Summary: Sheridan and Luis have a date. But does all go as planned? Of
course
not!
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters on Passions. If they were mine,
Luis
and Sheridan would already be married. However, they do not belong to
me,
they belong to NBC and the creators of the show. I am merely using them
for
my own enjoyment. So please, don't sue me.
Sheridan watched as the doors opened, and a couple walked in and
sat
down.
"Luis," she hissed, "Isn't that-"
Luis turned and glanced over at the table, "Eve and TC Russell. I
should go
say hello"
"Oh, let them enjoy their dinner in peace," Sheridan admonished, "our
waitress is coming back."
No sooner were her words spoken before the waitress hurried over,
bearing two
huge lobsters on plates, which she presented to Sheridan and Luis with
a
flourish.
"Enjoy your meal," she said, and hurried off.
Sheridan poked her lobster with a fork, which incidentally glanced off
the
hard shell, flew through the air, and struck Luis square between the
eyes.
"OW!"
"Luis!" she exclaimed, jumping up and hurrying over to him. He opened
one eye
and glared up at her, rubbing his head.
"Ow," he said again.
"Luis, I'm so sorry!" Sheridan cooed, hovering over him.
He shooed her away, "Sheridan, are you *trying* to kill me?"
"No! I think I'm just a bit clumsy today."
"A bit," he agreed, handing her back her fork.
Sheridan, moving much more cautiously, took a bite of her dinner.
Luis,
eyeing her warily, followed suit. After several more moments passed
without
incident, they both relaxed, believing the worst to be over. As she
reached
over to take Luis's hand, something caught her eye.
"JULIAN!"
He scowled, "No, it's Luis."
"No!" Sheridan hissed, turning Luis's head towards the door, where her
brother had just made his grand entrance. "He can't see you here!
Hide!"
Luis, lacking any grand escape route, ducked under the table, concealed
by
the red checkered tablecloth.
Julian had eyes only for Eve Russell. He crept up behind her
table,
careful to keep himself out of TC's line of vision. Taking a sip from
his
ever-present flask to garner courage, Julian began to make his way over
to
the object of his affection.
"Julian!" Sheridan snapped as he walked past her, "what are you doing
here?"
Julian jumped at his sister's voice, "Sheridan?"
She merely raised an eyebrow.
"I'm ah" Julian sputtered, "I'm attending to some very important
business.
What are you doing here?"
"I'm on a date."
"With whom?"
"It's ah a blind date. Gwen set it up. Some friend of hers from the
office."
Julian smirked, "Ah, I see."
"You see what?"
"I don't see your date around here. Where is he? I'd like to meet him."
"I think it's a little soon to be introducing him to the family,"
Sheridan
said disdainfully, "Anyhow, I wouldn't want to keep you from
your business."
Julian scowled at her, sucking down more liquor, "Of course! The
business!"
He stood, frozen, knowing that he couldn't make a move on Eve with
his
sister sitting right there.
"Damn," he said under his breath.
"What was that?" Sheridan asked sweetly.
"I was wondering as to the whereabouts of your date."
"If you MUST know, he went to the bathroom to wash his hands."
"I was just by there," Julian protested, "I didn't see anyone."
Sheridan pouted, "You mean he ditched me?"
"Poor Sheridan. So unlucky in love," Julian did his best to sound
sincere,
internally laughing at the mental anguish he was certain to be
unleashing on
his sister.
Sheridan shot him a withering glare, "In that case WAITRESS!"
The waitress hurried over, "Is something wrong?"
"I want this food wrapped up," Sheridan said coldly, "I'll be taking it
home."
"Is everything all right?"
"I've been dumped by my date," she did her best to sound angry.
"No," the waitress was confused, "I saw him go und-"
"Just wrap the food, all right?" Sheridan snapped.
The waitress nodded and hurried off with the plates.
Julian attempted to inch away, "Well, I suppose I've done enough
for the
night-"
"Not so fast," Sheridan grumbled, "Since my date has hightailed it out
of
here, you're driving me home."
Julian glanced helplessly at Eve, who was happily oblivious, chatting
with
TC. "I But the business"
"The business can wait," she said crossly, handing him the bill, "Do
you
mind?"
"We're *paying* for this food?"
"Did you expect to get it for free?"
Julian sighed and handed his credit card to the impatient waitress.
"Thank you Mr. Crane," the waitress said, a slightly biting edge to her
voice.
"Oooh," Julian said, admiring her as she walked away.
Sheridan pretended not to notice, fighting the urge to whack her
brother in
the head. But she feared that she'd done enough of that for the
evening, and
she doubted that inflicting yet another head injury would improve her
shaky
standing with Luis.
Speaking of Luis
Luis crouched under the table, cursing his luck. (next time, I'll
pick
a place where Julian Crane isn't going to show up) he thought to
himself. He
attempted to move, hitting his already sore head on the top of the
table.
"What was that?" Julian asked Sheridan, watching the table shake.
"Nothing," she said quickly, moving to block his view of the table,
"Um one
leg on the table was too short. It keeps tilting."
"Oh," Julian said, convinced.
The waitress returned with his credit card and receipt, which he
grudgingly
accepted.
"These prices are criminal," he grumbled, putting his card back in his
wallet.
"Oh please," Sheridan scoffed, grabbing her pocketbook and the cartons
containing her and Luis's dinner.
"Ah" Julian said suddenly, "You haven't seen Deputy Do Right around
here,
have you?"
Sheridan froze, "You mean Luis?"
"Who else would I possibly be talking about?"
"No, I haven't seen him," she said carefully, keeping a smile plastered
on
her face.
"Are you sure?" Julian gulped down some more liquid from his seemingly
bottomless flask. "I saw his patrol car outside."
"Ah I guess he must be next door."
"You haven't spoken to him?"
Sheridan shook her head firmly, "Not since his last night as my
bodyguard.
I'm glad to be rid of him."
"Well," Julian nodded, "That's good to know. Those Lopez-Fitzgeralds
have
always been a bother."
Without answering, Sheridan rolled her eyes and headed out the door.
Julian
stumbled slightly, and finally followed her out, tossing one last,
lovelorn
gaze at Eve Russell.
Luis, still under the table, ran the exchange over and over in his
mind,
sighing in defeat. Julian Crane had interceded in their plans yet
again. As
soon as he was sure he had given Sheridan and Julian enough time to
make
their exit, Luis crawled on his hands and knees out from under the
table,
emerging from under the tablecloth.
"Ahhh!"
Luis had crawled right in front of TC Russell, who was on his way to
the
bathroom. TC stumbled over his friend, toppling forward. His head hit a
nearby table.
"TC!" Luis exclaimed, jumping up, his knees cracking.
TC groaned, sitting up. Eve rushed over, horrified.
"TC!" she cried, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," TC waved them off, "Luis, what the hell were you doing
under that
table?"
Luis sighed, "Long story. I'm sure I'll tell you about it eventually."
TC nodded, and then narrowed his eyes, "Luis, what happened to your
head? And
your hair?!"
Luis just shook his head glumly.
Eve hovered over her husband, "TC, are you sure you're okay? You hit
your
head pretty hard against that table."
"Tell me about it," TC laughed, rubbing at his head, "I'm fine Eve. My
bad
leg hurts a bit, but other than that I'm as good as new."
Eve laughed in relief.
"I'm really sorry about that TC," Luis stammered, backing away, "If you
guys
don't mind, I'm in a hurry-"
TC waved him away, "Go on. If it was important enough for you to be
lurking
beneath the tables at the Lobster Shack, it must be something good."
Luis nodded, and grabbing a rose out of a vase on a nearby table, he
bolted
out the door.
"I think," Eve commented once he was out of earshot, "That Luis is in
love."
TC grinned, "I think you may be right."
<<<~~~>>>
Crane Mansion
Julian, more than slightly tipsy, staggered in the front door and
stumbled right over his wife, who was picking red paper hearts off of
her
feather boa.
"Ivy? What on earth happened to you?"
Ivy glared at him, still stewing over the day's earlier events. Before
she
could stop herself, her mind wandered over what had happened that day
at
Grace's antique shop
<<<~~~>>>
Antique Shop
Earlier that Day
"Okay," Ivy said glumly, finally finished hanging the sickening
paper
hearts on the wall. She handed the remaining papers to Sam, who was
doing his
best to ignore her.
"Oh it's beautiful!" Grace exclaimed, hugging her husband close, "Oh,
Sam,
don't you love it?"
The three stared up at the wall, which was covered floor to ceiling
with
paper hearts containing either SAM or GRACE, written in black pen.
"Are you sure you couldn't fit any more?" Grace asked, troubled, as she
studied the amount of papers Sam clutched in his hand.
"Believe me, if I tape one more paper to that wall, it'll collapse,"
Ivy said
with a sigh.
"Well, we wouldn't want that to happen, would we Sam?" Grace asked her
husband with a totally oblivious laugh.
Sam nodded grimly, "That would be terrible honey."
Grace hung her head, "I hate to think all of those will go to waste."
"I'm sure we'll live," Ivy snapped, shorter than she'd intended to be.
Fortunately, Grace did not seem to notice her impatience.
"Oh Ivy! I have a wonderful idea!" she exclaimed, snatching the papers
from
Sam.
Ivy backed away nervously, "What do you have in mind?"
Grace grinned, "You'll see."
Moments later, Ivy stood, covered from head to toe in the little
paper
hearts that Sam and Grace had so gleefully adorned her in.
"You look so great!" Grace exclaimed, reaching out to touch one of the
hearts
that proclaimed SAM. "Everyone will love it!"
"Everyone?" Ivy asked in a small, terrified voice.
"Yes," Sam grinned from ear to ear, "Everyone. You'll attract them to
the
store!"
"Me?"
And then the sickeningly sappy duo were pushing their unusually attired
third
party out the store entrance.
"Just wave at the passerby," Grace instructed.
She and Sam moved to go back into the shop.
"Sam!" Ivy yelled desperately.
Sam merely smirked at her, "You had this coming Ivy. Maybe this will
convince
you that I will never want to be with you."
And then he was gone, leaving her at the mercy of the masses.
<<<~~~>>>
Crane Mansion
Present time
Ivy shivered at the memory, realizing for the first time that
Julian was
still staring at her.
"Well darling," he slurred, "I'm waiting."
"Please, hold your breath," she instructed him, stomping off. Julian
rolled
his eyes at her and bent to examine the rumpled hearts on the floor.
"Grace Sam" he shuddered, "Oh god! The Bennetts! Lord knows, if I
were
married to Grace, I'd have killed her long ago. There are just some
things
people married for years just don't do"
He continued his grumblings as he poured himself a glass of scotch.
Ivy stood in front of the door to Ethan's room, praying that he
had
recovered from his head injury. She slowly unlocked the door and pushed
it
open.
"Ethan?"
Ethan was sprawled on his stomach on the bed. But it wasn't his prone
form
that caught his attention. It was the state of the walls. It appeared
that
Ethan had not stopped at just one collage. His room was completely
covered,
floor to ceiling, with pictures of Theresa.
"ETHAN!" she shrieked, covering her mouth.
Ethan stirred, "Wha?" he mumbled, his voice thick and sleep-heavy.
She crossed the room to his bedside, "Ethan, what did you do to the
walls?"
"I made some T'reesa collages," he murmured, burying his face in the
pillow.
"Some? Ethan what's gotten into you?"
"I couldn't find enough T'reesa pictures to make a collage, so I
scanned them
into my computer and printed lots of 'em." he rambled on.
Ivy glanced up at the walls, millions of Theresa's staring down at her.
She
shivered.
"Take them down! Do you want your father to see them? Or Gwen?"
Ethan's only response was a loud snore.
Shaking her head, Ivy left the room, once more locking the door behind
her.
Maybe Ethan would sleep it off, she decided.
<<<~~~>>>
Crane Cottage
Sheridan sat glumly on the couch, glaring at the carton which held
the
remainder of her and Luis's lobster dinner. As the minutes ticked by,
she
began to wonder if he'd realized that he was supposed to follow her.
"Oh god," she said to herself, "I hope he didn't think I was serious
with the
comments I made back there."
Before she could cast further doubt on herself, there was a soft knock
at the
door.
"Luis," she said with a smile, flinging it open.
Luis stood there, looking handsome despite his butchered hair. "Hi," he
said
softly, presenting her with a rose.
Sheridan, still in her rumpled dress; hair matted to her head, accepted
the
rose with a dazzling smile, "Thank you."
He shrugged awkwardly.
"I was almost afraid you wouldn't come," Sheridan laughed nervously.
He shrugged again, "I was delayed. You can add another head injury to
your
toll for the evening."
"Who?" she asked, alarmed.
Luis laughed, "TC Russell. I scared the hell out of him when I crawled
out
from under the table. He tripped over me and hit his head."
"Is he all right?"
"He'll live."
Sheridan held up the Styrofoam cartons, "Speaking of living, are
we
gonna eat, or what? I'm starving here!"
Luis laughed and joined her on the couch. They opened their cases and
dug in.
"You know Luis," she said, chewing thoughtfully, "Despite our
little um problems this is turning out to be quite a nice
evening."
"You want to know something funny?"
"What?"
Luis grinned at her, "I was just thinking the same thing."
This time, there was no one to interrupt their kiss.
<<<~~~>>>
Epilogue
Theresa stood in the doorway of Ethan's room, gazing at the
pictures of
herself in shock and wonder. Whitney stood behind her, shaking her
head.
"Theresa, I know what you're going to say, but Mrs. Crane told us that
Ethan
wasn't feeling well when he did this-"
Theresa cut her off, "It's fate," she said, her eyes filled with tears
of
joy. "It's fate."
"Sure it is," Whitney said with a sigh.
THE END
Story Wrote by TWIG Thanks so much for sharing your story with us.
You can write TWIG at [email protected]
