I don't own Mike from Multi-Facial, I don't own the songs. Hope you like it!!
Chapter 1
She sits among the pieces / Of broken glass and photographs / Reluctantly releases the last / Of what was her past / It struck without a warning / Or did she just ignore the signs / Of the dark clouds forming behind / Her silver lining
Laina sat in her rocking chair, knitting quietly. She felt a stray piece of her now light brown hair fall onto her brow and swept it away carelessly. Suddenly, the telephone rang and she placed her hand on the white machine.
"Hello?" she asked politely. She waited for an answer.
"Mama..." she heard. It was her newlywed daughter. She wanted to smile and inquire all about her married life, but could sense tension in the young woman's voice.
"What's the matter, Meachala?" she asked finally. The girl began crying and spilled the entire story about a fight she and her husband had just gotten into.
"And I threw things and we said some really nasty things to each other... I'm sitting here, surrounded by broken glass and picture frames... Mama... I don't know what to do!" she cried. Laina said her good-byes and raced out to her car as quickly as her still-strong legs would allow.
"Meachala, sweetie!" Laina cried as she walked into her daughter's home. The younger woman enveloped her mother in a strong, sob-choked embrace. The two stood for a long while in silence, save for Meachala's crying. Soon, they found their way over the broken glass to the sofa. Meachala continued sobbing while Laina stroked her long, black hair. Laina thought about the wedding - How beautiful Meachala's dress was, how amazing the ceremony had been, how handsome the groom looked.
"Mama, I just don't know what to do," Meachala cried, looking at her mother with a tear-stained face. Laina stared into her daughter's dark green eyes and saw something all too familiar. "I think he wants a divorce... Mama, I just don't know! I know that everyone said we were crazy to get married and that it would never work out and all... But I love him and oh Mama, I don't want to let him go!"
"Meachala, honey, listen to me," Laina pleaded, "I want to tell you a story."
"Mom, I just don't think I can handle this," Meachala cried harder, "I can't believe I've only been married for three weeks and we're already getting a divorce." Laina's heart almost broke in two when she heard her daughter's words.
"No sweetie, you have to listen to me," Laina said softly, "That would be the biggest mistake of your life."
"No, Mama, marrying Trey was my biggest mistake!"
"No honey, I know you can get through this," she replied, holding her sobbing daughter.
"Mom... It's just... Did I just ignore what was going on?" She sat to look at her mother, "Or do you think this just sprung out of nowhere or what? I mean..."
"Meachala, listen to me, I've gor something to tell you."
"Mom... I just... I don't think we can be together..." she began rambling. Laina tried to come between words, but to no avail.
"Meachala!" Laina said forcefully, "Listen to me." Meachala jumped but nodded in agreement and listened intently as her mother started a story that she would never, ever forget.
----------------
Chapter 2
Mike and I were the typical 60's couple in our area. Our mothers were friends in school and remained so until their deaths, so we grew up together. Of course, like all children, we hated each other. We were too different, and too much alike. Once we entered junior high, something amazing happened. Everyone could see it coming, and we soon started dating.
Until high school, it was nothing too serious; going to the movies, school dances, a quick kiss after school. We entered the 9th grade and our relationship suddenly flourished. Mike started driving, we were both growing, and everyone expected us to stay together. It was hard, but we did it.
All through high school we were the most popular couple in school. We were friends with everyone individually and as a couple. We were so in love. Every day he'd pick me up for school and I'd ask him, "Mike, did you shave today?" and he'd say, "Yeah baby, I did." Every day for four years. And in our freshman year, he started lifting weights for football, and I was cheering, so we were both getting in shape, and we were the cutest couple, is what everyone said.
For as long as anyone could remember, I wore Mike's ring. It was just that simple. Everyone knew I was his girl. All of my girlfriends and I would talk about how Mike and I would probably be the first out of all of our friends to get married. So we did. Straight out of high school, we were married. I don't know why it shocked so many people, it was an inevitable fact.
Well, everyone said we were crazy, but they were there to see us off on our honeymoon. Everything was amazing when we got back home. The New York skyline welcomed us back from our trip and we were never happier. Life was smooth for about a year, then money started getting tight. We were just kids and had no kind of work experience, so jobs weren't exactly easy for us to come by. We really started fighting soon, and eventually decided to get a divorce. We parted ways as friends, but we couldn't just go back to premarital life. It was impossible. All we could do was pick up our broken lives and move on. Recreate. Eventually, I was back on my feet, and he was trying to start his acting, but after I heard about a small role he landed, I never heard anything from him again.
To this day, I regret more than anything, letting go the only man I ever really loved. But it's okay, I understand what happened. We were just two kids in love... Without a chance.
Brenda and Eddie were the
Popular steadies
And the king and the queen
Of the prom
Riding around with the car top
Down and the radio on
Nobody looked any finer
Or was more of a hit at the
Parkway Diner
We never knew we could want more
Than that out of life
Surely Brenda and Eddie would
Always know how to survive.
Brenda and Eddy were still going
Steady in the summer of '75
when they decided the marriage would
Be at the end of July
Everyone said they were crazy
"Brenda you know you're much too lazy
Eddie could never afford to live that
Kind of life."
But there we were wavin' Brenda and
Eddie goodbye.
They got an apartment with deep
Pile carpet
And a couple of paintings from Sears
A big waterbed that they bought
With the bread
They had saved for a couple
Of years
They started to fight when the
Money got tight
And they just didn't count on
The tears.
They lived for a while in a
Very nice style
But it's always the same in the end
They got a divorce as a matter
Of course
And they parted the closest
Of friends
Then the king and the queen went
Back to the green
But you can never go back
There again.
Brenda and Eddie had had it
Already by the summer of '75
From the high to the low to
The end of the show
For the rest of their lives
They couldn't go back to
The greasers
The best they could do was
Pick up the pieces
We always knew they would both
Find a way to get by
That's all I heard about
Brenda and Eddie
Can't tell you more cuz I
Told you already
And here we are wavin' Brenda
And Eddie goodbye
----------------
Chapter 3
"That was an amazing story, Laina," Meachala's husband Trey praised. The two women both jumped and turned toward his voice.
"Trey!" Meachala yelped. She jumped to her feet, ran to her man and wraped her arms around his neck and kissed him for the longest time. Laina smiled, but allowed herself to remember a time when she felt the same happiness.
"Well, my job here is done," she said, walking past the two swiftly. Meachala embraced her mother and thanked her for the help.
Laina left the apartment feeling joy for her daughter, but a slight despair for herself. She wandered through the City, almost aimlessly, until she realized where she'd arrived. She looked up to see the old, familiar wooden sign that read, "Ristorante."
"Mother of Jesus," she said softly as she entered. It was like a time warp. There was a man sitting at the table that she and Mike always occupied. It was easy for her to imagine the place bustling with people as it had back in the late 60's when their friends always came around. She spotted the waiter who'd been there for ages and stopped to chat for a few minutes. How are the kids? How's the wife? Oh, I saw Meachala is married, congratulations! How's life been for you? The normal polite conversation.
"You sit down right over there, in your old, familiar place. I'll get you a drink!" The man said, rushing back to the kitchen.
"But there's someone sitting there already," Laina protested.
"Then move him!" she heard as she watched the old man scurry into the kitchen. She mustered up her courage and walked over to the table. She slid into a chair across from the man.
"Sir?" she asked sweetly. He looked up and she almost expected Mike. She explained that the table was on permanent reserve and asked if he wouldn't mind moving somewhere else. Luckily, the man agreed without question and moved across the room. She thanked him and looked around. It really did look exactly the same.
"Amazing, isn't it?" she heard. She snapped out of her daydream and turned to the man who was talking, expecting the waiter. Who she saw took her breath away. There he was, the epitome of everything she loved. Mike stood before her, and she could barely breathe. He took is all-too-familiar place across from her.
"H-hey..." she stammered. He looked so much better than she remembered.
"Hey," he rumbled. She took a long look at him, noticing that he was doing the same.
Suddenly, a song flashed into her mind.
Things are okay with me these days
Got a good job, got a good office
Got a new wife, got a new life
And the family's fine
We lost touch long ago
You lost weight I did not know
You could ever look so good after
So much time
I remember those days hanging out
At the village green
Engineer boots, leather jackets
And tight blue jeans
Drop a dime in the box play the
Song about New Orleans
Cold beer, hot lights
My sweet romantic teenage nights
She'd always thought that the old Billy Joel tune was written by one of their classmates who knew them all too well, because it was so biographical.
"So, you're finally here," he said. She snapped back to reality and looked at the man across from her that she hadn't seen in nearly twenty years. Her first kiss, first time, first love.
"Yeah, I don't know why I came here though," she said sweetly. He looked at her for what seemed to be a long, long time. Had it been anyone else, she would've been uncomfortable, but something about having shared a significant part of her life - and herself - with him made the situation amazing.
"Well, remember what I told you, if you ever wanna see me, just come here." She smiled at him warmly. He grabbed her hand and pulled her from the chair and into an embrace. She inhaled slowly the musty scent of his jacket, noticing that it was the same one she'd gotten him for their last Christmas together.
"I told you'd I'd always be here for you," Mike said softly into her ear. Laina felt a smile spread across her face and was so touched. She began to tear up as she remembered the night they decided to get a divorce. "I missed you," he whispered.
"I've missed you so much, Mike," she told him, beginning to cry. He hugged her tighter.
"Laina, please don't cry," he pleaded. She tried to stop, but it hurt too much to keep it all in for another moment. She pushed herself away from him, then took his face into her hands and laid a short, soft kiss on his lips.
"You shaved," she whispered, tears still running. He grinned.
"Every day. For you," he explained. She began crying harder, laughing. She kissed him again.
"Mike..." she said softly, "Let's go back to my place. I have something to show you." He kissed her again, silently agreeing.
----------------
Chapter 4
"My God," he said, shocked. "This is your daughter? She's gorgeous." Laina had shown him every picture of Meachala she'd ever taken.
"Yep, that's her, isn't she beautiful?" Laina was positively beaming with pride. She showed him the wedding photos.
"God, she's so young... I remember when we were that young," he said, a peaceful, remembering smile on his face. The two of them reminisced. They talked about family, friends, all the times they had together.
"I've really missed you, Mike," she told him when he was ready to leave.
"And I've missed you, Laina," he replied. She smiled at him weakly. He tgrabbed her hand with his left hand and held her chin with his right. He placed a soft, barely-there kiss on her lips, then turned, and walked away. Before he reached the door, he turned back to her. "Laina," he called. She stepped into the hallway. "I'll meet you anytime you want, in our Italian Restaurant," he sang. She smiled again and blew him a kiss. When he walked out of the building, she closed the door and leaned against it.
"Billy Joel," she said softly. Her chest was tight as she began crying again. She slid down the door and shed tears of love and pain, of heartache and happiness. She knew she had to hear the song she'd been thinking of, so she flipped on her stereo. An avid country fan, her tuner was set to a popular country station. The lyrics she heard as she searched for the proper CD were too marvelous.
And still
The world stood still
I couldn't move
And all I could feel
Was this aching in my heart
Saying I loved him still
"You said it," she said, popping in the CD. The beautiful melody of "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" filled the apartment. The intensely personal lyrics rolled through her mind as the song twisted and turned and flowed. She smiled happily as she heard the final refrain:
A bottle of red, a bottle of white
Whatever kind of mood you're in tonight
I'll meet you anytime you want
In our Italian Restaurant
Chapter 1
She sits among the pieces / Of broken glass and photographs / Reluctantly releases the last / Of what was her past / It struck without a warning / Or did she just ignore the signs / Of the dark clouds forming behind / Her silver lining
Laina sat in her rocking chair, knitting quietly. She felt a stray piece of her now light brown hair fall onto her brow and swept it away carelessly. Suddenly, the telephone rang and she placed her hand on the white machine.
"Hello?" she asked politely. She waited for an answer.
"Mama..." she heard. It was her newlywed daughter. She wanted to smile and inquire all about her married life, but could sense tension in the young woman's voice.
"What's the matter, Meachala?" she asked finally. The girl began crying and spilled the entire story about a fight she and her husband had just gotten into.
"And I threw things and we said some really nasty things to each other... I'm sitting here, surrounded by broken glass and picture frames... Mama... I don't know what to do!" she cried. Laina said her good-byes and raced out to her car as quickly as her still-strong legs would allow.
"Meachala, sweetie!" Laina cried as she walked into her daughter's home. The younger woman enveloped her mother in a strong, sob-choked embrace. The two stood for a long while in silence, save for Meachala's crying. Soon, they found their way over the broken glass to the sofa. Meachala continued sobbing while Laina stroked her long, black hair. Laina thought about the wedding - How beautiful Meachala's dress was, how amazing the ceremony had been, how handsome the groom looked.
"Mama, I just don't know what to do," Meachala cried, looking at her mother with a tear-stained face. Laina stared into her daughter's dark green eyes and saw something all too familiar. "I think he wants a divorce... Mama, I just don't know! I know that everyone said we were crazy to get married and that it would never work out and all... But I love him and oh Mama, I don't want to let him go!"
"Meachala, honey, listen to me," Laina pleaded, "I want to tell you a story."
"Mom, I just don't think I can handle this," Meachala cried harder, "I can't believe I've only been married for three weeks and we're already getting a divorce." Laina's heart almost broke in two when she heard her daughter's words.
"No sweetie, you have to listen to me," Laina said softly, "That would be the biggest mistake of your life."
"No, Mama, marrying Trey was my biggest mistake!"
"No honey, I know you can get through this," she replied, holding her sobbing daughter.
"Mom... It's just... Did I just ignore what was going on?" She sat to look at her mother, "Or do you think this just sprung out of nowhere or what? I mean..."
"Meachala, listen to me, I've gor something to tell you."
"Mom... I just... I don't think we can be together..." she began rambling. Laina tried to come between words, but to no avail.
"Meachala!" Laina said forcefully, "Listen to me." Meachala jumped but nodded in agreement and listened intently as her mother started a story that she would never, ever forget.
----------------
Chapter 2
Mike and I were the typical 60's couple in our area. Our mothers were friends in school and remained so until their deaths, so we grew up together. Of course, like all children, we hated each other. We were too different, and too much alike. Once we entered junior high, something amazing happened. Everyone could see it coming, and we soon started dating.
Until high school, it was nothing too serious; going to the movies, school dances, a quick kiss after school. We entered the 9th grade and our relationship suddenly flourished. Mike started driving, we were both growing, and everyone expected us to stay together. It was hard, but we did it.
All through high school we were the most popular couple in school. We were friends with everyone individually and as a couple. We were so in love. Every day he'd pick me up for school and I'd ask him, "Mike, did you shave today?" and he'd say, "Yeah baby, I did." Every day for four years. And in our freshman year, he started lifting weights for football, and I was cheering, so we were both getting in shape, and we were the cutest couple, is what everyone said.
For as long as anyone could remember, I wore Mike's ring. It was just that simple. Everyone knew I was his girl. All of my girlfriends and I would talk about how Mike and I would probably be the first out of all of our friends to get married. So we did. Straight out of high school, we were married. I don't know why it shocked so many people, it was an inevitable fact.
Well, everyone said we were crazy, but they were there to see us off on our honeymoon. Everything was amazing when we got back home. The New York skyline welcomed us back from our trip and we were never happier. Life was smooth for about a year, then money started getting tight. We were just kids and had no kind of work experience, so jobs weren't exactly easy for us to come by. We really started fighting soon, and eventually decided to get a divorce. We parted ways as friends, but we couldn't just go back to premarital life. It was impossible. All we could do was pick up our broken lives and move on. Recreate. Eventually, I was back on my feet, and he was trying to start his acting, but after I heard about a small role he landed, I never heard anything from him again.
To this day, I regret more than anything, letting go the only man I ever really loved. But it's okay, I understand what happened. We were just two kids in love... Without a chance.
Brenda and Eddie were the
Popular steadies
And the king and the queen
Of the prom
Riding around with the car top
Down and the radio on
Nobody looked any finer
Or was more of a hit at the
Parkway Diner
We never knew we could want more
Than that out of life
Surely Brenda and Eddie would
Always know how to survive.
Brenda and Eddy were still going
Steady in the summer of '75
when they decided the marriage would
Be at the end of July
Everyone said they were crazy
"Brenda you know you're much too lazy
Eddie could never afford to live that
Kind of life."
But there we were wavin' Brenda and
Eddie goodbye.
They got an apartment with deep
Pile carpet
And a couple of paintings from Sears
A big waterbed that they bought
With the bread
They had saved for a couple
Of years
They started to fight when the
Money got tight
And they just didn't count on
The tears.
They lived for a while in a
Very nice style
But it's always the same in the end
They got a divorce as a matter
Of course
And they parted the closest
Of friends
Then the king and the queen went
Back to the green
But you can never go back
There again.
Brenda and Eddie had had it
Already by the summer of '75
From the high to the low to
The end of the show
For the rest of their lives
They couldn't go back to
The greasers
The best they could do was
Pick up the pieces
We always knew they would both
Find a way to get by
That's all I heard about
Brenda and Eddie
Can't tell you more cuz I
Told you already
And here we are wavin' Brenda
And Eddie goodbye
----------------
Chapter 3
"That was an amazing story, Laina," Meachala's husband Trey praised. The two women both jumped and turned toward his voice.
"Trey!" Meachala yelped. She jumped to her feet, ran to her man and wraped her arms around his neck and kissed him for the longest time. Laina smiled, but allowed herself to remember a time when she felt the same happiness.
"Well, my job here is done," she said, walking past the two swiftly. Meachala embraced her mother and thanked her for the help.
Laina left the apartment feeling joy for her daughter, but a slight despair for herself. She wandered through the City, almost aimlessly, until she realized where she'd arrived. She looked up to see the old, familiar wooden sign that read, "Ristorante."
"Mother of Jesus," she said softly as she entered. It was like a time warp. There was a man sitting at the table that she and Mike always occupied. It was easy for her to imagine the place bustling with people as it had back in the late 60's when their friends always came around. She spotted the waiter who'd been there for ages and stopped to chat for a few minutes. How are the kids? How's the wife? Oh, I saw Meachala is married, congratulations! How's life been for you? The normal polite conversation.
"You sit down right over there, in your old, familiar place. I'll get you a drink!" The man said, rushing back to the kitchen.
"But there's someone sitting there already," Laina protested.
"Then move him!" she heard as she watched the old man scurry into the kitchen. She mustered up her courage and walked over to the table. She slid into a chair across from the man.
"Sir?" she asked sweetly. He looked up and she almost expected Mike. She explained that the table was on permanent reserve and asked if he wouldn't mind moving somewhere else. Luckily, the man agreed without question and moved across the room. She thanked him and looked around. It really did look exactly the same.
"Amazing, isn't it?" she heard. She snapped out of her daydream and turned to the man who was talking, expecting the waiter. Who she saw took her breath away. There he was, the epitome of everything she loved. Mike stood before her, and she could barely breathe. He took is all-too-familiar place across from her.
"H-hey..." she stammered. He looked so much better than she remembered.
"Hey," he rumbled. She took a long look at him, noticing that he was doing the same.
Suddenly, a song flashed into her mind.
Things are okay with me these days
Got a good job, got a good office
Got a new wife, got a new life
And the family's fine
We lost touch long ago
You lost weight I did not know
You could ever look so good after
So much time
I remember those days hanging out
At the village green
Engineer boots, leather jackets
And tight blue jeans
Drop a dime in the box play the
Song about New Orleans
Cold beer, hot lights
My sweet romantic teenage nights
She'd always thought that the old Billy Joel tune was written by one of their classmates who knew them all too well, because it was so biographical.
"So, you're finally here," he said. She snapped back to reality and looked at the man across from her that she hadn't seen in nearly twenty years. Her first kiss, first time, first love.
"Yeah, I don't know why I came here though," she said sweetly. He looked at her for what seemed to be a long, long time. Had it been anyone else, she would've been uncomfortable, but something about having shared a significant part of her life - and herself - with him made the situation amazing.
"Well, remember what I told you, if you ever wanna see me, just come here." She smiled at him warmly. He grabbed her hand and pulled her from the chair and into an embrace. She inhaled slowly the musty scent of his jacket, noticing that it was the same one she'd gotten him for their last Christmas together.
"I told you'd I'd always be here for you," Mike said softly into her ear. Laina felt a smile spread across her face and was so touched. She began to tear up as she remembered the night they decided to get a divorce. "I missed you," he whispered.
"I've missed you so much, Mike," she told him, beginning to cry. He hugged her tighter.
"Laina, please don't cry," he pleaded. She tried to stop, but it hurt too much to keep it all in for another moment. She pushed herself away from him, then took his face into her hands and laid a short, soft kiss on his lips.
"You shaved," she whispered, tears still running. He grinned.
"Every day. For you," he explained. She began crying harder, laughing. She kissed him again.
"Mike..." she said softly, "Let's go back to my place. I have something to show you." He kissed her again, silently agreeing.
----------------
Chapter 4
"My God," he said, shocked. "This is your daughter? She's gorgeous." Laina had shown him every picture of Meachala she'd ever taken.
"Yep, that's her, isn't she beautiful?" Laina was positively beaming with pride. She showed him the wedding photos.
"God, she's so young... I remember when we were that young," he said, a peaceful, remembering smile on his face. The two of them reminisced. They talked about family, friends, all the times they had together.
"I've really missed you, Mike," she told him when he was ready to leave.
"And I've missed you, Laina," he replied. She smiled at him weakly. He tgrabbed her hand with his left hand and held her chin with his right. He placed a soft, barely-there kiss on her lips, then turned, and walked away. Before he reached the door, he turned back to her. "Laina," he called. She stepped into the hallway. "I'll meet you anytime you want, in our Italian Restaurant," he sang. She smiled again and blew him a kiss. When he walked out of the building, she closed the door and leaned against it.
"Billy Joel," she said softly. Her chest was tight as she began crying again. She slid down the door and shed tears of love and pain, of heartache and happiness. She knew she had to hear the song she'd been thinking of, so she flipped on her stereo. An avid country fan, her tuner was set to a popular country station. The lyrics she heard as she searched for the proper CD were too marvelous.
And still
The world stood still
I couldn't move
And all I could feel
Was this aching in my heart
Saying I loved him still
"You said it," she said, popping in the CD. The beautiful melody of "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" filled the apartment. The intensely personal lyrics rolled through her mind as the song twisted and turned and flowed. She smiled happily as she heard the final refrain:
A bottle of red, a bottle of white
Whatever kind of mood you're in tonight
I'll meet you anytime you want
In our Italian Restaurant