Chapter 2:
It's not the way I choose to live
But something, somewhere's got to give
As sharing this relationship
Gets older, older.
Beth Wallace watched as Luis sat on the same rock on the beach watching the sunset as he did every morning. She was trying her best to be a good friend to Luis, but it was difficult. She still loved him, but she knew that she had to respect his feelings for Sheridan. It was just so difficult to listen to Luis recall all of the good times he and Sheridan had shared.
Oh, Luis, Beth's heart cried out. We shared some good times too. Why can't you remember those times?
She had hoped that after Luis got over Sheridan, he would turn to her. Then they would have a chance to resurrect their relationship. There was only one problem—he still seemed to love her as much as the day they first met.
Beth crossed and uncrossed her fingers 7 times, hoping that today would be the day that Luis realized that he was in love with her—not Sheridan. Slowly, she walked over to where Luis was sitting on the beach.
~*~*~*~
Sheridan couldn't believe how horribly she had treated Luis. He must hate her. She could only imagine how mad he was when he found out about her marriage to Jack. She had wanted to tell him. She honestly did. But after she saw his reaction to the breakup, she knew that she wouldn't be able to tell him.
After Luis had gotten over his shock, he was livid. Sheridan had seen the anger and disappointment in his eyes. She could only imagine what his reaction was when he discovered that she was married. And after he found out about Bella's birth… She hadn't told him that either. He had a daughter—Bella. As much as she wanted to tell him, it just wasn't possible.
Jack looked over at his wife who was once again entranced, thinking about Luis. He wanted to take away all her pain—and more specifically her memories of Luis, but he didn't know how to do it. He wanted Sheridan to be his, but no matter what he did, he feared that she would always belong to Luis.
~*~*~*~
Luis was staring at the rising sun, thinking about Sheridan when Beth approached him.
"Hey, Luis!" she said cheerfully. "How are you doing?"
"What?" Luis asked, startled. "Oh, Beth. Hi. I guess I'm ok. Same as usual."
"You still miss her?" Beth asked, dreading the answer.
Luis almost laughed. That was an understatement. "Yeah, Beth. I do. I love her. I don't know how I can still love her after everything that she has done to me. I honestly don't understand it, but I still do."
"I know what you mean, Luis. I mean, she's married."
"Yeah, I know," Luis replied, wishing that he were the one married to Sheridan, sharing the life he'd imagined for them.
~*~*~*~
FLASHBACK:
As Luis walked out of Sheridan's cottage, he knew that he needed to give her a few days to cool off. He didn't know what he had done wrong, but, whatever it was, he planned to do whatever he needed to do in order to fix it. He loved Sheridan and he wasn't going to let anything separate them.
A few days passed, and Luis returned to Sheridan's cottage, hoping to reconcile with her. He knocked loudly on the door.
"Sheridan! Sheridan!" he yelled. "Are you in there?"
There was no response. He looked in the windows, and he saw that all the lights were off. Since it was the middle of the day, he figured that she must be out. He headed up to the main house, hoping that either Ethan or Ivy would know her whereabouts.
He knocked on the door, and, unfortunately, Julian answered the door.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Officer Lopez-Fitzgerald."
"Where's Sheridan, Julian?" Luis demanded.
"Why, I imagine that she'd be with her husband," Julian responded innocently.
"Husband?!?" Luis exploded. "What the hell do you mean, Julian?"
Julian flinched. Luis was mad as hell, and Julian sure didn't want to be on the receiving end of his wrath. Quickly, he reached behind him to grab a newspaper. "Here, Officer," Julian said condescendingly, handing the paper to Luis. "This should explain everything. Now if you'll excuse me…?"
"Oh, yes, Julian. Of course. I'd hate to keep you from your hourly brandy," Luis replied sarcastically as he grabbed the paper.
Julian looked at Luis with contempt but closed the door behind him wordlessly.
Luis's eyes immediately flew to the front page of the newspaper. He read the headline aloud. "Crane heiress marries CEO of the Mitchell Corp. See A9."
He quickly flipped through the pages, desperate to know about Sheridan's marriage. "Sheridan Crane, daughter of industrial magnate Alistair Crane, married Jackson Theodore Mitchell, VI, CEO of the Mitchell Corporations, Saturday afternoon in Paris, France." Luis skimmed the rest of the article, reading about the love between the happy couple, and Sheridan's delight in being married to Jackson.
All of the signs pointed to the fact that Sheridan didn't love him, had never loved him, but something made Luis question that. Sheridan was smiling widely in the wedding picture in the paper, but Luis recognized that as her "social smile." It was the smile she used when she was meeting with people for business or social situations. The smile was wide, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She wasn't happy. Hell, she probably hadn't even met this Jackson until the wedding day.
"Sheridan…" Luis sighed. "Why did you give up on us…for him?"
END FLASHBACK
~*~*~*~
Luis figured that Sheridan loved Jackson by now. After all, they had been married for almost 2 years. Plus, in the article about her daughter Isabel, Sheridan looked truly happy. Luis knew that Sheridan had moved on. Why couldn't he find a way to do the same?
