Lost Love / Missed Chances

The plane landed smoothly as Mr. and Mrs. Roarke, along with Tattoo, stood there ready to welcome their guests. Standing beside Roarke in a light pastel blue dress, Hecate looked over at him. For some reason, he had been tightly lipped about their guests. She sighed; it was just like Loki to keep secrets. Soon the passengers began to disembark. The first one off the plane was an older gentleman. Mr. Roarke spoke.

"Mr. Samuel Parker. A fairly wealthy gentleman with a loving wife who he loves greatly in return. He has three children, eight grandchildren, and one great grand-daughter."

"What's his fantasy, Boss? He seems to have it all." Tattoo said.

"He feels that he does, but there is an important part of his past that he would like to revisit. A long time ago, when he was a young man, there was a woman who lived down the hall from him in his building. He would often see her walking down the street or at the entrance to their building. Due to her beauty, he was too intimidated to even introduce himself. She never even knew that he existed."

Hecate looked over at him, slightly confused.

"You just said that he's happily married. Why would he want to have an affair so late in life?"

"No, you misunderstand his fantasy. He is not interested in anything physical. He was transferred to Philadelphia not long after seeing her that he met his wife. He believes that he would never have had the courage to approach his wife with confidence if he hadn't missed his chance in New York. His fantasy is simply to introduce himself and have a nice diner with the woman that he missed so long ago."

"But Boss, if he didn't even know her name, then how did you find her? Even Heimdall isn't that good."

"Nonsense, finding her was easy. However, she doesn't know about the fantasy yet."

"Okay, Roarke. So, what excuse did you use to bring her here?"

Looking at her, he simply ignored the question and focused on the next person heading down the walk. She was a pretty blond lady who looked a little bit lost.

"That is Sally Houston. A nice lady who has only been in love once. When she was a freshman in college, she met a handsome man named Nicholas. They loved each other, and he proposed. She declined his proposal because she wanted to concentrate on her career. She achieved her goal and is one of the top defense attorneys in Boston. Now that she is successful, she often thinks about what might have been and if she should have tried to juggle a relationship with law school. Now she wants a second chance."

Two lost chances both wanting to set things right. This is going to be an exciting and heartfelt weekend." Hecate said.

"Yes, probably more than you realize," Roarke responded.

"What does that mean?"

Before she could get an answer, their drinks arrived as Roarke toasted their guests. Hecate cut her eyes over to him. After two thousand years, she knew when he wasn't telling her everything and avoiding the question. Smiling to herself, she thought this was why she had married him, the enjoyment of the unknown, and trying to figure out what the trickster god was up to this time. Soon the day began as everyone moved about the buffet tables. No one noticed the Roarke's leave early as they headed out to, as Roarke said, put the finishing touches on Mr. Parker's fantasy. Pulling into the city structure, Hecate blinked.

"Roarke, do you want to tell me about what's going on?"

"As I said, it is the finishing touches of a fantasy."

Stopping in front of a high-rise apartment building, she stared at it. Tattoo looked around and spoke.

"This is a beautiful street, Boss."

Across the street was a florist, and down the block was a lovely Italian sidewalk café.

"How much of 1920's New York did you recreate for this fantasy?" Hecate asked.

"Only this one block. All of his memories and fantasies are here."

"Here? My old apartment building?"

He smiled at her and picked up a package from the back of the cart.

"Shall we see inside?"

Turning around, they headed into the apartment building. It was not a skyscraper, such as what prevailed around New York today. It was a modest, five-story brick apartment building. Her flat had been on the top floor in an upscale neighborhood. Walking into the building, there was an old iron elevator to the side. Hecate smiled and looked at Roarke.

"Alright, Loki. Talk. How did you do all this without me knowing about it?"

"It was difficult, but I tried to keep you distracted."

She almost laughed, finally understanding why he had been so attentive lately. Getting into the old iron elevator, it slowly rose up, stopping on the top floor. Stepping out of the elevator into the hallway. Hecate looked around, smiling. On the right wall was a large shipwreck painting that she stopped a moment to admire.

"I always loved this painting. The dark colors of a stormy sea and the destruction of the ship. It fit the darkness I felt at the time."

Walking down the hall, there were doors on both sides. On the right was even-numbered, and on the left were the odd numbers. This building was set up where they were ten apartments on each floor, with five on each side.

"My apartment was 510." She said.

"Yes, and he was number 503." Roarke nodded.

"It feels strange being someone's fantasy. At least it's not a sexual one."

"No, it's just a friendly meeting. You never noticed him, and truthfully at this time in history, you were pretty angry at me. You probably wouldn't have noticed a shy, quiet man down the hall."

"No, I wouldn't have. Besides, I was wrestling with the knowledge that I had fallen completely in love with you. In fact, since I've been back, it's been difficult to be around you without my temperature rising."

He smiled at her as they reached apartment 510. Opening the door, she stepped inside and back in time. Looking around, she turned to Roarke.

"I am always amazed at your ability to recreate the complete illusion of the past."

"There is one thing about this fantasy that's a slight problem," Roarke admitted.

"What's that?"

"You didn't have a wedding band back then. I must ask you to give me your ring for a couple of days."

Looking at her hand, she sighed and nodded. Reluctantly she removed her ring and handed it to him. Placing it in his vest pocket, he gave her the package he had brought. Opening it, she smiled and nodded. Inside was a beautiful turquoise dress.

"He remembered the dress," Roarke said.

"He has a good memory. I did wear it several times, and it was one of my favorites."

Heading to the bedroom to change, she soon emerged in the dress as Roarke smiled.

"I can see why he remembered that dress. It looks stunning on you."

"Thank you, I forgot how uncomfortable these clothes were."

Leaning down, he kissed her deeply and full of passion. Breaking apart, he spoke.

"We will leave and go get our guest. Focus on him and be approachable. Oh, and remember, you were not Hecate when you lived in New York. Your name was Cate."

"I'll remember."

Reluctantly Roarke left to bring their guest. Getting back into the cart, Tattoo spoke.

"You seemed very reluctant to leave. I thought you said that Mr. Parker's fantasy was not physical?"

"It's not; it's just that like Hecate, since her return, my temperature also rises around her as well. That was simply a beautiful dress on a beautiful lady, and she's mine, so I tend to let my mind wander about her."

Tattoo smiled at him. He was amused that the cold and stoic Mr. Roarke actually felt passion. They returned an hour later with Mr. Parker.

"I can't believe that you were able to recreate this street. It's amazing."

"Yes, I will admit that recreating New York wasn't easy, but I'm certain that you'll be pleased."

Entering the building, Mr. Parker looked around and smiled at seeing the elevator.

"They don't make things like that anymore."

The elevator rose up as they stepped out onto the fifth floor. He stared ahead in surprise. In front of them was a woman in a turquoise dress. She entered the apartment at the end of the hallway. Mr. Parker stared in amazement and looked over at Mr. Roarke.

"That was her. I can tell, but how? She should be my age now, but the woman there was young, just as I remember."

"Yes, you did specify to meet the one you remember. If you look at your apartment, I'm certain that you will find things amazingly similar to what you remember."

Opening the door to room 503, he stared at the interior of the apartment.

"Amazing, this is exactly like I remember it." He whispered in amazement.

"Well, then, if everything is satisfactory, we will take our leave. I hope that this time you get to know your neighbor."

Roarke and Tattoo left the building and headed back to their other guests. By the pool, they found Miss Houston enjoying the sun.

"Good afternoon Miss Houston, how are you doing today?"

again."

"I'm certain that you will and soon."

"I hope so." She smiled.

Roarke nodded and left as a man approached her. Looking up, she saw a nice-looking man smiling at her.

"Hello," he said. "My name is Nicholas, what might you be?"

"Mine is Sally Houston, a defense attorney in Boston."

"Interesting, I'm a prosecuting attorney who just started in Boston. Maybe you could have dinner with me?"

"I would love that." She smiled.

Later that afternoon, as she walked by the lounge, another handsome gentleman approached.

"Hello, it's nice to see such a beautiful woman here today. My name is Nicholas, what's yours?"

"Oh, uh, Sally Houston." She said, slightly confused.

"Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"

"I can't, I already have diner plans for tonight." She admitted.

He nodded.

"How about spending a couple of hours with me here in the lounge then?"

She smiled and nodded. Setting down at one of the tables, he spoke.

"I'm a doctor at Boston General, head of thoracic surgery."

"I'm a defense attorney in Boston."

They talked and spoke for a while. She learned that he had also attended the same college as her at the same time. After a couple of hours, she stood to leave and headed back to her bungalow. Getting dressed for her date, she headed to the dining room. Entering the room, she looked around, not finding Nicholas. A nice looking but slightly heavyset man approached her. Smiling at her, he spoke.

"Hello, my name is Nicolas. What's yours?"

"Sally Houston." She said.

At this point, she wasn't surprised about another Nicholas showing up. She waited to hear that he also was a success in Boston. She was surprised at his next answer.

"I own a small coffee shop and bookstore in the downtown Boston area. What about you?"

"I work in Boston as a defense attorney." She smiled.

"Would you join me for dinner?" He asked.

"I can't. I'm waiting for my dinner date now."

"Well, how about breakfast then?" He pressed.

She smiled and nodded.

"I would enjoy that."

She moved on into the restaurant, and it wasn't long before her dinner date arrived.

"I'm sorry, I'm late. There was an important phone call from my office. I had to take it."

"I understand, all too well." She smiled.

As they spoke, she discovered that he had also attended the same college. She wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow morning the other Nicholas had even gone to her college as well. Mr. Roarke didn't make things easy for her. Other than flat out asking each guy if they had proposed to her in the past, which would make her look foolish for two and possibly turning away the third. She sat there most of the night trying to figure out which one it was. Across the island, night had begun to fall as Hecate stepped out of her apartment to see Mr. Parker leaving the elevator. Heading to the elevator, she passed him with a slight nod of acknowledgment and headed to the elevator. As she entered, Mr. Parker soon decided to get into the elevator as well. As the elevator descended, Mr. Parker spoke.

"Hello, my name is Samuel Parker. I'm in sales."

"Hello, I'm Cate Sullivan." She smiled.

They spoke as the elevator descended. Stepping out, Samuel spoke.

"Have you had dinner yet?"

"Not yet, I was actually heading down to the café down the street."

"Yes, I remember you used to eat there all the time." He said to himself.

She smiled and pretended that she hadn't heard him. They headed down the street and were soon at an Italian sidewalk café. It was true. She remembered eating here often since Italian food was one of her favorites. They soon spoke and enjoyed one another's company. Eventually, the dinner ended as they headed back to their apartment building. Walking her to her door, she smiled and said good night as she entered her apartment. The next morning, they headed to the flower shop across the street, and he bought her a beautiful blue flower for her pale pink dress. They stopped and had coffee at the café and enjoyed a beautiful day at the park down the street.

Miles away, Miss Houston was having breakfast with the third Nicholas, who smiled and spoke about the exquisite aroma from the coffee beans. Over breakfast, he spoke of different ways to make coffee and about various literary works. While at first, she thought that she would have the least in common with this Nicholas, she realized that by the end of the breakfast, this one was the most interesting to her. Looking at him, she smiled. All three Nicholas's had dark hair and brown eyes. Two were successful and incredibly rich, but although this one wasn't rich, he was comfortable. The other two were in perfect physical shape, but this one was a little bit overweight, probably from reading books all day and not working out. The main difference was that the other two were both serious, and this one made her smile. She wasn't interested in money, since she had already made enough, what she wanted was a companion. While she had money, what she really wanted was love. They continued talking, and after breakfast, they took a walk along the beach. Hours later she realized, this one was the one that she wanted to be with. She didn't know if he was the one, she came here to find, but he's the one that she found. That evening they were in the restaurant laughing once more.

"When we get back to Boston, I would like to continue seeing you," Nicholas said.

"Yes, I would really like that."

"Maybe we can make this something permanent?"

She smiled happily.

"I would like that very much."

He smiled at her and continued.

"So, this time around, it's a yes." He questioned.

She blinked at him a moment then said in a surprised voice.

"It's you? You're that, Nicholas? The one from college?"

"Yes, when I met you again, I realized that you're the only one that I have ever loved."

"I felt the same way. That's why I've never married."

They smiled and talked, having finally found one another after so long. Miles away, the weekend fantasy was coming to an end as Mr. Parker smiled at her and spoke.

"I'm not sure where Mr. Roarke found you, but I swear I stepped back in time."

She just smiled and didn't answer. The next morning the plane was ready to leave as Roarke and Tattoo stood there waiting for their guests. The first to arrive was Miss Houston and Nicholas. She spoke.

"Mr. Roarke, I want to thank you for an amazing weekend. I found the man that I have always loved."

"I'm glad that you two finally found each other once again."

Smiling and holding each other close, they turned and headed for the plane. It was then that Mr. Parker arrived. Shaking Roarke's hand, he spoke.

"I don't know how you did it, but I would swear that I had met the woman from my past."

"I'm glad that your fantasy was fulfilled."

"Yes. Now I know the name of the woman that I was too afraid to talk to so long ago."

Heading back to the plane, Mr. Roarke waived at their departing guests. Once the aircraft had left, Roarke returned to his office to see Hecate at her desk. He smiled and nodded.

"Now the office looks complete. I missed having you here with me."

"I missed you, as well." She winked.

The day continued as everything returned to normal around the office, and various other fantasies were fulfilled.