Chapter 4: The Day before the Day

It was starting to get really cold. Annabelle had been standing outside the exit of Moonlight for almost an hour now, waiting. She wanted to talk to that bartender again, hoping to return the blankets that he offered the other night.

She shivered a little, watching her own breath transform into puffs of air. Annabelle was wondering how long she would continue to wait when the metal door to the back of the nightclub opened. The same man from before walked out, carrying trash bags in his hand.

Annabelle walked over to him and tapped on his shoulders. He flinched violently, turning to see who had scared him.

"Hi." Annabelle smiled nervously.

"Oh, it's you. You scared me for a bit. Annabelle Elliot, right?"

"Sorry," she nodded as he spoke her name, taking the blankets off her shoulders and folding them neatly together. "I just wanted to return these blankets to you. They're not mine, I feel bad for keeping them."

He stood there giving her a puzzled look as she tried to hand him back the blankets.

"What's your name?" she asked, not wanting to keep referring to him as "the bartender from the other night" in her head.

"Uh, Frederick Wentworth," he replied.

"Frederick," she smiled sweetly and thanked him profusely, telling him that she could not think of a proper way to repay him for his help.

Frederick could only let out a few words, telling her that there was no need to repay him. He just did what she asked him to do.

"Well, alright then," she said. "I guess I'll be leaving now. Thank you again."

"Wait!" Frederick called out, stopping Annabelle in her path. "Do you think you could go have coffee or something with me right now?"

"Sure. Yeah, I guess I could have something to drink."

x-x-x-x

"I love this place," Annabelle said, as she looked around the coffee shop that Frederick had taken her. "It's really warm and cozy."

"I'm glad you like it." Frederick brought over two cups of hot chocolate to their table. They were sitting next to a big glass window overlooking the streets. Loud honking noises from yellow taxi cabs rang past them. New York City never looked so much alive.

"I come here very often. It's peaceful in the morning when everybody else is working." Annabelle only nodded, absorbing his every word. "So, how's your friend?"

"You mean Caitlin? She's fine. Thank you for asking. She got sicker when we got into her room but nothing a little pain killers and pine-sol wouldn't fix."

"Are you always so formal?" Frederick grinned.

"What do you mean?" She raised her eyebrow.

"I mean, you don't talk like other girls your age. I've not heard you utter the word 'like' since we started talking."

"Please, how young do you think I am?"

"Sixteen."

Annabelle let out a laugh. "And do you normally ask sixteen-year-olds out for a cup of hot chocolate? That's a little creepy, you know."

"It is creepy." Frederick replied, turning the thought over in his head. "But how old are you?"

"I'm nineteen, perfectly legal to sit here and talk to you." She shivered. The hot chocolate was keeping her fingers toasty but her jeans and light jacket were not enough to keep her entire body warm.

Frederick grabbed the blankets that Annabelle had returned, reached over and wrapped it around her shoulders again. "But apparently too young to understand that a heavy coat is absolutely necessary during winter in New York."

Annabelle blushed violently. She really liked this Frederick. He was kind, handsome, and funny. Sure, her father wouldn't approve if she brought him home. But then again, when had parents ever approved of their daughter's boyfriends?

"Look, it's snowing!" she gasped. They both glanced out the window to watch heavy white snowflakes fall from the dark sky. Nobody else in the coffee shop or on the streets seemed to notice the precipitation but Annabelle and Frederick stayed silent together for the longest time, gazing at the flakes.

The Musgrove family, for most of the year, resided in a comfortable home outside of New York City. Mr. Musgrove, a real business man, wanted to live near the main headquarters of his highly-respected publishing company, Uppercross Inc. But in the summer, when living near a busy tourist area became too much, Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove and their younger daughter, Hayley, would travel to their home in the Hamptons.

This house, compared to its neighbors, was modest and comfortable. There were seven bedrooms instead of the average ten and the kitchen had only one walk-in pantry instead of two. But as modest as that may sound, this waterfront property was far from ordinary. Not only was the beautiful ocean at their disposal, the Musgroves also enjoyed many other accommodations such as a swimming pool and their own tennis court.

Annabelle arrived at her room with a sense of awe. Ecstatic, she quickly plopped onto her big bed and spread out, seeing how far she would have to stretch to reach the edges of the mattress; she couldn't. Her bedroom view at the Musgroves' was also to die for. The beach was a pristine blue and the sand was so white, it looked like a bed of snow.

She was happy that she was spending her summer in such a luxurious place. But even with all of her excitement, she couldn't help but constantly worry. She fretted the most over the well-being of her mother. She didn't know how well her older sister would be able to take care of her. Beth had a hard time taking care of herself as it was.

But, heartbroken, Annabelle left with her little sister anyway. Her mother had actually cracked a smile when Annabelle told her that she was spending the summer with the Musgroves. Meredith and George were also there when Annabelle broke the news. And while his wife may not see any mistreatment of her sister, George knew better. He remembered with great clarity the hardships that Annabelle had endured as she tried to keep the family together and alive.

There was a soft knock on the door. Annabelle opened it to find George smiling at her.

"Hi, George, come in." She stepped aside to allow him in.

"I just wanted to check to see if there was anything you were missing. Do you have enough bath towels?"

Annabelle laughed. "Yes, I have everything that I need. Thank you."

"Good, good." George pondered on what to say next. He looked around the room and decided to sit next to Annabelle on the white bed before he continued, "Listen, this is your vacation too. I want you to have the best time while you're here."

"George, you worry too much. I will have fun. But I am here for Meredith." She patted him on the back.

"Your mother and sisters. They don't do appreciate you as well as they should. You've done so much for them."

"George," Annabelle stopped him. "I've resigned to the fact that every Christmas I will give more than I receive, that my mother will always put the blame on me for father's death, and that I will always do whatever I can to help my sisters out. Those are the facts."

"But you deserve so much more than this life, Annabelle. I wish I could do more to—"

"You've done enough. If it weren't for you, I would never be able to pay the bills every month. If it weren't for you, my family would be living in the streets. I wouldn't even know where to begin to repay you. George, please, don't worry about me. I'm happy." She gave him a small hug.

"You're too good, you know." But before he could say any more than that, the sound of Meredith's worried voice carried its way up the stairs as she tried to look for her sister. George and Annabelle smiled at each other, getting up from the bed and walking out the door.

"Annabelle! Thank goodness you're here. I've been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been?" Meredith ambushed her sister on the stairs, hugging her as if she had just found her lost doll.

"What's the matter, Mere?"

"I can't find anything to wear!" Meredith pulled her sister down the stairs and into the bedroom that she and George were staying in. Clothes littered the bed as well as the floor. Mountains of accessories and makeup were piled on the dresser and shoes lay dangerously near the doorway. There was not a clearing in sight; you couldn't set foot into the room without stepping on something that wasn't designer brand.

"What are you talking about? Look at all these clothes and shoes you have. You have more than enough things to wear."

"But I've worn them all before. The Musgroves will think that my family has been living like middle-class citizens if they see me wearing the same dress twice!" Meredith slumped down on the floor, bursting into tears. Annabelle looked over at George who was standing behind her. He threw up his hands into the air and walked away, telling his wife that he was going to keep his family distracted before they come up to find Meredith like this.

"Oh, Mere, can't you see that your husband's family don't care about your clothes? They love you and they will not think any less of you if you were to wear the same outfits more than once."

"They love you more than me," Meredith mumbled through her tears. "They're always asking about you and how you're doing. And they always complain about how 'Annabelle doesn't visit [them] enough'. I hate it! Why does everybody have to love you more than me? I don't get it. I'm prettier and have better taste in clothes. Why can't I be as special as you are?"

"No, you have it all wrong. They definitely love you more. Just think, Meredith. Why would they talk so well of me in front of you? That's because you're my sister and they wouldn't want to be rude. They secretly don't like me at all. I bet you anything they praise you all the time when you're not here." Annabelle lifted up Meredith chin and said, "Now, smile for me, would you?"

And Meredith did, feeling better as Annabelle's comforting words took effects. "And," Annabelle continued, "if you still feel like you have nothing to wear next week, I'll tell George to take us to buy you some new clothes. How about that?"

Meredith's smile grew even bigger at her sister's suggestion, and she hugged Annabelle tightly. "Thank you!" she exclaimed. "You're the best sister ever."

"So, are you going to tell me who this new guy is?" Caitlin asked her friend. Annabelle was spending the night over at Caitlin's house (as she often did) and the two girls were lying on the bed, staring at the white ceiling.

"What new guy?"

"Oh, don't lie to me like that, Annabelle. I can see it in your face that you have a boyfriend. What's he like?"

"I'm not really sure if he's my boyfriend. I mean, we've only seen each other a couple of times…." But at the thought of Frederick as her boyfriend, Annabelle could feel her cheeks burning up.

"A couple of time! That's more than enough time to know whether or not you're dating somebody," Caitlin gasped.

"I don't know, Caitlin. Relationships are an important matter to me. And I don't want to say anything until I'm completely sure."

"This guy better be worth it then."

So Annabelle set off to find out if Frederick was indeed 'worth it'. She met up with him about a week later in Central Park.

"What are we doing tonight, Richard?" she asked. Annabelle and Frederick both decided that their names were too much of a mouthful to say all the time. So, they came up with nicknames for each other instead. Personally, Annabelle liked calling him 'Richard'. It was her personal touch to his life.

"You'll see. Come on." Frederick led her to the edges of vast park and pointed out a dark shadow that was stationed on the side of the road.

"What is it?" Annabelle asked, inching closer to get a better look. "No…."

"Yeah, I thought this would be a relaxing way to spend the evening."

Time stood very still for horse-drawn carriages. The old-fashioned designs seemed as if the rides came straight out of the 19th century.

Frederick helped Annabelle into the ride and once they got settled in, the carriage set off, slowly making its way around the park.

"What do you think?"

"It's magical." Annabelle's voice held a mixture of disbelief and astonishment.

"I was actually going for romantic. But magical is good enough." Frederick smiled, looking into Annabelle's eyes which shined a dark brown in the streetlights.

She quickly looked down, rubbing her hands to distract herself. Frederick reached over and held her hand, fingers entwined. "I have to tell you something, Ellie. I like you, a lot. And I can't go home tonight without knowing whether or not you feel the same way."

Annabelle looked up and gave a small nod, whispering "Me too." Moving closer, Frederick leaned in as slowly as he possibly could. He was afraid that if he wasn't careful, the moment would be lost forever. Caressing her cheeks with his other hand, his lips lightly touched hers.

A/N: So, chapter 4 is up! YAY! I've been working this chapter for a few days, finally getting enough inspiration. I'm sorry this update took so long. I hope you guys like the story so far.

Happy New Year's! And send me review please, I would love getting them. I don't even mind the bad reviews too.

Humor my lips.