Hey everyone! Well, sadly, it looks like the show has come to an end. The post-earthquake episode was 45 minutes of total awesomeness. I thought for sure Ryan was going to die…or at least have a near-death Marissa hallucination. That would have completed the Romeo-Juliet arch that Josh himself set into motion. But, I couldn't believe that they cut all the potentially pivotal scenes—Ryan's dad finding him bleeding, Taylor getting the phone call, Ryan being told by Marissa's ghost to stay alive, Kirsten/Sandy and Summer/Taylor watching as he is wheeled into the hospital—were skipped to go straight to some post-trauma Seth-Ryan banter. Everyone walking out of the hospital just seemed too "Full House" for me. I wish that they would have kept his condition as a cliffhanger for the finale. But, I was excited to see the birth of baby Cohen. Alright, enough about that, here's the next chapter. Seems like Ryan decided to take Summer's advice. Oh, and I decided to give Jimmy a storyline that involves another character re-appearance. All cannot be perfect in the Greek paradise!

Chapter XI: The So-Called Worldwide Network

Jimmy had never been a man that vividly dreamed about things. No, usually he would qualify himself in the category of those who are dead to the world for 5-6 hours a day. However, lately he had been having these visions…so serene and haunting…of a woman whose face he recognized but couldn't firmly place. The truth is that as happy as Jimmy currently was with his career path, he was also feeling pretty lonely. It had gotten better since Marissa had gotten here, but there were still nights where he desperately wished that he had a warm body to nestle up to. Nonetheless, the life of a boat captain, though attractive in terms of financial compensation, didn't provide him much of an opportunity to meet women. And, the owner specified rigid "No fraternizing with female employees" rules when they were first setting up. Not that there was anyone who particularly caught his eye.

That pretty much left him to his memories of the women in his past that he often wondered about. Kirsten: his high school sweetheart. Although Jimmy held no pretenses that there would ever be a chance for the two of them to re-kindle anything that they had, he still held a special place for her that no woman would ever occupy. Her kindness and understanding; they were definantly qualities on his checklist for the next woman in his life. And Julie: his only wife. While there was no denying the chemistry the two of them had when they were together, Jimmy knew that there was no way she would ever forgive him for his latest disappearing act.

There was one more woman on this list that Jimmy thought about a lot. She actually had the perfect combination of Kirsten's thoughtful nature and Julie's go-getter survival skills. When they had been together, everything had seemed so perfect. Even when the restaurant had fallen through and he was again left with nothing, she didn't care. So many times he had imagined dropping everything and heading to Tokyo to find her, but he would rationalize his way out of it, assuring himself that she must be some high-powered executive by now.

Reaching across the bed to grab his cell phone that was on the nightstand, Jimmy searched for the phone number that he had so many times stared at, but never had the nerve to call. Gliding his thumb across the send button, he decided that if he was ever going to get a good night's sleep again, that he had to give it a shot. As it began to ring, the pores on his face could no longer belie his anxiety at the thought of what she might say.

"Hailey Nichol…please no more bad news. I can't take it right now."

There she was. Not having thought about what he would actually say if she happened to pick up, Jimmy began to panic. His heaving breaths were not doing much to comfort the tension that was mounting with every moment of silence. He wanted to reach out and express to her how many times he had thought about this very moment. But, his nerves got the best of him, and instead he just continued to fumble for words, savoring every moment that she was his again.

"I…uh, I'm sorry, I think..I uh..well,"

"Hello? Who is this" she again questioned, the irritation evident in her usually sweet voice. 'She must be having a bad day,' he thought. Before he could reply, Jimmy was interuppted by a knock at the door.

"Dad?"

Quickly, Jimmy hung up the phone as he hastily began to search for his work pants. Absent-mindedly, he threw the phone on the second shelf of the dresser, taking a mental note not to forget it before leaving. He was late for the morning crew meeting, and he was sure that his workers were probably complaining. They tended to do that when he wasn't on top of his game. And today, his lack of sleep causing him to be in a semi-lucid, transient state, he was hoping they would take a little easy on him.

"Come on in, sweetie. Just collecting the daily necessities," he answered once he had gotten himself presentable enough. As Marissa entered the door, Jimmy began to search for his suntan lotion and digital organizer. Since arriving on the boat, he had slowly developed a routine that gave him the repetition and consistency that he had previously been lacking in his business endeavors. Get up, get dressed, gather everything needed for the day. It was amazing how such a simple routine really aided Jimmy in feeling like he had regained some sense of control over his life. But, as content as he had been feeling for the last six months or so, he couldn't help but worry about Hailey. She sounded like she could really use a familiar face around to assist her in managing all the chaos in her life. Was he crazy to even think about this?

Marissa started to straighten her father's bed sheets as she would often do when he was running late. Lately, she had grown accustomed to all of her dad's disorganized habits that used to aggravate her. In fact, she somewhat enjoyed being the only woman in her dad's life, even if it was a little selfish to want it to stay that way forever. Even though she and her dad had been through some really tough times in the past, she still felt like he was the only man in her life who never really let her down. Despite all the moments when she had really needed him and he wasn't there, Marissa still felt like her father's main intention in life had always been to bring their family happiness. And, it was hard to watch him fail. But, looking around the plush captain's quarters, she realized that all of the hard times were finally paying off for the Coopers.

"Thanks hon," he said, swiftly kissing the top of her head as he continued to look for his ID badge. "I really sometimes don't know what I would do without you."

"Well, that's easy," she quipped, "you'd always be late and have way less people listen to you." She smiled teasingly to let him know that she was only giving him a hard time. Someone had to, right? "So, who were you on the phone with when I knocked?"

Jimmy smiled at his daughter's characteristic inquisitiveness, knowing full well that she would not give the topic up until he obliged her with an answer.

"Oh, kiddo, I was trying to reach your mother, but I think I may have gotten her new housekeeper or something, cause the lady who picked up the phone didn't speak English."

Marissa chuckled as she imagined Neil receiving all the bills for her mother's "necessities". Living on this boat, far away from most of the luxuries that she had been accustomed to, Marissa had begun to understand the real difference betweens "needs" and "wants". She realized that there were so many people in the world that survived just fine without their weekly spa treatments and Botox injections.

"A-HA!" Jimmy exclaimed, finally locating the one item that was holding him back from starting his day. He hastily thrust the badge into his pocket as he hurried out of the room. "DON'T FORGET TO LOCK THE DOOR!" he shouted, from the hallway.

Marissa straggled behind, suddenly having the urge to snoop around her father's quarters. As she was glancing around for anything unusual, her father's cell phone began to ring. Shaking her head in amusement that her father's disorganization had yet again reared its' ugly head, she followed the noise to find it on his dresser shelf. Her mouth dropped in surprise as she saw the name on the caller ID. Hailey. Marissa didn't know that her dad still kept in contact with her.

"Hello?" she responded.

"Hi..I was wondering if someone tried to call me from this number. I 69ed, and this is the number I got back. This is Hailey Nichol."

Marissa hesitated for a moment, debating on whether she should divulge who she was. Obviously, her father had felt the need to lie to her about her mother's new housekeeper. But why? Did he really think that she would disapprove of him reaching out to Hailey again?

"Um…hi Hailey. This is Marissa…Cooper. Jimmy's daughter. I think I may have dialed your number on accident when I was using his phone."

That sounded like a legitimate enough excuse to pacify any further questions. She wasn't sure what had initiated her urge to lie to Hailey, but she felt like the last thing her dad needed right now was the drama that came with dating. He had been doing so good lately, finally beginning to get his life together. She didn't want him doing something impulsive and crazy to ruin it. 'Besides,' she rationalized to herself, 'she lives in Tokyo. What's he gonna do? Move there?'

The thought soon became paralyzing to Marissa. What if her dad really was thinking about abandonning her again for another whirlwind romance with Hailey? Although she had been a more apprehensive about letting her dad back in her good graces this time, he had eventually regained most of the trust he had lost the last time he left her.

"Oh..I see. Well, that's okay. It happens. How is your dad?"

Hailey had often wondered about Jimmy. He had looked so sad and discouraged when she had told him she was leaving Newport; it made it really difficult for her to even think about leaving him. She combed her hand through her windblown hair as she hoped to hear that he was having as hard of a time living without her as she was without him. Even though she wished Jimmy all the success that she knew he deserved, it still would feel good to know that he thought about her every once in a while.

"Well, we're doing okay. He's the captain of a cruise ship here in Greece. I came with him after high school ended, and we've been sailing around Europe for the summer."

'Wow,' Hailey thought, 'A cruise boat captain.' It definantly suited Jimmy's nomadic lifestyle. When she had left him to move to Japan, she had pictured her life being so much more glamorous. How ironic that he was the one living the high life now while she was so stressed out that she couldn't see straight. Life in the world of fashion merchandising had proved to be quite the challenge for Hailey's inner free spirit. Working the often grueling hours and handling seemingly endless customer issues, Hailey had often speculated what her life would be like if she were to disappear again. If she were to ever entertain that idea, she had always secretly hoped that Jimmy would be up for another adventure with her.

But, according to the last update she had gotten from Kirsten, he had supposedly moved back to Newport and reconciled with Julie after Caleb's death. The thought of him back with her arch-nemesis made Hailey's blood boil. However, obviously something had happened since that time to compel him to leave California for Greece with Marissa in tow. She wasn't going to push for more information, but she made a mental note to ask her sister for more details the next time she talked to her.

"Wow…that sounds like the perfect job for your father. I'm happy for him. Well, I guess I should get going. I'm sure you have work to get to. Tell your father I said hello, and I'll talk to you later."

As Marissa hung up the phone, she had to fight the urge to confront her dad with this new information. Lies had been what had pushed her father to desert their family before, and he had sworn it would never happen again. But, then again, this was not a lie about their financial situation, but instead about his personal life, so could she really count this as an offense? Either way, she wanted to know why her father had felt the need to again resort to hiding the truth from her. Maybe he didn't want her to know that he was feeling lonely and reminiscing about past loves. If this was the case, what he didn't realize is just exactly how sympathetic Marissa would feel for his woes, for they weren't too far from her own.

Meanwhile on the other side of the boat, Paolo had snuck out of the morning kitchen staff prepatory meeting to find Marissa. He had decided that today was the day he was going to tell her how he really felt about her. Although he still wasn't sure how she was going to take it, he couldn't hold back his true feelings any longer. Opening the window he knew she always left unlocked, he briskly climbed into the suite, hoping to surprise her. Looking around for the girl who he had fallen in love with, Paolo grunted in frustration when he realized that she was not there. 'Damn,' he thought to himself, 'she must be at the morning meeting.'

Startled out of his thoughts by a loud song that he wasn't familiar with, Paolo quickly realized that it was originating from Marissa's cell phone, which she had left on her desk.

"Forever young…I want to be forever young,"

He wrestled with the decision of whether or not to answer it, but soon decided that it might be important. Picking the phone up off the desk, he tentatively answered it.

"Hello?"

"Um…hello? Hi, I was..uh, I must have called the wrong number. I was trying to reach a…Marissa Cooper."

On the other line, Ryan held out hope that he had mistakenly dialed the wrong number. He had been psyching himself up to make this call for the last 3 days, and while imagining all the possible scenarios that could happen, Ryan had been quick to dismiss the possibility that there would be an unknown man with a foreign accent answering her phone. His mind suddenly began to run amuck with possibilities. Could this be her new boyfriend, like Caitlyn had suggested? Had he waited too long to apologize, and she had given up on him? He needed to know who this guy was.

"Um…yes, this is Marissa's phone. She is not here at the moment. May I take a message?"

A message…a message. What could he possibly tell this guy that he could trust would be forwarded to Marissa? As he tried to decide his next course of action, he pushed for more information to try and decipher who he was talking to.

"Yes..that's fine. This is Ryan. May I ask whom I am speaking to?" he posited, trying not to sound too meddlesome.

Paolo exhaled deeply as he remembered all of the things Marissa had told him about Ryan. How he had cheated on her, how she still loved him, how he hadn't called in over 2 months. Who did he think he was that he could just call after all this time and assume that she was ready and willing to take him back? Paolo made a spur of the moment decision to prevent Ryan from coming back into Marissa's life and hurting her again.

"Of course…this is Paolo, her fiance. I have heard much about you."

Ryan's mouth dropped open in shock. Did he just say fiance? He knew that Marissa had been known for making impulsive decisions out of hurt…but, she couldn't have accepted some greasy European sailor's marriage proposal, could she? With his worst fears confirmed, Ryan allowed his mind to indulge in the endless possibilities that came with this verification. 'No,' he thought, 'I promised her that I would never assume the worst about her again. Not without the facts coming straight from her mouth.' But, then he remembered that this aforementioned promise was still sitting in the pool house dresser drawer. 'Damnit, if only I had sent that letter, maybe she wouldn't have gotten herself into this situation.'

"And, from your silence, I'm assuming that you have heard nothing of me," Paolo continued.

"No..I'm sorry. I just, I didn't know that she had…it's just…I…,"

Ryan took a deep breath. He could sense that Paolo was getting some pleasure out of making him squirm. He had to hold it together and hope that his message would find its' way to Marissa.

"I'm sorry. If you would, please just let her know that I called…and, I wish you both…congratulations."

It was almost impossible to get those last words out. He was anything but happy about this engagement, and now more than ever, he felt the urgent need to rescue Marissa from making the ultimate mistake.

As Paolo smugly bid him farewell, Ryan hung up the phone softly. The pain that had somewhat subsided since that day in the airport was back. And, the worst part about this whole thing was that it was his fault. He should have never broken up with her in the first place. It just couldn't end this way. He had to stop talking and start showing her how much she meant to him. Then, suddenly, Ryan realized what he had to do.

"Yes…hello, United Airlines," he blurted abruptly after being on hold for almost 10 minutes, "I need to book a flight ASAP to Greece."