Sabrina and the Green – Eyed Monster

Disclaimer: I don't own Sabrina. (And that applies to the 1995 and the 1954 version.)

This story takes place after "Another Larrabee Party," if you are interested. But it's not necessary for you to read that story in order to understand this one.

Sabrina Larrabee stared at the front door of their penthouse apartment again. Her husband Linus still wasn't home yet. This was the fourth night in a row that he was late. Linus was slipping into his workaholic habits again. With a sigh, she crossed the living room and made her way into the large kitchen, deciding to find something that could be made quickly.

Sabrina rummaged around and found meat that took an hour to cook. She found sauces and glazes that would make the food take even longer. She shook her head. Linus usually made dinner, especially when it came to the complicated dishes. When they were first married, it had been a huge surprise to Sabrina that Linus Larrabee was a great cook. She knew he had made the clams for their Martha's Vineyard picnic, but that was one dish. It turned out he had a couple of favorites besides the clams which were blueberry glazed ham and marinated steak. Since coming to Paris, he'd also tried cooking many of the French dishes as well. Many evenings in the past few years, Linus could be found flipping through old cookbooks for new recipes. Cooking had become his favorite hobby.

Sabrina crossed to the other side of the room where the cupboards were. Apparently work was now his preferred hobby once again. She slammed on of the cupboard doors in frustration, after finding nothing she could use there. She sighed and looked around the kitchen again. It had been decorated with Linus in mind, since he was the one who spent the most time here. Hardwood floors, deep brown cupboards, and beige counter – tops looked back at Sabrina. The brown reminded her of her husband's eyes.

Finally, Sabrina pulled out a can of soup that she could heat up for her and her six – year – old daughter, Annabelle. It wasn't a fancy dinner, but it would do for now. After all, it was almost 7:00PM. She was hungry. There would be no more waiting for Linus.

After putting the soup on the stove, Sabrina returned to the living room to sit in the lime green glider in the corner. Across the room was a large forest green sofa and in the other corner was a black easy chair which was of course, empty. Because Linus still wasn't home yet. In the center of the room was a gas – run fire place with a forest green mantle and a lime green rug at the foot of it. On the opposite of side of the fireplace was a small child – sized rocker and easy chair for Annabelle. In the back of the room were double doors that lead out to a nice balcony/deck. Sabrina picked up a parenting magazine and began thumbing through it while she waited for the soup to cook. And for Linus to come home eventually.

Several minutes later, Sabrina stood up in anger and frustration and began pacing around the living room.

The room was also decorated with pictures, of course. Sabrina enjoyed taking pictures for herself just as much as she did working for Vogue. And there was no subject she enjoyed more than her own the mantelpiece were several small pictures of Annabelle, starting when she was only a year old and ending with the girl showing her six – year – old grin. Behind the sofa, on a table, were three pictures of Sabrina's father, Thomas Fairchild. In one of them he was by himself. In another he was holding Annabelle. The third showed him with Sabrina's stepmother, Johanna.

On the wall were several photographs as well. To the right were a couple larger pictures of Linus. One was a silhouette, looking over the balcony of their apartment. The other was a full – face picture of her husband with a huge smile on his face, complete with those adorable crinkles she loved so much. In the center was a nice family photograph of Sabrina, Linus, and a four – year – old Annabelle. It was one of the few pictures she hadn't taken herself. On the left was a couple of pictures of Linus and Annabelle as well as Sabrina and Linus's wedding photo, with the Larrabee Estate in the background. On a different wall was a large photograph of the Seine River.

"What am I going to do with you Linus?" she almost growled at the pictures.

Of course the photographs of Linus didn't respond. They just grinned back at her like nothing was wrong.

Finally, the soup was done and Sabrina poured it into two bowls and set them at the small table in the corner of the kitchen. There was no point in using the dining room if it was only the two of them and they were only eating canned soup.

"Annabelle," Sabrina called down the hallway to the playroom where she knew her daughter had been playing. "Supper!"

A couple of minutes later, Annabelle arrived into the kitchen and looked at the table setting and the soup. "No Papa?" she asked, with her lower lip trembling.

"No, Papa," Sabrina confirmed, sighing.

"Je manqué Papa,*" Annabelle grumbled, staring at the bowl of soup without touching it. Because they lived in Paris but her family was English, Annabelle switched back and forth between the two languages. "Supper is more fun with him here. He makes food exiting."

"I know," Sabrina replied, gently playing with her daughter's long brown hair as she talked. "But we need to eat before it gets too late." She took a bite of soup to prove her point to her daughter. "Aren't you hungry, Sweetheart?"

"I guess," Annabelle sighed, taking a small bite of soup.

As Sabrina ate her soup she decided tomorrow if Linus wasn't home by five o'clock, she would go to his office and drag him home. They had a nanny for Annabelle, after all. It's shouldn't be too much trouble to ask Karoline to stay a little later.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Sure enough, when Sabrina arrived home the next afternoon at five o'clock, Linus still wasn't home. After instructing Karoline to stay with Annabelle, who was happily setting up some dominoes, Sabrina set out. It was a nice spring afternoon with no rain, so she tried to relax a little as she walked. Strolling around Paris was one of her favorite things to do, after all. Still, it was difficult when she thought of the reason she was walking in the first place.

Because Linus was still in his office instead of at home where he belonged. She knew he could be a bit of a perfectionist, but hadn't he told her he didn't want to only work anymore? That he wanted to "live?" as she had put it after their first day together, back in New York? He wasn't even in charge of his family's company anymore. His brother David handled that from New York and Linus had admitted David seemed to be doing well. The only business Linus controlled was the Larrabee Bank in Paris. How much work could one bank be?

Sabrina shook her head as she turned the corner that the Larrabee Bank was on. Once again she tried to soak in the atmosphere of promenading around Paris. A pigeon flew by over her head. An older woman walked by with a poodle on a leash. The wind blew a little and Sabrina tightened her jacket around herself. A few minutes later, a car flew by. Eventually she reached the building.

As Sabrina rode the elevator to the top of the Larrabee Bank, she thought about what she would say to Linus. "Have you forgotten your family?" maybe? Or how about, "What happened to 'living' Linus?" Maybe, "There's more to life than work. I thought you knew that by now?" She climbed out of the elevator and was prepared to march into his office to let him have it.

And then she saw him talking to a twenty – five – year – old with long blonde hair and an extremely short skirt through the office window. Since his secretary wasn't in her usual place at her desk right outside his office, Sabrina figured the woman must be her. Linus had mentioned he had received a new secretary recently, hadn't he? Somehow Sabrina hadn't expected her to be so young and beautiful. Not that it mattered, of course. Linus had never been interested in other women. Still, the woman seemed talking to Linus quite excitedly from the sound of her voice and the way her hands flew in the air. Was this girl the reason why her husband was so late the past few nights? Was this secretary encouraging him to stay later? It made sense. After all, Linus hadn't had problems staying night after night since they'd left New York City almost nine years ago. Perhaps it was the girl that Sabrina should talk to, instead.

As Sabrina pondered what to say to the clerk, she suddenly heard something that made her stop in her tracks, she was so surprised. Linus's laughter. His rich, warm laugh traveled through the open door and right to the entryway where Sabrina was standing. Linus was normally a very serious person, especially at work. How was this girl, this…secretary able to make him laugh like that? Not just a chuckle but a full laugh? Sabrina had always thought she and Annabelle were the only ones who could cause him to do that.

Well, for some reason, the secretary had done so. Now what should Sabrina do about it? A part of her wanted to continue with her plan to march into Linus's office and announce that she was Linus's wife and they were going home. Now. And if the young woman had any more jokes to tell, she could say them after Linus had left, thank you very much. But something stopped her. It was silly, but Sabrina couldn't help but wonder why the clerk had made Linus laugh. Could it be because he was interested in her? She was…quite pretty after all. Was this the real reason why her husband had been late the last few nights? Because he wanted to spend more time with his new secretary? Were her jokes and teasing better than Sabrina's? As she continued to deliberate these horrible thoughts, she saw the girl reach over and put her hand on Linus's arm.

Once again, Sabrina fantasied marching into the office and firmly removing the secretary's hand from her husband's arm. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. The sound of Linus's laughter from several minutes ago haunted her. If Linus was interested in this girl, which seemed like it might indeed be the case, Sabrina didn't want it confirmed right in front of her eyes. Instead, she returned to the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby. The soft, instrumental music was her only company on the way down.

OOOOOOOOOOO

It was 9:30PM when Linus finally walked through their front door. Annabelle was asleep, of course. Apparently seeing their daughter didn't matter to Linus anymore, even though Annabelle had spent most of the evening wishing her Papa would come home. It broke Sabrina's heart, so when he did eventually arrive, she tried to ignore him.

"Hi Sweetheart," Linus greeted her as he came through the door. Sabrina didn't answer. Instead, she sat on her glider again and busied herself with answering e – mails on one of their laptop computers. "I know," Linus continued as he took of his coat and walked over to where she was sitting. "I'm late yet again." He tried to kiss her cheek but she turned away from him, as her mind flashed the horrible possibility that he may have kissed his secretary tonight.

Linus sighed. "Well, there's this new project that I'm working on. And I'm trying to train a new secretary at the same time – "

At the word "secretary," Sabrina snapped. She wasn't about to listen to him speak about how much time he needed to spend with that woman! Instead she picked up the computer and brought it into the kitchen. "I don't want to hear it, Linus!" she called over her shoulder. She set the computer up again on the small table where she and Annabelle had been eating supper for the past few nights.

A few minutes later, Linus entered the kitchen, taking a bottle of wine off the rack in the corner and a goblet out of the cupboard. He took a few sips before he sighed. "I'm doing it again, aren't I? Spending too much time on work. I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you. How about we go to a Moroccan restaurant tomorrow?"

Sabrina shrugged, trying to focus on the computer. "Maybe. Just don't forget about Annabelle, that's the most important thing. Her ballet retail is next weekend. She begged me to make sure you were there."

"I'll be there," Linus replied, still sipping the wine. "I promise."

* I miss Papa.

This story is already written. I just decided it was too long to post as a one – shot. So I'm going to try something brave. Posting a multi – chapter story on a fandom that doesn't get much attention.

I hope a get a couple of reviews. I think they are particularly important for chapter stories, because I need to know if the story is working for the readers.