Caroline Through the Looking Glass by Ann Fox and Sarah Stella

Caroline Through the Looking Glass
by Ann Fox and Sarah Stella
1998

Author's Note: I wrote this with my good pal Sarah Stella back in 1998. It was a lot of fun to write, and we enjoy feedback, despite the amount of time that has passed since it was written. Enjoy!

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Part One

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A Wednesday like any other drizzled into Caroline's apartment, its inhabitant caught adrift in the midst of a week that didn't feel like it wanted to end anytime soon. Caroline deposited water, filter and coffee into her coffeemaker with zombie-like efficiency. The sharp scent of grounds filled the room, mixed with whatever French vanilla flavoring Starbuck's was using these days.

It was 9 o'clock, at least half an hour until Richard rushed in the door, his clothes in disarray, spouting whatever weak excuse he'd managed to think up between the subway station and her apartment; at least an hour before Annie stumbled blindly in the door and drank two thirds of her coffee. Caroline smiled inwardly and poured herself a generous cupful. She had been working close to the wire these days, rushing on jobs that, previously, she and Richard had completed weeks in advance.

Right now, she was in the middle of a relatively small batch of "Caroline" Father's Day cards. She moved over to her chair and settled in comfortably. Might as well get some drawing in, anyhow, she resolved. She'd color too if necessary but Richard wasn't usually that late. She touched a newly sharpened pencil to a piece of white paper with a large, black-outlined box drawn in the middle. Part of her mind concentrated fiercely on the drawing in front of her while the other half skipped happily away down paths of unrelated thought.

Richard and Julia's ten month anniversary was today, she realized with a start. Caroline bit her lip. When she had first learned about their marriage she had been crushed, but the one thing that had kept her from completely collapsing was the smug idea that they wouldn't last six months together. Now they were rapidly nearing the year mark. Caroline was ashamed of wishing something so horrible on one of her best friends and the woman he...loved. She pushed the thought into the back of her mind and firmly suppressed it with all the skill she'd inherited from her parents.

A loud knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

"Open!" she called, not bothering to turn around. The door opened. "Hi, Del," she greeted him, still not looking his way.

"Wow. How'd you do that?"

"Richard never knocks. Charlie makes more noise. Annie's never up before 10 o'clock."

Del smiled. "Pretty good. You are an amazing woman, Caroline."

"What do you want?"

Del feigned shock, a useless exercise since Caroline still hadn't turned to face him. "Can't one friend pay a compliment to another friend without that friend jumping on the other friend's back?"

Caroline shook her head a little to clear away her confusion. "What do you want, Del?" she sighed. Whatever it was, she wasn't going to like it.

Del dropped his pretense like a hot potato. "Christmas cards. Sorry, Duff. Charlie and I just closed this really excellent deal with Valu Drug. They want to sell your cards but they want 'em kinda early."

"Kinda?" Caroline swiveled to face him. Her voice was edged with anger and frustration. "Del, it's only July."

"I am sorry, Caroline," he said a touch testily. Caroline was taken aback, Del had never been even remotely testy with her before. "I guess I could just go back and tell them..."

"No. I'll do it. It'll take me a few weeks to get an entire line together, though."

"Great." Del kissed Caroline on the forehead. "I'll send Charlie over with the contracts for you to sign later today." Del exited the apartment, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Moments later, the door reopened. "Forget something?" Caroline asked automatically, realizing half a second later that this wasn't Del. "Sorry, Richard. Never mind. I thought you were Del."

Richard shuddered. "I passed the joy boy on my way in. What'd he want?"

"We're doing some...." Caroline's voice trailed off into a murmur.

"Christmas cards?" Richard asked incredulously.

Caroline looked at him strangely. "You have ears like a bat."

"I sense some overtime in the works." Richard's expression skirted close to a wry grin but skittered back into glumness at the last second.

"Oh, that's right." Caroline smiled knowingly at him. "To make up for whatever you bought Julia. What did you get her? I know it's none of my business, but..."

Richard looked at her in confusion. "Get her for what?"

"Your ten-month anniversary. Isn't it today?"

Richard's eyes grew very wide. "You need to get someone something for that?"

Caroline shrugged. "I would, but that's just me. I take it this means you didn't get her anything." Richard shook his head. Caroline took a deep breath. "I can help you," she finally said, deciding this would qualify as penance for her earlier ideas about Richard and Julia's marriage failing. "There's this little flower shop about twelve blocks from here. Roses as big as your fist, colors you wouldn't believe."

Richard's hands closed, steady and warm, over Caroline's forearms. "Thank you, Caroline."

"No problem," she told him, smiling over the hitch in her voice. "I just need to find their number in the phone book. I'll only be a second."

Caroline opened the door to the storage area under her stairs and pushed her way into its darkness. It seemed deeper than she remembered but she continued forward, sure that she'd stub her toe against the phone books any second now. Behind her, the door squeaked shut and Caroline was left in the close, confusing darkness. She made her way carefully towards what she hoped was the exit. One moment she was on solid ground in the mothball-scented closet; the next she was tumbling through velvet darkness. Wind rushed into her face. It smelled faintly of mint. Caroline hit the ground with a thump, bumping her head against the door latch. She must have just imagined falling; it had been so brief. Already the experience was fading into memory.

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Continued in Part Two

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Please visit my Caroline in the City webpage: Sincere Amore