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Date Posted: 00:57:30 09/16/01 Sun
Author: Lakota
Subject: Waiting for You - Chapter 27

Waiting for You – Chapter 27


Sami concentrated so intently on the iron skillet in front of her while keeping close tabs on the boiling potatoes on the back burner that she was mildly surprised when Lucas came bounding through the swinging kitchen door.

“Hey, Cupie doll, I can smell that all the way in the back of the apartment. That is chicken, isn’t it?”

“Of course…I told you I’d fix your favorite meal. You’ve always been a chicken face.”

“Mmmmmmm……..I knew I was marrying you for a good reason…your cooking skills.”

“Oh really? That’s the main skill you’re interested in?”

“Well, maybe not the main one but it comes in a close…………….check that, a distant second.”

Lucas stepped behind Sami and wrapped his arms about her as he kissed her repeatedly on her cheek. He stopped, pulled back and kept licking his lips as though trying to identify an unknown substance.

“New face powder?”

Sami put the back of her hand against the spot on her cheek he’d been kissing and rubbed. She looked at the substance on her hand and smiled.

“Yes, it’s one of my beauty secrets……..flour.”

“I kinda like it on you but, no offense, I still think it does more for the chicken’s complexion,” he teased pointing to the fowl in the frying pan.

He kissed her again on the cheek having gotten the smile from Sami he was after.

“Mind if I go turn on the radio and find some music?”

“No, in fact, how about turning it up a little so I can hear, too.”

“You got it. I’ll leave the door propped open.”

“Wait, Lucas………..”

Guinevere zoomed past Lucas’s feet nearly tripping him as she streaked into the kitchen.

“What?”

“Never mind…it’s too late. I put the cat in the other room so she wouldn’t get under foot. She’s as crazy as you are about chicken. She’ll pester me now because she can smell it.”

“Sorry, I’ll know better next time.” As Lucas finished his apology Guinevere rubbed against his leg.

“I know who she’s going to beg from already and probably successfully.”

Lucas grinned and walked toward the living room where the radio was. He turned the dial listening a few seconds to what the station was playing before continuing on until he heard one of his favorite tunes.

“A - - B - - C - - D - - E- - F- - G - - H - - I got a gal in Kalamazoo
I don’t want to boast but I know she’s the toast of Kalamazoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo
Years have gone by
My, my how she grew
I’m makin’ my bid
For that freckled-face kid in Kalamazoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo…….”

Lucas came back to the kitchen snapping his fingers to the beat of Glenn Miller’s famous tune, Tex Benecke’s unique song styling and the smooth harmonies of the Modernnaires.

“I got a gal in Salemazoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo” he sang along with a slight change to Harry Warren’s song.

“Salemazoo?”

“Well, yeah. After all, I don’t have a gal in Kalamazoo.”

‘You’d better not…or else I’ll...”

“:…you’ll what…huh, huh?” Lucas poked Sami gently in her ribs knowing her ticklish spots.

She backed away from the stove trying to escape but he cornered her until she squealed for him to stop.

“Lucas! If you don’t stop, I’ll….I’ll…...give all of your chicken to Guinevere.”

Lucas immediately dropped his arms and stepped back with a pout on his face.

“Sami, that is no way to treat the man you love and are going to marry…let alone a serviceman.”

“Emotional blackmail and appealing to my patriotism aren’t going to get you anywhere. You forget how well I know you, so you can quiver your lower lip all you want to. It won’t do you any good.”

“But, Sami….Sweetheart…….Buttercup….”

“Oh for, …Buttercup?”

“You don’t play fair…you know how much I love chicken……almost as much as you.”

“What?!”

“I said almost. Would you forgive me if I took back what I said earlier and told you that you look better in flour than the chicken?”

Rolling her eyes and tapping her chin with her pointing finger as though pensively considering Lucas’ offer, she deeply sighed and looked at him.

“I don’t know….”

“Pleeeeeeease…”

Sami burst into the laugh Lucas had loved since the first time he’d heard it.

“Oh, you nut. All right….fine, I forgive you.”

Lucas grabbed and kissed her as he whirled her about the small confines of the kitchen. He set her down and the smile he displayed fleetingly disappeared.

“What’s the matter, Lucas?”

“I just……I’d forgotten how much fun I have besides being in love with you, too.”

She gazed into his sincere brown eyes and nodded.

“Same here……Oooops! I don’t want to burn the chicken,” Sami exclaimed as she saw the grease popping in the pan. “Do me a favor and take those plates I set on the counter and put them on the dining table. We’ll be ready to eat in about five minutes.”

While they ate what seemed a banquet to Lucas, they talked about family and friends before Sami decided to bring up a topic she’d wanted to discuss with him since he’d first arrived at the apartment.

“Lucas, I’ve seriously been thinking about something. I’ve almost made up my mind but I want to hear what you think before I make my final decision.”

“Sounds serious,” he said as he put down his fork and wiped his mouth with the napkin before leaning back in his chair to listen to Sami with his full attention.

“Well, it sort of is but it’s a good kind of serious….at least, I think so.”

“I’m listening.”

“What happened between us today was so wonderful,” said Sami as a small blush tinged her cheeks remembering some of the details.

“Yes, it was. I almost hated to get dressed,” he said with his own shy grin apparent.

“Me, too….I knew afterward when we were lying there that I can’t be far from you any more until you have to go back overseas. I just have to be able to see you or talk to you as much as I can. So, what I want to ask is if it would be okay with you if I stayed in New York and got a job? That way we could see each other maybe whenever you could get a pass. Salem’s just too far away from you after today. Please, Lucas, will you think about it?” Her cornflower blue eyes pleaded with him as much as the tone of her voice.

Lucas leaned toward her. He looked directly at her.

“I wouldn’t want you anywhere else.”

“Really?”

He nodded.

“There is one thing…..have you talked to Carrie about this? I’m assuming you’d like to stay here with her now that Jennifer will be moving out.”

“That is what I thought I’d do. I know I was working in a defense plant back home but I can get a job at NBC. I talked to them last week when I went to have lunch with Carrie. I can work in the mailroom as a start. It pays all right and splitting the costs with Carrie would mean I could save up for us…our wedding…..and …”

“Hey,….I’m not the one you have to sell this to.”

“Well, I didn’t want to do it unless you agreed. It is a decision we should share, don’t you think? On the remote chance you’d have said ‘no’, I wouldn’t have wanted to have already given up my job back in Salem. There is one other thing that plays into this. I have this feeling……a very strong feeling…..”

“I think I know what it is, Sami.”

“Probably….you usually do…so, am I right?”

He stared at Guinevere in the kitchen where she happily munched on her shredded chicken as he tried to select the words with sensitivity to the fact Sami didn’t really want to hear them.

“Yes……I don’t think it will be long, Sami. Of course, even if I knew exactly when I couldn’t tell you…”

“….I know…”

“…but, I have the feeling too. I’ll be assigned to my new crew before long. Once they do that and give us a plane to fly……”

“… that’s what I thought…..felt, rather. I just don’t want to waste any more time being away from you…..we had four years of that.”

“That was my fault…”

“No, it wasn’t, it was mine.”

“But if I hadn’t…..”

“Wait…..let’s don’t do this….I love you, Lucas …that’s all that matters and I’m so afraid the time we have together is growing short...”

“Honey,….”

“You know….I keep thinking I’m not going to get to tell you ‘good-bye’ before you leave…that you’ll go and I won’t know it until you’re gone.” A large tear began its journey down Sami’s cheek.

“Sami, now don’t do this…”

“I can’t help it.” She brushed away the tear with the knuckles of her left hand while turning from Lucas’s gaze.

“Listen to me…..Sami….” Lucas gently spoke as he took her hands and held them tightly in his. “Hey….look at me.”

She lifted her eyes to his and saw a resolve in them as he spoke.

“There is no way I would leave you without telling you ‘good-bye’, some how, I promise.”

“Don’t, Lucas.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.”

“I’m not.”

“If they ship your squadron out, they won’t want to have the guys calling their wives or girlfriends telling them they’re leaving. That’s a breach of security.”

“Probably not….but, I’ll still find a way to tell you good-bye.”

“How?”

“I don’t know….I’ll think about it….besides, let’s not dwell on this. I agree with your decision to stay in New York completely. Now….the rain has let up so how about we go take in a movie and then we can come back and…….” Lucas left his thought unspoken knowing Sami would know how to complete it.

“And…get some rest?”

“Well, not exactly though you’re in the right geographic area of the apartment in your thinking.”

“Lucas, I swear……changing the subject…what movie do you want to go see?”

“How about ‘The Uninvited’. Remember when we saw the preview for it?”

“Ohhh, the ghost story with Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey and Gail Russell. Sounds good to me. Let me clear the table and we can go. I think the next show is at 5:15. I read the marquee last time I got a few things at the grocery store. ”

“Let me help and we’ll be done faster.”

They rose from the table and began stacking dishes when the telephone rang.

“Would you get that, Lucas? If it’s for Carie, just take a message.”

He dashed for the phone as Sami took the plates into the kitchen.

“Hello. Hi,…….what? How’d you know I’d be here?”

Sami noticed a slightly curious tone in Lucas’ voice as he spoke to whoever it was on the other end of the line.

“No, I haven’t…why? Yes, I’m sure ….we’ve been here all afternoon. In fact, we’re just getting ready to go to a movie. Do you want me to leave a message?…..Sure, I’ll tell her. Okay, bye.”

Sami came back to pick up the remaining dishes on the table and saw Lucas staring at the telephone.

“Who was it?”

“Mike.”

“Mike, as in your brother?”

“Yup.”

“Where was he?”

“I don’t know; he wouldn’t say. He wanted to know if Carrie was here.”

“ Carrie? Here? But, I thought…”

“Yeah, me, too…..I thought they were together….apparently, they’re not..”

“That’s bizarre. Lucas, if she wasn’t going to meet him at the hotel, then where was she going? Who was she going to meet?”

“You got me….I was positive she was meeting Mike. Wait…….this might be way out there…”

“Well?”

“What if…….could it be Kurt?”

“Oh, I don’t think so. They’re friends…that’s all. She’s crazy about Mike…No…….not Kurt.”

“I know but I thought if it wasn’t Mike…Kurt and Carrie are close…maybe things happened and she decided to get to know him better.”

“In a hotel for the weekend?”

“I don’t know, Sami. I’m just thinking of any other guys I ever see her with.”

“It’s not Kurt.”

“Okay, okay!! You know, Mike seemed worried about her not being here…he was concerned when I told him she wasn’t.”

“Something’s going on. Where could Carrie be?”

“Maybe…..just maybe, she really did go to do interviews for the network.”

“Maybe………….but…..”

“Come on, get your coat. I don’t think we’re going to figure this out. I’ll tell her to call Mike if she calls us.”

“Where was he calling from?”

“He didn’t say…just that Carrie would know where to reach him.”

“Huh.”

They gathered their coats, the dreaded umbrella and left for the State Theater to take in the movie leaving Guinevere watching them through the window from her favorite perch.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

She knocked on the white, ornately painted door with the numeral “833” painted gold. No one readily answered the door. Maybe this had been a mistake to come here. She began to turn away when the door opened.

“Carrie? This is a surprise.”

“Hi, I’m sorry I didn’t call first. I just was walking and the next thing I knew I found myself here.”

“That’s all right. Please, come in.”

“Are you sure? You don’t have company, do you? I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“No, I’m all by myself. Let me take your bag. I’ll just set it inside the door way.”

Carrie walked on the plush beige carpet into the apartment’s living room.

“This is a lovely apartment. I think you could put half my place in just the living room alone. I guess working in an embassy does have its rewards.”

“ There are a few but it’s even easier to afford living here if you have wealthy European connections. Want to give me your coat? I’ll hang it up so it can have a chance to dry. I noticed the rain has let up.”

“It has….just a soft drizzle now.”

“I suppose we could talk about the weather some more but I don’t think that’s what brought you here, is it?”

Carrie shook her head and tried to keep her composure.

“No, it isn’t. Actually, I’m just kind of wandering and before I knew it, I found myself here. I can’t go back to the apartment….Sami and Lucas are there and….well, I want to give them the weekend together. I thought I’d be away until Sunday afternoon……but…..I…..do you have a tissue?”

“I’ve got a whole box of them. Come on, come sit on the davenport while I get them. I won’t be a moment.”

Carrie sat on the sofa letting her rattled emotions take over now that she was somewhere that the people on the streets couldn’t look at her and wonder what was wrong with her.

“Here……I told you I had a whole box.”

“Thanks. I just might go through the whole thing.”

“Perfectly all right……now, can I venture a guess who has brought you to this state you’re in?”

“Give you three guesses.”

“It won’t take that many. Would it be a rather tall, handsome doctor named Mike?”

Hearing his name seemed to release the floodgates as Carrie let herself cry.

“I’m so sorry, Carrie. Go ahead and have a good cry. I’m going to leave for a few minutes while I make us some tea. Would you like that?”

Carrie nodded unable to make a verbal response. She used the time alone to shed more heart-wrenching sobs. By the time the silver tea tray arrived her outburst had subsided considerably.

“I hope you like Earl Grey.”

“That’s fine.”

The two drank a few sips of the hot, relaxing tea while Carrie felt herself more in a mood to talk.

“I needed that.”

“Well, it is the cure all for everything in my family on Mother’s side, however, I’m not sure it soothes an aching heart which seems to be what my early diagnoses would be of what ails you.”

Carrie looked into the face of her friend and smiled slightly while shaking her head.

“What am I going to do, Victoria?”

“If you want to and you don’t feel I’m pressuring you, how about just talking about it?”

“I would, I’m just not sure where to begin.”

“I’ve established that something has happened between you and Mike that is fairly serious.”

“Yes, it has. I should have seen it coming but I just refused to because I love……..loved him so much that I thought I could ignore it. Victoria, may I ask you a question?”

“Sure, what?”

“What did it feel like inside when Peter died?”

“Peter? I don’t know…..it was such a shock. I just thought Peter was one of those chaps who would make it through the war. He had this confidence that everything would be all right. He made everyone else believe it, too, including me.”

“But, it did happen. How long did it take for you to start accepting that what you had with him would never be?”

“Well, I can’t give you an exact time line. I just gradually got used to him not calling me, sending me letters or meeting him somewhere when he was home on leave. Why are you asking this, Carrie?”

“Because I have to start thinking of my life without Mike and want to have an idea how long before I know I’m going to not want to die inside.”

Carrie began crying as Victoria placed a reassuring arm about her.

“Carrie……Carrie……you can’t use what happened to Peter and me as a parallel to you and Mike . For one thing I was nowhere in love with him the way you are with Mike. Of course, I cried for his loss and never will forget Peter. A part of me will always miss him because we were very close friends, but I know that had he made it through to the war’s end, I would have had to have told him I couldn’t marry him. You can’t say that about Mike.”

“No, I can’t and that makes it worse, because I would have if he’d asked me to marry him …now, before another second went by. I love him but he doesn’t let me love him the way I want to on every level. I know that now. I have to stop what I feel for him, before it’s too late. I have to learn to not feel anything for him romantically any more….just be friends.”

“From the time I’ve spent around you two, I think that’s demanding a bit too much of yourself. Why would you want to do that anyway?”

“Because, I have to and it’s really what Mike wants though he won’t say it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Oooooooohhh, yes, I’m very sure. He made it very clear to me today that he doesn’t want to be with me beyond a certain point.”

“’Being with you means……”

“……just what you think it does. Victoria, I was supposed to spend the weekend with Mike at the Grand Hotel. It would have been our first time ever being together. He used the prize he won on New Years’ Eve – the suite, the champagne, everything. We planned it all out the evening we got back to the apartment after Jack and Jennifer’s wedding. It was Mike’s idea. I counted all the hours as slowly as they passed wanting to be with him. Everything was beautiful…the room, champagne, caviar.”

“Sounds wonderful to me.”

“It was. I’ve dreamed of it for so long and then……it was over. He withdrew from me without any warning. I couldn’t humiliate myself pleading with him any longer. ”

“Carrie, maybe if you give Mike a little time to think about it and call him, he’ll want to you to come back.”

“He probably will.”

“Then, what are you doing here instead?”

“Because, Victoria, it wouldn’t make any difference - - nothing will change. He keeps seeing me as that little girl who first had a crush on him over sixteen years ago. Mike doesn’t think I know what I want. He made a decision for both of us without asking me what I wanted or could accept. He made it and I’m supposed to go along with it whether I agree or not.”

“I’m not asking you to tell me what it is but is there a chance he’ll change his mind?”

Carrie emphatically shook her head.

“I can’t be around him for awhile. As much as I love him, I’m also very angry with him. I have to have time to let my emotions concerning him run their course and maybe I’ll be able to not lose him as a friend…in time.”

“A friend…….Carrie, is not what you want Mike to be.”

“No, it’s what he wants us to be.”

“Though I don’t know Mike that well, maybe he’s just trying to protect you…keep you from being hurt.”

“I thought so, too, but I think deep down, Mike doesn’t want to make a commitment to me and he’s using ‘protecting me’ as an excuse. Well, I’ve decided to give him his freedom….no commitment…..no obligation…………”

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Carrie. He seems like such a wonderful guy and I know he loves you and when you talk about being his friend in time….time is one thing that’s very precious and not to be wasted these days over misunderstandings.”

“I know what I’m doing. I just have to get past tonight and begin thinking about tomorrows that don’t have Mike in them as much as I’ve gotten used to.”

“Did you say Sami and Lucas are at your apartment?”

“Yeah, I wanted them to have the place to themselves for the weekend. In case you haven’t noticed when you’re around them, they can barely keep their hands off one another.”

“Yes, they do seem to be inseparable.”

“As miserable as I feel I am so happy for them. They’ve been through so much and come out the other side of it very much in love and committed to one another for the rest of their lives. They so deserve that. I find myself envying them. Anyway, I don’t want to intrude on their time. May I borrow your phone and see if I can get a room in town?”

“Absolutely not….you’re staying put here for the night. I’d like the company and you’re not going to be lucky finding a place on Saturday evening. You’re exhausted emotionally, Carrie, so just know you can be yourself here without having to put on a face for me.”

“Really?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Did Sami or Lucas know where you were going? They might be worried.”

“No, I didn’t tell them I was meeting Mike. I just told them I was going to the hotel to do some interviews for the network and stay over night….that the network was paying for putting me up. Maybe I should call and just check in.”

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

The telephone rang as Sami opened the door to the darkened apartment.

“Lucas, please take my coat so I don’t drip all over. I can’t believe the rain started up like that again. I’ll catch the phone.”

Lucas grabbed the sleeve of her coat as she stepped out of it on her way across the living room to the desk.

“Hello.”

“Hi, Sami.”

“Carrie! Sorry, I took so long answering the phone.”

“That’s okay. I hope I’m not interrupting anything?”

“No, no…we just now came in the door. We went to the movies. Carrie, you have to see ‘The Uninvited’. It was so good but take Mike with you for the scary ghost scenes. I kept holding on to Lucas.”

“Yeah, that was MY favorite part of the movie,” Lucas said in a raised voice so Carrie could hear him.

“Sounds like you had a good time. I just wanted to check in and let you know I’m finished and here in my room. I’ll probably be back tomorrow afternoon.”

“Oh, okay. Before I forget, Mike called wanting to know it you were here. I think it was about 4:30….maybe a little after. Lucas answered the phone and talked to him. Have you reached him?”

“Uhh, no I haven’t. I’ve been busy.”

“He wanted you to call him if you checked in with us. He didn’t say but I assume you know where he was calling from.”

“Yes,.. I do.”

“Carrie….is everything okay?”

“Fine. I’m just tired. I have a lot of transcription to do of the interview before I can hand it in to the editor Monday.”

“Is that all?”

“Sami….stop the interrogation, please. I said I was fine. You two enjoy the rest of the weekend and I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.”

“Carr…., well something is up,” Sami said as she replaced the receiver.

“Did she say she’d talked to Mike?”

“No and that’s strange. They talk to each other at least once a day…either he calls her here in the evening or she calls him at the post. If I didn’t know better I’d think she was avoiding him.”

“Oh, come on, Sami, I don’t think missing one phone call is anything to draw conclusions from.”

“You didn’t hear her voice, Lucas. It was somewhere between sad and angry the whole time she spoke.”

“Well, since we don’t know where either of them is, I say we leave them alone and concentrate on us. Come with me, woman,” Lucas said as he took her by the hand.

“Where are we going, as if I didn’t know?”

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Her right arm stretched diagonally across Lucas’ left shoulder, Sami ran her hand along the incision scar where his broken arm had been surgically repaired. The room was dark except for the street light beams that came through the shadow panel curtain and reflected off the wall directly opposite the bed.

“I’ve decided to never let you leave this room.”

“You have? What am I supposed to do when the MP’s come looking for me because I’m AWOL?”

“There you go being practical.”

“Sorry, it’s the Horton in me. Ask Mike.”

“I’m glad you have them in your life…the Horton’s, I mean.”

“Yeah, me too. Considering the Roberts/Reed side, I’m lucky unlike Austin or Billie, to have another family to draw love and support from.”

“You didn’t say anything about Philip.”

“That’s because I’ve been avoiding talking to you about something.”

“Uh-oh, why avoiding?”

“Because, I don’t know how to bring this up with you.”

Sami pulled up eye-level to Lucas, fluffed her pillow and resting her head against it looked at him in the dim light. “Tell me, Lucas.”

He turned onto his right side to face her.

“I’m worried about him. He’s a great kid but if he stays in that house….around my mother…..it won’t last. Look what it nearly did to me. I joined the Air Corps and Austin had to die to escape her.”

“Lucas, that’s a bit harsh to say about your mother.”

“You’re defending her?”

“Not in the least…but, she did have you, so I can’t ever completely hate her.”

Lucas kissed her and resumed talking in a hushed, intimate tone.

“When we were back in Salem you notice he spent the whole time at Grandma Alice’s, didn’t you?”

Sami nodded.

“He told me that he sometimes doesn’t want to go home because of his parent’s bickering. To make it worse, now that he’s got a girlfriend, Mom seems to be starting a campaign on her the same as she did on you to keep her away from Philip.”

“But, Lucas, he’s only sixteen. How could a girl be threatening to Kate at that age?”

“Sami…..how old were you and I when we started dating?”

“Good point…but that doesn’t mean Philip’s going to marry this girl someday just because he’s dating her now. History doesn’t necessarily repeat.”

“He’s fairly serious about her. That sends up a red flag with Mother, and, Philip’s the baby. She’s more determined than ever to keep him to herself, especially since Austin and I won’t be a part of her life ever again. Anyway, he asked me one evening if he could come to the East Coast to attend college. Victor already has it set in stone Philip’s going to go to an Ivy League school. Philip wanted to know if he did get accepted, if he could come down and spend time with us on the weekends.”

“Wait…that’s another year away. Are you saying that when you come back you’re thinking we’d stay here rather than go back to Salem to live?”

“It’s an idea I’ve been toying with. Victor was telling me he’d like to open up a branch of Titan Publishing here and suggested I could take charge of it. On the sly he mentioned that Philip could be here as well.”

“Do you think, in some way, Victor knows what will happen to Philip if he stays around Kate?”

“I do. Say what you will, Victor does love his son and he’s not blind to my mother’s smothering, manipulative ways. He’s willing to have Philip far away if it will spare him what the rest of us kids have gone through. I wouldn’t give him an answer because any decision I make about my future involves you first and foremost. He understood that when I told him I wouldn’t make a decision without your input. We’ve got time to think it through. Victor won’t even start to expand the business until after the war. It would mean having Philip be a little more a part of our lives - - especially as newlyweds as well as us being away from home.”

“Funny, I used to never think I could live away from Salem. That was where my life was – my family, friends and you…even though I didn’t think we’d be together. I knew I could hope to at least run into you now and then…see you. Now, I know my life is wherever you are no matter where that takes us. Whatever you decide, I’ll support you. I love Philip, anyway, so it would be great to have him around. One thing…”

“Which is?”

“God help his girlfriend….she’s in for a rough time. I hope she’s strong.”

“I know.”

They snuggled in an embrace and drifted to sleep.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Carrie’s Apartment, Sunday, March 12th, 1944


“Lucas, you need to get downstairs, the cab just got here.”

“In a minute. I can’t find my razor.”

“Look on the edge of the sink.”

“Good idea.”

The door opened and Carrie walked in holding her suitcase.

“Hi, I didn’t expect you for another hour or so.”

“Oh, I was able to catch the ferry early so I just decided to take it and get in out of the rain. I wonder when this stuff is going to let up.”

“I know. We…..I woke up to it absolutely pouring this morning.”

“Is Lucas still here?”

“I am…..but, not for long. Hey, Carrie.”

“Hi,…I didn’t mean for you to leave when I said that.”

“Nah…I know. I just have to get back to the post. I’m running a little late, too. Honey, I need to get downstairs.”

“I’ll walk you down. Be back in a few minutes, Carrie.”

“Don’t rush.”

Lucas kissed Carrie on the cheek and gave her a quick squeeze before petting Guinevere and putting his arm around Sami’s shoulders as she walked him to meet his cab. Five minutes later Sami came back to see her sister glancing through the mail.

“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?”

Carrie tossed the envelopes in her hand onto the desk.

“There is nothing wrong, Sami.”

“Yes, there is and it started with that strange phone call from Mike yesterday asking if you were here. I know you were going to meet him, Carrie. You can deny it all you want but I know.”

Carrie turned to stare at her sister and maintained her silence.

“Look, Carrie, you were there for me when Lucas and I had our troubles, especially when he came home from Europe. Let me be there for you, now.”

“There isn’t anything for you to help with, Sami. I will tell you this much and then the subject is closed. Yes, Mike and I have parted and I admit that I think it’s best, too. Neither you nor Lucas need to be uncomfortable because I don’t love Lucas any less simply because his brother and I didn’t work out. Please be sure you tell him that or I will when I see him again…..just now didn’t seem the right time.”

“What happened?”

“We just don’t belong together besides anything other than friends, that’s all.”

“I don’t believe that and neither do you, Carrie.”

“Dammit, Sami…..I said the subject was closed!! I won’t talk about it again.”

Carrie walked off to her room and slammed the door behind her.

“Oh, boy…..” Sami said and petted Guinevere who stared up at her. “What happened, huh? Well, I guess I’ll just have to find out with Lucas’ help.”

TBC

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