CHAPTER 49 Life Here and There

Dylan stood under Teresa's door and watched her as she sang and danced her way around her bedroom. They had been living under the same roof and working for the same company for over a year now and every day that passed was like a dream for him. He felt it deep inside his soul, that love that was burning for her. However, no matter how he felt, their relationship had always been platonic.

She was doing much better than the night he had found her on the wharf, ready to jump. Every second of every day that passes was a victory for her. Every now and then, he heard her cry at night. He knew that her pain was never going to go away, but that was the reality of life. He watched her she picked up a framed picture from her desk. Little Ethan, Fox and Teresa were all smiles on it. She put her fingers on it then put it back down. She looked out the window. He felt that she was about to start crying. He knocked on the open door. She turned around and smiled at him.

"Come in."

"I was wondering..would you like to eat out tonight?"

"Depends where."

"Let me guess..Le Cirque is where you would want to go, right?"

She gave him a broad grin.

"You guessed right. Of course, if you want to go somewhere else, then we can do that too."

"No, Teresa. We'll go where you want to go."

He was about to walk out, but stopped.

"My father is extremely pleased with the job you are doing with the fashion division. Your designs are amazing, and you have done well with the buyers also."

"Thank you Dylan. That really means a lot."

"Therefore, he is offering you a raise. A 50% increase on what you are making right now."

Her eyes opened wide.

"That means that I will be making in the 7 figures."

"Exactly."

"I-I..I don't know what to say."

"You deserve it Teresa."

She went up to him and hugged him. He didn't want to let go, but he had to.

"Thank you so much Dylan. I don't know how I'll ever repay you for this. You saved my life and helped me realize one of my oldest dreams. Thank you."

He smiled at her.

"Why don't you get ready. I'll tell them to hold our usual table."

"That'd be great."

Dylan left the room and closed the door behind him. He stood there for a while and listened to her singing. He understood what Fox felt for her. She was like no other woman he had ever met. So many times she had been crushed and she always managed to rise from her ashes. He wanted to protect her always so that no harm would ever come to her again.

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Teresa looked in her closet for the dress she wanted to wear. Her eyes went back to the picture that was standing on her desk. She picked it up again in her hands and looked at her lost son. She smiled.

"I miss you every day, honey. You and your father, every day of my life."

She recalled something Fox had told her a long time ago after she had come back to him the first time....

"I have nothing, absolutely nothing. I think I can understand how you're feeling. I will never do to you what Ethan did. You'll always have me.
This is a guarantee."

"I guess there are no guarantees in life Fox....are there? At least, I know that for a time there was something very real between us. Even if I never said it to you, you must have known how much I loved you and how much I still do."

She wiped a tear and sighed. She picked a dress out and changed. She sat down on her bed and stared into space until Dylan came knocking on her door.

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"Hit me again."

"Mr. Crane, your count is 18. If the next card takes you higher than 21, you will lose the chips you have left."

Fox looked at the dealer standing on the other side of the black jack table.

"Who the hell are you, my banker?"

"No, sir. My apologies."

He dealt the card.

"Queen of hearts, dealer takes all."

Fox got up from the table and walked around the casino for a little while. He decided that he had had enough and went up to his suite.

Fox had left Harmony and was back in Europe and his old life. The women, the one night stands, the drinking and the gambling. He went inside his suite and heard a woman's voice.

"It was about time you came up."

He looked at her for a while trying to remember who she was. She wore a white negligee and her hair was down on her shoulders.

"Who are you?"

"We met and you told the hotel to give me a key, remember....Amber. You bought me a drink at the bar."

"Sure, whatever."

He took his wallet out of the pocket inside his jacket and put it on the nightstand. Amber approached and looked at the picture that came out of it.

"Who are they?"

He turned around.

"Don't touch it."

He almost tore it out of her hand.

"Relax, I was just asking."

"Look I'm sorry."

He looked down at the picture of Teresa, their son and himself.

"I didn't mean to be nosy. You guys just look happy on it, that's all."

A sad smile crossed his face.

"Yes, we were."

"Who are they?"

He kept looking at the picture.

"They are my heart."

She didn't understand.

"My son and his mother."

"You have a son?"

"Had. He died over a year ago and she left a few months after."

"I'm really sorry."

He looked at her and seemed to see her for the first time.

"You seem like a nice girl, you should go to your room or to wherever you come from."

"I can make it better you know."

She touched his face and his neck, then took his hand in hers.

"I don't want it to be better."

He walked away from her.

"Leave now before I have you removed."

"Whatever!"

She picked up her things and left the suite. Fox sat on his large and empty bed and contemplated the picture he had in his hands. He laid down and held it against his heart. Once again, he was all alone in the world.

"I have nothing, absolutely nothing."

Hello, darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk to you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision,
That was planted in my brain,
Still remains.

He started to fall asleep.

"Teresa..."