All time Ben had free he was in the house tearing down old wallpapers and paint; he had also started tearing out the kitchen and bathroom that was joined to the master bedroom. The days when Casey was able too he was there to help out and this Wednesday was no different. Both guys were covered in dust from knocking down the tiles in the bathroom “How could anyone at any time think this was beautiful” Casey said “Beats me” Ben laughed “All I can think of that the person that put it up must have gotten it very cheap at the shop” he reached for his water bottle and took a sip and looked around “Just that wall too and we’re done” Casey nodded “Great, that means I’ll be home fairly early tonight” “Oh Case, I hope I’ve not kept you away from Rae with all this work” Ben said “Not at all, you know Rae, work comes first… well not first but it’s important and she’s been busy” “Great, I’ll have the two of you over as my first guests when it’s done” Ben promised “Oh, I thought Meg would be your first” Casey grinned “I plan on having convinced her to live here with me by then so she won’t be a guest per say” “I thought you said you wouldn’t rush it” Casey asked and Ben looked around “I don’t think I will, this won’t be finished in a hurry” “So when is Meg coming back?” “Friday” Ben answered with a smile “I’ll go down to L.A. and pick her up at noon” Meg had called the evening before with her flight information.
In another part of town Annie was trying to convince Maria that she wouldn’t get a better deal on her divorce from Ben “But what if the rumors are true, that he’s seeing this woman?” Maria asked her “Maria, Maria” Annie said in her own special way “She left town almost two weeks ago there’s nothing to worry about. Go ahead and sign the papers and let’s get out of here. SBPD is having their annual obstacle course day at the beach” Annie had always been crazy about men in uniform and it made Maria laugh “Ok, let’s go” she said and signed the papers and put it back in the envelope “I can mail these on the way” All since Ben had moved out Annie had lived with Maria in the house, it was fairly big, one bedroom each for them and the third that always had been Maria’s studio was so still. They hooked arms as they came outside and happily walked towards the beach. At the mailbox they stopped and Maria put the envelope into the slot “I guess this is it then” she looked at Annie who nodded and Maria pushed it in, as she did the sun caught the ring on her finger “I guess I should take these off, too bad Ben didn’t have as much money back when we got married or they’d been worth a fortune” Annie laughed “Maria my friend, with your talent you’ll earn a lot of money on your own so don’t you worry” the went on towards the beach.
Meg was having lunch with her friend Susan “I can’t believe this is the last time” she said “It’s not Susan” Meg reassured “Each time I’ll come home to visit there will be a lunch with you in my plans and you have to come out to Sunset Beach and visit” “I guess it have to wait until the baby’s born, oh Meg you will come for the Christening won’t you?” she looked pleadingly at her “Of course I will, I can’t wait for my first God child to be born” they had talked about this a long time ago “And I for mine, although you might not want me now when you get to California and get a lot of new friends, and besides you need a man don’t you?” she said inquiringly “Oh you do have someone in mind” She grinned “Why haven’t you told me” Meg looked up from her dessert plate “I have, haven’t I?” Meg tried to be secretive “The internet guy, the one who turned out to be your boss?” Susan exclaimed “Shh, all of Ludlow don’t have to hear you” Meg couldn’t hid her happy smile “Oh Susan, I can’t wait for you to meet Ben” “Well if you’re in a hurry you have to come back here with him, why don’t you come for Thanksgiving?” Meg shrugged her shoulders “I have to see, I don’t know how work will be and such, the plane tickets aren’t that cheap but I will certainly try” as Meg had to get back to work they girls hugged and said bye not noticing the guy who had been sitting the be booth behind them. As they walked out of the restaurant he got up and followed Meg back to her workplace. Meg just got in and sat down when he entered “What are you doing here Tim?” she asked when she saw him “I’m here for answers and for you to apologize” “Me apologize?!?!” Meg was furious “Tim I’m not the least bit sorry for not going thru with the wedding, you cheated on me and had plans on going on doing it, what I do with my life now is none of your business” Tim leant on her desk to get closer to her “Of course it’s my business” he said “Everything you do is my business, I love you Meg” it was first now Meg realized he wasn’t sober “Tim, just leave me alone and while you’re at it stop drinking too or you’ll end up like your father” Meg got up from behind her desk and followed Tim to the door “I know I can’t avoid you here in town but I will sure try, I don’t know if you ever will understand what your betrayal did to me” she closed the door behind him and went back to work. Her boss appeared in the door “I didn’t mean to listen in on your conversation, but I just wanted to say that you did a good job getting rid of him, had he carried on I would have come out and thrown him out and it wouldn’t have been as polite as you did”
Maria and Annie sat in two beach chairs close to a cooler bag and enjoyed the sun and looking at the police men, most of them had thrown their shirts in the heat “What about Ruiz then” Annie asked and Maria shook her head “He’s too close to Ricardo, and I wouldn’t hear the end of it, but you could give it a try” Annie raised her eyebrows “Ruiz, hmm” “Oh come on Annie, I know you fancy him” Maria pushed “Look he’s coming over” Officer Ruiz made his way towards the cooler for a bottle of water. He smiled at the two very familiar faces “You’re not getting into any trouble today ladies?” “Have we ever?” Annie asked innocently and got just a raised eyebrow for answer “I’ll see you in the Deep tonight I hope” he said and went back to the exercises. “See, he wants you Annie” Maria nudged her in the side “Yeah, all me want me, but do they want me?” she asked.
After having showered and shaved Ben went to the Deep, he knew today was a busy day all the policemen who was off duty usually came to the Deep this day. He loved the crowd and they business was good. The best of all was that there weren’t any troubles ever this evening, not any fights or even arguments happened. Sunset Beach wasn’t that big of a city, but the police department had some smaller societies in the outskirts in the jurisdiction. Ben stood behind the bar when Gaby and Vanessa came over “So Ben is it true Meg’s coming back on Friday?” he raised his eyes at them “Didn’t she text you herself to tell?” “Sure, but we thought you’d know better” they couldn’t help but giggle and that caught Annie’s attention. She walked towards the bar but kept a distance so she could hear but not be seen. “Ok, ok” he held up his hands in surrender “Yes she’s coming back on Friday, sometime in the afternoon” he added as he didn’t want to tell them he was picking her up himself. The matter of the divorce being on his terms made him careful about what he said and to whom. Annie lent on a pillar and sighed, she loved her friend but what she had done towards Ben wasn’t a nice thing and she loved Ben too much to see him hurt. The glow in his eyes when he talked to Gaby and Vanessa was just what she needed to know that he was happy again. She was glad she had pushed Maria to sign the papers and mail them today. “Why are you hiding here?” someone said and made Annie quickly turn around and bump into the person “Ruiz?” she said as she looked up “I…I…I wasn’t hiding” she stammered as he leant towards her and put his free hand over her head, Annie was pretty tall, but still she had to look up to see his face leaning over her. “Want a beer?” he held up his bottle as he asked “Sure” Annie tried to sound casual “Wait here and I’ll go get one” she looked after him as he made his way towards the bar. Ben had seen the scenario so when Ruiz came up to the bar he put out a bottle of Heineken for Ruiz and a Corona for Annie “Sorry Ben, but I asked for two Heineken’s” Ruiz protested “Yeah” Ben said “But Annie’s favorite is Corona” he looked over and smiled at Annie. Somehow they had become good friends and he didn’t want to lose that friendship even though it would be awkward now that he were divorcing Maria. When Ruiz came back Annie played along “Oh, you got my favorite, nothing better than a cold Corona” the clinked their bottles in a cheer. “Wanna dance?” Ruiz asked and nodded towards the dance floor. Annie nodded and led him out. ‘Maybe Annie finally has found happiness’ Ben thought.
“Are you sure you want to bring all those things to California?” Joan asked as Meg closed the second suite case and started to pack in a third “Well I did some research online and it would cost as much to have it shipped so I figured I’d take it now” Meg smiled at her mother “You know there are a few photo albums in there” Meg pointed “I’m bringing you all in the best way possible” Joan wiped a tear away “Will you have room where you’ll stay?” Meg laughed “Actually it’s pretty big the room I’ll be renting above Elaine’s Waffle Shop” “That sounds great” Joan said and sat down on the end of Meg’s bed, she sighed “I can’t believe it was only a month ago I sat here talking to you the evening before what would be your wedding day, so much have happened since then” Meg walked over and sat down beside her “It sure has” Meg sighed too “It’s still a bit hard to understand that Tim who I’ve always known turned out to be a cheating bastard” “I might not use the same words, but I have to say I’m very disappointed in him” Joan said. Meg looked at her mom “I hope he’s not coming here to make trouble for you, he followed me from the lunch restaurant to the office today” Joan put a reassuring hand on Meg’s “I don’t think he dare to, you’re father’s wrath isn’t to play with” “That’s true” Meg got up and looked around “You know what, I’ve got all day tomorrow too, shall we see if dad wants to play a game of cards or something?” it was a thing they’ve always done in the Cummings’ family in evenings when they’ve had time. “Sure, it will be a long time until the next”
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All connections to Sunset Beach and real life characters are purely for your pleasure.
©tinadolphin@comhem.se 2012-
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