That Which Leads Us Home - Chapter 9, Honesty is the Best Policy
That Which Leads us Home
by Frakkin_Eh
Rating: K for now....
*** I AM POSTING CHAPTERS 8 AND 9 AT THE SAME TIME BECAUSE THEY SORT OF GO TOGETHER... well I guess the whole story goes together LOL... THEY WERE ORIGINALLY WRITTEN AS ONE BIG CHAPTER BUT I DECIDED TO BREAK THEM UP. ANYWAY, THAT'S WHY THEY'VE BEEN POSTED BACK TO BACK... Don't miss chapter 8 and skip to chapter 9.. that's just cheating
Authors notes: This story is a sequel of sorts to the Movie 'For All time' starring Mark Harmon and Mary McDonnell. It picks up in the second to last scene in the movie. If you have not seen the movie you should be able to follow the story anyway as I hope (fingers crossed on that one) that I've provided enough information in the story about what happened prior to the timeline the story takes place in. You should watch the movie though, for no other reason than it's a wonderful little movie and .. well, Mary's in it.
tayryn ROCKS! She's the bestest and fastest beta in the whole world
Chapter 9 - Honesty is the best policy
Ormond looked up from behind the counter. “Well well well…. Look what the cat dragged in.” he said with a smile. “Haven’t seen you in a few days, Mr. Lattimer. Although, I can’t say I’m surprised. How are you feeling, Charles?”
Charles gave him a sly grin. “I’m definitely better than the last time I dropped by.”
“I don’t doubt that.” Ormond said as he came around the counter to shake his hand.
“I wanted to thank you and Mrs. Rourke for all your assistance last week. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t have been there to help me.”
“No need to thank us. I’m sure you would have done the same if the tables had been turned.”
“Well, let’s just hope we never have to put that theory to the test.” Charles answered with a laugh.
“No kidding.”
“I ummm…. I haven’t had a chance to speak with Mrs. Brown since that night. I’d been ordered to bed rest for the past four days so I’ve been cooped up in my hotel room. Do you know if there has been any more trouble from Thompson since?”
A sly smile crept across Ormond’s face as he responded. “Nothin’ that I know of… but you know where to find her, why don’t you go ask her yourself?”
“Yeah, I just might have to do that.” Charles responded as he made his way out. “Thanks again, Ormond.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“*****************************************************************************
“*****************************************************************************
As Charles came out of the store his heart nearly stopped. There she was, packing up the chalkboard, preparing to close up for the night. After she had folded the board she turned to make her way back into the office, and then she saw him, too. As their eyes met, they seemed to come to a silent understanding.
Laura’s lips curled slightly as she turned and made her way back up the stairs. Charles simply stood and watched, unsure what he should do as she went through the door. She then paused, turned to look at him, and left the door ajar.
Charles took a deep breath and swallowed hard. This was it. This was what he’d been waiting for. Without further hesitation he quickly made his way across the street.
Laura was working at the printing press, much like she’d been doing the day he first met her, when he entered the office. She looked up as he came in and then returned her attention to the task at hand.
After several moments she finally broke the silence. “How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Much better, thank you.” he responded.
“Glad to hear it. You had us a little worried for a while, Mr. Lattimer.”
“Sorry about that.”
“No. I’m the one who should be apologizing. If it weren’t for me none of that would have happened to you.”
“You never need to apologize to me, Laura.” He said softly. “I’d do it all again tomorrow if I had to.”
Laura stopped what she was doing and closed her eyes. The mere sound of her given name on his lips was enough to set a slew of butterflies loose in her belly.
“I really would like to talk to you. If you’ll agree to listen… to hear me out.” He said.
Laura didn’t say a word as she reached for the rag they kept by the press. She cleaned her hands as she slowly made her way to the back of the office. Charles followed wearily.
As she leaned against the wall and peered out the window he began to speak.
“I bought a watch. An antique watch, from a dealer in the downtown core of St. Louis…..”
As Charles spoke, Laura listened. He told her about his life, how empty it felt, how he and Kristen had drifted apart. He told her about his job, how meaningless it had all been to him, how unfulfilling and mundane his existence had become.
He told her about the watch, the conductor, the drawing, the train… he told her everything.
Charles talked for what felt like hours. Laura stood silently, her gaze never leaving the window, her face never showing a hint of emotion.
When Charles finished he simply waited for her reply. When none came he asked, “Laura? Would you please say something?”
The look in her eyes terrified him. It was as though she was looking straight through him, like she couldn’t see him standing there at all. “I don’t think I understand what you’re trying to tell me, Charles.”
“What I’m saying is that I’m not from this era. Somehow… and I don’t understand it myself… I found a time slip or a portal to the past. The watch is the key. The day I first arrived in Somerville, I stepped off a train that was bound for some other place, in some other time…. In nineteen hundred and ninety-six. “
“Nineteen Ninety-Six?” she reiterated.
“Yes.” He said. “My life… the life I left to come here… takes place one hundred years from now. My wife isn’t even born yet.”
Silence filled the air as Charles stood waiting for her to respond.
Laura hung her head for several moments as she fought to reign in emotions that were quickly spiraling out of control. When she finally looked up, the hurt and confusion in her eyes was unmistakable… the agony set deep in her features nearly broke his heart.
She finally regained enough control to speak one word. “Why?” she asked in a tiny whisper.
Not understanding the question, Charles simply looked at her with a puzzled look on his face.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Laura, please…. If you’d just…..” he reached out to touch her arm.
“DON’T TOUCH ME!” she lashed out as she quickly jerked her arm away. Her eyes narrowed into a devastating glare as she added, “Don’t you DARE put your hands on me again.”
Taking an additional step away from him she looked him in the eye, the devastation he saw nearly shattered him. “I asked you why you are doing this to me? Who ARE you?”
“Laura, I told you….”
She held up a hand to silence him as she stated in a discouraged and dejected voice. “The least you could have done, Mr. Lattimer…” she snickered bitterly before adding “… if that’s even your name… was come up with an explanation that was believable… something that didn’t insult my intelligence.”
Desperate to get her to listen he begged one more time. “Laura please… just listen to me.”
“Listen to you? What for? So you can feed me more lies… so you can build me up just to tear me down again?”
And then all of a sudden it dawned on her.
Laura was shaking from head to toe. She fought to breath… she fought to speak.
She closed her eyes as the truth hit her, causing her face to morph into a twisted mess of agony and hurt. Her eyes filled with the tears she could no longer hold at bay. “OH - MY - GOD!” she whispered slowly. “OH MY GOD….” she turned her back to him as shook her head in disbelief. “It’s true…. What they’ve been saying….”
Charles could feel the blood drain from his face as the walls around his heart began to tighten. “What who’s been saying, Laura? What have people been saying?”
When she turned around to face him he barely recognized her. The hurt and humiliation was gone. In its place was pure anger and distain. “You work for him, don’t you?”
At first he was confused, he didn’t understand who she was talking about. And then it hit him. Realizing what she was accusing him of he closed the gap between them in three strides.
“Laura, no.” he said, begging her with his eyes to believe him.
“YES!” She growled. “Oh my GOD! How could I have been so blind? So stupid?” She closed her eyes again and tilted her head back. The tears were flowing freely as she went on. “It all makes sense now. You showing up here, throwing me off balance… getting the inside scoop with the paper… distracting me with hopes and thoughts of…. GOD, I don’t KNOW what I was hoping for with you.”
Charles just stood there looking at her… shaking his head adamantly.
“He must be paying you incredibly well for you to have endured a beating like the one you took… my hat’s off to you for that one, mister.”
“Laura, stop. Just stop for one second and listen to me!”
Laura went on as though she didn’t even hear him. “You know, I guess I should be flattered in a way. Mr. Thompson went to a great deal of trouble this time.”
“Laura, no.” he pleaded. “Please, you have to believe me…”
Charles felt as though his heart was being slowly ripped from his chest. He knew that telling her the truth had its risks, but the hurt and anger he saw in her eyes was more than he had prepared for.
As she began to turn away he reached out and grabbed her arm. “Laura, I LOVE YOU!”
He felt the sting against his face before he even knew what had happened. Laura stood before him, her trembling hand still raised in mid air. Clearly as shocked by her actions as he was, she slowly backed away from him.
Through narrow tear filled eyes she glared at him. “Get out.” she said in a slow, barely audible whisper.
Charles closed his eyes in an effort to absorb what was happening. Through his tears he simply nodded in defeat and slowly made his way towards the door.
He turned back once more to see her standing with her back to him, her arms wrapped around her waist as tremor after tremor took hold of her. It took all he had not to rush across the room and wrap her in his arms. But he knew it would be pointless, he knew there was nothing he could do.
“I’ll respect your wishes and I’ll go.” He said. “But know this: I love you, Laura Brown… in a way I think I always have. And I always will.”
He then walked out the door and quickly made his way to his hotel… he had a train to catch.
Chapter 8 <> Chapter 10
All Previous Chapters