Matchmaker by Lorie
  
Part 5

Gene was teasing Shannon. "Naughty girl. You shouldn't say 
things like that. I'll just have to punish you," he said.  
 
Her eyes sparkled. "What do you have in mind?" she asked.  
 
He looked at the clock. "Unfortunately, it's going to have 
to wait. I need you help again with Lorie." Shannon nodded 
her head. 
 
"Oh yeah. Her luggage. I remember." She got out of bed and 
stretched. "I'll be in the shower if you care to join me." 
Gene stared after her retreating figure.  
 
"Tempting, but I've got a phone call to make to put the next 
phase into action," he said.  
 
 
"What do you mean my luggage is missing," Lorie cried. With 
the exception of her carry-on bag, her other suitcases with 
every stitch of her clothing was nowhere to be found.  
 
"I don't know, Lorie. It's not on the buses and we looked in 
the miscellaneous storage and couldn't find it. It'll turn 
up." 

Just then Paul walked up and saw Lorie in tears.  
 
"What's the matter?" Andre looked at Paul.  
 
"We can't find her luggage. We lost some stuff in shipment 
after the last show and her suitcases may have been in it," 
he said. Paul shook his head.  
 
"Damn! Did we lose much else?" asked Paul.  
 
Andre shrugged his shoulders. "We're checking into it now," 
he said.  
 
Paul turned to Lorie. "Don't cry. Why don't you go shopping 
and replace what was lost."  
 
Lorie sniffed. "I don't have that kind of money," she 
sobbed.  
 
Paul smiled. "Use your charge card we gave you for the tour. 
When the bill comes, just charge it against miscellaneous 
expenses," he said. 

Lorie thought for a moment.  
 
"I'm needed here," she said. 
 
"I'm sure Andre can spare you for an afternoon. Can't you, 
Andre?" Andre nodded his head. Paul smiled back at Lorie, 
"You see. Now go enjoy yourself."  
 
After Lorie walked away, Paul asked Andre, "So where is her 
stuff?"  
 
"On it's way to my Mom's. I still want to know why you're 
doing this. I mean it's nice you want her to get some new 
clothes but isn't this kinda drastic," said Andre  
 
"Desperate means call for desperate measures. She would 
never replace those old clothes of hers unless she had to. 
Hopefully, Shannon finds her before she hits Wal Mart or 
something," said Paul.  
 
Later, Shannon and Lorie sat down in the food court of the 
mall for a snack.  All around them were bags of clothes from 
The Gap, The Limited, JCPenneys, and such. And one large bag 
from Victoria's Secrets. Lorie still couldn't believe she 
bought underwear from that store, but Shannon insisted it 
was well made and held up over time. It was also pretty. She 
never had anything like that before. She confessed to 
Shannon that she never thought shopping could be fun. Before 
she left for the convent, her mother had bought her clothes 
for her. When she left the order, she didn't have a clue 
about sizes or anything. Shannon had also talked her into 
getting some basic makeup and a few pieces of jewelry. It 
had been a real experience. "It ain't over yet. We have one 
more stop on me." Shannon said as she cleared up the 
remnants of their meal. Within minutes, they were in a hair 
salon talking to the head stylist. "What gorgeous hair!" the 
stylist exclaimed, "but you are hiding it in that bun. Let 
me show you what needs to be done." As she whisked a 
bewildered Lorie to the sinks.  



Part 6
 
Bruce sat in the dressing room before the show, strumming 
his acoustic. It always made him feel better when he played 
his guitar. His eye was almost healed so he didn't need to 
cover it anymore with make-up. Bob had called earlier and 
told him everything was in order for the courts for the 
proceedings. Thanks to the prenuptial agreement Gene 
insisted on, nothing was left to be done accept wait for a 
court date. He still was depressed about everything and 
still wore his wedding ring despite everyone telling him to 
take it off. He just wasn't ready. 
 
Suddenly, Shannon poked her head into the dressing room, 
"Got a minute." 

Paul turned off his hair dryer, "Sure. What's up?" He 
quickly glanced at Gene and Eric. Shannon had called saying 
the shopping trip was a success and she was bringing the new 
and improved Lorie back to the arena. The moment of truth 
had arrived. "Eric, a drum roll please." Shannon said as she 
stepped into the room. Eric grabbed his sticks and tapped a 
roll on the make-up table. "Introducing the lovely Miss 
Lorie!" Lorie hesitantly stepped into the room and smiled to 
the sound of wolf whistles and cat calls. 
 
Bruce could only sit and stare in amazement. Was this the 
same Lorie? It couldn't be? She looked gorgeous. Her auburn 
hair was out of it's customary bun and cascading over her 
shoulders in soft spiral curls. She had some light make-up 
on that brought out her eyes and made her lips look like 
they were ready for a kiss. The knit top was tight enough to 
show that she did have a womanly figure but not to tight to 
be slutty. Her jeans fit her perfectly and had heart shaped 
cut outs filled with black lace down the side of each leg.  
Black stacked-heal boots completed the outfit. 
 
Paul walked over to her, "Wow! If I had known you looked 
this good…" He stopped before he gave away the game. Bruce 
you lucky dog, he thought. 

Gene walked over to her as well, "Mmmm. Now this is nice. I 
like it." He leaned down and growled softly in her ear. 
Shannon pulled Gene away, "Back off, big boy." Gene looked 
at her, smiled and shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry. Reflex."  

Shannon muttered something about reflexes meant just for 
Gene and kissed him.  

Andre called into the dressing room for Lorie. "Fun time's 
over. I need HELP!" 

Lorie laughed feeling a confidence she never felt before, 
"I'm on my way." She turned to Paul, "Thank you. I thought 
it was going to be a rotten day. It made a big difference." 

"You're welcome. You better get moving." When Lorie left the 
dressing room, Bruce got out of his chair and watched her as 
she walked down the hall. The other three looked at each 
other thinking the same thing. Phase 2 complete, now to 
phase 3 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Part 7
 
Bruce laid in his bed that night after the show. They had to 
ship out early the morning for the next city and it was 
suggested they all get some sleep.  The only problem was he 
couldn't relax and drift off. His mind was on Lorie.  
Everyone was amazed at the transformation that had taken 
place. She even stopped by at the after show party for a 
minute. He could still see her giggling behind her hand, 
running her finger around the pop can, smiling up at him 
when he… STOP IT! He thought to himself. He still couldn't 
believe he looked down her top when she was talking to him. 
This was Lorie, for crying out loud! The little nun! She 
definitely didn't look like it tonight. He decided to talk 
to her tomorrow and find out what was going on. Something 
wasn't right here and she would probably know. He settled 
off to sleep only to wake an hour later in need of an icy 
shower.  
 
The next morning as she got dressed, she paused and looked 
in the mirror. She was pretty. She really was pretty. 
Everybody gushed over how nice she looked and she was 
starting to believe them. Even Bruce complimented her. His 
compliment meant the most to her. For some reason he 
couldn't look her in the eyes when he talked to her and kept 
looking at her necklace. Oh, he's so cute when he's shy, she 
thought. He's still probably hurting from the divorce. He 
still was wearing his ring. She still had her ring from her 
novice vows. It meant a lot to her, but she didn't wear it 
anymore. Maybe one day another ring will take its place. She 
smiled at the thought. Why was she thinking like this? She 
was just giddy with happiness!  
 
"Well, Yente, what's next?" Paul sat in his room in the next 
town on the phone with Gene, plotting their next move. 

Gene laughed, "With the way Bruce was practically drooling 
over her last night, we shouldn't have to do much more." 

Paul thought for a minute, "I don't want to stall here. We 
need to be subtle. If he finds out what we're doing, he'll 
be pissed." 

With his mouth full, Gene said "Understood. Handcuffing them 
together is out until later but what?"  
 
"Gene what the hell are you eating?"  
 
"Shannon found these wonderful cookies and she is insisting 
on feeding them to me."  
 
"While sitting on your lap I suppose."  
 
"You suppose right." He said again with his mouth full.  
 
Paul laughed, "Well, I've got an idea. I'll get started 
while you enjoy your snack."  
 
Gene didn't answer and just hung up the phone. Paul hung up 
and grabbed the phone book.  
 


Part 8

Lorie was smiling from ear to ear as she walked towards the 
elevator. Roses!  Someone had actually sent her roses! She 
was amazed when the hotel bell captain was at her door with 
the bouquet. Thankfully, the tour was in town for a few days 
so she will be able to enjoy them. There was no way she 
would be able to take them with her on the road, but she 
knew she would press one of the flowers to keep. She had no 
idea who they were from. All the card said was, "You shine 
like a diamond…"  
 
Bruce climbed out of the courtesy limo and walked over to 
the elevators. He had a real mystery on his hands. Somehow, 
someone came into the dressing room and placed a cassette 
onto his dressing table. Curious, he popped it into his 
walkman and was surprised to hear that it was the very tape 
he had been trying to find for years. He hadn't told a lot 
of people he was looking for it and had given up hope of 
ever finding it. Now suddenly it appeared out of nowhere! 
Only the band and tour personnel were allowed back there and 
no one saw anyone.  
 
Bruce looked up as he stepped into the elevator and saw 
Lorie. She looked as fabulous as she did the day before. She 
was blushing and smiling, like she had a secret. The 
lightbulb went on in Bruce's mind. Of course it was Lorie 
who gave him the tape! She was backstage during sound check. 
He had asked her help in finding the obscure tape. It made 
perfect sense. But why the secrecy?  Something was up and he 
knew how to find out.  
 
Lorie was startled out of her thoughts when Bruce asked her 
something. "Hmm.  What did you say?" she asked quickly. He 
smiled and repeated, "There's a party after the show tonight 
sponsored by a radio station. Would you like to go with me?" 

She couldn't believe what he said. He had just asked her for 
a date. "Yes, I would love to." She responded before she 
changed her mind.  

"Great. I'll see you after the show and we'll ride over 
together." The doors opened and he strolled out towards his 
room. She willed her legs to move. As she made her way down 
the hall her mind was going a mile a minute. Bruce had asked 
her out. Did he send the roses? Did he think that she shone 
like a diamond?  
 
Lorie was so deep in her thoughts that she plowed into Paul 
coming out of the other elevator. He caught her to keep her 
from falling. "Oh Paul. I'm sorry. …" 

He chuckled, "It's okay. No damage done." When he let go of 
her and before she ran off he asked, "Hey, I saw the doorman 
with some white roses at your door this morning. You got a 
boyfriend in town or something?" 

Lorie flushed pink, "Uh…no. I don't know who they're from." 

Paul raised his eyebrows, "A secret admirer?" 

Lorie quickly looked away, "Maybe. Excuse me."  And hurried 
down the hall.  
 
Paul smiled to himself. It worked. The flowers had her 
walking six inches off the ground. The line from one of Eric 
Carr's unreleased songs worked perfectly. And Bruce was in 
heaven when he found that tape. Thank goodness he had a 
friend in town who could find anything recorded and have a 
tape made in an hour. Now to make sure they got together at 
the party tonight.