COUNTERPOINT
An original romantic serial

From Alina Adams the author of "When a Man Loves a Woman" (DELL 4/00), "Annie's Wild Ride" (AVON 8/98), "Inside Figure Skating" (METROBOOKS 11/00 & 9/99), "Thieves at Heart" (AVON 12/95) and "The Fictitious Marquis" (AVON 6/95)

Available weekly by e-mail from http://www.AlinaAdams.com

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Dedicated to Helping Children All Over the World

CHAPTER 63

      "Come with me, Nicole," Robin was no longer cajoling or requesting. He was demanding. No, let's be honest, here, he was threatening. "This is your last chance, I'm warning you."
      She laughed. It tasted bitter. And she said, "Oh, no, darling. You know, you're not the only one who's matured recently. Don't you think I know what you're doing? Don't you think I know that you're the one facing your last chance?"
      "You don't know anything." He wasn't budging. But, Nicole no longer needed him to. She hadn't realized it, but she was past the stage of needing Robin's approval, or even his agreement. She knew she was right. She didn't need outside validation.
      Just like Gabriel.
      He never needed anyone to tell him whether he was right or wrong, either. Somehow, he just always knew.
      Nicole said, "I know that you're using me to push Victoria away."
      Robin's mouth opened. He was so used to fighting with her and correcting her, that he had begun formulating his rebuttal before the words were even past her lips.
      Well, the words were out past her lips.
      And, just as quickly as he'd opened his mouth, Robin now closed it.
      Nicole smiled. Robin shutting up because of something she'd said had never happened before. It made her disproportionally happy.
      She said, "How stupid do you think I am? Do you think I couldn't figure out that when little Miss Morgan refused to accept your noble sacrifice of cutting all ties lest your version of love turn perfect-priss-her into that ultimate horror, me - you think I couldn't figure out that you then sat down and tried to figure out what was the most horrible thing you could do to drive her away, and, once again, you came up with - me?"
      Robin just stared at Nicole. Finally, he said, "That's not true."
      "Yes, it is."
      "Yes," Robin agreed, "It is."
      "Oh." She hadn't expected it to be this easy. And, despite having figured it out in advance, she hadn't expected it to still hurt this much.
      "But, it doesn't matter," Robin said.
      "Oh, I'm glad you think so."
      "It doesn't matter why I asked you to come away with me. Tell the truth, Nicole, has it ever mattered before? The only relevant fact now is my invitation."
      He wasn't wrong about one thing. No. It had never mattered before. Before, Nicole was so grateful to simply be allowed around Robin's orbit that motivation wasn't even a thought to be discarded. She was with him, she was with Robin, that was enough. Hell, she didn't understand or care about his reasons for a majority of the things he did (did climbing out onto jagged rocks in the middle of a fog-shrouded night ring any bells?). Why should she concern herself with this?
      "We were made for each other, Nicole," Robin said. "You knew that before I did, but, I've finally seen the light. You knew that neither one of us was fit for this boringly plebeian, domestic, ordinary life? So why did we even bother trying?"
      "We're both freaks? Is that what you're saying?" Nicole may not have known as many fancy words as Robin did. Heck, she still wasn't sure what 'plebeian' meant, though she figured she'd gotten the gist. But, Nicole knew when she was being called a freak. And she knew that it was nothing worse than some of the things she'd silently called herself.
      "We're both freaks," Robin agreed.
      "I'm not."
      Robin shrugged. "Have it your way."
      "No!" Nicole wasn't about to let him indifference his way out of this. For once in his life, she was going to make him listen to her. No. For once in his life, she was going to make him HEAR her.
      "I am not like you, Robin," Nicole said. "I never was. Now, I know I'm no prize. I know who I am, I know what I've done. But, I'm not like you. I - When I hurt people, I know why I'm doing it."
      "And this is a good thing?"
      "I never said I was good!"
      "Right, right, you just said I wasn't like you, or that you weren't like me. Whatever. Sorry. Go on."
      Now that she thought about it, Nicole couldn't recall Robin ever urging her to continue, either. He usually liked to cut her off at the verb.
      "I - What I'm saying is, you, Robin, you do these - these things, and you don't even know why. It's like with animals. Gabriel, he once was explaining something to Eve, and he told her that animals never attack for no reason. They attack if they're hungry or if they're protecting something. But they never attack for no reason. Me, I'm like an animal, I guess. If you hurt me, I'm going to hurt you back, and I'm going to try to hurt you more and maybe I won't know when to stop. But, I don't attack anyone for no reason. Not like you do."
      Robin stared at Nicole for a long time. He studied her face and he seemed to be mulling her words, digesting each one syllable by syllable, until finally, he opened his mouth, and he said, "What?"
      "Oh, forget it."
      "Not a problem. Now, can we get back to the topic at hand?"
      "No!" Nicole said. "No, I - "
      "Make up your mind. What the hell are you talking about?"
      "You, Robin. I'm talking about you. There's something wrong with you. And it's not the same thing that's wrong with me."
      "Thank you?" Robin smirked.
      "Fine." Nicole threw her hands up in the air. "Fine, forget it. Forget about it, forget I said anything."
      "Nicole?"
      "What?" She was standing with her back to him now.
      Which was why Nicole didn't see Robin's face when, his voice maddeningly ambiguous, he reminded her, "You still haven't said no to my invitation..."