Caught In Suspension: Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not have a legal right over The O.C. characters and I am doing this purely for entertainment.

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Laying back on his incredibly comfy chair in his office, he rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was definitely one of those days which Seth felt like the day couldn't pass by any faster. Looking down on the desk, Seth signed the last of the plans that needed approval and decided to leave the office early. That was definitely one of the perks of being the boss.

He was one of the co-owners of DS Graphics, a company that specialized in creating or fine tuning graphics for the media, whether it was for film or publication. He didn't plan of being a big boss for a company. After graduating from college, he thought that he would get a job somewhere and work his way up. The company was actually a project that he and a partner, named Dean, had to do for one of his class in college. His partner took their idea and pitched it to an entrepreneur and the rest is in the books. Business were shaky during the earlier years but now they are one of the sought after company to put artists' characters into life. First the company only did comic books and graphic novels, then later morphed into broader things. Now their company has been known to produce cartoons or the occasional animated movies.

Seth walked out of his office and dropped the signed papers on his secretary's desk, informing her that he was heading out. His secretary nodded and he was out the door in a snap.

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Stepping out of his car, Seth happily walked upon the grounds that he found solace when he was a teenager. Seth looked down at his shoes and knew that he couldn't use his work shoes for what he planned to do. He already changed out of his suit after picking up his skateboard that his parents thought he would still want. It's a brand new skateboard that Seth bought after he broke his other deck from trying to land a trick he randomly made up in his head. Not a bright idea as he awkwardly landed, causing him to be in crutches for a month. He definitely got an earful from his mother when she flipped out after seeing her son swinging his body in after Sandy picked him up from the hospital.

He has to admit that it's been more than five years since he last skated and decided to take it easy on the street course with simple flips and occasional grinds off the rails. He only hoped that his 28 year-old body can take it.

"See daddy, I told you that's Uncle Seth!" A little girl happily exclaimed.

Seth stopped as the little girl started to run full-speed towards him. Seth looked at Ryan and waved as he slowly followed his daughter. Seth returned his attention to the five year-old and smiled widely as he bent down to the little girl's height and picked her up.

"Hi Elle. How was school?"

"It was so fun today Uncle Seth. Today was show and tell." She excitedly told her uncle.

Seth was definitely intrigued. "What did you bring?"

"A magazine." She happily revealed.

Seth furrowed his brows. "Why a magazine?"

"Because it had you in it, duh." She explained, rolling her eyes.

Seth grinned at her. "Oh yeah, which magazine did you show?"

"The one where you're on that list with famous people."

Seth raised a brow. "The Forbes Richest People list?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh. I said that's my uncle, but I have a feeling that my teacher thinks I'm making this up."

Seth couldn't help but chuckle. This little girl was definitely smart and well perceptive for her age. "How about this, the next time there's a show and tell, tell me and I'll gladly come to your school that day. I'm sure they'll believe you after that."

She smiled brightly. "You really would? Thanks Uncle Seth!"

Elle wrapped her arms around his neck and he couldn't help but smile widely.

Seth put Elle on the ground and turned his attention to Ryan.

"What brings you here?" Ryan asked.

Seth shrugged. "Just felt like doing a few runs after leaving the office early."

Ryan nodded. "So how's the business?"

Seth grinned. "Can't complain."

After looking at her digital watch, she tugged on Ryan's shirt. "Daddy, we have to go. There's a special episode of The Adventures of Captain Oats & Princess Sparkle coming up in fifteen minutes that I can't miss." Elle pleadingly asked.

Seth chuckled in amusement. That was one of the cartoons that he created for the fun of it and it was now one of the popular shows for children between the ages four to ten.

"Don't worry if you miss it. I'm sure Uncle Seth would give you a copy of the episode if you miss it." Ryan concluded as he checked his own watch. They would definitely cut it close. "In fact, I think that Uncle Seth would gladly give you the whole season on DVD when it comes out."

"But Dad, it's going to be on in five minutes and I want to see it now. If I miss it, then I wouldn't know what to talk about with my friends tomorrow and I'll be an outcast for missing it. Everyone is going to watch it. "

Seth had to giggle. She can get a bit dramatic and blow certain things into proportions. She most likely got that from Marissa.

"We wouldn't want that, would we?" Seth stated as he scooped her up and started to walk towards Ryan's car.

"I'll see you later, little one." Seth kissed her cheek and put her down in the back seat, buckling her up before he closed the door.

"Bye Uncle Seth."

Seth waved as he watched the car pull out of the parking lot. Figuring that he had enough for the day, Seth picked up his deck and walked towards his car, placing his board in the back of the trunk.

Sitting in the drivers seat, he dug into his glove compartment for his cell phone and noticed that he had a couple missed calls. He silently prayed that it wasn't from work. Phew, it wasn't from work. In fact, it was from someone who he feared more.

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Where the hell is that jackass husband of mine!

Summer was pacing in the livingroom and a rage blackout would've unleashed itself any minute if he didn't call back or come home pretty soon. It was definitely unlike him to be unreachable wherever he went. She called his office to only be informed that he left early, called Coop to only come up empty, and also tried her in-laws. That was when she tried his cell. She's been trying for the past hour and a half, but she would always have no such luck. It would always ring for a certain amount of time, then his voicemail would go on after so many rings.

After three years of being married and being together longer than that, she figured that Seth wouldn't forget that today was not the day to be late. He have been so good lately. He would come home early from work when sometimes he shouldn't, in order to avoid the embarrassment from coming in late to a social event in Newport. She knew that Seth doesn't particularly enjoy going to those type of events but he goes anyway for the happiness of his wife and she loved him for that.

Seth tried to be stealth and discreetly enter through the front door. It would've work if only Summer wasn't standing in front of the doorway as he entered. Scanning her from top to bottom, Seth knew he was in deep shit. How could he have forgotten that Summer told him to get home straight from work because they had this dinner banquet at seven. No excuse or the all-mighty himself could save his ass from the wrath that would be Summer Roberts-Cohen.

Wordlessly, Seth quickly ran upstairs to get ready.

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The ride home from the event was definitely something that Seth hadn't endured for a while. Neither spoke and Seth knew that he wasn't going to start because knowing his wife, she wouldn't really want to talk to him at the moment. She was definitely still pissed at him, but you couldn't tell if she was at the banquet. She can definitely put on a good act if she wanted to and that's what she did not too long ago.

Seth pulled up on their driveway and Summer didn't even wait for him to put the car in park before stepping out of the car. Seth sighed as he shut his car door closed. Heading for the front door, he took off his jacket, throwing it over his shoulder and started to loosen his tie. Closing the door behind him, he looked to his left and noticed the mail on the small table. Sifting through the stack, it was all junk and bills. Reaching to the end, he noticed a white envelope with a familiar looking emblem sealing the tip. He didn't need to open it because he knew what that was. It was the invitation for the ten year high school reunion. He probably wouldn't want to go because whoever he knew in high school was the people who he practically talked or see everyday and he didn't see a point to go. He'll end up going anyway because of Summer but as he thought about it, a mischievous grin curved on his face. He'll probably see that all of the jocks that used to endlessly torture him are now fat and they would probably try to make all nice to him because of his success. He decided that he had to go. He owed it to the kid that thought Newport was hell.

Walking towards the kitchen, he dropped the stack of mail on the counter by the phone and sifted through the refrigerator for a drink. The refrigerator was always well stocked and he had no problem grabbing a refreshment. Grabbing the carton, Seth seriously debated on taking out a glass from the cabinets. Summer really hated whenever he would just drink out of the carton. Seth explained that he just wanted only a sip and it would be a waste of water to wash a glass he only used for a gulp. She was already pissed off at him that he logically concluded she couldn't get any more than she was now.

Taking a swig of juice from the carton, he put it back in the refrigerator and decided to get ready for bed. As he climbed up the stairs and to their bedroom, he noticed the closed door and his toothbrush on top of a change of clothes on the ground. Looking at the items, Seth saw that he doesn't have his boxers and he needed one because he still had to shower. He knew that when he got home, he didn't have enough time to shower, so he just threw on some cologne to hopefully cover up the smell of sweat that he accumulated from skating.

Knocking on the door, Seth took a deep breath. "Hey Sum, could you please get me a pair of boxer?"

Seth pressed his ear to listen for any sounds but couldn't hear anything. He decided to knock again, thinking that she was probably in the master bathroom getting ready for bed. As he held his fist to pound on the door, the door swung open and Summer threw a pair at his face, slamming the door closed before he could react.

"Thank you." Seth mumbled quietly as he walked towards the bathroom.

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So maybe she overreacting towards Seth, but to her defense, she countlessly reminded him about the very important banquet being held by the company she was working for. That night, she would be receiving her very first award ever since busting her ass for that company in the past five years. She started off from being an intern, doing the fetching job that no one above her wanted to do. Now, she was one of the most sought out from a respectable advertising and marketing company. She didn't deal with the stress and headaches of college for nothing.

Even though she really didn't have to work anymore because Seth's company was doing so well recently, she still continued to do so because she like the fact that she doesn't have to completely depend on her husband for money. She worked so she can have the comfort of knowing that she can also bring home the bacon in the family. Besides, if she didn't have a job, what else would she do with her free time? Sure, shopping would be one of them but her shopping buddy would always be MIA because she also had to work. Not only job was a factor, but Marissa would always have to take care her family too. Domestic always came in front of leisure.

Summer looked over at the alarm clock and decided that she might as well get an early jump on the day. She knew that Seth said something about leaving the house early that day, so she didn't have to worry of bumping into him this morning.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, she made her way to the kitchen to look for breakfast. She didn't have to look for long, seeing that she already had it prepared for her. She looked at the food and giggled. Typical work of a sorry Cohen. Turning her attention to the vase of lilies, she picked up the card and opened it.

Good morning. I'm not going to blame it on anything or anyone for me forgetting about last night. It was entirely my fault and I take the total blame. I'm sorry that I couldn't stick around for breakfast this time but please enjoy what I prepared especially for you and hopefully you will take me on my offer to join me for lunch. I'm not going to state the location because you know where and hopefully I'll see you there at 11:30.

Extremely sorry,

Seth

P.S. Waking up without you in my arms wasn't the same.

Summer couldn't help but grin. Pouring syrup on a pancake, Summer took a bite and knew what she had to do.

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Sitting at a booth, Seth looked down at his watch and noticed that it's 11:45. Sipping his drink, he checked his cell phone to see if she tried calling him.

"Are you sure you want to wait or do you want to order already?" The waitress asked as she walked from behind.

Seth checked his watch one more time and sadly nodded. He was about to say his order when a person flopped on the seat across from him.

"Sorry for being late, Cohen. The office was crazy as usual." Summer sheepishly smiled.

Seth returned the smile. "No problem, I was about ready to order."

After placing their orders, the waitress smiled and walked behind the counter. Seth was about to say something, but Summer raised her hand.

"Enough apologies Cohen. I think you said it enough with all of the flowers in my office."

"You can never say sorry without flowers, which is a reason why one more can't hurt." He pulled a single rose from underneath the table and Summer graciously took it.

"Alright Cohen, enough with the cheesiness already." Summer smirked.

Seth nodded and placed his hand over hers on the table. "Okay, but it is far from over my dear. For all I know, it has just begun."

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Hey there! So here's the first chapter and nothing but catching up with the characters. As you can probably tell, this fic will mostly focus on Seth & Summer. I'm a newbie when it comes down to writing an O.C. fic and this is my first attempt (and probably only) in writing one. Tell me what you folks think of this one and please drop a review. Thanks!