Glimmer of Hope

Chapter 17

Mark paced around his office, looking rather haggard, unkempt, and unshaven. He had not slept in days ever since he popped that worthless little guard, Lenny, in the mouth. He certainly deserved it, protecting Sarah the way he did, and it felt damn good too. What business was it of his anyway. Sarah is his wife, and no one gets to tell him how to run his ship, but even so Mark  realized he needed a better plan.

"Ok, so it is obvious that I need to plan a little better. Hmm, maybe I should take a bit more time and think this through." Mark muttered to himself as he stared out his office window 18 stories up. Rubbing his chin thinking about what plan he could put into motion next.

"That's it!!" He said excitedly "The element of surprise never fails. I can watch her, follow her and figure out her new routine, and of course her no good friends routine as well, and when she least expects it I can nab her, make her come to her senses." Mark thought wickedly. "Oh yes...she will see things my way once and for all!" Mark began laughing. He was quite proud of the way he was planning this out. "She will never expect me. I will let her get comfortable again. Let her fornicate with her new bastard boyfriend that she has no idea I know about. Hmm? I could fix him too." Mark shook his and thought for a moment. "No, this is about Sarah, about Sarah and me being happy together again. I will worry about everyone else once I take care of that." With that Mark closed up his office and headed home to put some plans into motion.

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Sarah had stood in front of her full length mirror, to admire the work had just performed on herself. She had chose to wear the new black dress she had gotten at the Bazaar. She had to admit once again that it did look good on her. She borrowed a pair of black pumps from  Melanie. She had piled her hair up on top of her head, accented with a nice clip that Melanie so graciously let her borrow. She was wearing a new exciting scent called Midnight, that was very light on the skin. And overall she was very happy with her appearance. Although the bruises on her face faded quite nicely, she ended up with a small scar on her lip. It was starting to fade from pink to white, but was barely noticeable. Sarah was the first out of the bedroom, so decided that a nice cup of coffee before their dates would be nice. She proceeded to the kitchen and heard Melanie's bedroom door open. She made the coffee and waited for Mel to make her way to the kitchen.

"Well Sarah, how do I look?" Sarah turned to look at her and was taken aback by Mel's beauty. Hair loosely piled on top of her head. Light on the eye makeup with just a splash of color, and the most radiant smile she had ever seen.

"Mel, you look just beautiful!" Sarah smiled. "Nick is lucky to have such a wonderful and beautiful lady such as yourself."

"Sarah, you look fantastic yourself. You are just as beautiful, and Steve is just as lucky." They giggled together and noted the time of five forty five. They patiently waited for the coffee to brew, and they had a light salad. They talked over coffee, waiting for their Romeos to show up. Soon it was six fifteen. "Now what could be keeping those boys?" Melanie asked with concern.

"Listen to you Mel, acting like this is your first date!" Sarah grinned

"Well Sarah actually it is our first official date."

"It is?" Sarah asked with a smile.

"Yes Ma'am! We kinda kept everything secret. He would stop by for some midnight rendezvous, but that was about it. So now we are officially dating." she explained.

"Well that is great...." There was a knock at the door, and Sarah could still not help but jump at the sound.

"Relax honey, it is probably our dates!" Sure enough when Melanie opened the door Nick walked in, and to her surprise Steve walked in closely behind. Sarah slowly rose from the table and looked nervously at Steve. Steve looked over at Sarah and grinned, and walked slowly towards her. Sarah stepped away from the table and closer to Steve. Their eyes stay locked and unwavering. Finally Steve was in front of her and gave her a gentle hug. Sarah wrapped her arms are around his neck, and gracefully planted a soft kiss on his lips. She found herself lost in a set moment of time where only she and Steve existed. Steve whispered in her ear "You look remarkable!"