Group Writing Project #3
Right in Front of Me All These Years
By Steph
Trixie Belden, age 25, drove silently through the streets of Sleepyside, deep in thought. She just had been to the hospital to see her old friend Jim Frayne and his wife, Mary, and their new son, and she couldn’t help but think that her love life was going nowhere.
Jim and Mary’s sudden elopement six months earlier had taken everyone by surprise but then they had announced that she had been pregnant. Trixie wondered why she had waited to tell Jim how she had always felt for him and now it was too late.
Trixie had been shocked when she had found out that Jim was dating someone very seriously and then, when she had first seen them together, she knew that them getting together was out of the question. She wondered why he had never given her a chance and they had had a long talk and realized that they were never meant to be.
Still, they seemed happy together and that was what really mattered in the grand scheme of things. She was content with her life, running her detective agency with Honey Wheeler, her best friend and future sister-in-law, and living in her small apartment in Sleepyside.
She thought to herself that Honey was another example of life never turning out as you planned. While she had always thought Honey would be her sister-in-law, she thought her brother she was married to would be Brian and Trixie would be married to Jim.
Honey had fallen head over heels with Trixie’s other older brother, Mart! They had gone away together on a trip and had fallen madly in love and gotten engaged.
At least Brian was happy, Trixie reflected. He had fallen in love with a girl they went to high school with, Nancy Hardy, who was the star of all the plays in town now. She was just in a production of Romeo and Juliet where she had said "Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo" and while practicing in front of their friends Brian had always answered "Right here!"
Trixie finally arrived at her apartment and grabbed her bag of purchases from Mr. Lytell’s store. She walked in and took the Snickers bar out and munched on it while she walked in and turned on her computer and first she downloaded the sound from her new favorite radio station, WGN in Chicago, which was in the middle of her favorite show, Spike O’Dell "Radio Experiment" a show she loved since she had spent some time living in Chicago. She saw that it was 6:30 her time so she knew that it was time for theme sports.
She listened as the sportscaster, Dave Kaplan, gave his sports report to the theme of Jell-O and laughed herself silly listening to it. The theme sports were funny even though she was a loyal fan of the New York teams and they mostly referred to the Chicago teams.
She decided to do things a little differently and went to the high school reunion site and while looking around found Sleepyside High listed and was surprised since they were such a small school.
She immediately logged herself in as Belden91 and looked to see if anyone was there and was surprised to find Mangan89 listed and realized that her old friend Dan Mangan was on line.
They almost saw each other at the same time because as Trixie started to type in "Hi Dan!" she saw "Hi Trixie!" on the screen.
She typed in "Great Minds think alike. How are you doing old pal? It’s been ages since we talked last and it’s great to see you here!"
Dan said "Great, what about you? You can also be the first to know that I am coming in for Regan’s anniversary with the Wheelers party next week as a surprise and I hope to see you there. Mr. Wheeler arranged everything. I also have an interview to come back to Sleepyside and run the police department. I logged on here to see if anyone from the old high school was there."
Trixie typed "That’s great! I can’t wait to see you, it’s been ages. I just saw Jim and Mary’s baby. He’s perfect with Jim’s red hair. Let’s have coffee at least while you’re here. And I’m also glad to tell you the truth that Sergeant Molinson is retiring. He’s still in my hair, even today with the agency, although he’s mellowing."
They chatted for about half an hour reminiscing before he had to go off for an appointment and they both found themselves really looking forward to seeing each other again.
The next week seemed to fly by and Trixie volunteered to go get Dan at the airport. She hadn’t been able to get her mind off him the entire week since their online chat. She wondered if there was something between them.
Meanwhile, Dan sat on the plane lost in thought all about Trixie and his suddenly realized feelings for her and realizing that they had always been there, he just hadn’t realized it. He also had brought her a small present from his days in Los Angeles, a stuffed cow, because he knew she loved cows.
He knew, of course, that Jim had gotten married, and had heard through Mart and Honey that Trixie had been pretty miserable and wondered if they had a chance now once Trixie was over her hurt feelings--but it had been awhile now.
He was very happily surprised to find out she was the one to pick him up. They hugged and both started shyly talking at once as they went to get his bags. They found themselves frequently stealing glances at each other and smiling at each other each, wondering what the other was thinking.
They drove over to Regan’s house, which he shared with his wife, Joan. Joan had Regan out for the day doing things for his birthday so Dan settled in and gave Trixie the stuffed animal.
She smiled at him and said, "This is wonderful! You remember how much I love cows after seeing that crazy exhibit in Chicago they talk about on WGN all the time that we mentioned in chat!"
When Dan glanced at Trixie’s wrist, he noticed that she wasn’t wearing anything, not even Jim’s id bracelet, and she explained that she had returned it to him but he told her to keep it as a memento and she had it stored away.
Soon they went to Manor House where Regan’s birthday party was being held and Regan was very pleasantly surprised to see his nephew there as a surprise. The party was a lot of fun and at the end of the evening Trixie drove Dan to Regan and Joan’s house and they promised to meet for breakfast at Wimpy’s the next day.
The next morning Trixie watched her tape of "ER" while getting ready for their date. She was devoted to that program, had been for so long. She was determined to never miss an episode and had all the old ones on tape and watched the reruns of her tapes a lot. She reflected that it probably was an offshoot of her total lack of a life but maybe things were happening with Dan so that would change soon.
She wore a beautiful soft blue sweater and slacks and met him at Wimpy’s where they decided to order their favorite gooey hot fudge sundaes even though it was ten in the morning. Trixie said, "I could eat sundaes at any time day or night.
They ate their sundaes and had a wonderful conversation about everything going on in their lives and after that he went to his interview with the police department and she went to work, saying she wanted him to stop by and tell her how it went afterwards.
She walked into the detective agency where Honey was hard at work. Honey noticed that Trixie was whistling and smiling for the first time since Jim had gotten married.
Honey said, "Is Dan the reason for that smile and whistle? I noticed you two last night."
Trixie blushed and said, "I guess he is. Maybe he is the person I am meant to be with and just never realized it before. After all I am twenty-five and not getting any younger. He’s coming over after he meets with the town council about his becoming Chief of Police in Sleepyside."
Honey said, "I really hope he gets the job--both because he would be wonderful and because he has put that light back in your eyes!"
Dan finally arrived and walked in and said, "You are looking at Sleepyside’s brand new Chief of Police!"
Trixie and Honey cheered and then Honey quietly slipped out of the room so they could be alone.
Trixie said, "I am so glad you’re going to be sticking around, Chief Mangan. We will have to celebrate!"
Dan said, "Doesn’t the new chief of police deserve a kiss as a congratulatory measure?" His tone was light and teasing but his eyes were serious.
Trixie said, "Sure, that sounds good," and she kissed him on the lips and he responded by gathering her in his arms and kissing her deeply.
When they pulled apart Trixie said, "This is going to really be the start of something big. We belong together."
Dan said, "Kiss me again."
And she did.
The End