Note: All flashbacks are in italics
It was Monday evening and Sebastian walked into the kitchen to find Jessica fixing herself
a couple of s'mores. He smiled when he saw her turn on the burner on the stove and place the stabbed marshmallow
onto the red-hot burner, catching it on fire.
"Make sure you don't burn the house down doing that," Sebastian finally spoke up.
he grabbed his coat from the back of a chair.
Jessica jumped and turned around quickly. Her face then lit up into a smile.
"I did this all the time when I was a kid at my grandma's. It's perfectly safe!"
Sebastian's eyebrows rose and he glanced at the marshmallow. What had just been
all white and fluffy was no charred black and flaked off. "I guess it is now," he replied, chuckling. His finger
pointed to the roasted item.
Looking back, Jessica smiled. "Oh, good!" she said as she used part of a
grahma cracker to scrape the burnt marshmallow onto the other part of the graham cracker and the chocolate.
She then sat the graham cracker on top of the marshmallow and squashed everything together.
Sebastian only watched this whole fiasco with a smile on his face.
"I gotta get going. Tonight's the first dress rehearsal for Fiddler,"
Sebastian said. He walked over to Jessica and placed a kiss on her cheek. "I'll probably be there till late, so
don't worry about staying up."
"Have a good time! Love you!" Jessica called out as Sebastian left the ktichen.
"Love you too!" he called back as he made his way to the foyer and then out of the mansion.
******
"Dammit," muttered Sebastian. He placed his car in park as his eyes watched a
long train slowly go by.
He sighed and leaned back into his seat. And as he sat there, his mind drifted
back. His mom, her boyfriend, and him had been on their way to see Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway.
He hurried along, his hand tightly gripped by his mother's. Taxi cabs flew
by them as they rushed down the sidewalk towards the theater.
"Hurry along, Sebastian, "his mother said, tugging slightly on his hand.
Sebastian sighed and tried to move his legs faster. But his seven-year-old
eyes drifted up to his mother. Even when she was in a hurry, she was a beautiful woman. her soft, coal black hair
was done up in a simple bun, but whisps of hair caressed her neck and ears and temples. On this night, she wore a tight,
white silk blouse with a knee-length black skirt. And her emerald green eyes shone brightly in the winter night.
She startled when Sebastian ran into her after they had stopped at the door of the
theater. "Ouch!" she cried out. She then straightened him up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Watch where
you're going next time, son!"
Sebastian only nodded and stood closer to his mother.
"Here's the tickets, Anne," Sebastian's mother's boyfriend said as he walked near
them. But as he handed the tickets to her, a sudden gust of wind blew them out of her fingertips and into the street.
"I'll get them!" Sebastian's mother said. She let go of Sebastian's
hand and walked out into the street.
Sebastian turned his head and saw a cab heading straight towards his mother.
"MOM!" he cried out just as the cab's horn sounded.
Sebastian jumped as the car horn behind him continued to blare its annoying sound.
Quickly, he put his car into drive and drove over the tracks and towards the theater.
******
"They're ready for the checks, Sebastian." Noah's voice broke inot Sebastian's
thoughts as he finished setting up the sound board.
Sebastian looked at the young stage manager and nodded. "Ready up here."
Noah flashed a grin and stood outside of the sound booth to call out the mic numbers.
Each cast member who had a mic tested their voice over it and Sebastian adjusted whenever anything needed adjusting.
"They're good to go, Noah!" Sebastian called out. He then watched as Noah
went to go backstage and give cues.
As the overture began to roll out fromt he orchestra pit, Sebastian leaned back in his
chair and enjoyed the notes of his favorite musica. It had been nearly seven years since he had last seen the show performed
live.
When the overture ended, he poised himself over the controls, turning up the mics of
those who were to appear first on stage.
Sebastian continued this through the evening as the rehearsal went on. Even Pete,
the pirate the girls had befriended, was excellent in his part as a drunk Russian. When the last note was sung, he turned
down all of the mics and began to unplug and disassemble the sound board. The one by one, the cast members who had been
miced brought up their mics to him before they changed out of their costume.
Noah showed up then and knocked on teh open door to the sound booth. "Hey, Sebastian?"
he asked.
"Yeah?" Sebastian continued to put things away and tidy upt he booth.
"Fred said that after he does notes with the cast, that he wants to talk to you, so...you
can hang around the seats and the stage for him."
Sebastian nodded. And with that, Noah left him alone.
******
The light crew had dimmed the lights by the time that Sebastian had completely finished
in the sound booth. He shut and locked the door before heading down the aisle between the seats and towards the stage.
Instead of sitting in the seats, he took a seat on one of the stage's steps. From
there, he looked down into the orchestra pit. A grand piano sat down in it caught his interest. Sebastian looked
around to see if anyone was watching. When he saw no one, he made his way down to the edge of the pit. Then carefully,
he crawled over the edge and landed about four feet below the floor level of the theater.
Softly, he moved over to the piano and sat down on the chair that was before it.
Sebastian lifted his hands and placed them so that they hung suspended over the ivory and black colored keys. His eyes
closed shut as his fingers gently came to rest on the keys' slickness.
It had been a long, long time since he had touched piano keys.
Sebastian stood behind the curtains and to the side of the stage as his best friend,
Jonah, played his violin in front of the rather large crowd. He straightened his tie, which seemed tighter than usual
that night.
A hand clamped down on his shoulder and he turned around to see that it belonged
to his teacher, and mentor, Issac Brown. Mr. Brown had been at the home when Sebastian had arrived back in 1981.
now, it was ten years later and Sebastian had become a young man. This was his last performance and his last month before
he was no longer a ward of the state.
"Nervous, son?" Mr. Brown asked in a very quiet and low voice.
Sebastian just shook his head no. He had been performing at recietals his
entire time in the home; he was used to it.
Jonah finished playing and the audience was on its feet. Sebastian applauded
for his friend. And as the audience continued to applaud, Sebastian leaned back and whispered to Mr. Brown, "I wish
my mom could have been her for this." An single tear escaped his eyes.
Mr. Brown said nothing Instead, he patted Sebastian on teh shoulder and gave
him a squeeze.
Jonah came off of the stage. The two friends gave each other a high-five.
"Nice job, bro!" Sebastian said, grinning at his friend.
Smiling, Jonah replied, "Thanks, dude. Now it's your turn to go out there
and kick butt!"
With that, Sebastian heard his name being announced. "And now, on piano, is
Sebastian Lewis."
As he walked out onto the stage, the audience began to applaud. And as soon
as he had taken a seat at the grand piano, the entire hall grew hush.
Taking a deep breath, his fingers began to glide over the keys, their deep and mellow
sound taking him him in---away from the hall and wrapped up in the music.
"You're a good pianist."
Sebasitan's fingers stopped their movement. He turned around and saw Fred Borowski,
the director of the show.
"Thanks," Sebastian mumbled. He got up form the chair and climbed up out of the
pit and to where Fred was.
Fred smiled and nodded. "I didn't know that you played the piano, Sebastian."
"It's been a long time since I played one, "was all that Sebastian offered. "So,
what do you want totalk to me about?"
Motioning Sebastian to take a seat next ot him, Fred sat down in one of the red velvet
seats of the theater. Sebastian sat down in the row in front of him. "Well, Sebastian...we've recieved the opportunity
to tour this production to other communities across the state. And, I was wondering if you'd be interested in stage
managing the tour."
"Stage manage? What about Noah?" Sebastian asked, surprised.
"He's still in high school. He can't be gone that long. And, of course,
"Fred continued, "I don't even know if you can. But I thought that I'd ask you anyway, especially with your background in
theatre."
"Well," Sebastian began. His hand stroked the goatee on hsi chin. "I'm supposed
to be getting vacation time here in a bit from work. When is the tour?"
"We've scheduled the entire month of March to be on the road. Your room and board
would be paid for by the theater. And you would be given a $100 stipend once a week." Fred leaned back in his
seat. His coal black eyes watched Sebastian.
"When do you need an answer?"
"By opening night."
Sebastian sighed. He then looked up at Fred and grinned. "I think I can
pull it off, but I'll have to make sure. I'll give you the definite by opening night."
Fred smiled and slapped his notepad on Sebastian's shoulder before standing up.
"That's good enough for me. Have a good night, Sebastian."
"Goodnight," Sebastian claled out as Fred made his way out of the theater.
******
Sebastian walked inot work the next morning just as Alec was leaving.
"Good morning, Sebastian!" Alec called out, smiling.
Sebastian looked at Alec and smiled back. "Hey, Alec. How as last night?"
"Slow," Alec replied.
"Well, that means that today will probably be busy, "Sebastian said, sighing.
"Say...what kind of mood is Chief in?"
Alec only looked at Sebastian and slightly shook his head.
"LEWIS! Get your ass in my office NOW!!!" they heard Humphrey yell.
Then the walls rattled as he slammed his office door shut.
Sebastian looked at Alec, who gave him a sympathetic look. "I'll see you at dinner,
"Sebastian said before heading off to the Chief's office.
******
"You wanted to talk to me, Chief?" Sebastian asked as he poked his head into the
man's office.
"Yes, yes...come in and shut the door beofe you sit down," Humphrey mumbled out.
His back was to Sebastian as he thumbed through a bunch of files.
Sebastian did as he was told and then took a seat in one of the chairs that were
in front of the desk. And as soon as his butt hit the seat, Humphrey slammed a file drawer shut and spun around in his
high-backed chair to face Sebastian.
"I'll get right ot hte chase, Lewis," Humphrey began. "The city's been bugging
the department about officers that haven't taken vacation time. And, according to yoru records, you've not taken any
vacation time in the past four years."
"Well, how much time do you need me to take off?" Sebastian's emerald green eyes sparked
fromt eh possibility that was looming.
"A month. And SOON."
Sebastian smiled. "Done. How about March?"
The chief grunted and looked at his desk calendar. "March would be fine.
From the 1st through the 31st."
"Sounds good to me. Thanks!" Sebastian stood up.
"Whatever. Now get the hell out of my office."
******
"Call is at 5:30 tomorrow instead oat 6:30 since we're going to full makeup," Fred told
the cast as they all sat on the stage. "And that's it. I'll see you all tomorrow night."
With that, everyone stood up and headed off the stage, chattering with each other.
The light crew then dimmed the lights as Sebastian continued to away stuff in the sound booth.
As soon as he was done, Sebastian stepped out of the booth and shut and locked the door.
Bye then, the entire theater was still, except for the low hum of the heater. It had been quite a while since Sebastian
had been in a theater that was this quiet.
He stood just inside the door of the theater. Everything was shut down in
it for the night. Even the shadows of the set seemed to loom tall and forboding.
Sebastian's eyes darted around, looking to see if Zoe was in there yet. Not
seeing her, though, Sebastian stepped further into the theater and took a seat in the back row.
Zoe was his girlfriend. They had met at the beginning of the school year during
orientation. He had been transfixed by her outgoing personality. And when they had looked across the room at each
other, Sebastian was sucked in by her deep, rich blue eyes that were framed by honey colored bangs. But it wasn't until
the middle of that day that they had talked. However, after eating lunch together, Sebastian asked her out and she agreed.
Everything had been perfect since then.
He felt a hand placed on his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw a grinning Zoe standing
behind him. Sebastian smiled back and offered her the seat next t o him.
Sitting down next to him, she smiled. "You'll never guess what," she told
him. Her voice was sweet to Sebastian's ears.
He took his hand and captured Zoe's with it. "Well, why don't you just tell
me so I don't have to guess?" His voice held a teasing tone to it.
Zoe giggled and gave his hand a squeeze. "I've been accepted!"
"Accepted? To where?"
"Julliard! I'm goin to Julliard!"
Sebastian's hand relased from hers. "You can't go," he said, his voice tight.
"What do you mean, I can't go?" Zoe asked him, her eyes narrowing.
"I mean that you can't go!" Sebastia cried out. He turned in his
seat and looked Zoe in the eyes. "What about us?"
Zoe sighed and looked away. When she finally looked back at Sebastian,
there were tears in her eyes. "There'll still be us. We'll just be in a long-distance-relationship is all."
Sebastian's eyes welled up with tears. He stood up and abruptly picked up
his backpack. "No, Zoe. I'm not going to do a long-distance-relationship. It's go to Julliard or stay here
with me. Nothing else."
He heard her gasp. But when his tear-filled eyes looked back down at Zoe,
he saw tears in her blue ones as well.
"Then I choose Julliard, Sebastian, "she said quietly. "I'm sorry."
This caused the tears to fall from Sebastian's eyes. Blindly, he stumbled
out of the row and the out of the teater, his heart broken.
A tear escaped Sebastian's eye and his wiped it away. But he then smiled as he
thought of Jessica, who he could now go talk to.
******
"Mmmmm..." Jessica mumbled when Sebastian gently shook her shoulder. "What
is it?"
"Jess, hun, I need to talk to you," Sebastian whispered. He crawled up clower
to her in the bed and gently shook her again.
Jessica only groaned and rolled over. With her face now towards him, she opened up one
eye. "What's wrong?"
Sebastian smiled and replied, "Nothing. I just need to talk to you about something."
Sighing, Jessica propped herself up on an elbow and looked at her fiance. "Okay.
Talk."
"I need to know something, "he said. Standing up out of the bed, he began to pace
along the moonlight path that stretched across the floor from the big bay window. "Would it bother you if I were gone
all of March?"
"For work?"
"No."
"Vacation?"
"Kind of...?"
Jessica was now wide awake and she pushed herself to a sitting position.
"What do you mean 'kind of'?" Her eyebrows rose in question.
"Okay, here's the deal, " Sebastian said. He sat back down on the bed and took
Jessica's hands in his own. Then, looking deep into her questioning hazel eyes, he said, "The theater is touring Fiddler
and Fred Borowski, the director, wants me to stage manage it for the tour.
He saw a smile in Jessica's eyes and she said, "So that's what March is for?"
He nodded.
"Where would you be going?"
"All over the state."
Jessica then smiled broadly. Leaning in, she gave Sebastian a quick kiss
before lying back down. "Sure. I hope you'll have fun. In fact," she said as she snuggled down under teh
covers and closed her eyes, "I know you'll have fun"
Sighing a sigh of relief and joy, Sebastian crawled under the covers along with Jessica
and wrapped his arms around her.
"Goodnight," he whispered in her ear. But her only response was soft snoring.
******
Sebastian pushed up the volume on a mic and a few minutes later, he pushed down every
single one because it was intermission for opening night. He could hear the voices of people milling around the door
of the soundbooth, but he didn't care. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, stretching out his long arms and legs
that had been cramped by the close quarters near the sound board.
Suddenly, he heard a loud crash and a few screams. With his heart beating fast,
he looked out towards the stage and saw a light smashed on the stage. Sebastian squinted and looked closer, only to
see that the chain had not broken---nor had it been tethered to the catwalk to keep this from happening.
It had not been too terribly long ago when he had seen the same thing happen.
Sebastian sat on the edge of the stage as he waited for the rehearsal to begin.
His music was already in the orchestra pit, sitting in its place on the piano. Looking around, he saw Veta Flores standing
on the stage in costume. The director was in the light booth, having the light crew try different lights on Veta.
Transfixed by her, as he had been for several months, Sebastian couldn't keep his
eyes off of her. Her body was round and smooth, curves being in all the right spots. Dark, coal black eyes haunted
him in his dreams, both day and night. And her raven black hair shimmered in the light; he wondered what it would look
like damp from being in the rain or a shower.
But as a lights crewmember walked on the catwalk above him, his attention switched
to watch what the guy on the catwalk was doing. And to his horror, he saw the light the guy was adjusting start to slip
from the grasp of the crewhand.
"WATCH OUT BELOW!!!" the man yelled out just as the heavy light slipped from
his hands.
Veda screamed but was silent as Sebastian dove after her and removed her from where
the light was falling. It hit the ground, smashing into several pieces, busted for good.
Sebastian brushed back the hair from his eyes and found himself with his arms around
the woman he had wanted for so long. Veta's eyes were closed, but scrunched closed, so Sebastian knew she was concious.
"Are you...okay?" Sebastian asked, tenderly and softly grazing the bump that
was beginning to form on Veta's forehead.
Veta opened her eyes up and smiled at Sebastian. "You saved my life," her
soft Spanish voice whispered to him.
Sebastian blushed and smiled. "Well, you would've been hurt for sure, but
I didn't really save your life."
Sitting up, Veta took Sebastian's hand into her own and brought it to her soft and
full lips. She gently kissed his hand, their eyes still locked on each other. "Thank you."
"We're ready in five, Sebastian." Noah's voice came over the headset Sebastian wore so loudly that Sebastian
jumped. Grinning, he turned back to his work and poised himself over the soundboard for the second act of the musical.
******
A couple more nights of the show passed smoothly, even though it left Sebastian quite
tired. But it was a good tired and he enjoyed it. And he enjoyed listening to the cast sing---it was something
he could never tire of. However, on the Sunday matinee, as he listened to the cast sing its finale, he couldn't help
but sadly remember one of the last times he had heard Veta's sweet voice.
Sebastian applauded as he heard Veta's voice blend in with the other performers
on the stage. It was closing night for "Fiddler on the Roof" and he had seen every performance. It was a special
night for her and he wanted to be there.
After the lights in the house went up, Sebastian gathered up his jacket and headed
towards the stage. Once he reached it, he heard Veta's voice calling his name.
"SEBASTIAN!!!!" Veta called out. Her face was one gigantic smile and
her eyes were as bright as the lights still focused on the stage.
Running, she leapt into his arms and they embraced. "You were PERFECT!"
Sebastian told her, planting a wet kiss on her cheek.
"You really think so?"
"Yes!" Sebastian said, pulling her into his arms once more. "I
really KNOW so!"
Veta laughed, but tears were in her eyes as this was her last show of her
college career; in two weeks, she'd be graduating with a degree in theatre.
"Now, I have a surprise present for you," Sebastian said. He looked
at his beautiful girlfriend. They had been together for three years now and he knew that she was the woman of his dreams...the
woman that he wanted to love the rest of his life.
"Oh, a PRESENT!" Veta squealed. She began to search through Sebastian's
jacket pockets, just like he knew she would. But she froze when he knew her hand had hit the little black box.
Taking it out of the pocket, Veta looked at Sebastian, tears streaming down her
face. And as she opened the box to reveal a beautiful solitaire diamond ring, she gasped.
Down on one knee, Sebastian took Veta's hand in his. "Veta Maria," he began,
"you know that I love you with all my heart. These past three years have been the best three years of my life and I
want to grow old with you. Will you marry me?"
The entire cast and crew began to applaud. Sebastian looked around in surprise
as he hadn't noticed everyone focus on him and Veta.
Veta took the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger. Grinning
at Sebastian, she replied, "YES!"
"Yes? YOU SAID YES??!?!" Sebastian asked, his voice cracking with emotion.
He stood up and pulled Veta into his arms and the place went nuts.
Everyone then came to congratulate them on their engagement and the theater began
to clear. "Sebastian," Veta said. He turned around and smiled at the woman. "Why don't you go ahead and
meet me at the cast party? I've got to get out of costume and makeup yet."
"Will do," Sebastian replied. He leaned down and kissed Veta. "I love
you."
Veta purred like a kitten and kissed Sebastian back. "And I love you."
With a wink, Sebastian left the theater as Veta went backstage. How little
did he know that was the last time he would ever see her again.
"Thanks, Sebastian," Fred's voice said to him on the headset. "We'll see you next Thursday night."
And with that, Sebstian began to put away the things in the booth until it would be used for the next performance.
******
Sebastian ran hard through the thick bushes that stood steadfast in the ground.
Their prickly branches reached through his jeans and pierced his skin, but he paid no heed to their thorny vengence.
All of his focus lay on the task of catching the murder that had dashed when Sebastian and his co-workers had tried handcuffing
the man.
Finally, Sebastian stopped running when he saw a flash of the suspect's red jacket behind
a large clump of trees. "COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!!!" Sebastian yelled out as he pointed his pistol at the
red swath. He could hear the K-9s barking in the distance as they ran to the scene.
Reluctantly, the suspect came out, his hands held up in the air. Moving cautiously,
Sebastian went forward. "Get down on the ground!" he growled to the man. The man slowly began to lower to
his knees when Sebastian came from behind and pushed him down to the ground.
Then, as he held his gun to the man's head, Sebastian put a knee in the middle
of the man's back. After whipping out his handcuffs, Sebastian put the man into custody just as backup began to arrive.
Standing up, Sebastian pulled the man up after him and jerked him over to another cop.
"Here," Sebastian said gruffly to the cop. "Put this bastard in the back
of your car." And as he watched the man go, Sebastian felt a satisfaction deep within himself. It was a satisfaction
that he got every time he caught someone that was a danger to society.
"Attacked from behind. Raped. Then strangled to death." Those
words kept running around in Sebastian's mind as he lay on his bed in the dark. It was only one day after Veta's murder
and her final appearance on stage. Only one day since he had asked her to spend the rest of her life with him.
And she was gone...forever.
It had taken the police on the scene all they could do to control Sebastian's
rage when he had arrived to find Veta's lifeless body covered by a sheet. And then his grief had hit. He had sobbed
uncontrollably on the shoulder of an officer. But not he could not cry anymore. His hurt was so deep that he was
numb to the entire world surrounding him.
The cops had no leads as to who had commited this unspeakable crime. But the
victim was just a victim to them. To Sebastian, the victim was the woman of his dreams. The woman who made him
happy and loved him unconditonally. She should be sleeping next to him right now, her soft arm draped across his bare
chest and her breath warm and tickling against his ear. But he was now alone.
As he continued to lay there, the numbness inside of him began to turn into anger
and into a force that drove him to want to find the man who had murdered his fiance. He would be damned if he didn't
find this bastard who had taken the world from beneath his feet. If he couldn't have Veta standing by his side until
he grew old, he's spend the rest of his life, if he had to, to catch the one who had done this to her. To him.
Getting up, Sebastian walked from his bedroom and into the kitchen. Once in
there, he opened yesterday's newspaper to the classifieds section. He found what he had been looking for and pulled
out a big black marker from a nearby drawer. And he circled the ad in the classifieds. Wanted: Police Officer.
Sebastian sighed and placed his gun back in it's shoulder holster. Looking to
the west, he saw that the sun was about to set. With that, he knew that the end of his shift had come and his time at
the theatre was next.
******
"Sebastian, I need to talk to you." Sebastian heard Fred's voice from the door
of the sound booth. Turning around, he saw a nervous and very worried Fred.
"Uhh...you okay?" Sebastian asked. His brow furrowed in concern.
Fred ran the fingers of his right hand throug his thick hair. "No, I'm not alright
Sebastian," Fred began. "Ted Rathbone, our piano player, has come down with mono. He can't make it to the rest
of the shows and the tour."
"What do you want me to do about it?" Sebastian asked. He turned so his
back was to Fred. This way, Fred couldn't see Sebastian's hands shake in nervousness.
"I want you to be our pianist from now until after the tour is over."
"I can't."
Fred sighed and leaned against the doorjam. "Why not?"
"I haven't played that score in years, that's why..." Sebastian's voice trailed
off. In his nervousness, he fidgeted with the wiring to the soundboard.
"Sebastian," Fred said with a bit of force in his voice. "I know you can do this.
I heard you play last week and I KNOW that you can do this!"
With his head bowed, Sebastian said quietly, "Okay. I'll do it."
"Thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me, Sebastian," Fred said.
"I'll get someone from the crew to run sound from now on. You better get down to the pit."
Sebastian only nodded. As soon as Fred had left, Sebastian walked out of the booth
and down the ramp of the theater. Standing on the edge of the orchestra pit, he sighed and dropped down inside.
It would be the first time that he would play tonight in front of an audience since Veta's death---this wouldn't be easy.
******
Sebastian sat at his desk in at the station. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon
and the end of his shift was near. He idily looked at headlines in the New York Times online when he ran across a story
that made his heart stop for a second. It read "Phillip Hoss, murderer and rapist, dies at age 59". Clicking on
the link, Sebastian read that Hoss had died in his cell by strangling himself. He had only been two years away from
recieving his punishment---death by leathal injection.
"You asked for me, Chief?" Sebastian had poked his head into the Chief's office
after being called their.
"Sebastian, please take a seat," Chief Jones said grimly. He motioned his
hand towards a chair that sat in front of his desk.
Frowning, Sebastian moved over to the chair and sat down in it. "Is there
anything wrong, sir?" he asked.
The Chief cleared his throat and toss a folder onto the desk in front of Sebastian.
"We have a warrant for the murderer of Veta Flores." Seeing Sebastian's eyes, the Chief continued, "And I was wondering
if you'd be okay to serve the warrant. Do you think you can handle it...?"
Thoughts ran ramped through Sebastian's brain. He had been waiting for two
years for this moment and now it had come. He would actually be the one to arrest the man who had taken his Veta away
from him.
"Sebastian?" Chief Jones' voice broke into Sebastian's thoughts.
"I can do it, Chief."
The Chief looked hard at Sebastian. After a few seconds, he nodded.
"You'll have appropriate backup. Take this warrant from the file and have the bastard in by 5:00. You understand?"
Sebastian looked at the Chief, his eyes wide in anger and anticipation. "Yes
sir." He stood up and picked up the warrant from the open folder and headed out of the office to go get the one who
had murdered Veta.
"Sebastian? You okay?" Sebastian looked beside him at Harvey, who stood
there with a tray of coffees.
"I'm fine," Sebastian said flatly. "I had the hazelnut mocha."
Looking at Sebastian funny, Harvey only sat the coffee on the desk and went on
to deliver the rest of them.
Sebastian removed the lid from the beverage and took a sip of it. The hazelnut
flavor slowly flowed warmth throughout his body. It was his favorite coffee.
Sebastian pulled up the squad car in front of a small coffee shop in the middle
of a poverty stricken area. "This looks to be the place," said the fellow officer who had ridden along with Sebastian
in the car.
Together, the men went inside the shop and saw a man in his mid-to-late 40's at
the counter. Upon seeing the officers, the man grinned.
"May I help you gentelmen?" the man asked. The warmth from the little
shop began to make Sebastian feel as though he was smothering.
"Can you tell me where I can find a Phillip Hoss?" Sebastian asked, his eyes
boring holes into the man's head.
"That would be me. Why?"
Sebastian and the other officers with him drew their guns and pointed them at the
man. "Put your hands on the counter," Sebastian barked at Hoss.
Quickly, Hoss' hand went below the counter. A gunshot rang out and Hoss reeled
back as a bullet hit him in the shoulder. Sebastian looked around and saw smoke coming from the barrel of another officer's
gun: it hadn't been him who had shot Hoss.
Officers swarmed around Hoss and placed handcuffs on him. An officer called
for an ambulence. And Sebastian just stood there. Finally, though, he put his gun back in its holster and went
to stand outside.
"Quite the excitement, eh?" a rookie cop said excitedly as he stood next to
Sebastian. Sebastian only nodded his head while feeling nothing but numbness throughout his entire body...it was finally
over.
******
It was Saturday night and the girls and the guys had come to the show. "Our seats
are over here, guys!" Jessica said quietly. She motioned her friends over to the row of seats she stood next to.
Quickly, they all shuffled in and sat down. Techno was even with them this time around.
Suddenly, the lights dimmed and the orchestra began to play the overture. Sally
and Tonya continued to shush each other and then giggle until Techno glared hard at them, causing them to smirk and then stop.
The group enjoyed the production, sucked into the story that it told. Before long,
the first act was over and the house lights went up once again.
"I'm gonna go get a Mt. Dew," Sally said, standing up and stretching. "Anyone
wanna come with me?" Poopsie and Tonya stood up then to follow Sally.
"I think that I'm going to go say hi to Dr. Moon down in the pit," Jessica said.
She grinned. "Be right back!"
Running down the ramp, Jessica stopped next to the orchestra pit and looked down.
However, what she saw made her duck down against the pit wall. Was it her imagination or had she just seen Sebastian
down in the pit at the piano? She had never known her fiance to be a piano player.
With curiousity rising up in her again, she slowly creeped up and peered over
the edge. But Jessica just as quickly ducked down again---it WAS Sebastian! Quietly, she began to crawl back up
the aisle and back to her seat.
When she sat down, Techno looked over at her quick and then asked, "What's your
problem?"
"Sebastian," was all she could reply.
"What about Sebastian?" Zarbon asked, now tuned into the conversation.
"He's playing the piano for the orchestra here."
Techno snickered and said, "Sebastian playing the piano? I doubt it.
I've never seen him play."
Zarbon, though, had a bit more concern for what Jessica had said. "Are you sure
it was him?"
"Positive. I think I would know what my own fiance looks like," Jessica replied.
She then leaned back in her seat. "I'm going to go down there after the show to see if it really is him."
******
Sebastian picked up his music and stuck it in the folder that he kept it in. "Nice
work tonight," Dr. Moon said as he came up to stand next to the piano.
"Thank you," Sebastian said as he smiled at Dr. Moon. He then carefully closed
the cover for the piano keys and stood up.
"Just when I thought I knew you completely, you throw me a curve." Jessica's voice
came from above the pit.
Sebastian looked up and saw Jessica's face grinning at him. "I guess you found
me out, huh?" Sebastian said. He smiled as he continued to look up at his fiance.
Jessica only smirked and threw down a single red rose. It landed on the top of
the piano. Sebastian picked it up and held it in his hand. And when he looked up at Jessica one more time, he
let go of Veta. It was now Jessica who held his heart capture. And the one that he was meant to be with.
Her smiling face held all the promise in the world for him and he knew that no more would his life be a mystery to her.
******THE END******
