TITLE: DAYS Fairy Tale: Eric & Greta: Chapters 146-150
WRITTEN BY: Heather Ferguson (fergus80)
EMAIL: hferguso@niu.edu
WEBSITE: http://eric_greta.tripod.com (from when Jensen was on days)
Rating: If you can watch DAYS, you can read this. If there is a rating change, a link to the chap. will be provided.
Disclaimer: Days of Our Lives and all of their characters are property of Corday Productions and NBC.
My Rant: Okay, I'm finally putting this up on FanFiction.net. Mostly to free up my website space. This was started way back in Oct. of 1999, and I haven't decided if it's finished yet or not. Reviews are always welcome!
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Chapter 146
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Greta got home around nine the next night, and from just the look on her face Eric knew she wasn't in a good mood. And definitely not in any mood for anything that he had been thinking about doing with his wife since she had left. *Had the honeymoon finally worn off?* He asked himself, but then dismissed the thought.
He followed her as she moved up the stairs, talking about everything that she did since she left, about how tired she was, and how boring the whole thing had been. She got to the bedroom, and basically stripped out of her outfit, surprising him only slightly, as she then walked naked into the bathroom leaving the door open. Which he held as an invitation, and followed. He watched her turn on the shower, and sat on the edge of the tub, and just watched her.
He didn't care if she wasn't making much since, since he had no idea what she was talking about, but at least she was home, was there, was talking, and heck, she was walking around naked in front of him. That alone was enough to have a major effect on him, besides the fact that he hadn't been with her in a few days, and that didn't help him at all in trying to figure out what she was saying. When she moved back towards the shower, he got up quickly, and took off his shirt.
Eric was about to take off his pants, when he got a strange look from her, "What?" He asked.
Then realization dawned on her, and she gave him a soft look, "I'm just taking a really, quick shower. If you join me, it won't be quick."
"So?" He asked her, trying not to let the sound of pleading creep into his voice.
"Eric... please."
He could hear the sound in her voice, the sound that she really wasn't in the mood, and also the sound that she was really sorry. He nodded okay, and moved out of the bathroom. "I'll be downstairs watching TV, just come down when you are done."
"Okay." She said, and he could hear the shower door open, and then close behind him. That night they spent sometime watching TV, but Greta turned in early to get some sleep. Eric, however, stayed up longer and made some plans for the week. He decided he needed to try and get her back into a well rested, healthy, happy, and especially sexy mood once again, or it was going to drive him crazy.
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It was wednesday, and Eric just called lunch time on the shoot they were doing. He was quickly turning off the lights, and winding the film. He was a little later than usual with the shoot, and he was hoping that Greta was still on her lunch break or had waited for him.
The week had been a lot less hectic so far, and his smile grew as he remembered last night. She had surprised him last night, after watching a couple stories on the news, he could sense that she kept looking at him, but he wasn't sure as to why. He didn't know if she wanted to say something and wasn't sure how to say it, or what the reason was. But soon enough it was clear, when she looked again, and he caught it out of the corner of his eye, he turned to look at her as well. And less than a second later, he found himself on his back, and her laying over him, her mouth attached to him in a passionate kiss. His arms had immediately went around her, pulling her tightly to his body. After just a few moments, she was pulling away. Which at first he thought as her thinking better of it, until she stood up, and started to run to the stairs, and called over her shoulder, "Well are you coming too, slow poke?" Even though she was well ahead of him, he almost beat her to the bedroom, and then tackled her onto the bed.
He put the last roll of film into the container, and then left the lab, and started to walk to Greta's office. His mind still replaying the event of the night before. If last night was any indicator, Greta was back to her rested self, well mostly. The previous weeks of constant over time were taking their toll on her, she was still tired, and it looked like the long hours were going to be giving her the flu or cold soon. But, she was at least in a good mood. And good, wasn't the only word for it.
She had been down right demanding the night before, and he loved every second of it. It told him that she had missed him just as much as he did her. They did so much that night making up for lost time together, that they actually didn't get that much sleep. Which made them both extremely tired in the morning, but at least they both had smiles on their faces if not droopy eyes when they made their way into work.
Eric's smile widened at the thought, as he rounded the corner. He was about to say hi to Liz, but noticed she wasn't there, *Probibly at lunch.* He thought, and then started to turn and knock on Greta's office door, but it was already open, and what he found made the smile vanish from his face, as he stood their in absolute shock.
Greta's one leg was up in the air, and she was bent slightly backward, her arms around the person holding onto her, their head over hers. Eric's eyes widened at the realization, someone was kissing his wife. He watched as the person slowly brought her back to her feet, their hand on the side of her face caressing it gently, talking softly to her, it made his stomach turn. He watched as her arms settled on the person's shoulders and her eyes opened slowly to look into the other's eyes. And then if he thought it couldn't get worse, it did, she smiled. She smiled at the face of the man who had just kissed her, she smiled at one Lucas Roberts.
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Chapter 147
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Eric just stood there in shock, he couldn't believe what her had just seen, and he started to back up from the door. *No... no* His mind kept saying. He knew he should say something, confront them, heck bash Lucas's head in. But he felt like he was going to be sick, and he turned quickly and left, he went right for the elevator, got in, went to the garage, got in his jeep and drove. He didn't know where he was going, he was just driving, trying to get away, get away from that image in his head. That image of Lucas's hand on Greta's face, of her smiling at him. Eric's fist hit his steering wheel, and after driving awhile he was surprised to find that he had drove home.
He got out of the jeep, and went in the house. He almost decided to go back and confront them, the shock having finally worn off, and turn into hot blooded anger. He wanted to hit something, throw something. He paced back and forth, and just decided he would wait, wait and confront her when she got home.
He sat on the couch, his anger so high his body was almost shaking. *How? How could she do this?* He thought to himself. *Lucas has done it again.* He thought, *How the hell could Lucas take two of them? First Nicole, and now... Greta.* He couldn't believe that one. He didn't understand it, sure he could see Lucas wanting Greta, but Greta wanting Lucas? It didn't make sense to him. Wasn't she the one that told him that marriage meant everything to her, that he didn't have to worry when Lucas offered her the job a Titan?
"When in the hell did this happen?" He asked himself, and then it made perfect sense. Well, he could see the signs now. Had Lucas been planning this all along? He thought. All those trips apart from each other, maybe trying to draw a wedge between them. Then this promotion for Greta, Lucas was after all still her boss. All the long hours at work, heck they did talk a long time at the Horton-Brady Picnic. The trip to Chicago, *No wonder it was so familiar.* He thought to himself, as he tried to shake away the thought of Lucas marrying Nicole in Chicago.
Eric ran his hand through his hair, as the images kept running through his head, he tried to tell himself, it was just a kiss, maybe it wasn't what it seemed. But he knew better, he saw Lucas's hand on her face, he saw that smile. There was more than just a kiss between them, and then he felt sick to his stomach again. *Oh, there has been much more than a kiss.* His brain thought back to all the late nights she put in at Titan, how she had gotten home and immediately took a shower. How she had refused to take one in the morning. His anger flared, *What Greta? Worried I might smell another man on you? Or feeling a little guilty?* And was it that she had been tired all those days from working, or had she been making excuses not to be with him? Was last night not real? Was last night because she felt guilty?
His stomach lurched at the thought of Lucas in bed with her, of his hands on her, of his .... he couldn't even complete the thought. Then he heard the door open, and he looked at the clock. It was already after five o'clock, he had been thinking about it for over four hours. He stood up and waited for her.
"Eric? Eric are you home?" She called out as she moved into the living room finding him standing there. "There you are. Why didn't you answer?" She asked him a smile on her face, until she realized he wasn't saying anything and he had an angry look on his face.
She moved closer to him, and reached out to touch his shoulder and he flinched and pulled away from her, "Eric, what's wrong? They told me you didn't show up for your shoots after lunch, what happened?"
"Like you care." He told her.
She took a step back at the tone in his voice, "What?"
"I said like you care what I do."
"Eric.." She tried to move closer to him, and reached out for him, but he took her hands and pushed her away and walked to the other side of the room. "Eric, what's wrong? What happened?"
"As if you don't know." She shook her head, in a not understanding way. "I saw you."
"You saw me?" She asked questioning.
"Yes, you, him. I know." He told her.
She shook her head again not understanding, "What? Know what? What are you talking about?"
He was getting angry, and he yelled, "Cut the crap Greta! I know! Okay, I know! So you can stop pretending. I saw everything that happened today. So how long has it been? Huh?"
She stopped moving closer and jumped slightly on every sentence he yelled. "What? Eric..."
"How long!?!" He shouted at her again, his fist hitting the kitchen table, making her jump and move away.
"I don't know what you are talking about." She told him, tears already starting to run down her face.
"Like hell you don't. I can't believe this, I can't believe you would ever do something like this." He said, and shook his head, "Why?"
She was shaking, looking at him for something to say, "I... I... don't understand."
"Damn it Greta, stop pretending!" He hit the table again, then he couldn't take it anymore, "If you can't even tell me the truth now, after I told you I know, then I'm not staying here. I can't even look at you right now." He said and walked out of the room, he could hear her running after him, but he was soon out the front door.
"Eric... wait. Let's talk about this. Please!" She yelled after him, but he was already in his Jeep and backing it out of the driveway, and soon he was driving again, leaving her there by the side of the road, tears rolling down her cheeks.
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Chapter 148
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Eric sat in the park on an out of the way bench, his emotions were fluctuating. His face was streaked from tears, and now it was showing anger once again. *How could she just stand there and tell me she didn't know what I was talking about.* He had left almost two hours ago, and the sky was starting to darken.
He jumped slightly when his cell phone rang, he almost didn't answer it, thinking it may be her. But he decided against it. "Hello?" He asked into the phone.
{{Hi... Eric what's wrong?}} Sami's voice came over the phone.
"I don't want to talk to about it." Came his reply.
{{Come on, meet me at Java Cafe, Dot.com, or tell me where. We'll talk.}}
"I'm not in the mood to talk."
{{Eric, what the heck is going on?}}
"Why?"
A loud sigh came over the phone, {{Well for one I just got off the phone with Greta, she was sobbing like crazy. She's an absolute mess.}}
"Good, she should be." He said, anger dripping from his voice.
{{What? Eric, what the hell happened? She told me that she came home and you started yelling at her.}}
"Did she tell you why?" He asked.
{{She says that you never told her, and that she has no idea what you are mad about. What did she do that could be so horrible?}}
Eric laughed, he laughed loud. He couldn't believe it, it was almost funny, 3 major women in his life, Sami, Nicole, and Greta, had all been with Lucas now. Sami and him had Will, Nicole and him were once married, and now Greta was having an affair with him. "What could she do that would be so horrible? You make it sound like she is just so sweet and great that she couldn't ever do anything wrong. Well she isn't the person I thought she was."
{{Eric, what did she do?}} Sami asked him, the sound in her voice telling him she wasn't playing around.
"Oh no, I think little miss perfect is the one that should have to admit what she did. She knows, I think she just feels too guilty about it to admit it."
{{Fine. Fine. Eric, please go home and talk to her. I hated getting off the phone with her, she's almost hysterical.}}
"I don't care."
{{Eric!}}
"I'm not going home, I might never go back. Heck, I'm thinking of going to talk to Mickey right now."
{{It can't be THAT bad.}} Sami's shocked voice came through the phone. Then she paused, {{Okay, I see you aren't going to tell me, you aren't going to talk to me. Fine. But please just do me one thing.}}
"What?"
{{Before you do anything rash, please, please just talk to her. Maybe not right now, cool down first, let both of you cool down. But talk, please.}}
"There's nothing..."
She cutting him off, {{There is a lot to talk about, just don't do something that you will regret forever, and anything you are thinking of possibly doing, can wait. Okay?}}
He took a deep breath and let it out, "Fine."
{{Good. I'm here, just call okay?}}
"Okay." They said good-bye and Eric put the phone back into his pocket. But it wasn't there long when it rang again. He took it back out, "Hello?"
{{Eric?}}
He rolled his eyes, "Mom, don't even start." His fists balled up, he hated to think this, but she was the last person he wanted to talk to besides maybe Greta. Because Greta was now doing to him what his mom had done to his dad.
{{So I guess you figured out that Greta called here.}}
"I just got a call from Sami, I didn't tell her, I'm not telling you. I want everyone to leave me alone. If you have any questions just ask Greta, because even though she may claim to be innocent in all this, she is far from it, and is lying to you."
{{Those are very strong words,}} Marlena told him.
"Those were a lot nicer then the ones I was thinking."
{{Eric...}}
"Mom, just stop, okay. I don't want to hang up on you, but I will if I have too. So, I'm saying good-bye now." Marlena sighed and agreed, and Eric turned off his phone, he wasn't going to get anymore calls tonight. He looked around, and stood up, he didn't know what to do. He wasn't going home, that was for sure, he didn't want to go to anyone's house, because he knew it would only bring on tons of questions, so he decided to head for the Salem Hotel. He got a room, and made his way too it. He laid down on the bed and starred up at the ceiling. The whole event playing over and over in his mind, and then the confrontation with her back at home. His life, the life that he thought was absolutely perfect was now spinning out of control, and he shuttered at the thought of starting all over again.
Because this time, unlike with Nicole, this was a million times worse, and he knew that Greta was just simply someone that he could not possibly ever get over. He closed his eyes, a tear running down his face, "How could this happen?" He asked to no one in particular.
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Chapter 149
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Eric woke late the next morning, it had been hard getting to sleep. He laughed sarcastically *I wonder why?* He looked at the clock it was after ten, he got up, washed up quickly and then checked out of the hotel. He knew he was late for work, but he didn't care.
He went and got a quick breakfast, and walked to the park again to eat it. He checked his phone, and found five messages waiting for him. He played through them. Another one from Sami, one from Bo, one from John, and two from his mom. He shook his head, not one from Greta. Was it because she felt too guilty or knew he wouldn't talk to her?
He deleted all the messages, and finished his breakfast. He threw the wrappers away and then sat back down and rested looking up at the sky. He knew he had to talk to her, he just didn't want too. Maybe Lucas was the one to confront first, get all his anger out on him, heck he had at least done that before, that was familiar to him.
He almost stood up, but then another thought ran through his head. *But, I should talk to her first.* Then he stopped himself, *Why should I be the one that has to do the right thing now?* Actually the best thing would be to confront both of them at once, he mentally berated himself for not having done so right when he saw what happened.
*Well first things first,* I have to figure out where she is. He took out his phone, and dialed home. He let it ring, and ring, until the answering machine came on, then he hung up. *Either she isn't home, or she isn't answering. But if she is as concerned about where I am, and talking to me as she claims then she would pick up the phone.* Then a thought crossed his head, well if she isn't home? *She couldn't have went into work, could she? Of course she did, to be near Lucas.* He sighed, and called her secretary.
{{Hello, Titan Publishing, Greta Brady's Office, Liz speaking.}}
"Hi Liz, is Greta in by chance?"
{{Oh, hi Eric. Uh, she's not in her office right now, there was a meeting, but she is here. Do you want me to have her call you?}}
"No, no. No message, just wanted to know if she was there. Want to surprise her."
{{Okay, I won't tell her you're coming.}}
"Thanks. Bye." He said hanging up the phone. "Well, well. She went to work, and didn't tell Liz a thing about what happened." *Maybe I can confront the two of them together.* He thought and then went to his Jeep, turned it on, and drove to Titan.
After parking, the elevator ride felt like it was the longest of his life. And in a way it was. Everything that happened after this, meant the rest of his life. Part of him just wanted to tell both of them where they could go. But there was also a small part of him, that didn't want to give up on her no matter what it was that she did to him.
He drummed his fingers on the wall, his mind remembering what he had seen, the kiss, the caress that damn smile. His brain started playing crueler tricks on him, images of them together, he shook his head trying to get those horrible thoughts from his brain.
But the thoughts remained, the idea that Lucas's hands had touched her, touched her in ways that he thought he had been the only one to. He leaned against the wall, maybe that was it. *Could it be? Could it be that she was just curious? Wanted to know if it was different with someone else?*
Then he shook his head, *Would that make it any better?* God, he was almost trying to give reasons for her. *What's wrong with me?* He asked, *You still love her, you can't live with out her.* He didn't like that idea, but he also knew that in a way it was true. But then the smile, her smile at Lucas, flashed through her mind once again. It didn't matter if it was just curiosity or not, because she enjoyed it, and there were feelings involved.
Finally the thoughts ceased, when the elevator stopped and the doors opened. He walked through and went towards her office. Liz sat out front, and he gave a slight smile.
"She's not in yet, the meeting did get done though a few minutes ago, you might find her there, or you can wait in her office."
He thought about it for a minute, wait and confront her when she gets back, or go find her. He decided he would go find her. Because the chances were that she was with Lucas, and then he could 'talk' to them both.
"I'll see if I can find her first." He told her, and she nodded and he walked towards the conference room.
People were standing outside the doors, talking and looking around, the doors were opening showing that the meeting was in fact over. Besides a few people no one else was in the room, and she was no where in sight.
He knew a few people, and one of them smiled at him, "Eric, Greta went that away..." She said pointing in the direction towards Lucas's office.
"Thanks." He said to her, and started to walk in that direction.
His anger was already starting to grow, as he rounded the corner towards Lucas's office. This part of the hall was basically empty except for the figures ahead of him, and he stopped in his tracks once more, the second day in a row, when he couldn't believe what he saw.
Greta was in his arms once more, but this time... this time she was totally in his arms, and he was carrying her into his office.
Eric's eyes went wide, and he decided it was now the time to confront them. He walked quickly, and made it to the office door, looking in. He got there, just as Lucas had made his way to his couch with her, laying her down on it, and sitting next to her, leaning over her.
He couldn't believe it, but this time he spoke. "You could at least shut the door!"
Lucas's head spun around quickly with a look of absolute shock, as Eric walked over to him, grabbed his suit coat and pulled him to his feet, "Now you are going to tell me what the hell is going on!"
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Chapter 150
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Eric shook Lucas by his coat, "Well?" He yelled at him.
Lucas starred at Eric, his eyes wide, "It's not.."
"Not what? Not what it looks like? How can you say that? You carried MY WIFE into your office, and LAID her down on your COUCH!"
Lucas's hands came up to Eric's hands trying to pry them off of him. "Eric.."
"Don't even try to explain or have an excuse, I caught you two yesterday too. I saw the two of you kiss in her office."
"What?" Lucas asked in shock.
"That's right, I saw the two of you. I know all about it."
Lucas's eyes closed, and he pulled hard out of Eric's grasp. "Oh boy, do you have it all wrong."
"What?" Now it was Eric's turn to ask.
"Well for one, for someone who happens to know everything about what supposedly happened, you aren't very perceptive at all. Not even curious as to why your wife hasn't even said one word this whole time?"
That statement went right to Eric's head, and he quickly turned to the couch, and found Greta still laying on it, her eyes closed, he looked back towards Lucas. "What the?"
"She fainted out in the hallway, that's why I was carrying her in here and laying her on couch." Lucas told him, as he straightened out his suit coat.
Eric's anger was immediately put to the side as he moved over to her, and sat down next to her, she still was out cold, and worry filled him. Heck him and Lucas were loud enough to wake the dead. His hand came softly to the side of her face, and the image of Lucas doing the same in her office yesterday washed through him once again.
But he pushed it away. He saw Lucas come over as well, and look over both of them. "Greta?" He asked softly, stroking her hair, and she didn't move. He looked up at Lucas, "What happened?"
Lucas stood back up, "We were walking back from the meeting, I had some papers to give her. We were talking about the fight the two of you had yesterday, and she was saying that she needed to get home. She had only came into work to see if you were here, but then got suckered into the meeting." Eric waved him on, to continue faster, then he looked back down at Greta, lightly trying to shake her to wake up. "We were talking and all of a sudden, she stopped. I turned towards her, and her eyes started to roll back in her head, and she was out. I caught her and carried her in here."
Eric looked up at him, "She just fainted? Why?"
"Do I look like a doctor? Maybe she was just really upset, but then again, that wouldn't explain yesterday."
Eric stopped lightly shaking her and looked back up at Lucas. "Yesterday?"
"Yeah, she did it yesterday too, but she snapped out of it quickly."
"When?"
"Hmmm, right before we went to our after lunch meeting. We were in her office on our way to leave, and she was walking out from behind her desk and she did the same thing, I didn't catch her quite as quickly as this time. She almost fell, but woke back up quickly, and then I sat her back on her feet. She smiled and laughed it off, saying she didn't get a chance to eat lunch because she had been waiting for you, and rushed out of the house before breakfast."
Eric's mind was spinning, *Was he telling the truth? Was that what he witnessed yesterday?* He looked back down at Greta, his hand moving back to her cheek. "Greta, come on, wake up." He lightly shook the side of her, and finally her eyes were starting to open, and they slowly focused on him. "There we go."
"Eric?" She said weakly.
"Yeah, it's me." A smile formed on her face, and she tried to sit up and move to him, but his hands kept her on the couch. "Stay there. But I do want you to answer a couple questions."
"Okay," she said softly, her eyes still slightly out of focus.
He looked up at Lucas, and then back down to her. "Did you faint yesterday?"
She closed her eyes and sighed, "Did you tell him? Lucas, I told you he would just worry."
"Greta, I suggest you tell him." Lucas told her, as he moved back towards a chair in front of his desk.
"Yes."
"Where, how and why?"
"Eric..."
He closed his eyes, his mind and heart just praying that he had been wrong. "Tell me, please."
"Eric, first before all this, tell me what I did, why are you so mad at me?"
He squeezed his eyes shut tighter. "Just tell me."
Her hand came to rest on her head, and he saw that it was slightly shaky. "My office, we were going to the conference meeting. I missed breakfast, remember how late I was running yesterday." He nodded, remembering. "Well, I also waited for you for lunch, but I called down to the lab and knew you were running late, I should have just caught something, but didn't. I just got light headed is all. I was lucky Lucas has come to get some files before the meeting, cause he was there to catch me when I lost my balance."
"You did more than lose your balance, you were out for a good thirty seconds." Lucas chimed in.
Eric looked up at him, "But I saw your hand on her face, I saw her smile at you."
Lucas shook his head, "Eric I can only imagine how it looked. But I can tell you, once I got her to her feet, I was just trying to get her to get her eyes to focus so that I was sure she could stand by herself. As for the smile..."
"I felt so stupid and foolish." Greta said, "And now... to faint again. It's my own stupid fault, I was such a mess this morning, I of course didn't eat again."
Eric knew that she got dizzy when she didn't eat, she had some low blood sugar, but this was extreme for her. And then realization completely dawned on him. Every thought he had was completely untrue. She wasn't cheating on him, heck, she was sick. Then he felt horrible. "Oh God." He looked up at Lucas.
Lucas smiled, "I told you it wasn't what you thought, even though I can understand. It did look horrible."
"What? What look what?" Greta said trying to sit up, only to feel woozy again, her had going to her mouth, and she laid back down.
"He thought we were having an affair." He said simply.
Greta's eyes shot right towards Eric, "Is that what this is all about?" She asked in disbelief.
He looked down, and nodded yes.
"Eric... Eric I swear, nothing..."
He cut her off, "I know..." he said softly, and closed his eyes, relief coursing through his body. But then new thoughts ran though his mind, *God, what I said. What I put her through. All because I couldn't confront them, because I wouldn't tell her.* He sighed, *And here she is sick, and what I did, didn't help at all.*
Lucas stood up, "Look, I know you need to talk. You can use my office. But, Eric, I do suggest taking Greta in to the doctor. She may be coming down with something. But, well... never mind."
Eric looked up at him, "What?"
"The symptoms, they just seem, well... all too familiar."
Greta looked at him weird as well, "What do you mean?"
"Tiredness, dizziness, queasiness... just sounds a lot like how Sami was when she was pregnant with Will." He said and smiled. "Just let me know what the doctor says," he said and walked out of the office, shutting the door behind him. Eric looked back to the couch, and caught Greta's eyes, both pairs were in disbelief.
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To Be Continued
WRITTEN BY: Heather Ferguson (fergus80)
EMAIL: hferguso@niu.edu
WEBSITE: http://eric_greta.tripod.com (from when Jensen was on days)
Rating: If you can watch DAYS, you can read this. If there is a rating change, a link to the chap. will be provided.
Disclaimer: Days of Our Lives and all of their characters are property of Corday Productions and NBC.
My Rant: Okay, I'm finally putting this up on FanFiction.net. Mostly to free up my website space. This was started way back in Oct. of 1999, and I haven't decided if it's finished yet or not. Reviews are always welcome!
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Chapter 146
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Greta got home around nine the next night, and from just the look on her face Eric knew she wasn't in a good mood. And definitely not in any mood for anything that he had been thinking about doing with his wife since she had left. *Had the honeymoon finally worn off?* He asked himself, but then dismissed the thought.
He followed her as she moved up the stairs, talking about everything that she did since she left, about how tired she was, and how boring the whole thing had been. She got to the bedroom, and basically stripped out of her outfit, surprising him only slightly, as she then walked naked into the bathroom leaving the door open. Which he held as an invitation, and followed. He watched her turn on the shower, and sat on the edge of the tub, and just watched her.
He didn't care if she wasn't making much since, since he had no idea what she was talking about, but at least she was home, was there, was talking, and heck, she was walking around naked in front of him. That alone was enough to have a major effect on him, besides the fact that he hadn't been with her in a few days, and that didn't help him at all in trying to figure out what she was saying. When she moved back towards the shower, he got up quickly, and took off his shirt.
Eric was about to take off his pants, when he got a strange look from her, "What?" He asked.
Then realization dawned on her, and she gave him a soft look, "I'm just taking a really, quick shower. If you join me, it won't be quick."
"So?" He asked her, trying not to let the sound of pleading creep into his voice.
"Eric... please."
He could hear the sound in her voice, the sound that she really wasn't in the mood, and also the sound that she was really sorry. He nodded okay, and moved out of the bathroom. "I'll be downstairs watching TV, just come down when you are done."
"Okay." She said, and he could hear the shower door open, and then close behind him. That night they spent sometime watching TV, but Greta turned in early to get some sleep. Eric, however, stayed up longer and made some plans for the week. He decided he needed to try and get her back into a well rested, healthy, happy, and especially sexy mood once again, or it was going to drive him crazy.
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It was wednesday, and Eric just called lunch time on the shoot they were doing. He was quickly turning off the lights, and winding the film. He was a little later than usual with the shoot, and he was hoping that Greta was still on her lunch break or had waited for him.
The week had been a lot less hectic so far, and his smile grew as he remembered last night. She had surprised him last night, after watching a couple stories on the news, he could sense that she kept looking at him, but he wasn't sure as to why. He didn't know if she wanted to say something and wasn't sure how to say it, or what the reason was. But soon enough it was clear, when she looked again, and he caught it out of the corner of his eye, he turned to look at her as well. And less than a second later, he found himself on his back, and her laying over him, her mouth attached to him in a passionate kiss. His arms had immediately went around her, pulling her tightly to his body. After just a few moments, she was pulling away. Which at first he thought as her thinking better of it, until she stood up, and started to run to the stairs, and called over her shoulder, "Well are you coming too, slow poke?" Even though she was well ahead of him, he almost beat her to the bedroom, and then tackled her onto the bed.
He put the last roll of film into the container, and then left the lab, and started to walk to Greta's office. His mind still replaying the event of the night before. If last night was any indicator, Greta was back to her rested self, well mostly. The previous weeks of constant over time were taking their toll on her, she was still tired, and it looked like the long hours were going to be giving her the flu or cold soon. But, she was at least in a good mood. And good, wasn't the only word for it.
She had been down right demanding the night before, and he loved every second of it. It told him that she had missed him just as much as he did her. They did so much that night making up for lost time together, that they actually didn't get that much sleep. Which made them both extremely tired in the morning, but at least they both had smiles on their faces if not droopy eyes when they made their way into work.
Eric's smile widened at the thought, as he rounded the corner. He was about to say hi to Liz, but noticed she wasn't there, *Probibly at lunch.* He thought, and then started to turn and knock on Greta's office door, but it was already open, and what he found made the smile vanish from his face, as he stood their in absolute shock.
Greta's one leg was up in the air, and she was bent slightly backward, her arms around the person holding onto her, their head over hers. Eric's eyes widened at the realization, someone was kissing his wife. He watched as the person slowly brought her back to her feet, their hand on the side of her face caressing it gently, talking softly to her, it made his stomach turn. He watched as her arms settled on the person's shoulders and her eyes opened slowly to look into the other's eyes. And then if he thought it couldn't get worse, it did, she smiled. She smiled at the face of the man who had just kissed her, she smiled at one Lucas Roberts.
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Chapter 147
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Eric just stood there in shock, he couldn't believe what her had just seen, and he started to back up from the door. *No... no* His mind kept saying. He knew he should say something, confront them, heck bash Lucas's head in. But he felt like he was going to be sick, and he turned quickly and left, he went right for the elevator, got in, went to the garage, got in his jeep and drove. He didn't know where he was going, he was just driving, trying to get away, get away from that image in his head. That image of Lucas's hand on Greta's face, of her smiling at him. Eric's fist hit his steering wheel, and after driving awhile he was surprised to find that he had drove home.
He got out of the jeep, and went in the house. He almost decided to go back and confront them, the shock having finally worn off, and turn into hot blooded anger. He wanted to hit something, throw something. He paced back and forth, and just decided he would wait, wait and confront her when she got home.
He sat on the couch, his anger so high his body was almost shaking. *How? How could she do this?* He thought to himself. *Lucas has done it again.* He thought, *How the hell could Lucas take two of them? First Nicole, and now... Greta.* He couldn't believe that one. He didn't understand it, sure he could see Lucas wanting Greta, but Greta wanting Lucas? It didn't make sense to him. Wasn't she the one that told him that marriage meant everything to her, that he didn't have to worry when Lucas offered her the job a Titan?
"When in the hell did this happen?" He asked himself, and then it made perfect sense. Well, he could see the signs now. Had Lucas been planning this all along? He thought. All those trips apart from each other, maybe trying to draw a wedge between them. Then this promotion for Greta, Lucas was after all still her boss. All the long hours at work, heck they did talk a long time at the Horton-Brady Picnic. The trip to Chicago, *No wonder it was so familiar.* He thought to himself, as he tried to shake away the thought of Lucas marrying Nicole in Chicago.
Eric ran his hand through his hair, as the images kept running through his head, he tried to tell himself, it was just a kiss, maybe it wasn't what it seemed. But he knew better, he saw Lucas's hand on her face, he saw that smile. There was more than just a kiss between them, and then he felt sick to his stomach again. *Oh, there has been much more than a kiss.* His brain thought back to all the late nights she put in at Titan, how she had gotten home and immediately took a shower. How she had refused to take one in the morning. His anger flared, *What Greta? Worried I might smell another man on you? Or feeling a little guilty?* And was it that she had been tired all those days from working, or had she been making excuses not to be with him? Was last night not real? Was last night because she felt guilty?
His stomach lurched at the thought of Lucas in bed with her, of his hands on her, of his .... he couldn't even complete the thought. Then he heard the door open, and he looked at the clock. It was already after five o'clock, he had been thinking about it for over four hours. He stood up and waited for her.
"Eric? Eric are you home?" She called out as she moved into the living room finding him standing there. "There you are. Why didn't you answer?" She asked him a smile on her face, until she realized he wasn't saying anything and he had an angry look on his face.
She moved closer to him, and reached out to touch his shoulder and he flinched and pulled away from her, "Eric, what's wrong? They told me you didn't show up for your shoots after lunch, what happened?"
"Like you care." He told her.
She took a step back at the tone in his voice, "What?"
"I said like you care what I do."
"Eric.." She tried to move closer to him, and reached out for him, but he took her hands and pushed her away and walked to the other side of the room. "Eric, what's wrong? What happened?"
"As if you don't know." She shook her head, in a not understanding way. "I saw you."
"You saw me?" She asked questioning.
"Yes, you, him. I know." He told her.
She shook her head again not understanding, "What? Know what? What are you talking about?"
He was getting angry, and he yelled, "Cut the crap Greta! I know! Okay, I know! So you can stop pretending. I saw everything that happened today. So how long has it been? Huh?"
She stopped moving closer and jumped slightly on every sentence he yelled. "What? Eric..."
"How long!?!" He shouted at her again, his fist hitting the kitchen table, making her jump and move away.
"I don't know what you are talking about." She told him, tears already starting to run down her face.
"Like hell you don't. I can't believe this, I can't believe you would ever do something like this." He said, and shook his head, "Why?"
She was shaking, looking at him for something to say, "I... I... don't understand."
"Damn it Greta, stop pretending!" He hit the table again, then he couldn't take it anymore, "If you can't even tell me the truth now, after I told you I know, then I'm not staying here. I can't even look at you right now." He said and walked out of the room, he could hear her running after him, but he was soon out the front door.
"Eric... wait. Let's talk about this. Please!" She yelled after him, but he was already in his Jeep and backing it out of the driveway, and soon he was driving again, leaving her there by the side of the road, tears rolling down her cheeks.
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Chapter 148
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Eric sat in the park on an out of the way bench, his emotions were fluctuating. His face was streaked from tears, and now it was showing anger once again. *How could she just stand there and tell me she didn't know what I was talking about.* He had left almost two hours ago, and the sky was starting to darken.
He jumped slightly when his cell phone rang, he almost didn't answer it, thinking it may be her. But he decided against it. "Hello?" He asked into the phone.
{{Hi... Eric what's wrong?}} Sami's voice came over the phone.
"I don't want to talk to about it." Came his reply.
{{Come on, meet me at Java Cafe, Dot.com, or tell me where. We'll talk.}}
"I'm not in the mood to talk."
{{Eric, what the heck is going on?}}
"Why?"
A loud sigh came over the phone, {{Well for one I just got off the phone with Greta, she was sobbing like crazy. She's an absolute mess.}}
"Good, she should be." He said, anger dripping from his voice.
{{What? Eric, what the hell happened? She told me that she came home and you started yelling at her.}}
"Did she tell you why?" He asked.
{{She says that you never told her, and that she has no idea what you are mad about. What did she do that could be so horrible?}}
Eric laughed, he laughed loud. He couldn't believe it, it was almost funny, 3 major women in his life, Sami, Nicole, and Greta, had all been with Lucas now. Sami and him had Will, Nicole and him were once married, and now Greta was having an affair with him. "What could she do that would be so horrible? You make it sound like she is just so sweet and great that she couldn't ever do anything wrong. Well she isn't the person I thought she was."
{{Eric, what did she do?}} Sami asked him, the sound in her voice telling him she wasn't playing around.
"Oh no, I think little miss perfect is the one that should have to admit what she did. She knows, I think she just feels too guilty about it to admit it."
{{Fine. Fine. Eric, please go home and talk to her. I hated getting off the phone with her, she's almost hysterical.}}
"I don't care."
{{Eric!}}
"I'm not going home, I might never go back. Heck, I'm thinking of going to talk to Mickey right now."
{{It can't be THAT bad.}} Sami's shocked voice came through the phone. Then she paused, {{Okay, I see you aren't going to tell me, you aren't going to talk to me. Fine. But please just do me one thing.}}
"What?"
{{Before you do anything rash, please, please just talk to her. Maybe not right now, cool down first, let both of you cool down. But talk, please.}}
"There's nothing..."
She cutting him off, {{There is a lot to talk about, just don't do something that you will regret forever, and anything you are thinking of possibly doing, can wait. Okay?}}
He took a deep breath and let it out, "Fine."
{{Good. I'm here, just call okay?}}
"Okay." They said good-bye and Eric put the phone back into his pocket. But it wasn't there long when it rang again. He took it back out, "Hello?"
{{Eric?}}
He rolled his eyes, "Mom, don't even start." His fists balled up, he hated to think this, but she was the last person he wanted to talk to besides maybe Greta. Because Greta was now doing to him what his mom had done to his dad.
{{So I guess you figured out that Greta called here.}}
"I just got a call from Sami, I didn't tell her, I'm not telling you. I want everyone to leave me alone. If you have any questions just ask Greta, because even though she may claim to be innocent in all this, she is far from it, and is lying to you."
{{Those are very strong words,}} Marlena told him.
"Those were a lot nicer then the ones I was thinking."
{{Eric...}}
"Mom, just stop, okay. I don't want to hang up on you, but I will if I have too. So, I'm saying good-bye now." Marlena sighed and agreed, and Eric turned off his phone, he wasn't going to get anymore calls tonight. He looked around, and stood up, he didn't know what to do. He wasn't going home, that was for sure, he didn't want to go to anyone's house, because he knew it would only bring on tons of questions, so he decided to head for the Salem Hotel. He got a room, and made his way too it. He laid down on the bed and starred up at the ceiling. The whole event playing over and over in his mind, and then the confrontation with her back at home. His life, the life that he thought was absolutely perfect was now spinning out of control, and he shuttered at the thought of starting all over again.
Because this time, unlike with Nicole, this was a million times worse, and he knew that Greta was just simply someone that he could not possibly ever get over. He closed his eyes, a tear running down his face, "How could this happen?" He asked to no one in particular.
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Chapter 149
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Eric woke late the next morning, it had been hard getting to sleep. He laughed sarcastically *I wonder why?* He looked at the clock it was after ten, he got up, washed up quickly and then checked out of the hotel. He knew he was late for work, but he didn't care.
He went and got a quick breakfast, and walked to the park again to eat it. He checked his phone, and found five messages waiting for him. He played through them. Another one from Sami, one from Bo, one from John, and two from his mom. He shook his head, not one from Greta. Was it because she felt too guilty or knew he wouldn't talk to her?
He deleted all the messages, and finished his breakfast. He threw the wrappers away and then sat back down and rested looking up at the sky. He knew he had to talk to her, he just didn't want too. Maybe Lucas was the one to confront first, get all his anger out on him, heck he had at least done that before, that was familiar to him.
He almost stood up, but then another thought ran through his head. *But, I should talk to her first.* Then he stopped himself, *Why should I be the one that has to do the right thing now?* Actually the best thing would be to confront both of them at once, he mentally berated himself for not having done so right when he saw what happened.
*Well first things first,* I have to figure out where she is. He took out his phone, and dialed home. He let it ring, and ring, until the answering machine came on, then he hung up. *Either she isn't home, or she isn't answering. But if she is as concerned about where I am, and talking to me as she claims then she would pick up the phone.* Then a thought crossed his head, well if she isn't home? *She couldn't have went into work, could she? Of course she did, to be near Lucas.* He sighed, and called her secretary.
{{Hello, Titan Publishing, Greta Brady's Office, Liz speaking.}}
"Hi Liz, is Greta in by chance?"
{{Oh, hi Eric. Uh, she's not in her office right now, there was a meeting, but she is here. Do you want me to have her call you?}}
"No, no. No message, just wanted to know if she was there. Want to surprise her."
{{Okay, I won't tell her you're coming.}}
"Thanks. Bye." He said hanging up the phone. "Well, well. She went to work, and didn't tell Liz a thing about what happened." *Maybe I can confront the two of them together.* He thought and then went to his Jeep, turned it on, and drove to Titan.
After parking, the elevator ride felt like it was the longest of his life. And in a way it was. Everything that happened after this, meant the rest of his life. Part of him just wanted to tell both of them where they could go. But there was also a small part of him, that didn't want to give up on her no matter what it was that she did to him.
He drummed his fingers on the wall, his mind remembering what he had seen, the kiss, the caress that damn smile. His brain started playing crueler tricks on him, images of them together, he shook his head trying to get those horrible thoughts from his brain.
But the thoughts remained, the idea that Lucas's hands had touched her, touched her in ways that he thought he had been the only one to. He leaned against the wall, maybe that was it. *Could it be? Could it be that she was just curious? Wanted to know if it was different with someone else?*
Then he shook his head, *Would that make it any better?* God, he was almost trying to give reasons for her. *What's wrong with me?* He asked, *You still love her, you can't live with out her.* He didn't like that idea, but he also knew that in a way it was true. But then the smile, her smile at Lucas, flashed through her mind once again. It didn't matter if it was just curiosity or not, because she enjoyed it, and there were feelings involved.
Finally the thoughts ceased, when the elevator stopped and the doors opened. He walked through and went towards her office. Liz sat out front, and he gave a slight smile.
"She's not in yet, the meeting did get done though a few minutes ago, you might find her there, or you can wait in her office."
He thought about it for a minute, wait and confront her when she gets back, or go find her. He decided he would go find her. Because the chances were that she was with Lucas, and then he could 'talk' to them both.
"I'll see if I can find her first." He told her, and she nodded and he walked towards the conference room.
People were standing outside the doors, talking and looking around, the doors were opening showing that the meeting was in fact over. Besides a few people no one else was in the room, and she was no where in sight.
He knew a few people, and one of them smiled at him, "Eric, Greta went that away..." She said pointing in the direction towards Lucas's office.
"Thanks." He said to her, and started to walk in that direction.
His anger was already starting to grow, as he rounded the corner towards Lucas's office. This part of the hall was basically empty except for the figures ahead of him, and he stopped in his tracks once more, the second day in a row, when he couldn't believe what he saw.
Greta was in his arms once more, but this time... this time she was totally in his arms, and he was carrying her into his office.
Eric's eyes went wide, and he decided it was now the time to confront them. He walked quickly, and made it to the office door, looking in. He got there, just as Lucas had made his way to his couch with her, laying her down on it, and sitting next to her, leaning over her.
He couldn't believe it, but this time he spoke. "You could at least shut the door!"
Lucas's head spun around quickly with a look of absolute shock, as Eric walked over to him, grabbed his suit coat and pulled him to his feet, "Now you are going to tell me what the hell is going on!"
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Chapter 150
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Eric shook Lucas by his coat, "Well?" He yelled at him.
Lucas starred at Eric, his eyes wide, "It's not.."
"Not what? Not what it looks like? How can you say that? You carried MY WIFE into your office, and LAID her down on your COUCH!"
Lucas's hands came up to Eric's hands trying to pry them off of him. "Eric.."
"Don't even try to explain or have an excuse, I caught you two yesterday too. I saw the two of you kiss in her office."
"What?" Lucas asked in shock.
"That's right, I saw the two of you. I know all about it."
Lucas's eyes closed, and he pulled hard out of Eric's grasp. "Oh boy, do you have it all wrong."
"What?" Now it was Eric's turn to ask.
"Well for one, for someone who happens to know everything about what supposedly happened, you aren't very perceptive at all. Not even curious as to why your wife hasn't even said one word this whole time?"
That statement went right to Eric's head, and he quickly turned to the couch, and found Greta still laying on it, her eyes closed, he looked back towards Lucas. "What the?"
"She fainted out in the hallway, that's why I was carrying her in here and laying her on couch." Lucas told him, as he straightened out his suit coat.
Eric's anger was immediately put to the side as he moved over to her, and sat down next to her, she still was out cold, and worry filled him. Heck him and Lucas were loud enough to wake the dead. His hand came softly to the side of her face, and the image of Lucas doing the same in her office yesterday washed through him once again.
But he pushed it away. He saw Lucas come over as well, and look over both of them. "Greta?" He asked softly, stroking her hair, and she didn't move. He looked up at Lucas, "What happened?"
Lucas stood back up, "We were walking back from the meeting, I had some papers to give her. We were talking about the fight the two of you had yesterday, and she was saying that she needed to get home. She had only came into work to see if you were here, but then got suckered into the meeting." Eric waved him on, to continue faster, then he looked back down at Greta, lightly trying to shake her to wake up. "We were talking and all of a sudden, she stopped. I turned towards her, and her eyes started to roll back in her head, and she was out. I caught her and carried her in here."
Eric looked up at him, "She just fainted? Why?"
"Do I look like a doctor? Maybe she was just really upset, but then again, that wouldn't explain yesterday."
Eric stopped lightly shaking her and looked back up at Lucas. "Yesterday?"
"Yeah, she did it yesterday too, but she snapped out of it quickly."
"When?"
"Hmmm, right before we went to our after lunch meeting. We were in her office on our way to leave, and she was walking out from behind her desk and she did the same thing, I didn't catch her quite as quickly as this time. She almost fell, but woke back up quickly, and then I sat her back on her feet. She smiled and laughed it off, saying she didn't get a chance to eat lunch because she had been waiting for you, and rushed out of the house before breakfast."
Eric's mind was spinning, *Was he telling the truth? Was that what he witnessed yesterday?* He looked back down at Greta, his hand moving back to her cheek. "Greta, come on, wake up." He lightly shook the side of her, and finally her eyes were starting to open, and they slowly focused on him. "There we go."
"Eric?" She said weakly.
"Yeah, it's me." A smile formed on her face, and she tried to sit up and move to him, but his hands kept her on the couch. "Stay there. But I do want you to answer a couple questions."
"Okay," she said softly, her eyes still slightly out of focus.
He looked up at Lucas, and then back down to her. "Did you faint yesterday?"
She closed her eyes and sighed, "Did you tell him? Lucas, I told you he would just worry."
"Greta, I suggest you tell him." Lucas told her, as he moved back towards a chair in front of his desk.
"Yes."
"Where, how and why?"
"Eric..."
He closed his eyes, his mind and heart just praying that he had been wrong. "Tell me, please."
"Eric, first before all this, tell me what I did, why are you so mad at me?"
He squeezed his eyes shut tighter. "Just tell me."
Her hand came to rest on her head, and he saw that it was slightly shaky. "My office, we were going to the conference meeting. I missed breakfast, remember how late I was running yesterday." He nodded, remembering. "Well, I also waited for you for lunch, but I called down to the lab and knew you were running late, I should have just caught something, but didn't. I just got light headed is all. I was lucky Lucas has come to get some files before the meeting, cause he was there to catch me when I lost my balance."
"You did more than lose your balance, you were out for a good thirty seconds." Lucas chimed in.
Eric looked up at him, "But I saw your hand on her face, I saw her smile at you."
Lucas shook his head, "Eric I can only imagine how it looked. But I can tell you, once I got her to her feet, I was just trying to get her to get her eyes to focus so that I was sure she could stand by herself. As for the smile..."
"I felt so stupid and foolish." Greta said, "And now... to faint again. It's my own stupid fault, I was such a mess this morning, I of course didn't eat again."
Eric knew that she got dizzy when she didn't eat, she had some low blood sugar, but this was extreme for her. And then realization completely dawned on him. Every thought he had was completely untrue. She wasn't cheating on him, heck, she was sick. Then he felt horrible. "Oh God." He looked up at Lucas.
Lucas smiled, "I told you it wasn't what you thought, even though I can understand. It did look horrible."
"What? What look what?" Greta said trying to sit up, only to feel woozy again, her had going to her mouth, and she laid back down.
"He thought we were having an affair." He said simply.
Greta's eyes shot right towards Eric, "Is that what this is all about?" She asked in disbelief.
He looked down, and nodded yes.
"Eric... Eric I swear, nothing..."
He cut her off, "I know..." he said softly, and closed his eyes, relief coursing through his body. But then new thoughts ran though his mind, *God, what I said. What I put her through. All because I couldn't confront them, because I wouldn't tell her.* He sighed, *And here she is sick, and what I did, didn't help at all.*
Lucas stood up, "Look, I know you need to talk. You can use my office. But, Eric, I do suggest taking Greta in to the doctor. She may be coming down with something. But, well... never mind."
Eric looked up at him, "What?"
"The symptoms, they just seem, well... all too familiar."
Greta looked at him weird as well, "What do you mean?"
"Tiredness, dizziness, queasiness... just sounds a lot like how Sami was when she was pregnant with Will." He said and smiled. "Just let me know what the doctor says," he said and walked out of the office, shutting the door behind him. Eric looked back to the couch, and caught Greta's eyes, both pairs were in disbelief.
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To Be Continued