Chapter 20

"No, you're coming because you are the only friend I have in town
that I would trust with helping me find a dress," Anne told Emily, as she
dragged her into Vera Wang's bridal boutique on Madison Ave. "Besides,
you're going to be in it, and I need the help."

"Yeah, I know, you helped me out with mine, so it's only right I try and
help out with yours."

Howie and Anne had followed the example of the advice of Kevin and Kristin
and decided to have two services, one small private one, and later a much
more public one. Both services were planned for the fall and in Florida,
the first, which only a few family members and only a hand full of friends
even knew existed, the date was tentatively set for a Sunday in September,
at a small church in Orlando Anne had begun attending when she was visiting
Howie; however, it was looking like that date was going to be pushed back,
again. It seemed like every time they thought of a date, something came up,
they just wish they could finally nail down when they could have the
wedding. The other wedding was going to be a lavish Catholic service at
Howie's home church, a few weeks later. Anne agreed to convert to
Catholicism for the time being, Howie wanted a traditional Catholic wedding,
and Anne wanted to make him happy. Having two services was sort of a
compromise, it gave Anne the smaller, more intimate wedding she wanted. It
also gave Howie the large wedding to which he was accustomed; also it gave
them a chance to sneak off on their honeymoon, and hopefully get some peace,
they would be back a couple of days before the 'official' wedding.

Anne let out a loud laugh from the dressing room.

"What is it?"

"He is going to die when he sees this dress," she said as she looked at the
dress in the mirror. It was the seventeenth she had tried on that day.

"Well lets see it," Emily said, wondering which of the dozen dresses Anne
had taken into the changing room had been selected.

Anne stepped out of the dressing room and into the brightly lit store. The
smooth white satin bodice fit tightly around her chest and waist. The boning
emphasized her hourglass figure, the one inch wide straps came behind her
neck, giving the front a halter style look. A thin mesh netting covered the
open back, four layers of the same netting covered the white floor length
skirt. The train was attached to a shrug that she could easily take off
after the service was over. Anne was thrilled.

"This is it," she said. "I've found my dress."

"It reminds me a little of Leighanne's dress," Emily said.

"I'm not surprised, they're both by the same designer, and we have the same
body type, but her 34's are my 36's. Oh my God, he is going to die when he
sees this," Anne laughed when she said this. Anne changed back into her
street clothes and purchased the dress that very day. She and Emily headed
further up Madison Ave. to Vera Wang's Maids Salon, inside, a woman working
there brought out the five 'finalists' for the design of the bridesmaids'
dresses. "See you're lucky, you're the one who lives here you get to make
the call. Here, try them all on and tell me which one you like best," Anne
said, handing Emily the five dresses all of the same lavender color. Emily
tried on all five dresses. While she liked all of them, her favorite by far
was a satin gown with a high square neck, and an open back with two thin
straps crossing in the middle of the back. The color slowly melted from a
lavender at the top to a rich plum at the bottom of the ankle length skirt.

"It's a keeper," Emily said, spinning in the dress.

"You can say that again," Anne said, as she admired the dress that was very
flattering on Emily.

"I get to keep this, right?"

"No, I'm going to make you give it back," Anne said with heavy sarcasm. "Of
course you get to keep it."

"Hey who else is in this thing, I forgot, I hope the dress will look good
on them too."

"It's you, my cousin Sara, Mary Bennet, from back home, Shelly, one of my
friends from London, and Teresa Garrison, one of my Phi Sig sisters. They
all have about the same body type as you, so I think they'll be okay."

"Cool," Emily replied. They left the store a few minutes later.

Valentine's Day came slowly, Anne had not seen Howie in what seemed like
ages, but that was understandable because they were both extremely busy.
They talked on the phone and he sent her some red roses, there would be no
spontaneous reunion this year, they had too much to do. Anne could not leave
New York, she still had Jekyll and Hyde to do, although her time in
the show was winding down. She only had about one month left, her contract
was up in mid March. During her entire run she had shared the bill with
another performer who most people were surprised to see come on board, David
Hasselhoff. While she was not a fan of his other endeavors, she had to
admit he did do a nice job. He did not have the same vocal skill as the
actor who did the matinee performances with her, Rob Evan, or the same
chemistry that she and Rob had. However, David did bring good elements to
the Jekyll side of the part, she always thought he lacked the carnal Hyde
that other actors had. Nevertheless, he did his best and there is not much
else that could be asked for. A sad piece of information had filtered down
from the powers that be, to the cast, the show would be closing after the
current season was over. Howie was a reluctant but faithful "Jekkie," a
cult fan who sees the show multiple times. Howie had seen the show three
times now, with three different actors playing the title role. Once with
Anne, before she had been cast, with Sebastian Bach, and then the second
time he came to see the show, alone, Rob Evan was singing it, and the third
time was when he was with his parents, and David was on stage.

The final day drew near. It was a Sunday and a terribly depressing day for
everyone involved. The house was sold out, and many previous cast members
were there. Linda Eder who had originated the role of Lucy almost a decade
ago when the show was in its planning stages was in the audience; and
Linda's husband, Frank Wildhorn, who wrote the show, Anne was nervous about
this. She wished Howie could be there, whenever she got freaked out about
something it was always comforting to know he was there.

The show went off without a hitch, and something in the air made Anne give
a more powerful performance. Tonight was difficult for some die-hard
Jekkies; this one woman whom Anne had seen at five different performances
during her run alone, burst into tears after most of the major songs. After
Someone Like You, and Anne saw the woman crying, she wanted to cry
herself, but she wanted Howie there more, for him just to hold her in his
arms and sing to her sweetly. After the second act began Anne felt a sense
of relief, only a few more songs then she would be done. Free to cry or
whatever would happen, she was not sure. When she sang In His Eyes,
with Andrea who played Emma, is when Anne felt like she needed Howie the
most. As far as she was concerned she was singing about him, although she
was not quick to admit it, although, she had let it slip once. "...And
when I think of him, I remember," Anne sang.

"In his eyes I can see, where my heart longs to be," sang Andrea.

"In his eyes I see a gentle glow, and that's where I'll be safe, I
know."

"Safe in his arms, close to his heart."

"But I don't know quite where to start."

"By looking in his eyes, will I see beyond tomorrow?" Andrea sang.

"By looking in his eyes, will I see beyond the sorrow, that I feel?"

"Will his eyes reveal to me, promises or lies?"

"But he can't conceal from me, the love, in his eyes,"Anne answered.

"I know their every look, his eyes!"

"They're like an open book, his eyes!"

"But most of all the look that hypnotized me," they sang together.

"If I'm wise I will walk away, and gladly," Andrea sang alone.

"But sadly I'm not wise, it's hard to talk away the memories that you
prize."

"Love is worth forgiving for."

"Now I realize."

They came in together for the last phrase. "Everything worth living
for is there, in his eyes!"

The audience applauded loudly, Andrea and Anne cast a quick glance at
each other, and then went on with the show. Anne had the next song, her
lone duet with Hyde. A song she had given Howie the music for at his
request, but she doubted he had ever looked at it, when would he have found
the time?

Soon they were to her last song, A New Life, it was something Anne
longed for, a new life away from Rose. She was sick of feeling like two
people, and if she had to choose Rose would go. "...A new life, more and
more I'm sure as I go through life. Just to play the game and pursue life,
just to share it's pleasures and belong, that's what I've been here for all
along. Each day is a brand new life!" The audience applauded, she saw
David move into the shadows out of the corner of her eye, he lit a match. It
was over now. It was time to die.

"Dearest Lucy, you weren't expecting me," David said in Hyde's gravelly
voice.

"No sir," she replied speaking with Lucy's cockney accent.

"Who else can I come to. For sympathy, tenderness...You had another visitor
this evening."

"No, not really."

"It wasn't Dr. Jekyll himself was it? No. Henry's such a very busy man."

"You know Dr. Jekyll?"

"Know him? Oh, well we're close he and I. Very close, we share everything.
Just as you and I do my sweet Lucy. Everything. 'Leave this place I beg
you.' You wouldn't leave without saying goodbye first would you?"

"No sir, I'm not going anywhere."

"That's right. You're not going anywhere. Come to me. Close. Closer." She
came to him as he beckoned, but turned away as he put his arm around her.
Anne had his back to him, she could not see the giant knife he had just
brought out from beneath his coat; judging by the instinctive gasps from the
audience she knew he was raising it to stab her. (The first time Howie saw
the show with Anne as Lucy he was in the third row. He had a look of terror
on his face when this part of the show came, although he had already seen
the show and knew it was coming). David began to sing sweetly a reprise to
one of her own songs she sang to Jekyll in the first act. "Sympathy,"
Anne felt the fake knife press into her back as it retracted into the
handle. She reacted with a gasp of pain and horror as if the knife were
real, the fake blood stained the back of her white corset. "Tenderness,
warm as the summer, offer you their embrace." He stabbed her again, in
the front, another look of agony, more blood. "Friendliness, gentleness,
they are there in this face, goodness and sweetness and kindness abound in
this place." Lucy was dead. Anne heard the audience shudder when Hyde
supposedly spit on her dead body. Moments after Hyde's exit, Anne was
carried off the stage like a rag doll. She was done, now all that was left
for her was curtain call.

Curtain call was agonizing, and people were crying both on stage and off.
Anne had received two bunches of flowers. One, the red roses, was from
David, Andrea had a matching bouquet, and the other, white roses and lilies,
which was not signed at all. Including the ones in her dressing room, she
would have to find a way to bring home five dozen flowers from the theatre
that night. There was a small party with the cast and crew after everyone
had changed, which was only about an hour long. After that everyone met with
people at the stage door. And it took almost an hour for Anne to get to a
taxi, because there were so many programs to sign, and pictures to pose for,
she did not mind. At last she was able to go home, physically and
emotionally drained.

"Hello?" Anne said as she picked up the phone, after she had gotten home
from the theatre, it was a little before one-thirty.

"Hey, it's me."

"Howie, hi. I didn't think I'd be hearing from you."

"You didn't think I'd have time to call my own fiancee?"

"Well, it's just you're so busy, I thought that you'd be working on tour
stuff still, I know it was a big deal."

"Annie, you mean more to me than this tour did. Believe it or not, I'm
marrying you, not my career."

Anne laughed, she was glad he said that, recently she had begun to think he
had forgotten her. She began to wander around the living room of her
apartment as she talked to him. Her eyes stopped on her wedding dress, she
was currently displaying it on a seamstress' model, which they had adjusted
to her exact measurements. She smiled when she thought about being in her
dress and being with Howie. "That reminds me, oddly enough, I've found a
buyer for my house," Anne replied out of the blue. She was going to live in
Florida after she and Howie got married, but also work out of New York when
she needed to. So she decided to sell her house in Michigan. The person who
had shown the most interest in her property was none other than Josh
Hamilton, an old friend from school. He, his wife Amy, and their infant
daughter, Beth, decided to move back 'home' to Michigan from Colorado. Josh
did not want to be so far away from his family after his mother had died
that summer. He fell in love with the spacious property from the moment he
saw it. He and his wife wanted their little girl to grow up in a small town,
Amy, was from a small town out east.

"When do you have to go back and sign the papers?" Howie asked, while he
was talking something caused a little bit of interference with his phone.

"Two weeks, Howie, are you on your cell phone?"

"Yep."

"Really? I figured you'd be done for the night."

"Nope, I'm out at the moment. So what are you doing right now?"

"Well I'm just hanging out in my living room right now. I have my dress,
for now. I've had one fitting done so far, and I sort wanted to have it out
to look at before it gets put away for three months before I have another
fitting."

"Really? You have it out, cool, I'd love to see it sometime."

Anne heard her doorbell buzz, "Hey hold on just a second, Howie, there's
someone at my door."

"All right, holding. Hey would you tell whoever it is to hurry up and go
away so I can get back to talking to my fiancee."

"Oh quiet you," she said and unlocked the door, she began to turn the
doorknob. "Be nice..." she trailed off, and dropped the phone when she found
herself face to face with Howie. It hit the floor with a dull crack, but she
did not notice. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I am doing here?" he asked. Howie put his arms around
Anne and kissed her. Anne could feel the edge of the doorframe pressing into
her back, she did not care, her head was spinning and her heart was
pounding. He always did affect her. Anne had her arms around his neck and
ran her fingers through his ponytail. It was not exactly a secret that Anne
thought Howie's hair looked better pulled back, so whenever he was around
her he always had it back. He finally pulled away and asked, "So are you
going to let me come in?"

"Oh of course," Anne replied, she had completely forgotten what was going
on. She pulled him inside he had his arm around her, she felt this
overwhelming feeling of comfort.

"Is that the dress?" he asked, excited.

"Yep, that's it," Anne answered, Howie went over to it to examine it more
closely.

"It's beautiful," he said and ran his fingers over the bare neck of the
model. "Can I see you in it?"

"No, sorry. You can see me, you can see the dress, but you can't see me in
the dress until the wedding, you know that."

"Oh, please?" he asked, giving her a bit of a sad puppy-dog face.

Anne wavered for a moment, he was very hard to say no to, and this was
especially hard. "No, not until the wedding."

"I understand. You don't want to jinx it, right? Come on, just on little
look, please?"

"No."

"All right, I'll quit bugging you about it. Do you think you could just
send me a Polaroid from your next fitting?"

Anne gave him 'the look.' "Okay I take it back. So when do you start your
next project?"

"May, I've told you this already."

"Awesome, so is there any chance you can catch us on tour sometime?"

"I don't know. Look, if you guys play The Garden then I'll be there, but
otherwise I can't guarantee anything. I'm sorry."

"I understand that you're doing what you love. Hey, you were great
tonight."

"You were there?"

"Of course, I couldn't miss my baby's last performance."

"But how did you..."

"I got the tickets the day I found out you guys were closing. I flew in
this morning, the tour is over, I'm free, so I could finally make some
time."

"The white flowers..."

"White roses and lilies, your favorite."

"Thank you."

"You don't know how glad I am your show is over. You have no idea how hard
it is to sit there and watch a guy take a big knife and stab your
girlfriend. I don't care if it's just a play and I've seen it before, it's
damn creepy. You don't die in Chicago do you? I don't know if I
could take it if you went three for three."

"Don't worry, Velma is the one who commits a murder, it doesn't happen to
her. This show is a comedy, don't worry, so you'll be laughing this time
instead of crying."

"You know, I worked on that song you taught me, do you want to try and sing
it?"

"Sure, I suppose, you're talking about Dangerous Game, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay then." Anne sat at the black baby grand piano in the living room of
the apartment. Howie stood behind her for the moment, this was a little like
how the song was staged in the show. He put his hands on her shoulders, and
traced his fingers, which were still cold from being outside in the chilly
February air, over her back and neck, it gave the desired effect. Anne
tried her best to play the accompaniment, despite the obvious distraction.

"I feel your fingers, cold on my shoulder, your chilling touch as it
runs down my spine. Watching your eyes, as they invade my soul, forbidden
pleasures I'm afraid to make mine. At the touch of your hand, at the sound
of your voice, at the moment your eyes meet mine. I am out of my mind, I am
out of control, full of feelings I can't define!"

Howie bent down and kissed her neck. "It's a sin with no name."

"Like a hand in a flame."

"And our senses proclaim."

They sang together, "It's a dangerous game!"

Howie had uncharacteristically adopted some of Hyde's mannerisms, he seemed
a little more forceful when he sang, which was a little frightening, and yet
thrilling also. Anne relaxed into his arms as he sang, but with her back
still to him. She had given up trying to play the piano. Without even
realizing she did the same things here as she did during this song in the
show, his voice echoed in his sexy, but seldom used lower register. "A
darker dream-that has no ending, that's so unreal, you believe this it's
true!" As he sang the first lines he ran his fingers through Anne's long
dark hair, and then traced the contours of her jaw and finally brushed his
fingers across her lips. She started to tremble, and was glad she was
sitting. "A dance of death, out of mystery tale-the frightened princess
doesn't know what to do! Will the ghosts go away?" Howie put his hand
under Anne's chin and raised it toward his own.

"No."

"Will she will them to stay?" He leaned forward his lips almost
touching hers.

"No." Anne pulled away. No matter what they did when they sang they
were always touching in some way, the electricity flowed through them.

"Either way there is no way to win!" Howie sang in strong contrast
to Anne's breathless last line.

"All I know is I'm lost, and I'm counting the cost, my emotions are in a
spin! I don't know who's to blame..."

"It's a crime and a shame!" Howie said. With unexpected force grabbed
Anne's writs, and pulled her toward him from her seat on the piano bench,
his performance was dangerously intoxicating, and impossible not to respond
to.

"But it's true, all the same." Anne broke free of his grasp and
backed away from him. He followed her, and with only a few steps he had her
trapped in the bend of the piano, the edge pressed into her lower back.

"It's a dangerous game," they sang staring into each other's eyes.

"No one speaks, not one word, but what words are in our eyes. Silence
speaks, loud and clear-all the words we (don't) want to hear!" Howie
grabbed Anne's shoulders his fingers pressed into her flesh, the tension
between them and in the song was reaching a fever pitch. "At the touch
of your hand, at the sound of your voice, at the moment your eyes meet mine.
I am losing my mind, I am losing control, fighting feelings I can't define!"

"It's a sin with no name," Anne sang and tried to push him away, she
turned her back to him, he wrapped his arms around her lower rib cage.

"No remorse and no shame-fire, fury and flame!" he sang and pushed
her hair off her neck and bushed his lips up against her skin, his teeth
touched her neck, almost like a vampire's kiss, her knees began to quake.

"Cos the devil's to blame!"

They sang together, "And the angel's proclaim-it's a dangerous
game!"

Anne instinctively melted back against him, her head rested back on his
shoulder, Howie leaned over and kissed her lips. Both could hear a pair of
hearts pounding, neither of them had realized until this moment how
evocative the song could be when they sang it together. This went far beyond
anything Anne had ever felt during the show, during this song on stage she
got an adrenalin rush, but this was something different, euphoric. They
really did live a dangerous game when they were together. The emotions
welling up inside both of them were getting more difficult to resist. Every
day they were together they wished it was the fall so they could finally be
married.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<<--  Table of Contents  -->>