Here is part 4 - ENJOY!!!
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After numerous calls he finally managed to track her down. She was back in New York performing on Broadway. With a shaking hand, he wrote down the last telephone number and thanked the secretary.
One little slip of paper. Ten very big numbers. He took a deep breath and picked up the phone for what he hoped was the last time. Quelling his nervousness, he dialed the number. The phone on the other end began to ring.
After six rings a bored female voice answered. “Hello?”
“Hello. This is Kermit the Frog calling from the set of the New Muppet Show. Is this the Majestic Theater?”
“Yes it is. Can I help you, Mr. Frog?”
Kermit cleared his throat. “May I please speak to Miss Piggy?” This was it; there was no turning back now.
“Can you hold for a moment, please?” If she could have gotten any more bored, Kermit couldn’t have said.
“Certainly.” At this point some boring elevator music began playing out of the earpiece. Kermit waited patiently for a few minutes then began to drum his fingers on the desktop as the time ticked on.
After what seemed like an eternity, the phone was picked up. “Hello?” Piggy’s soft voice came on the line.
Kermit suddenly found himself speechless. His mouth had gone dry and his carefully planned speech had left him.
“Hello?” Now she sounded uncertain.
He licked his lips and tried to speak. His voice came out a bit hoarse. “Hello, Miss Piggy.” He waited for her response. One of two things was going to happen now, she was either going to hang up on him or she was going to talk. He hoped for the latter.
“Kermit?”
“Yes, I, uh, I’m calling from Hollywood.” Dumb thing to say. Where did he expect her to think he was? Paris?
“Yes, I pretty much figured that out.” A brief pause. “Did you need something?”
Tell her, a small voice inside his head told him. “Um, I, uh, just wanted to see how you were. It’s been a while since we last talked.”
“I’m doing fine, and I can see from the reviews you are getting that you are as well.”
So she had known there was a new show. “Yes, we are holding our own here.”
This time the pause was longer. Miss Piggy broke the silence. “So, was there a real reason you called, Kermit? I’m a busy woman you know.”
He could feel himself breaking out into a cold sweat. “Uh, actually there is another reason.” Tell her. Just tell her.
“And that would be?” she asked him sweetly.
“I, uh, I, um,” Just say it and be done with it already. “I miss you, Piggy.” There it was out, and he couldn’t take the words back.
“You miss me?” She said the words softly as if they alone were made of glass and could break.
Kermit nodded into the phone then realized she couldn’t see him. “Yes, I miss you. It’s not the same here without you.”
Another long pause, then this one was broken by Kermit. “How soon does the show wrap?”
“Why?” Her normally strong voice was soft and hesitant.
“I would like to see you again.” He couldn’t believe he was saying this to her. Wasn’t he the one who wanted to get away? “That is, if you want to see me?”
“We finish this run in 3 days. I could hop a plane and come back for a brief visit.” She told him with a tremble in her voice.
“That would be great.”
“Then I’ll make the plans. Look, I’d really like to stay and talk more but I’ve got to go get changed. Our next number starts really soon.”
“It’s okay. I understand. So, I’ll see you in 3 days?” Kermit felt his heart lift a bit at this news. Once she was here, he could finally talk to her.
“Yes. I’ll call you later with the details. Goodbye, Kermit.”
“Goodbye, Piggy.” He hung up the phone, feeling a rush of warmth flood his body. She was willing to see him again. It wasn’t much but it was a start.
With a smile on his face for the first time in months, Kermit walked away from the phone and back to tell Kylie the good news.
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(3 days later)
Kermit sat patiently at the table in the moderately expensive restaurant. Somewhere he could hear soft music playing. His table was lit with fragrant candles and the light danced and created shadows on the tabletop.
It was his idea that he first see her over dinner. She was flying in and had arrived about an hour ago. She was to stop by her hotel room and change before meeting him at the restaurant.
He glanced at the door. She should be here soon. He hoped that they could get off on the right foot this time. He was going to apologize and do his best to make amends, but he was going to be sure she didn’t get any wrong impressions.
He didn’t need her going off on a romantic kick again.
He wanted them to be friends. He hoped she would want that too.
Kermit picked up the dinner menu and began to peruse it. What could he order that wouldn’t send the wrong impression? Anything even partially romantic was out. Something plain, normal, ordinary would be nice.
He was pretty much torn between the Roast Prime Rib or the Sea Scallops and Linguini Pasta when a shadow fell over his menu.
He looked up to see her. His jaw dropped slightly open as he gazed upon her. Her hair was swept up and fixed neatly atop her head and held there by a jeweled barrette. Small ringlets of curls were left loose to frame her face.
She wore a simple black dress, with a silver belt. On her hands were long silver gloves and she wore silver pumps that cradled her feet perfectly. The only jewelry she wore was a simple strand of pearls and one ring with a pink stone. In one hand she held a small black evening bag.
In a word, she looked stunning. He was very much aware that he was staring and had to force his eyes to look away as he stood to pull out her chair. She sat gracefully and then he took his place opposite her.
“You look …” he paused to try to find the right word. He shrugged. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She said and then added. “You look handsome.”
He blushed slightly knowing that in his navy slacks and light blue long sleeve shirt he did nothing of the sort.
A waiter appeared just then and they placed their orders. The menus were taken away and Kermit was faced with finding something to say.
“Piggy, I,” he hesitated, as he gazed upon her.
“Yes, Kermit?” She asked as she sipped water from her glass.
“I want to say that I’m sorry.” He could see her eyes shining in the soft candlelight and he was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea after all. “I never meant to hurt you when I yelled at you that day.” He didn’t need to specify which day. He knew she would know.
She nodded. “Yet you did.” She let out a soft sound that might have been a sigh of disappointment. “I was very hurt, Kermit.”
“I know.” He reached across the table to take her hand. “That is why I’m here now. To tell you that I am sorry, and that I would like you to come back and be part of the new show.”
He could see the hope flicker and fade from her eyes. It was obvious that she had expected him to say more. She broke the contact with his hand and placed both her hands in her lap.
“I appreciate the offer, but really, I’m doing fine on my own.” She even broke his eye contact with her and was staring down at her water glass, watching the beads of moisture rise up and drip down the side.
He was saved from having to say anything right at that moment as the waiter showed up with their meal. It was served efficiently and they began to eat in silence.
About halfway thorough the meal, he noticed that she wasn’t really eating, but more like pushing her food around on her plate. “Aren’t you hungry?” He asked as he looked at her.
That soft sigh noise came again. She looked up at him and shrugged. “I thought I was, but now, I guess not.” She laid her fork across her plate and covered it with her napkin. “I’m sorry, Kermit.”
“Sorry?” He asked, puzzled.
“I had envisioned a night that I know isn’t going to happen.” She toyed with the edge of her napkin. “I thought just maybe that you had more reasons for calling me and having me fly out here that to just apologize.”
Uh-oh. He didn’t like where this was heading. Better to stop this train right in its tracks right now before it derailed and got messy. “Piggy, I know what you expected. After all these years I just know you too well. You expected me to beg you to come back to me. You want me to proclaim that I was not able to live without you and that I needed you back. You want me to say that I love you. Right?”
A tiny nod was all he got for a response.
“Let me tell you something. I do love you.” At this her head snapped up and her jaw fell open in surprise. He continued quickly before she could say a word. “I’m just not ‘IN LOVE’ with you. I care very much for you, and I don’t like to be the one who hurts you.” He again took her hand in his. “I do want you to come back but I want it to be for the right reasons. I want you to come back because you want to help make the show great, not because you want to score points with me.”
He took a breath and continued. “I want us to remain friends, and try to start over. I want you to be happy, but not at the cost of making myself miserable.”
“I- I made you miserable?” She asked as if the idea had never occurred to her.
He nodded. “Piggy, you were smothering me and driving me crazy. I couldn’t seem to take a step without bumping into you or being dragged away.”
He gently caressed her hand, so warm beneath the satiny gloves. “I can’t fall in love with someone like that. You never gave me any chance to be the person that I really am.”
Now it was her turn to look sheepish and embarrassed. “I am sorry. I guess I was kind of rotten to you.” She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “Forgive me?”
He smiled. “Only if you forgive me.”
He could feel the tension building in the room, for there was something between them, but he didn’t know what to call it. He knew that he felt a lot better now after having this talk with her.
The candlelight was now making dancing shadows as she brought her face close to his. He was so entranced by her sheer beauty that for a moment, he almost forgot his resolve. He leaned in closer, getting a small whiff of her expensive perfume, his face mere inches from hers.
“You are forgiven,” she whispered to him.
“So are you,” he whispered back.
A sound of an expensive dish falling and shattering broke the spell and he cleared his throat and moved back away, releasing her hand.
“Um, uh,” he fumbled to regain his lost composure.
He could see the disappointment in her eyes again but this time it wasn’t as bad as it usually was. He summoned over the waiter and paid for the meal. They both got up and left the restaurant for a walk on the boardwalk.
“So have you decided?” He asked her, as they walked quietly along underneath the starry sky.
“Decided?” She asked, her mind completely on other thoughts.
“Whether or not you will come back.” He answered her and waited for her reply.
“Well,” she stalled for time. “I want to, but I don’t want to make the same mistake again. I’m not so sure that I can be around you and not want to be near you all the time.” It was a hard admission for her, and she had to stop to hear his reply.
“Well, knowing the problem is half of the solution. By being aware of what you are doing, can help prevent you from doing it again.” He held out one hand, hoping she would take it.
She did. They walked hand in hand for a few steps and he continued. “See?” He hoped this little example would stick in her head. “Isn’t this much nicer when I volunteer to hold your hand rather than you grabbing at mine?”
She had to admit, it was. “I do see the difference now. And it does feel nicer on the inside too.”
The rest of their walk was pretty much in silence, but they never released the hands they held. At last he made it to her hotel and he walked her up to her room.
“I do want you to come back. Promise me you will consider it?” He asked her as they stood before her door.
“Yes, Kermit, I will.” She said and this time she meant it.
“Kermie.” He corrected.
“Pardon?”
“It doesn’t sound right when you call me Kermit.”
“Ok. Kermie.”
He smiled. Things were definitely looking up now. “Goodnight, Miss Piggy.”
“Goodnight, Kermie.”
With his last bit of bravado, he stood on tiptoe and kissed her gently on the cheek. “Call me tomorrow.”
This last display really surprised her, as she reached up a hand to caress the spot. She was so stunned that all she could do was nod and open up her door. Once she was safely inside, Kermit turned around and left.
Yes, things were starting to get back on track.
But were they really?
~To be continued in Part 5.
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