Chapter 2:

It had been five years since that first weekend, and Finn has still enthralled with Rachel. They had packed their things that weekend, and were going to go their separate ways, and they did. But they'd been meeting every year, the same weekend, in the same room. It was an affair that Finn was perplexed by. He knew it was wrong, knew that he was chancing the marriage he'd worked so hard for, and the wife he loved so much. Yet, there was something about Rachel that made the world begin the slow, except his heart, which seemed to be on fast forward. She was a drug. One that as much as he knew he should quit, he also knew he couldn't survive the withdrawal. Now, he was seated in the living room area of the cottage they'd shared for five years, waiting to see his drug. She had arrived before him, and when he got to the cottage, she was in the bathroom preparing. She told him to wait out there, before they were to head to dinner. She had changed her hair, and bought a new dress, and wanted to make a grand entrance. So he changed from his travel clothes, into his dinner suit. He needed to impress her. He sat and waited for her reveal, and he felt every cell in his body tremble with anticipation.

Rachel stood in the bathroom, staring into the mirror, wondering how he'd changed in the last year. She wondered if he'd like her new hairdo. She had been sitting at home one day, thinking about Finn. Jesse was at work, and she was fantasizing about him, knowing that in a month, she'd get to feel his hands on her body, his lips on hers, his body on hers. Suddenly, she snapped out of the fantasy and began to cry, because she felt so guilty. This year had been hard for her to handle the guilt. Her daughter was 17 now, with a rebellious spirit. Her marriage was stuck in the same rut it had always been. Jesse loved his wife at home, and the passion was non-existent. Their love making felt like yet another chore she had to do around the house. There was nothing about it that sparked any kind of emotion. The sex was alright, but one night, she closed her eyes and conjured up a memory of Finn. That's where the guilt started. That day, she awoke from her fantasy, and decided she needed to change something, do something. She marched to the hairdresser, and had her hair cut off. She went from hair that went to the mid-back, to a bob with bangs. It was the change she needed. But it didn't take away the guilt.

She arrived before Finn, and she checked in at the front desk. "Hi Emma." Emma looked up from her computer. "Hi Mrs. Hudson!" Will and Emma and all the staff of the hotel thought that she and Finn were a married couple, taking a yearly romantic vacation. It always made her feel guilty. It brought the image of Quinn to the forefront of her mind. She had seen a picture of Quinn once. She was gorgeous. Long blonde hair, blue eyes, perfect body, pretty smile. Yet all Rachel could think of was Quinn's world shattering if she were to find out about Rachel. Rachel checked in and got to the room and as the minutes passed, she knew clearer and clearer what it was she had to do. After about an hour, she heard a car pull up. She walked to the window and saw him get out of a cab in the space outside of the cottage. She knew instantly that every fiber of her being needed him, and she grabbed her bag and ran into the bathroom. When he came in, she told him to wait, she wasn't done getting ready. Now, she was finished, and she quickly primped her new bob one more time, and she did a check to make sure her dress looked ok. She had bought this new dress just for him. It was black, with a shiny emblem in the center of the breast. She had on her black heels, simple make up, other than dramatic eyeliner.

"Ready?" She yelled. "Been ready for 364 days." He said. She smiled, and opened up the door to see him standing next to the couch. "Wow." He said. She giggled. "I love your hair." He said, as he walked over to her. Without missing another second, he kissed her, and they both felt more complete than they had felt all year. "Needed to look good for our dinner reservation." She said. "I made one in town at an Italian place, called The Rolling Stone." He smiled, and offered her his arm, as any gentleman should. She looped her arm in his, and they both left for the restaurant.

They were seated and asked for two glasses of white wine. Neither knew what they wanted to eat. All they could do was talk, and catch up. "How's business?" Rachel asked him. "Ok. I actually just moved to Boston, more clients." Finn said. "Well that's good." She replied. He sighed and said, "The only thing that's bothering me is little Noah. He is turning into such a weird kid. He keeps on writing little movies, little plays, and little stories. It worries me. He's 15. I want him to be thinking about practical things to do with his life." Rachel looked over at him and sighed, "But Finn, if it's his dream, how can you squash it? Would you stop me from singing?" He looked at her, "No. I don't know. I mean, when I was younger, I was into sports. I loved football, and basketball, but I always knew I needed something steady. Noah's so in the clouds. He lives in la la land. I mean he had an assignment to write about what he did over summer break. Problem is, he wrote exactly what he tried to do." "Which was?" Rachel asked. "He wrote in great detail about his desire to sleep with as many women as possible! He wrote about how he tried and failed!" Rachel busted out laughing. "I mean it." Finn said. "I think he's not wired together properly." She stopped laughing and said, "He really gets to you, doesn't he?" Finn just looked at her. "Just because you're two different people, doesn't make it harder to love him, it should make it all the better."

She reached over and grabbed his hand. He felt his body temperature rise, and before he knew it, he had reached over, and they were kissing, deep and passionately. He needed her right there. They separated and Rachel stared at him intensely, before whispering, "Damn. And I just got all dressed up." Finn threw a 20 on the table, and they ran to the car. Luckily, it wasn't a far drive to the hotel. Within 15 minutes, they were laying on the bed, both stripped down to their underwear, heavily kissing. Neither one was having a cognizant thought, just caught up in the desire for each other. He loved feeling Rachel lay on top of him. Ring ring. Perfect time for Emma to call about the breakfast order and to see if they wanted a wake up call. Rachel thought. Finn grabbed the phone, "Hello?" He said, barely mustering a voice filled with desire. "HI!" He yelled shocked. He shot up, knocking Rachel onto the bed. "This is daddy Artie. What's wrong?" Rachel sat back on the bed. "Oh no! Well of course the tooth fairy will come. She will! She knows automatically when a good little boy loses his first tooth, whether or not he can find it." Rachel smiled at the experience of seeing Finn as a dad. "Well I wish I could be home, but I'm…working. I love you too." He hung up.

Rachel placed her hand on his shoulder, but he jumped up. "Oh my god! I'm scum!" He yelled. Rachel looked at him. "That was little Artie calling to inform me that he lost his first tooth, but he can no longer find it, so he's afraid that the tooth fairy won't come! And He wanted his daddy to help him look for it." Rachel sighed, "You handled it beautifully. You were such a great daddy." He looked at her stunned. "What do you mean?! I'm having an affair. I was here, hoping to have sex with a woman who is not his mother, betraying all he knows, and all he wants is me!" Rachel scoffed and said, "Well Finn, that's what it is, and I was very impressed with how you handled it. You said everything right." "But I'm doing everything wrong." He said, as he grabbed his laptop, and began typing furiously. "Maybe you don't feel it, but I do." Rachel jumped up. She was so angry with that insinuation. "Excuse me?!" He closed his computer. "I FEEL IT FINN! I'VE FELT GUILTY EVERY DAY SINCE WE STARTED." She yelled, as she threw on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. He looked at her, "Can we finish this in the car?" "In the car?" She asked. "I hate to ask this, but I need to leave. There's a train in 45 minutes, and I need a ride." She just froze, and stared at him.

It wasn't a long ride to the train station, and he had tried to explain himself the whole way. The call shook him up. He needed to be with his son, his family. She had a family, if they needed her, wouldn't she leave? The only thing she said to him was, "If there was vomiting. Not for the goddamn tooth fairy." They arrived at the train station, as he was getting his stuff out of the car, she just looked up at the sky. "Don't worry Rachel. I'll see you next year." She looked at him. "No I don't think you will." She said. "Because I have to leave early one year?" He asked. "No, because of the fact that you're letting your guilt ruin this, and the factor that you insinuated that I feel nothing. I've been agonizing over this for a year. I even came tonight with the intention of breaking this off, going home, and living my life in penance for the last five years." "You did?" He asked. "I did. You may not see me cry, but I do. Mostly I cry in the bathtub, with a towel stuffed in my mouth. But when I saw you getting out of the cab, I knew I needed you. I loved you, and no matter what the price for this weekend every year, I was willing to pay it." He just stared at her stunned. She had never said any of this before, never hinted to any guilt, or of her emotional connection to him. The train whistle blew, and she sighed. "Better go, you'll miss your train." He grabbed his bags, turned and walked toward the train, as a light rain began to mist over Rachel.

She got into the car and drove back to the cottage, crying the whole way. She was mourning the end of something so wrong and terrible, but so right and beautiful. She drove into town, walked around a few shops that were open late, before returning to the cottage. She walked in, and saw Finn sitting on the couch. "What are you doing here?" She asked. He got up and walked over to her. "I'm crazy. I didn't think it through. But I know that the thought of never seeing you again, never touching you again. I was in a cab before I knew it. I love you." He kissed her, and he knew he was in trouble.