"David, really, I think it would be best if you didn't visit me at work." David and Greenlee stood in the hall outside of Fusion. Greenlee should have been elated. Erica was alive and well, her father was going to marry the woman he loved, and best of all, Fusion was officially hers. Erica's brush with mortality had caused her to re-evaluate her priorities, and she and Jackson were going to spend the rest of the summer in Europe to visit Kendall and Bianca and their families. So why wasn't Greenlee happy? Instead, she was an emotional wreck, and she constantly felt physically ill.
David could tell something was wrong. "If that's what you want, I'll leave." And then his doctor's instincts kicked in. "You look pale. Can I get you some - "
"No," she cut him off. "If I need anything, I can get it myself. Right now, I just need to work."
Hurt by Greenlee's rebuff, David asked, "Did I do something to offend you? I'm just offering to help, and you practically bite me head off."
"Your brand of help leaves a lot to be desired. Let's see: my father's furious with me, the entire town hates me for something I didn't even do, you almost ruined one of my closest friends' wedding..."
David threw up his hands in exasperation. He understood the anger regarding Erica. He deserved that, but not for the wedding fiasco. "How many times do I need to keep saying it? They were already married. It was nothing but a pointless exercise in narcissism."
Greenlee's eyes narrowed. "Pointless?" she asked icily. "It was romantic. Now romance is pointless?"
"No, Greenlee..." He trailed off, and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger in frustration. "That's not what I'm saying."
"I have work to do," was her only reply before brushing past him.
David got on the elevator just as Amanda was getting off it, and she immediately sensed the tension. "What did he do now?"
Greenlee was in no mood for another round of Your Husband is Scum. "Not now, Amanda."
"Something's obviously going on between the two of you," Amanda continued. "Trust me, I know what it's like being in David's control. But don't let him convince you to shut everyone out. That's what he does. He can't let you care about anyone else because the truth is, he isn't capable of caring about anyone but himself."
"I'm going to stop you right there," Greenlee said. Hearing from the Greek chorus of David haters on a daily basis was wearing thin. "I know that you never knew my first husband, David's brother. Leo..." she started to choke up at the very mention of his name, "Leo was the greatest man who ever walked this earth. He and David loved each other so much. They would have done anything for each other. I've considered David a part of my family for a long time. So don't act like you know my husband better than I do. You don't."
David spotted Marissa sitting at a back table in ConFusion and approached her. They hadn't planned to meet. In fact, they hadn't even seen each other since the day Marissa threw David out of Chandler Mansion. As David stood near her chair, almost reluctant to impose on her by sitting down, Marissa half-heartedly poked her fork at her mixed-greens salad. "It's okay," she said without looking up, "go ahead."
He took a seat. "I wasn't sure if you were speaking to me these days."
"I hear you've been busy," she bristled, "ruining a wedding, almost killing Erica. Why are you even here, David? Why aren't you off tying damsels to the railroad tracks or ripping wings off butterflies in the park?"
If it had been anyone else, David would have responded with a zinger of his own, verbally crushing his opponent worse than he or she could have even imagined. But not to her. "I saw you here, and I thought I'd make sure we were on okay terms, especially given what happened the last time I saw you."
"You mean what happened with JR?" she said, her eyes still cast toward her plate. "I knew he wasn't happy to see you in our house, so I figured I'd take advantage of the situation. It wouldn't look good to be seen conspiring with you, and having him hear me defend him allows me to score some points."
David's entire body tensed with anger. His jaw tightened, his fists clenched, and his posture straightened. "You shouldn't have to score points with your cheating husband. If anything, it should be the other way around." He didn't mean to raise his voice to Marissa. It wasn't she he was angry with. It was that irresponsible drunken loser she was married to.
Marissa remained unfazed by David's change in demeanor. "In a way, I was taking your advice."
"By throwing me under the bus?"
"You'll live," she answered flatly. "Besides," she finally looked up at him, "I'm not like you. I'm not going to use blackmail or dirty tricks to try to save my marriage. If this is going to work, I have to be certain that JR genuinely prefers me, and acting like Annie just undermines that."
"And what happens if he decides he prefers Annie? Are you just going to let them ride off into the sunset together, raising your son?"
"I have faith in my husband. You haven't seen him. I believe he's committed to this marriage, and our family. But if he does decide to chuck it all for a cheap fling with Annie, I'm AJ's legal mother," Marissa reminded him. She was in lawyer mode now. "And a biological relative. Based on that, plus JR's well-documented past transgressions, I think I have a great shot at getting sole custody."
JR didn't react when Annie burst into the mansion's living room. It didn't even matter anymore that she wasn't allowed on the premises, at least as long as Marissa wasn't home. Annie made such a habit of popping in whenever she felt like it that any anger or surprise at her presence had long worn off. He didn't even pry his eyes away from his laptop as he lounged on the couch. It helped not to look at her. Looking at her only intensified his persistent thoughts of her. What they had done together; what he wanted to do with her. Yes, it was better to concentrate on work.
Annie broke the silence first. "I thought about what you said." She spoke slowly, softly. She could hardly hear herself over the sound of her heart pounding. "I can't get you out of my head either."
Without looking at her, "My wife and son aren't home. Thanks for asking," JR spat.
"What do you take me for?" Annie asked indignantly. "I know they're gone. AJ's with Emma, and Marissa's never home at this time of day."
JR sat up. "I was wrong to say anything like that to you. It was a moment of weakness...it won't happen again."
Annie moved closer to him. "He loves me. Scott loves me. Here's this decent, wonderful man, and he wants me. He's not a creep like Terry, or fickle like Ryan, or in love with someone else like Adam. And it kills me that every time I'm with him, I keep thinking about you."
JR stood and faced her, looking in her eyes. "Do you love him?"
"Scott's someone worth loving."
JR brushed his hand against Annie's cheek and let it travel until he was gripping the back of her head, pulling her closer until their faces were inches apart. "That doesn't answer my question."
She shut her eyes. "When you're out of my system, then I can let myself love him the way he deserves to be loved."
As Annie spoke, JR leaned in closer, his lips brushing slightly against hers. "What if it doesn't work, and you can't get me out of your system?" He didn't let her answer. Their lips met roughly. Annie let her hands get lost in JR's hair as the kiss built in intensity.
"Then...we'll keep trying," Annie said at last between kisses. "As long as it takes."
For such a tiny woman, Erica's voice boomed in the busy Fusion office, as if it were coming from someone a few times her size. "Randi," she called out. "Make sure they take everything. Everything from the glamor line, everything connected to the Miranda Center, and especially, and I cannot stress this enough, everything with my face on it."
"Yes, Erica." An exhausted Randi guided the way for several men carrying box after box of Erica's belongings – everything she and Greenlee hadn't already disposed of – out of the building.
As Randi left, Erica approached Greenlee. "Don't think this means you've won. If I were you, I wouldn't be throwing myself any victory parties just yet. You may have the company, but what I have – my two beautiful daughters, a man who adores me, not to mention my self-respect – I would say that that's the real prize."
"It's good to have you back, Erica," Greenlee said with faux-sweetness. "Don't trip on your way out."
Erica may have said something before she left, but Greenlee didn't hear it. A wave of nausea fell over her. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself against a desk, waiting for the feeling to pass. Greenlee hobbled over to the drawer that held her purse. "Dammit." She stared at it for a moment before opening it. She had put this off for too long. It was time to face the inevitable. Inside a smaller, zipped compartment, she retrieved what she was looking for: the pregnancy test Ryan insisted that she buy, the one she told everyone she had used, unopened.