|
|
Sunset Beach Discussion Group
FAN FICTION: Remember Tomorrow (No 68)
***** Amy watched from her receptionist desk as the door to the media center opened and a small figure toddled into the lobby closely followed by another, they paused at the sound of a deep male voice instructing them to stay where they were. Amy knew there must be a board meeting because that was the only time she ever saw Ben and Maria at the center these days. She observed their entrance as the two baby boys stood patiently waiting. Amy had heard the romours surrounding the older part of town. Apparently it was going to be rebuilt and the person they had in mind to do so was Maria Torres-Evans.
She watched as they walked towards her; as it was customary for everyone no matter who they were to sign in before they went to their respective offices in the building. Ben Evans smiled a greeting at her as he signed his signature in the log book. He handed the pen to Maria and waited while she signed the book. Amy eyed them both in curiosity; she’d been to The Deep many times and it was still a shock to her that it was designed by Maria and that wasn’t all, both Ben and Maria shared a common interest in architecture and the more she thought about it if they had a mind too they could rebuild the whole of Sunset Beach. She shrewdly eyed the pair, they had the opportunity to stamp their names all over this town and what did they choose to do instead? Stay at home and play happy families…….what a waste and judging from the expanding waistline and Maria’s stomach it looked like Ben was wasting no time in increasing his already growing family to one more. Ben’s eyes followed Amy’s gaze which rested on Maria’s thickening waistline and stomach, his lips twitched as he bent down to pick up Benedict; immediately handing him over to Maria, before, bending to pick up Bennett and together they walked across the lobby towards the elevator.
***** Vanessa entered Bette’s office without knocking, “Hey Bette have you seen the miniature models for the old part of town’ it looks great, they say it will take four years for the whole of that section of town to be rebuilt.” Bette smiled at the excitement that lit up Vanessa’s beautiful face.
“Yes, I’ve seen it and you know what I like best about it, one of our very own got the contract. A beacher born and bred has won the commission to rebuild that part of town destroyed by the quake.”
Vanessa could hear the pride in Bette’s voice. “And the only woman I might add, her architectural designs beat off all the male competition.” Bette finished off.
“But, she’s only twenty six.” Vanessa exclaimed.
“She was only a teenager when she designed The Deep.” Bette reminded her.
“When does The Sentinal bring out the news?” Vanessa asked.
“That’s the reason for the board meeting all the documents are being signed today, therefore, we’ll be able to output the news by the end of the week. Maria and Ben are going to visit the site straight after the meeting.” Bette informed Vanessa.
FAN FICTION: Remember Tomorrow (No 68)
Continued
****** Ricardo pulled up outside the house, getting out of the car he walked slowly upto the front door. This was the most difficult thing he had to do for a long time, but it couldn’t be avoided. It needed to be done.
Reaching up he pressed his thumb against the bell. He heard the sound of approaching footsteps and the front door opened. Meg stood in the door way, she raised a questioning eyebrow when she saw who was standing there. “Is Gabi home?” He asked.
“Yes.” She replied.
“Please can you tell her that I need to speak to her” Meg studied his face for a moment, apparently whatever he had to tell her it wasn’t good news.
She stepped back so he could enter the house and he followed her into the living room. Making sure he was alright Meg disappeared upstairs, and Ricardo wondered casually around the room, rehearsing what he was going to say; as he walked by the cabinet his hand brushed against some letters and documents and they fell to the floor. Bending to pick them up he quickly placed the letters back on the cabinet, he started to put the lose sheets of paper back into the blue file when something caught his eye.
He scanned through the contents of the blue file; his face was ashen by the time he reached the last page. Taking a glance over his shoulder he checked to see if anyone was coming. He carefully placed the blue file underneath all the letters and went to sit on the sofa.
When Gabi entered the living room; it was to find Ricardo waiting patiently for her. “Hi Ricardo what is it you wanted to see me about?” Ricardo gestured for her to be seated and proceeded to tell her the reason for his visit. When he left the house it was fair to say that Gabi had not taken his news well and Gabi wasted no time in telling Meg the reason for Ricardo’s visit.
With one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding the cell phone close to his ear, Ricardo spoke to someone at the other end. Satisfied, he placed it back on the dash board and heading in the direction of Antonio’s
Three hours later six people stood in Antonio’s office at the parish. “Okay, Ricardo why the urgent phone call?” asked Jude.
“Gabi and Meg know about
“Are you sure Ricardo, because, there is just no way they could know.” Ricardo could see the doubt on Jude’s face.
“When I went to see Gabi I saw a file that contained the same information as the file given to me by Dr Estrada.” He informed them.
“Where did this file come from?” AJ couldn’t see how they could have come by this file.
“Gabi must have found the file I kept at the loft and I guess she must have made a copy and there can only be one reason she would have done that, and that is if she thought it was information Meg needed to know. Ben’s at the site now, so we’ll have to wait until he gets back to tell him.” Ricardo informed them his expression grim.
“What do you suppose Meg would do with this information?” Casey asked.
“She’ll use it to get to me.” The six men turned to find Ben observing them from the open doorway. Obviously he hadn’t spent too long at the site.
“How long have you been standing there?” Michael asked.
“Long enough…….” He informed them coming further into the room, his dark blue suit looking black against the whiteness of his shirt.
“Where’s Maria?” Ben could see the concern in Ricardo’s face.
“I left her and the twins with Paula at the Shock-Wave.”
“Ben, this makes things a little more complicated how are we going to safe guard both Maria and Marina?” Ben almost smiled at the way Jude spoke as if they were two entirely different people.
“We do nothing; we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Remember, Meg is going to need contact with Maria for whatever she’s planning to work. And because of Derek, I make sure Maria is always with me and when she’s not she’s with her family or Paula. Things will get a lot tougher for them because by next week Maria and I would be living at the mansion, it’s been finished for weeks now and I’ve been putting off moving in. Carmen and Mrs. Moreau will be looking after the beach house.” Ben finished.
“What about Greystone?” Antonio asked.
“Don’t worry; I’ve got everything worked out, most of the time we’ll spend at the mansion, weekends at Greystone’s and the beach house for the holidays. ." Ricardo eyed his brother-in-law with trepidation he made it all sound so easy, when in reality as they've all found out to their cost....there is no such guarantee that they could ensure Maria's safety or their own. Infact, there was just too many unknown variables, which meant things could go wrong. Were they willing to take that chance? especially, with lives at stake and more importantly, especially with Maria's life at stake.
