Chapter 10

"What the HELL, Martin?" Lauren glared at him.

"Lauren, Lauren, I am so sorry. It was my understanding that this was something you knew about, something you'd asked for…"

"Why would I do something like that to people I care about?"

"…I had no idea I'd be surprising you. Or them. I… I… I would have never…" Martin was mortified. He had a reputation as a great host who asked fair questions and didn't ambush his guests. This was a black mark for him as well. How would other guests trust him after this? And now Lauren would never come back to his show; she had a long memory for people who had screwed her over.

"Well then whose bright idea was this? Who said this was okay?" Lauren demanded and before Martin could even answer, she said it herself. "Roberta. Goddamn it. It was Roberta, wasn't it?"

"It was," said Martin. "She told me everyone was aware but you wanted it to LOOK like a surprise. I am as angry and embarrassed as you are, Lauren. This is not how I run my show; I apologize…"

She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, and then Lauren spun on her heels and stormed through the studio, shouting for her publicist, with Martin and three security guards hot on her heels. Eventually she saw Roberta off to the side of the stage where she was waiting. She had her back to Lauren, watching the disconcerted knot of Reagans being ushered up. Roberta wanted to settle them before she brought Lauren into the mix. She knew Lauren was embarrassed but was counting on her not wanting to have a blow out in front of her old friends. Storming towards her, Lauren couldn't see the Reagans. A partial wall hid them, as did some set equipment. In her peripheral vision, Lauren knew there were other people around, but she only had eyes for Roberta.

"What kind of Goddamn stunt was that, Roberta? What were you THINKING? How dare you put me in a situation like that and worse, how dare you do it to people I know? You ambushed me, you ambushed Martin… and you certainly ambushed the Reagans!" Lauren was shouting and didn't care who heard her. Several members of Martin's staff stopped what they were doing to watch.

From where they stood, the Reagans all looked at each other when they heard Lauren's raised voice. Danny let his breath out and his shoulders drop. He was relieved to know that this stunt hadn't been her idea. Linda had already been whispering in his ear about what a crappy move it had been, and how Lauren ought to be ashamed. Maybe this would make Linda back off a little.

Momentarily flustered, Roberta recovered quickly. "Oh, Lauren, don't overreact. It will be a great story. The first meeting of you and your lost love after all these years? The press will eat it up. Now say hello…" Roberta tried to deflect her client's anger but Lauren was having none of it.

"Don't you dare try to change the subject! I've told you before that stunts like this are absolutely unacceptable!" Lauren still hadn't even noticed the Reagans standing off to the side as she railed at Roberta. Out of the corner of his eye, Danny could see Jamie trying not to snicker. He couldn't see his sister, Nicky, or Linda but he guessed their expressions were various degrees of pleased. None of them had been happy to have the spotlight turned on them.

"This was a great opportunity. I'm your publicist and that means getting you in front of the press. Remember, there's no such thing as…"

"Don't you even finish that sentence! Don't even!" Lauren was practically shaking. "There absolutely IS such a thing as bad publicity, and when you ambush an unsuspecting family and make it look like my idea? That makes me look like an insensitive ass. We're done, Roberta. Done."

"Lauren, really. You are being such a diva." Roberta rolled her eyes.

"Diva? I'm being a diva? Are you fucking kidding me?" Lauren ground her teeth. "You know what, Roberta? I've got enough shit going on in my life without you heaping more on there. You're fired!"

That got Roberta's attention. "WHAT?"

"I said you're fired. I no longer need the services of you or Scott Entertainment Limited. Now get OUT!"

Lauren pointed imperiously towards the exit sign even though she didn't own the studio. For a moment Roberta glared and stood her ground, and then a security guard stepped forward. Lauren was the guest, and the star, and Martin was gesticulating wildly that he should do whatever Lauren wanted. So he stepped closer and gestured for Roberta to precede him toward the door. She huffed and stomped and left, her face scarlet.

Lauren stared daggers at Roberta's back until she vanished from her sight. Then she sighed and looked down, shaking her head slightly. This interview had turned into a complete disaster. She took one more deep breath to calm herself and turned toward the group of people to her left with the intent of apologizing for the scene they just witnessed.

Then she saw Danny.

"Danny…" Her face softened and her eyes got shiny. After all the years, there he was in front of her. He looked great, a little older perhaps, but there was no mistaking that it was her Danny. She cleared her throat, forcing the tears away.

"Hey, Lauren." He smiled and stared, drinking her in.

"I am so sorry," she said before he could say anything else. "I had no idea you were here tonight; no idea she was going to pull a stunt like that. I would have never—never—agreed to it if I'd known."

"I know you wouldn't have," he said. "And you fired her; that's good enough for me. Now forget about that. How about a hug? It's been an awful long time."

He opened his arms. She smiled and put her arms around him, patting him on the back, and then just holding on. Lauren squeezed her eyes shut; it felt so good to have her arms around him again after all these years. It was like a piece of her life that had been slightly off-kilter was suddenly back in just the right place. She didn't want him to let go.

Danny felt the same, and he didn't just hug her, he pulled her in close so his chin rested on her shoulder. They stayed there a moment too long and Jamie and Erin exchanged quick, startled glances. Linda stood stone faced and frozen; all of her fears suddenly coalescing into reality right before her eyes. Get your hands off of my husband, you bitch.

"Its really good to see you," Lauren said as they separated. "It has been way, way too long."

"It has. You look great," he said with a smile. You look more than great. You're more of a knockout now than you were when we were younger. He stepped to the side and reached back towards Linda to draw her forward. "This is Linda, my wife."

Lauren held out a hand. "A pleasure, Linda. And I am sorry about what happened."

"Don't worry about it." Linda smiled but she wasn't happy. It had been embarrassing; almost humiliating to hear that song and know it was about Danny. How many other songs were about him? And then to be thrown in the spotlight? Just have your reunion and move on. I just want to get back to our life—our life without you. The handshake was perfunctory and Linda very deliberately put her arm through Danny's after. She gave Lauren a look that was nothing short of hostile.

Wow, thought Lauren. If looks could kill… But she didn't dwell on it and Lauren held her arms out to hug Erin.

"Erin," she said with a smile. "You look the same as you did in high school."

"Ah, a nice lie, but thank you. This is my daughter, Nicky."

Nicky shook Lauren's hand vigorously. "It is so great to meet you," she practically gushed.

"Very nice to meet you as well. I was impressed with your paper. You did a nice job of balancing the highlights and the lowlights of my career without making it some sordid little gossip tale. I hope the Sisters gave you a good grade."

"An A," said Nicky with a proud smile.

Lauren looked at Erin. "Her mother's daughter, I see… and Jamie. Look at you. All grown up now." She hugged Jamie as well.

"You sounded great tonight, Lauren. Top shelf," he said.

"Thanks."

"That's really exciting that you're going to record your new project here. So you're going to do all of it here and not in LA?" asked Nicky.

"It is. We'll be working with Fitz McCallum on it, like I said in the interview. I've got a little more writing to do, and then we'll start tinkering in the studio. Pretty much what I told Martin. The rest of the band will be getting to New York in the next week or so. You guys should stop down sometime; you can watch a session." Lauren smiled. She liked Nicky.

"Oh, Mom, can we? That would be so awesome."

"We'll see," laughed Erin. "It will depend on school and when things are happening."

Lauren turned back to look at Danny. "So, how's your Dad? Your Mom?"

"Mom passed away two years ago," said Danny sadly. "Heart attack. And Joe was shot and killed on the job."

Lauren gasped, and put a hand to her mouth. That was shocking, terrible news. She took Danny's hand and squeezed it. "I'm so sorry," she said and looked at each of them. "I didn't know. I am so very sorry."

"It's okay," said Danny.

"We got through it together, as a family," added Linda, with an emphasis on family.

"But Dad is doing great." Danny stepped in before Linda could say anything else. "He's been Commissioner now for five years. He said to say hello to you and that he's sorry he couldn't make it. He had someplace else he needed to be tonight."

"Give him my best, would you? He was always so nice to me when we were dating." It was petty to mention that, but Lauren felt a perverse need to respond to Linda's comments about family.

They all talked and reminisced for another 10 minutes. Lauren learned about Jamie's stint at Harvard, Erin's divorce, Danny and Linda's sons, and some of his recent encounters as a detective. Nicky told her about some of her classes and how people had reacted to her paper. Finally, one of Martin's assistants came up to them.

"Pardon me, Miss Stone? Your car is here."

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute, thanks."

"We should go, too," said Danny. Linda couldn't agree more and was already moving toward the door.

"I'm sorry we didn't have longer to catch up," said Lauren. "Hard to cover nearly 20 years in 20 minutes. It was so good to see you." She held out her arms again, inviting Danny in for a hug.

As he pulled her close again, Danny whispered in her ear. "I've missed you, Lauren. More than you know."

She closed her eyes and with considerable effort, stopped herself from clinging to him. "I've missed you, too," she whispered back.