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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
It had become late but the two siblings were still in the kitchen. A bit earlier Miss Parker had closed the curtains tightly and had turned on the small light above the stove. Still holding hands, Ethan told his sister about Catherine’s plan. She listened closely without interrupting - it had been a long time coming.
It was when she got up to pour them some more tea that Ethan actually got to the part about Margaret’s ‘addition’ to the plan. The moment he explained what Margaret wanted to do, she stood with her back turned on the kitchen counter. Miss Parker’s whole body tightened within an instant. With a loud ‘thud’ she put the cups back on the counter.
Ethan immediately detected the change in her. He braced himself for what was coming next.
Parker’s over-the-shoulder glare was epic, even for 2 a.m.
“She WHAT?” Parker asked, restraining herself not to yell at him She shook her head in disbelief. “And he agreed to do it, didn’t he?”
Her brother tried to calm her down, but it was a futile effort. She fumed with rage at the new revelations. For the next hour, Parker paced furiously up and down; partly mumbling to herself how impossibly stupid that woman was, partly cursing Jarod for his weakness to stand up against his mother and partly demanding answers from Ethan of how he could’ve let this happen - without giving him time to respond or defend himself though.
It was around three in the morning when Ethan explained he would sneak out the back door and hide somewhere near for the next few days. Miss Parker glared at him as if he’d grown a second head.
“No. You go back to the family and you’ll go tonight. Get Jarod. Tell him I want to meet him. If none of you can do anything about this, then I will. I will talk him out of this even if it’s the last thing I’ll ever do.”
At his rather skeptical look she added: “If he refuses to come, lie. Tell him whatever you want. Tell him I killed someone if you like. Or if that’s not enough, tell him I’ve gone over the edge, that I’ve cried into your shoulders about how much I ‘love’ him! But get him away from them.”
“But where do you suggest we meet M…?” Already anticipating that question, Parker interrupted her brother mid-word.
She needed a place out of the Centre’s grasp but close enough to get to fast. “Maine. Take him to Lake Catherine. When you two arrive up there, he’ll know where to go. I’ll meet you there.”
With a last heartfelt embrace, the two siblings said goodbye. Ethan, though aware of his sister’s troubled emotional status, felt relieved. She would stop this. His faith in her ability was supported by the sudden silence in his head.
With a huge smile on his face the young man ran, covered by trees, across her backyard. He was still grinning when he reached his car and drove off. His sister not only had acted the way he hoped she would, she had also said something important. Even if she had meant it in a more than sarcastic way, she had used the ‘l’ word.
Ethan was pretty sure about Jarod’s feelings towards her. But until now he had only been suspicious about hers. Her actions tonight gave those suspicions way to assurance.
She loved him.
***********
Miss Parker entered her office while stifling one more yawn. Parker went straight to the coffee maker that was now in her office at her demand. Ever since she had it, her secretary had specific orders to have the coffee ready every morning.
The bleary-eyed woman grabbed the biggest mug available and poured some. The hot and bitter liquid burned her throat on the way down just the way she liked it.
She was dead tired and furious. Jarod planned on playing God just to please his mother, and Lyle had her observed. She had to do something about both.
She would not stand by and knowingly watch how ‘boy-wonder’ walked into something with possibly horrible consequences, simply because Jarod thought he owed it to someone he loved.
Later that day she would drive up to Maine and knock his head against a – preferably concrete – wall.
Parker also felt a bit apprehensive at the prospect of meeting Jarod so soon again. She chalked it up to the circumstances but it became harder and harder to deceive herself. She still tried to not admit to herself that she already missed Jarod. She missed his calls. Even if they were mostly snarling at each other, she missed talking to him.
It had only been two days, but she had felt more alone than ever. It was not that he had called her everyday, but this time she knew he wouldn’t call again. That knowledge had nagged at her ever since their parting in New York.
But before she could go, she had to deal with someone else: Lyle. She was damned if she’d allow her twin to play around with her like that.
At that moment Broots stuck his head in the door and searched the room for her.
“Oh, there you are,” the bald man sighed. He entered and carefully closed the door behind him. “I wanted to … Miss Parker, you... are you alright?”
She looked anything but alright and Broots started to worry.
“I’m fine. Just …peachy,” she answered. Collecting herself, she turned and continued with more vigor in her voice, “Brother dearest already in?”
“I, I’ll check. Miss Parker, are you sure you want to get into this. I mean, tell him you know and …”
“Don’t pee in your pants, Broots. He won’t find out you’ve been the acting tattle-tale of the day.” Parker slid into her chair and crossed her legs regally.
Broots hurried to explain himself. “I didn’t mean that!” he blurted out with hurt audibly in his voice.
“I know,” she relented in a soothing tone. More determined she added, “Don’t worry. I’ll be very … diplomatic.”
The feral grin on her face told him that she’d be anything but. Broots felt the need to give it one more try.
“If you look at it objectively, then maybe you’d…” anything else he wanted to say died mid- sentence. Detachment? Objectivity? He was talking to the wrong person here and he knew it.
She sighed heavily. “Broots.”
In a low voice as cold as ice, while accentuating every syllable, she continued: “I will NOT allow my mutant brother to follow my every move! Not now, not ever.”
Somehow it had gotten colder in the room. Broots remembered his wish of the day before. Yeah, Canada couldn’t be THAT cold.
Saying nothing further, she got up, put her cup on the table and left the room. Passing her co-worker, she cocked her head to the right and left Broots with one final glare.
Outside in the hallways, the busy morning routine was in full progress. Aware of the chairman’s daughter’s moods, the employees gave her a wide berth. Despite her fatigue, she still felt the power she had over them.
She entered his office in her usual way. Parker opened both of the murky-glass door wings in one swift motion. She could almost ‘feel’ her twin’s exasperated sigh.
“Sis. Why don’t you come on in!”
Lyle rose from his desk and walked towards her. Parker didn’t even bother to say anything. Meeting him nose to nose in mid-room, she grabbed him by his tie; one fist was clenched to her side, itching to punch. She pulled at his tie just as much as she needed to see that he had trouble breathing.
Two ego-centered personalities were locking eyes, both challenging the other.
“Two things, bro. First: I take it personally if you have me followed by someone whose IQ is below that of a doormat. Second: don’t do it again, ever!”
Her voice was as serious as it was deadly. He realized that. But he also knew that he was the ace when it came to misleading people.
“Sis, trust me. I had you followed for your own good. With all that happened lately, I just wanted to make sure you’re OK.”
She shook her head, “Lyle…”
“It’s true Parker! We all know Jarod would contact you first. Recent developments suggest that he wouldn’t be too happy. So I just wanted someone around to make sure you’re alright.”
“Whatever you say Lyle, whatever you say. Just listen to this…”
He grabbed her hands, which were still on his tie, and removed them. Lyle tried another technique. He knew what worked most often when dealing with his sister. After all, he was a pretender too. With a smile that portrayed fake hurt, he locked eyes with her again.
“You don’t believe me, right? Well, you never did, no matter what I said or did.”
“Not once in your pathetic life you’ve been honest. Why would you start now?”
Lyle went from sounding hurt to sarcastic: “Tell you what sis: since nothing I have to say is to your liking, why don’t you write down what you want to hear and I'll act like a twenty-dollar-hooker, trying to say it as if I really mean it.”
She bored into him with her eyes, daring him to mess with her. “Cut the crap and listen you imbecile. I’ll make this short. Willie or anyone else following me will meet his maker today. Call off the order, or I’ll shoot first and ask questions later. That’s a promise. You might as well call the Centre’s undertaker now, because there’s gonna be a body to dispose of. And I’m going to come back here, and then you’ll be very sorry!”
“Whatcha gonna do? Shoot me too?” There was only a trace of a smile left on his face. He always had to be very careful around her. She was a worthy opponent. But she also was, in his eyes, the key in catching Jarod.
She didn’t respond, so Lyle raised his arms in a sign of defeat, already thinking about ways to continue watching her without getting caught.
Parker pulled on his tie once more and then pushed him away with a disgusted grunt. She turned around on her heels. At the door she shot him a last parting glare and snarled: “Watch it, Lyle. If you really wanna play, all I’d say is: welcome to my playground!"
*********************
The Major paced in the living room. He was concerned for his younger son. Jarod had told them earlier that morning that Ethan had left. The young man had gone straight into the very hell they all tried so hard to stay away from.
Charles felt a deep compassion for Ethan. That boy had gone through a lot in his life and now he simply tried to cling on to the last strings of his sanity. One of those strings was his connection to his sister.
Margaret was in the kitchen, Charles could hear her preparing lunch. The way she used - and abused - the appliances and kitchen-tools indicated that she was still angry.
When Jarod had informed them of Ethan’s intent, Margaret had become mightily upset. Ryan and Emily had been especially surprised at her reaction. In a concerted effort, Charles and Jarod had eventually calmed everyone down.
**
Jarod was on his way back to their house. He had gone to collect a few medical tools he needed for their first tests. Tools like a high-sensitive microscope, vials, needles and the newest medical journals on gene-altering experiments and successes.
Though he was still uncomfortable with the idea, he wanted to get the plan moving. With the help of Ryan and lots of encouragement by his mother he had already run a few computer calculations on DNA-sequences this morning.
The pretender parked the car in the driveway and ran up to the house. He needed some help with all the packages and wanted to get Ryan. In the living room, Jarod met his father and immediately heard the noise from the other room. With a knowing, but dreadful, smile he looked at his father for some reassurance.
“She’s still venting, huh?”
“Yeah, a bit. But for now we’re safe. I think the roast chicken is bearing the brunt now.”
Both men smiled at this and went back outside to pick up the stuff from the car.
***
Later that afternoon, Jarod lay down on the couch, his left arm covering his eyes. He was taking a break from their work.
Ryan had been helpful but Jarod had observed that the young man had gotten increasingly nervous. The boy’s look would wander, ever so slightly, from the laptop to the window. Outside the day slowly faded away.
Finally the older brother concluded they both could use some distraction. So he had sent Ryan outside to play some basketball.
After Jarod had slumped back on the couch, he had realized he needed this break just as much as Ryan had.
A slight tap on his shoulder brought him back to the present. His mother stood there with a cup of steaming coffee in her hands:
“Here. I thought you needed a jolt of caffeine.”
“Thanks mom. You read my mind.”
Jarod rose into a sitting position. Margaret took a seat. “So, how is it coming along?”
“Fine, I guess. Though there is still a lot of work to do. This isn’t a matter of hours you know.”
“We’ve waited thirty years for this. A few more days won’t matter. But I can hardly wait. With Ethan gone to talk to his sister….”
“Mom, we’ve been through this before. Miss Parker won’t blow the whistle on us. Not over this. You have to trust her.”
“How can I trust her Jarod? She did nothing but hurt my family. How can YOU trust her?”
Jarod briefly contemplated on an answer.
“I guess on some level I always did. Mom, we’ve been through so much together: the good as well as the bad. And even if she did sometimes hurt me, she …” His words faded into nothingness. He was unable to finish this thought.
With an exasperated sigh Jarod looked into his mother’s eyes.
“Mom, don’t worry. I don’t think that Ethan could talk her into coming here. She has made up her mind. “
“But you would want her to come, wouldn’t you Jarod? Even if she has nothing to do with this, you’d like her to come.” This was more of a statement then a question, but Jarod answered it anyway.
“When we finish this, everything will change. Mom, our success here is not going to be the last chapter of the story. When we finally disappear and they realize that there’s no more pretender, the cards the Centre are made of, will falter and come down. I just want her on the safe side, just like her mother had planned it.”
In a whisper full of despair Jarod added: “I only want us to be friends again.”
Watching all the visible emotions crossing his face, Margaret realized something that had eluded her before. Her son did not only ‘care’ for his childhood friend, he was in love with Catherine’s daughter.
Surprised at this newest change of events, the older woman leaned forward to embrace her son. She didn’t like this but she knew she would need to accept it.
“That’s how it’s meant to be, my son. That will make Catherine’s plan complete.”
Gently Jarod slipped out of her arms and gave her a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”
“The whole plan of course. You’ll change the DNA, we will all disappear. I believe that afterwards Miss Parker will be ready and she will follow us. Ethan could stay in contact with her and when she decides, he can lead her to us.”
Margaret finally thought she understood. In her interpretation it was this that Catherine intended when she had continuously talked about her own girl and Jarod.
Margaret patted his knee reassuringly. “The history that you two share will be the safety net she can fall back on. I’m sure that eventually she’ll realize that. It will all be fine,” she encouraged, rose and took the empty cup with her into the kitchen.
But Jarod was not so sure. He remembered what Parker had said to him in New York: that they could never be together because there was too much history between them.
It was when she got up to pour them some more tea that Ethan actually got to the part about Margaret’s ‘addition’ to the plan. The moment he explained what Margaret wanted to do, she stood with her back turned on the kitchen counter. Miss Parker’s whole body tightened within an instant. With a loud ‘thud’ she put the cups back on the counter.
Ethan immediately detected the change in her. He braced himself for what was coming next.
Parker’s over-the-shoulder glare was epic, even for 2 a.m.
“She WHAT?” Parker asked, restraining herself not to yell at him She shook her head in disbelief. “And he agreed to do it, didn’t he?”
Her brother tried to calm her down, but it was a futile effort. She fumed with rage at the new revelations. For the next hour, Parker paced furiously up and down; partly mumbling to herself how impossibly stupid that woman was, partly cursing Jarod for his weakness to stand up against his mother and partly demanding answers from Ethan of how he could’ve let this happen - without giving him time to respond or defend himself though.
It was around three in the morning when Ethan explained he would sneak out the back door and hide somewhere near for the next few days. Miss Parker glared at him as if he’d grown a second head.
“No. You go back to the family and you’ll go tonight. Get Jarod. Tell him I want to meet him. If none of you can do anything about this, then I will. I will talk him out of this even if it’s the last thing I’ll ever do.”
At his rather skeptical look she added: “If he refuses to come, lie. Tell him whatever you want. Tell him I killed someone if you like. Or if that’s not enough, tell him I’ve gone over the edge, that I’ve cried into your shoulders about how much I ‘love’ him! But get him away from them.”
“But where do you suggest we meet M…?” Already anticipating that question, Parker interrupted her brother mid-word.
She needed a place out of the Centre’s grasp but close enough to get to fast. “Maine. Take him to Lake Catherine. When you two arrive up there, he’ll know where to go. I’ll meet you there.”
With a last heartfelt embrace, the two siblings said goodbye. Ethan, though aware of his sister’s troubled emotional status, felt relieved. She would stop this. His faith in her ability was supported by the sudden silence in his head.
With a huge smile on his face the young man ran, covered by trees, across her backyard. He was still grinning when he reached his car and drove off. His sister not only had acted the way he hoped she would, she had also said something important. Even if she had meant it in a more than sarcastic way, she had used the ‘l’ word.
Ethan was pretty sure about Jarod’s feelings towards her. But until now he had only been suspicious about hers. Her actions tonight gave those suspicions way to assurance.
She loved him.
***********
Miss Parker entered her office while stifling one more yawn. Parker went straight to the coffee maker that was now in her office at her demand. Ever since she had it, her secretary had specific orders to have the coffee ready every morning.
The bleary-eyed woman grabbed the biggest mug available and poured some. The hot and bitter liquid burned her throat on the way down just the way she liked it.
She was dead tired and furious. Jarod planned on playing God just to please his mother, and Lyle had her observed. She had to do something about both.
She would not stand by and knowingly watch how ‘boy-wonder’ walked into something with possibly horrible consequences, simply because Jarod thought he owed it to someone he loved.
Later that day she would drive up to Maine and knock his head against a – preferably concrete – wall.
Parker also felt a bit apprehensive at the prospect of meeting Jarod so soon again. She chalked it up to the circumstances but it became harder and harder to deceive herself. She still tried to not admit to herself that she already missed Jarod. She missed his calls. Even if they were mostly snarling at each other, she missed talking to him.
It had only been two days, but she had felt more alone than ever. It was not that he had called her everyday, but this time she knew he wouldn’t call again. That knowledge had nagged at her ever since their parting in New York.
But before she could go, she had to deal with someone else: Lyle. She was damned if she’d allow her twin to play around with her like that.
At that moment Broots stuck his head in the door and searched the room for her.
“Oh, there you are,” the bald man sighed. He entered and carefully closed the door behind him. “I wanted to … Miss Parker, you... are you alright?”
She looked anything but alright and Broots started to worry.
“I’m fine. Just …peachy,” she answered. Collecting herself, she turned and continued with more vigor in her voice, “Brother dearest already in?”
“I, I’ll check. Miss Parker, are you sure you want to get into this. I mean, tell him you know and …”
“Don’t pee in your pants, Broots. He won’t find out you’ve been the acting tattle-tale of the day.” Parker slid into her chair and crossed her legs regally.
Broots hurried to explain himself. “I didn’t mean that!” he blurted out with hurt audibly in his voice.
“I know,” she relented in a soothing tone. More determined she added, “Don’t worry. I’ll be very … diplomatic.”
The feral grin on her face told him that she’d be anything but. Broots felt the need to give it one more try.
“If you look at it objectively, then maybe you’d…” anything else he wanted to say died mid- sentence. Detachment? Objectivity? He was talking to the wrong person here and he knew it.
She sighed heavily. “Broots.”
In a low voice as cold as ice, while accentuating every syllable, she continued: “I will NOT allow my mutant brother to follow my every move! Not now, not ever.”
Somehow it had gotten colder in the room. Broots remembered his wish of the day before. Yeah, Canada couldn’t be THAT cold.
Saying nothing further, she got up, put her cup on the table and left the room. Passing her co-worker, she cocked her head to the right and left Broots with one final glare.
Outside in the hallways, the busy morning routine was in full progress. Aware of the chairman’s daughter’s moods, the employees gave her a wide berth. Despite her fatigue, she still felt the power she had over them.
She entered his office in her usual way. Parker opened both of the murky-glass door wings in one swift motion. She could almost ‘feel’ her twin’s exasperated sigh.
“Sis. Why don’t you come on in!”
Lyle rose from his desk and walked towards her. Parker didn’t even bother to say anything. Meeting him nose to nose in mid-room, she grabbed him by his tie; one fist was clenched to her side, itching to punch. She pulled at his tie just as much as she needed to see that he had trouble breathing.
Two ego-centered personalities were locking eyes, both challenging the other.
“Two things, bro. First: I take it personally if you have me followed by someone whose IQ is below that of a doormat. Second: don’t do it again, ever!”
Her voice was as serious as it was deadly. He realized that. But he also knew that he was the ace when it came to misleading people.
“Sis, trust me. I had you followed for your own good. With all that happened lately, I just wanted to make sure you’re OK.”
She shook her head, “Lyle…”
“It’s true Parker! We all know Jarod would contact you first. Recent developments suggest that he wouldn’t be too happy. So I just wanted someone around to make sure you’re alright.”
“Whatever you say Lyle, whatever you say. Just listen to this…”
He grabbed her hands, which were still on his tie, and removed them. Lyle tried another technique. He knew what worked most often when dealing with his sister. After all, he was a pretender too. With a smile that portrayed fake hurt, he locked eyes with her again.
“You don’t believe me, right? Well, you never did, no matter what I said or did.”
“Not once in your pathetic life you’ve been honest. Why would you start now?”
Lyle went from sounding hurt to sarcastic: “Tell you what sis: since nothing I have to say is to your liking, why don’t you write down what you want to hear and I'll act like a twenty-dollar-hooker, trying to say it as if I really mean it.”
She bored into him with her eyes, daring him to mess with her. “Cut the crap and listen you imbecile. I’ll make this short. Willie or anyone else following me will meet his maker today. Call off the order, or I’ll shoot first and ask questions later. That’s a promise. You might as well call the Centre’s undertaker now, because there’s gonna be a body to dispose of. And I’m going to come back here, and then you’ll be very sorry!”
“Whatcha gonna do? Shoot me too?” There was only a trace of a smile left on his face. He always had to be very careful around her. She was a worthy opponent. But she also was, in his eyes, the key in catching Jarod.
She didn’t respond, so Lyle raised his arms in a sign of defeat, already thinking about ways to continue watching her without getting caught.
Parker pulled on his tie once more and then pushed him away with a disgusted grunt. She turned around on her heels. At the door she shot him a last parting glare and snarled: “Watch it, Lyle. If you really wanna play, all I’d say is: welcome to my playground!"
*********************
The Major paced in the living room. He was concerned for his younger son. Jarod had told them earlier that morning that Ethan had left. The young man had gone straight into the very hell they all tried so hard to stay away from.
Charles felt a deep compassion for Ethan. That boy had gone through a lot in his life and now he simply tried to cling on to the last strings of his sanity. One of those strings was his connection to his sister.
Margaret was in the kitchen, Charles could hear her preparing lunch. The way she used - and abused - the appliances and kitchen-tools indicated that she was still angry.
When Jarod had informed them of Ethan’s intent, Margaret had become mightily upset. Ryan and Emily had been especially surprised at her reaction. In a concerted effort, Charles and Jarod had eventually calmed everyone down.
**
Jarod was on his way back to their house. He had gone to collect a few medical tools he needed for their first tests. Tools like a high-sensitive microscope, vials, needles and the newest medical journals on gene-altering experiments and successes.
Though he was still uncomfortable with the idea, he wanted to get the plan moving. With the help of Ryan and lots of encouragement by his mother he had already run a few computer calculations on DNA-sequences this morning.
The pretender parked the car in the driveway and ran up to the house. He needed some help with all the packages and wanted to get Ryan. In the living room, Jarod met his father and immediately heard the noise from the other room. With a knowing, but dreadful, smile he looked at his father for some reassurance.
“She’s still venting, huh?”
“Yeah, a bit. But for now we’re safe. I think the roast chicken is bearing the brunt now.”
Both men smiled at this and went back outside to pick up the stuff from the car.
***
Later that afternoon, Jarod lay down on the couch, his left arm covering his eyes. He was taking a break from their work.
Ryan had been helpful but Jarod had observed that the young man had gotten increasingly nervous. The boy’s look would wander, ever so slightly, from the laptop to the window. Outside the day slowly faded away.
Finally the older brother concluded they both could use some distraction. So he had sent Ryan outside to play some basketball.
After Jarod had slumped back on the couch, he had realized he needed this break just as much as Ryan had.
A slight tap on his shoulder brought him back to the present. His mother stood there with a cup of steaming coffee in her hands:
“Here. I thought you needed a jolt of caffeine.”
“Thanks mom. You read my mind.”
Jarod rose into a sitting position. Margaret took a seat. “So, how is it coming along?”
“Fine, I guess. Though there is still a lot of work to do. This isn’t a matter of hours you know.”
“We’ve waited thirty years for this. A few more days won’t matter. But I can hardly wait. With Ethan gone to talk to his sister….”
“Mom, we’ve been through this before. Miss Parker won’t blow the whistle on us. Not over this. You have to trust her.”
“How can I trust her Jarod? She did nothing but hurt my family. How can YOU trust her?”
Jarod briefly contemplated on an answer.
“I guess on some level I always did. Mom, we’ve been through so much together: the good as well as the bad. And even if she did sometimes hurt me, she …” His words faded into nothingness. He was unable to finish this thought.
With an exasperated sigh Jarod looked into his mother’s eyes.
“Mom, don’t worry. I don’t think that Ethan could talk her into coming here. She has made up her mind. “
“But you would want her to come, wouldn’t you Jarod? Even if she has nothing to do with this, you’d like her to come.” This was more of a statement then a question, but Jarod answered it anyway.
“When we finish this, everything will change. Mom, our success here is not going to be the last chapter of the story. When we finally disappear and they realize that there’s no more pretender, the cards the Centre are made of, will falter and come down. I just want her on the safe side, just like her mother had planned it.”
In a whisper full of despair Jarod added: “I only want us to be friends again.”
Watching all the visible emotions crossing his face, Margaret realized something that had eluded her before. Her son did not only ‘care’ for his childhood friend, he was in love with Catherine’s daughter.
Surprised at this newest change of events, the older woman leaned forward to embrace her son. She didn’t like this but she knew she would need to accept it.
“That’s how it’s meant to be, my son. That will make Catherine’s plan complete.”
Gently Jarod slipped out of her arms and gave her a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”
“The whole plan of course. You’ll change the DNA, we will all disappear. I believe that afterwards Miss Parker will be ready and she will follow us. Ethan could stay in contact with her and when she decides, he can lead her to us.”
Margaret finally thought she understood. In her interpretation it was this that Catherine intended when she had continuously talked about her own girl and Jarod.
Margaret patted his knee reassuringly. “The history that you two share will be the safety net she can fall back on. I’m sure that eventually she’ll realize that. It will all be fine,” she encouraged, rose and took the empty cup with her into the kitchen.
But Jarod was not so sure. He remembered what Parker had said to him in New York: that they could never be together because there was too much history between them.
