The next morning they received a bright and cheery hello from Dre who’d been in the city the past four days working on the editing of the video with the editors.

“All right you two, you’ve got a photo shoot in less than half an hour. I’m sending a car over to get you,” Dre said after a few minutes of polite chitchat.

“No problem Dre,” Regina said as she crawled out of bed and headed to the shower.

“We’ll be down there,” Marshall assured as he too sat up and picked up the handset for the phone.

“How’s the video look?” Marshall asked.

“Friggen fantastic. Reggie will blow them away, I know it,” Dre said excitedly.

“When is Making the Video gon’ air anyway?”

“I believe this Friday, that’s why we’s got to hurry and get this promo stuff done this week. TRL already wants you on for next Monday.” Dre replied.

“Damn, they think the song is that good?” Marshall asked.

“Course they do. Damn man, stop acting like your shit ain’t gon’ kill. Look, you better hurry and get down there, it’s a long ass shoot you gotta get done today.” Marshall laughed at this.

“Yeah yeah, I know. The guys gon be there?”

“Yeah, later though, don’t have to have them there all day while you and Reggie getting yours done. Sides, they got a magazine interview downtown till probably around three.”

“Cool, all right, peace man.” Marshall hung up the phone and hurried to catch the car on time.

“I am not wearing that, you can forget it Marshall, no way,” Regina said firmly.

“Reg, come on, it’s not a big deal,” Dre said as he stood with the woman from wardrobe, Regina and Marshall.

“That’s the point, those are not shorts, that is a pair of damn underwear!” she replied with crossed arms.

The entire shoot had gone smoothly until now. Regina was refusing to wear a pair of what she called “booty shorts” in one of the photo sets.

“You wear stuff tighter than that all the time!” Marshall protested. He was not overly thrilled with the idea of Regina wearing the shorts either, but he had to agree, she would have looked nice in them.

“At least my ass is covered, and not hanging out all over the place, forget it. Not happening, find something else.” She said resolutely. A similar argument had taken place on the video set although it had been a little different. The director thought Regina should do a little booty shaking and she literally walked off the set. It took Marshall and Dre forty-five minutes to convince her to come back, but not before she balled out the director. Luckily Dre had gotten the cameras for Making the Video out back behind the studio to talk to Kuniva and Kon for a few minutes, so Regina’s tirade wouldn’t be recorded.

Once the shoot was over Regina had a long talk with Dre over what their marketing techniques would be.

“Just so we are clear, I am not Lil’ Kim, I am not Eve, just because I rap and do look nice, I am not using my assets just so that I can gain popularity. I want respect, and I’m not going to get it by looking like a stripper,” were Regina’s exact words.

“Okay, we’ll find something else. I’m not going to push this, especially after the video shoot.” Dre added as he waved the woman from wardrobe away.

“Thank you, it’s about damn time somebody listen to me,” Regina said as she shook her head.

“What is the hold up?” the photographer asked as he strolled over, camera in hand.

“We need a different outfit, that’s all, she’s getting something else,” Dre said sleepily.

“What was wrong with the booty shorts? Come on honey don’t tell you don’t want to show off those legs,” he said with a superior air. Regina narrowed her eyes at him and replied,

“Excuse me? But I don’t think I just heard that coming out of your mouth.”

“What’s the matter, you’re a hot chick, why not show off what you got?” he asked.

“Mr. Pedro Perez, if you do not shut your mouth I will shove that camera down your throat. Do I make myself clear?”

“What you making such a big deal for chicana, eh?” he asked. Marshall did not like the look Regina got on her face. Her ears pricked up and if possible her eyes narrowed even more.

A tirade in Spanish exploded from her mouth, words flying faster than even Twista could spit in English. Pedro backed up as she shouted at him until she finally stopped yelling at him.

“Entiendes punto?” she asked, as she was finished. Pedro nodded quickly and backed away saying,

“Lo siento senorita.” Regina smiled and nodded with a glint in her eye as she turned back to Marshall.

“Damn,” was all he could say.

The week flew by and on Friday night Regina found herself at the hotel, the bulk of the guys crammed on the couch, her in Marshall’s lap, as they flipped through the channels.

“Guys, pick something already, I’m getting dizzy,” Regina said as the remote was passed around for about the fifth time.

“What time is it?” Marshall asked.

“Six,” Kuniva replied looking at his watch.

“Yo, put MTV on Bizarre!” Proof called.

“Aw come on man, I am not watching that same episode of the Real World where that dumbass gets his face smashed into the ground!” Regina whined as they flipped to MTV.

“Real World isn’t on until six thirty Regina,” Proof retorted.

“You know something man, that you even know that, scares the crap out of me,” Regina replied looking over at him. Suddenly she heard her voice, and she hadn’t said anything.

“Hi, I’m Regina Contini, on the first set of the day, the street set as Marshall likes to call it, and really I have no friggen clue as to what I’m supposed to do, so, Marshall, use your big mouth to say something,” Regina’s jaw dropped as she realized what was on the television.

“Oh, my, fucking, god. I’m a fucking dork!” Regina squealed as she covered her face with her hands and tried to shrink.

“Aww! Look at you, you were so nervous!” Marshall laughed as he hugged her body to his.

“Oh my god, turn it off! I can’t watch this!” she shrieked as she watched the screen through her fingers.

“No way, you made me watch 8 Mile the other night, it’s your turn!” Marshall said as he struggled to hold her on the couch.

“We didn’t even see five minutes of that, who are you kidding?” she asked turning to look at him.

“Shh! We’re trying to hear!” Proof said indignantly as he gestured toward the television.

“Oh shut up Proof!” Regina said as she threw a handful of popcorn at him as they all quieted down and they showed a piece of Regina performing to the music.

“I can’t watch this,” Regina moaned again, but Marshall held her fast in his lap.

“Damn girl, you are fierce!” Proof whistled. As she lip synced to one her verses and then the chorus in the song, the look on her face said it all.

“Oh look, it you again, think I’m gonna come to you and be your girl. Well fuck you cuz you ain’t fucking me and fucking the free world. Cuz like you say, all we do is bangin, fucking and sucking it ain’t love, no trust, just lust.”

“I just can’t fucking wait until my grandparents hear me rapping about fucking guys on the bathroom floor, this should be just hilarious!” Regina said shaking her head.

“See I told y’all she loved me! She mentioned me, not you Bizarre in the verse!” Proof called out with a grin.

“What the hell man, shut up!” Bizarre snapped as he too threw a hand full of popcorn at Proof’s head.

“Oh don’t worry Bizzy, I love you too, it’s just hard trying to rhyme something with Bizarre,” Regina assured him.

“Ha, see, na,” Bizarre laughed throwing another handful of popcorn at him.

“Shut it guys, Regina’s on again,” Dre said turning up the volume. At the video shoot Regina had sat down and done a small interview with Kurt Loder, the full thing would air only if the single managed to make it, but she was hoping that none of it would have been shown at all.

“So tell me exactly what ran through your mind when Eminem introduced you to Dr. Dre,” Kurt asked as Regina sat back with crossed legs and a slightly nervous bounce to her legs.

“I think the exact thing I was thinking, was probably, ‘Oh my god, I must have been hit by something, and I’m in a coma’, I could have been knocked over by a feather.” Regina felt her face flush to about a thousand degrees.

“What about the rest of the crew?”

“I think I was just in a state of shock, I mean first Marshall, then Dre, Fifty, then the whole of D-12, it was completely surreal. Not even in my wildest dreams could I have ever imagined meeting any of them, let alone all of them at once.” Regina kept her eyes closed and shook her head.

“Shoot me now,” she begged as the interview continued.

“Aww Reggie,” Dre said with a chuckle.

“Forget what I said, I can’t stand the lot of you,” she said finally pulling out of Marshall’s grasp and getting off the couch.

“Oh come on, don’t be a spoil sport!” Swifty called out. She grabbed a drink from the mini bar and returned, standing behind the couch and watching again.

“So far, it’s been amazing, and just day by day, it’s hitting me. I mean, even if I don’t make it, I’ve gotten so much out of it. The people I’ve met, the guys, I love em’ like they were my brothers, they are just as protective of me as my own family. It’s not something I take lightly. Just the experiences that I’ve gotten out of this, will last me the rest of my life. Working with Marshall is incredible to say the least, how many people get to say they wrote a rap with the Marshall Mathers, one of the few guys in the business that has any right to say they have credit.”

“And what about Marshall? It seems you two got a little something more going on than banging,” Kurt asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Ah, I knew we would get to that. But yes, we are dating as far as all things are concerned. The song however is no reflection on this thing that we have together, it is merely a song, like so many others.” The next clip was that of the infamous, “I’m only a slut for my boyfriend.”

“Aww Reggie!” Proof said with a grin.

“Don’t push it boys,” Regina snarled as her face heated again.

“Aww, but we love you too Reggie!” Bizarre called next.

“Ha ha, very fuu-uny!” Regina shrieked as she was grabbed by surprise and dragged over the back of the couch. She eventually slid down and onto the floor, rolling under the coffee table.

Everyone was laughing hysterically, Marshall soaked through with soda, even Regina was laughing hard after she’d hit her head on the leg of the coffee table.

“That wasn’t exactly the best of your plans was it now?” Regina asked after getting control of her laughter and emerging from the other side of the coffee table.

“No, it wasn’t, since now I look like I just pissed myself,” Marshall remarked as he stood up to go change.

“Hurry back, the video is gonna be on in a minute!” Dre called as Regina slumped down on the couch beside Bizarre.

“You know, that really wasn’t necessary,” she laughed.

“Ah sure it was. Yo Marshall, you gon’ miss your ass, the video’s starting!” Bizarre shouted. Marshall jogged from the bathroom and flung himself over the couch slightly squashing Regina.

“You mind?” she asked as he pulled her back into his lap.

“No, course not,” he grinned as he squeezed her tightly.

“(First Verse MARSHALL): Ooh yeah, she pumping again, right there, don’t stop, keep it up yeah girlfriend, oh wait, a minute we ain’t there again, talking about shit we won’t even pretend, hell no, why I’m solo, cuz I want to be a-lone hoe, that’s all you is talking shit bout me with Biz, no way, hoe away, keep love, that crutch away from me cause bangin’ is all we be, (REGINA): doing? Ah hell no, keep your thoughts to yo’self, you gon’ put me on a shelf? Ha ha you can try boy, but you already there yo’self. I don’t take pity on you, starring at me when dancing with me friends, scared as hell when I ask to some fell-ah. Looking at you drooling and trying to be possessive of me, positively, ridiculous, you trying to be anything but bangin’. CHORUS: cuz we just bangin’, bangin’ in the house, bangin in the car, that’s right, fuck up, fuck down, that’s what we do it’s just screwing around, bangin in the kitchen, fucking on the counter, in the bedroom on the bathroom floor, cuz all it be is bangin’, nothing more. (Second Verse MARSHALL): Don’t play like you don’t care cuz you do. You be fucking around, but then you be looking around, to make sure I’m watching you. Pissing me off, so you know the sex is good, cuz the only good thing we got is between them sheets. The beat so fucking good our sex be giving off heat. You lying, to get me insane, so I lay you to make you make you go insane, screaming out my name as you get your kicks, like a phoenix exploding in air. Its only fair, that we be bangin and hangin’, not nothing to no one until we fuck each other, then it’s better. The feather of that firebird falling, walling up emotions like they far away somethings, and you, when you become the only one I want to be calling I got to remember we just bangin. CHORUS: Cuz we just bangin’, bangin’ in the house, bangin in the car, that’s right, fuck up, fuck down, that’s what we do it’s just screwing around, bangin in the kitchen, fucking on the counter, in the bedroom on the bathroom floor, cuz all it be is bangin’, nothing more. (Third Verse REGINA): Oh look, it you again, think I’m gonna come to you and be your girl. Well fuck you cuz you ain’t fucking me and fucking the free world. Cuz like you say, all we do is bangin, fucking and sucking it ain’t love, no trust, just lust. Fuck buddies and under the sheets is all we be, both us got to be to the three sheets to say, we’re in love, we pathetic, got to be drunk to admit it. But give it up boy you know it the truth, go ahead, smack yourself then go ask your boy Proof, he’ll tell ya, that we just be bangin’. Clanging, your gums, talking it up, like you really want to be something more. Face it boy, you treating me like a whore, so I ain’t taking nothing you say to the core. It’s a chore, to be there for, you, entirely and try to see what it is that makes you tick. As far as I can tell, you just one big dick looking for a way just to get licked. And now, cause I ain’t pa-tic-ular, I’ma gon tell you the truth, I don’t like you, what you are, or what you do, so take your ass, back to class and learn again that we, just, bangin’. CHORUS: cuz we just bangin, bangin in the house, bangin in the car, that’s right, fuck up, fuck down, that’s what we do it’s just screwing around, bangin in the kitchen, fucking on the counter, in the bedroom on the bathroom floor, cuz all it be is bangin, and nothing more. (Marshall) That’s it girl we just bangin, and you better remember that. (Regina) Who you telling papa prat, get over yourself and over me. (Marshall) Like you can admit, you just want to get it, from me, twenty four seven, nightly, daily, ain’t that right baby? (Regina) Oh look, he’s starting again, like I give a fuck about having him, it’s not a game to win, go get a bottle of gin to drown your sorrows in. (Both) Why, cause we just bangin’. CHORUS fade out…”

By the end of the video the guys were clapping and hollering while Marshall had thrown Regina over his shoulder and proceeded to pass her around the room to the rest of the guys. A phone rang shrill and loud from the coffee table and Regina forced Kuniva, who at the moment was dancing her around the room to put her down so she could answer the phone.

“Guys! Shh! Shut up!” she called as she picked up the phone.

“Hello? Abuela, hi,” Regina said nervously. She burst into Spanish for a few minutes and then Italian for a while. She switched back and forth from one to the other for about ten minutes and then finally said goodbye.

The guys looked at her as she set her phone down and saw how red her face was.

“My entire family watched the show, my grandparents threw a big party, and invited everyone over to see me in, as they called it, my grand moment.” Regina said shaking her head.

“Regina, you definitely ain’t that shy, I can vouch for that!” Marshall laughed.

“My friggen grandparents! Oh my god,” Regina said shaking her head.