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                         Swans Crossing: the Reunion	
		     Chapter 6: Looking for the Answers
		           By Michelle Rutherfurd
	
	"You're what?!" Glory exclaimed after Sydney told her the news. 
"You? Married? To a french count?"
	"I know, it's wierd. But it's ture." Sydney replied.
	"Well, I can't believe you didn't tell me sooner. You've been here 
for two whole days and I am your best friend! How could you keep something 
like this from me? And from everyone else, for that matter! Especially 
Garrett: you know how he feels."
	"I know I should have told you all. But I just couldn't get myself 
to do it. I don't know why..." she said, looking away from her friend with 
a mix of shame and saddness in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt 
you. I know I should have written to you long ago and told you about him. 
It's just that the situation is more complicated than it seems. It's just, 
so, well..."
	"Don't worry," Glory told her friend as she struggled to choose the 
right words. "You're going through enough already with Garrett, and I know 
better than anyone else how stressful wedding preperations can be," she 
said as a tear streamed down Sydney's face. "Hey, don't cry. I forgive 
you! You can make it up to me by letting me be your maid of honor, ok?"
	"Sure, it's a deal, Glory," Sydney said with a laugh. "But what 
should I do about Garrett? I don't want him to go back to hating me again. 
And the truth is I have feels for him still. But I have to marry James. I 
really don't have a choice."
	Something in her friend's eyes told GLory that something else was 
going on. And she had a feeling she knew what.
	"Sydney, I really don't know how to say this. I know that without 
your mom you're having financial difficulties. And I'm sure this James guy 
is loaded. And I know how much your financial and social status mean to 
you. But are you sure you're really in love with him, or are you just in 
it for the money?"
	"Glory! How dare you accuse me of somethign like that?" Sydney 
yelled, her voicing raising enough to cause people passing by on the 
streets to stare.
	"I'm sorry, Sydney, but I'm sure you can understand why I asked you 
something like that. I didn't mean to insult you. I only have your best 
interest at heart."
	"Well, let's just forget about it. I can take care of myslef. I 
always have. Come on, we're almost there."
	For the first time since they left Sydney's house, they remembered 
the point of their mission. The private investigator Glory hired had told 
him he got a tip she might be living in a submarine at the Swans Crossing 
dock. Now they approached the docks, and what they saw shocked them.
	There, tied to the dock was a motorbike, identical to the one 
Callie used to own, and next to it was the same submarine that Callie and 
her father lived in two years ago.
			*	*	*	*	*
	"Fortune cookie?" Saja asked Sandy on their date that night. 
	"No thanks," Sandy responded, looking away distractedly. 
	"Sandy, what's wrong with you?"
	"What? Oh, nothing," she replied flatly.
	"I talked to Owen today," he said to test her nerves about her 
kissing partner from earlier that morning.
	"SO? Why would I care?! God, why do you always bring up Owen," she 
began, flustered, with a look of guilt in her eyes. Then she seemed to 
compose herself, and she turned to him with a sly smile on her face. "I'd 
rather think about the man who's with me right now."
	As they began to kiss, Saja thought to himself, "How can she do 
this? How can she not confess what she did to me, especially after I've 
given her plenty of oppurtunities to? And then she thinks she can just kiss 
me like nothing happened?" he asked himself as the anger built up inside 
of him. "Oh, yeah. Of course she can. Cause I'm good old Saja, forgiving 
and ever faithful to Sandy Swan. Well that was before she betrayed me. And 
she's about to see how unforgiving and unfaithful Saja DeCastro can be 
when he wants to."
	A plan was forming in his mind. Confronting her wouldn't be good 
enough for him, he wanted a bit of revenge. It won't be anything too big; 
just something to make her see how wrong she had been to do what she did. 
Even Saja liked to see his foes suffer now and then. And after her lying 
and betrayal, he did consider Sandy a foe now.
			*	*	*	*	*
	Jimmy, Garrett, and J.T. sat together at a table at the Swans 
Club later that evening. With the exception of J.T., they were all basking 
in a misery that they preferred to share with each other rather than 
alone.
	"You know what the worst part is?" Garrett asked the other two, 
half drunk, half sober. "I fell for it! I fell for her charades again! 
After four years, Sydney Rutledge still knows how to outsmart me in the 
worst kind of way."
	"At least she finally told you the truth. I haven't even heard one 
single word form Callie since she left," he replied, much louder than he 
would have liked to have said due to the alcohol. People at nearby tables 
turned to look.
	"Come on, guys. Maybe we should just leave so you two can sleep 
this off," J.T. offerred, the only one in the group not drunk off his butt. 
	"No, no, no! I like it here just fine!" Garrett answered.
	"And don't tell us you're not having woman problems. You're about 
to tie the knot! You gotta be gettin' cold feet by now or somethin'," 
Jimmy added.
	Suddenly not aware of the fact that the other two were not willing 
or even able to take part in a serious conversation, he responded, 
"Actually I was having second thoughts, but I suddenly feel a lot better." 
He thought back to that afternoon with Mila. How she had listened to 
everything he had to say, and offered comfort and advice to him. The two 
had talked for hours. "Ya know, Mila sure is a sweet, sensitive, caring 
girl," he told the other two, who at this point were liable to pass out 
any second.
	For a moment, he almost thought that Mila might be the one for him, 
not Glory. He'd had a crush on her since sophmore year in high school, but 
because his feelings were stronger for Glory, he had always ignored it. 
But now, he was so bored of Glory. He wanted something new and fun and 
exciting. With shock, he realized for the first time that he wanted Mila!
			*	*	*	*	*
	Later that night, after Garrett and J.T. had left, Jimmy still sat 
at his table at the club drinking beer after beer, thinking about his 
ex-love. Just as he started to get up, he noticed a girl starring at him 
from behind a nearby bush. When he looked more closely, he saw that it was 
the girl from the soda shop that morning, who might just be Callie! As he 
stumbled to make his way to her before she could run off again, he tripped 
and fell into the pool. 
	As a few people tried to help him out, he looked up to where the 
girl had been. Gone again! "Damn it," he thought. "I can't believe I missed 
her again!!"
			*	*	*	*	*	
	Nancy walked into her room at Mila's and placed her bag on the 
table by the door, smiling to herself. She had just had a "date" with Neil 
Atwater, her first official date since New York. In all honestly, Neil 
wasn't her type at all. He was too brainy. But still he was sweet and 
surprisingly fun to be around. But he was just part of her plan. After all, 
Michael was visiting Swans in a month, and it would rip him in half to see 
Nancy with a rich, professor-type. Her only regret was that in the end, 
Neil would get hurt. And after their talk that night, she almost felt bad 
about that. But she had to put those feelings aside. After what he had done 
to her, Michael deserved to be hurt the way she had. That was what was 
important.
	She smiled as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror. It looked 
like the old Nancy was on her way back.
			*	*	*	*	*
	"Hey Mila!" Owen called out to his crush as he entered the soda 
shop. 
	"Oh, hi Owen! What's up?"
	"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to double with me and Sandy 
and Saja tomorrow night at the club."
	"Sure, whatever," she said distractedly, hardly hearing what he 
was saying.
	"Ok, great! See ya then!" he said as he left.
	Mila smiled to herself. This was perfect! She already knew from 
their sleepover that Glory and J.T. had a date there tomorrow night. All 
she had to do was find a way to make them have a little fight, then she'd 
casually go over and join J.T., and by the end of the night he would be 
hers.
	An evil smile crossed her face as she thought about the victory 
that she had waited for seven years to have. And now, J.T. would be hers 
and all those fools would be put into their place once and for all.

		      Copyright: Michelle Rutherfurd, 1999

If anyone has any questions, comments, or ideas, please e-mail me at 
glitter495@aol.com. I'd love to hear from you! Thanks!