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December 24, 2017
Fiona drove the winding, dark road, following her GPS’ instructions. She had left the city late after deciding to do her last-minute shopping, although she knew how packed all the stores would be on Christmas Eve. She didn’t have the faintest clue what to get Sophie, so she visited all the department stories in Manhattan—from Macy’s to Saks Fifth Avenue—and gathered gifts she thought her girlfriend might like. She was intending to bring Sophie back to the city tonight, hence her rush shopping spree. Fiona hadn’t seen her for nineteen long days.
When she arrived at the hospital where Sophie had been taken, just one day after her admission, she was gone. No one could tell her where Sophie was. All the nurses present agreed on one thing: a man had picked her up late that day, and she had signed herself out. Fiona assumed that Sophie would find refuge in her house next to her pet, Kiki, but when she rang the bell, no one answered. Sophie’s car was sitting in her driveway, idle and lonely, exactly how Fiona felt. Her next stop was the police department. She approached everyone who was close to Sophie, attempting to obtain information about her whereabouts. All they could tell her was Sophie was taking time off to recover and rest.
Her last resort was Sophie’s brother, and he assured Fiona that Sophie was well, but she refused to see anyone ... particularly her. Of course, Fiona pressed him for more answers.
“Give her time,” he said, unwilling to elaborate for some reason. Fiona was certain he wanted to disclose more. She felt it deep inside.
Nevertheless, Fiona stayed away even though she was hurting. She waited for a phone call until her patience wore out. She could not breathe without Sophie, who was the oxygen that kept her alive. She needed to see her and explain what had happened. She searched her mind, going over all her actions that night. What did she do wrong? Why did Sophie want to disappear? Fiona had followed her gut instinct that night, checking on Dr. Taylor, which had resulted in her saving more than a thousand people, who would have been dead, expired like old food cans forgotten in the kitchen cabinet.
Even Dr. Taylor was thankful for her involvement, which saved his life along with most recipients of the device. In any case, Fiona had done her part. Now, the legal system had to roll up its sleeves and prosecute all that were implicated, although she knew that the legal system wasn’t always fair. She only hoped that one day Aria Pharmaceuticals would be punished. She smiled at the thought that her cold case was resolved as well. She never imagined that a twenty-year-old case would be connected to the six killings in Queens and both would have the same perpetrator. Phil’s biological mother, the woman with the short hair, was the assassin of all six victims in Queens. She had also killed her ex-husband, Dr. Kaufman, and the homeless girl in Central Park. Fiona’s only regret was her inability to locate a relative of the first victim, who would remain a Jane Doe for eternity.
She peeked outside, put her thoughts on hold, and concentrated on the darkness that concealed everything like a black marker on white paper. She spotted a few car lights in front of her. She wasn’t the only one driving on Christmas Eve. She gazed at the GPS, which had stopped sending its directional commands miles ago. She had another hour of climbing country roads before she reached her destination. Fiona never ventured to upstate New York, though she knew for a fact that it was quite pretty in daylight. She turned the radio on, and the interior of her car erupted with a melody that made her heart ache with longing for Sophie. Rihanna’s song was so different from the one she and Sophie had listened to together in her car. This song was about a current affair, and Fiona was developing a real appreciation for Rihanna’s music. She impulsively stopped her car on the side of the road, retrieved her tablet from the back seat, and downloaded the song. She would play it for Sophie when she was safe in her car.
She checked her mirrors and re-entered the winding road, once again retreating to her thoughts. She no longer heard the new song although the tune was very catchy—it was about celebrating and living one’s life. She finally turned her attention to her relationship with Jennifer. Even though it was fulfilling in many ways, it had lacked one basic element: love. She cared about Jennifer a lot, and she would always want to make sure she was safe ... like the night everything almost came to an end.
Fiona vividly remembered how she felt something was very wrong when she didn’t hear back from Jennifer after she had gone to Matthew’s apartment. Fiona had been indecisive about what to do until she discovered Matthew’s name on the list of device recipients. She had called her partner, Gregory, and by the time she made it to the apartment, the paramedic team was already working on Jennifer.
Fiona followed her to the hospital and stayed with her until late. When she was fully conscious, they had talked and were able to fill in all the missing pieces. Jennifer had also admitted her feelings for Fiona. Fiona tried hard to make her understand she was in love with Sophie, her heart was taken, and there was no room for others.
That same night, she also stopped by Sophie’s room. She was sleeping, and Fiona didn’t disturb her, although she had ached to take her in her arms. She kissed Sophie as softly as possible and told her she loved her more than anything or anyone in the world. She left to compile the report of her intrusion to Dr. Taylor’s lab, intending to return to Sophie’s side and stay there until she was ready to be released.
The GPS erupted again as she was nearing her destination, and her heart danced inside her chest. The secondary streets were darker than the highways, and she tried to make sense of the silhouettes that appeared on her right. She continued driving until a majestic, country house appeared in front of her. Christmas lights decorated the trees at the entrance, and the driveway was packed with cars. She tried to remember if Sophie’s brother mentioned anything about a Christmas Eve party. He didn’t, she was certain, but it didn’t matter. Fiona was there to pick up her treasure; the only Christmas gift that mattered. She rang the doorbell and waited for what seemed like eons before it was opened by a handsome man. This, no doubt, was Sophie’s brother.
“I’m so happy you came to take her home. She is a real downer to my party.” He extended his arms to embrace Fiona.
Fiona felt something rubbing her feet and looked down. It was Kiki. “Oh, you are so cute,” she stated in a convincing voice. “Let’s go find Sophie.”
They progressed to the interior of the house, which reminded her of Sophie’s place, ending up in the room where all the commotion was happening. She gazed at all the people around the room and located Sophie on a sofa close to the fireplace.
“Okay, guys,” her brother said, clapping his hands, “let’s give them some privacy. Follow me.”
Fiona was standing there, unable to move forward. She waited until everyone left, catching some whispering voices as the crowd departed.
“Who is she? She’s cute.”
“Off limits! That’s my sister’s girlfriend.”
When the room emptied, Fiona walked toward Sophie and sat next to her. “You scared me to death when I wasn’t able to locate you.”
“Well, I didn’t want to interfere with your relationship. You were back with Jennifer.” Sophie kept her gaze focused on the floor.
“Is that so? You say it as if it’s a well-known fact. Who told you that?”
“Jennifer. She came to my hospital room early the next morning, to tell me you two were back together.”
“Sophie, you’re so silly. Why didn’t you ask me? I never promised her that we were going to be together. As a matter of fact, I told her I was totally in love with you. Please look at me.” She felt daring and touched Sophie’s face. She then reached for Sophie’s lips. As soon as their lips connected, she knew they were meant to be together for eternity. Fiona savored the moment longer than she had intended. She would have stayed there, locked to her lips even longer, but the need to make love to her was growing and consuming her. “Let’s go. I’m here to take you home,” she breathed heavily, trying to regain control of her senses.
“Well, I can’t walk well yet.”
Fiona put her arms underneath Sophie’s legs and picked her up with ease. She would have done the same regardless of her weight. Sophie rested her head in the curve of Fiona’s neck, placing her arms around her. She finally admitted she felt the same as Fiona and surrendered to her will.
“We are leaving,” Fiona yelled at the top of her lungs to the group of people that waited outside the room for the drama to unfold. She heard clapping as she opened the entrance door to the wintery night. Fiona placed Sophie in the passenger seat, closed the door, and walked around. But she suddenly realized they would not be complete without Sophie’s lovable hairball.
“I’m going back for Kiki,” she announced.
When she returned to the car, she set the now caged Kiki, who protested vehemently, in the back seat. Fiona sat down next to Sophie and pulled the downloaded song from her tablet, letting the music express her feelings.
The theory as old as humanity itself was true ... love at first sight still existed. She cupped Sophie’s face and kissed her like she had never kissed her before. It felt like her first kiss, and Rihanna was singing in the background. Her one mission was to make Sophie feel like she was the only girl in the world ... the only one Fiona would ever love.