Ah Kris, I'm not mad at you for making her so afraid when it comes to committing to Rob, I have a feeling she'll eventually come around. Perhaps when she is in London he will somehow (snicker...Suzie?) find out where she is staying and surprise her. I'm hoping so anyway! Can't wait to meet this Peter guy you've got hanging in the wings. hehe. He sounds like the brick wall she may finally hit. Perhaps he will knock some sense into her thick skull, metaphorically speaking of course. LOL. These last few chapters have certainly gotten my ire up but I loves ya still, oh my queen of angst! :O

Author's Response:

Oh, nooooo, queen of angst!  Gah!  Nancy, honestly, if you knew how bad I am about angst you would laugh your ass off.  I avoid it like the plague.  I tried so hard to avoid it in this fic and Tina and Rob were having NONE of it.  She's going to learn a lot from a lot of different people, but she's fighting it right now.  Sending him back to his methadone was cruel, but it shows that she still has to work really hard to keep him out of her head.  Of course, he's not exactly going gentle into that good night, either, so...

I have a feeling you're going to enjoy the ride, but please keep my angstiness a secret.  I'm thinking of doing the Support Stacie auction thing and I want someone to ask me to write funny, not angsty.  Angsty kills me!

Thanks for reading and reviewing!  I really appreciate it!

not mad, but still heartbroken...i know you're gonna fix it, but having no patience, I want it fixed NOW!!!!!  : )  Still love this and thanks for the hand holding!  Waiting for Monday! 

Author's Response:

Hi, Teddi.  *smiles sheepishly*

I'm heartbroken, too.  These things take time... not a LOT of time because I have the patience of a toddler, but they take time.  They have some learning and navigating to do.  I'm so glad you still love it - that means SO much.

The hand-holding is well-deserved.  You've been so good to me... how could I leave you sitting out there all sad and lonely with no support?  I couldn't.  But I will see you Monday, dear!  And Friday, and then Monday, and then... ugh.  I'd put up a chapter every day if I could, but it would kill my poor beta, LSD.  And she's so fabulous that I can't do that!

Not having had the pleasure of reading The Office (damn it!) I think, given his suggestion about some bondage perhaps in their future that maybe he's been reading the powerful and fantastic Master Of The Universe? Oh yeah baby!! Just don't go to the hurt locker, please. This was a beautiful, tender fantasy and one that surprised me in a way although I really had no clue what he may have had in mind. But like Tina, I wouldn't have been able to come up with one on my own either. Hate to admit that but there you go. Heh.

Great chapter. Dreading their leaving each other.

Author's Response:

Nancy, I feel so bad about your Office-less-ness... I wish I could do something to help you!  But there's enough BDSM in the fandom to sink a battleship (although Master of the Universe is fairly awe-inspiring!) that I'm sure he's gotten some ideas from there.  Perhaps they will enjoy some fanfic inspired fantasies, maybe in an outtake in the future or something.

Thank you so much for thinking it was beautiful and tender.  He really wanted to do those things, but he picked fantasies of his that he thought she'd be okay with, since he sees her as just a bit inhibited.  She says "uptight" but, to him, this was a woman who played pool in her lingerie, so clearly she's not "uptight."  But she's not used to taking charge in the bedroom, and he knows that.  But I didn't want it to be boring or flat.  I think that there are a lot of women (me included) who would have a tough time planning out a fantasy and then articulating it, never mind directing it.  Not surprising that she's one of them.

Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!  It means so much to me.  I'm dreading the separation, too, but there's still so much more to their story.

Ah, Caveman Courtship. 

 

..Good times.

Author's Response:

Hi, lesaira!  Yeah, caveman courtship can be fun, huh?  I like that he had some backup planning in place, but the primary strategy was a good one, no?  They have some delightfully good times together, don't you think?

Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!  Good to see you back!  Hope to see you soon... I'm updating twice a week, so you've got a lot of chapters to read!

OY! Right now I f*cking hate Tina and her control issues! Even though I can understand a bit how she feels because long distance relationships almost always end in failure and having one with the hottest, sexiest guy in the world at the moment is sure to bring a ton of  heart ache. She just needs to let go and roll with it. How will she ever know if she doesn't give it her best shot? He's got enough money where he can fly wherever she is when he gets a minibreak, right? Great chapter, a lot of angst. Hope you update again soon.

Author's Response:

Hey, Nancy!  Long time no see!  I'm sorry, bb... you know her control issues are deep.  I actually have a whole crazy armchair psych analysis on the Forum thread, but let's just say that she's petrified.  One of my other readers said it best:  sometimes when you're a control freak, the only thing you can control is your pain, so that's what you do.

The real question is, can they stay away from each other, and did they really mean what they said to one another?  Okay, that's two questions, but you know what I mean.

I'll be updating Friday, unless this last chapter killed my val-beta.  Last I checked, she was pissed but still alive.

I'm really glad you're still with me and delighted that you dropped me a review.  Apparently, angry people review more frequently.  I guess it's like customer service calls!

You got it, Babe!  Thanks for the warnings about the heartichokes.  I did cheat and skim the most recent update, and almost started crying without even having really read it.  I'm a nerd.  :)

I am right there with you on Wide Awake.  I normally don't read stuff that angsty, but it was so well written, I couldn't stop!  I had some seriously crazy nightmares for a while afterwards, tho.  LOL

Author's Response:

Thanks, Marisa!  I think we're very similar, darlin'!  So I look forward to seeing you back and just know that you should bring tissues.  As mean as this sounds, I'll be happy I can make you cry because it means I made you care about these characters.  That's all I can hope for.

See you real soon!

Love it

Author's Response:

Hi, Cathryn...

I hope this doesn't sound too forward, but I love you.  I'm exhausted from all the folks who are upset and angry with Tina, heartbroken for Rob, mad at me... and I can't thank them enough for caring about these characters so much.  But your review just gave me tears in my eyes.

Thanks.  I needed that.  And I'm glad you did.  I hope you love what comes next... this ride is far from over.  See you Friday?

NO! what the hell? god... tina is ... unbelievable!

suzie should kick her ass!

Author's Response:

Oh, Sarah, I'm sorry!  I hope she was believable in the sense of "this is true and honest to how her very broken brain would deal with this, especially since he wasn't there to talk her off the ledge like he usually was, but I hate that she didn't and wish that she hadn't."  Yeah, I know, I have a vivid fantasy life.  But, hey - you are talking to someone who makes up stories and people in her head, right?

I know it's tough.  You have no idea how hard it was to write.  But I hope you understand that it was true to her character.  She's still messed up and she hasn't healed all of that in less than a month.  He's good, but he's not THAT good.

Let's just hope and pray that these two can learn from this, and understand what they need to do to come together in a more even and balanced way.  Clearly they love each other, so it's really about balance, right?

Hopefully, you'll stop by Friday and see how things are going.  You know Suzie will at least figuratively kick her ass.  Thanks for reading and reviewing.  I really appreciate it!

OK, well... I read this last night and after that emotional whirlwind of an ending, I didn't have the strength to comment.

I thought for a few moments there that maybe - just maybe - Tina had learned enough over the past few weeks and that Suzi (god bless her) had verbally kicked her ass enough that she wouldn't say those things to him. *sigh* I just want to throttle her right now, I don't mind tellin ya. I am not at all surprised, but I am pissed. The truth is, I'd probably feel the exact same way she does - that thier circumstances make this relationship almost an inpossibility... but why of why did she have to hurt him by actually saying that?

I gotta say, though, that I am proud of our little Rob here. I'm glad he said he was tired of worrying over her neuroses. Let's just hope that by the time she figures out he's worth the risk he's not moved on to friggin' Kristen or somebody else! *shudder* Perish the thought...

You did a great job, sweet tits. It was rough and it was hard to read, but I think most of us saw it coming. I would assume so anyway. This woman is her worst enemy, after all.

Damn... and it was so fun to see them out and having such a great time together all weekend... *sigh, again...and repeatedly*

Author's Response:

Hey, ikss... bb, here's the place where your twiff-therapy came in handy!

First of all, the emotional whirlwind/strength to comment thing... that just totally warmed my heart and made me proud to be doing this crazy (and apparently evil) thing.  I totally know how you feel now when people were jumping all over Edward and Bella.  Lord, I love these babies of mine, and to see people be so *angry* with them... for doing what comes naturally to them.  Oh, my heart.

I tried to get Tina to do the nice thing.  I sent Suzie in there to kick her ass and get her to do it.  But at the end of the day, she was already convinced she was at risk of being a terrible mother and a failure of a consultant.  Stacked on top of being a failure as a wife, she just couldn't handle trying and failing at one more thing.  She learned enough that it was a hard decision, but he wasn't there to talk her off the ledge, and she hadn't learned enough to stay away from the ledge on her own.  She really thinks tellling him when she did was the best for both of them.  One less thing to do on her list, and he could move on with his life.  She's so completely unaware of how much she's affected him and he's affected her.  That whole Tina POV thing... she's too black and white, and doesn't even realize how much he's gotten to her.

Yeah, he learned something being with her, didn't he?  He knows she still blames herself for her divorce/for the failure of her marriage.  He even said "I'm not Lou."  He's not going to try to make a relationship work by himself.  If only she'd realize that she couldn't have done that either.  That would be one thing she could take off her "failure" list, anyway.  But he was strong.  Now, the question is: can he stand by his decision?  Can she?

All I can hope for is that it was genuine and real, and well written.  And hopefully lightened at least a little bit with some chuckles.  I for one like the whole "alien spacecraft landing on the roof" thing.  But I'm so glad that you appreciated that, even if the story itself was tough to read.

They weren't going to be able to go out and have fun any more for a while anyway, right?  So let's see what fate has in store for them next, shall we?  I'll see you Friday, I hope.  Since I generally suck at angst, you know it won't take as long to resolve this as it took for him to get into her panties in the first place!  LOL!

great chapter extremly realistic. especially with all the baggage tina has, but wow i sure do hope she comes to her senses soon and realizes what a mistake she is making. cant wait till friday now:)

Author's Response:

Hi, Emma!

She does kind of have a matched set, doesn't she?  The emotional baggage, that is!  Just because she followed her instincts in the moment doesn't mean she isn't going to regret it or rethink it or obsess over it.  She will learn from this the way she's learned from everything else.  Clearly Rob learned that he can't make the relationship work by himself, and that's something that Tina still hasn't figured out after her divorce.  So he's a quick study.

Thanks for sticking with me!  I really appreciate you reading and reviewing!  And I'll definitely see you Friday, as long as my validation beta forgives me for killing her with this chapter!

great chapter cant wait for more i probably wouldnt have bother him just b/c they really have it tough and they just want time for themselves cant wait for the next chapter :)

Author's Response:

Hi, Emma!  I hear you!  I can't imagine what it would be like to have no privacy the way he does, and then to have all that just kind of wrap around you suddenly, which is what Tina is contemplating, would be unbelievable.  But Belinda was so cool, I think.  She's taking the long view... be cool now, cuz this is boss-lady's squeeze and maybe he'll be back.  And she and Tina are getting more friendly, so she may even see him socially.  You could tell she was close to freaking out, but she kept it together.

For the record, I'd probaby say nothing for a minute or two, and then unload a freakish amount of word vomit and send him screaming into the night.  Just sayin'.

Also for the record... you SAY you can't wait for the next chapter, but we'll see...

Tina is a freaking IDIOT!!!!  Long distance relationships work all the time.  Just takes a lot of work, but they can be a lot of fun too.  Hopefully she will come around.  Proud of Rob for not begging.

Author's Response:

Hi, pirate51...  I'm sorry.  I have to say that first.  I really didn't plan this.  They insisted on it.  Damn characters freakin' own me, just so you know.  And they insisted this is how she would handle this situation.

Yes, she is an idiot.  Or maybe she's not an idiot, but she's still one very messed up chica.  It's really about how much risk she can handle.  She's afraid of being a lousy mother (long distance relationship #1) and a lousy consultant (two jobs at once bigger than anything she's ever done one at a time), which would make her a lousy provider for her family (stress much?).  So it's not that long distance relationships can't work, it's that she can't imagine having an ounce of energy to spend making it work.  Now we know she's not super-imaginative, and she does tend to think she has to do it all herself, but again - those are more flaws.  So she did a very very stupid thing.

So the real question is this:  will she figure it out before it's too late?  And will he take her back?

For the record, I'm proud of him too.  He knows one person can't make a relationship succeed, a lesson Tina still hasn't quite learned from her divorce.  So props to him for hanging up.  Can he stand by that decision?  We'll see.

See you Friday?  I hope so.  Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!