Um, hi everyone... uh, I guess my last attempt at posting didn't work out. I didn't even know...Thank you ASH for emailing me to tell me.
Anyway... here is the update... (I hope)
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Willow hummed to herself happily as she finished cleaning the last of the dishes in her sink. Her date with Tara the previous night could not have gone better and she had woken to a morning that glowed with the bluest of skies and the brightest of suns. She felt like she could take on the world, and so she did, in the form of her overflowing kitchen sink.
Placing the final dish on the rack to dry, Willow let out a self-satisfied sigh of accomplishment. Picking up a dishtowel and drying off her hands, she crossed to the phone and grabbed it, quickly dialing the seven familiar digits. She frowned slightly when she heard the machine pick up after several rings.
“Hi, we’re not in right now. Please leave a message. Thanks.” Beep.
“Uh, hi, Tara,” Willow stammered, suddenly unsure of herself, “It’s me Will…oh…Willow. Um, I was just calling to say, ‘hi’. I had a good time last night, I hope you did too. Um, call me when you get this…bye.”
She hung up and stared at the quiet receiver uncertainly.
*****
“Didn’t you want to get that?” Lisa asked from where she was seated at the kitchen island.
“What?” Tara called as she made her way down the stairs and toward the family room.
“The phone.”
“What about it?” the blonde questioned, picking the TV Guide up off of the coffee table and examining the date. Grimacing, she carried it to the kitchen and tossed it in the waste can.
“It rang,” Lisa replied, “it was Willow. The machine got it.”
“Why didn’t you answer it?”
“Because I thought you would want to,” her sister stated, as if she was talking to someone who didn’t speak English as a first language. “Why didn’t you?”
“I was finishing blow-drying my hair, I didn’t even know the phone rang.” Tara sighed, rolling her eyes. “Next time, just answer it, okay?”
“Fine,” Lisa grumbled. I just love having a big sister, she griped internally. She watched Tara bustle around the kitchen, opening and closing the pantry doors. “What are you doing?”
“I’m looking to see what we don’t have so I know what to buy when I’m at the store,” She explained slowly. I just love having a little sister, she thought.
“Are you going to use the phone?”
“To do what?”
“Call Willow,” Lisa answered. God, it’s like pulling teeth.
“I have to run errands first,” said Tara, “I’ll call her when I get back.”
“Cool,” her younger sibling replied, hopping off her kitchen stool and pulling the handset from the cradle, preparing to dial.
“Who are you calling?”
“A friend.”
“Which one?”
Lisa hesitated a moment. “Michelle.”
Tara’s eyes narrowed. “Local Michelle, or moved-to-Ontario-last-year Michelle?”
“Local,” she answered, eyeing her sister warily. When Tara said nothing, she continued, “You needn’t worry your penny-pinchingness, I’m not calling Canada.”
“Okay, fine,” the blonde sighed, “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
*****
Okay, Willow thought to herself, trying to calm her over excitable nerves. She hasn’t called back yet because…she’s busy. Saturday is a busy day… sometimes…when you have a life… unlike me. No… no, she doesn’t. I mean, she does have a life…she just doesn’t have business today. I asked her last night if she was doing anything today and she said no. But… maybe something happened…. Maybe she got an important message from…her aunt… and…it was an emergency. Like… her uncle was in an accident…Oh! She gasped suddenly, maybe she was in an accident! Maybe she was on her way to pick Lisa up or something and she got in an accident! Oh God! Maybe she was on her way over here and she got in an accident! It’s all my fault! She’s lying all bloody in a mangled car somewhere…Wait. Stop. Dammit, Willow, why do you let yourself get all worked up like this. Tara was not in an accident, she just hasn’t called because… she hasn’t called. She took a deep breath and let it out. She’ll call… any minute now… she’ll call.
*****
“Have you called Willow back yet?” Lisa hollered over her shoulder from her place on the family room couch.
“What? Lees, I just got back from the store,” Tara answered, struggling her way into the kitchen, laden with bags. She dropped her burden on to the counter and looked over to where her younger sibling sat, glued to the big screen television. Letting out a disgruntled sigh she added, “And I could use a little help here.”
“Well, if someone was inclined to give me my allowance early…”
“Forget about it,” Tara cut her off, giving her a stern look.
“Fine”, said Lisa, standing, “then you can just forget about me toting the barge and lifting the bail. I don’t work for free.” She breezed past her sister and into the front hall where Tara could hear her defiant footfalls traveling up the stairs culminating in the loud slam of a door.
“One of these days,” Tara muttered to herself as she roughly unloaded a plastic bag of its groceries, “I am going to lose my temper.” She slammed a box of butter onto the counter. “And I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to get it back.”
She carried the butter to the fridge and opened the door, shoving it inside, not caring where it landed. She swung the door closed hard, causing the entire appliance to shudder. Turning her attention back to the bag-covered counter, the blinking light of the answering machine caught her eye. Lisa hadn’t erased Willow’s message.
Tara contemplated the flashing red LED for a moment, before shaking her head and getting back to her task. “I can’t deal with this right now,” she sighed to herself.
*****
Maybe I should call her again, Willow mused, No, that would seem too desperate and stalker-y. She sighed again. C’mon, Tara… please call…
TBC.....
"Promise me you'll never be linear." "On my trout." Support The Arts! TLC Fundraiser Forum
) but I can send you some program(s) depending on what caused the problem in the first place. (hopefull not a 'click' like sound from the pc, that would be bad)
. Try to have a fun weekend anywayz and dump the 'puter problem on one of your more computer-savy friends.
at: 1/26/05 3:13 pm
i hope everything went okay with the move and that you're able to update this wonderful fic soon, as i've spent the weekend reading every story you have listed on your website and am going through withdrawal. 
