The Last Letter
By: Reba Jean, Dec. 30, 2001
E-mail: rjean@ghg.net
Rating: PG13+ (Language & male prurient interests/bragging)
Genre: Angst/humor
Disclaimer: Characters are based on Sailor Moon, copyright 1992 by Naoko
Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation, and English language adaptation
copyright 1995 by DIC Entertainment. This story is not intended for
monetary gain or tangible profit, but purely for entertainment of
the readers.
Notes: Andrew receives the letter he never wanted. The alternate
universe is the same as in "All My Brothers" and "Long Way Home".
~Flashback~
Andrew sighed. She was so beautiful, his woman. The half smile
lingered and the quiet, almost sad, dark eyes flashed, as she turned
down the hallway to the departure gate. He watched her as she walked
away, long dark hair swaying slightly, brushing the white blouse and
crisp khaki slacks, her carry-on and jacket slung over one shoulder.
It was the last time he had seen her. How many times had he stood here
like this, watching her walk out of his life yet again?
~*~*~*~*~*
He opened the middle drawer of his desk and took out the slim packet of
envelopes with exotic stamps and Arabic postmarks. There were only
four since Christmas and it was now June. The first two letters were
filled with mindless chatter about school, her job, and gossip about
people he didn't know. There was the envelope with the short note he
received at spring break. The next was only a postcard of the camel
rides at the pyramids. "Having a great time – wish you were here." It
was the kind of say nothing card you would send to your relatives or
classmates. And now there was the letter he held in his hand.
~Flashback~
Spring break, Andrew mused. It had been so busy up to then; he had
hardly had time to miss her at all. His best friend's "wedding" was
the first Saturday of the break and he was the best man at the
ceremony. The party had wound down a little after they discovered that
the bride and groom had disappeared. He had helped Lita and Mina clean
up the hall rented for the occasion. He was used to the routine, mop
and scrub, fetch and carry mostly. They had left the hall spotless, if
he did say so himself.
He had been looking forward to a quiet day off to rest and do nothing,
but Lizzie had conned him into subbing for her the next day. You would
think they could do without him for a day. And the anticipation of
seeing Rita on Tuesday had nearly killed him. She was supposed to be
back for the first time since Christmas. Then on Monday he got the
letter. It was just a short, almost impersonal note. "She was short
on funds. Sorry can't make it. See you in June."
~*~*~*~*~*
Andrew held the last letter in his hand staring at it. He shoved the
packet of letters back in the drawer and crumpled up the envelope and
stuffed in his wallet. He staggered back over to his recliner and
collapsed into it.
Half a dozen or so empty beer cans lay scattered about the floor around
his chair. An opened bottle of tequila, tipped over shot glass,
spilled salt shaker, and lime peels littered the coffee table. Here I
sit, crying in my beer. I sound like a damn country-western song.
The next morning, Andrew slowly went about the routine at the coffee
shop in the Crown Arcade. So far it was quiet for a Sunday.
Sunglasses covered his squinting, bloodshot eyes. They seemed to help
the throbbing headache a little.
The jingling bells on the door announced the arrival of another
customer. His best friend entered, wet and dripping, obviously
straight from his morning run. He wiped the sweat dripping off his
face and hair with his tee shirt. "I need to clean up some," he
commented as he headed back toward the restrooms. Andrew stared at his
friend, whose neck and chest were covered with bruise marks, three or
four bloody teeth marks decorated his upper arms and shoulders, and his
back was covered with scratches.
Darien grinned widely as he saw his friend's face. Greenish and pale
complexion, sunglasses, and the slow movements told the story. It
added up to a massive hangover. "You look like shit 'drew; it must
have been some party."
"Well at least I didn't lose a cat fight with Luna and Artemis. Or was
it a rabbit? I hear they have sharp claws and teeth too." Andrew
replied grumpily.
"Yeah," Darien trailed off as he stared into space.
Andrew flipped a towel at his friend's face. "Earth to Chiba, anybody
home in there?"
"Huh?" came the brilliant repartee.
"Coffee?" asked Andrew.
"Yeah." With a massive grin, Darien launched into his story. "We taped
a new commercial yesterday. It's really hot. I got a tape with it and
the first one too."
"What's it about?" asked Andrew, becoming curious.
"Well you know we met this advertising guy in Hawaii and he set up the
gig with the Rapunzel shampoo people. They liked the test audience
reaction to the first commercial where Serena plays Rapunzel and I'm
the prince who rescues her. So they had us do another commercial.
This one is like, uh, you know that other one where the girl is taking
a shower in a waterfall?"
"Uh-huh," answered 'drew as both guys stared out into space.
"It's kind of like that one. We're in a shower in a locker room. The
camera view is through a half-height frosted shower door. I help her
wash her hair; you know how long it is. She does mine. We kind of
play around a little too, if you know what I mean. She looks really
hot. I'm even hotter," Darien bragged.
Andrew appeared intrigued by the idea. "Were you guys naked?" he
asked.
"Nah, it just looks that way from the way they shoot the scenes. They
gave us some dinky little skin-colored bikini bottoms to wear. And you
can stop thinking that, Serena had a top part too," he added.
"It gave me the best chance to tease her that I've had in a long time
though," Darien smiled mischievously.
"Some day she's going to finish you off for good, if you don't stop
teasing her so much," Andrew laughed.
"This time I really got her good. When they gave us the script and she
saw it was a shower scene, she really freaked. I told her they were
all going to be nude scenes. I've never seen her turn that red or
shriek that loud in my life. Then I told her we needed the money to
pay all the bills left from the shopping she did on our honeymoon. It
was hilarious!" laughed Darien.
"You are so bad, dude. I'm changing the odds at the arcade for people
to bet on when she'll kill you." Andrew added.
"What are they now?" Darien asked curiously.
"It was 2:1 in her favor; I think I'll increase it to 5:1 after this
latest stunt!" he said. "So did you lose a fight with the cats?"
"No, it was something about the photo-shoot. With all the takes and
retakes, it lasted all day. We were almost doing 'stuff', pretending
do things with each other, touching each other, and couldn't really do
'anything' with all those people watching. I've never seen her that
turned-on in my life. She jumped me as soon as we got home. It was
intense, wild, amazing . . ." he drifted off and stared off into space
again.
"So the little bunny is an exhibitionist, eh? Can I watch?" teased
Andrew.
Darien grabbed the towel and snapped it at Andrew. "You're twisted,
man. Don't push it. Don't even think it!" He smirked, "What about
you? You gonna be 'excited' to see Rita in a few days?"
Andrew suddenly looked sick, "You know Chiba, for somebody who is
supposed to be so smart, sometimes you really say some dumb stuff!"
"Huh? What did I do this time?" Darien protested.
"You come in here bragging about how 'hot' you've got it and then stick
a knife in your friend's back. Rita's not coming back to Japan. I got
this damn letter instead," groaned Andrew as he handed Darien the
crumpled up letter. "Read it."
Darien sat at the counter and read the short letter, as his cup of
coffee grew cold. Andrew retreated to the back room. The gist of the
letter said,
"I've met someone here in Cairo. He owns an oil company and is a
long time donor to the museums here. He's offered me a wonderful
job at his company as an archaeologist and asked me to marry him
next month. I have accepted both his offers. I won't be coming
back to Japan. I wish you the best and hope we can still be
friends.
Your friend always,
Rita"
That really bites, poor Andrew getting a 'Dear John' letter, the Royal
flush, thought Darien as he sipped his now cold cup of coffee. She
could have at least dumped him in person. A few minutes later, a red-
eyed, sad faced Andrew came back out.
"That really sucks," commented Darien, as he handed back the letter.
"Is there anything I can do? What can we do to help cheer you up? Or
do you want to be left alone?" Darien added as he thought about how he
preferred to deal with trouble himself.
"That's why I got drunk last night. That's the whole damn 'party of
one'. It didn't help and now I feel crappy on top of getting bad
news," Andrew said as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Hey, it's not like all the girls hate you at least. They're always
after you. Remember when Lita and Serena were practically fighting
over you? I was so damn jealous, I wanted to pound you myself," teased
Darien, trying to cheer up his friend.
Andrew brightened, "Gee, I never knew you felt 'that' way about me.
Sorry, but I just want to be your friend. I'm not into guys that way."
"You know that's not what I meant," sputtered Darien.
"Yea, and I've had a lot of fun seeing how far I can push you. And I
still see you turn green if I pay any attention to Serena," Andrew
needled Darien.
"I knew it! That you did that just to get me mad. You finally admit
it!" crowed Darien.
A distant look suddenly came into Darien's eyes. "Well," he drawled,
"Ya never know when your 'one true love' might be just around the
corner…"
"Hi, guys. What's going on?" was a friendly greeting from Melvin as he
rounded the corner and came up to Darien and Andrew.
The sound of glass breaking and liquid splashing shattered the silence
as Andrew's nerveless fingers dropped his coffee cup. A look of horror
crossed his face as he sputtered at Darien, "That's not, . . . not one
of your predictions that come true is it?"
At the same moment, Molly, Lita, Mina, and Rei came around the outside
corner of the building and entered the arcade. "What on earth are you
guys doing?" asked Molly as Darien slipped off his stool and fell on
his butt on the floor.
Melvin looked from one to the other in confusion. "I just asked them
the same thing and Andrew dropped his coffee cup."
Darien looked up from his sprawled position on the floor, and locked
eyes with Rei. They both turned and looked at the other girls, toward
Mina. Darien grinned, sure Andrew had not seen their looks or heard
the thoughts exchanged between Rei and himself.
"That might just be one of the few times I'm right when it comes to
guessing about love," Darien quipped and exited the arcade laughing.
By: Reba Jean, Dec. 30, 2001
E-mail: rjean@ghg.net
Rating: PG13+ (Language & male prurient interests/bragging)
Genre: Angst/humor
Disclaimer: Characters are based on Sailor Moon, copyright 1992 by Naoko
Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation, and English language adaptation
copyright 1995 by DIC Entertainment. This story is not intended for
monetary gain or tangible profit, but purely for entertainment of
the readers.
Notes: Andrew receives the letter he never wanted. The alternate
universe is the same as in "All My Brothers" and "Long Way Home".
~Flashback~
Andrew sighed. She was so beautiful, his woman. The half smile
lingered and the quiet, almost sad, dark eyes flashed, as she turned
down the hallway to the departure gate. He watched her as she walked
away, long dark hair swaying slightly, brushing the white blouse and
crisp khaki slacks, her carry-on and jacket slung over one shoulder.
It was the last time he had seen her. How many times had he stood here
like this, watching her walk out of his life yet again?
~*~*~*~*~*
He opened the middle drawer of his desk and took out the slim packet of
envelopes with exotic stamps and Arabic postmarks. There were only
four since Christmas and it was now June. The first two letters were
filled with mindless chatter about school, her job, and gossip about
people he didn't know. There was the envelope with the short note he
received at spring break. The next was only a postcard of the camel
rides at the pyramids. "Having a great time – wish you were here." It
was the kind of say nothing card you would send to your relatives or
classmates. And now there was the letter he held in his hand.
~Flashback~
Spring break, Andrew mused. It had been so busy up to then; he had
hardly had time to miss her at all. His best friend's "wedding" was
the first Saturday of the break and he was the best man at the
ceremony. The party had wound down a little after they discovered that
the bride and groom had disappeared. He had helped Lita and Mina clean
up the hall rented for the occasion. He was used to the routine, mop
and scrub, fetch and carry mostly. They had left the hall spotless, if
he did say so himself.
He had been looking forward to a quiet day off to rest and do nothing,
but Lizzie had conned him into subbing for her the next day. You would
think they could do without him for a day. And the anticipation of
seeing Rita on Tuesday had nearly killed him. She was supposed to be
back for the first time since Christmas. Then on Monday he got the
letter. It was just a short, almost impersonal note. "She was short
on funds. Sorry can't make it. See you in June."
~*~*~*~*~*
Andrew held the last letter in his hand staring at it. He shoved the
packet of letters back in the drawer and crumpled up the envelope and
stuffed in his wallet. He staggered back over to his recliner and
collapsed into it.
Half a dozen or so empty beer cans lay scattered about the floor around
his chair. An opened bottle of tequila, tipped over shot glass,
spilled salt shaker, and lime peels littered the coffee table. Here I
sit, crying in my beer. I sound like a damn country-western song.
The next morning, Andrew slowly went about the routine at the coffee
shop in the Crown Arcade. So far it was quiet for a Sunday.
Sunglasses covered his squinting, bloodshot eyes. They seemed to help
the throbbing headache a little.
The jingling bells on the door announced the arrival of another
customer. His best friend entered, wet and dripping, obviously
straight from his morning run. He wiped the sweat dripping off his
face and hair with his tee shirt. "I need to clean up some," he
commented as he headed back toward the restrooms. Andrew stared at his
friend, whose neck and chest were covered with bruise marks, three or
four bloody teeth marks decorated his upper arms and shoulders, and his
back was covered with scratches.
Darien grinned widely as he saw his friend's face. Greenish and pale
complexion, sunglasses, and the slow movements told the story. It
added up to a massive hangover. "You look like shit 'drew; it must
have been some party."
"Well at least I didn't lose a cat fight with Luna and Artemis. Or was
it a rabbit? I hear they have sharp claws and teeth too." Andrew
replied grumpily.
"Yeah," Darien trailed off as he stared into space.
Andrew flipped a towel at his friend's face. "Earth to Chiba, anybody
home in there?"
"Huh?" came the brilliant repartee.
"Coffee?" asked Andrew.
"Yeah." With a massive grin, Darien launched into his story. "We taped
a new commercial yesterday. It's really hot. I got a tape with it and
the first one too."
"What's it about?" asked Andrew, becoming curious.
"Well you know we met this advertising guy in Hawaii and he set up the
gig with the Rapunzel shampoo people. They liked the test audience
reaction to the first commercial where Serena plays Rapunzel and I'm
the prince who rescues her. So they had us do another commercial.
This one is like, uh, you know that other one where the girl is taking
a shower in a waterfall?"
"Uh-huh," answered 'drew as both guys stared out into space.
"It's kind of like that one. We're in a shower in a locker room. The
camera view is through a half-height frosted shower door. I help her
wash her hair; you know how long it is. She does mine. We kind of
play around a little too, if you know what I mean. She looks really
hot. I'm even hotter," Darien bragged.
Andrew appeared intrigued by the idea. "Were you guys naked?" he
asked.
"Nah, it just looks that way from the way they shoot the scenes. They
gave us some dinky little skin-colored bikini bottoms to wear. And you
can stop thinking that, Serena had a top part too," he added.
"It gave me the best chance to tease her that I've had in a long time
though," Darien smiled mischievously.
"Some day she's going to finish you off for good, if you don't stop
teasing her so much," Andrew laughed.
"This time I really got her good. When they gave us the script and she
saw it was a shower scene, she really freaked. I told her they were
all going to be nude scenes. I've never seen her turn that red or
shriek that loud in my life. Then I told her we needed the money to
pay all the bills left from the shopping she did on our honeymoon. It
was hilarious!" laughed Darien.
"You are so bad, dude. I'm changing the odds at the arcade for people
to bet on when she'll kill you." Andrew added.
"What are they now?" Darien asked curiously.
"It was 2:1 in her favor; I think I'll increase it to 5:1 after this
latest stunt!" he said. "So did you lose a fight with the cats?"
"No, it was something about the photo-shoot. With all the takes and
retakes, it lasted all day. We were almost doing 'stuff', pretending
do things with each other, touching each other, and couldn't really do
'anything' with all those people watching. I've never seen her that
turned-on in my life. She jumped me as soon as we got home. It was
intense, wild, amazing . . ." he drifted off and stared off into space
again.
"So the little bunny is an exhibitionist, eh? Can I watch?" teased
Andrew.
Darien grabbed the towel and snapped it at Andrew. "You're twisted,
man. Don't push it. Don't even think it!" He smirked, "What about
you? You gonna be 'excited' to see Rita in a few days?"
Andrew suddenly looked sick, "You know Chiba, for somebody who is
supposed to be so smart, sometimes you really say some dumb stuff!"
"Huh? What did I do this time?" Darien protested.
"You come in here bragging about how 'hot' you've got it and then stick
a knife in your friend's back. Rita's not coming back to Japan. I got
this damn letter instead," groaned Andrew as he handed Darien the
crumpled up letter. "Read it."
Darien sat at the counter and read the short letter, as his cup of
coffee grew cold. Andrew retreated to the back room. The gist of the
letter said,
"I've met someone here in Cairo. He owns an oil company and is a
long time donor to the museums here. He's offered me a wonderful
job at his company as an archaeologist and asked me to marry him
next month. I have accepted both his offers. I won't be coming
back to Japan. I wish you the best and hope we can still be
friends.
Your friend always,
Rita"
That really bites, poor Andrew getting a 'Dear John' letter, the Royal
flush, thought Darien as he sipped his now cold cup of coffee. She
could have at least dumped him in person. A few minutes later, a red-
eyed, sad faced Andrew came back out.
"That really sucks," commented Darien, as he handed back the letter.
"Is there anything I can do? What can we do to help cheer you up? Or
do you want to be left alone?" Darien added as he thought about how he
preferred to deal with trouble himself.
"That's why I got drunk last night. That's the whole damn 'party of
one'. It didn't help and now I feel crappy on top of getting bad
news," Andrew said as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Hey, it's not like all the girls hate you at least. They're always
after you. Remember when Lita and Serena were practically fighting
over you? I was so damn jealous, I wanted to pound you myself," teased
Darien, trying to cheer up his friend.
Andrew brightened, "Gee, I never knew you felt 'that' way about me.
Sorry, but I just want to be your friend. I'm not into guys that way."
"You know that's not what I meant," sputtered Darien.
"Yea, and I've had a lot of fun seeing how far I can push you. And I
still see you turn green if I pay any attention to Serena," Andrew
needled Darien.
"I knew it! That you did that just to get me mad. You finally admit
it!" crowed Darien.
A distant look suddenly came into Darien's eyes. "Well," he drawled,
"Ya never know when your 'one true love' might be just around the
corner…"
"Hi, guys. What's going on?" was a friendly greeting from Melvin as he
rounded the corner and came up to Darien and Andrew.
The sound of glass breaking and liquid splashing shattered the silence
as Andrew's nerveless fingers dropped his coffee cup. A look of horror
crossed his face as he sputtered at Darien, "That's not, . . . not one
of your predictions that come true is it?"
At the same moment, Molly, Lita, Mina, and Rei came around the outside
corner of the building and entered the arcade. "What on earth are you
guys doing?" asked Molly as Darien slipped off his stool and fell on
his butt on the floor.
Melvin looked from one to the other in confusion. "I just asked them
the same thing and Andrew dropped his coffee cup."
Darien looked up from his sprawled position on the floor, and locked
eyes with Rei. They both turned and looked at the other girls, toward
Mina. Darien grinned, sure Andrew had not seen their looks or heard
the thoughts exchanged between Rei and himself.
"That might just be one of the few times I'm right when it comes to
guessing about love," Darien quipped and exited the arcade laughing.