Ladies' Night

To the surprise of most of the guests, Janet had ruled shortly after the evening began that everybody had to change to white silk robes, after which she had brought out twelve matching ones. A few people definitely had some questions, but no one really objected. Beyoncé and Alicia had hoped that everyone would change attires right there in the living room, so that they would be able to see some of the goodies, but sadly, everybody had gone to change in private.

Nonetheless, an hour later, they were all comfy on the floor, eating loads of popcorn, pizza, and other snacks, and drinking champagne, which Janet had forced all of them to take. Claudette had never taken as much as a sip of alcohol in her life, but somehow, Janet managed to convince her to lose her inhibitions and try some, and in no time, she was not exactly drunk, but at least tipsy enough to make jokes and laugh really loud alongside everyone else.

The movie "Love Jones" was on, and all the girls ooooh'd and aaaah'd in delight as Larenz Tate's character serenaded Nia Long's with sweet poetry. Toni Braxton seemed to be the only one who was not having fun. She looked all tense, and almost had a scowl on her face. She was moving about shiftily, and hardly said a word to anybody.

"Are you all right, Toni?" asked Tatyana, who was seated next to her.

"I'm fine, thanks," Toni said coldly, almost taking her aback.

"Don't take it personal," Janet whispered to Tatyana, "She's going through some stuff, let me see if I can calm her down."

"Hey Toni," Janet said, as she crept to Toni's back and began to massage her back, "Damn, you are so tense, you really need me to massage you."

"I'm alright, thanks," Toni said, trying to ignore her presence and the fact that she had already begun enjoying her touch.

"So is there any of these girls right here you would love to do?" Janet hissed into her ear.

"Stop that, Janet," Toni said, "I'm married, you know I'm not into that kind of stuff anymore."

"Oh, don't say that, Toni," breathed Janet seductively, "Look at Beyoncé there. I've been fucking her for years, and she is a vixen in bed. She totally loves pussy, and you can't even imagine what she would do to you."

"I can't listen to this," Toni replied softly, not even sounding convincing to her own self.

"Oh come on," Janet continued, "Ok, if you don't want Beyoncé, maybe you'd prefer someone darker like Tweet. Or maybe Amerie, look at her, so young, she probably has not had a female tongue in between her legs yet. Imagine it were you, imagine you could put your face in between those soft, beautiful thighs and make her scream your name."

"Ooh yeah," moaned Toni, unable to stop herself.

"I have an idea, why don't you come with me," Janet said, pulling her up, "I need to give you a brief preview of what you've been missing for so long."

"Is Toni leaving?" asked a curious Ashanti, as she saw the two older women approach the living room exit, "I thought no one was allowed to leave."

"No, don't worry," Janet said, "I just need to show Toni something, we'll be back in no time, keep watching the movie."

Toni followed like a helpless sheep to its slaughter as Janet opened the kitchen door and led her inside. She was totally shivering in anticipation, totally helpless to what was about to happen. A very feeble part of her was trying to put up resistance, but every sensory nerve in her was so turned on and ready to obey every demand of Janet's. It was like she was under hypnosis.

As soon as the doors closed, Janet pounced on her, pressing her lips to hers, and immediately bringing her hands underneath her robe.

"Oh damn, Toni," Janet moaned, "I've missed you so much, it was so hard to keep my hands off you all evening."

"Me too," Toni cried as she leant back against the counter, Janet's weight crushing into her. She breathed out loud as her robes were yanked off her, exposing her entire nakedness. Janet's mouth immediately closed onto her breasts as she began to suck on the mounds, ravishing the feel of them in her mouth. Toni was in ecstasy, the kind she hadn't been in ages, and she ran her hands down to her crotch to accompany her sodden pussy. She inserted a finger into her own cunt, but in a few seconds, it was slapped away and replaced by one of Janet's own fingers. She yelled as Janet's skilled fingers circled her pussy, going in and out of her hole, and applying pressure against her engorged clitoris.

"Oh yes Janet," she moaned, "suck my breasts, and keep fingering me, Oh yes, I need this, you are so good, Janet."

Her own arms were wrapped around Janet's neck, and she looked as though the ecstasy was almost unbearable. She had not thought this kind of pleasure possible. It seemed even better than she remembered. All week, she had been touching herself in anticipation of this rendezvous. Although she kept telling herself that she was going to shun any advances Janet made, she knew within herself that she was powerless against Janet's charm. Despite the numerous orgasms she had received at her own hand over the past few days, something was missing, and she did not in any way feel satisfied. Janet was giving her that extra something that she had been craving for so long, and she was totally loving it.

"Tell me you want me to fuck you," Janet said suggestively, "Tell me what you want me to do to you."

"I want you to fuck the hell out of me," Toni pleaded, "Just stick your fingers and me and give me all the pleasure you want. Make me come all over your hands."

"Your wish is my command," smiled Janet, as she promptly started working hard on Toni's pussy. Kneeling down, she began to kiss the mound of hair that was just above her crotch, she inserted two fingers into Toni's pussy and furiously began to insert in and out, Toni's body swaying in a rhythmic motion as she enjoyed the penetration.

"Oh yes, Janet, your fingers are so nice inside of me, oh yes," she was screaming. She did not care if any of the other girls heard and came running to see what the matter was. She was in lesbian heaven right now, and did not care about earthly matters, such as the public relations nightmare that would occur if such an event happened.

"Oh yes Janet, I need you to rub my clit now," she moaned, "Rub my fucking clit."

Still smiling, Janet obeyed the request. She loved the way she could turn Toni from a responsible mother of two to a sex monster just with a snap of her finger. She had not even batted an eyelid when Toni had informed her a couple of years earlier that she was giving up on all her numerous sexual partners of both sexes, since she wanted to concentrate on her marriage. Toni was too sexual a person in nature to have only one sexual partner, and Janet knew this well. She had allowed Toni some time to establish hr marriage, but now, she wanted her back, and she had her at the tip of her finger, absolutely at her mercy. She possessed the power to give Toni the best orgasm she had had in two years, or hold it back and frustrate her, even coerce her into carrying out her bidding.

"Oh yes, I'm about to come right now," Toni said, "Make me come, make me come right now."

"No," Janet suddenly said, pulling away

"What?" Toni shrieked, looking as though she would die, "I need this, I totally fucking need this."

"But you're a married woman," Janet said, struggling to contain her laughter and talk with the straightest face possible, "You asked me to respect that and I want to. I don't want to force you into anything that you don't want to."

"But I want you to," cried Toni, tears of want running down her cheeks, "I totally want you to."

"What about your husband?" Janet asked solemnly, "But you love him, you don't want to cheat on him."

"Janet, please," Toni begged, "I'll fucking do anything you wane me to, just don't leave me hanging like this. Please make me come."

"Are you sure about what you said?" Janet asked, brightening up, "Do you really want that orgasm?"

"Yes," Toni honestly replied, "I'll die if I don't come tonight, I'll do any freaking thing it takes."

"Alright then," Janet said, "Out there in the living room is an extremely gorgeous girl named Amerie. I am sure she has never been with a girl before, and doesn't know how good it is. She's your assignment for the evening. You have to get her alone and seduce her, and totally make her fall in love with pussy. After that, you can come back and join the orgy."

"Orgy?" asked Toni, looking like she had just won the lottery.

"Indeed," Janet smiled, "What do you think all this was for? Why don't we head back to join the rest of the girls? The sooner you can get started, the sooner she can become a girl lover like us, and we can start the freaking orgy."

* * * * *

"Sometimes I have to fight 'cos my mouth too slick…"

Those words from Monica's current no. 1 hit, "So Gone," proved to be truer than anyone at the party could have believed. Back in the living room, for the umpteenth time, Monica and Brandy were snapping at each other and exchanging snide comments. All night, Monica had been acting extremely hostile, making sarcastic comebacks to every comment uttered by Brandy, and going out of her way to make her miserable.

Brandy was trying her best to ignore the bellicosity being spewed by her former friend. She had been trying to adhere to the "turn the other cheek" school of thought, but it was proving to be much harder than she could have ever imagined. This was the first time she was in the same room with Monica for about five years, ever since a few months after their mega-successful duet, "The Boy is mine." Who could have known that the theme of the song would actually come to life?

Returning her attention to the movie, Brandy continued to watch. She was hurting deep inside, as she did not expect Monica to still hate her so much after all this while. She had already forgiven Monica for everything - she had moved on way past that stage of her life, and it was unfortunate to see that Monica, apparently, had not.

"This Larenz Tate is so fine," Amerie commented, while they were watching a steamy love scene in the movie.

"Yeah," Brandy said, "Too bad he's married."

"As far as I know, Brandy," Monica said sharply, "that never stops you from moving in, you man-stealer."

"I've had it with you, Monica," Brandy suddenly said, surprising the rest of the guests, "Whatever happened between us was five years ago, why can't you just grow up and move past that?"

"Are you trying to call me immature?" Monica asked firmly, "Because I'll show you I am not immature, I'm not the crybaby who used to cry over everything, or the spoilt brat that wanted everything done her way."

"Just shut up," Brandy yelled, "Stop being such a bitch."

"Don't you call me a bitch," Monica said, moving up to Brandy and shoving her, "Don't you call me a fucking bitch."

"I'll call you whatever I want to call you," Brandy replied, pushing Monica back.

"I whooped your ass back in '98, and I'll do it again," screamed Monica, trying to wrestle free from the grip of Alicia, who was holding her so that she would not attack Brandy again.

"You did not whoop my ass," Brandy corrected, "you were just biting and pulling my hair. That is not fighting."

"OK, you want me to prove I can whoop your ass, because I'll do it now," Monica yelled, still managing to break free.

"Why don't you spend the energy on trying to make good music and actually gain some talent instead of acting like a hood rat?" cried Brandy, who suddenly lunged for Monica, and had to be held by the combined power of Chilli and Tweet.

"Fuck you," Monica screamed, "How dare you talk about talent? My album was number one. You had to put your pregnancy on MTV just to sell a few records."

"Don't you dare say that again?" bellowed Brandy in anger, "At least I did not have to lick pussy just to beg Missy to be write my song just to have a hit. Don't think I don't know about that, slut."

"OK girls, I've fucking had it with you," declared Janet as she walked back into the room with Toni, "what is wrong with you?"

"I don't want to hear it," she shouted, as both Monica and Brandy started shouting explanations about what the other one had done, "Shame on you. Shame on the both of you. I invited both of you thinking you'd matured enough to iron out your differences, but you're still acting like ghetto teenagers."

"Sorry," they both said in unison to Janet.

"You need to realize you're grown up. Brandy, you are a mother now, and Monica, you're not a kid anymore either. We all have to stick together and be friends. How are we artists going to fight the labels and make them respect us if we are bickering amongst each other?"

"We're sorry," they said again.

"I'm going to lock the two of you up in a room," Janet said, "and I do not want either of you to come out until you are friends again, and have buried whatever beef you have between each other."

* * * * *

Brandy and Monica stared at each other, the rage apparent in each young woman's eyes. They were in Janet's guest bedroom, to which they had been confined until they set aside their differences. It was a rather spacious and beautiful room, with some Eastern paintings on the wall, and a king-size bed, which was adorned with luxurious red sheets. Brandy sat at the foot of the bed while Monica paced around the room, muttering to herself.

"It's been ten minutes," Brandy said after a while, "Should we just go and tell Janet that this is not going to work?" Monica ignored her.

"I don't believe you," Brandy continued, "You always were stubborn, but not even I would have imagined you'd carry such a silly grudge up till today."

"It was your fault," Monica said, addressing Brandy for the first time since they were in the room.

"I don't care whose fault it is," Brandy said, "It was five years ago, we've come a long way since then. So much stuff has happened to me, and from what I hear, a lot of stuff has happened to you too. I assumed we would be past that."

"It was a pretty silly fight, huh?" reasoned Monica.

Since both girls burst into the music scene with successful debuts in the same year, there had always been a rivalry being set up by the media, either real or imagined. Brandy was only a year older than Monica, and since they bother were immensely talented and successful in the same genre of music, several reports had arisen in papers and magazines about hatred and jealousy among the two girls, despite the fact that they had never really talked to each other before.

In 1998, at the height of both girls' fame, their labels had decided to capitalize on this rumored feud by having both girls do a duet, where they actually pretended to be fighting. A homage to Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney's legendary "The Girl is Mine," their duet was titled "The Boy is Mine," where both R&B ingenues crooned about how they were fighting for the affections of a boy. The song had been an instant hit, remaining on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for over ten weeks, and ensuring multi-platinum success for both their sophomore albums.

The two girls had struck up a friendship while recording the album, and had been surprised as to how much they had hit it off. Brandy was 19 years old at the time, with Monica just a year younger, and they found that they had a lot in common, having been performing all their lives and spent the better part of their adolescence in the spotlight. In no time, they had become inseparable, as they spent the bulk of the summer traveling together to promote their record. Their personalities meshed well - Brandy was a gentle, silent soul, who was terrified of confrontation, while Monica was extremely lively, outgoing and sharp, and very confrontational. Different as they were, they managed to get along extremely well.

One night, at a sleepover at Monica's, the two girls had taken their relationship to the next level. It had started with a small kiss, which happened almost by accident, and they had been surprised to see how enjoyable it was. They had kissed again, and savoring the sensation, spent the entire night in the arms of each other, kissing, touching and feeling. Over the next few weeks, they had gone one step further at a time, so that they regularly made hot and passionate love whenever they could find the time and privacy.

The funny thing though, was that they never discussed their newfound relationship with each other. They carried on as friends, and when they were in the company of others, you would not suspect a thing, but as soon as they were alone, it was immediately back to making love to each other. Not once did they discuss their activities with each other. They actually still talked about guys they were attracted to, and did not necessarily acknowledge the fact that their sleeping with each other meant anything.

It was the week of the MTV Video Music Awards in 1998, where both girls were to perform their hit duet. It was an eventual week at the Radio City Music Hall in New York, where they rehearsed over and over again. It was shaping up to be a success and one of the high points of the evening. The afternoon of the awards show, Danny, a male friend of Monica's of whom she had a crush, came to their set to visit.

Monica had confided in Brandy several times how much she liked Danny, and how she hoped he would ask her out. However, Brandy could not help being attracted to Danny as well, especially since he seemed to be paying attention to her, and almost flirting. Brandy got the feeling that it was she, and not Monica, that Danny liked, but did not know how to inform her friend. Her suspicions proved to be right when Danny had stopped by her dressing room and told her how he felt. The two of them had been kissing when Monica walked in and threw a fit.

Ignoring Danny's presence, she screamed at Brandy about how she was a slut and man-stealer, and called her many mean and hurtful things. Brandy had initially felt guilty, but as Monica continued to insult her, she could not help talk back, and in no time, the two girls were in a war of words. Several people who were backstage tried to intervene, but they ignored everyone. To Brandy's shock, Monica had physically attacked her, and she had hit back, and in to time, they were on the floor, hitting and fighting and clawing and scratching. They had been separated, and despite the fact that Monica had a black eye, and Brandy was bleeding at the scalp, they were fixed up well enough so that they could hold their performance that night, without viewers noticing anything wrong.

That had been the last night they had laid eyes on each other. Brandy had tried to get ahold of Monica a few times, but to no avail. She decided to give up long ago, and in no time, shut the entire incident with Monica out of her head. She had not been with any girl since then, but it surely was a memorable summer, which she did not think she would ever forget.

Five years had passed, and a lot had happened since then. Brandy had gone on hiatus, ending her successful TV show and secretly gotten married with a lovely daughter, and while her comeback album was moderately successful, her short marriage seemed to be on the rocks. Things were even worse for the 23-year-old Monica. She had gotten engaged to her boyfriend of a year, and endured the most painful experience ever when before her very eyes, her boyfriend locked himself inside his car and committed suicide. She did not think she would ever endure the trauma of watching her fiancé blow his own brains out in her presence, while she was powerless to stop it, and could only watch in tears. The experience had sobered her, and after a long hiatus from recording, had come back with a new album, which was doing well on the strength of songs she recorded about the incident with her boyfriend.