Quickly she hurried to catch up to the men, struggling to make her way through the mob that closed behind him in an effort to see him as he passed across the walk from the building to the car.

***

The bus crossed into St. Louis at noon the next day, pulling up outside the hotel a few minutes later. Everyone piled out including a car sick Izzy. The short few hours between gigs didn't justify an airplane even for him, but even five hours in a bus was way too long. He leaned on Karen as they walked through the waiting crowd to the elevators and up to their room. Leonard, Isaiah's favorite security guard retrieved the room key and hurried to catch up with them as the elevators closed. "What do we do now?" Karen looked around the room feeling bored, trapped. Outside the hotel the sidewalks were filled with shouting, clapping, singing fans, excited over the arrival of their idol, not showing the slightest sign of leaving. "How long will we be prisoners in here?" She fell to the bed as Izzy peered out the window, waving at an uproar at his appearance that had begun five floors down. "Forever." She laughed, then stopped abruptly, when she saw the look of resignation in his eyes. "Surely we aren't supposed to stay in this room for the next five days before you have to perform." "Well, no, not exactly. There's rehearsals, and a few radio spots, and an interview on Wednesday with the "Voice of St. Louis." "Goody." Karen pulled a pillow up over her head and fell back to the bed. She felt him kneel on the mattress beside her, and sensed his body leaning over her, but she still jumped when he threw the pillow away and his face was directly over hers. "Being trapped in a hotel, isn't always a bad thing." He punctuated his words with a tender kiss, and she found herself temporarily in agreement.