[August 16th 2000 (Seattle, Washington)]
Sheridan had decided that if she were to forget about Luis she would have to move far away, and Seattle was the farthest she could think of from Harmony. In many ways Seattle was like Harmony except it was much bigger. Before she left she had drained her personal bank account, $150,000. She knew it wouldn't last long, not with living expenses, food bills, doctors, and everything else she and the baby would need.
She knew she had to get a job, where to start was the problem. She had to change her last name for sure and get rid of the car they would be able to track it. She picked up the phone in her hotel room at the Motel 6, the accommodations weren't what she was used to but she didn't want to cause suspicion and it would cost less, saving money. She called an old friend of hers that she had met in Paris and was a criminal of sorts that had moved back to the United States a few months back, specifically Seattle.
"Jarod?" Sheridan asked when someone picked up.
"Yeah? Who is this?"
"It's Sheridan, Paris 3 years ago…" She hoped he remembered her.
"Oh hey Sheridan, babe what ya need?"
"I need some fake ID Cards … could you get them for me?"
"Sure babe anything what for?"
"It's kind of personal, let's just say I got myself in a 'little' trouble at home and I have to stay away."
"I hear you loud and clear. I'll get them to you by Friday … where are you staying?"
"Um, could you drop them off in an envelope at the Sea Blue Diner it's on 48th and Fair View." She said looking at the phone book; she didn't quite trust this guy.
"By the way, what name would you like to use?"
"Sheridan," She thought for a moment, "Delacroix" It sounded all right to her.
"Sure sweetie … I'll have them there by 10 a.m. Friday, you just mail 7,000 dollars to P.O. Box 3749 at the local Seattle post office."
"Fine" Sheridan hung up the phone and began thinking about Luis … his smile, his touch. All of the sudden she felt sick and headed for the bathroom, it was morning sickness again and it wasn't even morning. Sheridan came back out of the bathroom and laid down on the bed thinking about the day she found out she was pregnant, and how eventful it was.
[August 3rd 2000 (Harmony)]
The sunlight streamed through Sheridan's bedroom window illuminating the room. She was sleeping peacefully until she felt an onset of queasiness darting out of bed and in to the bathroom she began vomiting. Several minutes later she was looking at herself in the mirror, knowing true of what she dreaded the most. She hoped she was wrong, but there was only one way to find out for sure, a home pregnancy test. That afternoon she head out to a small store where no one knew her for sure. She walked down the aisle in which she would find the test she was looking for. Finally she spotted what she had come for, a sickening feeling came as she saw it, how could she have been so stupid, how was she going to tell Luis. Her head reeled with so many questions, and then she realized she was standing in the middle of a drug store holding a pregnancy test. She shook her head … 'I'm losing my mind already.'
She began heading for the counter when she spotted Grace Bennett, 'Oh lord here we go.' Sheridan looked down at the pregnancy test in her hand shoving it back on the shelf, pretending to look at some tampons. Sheridan scoffed at the irony of the situation; she only wished she were here for tampons than what she actually was here for. She cringed as she heard Grace's voice call her name.
"Sheridan?" Grace poked her head around the corner.
"Grace, How nice to see you." She gave her a smile.
"You too. So what are you here for?" Sheridan looked a little shocked since they were standing next to feminine products. Sheridan pointed to the tampons on the shelf rather awkwardly.
"Oh, yeah me too." Grace didn't even seemed phased to talk about such a personal matter with her, someone she barely knew. How the hell was she going to get out of this?
"Excuse me Sheridan I see my daughters and niece" Grace pointed out and went over to Kay, Jessica, and Charity. Sheridan took this opportunity to grab the pregnancy test and get out of there before anyone else showed up.
Once home Sheridan took the pregnancy test but had to wait the allotted time to find out. She was beginning to lose it all together in a wave of panic.
"Please be blue, please be blue" She held her head in her hands. She heard the timer on her watch go off and about jumped out of her skin. She got up and went into the bathroom. She picked it up taking a deep breath before looking, as she looked down all she could see was the color pink. She closed her eyes … she was pregnant. What was she going to do; Luis would think she did it on purpose. She had asked him to make love to her … it was all her fault. What would her family think, what would they do. She couldn't she just couldn't tell anyone. She slid down the bathroom wall and began sobbing.
[August 16th 2000 (Seattle, Washington)]
Getting frustrated with herself, Sheridan got up grabbing her jacket and purse heading out to get a bite to eat. She had noticed a diner on her way to the motel. The diner looked cheap, but the clerk she had spoken to when checking in said it was great. She also knew that Julian nor any other Crane wouldn't have dared to step a foot in the place. As she pulled up to the restaurant she could see that it was made out of an old train car, getting out of the car she noticed the sign on the top, "Andy's Diner." In the window she saw a "help wanted" sign, she thought she would check it out. Seating her self at the counter, she took the liberty of looking over a menu.
"Excuse me, miss, coffee?"
"Yes, Please" Looking at the waitress clad in jeans and a company shirt that boldly said, "Andy's Diner" and a name tag telling everyone that her name was Michelle She looked happy to be working there. "Decafe" Sheridan added at the last moment, Michelle nodded in acknowledgment. She came back to pour her coffee.
"Excuse me, miss"
"Michelle" The waitress corrected.
"Michelle, I was wondering who I would talk to about the "help wanted" sign in the window"
"That would be Andy, he's the owner and the manager. He's in the back, I'll go get him."
"Thank You" Sheridan said as Michelle walked into the kitchen. Just then a song came on the radio. She had heard the song several times before, in France. The memories of the past began to emerge.
~~
Tous ces gens qui passent autour de moi
Dans la ville
Ces gens qui courent et qui marchent au pas
Ou vont-ils
Est-ce le vent qui les pousse
Vers d'invisibles rêves
Que voient-ils au bout de leur course
Quand le brouillard se lève
Réponds-moi, je t'attends, je t'attends, je t'attends
Tous ces gens qui se serrent dans leurs bras
Sur leurs coeurs,
Qui n' savent plus ce que c'est d'avoir froid
D'avoir peur
Est-ce la terre qui retient leurs pas
Ou le ciel qui est trop lourd
Ils marchent à l'écard du hasard
Que savent-ils de l'amour
~~
[April 18th 2000 (Paris, France)]
Roger and Pierre had given up on finding the American fiancé of Jean-Luc Mulan, for the moment. They had escaped in an air vent in the hotel they had swung into on a cable wire. They had began talking, and Sheridan seemed to be the most open in expressing her thoughts.
"I'm almost starting to feel like a cat with nine lives; although I never even expected to get this old in the first place." She spoke the truth, although Luis didn't believe it.
"What are you talking about? You're Young."
"Well, growing up I always thought I'd die of a really early age." It was a thought she had know for years.
"What made you think that?" He was curious as to why a beautiful, rich woman could believe such a thing.
"I don't know." She looked perplexed, as if looking for the last piece of puzzle that just wouldn't fit. "Actually, It might have something to do with having my fortune told by this gypsy I went to in boarding school."
"Oh, don't tell me you believe in that garbage. That's a waste of good money." He laughed at the naive ness of going to a 'fortune teller.'
"I only went because these girls I knew asked me to go with them," She explained, defending herself, "and actually it was a lot of fun at first until the gypsy got to me and then she got all serious and quiet. Just wish I hadn't gone." It was a mistake that she regretted. Thinking it was the root of her loneliness.
"Well, what'd she say?" Luis was intrigued.
"Basically. That I would never be happy."
"Oh. Well, you don't believe in that garbage." He laughed.
"Well, she said it was my destiny to never get married, never have children, and never have a family of my own."
[August 16th 2000 {Seattle, Washington)]
Cent fois, sans toi
J'ai cherché ma route
Sans foi ni loi
Seule avec mes doutes
Je t'attends
Je t'attends, je t'attends, je t'attends
Cent fois, sans toi
J'ai cherché ma route
Sans foi ni loi
Seule avec mes doutes
Cent fois, sans toi
Le coeur en déroute
Sans foi ni loi
J'ai perdu ma route
Je t'attends
Je t'attends, je t'attends, je t'attends
~~
The song ended as Sheridan broke out of her memories of Luis and her together. 'I guess that fortune teller was half wrong...' Sheridan told herself looking down at her still flat stomach. She had to stop thinking of Luis or this would be harder than it already was. She was doing it for him, because she loved him enough to let him go. To let him take care of his family, he couldn't do that while trying to support her and their child. It would be too much for him and she couldn't destroy him as she had almost done last May. When she had pressed charges against him for taking her against her will from Paris. She had only been upset with him and wanted to 'teach him a lesson'; instead he almost lost his job, his freedom, and most of all his family. It would have been all her fault if they hadn't found out the truth, that Alistair had an impostor break them up and Sheridan had blamed Luis. He really couldn't blame her for being so upset. Upset enough to run back to Paris, and have him arrested.
Sheridan looked back up when she heard the kitchen door open; Michelle was coming back out with a tall, fairly muscular man, with a beard and appeared to be in his mid sixties.
"Michelle told me you are interested in the waitress job." His voice was deep and frightened Sheridan a little, but in a way comforted her. She found it odd.
"Yes, I am" She seemed a little nervous, but she had to get this job.
"Do you have any experience?" A little straight forward but Sheridan didn't mind.
"No, I'm sorry I don't."
"Well, I can't hire you without experience." Sheridan was struck stupid.
"Why? I'm a quick learner, please. I need this job."
"How bad do you want it?" He was testing her, although she didn't know it.
"I'll do anything, I've gotten myself in a bit of trouble and I need a way to pay the bills. Please, give me a chance." He looked at her, he sensed a strong will from her. It was compelling, looking into her eyes seeing the pain, despair and now desperation there.
"What kinda trouble? I don't need ex-boyfriends coming in looking for you, trashing up the place and I don't take too kind to criminals neither."
"I'm expecting a baby." Sheridan looked down as if it were the most shameful thing in the world.
"How far along are you?"
"About six weeks"
"That gives you just about six months to work before your baby is due." He looked at her with a sad face his heart was melting inside.
"You mean I have the job?" A small sparkle returned to her eyes in hope.
"We'll see, just show up here first thing Monday morning at 8 o'clock and we'll get you situated."
"Thank you so much, you won't regret this."
"I'd better not." He blurted out, trying to give a macho appearance. Although Sheridan already knew he was a real sweet heart.
"By the way, honey, what's your name?"
"Sheridan, Sheridan Delacroix." She used her alias.
"Welcome Sheridan to Andy's Restaurant." He gave her a huge smile, she would like it there she knew already.
[August 17th 2000 (Seattle, Washington)]
Sheridan had spent the entire day searching for an apartment and she had lucked out and found a two bedroom place for $800 a month. Cheap compared to the others she had looked at. It was really nice, a view of the Space needle and the tall business buildings, even a view of the harbor. She had to wait until tomorrow until she could sign the lease, due to the fact she had no identity as of yet. The owner would hold it for her, only doing so after learning she was expecting. She had gone to Andy's Diner that afternoon for lunch and soon after returned to her hotel, falling asleep immediately. The baby made her exhausted all of time, making it hard to complete anything. She had almost completely slept through dinner, but she knew she had to eat for the baby. She had already gained five pounds, and expected to gain a lot more.
[August 18th 2000 (Seattle, Washington)]
Rolling over in bed, Sheridan looked at the clock and it said 9:30. Jarod would be at the restaurant in 30 minutes. She had just enough time to shower and be there at least 15 minutes after him. She had plans to go to the owner of the apartment and sign the lease, and then go look for furniture so she could move in at least within the week. Living at the motel for too much longer would start to put a crimp in her budget plan. She still hadn't even checked out doctors, something very important for her to do. 30 minutes later she was heading out the door to pick up her identification at the Sea View restaurant. Arriving 10 minutes later she went to the hostess.
"Excuse me, I was wondering if you had an envelope for me. Sheridan Cr… Delacroix." She had almost said her real last name; something she feared would happen and expose her. Putting everyone's lives in jeopardy.
"Yes, we do." The hostess reached under the podium pulling out a manila envelope, handing it to her.
"Thank You," Sheridan looked at her, and then walked away. Once outside she began looking through the papers Jarod had supplied for her. She had all she needed and now it was time to start her new life as Sheridan Delacroix, single, expectant mother. She was no longer naïve Sheridan Crane.
Sheridan had decided that if she were to forget about Luis she would have to move far away, and Seattle was the farthest she could think of from Harmony. In many ways Seattle was like Harmony except it was much bigger. Before she left she had drained her personal bank account, $150,000. She knew it wouldn't last long, not with living expenses, food bills, doctors, and everything else she and the baby would need.
She knew she had to get a job, where to start was the problem. She had to change her last name for sure and get rid of the car they would be able to track it. She picked up the phone in her hotel room at the Motel 6, the accommodations weren't what she was used to but she didn't want to cause suspicion and it would cost less, saving money. She called an old friend of hers that she had met in Paris and was a criminal of sorts that had moved back to the United States a few months back, specifically Seattle.
"Jarod?" Sheridan asked when someone picked up.
"Yeah? Who is this?"
"It's Sheridan, Paris 3 years ago…" She hoped he remembered her.
"Oh hey Sheridan, babe what ya need?"
"I need some fake ID Cards … could you get them for me?"
"Sure babe anything what for?"
"It's kind of personal, let's just say I got myself in a 'little' trouble at home and I have to stay away."
"I hear you loud and clear. I'll get them to you by Friday … where are you staying?"
"Um, could you drop them off in an envelope at the Sea Blue Diner it's on 48th and Fair View." She said looking at the phone book; she didn't quite trust this guy.
"By the way, what name would you like to use?"
"Sheridan," She thought for a moment, "Delacroix" It sounded all right to her.
"Sure sweetie … I'll have them there by 10 a.m. Friday, you just mail 7,000 dollars to P.O. Box 3749 at the local Seattle post office."
"Fine" Sheridan hung up the phone and began thinking about Luis … his smile, his touch. All of the sudden she felt sick and headed for the bathroom, it was morning sickness again and it wasn't even morning. Sheridan came back out of the bathroom and laid down on the bed thinking about the day she found out she was pregnant, and how eventful it was.
[August 3rd 2000 (Harmony)]
The sunlight streamed through Sheridan's bedroom window illuminating the room. She was sleeping peacefully until she felt an onset of queasiness darting out of bed and in to the bathroom she began vomiting. Several minutes later she was looking at herself in the mirror, knowing true of what she dreaded the most. She hoped she was wrong, but there was only one way to find out for sure, a home pregnancy test. That afternoon she head out to a small store where no one knew her for sure. She walked down the aisle in which she would find the test she was looking for. Finally she spotted what she had come for, a sickening feeling came as she saw it, how could she have been so stupid, how was she going to tell Luis. Her head reeled with so many questions, and then she realized she was standing in the middle of a drug store holding a pregnancy test. She shook her head … 'I'm losing my mind already.'
She began heading for the counter when she spotted Grace Bennett, 'Oh lord here we go.' Sheridan looked down at the pregnancy test in her hand shoving it back on the shelf, pretending to look at some tampons. Sheridan scoffed at the irony of the situation; she only wished she were here for tampons than what she actually was here for. She cringed as she heard Grace's voice call her name.
"Sheridan?" Grace poked her head around the corner.
"Grace, How nice to see you." She gave her a smile.
"You too. So what are you here for?" Sheridan looked a little shocked since they were standing next to feminine products. Sheridan pointed to the tampons on the shelf rather awkwardly.
"Oh, yeah me too." Grace didn't even seemed phased to talk about such a personal matter with her, someone she barely knew. How the hell was she going to get out of this?
"Excuse me Sheridan I see my daughters and niece" Grace pointed out and went over to Kay, Jessica, and Charity. Sheridan took this opportunity to grab the pregnancy test and get out of there before anyone else showed up.
Once home Sheridan took the pregnancy test but had to wait the allotted time to find out. She was beginning to lose it all together in a wave of panic.
"Please be blue, please be blue" She held her head in her hands. She heard the timer on her watch go off and about jumped out of her skin. She got up and went into the bathroom. She picked it up taking a deep breath before looking, as she looked down all she could see was the color pink. She closed her eyes … she was pregnant. What was she going to do; Luis would think she did it on purpose. She had asked him to make love to her … it was all her fault. What would her family think, what would they do. She couldn't she just couldn't tell anyone. She slid down the bathroom wall and began sobbing.
[August 16th 2000 (Seattle, Washington)]
Getting frustrated with herself, Sheridan got up grabbing her jacket and purse heading out to get a bite to eat. She had noticed a diner on her way to the motel. The diner looked cheap, but the clerk she had spoken to when checking in said it was great. She also knew that Julian nor any other Crane wouldn't have dared to step a foot in the place. As she pulled up to the restaurant she could see that it was made out of an old train car, getting out of the car she noticed the sign on the top, "Andy's Diner." In the window she saw a "help wanted" sign, she thought she would check it out. Seating her self at the counter, she took the liberty of looking over a menu.
"Excuse me, miss, coffee?"
"Yes, Please" Looking at the waitress clad in jeans and a company shirt that boldly said, "Andy's Diner" and a name tag telling everyone that her name was Michelle She looked happy to be working there. "Decafe" Sheridan added at the last moment, Michelle nodded in acknowledgment. She came back to pour her coffee.
"Excuse me, miss"
"Michelle" The waitress corrected.
"Michelle, I was wondering who I would talk to about the "help wanted" sign in the window"
"That would be Andy, he's the owner and the manager. He's in the back, I'll go get him."
"Thank You" Sheridan said as Michelle walked into the kitchen. Just then a song came on the radio. She had heard the song several times before, in France. The memories of the past began to emerge.
~~
Tous ces gens qui passent autour de moi
Dans la ville
Ces gens qui courent et qui marchent au pas
Ou vont-ils
Est-ce le vent qui les pousse
Vers d'invisibles rêves
Que voient-ils au bout de leur course
Quand le brouillard se lève
Réponds-moi, je t'attends, je t'attends, je t'attends
Tous ces gens qui se serrent dans leurs bras
Sur leurs coeurs,
Qui n' savent plus ce que c'est d'avoir froid
D'avoir peur
Est-ce la terre qui retient leurs pas
Ou le ciel qui est trop lourd
Ils marchent à l'écard du hasard
Que savent-ils de l'amour
~~
[April 18th 2000 (Paris, France)]
Roger and Pierre had given up on finding the American fiancé of Jean-Luc Mulan, for the moment. They had escaped in an air vent in the hotel they had swung into on a cable wire. They had began talking, and Sheridan seemed to be the most open in expressing her thoughts.
"I'm almost starting to feel like a cat with nine lives; although I never even expected to get this old in the first place." She spoke the truth, although Luis didn't believe it.
"What are you talking about? You're Young."
"Well, growing up I always thought I'd die of a really early age." It was a thought she had know for years.
"What made you think that?" He was curious as to why a beautiful, rich woman could believe such a thing.
"I don't know." She looked perplexed, as if looking for the last piece of puzzle that just wouldn't fit. "Actually, It might have something to do with having my fortune told by this gypsy I went to in boarding school."
"Oh, don't tell me you believe in that garbage. That's a waste of good money." He laughed at the naive ness of going to a 'fortune teller.'
"I only went because these girls I knew asked me to go with them," She explained, defending herself, "and actually it was a lot of fun at first until the gypsy got to me and then she got all serious and quiet. Just wish I hadn't gone." It was a mistake that she regretted. Thinking it was the root of her loneliness.
"Well, what'd she say?" Luis was intrigued.
"Basically. That I would never be happy."
"Oh. Well, you don't believe in that garbage." He laughed.
"Well, she said it was my destiny to never get married, never have children, and never have a family of my own."
[August 16th 2000 {Seattle, Washington)]
Cent fois, sans toi
J'ai cherché ma route
Sans foi ni loi
Seule avec mes doutes
Je t'attends
Je t'attends, je t'attends, je t'attends
Cent fois, sans toi
J'ai cherché ma route
Sans foi ni loi
Seule avec mes doutes
Cent fois, sans toi
Le coeur en déroute
Sans foi ni loi
J'ai perdu ma route
Je t'attends
Je t'attends, je t'attends, je t'attends
~~
The song ended as Sheridan broke out of her memories of Luis and her together. 'I guess that fortune teller was half wrong...' Sheridan told herself looking down at her still flat stomach. She had to stop thinking of Luis or this would be harder than it already was. She was doing it for him, because she loved him enough to let him go. To let him take care of his family, he couldn't do that while trying to support her and their child. It would be too much for him and she couldn't destroy him as she had almost done last May. When she had pressed charges against him for taking her against her will from Paris. She had only been upset with him and wanted to 'teach him a lesson'; instead he almost lost his job, his freedom, and most of all his family. It would have been all her fault if they hadn't found out the truth, that Alistair had an impostor break them up and Sheridan had blamed Luis. He really couldn't blame her for being so upset. Upset enough to run back to Paris, and have him arrested.
Sheridan looked back up when she heard the kitchen door open; Michelle was coming back out with a tall, fairly muscular man, with a beard and appeared to be in his mid sixties.
"Michelle told me you are interested in the waitress job." His voice was deep and frightened Sheridan a little, but in a way comforted her. She found it odd.
"Yes, I am" She seemed a little nervous, but she had to get this job.
"Do you have any experience?" A little straight forward but Sheridan didn't mind.
"No, I'm sorry I don't."
"Well, I can't hire you without experience." Sheridan was struck stupid.
"Why? I'm a quick learner, please. I need this job."
"How bad do you want it?" He was testing her, although she didn't know it.
"I'll do anything, I've gotten myself in a bit of trouble and I need a way to pay the bills. Please, give me a chance." He looked at her, he sensed a strong will from her. It was compelling, looking into her eyes seeing the pain, despair and now desperation there.
"What kinda trouble? I don't need ex-boyfriends coming in looking for you, trashing up the place and I don't take too kind to criminals neither."
"I'm expecting a baby." Sheridan looked down as if it were the most shameful thing in the world.
"How far along are you?"
"About six weeks"
"That gives you just about six months to work before your baby is due." He looked at her with a sad face his heart was melting inside.
"You mean I have the job?" A small sparkle returned to her eyes in hope.
"We'll see, just show up here first thing Monday morning at 8 o'clock and we'll get you situated."
"Thank you so much, you won't regret this."
"I'd better not." He blurted out, trying to give a macho appearance. Although Sheridan already knew he was a real sweet heart.
"By the way, honey, what's your name?"
"Sheridan, Sheridan Delacroix." She used her alias.
"Welcome Sheridan to Andy's Restaurant." He gave her a huge smile, she would like it there she knew already.
[August 17th 2000 (Seattle, Washington)]
Sheridan had spent the entire day searching for an apartment and she had lucked out and found a two bedroom place for $800 a month. Cheap compared to the others she had looked at. It was really nice, a view of the Space needle and the tall business buildings, even a view of the harbor. She had to wait until tomorrow until she could sign the lease, due to the fact she had no identity as of yet. The owner would hold it for her, only doing so after learning she was expecting. She had gone to Andy's Diner that afternoon for lunch and soon after returned to her hotel, falling asleep immediately. The baby made her exhausted all of time, making it hard to complete anything. She had almost completely slept through dinner, but she knew she had to eat for the baby. She had already gained five pounds, and expected to gain a lot more.
[August 18th 2000 (Seattle, Washington)]
Rolling over in bed, Sheridan looked at the clock and it said 9:30. Jarod would be at the restaurant in 30 minutes. She had just enough time to shower and be there at least 15 minutes after him. She had plans to go to the owner of the apartment and sign the lease, and then go look for furniture so she could move in at least within the week. Living at the motel for too much longer would start to put a crimp in her budget plan. She still hadn't even checked out doctors, something very important for her to do. 30 minutes later she was heading out the door to pick up her identification at the Sea View restaurant. Arriving 10 minutes later she went to the hostess.
"Excuse me, I was wondering if you had an envelope for me. Sheridan Cr… Delacroix." She had almost said her real last name; something she feared would happen and expose her. Putting everyone's lives in jeopardy.
"Yes, we do." The hostess reached under the podium pulling out a manila envelope, handing it to her.
"Thank You," Sheridan looked at her, and then walked away. Once outside she began looking through the papers Jarod had supplied for her. She had all she needed and now it was time to start her new life as Sheridan Delacroix, single, expectant mother. She was no longer naïve Sheridan Crane.