Author's Notes:
Okay, here is my next installment in my newest collection of Team Legacy stories starring various members of the team. This story is about Dorothy Zbornak and her many misadventures with her friends and teammates. This first chapter is about Dorothy going on a lunch date with Celeste Schafer, one of my original characters; Celeste then proceeds to tell a sad and tragic story of her first love and of how she lost her to one of the most horrible diseases in the world. This is also an in-depth reference to one of my more recent stories about Natasha Richards and of how Merula and Celeste first meet. I have to warn you though that this involves a femslash pairing and if you do not like these types of stories, I suggest you back away now. This chapter also contains a reference to my Courage/Lion King/Golden Girls crossover as well as a reference to my War On America story.
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Dorothy Zbornak's Life Stories – A Collective Series Of Journal Entries
My Dinner With Celeste
Thank God! I finally have my own new diary! I always wanted a diary to post my thoughts in and I've been so envious of Maude because she had a diary to post her thoughts and feelings in and I didn't; why the hell do I want any of my friends reading my personal thoughts in my blog? Anyways, it's been three days since Celeste had asked me out to dinner at a local Burger King and I've been unable to jot down my latest entry because I was still processing everything that happened that night. I still can't believe it happened. I just... can't believe it.
It all started when Celeste and I were feasting on French fries and whoppers while sipping on Cokes and waiting to eat our desserts, which for me was a chocolate Hershey sundae pie and for Celeste was an apple pie. I took a huge bite out of my whopper and after watching Celeste swallowing hers, she then set her sandwich down and then gazed at me with a demure and coy glare and I saw her thin line contort into a puzzled and anxious frown. "Dorothy, there is something I must discuss with you," was Celeste's huskily grim reply accompanied by a rueful sigh. I then raised my eyebrow to beckon her to say her peace.
"Dorothy, you've been a very good friend to me and I trust you with every being in my heart and soul. That's why I asked you to come eat dinner with me at Burger King. I understand that you do not feel the same for me as I do for you, but I still want to discuss something very important with you," Celeste began to explain to me as she periodically took small sips from her medium-sized Coke and managed to distract me by tapping her fingernails on the table and drummed them with a hollow, clicking sound.
Little did I know that Alexis Carrington and 627 were also eating out at Burger King and were at an eavesdropping spree; they were sitting just four tables away from us a few inches from the main door. Alexis has gained a notorious reputation for her sharp, venomous, malicious tongue and I do not trust her at all, if any. For some reason she always has something awful and horrendous to say to me and my friends and she also likes to deride us as well. However, sometimes the horrific and disgraceful news she has to deliver to her peers has some form of truth in them, even if people don't want to hear it.
"So Celeste, is it about Eliza and you?" I inquired her curiously and inquisitively. "Dorothy, I'm thinking of carrying a woman's fetus with the use of sperm donor. I know it must be awfully foolish because Galen is barely 3 months old and I shouldn't be having children in my age but I'm seriously considering the possibility. I'm willing to take on any risks that accompany my decision. I'm also considering having Eliza's eggs implanted into my uterus and having sperm donor fertilize it and having me carry the child full term. I would like Eliza and I to raise our child together. However, given that Eliza is Jewish, it may be against her religious beliefs and I do not want her to force her to do anything that she feels is immorally against her values. So that's why I'm considering other people as the egg donor for me."
"I also thought of you, Dorothy. You're one of the other women besides Eliza that I trust and love dearly and if you don't want to accept my offer I'll understand, although it may hurt a little," Celeste confessed to me in a frank and candid manner. I started from my chair and practically choked from my food. I then gulped down the portion of the whopper I held in my mouth and then gasped, "You want me to donate my eggs to you? Celeste you're crazy! I'm an elderly woman; I'm not like Eliza or you where the two of you can reproduce every couple of months. Besides, I'm way past menopause and I'm still a living human being. And even if I'm not I'm not sure if I'm up to it."
"I haven't told Eliza about this yet. I don't want her to be upset and take it the wrong way. That's why I decided to tell YOU first. And I'm also thinking about proposing to Eliza and giving her a friendship ring so we could sign into an open contract that institutes a Boston marriage that will also allow one of us to take up with a romantic interest if either Eliza or myself feel like it. I want her to become some sort of a domestic partner to me and raise our kids together. I'll propose to her regardless of whether or not she agrees to my egg donor," Celeste continued to elaborate and explicate her situation to me and I proceeded to listen intently and I was awed at how she was taking such a big step in her life at such an advanced age. Don't forget Celeste is only 70-years-old; she should have done this 20 years ago!
"Celeste, why are you doing this now? How come you haven't done this when you were in your 50's?" I interrogated her quizzically and in a stupefied manner. "I was going to! I was doing Chicago in 1985 and I was considering asking Merula to donate her eggs to me and get some sperm from a sperm bank so the two of us could raise our own baby and live a wonderful life together. But... I never got the chance; I did ask her hypothetically what if I were to one day ask her if she wanted to have children with me with the aid of a sperm donor, but I never officially asked her. I also regret never having the chance to ask her to marry me."
"She went on a vacation the weekend before the Tony Awards one day with her stupid new beau of hers and they had intercourse and when she came back... I found out that she had AIDS. I was so terrified and alarmed at the news that I immediately got myself tested. It turned out that I was HIV negative, so I concluded the bastard gave it to her. She was soon stricken with a deadly bout of pneumonia and her immune system was compromised by the time the Tony Awards came around. I had to accompany her to the awards ceremony by wheeling her in her wheelchair."
"It was in that ceremony that night - and I shall never forget it - that both Merula and I both won a Tony Award on the same night just in different categories - me for Best Leading Actress and her for Best Supporting Actress. I was thrilled and ecstatic at the same time and I was overjoyed that Merula won as well and I remembered carting her right onto the stage right up the stairs - it took a total of 3-5 minutes - and we stood in the front center together, hand in hand. I saw the audience cheering and screaming in a flood of hysterical enthusiasm and hilarity. Merula looked worn out and frail and she seemed very exhausted from the whole event - but she was happy just the same to have the award sitting in her lap. So was I."
"Unfortunately for the both of us our time together was limited and brief after that - Merula's health spiraled out of control and she developed all kinds of health problems that no normal human being would commonly get. She fought more frequent bouts of pneumonia, had two malignant tumors in her breast and had almost her entire right breast removed in a major mastectomy. In addition, Merula had also chronic bouts of bronchitis and was also diagnosed with ovarian, lung, throat, and uterine cancer; she also had cataracts in her eyes that left her nearly blind. She also was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor as well. Finally, she became so terminally ill that she was no longer able to leave her house."
"On the day she died, she called me over to her apartment and asked me if I could be with her when she passes over to the afterlife. I was horrified that she was now in a state of dying but I agreed anyway and came over as fast as I could. I then lay in bed with her as she just stared ahead and she could barely talk. She could only manage to speak to me in a hoarse, low, whispery voice and she started to speak to me on how she was not afraid of dying and how she was anticipating to cross over to the afterlife."
"Merula also admitted to me that she was willing to accept any judgment that God was willing to pass over to her and that she had no regrets for her relationship with me but did regret that she couldn't spend more time with me. I was so overwhelmed with grief and sorrow and I was not willing to let her leave me all alone in the world."
"Merula tried to comfort me by hugging me and reassuring me that she will always be with me in spirit. It worked, for I told her to keep on holding me until she couldn't hold me anymore. Merula held me for hours as I slept in her arms and I kissed her on the cheek in the somber, dead silence. Merula then kissed me in the lips with her lips closed tight in an effort to protect me from being exposed to the AIDS virus. Right then and there I wanted to have intercourse with her just like we had so many times before she fell critically ill, but I knew I couldn't. And that was the hardest part for me to take."
"Eventually in the evening hours just before midnight, Merula uttered her last words, "I love you, Celeste." She then took her last breath and I watched as her chest rose for a few seconds before it fell and went still for the last time. The life dissipated from her eyes, and Merula lay lifeless in my arms. And I knew in that moment she was gone. I was invited to her funeral that was attended by numerous family members, friends, and colleagues (including janitors, the principal, vice principal and fellow teachers) from her school that she taught in, her students from her English honor classes, and also her fellow castmates from "A Chorus Line" the play that won her her only Tony."
"I delivered the eulogy and I recited on how Merula was such a dear friend to me in over the months that I had come to know her; although we originally did not get along and we were eager rivals to outdo the other by winning more acclaim and fame, one night we had forged a bond that was unbreakable and that transcended time. I omitted our various sexual escapades and I also left out the fact that I was her primary lover for the sake of her family and to give her respect, save that I loved her with all my heart and I wish that her death did not happen but unfortunately it did. I ended my speech by saying that her death was an unfortunate event and that she may be gone from our lives but in the hearts of all that knew her, she will never, ever be forgotten."
"And I was met with great applause. That was the least I could do for her. I commiserated with her family and I apologized to many of the members for their loss and when her casket was lowered down to her final resting place I sobbed frantically along with the lot of them. The months that followed were the most traumatic of my life. I was so devastated and grief-stricken by my lover's untimely death that I became suicidal. I went on drinking binges and I started sleeping around just to forget her."
"One day after a particularly bad day I snapped in an extreme moment of stress and I downed a bottle of booze and overdosed on 15 pills in a suicide attempt. I wanted to end it all but then my neighbor came to my aid and called the paramedics on me. I wound up in a detox center and I checked myself into Alcoholics Annoymonous. I struggled with her death for several years and it wasn't until Shania Twain released her single "From This Moment" that I finally started to heal. I bawled my eyes out when I first heard it because it reminded me of Merula and I and all of the happy memories we had together. I visualized the two of us marrying in a civil union and having children of our own; finally, I imagined Merula and I growing old together and dying together in serenity and peace."
"I came to realize that I can't wait for the rest of my life for another Merula to come along and that I'll always remember her in my heart no matter what I do, because she's a special part of my life. I'll have to move on with my life, but I will also cherish her and remember the good times we shared and the many intimate moments we had together, even if the majority of those moments were pretty raunchy. And as long as I do that, she'll still be alive forever and for always."
"As I listened to the song, I thought to myself, what would I not give to dance with Merula to this song just ONE MORE TIME? I still think that every day. I'll always miss her, but she'll always be with me in spirit and I'll always love her and cherish her always. Now do you understand Dorothy why I want to do this?" Celeste explained to me in detail as she revealed to me the tragic and poignant story of her old flame who tragically died as a result of a serious and incurable illness and of how her death had haunting consequences on the one lover she left behind.
I was so moved and touched by it, even though I was not a bisexual myself, and I understood where she was coming from. I was devastated and distraught when Stan left me for a younger woman and for a time I was inconsolable. But in time I made new friends and built a new life for myself and now I have a boyfriend of my own: Simba. Celeste was a very courageous elderly witch to go through such a sad period in her life and keep her spirits up even as it seemed that there was no way out. By this time we had finished our dinner and were now feasting on our desserts.
Celeste had tranquil, serene twinkling in her eyes and she had a soft smile creeping on her lips. "Now I have Eliza. I love her just as I did Merula and I feel great. You know what I'm going to name my future daughter? If Eliza and I have a girl, I'm going to name her Merula after my first love. This way I'll remember her and I'll honor her at the same time," she said to me with such a great feeling of satisfaction I could detect it in her voice. Finally we were done with our dinner after a long night and it was almost closing time. Celeste and I walked over to the door and who did we find blocking our path? That's right, Alexis Carrington and her henchman Experiment 627.
"Congratulations on your new baby, Celeste. I hope you and Eliza are very happy. Wait till her little friends hear about this," Alexis Carrington scoffed and taunted Celeste with a vicious smirk written in her lips as her catty eyes gleamed and shimmered with pure malice. That bitch, I thought to myself. "Listen here you conniving snake. Celeste has every right to live her life and you have no right to interfere with hers. So mark my words: if you do anything in any way that sabotages their relationship, I will find you and slit your throat," I offered her with a threat while standing up to her.
"Ohh, getting catty, eh Dorothy? I have no intentions of playing your little games right here in this restaurant. It's nearly closing time and it's best settled at the club when we head back. I'll see you and Simba when we get there. In the meantime 627 and I will do more stakeouts and see any more information that could be uncovered," Alexis chortled as she continued to banter and chat with me on her plans for the evening. "Settle down your games, Carrington. It's late and you best resume them in the morning," I advised her admonishingly. "Zbornak, I suggest you and Celeste stall your carousing through town until dawn break in which time we'll meet again," Alexis Carrington quipped to me in a sarkily caustic manner.
"Very well then, same to you. Come on Celeste, it is closing time," I agreed and then the four of us walked out of the restaurant hand in hand and we then headed back to the club. Honestly, I think Alexis is just jealous of me because Simba is now going out with me and he's not dating her anymore due to the fact that they broke up ages ago.
"You know, Dorothy?" Celeste said to me as we walked out, "I'll be excited for Eliza and I to be the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl." "I would think so too," I added cheerfully. "And, I would love to make her friends godparents of our little princess," Celeste went on to say with a enthused grin. "We'll see, Celeste. We'll see," I replied to her. Well, I had a lot of time to think about the enlightened conversation we had together. I just hope Celeste is happy with her decision and she and Eliza talked things over. I just hope I may get to marry Simba one day.
Originally written July 1st, 2009 at 5:59 P.M.