VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, [2], 3, 4, 5, 6 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 07:45:10 04/05/03 Sat
Author: dqfan
Subject: Re: Ghosts - ch.17
In reply to: dqfan 's message, "Re: Ghosts - ch.15 & 16" on 03:26:52 04/04/03 Fri

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Needing to clear her head, Sophie raced out of the hotel. Quickly, she found an empty spot over by the colossal fountain, which graced the hotel's massive front entrance. The evening temperatures were still in the high 70's, but Sophie welcomed the fresh air upon her skin, even as she felt the building's air-conditioning escape her body. Thankfully, she'd chosen a lightweight, black, sleeveless dress to wear for this evening.

Sophie settled onto one of the benches, arranged in permanent semi-circles around the fountain. With a deep breath, she relished the feel of cool mist upon her face. Every few seconds, the water's appearance would shift, transforming itself into an ever-changing canvas of colors and lights.

Sophie closed her eyes for just a moment.

"This is a lovely spot," Michaela admired, her silk shawl falling into the crook of her elbows as she stopped to admire the fountain's beauty.

Michaela had dressed for her evening on the town. Her gown was the same one she'd worn the night that Sully had taken her out to dinner in Boston, a touch of black lace delicately framing her bare shoulders. The design was undeniably vintaged, but amidst the glitter and gaudiness typical of the Las Vegas Strip, it went unnoticed, except, perhaps, for its elegance and style.

"You came…" Sometimes wishes do come true, Sophie thought to herself with a smile.

"Of course, I did," Michaela arranged her billowing skirt and joined Sophie on the bench. "Didn't Sully tell you I'd be along?"

Sophie nodded, ashamed to admit she'd only half believed her eyes when she saw Sully in her hotel room earlier that night.

"It's good to see you," Sophie added, desperate for someone to talk to.

"Things aren't going well, I take it?" Michaela sighed, taking Sophie's hand.

"That's an understatement," Sophie grimaced.

"Perhaps, you should start at the beginning?" Michaela encouraged.

"The beginning…" Sophie repeated, rolling her eyes. "The beginning was fine," she exclaimed. "Peter and I were all cozy, at home, having a nice evening."

"The next thing I know, we're HERE," she emphasized, pointing to all the excess indicative of Las Vegas, "and Charity's in jail. I find out this is where Peter and Chloe were married… He starts keeping things from me… And, then, zam, pow, I'm eating ice cream with another man!"

Michaela was doing her best to follow Sophie's tearful stream of consciousness, but, at that last remark, she couldn't help but smile.

"My, that IS serious…" her eyes twinkled in amusement.

"You don't understand," Sophie shook her head, brushing her tears with the back of her hand.

"Actually, I understand quite well," Michaela sighed, "about everything."

"Everything?" Sophie didn't see how.

"About the first wife, the taciturn husband…even the ice cream," Michaela smiled indulgently.

"YOU ate ice cream?" Sophie whispered, astonished at the thought.

"No," Michaela smirked. "I…went on walks…and played chess."

"Huh?" Sophie was confounded.

"Sully and I always went on walks together," Michaela explained briefly. "But there were times," she added, remembering the strolls she'd taken with William and David, "when I would take a walk with another man, one who perhaps had feelings for me, as Sully did."

"And it just felt wrong." Sophie understood completely.

Content that Sophie now grasped her analogy, Michaela saw no need to elaborate on the evenings she'd spent playing chess with Daniel, nor the ensuing heartache she'd experienced when Sully reminded her that he, too, knew how to play.

"Marital infidelity takes many forms," Michaela noted wisely.

"Peter never told me he and Chloe were married here." Sophie hadn't been able to shake the image from her mind, hard as she tried.

"Perhaps he doesn't talk about it because it's in the past?" Michaela suggested, trying to be helpful.

"When Sully and I first began having feelings for one another, I was terribly insecure," Michaela went on. "Colorado Springs was Abagail's hometown, filled with her friends, her family. I was living in her house and I was falling in love with her husband," Michaela sighed. "Everything was hers."

Suddenly, Sophie felt grateful that Chloe was 3,000 miles away in New York.

"It wasn't until Abagail visited me, that we came to some sort of peace," Michaela sighed.

"Visited?" Sophie questioned.

"You know…" Michaela whispered, patting the bench she and Sophie were sitting on, hoping to convey a similar situation. "Visited…"

"Oh, right," Sophie nodded, momentarily wishing Daisy were there.

"And it wasn't until after Sully and I were married, that I fully understood his feelings," Michaela explained.

"Which were?" Sophie had to ask.

"That loving Abagail was different. That he never felt about her the way he did about me," Michaela related, secure in her husband's love.

"The places he showed me…" she attested, her voice still filled with awe at that first brilliant sunset over Sully's private mountaintop, a spot he'd never shared with anyone, not even Abagail.

Adding to Michaela's reverie, the fountain's rush began to echo another glorious waterfall…more blissful memories of her life with Sully.

"And the love he showed me…" she blushed, recalling Sully's never-ending delight in her enthusiasm.

"Peter chose you, Sophie," Michaela reminded forcefully. "He loves you."

"But, he won't talk to me," Sophie argued, frustrated.

"Sully's greatest fear was that he would somehow let me down," Michaela said softly, clasping her hands together in her lap. "That he wouldn't be there when I needed him, or that he wouldn't be able to provide for us financially. All he ever wanted was to make me proud."

"But I AM proud of Peter," Sophie sighed. "There's nothing he could tell me that would change that.

"I said 'for better or worse' and I meant it," she insisted, fidgeting with her wedding rings.

Sophie's voice grew shaky as she revealed, "Peter took off his ring tonight."

"Men see things differently," Michaela sighed in consolation, recalling her disagreement with Sully over whether he would wear a wedding ring. "But, I'm sure Peter feels married to you whether he's wearing the ring or not."

"There are always others who cross our paths," Michaela warned her, relating the premarital advice she and Sully had received from the Reverend so many years ago.

"You chose this path freely in order to help Charity," she admonished.

"But it will all work out, won't it?" Sophie was almost afraid to ask.

"It's getting late," Michaela equivocated, preparing to leave. "Give Peter my love."

"Please?" Sophie begged, desperate for any insight.

Michaela paused and chose her words with care.

"Together, you can do anything."

^^^^^^^

"It's still early," Ivy tempted Peter at the tenth floor elevator bay. Her hotel room was just down the hall.

"Why don't you come back for a drink?" her voice was sultry and low.

Peter was so tired. He'd been at this private eye stuff all night while Ivy had been all over him like, well, ivy. There was just so much a man could take. Meanwhile his wife was God knows where, doing God knows what, with Good Old Gus.

All Peter wanted to do now was go upstairs and make sure Sophie was back safely, see if there was any news. Maybe while he was at it, he'd ask if they still had a marriage.

But first, there was this woman nibbling on his ear…

"No… Uh… No, I can't…" he stuttered, gently pushing her off his body.

At Ivy's questioning look, he added quickly, "I…I have to see Charity early in the morning…post bail…you understand," he shrugged, with as much disappointment and longing as he could muster.

Thankfully, several people had joined them at the elevator bay. Peter inched his way toward them, praying for an elevator up very soon.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Ivy asked plaintively. "The museum?"

"Right," Peter nodded reassuringly. "Tomorrow. The museum."

Never had Peter been so happy to hear the familiar ping of the elevator call button in all his life. His date with Ivy would finally be over.

"See you tomorrow…" Ivy smiled. Eyes darting mischievously, she wrapped her arms spontaneously around Peter, giving him a very deep, inviting kiss.

Startled, Peter broke away; but, not soon enough. The elevator doors had opened somewhere between Ivy's tongue down his throat and her teasing wave goodbye.

Most of the spectators onboard merely chuckled at the couple's conspicuous display of affection. But there was one woman who had seen far more than she ever wanted to.

"Soph…"

^^^^^^^^^^^

"Can we talk about this, please?" Peter begged, as he followed a silent Sophie down the twenty-fourth floor corridor to their adjoining rooms.

Sophie unlocked her door, flipped on the light switch, sat down on the bed, and stared directly at Peter.

"Talk." Her one word ultimatum left him, unfortunately, speechless.

"Time's up…" Furious, about so many things, Sophie unlatched the door between their two suites and gestured for Peter to leave.

"Wait! C'mon, Soph…You know, Ivy means nothing to me!" he began, desperate to plead his case. "You know, this is all for Charity."

"Oh, yeah, right, Charity…" Sophie nodded, not believing a word of it. "What'd you find out?" she grilled him.

"Well, not too much. A few things…" he mumbled, undoing his tie. "It was only our first date."

From the look on Sophie's face, Peter could tell that he probably shouldn't have used the word 'date.' But, dammit, Sophie knew the plan when they started this charade!

"So, where'd you go on your first 'date'?" Sophie spit the word back at him.

"Cirque de Soleil," Exasperation filled Peter's voice.

Sophie eyed him with more suspicion than an incoming Horizon freshman.

"Treated her to the big 'O,' did you?" she quipped spitefully.

"Sophie, you're being ridiculous!" Peter couldn't believe this was happening.

"Am I?" she persisted. "Where's your wedding ring?"

"Right here…in my pocket," Peter assured her in his most soothing voice. "I told Ivy I was in divorce proceedings. Didn't make much sense that I'd still be wearing it."

"Divorce proceedings?" Sophie repeated quietly, not liking the way the words sounded on her lips.

"I had to tell her something," Peter justified. "What did you tell Gus?" he demanded.

"That I was separated," Sophie emphasized the verb. "And I managed to keep my rings on, too!" she said, presenting her left hand as proof.

"Soph, it's different for a guy." Peter attempted to explain his predicament. "Taking off the ring… It was just the easiest way for me to earn Ivy's trust."

"Easy?" Sophie pounced at Peter's poor choice of words. "It was easy for you to take off your ring?"

"That is NOT what I meant!" he shouted, furious at the way she was twisting everything he said.

"Okay, so you're jealous, I get it!" Peter counter-attacked angrily. "Did it ever occur to you that I might be jealous, too?"

"Of Gus?" Sophie's evening's exploits were strictly G-rated compared to what she'd just witnessed downstairs.

"Yes, of Gus!" Peter challenged offensively. "How am I supposed to feel when I see you with him? Mr. You-have-it-all-just-like-Bogie-and-Bacall."

"It's Bergman!" Sophie shot back, finding Peter's whining extremely childish. "And that song was lame twenty years ago!"

"So, where'd you go after dinner?" he fished, dying to know.

"We went for ice cream," she detailed briefly, though most of her guilt had disappeared in the elevator.

"But you can't possibly compare Gus to that…that…" Sophie couldn't even begin to describe her feelings toward Ms. Ivy Wilcox this evening.

"Oh, if the shoe fits!" Peter snapped, astounded to hear his wife actually defending Gus Leighton.

"Gee, why don't you ask, Ivy?" Sophie returned fire. "She's probably out buying a new pair right now!"

Peter was on the verge of one of his best primal cleansing screams.

As an alternative, he took a deep breath, ran his hands through his hair and struggled to calm down. "This is getting us nowhere…" he sighed.

Sophie took advantage of the silence and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Peter, are you drinking again?" she blurted point blank, willing to forget about Ivy and Gus and everything else for the time being.

Her question hung in the air, shocking them both.

"How can you ask me that?" Peter said softly, reaching out to touch Sophie's arm.

The warmth of his fingers on her bare skin sent a jolt of electricity straight to Sophie's heart. The connection she'd felt with him since the first day they'd met - that connection was still there. In Peter's eyes, Sophie had her answer.
He wasn't drinking again. She could tell just by the look on his face, his sad acknowledgement that, "You don't trust me…"

Realizing she'd hurt him terribly, Sophie reached out, too. Lovingly, she took his hand in hers. "Talk to me, Peter, please…" she begged.

"I'm scared," she admitted, her eyes filling with tears. "Ever since we got here…You're drifting away from me."

Peter's heart broke to see the pain Sophie was suffering as a result of his actions. Bringing her here - to his past - had been a mistake.

Desperately, Sophie tried to hold on to that sliver of hope, that tiny doorway that seemed opened, now that Peter's defenses were down.

"Peter, tell me about the locket…" she pleaded in a whisper. "Whatever's bothering you. Please just tell me."

Oh, how Peter wanted to tell her, anguished at the sight of Sophie standing there, forlornly, hoping beyond hope. Struggling, he opened his mouth and cleared his throat; but, in the end, words failed him once again.

"I'm sorry, Soph," Peter released her touch and took a step back. "I just can't…"

The rest was a fog. Sophie watched Peter exit through the connecting doors. She heard him moving around for a while and then, finally, she heard his hallway door slam shut. Two-thirty in the morning and Peter was going out. Where?

Anywhere, Sophie realized, brushing away her tears. This was Las Vegas. At 2:30, the night was just starting. Peter could go anywhere. Do anything. With anyone…

Sophie made her way to the bed, still staring at Peter's closed door. Her husband wouldn't talk to her, but he expected her to trust him. In the city that Peter, himself, had termed "an addict's dream," that was a lot to ask - even from a devoted wife.

Quietly, Sophie curled up into a ball on the bed - still dressed, not caring, and with just a single thought.

"I love you, Peter."

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Post a message:
This forum requires an account to post.
[ Create Account ]
[ Login ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.