On a personal note, I can somewhat relate to Lenny. My older sister is taking marriage into consideration, and I don't get to spend as much time with her as I usually have...
Ooh, and more voices!!
Milo - (temporarily) David Carradine (a lot of things, including the original Brain from Pinky & the Brain)
Joseph - Phil Morris (His work as Dr. Sweet in Atlantis: The Lost Empire is what inspired me to use him.)
Anyhoo, enjoy!
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Chapter 3: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Okay…so by now you've established the story here. Angie and Oscar got married and it's now a year later. Lenny's bored, but he can't hang with Oscar 'cause the kid's married. So, Lenny's bummed out. Who am I? You might of heard about me. My name's Reuben, and I've been a friend of Oscar's since kindergarten. But enough about that, this story isn't about me. Besides, this whole thing isn't all about Lenny either. Let's jump forward a few weeks. A good distance away from Don Lino's place, another little problem was taking root.
It was around noon at the Whale Wash, and it was business as usual. Oscar was swimming towards a whale going through. He was looking a little irritated.
"Hey, there he is!"
Oscar looked up and rolled his eyes as he saw Reuben swimming up to him.
"Real smooth, Oscar." Reuben said sarcastically as he swam up. "Ya big love machine. I saw your little happenin' up there." As Oscar began to swim away, Reuben grabbed him in a head-lock and noogied him. "C'mere, Lover Boy!!"
Oscar pulled himself out of Reuben's grip and shoved him away. "Hey, lay off, would ya?" he glared.
"Aw, c'mon, pal. It happens to all of us!"
With a sigh and a roll of the eyes, Oscar shook his head and swam off.
You're probably wondering why Oscar's acting weird, right? Well, turns out that he and Angie had gotten in a huge fight. It was something 'bout Oscar's punctuality or responsibility or something like that, I don't know… Newlywed stuff. Anyhoo, I gave Oscar a bit of friendly advice on my own. You can't always fix things by yourself, even if you are an adult. The way I see it, sometimes going to the voice of experience is the best thing for a guy to do.
Oscar knocked on the door of an apartment complex on the other side of town.
After a minute, the door opened, and Oscar saw Angie's father, Milo, floating there in the doorway. "Oscar?"
"Hey, Dad." Oscar said. "Uh, hope I'm not intruding or anything."
"Well, no, but…is there a problem?"
"Well…uh, I need to hear from a voice of experience about marital issues. See, I would go to one of my parents, but…" Oscar grinned sheepishly. "You know… Orphan." he whispered.
"Oh, well, uh…come on in." Milo turned and swam towards the living room and Oscar followed and closed the door behind him. "Can I get ya anything?" Milo asked.
"No, thanks, I'm fine." Oscar said.
They sat across from each other on the two couches in the living room with the coffee table in between them. "Okay," Milo said, "talk to me, pal."
Oscar sighed. "Where to start… See, things are a little…different than they used to be. I mean, just a few weeks ago when Ange and I were celebrating our anniversary, you know, everything was as it should've been. We were having fun just playin' around with each other…but yesterday, we…uh…"
"Had a fight?"
Oscar's ears drooped. "Oh…you…know about that."
"Word reached my ear about it. You apparently made quite a scene at the Wash."
"Yeah…And now she's kinda…slowed down…" Oscar looked up at Milo. The older fish stared at him and lowered an eyebrow, not quite getting his message.
"You're makin' it sound like she's hitting mid-age or somethin'."
"Alright, bad choice of words…" Oscar muttered to himself. "…Uh, she doesn't seem to be as…as keyed up about being married…and I'm afraid it's something I said…"
"Ah." Milo said knowingly. "The-Honeymoon-Is-Over Syndrome."
"…What?"
"Well, it's something that happens to all newlyweds, Oscar. See, in the first year or so that you're married, you both kinda feel those 'hopelessly in love' vibes and everything seems fine and dandy. But then after that, you kinda come back down to earth and life goes on."
"So what am I supposed to do about this…syndrome?"
"Well, there's…there's nothing you can really do to stop it, I mean that's how matrimony works. The best thing you can do is just keep on loving her through thick and thin, and in sickness and health." He gave Oscar a teasing smirk. "Can-do?"
"Well, I…" Oscar blinked and glanced at the ground. "…Uh, sure…I-I guess."
But in all honesty, Oscar just didn't see how that was supposed to help. Whatever happened to charming the ladies? That's what he was good at (or so he thought).
Angie's dad seemed to have it all figured out. The advice provided some light, but Oscar was apparently still in the dark, so to speak. Meanwhile, it was another average, boring day at the Lino residence…
That night, as Lenny swam through the liner, a very familiar voice caught his attention.
"Hey! Lenny, buddy!"
Lenny looked up and saw Joseph, a huge bull shark that wasn't part of the mob, but was one of Lino's good friends, swimming towards him. Lenny always felt extra small around Joseph, but that was only because the guy was so huge. His muscles made him so strong that he could lift just about anything, it seemed. Sure, he ate fish and was a tough shark and all, but deep down he was a fun-loving good guy. He treated Lenny like a little brother. Lenny managed a small smile. It was hard not to smile when Joseph was around. "Hi, Joseph."
"Aw, c'mere and give us a hug!" Joseph joked. He grabbed Lenny and noogied him. Lenny couldn't help but laugh. After he was let go, he looked up at Joseph. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm just droppin' by for a quick visit. I was actually on my way out. But I'm glad I got to see you before I left."
Lenny smiled a little. Joseph always did have a way of making him feel appreciated. "Well, hope you come back soon."
"Count on it, junior." Joseph grinned. As he swam past him to leave, he reached out his fin and gave Lenny a playful rub on the head.
After Joseph left, Lenny swam into his dad's office. Lino looked up at him. "You catch Joseph on the way out?"
"Yeah, I did for a few minutes." Lenny replied tiredly.
Lino lowered an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you? You're lookin' exhausted."
"Nah…" Lenny said, "I'm just bored." he said. But then, he suddenly perked up. "Hey! Hey, I know, Pop, let's grapple! We haven't grappled in years!" He playfully swam up and jumped on Lino's back, pushing him down and taking him by surprise. "C'mon, Pop!"
"Oh, knock it off, pup!" Lino laughed and rolled onto his side, jokingly pushing Lenny off.
Lenny laughed a little and got off of him. Lino rose up and looked at him. "Don't ya think you're a little old for that now?"
"Aw, c'mon, Pop, start reliving some old memories! Don'tcha remember when Frankie and I were pups and you'd come home from some meeting and we'd race up and jump on ya and start to wrestle ya until we pulled ya down?"
"Lenny…"
"Hey, I miss those days, Pop! Don't you?"
Lino laughed a little. "Occasionally." He stopped for a moment "…You know, Lenny," he said after a while, "I think it's about time you settled down. You know, find yourself a girl and get hitched."
Rolling his eyes, Lenny shook his head. "That's what everybody's been saying. But…I don't know…" he muttered doubtingly. "There's not a girl in the world out there that would be interested in a wimp like me."
"Well, you don't know that."
Lenny chuckled sarcastically. "Eh-heh, yes, I do. I mean, she'd have to be a wimp as well."
"Watch what you say there; it could happen."
"No it couldn't." Lenny said simply. "Nobody could love me like that."
Lino shrugged and didn't say anything. It was obvious he couldn't convince him.
"Well…I-I'm gonna turn in early." Lenny said. He turned and began to swim off towards his room.
When he swam into the room, Lenny swam up to his bed and just let himself float down onto it. He tiredly rolled onto his side and flopped his head down on the pillow.
He knew he was kidding himself, but he liked to think that maybe his dad was right. Maybe there was somebody out there for him. He quietly began to sing a little to himself. "Can't buy me love… Everybody tells me so…"
He eventually got to sleep. The next morning, he was awoken by a distant sound. He rolled over. "Three more weeks, Ma…" he muttered tiredly. The sound that had roused him was Luca listening to one of his records in the next room. He was listening to that annoying Big Butts song again. Lenny moaned tiredly and rolled onto his belly, pulling the pillow over his head to try and drown out the sound. When that didn't work, Lenny groaned sleepily and sat up in his bed, only half awake. "…I'm gonna hurt that record player…" he muttered. He tried rubbing the sleep out of one of his eyes. Time to start another boredom-filled day, he thought.
Little did he know things were about to take a turn for the better…maybe for the worst.
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Ooooooh, I love those little hinting last lines!! X)