A Scandalous Affair
The new (and in some minds, improved) Trenchcoats were playing a set at Club Calypso. Upstage was possibly the best drummer since Ringo Starr. Downstage, Marianna Trench played bass and watched the audience. Dream Sylvia Dryad was singing the ballad Pale Blue Magenta, so Mari was taking it easy, improvising a bass line. Of course, it would help if she could remember the chords!
"Excellent," said Inda Nett. Inda had just finished writing a musical. Auditions were next week, and Dream had auditioned for pit orchestra, of course getting the first horn seat. Marianna hadn't known Inda was musical- she thought he was just an rather rich hacker. Now, his approval meant a little to her- especially on a jazzy ballad like this. She smiled a bit as she saw his lips form the word again. "Excellent."
UPChuck was at the bar, watching Dream. Further down sat Mac Trench, watching his wife. Behind the bar, Neil St. James also watched Marianna.
For once, no one was watching Daniela DeSka. Marianna's little sister had toned down a bit. Her last boyfriend had turned out to be a secret agent trying to get information from her- and he was gay. Most boyfriends before that were dead, except Tchadde. So there were no guys for Daniela! She glanced at Esteban E. Room, who was telling a story to a group by the door. The majority were on the floor laughing. Hmm... an older man. She'd never done it before... it might be a harder conquest. Hey- she was Daniela DeSka, Dancin' Queen- always up for a challenge!
Marianna stifled a yawn. The past few days had been ridiculous. Mac was being a pain, simply because Mari was dating Neil now. Marianna couldn't sleep at night (well, mid-morning), in the same bed as Mac, because she was afraid of him. But there was no one to confide in. Maybe she should talk to a member of the British Royal Family. They knew all about affairs.
There was one more song left in the set, and it was Marianna's solo. She switched from electric bass to acoustic guitar. The lights went to low, and a red spotlight shone on her. The crowd rustled in anticipation. The sets didn't usually end this way. Marianna had decided right before they went on that this was how it would end.
"F major," thought Marianna. She took a deep breath and placed her fingers on the frets. "Two measures... one-two-three-four, one-two-three." A breath, then she sang. "Yesterday... all my troubles seemed so far away..." Her voice threatened to crack on the E, but the sweet soprano held while the music took over the moment.
"...There's a shadow hanging over me/ Oh, Yesterday came suddenly.." Mac got up silently and left, leaving a martini half-drunk (like himself) on the bar. "...now I long/ for Yesterday... mm mm mm mm mm mm mmmm." The guitar's final chord died away, and the swaying crowd burst into gentle applause. Marianna was brought back from the place she had gone to in her mind.
"Oh, damn," she thought as she left the stage. "Back to reality." Suki was already back in her cage, Dream had left, and Lucy was getting drunk at the bar. Lucy was turning out to be the most fun of anybody in Layla:). Walking through the backstage area, she ran into (literally) Jens Herrkauf.
"Hi, Marianna, how's it going?"
"Uh.... okay." Marianna was bewildered. Jens hadn't spoken to her in five years. He still knew who she was? Duh, she thought. I'm the leader of the Trenchcoats and the owner of the Club. He'd better know who I am! She dropped her guitar off with Justinian- as long as he didn't actually touch or talk to her he was tolerable. And as long as he wasn't flashing anybody. He was a loyal roadie.
Emerging behind the juice bar, Mari kissed the top of Polly's head as she passed, eliciting a "Mother!" Marianna strode over to the bar.
"Hey, UPChuck. Where did Dream run off to?"
"Orchestra rehearsal." UPChuck smiled. "Strange thing about dating her- I see more of her when I'm not."
"Yeah. She got into the Newshregsburg Orchestra? Cool."
"I'm conducting," said Inda Nett.
"So?" They stared for a while, then Marianna smiled. "You know I'm kidding. That's great for you. Really." Inda silently regarded Mari as a great evil. Which of course she was, but evil in a good way. Unlike Frogman.
"Speaking of Frogman," said Neil.
"Huh?" This came from everyone at the bar.
"I'm sorry. We weren't. But has anyone seen him since last week?" Everyone glanced around, and Mari managed to note Doreen and Aaron doing unmentionable things in a corner. Well, Frogman wasn't with Doreen, for sure.
Apparently he wasn't elsewhere in the Club, either. "I'll bet he's at his pad in Newshregsburg, licking his wounds," said UPChuck. "He's probably scared to come back!"
Marianna shrugged. "Another round of drinks, Neil."
It was rapidly becoming Couples Night on Monday. Nicolas and Ursula were dancing cheek-to-cheek, despite the fact that the current song was "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)." Dream and UPChuck were reenacting their winning dance contest entry. Jax Halfway had climbed into Suki's cage and they were dancing above everyone else's heads. Usagi was dancing with Rain, and Cera with Natan, Doreen with Aaron, and Inda with his fiancee Karina. Christianne had trapped Cueball into dancing, everyone else had paired off, and Daniela was actively pursuing Esteban. Only Ivory Jade, Priscilla, and Marianna weren't dancing. Ivory was single, Elvis was dead, Mac was flying over the ocean hoping to crash, and Neil was DJ-ing.
"I'm so nervous!" said Ivory.
"Why?" Marianna turned on the silent blender (one of her inventions) under the bar.
"I have an audition for the new musical in Newshregsburg... Torturo, in the Brono-Nett Auditorium."
"The one Inda wrote, is directing and producing, yeah. Supposedly it's based on his childhood. I've read the script. It's... I'm not sure of the word. It's good, but his childhood must have been the Holocaust or something, the way he portrays it."
"Yeah, it's a little... out there."
"Hey, does anybody know about that Elvis sighting at the grocery store in Layla:) last week?" asked Priscilla.
"Speaking of things that are 'out there'..." Marianna smiled and served up the Pina Coladas.
"Oh, I can't have alcohol, Mari," protested Ivory. "Right before an audition? I have to have my voice in top form!"
Just then, a tall blonde (no, not Linda) sat down at the bar.
"I got a bat," said the smiling newcomer. Priscilla and Ivory stared uncomprehendingly as Marianna screamed, propelled herself across the bar, and knocked her old friend off of the barstool. (Thankfully, the barstool wasn't hurt, having been bolted to the floor.) The tropical fish looked over, as did everyone else in the bar. Dream rushed over to the heap of limbs and long hair on the floor.
For a few moments, there was a typical female reunion, with hugging, crying and shrieking. Then Marianna remembered the tough-guy image she always tried to project, and managed to pull the entire crew off of the floor in one movement.
"Lynette, what are you doing back in Layla:)?!"
"What are you doing still in Layla:)?" asked Lynette.
"Ye Gods, we've got a lot of catching up to do!" The Club had meanwhile returned to its semblance of normal activity. Marianna and Dream managed to catch Lynette up on ten years' worth of gossip in an hour, with only a few interjections from Doreen and Christianne. (Lynette had 'told-off' the two ten years ago- they still didn't understand. Actually, they didn't understand when Mari insulted them every day!)
"Marianna," said Lynette, "you don't look a day over 23!"
"Well, I'm... not. I haven't aged since I got married five years ago. Actually, I'm 23 and one week, because I refused to get married on my birthday. Why ruin a nice day?"
"You... haven't aged?"
"Nope. Neither has Mac, far as I can tell."
"But your daughter ages? What happens when she's older than you?"
"Hey, Ob-La-Di, right? We deal with it when it happens, until then life goes on as 'normal'." Marianna smiled. Lynette saw right through it.
"Why don't you divorce him?" Lynette said the words that in five years, no one else had dared to say. Dream's ears perked up, and she listened as she chatted with UPChuck. Marianna frowned, and pointedly ignored the comment; Dream relaxed.
Daniela sat down at the bar. "Esteban says he has to go practice with the rest of Shoebox, but Nic, Nate, and Jens are dancing. I don't think he likes me!"
"Of course he likes you, Daniela," Mari sighed, then dutifully continued in monotone, "He's just awed by your beauty and intelligence."
Daniela growled at Marianna and reached under the bar for whatever alcohol she might find. "Did you know that Dava's running for Town Council?"
"Dava Jini?" asked Lynette. "Did he ever get a full Wizardship?"
"Oh, yeah. He's the only full Wizard ever to come out of Calypso Beach, y'know."
"Figures he'd be the one." Just then, a commotion at the door interrupted the conversation. A small group of frog-people was trying to get through the revolving door, but apparently weren't quite sure how it worked!
Frogpeople? thought Marianna. Oh no! Frogman must have called in troops from his home planet- to get UPChuck!
Dream heard Marianna's thought-screams and dragged UPChuck into the kitchen as Mac came in from the kitchen and sat down on UPChuck's abandoned barstool. The frogs burst into the Club, having finally figured out the door, grabbed Mac, and burst out again. Lynette watched, horrified.
"Marianna, those frogs just stole your husband!"
"Kidnapped," corrected Marianna. "And they can have him, for all I care! Actually, they don't know what they're in for. Mac's trained in every possible martial art, and he always carries a fully-loaded compact semi-automatic rifle. Even to bed."
"That must make it hard to-"
"Not really. We don't."
"Oh."
"Thanks, Dream," panted UPChuck, leaning against the sink.
"Thank Marianna. She figured out that they were after you. I just heard her mental screaming."
"Maybe I should thank the revolving door, too."
"Maybe you should thank my father." Pollythene stood in the doorway, no emotion crossing her face. "They took him in your place." She grabbed a pineapple from the pile on the counter, turned on one heel, and left.
"Oh, no, now I feel guilty," said Dream.
"Don't," said UPChuck. "I'm sure Mari and Neil don't mind." He moved to kiss her, but she turned her head aside. He sighed. "Dream, I thought we were okay again. I thought we were dating."
"Yeah, we are... it's just..."
"I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow."
"No, I've got orchestra rehearsal all day, then pit orchestra for Torturo at night. Inda's trying to kill me..."
"Fine. I'll see you whenever."
"Uly-" He left through the back door, went through the alley way, walked a block to pick up his Mercedes at the valet parking lot, and drove home to Calypso Point.
"Fools!" cried Frogman. "You've taken the wrong jerk!"
"Hey, sorry, boss. All mammals look the same to me!" The pudgy bullfrog-man cowered as Frogman struck at him. Mac Trench looked on with interest from his electro-magnetic force cage. What interesting information for Earth...
"Weis, I trusted you to get the man. I even told you where to find him, what he looked like! What is so hard about dark hair in a ponytail? And you grab a blond!"
"But boss, we haven't been living on Earth for nearly fifteen years! We don't know about hair color!" This protest came from the one called Bud, a skinny tree-frog type with bulging eyes.
"If you'd just told us to kill them all, it'd have been easier," said the last on the bridge, a yellow-spotted poison dart frog called Er.
"My fiancee was in there!" screamed Frogman. "I don't want her killed!"
"But you have no real intention of marrying her, do you?" asked Weis.
"Of course not! I just use her for mating. Someone must spread frog genetics amongst the humans... Who better than the Crown Prince of Amphibia, GeRitt Hopp-Tode - myself!? Anyway, we'll have to return this human and get the right one. Then, maybe, I won't have you all beheaded!"
"Aw, boss, can't we keep this one as a pet?" asked Bud.
Next Week:Torturo and Torture
Can anyone save Mac? Do they want to? And why is Ivory Jade's great audition causing her problems? (Oh no, Ivory, you really didn't want to make Karina mad!) Catch the action and adventure next week! (I promise to get it up by Sunday this time!)