Episode 345
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Hey man on the bright side you’re going to live,” Don announced
walking into Diego’s hospital room after he’d worked to extract
the bullet from where Diego had been shot. He saw the tired looking man laying
on his side looking rather forlorn about the situation that had taken place.
“You may never live down the humiliation of being shot in the rear so
to speak, but nothing was seriously damaged.”
“Well, at this point, I think my being shot in the butt pales in comparison
to everything else that’s taken place,” Diego sighed heavily closing
his eyes and thinking about everything that had taken place back at the church.
He should’ve known better than to go to that wedding--than to believe
in someone like Sarah, who had only shown just how vindictive and manipulative
she truly was.
“Yeah well you could be married to my wife,” Don noted with an ironic
tone thinking about how Shannon had flipped out on him.
“Shannon,” Diego’s eyes reopened a bit surprised by Don’s
comment.
“Yeah, she clubbed me in the head the other night,” Don motioned
to the stitches on the center of his forehead, “so I am a classic example
of how love truly bites.”
“At least she didn’t shoot you,” Diego pointed out with a small
frown before shaking his head, “How is that any worse than my being shot
by the way?”
“I guess it’s not, but it just hurts when you love someone,”
Don shrugged his shoulders before moving around to inspect the bandaging on
Diego’s thigh, “You just never expect someone you care about to
turn on you when all you do is give them your heart.”
“I wish I could argue that one, but I’m not exactly the man to ask
about love,” Diego replied with a heavy sigh thinking about how angry
Cori was, “though I deserved what happened to me if not more today for
being such an idiot.”
“Oh come on. I don’t think that’s really fair. Knowing how
upset Cori was, she probably was aiming for something a bit more damaging,”
Don wiggled his brow before wincing, “be thankful she didn’t shoot
anything vital off.”
“As I said before I probably deserved a lot worse than I got,” Diego
mouthed solemnly, “She was a confused girl and I never should have lead
her on especially to chase after Sarah.”
“You’re damn right about that one,” Gabriella stepped into
the room shaking her head at her brother, “Of all the stupid, idiotic
things you have done, this one takes the cake. Do you have any idea how this
is going to look now that you’ve got not one, but two lunatic women on
your hands?”
“Some men would love to be in that position,” Don offered up in
Diego’s defense catching the scowl that spread over Gabriella’s
face.
“Yes, well most men are idiots and it’s clear that my brother has
turned over to that side,” Gabriella reached out and smacked him upside
the head, “When you told me about that little princess you were seeing,
I didn’t realize that she was insane. It’s bad enough that you have
the bride from hell in your life, but the gun toting lunatic…geez, Diego
are you asking to be murdered? What are you thinking? Is it too hard for you
to just keep it in your pants that you have to chase after every mental patient
you have?”
“Okay, maybe I should step out of the room here,” Don moved away
from Diego before nodding to the wound, “Everything looks pretty good
there so I’m sure you’re going to heal. It might sting for a while,
but…”
“It’s nothing like my wounded pride,” Diego offered up a weak
smile, “Thanks for your help Don.”
“No problem,” Don nodded again. He cast Gabriella a warning look
before speaking up again, “and try not to be too rough on him. He does
need to heal.”
“Oh he’ll heal alright, but not after he gets the lecture of his
life,” she informed both men before shaking her finger in her brother’s
face. “Diego Hernandez, how many times have I told you that it is never
a good thing to get involved with another man’s girlfriend?”
“Um, never,” Diego rolled his eyes at her before trying to shift
himself around on the hospital bed. “If I do recall I’ve never done
anything like that before now and trust me I’ll never do it again.”
“One time is one too many,” Gabriella continued to launch her verbal
assault at him. “What were you thinking?”
“I guess I wasn’t,” he finally blurted out frustrations mounting,
“I guess I was just tired of being alone after Maria and I found myself
believing that I could fall in love like that again. I thought Sarah was someone
special, but I was wrong. There are you happy?”
“Of course I’m not happy,” she threw her hands up in the air,
“Diego all I have ever wanted for you was for you to find some peace
and joy after you lost Maria, but it’s clear that you haven’t. You
went out of your way to find lunatics to spend your time with. Obviously you’re
trying to punish yourself for what happened still and that was not your fault.”
“I should’ve been with her Gabby,” Diego shook his head thinking
about the woman he’d loved. “I should’ve been there to stop
everything that happened to her--to our child.”
“She was stolen from you and it wasn’t fair, but Diego you can’t
find people who want to shoot you because you’re hurting,” she reached
out to embrace her brother, “I know you deserve more than that.”
“I don’t know what I deserve anymore,” Diego sighed hugging
his sister in response all the while wondering how he could’ve been so
very wrong about Sarah.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Get your hands off of me!” Cori shouted ramming herself into one
of the officers that attempted to push her into the squad car after she’d
gone and shot Diego. Her brown eyes narrowed up at the man wildly before she
pushed her leg forward and kicked him right across the shin. The officer went
down before the other one grabbed her from behind in an attempt to restrain
her.
“Don’t touch me!” Cori shouted bringing her foot back and slamming
it up into the man’s groin and sending him to the ground as well. Another
set of officers were approaching as Cori let out a sneer. “I swear to
God if you touch me I’ll…”
“Cori,” Dave called out to his sister making his way across the
busy parking lot now that he’d been called down to take care of the situation
at hand. He saw the rage that had consumed her otherwise beautiful features
and worry coiled over him. “What’s going on?”
“Dave, thank heaven you’re here,” Cori attempted to move forward
to reach out to him struggling to get out of her restraints while another
officer reached out to her, “Get your meat hooks off of me now! Let go
of me!”
“I’ve got it covered,” Dave rushed forward reaching out to
snag Cori’s arm while the officer issued him a warning.
“Chief, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” the
rookie officer began wearily as Dave took in a small breath.
“She’s my sister,” Dave explained watching the man release
Cori before Dave pulled her aside trying to make sense of what he’d heard
on the way over. He glanced over at his sister seeing her eyes wild with rage
and her lips curled in a heavy scowl.
“Why are they doing this to me? I did nothing wrong. That son of a bitch
deserved a lot worse than what he got for what he did to me. He lied to me
Dave. He told me that he loved me and he used me just so that he could get
close to her,” Cori burst into tears her hands shaking inside the handcuffs.
She looked over towards the church again and offered up a crooked smirk, “I
would’ve shot him again if I could’ve. He didn’t see it coming,
but he should’ve. No one believes me when I say he’s a jerk, but
after today they’ll know.”
“Cori, what did you do?” Dave tried to reason with her. He brought
his hands up on her shoulders and urged her to meet his eyes, “What did
you do to Diego?”
“I told you I shot him,” Cori answered him in an otherwise cool
and even tone, “I was aiming for his cold, black heart, but he tripped.
I would’ve done it too after he used me. He hurt me Dave and…”
“Cori,” Dave paused thinking about the trouble that his sister had
gotten into. Knowing full well about his sister’s history Dave felt an
uneasiness carry over him.
“Rob won’t even talk to me anymore and it’s Diego’s fault.
If he wouldn’t have hurt me, then I wouldn’t have had to go to Rob
like that. Rob cares about me, but because of Diego no man will be near me.
No one will love me until I make him pay…” Cori continued to ramble
on, “He needed to know he can’t hurt someone like that and get away
with it. He can’t use me and….”
“Cori, you need to calm down,” Dave inhaled slowly not quite sure
how he was going to fix the situation now that his sister had shot someone.
Taking a look around at the officers who were watching them, he attempted
to do his best to salvage the situation. “Listen to me Cori. What you
did here today was a bad thing. It was wrong and…”
“Diego was wrong. He promised me forever and he lied. He had to pay.
Dave he had to know how horrible it is to hurt someone like that,” Cori
began to sob breaking down in his arms, “He used me Dave. He promised
me forever and then left me.”
“Cori, it’s going to be okay,” Dave offered up reaching out
to embrace his younger sister as he wondered if things would truly be okay
after her attack on Diego. Now as half the department was watching him interact
with Cori, he wondered if there would be a way to put a spin on this situation
so that his sister didn’t end up spending the rest of her life behind
bars. Remembering her tortured history, Dave felt guilt overtake him as he
should’ve picked up on her behavior sooner. He should’ve been able
to pinpoint the moment when she’d lost control, but he was too caught
up in his own issues to notice. If he would’ve seen it sooner.
“Why did he hurt me Dave?” Cori sobbed into her brother’s chest
lost in her own misery.
“It’s going to be okay,” Dave offered up once again hoping
he could come up with some solution to save his sister from herself before
this final act of revenge took her under.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Are you going to tell me what’s on your mind kiddo?” Carly
sat down next to Stacy on the couch still not sure on the details of why Dave’s
niece had shown up at their house so randomly and alone. “What’s
going on?”
“What isn’t going on?” Stacy grumbled thinking about all the
problems that had developed and angered her over the last few months as she
let out another groan. “I just can’t stand my family. My uncle is
the only one that is sane.”
“That isn’t completely true,” Carly tried to make Stacy feel
a little bit better seeing the way that Stacy glared over at her with her
blue eyes. “Okay, so that might be a little bit true.”
“A little bit?” Stacy questioned with a small laugh before pushing
back her hair and thinking about the people in her life knowing that Dave
had been the only one she could trust. The only one that wouldn’t let
her down when she needed him the most. “Listen, I just wanted to come
here so I wouldn’t have to deal with everyone. I know that Dave wouldn’t
mind and…,”
“That still doesn’t answer my question honey,” Carly hushed
her nicely before moving in closer to her and motioning her to look up. Seeing
the way that Stacy shook her head Carly shrugged and stood up from the couch.
“Do you think your mother or father would be upset with you just taking
off like that?”
“Gee, let me think about that. No,” Stacy replied looking up at
Carly before pushing back her blonde hair and thinking things over before
taking in a small breath. “I’m kind of thirsty, do have juice or
anything?”
“Sure, I’ll be right back,” Carly walked over toward the kitchen
before stopping long enough to look back and see Stacy stand up walking over
toward the bookshelf to look at a couple of things. “When I get back
kiddo, I want to know what’s going.”
“Sure, whatever,” Stacy nodded slowly before Carly walked off into
the kitchen leaving Stacy alone as she spotted the photo album. Reaching out
for it she pulled the large book into her arms before walking over toward
the couch and setting it down before pulling it open. “Let’s see
what we have here.”
Flipping through the pictures she stopped half way through finding the pictures
of the wedding she had always thought about and that’s when she heard
a noise behind her.
“Your mother’s wedding?” Carly eyed Stacy over slowly before
setting down the cup of orange juice and making her way around the table to
take a seat on the couch. “Is that what you’re interested about?”
“I’m interested as to why it actually took place,” Stacy sighed
deeply thinking about all the events that had taken place between her father
and her mother. “They can’t stand each other now, so why in the
world did they get married in the first place? It was all a big mistake.”
“It wasn’t a mistake,” Carly refused to take that for an answer
as she thought back to past when she had spent some time with her Stacy’s
mother, Jewel. “Sure Jewel and Paul had some rough times, but there was
a reason it was never a mistake. They had you and you were meant to be.”
“Yeah, and they really wanted me,” Stacy replied sarcastically flipping
through the pictures to find a picture of her mother and father standing up
in front of everyone. Seeing her dad in a suit made her laugh considering
the type of guy he was. With his hair pulled back into a ponytail and her
mother in a white dress. “The only story I have ever heard from my father
about his wedding was a story about his best man Kyle and that was it. He
never talks about how wonderful it was, maybe because my mom was a total…,”
“Stacy,” Carly cut her off before she could finish her sentence
and Carly reached out to grab a hold of the book. Quickly closing it she walked
over toward the bookcase and put the photo album back and saw Stacy standing
up behind her. “It’s obvious your parents did something, right?”
“Of course,” Stacy threw her hands up in the air before walking
across the room and standing in front of the window to take a look outside.
“When don’t they do something? They are freaks that don’t even
know they are old and grown up. They still act like they are my age and…,”
“It’s not fair,” Carly moved in behind Stacy gently placing
her hand over Stacy’s shoulder before taking in a deep breath. “I
know it isn’t, but you have to realize we all make mistakes sometimes.”
“Yeah, but it’s not sometimes for them,” Stacy cut her off
before walking over towards the couch and dropping down, reaching out for
the remote. “It’s all the time and I’m tired of it. I’m
tired of them, I’m tired of hearing them fight and I’m through with
all of this. I never want to see them again.”
“Oh boy,” Carly whispered to herself pushing back her hair before
trying to come up with some tactic to set things straight between her Stacy
and her parents. “This is going to take some talent before I get it to
work.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“That was wrong,” Wendy let out a long breath feeling Ken’s
arm tighten around her waist as her dark eyes looked up into his, seeing him
offer up a small smile. “We shouldn’t have done that. Now that we
did you are going to be too close to me and…,”
“And nothing,” Ken silenced her moving down to press a small kiss
against her lips gently pushing back her hair before inhaling deeply. “I
love you Wendy and you need to know that. Love leads you to do things.”
“Yeah, but now that we did that,” she took in a small breath moving
her fingers in over his abdomen, closing her eyes and taking in the feeling
of his warmth holding onto her. There was nothing more that she loved then
having his arms wrapped around her, but in all honesty, she shouldn’t
have let this go this far. She loved him way too much to let him actually
get hurt with what would happen in the future and she slowly opened her eyes.
“Ken, I’m so sorry.”
“Wendy, you should never be sorry,” he whispered pushing her dark
hair away from her face before letting out a long breath, sitting up slowly
he saw the way her dark eyes followed his every movement as he stood up from
the bed and reached for his robe. “I’ll be right back.”
“Alright,” she nodded taking a look around the room as she saw Ken
walk out of the room and she reached down to the ground to grab his shirt
and pull it in over her quickly before getting back under the blankets. Feeling
a small chill around the room she pulled the blankets in over her before seeing
Ken return. “I was wondering how long you were going to take.”
“I thought I lost something,” he informed her closing the door behind
him before returning to the bed and pulling apart his robe before pulling
it off and setting it back down on the chair next to the bed. “But I
found it, so it’s alright.”
“What did you lose?” she questioned eyeing him over carefully as
he got in the bed next to her and pulled the blankets up over his body. Turning
to face him she felt his fingers press in against her cheek as she let out
a small breath. “Ken?”
“I didn’t lose anything,” Ken smirked feeling her leaning into
his touch as he moved forward to press a small kiss against her forehead and
he bit down on his bottom lip gently. “Listen, I know that you are worried
about everything, but we are going to be okay.”
“Ken, you aren’t being open enough to realize what’s going
to happen in the future,” she started to inform him hating to know the
facts that one day she would in fact have to live without Ken. Actually, she
would have to think of it the other way around. That Ken would no longer have
her because she would disappear off the planet forever and he would never
see her again. “You are going to fall in love again only to get another
broken heart when I die.”
“Don’t say that,” he shook his head still not willing to accept
her giving up just that quick as he moved back slightly, raising up on his
elbow. “I swear to you that we are going to do everything in our power
to get you better. Don’t ever say I’m going to lose you again because
it’s not going to happen.”
“Ken,” she went to say something else only to feel him press his
hand in over her mouth to silence her and she closed her eyes hating to face
the facts, but they were true. Truer than she wanted to believe and it killed
her inside.
“I don’t want to hear you disagree with me because I know what I’m
talking about,” Ken turned away from her a moment before reaching out
to his dresser to pull open the top drawer and pull something out of it. “I
don’t ever want to lose you and you are never going to leave me. You
have to understand that.”
“I can’t when I know it isn’t true,” she frowned seeing
him sit up and motion her to do the same as she let out a small breath and
did as she was told. “I just don’t want you to be hurt inside if
that ever does happen.”
“Let’s just not worry about anything right now,” he hushed
her moving forward to place a small kiss in over her cheek feeling her arm
curl around his neck. “I just want to think about you and only you.”
“Right but,” she went to say something else only to see a necklace
drop before her eyes as he held it out before her. Moving back slowly she
looked out at it before seeing him smile and motion her to hold back her hair
so he could put it on her. “Ken, you shouldn’t have.”
“I know it’s kind of cheesy, but I liked it,” Ken informed
her with a small smile putting it together and moving back seeing her grab
the charm in her fingers seeing the two hearts stuck together covered in a
few diamonds. “The first time I saw it, I thought of us. Two hearts that
were never meant to separate. Do you like it?”
“I love it Ken,” she smiled not believing that he should have bought
something so expensive just for her, but knowing that he would hate her mentioning
that she didn’t say anything. Moving forward to hug him tightly she press
a kiss in over the side of his neck. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” he held her close only to feel her shiver in his
arms making him move back a bit before reaching out to caress her cheek gently.
“Are you cold?”
“A little bit,” she nodded seeing him frown as he motioned her to
lie back down with him on the bed as she did so and he pulled her in closer
to him. Pulling the blankets up around them snugly he held onto her tight
before she looked back at him. “I love you so much Ken. I just never
want to lose you.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Stop it all of you!” Avery shouted causing Kevin to snap out of
the daze that he’d been in. He looked over to Avery and something shifted
behind his eyes. He released Cameron watching Cameron fall to the ground in
agony over the way Kevin had squeezed his hand.
Brant took advantage of the moment now that Cameron was distracted and he
headed off in the direction Angela set off in finding himself more determined
than ever to tell her the truth about things. As he ran away Kevin stepped
further back from Cameron, his eyes still wild with something that Avery couldn’t
quite read.
“Kevin,” she spoke his name seeing him tip his head to the side
to look at her, a newfound anger brewing up inside of him.
“You and Russ get out of here,” Kevin suggested watching her take
a step forward, “I’m fine. This isn’t anything you need to
worry about.”
“Of course it is,” Cameron laughed from where he’d been kneeling
on the ground, “If you respect this woman, then she should know the truth
about what’s been kept from her. She deserves to know what her husband
was doing with my sister when she thought he was dead.”
“Oh please,” Avery rolled her eyes at his words, “Like you
have anything to talk about. Come on Kevin. Let’s just get out of here.”
“Oh come on. I’m sure she would love to hear all about everything
that happened on the island between Angela and Russ. How Russ thought it would
be wise to marry my sister when he found himself lost in love with her.”
“That’s enough!” Kevin shouted moving in towards Cameron again,
“She doesn’t need to hear this.”
“Doesn’t need to hear what? What about your sister?” Avery
started to think about what Cameron was telling her, “Is that woman your
sister?”
“Yes, she is,” Cameron nodded again a smug expression overtaking
him, “and so are you.”
“This is ridiculous,” Avery laughed back at him shaking her head
in a disbelief, “I don’t know who the hell that woman was, but I
know for a fact that I’m not your sister.”
“Is that right?” Cameron arched a curious brow. “Think about
it Avery I knew your birthday. I knew that her birthday was the same as yours--that
her face is the same as yours. You have the same blood type, which adds to
reason why Russ fell in love with her. He thought that she was you just like
obviously Kevin does now in his need to protect you.”
“Shut up Cameron!” Kevin stepped forward moving to kick Cameron
in the stomach, but Cameron quickly shuffled out of the way.
“Avery has been lied to over and over again. First by Brant and then
by his brother,” Cameron spat out picking himself up off of the ground,
“She deserves to know about the life that Russ was planning on the island
with Angel--the life that he would’ve still had if he hadn’t opted
to come back to Coral Valley.”
“You’re lying,” Avery shook her head still trying to process
everything that Cameron was saying to her, “You’re insane and I
don’t know who that woman is, but clearly you must’ve paid her to…”
“You want proof,” Cameron reached into his pocket and pulled out
a ring that he’d had with him since he’d learned of it’s existence.
He tossed it over to her with a smug expression, “Here’s your proof
Avery. It shows that Russ was living on the island with my sister loving her
and sharing absolutely everything with her while you were here fighting for
your life with Bruce Mathis.”
“Avery,” Russ started a panic overtaking him at the thought of Cameron
being the one to cause a problem for their future. “Listen to me…let’s
just go home…”
“Russ?” Avery spoke his name confusion settling in over her. She
looked down at the ring in her hand seeing there were words written inside.
“Avery, things aren’t like they seem. Cameron is just…”
Russ started again feeling his fears becoming a reality when a gasp fell from
her lips.
“You didn’t tell her about Angela. That much is clear,” Cameron
noted feeling Kevin reach for his neck and lift him up off of the ground again.
“Shut your damned mouth!” Kevin ordered in a roar shaking Cameron
as he held him in the air.
“Russ is it true?” Avery blinked back at him, “Were you going
to marry that woman?”
“Avery, I wasn’t myself. I washed up on an island and I thought
that…” Russ started taking a small step towards her only to feel
her pulling away from him.
“All this time I thought that you were being tortured--that you were
suffering somewhere, but you were with some woman--with that woman…”
Avery dropped the ring as a horrified expression washed over her. “Were
you going to marry her Russ? Is that true?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Come here a second,” Kipp grabbed a hold of Kellen’s arm
tugging on it roughly seeing Kellen let out a small laugh as Kipp quietly
shut and locked the door behind them before turning to face Kellen. “What
in the world is going on here?”
“Why are you asking me?” Kellen shrugged his shoulders looking down
to his shirt and slowly buttoning it back up. Seeing the way that Kipp stared
out at him with what seemed to be his angered brown eyes Kellen shrugged his
shoulders. “Listen, I know that it may seem a little cocky, but didn’t
Kyle already explain everything?”
“Yeah, but I’m still eager to know more if you get my point,”
Kipp offered up with a half frown before placing his hands over Kellen’s
broad shoulders and taking in a deep breath. “So I suggest you tell me
what the hell just happened.”
“Fine, I’ll tell you from the beginning,” Kellen took in a
sharp breath before shrugging his shoulders and walking over toward the window.
Seeing Kellen look outside Kipp moved forward to try and get him to talk again
before Kellen swung around on his heel. “So like, a while back Kyle and
Heather did this photo shoot together because I called one of the models and
cancelled on them making it so Kyle just absolutely had to do this shoot and
during the shoot Kyle and Heather had some heat going on there and at the
end they kissed.”
“Wait what?” Kipp questioned seeing the way Kellen shrugged his
shoulders before folding his arms out in front of him and taking in a deep
breath. “You set all that up on Kyle and Heather?”
“With good reason,” Kellen answered truthfully seeing Kipp glare
up at him as Kellen threw his hands up in the air before taking in a long
breath. “It’s not my fault that I saw Kyle and Heather making out
at that party like a day before and after that it was so not me. When I came
in on Heather giving Kyle a nice specialty that I know he was loving, that
was so not me. When I walked in on them actually going at it in her office
on the couch, it’s not like I made them do it. I mean I would love to
have the power to do that…,”
“Wait, they had sex on her couch?” Kipp questioned feeling a bit
confused as Kellen nodded slowly and Kipp took in a small breath running his
fingers through his hair. “At her office?”
“Well, okay, it didn’t last long because I walked in on them,”
Kellen tried to explain to make it sound less confusing, but felt more confused
by the second as he tried to explain things. “Kipp, Heather loves him
more than she has ever loved anyone. Kyle loves her so much too I can just
tell it and I wasn’t about to let him get with Sarah. Sarah cheated on
him with Diego and Cameron. Heavens knows who else and I couldn’t have
let him ruin his life. They are meant to be together, he is her true love.”
“How do you know that?” Kipp snapped seeing Kellen’s blue eyes
widen as he stepped back and stared out at Kipp as Kipp ran his fingers through
his dark hair. “I’m just saying Kellen, you can’t keep playing
Cupid. You are going to get stuck in a mess you can’t stop if you keep
doing this.”
“But Kyle should be…,” Kellen took in a deep breath starting
to feel bad as Kipp glared out at him and he shrugged his shoulders. Falling
back to the couch he rested back against it and stared up at Kipp. “I’m
not about to apologize because what I did was amazing and now two people deeply
in love are together. I did the right thing Kipp, you should know that.”
“Okay,” Kipp moved forward feeling bad at the way he snipped at
Kellen like that, but actually seeing Diego getting shot affected him in a
way he could never imagine. “Just where in the hell is Kyle though?”
“Now that’s the real question,” Kellen smiled widely moving forward and curving his right hand in over Kipp’s shoulder seeing Kipp arch his eyebrow up in curiosity. “Kyle has got the right idea when it gets down to it. That’s all I’m going to say right now.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Heather pulled her car to a screeching halt after she’d managed to find
out just what church Kyle’s wedding was taking place at. It had taken
some handiwork to get someone at the office to open up and find that information
for her, but now that she knew nothing would be stopping her. She pressed
her foot to the gas again zipping up to a parking spot near the middle of
the back lot behind the church. She could see that she was obviously late,
but hopefully not too late to keep the wedding from happening. She couldn’t
let Kyle marry Sarah--not today, not ever!
“Please just hold on Kyle,” Heather pleaded shoving open the door
of her car and racing out of it, not bothering to take her keys out of the
ignition.
She zipped forward running faster than anyone should ever run in high heels
in the hopes that she hadn’t missed out on the greatest thing that had
ever happened to her by hesitating. She was halfway to the back entrance when
she felt the ground move beneath her. Only it wasn’t the ground, she
realized when she fell forward, her knee scraping hard against the hot pavement.
She looked down to see the tear in her skirt and the bright yellow heel of
her not so practical, but oh so beautiful shoe beside her. It must’ve
broken off in her rush to get to the church, she realized hearing bells coming
from the church. She looked up and took in a sharp breath refusing to let
her slip and fall keep her from the man she loved.
“Damn it,” she cursed under her breath knowing full well she was
probably going to hell for swearing in a church parking lot, but this was
the last thing she needed. Clumsily she reached out to undo the buckle on
her shoe before she discarded it across the lot. She ended up hitting the
front windshield of a car and set the alarm off in the process.
“No, oh God no,” she tipped her head up towards the clouds while
attempting to use the car beside her to pull herself up off of the ground,
“Please don’t let me miss him. Please just help me a bit and I swear
I’ll behave from here on out.”
A soft rumbling sound rolled from above and the first hints of rain started
to pour down over Heather. She let out a frustrated gasp while kicking off
her other shoe knowing full well she wouldn’t be able to move fast enough
if she had it on. She looked to the clouds again with a pleading look.
“Okay, I might not always behave, but I promise I’ll never ask for
anything again if you just give me this. Please…” Heather begged
for a moment before her eyes narrowed in on the church again.
With a determined look on her face she sprung forward ignoring her twisted
ankle and scraped legs in the hopes that this one chance--this one moment
would change her life forever. Reaching for the thick, heavy, wooden door,
she yanked it open praying that she could stop her worst nightmare from happening.
Once inside Heather took a look around and a puzzled expression swept over
her.
“So this is what a place like this is like,” she paused tipping
her head up again as a tiny rumble carried out vibrating the walls around
her, “No offense. I was just saying.”
Heather looked around again spotting a room in front of her. Hastily she threw
open the doors and jumped into the room ready to yell stop when she noticed
it was empty.
“No,” Heather muttered under her breath seeing a bouquet tossed
on the ground. She moved down the row in the hopes of seeing some sign that
there hadn’t been a wedding that had taken place here, but with the flowers
and the decorations, she knew in her heart that her worst fears had become
a reality. She was too late. Bending down to pick up the bouquet, she found
herself caught up in a thunderstorm of her own with tears pouring down her
face. She sank into the bench beside her and buried her face in her hands.
“I’m too late,” she sobbed looking to the bouquet again, “I’m
too late.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dave paced the hallway of the police station thinking about the favor he’d
called in once he’d spoken to Julian Kurts. It was longer than he’d
anticipated, but after Julian’s wife Olivia made her way over from the
hospital to give Cori a psychiatric evaluation, Dave just prayed that somehow
things would pan out in such a way that they would be able to help Cori instead
of her suffering even further for his failure to protect her. Closing his
eyes Dave thought back to when he’d first learned of Cori’s problems
all those years ago. If only their lives had been different--if only their
father hadn’t made her feel the way she had. If only Dave could’ve…
“Dave,” Olivia Kurts called out to him rousing him from his self
loathing. He looked up from where he’d been pacing just outside of the
visiting room and found that Olivia was waiting for him with a somber expression,
“we need to talk.”
“Of course,” Dave nodded eyeing the door to the interrogation room
for a long moment. “We can go to my office if you’d like.”
“That would probably be good,” Olivia noted following Dave into
his office. Once the door was closed behind them, she took in a small breath,
“Dave, I’m not going to lie to you Cori is in bad shape.”
“I realize that,” Dave rubbed his palms together and took in a small
breath, “Normally I wouldn’t have called you down here, but considering
what I know about my sister’s history of mental instability…”
“I’ve read over her records,” Olivia nodded in response thinking
about the papers she’d picked up on the way over to meet with Cori, “I
know about that situation a few years back.”
“That wasn’t the first situation Olivia,” Dave hesitated unable
to quell the nervousness in his stomach at the thought of what Cori had done.
“She was fixated on her therapist back then, but he wasn’t the first…”
“I didn’t anticipate him being the first,” Olivia nodded accordingly
watching Dave move around the room lost in his own contemplations.
“Life in our house was never, well easy…” Dave explained unable
to put to words what it was that was bothering him. “Cori was always
seeking out attention in her own way and with the way my father was with her…”
“Dave, you don’t have to get into this with me,” Olivia offered
up sensing his uneasiness with the situation, “I’m going to recommend
that they put her under medical care for a while. Given her manic state I
think it’s clear that for at least the next forty eight hours she should
be under close watch. I read about the incident with her therapist and the
suicide attempt…”
“She wasn’t always this way,” Dave began thinking about his
sister’s problems with obsession. “I don’t know when this started,
but…”
“She’s hurting right now Dave and right now she doesn’t see
things as they are. She’s only focusing on the pain of the rejection
she is feeling. In her mind shooting Diego was her way of releasing the rage
that she’d kept locked inside of her and bringing with it a means of
closure only in this instance her attempts at closure not only hurt him, but
brought her further into the darkness she’s buried herself in,”
Olivia added with a heavy sigh, “Dave, I wish I could say that things
will only go up from here, but…”
“No promises,” Dave nodded in response, “I know. I’m well
aware of how this goes. One suggests therapy, the other suggests medication,
but all it takes is Cori finding what she believes is love and then…”
“Hey,” Olivia moved over towards him placing her hand on his shoulder
gently, “I can have her transferred to the hospital and we can run some
more evaluations on her. I don’t know what Diego’s intentions are,
but anyone can see that your sister isn’t of sound mind right now. Cori
needs medical care and treatment and no jury or judge is going to put her
in a jail cell where she’s unable to get what she needs.”
“They’ve done it to other people in the past for a lot less,”
Dave tossed out at her before shaking his head. “My hands are tied on
this one Olivia and I don’t want to tip the scales, but…”
“Your sister is going back to the hospital with me,” Olivia informed
him firmly, “and I’m not going to let anyone argue that point. I’ll
put my reputation on the line with this one if need be because it’s clear
that she needs help--help that only my staff at the hospital can provide her
with. It’s the only way.”
“Thank you,” Dave offered up hating the idea of having his sister
committed to a mental hospital, but at the same time it kept her out of jail
for the time being. “Olivia you know I’m more than willing to cooperate…anything
you need, just ask.”
“Right now I just need you to stop blaming yourself. This isn’t
your fault because with Cori’s condition this isn’t something that
anyone can be prepared for,” she offered up sensing his apprehension
about the situation. “If you let me handle this one I can promise you
that Cori will receive the help she needs. I might even be able to speak with
Diego about what happened as well.”
“I just wish he would’ve left well enough alone. If they wouldn’t
have gotten involved with one another, then…” Dave shuddered at
the thought of what his sister had done.
“Dave, you can’t keep Cori from wanting to have a normal life. She’s
bound to find someone to care about sooner or later, but with Cori that kind
of relationship needs to have some kind of boundaries,” Olivia added
thinking about what she’d observed with Cori.
“Otherwise next time someone could wind up dead, right?” Dave glanced
over at her once again.
“It won’t happen Dave because there won’t be a next time. I’ll
do what I can to help her,” Olivia promised up again as Dave wondered
if it would truly ever be enough where his sister was concerned. Thinking
about Cori’s latest act he couldn’t help but wonder if the worst
was still yet to come.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Oh god,” Diego let out a long groan before lifting his head up
from the pillows and rolling onto his stomach feeling a pain building up from
the bottom of his leg to the small of his back. “I can’t believe
this, I mean really. This is horrible.”
“And who did this?” Gabriella questioned seeing Diego shoot a glare
over at her as she looked up at him from over her magazine before seeing him
drop his head back down into the pillow. “Hey, all I’m saying is
that if you wouldn’t have been a jerk none of this would have ever happened
and you would have been fine. You would have never…,”
“Gabriella!” Diego groaned looking up at her again and letting out
a small hiss before shaking his head slowly. “I don’t need to hear
this right now okay, I have really been having kind of a bad day I don’t
need you to keep doing this to me, okay? I get the point that I screwed up,
but just give it up--okay?”
“Man, someone got a bullet up their butt and needs to pull it out,”
she let out a small laugh before setting down her magazine and sitting forward.
“Get it, I’m not saying stick because it was a bullet and…,”
Hearing a knock at the door they both quieted as Diego raised his head up
and turned to his good side seeing Barbara standing in the doorway as Diego
shot Gabriella a small glance.
“I’ll leave you two alone for a few,” she informed them with
a small smile walking toward the door to see Diego glaring over at her as
she pointed back. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”
“Fine,” Diego rolled his eyes letting out a small groan as he adjusted
his position on the bed to get a little bit more comfortable, seeing Barbara
walking over toward the bed. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she reached out to touch his hand gently seeing the way his
brown eyes looked up at her as she looked away from him for a moment. Feeling
his fingers curl in over hers she looked down at him, hating to see him hurt
like this. “How are you feeling?”
“Like a jerk, that’s taking over the pain from my butt,” he
half teased a half smile develop over her features as he moved in closer to
her gripping tighter on her hand and seeing her blue eyes look down at him.
“I’m surprised you are here to see me. I would have thought you
would have never wanted to see me again.”
“Hey, we all make mistakes, right?” she pointed out seeing him nod
slowly before taking in a long breath and it was obvious that things were
big time on his mind and she knew that she couldn’t be there for long.
“I only came to stop by, but I just wanted you to know that you shouldn’t
blame yourself for this.”
“Yes, I should,” Diego cut her off looking away from her for a moment
before thinking about all the mistakes that he had made over the last few
months. “I made the mistake of falling in love with a woman that was
very taken and I screwed up her life and mine more than you could ever imagine.
Look what happened now, I deserved all of this.”
“No you didn’t, you never deserved any of this,” she hushed
him pressing her fingertip in over his lips gently seeing the way his eyes
closed before he took in a small breath. “You can’t help your heart’s
actions when you think you’ve fallen in love with someone and that was
your case Diego. Don’t ever blame your heart for playing with your mind,
this was all Sarah. Not you.”
“Yeah, but this never would have happened if I didn’t follow my
heart,” Diego pointed out thinking about the possibilities of what would
have happened if he didn’t follow his heart’s feelings. “If
I would have gone for the right girl instead of the wrong…,”
“We can’t think about the past Diego, just think about what’s
ahead in our future,” she pointed out before looking down at her watch
and seeing the time and she moved back slowly. “I’ve got to get
back to work, but I will come back to see you later okay.”
“Alright,” Diego felt her bend down to kiss his cheek gently before
watching her walk out of the room and he realized that he was lucky to have
a friend like her. Closing his eyes he dreamed of what it would be like if
this never happened, if Kyle and Sarah would have gotten married. That’s
when he felt something whap the back of his head and he let out a small groan
opening his eyes to see his sister standing before him with a magazine. “What
was the for?”
“Why couldn’t you have just gotten with a nice girl like her?”
Gabriella questioned moving back over toward her seat and opening her magazine
again. “If you would have just been able to find someone like Barbara
you would have never been in this situation.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“What are we doing?” Wendy pulled her robe closer to her body as
she followed Ken down the stairs seeing him walk into the library for a second
before coming back and wrapping his arms around her. “Ken?”
“I was just fixing the temperature, I knew you were cold,” he pointed
out seeing her nod slowly before he moved in closer to her, getting in behind
her and wrapping his arms around her waist gently. “I was kind of hungry
too. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not,” she moved forward toward the kitchen still feeling
him have a strong grip on her as he followed her close behind and she let
out a small breath feeling him nip at her neck gently. “Ken, I thought
you were hungry.”
“I am hungry,” he replied feeling her pull away from him gently
as he shook his head slowly and let out a small breath shrugging his shoulders
as he spoke up. “Okay, so I might have been more hungry for just you,
but still.”
“Well, lets see what we can find you,” she walked over toward the
refrigerator pulling it open to look at the things inside as she felt Ken
step in beside her and wrap his right arm around her tightly. “We have
some fruit?”
“No, I’m not into something healthy right now, so that cuts out
the vegetables, the fruit and the yogurt,” Ken thought for a long second
before pulling open the freezer and seeing her dark eyes looking over at him.
“What? I think I have a sweet tooth right now.”
“Right,” she watched him search the freezer for a moment before
pulling out three different kinds of ice-cream and she eyed him over disgustedly.
“So, do you think you have enough there or is there something else you
need?”
“You’re right,” Ken thought about her question for a moment
before moving over toward the refrigerator again to pull out some chocolate
syrup, strawberries, cherries, and some whipped cream. “This still isn’t
enough?”
“Isn’t enough?” she chuckled seeing him flipping through the
cabinets before pulling out a container of sprinkles and setting it down on
the counter. “How fat are you planning on getting tonight?”
“As fat as I can if that means this tastes great,” Ken replied with
a wide smile grabbing a big bowl from the cabinet before setting it out the
counter. “It looks so great though.”
“It looks very fattening to me,” she pointed out seeing the way
he scooped everything out and into the bowl as she moved in closer to him
before setting her hand on his shoulder. “It looks…,”
“Wendy?” Ken turned toward her hearing her voice drift off as he
turned toward her seeing the way her eyes glazed over before she fell forward
and he caught her in his arms slowly sliding down toward the ground as he
held her in his arms. Pushing back her hair he moved in closer to her touching
her face gently. “Wendy wake up. Talk to me. Wendy, please.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“There were circumstances,” Russ began exchanging worried glances
with Kevin, who was still having a time shaking Cameron in the air. Before
he could say another word, it started to rain adding more fuel to the nightmare
scenario taking place around them.
“Answer me damn it. Were you going to marry her?” Avery shouted,
her voice vibrating with anger.
“Yes,” Russ finally blurted out his green eyes tearing away from
her, “but I didn’t know who I was at the time and on some level
I believed that she was you. When I didn’t know who I was my heart told
me that…”
“That what? That you could just marry some other woman and forget about
what we have with one another?” Avery shook her head frustrated tears
pouring over her. She turned to face Cameron before thinking about what he’d
said about her being his sister. Unable to take in air fast enough she stepped
back moving away from all of them.
“Avery, I didn’t know who I was. I thought that I was someone else--when
I washed up on the island I was so hurt that I didn’t know who I was.
I lost myself trying to escape from where I was held captive and,” Russ
began thinking about the past that had kept him away from her and Erin. Tipping
his head down he looked to Erin and felt a pain in the center of his chest.
Eyeing Avery again he spoke up in an impassioned tone, “You and Erin
have always been the only thing that mattered--you were all that was important
when I knew who I was again. I rushed to get home to you and…”
“And you promised my sister forever in the process,” Cameron added
as Kevin tossed him down onto the ground again.
“You shut up!” Kevin warned before facing Avery, “Look Avery
Russ is telling the truth. He thought his name was Nick and…”
“You knew all about this too?” Avery’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You knew that Russ was with some other woman and… Oh my God…”
“Avery,” Russ spoke her name seeing the tears burning behind her
eyes.
“You both were in on this with each other,” she shook her head at
the both of them. Looking to Kevin again a realization dawned in upon her,
“She’s the woman you were in love with--the one you were going to
marry before, isn’t she?”
“Avery, this really isn’t…” Kevin offered up seeing how
upset she was.
“Damn it. Will someone start telling me the truth?” she surveyed
the three men before her feeling as if she couldn’t believe anything
out of any of their mouths.
Kevin took a step forward, “Yes, she was, but Russ is telling you the
truth. When he thought he was Nick he didn’t remember you or Erin or…”
“But you knew all about us when you came to Coral Valley, didn’t
you? When you came to my house--showed up on my doorstep you were coming over
to tell me all about it weren’t you?” Avery questioned in an abrasive
tone, her chocolate colored eyes returning to Russ, “He came over to
tell me what you wouldn’t….”
“It’s not that I wouldn’t. It’s just that you were so
upset that I couldn’t…” Russ tried to plead his case with her,
knowing in his heart that he should’ve been honest with her from the
start. “Avery we had so much on our plate with Bruce and…”
“And once again you didn’t think I could handle it. You didn’t
think I was strong enough to be told the truth,” she shouted at him,
her voice echoing through the parking lot area, “You lied to me Russ.
You swore to me that you would always be honest with me, but now I hear from
Cameron of all people that you had some other life. That you were sleeping
with someone else and…”
“I thought she was you,” Russ argued with her ready to say something
more when Erin burst into tears, making her voice known among the shouting.
“You thought I was too weak to hear it, didn’t you?” Avery
snapped in an accusatory tone. “You’ve been keeping me sheltered
since you’ve returned because you think I’m irresponsible--that
I’m incapable of knowing the truth about things. You treat me like a
child and…”
“Avery this wasn’t the top of my list of priorities when I got home.
You and Erin were all that mattered and saving you was,” Russ began as
Kevin reached for Erin giving Russ and Avery the opportunity that they needed
to speak to one another. “Please let’s just go home and discuss
this.”
“Discuss this!” she shouted pulling out of his reach, “You
raked me through the coals for being married to Brant--for walking away from
what we had, but while I was fighting for my life--for our daughter’s
life you were shacking up with some bimbo!”
“Avery, she’s not a bimbo. She’s really a nice person and…”
Russ stopped himself realizing that it wasn’t helping to defend Angela.
“I swear to you if I had any idea who I was, I never, ever would have…”
“But you did Russ. You did and you didn’t think to tell me. I was
honest with you and you lied. You purposely kept me in the dark because you
didn’t think I could handle the truth about what you’d done. You
knew in your heart it was wrong, yet you kept keeping the news from me each
and every day. Why? So that you could keep lying to me over and over again?”
“Avery, I didn’t lie to you. I was going to tell you,” Russ
snapped his heart hammering in his chest at the pain that filled behind her
eyes. “I wanted to tell you, but…”
“But you were a coward. You’re nothing like the man I knew before
you died. You’re a liar and I can’t trust you. You could’ve
found a way for us to be together, but…” she hissed clenching her
fists into balls at her side.
“You were married to Brant when I got back!” he reminded her harshly,
“You left everything we had behind to be with him and I was backed into
a corner. I was afraid if I told you about her, that you’d leave me--that
you’d walk away from me and run to him without considering our history--without
giving any thought to what we have.”
“You didn’t give any thought to it because all you cared about was
beating Brant. You wanted to win that it didn’t matter what was right
in this situation. You lied to me Russ. You all lied to me because you thought
I was weak and incapable,” Avery assaulted him with her words, her voice
growing cracked with emotion.
“No I did it to protect you--to protect us!” Russ pleaded with her
reaching out to take her arm in his.
“No you did it to protect you plain and simple. You didn’t give
a damn about us and your being with her proves that,” Avery shrugged
away from him before running off in the opposite direction.
“Avery wait,” Russ called out to her feeling his heart shattering
into pieces as Erin sobbed. He looked to his daughter in Kevin’s arms
and he felt a moment of turmoil sweep over him. All of his dreams, hopes and
plans for the future were unraveling right before his very eyes.
“You got everything you deserved Ashford and this is only the beginning
for you and your family,” Cameron snarled at Russ only to find himself
on the ground again when Russell let loose and slammed his fist directly into
Cameron’s jaw. However in hitting Cameron it didn’t take away the
ache Russ had inside of him in knowing the real reason for all of this stemmed
from his inability to be honest with the one woman who mattered more to him
than life itself.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Angela!” Brant shouted racing after the woman he loved. He could
see her heading towards a long, black stretch limo and he started to pick
up the pace fearing that she would disappear again like she had before. Feeling
his breath growing ragged in his throat, Brant found himself determined to
find her--to be certain that he could keep history from repeating itself especially
now that they had far more to lose. “Angela wait!”
“Just go away,” she spun around to face him, thus giving him the
opportunity he needed to reach her. She started to turn away again and he
reached for her firmly.
“No, I won’t go away. I can’t go away not when you haven’t
heard the truth,” he pleaded with her, the rain starting to come down
around them in heavy, thick drops. He noticed her dark hair stuck to her face
as she spun around to face him again with tear filled eyes. “Angela,
I had nothing to do with what happened to your father.”
“Just stop!” she shouted over the rain, “Brant stop lying to
me.”
“I’m not lying to you. I would never lie to you. I’ve been
honest about absolutely everything since we found one another again,”
he tried to explain himself, reaching out to touch the side of her face, “Angela
I love you. I’ve always loved you.”
“Was that before or after Avery dumped you?” she challenged giving
him a long look. “You know when you said she looked like me I thought
I was okay with that, but when I see her…”
“Who cares what she looks like?” he threw his hands up in the air,
“Why does it matter? It’s not what you look like that has me in
love with you.”
“No of course it’s not,” she huffed in response, her words
harsh and abrasive, “it’s the fact that I’m a Stone that’s
taken you in. You’re just like the rest of them. You are only out to
hurt me--to destroy what I have left…”
“Angela I had no idea that you were a,” he fought to say the word,
“It doesn’t matter. I didn’t know about Cameron and I don’t
know about your father. Cameron is lying about this just like he does with
everything else…”
“Get away from her,” Cameron’s voice shouted as a thick hand
pulled on the back of Brant’s collar and tossed him onto the ground.
Brant looked up to see a man who had to be at least seven feet tall standing
in front of him.
“Don’t you dare think about coming near her again,” Cameron
warned reaching out to Angela and urging her into the limo.
“Angela no!” Brant called out to her struggling to regain his breath
after the blow he’d been delivered to the ground. He crawled forward
only to feel a foot to his abdomen causing him to buckle over in pain. The
man in front of him bent down and collected Brant’s hair in his fingers,
clenching it tight within his knuckles.
“The boss wants you to stay away from her, so be smart and listen,”
the man warned with a snarl, kicking Brant again before getting into another
car and driving off behind the limo and leaving Brant in the middle of the
pouring rain to face the reality of what just happened to him. As Brant picked
his head up, the only thing he could do was watch Angela drive away taking
her heart with him as it seemed Cameron Stone had finally found a way to destroy
him!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Heather pulled her car into the parking garage outside her apartment hearing
the sounds of people buzzing in the lot around her, but it didn’t matter.
The fact that she’d just gotten into a half an hour argument with the
man whose front windshield she’d smashed in the church parking lot didn’t
matter. The ache in her ankle and over her knee where she’d managed to
cut it was irrelevant too now that she’d lost the one hope she’d
had for happiness in her life. Taking her keys out of the ignition she sank
her forehead on the steering wheel hearing her sister’s voice echo in
her mind.
“Kyle would never like you. Why would he waste his time when he has someone
like me,” Sarah had taunted her over and over again through the years
and it seemed now that Sarah had finally won. She had Kyle and Heather was
alone--just like always.
“You can do this,” Heather blurted out trying to give herself a
pep talk.
She sat up and took a look at her face in the rearview mirror seeing the mascara
that tracked down her cheeks after the crying she’d done in the church.
She tried to wipe it away, but all it managed to do was get her fingers black
and caked with the mascara itself. She let out a frustrated cry and tried
to pick at the leaves that had somehow blown into her hair when the winds
picked up, but after a moment or so, she gave up. There was no point. Just
like everything else it was useless. It wasn’t like she had anyone to
go home to and impress.
“You really are pathetic,” she mouthed with heavy distain for herself
thinking about how she’d gone from being completely in control of her
life, to losing any ounce of freedom she’d carried with her just by falling
in love. She’d vowed to never, ever go down that road again with Kyle--to
never, ever let him into her heart to break it all over again, but she’d
been stupid. She had made the one fatal mistake that was obviously going to
be her undoing.
“He made his choice and now you have to deal with it,” she snapped
at herself feeling her newfound self-pity getting to her. Letting out a groan,
she pushed open the car door only to accidentally slam it into the car next
to her. That set off the parked car’s alarm and Heather threw her hands
in the air emphatically. “What else could go wrong?”
“Hey, you’d better watch what you’re…” the driver
of the other car started to shout as he walked over to where she’d been
parked. He opened him mouth to say something more, but when he got a long
look at her he waved his hand dismissively. “Never mind. I didn’t
realize it was you Ms. Gibbons.”
“I’m really sorry about that,” Heather offered up apologetically
looking to the scratch she’d put in the man’s car. She looked at
him again to realize that it was the doorman of her apartment building and
another flicker of guilt swept over her. “I’ll pay for that if you’d
like and…”
“Don’t worry about it,” the man waved his hand at her dismissively
before he eyed her worriedly, “Are you…are you okay?”
“No,” she shook her head and tried to force a pained smile, “but
it’s okay. There’s nothing anyone can do to change that for me.”
“At least let me get the door for you,” he suggested running over
to the elevators and pushing a button, “Normally you go through the front
and not this way…”
“I guess I just didn’t feel like making a grand entrance,”
Heather sighed leaning in against the wall beside the elevator. “I figured
the less people I run into the better.”
“I guess I can understand,” he nodded taking a long look at her
frazzled state of dress while trying to stay polite.
“What about you Moe? Were you leaving?” she couldn’t help but
try to make polite conversation as it was the least she could do given that
she’d just hit his car with her car door.
“I’m on my way to see my wife,” he nodded proudly, a smile
lighting up over his face, “It’s her birthday and the kids and I
planned this special dinner at her favorite restaurant. It’s something
we do each year and…”
“And I’m sorry I’ve kept you here,” Heather reached into
her purse and pulled out a few hundred dollar bills from inside. She held
them out to him, “Here tell your wife happy birthday.”
“Ms. Gibbons I can’t…” he started to refuse only to feel
her place the money in his hand.
“Please as a favor to me just show her a good time and let her know how
much you love her. Take it,” she urged him once more and he finally nodded.
“Thank you,” he smiled at her stepping aside to let her walk into
the elevators.
Once inside she sank back against the wall closing her eyes and trying not
to think about the mistake she’d made in walking away from Kyle the other
night. If she would have just told him not to marry Sarah then maybe just
maybe he would be with her now. Maybe they could be together and happy instead
of her being alone in her apartment dwelling on the things she had wanted
to do and say.
“There’s no sense pondering what if,” she thought to herself
hearing the elevator doors open. She sighed and hung her purse over her shoulder
before walking out into the hallway to make her way to her apartment. She
started to fish for her keys in her purse wondering if she’d dropped
them when she’d reached for some money for Moe. Unable to find them,
she felt her frustrations mounting all over again.
“Why me,” she threw her hands up in the air before glaring down
at her purse. Unable to quell the frustrations inside of her, she launched
her purse across the hallway towards her door in one, swift, angry throw.
“Whoa,” a voice gasped as Heather noticed that there was someone
laying on the ground beside her door. She opened her mouth to say something
in warning, but when her purse hit the door all of it’s contents sprayed
out over the person who was on the floor hitting him over the head and the
side of his body.
“I’m so sorry,” she began apologetically rushing forward to
see the man all dressed in black. She was about to say something more when
a thought occurred to her. There shouldn’t be a person outside her door,
but now as she found someone laying there with what looked like a jacket over
his head, she felt a panic sweep over her. Was this someone who was going
to rob her? Someone who was waiting for her and…
“You know I’ll admit I’ve been hit with a lot of things, but
never one of these before,” the man teased with a small laugh holding
up her eyelash curler. She reached forward to snatch it from his hand as she
watched him shuffle to get to his feet.
“You stay back,” she held it out in warning, knowing full well that
she wouldn’t be able to do any damage with an eyelash curler, but still
in the mood she was in, she was very likely to rip Mr. Jacket Man’s head
off before he even had a chance to take that stupid jacket off of his…
“Thank God you didn’t have any kind of knives in there. Though I
guess it serves me right for falling asleep out here,” he continued to
tease, reaching for the jacket that he’d had over his head. With his
last remark he pulled the coat off of his head and dropped it down to the
ground, “You know you really know how to make a man wait when it’s
important.”
“Kyle?” Heather’s eyes widened as she looked to him, blinking
in disbelief, “What--what are you--what are you doing here?”
“Heather, I came here to…” his hazel eyes widened as he looked
at her seeing her torn dress, the cut on her knee--the fact that she was without
her shoes and her face looked like. “What happened?”
“I was trying to stop the…” she paused unable to believe that
this was really happening--that she was really seeing Kyle outside of her
door. She noticed that her powder must’ve spilled over the front of his
black t-shirt and she couldn’t help but wiggle her finger at him. “Um
Kyle you…”
“What?” he questioned a confused look upon his face as he looked
down. He rubbed at the center of his chest before letting out a tiny chuckle,
“Well I guess I’m certainly making a fashion statement.”
“Yeah a bad one,” Heather took a small, instinctive step forward.
“Oh like you’re one to talk,” he wrinkled his nose at her,
“I go away for two days and you look like you’re falling apart.”
“I am falling apart and it’s your fault,” she reminded him
harshly, folding her arms in front of her chest, “which brings me to
this question once again. What are you doing here?”
“I’m here because I came here to see you and bad fashion statement
or not, I‘m not going anywhere until I can do this,” Kyle finally
announced taking a step towards her. Without another word, he reached for
her pulling her into his arms in an explicit, determined, passion-filled kiss
certain to get a reaction out of her one way or the other.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
...to be continued...