Chapter 12

The next morning was Sunday. Christy awoke first. She was still holding Franklin in her arms. He had not moved a single muscle. She checked his breathing, to verify he was still alive, yes he was still breathing, a good thing. She needed to use the bathroom, so she gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and said in a soft voice, "Be right back, sweetie."

She got up, stretched, put on her silk pajamas and went quickly to the bathroom. As she was leaving the bathroom, she saw a note on the kitchen counter, it read...

"Christy:

I'd like to thank you for giving my best friend a wonderful first time. Even though I was out, when I came back, I checked on you two, just to make sure all was ok. It apparently was, because when I got to Franklin's room, the smell of sex was very noticeable, and your pajamas were on the floor and Franklin was in your arms smiling but asleep. I'm studying to become a chef, so I'd like to try out a new recipe this morning on you two, if you're both game. Btw, don't be shocked if you see Angie here this morning, naked. She and I have had a thing going on for about a year, Franklin knows and approves, as long as I don't knock her up. We don't have marriage in mind, at the moment, so it's just very casual. I like her, and she likes me. It's not at all like the love that you and Franklin share, not nearly as strong. But the sex is great, for both of us.

I know we haven't talked a lot, but Franklin told me everything he knows about you, and I like you. My dream has always been to study the art of cooking in Europe, where it started. Franklin has offered to pay for my 5-year excursion, Gods bless him, so I'm taking him up on the offer with the understanding that I will pay him back by giving him 50% of my restaurant when I return and start one. I'll be leaving a month from tomorrow, so if it's at all possible to get your life in LA. wrapped up by then, please do so. Franklin needs somebody with him all the time, and I don't like the idea of a stranger doing it, I just wouldn't feel right about leaving him. He and I have been friends for 15 years now, I don't want to see him without someone.

Thank you for being able to see past his chair. The look in his eyes when he read your emails was something I've never seen in him. It was a look of joy, pure joy. Yesterday morning, when I got him up, he was so excited that I could hardly handle him. He loves you. He's told me that if you rejected him yesterday, he'd never be able to love again. I'm so glad you didn't reject him. Thank you again!

Your friend,

Mike"

This brought tears to Christy's eyes, until she heard Franklin's voice. "Christy, where are you, baby?" She snapped out of it. She had a job; she was on a mission to give him the best life she knew how. She ran to him. She said, "Sorry honey, I bet your bladder is full, yes?"

"Um, yeah, you might say that. Could you help me out, babe?"

"Of course I will, that's my job, sweetie. Now, do you have a robe, or something?"

"Yeah, it's more of a smock than a robe, it's on the right side end of my closet. Pleeease hurry though!!!"

She went quickly to his closet, found a nightshirt type of thing he said was in there, went over to him and helped him pit it on. She picked him up, put him in his chair and put his seatbelt on. He was desperate by this time, so he drove faster than he would normally. Christy ran behind him. After Franklin relieved himself, he said "Christy, thank you for everything you did last night. I can't tell you how much I needed to cry all that stuff out. I've never told anybody that stuff before, not even George. It probably will happen again, so be prepared, I'm not exactly sure what might come out next."

"Honey, listen to me. I know you're testing me, that's ok. You're still not totally convinced I'm not going to leave you. I can see the doubt in your eyes, that's ok too. All I can say is that you are the one for me, and I love you. I'll never make you hurt like your mother did. I can't read the future for us, but I believe it's going to be good for both of us. Embrace the doubt, and the fear. Then let it go. I understand now, I know where it's coming from, so you're stuck with me. Once again, Christy's here, and she's not leaving."

"Thanks, baby. I needed to hear that. You're so wonderful. I can't get enough of you. That's a good thing. I just wish I could do more to help."

"Honey, don't worry about it. Next week I'm going back to LA to break my lease on my apartment, and have some friends help me move, and that may take me a couple of weeks. Other than that, I don't need any help, I can take it all."

"That's good, baby."

"Oh, are we still going over to Mr. Stefani's place for dinner tonight, or would you like me to call and cancel? I could explain about your problem yesterday, I'm sure he'd understand."

"Gods, I forgot all about that. No, I think I'm up to it. I must take it easy for a while though. I can only do one thing per day, and not too much pressure. If I don't, I may have a real seizure. That might kill me. It's not likely, but it is possible. My neurologist tells me that I need to be very quiet after I have one of those things."

"I'm not sure you should, love. Don't die on me. Not now. I want you to have me for a while."

"I can do this, I think. Besides, if I died tomorrow, I'd die the happiest guy in the world, even spending one day with you."

Christy couldn't hold her tears back. She threw her arms around him, kissed his face all over, and said in a teary voice "No, no, no, baby, don't ever say stuff like that. I love you with all my heart, and if you die now, I'll kill myself just to be with you in heaven."

Franklin struggled a bit, but he managed to get his good arm around her and hugged her close to him. He said, "Hey sweetie, don't cry like that, look at me a minute." Christy looked up at his gentle, smiling face with tears still streaming down her face. He gently placed his hand on her cheek with a great deal of effort to control it. He then said, "You are the best thing that's ever, EVER, happened to me. I love you with all my heart, and I honestly don't intend to leave this world anytime soon, but I can't promise that I won't. In all honesty, before you came along, I was seriously thinking of ways I could end my miserable existence; I was dying in my soul. But now, I want nothing more than to be with you for a long, long time. But know this, baby, if I do die tomorrow, which nobody can possibly predict, I'd die happy. If, Gods forbid that does happen, I want, no need you to know that it's ok, that I'm finally free of this accursed condition. When that occurs, don't kill yourself because I die, that would be dumb. Be sad, yes, but don't throw your life away because of me. Now, cut it out already, would you, babe? Wash me up, get me dressed for the day in something semi-nice and then put me in my chair, ok, honey?"

Christy smiled, and then laughed, "Gods, you seem to know just what to say and when to say it. I take it you want to go to Mr. Stefani's today then?"

"You got it, babe."

"Ok, you sweet thing, but as soon as you think you've had too much, let me know, and I'll call Angie to pick us up, ok?"

"Right, baby. No problem."

With that, Christy washed him well, and gave him a nice, slow, gentle blowjob. She swallowed his cum. He said, "Gods, you're good at that. I really never knew just how good sex could be. Remind me to delete all my porn I've downloaded over the years, I don't need it anymore. I have you, the real thing now, better than lifeless porn, 1000 times better, you love me."

"As long as I'm around, baby, you won't need that crap! Now, you want your leg bag on today, or would you rather I help you?"

"I hate the stupid thing, it's annoying as hell. But, since we won't be anywhere that I can go easily, I'd better wear it, I guess." He kind of grimaced at the thought of it.

"You sure, honey, I can handle it, if you don't want to wear it?"

"Maybe we could get by with the urinal. You think you could handle that, love?"

"Baby, I can handle anything you can dish out, and then some!"

"Oh, gods, I love you for saying that. Still, even though I hate it, you have to learn sometime, it might as well be now. So, grab the stupid thing and let me teach you how."

"Ok, honey, you're the boss." With that, she went to work. She got the leg bag on with no problem. Then she finished dressing him and helped him into his chair. This time he was able to do some of the work. "Hey, baby, that was good, you sure you need me?" she asked smiling.

"Baby, I need you more than you can understand." He reached out with his good arm and pulled her close to him. He actually initiated the kiss, this time. It was so sweet, that Christy melted into him. A woman's voice came from the hall, laughing with joy. It was Angie's voice. She said, "Are you two going to stay in there all day? I mean, I think it's wonderful, but come up for air now and then, would ya? Breakfast is almost done, so get out here!"

Franklin said, "Oh, crap. I forgot to tell you about Angie and Mike..."

"Don't worry, Mike wrote me a note, and told me about it, no problem here. Lets get out of here, though."

They both left the bathroom hand-in-hand. Christy loved Mike's cooking. She fed Franklin with joy and love. Angie kissed Mike and whispered, "She's perfect for him, isn't she?"

Mike whispered back, "Yeah, look at them, they're so cute together. It's so nice to see my best friend with someone nice and gorgeous like Christy. You're no slouch either, babe."

"Ah, Mike, you're so nice."

Christy spoke then, "Hey, quit whispering you guys. Angie, I need to get a change of clothes from my hotel room, Frankie and I are going to Mr. Stefani's house for dinner. Could you take me, please?"

"Sure, Christy. Frankie, you sure you should? Dr. Morton said you should take it easy after one like yesterday. I'm sure Gianni would understand..."

Franklin cut Angie off, "Hey, Angie, first off you know not to call me 'Frankie'. Second, I promised Christy that I would have her call you as soon as I get tired. I have no intension of having another one like yesterday. I know you're worried about me, that's cool, thanks. The rest of the week, I'm only going to do 1 thing per day. Ok, sis?"

"Oops, sorry Frank, I heard Christy calling you 'Frankie' and thought you had eased up a bit. I understand, I'm being a mother type, but I love you. I don't want to see you have something bad happen."

Franklin smiled at his sister, and said, "It's cool, sis, really. I'll be fine. Just so you know, Christy and I are in love, and coming from her, 'Frankie' sounds cute to me. Coming from you though, it sounds patronizing. Don't ask me why, that's just the way it is. I love you too, sis. How's school these days? You need anything?"

"Well, brother, school is alright. Here, let me sing something for you."

With that, Angie proceeded to show off her beautiful voice. After about 5 minute, Christy was amazed. She said, "My Gods, Angie, that was absolutely gorgeous. Why are you still here? I have no talent like that at all. I guess I wasn't meant to have that type of talent. I can sing, but you can REALLY SING!"

Franklin laughed at that, and said, "And I can't even hold a damned note, go figure. I guess Angie got my mother's singing gene. That's cool though, I got the brains, that's all I need. I just wish I had a working body to go with my brains. Oh well, that wasn't meant to be, I guess, but this was..."

He put his good arm around Christy's neck, pulled her over to him and kissed her for about 2 minutes. Christy had to catch her breath before speaking. She said, "Damn, lover, do that anymore and we won't get to Mr. Stefani's in time. Keep doing that and we'll have go into your room and do some stuff."

Giggling, Franklin said, "Sorry, honey. I had to, couldn't help myself. I just love how I feel with you. I feel absolutely alive again. It feels great."

After about 30 minutes of talking, Christy got redressed and Franklin called one of his clients. Angie then took Christy back to her hotel. The doorman opened the door for Christy and Angie. Angie said "Alright, Christy, I'll be back in about 2 hours so you can do stuff. I'll come in the van with Frank, ok? Take care of him. If he gets too tired, just call me. I love you, sister!"

"That's sweet, Angie. Thank you for that. I love you too, future sister." They hugged each other, kissing cheeks. Angie left and Christy went over to Jennifer's desk. Jennifer was there. She said, "Hello, Ms. McAlester, I trust you had a good time yesterday with Mr. Sternberg. I have a message for you from a Megan Johnson. She said there's no problem, she just wanted to know how you were. I told her you would call her back when you get in."

"Thank you Jennifer. I'll call her. Yes, yesterday was simply wonderful. It didn't start very good, Franklin had a massive muscle spasm, because of all the nervous tension he's been under, but I took care of him, and fell totally in love with him. We both feel like we were made for each other. I'm sorry, it just feels so good I just want to tell the world about it."

"Excellent, Ms. McAlester. He has been so sad in the past. Once, I even offered to make love to him, but he said no, that it wouldn't be right. I admired him for that. He always sticks to his convictions. I'm so happy for both of you. He faxed this to me to give to you when got in." She handed Christy the note. Christy read it.

"Christy,

Hi, honey. This is a little note of thanks for last night. You are the light of my life. Before we go to Gianni's house today, I want you to go down to the lower lobby of the hotel, to the jewelry store and pick out something nice for tomorrow night. I can't do anything tomorrow during the day with you, so you're on your own. I must catch up on some stuff, sorry, my love. May I suggest some site seeing? Angie is on a school break, so she can drive you around. In your room, you'll find a pre-paid cell phone for 1000 minutes; use it at will. It will warn you 30 minutes before your time is up.

Remember, I don't do this stuff because I feel I have to, you've made it very clear that you don't care how much money I have, you'd do it even if I were dirt poor. I love you even more for that. No, I do all this stuff because I was dirt poor once, hell, when George first got me, all I had were three boxes of old cloths. I do it, well, because I want you to feel good, no other reason. I'm not trying to buy your love; I know I already have that. Just go with it, please, for me?

You saved me, Christy; I can never thank you enough, or repay you for saving me from myself. The Gods have truly smiled on me, and sharing some of my fortune with you feels good to me. I love you, baby!!!

Frank"

Christy lost it then, it was impossible for her to hold the tears back. She burst into tears of joy; she had somebody truly wonderful. Jennifer got up, walked over to Christy's chair, got down on her knees in front of Christy, took the younger woman in her arms and held her until the tears stopped. When they did stop, Christy said, "Thank you, Jennifer, I needed to be held just then. I love you Seattle people, you're all much nicer than the So. Cal. people. I know I'm going to love living here. Thank you so very much."

Smiling, Jennifer said, "Ms. McAlester, it's my pleasure, really, it's so nice to see Mr. Sternberg happy for a change."

"He's not even close to healed yet, but I'll work on that. I want him to be totally healed in his soul before I marry him, if he ever asks. I don't care though. If he wants to marry me, fine, if not, fine, I'll love him anyway. Well, I'm off to the jewelry store down stairs."

"Oh, ok, Ms. McAlester. I'll call down and tell them you're coming, ok?"

"Perfect, Jennifer, that would be nice, thanks"

With that, Christy found an elevator going down, and went down to the lower lobby of the hotel. She found the jewelry store, and went inside. An older man in his mid-50s greeted her. He was very distinguished looking. He spoke to her, "Hello, Ms. McAlester, how may I help you? My name is Fredrick, by the way."

"Well, Fredrick, I'm not exactly sure what I want yet. Do you know Franklin? Do you know what he likes? I'm thinking he wants me to get something special for the dinner he has planned for tomorrow, and I want it to look good on me as well."

"I'd be delighted to help you choose something special, that's my job. Yes, I do know Mr. Sternberg, and yes, I do know what 'he' likes, but that's not what you want, trust me. He never wears much jewelry as it annoys him, and he doesn't like to advertise the fact that he's wealthy. He did buy a gold and diamond Rolex watch for his father before he died, but that's it. You, on the other hand, should get something to show off your beautiful face. Something like..." He reached behind the counter, showed her something and finished his sentence, "... this perhaps?" It took a few seconds for Christy to realize what she was seeing. She drew in her breath as she saw the emerald and diamond necklace that Fredrick held out to her. It was absolutely gorgeous! She just had to have it. She said, "Oh... my... Gods. That must cost a fortune, he did say to pick up something special; that is outstanding, I want that! You sold me on that. Do I have to sign anything, Fredrick?"