Author:Regency

Title: The Whole Thing In Reverse

Summary: Julian almost confesses the truth about their daughter to Eve, but is interrupted. Later that night, all hell breaks loose at Harmony Elementary. How will Julian react when his children are involved?

Author’s Notes: By the way, Dinah is played by Annette O’Toole and Gideon is played by Charles Divens. Evellyn is played by Mya.

--Oh, but don’t think that she won’t ever revert back to her nasty ways. She’ll just do it a little differently. Remember she still wants Julian. And good guys pretty much always finish last.

Disclaimer: The show “Passions” belongs to JER, but the idea is mine.

~~~~~

It was late afternoon when Eve slid into the booth across from Julian in a cozy corner of Marcus Café. They’d agreed to meet here a week ago. He had already ordered himself a cup of coffee, but had waited on getting one for her, unsure of whether her preferences had changed. He took a sip of his drink.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Julian.”

“You look chilled. Here, take a sip of this.” He pushed his coffee towards her.

“You’re actually sharing your drink with me?” He chuckled at her amazed expression.

“Yes…” He pulled it away suddenly. “Unless you have something contagious.” She pursed her lips thoughtfully. She couldn’t hold the expression and laughed as his face changed.

“No, nothing, contagious or otherwise.” He rolled his eyes at her but handed her the mug nonetheless.

“You are a mess.” Her eyes crinkled over the rim of the cup.

“I try.” She took another sip and he tipped his head as he realized that she had effectively taken ownership of his coffee. She knew what was going through his mind. She played dumb with a cunning smile. “You didn’t want this back, did you?” She took another drink. “This is good. You should get a cup.” He leaned across the table to her.

“Well, I had one, but I lent it to someone and I haven’t gotten it back yet.”

“Ahh. All the wonderful things you do that come back to bite you in the ass.” Before she could continue, he snatched the mug away only to find it empty.

“That’s just cruel. You let me think that I was winning some sort of victory here.” Her only response was to laugh. “You are so lucky we’re in a public place.” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Why Julian, you’re so bold.” He shook his head in astonishment. She watched the way a smile lingered at the corner of his lips. Though he tried to be stern with her and her flirting, she could always read the shining in his eyes through his gold-rimmed glasses. She enjoyed looking into those eyes again.

Since that day at the zoo, they’d become so much closer. It had taken her nearly a week to gather the courage to call his cell phone. She didn’t dare call him at work or at home. The phone had rung twice before he’d answered. The conversation had been a little tense, but they’d set up a time to meet and had spent an enjoyable evening at Le Bleu in nearby Boston. They’d gone Dutch.

That had been the end of each of their ‘encounters’ with them standing awkwardly outside one of their cars before departing company with little more than a touch of the hand.

This time was different though, because Julian had something to tell Eve. He finally felt like he could trust her with the truth of their daughter. He felt that she needed to know the truth now. He’d been trying to keep it to himself for so long, but he didn’t want to any longer.

He took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. “Eve, I have to tell you something.” She looked at him curiously.

“What is it, Julian?” He took a fortifying breath and brought her hands to his lips.

“Eve, there’s something you must know about our daughter.” Her eyes lit up.

“Oh, Julian, anything. I’m dying to know just anything about her.” The anticipation in her eyes melted him. He could barely stand the thought of telling her the truth, but he owed her. She’d changed her whole life for him. It was the least he could do.

“Eve, our daughter, she isn’t--” His cell phone rang as he was about to make his declaration. He swore and let go of Eve’s hands regretfully. “Hello. What do you mean? Are they all right? Yes, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Thank you. Goodbye.” He sighed worriedly and reached for his wallet as Eve looked on.

“Is something wrong?” He nodded to himself as he counted out the full bill. “Well?”

“The children, it seems have been caught in a collapse at the school. I have to go and see to them. Dinah’s frantic.”

“Do you need me to do anything?” He looked around, at a loss.

“Could you be where I am at moment’s notice? I may need you.”

“Anything for you or the children, you know that.”

“Of course.” He rose and shrugged into his jacket. “Pray for my children, Eve. I can’t lose them.” She touched his sleeve as he passed her.

“I know, darling.” He paused and turned to her.

“Thank you for understanding.” He leaned over her shoulder and placed a lingering kiss on her cheek. “What I’d do without you now, I hope to never know.” Her astonished gaze followed him from the café until he disappeared down the street in his car.

~~~~

The drive home for Eve was a pensive one. She kept checking her radio and her cell for news of the collapse at the school, but had come up with nothing. She was afraid that something truly terrible had happened to them. She knew that they were Julian’s world. No amount of comfort would be able to assuage his grief.

She breezed through her house and past her housekeeper, Pilar, who seemed troubled. Though she was distracted, Eve immediately noted her demeanor and stopped.

“Is something wrong, Pilar?” She was dusting the mantle of the fireplace, but was mostly staring at the pictures her mother had forced them to take.

“Nothing, Ms. Johnson.”

“Now, don’t give me that. Something’s wrong.”

“It’s just that…Ma’am, I’ve seen you watching Professor Crane and I’m asking you not to do what you usually do.” Eve straightened up defensively.

“And what is that, Pilar?” She shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably.

“You find a nice respectable man and you turn them into one of your dogs. They’d do anything for you. But you lose interest and they lose everything.”

“Yes.” Eve was no longer comfortable with the way this conversation was going.

“He can’t lose everything. He’s been too far and sacrificed too much already in this life. Please don’t force him to lose all that he has left.”

“What exactly do you know about Julian?”

“I know that he’s an amazing father and a remarkable human being. You don’t know his life, Ms. Johnson.”

“And you do?”

“I was there during the worst of it, though he’d never call it that.”

“What happened?” Pilar stopped her dusting to reminisce.

“He loved a woman and he thought she loved him.. She left him, with a child straight from the hospital. A beautiful little girl. She was the apple of his eye immediately. The things he gave up for that child would astound you-- he was so dedicated. He sold his soul to make sure she had what she needed. She wasn’t healthy as an infant. She always had medicine, always had clothes, and food. He would go hungry some nights so that she could eat. He compromised the rest of his life just so that she’d live to see another day. She always wanted things and he did his best to get them for her.

He didn’t want her to think of them as poor. He wanted her to grow up as a normal little girl with beautiful dresses and shoes that shined. He wanted to give her the world. He gave her what little of it he had. When she went to school, he couldn’t afford the uniforms, so I gave him dresses from my daughter’s school days and he bought old shoes from the Salvation Army. I sewed up the holes and he shined the shoes until they looked brand new. She never knew the difference and he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.” Pilar paused and looked down sadly.

“Something changed?” She nodded.

“One day, she wanted to go on a field trip to the skating rink in Boston. The trip was twenty dollars to go and extra for snacks. She was seven years old. Just seven. Though Julian tried and tried, he couldn’t find the money. There just was no extra to go around. Every dollar was going to keeping a roof over their head and food on their table and to Julian’s college tuition. When he told her that she couldn’t go, naturally she threw a tantrum, but he sat her down and told her that there were times when she wouldn’t be able to have what she wanted. He would do anything to make those times few, but sometimes there was nothing he could do. It broke his heart to tell her that. He’d never wanted her to know how hard he struggled, but she knew then -- and it changed her.

She stopped asking for things after that. Even when Julian graduated at the top of his class and was immediately offered a wonderful job and there was money to be spent…she wouldn’t accept it. She didn’t want it. He had told her once that as long as they were together, they had all they needed. That’s what she lived by. That’s what she lives by to this day. Even with her father married with three new children, she still holds to him like nothing else. As long as they’re together, nothing can stop them.” Pilar snapped out her daze and flushed when she realized she held Eve’s rapt attention.

“Did you say she was alive?” Pilar gave her a strange look, but nodded.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What’s her name?”

“Evelyn Crane, ma’am. Why?” Eve fists clinched around her purse.

“Nothing, Pilar. Thank you for telling me about Julian. I didn’t know those things. I will definitely be careful with him. It seems I already might be in over my head.” She climbed the stairs to a ringing phone.

She settled behind her desk, knowing that it was Julian calling. She stared at the blinking phone for a moment and decided that Julian could wait. She called the line for the kitchen.

“Could you send me up a glass of red wine, please? Thank you very much. Oh, take your time.” She crossed her arms in front of her sternly. After nearly a dozen rings, it stopped. A few moments later, her study door opened and Pilar entered with her glass on a tray.

“Thank you, Pilar.”

“It’s nothing, Ms. Johnson.” She hesitated for a moment, but turned back. “Ma’am have you heard anything more about the collapse the elementary school?” Eve’s eyes widened. “My grandson goes there and I haven’t been able to get away to see about him.”

“Oh, God.” She reached for the phone and dialed Julian’s cell number, which she knew by heart. It rang and rang. She prayed that he answered. It eventually went to voice mail. “Julian, it’s Eve. Please call me back. I need to hear from you.” She replaced the phone in its cradle and waited. For the next few moments, silence reigned.

Finally, to both of their relief, the phone range. She swiped it up. “Julian.”

“Yes.” His voice was too quiet, too somber.

“Julian, what’s happened?”

“My son, Eve. Gideon’s been hurt.” She reached out and took Pilar’s hand.

“Where are you?”

“I don’t know. I just started walking from the school and I haven’t stopped walking since then.”

“Okay, keep your phone on. I’ll get a GPS coordinate on you and I’ll come and get you. Stay where you are. All right?”

“Okay.”

“I’m coming.”

“All right.” He hung up first and Eve sat back in her seat wearily.

“Pilar, I’m going to give you the rest of tonight off. Go find out about your grandson. Give them my best.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” Eve nodded and Pilar hurried out. Eve picked up the phone and dialed the control room of the Johnson & Johnson Company.

“Yes, this is Eve Johnson. I need the GPS location on cell phone number 832-999-098. Thank you. Yes, I’ll wait.” Eve tapped her nails on the desktop impatiently. She sat up when the operator returned to the line. “Yes, that’s Julian Crane.” Her mouth fell open in surprise. “He’s where?”

Eve hung up the phone without saying goodbye before grabbing her coat and purse and jogging out the door.

~~~~

Eve searched the cemetery worriedly for an hour before she came upon Julian sitting motionless on a stone bench.

“Honey.” She sat down beside him. “Are you all right?” He twisted around to look at her, but turned back to face nothing. “Julian, talk to me.”

“My son, my boy went into the school. Mea was there. Liam was as well. We both went in against the firemen’s orders. We went in separately, I found the children, but he searched franticly for them. He found others and hesitated, just for a moment before leaving. That moment was the difference between his escaping safely and being trapped.”

“Oh, Julian.” He didn’t seem to hear her.

“He was trapped, Eve. He called for me and I couldn’t reach him. There was so much fire.” She reached out to him and wrapped her fingers around his. “I’m so afraid of fire.” She could feel the fear narrow his long digits.

“I know, sweetheart. Remember, you told me. You don’t have to explain.”

“But you see, Eve. It didn’t matter, because my son was trapped there.”

“What are you saying?” He turned to her with astonishment written on his face. “Julian.”

“I went into the fire for him. He was too heavy to carry, so I dragged him. He clung to me like he did as a child. My son. He’s all right, because I went into the fire, Eve.” She was confused and a little concerned.

“I don’t understand.” He turned fully to her and took her face into his hands.

“I’m saying that sometimes, going into the fire isn’t all bad. If I go into the fire will you come out with me?” Her mouth fell open as his meaning dawned on her. He was willing to give them a chance.

“You want to be with me, Julian?”

“I do, so much. Come with me.” She clung to his forearms as he began to lower his mouth over hers.

“Anywhere.” And they kissed with the flame of a passion so long denied, but no longer. She had him with his fears and beautiful scars, and sensuous eyes. No one would keep them apart now. Not even her mother.

Eve didn’t know that just by taking on this battle with her mother, she’d already lost the war for her freedom. She had gone willingly into the fire for the man she loved, but would have to go out of her mind to have her life with him.

Suddenly, Julian’s lie was the least of her problems.

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