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Sunset Beach Discussion Group
FAN FICTION: Remember Tomorrow (No 69)
***** Annie carefully drove up the long winding drive that led upto the mansion that had become Ben and Maria’s new home. They moved in permanently two weeks ago. She glanced sideways at Maria who was dreamily gazing out of the window. It had been Annie’s job to keep Maria out of the house just long enough for the girls to set up the surprise baby shower. With Maria already in her second trimester it was about time too Annie thought. She brought the car to a standstill and turned off the ignition. Both women got out of the car and made their way up the stairs to the front door. Maria searched in her purse for the keys to the front door, smiling at Annie she inserted it into the lock and pushed open the front door.
Not waiting for Maria to enter the house Annie pushed past her and made a beeline for the living room, still marvelling at the size of the hallway and the double staircases. A surprised Maria followed closely behind her best friend but stopped in amazed as Annie shoved open the door to reveal a living room filled with pink, yellow and blue balloons with bears, rabbits and babies printed on them. Presents wrapped in brightly coloured gift wrapping paper littered the tables. Surprise! She almost jumped out of her skin as people appeared from out of nowhere.
“
Vanessa waited until all the women were preoccupied with the opening of the baby gifts before setting off to explore the rest of the mansion. She was confident that she wouldn’t be missed. For security reasons she was not allowed to write an article about the layout of the mansion. Only a select few would be allowed to visit the Evans here.
She had to admit Maria had done a good job on the mansion. She must have inspected almost every room on the first level when she heard scraping noises coming from one of the rooms up ahead, curiosity got the better of her; she just had to investigate. Smiling to herself she gently shoved opened the door and peered inside. Clearly this was the new studio, there were windows everywhere taking in the landscaped view from three sides of the room. There was an easel in all four corners of the room. Expensively crafted shelves and cupboards held painting materials of every kind. Vanessa’s turned her head towards an open door in the far left corner of the room the scraping noise appeared to be coming from there. She walked towards the door and tentatively stood in the doorway.
Situated on the left side of the room were long shelves on which was stacked various types of wood. Vanessa didn’t have trouble making out which type they were since under each shelf was a label with the name of the wood written on it.
She took in the wood carving machinery that stood in the middle of the room in front of which stood a bare-chested Ben his eyes shielded by protective glasses. He was bent over a piece of wood. So preoccupied was he with his task he hadn’t heard her enter the room. She stood silently behind him as he delicately carved into the wood frame. She cried out when he stepped back to admire his handy work stepping on her foot as he did so. A startled Ben turned to find her rubbing the throbbing foot into the back of her calf. “I’m sorry I didn’t hear you come in.” he apologised.
“You’re really good you know, I can see it now, wife does the paintings husband provides the frames. Not a bad combo.” She beamed.
“Why thank you Vanessa that is praise indeed coming from you. Baby shower over?” He asked.
“No last time I looked Maria was still opening presents but if you ask me the only reason why everyone wanted to hold the baby shower here was because it gave them an excuse to see the new house.” She saw a knowing smile appear on Ben’s lips.
“Alright so did I.” She confessed, following him as he made his way back into the main studio. She watched as he went over to the armchair and taking a shirt that was laying over the arm rest he put it on.
“Ben did you at any stage starting with the accident up until now ever imagined that things would turn out this way?” She asked.
“No.” he answered, gesturing for her to follow him out onto the balcony that opened up onto the South side of the house. Stepping through the French door windows he stepped aside so that she could go first. She spied the soft cushioned love seat for two “Very cosy” she said.
“The studio is our hiding place this is where we come when we want to be alone.” He said, coming to join her as she sat on the love seat.
FAN FICTION: Remember Tomorrow (No 69) continued.
“Now to answer your question, no I had given up on Maria being alive and the last thing I was expecting was for her to turn up at my wedding. Nor did I expect to fall in love again, but I did. I tried hard not to hurt either Maria or Meg yet in the end that is exactly what I did. I allowed my brother to ruin my life and sat wallowing in self pity while he did it.” He said giving her a rueful smile.
Vanessa’s question was not unusual, he couldn’t count the number of times he’d been asked the same question and each time it made him stop and take stock of his life all other again.
“I guess I should have known especially after what happened at Meg’s wedding shower.” Blue-gray eyes stared questioningly back at her.
“Remember that day I came to you because I’d come up with an idea for Meg’s wedding shower. The idea was to find out who knew the bridegroom better, of course since you were the bridegroom and Meg the bride-to-be I assumed the questions you set was geared in her favour and so did everyone else who was at that wedding shower. So imagine how shocked we all were when Dana who was Meg’s guest got every single answer to the questions you set right and not only that Meg who we all expected to get them right got them all wrong. This amnesic patient was beating Meg in regards to how well she knew her own bridegroom. Of course now we know the answer….Dana was in fact Maria. What I find truly amazing looking back on what took place at that wedding shower is that Maria with her whole life wiped from her memory instinctively knew in each and every case which choice you would have made. Instinctively she was spot on….Maria knew you Ben….she knows how you think.” He could hear the awe in her voice.
Always at the back of his mind were the many conversations he’d had with AJ, especially regarding the legacy left behind by AJ parents. And with everything that had taken place since; it was becoming increasingly clear that he and Maria shared some invisible connection not just based on physical and emotional feelings. That in some strange way they were finely attuned to each others feelings and maybe even thoughts. The more he thought about it the more he was convince that it was responsible for his coming to Sunset Beach in the first place when he had no reason to come here. That wasn’t strictly true….of course there was a reason Sunset Beach was Maria’s birthplace that’s why he was drawn here.
“Maybe it was meant for us to lose each other so we could find each other again and understand what we had taken for granted.” He said more to himself then anyone else. Vanessa could see he was dwelling on the past and that it was still painful to him.
“What about Meg?” she asked.
“That was meant to be as well, Maria keeps reminding me how lucky I am to find love twice. I guess Meg saw what I refused to acknowledge, that things were not finished between me and Maria as I had hoped. But I was pig-headed and stubborn and didn’t want to admit it to either her or Maria. Vanessa, do you know how hard it is to admit when you are wrong? I thought I had it all worked out I was so positive that I was right. That everything would fall neatly into place.” Even now it was hard for him to admit it.
“Ben you were confused…so confused you were sending out mixed signals which mean Maria was confused. That connection you both have between you was scrambled so even Maria couldn’t read it so in the end she just went on what you told her. Maria really truly believed that things between the both of you were over for good. That connection is now unscrambled and Maria now knows the truth.”
Ben got up from the love seat and went to stand by the rail of the balcony. “Vanessa I think it’s time that you met
“Are you sure that Dr Estrada will approve this Ben?” The look she gave him was filled with doubt.
“Like you said Vanessa, I’m working on gut instinct, talking about the wedding shower has given me an idea and since you were responsible for this revelation I think you should meet Marina, but unlike Dana does know me. What I need to know is how deep this connection goes and I need your help. If this works and
***** Cole stared at the judge in disbelief, he knew at some point that he and Caitlin would have to end their marriage and he knew that she was mad at him, only now he knew why. He was being divorced on the grounds of adultery and the person accused along with him was Olivia. Caitlin and her father had really built an air tight case against them. He chanced a quick glance at Olivia, her face was white and he sensed that she was just as shocked as he was. Olivia had lost so much and now it looked like she was about to lose her home. Since the house was in Gregory’s name he was now insisting that she found a place of her own, he was kicking them out. That house had sentimental value for Olivia it was where she had lived most of her married life, her children were raised in that house. Cole glanced over at Caitlin who stood next to Gregory for the first time he was being to realise she was indeed her father’s daughter.
When did that happened, when did she turn into the female equivalent of Gregory?
The judge called them over to sign the divorce papers. Of one thing he was sure judging from how bitter the divorce proceedings were; that they had to be carried out in front of a judge because neither of them would back down on the issues outlined in the documents….had he not put his name on Trey’s birth certificate as the father and Olivia the mother they would now be fighting a bitter custody for Trey. With no proof to back up the claim that they were not having an affair and with Trey as proof of their earlier relationship he had no other choice but to sign the divorce documents stating that he along with Olivia was responsible for the break down of the marriage. He knew if he didn’t meet Caitlin’s alimony demands Gregory would waste no time in seeing he went to jail. He wasn’t going to give Gregory that satisfaction.
***** Gabi gazed wistfully down at her cereal, her mind was on Ricardo, it didn’t make sense for him to come and find her and beg her to come back with him to
