Five Ball Cha-Cha

[WebMistressGina]

Lo kiddies!

So, I could not for the life of me get this out of my head, so I went ahead and got started on the 5-Ball! This is the fifth story in what is known as the Pool Hall series; obviously, I would very much like it if you were familiar with the first four before reading this one and they go in this order -

Eight Ball Rhumba
Seven Ball Tango
Six Ball Merengue

The start of this is literally taken from the end of the previous story. Also, I forgot to give credit where credit is due - our very own Count is responsible for the naming of this story and that of the last one. And without further ado, here's our prologue!


Amanda Cosgrove was beautiful in every way – heart, mind, and soul and Scooter wasn’t sure if he could ever get enough of her. Her hair was as soft as silk and its color often reminded him of a sunset on a warm and sunny day; her eyes always seemed to have a certain gleam in them and sometimes that sparkle was aimed at him. And when she smiled, oh when she smiled!

Choir of angels on clouds, with wings, and harps.

In that moment, suddenly everything made sense to him – why he had been so concerned on her reaction to the others, how they perceived her, his panic over that disastrous dinner, and his behavior on learning she was having lunch with the axis of evil. And when it hit him, his grip on the bannister only tightened, as though if he let go he would turn into jelly.

He loved her.

Scooter Grosse was completely and totally in love.

The realization that he had fallen in love with Amanda, probably the first time he had ever been in love with someone, had literally stopped the stage manager in his tracks. Time seemed to slow down as his brain and heart worked through the very notion, his inner musings simultaneously jumping for joy, while also sitting down in stunned, but joyful, surprise.

“Hey.”

Time only began again, albeit much more slowly than it had been going just five minutes earlier, when Scooter found Amanda standing in front of him. “Hi,” he answered, shakily.

“You can come down,” she replied, a pretty blush rising on her cheeks. “I won’t bite. Not hard, at least.”

Did she know? How could she possibly? He hadn’t even known until right that moment! Was it possible? “What?” he stumbled.

“I’m not gonna bite your head off for earlier.”

Oh! Earlier. When he had been a complete donkey’s behind and had not only made himself, but her, the subjects for scrutiny amongst those who had happened to be in the theater at the time. “Oh,” he sighed, completing the path from the stairs that he had started earlier. The pool manager stepped back from the last step as Scooter closed the gap between.

Taking her hands in his, he began, “I would like to take this moment to state that I’m a complete and utter idiot. And a jerk, which is probably the nicest word I can use to describe the way I acted. I had no right to say the things I did and believe me, when I least expected, those three are going to punish me. Severely.”

The Whatnot couldn’t help but grin at him shyly; she had ultimately known he hadn’t meant what he had said, though she couldn’t think what would make him say those things, but…after a nice lunch and a nice talk, she knew that the protective circle that the so called Unholy Trinity kept around him wasn’t to stifle him, but to protect him from a legion of girls who hadn’t cared about the person that the red head was, but what his name and his fortune could bring to them.

“You’re not an idiot,” she murmured. “And you’re not that much of a jerk.”

“Oh ho,” he chuckled, pulling her to him. “Glad you think so.” Pushing some of her hair from her face and behind her ear, he whispered, “What can I do to make this up to you?”

Moving her slender arms to circle around his neck, she stated, “I have a list of things that you can do, however seeing as I only have a few hours to get ready before work, I’ll have to settle for you bringing me dinner.”

“Done,” he said. “Preference?”

“Surprise me.”

Scooter nodded, receiving a goodbye kiss and a stroke of his cheek. “See you later,” she murmured, pulling away and heading towards the stage door exit. She waved a farewell to those that were still around, receiving farewells from them as well.

The stage manager was just content to enjoy the view as she left.

 

[Misskermie]

OMG!

I love it.

 

[The Count]

Yay! Thish makes me happy, that you're continuing the Pool Hall fics. Er, there are only three previous entries, this one makes it the fourth.

*Melts from how lovely you presented the scene with Scooter and Amanda. Nice that he's asked forgiveness and she's forgiven him.
Me likes it already. More please?

 

[WebMistressGina]

Yay! Thish makes me happy, that you're continuing the Pool Hall fics. Er, there are only three previous entries, this one makes it the fourth.

Oh dear lord. You're right; I obviously can not count.

*Melts from how lovely you presented the scene with Scooter and Amanda. Nice that he's asked forgiveness and she's forgiven him.
Me likes it already. More please?

While I watch the craziness that is the prez debates (which is like fifteen minutes from my house), I think I could get some more up for ya.

 

[The Count]

Thank goodness I don't have to vote in those.
Vote for Dodi!
(Wonders if anybody will get that reference).

 

[Twisted Tails]

Oh my gosh! This is a really great story, Gina. You give so much detail of the relationship between Amanda Cosgrove and Scooter Groose. Very deep! I wonder how well this fanfic will go to.

 

[WebMistressGina]

Quick question - um...who 'owns' Robin's parents, Jimmy and Leaper? I'm thinking that it's TogetherAgain, but maybe the Count of many facets knows if that's true and if she is still lurking about on the forums.

And yes, it is for this fic.

 

[The Count]

Actually, the characters of Jimmy and Leaper were first created by Beauregard, the MC member. Both he and Toga are still online from time to time. You can contact him, but I think he's okay with other people using them for their fics. Hope this helps.
*Hums a Halloween ditty.

 

[WebMistressGina]

Actually, the characters of Jimmy and Leaper were first created by Beauregard, the MC member. Both he and Toga are still online from time to time. You can contact him, but I think he's okay with other people using them for their fics. Hope this helps.
*Hums a Halloween ditty.

Yes it does indeed! I'm not really gonna use them, just name dropping, but I will make sure to give credit where credit is due. And now...we continue our saga!

Tidbit: Amanda's office issue was something I FINALLY managed to take care of this week!

Five Ball Cha-Cha​

The winter months that led into the start of fall within California were probably some of the nicest days that residents felt. A perfect mixture of mild temperatures with sunshine marked the state as one of the most pleasant when it came to the weather; it meant that the days were sunny and the nights were cool.

On this particular night, Scooter needed as much cooling as he could possibly get. Earlier in the day, he had made a complete fool of himself in front of not only his girlfriend, but just about everyone he worked with. The prospect of her going to lunch with the so-called Muppet Mafia, which he had abruptly named the Unholy Trinity and Axis of Evil during his meltdown, had done nothing to fill him with confidence of any sort.

And then, to finish off the afternoon, he had been struck stunned and surprised when he realized that, after months of freaking out about the smallest interactions between his girlfriend and virtual family, the reasoning for his distress was made clear to him.

He was in love.

He had never been in love before; oh, he had had his crushes – what person who worked with the hottest and most beautiful stars didn’t? – but it wasn’t anything like the way he felt with Amanda. February would mark their four month anniversary and up until that point, Scooter had thought his plans for a romantic dinner, along with a carriage ride through the city were perfect, but now…now knowing that what he had been feeling these last few weeks was love…well…

The stage manager was now at a crossroads – did he keep his plans and tell her then? Or should he tell her now? What if she didn’t feel the same?

That was the big $64 million dollar question – what if Amanda didn’t feel the same?

Certainly, she was attracted to him, but attracted did not equal love and Scooter was well aware of that. What if he was in a one sided relationship? Amanda was a fairly independent woman, she practically helped run Cool Pool, and she certainly had the business sense to run other businesses or even her own…

What would she want with him?

It had been a question the red head had been asking himself every day since the two had decided on this mutual relationship. Every time they saw each other, Scooter wondered if he was dreaming and if he was, how long it would it take for him to wake up; because certainly only in a dream could a geeky kid like land such a babe for a girlfriend. And now, he had the potential chance to ruin that by letting his feelings get in the way.

To be honest, the red head had been distracted ever since the moment of truth had hit like one of Cupid’s arrows. He had probably left way too early from the theater, had probably spent way too much on a romantic takeout dinner, and he knew with certainty that he had gotten lost on the way to her work, which in itself was just inconceivable when the theater and the pool hall were only about three blocks apart from each other.

By the time he got to the pool hall, he was a nervous wreck.

[hr]

As office and business manager for a fairly popular pool hall, Amanda Cosgrove was a woman on a mission. Whether it be speaking to the employees, the patrons of the bar, or even the vendors, Amanda knew what she wanted and usually knew how to get it.

Case in point – her regular Wednesday evenings usually started with helping her father open the place, check inventory, make sure the bartenders and wait staff were where they needed to be, and then get ready to settle into her office and get some administrative stuff done.

Her administrative stuff would often actually be handled during the day, for obvious reasons – many of their suppliers were only opened during the traditional nine to five workdays, which sometimes meant she was actually working on her day off. But her luck worked for tonight, as one of the vendors she needed to call happened to keep the same office hours she did.

Currently, she was on the phone with said vendor, trying to get – for the seventh requested time – a revised invoice for a shipment that they hadn’t asked for, which was the result of the wrong order being put in. Amanda didn’t particularly like this vendor; oh, the manager of the company, whom she usually talked with, was quite friendly and pleasant, but could be a little disorganized. That was where the office and trucking staff came in.

And they were a bunch of morons.

One of the drivers – Nick – constantly hit on her and had only stopped when she told him what she planned to do with that week’s wrongly entered, charged, and delivered shipment. It had actually taken two of the bartenders to hold her back from actually decking the guy.

The receptionist/manager of the facility was…oh, even in thought how did she say this nicely?

An idiot.

Courtney was a nice girl, lovely, very friendly, and very dumb. Several times, Amanda had to stop herself from suggesting that she introduce the girl to Kermit, just because surely he would know someone on Sesame Street that could help the girl. Once, when Amanda had called, she swear she heard Courtney verbally going over the alphabet.

Only to stop on the letter ‘E’.

Currently, the Whatnot was on hold (thankfully Albert, who was the night manager, was there), leaning back in her chair and letting her mind drift back to her favorite subject – Scooter Grosse. He had been sweet and concerned when she had seen him, probably still worried about her reaction to earlier. She had been surprised and a bit disconcerted and disappointed, but at this point, she really had forgiven him.

Not that she wasn’t going to make him suffer a little.

This tradition of him coming by with dinner was not only the nicest thing any of her boyfriends had done, but the sweetest. It had been his suggestion of worry when he had come by once to note that she hadn’t eaten anything. Nights could be crazy at the pool hall, especially when all she wanted was a quiet corner in which to do work. Most times, she did indeed get that, however she would also get very caught up in what she was doing, she’d often forget to eat dinner.

It also allowed the two of them to spend together in a week where they may only get two or three days out of seven. They both worked in places that didn’t keep standard business hours, which afforded them time for breakfast, but Mondays, Scooter was tied up in the Muppet business meetings; Wednesdays, he and Kermit did their own administrative work or they were playing disaster control at the theater; and the weekends were usually spent getting ready for a show.

However, they were both committed to making this work and luckily, they found ample time to do so. While she may not have been able to have breakfast on a Monday, they still usually spent the rest of the day together; during the rest of the week when she worked, they could have breakfast together and on nights like this, where she would get tied up, Scooter would come by and feed her. Just as Albert come back on the line, she heard the customary knock that signaled her delivery and delivery boy had arrived.

“Come in!” she called, waving quickly when she saw it was indeed Scooter, who held up a plain brown bag as he entered. “No, Albie, we did not order that. Seriously, just admit that you guys like talking to me, which is why you keep making me call you for an update on that invoice that I’ve been requesting for two months.

“No, Albie, I didn’t know Courtney was the one that entered the invoice,” she sighed, looking towards the heavens, much to her boyfriend’s amusement. “But you know, when you think about it, that does indeed make sense. Please have her call me some time; I have someone I want to introduce her to. Hmmm? It’s someone that could probably help her with her…um…arterial flow problem. No, I’m not gonna ‘splain that. Look, Albie, I got a delivery guy who would like his tip, so you know…

“Albert, I’m hanging up on you if you don’t stop. Right. Thank you very much. Bye.”

Hanging up, the Whatnot stood and stretched, secretly enjoying the way Scooter seemed to be enjoying it. “I swear I lose brain cells talking to those guys. Oh, they’re the nicest folks you could meet, but…do you think Kermit could…I dunno, give them a tour of Sesame Street one day? I seriously think they could use the help of everyone there.”

Scooter shrugged. “I don’t think he would mind,” he said. “Especially when this seems to be for a good cause.”

“Oh,” she chuckled. “It will be. So, what’s in the bag?”

“Little India,” he said, accepting the loose hug she gave him. “I was feeling like marsala, so…”

“Excellent,” she whispered, searching for his lips.

Despite dating for nearly four months, every kiss they shared still set them both on fire. Scooter couldn’t remember when he had ever kissed a girl and felt – and got – the reactions he did. And it seemed more and more lately that pulling away wasn’t an option anymore, especially now.

“Scooter…”

“Mandy, I…”

The red head did pull back, biting his tongue in the process. He had almost blurted out his newest discovery and he was reluctant for her to know at this point.

“What?” she asked, doing everything possible to make his decision the most agonizing torture ever – green eyes darkened in desire, sexy, seductive smile, and not letting go were a combination that was going to kill him.

“I…uh…” he stumbled. Shaking his head, he swallowed deeply and asked, “What was that about a tip?” And knew immediately that was the worst thing he could of asked.

“Well,” she said, dropping a kiss on his lips. “I’d give you one here and now, but who knows when my dad would pop in.”

Giving her his best stern look, which was more stimulated than stern, he said, “Ms. Cosgrove, I believe you’re trying to seduce me.”

Chuckling, Amanda drew him closer, whispering, “And here I thought you hadn’t noticed.”

“I think we’re both aware, at this moment, that I have indeed noticed.”

Giggling, the Whatnot finally released him to go rummage through the dinner bag he’d brought. Scooter let out the breath he had barely been managing to hold; this wouldn’t do. One look and Amanda could have him a Muppety puddle on the floor; how was he supposed to plan out telling her how he felt if he couldn’t keep the fact to himself for more than a few hours?

Right then and there, Scooter Grosse decide he was definitely going to need some help.

 

[The Count]

Where to begin...

The only thing that really didn't make sense to me was how you started the chapter, "winter months marked the start of fall"?

*Laughs at the people Amanda has to put up with from that other shipping company, from Nick's hitting to Courtney's spaceyness to Albert's wheedling. And these are characters we've only met through incidental mentioning, and already I'm finding they add such a funny dimension to Amanda's workload.

*Evil grin at the thought of Amanda actually bringing up these people to Kermit to have him take them to the street.

You have learned much from the masters of ushgush here at MC, I'm rully loving the play between Scoot and Mandy.
She's a vonderful addition to the Muppet OC community.
And you get brownie points for adding the oft-used quip from The Graduate.

Another great installment, keep it coming.