A/N: First off, I am not a writer of slash or femslash, or any real graphic stuff, but this is a little steamy. Oh yeah this fic is a Velma/Roxie pairing, so if you don't like that idea, DO NOT read it. Other than that, enjoy!
Next, I'm not sure if I really have to put this, but I do --NOT-- own Chicago or any of its characters, but I think that's been established long ago. ;D
Lastly, pleeease R&R and remember, Vikki Kelly loves you!
6/29/04--For any of you who are reading this story for the first time please note that this is NOT a new fic. The week of June 22, 2004 this story was removed from ff.net archives unjustly. Well here it is again, rated R this time, so nobody can dare say this is misrated. Oh and whoever deviously reported this fic as abuse last time, just know I was completely disheartened by your action, and if that was your aim, you got what you wanted...
On a happier note, thanx so much to all my reviewers and more importantly to my Chicago Chick Clique sisters, Viv, Hershey, Cira, Rachael, India, Lacey, and Lauren, for all the overwhelming support you've all shown me. You've inspired me to keep going with this. God bless you all! :D
"Velma honey, there's something I wanna talk to you about." Velma always heard Tony, but lately she rarely listened to him. There was no point. Quick with the compliments though he was, he just couldn't keep her interests up. And it was always the same thing, day in, day out. Candy and flowers one day, a pearl lavaliere and matching earrings, the next...all just to have his premature way with her. And for Velma, nothing ever came of it...literally.
Tonight she just preferred to keep her attention focused on the three cute little Italian girls dancing on stage, at Carmelina's, a locally infamous and well-received Italian restaurant. The bistro had become the two's nightly hangout, much having to do with the fact that Tony owned and managed the place himself.
"Heh." She laughed out loud as she pointed to the tall brown- eyed girl in a red and black polka-dotted dress. "When she sings it sounds like some one's castratin' a rooster! And that one.." She pointed to the short blue-eyed brunette. "She couldn't dance her way out of a paper bag." Velma looked pleased with herself. "Tony baby, you honestly should get some real entertainment in this joint." She added as she raised an eyebrow, silently demanding that he ask her to perform.
"Oh but baby doll, you're too good to go on here." Said Tony. She looked around. "Well, you're probably right." 'Hey, he had said it.' She thought. And who was she to deny an irrefutable truth?
Free as a bird, and half of the notorious Chicago scintillating sinner sisters act, Velma never felt more alive. Things seemed to be heading in an upwards direction for her since she was released from prison. She and Roxie were blazing the footlights like nobody before them. People came from all over to watch the gun-packing glamour gals shimmy-shake on stage. An overnight sensation, right from the start, all stemming from some seriously misplaced anger that had been acted upon. 'How ironic.' Velma thought. But she wasn't complaining.
"Vel, I really need to tell you something." Tony sounded somewhat apprehensive. Velma came back to earth. "What is it, hon?"
"I've been thinking a lot lately, about you and me." He stammered and appeared to quiver a little as he spoke. "Velma, I gotta tell ya, you're a hell of a tigress, in and outta bed..." He chuckled nervously.
"Yes?" She leaned in towards him across the table seductively, straight black hair and large dark alluring eyes like that of an Ethiopian temptress.
"Whew." He took out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead. "Well, I don't know how to tell you this sexy, but I'm thinkin' maybe we should see other people." Velma's demeanor changed instantly. She looked as though some one had just stuffed a ten-pound sea bass down her dress. "You're wonderful baby, really. It's just I've been thinkin' about settling down and gettin' married. And there's this girl I been seein' and she's really into the idea, ya know?"
So many things spun through Velma's head at that moment, but what stood out prominently in her mind was the brutal instinct that she possessed to preserve her self-dignity. 'Ya know more publicity wouldn't be the worst thing in the world right now.' She thought, as she clenched her fists in anger.
'No.' She decided against it. She dare not tempt fate twice. The first time she was set free was a miracle in itself, even with Billy as her lawyer.
Anyway, he wasn't worth it. She honestly didn't even care enough about Tony to kill him. What infuriated Velma so much was that he had the gall to dump her!
"Well I hope this girl likes men who can't fuck worth 10 cents!" Velma roared without the least bit of subtlety, heads of restaurant patrons turning towards them in morbid amusement. Without hesitation, she picked up her glass of red wine and poured it onto his lap, her lips curling into a content smile as the last drop fell. She slammed the glass on the table, rearranged her fox stole, grabbed her coat and purse, and with that she was out the door.
'No good, two-bit, bootleggin' crumb...He actually had the balls to dump me!' She thought angrily, eyeliner running fiercely down her cheeks, partly from the raging storm, and partly from the repressed tears finally bursting from her eyes. As she raged violently down State Street in the pouring rain it hit her. She was at least two miles from her apartment on Lake Shore Drive, and she was without a car.
"Of all goddamn nights for it to come down in ten gallon buckets!" she yelled up into the sky, daring it to open up even more. She looked at her watch. 'Oh God', she thought. 'It's 12:30, everything's closed.' Velma looked up and down the streets, but there wasn't a cab in site.
She wanted to brake down and cry right there in the middle of the sidewalk. 'Just when everything's starting to get good for me again, the heavens all just come tumbling down.' At this point, Velma couldn't see anymore. Between her tears, her soggy makeup, the rain, and the black night, she could barely see two feet in front of her. "I gotta get out of this rain before I drown." She said to herself.
'Roxie! Of course!' Why hadn't she thought of it before? Her dance partner only lived three blocks from Carmelina's, and after the stage of events that had just taken place, Velma definitely wouldn't have minded seeing a familiar face, even if it was one that drove her crazy most of the time.
Like a bloodhound she made her way to Roxie's house meandering up and down streets and in and out of allies. Then, on the corner of 4th and Swan Street, Velma was able to spot Roxie's small one room studio apartment from across the rotary. 'The lights are on. That's good. At least she's still awake.' Thought Velma. She laughed. "This is Roxie we're talking about." She told herself. "The little flake who's motto is late to bed, late to rise."
As Velma quickly scurried across the street, the rain now coming down in torrents, she could almost feel the warmth spilling forth from Roxie's house. When she got to the top of the apartment steps she rapped feverishly on the door. Out of breath now from all her running, she felt like she was being pelted with golf balls by the increasingly weighty raindrops. About five seconds later Velma could just make out a high- pitched and rather annoyed "Who is it?!" from behind Roxie's thick heavy wooden door.
"It's me...Your better half." Replied Velma nonchalantly. As soon as Velma's tone registered in her mind, Roxie immediately began to unlock the door. When she had finally unlatched the last of the four deadbolts, the door flung open and Roxie gasped. There was the famous Velma Kelly standing in the pouring rain, drenched to the bone, makeup running all down her face and clothes, but still smirking in her signature lecherous fashion, in what seemed to be a final pathetic attempt to preserve what little remained of her self-respect.
"C-Can I come in?" Velma shivered as she spoke, but still managed to remain outwardly composed. "Oh yeah, of course." Roxie took Velma's coat and purse from her and beckoned her to come in, but before she shut the door, she stuck her head outside in wonder. She looked around, but no car or taxi was visible to the eye.
"Hey Velma, I hope you don't mind me askin', but WHAT THE HECK YOU DOIN' OUTSIDE MY DOOR IN THE POURING RAIN AT ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING?!"
"What's the matter, kid? You in the middle of something important, like say rearranging your bottle cap collection again?" Velma snickered. Roxie glared at her, and Velma could see she was visibly offended. 'I shouldn't have said that. She didn't have to allow me in.' Velma thought. 'And besides, she can easily throw me out just as quickly as she let me in, and then I'll really be in trouble.'
"Ah, I'm sorry Rox...It's a long story. To be honest, a relationship of mine that was evidently terminally ill from the very beginning, finally kicked the bucket this evening. You wouldn't be interested in all the details...Basically I really need a place to stay, just for the night."
Roxie could sense the slight hurt in her co-star's voice. Usually it was shamefully but satisfyingly pleasant to hear of Velma's misfortunes, and whenever Velma would for whatever reason, bitch or become angry, Roxie would only feed off of it. But tonight Roxie saw genuine pain in Velma's eyes. She could tell Velma's ego was bruised, and though many times this would have been Roxie's welcome wagon to rub Velma's smug little nose in it, tonight she adamantly didn't want to.
Lately the two had been getting along pretty well, especially for two people who had once wished upon the other a fate worse than death. Going to practices and rehearsals for their upcoming shows, was no longer like going into combat. Coordinating dance steps and choreographing new ones with her dance partner was a less of a mental chore now, and was actually starting to become fun. The improvement in attitudes and demeanors between the both of them was much easier to live with, and Roxie didn't want to jinx all that. More however though, Roxie herself had had her heart broken a barrage of times, and empathy took over her dominant drive to tease. For the first time Roxie was able to see a side of herself in Velma...the vulnerable side.
"Wouldn't be interested in the details, huh? Try me." Said Roxie understandingly. Velma glanced over at Roxie who was sitting at her desk by the door. She was a bit taken aback by Roxie's gentle-hearted remark and considerable interest in her affairs. As Velma opened her mouth to continue, Roxie cut in.
"Wait a sec, Vel. I'm gonna make us some hot chocolate. I want hot chocolate!" She giggled. "You want hot chocolate?"
Velma's eyes splayed as she looked down on the floor expecting to find her jaw that had dropped. She felt like screaming, 'Why are you being so nice to me? Of all people I don't deserve it. I don't deserve anyone to be nice to me.'
"Uhh, no that's OK Rox, but I'll have some coffee if it's alright with you, that's if you have it." Velma replied trying to sound chipper to her suddenly cheerful host. "Oh sure, how do you want it?"
"Just give it to me black, and STRONG. I'm not that tired anyway." Velma answered casually. "OK no problem." Said Roxie. As Roxie went to start the beverages, Velma got up from the couch where she was sitting and followed her over to the stove.
"Can I help you with anything?" asked Velma. "No Vel, you just go sit down and make yourself comfortable." She said as she placed the water on the lit stove to boil. As Velma turned to return to her spot on the couch, Roxie noticed her wet clothes.
"Velma Oh My God, I forgot, you're all soaking wet! You should get out of those clothes! You can borrow some of mine." "Oh Roxie I don't want to be a bother, really."
"Velma don't be silly, you'll catch pneumonia if you stay in those clothes! And besides, I don't want you turning every piece of furniture I own into a soggy pile of fabric, no matter how shitty they are already." Roxie winked and Velma laughed.
"See my big dresser over there? Go to the top left drawer and take out whatever's on top. Those are all my pajamas." Velma looked at Roxie in amazement. "Roxie I should have said this before...I, umm...really...Thanks, Rox." Velma finally managed to squeak out.
Roxie noticed the apprehension in Velma's tone. "Now was that so hard?" Roxie teased. "Yeah, it WAS actually!" Velma joked. "I hope I don't have to do that again anytime soon."
More to come.......sooner than you think ;)