You did a perfectly lovely job of combining all your passions into one pretty cool story. Excellent.

And, may I say, had you not identified yourself as a 'rookie' writer, I would never have guessed that was the case. One line in particular has this veteran writer drooling with envy:

"The two women were similar in many ways. A fierce, determined, and strong presence in a silk-scarf wrapped package of mysterious and alluring femininity."

Geez, I wish I'd written that!

I know it's been six years since you posted this, but I hope you still haunt these pages and know that you've gained a new fan.
--Wendie

music sooths the most savagest beast