Title: Was It A Dream?
Author: jane
Disclaimer: They are not mine. The characters of Roswell belong to Melinda Metz, UPN, Jason Katims and all the wonderful people who we all love for starting this fabulous series. No infringement or disrespect is intended. I'm just borrowing them! I would like to thank Carol (spacemom) for allowing me to use her character names (Mason and Cheryl) from her story "Acting Alien" and for all of her help and advice-jane
Was It A Dream? Part 6
That evening at swim practice, Sue came into the pool room and looked up at the bleachers. She smiled as she saw Dee sitting up there with several other friends of team-members. Dee sat alone; either her brother or his friend was not coming, or they had not arrived yet. The coach blew her whistle and Sue gave her attention to her, focusing her concentration on the advice she gave and on the technique and experience, which she herself had, from years of swimming and winning races. Phillip joined his sister a few minutes late, with his girlfriend, Amy Guerin coming to sit closely beside him.
"So, which of the swimmers is your friend, Sue Best?" He asked.
"She's in the third lane from the far side, wearing the navy blue suite." Dee pointed her out to her brother and best friend.
All Phillip could see was a tall, thin woman, with a short cap of dark, straight, brown hair. Tank-suites stripped away almost any femininity women had, giving them a sleek, streamlined figure, to enable them to slice through the water, all the faster. The high cut legs of the suite did show off her long, muscular legs to perfection, though. Phillip thought. Sue and the rest of her team were put through their paces. She must have been totally concentrating on her technique and speed, because she never again looked up to the bleachers. Dee, Phil and Amy were amazed at her speed and stamina, especially Phil, who was also in training on one of Harvard's crew teams and who knew what dedication and strength training, took. Finally, at the end of practice, Sue looked up at the bleachers and saw the man and woman who must be Dee's brother and his girlfriend. As she walked over to them, they walked down the steps to meet her.
"Sue, wow, you were fantastic!" Dee enthused. "I'm in a sweat, just from watching how hard all of you were working." Sue just blushed, barely able to lift her eyes up to her friend's, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
"I'm sorry, you must be freezing. Let me introduce the three of you to each other and then you can go and get dressed. Susan Best, this is my brother, Phillip and his girlfriend, Amy Guerin."
"Nice to meet you both." Sue managed to say, making eye contact with Amy's kind eyes, but looking over Phillip's shoulder, before dropping them down again, shyly.
"We're going out for Chinese, would you like to join us? We can always go somewhere else, if you don't like Chinese food though." Dee said.
"Um, sure, I like Chinese food, that would be nice." Sue tried to sound politely enthusiastic. "Let me just go get changed, it won't take long." Sue said, before rushing away.
"She seems nice, but very shy." Amy noted, sympathetically.
"She's fine around women; I think it's good old Phillip, here who is making her nervous."
"Do you know anything about her background? Something in her eyes, what I could see of them, tells me that she's been hurt. That was more than shyness I saw just now." Phil said.
"That's the feeling I get, but I haven't been able to ask her yet." Both Phil and Amy nodded, understandably. Antarians might not be able to read minds, but they were very observant and intuitive, almost empathic, picking up on people's vibes.
"I think she needs some good friends." Amy said.
"That is what I hoped you say. Phillip, will you help? I think she needs one gentle guy in her life, to help her heal." Dee asked her brother.
"Of course I'll help. There's something about her already, which is drawing me to her." He said, thoughtfully.
"Thanks guys." Dee said, smiling.
In the locker-room, Sue rushed around nervously, very unlike her normal, calm self. As she took her shower, dried her hair and got dressed, she tried to bring herself down from having a panic attack.
'Oh no, oh no, it's him, it's him! Phillip Evans, the incredible hunk I've been drooling over for three years!' She thought to herself.
The two of them had managed to be in at least one class together each semester, but they had always been the huge, lecture classes, in one of the auditoriums. Phillip always sat near the back, with his crew-mates and the rest of that crowd, including all the cute girls, while Sue had sat up front, earnestly listening and taking notes.
She had found out his name, during that first class, three years ago and had found out that he skulled on a crew-team, for Harvard. She had even gone to watch him in competitions on the Charles River and at other locations, but had never seen his sister, Dee at one of them. Sue had seen him with a succession of girlfriends though, during their freshman and sophomore years. Then, last year he had settled down with Amy Guerin, as his girlfriend. Sue would have liked to hate Amy, but from all reports, she was a very nice person and was totally devoted to Phil.
'They make a very nice couple.' Sue tried to convince herself. Phil, with his tall, dark, handsomeness and Amy with her light brown, almost blond, loveliness. 'He's just Dee's brother, I can be friends with him...I can...if I have to.' Sue lectured herself as she put her V-pendant on, tucked it into her blouse and buttoned it up, as she walked out of the locker-room, ten minutes later.
"Hey guys, I'm all set, are you ready to go?" She asked glancing at the two girls, but not quite able yet to meet Phillip's gaze.
"Sure, let's go. In fact, it's my treat." Phillip said.
"Well, why don't you pay for dinner and Amy and I can pay for some take-out, to carry back to the house?" Dee suggested.
"Sounds good." Phil agreed.
"I can pay for my own dinner, you don't have to..." Sue started to say, until Phillip pinned her with his kind and gentle eyes.
"It is our pleasure to have you as our guest tonight. Don't worry about it." He smiled down at her.
"Um, okay, if you're sure. Thank you." Her eyes kept bobbing up and down at split-second intervals, as she still could not hold his gaze for longer than that.
"Shall we go, ladies?" Phillip put both of his arms out, one at the base of Amy's spine and the other stretching past Dee's shoulders to Sue's, touching briefly in a gesture indicating which direction they should start walking in. They found where Phil had parked their old SUV and all got in. Phil helped Amy into the front, passenger seat and then gently shut Sue's back door for her, making eye contact for an instant, before walking around the front of the hood to get in, behind the steering wheel. They drove to a popular restaurant with delicious food and got a booth at the back.
"Mmm, I think I'll have coconut shrimp, please." Dee requested.
"I'll have sweat and sour pork, please." Amy requested.
"May I have the General's chicken, very hot, please?" Sue asked next.
"Oh that sounds good, make that two, please." Phil added.
"And we would like to make a take-out order, as well, please. Could we give that to you now, so it's ready when we leave?" Dee asked their waiter, who nodded and flipped to a new page on his pad. Dee made the order, with only a couple extra suggestions from Phil and Amy. Then all four of them settled back to wait for their food.
"Um, all three of you live together?" Sue asked cautiously of her friend, Dee.
"Actually, there are six of us. So many of us kids, from our hometown attend Harvard, or MIT that our town council bought a small house for us to live in, here in Cambridge. It's nicer than living in the dorms and gives us a measure of safety. Phil, two others and I attend Harvard, while Amy and another boy attend MIT." Dee explained and then said, very deliberately.
"We girls all have our own, small rooms on the top floor, the guys have theirs on the second floor and we have a communal living room, dinning room and kitchen on the ground floor."
"That sounds like a good idea." Sue said, a little relieved. "I've never asked where you live, Dee, where all of you live." Sue included the others.
"It's a tiny, little town in New Mexico, you've never heard of; Airatan." Dee answered.
"No, sorry, can't say that I have." Sue smiled. "What part of the state is it in?"
As Dee explained where Airatan was located, Phil was silently gasping for air. When Sue smiled for the first time, it was as if a light had come on. When solemn, she was quite pretty, when she smiled and her eyes lit up, as they just did, she became lovely. He vowed to do everything he could to make her smile like that again.
'Are you alright, Phil?' Amy asked, sub-vocally.
'Uh, yeah.' Phillip answered, not sounding too sure of himself.
'If you want to end our agreement, Shaun could probably use some protection from the hoard of girls, who are after him, now that he's broken up with his girlfriend.' Amy offered.
'Maybe, let's talk about it later this weekend. Thanks, Amy.' Phillip said, silently, coming back to the verbal conversation being held by his sister and her friend.
"...small town, near Albuquerque, among the National Forests, up there." Dee finished.
"It sounds like a lovely place to grow up." Sue said. "I'd love to come and see it sometime?" She stated tentatively.
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. We'll have to see what you think, closer to the holidays, or for next summer." Dee said, enthusiastically, having also been privy to the silent conversation, which had just taken place between her brother and good friend.
"Ohh, here comes our food!" Amy said, as their waiter approached. "I love how they put all the dishes in the middle of the table, on this turn-table, so that we can all share. Would that be alright with you, Sue?" She asked.
"That sounds like a great idea." Sue answered, relaxing just a little bit.
As they ate, Sue could not help but notice how all three of her table companions liked to eat the sweet shrimp, or pork, with the spicy chicken, in the same bite. She tried it herself, wondering if she was missing something.
'Oh No that does not taste good to me!' She exclaimed to herself. 'But maybe it's a regional thing, like eating whole, hot peppers in Texas.'
"May I ask what your parents do for a living?" Dee asked, after she had tried several bights of the delicious food.
"They work in Hollywood, actually, but only in the business offices for one of the networks." Sue answered.
She hated lying like this to her new friends, but it was very important to her that no one know who her parents really were. So they had come up with this cover story for her, along with her assumed name. Not only did she want to protect herself from the Press, she could not have handled a repeat of what had happened to her in high school.
"Do they ever get to meet any celebrities?" Amy asked.
"No, I'm afraid not. They just work in these boring, little cubicles all day. I received an academic scholarship, which allowed me to come here." She lied again.
"Man, that's impressive. No wonder you're so intense about taking notes and asking questions in class." Phillip said, bighting his tongue, as soon as he said it. He didn't want to make Sue nervous.
"You've noticed me?" Sue asked, in a shocked, tiny voice.
"Yeah, well you always have the answers and the teachers always seem to like you." He said. Sue nodded, looking down.
'Of course Phillip Evans didn't notice you because he thinks you are beautiful. You'll never be gorgeous like Mom, or even pretty.' She scolded, reminding herself what she thought of her own looks.
"Plus, your hair is always so clean and shiny; it's always easy to spot from the nose-bleed seats, where I usually sit." Phil said.
"So what do your parents do for a living?" Sue asked, desperate to change the subject.
"Our mother is actually a microbiologist." Dee answered quickly. "She's a professor at the University of New Mexico - Albuquerque."
"I hear they have a really good Ph.D. program there." Sue said.
"They do. Mom transferred there from Harvard, in the middle of getting her Ph.D."
"Now that is impressive, being accepted into such a prestigious program, in the middle of getting your Ph.D." Sue said in awe. "Wait a minute; your mother is That Elizabeth Evans? I've read some of her work for my classes. Her textbook and many of her scientific papers are on our reading list!" Sue exclaimed and Dee and Phil just smiled, proud of their mother.
"So what does your father do?" Sue asked.
"He's a family lawyer with a practice in Albuquerque and he also acts as the mayor of our small town." Phillip told her.
"How about your parents, Amy?' Sue asked, politely.
"Dad is a sculptor and Mom manages an art gallery in Albuquerque." Amy said.
"Oh my gosh, is your father Michael Guerin? My godmother has one of his pieces. It's gorgeous! She has it out in the middle of her back garden." Sue said. "What a small world this is, sometimes." She smiled again and Phillip felt his heart flip over.
"I'll have to tell my dad that. He'll be thrilled that one of his creations found such a nice home." Amy smiled.
After that, they finished their meal, chatting more comfortably together.
Los Angeles, California
Niko Giuliani had finished searching through his father's picture files.
'I have these pictures, seemingly of the same couple, but they were taken in different locals and at the same, exact times, so there must have been two identical couples running around Roswell, New Mexico. I'll have to search the newspapers from back then and see if they wrote a story about them. If I can get names, I can go from there. Heh, heh, heh." Niko laughed nastily to himself.
Was It A Dream? Part 7
Monday was to hold several surprises for Sue. The first one came in the sociology lecture class that she took with Phillip Evans. Sue arrived early and took her fourth row seat, as usual. She got her notebook and pencil out, ready to take notes.
"This seat isn't taken, is it? Would you mind if I sit here?" A voice beside her startled her. Sue looked up to see Phillip Evans standing next to her.
"Um no, no one usually sits there. Um, no I guess I don't mind if you sit there. But you usually sit in the back with all of your friends." Sue said.
"My grades are dropping in this class." Phillip lied. "I need to concentrate more on the lecture. This prof includes a lot of info on his tests, which you can only get from his lectures, rather than from the print material." Phillip hoped this excuse would sound plausible.
He did not want Sue to know that he was planning on becoming her friend and then slowly, gently wooing her. There was just something about her, besides her beauty, which called to him. He had discussed things with Amy over the weekend and they had ended their mutual agreement. Something he would have to explain to Sue, eventually.
Sue nodded and smiled, shyly, managing to make eye contact for all of two seconds, before hiding behind her long, thick, lowered lashes. Phil was so handsome! But his good looks only made her shyer. Besides, she told herself, he has a girlfriend. A beautiful girlfriend, someone she could never, ever match up to, she thought. He just wants to improve his test scores and be friendly to a pal of his sister's. She continued to tell herself, as she indicated that Phil could sit down.
'Would it be so terrible having him just as your friend? Couldn't that be enough?' She asked herself. 'I don't know.' She answered, uncertainly.
Phil gave her his gorgeous smile and sat down next to her. He got his notes out, ready for the lecture and a few minutes later, the professor came in and began his talk. Sue was surprised when, for the first time in all the classes they had taken together, Phillip took an active part in the question and answer section of the lecture period.
'He knows is stuff. I wonder why his grades are slipping.' Sue thought to herself.
After class, Phillip looked at her and smiled.
"Well, I got a lot out of today's lecture. I think sitting up here with you really helped. May I sit next to you again on Wednesday?"
"Uh sure, if it will help your concentration." Sue tried not to sound too hopeful. She reminded herself about the talk she had given herself before class.
"Great!" He said as he gathered up his stuff. "I've noticed that you head on over to the computer sciences building next. Mind if I walk with you? I have my next class over there as well."
"Um sure, okay." Sue gave him a shy smile and Phillip smiled gently back.
As they walked, they discussed what they had learned so far in their previous class. When they entered their building, they found a large crowd of students milling around in the hallways. Phillip saw a friend of his and asked what was going on.
"Professor Wainwright was hit by a car last night, while he was crossing the street. They don't know if he's going to make it."
"Oh no! Professor Wainwright is my teacher. I hope he gets better, I really like him." Sue cried out. "What are those of us in my class supposed to do now?"
"I heard that your class and ours are going to be combined." The boy said. "Professor Tomlinson should be here soon." Sue and Phillip nodded.
Just then, Professor Tomlinson came striding down the hallway until he reached the center of the crowd.
"All of you in Professor Wainwright's class, as well as those of you in my class, come with me to the large computer lab. Don't worry; I've posted instructions on both lab doors for students who come later." The crowd moved off, following the professor
"For those of you who don't know me, I am Professor Brad Tomlinson. I will be teaching Professor Wainwright's students as well as my own, after last night's terrible accident in which he was hit by a runaway car. I will keep you posted as to his recovery, as the hospital will not give out any information to you students. If any of you would like to send him a card, you may drop them off with me and I will make sure that he and his family receive them. Just one more note. Please do not try to send flowers or balloons, right now, they are not allowed in the ICU."
Professor Tomlinson went on to ascertain exactly where Prof. W's class was in their studies. He smiled when he learned that they were right up with is own students.
"Splendid, so you all have been told about the project we are about to start. With the combining of our two classes I have decided to assign partners for this project. I wrote up a list of teams, consisting of one student from my class and the other student from Prof. W's class. Listen for your names to be called, Adams and Baker. Best and Evans. Cochran and Fields..." Sue looked at Phillip shyly.
'Oh my gosh, is this my dream come true, or my worst nightmare?' She asked herself.
"Well partner, shall we get started?" Phillip smiled gently.
He could not believe his luck, although he felt terrible that it was only possible because of what had happened to Professor Wainwright. This would give him the perfect opportunity to work, unthreateningly with Sue and gain her trust, her friendship and hopefully more, as well.
"Where do you live, do you have a roommate?" Phil asked.
"Yeah, I have a roommate, named Sally. She's pretty nice but we're crammed into what should be a single dorm room." Sue said.
"Alright then, what do you think about working at my house? I have my own room and even though it's small, it still sounds better than working in your dorm room. Also, we can work downstairs in the dining room if necessary and there is usually someone else home, so you won't have to be worried about being alone with me." Phil finished his sales pitch.
"Um working at your home sounds okay, I guess. And maybe I can see Dee and Amy again, away from class, I mean." Sue said, quietly, glancing up at Phillip and then down again.
"Good. How is your schedule? When could you come over?" Phil asked.
"I have a pretty full class schedule during the day and I have swim practice on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, plus we practice on Saturday afternoons. How about you, what does your schedule look like?" Sue asked.
"Actually, my schedule is pretty much like yours, except that I'm on Crew and we practice in the mornings and then on Saturday as well. So I guess we can work on Tuesday or Thursday evenings or after your practice on the other days of the week. Hey, why don't you come for dinner tomorrow night? You can meet everyone else in the house and I'll be serving my great-grandmother's famous spaghetti." Phil coaxed, smiling charmingly.
"You cook?" Sue asked.
"Sure I do, we all do, taking turns, but I'm the best!" Phil grinned.
"Well, okay. What time should I come over?" Sue asked.
"Dinner's at around 6:30, but I get home from my last class around 5:15. You could come any time after that." Phil suggested.
"Alright, well, why don't we see what we can get done during the rest of our class time?" Sue asked, sitting down at a free keyboard to download the information they would need for their project. They worked well together for the rest of their class. Sue only started to get nervous and make errors in her typing, when Phillip leaned in too closely, to see the screen. As soon as he backed up a bit, Sue's shoulders relaxed some.
'Don't worry, sweetheart, I'd never hurt you. Not in a million years. I hope you can learn to trust me soon.' Phil said silently to this delicate, wounded little bird, sitting in front of him, at the keyboard.
Los Angeles, California
Niko Giuliani entered his own, small apartment, Monday afternoon. It was in a run down neighborhood, but his place looked like it would be the scene of a cholera outbreak. There were dirty dishes, glasses and pans lying in the kitchen sink and all over the counters and kitchen table. Beer cans littered the entire apartment and bags of garbage were piled into the corners, instead of being taken down to the dumpster. Dirty clothes lay all over the unmade bed and the floor, as well. His desk was littered with junk, waste paper and unpaid bills. His TV screen had a hole in it, where he had slammed his fist through it during one of his temper tantrums.
He had just arrived home, after using his tabloid's office computer to search back issues of Roswell's local paper, for the time when 'Among Us' was being filmed there. He had hit pay dirt when he found several stories about the filming going on in town...and about a local girl named Liz Parker, who was getting married to a guy named Max Evans. Niko was able to pull up one photograph of the young couple and saw that they looked exactly like Blair and Appleton, down to the last detail. Amazingly enough, the hick paper had never mentioned the remarkable likeness between the two couples.
Searching by Max's name, Niko found one small article about both he and the Parker girl, who was calling herself Mrs. Liz Evans by then. Apparently the young couple had been mobbed by fans of 'Among Us' for two weeks every time they tried to attend classes at Harvard. Their friends had acted as bodyguards to get them safely to and fro. Max and Liz were quoted during this one and only interview as saying that they had no connection to the movie, or to the actors and that they had never met any of them either.
"Well you are a big, fat liar, Max Evans, because I have a picture of Mason and Cheryl with their cute little tykes, Suzie and Matt, visiting the very town you are mayor of, Airatan, New Mexico. Are you trying to tell me that your exact duplicate just happened to visit your little art fair and that they didn't know you lived there in the first place? I think not." Niko talked to himself out loud, as he paced around his apartment, kicking dirty clothes out of his way, as he did.
"What are the four of you hiding? Any normal person would jump at the chance to have their picture in the paper. But nooo you keep yourself hidden away in that nothing, little town of yours, in the middle of nowhere. Oh you're hiding something, you have to be. And I am going to dig it up and display it for the whole world to see." Niko finished, muttering to himself.
Was It A Dream? Part 8
Tuesday morning, Sue entered her sociology lecture hall to see Phil just sitting down in the chair next to the one she normally sat in. She paused to gaze at him from the side door, as he was unaware of her presence, yet. Normally, Phillip dressed nicely in slacks, or good, clean jeans with a button down cotton shirt, but every once in a while he would wear his grunge clothes, as Sue like to call them.
Today he was wearing old, worn jeans and a white T-shirt, with some sort of design on the front and back. The soft denim material hugged or draped his lower body in all the right places, while the T-shirt did the same thing for his upper half. Phillip Evans was slim, but tautly muscled. The T-shirt was tight across his chest, back and shoulders, while hanging loosely over his abdomen and lower back to just past his waist, outside his jeans. The white material showed off his tanned and muscular arms, as well. Sue watched as his back and shoulder muscles rippled when he bent over to pick up a book from the floor. She sighed in pleasure as she started to walk towards her seat.
As she drew closer, Sue could see that the back of his T-shirt said "Hot air balloon ground crew", in dark green, block letters. Phillip straightened up as she drew closer and she saw, of all things, a little green man, standing in the whicker gondola of a hot air balloon. Printed on the balloon was "Roswell Hot-Air Balloon Club". She tried to hide a grin, at the absurd T-shirt, but didn't quite make it.
"Um hi, that is a um interesting T-shirt you're wearing." Sue said when she came to sit down in her seat next to him.
"Yeah, well I didn't get to do my laundry this weekend, as I normally do, so I was scrambling for something to wear this morning." Phillip said, embarrassed. "At least these are clean. Amy offered to do my laundry for me today if I'd take her cooking duty tomorrow night."
One of the many reasons all Airatan children were encouraged to go away to college, besides the maturing process it lent itself to, was for them to learn to live with the self-discipline of not using their gifts and powers.
"Oh...yeah...Amy. That was nice of her to offer to do for you, even if she is your girlfriend."
"Yeah it is. Can you imaging anyone preferring to do laundry, rather than to cook? But she really dislikes cooking for some reason and we really try to limit the amount of take-out or pre-packaged foods to just a few times a month. Anyway, as to Amy, there's something I need to tell you about her, but not here. Can we go somewhere a little private to talk or it could wait until this evening at our house." Phillip said.
'Oh great, he wants to tell me about his girlfriend.' Sue groaned silently.
"Um sure, maybe we could talk this evening. I always have to rush after computer class." Sue answered, hoping someone else would be at his house this evening so that they would not have any privacy there, either.
"Alright." Phil smiled at her briefly before the professor started his lecture. After class the two of them walked to their next class together.
"So um, where did you get that T-shirt? Are you really on a hot-air balloon ground crew?" Sue asked, as curiosity overrode her shyness.
"Yeah, I belong to the club, but I don't get to attend their uprisings as much as I'd like to, since it's based in Roswell and I live in Airatan. Some of my family live down there and got me interested in ballooning years ago, in fact, I'm working on getting my balloonist's license."
"You have to have a license to fly a balloon?" Sue asked.
"Of course you do, just as you do to drive a car or fly a plane. I already have my small-plane pilot's license and I'm also working towards my helicopter license, as well."
"Oh my, you really must love flying! Wow, three different pilot's licenses, that's impressive!"
"Not really." Phillip said, modestly. "Most of us kids can fly one or the other. Small planes and helicopters really come in handy for getting around, out in New Mexico."
"Oh." Sue said, nodding, as they entered the computer sciences building.
Sue and Phil entered their computer lab and found a free computer, where they could work. Phil kept a proper distance from Sue, as they worked together, but when he needed to move in closer to read something on the screen, or point something out to her, he kept it casual; very little eye contact, and all business. He smiled to himself as he realized that Sue had not stiffened up once, during their class-time.
'Maybe she's getting used to me a little.' He thought to himself, as they prepared to go their separate ways.
"So I'll see you at the house, later this afternoon?" Phil asked.
"Yes, see you then." Sue said, before waving good-bye and taking off across campus.
Phil found a stone bench to sit on for a moment, recalling his time together with Sue today, next to the conversation he had, had with his mother, late last night.
Flashback
'Hi Mom.' Phil broadcast over the Connection.
One of the many reasons the Community had bought houses nearby the four major university campuses their children attended around the country was so that each house could have an orb and stay a part of the Connection, through their link with the alien device. There were only the original orbs, which had gone with each of the children, who had escaped the doomed Antar, so many years ago. The materials to create more had been lost with the death of their planet and so they had to be carefully spread among the Community, so that every Antarian was within range of one.
'Phillip, what are you doing up so late? It's eleven o'clock on the coast.' Liz reproved her son.
'I thought this might be a good time to catch you. I need to ask your advice, Mom.' Phil told her seriously. He immediately received her full attention.
'Are you alright? I can sense that you're troubled.' Liz asked.
'I'm fine, Mom, well mostly. Dee introduced me to one of her friends, Friday night and I've been thinking about her ever since. There's something about her, which draws me to her, but...we think she has been...hurt by someone. We don't know for sure yet. Neither Dee, Amy, nor I are in a position to ask her yet...But...Mom...I...frighten her!' Phillip almost cried. His gentle soul could not handle the idea of any living being, especially this young woman, being afraid of him.
'Oh, Phil, I am sorry to here that. How does her fear manifest itself?' Liz asked.
'She is extremely shy of men. Dee says that she is fine around women. With me and a few other guys I've noticed her come near, she makes little or not eye contact, her speech becomes very soft and stilted, when she says anything at all and the few times I moved in too close to her, she stiffened up.'
'Why were you invading her personal space, Phil?' Liz asked
'Our two computer classes have been combined, because her professor is in the hospital. Professor Tomlinson, who is now teaching both classes, assigned partners. This young woman is now my partner. I only moved in towards her when she was working on the keyboard and I needed to read the screen.' Phil explained.
'Ah, well, alright. Phil there is something I need to tell you, but I want you to keep this confidential, alright? Don't even tell your sisters or Amy.'
'Of course Mom, but what ?' Phil asked worried about what his mother was going to tell him.
'I can help because...I was...assaulted when I was attending Harvard. I got away from my scumbag-boyfriend before he could...But the emotional trauma stayed with me for a long, long tome. Until one day, when your father saved my live and swept me off of my feet, literally!' Liz smiled at her memory of the day when she had met Max Evans. Then her expression became solemn and she brought her attention back to her son.
'Depending on what happened to her and when, it may take quite a while for your friend to heal, or she may never recover from it. Can you tell me her first name? It would be easier to call her by that, rather than as 'the young lady'.' Liz asked.
'I'm sorry, Mom. As much as I trust you to be discrete, I don't think that I should betray her privacy by giving you her name or even by telling you what she looks like. Telling you this much about her, may upset her enough if she ever finds out.'
'Of course, that's very thoughtful of you, Phil. Well, if you do ever speak to her of this, please tell her that I am very willing to help her any way I can. She may want someone, a woman to talk to. Tell her I would be willing to talk over the phone, vid-com, or I could even fly out if she would wish.'
'Thanks Mom. But how can I help her?'
'First of all, you must understand that with all the best intensions in the world, you may not be the one who can help her, no matter how patient you are, or how kind and gentle.' Liz warned.
'But if you truly want to help...the young lady...even have feelings for her, that's what you will have to be; patient, gentle, kind. Do not try and force her confidence or any other reaction from her. Let her lead you. She will confide in you if and when she wants to. Let her initiate physical contact of any kind, if and when she is ready.
'Give her your friendship, if she will take it. Share little confidences with her. Show her that you trust her, that you are willing to listen to anything she has to say. But once again, don't push her to talk about anything she does't want to.' Liz advised.
'Alright, thanks Mom.' Phil said, nodding thoughtfully.
'You're a good boy. I'm sure you'll do your best for your...friend and everything will work out alright in the end. Good luck. I love you.' Liz said, signing off.
'I love you too, Mom and Dad. Say hi to him for me.'
'Of course. Good night.' They both broke the Connection.
End Flashback.
Phillip came back to his surroundings and realized that he had better hustle over to the library so he could get the material he needed there and then get home to set things up for dinner tonight with Susan.
That evening, Phillip was home alone when Sue arrived.
"Hi Sue, come on in. May I take your jacket?" Phillip did not move in to help her off with her coat, as he would for anyone else, but rather waited for her to shrug out of it herself and hand it to him. He hung it in the small front closet.
"No one is here right now, so I was wondering if I could talk to you about that topic I mentioned earlier? I think it might make things a little clearer for you before Amy comes home."
"Um, well, sure." Sue said, reluctantly.
"Thanks. We could sit in the living room, or in the kitchen. I have some hot tea brewing in there, but we can bring it out here, if you'd rather...or if you would like something else..."
"Tea in the kitchen would be nice, I guess. I'm surprised that you aren't chugging down a beer or something." Her nervousness showed through her attempt at humor.
"I don't drink. I seem to be allergic to alcohol or something. I do't react well to any form of the foul stuff." Phil told her, as he guided her back into the kitchen.
Both the living and dining rooms, at the front of the house and on either side of the middle hallway, looked comfortable, but the kitchen, which ran along the width of the back of the house, looked and smelled homey. Sue took a whiff of the lovely smells coming from the oven, as they entered.
"What are you baking? It smells wonderful." Sue asked.
"Actually, I'm not baking anything. The cinnamon you smell is in the spaghetti. It's my great-grandmother's recipe, which has a sweeter taste, rather than such a spicy one. I cooked it yesterday, let it flavor through overnight and now I'm just warming it up in the oven. I'll broil some garlic bread, closer to dinner time, though." She nodded.
"Please, have a seat." Phil indicated the small cherry kitchen table, set up by a window, with four wooden chairs surrounding it.
Phil puttered about the kitchen, getting down two blue, stone-ware mugs, the cream pitcher and the sugar bowl and setting them on a tray with the proper, English brown teapot, which was already resting on a quilted cozy, in the middle of the tray. He added teaspoons and napkins to the tray and then carried it over to the table.
"Here you go. Would you like some cookies? Audrey baked some over the weekend."
"Um, not thank you." Sue said, getting nervous again.
"Alright, let me pour the tea for you." Phil said, as he picked up a fine, mesh filter and poured the tea through it, to catch the tealeaves, into Sue's mug and then into his own.
"I'll let you add whatever you'd like to your tea." Phil mentioned.
"So what did you want to explain to me?" Sue prompted, as she put sugar and cream into her tea.
"Alright, I'll get right to the point then." Phillip said, taking a swallow from his own mug. "There's something you need to know about the town we all come from. We tend to mate for life. Of course a couple could divorce if they wanted to, but we believe in finding our soul-mates, waiting to marry until that perfect person comes along and then living with that one, special person for the rest of our lives...So we're then very careful about who we date and who we eventually marry. To that end, we don't like to...make love outside of marriage, or at least a very stable engagement. To us physical love is too precious an act to share with anyone but our chosen mates.
"With us college students, that can cause problems. We're looking for that one special person, so we do date, but we don't...go too far in a relationship. When we realize that the person we are dating isn't our soul-mate, we break off the relationship, but usually keep them as friends. But if you do that too many times, you start to get a reputation, as I was beginning to get, two years ago. In such cases those of us from my town employ the technique of asking a friend, in our same situation, to pose as our boyfriend or girlfriend for a while.
"Two years ago, I asked Amy to play that role with me. We have known each other all of our lives and we're best friends, but we will never be anymore that that. She was having the same problem I was and so she agreed.
"Now, two years later, we're both in the position of our so-called relationship that we would either have to make it look as if we're becoming even more involved; about to marry or back it off...so we did...break it off. Another boy living here, Shaun, broke up with his real girlfriend a while ago and is having some major problems with girls running after him all of the time, so Amy offered to help. Something...unexpected happened when she did, though."
Flashback
"Hey Shaun, that girl chasing you almost left teeth marks on your shoulder!" Amy teased, as Shaun came dashing into the house and slammed the door behind him, almost in the face of the girl who had followed him.
"Yeah, why can't they take a hint? I'm not interested. Maybe I should have a T-shirt printed up...'Off the Market'."
"Or...you could get a fake girlfriend; Amy Marie Guerin, at your service sir; protector of reputations and shield against clueless bimbos!" Amy grinned at her friend.
"Phillip dumped you? I don't believe it! I thought you two were really...Oh what's the dif? It wouldn't be real with you. You would never want to make it real..."
"Shaun what are you saying? Phillip and I were never a real item. You knew that. You must have. We never acted like...lovers when we were home. And what were you saying at the end?"
"Never mind what I said." Shaun said, quickly. "What are you talking about? It wasn't real between you and Phillip? He loves you. I see it when he looks at you and when you look back at him."
"Of course I love, respect and admire him. He is my oldest and best friend, but neither of us is In love with each other. There is a difference. Now will you please tell me what else you said?"
"I figured I would never have a chance with you. I'm a year younger than you and Phillip...is Phillip...you know, our prince." Shaun looked down at his toes.
"Oh man, Shaun. I am so sorry. Have I been so blind to your feelings? I feel so awful. But you've always had girlfriends. There was never any opportunity for me...for us to...date...get to know each other in that way." Amy said.
"No you weren't blind. I hid it pretty well. I thought I'd never get a chance...wait a minute are you saying that you would, that we could...?"
"Of course we could go out. I've been so busy supporting Phil...and hiding from men myself, after that last awful boyfriend I had during my sophomore year, that I haven't allowed myself to even understand my own wants and needs. I would very much like to get to know you in that special way. I think maybe something might come of it."
"That would be so great!" Shaun grinned, while he gently squeezed her hand.
End Flashback (Of course Phillip did not mention the part about his being a prince, to Sue.)
'Man these people are starting to sound weird.' Sue thought to herself. 'A really nice idea; finding your soul-mate and all, but could that really happen to an entire town? And now another generation is looking to do the same thing? I wonder if these people are in some sort of religious cult.'
"Looking at your expression, I can guess what you're thinking right now, Sue." Phil chuckled. "No we are not in any sort of cult, nor are we fanatics! I think our townsfolk cover the full spectrum of religious choices out there, but no matter their belief systems, this is something we all seem to agree on...finding our one true love and sticking with her...or him."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Sue stammered.
"It's alright, Sue. In this day and age it seems as though you would have to join a cult so as not to have a 50 divorce rate!" Phil assured her.
"Well then, that is so sweet! I'm so happy for Amy. She seemed so nice, when we met on Friday. Of course, this means that you're free now, though." Sue teased, trying to remind herself that Phil had not broken up with the lovely Amy, so that he could go out with someone like her. Phillip noticed her dejected posture and wondered what it meant.
"Well, I just wanted to explain things to you, since Amy and Shaun will be coming through that door any minute now, laughing and hand in hand." Phil mentioned.
Indeed, at that moment, Dee, Amy and Shaun, with their fingers linked together, came through the door, laughing as they did so. Shortly after the three came in, the other members of their household arrived. They all smelled the spaghetti in the oven and made loud comments about how hungry they all were and how much they were looking forward to dinner. Dee introduced Sue to those she had not yet met, before they all went up to their rooms to work on homework; anything to keep them from being asked to help with preparing dinner and Sue left alone, wandered back into the kitchen.
"Can I help you with anything?" She offered.
"Sure, if you really want to. Guests are not expected to help in the kitchen. You could sit at the table, have some more tea and keep me company." Phillip suggested.
"I'm not the sit and watch kind of person. I like to be useful." Sue said.
'Are you afraid that if you don't make yourself useful, no one will want you around?' Phillip wondered to himself.
"Well then, could you make the salad? I'll get the veggies out of the frig." Phil did so and took them to the sink, to wash.
"Alright, we have head-lettuce." He threw it up in the air. "Cucumber and celery." He threw them up in the air, as well, starting to juggle them, while adding a few more items to his trick. "Radishes and tomatoes, but I don't want to bruise the tomatoes, so I won't juggle them and you can't juggle spinach either...ah, there're the carrots." He picked up the last item and kept them looping through the air, from one hand to another. Suddenly a high-pitched voice called out.
"Ahh, let me down, let me down!"
"Don't toss us so high!"
"If you drop me, I won't be able to be put into the salad!" The vegetables were crying out, as Phillip tossed them up into the air.
"You'd rather be eaten than just be juggled around a little?" Phillip asked.
"Yes, yes, it is our destiny to be tossed into a salad, not to be tossed around in the air!" The voice seemed to come from the celery.
"Put us down, put us down NOW!" The head-lettuce yelled.
"Oh alright!" Phillip put them down on the counter, one by one, keeping them up in the air until he did so.
"Oh my goodness! You should be in Vaudeville!" Sue clapped, but the applause seemed to snap Phillip back to reality and he grimaced.
"I shouldn't have done that in front of you."
"Why ever not?" Sue asked. "You were terrific!"
"Will you keep a secret for me?"
"What secret?" Sue asked.
"There is a prankster in this household, who is a ventriloquist...and as you might have guessed, the prankster...is me. But no one else knows, and I would like to keep it that way. I promise, I never hurt anyone, it's just a bit of harmless fun."
"I see, well in that case, of course I'll keep your secret." Phillip grinned at her.
"Thanks, Sue." He cleared his throat. "Now, would you please make the salad and I'll get the garlic bread ready." Sue nodded and went to work.
A few minutes later, everyone ran down the stairs, after Phillip yelled upstairs that dinner was ready. He and Sue had set the food out, buffet-style and everyone formed a line to serve themselves. There were only two assigned seats at the table; the head and the foot, where Phillip and Dee sat, respectively. Places of honor were on the right-hand side of the prince and princess of the Antarian people, but only if they specifically asked you to sit there, as Dee asked Sue to sit next to her, with Amy sitting on the other side. Phillip would have liked to ask Sue to sit on his right side, but he knew that it was too early in their relationship for that. As dinner progressed, it became clear to Sue that Shaun did not like carrots. He had tried to put as few of them into his salad bowel, out in the kitchen, but now he was picking the ones he had picked up anyway, onto his plate. A shrill voice cried out from that small pile of unwanted carrots, startling everyone at the table.
"Shaun, don't you like us? All we wanted out of our short lives was to be enjoyed by you! But it's too late; you've picked us out of your bowl and set aside to throw us away. Oh the agony! We allowed ourselves to be cut up, just so that we could be put into your salad bowl and you throw us aside as if were...Brussels-sprouts! Carrots are good for you; they are tasty...Why don't you like us?" They cried.
"Why do you, whoever you are, do this to me every time I don't eat my carrots?" Shaun moaned.
The carrots whimpered from his plate.
"Oh alright, already! I'll eat you!" Shaun mumbled, as he forked them up.
"Thank you, oh thank you, we are especially delicious tonight!" They said, before he swallowed them.
"There are you happy now?" Shaun looked around the table, until he came to the wide eyes of Sue, who was playing her part as confused guest, perfectly.
"I'm sorry, Sue. We have a prankster at this table, who loves nothing better than to make sure that we all eat our vegetables, among other things."
"Yeah, like the time he or she replaced my size 6 pumps with size 17 clown-shoes!" Amy laughed, remembering.
"Or the time he or she had my computer translating everything into Greek!" Dee giggled.
"Well, at least his or her pranks sound harmless." Sue said, looking around the table, until she came to Phillip and raised one, delicate eyebrow, ala Mr. Spock.
"Yeah, they are, otherwise Dad would have found a way to put a stop to them by now." Phillip replied. "We have another prankster, back in town, who's been on the loose for twenty-five years! He even made appearances at my parent's and aunt's and uncle's weddings!"
The table broke into laughter, remembering the stories, which everyone knew, about the weddings of Michael and Maria, Kyle and Tess, Isabel and Alex and Max and Liz. Dee turned to her friend and relayed some of the funnier things, which the original prankster had done to her parents and aunts and uncles, when they were young, until Sue was laughing as well.
"So, your prankster is carrying on the tradition, huh?" Sue asked Phillip.
"Looks that way, whoever he or she is." Phil replied with a straight face.
A short time later, after some dessert of strawberries and ice-cream, with some home-made cookies on the side, everyone got up from the table and took their plates into the kitchen. Dee and Amy had clean-up duty that night. Everyone else went back to their activities for the rest of the evening.
"Ready to get to work?" Phillip asked and Sue nodded.
The two of them headed up to his room, on the second floor. It was small, with just enough room for his full-sized bed, closet, a small dresser and an equally small desk, crammed with his computer equipment and textbooks. Sue noticed that it was a neat and clean room, smelling of something pleasantly spicy.
They settled down to work and managed to get a lot done. By the end of the evening, Sue realized that she had felt no urge to stiffen up in Phillip's close presence all night and was glad. He was nice and she was starting to feel safe with him. Sue was thinking how much she liked Dee, Amy and the others she had met tonight. She hoped she could build friendships with them...including Phillip Evans, she thought within the most secret part of her heart.
Was It A Dream? Part 9
Sue arrived at her architectural history class early, the next day. She sat down in her seat and allowed her mind to drift to the thoughts, which had been circling around in her head, ever since the evening before. Phil always acted with proper politeness towards her. He never made any suggestive remarks, nor any inappropriate touches or eye contact. He treated her more like a sister, which had really depressed her, until last night.
Last night, Sue had found out two very nice things about Phil and all of his house-mates. He had told her that he does not drink at all and it seemed last night, that none of his house-mates do either, even though they are all over the drinking age. Everyone at the table was drinking hot or iced-tea, coffee, pop, or just water. In fact, as Sue had helped Phil prepare the dinner, she had, had occasion to look into several of their cupboards. In them she had seen numerous flavored teas and coffees, stored up front. There was an automatic juicer and iced-tea maker on the counter and many different kinds of sodas in the refrigerator.
Also, Phil had made a big point of explaining his relationship to Amy and the custom in their town, of marrying for life. These were things a girl would like to know about a boy she is interested in; that he does not drink too much and that he would be faithful to her. But why would a boy, who treats you as if you were his sister, make such a point of telling you about such things? Sue hoped that it was more than Phil's explaining how Amy had been his girlfriend one day and became Shaun's the next.
'It wouldn't be because he especially wanted you to know that he was free to date again.' She silently told herself. 'Could it?'
"Hi Sue." Dee greeted her friend as she came to sit down next to her.
"Hey Dee." Sue smiled up at her friend.
"Would you be free Saturday morning? Amy, Audrey and I are all going to have facials, manicures and get makeovers, just for fun and we wanted you to join us. You have such a great sense of style and we wanted your advice, as well as to just spend some girl-time with you. What do you say?"
"Thank you for the compliment! That sounds like a lot of fun. My swim-team practice has been rescheduled to early that morning, so that will work out great!" Sue enthused, happily. Her shyness had not allowed her to make many friends during her three years at Harvard.
"Super! We'll get you added to our reservation at the salon. Afterwards, we could have lunch at one of the new restaurants near the mall and maybe do some shopping!" Dee wiggled in her seat, excitedly. She loved to shop, especially if she had someone with great taste, like Sue, along with her.
"We'll pick you up just before ten o'clock, alright?" Dee asked.
"That would be fine." Sue said, nodding and then they both had to settle down, as their professor started his lecture.
"Oh, I forgot to ask; how's your professor doing, the one in the accident?" Dee asked. "I forgot to ask Phillip if he'd heard anything."
"Oh yeah, we were told yesterday, that he's regained consciousness and that there seems to be no brain damage. He still has a lot of broken bones, but they'll mend in time. His internal injuries seem to be healing well, after his surgery." Sue reported, happily, as the two girls left their classroom. "He'll still be out for at least this semester, healing and doing physical therapy, though."
"Oh, I'm so glad that he's doing well." Dee said. "I'll see you in class on Friday, if I don't see you at the house, before that. Bye, Sue."
"Bye Dee." Sue said before they had to split up and go their separate ways.
Saturday morning, after swim-team practice, Sue was walking down a hallway, which circled one of the gymnasiums, on her way out of the building, when she happened to glance through one of the open doorways. She saw Shaun and Edward, Phillip's other housemate, playing basketball. Some of the guys, including Shaun and Ed, had taken off their T-shirts and just wore shorts, to play. Sue noted to herself that both of the young men she had just met, had very nice muscles in their upper bodies and legs, but she did not think they would compare to Phillip. Just then, her opinion was proven, when Phillip walked through one of the other gym doors. Sue slunk back, so that she would not be seen, as she continued to watch. Phil was in sweat-damp T-shirt and shorts and his hear was wet with perspiration.
"Hey, Evans, nice of you to show up." A strange boy called out.
"Hey, dummy, he had crew practice this morning." Shaun explained. "Anyway, with Phil here, we'll beat your team all the faster!"
"Oh my gosh!" Sue exclaimed, quietly to herself, as Phil tossed his T-shirt on the floor and joined his friends on the court. "And I thought he had a great body when it was clothed!" She muttered, as she watched his muscles flex and twist, tighten and release.
'I'd better get out of here, before I drool onto the floor, or he'll be sure to feel my gaze on him.' Sue thought, as she made herself turn away from the wondrous sight of Phillip Evans, bare-chested.
Back in her dorm, she changed out of her sweat-suite, which she wore after practice and into jeans and a navy-blue sweater, with gold, copper and brown leaves scattered over it. She was wearing her copper-V, but as always, she tucked it inside the neck of her sweater.
'Funny, usually when I see a man without his shirt on the sight totally turns me off, or I feel nothing at all. But today, when I saw Phil, for the first time in years I felt attraction and...something else, I can't describe. Maybe I'm finally coming back to life a little. Maybe Phillip Evans is bringing me back to life.' Sue thought, as she finished getting ready and went downstairs to wait for the other three girls to pick her up.
"Oh I love the hand massage you get with a manicure." Audrey moaned happily, as the manicurist manipulated the fine bones in her hand.
"Now, ladies, what color nail polish would each of you like us to apply? One of the other four manicurists asked.
"Sue, what color would be right for me?" Dee asked her friend, who was sitting between herself and Amy.
"Oh, I think this one would be good for you. It'll bring out the warm color-tones in your skin and show off your long nails at the same time." The manicurist nodded, agreeing with Sue, who had moved on to help Audrey choose her color.
"Before your nail polish is applied, ladies, it's time for us to remove the deep cleanser lotion on your faces and apply the next step of your facial. Then you can come back and have your nails finished." Their beautician came to get them.
"Sue, what would you think of my having my hair cut to look like yours?" Amy asked, as they were all having their faces worked on. Sue looked carefully at her friend's face and hair before replying.
"I think it would look great, but it would look even better if it were feathered away from your face a little and layered, rather than just the straight cut, I have." Sue recommended.
"That would look great, Miss." The beautician agreed. "We have a chair available in the cutting room of our salon, if you would like to have it done right now."
"Should I, you guys?" Amy asked. "What will Shaun think?"
"He'll flip! I think it'll be a really cute look on you." Audrey said.
"Your hair is already shoulder-length. He'll think that it looks even better than it does right now." Dee said. "It's not as if it reached down past your waist, like mine does." After a second's thought. "Hey Sue, do you think I should cut my hair too?" Dee asked.
"NO!" Sue exclaimed, loudly. She modified her tone and tried again. "No, please do not cut your hair. It's so beautiful, long and thick. It does't even need a trim." Sue said, firmly and Dee smiled.
"Phew, thanks. I didn't want to cut it, but the thought has crossed my mind. I like it when everyone tells me that I look like my grandmother, when she was young. She was a great lady and I want to be just like her." Amy and Audrey were nodding.
"Oh do you? That must be a nice way to feel connected to your heritage. I don't look much like any of my relatives." Sue remarked, as the girls walked over to the cutting area, to watch Amy get her hair cut.
After Amy had her hair cut which all the other girls agreed looked fabulous, they went back to have their nails finished and then over to the make-up counter for their make-overs.
"None of you want to wear too much make-up, unless it's for a very special occasion. Your faces and skin are all so perfect, they don't need much enhancement." Sue suggested. "Just some light foundation, if you want; some subtle, glossy lipstick and some eye make-up to bring out the color in your irises."
"Well you certainly seem to take your own advice, Sue." Dee said. "But I get the feeling that it isn't because you know that your face needs little or no adornment to look beautiful!"
"Oh you don't need to say that, Dee. I know I'm not beautiful, like the three of you are. Putting on a lot of make-up just doesn't seem worth my time. It will never change what I look like; make my reflection any better." Sue said quietly. Still her friends and their beautician stood there with their mouths hanging open.
"No, make-up probably won't make you look any better." Dee said, seriously, thoughtfully. "Because it would only be covering up your natural beauty; your lovely bone structure, your luminous, clear skin, your features. No you aren't just beautiful and not to sound out of line or anything, but Sue, you are gorgeous! I can't believe every guy in town isn't clambering for your name and phone number. Most of all I can't believe that you don't see yourself as you truly are." Sue ducked her head and averted her face from her friends, uncomfortable with their praise, but didn't say anything.
'Okay we need somewhere private, where we can talk some sense into Sue.' Dee told Amy and Audrey, sub-vocally.
"I think we're finished here." Amy said firmly to their beautician, who nodded, understandingly. Thankfully they had already paid their bill. "Thank you for all of your help."
"Sue, why don't we go have some lunch." Audrey said, linking her arm with Sue's and steering her out of the salon.
They were on their way out of the mall, when they saw Shaun, Ed and Phillip, coming towards them.
"Hey you guys, I thought you were all playing basketball." Dee called out.
'We need to take Sue somewhere private, where we can have a talk with her.' Amy told the men, sub-vocally relaying to them, what just happened inside the salon.
'No you don't. I don't want you pumping her for information she's not ready to give.' Phillip said, firmly.
"One cannot live on hoops alone." Shaun told them, out loud, as he came to put his arm around Amy.
"We came to see a movie." Edward said.
"Why don't you lovely ladies join us?" Phillip suggested, looking directly at Sue, as he said it. "Have you had lunch yet? We can load up on junk food; nachos, hot dogs, popcorn, sodas and watch the new adventure film that's out."
"Are you talking about the new Mason Blair film? Ooh, I want to see that! I love his films." Amy raved, glancing at Dee and Phillip. After all, the famous actor did look exactly like their own father.
"They say he's the Harrison Ford of his generation; handsome, sexy and incredibly talented." Audrey chimed in.
Sue was feeling much better now that the topic of conversation had changed. She was trying to hide her delighted grin at hearing her father so well spoken of.
"A movie sounds like fun." She noted, quietly.
"A movie it is then." Phillip said, instantly. "I think there's a showing in about 30 minutes. We could grab some lunch beforehand and then just take popcorn and pop in with us." He suggested and the friends started to walk towards the theatre.
Shaun paid for Amy's ticket and food and Phillip would have liked to do the same for Sue, but he reminded himself that this was not a date. This was just a bunch of friends having fun together. The seating did work out well, however when they went into the theater. Shaun and Amy sat together, with Edward next to Shaun, on the far side. Dee and then Audrey sat next to Amy with Sue next to them and then Phillip sat on the aisle, on the right side of Sue. They both sat with their arms within the sides of their chairs, not touching at all.
As the lights went down, Sue remembered that her father had never told her what this movie was about. He said that he wanted it to be a surprise, knowing as he did, that his daughter never watched entertainment channels. The surprise came in the fact that this movie was more of a romance than any of Mason Blair's previous films, not including 'Among Us'. In his action/adventures, mysteries and intrigues, Mason always got the girl in the end, but the focus would be on the action scenes.
"Oh my gosh, Mason's wife, Cheryl Appleton is in this with him!" Dee squealed, quietly, as she read the opening credits.
'Oh my gosh, those little...stinkers!' Sue thought of her parents. 'I knew that they were both working on movies, but they never mentioned that they were working on the same movie. They haven't filmed one together in years. Mom has become a very gifted director lately, while Dad kept acting.' Sue thought to herself.
As the movie progressed, Sue became totally caught up in the action. She forgot that it was just a movie, just pretend and that all the fights, explosions and other dangers were highly choreographed stunts. That was her mother, up on the screen and she was in danger. Of course her father would save her, but in the meantime, Sue was gripping the arms of her chair with white-knuckled intensity...except that one of the arms she grasped was not made of plastic, but of living flesh.
'Boy, Sue is really getting into this movie.' Phil thought, as he watched out of the side of his eye, as she cringed and jumped at each punch and explosion.
'Maybe this movie wasn't such a good idea.' He thought. Then he felt a small hand grasp his wrist with incredible strength. He turned his head to see Sue watching the screen through the fingers of her hand, which alternately covered her eyes and then spread open, to let her watch.
Phillip wanted to put his arm around Sue and hold her through the intense scenes, but he knew that it was too soon for that. He covered her hand with his own and tried to pat it reassuringly. A particularly loud explosion brought his attention back to the screen for a second. He saw Cheryl Appleton's character narrowly escape being crushed by a large piece of debris; before Mason Blair's character sprinted out to pick her up in his arms and carry her to safety. After that one second, he felt another hand grasp his upper arm and a forehead being pressed into his shoulder and he heard Sue cry out. He turned and saw her just turning her head to peak one eye out so that she could watch what happened next.
There was some sub-vocal chatter going on as well. Dee was also having some trouble distinguishing the actors from her parents, as well and was holding tightly to Audrey's hand. Luckily, after all of the action, came a tender scene between the hero and heroine. Phillip watched as tears started to trickle down Sue's smooth cheeks and the urge to take her into his arms grew stronger. The only thing which kept him from panicking at her reactions to the movie was the sweet smile on her face, as she watched the couple on the screen kiss and gently caress each other's faces, necks and arms. He heard sniffles coming from the other girls, sitting near him as well.
'Oh I love to see those two together.' Sue thought to herself. 'Matt would only roll his eyes and make a rude comment, but I've always thought that our parent's love for each other was so romantic!'
The movie came to an end and the audience started to applaud and cheer. Appleton/Blair movies always garnered such enthusiastic responses.
"That was Wonderful!" Amy exclaimed.
"Yeah, those two are so great together and since they're married, you know those kisses were for real!" Audrey said, smiling.
"Man, those action scenes were hot!" Shaun said next.
"Yeah, that last scene, where you're sure that Cheryl's character is going to be killed and then Mason comes running in, just in time, to save her!" Ed added.
'I wonder how they can kiss like that in front of a camera and all the people who must be on the set, watching?" Dee asked.
"They're just engrossed in their love for each other and in their own little world." Sue said and then. "I would imagine that's how they film such scenes."
Phillip just watched her, silently.
"Hey you guys, I was promised shopping!" Dee reminded them.
"Yeah, let's go." Audrey agreed.
They said goodbye to the guys and walked off, arm in arm, to spend the rest of the afternoon checking out the shops and boutiques the mall had to offer, having a great time talking about the finer points of the movie, as they did.
Los Angeles, California.
Niko Giuliani knew everything there was to know about Mason Blair and Cheryl Appleton already, so he had spent the week finding out all he could about Max Evans and Liz Parker.
"So you were a foundling, Maxie-boy? That could be an interesting angle. I'll have to dig harder into Blair's family history. Maybe there was an affair, which produced Evans, on the wrong side of the blanket. And maybe there was something similar happening between the Parker and Appleton families. He, he, he!
"Well, I've already found out something interesting about that little town of Max Evans'. He had offered big bucks to buy that land from the government...And those mountains hold an underground military facility, including several missile silos. Now, I wonder what a quiet, little town, filled with those artsy-types would want with a secret, underground military base?
"I'll do a little more digging and then I'll have more than enough information to contact both Blair and Evans and see how they react, when I rattle their cages a little."
Part 10
Niko had been digging for a few more days, but had been unable to find any "connection" or sign of an affair in the Blair family background, or between the Parker and Appleton families.
"That doesn't mean that nothing happened, just that they hid it well." Niko mumbled to himself. "But I've learned a great deal and pieced a lot of coincidences together. It all started over fifty-five years ago, when some Swede-nobody, named Eric Petersen started to write his dorky, sci-fi books about this planet called Antar. He even gets those clowns in Hollywood to make movies out of his books. His dreamer of an uncle, Olaus Petersen is trying to build houses that no one wants to buy. So, twenty-five years ago, Eric makes a deal with the Hollywood big-wigs, to film one more movie, based on his last two books. He gets his uncle hired on as set designer and these two and their whole passel of relatives decide to immigrate to the States.
"Meanwhile, there's this kid, Max Evans, a foundling. According to the adoption records, which I was able to hack my way into, he was found, out on the road on night, just outside of Roswell, New Mexico. He grows up all alone, poor kid, until he attends college at smarmy, ivy-choked Harvard. There he bravely saves the life of Liz Parker and all of a sudden, starts to have friends pop up out of the woodwork.
"Interesting thing is that three of those friends were also found, alone, on a road, just outside of Roswell, New Mexico, according to their adoption papers and the police reports I was able to get a look at. The Parker girl, her adopted sister, Tess and her friend Maria, all grew up in Roswell, site of the infamous crash of a spaceship, back in the late 40s. The government made such a stink about covering it up, that I just know that something must have actually happened there.
"So, all the kiddies have met and suddenly they know Eric Petersen as well. So well, that they're bidding on an old, underground, military facility, together. They get the land, a valley, which is almost totally cut off from the outside world and almost overnight, the town of Airatan has popped up out of nowhere. Where did all of those good townsfolk come from, all of a sudden? Where did they stay, while they were used to build the town? Well, that's easy; they were down in that secret, military facility. And I bet that they are still hiding illegal aliens down there, today.
"The two Petersen men are working on that stupid movie and gee-whiz, they hire an actor and actress, who look just like Evans and Parker, to play some poor, orphaned, alien prince, who comes to Earth and finds the big "L" with this stringy-haired, no chest, little mouse of a girl. The four of them supposedly meet for the first time, which I think is a bunch of bull, right before Parker and Evans marry and live happily ever after...yeah, right.
"Three years later, after most of the work has already been finished, the cute, little Evans couple move out to Airatan, which I found, by actually reading one of Petersen's stupid books, was the name of the royal capital on the planet Antar. Maxie-boy becomes the mayor of this alien planet, look-a-like town.
"The Blairs were caught visiting that weird, little town, fourteen years ago. I bet they'd been in touch with the Evans family before that and had stayed in touch over the years to this very day, lying to anyone who asked them whether they knew each other. So, why are they hiding their connection? They don't want anyone to know about the affairs going on between their families, of course. Such fine, upstanding families don't have such lurid skeletons hanging in their closets, oh no.
"Mayor Evans has never allowed the Press beyond the tourist town, at the mouth of their little valley. He says he doesn't want their privacy invaded. There is even a barbed-wire fence running all the way around the outside of the valley. Now, is that to keep people out, or keep people...or something...in?
"They have to be using the underground facility to smuggle drugs and/or illegal aliens...wait a minute, wait just a minute. Not illegal aliens from Mexico, illegal aliens from outer space! Eric Petersen wrote books, supposedly make-believe books about another planet. The last book tells of a group of kids coming to Earth, to live among us. What if that really happened? What if Evans is that wimp of a prince? He gathers his "people" together into this one little, hick-town, to live in peace and harmony among us Humans. I bet they're smuggling in more aliens-from-outer-space and hiding them down in those tunnels, until their new identities can be forged. They might even be experimenting on Humans down there!
"Oh yeah, I've got lots of questions to ask Blair and Evans. I'll send the same letter to each of them, so they know what is suspected about the other guy. Maybe this'll break them up, make one of them rat out the other...to me! I'll be famous, when all of this is blown wide open!" Niko grinned to himself, dreaming of building his career, as well as a magnificent house to live in, with lots of cars, women, jewelry, women...He just didn't realize that he was building all his dreams on sand and as soon as he set the cornerstone, a sink-hole was going to open up and swallow him whole.
Airatan, New Mexico.
"Have you seen Uncle Max, or Aunt Liz, Dad?" Marcus Guerin asked his father.
"Uh no, I haven't. You have tried calling them over the Connection, haven't you?" Michael asked.
"Yes, but they aren't answering. I'm worried." Michael concentrated for a moment.
"Well, I can pick up their life signs, so they're fine. They probably just want some privacy for a while. Why don't you go to their home office and leave them a note?"
"Well, alright." Marc said, as he turned back towards his home and the Evans's.
"I'll walk with you, I was going home anyway. So, how's Libby doing?"
"She's great, Dad! Well, You Know how I feel about her...she's...she's..."
"She's great, yes I understand and I'm happy for both of you. Wanting to see Max and Liz doesn't have anything to do with your relationship with Libby, does it?"
"Well, uhm..."
"Because, I've just found them for you." Michael said, nodding towards the Community's glass-enclosed, Olympic-sized pool.
"Oh yeah sure, like I'm going to go in there and ask for their permission to marry their daughter, while they're..." Marc tilted his head..."uh, kissing...alone...in the pool."
"Smart boy, wait 'til later this evening, at least." Michael advised, as father and son walked on.
A few minutes earlier.
Liz walked into the glass-enclosed pool building and stood to watch her husband swim lap after lap. She looked away from the tantalizing view of Max slicing his way through the water, for just a few moments, to look around the enormous, cathedral-ceilinged room. Inside the twelve-foot high windows grew different types of large, green ferns and other plants, while outside, there were nicely spaced pine and spruce trees. Anyone inside the pool-house had a lovely view up and down the valley, but at the same time they had a little bit of privacy at ground level, from the greenery, or so she thought.
They could usually count on having this pool all to themselves in the middle of the day. The kids were in school and the adults were at work, when Max and Liz took their one day a month to meet for a private swim in the pool. Liz looked back to her husband, as he came speeding towards her. When he reached the end of the pool, he stopped and brought his head up out of the water. He leaned backwards, stuck his head back into the water and then straightened up, his hair all neatly sleeked back over his head.
As Max brought his head out of the water, smoothing his hair back a little with his hand, he opened his eyes to see his dream-girl standing before him, up on the tile walkway, surrounding the pool. Man, he loved to look at her body, especially when it was displayed to perfection in her copper-toned, one piece swimsuit. The top was cut just low enough to show off a little bit of cleavage, the bottom of the suit was cut high enough to show off her gorgeous legs and the whole thing fit her like a second skin, showing off all of her fabulous figure, hidden underneath.
"Hey there, how come you're standing up there, gorgeous, but dry, so far away from me?" Max asked.
"Because my handsome husband has not yet offered to help me into the water, so that I don't get my hair wet." Liz replied.
"Woops, sorry, sweetheart." Max said and then raised his arms and took hold of Liz by her tiny waist and lifted her down into the water. Instead of putting her down in the shallow water, he shifted his hold until he was holding her with one arm under her bare thighs and the other behind her almost bare back. Liz put her arms around his neck and moved in to kiss him, deeply.
"Mmm, thank you sir, for your help." Liz said, between kisses. With her attention on Max's lips, she did not realize that her tricky husband was taking her out to deeper water, until he dunked them both underwater, but continued to kiss her moist lips. Finally, they surfaced, gasping for air.
"Max, I told you that I didn't want to get my hair wet!" Liz exclaimed.
"That's what you always say, but how can we have any fun or get in any exercise, without your hair becoming wet? I always dry it for you afterwards, anyway." Max grinned at her.
"Oh you!" Liz laughed, just before she made a pre-emptive strike and put her hands on top of Max's head, to dunk him. She could hear his startled yelp come form underwater, as she quickly flitted out of his reach.
They played like this for some time; trying to dunk the other, dodging each other by swimming along the bottom of the pool and splashing each other, as well. Then they took turns on the diving board; Liz performing graceful dives, while Max preferred the good, old cannon-ball, splashing half of the pool's water out, each time he did it. Finally, Liz put in several laps, with Max pacing himself beside her, before they saw that it was time to get out.
"Oh no, look at my fingers, they look like prunes." Liz wiggled her fingers in front of Max's face.
"Mmm, I can take care of that." Max said, as he took her hand and kissed each finger, drying and bringing each hand back to its normal softness, as he did so.
"Thank you, Max. You know, with all the water you splashed out of the pool, perhaps we should try to conserve a little water by...taking a joint shower. What do you say?"
"What a great and environmentally thoughtful suggestion, Liz. I'm so proud of how you always put Mother Earth first in your priorities!" Max replied, as he took her hand and pulled her through the door and into the locker-room.
He made sure that the shower-room door was good-and-locked, before he slowly slid Liz's suit down her fabulous body. Liz ran her hands down over Max's impressive, bare chest and abdomen, before she hooked her thumbs into the waistband of his boxer-type suit and pulled it down his body, as well. They ran the gamut between laughter, as one of them found a ticklish spot...and moans of pleasure, as they both discovered...other places to kiss and caress, as they shampooed and soaped each other clean.
...Sometime later, they walked in, arm-in-arm, through one of the French doors in their family room and made their way to their bedroom to...change clothes. A while after that, they passed back through the family room and on to their offices/library, to do a little work. Even though this was a day off from their regular jobs, there were still matters, which needed their attention, waiting for them on each of their desks.
"Mary brought in the mail, bless her." Liz said, as she glanced through the pile of envelopes, sorting them out. Mary was their housekeeper/secretary-when-needed and fabulously industrious assistant.
"Here's a large envelope from someone I don't know; Niko Giuliani. It's addressed to both of us. Do you know someone by that name, Max? There's only his name, no return address." Liz said.
"No, I've never heard of anyone by that name. He's probably selling something, but open it anyway, just in case." Liz did so and read through the cover-letter. All of a sudden her face went deathly pale and she sat down hard in her chair.
"Liz, what is it?" Max asked urgently, as he came over and knelt by her side.
"Read this, Max." She said, in a dead voice, handing him the letter.
"Oh man! Who is this creep and where did he get all of this information?" Max exclaimed as he quickly scanned all the information and speculations listed on the attached pages.
"He does't actually have a lot of facts, only coincidences, but the speculations; almost accusations, which he makes, are down right crazy...and dangerous."
"We need to contact Mason and Cheryl, have them come out here, so we can talk safely." Liz said.
"You're right, Liz...but some of this nut-case's ideas are pretty darn close to the truth. Liz, how much of anything do you think we should tell Mason and Cheryl, so that they can help us diffuse this...scumbag?"
"Oh I don't know, Max. We may have to tell them everything, especially with what happened between our Phillip and their little Suzie, fourteen years ago."
"Oh...yeah, I'd almost forgotten about that. Well, for right now, let's just contact them and see where we stand. We can make plans after we get Mason and Cheryl's reactions." Max suggested and Liz nodded.
A press briefing in Hollywood, California.
"Mason, Cheryl, your latest film has been out for three days now and it has already been proclaimed as a monumental hit, but what do your kids think of it?" An overenthusiastic reporter asked, as his camera-woman snapped picture after picture.
"Well, Susan called to tell us she had just seen it this weekend." Mason chuckled. "She said that she was a nervous wreck during the action scenes and cried during our little, romantic scene, at the end!"
"And your son, Matt, has he seen it yet?"
"Yes, he called to say that the action scenes were "totally hot, but that the romantic stuff at the end was too embarrassing to watch!" Cheryl grinned.
"I don't think it was the kisses, which embarrassed him, it was watching his old-foggy parents kissing...on screen, which embarrassed him. I can just see him rolling his eyes and yelling "Da-a-ad!" right about now!" Mason did an excellent imitation of his nineteen year old son and had the audience laughing out loud.
"That's all for now people. Thanks for coming. Press packets are on the back table, if you didn't already get one." Cliff, Mason's agent told the reporters.
"You guys were great." He turned around to tell Mason and Cheryl.
"Thanks, Cliff. It's been a long day. I'm taking my lovely wife and co-star home now." Mason told him.
"Okay, Mase. Don't forget that you have a 6:30 show-time for the talk show, tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, yeah." Mason said, over his shoulder, as he put his arm around Cheryl's slender shoulders and guided her out of the studio.
An hour later, Mason and Cheryl entered their lovely home, set back, up in the hills.
"You look tired, Mason." Cheryl said, as she stepped in close to her husband and ran her small and gentle hands over his forehead and along the back of his neck. "Why don't you go out onto the deck, get comfortable in your chair and I'll brew us some hazelnut coffee and bring it out."
"That sounds great, Sweetheart, thank you." Mason leaned in a little to kiss his lovely wife on her forehead.
"I'll be right out." Cheryl said, as she headed towards the kitchen and Mason walked towards the deck, which was accessible from their master bedroom.
A few minutes later, Cheryl came to the sliding glass door and Mason got up to open it for her and take the tray she was carrying, from her. On the tray were two brown, earthen-ware mugs, a small, matching coffee carafe, the sugar bowl, two tea spoons, a plate of chocolate-chip cookies and a few pieces of mail.
"We received some letters from our families and this large envelope, with no return address on it, but it was addressed to our personal post-office box, so I brought it out to open." Cheryl said.
"Hmmm." Mason said, as he turned the large envelope over, studying it, before opening it. A moment later he let out a string of swear-words.
"Oh my gosh, Mason, what is it?" Cheryl asked, concerned. In his private live, Mason rarely ever swore.
"Come sit down with me, Cheryl." Mason sat down on their wicker love-seat, next to Cheryl and took a healthy swallow from his coffee mug. He took several deep breaths, before turning to her.
"This packet is from...Niko Giuliani."
"Niko G!" It was Cheryl's turn to swear, an even rarer occurrence for her, than for Mason.
"That little twerp, that creep, that, that..."
"Yeah him." Mason agreed. "Sneaky-John's son, who doesn't have half the talent with a camera, that his father has in his right pinky-finger, but who has the arrogance and ego of ten men."
"The guy who used Suzie to get to you, so that you would get him a job at the studio...and then dropped her like a hot potato." Cheryl said.
"Yeah the guy who drove us all nuts with his laziness, lack of talent, sarcastic pessimism and the sexual harassment of most of the female staff. Luckily, his contract was only for six months and then he 'felt you up' the day after his contract expired and we were able to fire him. The ladies came forward afterward and told us what he had done to them. Too bad they hadn't come forth earlier, or we could have gotten rid of him all the sooner." Mason said.
"So, what does the creep want?" Cheryl asked.
"Well, to start off let me say that Niko is an idiot, as well as a creep, to have put all of this stuff in writing. Let's see, he has discovered our resemblances to Max and Liz and implies that there must be a blood relationship between us, made during some steamy affair in our families' pasts. He thinks that just because we chose to keep our friendship private, we must be hiding something."
"Oh no, oh Mason, he didn't, he wouldn't have sent a copy of this material to Max and Liz, would he?"
"He would and he did. Niko mentions that right up front. He also sites Eric Petersen and Olaus Petersen as further connections between the four of us, since both Petersens and quite a few of their families live in Airatan.
"So what?" Cheryl asked and Mason shrugged and then started to grin, as he read further.
"Niko has put together an incredible set of coincidences and you won't believe what the punch-line is!"
"What is he saying?"
"Okay, he thinks that Eric Petersen's books are for real; that Antar really did exist and then was destroyed and that the children actually did come here to Earth, to live among us...and he thinks that Max is the young Prince Zan and Liz, his mate! Can you believe that? This guy is a lunatic!"
"Absolutely. Where does he think he can take these preposterous ideas?"
"Uh, well, I've just come to that part and it isn't nearly as funny. Niko accuses them of using that underground military facility, underneath Airatan to hide illegal...outer-space...aliens or drugs. He even suggests that they might be doing experimentation on Humans down there."
"Well that is absolutely stupid!" Cheryl said, immediately. "Max and Liz would never, ever do anything illegal, most especially drugs and the rest of his 'suggestions' are nothing but a waste of our time."
Well you know, I have read Eric's books and Airatan is the name of the royal capital on Antar!" Mason said, grinning at Cheryl.
"So what? Olaus Petersen was responsible for building that town; he probably got the idea for the name from his nephew, just like Eric got the ideas for the buildings for the movies' set designs from Olaus. Max told us that."
"I was just teasing! But Niko isn't. He could make things ugly if he says the word 'drugs' to the right people. Not that many people would believe someone like him, though."
"We need to call Max and Liz and ask them to fly out here." Cheryl said.
Just then, their private line rang.
"That could be them, now." Mason said, as he went into their bedroom to answer it.
TBC
