Hand In Hand
By Shotzette, Old Time Fan and Missy

Episode Twenty-Four
By Missy

Thank You To Chesh For Tireless Hours of Betaing!
One Year Later

"Coming soon! To a theatre near you!! PASSION BLAZES ACROSS THE SCREEN!"

Shirley burrowed lower against her theatre seats. No matter how many times she saw that trailer, it never failed to embarrass her.

"Meet Cheryl!!! The department store clerk whose DESIRE drove a man to INSANITY!!"

She groaned to herself Raquel Welch, in an ill-fitting brunette wig, started sobbing at her mirror, drinking until she collapsed. This was what she got for accepting an offer from Carmine to go to the movies.

"So many women loved the DASHING Carmello; Cheryl's best friend, Lavinnia!"

She giggled as Barbara Streissand wrapped her arms about Al Paccino's neck, giving him a mad kiss.

"But Lavinia also loved Leonardo!"

Onscreen, Barbara kissed Jon Voight.

"WATCH! Leonardo's best friend courageously face a harrowing illness!"

"Anthony!" Wailed Rhonda, the REAL Rhonda, onscreen, as William Shatner fell to the floor '

"WITNESS! The Harrowing action!" Clips of Lou Ferigno knocking Jodie Foster to the ground were followed by the best bits of the fire sequence.

"Coming soon! Watch! The corruption of innocence! The salvation of desire! THE....POWER....OF....LOVE!"

Shirley sighed to herself, watching the release date to Powder Keg Films' big summer release flash across the screen. It was definitely a good time to retreat to the lobby for a soda.

Once settled on a bench outside, she accepted a carton of JuJu Bees from Carmine as he sat down beside her.

"Bad as the last time?"

She shrugged. "I always wished that my life would be as exciting as a soap opera. It just turned out that it made a good Irwin Allen disaster film instead."

Carmine laughed. "Hey, it's boosting my album sales by forty percent!"

Pride bubbled within Shirley's breast. "I'm glad it's doing well." Though it wasn't much of a critical success, as the day's critics weren't very impressed with 'cabaret singers', as Carmine was labeled, Melodies Of Life had sold pretty well locally. "So, you don't mind selling the rights away to Squiggy for that...thing?"

He shrugged. "Shirl, if I learned anything in the past two years, it's to let things go."

"Yup. Let go and let God." She said tiredly.

That was something they had both learned to do. While they had mutually increased their time in therapy to deal with the fire, neither of them had suffered a relapse into old patterns. Shirley had returned to her administrative job and nursing classes, and he had landed a gig at a much smaller club while he convalesced and recorded his album.

He had stood up to make his way to the refreshment counter when he noticed that Shirley had taken out a very small, tubelike pendant from her purse.

"What's that?" He asked out of curiosity, when he returned with a hot dog.

"I should have told you this a long time ago...but they're...the little girl's ashes." She swallowed deeply, and for the first time since the miscarriage said, "My daughter's ashes."

Carmine stared at her in surprise. Shirley had been four months along when she miscarried, and it had never occurred to him that she had given birth to a dead child until that day.

"I..." He coughed to hide his emotion. "Wouldn't mind having a little bit, to bury in my family plot in Milwaukee."

Her eyes were clear, beautiful, when she said. "Of course, I wouldn't mind." She had interrupted his question without him having to phrase it.

He smiled. "Thanks."

His hand slipped into hers, and while both waited for a spark or a rejection, none came. Mutually, they knew it was much better for them to remain friends. For their friendship, the true, real, breathing core of their affection, lived on beneath the angst and passion that had ruined their young love. And it would be enough to sustain them through a lifetime of heartache.

***

"Star!"

Rhonda laughed happily as she played with her brand-new shi tuz puppy. "Squiggles, there's room for only one star in this family. Let's think of another name. How do you feel about Moth?"

Squiggy leaned on his cane as he paced back and forth. "I wasn't talkin' about the dog." She smiled at his words. "Rhonda my dove, you are a bonafied box office tootsie."

"Andy," She sighed. "That's very sweet of you to say, but two okay showings in two drive-through flicks does not make a star."

He sat down beside her, very carefully. "Yeah, well, I don't care what they say. Yer a star, Mrs. Squiggman."

"Thank you." She kissed his lips sweetly, then sat back. "Andy..you're not mad that they replaced you with that boy from the space show, are you?"

He shrugged. "Eh...sorta."

She rubbed his shoulders. "You're twice the man that he is."

"Really?" Squiggy wiggled his brows. "Prove it!"

She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him until Moth squeaked in protest against her.

He parted from her embrace, giving her a worried look. "Is your arm okay?"

She sighed. The fire was omnipresent in Squiggy's mind, despite the year that had passed. She knew that he never wanted to relive that awful helplessness again. "Andy, it's been fine for months!" She grinned. "We tested it out, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah...but are you sure!"

"Do we not live in a fabulous house? Does not the rain fall on Rhonda's plain? Of course, I'm sure!" She kissed him before dropping the dog onto the couch. "Moth, stay. Andy," And her voice carried an extra, naughty meaning to it as she stood and headed in the direction of their bedroom. "Get. The Honey."

Needless to say, Moth Squiggman led a very confused childhood.

***

Amy danced around her parent's couch like a maniac. "Ringo wrote me back! He called me LUV!"

Edna grinned at her daughter, giving the girl a quick hug before rushing to the phone. She studied the picture as she picked up the receiver, quietly thankful to Carmine for calling a friend-of-a-friend and doing her this favor. It was the one thing that had hastened Amy's emotional recovery from the fire.

"That's wonderful, sweetie." Edna picked up the receiver. "Hello? Oh, hi Frank...What!! That's terrific! I'll grab Amy and we'll go right down to sign the papers!"

When Edna hung the phone, her daughter's quizzical look met hers. "What was that?"

"Sweetie, Frank just cashed in his share of Cowboy Bills to build a new restaurant!"

"Oooh!!"

"You know what we're going to build?"

"What?"

"A pizza place! A pizza place with a brand new, big arcade, with all of those new games that you kids have been playing. And we're going to call it Pizza Quest!"

Amy was almost vibrated with excitement. Ringo and games all in one day? As she rushed out the door, in step with her mother, she realized that this was the very best day of her life.

***

Laverne Kosnowski swayed to the slow beat of a Santana song. From her position in the wings, she could watch Lenny play and keep an eye on the crowd; an ultimate catbird position.

Rose, who sat cloistered in her aisle seat animatedly chatted up a storm with Sonny.

Sonny. She couldn't believe that he had pulled through, but two days after the fire, while they were still in the hospital keeping an eye on Rhonda, he had woken up.

Lucky guy. The doctors had agreed that the damage from the accident had been a bit more minimal than they had expected, and, though his motor skills would remain slow and he was in the middle of a serious regimen of physical therapy, he would be all right.

Laverne returned her attention to her husband; her delicious husband, with whom she had spent the past six months in near perfect cohabital bliss. Her skin tingled beneath her white peasant sleeves as she told herself that that nice blue shirt he was wearing would look much better crumpled up into a ball beside their bed in a few hours.

She met him as he came off of the stage at the end of the encore, sweaty, tired, but grinning. He grabbed her, heedlessly picking her up and pressing her to his chest.

"Mine, mine, mine." He said happily.

"Hah! I hafta share you with everyone else, but I'M just yours?"

He cocked his chin. "You want it any other way?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

A stage cough from nearby broke the spell. Rosie stood, adjusting the strap of her purse by an exit.

"'Ey, I'm gonna take the eggplant home."

Sonny rolled his eyes. "Will you quit callin' me that?!"

"Why? It's funny and damn true."

Sonny grunted. "Ever since those fuckers put it in the trailer, that's all they call me back at the studio." Though Sonny would never again be a stuntman, Powderkeg Films had given him a small, low profile job in the back office.

"What're you bitchin' about? My life's been cut down to bein' the comic relief! You're the big hero!"

"Dinner." Lenny said suddenly, to break up the argument.

"Len, you're holdin' me like this and you say 'dinner'?" Laverne complained.

"Vernie, I worked a whole shift at the firehouse. I'm hungy." He wiggled his brow

"Ohh..." She smiled. "Uh...yeah...excuse us. We're real...hungry."

Rosie rolled her eyes, shoving through the side exit and grabbing Sonny by his arm. "If ya wanna screw, just say it!"

Giggling like teenagers, Lenny and Laverne walked the short distance from Club Nervosa to Laurel Vista.

"Hungry; you're a genius, Len."

"I wish!"

She kissed him. "Okay, we're both geniuses."

"Laughingstock geniuses."

She winced. "The guys at the station giving ya a lot of grief?"

He shrugged. "Not any more than they already were." She slipped a hand in his back pocket. "Remember, it could be worse; you could be the one being played by the guy from Chuck's favorite show. YOUR guy is up for an Oscar."

"Yeah..." He grinned, whistling the tune to 'Rhinestone Cowboy' as the headed down the steer.

"Len?"

"Mmm?"

"How do you feel about us havin' kid?"

His grin was blinding. "Now that I'm bein asked?" She made a face, and he smiled. "I'd love to."

"Wanna start tonight?"

He bit his palm.

"That's a yes."

"Oh yeah!" He wrapped an arm around her as they passed by the fountain she had proposed to him in front of, a whole year before. "Y'know what, Vernie? A year ago, I was sittin' in an apartment in New York, thinking that my life was over. Squashin' cockroaches for a livin'."

Laverne watched the endless gush of fountain water, pouring into the basin in front of them. "Well, your life ain't over."

"Nope." He wrapped her into his embrace. "I don't wanna jinx it...but I think it's just the beginning."

Laverne wasn't too sure of that. Life had taunted her, teased her, snatched away and scared her so many times. Lenny could die at any minute he was on call, but she could be run over by a car just standing there, holding his hand. Risk was the name of life's game, and in a world that made no promises...

His kiss was the one thing that promised infinity.

Fin





To Chapter 23













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