Welcome to My World

Chapter 4

Dean went back to the suite he shared with his partners and said, "Let's go get hammered."

"Dino?" Frank said shocked seeing as Dean was never the real drinker.

"I'm depressed and I don't wanna talk about it."

The boys nodded and took Dino for a night on the town. Dean drank more than Frank or Sammy had ever seen.

The next morning the boys met Caroline for rehearsal at one in the afternoon, "Good afternoon, Caroline!" Frank called.

"Heya, Frank," she said as he approached her and kissed her cheek.

"Hey there," Sammy smiled kissed her cheek.

"Hi, Sammy!"

Dean approached her and went to kiss her cheek, "No," she whispered leaning away.

He looked bad. His hair wasn't fixed right, his eyes were bloodshot, and he wreaked of booze. She was protecting herself though; she refused to a let a man ruin her career or break her heart.

He turned away sheepishly and Frank and Sammy looked away awkwardly.

They rehearsed despite the tension and it got to Dean's part. Caroline performed "Mambo Italiano" with him despite her reservations, but the fun and carefree feeling of it was gone. Dean then announced that he wasn't feeling well and he would be cutting "Welcome to My World" from the show tonight and replacing it with "Volare". Caroline left rehearsal and went back to her room and cried. She loved him. Why couldn't he admit it to her?

That night, Caroline performed and then the Rat Pack came on one-by-one. When it came to Dean's part, Frank ran in time to catch the stage manner and made sure they didn't announce him. Frank then went on, "Well, folks, unfortunately Dino has fallen ill so the rest of us will close up the show for him."

Caroline sang two more songs, Sammy sang two, Frank sang three, and they called it a night. "I'll meet you in the bar in twenty minutes," Frank whispered in Caroline's ear, "We got a big problem."

Caroline went to the dressing room and put on a casual dress and flats. Her feet were really starting to kill her from wearing stilettos all the time. Then she walked down to the bar after signing a few autographs and snapping a few photos while exiting the theatre. Frank was waiting for her when she arrived.

"Hey, Frank."

He kissed her cheek, "Hi, Cara."

"What's happened to Dino?" she asked pretty much reading his mind.

"He just up and left without saying anything to any of us. I'm worried about him. What happened between you two?" Frank asked leading her into the bar for a drink.

"I don't know... I really thought we had something going and after we sang "Welcome to My World" the other night, I thought he was finally going to tell me his feelings, but then he panicked and just kept saying goodbye and goodnight-"

"Ah, Christ," Frank muttered, "This is all my fault."

"What?"

"We got into an argument a while ago about this. I just told him not to mix business and romance... he's just denying how he feels. He acts cool, but he's no good at love."

"Oh, God... I feel awful. He went to greet me with a kiss on the cheek and I told him to get away..."

"We gotta find him."

"I need to tell him how I feel," she said tearing up, "Come on. He couldn't have gotten that far yet." Frank and Caroline sprang out of their seats and began checking all of their usual hangout spots searching for Dean. Finally, Caroline and Frank walked into a bar at two in the morning and heard a familiar voice singing on the tiny stage with just a piano and drum set accompanying him. Dean was crooning, "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife". Neither Frank nor Caroline had ever heard him sing it before, the emotion dripped from him as he sang the words. Caroline began to cry and Frank put his arm around her. 

I lost control of my life and my soul, but my woman's faith carried us through. Came the words from Dean's mouth as it looked like he could lose control any minute and burst into tears. 

"Oh, Frank," Caroline sobbed.

"Shhhhh, it's okay, Kid."

"What if he can't forgive me?"

Frank tapped on the pianists shoulder without Dean seeing and prompted him to begin playing "Welcome to My World." Dean took a deep breath and began to sing the first few notes. When her part came, Caroline stepped onto the stage and she began to sing. "Cara," he whispered breathless. She nodded and smiled through her tears. 

Grabbing his hand, she sang the ending to him as he was too overcome by emotion to continue singing. At the end of the song, they hugged like they always did, but this time, he kissed her. And he kissed her on the lips.