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Disclaimer: I don't own them. I'll put them back when I'm done.
Karen stood under the steaming hot water with her eyes closed. The water felt amazingly good: warm and fresh, surrounding her with a clean slate. It was as if all the problems of the world were being washed down the drain and out of her life.
It was still so hard to process. Losing Joe had been a mistake. She had trusted the wrong man. Joe had been true to her, but she hadn't been sure of that. She had trusted the wrong brother, the same man who had destroyed her life. She had come dangerously close to letting him in her heart as well.
She felt bad about the way she had treated Joe. She felt bad that she had ever entertained the idea that Joe could be so twisted. She leaned back against the wall of the shower, her tears rolling away with the drops of water as all the guilt landed hard upon her shoulders.
Chris walked around the cabin sipping a mug of coffee. He had slept peacefully holding Karen in his arms, feeling as if he had found his place in the world. He been plotting against Frank for a while now but he had more reason than ever to make him squirm.
He walked to a window where the site of still falling snowflakes greeted him. He sipped his coffee and watched the white ice crystals float to the ground where it was as if fluffy white clouds had landed upon the earth.
He stood watching the snow fall realizing that one night had changed everything for him. He had gone from mere acquaintances with Karen Wexler to friends, partners, and future lovers. It was more than promising for one night's work.
And the best part of all was that it hadn't been work. It was real. Everything had happened on its own. No preplanning. No scheming. No deception. Nothing was planned. It was so free. It was honest, and it felt good.
Chris walked to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He perused the food selection and removed his choice. He cooked each one of them an omelet and sat them on the table.
As Karen opened the door from the bathroom, she smiled at Chris who returned her smiled, "I feel much better now."
“You certainly look much better too. You look ready to face the day.”
"I think I just might be,” She smiled taking a deep breath, “What is that heavenly smell?”
“A western omelet,” He smiled, “And freshly ground coffee. Both are yours.”
“Chris, you are my knight in shining armor,” She smiled as she walked over to the table and sat down. She picked up her fork and took a bite of the omelet, “God, this is good.”
“I told you that I’m a wonderful cook,” He grinned, “My turn for the shower.”
Karen smiled, “Hope you were right about the hot water.”
He winked at her, “A little cold might do me some good.”
She blushed slightly as she watched him disappear into the bathroom.
Karen tidied up the kitchen and dining area. She poured herself another cup of coffee and walked to the window. She felt more at peace with herself than she had been in a long time. She liked that. It wasn’t something that she was used to, but it was definitely something that she liked.
She hadn’t slept a peaceful night for months. She could attribute that to the alcohol if she wanted to, but something told her that Chris had a lot to do with her comfort. He had understood when she poured her heart out. He had comforted her while her heart broke all over again. He had given her the resolve to get back at Frank and Courtney.
She wanted to make them pay. They had taken the one thing in her life that she had been sure of and manipulated her own fears into believing that she couldn’t be sure of it anymore. Loving Joe had made her feel complete, something that she wasn’t sure she’d ever feel after Jagger.
She sipped her coffee and watched the snow continue to fall to the ground. It was beautiful outside. The limbs on the tall pine trees were weighed down by the huge amount of snow that burdened their limbs. The wind carried the soft flakes in the air, twirling about with the gray smoke from the chimney and then drifting quietly to the ground.
She heard the door open and heard Chris whistling as he came from the bathroom. She grinned, “You’re sounding very chipper? Are you always like this in the mornings?”
“Not often,” He smiled as he finished buttoning his shirt, “Must have something to do with you.”
“I’m flattered,” She smiled, “I think.”
He smiled pouring himself another cup of coffee and joining her by the window, “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is. It is until you get out into it and start freezing.”
“Come on. You have to enjoy a good snowball fight.”
“I haven’t had one of those in a long time.”
“Then we’ll have to remedy that one a little later.”
“You can’t be serious. There’s no way you’re getting me out there unless we’re on our way home.”
“I’ll get you out there. Even if I have to carry you.”
She looked at him curiously with a grin tickling her lips, “You wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t I?” He asked raising his mug to his lips.
She giggled walking away from the window and taking a seat on the sofa. She looked toward him as he leaned against the window sill. She ran her fingers through her dark hair and took a sip of her coffee, “Chris, how are we going to get home?”
“Got any idea where we can get a snowmobile?”
“Very funny.”
He smiled, “How about we listen to the weather reports and see if they know anything?”
“How are we going to do that?”
Chris smiled and walked into the kitchen. He took a radio off the top of the refrigerator and showed it to her, “By switching this on.”
“You didn’t tell me there was a radio here.”
“Would it have mattered?”
“I don’t guess it would, but still.”
“What are we going to do with it? Listen to how bad the rest of the state is snowed in?”
“Okay, okay, point taken. Turn it on.”
He smiled as he switched on the radio and turned the dial to a reliable news station. He sat back as they started going to commercial, “I hate that.”
“What?”
“Commercials. Every time you turn on the radio it goes to commercial. Each and every time.”
“Maybe to you, but fate is nice to some of us,” She smiled.
“Okay, rub it in,” He teased.
“I will,” She grinned, changing the station to another station on the dial.
The announcer came on the air, “Whoa, New York, wasn’t the snow beautiful this morning? Get used to it. It’s going to continue through tonight and into early tomorrow. Word from the state police is that the roads are jammed. The DOT is working as fast as they can, but they are advising if you absolutely don’t have to be on the roads, don’t. So grab a hot mug of cocoa and snuggle up cause it’s going to be cold and white for a while.”
Karen smiled as she switched off the radio, “Well, we have our answer.”
“How’d you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Get the news when you first touched the radio.”
“I don’t know. I just seem to always do that.”
“I never do that. All right, I’m jealous.”
“Of my ability to find the news?” She laughed.
“Yes, while you’re listening to the radio first off, some of us are desperately searching for the news,” He said smiling.
“Some of us are special,” She smiled.
“I think it must be a curse from something I did in a past life.”
“You believe in past lives?”
“I don’t know,” He shrugged, “Never really thought about it. Do you?”
“Sometimes.”
“How is that an answer?”
“Well, sometimes I feel like I deserve the things that happen to me, like a punishment and reward system, but sometimes I don’t think I’ve done anything to cause what happens. It’s like fate is a wicked little kid just using us like rats in a maze.”
“God, that’s depressing.”
Karen looked over at Chris and saw the playful smile on his face, “I’m trying to be serious here, Chris.”
“I know, but good lord, that’s the most depressing thing I’ve ever heard. It’s like a twisted fairy tale with no happy ending. Shouldn’t we look forward to something? To anything?”
“Well, yeah I guess, but I just feel like we have no control over our lives.”
“Most people do until they learn to take control. I feel like I have control over my life most of the time, until some people try to get in my way,” He said slowly.
“Is that what you call your life? Controlled?”
“It’s how I see it. I do what I want, when I want.”
“But you never told Eve how you felt? Didn’t you want her?” She asked cautiously.
“Yeah, I did want her, but my biggest fear was that I’d lose her. I wanted her in my life in any capacity possible. I couldn’t lose her to my own stupidity which was what I was afraid of.”
“Chris, Eve would never have walked out on you.”
“I’m not so sure. She would do anything that Kevin asked of her. I never had that kind of influence with her. I never had that sort of place in her heart.”
“Chris, she trusted you. You were her best friend.”
“That’s exactly what I was and am. Her best friend, nothing less, nothing more.”
Karen touched his cheek and sighed, “Chris, I’m sorry for bringing it up. I shouldn’t have.”
“It’s okay, Karen.” He said, turning his face into her hand letting her hold onto him, “I want to help you Karen.”
“Help me?” She asked, “How?”
“I want to nail Frank and Courtney. I don’t want them to get away with what they’ve done to you.”
“They won’t. As strange as this sounds, I trust you with this Chris.”
“I’ll take good care of you, Karen. In fact, I have some ideas about how to start this.”
“Really? Care to share?”
“Not just yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because we have a certain matter to attend to.”
“Oh really?” She raised a well arched eyebrow, “What’s that?”
“A snowball fight.”
“Oh no,” She said standing up and backing away from him, “There’s no way.”
“Oh yes there is and we’re going out there, right now,” He grinned, walking towards her slowly.
“Chris, forget it, pal. There’s no way.”
“Oh yes there is. We’re going out there. We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way.”
“Which is the way that I don’t have to go?”
“Neither.”
“Come on Chris. We’ll catch pneumonia.”
“We’re doctors. We’ll nurse each other,” He smiled continuing towards her.
“I’m serious. There’s no way I’m going out there.”
“Yes there is,” He smiled.
She had a smile on her face despite her protests and she backed directly into the kitchen bar, “Chris, please?”
“Awww,” He smiled, his brown eyes sparkling, “You’re so cute when you plead.”
“Did it help my case any?”
“Sorry, but the answer to that one is no.”
“We’ll freeze.”
“We won’t be out there that long.”
“We’ll get our clothes wet.”
“Probably.”
“We don’t have any others to wear.”
“We’ll manage.”
“Chris!”
“What? Afraid to have fun with me, Dr. Wexler?”
“Not at all. It’s just . . . well . . . “
“Well what?”
“This is crazy.”
“Yeah,” He agreed and nodded, “But it’s so much fun. Quit playing by the rules, Karen. Break them and have some fun at it.”
She smiled and broke a small laugh, “You’re a rogue.”
“Guilty,” He smiled, “Come on.”
“No, I’m not going out there.”
“Yes you are,” He said reaching for her.
She pulled away and giggled, “No I’m really not.”
“Yes, you really are,” He smiled following her and reaching for her again.
“No way,” She said dashing across the room.
Chris followed her quickly and pulled her into his arms. She put
up token resistance before he lifted her over his shoulder and carried
her out the door.