Collision Course, Chapter Four
 
 

" TC? Whitney? Simone?" Eve called out as she entered her home. There was no answer, and she let out a sigh of relief. She couldn’t face her family right now. Not with the confusing day that she had had. She couldn’t face them at all.

She dragged herself up the stairs, and went into her bedroom. Once there, she went into the back of her closet, and pulled out the box with the baby outfit in it. The outfit that had never been worn. The only thing she had of connection to her dead son.

Dead son.

THAT is the reality that she had lived with for over 20 years. She had mourned him. Cried her eyes out. Died inside for a long time. A death inside that continued until the say she bumped into TC, and saw something in his eyes that she thought was long lost: hope for a future.

Eve thought about the son that she had carried. The son, though conceived in difficult times and circumstances, had helped heal her soul. She had never been part of anything beautiful until she had become pregnant. Her life had been one seedy scene after another, finding shady characters, here and there, to fill the emotional void.

No, her son was the first pure thing of beauty that had ever come into her life. She marveled at it everyday. She had been poor, practically unemployed, alone except for Crystal, yet, she had nothing but good memories of her pregnancy. The thought of the ‘two’ of them ‘against the world’, had always calmed Eve.

She sometimes wondered what her life would have been like if her son had lived. If she had gotten the chance to raise him. Would she have been as successful as she hopes she is with Whitney and Simone? Would she have ever met TC? Would they have fallen in love? So much of her life she thinks would have been different if her son had lived.

That was the assumption that she had lived with everyday since the doctor came into her room and told her that her baby had died. She remembers the overwhelming sense of loss that she felt. And, that the anchor that she thought she was going to build her ‘new’ life around, had vanished.

[FLASHBACK]

Eve was sitting in her hospital bed, with Crystal by her side.

" I won’t ever get to hold him again. I can’t believe he’s gone."

" Eve, it’ll be ok."

" Crystal, my baby boy is gone. He’s dead. How will I ever be ok again?"

Eve begins to sob uncontrollably and Crystal gets up to hold Eve in her arms.

[ END OF FLASHBACK]
 

" My son is dead.", Eve says to herself. " He died a little while after birth. He’s dead."

Then, Eve flashbacks once again.
 
 

[ FLASHBACK]

" I hope Chad finds his family. It would be wonderful to see them reunited at Christmas.", Grace says.

" Grace, not all reunions go well. What if they have lives that would be disrupted."

" Or, it could be worse. What if they think that Chad is dead?"
 

[ END OF FLASHBACK]
 
 

" What if they think that Chad is dead?", Eve muses out loud.

Eve walks around her bedroom.

" Stop it, Eve. Stop it! Don’t go down this road. You know that your baby is dead. The computer must have made a mistake."

A mistake?

Eve knows that lab technician. He’s the best in the state. He was given a big pay raise because the hospital wanted to keep him. His level for perfection is well-known. And, he said that he ran the test three times. How can a test run three times come up with the same WRONG answer?

But, how can it be right? Her son is dead. Plus, Chad doesn’t really fit the age of her son.

" That’s right. He’s not the right age. The computer must be wrong.", Eve says to herself.

Why is this making her nervous? After all, she’s sent away the three DNA tests. They’ll come back and prove the computer wrong….right?

Eve didn’t think that she could wait the time it took to prove herself right. She needed to get proof elsewhere. After thinking about it, she knew what she had to do. She went into the closet, and pulled out a small suitcase. This trip had to be made. She had to have a sense of peace, before she let wild ideas drive her crazy. Throwing clothes into the bag, she packed in record time. She went downstairs to the living room, and wrote a note for TC and left it on the refridgerator. If he didn’t understand, she’d figure out some lie to tell him later. Eve left her home desperate to get some answers that would give her peace.
 

Theresa is sitting at the Book Café, waiting for Whitney, when Chad comes over.

" Hey, Theresa. Want a refill?"

" No thanks, Chad. I’m on a permanent buzz."

" What you got there?"

" Bridal magazines. I have to choose the perfect dress so that I can get it ordered."

" I can’t believe Ethan finally saw the light and asked you to marry him. I’m glad he did."

" Yes, he did. See? It was our destiny. Just like you and Whitney are destined to be together."

" I dunno Theresa.."

" Don’t give me that. You see Ethan and I. We are proof that things work out the way that they’re supposed to. Ethan and I love one another, and we’re going to be spending the rest of our lives together. Don’t let love pass you by, Chad. Don’t let Whitney get away. Don’t let Whitney’s denials stop you. I didn’t let Ethan’s stop me, and look where I am?"

" About to become Mrs. Ethan Crane."

" Yes. "

" I’ll think about it.", Chad says as Whitney enters the Book Café.

" Can I get you something, Whitney?"

" Um…nothing right now. Thanks, Chad."

Whitney sits down at the table with Theresa.

" Gee, Theresa, think you have enough magazines, here?", Whitney jokes, looking at the two joined tables covered with bridal magazines.

" Stop joking and start helping me narrow my choices to five designs."

" Theresa, don’t you think that you’re rushing things? After all, Ethan just asked you to marry him. Don’t you think you should take time to get to know one another first?"

" I’ve known that I’ve loved Ethan my entire life. Becoming his wife is what was supposed to happen to me, Whitney. It was my fate."

Whitney lets out an ‘ugh’ of disgust. " Please…whenever you become Mrs. Ethan Crane, PLEASE remove the word ‘fate’ from your vocabulary. I don’t think I can stand it anymore."

" Well, when something is supposed to happen..it does. Soon, Whitney, I’ll have it all…All m y dreams. I’ll be Mrs. Ethan Crane. Everything I’ve ever hoped or wished for will be mine."

Whitney smiled at Theresa, and began to look at the designs, and then Chad came over. " Hey you two, I thought you should hear this." They went over to the radio….
 

" It is a sad day for Harmony, and really the world business community which has lost a bright star. Johnathan Hotchkiss, billionaire industrialist and Chairman of Hotchkiss Enterprises died today of a heart attack. Mr. Hotchkiss is survived by his wife, Rebecca, and their two children."

" Gwen’s father is dead?", Theresa asks. " I’m sorry for her." A frown crosses Theresa’s face momentarily, but, then she perks up. " Whitney, come on. We’ve got to pick the dresses."

Whitney and Chad share a look, but, they say nothing, as Whitney returns to the table with Theresa, and Chad returns to work.
 
 

The doorbell rings at the Hotchkiss Mansion. Rebecca is in the living room and she looks up to see..

" Ethan! Julian….I’m so glad to see you."

Julian goes over to give Rebecca a kiss on the cheek. " You have the sympathies of the entire Crane family, Rebecca."

" Yes, my sympathies are with you too.", Ethan said. " I’d like to extend them to Gwen if I may."

Rebecca smiles. " Well, Ethan, that’s very kind of you. I’m sure Gwen would love to see you." Rebecca calls out. " Mary!"

A maid comes into the living room. " Yes, Mrs. Hotchkiss."

" Has anyone found Gwen?"

" No M’am. Miss Gwen doesn’t seem to be in the house."

Rebecca  dismisses the maid, and then turns to Julian and Ethan.
" Gwen is missing!"

" Missing?", Julian inquires.

" Yes. We can’t seem to find her anywhere. She’s not in the house. None of the cars are missing in the garage. I’m worried about her. You know how close she and Johnathan were."

Julian nods in sympathy. " Indeed."

"I think I know where Gwen is.", Ethan offers.

Rebecca goes over to Ethan and pats him on the back. " If you can find her, Ethan, please do. And, tell her that I’m worried about her."

" I will.", Ethan says and leaves the living room.

Once out of earshot, Julian goes over to the bar, and pours himself and Rebecca a drink.

" How’s it really going, Bec. You Ok?"

" Yes, Julian. I’m fine. Johnathan was a good man. Our marriage had long lost its passion, but, he wasn’t a rotten guy. And, he loved our kids, which helps."

" Indeed. So, what kind of trap have you set for Ethan with this ruse about Gwen?"

Rebecca stopped smiling. " That’s no ruse, Julian. I REALLY can’t find Gwen. And, I am worried about her."

" Of course you are, Dear. But, look at the response that it elicited from Ethan. The CONCERN that he has for her. We might be able to use this, to nudge Ethan in the right way."

" That’s right, Julian. You’re right.", Rebecca said, her fight coming back to her. " Until Theresa and Ethan are married, Gwen is still in the game. And, as long as she’s got US in her corner, she still has a fighting chance."

Julian and Rebecca clink glasses in agreement.
 
 

Ethan didn’t know if Gwen was here, but, he thought that it was as good a place as any to start.

Approaching the group of large trees, a visitor would think that they were seeing things. But, only if they didn’t know Johnathan Hotchkiss. The man believed in excess, and especially when it came to his only daughter.  Ethan got to the base of the tree, and climbed up the ladder. When he got to the top, he saw Gwen, crouched down in a corner, sobbing uncontrollably.

Gwen didn’t even hear Ethan, until he was sitting down next to her touching her shoulder.

" Gwen?"

Gwen looked up at Ethan, first with hope, and she went to hug him, but, stopped herself. Her confusion soon turned to anger.

" Ethan, what are you doing here?"

" I heard about your father."

" I asked what you were doing here."

" I was trying to pay a condolence call."

" Who asked you to, Ethan? You could have sent a card with some flowers."

" But, I thought you could use a friend."

Gwen laughed." A friend? A FRIEND? You’ve got to be kidding me, Ethan. Whatever we are, we are definitely NOT friends."

" Gwen…"

" No. You are incredible! You’ve asked another woman to marry you, and you think that I want to see YOU on one of the worst days of my life?"

" Gwen, I care about you."

" Care? CARE? Ethan, go away. Just, go away. Stop trying to be ‘noble’. We are NOT friends, Ethan. We will NEVER be friends. I lost someone today. Someone that REALLY loved me, unlike you. And, the last thing I need, is to see YOU. The last thing. Go away."

Ethan is about to respond, when Gwen points to the exit, and Ethan silently leaves down the ladder, while Gwen goes to the window, where she and her father often sat, watching sunsets, and cries for what she has lost.