Grateful For the Storm Chapter Four

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Chris sat back down beside Karen and poured another glass of wine, setting the new bottle on the coffee table. He drained an entire glass while Karen explained everything that had happened.

"Wait just a minute. Your apartment was bugged?" Chris asked, almost strangling on his wine.

"So, Courtney planted the bug in my apartment?" Karen frowned, "I guess she had the opportunity."

"So that gave Frank an excuse to be there. I'll be he's the one that planted it."

Chris started to answer and then he remembered, "Speaking of spying on you, they had or maybe even still have a telescope aimed at your apartment."

"When they stole the money from Julie, they were afraid to put it in a bank for any length of time. They kept it in an apartment they had rented in a building directly across from yours. When Courtney gave back the money, she took me there to retrieve it."

"I can't believe this. Frank was my friend. I wouldn't have been able to get through all of that if it hadn't been for him. Why would he spy on me?"

"Maybe Joe was telling the truth. Maybe he was set up," Chris paused and looked directly into Karen's eyes, "By Frank."

"Maybe Frank wanted you for himself. It has been known to happen between brothers, you know."

"Yes, Frank," Chris repeated, "He has been known to do some pretty vindictive things, Karen."

"Not to me. Frank wouldn't do something like that to me," She said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Answer me this, Karen. How could you could believe that Joe would be a sex addict and cheat on you but you can't believe that Frank would intentionally set his brother up?"

"Among other things," She said brushing tears from her cheeks, "I pushed Joe away. I didn't trust him."

"No one can blame you for that, Karen. There was a lot of hard evidence to support their plan. They did a very good job of putting it together, much better than they did against me, but then again, I know a con when I see one. You guys never saw it coming."

"Do you realize what this means, Chris? I ruined the best thing that ever happened to me. I pushed away the man of my dreams because of a lie."

"Karen, you didn't know, and you didn't ruin it. Frank and Courtney did. Courtney wanted Joe from the very moment she got back into town, and she was determined to get him. Frank just helped," Chris paused, "This is all beginning to make sense to me. What if they made a deal together? Frank helps Courtney get Joe and Courtney helps Frank get the money from the DL-56 patent as well as getting revenge on me?"

"You can't be serious," Karen said, looking into the fire. She had trusted Frank. She had turned Joe away and believed Frank when Joe was the man she professed to love. What had she been thinking? She had trusted the wrong man.

"I am serious, Karen," He said, reaching out to touch her. He felt an overwhelming need to comfort her, to tell her that everything was going to be alright, that none of it was her fault.

Karen turned towards Chris and bit her lip, tears drifting down her pale cheeks. She saw the sympathy in his eyes and reached out to him, letting him hold her. She lay her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him, allowing the tears to flow freely, "I was such a fool, Chris."

He stroked her hair and held her tightly against him, feeling aroused by her nearness, but his heart told him to comfort her. He leaned his cheek against her forehead and gently rocked her, "It wasn't your fault, Karen. None of it was your fault. It was all Courtney and Frank."

She closed her eyes against the reality of that statement. She should have seen it coming. She should have seen that she was being manipulated. She had known Courtney wanted Joe. It had been blatantly obvious. She just never thought she would be an obstacle. Their love had been so strong, but it was Karen's own fears that had been exploited to tear them apart.

Chris squeezed her gently, knowing that she was tearing herself up inside. It hadn't been her fault. Courtney and Frank had been very deceptive and worked like professionals to break up Joe and Karen. Chris wasn't sure how they had done it with their ineptitude, but somehow they had managed to pull it off. Putting all the pieces together had been easy once a subtle clue had been given, and Chris knew that the pain Frank and Courtney had caused Karen demanded revenge. He would be more than happy to deliver revenge to them. It was after all his specialty.

Karen held onto Chris for what seemed like an hour, crying and beating herself up. She slowly sat up and looked at Chris as she supressed the last sobs. Chris softly lifted a tear from her cheek with his thumb one each side of her face, cupping her cheeks in his palms. He tilted her chin so that she made eye contact with her.

"Karen, don't waste anymore of your tears on them. By doing that, you're letting them win."

"They only think they've won," Chris replied, smoothing her hair from her face, "It's time we let them know they haven't."

"Do you honestly think that Joe would do that knowing what Courtney did to get him in her arms and in her bed?"

She looked into Chris's eyes and then around the room, pulling her face from his hands slowly. She held one of his hands in hers and took a deep breath before shaking her head and wiping more tears, "I loved Joe, but something had to be wrong with us or their plan never would have worked."

"I do, but I don't, Chris. It's hard to explain," She complained, watching the fire burn, "I love him and I want our friendship back, but it can't be like it was and it never would be. So I guess my real answer would have to be no."

"No, Karen," Chris interjected, "No, that's not an answer. She stole your dream away from you. She manipulated you and exploited you to get what she wanted. Are you going to let her gloat about that until the day she dies?"

She took a deep breath and looked at Chris. He was right. Courtney didn't deserve Joe, and Joe should know the truth about the situation. Frank needed to pay for his part in the entire debacle as well, "No, I don't want Courtney to get away with this, Frank either. They both owe me and Joe."

"There you go," He smiled, "It's time they learned that spreading themselves too thin can be dangerous. They didn't cover their tracks well enough. And it's time for the hunters to become the hunted. I'll figure out a way to get back at them," Chris said, making eye contact with Karen, "We'll convince Joe, somehow."

"No, it's not," Chris said firmly, "We've got to turn the tables on Frank and Courtney. It's time to let them know that their game is about to take a serious turn for the worst."

"I don't know yet. I'll have to think about it. A good plan takes time to work out all the details."

"This is something of a dubious honor, but somehow, I feel like I'm in good hands with you on this revenge stuff."

"That's not irrational. I know what it's like to love someone and lose them, Karen."

He smiled, "I'll be the first to admit that it doesn't fit the public image of Chris Ramsey, but yeah, I was in love with a woman, and she never even knew I existed."

"I was afraid to. I was afraid I'd lose her. We were friends, but it wasn't just friendship for me. I loved her and would have done anything for her."

"Well, it could have been," He said, taking another sip of wine, "But she wasn't interested in me. She had other men on her mind. I was just a crutch."

Karen looked at him slowly and watched his features tighten as he talked about this mystery woman. Then it dawned on her, "Eve."

"Never," He repeated softly, "I was afraid that I wasn't good enough for her, I guess. She always wanted the gooders like Kevin and your father. She never would have looked at me as anything but her friend. And seeing her with Kevin," He sighed, "Well, it wasn't me making her happy, but she was and is happy. I can live with that."

She nodded, "Yeah, I'll promise to tell you any remedies as long as you share any of yours."

"It's a deal," He smiled, as they sat back on the couch. Karen leaned over and placed her head on Chris's shoulder. He smiled when she took his hand in hers and intertwined their fingers.

"I was actually thinking about you, Ramsey," She laughed, "But I just lumped us both in there so you wouldn't feel so alone."

"Hmm?" He asked, both of them watching the flames lick across the wood in the
fireplace.

"I'm glad it does, Karen," He admitted, running his forefinger along hers in a gentle caress.

She smiled, looking down at their hands locked together, "I meant what I said too. I have thought about what it would be like if we made love."

"Did you like what you thought about?" He asked, feeling like this conversation was way too dangerous to venture into.

"Yes, I did. Very much so," She said, moving slightly away to look into his eyes as she traced his lips with a finger, "I always use to wonder what it would be like if you kissed me."

"I was afraid that things would get out of control, that I wouldn't be able to stop myself."

"Then you made the right decision," He said, feeling the same way about himself and this conversation.

Karen watched him and noticed his bit of hesitancy about the situation. She couldn't and wouldn't stop herself this time. She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, bracing herself with a hand on his shoulder.

He was surprised by the suddeness of the kiss, but pleasantly so. He wrapped one arm around her, pulling her to him and draping her torso across his lap as he lowered her head back to the arm of the sofa. His lips never left hers, not for an instant as he leaned over her, threading his fingers into her hair and deepening the kiss slowly.

Karen ran her fingers into his hair, wrapping her free arm around him, getting lost in the sensation of him against her. They had spent all evening and night dancing around this. Flirting and retreating, much like their play now. The tender touch of their hands but the savage hunger of their mouths, the slow guided movements of their lips but the wild untamed thrusting of their tongues. It was all a dance of rhythms and timing, each one knowing their part and following the other. It was as if they were old partners who knew each other's movements by memory.

Chris continued to kiss her, unwilling to end this wonderful feeling that she had conjured within him. He wanted her for physical reasons, but something else was driving him as well. Maybe it was the fact that they had so much in common that had lain undiscovered until tonight. Maybe it was her tears that had made him want to take away all her pain and leave only pleasure in their wake. He couldn't be sure of the reasons, only sure that he wanted this woman.