Carrie and Me
by Snowfall 
E-mail: winters@mailcity.com


	Carrie was beautiful that night.

	I looked at her and couldn't keep my eyes of her. Her dress was a
strapless red satin number that matched perfectly with her fiery red hair. She 
wore her hair up so it showed a lot of her flawless cream skin. She never wore
jewelry because they made her itch, but tonight she had one around her finger
that could easily have been worth more than the crown jewels. She was engaged
to Jack something-or-other, and she was radiant. 

	I was her confidant, her bosom buddy, her pal, but why couldn't I feel
happy for her. I had nothing against Jack personally, even if he was a creep.
If I had seen him first I would probably be in her shoes now. Then again they
were MY shoes she was wearing. Maybe I was jealous cause I couldn't find anyone
as nice as Jack. No, I take that back Kevin, my current beau was nice, too nice.

	I clicked my heels and charged into the lions den. Time to meet the
happy couple.

	"Hi, Carrie." I said with a little more vim than I intended.

	She spun around, long hair swaying gracefully, and smiled at me. "When
did you get back?" She said. "Why didn't you call? How did you find the suite?
How are you?"

	"Oh forget the pleasantries and give me a hug." I said as I reached for
her hands.

	We hugged. She smelled wonderful. If it was possible for someone to
smell happy, she did. I squeezed her tightly one last time before we broke.

	She called to Jack. She wanted us to meet. Damn. I smiled as pleasantly
as I could. We made small talk as Carrie did her rounds as hostess. He talked
about hew she talked about me, how he always wanted to meet me, and how I was
finally here. I lied about how wonderful it was for them to be together, how
when Carrie and I were room mates I had always hoped she would meet the right
one, and how good they looked together. Then we were  out of topics. We stood
there laughing falsely and pretending to find each other amusing, till I decided
to get some more punch. He offered to do it, but I insisted otherwise. I wasn't
the lest bit thirsty, but my throat was a bit sore. When I got to the punch
bowl, I got two cups. If I was going to go through with this, I was going to be
drunk.

	Sometime later Carrie and I found ourselves alone in the kitchen.

	"They're all Jack's friends. Business partners and such." she sighed.
"The old farts better leave soon, before I throw them out."

	I laughed. "Awww, the poor little rich girl cant take it."

	It was her turn to laugh "We're not rich. Just financially-gifted, and
happy to boot." Then she became serious. "At least for now." She said with a
sad look in her eye.

	Then I realized she wasn't the least bit happy. Not even remotely
excited. I should have guessed sooner, but she was such a good actress, she
always was. "Trouble in paradise?"

	She forced out a laugh. Then what I said finally sank-in, and she
laughed for real. "Oh no, nothing like that, we're fine."

	I could never tell if she was acting.

	She continued. "I just miss us. I mean we were always happy. We always
had fun and..." she became more silent. "...with him, One minute I'm up, the
next minute I'm down. Between that I have to be the caring wife, concerned and
always ready to listen, and we're not even married yet." She looked at me with
her deep green eyes. "I really, really  miss you." She finished.

	"I miss you too Carrie..." I said truthfully. I hugged her again.
"...a lot"

	"Why can't it be like before?" she cried on my shoulder. "Why can't we
just go back to our old apartment, play scrabble, throw caution to the wind, and
be happy."

	"Because we are happy Carrie." I started to cry too. "We're just too
crazy to know it." I held her in front of me and wiped her tears "Besides, They
tore the old place down, and built a parking lot. So we can't very well throw
caution to the wind, play scrabble, and be happy in the middle of a parking lot.
Can we?"

	She smiled. "We can try."

	I smiled.

	Then out of impulse, I kissed her. Maybe, I just wanted to say goodbye.
Maybe, I was just trying to tell her it would be all right. But, maybe, maybe it
meant more than just that.

	I did it though, and she did it back. I don't know how long we stood
like that, lips locked, arms around each other, but we both knew it wasn't long
enough.





***********************************

Note: This isn't the complete story. The original is too sexy to be in Fortune
City so I cut it. If I can get the whole thing on the net I'll let you know,
meanwhile E-mail me if you want the whole thing and I'll get back to you as
soon as I can.