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Chapter or StoryAuthor's Chapter Notes:
At this time of year, friends from the Pretender family seem near and dear. This story is for those friends, fan fic writers and readers who I have meet over the years. Yip who inspired me to write my first fan fic, Gena for reading my rough drafts and giving her support and advice. The Missing Pieces group for re-lighting my desire to write and keeping the fan fic archive alive. And YOU the reader, you have a vivid imagination that can take mere words on a page and transform them beyond anything written. Your imagination can turn the most "G" rated fan fic into a blushing NC-17. So turn your imagination loose.
She walked slowly in the cold night air across the parking lot to her car. A few snow flakes drifted silently down to settle on her hair and coat. Christmas Eve and in the pale light from the Centre everything had a blue hue to match her mood. This was the saddest time of the year for her, she missed her mother and now daddy was gone. Everyone had family or someone to go home to, she had no one. Broots had invited her over and Sydney had asked her to join him for dinner but she turned both invitations down. Before leaving the office she had glanced once more at the phone which had been silent all day. She missed the days when Jarod would call to taunt her and now she would give anything to hear his voice.
She unlocked the car, opened the door, slid in and started it. Driving out of the Centre parking lot, a woman's voice on the radio sang out.
"Christmas, Christmas,
Baby please come home"
Home.
Where was that? The only home she had known as a child growing up was the Centre, as a adult it had consumed her.
Home.
As if any place as gray, desolate and forbidding as the Centre could be called home. Yet the memories of childhood Christmases there with her mother were some of the happiest memories she had.
"I remember when you were here,
the fun we had that year..."
Jarod was her friend then.
"Baby please come home.
Please come home"...
The last thing she wanted for Jarod was to come 'home' to the Centre.
As she pulled into the driveway she wondered where he was, who he was with. She parked the car and exited. The snow on the ground crunched under foot as she made her way up the walk. She unlocked and opened the door to her house. Glancing around she was disappointed, she had hoped a package on the coffee table or a blinking light on her answering machine, anything would be welcome. But the house was empty and cold.
Once inside she made a fire, fixed a cup of bitter herbal tea, turned on her music and "Blue Christmas" began to play.
" I'll have a Blue Christmas without you
I'll be so blue thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me"
She reflected on the past as she curled up on the sofa with the cup of tea. So much had changed in the months after the events on Carthis. She hadn't heard from Jarod since the phone call she received shortly after her return. Daddy was still missing, presumed dead and things at the Centre were strained. Raines looked worried and Lyle was on edge. But they had manage to deflect most of the attention away from themselves by putting her under scrutiny. How long had she been with Jarod on Carthis? What did he tell her? Why was she there in the first place? And because of this there was a sweeper shadowing her every move twenty four hours.
Her health had taken a turn for the worse. A nagging pain in her stomach prompted a visit to the doctor, fearing the return of a ulcer. She was told to stop drinking, eat a better diet and exercise. She laughed at the thought of exercise. Without Jarod to chase, her exercise routine had suffered.
Having little faith in western medicine she decided to try a more time honored treatment, Chinese medicine. So the previous week she had made a appointment with a Doctor Yip. He told her she was suffering from stress and she needed rest. He had given her herbal teas to take, explaining that the objective was to strenghten the deficiencies and alleviate stagnation. That it was important to bring energy, blood and body fluids into harmony so they could move freely through the body's meridians. He recommend acupuncture from a reputable practitioner along with strict advice to avoid alochol, smoking and certain foods. But it was the events after leaving his office that occupied her thoughts.
She had entered the crowded elevator lost in thought, vaguely aware of Elvis' "Blue Christmas" playing over the speaker.
"I'll have a Blue Christmas without you
I'll be so blue thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me"
As the doors closed she could sense him behind her. Maybe it was his smell or the presence of his eyes on her but without turning around she knew it was him. She could feel herself tense and thought back to the moments by the fireplace in Carthis. The elevator stopped at the next floor and people crowded in. A woman with a stroller pushed her way in front of Miss Parker knocking her off balance. As she started to fall, her left hand went out to brace herself and it connected with his thigh. At the same time his right arm wrapped around her waist, pulled her to him and stopped her fall.
"And the when those blue snowflakes start fallin'
That's when those blue memories start callin'"
Even now she could feel his warm breath on her neck as he nuzzled his face in her hair and his left hand griped her left arm. His right arm around her waist pulled her closer and without thinking she had slipped her right hand over his and interlocked her fingers tightly with his. Her eyes had slowly closed as his hand became more bold, caressing her shoulder, sliding up to her neck, then check and finally one finger caressed her lips. Her lips parted and her teeth nipped at his finger, lightly biting it. It didn't take much to imagine what it would be like to be more intimidate, their bodies intertwined, the friction between them. Thoughts that she never let herself think.
"You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white
But I'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas"
The song had ended as the elevator reached the lobby. She had pulled her fingers loose from his, moved her hand away from his thigh. She could feel his reluctance as he loosen his grip on her, letting his arm fall slowly away from her waist. She walked out of the elevator and never looked back.
She unlocked the car, opened the door, slid in and started it. Driving out of the Centre parking lot, a woman's voice on the radio sang out.
"Christmas, Christmas,
Baby please come home"
Home.
Where was that? The only home she had known as a child growing up was the Centre, as a adult it had consumed her.
Home.
As if any place as gray, desolate and forbidding as the Centre could be called home. Yet the memories of childhood Christmases there with her mother were some of the happiest memories she had.
"I remember when you were here,
the fun we had that year..."
Jarod was her friend then.
"Baby please come home.
Please come home"...
The last thing she wanted for Jarod was to come 'home' to the Centre.
As she pulled into the driveway she wondered where he was, who he was with. She parked the car and exited. The snow on the ground crunched under foot as she made her way up the walk. She unlocked and opened the door to her house. Glancing around she was disappointed, she had hoped a package on the coffee table or a blinking light on her answering machine, anything would be welcome. But the house was empty and cold.
Once inside she made a fire, fixed a cup of bitter herbal tea, turned on her music and "Blue Christmas" began to play.
" I'll have a Blue Christmas without you
I'll be so blue thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me"
She reflected on the past as she curled up on the sofa with the cup of tea. So much had changed in the months after the events on Carthis. She hadn't heard from Jarod since the phone call she received shortly after her return. Daddy was still missing, presumed dead and things at the Centre were strained. Raines looked worried and Lyle was on edge. But they had manage to deflect most of the attention away from themselves by putting her under scrutiny. How long had she been with Jarod on Carthis? What did he tell her? Why was she there in the first place? And because of this there was a sweeper shadowing her every move twenty four hours.
Her health had taken a turn for the worse. A nagging pain in her stomach prompted a visit to the doctor, fearing the return of a ulcer. She was told to stop drinking, eat a better diet and exercise. She laughed at the thought of exercise. Without Jarod to chase, her exercise routine had suffered.
Having little faith in western medicine she decided to try a more time honored treatment, Chinese medicine. So the previous week she had made a appointment with a Doctor Yip. He told her she was suffering from stress and she needed rest. He had given her herbal teas to take, explaining that the objective was to strenghten the deficiencies and alleviate stagnation. That it was important to bring energy, blood and body fluids into harmony so they could move freely through the body's meridians. He recommend acupuncture from a reputable practitioner along with strict advice to avoid alochol, smoking and certain foods. But it was the events after leaving his office that occupied her thoughts.
She had entered the crowded elevator lost in thought, vaguely aware of Elvis' "Blue Christmas" playing over the speaker.
"I'll have a Blue Christmas without you
I'll be so blue thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me"
As the doors closed she could sense him behind her. Maybe it was his smell or the presence of his eyes on her but without turning around she knew it was him. She could feel herself tense and thought back to the moments by the fireplace in Carthis. The elevator stopped at the next floor and people crowded in. A woman with a stroller pushed her way in front of Miss Parker knocking her off balance. As she started to fall, her left hand went out to brace herself and it connected with his thigh. At the same time his right arm wrapped around her waist, pulled her to him and stopped her fall.
"And the when those blue snowflakes start fallin'
That's when those blue memories start callin'"
Even now she could feel his warm breath on her neck as he nuzzled his face in her hair and his left hand griped her left arm. His right arm around her waist pulled her closer and without thinking she had slipped her right hand over his and interlocked her fingers tightly with his. Her eyes had slowly closed as his hand became more bold, caressing her shoulder, sliding up to her neck, then check and finally one finger caressed her lips. Her lips parted and her teeth nipped at his finger, lightly biting it. It didn't take much to imagine what it would be like to be more intimidate, their bodies intertwined, the friction between them. Thoughts that she never let herself think.
"You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white
But I'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas"
The song had ended as the elevator reached the lobby. She had pulled her fingers loose from his, moved her hand away from his thigh. She could feel his reluctance as he loosen his grip on her, letting his arm fall slowly away from her waist. She walked out of the elevator and never looked back.
