Chapter Nine

"Gary? Are things okay with you and Bailey?" Marissa asked.

"I don't know. Everything was perfect until we found out about her grandfather. Now it's just different," he explained.

"I thought she had accepted the paper."

"It's not her. It's me. I'm just not ready for this. I thought I was. I really thought I was," Gary said as he paced back and forth in his office.

"What is the problem Gary?"

"The problem is the paper, as always. I care so much for Bailey. I, I, Marissa. I love her, but this whole thing has made me realize that the paper is too much for her to have to handle. I can't put her through this. I can't put me through this. What if something comes up two years down the road and she leaves me? I know how I felt that week I didn't see her. I know I would never survive it a few years down the line if she left me," Gary explained.

"Gary. Every relationship has it's problems. Granted your problem is a little different than most. You're not giving Bailey enough credit to handle this. Have you ever worried that I wouldn't be your friend because of something that happens with the paper?" Marissa asked him pointedly.

"No! That's crazy, Marissa," Gary responded. "I just think I should cut my losses now and save us both some hurt later on."

"Gary Hobson, you'd be a damn fool if you let her go. You've had it pretty easy so far. You've hit a rough spot, but you'll get past it and things will be okay again," Marissa stated.

"What if they don't get better? Hmm? I just need to go get her and tell her, Bailey this just won't work. Ending it now will be the best for both of us," Gary stated.

Bailey couldn't believe she had just heard what Gary said. She was helping out at McGinty's again that night and had come through the kitchen and was standing at the door when she heard Gary tell Marissa he wanted to break it off with her.

Gary looked up in surprise when he was hit it the face with a wadded up apron and saw Bailey standing there in the doorway. The look of hurt and shock was evident on her face and Gary felt his heart drop to his stomach.

"Bailey, I......." he began.

She turned and ran from the office, through the kitchen to the back door. Gary ran after her.

"Bailey! Wait."

"Don't!" she whispered. "Please don't do this with an audience. There is nothing more to say. At least let me leave here with a little dignity."

"Bailey, what I said in there."

"I heard what you said. I don't think you stuttered any!" she said angrily.

"Bailey, I am sorry," he said sadly.

Anger flashed in her eyes, along with a deep sadness. "I'm sorry too, Gary." She turned and walked away.

~~~~~

"Christmas, bah hum bug!" Gary grumbled. "How did it get here so fast?" he complained.

"I wish you would get out of your foul mood. This is what you wanted. Just because she overheard it instead of you getting to tell her face to face, there is no reason to be so unbearable to be around," Marissa berated.

"She didn't stay hurt for long, now did she?
You know she's dating a wide receiver from the Bears," Gary snapped.

"What did you want her to do? Pine away for you forever? You didn't even try to call her, Gary. Evidently she learned more from her grandfather than you did. She's trying to live her life," said Marissa.

Gary slammed the desk drawer shut and sighed deeply. "Do you ever hear from her?" he asked quietly.

"Yes. But she won't talk about you or what happened. I tried to explain for you."
Gary cut her off. "I can explain for myself if I wanted to, thank you very much!"

"Okay! Geesh, Gary."

~~~

'Man injured in accident at Chicago Hilton.' Gary read. 'A man was injured in the ballroom of the Drake Hotel last night at 9:30 when a glass globe fell from the ceiling. The identity of the man has not been released at this time. A Christmas party for the Bears was being held in the ballroom.' "Great! Things just keep getting better and better," Gary mumbled.

"I'm sorry sir. This is a private party," A waiter said. Gary tried to see into the ballroom. "This doesn't look good," he said under his breath.

"Excuse me. I'm Danny Haslett's brother. He invited me."

The waiter looked at Gary's manner of dress. Sweater, jeans, leather jacket and raised an eyebrow. "Wait right here. I'll go check."

As soon as the waiter was out of sight, Gary snuck into the room and looked out on the dance floor.

"Great!" There were a dozen couples on the floor. One of them, Bailey and her date. She looked beautiful. She was in a deep purple beaded gown and had her hair swept up on top of her head.

"Excuse me," someone said as they bumped into him, bringing him back to his task at hand. He looked up and saw the globe jerk. He took off running.

"Hey you! Come back here!" The waiter yelled.

Bailey turned to see what was going on. She saw Gary running toward Mark Talbot, one of the teams player's. "Get out of the way!" Gary
yelled.

Bailey instinctively pulled her date back out of the way. Mark looked around. He stood there looking at Gary charging him like a bull. Gary hit him with his full force. They both tumbled to the ground as the globe shattered to the dance floor.

"Are you okay?" Gary asked as he helped Mark up.
"Yeah, thanks man," Mark responded.

"Gary?"

"Bailey."

"Sir you're going to have to leave. I told you this is a private party," The waiter ordered.

"Hey, no it's all right. He just saved me from a pretty nasty headache. He can stay," Mark offered.

"I really do have to be leaving," Gary stated as he turned to leave.

"Gary. Wait!"

He turned to see Bailey approaching him and his heart sped up at the sight of her. She stopped in front of him, she appeared nervous.

"Hi."

"Hello," Gary responded shortly.

"How have you been?" she asked

"Good, and you?"

"Okay. You sound like you have a cold."

"I'm alright. Nothing for you to worry about," he snapped, causing her to recoil.

"Well, I just wanted to say hi," she offered.

"You said it."

She stood for a second looking at him. She looked down, then at him again, before she turned and rejoined the party.

"You're such an idiot, Hobson," he mumbled to himself.

Chapter Ten

Gary couldn't stop coughing. He felt miserable.

"Gary you can't go out there today. Go back to bed." Marissa ordered.

"I can't. I have things to take care of," he responded.

"I can take care of the paper. I'll call Emmitt and he can help me. End of discussion. You go back to bed. I will check on you later. Uh uh. Don't even try to argue. Go back to bed."

If Gary hadn't felt so bad he would have put up more of a fight. "Okay. You win. I'm going back to bed."

Marissa waited until she heard him climb the stairs and the door to his loft close before she dialed the phone.

"Hello, Bailey. This is Marissa. I have a huge
favor to ask of you."

~~~~~

Marissa brought Gary the paper that evening.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"Everything's all taken care of. See for yourself," she said as she handed him the paper.

"Here is some chicken noodle soup and some cold and flu tablets for you to take. Would you like some more juice?" she asked.

"No, I'm good, thanks. So everything went all right today?" he wondered.

"Yes, Gary. Are you surprised that someone else could handle the paper?"

"No. I, I. Thank you Marissa. I'm sure I'll feel well enough tomorrow to take care of it," Gary responded.

~~~

"You didn't tell him that I was the one who took care of the paper yesterday did you?" Bailey questioned.

"No I didn't. I think I should. I felt bad about keeping it from him," Marissa stated.

"This was your idea, Marissa, and I only agreed to do it, if you wouldn't tell Gary. If you tell him he'll force himself to get out of that bed and take care of it himself. He doesn't want anything to do with me," Bailey said sadly.

"That's not true. He has been, well he's been. He misses you terribly. You just have to understand what he has gone through. He's had his heart broken so many times because of the paper it is just hard for him to take the risk. It scared him when he thought he was losing you when you found out about your grandfather. He never meant for you to over hear what he said. He was sounding off to me. I don't think he would have ever gone through with telling you," Marissa explained.

"It's too late now. I don't think Gary will ever let me back into his life. I wish he would. I miss him so much," Bailey stated.

"He misses you too. If you could try to talk to him, tell him how you feel," Marissa encouraged.

"I'll think about it. Right now I have this to take care of," she said tapping the paper on her hand.
~~~~~

Marissa took Gary the paper and more soup.

"Gary I ran into Bailey today. Have you thought of contacting her? I think she really misses you."

"I'm sure her football player is good enough company. I probably don't even cross her mind," he spat out.

"You pig headed fool! Are you just going to let happiness walk right out of your life without a fight? This is not the Gary I know and admire," Marissa said shaking her head.

Marissa always knew what to say to make Gary see things clearer. "You think she really misses me?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, I do."
~~~
"Good morning, Marissa."

"You sound like you're feeling better today," Marissa uttered.

"I am, thank you very much. For taking care of me and the paper," he offered.

"So, now that you are feeling better, are you going to call her?"

"I've been thinking about what you said. And I am going to do better than call her. I'm going to see her and I'm going to ask her to marry me."

"Gary!" Marissa exclaimed. "When?"

"I've got some time this afternoon and I am going shopping for a ring. I thought maybe the day after tomorrow. That would be the night before Christmas Eve and then we could spend Christmas together with Mom and Dad," Gary explained.

Marissa grabbed him and hugged him. "Oh, I am so happy for you," Marissa cried.

He laughed. "So you think she will say yes?"

"I'm sure she will," Marissa answered.
~~~~

That evening he held out the ring for Marissa to examine. She ran her fingers across the stone. It was a one carat, emerald cut diamond in a Tiffany setting. "I'm sure it's beautiful, Gary. Have you called her yet?"

"No. I thought I would surprise her."

~~

The next morning, Gary paced back and forth in the office as he read the article to Marissa.

"It's under the 'Around Town' section. 'Bears wide receiver, Danny Haslett, popped the question to short time girlfriend, Bailey Vandercliff, last night at O'Briens. Witnesses could not say if Miss Vandercliff said "yes". Can you believe it? I can't believe I let you talk me into this, Marissa," Gary accused.

"It didn't say she said yes. You just have to beat him to the punch. You change things in the paper everyday, Gary," Marissa encouraged. "Change this."

"What if she wants to marry him? What if she tells me no? Then I end up looking like a fool."

"Gary, if you love her and want to marry her, ask her. Give her a choice. I know she will choose you."
~~~

He paced back and forth in his loft trying to decide what to do. There was a knock at his door. "Not now, Marissa," he called out.

"It's not Marissa. It's me," Bailey said as she
entered the loft.

"Oh, I didn't expect you," Gary said.

"I know. I didn't want to intrude tomorrow. I figured your parents would be here, so I wanted to bring these by today." She held out a bag. "It's gifts for you and your parents."

"Thank you, you really didn't have to."

"I know but it's Christmas and I like to give gifts and well, I. Well I better go. I'm sure you have something to do," she said, feeling she had made a mistake coming here.

She slowly walked up to him and kissed him softly on his lips. She stepped back and looked in his eyes. He looked back at her and slightly nodded his head then stepped back away from her.

"Good-bye, Gary Hobson." She turned to walk away.

"Bailey?"

"Yes?" she answered eagerly.

"Thanks again. It was really very nice of you to bring gifts. You, you have a good life," he said.

She felt as if she had been struck across the face. She slowly turned and walked into the hall; closing the door behind her. She didn't believe she had ever felt so much pain before in her life. She numbly walked down the stairs to the office.

"Bailey? How did it go?" Marissa asked.

"I don't know why I keep torturing myself. He..he told me to have a good life." her voice cracked. "I'm sorry. Merry Christmas, Marissa. I'll
see you soon."

"Bailey, wait!" Marissa called after her.
~~~~~~

"Because she deserves better than the life I can give her. The paper takes up so much of my time," Gary explained.

"So, you just make that decision for her? Gary she loves you. Both of you are such fools. Both of you have too much pride to just tell each other that you love each other. She was heartbroken when she left here. She wants you Gary. The paper doesn't matter to her," Marissa scolded.

"She may think that now, but she just doesn't understand what it is like to handle the paper. How demanding it can be," he stated.

Marissa laughed. "She understands fully. Those three days you were sick. She is the one who took care of the paper, not me," she revealed.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" he asked shocked.

"Because she asked me not to, but I am sick and tired of you two dancing around your happiness. You go to that girl and tell her you love her or so help me Gary, I don't know if I will ever forgive you," Marissa warned.

Gary stood quietly looking at the newspaper.

"Gary? What is it?" she asked.

It always amazed him how Marissa instinctively knew something was wrong.

"The article on Bailey. It changed. She said 'yes'. She's marrying her wide receiver."

Chapter Eleven

'Woman run down in front of Soldier Field'. This was the last thing he had to take care of for the day. He looked at his watch. It was time. He looked around. The crossing light was still on. He heard someone running from behind him and he turned. It was a woman fitting the description in the article. He put out his hand.

"Whoa. Hold on a second," he said.

"What are you doing? Let me go. I have to get across the street," she cried.

Just then, a car came squealing around the corner. She stood and looked at the spot where she would have been.

"That car would have killed me!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, it could have. What's the big hurry?" he asked.

"I need to get to someone. Someone I let go like a fool. I let pride and stupidity get in the way of being with him. I finally realized that there wasn't anything in this world that amounted to much without him in my life. And to think it all could have been over in a split second. If you have someone you love, let them know. Don't waste any precious time," she declared." She looked both ways before she crossed the street this time.

Gary opened the paper. The original article had disappeared. He smiled.
~~~~~~~

Bailey stood in the cafeteria of the hospital.

'Just keep a smile on your face,' she told herself.

She looked at her watch. Danny was supposed to meet her here, he must be running late. The children were so excited with their gifts. She had spent days shopping to get exactly the gifts the children had asked for. The happiness that showed on their faces was worth it. Santa handed out the last of the gifts and the children opened them with squeals of delight.

"Okay everyone. Thank Santa for the gifts and we will have cookies and punch, then it will be off to your rooms," one of the nurses announced.

"Wait a minute. We have one more gift to hand out," Santa said.
Bailey was confused. How can that be? All the children had received their gifts.

"But I don't think I'm going to hand this one out," Santa stated.

What was going on? Then she saw him. He came through the door wearing a tux and walked up to her and dropped to one knee. Her hand went to her mouth.

"Bailey Vandercliff, I have been the biggest fool in the world. I know I don't deserve you, but I love you with every fiber of my being and I can't live another day without you. Please say you'll be my wife and I'll spend the rest of my life making up for what an idiot I've been," Gary declared as held out the ring box.

She didn't even look at the ring. She just dropped to her knees and hugged him fiercely.

"Yes, I will marry you! I love you Gary Hobson. I love you!"

They both laughed with joy as did everyone else.

"Kiss her!" The children giggled.

They both tried to compose themselves. He slid the ring onto her finger easily and kissed her.

"Gary? What do I tell Danny?" Bailey asked.

He pulled out the newspaper and showed her the article that had changed earlier, "Bears wide receiver reunited with old flame."
~~~~~

Bailey stood in the aisle and looked down at her dress. The halter bodice was beaded with sequins and pearls as were the straps. The full skirt was of net tulle with floral appliques scattered throughout with beads and sequins. She carried a bouquet of white lilies, tulips and orchids. She looked toward the altar. He was there. She smiled as he scratched the back of his head. He looked so handsome. He was dressed in a black tux with a silver banded collar shirt. He turned to look at her and stared for what seemed an eternity. The whole room disappeared with that one look. He smiled ever so slightly and she smiled back.

She looked to his left. Chuck was rocking back and forth, grinning from ear to ear. Emmitt couldn't take his eyes off Marissa. She looked to her left. Marissa and Emily looked elegant in long silver dresses with halter tops.

"Are you ready?" Mr. Paige whispered. She smiled at him. Thankful he had agreed to give her away. Lois was already crying and Bernie handed her a handkerchief.

"I'm ready."

A misty figure stood at the back of the church, unseen by anyone except the cat.

"Meow!"
~~~

Story continues with: For Better or For Worse