| All That Jazz |
| I recently had the great fortune to visit NYC and see the wonderful Broadway show 'Chicago.' Which of course is near and dear to us L&O fans, since back in 1975 Jerry Orbach originated the role of Billy Flynn. (The original cast album featuring Jerry is available on Amazon). And did you know that when it was first revived in 1996, Bebe Neuworth, Tracy Kibre of TBJ, played Velma? Her voice is on the 1996 cast album. Needless to say, it was an inspiring day. All the more so because I shared it with Stef, my beta reader and best friend. This is a direct result of that day ... It's set in my "Love Songs" universe, after the big "happy endong," in the spring of 1998. |
| With a sigh, Lennie trudged up the steps to the front door of his house. Another day, another dollar. When he had first retired, he'd reveled in the luxury of not having to deal with life and death decisions every day of his life. Working six hours a day in the neighborhood record shop had been wonderfully relaxing compared to the stress he'd been used to. And of course, back then, they'd been working on the house, fixing it up and making it their own. Everything had been exciting and new.
It had gotten old surprisingly fast. Jack still held the job of EADA, number two man in the District Attorney's office. Long hours, life and death decisions, and all. He thrived on it, the way Lennie had thrived on being a cop. Until a bullet aimed at Jack had nearly ended his life. Lennie had such mixed feelings about that day. Because despite the physical trauma, that incident had brought them together. That was one thing he'd never regret. But sometimes now he regretted retiring from the NYPD. Life had fallen into a routine; working at the record shop, picking up dinner fixings on the way home, having dinner ready for Jack when he finally got home around 7PM. Unless he was working late. Which still happened a bit too often for Lennie's taste. He pushed the door closed behind him and tossed his keys on the entryway table. As he entered the kitchen to put the dinner fixings away, he was greeted by a friendly "Mrow?" from below as Shadow danced figure eights around his ankles. Despite his grumpy mood, he couldn't help smiling as he reached down to scratch the gray ears. "Hey little girl. I suppose you want dinner too?" The cat bumped at his hand then made a beeline for her food dish, knowing that it would soon be filled. Lennie took care of that then got started on the people food. He was just finishing up when the phone rang. "Lennie? Hey, it's me." Lennie groaned, knowing what was coming next. "Let me guess. Working late again?" Jack sighed. "I'm sorry, Lennie. You know what it's like breaking in a new assistant." Jamie Ross had reluctantly resigned from her position as an ADA to have more time to devote to her family, fighting her ex-husband for custody of their daughter. Jack's new assistant was a tall, beautiful young woman named Abbie Carmichael. Lennie had felt a pang of jealousy when he met her; after all, Jack had a serious reputation with his assistants. Jamie had been safely off the market; this one was another story entirely. Jack swore he wasn't interested in her; that he was happy with Lennie. But one problem with having too much time on your hands was that you had way too much time to think. And Lennie couldn't help thinking about what they might REALLY be doing working late again � // Stop that! // He chastised himself. "Yeah, Jack, I understand. You have any idea how late you'll be?" "Hopefully we'll be out of here in another hour or two. I just didn't want you to worry." // fat chance � // "OK, thanks for calling." Lennie hung up the phone and sighed. With a heavy heart, he dished up half the dinner he'd prepared, and shoved the other half into some Tupperware and into the fridge. He took his plate over to the breakfast bar and turned on the TV, eating while watching the news. All bad, as usual. When he finished, he parked the plates in the dishwasher and wandered aimlessly out to the living room. He found his eyes wandering over the vast collection of CD's. Music was always a good distraction. He chose a Broadway soundtrack, slipped the disk into the player, and soon was transported to another time and place, his rich baritone joining the cast. By the time the 'show' was over, he was feeling considerably less grumpy. He curled up on the couch with Shadow, absently petting the little cat. "So what shall we do for the rest of the evening, little one?" She just purred happily, eager for the attention after being alone most of the day. Her purring soon lulled Lennie to sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was close to 10PM when Jack slipped in the back door. He was kind of surprised to find all the lights still on, until he crossed the kitchen and entered the living room. Lennie was sound asleep on the couch with Shadow curled up on his chest. It was almost too cute for words. Jack crept quietly over to the couch and bent down, dropping a kiss on Lennie's forehead. His lover's eyes fluttered open. "Jack?" Lennie murmured sleepily. "She cast a sleep spell on you again?" Jack asked, chuckling softly. Lennie looked down at the cat uncurling on his chest. Their voices had awakened her as well, and she was looking at him with an expression of 'why did you wake me?' He grinned, laughing softly. "Guess so." He looked back up at Jack. "Long day, huh?" Jack sighed. "Abbie argues with everything I say. Takes twice as long as it should. She's gonna be a hell of an asset once she gets the hang of the way we work, but until then �" He just shook his head. For some reason, hearing Jack's annoyance at the new assistant actually made Lennie feel better. He gently shooed Shadow off his chest so he could sit up. But before he could say anything, Jack started again. "Is there anything to eat around here? I'm starving." "Didn't you get something delivered?" Jack scowled. "I was actually trying to be nice, went out and picked up ribs for me and a salad for her. So she says, 'I'll eat, you graze' and takes over my ribs!" Lennie had to laugh at that; Jack looked so genuinely put out by the exchange. "There's your half of dinner in the fridge. Just nuke it to warm it up." He followed Jack into the kitchen and they chatted while Jack attacked the leftovers. Finally the dishes were in the dishwasher and they headed upstairs to bed. They both stripped down to underwear and crawled into bed. Lennie spooned in behind Jack, his hands lazily caressing his lover's body. Jack sighed and rolled onto his back. "Not now, Lennie. It's late, and I've got an early morning tomorrow." Disappointed, Lennie just nodded. "Yeah, ok." Was there something in Lennie's voice? "Lennie? You ok?" Lennie sighed. "I don't know. Just restless. Shouldn't have had that nap with Shadow." Jack rolled over again to face his partner, gazing at the moonlit face. "You sure that's all? You've been � restless � a lot lately." Lennie shrugged. "I'm fine. Go to sleep; you've got an early day, remember?" Jack looked at him, concerned, but finally settled his head on Lennie's shoulder. Within minutes he was sound asleep, while Lennie listened to the slow breathing and the soft sounds of the night. Continue on to Chapter 2 send me some feedback Back to the main Story Index Disclaimer: These characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC; I'm just borrowing them for fun, not profit. |
| Chapter 1 |