A Getaway by LynnE

Chapter 1

"I'll do it!" Meg offered.

Gregory looked up, surprised and relieved. The Bermuda project was in major trouble. Somebody had to go there and get things straight with the contractors. "That would be a big help, Meg. How soon can you leave?"

"Well, I haven't worked on it since the initial planning phase, so I'll have to review the files to get up to speed, but that shouldn't take too long. Say, by tomorrow afternoon?"

"Wonderful! " Gregory enthused. "I'll have Carol take care of your flight and the other arrangements. Tell her about any preferences you might have." He looked around the room, at A. J. and Ben. "Well, gentlemen, that's everything I think."

A. J. nodded and got up to leave. Ben stayed where he was, saying nothing.


* * * * * *

Meg and Gregory had gone out to talk to Carol about flights and hotels. When Gregory came back in, he said to Ben, "I knew it would be good to have Meg back in harness but I had no idea it would pay off this well this soon."

Ben rose. "Good bye, Gregory," he said and left without further comment.


* * * * * *

When Meg got home that night, bulging briefcase in hand, Ben was waiting.

"Why in hell did you offer to go to Bermuda?" he barked.

"Why not?" She wasn't angry or defensive, but matter-of-fact. "I decided to go back to work, so I'm working. What are you so bent out of shape about, anyway?"

Ben threw up his arms in exasperation. "I need you here."

"For what? You've got Tess and Maria and Benjy to occupy you. What do you need me for?"

Ben was shocked. "Meg, I love you and I want you with me."

"Don't be an idiot. It's only for a week or two, just until the project is back on track. I'll call and give you the number as soon as I get there." This is getting really stupid, she thought. He expects me to spend the rest of my life gazing up adoringly into his blue eyes. I'm not a Labrador retriever, she fumed.

She headed for the stairs. "I've got work to do before I leave," she said crisply.

She left Ben in the living room, stunned.

Chapter 2

As she plowed through the files, Meg was conscious of a feeling of liberation. She thought, I am now back in control of my life. It felt great to have something to think about besides the latest mess-up of her love life.

She paused a moment. Ben's feelings had been hurt, her conscience told her. So what?, replied her spirit, better him than me again. For the past five months, ever since Maria barged into her life, Meg had centered her existence on the next hitch, the next problem, the next stolen moment with Ben. Oh, she loved him, as much as ever, but her good old fashioned Kansas common sense had been telling her for some time that this was an unhealthy way to live.

Meg would happily lay down her life for Ben, but her sanity and self respect were not his to dispose of. Ben had announced, without consulting her, that he would accede to Maria's demand to live there with Benjy, and that, yes, they would have Tess there too. Meg realized that if she didn't want to be under relentless pressure every moment of every day, she had to find some other way to spend at least part of her time.

Gregory and A. J. Deschanel had been caught up in the mess about Francesca Vargas. Meg didn't know anything about it, and couldn't care less. What mattered to her was that the office was a shambles and a host of neglected projects were in various stages of chaos.

She was needed, and when she told Gregory she wanted to go back to work, he greeted the news with delight. With Meg helping to run things, Gregory knew he could relax and plot to his heart's content. She'd gone back a week ago.

Every day Meg spent more and more time at the Media Center. Ben was left to cope with Maria, Tess, Benjy, and of course, Carmen.

The results were brutal. Benjy had loathed his grandmother on sight. Whenever she tried to touch him he screamed and ran away. Nothing Maria or Tess could say would convince him she wasn't some kind of witch. Ben admitted to himself that he was no help; deep in his heart he agreed with Benjy.

Chapter 3

Benjy knew just who he did want for a grandmother. The other evening, Meg and Joan had gone to dinner alone. Ben was at the Deep, Tess and Maria had gone to the movies. Carmen had insisted on babysitting.

Benjy was still up when Meg and her mother came back. They heard him screaming in the upstairs hall.

"My goodness, what is it?" Joan asked, as they came in. Meg didn't stop to answer, running up the stairs calling, "Benjy, what's the matter?"

The little boy threw himself into her arms. "I don't wanna go to sleep." He pointed at Carmen. "She's gonna eat me!"

Meg stifled a smile. "No she won't, Benjy." She gathered him up in her arms and went downstairs, ignoring Carmen's flustered attempts to explain.

Joan was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Meg made the introductions. "Benjy, this is MY mommy. Her name is Joan Cummings. Mom, meet Benjy."

Joan offered her arms and Benjy promptly leaned over and hugged her. "You smell nice," he observed, his calm restored.

Joan carried him over to the sofa and sat him next to her. She whispered to him and cooed over him. Benjy ate it up. Meg turned back to the stairs, where Carmen was stomping angrily down.

"Carmen, I'm here now. I think it would be best if you went home."

Maria's mother flared. "That's MY grandchild! He's no relation to you! I demand to stay and talk to him!"

From over on the sofa a small voice protested, "No, No! I don't want you to be my grandma! Go away!"

Just then the door opened. Ben was home. "What's all this?" he asked.

Benjy ran into his arms. "Daddy, Daddy, make her go away! She's a witch, she hates me!"

"No Benjy, I'm sure she doesn't hate you," Meg offered.

"I don't care! I don't want her to be my grandma!" He ran to Joan. "I want you to be my grandma. Please Daddy," he beseeched Ben, "make her go away."

Ben put his hand to his brow. "Carmen, it's late. Why don't you go and we can straighten this out in the morning?"

Muttering, Carmen Torres took her leave.

Joan flushed, embarrassed, as Benjy clung to her. She gently pried him off. "Sweetheart, I have to go, too. I have to go home, Meg's daddy is waiting for me."

"Can't you stay and be my grandma?" Benjy begged.

"No honey, I can't. Maria is your mommy, and she's not my daughter, Meg is." Joan embraced Meg. Benjy pouted. "But I'll be your friend, we both will," Joan added, hugging Meg again. "Would that be o.k.?" she asked.

Benjy nodded, satisfied for the moment.

Ben spoke. "Well, now that that's settled, let's get you to bed." He offered Benjy his hand.

Before he took it, Benjy ran to Joan for a goodnight kiss, then to Meg. Ben took him upstairs. Meg walked her mother to the door.

When he came back down, Ben found Meg on the deck, fighting back tears.

Chapter 4

"Meg, what is it? What's wrong?" Ben embraced her.

"That should have been our child, not yours and Maria's. I can't stand this. Why can't we just get married and go on our honeymoon and leave all this behind us?"

Ben sighed. "He's my son, Meg. I missed his birth, his first five years. I need to be with him for a while, to bond with him."

"What about your divorce, and us getting married? Why can't we at least do that? We can take a honeymoon later, but let's at least do that. You still want to, don't you?" Meg wasn't sure of anything any more.

"Of course I do. But I have to get things taken care of. I have to find a place nearby for Benjy and Maria; I have to persuade her that Benjy won't be damaged somehow if we resume the divorce proceedings. Meg, darling, I'm sorry, but this is going to take a while." He rubbed her shoulders and held her close, but she wasn't comforted. "Please, you just have to try and be patient a while longer."

"Ben, I can't just sit around and wait. I have to do something. I think it's time I went back to work," she told him.

"Fine, fine, I'm sure Gregory will be delighted," Ben replied.

* * * * * * *

Ben was a little surprised when Meg went in and called her old boss on the spot. As the next few days went by he was more than a little irritated that she'd slipped back into her old role so comfortably. He wanted Meg home with him, especially since life with Maria and Benjy was not working out the way he'd hoped.

In fact, it was a disaster. Consciously or unconsciously, Maria was trying to use Benjy as a lever to pry Ben and Meg apart. She called to consult Ben wherever he was at the slightest sign of a problem with the boy. Every situation that arose left her at a loss. If Maria had a motherly instinct it was invisible to Ben. And her mother was not helping.

Ben had warned against it after the first incident, but Carmen kept showing up, jewelry jangling, uttering emotional predictions and dealing cards to the spirits, frightening Benjy to the point where he wouldn't go near her. Ben broached the subject of her behavior to Maria, only to unleash another argument about how the boy was to be raised.

"Why do you have to keep letting her in here?" he shouted, after Carmen had provoked another scene. "You know she frightens him. Mother or not, this has got to stop, Maria."

"He'll get used to her, Ben."

"Oh really? Well so far he hasn't, and she's not changing her behavior, is she?" He wished for the thousandth time that this was Meg's child, not Maria's.

Maria rolled her eyes and walked away, leaving the situation unsettled and Ben at a loss once again.

And now, on top of everything, Meg was going to Bermuda for God knew how long.

Chapter 5


Meg was packing when Ben came upstairs. The suitcases seemed to be too many and too full.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe two weeks, maybe three. It depends on how much trouble there really is with this project. It could be nothing more than poor communications, or, I suppose, it could be something we'll have to bring the police in on." She seemed prepared to accept either eventuality.

It made Ben uneasy. Meg wasn't usually this casual about time away from him. When things went wrong and she became upset and angry, or desperate, he could cope. But there was none of that in her demeanor. He was chilled by the thought that struck him next, she's given up. She doesn't care anymore.

"Look," he offered. "Maybe I can go with you, at least for a couple of days. If this does turn out to be a police matter, it could be useful to have, I don't know, some 'backup' perhaps."

Meg made a tiny, derisive snort. "Get real, Ben." Was there a tinge of contempt in her voice?

He tried another tack, "Okay, if you're sure, since you don't need me to come along, what if I give you something to remember me by?" He enfolded her in his arms and tried to kiss her, but she squirmed away.

"Ben, I have to finish packing and go over my files."

"Meg," he protested, "I want you."

"You want something, but I'm damned if I know what it is. Reassurance, maybe?" She was talking to him as if he were a bothersome child. "I don't have time for games, Ben."

He controlled his rising temper with an effort.

"Meg, what is it?" he asked.

"What is what? What do you want me to do? I have work to take care of. I don't have time to fool around. Why is that so hard for you to understand?" Now she was angry.

"There was a time when you didn't want us to be apart, even for a moment. Now it's like you can't wait to get out of here. What's going on Meg?"

She marched past him and closed the bedroom door. "I don't think we have to share this with the rest of the house," she muttered under her breath.

He didn't catch it. "What did you say?" His voice held an angry challenge.

That tore it. "I said," she yelled, "that we didn't have to share this argument with the rest of your entourage! You know, this place is getting to be like Surf Central, only without the…" she stopped short, controlling herself with an effort.

"Without what? Go on, say it!"

"Without the love, without the caring, without the sympathy and the intelligence and the simple human regard for the next person's feelings! That's what! Okay, are you happy now?" She turned back to her packing. "Except that at Surf Central I had my own room," she continued, jamming more clothes into the bag. "It's too bad the house is so full, there are no more bedrooms left. Of course, you could always go next door to Maria, she'd be only to happy to welcome you to her bed!"

"Dammit Meg! I don't want Maria, I want you!"

"Well you'll just have to learn to do without for a while, that's all." She marched into the bathroom and closed the door. Ben hammered on it. "Go away, Ben! This discussion is over."

He wheeled and stalked out of their room, so angry he didn't notice Maria just inside the door to her bedroom down the hall, grinning gleefully.

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