Yesterday Once More

Yesterday Once More

by Ann Douglas

Part One

Dorothy Kerr turned her head as her daughter, Cassie, walked into the kitchen. To her disappointment, the soon to be high school graduate still wore the same look of disappointment she had carried around all week.

"I was just making some tea," the thirty-eight year old brunette said, "just the thing for a rainy afternoon. Would you like some?"

"No thanks, Mom," Cassie said as she sat down at the kitchen table.

Taking her tea mug in hand, Dorothy sat down opposite her daughter. She had been trying to come up with a way to cheer her up for the last few days with no success. Deep in her heart she knew her daughter's mood wasn't her fault, but she still felt responsible.

"Could I say I'm sorry one more time," Dorothy said.

"You don't have to, Mom," Cassie replied, "It was my fault, not yours."

"Still, maybe I shouldn't have even brought it up unless I was totally sure," the older woman said.

"No, you told me to keep it to myself and instead I told Janet," Cassie went on. "What was it that Dad used to say, a secret stops being a secret when a third person learns about it. I should've known that Janet couldn't keep her mouth shut.

It had all started two weeks ago when the band hired by the graduating class for the Prom had cancelled their appearance. Two of the members had been injured in an automobile accident and wouldn't be able to play for months. The cancellation had set off a mad scramble to find a replacement group. Not the easiest thing to do with half the proms in the county all being on the same night. At least if you wanted to get a half decent act.

It was then that Dorothy had come up with a suggestion that she thought might make her daughter's Prom truly memorable. Why not, she told her daughter, try and get someone famous to appear in their place.

"Yeah, right," Cassie had laughed, "That kind of thing only happens in the movies."

"You never know," her mother had replied.

"In the movies, it usually involves someone's dying wish or someone knows the star personally," the seventeen year old said. "I don't suppose you know any major stars, do you?"

"Well actually ..." Dorothy started to say but was cut off by her daughter.

"And Johnny Brown and the Dreamboats doesn't count," she said, bringing up the name of her uncle's old time rock band which had a state wide following among the over forty crowd.

"Actually," Dorothy said slowly as she debated even mentioning it, "I was thinking more of Kassandra. You have heard of her, right?"

"Shut up," Cassie shot back, "There's no way you know Kassandra."

Kassandra was one of those mega stars that were known the world over by just her first name. She had taken the music world by storm fifteen years earlier and was only eclipsed by the likes of Madonna. It was nearly impossible to get tickets to one of her concerts, much less think she would ever appear at a high school show.

Yes way," Dorothy smiled, "But when I knew her she still had two names. Back when I was your age and the world was still flat."

"You really know her?" Cassie repeated.

"Yes I do," Dorothy likewise repeated. "There was a time when she was just a small town girl as well. We went to school together back in Fort Bradford."

"You think you could actually get her to come to the Prom?" Cassie asked.

"I can try and ask," Dorothy said. "I's a long shot, but who knows."

"That would be so awesome," Cassie bubbled.

"Remember, this is really a long shot," Dorothy reminded her daughter, "so let's not say a word about it until I can try and make some calls."

"Oh wow, I can't believe my Mom actually knows Kassandra," Cassie was saying to herself, only half hearing the rest of what Dorothy had said.

Of course a secret this good just had to be shared with her best friend, Janet. Then of course Janet had to share it with Connie, promising her to secrecy as well. A promise that Connie made sure to likewise extract from Kathy, and on and on it went. By the end of the weekend, most of the senior class had heard that Kassandra was coming to the Prom. All of this before Dorothy had even been able to call Kassandra's manager on Monday morning.

A call that was having very little success. Despite her being able to call on an unlisted line and asking for Mary Glenn, the pseudonym Kassandra traveled under, the business manager who screened the call refused to put her through to the singer. He said that he had never heard of her before and he had been with the star almost from the beginning.

"It was a good try lady," he said before hanging up the phone.

"Pigheaded ass," Dorothy said as she hung up the phone.

As she had told Cassie, it was a real long shot, but it really annoyed her to get shot down before even getting the chance to even ask her personally. She would've understood if Kassandra couldn't do it. After all, a star of that magnitude had commitments the world over.

It would've been nice to do something really special for Cassie, Dorothy had thought. They'd all had a rough year with the death of her father last August. As much as Dorothy hurt, she had buried it in order to be there in every way she could for her daughter and she hoped she wouldn't be too disappointed. Thankfully no one else even knew she had tried to get the singer.

When Cassie had gone to school that Monday, she'd been shocked to discover that everyone knew about her mother trying to get Kassandra for the Prom. She was then devastated the next day when she had to practically announce that it wasn't going to happen. Despite the fact that she hadn't personally told a single soul other than Janet, a great many people seemed to act as if she had promised the whole class. A few even took the position that her mother had never known the star to begin with, and she had just spread the rumor to make herself popular.

"I hung your Prom dress in your closet," Dorothy said as she got up from the table and turned on the tap to rinse out her glass.

"You know, Mom, I've been thinking," Cassie said from the table. "Maybe I'll just skip the Prom. It's not like ...."

"You hold it right there, young lady," Dorothy interrupted. "I don't want to hear any such silly thing. Of course you're going to the Prom, and you're going to have a great time."

"Yeah but," Cassie started to say when she was interrupted by the front door bell. "I'll get it," she said, rising from her chair.

"Not go to the Prom," Dorothy said to herself as she put the now clean cup back in the cabinet. "Just because a few other kids have big mouths ..."

Dorothy's train of thought was abruptly shattered as twin sounds cut through the air. A sudden scream in her daughter's voice, and then the sound of a body hitting the floor. A sound Dorothy remembered all too clearly from the night Jimmy had his heart attack.

"Oh My God!" Cassie had screamed, causing her mother to race out of the kitchen towards the front door.

When she reached the foyer, Dorothy saw her daughter stretched out on the floor. Bent down and leaning over her was a woman wearing a dark blue cape and hood. The angle of the hood obscured her face.

"Cassie!" Dorothy screamed, the color draining from her face.

"She's all right," the cloaked woman said as Cassie let out a soft moan. "I think she just fainted for a moment."

"Fainted?" Dorothy repeated as to her relief, Cassie opened her eyes and began to sit up.

"Take it easy, honey," the new arrival said, "Give yourself a chance to catch your breath."

"Oh my God," Cassie said again as she remembered why she had fainted. "Mom, it's really her!"

It was only then that the cloaked woman pulled back her hood, giving Dorothy her first good look at the blond tressed face beneath. A face that was both strange and familiar.

"Cassie?" Dorothy asked in a surprised voice.

"Yes," both her daughter and the woman in blue answered at the same time.

"Your name is Cassie too?" a surprised Cassie asked the woman.

"Yes, short for Cassandra," came her reply. "Back when I used to spell it with a C. Didn't you know that?"

"Why would I know that?" a confused Cassie asked.

"Well after all," Kassandra smiled, "you were named after me."

"Oh my God," Cassie said a third time in a more subdued tone.

Once Cassie was up and off the floor, the three women moved to the kitchen. Dorothy hung up Kassandra's wet cloak and put the tea kettle back on.

"I can't believe that you're really here," Cassie said. "I have like a million things to ask."

"Sweetheart, I'll be more than happy to answer all your questions, but later," Kassandra replied. "If you don't mind, could your mother and I have a few moments. It's been a long time since we've had a chance to talk."

"Oh sure," the excited teenager said as she excused herself and headed up to her room. As she ran up the stairs, she could just about be heard repeating over and over, "She's really here."

Both older women waited until they heard Cassie's bedroom door close behind her. What they had to say to each other wasn't for her ears.

"It's really so good to see you again, Cass," Dorothy said as she smiled at the friend of her younger years. "I think of you often."

"It's good to see you too, DD," Kassandra replied, using the nickname Dorothy had gone by in her high school days. "And before I say anything else, I want to say how deeply sorry I am."

"For what?" Dorothy asked, "That your manager didn't take me seriously when I called. That was hardly your fault."

"No, not that," she replied as Dorothy put a cup of hot tea in front of her. "Although that shouldn't have happened either. I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you when Jim died. I didn't find out until after the funeral and I was on tour in Tokyo and ..."

"You don't have to explain, Cass," Dorothy interrupted. "I understood and I really appreciated the letter you send. It meant a lot to me."

"You know I could never talk on the phone if it was something important," the blond said. "In hindsight though, what I really should've done was got on the first plane back to the states and come to see you no matter what."

"That wouldn't have been fair to all the people who were waiting to see you," Dorothy said. "I understood, and Jim would've too."

"I loved him you know," Kassandra said. "I really did. I loved the both of you."

"He knew, we knew," said Dorothy, "and we also knew that of the three of us, you had the best chance of making it big. We were so happy for you."

"That's a load of crap and you know it," the singer said unexpectedly. "You were a lot more talented than I was."

"Then maybe you just wanted it more."

"Do you ever think about it?" Kassandra asked. "What might have happened if I was the one who got pregnant and you went to Los Angeles instead. You know the way the three of us were back then, it could've just as well have been me."

"I really don't dwell on what might have beens," Dorothy said as she took a sip of tea. "We had a happy life together, that was enough."

"I can't get over Cassie," Kassandra said, changing the subject. "She looks so much like both you and Jim. I haven't seen her since she was six and the photographs you've sent over the years don't do her justice."

"She's a really great girl," the brunette smiled, "life wouldn't been the same if we didn't have her. I wouldn't have survived losing Jim without her."

"She didn't know she was named after me," Kassandra noted. "I take it then you never told her about all of us and the band we had. Or what we all meant to each other."

"No, we didn't," Dorothy admitted, "but not because we were ashamed of any of it. We just thought it was a topic that could wait until we were all older. It seemed a much better idea that she think that her folks were always the no fun squares people sometimes took us to be."

"Now, that I can't believe," Kassandra laughed. "You might not be as wild as we were back then, but I refuse to believe that you and Jim turned into anything like that."

"Well, maybe not that bad."

"I thought so."

"So are you happy being one of the beautiful people?" Dorothy asked.

"To tell you the truth, DD," her old friend said, "and I think you are the one person that I can be totally honest with, I can't really say that I am."

"I'm surprised"

"Oh I love performing, making all those people happy," she explained. "It's just that so much of it all this is so phony. So many people that'll say anything to you, just to have a piece of the action."

"You were married twice," Dorothy said, "wasn't that for love?"

"I thought so, at least at first," Kassandra replied, "but both of them just wanted what they could get as part of the Kassandra Express."

"I read about you all the time in People and some of the other magazines. You seem to lead an exciting life."

"Most of that is pure unadulterated crap," the singer laughed. "If I slept with every man and woman they've reported me with, I'd never have time for anything else."

"So they're all made up?" Dorothy asked out of curiosity.

"Well let's just say half of them are," Kassandra grinned. "What was it we used to call it back in the day? Working off the strain, or something like that"

"Something like that," Dorothy agreed with a broad smile as she remembered days and nights long past.

They chatted for a few minutes more as Kassandra explained how she had finally learned of Dorothy's call. Her manager had brought over some papers for her to sign before she left for a promotional tour in Hawaii and happened to mention that he thought they should change her private line and code name again.

"Why is that?" she asked as she read the papers he handed her.

"Because we got another fan calling last Monday claiming to be a long lost friend who had to speak to you," he said. "That's the fourth time this month. It's only a matter of time before they post it on the Internet."

"Okay, take care of it," Kassandra said as she put her signature on the papers. "Just out of curiosity, what did this one want?"

"I'd give this one credit, although I'm not sure for imagination or audacity," he said as he collected the papers and put them in his attache case. "She wanted you to sing at her daughter's high school Prom. Imagine that, asking a woman who regularly fills Madison Square Garden to sing in some school gym."

"Might be fun," Kassandra mused.

"You can't be serious."

"No, I guess not," she said, remembering how long it'd been since she'd sang in a place where she could actually connect with her fans without a small army of security between them. "Did you at least get her name and address? We should at least send her daughter a personal letter congratulating her on finishing high school."

"Let me think," her manager said, "Dorothy Kenny, no not Kenny, I think it was Dorothy Kerr, from some place called Orange Rock in California."

Kassandra didn't take another breath before she told him to cancel the Hawaii trip. Tell them that I need to take a rest, she told him.

"What better place to rest than Hawaii?" he had asked, unable to understand her sudden decision.

"And I want you to find out what school that girl goes to and make arrangements for me to sing there," she went on, "I don't care if you have to call every school in Orange Rock but I want you to do it without calling Mrs. Kerr back. I want it to be a surprise."

"Look, Kassandra, could you explain to me what the hell you're doing," he said. "A lot of people are expecting you in Hawaii."

"I'm correcting a mistake I never should've made," she said in a tone that he knew meant that she wasn't going to explain any further. "Just make it happen, understand."

Yesterday Once More

by Ann Douglas

Part Two

"I'm grateful," Dorothy said as Kassandra finished her story.

"You don't have to be," Kassandra said. "I'm the one who should be thanking you. It's a chance for me to do something for my daughter that almost was."

"You'll stay here of course," Dorothy insisted.

"I was hoping you'd asked," Kassandra grinned. "I'm so sick of hotels and I could use the peace and quiet. My back up band will get here on Friday afternoon, just in time for the Prom. That'll give us two days to just visit."

"Well, I'm sure a little peace and quiet is something that we can provide," Dorothy smiled, "and this time I'm sure Cassie won't be blabbing to her friends."

Sure enough, this time Cassie did indeed keep the secret. Of course she also kept Kassandra up half the night asking what seemed like a thousand questions about the life of a superstar. The answers she got, of course, were a lot more tempered that those Kassandra had given Dorothy.

Thankfully, the next night would give Kassandra a chance for a full night's sleep as Cassie was going to spend it at Janet's house. It was a long planned sleepover, but one that the young girl would've been glad to skip. It was only at her mother's insistence that she kept her original plans, saying that it would give Kassandra a chance to rest as well.

Dorothy had no doubts that, even with the added temptation of spending the night with Janet, Cassie would keep her mouth shut about their houseguest. It now meant too much to her daughter to have Kassandra show up unexpectedly at the Prom and make fools out of all the people who had made her feel so bad. If she even suggested it to Janet, half the school would know by tomorrow afternoon.

Kassandra spent the afternoon making last minute arrangements for the dance. The school was overjoyed when contacted by her people and had managed to keep the secret as well. Widespread public knowledge of an appearance by a star of her magnitude would draw a crowd far larger than the school auditorium could ever hope to hold.

It was late when Kassandra finally returned, but Dorothy had waited up for her with a home cooked meal. The two old friends ate together, remembering again what the world had been like when they were Cassie's age. It was a remembrance that went almost as late into the night as Cassie's questions the night before.

An hour after they had said their goodnights, Dorothy still lay awake. Her mind was too filled with the memories her dear friend had reawakened in her. Memories of the love that she and Jim had shared. A love that had included their friend Cassie Morgan as well.

The memories brought with them sensations that had lately been absent from Dorothy's life. A stirring between her legs that had only been satisfied by a battery powered toy in the long months since her husband's death.

An arousal also reflected in her breasts as she ran one hand across them , her fingers playing with the stiff, thick nipples that could be felt even through her pajamas. Nipples she yearned to have sucked by a lover.

Dorothy moved her other hand down between her legs, stroking the already damp mound between them. She had always kept her hair tightly trimmed, better to savor the electric touch of her hand as first one, then a second finger slid deep in side of her.

Familiar sensations filled her as she caressed her body, bringing it quickly to the edge of bliss. It was process she had first learned when she was younger than her daughter. A time when her world was still fill of dreams. Dreams that included two people she would love all of her life.

"Oh Jim," I miss you so much," Dorothy softly said as she brought herself to the edge of orgasm.

Her fingers began to move at a more frantic pace, bringing her even closer to the chasm. Breaths came in shorter gasps as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Cassie, I'm missed you too," she said as the other great love of her life filled her inner eye.

If Dorothy had tilted her head a few inches to the left, she would've seen one of her objects of desire in a much more real image. Unable to sleep either, Kassandra had gotten up to get a drink a few minutes before. Passing her friend's room, she had heard her moan and opened the door just enough to see if Dorothy was okay.

"Oh D.D.," the singing star said silently to herself, "I've missed you as well. I wish I could tell you how much."

The blond haired woman started to retreat back into the hallway, leaving her old friend to her privacy. Then she paused for a heartbeat. In that single tick of the clock, she knew that nothing she had gained in the last twenty years mattered as much to her as the woman laying there in disconsolation.

Pushing the door back open, Kassandra stepped into the room and sat down on the edge of Dorothy's bed. It took a few seconds for the brunette to realize that the face smiling down on her was really there. As she did, the fires that had been building within her abruptly dampened.

"Kassandra?" Dorothy asked as she realized that she wasn't drifting in her dreams anymore. "Is there something wrong?" she asked as she started to get up.

"Nothing's wrong," her old friend said with the warmest of smiles. "In fact, for the first time as far back as I can remember, I think everything is right."

"Kassandra, I don't under...." Dorothy started to say as she sat up, only to have her words cut off as two soft fingers came to rest on her lips.

"No, not Kassandra," came the reply as she removed her fingers to replace them with her own lips. "Cassie."

The press of her lips brought the memories Dorothy had been trying to recall to sudden, vivid life. The dark haired woman opened her mouth ever so slightly, allowing Cassie's tongue to pass between her lips, gently caressing her own.

"Oh God," Dorothy gasped as she felt tears swell up in her eyes. "Cassie, I love you. I've always loved you."

"Me too, babe," Cassie said as she felt moisture forming at the corners of her eyes as well. "Me too."

They held each other tight as they kissed again and again, their hands roaming over the other's body. The years faded away with each kiss, and suddenly both were teenagers once more.

Cassie and Dorothy stretched out on the bed, their bodies rubbing together. Nimble fingers undid the buttons of the man's pajama tops that Dorothy wore to bed, quickly freeing the large rounded breasts beneath.

Hands no less nimble undid the laces of Cassie's nightgown until that too slid effortlessly off her body. Back in high school, the two friends had been able to wear each other's clothes. A quick comparison of their now nude forms would confirm that they still could.

Soft fingers moved across each of their bodies, reacquainting each of them with the touch of the other. It didn't take much for their bodies to respond as despite a long absence, the touch was oh so familiar.

Wrapping their arms around each other, they pressed almost identical breasts together, the nipples of each erect with excitement. Cassie cupped one of Dorothy's mounds and licked the inviting tip with her tongue. The soft moan from Dorothy was the sweetest music the songstress had heard in a long time.

Although she lacked her friend's experience, Dorothy wasted no time in bringing equal pleasure as they took turns exploring the other's breasts. The taste of her friend's mounds was as sweet as she had remembered them to be, a fact that fueled the fires building within the dark haired woman.

Breaking their embrace, they pulled themselves a little away from each other, just far enough for them to interlock their legs. As they again closed the distance between them, each remembered how much fun rubbing their pussies together had been in younger days.

Bouncing back and forth on the bed, each of their clits pressed against its counterpart, sending oscillating waves of passion across their now quaking bodies. The stronger each resounding wash became, the more intense their motions that followed.

Breaths grew short and heartbeats raced as their violent gyrations propelled both of them on the path to orgasm. Still it was evident to both that a more direct approach was going to be needed. Not that either of them was about to complain.

Again, Cassie took the initiative as she undid their leglock and pressed Dorothy down on the bed. After a quick kiss on her lips, the blond took hold of each of the brunette's legs and spread them far apart. The small dark patch in the center of the now outstretched legs drew her attention like a magnet and Cassie pressed forward and assaulted it with all of her skill.

"Oh Cassie," Dorothy moaned as she felt the singer's tongue slide deep inside of her.

Words Cassie hardly heard as she twirled her tongue around the excited center of Dorothy's sex. There had been more than a few women in her life since the last time she and Dorothy had shared a bed, but none of them had ever filled her with such a desire to please.

And please she did as the gentle waves of delight that had been washing over Dorothy's body were quickly transformed into a raging storm. A tempest that soon reached a shattering climax.

Dorothy wanted to scream to the heavens in praise of the passions that ripped her body, but the words couldn't be found. She just didn't have the energy to spare. All of the frustrations that over a year of empty nights had built up now faded away, transforming in a single instant into a rainbow of ecstasy.

Normally, after such an eruption of energy, Dorothy would've been totally drained. Yet this time she felt herself fueled by what seemed to be boundless enthusiasm. She quickly changed places with Cassie and began to explore the deep folds of her friend's womanhood. It had been such a long time since she had experienced the joys of another woman, but like so many other things, the memories of it all were flooding her mind.

"Are you sure you remember how to do this?" Cassie joked as she saw a brief moment of hesitation reflected on her host's face.

"You just lay back and enjoy." Dorothy shot back as she lowered her head to within an inch of Cassie's blond curls. "You let me worry about how much I remember."

Less than ten minutes later, Cassie was wondering how she could've ever have doubted her once and now hopefully future lover, even in jest. In the circles she traveled as Kassandra, Cassie had slept with some of the sexiest men and women on four continents. None of them had produced anything like the awesome sensations that now filled her.

Her body rocked under Dorothy's attentions, with an intensity long ago forgotten. Too many of her lovers of either sex had simply been people who wanted to be able to say they'd slept with Kassandra. None of them had been fueled by the unequaled fires that true love could provide.

"Oh baby, I'm going to come!" Cassie cried out in a loud voice, "Give it to me!"

And give it, Dorothy did. An orgasm the likes of which Cassie had long ago forgotten. Or perhaps the memory of which had been not as much forgotten as suppressed. Buried in the knowledge that it might never again be experienced. If that was the case, then this was surely resurrection day because it was as if all the missing pieces of the singer's life suddenly came together.

The question that filled her mind as the two women finally collapsed into each other's arms was simple. Now that she had found what was missing in her life, how did she hold onto it. It was a question that would fill her for every hour of the next day.

Looking around the gym decorated with balloons and paper streamers, Dorothy was taken back for a moment to her own Prom. Some things were identical, but she was sure that her own graduating class wasn't anywhere as excited as the young men and women scattered around her.

Kassandra was already deep into her twelfth song and still the kids were calling for just one more. A request that the world-renown star was only too happy to give in to.

Earlier in the evening, you could've heard the proverbial pin drop when the Principal had stepped up to the microphone to announce that the previously scheduled band had been forced to cancel but that Cassie Kerr had managed to arrange a last minute substitute.

Dorothy would never forget the look of satisfaction on her daughter's face as she walked up to the center of the stage and introduced Kassandra. A look that grew even happier as the Queen of Pop Rock dedicated the very first song to her greatest fan and dearest friend. It would be a long time before anyone made fun of Cassie again.

Now, listening to Kassandra sing, Dorothy let her thoughts drift and do something she normally never let herself do. Think about what might have been.

Deep down, she knew that it could indeed just as well have been her up on that stage. Last night and into the morning, during her lovemaking with the woman she always thought of as simply Cassie, Dorothy had also been reminded of just how good she had been as well.

She thought of what it might've been like, living Cassie's life - to have been the star. Then she thought of her life with Jim and how much she had loved him. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Cassie dancing with her date, Tommy Golden. Cassie was the living embodiment of that love.

Watching her daughter for a few moments more, she finally decided that if not having her was the price she would've paid for success, well then it was just as well that Cassie had the life in the bright spotlights. Dorothy was more than happy with the one she had lived in the warm sunshine.

Dorothy's musings were suddenly interrupted from the stage. The dance was beginning to wrap up and Kassandra was saying something to the audience.

"Before I sing the last song of the evening," Kassandra was saying, "I'd like to share a little secret with you. Long before most of you were born, in fact, back when I wasn't any older than the students here, I was part of a band..."

"I don't think I want to hear this," Dorothy said to herself. "Cassie, what are you doing?"

"... and believe it or not, I wasn't even the best singer in that band." Kassandra went on. "Of course I really didn't like to admit that to too many people." she laughed and most of the crowd laughed with her.

Dorothy was not one of them.

"But as you get older, and you go down the roads that life takes you," she continued, "you sometimes forget the things that were really important to you and always should be. I'm not sure if you really understand what I'm talking about, or even if I'm saying it right."

Dorothy was now slowly making her way through the crowd to the side door.

"Anyway, sometimes you're lucky enough to be reminded of what's really important to you, and you even get a chance to set things right. The singer I just mentioned is here tonight, in fact I think you all know her. I'd like her to come up here and sing this last song with me. It's one we used to do and I'm sure she remembers it. So, D.D., ... Dorothy, would you join me?"

The crowd suddenly parted around Dorothy, who hadn't been able to reach the door. It was immediately obvious to the crowd that Dorothy Kerr was the person Kassandra was talking about. At first there were a few low murmurs, then someone began to clap. Then another and another, until the hall was filled with it and people began to call out her name.

Unable now to leave, Dorothy began to walk toward the stage. It was her intention to thank Kassandra for the acknowledgement but politely decline the honor.

Standing next to the star, Dorothy looked out on the assemblage but only saw one face. Cassie was in the front row, clapping harder than anyone around her. Tears of joy were running down her face.

"Oh what the hell," Dorothy said to herself as Kassandra walked over and handed her a wireless microphone. "You're going to pay for this," the brunette whispered to her friend before pressing the switch that turned on the mike.

Kassandra's response was a broad, knowing smile.

The back up band keyed up and Dorothy immediately recognized the melody. It was a song they both knew well as it had been Jim's favorite. He had written it for the two of them.

Dorothy closed her eyes and let the intro echo in her mind. Words she hadn't sang since the last appearance of their band of almost two decades before. Letting herself go back to those days, the former Dorothy D'Angelo began to sing. It was yesterday once more.

Silence filled the converted gym as the last note faded. Dorothy abruptly returned to the here and now, hoping that she hadn't embarrassed herself too badly. The lingering silence made her think that she had done just that.

Then the silence shattered as every hand in the room broke into applause, accompanied by loud voices of praise. To her left, Dorothy caught sight of her daughter racing up the steps of the stage and then across it to her. The look of delight on her face eclipsed even than she had wore earlier.

"Who would've ever believed it?" Cassie Kerr said as she wrapped her arms around her mother. "My Mother was a rock star!"

"Not just your Mom," Dorothy said as she returned her daughter's embrace. "Your Dad was pretty good too." she added as she could almost feel Jim's presence next to both of them.

Looking past the child of her lost love, Dorothy caught Kassandra's eyes. The star stepped close and hugged the two of them as well.

"I love you," Dorothy mouthed wordlessly to her friend and lover.

"I love you too," Kassandra mouthed back. "Now and forever."

As she held both Cassie's in her arms, Dorothy knew it wasn't just yesterday once more. It was the promise of tomorrow as well.

END