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FanFic
The Richard Dawson Experience
Last UpDated: 05 February 2002.
Site Copyright © 2000-2001. Lisa Inc., All Rights Reserved.
Story Copyright © 2001-2002. Melissa "bigsisml" Inc., All Rights Reserved.
TRUST YOUR HEART
The alarm goes off and Lynn reaches and knocks it off the stand. She doesn’t mind going to work it’s the getting up part that she hates.
Lynn’s about 22yrs old, and is extremely shy. She keeps to herself mostly, it takes her a while to warm up to people. She only has a few close friends, most people she keeps blocked out, afraid if she lets them in, they will hurt her emotionally. Especially when it comes to guys, she does her best to stay out of love.
Lynn gets all ready for her day at work; she works at a TV studio. She is observing all different types of occupations to decide what she would like to be. The day starts off relatively normal, her and a couple other employees, must run a few errands before the show begins taping. The show she works on is called Hogan’s Heroes. The only people Lynn really talks to is two other employees by the names of Sue, and Nancy. Throughout the day most of Lynn’s time is used by running errands for the director or other members of the crew.
“Sue, I need you to take this script for tomorrow’s show to the trailer outside, number 4.” The director asks. Lynn agrees to do it, as a favor. She arrives at the trailers and sees Richard Dawson’s name above the number 4. Lynn knocks on the door, a British accented voice comes from behind the door, “come in”. Lynn not wanting to get to close knocks again and this time waits for the British actor to come to the door. When the door flings open, Lynn jumps back a few feet as if she was scared of him. When she sees him, he is wearing a white button down shirt, with dark blue pants. “Hello luv, I said you could come in, you must not of heard me.” In the back of Lynn’s mind all she keeps hearing is “give him the script and go”, Lynn then hands him the script and tells him its for tomorrow’s show. As he grabs the script he grabs Lynn’s hand, he takes her hand in his, ”Your name is Lynn? Right?” he asks, by this time, Lynn just nods her head without making any kind of eye connection. Lynn can feel her cheeks turning red as he still hangs on to her hand. Lynn becoming panicky, decides to end it, “I gotta go, I have some errands I need to still do before tomorrow” and with that she is able to pull her hand out of his, and walk away. He just stands there in the doorway of his trailer and watches her walk away. He can sense that she has had some problems in her life but that’s what makes him even more intrigued to pursue her.
Lynn makes it back to the studio where Sue and Nancy, are waiting for her. “So what took you so long?” Nancy asked with a smirk on her face. Lynn begins to tell them everything that had happened. “Well he is obviously interested in you. Why don’t you go along with it, you know you like him too?” Sue states with a smile on her face. “I do not, I feel the same way with him, just like I do the other guys in the show, no more no less” Lynn responds. “We see the way you look at him Lynn, you can’t hide it,” Nancy adds to the conversation. “I don’t like him, and from now on, you two are going to be taking him scripts, not me” Lynn states. She finishes her work, and heads home.
At home the situation kept replaying in her mind. No matter how hard she tried to get it out of her mind it kept replaying louder and louder.
The next day at work, when Lynn is walking into the studio, she sees a flier she hadn’t seen before. On the flier, it said that the cast and crew of Hogan’s Heroes, was throwing a party and everyone who works on the show is invited. Lynn didn’t think anything about it, already decided not to go the party. “I don’t fit in at parties” she mumbles to herself. The whole day she avoids being anywhere near Richard. He notices this and the more she tries to avoid him, the more he tries to be near her. Lynn walks into the costume trailer to pick up some paperwork, she is the only one in the trailer at the time, when she turns to walk out, Richard, steps in the doorway, closes the door, and leans against it. This blocks Lynn’s only way out of the trailer.
“Is there a reason to why you are avoiding me ?” he asks. Lynn begins to turn red and concentrates on the floor. “I wasn’t avoiding you, just didn’t have any jobs near you today that’s all.” “Well that’s not what I saw, Lynn. I saw a pretty lady, trying everything she could to get away from me, and I don’t know why. You're not afraid of me are you, Lynn?” he asks. Lynn takes offense to this and says “ I ain’t afraid of you, or anyone else, I ain’t afraid of anything.” She looks him straight in the eyes, to show she’s not afraid, after a few minutes she looks back down at the ground. Richard walks over to where Lynn is standing, when he gets within a few feet from her, she backs away from him. The more he moves closer to her, the more she moves back, finally she is up against a wall and he is still moving closer. By this time Lynn is scared, and he knows it. He doesn’t get to close, for he doesn’t want to scare Lynn away. He reaches forward and pushes Lynn’s chin up so her eyes are looking into his. “Lynn, you have very pretty eyes, you shouldn’t be afraid to show them to people.” He smiles, takes her hand, lightly kisses it and walks away.
Lynn stills against the wall, trying to think about exactly what just happened. When she hears Nancy calling for her, Lynn walks out of the trailer still stunned, and to where Nancy is. “Lynn, you ok? You look like you just saw a ghost or something,” Nancy asks. Lynn replies “I ran into Richard, or he ran into me, in the costume trailer, he kissed my hand and told me I had pretty eyes” Nancy begins to smile, “What’s so funny?” Lynn asks. “Well, Sue and I told him you were in there. He was asking about you.” “You did what?”” Lynn says, furiously. “Now Lynn, wait a minute, let me explain why Sue and I told him. We know Richard, and we know that he wouldn’t hurt anyone, and we can tell that he really cares for you. He isn’t just using you for something like some men do, and plus we think that you need a guy like Richard in your life right now” Nancy explained. “I don’t need anyone in my life, I am doing just fine by myself, I don’t need a guy to come in, and knock me down and I have to go through all the hurt” responded Lynn. Lynn walked out and went home, furious at her friends.
Later that night, while Lynn was watching TV, the doorbell rang; it was Nancy and Sue. They came to apologize. “Lynn we’re very sorry about what we did, we know now that it wasn’t our decision to do that.” Lynn accepts their apology and realizes they were doing what they thought was best for her. “ So Lynn, you going to the party tomorrow night at the studio?” Nancy asked. “No, I probably wont, parties aren’t really my thing” Lynn explained. “Lynn, you have to come if not for yourself then for us, you won’t have to dance or anything, just come and be seen” Sue begged. “Ok, I suppose I could come and keep you two company.”
The night of the dance, Lynn was going through her clothes she didn’t know what to wear. Nancy and Sue came over early and helped Lynn find something just right. It wasn’t a big deal to Lynn on what she wore; she wasn’t trying to impress anyone. She had a habit of dressing down, so people wouldn’t confront her, often but tonight she decided she should look nice. With a little help from Nancy, Lynn found an outfit she liked.
Nancy, Sue and Lynn, all carpooled to the party. Once inside the studio, it was rocking. They had music going and people dancing. Lynn looked around and noticed most of the people were people that she worked with. Finally the second time her eyes looked around the room, she saw Richard. He was talking with some other members of the cast. He was wearing blue button down shirt, black jacket and black pants. He caught Lynn’s stare and Lynn became extremely uncomfortable.
Lynn sat down at a table with Nancy and Sue; the three of them were talking. Lynn was extremely fidgety, and she kept her eyes on Richard. Once when it looked as if he was coming over to talk to her, Lynn got up quickly and ran to the bathroom, knowing that he would not follow her in there. In the restroom, Nancy and Sue came in, Lynn was looking in the mirror. “You cant avoid him all of your life,. Also, you can't run in here everytime he takes a step near your direction. He wasn’t even coming over to see you, he was walking to get himself a drink” Nancy says. Lynn knows that Nancy is right. Lynn agrees to go back out to the table and relax a little, thinking maybe Richard, will forget about her and not notice her.
After a little while, Lynn is the only one at the table. Nancy is dancing with the director and Sue is talking with a few crew members. Lynn leaves the table, goes to the concession table and gets herself a drink. She returns to her table and watches the dancing people. She didn’t notice Richard coming from the other side until he has pulled up a chair and sat next to her at the table. Kind of surprised she scoots a little away from him. “I am glad to see you came, for a while there I wasn’t sure if I would be able to see you tonight” he tells her. “ Well you saw me, is there anything else you would like?” Lynn says kind of sarcastically. “As matter of fact, there is, I want a dance” he says. “Well there are plenty of other girls out ther-” Lynn tries to say. “No with you” he explains. “I don’t dance” Lynn says. “Well why? You don’t wanna? Or you don’t know how?” he asks, with a smirk on his face . “I just don’t feel like dancing that’s all” Lynn says, looking down at her drink. Sue, who notices that Richard and Lynn are both at the table, decides to head over to the table, to see what’s going on. On the way over to the table she sees Richard get up and walk towards her, she stops him, and asks what happened at the table with Lynn. “I asked her to dance; she refused, so I am off to mingle more with the crowd.” “Did you ask her if she could dance? That’s the reason why she said no, I am sure. I have known her for awhile and I know that she can't dance. She never has” Sue explained, to Richard. “Well I don’t give up that easily,” he says with a smile and heads back to where Lynn is sitting. Sue follows him.
Lynn looks up as Sue and Richard approach the table. “Lynn, can you dance?” Richard asks, with a smirk on his face, “I already told you I don’t feel like-” Richard interrupts, “No Love, I asked can you dance? Not do you want to?” Lynn looks to Sue, who isn’t helping Lynn out at all, and then Lynn responds, “Well no, I don’t bu-t” Richard interrupts again, “Well maybe it's time for someone to teach you how” he says with a smile as he holds out his hand for her. “Go on Lynn, give it a try, it's just a dance, not a date or anything” Sue encourages Lynn. Lynn, still timid of dancing with him, puts her nervous hand in his, and he leads her out to the dance floor.
As the walk to the dance floor, Lynn feels as if everyone is watching her, and turns all shades of red. When they find a spot on the dance floor, the music is a slow dance. He takes Lynn’s hand in his and puts his other arm around her waist. Lynn, not used being this close to someone, is a little nervous. She cautiously puts her arm on his shoulder. “Now darling ,it’s very simple. I lead and you follow” Richard says with a smile. Lynn concentrates on her feet and stumbles around the dance floor. She trips on her own feet a few times and steps on his even more. Richard takes his hand away from hers for a minute and guides her eyes up to eye level with him. “Look up here darling, and don’t think about dancing , just listen to the music ,and look into my eyes, and you will be a better dancer then you ever imagined.” Lynn tries to listen to his advice, she can’t seem to keep her eyes focused in his. Everytime she looks away from his eyes, she stumbles, and he has to get her eyes back to his. The song finally ends, and Lynn heads back to her seat, convinced that there is no way he would want to dance with her again after that. When she gets back to the table she sees Sue,who is trying her best to keep her laughter inside. ”Well I told you I couldn’t dance. I told him too. Now that I have made a fool out of myself, I think I am ready to head home.” Since Sue, Nancy, and Lynn, all drove in one car to the party, and Sue and Nancy didn’t want to leave quite yet, Lynn told Sue she would walk .Her apartment wasn’t that far from the studio
Lynn walks out of the studio into the night air, It was dark and around midnight. After a few steps down the sidewalk, someone grabs her by the arm and spins her around. Lynn jumps thinking it is an attacker, she begins to fight, punching and kicking. She hits him in the jaw before recognizing that it is Richard. Immediately her face turns red, and she begins to apologize “I am so sorry, you didn’t deserve that, it’s just a reaction that’s all. I really am sorry are you ok?” “Well it teaches me to sneak up on a lady in the dark.” Richard says, still holding his jaw. “Well what are you doing trying to scare me like that, anyway?” Lynn asks him. “I wasn’t trying to scare you, I was trying to catch up to you so I could walk you home or even offer you a ride. It's way too late for a lady to be walking home by herself.” he explains. “Well, I can take care of myself. I don’t need anyone’s help” Lynn responds. “Well, I know that now,” he says, rubbing his jaw, “but still, I am a gentleman and a gentlemen never lets a lady walk alone in the dark. So, shall we continue towards your home?” “Alright, I guess I could let you walk me home, considering I did hit you and all, but that’s the only reason why.” Lynn says. Richard smiles and begins to walk Lynn home.
On the way to Lynn’s apartment Richard takes advantage of this time he has alone with Lynn, she has no where to run and nobody to depend on to answer for her. He starts many conversations with her, but mostly asks her simple questions. To his surprise she answers them. Lynn can feel herself beginning to trust him a little and beginning to warm up to him a bit. She tries to hide and ignore it, but he can tell he is slowly, earning her trust which causes him to smile.
They reach Lynn’s apartment, and he walks her to the door. When standing at the door, he begins to rub his jaw again. “I was wondering, you wouldn’t have any ice I could put on this, would you luv? I don’t wanna go to work Monday with a swollen jaw and have to tell everyone how you beat me up” he says with a chuckle. Lynn smiles a little. “I really am sorry about that, I would take it back if I could.” She unlocks her apartment door but is cautious of letting him into her apartment; she walks in and turns to face him. “Would you mind if I came in Lynn? I promise I won’t try anything. My jaw is to sore to even think about it” he says, again with a smile. “Alright, alright. I guess you can come in. You didn’t need to throw the whole guilt thing at me. I already feel bad enough” she says with a slight smile. Lynn goes into the kitchen to get some ice; Richard stays in the front room and looks around. He sees a relatively clean apartment; she has some decorative things here and there. He begins to look at some of the pictures she has in her apartment. Some of them are her and her friends Nancy and Sue. Then he looks at the ones on the shelve. He recognizes Lynn, with a man who he guesses to be her father, and the other half of the picture is ripped as if someone was ripped out of the picture. He looks at all the pictures of Lynn and the man he thinks to be her father and all of them are ripped. He doesn’t think much of it, until he notices that there are no pictures of her mother in her apartment, which then it makes sense. She had ripped her mother out of the pictures of her and her father, but he didn’t know why. “I wonder where her mother is?” he mumbles to himself, at this time Lynn returns from the kitchen holding a bag of Ice. She notices him looking at the pictures and is hoping he doesn’t ask any questions.
She clears her throat, “Here is the ice, it should help your jaw.” She hands him the ice and then walks him to the door. He steps outside and turns back and faces Lynn, “Well thank you for the ice, and I did enjoy walking you home, and the dance" he says with a smile. Lynn smiles “Well, see you soon, I hope” he says with a smile and walks away.
After that night, Lynn began to trust Richard more. She talked to him more, even did things with him, ate lunch with him sometimes, and slowly began to open up to him, and trust him. She became more herself around him. He was glad, he loved that she was beginning to trust him, as matter of fact, he could feel himself falling in love with her. Nancy and Sue, begin to notice how her attitude had changed towards him and how she was becoming quite close to him, they were very happy for her. After some months, Richard and Lynn became great friends.
One night Richard invites Lynn over to his place, she has been there before, as friends he has invited her over to dinner many times. This time was a little different. Richard felt that it was time to ask Lynn, to start dating, he was willing to wait his entire life for her if she needed it. Just being close to her was great.
Lynn arrived at his place on time, when she walked in nothing seemed different. The table was all ready set, with the food all ready in place. Richard and Lynn both sat down and began eating their dinner. They had a delightful dinner, like they always do when they spend time together.
After the dinner, they sit on the couch to relax. They talk about watching a movie “Lynn, darling, I need to talk to you about something” Richard says. Lynn turns to Richard and listens, not knowing what any of this about. “Now Lynn, I think it’s great on how we’ve become great friends, and well…” he doesn’t quite know how to say it, without scaring her away. If he had his way he would tell her all about how he’s been in love with her for awhile, and will wait for her forever. He knows if he says that it will scare her away, “Well Lynn, I know you…well I think” he tries to think of how to put it. “Lynn, I need to say this so I am going to just say it. I would like to start dating you, Lynn.” he says. He looks at Lynn’s eyes, she has this deer-in -headlight look in her eyes, she stands up, Richard jumps up and tries to explain, he grabs her hand so she cant go anywhere “Lynn I promise, we will go as slow as you like, I will wait for you however long it takes” Richard pleads. Lynn looks at him and mutters out “I have to go, I have to think.” Richard knows that she’s scared, so he offers to walk her out to her car. He opens her door after she gets into the driver’s seat, he holds the door open, “Lynn, I can understand if you don’t like taking chances, but take a chance on me” he says with a smile, and then gently closes her door.
Lynn drives straight home, once in her apartment, she sits in her favorite chair, she thinks of what just happened and doesn’t know what to do. Her heart is telling her to get on the phone call Richard back and say yes, but her brain is saying, “Don’t trust him, he will just hurt you”. All of a sudden the phone rings, Lynn jumps a little and picks up the phone. Its Nancy “So how was dinner?” Nancy asks. Lynn tells her everything that happened about the dating. “Ok Sue, and I will be over in a few” Nancy said as she hangs up the phone.
Lynn hangs up the phone and begins to remember how long she has known Sue and Nancy. Lynn remembers being the new girl at the high school and no one willing to be her friend. Sue and Nancy both older than Lynn by a year, befriended Lynn and they have stuck together ever since.
Suddenly there is a knock at the door, Lynn knows its Sue and Nancy, and she gets up and lets them in. They all rest in the living room and talk. “Well, I think you should go out with him Lynn. I mean, its not like you don’t know him, you two have become great friends and you know that he would never hurt you” Sue says. “Plus he’s been sweet on you for awhile, everyone knows it, I mean if he was just using you for something, he wouldn’t be sticking around, he would of left a long time ago” Nancy adds. Lynn looks up at Nancy, Sue elbows Nancy. “What I am being truthful,” Nancy says, in her defense. Lynn leans back against her couch thinking “Listen Lynn, Nancy and I both know what happened in your life with your folks, but that doesn’t mean that everyone in life is going to make you go through that hurt and pain again.” Lynn looks at Sue. “You should try it at least, and if it doesn’t work out and you and Richard break up, at least you know you gave it a shot” “Yeah, plus I don’t think you and Richard would break up. You guys are the perfect couple” Nancy adds. Lynn looks up at the clock and realizes its 2 AM. “Its getting late, you two should head home” Lynn tells Nancy and Sue. Lynn walks them out and then returns to her apartment and begins to think of what Sue and Nancy have said. She knows they are right, and decides that she will take a chance and go out with Richard. She picks up the phone and calls Richard, in the back of her mind she is hoping he won't pick up, but then she hears a “hello?”
Lynn’s mind goes blank; all she can mutter out is a simple “Hi.”
“Lynn is that you” he responds.
“ Uh yeah, I didn’t wake you did I, I mean I can call back later,” she quickly says.
“No, I wasn’t sleeping,” he says.
“ Uh well the reason I am calling is well…. Yes, the answer is yes, I think its time for me to take a chance in the dating world”
“Great!” he says excitedly. Lynn can tell he is smiling on the other end of the line.
“Uh, well I just wanted to tell you that, I think I should let you go now, I need some sleep.” Lynn says. They say goodbye and hang up the phone. Lynn lays down on the couch and watches some television. She quickly falls asleep.
The next morning she awakes, her eyes finally focus on the clock that reads 11 AM. Lynn gets up, showers and freshens up. After she is dressed while putting on her shoes the phone rings. Lynn grabs the phone “hello?”
“Hello darling, It's Richard.”
“Hi” Lynn says.
“ Well I was wondering since it’s a Saturday night, if you would like to kick this dating off right. How about dinner?” he asks.
Lynn’s a little timid about this, but she knows she has to overcome this. “Yes, dinner sounds good.”
“Great, I will pick you up around 8? Is that alright?” he asks.
“8’s good.”
“Great, I will see you then,” he says.
Lynn hangs up the phone and then realizes she knows nothing about dating, but she knows the perfect people to call. Within a few minutes Nancy and Sue arrive at Lynn’s door and are informed about the date tonight. The whole day is spent shopping trying to find the perfect thing.
Around 7:45 that night, Lynn is getting ready. “Ok, so give me some tips on what not to do and what to do” Lynn asks Sue and Nancy. “Lynn, there are no rules to dating. He asked you out because he likes who you are, relax and everything will come natural, it always does” Sue says with a smile. “Yeah relax,” Nancy adds. Lynn tries to relax suddenly 10 minutes later the doorbell rings. Lynn jumps, “ What do I do?” “Well, I would suggest opening the door” Nancy says. Lynn walks towards the door. Nancy and Sue stay hidden in Lynn’s bedroom peeking out watching Lynn.
Lynn opens the door, Richard is standing there, holding a white rose. “You look amazing” he says to Lynn, as he hands her the white rose. Lynn lets Richard in, while she goes and puts the rose in water . “Thanks so much for the rose its beautiful” Lynn says, as she walks out of the kitchen, holding the vase with her one single rose in it and places it on her shelf. “Well, I think it's about time we get going” Richard says. He offers Lynn his arm. Lynn still timid, shakily reaches out and takes his arm. He sees that she is nervous, so he lays a reassuring hand on hers. They walk out to his car and drive to a nice restaurant.
Throughout dinner Lynn relaxes a little. Her and Richard have a great dinner, there is a lot of laughing throughout the dinner. Lynn relaxes more than she thought she would. After Dinner, Richard drives him and Lynn down to the beach. Lynn doesn’t know what’s going on, but goes along with him. He parks the car, and walks her down to the beach . Lynn stays far away from the water. Richard pulls out a little tape player and begins playing a slow song. “May I have a dance?” he asks in his most charming way. “You would want one after the way I danced last time? I tell, you I can't dance” Lynn explains. “I think you are a better dancer than you think.” He grabs Lynn’s hand and pulls her close to him. “Now darling, just hear the music and look into my eyes and you will do just fine.” Lynn stumbles a few times, but she starts to relax. She gets carried away in his eyes and the music, and doesn’t even remember that she is dancing. After the song ends, Lynn looks at her feet and realizes that she danced a song without falling on her face.
After their dance, they both sit in the sand, still listening to the music. They begin talking, they talk for hours. Finally, Lynn looks at her watch she read 2:45 AM . “Whoa, I didn’t know it was that late,” Lynn says and jumps up from the sand. Richard looks at his watch and agrees, “Well luv, I think its about time I took you home.” They both begin to walk to the car, they get in the car and he drives Lynn home.
Outside Lynn’s apartment, they both stand, not sure what to say. “Well , I had a great time tonight and can’t wait until we do this again” Richard says, as he kisses Lynn’s hand. “I had a good time too,” Lynn says, truthfully. Lynn goes into her apartment and looks out the window as Richard drives away. Lynn goes straight to bed.
Sunday was kind of awkward for Richard he wanted to call Lynn up and take her out again, but he didn’t want to crowd her and scare her away. Sunday afternoon, Lynn woke up to the sound of the doorbell ringing. She walks to the door in her pajamas and opens it. She sees Nancy and Sue. “So, how was your date, and don’t leave out a detail” Nancy and Sue both ask, as they walk into Lynn’s apartment. Lynn still half-asleep starts to tell them all about the date.
After the first date, Lynn becomes little by little more comfortable with Richard. They date about every weekend. They go many places, the movies, restaurants, parks, even to a baseball game. Wherever they go, they have a great time talking and having fun.
On the set one day, Richard decides to try to hold Lynn’s hand, and for once she doesn’t pull away, or get scared she lets him hold her hand. Richard can’t help but smile.
Around the 10th date, Richard takes Lynn to the beach for a day full of beach fun. When Lynn arrives at the beach, wearing some shorts and a T-shirt, she’s too shy to walk around in just her bathing suit. Richard is also wearing a blue T-shirt with some royal blue swimming trunks. Once they get to the beach, they set up some chairs and an umbrella. They sit and talk for a while, watching the ocean’s waves. “Well, I think its time to jump in for a swim, its getting way too hot out here” Richard says, as he looks up at the sun. He offers his hand to Lynn and they begin walking towards the ocean hand and hand. When they get close to the waves, Lynn becomes more hesitant to walk any closer. Finally she stops a few feet from where the waves hit. Richard looks back and sees that she has stopped . “What’s wrong?” he asks. Lynn stares out in the ocean. “Well, this is a bad time to say this, but I’m hydrophobic” Lynn states. “Otherwise known, I have a fear of the water.”
Richard looks back and asks, “How can someone be afraid of water?” he asks Lynn still holding her hand. “Well they can if they almost drown when they were little.” Lynn tells. She looks at Richard and continues, “I was playing in a lake with some cousins, I didn’t know how to swim, there was an undertone, I got caught in it. Luckily, an older cousin saw me he jumped in and pulled me back to safety. I haven’t been in the water since” Lynn says, still looking out among the ocean. That’s the first story he has ever heard about any members of her family, and is quite pleased she felt comfortable telling him.
“Listen Lynn, I promise I won’t let it get you, we won’t go out that far, only to your feet or until whenever you wanna stop” Richard says with a smile. He begins to walk with Lynn closer to the water, the tide comes up, it gets close to Lynn’s feet and she jumps back out of its reach. Richard walks back towards her he puts his arm around her and guides her back into the wet sand. “Its ok, I am here I won’t let anything hurt you, trust me” he says with a smile.
The tide starts coming back in, and he can tell she is trying to back up, he holds her with his arm around her. The tide comes and washes over Lynn and Richard’s feet and then goes back out. Lynn looks down at her wet feet, than back at Richard. “I put my feet in the ocean” Lynn says, happily with a smile. Richard can’t help but smile. “You think you can handle going a little farther out in the ocean,” he asks. “I think so” Lynn says. He walks her out there, and then waits for the tide to come back in. When it comes back in, Lynn quickly grabs his hand, as the water now washes just above her knees. Richard is all smiles, as he realizes that she reached for his hand.
Lynn and Richard don’t go any farther out in the ocean; they splash each other a little and goof around in the water. Lynn trips on something in the sand and begins to fall, memories of her getting closer to the water when she was younger start to cloud her mind, as she falls towards the water. All of a sudden two arms grab her and stop her from falling. Lynn snaps out of the memories and looks up and sees Richard holding on to her. He had stopped her from falling. He was right, he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Lynn gets her balance back and hugs Richard. This catches Richard by surprise, because she has never really hugged him without him asking. Richard knows she is trusting him more and more by the minute. Which makes him ecstatic. Lynn hugs him for about 5 minutes, when she backs up a little and looks into his eyes. She doesn’t know what’s coming next. Richard decides to take a chance as he presses his lips to hers. As his lips touch Lynn’s lips, huge amounts of bad memories of her past run through her mind. Lynn pulls away, and Richard can see something had happened.
“I’m sorry Lynn, I didn’t mean to scare you if I did, it’s just I thought we were ready for our first kiss.” Lynn tries to hide her emotions, as past emotions of anger and pain resurface again. “I think it's time I head home, Richard” Lynn says. Richard, who doesn’t know what he has done wrong, takes Lynn home.
As he walks Lynn up to the door, Richard stops Lynn “Are you mad at me Luv? “ he asks. Lynn who is filled with emotions and memories for her past begins to say, “I think its best if we quit seeing each other Richard. It's not working out” Lynn says. This gets Richard angry a little “Not working out? It was working out just fine Lynn, you were beginning to trust me, and we were having a great time, and don’t tell me you didn’t because I know you had a great time with me. Also, you know what I think? I think you enjoyed that kiss, but you got scared of enjoying it too much. I don’t know what happened in your life that makes you so scared if any man tries to show any kind of emotion towards you, but I ain’t going away. I will be right there waiting for you when you decide to trust your heart and tell someone” He says, and then walks away.
Nancy and Sue who were on the way to Lynn’s apartment heard the whole argument, and after Richard left, Sue and Nancy walked fast to Lynn’s apartment. Lynn lets them in and they begin to inquire about what happened Lynn tells them about the beach and the water and the kiss. “So let me guess, you picked a fight with him?” Sue asks. “You always do that” Nancy adds. “So your on his side too?” Lynn says. “No, we are on your side, but it's time you tell him Lynn, don’t let your past ruin this relationship.” Sue tells Lynn. “Why should I tell him? It’s none of his business what went on in my childhood,” Lynn says, in her defense . “Lynn, if you run out on the relationship, just because you are scared and afraid to confront and tell someone about your past, then you might be giving up on a true love. You will spend your whole life wondering what might have been” Nancy explains. “Just think about it “ Sue adds. Nancy and Sue leave to give Lynn time. Lynn thinks and thinks. She stares at the phone. She picks it up a million times, but can never get the nerve to dial the numbers.
For the next 2 weeks, Lynn doesn’t return any of Richard’s calls. Doesn’t talk to him on the set, tries to stay as far away as possible. Until one night, when she is sitting on her couch, she looks over at the pictures of her and her father, she notices the ripped sides of all of them, and remembers the person who was once in those pictures.
Lynn goes to bed that night but doesn’t go to sleep. She looks at the clock, it's 4:45 AM. She grabs the phone and gets the nerve to dial Richard’s number. After the 4th ring, a sleepy voice answers the phone, “Hello?”
Lynn’s mouth goes numb for a while as the voice on the other end says hello again. Finally, Lynn mutters a hello.
“Lynn, I am glad you called”. Richard says.
“ I need to talk to you but not on the phone. I think it's time I trusted someone, and I want that person to be you” Lynn says.
“How about tomorrow? I’ll come over about 11AM?” Richard suggests
“That’s fine,” Lynn says, a she hangs up the phone. Richard hangs up his line and lays back in his bed and can’t help but smile.
The next morning, Lynn is up and ready by 9AM. Lynn was pacing the floor, trying to think of how to explain her actions. She knows everything Sue and Nancy said were right and that it was worth it.
When 11 AM rolled around, Lynn was still pacing. Suddenly, the doorbell rings. Lynn stares at the door for a moment, takes a deep breath and opens the door. Richard is standing in the doorway. Lynn smiles and shows Richard in. Richard takes a seat on the couch. Lynn is pacing the floor still. “Lynn, you don’t have to tell me anything if you aren’t ready to” Richard says sincerely . Lynn looks at him “No, its time I trust someone, and I think you’re the one I can trust.” Lynn takes a deep breath and begins her story.
“When I was a little girl, I grew up with a mother who didn’t know much about how to love kids. Most other kids got hugs and kisses everyday. My mother could barely pat me on the back, much less give me a hug. My parents fought all my life growing up. I would hear them fighting after I was put in bed. For many years I blamed myself for the fighting, and tried my best to be a better daughter. When I was in my teens, the fighting became worse. My mother started drinking, and when she drank she would say whatever she pleased, no matter if I was in the room or not. She would say things how she never wanted a daughter or other things to that extent. My father tried his best to keep me out of it, but I was in the middle quite often. One day my mom left and she never came back. My father told me it was for the best, but I swore I would never fall in love and relive all the pain and hurt again.” Lynn says. Richard can see the tears well up in her eyes as she continues. Lynn does her best to keep the tears inside.
“My father did his best to make up for all the mistakes my mother made. He was a great father but the damage had already been done. I guess in my mind, I fear that if I get in any kind of relationship with a man, I will relive that pain and hurt all over again, so I sabotage the relationship before I even get into it. It was working, until I met you and I realized that you weren’t like most guys. You were willing to wait for me to be ready and that you were not going to leav. You would wait forever and a day for me. That’s what persuaded me that maybe this relationship was actually worth it.” Lynn explains. By this time, Lynn has tears pouring down her face and is trying her best to hide them from Richard.
Richard reaches over to Lynn’s face and wipes off a tear with his handkerchief “I’m glad you told me that” he says with a smile. “And you're right Lynn, I am not going anywhere. I will be right here for you, and I would never hurt you” Richard says.
Lynn for the first time in years feels relieved from all those feelings she has kept inside for so long, and she begins to cry, and for once, doesn’t try to stop it. Richard puts his arm around Lynn, and holds Lynn close, while she cries.
Lynn and Richard have been dating for many months after that day, and for once in Lynn’s life she is happy, and her past is where it belongs …behind her.