Destinies In Collision
By Thomas Mc
Chapter 9 : Runaway
Paulette awoke in the early morning hours from a disturbing dream about her and the two brothers that left her feeling even more uncertain, worried and very unhappy. How was she going to face William or Joseph feeling the way she did? She had to get away from here before she hurt either one of them any more than she probably already had. She began getting dressed; her mind was in so much turmoil that she was barely aware of what she was doing until she was standing in the open drainage culvert doorway. She glanced back into the tunnel for a moment, and then, with a small whimper of despair, she closed the secret doorway behind her and headed for the road.
~ o x o ~
Joseph knew there was something wrong. Something had happened last night while he and Father had been working on that damn rusty water main. For a short time last night, he had caught faint hints of emotion from his brother that led him to believe that maybe Paulette had finally chosen William. That had changed to surprise and embarrassed disappointment. Then had come the disillusion and worry from William that remained until sleep had finally overtaken him. By the time the repair crew had gotten back to the main tunnels, everyone was asleep and Joseph had simply collapsed into his bed in exhaustion. One thing he remembered was sensing Paulette's unease, even in her sleep, as he had trudged tiredly past her chamber on the way to Williams and his chamber.
When Joseph woke up the next morning, William had already left their chamber. He could feel the unease, loss and worry from his brother. He glanced into Paulette's chamber, already aware that it was empty. He could not sense her presence anywhere nearby. Though neither of them had formed a bond with her, both he and his brother had become extra sensitive to her presence and he could tell that she was not anywhere in the central chambers.
Turning away from the open doorway to Paulette's chamber, Joseph headed for the library where he knew he would find the one person who might know what was going on.
Joseph entered the library to find William sitting with the Brigit O'Donnell manuscript across his knees and looking as despondent as they both felt. "William, do you know what has happened to Paulette?"
"I blew it." William looked up. "I let things go a little too far, then when I felt her internal conflict, I pulled back too far. I'm afraid that when I distanced myself from her it really upset her a lot. Now she has retreated to the surface and I don't think she will be returning."
Joseph was distressed by this news. "But how could she stay away?" He shook his head in denial. "She loves us . . . and we love her." This was not good. They couldn't be loosing her now.
"That is the problem little brother." William glanced down at the manuscript, she had loved reading it, then looked back up at his brother. "She is in love with both of us. She can't bring herself to choose between us and she doesn't want to hurt either of us, so I'm afraid that she will most likely stay away."
"Maybe if one of us bows out. Then she can have the other with a free conscious." It was the only thing he could think of. If he stepped aside then she could come back and be with William. Most of their friends thought she would eventually choose him anyway. To be honest, sometimes Joseph even wondered if William wouldn't be the better match for her.
William shook his head. "It won't wash. We cannot make the decision for her. It would be wrong to take the choice away from her and it would be unfair to the one that dropped out." William was pretty sure that Joseph was thinking of being the one to drop out and he couldn't allow that. He meant what he had just said.
"So what do we do?" Joseph was at a loss as he plopped down into one of the chairs.
"I don't know." William shrugged his shoulders. "I've already rejected bumping you off as a solution and I've been unable to come up with anything else." There was just a hint of a smile on William's face, as he tried to lighten the mood.
Joseph sensed William's heart and knew that the half smile on his face was false. Joseph sat there thinking for a while in silence. Finally, he looked up at his brother. "Well since we have both thrown out the idea of bumping the other one off as a solution, maybe it's time to turn to the big guns."
William looked up at Joseph. "Go to Mom and Dad?" He remarked incredulously.
"Why not? If anyone can help us they can." Joseph shrugged
~ o ~
Joseph and William arrived in the brownstone to find Charles and Elizabeth at the dining room table waiting for them. Charles had sensed them coming. After describing their problem to their parents, they sat there waiting for guidance.
Elizabeth was the first to respond. "I thought this might happen." She glanced over at Charles then continued. "Paulette is in over her head and she doesn't know how to deal with it."
Charles jumped in. "Paulette is a very passionate girl who thinks with her heart." He shook his head. "Do you remember what I told you last spring when this contest first began? Her emotions are very strong and run very deep. She is being overwhelmed by conflicting desires and doesn't know how to handle her current dilemma so she has run away. The two of you are going to have to help her understand that she can choose one of you without devastating the other or we may loose her."
"How can we help?" Joseph asked.
Elizabeth responded. "One of you should talk to her, try to put her fears to rest. Tonight would be best before she decides on more drastic action." Elizabeth gazed at her two youngest sons a moment. "Since she was with William when she hit this impasse, he should be the one to talk to her." She took William's hand. "From what you told us, she probably thinks she has already lost you so it has to be you that talks to her."
Charles added. "Just keep in mind, when she finally does know what she really wants, it will be like the emotional equivalent of a shattered water main. The resulting emotional flood will probably be overwhelming and there will be no question in anybody's mind." He paused to be sure he had the full attention of both boys. "Whoever she chooses must be ready to accept her decision and her love without doubts and without hesitation. Any other response, after all she's been through, would be disastrous."
~ o ~
It was Monday afternoon and Paulette had just finished packing the new suitcase she had purchased. She had been unable to bring herself to return below to retrieve hers from the chamber she had been staying in. The earliest flight she had been able to book for Nebraska left in an hour and a half and it had cost half her savings to book such a last minute flight over a holiday.
She was reaching for her door when she thought she had heard something and paused. It must have been her imagination. She pulled her door open and stepped out into the hall. As she started to pull her door shut, she heard it again. It had sounded like tapping at a window. Dropping her suitcase, she raced through the apartment to the window and threw it open. It was still daylight and there was no one there but the bird she had startled. The fire escape was empty. With a deep sad sigh and a single tear, she closed the window and left the apartment.
~ o ~
Just minutes before dark the delivery truck, parked behind Paulette's building, finally pulled out of the alley and William practically exploded out of the manhole behind Paulette's apartment. He shot up the fire escape to her fifth floor window. He knew before he tapped on her window that he was too late. The apartment was empty and dark. William crouched in a dark corner of the landing, pulled his cloak around himself and settled down to wait.
Around one in the morning, he finally accepted that she was gone and might not be coming back anytime soon. He knew that she had not showed up Below because he would have felt his brother's emotional reaction if she had. Dispirited, he headed Below. Now what? How could he find out where she went? William entered their chamber to find Joseph still awake.
"No luck brother?" Joseph asked, though he already knew the answer.
"She's gone." William stated flatly. "And I have no way to find her."
Joseph gave a deep sigh and shook his head. "We've blown it, brother." He thought a minute then looked up at William. "If we catch mother before she goes to work in the morning, maybe she can find her."
William looked at him a moment. "You're probably right. If anyone could, she can."
~ o x o ~
Elizabeth hurried down the stairs on her way out when she was surprised to see William and Joseph waiting in the parlor for her. She didn't need to be an empath to tell that they were unhappy. "What's wrong?" She stopped before them.
"It's Paulette, she's gone." Joseph stated forlornly.
"Gone?" She had been half-afraid of this after yesterday's conversation with them.
"She didn't return to her apartment last night and she didn't go Below." William elaborated. "We don't know what has happened to her." He paused. "We were hoping maybe you could find out where she has gone." He finished hopefully.
Elizabeth thought for a moment then sighed and nodded her head. "OK, I'll see what I can find out." She gave each of her boys a kiss on the cheek. "I'll let you know what I find out when I get home tonight." She had a few good ideas where to start.
"Thanks Mom." They both responded.
Elizabeth headed out the door and the brothers headed Below. They had just reached the home tunnels when an emergency call went out on the pipes. The water main, which Charles and Joseph had been working on, had sprung several more leaks and all Chandler-Wells males were needed at the site to help in the repair effort before it got worse and flooded half of the home tunnels. The repair of the old city main took up the rest of the day. They finally returned to the community dining room just before the kitchen had closed for the day.
Elizabeth was in the dining chamber waiting for them. "I found Paulette." She announced as soon as they reached her.
"Where is she?" Asked William.
"Did she come home?" Asked Joseph.
Elizabeth shook her head. "She called her boss and took an indefinite leave of absence from her job then she took the 6:15 flight to Nebraska yesterday evening." Elizabeth gazed up at her two youngest sons sympathetically.
"Nebraska?" William asked stunned and dispirited.
"That's where her mother lives." Joseph commented then glanced at his brother. "How do we get her back from there?"
~ o ~
Maryanne gazed at her daughter, in sympathy, wondering how to respond. Paulette had flown in last night, a total wreck, and had been babbling nearly incoherently. She had finally gotten her daughter calmed down enough that she had finally fallen asleep. The only thing Maryanne had been able to get from her daughter's ramblings was something about two brothers and an impossible situation. Paulette had finally come trudging into the kitchen, ten minutes ago this morning, looking like she had lost her last friend.
Now Paulette sat across from her at the table silently nursing the cup of coffee and occasionally picking at her breakfast. Last night she had been babbling and this morning she refused to say anything. Maryanne had seen it before and recognized the signs. Another disastrous love affair.
Maryanne shook her head. Her daughter was a sweet, kind, good-hearted person but she could fall in love at the drop of a hat and she had the worst taste in men that Maryanne had ever seen. The last she had heard, her daughter had been with that Frank character. Maryanne had known the guy was trouble the first time she heard about him. She again thought back to last night and wondered; what did Frank have to do with two brothers? Frank didn't have any brothers, only an older sister. She remembered the names Joseph and William being mentioned but very little else of her daughter's ramblings last night had made much sense. If the pattern held true to form, she would not be able to get anymore out of her daughter for a while until she was ready to open up and talk. The best thing she could do now was try to get Paulette's mind off her troubles.
"Paulette, honey, I have to go into town to do some shopping." Paulette looked up at the sound of her mother's voice. "Would you like to come with me?"
Paulette gazed absentmindedly at her mother for a few moments then finally shrugged and answered. "Yea, sure. That will be fine." Then she resumed staring at her uneaten breakfast.
~ o ~
Maryanne and Paulette had ended up spending the whole day in town and Paulette's mood had lightened somewhat. Their late lunch at the seafood restaurant in the mall had been relatively up beat and for a moment Maryanne thought her daughter was about to talk to her. They were both looking out the window into the parking lot and a teenager in ragged patched clothes had passed by. Paulette's face fell and the moment had passed.
That evening they had dinner at Paulette's favorite Mexican restaurant. They then decided to take in a movie and Maryanne had even let Paulette pick the one to see. It had, of course, been one of those dreadful monster movies that Paulette was so fond of. Something about a mad scientist on an uncharted island experimenting on crossing the genes of humans and animals. Things seemed to be going well until the halfway point when a tiger-man came bounding, roaring, out of the jungle to attack the heroes. Paulette had broken down and run crying out of the theater. The trip home had been a somber silent affair.
As soon as they were in the door, Paulette turned to her mother. "I'm so tired Mom. I think I'll just go straight to bed."
"Alright, honey. Good night." Maryanne replied,
Maryanne watched her daughter trudge back to her room. She had seen her daughter through some bad breakups but this one seemed to have been particularly hard on her. Some of the things Paulette had said while in town today led her to believe that her daughter did not plan on returning to New York. She shook her head. Paulette had loved living in New York.
After a while, Maryanne finally went to bed. She thought about their day together and found herself wondering why that ridiculous movie had affected her daughter like that.
~ o x o ~
The next day Maryanne spent most of the morning puttering around the house doing random housework and worrying about her daughter. She was at a loss. Her daughter was in pain and she desperately wanted to help her, but there was not much she could do until Paulette was ready to tell her what had happened.
Maryanne paused at Paulette's door several times but there were no sounds from the other side. Finally, around eleven she heard Paulette stirring in her room and started making lunch for them both. She was just about to call her daughter into the kitchen for brunch when she heard a knock at her door. "One moment." She called out. She pulled off her kitchen apron and quickly brushed off the front of her clothes, and then she went to answer the door.
When Maryanne opened the door, she found herself face to face with an elegant well-dressed woman about her age. "I'm here to see Paulette Gibson. Is she in?" The woman asked politely.
"Um, yes she's here." Maryanne felt a little bit flustered by this obviously very sophisticated woman. "Won't you come in? Paulette should be out in just a few minutes." She led the woman into her, suddenly rather inadequate, little living room. The woman smiled politely at her as she followed her in. "Please have a seat." She noticed the woman glancing around at her small place, but there was none of the distain she had expected to see in this, well dressed, woman's face, only mild curiosity. "Is there anything I can get you?" She asked a bit nervously.
The woman turned her attention back to Maryanne and smiled warmly at her. "No thank you. I'm just here to see Paulette." The woman replied. "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Elizabeth."
As Paulette came into the living room, she looked up in surprise to see Elizabeth sitting on the sofa and sat down stunned in the chair next to her. They sat there gazing at each other for a few moments. Paulette could see intense scrutiny in Elizabeth's eyes but there was no condemnation there. Finally, Elizabeth tilted her head and there was just a hint of a smile on her face. "So, I understand you and William had an interesting time the other night." Elizabeth remarked casually.
Continued in Part 10
'Beauty and the Beast' and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.
Runaway is sung by Del Shannon
YouTube = www . youtube watch?v=tSuztm8G9TY (or) www . youtube watch?v=5OwkQPSsIxc&feature=related
