Hello there! Sorry it took so long for this update, I've been a little dry on ideas here. Plus school gives me less and less time to write every day; I've been having to update little bits and pieces of this chapter during little increments of free time over the past month. It's really annoying! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Oh! And please excuse any grammar or spelling mistakes that may have gotten by, I was so eager to put this up I didn't have time to proofread it….plus, I didn't really feel like it (said the college English major! Lol). There shouldn't be too many, but it's just a fair warning. Anyway, get to reading people!
Reba silently prayed as she lay in her bed the next morning, her eyes squeezed shut as if in a desperate attempt to will what occurred the past couple of days to all be just a dream. But when she slowly opened her eyes and found Brock's back facing her, her hopes were dashed.
Crap, she groaned inwardly as she sat up in bed and vigorously rubbed her eyes. She was definitely still trapped in the twilight zone. She let out a mighty yawn as she stretched a bit and glanced over at the clock. 5:30 a.m., a half an hour before her usual rising time. Not even the sun was expected to get up that early, but for Reba it was now a necessity. If she wanted to prevent last morning's shower incident, she figured the only way was to get up earlier and shower before Brock had the chance to pop in on her again. It annoyed her tremendously having to sacrifice sleep, but she opted to be safe rather than sorry.
So she begrudgingly eased out of the bed and snuck over to the bathroom as quietly as she could, hoping against hope that the sound of the running water wouldn't wake him. Apparently her planned worked though, for Brock didn't enter the bathroom until much later, when she was out of the shower and safely wrapped up in her bathrobe. Now she could get dressed in peace as he took his turn in the shower.
At least one of my plans finally worked, she thought to herself as she skimmed her closet for an outfit. After her failed attempt at picking a fight with him yesterday, she didn't think anything would work out as it should ever again. She was relieved to see that something actually had.
After styling her hair and applying her makeup, Reba headed downstairs and began preparing breakfast for herself and Brock. As she gathered the ingredients for her pancake batter and poured them all into a bowl for mixing, she began to think about how much she was not looking forward to her day. She had forgotten how tedious and uneventful working in a dental office could be, and she had to admit she had gotten kinda spoiled after being allowed to conduct her business in her own way at her real estate company. She didn't like having to answer to anyone else or file records or answer telephones anymore. It was boring; and what made it even more boring was that those tasks were nowhere near enough to fill her day.
Between phone calls and filing all she could do was reorganize the magazines or watch the one channel that the television picked up…which was a Spanish channel so there really was no point to that. Occasionally the radio would play a good song she could sing along to, but other than that she was completely bored. So bored in fact, that she sometimes wished Brock would get a break from his patients just so he could come talk to her. Now that really did show how bored she was.
Reba sighed with frustration as she poured the batter onto the skillet in tiny pancake shapes. What made matters even worse was that in order to maintain both her jobs she had to convince her boss down at the real estate firm to give her the two week vacation she hadn't yet used up, which meant she could kiss her trip to Las Vegas with Lori Anne later that year goodbye, along with the George Strait concert they were gonna see. The very thought of not being able to get her "George Strait's 50 Number Ones" CD autographed was enough to bring tears of disappointment her eyes. As she proceeded to flip each individual pancake, she absentmindedly began to sing "I Cross My Heart". Just as she began the chorus, Brock walked in.
"Hey honey," he called out as he was adjusting his tie. He furrowed his brows at her and chuckled a bit. "Why you singing that?"
"Oh, no reason," Reba replied sadly as she gathered up her now ready pancakes and flipped them onto a plate. "How many pancakes you want, Brock?"
"Three would be good, thanks," he said as he took as he grabbed a plate and a glass and took a seat at the kitchen table. After serving him three pancakes and pouring him some juice, Reba grabbed a plate and a glass for herself and joined him. There was something she definitely also hadn't missed, preparing breakfast. Ever since she had been forced to find work after the divorce, she had been relieved of the duty of being happy homemaker, at least to some extent. Now there she was, serving her husband breakfast before heading off to a job where she also served as his assistant. Apparently being Brock's wife again moved her down in every aspect of life.
Wow, I must really not be a morning person, she thought to herself as she reviewed the bitter feelings swirling around her. Seven years ago, while they were going through their separation, she would have killed to be happy homemaker again; to have the life back that she had lost so abruptly. Why was it so different now? What was it she was running away from so hard exactly? Could it be that she still had feelings of love toward the man she was sitting across from?
"You ready honey," she heard Brock as all of a sudden, snapping her out of her reflections. Reba looked down at her plate to find that she had absent-mindedly eaten all her pancakes and downed her coffee. Now she was just sitting there jabbing at the empty plate with her fork for no apparent reason. She smiled sheepishly at Brock and nodded, gathering the dirty dishes quickly to place them in the sink. After a quick hair and makeup check, she gathered her purse and followed Brock out to the car. The drive to work was mostly filled with silence, but for once Reba wasn't grateful for it. A plethora of conflicting thoughts were swirling around in her head and they were already causing it to ache. She needed a distraction, and at the moment even Brock's endless chatter would suffice.
Luckily the traffic seemed to be in their favor today and the pair arrived at work earlier than usual. Reba practically sprinted to her work station and threw herself into her menial labor. With any luck an endless amount of calls and patients would come in to fill her time.
But as the clock neared noon, the work Reba had been distracting herself with slowed down substantially, and the thoughts were beginning to creep back to the center attention of her mind. She quickly turned her attention to her trusty radio to find a good tune to sing along to; one that could drown out those nagging thoughts. Ironically enough the only good song they were playing was "I Cross My Heart", which only served to depress her, so she clicked the radio off angrily, leaned an elbow on the countertop and rested her chin in her hand. She sighed with frustration as she began drumming a pencil against her empty list of appointments, wishing someone would walk through the office door and provide a much needed diversion.
A few more minutes past with no activity occurring expect the ticking of the clock, and Reba was pretty sure she was on the edge of going ballistic. Her head was a dangerous place to be in right now, but at the moment it was the only place to be. She wished for something, anything to come out and entertain her.
"Hey honey," she heard Brock call out to her as he stepped out from his office. Reba slumped a bit with bitter disappointment.
Except maybe that, she thought to herself as she gave him a weak smile. His chatter may have been a welcome distraction earlier, but now she realized it only served as a reminder that he was the subject of those thoughts she was so desperately trying to avoid. Maybe next time she should just play it safe and wish for a million dollars.
"No new patients I see," Brock remarked after he walked over to the front her work station and leaned over to see the patient list. Reba shook her head and turned it over for him to get a better view.
"The phones haven't rung since I can't remember when." Brock pressed his lips together in thought and looked about the waiting room.
"Well, since everybody has seemed to skip being responsible today, what do you say you and me do the same?" Reba's eyebrows shot up with a mixture of surprise and fear.
"What?"
"Yeah, come on Reba! Let's just shut down the office and take the rest of the day off."
"But…but what if someone calls to make an appointment," Reba cried out, trying desperately to make up a plausible excuse.
"They can always just leave a message. Besides, you said yourself that the phone hasn't rung in hours," Brock pointed out.
"But it will! I know it will! I have a feeling it'll ring any second now." Both paused to stare at the phone, but after a minute of it remaining stationary, Brock smiled.
"See? Nothing," he said triumphantly. Reba took a second to glare at the phone in anger. She would have to make it pay later for its lack of cooperation. Meanwhile, Brock reached over the counter and took her hand in his.
"Come on, Reba. We can go have some lunch and then catch that new Jim Carrey movie we've been talking about seeing. It'll be fun! What do you say?" Reba stared down awkwardly at her hand in his for a moment and bit her lower lip. There was no real reason for her to refuse. As a matter of fact, she probably would have jumped at the opportunity to take the rest of the day off with him when they had been married for real, but now the idea of spending an entire afternoon alone with Brock gave her a case of butterflies in her stomach…and not the good kind like whenever she's flirting with an attractive man. These butterflies were more of the "dreading what is to come" kind.
She hadn't really spent too much intimate time alone with Brock since he lost his memory, and therefore it hadn't really been like they were married again. She had been safe; safe from the memories and that odd feeling she got whenever he kissed her. An entire afternoon alone with him might just be the thing that brought all that to the surface, and she wasn't she was ready to face that (or if she would ever be).
But as she looked up into Brock's pleading eyes, she knew there was no way she could refuse. So with a slight sigh, she assumed a phony smile and agreed. Brock's face lit up with delight and he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Great! Let me just grab my things from my office and then we can leave!" He finally let go of her hand and took off in a hurry towards his office, leaving Reba standing in dread at her work station, thinking about all the ways this could end disastrously.
I could slip up and reveal something I wasn't supposed to, or he could tell me he loved me again and I won't no how to answer, or I could lose it and hit him when he tries to kiss me, or… and the list went on and on.
A brief moment later, Brock reemerged from his office with his coat and briefcase in tow. Reba quickly removed her smock and traded it for her coat jacket as she followed him out the door. As they walked down the hall, Brock took Reba's hand in his and smiled at her, causing those ever present butterflies to do somersaults in her stomach. She smiled half-heartedly at him and tried to avoid his gaze so as not to reveal the fear she was sure was present in her eyes.
This may not end well.
It was about four hours after they had left the office when Reba and Brock emerged from their movie and out into the theatre lobby, holding hands and smiling.
"Wow, what a twist ending that turned out to have," Reba remarked as they slowly sauntered to the exits.
"I know! I will never look at the number twenty-three the same way again," Brock responded, garnering a slight chuckle from her.
"Don't tell me you're going to start going around counting all the numbers in your license and social security number, are you?"
"Hey, it's better to be safe than sorry," he replied with a playful smile. "Who knows? The number could turn out to rule my life! I'm just glad my favorite color isn't pink. That would already be one strike against me."
"Brock, if your favorite color was pink, I think we'd have a whole other issue to worry about." Brock shot her a dirty, threatening look at the insult, but instead of apologizing Reba to burst into a fit of giggles. Brock attempted to hold his angry gaze, but in the end couldn't help but join in on her infectious laughter. Soon the two were lots in bouts of giggles and didn't even notice until they almost stepped out into it that it was raining cats and dogs outside. Brock pulled Reba back a bit to save her from getting drenched.
"Who said it was going to rain today," he cried out incredulously over the roar of the falling water.
"Only God, apparently," Reba responded as they stepped back into the dry sanctuary of the lobby. Both stood for a second, not knowing what do to do next. Finally Brock came to a decision.
"You stay here, honey. I'll go bring the car around and park it right here in front and come get you."
"But Brock, we're parked out in the middle of nowhere! You'll get soaked…twice! Why don't I just go with you and you'll only have to make one trip?"
"No, no Reba. It's alright, I can get the car. Besides, there's no use in both of us getting soaked. I'll go get it and be right back," he promised her. Reba stared out warily into the pouring rain and then back at him.
"Well…alright if you insist," she consented. Brock gave her a quick smile before slipping his hand out of hers and dashing off into the storm to go retrieve the car. Reba watched him dodge cars and sprint through the parking lot until a wall of rain shielded him from her sight, all the while feeling a sort of fuzzy feeling grow within her. She couldn't remember the last time he volunteered to go bring the car around in the pouring rain; she assumed it had to be some time when they were first married.
In fact, to her immense surprise, she couldn't remember the last time she had a more pleasant afternoon. At first she thought it was going to be like the last couple of days, full of awkward moments, tense conversation, and the occasional disastrous slip up. But sitting across a lunch table from Brock again, walking through the park, and going to a movie together suddenly began to fell like they were dating again, and soon Reba found herself slipping into the part of wife more easily. Once she began to relax, the conversation began to flow smoother and the afternoon seemed to whiz by in one happy moment. Playing wife again was actually turning out to be…well…fun. And there was no harm in just having a little fun, right?
All of a sudden, she felt a hand on her shoulder and an unfamiliar male voice call out her name.
"Reba," the man asked with a mixture of delight and disbelief. Slightly startled, Reba whirled around quickly to find none other than Bill, her former plumber, standing before her wearing a huge smile.
"Bill," she cried out incredulously as she felt a pleasantly surprised smile spread across her face.
"Wow Reba, it's been so long," he told her as he made a move to wrap her in a hug. He hesitated, however, obviously not sure he was welcome to, but Reba quickly took the initiative and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a welcoming hug. When they broke apart, Bill had an even bigger smile on his face.
"I can't believe we're running into each other like this," Reba cried out. "It's been what, five years?"
"Six and a half, actually," Bill corrected, smiling a bit more shyly when he realized he had just kinda given himself away.
"Wow, six and a half," she repeated incredulously. "So how have you been, Bill?"
"Oh I've been great. I actually got a job as the head of some big plumbing company. I'm a manager now," he informed her with a hint of pride.
"Wow, that's great," Reba beamed. "I got a new job too, as a real estate agent."
"I know, I've sat on your picture on bus benches," Bill replied with a laugh to which Reba joined in. She had forgotten how funny he was. There was a slightly awkward pause where neither knew what else to say.
"So I see you grew your hair out," he remarked in an attempt to make conversation.
"Yeah, I just thought it was time for a little change," she said as she fingered a lock of her red hair. "Plus I kinda like it better longer."
"I thought you looked great either way," Bill replied with a sincere smile. Reba felt her cheeks flush as she assumed a flattered smile.
"Thanks." She took a moment to just stare deep into his kind eyes, and memories of their "semi-predate" came flooding back to her. He had been so sweet and funny, and showed her a good time like she thought she would never have again after all that had taken place. She hadn't realized how much she missed him until then.
"So Reba, I was wondering…would you like to have dinner tomorrow night? You know, just to catch up and stuff? I promise I won't take you to a hardware store," he said with a sly smile. Reba giggled.
"Well Bill, I…" she was just about to accept his invitation when all of a sudden she felt an arm snake around her waist and pull her in close.
"Who's this, honey," Brock asked beside her as he eyed Bill up and down with cold, suspicious gaze.
Oops, Reba thought guiltily as she saw Bill's smile fade into a questioning (and slightly frightened) look.
"Oh I'm sorry Reba, I didn't know you two were back together," Bill mumbled quickly.
"Wait, we've met before? And what do you mean back toge…" Brock began to ask, but Reba quickly cut him off.
"Um Brock, c-could you give us a minute," she asked, stumbling over her words with nervousness. Brock stood unmoving, determined not to leave his wife alone with the handsome man standing before her. Reba looked at him pleadingly. "Please Brock? I promise I'll explain in a second." He hesitated for a second, but then finally relented, walking off with a greatly confused face to the lobby entrance. Reba whirled around quickly to face Bill.
"Bill, I can explain everything," she told him quickly, but he shook his head.
"No need, Reba. It's my fault. I should have noticed the wedding ring on your finger." He gestured to the shiny piece of gold that adorned her ring finger. Reba looked down at it and felt her cheeks color with shame.
Yeah, I should have too, she thought before giving Bill an apologetic look.
"Bill, please let me try to explain…" she tried again, but he just gave her another friendly smile.
"It's alright Reba….really. I should be going anyway. It's nice to see you two worked things out." He stared awkwardly at his feet for a second, and Reba could see a hint of hurt in his eyes. When he looked back up at her though, he had on another one of his kind smiles. "Hope to see you again soon." And with that he bypassed her and walked out of the movie theatre. Reba just stood for a second, feeling like kicking herself for being such a mo-ron.
How could I have been so stupid, she reprimanded herself. Not only had she hurt one of the nicest guys she had ever met, she was pretty sure she caused Brock a great deal of confusion.
"Brock," she cried as she quickly scanned the crowd for him. When she finally spotted him by the lobby entrance, she quickened her pace and joined him by his side.
"I'm so sorry Brock, I didn't mean for that to happen," she said lamely.
"Who was that guy," he demanded to know, his angry look carrying a hint of jealously in it.
"He was just some guy I dated once a long time ago. It was when we had broken up before I started dating Terry. Remember?"
"Oh yeah," he said after a moment of thought. There was still a trace of suspicion in his expression, but to Reba's relief he seemed to buy it. He smiled at her again and took up her hand.
"You ready to go?"
"You bet," she said, giving him a smile that she hoped communicated a certain amount of devotion and love. It was the least she could do to curb the guilt she felt inside for slipping up so bad. Even if they really weren't married, he still thought they were, and it was incredibly wrong for her to flirt with another man when she was supposed to be his wife. She couldn't understand it, but Reba felt like she had just kind of cheated on him a bit and she felt terrible for it.
Lord, I really am getting sucked into this whole thing, ain't I, she thought to herself as they made the hurriedly made their way to the car through the heavy rain. First an afternoon with Brock that she had enjoyed and now feeling guilty over something that was technically totally irrelevant. What would be next?!
The rest of the day went by quietly. Cheyenne and Van came over and the entire family ate dinner together. Then after a couple of hours of visiting and television watching, the Montgomery's went home and Kyra and Jake went off to bed. Brock helped Reba wash the dishes (to her utter amazement), and then they played cards for a while before retiring for the night as well. All and all it had been a relatively normal day; a day that Reba imagined she would have been accustomed to had she and him never gotten divorced. It was all so foreign and a tad scary to her, but why?
This was the life she had always dreamed of having, being a good wife and a loving mother, and it was the life she had for a good chunk of her existence before Barbra Jean came into the picture. Why had she been so against it now?
Maybe because I know it's all going to disappear, she thought as she lay in bed and flipped over on her other side to face Brock's back. He's gonna get his memory back and I'll be back to being a single mom again. Granted, not that she minded that much. She had grown very accustomed to living the way she had been since the divorce, and had grown to love the new people that had been thrown into the family when everything became chaotic (surprisingly even Barbra Jean). She was a very blessed person for having so many people to love, but she also knew that she loved her former life just as much, maybe even a tiny bit more. She could easily become accustomed to having it all back again, but that could never happen. It was all going to go away as soon as Brock did, which meant she had to harden her heart against any tender feelings that may surface during this trip back into the past. She had to stay strong before she became too accustomed to it all.
But that doesn't mean I can't just play along…if only for a while, she figured. There's no harm in that! As long as she could keep everything in perspective, she saw no reason why she just couldn't play house with Brock for a while, sort of like a second chance to say goodbye to her former life. She lost it so suddenly the first time; she never did really get any closure throughout the whole mess. This would be her mulligan, as Brock would put it; a second chance to do things properly. She would gain the closure she had so longed for, and she would do it without fool-heartedly falling in love with that life again.
What could possibly go wrong?
I know, I know, their relationship hasn't progressed much, but putting them back together is a slow process people! Even though I'm sure they never stopped loving each other, too much had gone on in the past seven years for them to just jump into each other's arms again! Lol! I promise though that their relationship is going to progress more in the next chapter, especially since Reba is willing to play along now. Please continue reading and reviews are always greatly appreciated (they would make a great birthday present too, hint hint!)