Title: At Last
By: Old Fiat n. Fr
Summary: When you love someone you'll do anything to protect them.
Notes: I wanted to do a Corny/Maybelle story with intrigue and with a plot other than them just getting together so here goes.
Rating: … with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for Pool!
Why: Violence and some other stuff too.
Currently listening to/watching: I watched The Girl on the Red Velvet Swing (1955) last night. Farley Granger actually gave a good performance. By good, I mean amazing. Ray Milland was also just incredible and Joan Collins was gorgeous. However, I think that they made White more sympathetic than he was in reality because of Evelyn Nesbit's involvement in the production.
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Chapter Three
The week that followed was nothing short of bliss. Though Maybelle and Corny both knew that if the details of their relationship got out they would be practically blacklisted from the entire east-coast, they still managed to go places together in a seemingly professional manner so that no one would be suspicious.
When Corny had returned to the studio on Monday, IQ and the make-up girls had taken note of the new spring in his step. Mona credited this to herself and all of her colleagues were impressed. After the day's episode had wrapped, he and Maybelle went to a nearby diner and discussed desegregation over greasy hamburgers and salty fries.
Tuesday afternoon had been mostly occupied with Corny's mother trying to set him up with some naïve eighteen year old from the club. He had turned her down politely before returning home to give Little Stevie a listen with Maybelle. Though he had protested at first, saying that the kid's name sounded like a sideshow act, after the first three bars Corny couldn't get enough.
Corny played bartender on Wednesday, mixing up some Whiskey Sours (from his own recipe). They drank to everyone else's ignorance.
Seaweed interrogated Maybelle on Thursday, wondering why she'd been going out so much in the evenings that week. She had responded by saying that that was none of his business and that he should be taking care of his little sister, not snooping on his mama. Seaweed, disgruntled, had returned to his position behind the counter at the record shop and had said no more. She and Corny perched on a hill near the drive-in and watched The Music Man with Corny's radio picking up the audio track. They watched the stars to "'Till There Was You."
Friday had been a long day, filled with more rehearsals for the swimsuit episode. Corny had presented the records he intended to play to Velma, including Little Stevie Wonder, and she had grudgingly accepted. Since the shows integration, everything Velma Von Tussle did was "grudgingly." Later, at Corny's apartment, he and Maybelle had made Old Bay seasoned crab cakes and ate them together with a lot of beer and lime wedges.
It was Saturday and after the show had finished Corny was "contractually obligated" to assist the Council Members with their homework (the measure had been instated by Commissar for Madness, Velma Von Tussle because of the dropping grade-point-average of the Council).
As he sat there, watching Amber try desperately to comprehend basic mathematical concepts (a plus b is c, what is b plus a?), he reflected on the last couple of days. Corny Collins was known to most of Baltimore's inhabitants over the age of eighteen as a real lady-killer. He was usually a three pack a day and three girls a week (if he was being lazy) kind of guy. Somehow, Miss Maybelle left him always wanting more of her, not someone else.
It was kind of refreshing, later in the day, that he could go to confession and not have as much to confess as usual. Father Riley had been pleased, but, then again, Corny had left out all the details of Maybelle's appearance. He only got thirty Hail Marys, as opposed to the usual two-hundred.
When he returned home he got himself a beer and sat down on the sofa. He felt good.
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Maybelle, on the other hand, was not required to help the Council with their homework. She supposed it was because Mrs. Von Tussle thought her of lesser intelligence or something bigoted and ignorant like that.
When she entered the record store she greeted her employees, Angie Taylor and Carol Lynn, and started preparing dinner for herself, Seaweed and lil' Inez. The past week had been one of the best in her life. Corny wasn't demanding of her time at all; he'd completely understood when she'd needed to go take care of the kids or manage the shop. He'd been wonderful, adult company. She hadn't really been able to hang out with many adult males at all in the past ten years, mostly just other women from the surrounding neighborhood. It was a nice change and he was a great person.
However, there was a downside to it all. While Maybelle loved just being with Corny, they both knew the dangers that their relationship posed to their careers. Corny had been the most worried about this, saying that if Mrs. Von Tussle or Mr. Spritzer found out he'd be fired in a heartbeat. Maybelle knew, though, that if Mrs. Von Tussle or Mr. Spritzer found out Corny would be slapped around the face a couple of times but that she would be the one who would get the boot.
She had weighed the pros and cons repeatedly in her head during the past week and she reached the conclusion that the pros, by far, outweighed the cons.
She was in love—real love, mutual love—and she was so high from happiness that she felt as if she were sitting on top of a mushroom cloud over the potential destruction their relationship could wreak.
"Mama, I think the peas are burning."
Maybelle jumped and saw lil' Inez standing there, hands on hips, one eyebrow raised and staring at her mother's shocked expression. "Don't creep up on me like that, honey!" Maybelle got some more water from the sink and put it on the slightly blackened peas, trying to regain her composure.
"I've been standing here for five minutes," lil' Inez still had one eyebrow raised far above the other. "Is something wrong? Why are you looking all dreamy eyed?"
"Nothing's wrong, honey, I'm fine," Maybelle turned off the gas on the stove-top and drained the peas before putting them in a bowl.
Seaweed entered the room, looking a bit confused. "Mama, Corny Collins of the Corny Collins' Show," he mocked Corny's standard telephone introduction, "wants to speak with you; he's on the phone now."
Maybelle brushed her hands off on her apron and instructed Inez and Seaweed to start eating. She walked quickly into the living room and picked the phone up off the table. "Hello?"
"Hey. Any plans for this evening?"
She sighed. Maybelle knew that Corny was understanding but that still didn't make turning him down any easier. "I'm sorry, Corny, but I just put dinner on the table and after that I'm going to a party with the kids."
"No problem." Corny paused before continuing to speak. Maybelle could tell he was trying to come up with a new plan. "What about tomorrow night?"
"I don't know." She liked being coy. "What do you have in mind?"
"I was going to say us—around one o'clock in the morning, at the park near my place—having a post-midnight snack and maybe playing some golf. What do you say?"
Maybelle had to wonder where Corny came up with these ideas. Dates with Corny weren't just romantic or sexy, they were also extremely fun. "I guess I'll see you then."
"Great. See you later." She could hear the smugness over the phone.
"Bye-bye, now." She waited until he hung up before doing so herself.
She returned to the kitchen, brushing off Seaweed's question by saying that Mr. Collins only wanted to talk about the swimsuit episode, and spent a wonderful evening with her children. She couldn't wait for the events of the following night. Everything was just perfectly calm when she went to bed. Her life was just getting better every day.