| 26. Continued The quiet, yet grateful voice on the other end spoke, "Hi, honey." Meg's hand went to her mouth as she gasped, "Oh, Daddy, I can't believe it's you." "It's me, honey. I'm so sorry for not being there, Meg, we were wrong to-" "It doesn't matter, I'm just so glad to hear your voice," she said, tears in her eyes. "No, it's not. You had your own dreams and we shouldn't have stopped you from them." He paused. "And now, you're so far away and I haven't been able to tell you I'm so proud of you." By this point, Meg was genuinely crying. Those words where what she'd been longing to hear for so long. "Really?" she breathed. "Yes. You've succeeded, Meg, and you're great at what you do. I know your mother doesn't think so, but I've been following your career and that's how I found out that you have " "Mom didn't tell you?" "No. I found out you'd be on TRL today and taped it in my office at home." "I'm so sorry you had to find out that way " "Honey, your mother tries to make sure that I have nothing to do with you." He sighed, "I filed for divorce after I watched TRL. I confronted her about it and�" "What did she say?" "Don't worry about it, Meg." "No, Dad, I need to know." He sighed, "She said that I shouldn't waste my time on you." "Why does that not surprise me?" she wondered bitterly. "I should have left her a long time ago." "Well, you didn't know " "But," he exhaled, "Things haven't been good between us since you left. She's taken up dance again and thinks she can make it, but the woman's 36 years old-she's kidding herself. She also wants to have another child Meg, the woman's crazy." "No kidding. I'm proud of you." "Thank you, honey." "I want to come home so much now. Maybe when I finish treatment, I could come back home for a while." "That'd be great, hon! I've missed you so much." "I didn't think you did." "I love you." "I love you Daddy." "Speaking of love, are you still with that Brad dude?" "Chad? No, he was cheating on me. Jerk." "I'm sorry. Men are no good. Myself included." She laughed, "Don't say that! You're great, Dad!" "Well thank you, sweetie." "Your welcome. I do have another love interest, actually." "Well, well, well, Miss Smooth Operator! Who's the lucky guy?" "His name is Paul Sterling. He's the keyboardist in my band." "How'd that happen?" She thought. "I don't know but he's great. We have an understanding, you know? We were best friends before this but now I don't know, it just seems so perfect." "How long have y'all been together?" She laughed, "Two weeks." "You seem very sure of yourself." "Well I know my heart." "Is this someone you'd consider marrying?" Meg paused. "I haven't really thought about it, but now that I do, he's everything I want in a husband " She stopped. "Maybe that's just me." "Go with your gut feeling, Meg. You'll never go wrong." "What about you and Mom?" "Well, I got you out of it, didn't I?" She smiled. "Yeah. I don't know, I just trust it for some reason." "That's good. Follow your heart. It worked for you before." "It worked for you, too." 27. Free A month later... September 10, 2001 10:56 am Meg walked out of Dr. Harless' clinic for the last time, hopefully. She had entered in remission and couldn't feel happier. She pulled on her sunglasses and walked down the front steps of the clinic, inhaling the warm California air. "Meggie!" It was Paul. She ran down the steps into his arms. "I'm cancer free, Baby!" "I know it!" He picked her up with his hug and kissed her. "Smooth sailing, Meggie!" "Thank God!" She looked at him mischievously. "I feel like doing something crazy." He raised an eyebrow. "Meghan Whitley, are you being--" "No. Get your mind out of the gutter, Sterling. I was thinking more along the lines of us going to New York for a while." He smiled, "Sounds like a good idea!" "You can meet my dad, too. How are you with parents?" "You mean I don't get to meet your mom? What a shame." She laughed. "You're not missing much. What do you say we go, huh?" "Sure. You know how much I love the spontaneous." "Exactly! I'm alive, so why the heck not?" "Let's go, you." An hour later, after stopping by each other�s apartment to get some clothes, they were aboard a private jet to New York. Paul and Meg were playing cards in the back of the airplane. "Speed!" "Speed!" "I beat you!" "You did not, I called it first!" "Liar!" "Rubbish!" "Fine. But I let you win." Paul laughed giddily. "Ha!" He scooped up the pile of cards. �Up for a fourth round?� �Aw, I know when I�m beat.� �Meggie�s sad �cause she lost to Paulie�poor baby,� he cooed mockingly. �You wish.� He laughed, �What, then, she we do now?� �52 card pickup!� �What�s that?� �Give me the deck.� |