Disclaimer I do not own As The World Turns.
Mr. and Mrs. Donovan.
This is an alternative reality using the characters Dusty Donovan and Lucy Montgomery as the main cast. Other Oakdalians and original charaters will appear throughout the fic.
The year is 1941
It was your everyday average day at the Donovan's; the help were busy with their work, cooking, cleaning, and the sort. Mr. and Mrs. Donovan were cooped up in their bedroom, of their penthouse suite on the 14th floor of the Lakeview Hotel. Mrs. Donovan was still in bed, under the covers, I might add, while Mr. Donovan was busy playing solitaire on the floor…Dishes and dirty laundry were scattered about the place
What happened, you ask? Mr. and Mrs. Donovan got into a quarrel you might say, a drag em, knock em out fight. What caused the quarrel? Well let's not get nosy.
As Mr. Donovan sat there playing cards, he would look up every once in a while to see if his wife would come out from underneath the bed clothes. To his dismay she never did. She would just toss and turn, and move around, but never had she once moved out from under the covers. He sighed as he threw the cards down. He ran a hand through his head.
What was he going to do; he wished they would just make up already. See him and his wife made a pact, that when they got into a fight, they'd lock themselves in the bedroom and nobody was allowed in or out, until they made up. It really helped quite a bit in their marriage.
Mr. Donovan sighed as he heard a knock on the door. "Yeah," he called.
"Breakfast, Mr. Donovan." A servant with a strong southern accent replied. He got up out off the floor and opened the door just far enough so he could get the tray inside. As he took the tray from the servant, she tried to look in to see where Mrs. Donovan was, Mr. Donovan however blocked her view of the room.
"Thank you," he kindly said as he shut the door behind him. He walked the tray of eggs, toast, coffee, and fresh squeezed orange juice over to a table and sat it down.
He than proceeded to think of a way to get his wife's attention, he dare not do it the easy way and wake her. She was pretty ticked at him.
-----
Meanwhile in the kitchen,
"Well what are they doing?" an older servant asked the younger servant who had just served breakfast.
"She's under the bed clothes, and he's playing cards," the younger woman replied.
"You didn't look through the keyhole?" the older woman questioned.
"No you can't see anything, I only listened."
The older woman sighed as the telephone rang. "Hello, Donovan Residence, Oh hello Mr. Lawrence, No they haven't come out yet. They just opened the door for breakfast, and they didn't send any of the dishes back, I'm running out of dishes."
Mr. Lawrence on the other end of the line replied. "How long have they been in there?"
"Three days." The woman replied.
"Three days? What is the longest they've been in there?" He queried.
The older woman replied, "Eight."
"Eight days," the man said with a whistle. "Well you tell Mr. Donovan I need that document signed."
"I will Mr. Lawrence, but I'm not sure…" Mr. Lawrence cut her off before she had a chance to finish.
"Hey Mabel."
"Yes Mr. Lawrence?"
"Is Tommy there?"
"Why yes, Mr. Lawrence, he just walked in." She covered the mouth piece with her hand and motioned to Tommy. "Mr. Lawrence is on the phone."
Tommy nodded and took the phone. "Hello, Mr. Lawrence."
"Tommy, I don't want you back here until you get Mr. Donovan's signature," Mr. Lawrence demanded.
Tommy took a deep breath, and replied. "Oh, don't worry Mr. Lawrence. I will make sure the document is signed, goodbye sir." He hung up the phone and turned to Mabel.
"Take me to the room."
"It's this way." Mabel led him to the room that Mr. Donovan and his wife were currently held up in.
When they got to the door, Tommy knocked ever so gently. "Mr. Donovan, it's me Tommy. I have an urgent document from Mr. Lawrence that you need to sign." When there was no reply, Tommy pleaded again. "Please sir."
Mabel had an idea to stick the note under the door. "Push the note under the door."
"Mr. Donovan, I'm gonna pass the note under the door." The note was passed and Mr. Donovan signed it, unfortunately for Tommy he signed in pencil.
"Thank you sir, hey wait this is signed in pencil, you can't…"
"Go over it with a pen." Donovan replied.
"I can't do that, its forgery and I could get in trouble."
"Nobody'd have to know."
"But sir, I'm going to be taking my Bar Exam soon."
Donovan sighed and opened the door, "Quick give me a pen." He signed the paper.
Tommy and Mabel went back downstairs.
Donovan, who turned to see his wife was still under the bed covers, got and idea. He left the door ajar just a bit, and then gathered all of his belongings. He grabbed what looked like a fire poker from the fireplace and pushed the door shut causing it to make a loud bang. With that, Mrs. Donovan shot up and looked around. There was no sign of her husband. She all of the sudden looked heartbroken and lost
Mr. Donovan jumped up from behind the couch he was hidden behind. He saw the forlorn look in his wife's eyes and rushed to her side.
He pulled her into a loving embrace. "I thought you'd left me," she told him.
He nuzzled against her. "Princess, Lucy I'd never leave you. I'd die before I left you."
Lucy, as his wife was called, smiled as she moved closer to her husband. "Promise me Dusty; Promise me you will never, ever leave me."
Dusty smiled. "I promise I will never, ever leave you." He gently pulled her into a passionate kiss.
"Good because I don't think I could live without you." Lucy told him holding on to him for dear life.
Dusty just smiled and held her close.
-----
Later that morning,
"Hey babe, can you shave me?" Dusty asked as he came out of the bathroom with his shaving paraphernalia. It a common practice with the Donovan's. She'd shave him and they talk about the fight that they'd had.
Dusty laid back into a reclining chair as Lucy got the shaving cream lathered to consistency. She lathered up Dusty's face.
"I hate fighting, I do," Lucy said as she continued to smear the cream on his face. Dusty just mumbled in agreement. "I really have no idea what the fight was about, I mean don't you think all of our fights are silly?" She continued as he started sharpening the blade of the razor.
Dusty nodded. "Uhm, yeah."
Lucy took the razor and started shaving her husband with even strokes. "I'm glad we have are no leaving the bedroom until we make up agreement. You know most couples should adopt that agreement, don't you think? Then there would be no more divorce in the world."
Dusty nodded.
"Don't move. I'll cut you." Lucy chastised.
"Sorry."
"I mean if we didn't have the agreement then what would we have? Marriages like other people, dishonesty, mistrust, unfaithfulness."
Dusty mumbled his agreement.
"Turn you head that way darling." Lucy asked and Dusty did.
"I just don't want to be in that sort of marriage you know what I mean?" Lucy said as Dusty agreed with her.
"The barber's shaving you too close; I want you to have a talk with him." She told him as she took a towel off the table and wiped up Dusty's face after which she applied some after-shave lotion. "Does that burn darling?"
"Only a little," Dusty admitted as he got up to finish dressing.
"I'm sorry, but I'm glad it doesn't hurt too much," she said as he put a hand on her husbands face rubbing the smoothness of his skin. She then took her hand away cleaning up the mess she had made, after she was finished she turned to her husband. "Hey I'm gonna go take a quick shower."
"Alright babe."
"Hey babe, you ready for some breakfast?" Dusty asked as he poured some coffee into two cups. Lucy had just come out of the bathroom wearing a black and white polka-dot lounge pants and a matching top with the polka dots on the sleeves and collar.
"I'm famished," she admitted as she took a seat across from her husband. She broke the yolk in her eggs covering the white of the egg with the yellow, she then took a piece of her toast and started wiping the yolk up with the toast, eating it. She watched her husband gingerly dunk his toast in his black coffee.
"I don't know how you can drink that," Lucy told him as she put her bare feet into the cuffs of his pants.
"Hey, you drink it too you know."
"Yeah, well, I don't drink it straight from the pot; at least I have the dignity to put some sugar and cream in it," Lucy said as she took bite of some fruit that was there.
"And what, ruin the taste of the coffee?" Dusty laughed heartily.
Lucy smiled. "Ha, Ha, very funny."
Lucy and Dusty sat quietly for a few minutes as they ate their breakfast. Lucy then broke the quietness. "Dusty can I ask you a question?"
"Anything babe."
"If you had a chance to do it all over again, would you have married me?"
Dusty put his fork down and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Honestly babe, No. I don't think I would've. It's not that I don't love you, or I would want to be married to anyone else…I just think that when a man marries he gives up a certain freedom and independence. If I had to do it all over again I think I would stay single."
Lucy looked quite upset about the answer that Dusty had given. Not in a million years did she think he would choose not to marry her if he had to do it all over again. "I see, I guess I'm just a nuisance to you huh?"
"Now, come on, I didn't say that," Dusty defended.
"No, but you as much as admitted it,'" Lucy said as she took her plate and threw it at him.
"You asked me a question, and I gave you an answer."
"Well, I didn't think you would answer me that way. That tells me you don't love me as much as I thought you did. You have been leading me on." Lucy cried dramatically.
"Oh, come on now, cut that out," Dusty yelled trying to defend himself. He grabbed his jacket off the chair, drank the rest of his coffee. "I'm leaving for work," he said as he gave Lucy as quick kiss goodbye.
"When will you be home?"
"Around eight. Are we alright?" Dusty asked.
Lucy nodded.
"Good," Dusty replied as he left the penthouse.