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Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: The characters Miss Parker, Sydney, Jarod, Broots etc. and the fictional Centre, are all property of MTM, TNT and NBC Productions and used without permission. I'm not making any money out of this and no infringement is intended.
Author's Note: This piece was written as a sequel/companion piece to When She Loved Me. It further explains what happened to tear Miss Parker and Jarod apart. You need to read When She Loved Me first to understand this story.
When She Loved Me
2 : To Love The Loathed
by ~*Ashley*~
Every time I close my eyes it is as if I am transported to another life. The dreams that haunt me, tempt me, through the night go on in the darkness of my subconscious, and for that second I am no longer the Miss Parker known and hated by all, I am Morgan. I am myself. My life is no longer the lonely mess it has become. It no longer hurts me to feel happiness. I am happy. I am loved, I love.
I realize the foolishness of my fantasy. But at one time I believed with all my heart that I would find happiness and love. I recall evenings of wishing on falling stars outside of my window for that life that I dreamt of. That dream, though, was not mine alone. It was his dream too. Jarod and I used to sit for hours on end in the shadows of the Centre building our imaginary future together. The perfect 2.4 children, the little house, and the white Pickett fence. We were innocent enough to believe that we could have such a thing. We should have known better.
I still believed that the day I asked Jarod to run away with me. I honestly thought that he would want to leave with me, want to have that dream life. I longed to lie upon a hilltop under the stars, a fresh breeze flowing through my hair, with Jarod at my side.
I had only begun to realize that there was no way that The Centre was going to let that happen. They had already planned to send me away. Something inside of me told me that if I didn't act right then, I would lose my chance, perhaps forever. So I asked him to run away with me. He promised me that nothing could keep us apart. He told me that one day they would let him go free and then we would be together.
"Forever."
He convinced me that running away wasn't a good idea. Looking back I know it wasn't but I would have done anything to be with him. Reassured by his confidence in our loved beating all, I told him I loved him and kissed him goodbye. I had no idea that was the kiss goodbye.
That night Daddy told me to pack my things, my flight out would be at four the next morning.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Late August 1979
"What!?!?" I yelled at my father.
"You heard me Angel. You have to leave now if you want to get all of your top choice courses."
"But I am not ready!"
He set down the paper he had been reading, "You are ready and you are leaving tomorrow."
"But I didn't get to say goodbye."
"To whom?"
"Um, Sydney." I lied.
It was obvious that he saw right through that one. He was quite aware of my "attachment to the Pretender". It was one of his reasons for urging me to go to a college so far away from Blue Cove.
"Well Angel, you can always send him letters."
That gave me an idea. Sydney was always an advocate of my relationship with Jarod. He could forward letters to him for me.
"Yes Daddy."
I went to pack, content that I had discovered away to make the months away from Jarod easier to bare.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Present
I wrote those letters. I wrote one to him every day I was away for the first semester. I was confident that Sydney would forward my messages to him, so I was astonished not to receive any reply. It was a simple venture to sneak into the Centre mailroom to mail a letter. It would have been even easier for Jarod with his skills.
Each night, after homework of course, I would sit by my window dreaming that wonderful dream. I could barely wait to see him again. I described to him, in my letters, every sight I saw, ever experience I had. I wanted him to be there with me through my words, to see what I saw through my eyes.
I would tell myself at first that Jarod was too busy with his sims to write back. That I had to give him time. He would write back. Right?
At Thanksgiving my father came to me. I was shocked that he would come to see me in Tokyo like that, but he had insisted that he come to me instead of me having to take that long flight back to Blue Cove. He said he was in Asia on business anyway.
I regretted not being able to return to The Centre to see Jarod, but Daddy showed me such a wonderful time I almost forgot about him. That was the first time Daddy introduced me to a nice young man who he though I might enjoy spending time with. He invited several ambitious entreprunures to dinner with us (They all obviously cared more about impressing my father than me). He completely ignored my protests that I was not interested in meeting anyone. Even after he went back home, he had his friends and associates set up these dates for me. He would tell me that he was worried about me being here alone and that he only wanted his Angel to be happy. I believed him and grudgedly went along with the show.
At Christmas I convinced my father that we couldn't have any decent holiday away from home. As soon as I arrived back in Blue Cove I was off to The Centre to see Jarod. I pacified my father with the excuse that I was only anxious to see how much it had changed without me. I spent all morning preparing, my skirt never seemed to look quite right, and it had to be changed several times. I was, to say the least, nervous about seeing him again. It had been almost four months since our last visit, longer than ever before. I still had fresh memories about our parting. I had missed him so much. Maybe he could give me an explanation to the lack of reply to my letters.
I knew that Sydney usually let Jarod have some free time around three in the afternoon. I managed to wait until about two before I lost my patience. I drove over there so quickly I am surprised that I got no speeding ticket.
I made my appearance at my father's office and was off to the Sim Lab within fifteen minutes. I was careful to avoid any unwanted attention. There was no need to alert my father to this little excursion. As I approached I moved into the shadows hoping to surprise Jarod.
I could see, from my hiding place, Jarod. I knew him by his never changing, Center issue hair cut. What caught me off guard was that he was not alone. Sitting close to him, VERY close to him was a blonde woman. She was obviously flirting with him by the way she tossed her hair back every time she laughed.
What I saw next remains burned into my mind's eye to this very day. She whispered something into his ear and turned his head to her with her hand. He seemed a bit uncomfortable but that didn't stop her from giving him a big kiss on the lips.
After watching for a couple seconds and not seeing him pull away I ran. I ran as far away from the Sim Lab and Jarod as I could. He never even knew I was there.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
What I didn't see, what I didn't know until today, was that within moments of my departure he jumped from his seat. I sit here watching the DSA of him angrily telling her not to do that again, that they were to work together on this one sim and that was it. I see in my hand the memo from my father detailing how that blonde would stage a kiss for my benefit.
The DSA and memo arrived in the mail this morning. They didn't have a return address or a name. I didn’t need one to know whom it was from. What was Jarod trying to tell me this time?
My father's betrayal doesn't come as much of a surprise. I have known for a long time that he will do anything to keep me from being happy. He needs me as a pawn in whatever twisted power game he plays with the powers that be.
What truly hurts was the knowledge that I spent so many years angry with the wrong person. That anger changed me in ways I shutter to think of. If I had known then what I know now I am sure I would have become a different person.
But I didn't know that the never kissed her back. I was so angry, so hurt. I was always faithful to him. I never even kissed one of those men Daddy set me up with. I couldn't believe how much temptation I had resisted only to find him in the arms of the next girl he met!
I flew back to college on the next flight after Christmas. I resolved to forget Jarod. To move on and enjoy the college atmosphere that I had been denied in the moths I spent pining for him. I wrote him one last letter. I used that he didn't know I had seen the kiss to my advantage. I wrote to him of what a great time I was having, how I didn't miss him or that freak show one bit, and of how many drop dead gorgeous guys I had dated. I hoped to hurt him as much as he had hurt me. As it turns out, that was the only of my letters that ever made it to Sydney and into Jarod's hands. The others had been intercepted before they even left the mailbox in front of the campus library.
I went wild. I didn't care anymore about love or the future. I lived for the here and the now. I smoked and drank, I discarded boyfriend after meaningless boyfriend every time I felt he was getting too close. I would NOT make the same mistake twice. I would not allow myself to ever love again. I knew I could never love anyone like I loved Jarod.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After four years away I came back to work at The Centre. I had changed from an innocent little girl to a hardened woman. I knew what I wanted and I knew how to get it. Nothing got in my way. There was only one reminder of the happiness and love I once felt. Every night I was visited by my dream, our dream. It was like a horrible flu that wouldn't go away. I was horrified that somewhere deep down I still wanted that dream to become true.
The day I ran into Jarod in the hall after not seeing him for so long was a shock to me. I had not seen him face to face since the day I told him I would love him forever. The look in his eyes brought back a flood of memories. He reminded me of what I had become and what should have been. The only way that I could retain some form of composure was for me to slip into the ice queen façade I had become so accustomed to. I pushed him away.
I could see the pain in his eyes. The pain that I had caused. I reminded myself over and over that he had done that to himself. He cheated on me, not the other way around. I tried not to think about how I never gave him a chance to explain, or how my leaving so abruptly may have caused that incident of infidelity in the first place. It was his fault, all his fault. I repeated that mantra in my head until it became like a prayer to me.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The day I was assigned to the hunt for The Pretender I was furious. I had asked him to run away with me all of those years ago and he had said no. Now it seemed to be so easy for him to leave. To leave without me, to leave me in this place. I had never imagined that he would go without me.
Why Sydney had requested that I be a part of the pursuit I do not know why. Maybe he thought that because of our history I would never hurt Jarod. Sydney was correct as always.
I tried to convince my father that my services would be better utilized in the corporate. He countered that I was the Centre employee who knew Jarod best, save Sydney.
And so started the chase. He left clues behind for us, little hints. He soon began sending information about my mother. He dared me to feel things that I had hidden deep within my soul. But I was so scared that I would get hurt again. The pain was still so sharp within my heart that another devastation like that would have killed me I am sure.
Jarod must have recognized my fear. He knew that we could never be together, The Centre wouldn't allow it and I was too closed off to him. The years of hatred had left a wound not yet ready to heal. He couldn't be there for me, so he gave me the next best thing. He gave me some one who would love me. He gave me Tommy.
Tommy was a special man. He made me realize how much I missed being loved. I loved Tommy, but he must have known that Daddy wasn't the only reason I didn't want to leave with him. I knew in my heart that I wasn't supposed to run away with him, I was supposed to run away with Jarod.
The reality of the situation was that Tommy seemed to be my last chance with any kind of happiness. I assured myself that even though Tommy could never make me as happy as I knew Jarod could, he would make me happy. When Jarod called and told me to leave with Tommy I could feel my heart breaking again. Not only didn't he want to be with me, he was trying to get rid of me forever. I came within inches of totally giving up on my dream.
When Bridgett killed Tommy it broke my heart. I was overcome with guilt. If he hadn't been with me he would be alive right now. I didn't even love him like he loved me, like he deserved to be loved. I just hoped that he knew I did love him, even if I could never love him as much as I had loved Jarod.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
If only Jarod knew what went through my head every time he called. That whenever I threatened to shoot him in the foot I was just covering for my urge to kiss him. My anger is the only way that I can hide my feelings. I know that if I let that mask slip even a little bit, it would be my ruin. If I allow myself to love him I will never be able to stop. The feelings bottled up in my heart would come pouring out like a broken dam. That is not something that The Centre would approve of. They'd have me killed if they even thought I liked their lab rat.
Every day my mind does battle with my heart. It is a constant struggle with what I know I should do, and what I feel I should do.
Tell him that you love him. You should be with him. You have known since you were children that you were meant to be together. It would be so easy. He has always proven his devotion to you. He never really kissed that girl. He was waiting for you. He loves you.
Don't ever tell him how you feel. He doesn't love you. You were only ever just a childhood crush. He has moved on. You've seen the proof of that. You've met his girlfriends. He torments you. He hates you. Stop doing this to yourself right now. He isn't worth it. He doesn't love you, he never did.
Neither side ever really wins. I always end up in a compromise between my head and my heart. I continue to love him, but I don't let him know. I don't let anyone know.
The only solstice I have is our dream. The life we could have, should have had. I allow myself to be completely absorbed by the fantasy. The perfection of that life is a Gibraltar’s rock to me. Deep inside I still believe that someday we can live that life. That all hope is not lost. It is what keeps me from breaking down and giving up.
Someday I will tell him how I feel. Be damned the consequences. I love him. We will be together. We will have our perfect little house, with the white Pickett fence, and the 2.4 children. And we will live happily ever after.
I smile as I pick up a book that came with the DSA and memo. A simple passage is highlighted.
My only love, sprung from my only hate.
Too early seen unknown, known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me.
That I must love a loathed enemy!
Maybe he does still love me.
"I love you, Jarod. I always have. I always will." I whispered into the night air. My words getting lost in breeze.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Epilogue
Somewhere, in a minimally furnished apartment, Jarod lay dreaming. It was the same dream he had been having all of his life. It was the one dream that he welcomed. In the dream, he and Parker were together. They were happy. He could see images of children and a picturesque house.
At this part of the dream he and Parker sat upon a hilltop gazing at the stars. He could almost feel the gentle wind caressing his face. Parker turned her face to look at him. The love in her eyes made his breath catch.
"I love you, Jarod. I always have. I always will." The words seemed so real. It was as if he were truly hearing them being spoken from her lips. She had never told him this in his dreams before. He could almost believe that she was with him saying those magic words.
A small smile graced his lips. For the first time in a long time he didn't have any bad dreams that night. He slept soundly, suddenly filled with a new hope. A hope that someday the dream wouldn't be just a dream. That it could be reality.
"I love you, Parker. I always have. I always will." He whispered in his sleep.
Somehow he knew that she had heard him.
Author's Note: This piece was written as a sequel/companion piece to When She Loved Me. It further explains what happened to tear Miss Parker and Jarod apart. You need to read When She Loved Me first to understand this story.
When She Loved Me
2 : To Love The Loathed
by ~*Ashley*~
Every time I close my eyes it is as if I am transported to another life. The dreams that haunt me, tempt me, through the night go on in the darkness of my subconscious, and for that second I am no longer the Miss Parker known and hated by all, I am Morgan. I am myself. My life is no longer the lonely mess it has become. It no longer hurts me to feel happiness. I am happy. I am loved, I love.
I realize the foolishness of my fantasy. But at one time I believed with all my heart that I would find happiness and love. I recall evenings of wishing on falling stars outside of my window for that life that I dreamt of. That dream, though, was not mine alone. It was his dream too. Jarod and I used to sit for hours on end in the shadows of the Centre building our imaginary future together. The perfect 2.4 children, the little house, and the white Pickett fence. We were innocent enough to believe that we could have such a thing. We should have known better.
I still believed that the day I asked Jarod to run away with me. I honestly thought that he would want to leave with me, want to have that dream life. I longed to lie upon a hilltop under the stars, a fresh breeze flowing through my hair, with Jarod at my side.
I had only begun to realize that there was no way that The Centre was going to let that happen. They had already planned to send me away. Something inside of me told me that if I didn't act right then, I would lose my chance, perhaps forever. So I asked him to run away with me. He promised me that nothing could keep us apart. He told me that one day they would let him go free and then we would be together.
"Forever."
He convinced me that running away wasn't a good idea. Looking back I know it wasn't but I would have done anything to be with him. Reassured by his confidence in our loved beating all, I told him I loved him and kissed him goodbye. I had no idea that was the kiss goodbye.
That night Daddy told me to pack my things, my flight out would be at four the next morning.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Late August 1979
"What!?!?" I yelled at my father.
"You heard me Angel. You have to leave now if you want to get all of your top choice courses."
"But I am not ready!"
He set down the paper he had been reading, "You are ready and you are leaving tomorrow."
"But I didn't get to say goodbye."
"To whom?"
"Um, Sydney." I lied.
It was obvious that he saw right through that one. He was quite aware of my "attachment to the Pretender". It was one of his reasons for urging me to go to a college so far away from Blue Cove.
"Well Angel, you can always send him letters."
That gave me an idea. Sydney was always an advocate of my relationship with Jarod. He could forward letters to him for me.
"Yes Daddy."
I went to pack, content that I had discovered away to make the months away from Jarod easier to bare.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Present
I wrote those letters. I wrote one to him every day I was away for the first semester. I was confident that Sydney would forward my messages to him, so I was astonished not to receive any reply. It was a simple venture to sneak into the Centre mailroom to mail a letter. It would have been even easier for Jarod with his skills.
Each night, after homework of course, I would sit by my window dreaming that wonderful dream. I could barely wait to see him again. I described to him, in my letters, every sight I saw, ever experience I had. I wanted him to be there with me through my words, to see what I saw through my eyes.
I would tell myself at first that Jarod was too busy with his sims to write back. That I had to give him time. He would write back. Right?
At Thanksgiving my father came to me. I was shocked that he would come to see me in Tokyo like that, but he had insisted that he come to me instead of me having to take that long flight back to Blue Cove. He said he was in Asia on business anyway.
I regretted not being able to return to The Centre to see Jarod, but Daddy showed me such a wonderful time I almost forgot about him. That was the first time Daddy introduced me to a nice young man who he though I might enjoy spending time with. He invited several ambitious entreprunures to dinner with us (They all obviously cared more about impressing my father than me). He completely ignored my protests that I was not interested in meeting anyone. Even after he went back home, he had his friends and associates set up these dates for me. He would tell me that he was worried about me being here alone and that he only wanted his Angel to be happy. I believed him and grudgedly went along with the show.
At Christmas I convinced my father that we couldn't have any decent holiday away from home. As soon as I arrived back in Blue Cove I was off to The Centre to see Jarod. I pacified my father with the excuse that I was only anxious to see how much it had changed without me. I spent all morning preparing, my skirt never seemed to look quite right, and it had to be changed several times. I was, to say the least, nervous about seeing him again. It had been almost four months since our last visit, longer than ever before. I still had fresh memories about our parting. I had missed him so much. Maybe he could give me an explanation to the lack of reply to my letters.
I knew that Sydney usually let Jarod have some free time around three in the afternoon. I managed to wait until about two before I lost my patience. I drove over there so quickly I am surprised that I got no speeding ticket.
I made my appearance at my father's office and was off to the Sim Lab within fifteen minutes. I was careful to avoid any unwanted attention. There was no need to alert my father to this little excursion. As I approached I moved into the shadows hoping to surprise Jarod.
I could see, from my hiding place, Jarod. I knew him by his never changing, Center issue hair cut. What caught me off guard was that he was not alone. Sitting close to him, VERY close to him was a blonde woman. She was obviously flirting with him by the way she tossed her hair back every time she laughed.
What I saw next remains burned into my mind's eye to this very day. She whispered something into his ear and turned his head to her with her hand. He seemed a bit uncomfortable but that didn't stop her from giving him a big kiss on the lips.
After watching for a couple seconds and not seeing him pull away I ran. I ran as far away from the Sim Lab and Jarod as I could. He never even knew I was there.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
What I didn't see, what I didn't know until today, was that within moments of my departure he jumped from his seat. I sit here watching the DSA of him angrily telling her not to do that again, that they were to work together on this one sim and that was it. I see in my hand the memo from my father detailing how that blonde would stage a kiss for my benefit.
The DSA and memo arrived in the mail this morning. They didn't have a return address or a name. I didn’t need one to know whom it was from. What was Jarod trying to tell me this time?
My father's betrayal doesn't come as much of a surprise. I have known for a long time that he will do anything to keep me from being happy. He needs me as a pawn in whatever twisted power game he plays with the powers that be.
What truly hurts was the knowledge that I spent so many years angry with the wrong person. That anger changed me in ways I shutter to think of. If I had known then what I know now I am sure I would have become a different person.
But I didn't know that the never kissed her back. I was so angry, so hurt. I was always faithful to him. I never even kissed one of those men Daddy set me up with. I couldn't believe how much temptation I had resisted only to find him in the arms of the next girl he met!
I flew back to college on the next flight after Christmas. I resolved to forget Jarod. To move on and enjoy the college atmosphere that I had been denied in the moths I spent pining for him. I wrote him one last letter. I used that he didn't know I had seen the kiss to my advantage. I wrote to him of what a great time I was having, how I didn't miss him or that freak show one bit, and of how many drop dead gorgeous guys I had dated. I hoped to hurt him as much as he had hurt me. As it turns out, that was the only of my letters that ever made it to Sydney and into Jarod's hands. The others had been intercepted before they even left the mailbox in front of the campus library.
I went wild. I didn't care anymore about love or the future. I lived for the here and the now. I smoked and drank, I discarded boyfriend after meaningless boyfriend every time I felt he was getting too close. I would NOT make the same mistake twice. I would not allow myself to ever love again. I knew I could never love anyone like I loved Jarod.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After four years away I came back to work at The Centre. I had changed from an innocent little girl to a hardened woman. I knew what I wanted and I knew how to get it. Nothing got in my way. There was only one reminder of the happiness and love I once felt. Every night I was visited by my dream, our dream. It was like a horrible flu that wouldn't go away. I was horrified that somewhere deep down I still wanted that dream to become true.
The day I ran into Jarod in the hall after not seeing him for so long was a shock to me. I had not seen him face to face since the day I told him I would love him forever. The look in his eyes brought back a flood of memories. He reminded me of what I had become and what should have been. The only way that I could retain some form of composure was for me to slip into the ice queen façade I had become so accustomed to. I pushed him away.
I could see the pain in his eyes. The pain that I had caused. I reminded myself over and over that he had done that to himself. He cheated on me, not the other way around. I tried not to think about how I never gave him a chance to explain, or how my leaving so abruptly may have caused that incident of infidelity in the first place. It was his fault, all his fault. I repeated that mantra in my head until it became like a prayer to me.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The day I was assigned to the hunt for The Pretender I was furious. I had asked him to run away with me all of those years ago and he had said no. Now it seemed to be so easy for him to leave. To leave without me, to leave me in this place. I had never imagined that he would go without me.
Why Sydney had requested that I be a part of the pursuit I do not know why. Maybe he thought that because of our history I would never hurt Jarod. Sydney was correct as always.
I tried to convince my father that my services would be better utilized in the corporate. He countered that I was the Centre employee who knew Jarod best, save Sydney.
And so started the chase. He left clues behind for us, little hints. He soon began sending information about my mother. He dared me to feel things that I had hidden deep within my soul. But I was so scared that I would get hurt again. The pain was still so sharp within my heart that another devastation like that would have killed me I am sure.
Jarod must have recognized my fear. He knew that we could never be together, The Centre wouldn't allow it and I was too closed off to him. The years of hatred had left a wound not yet ready to heal. He couldn't be there for me, so he gave me the next best thing. He gave me some one who would love me. He gave me Tommy.
Tommy was a special man. He made me realize how much I missed being loved. I loved Tommy, but he must have known that Daddy wasn't the only reason I didn't want to leave with him. I knew in my heart that I wasn't supposed to run away with him, I was supposed to run away with Jarod.
The reality of the situation was that Tommy seemed to be my last chance with any kind of happiness. I assured myself that even though Tommy could never make me as happy as I knew Jarod could, he would make me happy. When Jarod called and told me to leave with Tommy I could feel my heart breaking again. Not only didn't he want to be with me, he was trying to get rid of me forever. I came within inches of totally giving up on my dream.
When Bridgett killed Tommy it broke my heart. I was overcome with guilt. If he hadn't been with me he would be alive right now. I didn't even love him like he loved me, like he deserved to be loved. I just hoped that he knew I did love him, even if I could never love him as much as I had loved Jarod.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
If only Jarod knew what went through my head every time he called. That whenever I threatened to shoot him in the foot I was just covering for my urge to kiss him. My anger is the only way that I can hide my feelings. I know that if I let that mask slip even a little bit, it would be my ruin. If I allow myself to love him I will never be able to stop. The feelings bottled up in my heart would come pouring out like a broken dam. That is not something that The Centre would approve of. They'd have me killed if they even thought I liked their lab rat.
Every day my mind does battle with my heart. It is a constant struggle with what I know I should do, and what I feel I should do.
Tell him that you love him. You should be with him. You have known since you were children that you were meant to be together. It would be so easy. He has always proven his devotion to you. He never really kissed that girl. He was waiting for you. He loves you.
Don't ever tell him how you feel. He doesn't love you. You were only ever just a childhood crush. He has moved on. You've seen the proof of that. You've met his girlfriends. He torments you. He hates you. Stop doing this to yourself right now. He isn't worth it. He doesn't love you, he never did.
Neither side ever really wins. I always end up in a compromise between my head and my heart. I continue to love him, but I don't let him know. I don't let anyone know.
The only solstice I have is our dream. The life we could have, should have had. I allow myself to be completely absorbed by the fantasy. The perfection of that life is a Gibraltar’s rock to me. Deep inside I still believe that someday we can live that life. That all hope is not lost. It is what keeps me from breaking down and giving up.
Someday I will tell him how I feel. Be damned the consequences. I love him. We will be together. We will have our perfect little house, with the white Pickett fence, and the 2.4 children. And we will live happily ever after.
I smile as I pick up a book that came with the DSA and memo. A simple passage is highlighted.
My only love, sprung from my only hate.
Too early seen unknown, known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me.
That I must love a loathed enemy!
Maybe he does still love me.
"I love you, Jarod. I always have. I always will." I whispered into the night air. My words getting lost in breeze.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Epilogue
Somewhere, in a minimally furnished apartment, Jarod lay dreaming. It was the same dream he had been having all of his life. It was the one dream that he welcomed. In the dream, he and Parker were together. They were happy. He could see images of children and a picturesque house.
At this part of the dream he and Parker sat upon a hilltop gazing at the stars. He could almost feel the gentle wind caressing his face. Parker turned her face to look at him. The love in her eyes made his breath catch.
"I love you, Jarod. I always have. I always will." The words seemed so real. It was as if he were truly hearing them being spoken from her lips. She had never told him this in his dreams before. He could almost believe that she was with him saying those magic words.
A small smile graced his lips. For the first time in a long time he didn't have any bad dreams that night. He slept soundly, suddenly filled with a new hope. A hope that someday the dream wouldn't be just a dream. That it could be reality.
"I love you, Parker. I always have. I always will." He whispered in his sleep.
Somehow he knew that she had heard him.
