Chapter 1

Keira Farrell awoke to the shrill ringing of her telephone. She reached blindly for the cordless receiver and dragged it to her ear. "Hello?" she said sleepily.

Her best friend's voice boomed through the phone, "Do NOT tell me that you were still sleeping. Do you KNOW what time it is? Do you KNOW how beautiful it is outside?"

Keira stretched and yawned. "Do you KNOW that you sound just like Chandler Bing when you talk like that?"

Molly laughed. "I guess that's not too surprising -- I've been watching all the Friends seasons on DVD while I'm stuck in the makeup chair. Anyway, you are never going to guess who I met last night." Her voice was brimming with excitement.

Molly was a supermodel. She had started her career as a teenager, working for Cover Girl cosmetics. Her face appeared on quite a few covers of Seventeen magazine. In her twenties she had been featured in several Gap ads, including a few billboards in Times Square. Now 31, she had recently signed a contract with Versace. With a career as successful as hers, she met a lot of celebrities, but Keira had never heard her sound quite this excited before.

"Ummmm...Brad Pitt?" she ventured a guess.

Molly snorted. "Ha! Like I'd be this excited if I met Mr. Brad 'I-have-20-kids-and-I'm-going-to-save-the-world-after-I-finish-
decorating-my-70-million-dollar-chateau' Pitt."

Keira laughed. "Hey, at least he's doing something productive."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just saying that he was a lot more fun when he was with Jennifer."

"You're just obsessed with Friends today, aren't you?"

Molly laughed again, then blurted, "Ok, I won't make you guess. OhmigodKeiraImetJonBonJovi!!" She said it so fast that her words ran together, her voice rising to a squeal at the end.

It took Keira a few seconds to register what her friend had said. When she processed it, she felt her stomach drop like she was riding on a roller coaster. She tried to say something but words failed her.

"Hello? Keira? Are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," she managed. "That's...that's awesome."

Molly sounded indignant. "That's awesome? That's all you can say?! Well, I haven't even told you the best part yet. You better clear your schedule, because tonight....we are going to the Bon Jovi concert at the Meadowlands...and we are going backstage!!!" Keira's mouth dropped open. She heard a thumping sound from the other end of the phone line, and she realized that her friend was jumping up and down like a teenager.

"Molly, HOW did you score tickets and backstage passes?"

"It was easy! I just told him that I'm a big fan and that I've always had a crush on Richie. He said that Richie would love to meet me, and he gave me the tickets."

Keira burst out laughing. "You are shameless."

"Hey - life is short. You have to go after what you want."

It was true, and Keira had always admired her for having the confidence to do just that. She wished she had more of that quality herself. "You have a point there. But...Molly, I really can't go. I have a deadline to meet." She stood up and crossed the room, pulling back the curtains. She squinted as the sunshine poured into her New York City loft.

"Deadline, schmeadline. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Keira was struck by the irony of that statement. Molly didn't know how incorrect it was.

Molly continued, "Pleeeeaasse, Keira. I can't imagine going with anyone but you."

Keira's mind was racing. She could think of a thousand reasons why she shouldn't go. There were a lot of things that Molly didn't know; things from the past that Keira had tried to bury and had chosen not to reveal. She never imagined she'd find herself in a situation like this one.

Sensing that Keira's silence meant that she was weakening, Molly sing-songed, "I'll buy you lots of dri-iinks."

Keira sighed. She really didn't want to let Molly down. "Alright, alright, I'll go," she conceded. And then, under her breath, she added, "And I'm gonna need those drinks."