Worlds Apart Read Online Free

the planet.
    They settled in, the secret life they shared buoying them as they carried out their daily routines of work and chores and errands, as they continued to socialize, however minimally, with others. People noticed that both Lonnie and Laurie were happier, more outgoing, more interesting than they had been before, but that was about it. Mostly concerned with their own lives, acquaintances thought it was fine that those two found each other, it’s nice they manage to be so content. Another single friend not to worry about!
    Lonnie and Laurie weren’t worried about anybody else. They took Belinda to the movies, they practiced cooking with Laurie’s sister, they tried to outdo each other with outrageous suggestions for how to spend their next time together alone.
    “Let’s set up a display of free beds outside Bonham’s, each with mannequins in dirty positions!”
    “Let’s borrow a Porsche from the dealership and take a ride!”
    “We should put a banner on the city hall clock tower saying it’s Free Love Day!”
    “No, Free Parking Day!”
    “Uh, uh. That’s just for us.”
    “Which one!?”
    “Let’s open all the cages at the zoo!”
    They rarely followed through with any of these. Impracticalities aside, neither wanted to jinx the good fortune that had allowed them their surreptitious activities.
    Belinda appeared to be the only one who was suspicious, or at least aware that something wasn’t entirely normal.
    “You guys have secrets, don’t you,” she said to Lonnie one Saturday afternoon as they played gin rummy in her backyard.
    “Secrets?” Lonnie asked. He could feel the flush staining his face. He stared at his cards. “Not really. Not more than other people. Why do you think so?”
    “I can just tell,” Belinda stated. She picked up a jack and discarded a five. “I’ve never seen Aunt Laurie this happy. I heard my mom say it too, but I’d already thought it.”
    Lonnie picked up the five and placed it in his hand before realizing he didn’t need it. He put it back down.
    “You can take one from the pile,” Belinda said. “You weren’t paying attention. So are the secrets good?”
    Lonnie picked the top card off the pile. An eight. Which gave him gin. He discarded the eight on top of the five. “Of course. What secret isn’t a good one?” He finally looked at Belinda and attempted to smile.
    “I know you’re not gonna tell me what they are. My mom and dad have secrets, too. They make funny noises at night and they tell me they’re tickling each other but they look goofy when I ask. Like you and Aunt Laurie look goofy sometimes. Like right now. You look goofy, Lonnie.”
    Lonnie couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “ Goofy’s a good word for it, Belinda. It’s not that the secrets are that good, it’s just that they belong to Laurie and me, and they make us happy.”
    Belinda had needed the same eight. Up it went, down came a discard and “Gin!” she announced. Lonnie looked at her displayed hand. Six through nine of hearts and three kings. “That’s four games for me, three for you,” Belinda said. “Winner picks the next game. And I pick Parcheesi. With Aunt Laurie and my mom, too.”
    Parcheesi it was. And so the afternoon went, like so many of the weekend afternoons since the day of the circus. Not a bad way to spend time. Just as the secrets Lonnie and Laurie shared weren’t a bad way to spend time, or rather the lack of it, either.

Chapter Six
    Time passed. Actual time, true time. And as it did, the private world in which Lonnie and Laurie could wander didn’t appear so often. They didn’t mind. It was wonderful when it happened, of course, but the novelty certainly wasn’t there anymore. Instead of being an adventure, their forays into a realm of their own became more of a brief vacation, a refreshing of their souls, gently worn by work and duty and life.
    Belinda turned twelve, then thirteen, then fourteen. Marriage for Lonnie and Laurie occurred