The Moment She Knew

Chapter 2

14 years later...

Mariska was sitting on her couch, texting Chris. They had just said goodnight to each other as Mariska was putting on her pajamas.

She was in bed, thinking about if her daughter has had a happy life over these 14 years. She's missed 14 years of her daughter's life and hasn't even tried to get in touch with the couple who adopted her, and they hadn't tried to get in touch with her.

She wondered what the girl looked like. Mariska thought about her all the time, whilst Chris had no clue about his child.

She had been back for 14 years and everything was fine... really great, actually. Her and Chris acted just like they had 14 years ago, before she ran away. They were the best of friends that you've ever seen. Their chemistry was just...unbelievable.

Today, Mariska and Chris were on set laughing and carrying on. "So, how'd you sleep last night?" Chris asked her after their laughter calmed down.

"Fine, I guess...you?"

"Good," Chris said back to her. Then, Mariska started thinking.

"Chris?" Mariska asked, but she was feeling too overwhelmed. She just couldn't seem to tell him about their child together.

"Yeah, Rish?"

"Uh...never mind," she was going to tell him, but she couldn't do it. She's kept it a secret for all these years, and she's done a fine job at keeping something like this hidden.

"What's up? What's the matter?"

"Uh...nothing. I was just going to ask if you wanted to come to get drinks with the cast tonight? It'll be fun, I mean everyone's going."

"Sure, Rish. I'd love that. We all seem to get a little rambunctious when we all get together," Chris said as they both laughed. She knew she couldn't drink too much. She couldn't risk possibly getting too drunk and telling him everything.

~~~

At the bar that night...

Mariska decided on just a beer, and so did just about everyone else. The only person who got otherwise was Ice. He and Richard were just laughing and having one heck of a time.

Mariska was zoned out, apparently Chris had been trying to get her attention for about 30 seconds. "Yeah?" was Mariska's response to him saying her name over and over again.

For a moment, Chris stumbled with his words, not sure of whether or not to say what he was going to say.

"Do you remember the day we first met?" Chris finally spit out. That was totally not what he wanted to say to her, but he goes with it.

"Yeah, of course."

"Wanna get out of here?" Chris asked her.

"Yeah, sure," Mariska said as Chris told everyone that they were heading out. They began walking to who knows where because Mariska sure didn't know.

"Almost there," Chris said to her.

"Where are we going?" she asked him, laughing.

"Somewhere."

"Where?"

"You'll see, Rish," Chris said as he smiled. Mariska smiled with him as they continued walking for a few more minutes.

"Here we are," Chris said to her. Mariska covered her mouth with her hand.

"Oh my goodness...Chris," Mariska said, as she was almost in tears.

"Remember this place?"

"Of course I do! It's where we first met, and you took me in this restaurant to apologize for running into me."

"Yeah...I remember that day like it was yesterday."

"Me too, Chris," Mariska said as a single tear ran down her face. This brought up all the memories they had together. She couldn't help but cry.

"Rish, don't cry," Chris said as he pulled her into a hug. She laughed a bit.

"I'm fine. It's just this brings up memories. God, we've been friends for almost 20 years, Chris."

"It's been the best 20 years of my life," Chris said. They went into the Italian restaurant. They forgot how much they loved that place.

When they finished eating, they walked out smiling. "That was great, Chris. Thank you," Mariska said to him as she took his arm as they continued walking down the street.

"It's no problem Rish. Anytime."

"I miss these nights."

"What do you mean?"

"This. Us. Having fun and being stupid. We used to go out like this all the time. This is the first time we've been out together in a while," Mariska said.

She really did miss their nights out together. They always had so much fun.

"Yeah, it's nice to go out with you. You are pretty fun to be around," Chris said to Mariska.

"You mean me?" Mariska said moving her eyebrows around.

"Now that I think about it...no," Chris said as they both laughed. Mariska took her hand that wasn't through his arm and hit him playfully in the chest.

"Such a jerk!"

"Don't mess up your face like that."

"Like what?" Mariska asked, smiling.

"Like this," Chris said as he made a weird, hilarious face.

"Oh my...stop it!" Mariska said as she busted out laughing. Their walk continued like this until they got back to the bar.

"So, I'll see you on set tomorrow?" Chris asked Mariska as he waited to get into his car.

"Yeah. I'll be there."

"See you tomorrow, then...goodnight."

"Goodnight Chris," she said as she got into her car and waited for him to drive off. Then, she left after he backed out.

When she got home, she went straight to bed after putting her pajamas on. After laying there for a total of about 30 seconds, sleep quickly took over her.

She went to sleep with nothing on her mind. Mariska didn't even think about her daughter that night. She was so tired she didn't have time to think about anything.

As she lied there, peacefully sleeping, little did she know that sooner or later she was going to take a ride on a roller coaster. Her life was going to be upside down before she knew it... right before her eyes.