The Ultimate Dream

It's 1965. Linda was walking home from school with her boyfriend, Rob. Linda was fifteen years old and her 16th birthday was only a couple months away. She was 5 Ft. 2 in. tall and had strawberry blond hair and ice blue eyes and was very beautiful. She was always getting asked out on dates but had a boyfriend so she didn't go out with anyone else. She was never really interested, anyway and she was also losing interest in Rob for some reason too. Linda stopped walking and looked at the guy she had been with for the last two years. A lot of things went through her mind as he looked at her and smiled. She was not a cruel person and didn't want to hurt him but it would be wrong to keep seeing him. Rob kept smiling at her but soon saw a change in her as he held onto her hand and noticed at the serious look on her face. Linda: "Rob, we need to talk." Rob: "Linda, I know what that means. Please don't.......I think I love you.” Linda: “Don't make this any harder, Rob. I don't have feelings for you like that anymore.” Rob knew he was the envy of all the guys in school for having Linda but that was never his concern. He was not only truly fond of her; he was falling in love and was beginning to tear up. He knew she was serious and on some level and he knew that he couldn't do anything about it. He was, however, totally confused because the two of them seemed to have the perfect relationship. Rob: “Please, Linda, why after all this time, are you suddenly breaking up with me? THERE, I said it. Why? IS there someone else? Linda held his hands and looked into his eyes. Rob always “melted” when he looked into those ice blue eyes and he knew that he would never see them like this again. Linda: “No, Rob, There is no one else. I do not know why but I simply do not feel that way about you anymore. I cannot explain it, myself. You are a great guy but I must follow my heart. I have always said.......” Rob: “......I know; anyone who does not follow their heart will live a sad life.” Linda kissed him briefly on the lips and walked away. Nothing more needed to be said. Rob sat down on the steps and cried. Linda went inside her house and watched him from the window. A tear slid down her cheek. She would always feel responsible for causing him this pain but she had no choice. To continue to see him would be a lie. She watched Rob walk away. That was the last time he ever intended to speak with her. It was not anger. He simply didn't want to feel this kind of pain every day. They always would see each other in school but he never intended to talk with her again. She sat down in the living room and looked through some of her father’s girl friend's fashion magazines to keep up on the latest styles. She would always admire the models too. They were usually very pretty and Linda always wondered what they were like, being pretty like that. Everyone always told her how pretty she was but she figured that these models were much prettier. She found herself looking at them almost as much as the clothing that they wore. After breaking up with Rob, Linda began to get a LOT of guys asking her out at school but she turned them all down. Rob knew about that and did take a small bit of comfort in it. At least she did not break up with him because she found someone else. At least she did not lie to him. Linda continued her interest in the school plays. She liked being in front of an audience and loved singing. She was an excellent singer and had a wonderful voice and it didn’t go unnoticed. The drama coach had spoken with her father some months ago. He had watched her several times without her knowing it. He was amazed with her and knew that she had a natural talent. With her father's help, they found a good singing coach who was also amazed with her. He only worked with her for a few months before he told her father that there was nothing more that he could teach her. With the coach's help, Linda was taken to a small recording studio as a present for her 16th birthday. Linda was terribly excited. Her father told her that they would let her make a record. She gave him a big hug and cried. He had NO idea how much she wanted something like this. He simply wanted to entertain her for the afternoon. He had no idea what was going to happen. He simply hoped she wouldn't be disappointed. They walked into the studio and met with Rick, the owner. Rick: “Hi Harry. Is this our little star?” Harry: “This is Linda. Thank you for indulging us today.” Rick: “No problem. Things are slow, anyway.” Rick looked at Linda and smiled. She was beautiful, like the singing coach said but he had seen this many times. They go through life on their looks. He has never seen one yet, that had any talent but he respected the coach's opinion. He had nothing to do anyway. He was hoping that he could simply do this quick and be done with it. The two of them seemed genuinely excited about it which made things nicer for him. Rick: “Come with me. I will give you two the tour of our facility.” Rick led them through the entire building, from the studio itself to the bathrooms. Harry was quiet but Linda was genuinely excited and had an endless stream of questions. She was like a kid in a candy store. Rick smiled and thought to himself; At least she is not the like the others. He felt kind of sorry for her knowing that she would eventually be disappointed. They all were. He took them into the studio archives and they spent hours listening to old songs but Linda asked if she could do a different song. Rick was a little confused until Linda pulled out some papers that she had brought with her and handed them to him. Rick: “What’s this?” Linda: “It’s a song that I wrote for a school play a year ago. Can I sing this one? Everyone in school liked it.” Rick looked at the music for a good half hour and set up the equipment for it. He chuckled. It was a strange song and one that was defiantly for the younger crowd. He set her up on the sound room and Harry and Rick went back into the control room. Harry took a quick picture on her. She stuck her tongue out at him in mock anger. She had on a large headset with a stand in front of her with the music. Rick didn't know it but she could read music since she was ten years old. Harry looked at her and smiled as she looked around with tears in her eyes. Harry had apparently (and by complete accident) giving Linda the “perfect gift”. Rick started the track and Linda knew exactly where to begin. As she sang, Rick had almost forgotten to make the adjustments to the sound. His jaw dropped open in surprise but he soon recovered his composure. Only one person in ten thousand ever got anywhere in this business. Linda's voice was beautiful. It matched the song perfectly. He watched her as she sang. She put emotion into the music and became part of the song. She didn't simply sing it. Harry was watching her and didn't pay any attention to Rick. After the first recording, Rick told her that it was a good “take” as they listened to it. Rick noticed that she listened carefully. She was a strange girl. It was refreshing to him to see in someone so young. Most young girls today simply wanted to hang out at the drive-in and tease the guys. This beautiful girl could have anything she wanted with her looks but he could tell she was not like that, at all. Linda: “Can we do this again?” Rick: “Why? It sounds good.” Linda: “I am not sure. It doesn’t seem quite right. May I please sing it again?” Harry: “Linda, Rick is a busy man and this equipment is not cheap. Rick, we want to thank you for the record.” Rick: “No, wait! I have time and I am curious. Let us do it again. Go ahead, Linda and we'll try it again.” As Linda went back into the recording room, Rick watched her with interest. It sounded exceptionally good to him. He was truly amazed with her talent and was curious what would be different the second time. If he was amazed with her talent the first time, he was even more