Reconnecting the Past With the Present Chapters 9 10
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Reconnecting The Past With The Present: Chapters 1-2 free porn video
Chapter 1
Sarah knew that she was running late as soon as she stepped inside of her
house. She was mentally kicking herself for not skipping her Saturday
Yoga class this morning, even knowing how important it had been for her
to have gone. The stress of the last week had been getting to her, and
even though she was now rushing, she was calmer and much more centered
than she had been when she woke up this morning. While she had quit
counting, she knew that she had spent a minimum of sixty hours working
since Tuesday morning. Lack of sleep and the situation at work had
resulted in her being extremely stressed.
She both loved and hated her job at moments like this. Even with the
stress of so many people counting on her, she lived for the excitement,
and yet another chance to prove herself. That was probably her biggest
character flaw, her constant need to prove just how good she was at her
job. For the last eleven years, she had worked for an engineering firm in
the Pacific Northwest, ever since she earned her masters degree in
mechanical engineering. She had overcome a lot of prejudices and people's
perceptions of her after she first started working there. With her
dedication and work ethic, she had moved from a glorified secretary to
now being a team lead. She had always demanded excellence from her team,
but unlike some leads she had seen, she had demanded no less of herself.
Her team always delivered results, consistently ahead of deadlines. That
was one of the many reasons she had earned and held her current position,
her constant drive for excellence. Her small group would work 24/7 for
her if she asked, only because they knew she would be there every minute
with them.
She, and her team, had spent the last eighteen months working on
improving an existing gear system for a local aircraft manufacturer. Due
to rising maintenance costs, their ultimate goal was to modify an
existing design to make it as maintenance free as possible. They had been
so very close to achieving the target of forty thousand cycles. They had
been within six thousand cycles shy of that goal when a small link had
failed. A small part, barely three by six inches in size had cracked, and
that had caused her team to scramble to find out the cause.
It had first started as a section wide email sent late Tuesday morning,
alerting everyone of the failure, followed shortly by the main partners
voicing their displeasure with her and her team. Sarah knew their design
shouldn't have failed, they had run the simulations hundreds upon
hundreds of times. The next few days had been spent investigating the
cause of the failure. It was late Thursday evening when they found the
problem. The schematics they had drawn up, specifically called for a
certain alloy and then for heat treating the part to achieve the proper
hardness and durability. The supplier for the machinist they contracted
with, had evidently shipped improperly labeled stock. The Rockwell
hardness was a bit higher than our design had specified, which only meant
after so many cycles it had work hardened and became excessively brittle
during the testing and cracked. With the alloy being so close in weight,
it had been overlooked during the milling process.
On Friday, Sarah had spent approximately seven hours in the office,
running through more simulations, showing all their results and findings
to the members of the firm. Finally, late last night they had given the
go ahead to start the test over as soon as the equipment could be reset
and the new part remanufactured. With the next test resting completely on
her and her team's shoulders, she didn't get home from the testing
facility and the machine shop until almost midnight. She had spent the
rest of that day ensuring the new testing rig was up to specs, and now
she was only waiting on the machinist to finish the new link.
Ben had told her at the machine shop that it wouldn't be ready until
close to 3PM, she knew Ben well enough to know that she needed to be
there a few hours early. Not because she didn't trust him, it was because
she knew he would have it finished by the time she got there. Ben was the
production manager at the shop, and since the faulty part was on them, he
had given her his word that he would ensure this was done right
personally. The firm had been using that shop for well over a decade and
Sarah had developed a strong trust with Ben and he likewise with her. She
also knew that he wouldn't sleep until the part was finished, which was
why she was going in before his estimated time of delivery. She had to do
the final inspection alongside Ben and then deliver it to the testing
facility. The sooner she got there, the sooner the testing could resume,
and that her friend could also get some much-needed sleep.
She was hoping to leave her house no later than 11AM so she could get to
the shop just before noon, which gave her just over an hour to eat,
shower, and hit the road. With every minute counted to her, she didn't
want to waste a second. She was doing her best not to think about how
much this setback was costing the firm with each hour of inactivity. She
settled for a quick, serving of cottage cheese and fruit before she
headed upstairs to get cleaned up after her workout.
Half an hour later after she had dried off, she did spend a few minutes
admiring her reflection in her full-length mirror. That was one of her
guilty pleasures, admiring all the hard work she had put into her almost
thirty-five-year-old body. She had one more day though, until she could
properly claim that number. Even so, over a decade of proper diet, and
exercise, had left her with a body many college girls would envy. Even
though she had narrow hips, she wasn't lacking in curves, and had a lithe
athletic body most women would kill for.
Quickly shaking herself from her admiration, she donned a pair of jeans,
tank top, light jacket, and a pair of flats. Noting that her shoulder
length light brown hair was still damp from her shower, she put it in a
quick ponytail to keep it manageable since she was taking her convertible
today. Her and Ben had designed a new front-end suspension for her
replica car she and friends had built over the last few years, and he had
been wanting to test it out for himself. Taking a last quick look in the
mirror, she smiled knowing that she looked like she should still be in
college and not helping run a multimillion dollar engineering contract.
With just a bit of mascara and a touch of lipstick she decided she was
done, and went downstairs to get her stuff ready to leave.
As she was making sure she had everything together, she ran her hand
lovingly over the worn-out leather backpack she had been carrying for
over a decade. Several of the girls in the office would often kid her
about the dilapidated old bag, and how she refused to ever carry a purse.
She knew she needed to retire the poor thing, but she just couldn't bring
herself to do it. Even if it had more hand stitched repairs on it than
the original machine stitching it had when it was new. People just didn't
understand what it meant to her. April, her older sister, had given it to
her right as she had started college. April had even given her a hard
time about it the last time she had seen her, back when April had gotten
really sick. She had told Sarah if she didn't buy a new bag that she was
going to be forced to buy another one for her... Unfortunately, the
cancer spread too fast for her to keep that promise.
Sarah slowly sunk down on her couch, clutching the old leather bag as the
memories of April's last few months filled her mind, with tears slowly
falling on the soft and worn leather. April had stayed close to home in
Florida, while Sarah had moved as far away from that place as possible
while still staying in the continental United States. With the distance,
Sarah had only been able to visit a few times, before April got too sick
to stay by herself anymore. They had stayed in touch through Skype, and
would aggravate each other with Snapchat filters till their stomachs hurt
from laughing so hard. It had only been three months since she had flown
back home to say her final goodbye to her sister, and sometimes it still
hurt just as much as when she first got the news. There was no way she
could ever get rid of the bag.
She was drawn out of her memories by a loud and sudden knocking on her
front door. She hadn't been expecting anyone, so she assumed it was
someone wanting to sell something. She wiped the tears off her face and
took a few seconds to try to regain her composure before she walked to
her front door. Looking through the peephole it took her a few seconds to
recognize the two-people standing outside her door. When she realized who
it was, she immediately felt her adrenaline kick in.
Within seconds she was angry, scared, and hurt all at the same time. What
the hell could they want with her... Now? After all these years?! How
dare they come here?!? She had only seen them once in the last nineteen
years, and that one time had been almost more than she could take...
Standing outside her door were her parents. The same parents who had
kicked her out of the house when she was still in high school. The same
parents who disowned her when she had told them... When she had told them
that she was really a girl...
Chapter 2
Stepping back from the door, Sarah's heart started racing and felt like
it was going to jump right out of her chest. The last time she had seen
them was at her sister's funeral just three months prior, and it didn't
affect her this bad. She realized that time, she had been able to
mentally prepare herself. She then remembered how that time they hadn't
recognized her as their long-lost son, maybe they still didn't know...
Then again what were they doing here now? She was taking long deep
breaths trying to calm down, when another knock on the door caused her to
jump.
Slowly, she opened the door, doing her absolute best to hide her fear and
anger that was burning just under the surface. Staring at the last two
people in the world she wanted to see, she noticed how much older they
looked. Even older than they were at the funeral just a few months ago.
Trying her best to smile, she said, "Can I help you?"
Her parents, Bill and Joan, looked up hopefully, then Joan spoke, "I'm
sorry to bother you, but we were looking for a Sara Marks. She was a
friend of our daughters and..." Her voice just stopped as recognition
dawned on her face. "You were at her funeral, weren't you?"
Sarah sighed, "April's? Yes... I was there... She was a sorority sister
of mine... I'm Sarah, I'm so sorry for your loss Mr. and Mrs.
Richardson..." Her voice started cracking, so she cleared her throat
attempting to hide her emotions. "I'm sorry but I'm running late for
something, is there something I can do for you?" She asked, no longer
being able to mask her frustration.
Joan gasped, as she looked directly at Sarah for several seconds.
Finally, she asked softly, "Brian? Is that you?" Sara couldn't help but
grimace at hearing that name, especially seeing who had uttered it. Then
Sarah was caught off guard when the next thing she heard her mother say
was, "You're so beautiful...."
Still more angry than confused though, she said through clenched teeth,
"I'm... Sarah... I haven't been Brian in a long... A really long time...
Now what do you want!?"
Joan started to take a step back, but bumped into Bill who was standing
behind her. He gently said, "Sarah please, we have to... I mean... Can we
please talk to you? It's important... I promise... May we come in?"
Realizing they probably wouldn't leave till they said whatever they had
come to say, reluctantly she said, "Fine... I hope its important enough
to be worth traveling twenty-five hundred miles..." She then stepped back
to let the older couple in. After closing the door behind them, she led
them to the kitchen table. The living room was meant for guests she
actually wanted in her home. "Do you want something to drink? I have
water, milk, and green tea... That's it. I don't want you to think I'm a
bad host as well."
They both shook their heads no, then looked at each other as if to figure
out who was going to start. Several long moments later, Sara snapped,
"Will you just say what you came to say for crying out loud? Let's just
get this out of the way! I do have someplace else I need to be! You both
just remember something, if you came all this way to say anything you've
already said to me before, I can just kick you out of my house this time!
That's something I learned how to do from the best!" She immediately
cringed at the amount of venom she heard in her own voice... Also seeing
the stricken look on her father's face, along with the tears starting
down her mother's, didn't do anything to make her feel any better either.
Taking a deep breath, she said much more calmly, "That was... mean... I'm
sorry..." Joan just started crying, which only made Sarah feel even
worse.
Bill sadly said, "Don't apologize... We deserved that... And then
some..." as he looked down towards his feet.
Sarah was trying to figure out what was going on, these weren't the same
people from her youth, or let alone even at April's funeral. They looked
worn down, and beaten... Suddenly Joan looked up through her tear-filled
eyes at Sarah, and just barely got the words, "I'm so sorry," out of her
mouth, before she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Sarah
continuing to apologize.
Sarah started to return the embrace, after all this was what she had been
praying for, the night she had come out... She didn't realize how much
she had missed her mom's hugs. Then she remembered what had happened
instead, and quickly shrugged off the hug, and said, "Look you can't come
and say you're sorry and expect everything to be okay... It's not okay,
and I don't know if you can ever make what you did okay!!!" She had
started to cry again as well, confused and with her emotions constantly
bouncing back and forth she whimpered, "Will you just please tell me why
you are here..."
Joan started reaching into her purse to grab something, then paused to
say, "I don't know if you knew... You probably did since she stayed close
to you... Our relationship with April had been strained for a long
time... Ever since..." she paused trying to find the words.
"You kicked me out? Yes, I knew that, she was angrier at times than I was
at you..." Sarah interjected. Joan just nodded, and wiped away the fresh
tears on her cheeks.
"She had tried to talk to us about you... So many times, ... I can't
apologize enough..." Joan sobbed. "When she got sick... She started to
talk to us again... We think she knew what was going to happen... After
she died... Her nurse gave us this letter that April had written... She
wrote it the evening before she passed away..." She pulled a well worn
folded piece of paper out of her purse and handed it to Sarah. "I think
it would be best if you read it, please..." Joan begged.
Sarah gently took the letter, and as she unfolded it she grimaced as she
noticed it appeared to have been wadded up. Seeing her sisters
handwriting made her smile, even though it was written the night before
she died, the little hearts and smiley faces dotting the I's were
obvious. Sarah then read...
Dear Mom and Dad,
Since you're reading this, I want to say I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough
to not still be there with you. Please know that I'm at peace now, and
the cancer can't hurt me ever again. I do want you to know, that even
though I've been sick for awhile now the last few months since we started
talking again I will cherish forever. I've been thinking about that a
lot, being bedridden will do that I promise you.
I hope that now that you're reading this we can have a conversation that
we've both refused to have. That conversation is about your other
daughter, the one you won't acknowledge. If you truly want to honor my
memory, reach out to her, for not only my sake but yours and hers as
well. If I've learned one thing lying in this depressing bed, is that
anger and resentment isn't worth holding on to. When you reach out to
Sarah, that is HER name by the way, I will promise you several things.
Mom, Dad... Sarah is amazing... She's someone you'd both be extremely
proud to call daughter, only because I know how proud I am of being her
sister. I also know how hard it will be, she's just as hurt and angry as
I had been. Just promise to try... For me... Make it a dying girls last
request, I don't care. Just try... After you read this and promise the
nurse that you WILL try, she will give you another letter. This one isn't
for you, well directly. It's for you to give to Sarah. It's my last gift
I can give to you, all three of you. Do not read the letter, unless Sarah
agrees you can ONCE she reads it first. Mom... Dad... I know my time is
close, I will love and miss you...
April.
PS Oh... If you don't try, I'll know... You thought I was bitchy before,
just imagine how bitchy I can be in the afterlife if you don't at least
try... :)
Sarah started to giggle even amongst her tears from reading the letter.
She could hear Aprils voice as she made that last threat in her letter.
That was just like her to do something like that, and if anyone could
carry it out, it'd be April.
Softly Sarah spoke, "So that's why you're both here? To honor her last
wishes? Or is it because of her threat?" She looked at her parents with a
small smile this time.
Joan nodded, "We're wanting to respect her last wishes... She was right
though... This anger and hurt... We need to try to heal this... As much
as we possibly can... For all our sakes."
Bill added, "Plus if anyone could follow through with that threat, you
know it would be your sister." That caused everyone to softly chuckle,
they each remembering just how feisty she had been.
"So, do you have her letter for me?" Sarah asked, and noticed her mom was
already handed her a sealed envelope.
"We didn't read it, I promise," Joan said.
Sara carefully opened the envelope and unfolded the letter. She couldn't
help but chuckle upon reading the first line, but the further she read
the tears started to flow.
To the bestest, most pain in the ass little sister, a girl like me could
ever hope to have,
Hey Sarah, hopefully since you're reading this that Mom and Dad are there
with you. I can't tell you how much I wish I could be there with you all
in person and not just this letter. I will promise you if there is a way
I can be there when they give this to you I will be. I know how hard this
will be for you, only because how hard it was for me to make my own peace
with them. Promise me that you'll try though, and you better promise, I'm
dead serious. You all need each other, a lot more than any of you are
willing to admit.
I want you to know holding on to that anger only hurts you, and I love
you too much for you to keep hurting Sis. I'm not saying it was to blame,
but that anger had slowly poisoned me for years, it easily could have
helped the cancer spread through my body as fast as it did. You deserve
so much to be free, and even with being sick, no matter what happens to
me I am truly free now. Even with the pain, I am already at peace just
knowing I did everything I could to help you while I was alive. I will
hopefully continue even though now I'm gone.
I also cant tell you how much it has meant to me to watch you blossom
from that scrawny young kid to the beautiful strong person I've watched
you become. I have been truly blessed to be your sister. You had always
told everyone how lucky you were having me as your sister... Sarah, this
entire time, I've been the lucky one from the day you were born.
Sarah, I know you're scared right now, only because I do know you, but
you are strong. You are the strongest person I have ever known. If anyone
can move past this it's you, I have faith in you squirt, I always have,
and always will.
The pain meds are starting to kick in, so I need to let you go. Please
give them a hug from me, since I can't be there to do it myself.
Love you forever and ever,
your sister,
April.
Sarah was sobbing uncontrollably at this point, as her mom gently took
the letter out of her hand. Joan quickly read her daughters letter, and
smiled through her own tears. Softly she said to Sarah, "Your sister was
something else, wasn't she?"
Nodding Sarah whimpered, "I miss her so damn much!!! It's not fair!!!"
Joan hesitantly slid closer to her sobbing daughter and gently wrapped
her arms around her, "Baby so do we, so do we."
This time Sarah didn't shrug off the hug, instead she turned and fully
embraced her mother as they both wept.
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