The Beautifly Effect

Chapter Eighteen -- Life on the Farm

About six weeks later...

Sparky raced around the flock, reigning in the stragglers. One of the stubborn ones took offense at his insistence and dared to spit a few sparks. A flash of warning from Sparky's cheeks was enough for it to be brought into line, however. It learnt by now that it was no match for the League-trained Pikachu, who could come and nip its heels faster than it could say "Mareep", which was, indeed, all it could say.

"Richie!"

Richie turned to see Abigail carrying a picnic basket. She was a great cook, he had discovered. Given that he was more than happy to do the washing up, they had vey quickly started having meals together.

"Hi Ab!" he called back.

She walked down to the Mareep pen next to Richie.

"I see Sparky's doing a great job."

"Thanks. The Mareep are finally used to him. Oh, I've sent Zippo off to get rid of that old stump."

Richie waited for the last Mareep to enter the pen, and then shut and locked the gate.

"OK, Sparky, you can go have a break now."

"Pikachu!" it nodded and ran off.

"Want to go to the creek?" suggested Abigail.

"Nice place as any."

Finding a spot under a shady willow by the water, Richie helped Abigail sit down.

"So what's for lunch?" he asked as he tried to peer into the basket.

"My mom's secret recipe."

"That's not telling me much."

"Sometimes you just have to try something before you can tell if you like it."

Richie sat down next to her and she opened the basket.

"Sometimes," replied Richie, "you find out that you like it more than you thought you would."

"Sometimes you don't have a choice." Abigail took out an item and offered it to him. "You just have to take what you're given."

Richie unwrapped it to reveal a pie. She unwrapped hers and they started to eat.

"Sometimes," said Richie after swallowing. "you run out of quips."

"So then maybe you start talking about how nice the weather is..."

"...or how nice... the company is," he replied slowly.

"Sometimes... you fall..."

"...in love..."

"...before you... Oh Richie, do you like it here with me?"

Richie gulped. "To be honest... you're wonderful."

"You won't leave me ever, will you?"

"You won't push me away, will you?"

"No."

"Do you think we should..."

"What?"

"Kiss?" She blushed.

Richie gulped again. He moved closer and pecked her lips. She started to tremble.

"What's wrong?"

"I've never... been kissed by... someone famous before." Then she added quickly, "Not that I've been kissed by any guy before."

"So what you think of me is just... someone famous?"

"Well, uh... before I met you in person I did... But now I know you... You're realy nice, Richie. I've never known anyone as kind and thoughful..."

Richie moved closer, and embraced her gently. Though she was still trembling, he brought his face to hers and pressed their lips together. She tensed for a moment, then yielded, relaxed and embraced him."

She let go of him to catch her breath. "I think we should do that more often," she said.

"As often as you like," he replied smiling.

"Uh... Richie... how far do you think we should go?"

Richie paused for a moment. "What would your brother say?"

She looked surprised. "Uh... he might be kind of... old-fahsioned..."

"Maybe you could call be old-fashioned too."

"What do you mean?"

"When I first started hitting the TV, one of my fans kept badgering me. In the end I gave in. So what does she do?" Richie rested his elbow on his knee and supported his head with his hand. "Blabs about it to her friends."

"One bad experience doesn't mean it'll always turn out bad."

"Yeah but it got me thinking. That kind of relationship is both physical and emotional. So if your relationship is temporary, you're shortchanging yourself."

"That's pretty deep. How do you figure that?"

"With a temporary relationship, you either suffer emotionally when it's over, or you pretend the emotional side doesn't exist." His eyes fell. "Plus there's always the risk of getting someone pregnant."

She looked at him. He didn't return her gaze. "Did that happen to you?"

"The main reason I took a break from training was because I fell in love with someone. She fell pregnant, then said she didn't love me."

Abigail stared in surprise, but Richie didn't notice.

He went on. "I later found out she was killed in an accident. So I'll never see her again, or my baby."

"Oh Richie, I'm real sorry."

"I never told anyone before." He lifted his gaze to her. "But that's over now. I... I love you... and... I hope things'll work out."

Their deep and meaningful was rudely interrupted by a roar and sound of flapping wings. They looked up to see Zippo landing.

"Looks like Zippo's finished his job," said Richie.

"I better go get him his lunch," said Abigail.

"Char!" Zippo grunted in approval.