Three Ball Salsa

[The Count]

Wait... Next week?
Ju are a bad bad person okay.

*Wonders if there'll be a reference to Brian Cristopher in the fic as well.
*Having trouble thinking of a diva whose name would match with Amanda.

For some reason, the scene of the lunch date between the trio reminds me of this SNL sketch... There's a nerdy type of guy who tries to add his own jokes to the conversation between the other guy and the girl at the table, but he can't keep up with the timing... So when he's had enough and feels he's at his lowest point, he excuses himself to go to the men's room... The nerdy guy steps into a bathroom stall, locking the door behind him, and then the camera pans up to the top revealing that the stall is a time machine. Next thing we know, the nerdy guy's rejoined the table and his jokes are in perfect time with the other couple.

Thankees for the update, post more when you can. *Leaves a mug of hot chocolate for Gina.

 

[WebMistressGina]

Happy New Year, Mup Cen!

I finally had a day in which to catch up on things and one of those things was updating this fic. This is actually only a portion of the next chapter, but you know I always feel bad when I forget to update and leave you guys hanging. So hopefully my new work schedule will let me actually work on stuff and now that I've completed another move - which I don't have to do again for a year - and I've got the Internets, things should be ok.

So to catch you all up - An old boyfriend of Amanda's has come into town, just on the heels of her relationship with Scooter hitting a more intimate level and the seeds of conflict have been set. In this chapter, we see the results of that conflict. Remember, this is just the first part of this chapter with more to come hopefully tomorrow!


III.


Kermit didn’t know how it started or why it started, but the middle of his week just spelled disaster on all fronts.

It was bad enough that Pepe and Rizzo had somehow started a riot during one of their promo shoots, but then he had gotten a call from Floyd Pepper that the Mayhem’s drummer may have gotten into some trouble with one of the Kardashian women; added to that was the fact that Rowlf, whom he had always counted on to being the only sane person left in the theater and back up musical act should anything happen, was sick with the flu.

And if that didn’t top the day off, his assistant had been nowhere to be seen.

He couldn’t really fault Scooter, after all the red head had a life outside of work, especially since catching and keeping the eye of one Amanda Cosgrove, so the frog would sometimes let it slide if the manager was a little late coming back from lunch or arriving at a morning meeting.

That Tuesday however he had expected better.

Instead of doing their normal budget meeting on Wednesdays, Kermit was set to meet up with their parent company that morning, so they had moved the meeting to some time Tuesday. Granted, saying ‘some time on Tuesday’ was usually spur of the moment, whenever they were in the same room together, but they had been doing it for so very long, it was like second nature to just guess at what the appropriate time could be.

Normally, the two of them were in perfect sync; lately however – that week and some of last to be exact – Kermit got the feeling that his second in command was distracted. And not the kind of distracted Kermit expected someone who had just entered into a more…intimate level of a relationship. It wasn’t like him to be so unfocused, unless something was wrong, and if something was wrong, Scooter wasn’t talking, which was also odd.

Tuesday morning and afternoon came and went, with Kermit getting more work done and getting more and more worried as to where his page was. By the time he walked into his residence in the late afternoon, he had been convinced he’d find his assistant and his girlfriend sitting around the kitchen table, gabbing about whatever it was those two gabbed about.

“Well, the pig’s here, but no redhead.”

“And hello to you, too,” stated Piggy, sitting at the table as Kermit predicted, but alone.

“You haven’t seen Scooter today, have you?”

“Weren’t you supposed to have seen Scooter?’

“Well, if I had seen him, would I be asking you if you saw him?”

“Someone’s cranky,” the diva spat. “Did we miss our afternoon nap?”

Kermit shot her a look that clearly stated he wasn’t amused. “No,” he huffed. “Nor did we miss your particular brand of humor.”

“My, we are cranky,” Piggy said. “You know Moi hates it when we aren’t engaged in witty banter.”

Kermit sighed before taking a seat across from her at the kitchen table. “My annoyance and disappointment have now turned into worry,” he admitted. “It’s not like Scooter to miss a meeting, even if he’s pleasantly distracted.”

Piggy considered the point, conceding to the fact that the redhead hardly ever, if never, missed any appointment set between him and Kermit. “I’d say maybe he forgot, but…”

“That’s not like Scooter,” Kermit interrupted, shaking his head to add to the point.

“Get much done today?”

“I got everything done today,” groused the director. “Which wouldn’t be so bad if I had had help.”

“Mon cher,” the diva cooed, placing a hand over his. “You always do so much for everyone and never take any credit. You, dear frog, deserve a reward.”

“You know I’m always leery about any reward coming from you.”

“You like my rewards and you know it.”

The sudden ringing of the phone only kept the retort from leaving Kermit’s lips for a beat. Standing and moving towards the phone, he threw over his shoulder, “There’s that spice again.” Lifting the receiver, he answered, “Frog residence.”

Piggy watched with an amused smirk – she always did love how he answered the phone with ‘Frog residence’, ultimately including – and proving – to her and everyone just what the status of their relationship was. The smirk started sliding however as she watched the frog try to get whomever was on the phone to answer.

“Wait, what?” he asked. “Scooter…Scooter, listen to…Scooter, I need you to calm down because I have no idea…I…hey, hold on!”

Kermit had been making his way over to the table as soon as the crying started to get intense before finally thrusting the phone into the confused and surprised hands of Piggy’s. “It’s Scooter,” he said. “I think. Not sure, he won’t stop crying.”

“Andrew.”

That was the first and truly only word Piggy was able to get out for nearly five minutes, as she listened to the redhead on the other babble and ramble about what had happened that day. Even as he described it, it was hard to understand as his tears and moaning prevented a coherent sentence. “Andrew,” she began. “Andrew, I need you to listen to me, dearheart. Darling, I can’t understand anything through your tears, so perhaps you just need to come over. Wait, no. You’re in no condition to drive; Fozzie will be over in about ten minutes.”

Piggy looked to Kermit, who had immediately anticipated her needs by grabbing his own phone and started dialing the number for the comedic bear. The conversation ended there, the diva confident in the knowledge that her charge would be arriving soon and the frog confused as to what had just happened.

“What just happened?”

“Well,” the diva began. “It sounds like Scooter and Amanda may have had a small tiff. Something I’m sure can be easily rectified, but you know how fragile the boy can be when his heart gets broken.”

“Broken hearted?” Kermit asked. “That sounds serious.”

“It’s not, I’m sure,” Piggy replied, waving off the concern. “It’s just a little argument. Something like we’ve had.”

Kermit gave her an incredulous look.

“Oh please,” she huffed. “Don’t you remember our first fight?”

“Gee, that might be tough to recall,” he deadpanned. “We’ve had so many.”

“You’re about to walk into another one at the rate you’re going.”

Fifteen minutes later, the two heard the sounds of car doors opening and closing, the sign that Fozzie had arrived with Scooter in tow. Having a key to the place, Scooter didn’t bother to knock – though Fozzie did tap the open door to announce their presence – and immediately walked in, obviously highly upset. Piggy, who had always been Scooter’s shoulder to cry on, was ready with a hug as soon as he walked over.

“My life is over!” he exclaimed.

“No it’s not.”

“Yes it is!” he screamed, instantly bursting into tears. “This is the worst day ever! She’s not talking to me and I’m certainly not gonna talk to her after the things she said and did! And now everything is ruined!”

“Everything will be fine,” Piggy cooed, patting him on the back. “You’re just upset. I’m sure once you’ve calmed down…”

“I can’t calm down!”

“Yes you can,” she replied, patiently. “And do you know what would make you feel better?”

Scooter sniffed. “Ice cream?”

“Exactly.”

“With chocolate syrup?”

“In the cabinet.”

“And sprinkles?”

“I’m sure there’re sprinkles around somewhere.”

“And whipped cream?”

“In the fridge, side door.”

“And cocoa!?”

Both Kermit and Piggy glared at Fozzie, who had been a patient and silent bystander to the whole emotional breakdown; that is until the list of desserts popped up and all bets were off. Fozzie loved dessert and nothing was better than tasty ice cream, with syrup, sprinkles, and whipped cream, all next to a piping hot cup of cocoa.

“Could there be cocoa?” came the whispered plea from Piggy’s shoulder.

Sighing and doing her best not to roll her eyes, Piggy said, “There can be cocoa.”

“Okay,” Scooter sniffed, loosening his grip. “But I’m not gonna enjoy it.”

“You’ll just have to bravely gulp it down,” came the response. Prodding the page to release her completely, Piggy guided the redhead towards the kitchen, watching as he shuffled towards the makings of an ice cream sundae. Turning to speak to Kermit, she nonetheless couldn’t ignore the hopeful look that was coming her way from a very hungry and dessert starved bear.

“Oh, go on!”

Fozzie almost tempered his excited squeal as he bounded off behind Scooter to provide ‘help’. Watching the two head off, Piggy announced, “Girls, Kermit. Really need to consider it.”

“Will keep it under advisement,” he nodded.


[hr]


It only took a few moments to get the whole story from Scooter – how an old boyfriend of Amanda’s had come into town, how she was spending an awful lot of time with him, and how Scooter and Amanda had come to get into an argument about it – but it was enough to paint a clear picture, to Piggy at least, as to what had happened.

She wasn’t able to convince the younger Muppet that this was just a minor set back and that all couples had at least one major fight, something Fozzie threw in that she and Kermit had major fights just about every week, but it was enough to at least calm him down some. Piggy counted it a triumph when she could also get Kermit to state exactly when, how, where, and what their first fight had been about.

As far as Piggy was concerned, the matter was settled and it would just take a cooling off period before everything was back to rights.

Kermit, on the other hand, was not feeling the same way.

For some reason, this fight between the two redheads was not setting right with him; in his mind, he counted all the times that Scooter had gotten his heart broken, as well as the many times he and Piggy had argument up one side of the coast and down the other. Those two instances were combining into one horrible thought that perhaps Scooter was entering into a relationship that maybe wasn’t right for him.

On the other hand, Kermit liked Amanda; thought she was good for Scooter and that’s what was tearing him up. Which of these thoughts was the right one? Should he consider Amanda like the others and potentially doom what would have been a wonderful relationship? Or should he just let this continue, only to have Scooter get the biggest break in his life?

It irked him during dinner and had only gotten worse when he and Piggy turned in for the night. He knew his tossing and turning was probably irritating to the pig lying next to him, but he couldn’t help it. Finally, he sat up and turned on the bedside lamp.

“Piggy?” he whispered. “Piggy? Darlin’, you asleep?”

“Yes.”

“Oh good,” he sighed. “I need to talk to you. This thing between Scooter and Amanda is bothering me. Is it bothering you?”

“No.”

“I’m glad you agree,” he nodded. “This is definitely something that needs ot be discussed.”

“Oh joy,” came the sarcastic retort. “I was actually afraid I’d fall asleep.”

“You don’t think that maybe…I dunno…”

Huffing, Piggy rolled over, pulling the sleep mask that covered her eyes to the top of her forehead in order to view him in the dim light. “What?”

“I mean,” Kermit stumbled. “Maybe the Muppet Mafia was wrong, you know, about Amanda.”

Piggy could do many things without needing to say anything and in this case, she figured the slow eye roll and frustrated huff that accompanied it would clue the frog in to the fact that his analysis was ridiculous and uncalled for this late in the night or early morning, however one looked at it.

“Now wait a minute, hear me out.”

“Hearing you out is the reason I’m still awake.”

“Now hold on,” he persisted. “I’m just saying that this fight is a little concerning. I mean, this sounded like a pretty big fight, like…really big. We don’t anyone that argues this badly.”

It took a full minute before Piggy blurted, “Are you kidding?”

“Well…well,” Kermit scrambled. “Janice and Floyd don’t argue.”

“Okay, first of all,” she stated. “It’s Janice and even Floyd knows what’s good for him that he won’t even try to argue.”

“Gonzo and Camilla don’t argue.”

Another minute passed before Piggy again asked, “Seriously, are you kidding?”

“We certainly don’t argue that badly!”

At this point, the diva didn’t even bother to make a response to that, just stared at the frog as though he had not only completely lost his mind, but that he’d also grown another head.

“Stop looking at me like that!”

“Kermit,” Piggy huffed. “It’s late or early, whatever, the point is, I’m sure everything is fine. It’s a perfectly normal, couple fight that will blow over within a few days. Now turn off that light and go back to sleep.”

“But…”

“Kermit,” she said, sternly. “You can either turn out the light and go to sleep or I will put you to sleep.”

Needless to say, the frog did as he was told, quickly turning out the light and laying down. And he was good and still and silent for the next ten minutes.

“What?”

“What?”

“Did you say something about pie?” he asked.

A slow, irritated huff was his answer. “Noooo.”

“Oh.” Another two minutes lapsed until – “Cause it sounded like you said you wanted pie.”

“Shut. Up. Kermit.”

“Do we still have pie?” he asked. “We had a pumpkin pie in there earlier, is that still in the fridge?”

“I’m going to smother you with my pillow.”

“Wait, no,” he said. “That wasn’t pumpkin pie, I think we ate that. Or Fozzie ate that, I don’t remember. But there was another pie in there. Was it lemon meringue or key lime? You remember?”

“It’ll be justifiable homicide,” was the response. “I hope you know this.”

“You know what goes good with pie?”

Instead of giving him answer, Piggy just sat up, threw her legs over the side of the bed and began to throw on a dressing gown, all the while mumbling about how she was this close to murdering her beau in his sleep.

“What’re you doing?”


“Again,” she sighed. “Are you kidding? I’m not about to eat pie at one thirty in the morning, so it’s either that or I go to prison for twenty to life for murder, so come on.”

 

[The Count]

Heh... Thank you for leaving this present for us to find.

So it's the week after and now Scooter's butted heads with Amanda over Scottie. And the boy's an emotional wreck. So the pig sends the bear to fetch the gofer. I think Edgar Berghan's puppet was right, this isn't a theater troop, this group's a live zoo.

Liked and laughed at the banter between Kermit and Piggy, it provides an element of humor. I'm also liking how Piggy has more of a mature motherly persona to her in this.

Someone say "pie"?
That entire bit helped balance Kermit's concern towards the dilema of his trusted page... Not to mention that it had me laughing internally, remembering a Kids in the Hall sketch about the salt transference from the ham... And of course, the pie. That's why you need to have a hidden stash of something snackable tucked away for just such emergencies Kerm.

Again, thanks Gina, hope you had a great holiday season.

 

[WebMistressGina]

And as promised, here's the rest of chapter three, starting from the end of the previous post!



Knowing a command when he heard one, Kermit slipped out of bed, grabbing his own robe and following Piggy out of the room and into the kitchen. Wordlessly, the two began to get out plates and forks for the mysterious pie that Kermit was certain was hiding somewhere in the fridge; ironically enough, there was half a key lime pie that had been sitting in the fridge from a party that they had a week or two ago.

Cutting one slice out of the pie and placing it on the plate, Kermit was happy to have his own slice of pie. Piggy, as always, took the approach that what was Kermit’s was also hers. The frog just looked at his girlfriend, but didn’t seem to mind the sharing.

“So,” Piggy began, taking a piece of pie. “What, darling frog, has you in such a twist in which to wake me up in the middle of the night?”

“I told you,” he sighed, taking his own bite. “This thing with Scooter and Amanda is troubling.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” he asked, incredulously.

“As in why is this bothering you so?” she asked. “Kermie, surely you know that every couple has their fights; this is no different. We certainly have had our own arguments and boy, do we argue!”

“Why?”

“Why what now?”

“Why do we argue?” he asked again. “I don’t like arguing with you. It’s horrible.”

“I do.”

“Say what?”

Piggy shrugged. “I like arguing with you,” she said. “And I know somewhere, deep down, you like it too.”

“You must be sleep deprived.”

Piggy rolled her eyes, before feeding a piece of pie to the Muppet director. “We both like a challenge,” she replied. “And certainly, no other person is going to challenge us the way we do each other. You like having control over things, and more often than not, you don’t know how to let go of that control and let someone else handle it.”

“And you don’t know how to take no for an answer,” came the retort.

“Exactly,” she said. “Your job is to keep control and my job is to make you lose it.”

“Sounds about right,” he said. “And this works in reverse how?”

“My job is to be a bit demanding…”

“A bit?”

“Let me finish,” she huffed. “While I make you lose control, you do tend to reign me in should I get a little out of line. If you think about it, we’re very well suited for each other.”

Whatever comment or retort Kermit planned to make was stilled as he let her words wash over him. It did make sense, in a weird, twisted kind of fashion, and it certainly made since of their mutual and strange pull that occurred when they were near each other. It was certainly an interesting take on their relationship, one that could equally – in one context or another – explain the attraction between Gonzo and Camilla, Floyd and Janice, and yes, even Scooter and Amanda.

“Huh,” he said. “That surprisingly makes a lot of sense. You’re pretty smart at two-fifteen in the morning.”

“Yeah, well,” she huffed. “When you have a frog that wants pie at one-thirty in the morning, you’ll do whatever it takes to get back to bed.”

“Aw sweet pea,” the frog chuckled. “You know there’re other ways to get me into bed.”

Smacking him in the arm, she retorted, “Being cheeky isn’t one of them.” Standing, she took the plate and forks and headed over to the dishwasher to place them inside. Once finished, she looked up, expecting to see Kermit standing and waiting for her for the return to bed, but instead, he continued to sit at the table, a thoughtful look on his face.

“You’re still worried.”

Turning to glance at her, he sighed. “You know me, darlin’; I worry and I can’t help but worry about Scooter.”

“Whatever you’re thinking,” she insisted. “Stop it. This isn’t like his other relationships, we’ve seen to that, so just do the same thing you’d tell me, which is to let him handle his own thing and let him make his own decisions.”

“Of course,” he huffed. “In all the times I tell you to listen to me, the one time you do…”

“It comes back to haunt you,” she finished. “Yes, dear. So anyway, it’s early morning and I believe you have a meeting later, so…”

“Yeah, yeah.”


[hr]


While Kermit and Piggy were trying to stop worrying about their redheaded page, said redhead was sitting at a table in Schotsky’s, a personal favorite of bars amongst the Muppets. Not wanting to go home, considering that Amanda was supposed to be living with him, Scooter had begged Fozzie to take him somewhere that wasn’t home.

So the bear, being sympathetic and empathic to the boy’s plight, had indulged the request and took the boy to their favorite haunt, ordered him a beer, and commiserated with him until he decided he was tired and wanted to go home.

“Thanks for letting me come, Foz.”

“No worries, Red,” Fozzie responded, patting the younger Muppet on the arm. “I can see this thing between you and Amanda is really harshing your marshmallow.”

Scooter couldn’t help but chuckle at the misuse of a saying the Mayhem used on a regular basis, but the chuckle soon turned to a moan when he realized that was exactly what was happening; this whole thing was indeed harshing his mellow. “Oh Fozzie,” he groaned. “I’m either the biggest loser or the biggest idiot ever.”

“Why’s that?”

The redhead shook his head in frustration. “Either way you look at it,” he began. “I was a jealous jerk and I’ve probably ruined any future that I wanted with her.”

“Aw buddy, it can’t be that bad.”

“It is!”

Patting the boy again on the arm, Fozzie leaned forward in order to get him to look him directly in the eye. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”


And Scooter did.

 

[The Count]

See previous post for comments on this wonderful story. But I'll add that I especially liked both convos, Piggy putting relationships in perspective for Kermit and Fozzie being a buddy for Scooter at Shotsky's.

Thanks, this make me . Yeah, me speaking in broken monster form, me dead tired from fic library... Still not finished. *Zombie grunt while continuing to file fics. *Knocks Ghostbuster out of library... This no ghost busting zone. Zzzzzz...

 

[Misskermie]

OK, first, LOOOOOOOOL at the pie.


Second... OMG, I'm just so surprised to see Kermit so worried about romance. Jesus, thats Piggy's job. She certainly is motherly.


Since my brain is dumb right now, I simply shall poke you with the nag stick, and sleep.

 

[WebMistressGina]

Lo peeps!

Again, sorry for the lateness. My work schedule has been kinda weird since after the holidays and I think it's finally stable and tbh, I couldn't decide what I wanted this chapter to be, so I combined the two ideas I had. So you'll get an argument - or rather a flashback on what happened - as well as the return of our favorite father, Chase!

Enjoy!


IV.


A few days earlier

Scooter Grosse was frustrated.

Highly frustrated.

A few days earlier he had met his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, who seemed like a stand up, all around nice guy who happened to have a prior relationship with the woman he was currently in love with. If this was a circumstance in which the guy had been a complete jerk, who had treated Amanda horribly, someone that she hadn’t never wanted to see again, it would have worked in Scooter’s favor.

While not someone who would normally go out and pick fights, Scooter had been trained by a black belt and knew how to handle himself again someone who may have been coming after him or someone he loved. He could’ve taken this Scottie guy and would’ve made him regret contacting his lady love, who would have – of course – been extremely grateful for the protection.

Of course, that was not what happened. Not only were Scottie and Amanda still friends, it was apparent that there was probably still some latent attraction between them and their overly sweetness and lovey dovey expressions with each other was too much for Scooter to handle. The page’s head tried to tell him that his emotion – this hard, blinding, rage of emotion – was just jealousy at the very familiar way in which the two were still so close.

He hadn’t come anywhere near the nickname that Scottie had come up with; correction, the several different nicknames that the blond had come up with over their time together, the favorite being ‘Mandy Pandy’, which Scooter thought was a stupid nickname and made his girlfriend sound as though she was a sexy, red headed panda or something.

Worse, the guy was nice! Too nice! The times the three of them spent together were, technically, fun times, a little too fun for Scooter’s liking.

And that’s when his heart began to rail at this…this…interloper trying to steal his girlfriend. Oh, he had seen the signs before – handsome ex comes riding along to take the girl Scooter had finally won over, or whom he thought he had won over.

In hindsight, Scooter could see that his past heartaches had most likely played a part in the argument and certainly, his jealousy was also a factor, because that was the only possible reason he would pick a fight.

The first days, Scooter made it a point to spend time with the two, making sure that nothing…untoward would happen between them, but the page was a manager and an assistant, which meant he needed to be doing the job that his bosses were paying him for. And it wasn’t just the Muppet Theatre he was working for; coincidence demanded that he do a little bit of work for Google that had cropped up, in fact that had been the reason he gave Kermit for skipping out on his Muppet duties, while he told Amanda that his work at the theater was keeping him from spending more time with them.

In all honesty, he just couldn’t bear watching this relationship fall apart. He was going to do everything he could to keep the pretty bar manager, even against a hunky blond.

And everything seemed to be going well for this particular Tuesday – Scooter had gotten out of Muppet Theatre work in order to work for Google for a few hours, but after that, he had gone and outdone himself, completely forgetting that he was supposed to be meeting with Kermit that morning.

He had invited Amanda to having dinner with him and that night was going to be spectacular; he wanted to finalize their decision to move in together and he wanted to cement his feelings for her by dropping the idea of getting married. When she had called him earlier, he added celebratory dinner to the menu – the next week, Amanda was being awarded a high honor among the women’s business community.

“Baby, I’m so proud of you!” he gushed once he saw her.

Still flushed from receiving the news, Amanda grinned shyly. “Thanks,” she said. Indicating the table that had been set beautifully, she added, “Thanks for this too.”

Shrugging, Scooter replied, “It’s no problem. Of course I’d treat my beautiful, intelligent, business woman of the year girlfriend to dinner on her special night.”

“I’m not business woman of the year.”

“Well, you should be,” Scooter continued. “You’re certainly girlfriend of the year.”

The tone of Amanda’s phone interrupted the blush and remark that the redhead had planned; once she saw the caller id, her smile got wider and her tone was light and sweet when she answered. “Scottie! You’ll never believe what’s happened!”

That was the last happy sentence the two heard that night. How it started and why, they wouldn’t know, but it ended with a horrible argument and Amanda storming out of the house and Scooter breaking down in tears before calling his boss.


[hr]


Chase Cosgrove knew a broken heart when he saw one, especially when it was on his daughter’s face. He had been privy to a number of heartbreaks for his daughter and it had only been on her word that he had stopped himself from disposing of the vile fiends that would hurt his little girl.

On this occasion however, the elder Whatnot was extremely confused as to why his little girl should look the way she did. Ever since meeting and since becoming a couple with one Scooter Grosse, he had never seen his daughter so happy; he was even getting used to the idea that Grosse would be his son-in-law one day, but taking a look at the forlorn face of his baby, sitting at one end of the bar concerned him.

“On the house,” he said, pulling up a glass and pouring her a stiff drink.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Gonna tell me what’s up?”

Here, she sniffed. “Hey,” he shushed. “What can be so bad that my little girl’s gotta cry?”

Sniffing again, Amanda spurted, “Scooter’s going to break up with me!”

He wasn’t sure if it was the statement itself or the overwhelming heartfelt sob that came after it that seemed to unsettle him. “Wait, what?”

In a quick rush, the redhead outlined the fight they had had, how she had been consoled by Scottie, and how she was convinced that Scooter would be calling her any minute to break up.

Shaking his head, Chase walked around the bar in order to hug his daughter during her ordeal. Once soothed in the same way he had done when she was a baby and a child sick with a cold, she managed to calm down and actually lay out step by step the events that had led her to her breakdown. Chase certainly wasn’t happy – he had thought the Grosse kid had a lot more sense – but he couldn’t exactly let Amanda off either.

“So let me get this straight,” he replied. “Your boyfriend of nearly a year gets the jealousy bug in his pants, all because you’re ranting and raving about this handsome guy that you used to date and whom you’ve been spending an incredible amount of time with.”

Pulling back, the Whatnot shot her father an incredulous look. “Are you saying this is my fault!?” she exclaimed. “That he had every right to…to…to… say those things!?”

“No,” he said. “And believe me, you bet I’m gonna have some words with him about it, but yeah, in his defense, he’s no Scottie Coulter.”

“What?”

“Let me ask you this,” he continued, unheeded. “When was the last time that you spent time with that boyfriend of yours since Scottie’s been here?” Right as she went to answer, he interrupted her with, “Alone?”

That actually did halt her for a second. Not since their intimate night and breakfast the next day had Amanda spent any time with Scooter that hadn’t involved Scottie, other than that Tuesday which had led to their fight. In hindsight, she probably did understand what her father was getting out, but she was still incensed.

“So you’re saying it’s perfectly alright for him to have friends of the opposite gender, but I can’t?” she spat.

“I said no such thing, young lady,” Chase admonished. “And I can tell you that even when he has to hang out with those guys, he always seems to make time for you.”

“So you’re saying I haven’t made time for him?”

“I’m saying that since Scottie has been in town, no, you haven’t.”

“But Scooter knows he’s not a threat!” Amanda exclaimed. “Obviously he doesn’t trust me…”

“Does he?”

“Trust me!?” she cried. “Of course not or else he wouldn’t be all…you’re my property and all manly and stupid things!”

Chase let out a sigh. “I meant,” he amended. “Does he know Scottie’s not a threat?”

“Of course!”

“Really?”

Again, Amanda had to pause on that. Letting out her own sigh, she said, “Scottie’s gay, Dad! He’s not interested in me! In fact, he’s already told me he thinks I’m the lucky one with Scooter being so, to quote, ‘deliciously devourable’ unquote.”

“Does Scooter know Scottie’s gay?” Chase asked.

“Sure.”

“So you told him?” Chase asked. “Or Scottie told him?”

“Well, I assumed…”

“Firstly,” Chase replied. “You know what happens when you assume and secondly, how many years did we ‘assume’ Scottie was straight?”

He had her there.

“Look,” Chase cooed. “I’m not saying Scooter wasn’t in the wrong; lord knows, I mad your mother fierce whenever some pretty boy came near her and I got all Neanderthal about it, but I also knew those guys were trying to get my girl and I knew the guys who knew I loved her and only wanted the best for both of us. But sweetie, it seems to me that Scooter doesn’t know all that. All he sees is this good-looking guy coming to town, whom you’ve obviously been involved with and whom you seem to be spending a lot of time with.

“Now, I’d like to think once he learns that the two of you have been shopping and doing the host of dinner theater shows, he may change his mind, but until then -” Here he shrugged. “All he knows is that his girlfriend doesn’t seem to want to spend time with him for the moment and yeah, sometimes we guys don’t take jealousy well. That’s why we have you women to set us straight.”

He winked at her, causing her to laugh slightly, before sighing deeply. “I get it, Dad,” she whispered. “I’ve certainly been a little jealous with the time he spends with Miss Piggy, but he’s always shown that there was nothing but friendship and family love there. Now I feel terrible.”

Chase looked at her, wondering what she had meant by that, but soon realization dawned on him. “You invited Scottie to the award dinner.”

Properly chastised, Amanda nodded. “As soon as I left Scooter’s, I called and asked,” she muttered. “This…is terrible.”

Patting her on the shoulder, he said, “Don’t give up hope. Things are always darkest before the dawn.”

After soothing his troubled daughter and sending her home for the day, Chase went into the back offices that served for their administrative and office suite. Taking a seat in the leather chair that sat behind the desk, he immediately picked up the phone while fishing around for the notebook where he kept all his numbers. Finding the one he needed, he started to dial, hoping the recipient was at home.


“Frog?” he asked. “Cosgrove. I think you, me, and the missus need to have a sit down, don’t you think?”

 

[WebMistressGina]

Hey kiddos! Comin' under the wire, I managed to get this updated just a few minutes ago. In this, one of our 3 Ball sets sets out to come up with a plan, with the other set of three (two in this case) are doing their own damage control.

Enjoy!



V.


Chase had met Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy once before, when the Muppets had been host to his pool tournament nearly a year ago. For the obvious reasons, he had gotten the frog’s number in the case something – such as the complete destruction of his establishment – went wrong or if someone – namely Gonzo – wound up in the hospital.

Thankfully, death and destruction had passed by the local pool hall, and Chase just thought a good idea to keep the number on speed dial, especially when it looked as though his daughter would be spending a lot more time with their stage manager. As the Whatnot watched his only daughter fall in love, he heard about the unique relationship that the younger Muppet held for the frog and pig.

In terms of celebrity, they were of course the Hollywood royal couple, by LA standards – the brains and head honcho with the leading lady had been a staple in the star circle since the golden days of Hollywood and the couple fit the stereotype. Even their on/off relationship status and their legendary arguments fit right up there with the classic Hollywood couple struggle; but in person, the two were actually quite the pair, going back and forth between worthy combatants and loving sweethearts.

For other obvious reasons, meeting a big named celebrity couple out and about – while normal in LA – would definitely attract attention, so for this meeting, not only had Chase let the star couple arrange a place, but he also mention that they make it at night, so that he had the excuse to leave Amanda in charge of the hall while he spoke with them. The two picked a pretty low key bar that they would and still did frequent on occasion, one that knew them and knew how to keep out the riff-raff should they ever be bothered.

Chase arrived before they did, wanting to make sure he got the correct place. Having been told to let the bartender know that he was waiting for the mister and missus, he was immediately seated at their table and given a beer while he waited for their arrival. Ten minutes later, in walked the frog and pig, regal as ever; that was what always struck Chase about their appearance – they never acted as though they were on a red carpet, unless they truly were on a red carpet, and even then, they always appeared to be happy being near those who loved and worshipped them.

Waving them over, Chase waited for them to come to the table, while the waitress delivered their drinks and a refresher for the bar owner. “Glad you could make it,” he said, nodding a greeting to both.

“You made it seem important we meet,” Kermit replied.

“What’s this about?” asked Piggy.

“Straight to the point, as always,” Chase responded. “I’m sure you’re heard what happened between the kids.”

Kermit shot Piggy a triumphant look before turning back to Chase. “We did indeed,” he said. “And I’m glad I’m not the only one who was concerned.”

“Paranoid is what I’d call it,” Piggy muttered. “So I take it there’s more to this than just a regular ole lover’s spat?”

Though Chase bristled at the word ‘lover’, he nonetheless nodded. “Scottie Coulter.”

“Who the heck is Scottie Coulter?” Kermit asked.

“He’s a friend of ours,” Chase replied, pulling out his cell phone. “Ex-boyfriend of Amanda’s to be honest.” Pulling up a picture of him, he showed it to the couple; Piggy couldn’t help but whistle appreciatively, effectively ignoring the look Kermit threw her. “Scottie’s in town for a bit, so he thought about stopping by.”

“Oh I get it,” Piggy said, taking the phone and enjoying the picture a little too much for Kermit’s liking. “Ex comes to town, Amanda wants to see him, he causes a little tiff between our two favorite redheads. Done deal, obviously.”

Snatching the phone from her and handing it back to Chase, Kermit muttered, “Do you mind?”

“Well,” Chase sighed. “It would be a done deal, if not for some situations involved here.” Seeing the looks of confusion on their faces, Chase started his tale. He explained about Scottie, Amanda’s upcoming award, the dinner, and Amanda’s gut reaction at inviting her ex to the very banquet she had planned on taking Scooter.

“Well,” Kermit sighed, in frustration. “This just keeps getting worse.”

“Calm down,” Piggy said. “This is simple, stop complicating.”

“How is this simple?”

“You got a plan?” Chase asked. At her look, he said, “Of course you have a plan. All right, I’ll bite.”

“Simple misunderstanding,” the diva replied. “Easy fix. The three of us will so very kindly invite ourselves to this thing, to see Amanda of course, and we’ll make sure to invite Scooter, as originally planned.”

Both men looked at her. “I’m sorry,” Kermit said, shaking his head. “How does inviting ourselves and Scooter help?”

“Simple,” Piggy huffed. “Scooter will be there to apologize, you two will be there to make sure that nothing uncouth occurs betwixt them, and Moi will be there to keep Mr. Scottie occupied.”

“There’s a part of your plan I don’t like.”

“The inviting ourselves?” she asked.

“No,” Kermit mentioned. “That seems like something you would do.”

“Scooter apologizing?”

“No, that’s good too, because he probably should apologize.”

“You and Chase making sure that nothing horrible happens?”

“No, that part is also okay. I’m definitely okay with that part.”

“Is it the part where she keeps Scottie occupied?” Chase ventured.

“That’s it,” Kermit said. “That’s the part I don’t like.”

“Really?” Piggy huffed. “What about that could you possibly not like? As one diva to another, I’m sure Scott and I will have plenty to talk about, which will thus keep his attention on Moi – where it of course should be – which thus allows for Scooter to justly and rightly apologize. Not sure where you’re getting anything bad from that.”

“Give it time,” Kermit retorted. “I’ll think of something.”


[hr]


Scottie Coulter was upset.

Not in the emotional breakdown type of way, like when Bobby Hart had broken up with him, but more in a ‘what the heck were you thinking?!’ kind of way. He couldn’t remember ever being so…so very mad at a person, especially one of his favorite people.

“Why are you mad at me?”

Up until that day, Scottie had been having the time of his life. He was back in the city he loved, with one of his very best friends, and he had just learned she was having the time of her life. Mandy was on the verge of settling down with a smart, cute, and successful guy and she was now being honored as the intelligent businesswoman he had always known her to be. Learning about the fight between her and Scooter had of course upset him, but what seemed to incense him was the fact that the fight was due to him.

“You didn’t happen to mention that the reason you two were fighting was because of me!?” he exclaimed.

“Does it matter?”

“Yes!”

“Why?”

“Why!?” he asked, incredulously. “Are you serious? You’re seriously asking me this?”

Amanda flopped herself down on the couch that sat in Scottie’s hotel room. After having to explain what had happened between her and Scooter to her father, she felt it only fair to also try and explain the situation that Scottie would find himself in for the upcoming week. In hindsight, yes inviting Scottie to the banquet instead of Scooter was a really, really dumb move, especially when this was the very thing that both he and her father had cited as being the reason she wasn’t spending any time with the red head.

“There’s nothing to be done about it now,” she sighed. “Any minute my phone’s gonna ring and it’s gonna be Scooter wanting to break up with me, so…”

Scottie also sighed, but in frustration, before sitting himself down next to Amanda. “Love,” he cooed. “It was one fight; couple’s fight, it’s what they do. I’m pretty sure he’s not gonna break up with you over little ole me.”

“Well…” she murmured. “I think I may have forgotten to mention that you’re gay.”

“Forgot to mention?”

“Well, I thought he knew!” she exclaimed. “I mean -” Gesturing to his very tight outfit, she continued with, “Short of coming down the stairs of a Busby Berkley dance number, it’s relatively obvious.”

“To you, maybe,” he huffed. Honestly, as if he’d be in a Berkley production. Fosse, on the other hand… “But you’ve also known me for, what? A thousand years? Scooter’s just met me. Of course he’s gonna think something, especially when you’ve been spending more time with me than him.”

“Why is everyone going on and on about how time I do or do not spend with Scooter?”

“Probably cause you two practically scream ‘just recently started sleeping together’,” he countered.

“No we don’t.”

Leveling a look at her, Scottie said, “Lovey. Come on. The utter disappointment of not having you for lunch and then having to share you with a strange man was all over the poor boy’s face.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you heard he thought you’d be a woman,” Amanda huffed. “Which in any other circumstance…”

“Alright,” Scottie said, letting out a huff and looking at his friend. “So you’ve managed to get yourself into a pickle, so how’re we gonna get you out?”

“Is there even a way to get me out?”

“Of course there is,” the blond replied. “Look, we’ll see go to this thing together, but we just gotta make sure that Scooter gets invited too.”

“How?”

“Well…” Scottie began, thinking over the details. “He’s technically a businessman, isn’t he? You said he was running a bunch of his uncle’s businesses, right?”

“Yeah…?”

Nodding, Scottie snagged the invitation for the banquet. “I need to make a phone call.”


[hr]


SCOOTIE G: You’re never gonna believe what happened.

DIVINE MISS P: Ok, I’ll bite. What?

SCOOTIE G: Just got an invite to the 3B Banquet.

DIVINE MISS P: And that is…?

SCOOTIE G: It’s this organization that honors the best in business, like companies, managers, organizations, etc.

DIVINE MISS P: Well! Congrats, Andrew! I’ll let the frog know; in fact, will make sure to tell him that you should’ve gotten that award decades ago.

SCOOTIE G: That’s not important. The award’s no biggie, it’s the event that’s the problem.

DIVINE MISS P: First – you deserve the award, so deal and second – what chu talkin’ about, Willis?

SCOOTIE G: Better Business Bureau? Business award banquet? You know the one I said that was also honoring Amanda?

Piggy sat back in her chair and grinned.

“What’re you grinning about?” Kermit asked, leaning against the doorjamb of their bedroom door.


Holding up her phone, Piggy replied, “Mon Cher, our problems have just been solved.”

 

[The Count]

Just finished reading this now...

Couple of skips in the narration, but it's mostly good and I'm thankful for the Mupdate.
I like the image of Mandy sitting down glumly in the hotel room's couch... Mostly because it recalls the image of Elmyra, another redheaded gal, from this dream I had last night
Also, I like the various convos going on at both locations at the same time, it helps reinforce the eventual resolution this fic's going to arrive at.

3B Award Banquet... You get brownie points for that.
Can me get brownies instead?
Thought you weren't phased by those.
Yeah, but there no cookies, so brownies next best thing.
*Attacks a couple after receiving them in his furry hand.

Hope to read more when you can get it posted as I rully like Amanda's adventures with Scooter along for the ride.

 

[Misskermie]

I just want to say that Piggy was like, excellently written in this chapter. Ok, well all of your stuff are written excellently, but this one was like... It just had Piggy all over it lol. More please!