Chapter 77: Show Me the Meaning Lauralee was doing the dishes, feeling relaxed for the first time in weeks.  She had slept for two days straight, and felt somewhat back to her old self.  Although she was still upset, she knew she didn’t have to keep it bottled inside.  She spent many hours in conversation with Alex or the rest of the crew.  Even Howie, who was still deeply troubled, had managed to get out and try to pick his life up again.  He got engrossed in his sister’s foundation or his club.  He actually went to a therapist to try to work out his feelings, and suggested that he try to do things that would let him get out into the world. he had just put the last dish away, fed the dog and heard the phone ring.  “Hello?” “Lauralee, Tommy here.” “Tommy,” Lauralee said.  “How are you?” “Good, yourself?” “Taking it one day at a time,” Lauralee sighed as she picked Angel up.  “What’s up?” “I know this is going to sound bad, but I need for you girls to come to New York for a meeting.  We need to clear up some things.” Lauralee closed her eyes, dreading this phone call.  “OK, when?” “Why don’t you girls fly out tomorrow morning?  I’ll send the jet over.” “OK, I’ll call the girls and let them know.” “Look forward to it.  Goodbye.” “Bye,” Lauralee hung up the phone and picked it up again. “Hello?” “Laura?” “What’s up?” “We got a meeting in New York tomorrow.” “Oh boy.” “Yeah,” Lauralee sighed and looked at Angel.  “Looks like we have some decisions to make.” ~*~ The girls sat in the conference room at Sony Music so silently that they could hear a pin drop.  Riley was in with them, overlooking the quiet group in front of him.  “Hello,” Tommy walked in and gave the girls a hug.  “How are you all holding up?” “OK, I guess,” Bianca sighed. “Why don’t you have a seat?” The girls all took a seat as Tommy sat at the head of the table and took a deep breath.  “We need to discuss some business, and I know this seems cruel, but…” “Hey, we know you have a job to do Tommy,” Laura reassured him. Tommy nodded.  “The thing is Sony needs to know what the next plan is for Elegance.” “As far as?” Elizabeth leaned forward in her chair. “As far as if you ladies are going to continue,” Tommy leaned back. “Well… the truth is we haven’t really thought about it,” Lauralee stammered.  “We’ve been going through so much lately, and…” “I understand,” Tommy nodded.  “I understand if you ladies don’t want to.” “It’s going to be real hard to,” Elizabeth said.  “I mean, to perform again knowing that she’s not going to be there?” “It’s your call,” Tommy said.  “But this has to be taken care of soon.  The thing is that we have songs recorded already, and we need to decide how to handle this.” Lauralee looked at the girls.  “Can we give you a day?” “Absolutely,” Tommy stood up.  “I’ll talk to you all tomorrow.”  He gave them a hug and walked out. “What do you think we should do Riley?” Elizabeth turned to him. “This is your decision ladies,” Riley stood up.  “Either way, I would support you.” “I think we really need to discuss this,” Lauralee looked at the girls again.  “Same place?” The girls nodded.  “We’ll call you later,” Lauralee stood up and the girls left. ~*~ The girls sat in a private room at the Country Diner, after giving the manager a very big tip to give them use of the room.  Mario was waiting outside of the door as the girls sat around the table.  They sat in silence drinking coffee. “So, someone’s got to break the silence,” Lauralee sighed.  “What are we gonna do?” “OK, what are the options?” Laura poured herself another cup of coffee. “Well, we stop,” Elizabeth looked down.  “Yeah,” Bianca looked at Lauralee.  “Maybe it’s time we throw in the towel, try to lead our lives somewhat normal again.” “OK, option two, we sing again,” Laura said.  “We go on with what we had been planning to do.” “But do we do it as four or get another…” Bianca started. “Four, no way are we gonna get another singer,” Laura interrupted.  “That would be the worse thing for her.  We would wind up resenting her for taking Veronica’s place and she would always be the fifth wheel.” “OK, so now we have our options,” Elizabeth took a sip of coffee.  They all looked at Lauralee.  “Me?” “Well, what do you think?” Laura asked. “I don’t know, I… think the answer isn’t in ourselves, but somewhere else.” The girls looked at each other.  They knew what they had to do. ~*~ They walked to the cemetery, Lauralee holding a bouquet of yellow roses in her hands.  She didn’t know how she was going to react, but knew this was the right thing to do.  They approached the grave, overlooking Veronica’s headstone. Veronica Passaro November 15, 1977 - May 1, 2000 Forever Elegant in Our Eyes Lauralee stepped forward.  “Hey V,” she placed the flowers on her grave.  “I know that it’s cheesy to put flowers down, but you know me.” She stood back, wiping away tears and gripped Laura’s hand.  Laura cleared her throat.  “Um, we miss you terribly.  We keep thinking that you’re on an extended vacation somewhere, waiting for you to come back.  But we’re trying to handle things as best we can.” “We know that you’re in a better place now, probably up there singing with the angels, maybe making your own group with all of the saints or something,” Elizabeth let out a soft laugh. “But we have a problem V and we figured the best way is to come to you, since you were so great at advice,” Bianca said. “We’re thinking about stopping, you know, maybe we shouldn’t go on knowing that you’re not here,” Lauralee, her voice breaking.  “We would always have this hole in our hearts.” “So, that’s the problem,” Laura sighed.  “What should we do V?” The girls stood around the grave, Lauralee feeling a sudden slight breeze through the cemetery.  Sing… Lauralee heard Veronica’s voice in her head.  Sing for me… Lauralee had a chill up her spine.  Without warning, she took a deep breath and sang: So many words for the broken heart It's hard to see in a crimson love So hard to breathe Walk with me, and maybe Without words, Laura followed Lauralee: Nights of light so soon become Wild and free I could feel the sun Your every wish will be done They tell me... With tears in their eyes, they all sang the chorus: Show me the meaning of being lonely Is this the feeling I need to walk with? Tell me why I can't be there where you are There's something missing in my heart Lauralee closed her eyes with the last note. Strive for the top… she heard Veronica’s soft voice echoing in her mind and heart.  Lauralee looked at the girls.  “I… heard her.” “So did I,” Laura looked at her and smiled. Bianca and Elizabeth looked at them and nodded.  They knew their answer.  Lauralee kissed her hand and touched the headstone.  “Thanks V.” Holding hands, they walked away from her grave. Chapter 78 Contents Chapter 76