There she stood, looking at the corporate entrance to the Crane Industries Headquarters. It had been nine months since she was in Harmony. The memories of her leaving came rushing back to her. 'Stop it Sheridan, you've moved on, you're stronger than that.. now, get this overwith so you can rebuild you life here again.' she told herself.
Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald was sitting at the top of the Crane corporate building staring past Julian's shoulder who was on the opposite side of the desk, looking out the floor-high window at the rest of Corporate Harmony. He couldn't stand Julian Crane since he suspected he persuaded Sheridan to leave him, but he knew his meeting with him was necessary since Luis was the new Harmony Police Chief. The truth about Sam and Ivy and come out a few months ago, so Alistair made sure Sam lost his position in the department.
Julian was just about to hand Luis a document as the doors to his office burst open with a loud wham.
"Sheridan! Sister dear... back so soon?" he teased.
"Julian you bastard! I've been living on a fixed income for the last NINE months, holding a JOB at Neiman Marcus!. When Alistair died, you failed to mention that he left me a 2.6 BILLION dollar trust fund and stocks in the industries.... I should KILL you for that." spat an infuriated Sheridan Crane.
"Well... why spoil the joy of watching you work for a living my dear sibling? Afterall... you had access to all of the family fortune until I cut you off. Those were 26 long years darling." Julian returned amusingly.
Sheridan smirked and held up a set of four credit cards. "Don't worry about it JULIAN. I'm back and here to stay- here to shop too. More importantly however, I'm aware the Alistair left you as heir to the industries. You didn't think I'd find out that he gave Ethan and I the rights to the mansion did you? Well guess what... now there will be HELL to pay."
Julian nearly choked. 'I can't believe that imbecile found out! I thought I hid that well enough!' he thought.
"You can find yourself a new place to live as of NOW." Sheridan flashed, cold-heartedly.
Luis could only sit and watch this go on in shock, and confusion. The woman he loved so much just walked back into his life, and was back and better than ever.
Sheridan watched Julian's temper rise satisfactorily. There was nothing she enjoyed more than seeing her brother defeated.
And if you're not careful, or if you EVER try to push me away from a man I love again.. I'll contest the will and you KNOW that any judge would give Ethan the industries.
Sheridan still seemed so be oblivious to her last comment. It didn't hit her that Luis was in the room.
"I can only imagine how you were feeling when Ethan and Theresa got engaged." taunted a satisfied Sheridan.
"Anyway... I've got to get going... I'm taking my niece-in-in-law-to-be on a shopping spree." said Sheridan, still holding a Platinum Visa.
Julian was at a loss for words. "A.. SHERIDAN.... maybe there isn't anything I can do about you getting so much of the fortune... but I'll be damned if I let you try to walk all over me." Julian secretly admitted to himself that there was nothing he could do about it anymore, however.
Sheridan turned around once before leaving. "Oh, and Julian? Now that Alistair's dead.. things are going to really change. When Harmony thinks of Crane.. they're not going to cower in fear anymore. I'll see to that personally."
Julian collasped on his desk and moaned in anger and regret.
Luis looked up and stared at Sheridan, satisfied with her, knowing by the way she just talked to her brother that she was still the same woman he'd always loved. 'God she's so sexy' he thought, noticing her outfit. It consisted of a brown, fitted leather jacket without cuffs, and a carpety collar, a dark brown Gap shirt, and a very short black, tight leather Prada skirt.
"Oh..and hi Luis." she brought her hand through his hair and flashed him a sexy smile as she confidently walked from the room.
"Tough luck huh man?" exerted a mocking Luis.
He smirked, took the document off of Julian's desk and walked out of the office.
"I'm so HAPPY she's back.... I love her so much.. nothing is ever going to keep me from her anymore." thought an overjoyed Luis on his way home from work."
Luis walked into the Lopez-Fitzgerald house looking forward to a nice cup black coffee. He new he didn't need it though. His adrenaline was just pumping too badly. 'I wonder if she still feels the same way.' he thought as a smile came over his face. He figured from what she said to Julian that the reason she left first of all was because he pressured her to.
Just as he closed the door behind him, he noticed Theresa and Sheridan giggling hysterically rummaging through about fifty different large shopping bags. He guessed they'd gotten back from their shopping trip just a few seconds before.
"Hey" said Luis with a boyish charm.
Theresa looked up to see her big brother with a huge grin on his face. 'I haven't seen him this happy since he was with Sheridan last.' she thought.
"Hey there Luis. Sheridan and I just got back from shopping. She must have spent like $2000 on me.. isn't she the best?"
Sheridan blushed and looked to the side.
"Yeah." Luis blurted out, "She's the best of the best."
Sheridan just smiled at him. "Well... Theresa, sweetie, I've got to get back to the mansion. I'm having dinner with Ethan." she said.
"Oh.. great. He missed you SO much Sheridan. I'm so glad you're back for good." she said, "as weird as it is, me being engaged to Ethan and not living with him, my overprotective drill sergeant brother insists that I live here until it's official. I'll be at the mansion in the morning though, Ethan and I are supposed to go to breakfast with Ivy." Theresa said.
"Sounds great. Love you honey." Sheridan kissed Theresa on the cheek and started to walk out. Theresa left the kitchen and headed to Whitney's.
"Sheridan... wait." Luis blurted out.
Sheridan stepped back inside smiling. She was hoping he'd stop her. "So.. I guess we have a lot to talk about huh?" she said.
"I guess so. Why did you leave?" he asked, offering her a seat at the table.
"Julian and Alistair." she admitted reluctantly. "I was so worried about hurting you in any way that I would have listened to them if they told me to leave the country. I was stupid and foolish." she confessed.
Luis was so relieved. He hadn't known whether she left him because she didn't love him, or because it was her brother and father's influence.
"Can you ever forgive me?" she asked, reluctantly.
"Forgive you? Are you kidding? I'm so happy to have you back that I'd be worshipping you at your feet if I had to." he responded.
Sheridan giggled. "So you still feel the same way... you didn't stop loving me when I hurt you?"
Luis laughed. "STOP loving you? You didn't know me well enough I guess. I'd NEVER stop. No matter what.The question is... do you still feel the same about me?" he asked shyly, like a highschool kid who was nervously asking out his first date.
"I love you even more than I did before. I didn't even think that was possible." she admitted.
Luis' heart skipped a beat and he felt like screaming with joy. 'She LOVES me!!!' he thought.
Luis jumped up, pulled Sheridan up to him and threw her passionately against the wall. He took her breath away in a fiery, passionate kiss that said it all. He was more in love with her than ever before.
Sheridan was startled but she could feel her heart melting for the passionate, handsome, moral man Luis was and always had been. She broke away to tell him how much she loved him for the second time.
Luis responded with the same thing. After the kiss finally ended, Sheridan backed away to catch her breath and realized how amazingly cute he looked in tight dark blue jeans and a fitted gray sweatshirt.
Luis grabbed Sheridan's hand. "Come with me... We need to go somewhere." he said.
"Sure." Sheridan said, happy as could be.
After walking for what seemed like 20 minutes, Luis announced they were finally "there".
Sheridan looked around and a flood of memories came rushing back to her. She took note of their location on the beachfront, under the moon with the waves crashing all around. Only the two of them were there.
"This is..." she began, "This is the place we first kissed." announced a mesmerized Sheridan.
"You remember." Luis said, happy that she did.
"How could I forget. It was the night I knew you'd love me forever." Sheridan said.
Luis blushed. A tear trickled down her cheek as she happily remembered the beautiful times they once shared, and all of the ones they would share from there on.
"Sheridan? What's wrong?" asked Luis, noticing her tears.
"I'm just too happy for words Luis. You and I are perfect. You.. I love you so much." she said.
Luis felt his eyes well up too. Sheridan had a way of making him cry tears of joy.
She grabbed him and lovingly kissed him yet again. Their kissed seemed to last for hours as they stood at the beach holding each other under the full moon in the starry, cloudless sky.
As Luis and Sheridan finally made it back to the Lopez-Fitzgerald house, a thought hit Luis. 'Where's she going to stay? The paperwork for her inheritance of the mansion couldn't possibly be approved yet, and I can bet Julian's going to keep her out as long as he can, typical of his ways.'
"Sheridan?" Luis asked.
"What?" she questioned in a soft, almost whispering voice, gentle as could be.
"Where were you planning on sleeping?" he inquired, hoping she didn't have a place.
"Well.. until the paper work goes through, I'm not the 'official heir' of the mansion or the estates... and Julian's going to go down fighting so.." she trailed off.
"So you'll stay with us." Luis ordered, smiling.
Sheridan's face lit up. 'This is so wonderful. I'm so glad I found him again.' she thought. "With you? Are you sure it wouldn't be too much trouble?" she asked.
"Trouble? I don't think so.. I'd be honored to have the beautiful Sheridan Crane living under my roof. And you know Mama, Theresa, and Miguel love you like a daughter and a sister so why not?" he tryed to persuade her with everything could think of.
Sheridan realized how much it would mean to her to be able to spend all of the time in the world with the Lopez-Fitzgeralds. 'Well... it'll take atleast two or three months for the processing get O.K.ed so.. why not Sheridan?' she asked herself.
"Ok, that would me so much." she told her love.
Luis felt so warm inside. "Thankyou Sheridan."
He pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead.
"Well what's going on here?" asked Miguel, walking into the kitchen with a smile on his face. 'Luis looks so happy... he deserves that so much.' he thought.
"Hey Bro, we've got someone moving in with us." Luis smiled never faded an inch as he stepped away to fully reveal Sheridan.
"SHERIDAN!!" Miguel yelled as he ran to hug her. "You're back!! This is so cool!" he exclaimed.
Sheridan laughed, "It's great to see you Miguel" she said, kissing him on the cheek in their embrace.
"You're moving in? That's so cool." Miguel said with a smile on his face. "Where are you going to sleep?" he asked, half-knowing the answer to that question.
"Well..." Sheridan began.
"With me." Luis quickly interrupted. His heart warmed as he saw a smile spread across Sheridan's face.
"Where else?" Sheridan returned, boosting Luis' confidence.
"Well, I'm gonna hit the sack at Reese's guys... it's really late. I'll see you two in the morning." Miguel yawned and headed out of the kitchen.
"You sure will." smiled Sheridan, looking up into Luis' loving, dark brown eyes, holding his hand from over her shoulder.
Sheridan finally took her coat off and hung it up. She looked around for Pilar but she seemed nowhere to be found. "Where's Pilar?" she asked.
"Well, Mama went to this benefit with Ivy. She'll be in Castleton until tomorrow morning. Theresa spent the night at her friend Whitney's so.." he trailed off.
"So, it looks like we have the whole house to ourselves." she finished for him, smiling suggestively.
"Why Miss Crane, are you hinting at something?" Luis asked, clearly aware that she was.
"What if I am Officer? Would that pose a problem?" she asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"I don't see how it could." said Luis as he rapped his arms around her waist and brought her into a deep, passionate kiss.
Nearly two hours later.
Sheridan and Luis had just made love and she was resting her head on his bare chest in his bed.
"Luis," she began, stroking his chest gently, "I'm so glad we found eachother again. I've wanted this for so long.. being without you made me feel so empty." she said.
"Well you'll never have to feel that way again. I love you with every inch of my heart, mind and soul, and I'll love you forever. We'll never be separated again." he insisted.
Sheridan fell asleep with a dreamy, content look on her face.
Luis watched Sheridan sleep peacefully for a little while. 'I'm so lucky I found her. I love her so much... God, thankyou for bringing us back together.' he thought.
The next morning
Sheridan woke up and looked to see herself wrapped comfortably in Luis' strong arms. 'I'm so happy to be waking up in his arms, I love him so much.' she thought to herself.
She kissed him on the lips and watched him sleep so peacefully for a few minutes before she pulled herself out of bed and threw on some of Luis clothes. She dressed herself in Harmony Law Association navy blue sweatshirt, and a pair of his green/blue plaid p.j. pants. She tucked her hair behind her left ear back and headed into the kitchen, smiling as she left Luis to sleep.
Sheridan rummaged through the cupboards for a while before she came across the pefect breakfast. Within no time, she had whipped up a batch of blueberry pancakes, crispy bacon, toast and a glass of orange juice on a tray.
Luis felt the soft lips of Sheridan grazing his as he opened his eyes with a smile on his face.
"Goodmorning sleepyhead." teased Sheridan.
Luis sat up in bed with a boyish smile. "Hey beautiful." he said. "Whoa! You made me breakfast?" he asked.
"Uh huh." responded Sheridan, giggling.
"What's so funny?" Luis asked.
"You've got bedhead... really bad." she didn't stop giggling.
"Oh... yeah, sorry... us un-Cranes don't wake up all beautiful in the mornings." Luis sarcastically said.
"uh! Luis! you're so cute." she playfully slapped his arm. The next thing she knew, she was swung onto the bed being tickled senseless by Luis.
"Guess this means Cranes aren't oblivious to being tickled?" Luis smiled.
"Ahh!! Luis!!! stop!!! STOP!! ahh!!" Sheridan laughed her head off trying to fight away Luis.
Luis had a smile on his face worth dieing for. 'God... I love her so much... she was meant for me. I know she was.' he thought.
After Luis finished his breakfast, Sheridan and him took a shower together, got dressed, and headed out to the beach for a long day of tanning, swimming, and being together.
At the beach
"Luis... I love laying here in your arms like this. It's so perfect." Sheridan said, bringing a smile to his face.
Sheridan ruffled with his hair as they kissed passionately, rolling around in the sand.
"Sheridan," began Luis, "I love you so much. Having you in my arms makes everything perfect in my life."
Sheridan was so happy. She knew since the first time she was in his arms that she would never be more content than she was in them. Suddenly an idea came to mind, 'Let's have some fun.' she thought.
Sheridan pryed herself from Luis' arms and ran for the shoreline.
"Hey you! Where do you think you're going?" inquired Luis.
"I'm going into the water... if you want me, come and get me.' Sheridan fearlessly suggested, giving him a devious smile.
'Hmm... ok, fair is fair.' he thought. "You're asking for it Sheridan Crane." said a persuing Luis.
Sheridan ran into the water as fast as she could, but to no avail, Luis caught up to her and threw her outward.
"HEY! You're going to pay for that Luis." said a humerously-furious Sheridan.
Luis' eyes widened as Sheridan ran after him with open palms. She caught him, and yanked down his bathing suit leaving him fully exposed.
"AHH!!!" screamed Luis, realizing his position and pulling them back up.
"HA!!!" laughed a hysterical Sheridan as she pointed. "Sheridan Crane... you little..." trailed off Luis as he caught up to her and pulled her back onto an incoming wave as he passionately kissed her in the orange meridian of the sunset.
As the day ended, Sheridan and Luis went to a local club to dance.
"Angel of Mine" by Monica played as the two danced, passionately, committedly.
Sheridan felt surrounded by care as she stared into Luis' loving brown eyes which seemed to penetrate straight through her very soul.
"When I first saw you
I already knew
There was something
Inside of you
Something I thought that I would never find
Angel of Mine.", the song came to a close and Luis pulled Sheridan into another long, loving kiss.
'This couldn't be more perfect,' Luis assured himself, 'I don't deserve Sheridan Crane, she's my angel... a miracle.'
As the moon lit their very hearts, Sheridan and Luis couldn't get enough of each other back at the beach, in the cool sand.
"Sheridan, promise me something.. please." Luis pleaded.
Sheridan nodded in agreement, "anything Luis, anything." she smiled.
"Promise that your heart will always be mine? I love you so much, more than my own life.. my own existence. I love you so much that I'd risk my family's lives for you." Luis assured.
"Luis," Sheridan began, tears welling their course in her eyes, "I'm yours forever. You'll always be my only love... forever, that I promise." she bargained.
Luis wasn't normally one to cry, but in the midst of their so emotional moment, he couldn't help it. Sheridan reached her hand out and softly wiped away the tears, seeing how much they meant to each other.
“You know..” she began, “It’s the greatest honor in the world, having you love me.”
“Don’t say that Sheridan.” My love for you is impossible not to have, you’re perfect, absolutely perfect. I should be the honored one, being able to love you this much.” he choked out between tears.
“I’m so glad we got rid of Beth and Hank all of those months ago.” she stated, “I could never imagine anything anymore that could ever keep us apart.”
Luis interlocked one of his hands with hers, fingers entwined, and kissed her softly, “Our love will last through anything, now that you’re back.”
Possibly the end, possible to be continued.