PREVIOUSLY

"You didn't answer my question. Too hard for you now, right? You just don't have all those pertinent facts keyed in, do you? I'll give you a fact…you may have already heard it somewhere, but it's a juicy little tidbit… Toddy and I have a wife."

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Nick's smile reminded Slider of a child who had made a sly confession to a parent. Okay…he wants to talk now…I'd be wise to let him say whatever he wants. Who knows when he'll want to talk like this again?
"A wife?"
"Well, unless you'd been following Todd's every move, you might not have heard about this. Yeah…a wife. A Puerto Rican lawyer wife…how's that for an item for your research? Here's the part that makes me want to howl when I think about it. He paid her five million dollars to do it."
"To marry him?"
"That's right," Nick's eyes assessed Slider's reaction. "You're not amazed by this?"
Slider calmly folded his hands and looked intently back at him. "Why would I be amazed? Todd and I have been separated for many years and he's done a number of things since then that were…unusual."
A warning flag seemed to go up in Nick's mind as Slider made the last statement. Other things…is that what you're trying to get to? You haven't changed much, Slider - you've just gotten some credentials to back up your analyzing. You've only pricked the surface of me as I am now. Still…you're the only one on the planet who knows how I came to be.
As a smooth deflection, Nick yawned and said wearily, "I need rest…if Toddy decides to have another nightmare, leave us alone. I'd rather sleep through it."
Nothing doing Nick! Whatever happens to Z, I'll be here to help.
Ignoring his remark, Slider rose and clicked off a small table lamp. As he saw the form of the man lying in the darkness, he felt an ache that his injured guest was no longer his friend but a created enigma from both their pasts. I've missed you Z. Somehow I'm going to find out where you are and what happened over the years to make Nick reappear in your life.
"Good night, Nick," he said, but his words fell awkwardly into the silence and got no response. Good night, Z.

Sherry sat huddled in her bed looking at the bedtime snack she had placed on her night table. I don't even feel like eating really…I'm a mess. Several things that had happened this evening had signaled her that changes were on the way. First there was the stranger who had invaded the tranquility of Slider's home. He was no ordinary man. She could tell that right away. As a doctor, she quickly sized up her patients and over time, she had learned a lot about the facades that people created for themselves. This man was brutally real and supremely confidant with an open invitation for anyone to challenge him that she found irksome. What his connection to Slider was she knew would probably remain a mystery for some time. Then there was her moment of reckoning with Slider. Letting him see her as a flustered, lovesick woman was not what she had ever planned, and she still couldn't get the image of the shock she saw reflected back in his blue eyes.
Picking up one of the cookies she had set out, she bit into it and chewed slowly. I've just got to settle his mind that I'm still the same Sherry he thinks he knows. He doesn't need two surprises right now.
Lying back in the bed she thought of what it would be like to wake up with him in the morning -- to enfold herself in his long arms and to watch him as the first light of day streamed in. To be a part of his world was all she had wanted, but she had been stoic and determined not to jeopardize what they already had. Nothing could change her love for him, but something or someone could possibly threaten to come between them. She had been prepared for a woman. She had never thought it might be a man.
As she clicked off the light and lay quietly in the dark - her eyes still alert and her mind wide awake - she thought of what the next few days would bring. I don't know who you are, Nick, but you don't know me either. I'm going to be watching you.

Sam's breath was ragged and his body vibrated with unbelievable energy as he stood motionless amidst a cluster of shrubs. His mind couldn't grasp anything that he was doing; it was all instinctual. With every part of him crying out for her silently, he held her eyes with his as if he would never let go.
You're back…you're back…the words merged with a heightened sense of drama as she stared back at the man who had ripped apart the comfort zone in which she lived -- the man who could conceivably take her on the journey of a lifetime.
The distance between them didn't make her feel safe at all, but she recognized immediately that safety was not want she wanted. Escaping the traumas of her past had always meant reaching for a net of security with the men she had loved, and abruptly she saw how she had meticulously fashioned a woman to suit her need to have everything fit nicely into place. Her own brother had been the only one to see through her and had called her bluff many times. How well you knew me! And I was the one who always lectured you…
He waited and tried to calm the disturbance that had overtaken him and made him rush out into the dead of night like a crazy mindless fool. What are you thinking…feeling…I have to know…I have to!

Tea breathed a deep sigh of relief as she saw the man approaching her from the corner of her eye as she hid behind some oversized bins near the bodega. She had been praying fervently for five minutes that he would get there soon before someone jumped her. Del would be searching everywhere, and she thought this would be the last place he would think to find her. Here…it seems like a lifetime ago that you were here with me, querido…causing trouble in the store…making me crazy.
"Tea?" the man almost whispered into the shadows - waiting for her to appear.
"Miguel!" she emerged from her hiding place and cautiously looked around. The place was deserted. Seeing no one around, she walked over and set her suitcase down. With a broad smile, she clasped his slender, wiry body to hers.
"I knew you were the one to call."
"You waited behind those bins? In this area?" Miguel's eyes shifted back and forth with worry.
"It wasn't long…and I needed to find a place out of the way." Picking up her suitcase, she looked daringly at him. "I've got everything I need in here."
Miguel whistled softly and moved back as if to give her plenty of room. "Santa Maria, Tea! What is going on?"
Tea grabbed his arm affectionately as his hand reached out to carry the suitcase for her.
"Later, Miguel…we've got time…I'm tired and need to rest."
"So, okay…we're gone," he said as she clutched his arm tighter and took quick, short steps to keep up with his long strides. Looking back to the bodega and further toward the docks, she mouthed a silent vow. Todd…querido…I haven't forgotten what took place here…I'll bring you back…I swear it!

Standing on the terrace in the garden she had cared for and loved for many years, Viki felt a sadness move into her soul as if she knew there would be some sort of passing and that what had been so familiar would now fade into a sweet, nostalgic memory. My life was in these walls…I got my strength from the very foundation of this home. Her eyes seemed to touch each and every object lovingly but as if in a state of remembrance. That's something I got from you, Todd…you always cut your losses and went forward. I will always cherish what was.
Again she looked over at the man who stood at the edge of her safe haven from the world. All I would have to do is go back inside and he would leave…I know it. It would be easy. I could go back…I could…
No…I can't.
Sloan had told her once that she was more than she thought she was. It had been an odd statement at an even odder time, but she had known exactly what he had meant. There were parts of her personality that had remained a mystery to her even after the DID that had assumed control of her life. Was it that she had really never come to terms with all the inner workings of her mind? She thought she had, but maybe she had deluded herself. Becoming free of the DID had been her main concern, but there was the aftermath of what she had experienced. All her DID personalities had been there to protect her from what she couldn't deal with mentally, but now she had nothing left but her own wisdom and ingenuity.
Sam! He doesn't fit into any of it, does he? He's just here…blindly accepting me without wanting any explanations…willing to sacrifice his own security to be with me.
Several small breezes blew against her cheek, and her eyes flashed back at him with recognition. I do know you, Sam…
Sam held his breath as he watched her leave the terrace and seem to float toward him. All his brave declarations, which he had rehearsed in his drive over, melted into nothingness as he watched her.
Before he could even speak, she had come right up to him, and she looked him over with a hint of disapproval. "You're a mess, Sam Rappaport," she said and lifted her hand to smooth his hair back into place.
Her touch caused him to look down into her face searchingly -- hoping that she would give him some indication of what was happening.
"Just what a good lawyer should be -- you don't take no for an answer, do you?"
Wordlessly, with an eagerness appearing in his eyes, he nodded -- still awaiting her decision.
A bolt of lightning lit up the sky and her face as her eyes looked fully into his. Leaning toward him, she smiled coyly and spoke in a soft, husky manner, the effect of which caused Sam's arms to swallow her up in a crushing embrace -- finally realizing that she had given him the answer he wanted.
"What took you so long?"

~ TO BE CONTINUED ~