What I Think Happened Next-Part 1
By Angelface
PG
General/Drama

Part 1. Tragedy With A Silver Lining

Tragedy had struck all four of them, but none had contacted the others yet. So they all sat in their respective homes staring out the window wishing for hope and happiness, and weighing their amounts of grief. Laverne, Shirley, Lenny, and Carmine were each facing their own personal losses, disappointments, and heartaches.

Carmine Ragusa was in his apartment alone, dumbfounded. His roommate had left the night before with the announcement of an engagement. His thoughts turned to the play. He had just been kicked out of "Hare" due to cutbacks and irresponsibility, and now he couldn't find a new job. So he tried to be cheerful, and he ended up thinking about Shirley, and how he missed everything about the cheerful, hopeful girl. Sometimes, though he would never admit it, he wished that her husband would've never proposed, because he knew that he wanted her more than any other in the world. And he prayed that someday, she would be his for the keeping. He also thought about how he missed the entire gang, and he decided to give his best friend, Laverne, a call. He let the phone ring 8 times, but an answer never came. So he sat there alone, confused, and extremely disappointed.

Lenny Kosnowski hadn't seen or heard from his friends since he mysteriously disappeared. He just wanted to surprise them all by getting a better education and actually amounting to something other than Squiggy's best friend. But throughout his trip, he found himself constantly thinking of Laverne, and he hoped that now she would finally be able to accept him and maybe even a proposal of marriage, although he dared not to get too hopeful. On his journey, he had stopped in Milwaukee, where he found his childhood home occupied. There was a little, old woman gardening outside, and he decided to introduce himself. When the woman turned around, they locked eyes, and immediately, Lenny realized that she was his mother. She asked him to stay with her for awhile, and he did. They talked and talked until Lenny decided he needed to get on with his journey again. Three day after he left, he wired his mother, and that same night, he got a reply saying his mother had passed away the night before. Lenny grieved to himself, but just a little, after all, he didn't really know her that well.

"Could this day get any worse? Surely not.", Laverne DeFazio wondered as she walked through her apartment. Little did she know, she had thought way too soon. She had just lost her job, and was flat broke. She went upstairs to take a nap when the phone rang. She ignored it for she decided she would rather not talk to anybody right then. It rang 8 times and then it stopped, so she decided if it rang again she would answer it. It did. The phone rang, and she answered it in a fit of fury. It was Alicia, the newly hired hand of her father's restaurant, and she was crying. She explained to Laverne that her father had suffered from a stroke and the doctors weren't sure as to whether he would make it or not. Laverne lost it, and fled to the hospital. When she got there, she wished desperately for someone to console her, so she decided to give Shirley a call. She called and someone who picked up the phone and told Laverne that Shirley could not come to the phone at the moment due to grief, so she left a message. Gosh, how she desperately wanted someone to take her into their arms and hold her. Even Lenny would've sufficed. But she just sat in the waiting room, now not only worried about her Pop, but Shirl too.

"Oh my God! This couldn't have happened!", exclaimed Shirley Feeney, after her friend, Maureen, had told her that her husband and son were in a plane wreck earlier that afternoon. They had been coming home from a trip to see Walter's sister, when the plane ran into an electrical storm, and crashed. Neither had survived. It was strange though, true, she was extremely upset about the loss of her child, but for some reason Walter's death didn't affect her like it should have. Shirley went to the bedroom that her and Walter had shared, and cried for hours. At one point, she vaguely recalled Maureen coming in and telling her that Laverne had called, but she figured it was just a dream, although, she wished for Laverne or Carmine or even Lenny or Squiggy desperately right then. She made up her mind that after the funeral, she would head back to California again to stay with Laverne for a while. Maybe even Carmine could come visit too. This brightened her up a little, and she went about the day preparing for the funeral set for Thursday.

Of the four, Laverne was the only one that received some good news. Her father would be okay after a few months of intensive therapy and bed rest, and she would have to take over Cowboy Bill's until then. She got home that later that night, and went straight to the phone to call Shirley. Shirley answered the phone herself, and they exchanged their losses of the day. Shirley told Laverne that after the funeral, she was coming back to California to start over, fresh and new because it worked once, so she figured it could work again. Laverne was a lot happier after their conversation, and when she laid the phone down on the receiver, it rang again. But, nothing could have prepared her to hear Lenny's voice over the phone. Thrilled to hear from him again, she suddenly realized that secretly over the past 3 months, she had really grown fond of Lenny and missed him desperately. They reminisced and caught each other up on their lives. Lenny then informed her that he would be coming back to California in less than two weeks as a college educated man. Laverne promised him that they would have dinner, just the two of them, after he got back.

Shirley was back to her hopeful self after the funeral on Thursday, she had grieved so much, and was looking forward to being with her friends on Saturday. When she got back to her house, the phone rang. It was Carmine. She recollected her thoughts, and realized that her and Carmine could now be together at last. She knew she wanted that, because shortly after her marriage had started, she began longing for his touch, and even secretly wishing that the child she carried was his and not Walter's. She loved him truly, and was thrilled to hear his voice. She told him of what had happened, and she heard him let out a sigh – of relief. They talked of old times and how they missed each other, and Shirley told Carmine that she was headed back to California on Saturday, with a flight layover in New York. He told her that he thought that was great, and that he would try to get on the same flight, but if not, he would just see her at Laverne's apartment soon afterwards.
At the end of the conversation, Carmine got really quiet and Shirley asked, "What's on your mind? You're being awfully quiet." So Carmine replied, "Well, angelface, I don't know what you're going to think of me, or whether this is right or wrong, but I have to say that I love you still, even though you're a new widow. I know you probably think I'm a cad, but I do love you more than anything. I loved you even though you were married." Shirley sat there for a second, and gleefully replied, "Oh, Carmine, I loved you too this whole time, even though I was married. I realized how much I wanted to be with you after I got married. I know that probably sounds awful, but I love you too." They shared a laugh, and decided that it was time that they gave their relationship a second chance.
To Chapter 2











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