The Arrangement

Thank you all for the positive encouragement. I'm good most days when it comes to coming to terms with the end of my marriage - you know the term "life goes on". Well, it's marching forward for this girl and I can truly say that I am blessed for it.

I also would like to thank those who took time to read my work and have enjoyed it so much so far. I am not going to go so far with the sex in this update, but the story between these two does move forward, as well as for another pair of characters related to the main couple. One thing to keep in mind is while writing this update I listened to "Charlene" by Anthony Hamilton - it will make some sense later in the chapter. Actually the whole album reminds me so much of the 50s, 60s & 70s R&B songs of love and loss that made music of that time so incredible.

Please comment -- constructive criticism is much appreciated. Thanks all!

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"How are you today miss?" asked the polite bus driver as he smiled down on the smaller woman.

"Fine. Thanks for asking." mumbled Julianne, swiftly turning her head away from the smiling man.

"That's good. Where are you going today?" He asked, still smiling at her.

"I'm going to Little Falls, New Jersey." she answered while looking at her bag.

She handed over the ticket she paid for in cash to the smiling man. She felt nervous and uncomfortable with him looking at her the way he did. He took the ticket, making sure to subtly touch her fingers. Her hand snapped back from his in surprise at the contact. Instead of the heat she was used to seeing in Peter's flaming eyes, there was a warmth in his deep brown eyes that seemed reassuring as he looked back at her. She blinked a little in confusion, and looked away waiting for him to be finished with whatever he needed to do with her ticket.

"Here you go miss. Do you have any bags you need to check?" he asked politely while handing back her ticket.

"Just my backpack. I'll be carrying my purse on the bus." she stated while looking up at him briefly. He smiled again, and effortlessly picked up the bag after checking the paper tags on it.

She turned to walk up to the bus. On her way up the stairs she heard him say, "I hope you enjoy the ride."

Her head turned slightly to the side before continuing up the steps, pretending to ignore the double entendre and knowing that he was watching her ass move under her heavy black sweatpants as she walked away.

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"This doesn't look good Josie." said Jacob to his wife.

They both looked in the distance as they saw Peter talking to Julianne. Peter stopped walking, and waiting for Julianne to notice. The background noise of the party kept the couple's conversation a mystery to the two onlookers. Josephine stepped closer to her husband. She sighed and took his arm in her own.

"No baby. It doesn't look good at all." she said as he wrapped a hand over her exposed one.

They watched the scene unfold before their eyes. Julianne stopped Peter from talking, and put her hand over her stomach. She said some more words before turning around and walking away from Peter toward the front gate of the mansion. A valet came up to her to ask her where her car would be. She must have told him to contact Peter, but before he could do so Peter was standing right behind her.

They watched him run his hand down the back of her exposed arms and lean in to her slightly once the young man went away to retrieve their driver and vehicle. Once the man showed up, Peter said some words to him. During this entire exchange, from the moment Peter came to Julianne's side, she had her head down and turned away from Peter.

The midnight blue Rolls Royce came up to the waiting couple and Peter opened the door for her before turning fully to the driver and giving him some directions. They heard the door close in the distance and watched, along with Peter, as the car left the party, leaving their eyes with a burning trail of red tail lights.

Josephine sprung into action the moment she saw Peter move unsteadily on his feet. The moment she reached him, Jacob was in the other direction shouting for a doctor in the house to help a collapsed Peter. By the time Jacob came out with a doctor, Josephine laid next to Peter, checking for a pulse.

"Please step aside madam. He needs a bit more room." grumbled the much older man as he shooed Josephine away from Peter's side.

"Watch how you talk to my wife doctor!" said Jacob in a menacing tone.

The older man waved an irritated hand at him as his other hand went to Peter's pulse. It was slightly irregular and faint. Peter's breathing was labored. The older man contacted the hospital where he was the head of cardiology, realizing that Peter was going into cardiac arrest.

The ambulance came within moments of the doctor's initial call. The paramedics loaded Peter into the back of the vehicle and allowed the doctor to come aboard to administer first aid to him. They arrived at the hospital in minutes with Josephine and Jacob in a car following right on the heels of the emergency vehicle.

The hospital's intake staff gathered Peter's information and made Josephine and Jacob wait in the waiting room near the emergency room entrance. Jacob paced around the room making phone calls all over the place. He started with Josephine's mother, Millie, and ended with a call to Peter's father, Stephen. Within the hour several of Peter's longtime friends and college fraternity brothers, Millie, and finally Stephen came to be there for the news of Peter's health.

Josephine kept close to her mother, who held her own shaking hand. Peter's mother Maryse died about a decade earlier from a long battle with skin cancer, and Peter, who was not close to his father since their discussion all those years ago, did not keep in touch with him except to argue over the direction of the firm he inherited.

After a four hour wait, the same doctor from earlier in the evening came out and asked for Josephine and Jacob. The two rose and spoke with the doctor who informed them that Peter needed to have an emergency surgery and a stint put in his heart due to the massive coronary he sustained that evening. The doctor informed them that he was stable, and awake from the surgery. A night nurse at the station nearby Peter's private room informed them that since it was so late in the evening that they would be the only two to see Peter.

Josephine turned to Jacob and informed him that they might not be the best people for him to see right now. Jacob looked at her with confusion written all over his face.

"Why should we not go in there Josie? He's our friend and family. He needs us." pleaded Jacob.

"Baby, I know. But I think he needs some advice, not pity. I want to see him just as much as you do, but I think he needs to talk to someone who can help him more than we can at this point." said Josephine.

Jacob pondered his wife's words thoughtfully before countering with, "You mean Momma."

Josephine nodded her head. Jacob leaned down and kissed his wife's forehead before turning around to inform the night nurse that someone else instead of them would be coming to see their friend and relative. The couple then went back to the waiting room, where they found Stephen sitting directly across from Millie. Millie was in a state of silent shock while the couple relayed the news of the doctor to the group. Stephen watched her face change in the wake of the anguish and turmoil that only a parent could feel when confronted with the possibility of losing a child. He felt the same as well, but in his anguish he would do anything to comfort Millie.

He closed his eyes briefly to remember the sweet taste of her and willed down his erection. He was thankful that his trenchcoat carefully hid the unexpected arousal of being in the same room as her. However when he opened his eyes he found her expressive brown eyes looking at him. She was neither mad nor upset to see him. She looked resolved. He realized that she was looking through him and focusing on being strong for Peter.

Stephen felt shame like he hadn't felt in a long time -- not since having to admit his love and lust for Millie so many years ago while in therapy. Coupled with that shame was the almost desperate need to be close to her. Knowing that those old feelings were still there, Stephen quietly excused himself from the waiting room. Millie watched him walk away already understanding why he left the waiting room.

"Momma, Why don't you go in to see Peter." asked Jacob after he and Josephine finished explaining the news to the group.

Millie looked back at Stephen exiting through the emergency room automatic glass door. Even with everything that happened because of him -- her nightmares, jumpy behavior, the fear of whispers and shadows, and the deep depression of her situation, she still felt that this father needed to be with his son.

"I'll go see him. But the person my baby needs to see beside me is his daddy. Jacob, baby you go talk to that man and get him to talk to his boy. I'll head on over." responded Millie.

Josephine and Jacob stood there stunned. Josephine was the first to recover and gently pulled her mother to the side. Jacob, being the dutiful son-in-law walked out after Stephen who was making his way to his car in the chilly early morning air.

"Momma, what are you doing? He'll be in the same room as you! How are you so sure that he won't try to do something to you?" asked an upset Josephine.

"Baby, his boy needs him more than he thinks he needs me. I'll be fine. You just keep praying for ya cousin." stated Millie as she patted her daughter's hand and began heading off toward Peter's room. Josephine stared in wonder at her mother before shaking her head, knowing that once she made up her mind that there would be nothing to change her mind. She retreated to a nearby seat to wait for her husband to return.

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Julianne stood in the center of the perfectly manicured lawn staring at the front door of her parents home. The loose black sweats barely stayed on her thick hips. Her hair hung slightly limp from the long bus ride from the heart of the city to the suburban New Jersey town of her youth. Her once racing mind was blank as she stared at the pristine white door set in the brick building framed by equally pristine corinthian columns. Everything seemed to weigh her down all at once - the choices she made that led her to her parents front steps. The despair, loneliness, and pain from the weight of the decisions she made hurt her to her soul.

"Julie?" Came a deep masculine voice from a slight distance away.

"Julie, honey? Babygirl what are you doing here?" came the voice, this time from a slightly closer distance.

Julianne blinked and the tears that marred her vision finally fell down her ashen cheeks. She looked up to see her father in the early dawn light. Warm firm hands slid around her shivering body and enveloped her in a warmth that tried to touch her soul.

"Baby, what's goin' on?" came the tender question to reach her self imposed solitude.

Julieanne finally acknowledged the voice and warmth that attempted to ease her pain.

"Da..." she started before her eyes lost focus and her body relaxed completely in his arms, sinking to the damp grass.

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When Millie entered the room, she paused for a moment to gather herself. Peter looked horrible. His normally refined appearance looked haggard and tired. His color was off -- a grayish tinge to his skin where it was usually a healthy pink under his slightly tanned skin. What hurt her most was the sight of all the tubes coming out of his body to stabilize him. She could see the bandages covering his chest. While relieved that he wasn't breathing out of a tube, seeing the IV and other things in his body made her sway slightly. She steeled her resolve and bravely walked forward into the room

"Hey baby." said Millie softly into the room as she stepped through the doorway.

Peter was looking out the window of his suite, deep in thought until he heard his momma's voice. He turned his head and smiled at her. Millie noticed that his smile was off -- the usual twinkle of mischief in his blue eyes was absent. She came to him and pulled up a chair to sit next to him on the far side of the bed close to the window. He reached out a hand to her, and she took it -- feeling the coolness of his skin against her warmth.

"How ya feel baby'?" asked Millie tentatively as she smiled down on him.

Peter shook his head. A tear dropped from his eye quicker than he could react and before either knew what hit him he was balling his eyes out. Millie scrambled over to the bed as quickly as she could and held Peter as he crumpled into her soft smaller frame. She stroked his hair and wiped the tears from his cheeks to soothe his frazzled nerves. It took him a while to cry his emotions out, but when he finished he began to talk to her.

"She's gone momma. She's really gone." whispered Peter in anguish.

"Is this your Josephine look-alike lady friend you talkin' 'bout baby?" asked Millie softly.

Peter nodded, burying his head in her tear dampened shirt.

"Baby, what happened?" asked Millie.

Peter asked her to sit and listen to his tale, and relayed the information about what lead up to their last conversation to his momma.

"I asked her why she was ashamed of me that night. I gave her a massage and after it a range of emotions came from her. She asked me about Josephine, and I did the stupidest thing ever. I told her that Josie was an ex-girlfriend that she sorta looked like. The two met tonight, and it was explosive. I had an inkling that she was not so sure about being with me because of the life I live, but I never expected her to leave. She's pregnant with my baby, and she's not sure what she will do with our child. How do I get her back? How do I get her to know that I love her when she thinks I've treated her as my object?" asked Peter.

Millie sighed holding her hand to her chest. She wanted to comfort him, but wasn't sure what to say that wouldn't hurt him worse than he was already hurting. She looked around the room before her eyes settled on the reflection of Stephen in the glass partition facing the nurses' station. Their eyes met in the glass, and she realized that he heard everything. She stared into his reflected eyes, raising a hand to beckon him to come into the room. Stephen hesitated before heeding her command.

Peter barely noticed that another person came into the room until he heard a slight cough announcing the presence of a man. Thinking that it was the doctor he turned away from Millie to see his father. The years since his confession of his attack on Millie had not been kind to the old man. He wasn't stooped, but his demeanor was contained where it used to be boastful. His green eyes looked watery, like he wanted to cry. Those same eyes flickered between Millie and Peter.

"Why are you here?" asked Peter as Millie swiped at some tears that fell down his ashen cheeks.

"I...I...I'm sorry. Maybe I should go." came Stephen's soft-spoken reply as he slowly backed out of the room.

"Stay." said Millie.

Peter turned to look up at her and saw the look on her face. It was a look he was very familiar with. There was no discussion: Peter would listen to whatever his father had to say. Peter turned back to look at his father with a look of annoyance and hostility in his icy blue eyes.

"I'm not gon' tell you again Peter." warned Millie.

She stepped away from him and her wiry hands settled on her hips. Peter closed his eyes briefly before opening them again on his father. They lacked the prior heat but still retained a coolness that would unnerve lesser men.

Stephen, encouraged by the support of Millie, stepped into the room and sat down in the chair to Peter's right side. Sitting close to the light above Peter, the younger man was able to see how the older man fared over the years. He also knew that for all of Stephen's remorse, the longing to be with Millie never abated, and if possible it grew stronger with each passing year. Stephen cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Son, I don't know what transpired to land you here in this bed, but I can tell that whatever it is must be over a woman you've fallen in love with and hurt deeply. In my experience, which unfortunately is vast, I've hurt a lot of people and broken many hearts and lives. I hurt the ones closest to me and ruined the one chance I may have ever had at true love. My foolish pride wouldn't allow me to realize that I couldn't take what I wanted just because I fell in love with a woman. I never learned the lesson I should have given to you so very long ago -- work for her.

"Whoever she is, she's special to you. Don't let her forget that. Don't take what you want and lay waste to her feelings as though they don't matter. Her feelings not only matter, but will be the most important measure of how you are as a man -- her man. Son, if this woman loves you, then treat her like the precious gem she is. Whatever you do, don't make her afraid of you. Don't take her for granted. And never, ever stop telling her that you love her and always will." finished Stephen.

For most of his advice he spoke to Peter, but as time wore on and he began to reflect on his life and those hard earned lessons, his eyes would land on Millie. Toward the end he stared at her as he told her through his son how he felt about her. Millie stood there watching and listening before realizing that he was speaking to her albeit indirectly. Millie broke the stare by looking to the side, absorbing the weight of the message Stephen gave them.

Millie gently patted Peter's shoulder, drawing his attention to her. He reached up to catch the tear that descended down her cheek. His hand wandered down her arm and linked hands with her. He looked over at his father and spoke clearly, with perfect enunciation.

"You hurt my momma. By that, you hurt me. I understand your words, and the sentiment behind them. But don't tell me of your mistakes as a way of instructing me on my own mistakes. Tell her. She's standing right here and is waiting for you to tell her. Be brave and beg for her forgiveness." said Peter.

"Baby, your father is here for you, not me." spoke Millie into the quiet hospital room punctuated by the soft beeping of Peter's heart monitor. Stephen looked pensively at Peter before he told his son exactly how he felt.

"Peter, you're my only child. I'm so, so sorry for hurting you all those years ago. I'm sorry for not being there for you the way you needed me to be there for you. I've looked back at my life, and realized that while I provided for you and your mother, I wasn't the man you needed in your life. It was because of my actions that I almost destroyed the best person in your life, the woman whose hand you hold so tenderly.

"I won't deny that I would trade places with you any day, because she taught you how to be affectionate and kind. I hope that whatever transpired to bring you to this place isn't because of what I taught you -- to be cold, manipulative and use your power and influence to subjugate others to your whims. It would hurt to know that that is my lasting legacy on this earth." spoke Stephen into the quiet room.

Peter looked up into her eyes, searching for the duplicity he knew would not be there. He put his head down, staring at the light blue blanket and rough white sheets covering his legs. After some time, he turned his head to his father and said the words that the old man needed to hear.

"I forgive you father."

A weight felt lifted from the shoulders of both men. The mood, while subdued, was hopeful as the three people in that room realized that with those simple words they would be able to start putting the immeasurable pain of the past in the past, and work toward a stronger relationship for the future.