Having The Time Of Your Life
By Shotzette

This work of fanfiction was written strictly for enjoyment, not for profit, and it is not intended to infringe upon the copyrights of Paramount, ABC, or anyone else living, dead, or imagined. Please do not archive or reference this work without the written permission of the author.





"Having the Time of Your Life"



You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the Dancing Queen
-ABBA

Rated PG
By Kath


Laverne's spirit soared with joy as Lenny twirled her, before taking her back into his arms once more. He'd become such a wonderful dancer, she thought to herself. When had he become so agile?

As she looked into his eyes searchingly for answers, he merely smiled at her before resuming his oh-so-perfect rhythm. The bright lights twinkled in the mirrored ball overhead, "Unchained Melody" throbbed from the juke box, and everything was right with her world.

She smiled up at him again, taking in his tuxedo (cummerbund now correctly around his waist instead of his chest), and neatly combed, if still a little greasy, hair.

He merely smiled in response and held her closer, as his right hand encircled her waist more firmly. She leaned in closer and inhaled the combined scents of Sen Sen and Bosco, which filled her with heady expectation of pleasures yet to come. The pounding beat of the music coordinated perfectly with his heartbeat, and she pressed in closer, yearning to become part of his symphony.

Everything was perfect, she thought. Finally, things were working out her way. She was with a man who loved her wholeheartedly and was committed to share his future and his soul with her. A man who was currently driving her wild by subtly nibbling her neck and earlobe on the dance floor.

Laverne's head lolled to the side in near ecstasy, as she let go of what little reserve she had and gave herself over to the sensation-induced gooseflesh that was rapidly covering her skin. The fingers of Lenny's right hand drove her crazy as they began to fondle her where the low back of her turquoise cocktail dress ended.

As she allowed a low moan to escape her, Laverne closed her eyes and pressed the right side of her face into Lenny's chest and sank futher into his embrace. This was heaven, she thought, pure, unadulterated bliss.

Opening her eyes, she was confronted by the ugly stare of Big Rosie Greenbaum. Rosie stood off to the side of the dance floor, looking first at Laverne, then at Lenny in disgust, as her lip curled up into a sneer.

Laverne's eyes narrowed and her fists clenched. How dare that cow ruin her special evening? Let it go, a little voice inside her said. You're dancing with the man you love, that's all that matters. Laverne shook her head slightly, and refocused her gaze on Lenny's smiling face.

The tempo of the music changed, and Laverne found herself dancing faster. She smiled when she realized Lenny was more than adept at keeping up with her. As they spun and cavorted around the dance floor, Laverne once again tried to lose herself in the rhythm of the music.

It was such a wonderful night, and the dance floor was filled with so many people she knew.

Laverne saw Fonzie slow dancing with a beautiful girl on the edge of the dance floor. Tempos came and went, she thought with a suppressed giggle, but Fonzie's dancing stayed the same. Smiling, she tried to catch Fonzie's eye. Not to flirt for once, she realized with with surprise, just to acknowledge his happiness and let him see that she was finally happy with the one man who truly loved her.

As if on cue, Fonzie's eye opened and met hers. Instead of smiling, his jaw set in a terse frown and he pointedly turned away from her.

I guess his new girl is the jealous type, Laverne surmised. Although she'd never known Fonzie to put with nonsense like that before. Shrugging off the disquieting feeling, she once again tried to lose herself in Lenny's embrace.

The music played faster, and Laverne closed her eyes again the now-irritating glare of the flashing colored lights. It was becoming harder to keep time with the music. She was perspiring now due to her efforts, and her ankles were threatening to give out in her high heels. When she looked into Lenny's eyes for reassurance, they were closed as his lips silently counted out the steps.

Laverne pressed down a surge of panic as she looked around the rapidly crowding dance floor. She saw more familiar faces, yet even more were strangers to her. She tugged on Lenny's hand, trying to indicate that the dance was over and she wanted to leave. His eyes remained closed, and his lips still chanted out the musical beat in a bizarre incantation. His previously warm hands were now clammy, and held her in a viselike grip.

The music became louder and more discordant. Laverne could barely identify it as her favorite Righteous Brothers song as the sharps and flats became intermingled.

The air surrounding her was becoming uncomfortably hot and stuffy. The suddenly overwhelming odors of aftershave, perfume, and body odor started to trigger her gag response. Panicked, she once again tried to pull free of Lenny's death grip and run to the nearest ladies room. Or better yet, just to run away.

Abruptly, Lenny lunged and dragged her to the left. Over his shoulder, she spied Shirley and Carmine dancing cheek to cheek, oblivious to her discomfort.

She tried to cry out to Shirley, but she couldn't hear her own voice through the din. Laverne tried to scream louder and to jump up and down. Anything to get their attention.

Finally, Carmine looked up. Instead of coming to her rescue, he merely suppressed a grin and whispered into Shirley's ear. He then twirled Shirley on the dance floor so that she faced Laverne and Lenny.

Shirley looked at her as if she were a complete stranger. She then looked at Lenny and her usually pleasant face tightened into a grimace of disgust. As she turned away from Laverne and buried her face into Carmine's shoulder, Shirley shuddered.

Tears welled up in Laverne's eyes. Her best friend had turned her back on her, there was no where else to turn. She angrily glanced up at Lenny's sweating face as she tried yet again to break free.

The dance floor became even noisier. Couples were now openly pointing at them and laughing. Familiar faces were now distorted by cruel, braying laughter. Laverne didn't know which way to turn as the lights strobed faster and the crowd closed further in. All the time Lenny's grip on her increased painfully.

As the nausea threatened to overtake her, she switched tactics. Instead of pulling away from Lenny, she lunged towards him suddenly and shoved him as hard as she could in the ribs.

As he lunged backwards, his eyes opened in surprise. He landed heavily on his backside and the dance floor became eerily quiet. "Get yer hands off of me!" she shrieked, as her voice harshly echoed. Lenny sat on the floor, dumbfounded, and gazed up at her with a mixture of confusion and pain in his teary blue eyes.

Laverne tore her eyes away from him and looked in desperation toward her...friends? The crowd that had been openly jeering them moments before regarded her with an icy silence, contempt etched upon their faces.

Lenny still sat on the floor as if in shock. A hand reached out from the crowd to help Lenny off the floor. As her eyes wandered upwards, Laverne found herself staring into the angry and hooded eyes of her father. She opened her mouth, to apologize, explain it wasn't her fault, beg him to take her out of there...anything! Before she could say a word, he shot her a venomous look before finishing helping Lenny to his feet.

"It's okay, son," her father said as he turned his back on Laverne, "that bimbo's not good enough for you, anyways." With that and a harsh glare in her direction, he guided Lenny to the bar, and left his daughter to the glowering crowd as they advanced towards her slowly.


*****

Laverne awoke thrashing wildly and crying out. She was trembling so fiercely that her virginal, twin bed was shaking. Making every effort to calm herself, she breathed in deeply as her eyes adjusted to her dark bedroom. From the muffled snores to her left, she realized her nightmare hadn't awakened Shirley. Just like they hadn't awakened her for the past four nights.

She felt tears well up in her eyes as she remembered Lenny's expression when she told him they could only be friends earlier that week. He had looked so hurt.

Well, she thought to herself as she lay back down and clutched her stuffed animal tighter in her arms, a little hurt now is better than a lot of hurt later. As much as Lenny thought he loved her, she knew deep down he deserved better. He deserved a woman who would be with him no matter what anyone said.

She cried herself back to sleep wishing she could be that woman.


FIN












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