Brooke thought about it and let the answer form in her mind before speaking. “Turns her on? I think her turn on was people who never cared about what everyone made her out to be. She’s quiet, actually, kind of shy to a point. She doesn’t let too many people see who she really is. Besides, she doesn’t come out too often.”

Sam thought carefully about everything Brooke was telling her, then came to her own conclusion, “She’s not into the fame thing. That seems about right for her.”

“Nope, not into fame at all. You know, that’s one reason the group is no longer together.”

“What broke them up? Do you know? The media never gave a reason,” green eyes looked eagerly for the answers.

Brooke ran her hand through her hair. “Yeah, I was there. It’s a long story.”

Sam smiled in response. “We’ve got all night. Unless you’d rather not talk about someone else.”

“Uhhh…it’s okay. Fame was one reason. The biggest reason actually. James and Peter had become obsessed with it. They no longer cared about how anything really sounded as long as the camera flashes were going off and the video cameras were rolling.”

“And she did…care about the music, I mean…?” Sam watched as Brooke walked up to a candid shot of the band playing live on stage.

The older woman studied it intently and then quietly answered, “More than anything.”

Sam walked over to Brooke and placed a hand against the tall woman’s lower back. “I always figured that music was the beat of her heart. I bet I’d never even recognize her if she were standing right in front of me today.”

Brooke laughed softly at the irony of Sam’s statement, then pushed open the glass door to the next room. “Care to see the studio now?”

“I’d love to.”

Brooke released a sigh of relief that Sam hadn’t walked an additional five feet down the hall, where the gold and platinum albums were hanging on the wall. Those would be a little harder to explain. She moved in after Sam to find the blonde looking at the sound board and then over to the drum set in the corner.

“Are they yours?” Sam asked in reference to the drums. Before Brooke could answer, the young woman had walked over running her hands up the short sleeves of Brooke’s shirt, feeling the muscles she found there. “Yeah, you play,” the smaller woman nodded her head.

“Uhhh…here, let me clear some of this stuff off of the board so you can check it out.” Brooke removed the master tapes and production notes before Sam could notice that they were Anti-Zero masters.

“Hey, I’m not a musician. That’s your department,” Sam pointed out as Brooke put everything away.

The dark-haired woman laughed as she turned back around to face the blonde who was spinning on the stool in front of her soundboard. “I guess it is. So, what would you like to hear?” Brooke asked as she pointed out a sample of her music collection. “Feel free to check out anything you want. Hell, sit behind the kit if you want to.”

Sam stood up and walked over to the cabinet where Brooke had her studio collection. Picking out an Anti-Zero song, she placed it in Brooke’s hands, then walked over to sit down behind the massive Pearl drum set.

“You wanna hear this?” Brooke asked as she watched Sam pick up a pair of sticks.

“Sure. Why not?” Sam answered as she stared at the sticks in her hands and began to twirl one between her small fingers awkwardly.

Brooke placed the disc in the player and walked over to Sam with the remote, pointing to the set of drums. “Can you play?”

Sam looked up at Brooke and laughed as if the older woman had lost her mind. “Noooo.”

Brooke smiled, “Would you like to?”

“I think it’s a little late for lessons, don’t you?”

“Not at all. I’ll show you.” Sam watched as Brooke positioned herself on the stool behind her. “Okay. Now, place your hands lightly over mine but leave your arms tucked under mine.”

Sam fidgeted nervously but did as she was told.

“Okay, now place your feet over mine.” She waited a moment until Sam was settled, then leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “It’s okay, Sam. Just relax.”

Taking a deep breath, Sam looked down at her smaller shoes on top of Brooke’s. Her legs were barely touching the tops of Brooke’s feet.