Sarah's people are waiting inside.

All Sarah wanted was some peace and quiet. But as soon as she opened the door to the green room, she knew from the sounds that she heard inside that there was no chance of that happening. She could already hear the sounds of a bad night in on the other side once it had been cracked open, and there wasn't anywhere for her to escape to, either. Sarah resigned herself to what was waiting on the other side and walked into her dressing room, head held high.

There were a few people waiting inside for her. First was her security guard, Silas. He was as usual waiting in the corner on his feet, hands held over his belly like a coiled spring. He looked like he was staring at nothing at all, but Sarah knew that he was watching everything going on in the room very, very closely. The other two were her manager, Wallis 'Tiger' Kramer, and her agent, Amity Regan. As usual, the two were fighting, and so loudly and fiercely that Sarah could barely even make out what they were yelling about.

"Hey guys," she said loudly. They ignored her. "Hey guys!" she practically yelled.

Once again, they ignored her.

"HEY GUYS! CAN'T A GIRL GET SOME BEAUTY SLEEP!" Sarah screamed, turning her hands into a makeshift loudspeaker.

Finally Wallis and Amity fell silent.

"Hey, champ," Wallis said, plastering that fake music-manager-smile across his face. "Good to see ya. You did great out there! And wow, did you look hot!"

"Wallis!" Amity snapped, slapping him across the arm, less than playfully. "What kind of man your age talks to a good young woman like that? But really, honey, you looked beautiful." Her smile was toothy and wide, like something out of a Colgate commercial. Sarah ignored what Amity had to say just as much as she had ignored Wallis.

"Thanks," Sarah said. "What's up? What're you guys doing here?"

"Can't a guy drop in on his favorite client?" Wallis asked, arms spread.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Sure," she said, smiling. "What's up? What're you guys doing here?"

Wallis grinned. "Fair enough," he said. "I just came by to tell you that all the paperwork is signed off for the rest of the tour. You aren't gonna be headin' home until mid-August at the earliest, but then you'll have a nice two-week break before you hit the road again."

That wasn't so bad. Two weeks was more than she usually got. And if that was true, the money would be in her account soon enough. Things were looking up, after a long time on the tour. The end was within sight, and then she would be able to go into hibernation mode for a few months before work started on her next album and then the next tour.

"Okay," she said. "Sounds great. Do you mind if I sit down? I'm exhausted."