Wildest Dreams
by Shea

Part Six

Paul woke up before Shea did and leaned up on one elbow, 
watching her sleep. He had never met anyone quite like her before in 
his life. Smart, strong and independent. He felt sorry for anyone who 
underestimated her. He thought she was downright sexy too, with that 
reddish brown hair. He leaned over and gently kissed her on the 
cheek. Why someone would want to hurt her was beyond his 
understanding. Shea stirred, turning over to face him. 
"What time is it?" she asked sleepily. 
"Around four. Hungry?" He replied. 
"Starving"
"I think I might have some of those french bread pizzas in the 
freezer. Sound good to you?" 
"Works for me." 
They got up and got dressed before going into the kitchen to warm 
the pizzas. Paul found a pitcher of tea and set it on the table 
while Shea took two glasses down from the cabinent. Paul put the 
pizzas in the oven to cook and turned to help her with the drinks. 
"I have some movies if you'd like to watch something. Not sure what 
I've got in there. Sound like a good idea to you?" Paul said as he 
handed her a glass of ice. 
"Sounds like a winner. It's cold out there, the perfect day to curl 
up with a friend and watch tv." Shea replied. 
"I picked up 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', I've heard a lot 
about it but haven't had the chance to watch it. Have you seen that 
one?" 
"Once, its a pretty cool movie. The fight sequences are awesome."
"Thats what I heard. The previews looked pretty interesting. I think 
I have a few other movies too. So we have a lot to choose from."
They spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies, munching on 
popcorn and talking. Shea told him more about what she did at the 
karate studio and how she hoped to go to assisting full time at the 
dojo so she could concentrate on her writing.
"I have a confession to make." Shea told Paul nervously, unsure of 
how Paul would react to what she was about to say. 
"What's that?" He said, curiousity aroused. 
"I've always wanted to write your bio. And not some trashy tell all 
either. I understand how much you value your privacy. "
"Well, tell me, what would this bio consist of?"
"Basically about how you grew up. Your take on growing up in the 
sixties, your thoughts on those times What and who inspired you to 
get where you are today. You'd be surprised how many people would be 
interested."
"You think so??" 
"Yes I do." 
Paul leaned back against the couch, deep in thought. Shea waited 
patiently as he considered the possibility. 
"I'd have to think about it. Do you have a sample of your writing I 
could look at?" 
"I think I have a few things I wrote for a friend's fanzine. Reviews 
mostly. A little fan fiction. Would that work?" 
"It's a start." 
"I'll look for some samples when I get back to my place." 
"Good. What do you want to watch now.," Paul said as the phone 
rang. "Oops saved by the bell." he joked. 
"Hello? Hey there monkey boy! How are you?"
Shea smiled when she saw the happiness on Paul's face as he talked to 
his son. She got up and went into the kitchen, not only to refill 
their tea glasses but to also give Paul some privacy in what she 
thought was a family matter. 
After a few minutes, Paul came into the kitchen. 
"Why did you leave? You could have stayed in the room." He told her 
as he hugged her from behind, planting a soft kiss on the back of her 
neck. 
"I know you don't get much time with Evan. I didn't want to feel like 
I was imposing on that time"
"Well I appreciate it even though you didn't have to." he said, 
hugging her closer to his warm, firm body. 
"Are you going to get to see him over the school holidays?" Shea 
asked as she turned around to face him.
"There may be a problem. I've got rehearshals right up to the day 
before New Year's Eve. And I don't think it would be fair to Evan to 
have him fly out here and not get to spend that much time with me."
"I see what you mean. That would be quite an upheaval in his life." 
Shea thought for a few minutes before she continued. "What if you 
went to see him?"
"Still sort of the same problem," Paul sighed. "But maybe it would be 
better for him to come here. I know we haven't known each other long, 
but I would like for you to meet him. And we would have three to four 
days together. He could come to the opening show."
"Well, that could work. And if he wanted, he could come to the 
karate school for one of the kid's classes and play tunnel tag." 
"That would be great! You're sure your sensei wouldn't mind?" 
"No, we have kids visit all the time with their friends." 
"Cool. I'll call Pam later and tell her the visit is on." 
"Great. I look forward to meeting him."
Inwardly, she hoped that Evan would like her and not think she was 
trying to replace his mother. 
She knew from her own experience when her dad had remarried how she 
felt. She got along well with her stepmother now, but the teen years 
had been a bit rough. She went to the sliding glass door and looked 
out on a winter wonderland, deep in thought. 
'I guess I just have to be myself and hope for the best.' she 
thought to herself. Shea was so deep in thought that she didn't 
notice Paul come up behind her until he wrapped his arms around her 
waist and rest his head on her shoulder.
"The snow is pretty, isn't it?" he asked jolting her out of her 
thoughts. 
"Yes it is. It will probably be gone by tomorrow. Then its back to 
work for both of us." She replied with a trace of regret.
"Yeah," he said, hugging her closer."You know, these past two days 
have been great. I like spending time with you." 
"I've enjoyed them too, Paul." she said, turning around in his arms 
to face him. "I never thought I would get to spend this much time 
with you." She puntuated her last remark by wrapping her arms tighter 
around his waist and laying her head on his chest. Paul stroked her 
hair as he held her close.
"I'm glad I stopped at that Mapco that day. If I hadn't, we'd 
probably have never met."
"I'm glad you did too. I never thought this would happen in my 
wildest dreams." 
Paul didn't answer, just held her close for a long time as they both 
wondered where this would go. 

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

Later that afternoon, Shea was making her way back to her 
apartment since the roads had cleared and the snow was slowly 
melting. Tomorrow would be a work day for both of them and after the 
last two days, they both regretted the interference of their busy 
schedules. She unlocked the door to the apartment and stepped 
inside, dropping her bag to the floor out of the walkway. So intent 
on removing her uniforms from the bag, she didn't notice Carol 
sitting on the couch, regarding her closely.
"Have a good time?" she asked.
"Oh! Hey Carol, didn't see you there. Yeah I did." Shea replied with 
a grin. 
"Good, I think you needed that.." Carol replied with a knowing grin 
that made Shea blush slightly. 
"Yeah I think you may be right." 
"So do you think you two may be an 'item'?" Carol asks. 
"Maybe. He acts like he likes me."
"More than a little with the time you've spent together these last 
two days. How did you meet him? "
"At the Mapco believe it or not. I was coming out with a cup of 
coffee and almost fell on some ice and he caught me. "
"Sounds like what could have been bad luck turned into some very good 
luck." 
"Yeah, you could say that. I didn't think it would go beyond the cup 
of coffee afterward but he called me at the dojo and asked me out to 
dinner, but you know that part." 
"I hope things work out for you two and I hope he realizes he's found 
someone who likes him for himself." 
"So do I, Carol, because I do like him a lot." Shea paused before 
continuing. "Well, I need to wash my uniforms, do you have any 
laundry that needs done while I'm at it?"
"I think we need some towels washed, I got most of the other laundry 
done earlier" 
"Great. I'll go to the laundry room and get that started. My uniforms 
are a bit ripe." Shea chuckled. 
Carol chuckled and returned to her book as Shea went to gather the 
remaining laundry. 
An hour later, the laundry finished, Shea dressed for bed. She 
thought that she would check her email and maybe do some light 
reading. She didn't think she was up to doing any writing this 
evening, as her head was still somewhat in the clouds over the events 
of the past few days. She answered a few emails from friends and 
deleted the spam that always seemed to find its way to her inbox, no 
matter what she did. She read a few of the new story parts posted to 
Girl talk, enjoying the new developments in some of the story lines. 
By eleven o'clock she was ready to shut the computer off and pick up 
the book on pressure point attacks she'd abandoned a few days ago. So 
engrossed in her book she didn't hear the phone ring. She heard 
Carol tell her to pick up the extension. 
"Hello?" she said.
"Hey little lady. How are you?" Paul asked.
"Hi Paul. Pretty good. Just reading a book and relaxing."
"What are you reading?"
"A book on nerve centers and pressure point attacks."
"Again, remind me to never piss you off." he joked. 
Shea laughed. "You don't have to worry about that Paul."
Paul chuckled as well. "I guess you're glad its Sunday tomorrow 
aren't you? I remember you said that was you only day off from both 
jobs."
"Yes, I am," Shea sighed."What do you have going tomorrow?"
"Just some more costume fittings and we get our scripts. Maybe a 
short run through. I should be finished by late afternoon, early 
evening. Then the REAL work begins Monday," Shea could hear the 
excitement in his voice. "Would you like to get together again 
tomorrow? I have the feeling time is going to be hard for us to come 
by for a while."
"Yeah I'm going to be busy getting ready for an interschool 
tournament coming up next Saturday. I plan to compete."
"Maybe I can catch part of that if my rehearshal schedule allows. 
What does a tournament involve?"
"Well, you have four divisions you can compete in: Weapons, Forms, 
Point fighting and grappling. In point fighting and grappling, 
whoever scores a certain number of points first wins the match and 
goes on to compete for a higher ranking to determine the winner. In 
those two divisions you are divided three ways, age, size and rank. 
In forms and weapons, you have to perform your routine for at least 
three judges who will grade you on power, technique and 
presentation." 
"Sounds like alot is involved. What divisions are you competing in?"
"Probably forms, weapons and grappling. I haven't decided if I want 
to point fight or not. Kicking is my weak point compared to some of 
the people I may be fighting against." 
"Well, I'm sure of one thing Shea, you would do your best and that's 
all anyone can do. You're probably better than you give yourself 
credit for."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Paul." Shea said with a smile.
"Well, Shea, I think I need to go. I have to get up early tomorrow. 
Enjoy your day off."
"I will. Goodnight Paul. I hope to see you tomorrow."
"Night babe. See you then." 
Shea hung up the phone and decided she needed to go ahead and go to 
bed. She was tired and achy from the last two days. But she found it 
to be a good tired. Maybe things were changing for her in the romance 
department.

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

Paul groggily shut off the alarm and rubbed his eyes before 
he arose from the bed. He made his way to the kitchen and started 
the water for tea before taking quick shower. He had thought that he 
might be lonely in Nashville, since he found that he wasn't that 
interested in one night stands anymore. It was too dangerous these 
days anyway he thought to himself as he stepped under the hot spray 
of the shower. In fact, he was glad he'd met Shea. The last few days 
had been the best he'd had in a long time. Granted, she was totally 
different than most of the women he'd gone for in the past, but she 
intrigued him. He'd never met anyone quite like her and he looked 
forward to getting to know her better. He dried the fog off the 
window before he prepared to shave. 'Well,' he thought to 
himself, 'we have three months together. Longer if they want me to 
stay.' He finished shaving and headed to the kitchen to make a cup of 
tea before dressing for his day. He leaned against the counter, 
towel draped around his waist thinking of the events of the last few 
days. Paul thought the next three months could be very nice indeed, 
and it looked like they would be a lot less lonely than he'd 
originally thought. He glanced at his watch and thought to himself 
he'd better get dressed or he was going to be late. 'I hope the 
traffic isn't too bad, since its Sunday.' he thought to himself as he 
made his way to his bedroom to dress for his day. Soon he was 
putting on his leather duster coat and heading out the door to his 
car, car cup of tea in hand. He made his way downtown to the 
performing arts center where he parked his car in the lot reserved 
for the performers. He locked his car and walked to the backstage 
door where a few fans were waiting. He stopped for a few minutes to 
sign some autographs and pose for a few pictures. "Sorry, guys, I 
have to go now. Duty calls. Thanks for stopping by." Paul waved to 
the fans as he went inside.
Paul made his way to his dressing room where his main costume 
was waiting for him. He quickly changed and was about to put the 
jacket on when the wardrobe lady knocked on the door.
"Are you decent?" she asked. 
"Yes, I'm dressed." Paul replied.
A short stocky woman in her late forties came in the room with her 
sewing kit and a tape measure draped over her shoulders. 
"Let's see Mr. Stanley if we need to make any more adjustments to 
this costume, then we have to work on the Red Death costume. Didn't 
you say the shoulders were a bit tight on that one."
"Please, just call me Paul and your name is???" Paul asked as he 
stepped on the stool she indicated so she could check the length of 
the trousers.
"Stella. Let's see Paul, I think the trousers need to be let out a 
half inch. You're a little taller than the last Phantom. Do they fit 
all right in the waist?"
"They're fine Stella. The jacket seems to be a bit snug though. "
"Well, I guess I'll just have to measure your chest and shoulders so 
I can make the necessary adjustments.. Is it just the top on the Red 
Death costume that's a bit snug? Does the rest of the costume fit all 
right?"
"Yes, its fine, the shoulders were the only problem area I found." 
Paul said as he stepped behind the partition Stella indicated so he 
could try the other costume on. 
"Hmm I see what you mean, let me take those measurements so I can see 
how much I need to let it out. You're a bit broader in the chest and 
shoulders than Steven. I don't think there should be a problem in 
letting the costume out. Paul took off the jacket and asked her if he 
should leave the shirt on.
"That would be best so we can make sure it will fit correctly over 
it."
Paul stood patiently as she made the needed measurements and noted 
them in her notepad.
"Ok, I think we're done here. You can change now, just leave the 
costumes over there and I'll pick them up while you go through 
rehearshal."
Paul nodded and stepped behind the partition one more time so he coud 
change back into his jeans and t shirt. Stella left the room to go 
check on the other costumes.
Paul made his way out to the stage where the rest of the cast 
not doing fittings was gathered. The director introduced Paul to the 
rest of the cast that was already assembled. Soon, they were going 
through a walk through to see how everyone would work together. After 
going through the first act the director called for a break for lunch.
Paul grabbed a sandwich and some fruit from the common room and 
sat down to eat. He was talking to Rachel, the actress who would be 
playing Christine in the show.
"Paul I must say that I'm looking forward to working with you. I 
read your reviews from Toronto and I guess I can safely say that the 
rest of the cast feels the same way." Rachel said. 
"Thanks. I look forward to working with all of you. I've heard good 
things about the cast here." Paul said politely. 
"Would you like for me to show you around the city? I'd be glad to 
this afternoon, if you're not busy."
"I appreciate your kind offer Rachel but I have plans for this 
afternoon. Thanks anyway."
"Ok, I just thought I would offer." she said, slightly piqued at his 
brush off, polite though it was. 
Paul finished his lunch and stood up. "It was nice talking to you 
Rachel but I need to go make a phone call. See you later." 
Paul asked one of the crew where there was a phone he could use 
to make a quick call before he had to go back to rehearshal. 
Shea picked up the cordless phone as she walked into the 
kitchen to grab a glass of tea.
"Hey Paul, how's rehearshal going?"
"Pretty good. I think the director is going to cut us loose around 
five. The real work will start tomorrow. Want to get together? "
"That sounds good. What do you want to do?"
"It doesn't matter as long as I'm with you. We'll have to figure that 
out when I get there."
"Ok, I guess I'll see you around six or so?"
"That sounds about right. See you later Shea."
"Ok Paul." 
Rachel listened from around the corner, feeling anger rising within 
her. So he already had someone. 'Well', she thought to 
herself, 'we'll see how long THAT lasts.'