A Blast from the Past
Written by Isa Bedigian
It's the next day. Julia is beginning to suspect she may be pregnant (as I said I worked things around so Daphne would be two more months pregnant that Julia) & Charlie runs into Kirsten.
Julia came home from class & ran straight into the bathroom. She remained
in that uncomfortable posistion over the toilet for over what felt like hours
before splashing cold water on her face & lying down on her bed. She thought
it over for a second. Was this the third or fourth time she'd thrown up
today? It didn't really matter, she knew it was the third day in a row she'd
gotten sick all of a sudden.
She looked @ the clock by her bed. 3:15. Plenty of time 'till her seven-o-
clock class. She set the alarm on the clock for six-fifteen & drifted off to
sleep to try & ease her pounding head.
"Charlie!" a woman's voice shouted.
He glanced around him, but saw no one, & kept on walking.
"Charlie!"
He could have sworn he heard it again but still saw no one.
"Charlie! Let me catch up with you."
Charlie stopped walking & turned around. Getting closer & closer, he
finally started to put a name & a face with the voice. Kirsten Bennett.
"Kirsten!" he said & embraced her in a hug when she got close enough. "How
are you? How've you been? I haven't seen you in over a month!"
"I'm okay, stressed. I went to Europe for awhile, clear my head."
"Europe?"
"Yeah, I remembered how much Julia loved it, so--"
"How did Paul get the time off?"
"Oh, well, I went by myself Charlie. Paul & I are seperated."
"Oh, God, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's really for the best." she shrugged. "I think it just
boiled down to us both wanting different things."
Charlie knew better than to ask what those things were. "Look, I've gotta
drop these papers with my boss--"
"You got a job?"
"I'm a plant manager for a month. They just needed a replacement guy, it
was a case of being in the right place at the right time I guess."
"That's great Charlie. Are you enjoying it?"
"Yeah, I am, actually. I thought it'd be pretty boring, but it's not."
"Good,"
"So, do you wanna get a cup of coffee?"
"Actually I can't, I'm on my way to work."
"Oh that nanny thing?"
"Yeah, it's just for the next week though, then their full-time nanny is
back from her vacation."
"Then what will you do?"
"Read the want ads I guess. I don't know if I want another nanny job, but I
definately want to do something with children."
"That's great." Charlie glanced @ his watch. "I gotta get these papers to
my boss, I'll call you k?"
"Yeah, I'm still @ the old apartment, for now." she waved as she walked off,
& he paused for a minute before leaving, watching her long blonde hair blow in
the wind as she walked. That was just one of the things he had missed about
her.
"So you never see your real mom?" Daphne asked.
Sarah continued to fold towels as she talked. "Nope, not in over two years.
Not that I care that much." she laughed a nervous laugh. "I'm lying. I miss
her. I actually think about her more now than I used to. I'm not sure what
it is, but I definately wish I had her in my life."
"So call her."
"Yeah, 'cause I could find her. She's an actress, & she tours with her
shows, so it's pretty hard to keep track of her. We tried the pen pal thing,
but she never wrote back. And she'd given me her cat to take care of, but it
got run over by a car the week after she gave it to me, so....."
"Sarah, can I ask you something? And can I know you'll be completely honest
with me?"
"Of course."
"If I give Charlie this baby to raise, do you think he or she will wonder
where its mother is."
"Yeah, I know he or she will. A mom is something you feel this unreal bond
with, you know? I mean, I still don't understand why Robin felt she had to
give me up, I still love her, I still love my parents too though. It's like
being caught in a cat's cradle."
"What if Charlie had someone else? Some girlfriend or even a wife? What if
she was the baby's mother? Would the baby still miss me?"
"Not right away, it wouldn't be old enough to understand about adoption
yet." Sarah placed the folded laundry into the basket. "I'll be right back.
I need to check & see if we need anything from the store for dinner."
"Okay. Sarah?"
"Um-hmm?"
"Thanks for sharing all this with me. I know it was hard for you."
Sarah didn't know what to say, so she just smiled before leaving the room,
thinking about how unfair it would be to let that baby think someone other
than its real mother had given birth to him or her.
Julia tossed and turned in bed all night. Her head was pounding & her
breasts were killing her. She didn't have any asprin, so there was nothing
she could do to ease the pain. She suspected the pain was from her upcoming
"friend", but then it hit her. She hadn't had met with that "friend" in a
couple months. She'd been so preocupied with Charlie & Griffin & school that
she wasn't even noticing. She groaned & threw the covers up over her head,
hoping that if she didn't deal with it now, she wouldn't have to in the
morning.
"So you just talked like nothing?" Bailey asked. Charlie had stopped by the
restaurant to tell him about running into Kirsten.
"Yeah, & she seemed so....I don't know....eager for me to call her."
"So call her."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Daphne is living with me!"
"No, she's living @ the house. Just like Claudia & Owen live there."
"Bailey."
"Look. You two aren't romantically inclined anymore right?"
"Yeah...."
"So just call Kirsten & see where it goes. It might just be nothing."
"Why would it be nothing?" Charlie asked quickly.
Bailey broke into a huge grin. "So you want it to be something."
"I want it to be whatever it's meant to be," Charlie replied. "You think
she's home from work by now? I wanna call her."
"Don't bother man."
"Why not?"
"Look behind you. She just came in."
Charlie whirled around on the barstool.
"De ja vu, a brother?" he joked. He watched as Charlie & Kirsten hugged
then moved to a quiet table near the back. He sensed that something was
brewing there, but he couldn't tell what.
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