| All That Jazz |
| Don Cragen sat in the restaurant's lobby waiting for his lunch 'date.' He hadn't seen Lennie in a month or so, was looking forward to seeing his old friend. But when he'd called, there had been something in Lennie's voice that had worried him. It had been six months since Lennie and Jack had gotten married at their housewarming party. Don hoped the honeymoon wasn't over already � He smiled and stood up as the tall, lanky frame of the retired detective came through the door. "Lennie!" Their greeting was subdued for the public; Lennie might be 'out' but Don wasn't. They followed the hostess back to a table. "So, Don, how's life?" Lennie asked as he sipped his club soda. Cragen grinned at him. "Pretty damned good, I gotta say." Lennie laughed. "How's Marge?" "She's just fine." Cragen's eyes twinkled. About the same time Lennie and Jack got married, he'd found a surprising solution to the problem of his own marriage. He loved Marge, but had figured out he was gay. Things had been strained between them, each of them taking a lover 'on the side,' not wanting to give up everything else about their marriage. When their son left home for college, it had looked like things might fall apart. But then Jack had introduced Don to Emil Skoda. The two had hit it off immediately, and much to Don's surprise, so had Marge. Skoda was bisexual, and had managed to bring the estranged couple back together. The three of them were quite happy with the current arrangement. Lennie laughed, being well aware of the situation. He was glad Don had finally found something special, and saved his marriage in the process. Cragen sat back looking at his friend. "How about you, Lennie? You and Jack doing ok?" Lennie peered at his friend through heavy-lidded eyes. Hell, if he couldn't talk to Don, who could he talk to? "OK, I guess �" A look of concern flashed across Cragen's face. "That doesn't sound very enthusiastic?" Lennie sighed. "I don't know, Don. I've just been � restless lately." Cragen raised an eyebrow. "Restless? How?" "I'm bored, Don. I spend my days at the record shop, come home, fix dinner, and wait to see if I'm gonna eat alone �" "Jack been working late a lot?" Lennie nodded. "Jamie quit, to marry David and spend more time with her daughter, to keep her ex from winning custody. So for a while, he didn't have help, so it was a lot of late nights. And now he does have a new assistant �" "So things should be getting better, then?" Lennie sighed. "He says she argues with him a lot." // the green-eyed monster rears it's head � // Cragen thought. "Have you met her?" Lennie shook his head. "Rey gave me the low-down. Tall, leggy brunette, looks like a model. More than a bit headstrong." Cragen shook his head. "Lennie, you're jealous. You know that?" Lennie looked embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess so � I keep wondering what they're really doing all those late nights. After all, Jack always DID date his assistants. What if I�m just an aberration?" "Have you asked him?" "He swears there's nothing going on." "But you don't believe him." "I don't know, Don. I want to believe him. Maybe if I wasn't so damned bored I wouldn�t think so much about it." "Well then, maybe you just need something to take your mind off it." He reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a folded piece of paper. "This might be just the ticket." Lennie took the paper and opened it. It was a flyer for an audition. Cragen was talking. "The PBA is planning a big fundraiser gala. Seems somebody knows somebody over at the Ambassador Theater. They're letting them have the place on a 'dark' night complete with all the sets and stuff. So they're going to put on their own production of "Chicago" on the real stage." Lennie looked up at his friend, stunned. "You're serious?" Cragen had to laugh at Lennie's expression. "Yup. You oughta try out. You've always wanted to do something like this. And it would give you something to do with all that extra time on your hands." "But � Broadway? Don, that's the big time! It don't get any bigger than that!" "Yeah, but it's gonna be all normal folks like us, Lennie. Who just happen to be able to sing like divas while they're on a stakeout! You're good, I've heard you. You can do this!" Lennie shook his head, still not sure. "I don't know, Don �" "Think about it, Len. I think it's just what the doctor ordered." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back at the record store that afternoon, Lennie dug out a copy of the 1975 Original Cast recording, and the remake from last year. The show focused mostly around two female characters, Roxie and Velma, women accused of murder. There were really only two male roles besides the chorus. Roxie's almost invisible husband, Amos, and the charismatic shyster laywer Billy Flynn. Flynn was obviously the primo part. But was Lennie too old for the role? He glanced through the photos on the album inserts; they guy who had played the role in 75 looked a lot like he had at that age � The jangling of the door opening brought his attention back to the present. He looked up to see a familiar face coming in. "Hi Dad!" "Cath! What brings you out here?" Lennie smiled broadly as he hugged her, kissing her cheek. She smiled. "Had the afternoon off, thought I'd come out and say hi." "Glad you did, kiddo! "So what's new?" Lennie shrugged. "Same old same old." He tried to keep his unsettled mood out of his voice. It didn't quite work. Cathy scrutinized his face as she asked, "How's Jack?" Lennie knew he was made. "Working too much as usual." Cathy grunted. "Now you know how Mom felt �" Lennie winced. "I guess I deserved that." She could see he was bothered by this, and her expression softened. "I'm sorry, Dad. Seriously � is everything all right?" "Yeah, it's just me. I�m getting bored." Cathy spotted the flyer sitting on the counter. "Hey, what's this?" Lennie blushed; he didn't want anybody to know just yet what he was thinking of. "Oh, just something Don Cragen gave me at lunch." Cathy read him like a book. "Dad? You thinking about auditioning?" "Nah, not really �." "You should! I remember you singing me to sleep when I was little. You've got a great voice." Lennie just shook his head. "That was a long time ago, kiddo �" Cathy spotted the album sitting out. "Hey, you even look like this guy from the original cast!" Lennie gave a rueful grin. "Maybe back then I did �" Cathy eyed him up. "Just dye your hair, they don't have to know you're retired. Besides, you said you were bored. I know how much you love Broadway. Come on, you've got to give it a try at least! How many people get a shot like this at their dreams?" He had to admit she was right. Most of his life, one of his most cherished, most private dreams had been to perform on stage. But he didn't have any formal training, just a natural rich baritone that people seemed to like on the rare occasions he let anybody hear it. He made his decision. "OK, kiddo, I'll give it my best shot. But don't say anything to anybody, will ya? If I don't make the cut, I don't want people fussing, ok?" "You're not even going to tell Jack?" Lennie shook his head. "He's real busy right now anyway, breaking in a new assistant." There was something caustic in his voice that made her wonder. "Oh," was all she said. "OK, well, whatever you want, Dad." He smiled. "Thanks, sweetheart." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Break a leg, Dad!" Continue on to Chapter 3 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 2 |