Jan went back down to the basement to find that Peter was still there.
"Here you go," Peter said and he handed Jan a soda, "I wondered if you were coming back."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I had some other business to attend to. I believe I got a little sidetracked," Jan apologized.
"So what did you call me down here for?" Peter asked.
"Well...well," Jan said as she looked around, trying to find something that would create a great excuse. Suddenly, she found just the thing. "What do you think of those music stands? Will any of those do for your performance?" Jan asked as she pointed to a bunch of music stands that were sitting in the corner.
"Yeah, one of those should do just fine," Peter said. He had never been asked to examine a music stand before. Something strange was surely amiss.
"Can I ask you something?" Jan asked as she sipped her soda.
"Sure, I guess so," Peter said.
"Well, what's the deal with the Monkees all hating each other?" Jan asked frankly. Peter was shocked by this question. Did the fans really believe they all hated each other's guts? He was even surprised that Jan brought the topic up out of the blue.
"We don't hate each other, we just don't get along very well sometimes," Peter admitted as fidgetted with the metal tab on the pop can.
"Well?" Jan asked, hoping he would go on.
"We were all pretty close that first year. You know, we were kind of in the same boat, being on the Hollywood roller coaster. After that, we kind of got on each other's nerves. Each one of us wanted something different from their Monkee fame. You know what I mean? We were hardly ever in the studio at the same time. You could hardly call us a group. It was like four soloist sharing the same album," Peter said.
"Oh," was all Jan could say.
"There were good times, mind you. There were plenty of those. Performing was great, going to award banquets was great, recording Headquarters was great. After the Monkees ended, we kept in touch, but it was never the same. Everytime we had gotten back together for a reunion, it started out with a bang and everyone had a great time, but then trouble usually rears it's ugly head sooner or later," Peter explained.
"What do you mean?" Jan asked. "Well, Mike is a big quitter. He starts tours, then quits about mid-way through. It's usually because of some critic not taking us seriously. David likes to have his own way. He can be kind of cocky too sometimes. He makes a point of it that Micky and I know he is the hearthrob. They are not bad guys, it's just that we have four totally different personalities. We kind of clash," Peter said.
"Yeah, but you four sure have thousands of fans that are crazy about you," Jan said with a smile.
"Micky, Mike, and Davy are like that one relative everyone has. You know, the one that grates on your nerves, but you love them anyway. It's kind of like that," Peter said.
Jan understood much better now. Since the guys' problems with each other had nothing to do with hate, what could it hurt to tell them now what had been going on? On the other hand, Jan could just imagine how angry they would be when they did find out what was being kept from them. It certainly wasn't fair that somebody thought it funny to take advantage of four guys who were just trying to be there for their fans. The words Peter had spoken up in the auditorium kept ringing in Jan's ears, "I don't like it when things are kept from me."
"Davy, tell me something." Ginny said as she sat on a sofa in the dressing room.
"What's that?"
"Do you prefer 'Davy' or 'David'?" she asked.
Davy smiled and shrugged.
"Doesn't matter. Davy'll be fun." he said.
"OK!" she smiled. "Anyway, that's not what I was going to ask. What I wanted to ask was....and I hope you don't mind me asking, because it isn't any of my business I know, and you certainly owe me no explanations, so if you don't want to say..."
"Ginny!" Davy interrupted.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"What did you want to know?" he smiled.
"Oh...well...is there a reason for you guys fighting so much?"
"What guys?" Davy asked, pretending to be more interested in going through his suit case.
"You know which guys." she said. "Everytime y'all are on stage, you say things about still being friends and all, but we all know it's a lie."
"Who all?" he asked.
Ginny gave an exsasperated sigh.
"We! The fans! We know you guys don't like each other. I don't know why you pretend." she said.
"OK, miss smarty pants!" Davy said, crossing his arms and sitting a across from her. "Just what do you fans know?"
Ginny opened her mouth to reply, then furrowed her brow in confusion.
"Not anything, I suppose." she said. "I guess it's not even any of our business."
"No, I don't think it is." he gently replied.
"You mad?" she asked.
He smiled and shook his head.
"No, not mad." he said. "To answer your question, we have our moments. We can get along...when we try. The thing is something always happens that gets one mad at the other."
"Like what?" she asked.
"Oh, I don't know." he shrugged.
"You don't even know what you all are fighting about?" she asked.
"Never gave it much thought." Davy said. "With those three blokes, you don't have to look very hard to find something to get mad about."
"And what about Davy Jones?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms.
"Davy Jones is a bit of a hard nose himself." he said.
Ginny smiled. "I'll agree with that." she said.
"Thanks!" he snorted, then went back to digging through his suitcase.
"So, let me see if I got this straight." Ginny said. "All four of you are equally to blame for whatever you're fighting about."
"OK!" he said.
"Are you agreeing with me?" she asked.
"I haven't known you long, miss, but I know I don't dare disagree with you." he said.
She smiled, and continued. "And neither of you even know what you're fighting about...even though you're all to blame....correct?"
"Sounds about right." he said.
"Great! Then it's settled!" she smiled.
"What's settled?" he asked.
"You're going to go apologize to the guys!"
In both shock and surprise, Davy slammed his finger in the suit case.
Ginny winced as he stuck his sore finger in his mouth.
"I guess it's not a simple solution at that."