(Sorry it's taken me so long to update, but a lot of you know that I've been having some problems with this chapter for a while now. I'm posting it but I'm not happy with it, and I may even rewrite it and post it again later. For now I just wanted to post something so that you wouldn't forget about me and think I'd disappeared off the face of the earth! Thanks to all those who sent suggestions for Carter's demise: in the event I only used Joycelyn's because (and please don't be offended) I became bored writing them and I thought it would probably be even worse reading them! Anyway, as I say, if I get the time when I've finished I will expand on this and add them in. Please read and try to enjoy, despite the dire nature of this chapter!)
Part 7
*Beep Beep* *Beep Beep* *Beep Beep* *Beep Beep*
Carter woke with a start and sat bolt upright in bed. He looked over at the alarm clock that was still beeping at him and resignedly switched it off. The last thing he remembered was hurtling towards the water in the pick-up truck and now here he was again, sitting in his bed and wishing he could throttle whoever it was who had invented alarm clocks. So much for committing suicide and ending this little merry-go-round!
He trudged wearily into the shower and was once again shocked awake by the jet of cold water. He stepped out of the shower and looked up at the heavens, shouting to nobody in particular: "Would it hurt you so much, just once, to cut me a f***ing break???"
He then finished getting dressed and walked out of the front door with only a brief 'hello and good-bye' to his mother...Well, he thought, I may be losing my mind but I still have manners! As he walked along the road that would take him to the sexual harassment seminar he started to wonder why his little act of self-destruction had failed. It had seemed so logical, like the ultimate loophole. Maybe it was the way he died that would make a difference, maybe he hadn't done it properly and he should try again just to make sure. He stopped to take a look at his watch.
*7.32*
Carter had been walking this same route practically everyday for the last few months so he was familiar with the routine of it all. In exactly 30 seconds a white HGV would be coming around the corner a little too fast and he intended to be there to meet it...
Right on cue he heard the sound of the horn as the truck came around the corner, warning pedestrians of its' presence. As soon as it was within range Carter stepped down off the pavement and into the road, facing the truck head on. The driver noticed Carter but it was too late for him to stop and there was not enough room for him to swerve away, so he sounded the horn to get him to move out of the way. Carter however stood rooted to the spot. His only concession to movement was to raise his hands and place them in front of his body, seemingly believing in his fragile state that he was Superman and that this gesture might actually slow down the impact of the truck. He closed his eyes and waited.
The second Carter felt the impact his eyes shot open...something was wrong here! He looked down and saw that he was being carried down the street by the truck, his shoes skidding along the road and smoking like in an old cartoon. He looked up through the windscreen and saw the look of amazement and horror on the driver's face: the poor man couldn't believe he'd hit Carter or the fact that Carter was still there, looking at him...saying something to him...what was it? He tried to read the words Carter was mouthing..."Looks like...*You*...*stupid*...*idiot*...*brake*...Oh my God!!!!!"
The driver slammed on the brakes and immediately Carter went flying through the air, landing with a crash on the windscreen of a car thirty feet down the road. He looked up and gave a little smile as he thought that maybe this time he had been successful, and then he allowed his head to flop back against the car as his eyes closed and everything went black...
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When he 'woke up' the next morning Carter could feel what little was left of his sanity slipping further away from him. After having failed to be killed by a speeding truck he was beginning to doubt his little theory about death being an escape clause. Although he had been stuck in Saturday for months now he was feeling particularly weary this morning and all he could think about was relaxing in a nice, long, warm bath, but then he remembered that the hot water was out and he was condemned to yet another cold shower...or was he?
He walked into the bathroom and instead of heading towards the shower as he usually did he went over to the deep bath and turned on both taps. Water started gushing into the tub at a quick rate, filling it with icy cold water. Whilst the bath was running Carter stepped out of the bathroom and started to dig around in his closet for something he knew was in there. Not caring about being neat he was throwing things out left and right as he fought his way to the back to find what he was looking for. Eventually he found it, and with a chuckle of satisfaction he pulled a moderately large package out of the closet and carried it into the bathroom. He turned the taps off and stared at the almost full bath with a smile of almost psychopathic glee. Turning to the package he pulled a few layers of plastic away to reveal a space heater; not a particularly big one but certainly big enough to do the job Carter had in mind.
"It can heat a room...no reason why it can't heat a bath as well!" he reasoned to himself as he plugged the heater into the socket behind the bath and flicked the switch. He undressed himself and stepped gingerly into the cold water, immediately feeling the goose-bumps rise on his flesh. Shivering slightly, teeth chattering, he moved forward slightly and picked up the space heater with both hands from his standing position. He held it out slightly in front of him and, taking a deep breath, he dropped it into the bath...
**!@#*!!@##**!!!!*@*@*###*****!@#*!!@##**!!!!*@*@*###*****!@#*!!@##**!!!!*@*!@
Sparks were flying everywhere, the lights came on and off because of the power surge. Eventually the power cut off and Carter remained momentarily shocked to attention, his hair sticking out at all angles from where the current had rushed through his body and a strange pained grin plastered on his face. After a moment, as the last shock of electricity left his body, Carter's grinning body collapsed backwards out of the bath and landed with a thud on the floor.
(Downstairs in the Carter Mansion)
The lights in the kitchen and the rest of the house flickered on and off very rapidly for a minute or so, causing Eleanor Carter to look up from her paper in confusion.
"Now I wonder what that was all about?"
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(Imagine several different suicide attempts that I couldn't be bothered to write otherwise the chapter would be too long and too repetitive!)
Weeks passed during which Carter had been killed in practically every conceivable manner and situation. Each subsequent attempt had made him that little bit more jaded if it weren't for the fact that he had already tried to commit suicide he would have said that he had lost the will to live! Up until this point he had avoided all contact with his friends and colleagues, preferring to go mad and wallow alone. This particular morning, though, he felt a morbid compulsion to seek out his fellow human beings and let them see a little insight into what his life had become.
After he was woken up he lay in bed for a long time thinking about what he was going to do when he got to the Seminar. Eventually he managed to summon together enough energy to get out of bed and drag himself over to his wardrobe where he threw on an old pair of pants and a shirt. He went down the stairs and out of the door, walking towards the sexual harassment seminar as if he were sleepwalking.
He walked through the door and started to move across the room, not looking to his left and ignoring the greetings of everybody in the room as he strolled over to the window and threw it open.
"What are you doing Carter?" Everybody asked together.
"Yeah Carter it's freezing outside, we don't need the window open. You want air, go outside." Carter turned and looked at Susan who was making a pantomime 'freezing' movement, crossing her arms across her chest and rubbing her arms vigorously.
"It's not for the air." He stuck his head through the window and looked down, judging the distance between the ledge and the ground. It obviously satisfied him because he drew his head in and turned to smile at the assembled group. "See ya!"
He climbed out onto the ledge and took one last look behind him before flinging himself over the edge and towards the hard ground below. The shouts and cries of his colleagues followed him down...Abby's voice especially sounding all that was pained and heartbroken. The look on her face stayed with him as he neared the ground, registering shock followed by disbelief and then an intense sadness in a moment as he fell off the ledge. In the split second before he hit the ground Carter had a moment of realisation, or as near to it as he was going to get given his past history with sudden realisations! Hopefully this one would be right, and if he actually survived the impact and woke up the next morning he would know for sure.
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(Next Day)
As soon as the alarm went off Carter hit the switch and reached for the phone that sat on his bedside cabinet. He dialled a number from memory and waited for the person at the other end to pick up.
"Hello?" a voice answered groggily on the other end.
"Hi, it's me. Listen, I've got to talk to you now. It's really important."
"Carter? What time is it? ...6.30!!! I wasn't going to get up for another hour!" There were some shuffling sounds at the other end of the line as she rearranged her bedclothes and got herself settled for the conversation. "Okay, what is it?"
"Not on the phone. I have to tell you face-to-face...Please, it really IS important. I'll be at Doc Magoo's in half an hour. I'll see you there."
She sighed. "Okay, Carter, see you there." He then put the phone down and got dressed, tearing out of the house to be at the diner before she got there.
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(Half an hour later)
Carter was sitting in a booth in Doc Magoo's nursing a cup of coffee and occasionally eating a mouthful from one of the many plates of food collected in front of him. The realisation that had hit him on his descent yesterday was so great that he knew he had to share it with somebody. He couldn't keep what was happening to him a secret anymore; it was too big, and he had to share it with somebody. Finally a little after 7 o'clock the person he had been waiting for came running into the Diner out of breath, looking frantically about her until she saw him sitting in a booth. He smiled at her as she walked over towards him.
"Alright, what was so urgent you couldn't wait to see me at the seminar?" Abby dropped into the seat opposite and stared, waiting for him to explain.
"Abby, you look beautiful this morning..."
"Cut the crap, Carter!" she exclaimed tiredly. "I get a phone call at 6.30 telling me to meet you at Doc's in half an hour, that it's an emergency. I'm not even awake yet, I didn't have time for a shower and my hair is a mess: what was so important it couldn't wait until the seminar?"
Just at that moment the waitress came along and brought the rest of Carter's order. In addition to the giant plate of pancakes, the chocolate sundae, the cheeseburger and fries already on the table she brought two orders of fried chicken, a plate of pasta, a plate of waffles and a large jug of syrup. "Will there be anything else?" she asked, pulling out her pad from the pocket in her apron.
"Um, I don't know, let me check. Abby, do you want anything?" Carter turned to Abby and noted the mingled look of curiosity and disgust as she looked at the array of food in front of Carter. She shook her head and watched as Carter returned his attention to the waitress.
"No, we're ok here. Just another couple of cups of coffee please."
"Sure thing." She walked off and returned with a cup for Abby and the coffee pot in her other hand. She filled both of their cups and then went away, leaving Carter and Abby to talk.
Carter was attacking the food with relish, taking a bite out of the cheeseburger and then spooning a load of pancakes into his mouth, squeezing syrup all over the waffles before shoving some fries in his mouth. Abby just looked at him, fascinated by the amount of food he was eating.
"What?" he asked, becoming a little uncomfortable under her gaze.
"You're supposed to be a Doctor. Don't you know what that stuff's doing to your body? I can practically hear your arteries harden as we speak!"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Carter said, his voice muffled by the mouthful of cheeseburger he was in the middle of swallowing. "I can't die. It doesn't matter what I eat because nothing can happen to me." He leaned in closer, causing her to do the same, and whispered into her ear as if relaying a confidence. "I think I'm a God."
"Excuse me?" Abby paused with the coffee cup half way to her mouth and stared at him in open-mouthed amazement.
"I can't die. I've been shot, stabbed, drowned, electrocuted, crushed, hung...nothing works. I AM a God!"
Abby laughed out loud causing the customers and staff at the restaurant to turn and look at her, trying to work out what was so funny. Abby couldn't stop laughing and moved her eyes to look at Carter, expecting to see him joining in with her laughter. When she saw the look of earnestness her laughing started to subside but she was still smiling. When she saw him frown she suddenly stopped laughing and her face fell. "Oh my God, you're serious!"
"Of course I'm serious. Why wouldn't I be?"
"I...I honestly don't know Carter. Maybe because it's CRAZY!!! What on earth makes you think you're a God?"
"Well, you may think that yesterday was yesterday and today is today and tomorrow is tomorrow but in actuality yesterday was months ago, today is always Saturday and there is no tomorrow!" He had said this all in one breath and found that he needed to stop at this point. Abby took the opportunity to digest and make sense of what he had just said before he continued. "I have been stuck in this Saturday for months now, I gave up counting a long time ago. At first I tried to change things about the day, then big things, but nothing seemed to make any difference. So then I thought I'd try to kill myself but that didn't make any difference. I think I've died nearly 20 times but every morning I still wake up in my own bed as if nothing happened. I stopped going to the seminar a long time ago." Whilst Carter was talking Abby listened quietly, sipping her coffee and taking what he was saying with a large grain of salt. He noticed that when he mentioned committing suicide she stopped drinking and stared at him intensely, but she said nothing until he was finished.
"Okay, let's say I believe you for a second," she said hesitantly. "What do you expect me to do about it?"
"Me? Nothing! I just wanted to tell somebody about me. Share it with someone else, maybe let them bask in my reflected glory!"
"So this was all about you, was it? I'd have thought that you'd have had some words of wisdom to impart, seeing as how you're a God," she added dryly.
"I don't understand..."
"Well, there's obviously something you were meant to do today but you didn't. You're not a God, John; I don't honestly know what is happening to you. If this is all real then you've been handed a wonderful opportunity to fix your life, to learn from your mistakes...do you have any idea of the number of people who would kill for an opportunity like that? And what have you done with it? You've discovered that jumping out of a plane without a parachute can lead to getting smashed to pieces!"
"Never tried that one!" Carter muttered to himself, making a mental note to maybe try it at some point. "It's not like that's the only thing I've done with my time," he said, getting up from his seat and throwing a large bunch of bills on the table. Abby got up to follow him and they continued talking as they left the diner and walked towards the seminar. "I was stuck here for weeks before things became bad enough to make me want to do that."
"Alright," Abby said, "so what big thing did you try to change? You decide to take the Rolls instead of the limo?"
"Nooo! I...I decided that it was time to move things forward with...with a certain lady." Carter was becoming nervous as he tried to explain himself without saying too much. "I told her how I felt about her, that I loved her, and she blew me off." He looked away from her, afraid that she knew who he was talking about.
"Well maybe you didn't tell her right!" Abby said jokingly, causing Carter to return his gaze to her and regard her intensely...had she guessed who it was they were talking about? "I'm guessing that you just blurted it out, didn't prepare her or give her time to react and take in what you had said."
Carter nodded and then asked in a tight voice, "So what would you have done?"
"Let me think...first off I wouldn't have blurted it out like that. I'd have taken her out to dinner, her favourite restaurant, let her know that I'm serious and I pay attention to what she likes and doesn't like. Then, oh I don't know John...get to know her. Find out the type of music she likes. Maybe serenade her; some girls go for that type of thing..." she trailed off.
"Do you like that sort of thing?" he asked, interested.
"I wouldn't say no, although I'd probably be as embarrassed as hell!" Abby blushed a slight shade of red, as if she was admitting a weakness. "It's a romantic gesture. Make her 'feel' you love her before you tell her, then maybe she'll find it easier to believe you."
"So what you're basically saying is that I should woo her?"
"No, I'm saying you should turn on the romance a little, use a bit of the Carter charm we've all heard so much about...I don't think anybody has tried to 'woo' a girl since Jane Austen was around!"
They both laughed a little, and when they had stopped Abby became serious and stared deep into Carter's eyes. "She's lucky to have you Carter," she said, trying to sound cheerful but not exactly able to hide the hint of jealousy in her voice.
"Who?" he asked, genuinely confused. He had thought that they both knew she was the woman, but obviously she had gotten hold of the wrong end of the stick.
"Susan, the woman who blew you off. If she's the reason you're going through all of this then she's got to be something special, and I hope it works out for you." They stopped walking and looked at each other. Abby had a strange glint in her eyes, they looked almost like tears and Carter was slightly puzzled by the fact that she should be telling him to stay with Susan with such a sad look. Could it be that she really cared for him? Suddenly the look in Abby's eyes changed and clouded over with something that Carter could only call desire. It was more than matched by the look in his own eyes as he inched his face nearer to her. Their eyes closed simultaneously as their lips were almost touching...when a voice interrupted them, causing them to jump apart and look away guiltily!
"Good Morning Dr Carter! Good Morning Abby!" Gallant walked past them and waved as he mounted the steps and walked through the main doors to get to the seminar.
Abby laughed nervously and stepped away from Carter, the mood broken "Looks like we're here," she said, putting her foot up on the first step and turning to him. "Shall we go up?"
"I'll be there in a little while...I just need to go and think for a bit." He was still breathless from being that close to Abby, from nearly kissing her. He knew then that whatever he had tried telling himself before was rubbish. He HAD to be with Abby! She was the only thing that had made him feel alive in a long time, he realised that now, so he had to work out some way of being with her. He walked away from the lecture building and started to head for home when her voice caused him to turn.
"So you still think you're a God?" she called out after him.
He smiled. "I'm beginning to wonder if I make that good a job of being a human being," he said quietly to himself. As he walked back home he thought about everything Abby had said. He wasn't a God, she had made him realise that that was a stupid idea, but what next? How to go about romancing her?
It looked like he was going to have to go back to the seminar in the morning...
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(End of another chapter. The next one will be better I promise...I know I say that a lot but this time I mean it. I'll try to have it up by the weekend. Thanks for all the reviews and support. I really appreciate it and it makes me feel bad that I repay you with tripe like this! Please review and I'll have even more reason to work harder! Em)
Part 7
*Beep Beep* *Beep Beep* *Beep Beep* *Beep Beep*
Carter woke with a start and sat bolt upright in bed. He looked over at the alarm clock that was still beeping at him and resignedly switched it off. The last thing he remembered was hurtling towards the water in the pick-up truck and now here he was again, sitting in his bed and wishing he could throttle whoever it was who had invented alarm clocks. So much for committing suicide and ending this little merry-go-round!
He trudged wearily into the shower and was once again shocked awake by the jet of cold water. He stepped out of the shower and looked up at the heavens, shouting to nobody in particular: "Would it hurt you so much, just once, to cut me a f***ing break???"
He then finished getting dressed and walked out of the front door with only a brief 'hello and good-bye' to his mother...Well, he thought, I may be losing my mind but I still have manners! As he walked along the road that would take him to the sexual harassment seminar he started to wonder why his little act of self-destruction had failed. It had seemed so logical, like the ultimate loophole. Maybe it was the way he died that would make a difference, maybe he hadn't done it properly and he should try again just to make sure. He stopped to take a look at his watch.
*7.32*
Carter had been walking this same route practically everyday for the last few months so he was familiar with the routine of it all. In exactly 30 seconds a white HGV would be coming around the corner a little too fast and he intended to be there to meet it...
Right on cue he heard the sound of the horn as the truck came around the corner, warning pedestrians of its' presence. As soon as it was within range Carter stepped down off the pavement and into the road, facing the truck head on. The driver noticed Carter but it was too late for him to stop and there was not enough room for him to swerve away, so he sounded the horn to get him to move out of the way. Carter however stood rooted to the spot. His only concession to movement was to raise his hands and place them in front of his body, seemingly believing in his fragile state that he was Superman and that this gesture might actually slow down the impact of the truck. He closed his eyes and waited.
The second Carter felt the impact his eyes shot open...something was wrong here! He looked down and saw that he was being carried down the street by the truck, his shoes skidding along the road and smoking like in an old cartoon. He looked up through the windscreen and saw the look of amazement and horror on the driver's face: the poor man couldn't believe he'd hit Carter or the fact that Carter was still there, looking at him...saying something to him...what was it? He tried to read the words Carter was mouthing..."Looks like...*You*...*stupid*...*idiot*...*brake*...Oh my God!!!!!"
The driver slammed on the brakes and immediately Carter went flying through the air, landing with a crash on the windscreen of a car thirty feet down the road. He looked up and gave a little smile as he thought that maybe this time he had been successful, and then he allowed his head to flop back against the car as his eyes closed and everything went black...
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When he 'woke up' the next morning Carter could feel what little was left of his sanity slipping further away from him. After having failed to be killed by a speeding truck he was beginning to doubt his little theory about death being an escape clause. Although he had been stuck in Saturday for months now he was feeling particularly weary this morning and all he could think about was relaxing in a nice, long, warm bath, but then he remembered that the hot water was out and he was condemned to yet another cold shower...or was he?
He walked into the bathroom and instead of heading towards the shower as he usually did he went over to the deep bath and turned on both taps. Water started gushing into the tub at a quick rate, filling it with icy cold water. Whilst the bath was running Carter stepped out of the bathroom and started to dig around in his closet for something he knew was in there. Not caring about being neat he was throwing things out left and right as he fought his way to the back to find what he was looking for. Eventually he found it, and with a chuckle of satisfaction he pulled a moderately large package out of the closet and carried it into the bathroom. He turned the taps off and stared at the almost full bath with a smile of almost psychopathic glee. Turning to the package he pulled a few layers of plastic away to reveal a space heater; not a particularly big one but certainly big enough to do the job Carter had in mind.
"It can heat a room...no reason why it can't heat a bath as well!" he reasoned to himself as he plugged the heater into the socket behind the bath and flicked the switch. He undressed himself and stepped gingerly into the cold water, immediately feeling the goose-bumps rise on his flesh. Shivering slightly, teeth chattering, he moved forward slightly and picked up the space heater with both hands from his standing position. He held it out slightly in front of him and, taking a deep breath, he dropped it into the bath...
**!@#*!!@##**!!!!*@*@*###*****!@#*!!@##**!!!!*@*@*###*****!@#*!!@##**!!!!*@*!@
Sparks were flying everywhere, the lights came on and off because of the power surge. Eventually the power cut off and Carter remained momentarily shocked to attention, his hair sticking out at all angles from where the current had rushed through his body and a strange pained grin plastered on his face. After a moment, as the last shock of electricity left his body, Carter's grinning body collapsed backwards out of the bath and landed with a thud on the floor.
(Downstairs in the Carter Mansion)
The lights in the kitchen and the rest of the house flickered on and off very rapidly for a minute or so, causing Eleanor Carter to look up from her paper in confusion.
"Now I wonder what that was all about?"
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(Imagine several different suicide attempts that I couldn't be bothered to write otherwise the chapter would be too long and too repetitive!)
Weeks passed during which Carter had been killed in practically every conceivable manner and situation. Each subsequent attempt had made him that little bit more jaded if it weren't for the fact that he had already tried to commit suicide he would have said that he had lost the will to live! Up until this point he had avoided all contact with his friends and colleagues, preferring to go mad and wallow alone. This particular morning, though, he felt a morbid compulsion to seek out his fellow human beings and let them see a little insight into what his life had become.
After he was woken up he lay in bed for a long time thinking about what he was going to do when he got to the Seminar. Eventually he managed to summon together enough energy to get out of bed and drag himself over to his wardrobe where he threw on an old pair of pants and a shirt. He went down the stairs and out of the door, walking towards the sexual harassment seminar as if he were sleepwalking.
He walked through the door and started to move across the room, not looking to his left and ignoring the greetings of everybody in the room as he strolled over to the window and threw it open.
"What are you doing Carter?" Everybody asked together.
"Yeah Carter it's freezing outside, we don't need the window open. You want air, go outside." Carter turned and looked at Susan who was making a pantomime 'freezing' movement, crossing her arms across her chest and rubbing her arms vigorously.
"It's not for the air." He stuck his head through the window and looked down, judging the distance between the ledge and the ground. It obviously satisfied him because he drew his head in and turned to smile at the assembled group. "See ya!"
He climbed out onto the ledge and took one last look behind him before flinging himself over the edge and towards the hard ground below. The shouts and cries of his colleagues followed him down...Abby's voice especially sounding all that was pained and heartbroken. The look on her face stayed with him as he neared the ground, registering shock followed by disbelief and then an intense sadness in a moment as he fell off the ledge. In the split second before he hit the ground Carter had a moment of realisation, or as near to it as he was going to get given his past history with sudden realisations! Hopefully this one would be right, and if he actually survived the impact and woke up the next morning he would know for sure.
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(Next Day)
As soon as the alarm went off Carter hit the switch and reached for the phone that sat on his bedside cabinet. He dialled a number from memory and waited for the person at the other end to pick up.
"Hello?" a voice answered groggily on the other end.
"Hi, it's me. Listen, I've got to talk to you now. It's really important."
"Carter? What time is it? ...6.30!!! I wasn't going to get up for another hour!" There were some shuffling sounds at the other end of the line as she rearranged her bedclothes and got herself settled for the conversation. "Okay, what is it?"
"Not on the phone. I have to tell you face-to-face...Please, it really IS important. I'll be at Doc Magoo's in half an hour. I'll see you there."
She sighed. "Okay, Carter, see you there." He then put the phone down and got dressed, tearing out of the house to be at the diner before she got there.
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(Half an hour later)
Carter was sitting in a booth in Doc Magoo's nursing a cup of coffee and occasionally eating a mouthful from one of the many plates of food collected in front of him. The realisation that had hit him on his descent yesterday was so great that he knew he had to share it with somebody. He couldn't keep what was happening to him a secret anymore; it was too big, and he had to share it with somebody. Finally a little after 7 o'clock the person he had been waiting for came running into the Diner out of breath, looking frantically about her until she saw him sitting in a booth. He smiled at her as she walked over towards him.
"Alright, what was so urgent you couldn't wait to see me at the seminar?" Abby dropped into the seat opposite and stared, waiting for him to explain.
"Abby, you look beautiful this morning..."
"Cut the crap, Carter!" she exclaimed tiredly. "I get a phone call at 6.30 telling me to meet you at Doc's in half an hour, that it's an emergency. I'm not even awake yet, I didn't have time for a shower and my hair is a mess: what was so important it couldn't wait until the seminar?"
Just at that moment the waitress came along and brought the rest of Carter's order. In addition to the giant plate of pancakes, the chocolate sundae, the cheeseburger and fries already on the table she brought two orders of fried chicken, a plate of pasta, a plate of waffles and a large jug of syrup. "Will there be anything else?" she asked, pulling out her pad from the pocket in her apron.
"Um, I don't know, let me check. Abby, do you want anything?" Carter turned to Abby and noted the mingled look of curiosity and disgust as she looked at the array of food in front of Carter. She shook her head and watched as Carter returned his attention to the waitress.
"No, we're ok here. Just another couple of cups of coffee please."
"Sure thing." She walked off and returned with a cup for Abby and the coffee pot in her other hand. She filled both of their cups and then went away, leaving Carter and Abby to talk.
Carter was attacking the food with relish, taking a bite out of the cheeseburger and then spooning a load of pancakes into his mouth, squeezing syrup all over the waffles before shoving some fries in his mouth. Abby just looked at him, fascinated by the amount of food he was eating.
"What?" he asked, becoming a little uncomfortable under her gaze.
"You're supposed to be a Doctor. Don't you know what that stuff's doing to your body? I can practically hear your arteries harden as we speak!"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Carter said, his voice muffled by the mouthful of cheeseburger he was in the middle of swallowing. "I can't die. It doesn't matter what I eat because nothing can happen to me." He leaned in closer, causing her to do the same, and whispered into her ear as if relaying a confidence. "I think I'm a God."
"Excuse me?" Abby paused with the coffee cup half way to her mouth and stared at him in open-mouthed amazement.
"I can't die. I've been shot, stabbed, drowned, electrocuted, crushed, hung...nothing works. I AM a God!"
Abby laughed out loud causing the customers and staff at the restaurant to turn and look at her, trying to work out what was so funny. Abby couldn't stop laughing and moved her eyes to look at Carter, expecting to see him joining in with her laughter. When she saw the look of earnestness her laughing started to subside but she was still smiling. When she saw him frown she suddenly stopped laughing and her face fell. "Oh my God, you're serious!"
"Of course I'm serious. Why wouldn't I be?"
"I...I honestly don't know Carter. Maybe because it's CRAZY!!! What on earth makes you think you're a God?"
"Well, you may think that yesterday was yesterday and today is today and tomorrow is tomorrow but in actuality yesterday was months ago, today is always Saturday and there is no tomorrow!" He had said this all in one breath and found that he needed to stop at this point. Abby took the opportunity to digest and make sense of what he had just said before he continued. "I have been stuck in this Saturday for months now, I gave up counting a long time ago. At first I tried to change things about the day, then big things, but nothing seemed to make any difference. So then I thought I'd try to kill myself but that didn't make any difference. I think I've died nearly 20 times but every morning I still wake up in my own bed as if nothing happened. I stopped going to the seminar a long time ago." Whilst Carter was talking Abby listened quietly, sipping her coffee and taking what he was saying with a large grain of salt. He noticed that when he mentioned committing suicide she stopped drinking and stared at him intensely, but she said nothing until he was finished.
"Okay, let's say I believe you for a second," she said hesitantly. "What do you expect me to do about it?"
"Me? Nothing! I just wanted to tell somebody about me. Share it with someone else, maybe let them bask in my reflected glory!"
"So this was all about you, was it? I'd have thought that you'd have had some words of wisdom to impart, seeing as how you're a God," she added dryly.
"I don't understand..."
"Well, there's obviously something you were meant to do today but you didn't. You're not a God, John; I don't honestly know what is happening to you. If this is all real then you've been handed a wonderful opportunity to fix your life, to learn from your mistakes...do you have any idea of the number of people who would kill for an opportunity like that? And what have you done with it? You've discovered that jumping out of a plane without a parachute can lead to getting smashed to pieces!"
"Never tried that one!" Carter muttered to himself, making a mental note to maybe try it at some point. "It's not like that's the only thing I've done with my time," he said, getting up from his seat and throwing a large bunch of bills on the table. Abby got up to follow him and they continued talking as they left the diner and walked towards the seminar. "I was stuck here for weeks before things became bad enough to make me want to do that."
"Alright," Abby said, "so what big thing did you try to change? You decide to take the Rolls instead of the limo?"
"Nooo! I...I decided that it was time to move things forward with...with a certain lady." Carter was becoming nervous as he tried to explain himself without saying too much. "I told her how I felt about her, that I loved her, and she blew me off." He looked away from her, afraid that she knew who he was talking about.
"Well maybe you didn't tell her right!" Abby said jokingly, causing Carter to return his gaze to her and regard her intensely...had she guessed who it was they were talking about? "I'm guessing that you just blurted it out, didn't prepare her or give her time to react and take in what you had said."
Carter nodded and then asked in a tight voice, "So what would you have done?"
"Let me think...first off I wouldn't have blurted it out like that. I'd have taken her out to dinner, her favourite restaurant, let her know that I'm serious and I pay attention to what she likes and doesn't like. Then, oh I don't know John...get to know her. Find out the type of music she likes. Maybe serenade her; some girls go for that type of thing..." she trailed off.
"Do you like that sort of thing?" he asked, interested.
"I wouldn't say no, although I'd probably be as embarrassed as hell!" Abby blushed a slight shade of red, as if she was admitting a weakness. "It's a romantic gesture. Make her 'feel' you love her before you tell her, then maybe she'll find it easier to believe you."
"So what you're basically saying is that I should woo her?"
"No, I'm saying you should turn on the romance a little, use a bit of the Carter charm we've all heard so much about...I don't think anybody has tried to 'woo' a girl since Jane Austen was around!"
They both laughed a little, and when they had stopped Abby became serious and stared deep into Carter's eyes. "She's lucky to have you Carter," she said, trying to sound cheerful but not exactly able to hide the hint of jealousy in her voice.
"Who?" he asked, genuinely confused. He had thought that they both knew she was the woman, but obviously she had gotten hold of the wrong end of the stick.
"Susan, the woman who blew you off. If she's the reason you're going through all of this then she's got to be something special, and I hope it works out for you." They stopped walking and looked at each other. Abby had a strange glint in her eyes, they looked almost like tears and Carter was slightly puzzled by the fact that she should be telling him to stay with Susan with such a sad look. Could it be that she really cared for him? Suddenly the look in Abby's eyes changed and clouded over with something that Carter could only call desire. It was more than matched by the look in his own eyes as he inched his face nearer to her. Their eyes closed simultaneously as their lips were almost touching...when a voice interrupted them, causing them to jump apart and look away guiltily!
"Good Morning Dr Carter! Good Morning Abby!" Gallant walked past them and waved as he mounted the steps and walked through the main doors to get to the seminar.
Abby laughed nervously and stepped away from Carter, the mood broken "Looks like we're here," she said, putting her foot up on the first step and turning to him. "Shall we go up?"
"I'll be there in a little while...I just need to go and think for a bit." He was still breathless from being that close to Abby, from nearly kissing her. He knew then that whatever he had tried telling himself before was rubbish. He HAD to be with Abby! She was the only thing that had made him feel alive in a long time, he realised that now, so he had to work out some way of being with her. He walked away from the lecture building and started to head for home when her voice caused him to turn.
"So you still think you're a God?" she called out after him.
He smiled. "I'm beginning to wonder if I make that good a job of being a human being," he said quietly to himself. As he walked back home he thought about everything Abby had said. He wasn't a God, she had made him realise that that was a stupid idea, but what next? How to go about romancing her?
It looked like he was going to have to go back to the seminar in the morning...
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(End of another chapter. The next one will be better I promise...I know I say that a lot but this time I mean it. I'll try to have it up by the weekend. Thanks for all the reviews and support. I really appreciate it and it makes me feel bad that I repay you with tripe like this! Please review and I'll have even more reason to work harder! Em)