Epilogue
Vanessa
Rollie looks absolutely radiant, and she smiles up at me. She’s tired, of course, but who wouldn’t be after delivering a baby. Carl beams at her and a moment later, two new people arrive. One is a mountain of a man, like Carl, and the other is a girl--cute as a button with the happiest smile I have ever seen.
“Oh, she’s beautiful!” the new girl says and scoops up the newborn to coo at it.
The new man produces two big cigars and says, “We’ll sneak away and smoke these later.”
“Leo, I thought the father gives out the cigars,” Carl says.
“Hey, for years I’ve been managing your life so you could get the credit. Why stop now?”
Carl laughs and says, “Fair enough.”
The new girl asks, “Have you picked a name?”
Rollie smiles up at her and says, “I named her after my best friend. Say hello to Elena, Auntie Helen.”
“Oh, Rollie,” the girl breathes out, eyes brimming with tears. She looks at Leo. “Oh, Daddy. She’s just perfect.”
Daddy.
I heard Rollie call Carl that name as well. It seems strange but I have never seen a couple treat each other with more love. Well, now I have seen two.
Who are these people and how are they so happy?
Carl says, “Helen, Leo, I want you to meet Vanessa. She just arrived today. We were at my office when we got the call.”
“Vanessa,” Helen says with a smile. “Well, I know you’re going to fit right in here. I think baby Elena knows, too.”
Leo says, “You know you’ll have an apartment right through your dressing room, right? Part of the package.”
“I didn’t get to tell her anything yet, Leo,” Carl says.
An apartment is a big weight off my shoulders. I’ll be handling entertainment for Carl’s club while Rollie focuses on the baby for a few months, and while she tours clubs around the country. I’ve seen videos of her, and know I have big shoes to fill.
The door opens and another man walks in. He is like a clone of Carl but darker, with jet black hair and a trimmer mustache and beard.
Leo exclaims, “Micah! I thought you were arriving next week.”
Micah hugs him. “It’s been a long time.”
Carl says, “Vanessa, this is Leo’s brother. Since Rollie’s tour will be starting in a few months, he’s going to manage the club while the four of us…” He glances at the baby. “The five of us are on the road. You and Micah are going to be working quite closely together.”
I take a nice long look at the perfect man standing with his brother and friends and I say, “That sounds wonderful.”
It sure does.
***