Haunted Nights, Chapter 23
by SIPort

” Hi Whitney.”

There was an uncomfortable pause for a few moments then Whitney spoke up.

” You look beautiful, Gwen. Pregnancy agrees with you.”

” Well, well..I knew Theresa would find out.” Gwen laughed. “ I’m not surprised. At all. It’s true. I asked Ethan for a divorce.”

“ Oh.”

“ Whitney, don’t feel bad for me. I’m doing the right thing. Theresa is NEVER going to give up on Ethan. And, I realized that I deserved better than so share my life with Theresa. “

” I hope you find happiness, Gwen.”

“ You know, I actually believe you, Whitney. And thank you.”

Theresa knocked on Ethan’s door at Crane Industries.

” I dropped Little Ethan off at Julian’s office and thought that I’d stop by to see you.”

” That wasn’t a good idea.”

” But, a little birdie told me that Gwen had given you divorce papers.”

Ethan frowned at Theresa. “ It’s none of your business, Theresa.”

“ I disagree, Ethan. I still love you, and I know you still love me. And now, there’s nothing standing in our way. We can be together.”

” What if I don’t want you, Theresa?”

” Nonsense. You still love me. Even Gwen’s figured it out, and she’s finally bowed out like she should have a long time ago.”

” Theresa, I’m not going to date you. I’m not going to get back together with you. Gwen might be divorcing me, but I’m not divorcing her.”

Simone had finished her latest assignment for Warren, and was sitting quietly as he looked it over.

” Well, Simone. You did some fine work with this group of papers. I didn’t know that you could get something so interesting out of so little.”

” Nonsense, Mr. J. Your childhood journals were terrific to read. It was like walking through history.”

” Ouch, girl. You trying to make an old man feel even older?”

Simone laughed. “ You’ll outlive us all. So, what’s my next assignment?”

” My college years, which includes my courtship of my wife. She has graciously consented to let me use the letters I sent her over those years, as a reference point.” Warren picked up a file and gave it to Simone. She looked in it and started going through the pile of letters.

” You wrote ALL of these to her?”

” Yes. I was at Morehouse. Her mother wanted her to go to what she considered was the best female college in the country – Radcliffe. I had to do something to keep myself in the running for the fair Tanya Lincoln.”

” I’m sure that I’m going to love this part of the project, Mr. J. I’ll get started on these right away.”

” Not so fast, Simone. I’ve wanted to talk to you about something for awhile now.”

” Really? What, Mr. J?”

” Your family.”

” My family?”

” Young lady, you’ve been here for months. And, outside of  Jonah, and a couple of girls you’ve met at UVA, you haven’t received a single phone call out-of-state.”

” Are you screening my calls, Mr. J?”

” I’m just concerned, Simone. I’m sure that there’s someone missing you.”

“ You’re right. I haven’t called home. But, I did send a care package awhile back. It’s the most I can do right now.”

” Your parents are probably very worried.”

” I have to take my time, Mr. J. Please don’t push this. Please respect my privacy.”

” Ok. I will. For now.”

Simone was about to object when Warren lifted his hand to silence her. “ Simone, the reason that I’m bringing this up is that I have a daughter. And, I made some mistakes with her. I never got the chance to tell her that I realized how badly I messed up. I would give anything for my phone to ring and for it to be her. Think about your parents.”

This was the first time that Warren had ever brought up his daughter. Simone knew that this was really serious, considering how much pain this episode had brought into his life. Simone reached out and held his hand. “ Mr. J, this isn’t a permanent thing for me. This is temporary, I promise. “

Gwen was sitting in the doctor’s office, waiting to be served when Kay walked in.

“ Hi Gwen.”

” Hi Kay.”

” I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you about the invite to lunch.”

” It’s ok if you didn’t want to go.”

” Not want to go? I’m a pregnant woman. What pregnant woman turns down food?”

Gwen and Kay both laughed as Kay sat down. Kay looked Gwen up and down. Gwen looked back.

” Yes, and did you hear that it was MY idea?”

” Yeah. But, I thought it was just a ploy to get Ethan back.”

” What is it going to take for people to be convinced that I don’t want Ethan back!”

Kay looked at Gwen again. “ You’re serious!”

” Yes.”

” I can’t believe it. You’ve loved Ethan as long as I’ve loved Miguel.”

” That maybe true, but I realize that I need to move on. I can’t live my life with Theresa over my shoulder everyday.”

“ I…I just can’t ever believe I’d give up on Miguel.”

Now it was Gwen’s turn to look at Kay. Remembering Fox’s words to her about Kay needing a friend. “ Kay, how about we take that lunch today?”

” I was really fitting in this doctor’s appointment on my lunch hour from Crane.”

” Fox is your boss. I’ll call him and clear it.”

” You would? That would be nice….why do you want to have lunch with me?”

” Maybe because we’re carrying the next generation of Bennetts, and I think we need to stick together.”

” I’d like that.”