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**Time Lapse: 8 years**
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It had been eight years since I graduated from Stony High; five years since I'd graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta. I'd been doing quite well for myself. I was working on a major upcoming short film called Finding My Way Back. It was about a young girl's husband that went missing on his tour of duty. She is destined to find him anyway she can, even if it means putting her life in danger.
A small, but successful film-making company had hired me a few months after I graduated with my video productions degree. They were all so very friendly here, I felt as if they were apart of my family.
"Mrs. Peters, there's someone here to see you," my assistant, Jennifer stuck her head in my office and told me. I took my coffee cup away from my lips and set it on my desk.
"Thanks Jen. Send them in please?" I adjusted my glasses and licked my finger as I thumbed through a stack of papers that was sitting on my desk. Even though I wasn't a big movie producer, they still treated me with just as much respect, if not more, here. I received my very own office and an extremely nice assistant.
She smiled and nodded before whisking out of the room to fetch who ever was here to see me. As I looked towards the clock above my filing cabinet, I began to wonder who was here to see me without making an appointment. Usually the only people who showed up unannounced or uninvited were executives from film critic companies, snooping around to see if we really knew what we were doing.
I was working on part of a script for my production when a tall slender, yet curvaceous woman walked in my office. She had a blue hat on her head, partially covering her face.
"Yes, can I help yo-" I stopped when I saw her face.
"Hello Alea," the woman said with a kind tone.
It was Bridget. I knew her face from anywhere. The one person from high school I hadn't expected to ever see again. My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as I stared at her as if she were an alien. She looked as if she had just come from church with her huge hat and obnoxious jewelry covering her wrists and neck. Her unfamiliar keen eyes bore holes into mine as she sat with her hands crossed in her lap across from me.
The same woman who had stolen the love of my life many years ago was now in the same room as me without attempting to kill me.
"Bridget..how are you?" I asked in the most controlled tone I could. The screams of the Devil's curses wanted to escape from my progressively angered mind.
"I'm fine," she replied, nodding her head. A few seconds of silence passed of us sitting awkwardly in front of each other with the same stupid grin spread across her face and a forced one on mine. I was beginning to wonder about her reasons for being here and if I should call the police or not.
"That's good. Is there something I could help you with?" I asked.
"I um.." She looked up at me nervously, then her eyes averted to the window near my bookshelf. I raised by eyebrow. "I need a favor, Alea."
"Okay..what kind of favor?" I asked, putting my computer on Sleep mode. I could tell this was going to take a while.
"Well...I was wondering if you know, you had any spots in your movie..that I could fill?"
I laughed out loud, not noticing how loud I was. The horrified expression on her face had ceased my laughter and I quickly pursed my lips and looked down in embarrassment. This girl was really serious. Did she really expect me to hire her? I would rather hire a 60 year old pervert than hire her!
"Um, I'm not sure Bridget. I'd have to check..." I began, scooting away from my desk.
"Please, Alea. I'm sorry for everything I've done to you in the past, but I really really need this job. It may be my only chance to..." She stopped, her glossy eyes seeming to travel miles away from here.
"What's your problem Bridget? Why here? Why now? There's tons of other production companies around the world and you decided to come to the one I work at." Emotions flowed through my worrds of bitterness.
"I know, but all of the other ones I checked turned me down because of my hectic schedule." I turned my nose up at her perceived lies and continued shuffling through the papers I was looking through before she walked in. I wasn't buying a word she was saying and she was insane if she thought I was.
She got up and came closer to my desk, towering over me. I began to call for security until she squeaked, "Alea...I currently have three jobs right now. All of them are part time. I desperately need the money."
As she explained her financial situation to me, I felt an unfamiiar sense of sympathy for her. A sense that I had never felt for Bridget. Was she really here begging me,the girl who she stole a boyfriend from, for a job?
I scanned her face for some sort of deceitful sign. All I saw was the far too familiar expression of pain I'd become best friends with. "What happened to you Bridget? You were valedictorian! You got into Harvard for Christ's sake!"
She lowered her head to me, as to keep anyone from hearing what she was about to say. "I got pregnant a month after graduation, Alea."
My mouth literally dropped. "Bridget, what the-'"
"Please, Alea. I need another source of income," she begged, practically digging her nails into my desk.
I had so many questions that needed so many answers. Was it Carson's baby? Did she keep the baby? Why was she trying to get a job as an actress?
"Bridget, I can't just hire you on the spot and even if I could, I wouldn't. I need to sleep on this. This is a lot of information I've learned today." I took off my glasses and rubbed my forehead. This added stress she was causing me was so avoidable. All I had to do was tell her to get the heck out of dodge and go on with her miserable life. But for some reason, I couldn't do that.
Bridget's face sunk and her lip began to quiver in anxiety. "Okay. Can I come back tomorrow?"
I sighed and thought about it. The good soul in me wanted to say yes, but the depressed, heartbroken part of me wanted to say Hell no!
Disappointingly, I gave in to her pleas and agreed to letting her come back. "Sure Bridget." I blew out a long sigh. "Be here at 11 a.m. sharp tomorrow morning. Not a second later."
"Oh my God! Thank you so much Alea!" She started to give me a hug but I gave her the most darkening look and she backed off, realizing we would never be friends, if even associates.
"See you tomorrow!" she called over her shoulder as she nearly skipped out of my office.
I let out a long, frustrated groan as I leaned back in my chair. What had I gotten myself into?
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I had gotten home that evening around five p.m., just before sundown. I lived by myself in a beautiful condo in the northern part of Atlanta. With it being about thirty minutes away from my job, I usually had rush hour traffic to beat everyday, making me extremely tired when I got home.
I set down my film bag near the door, where I always put it and walked into my bedroom. The theme in my room was based off of the the colors of black and white. Almost every piece of furniture inside of it had some sort of zebra accent decorating it. My obsession for zebras would seem abnormal to most people but it was what kept an ounce of peace in my mind.
I was changing into some more comfortable clothing - a T-shirt and some shorts -when I heard my house phone ringing. Running my hand through my hair to get out any tangles, I quickly sprinted into my kitchenette to retrieve the phone.
"Hello?" I said into the receiver.
"Hey beautiful." Recognizing Sean's deep, sultry voice, a wide grin spread across my face. Sean and I had been together for about six wonderful months. My past relationships, excluding the one with Carson, had been pretty good. But so far, being with Sean was like having Heaven on earth. He was so understanding and compassionate towards my feelings, sometimes I wondered if he was real or whether I was just imagining being with him.
"Hey sweetheart. How are you doing?" I said as I looked around my kitchen for a snack. I hadn't been to the store in about a week and there was barely anything to eat except for some peanut butter crackers and bread.
"Much better now that I'm talking to you," he purred, making my face turn fifty shades of red.
"You're so corny," I said, giggling.
"Yeah. But you love it," he said, knowing his words were true. I loved his sense of humor and ability to make me laugh even when I didn't want to.
"I may. The world may never know," I teased, leaning into my refrigerator to find something to snack on. There was nothing left but some strawberries and to ripe bananas. Shrugging, I decided on making a smoothie to quench my thirst and satisfy my hunger. I hadn't used my blender that my dad had gotten me in a while anyway; might as well had put it to good use.
"Alright, girl. How was work? Get any more of your script done?"
My thoughts wandered to my encounter with Bridget. Damn her for making me so distracted. "Yeah. I got a lot done."
"That's good. Can I read it?" He always asked me this, but I always turned him down. No matter how close I was with someone, I wasn't going to risk having someone steal my ideas and use them as their own. I'd seen it happen before with people I knew and it was always followed by an ugly lawsuit that I was trying my best to avoid.
"Babe, you know I don't let anyone read my work except for my editor. I have copyrights on it!"
"Girl, you act like I'm gonna steal it! You know you can trust me." We went through this same conversation everytime I mentioned my script. I knew I could trust him, but I still didn't want to take any chances.
I shook my head and plugged in my blender. "What are you doing later tonight?"
"I have no plans for tonight. Should I?" he asked.
I grinned. "Yes, come over here."
"I'll think about it," he said after a while.
I stopped what I was doing and decided on giving him the silent treatment until he chose to find his mind and say yes to me like he should have. Giving men the silent treatment was the best way to let them know they really needed to re-think on their actions.
As expected, he finally said, "Okay! Damn girl, I was kidding. You went all silent on me."
"Yeah, you better come over. Really though, I can order some Chinese food and we can kick back and watch movies," I said as I chopped up some strawberries for the smoothie.
"That sounds like a plan. Alright I'll be over in about an hour, okay?"
"Cool. Call me when you're on your way," I told him. I gasped, almost cutting off my finger in the process of slicing a banana.
"Alright. Love you."
"Love you, too," I said before hanging up.
Sean and I had met at a local club downtown. My best friend, Cindy and I had went down there only looking to have fun, but I found Sean instead. We instantly had a strong connection. We met up a few times after that and he ended up asking to me be his girlfriend a few months later. We've been going strong ever since.
Sean was a successful sports commentator for a show on ESPN. He was quite a handsome young man and I was so proud of him. He had his share of heartbreaks too that he told me about in bed one day. I'd also told him mine. I told him about my mother, about Carson, and about Bridget. He'd just sat there and let me ramble on and on. He was such a good listener.
I quickly finished making my smoothie and set it in the freezer while I took a quick shower.
I let the warm water run over me a few minutes after I had finished washing. It felt so good to be in such a relaxed state, free of all my worries and stress. No Bridget, no Bridget begging me for a job, no Bridget irritating me with her stupid sob stories. Just me, myself and I, enjoying a nice hot shower.
As much as I wanted to stand in the warm, soothing shower forever, Sean would be here any second and I didn't want to miss out on spending some quality time with him. Just as I was stepping out of the shower, the faint sound of my doorbell ringing made me curse under my breath and wrap myself in a towel.
I was sure he wouldn't mind anyway. Any chance to see me nude was a pleasurable time for him.
The doorbell rung again and I yelled, "Coming!" as I raced out of the bathroom and to the front door. As soon as I opened it, I smiled at the sight of Sean standing there with a bouquet of roses in his hands.
"Beautiful roses for a beautiful lady," he said, in that sexy deep voice of his.
I took the flowers and gave him a big kiss on his plump lips. He returned the favor with some tongue. "Thank you, sweetheart. Come on in." He came in and I closed the door.
"I love your towel," he commented with a slight chuckle.
"Thanks. I was just getting out of the shower when you arrived," I explained as I walked into my room to find some clothes. He followed closely behind me.
Without my approval, he sat on my bed and watched me undress. "Don't mind me. Just do your thing," he said, grinning at my now naked body.
I decided to have a little fun and I did a strip tease for him, as I moved my hips from side to side, letting the peach colored towel drop to the floor.
"I like, I like," he growled as his eyes followed my body's every move.
I continued this for a few seconds until I saw goose bumps forming on my skin. "Okay, I'm getting cold!"
"I'll warm you up. Come here," he said motioning for me to come over to him.
"Maybe later." I smiled flirtatiously and slipped on a sweatshirt and some plaid shorts.
"Mmm...Okay," he said, licking his lips.
I shook my head at him and smiled. "How was work?"
"It was fine." He sat up straighter. "I get a few days off next week. I was thinking you and I could go on a getaway to the beach?"
"Ooh, that sounds fun, babe. I'll have to check my schedule first though." I grabbed my butterfly clip and pinned my hair up.
"Okay, cool. Just let me know by Friday." He got up and wrapped his arms around my waist as I removed my makeup.
"I really missed you today," he mumbled into my neck.
"I missed you too. And those lips of yours." I laughed and rested my hand on the side of his face. As I looked into the mirror at the perfect image of us together, I desperately wanted to take a snapshot of it to remind myself later what genuine happiness felt and looked like.
He laughed along with me and began to kiss all over my neck.
"Sean!" I whined, craning my neck away from him. "Wait till' later."
"But it's so hard..in more ways than one," he said chuckling.
"You're so nasty!" I said as I punched him in his arm playfully and put on my slippers.
"That's why you like me though." He winked at me and backed away.
"No, that's why I love you," I corrected him, turning around to smile at him.
He smiled back. "Want me to order the food?"
"Yeah, the menu is in the kitchen drawer under the microwave.."
As I watched him exit my room, I made a silent prayer to God thanking him for allowing me to have someone in my life who I could give so much love to and in return, receive twice as much. Even though it'd been years since Carson and I were together, I still felt a small ounce of sadness sometimes when I was alone. Slowly but surely however, Sean was decreasing the size of that sadness with each day that passed.
I adjusted my shorts and stuck my head into the kitchen. "Just order the usual."
He nodded and dialed the number.
I walked in my living room and collapsed on the couch. What a day.
As soon as I laid down and prepared to take a short cat nap, my cell phone started vibrating. I groaned and reached over to the nightstand to pick up my phone. I saw it was a number I didn't recognize. Figuring it was probably a telemarketer, I ignored it and threw it back on the couch.
A few minutes later. it began to vibrate again. "Ugh, why does this person keep calling me?" I picked up the phone again and saw it was the same number.
I decided to answer, giving whoever was trying to reach me the benefit of the doubt. "Hello?"
"Alea?" a familiar voice said through the other line.
It was Bridget. How the hell did she get my number?
"Bridget? How'd you get my number?" I demanded, now sitting up.
"I asked your assistant for it. I didn't think you'd mind." Grr....I was going to kill Jennifer.
"Okay? What are you calling for?" I asked, fighting the urge to not hang up and change my number to a foreign Japanese number.
"I was wondering if I could bump my appointment time up a bit. Something came up." As she was talking, Sean walked into the room. I averted my eyes away from him and quickly tried to figure out a way to get her to get off the phone with me.
"Um, okay ma'am. I'll see what I have open. I will call you back." I quickly hung up the phone without waiting to hear her response.
Sean sat on the couch next to me. "Who was that?"
"Um, someone I'm thinking about hiring. Had to change their appointment time," I said, turning off my phone. I wanted no more interruptions, especially from Bridget.
"Oh, okay. The food will be here in about 30 minutes."
"Alright, cool." I snuggled up under him, taking in the scent of whatever cologne he was wearing.
He ran his fingers through my long, brown hair. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"
I smiled and rubbed his chest. "Yes, many times."
"Can I tell you again?"
I grinned. "Of course."
He put his arm around my waist and held me tight. "You're more beautiful than all of the stars in all of the universes. Just a slight glance at you brightens my whole day."
I felt my face heating up and I knew my face resembled a ripened tomato. Hearing him talk about me in such a breathtaking way still caused my heart to flutter and the butterflied in my stomach to go wild. It was evenings like these where I wished we were the only two people on earth, left to wander the world endlessly and nurture each other with only our love.
"Thank you." The permanent smile was still streaked across my face and I hugged him tighter.
"No. Thank you," he said as he kissed my cheek. "Thank you for the beautiful sight."
Everything was going great.
At least for the moment.