**July 19, 1999**

Beyonce, LeToya, LaTavia and Kelly waited behind the curtain for their cue from Carson Daly.  "The Writing's On The Wall" was released today and the girls were on Total Request Live to promote the album.  "Bills, Bills, Bills" was already the number one song in America so the girls were definitely proud of their accomplishments.  The ladies were all wearing comfortable clothes.  They all had on pairs of tight blue jeans and the tops they had on varied.

"Y'all ready?" A stagehand asked.

"Yes." The girls replied.

The stagehand quickly walked away.

"You know I just realized something." Kelly said.

"What?" LaTavia asked.

"That most of these white people don't even know who we are.  It feels kind of weird to be here." Kelly replied.

"Kelly, shut up." Beyonce and LeToya laughed.

"So without further ado, here are the beautiful ladies of Destiny's Child." Carson Daly announced.

The Houston natives smiled at each other and walked through the curtain to a loud ovation.  They were all overwhelmed by the response they got since they music hadn't officially crossed over to pop music yet but they still gave them plenty of support.  Carson spoke to the girls and ushered them to the window so that they could look out through Times Square at their fans.  LeToya touched her chest as she saw all the people wave with pictures of the ladies and all the smiles that they gave her and fellow Destiny's Child members.  The girls waved back and turned back around to Carson who was waiting to ask them plenty of questions.

"Hi, girls.  How are you doing?" He asked.

"We're awesome." Kelly replied.

"Thank you for asking." LaTavia said.

"So respectful." He said as he smiled.

"You are too, Carson.  You're very sweet."  Beyonce said.

"Why, thank you.  Well, of course, the reason you're here is because the album was released today.  'The Writing's On The Wall,' your second album."

"Yes and we are very excited about it.  We worked very hard on this one." Beyonce replied.

"While you're here, we would like to congratulate you on 'Bills, Bills, Bills' becoming the #1 song on the Billboard 200."

"Thank you." The girls smiled to the ovation from the crowd.

"This is your second #1 single, right?"

"Yes, 'No, No, No' was our first.  It's unbelievable for it to happen to us second time around." LaTavia spoke into the microphone.

"It's so cool to see your group's name above everyone else's name.  That's just a very flattering feeling and we wanna thank the fans for requesting it on the radio and buying the single.  We really appreciate that, you guys." Kelly said as the crowd started clapping.

"Well, that's kind of cool because most people don't know who you guys are." Carson said.

"Exactly, I was saying that earlier 'cause our music hasn't officially crossed over to pop yet.  Last time, we came out, the hip hop community supported us and they still do but on this album, we got something for everybody." Kelly explained.

"A lot of songs that the females can relate to." LeToya said.

"Oh, really?" Carson asked.

"We've already gotten apporached on the street by some people saying 'Girl, thank you for writing 'Bills, Bills, Bills' because I needed that song.'  It's plenty more that they'll like on the CD though.

"So y'all make sure y'all go get it if you haven't already done so." LaTavia pointed to the camera.

"Hey, 'Bills, Bills, Bills' wouldn't happen to be based on a true story, would it?"

"Carson, we've had our share of boyfriends so you'd be surprised." LeToya spoke into the microphone.

"Well, it's time for the number eight video and guess what?" Carson asked.

"It wouldn't happen to be 'Bills, Bills, Bills,' would it?" Kelly asked.

"You're right.  Here it is.  The number one song in America, 'Bills, Bills, Bills' by Destiny's Child.  Number eight on the countdown." Carson said.

"And cut!" The director yelled.

"Nice to have you here, girls." Carson shook all their hands and then, turned around a bunch of stagehands that had a lot to say.

LaTavia watched her fellow group members sign autographs for the crowd.  She quickly glanced at the screen to see a new friend of hers, Farrah Franklin, who was a dancer in the video.  She joined the girls in signing autographs.

"Hey, Bee, remind me to call Farrah later." She whispered in Beyonce's car.

"Who?"

"A dancer in the video, just remind me to call her."

"Alright."

Beyonce wasn't thinking about some girl named Farrah as she was signing autographs.  She was thinking about the new album and her fans. She really hoped they would be satisfied because she wanted nothing more than to please them.

********

Destiny's Child quickly piled into the long black limo.  They just finished doing an interview for a radio station.  It had been about a week after the release of "The Writing's On The Wall" and all seemed well.  It sold 133,000 copies in the first week so they were very pleased.  It was quite obvious that they were gaining a lot more fans.  "Bills, Bills, Bills" was still number one on the Billboard charts.  Still, the girls were tired as hell.  As soon as they got in the limo, the girls definitely were not sitting like ladies.  They were all slouched in the leather seats as their eyes were closed.

"I don't know about y'all but Kelly is tired.  We gotta start this tour in a few tours too.  This shit is crucial." Kelly said.

"And you know how Matthew is, we'll be praticing non-stop until it starts. Man." LeToya complained.

"Don't sweat it.  This is what we wanted.  This is what we worked for. Now, it's here.  Better take advantage of our fifteen minutes of fame." Beyonce said.

"Uh-oh.  We got a TV up in here." LaTaiva said as she found a remote control and a television to go with it.

"Turn it on.  ECW is on." LeToya excitedly said.

"Oh, lord." Beyonce said as LaTavia turned to it.

"Look, Bee!  That's who I was talking about the other day!"

"Who?"

"That's Matt Hardy's girlfriend, the one about to get put through the table." LeToya pointed to an brown-haired white girl lying on a table.

"Oh, really?  What's her name again?"

"Miss. Congeality."

"Oh.  Well, good for her."  Beyonce said feeling a pang of jealously strike itself up in her gut.

Immediately she pushed the feeling aside and immediately berated herself. It wasn't as if she even knew him or if he even knew who she was.

The limo came to a stop as the girls got out to see yet another hotel building.

***********

Beyonce walked out of the shower, running a hand through her wet hair as she looked over at LeToya.  Shaking her head, she realized her friend was watching wrestling again.

"Don't you ever get tired of watching that?"  She asked as she took a seat next to her.

The hotel they were staying at was really extravagant.  It was just like a house, but without all the little personal knick knacks that made it your own.

"Nope, I mean look at these hot men.  Not to mention some of the stuff they do in the ring.  I wish I could do some of this."  She said smiling over at her friend.

Beyonce shook her head.  She wasn't sure she could get with this wrestling stuff.  Then she heard some interesting music being as two men made their way down to the ring.

"Hey, that's those brothers isn't it?"  She asked sitting Indian Style as she leaned closer to the television.

"Yeah, it is. Do you remember which one is which?"  LeToya asked looking over at her friend with a smile.

It was interesting to see how she was dealing with this new concept.

"The dark-haired one is Matt and the other is Jeff, right?"

"You got it girl.  Now you can't even tell me that Matt doesn't embody the tall, dark, and handsome type."

Beyonce took a good look at the man on the television screen.  His chocolate brown eyes were intense as he faced down his opponent.  An intensity like that, she could respect.  That was same intensity she used when in the studio recording.  The same kind of intensity that she was going to need promoting this album and making her dreams come true.

Sighing, Beyonce leaned her head back against the couch and looked up at the ceiling.  A man who had eyes like that was the kind of man she needed. They said eyes were the window to a person's soul.  That was the kind of soul she needed.... one just like that man's in the ring.

Getting up and walking into the bedroom, she crawled in and pulled the cover up around her waist.  Gazing out the window, she thought about her life.  The only thing that was missing as far as she was concerned was that special someone she could spend her life with.  The man that she would call from the road when she was lonely, the man who would hold her when she was scared, and the man who would care for her when she was sick.  

Sometimes at night she had this dream, that there was a man for her somewhere, someplace out there for her.  That man never had a face and she was beginning to wonder if he ever would.  Forgetting about everything, she closed her eyes and fell into a fitful sleep.

*************

Beyonce smiled and laughed as she ran on the beach looking back at the man that was always in her dreams.  She giggled as she ran through the surf and kicked up water behind her as her legs picked up speed.

In her sleep, she turned back and forth, this was the dream she had been having for years now.

Squealing as she felt someone grab her from behind, she fell into the water grabbing onto the hands that reached out for her.  As she looked up she gasped as she saw a face for the first time, the face of Matt Hardy.

Next part