"So my father swears he had nothing to do with it, but I just know he was tiptoeing around in the background, making sure I was the shoo-in applicant," Anna was explaining as she and Summer strolled down the sidewalk towards the local park. Slowly, Anna had been encouraging Summer to get out more, to be comfortable around children once again. At first, her efforts had been met with the kind of stubbornness that would have made Sandy Cohen proud. Painstakingly, Anna was breaking down the walls Summer had so carefully erected in the days following the accident.
"If you really wanted to get the position on your own, why did you even tell him in the first place?" Summer frowned, bringing Anna back into the conversation.
"Well, my father's like the Gestapo. Even if I hadn't told him, he would have found out. And he intimidates me, so sometimes it's just easier to let him have his way," Anna sighed. Summer could imagine her bangs fluttering upwards with each heavy exhalation. Anna tightened her grip on Summer's hand as they approached the crosswalk. Summer easily came to a stop.
"It amazes me how someone as independent as you are would let her father boss her around the way you let him," Summer argued candidly.
"I know, I know," Anna laughed in defeat. "I'm working on it. I've now managed to go an entire week without having to speak with him. I'm a natural avoider, apparently. I've got the Mission Impossible theme programmed into my phone for when he calls."
"That'a girl," Summer nodded resolutely, rocking forward on the balls of her feet. "Are you still wearing the pink top?"
Anna laughed, "yes, why?"
"Well, as long as we're holding hands and everyone thinks we're girlfriends, I want to make sure you look cute enough to be seen with me."
Anna threw back her head and laughed. The little man on the cross-walk lighted up white and she led Summer across the street, jostled by passing pedestrians that were clearly in more of a hurry than the two friends. Denizens of their dark and dirty city merely mirrored their surroundings. Summer had thought Anna crazy when Anna first suggested they move in together; and in New York City, of all places.
Anna insisted it was time that Summer got away from Newport, away from her privileged little lifestyle, and away from all of the people that she was now afraid would find out her dirty little secret.
NYC was still close enough to Pittsburgh to allow Anna to visit any time she felt like it, but far enough away to discourage routine interference by family members into her daily life.
Once inside the wrought iron gates of the large park, Anna found an unoccupied bench far enough from the screaming children so as not to be annoying, but close enough to revel in the overall comfort of the atmosphere. She stretched her neck, basking in the late summer sunshine.
Next to her, Summer sat daintily, pulling her demure skirt down over her knobby knees, her straw hat pulled low on her brow. Anna almost laughed at the picture Summer made, but Summer would take it the wrong way. So instead Anna swung her legs sideways and moved down until she was laying down across the bench, her head in Summer's lap. It wasn't long before she had dozed off, as she loved to do, sunning herself like a turtle.
Seth wasn't sure why he walked past the corner store without going in, later he would attribute it to fate, or possibly dumb luck. He decided to walk off his hangover, which technically wasn't possible, but he couldn't stand feeling idle any longer, and so he wandered on like a blind man.
He passed O'Malley's, the famous cop bar, then several other grocery and liquor stores, and even past his favorite video store, Keeping it Reel. He ended up at the park on the corner a few blocks away, resting his chin between the bars of the black iron fence. When his father used to bring him to the City to visit his Nana, this was the very park they would come to together to fly their kites and make his Nana chase him around until she was breathless.
He watched kids run and play and squabble. There were two little boys with bright blond hair sitting in the sand box, twins. They reminded Seth of Ryan, or rather, what Ryan would have been like as a toddler, though understandably Seth had never seen the baby photos that would have proved him right. The Cohens, on the other hand, spent the first five years of Seth's life with cameras attached to their hands, and there was a library full of photo albums as evidence of that fact.
The twins' harried mother sat a few feet away, fanning herself. Beyond them, a little girl was hanging upside down from the monkey bars, her shirt falling down to obscure her face. Her nanny was yelling at her from across the playground to tuck her shirt into her pants and to stop flashing the world.
Seth grinned, his eyes wandering over to the slide where a bossy young miss was directing traffic in the jungle gym, her bright curly pigtails reminding him of Margaret from the Dennis the Menace comic strips. Margaret was living up to her new namesake, shoving one little boy after another down the hot silver slide. Several young mothers were congregated behind the swing sets close by, chatting, as they pushed their babies gently in lazy-rocking arcs.
Behind them, a hugely pregnant woman sat, eating an ice cream cone and watching the other mothers wistfully. Seth wondered what she was thinking about, if she was sad, or just needed something else. He loved watching people, and far more interesting than the happy smiling faces, were the pensive ones. What had brought them to this point in their lives? What suffering had they known that Seth would never know? It was impossible to discern, sure, but it didn't stop him from tracing their faces with his eyes, trying, just once, to glimpse what lay beneath.
A grandmother was beneath a tree beyond the bench, reading to two very sleepy grandchildren who were curled up in the folds of her skirt, which was spread beneath them on the rise. Seth smiled.
Across the cobblestone pathway two college-aged boys played Frisbee with a collie that leaped through the air to catch the disc. Another young woman struggled with her large red dog, which had a squirrel treed and was barking madly at it. Even from two hundred feet away, he could hear her hollering the dogs name, pulling at her collar in vain.
"Emma! Emma, stop it!"
His mother had never let him have a dog, for precisely that reason.
"They're more trouble than they're worth, Seth, trust me on this," he heard her angelic voice as if she were standing right next to him. He grinned again, continuing to peruse the sundry folks who apparently either didn't have jobs, or were playing hooky, like him.
His eyes fell on a pair of girls on a black wrought iron bench that matched the fencing that surrounded the park. The blonde was laying down, but her hands were moving gracefully in the air above her face in lazy gestures, so he was certain that she wasn't asleep. Her companion was exotically dark, her face obscured by a ridiculously floppy straw hat. He stared at them for a few moments, entranced. The brunette sat up straighter, cocked her head as if she'd heard her name called from across the crowded park and he saw her face.
"Sweet Jesus," Seth breathed.
Summer Roberts, in all her glory. Summer Roberts, and now that he looked closely, Anna Stern, cuddled up to her as if she were Summer's best friend in the world. He'd waited almost three years for this moment, to see her again. And now, by pure coincidence... this could be nothing short of fate. His breath caught in his throat, wondering what she would do when she saw him. Would she even speak to him?
Seth left his post on the outside of the park and headed for the gate, quietly approaching the pair.
"So Alan tells Traci, who tells Clark, and then before I know it, my boss is hovering over my desk asking if it's true that I'd been bragging that I had already slept with half of the marketing department."
"You're kidding!" Summer's voice, so far as Seth could tell, sounded the same, rough still, but drizzled with honey.
"I wish I was," Anna replied ruefully, still staring up at the perfectly cloudless azure sky. She really didn't have a right to complain, she knew. She had a good job, a home of her own, which she shared with a best friend. She wasn't in any way impoverished, it made her feel selfish to feel sorry for herself, so she made a point not to wallow in self-pity. Sometimes, however, she just needed to vent.
Summer brushed hair off of Anna's forehead tenderly. "Just ignore them. They're idiots, and if they can't respect you for who you are... well, you just come home and I'll make you feel better."
"I appreciate that," Anna sighed, smiling. She grabbed for Summer's hand, and held it against her cheek. "Thanks."
For no real reason, a tickle of unease danced down Anna's spine, and she stiffened. There was a change in the air, somehow. She turned her head suddenly towards the park.
Like a man in a dream, Seth Cohen was standing less than ten feet away, staring directly at Summer. His eyes darted to Anna for just a second, and then back again to an oblivious Summer. Anna quickly looked up to see Summer staring back at Seth, her dark eyes looking right past him. His mouth hung upon in surprise. Anna sat up quickly, disengaging from Summer's touch.
"Anna?" Summer faltered
Anna continued to stare at Seth in silence, mouth agape.
"Anna?" Summer said again, more panicked. She reached a hand out and Anna grasped it firmly.
"Sorry, Summer…I just thought I saw someone I knew," Anna locked eyes with Seth and saw realization dawning on his face. Her gaze held a warning. "Hey, I see the ice cream cart, I could totally go for a vanilla cone. You want anything?"
"No, the last thing I need is to get fat," Summer responded dryly.
Anna forgot about Seth for a moment, "...well, but on the upside, you won't see the cellulite spread."
"What cellulite?" Summer asked, shrill.
Anna chuckled nervously, as Seth took another step closer. "You haven't got an ounce of fat and you know it."
Summer's cheeks flushed a healthy pink and Anna murmured, "be right back." She pulled a spellbound Seth across the park towards the ice cream cart, safely out of earshot.
"When, Anna?"
"You know when," Anna replied, her voice kind, though her words were not. "I'm sorry. I know I should have called to tell you, but Summer begged me not to. Nobody knows, Seth."
"The car accident?" he asked, dumbly.
Anna nodded.
Thereis no other man. She lied to me. There's no one else.
"Is it permanent?" he asked, grasping Anna by her biceps and pulling her closer, compelling her to talk. All she could do is nod.
Seth released her. "I want to talk to her."
Anna shook her head emphatically. "Seth, please. Wait. She won't react well to this, not here. Maybe not at all. I know she won't be able to handle the shock here in public," she argued passionately.
Seth shook his head, "No. I need to talk to her. Now."
"Be reasonable," Anna commanded, no-nonsense now. "If she flips out, it will be me, not you, that has to deal with that."
"I can't just not talk to her," Seth retorted, unable to meet Anna's eyes.
Anna sighed heavily. "Fine, here's the deal. You come by the apartment tonight, after Summer has gone to bed, and we'll talk."
Seth looked uncertain, but Anna pressed her hand into his reassuringly.
"I promise I'll explain everything. Just...just don't do anything stupid."
Seth shot another heartbroken look towards the woman that he still adored, and nodded, knowing that Anna was right, at least for now. "What time should I come?"
"Ten-thirty, eleven. Not too early. Do you know where we live?"
"I'll find it."
Anna hurried back over to Summer, leaving Seth behind her without a backward glance. She took her friend's arm and pulled upwards, to her feet. "Summer, let's go home. There's a guy on the other side of the park that's giving us a funny look. I'm going to hail a cab."
Summer nodded, gathering her bag in a quiet efficiency, unaware that Seth was trailing a few steps behind them, watching them cross towards the gate and catch a cab. Anna turned just before ducking down into the backseat next to Summer and gave him a plaintive look that almost unhinged him. He sighed as the cab drove away, and forced his eyes northwards.
The phone rang once, twice, and Summer reached it breathlessly just before the fourth ring. Exercising wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
"Hello?" she panted.
"Schtupping the yard guy while I'm gone?" Seth teased, his voice sounding tinny on the international call.
"Ewww, Cohen, the yard guy is so Marissa. At least give me a little credit and say cabana boy. I like those short shorts he wears when he cleans the pool."
"How are you, sugar?" Seth asked, his voice lowering intimately.
"Good. Are you having fun in Milan?"
"We're actually in Vatican City this week. I've seen the Pope-mobile twice already."
"The Pope-mobile?" Summer rolled her eyes. "Why are you even at the Vatican? We've agreed that we're firmly committed to the Jewishness of your father."
"Hey, hey, now. There's no reason our future progeny can't know about their background of mixed faith. Your father's Catholic, your mother was Muslim, my mother is Protestant, and only by virtue of inheriting my father's coloring did I also inherit the Jew-hood," Seth teased. "If I looked like Ryan, we'd probably have to be Lutherans."
Summer laughed, still a little out of breath.
"What were you doing, anyway?" Seth asked, curiosity finally getting the better of him.
"Masturbating madly while dreaming about your joystick hands," Summer teased back, huskily, before flopping backwards onto the mattress.
Seth groaned piteously. "Summer, it's not fair to torment a man who's six thousand miles away."
"Quit complaining, at least your hands are still there with you, instead of where they belong, here with me."
"You're an evil woman, Summer Roberts."
"Not evil," she argued, contemplatively. "Just...horny."
Seth groaned again. "The tour group is waving me over, I have to go now. I love you."
"I love you too. Don't let any of those hot Italian babes get too cozy."
"They love the 'fro," Seth joked.
"Just remember you have an American girl Stateside that's crazy for you," Summer murmured.
"Hold that thought..." Seth whispered, his breath coming in short puffs. He was walking. "...until tonight. I'll call you about eight."
"I'll be waiting."
"Love you. Bye," Seth hung up before she could repeat the sentiment. It didn't matter, though. He already knew.
To be Continued...