watsonma@hotmail.com
Successes
After living in San Francisco for a while, Serena soon came to realize that despite all the friends she now had, despite how happy she often felt with them, there would always be that place inside that they could never fill; that place inside her left empty by lost love. It cut deep and brought tears to her eyes when she thought about him.
By day she often tried to forget but then night fell and the moon rose, bringing back memories of moonlit walks in the park and laughter as she left the theatre hand in hand with the man of her dreams. Now all she had were still-frame shots of beautiful memories in her mind. Of course the good times always brought to mind and made darker the memories of those times that pain overshadowed any happiness she had felt. Then she would cry and hope for peace and love.
To alleviate the pain and loneliness that ever so often haunted her nights, she discovered the beauty of opening herself up to the fantasies within her mind. Whenever she felt sad or lonely she'd create a fantasy that would help to alleviate her pain. Eventually this form of escape grew into writing and she'd create long stories in her mind and then put them down on paper, continually reading, correcting, and adding to them as she went.
Eventually she supposed she'd one day have a whole novel. She often wrote of love and romance, things that were missing from her life, but there were times when she expressed even her pain on paper, mixing her pain with her fantasy and creating beautiful stories of pain and lost love. Unlike her life though, the stories she finished all had happy endings. Should her life ever come to a happy ending, it would never be as satisfying as she wished. There would always be him, missing from her life, and no matter how hard she would try to get over him, he held a part of her soul that she could never have back.
Serena should be very happy at this point in her life. She had great friends, more power in her pinkie than anyone on the planet and a full scholarship to UCLA. How many other twenty-year-old college students already had a best selling novel in print? She was about to finish college a year early with a degree in Business Communication and yet she was still dissatisfied.
She knew the reason but she just couldn't bypass it. She'd had many dates over the past three and a half years but no one ever made her feel the way Darien had. Over four years and she still couldn't get over him and she couldn't hate him.
Sometimes she wondered what he'd think of her now. Would he be proud of her. Her romance novel Silver Moments had done a lot better than she had ever expected. She had been published just six months ago and now she was working on her second novel, which she would base on her life as a superhero. She had already tentatively titled it: Broken Wings.
Jackson Phillips sat in his leather chair behind his large desk looking out of the large glass windows that separated him from a thirty-story drop to the ground. It was a beautiful day in San Francisco, In his opinion anyway. Many people didn't like the fog that rolled in from the bay, or the gentle chill in the moist air that was just enough to make one shiver and the air feel crisp and fresh.
He glanced down at his left hand at the wedding band on his manicured hand. It was hard to believe he was married already. At the young age of twenty-eight he was easily surprised. Not too long ago surprise barely described his feelings when his father had decided to marry Jackson's former Nanny and retire in Palm Springs, turning the publishing company over to him. As if to top things off, his girlfriend of close to two years, Alexandra Watson had decided to marry him.
With a fantastic job and a beautiful new wife Jackson felt as though he was on top of the world. Adding to his delight they had added a talented young new writer to their rolls and her first book was already a best seller. Better yet she was a friend of his wife and twice as likely to stick with the company, and if her first book was any indicator she would be a great success in years to come.
Returning to his desk in long strides, he glanced over the cover of the Romance Novel that had been resting on his desk. He picked it up and ran his hand over the textured cover. The picture on the cover had been done by his wife as a gift to her friend. It was a beautiful castle surrounded by mists and in the background hung a large but faded earth.
When he had first looked over the manuscript,
he had thought the story of a princess of the moon sounded too much like
a child's fairytale. But when he'd finally read the whole thing at the
insistence of his wife Lexie, he had to agree that the story was very touching
and mature. A bit too romantic for his tastes but if he liked it
that meant millions of romance readers would love it, making its author
Serena T. Chandler an instant success.
Darien frowned at the chart before him. Something here just did not make any sense to him. Not that he could read Dr. Moore's handwriting anyway. His handwriting made Serena's chicken scratches look good. At least her writing was legible.
Serena. It was hard to believe that it had been almost four years since she left and he'd tried unsuccessfully to move on without her. It was even more difficult to understand why he was still not over her. Every now and then something would remind him of her and his whole day would be ruined by thoughts of what if and why. Fortunately he was still capable of doing his job no matter how much harder he had to work just to keep his thoughts off her. Unfortunately there were always many things to remind him of every little aspect of her that he still loved.
Every spring since she'd left he would remember the way she used to stick her nose into the flowers and then giggle when they tickled her nose. He remembered the time a bee had popped out and surprised her sending her hiding behind him for protection. When fall came around and the sunsets became more golden he remembered kisses in the boat on the lake, before he'd teased her and she stood up and sent them both toppling over into the cold water. And he'd never forget winters when they'd go ice-skating and she'd hang on to him for balance only to pull them both down. But at the mention of hot chocolate she had forgotten her fears and shocked everyone by skating at high speed like any professional he'd seen straight across the ice and towards the exit.
He put down the patient chart and left the room, heading for the hospital cafeteria. He gave the usual automated response to the smiles and greetings of the nurses as he walked mechanically in the direction of the cafeteria. He'd disappointed many nurses and a few interns who thought he was the best looking doctor in the hospital even when he was cold and brooding as he was now. Just another day in the depressing and lonely existence of Dr. Darien Chiba Md.
Before he even made it to the cafeteria, a well-dressed man stopped him.
"Are you Dr. Chiba?" the man asked, furrowing his brown eye brows in a questioning manner.
"Yes I am," Darien answered, somewhat annoyed at being interrupted while in deep thought. "Can I help you?"
"Yes I believe you can." The man reached into
the upper pocket of his obviously expensive slate gray suit and pulled
out a business card and handed it to Darien. "My name is Adrian Reeves
and I work for Meditech.
" He stuck out his hand for Darien to shake,
which Darien absently took and a moment later regretted it, as the man
had a combination of oily and sweaty palms. Darien wiped his hand on his
lab coat before the man could take note.
"What's that?" Darien asked, not really caring, but it seemed like the polite thing to do. The man seemed very interested in him and his appraising way of looking at him was making him very nervous.
"It's a medical facility in San Francisco. It's rather new and we're looking to hire the best doctors we can."
"How does that connect to me?" Darien asked
"Ahh, a modest one I see. Well we've checked your records and we're convinced that you have what it takes to become one of the best doctors in your field. At Meditech we have state of the art facilities and we provide the best in research facilities as well as patient care."
"Sounds intriguing," Darien commented not really sounding interested. "Just what exactly is it that you do at Meditech?"
"We do a lot of medical research but we also provide the best medical treatment we can to our patients."
"Patients who can pay no doubt."
"Actually we provide care according to need. We are one of the few facilities allowed to use experimental medication and procedures on patients who seem to have no other hope. We are one of the leading facilities in the medical field. Our doctors are able to create and improve drugs because they get to work hands on with their patients as well as in our lab facilities."
"So I take it you want me to come work for you."
"Yes." Adrian said with a nod. He grinned at Darien, his white teeth reflecting the hospital lights making him seem too much like a door to door salesman. He straightened his suit and prepared to make his final pitch.
"You don't have to accept right away. In fact we will pay all expenses for you to come visit our facility as soon as you're ready. But please at least consider it."
"Ok. I'll do it."
"You'll come visit us?" Adrian questioned, surprised at Darien's easy acceptance.
"No. I'll take the job."
Adrian's mouth fell open, shocked that Darien had made the choice so easily. "Are you sure. You haven't had much time to think about it?"
"Just a few moments ago I got the impression that
you really wanted me to come work for you. I thought
you'd be happy at my acceptance," Darien replied
smugly.
"I am. Believe me I am. I'm just surprised that you accepted right away. Believe me you won't regret this."
"So," Darien smirked, "When do you want me to
start?"
"Serena, did you think about what I said?"
"Yes Dad" Serena replied wearily. He had been badgering her for days on the same subject.
"Well."
"I'm not sure yet. I'm not even out of college yet. Besides I have my writing."
"Oh come on honey. It would be a great opportunity, besides you can still write in your spare time. Robin Cook did it."
Serena smiled. "I'm flattered that you compare me to Robin Cook, but this is a major decision so can I have a little more time?"
"What if I told you that I got Irene to agree
to be your partner in this project?"
"Serena's eyebrows shot up?"
"Irene agreed to this?"
"She said she would if you would."
"Hmmm." She furrowed her brows in concentration. Working with her sister would be great. They were quite a bit alike. Irene looked almost exactly like Serena with the exception of her dark, almost black, wavy hair that fell to her waist. She had the same bright blue eyes and creamy skin and they had grown to be the same height and weight. They also seemed to have the same obsession with shopping and ice cream.
Irene however, was more analytical minded. She and Serena had gotten along really well when they had finally met almost a year after Serena's move to San Francisco. They had gone to the same college, had the same major but different minors, Serena in writing and Irene in graphic art. They had even roomed together on campus with Serena's friend faith as their third roommate.
It was a great, if completely different experience for Serena, having a sister. Irene was also very happy, finally being able to settle down somewhere and get to know her father. Her mother's hectic jet-hopping life-style had been fun while it lasted but she missed having a real home.
Now this opportunity for both of them to work together was not one either of them could pass up without great consideration. Serena found herself leaning towards a yes and she knew her father was watching her intensely to see if she'd agree. It would make him very happy to have both his daughters working in his Corporation. He had a dream of them running the company by the time he was gone.
"Ok. I'll do it." Serena replied and couldn't help smiling at the overjoyed look on her father's face. He was so happy it seemed he'd burst and that thought just made her laugh. He was however much too pleased to say anything about her making fun of him.
Celine's daughter, Catherine, Serena's four year old younger sister came running through the patio doors and threw her blonde head into Serena's chest. They both giggled in delight and Richard picked up his young daughter and tossed her in the air. "Guess what honey?" he asked her.
"What daddy?" the little girl chirped.
"Your sister just made your daddy a very happy man."
Darien understood why he had agreed to a new job, but he wasn't quite sure if he was making the right choice. He had no intention however, of second-guessing himself. He had made the decision to leave based on the fact that without Serena in his life, it was getting to be completely boring and meant very little to him. Without her his life had no meaning. She was his stability and without her he was completely lost.
Not long after Serena had left he got fed up with life and left Tokyo to finish Medical School at Boston University. Not long after he had finished school, he moved yet again to a great hospital from which he had a great offer in Arizona, and now here he was yet again packing up for a move to San Francisco.
He had had little time to make any lasting friends
at any of the places he had been, but his lack of friends had never bothered
him before. He was quite used to living on his own and handling his problems
by himself. Andrew had been right. He was a loner, he pushed people away,
and he was quite probably a selfish bastard, but the one person who could
change all that was gone and there was no need to make an effort to be
a better person. After all who was around to care. He had been born alone,
he'd lived alone, and he'd
probably die alone.
He packed the last of his things into the box and took them out to his car. He didn't have much stuff. He'd learned quickly that if he was going to spend his life hopping from place to place, he should probably avoid collecting any permanent objects. He didn't have anything sentimental either, if you discounted that one picture he had of Serena and Rini that he had always kept hidden in a drawer, and the tiny box that held the ring he had never had the chance to use. He didn't want to forget them, they meant too much to him, but at the same time he didn't want them in full view where they'd be a constant reminder of his stupidity.
He took one last look at the Spanish style stucco
buildings that made up his apartment complex. It was nice while it lasted
but he wouldn't really miss it much. It was a great dream to one day have
a real home, but that's all it was, a dream. He got into his red mustang
convertible, put on his sunglasses, and drove off with a screech of his
car wheels.