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| IMPOSTER BY MARIQUA |
CHAPTER 47 |
Nick felt Slider's eyes staring him down with penetrating thoroughness, and for a few seconds, he remembered another moment when Slider had discovered something that had made him furious. Wonder what you would do if you knew...
"Forget that I made an ass of myself trying to do something I wasn't ready to do," Nick said with polished deception.
"He nearly fell trying to walk to the table," Sherry threw in quickly. "He's definitely not ready to walk around."
Slider looked briefly at Sherry again and then back at Nick. "You're not much for following orders, are you, Nick?" he said mildly as he hung up the leash on a hook on the wall.
"Never was," Nick said bluntly. "You know that."
Yes, I know that, Nick. I know a lot about who you were then, but who are you now? That's what I'm going to find out...tomorrow...
Sherry had refused to look over at Nick as she continued to finish preparing the salad mechanically - her thoughts shrieking inside her. Now I feel like I'm in some kind of conspiracy with him...I should just tell Slider what happened. Her mouth still throbbed from the pressure of Nick's lips against hers, and she wondered exactly what Slider had seen as he had entered the room. Why didn't I slap him? Why did I let him go that far?
The phone rang, and Viki rushed to reach it - her heart fluttering with the anticipation that it was a call from him.
Over the last few days she had found herself humming around the house causing her daughter to give her the strangest of looks.
"Mom, you certainly are happy! What's up?" Jessie had asked her - her large, round eyes waiting for an answer.
Viki had not said a word to her since that night in the garden with Sam. With her newly found happiness, she had wanted to run up to Jessie's room and share her big news immediately, but she had had second thoughts about it. Her gut instinct was that Jessie might have a problem with it...as close to her Dad as she was, and she didn't want to deal with that and planning the memorial service for her brother. The service. The odd part was that she had been unable to locate Tea at all. No one had seen her, and the penthouse was deserted. She had put a call in to her brother, Del, but he had also confirmed that Tea was missing and that he was trying to locate her. All she could think was that Tea was consumed with grief and had gone away to mourn somewhere away from prying eyes. If only she had called me...I could have helped her through this...we could have mourned for him together.
"Hello?" "Hi," a warm, deep voice said in a very personal tone.
"Sam..." she said the name indulgently and cradled the phone to her ear.
"...I've missed you," he said softly.
"Me too. It's not easy to be... away from you."
"I want to..." he stopped and seemed to switch gears. "Viki...are you ready? For tomorrow?"
Viki walked slowly over to the fireplace mantle where she stopped in front of a gold-framed picture of a dark, handsome, longhaired man. "....I don't think I'll ever be ready for this, Sam."
His silence on the other end was comforting because she knew he was thinking the same thing.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow then. Did you ever get a hold of Tea?"
"No...and I don't really think she'll be there, Sam. It may just be too much for her."
"Sam," she said his name again relishing the sound of his name. "I've had some calls...Briggs and some others from the Sun who're coming."
"He had some friends, Viki, believe it or not."
"I just...it makes me feel so..." she stopped and her eyes watered up suddenly.
"I know, Viki," Sam said quietly. "I'll be there with you. We'll get through this together."
Together. It sounds so good when you say it. For so long I've needed someone who understood him the way I did - someone who saw him as a human being.
A door opened quietly to a room and closed quickly, and a woman stood motionless staring as if she was transfixed by what she saw. Nothing has changed...it's just as you left it...the flowers on the table are still beautiful...M
She crossed over into the living room and her eyes were immediately drawn to the huge picture window by the staircase, and a memory of a man leaning against the railing looking down at her with deep, thoughtful eyes, moved into her vision. She had caught him studying her often when he didn't think she noticed, and she had seen something pass over his eyes that had sent shivers through her. No man had ever looked at her the way he had. What an insipid little fool I was back then! I had to have proof that you loved me, but it was there from the very beginning.
Her body shook with the force of the memory, and she pushed it aside in her mind. Not now...I can't do this...I've got to keep moving.
Stepping quickly into the room, she went over to the large desk in the corner. Another wave of emotion pulsed through her as she looked at the array of familiar things on the desk surface, and she touched one of them as if to connect to a part of him. This is where you would sit and think...I wanted to know everything you were thinking...even the ordinary things.
Rounding the corner of the desk, she steeled her shaking nerves and reached for the brass handle of the top drawer. You liked sitting here to survey your surroundings...this may be where I have to look...
Slider dimmed the overhead light in the kitchen as Sherry sat down across from Nick at the kitchen table. Two candles flickered softly illuminating the colorful bowls filled with spaghetti and the sparkling wine glasses.
"All set...except for one thing," Slider said and grabbed a large bottle of Burgundy wine.
Sherry sat quietly as he expertly poured the wine into the three glasses - forcing herself to concentrate on the meal at hand. It all looked wonderful, but she felt as if she were trapped in some bizarre scene. All she really wanted to do was get away, but she knew she had to go through the motions.
"It looks great, Slider," she complimented him.
"It does, doesn't it?" Slider said as he sat down at last. Looking at his guests, he smiled, giving no indication of the formulating which had been going on in his head from the minute he had walked back into the kitchen. Now I'm going to eat...but I'm also going to find out just what the hell went on in here while I was gone...
The drawer slid open, and Tea stared at the contents. She had never even opened this drawer. This had been his desk and she had respected his privacy. Her eyes inspected the items stacked neatly inside, and she smiled to think that his desk drawer was so ordered and neat. I was so busy attacking you that I didn't pay attention to a lot of little things about you. Her fingers sifted through several papers, which looked like receipts and then felt the smooth, leather surface of a book. Drawing it out from the drawer, her fingers once more brushed against the rich leather cover. An address book...maybe there's something in here...
Still standing by the desk, she opened the book to the gold-edged pages inside. There was his name under "Property Of". Leafing through quickly, she recognized the names of business associates and other contacts. Her eyes fell on another section entitled "Notes" and she paused to scan through the pages. Miscellaneous notes, which he had scribbled, were on every page - one of which caused her to take in her breath sharply. Get flowers for Tea...get catered dinner for two. Another memory shot through her as she remembered a time when she had made fun of his arrangements. Stop it! Toward the end of the section, she stopped. He had written a notation that didn't make much sense. Slider Paxton...still at the U...get in touch...answers.
Slider. She was recalling a conversation they had had once. She had asked him about his life in Chicago, and he had more or less shut down on her, but he had mentioned one name - the name of a friend that he had known there. She remembered the name because it was a nickname, and Todd had made some reference to him as being a baseball player. When he had talked about him, she had had the feeling that this friend had been someone he trusted, and she had been surprised. She didn't think there had ever been anyone he had really let down his guard with. Answers. Flipping back through the address section, her eyes hastily scanned down through the P's. Parker, John...Paxton, Slider...
"So...what happened in the ER today?" Slider asked as he passed Sherry the bowl of salad.
"You really want to know...while we're eating?"
"Sure...I can take it. What about you, Nick?" Slider asked looking at him pleasantly.
"Whatever." Sherry began buttering her bread and spoke matter-of-factly. "A couple of gunshot wounds, a child who swallowed an object, an elderly woman who had a bad fall....there's more, but those were the main problems."
"Another routine day for you, right?" Nick's voice jumped in.
Sherry responded, hoping that the sick feeling inside her was not apparent on her face. "They're never routine...at least we try not to look at it that way. We have to treat everything as critical and out of the norm."
Out of the norm. This whole little charade at dinner is out of the norm. I just have to get through this.
As Nick had turned his eyes on her to ask the question, the warm, muted glow of the candles contrasted with the cool tone of her skin and the whiteness of her slender neck. His senses went into a tailspin again as he remembered the taste of her mouth and the pure, mesmirzing sensation of their kiss, igniting a hunger that would not go away.
"Sherry is first-rate, Nick. She's got quite a reputation over there,"
Slider said and passed Nick a second slice of bread.
"Doesn't surprise me," Nick said and his eyes lowered to his plate while he mopped up spaghetti sauce with his bread.
A compliment! Nothing grudging in it either. Slider's eyes followed Sherry's as she continued to involve herself in her meal without looking up. You let that one pass. Where's your comeback, Sherry?
"You've got quite a rep yourself," Nick broke in again as he tried to divert his mind from thinking about the way her body had felt against his.
"It's been a long road, but I've learned a lot over the years."
Nick sneered to himself as he listened to Slider. Oh yeah...you've learned so much!. There's a beautiful, desirable woman sitting right at this table who has the hots for you, but you're too dense to see it. You're going to lose her, Slider...you're going to wake up one day and she'll be with someone else...just like back then...
The green napkin that Sherry was holding dropped to the floor, and she bent to pick it up, but another hand had reached out to retrieve it for her. For a split second, her eyes looked at him directly, and she knew what she had been afraid of when she had first met him. This man will change my life.
Neither of them had noticed the smooth, tan face of Slider stiffen and
pale
momentarily as his eyes took in the split-second look between them.
His mind
had jettisoned to a startling and completely terrifying idea - an idea
about
this nemesis from his past who had come back into his world and had
once
taken someone he had treasured from his life. My God...no... not
her...
you bastard! Not Sherry!!
