The
Diner of Love
3503 Angel Square Court
Llanview, PA
"Nothin' Could Be Finer Than Some
Lovin' In the Diner"
"There ain't no lovin' like some diner lovin', hey ho"
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"Nothin' Could Be Finer Than Some
Lovin' In the Diner" |
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What can I get you?
Coffee's a dollar
I hope you like whip cream.
I just love the Voice of the Night. We have this special connection. |
The Twilight Divide
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Marcie stirred the fire again. She was determined that not one scrap of the Twilight files would remain. She had even burned the cardboard box John had brought them in. She carefully placed the poker in the caddy, closed the fireplace screen and then stood up and wiped her hands on her skirt. She glanced over at Al who was stretched out on the couch. If she lived a million years, she would never get tired of looking at him. “How do you feel?” Al smiled at her. “Better. Lighter, you know. All of that was weighing me down a bit. Now, I don’t know, it just feels like it’s finally over.” Marcie stuck her hands in her pockets and nodded. She moved her head and took in the expanse of the room then glanced at him. “Are you happy here? I mean do you really like the house?” “I’d love any place as long as you were there.” “You know Rae Cummings used to own this house. And this is where Lindsay and Alison Perkins hid out when they escaped from Statesville. And…” “It’s a great house, Marcie. Lots of history.” “I want you to be happy here.” “I am happy. I’m with you.” “I don’t know. You just seem so subdued, you know.” He smiled. “Being dead is kind of rough on a person.” Marcie laughed. “Seriously, it’s just gonna to take a little time for me to totally trust that the ground under my feet is rock solid, you know.” “I know. Maybe one day I’ll stop waking up a hundred times a night to just touch you and make sure you are there next to me and real.” He stretched his hand out to her. “I know, baby.” She walked to the couch and then stretched out next to him. Just the sensation of feeling his body next to hers almost made her cry. For so long she thought she’d never feel that again. “How did your last session go with Dr. Wu?” “She’s great you know but I couldn’t really tell her anything except the official story. It’s odd because I think she was really shaken by Michael’s death. I actually saw tears in her eyes. I guess it was that colleague sort of thing. She kept asking me about him but I almost felt like she was asking more for herself than to help me open up about things.” “But that was the last session right?” “Yeah.” “Good. I hate thinking about you having to go there. Hate thinking about what happened to make you end up there.” “She really helped me, Al. I mean at my absolute lowest point she was there for me. I respect her a lot. She reminds me that most doctors really do help people.” “I guess that means you’ll understand why I’ve been thinking about going to medical school.” Marcie pulled away and sat up. “Medical school!” “Yeah. How about that? Let’s just say the last couple of months have inspired me.” “Are you sure about this? Is this really what you want?” “Had a lot of time to think about how I would have done things differently than Michael, you know.” “Michael was a twisted man.” “He lost his way and that is something I can understand. You saved me. I probably would have spun out of control and been just as lost in my own way if I hadn’t met you.” Marcie turned away from Al. “There is no way you would ever have been like Michael and I don’t want to talk about him anymore. He took so much from us. That I will never forgive. Never.” Al touched her gently. “He cared about you. Hard for me not to understand that too.” “He was just using me. Just like he used everyone.” “At the end, so much came out. So much became clearer. It doesn’t balance the scales by any means, not even a little bit, but he held on for you. He gave me a chance to go. So at least I owe it to him to let you know the truth.” Marcie turned around and faced him. “What truth? That in the end he tried to act like an actual human being?” “You don’t have to forgive him, Marcie. I’d never tell you what to feel. What I really want is for you to know that I couldn’t have done it without you. I hate thinking about what you went through. It literally makes me sick inside to think of you with Crone. And you in the trunk of that car…” Al pulled her closer to him and held her tightly. “Just makes me sick.” Marcie touched his face gently. “I’m okay, Al. Honest. I made it through all of it. I’d do anything for you.” Al looked at her in the eye and smiled gently. “I know and in the end so did Michael. He let down his guard because you made him believe in love. Really believe. And that made all the difference.”
Believe in love, Marcie. If there is one code to live by that I could give you it would be to believe in love.
She trembled and brushed the memory away. There were still things Al didn’t know. Things she hadn’t seemed to be able to find a way to tell him. Like how she got out of that hanger or what Michael had said to her in the end but she knew those things would come. She also knew there were things he hadn’t been able to tell her yet. It would all come out in time. So much had happened it seemed they were both afraid that if they focused on too many details right now it would overwhelm them. They needed time to heal. Time to put some distance between them and what had happened, between them and what had been done to them. Her feelings about Michael were definitive, confused, conflicted, fuzzy, intense, vague... She didn’t know if she would ever be able to sort them out. I mean, how could she feel even an ounce of sympathy for a man who so wantonly and with depraved indifference caused as much pain as he did? “Marcie, what are you thinking about?” She sighed. “I just want it to be like it was before,” she said. “I want back what he stole from us. What about law school? What about Voice of the Night?” “We have to face facts, Marcie. It’ll never be the same. We’ve been through too much. Our path was altered. But I will promise you something.” “What?” “Whatever happens will be even better than before. And nothing is set yet. Just been thinking. So it may be law school or it may be medical school. Since either way I’ll be in school for a while longer then I’ll get to moonlight at the radio station for a pretty long time. I actually talked to Gordo about it yesterday. Voice of the Night will make a triumphant return soon and he may actually be somewhat perceptive this time because I’ve heard he’s been through a thing or two.” “Oh, Al.” “Whatever happens, it’s all good, Marcie.” She smiled and snuggled closer again. “Yeah, it is. It’s all good.”
For a long while she held onto him and stared into the fire. Everything was going to be all right. Al was back and safe in this world. They had walked through the fire and had come out on the other side together. They were different but whole. And one thing between them would never change… “I’ve been thinking,” said Al in a voice deeper and still somewhat hoarse from the effects of the tubes in his throat for so long, “since Mom and Dad are coming back next week, we should use that time to get married.” “What?” Marcie tried to sit up but he held her close to him. “If I ask you really nice, will you marry me, Marcie Walsh?” She tried so hard not to cry. She had dreamed of this so many times and cried so much because she thought when Al “died” she’d never hear those words from him. Never. Those words and so many others. What had she ever done in this life to deserve a second chance like this? He wiped her tears away gently with his thumbs. “What’s wrong, baby? I know you love me and you know how much I love you.” “I’m afraid to want too much.” He brushed her hair off of her face. “Life is a gift but it’s love that’s the greatest gift. You are the most precious thing to me and I will not waste another moment of my life being afraid. I am going to take every moment I have left as a testament to our love and build my life around you. Marry me now. Marry me later. Whatever. We are going to be together through eternity. I know that for a fact.” “Yes.” Al grinned at her. “Good. Now, lets go upstairs. In a few days, this house is going to be overrun with wedding plans, parents and younger siblings and goodness knows who else. I need some quality time with my baby.” “Are you sure? We agreed to wait. You’re still recovering.” “Never been surer of anything in my life. You’ve been way too gentle with me lately. I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Let me show you some of the things I’ve had on my mind.” Marcie giggled. “You’re my girl, Marcie. And I will always love you. And want to love you. Don’t ever forget that.” She was asleep wrapped in his arms. He kissed her on her bare shoulder then let his hands drift along her naked back and buttocks. There was a sweetness to life that only people who had lost it really understood. In the midst of the brutal and bitter losses, confusion, and betrayal there was so much tangible sweetness that, if you let it, it would surround you and hold the very essence of your being in its hands. That’s what Marcie was to him. And, finally, after the talk with John and Natalie this afternoon, he could feel the weight of so much knowledge lifting. He didn’t want to know about those things. He wanted to live in the here and now. He wanted to live this life with Marcie. Every minute of it. He smoothed her hair and then rubbed her gently at the small of her back. On some level, she understood how much she meant to him but he wondered if she would ever really know the true extent of his feelings for her. How much he needed her. How much he loved her. How much making love to her elevated him to a place beyond anything he could have imagined before her. He would have given up eternity to touch her one last time. But Luna had finally made him see that there were bigger issues at stake and that all souls were part of a vast interconnected network that existed in a delicate balance. Potentially devastating disruptions such as that posed by Michael were never a threat to just one soul or one life. He had to step outside of his own self-interest and selfishness to see that and accept that he was only one miniscule element in that balance. He had done what he had to do and no less should have been expected of him. Luna had been his Godsend and he had it on good authority that she was now sporting a pair of full-fledged angel wings. And, in the end, deserved or not, Heaven had been generous to him too. It opened the door and let him return to love and he was not going to waste one moment of this second chance. “I fell asleep.” “Yes, you did. I guess I bored you, huh?” She shifted her body around and faced him. “You loved me right.” He laughed and then grinned. “And I plan to do that every night and half the days too.” She giggled but then ran her hand lightly along his chest. “Can we just stay like this forever?” “Yes, but I suspect our children will want some attention.” “Okay, I’ll leave this bed every now and then for the kids but luckily we have a little time before they come along.” “Well, I guess we better hold off on some of this potential baby making activity then.” She framed her body against his. “ I don’t think so.” Currents of electricity shot through his body. “I love you, Al. I need you. I want you.” He kissed her and rolled over on top of her. He was living this life in the here and now. He was going to love his baby. And he was going to love her right. And he was going to keep his promise. Whatever was coming down the road for them was going to be better than either of them could have imagined before. He had that information on good authority.
THE END
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