Secrets

Danny Amatullo tapped his foot impatiently as he waited by baggage carousel. Every airport he was in, it seemed as if his luggage was always the last off the plane, and it looked like this trip was no exception. But even that couldn't dampen the excitement he had about finally being in L.A., the entertainment capital of America. He was looking forward to getting out there and paying a few dues, and even more excited about seeing an old friend of his. Finally he spotted his luggage and grabbing it, went to meet his friend. Knowing him, he'd probably been waiting for ages, and would never let Danny hear the end of it.

No sooner was Danny out the doors than he saw who he was looking for. "Hey Martelli" he yelled, pulling the other man into a hug, baggage momentarily forgotten. "Been waiting long?"

"Long enough to need a new haircut" Bruno deadpanned.

"So you only just got here then?" Danny replied, settling into his easy familiar banter with Bruno. It was hard to believe that it had been two years since he had last seen Bruno, and that all that had been keeping them in touch since then was letters and phone calls. Still though, when Danny had mentioned he was thinking of coming to L.A, Bruno had insisted on helping set him up out there, even letting him stay with him until he got his own place. It was nice to have friends like that to rely on.

On the freeway on the drive back to Bruno's the two of them caught up on mutual friends. The first name to come up was Doris Schwartz. "Man, can you believe her daughter was two a couple months ago?" Danny asked.

"I know. I only remember her as a baby at Alumus Week. Seems like yesterday."

"Well Martelli, if you came back home more often, maybe you'd catch up with people."

"My life is in L.A. now Danny, you know that."

"And you won't even visit your old friends." Danny said it as a joke, but he had a stange feeling that it wasn't a joke where Bruno was concerned. There was something very serious in his old friend's demeanour. "And hey, did you hear the Daytime Emmy nominations?"

Bruno shook his head. "Holly?"

"Nominated again. I hope she gets it this time. She's turning into Susan Lucci with her track record."

"They'll give it to her eventually."

"That's what Lucci said."

Bruno chuckled at that. "I got a letter from Julie the other day too," he said.

"She still with that shot put guy?"

"His name is Glen, and they got divorced three years ago. Don't you read my letters?."

"Too bad." Danny shook his head.

"Oh, I don't think she'll be on her own for too long," said Bruno with the kind of smile that made Danny bet he knew more than he was saying.

"Geez Martelli, doesn't it make you feel weird that people we went to school with are getting married and having kids, and getting divorced?"

"That's life Danny."

Danny shot a sideways glance at Bruno. That serious look was back again. To change the subject, he flicked on the radio and started going through the stations. He stopped when he heard a song he recognised. A female voice drifted through the car.

"Hey man, it's one of yours!" Danny was surprised when Bruno flicked off the radio with that strange sad look still on his face. "What'd you do that for?"

Bruno shrugged. "I just don't like listening to my own stuff, that's all."

Danny hadn't seen Bruno in a couple years. However, one thing that hadn't changed was that his friend was the worst liar Danny had ever seen. He wasn't going to push him though - if Bruno wanted to talk about it, then he would. "Man, if I had a number one, I'd want to listen to it," was all he said. "Which is your favourite?" he continued. "You have to have one."

"The first one" Bruno said quietly. "It's special."

"That's the one that country chick sang, right? "Who's Gonna Care?"

"Know."

"Then which one is it?"

A quick look at Danny assured Bruno that he was, in fact, being serious. "Who's Gonna Know Danny, not Who's Gonna Care. And yeah. That's the one."

"I suppose there's nothing like the first number one is there?"

"No," Bruno sighed. "Nothing like it."

When they got to Bruno's appartment, predictably, Danny was hungry.

"Danny, you haven't even unpacked yet!"

"Can I unpack when I'm hungry? I'm starving here Martelli! Don't tell me there's no takeout joint around here?"

Bruno sighed, recognising when he was beaten. "There's a number in the drawer." he said, pointing off-hand to a bureau in the living room as he went over to the kitchen.

Danny promptly went over to where Bruno had pointed and began rummaging through the drawer. "Where?"

"Right on top."

"No there's not." Danny called back. "There's photos though." Danny pulled the photos out and began to look through them.

As he did so, Bruno realised exactly what Danny was referring to, and tried to stop him. "Danny, no!"

When Danny turned and looked at him, the expression on his face told Bruno that it was too late. Danny looked at his friend and at the photos in his hand and back again, the astonishment clear on his face. The pictures were photos of Bruno in Caruso's, singing at the piano, sitting at a table, posing for the camera. In all of them, he was with the same girl. In one of the pictures, they were sitting together, looking into each other eyes lovingly.

The fact that Bruno kept pictures of an ex-girlfriend around didn't surprise Danny.

What blew him away was that the girl in the photos was none other than Nicole Chapman.

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