Title: And The Nominees Are…

Author: Laura

Characters: Multiple

Disclaimer: The following story has been written with no intention of claiming ownership
or solicitation, nor does the author claim the movie character(s) as his/her own. The movie
character(s) have been borrowed solely out of a love of the particular movie and is not
intended for any other purpose but amusement and entertainment.

~@~@~@~@~@~@~

"Max, they're waiting for us; we only have a few minutes," Laura said impatiently as
Maximus lingered at the window of his bedroom, staring out at the dawn.

"Its early -- I doubt anyone's up yet."

"Trust me, they're awake. They wouldn't miss *this*," she said.

"I still do not understand what is so important."

Laura shook her head, sighing. One of his most endearing qualities was his modesty, but
sometimes, he went a bit too far. "Maximus -- "

She was interrupted by a knock at the door, and when she answered it, she found Ilaria
and Massimo out in the hallway.

"Hurry, you two!" Ilaria said, appearing a bit out of breath. "It's almost time!"

"He's embarrassed by the whole thing -- he doesn't want to come down," Laura
explained.

Ilaria shook her head. "Massimo is the same -- they are both too modest."

Laura hid a grin behind her hand as Maximus looked over at them with an exasperated
snort. He met the eyes of Massimo, who just shrugged. "They are waiting for us both, my
friend."

Maximus gave a resigned sigh, and then smiled, moving to Laura's side and taking her
arm. "All right -- I'm coming," he said.

"Come on!" Ilaria said, linking arms with Laura and Massimo and pulling them all with
her down the hall and over to the stairs that led down to the first floor of the tavern.
All of their brothers were gathered around the big screen TV in the corner, with most of
their respective companions beside them as well. Chairs were clustered around the TV,
with the four seats in front left empty. As the group parted to let them pass, Maximus
held back, as did Massimo. "This really isn't necessary," Maximus said.

"For Christ's sake, Max -- sit down!" Bud complained as he stood beside Trisha's chair.
"It's going to be on in a minute!"

There was agreement all around, and the two Romans were reluctantly pushed towards
their seats, their partners tugging on their arms until they were all seated.

"It's about to start, mate," Jeff Mitchell said to John, who held the remote. "Turn it up!"

"Everyone settle down," John said as he put his arm around Tina. "Lets have some quiet
so we can all hear it." He hit the mute button on the remote again, and the tavern was
filled with the sound of CNN's theme music as a commercial ended.

"Its 5:38!" Michelle said excitedly, leaning against Colin. "This is it!"

Everyone moved closer around the TV as the picture changed to a live feed from
Hollywood, California. Most held their breath -- and their significant others -- as the
Oscar Nominations were about to be announced live.

Laura and Ilaria each took their partner's hands, the girl's palms sweating with
nervousness. "God, I can't stand the suspense...!" Laura muttered.

There were a few minutes of commentary before the actual nominations were read,
making everyone crazy. "Get on with it already, mate..." Lachlan complained.

Finally, though, the announcers on the TV got down to business. The first category to be
announced was Best Picture, and the room went dead silent, everyone crossing their
fingers. The nominees began to be announced...

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon..." There were a few sighs.

"Erin Brockovich...." More sighs.

"Chocolat..." There were a few moans now as the suspense level rose dramatically.

"Gladiator...."

The other nominee, "Traffic", was drowned out by the tremendous shout that went up
from the group. There were high fives and embraces all around. Andy, Peaches and Liz,
standing behind the bar, popped open champagne bottles, managing to spray a good
portion of the group with the bubbly. Laura moved from her chair into Maximus' lap,
kissing him happily, and Ilaria and Massimo embraced also.
"Hey! Hold it down! They're not done yet, ya know!" Jeff shouted over the din, and
everyone quieted as the next category was read.

Best Supporting Actor was next, and another loud shout went up when Joaquin Phoenix'
name was read, along with a few good-natured catcalls. More champagne was opened,
and the group quieted to hear the Best Director nominees. There were more shouts and
more champagne as Ridley Scott was announced.

There were groans of frustration as Best Supporting Actress was next, and Connie
Neilsen's name did not appear. Andy and Liz were starting to pour the champagne into
the line of glasses that stretched from one end of the bar to the other when the room went
silent once more.

"And the nominees for Best Actor are..." There seemed to be a endless pause -- everyone
nearly turning blue as they held their breaths -- until the names began.

"Tom Hanks...." There was a rousing chorus of boos at that, and everyone laughed,
dispelling some of the tension.

"Ed Harris...." There were more moans, and a whispered, "Oh, god, get on with it before I
go crazy!" from Tonya.

Once again there was a seemingly endless pause, and then....

"Russell Crowe."

The tavern erupted in sheer pandemonium, which quickly turned into a massive group
hug. All of the men had to take a turn hugging Maximus and Massimo, and each of the
girls insisted on a congratulatory hug *and* kiss with the two Spaniards. Ilaria and Laura
were almost too busy embracing the rest of the boys to notice what was going on with
their men. The champagne flowed freely now, some of it showering the two heroes of the
hour, and even though it was the crack of dawn, everyone shared a congratulatory toast as
they listened the rest of the nominations.

The list of nominations for Gladiator quickly grew to include not only Best Picture,
Actor, Supporting Actor and Director, but Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score,
Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Visual
Effects, and Best Art Direction as well.

"Oh my god," Tina said when the nominations had all been read and the live broadcast
was over. "Twelve! Twelve freakin' Oscar nominations for 'Gladiator'....! Take *that*,
Roger Ebert!" she exclaimed, and everyone dissolved in laughter.

"Speech! Speech!" several voices called out, but both Maximus and Massimo looked
bewildered.
Terry moved closer and said, "That means they want you two to make a little speech in
honor of the occasion, mates." He laughed as Massimo ran his fingers through his
champagne-soaked hair, blinking rapidly as the some of the liquor ran into his eyes. Ilaria
handed him a towel, and he blotted his face.

"I don't understand why this is so important," Maximus said. "They're just choosing the
nominees for the awards -- no one's actually won anything yet. There wasn't this much
interest in those Golden Globes a few weeks ago, and those were the actual awards."

"You don't understand, Max," Kath said. "Just being *nominated* for an Academy
Award is an honor."

"And to get 12 of 'em for one flick?" Andy said. "That'll just make more people want to
rent it or buy it. And with Russell getting nominated two years in a row, that'll help his
career even more."

"Yea, this is *great* news! We'll have even more people interested in the Nest!" Peaches
said.

"We owe a lot to you, mate," Jeff said to Maximus. "Both of you." He nodded towards
Massimo too. "Until 'Gladiator' came along, this place was too damn quiet. But since last
May, we've all had lots to celebrate." He raised his glass in the air. "To 'Gladiator'!"

Everyone clinked glasses and drank some champagne. More toasts followed quickly.

"To Maximus!"

"To Massimo!"

"To Russell!"

"Ridley Scott!"

"Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard!"

"Joaquin Phoenix!"

Everyone quickly grew drunk with the repeated toasts, laughing and talking.

"I have one more!" Wendy said loudly, and everyone turned to listen. "To last year's
nominees -- Jeffrey Wigand and 'The Insider'. I wasn't here last year to toast him, but
better late than never!" She gazed warmly at Jeffrey, kissing him on the cheek, and he
reddened a bit at all the sudden attention. Wendy raised her glass and clinked it against
his.

"To Jeffrey!" came a chorus of voices, with more clinking glasses.

"And to Bud," Trisha said. "Who *should* have been nominated for 'LA Confidential'."

"Yea, Bud!" Stef exclaimed. There were cheers and clapping and more raised glasses,
everyone laughing at the embarrassed and surprised Bud who was turning just as red as
Jeffrey.

Wendy fought back a smile as East and Zack came around, each with a bottle of
champagne, and snuck up behind Bud and Jeffrey, showering them with champagne,
drenching both, but missing Wendy and Trisha. Both men were royally pissed at first,
sputtering and their faces darkening with anger, but then, as everyone started to laugh and
cheer, they joined in the laughter, and Bud got a bottle of his own and chased after East,
Zack and Trisha.

Jeffrey chuckled, wiping his glasses with a clean napkin that Wendy provided. "It
certainly wasn't like this last year."

"Didn't they do anything for you?" Wendy asked.

"Oh, yes, we had a party then too -- but it was mainly just us men, plus Peaches, Liz and
Michelle. And at the time, some of them... well, they didn't seem to like me too much, so
we had one or two bottles of champagne, but that was it. And then Russell lost to Kevin
Spacey during the actual awards, so there really wasn't much to celebrate..." he said,
shrugging, sounding a bit sad.

"Aw, Jeffrey..." Wendy said, taking his arm and pulling him close, only to recoil a bit
when her arm pressed against the wet, sticky shirt. "I hate to think of you all alone here...
I wish I'd discovered the Nest sooner."

"So do I," Jeffrey agreed, leaning close but avoiding getting her wet too as the
champagne dripped from his hair. "But you're here now -- that's all that counts."

"Yes, it is," Wendy agreed.

"What about 'Virtuosity'?" Sid's voice cut through the noise, and the group quieted,
turning towards the man in the purple suit who had been observing from a dark corner of
the tavern. "Russell should have been nominated for me as well," he said haughtily.

There were groans of disapproval from the men, but Tonya spoke up, "No, he's right --
RC did a damn good job playing him. As usual." She smiled at him, and Sid smiled
smugly in return, especially when Lady agreed with Tonya. There were other reluctant
agreements from among the women.

But most of the men remained unconvinced. "'Virtuosity' sucked, Sid," Steve said.
"Everyone knows that, no matter how good Russell was."
"It did not 'suck'," Sid growled. "It was a masterpiece -- but the Hollywood establishment
always ignores science fiction movies. Everyone knows *that*. It's all politics. The
Academy Awards are meaningless." He looked over at Maximus and Massimo. "And this
year, it was a weak field. What else could explain 12 nominations for such a pedestrian
script?"

There were groans and gasps of disbelief. Hando, who stood nearby sharing a bottle of
bubbly with Sy and Stef, shook his head. "Pitiful, Sid."

When he didn't elaborate further, Sid couldn't help but ask, "What is?"

"That you've never gotten over bein' jealous of 'em."

Hando smiled as Sid fumed, and the most of the others laughed at him. Then, one by one,
Alex, Cort, Mannie, Bud, Terry, Colin, Max and Massimo all went to the bar and picked
up newly opened bottles and converged on Sid. His eyes went wide. "Oh, no. You're not
ruining *another* one of my suits."

"Guess again," Bud said, putting his thumb over the neck of the bottle, shaking it
vigorously and spraying Sid before he could escape. "You wanted to be part of the party,
didn't you...?" The others joined in until Sid was drenched from his perfectly coiffed hair
to his expensive Italian leather shoes.

"Aw, Sid," Lady said, coming to his rescue along with Tonya and Angie. Sid's mood
improved quickly as the women fussed over him.

Ilaria and Laura were laughing at Sid's plight when they noticed that their men-folk were
headed their way... Each with a bottle of champagne and a mischievous twinkle in their
eyes.

"Don't you dare!" Ilaria said, but Massimo just laughed, as did Maximus as Laura tried to
back away too.

"You wanted us to come to the party, didn't you? Why miss all the fun yourselves?"
Maximus asked just before he and Massimo sprayed their companions with the
champagne. The women squealed with laughter and surprise as they were quickly
drenched with the cold liquor.

A free-for-all ensued among the entire group, another case of champagne disappearing in
no time. Everyone was drenched eventually -- some had tried to avoid it, like Norma Jean
who hid behind Mannie to try to escape from a very determined Brynn. But soon Brynn
was joined by Annabella and Alex, and the redhead and her protector were thoroughly
soaked. In another corner, it was Hando, Stef, Bugdog, Zack, Sy, Jeff Mitchell, Rick,
Loria, Cort, Tina, John Peaches, StePH, Jennifer and Joan who chased after one another
until they too were all drenched to the skin.
"God, that was fun!" a wet Michelle gasped as she leaned against a dripping Colin, nearly
doubled over with laughter. "But who the hell's gonna clean up this mess when we're
done?"

"Don't worry, luv -- we'll take care of it later. Even Liz doesn't seem to mind." He
gestured towards Liz and Terry, who seemed to be at a standoff as they each had a bottle
in hand. Soon, though, the bottles were emptied, and the two had collapsed to the floor in
peals of laughter as they sat in a puddle. "There hasn't been an occasion like this to
celebrate in quite a while."

"I know; its great isn't it?" She watched as a rather soggy, bedraggled-looking Laura and
Ilaria embraced Maximus and Massimo respectively. For all their embarrassment, the two
Romans were obviously proud of the important news of the day, and it shown in their
eyes. "I just hope we have as much to celebrate on March 25th..." She sighed, crossing
her fingers. "It's going to be a *long* wait!"