Chapter 6



At the Book Café.

Fox- "So, did you ask Theresa?"

Whitney- "Yeah."

Fox- "So, what did she say?"

Whitney- "Need you ask? Of course she'll do it."

Fox- "Good."

Whitney- "So, who did you ask?"

Fox- "Ethan."

Whitney coughs into her coffee.

Whitney- "What?"

Fox- "What?"

Whitney- "Ethan! You know Theresa is going to be there. Why would you invite pain and heartache into her life?"

Fox- "I was counting on Theresa being there."

Whitney- "Why? What do you have up your sleeve this time?"

Fox- "Just a little surprise."

Whitney- "You will never cease to amaze me."

Fox winks at her.

Just then, Theresa walks up to their table. File folders, magazines, and books in hand.

Theresa- "Hi guys. Sorry to barge in on your little romantic lunch or whatever."

Fox and Whitney- "That's okay."

Theresa- "Whit, I was looking through these great magazines. Now look, what do you think of this dress here?"

Fox looks at Whitney.

Whitney- "I put Theresa in charge of the wedding. Is that okay?"

Fox- "Fine by me."

Whitney- "Well that dress is a little too beaded and stuff."

Theresa- "That's what I thought. So I was thinking of designing your dress."

Whitney- "Who?"

Theresa- "Me. Oh, come on Whit! I am going to be a fashion designer anyway. It's my major. This would give me great practice, oh and I am designing for the wedding of a Crane!"

Fox lifts his glass to that.

Whitney- "Well…. what did you have in mind?"

Theresa- "Well, it think I would look amazing on you. A spaghetti strap dress, A-Line, hugged at the waist, floor length, white ribbon around the waistline, small bow in back, beads and pearls just at the breast line, and a very long flowing train with a curved bottom. Not to mention a long, lace, floor length veil. What do you think?" After demonstrating what the dress would look like on her body.

Whitney- "That sounds great. Can you draw it?"

Theresa- "Sure. But I need to know the color of the bridesmaids' dresses."

Whitney- "Red."

Theresa- "Red…?"

Whitney nods.

Theresa- "Okay, it's your wedding."

Whitney- "What's the matter with red?"

Theresa- "Red is so blood, so vampire looking. Hardly the color for a wedding, don't you think?"

Whitney- "No, I don't care. I want red."

Theresa- "But wouldn't you prefer like a more weddingish color. Like pink, yellow, gold, lavender, light blue, ivory…"

Whitney- "No, I want red."

Theresa- "Okay then."

Fox- "Theresa, you give Whitney whatever she wants." He reaches for Whitney's hand and kisses it.

Theresa- "Will do, Mr. Crane. Oh, and I'm going to need the sizes of the groomsmen to design their tuxes. Fox, do you think that you can arrange a day for them to come over so that I could measure them?"

Fox- "Actually Theresa, we wanted to talk to you about that."

Theresa- "What?"

Fox- "I picked my best man."

Theresa- "Oh, great. Who is he?"

Fox- "Ethan."

Theresa- "Ethan. Ethan Winthrop?"

Fox nods.

Theresa- "Whitney, I can't. I can't do this with him. I'm sorry I can't. No way. Whitney, there is no way I can deal with this kind of pressure, especially under Ethan."

Whitney- "Oh sweetie. I'm sorry. Look, we can get a tux place to do the fittings. And then you can design the tuxes. You won't have to see Ethan until the day of the wedding."

Theresa- "But Whitney…"

Whitney- "No buts. Theresa, you are my best friend. Please don't drop out of my wedding. Please."

Theresa- "Okay. Fox, you'll get those tuxes measured, won't you?"

Fox- "Sure, honey."

Theresa- "Thanks. Well, I have a lot to do, so I'll see you guys later. Bye."

Fox and Whitney- "Bye."



At Hank Bennett's house.

Hank opens the door.

Hank- "Hey Gwen. How are you?"

Gwen- "Fine I guess."

Hank- "So what's on your mind?"

Gwen- "Hank, just hold me."

Hank quickly wraps his arms around Gwen.

Hank- "Hey, what's the matter?"

Gwen- "It's Ethan. He's pulling away from me again. He still has the hotts for Theresa. My baby is dead, I can't have children. Where does it end?"

Hank- "What do you mean you can't have children?"

Gwen- "My body can't conceive after what it went through with Sarah."

Hank- "Oh Gwen, I am so sorry."

Gwen- "Hank, why is this happening to me?"

Hank- "I wish I could answer that. You don't deserve all of this pain."

Gwen- "I don't."

Hank- "Come on. I have something I want to show you."

Gwen- "What?"

Hank- "You'll see."

They pull apart and Hank leads her by the hand. They stop.

Gwen- "Hank, this is your bedroom."

Hank- "I know."

Gwen- "And what could you show me in here?"

Hank- "I'll show you. Now you just sit here." Sitting her on the edge of the bed. He steps back and begins to do the buttons on his shirt. He finishes and works on getting his belt, pants, shoes, and socks off. When he does, he stands before Gwen. Standing with nothing but his boxers.

Hank- "Do you like what I wanted to show you?"

Gwen- "Well… I would make just one adjustment."

Hank- "Yeah? And what would that be?"

Gwen reaches and pulls at the elastic of his boxers. She feels the immediate response. Hank stares at her with lust in his eyes. Gwen quickly pulls them down to his ankles, revealing her entire surprise.

Gwen- "That's better."

Hank smirks. He leans down and slides the collar of Gwen's coat off of her shoulder. She doesn't move. Hank pulls the coat behind her back, locking her arms in place. Gwen breaks free. She sits him down and starts to remove her clothes. Gwen can see that every bit of clothing that she removes has an effect on Hank. Once Gwen is completely naked Hank stares in appeasement.

Hank- "Come here."

Gwen walks over to Hank and sits on his lap. She gently places her lips on his. Hank makes the kiss deeper, letting his tongue collide with hers. Hank finally breaks the kiss. He gets up and closes his bedroom door.

At the Winthrop home the next morning.

Ethan didn't wait up for Gwen, but he didn't get much sleep. All he could do was think about the women that he had hurt so badly in his life. He cursed himself for letting things get this bad. He had always told himself that he would never have to decide between two women. He thought that he would love one woman, and one woman only. But his life hadn't turned out that way. Even after all that had happened, Ethan still found his thoughts to be drawn to the beautiful Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald.

Gwen came home that morning at eleven o'clock.

Ethan- "Gwen, where've you been?"

Gwen- "Oh, um, Sheridan's. Didn't I tell you yesterday that I might spend the night?"

Ethan- "Yes you did, but I talked to Luis yesterday to ask him a question, and he asked me how you were. I told him to ask you himself. He said he had no idea what I was talking about. I told him that you had gone to visit Sheridan. Luis told me that I must have been mistaken because he knew for a fact that Sheridan was in the kitchen preparing dinner alone. Would you like to explain that?"

Gwen- "Well, I was going to go to Sheridan's, then I changed my mind and went to go visit my friend."

Ethan- "What friend?"

Gwen- "What is this, an interrogation? My God Ethan, you make it sound like I'm cheating on you."

Ethan- "Are you?"

Gwen- "Excuse me? Ethan, if you have something to say, say it."

Ethan stood silent.

Gwen- "Well, as much as I would love to continue this, I have a facial at Maxine's at noon. Excuse me." Gwen left the room.

For the next month things just got worse between Ethan and Gwen. Gwen was seeing Hank almost every day. Ethan already knew the truth, but he didn't feel the need to confront Gwen. Gwen got even more distant. It was as if they were strangers living in the same house. They rarely said a word to each other. Ethan didn't really care about what Gwen was doing. It wasn't as if it was a secret, everyone in Harmony knew what she was up to. Ethan's life had gotten worse, and with each passing day his longing for Theresa deepened.