Author's Note: Please don't be alarmed by the title of this chapter, this most certainly isn't the end of the story (lol). I hope I find all you iCarly fans in high spirits while anticipating the airing of the newest episode, "iGet Pranky". I'm a bit behind with episodes, I still need to watch "iSam's Mom", thank God for a Smartphone and that doesn't take credit off my cellphone, unlike Youtube : ) I hope you all like this new chapter, cheers.
Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or 17 Seventeen.
18 years later…
A man lay sleeping in a bed that wasn't his own that Monday morning. In spite of the grey clouds gathering in dull mounds outside, a sudden burst of sunlight erupted through the open curtains, causing the man in the bed to wake. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes, his fingers grazing against an evident patch of stubble on his upper lip and chin. Despite only being 35 years old, Freddie Benson's face was prematurely old and wrinkled along his forehead and eyes, as if he had aged an additional ten years. He stumbled out of the bed haphazardly and covered his vest and boxers with his favourite maroon gown and slippers.
The bedroom in question was quite a bizarre pastiche of collector's items of both the comic and science-fiction persuasion, from the Galaxy Wars figurines which lined the shelves to the Spiderman duvet which covered the bed. Freddie made a mental note to himself to somehow convince Gibby in the near future to enlist the help of an interior decorator to make his home a bit more 'grown-up'. Gibby certainly would be able to afford the professional make-over.
After taking a shower, shaving his stubble and dressing in a suit and tie, Freddie trudged gloomily down the stairs towards the kitchen. Gibby was already seated at the table, wolfing down some Cap'n Krunch out a bowl with artificial green Kryptonian rocks encrusted all around it. Breakfast was a quiet affair, the sounds of Freddie pouring coffee into a mug and Gibby crunching away on his cereal filling the room.
"You get enough of the Cap'n?" Gibby asked cordially through a crunchy mouthful while staring at Freddie's half-eaten bowl.
"Yeah, Gib. I'm good with the Cap'n." Freddie answered slowly.
Gibby nodded and poured himself another bowl of cereal while staring pensively at Freddie's forlorn features.
"You know, Freddie, I gotta say…you're looking at Carly kicking you out and the kids wanting nothing to do with you…as a negative." Gibby began in what he hoped was an optimistic tone.
"You're right, Gibby. There's definitely a silver lining in all of that." Freddie returned sarcastically while adding sugar to his black coffee.
"You're right, it is mostly negative." Gibby stated glumly.
Gibby thought back pensively to a few months ago when Freddie had showed up unexpectedly on his doorstep in the middle of the night, completely rain sodden and carrying a suitcase of his belongings. Freddie had been staying with him ever since. Gibby had hoped that Freddie and Carly would work out their differences somewhere along the lines, but to no avail. Carly hadn't budged on her decision to divorce Freddie and Freddie in return had simply thrown in the towel. Gibby wasn't even sure how their kids felt about everything; but if he could guess, he figured that they'd probably side with their mom on this one. Nevertheless, Freddie had been his best friend for most of his life and Gibby was determined to see him through one of the hardest times in his life no matter what happened. He owed him that much after everything Freddie had done for him over the years.
"But hey, come on. Not everybody's cut out for marriage, Freddie. Look at me; I'm perfectly happy as a single man in 'The Emerald City'. This is a new beginning for you; think of all the women you can sleep with now." Gibby continued in an upbeat manner, desperate to lift Freddie's current mood.
Freddie glanced at his best friend with a raised eyebrow in response.
"Okay, so maybe you're not ready to enjoy the perks of your recent bachelorhood yet. W-what about that big meeting at work today? You're up for a big promotion, aren't you?" Gibby pressed eagerly.
This did the trick as Freddie's features brightened up almost immediately.
"Yeah, you're right, Gibby! So everything else has been going wrong in my life, but there's still my job. I've been doing the best work on my team out of everyone; I've got that promotion in the bag!" Freddie reasoned enthusiastically with a wide grin on his face.
"That's the spirit!" Gibby praised happily while clapping his best friend affectionately on the back.
"It's time to start focusing on the future, Gibster. Today's the beginning of the rest of my life." Freddie promised with a far away look in his eye.
"I'd better head to work. I'll talk to you later, Gibby." He concluded briskly, grabbing his suitcase from the chair next to him and getting to his feet.
He swept out of the kitchen without a backward glance.
"Okay. See ya later, Freddie. Love you!" Gibby called out unexpectedly, but wasn't surprised when Freddie made no response as the front door closed behind him.
The board room at the pharmaceutical company where Freddie worked was already filled with his colleagues while he waited for his boss to arrive. Freddie had been working at the company for more than ten years and was one of the most senior members of his team. He'd been lucky to get the job at all, considering how hard up he and Carly had both been at the time after she had given birth to their first child, Corrie. And for the first time ever, Freddie was going to get rewarded for all his hard work.
Everyone stopped talking amongst themselves when the CEO finally entered the plush board room. Even though he wanted the promotion, Freddie didn't really like his boss, Chad Matthews. For one, Chad was a good ten years younger than him, having just graduated from UCLA. Second of all, his father had owned the company before him, so Blake had been handed the big job instead of working for it. And thirdly, Chad had insisted on filling the pharmaceutical team which worked on evaluating surveys of the effects of certain drugs with young attractive women that he enjoyed ogling on a regular basis. In fact, Freddie was one of three men who currently worked on the team.
"Good morning, my peeps! How's it hanging, everybody?" Chad greeted rambunctiously.
Freddie stopped himself from rolling his eyes when Chad made eyes with a pretty blonde that sat beside him, giving her an obvious wink before starting the meeting.
"Before we get to the crux of today's meeting, I want to congratulate you all on a job well done for getting me those numbers on time for last Friday's board meeting. This new brand of Viagra has been tested successfully on the public right here in Seattle. And I am happy to say that in this particular instance, having a constant erection has been a very good thing for our clientele." Chad introduced with a hint of a seedy tone in his voice.
"What you all demonstrated during those hours spent working over-time these past few weeks is how much you value this company, and I can't thank you enough. That is why the position of team leader is such an important role. The person who gets promoted has to show me three things: leadership, dedication and loyalty. And I am happy to announce that I have found someone in this group sitting here today who fits the bill completely." Chad continued seriously.
Freddie sat upright in his chair and pursed his hands together in a self-satisfied way. This was it, the moment of truth. Freddie's smile widened when Chad looked his way with an endearing grin etched on his face.
"Freddie, Freddie…" Chad began affectionately.
"Could you scooch over for a second? Because I'd like you all to give it up for your new team leader…NANCY!" Chad concluded boisterously.
The pretty blonde who sat next to Freddie went through a whole show of gaping in shock and clasping her hand to her heart in amazement before waving said hands to stop her imminent tears of joy.
"Oh my God, this is like…totally amazing!" Nancy squealed fanatically amidst raucous clapping from her colleagues, save for one.
Freddie's heart literally plummeted in his chest at this announcement; he'd been so sure of his chances. All he could do was slump in his chair while the celebrations continued.
"Okay, team, that's it for today. Make me proud with those figures!" Chad called out in a winning tone, concluding the meeting.
While everyone else filed out of the boardroom, Freddie packed up his suitcase and lingered in the room. He approached Chad, who had switched on his blue-tooth headset and began speaking to a friend of his on the phone.
"Yo, Davey-Dave! How's it hanging, brosef? My weekend was awesome, played a spectacular game of tennis with my partner, Lenora. You remember her, right? Puerto-Rican, big brown eyes, long brown hair, legs that go on forever and an ass that won't quit…" Chad rambled on in a macho tone.
"Uh, Chad, can I talk to you for a minute?" Freddie interrupted politely.
"Hey, Dave, hold on for a second." Chad announced rapidly before turning his attention to Freddie momentarily.
"Freddie-O! What's cracka-lacking, homie?" Chad asked cordially.
"Uh, what's 'cracka-lacking' is the fact that you totally passed on me for this promotion and gave it to Nancy, who's only been working here for about 3 months. Chad, I've been working at this company for ten years; I've got the best figures on the team. So…am I missing something here?" Freddie demanded heatedly.
"Freddie, let me explain something to you. Yes, you have been working faithfully at this company for a long time and deserve to be rewarded. The reason I didn't consider you for this promotion is because…you are just too valuable to this company…to promote…for now. But don't worry, buddy, your time will come. Just you wait and see." Chad promised while patting Freddie condescendingly on the back.
"Listen to me, you little piece of shit-" Freddie threatened in a low voice, but was stopped from going any further when Chad returned to his former conversation.
"Yo, Dave, you still there? Now, where was I? Oh yeah, I was busy telling you about Lenora, my little sofrito mojito, which I got to get a little taste of too…"
Something snapped inside of Freddie and before he could stop himself, he reached out, yanked Chad's blue-tooth headset out of his ear and smashed it against the wall behind them. Chad stared in horror at his ruined headset which lay in a crumbled heap on the floor.
"Thanks for nothing, asshole." Freddie quipped scathingly before stalking out of the board room.
Freddie found himself walking into the elevator 30 minutes, carrying a box of his things from his office, a resigned expression on his face. The elevator door opened on the 8th floor and he inwardly groaned when Nancy, the newly-appointed team leader, and a group of her chatty female friends got into the elevator with him.
"Nancy, this is like the best thing that's like ever happened to you!"
"Yeah, like ever!"
"Omg, you guys. We've totally gotta have a celebration in my honour after work today. How about…TGI Fridays?" Nancy exclaimed exuberantly.
"Zomg, we'll order tequila shots during happy hour!"
Freddie had to stop himself from putting a fist through a wall at their girlish shrieks, which reminded him of a documentary he'd seen on the Discovery Channel not too long ago on the mating rituals of birds. He ended up riding the elevator all the way down to the lobby with the chattering females until he made his way down to the basement clutching his stuff, a miserable sight.
It had been an impulse decision to head down to Ridgeway High School. But since Freddie inadvertently had the day off, he had decided to go pick up his kids from school and take them out for lunch. The last time he'd seen them had been about two weeks ago when he had stopped by the house to pick up the last of his things. He knew it was a long shot, but on some level, Freddie wanted his kids to know that he wasn't the half-ass indifferent dad that he was currently claiming to be.
Being at Ridgeway brought back so many memories, each of them bittersweet in their poignant clarity in Freddie's mind. He stood beside his old locker and traced the contours of paint along the surfaces, which was now a darker green than he remembered. He glanced to his left and right at Carly and Sam's old lockers, remembering how time spent in this corner of the school had always been a social exercise: chatting, gossiping, complaining, and laughing together.
Freddie left the row of lockers and walked instead towards a see-through series of glass shelves containing the school's trophies in sports and academia. He was immediately drawn to a huge placard in the centre of the trophy case. It was of his old basketball team, taken in 2010 where Rory Blake had tripped Gibby on purpose before the flash of the camera had gone off.
It seemed like a lifetime ago, from a time when Freddie had been genuinely happy about where his life was heading to. Waves of bitterness crept up on him while he pondered on all the things he had to miss out on because he gave up on his dream of playing college basketball. Being back in the old gym hadn't helped to jog his memory either; it had only made things worse, reminding him all too well of his former 'glory days'. He barely recognised himself anymore – how had things gone so horribly wrong over the years?
"Freddie Benson!"
Freddie Benson turned around sharply and gazed into the eyes of an elderly man standing behind him. A stranger, wearing a grey janitorial uniform of sorts and smiling affectionately at him.
"Do I know you?" Freddie asked blankly, trying to read the old man's expression.
"No! But I know you. You were the man on campus during high school, but you never quite lived up to your potential afterwards, did you? Sooner or later, you all come back to the old school and stare at the pictures of the 'glory days', wondering what might've been." The elderly man answered philosophically while leaning comfortably against the top of the mop in his hand.
Freddie said nothing in response, but continued staring at his own youthful face through the glass case, pondering on the janitor's words.
"I bet if you could, you'd do it all over again, wouldn't ya?" the elderly man asked in a sympathetic tone.
"You got that right." Freddie replied assuredly.
A bell sounded somewhere in the lonely hallway, signifying the end of class for the day.
"You're sure about that?" the elderly janitor asked tentatively, staring steadily at Freddie's features.
"Oh yeah," Freddie replied pensively, never taking his eyes off of the old basketball picture once.
The janitor seemed satisfied with Freddie's answer because he started smiling secretively to himself.
"Dad!"
Freddie turned to his right and caught sight of his oldest daughter, Corrie, coming towards him with her three best friends in tow. Sometimes, he had to stop himself from staring too intently at her; she looked just like Carly did when she was 17 years old: same wavy black hair, same dark brown eyes, same smile (when she cared to smile). But where Carly had always been perky, Corrie was the opposite: broody and rebellious to the point of flamboyance.
"Hey, Mr. Benson!" Corrie's girlfriends greeted brightly in unison.
"Hi, girls. Hi, Corrie." Freddie greeted back cordially with a small wave of his hand.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Corrie asked in mortification.
"Oh, I was just talking to…" Freddie trailed off when he looked behind him and realised that the janitor was no longer around.
"…nobody. Anyway, doesn't matter. Listen, I got off work early, I thought we could go get some pie or something." He continued in more of an upbeat manner.
"What, like together? In public?" Corrie questioned in horror.
"Well, they generally don't let you eat the pie while it's still in the oven, sweetheart." Freddie pointed out drolly.
"But why?" Corrie demanded disbelievingly.
"Just go get your brother." Freddie suggested wearily.
Corrie groaned audibly and Freddie glanced briefly up at the ceiling.
Freddie, Corrie and Matt (his and Carly's youngest son) ended up somewhere near Kennedy Square at a little pie shop called 'Gallini's', which lay in close proximity to Bushwell Plaza, where Carly and Freddie had grown up together once upon a time. The place brought back memories of when Freddie, Sam, Carly and Spencer used to frequent the booth in the corner of the pie shop, haggling over the last piece of Gallini's famous Coconut-Cream Pie. It had remained a favourite of both Freddie and Carly's while they had been dating and even later when they had gotten married. But it had been several years since Freddie had last been here, especially with the kids.
Gallini's seemed to be quite popular, particularly with young couples and their kids, who sat around Freddie, Corrie and Matt, chattering away excitedly and laughing uproariously. Freddie sighed at Corrie's look of utter boredom.
"Corrie, what's wrong? You used to love coming here," Freddie protested sadly.
"Yeah, when I was still 8 years old, maybe." Corrie retorted pointedly.
She rolled her eyes and shoved her earphones in her ear, switching her iPod on. Freddie shook his head and turned his attention to Matt, who sat across from him, playing on a portable video game console. While Corrie looked more like Carly, Matt resembled Freddie, albeit taller than Freddie when he was 15 years old. But he had light brown hair like Freddie and the same hazel-coloured eyes. And he was more quiet and reserved like Freddie had been at that age, before he was introduced to the world of basketball and found confidence in something he was surprisingly good at.
"Matty-Matt!" Freddie exclaimed brightly, an attempt at bravado while slapping his hands enthusiastically against the table to get Matt's attention.
Matt stared quizzically back at his dad, unsure of what to make of his sudden joviality.
"How are things going with school?" Freddie asked curiously.
"Good, Dad. I got an 'A' on my last pop quiz for Chemistry." Matt informed Freddie stoically.
"That's great, son. You know, basketball season's coming up soon. You been working on that outside shot of yours?" Freddie questioned in business-like fashion.
"Uh huh." Matt answered rapidly.
"Passing?"
"Good."
"Dribbling?"
"Really good."
"Well good's not gonna get you a scholarship, Matt." Freddie replied reprovingly.
"I mean, it's great. All of it's really great, Dad." Matt amended, a plastered smile on his face, hoping Freddie would lay off.
"That's my boy. Always remember: it's not how big you are." Freddie advised reasonably.
"It's how big you play." Matt concluded quickly without looking up from his video game, having heard this song and dance for most of his life.
"That's the stuff. Up top, Matt." Freddie implored, holding his hand for a high-five with a grin on his face.
Instead of high-fiving his dad, Matt decided to change the subject.
"Hey, Dad, guess what? Corrie got into Stamford." Matt announced, feigning excitement.
Freddie's eyes lit up at this news while he stared at his oldest daughter with pride.
"Corrie, that's fantastic! Congratulations, sweetheart." Freddie responded sincerely while beaming widely.
Corrie paid Freddie absolutely no attention, miming playing drums on the table while listening to her iPod.
"Corrie, could you turn down your earphones, please?" Freddie asked impatiently.
When Corrie continued ignoring him, Freddie leant over and unplugged her earphones from the iPod jack. He frowned in confusion when Corrie continued miming the playing of certain instruments while lip-synching. Corrie finally opened her eyes and gave Freddie a lop-sided grin, showing off pearly whites. Freddie was not amused to say the least.
"Just kidding around, Dad." Corrie remarked facetiously.
"Good one." Freddie retorted sarcastically.
He was beginning to feel like he'd missed the tutorial on understanding kids a long time ago.
After their uneventful hour at Gallini's, Freddie drove the kids home, his head in a daze. More clouds had begun forming across the Seattle sky; it wouldn't be long before it started raining. The minute Freddie parked the car in the driveway, both Corrie and Matt leapt out of the backseat like it was on fire and jogged towards the front door without a backward glance.
"Ok, kids. I'll talk to you later. Love you!" Freddie called out hopefully, but to no avail.
"Nice…chatting with you," he added glumly, kicking moodily at a pebble beneath his shoe.
Freddie leant against the hood of the car and gazed into space for a few more seconds. His pensive mood was interrupted by what sounded like a chain-saw cutting through the silence in the neighbourhood like a foghorn. Freddie looked to his left and stared dumbstruck over the fence at a tree falling over abruptly within the backyard. Freddie took off his sunglasses and began jogging haphazardly inside the backyard.
He laid eyes on Carly with her back to him, loading a host of strange objects into some kind of enormous garbage disposal unit, which was quickly turning the said objects into little more than fine sawdust. She was wearing a deep purple sweater with a pair of faded blue jeans and a pair of black rubber boots, a pair of plastic protective glasses over her eyes, a pair of protective gloves on her hands and a pair of mufflers over her ears. Based on her current attire, Freddie was reminded all too forcefully of that fateful day when Carly had told him she was pregnant with Corrie.
"Hey! W-what the…what the hell are you doing?" Freddie called out, but to no avail.
Carly was far too engrossed in her current activity, heaving what looked like a dark brown leather bowling bag into the shredder.
"Hey, that's my stuff!" Freddie exclaimed furiously.
Carly turned around and caught sight of Freddie standing there. But instead of stopping, she continued unloading more of his possessions into the shredder as if he wasn't there.
"Carly, why are you destroying our yard?" Freddie questioned frankly with his hands deep in his pockets.
"It's not our yard anymore! It's my yard, remember?" Carly pointed out, matching his tone while dispensing of an old pair of running sneakers too.
"You took the road less taken and I got the yard, Freddie." She added grimly while wiping sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand.
Then she finally moved towards the gigantic piece of machinery and switched it off, the loud humming noise dissipating instantly.
"I'm gonna turn the backyard into a showpiece for my clients." Carly explained calmly while turning to face Freddie.
"Clients of what?" Freddie asked blankly.
"Landscape design."
"Landscape design?"
"That's right, landscape design. I'm gonna show people what I can do." Carly concluded seriously, brushing past Freddie to take her gloves off.
"Well, the divorce isn't final for another two weeks, so you really have no right, Carly…" Freddie trailed off.
Carly turned around sharply on the balls of her heels to stare incredulously at Freddie, a blazing look in her brown eyes.
"I have no right? Really, Freddie? I've spent 18 years of my life listening to you bitch and moan about all the things you could've done with your life if I weren't in it, and I have no right? No, Freddie, you have no right." Carly responded, an accusing finger pointed directly at Freddie's chest.
Freddie regretted the words the second they came out of his mouth, knowing how close Carly was to becoming emotional in that moment. He tried a different tack instead.
"I didn't mean it like that. It's just that I put a lot of work into this yard…" he explained tentatively.
Carly let out a derisive laugh at this and looked Freddie dead in the eye.
"You put a lot of work into this yard? You mean, like the barbeque pit?" Carly questioned dangerously.
Freddie followed her gaze to the brick barbeque which was only completed halfway, numerous other bricks lying haphazardly in an untidy heap around it.
"Yeah." Freddie answered uncertainly.
"Well, the way I remember that day, you spent a whole hour working on the pit before you gave it up as a bad job. Then you spent the next two days after that complaining about how you could've hired a handyman to build it for you if you'd gone to college." Carly pointed out simply.
"I don't think it was two days." Freddie replied stupidly.
"What about that hammock over there?" Carly continued on in her 'judge-and-executioner' tone of voice.
"I think you gave up on that one because you just…stopped trying altogether." She concluded morosely while staring at the sorry sight of the half-finished hammock.
"Try to see things from my perspective, Carly. I am extremely disappointed with the way my life turned out. I used to be somebody back in high school! I had hopes and dreams, things to work towards back then. And then all of that way went away the day you told me you were…" Freddie trailed off in alarm, realising he'd gone too far.
But it was too late to take it back. Carly had gotten the gist of what he'd been about to say, and she stiffened at the insinuation.
"The day I told you what, Freddie? That I was pregnant? I never asked you to marry me." Carly answered as patiently as she could muster in the moment.
"Yeah, but I did anyway." Freddie spat without thinking.
Now he really had gone too far. But instead of throwing back any insults, Carly retreated further into herself, hot burning tears forming in her eyes.
"Well, now you don't have to do me any favours. We're not gonna hold each other back anymore, Freddie…" Carly trailed off, sniffling quietly against the torrent of tears threatening to fall.
"Carly, I…" Freddie began meekly, but Carly cut him off.
"I'll see you at court – at the trial…" she trailed off morosely, her back to Freddie while she struggled to keep more tears from spilling down her cheeks.
Just as Freddie was about to place a hand on Carly's shoulder, he was interrupted by the sound of screeching tires in the driveway.
Sam hopped out of her red vintage Ford Mustang GT and shut the door behind her with a loud clang. She advanced down the driveway like she owned the place, her hips swaying from side to side while she walked. She was wearing a brown leather jacket over a white long-sleeved sweater, faded blue jeans, black leather boots and a pair of big-rimmed mirror sunglasses resting atop her mane of curly-blonde hair, which reached down to her waist.
"CAR-LAAY!" Sam called out in a booming voice.
"Sam, you came!" Carly exclaimed happily, forgetting momentarily about hers and Freddie's argument while she ran to greet her best friend.
Sam smiled broadly and engulfed her best friend in a bear hug, her hands going around Carly's back while she held her tightly.
"Of course I came. What kind of Matron of Honour would I be if I didn't hold your hand during the divorce?" Sam asked warmly after kissing Carly affectionately on the cheek.
"You know, we're not divorced yet." Freddie griped irritably in spite of himself while he stood with his hands deep in his pockets.
"Don't worry, Cupcake. We're gonna get you through this. The first divorce is always the hardest; trust me, Momma knows." Sam chided softly while rubbing Carly's back soothingly.
She finally turned her attention on Freddie and rolled her eyes while making a show of shuddering pointedly.
"Fredward," she spat malevolently by way of greeting.
"Samantha," Freddie hissed, matching her tone.
"It's Sam, you nub." Sam growled menacingly.
"I don't care," Freddie snapped dismissively.
Sam rolled her eyes yet again and steered Carly towards the patio door, her hand on her best friend's shoulder while they walked.
"Come on, let's get going. No more moping around; it's time we got you back on the market." Sam declared optimistically.
"Yeah, I'm a real catch, Sam. I'm a single mom with two teenage kids and dirt caked under my fingernails." Carly responded sardonically.
"Stop talking crazy, Carly-Bear. You look even better now than you did when we first started shooting iCarly. You've got the butt of a 12-year old boy." Sam protested winningly.
"Oh, that's great. I hope our impressionable 17-year old daughter heard that." Freddie replied sarcastically, his comment directed at Carly.
Sam quelled herself from hitting Freddie in the head by choosing to shoot daggers at him before walking ahead of Carly through the patio door. Carly lingered ever so slightly and turned around to stare at Freddie once more, a wistful expression on her face.
"Bye, Freddie." She greeted slowly.
And then she was gone, shutting the patio door quietly behind her and shutting Freddie out completely in more ways than one.
"Bye." Freddie croaked hoarsely, feeling more alone than when he first woke up that morning.
All he could do was stand there for a few seconds longer, replaying the look of sadness etched on Carly's face, the one that he'd caused. Yet it only made her more beautiful in his eyes, causing the dull ache in his chest to burn with more poignancy. Hadn't he promised her that he would always take care of her, that he would never break her heart? Baby or no baby, she'd always been the one person that he swore he would never hurt. Yet, here they were, on the verge of getting a divorce and moving on from each other. Freddie had never anticipated living without Carly until now, when a home, a family and the love of his life were no longer in reach.
Freddie didn't even notice the sky darkening overhead, the movement of clouds accelerated by his continuous melancholy. He gave a start when the tiniest of raindrops landed square on his forehead. He wiped it off hurriedly with the back of his head as more of its kind began pelting him mercilessly. Giving up on shielding himself as a lost cause, Freddie continued standing on the lawn, rain falling down all around him, the perfect substitute for unshed tears.
The sun had set a short while later and the rain was still coming down in huge torrents. The Seattle sky was illuminated with violent streaks of white lightning, amplified by the storm raging on throughout the city. Freddie found himself behind the wheel of his car, staring straight ahead while he drove along the highway. The window-wipers were working on overdrive while they tried to keep the windscreen free from pelting rain while the radio frequency was becoming more and more scrambled with the storm's intensity. But Freddie paid no attention to either one, his prematurely-wrinkled face shining with the brightness of the lightning outside.
He wasn't heading back to Gibby's; he wasn't exactly sure where he was going and he didn't care either. Today had been the end of a great many things: the end of a career in a prominent pharmaceutical company and the end of his marriage. Ultimately, Freddie knew which one he regretted more while he sped along the wet road beneath him.
It was somewhere in-between crossing the bridge and listening to the garbled frequency of the radio in the car when Freddie saw a strange sight in passing. He could've sworn that he'd just seen the outline of a man standing on the narrow parapet beyond the bridge's railing, looking like he was getting ready to jump into the river. Freddie instinctively slammed his foot down on the brakes and brought his car to a staggering halt. He turned the ignition off and leapt out of the car as he began jogging forward. He knew it was pure lunacy, but he couldn't just drive past and ignore the possibility of someone committing suicide on a night like this in good conscience.
"Hey, get away from there!" Freddie yelled frantically, trying desperately to get the man's attention.
The man turned around and Freddie gasped loudly, recognising him instantly. It was the janitor from Ridgeway – the elderly man who resembled Santa Claus with the mysterious twinkle in his eye. And he was smiling broadly in Freddie's direction, like he was enjoying a day at the racetrack instead of trying to jump off a bridge in the middle of a storm.
"Is this guy nuts?" Freddie asked himself wonderingly, debating his next move.
Freddie stepped out of harm's way when a large city bus came speeding over the bridge, splashing rain water all over his sodden work clothes. Freddie spat out a mouthful of water and wiped water out of his eyes before staring at the bridge once more. His eyes widened in horror when he realised that the elderly janitor was no longer standing on the parapet.
"No, no, NOOOO!" Freddie cried out sharply.
He began sprinting frantically and didn't stop till he reached the metallic railing. He lifted half of his body over the edge to see where the man had fallen. But it was next to impossible to see beyond the swirling water, gathering together like a whirlpool below the bridge. And then another streak of lightning cut across the water's surface at that moment, causing Freddie to emit another loud gasp. Several meters below him, he could make out the faintest outline of a face (which looked like a hologram) outlined in the tumultuous waves. It was a youthful face which stared back up at him, one that he hadn't seen in a long time.
It was a face that looked just like his when he was a teenager.
"What the hell?" Freddie murmured in awe, transfixed by the face before him.
He wasn't even aware that he had been steadily leaning dangerously over the edge of the railing, succumbing slowly to his irrational need to take a closer look at the image. Then Freddie's foot slipped right over and he was falling, faster and faster through the sky. Freddie's yell of terror was swallowed up completely when he finally made contact with the water. And then he began sinking into the depths of the swirling whirlpool with the nightmarish reflection of the youthful boy painted beneath its waves, till he vanished completely.
Author's Note: Quite a long chapter, but it was important to get all of this down in one go before moving onto the next chapter. I've never seen so many page breaks in a single chapter of a story in my entire life (lol). I must apologise if any of you think I'm deliberately going out of my way to make Freddie look like a bad guy in this story when the truth is that...I am. But it's only for a little while, Freddie will always have some redeeming qualities, which will be portrayed in this story for those of you who've never seen the film before. In advertently trying to stop a man from committing suicide, has Freddie himself fallen to his own death? Stay tuned when we return next week to yet another episode of "Whimsical Ramblings" by Snapplelinz. I hope you all have a great weekend, cheerio!