A story my friend from a long time ago wrote for me! She never did finish it. If I ever get an update I will put it up here.
January 12,1998
Angela impatiently shook her below the waist hair out of her face. Her brow was knit in concentration. "Esther had said 3011\2, right?"
Her friend had finally taken one of life's 'big plunges'. She had rented an apartment and moved out on her own. So tonight Ang, Esther, and another friend, Ruthie, were all meeting at Esther's to celebrate.
The three friends had known each other since their kindergarten days. Even though a lot of circumstances, Ruthie's parent's divorce, Esther's friendship with Shana, and just basically
growing up, had tried to pull them apart, their friendship was still strong. It was a miracle that it had, each of the girls were completely different from the other, on the inside as well as the outside.
Esther was a petite girl, with straight shoulder length blonde hair, that she moaned, 'never held a curl'. Her blue eyes were usually sparkling with
mischief, that always got her into trouble. She was the flighty one of the group, always ready to try something at least once. Always ready to laugh, if she got the joke, and even if it was at herself. Hopelessly impulsive, making a
decision without a seconds notice. She was the prettiest out of them all. Her generous curves and sweet personality causing her to never lack a boyfriend.
Unfortunately, she also had no common sense.
Ruthie was the outgoing one, the life of the party. She would ask anybody anything. She was always outspoken, blunt, and to the point. You never had to try and guess what she thought about something. She would always be sure to let you know. With sparkling blue eyes and curls that bounced almost as much as she did, it was easy to forgive her. She had a poet's heart. One that often over ruled her mind.
Especially in the guy department.
Ang was the same height as Ruthie, at 5'6". There the similarity ended. Ang had below the waist brown hair with golden highlights. She was the typical book worm, quiet, laid back, and a huge vocabulary.
Ang absentmindedly hummed with the song on the radio wondering if she had somehow missed the apartment. Ang slammed on her brakes when she heard someone scream. Looking quickly into her rearview mirror, a slow smile spread across her face. There was her friend, Ruthie, running down a small hill waving her arms, her curly blond hair bouncing behind her, and shouting. "ANG!"
Ang quickly did a U-turn and parked. Ruthie opened her door the minute she turned the ignition off.
"About time you got here, woman! I'm starving!"
Ang laughed. "Here I thought you were simply ecstatic at the thought of being in my wonderful presence!"
"Huh!" Ruthie mock grumbled, her blue eyes sparkling. "Just hand over the pizza!"
As Ang balanced the pizzas and a cell phone, Ruthie ran back up the hill from whence she had come.
"Pizza's here!" Ruthie yelled to Esther, who was standing at the top of the steps that led to her second story apartment.
"Hi, Ang! I'm famished!" Esther grinned down at Ang as she stood a few steps up. One of the few times in her life that she actually had to look down. At 5' 3" she was usually looking up. "We must have looked out the window 20 times to see if the pizza, I mean, IF YOU, had arrived yet."
"Geez! I'm only five minutes later then what I said I would be!" Ang said acting upset. "Actually I got held up at work. We are doing inventory and I was the only person on the floor from three to five!"
"Kmart just over works you don't they?"
"Yep! Don't you just feel so sorry for me?" Ang said making a sad puppy dog face.
By this time Ang was setting the pizzas on the table.
"Let's eat!" Ruthie and Esther said at the same time, eyeing the pizzas hungrily.
Ang laughed. "Go ahead. I ate a late lunch so I'm not real hungry. I'll just give myself a tour of your humble abode." As Ang took a quick tour, Ruthie and Esther got drinks and plates and carried it all into the living room. The kitchen table only had two chairs. Aside from that it was much more comfortable spread out on the floor.
"Your apartment is very nice, 'E' It is a lot roomier than I expected." Ang said calling Esther by her nickname that dated back to junior high.
"Yeah, it has a lot of storage space for an apartment." From there the conversation ebbed and flowed as only it can between friends. As they munched, they caught up on the present, reminisced over the past, and contemplated the future.
"Oh my tummy hurts!" Esther moaned as she stretched out on the love seat. "I think I ate one piece to many, but it was good!"
As they all laughed and moaned at their similar states, Ang started to move a small box out her way. Her knee was bothering her again. Another of her "old injuries" that earned her the name, Accident Prone, or rather A.P. About the time Ang realized that the box was the one Esther alphabetized all her letters in, Ruthie mumbled around a bite of pizza.
"Hey, we were looking through that earlier and there is a couple of letters in there to 'E' from you" She swallowed then laughed. "You should check out the card."
Ang, curious by now, was already searching for her "file." A strange half smile, half grimace flitted across her face when she saw the cute little kitten on the front of the card. It was an unmistakable grimace when she saw the childish scrawl. Ang gave a derisive grin. "I am glad my hand writing has changed. This ending definitely isn't me anymore!" She read aloud. "I love you XO I like you." They all chuckled knowing how non-mushy Ang was now.
"Hey, 'E' you won't believe it! She actually got mushy in my yearbook!" Ruthie noticed Ang's green eyes narrowing, she quickly added. "But it was really sweet!"
"Yeah, well, don't let it get out. It might ruin my rep!"
"You don't need our help!" Ruthie sniggled.
Esther playfully smacked Ruthie, "Stop it! Guess what?!??!?!?" Esther now became very animated. "I talked to Brian today on the puter and he said he is going to call me tonight!" She ended the sentence with a squeal.
Ang rolled her eyes "Brian! I am sick of hearing about Brian!" Then with inquisitiveness
"Is he REALLY gonna call?"
Esther sniffed disdainfully "Would I lie?" She suddenly pulled a wounded face, "I'm not going to answer you now. You don't want to hear it anyways!"
Ang rolled her eyes again "Sorry! Please feel free to divulge all pertinent information."
"Well, Ang, all we hear about from you is Philip and Aaron." Ruthie said, dropping her two cents worth into the conversational bank.
"Philip and Aaron? Who is that?" Esther inquired.
"You know Spectre and Phantom." Ruthie said.
Esther sill looked perplexed "I remember Spectre, he is that guy from California, but remind me who Phantom is."
Ang let out a sigh, "Phantom is a guy I met in Pow." she said naming their favorite chat source.
Esther waited a few seconds then prompted "And??"
"That is basically all I know. I don't know where he is from. I know he is twenty. His real name is Aaron. I don't know what he does for a living. I know he is 6'1", weighs more than I do, has brown hair, and ummm...I think blue eyes, no maybe it was brown, no blue. I don't know! I have never seen a pic of him. He described himself to me. For all I know he is really 50, named Chuck, is 5'1", weighs 300 pounds and lives on welfare! Since it is just a big game to me though, I'll choose to believe him. I do know he is very sweet, etc., etc." She finally took a breath then continued "What were you getting involved for anyways, Ruthie! Look how many guys you were and are involved with." She paused a moment to think. She then held up a hand and began counting off names, "Flex, Fire, Globemaster, Mark, Ron, Speedy, Talon, Darren, the pow guide,...am I forgetting anybody?" She rolled her eyes at Ruthie's look "Besides Q!"
Ruthie had been looking sheepish but now she was starting to look upset, "NO! Besides I didn't like all of them. Some of them just liked me, Angela Lynn Leppla, and you know that!"
"Yeah, I know." Ang gave Ruthie one of her smiles. The one that drove Ruthie insane because she had no clue what Ang was thinking when she smiled like that.
"But you were still kind'a 'involved.'" Esther said, getting back into the discussion.
"Whatever!!" She was clearly exasperated.
"I believe in this case involved means even if just the guy was interested." Esther said not letting up.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr! Sometimes you make me so mad!" She then blew a raspberry at Esther.
Ang laughed, breaking the tension. She pulled a package of oreos out of the bag behind her. She handed them towards Ruthie. "Peace?"
Ruthie paused as if to consider then groaned. "Not fair! You know it is hard for me to stay mad at you guys for long and bringing food in, that there is no way I could ever resist, is in no way fair!" Then she smiled. "I'll take it anyways!"
Accord once again reestablished, the girls munched on the peace offering and talked long into the night.
June 5, 2008
Ang gave a moan of protest as the shrill ringing of the phone made the pleasant dream of sandy beaches, great tans, and good looking guys, fade into the cool mist of reality. She moaned again when she squinted at the clock. 7:00a.m. She hazily remembered the clock saying 5:15 a.m. about the time she finally hit the pillow. "Hello?" No sound came out. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Hello?" It came out this time, sounding like a teenage bullfrog with a cold.
"Uh...may I please speak with Angela?"
"This IS Angela!" She croaked again, sounding a little better. The voice on the phone sounded familiar. Her foggy brain tried to place it.
"My goodness, Ang, you sound horrible!"
The foggy thoughts focused quickly. It was Ruthie. "Gee thanks! Do you realize what time it is?!"
There was a short pause. Ang visualized Ruthie glancing around for a clock. After med. school Ruthie had moved to Seattle, Washington to finish her internship. Ang had moved to a quiet little town in Maine called South Hiriam. Ruthie frequently forgot about the time difference between Washington and Maine. She meekly said. "Opps! Sorry about that. I thought it was later. I just got off the phone with Darren and was so excited I wanted to tell you NOW! What time did you get to bed?"
"What are you so excited about?" Ang asked, neatly side stepping the question.
Ruthie was not easily detoured, "I asked you a question first. Answer it."
She heard Ang mumble something about bossy "I got to bed about 5:00, mother."
"Angela Lynn, you need more sleep than that! Why did you get to bed so late?"
"Your a good one to preach about getting to bed late. Besides, I would have slept later if someone hadn't called me at such an ungodly hour." Ang, much more awake now, couldn't resist getting some teasing in.
"Touché, my dear! Were you up late working on your novel?"
Ang had pursued her dream of becoming an author. She had published a few books, but now she was trying for what she called a "REAL" novel. Ang threw back the covers and headed to the kitchen for some caffeine. It didn't look like she was going to get back to sleep anytime soon. "No, I wasn't up late working on my novel. I was up late talking to Aaron." She hesitated waiting for the response she had heard so many times.
"Ang." Ruthie sort of groaned her name hopelessly. "Aren't you ever going to give up on that guy? You still don't know any more about him than you did when you first met him!"
"I do too! I just don't know the non-important thing like where he lives, ect. I know the important things like, everything about his family, his friends, his dreams, how he is in his heart of hearts. Oh yeah, and the fact he has the sexiest voice in history. No matter though, he is just a friend!"
"ANG! You have never even see a pic of this guy! He could be lying to you!"
"Why would he lie to me for ten years straight?" Ang stated with calm logic.
"Because he is some kind of nut!"
"No, if I bugged him enough he would give me some answers, but it has become a game in-between us. He is my mystery man and the only way I will ever learn about him is if I would marry him."
"You never would, would you?" Ruthie asked horrified.
"NO!" You could hear the frustration in Ang's voice. She carelessly stirred her coffee while thinking. "Listen, contrary to what you think, he has not become my fantasy man so that no "real" man will do. Nor has he become a substitute for the "real" thing. I explained this before, but let me explain again. It is still not easy for me to meet guys. I guess I am just destined to be an "old maid" for life. I know, I know, what you are going to say. What was wrong with all the guys that you have dated?" She said imitating Ruthie's voice. "There was nothing wrong with them, there just wasn't anything right. Maybe I am silly, maybe I have read to many books, maybe I just have to good of an imagination, but I WANT FIREWORKS! I want to be sure it is the REAL THING! I don't want a marriage like my parents. If it takes me till I am sixty I would rather wait for the REAL THING instead of settling for a substitute for the rest of my life." Her voice beseeching. "I desperately want to get married, but I won't lower my standards to do it. Do you know what I mean?"
Ruthie's voice was subdued, "Yeah, Ang, I know what you mean." She gave a sarcastic laugh. "Why do you think I am engaged to Darren as 'difficult' as it is sometimes?"
Ang's voice was equally quiet, "Because it is the REAL THING. That is why you are willing to wait to marry him." Ang swallowed hard "So what were you so excited about?"
Ruthie paused for a minute. "Well.." She sighed. "Ummm......." Another sigh.
Ang grinned. She could read Ruthie so well. The sighs and false starts meant that Ruthie had something important to tell her and didn't know how to put it or wasn't sure how she would react. She silently waited knowing after Ruthie got her thoughts organized she would take a deep breath and spill it all. She wasn't disappointed.
"Well, it is like this, Ren called me this morning with some great news...for me, but not necessarily for you."
Ang silently waited for her to continue, taking a sip of her coffee.
"He has an entire three weeks off and wants me to come and finally meet all of his family. They are having their family reunion at the same time. I would also get to see where he grew up and everything." She trailed off.
With a growing sense of trepidation Ang asked, "When does he have these three weeks off?"
"In July." It was said timidly.
"RUTHIE! That is when we had OUR vacation planned! We've had this planned for a YEAR!"
Her earlier dream of the sandy beaches, tans and guys faded even more. Desperate to bring her dreams back to full color. "Can't you go see him some other time? Meet his family and everything sometime AFTER July?"
"Ang, you know how both of our jobs are! Who knows when he will be able to get some more time off, and after I take this off who knows when I will be able to take some more off."
"I know, that is why I am crying." Ang whined in dismay.
"You aren't really, are you?"
"What would you do if I said yes?"
"Laugh!" She snickered a little, giving a demo.
"Ruthie!" Ang wailed "This is not funny! I was really looking forward to going to Hawaii! Now what am I supposed to do on vacation? Clean my house and do my nails?"
"No, you are supposed to finish your novel." Ruthie then scolded "Ang, quit being so melodramatic! I was looking forward to going to Hawaii and spending some quality time with you also. But.."
Ang interrupted "I knew there was a but in there somewhere! Before you finish...I know! You are right. I mean this IS your fiancé family. You've met all of his immediate family, but you haven't met the extended...which I guess is just as important. Plus, you would finally get to see Australia, a place that you have been trying to get to for who knows how long. Also a place you might someday live. Sniff." Suddenly her tone of voice changed as did the conversation. She abruptly acted as if she was answering Ruthie. "All right already! You convinced me. Yes Ruthie, you should go meet his family, ect. This is very important. Don't worry about me. I'll be just fine. I guess I could always take those knitting classes at the library, or maybe repaint my house, or maybe I could clean out.."
"All right Ang! I get the idea, but are you sure? If not, before you answer, let me tell you one more thing. Darren said you were more than welcome. I had told him about our plans and told him that if I couldn't get you to change your mind I would go with you. After all we had our plans first."
"Did you really tell him that? Now I AM crying." She sniffed loudly as if to prove it.
"You should know how much you mean to me, Ang. So what do you say? Wanna go to Australia and learn how to be a true 'aussie chick?'" Ruthie had her fingers crossed even though she was positive she knew what Ang would answer.
Ang gave a chuckle "I never learned how to be a true 'American chick'. Sure, why not, maybe I'll have better luck learning how to be an 'aussie chick.'" She said the 'aussie chick' with a passable 'aussie' accent.
"Sounds like you are well on your way now!"
She could hear the smile in Ruthie's voice. She responded with a smile of her own.
"Ya never know, matey!" As they both laughed, Ang suddenly said "Hold on a minute. I have an 'uhoh'"
"Come on, I've been ignoring mine for the past 15 minutes."
"It's from Darren. I wonder what he wants." Sitting down at her computer Ang curiously click on the flashing message.
"Darren who?"
"Duh! Your Darren! I would have said the person's online name instead."
"How was I supposed to know? So what does it say?"
"Is Ruthie done flapping her jaws yet? Man, sounds like he is getting to know you pretty well."
Ruthie blew a raspberry in Ang's ear. "Funny! Seriously!"
"He asked if you had convinced me yet or should he get involved and start convincing me from this end. I told him no and I would see him in about a month."
"What was his reply?"
"My goodness! Why don't you just talk to him yourself. He said a very spirited YES! To which I replied to with an lol. To which he has replied nothing so far."
"I know." Ruthie said slyly "I'm talking to him."
"Wu I ha huh wh hon.." Ang mumbled around a yawn.
"What?" Ruthie half laughed.
"I said perfectly clearly" Ang retorted "Well in that case why don't I call you later tonight. We can work out the details then. Okay?"
"Thanks for translating. Yeah, that will be fine. Just don't call to late. And Ang, a very heartfelt thanks."
"Yeah, well just don't forget to invite me to the wedding." Ang said, clearly embarrassed by the appreciation.
"Shoot girl! You already know that you are going to be my maid of honor."
"That is just 'cause I am your only unmarried female friend left." Ang rejoined.
"Huh? What has that got to do with it?" Ruthie was plainly confused.
"You obviously don't keep up with traditions. Tell ya later. I'm so tired I'm about to fall asleep on ya. I think my body has become immune to caffeine."
"Alrighty then. I'll talk to you later tonight."
"Uh huh. Bye!" The words were spoken slowly as if Ang were already halfway to Dream Land.
With a chuckle Ruthie hung up. She glanced into the mirror hanging on her closet door. She had a huge smile on her face. Ang always managed to make her smile. She was just as sure Ang was smiling in her dreams. Well, she thought, here I come Australia. All at once it hit her. She was going to meet her future in-laws. ALL OF THEM. That was an apprehensive thought. She was suddenly very glad Ang was coming with her. She was going to need all the moral support she could get from both Ang and Darren. Nah! It won't be that bad. Will it?
2 Weeks Later
Ang stared wearily at the blurred words on her computer screen. For some reason she just couldn't write today. She had tried everything to help her relax, from a walk to music. She still felt tight and tense and it was affecting her writing. Ang gave an undignified snort. Affecting? Man, she couldn't write at all. She felt depressed. She had no clue why. A little voice shouted LIAR! She resolutely pushed the voice back into its box and locked the lid. She didn't want to think about it.
She clicked close on her file. It was senseless to sit here and ruin it even more. Just then a page message came up on the screen. Who would that be? She had her away message up. It was Phantom. I wonder what he wants?, she thought. She clicked the accept.
AP: Hey! What are you doing up?
Phantom: I have been up. Something just told me to send ya a message. I though maybe you could use someone to talk to.
AP: Yeah, I could...but I am not sure I want to talk about it because then I would have to admit to things I don't want to admit to....lol does that make sense?
Phantom: perfect... so what is wrong?
AP: well it is kind'a because in about two weeks I am going to Australia
Phantom: WHAT!?!?! You never told me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where at in Australia?
AP: Melbourne I didn't tell ya 'cause I didn't really want to talk about it....I guess if I want to admit the truth I am just being a baby and feeling sorry for myself
Phantom: hugs but why are you feeling sorry for yourself?
AP: ty *embarassed and blushing* 'cause I am SICK of being single!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AP: first esther got married and moved away
AP: shana married her long time sweetheart and moved to Iowa
AP: Ruthie is engaged and they will be getting married as soon as her intern is done
AP: I will have gone to all of their weddings and they will never come to mine 'cause I will never get married and that is really depressing
Phantom: What does that have to do with you going to Australia? You could always marry me
AP: lol yeah my parent would just love that one! the Australia thing is....Ruthie and I were to go on vacation together to
Hawaii. it is a long story but now we are going to Australia...she is going to meet ALL of
Darren's family What am I supposed to do while we are there? I am NOT going to tag along and I would feel funny being around his family. I mean Ruthie and I are like sisters but the fact remains it is in heart only not blood.
Phantom: You could always have them hook you up with say........Darren's best friend.
AP: lol yeah...that would be really embarrassing though. I guess I'll just stick to hangin' out by myself
I've done it for how long why stop now?
Phantom: Maybe I'll just have to show up there and we would hang out together so you wouldn't be lonely
AP: Don't tempt me.......well I had better let you go. I need to go do something energetic and work off some of this tension.
Phantom: I could suggest a few things ;-) *eg*
AP: What has gotten into you...asking me to marry you...telling me you would come meet me.......now blatantly flirting with me?!?!?
Phantom: Uhhhhhhh.......just trying to make you laugh
AP: mmmmm......well talk to ya later
Phantom: k...bye hugs and kisses
AP: bye huggies
As she reread the text she noticed he got animated when she said she was going to Australia. Wonder why? Oh well. That was still a weird one, him flirting with her. He never did. So why would he do it to make her laugh? It didn't make sense.
She shrugged it off. Too many questions. She had enough to deal with the way it was.
Ruthie jumped when the phone rang. Bloody phone! I'd better stop saying that if I am going to Australia! She had just been getting ready to connect up though. "Yeah?" She practically growled into the phone. It had been a very LONG and trying day at work. All she wanted to do was relax, talk to Darren, and go to bed. Not talk to someone on the phone. There was silence for a few heartbeats. A little snicker then, "Is this a bad time?"
She recognized that voice. She sighed "Ang?"
"Yep. The one and only. I'm sorry if I called you at a bad time, but you did leave me a message to call you. I can call back in another hour, another day, another week, anytime you want."
The muscles in her shoulders loosened a little. "No. That is okay. I just forgot I had sent you that message. I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just had a REALLY long day."
"I'm sorry you had a bad day. Just think though. 2 more weeks and we are out of here! No more work, worry, or warts for 3 whole weeks!"
Ruthie gave a lighthearted laugh "Warts?"
" I needed another 'W', and that one just kind'a came out." Ang defended herself.
"Oooookay." Ruthie shook her head at her incongruous friend.
"So what do ya want, my dear amigo?"
"Are you in a good mood or what?"
"Definitely a good mood." Ang once again shoved that little shouting voice back into its box. The voice wasn't completely right. She was trying to be upbeat and positive.
"By the way, Ang, we fly out Thursday, July 10th, at 6:00 o'clock. We should arrive sometime in the afternoon on Friday, July 11th. Do you think you could come here July 8th?"
"6:00 in the morning?????" Was Ang's only response.
"Yes. This way we will arrive in the afternoon instead of night or early morning. It is more convenient all the way around. Besides we can sleep on the plane. Is any of that a problem?"
"I guess not." Ang said in a pouty voice. "It is more convenient, but you expect me to sleep on the plane? I can't even sleep in the car during road trips."
"Man, when did you turn into such a whiny butt?"
"I don't know. Geez. I'm sorry, Ruthie. Hopefully I get over this before we leave. I hate being such a spoiled brat."
"Then why be like that?" Ruthie stated in her usual tactful way. "I understand. It is okay. Anyways! Can you be here by the 8th?"
"Yeah. It shouldn't be a problem." Ang sounded more like her agreeable self. "Is somebody going to meet us there or are we going to hire a taxi or what?"
"Darren said he would meet us there. He said he would bring his friend along."
Instantly Ang's mind flashed back to Phantom's quip about Darren's best friend. Suspiciously she asked "Would this friend happen to be male?"
"Well of course! Do you think he would bring a female friend with him?"
"No, not really. I just had a flash of a thought. I thought that possibly, you would try to set me up with somebody so we all could be 'one big happy family.'"
Dead silence greeted her statement.
"Ruthie! You weren't really going to set me up were you?"
Ruthie hesitated "Wwweeelllll....." She drew out the word and hesitated some more. "When Darren mentioned it, it sounded like a good idea."
"When were you planning on telling me? Or were you just going to let it happen 'naturally'?" Ang asked irritated.
"I'm sorry, Ang." It was said in a contrite voice. "I guess I should have thought about how you would feel about it instead of how great it would be for you to 'go with' his best friend. Of course, from there my imagination went wild and I had you guys fall in love and get married and us THE BEST best friend would have married best friends. We would never have to worry about our guys not letting us spend time together because they would be spending time together, and well, it just sounded like a great idea." She finished weakly.
"It is okay. Grief, we seem to be apologizing to each other a lot lately. Maybe this vacation will do us both some good. So let me get this straight, I am supposed to be at your house sometime on the 8th. Then at 6:00 ,shudder, Thursday the 10th, we leave the great U.S. and head for, the even better, Australia."
"Only because of one main attraction." Ruthie interrupted.
"What the kangaroos?" Ang teased.
"Yep. Gotta love those marsupials."
"I'm impressed."
"With the kangaroos?"
"No, with your vocab." Ang chuckled "How did we get so far off the subject?"
"Good question. What subject were we on?"
"I was making sure I had our proposed travel scheme right."
Now it was Ruthie's turn to chuckle. "Proposed travel scheme?"
"Yeah. Anyway, before we get way off the subject again...We arrive in Australia Friday afternoon. That is really gonna mess my internal time clock up."
"Just wait until we come back."
"Let's not talk about that." Ang said quickly. "Darren will pick us up at the airport, and from there you go do whatever with Darren and I go explore and learn how to be an 'aussie chick'. Maybe I'll pick up some new ideas for my book."
"The way you sound you aren't going to hang around Darren and I at all."
"I will some, but this is Darren and your time."
Ruthie was ecstatic at the thought of spending time with Darren, but obligation made her say, "Ang, the whole purpose of this vacation was for us to spend some time together." Ruthie mentally kicked herself in the butt for trying to convince Ang.
"I know. Our plans got changed though. It's alright. I'll still have bunches of fun, and I will still be able to share it with you at the end of the day. Unless you decide to do something of which neither I nor your mother would approve of."
Ruthie breathed a sigh of relief even though she felt guilty. Then Ang's meaning became clear. "Ang! I would never do something like that! If I did though my mother would never find out unless you told her."
"We both know that would never happen. 1. Because I already have plenty of dirt on you that I could share with her. 2. That would be majorly embarrassing, for me, to tell her."
"Thank goodness for your delicate sensibilities."
"You've been reading to many books lately. You are starting to sound like me."
"Well there isn't a whole lot to do when it seems to rain for ever and ever."
"If we are getting around to a boring conversation like weather, I had better go."
"Yeah. I should probably go. My phone bill is going to be atrocious between calling Darren and you."
"Well you could always stop calling Darren." Ang said in a teasing voice.
"Like that will ever happen! This is silly we could be talking on the puter for a lot cheaper than this."
Ang agreed "Yeah, but it wouldn't be as much fun."
"True. I really should be going."
"Okay. See ya in about 2 weeks."
"Bye."
"See ya later, matey." Ang said getting some practice in for becoming a true 'aussie chick'.
July 8, 2008
Ang drummed restlessly on the arm of the chair. She impatiently shifted around, trying in vain to find a comfortable position in the hard airport chair. Where was Ruthie? She said she would meet Ang's plane and then they would go grab a quick bite. I should have told her no. Ang grumbled to herself. Then she smiled Only I would fly clear across a country to see a friend's apartment and surroundings before flying off to Australia from a totally illogical point. Oh well.. She sighed. From there her thoughts wandered...as only her thoughts could wander. Soon she was thinking about the past and how each of her friends had chosen a different career.
Shana had opted to be an at home mother and a part time trainer. That is she gave horse riding lessons. Shana and Michael owned a small number of horses so a few years ago she had decided to give lessons so she could do something she both enjoyed and she felt was 'useful'.
Esther had finally completed her nurses training. She was already married by the time she graduated. Actually her husband, Tom, was the one who convinced her to finish her schooling. In Tom's line of work they traveled all around the world. They traveled a little differently from everyone else, their mode of transportation was a yacht. So where ever they finally pulled into port Esther would minister to those who were in need personally, or would help out at a volunteer medical facility, depending on how much time they would be spending in that particular port.
Ruthie, of course, had fulfilled her life-long dream of becoming a pediatrician. After a very long struggle, much prayer, and heart searching, she had decided to take her training in the States. Actually, in a way, her mother had decided it for her. About the time Ruthie was getting ready to pack and head off to Australia, her mother had become seriously ill and had required care even after she was out of the hospital. Since she had always been the one to stand by her mother's side, it seemed natural for her to do it once again. Even though it didn't fit in with her immediate plans. Ang admired Ruthie so much for that. After she had taken her first year here in the States it was decided. She would finish in the States also. Ang couldn't say she had regretted the fact that Ruthie had to stay in the States longer...for herself. She did regret the fact that Ruthie had to stay here at the expense of her own dreams. Not to mention Darren's.
Her thoughts then moved on to her own choice. As they moved on they became whimsical. She thought of how she had struggled, trying to decided what to major in. Through a series of events she had resolved to become an English major and eventually an author. She thought of how hard it had been to finally reach that dream....like reaching for a star with her name on it. Her active imagination conjured up the image of Shana, Ruthie, Esther, and herself looking up at a dark midnight sky, rich as the darkest velvet you have ever seen. They stretched as far as they could, as high as they could. Reaching up towards the sky, sprinkled liberally with stars, sparkling as brilliantly as any diamonds. In her imagination Ang looked closely at the stars. In the very center of every star was the name of the 'owner'. Each of them had a certain amount of stars to reach. Shana had reached hers of career, significant other, and children. She still had a few more to reach, but the stretch was not that bad. Esther had reached most of the same ones as Shana. She still had the children one to go. If Ang's guessing was correct Esther would reach that one with just a few more inches of increase. Ang giggled. In more ways than one. She continued with her scenario. Ruthie had reached her star of career. She was definitely in shape after that stretch and was ready to pluck her next star out of the nighttime sky. It would probably be awhile until she seized the star of children. Ang's thoughts turned a little dark as she though of her own stars. She gave a derisive chuckle as she thought how easy her star of a career had been to grab compared to her star of significant other. Ang shook her head to shake away the cobwebs of gloominess, and self-pity.
She once again resumed her favorite pastime, 'people watching.' She loved to just sit there and watch all the different people and try to imagine who they were, where they were going, and why. She had plenty of subjects in an airport this big. With her imagination she had come up with some pretty wild ones. Just then she spotted a guy close to her age leaning against the opposite wall. Mmmmm....not too bad. She silently observed. While she continued staring blankly at him, her imagination began running wild. Instead of making a story up about who, where, and why, she imagined that he was there to meet her. She would run into his arms and he would twirl her around and would whisper I love you. She would do the same. Then as it always happens in movies, everyone would fade into the background and an orchestra would start playing as he kissed her. Wow! Could he ever kiss! She smiled at her silliness. Really! At her age she should be giving up such childish games. Nah! Not a chance.
As her eyes focused back in she noticed the guy was looking right at her and was smiling. Her smile wavered and she dropped her head. Great! Now that guy thinks you were smiling at him! He is probably some kind of nut! Ang mentally scolded her self.
She risked a glance back up and saw him still looking at her. He lazily pushed off the wall.
Ang frantically looked around for a quick diversion. Ahhhhh! There was none.
She looked back over to the guy. He was halfway to her.
Just then she saw Ruthie madly waving to her. With a sigh of relief she scooped up her stuff and prepared to run. Wait a minute! What could he do now? She was leaving. She glanced over her shoulder when she was almost to Ruthie. He had stopped at that halfway point but was still looking at her retreating form. She threw a flirtatious glance at him and apologetically shrugged her shoulders. He gave a slow grin then put his hand to his chest and acted like he tore out his heart and threw it toward her. She tilted back her head and gave a delighted laugh.
"What are you looking at and why are you laughing?"
Ang shrugged, "Hi, Ruthie! I missed you too!"
She then took a good look at Ruthie. Her face broke out into a huge grin. "Just look at you, girl! You look fabulous!"
"Thanks, you don't look half bad yourself. I do look good though don't I." She struck a model's pose.
A few college age guys walked pasted. One wolf whistled, as they all gave a second glance.
Ang and Ruthie collapsed into a fit of giggles.
"Makes me feel good!" Ruthie said still giggling. "We are already out of college and the guys still give us a second glance."
"We still act that age a lot of the time though. Besides they were probably looking at the girl over there and didn't even notice us."
"Who cares about her! Let's just believe it was us they were looking at. If for no other purpose then to give our egos a boost."
Ang just grinned and wagged her head.
A Few Hours Later
About three hours later, they sat at a restaurant catching up with news and their calorie count for the day. They had driven to Ruthie's apartment to drop off Ang's bags, answer a few messages, both the computer's and the phone's. They then spent the rest of the three hours taking a quick tour and trying to decided where to eat.
Ruthie loved Chinese.
Ang hated it.
Ang loved chicken and fish.
Ruthie hated it.
Ruthie loved pizza.
Ang thought it was okay.
Ang loved Italian.
Ruthie thought it was okay.
The only thing they agreed on was Mexican food was just okay with both of them.
Ruthie had tried her best to get Ang to try a Chinese restaurant. The last time Ang had eaten Chinese was with Ruthie. It was before either of them were in college. She had hated it and had given most of her lunch away. Something about the food just made her sick to her stomach.
Ang, in return, had tried her best to get Ruthie to try a chicken restaurant. Ruthie wouldn't eat chicken unless it was boneless, and then only if she had to. She hadn't liked chicken since the day she had watched her sister gut one in preparation for dinner one night.
In compromise, they decided to go to a true Italian restaurant that served both pastas and pizzas.
As they waited for their meal to arrive Ruthie asked "So far what do you think?"
"Of the restaurant, of your apartment, of Seattle, or of Washington State?"
Ruthie rolled her eyes. "You never ask about a restaurant until you eat the food, unless they have interesting decor. You haven't seen enough of Seattle to base an opinion, and if you haven't seen enough of Seattle then you definitely haven't seen enough of Washington. Hmmmm...let's see now, what does that leave?"
"Sarcasm does not become you, my dear." Ang said with a laugh.
"It comes from being around you to long."
That statement just caused Ang to laugh even more. "You haven't been around me for over a year. So don't even try to blame this one on me. Maybe it was Darren."
"No, I don't think so. Anyways, answer my question."
"Yes, mon cheri, I think your apartment is very nice. Your modern bathroom though is quit a change from mine. I'm used to seeing fish swimming on the walls."
Ruthie choked on her sip of water, "Fish?!?!"
"Yeah." Ang answered unfazed. "When I was trying to decided how to decorate my bathroom I went shopping to see if I could find anything on clearance. From there it is history. I saw a shower curtain that I really liked. It had fish all over it. Another bonus was the other
accessories were on clearance too. I just bought some paint and decided to do my own decorating. I painted an ocean on my walls and a sky on my ceiling. I have gotten quite a few comments on it. Most have been good. I have gotten a few 'Oh mys' and 'What the ...?' It is kind'a fun to see people's reactions."
Ruthie shook her head in amazement "Only you would decorate your bathroom in fish and actually pull it off."
Ang acted slightly embarrassed. "I can't help it!" Next mischievous. "You should see the rest of my house! My living room is a jungle theme, my kitchen is a 'happy daze' theme, my bedroom is..., well, let me put it this way, I would never allow a couple in there that even remotely liked each other. It is romantic yet seductive."
Ruthie looked skeptical in addition too apprehensive, she wouldn't put it past Ang. "Are you serious or is it just your wacky sense of humor?"
"ME? SERIOUS? Of course not. No really. My living room is perfectly normal. Well, it has a few touches that are all my own. The kitchen is decorated in Coca~Colaâ, of course, and my bedroom is also my retreat, my hideaway, it really is romantic yet seductive. Not overly so, but it is perfect. Other than the fact it has no male in the bed." Ang gave a wicked grin.
"You are crazy! You really are!"
"To know me is to love me!" Ang used the numerously repeated saying.
"Who are you again?" Ruthie gave her standard reply.
"Funny!"
Before Ruthie could comeback the food arrived. There was a few minutes of silence as they situated their food.
"Ang, would please ask the blessing?"
Ang said she would gladly accept the honor, then became serious.
"Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you so much for the safe trip here. Thank you for making the trip easy and without major complications. Thank you also for the time that You are allowing me to spend with my friend." She paused a moment as tears came to her eyes, she swallowed hard then continued. "You know how precious she is to me, Lord. Because she is so precious to me please make these next few days with her unforgettable. Help me to not think so much about the future that I get caught up in that, and forget to enjoy what I have for the moment. Help both of us to look back on this time with smiles and enjoyment. Help us to never forget You nor Your hand working in our lives throughout this entire time spent together. May You always be the center of our lives, and the most important being in it. May you, please, bless this food. We also want to remember to thank you for providing it for us. Amen." Ang finished the prayer quietly.
As they silently began to unfold napkins and put seasoning on their food, Ruthie teased. "I think my pizza is cold."
Ang just smiled. "Now that you know how long my prayers are just ask me to pray the nighttime prayers instead of the meal prayers!"
"No, your prayers are...I don't know. Kind'a like you are talking to me or one of your friends. They are easy going and laid back. No thee, thous, and arts."
"Yeah. God is one of my friends so that is how I talk to Him. A friend I highly respect, but still a friend. A friend with many facets, but still a friend. I am an easy going, laid back type of person, not a serious, conventional person. Therefore that is how I pray. Besides," She said with a impish smile. "I could never get all those thees, thous, and arts in the right places."
"You sound like you have said all of that before."
"I have. I do speaking thingies, so once or twice I think I did a thingy on prayer." Ang said flippantly.
Recognition brightened Ruthie's face. "I remember that now. You did a seminar 'thingy' at God's Bible School."
"Yep. I sure 'nuf did. The students enjoyed it. The faculty thought I was a bit too 'modern' for them. Oh well," Ang shrugged her shoulders, "you can't please 'em all."
Soon the conversation drifted on to less serious matters.
Later That Night
"So do you have anything planned for us tomorrow?" Ang inquired from her sprawled position on the floor.
Ruthie glanced down at Ang. She was in some huge, worn sweatpants and a t-shirt. She had her head cradled on a pillow, a blanket half covering her, and her feet propped in the seat of a chair. Her long hair was wet and spread out on a towel, up and over her pillow. This was their norm for sleepovers. Well, in summer the sweatpants became shorts. It reminded Ruthie so much of their past sleepovers she couldn't resist asking. "Well, what do want to do?"
Ruthie almost laughed out loud when she saw Ang put her head at an odd angle trying to look up at her on the couch, from her position on the floor. She managed to keep her face impassive until Ang said.
"I don't know what do you want to do?"
The grown woman both burst into giggles like little girls. Ruthie was laughing so hard she fell off the couch and onto Ang. This made them laugh insanely.
"It is a good thing no one can see us now. Especially Darren." Ang said in between gasps for air and fits of silly laughter. "He'd be running as fast as he could in the opposite direction, or be joining the witness program."
"Nah! He loves me no matter how I am." Ruthie said at last getting over her giggling.
"Has he ever seen you like this? We were always on our best behavior when he was around both of us. I was too afraid to say anything after the way you threatened me!" Ang gave a mock look of terror.
Ruthie look thoughtful for a minute. "Ya know, I don't think he has ever seen me, let alone both of us, crazy. He has heard me like that on the phone, but to see me like that, I don't think so. I was always on my best behavior when he was around."
"Poor guy doesn't know what he has been missing." Ang said sorrowful shaking her head.
"Poor guy nothing! He wouldn't know what hit him!"
"Well he will see it sometime in the three weeks when we are in Australia." As Ruthie started shaking her head in protest. Ang continued. "I can't be good for three whole weeks!"
"But you said you wouldn't be around us that much so we won't have enough time to be silly together." Ruthie said as if that solved everything
Ang rolled her eyes. "We haven't seen each other for about a year and look how silly we are being now."
"That is 'cause we are alone."
Ang rolled her eyes again as if to say, 'Yeah Right!!'
"So what did you ask me before we got off onto this?"
Ang thought for a moment. "I think it was something about what we are doing tomorrow."
Ruthie said with genuine regret. "I afraid there won't be any 'we'. I have to work tomorrow. I have to work from 7:00 to 4:00, but it will probably be more like 6:00.
We will still be able to do something tomorrow night."
"Yeah, like pack. Unless you have changed your habits and are already packed."
"'Fraid they haven't changed."
"That is what I thought. It's okay. I can find plenty of things to do tomorrow. Like...go through all of your drawers, call all of the numbers in your little black book, take all of your shoes out of their boxes, snoop through all of your files in your computer," At Ruthie's murderous look Ang quickly continued. "Or I could just watch a couple of movies you have, walk down to the corner coffee shop and soak up some local color, chat a little on the puter, or maybe read one of the books I brought with me. Do any of those sound better?" She finished innocently.
"The last ones sounded much better than the first ones."
"Yeah, I thought so too!" Ang restlessly stood and stretched then walked toward the window.
"Oh my goodness!" Ruthie suddenly exclaimed.
Ang spun around from the window, where she was observing the nighttime sky. "What? What is it? What's wrong?"
Ruthie started to laugh.
Ang looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
"We totally missed the movie!"
"Dang it! I really wanted to see that movie too! Instead I spent my whole time talking to you and completely missed the movie!" Ang feigned irritated with a twinkle in her eye.
"We really are crazy! You know that don't you?"
"Yep!" Ang said gleefully. "Ya know what? I luve it!"
Ruthie grinned. "Me too."
Ang, still chuckling, looked back out the window. She notice the stars in the sky. They reminded Ang of her stars from her imagination earlier today. Ang turned to Ruthie, a half smile on her face, to share her thoughts.
"Today, while I was waiting for you to come get me, I was daydreaming."
"You were dreaming about that guy weren't you?"
Ang thought about acting like she had no clue what Ruthie was talking about, but it would be a waste of time. "Yeah, but that isn't what I was talking about. As I was saying, I was daydreaming about how much each of our lives have changed. Somewhere in there I started comparing our goals to stars."
Now it was Ruthie's turn to give Ang a look that asked. "Have you lost your mind?"
"I guess I'll have to explain. See, in my imagination I made each of our life goals, you know, marriage, children, career, etc., into stars that we had to reach out of the sky. I know, only I would do something like that. Hey, can I help it if I have a good imagination?"
"No, I love your imagination. Especially when you use it to write a new story."
"Thanks." Ang laughed embarrassed. "I have no clue why I just told you that. It isn't like you really wanted to know all of that."
"I'm glad you told me. I would never think of something like that. So how many of my stars have I reached?'
Ang put her fingertips to her temples, closed her eyes and took a deep breath and said in a husky whisper. "Madame Leppla zeez dat you have
reached ze career one. Your fingers are just brushing ze star of marriage."
"You are crazy! Either that or really tired."
"I vote for the tired one. We had better get to bed. We both need our sleep. We are going to be majorly busy for the next couple of days."
"Yes, mother! I am going to talk a little, just a little, to Darren first. Is that okay with you?"
"Like it will be a little! Yes, it is okay with me as long as you tell him I said hi and you promise to get to bed at a decent time. Like with in the next hour and half!"
"You really do sound like my mother!"
Ruthie ran for her bedroom door as Ang threw her damp pillow at her.
"Night." She called sweetly from behind her closed bedroom door.
"Hour and a half!" Ang warned threateningly. Then walked towards the guest room.
Ruthie sat down at her computer, getting ready to send Darren a message, when one from him popped up on the screen.
Scampi: Boo sweetie!
Q: Boo to you too. How has your day been?
Q: Did Ang get there okay?
Scampi: My day at work was okay...I had a last minute patient...it made me a little late picking up ang. lol she was okay
though...I think she spent some of her time flirting with a good looking guy lol
Q: That is the way I entertain meself in the airport
Scampi: What...flirting with good looking guys?
Q: Yeah right
Scampi: Just checking, honey.
Q: You know the only one I would be flirting with you is, babe.
Scampi: *mock scowl* You better remember that too!
Q: Yes, mum!
Q: So did Ang get there okay? Are you guys having a good time?
Ruthie started laughing when she saw him asking if they were having a good time. She would never tell him how good of a time, just acting crazy.
Scampi: yeah we are having a good time...it has been so good to see each other after so long....we have had so much fun just talking and being with each other that when we sat down to watch a movie we had both wanted to see....we ended up talking through the whole thing...the funniest part is we didn't even realize we had missed the movie until it was over.
Q: are you sure I will be able to spend time with you when you come here? lol
Scampi: Yeah...ang has already informed me that she will NOT be following us around like a puppy dog...this time is for us and she will hardly see us...she said she would just explore...learn how to be an aussie chick...and just hang out. I finally got a promise out of her that she would come with me to meet your family as long as it was not a formal thing...those are her words
Q: It will not be a formal thing.. it is very casual...an inside picnic of sorts...we usually rent a church hall and have everyone bring the food and put them on long
tables.. well you get the idea...besides I think Mel would kill me if we didn't bring her with us
Scampi: I have been to a few of Ang's family reunions...yours sound a lot like Ang's.....why would mel be upset?
Q: well I guess her and ang have become pretty good friends so she naturally would want to see her....i think I also heard her mention something about finding an aussie guy for her
Scampi: Oh no! ang will kill us and then die of embarrassment....by the way....she told me that I had better forget the idea of setting her up with your friend...even if it is only for special occasions...she was very adamant.
Q: okay...ya know...he acted very strange when I told him about your friend...he almost acted like he WANTED to do it...he has never done that before......
Scampi: mmmmmmmm.....weird...maybe it just wasn't meant to be....i promised ang I would get enough sleep
tonight....I had better go if I am going to keep that promise.
Q: That is one good thing about ang being there...ya get your sleep like ya should
Scampi: Why does everyone feel they have to be me mum! I can take care of me ownself!
Q: you are just the type of person that people care deeply about.. and when they do they want to take care of you...i try my best over the many miles...few more days and there won't be any miles though
Scampi: I know.....i am so excited....but nervous about meeting your whole family
Q: Everything will be fine...i will be there for you...one day my family will be your family.
Scampi: *dreamy sigh*......yeah..
Q: You better go to bed now, babe........night
Scampi: Yeah night.....
Q: I love you so much I will be counting the seconds until you get here...x me
Scampi: I am too....I love you so much my heart feels like it is ready to burst....No I x'd you last time it is your turn.
Q: I can't.....
Scampi: this is the last time...next time it is your turn
Q: okay....thanks...night cutie...i love you
Ruthie watched as the message screen disappeared.
She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Not a sigh to relieve tension, but a sigh of anticipation and contentment. This day had been great. It was so great to spend time with Ang and within thirty-six hours she would be with Darren, in Darren's arms....Her thoughts drifted on as she advanced towards Dream Land.
July 9, 2008
Ang groaned and jerked the covers up over her head as the lights came on. She wasn't exactly a morning person, but she didn't hate them either. Unless she was woken up rudely that is. She pulled the blankets down to nose level and blinked owlishly at the person grinning mischievously at her. She aimed a death glare at the rogue, before flopping over on her stomach and ramming her pillow over her head.
"Come on, sleepy head!" The maddeningly saccharine voice said, as a persistent hand jerked the pillow off of her head.
Her head came up and she swung her legs around to sit on the edge of the bed. "What are you waking me up for? I thought you were going to work." She squinted up at Ruthie with one eye closed.
"Well, good morning to you too, beautiful." She tried not to laugh as the one eye glared at her. "Yes, I am going to work today, but I just wanted to tell you a few things before I go. You are more than welcome to the computer and the fridge, of course." She gave Ang that LOOK.
Ang almost groaned again. Ruthie always gave her this look when she wanted something.
"Sweetie," Ruthie said playfully. "Honey, would you mind doing some laundry for me today?"
"Laundry? Like how much and what kind? If it is socks, you can just march your butt back out the door. I hate doing socks."
She gave a little laugh at the look on Ang's face. "No, it isn't socks. It is a few skirts and tops that I might want to take with me."
Ang gave a huge yawn that threatened to hide her face. "Yeah, I guess I could work that into my busy schedule. Just one question. Why didn't you just leave me a note?" Ang said exasperated.
Ruthie shrugged. "I wanted to ask."
Ang rolled her eyes. "Next time leave a note! Why are you so cheerful today?"
"Because tomorrow starts VACATION! Because tomorrow I will get to see Darren!! Because I am with my best friend! Do I need to give you anymore reasons?"
"Nah! I guess that will do for now." She waved her towards the door. "Just leave the directions to the
Laundromat on the table. Right now I am going to get some more sleep!"
"Did you get to bed too late? I thought you went to bed before me?"
"I did. I couldn't sleep so I worked a little on my novel."
"How? Did you bring a laptop with you?"
"No! Maybe someday I will introduce you to two wonderful inventions. They are called pen and paper."
"No need to get so sarcastic. Well, I had better get going. I don't want to be late for work."
"Okay, see ya later. Have a nice day at work!" Ang then gave a fiendish grin. "While I have a nice leisurely day off!"
"Yeah! Must be nice!"
"I'll let ya know when you get back home." She answered as she snuggled back down under the covers.
Ruthie looked down at the chart in her hand. She smiled. Her next patient was Molly Gershim. Molly was a sweetheart. Her mother was just as nice. I wish all my patients were so nice. Ruthie thought.
Not that she wanted nice people sick. Nice people just made her day so much easier. Her mind flitted back to the Hyberman's baby. He was two. She had nicknamed him Hyperman, of course she never called him that out loud. Nevertheless, he certainly lived up to it. His mother was a nervous, small creature, who was very protective of her baby. Ruthie rolled her eyes. Heaven only knew why. Besides being the most hyper baby on the planet, he was also the most spoiled. His mother thought it was just fine to let him do whatever he wanted. Never giving a thought to the fact that he was learning life lessons now. That if he learned he could get away with murder he would try to. The injurious consequence for him was the fact that he often hurt himself trying to do whatever he wanted.
Ruthie chuckled. One day, while giving him a routine checkup, he had kept trying to grab her stethoscope. After numerous attempts of trying to dissuade him, with absolutely no help from his mother, she decided to take matters into her own hands. When his little hand reached for it once again, she gently took his hand and told him a firm no. He looked shocked for a minute, as if he had never heard the word before. He then took a lung full of air and shrieked at the top of his lungs. He started kicking his legs and throwing the most horrific tantrum. Before the episode was over his mother had left the office threatening to sue. She hadn't and little 'hyperman' was still a patient of hers. Must have been my lucky day! Ruthie thought grimly.
"Hello, Molly, Mrs. Gershim." She greeted them as she stepped through the door. This would be an easy visit, just a routine checkup. About a year ago Molly had caught a serious cold and before anyone had time to react it had developed into a very serious case of pneumonia. Molly had visited her quite a bit that year and they had become good friends. Well, as good of friends as a four year old and twenty-eight year old can.
"How are you doing today, Molly?" Ruthie questioned the freckle faced little girl who was almost bouncing off the examining table with excitement.
"Just fine, Doctor Shulaw." The little girl lisped, her brown eyes sparkling. She then turned to her mother, her brow puckering in question. "Can I give it to her now mommy?"
Her eyes sparkling like her daughter's, she nodded her consent.
The little girl reached behind her back and brought out a gaily wrapped package. "This is for you, Doctor Shulaw. It's a thank-you present for gettin' me all better. I even know just where you can put it in your Pooh room." She clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes forming two big circles. "Opps! I almost told you."
The clinic where Ruthie was at let each of the doctors decorate their specified rooms however the chose. She had chosen to do hers in Pooh Bear. She had Pooh curtains, Pooh pictures, stuffed Pooh Bears for scared little patient to cuddle, and a shelf running around the top of the room, close to the ceiling, that held all of her Pooh figurines.
"Well, I had better open this before you give me more hints then, huh?"
Molly nodded her head, making her red curls bounce.
Ruthie gently opened the present. It was a Pooh figurine. Pooh was dressed up as a doctor. He was carefully putting a Band-Aid on a crying Piglet's knee.
Tears came to Ruthie's eyes. She looked at the little girl who was watching her anxiously for her reaction.
"May I give you a hug, Molly?"
The little girl quickly nodded yes, and practically cut off Ruthie's air supply while hugging her tightly around the neck.
"So, Molly," Ruthie said standing back up to her full height. "where do you think this Pooh Bear should
go?"
“That is so sweet of you, Molly! Thank-you!”
They talked on, making mundane conversation as Ruthie started giving Molly her checkup. Soon they had moved from school, church, work, and little life things to age.
“How old are you now, Molly?” Ruthie asked as she peered into Molly’s ears.
“I’m five!” She proudly held up five fingers.
“You are? Wow! You are getting to be a big girl! Before you know it you will be in school!”
“I’m in school now though.” Molly said puzzled.
“I meant in kindergarten.”
“Oh, you mean real school. I can’t go there yet. I got to wait until I am five.
Now it was Ruthie’s turn to be puzzled. Before she could ask though Molly leaned forward and whispered secretively
“I’m not really five yet. I won’t be five until Saturday. I just say I am five now to practice. So I won’t forget later.” She abruptly sat up and faced her mother. “Could Doctor Shulaw come to my birthday party Saturday, mommy?” While her mother was still trying to form an answer, Ruthie rescued her. “I would love to come to your birthday party, but I won’t be here Saturday.” “You won’t?” Molly was clearly disappointed. “Where are you going?" Her mother cleared her throat warningly.
“Was that a nosy question?” She obviously had been talked to about this before.
“Mmmm...no, I don’t think so. I think it was more curious.” Ruthie assured her. “I am going to be flying out tomorrow for Australia.” Before Molly could get in trouble for asking why, Ruthie hurried on. “I am going there to meet my fiancé’s family.”
Ang put the skirts in the closet and the neatly folded shirts in the drawer. She sighed. What was she going to do now? She glanced at the computer, she could write some more for her novel, or just go chat for awhile. She could go watch a movie, or read a book. She could go for a walk, and go down to that coffee shop on the corner. Hey, now there was a good idea! She was just looking out the window to see if it was raining when the phone rang. Ang muttered something. Should she answer it? Nah! Let the answering machine get it. She was half way out the door when curiosity got the best of her. It just might be Ruthie. She ran over to the answering machine to turn it off and answer the phone. Just then Ruthie’s recorded voice filled the room. Ang stood quietly and listened.
“Hello, Ruthie? This is Angela’s mother. I was just calling to tell her something. If she...”
Ang reached over and flicked off the answering machine and picked up the phone. “Hello, Mom? This is Ang.”
“Hi! How are you doing? I thought I would just call and say good-bye before you took off for Australia. I didn’t interrupt anything did I?”
“I am doing just fine. No, you didn’t interrupt anything. I was just thinking about going down to the corner coffee shop. Didn’t I call you before I left?” Ang knew she had. She could still remember the phone call. She had called her Grandma to tell her good-bye and Aunt Betty had answered the phone. She had informed everyone who was on the phone. From there it was history. Everyone included Grandma, Aunt Betty, Chad, Mike, Mike’s girlfriend, Heather, Linda, Ben, Laura, Mom, Dad, Aunt Carol, and Uncle Paul. Before it was over she had ended up talking to Grandma, Aunt Betty, Chad, Mike, Linda, Mom, Dad, Aunt Carol, and Uncle Paul.
Grandma had warned her about everything under the sun, told her to tell Ruthie hi, make sure Darren was okay for her, (Ang though it was a little to late for that!) and not to stay out in the sun too long.
Aunt Betty had told her to make sure to remember everything, and had basically repeated everything Grandma had said. Aunt Carol had told her hi, that she missed her, chit chatted, and told her to behave. Uncle Paul reminded her how special she was to the family and that she had better not find some guy there because none of them were good enough for her. He teased her some more while she denied it all. Linda had told her to enjoy herself, and to give her a complete rundown when Ang got home. Mom, well trained by Grandma and Aunt Betty, had done an almost exact repetition. Dad had grumbled at her, and had given her another lecture about going, and warned her to watch out for perverted guys. (Ang had just rolled her eyes and had umm hmmm’d her dad. Mike and Chad, both, had told her the exact same thing, to have fun, and if she found any important guy, she was to bring him home so they could see if they approved of him or not. If they didn’t, they warned, they would bury him in the backyard. They had then said they loved her and good-bye. She hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Ben or Laura because they had left somewhere in the middle of her Dad’s lecture. They had gone down to her Aunt Carol’s with Linda to get some movies. She was glad they were not having a family get together at the time or she might have never gotten off of the phone. If nothing else, though, it was always interesting to talk to her family. However, they were a bit obsessed with her finding the right guy. Her mother terminated her thoughts, by answering her question of whether or not she had called earlier. “Yes, you called before you left. Twice in fact. I just wanted to call and say good-bye for one last time. Somehow this is different from you just moving to Maine. I know you are not a little kid anymore. It is just hard for me, as a mother, to forget that and not treat you like one. For some reason I keep feeling like I am going to lose you when you leave for Australia.”
“Aww, Mom. You know that is not going to happen. I am not going to move there. I am just going on vacation.”
“I know. That is what logic tells me, but for some reason, my heart is telling me something different.”
“Would it make you feel better if I promised you to never move to Australia? If it does, I promise. Mom, I will never move to Australia. Visit maybe, but never move there. Okay?”
“I guess it will have to do. Oh, and Angela, don’t forget...” Her mother once again slipped easily back into her maternal mode. When Ruthie got home later that night, Ang was in the kitchen. She was busy putting dishes away and dancing and singing as Crystal Lewis sang, People Get Ready...Jesus is Comin’. She tilted her head back, using a spoon as a mic, she belted out the words along with Crystal. “So, people get ready, Jesus is coming, soon we’ll be going home. People get ready, Jesus is coming, to take from the world His own.. Ruthie shook her head at her friend’s antics. Not very many people saw this side of Ang. She would often become very quiet and sedate when in public. Especially, when she was meeting someone for the first time
“Hi, honey, I’m home!” Ruthie yelled over the music. Ang spun around, the plate, that was now in her hands, went flying. It was comical watching her dive for the plate. She dove for it, slide across the tile floor, before the plate fell safely into her outstretched hands. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out. Ang quickly stood up and pushed pause on the CD player. A deafening silence filled the room until Ang peeked over at Ruthie. Ruthie’s face was red with held in laughter. Ang sheepishly shrugged her shoulders and said. “A.P. has returned.” Ruthie lost it. She held her sides and laughed until she started to cry. “Ooohhhh! My tummy hurts! Quit making me laugh!”
“I didn’t try to in the first place. You can stop laughing now.” Ang admonished, menacingly waving a dish towel.:
“Okay, okay!” Ruthie said, wiping tears from her eyes.
“So how did your day at work go?” Ang put the recently rescued plate in the cupboard.
“It
was great!” She told Ang about
Molly and her gift.
A few minutes later, the conversation winding down, Ruthie asked,
“What would you like for supper tonight?
What are you hungry for?
“Umm...how does pizza sound? We could order it in. It would save time. We wouldn’t have to worry about clean up either.”
“Yeah that sounds okay, I guess.” Just then the doorbell rang.
“Good. Because more than likely that is the pizza.” Ang said moving towards the door. A while later, after Ruthie had changed into more comfortable clothes, and they both had eaten and cleaned up what little mess there was, they headed for Ruthie’s room to start packing. Ruthie flung open the door to her closet. She moaned. “I have no idea what I want to take!”
“Let me guess?” Ang said with the voice of experience. “It has to be perfect?”
“Oh, hush! If you were going to meet your fiancé’s family, you would be worrying about it too!”
“Yeah! Probably. Until I got over the fact that it is not the clothes, it is me, they were going to meet.”
“Point understood, but not taken.” Ruthie grinned. “Cheer up, Ang! This should only take a few hours!”
“I am giving you two tops, and I am out of here. There is a movie coming on at 9:00 that I want to see.”
“You are going to desert me for a movie?”
“Yeppers! They are having some kind of movie something or other this week. They are showing a popular movie from a different year every night of the week. This night is the year 1998...and the main feature will be....drum roll please....The all time favorite, best selling movie and all around tear-jerker, TITANIC!!”
“TITANIC??” Ruthie shrieked. She loved this movie. It was her all time favorite movie.
“Would I lie?” Ang jokingly protested. “At least about something so important?”
“What are you standing there talking for, girl? Get your butt busy. Leonardo DiCaprio awaits!” Ang gave a deep, dreamy sigh. “Yeah, I know. I can’t wait to start drooling! You better not though. You have Darren to drool over.”
“Yeah, I promise to drool over him too. After I finish with Leonardo!” Ang just laughed and tugged a little harder on the suitcase she was struggling to get out of the closet. As the suitcase came loose so did the boxes beside it. Soon Ang was crouched on the floor in the classic protective posture. She had her hands over her head trying in vain to keep it from getting hit by the boxes and suitcase. Ruthie stood, mouth open, as she watched Ang wreak havoc in her closet. Her hand went up to her mouth as a snicker escaped. Before long she was laughing so hard she had fallen back across the bed, tears coming from her eyes. “Today is NOT my day! I have been doing really good lately. No accidents, no falls, no spills, major ones anyways, no cuts, dumb run-ins, no nothing! Maybe you just have that affect on me.” She then looked contemplative. “Then again, life was getting kind’a boring." At Ang’s comment Ruthie howled, picturing once again the boxes falling around Ang. While Ang was trying to decided whether to act upset or join Ruthie laughing, the phone rang. She glanced over at Ruthie. She was obviously not going to answer the phone. She was laughing so hard she was barely breathing. She decided to neither laugh nor get upset, but to answer the phone instead.
“Hello?” There was a slight pause then. “Is Ruth there?” She cast a hurried glance at her friend, who was struggling in vain to control her laughter. “Umm, she is uh..” Ang said stalling for time. “May I ask who is calling?”
“This is Darren. Is this Ang?”
“Oh! Hi! Yes, this is Ang. I didn’t recognize your voice. I was busy trying to signal Ruthie to calm her laughing so she could talk to whom ever was on the phone.”
“Well, G’day to ya Ang. Why was she laughing?”
“Uhhh..” Was Ang’s only reply.
“Angela had another of her A.P. attacks.” Ruthie said with a little giggle. She had picked up the extension in the living room. Darren gave a chuckle. “Why do ya say that? What happened?”
“Well..” Ruthie started the same time Ang was saying. “Nothing!”
“Aww, come on you can tell me!”
“It was a really good day!” She once again related the story of Molly’s gift. “It was so sweet! I hope someday I have a little girl like that.” Ruthie said finishing up her narrative.
“Believe me I will do my best to help you get that little girl.” He half teased with an underlying serious tone. Ruthie was quiet, not trusting herself to respond.
“I love you, Ruth.” He whispered, sensing her discomfort.
“Ang will be there to chaperone.” He laughed.
“Not forever and always.”
“I hope not!” He said fervently. “I like Ang and all, but having her around as a chaperone forever and always is little much.” Now Ruthie laughed. “You know what I meant you goober!” Ruthie entered the bedroom about half of an hour later to find her bed covered with three neat piles of clothes. “Sorry I was gone so long. What is this?”
“It’s okay I understand. I mean if it was my fiancé...” Ang shrugged. “The three piles are three categories. One, everyday clothes. Two, casual. Three, dressy clothes. What did Darren call for in the first place?”
“You want me to take all of these? He called because he loves me and can’t wait to see me.”
“No, I don’t want you to take all of these. I want you to go through them and see which ones you want to take. Oh yeah, the pile on the chair are possible outfits for the plane tomorrow. Ones that are casual, but ones that will be comfortable. Ones you will also look good in. Silly guy, wasting his money to call you when he will be seeing you tomorrow.”
“He isn’t silly!” Ruthie started to rummage through the clothes on the chair. “You picked out exactly the same outfits I have been debating about.” They looked at each other and rolled their eyes. If they had a nickel for every time they had done that since they had been friends they would both be millionaires. They were constantly saying the same things, reacting the same way, buying similar outfits without knowing it. It was probably because they had been around each other so long they had just gotten to know each other really well. 99.9 % of the time Ang knew exactly what Ruthie was thinking. Ruthie knew what Ang was thinking 90% of the time. The reason for that was because Ang was more of a private person. More of an introvert than Ruthie. She struggled with revealing her deepest feelings. They still acted a lot alike. Sometimes it was almost scary. Many people had mistaken them for sister, even twins once, despite that they looked nothing alike. “I don’t know!” Ruthie said exasperated. “I don’t know what outfit to wear! What should I wear, Ang? What should I wear?” Ruthie’s voice now bordered on being a whine.“I don’t know. What outfit do you like the best? What do you want to wear?” “I DON’T KNOW! That is why I asked you! Come on you are supposed to be my best friend! What should I wear?” Ang gave a half smirk of amusement and shook her head a little. What did being Ruthie’s best friend have to do with picking out an outfit for her? “Ruthie, that is a decision you should make. That way YOU know you are happy with it. You feel confident and comfortable with it. If you pick out something I don’t think is right I’ll let you know, okay?” “No! Because I still don’t know what to wear. What are you wearing?” “I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet. I thought about one of my No Excuse jean skirts with one of my Nike pullovers, and of course, my ever present, Nike shoes. Not bum material, but still VERY comfortable!” “You can’t.” Ruthie said shaking her head. Before Ang could ask why she said. “You would be total casual, but I would be more preppy. That would not work.” Ang let out a sigh of frustration. “Ruthie! We don’t have to match! The outfit I mentioned is so ‘me.’ You are more the preppy one. Besides if I had to stay in a preppy outfit for an entire day, I think I would go crazy!” “Your right. So, what should I wear?” “Listen, why don’t you try on each of the outfits and decide which one is the most comfortable and which one makes you look the best. I’ll help judge, okay?” “Okay. Sorry, I am probably driving you crazy, but I want to look as close to perfect as I can.” “I understand. Now hurry up! You only have one hour left.” Ang gave a sigh of relief as she heard the bathroom door close. To her over active imagination it sounded like a death knell. She chuckled. She lifted her arms away from her body and fell back across the bed. Then the thought came to her. I hope Ruthie doesn’t try to figure out how to do her hair after this! I might not get any sleep tonight, let alone see TITANIC!
Ang
looked at Justin, the guy across the room.
Dang, was he good-looking. Instantly
she felt guilty. She was kind’a sort' a
but not really going with his twin brother, Mark.
It still meant that, if Mark knew how she felt about his brother, he
would be hurt. Mark and Justin were
identical twins, but Justin just had that special ‘something’ that made her
give him more than a second look. She
didn’t want to hurt Mark for anything. She
loved him. The only problem was she
loved him like a brother, but she loved Justin so much more than a
brother. Ang
was in a field. Kind of like a huge
clearing in a woods. She saw a pond
about a hundred feet from her. She
walked towards it. Suddenly
something grabbed her from behind! “Gotch ya!”
She squealed as she was
swung up and around and off of her feet. “I knew you would come and meet me
here.” “I shouldn’t be here.
I would just die if Mark ever found out.
I don’t want to hurt him.” Ang
raised pleading eyes to Justin.“I know. I know, but if I can’t have you, I will be so much more
than hurt.” Ang groaned, wishing she
knew what to do about her predicament. She
loved Justin so much!“What am I going to do?”
Ang moaned hiding her face in Justin’s strong chest.Justin went still.
She felt him take a deep breath and then say.
“You are going to finally
say that you will marry me. We are
going to tell my brother about it, and we will both deal with whatever reaction
we get. Then after that we are
going to get married, and we are going to love each other for at least a
lifetime and then some. Please say
yes, Ang.” He said her name as if
it were a caress. Ang’s shoulders slumped
for a moment before she squared them and looked directly into Justin’s eyes.
“Yes.
Yes, I will marry you. Yes,
we will face your brother, and yes I will love you for a lifetime and then
some.”Justin gave an exuberant shout and swung Ang around again.
He then set her feet back on the ground as they both tried to calm their
frantic heartbeats. Justin looked
down at Ang, the light blazing so bright in his eyes, it brought tears to
hers.“I love you, Angela. Forever
and always.”Before she could reply his lips came down on hers.
He slowly pushed her to her knees and laid her back on the grass as he
continued to kiss her. Just then
she heard some music. She tried to
block it out. It was definitely
more enjoyable to kiss Justin then listen to music.
The music was persistent
though and it gradually brought her back to reality.
She grumbled as her hand reached out and slapped the snooze bar on the
alarm clock. She always woke up at
the best part! Oh, well, it
probably would have just depressed her to be reminded of what she didn’t have.
Her thoughts floated hazily off as she started to drift back to sleep. She
opened one eye and willed it to focus on the clock. Why had she set her alarm so early? It came back to her then.
If she wanted to carry through with her plan she had to get up this
early. She and Ruthie were flying
out at 6:00 and they were going to the airport half of an hour early, that would
be 5:30. It took twenty minutes to
get there. That meant they had to
leave the house at 5:10. They had
decided they needed fifty minutes to get ready so that meant that they were
getting up at 4:20. Ang had decided
to get Ruthie back for this morning. Was
it this morning or yesterday? Anyways!
She had wanted to get up at least five minutes before Ruthie so that way
she could turn off Ruthie’s alarm before it went off.
So her alarm clock said 4:15. That
wasn’t very much time when you went to bed at 12:00.
Opps! She had better get
moving. Her clock now said 4:18. She
stumbled out of bed. Shaking off
the blanket that got wrapped around her foot.
She ran to Ruthie’s room as quickly as she could in the dark and still
being half asleep. Just as reached
down to switch it to off it went off. Ang
hit the ceiling. When she recovered
sufficiently she hit the snooze button. About
the time her hand was coming in contact with it, Ruthie’s was reaching for it.
Hers hit the snooze button, and Ruthie’s came into contact with Ang’s
ice cold hand. “AHHHH!!!!” Ruthie screamed as she jumped and stared at Ang.
With her sleep fogged brain she had no clue WHO was standing over her
bed, just the fact that SOMEONE was. Ruthie’s
foot kicked out and caught Ang directly in the stomach.
“Oomph!”
Ang stumbled backwards before landing indelicately on her hind end.
Ruthie’s
sleepy eyes focused in on Ang’s pain twisted face.
A puzzled expression came to her face.
“What are you doing on
the floor, Ang? What time is it?”
Ang’s mouth came open,
not to reply, but to try and get some air to her oxygen starved lungs. She just stared at Ruthie, her mouth open, working like a
fish. Realization suddenly
brightened Ruthie’s face. “Oh my!!! Did I do that to you?”
Ruthie had a horrified expression on her face.
Ang clutched her hands to
her stomach and mutely nodded her head yes.
Ruthie was out of the bed in a flash.
She knelt by Ang’s side, apologizing profusely.
Ang just reached over and patted Ruthie’s knee.
“It’s time to get
up.” Ang whispered.
Ang stood by the front
door, her luggage piled around her feet. “Come on, Ruthie!
Aren’t you ready yet?” Ruthie
came out of her room, struggling with her suitcase and garment bag.
“Yeah.”
She panted. She glanced at
Ang’s stomach hidden under a bulky shirt.
“How is your stomach? “It’s fine.” Ang said, raising her arms in front of her in a protective
gesture. “Let me see.” Ruthie was suspicious. Usually
Ang would make a joke about it. Ang
was all ready to say no until she saw the don’t-argue-with-me-I’m-the-doctor
look on Ruthie’s face. She
mouthed something as she pulled up her shirt
“It’s fine!” Ruthie
gasped. From where she was standing she could see the bruise
darkening Ang’s flat stomach. Before
she could start apologizing all over again, Ang interrupted.
Ruthie gave a slight smile, partially convinced that Ang really was okay. She would still keep an eye on her. Ang would have run the opposite direction if she could have read Ruthie's mind this time.
Ang shifted the backpack in her lap, wincing as her stomach muscles protested the movement. Ruthie caught the wince and raised a questioning eyebrow. Ang just pulled a face, as the plane slowly taxied towards the runway.
Ang was settled in. She had her headphones on, one of her favorite CDs playing, and a book by one of her favorite authors. She glanced over at Ruthie. Ruthie had snuggled back against the seat, oblivious to those around her.
Ruthie heard Ang sigh once. Then again. She opened her eyes and looked at her. She was totally intent on her book, she probably hadn't even realized she had sighed. Ruthie tapped Ang's arm. Ang jumped slightly. She pushed pause on her CD player and pulled the headphones back.
"Yeah?"
"What are you sighing for? Is the book that good?"
"No I wasn't sighing over the book. I was sighing over my CD."
"Why?" Ruthie was completely confused.
"This CD is a mix of a bunch of different songs. You know that store, Fantasy Music?" At Ruthie's nod she continued. "Well, they have this awesome machine, I don't what they call it, but for a certain price, you can record any kind of music you want onto the CD. For instance, on this CD the first song I have is a country song, the next one is by Michael W. Smith, the third one is by Celion Deion, you get the idea. The first song is about this guy who describes his feeling for this girl. He sings about how this girl makes him feel like he is in high school again. That he gets weak in the knees, his tongue gets all twisted up, and she makes him feel like he could do anything. Then the song by Michael W. Smith is Somebody Love Me. He sings about how he is waiting for that special someone to come out to the dance floor and sweep him off of his feet, for someone to fall in love with him and vice versa. Then the book I am reading is about this girl who loves this guy but can't tell him because her best friend loves him. So she is caught in the middle because she knows she will love this guy forever and her best friend just plays with him while he is head over heels for her best friend...you know the every intriguing love triangle. Then thinking about this trip, with you meeting Darren's family. All of this combined just made me wonder, for the hundredth million time, if I will ever get married, if I will ever have somebody special."
"Ang, I am sure you will. I am sure God has someone very special out there for you."
"The problem is he is 'out there' and I am here." Ang joked, implying she was through with such a serious discussion.
Ruthie just smiled, and all was quiet for a few moments. Then Ruthie chuckled.
"This reminds me of my first plane ride."
"It does? Why?"
"I think of my first plane ride every time I get on another flight. You know how terrified I was of flying before I took my first flight?"
"Yes! You swore you never step foot on a plane."
"Well, I did. I was flying to some kind of conference. I don't remember what it was about, but the plane was kind of small. It was only like an eleven passenger I think. Anyways, we hit some turbulence. Before we hit the turbulence I was freaked, but when we did hit the turbulence, oh man! I totally flipped out! I won't give you the gruesome details, but by the time we landed I had the attention of the stewardess and every other passenger on that plane."
Ang tried to contain a smile, but failed. "I can just imagine!"
"Please don't! That was probably one of the most embarrassing moments in my life. Your turn."
"My turn for what?"
"To tell me your most embarrassing moment."
"You all ready know all of them." Ang said bulking.
"Maybe I do. Try me though."
"Oh, alright. Did I ever tell you about my first date?"
"Yeah. What was so embarrassing about that? You do mean the date with that Carl guy?"
"No, but that one is a story within itself." Ang rolled her eyes. "Do you remember that summer, the first year after we went to college, that I was so crazy about that guy named
Jonathan?"
"Yeah, whatever happened to him? He was all I heard about from you, until I went to Tennessee and after that I never heard another word about him." Ruthie narrowed her eyes. "What happened?"
Ang gave a deep sigh. "It is a good thing this is a long flight, because this story could take awhile." She took a fortifying breath, then started. "I met
Jonathan at my cousin's football game. Michael introduced us. He had asked if I wanted to come with him. He was going back to his house to shower and change and then hang out for awhile. Since I hadn't seen him in awhile I said yeah. At Michael's house I found out that
Jonathan was one of Michael's housemates. While Michael was busy getting showered and dressed and drooled over by his harem,
Jonathan sat down and we started talking. He was so sweet! I immediately fell for him! The feeling was mutually so when he asked me for my phone number I of course told him it. About a week later, when I was about ready to give up, he finally called. He asked me if I would want to go out Friday night. So we made plans for him to pick me up around 7:00. If I would have thought about it in the
beginning I would have realized that this was a bad idea. He came to pick me up and before I could get to him, my dad did." Ang grimaced, recalling the memory. "My dad asked him a million and one question, and you know those fake application's to date my daughter? My dad gave him one! About that time I pulled him out of the door. I was SO
embarrassed! I apologized. He was really sweet about it, and said that he understood. You could imagine how awkward that was though. Then later we went to Fricker's to eat. That
restaurant that has the awesome chicken. It also is kind of like a bar. It was rather smoky in there. Between the smoke and tension, I got an asthma attack. I didn't say anything, ya know me, never say anything until I am about to die. It didn't take him long to notice and ask what was wrong. Totally humiliated, I told him. He asked if I wanted him to do anything. I told him I just needed to get some
caffeine into my system and I would be fine. Usually this works. This time it didn't. It just kept getting worse and worse. He asked if I wanted to leave. I gasped a yes. I never made it though. When I stood up I fainted. He panicked. I guess he yelled for someone to call 911. By the time the paramedics got there they were needed. I had stopped breathing. To say the least he didn't get to take me home that night. I didn't even get to go home. They kept me in the hospital overnight. He sent flowers, but never asked me out again. About a month later I was over at Michael's and I saw him. He was
embarrassed, but we talked and got it all worked out. We became good friends. We still talk to each other
occasionally."
Ruthie had been leaning forward in her seat to catch every word, she now flopped backwards. She
speechless for about 10 seconds.
"I can't believe you never told me this! That is terrible." The more she thought about it though, the funnier it seemed to get. "Ya know, it is kind'a funny though."
"It wasn't at first though!"
"I bet it wasn't!" Ruthie sighed. "We share a lot of memories don't we? A lot of them are rather humorous."
Ang giggled. "Yep. We go back a long way, baby."
"I thought it was, You've come a long way, baby?"
Ang waved a dismissive hand. "You know what I mean. Speaking of long ago...remember when we all used to hid underneath Sis. Nichols desk when she would leave the room? We were probably some of her rowdiest kindergartners."
"Yeah." Ruthie smiled at the pleasant memory. "Remember the time she threatened to tie me to my chair if I didn't settle down? What was I so hyper for? I don't remember. Just the fact that she threatened me."
"It was because you were eager to get to your lunch. You had ham or something like that from supper the night before and you had brought some of it for lunch. It had tasted so good last night, you couldn't wait to get to it."
"That must have been some ham!" Ruthie kidded.
"Yeah, you were." Ang parried.
Ruthie acted offended. "Well, at least I wasn't manipulative!" She sniffed. "I didn't cry to get my own way. I still remember you turning around, tears in your big green eyes, 'but I want to do it this way'."
"Hey, it worked didn't it?!" Ang tossed her hair over her shoulder haughtily. "At least I didn't prevaricate!"
"What do you mean prevaricate?" Ruthie said, pretending indignation.
Ang sat up straight and said arrogantly. "To prevaricate means to tell an untruth, to lie, to make the truth sound better by fabricating it."
Ruthie closed her eyes in feigned disgust. "I know what the definition is, but what did you mean by me telling a lie? What did I lie about?"
"Not all together lied, but fabricated. One word should remind you about what. Indians." Ang watched Ruthie's face for reaction. She looked puzzled for a moment before her lips formed an 'O'."
"I did, didn't I?" Ruthie laughed. I wonder how many times we disagreed about that?"
"I don't know. You must have thought I was stupid if you thought I would believe you. I mean really, everybody, knows that Indians don't have blond hair and blue eyes. It would make me so upset when Matthew Hale would stick up for you. It was only because he liked you."
"I know. I remember telling you that my mom was Cherokee and that my dad was a chief. I basically remember how upset you would get with me."
Ang rolled her eyes. "I remember more than that. You told me once that your dad had been the chief and some other tribe had gotten upset and there was going to be a war so your family took off. You told me that you all had gotten into a canoe and had sailed away from the war. You had escaped to Lima. Your story was totally illogical." Ang held up a hand and counted off the illogical reasons. "What was your dad, who was not an Indian, doing being chief of a tribe? If he was a true Indian chief, why did he run instead of fight for his land and people, as a true Indian would? Most importantly what was he doing with a blond haired, blue eyed little girl, who could not say one single Indian word, but had spent all of her short life in an Indian tribe? Oh, yeah, your mother was the first Indian I had ever met with a southern accent!"
Ruthie held up a hand laughing. "What can I say? The story sounded logical to me at the age of five. I am sure you could make up much better story."
Ang gave an ironic grin. "I had better be able to!"
"Remember that 'short' bike ride we took? I think we ended up walking those bikes more than riding them!"
Ang wailed, covering her face with her hands and slumping in her seat. "You had to bring that up didn't you! That little escapade caused me more embarrassment than any other!" She peeked at Ruthie from between her fingers. "Even though it wasn't my idea."
"Well, who's idea was it then? It certainly wasn't mine!"
"Must have been, because it wasn't me! I don't think either of us will ever take the blame for it!" Ang leaned towards Ruthie and whispered conspiratorially. "Actually, I can't even remember who first suggested it. To be hones, I don't want to."
Ruthie laughed. "Neither do I! All I can remember is trudging through a muddy field, carrying 15 pound bike on our bikes, crossing a half frozen creek in bare feet, and getting all muddy!"
Ang chuckled, nodding her head up and down. "That is all I remember too! Besides the lecture from my parents and the many, many questions!"
Ruthie groaned. "Me too! Why do you say that one caused you more embarrassment than any other?"
"Because it did! I had to answer so many questions about it...forever! You know how my family is about letting you forget something embarrassing you did! They bring it up every family reunion and invariably someone hasn't heard it so it has to be repeated!"
"I would think you breaking your finger would have been more embarrassing."
"No, not really. I just explained it by saying I had a cycling accident. It was the truth and sounded better than saying, well, uh, it is like this, I ran into the back of a parked pickup and smashed my knuckle between the tailgate and my handlebar on my bike."
Ruthie snickered. "I would think it would be more embarrassing to admit that it was broken after a month of swearing that I was just jammed bad."
"That is what my doctor told me!" Ang said heatedly.
"Ang, anybody could tell that it was broken! I mean, it hung out to the side! It was swollen twice its normal size and bruised from the tip of your fingers to your wrist!"
"Yeah, so sue me for trusting my doctor!"
"Well, if it wouldn't have been for him you wouldn't have had to have surgery."
"Yes, I would have." Ang said sheepishly. "I had broken the knuckle completely in half. What can I say? When I do it, I do it right!"
Ruthie gave Ang a big smile. "You sure do! Do we have any memories that are just fin and not embarrassing?"
"Of course! We just had this knack for getting into those kind of situations! A happy one though...he.
I know! Remember when we went shopping that one time and took picture?" She giggled remembering.
"Yeah." Ruthie's grin was equally wide. "That was so much fin! There is one kind of embarrassing thing that happened."
"What?" Ang asked perplexed.
"Remember we were in Lazarus trying on those prom dresses and that lady took your clothes?"
"Oh yeah! I had gone down to the dressing room that you were in and while I was gone the lady came in and took my clothes. I was too embarrassed to go get them in the dress that I was wearing so I sent you to rescue them for me."
"Yep, and she was hanging them up, getting ready to take them out to the sales floor."
"That was funny! I can think of something even funnier that happened in JC Penny's."
"What? When you tried on that slinky dress?"
"No! That wouldn't have been that embarrassing if you wouldn't have shown it to everyone and his brother! It is good thing I am not the vengeful type or you might have just had pictures of that red dress hung up around the school." At Ruthie's questioning look Ang said. "The red dress that showed a little more cleavage than you wanted it to."
"Oh, that red dress. So what is funnier?"
"Remember the time that we went to JC Penny's on your mom's birthday, because you had forgotten to get her a gift or something like that?"
Ruthie shook her head, a blank look on her face.
"I remember. It was weird because I had gotten a gift for your mom and you hadn't yet, and usually you get one a month ahead of time. Anyway, we were there looking for a gift for your mom and we couldn't seem to find anything, so we went ever to the crystal wear, candle holders, and figurines. You were walking around one of the displays when suddenly you gasped and jumped, faster than I have ever seen you jump I might add. All I saw was a life-size statue of a black dog. I didn't know what was so scary about that, then I realized you had thought the dog was real. I don't remember laughing so hard, as I did that time! I didn't let you forget it for a
long time, did I?"
"No, you didn't! You were horrible! You got me a little statue of a black dog for Christmas that year!"
Ang laughed. "Yes, I did! I couldn't let something so funny go unforgotten, could I? I mean, it is my duty as a friend to never let you forget things like that."
"Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, whatever! I'll have to remember that in the future. That it is my duty, as your friend, to never let you forget something like that!"
Ang didn't respond, she was busy yawning. Her late night and early morning was catching up with her.
"Don't do that." Ruthie protested before yawning herself.
"Maybe we both should try to get some sleep. I mean, you want to look your best for Darren, don't you?"
"What silly questions you ask, my dear. Sleep...that is the best thing you've said in the past couple of hours." Ruthie teased.
Ang just closed her eyes and said. "Shhh! You are interrupting my beauty sleep!"
"Far be it from me to do such a horrendous thing! Personally though, I think you have been interrupted a few too many times." Ruthie shot back.
"Hush, before I am forced to do something really juvenile, like hit you with my pillow."
"Yes, ma'am! I wouldn't want to force you to such a level."
"Why? Don't you want company?"
"Forget it! I am too tired to keep up with your wit right not. Say that to me again in about two hours."
"Okay. If I remember..." Ang drifted off sleepily.
Darren pace impatiently in front of the gate. He sent a swift look downward when something sharp poked his hand. He loosened his death grip on the white roses he held in his hand. He wasn't nervous, not really, he was more...impatient. He was usually very patient, but this was Ruthie's plane he was waiting on. He hadn't seen his
fiancée' in four months. It seemed more like an eternity. He was pulled rapidly from his musing when he heard.
"Flight 247 now arriving from the United States at gate number 1B."
He watched anxiously as the passenger entered the airport. There she was! She looked around trying to find him. Ang looked around at the passenger and the airport, observing. It didn't take long for Ruthie to see him. At 6'3" Darren was hard to miss, especially when he was waving roses around. Ruthie's blue eyes met his ones. She turned around and grabbed a startled Ang's arm and dragged her towards him. When they were almost to him she dropped everything and ran towards him. Darren let the roses fall to the floor as he swung Ruthie around.
"I've missed you so much, sweetie!" He whispered in her ear as he planted a kiss on it.
Ruthie shivered. "I missed you too!" Ruthie said breathlessly into his neck.
"I love you." He told her. Ruthie's word were muffled as his lips descended on hers.
Ang, who had been unashamedly watching the reunion, turned away. She had just picked up the roses when someone said.
"Excuse me?" The man said to her. He was an older gentleman. Somewhere in his late fifties.
She looked up startled. Her years at Kmart kicked in. "Yes, may I help you?"
"No, not really." He held out his hand.
She looked at him suspiciously then took it.
"I just wanted to thank you and your friend for entertaining me so well on the plane. Since your friend is otherwise occupied, I'll just tell you. I sat behind you on the plane and couldn't help over hearing. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing your memories. You should write a book about it. What you two share is something very precious."
At first Ang was speechless, then she started to laugh. "I'm sorry! I'm not laughing at you. You see I am an author, and I kind of have written a story about us. Every story I write in some way or other has some of my own personal experiences in it. It isn't something I can help, it just happens. So, of course, every once and a while, a memory just might happen to pop in there."
"You are an author? What is your name?"
"My pen name is Amy Smith. You probably haven't heard of me."
His face lit up. "Oh, yes I have! You see I am a publisher. I am based here in Melbourne, but my business is known internationally. I have read some of your earlier works. I think you are quite talented. Listen, if you ever decided to move to Australia, or for any other reason, contact me. I just might be interested in publishing one of your books." He held up a hand as Ang opened her mouth. "No, don't say anything, just take my business card. I hope someday we meet again."
He then turned and walked briskly away.
"Ang, who was that?" Ruthie, who had come to her side, questioned her.
Ang glanced down at the card in her hand. "His name is Mr. Anthony Mogen. He just wanted to thank us for entertaining him on the plane. He sat right behind us, I think."
"What were you two doing on the plane?" Darren asked.
Ang raised an eyebrow wickedly. "Wouldn't you like to know! By the way, hi, Darren."
Darren reached over and gave her a hug.
"Hi, it is good to see you."
"It is good to see you too." Ang said returning his hug.
"Well, are you two lovely ladies ready to get your luggage and go see some of Melbourne?"
Both women nodded an affirmative, and they were on their way.
"What do you mean, it is in Tokyo?" Ang's voice raised slightly.
The woman's cultured voice remained clam, then again it wasn't her luggage that was half of a world away from her.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but it somehow got tagged to go to Tokyo. I really am sorry. We are doing our best to get it sent here."
"Wonderful! When I said I wanted to put miles on my luggage I meant I wanted to do it with them." Ang laughed, relieving the tension that had been building inside of her.
"I'm sure you did." The woman said smiling. "If you can give us the phone number of where you are staying we will contact you when it arrives."
"Okay, that sounds good." She looked at Darren questioningly.
"Oh, the phone number." He wrote it down on a piece of paper, and they made their way out of the airport.
Later, comfortably settled in Darren's sedan, he said. "What a way to start your vacation!"
"You're telling me!" Ang shook her head.
"What do you want to do, Ang?" Ruthie asked. "You could borrow some of my clothes until yours arrive. You could use anything you want, well, except the toothbrush."
Ang just smiled. "Thanks, but no thanks. My luggage, hopefully, won't take that long to get here. So if I could just find a store sometime in the near future, I could just buy a few necessities and a few outfits and I should be okay."
"Ang, it would be pointless to buy that stuff for a few days, when you could just use my stuff." Ruthie persisted.
"I know, but..." From there the discussion continued for a few more minutes. It came to a halt when Ang realized that they had pulled into a parking lot.
"Where are we at?" She asked Darren.
"We are at that store in your near future." He said with a grin.
"Great! Lead me to the doors! I have some shopping to do!"
"Ang, why spend that money? You could just use mine!" Ruthie pressed her point.
Before Ang could protest, Darren stepped in.
"I'll pay for it. That way Ruthie will be happy that you haven't spent your money, and you will have the stuff you need." He shrugged. "It kind of is my responsibility, since you are my guest."
Ang rolled her eyes. "That argument won't get you anywhere! It is not your fault that my luggage got lost, and no, you are not paying for my stuff! I am perfectly capable of handling these unseen expenses!" Before Darren could say anything else, Ang held up her hand. "You will find that I am very independent!"
"No way!" She heard Darren mutter. She ignored him and continued.
"Listen, why don't I do this, I will use some of Ruthie's stuff. I will buy toothbrush and stuff like that. Of course, I will buy some clothes. Since when I have I passed up a perfect opportunity to buy some more clothes?"
This made Ruthie laugh. "Never!"
"My point exactly!" As they climbed out of the car, Ang continued. "You never know, Ruthie, you might just find that outfit to die for here."
Ruthie's eyes lit up and she moved toward the doors of the store with a new purpose.
When they entered the store, Ang looked around eagerly. "You know, Ruthie, Darren has never seen us shopping together before."
They both turned to look at Darren. Darren was warily watched them. They slowly assessed him. Ruthie looked at Ang.
"He can handle it. He has three sisters."
They both started laughing at the look on Darren's face.
"Don't worry, sweetie. It won't be that bad."
"I've three sisters, remember?" Darren quipped as they headed for the ladies section.
Ruthie said. "Ang, look at this dress!" At the same time Ang said. "Ruthie, I love this dress!"
They both looked at the dress that the other was holding up for inspection. It was the exact same dress.
"I said it first so I get it." Ruthie said quickly.
"I saw it first though." Ang countered.
"But, Ang, I love this dress!"
Ang stuck out her lower lip in a mock pout. "That is what I said!"
Darren took Ruthie's arm, and pulled her back against him. He lowered his face until it was only a couple of inches from hers. "Do you really want this dress, hon?"
Before Ruthie could answer, Ang laughed. "Good idea, Darren! You distract her while I go try on the dress. The unwritten rule is if the other person tries it on first, you can't say anymore about it." Ang then turned and sailed victoriously towards the fitting rooms.
Ang stepped out of the dressing room and twirled in front of the mirror. "I LOVE IT!!" She announced.
She stopped and turned slowly as Ruthie judged it. It was a gorgeous dress. It was a light weight cotton material that was a crinkled texture. It had tiny pastel flowers scattered over a
crème background. In the full skirt there were insets of crème that only showed when Ang stepped. It had a scoop neckline made modest by a lace inset.
"It looks great on you!" Ruthie gave a sigh. "I guess that is one dress I won't be getting."
"Oh, you could get it. In about 6 months you will be living here anyways. We would be able to have matching clothes and no one would ever be able to tell, until we went to visit each other."
"That is very true. Hmmm...I will have to think about it." She laughed.
"Hey, Darren! What are you doing here in the ladies section?" A guy said as he walked up. A very good-looking guy, Ang noticed.
"I am on an important mission." Darren laughed, then made the introductions. "I would like you to meet my
fiancée', Ruthie, and her best friend, Angela. She prefers to be called Ang, never Angie! Ruthie, Ang, this is my best mate, Mark."
Mark reached over and shook Ruthie's hand. "It is nice to meet you. I've heard alot about you." He then turned to Ang, who was still awkwardly standing there in the dress. He held out his hand to her.
She gasped when her hand met his. An almost electric jolt had shot up her arm and straight to her heart when she had taken his hand. Her startled eyes flew to his. He had the same shocked expression along with some other unreadable emotion in his eyes. In a way it was almost as if she knew him, recognized him somehow. That was silly! Things like that didn't really happen! Did they?
Ruthie gulped as they pulled up in front of Darren's parent's house. She was very nervous over seeing his parents. They liked her and all, but her mind always went back to the beginning of their relationship, when his parents were not too thrilled with the idea. Not only was she 8 years younger than Darren, she was also an American and not an Aussie. Darren had told her that if his Dad could have taken a computer away from a twenty-six year old, he would have. After Darren's parents had realized, that to both Ruthie and Darren this was a serious relationship, they had gotten over those facts and accepted Ruthie.
Darren turned off the engine and they all just sat there.
"We'll go in and say hi to everyone and then come back for the luggage." Darren said.
"Ruthie's luggage and my shopping bags!" Ang joked. Lame as it was, it alleviated some of the tension.
Soon they were in the house, surrounded by some of Darren's family members. Ruthie received hugs as Darren watched delighted. Ang hung back, not wanting to ruin the moment, nor get noticed. They reminded Ang of her family. Now she knew how 'outsiders' felt when they visited her family.
There were Darren's parents, Brian and Janet Walsh. Then there was Vanessa and her husband, Tom. Samantha and Rob, Melinda and her husband, Chad and God only knew how many kids. Ang watched the kids dance with abandon around they adults. Relaxing at their antics, her shyness slowly faded. As many speaking 'thingys' she had done, you would think that she would have gotten over her shyness. Most of the time she could confidently step forward and convince everyone that she was not shy at all. Other times she could
barely say two words to a new person, thanks to her shyness. Ang was pulled from her musing as she was grabbed in an exuberant hug.
"Hi, Ang!" Melinda, Darren's youngest sister, said as she gave Ang a squeeze.
Ang laughed. This really reminded her of her family. "Hi, Mel."
Ang and Mel had become pretty good friends over the past couple of years. Though they had only met each other in real life once, they had talked over the phone and internet often. Sometimes they whined to each other how they
barely got to talk to Darren and Ruthie, since they were so caught up in each other. Though they both knew that it wasn't really true. Sometimes they asked each other for advice. Sometimes they just chatted. Over all they had become friends.
She turned and grabbed the arm of the guy who was standing behind her.
"Ang, I would like you to meet my husband, Chad."
Ang held out her hand to shake his. She mentally sighed with relief. Now she was acting confident. She had slipped into her speaker's mode.
About half an hour later they finally got back out to the car to get the luggage. As Ang grabbed her bags she noticed Ruthie looking at her. She knew what Ruthie was thinking.
"What do you think of them?" Ruthie asked Ang with a straight face. Darren turned to hear Ang's reply.
Ang dramatically let out a long sigh and slumped forwards tiredly. She immediately popped back up, a huge smile lighting her face. "They are great. They are a lot like my family, all the talking and hugging and teasing. Yep, just like my family with an Aussie accent."
Ruthie laughed. "That is what I thought. They are lot like your family." Ruthie leaned towards her and whispered with a twinkle in her eye. "They just don't have as many cute cousins as you do."
"There is no possible way they could. We have the market cornered there." As they started laughing Darren turned to look at them and groan.
"Oh, no! Let's not start that."
The women looked at him blankly.
Darren looked skyward. "You were talking in that language thing."
They looked at each other and smiled.
"I didn't even realize I was." Ruthie said. "Ang started speaking to me in Pig Latin and I just responded. Sorry, I'll try to stop." She smiled impishly, she had no intention of stopping. It was to much fun driving Darren crazy.
"Ia ama orrysa oota, arrenda. Ewa illwa opsta owna." Ang said with a completely innocent face.
Darren just shook his head at them and headed to the house.
Darren set the luggage down, as Ruthie surveyed the room that would be hers for the next three weeks. Ang was already in her room. She was right across the hall.
"You can hang all of your clothes here in the cupboard."
"In where?" Ruthie then answered herself. "Oh, you mean the closet."
Darren smiled. Ruthie was starting to drag. "That is what I said, hon."
Ruth gave him a tired smile. "It is not, and you know it."
Darren didn't answer her. He just walk over to her and hugged her to him.
Ruthie let out a sigh of contentment and laid her head on his chest.
"You need some sleep, babe. Why don't you take a short nap?"
Ruthie shook her head in mute protest. "Ang will still be in high gear. She is always like that. If it is something new she has to see it all. Right away. Her and Melinda will probably start talking and we both know that could go on forever. I don't want to just leave her though." Ruthie yawned before rambling on. "Besides, if I want to be completely honest, I am completely enjoying being held by you and don't want to leave. Do you know how many times I wished that I was right here in your arms?"
"About as many times as I did." Darren said as he buried his face in her hair. He slowly pulled away. "You really do need to get some sleep, hon. Ang will be fine. Melinda and I can keep her entertained."
Ruthie pulled a pouty face. "I know. By the way, thank you so much for the roses. I love them."
"I knew you would love them, they are your favorite." Darren then looked at Ruthie with a michevious grin. "All I get is a thank you?"
Ruthie looked at him coyly. "Come a little closer and I'll thank you even more."
"Mmmm...I think I like the sounds of that." Darren said taking a half step forward.
"Shut up and kiss me, goober." Ruthie said closing the space between them.
When Darren walked into the living room Melinda shouted. "I was right! I was right!"
He noticed Ang sticking her tongue out at Melinda. "What were you right about?"
"Ahhhhh....Not much."
Ang rolled her eyes and answered. "We were trying to guess how long it would take you to come back down. I said 7 minutes. Mel said it would only take you 5. She was right."
"And you were what?" Melinda prompted, knowing how much Ang hated admitting it.
"I was wrong." Ang mumbled.
"I don't think I heard you. Say it again."
"I was wrong! So sue me!"
"How much are ya worth?" Melinda shot back.
Ang laughed. "Not enough to bother with."
"Wait until she gets her next novel done, Mel." Darren advised.
"You are an author?" Samantha questioned, finally getting a word in edgewise.
"More or less." Ang shrugged. She didn't like talking about it. She thought she sounded like she bragging on herself.
"How is the latest one coming, Ang?" Melinda asked.
"It's coming okay. The whole story is up here." Ang said pointing to her head. "The only problem I am having is getting it to come down to here." She said holding up her hands and wiggling her fingers. "It is so hard to put the whole story into words. It is a complicated story, and I know how the whole thing goes. It goes fast forward through my head, but to get it to slow down and come down to my hands is almost impossible sometimes."
"No worries. You'll get it, Ang." Darren assured her.
"Yeah, it just getting to that point. I go through this with every story I write. Every writer's worst nightmare, Writer's Block. I get past some chapters that just flow right out of me then I get to those ones that I fight for every word."
"What is the plot for story?" Samantha asked.
"Do you really want to know? It will take a while to explain. I told you it is complicated." Ang said doubtfully.
"Yes, I do."
"Okay. Well, the characters are..." Ang started to explain.
Later that night Ang heard her bedroom door open. Before she could situp someone pounced on the bed.
"Ruthie! What are you doing?" Ang questioned, pushing her hair out of her face.
"You were supposed to stay up, woman, so I could tell you all about our walk."
Ang groaned before pushing herself up on her pillows. "I don't want to hear everything about it. I did try to stay up though, honest. You gotta remember I didn't take a nap."
"Whose fault is that?"
"Let's skip that question. What happened on your walk?"
Ruthie took a deep breath and got that silly look on her face that she always did when she talked about Darren. "It wasn't so much the walk itself, I mean it was, but it wasn't..." She trailed off. Ang waited silently for her to continue. Ruthie closed her eyes and played with the
engagement ring on her finger before trying again.
"What I mean is...the walk was awesome! We just talked and cuddled and talked and it was just great, and..." She trailed off again.
Ang pick up where she left off. "You are just totally in love with the guy. You feel like part of you is missing when you are apart. It has been awhile since you have seen each other. That was really the first time you guys have been totally alone since we got here. The moon was out, which always makes it more romantic. Plus it is a little chilly so that makes it perfect snuggling weather. Did I guess all of that right?"
"Mmmm.." Ruthie closed her eyes. "Yeah, you did. How do you know though?"
"Because I know both of you. I know how much you love him. The weather and that I know because I am phsycic."
"In other words you looked out the window." Ruthie laughed.
"Yep. So go ahead spill it all. Tell, Aunt Angela, all of it. Aunt Angela? That is a mouthful! That explains why my nieces and nephews call me Aunt Ang."
"Well, we were down on the beach and I got a mischievous thought. I took off running. Of course, he started chasing me. Just when I was about ready to give up he grabbed me. Then we just kind of sat there holding each other and talking and..."
Before it was over Ang had heard about everything that had happened, when she wasn't half asleep that is.
"Good morning to ya, Ang." Darren saluted her with his cup of coffee.
Ang just silently nodded her head. She wasn't much for morning conversations. She pointed to the cup of coffee in his hand, silently asking where she could get some.
"Oh, I'm sorry. This was the last cup." Darren teased her.
"Darren, it's to early in the morning to die." Ang said in her sleep roughened voice.
"You are a serious person in the morning, Ang."
"Only until I get that first shot of caffeine in my blood stream."
Darren chuckled as he handed her a steaming cup of coffee. Just as she was lifting it to her lips, inhaling the revitalizing fragrance, Ruthie sailed into the room and snatched the cup from her hands.
"Hey!" Ang protested as Ruthie calmly took a sip then handed the cup back.
"Yech! Coffee!" She grimaced.
"That is what ya get for taking people's cups."
"There is some juice in the fridge, hon." Darren told her as he leaned over to give her a good morning kiss.
A short silence filled the room before Ang suddenly set the coffee cup down and gave a mighty stretch.
"People, I am officially ready to start the day! So what are we doing?"
"Well, I thought about going to the Heallesville Sanctuary for a picnic." Darren said rubbing the shadow he hadn't yet shaved off. "It is a perfectly sunny day and nothing else planned for it."
As much as Ang would enjoy visiting the sanctuary she knew this was a special place that Darren wanted to take Ruthie. Besides, she could always go another day.
"You guys go ahead. I think I want to spend a day by myself." Ang told them.
Ruthie looked over at Darren, pretending hurt. "Is she trying to tell us she doesn't want to spend the day with us? What could possibly be more exciting than spending the day with us?"
"I have no idea." Darren, getting in on the game, feigned puzzled. He then became serious. "No, really, Ang, you are welcome to come with us."
"Nah, thanks anyways though. I think I will just go explore on my own. I am on an important mission, ya know. I have to learn how to be an Aussie chick." She wiggled her eyebrows wickedly. "Maybe I can find a nice Aussie guy to show me how."
"Yeah right!" Ruthie said, knowing that would be the last thing Ang would do.
"Hey, ya never know. Things can change." Ang said defensively.
"Mmmhmmm." Ruthie said, not convinced. "So what are you going to do today?"
"I thought about going to a place Darren had mentioned earlier. Something to do with winds and oceans or something like that."
"Ya mean Seawinds?"
"Yeah, that is it. If you give me directions and all of that, I think that is what I will do today."
"Okay, if you are sure."
"Sure I am sure. What kind of trouble could I get into in a nice quiet place like that?" Ang asked. Later she would wonder what kind of trouble she couldn't get into in a 'nice quiet place like that.'
"Would it be wrong of me to be kind of glad that Ang didn't come with us?" Ruthie asked Darren as they started to get the food out for their picnic. Ruthie had been delighted with the kangaroos and koalas. She had looked up, fascinated with the parrots, so long that she had stumbled almost falling. She had been simply entranced seeing the 'wild life' up close and personally. She had fairly bounced with glee.
"Get real! No! You shouldn't be feeling guilty about it." Darren took her hand and brought it to his cheek. "I know that this was supposed to be your and Ang's time together, but Ang isn't the type of friend to get upset over it. She is very flexible. Not jealous. I'm sure Ang is enjoying herself right now."
It was true. Ang was enjoying herself. She was waiting in line to ride the chair lift. The only problem was she had come at the same time as some rather large tour group, so the line was a little long. The employees were trying to get everyone situated in the lift. All of the sudden Ang found herself at the front of the line.
"Are you here with someone?" The harried employee asked her.
"I'm afraid not." Ang shook her head, feeling sorry for the employee.
The employee suddenly turned and bellowed. "Any other singles in the group?"
Ang suppressed a giggle. Her active imagination, once again in action, had imagined the employee as a matchmaker who was hurriedly trying to find a match for her. Abruptly a stunned guy plopped down in the chair lift beside her, causing it to rock.
"Whoa!" Ang said grabbing the metal bar in front of her.
"Sorry about that." The guy apologized. Ang then really looked at him.
"Hey! I know you!" Ang practically shouted in her excitement.
The guy cringed as if he didn't want to be recognized. Ang continued on not noticing his discomfort.
"You are Darren's friend! Your name is Mark, right? I met you yesterday while shopping."
"Uh yeah. Your name is Angela right?" Mark said a little more calm.
"No, I mean, Yes, I mean, kind'a." Ang shook her head. This was a very good looking guy. A potential candidate for the nice Aussie guy to teach her how to be an Aussie chick. Now was not a good time to act like an airhead. "What I mean is my name is Angela but I always go by Ang. How did you know my name was Angela? I know Darren introduced me as Ang."
He shrugged. "Good guess."
Ang gave a little laugh. "I'm glad you are my chair lift companion. I never dreamed I would ride with someone I knew. Well, kind of know."
"We'll have to remedy that fact."
"What fact?" Ang said confused.
"The fact that we don't know each other very well. Tell me about yourself."
The chair lift jerked into motion. Suddenly they were suspended above the earth.
"Oh!" Ang gasped. "It's beautiful!"
"Yeah, it is." It was quiet for a minute as they were mesmerized by the breathtaking scenery below and around them.
"So tell me about yourself. I know some about you, but not very much." Mark persisted.
"I really don't like to talk about myself. It is really boring. Ya wouldn't want to hear it. How do you know about me annys?"
"Why don't you let me decide if it is boring or not." He then became questioning. "Annys? That is very Australian of you."
"What can I say, I am a fast learner." She smiled. "So answer my question."
"Darren, naturally, talks about his fiancée' and since you are her best friend and a friend of his, you come into the conversation occasionally." He tried to conceal a smile, but failed. "He told me about your 'closet episode' at Ruthie's house."
Ang groaned and if she could have slid down in her seat safely, she would have. "I can't believe he told you!
How embarrassing! I don't even want to think about what else he might have told you."
"You mean there is more?" Mark teased. "Actually, I don't know a whole lot about you. I had jokingly said once that your boyfriend would never have to be worried bout getting bored with you. Darren said you technically didn't have one unless you count Phantom. He wouldn't tell me who Phantom is. That's one thing that I don't know about you."
Ang almost asked him. "Are you fishing?" She then thought that might be a little rude, besides she didn't want to offend a potential candidate. Instead she said. "It is kind of hard to explain who he is...He is just a friend of mine, not a boyfriend."
"How long have you known him?"
"You are nosy!" Ang said, half serious, half teasing. "I have known him for ten years. The funny part about it is he is like one of my best friends, but I have never met him in real life. I met him on the internet and we became friends. I really don't know a lot of stuff about him, like where he lives and stuff like that. I just know him. Does that make sense?"
He gave her an odd look. "Yes, it does." He scowled. "The strange part is he has been friends with a cutie like you and never tried to take it farther than friends? Is this guy married or just plain stupid?"
He called me a cutie! "Must be just stupid, because I know that he is not married." She laughed making a joke of it. He asked her a few more questions about Phantom and her life. It was so easy to answer him, almost as if they were old friends.
"Do you have the 'net?" She questioned him idly. She looked up at him when he didn't immediately answer. He looked confused, like he was struggling for an answer.
Ang laughed. "What? Don't you know?"
"Yes, I know." He said quietly, and very seriously.
She raised questioning eyebrows at this serious tone.
"Ang, I need to be very honest with you about something." He paused.
"Okay...what is it?" Ang gently prompted.
"Well, my full name is Mark Aaron Phillips. Yes, I have the internet." He took her hand and looked straight into her eyes. "Angela, I am Phantom."
Ang's mouth dropped open. Her mind struggled to comprehend.
"You are...how did you...you mean...Why didn't you tell me?" She said with frustration, pain, confusion, and a mix of a million emotions.
He looked down for a minute. "I was afraid you wouldn't like me in person and you would reject me."
"What? How could I? You are my best friend! No one, except Ruthie, is closer to me. I share my inner most thoughts with you. I love you!" Whoa, Ang. Calm down. Deal with this logically. She mentally told herself.
"It seems ridiculous now." He admitted.
Instead of calming down Ang got more upset. It took a lot to get her upset, but when she finally reached that point, there was no turning back. "Ridiculous? No, I would say this qualifies as STUPID! Down right stupid! Do know how this makes me feel? How did you even find me here? Did Darren tell you?"
He didn't respond, he just look away not meeting her angry eyes.
"There is no way Darren could have told you." She continued her tirade. A thought flashed through her mind. "You followed me didn't you!"
Again he was silent. His eyes met hers and she could see the truth in them.
"I can't believe you! I trusted you with my innermost secrets and you can't even trust me enough to admit who you are and ask to spend a day with me?!" Ang fought a losing battle with tears. "I don't ever want to see you again!" Her voice broke with emotion. "I don't ever want to speak to you or see you. I have completely lost my trust in you." The last words were spoken in a whisper. So faint he almost missed them. They hit him like a punch in the gut.
Just then the chair lift came to a stop. Ang jumped out and took off running, hot tears streaming down her face. She heard him shouting her name, but she just kept on running.
Ruthie looked over at Darren. They were laying side by side on a blanket, talking. She just laid there studying his profile, listening to him talk. Her love for him suddenly overflowed from her heart and washed over her.
"I love you." She whispered. His voice came to an abrupt halt. He rolled his head to look at her. He propped himself up on an elbow. He lazily trailed a finger down the side of her cheek and then across her lips.
"I love you too." His lips took the place of his finger. He trailed his lips down the side of her face giving her little kisses. His lips finally met hers. It was a kiss testifying of their love, their commitment to each other. It was tender and sweet. The second kiss changed. It spoke of the passion that could so easily spark in between them, and spark it did. Ruthie swore she saw fireworks. They were starting to burn through her veins. Darren dragged his lips from hers. Expelling a breath he flopped back on the blanket.
"I think I enjoy that too much." He cryptically said.
"Yeah, I know." Ruthie said. "Maybe it would be a good idea to go, or as least walk somewhere. There is way to much temptation here."
Darren stood and reached down a hand to help Ruthie up. "It is all your fault. If you weren't so beautiful I wouldn't have a problem."
"Yeah, and if you didn't kiss like sin I wouldn't have a problem. It also might have just a little to do with the fact that I am crazy in love with you." Ruthie affectionately teased back. She pressed a hand to her stomach and moaned. "I still feel full."
Darren look at his watch. "It is 3:00 now. Do you want to go for a short walk or go ahead and leave? If we leave now we would get home about 4:30, 5:00."
"Why don't we head back." Ruthie decided after quickly weighing the pros and cons.
"Ang?" Ruthie called when they entered the house. She didn't know if Ang was 'home' or not.
"Yeah?" The answer came from upstairs.
"Come on down here and talk to me, babe." Ruthie playfully called to her.
Ang hesitated. She had come home and cried for about an hour. She now had a raging headache and her eyes were red and puffy. Overall, I look like dog meat. She observed when she looked into the mirror. She sighed. She had to face Ruthie sooner or later. Might as well make it sooner.
"Ang?" Ruthie called.
"I'll be down in a minute."
"Okay. I'll get you something to drink. We'll be in the living room."
Ang took a deep breath and entered the living room. She had splashed cold water on her face, and ran a brush through her hair. She looked a little better. She was still well on her way to a migraine headache though.
"Hey." Ruthie said when she saw her.
Ang just smiled and took a seat across from her.
"Are you all right?"
That didn't take her long. Ang thought.
"Yeah, I am fine. Just a little tired. I also have a little headache." That was an understatement.
"Would you like something for it, Ang?" Darren asked.
"Yes, please."
As soon as Darren had left the room Ruthie said. "Okay, so what is wrong? Don't tell me tired or nothing. You've been crying. You can't hide something like that from me."
"I met Phantom!" She blurted out. Tears burned her eyes. She thought she had cried them all out. She let them come. She was to tired to fight them.
"Phantom as in internet, Aaron, Phantom?" Ruthie asked shocked.
"Yes." Ang gave a mocking smile. "Get this, he is Darren's best friend, Mark."
"What about Mark?" Darren said as he entered the room. He stopped short at the sight of Ang's tears. He had never seen Ang cry. She didn't cry easily.
"Mark is Phantom, Ang's Aaron." Ruthie quickly explained.
"Huh." Darren said, not asking why, but expressing surprise. "Really? I never would have guessed. I had no idea."
"I don't understand. How did you find out, Ang? Why are you crying? I would think you would be happy to finally meet Phantom." Ruthie said.
Ang closed her eyes and massaged her temples. Her words came out in a rush. "I went on the chair lift and Aaron, I mean Mark, got on with me by accident. He is such a jerk! We started talking and he was asking me all kinds of questions about Phantom and me and what I thought of him and everything. And then he told me that he was Phantom. I asked him why he didn't tell me sooner and he said he was afraid I would reject him! I would never do that! As well as he knows me he should know that! He didn't even trust me. As long as we have known each other and he can't trust me! And it was no accident that he was there. He followed me! After he told me that I just blew up. I was so upset and hurt. I don't remember everything I said, but I know it wasn't the greatest. I told him I never wanted to talk to him or see him again."
"Oh, Ang." Ruthie murmured. She got up and gave Ang a hug. That was the final straw for Ang. The pain
resurfaced and the dam holding her tears back broke.
Darren stood by, not sure of what to do. Mark was his mate, but it wasn't right, what he had done. Darren immediately wanted to go talk to him, instead he bowed his head and prayed to his heavenly Father for guidance. This could be a very difficult situation if not handled carefully.
Later, after Ang's tears had subsided, she went upstairs to take a nap. To, hopefully, get rid of her headache.
"What do you think?" Ruthie said, sitting down next to Darren.
"I'm not sure." He said pulling her closer to him. "I think I know why he did it."
"Why?"
Darren sighed. "It's a long story. About 2 years ago he got involved with Sara, a non Christian. He fell for her hard. She didn't return the feelings. To make a long story short, they were engaged and about 3 months before the wedding she broke it off. She had seemed so sweet, but in reality she everything but sweet. She told him that she never did love him, she just thought he had more money than what he did. She said that she liked him as a friend and all but he would never be good husband material. A few more hurtful things were said and he was crushed. It took him a long, long time to get over it. I'm not even sure if he is completely over it yet. He never did date again. I think he is too scared to trust again. I wouldn't go so far as to say he is in love with Angela, but he is close enough to deep emotions that it is scary for him to trust her." Darren rubbed a hand over his face. "I'm not sure what to do."
Ruthie reached up and planted a kiss on his jaw. "I'm not sure either. I wonder if she knows about Sara? I think Ang should talk to him about it. He should be the one to tell her about Sara." Ruthie mused. They heard a car pull into the drive way. "Sounds like your parents are home." They both stood to go and greet his parents.
Ang got up and showered for dinner. She felt much better. She dealt with it the same way she had dealt with every difficult thing in her life. Shoved it to a corner of her mind and locked the door. She simply didn't deal with it at all, she just didn't think about it. Not very effective, but it worked for the moment.
Ang bounded down the steps. Ruthie turned to look at her, searching her face. Ang smiled, showing she felt much better. Darren walked in.
"I guess we are going to Melinda's to dinner tonight. She has some new dish she wants us to try out. I think it will be safe." Darren smiled. "Hey, Ang, how are you feeling?"
"Much better, thank-you. My headache is completely gone."
The conversation drifted on as they made small talk with Darren's parents. Brian and Janet decided they would rather stay home and let Darren, Ruthie, and Ang be the guinea pigs. A few playful words were spoken about this before they left.
When they were in the car, Darren looked into the rear view mirror at Ang.
"Are you sure you want to go, Ang? If you don't want to, we can always make an excuse for you." He said, concerned.
"No, that is okay. I am fine. Actually, it will be better for me to go. Easier for me to get it off of my mind. Besides, I love spending time with Mel."
"Ang is like that. If it was me I would still be up in my room bawling my eyes out. Ang cries, gets it over with, and then is fine, or at least pretends that she is." Ruthie explained.
"What would be the point in still moping over it? It wouldn't make me feel any better." Ang stated logically.
"Because it is more human. When your heart has been hurt it is normal to get depressed, not shove it away like it doesn't matter." Ruthie had argued this with Ang before.
"That maybe fine for some people, but not me. And I am not shoving it away, I just chose to not let it bother me right now."
"Ang, emotions are not something that can be shut off!" Ruthie said exasperated.
"I know that." Ang said quietly. "I am not shutting them off, just hiding them." A sad smile crossed her face. "I had to learn how to, with my dad and everything." Ang had a very difficult relationship with her dad. It wasn't all of her dad's fault though. It was hard for her to control her emotions with him. She loved him and everything, but he knew how to make her upset quicker than anyone. He also knew how to hurt her easier than anyone, and he had. He had hurt her many times. She had finally learned to just block out the words, not get upset over them. Basically, not deal with them.
She looked over at Ruthie with a smirk on her face. "Are you trying to make me feel bad?"
"No. It just doesn't seem right that you are sitting there laughing instead of crying."
Ang shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry."
They called a silent truce as they got out of the car and walk towards Mel and Chad's house. Chad answered the door.
"You are just in time. Mel is in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner."
Ang inhaled. "Mmmm! It smells delicious!"
"Thank you." Mel said, bowing in the doorway of the kitchen.
"You're very welcome, milady." Ang said returning the bow.
"Ya haven't tasted it yet, Ang." Darren teased.
Chad slipped an arm around Mel. "No worries, Ang. I married the best cook in all of Australia. You'll love it, I'm sure. Is dinner ready, my love?"
Ang thought 'my love' sounded like something out of a book. The way Chad said it to Mel though it sounded so romantic.
"Yes, it is." Mel said, gazing up at him with love in her eyes.
