Next scene: at the bar

Most of the wedding guests had arrived and everyone seemed to be having a great time, dancing, eating, talking. The wedding cake was gorgeous, eight layers and covered with fresh flowers. In fact, the bar didn't look the same it was so banked in flowers. The groom's cake was just as unusual as the groom -- it was in the shape of a green tree-frog. It had yet to be cut into; guests were a little leery about eating a frog!

Suddenly, Nelle stepped up on the stage and took a microphone from Vonda.

"Can I have your attention for a moment, please," she asked. And then looking over at John, she said, "Honey, Barry White wasn't able to make it tonight, but I got another Barry, who I know, will be just as good." And Barry Manilow walked out on stage, to the surprise and pleasure of the audience.

After hugging Barry, Nelle stepped off the stage and went over to her astonished husband and said, "May I have this dance."

"How'd you manage that?"

"I managed to get Barry White before, which was quite a feat! Barry Manilow was easy!" she said with a smile.

Barry had begun singing one of his songs about "how he couldn't smile without you." John and Nelle began dancing and several other couples joined them on the dance floor. Glenn walked up to Ally, sitting with Renee and Elaine at a table and said with a smile, "Hey, Ally, how ‘bout a dance, for old times sakes, huh?"

"Sure, Glenn," said Ally, pleased that Glenn seemed to be taking their break up well. Ally took his hand as he led her out to the dance floor. They made small talk as they danced and it wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as it could have been. The song ended and Barry took a moment, before starting his next song, to thank Nelle for asking him to be there and wishing the newlyweds much happiness.

Then, he said, with a smile in Ally's direction, "And this next one goes out to a very special lady, Ally McBeal -- just don't come up here and take a swing at me, ok?" Members of the audience laughed and Ally looked rather sheepish.

[It was at this point, that most of the cast started to have a really funny feeling. That last line by Barry had not been scripted, but they thought Barry was just playing around because of the other episode he'd been in where Ally had tried to slug him because she thought he was an hallucination. David must be pulling some kind of stunt. He'd done this before, and he always expected everyone to just play along. He said it was often these ad-libbed scenes that turned out the best. So that's what they did.]

Then Barry started singing:

We had the right love at the wrong time
Guess I always knew inside I wouldn't have you for a long time
Those dreams of yours are shining on distant shores
And if they're calling you away I have no right to make you stay
But somewhere down the road
Our roads are gonna cross again
It doesn't really matter when
But somewhere down the road
I know that heart of yours will come to see
That you belong with me

[Both Calista and James were trying to play along with what was happening. What in the world was David expecting? Then Ally thought that maybe David was trying to get Ally to address the whole Larry issue. So she took the scene in that direction]

Ally had stopped dancing. "Glenn, did you do this?" she asked, looking up at Glenn with a quizzical look on her face.

"What are you talking about? The song? It does seem really appropriate to how I'm feeling, but, no, Ally, I didn't request this. I thought Barry was just fooling around with you cause of the last time he was here. I heard about what happened when you tried to slug him." Glenn said with a grin. "Why? Is something wrong?" he asked, because Ally had gotten a really funny look on her face.

Sometimes goodbyes are not forever
It doesn't matter if you're gone
I still believe in us together
I understand more than you think I can
You have to go out on your own
So you can find your way back home
But somewhere down the road
Our roads are gonna cross gain
It doesn't really matter when
but somewhere down the road
I know that heart of yours will come to see
That you belong with me

Ally shook her head and began to scan the crowd in the bar. She had a funny feeling that someone, someone who mattered very much to her, was in the room, and she was desperate to find him. But she didn't see him anywhere. She tried to shake off the feeling. "I'm sorry, Glenn," she said finally, giving up on locating the one person she was really longing to see, the person whom this song so poignantly reminded her of. "No, I'm ok. This song just brings back some old memories. It's nothing," she said, putting a bright smile on her face, while inside she was just crumbling. She couldn't believe she had actually thought that Larry was there! She put her head on Glenn's shoulder and continued to dance.

Letting go is just another way to say
I'll always love you so
We had the right love at the wrong time
Maybe we've only just begun
Maybe the best is yet to come
Cause somewhere down the road
Our roads are gonna cross again
It doesn't really matter when
But somewhere down the road
I know that heart of yours will come to see
That you belong with me.

The song ended. Ally thanked Glenn for the dance and they turned to go back to her table. Barry said "I'm going to take a quick break, but we've got another singer here ready to sing for you."

[Again, this was not in anyone's script. What was David up to now?]

The lights onstage dimmed, as Barry walked off the stage.

Ally and Glenn had just reached her table, when a hauntingly familiar song started playing. Ally turned back quickly to look at the stage, but the lights were still dimmed. Her heart seemed to stop beating and was caught in her throat. She clutched the back of her chair, as suddenly the lights softly came on and a voice, a voice from the past, began singing. And there on the stage was Larry.

Chances are you'll find me
Somewhere on your road tonight
Seems I always end up drivin' by
Ever since I've known you
It just seems you're on my way
All the rules of logic don't apply
I long to see you in the night
Be with you till morning light

Ally couldn't believe what she was seeing. This wasn't one of her hallucinations, because everyone else seemed to be in shock as well, in fact, there had been a general "gasp" from the entire bar. Vonda joined in, her voice blending with Larry's [just as Robert and Vonda had practiced on Monday]:

I remember clearly
How you looked the night we met
I recall your laughter and your smile
I remember how you made me feel so at ease
I remember all your grace and style
And now you're all I long to see
You've come to mean so much to me

Chances are I'll see you
Somewhere in my dreams tonight
You'll be smilin' like the night we met
Chances are I'll hold you
And I'll offer all I have
You're the only one I can't forget
Baby you're the best I've ever met

Larry was looking directly at Ally, softly smiling at her, letting all the love he felt for her show in his eyes. He hadn't really been sure what he was going to do, when he had headed over to the bar, from the church. But when he'd run into Barry Manilow there, before the rest of the guests had arrived, an idea had formed. He was the one who had asked Barry to sing that song for Ally. He'd remembered Ally telling him she had heard Barry singing that to her, when he had been in Detroit. He thought the words were particularly appropriate. He knew he was taking a chance, showing up like this, and particularly, appearing on stage, singing the song he had written for her. But, after seeing Ally in the church, he knew that he had to try to win Ally back. This was, in his opinion, a way to start.

He continued the song, with another verse that he had written for Ally, after he'd gone back to Detroit to be with Sam. He'd never had the right opportunity to sing it to her. He'd intended to, the night he'd planned to propose, but that night had been a disaster.

And I'll be dreamin' of the future
And hopin' you'll be by my side
And in the morning I'll be longing
For the night
For the night

And chances are I'll see you
Somewhere in my dreams tonight
You'll be smilin' like the night we met
Chances are I'll hold you
And I'll offer all I have
You're the only one I can't forget
Baby you're the best I've ever met

There was silence in the bar, as the last notes faded away. Everyone was watching Larry and Ally to see what they would do. [As was noted in his script, Robert walked off the stage and over to Calista, who was frozen in place by her chair. She wasn't even having to act shocked -- she was in shock.]

Taking Ally's hand in his, Larry said, "Ally McBeal, before everyone here, I love you. I've loved you from the moment I first saw you, I've never stopped and I was a fool to say goodbye. Can you ever forgive me?" And he pulled her into her arms and began to kiss her.

At the moment that Larry's lips touched Ally's, fiction and reality blurred and it was no longer Larry kissing Ally. And for the first time in Calista's acting career, she forgot her professionalism -- it became real and personal. Robert's lips burned on her's, sending jolts of electricity coursing through her body. Her mind was whirling as she tried to take it in. "Robert, here? What about rehab? This can't be happening!" Calista was desperately trying to make sense of it all. She started to pull away, to ask the questions coursing through her mind. But then, Robert deepened the kiss, groaning into her mouth as he pressed her lips opened and let his tongue slip in, to caress her mouth, bathing the inside and her tongue with his, and all thought went out of Calista's head. She forgot that Robert wasn't supposed to be there. She forgot that it had been over eight months since she'd felt his lips on hers, since she'd felt this alive. She forgot that Robert had sent her away, when she gone to him in rehab, and that she'd spent the last eight months trying to get over the hurt and to put him in the past. She forgot where she was, and that there was an entire audience of cast and crew looking on and that the camera was still rolling. All she could do was feel, with every fiber of her being, what Robert's lips and tongue were doing to her. His arms tightened around her and he pulled her even closer, so close that she could now feel the evidence of his desire, pressing into her stomach. She was quivering herself, with desire, with the need to envelop Robert within her. Until . . .

"Cut," called David. And Calista's world came crashing down.