Peaked Interest

"It's funny," Stuart said as he drove the car.  "It would be a easier for me to find the street when there's daylight. But I've only driven there at night."

"I'll try to get a premonition of where to turn," Phoebe said laughing.

It was less than a fifteen minute drive from The Manor and they had waited until the evening sky turned dark before starting out.

Stuart found the road and turned onto it.  Winding quickly upwards and almost pitch black, he slowed down as he went around its curves.  After a minute they pulled into a small parking lot on the summit.

"The Twin Peaks," Stuart announced.  "The tallest spot in San Francisco. And there, below us, the lights of the city."

They got out of the car and made their way to the edge. The red warning lights on the broadcast towers to their left sitting atop the summit flashed on and off in the darkness.

"It's a beautiful view," Phoebe said.  They stared down at the glittering lights for a while as the wind started kicking up.

"It's usually like this," Stuart said.  He turned Phoebe around to him and zipped up her jacket.

"I can think of a better way to keep warm," she said, taking his hands and pulling them behind her back.  She threw her arms around him and they embraced with a kiss.

"Happiness is when you're here with me," he said. "Look in my heart and see all the love that's waiting for ya."

"Nice lines," she said to him with a curious look.

"They should be," he said. "They’re from your record album."

"It’s good to know that at least somebody in America listened to it," she said, chuckling. She pulled him to her and gently kissed him, then withdrew her hands and turned halfway around so that she could look down at the city with him behind her and his arms around her.

"Four weeks ago, I could never have imagined, never would have dared imagine, being here with you, like this," he said. 

"And to think we have a demon to thank for it," she said.

"Huh?" he said.

"If the Frubos wouldn't have tried to run me over, I wouldn't have been holding you when the yellow light brought me here.  We never would have gotten together."

Stuart was silent for a moment.  "I wish we could stay here forever.  In San Francisco, with you being Phoebe."

"We don't belong here, at least not forever," she said. "We have other lives to return to.  And besides - you said you love me as Alyssa."

"Of course I do," he said. "I love you, Alyssa.  I love you for who you really are.  And I love you when you're also Phoebe, too.

"But here, when you're Phoebe, I have a place with you.  I'm afraid of what will happen when we go back.  I don't fit in Alyssa's life.  You'll have all of the men you knew before we came here.  And all the men you're going to meet.

"You're a TV star.  You move in a world of actors and celebrities. Where the men are tall, handsome and smooth, part of your Hollywood circle and lifestyle.  I know how ordinary I am.  I...can't compete with them.  I'll stand out...like...like..."

Phoebe turned around and looked into his eyes.

"You need to have faith in yourself," she said. "In who you are...in your mind and in your heart.  That means a lot more than a handsome face with little behind it.

"And you need to have faith in me.  Since I've been here, I've managed to get past being swayed by appearances.  They can't sustain a relationship.  It's only what's inside that makes it work, makes it worth having.

"And it's what's inside you that makes me happy.  Your feelings, your perspective on love, your sensitivity - and your sincerity.  And the rest of what makes you...you.  Why do you think I'd want to be any less happy in LA?"

"I guess...something inside of me still can't believe that this is really happening," he said.

She drew him closer and kissed him.  "Does that help you believe?" He nodded his head

"There must be a spell on me," he said.  "In LA, I'd never get the chance to meet you. As an ordinary person, I'd never have the chance to let you see what’s inside my heart.  To see how much I truly care about you."

"If there is a spell then it's on me," she said. "To make me realize that I need to look beyond where I always have.  That I can find what I'm looking for in someone that at first glance...I wouldn't have thought I could."

He took her hands in his and realized how cold they were.

"You're getting cold," he said. "Come, we can get almost the same view from inside the car."

As they sat down inside, Stuart turned the key in the ignition and reached into the armrest.

"What's that?" she asked.

"I know it's not your type of music," he said as he slipped the CD into the player.

Strangers in the night, exchanging glances
    Wond'ring in the night, what were the chances
    we'd be sharing love, before the night was through

"You're right," Phoebe said, as the song started playing. "It’s not."

"But give it a chance to set the mood," he said.

"What mood would that be?" she asked.

"The mood for being with someone special," he said. "Hmm...what does special really mean?

"Special is someone I respect," he continued. "What she thinks, what she says, what she does. Someone with whom every moment I have is a cherished privilege. Someone who makes me feel complete, feel whole. Someone about whom I'm always thinking of what I can do to put a smile on her face."

"And it's also someone that I can open my heart to," she said, "and trust that he'll never hurt it."

Stuart smiled.

"Let's see what's on the next track," she said. She pushed the button and presently Tony Bennett  started to sing.

I left my heart, in San Francisco
    High on a hill, it calls to me.
"I suppose that's a fitting song for being up here," she said.  "We are high on a hill, looking down at the city."

To be where little cable cars...climb halfway to the stars
    The morning fog may chill the air, I don't care
Phoebe turned to look down at the lights below.  "You're so removed from the city below.  It's a peaceful place to come to just to think.  I need to come here again."

My love waits there, in San Francisco
    Above the blue and windy sea
"I'm free tomorrow night," Stuart said, smiling.  "Unless you've got plans to vanquish some demon."

"Not unless we get any better at finding them," she said. "But I won't have time to come, anyway.

"I'm going over to Lorna Palmer's house.  She lives two blocks down from The Manor.  I met her in the store last week and I saw her again this afternoon.  She told me she had to go to Portland tonight for a family emergency, leaving her husband and kids at home.

"So tomorrow I'm going to get some things at the supermarket and bring them over to their house. Then I'll stay with their two girls when they come home from school in the afternoon until their father comes home from work.  And while I'm doing that I'll cook up dinner for them."

Stuart said nothing but just looked at her with a smile on his face.

"What is so funny?" she asked.

"I'm not laughing," he said.

"You're smiling," she said.

"Because I'm...proud of you," he said.

"You're proud of me?" she asked.

"Maybe proud isn't the right word," he said. "It...just feels so good seeing you be the kind, caring, un-selfish person that I said you are.  That's one of the reasons I fell in love with you."

"It's not a big deal," she said.

When I come home to you, San Francisco,
    Your golden sun...will shine... for me
Stuart was about to say something when the CD switched to the next track and Moon River started to play.

"I don't suppose Paula Cole or Melissa Etheridge are on here," she said half-jokingly, knowing they weren't, and picked up the CD case. 

"Memories From Lovers' Lane," she read, looking at the CD's title, then began reading the tracks.  "Prelude to My Love, Love Me Forever, The Look of Love, Love Can Make You Happy."  She looked at Stuart with a slight smile.  "Your romantic side is showing again tonight."

"Guilty.  I guess you just have to accept me with my faults," he said.

"Yes - like your taste in music," she said, broadening her smile.

"I'll shut it," he said.

"No, don't.  I'm sort of getting used to it," she said. "And I'm also getting into the mood."

"The music is having an affect on you?" Stuart asked.

"No," she replied. "But you are." She leaned over, pulled him closer to her and they kissed.