Love with a Twist Ch. 12

Robert took the outstretched hand and shook it gently. "You didn't keep me waiting at all Mr. Dean. I am sorry. I think I am a little late."

"Call me Jeff; you're right on time," Jeff replied, motioning for Robert to take a seat at the table. "Please, sit, and my condolences on your loss."

"Thank you," Robert replied, taking a seat near where Jeff had been sitting, at the apex of the table.

"I apologize for the wait, Robert, but we will be starting as soon as the other party is here," Jeff said as he turned back to the paperwork in front of him.

Robert nodded and turned in his chair to look out the large bay windows that covered one side of the conference room. He could see the parking lot, his vehicle, and for miles on end, including the ocean on his right. His thoughts drifted back to her smiling face, not Sarah's, but the little girl sitting outside the very room he now sat in. She seemed familiar, almost as if he had met her before, but he knew he had never seen her young face. He wondered if she was Jeff's daughter. Glancing to the man huddled over his paperwork; he shook his head, dismissing the thought. He could not see any of the young girl's features in the man before him. The girl, she reminded him of...but his thoughts were cut short as a familiar voice cut through his thoughts like a knife.

"Hey Jeff, I am sorry to keep you waiting, it was such a long car ride over here," the voice cheerfully announced. Turning his chair away from the window, her face slowly filled his vision. He watched as she walked across the room and took a seat across from him. In that moment Robert's heart, mind, libido, and stomach all took off in different directions, and battled for dominance. He sat staring at her. Her blond hair had been cut short, but she had pushed it back behind her ears, she seemed slimmer then he remembered, but the tight black dress she was wearing accentuated her curves nicely.

When she looked over at him and their eyes met he could see that familiar light of happiness and pride in who she was, but he could also see that her eyes were stained red from crying.

"Hi," she whispered to him as she gave him a sweet soulful smile.

"Hey," He responded as he cleared his throat and tried to adjust himself in his chair.

Robert had so much more he wanted to say to her, scream and yell at her, or just tell her how much he missed her, but the words would not come. They were stuck in the back of his throat, unwilling to come out.

The silence in the room hung thick like a cloud of smoke, permeating the room and causing everyone to feel uncomfortable. Jeff cleared his throat.

"Well now that everyone is here, let me get on to the reading of the will. I must say this is a very oddly worded will, but as anyone who knew Terri knew, she was one that liked to do things her way." Jeff shuffled a couple of papers around, drew one forth, held it in front of him and started to read.

"Sarah and Robert,

"This is my last will and testament. If you are reading this, it means that I have passed away and will not be around to see how this all turns out. I am sure that there are some things that have been left uncompleted, but I am afraid that this is how the world works. The following is what I want to happen in the event that I should pass from this mortal world.

"To Sarah,

"You have been more to me then a friend over the last couple of years; you have been a soul mate. Not in the way you might think, but as someone who has always been there for me, through even the darkest of hours. If there is anything that has been left unresolved between us, I am sorry. I forgive you for anything you said to me in anger, and I am sorry for anything I have said to you in the same way. I love you, girl, take care of our special package, and know that I will always be watching over you."

Robert looked over to Sarah while Jeff was reading the will and saw that she was covering her face and sobbing softly. She reached down to a small handbag and pulled out a tissue to dry her eyes before glancing at him with a sad smile on her face. Robert looked back to Jeff who had stopped reading, and waiting for a sign to continue. Sarah turned to face him, giving Jeff a small nod. Turning his eyes back to the page, he continued.

"To Robert,

"Sweet Robert, you have no idea how much I missed you. I know that in the short time we knew each other it is hard to think that maybe we had formed some kind of bond, but we did, stronger than you might know. I want you to know that I harbor no ill feelings towards you and always counted you as a dear friend in my life, and someone I wish I could have spent more time with. I forgive you for our last conversation and know that the pain you were experiencing was in your words and not in your heart. I ask that you forgive yourself, and know that I will always be watching over you."

Jeff paused, looking up at Robert slowly and slid a box of tissue in his direction. The words had meant so much to him that he did not even realize he was crying. Taking a tissue with a nod, he wiped his eyes, while nodding at Jeff to continue.

"To you both,

"I leave to Sarah all of my worldly possessions, the condo and cars. I am naming you both as the legal guardians of my daughter, Kelli, unless you both decline, in which case I would like Kelli to be left to my mother and father."

"Wait...wait! Who is Kelli?" Robert shouted as he got up from the table, interrupting Jeff.

"Robert, please, I can explain..." Sarah replied holding her hand up and motioning for him to sit back down.

"Terri had a daughter?" Robert asked turning to Sarah who was staring up at him. "When did this happen and why is she naming me as the guardian?" feeling his stomach clutch again into a knot.

"The day you left, Terri told me she was pregnant. She tried to tell you before you left but you would not listen and you just disappeared," Sarah replied. He could hear her voice quiver when she talked about him leaving her.

"She never told me she was pregnant. Why would she...unless Kelli is my daughter?" Robert asked, running his hands through his hair.

Robert felt like he was going to vomit and was having trouble breathing, as if the room was closing in around him.

"Robert, please. We are not sure who is the father of Kelli, and I really do not want to discuss this right this moment," Sarah pleaded, finally standing up in front of him.

"Robert, look. I am not looking for an answer right now." Jeff tentatively interjected. "You have until Monday to decide, and let me know. If you choose not to accept, the will states that Kelli will be raised and cared for by her grandparents."

Robert slumped down into his chair, trying to keep his breathing from becoming too erratic, and to keep the contents of his stomach from making an appearance all over the oval wood table.

"Robert?" Sarah whispered, sitting down in the chair directly opposite of him.

He could see the pleading look on her face, asking him to just wait, and think about this before making a rash decision. Robert shook his head to clear his thoughts and stood up from the table.

"I need some time to think. I will contact you both later when I have decided what I plan to do."

Robert buttoned his jacket and started walking toward the door of the conference room but stopped when he heard a soft sob coming from the room. Looking back, he saw Sarah covering her face, and trying to pull another tissue from her wallet.

Robert hated himself, hated the miserable hate-filled thoughts running through his mind. He wanted to scream. He felt like he had been suckered into seeing her again, and pushed into a decision that could put her with him, because of some kid that is not even his. He wanted to use these thoughts to get him through that door, get him to the airport and back on a plane, leaving this miserable situation behind him, but his heart just could not let her go. Glancing back at her, he knew the right thing to do was to talk with her. He knew that he was letting his anger get the better of him, and into a decision he may regret for the rest of his life. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his wallet and fished out a business card that had his cell phone number on it. Walking over to her, he placed it on the table in front of her.

"Call me later. We will talk about this," he whispered down to her.

Sarah looked up at him in surprise, and a bit of a questioning look. "I...I..."

"Make no mistake Sarah. We are done, but in good conscious, I cannot make a decision without talking it through first. So call me later. Right now I need time."

Turning, Robert walked back to the door feeling that the first time in years he has made the right decision.

**************

Robert sat at the small desk in his hotel room, with his laptop in front of him. He was watching a stream of what appeared to be random numbers, move up the screen. He had decided to take another shot at Server 14, using his ability to remotely call into the server and run some diagnostic tests on it. He knew this was only an excuse, the server could wait, others were working on it, but he needed a reason to keep his mind busy. His mind kept drifting back to Terri's final request from her will, and Sarah's reaction. He thought about Sarah, the look in her eyes, the way she pleaded with him to stay and work things out. It was the same look she gave him when he told her he was leaving and going back to Ohio. It had been a month after he found out that she had slept with Abby. That argument had been one of the worst he had ever been in with anyone, the screaming alone had left him horse the next day. Sarah apologized and pleaded, and finally fought back, screaming about how hard things were for her, and how she wanted to experience life on her terms. That night, when the yelling had stopped, the eyes had no more tears to shed, and his heart was shattered, Robert packed his things and left her. It was the next day that Terri had called him, and the she was the last person he spoke to from Florida in three years.

Leaning back in his chair, he let out a deep sigh. Stretching his arms he debated if he wanted to get up and go for food, or just order from room service. Robert glanced down at the white t-shirt and boxers he was wearing; room service it was. His cell phone began to ring. Grabbing it, he stood up and glanced at the number on the call ID, but did not recognize it.

"Hello?" Robert asked answering the unknown number.

"Hey...Robert?" a soft voice asked. It was Sarah; he knew the moment he heard her voice.

"Hey," Robert replied in a very deadpan tone. As much as he might have missed her, his feelings for her were still very confused.

"I am sorry. Are you busy?" Sarah asked, her voice still sounding very hesitant.

"No, I was just looking over some work. Did you need something?" He forced himself to be a bit gentler.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to talk. I...I really think we should sit down and talk,"

Robert could hear a bit more confidence in her voice. It was only eight o'clock at night.

Taking a deep breath he said, "I agree. I think we need to talk this out."

Digging out a pair of khaki shorts, and a fresh t-shirt he asked her where they should meet.

"I...I really want to do this in private, do you mind if I come over?" Sarah asked.

"Here? Uh...sure, I guess. It's a tiny ass hotel room," Robert replied with a chuckle.

He heard her giggle, and his knees became Jell-O. His heart skipped a beat and he was worried he would fall on the floor, so he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"That's fine, where are you staying? I can be there in about 30 minutes," Sarah replied with a bit of cheer in her voice.

Robert gave her the name of the hotel, and she told him that she knew where it was and would be on her way shortly. They said their goodbyes, but he thought he heard her whisper, "thank you", before the line went dead. Glancing around the room, Robert realized that his room looked like shit, and then so did he. Scrabbling into action, he cleaned up all of his clothes, and got into the shower. A million thoughts twisted and turned through his head. His emotions were a roller coaster of angry, worry, panic, lust and love. He finally resolved that he would just take it one moment at a time, and try to be open-minded when they talked.

**************************

Robert paced around in his hotel room. He had cleaned up, showered, and even arranged the table and chairs in the room so that they could sit facing one another to talk. He was still struggling on what he was going to say to her, or how he felt, but when he tried to say anything the words just caught in his throat. He was so wrapped up in his own head that when there was a knock at the door, it made him jump.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he walked over to the door and opened it. Standing there in the warm light of the hallway was Sarah. For an instant, his only thought was to scoop her up, carry her to the bed and make love to her for the rest of the night, but the thought was quickly overshadowed by images of the last fight they had.

She looked amazing. Her short blond hair hung loose on her left side, pushed back behind her right ear. She was wearing a simple light blue t-shirt that had a picture of cartoon character making a peace sign with its fingers. She was wearing a simple pair of faded blue jeans, and some black Converse sneakers.

"Hey, Robert," she said, smiling up at him.

"Hey Sarah," he replied.

He just could not get over how beautiful she looked. The short hair framed her face well, encompassing her bright blue eyes, gorgeous smile, and sensual red lips. Her body looked slim and tight, and Robert could see she had been working out. When he saw her in the law office, he assumed lack of food made her thin, but this close he could see small traces of muscle definition in her arms. He assumed the rest of her looked the same.

"Can I come in?" she asked, glancing around him into his room.

Robert bowed his head, feeling his cheeks flush standing aside, and stammered out, "Yeah. Shit. Sorry. Come in."

Sarah giggled again and passed in front of him as he held the door open. He caught a whiff of her coconut perfume. The coconut smell was her favorite perfume, and he remembered many nights of breathing in that intoxicating scent as they made love.

"Robert?" Sarah questioned as she stood in the middle of the room giving him a quizzical look.

Robert felt his cheeks burn again, realizing that she must have asked him something while was daydreaming.

"Sorry," Robert replied, letting the door close, and walking back into the room. "Did you, want something to drink or eat? I can call room service."

He walked past her to the where the hotel telephone was sitting.

"No, I am fine," Sarah replied, looking around the room nervously.

Robert walked over to the table and chairs, pulling a chair away from the table, motioning for Sarah to sit. He watched her cross the room and sit down at the table.

"Robert, I wanted to apologize for today, at the will reading. I was not aware that Terri had named you as a potential guardian for Kelli," she started, glancing down at her hands which were clutched together tightly on the table. "I am also sorry, for what happened three years ago, I don't think I ever apologized to you for what I..." She stopped when she saw he had raised his hand to stop her.

"Sarah, don't. We need to acknowledge the fact that we cannot fix things here tonight. It's going to take some time, and a lot more conversations, if we want to..." his voice trailed off, unable to finish what he really wanted to tell her.

She seemed surprised at his statement and sitting up in the chair. She smiled at him and he saw a tear streak down her cheek.

"I do not how this is going to end, Sarah, but I am willing to keep an open mind, and listen. This is the only promise I can make right now."

Sarah nodded her head and nibbled on her lower lip.

"The day you left..." she began. "Terri had come over that night, she looked frightened and worried, she told me she wanted to speak to both of us at the same time, but when I told her you had left, she tried to call you. I guess you were angry and hung up on her."

Sarah looked up at him.

"So she told me that night that she was pregnant and that she wanted to have the baby. We both tried to find you and tell you, but you never answered your phone, which then became disconnected, and your e-mail address was closed. I even tried looking for you in the open minded chat room we first met in, but you never logged on."

Sarah sniffed softly, reaching up to wipe her eyes. Robert got up and grabbed a small box of tissues he had purchased that day of the funeral, and set it on the table.

"Sorry, I just, it's been a hard day."

"Sarah, we don't have to do this today. Maybe we should meet tomorrow. It will give you a chance to collect your thoughts."

"No, I need to do this tonight. I have some things I have to say, and I am afraid if I stop now I will never say them," she replied quietly after using a tissue to wipe away the tears.

"For three years I have been rolling around this very conversation in my head, what I would say, what I need to say, so for the moment, let me speak."

Sarah cleared her throat lifted her head and locked eyes with him. "I know what I did was a horrible thing, and I know that I ruined what I felt was the most meaningful relationship of my life.

"You were everything to me: my friend, my lover, and my soul mate. I fucked up in the worst way possible. I took the bond of trust we had created and tossed it away for my own selfish reasons, and for that I am very sorry."

Sarah slowly got to her feet and walked out to the middle of the room before turning around to look at him.

"I still love you, Robert. I always have and I always will. I know that "we" may never be anything more than 'old lovers' but know that you will always have a place in my heart."

Robert sat in silence looking up at her as she stuffed her hands in the pocket of jeans and bowed her head sniffing back a couple of tears. Robert had no words for her. He didn't know what to say, and even if he did, he was not sure if he could bring himself to say it. Could he forgive her for what she did? Could he even accept her apology? Did he even still love her? Maybe she was right, maybe there relationship can never be what it once was, and they will never be anything more than old lovers; acquaintances. Wasn't that what he told her at the will reading?

The soft click of the door brought him out of his head as he looked around the room and realized that she was gone. Sitting back in his chair, he stared at the door, wondering if he should go and find her or if he should just let it be. She had said her piece, she spoke no untruth, she spoke from her heart and told him what she need to say to make herself feel better about things.

"Yeah!" Robert thought to himself, "This was to ease her fucking conscious and make her feel better about everything she did to me. "

Robert stood up from the table, balling his hands into fists.

"Who the fuck does she think she is, coming in here, telling me how she fucking loves me and then walks away." Robert grumbled, picking up his car keys, wallet, and walking over to the door of his room, determined to find her and give that bitch a piece of his mind.

Stepping out of his room, he glanced around and could not find her in the hallway. Dashing down the hall from his room, he stopped at the elevator frantically attacking the down arrow button on the wall. Tapping his foot, he glanced over to the stairs and decided he did not have time to wait for the elevator and bolted through the door and rushed down the stairs.