Happily EVER after?

[green stuff]

Marcy in the Office with Blue Ties

The moment of truth : Robin was filled with nervousness of the worst kind – anxiety. He straightened his tie for what must have been the twentieth time, hoping that each time, his nervousness would go away a little, but it only increased instead. With his new camera slung over his neck, he walked happily (albeit apprehensively) into the studio. As he did so, his ears were greeted by the clicks of shutters, people chatting, and telephones ringing, along with an occasional ring of, ‘’Say ‘cheese!’ ‘’
Robin’s first order of business- to check in at the front desk to pick up his new name tag, and of course, he would have to pick it up from none other than Megan. Robin was felt surprised at himself to wonder what an attractive girl like her was doing working in a place like this – he thought she should’ve been on the other side of the camera – as a model. Still, he had to admit, betting to see her pretty face every day would certainly help pass the time. Inwardly, he could definitely accept the beginnings of a crush going on inside his heart – outwardly, he would never admit it, even to himself, in a million years.
With a smile he scampered over to Megan’s desk, where a normally cheery Megan would have been. This morning, however, cheery was about the last work one could use to describe her. She looked sullen, pale, stoic, pensive, drained, and really, borderline depressed. Yes, she still answered the phones and performed her other duties with a degree of charm, but there was no passion there, no joie de vive, one might say. A look of concern crossed Robin’s face, while he searched for the right thing to say. Actually, Robin after only a few short seconds concluded that there was no ‘right’ thing to say – so he simply reverted back to the old reliable.

‘’Good morning,’’ he said, teamed with a small smile. Megan attempted to smile back, but it turned into a wince once she felt the pain of her rather new and plainly noticeable bruise on her right cheek. Needless to say, this certainly caught Robin’s attention, and he debated with himself whether or not he should broach the subject, or leave it alone. After all, she looked like she was in so much pain, and (unsuccessfully) trying to cover it up.

‘’Are you ok? What happened?’’ Robin reached out his hand about half way, as if he were going to touch her face, but then thought it rude to do so. Wishing to be a gentleman, he withdrew his hand. Megan immediately placed her hand on top of her bruise, making another pathetic attempt to hide her obvious pain.
‘’It’s nothing,’’ she said quickly. ‘’It’s embarrassing, really. My little sister’s birthday party was last night – we got a piñata. Note to self: no seven year olds with sticks and blindfolds.’’ She laughed nervously, looking at Robin and hoping he didn’t find her weird – or at the very least, dishonest. Too late. Robin didn’t buy that story for a second. He wanted nothing more at this time than to comfort her and ask her what really happened, but he felt it wasn’t his place, or his time. So, he offered her, as a mere acquaintance, what he could.

‘’Well, if you need to talk to someone, just know that you can talk to me if you want to. My name’s Robin.’’
‘’I know,’’ Megan said, getting to the cusp of sounding pushy. She pushed his name tag toward him, which he took nervously and placed it on his shirt. Robin nodded his head toward her as a polite gesture as he turned to leave, but then turned back around to her.
‘’You know, I know that this doesn’t have anything to do with anything, but you remind me of this little girl I knew once.’’
Megan sat up, her attention fully caught. ‘’Really?’’
‘’Yeah,’’ Robin nodded. ‘’She was really sweet, and had pretty blonde hair- just like yours. I think her name was…. Marcy.’’
Megan’s almost smile faded as quickly as it came, and an awkward silence ensue between the two of them. As time was not on Robin’s side today, he had to hurry to take his first clients of the day, and dash off. He slowly stepped back from Megan’s desk with one last look of concern.
‘’Well, that’s all I wanted to say, but um…have a good day today, and uh…be safe.’’ With one last smile and a little wave, Robin scampered off to Studio B to take his first clients. And Megan, ah Megan, all she could do was smile, no matter how badly it hurt her to
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Robin walked into back into the room crisply and with authority, but still with Megan on his mind. Once he saw his first clients though, and their choice of…attire, that thought was soon to be forgotten. Robin’s clients were a young family of humans, a traditional family of a mom, dad, a young baby. The family was well dressed, and all in different shades of blue. What caught Robin’s attention though, were the father’s clothes, specifically a particular piece. The father had on a charcoal colored suit, finished with a simple..blue…tie.
Robin lowered his camera for a moment and stared at it, trying not to gape, and trying hard not to remember the last time he saw a tie just like it…

About 11 years ago….

Cale came whizzing after Robin, Michael, Grant, and Nicholas, trying his level best to intercept their game of airplane and get them prepared to go to dinner. But, it was no use –once he caught Michael, Nicholas would get loose, Cale would go after Nicholas, then Grant would make a run for it, it went on and on. Finally, Cale got smart and scooped up all his little airplanes at once in his arms, making the boys laugh uproariously.
‘’All right, my little air pirates, it’s time to go to dinner!’’
All four boys groaned in unison, now trying to wiggle out of their father’s arms, but he was too strong for them.
‘’Aw dad,’’ groaned Grant. ‘’Do we have to? We were having so much fun!’’
‘’Yes, we have to,’’ Cale said through chuckles. ‘’You know your mother, every year she makes a big fuss for my birthday, and insists we go to dinner. I’m afraid you boys will just have to suffer in silence, while you eat good food.’’ At that, he hoisted the boys up on his back, one at a time.
‘’But I’m not hungry!’’ Robin exclaimed. Again, Cale chuckled. ‘’You will be once we get there, son.’’
‘’I’m hungry, though!’’ Grant said, rubbing his stomach.
‘’Oh surprise surprise, you’re always hungry,’’ Michael chimed in with a Groucho Marx tone of voice. Nicholas said nothing, only laughed, though somewhat shyly.
‘’Well Robin, you have to eat. There’ll be lots of good food at the restaurant.’’
‘’Will there be spaghetti?’’ Robin asked excitedly.
‘’Uh huh, and salad, and pizza..’’ Cale trailed on, he knew that saying pizza would bring on the magic family phrase, ‘’with hollandaise sauce!’’ that they all said in unison and laughed. But Robin had a …sweet tooth of sorts, and Cale knew this about his son, so he thought he’d coax him in that direction.
‘’And there will be ice cream…all the ice cream you can eat…’’ Ice cream – that was all Robin needed to hear, and actually, the rest of the boys as well.
‘’Ice cream! Let’s go!’’ They all exclaimed. Once again, Cale couldn’t help but laugh at his boys – how funny they were.
‘’You said the magic words!’’ Grant and Michael said simultaneously, and they looked at each other with devilish smiles and engaged in a round of ‘magical jinx.’ Nicholas said nothing, only laughed and smiled.

A little later..
As predicted, Cale had to bring in all of the children before his wife, Willow could even come in the house. As the protocol went, he had to sent them all straight upstairs and give them a stern talking to. Once again, the children had managed to get them kicked out of the restaurant due to their rowdy behavior, still, Cale had to admit, they were improving. At the end of the evening, they children had only engaged in two food fights. That was much better than his last birthday, where he stopped counting at ten. Though he would never admit it to Willow, his birthday was his favorite day of the year, just for that – to see his children all together and having fun, though it was meant to be his special day. To him, there was nothing like it, and nothing better.
‘’All right children, up to bed, you know the drill, go let’s move it! Now, you’re being punished, so I don’t want to hear a peep out of you for the rest of the night.’’ Cale had to say this for Willow’s sake, but he didn’t mean a word of it – he had fun that night, why shouldn’t they, too? But when the last little frog had toddled upstairs it was then that he reached out for Willow’s hand.

‘’I don’t know where the children get such energy. Oh Cale, I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life!’’ Cale giggled and took Willow’s coat off for her. He couldn’t help but find amusement in her embarrassment, as any Frog family outing left her embarrassed like never before in her life.
‘’Yes, and that’s what you said last Chrismas, and on Halloween, and on your birthday, and on Lilly’s kindergarten graduation, and at Robin’s Christening, and –‘’
‘’This time I mean it,’’ Willow chuckled. ‘’There has got to be a better way to get those kids to behave when we’re in public.’’
‘’Aw, stop worrying, honey! They’re kids- let them be kids. Next thing you know, we’ll look up at them one day and they’ll be thirty-five. Let them have a little fun.’’ He placed his arms around Willow’s waist in an attempt to soothe her, but she would not be soothed.
‘’Yes, and you were a big help, encouraging them to draw on the table cloth?’’
‘’They were going to replace it anyway!’’
‘’Yes, but-‘’ Willow stopped, and looked upward. Her mom radar was going off, and she knew that one..or more..of the children were doing something they weren’t supposed to.

‘’I’ll be right back,’’ she said with a wry smile, and dashed upstairs to the boys’ bedroom. How she knew it was the boys in inexplicable, but somehow she just knew. As she opened the door, let it be said that she was exactly right. There, jumping on one of the couches in the hallway, and still in their dress clothes, were the fearsome four, having the time of their lives, and completely oblivious to the trouble they were about to be in.
‘’Michael Jerome! Grant Alan! Nicholas John! Robin Henry!’’ Willow rushed over to the four of them, and actually physically stopped them. ‘’Stop that jumping on the couch – and in your good clothes, too! You know better than that!’’ All four immediately stopped, sheepish looks brandished fully on their faces.
‘’Yes Mom,’’ they all said.
‘’Good. Now where are your brothers and sisters?’’
‘’They’re all in bed, Mom,’’ Grant began. ‘’Dad sent us all up to bed once we got hime.’’
‘’So what are you still doing up?’’ Willow demanded, hands on her hips.
Nicholas wrung his hands inside of each other, nervous. Stammering a little, he answered, ‘’W-well, we wanted to play.’’ Having successfully finished his sentence, he further offered her a simple smile. Hot just any smile, but the million dollar smile, the one that could melt even the hardest heart and cause anyone to die from overdose of cuteness.

‘’You boys can play tomorrow. Right now, I need you to go into your room and help tuck in your brothers and sisters.’’
‘’Ok, Mom!’’ the boys raced, literally, up the stairs, with Michael tripping them and pulling each of them back so as not to be the first one up the stairs. The other boys giggled and fought back as best they could, but it was all in good fun.
Willow suddenly turned around with, ‘’And don’t forget to say your prayers!’’
‘’We won’t!’’
About three quarter ways up the stair, Nicholas stopped and turned around, that same sweet smile on his face.
‘’Mommy?’’
Willow sighed, wondering what story or other kind of rubbish she was going to hear now. Still, she tried to maintain her patience by bending down to her small son’s level.
‘’Yes Nick, what is it?’’
‘’I love you,’’ and he blew a kiss at her, and dashed up the stairs. Willow placed her hand on her heart – it was moments like that that made everything all worthwhile. Such a sweet boy, she thought.
But now, it was time to have..a talk..with Cale. She found him in the living room, marveling over the ‘’presents’’ he got from the children.

‘’Ok Cale, it’s time to talk,’’ she took the gifts from his hands and set them on a table beside her.
‘’Cale, we can’t keep skirting the issues. Tonight might have been..good, but what about tomorrow? Or the next day? Or next week? And if you think that I can just forget what you did, you’ve got another thing coming.’’
‘’Sweetheart,’’ Cale pleaded, ‘’I know it was wrong, but I did it for us- I did it to help our family.’’
‘’Wrong!’’ Willow bellowed. ‘’You did it to help yourself!’’
‘’Oh come on Willow, that’s not fair. You can’t pretend that you haven’t benefited from it,’’ Cale protested.
‘’Of course I have, dear! But then to find out that- what I thought was one of my husband’s greatest accomplishments is just a great big lie? What do you think the children are going to think when they find out? A fine example you’re setting for them!’’
‘’The kids aren’t going to find out about it- not until they’re older and by then they’d understand my position.’’
‘’And what position is that, Cale?’’ Willow demanded. ‘’A position where we work hard to teach our kids to be honest, only to lie right to their faces and possibly teach them to be dishonest themselves? Yeah, I agree, that’s a great position!’’
‘’That’s not going to happen and you know it, Will. The kids are going to grow up to be decent, honest, amphibious beings.’’
‘’Are they, Cale? Not with you around, they won’t.’’
‘’What is that supposed to mean?’’
‘’It means,’’ by now Willow has lost her steam, and she slumped down in a chair. She chose her next sentence carefully, as she knew it was going to bring pain.
‘’It means, I can’t do this anymore, honey.’’ Misunderstanding her meaning, Cale smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, loosening his blue tie- his special birthday tie he only wore once a year.
‘’Me neither, we’ll talk about this in the morning.’’ But Willow shook her head.
‘’No, I mean, I can’t do this,’’ Willow stifled tears as she took off her wedding ring and placed it on a table. Cale placed a look of worry and panic on his face.

‘’Willow,’’ he pleaded.
‘’I’m sorry, Cale. I love you with all my heart, I do – but I just can’t forgive you this time. And I don’t want the kids to grow up paying for your mistakes. I just can’t do that to them.’’
‘’Willow, ‘’ he said desperately, ‘’Listen, I’m sorry for everything, I really really am, but are you getting a little carried away here? I mean, where are you going to go? What are you going to do? And you’re worried about how my mistakes will affect the kids? This could down right crush them.’’
‘’It’s what has to be done,’’ she said, unmoved.
‘’Sweetheart,’’ Cale pleaded again, ‘’come on just think about this, this could be the biggest mistake of our lives.’’
‘’Of our lives?’’ Willow demanded. ‘’No, my biggest mistake was not putting a stop to your shenanigans when I first suspected it- and yours is putting this family in jeopardy the way you have. I will never – never forgive you for that.’’
By now, Cale was nothing else but desperate, he knew where this was going and wanted to derail this train as quickly as possible.
‘’Ok, I grant you that – but ending our marriage over it? Come on! I mean, I know men who’ve done a lot worse!’’
Willow was still ever unmoved. ‘’Yes, but those men simply aren’t you. I’m taking the kids to stay at Kermit’s for a few days – and when we come back, I want you gone. I mean it, I can’t take it anymore.’’
‘’Willow,’’ Cale said, half through laughter, ‘’you’re joking!’’
‘’No, Cale,’’ Willow said sternly, ‘’We’re through! I want a divorce!’’

Robin, poor Robin, had been watching the whole thing from the top of the stairs, as well as with Nicholas. They were going to ask their father for one last game of airplane before bed. But what they saw and heard at this moment would change them forever. They watch their father try to hold onto their mother, but she only pushed him away, pushed him away in every way. The next thing Robin remembered was watching Cale’s tears land on his beautiful blue tie…

‘’Smile!’’ Robin said as he clicked the shutter. If only he could have followed his own directions.

 

[The Count]

*Hugs the plushy (fluff) Friends (black) Chat version of Fatatatita I have from my Facebook appy.

That was bootiful... Or boo-hootiful, whichever you prefer. It hits you on so many different emotions, the double-nested flashback. Good memories it brought when the scene of the boys playing started... Tears flowing towards the end with the divorce harkening back to Robin's Story by Bo... And a wry sort of happy smile when Megan got enough energy to smile through her own pain... Thank you Nicee.
*Leaves a special goodie made for special fanfic update occasions, jack o'lantern pumpkin cheesecakes.

 

[Nick22]

i loved this chapter! i can't wait for the next one! i love how robin and megan don't even realize that they're talking to their child hood friend!

 

[green stuff]

Oh, that's only the half of it, Nick! No, they have no idea that they're old childhood friends..or maybe, one of them does...or maybe both of them do..you'll have to keep reading to find out! More coming soon!

 

[Nick22]

Oh, that's only the half of it, Nick! No, they have no idea that they're old childhood friends..or maybe, one of them does...or maybe both of them do..you'll have to keep reading to find out! More coming soon!

cool beans. i can't wait!

 

[The Count]

Read more? Of course I will... But I needs more posted now so I can read more. Pwease?

 

[green stuff]

More coming soon! Just in time for Christmas! Oh, and I know it's way late, but the next chapter will be dedicated to Nick22, my number one fan, in honor of his birthday.

 

[Nick22]

More coming soon! Just in time for Christmas! Oh, and I know it's way late, but the next chapter will be dedicated to Nick22, my number one fan, in honor of his birthday.

thanks so much! i'm SUPER excited.

 

[The Count]

Sure would be nice if we gots us some new chapter to this grand story. *Nag nag nag.

 

[green stuff]

Visions of Nick Dancing in Her Head

Even as Robin shook the hands of his first customers, especially the man in the blue tie, he tried his level best to keep his composure. Despite his efforts, though, a few icy tears did escape from his eyes - but not without Megan noticing as she passed by him in the halls throughout the day. She took careful notice of how hurt he looked, as well as broken. She wanted to offer her shoulder as well as her ears, but she thought otherwise of it. After all, the had just met but yesterday, and it was probably none of her business why he was upset anyway. Leaving well enough alone would be the best thing for her to do…right?

For Robin though, the image of that blue tie never went away. From that memory spawned another bad memory, and another, and another, until he found himself having to take his lunch hour early just to compose himself again. Suffice it to say, he was even surprised at himself for feeling this strongly about his family history, even after all these years. He tried to talk himself up by reminding himself that things that turned out all right for him and his siblings in the end. Each of his brothers and sisters were taken care of by his aunts and uncles, they all kept in touch regularly (even put each other on speed dial) and he, he was the luckiest of all. He got to stay with good old Uncle Kermit, who was always (not so) secretly Robin’s favorite uncle. The last ten years or so for him had been great - full of laughter, and fun and toys and discovery and joy, and just - pure love-emanating from Kermit. His life had turned out great - so what was he so sad about? What right did he have?

‘’Count your blessings, Rob,’’ he told himself. ‘’Always count your blessings. After all, things could’ve turned out a lot worse than they did.’’ At this point, his tears had finally dried and he was now calm enough to at least say smile and push the shutter. And Megan, ever dutiful and multi-tasking, though she felt she had no right to whatsoever, kept her watchful eye on him all day long.
It was only when Robin went into the supply closet for more film that they even spoke at all - and even then, just barely. As Robin stood there with the door wide open reaching for the film at the top of the closet, Megan recognized her opportunity and walked up to him, she played with her fingers a bit while she waited for him to notice her presence. But after he took no note of it, he was startled to hear a loud clearing of the throat.

‘’Oh, hi there,’’ Robin said, half smiling. ‘’I didn’t see you there. Uh..did you uh, need something?’’

‘’Well,’’ Megan started, ‘’just to see if you’re okay - I guess.’’
‘’Oh,’’ at that, Robin’s smile faded, and he began to look downward. She had noticed. Well, how to talk his way out of this one?

‘’Oh uh, yeah, I’m good, I’m great, I’m - better than great, I’m-fantastic, I just - well, I just have a lot on my mind, that’s all.’’
‘’So you’re okay? You sure.?’’

‘’Yeah,’’ Robin uttered quietly. He then looked up thoughtfully.
‘’Are YOU ok?’’

‘’Me?’’ asked a shocked Megan. ‘’What on Earth makes you think there’s anything wrong with ME?’’

Again, Robin looked away, this time with a little bit of embarrassment. He knew that Megan knew full well what he was referring to, this was just her way of protecting herself. Ok, not my business, he concluded.

‘’It’s…nothing. I didn’t mean to offend you.’’ an awkward silence ensued between them, and they both looked in opposite directions. Megan looked at Robin through the corner of her eye, and saw him looking at her, though trying not to be obvious. She smiled to herself, and couldn’t resist breaking the silence then.

‘’That’s all right. It’s just that things have been going crazy lately.’’
‘’Really?’’ Robin perked up. ‘’Me too.’’
‘’Yeah?’’ asked Megan, equally perked up.
‘’School,’’ Robin started
‘’Work,’’ Megan added
‘’Plays,’’ Robin topped
‘’College applications -’’ Megan played right along
‘’Family obligations…’’ looked like Robin had her beat, when..
‘’It‘s crazy!’’ they said in unison. And at that moment, there was something shared between the two of them that had never happened before and had a certain glow about it: a laugh. It was their first laugh, and there of course would be many laughs to follow, but there’s always something special about the first laugh that two souls share. The two of them just stood there and smiled at each other, wondering what they were going to laugh at next, when as always, someone had to break the spell.

‘’Uh Megan?’’ cried Ginger, a human photographer. ‘’There’s someone at the front desk. Guess you better get back there.’’ Megan sneered at Ginger, yet still backed away from Robin all the same.

‘’Well, I -guess, I better get back,’’ she said.
‘’Yeah, ‘’ Robin said, reluctantly. ‘’Thanks for coming over to chat.’’

‘’Oh sure, any time,’’ and with that, again, the two just smiled at each other. But again Ginger gave Megan a look as if to say, ‘’get to work.’’ But still, Robin waved at her and said, ‘’I uh, guess I’ll see you later, then.’’

‘’Count on it,’’ Megan grinned. At that, they both turned at the same time and went their separate ways. Megan turned back though, and watched Robin go, again focusing on how sad he looked and wondering what in the world could possibly have upset him so. She shook the thought, looked at her watch, and sighed.

‘’Well, see ya, Robin,’’ she whispered. ‘’Too bad this is goodbye.’’
　
………………………………........................................................................................................................
‘’Goodbye, dear. I hate to see you go so soon, but hey, tadpoles trump engagement parties, right?’’ Robin hugged and kissed Lucy, his sister in law, who was married to his brother Grant -one of the fearsome four.

‘’Always,’’ she laughed. ‘’Great party though, Robin. You and Megan have really outdone yourselves. Jared should be pretty happy, I think.’’ He opened the door for her and let her out. As Grant left out the door, Robin grabbed his arm and pulled him back, making Grant smile.

‘’Left hand green?’’ Grant whispered.
‘’Any time,’’ Robin challenged. They laughed and hugged, all the way out the door. It was then that he saw a silhouette just outside the door. His eyes followed it to the side of their patio, and a small voice was crying. He came around the side to spy Mindy, his brother Nick’s long-time girlfriend. She tried to stifle her tears with a handkerchief, but each time she dabbed at them, more tears flowed.. Robin couldn’t allow that, so at the risk of interrupting a private moment, he came up to her.

‘’Mindy? What’s wrong? Did that brother of mine hurt you?’’
Mindy looked up, startled, then dabbed at her eyes again in embarrassment.

‘’It’s nothing,’’ she said, trying to hide her face from Robin.

‘’Mindy,’’ Robin came over to her and brushed her raven hair from her face, ‘’ ‘’People don’t cry over nothing. And besides, those eyes are too pretty to be so red from tears. What’s wrong? All joking aside, what did Nick do?’’

At the sound of Nick’s name,’’ a new batch of tears came to her eyes.

‘’No, it’s nothing that he’s done. I just - I miss him! Seeing the family all together and having a party and seeing everyone enjoying themselves, it just makes me miss him all the more. Why isn’t he here with me?’’

At this, Mindy couldn’t stand it any longer, and she let her face fall upon Robin’s chest, which he gladly offered. He did his best to comfort and soothe her, running a supportive hand over her back and whispering comforting words to her.

However, he just wasn’t sure how much weight his words would have. At this moment in time, Nicholas, Robin’s older brother and only fellow in the family, was off performing in a worldwide tour with his new production of Dracula, currently in China.He was portraying the brilliant but lonely Dr. John Seward, and with tumultuous and enthusiastic reviews from critics and audiences alike. While it did give him a certain amount of pleasure to hear his audiences clapping and cheering for him, and to see the countless people get on their feet when he took the stage for the final curtain call, he had to admit that a certain amount of pain came to his heart at realizing the absence of his best friend and biggest fan. Not to mention during his performances, whenever he gave a monologue about Jack’s affections for the lovely Lucy Westernra, he was secretly thinking about Mindy - his Lucy.


‘’I’m more than positive that if Nick could be here, he would be. There is nothing in this world that Nick loves more than you - believe me.’’

The sound of these words caused Mindy to stop crying immediately, and she looked up at Robin. Did he really just say that? More than anything? More than playing Dr. Jack Seward all over the world and being adored by millions of fans? More than anything?

‘’Really?’’ she asked through a tear.

‘’You bet really. Hey, we’re brothers, we talk. And when we get together Mindy, he talks about nothing else. He’s always running ideas by me about new ways to make you happy, or some way to make you smile. He even calls me when he’s on tour to pick my brain about care packages he could send you, or, you know, just some way to let you know he’s thinking of you. And he’s thinking of you a lot. As his brother, I can honestly tell you Mindy, you’ve got nothing to worry about - the frog is crazy about you.’’

He smiled at her, took a tissue from his pocket, and dabbed at her eyes once more, to which she nodded gratefully.

‘’You-you think so, Rob?’’ she asked.

‘’Absolutely nutso,’’ he joked. He gave her a hug as a little extra bit of comfort. ‘’Trust me, he’s going to get back here to you as soon as he can - even if he has to swim all the way. Believe me, he’s done crazier things.’’

This last thought comforted Mindy as well as made her laugh. With one last sniffle, she was finally comforted.

‘’Thank you, Robin, that really means a lot to me. You’re too sweet.’’

‘’So I’ve been told,’’ the two shared a small laugh and a hug, and Robin sent her inside with one last tissue, for good measure. At that point, Robin couldn’t help but let his thoughts drift to Nick himself, wondering what he could possibly be doing right now. Little did Robin know that Megan had been watching from a nearby window the whole time, and she felt her heart flutter with how tender and gentle he was to Mindy. She had always loved that about him. She just hoped that he would be as tender and gentle to her after they had had their talk.

‘’Well, get back here quickly, bro-wherever you are,’’ Robin whispered. ‘’There are people who need you back here.’’
　
Little did Mindy and Robin know that Nick was way ahead of both of them. He loved doing the play, it’s what made him happy most, but truth to be told, he couldn’t stand to be away from Mindy any more than she could him. Especially not for so long a time. The run in China was still going on, but he had given the part to his understudy - much to the disappointment of his fans. Yes, being next to Mindy, his beloved Lucy, was more important to him than fame, fortune, or even his dream role on the Chinese equivalent of Broadway. All he could think of at this point was getting home to her. And so, here he was at Air China, looking for the fastest way to do so.

‘’Good morning sir, and thank you for choosing Air China. How may I help you?’’

‘’Yeah,’’ Nick uttered in his ever-mellow voice. ‘’I need the first available ticket, I don’t care what section, on your next flight to America. First thing smoking.’’

‘’Yes sir, right away,’’ chimed the ticket agent. Nick nodded his head in thanks while the ticket agent ticked away at her computer. He lifted his eyes skyward, yet narrowed them in determination, clutching his bag tightly to his shoulder.

‘’Hold on Mindy. I’m comin’ home to you.’’