Caroline and the Unfortunate Circumstance
Chapter Five: Ice Cream
By S. Arallion
Disclaimer: All characters in this story are owned by their respective copyright holders—namely, not myself. Anything you don't recognize is my fault. I make absolutely no profit from my use of these characters. ~~Arallion
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There was a knock at the door to Caroline's apartment. Three voices yelled "Come in!" in raucous unison, and the door opened slowly. Richard stood in the doorway, one eyebrow raised, looking warily inside.
"What," he said dryly, "is going on?"
"Ice cream," Charlie's voice was heard, a bit muffled. His head popped up from the couch. "Want some?"
Suppressing a smile with a grimace, Richard stepped inside and hung his coat on the rack. He looked pointedly at the container Charlie was eating out of. "Is that the only carton? Because if it is, I'll pass."
"Nah, we bought several," Annie replied. "Caroline went a little berserk when we passed the frozen foods section." She reached in to the freezer and pulled out an assortment of flavors, mainly variations on chocolate. "We found one for you; it's called 'Triple Dark'. You know, so if you spill any, you won't see it on your clothes."
Richard wasn't listening; he was glancing around the room. "Caroline's here? Where is she?"
"Up in her room, getting a decent shower. Why?"
"Oh my god, no..." The artist leaped for the stairs. Annie leaped after him and grabbed his shirt collar, bringing him to an abrupt stop. "Ack! Annie, let go!"
She slid in front of him. "Hey, Richie, I can understand your wanting to see Caroline, but don't you think she should shower in private?" He rolled his eyes at her, but he still looked panicked. "No, really, what's wrong?"
He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I didn't have time to finish cleaning the carpet. Where-- you know."
"Oh, is that all," Annie said calmly. "Don't worry, Richard. Del got your message, and it was cleaned this morning. Wa-a-ay before we got here." She patted him on the back as his breath whooshed out in relief.
"Thanks for the heart attack, Annie. You couldn't have told me that earlier?" He glared at her and stomped over to his side of the drawing table.
"You didn't ask, you just acted," Annie said archly. "Which, by the way, you could stand to do more often--"
"Enough, O Queen of Observation." Richard cut in. "Where's that ice cream?"
"Get it yourself, Beelzebub. It's behind me." Richard's eyes flickered in surprise, and he gave her a grudging smile. She smirked.
"Huh?" yelled Charlie from the couch. "Oh hey, Annie, you gotta see this. It's Rosie and she's going on about Tom Cruise again." Annie dashed over and stared at the TV with Charlie.
"Just when I think she's only pretending to be a bimbo," Richard muttered wryly.
"Hey, I heard that," Annie growled. "By the way, Richard, you look terrible. I mean, more terrible than usual." He glared at her as he searched for a spoon, and contemplated flicking the lid of the ice cream across the room at her.
"Annie?" a familiar voice called from the stairs. "Hey, Annie--"
Annie glanced up from the television. "Caroline? Get down here for a sec., you gotta see this."
Feet pattered down the stairs, and the slim, redhaired cartoonist dashed over to her friends clad in nothing but a towel. Richard dropped his spoon onto the floor. "Oh, hello, Richard," she smiled, dimples flashing into view. "Did you go to the hospital first, or here?"
"Hospital," he muttered from behind the counter, pretending to grope around on the floor for the spoon.
"I was going to call your apartment and tell you we were leaving, but the nurses were rushing me around so much I sort of lost track of things."
"It's all right, Caroline," he replied.
"What are you doing on the floor?"
Damn, he thought. "Um... dropped something. Ah, here it is." He turned quickly and began washing the offending item in the sink.
Caroline looked uncomprehendingly at Annie, who winked and indicated the towel she was wearing. She made an "OH!" face, then smiled mischievously.
"Hey." Richard turned automatically when she spoke. His face froze, and very carefully he looked directly into her eyes. "You do know we have a dishwasher, right?"
His laugh sounded a bit forced. "Of course. I was just... going to use it again. I like this spoon."
Caroline stepped in close and examined the spoon, her hand "accidentally" touching his. This was almost fun... "Oh, yeah. These are good ice cream spoons. I think I got them from my Great-Grandma." She grinned at him. "Can I have a taste?"
"Ah... sure, Caroline." He scooped a bit out for her. She took the spoon and the bite, and closed her eyes to savor it. It was good; rich, dark chocolate. She was having more fun watching Richard, though.
"Caroline!" Annie called.
Aww, Mom, Caroline thought with an inward chuckle. She handed the spoon back to the speechless artist. "Thank you, Richard."
Annie grabbed her hand and sat her on the couch facing the TV. "Hey, go easy on the poor guy!" she grinned.
"What do you mean? You just told me to flirt with him earlier," Caroline whispered, surprised.
"I mean, look at him." They both sneaked a peek. "He looks like he's going to pass out."
Richard was leaning against the counter, studying the spoon forlornly. As they watched, he shook his head and dug into the ice cream.
"Oh, boy, this will be easier than I thought. All he needs is a little push," Annie snickered. At Caroline's confused expression, she elaborated. "He didn't even wash that spoon."
"So?" Caroline was still confused.
Annie stared at her. "Oh, please. This is Richard, remember? Mr. 'I don't like to be touched'? He's got it bad." They both laughed so hard that even Charlie noticed.
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They were still there several hours later when Del showed up to check on Caroline. Richard had retreated into his corner and he and Annie continued to snipe at one another from across the room, more to keep Caroline laughing than from any real irritation. He was working on a stack of cards that Caroline had lost before getting them to him. He'd found them while cleaning the day before. Caroline was curled up on the couch, trying to draw but generally falling asleep in the middle of anything she started.
"Hi everybody, how's stuff?"
Richard and Annie exchanged looks. "Stuff?" said Annie.
"Nah, too easy," replied the artist, going back to his work with the studious expression that meant he was trying not to smile.
"Hi, Del," Caroline smiled up at him. "I'm not getting much done. I'm sorry."
He shrugged. "Thanks to Richard, you don't need to. Whenever you're ready. I think you have about a month's worth of extra strips."
"A month?" She sat up. "Del, you're kidding, right?"
"Nope, that's what I've got at the shop. And then there's those cards--" He broke off as Caroline stared at him, stunned.
"What cards?"
"Oh, the ones Richard is working on," Del said airily. Caroline dashed over to Richard's desk as he looked up at her sheepishly.
"I lost these months ago," she exclaimed. "Did you have them all this time?"
"No, actually--" Richard began, but Del interrupted.
"Richard found them yesterday when he cleaned your apartment," Del said blithely. Annie, across the room, gave him a huge thumbs-up sign. Richard flinched visibly as his employer turned to him.
"You cleaned my apartment for me?" she asked softly.
Cautiously, he nodded, silently promising vengeance to Annie. "I found the cards under the chair."
"Thank you, Richard, that was sweet." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and gazed at the cards that were left. "I'd better get started again, or you'll be running out of things to work on. Or would you like a vacation? You and Julia could take a trip or something..." She trailed off as his face paled slightly.
"That's all right, Caroline," he managed to say finally. "Julia is... out of town."
Del interrupted again. "Caroline, actually, that wasn't the good news I had for you."
"You had good news for me? Wow, don't hold back," she muttered, glancing concernedly at Richard who had immediately buried himself in his work again.
"Remember that award you were up for, from the National Syndicate? You won."
He grinned at her charmingly.
"I what!!!" Her jaw dropped. Annie leaped off the chair with a yell. Richard's head snapped up, a rare smile on his face.
"Congratulations."
"I won! Ohmigosh! Wow, how did that happen," she gasped, her eyes wide and excited. "So what do I have to do now?"
"Well, there's a dinner, and you have to go and give a speech. It's next Wednesday." Del was still grinning, but Caroline's face fell. "What's wrong?"
"Well, just look at me, Del. Next week I'm going to be bunches of shades of purple and blue. What am I going to do?"
"Richard could paint on you, then you'd look like you were doing the Cher thing," Annie suggested facetiously. Caroline swatted at her in exasperation, and missed the slight flush that stained her assistant's cheeks.
"Come on, you guys. It may not seem important to you, but you won't be getting up in front of an audience. What can I do?"
Richard sighed, unable to continue pretending disinterest while they talked in his ear. "What's the name of that facial guru you were going to for a while, Del? And don't play dumb, we all know about it."
"Charlie blabbed..." Del groaned. "Yeah, she was really good. I can get you an appointment or two with her, Caroline. Maybe she can convince those bruises to vacate a little earlier."
Caroline looked at him gratefully. "Thanks, Del, you're a real pal. Anything else I should know?"
"Well, you should probably have an escort," he said reluctantly.
The cartoonist grimaced. "That is so sexist. Not you, Del, the idea," she reassured him. "Well, I suppose you're too busy to go?"
"Nope, but I'm already going with someone."
"I don't suppose I could go with Annie?"
Del looked at her curiously. "Umm... is there something you're not telling us?"
She threw a pencil at him. "Okay, I get the point."
"No, he did," murmured Richard, then ducked as another pencil flew in his direction.
"Well, I don't know anyone else to go with, except maybe Charlie..." Caroline sighed glumly.
"What about Richard?" Del suggested.
"No," said Richard automatically.
"See?" shrugged the slim cartoonist. "He couldn't do that anyway, even if he wanted to. Julia would have a fit."
"No she wouldn't," Annie cut in briskly. "Right, Richie? Anyway, she's not here." Caroline looked at her in shock, but Annie was staring intently at Richard, who was avoiding her eyes just as intently.
"Well, actually--" he began, shifting uncomfortably.
"Caroline, you can't go with Charlie," Del snorted. "Think about it. Charlie, at a black-tie dinner and dance?"
Caroline winced. "I suppose the rollerblades would be a bit much," she chuckled.
"You heard the man, Richard," Annie grinned. "Caroline can't go with Charlie."
Richard sat back on his stool and shoved his glasses back into place on his nose with a sharp glance at the smirking dancer. Sighing, he looked seriously at Caroline for a long moment. "Caroline, would you like me to escort you on Wednesday?"
She looked across the table at him with uncertainty in her eyes. "Richard, don't let them push you into this. I can find someone, I suppose..."
"You didn't answer my question, though," Richard broke in quietly, still gazing at her. "Would you like me to escort you?"
"Would you?" whispered Caroline hopefully.
"Hey, great, it's all settled then," Annie burst in with an arm around her friend's neck and a sly smile for Richard. "Caroline, we'll get you all fixed up so you'll feel wonderful, and Richard, you'd better find a tux."
"All right," the artist muttered, his eyes sliding away from Annie's challenging gaze. "But I won't dance."
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To be continued…
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Author's Note: Caroline is surrounded by friends and looking as if she feels better about things. I've never pegged her as the sort to inflict her personal traumas on other people for days on end, so hence the lack of focus on that aspect at this time. If you feel otherwise, feel free to comment! ~~Arallion