Gabi felt a burning shudder down her spine as she turned away from the sight of.....
....of what? Two old friends catching up on old times?
Friends?? OH-ho-ho no. This woman was a little too cozy for that. Not the way she was touching him.
She closed her eyes and tried to squeeze the thoughts out of her head. God, what's wrong with me? I'm a married woman! What am I doing?? What am I saying??
But not even the little gold ring on her finger could stop the stinging feeling beneath her skin.
Suddenly, her mind began to wander.....and the rush of people that passed her on the sidewalk held a magnifying glass over her soul.....
((((( Woman: Not used to being deprived of his undivided attention, are you?
((((( Construction Guy: Uh oh. He's givin' her the head tilt..
((((( Little Girl: Look, Mommy! That lady looks like she wants to rip Barbie's head off!
((((( Man: Hey, she was pre-seminary. Guilt free, honey!
((((( Linda Blair: Feeling a little......possessive???
Gabi: Stop it! Stop talking to me!!
The passers-by gave her a confused glance as she snapped back into reality....and something came over her....a little spark of an idea....of how to make it all go away.......
Amidst Vonda's playful embrace.....Antonio didn't even notice her hand graze the pocket of his jacket and slip something inside.....
Vonda: You don't know how happy I am that our paths crossed again, Tony.
Antonio: Yeah-heah, yeah.....it was....great..to, uh--
Gabi: Heeere comes the saugie train! Whoa, can you grab one of these? (shoves it in his hand) there ya' go... oops! Heh-ha....wooo! (Antonio looks at her in befuddlement) Oh, I tell you, this greasy New York food, it just slides right out of your--oh! Hello, I don't think we've met...(puts out her ring hand) I'm Mrs. Torres.
Vonda: Oh. Oh! Uh....hello.. Well, I guess I'd better get going. It was so nice to see you, Tony.......(flirty wave) byye......
Gabi's lips curled into a roguish smile as she and Antonio watched her walk away.
Gabi: (chuckles) Tony?? Oh-h-ho....nevermind, Antonio. I'll spare you my cereal mascot impression!
Antonio: Gabi....what was all that about?
Gabi: What was what? All I did was introduce myself. I am Mrs. Torres, you know.
Antonio: But the way you....I could've sworn that you were implying that.....
Gabi: You were wasting valuable time, Antonio. If I hadn't stepped in, you'd still be over there gabbing!
Antonio: (Oh, I'm Gabbing alright...) You know, you are unbelievable. Here I was, racked with guilt over putting you in the awkward position of having to pose as my wife during that little hostage sitch, and then you go and pull...whatever that was, just because you got a little impatient?? How do you think that makes me feel?
Gabi: How do you think I just felt?? Standing there all alone while you were--
He squinted his eyes and raised a brow.
Gabi: (her eyes darting away from him)....while....these hot dogs were getting cold?...
He tipped his head, his mischievous eyes prodding her curiously.
Antonio: I don't believe it. You were jealous.....you were jealous, weren't you?
She turned away from him, mumbling through a stuffed mouth.
Gabi: Don'd fladder yourshelf, Antonhio.
Antonio: (mouth full) Well, don'd play gamesh wid me, den.
Two lonely hearts, two onion dogs. Need we say more?
Gabi: Who was she, anyway?
Antonio: Her name's Vonda, OK? We dated in high school, and she broke my
heart into little pieces and did the Mexican hat dance on it. You happy now?
Gabi: Oh, but I'm sure you left out the teeny tiny little detail that you're a
priest, though, I mean, obviously, right?
Antonio: It...it never came up! Look, Gabi...just to prove to you that I'm still
well aware of what our objective is, I'm just gonna hail us a cab....so we can get to
Father Frockenheim, get home by tonight, Ricardo never finds out about this little
excursion, and we can get on with our normal lives!
Gabi: Fine!
Antonio: Fine!!
Gabi: Alright...if that's the way it's gonna be...let me just get the money ou--
.......Oh God.....this isn't happening!!
Antonio: What now??
Gabi: The guy at the hot dog stand didn't give me the right change!!! I--I gave
him the 20....our priceless 20...our lifeline!! And all I got back was two dollars!! I
might as well have thrown it in the gutter!!
Antonio: Alright, alright, calm down....we'll just go back, and get the money.
Gabi: Right....OK...we'll just backtrack to the--it's gone.....
Antonio: What??
Gabi: OH no!! He's across the street...he hooked the damn trailer to his car and
he's driving away!! Stooop!!! Please, wait!!!
He watched in absolute terror as she dashed out into the street filled with the
whirring chaos of traffic.
Antonio: Gabi!!!!! No!!!!
He thought he was going to go into cardiac arrest when a truck entered his
fixed sight of the woman he loved, and he ran towards the fated collision with all
the strength in his body......
Vonda pulled out a cell phone as she strutted down the street.
Vonda: Yeah, it's Caven. It's done. How? Oh, you know I'm smooth like that.
(Chuckles) I ran into an old flame...eh-heh...or should I say, old sap I
used to date back in my good old home town of Sunset Beach. I passed the disk
off on him...he didn't catch a trick. It's out of our hands now. Well, once the FBI
finds him and his little Punky Power wife....they'll have their culprits...and we'll be
sunning in Cabo....
Antonio: Gabi!!!!!!
He blocked out everything but her.......and reached out like he was grasping
the ledge of a cliff for dear life. He didn't even push her....his arms surrounded her
like clouds and whirled her off the ground to the curb as the truck tore by them,
thrashing wind at them in its speeding wake.
She felt like she had risen out of her body....she was oblivious to anything but
the feeling of him trembling against her as he held her tightly like she was a ghost
that would fade away....
Antonio: (Panting) My God.....don't scare me like that, OK? I think my heart's
somewhere in my shoe...
She had never been so scared in her life....not even because of what had just
happened....but because the sensation of feeling safe in his arms made memories of
a dark night rush to the surface...the image of being wrapped in his warm
protection began to reshape like magma beneath her skin...it broke from the
banished place where it lay.....she woke up.
And she was standing there in the middle of Manhattan with nothing but an
emery board and Antonio...and didn't need anything else......
Gabi: (softly) Thank you, Antonio......
She pulled him close and hugged him, his heartbeat still stumbling from the
aftershocks of panic, fueling heated memories as she felt it racing against hers.....
Gabi: I'm so sorry....I lost the guy....I lost all our money....
Antonio: Hey, hey... I almost lost you ! (looks into her eyes) Forget
about the money, alright? I would die if anything happened to you....
He almost felt compelled to take it back.... to apologize hastily for the
magnitude of these words...but it was the most honest thing he'd said the whole
time they'd been in this crazy city.....
His arms started to slip off her nervously, but her shaking hands stopped
them......until they both retreated shyly from the embrace and stared off into the
pinkish sky.
Gabi: It's almost sundown....it'll be dark soon, and we haven't even found
Father Frockenheim....how are we gonna get there? What if we end up having to....
spend the night here.......?
Antonio: Well, we..no!! Of course not, Gabi....wait a minute...I think I know
a way we can make it there....
In a van, not far away....
Agent 1: Got it. I located the disk. I've pinpointed its location to the island of
Manhattan......searching.....satellite feed....bingo! Suspect is traveling down East
35th and Main.......
Agent 2: Do you think the suspect carrying the sensitive material is the one
who stole it from Angel Tech Industries?
Agent 1: Anything's possible. All I know is, we have to retrieve the Disk of
Us Taking Loot. If what we did is exposed, it could bring down the whole
government like an explosion collapses a building! Wait.....dammit! I lost the
suspect on the screen. Sweet Lord, no! Something must be blocking the infared
heat scanning system!
Gabi: (shivers) God......I'm so freezing........
Frosty smoke clouds rose from her lips as she moved closer to him in the
darkness of the freezer truck.
Antonio: Don't worry....we're headed in the right direction to get to the
rectory, at least I think.....once it makes a stop, we'll sneak out the
back....God, I just hope the driver doesn't find us in here and accuse us of trying to
smuggle his Chilly Pops.
Gabi: The only Chilly Pop in here is me.
Antonio: Well......just, um.....get closer, OK?
Gabi: This is making the cabin at Big Bear seem like the Bahamas.
She wrapped her arm around his back and eased under his jacket,
trembling....but felt warmer by the minute against him.....
Gabi: .....Hey......do you remember that scene from Frosty the Snowman when
he got locked in the greenhouse and melted?
Antonio: Yeah.....that used to make me cry every Christmas. Mama would
say, "Antonio, por favor! It's only a caricatura! Is there anything in
this world that doesn't make you upset?" She was so understanding of
my sensitivity, you know?
Gabi: (laughs) You, sensitive? No way!...............Hey, Antonio...?
Antonio: Yeah?
Gabi: (softly) Before.......when....when you saved me.....something
happened.....
Antonio: What...happened?
Gabi: I don't know.....but it was something intense, Antonio....I felt
something intense.....and I know you felt it too.
Antonio: What....what do you mean, Gabi, I don't understand.....
Gabi: Something...something in the way you held me....it just made me think
of......the night we..........
Antonio released his breath in a veil of crystal fog, dumbfounded.....he could
feel his arm tightening around her as her face drifted closer....
Antonio: (swallows) No, no, Gabi no, Iii'm sure you only thought of that
because of....these extenuating circumstances...being trapped together like
this....naturally, you just.... remembered it....that's all....it wasn't me that made you
think of that, Gabi....it wasn't me.
Gabi: No.....the part that scares the hell out of me is that it was you,
Antonio......
Numb to the cold....a driving heat surging through the narrowing space
between their lips-----
The rickety door of the freezer truck rattled open, light blazing in.
Driver: (gasps) Hoooly--!!! What the hell are you people doin' in there????
Gabi: Uh?! I um......lost my contact lens....in the back of your
truck....and...well, you know...with all this ice and everything, a little clear thing
like that, it's pretty hard to--
Driver: Get outta there, you frostbitten twits!!
As the truck rolled away, the two vagabonds shook the ice shavings from their
clothes and sighed.....
Gabi: Ahem....um...well, that was pointless. We probably still have to walk
most of the way.......
Antonio: No.....wait....we don't! Gabi, this is the street!! West 45th!! The
rectory is at 32 B.....and there's 24 A.....we're so close!!! We'll be going home
before you know it, Gabi!
Gabi: Yeah.....uh, yeah! That's great!
She hoped he didn't sense the lack of enthusiasm in her voice, the feigned
quality of her smile as they walked on. Her mind lingered in the frozen world of a
truck filled with Chilly Pops....and the heat of what would've happened....what
could've been....would've been.....what always could be if one day....they just
sealed that airless space that was always getting smaller......closer.......
Going home.
A voice spoke to her that was filled with fear. It asked her a question that
threatened to tear apart her whole world...the one she tried so hard to maintain and
keep full of warmth and light in that tiny loft in Sunset Beach....
What if I already am home?.............
To Be
Continued......
