AN: Okay; The first story in this series was supposed to be called 'That Night' but I mixed these two up so I'm going to call this one the 'The Next Day'. I had planned on posting these stories in individual parts but I think I'm just going to post them as one story with the parts defined in the chapter headings. I don't know how long this story will go on for but it has taken on a life of its own but I will try to update regularly. And finally, I own nothing NOTHING.
That Day
Stacey slowly returned to consciences. She had never been a morning person but as her faculties slowly returned she knew right away that something was wrong. There was supposed to be someone next to her, someone special. She opened her blue eyes and confusion settled on her and then left almost as quickly as it had come. How many hundreds, thousands? of hours had she spent in this room. How many afternoons after school, and sleepovers? How many movie and pizza filled Saturday nights and lazy Sundays had she been here?
Stacey could hear music coming softly from somewhere. She didn't know the song but it was the kind of music that Claudia's Grandmother Mimi used to listen to. Claudia. The name came to Stacy with a sudden urgency. Claudia. Beautiful and exotic with dark almond eyes and long jet black hair. That was the special someone that was supposed to be next to her. Panic began to rise in Stacey's brain when above the gentle music she heard the quiet scrape of a chair being pushed back.
Stacey turned her head toward the noise and her thick blonde hair tumbled out of her eyes. The dawn had come and gone and bright morning light was streaming through the window. By it's light Stacey could see Claudia sitting in the old directors chair looking critically at a painting before her. Stacey could not see much of the painting but even if she could see it clearly she would not have paid any attention to it. Her eyes where only for the beautiful black haired Japanese wonder slowly leaning back into the chair. Stacey could see the slender, tapered fingers that held a paint brush and beyond the shimmering cascade of black hair she could make out the delicate jaw that she had traced with her finger tips so many times the night before.
Claudia looked at the painting and was satisfied. It would need some more work but the mystery lady that had lived faceless and nameless on the canvas for so long had finally been revealed. She listened to Duke Ellington's 'Take the A Train' and smiled to herself. She had recently found Mimi's old albums and record player deep in the hall closet. The old albums where a bit scratchy but Claudia felt that the faint hisses and pops only added to the warmth and charm of the music. The songs could be soft, gentle and muted or fast and wild with horns blasting out in shear musical joy. Mimi's songs fit Claudia's many moods and she had come to love them almost as much as Mimi had loved them. As Claudia leaned back and fell into the music she felt a slight tingling on the back of her neck and she knew she was being watched.
Claudia turned in the directors chair and her dark eyes fell upon the blonde dream that lay motionless in her tiny bed. Claudia looked into Stacey's crystal blue eyes and her heart skipped a beat, she almost smiled. She wanted to smile but it was too soon. The hurt that Stacey had visited upon her was still too sharp. But the past was in the past and between them the two girls had buried it last night. And Claudia had made a vow to herself to never throw it back into Stacey's face. She had come to the decision that Stacey would be hers but it would take time for the hurt to subside.
Claudia wiped stray bits of paint from her hands and stood up. Her small feet carried her back to the bed. When she reached the bedside Stacey tentatively raised the blanket in a silent invitation. Stacey was half afraid that the black haired girl would simply tell her to leave. But when Claudia slipped into the bed and gently took the slightly trembling blonde into her arms Stacey's soul took a long deep breath. Like a diver that had stayed down too long, Claudia's embrace was like a desperate breath of air. Stacey felt that she had burst to the surface of a calm blue sea, the water streamed from her eyes and the sun shown brightly down upon her and she wondered why she had waited so long. She knew that it would be a long time before things would be 'right' between them but as long as Claudia was holding her, that was okay.
When Claudia took Stacey into her arms she could feel the anxiety fade from Stacey's body and the scent of apples filled her up. The song changed and Les Brown's 'Sentimental Journey' filled the void. Claudia listen to the longing of the woodwinds and the calling of the horns and had come to understand why this song had been one of Mimi's favorites.
Stacey had never heard the song before but even so she too responded to the wistful stains. She returned Claudia's embrace and with her head resting gently on Claudia's shoulder, Stacey said a silent "thank you" to Dawn as she listened to the heart felt tones of the singer as she sang about a journey and memories. Stacey didn't know when she had begun to cry but when the song was over she knew the first part of her journey was over, she had made it back home.