Started with a chat 04

~Chapter four~

It didn’t take Ben long to realize that Meg had been right, she was a damn good waitress and it didn’t do business any harm that she was really good looking either, although he had to talk to her about clothing, but since it already was busy Ben hadn’t had time to even go get her a The Deep-t-shirt. Around 10.30 it got a bit quiet as most of the guest were dancing “Hey, why don’t you take a break” Ben suggested “Are you sure?” Meg asked “Yes, Roger and me can handle it for a while” “To be honest I’m a bit hungry I never got around to have any dinner” Meg confessed “Let’s change that then, I don’t want you to faint on your first day” he looked at his wristwatch “I’m afraid all I can get you this time is a sandwich is that ok?” Meg smiled, she was quite hungry so anything would do she nodded her answer. “Be right back then” Ben went into the kitchen. “So how do you like Sunset Beach so far?” Roger asked “I love it” Meg answered “I didn’t think I’d miss waiting tables, but it’s so much fun” “And you’re good at it” he filled in as he served two beers to the person next to Meg. “Hi there, I thought you were on your vacation” Meg looked up “Hi Michael” she smiled “I was, am… I’m not sure anymore, but I’m enjoying myself” she said. “Good on you” Michael took the beers and went over to a table where a young dark skinned woman was waiting for him. “Here you are, you can go up those stairs to my office to get away from the crowd a bit” Ben nodded towards the back “I think I’ll take you up on that” Meg said.

The office felt calming to Meg, a place to relax but still get work done. She sat down at the desk and picked her sandwich up. The computer was on so she took the liberty to send S.B another mail “S.B, it’s Dorothy again. I’m sorry you didn’t think us meeting was a good idea. I’m in Sunset Beach now so maybe we’ll run into each other without knowing it. I don’t want to pressure you, but if you like to meet let me know” she sent it and finished eating. She got up from the desk and decided to look around the office a bit. A big window with blinders occupied almost all of one of the walls. She looked thru it and saw the crowd dancing downstairs. Turning around she noticed the little kitchen and walked over to that space, to her surprise it even contained a shower on the side “Someone’s a workaholic” she said out loud. She backed out and bumped into something. It was a foldout bed “Truly workaholic” she sat down on the bed. All the excitement was catching up with her and she felt sleepy “I guess five more minutes break couldn’t hurt” she laid down and instantly fell asleep.

Mark loaded the cd-player with a few slow songs and went to the bar “Where did Meg go?” he asked Ben “I told her to take a break and eat a little” he looked at his watch “Actually I thought she’d be back by now, can you keep an eye here, I’ll just pop up in the office and check so she’s ok” “Of course boss” Mark stood behind the bar. Ben took the stairs two steps a time and entered the office. At first he didn’t see Meg but as he was to call her name he noticed her sleeping on his foldout “Poor thing, she’s totally exhausted” Ben left the office again. He told Mark and Roger so they wouldn’t disturb her. As it was Sunday evening the bar closed at midnight and after locking the door behind his staff Ben went back to his office. He sat down on the side and gently shook Meg awake “Sorry to wake you” Meg looked up at him, he had the bluest eyes she’d ever seen “Oh no, did I fall asleep?” Ben nodded “I’m so sorry” Meg sat up “I better get back to work” Ben just smiled at her “What?” “I went looking for you before and found you asleep. I thought that you probably needed the sleep so I let you sleep. The bar’s closed now” Meg was embarrassed “What an impression I’m making” she said. “You’ve made quite an impression Meg. Everyone loved you, you were correct in all orders and we made a lot of tips” he handed her some notes “This is your cut” Meg took the money “Wow” she said when she counted it “And if you don’t mind I’ll pay you your salary in the end of the week” Meg had gotten out of the bed “Does that mean you want me to come back?” she asked “If you like to” Ben smiled at her “I’d love to, but I better get back to the motel and get a good night’s sleep so I don’t fall asleep again tomorrow” Ben walked over to his desk “Let me just fix two things and I’ll walk you home” “There’s no need” Meg said “Well it’s in the middle of the night and you’re new in town, I wouldn’t feel good if something happened to you” “Ok then, is there anything I can do to help” Ben shook his head.

The next morning Meg showered and went out to get some breakfast. She decided to try the Java Web. To her surprise she found Ben behind the counter “Don’t tell me you own this place too?” she said “Yes I do, thank you for last night” Ben said and took out a cup “Coffee?” he asked and Meg nodded. She sipped it while looking at the menu on the wall, there were so much to choose from “So what do you recommend?” Meg asked Ben “Well if you’ve not grown tired of sandwiches I would have a grilled ham and cheese with a fruit salad on the side” “Mmm, that sounds heavenly, I’ll have that” Meg sat down at the counter “Slow morning?” she asked Ben as he returned from leaving her order to the cook “Not really, it’s Monday and 10am, not exactly morning anymore” “I guess I slept a little late” Meg said “I don’t know when I last did” “To be honest, me neither” Ben confessed “So, if you don’t mind me asking. What brings you to our little town?” Meg smiled “An adventure actually, and a little bit of fate. The plane to California was the first out of Kansas when I left Saturday afternoon” “Kansas?” Ben was called to the kitchen to pick Meg’s food up “Enjoy” he said when he put it down in front of her “I will, I’m starving” Meg said “So what did you do back in Kansas?” Ben asked “I worked in an office with bookkeeping and other paperwork like that. Quite interesting most of the time” “But waiting tables are more fun?” Ben thought about how she had been smiling all evening last night. “Yes it is, but back in Ludlow there aren’t many bars and the tips are bad” Meg finished off her sandwich and took the bowl with her fruit salad “Wow strawberries” was her first reaction “I could get used to living here, strawberries in October” Ben got more and more intrigued by this woman, could it be? He had to try and find out, after all Dorothy had sent the mail last night saying she was in Sunset Beach. “Ben Evans, I want to talk to you” a red haired woman came swooshing into the café “Not now Annie” Ben said “Yes now Ben” Ben went around the counter and pulled Annie to a table “What Annie, I don’t want to hear any lies or well I don’t want to hear anything really because I bet it’s Maria that’s put you up to it” “Of course it isn’t, I just don’t like to see my best friends not living in the same place as they have the last three years. What’s happened?” she asked “I think you know what’s happened Annie, you know all too well since you’ve been with Maria in L.A to cover for her when she’s been on her rendez-vous” “You know?” Annie slipped and Ben just shook his head “As I said, I don’t want to talk about it” “Ben, I put the money on the counter, see you tonight” Meg said as she left and Ben got up from the chair “Meg, wait” but it was too late “I see you’re not wasting any time” Annie got up but before she could leave Ben grabbed her arm “Meg’s new in town and she helped out waiting tables last night. There’s nothing more to it” Ben didn’t know why he was explaining himself to her “You can tell Maria that I’ll come to the house tomorrow to talk about a divorce. She knows me well enough to understand that I don’t take this kind of behavior easily”
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All connections to Sunset Beach and real life characters are purely for your pleasure.
©tinadolphin@comhem.se 2012-

Started with a chat 03

~Chapter three~

Ben was furious, Maria and her best friend Annie had been in the Java Web that morning, still drunk from last night’s party they had had at the house. Now and then Annie had always been able to convince Maria to throw a big party with people they knew and didn’t know. His mood was a bit miserable, he had liked talking to ‘Dorothy’ and now that would probably never happen again.
Meg connected her laptop but when she came into the chat room S.B wasn’t there. She hadn’t tried it before but there was a mail function. She started a mail “Hi, S.B it’s me, Dorothy from Kansas, or shall I say from the air! I left Tim and I’m now on the airplane to California. I might take you up on your offer. Best Regards, Dorothy from Kansas”

Back in the office Ben was still upset but Maria and Annie’s behavior, he’d swore to himself never to let a woman come close by again so when he saw the message from Dorothy he quickly replied “Stay away Dorothy, I’m sorry but it wasn’t a good idea after all. S.B” he sent it, closed the computer and went back to Surf Central to change for a run.

Meg had lost the internet connection just after she had sent the message and when she landed at LAX it was pretty late so she decided to try and find a hotel for the night and then try and find a way to get to Sunset Beach the next day. After she gotten a bite to eat she went back to her hotel and tried to connect her computer, but she had no luck. She took out her cell phone and called her parents to let them know where she was and that she was safe. When she talked to Sarah she told her the story about S.B and that she the next day were going to this town Sunset Beach to see what it had to offer her. Her idea to make this trip the adventure S.B had inspired her to made her decide not to explore L.A but take a bus to the town called Sunset Beach.

The bus stopped right at the beach and Meg hadn’t seen anything as spectacular ever. She took off her shoes and walked barefoot in the sand down to the water. She backed off when it hit her feet, it was a bit cold, but not as cold as she’d expected in early of October. It was close to lunchtime and just as she left the beach she stumbled upon “Elaine’s Waffle Shop”. She went inside and walked over to the bar where she looked at the menu “Hi and Welcome” a woman in her 50’s said “What can I get you?” Meg looked in the menu “Well it’s a waffle shop, so I think I’ll have the waffles” she said and the woman smiled “Oh no miss, don’t have the waffles if you want to live” a man her own age said “Michael” the woman said “You’re scaring my customers away” he bent forward and kissed her on the cheek “You know I eat everything you make Elaine, everything but your waffles… I’ll have the usual for me and Casey, we’re eating in the office” he then turned to the younger woman “I’m sorry I never introduced myself, I’m Michael Bourne. You’re new in town aren’t you?” Meg smiled “Yes I am, I’m Meg Cummings” she shook his hand “This is Elaine” Michael pointed “And what she doesn’t know about this town and it’s history isn’t worth knowing” “Oh Michael, you make me sound like a gossip-central” she smiled and took Meg’s hand “Welcome to Sunset Beach Meg” “Thank you, but what was it about the waffles” she asked “Apparently I can’t make waffles, from what I’ve heard it’s all over the town” Elaine laughed “But everything else is the best” Michael said and got a big brown paper bag to go. Meg finally decided on a grilled sandwich and a cup of coffee “Why don’t you go sit outside and I’ll bring it to you” Elaine suggested “That would be nice, I can’t believe how warm it is here” Meg said and took her bag and went outside. In the door she bumped into a man “Excuse me” he said with a deep English voice “I didn’t look where I was going” “No worries, I’m still standing” Meg joked and walked outside. “Hi Ben” Elaine said when she looked up “What brings you here?” it was a joke between them as Ben had his Java Web “Just a bottle of water, I was in a hurry when I left for my run” “Sure thing” she turned around and took a bottle out of the fridge “Everything ok otherwise?” she asked “Yeah” Ben shrugged his shoulders and sat down on a stool “It’s just I heard something about you staying at Surf Central” Elaine wasn’t looking for gossip, she wanted to know for herself “I don’t really want to talk about it, but it’s a small town and it’s true I’m staying there for a while” Elaine had just put Meg’s food on a tray and walked passed Ben. Softly she put a hand on his upper arm “I’m here if you want to talk” “Thanks Elaine” he stood up “Ok if I come in later and pay?” “Always” she smiled and walked outside to give Meg her food. As Ben walked away he passed Meg “Enjoy your lunch” he smiled at her “Thanks” Meg said and smiled back.

Ben walked back to Surf central where he showered and dressed for a meeting with Gregory at the media center. He packed his notes and laptop and left the house. On his drive over he thought about his living situation, he couldn’t stay at Surf Central it wasn’t his style to share with so many and besides Mark Wopler was living there too. Well he loved Mark like the little brother he never had but Mark was still his employee. Another reason was that he wanted Casey and Rae to have as much space as they wanted.

Meg enjoyed her lunch and then went inside to pay “Do you know a cheap hotel to stay at?” she asked Elaine “There’s the Seabreeze motel, just a block away that’s fairly cheap, the Grenadine’s is the big fancy hotel I think those are the best choices for you” “Well I got some money but I think the Seabreeze sounds best, I don’t know how long I’m staying” “Oh, how come?” Elaine asked curiously “Long story short, I left my cheating fiancé at the altar yesterday” Meg smiled, it felt good to have done it “And just decided to come here, do you know anybody in town?” Elaine asked “Not really, I’ve chatted with a guy for a short time and he said he was living here, but you never know” “Well if you decide to stay, let me know if you need help finding a job or other place to stay” “Thank you Elaine” Meg said and left to get a room at the motel. When she had unpacked and called home to let them know where she was and that she was feeling good. She also asked how things had been at home the last 24 hours and it had been fairly calm. Some of her relatives had been a bit disappointed but when Sarah had explained why and how when she got back at the farm everyone had understood. After hanging up Meg again picked her phone up and called “Sophie” was the short answer “Hi grandma, it’s Meg” she had a hard time to keep her tears away “Oh my Meggie, how are you love?” “I’m fine, I hope I didn’t disappoint you” the older woman smiled to herself “Never Meggie, just as long as you are ok wherever you are” “I’m in California, in a little town called Sunset Beach” she told about the beach and sea. “Grandma, there’s a thing I wanted to ask you” “Go ahead” Sophie said “The necklace, do you want me to send it back?” the woman shook her head “No Meggie, it’s yours and one day I believe you will get a good use for it, you now he’s out there” Meg was puzzled “Who’s out there?” “The man of your dreams, Tim was the safe choice but he’s not and never will be your soul mate” “How do you know things like this grandma?” with a laugh she got her answer “I just do, it’s things that comes with living a full life and you will know too” They chit chatted some more and then hung up.

After his meeting with Gregory Ben decided to go straight to the Deep, the evening was approaching and he knew he had to work the bar as Mark was doing the DJ act and they were down at least one waitress. He quickly stopped by Elaine’s to pay for his water “Elaine, you don’t happen to know anyone that’s good on waiting tables?” she shook her head “Sorry Ben I don’t” Ben shrugged his shoulders “Bummer, I lost two waitresses last week when they left for college in New York, but please let me know if you got anyone and don’t need them yourself” “I will” Elaine promised. She loved Ben, there had never been any hard feelings between them although they both competed about the same customers.

After a shower Meg finally got her computer connected to the internet and was sad when she read the message from S.B, but now she was in Sunset Beach already and she had decided to stay at least a week. She looked thru her clothes and took the most appropriate and went to look for the Deep. She had read on a poster that it was a night club that served ‘light food’ and well she had to eat. Even though it was fairly early in the evening the people had already started to gather. Meg looked around and quickly located the bar. She went over and sat down. The bartender was busy with another order but Meg was in no hurry. “A white wine” Meg said at the same time as Ben suggested it “How did you know?” Meg laughed “By time you learn” Ben said and looked at her “You’re the one I bumped into at lunch aren’t you?” Meg recognized his English accent “Yes I am” “Then let me treat you on this” he pushed the glass towards Meg “You don’t have to” Meg tried to protest “I want to, can’t have you going around thinking I’m a thug” Meg laughed “I doubt that, is there anyone in this town that is?” she looked around a bit and saw Michael with some friends “So far I’ve only met nice people” “You’re new it town aren’t you?” Ben asked “Yes, arrived just before lunch today” Meg said and was surprised how easy it was to talk to strangers, maybe it was because people in this town didn’t feel like strangers. “Welcome to Sunset Beach then, I’m Ben Evans” he extended his hand over the bar “Meg Cummings” she felt something taking his hand. “Hi boss, seems to be a good crowd tonight” Mark came to get a bottle of water “Sure does” Ben looked around “Still not found any replacers?” Ben shook his head “You’re sure you don’t know anyone in town” Ben asked Mark “Not that would be suitable for waiting tables here” Meg couldn’t help but overhearing their conversation “Are you looking for a waitress?” she asked “Yes” Ben said “Well I used to wait tables all thru college” Meg said “Were you any good?” he asked “The best” Meg said with a smile. Ben hesitated “Are you by chance looking for a job” “Oh sorry” Ben went on “Of course you’re not, you just arrived here and you’re probably on your vacation” Meg stood up “You know what Ben, that was my originally plan, but nothing’s keeping me back home so if you want me, I’m yours”
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All connections to Sunset Beach and real life characters are purely for your pleasure.
©tinadolphin@comhem.se 2012-

Started with a chat 02

~Chapter two~

The week flew by, more than one night the dream returned to Meg. But preparing work with her absence and helping out at the farm along with the final things for the wedding Meg didn’t have the slightest chance to log onto the internet. She still hadn’t been able to shake that feeling that Tim was truthful to her about him not having anything to do with Connie anymore. Friday night after the rehearsal -dinner was over Meg got home, changed her clothes and went out to ‘talk’ a bit to her horse. Meg’s 2 years younger sister Sarah had come home for the weekend to attend the wedding; she was otherwise working in Washington as an intern in politics. When Meg came back inside she went to her room to finish packing but before that she thought that she’s just log on and look around. It was ‘only’ 11 pm but it would be a long day tomorrow. Without knowing it she log onto the chat room.

Ben was sitting in his office upstairs from the night-club. He had tried to confront Maria during the week, but there were no getting thru to her. He let her stay in the house it didn’t hold that much to him; more than the life they’d shared but there wasn’t much left of that for him anymore. He was still staying at Surf Central, Casey’s house was called that, but he spent most hours working. Every evening when he was sitting the office he had the chat room open if ‘Dorothy from Kansas’ would log on but she hadn’t. So when the computer made a ‘ping’ sound he jumped in his seat. He smiled when he saw the chat room window blink “Hi Dorothy from Kansas” he typed “Hi S.B” Meg wrote back “I guess congratulations for your day tomorrow are in order” Ben wrote “Thanks, I guess” Meg wrote just like she had the other week “It’s tomorrow and you’re still not sure?” Ben was intrigued “I can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong” Meg said “Have you confronted Tim?” Ben asked “Yes, but he keeps telling me there’s nothing to my worries” “Let me know if there’s anything I can do” Ben wrote “Thanks, but I don’t know what you can do?” “Why don’t you let me cheer you up Dorothy” Ben suggested with a smile on his face, he’d be damned if he’d let this girl/woman get married with worries on her mind “Shall we talk about Venice?” he suggested “Sure” Meg shrugged her shoulders without anyone seeing it. “You said you’d never been, but would love to go there” Ben remembered from their last chat; well that wasn’t so hard, he had saved a copy and read it a few time the past week. “Yes it would be great, but I doubt I ever will. Job’s not so easy here in Kansas and I know Tim want to take over mom and dad’s farm when they can’t work it anymore” she sounded a bit down to Ben “But you don’t want to do that?” “Don’t misunderstand me S.B, I love this place but I want to do more, I want to see more. I want to travel before I settle down” Ben was confused “Now, don’t do this because I said it, but why don’t you cancel the wedding and go travel instead. Make it an adventure” “Oh S.B, what if I only had your self-confidence” Meg said “I think you do Dorothy, you just have to take it out, you still have time to change your mind, the most important is that you feel it’s right for you whatever you decide to do” Meg smiled, not even her sister had been able to get her feel this good “Thank you S.B, I do feel a bit better now” “Happy to help” Ben said “I think I better finish up here and then get some sleep” “I hope you make the right decision tomorrow and your adventure will be great whatever that decision is” it felt sad for Ben to write it “I guess Tim won’t like you chatting to other guys either so this is it for us” Meg too felt a sadness she wasn’t prepared for “I guess it is. Thank you for cheering me up” Ben couldn’t let her go without saying “If your adventure ever finds you in Sunset Beach, California you look me up” Meg felt her heart melt “Thank you, I might take you up on it”

Again that night Meg dreamt her dream about Venice. She woke up the next morning feeling pretty good “Are you awake?” her mom and sister knocked on the door and came inside “Yes I am” they both sat down on the side of her bed “Are you ready to get married?” her mom asked and Meg nodded, this was what her life was set out to be. She couldn’t let families and friends down by cancelling the wedding the same morning as it was to take place. “Have you packed the travelers checks and other things you might need for your honeymoon” Joan asked “Yes mom, all’s packed” “Let’s get some breakfast before the hairdresser then” Sarah suggested. “I’ll be down when I’ve showered Meg said” she didn’t feel totally happy, but she pushed her feelings aside. The day just ran by and before she knew it Meg was at the church in her wedding-dress. She walked passed a room where she heard voices “Meg’s such a fool Tim” it was Connie’s voice “I don’t like when you talk about Meg that way, you should be happy I’m such a good liar, she’s really pushed it this past week” they held each other close “I almost hate her you know, she’ll have your name and your body in bed every night from now on” “But you’ll always have that special place in my heart” Tim reassured her “Yes, but Meg got most of your heart”

Meg pulled away from the door, she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard, but thought back to her chat with S.B the night before. “Now, don’t do this because I said it, but why don’t you cancel the wedding and go travel instead. Make it an adventure” “Oh S.B, what if I only had your self-confidence” Meg said “I think you do Dorothy, you just have to take it out, you still have time to change your mind, the most important is that you feel it’s right for you whatever you decide to do” Full of that new-won self-confidence she pushed the door open walked right in and decked Tim with a punch “Thank you Connie, you just opened my eyes” she shook her head “You’re welcome to the rest of Tim, I’m out of here” Sarah had just come to look if Meg was ready “What’s happening” she said “I’m leaving” Meg said and took her hand and rushed towards the doors where she was met by some guests and her parents “I’ll call and fill you in. I love you both” she quickly kissed their cheeks and ran down the stairs “You drive Sarah” she said “But where?” she asked “Just get in and drive, I’ll let you know” she knew she had her packed bag with passport, money, traveler’s checks in the car. Quickly Sarah did as she asked and started the car and left the parking space in front of the church. Meg let out a free laughter “Good riddance” “What happened” Sarah glanced at her sister “Long story short, I caught Tim and Connie a few months back, Tim then told me he’d broken it off totally with her but apparently not and now they can do whatever they want. I will get my own adventure” Sarah laughed with her sister “I’m happy for you, I felt that not everything was all right yesterday. So where does your adventure take you?” “I don’t know, let’s see when we get to the airport” Meg laughed “Airport it is” Sarah turned the car the right way.

At the airport Meg went straight for the restrooms and changed her clothes. She packed the dress up to give to Sarah, not that she was bothered what happened to it. “I’ve looked at the departures, there’s a flight tomorrow morning connecting to Italy. I know you’ve always wanted to see Venice” Meg put her arms around her sister in a tight hug “I still do, but tomorrow’s too late, what’s the first flight out?” Meg looked up at the screens “L.A, in about an hour” they said at the same time “That must be kismet” Meg said as always when they said something at the same time “Then L.A it is, let’s go get you a ticket” Sarah had while she waited to Meg to change texted her mother to say where they were and not to worry, Meg was doing what she needed. Of course there weren’t many seats left, but Meg only needed one and she got a first class ticket. The girls headed for the gate as Meg had to border directly, she even got to carry on her bag. The sisters hugged tightly again “Please don’t be mad Meg; I packed your computer down before we left the house. You know… that sister feeling when something’s needed” “Oh Sarah” Meg said with tears in her eyes. “You just let me know when you’ve landed and gotten a place to stay” she let go of Meg just as the flight attendant came to ask the gate people if there were any late passengers “I need to board Sarah. I love you sis” she quickly hugged her again “Let’s meet up soon and talk, I could come to Washington” Sarah laughed “No Meg, I better come to California, the sun’s warmer there”.

Before Meg knew she was seated and the plane was airborne. “Excuse me miss” Meg asked the flight attendant “Can I connect to the internet somehow?” she had taken the computer out of her bag before it had been put away “Yes you can, either by the phone or wireless” “Thank you” Meg smiled.
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All connections to Sunset Beach and real life characters are purely for your pleasure.
©tinadolphin@comhem.se 2012-

NEW STORY!!! Started with a chat 01

~Chapter one~

Ben Evans 28 years old seemed to have it all. Two successful businesses and partner with his mentor in Sunset Beach Gregory Richards in a third, a beach house on Ocean Drive and a beautiful wife who everyone in the town adored. But that was only on the surface and why he always was the last one who left The Deep, his night club, and the first one at the Java Web, his internet café, each and every day. He had had his suspicions for quite some time, but hadn’t been sure about it until this past week, his wife since 3 years were cheating on him. Ben had been in L.A on a three day conference for the Liberty Corporation and the last evening everyone had gone out for dinner. At the restaurant Ben had gotten the chock of his life, his wife Maria was sitting at a table with a man and it was obvious that they didn’t care what people saw. Ben had been a bit puzzled about all the trips Maria and Annie had made to L.A lately and now he knew why. Ben excused himself and left the restaurant. He went back to the hotel as it was too late in the evening to drive back to Sunset Beach.

Ben had always loved Maria she was an artist with a free spirit and loving way. She painted the most beautiful paintings he’s ever seen and many families in town came to her for portraits in black and white, you could say that Maria was one of those artists who made a success while she still was alive. They had met in college. Ben had come to UCLA midterm thru contacts by his aunt Olivia who is married to Gregory. Ben’s parents had tragically been killed in a car accident when he was 19 and as he was the only child in the family and Olivia was the closest relative that he knew he made the big move to America. He grew to love the little town of Sunset Beach and the people of Sunset Beach quickly accepted Ben as one of their own. His best friend Casey Mitchum, who he had gotten to know at college, was part time working as a lifeguard while he still studied towards becoming a lawyer. It was Casey he called in the middle of the night from L.A “Casey Mitchum” he answered groggy from being woken up “Hi Case, it’s Ben…” he paused “Sorry to call this late” Ben was kind of a sensitive guy and had a hard time to keep his tears away. ”Ben, what’s wrong” Casey asked as he got out of bed since he had reassured Rae, his doctor girlfriend, that the call wasn’t for her. “Oh Casey, it’s true… you know I had my suspicions about Maria… I saw her with my own eyes this evening here in L.A” “Ben, I’m so sorry, you know I have had just as a hard time to believe it as you” “Are you ok?” he asked his friend “Upset, but I’ll live” Ben answered “I… I just needed someone to talk to” “I’m glad you called me Ben, you can always call me you know” Ben had to laugh “I know” the agreement was mutual and Ben thought about the time Casey had called him in the middle of the night with the happy news that Rae had agreed to a second date. “Do you want me to come down?” Casey asked “Nah, the conference’s over and I’m driving home tomorrow morning, although can I come kip at your place” some of Ben’s old English expressions never wore out and Casey laughed “Yes, you can kip here. The spare room is free at the moment” “Great, I’ll call you tomorrow” Ben said and they hung up.

Back in bed Casey told Rae what had happened. They had had their own similar problem, but it had been that her parents had wanted her to marry a nice Chinese boy, preferably the boy of their closest friends. But as the Chang’s got to know Casey they had accepted him, the only problem now was that they were living together not being married.

Ben tried to get some sleep but around 1.30 he gave up and went over to the desk where he had his laptop set up, his goal had been to work thru some papers and notes from the conference but somehow he found his way to internet and a chat room he had heard people talk about in the bar back home. He read some guidelines to follow if you wanted to find people who liked the same things. He typed “sunsets, Venice and strawberries” then made himself an alias “S.B”

~~~~~

Meg Cummings, 26 years old, a country girl from Ludlow, Kansas had another restless night. It had been going on for a while, Tim her high school sweet heart had promised that Connie her former best friend wasn’t on his mind anymore. That had made her go thru with her wedding plans. The wedding was only a week away, both the bridal shower and the bachelor party was over and a lot of presents were gathered in a spare room downstairs on the Cumming’s farm. She got out of bed, usually when she was restless she went out to the stables to spend time with her favorite horse “Cassie” but tonight she got up and started her laptop. Once before she had done this and almost logged onto that chat room she had heard so much about from her single friends. That time she had made an alias and added her favorite subjects. She had always wanted to travel to Europe and see Venice. The most spectacular she knew was a sunset and a picnic without strawberries wasn’t complete in her opinion. She typed in her alias “Dorothy from Kansas” well that was the best thing she could have come up with that evening. As she didn’t think she’d find anyone to talk to she opened her mail-program to read her mails and at the same time logged onto her Facebook.

Suddenly she heard a ‘ping’ and it was from the chat room page. Someone was matching her ‘likes’. Meg hesitated if she was going to start chatting or not when she saw someone who called him or herself “S.B” type in “Hi Dorothy from Kansas” Meg smiled at her alias, well why not start chatting, it was anonymous after all. “Hi S.B” she said back. “I see we like the same things” S.B said “Yes it seems we do” Meg agreed. “Strawberries I understand, who in the world doesn’t like them” Ben said “But what makes you like Venice, have you been, do you live close?” he didn’t know where in the world this person lived. Meg laughed “No on both accounts, I’ve just read so many books about it. I wish I was going there next week though” she confessed “Oh, are you traveling then?” Ben asked “Yes” was Meg’s short answer, she didn’t know where but from knowing Tim all these years she was thinking of either something close by or Las Vegas for their honey moon. “You don’t seem too excited about your trip” Ben said, having traveled a lot mostly thru Europe with his parents but other places too he actually had been to Venice once in the 80’s. “Well, it’s my fiancé who’s made the plans, it’s supposed to be our honeymoon” Meg typed in “Congratulations” Ben wrote “Thank, I guess” Meg said “You don’t seem too sure” “I don’t know, I’ve got a funny feeling about Tim, something’s not right” “I’m sorry to hear” Ben knew all too well what she was feeling when something wasn’t right, he had gotten his proofs just this night. “What about you S.B, do you have someone special in your heart?” Meg asked “It’s also complicated, probably going towards an end” “I’m sorry to hear” Meg said. Ben felt another piece of his heart break, he had been so happy about meeting Maria, it was about a year after he had arrived in Sunset Beach and things had finally started to feel normal again in his life. “You don’t have to tell S.B, but if you feel like it I promise not to tell anyone else” “Are you working as an angel?” Ben asked “No, LOL” Meg wrote “Why do you ask?” “Just got the feeling that you’re a kind person all way thru” Meg couldn’t believe it, she felt the same towards S.B and that from only chatting… she looked at her computer clock “Two hours” she accidently wrote “What?” S.B asked “Oh, did I write that out loud? We’ve been chatting for two hours” Meg told him “Yes we have” Ben answered after having checked the time “I better log off” Meg said “It’s soon time go get up and feed the animals before I get to work” “I better try and get some shut eye too” Ben wrote “I’ve got an early drive home” “It was nice talking to you S.B, maybe we’ll talk again” Meg said “I’d like that Dorothy from Kansas” Ben said back. They both logged off. Meg turned her computer off and went to bed. The few hours that was left of the night she slept well and dreamed about eating strawberries in Venice while watching the sun set in the horizon with a tall dark and handsome man.
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All connections to Sunset Beach and real life characters are purely for your pleasure.
©tinadolphin@comhem.se 2012-

Starting over Chapter 31

Chapter thirty one

Meg had made a few appointments with wedding stores in LA and then with Forrester Creations who at the moment was the hottest design house around. What many people didn’t know was that Meg actually had studied a bit of fashion design at college and one of the terms Eric Forrester, the founder of Forrester Creations, had been a guest lecture. She was actually more interested in seeing some of their designs than dresses in the stores after all she was only planning on doing this once. “Mom, why don’t we skip the last to shops and go for lunch before we go to Forrester’s” Meg suggested when they stepped out of shop number three that morning “I won’t find anything there anyway” “Sure, it’s your dress and besides I was starting to feel a bit hungry” Joan agreed. They went to find a nice restaurant.

When Meg and Joan came to the Forrester’s they were showed into a private showroom and soon no one less than Eric Forrester himself came “I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting Miss Cummings” he shook Meg’s hand and then Joan’s “This is my mother Joan Cummings” Meg said. They all sat down and he took out some sketches “I’ve drawn up a few ideas inspired from your mails Miss Cummings” he said “Oh please call me Meg” she offered “Meg” he smiled at her and she could see how women must have fallen for this charming man over and over thru the years. “So what do you think?” he asked and Meg looked closely at the designs. “I really love this one” Meg said and pointed to a both modern but still classic design “but what if instead of having it strapless there were just a short sleeve?” Eric took the paper and looked at it “It’s not what’s in fashion right now, but if you like to have a short sleeve I’ll add one” he looked up and took a pencil and quickly added the sleeve on the sketch “Something like this?” he asked. Meg reached for the pen “May I?” hesitating he nodded “Like this” Meg showed what she had meant “Oh! I’m impressed” he said and Meg blushed “I actually took fashion design in college, but just for a year” “Oh” Eric said surprised “It was first as a distraction from the economics but I really enjoyed it, especially the guest lecture by you” “Well thank you, I like to do them from time to time” they chatted a bit more about fabrics and so “Ok Meg, what if I have the cotton-model made for you until tomorrow and I’ll take out the fabrics for you to look at” “Sounds great, what time?” “Is 11 ok with you?” “Yes, then I can be back home in Sunset Beach not too late” “And you have left me at the airport, my flight is at 10” Joan said. Eric noted Meg in at 11 in the calendar “I’ll see you tomorrow then” he said and shook hands with both Joan and Meg. “So mom, shall we go look for something to wear at the rehearsal dinner?” “And I need something for the wedding day too” Joan added as they sat into the car “But first mom I want to do some sightseeing” she said and drove off towards the Hollywood sign with the cab down on her red car. “Oh Meg” Joan said “This is almost my dream, riding in a red convertible with the top down” “Well” said Meg “It’s not thru Paris…”

Meg was back in Sunset Beach around 5 in the afternoon. She stopped by the hotel and then her sister’s place after having been in the house putting her bag down. “You will be a great mother too Meg” Sarah beamed at her sister. “We’ll see” Meg said a bit hesitating and before long she had spilled the whole story to her sister “Oh Meg” Sarah had tears in her eyes “I didn’t know” “Don’t feel bad Sarah, not many knows and that’s how I want it to be” she smiled “But now you’ll get your daughter back, I need to head home” she kissed the baby on the forehead “Be good to mommy now” Back home she went straight upstairs to unpack the few things and take a shower. Ben entered the house only ten minutes later and he looked around for Meg, he had seen her car in the garage and was really longing to hold her in his arms. As he didn’t find her downstairs he checked the doors and windows and went upstairs. How could he have been so lucky to find a woman like Meg, who stood by him when he acted the way he had done the last couple of weeks… As he entered the bedroom he heard the shower running, on the way over he took off his shoes and shirt and started unbuckle the belt. When he was out of his clothes he took a step into the shower, dipped his head and kissed Meg on the neck “I’ve missed you” he whispered. Meg turned around and threw her arms around his neck “I’ve missed you too Ben” she stood on her toes to be able to kiss him. “Oh Meg” Ben sighed “I’ve so taken you for granted these last weeks, can you forgive me” Meg grinned at him “Shut up and kiss me Ben Evans” Soon they were tangled up in bed making love.

Besides her job at the hotel Meg had the wedding to think of now and she was starting to think she had taken on too much. Sarah did put some hours in at the hotel when the baby was sleeping. The invitations had at least been mailed now and Meg was happy about that. Since both she and Ben was official people in town they had decided they wanted to do something for everyone so two days before the wedding they were having a day filled with activities on the beach, like football and soccer games along with a barbeque in the evening. Then the next evening they’ve arranged so that Bon Jovi was coming back to town to play. The citizens of Sunset Beach were offered tickets to a reduced price, but since they were playing at the football stadium tickets were sold to others too. At the same time Sarah and Derek were planning the Christening, they had finally decided on a name, but they didn’t want to tell until then. That was going to happen the Sunday before Ben and Meg’s wedding so their parents and grandmother didn’t have to be away from Kansas that long. Meg had gotten thru to Ben so he at least accepted mother again. They were of course coming already to the Christening.

Ben had all since Annie went back with her parents to Scotland e-mailed with her, he loved having a little sister although she would turn 29 this autumn coming. Meg came down the stairs after her shower, one of those seldom seen days when they both were home in the evening “Mail from Annie again” she put her chin on Ben’s shoulder and read a little before she walked around and sat down in his lap with her arms around his neck “Ben, I’ve been thinking” she looked him straight in the eyes “Do you think Annie would like to be in the wedding party?” Ben kissed her softly on the lips “Why don’t you ask her yourself, I’m Skyping with her in a few minutes” “Oh, great” she kissed him back and that was the scene Annie was met by “Excuse me” she said when her ‘call’ came thru “Am I interrupting something?” Meg and Ben sprang apart “Hi sis” Ben said grinning “Oh Ben” Annie said in a way only she could “that look says you want something else” “Annie don’t you mind Ben” Meg said “I’ve got something I wanted to ask you” Annie looked surprised “I just wanted to ask if you wanted to be one of my bride’s maids” and Annie smiled broadly “But Meg, I wanted her for a groom’s man… or woman” Ben teased and got slapped on the arm by Meg “Kids, kids” Annie started and they both looked at the screen “Meg, I’d love to be one of your bride’s maids” “Oh, I wish you were here so I could hug you” Meg was happy. Of course Sarah was going to be her maid, or maiden of honor, but she wanted at least one more bride’s maid. “Well, I’ve been thinking of taking you up on your offer, I had thought I’d tell Ben tonight that I’ve applied for a green card” “Oh, that’s great” Meg said and got up from Ben’s lap. “I better go fix us some dinner, I’ll talk to you soon Annie” Meg said and left. She heard Ben laugh at something Annie and then went back to concentrate on the dinner. Ben sneaked into the kitchen and put his arms around Meg “Do you know how happy Annie was that you wanted her to be a bride’s maid?” Meg turned around and smiled “I’m glad. I hope you don’t mind” “Not at all” Ben looked her deep into the eyes “Ben…” Meg was stopped by a lingering kiss “Mmm…” she moaned and Ben swept her up in his arms “Anything on the stove?” he asked and Meg shook her head “Good” he carried her upstairs and into their bedroom. When Meg finally caught her breath laying very satisfied in Ben’s arms and looked up at him “That was amazing” Ben couldn’t but agree “You are amazing Meg” he stroke a strain of her hair from her face. “I’m so relaxed right now Ben” Meg confessed “I don’t feel like doing anything but lay here the rest of the evening and night” Ben grinned “That I can live with” “But I’m hungry” Meg said playing around with her fingers on Ben’s chest. Ben briefly rolled away for the phone “Chinese or pizza?” “Chinese, it was ages since I had that” Ben dialed a number “Then we can go downstairs and sit in front of the fire in our robes eating” the Chinese restaurant pick up and Ben ordered their dinner. “Delivery in 20 minutes” Ben said as he hung up “Plenty of time to do something else then” Meg teased and just as Ben reached for a kiss she pulled away. Meg shook her head “Not that though” Meg got out of bed “I was more thinking that you fix some wine for us and I’ll set the fire up”
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All connections to Sunset Beach, any other soaps/series and real life characters are purely for your pleasure.
©tinadolphin@comhem.se 2010-