Neighbors

Scene 32:

She finally woke up to her alarm blaring at her. She found her bed empty and immediately she felt empty as well. Then she saw his note on the pillow and her heart raced. If she had found something like this a few days ago she would have smiled and reached for it without caution but after last night she felt nervous, completely unable to predict what it might say and reached for it tentatively. She grabbed it and rolled onto her back holding it up to read it.

"Abby- I'm sorry about last night. I didn't want to wake you this morning you looked so peaceful sleeping and I know you didn't sleep well on the couch. I hope you will still come tonight. I'll call with the time and place. -Oded"

What part of last night was he sorry about? She wondered. He knew she had slept part of the night on the couch and she frowned to herself. He was worried she might not even come to the party tonight. She read and reread the note from him, totally overanalyzing it. Picking apart what he said, and also inferring meaning in the specific things he did not say. She finally sat up dropping the note onto the nightstand trying to push it from her mind. She made the bed then got dressed trying to act as if everything was completely normal. She realized much later that she was really trying to act as if there was no Oded at all, as the protective wall started to build in her mind.

She went to work struggling through her lecture as her students watched her curiously, and she worked hard to avoid Shuralee, who was on the warpath to corner her about Oded, locking herself in her office to immerse herself in work.

When Oded had woken up before Abby, he laid beside her watching her sleep for several minutes. The sunlight playing off her freckles. Her hair, now that it was shorter had curled at the ends and lay across her cheek, one tendril caught almost on her bottom lip. He reached out to pull it away and she had roused turning in her sleep. That was when he realized he needed to leave before she woke up. He needed some time to think before they talked again, before he could explain last night to her. He left her a simple note deciding as he wrote it that he did want her to be aware that he knew she had slept on the couch last night. He would call her later after they both had some time to think, he rationalized as he quietly left her place for his own.

Once at work, he found himself with his phone in one hand, the directions to the party in his other hand, still unable to call her. He just didn't know what to say. He was still very conflicted about how he now felt. He knew she made him happy. But it was so much more than that, she challenged him, impressed him, and made him feel interesting in a valid way. She wasn't fake; as a matter of fact maybe that was the problem. She was too real. The insecurity he felt at the party and after her class had rattled him severely. He never had considered himself shallow, but after seeing her depth he felt like he was in the kiddy pool. Maybe everything between them had happened too fast. Maybe they should have taken things more slowly. 'Too late for that now,' he chided himself.

He gave Cheryl the information and asked her to call Abby and give it to her. Cheryl looked at him strangely knowing he didn't have wardrobe for another twenty minutes and that he could easily do it himself. But the look Oded gave her when he noticed her expression could have frozen hell and she didn't question him. She called and got Abby's voice mail leaving the information as Oded instructed.

Abby wrote down all the information then sat staring at it. She really didn't want to go. She hadn't heard from Oded all day and after the unsaid things in his note this morning she really felt like she needed to wait to hear from him, she couldn't be the one to call him first. And to make things worse he had Cheryl call with the information. He hadn't called himself. Whatever miscommunication had happened between them, it was bad, she thought. The fact that he pointed out her absence last night and that he knew she had slept on the couch made things even more complicated in her mind. She decided to stay at work late. She tried to rationalize that being at work would prevent her from stewing about whatever the issue was with Oded, which she knew is what would happen if she went home. Inside she knew she was hiding, but that didn't really matter, she still couldn't help it.

She finally went home after 6:00 still not sure if she should go to the party. She knew if she decided not to go she would at least have to call, maybe she would get lucky and get a hold of Cheryl and not Oded. 'He had obviously taken the easy way out himself earlier', she thought fuming that he hadn't called and he had Cheryl do it. 'The big chicken.' She said out loud. She stood in front of her closet not knowing what to wear. Cheryl had mentioned that this was going to be at a bar and she debated, finally pulling out a pair of black jeans and a black stretch top. She threw a sweater over the top and went to brush her hair opting to pull it back into a ponytail for tonight. She stood staring at herself in the mirror wishing she knew how to put on make-up. Wishing for that matter, that she owned any make-up. She knew there were going to be really gorgeous women at this party tonight and she once again thought about calling to cancel, what little self-confidence he had built in her the last two weeks about her looks now shattered.

She picked up the phone before she could change her mind. Somebody other than Oded or Cheryl answered. She thought she had the wrong number. "Is this Oded Fehr's cell phone?" she asked.

"Yes, who's calling?" Bethany asked knowing full well who it was, gritting her teeth at finally hearing Abby's voice.

"This is Abby Bettinger, Oded's... " She paused as she thought of what to say given the events of the last 24 hours, "friend," she ended. "Is he available?" Inside she was hoping the answer would be no.

"Sorry he's not, can I take a message?" Bethany asked, even though Oded was very much available.

"Yes, please tell him I'm sorry I won't make it tonight. I'll talk to him tomorrow." Abby finished, feeling crushed inside as she said the words.

"Okay, I'll tell him." Bethany promised. Then they both hung up as Bethany thought, 'yeah, right... I'm gonna tell him... I think I'll let him believe you stood him up.' She smiled prompting Cheryl to ask what was going on as she took the phone back from Bethany, having returned from her errand. "Oh nothing." Bethany answered sweetly.

Oded kept watching the door, hoping to see her come in. It was after 8:00 and he hadn't heard from her. Maybe she had never gotten the directions. He asked Cheryl twice about whether she had called Abby. The second time Cheryl snapped at him, "Oded you should have called her yourself. Then you wouldn't have to wonder." Oded had glared at her and since then Cheryl had tried to keep her distance from him. Oded had started drinking as soon as they had arrived at the bar which no one had ever see him do before. Something was bothering him and when Abby didn't show they all started to have some clue about what it was. He couldn't believe she would stand him up like this and he was fuming about it.

"Fine" he said to no one in particular turning to order another martini. Bethany had been hanging around him waiting for the right moment to pounce and joined him at the bar when she thought Abby was late enough to make it official.

"Oded what happened to your new girlfriend? I thought she was coming tonight." Bethany began.

Oded looked at her, a smirk on his face, his eyes already had that glazed 'I've had too much to drink look', "Yeah well apparently she decided she wasn't interested."

"Not interested huh? I can't imagine not being interested in you." She leaned into him putting her hand on his arm.

He looked over at her curiously. "I meant not interested in the party, but now that you mention it." He turned himself to face Bethany thinking he might actually engage her in a conversation, she seemed cute he thought.

Jon and Jarred, two of his fellow cast members saw Bethany make her move on Oded and they moved in to intercept. Everyone but Oded had now figured out that Bethany was interested in him and Cheryl had clued Jon in that Abby was missing in action, and that Oded had been drinking.

Cheryl watched from afar as she debated about what to do. She had known Oded for a couple of years now and this relationship with Abby had affected him like no other she had ever seen. It had happened awfully fast, but she reflected back on her own beginnings with her husband and realized she had fallen for him immediately too. She didn't know what had happened last night between the two of them, but she had never seen Oded drink like this. He was torturing himself and she couldn't stand by and watch it happen. She grabbed her cell phone and looked up Abby's number in Oded's planner. She would find out why Abby wasn't coming.

Abby let the message go to her machine. She had been sulking around her townhouse for the last hour having decided to break her date with Oded knowing there would likely be hell to pay for it. 'If he cares at all,' she thought. When she heard Cheryl's voice she almost picked up the phone, but it was not Oded and that is whom she wanted to hear from. She listened to Cheryl's message twice debating about what to do. Cheryl had called to verify Abby got the directions earlier, and that she hoped Abby was coming soon because Oded was getting ornery and Cheryl was worried about him. Abby was confused. Oded hadn't gotten her message? 'Maybe I should call again,' she thought. 'No, I should go see him, it wasn't fair to back out on him like this. Whatever is wrong between us, we need to work it out,' she decided. She quick brushed her hair again, put on mascara, 'best I can do' she said to the mirror and grabbed her purse with the directions.

She walked in twenty minutes later looking for Oded. As she came in the door she was stopped by a big guy who asked what she was here for. "I'm looking for Oded Fehr," she said. It didn't occur to her that this guy was a bouncer.

"Sorry lady, no fans allowed. This is a private party."

"What?" she looked at him dumbfounded. "But I'm a friend of his. I was invited." She insisted, now realizing the problem. Bethany had seen her come in and overheard the conversation, she walked away, not even thinking twice about helping her, laughing to herself at the likelihood that Abby was about to be thrown out of the party. She was irked that Jon and Jarred had interrupted her conversation with Oded, but she knew she just had to wait for the right time.

Abby continued to argue with the bouncer. "No, you don't understand." She tried again after he once again told her she would have to leave. "My name is Abby Bettinger, please just go ask him. He'll tell you he wants me here." She tried, hoping inside that it was actually true.

Cheryl walked by hearing Abby's name and turned to see what was going on. She quickly walked up to the arguing pair. "I'm sorry... are you Abby?" she asked looking her up and down quickly. The woman standing in front of her was not what she had expected. She was very different than any of Oded's other girlfriends. Then she smiled realizing this is probably why Oded liked her so much. She was beautiful, but not in a Hollywood way.

Abby looked at this woman who had said her name and answered cautiously. "Yes I am." Then she placed the voice, "Are you Cheryl?"

"Yes! Thomas it's okay, let her in, this is Oded's girlfriend." Thomas stepped aside no apologies given as Cheryl grabbed Abby's hand. "I'm so glad you are here. Oded is nuts. What happened between you guys?"

Abby was flustered, "I don't know honestly, at least not all of it. Where is he?" She glanced around the room.

"By the bar. Abby he's been drinking, he's not himself." Cheryl tried to tell her as Abby walked away from her not hearing the end of Cheryl's warning.

As she approached the bar Bethany saw her and made a beeline to intercept her. "You must be Abby." She stopped her, putting her body between Abby and Oded.

Abby looked at her confused. "Yes and you are?"

"I'm Bethany. I'm another one of Oded's assistants. I've been dying to meet you. Oded and I have talked about you, he told me you are a professor."

Abby eyed her curiously. Oded had never mentioned Bethany. "Yes I am." Abby tried to step past her but Bethany still blocked her way.

Bethany launched into her planned sabotage immediately, trying to distract Abby. "I imagine that must be really hard thinking about trying to balance your career with Oded's. Most of these actors can't keep a relationship together, you know it's really hard since they travel all the time. I'm guessing you guys won't be able to be together when he has to travel to locations. Especially since with these TV shows you never know if they are going to get picked up. If it gets cancelled he'll probably have to move back to LA right away. There is nothing here for him. You know, it's all really too bad, most relationships work better when the significant other is able to really commit themselves to supporting the person in the business. All those other women throwing themselves at your boyfriend. You must really be confident in your relationship. Those temptations are hard to resist. You know you don't really seem like Oded's type, he's always gone for taller women, you know more the model type, women who really work on their looks, the kind that you can walk down the red carpet with at a movie premiere."

Abby looked at this bubble headed woman who was blathering on in front of her and wanted to flick her away like an annoying insect. But after last night she had to admit she wasn't at all confident about her relationship. And the annoying gnat of a woman was feeding things into her head that started to affect her. She had enough of this and put an end to it. "You know Bethany, I think I don't want to have this conversation with you. I don't know you and you don't know me, so if you don't mind I'd like to go speak to Oded now." She tried to wait patiently for Bethany to move and when the stunned woman didn't step aside Abby backed up and went around the next table bypassing her.

She heard Bethany call after her, "Well you do have one thing in common with his other girlfriends. You're a bitch."

Cheryl grabbed Bethany as the words came out of her mouth overhearing the conversation but not able to intervene soon enough to stop it. "You will not have a job here on Monday." Cheryl fired her as Bethany stormed away.

Bethany's words stung a little. Abby didn't like this kind of confrontation but she let it go. And actually those words stung much less than what she was about to hear. Abby approached the group at the bar hearing Oded's voice, his back was to her. Jarred looked at her, but since no one had ever met Abby he didn't have a clue that he should have warned Oded that she was behind him. Abby overheard his next sentence. "Yeah she's a professor if you can believe that. I went to a faculty party with her last night, talk about stuffy academics and boring conversation. Good thing she's good in bed to keep me interested."

The look on her face dropped, a mix of emotions playing through her body, and she stopped in her tracks as Cheryl came up behind her. Cheryl was trying to signal to Jarred or Jon that this was Abby and Jarred figured it out first, his face turning to a frown when he quickly realized what had just happened. He leaned into Oded whispering that Abby was standing behind him. Oded's face dropped and he turned slowly around to look at her. "Abby." His ears went red, he could tell from the look on her face that she had overheard him.

She didn't flinch. The wall she had started building yesterday to protect her gaining several new levels of bricks. "Oded. I'm sorry I kept you waiting." She said, her voice flat and nearly expressionless except for the slightest quiver at the end. The wall wasn't as strong as she had hoped. She heard the tremble and stopped talking, not wanting to get emotional in front of people she didn't know.

She wanted to turn around and run, but she wasn't one for making a scene and besides, she was so angry with him she didn't want to let him off the hook. She wanted to see what he would do next. Jon and Jarred looked at one another behind Oded, feeling the tension and knowing Oded was in big trouble. Jon gave Jarred the signal that they should leave the two of them alone and they grabbed their drinks. They had done their jobs. They came to rescue Oded from Bethany and they had done that, they could not however rescue him from himself, and he was in deep with Abby.

Abby turned to walk away from him. He watched her take a few steps before he said anything. "So you are just going to leave." It wasn't a question.

She paused. Then she started walking again. This was not the place for this. He was surrounded by his co-workers, and no doubt his boss was here as well. She didn't want to embarrass him. They should fight in private. If he chose to follow then so be it. She paused again. She turned rethinking it. She would at least explain why she was leaving. She took the few steps back to him, facing him at the bar. He looked irritated and when she looked in his eyes she couldn't figure him out. She had never seen him drunk and it didn't wear well on him. "I'm going to leave because I'm upset. And I don't think you want to talk about this in front of all your friends and co-workers. Do you?"

He was angry and belligerent. "Why are you upset?"

She looked at him amazed. "You do know that I heard what you said about me don't you? Wait..." she held up her hand, "Don't answer that. You must not realize that I heard you. ...Because if you did and you can still sit there and tell me you don't know why I'm upset, then I don't even know what to say to you."

"Oh come on Abby. You don't think I meant that." He was already trying to back pedal. The alcohol was affecting his ability to think clearly and he had no hope of getting out of this gracefully. He was seriously handicapped and she took no pity on him.

"So you did know that I heard you and yet you decide to act like everything is okay. Just like last night. Even after..." She fought to control the tremble in her voice.

"Even after what?" he prodded her. He knew what she was going to say. But he wanted to hear it.

"It doesn't matter." She answered. This is exactly what she didn't want to do in front of everyone. She turned away again.

"It does matter. Don't walk away." He hadn't moved from the barstool. He wasn't sure he could, he was having a hard time even processing what was happening in front of him, let alone realizing he was an active participant in it.

She turned one last time. "Oded I'm going home. This is not the place for this. I don't expect you to follow me, I understand that you need to be here." She then left.

She managed to holdback the tears until she got to the car. She was afraid he might actually follow her and so she started the car even though she was choking through the sobs and tried to drive home. She pulled over several miles away to let it all out. She sobbed uncontrollably. She wanted to scream. She slammed her palms against the steering wheel. She had let herself fall in love with him. She knew it truly for the first time at this very moment, because right now she hurt more than she had ever hurt before and she knew it had to be the feeling of her heart breaking.

She didn't know what to do. She didn't know where to go. She wanted to yell at him. She wanted to hit him. She wanted him to follow her, to show her that he actually cared, even a little bit. But he had let her walk out. The tears slowly stopped. She was spent. She sat quietly, letting her breathing slow down then finally putting the car back into drive.

She went home. She locked her door and turned off all the lights behind her as she climbed the stairs to her bedroom. She methodically changed her clothes, brushed her teeth and climbed into bed. She allowed her brain to shut off. She was numb and the routine of getting ready for bed was comforting. She climbed under the covers. Then as her brain started to move again she bolted from her bed running downstairs and out onto her front step. She pulled the spare key from the light fixture shutting and locking her door again then tossing the key on the table. The last thing she needed was for him to be able to get in and find her. She climbed back up the stairs the tears starting again. She climbed back under the covers finding herself lying on her side of the bed, her hand on HIS pillow. She saw the bracelet sparkle in the moonlight. She sat up and unhooked the clasp, the first time she had taken it off since he had put it on her while she slept almost a week ago, chucking it across the room towards her dresser. Then she heaved herself into the middle of the bed, kicking at the covers, moving the sheets, shoving his pillow off the bed, and reclaiming her bed as her own. But it didn't stop the tears and she cried softly for a long time until she finally fell asleep. She heard the doorbell ring several times and the loud knocks on her door as well as the loud Hebrew he was screaming mixed in with her name long before she fell asleep, but she never even considered getting up to answer him. She had unplugged the answering machine and taken the phone off the hook on her way upstairs earlier. She had isolated herself. Now she just had to figure out how she could find a place and move all of her stuff tomorrow. She actually let herself laugh just a little at the thought. Ridiculous she told herself. She wanted him to move, not her.

He had watched her leave deciding not to follow her. The state he was in would only make things worse. He needed to sober up. He had been a jackass and he knew it. His sarcasm with her only made things worse. Thankfully she had been the saner of the two of them and when she felt things were getting out of hand and he started to raise his voice she had shut things down. Very few people knew what had happened but the group did include Bethany and she flushed with excitement about it.

Cheryl was the first one to approach him, and the conversation did not go well. Oded told her to mind her own business and Cheryl told him he was a fool. She left telling him she hoped he shaped up by Monday or she still wouldn't speak to him. "Well, then apparently Abby won't be the only one not talking to me." He had called after her.

Jon and Jarred were next. Oded made it very clear he did not want to discuss Abby any more and they let it go watching him as they tried to carry on a conversation with him. He was clearly frustrated and finally Jon suggested Oded go find her. "No." Oded responded. "We both need some time to think, I'll talk to her tomorrow."

"I don't know man, she was really upset when she left here. If it were me I'd talk to her tonight." Jon offered.

Oded looked at him his eyes sad. "Only problem is I don't know what to say. I'm actually wondering if we should even be together. I'm starting to think we are not a good match, we're too different."

Jarred answered, "I think you need someone different Oded..." Then seeing Oded's critical look he backed up. "But regardless of what I think, even if you do think it's not going to work between you two, you at least have to talk to her, you can't let it end this way."

Oded finally nodded in agreement. "I'll go find her. Nothing I'm looking forward to more than a good argument." He shook his head in despair as he climbed off the barstool and headed home thinking about what he would say.

Her car was out front so he knew she was home but her lights were all off. It didn't matter, he walked up to her door, he needed to talk to her tonight. He rang her doorbell but got no response. Several more tries than he started pounding on the door. Still no response. He pounded again. "Abby please open the door, we need to talk." Nothing. He started yelling in Hebrew, "Fine, then! Be that way! This isn't worth it!" Then in English, "Damn it Abby open the door." He finally gave up. Either she couldn't hear him or she didn't want to see him. He tried her light hoping to find her key thinking he might go in and wake her up. It was gone and he frowned, depressed, tired and already starting to feel hung over from the martinis. He went home and climbed into bed, sleeping alone for the first time in a week.

He woke up in a panic. He had been dreaming about her, and they were not his normal fun fantasies about the two of them together. She had come to talk to him and they had fought. She broke it off with him slamming the door in his face. Then she had disappeared and he hadn't been able to find her. He had searched everywhere. He had called her family and they didn't know or at least wouldn't tell him where she was. She was gone and he thought he would never see her again.

He climbed out of bed going to get a cold drink of water and try to clear his head. It was well after 3:00 am and he stood in the bathroom flushing his face with water to wake himself up afraid to go back to sleep and have the dream start again. He looked over at her place and wondered what she was dreaming about.

But she wasn't dreaming. She was standing in the bathroom watching him wash his face. And it made her very sad. What little sleep she did get was fitful. She kept hearing Bethany's litany in her head about why relationships with actors fail and she and Oded did indeed have so much going against them. Her job now would never let her follow him and Bethany was right, he wouldn't be here forever. She couldn't compete with the women he worked around and the idea that she would have to accompany him to events with press and cameras made her balk and retreat into her shell. Besides after what she overheard him say about her job and his attraction to her she didn't think they had any future anyway. 'We shouldn't have moved so fast,' she thought. 'Too late for that now.' She saw him run his hands through his hair, the silver at his temples catching her attention, how she wished she could touch it and feel those silken locks between her fingers. She sighed sadly thinking she would never get that opportunity again. Then she felt the ache in her heart wondering how long this pain would hurt. 'I guess in a way it's a good thing things moved so fast between us. It only took us two weeks to figure out this was doomed and really, how long can it take to get over a two week relationship?' she thought. Trying to ease some of the burden her body felt. She turned and walked out of the bathroom to try and go back to sleep, her head hurt and her limbs felt heavy with fatigue.

He caught the motion in the darkness as she turned to go and he knew she must have been in the bathroom. He could barely make out her form as she walked back towards her bedroom but he could see enough to make out the familiar bottom hem of her T-shirt and the curve of her leg peeking out from below. He burst. Between the dream of her gone, the real live view of her walking away from him in the darkness, the lateness of the hour making him intensely tired, he lost it. He felt forlorn and sad and he cried. He walked back into his bedroom wiping the tears from his cheeks with the back of his hands as he climbed back into bed. He closed his eyes, swallowing hard trying to regain his composure, to get his emotions back under control. But he couldn't, and as he lay there he let the tears run down either side of his face leaving salty streaks. He loved her and he didn't want to lose her. "Ich hob der lieb, my xatixa." He said quietly. Eventually he fell back to sleep still tormented by his dreams of her gone from his life.

When she woke at 6:00 for what felt like the 100th time, she gave up and got up. She threw on her clothes and went downstairs to make something hot and caffeinated. She didn't normally drink coffee, having bought it really only for Oded, but this morning she made herself a strong pot. One of her first thoughts when she woke this last time was that it was likely Oded would come looking for her this morning and she didn't want to have anything to do with him. So she filled up her thermos, grabbed her school bag and decided to go to her lab. She rode in on her bike finding the cool air this morning refreshing against her tired face.

She locked herself away in lab for the day, expecting he might think to call her at work so she avoided her office and her voice mail. Not emerging until after three o'clock when she ran into Jeff.

"What are you doing here? You look like hell." He told her.

"Gee thanks." She replied sarcastically.

"No, I'm sorry I didn't mean that. You look... well actually you do. You look like hell... But in a cute way." He smiled trying to make her smile back. "Abby, what's going on? Why are you here?" He asked.

"What? Can't I work on a Saturday? You're here too." She retorted.

"True, I just expected you'd be with.... Well you know."

At the almost mention of his name her lip started to tremble and she had to fight back the tears.

"Oh Abby..." Jeff couldn't help but notice the look on her face. "I'm sorry. Did you guys..." He didn't finish his sentence. She was nodding her head vigorously as the tears spilled from her eyes. He frowned at her then opened his arms up to her. Instinctively she walked towards him letting him hold her in a hug, stroking her hair as he went 'shh' 'shh' in her ear, trying to get her to stop crying.

She pulled herself together, pushing away from him, realizing what she had done and now ashamed of herself for having fallen apart in front of him. He was the last person she should be turning to for comfort. "I'm sorry Jeff, please forget it. I'll be fine. I didn't mean to..."

He interrupted her. "It's okay Abby. I know these things suck. I'm really sorry. I know I'm not the one you would want to talk to about this, since we kind of got off on... well, you know. I just want you to know that I'm here for you. I really do want to be your friend, so if you need someone to talk to." He made the offer then stood quietly letting her think about it.

"Thanks Jeff, really I'm fine. I just didn't get much sleep last night, I'm tired." She rubbed her eyes, letting out a big clearing breath trying to get past this.

"Are you going home?" he asked her.

"Eventually. But not yet."

"Would you like me to leave you alone?"

"Yes. If you wouldn't mind." She appreciated his openness.

"Sure, but really if you need anything. Call me." He reached for her hand to squeeze her fingers. "I really am sorry." He turned to go as she stood in the hall. Then turned around, knowing he was taking a risk, but thought it was worth it. He walked back towards her. "Abby, wait a second." She looked back up at him. "I have a question for you. Now don't over interpret this. But there is a visiting scholar talk tomorrow night. Do you want to go? It's not a date... I swear! I just thought it might be good for you to have something to do. I think you'd enjoy it. I just don't want you to spend all your time here in lab." He had been watching her reaction, which had shifted from alarmed to thoughtful.

She was quiet for a long time. So long that Jeff was sure she was going to turn him down, then surprisingly she answered, "sure Jeff. I'd like to go. I think you are right, I shouldn't sit and stew. As long as you are certain it's not a date. I can't do that right now. I don't even really know what's happening between Oded and I." She trembled again as she said his name. But she swallowed her emotion and smiled at Jeff.

"Great, I'll pick you up tomorrow about 6:30." And before she could say anything else, or change her mind he left, a smile a mile wide on his face.

She headed for her office in search of goldfish crackers she knew she had in her desk, starving herself in lab all day and felt her stomach drop when she saw the blinking message light on her phone. She knew his voice would be on the other end.

Oded had finally fallen into a deep dreamless sleep and woke up feeling very heavy headed after the martinis from last night. It was well after ten and the sun blinded him as he opened his eyes. He pulled the pillow over his eyes kicking at the sheets to free his legs when the reality of what had happened last night reentered his head and hit him like a sledgehammer. He moaned and rolled over onto his stomach his face still buried in his pillow, thinking maybe he should just suffocate himself and put himself out of his misery. He finally propped himself up on his elbows blowing out a loud sigh as he let his head hang, stretching the muscles across his shoulders and feeling the weight of his head. He climbed out of bed resolute to fix the situation between himself and Abby. Things had gotten royally screwed up since Thursday night and he needed to make it right before things got worse. He showered and cleaned up his beard to make himself presentable for her then went down to feed his body. He looked outside seeing her car still out front and smiled thinking he would head over to her place to apologize for being such an ass.

He downed some juice and peanut butter toast then went up to dress. As he reached for his belt he looked over at the dresser and saw the box with the gift for her. He smiled, 'This will help,' he thought. He opened the box to look at the earrings. He had picked them up for her on Tuesday afternoon, thinking he would save them for Saturday, a little reminder of their one week or two week anniversary. 'Depending on what they wanted to celebrate,' he thought, chuckling to himself. He was going to save them for tonight, but thought this might be exactly what he needed to get back in her good graces this morning. Gifts had always worked to get him out of trouble in the past.

He headed over to find her and was frustrated and confused when she still didn't answer her door. He tried her back sliding door but it was locked and she didn't answer there either. He walked back over to his place dejected. 'Where the hell was she?' he thought. 'Her car is here?' Then he remembered her bike and shook his head. She had ridden somewhere and he could guess where she had gone. He headed in and called her at work. But when he got her voice mail he hung up. He was starting to realize how serious this was and decided he couldn't leave her a message. He needed to talk to her in person. He climbed in his car and headed for the campus. 'Thank god I was just here and know where to go.' He thought.

He pulled up in front of her building and headed inside. Once in he realized that he was stuck. He should have taken her up on her offer to go see her lab. He didn't know where to find her now that he was in the building. He searched for an hour actually walking past her lab three times but since her name was not on the door he never knew she was just inside. He found the department office but couldn't get to her personal office, which was down the hall inside. He sat on the floor, outside the main office door frustrated and actually quite pissed off. He fingered the jewelry box in his pocket trying to figure out what to do next. He sat and waited for a while hoping she would emerge from wherever she was hiding but after an hour he gave up and then after wandering the halls one more time he went home.

He ended up back at his place fluctuating between being angry with her for having run off, not willing to face him, and sadness that what had happened between them had affected her so strongly. He watched for her to come home on and off all afternoon, spending the day in front of the TV speeding through the cable channels with the remote control trying to find something to watch and not concentrating on anything longer than a few seconds. He finally called her at work resorting to leaving a message for her. Praying maybe she would actually pick up. She didn't.

"Abby... it's me. I wish you hadn't run away this morning. We need to talk. Oh Xatixa...I'm sorry for... I'm just sorry. I've been trying to find you. I came up to school but I couldn't find you. I didn't want to leave you a message. I want to hear your voice. Please come home and talk to me." He hung up.

An hour later he was back in his mad stage and he called again. "Damn it Abigail where are you? Don't do this to us. It's not fair to hide like this. Call me."

Immediately he regretted the message he had just left and he called back now dejected and resigned. "Abby I'm sorry. I'm not angry. I just feel a little lost at the moment. When you are ready to talk I'll be waiting. Bye."

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Neighbors - Chapter 32 continued