By:
Stephanie Woodworth
© 2000-2001 Chaotic Bliss Fan Fiction
“Come on Darrell, it’s a great idea for a
story.” Cecilia Colson yelled after her
boss. She’d worked for the magazine for
three years as a researcher, but had never had the courage to write a story of
her own. She ran down the hall after
him following him into his office.
“Cecilia, I’m not sure our
readers would want to read an article about computer dating.” He sat down behind his desk and began to
riffle through some of the papers.
“What do you know about computer dating,
Darrell? You’ve been married
forever.” Cecilia made herself
comfortable in the chair across from his desk.
“The question, my dear, is what
exactly do you know about computer dating?”
Darrell stopped looking through his mail and stared at her.
“Enough,” she lied. “I’ve already placed an ad and now I’m just
waiting to see who answers it.” She
hoped he didn’t ask her to pull it up on his computer. She didn’t even know how to place an
ad. She had better things to do than
play on the internet. She only had her
e-mail address at work and checked it only once in a while. “Come on, please let me try this. Please.”
“Oh okay, fine. I’ll give you two weeks, then I want a first
draft. We’ll try to fit it into the
next issue.”
Cecilia jumped up, leaned over
the desk and giving him a big kiss on his cheek. “Thanks so much! You
won’t regret giving me a try.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Are you sure you want to do
this?” Stef asked her friend again.
“Yeah, it could be my big
break. And who knows maybe I’ll find a
great guy too.”
“Okay, since you don’t have AOL
we’ll set you up on Yahoo!. What do you
want your screen name to be?”
I really don’t want to use my
name, so let’s see.” She thought for a
while. “Um, how about something fun
like prtygrl@yahoo.com? Or something
serious like one_smt_grl@yahoo.com. No
better yet how about mzcofmyhrt@yahoo.com.”
Cecilia was named after the patron saint of music because she only
calmed down in the womb when her mother would play music for her stomach.
“Whatever you want.” Stef replied rolling her eyes.
“I’ve never done something like
this. If you were a guy what kind of ad
would you answer?”
“Don’t ask me to think like a
guy, I can’t understand men!” Stef sat
patiently at the computer waiting for her friend to make up her mind. “Oh, go with the music one. It will work. The prtygrl on might give the guy the wrong impression and the
one_smt_grl one might turn the guys off.”
“Fine let’s use that one. Now what should the ad say?”
They worked on the ad and in the
end thought less was definitely more.
The ad read: Fun, professional
female ISO someone to spend time with or communicate through e-mail. I'm 5'6", strawberry-blond hair, and
gray-blue eyes. I love to listen to
music, watch movies, go to the theatre and write. I’m looking for a SWPM 23-30.
I’ll write back to all responses.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cecilia checked her e-mail
constantly and was always disappointed in the responses that she got. Nothing she’d ever want to go out with. She did respond to all the e-mails and even
went on a couple of dates.
The research she was gathering
was going to be plenty. She decided
that she didn’t need anymore and told Stef to delete her ads. She logged on to check her email one last
time when she got the response that would change her story . . . and her life.
To:
mzcofmyhrt@yahoo.com
From: chris@fumanskeeto.com
Hello,
I saw your ad and thought that
it sounded interesting. My name is
Chris and I’m 28. I own my own internet
company and sell clothes. I travel a
lot and enjoy meeting new people. I
just got out of a relationship and I’m looking for a friend.
I love to make people
laugh. I’d love to get to know you
better. Pleas write back soon.
Cecilia was excited as she read the response. She hurried and responded to the email.
To:
chris@fumanskeeto.com
From:
mzcofmyhrt@yahoo.com
Good Morning Chris,
My name is Cecilia, but everyone
calls me CC. I’m 26 and I’m a
struggling writer. I work mostly for a
magazine as a researcher and like most writers I’m working on a novel.
I’d love to see a picture of
you. I can send one of myself if you’d
like.
I’m glad that you like to make
people laugh because I enjoy laughing.
Okay that sounded dumb.
Here are the normal “get to know
you” questions. What do you like to do
for fun? Are you close to your family?
Well, feel free to ask me
anything, I’m very open. Hope to hear
from you soon . . . .
The emails became more and more
regular and with time they began to phone one another. At the same time CC began to write the
article.
She was hard at work one night
writing when the phone scared her. She
reached over and turned the CD player down.
“Hello.”
“Wow, your home early from work. I thought that I’d get your machine.” Chris smiled. “How are you tonight?”
She hit save on the
computer and sat back in her chair.
“I’m just great. And how is the
wonderful Chris tonight?”
“Busy, getting ready for the
fall,” he paused almost saying tour but quickly covering with, “line of
clothes.” He had very little to
actually do with the clothing line. His
ex-girlfriend, Danielle, was in charge of the day-to-day running of FuMan Skeeto. Chris more or less did promotional things as
needed. As he liked to point out he was
the comic relief during meetings.
“How’s the book coming? When are
you going to let me read it?”
CC smacked her forehead hoping
that by now he’d have forgotten her telling him that she was writing a
book. “I’ve been really busy lately and
I’ve put the book on the back burner.
I’ve picked up a job writing freelance.” At least that wasn’t a total lie, except that she really didn’t
write freelance and there really wasn’t a book in the works.
“Have you written anything that
I might have read?”
“Not yet. I’ve done some stuff for a local paper. Only small stuff.” Great, more lies.
“Grand opening, petty thefts …
that kind of stuff?”
CC laughed. “Yeah something like that.” She balanced the phone between her ear and
shoulder so she could type. “How’s the
fall line?” she asked trying to change the topic off of her.
“It’s coming along fine. We’re excited that it’s going to be
available at Nordstrom.” Chris rolled
over in his bus bunk. “I’m going to be
in Indianapolis to do some sales pitching next week.”
CC about dropped the dropped the
phone. He didn’t just say
Indianapolis did he? “Next
week?” Oh God, another lie coming
back to haunt me.
“Yeah … um … do you have
anything going on the end of October?
Say the 25th and 26th?”
CC picked up her daytimer. There was only one notation the whole
month. “Article Due!” stared back at
her from the 18th. Only two
days from now. “I’m free,” she said
hesitantly.
“Would you like to meet?” Chris wanted to meet her, but he wasn’t sure
how to tell her about the real him. “I
could arrange for a room for you so you wouldn’t have to drive back to South
Bend that same night.”
CC saved the work she was doing;
obviously she was going to have to mention the article sooner or later. “I have to see if I can take the day off of
work.” And buy a plane ticket and tell
you the truth about me and hope that you don’t hate me. “Can I get back to you on it?”
The magazine with the article
would come out on the day before she meet him.
Chances were that he’d never see the article or even know that the CEO
of the clothing company mentioned in it was him.
“Sure, not a problem.” Chris covered the mouthpiece when Justin
opened the curtain. “Um … what’s up J?”
“Time to go.”
“Just a sec,” Chris uncovered
his phone. “Hey CC I’ve got to
run. Are you going to be up late
tonight?”
CC looked at the screen, “I’m
going to be up for quite awhile.”
“Can I call you later, say
around midnight?”
“I’ll still be up. Talk to you later,” CC hung up wanting to
say ‘I love you’. She glanced from the
phone to the computer screen back to the phone. She laid her head down on the desk. What am I going to do?
She decided to take the night off and watch a movie
to try to forget about her worries.
“Maybe ‘You’ve Got Mail’ wasn’t the best choice,” CC said as she hit
rewind. “But that story had a happy
ending. Maybe mine will too.” CC fell asleep on the couch waiting for
Chris’s call. He never did call.
The crick in her neck caused
sharp pains to radiate down her back. “Ugh!”
CC moaned as she rolled over almost falling off the couch. “I can’t believe that I slept on the couch
all night.” She stood and stretched. “Ouch.”
As CC padded off to the bathroom
she shrieked as she passed her computer.
“Oh my God!” She’d almost
forgotten about the article and Chris.
CC went to the bathroom and splashed water on her face. The reflection in the mirror frightened her. “Lying is never good,” she uttered under her
breath. CC squirted toothpaste on her
toothbrush. “Maybe today would be a
great mental health day.” She finished
brushing her teeth and practiced her ‘I’m sick’ spiel before calling into work.
“Darrell, I’m not going to come
in today. I’m running a fever and my
stomach isn’t feeling well.” NO need to
tell him that the reason your stomach hurts is from worrying over Chris’s
feelings about the article.
“Cecilia, you have a
deadline!” CC could tell he wasn’t
happy with her. “Your article is due on
my desk tomorrow morning whether you die tonight or not. Are you done with it?”
CC looked at the computer
screen. She’d finished the article
before Chris’s call last night. She was
sitting there debating is she wanted to remove Chris from it all together when
he called. “It’s done,” she finally
said.
“Very good!” Darrell had his doubts about CC’s writing
ability but the first draft was cleverly written. “Send it right over.”
“But … I was … I thought …” CC
wasn’t sure what to tell him.
“But nothing. Email it to me. And feel better soon.” Darrell hung up before CC could finish her
protests.
She buried her head in her hands
and screamed. That usually always
worked. Needing advice she dialed
Stef’s number.
“Y’ello”
“It’s CC.”
“And?”
“I need to talk.”
“No really? I thought that you were just calling to wake
me up!” Stef glanced over at the
clock. 7:30 AM. “Do you realize that not all people enjoy
getting up at frickin’ 7:30 in the morning!
I for one work 24 hours shifts remember?”
“I’m sorry Stef. I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t
important.”
Stef rolled back over and pulled
the covers over her head blocking out the early dawn. “What’s up?”
“It’s about Chris and the
article,” CC signed. “I don’t know what
to do.”
“Are you done with it?”
“Yes.”
“What have you told Chris?”
“Nothing.” Nothing but lies.
“When’s the article due?”
“It was due tomorrow, but
Darrell wants it now. He wants me to
email it to him right now.”
“What are you waiting for? This is the big break you’ve been dreaming
about.”
CC was pacing around her home
office. “I’ve worked hard for this my
whole life. I’ve always wanted to be a
writer.”
“I hear a ‘but’ in your voice,”
Stef interrupted.
“I love him,” CC sighed. She’d said it out loud.
“Darrell? You love Darrell?”
CC laughed. “No.
Chris. I love Chris.” CC continued to laugh mostly out of
nervousness. “Is that even
possible? I haven’t even met him.”
Stef uncovered her head. She wanted to tell her ‘I told you so’ and
that playing with this kind of thing could backfire. “What are you still doing home?” she asked finally glancing at
her caller ID box.
“Mental health day but I think I
might be getting an ulcer.”
“That’s just worry,” Stef
stretched. “Want me to come over?”
“No that’s okay,” CC sat down at
the computer. “Should I send the
article as is?”
“Do you like it as is?”
“Yes.”
“Then yes.” Stef was going to lay it on the line. “Listen CC this could be your big break
don’t let a man get in the way of it.
Either he’s gong to understand or he won’t. And anyway what’s the chance that he’ll even get a hold of the
magazine?”
“You right. I’m worrying over nothing. He’ll never buy a magazine like Time … nope,
never.” CC wanted to cry. “I’m so dead.”
CC’s conversation with Stef didn’t help. In the end she sent the article as is. She also decided that it would be best to
send the article to Chris. If she
didn’t hear back from him she’d have to accept it.
To: chris@fumanskeeto.com
From: mzcofmyhrt@yahoo.com
Subject: Please
read this entire email.
I’m so sorry not to have
mentioned this earlier, but I now realize that I should have. I’ve not told you the whole truth. I am a researcher for a major magazine. Until recently, I’ve never thought that I’d
ever get published. Well that day has
come. Normally I’d be ecstatic but
unfortunately my lying to you makes this less than the most exciting moment of
my life.
I
asked to research and write an article on computer dating verses other avenues
of dating. I had my friend, Stef place
an ad on the internet and I tried to meet people answering ads in the
newspaper. Trust me when I say that
until your email I hadn’t met anyone that I was remotely interested in. I had a feeling that the article was going
to be too boring to get published.
Your email changed my life. Going into this project I thought the most
I’d get out of it was some free dinners and maybe a couple of movies. How was I to know that I’d meet someone as
special as you?
Enough stalling.
I’ve attached the article for you to read. I’ve debated all morning about rewriting or scraping the whole
idea but as much as I value you, our friendship and any possibility of a
relationship we might have. I have to
see how this article will do.
I’m sincerely sorry,
CC
~*~*~
Chris read the article
again. It was a good article; it would
have been better if she hadn’t used his name.
The fact that she mentioned what he did worried him more. If people put the pieces together this could
definately cause a problem with his other job.
“Hey Chris,” Lance yelled
through the hotel room door. “Time to
go,” he added pounding on the door.
Chris logged off his laptop and
grabbed his bag. He had a concert in a
couple of hours. The whole mess with CC
would have to wait.
A week had gone by and CC was
sulking around the office. The article
had come out as planned; her life couldn’t have been much better. The only problem, she hadn’t heard from
Chris since his last phone call before her email. She was rifling through some papers when Stef knocked on her
door.
“May I come in?”
“Yeah,” CC said still pouting.
“How long are you gonna piss and
moan around?”
“I don’t know.” CC said near tears. “Do you know the last time I felt like
this?”
Even though it was a rhetorical
question Stef answered, “Two years and three months.”
“Very funny Stef.”
“What I’m not laughing.” She sat down then tossed a large envelope at
CC.
“What’s this?”
“Info on lover boy.” She leaned forward in her chair. “Interesting reading. Oh the stuff you can find on the
Internet. Didn’t you even check out his
clothing line’s web page?”
CC shook her head. She opened the envelope dumping ht contents
on her desk. “What is this for?” she
asked holding up plane tickets.
“They are for you. I’m sick of you pouting around.” Stef stood and walked around CC’s desk. She pulled her chair back and repacked the
envelope. “You’ve got to hurry your
plane leaves in just over an hour.”
“But … what about work?”
“All taken care of,” Stef said
ushering CC out of her office.
“I need my purse and … and
clothes. I can’t just leave.”
Stef reached behind her and
grabbed CC’s purse from under the desk.
She continued to lead CC out of the office. “I’ve got it all taken care of.”
She pointed to a small suitcase next to CC’s office door.
“You went to my house and packed
my clothes.”
Stef smiled, “And I even packed
you a little surprise.” She reached for
the backpack that was sitting next to the suitcase.
“What’s in here?”
“Research.” Stef laughed. “You know for someone who does this for a living your really
messed up on this one. Didn’t even take
me long to come up with the info on Chris.”
Stef put CC on the elevator and pushed the button for the parking garage
as the doors closed she added. “Oh and
I want full details when you get back.”
CC stared open mouthed at the
closed elevator doors. What was Stef
talking about? She looked down at
the envelope. She wanted to stop and
read whatever it had in it. As the
elevator door opened she looked up at the garage clock. “Oh god I have to hurry.”
She drove as fast a she could and just barley made it
to the airport. Once seated in the
plane she opened the envelope reading the pages upon pages on Christopher
Kirkpatrick and the rest of the members of NSYNC. She was completely dumbfounded when she was done.
The very last page was a note
from Stef. God I don’t want to read
this.
Okay
smart girl, how in the hell did you miss this?
He’s one of the most seen faces in the US! Don’t tell me that you never exchanged photos … oh my gosh you
didn’t did you. How stupid are
you? I’m sorry that’ was uncalled
for. Well I guess you now have lots of
questions for Mr. Kirkpatrick.
Oh by the way have you checked
out the backpack? Put the letter down
and open it.
Until now CC had forgotten about the backpack
tucked nicely under the seat in front of her.
She opened it surprised to see a portable CD player and a handful of
CD’s, all NSYNC. On the front of each
of them was a list of Stef’s favorite songs on the CD.
She dug deeper and found another
envelope. Opening it she found tickets
to tonight’s concert. She laughed
picking back up Stef’s note.
Okay so I hope you found the
ticket to the concert … don’t worry I packed a really cool concert outfit. I went shopping for you. Worried?
You should be! =) Just kidding.
Hotel info is in with the
concert ticket. Just so you know it was
nearly impossible to get a hotel room let alone a room in the same hotel as
them.
Good luck and remember I want full
details.
Love
Ya!
Stef
P.S.
If you don’t get the boy don’t give up until you do!
CC folded the papers back into
the envelope and sighed. What was
she doing? She grabbed the CD
player from the backpack and put the first CD in. She glanced at Stef’s not on the cover and laughed at how she
went song to song to listen to. Instead
of following the list she just hit play and listened to the whole CD. Wonder which voice is Chris? She continued through the CD and when the
plane landed in Indianapolis she excited and went to find a rental car.
She hadn’t been to Indianapolis in years. I’m gong to get lost. She pulled her suitcase behind her as she
walked into the terminal. She was
surprised to see a man dressed in black holding a sign with her name on
it. Who knows I’m here? Stef.
CC hesitantly walked up to him. “I’m Cecilia Colson.”
He took her suitcase, “Follow me
Miss.”
“Where are going?” CC said suddenly panicked.
“I was hired to take you to your
hotel Miss.”
“Okay,” CC said following him to
an awaiting limousine. “Are you sure it
was for Cecilia Colson?”
“Yes Miss.”
She sat quietly in the back of
the limo as it drove along the highway heading into downtown Indianapolis.
They pulled up to the entrance
of the Omni Sevren. CC was still in
shock that she was in a limo. She
looked out the tinted windows as the driver walked around and opened the door
for her. The driver offered her his
hand and as she exited girls began to gather around the car.
“It’s nobody,” CC heard someone
say as she walked by.
“How do you know?” another
asked.
“I’ve done my research. She’s not any of their girlfriends.”
Not yet.
CC checked in and was taken to
her room. It was your typical hotel
room; two queen size beds, a table in the far corner, a desk between the beds,
a small refrigerator, and a large dresser that held the television. She walked to the far corner of the room and
opened the drapes. She glanced at the
other side of the hotel and wondered which room Chris was in.
She sat staring for a long
time. She held an advantage, she knew
what Chris looked like and hopefully he no longer had the silly looking braids.
She looked at her watch, “Oh god
I have to get dresses!” She went to her
suitcase and threw it open. I’m
going to kill Stef. As she unpacked
indeed Stef had gone shopping.
The lacy black teddy on the very
top of the suitcase was something CC didn’t own. The note attached read: For
later. Neither were the leather
pants and tiny t-shirt. “No way I’m
wearing this! I’m too old to dress like
this!”
She picked up the leather pants
and a note fell from them too.
No doubt that you
are ready to kill me right now. Well
quit plotting my demise, get your skinny ass in the leather pants and go to the
concert!
She reluctantly dressed in the
very unlike her outfit. She looked in
the mirror. You don’t look all that
bad. The leather pants hugged in
all the right places and the small t-shirt with CC on it in rhinestones clung
to her ample breasts.
CC styled her hair and touched
up her make-up before leaving for the concert.
As she walked through the lush hotel lobby she noticed a gathering of
girls. Wonder who that could be? Nonchalantly CC walked by and about tripped
when she noticed that is was Chris they were all gathered around.
This is you chance. It’s now or never. CC stopped
and waited her turn. She felt dumb when
she realized that she had nothing for him to autograph. She thought quick and handed him the
envelope that her concert ticket was in.
Chris didn’t even bother to look up at her as he signed his name on the
envelope.
“Thank you so much Chris.” CC said grabbing the envelope back and
quickly walking toward the door.
“That’s all.” Chris said to his bodyguard as he stared
after the woman walking away from him. Why
did that voice sound so familiar?
Chris was ushered off to the concert and CC began
walking the short distance to the venue.
Once inside she asked for
directions to her seat. She was shocked
to find she had seats to the right of the stage in the first row. No way! As the show began CC felt a tinge of nervousness. What if this isn’t a good idea?
Throughout the concert CC’s stomach was full of
butterflies. She had to figure a way to
talk to Chris. She knew his cell number
but hadn’t bothered calling him in days.
The last time she’d tried she’d gotten his voice mail and didn’t leave a
message.
She’d forgotten all about the
concert going on around her. She was
staring straight ahead when she finally returned to reality. To her amazement Chris was standing on the
stage right in front of her.
Maybe now would be a good
time. I hope they can see out into
the audience. She pointed to her new
shirt and waived. Maybe he’d put two
and two together.
The look on Chris’ face changed. Oh my God it’s CC.
The concert ended and CC dawdled around trying to
decide what to do next. The venue was
almost empty when CC finally left her seat.
She half hoped that Chris would send someone to get her or something,
anything. She slowly walked back to the
hotel enjoying the late fall weather.
She walked around the block and
stared into the windows of the mall fighting with her inner voice. I should just go home and forget this whole
mess. No, you’ve come this far you
can’t go home without seeing him.
Ice cream won out over returning
to the hotel when CC wondered into a Stake n’ Shake on the corner and ordered a
strawberry shake. The restaurant was
packed with chattering people most of them obviously from the concert. She waited for her shake and walked the
final block back to the hotel.
There too were tons of young
girls. They were everywhere, outside
the hotel, throughout the lobby and even riding up and down in the elevator
obviously trying to catch a glimpse of the guys.
CC waited patiently for the
elevator and was grateful that it was empty when she got in. She hit the button for her floor and watched
as the lights above the door moved.
She fumbled in her pocket and
found her room key before walking down the short hall to her room. She pushed the key in the slot and waited
for it to turn green. Opening the door
she silently wished that she’d left a light on in the dark hotel room.
CC stumbled in and flipped the
light on. She screamed when she caught
sight of a man sitting at the table in her room.
The figure stood. Chris.
“How’d you get in here?”
“I had someone get the key for
me,” he said simply.
“Wow I thought this hotel’d be
better then that.”
Chris crossed the room and held
out his hand. “Nice to finally meet
you, I guess.”
CC walked past him and fiddled
in her suitcase. “You guess.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Chris sat back down in the chair and ran his
hand through his hair. “Man, I’m
sorry. I never wanted it to happen like
this.”
“How did you envision out first
meeting?” CC asked looking up at him.
“I was hoping for flowers, maybe
a hug, definitely hearing that great laugh of yours.”
“Flowers. You would have bought me flowers?”
“No I expected you to buy me
flowers,” Chris said with a grin.
CC couldn’t help but laugh at
him. Chris stood and walked over to
her. He grabbed the shirt that she was
absently playing with. He took her
hands in his and said, “I’m so sorry that I never called you back.”
CC shivered at the feeling of
Chris’ hands. “I’m sorry …” she began
and dropped her head down.
Chris placed a finger under her
chin and brought her eyes back up to meet his.
“You write beautifully. You’re
very talented.”
“Thank you.” CC stared at him. She was at a loss for words.
“You’re the one that’s talented.
The show tonight was great.”
“I love what I do.”
“Why didn’t you tell me who you
really were?”
“I could ask you the same
thing.”
CC pulled her hands back and
stood with them on her hips. “I did
tell you who I was.”
“Really?” Chris gave her a look that parlayed that he
knew she was lying. “So how’s the novel
coming?” he asked with a grin.
CC sat down on one of the
beds. “I’m not writing a novel,” she
said barely audible.
“Excuse me?” Chris sat down on
the opposite bed. “I thought you just
said that you told me who you really were.”
“Okay so we’re no different that
the other. We both lied to each
other.” She looked down at the floor
than back up at Chris. “I feel awful.”
“Me too.” Chris shrugged. “Why don’t we start over.”
He stood and held out his hand.
“I’m Chris Kirkpatrick, I have my own company, but I’m most known for
being Chris from NSYNC.”
CC stood and shook his
hand. “Very nice to meet you.” She smiled up at him. “Oh yeah, I’m Cecilia Colson, everyone calls
me CC. I’m a researcher for Time
Magazine. That is until recently when I
begged to be allowed to research and write a story on the aspects of
dating.” She giggled at the silliness
of the whole thing. “Now what?”
Chris pulled her toward him and
lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss was
better than he had ever thought it could be.
He’d wanted to kiss her for months and he hadn’t even met her yet. Some how through it all he’d fallen in love
with her without ever meeting her. When
they finally broke apart Chris said,
“I’m leaving tomorrow after the concert, come with me.”
“I have to go back home.” The flight Stef had booked for her left the
next night.
“No you don’t. Quit your job.”
CC laughed. He’d
said that so simply. He couldn’t be
serious. “I can’t do that. Just like I know you can’t leave your job.”
“At least stay with me
tonight.” Chris said running a finger
down her jaw line.
CC nodded. “Okay.”
She leaned up and kissed him.
The kiss was like no other she’d ever experienced. She felt it in her toes. If he
keeps kissing me like this I will not only quit my job I’ll follow him wherever
he asks.
CC was the first to pull
away. “Where can this go?”
“We were willing to work on a
long distance relationship before.
What’s to say we can’t make it work now?”
“The fact that sometimes the
distance will be greater than others.”
“It was like that before you
just didn’t know about it.” Chris took
her hand in his and played with her fingers.
“C’mon CC think of the possibilities, phone sex, cyber sex, sex after a
long absent.” CC blushed. “Okay so maybe we should talk about this
more.” Chris quickly kissed her. “Some where through this whole thing I fell
in love with you. When you sent the
email with the article I didn’t know what to do.”
CC opened her mouth to tell him
that she loved him too and to apologize again, but Chris placed a finger to her
lips to silence her. “After actually
seeing you tonight I realized that I really do love you and even the silly
article or living apart from each other or only seeing each other on weekends
isn’t going to change that.”
CC didn’t know what to say so
she kissed him. She had the rest of her
life to tell him how she felt about him but she only had tonight to show him.
Slowly and seductively they
undressed each other. Stolen kisses led
to exploration of each other’s bodies only to end in them making love. They lay wrapped in each other’s arms with
the only light in the room coming from the green iridescent clock that showed
it was nearly three in the morning.
“I have a meeting at Nordstrom’s
first thing in the morning.” Chris said
breaking the silence. He kissed the top
of CC’s head and pulled her tighter to him.
“My plane leaves at noon.” CC turned over in his arms to face him. Tears were threatening to fall. How am I ever going to leave?
“Let’s not think about it yet,” Chris said kissing
her.
CC snuggled closer as they
drifted off to sleep wrapped in each other’s arms.
Chris woke two hours later and
through kisses woke CC from her slumber only to make love again before
returning to their peaceful sleep.
The phone woke them an hour
later. CC reached over on the deck
grabbing the phone. “Hello.”
“Is Chris there?” a deep voice
asked.
CC handed him the phone. “Yeah … okay.” He handed the phone back to her.
“Security will be here in half an hour to get me.” He leaned up on his elbow and kissed the tip
of her nose.
Tears spilled down CC’s checks
again. “I love you.” CC said quickly wanting him to know before
he left. “This isn’t going to work, is
it?”
Chris wiped the tears from CC’s
cheeks. “It will because we’re gonna
make it.” They held tight to each other
until Chris had no choice but get up and get dressed.
CC pulled the sheet from the bed
tight around her. The knock on the door
signaled the end of their romantic evening.
Chris hugged her tight. “Are you
sure you can’t change your flight?”
“I have a meeting with my boss
tomorrow about a possible promotion.
It’s very important to me. How
about this weekend?”
“I have shows. You can always fly in and see me. We really can’t go out without a bodyguard
but I’m sure we can think of something to do,” he said with a grin.
“Sounds great,” CC said giving
him a kiss.
“I’ll call you tonight to work
out the details.” CC nodded and smiled.
Chris kissed her one more time
before opening the door and diappearing down the hall.
CC collapsed to the floor and
cried. Something in her heart told her
that that was the last time she’d see Chris Kirkpatrick.
Slowly she tried to get ready to
go back to New York. Her flight left in
a little over two hours. CC stood under
the pulsating hot water letting it mix with her salty tears. For the life of her she couldn’t figure out
why she kept crying. Chris said he’d
call her tonight.
CC tried to concentrate on her
novel but memories of being held in Chris’ arms invaded her mind. She sniffled trying to keep from crying
again.
“Are you alright sweetie?” the
older woman sitting next to her asked.
CC nodded. “Fine.”
Tears began to slide down her cheeks.
The woman handed her a
tissue. “Is it a sad novel?” she asked
knowing full well that the young woman hadn’t turned the page in over an hour.
“No but I have a felling it’s
going to have a sad ending.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“So am I.” CC went back to “reading” her book and was
very grateful when she saw the New York skyline in the distance.
As CC stood to leave the plane
the woman next to her said, “Remember sweetie if you believe in your heart it
will show you the way.”
CC had no clue what she meant
but she smiled, “Thank you.”
CC returned home and didn’t even
bother unpacking. She undressed and put
her pajamas on before checking her email.
She laughed. That’s how this
whole thing started. She handled
the few things that were emailed to her and thought about calling Stef; she’d
left about a dozen messages on the answering machine. Instead she popped a video in and ended up falling asleep.
When the alarm went off at 5:30
the next morning CC couldn’t remember where she was or what day it was. Reluctantly she pulled herself out of bed
and headed for the bathroom.
Halfway through her shower CC
remembered that Chris was supposed to call her. She hurried up only to end up nicking her leg twice while
shaving. Still damp and only wearing a
towel CC quickly went to check the answering machine. Nothing. She glanced at
the clock. Oh hell I’m running late.
Running into Darrell’s office CC
stopped trying to catch her breath.
“I’m late, I’m sorry.”
“Good morning Cecilia.” Darrell said never taking his eyes off his
computer screen. “Please have a seat.”
“Good morning,” CC said as she
made herself comfortable.
Darrell turned in his chair to
face her. “Cecilia the reason I’ve
called this meeting is to offer you a chance to do some research for me.”
“But I thought after the article
I wouldn’t have to do …” Darrell interrupted her.
“You’ll have to do the research
before you can write the article,” he said with a smile.
“Oh,” CC said feeling terribly
embarrassed.
“You need to go pack,” Darrell
handed her plane tickets.
“London?” CC questioned.
“Drew will explain. He’ll meet you at the airport in
London.” Darrell turned back to his
computer. “Better get going if you’re
going to make it on time.”
CC stood and stared at the
tickets in her hand. She turned to
leave the office then remembered her weekend with Chris. Before she could object to the assignment
Darrell added, “Good luck Cecilia. Make me proud.”
CC ran from his office. In just over four hours she’d be leaving for
London. As she drove home to pack CC
tried Chris cell only to get his voice mail.
“Chris I really need to talk to you.
I’m leaving for London in less than four hours. Call me please.” She hung up and tried Stef next.
Again she got her machine instead of her. “Stef, I’m on my way to London.
I want to tell you about Chris and … and … Damn it Stef I really need to
talk to you! I’ll try to call you from
London. My flight leaves in about four
hours. I’m on my way home to pack
now. Oh hell I’ll just call you later.”
CC parked and ran up the stairs
to her apartment. She had to be back on
the road in about an hour. She threw
open her suitcase and dumped the contents on her bed, she’d have to find
something to do with the clothes when she came back. I never asked, I wonder how long I’ll be
there. She walked to her
closet. What do you pack to go to
London? What did this story even deal
with? I should have asked a few more
questions.
She haphazardly threw clothes into her suitcase and
grabbed her “emergency” Visa out of her jewelry case. She’d just buy whatever she needed.
CC picked up her cell phone and
dialed first Chris then Stef’s numbers only to get voice mail on both
counts. Where is everyone? This
could very well be the biggest break of my life and I can’t find the two people
I want to tell most. CC dial he
parent’s number. Her mother answered on
the second ring. “Hello Mom.”
“CC you know how I hate when you
call me on that cell phone of yours. I
can never hear you. Can’t you wait
until you get home?”
“Not today. I’m on my way to London, Mom.”
“What’s in London?”
“A job.”
“What’s wrong with the job you have? And just where have you been the past few
days your father and I tried to call you over and over.”
Obviously they didn’t leave a message, but then
again they hated answering machines too.
“I was in
Indianapolis.” As soon as she said CC
regretted it.
“You were that close to home and you couldn’t stop
to see your parents. We’re getting older
Cecilia we’re not always going to be here you know.”
“Yes I know.
Mom, I have to go. I’ll call you
when I get there.”
“But I’m not finished talking to you.”
CC placed the phone away from her. “I’m breaking up Mom,” she said. “Gotta go.”
She hung up. Why did she even
bother to call her parent’s?
CC quickly punched in the number for Stef’s
work. “Emergency Room.”
“Dr. Riley, please.”
Stef phone.
I’m needed with a patient. Take a message.
Before the person on the phone
said anything CC said, “Tell her it’s CC.
It’s an emergency!”
This time the person covered the
phone. It wasn’t more than a few
seconds and Stef was on the line. CC
was like her sister. They’d been
friends their whole lives and moved to New York to attend school together. They roomed in the dorms together. It was kill her if anything seriously
happened to her. “What is it? Where are you? Are you hurt?”
CC started to cry, which only
caused Stef to get more concerned. “CC
tell me what’s wrong!”
“I’m on my way to London.” CC sobbed.
“Damn it CC there are people
here that are true emergencies!”
“I’ve been trying to call you at
home all day. I’ve seen Chris. I was supposed to go see him this
weekend. Now I can’t,” she said while
sniffling.
“Okay calm down. Where are you?”
“On my way to the airport. I can’t talk long. I need you to get a hold of Chris or email him for me.”
“Stef come quick!” CC heard someone yell.
“Gotta run CC give the nurse the
details.”
CC relayed the message she
needed Chris to receive along with his email address. “Okay I’ll pass it on to Stef.”
CC thanked her and hung up. She pulled into the airport and ran to catch
her flight. Unfortunately the message
that Stef was supposed to send never made it to Chris.
*~*Three
Months Later*~*
“CC phone’s for you,” Stacey,
CC’s new secretary, yelled.
“Who knows I’m here?” She walked out of her office to Stacey’s
desk. “I’m not even supposed to be back
for another week.” She picked up the
phone. “Hello.”
“Welcome back jet setter.”
“Stef. It’s good to hear your voice,” CC said with little enthusiasm.
“What are you doing home so
early?”
“Story’s done.” Ever since Stef flaked out on the email
their friendship had been strained. She
tried to email Chris later only to have it bounced back to her. His cell number was changed too and calls to
Jive and WEG led nowhere for CC.
She grew accustomed to the idea
that she’d most likely never see Chris again.
As the weeks in London continued Chris was thought of less and less.
“That’s great. I have a surprise for you. I bought them hoping you’d be home early.”
“Bough what?” CC asked trying to
stretch the phone into her new office.
She was trying to unpack a box of stuff from her old office.
“Concert tickets. For tonight.”
“You know Stef, I haven’t even
made it home for long enough to unpack.
Can’t we make it another night?”
“Tickets are for tonight only
CC. Do you want to go or not?” Stef asked finally getting upset with
CC. “I thought you’d gotten over the
whole email thing.”
CC sat down on the chair across
from her desk. “I’m sorry. I am over it. I guess being back in the States has brought back memories.” Seeing her stuff still setting on her bed
earlier in the day didn’t help any.
“What time tonight?”
“I’ll pick you up about 5.” Stef reached over and ran her finger over
the NSYNC concert ticket. I sure
hope these are worth $1000.00 each.
“Okay, see you then.”
Just as promised Stef was
standing at CC’s door at 5.
“Ready?” Stef wasn’t sure if the
person standing in front of her was actually her best friend CC.
The outfit she was wearing
wasn’t something Stef had ever seen CC in.
“New outfit?”
“Oh this little number,” CC said
spinning in her doorway. “I picked it
up in Paris.”
“Oo la la,” Stef motioned to
CC’s new coif. “Also from Paris?”
“Yeah. I found this great little salon.
You like?”
CC’s long blond hair was now
very short and very red. “Different,
but I like it.”
They caught up on each other’s
lives as Stef drove back into the city.
“What concert are we going to see?”
“NSYNC,” Stef said hesitantly.
“Stop this car!” CC yelled.
“Are you nuts! What ever made
you think that I’d go to see NSYNC?”
“Calm down CC. I’m just trying to fix what I broke.”
“There is NO fixing something
that never was!” CC’s face was getting
redder and redder the longer they fought.
CC never said another word to Stef the rest of the
ride. Even as they found their seats CC
refused to speak to her.
“We’re front row,” Stef explained to the young man
checking tickets.
He nodded and allowed them down the stairs onto the
floor. Stef lead the way and was very
pleased to see that their seats were almost center stage. “Well worth the $1000.00.”
That got CC’s attention, “You paid $1000.00 for
these tickets?” Stef nodded. “Are you nuts?”
“Each,” she simply added.
“Stef you need to find a doctor and have them check
you out. I foresee a padded room in
your near future.”
“Not the thank you I was looking for but that’s the
most you’ve said to me lately.”
CC abruptly stood.
“I’ve got to go! I shouldn’t be
here! There are things that you don’t
know.” CC was pacing in front of Stef
and mumbling something about secrets and not knowing the whole story.
”CC if you don’t sit down and tell me what’s going
on how am I going to help you.”
CC sat down and ran her hands through her short
hair. What kind of punishment was
this? She took a deep breath. “There is no help for me.” Visions of Chris mixed with visions of the
of the abortion clinic. The sterile
room, the smell of hospital disinfectant.
She felt her stomach lurch like it had that morning. She stood and ran back up the stairs to the
closest restroom.
When Stef finally caught up with
her CC was splashing water on her face.
She pulled out a handful of paper towel and tried to dry off her face. The young girls in the restroom just stared
at her.
Stef watched as it appeared that
CC was having a panic attack. She
continued to watch as she ran off to a stall and vomited again.
“What the hell is wrong with
you?” She grabbed CC’s wrist and took
her pulse. “I bet your blood pressure
is soaring.” Stef helped CC off the
bathroom floor and helped her back into the hall. They found a seat on a ledge.
“Spill it CC! What’s wrong with
you?”
CC stared down at her
shoes. “I think I’m pregnant,” she
mumbled.
“You think?” Stef questioned.
“Okay so I know. What the hell! I’m pregnant!” She was
now screaming. The people walking by were
staring; mothers were pulling their daughters along faster. CC stood and walked back and forth in front
of Stef. “What am I going to do?” She thought it best not to bring up the trip
to the abortion clinic in front of Stef, a huge Pro-Life supporter.
“Have you tried to get a hold of
Chris?” CC stopped pacing and gave Stef
a dirty look. “It is his isn’t it?” Again nothing but a death look. “Okay, okay!” She waited as CC paced some more. The first opening act was taking the stage. “CC, why haven’t you called him?”
She threw her hands up. “Well maybe if someone’s nurse hadn’t passed
his email address around he wouldn’t have felt the need to change every number
that I had of his.”
Stef guiltily looked down. “Haven’t I apologized enough? I got you these great tickets didn’t I?”
“Oh yeah brilliant idea!”
“How the hell was I supposed to
know that you were pregnant!” she barked.
CC was tired of all this. “Enough fighting,” CC held out her hand,
“Truce?”
Stef shook it. “Truce.”
She smiled, “Are we friends again?”
“Sure. Why not? It’ll be great
to have a doctor to baby sit for you whenever I need a babysitter.” She sat down next to Stef. “That still doesn’t help me out. What am I going to do?”
“Go into the concert. Hope that he sees you wants to talk to
you.” Stef had no idea if this was
going to actually work.
“Okay. What the hell, beats the heck out of sitting out here wasting
your $1000 tickets.” CC said, standing.
Stef stood and wrapped an arm
around CC’s shoulders. “Don’t worry
I’ll make it all better.”
CC smiled even though she had
huge doubts that this was going to fail.
The new hair do and wardrobe
were supposed to make her feel better right.
All it seemed to make her feel right now was a little like she was
trying to hide behind a façade. It
wasn’t working.
“I’m sorry sweetie. I thought for sure that he’d let on the he
saw you.” Stef said as they walked back
to the car.
“It’s fine.” That was the most CC said the whole way back
to her place.
“Night CC. Don’t worry we’ll find a way to get a hold
of Chris.” CC nodded and waved as she
walked up the steps to her place.
Months went by and CC had
stopped moping around. She’d thrown
herself into her new position and avoided discussions with Stef about either
Chris or the baby.
As her fifth month of pregnancy
progressed CC became cute as a button.
She hadn’t even tried to reach Chris even though Stef had begged her to.
They were shopping at
Bloomingdale’s one afternoon when Stef spotted Chris. “You know I think we need to go check out the clothes in the
juniors section.”
CC chuckled. “Yeah like my fat body is going to fit into
any of that stuff.” CC sat down in a
chair in the shoe department. “I’ll
just wait for you here.”
“No! I need your opinion.” She
took hold of CC’s hand and yanked her to her feet.
“C’mon Stef I’m pregnant and
tired,” CC whined as Stef pulled her toward the junior section … and Chris.
You’ll thank me for this later, Stef thought trying to get CC as close to the area
Chris was in.
When they stopped CC pulled her
arm back. “You just about pulled my arm
out of the socket! You’d think the
clothes were going to disappear or something.”
CC ranted.
The yelling women attracted
Chris’ attention, turning it away from his clothing line and to the voice that
seemed familiar. When he turned and saw
her he was shocked. “Just a minute,” he
said interrupting the woman speaking.
Chris made his way over to her,
lightly tapping her on the shoulder.
“CC?”
CC wasn’t the only one
surprised. Chris was surprised even
more so when she turned around to face him.
“Oh … your pregnant.” Chris said almost dumbfounded.
“I’ll be over,” Stef pointed to
a rack of clothes and walked away to let them work this out on their own.
“I … uh … I was … I tried,” she
stuttered. “Yes. Yes, I am.”
She searched the area looking for somewhere quiet to go. There really wasn’t any place.
“Is it mine?” Chris asked still
obviously shocked. CC nodded. “Were you going to tell me?”
“I tired,” CC chocked out trying
not to cry. “You changed your numbers.”
“I had to.” Chris simply said and CC knew why he
did. “There are other ways for you to
get a hold of me,” he said anger ever present in his voice
“Yeah well there were ways for
you to reach me too.”
“I tried, but you were gone or
something.”
“Oh shit! London.”
CC felt like smacking her forehead.
“Listen Chris can we just chalk this up to stupid mistakes and start
over?”
“Haven’t we started from the
beginning once before?” Chris asked
remembering the night they shared in the Indianapolis hotel room.
“I suppose we have.” CC still loved him. She couldn’t stop thinking about hi. Her growing stomach made sure she
didn’t. CC ran her hand over her
slightly extended stomach.
Chris
held out his hand for CC to shake.
“Hello I’m Chris Kirkpatrick.”
Instead of shaking his hand CC
placed it on her stomach and smiled through the tears that began to fall. “I’m Cecilia Colson and this is our baby.”
She looked over and saw the
tears in Chris’ eyes too. “I’ve loved
you even before I met you,” Chris whispered to CC’s belly. “Just like I loved your Mommy even before I
met her.”
The
End
Tell Stephanie what you thought of this story!