Chapter 1-Part 1

Setting: Todd Mannings Penthouse

Todd stood at the window looking at the view from his penthouse. "Dammit", he swore to himself. How could he have been so stupid. He walked over to his plush couch and sat down and covered his handsome face with his strong masculine hands. Todd thought back to the kiss he and Evangeline shared in the elevator a few hours before. He had kissed Evangeline Williamson, no doubt about it and she had kissed him back if only for a short time. He had always thought about what it would be like to kiss Evangeline, his best friend. The kiss was everything he thought that it would be if it ever happened and it had.

It was sensual, natural, mindblowing. It was kind of like a first kiss for him, though he had kissed many women as well as other things before, nothing was like kissing Evangeline. How did Evangeline feel about it he thought. "Shit, why did it have to be under these circumstances" he said out loud. His son was dead and it was Evangeline that had comforted him beyond anything he could have ever expected. Evangeline was just trying to comfort him as a friend and he had leaned over and kissed her out of the blue. "I hope she doesn't think that my kissing her was about Vega, it was only about her", I love her" he said out loud. He felt comfortable saying that, it was like home in his heart. Todd snapped from his thoughts as the doorbell rang. Todd stood and walked over to the door and opened it. "Blair! What the hell do you want?, and since when do you have the courtesy to use a doorbell?"

"Aren't you going to invite me in she said with a sly smile." "Now why the hell would I want to torture myself" he said with a voice above normal. "Now Todd, don't be like that" she purred as she breezed by him putting her purse on the couch not waiting for a reply from him. "I just want to talk to you about our kids, you know them, Jack and Starr." "Quit trying to be a sarcastic bitch!" What is it, whats wrong?, are they okay?, are they in any trouble?," he asked with concern all over his face. "No, nothing like that." she replied."Well then what the hell is it, I don't have time for you right now Blair!" Todd shouted. "Well what the hell is up your ass Todd?" "Not you, thats for damn sure." "Whatever is going on with me is none of your business Blair, you said so before yourself, don't you remember?"

"Can you remember anything after being under Spencer Trumans spell?" The same spell my son was under!!" "Everything I did, I did for you Todd!!" she yelled. "Screwing another man was for me, not believing in me, watching me die and coming back to life, he paused with a look of hurt in his eyes, telling him you loved him, turning my own son against me, that was for me huh Blair!!, you mean to tell me all that was for me?", well what a lucky guy I am" he said his seriousness turning to light laughter. Todd leaned against the mantle and put his hands in his pockets and just stared at Blair with disgust.

Blair walked over to Todd and stood right in front of him and stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. Todd politely pushed it away. "Todd, I never meant to hurt you, or do any of those things to you" she spoke as a tear rolled down her left eye. "It doesn't matter anymore Blair, were done". "No Todd, this is what we do, we may hurt each other but we always find our way back to each other", she said as she stared into his baby blue eyes. Todd looked down, trying to focus on anything except her. "Not this time Blair." "How many times do you think we can do this. How many times do I have left to let you hurt me, how many times do I have left to hurt you?" He looked up at her and removed his hands from his pockets. "Because if thats the kind of relationship you want to have, its sick and twisted!" "Blair just get the hell out, I'm sick of looking at you. I have a lot on my mind and I need to be alone." "Todd", she started. He held up his hand.

"Ok, I'll go, but we aren't finished with us Todd." "Yeah keep telling yourself that" he said. Blair grabed her purse and walked to the door and put her hand on the knob and looked back at Todd who had walked over to the window staring out. "I will prove to him that we belong together, we can be a family again, me, Todd, Jack and Starr, just like it should be"she thought to herself as she closed the door behind her.

"Finally alone" Todd sighed. He laid down on the couch on his back and put an arm across his forehead as he began to think. "How did everything get so fucked up? I just want to be a good father to Starr and Jack and to my other son if I can ever find him. God I never ask you for anything, mostly becasue I am not a a God fearing man. Hell I can't believe my kids are not royally screwed up. "They deserve better" he said aloud. I am slowly getting Jack back, his faith in me as ahis father should have never been turned against me. The only people to ever be there for me have been Vicki, the best sister a guy could have, when she was not trying to push me back in Blairs lap. Jessica, my darling niece and Starr, my precious Starr.

Evangeline, my best friend in the whole world, always, always there for me no matter what I do or say. I don't deserve her as a friend, what the hell does she see in me. I am a former rapist, a liar, a user, I don't care about doing things the right way, my rap sheet, I don't think it ends. Thats why I love her, he smiled, becasue she cares about me for me, she sees me for who I am now, not for who I was. If she only knew how much I loved her and care about her, how I would never hurt her. Dammit I would do anything for her. That over obsessive possesive caveman Vega does not deserve Evangeline, he's a bum, Todd said to himself. Just then his cellphone rang.

Todd swung his feet over the couch and and walked over to his beautiful woodoak desk and grabbed his cellphone. He looked down and at the caller-id. "Evangeline", he said out loud. His eyes lit up like a teenager that was crushed out on a girl and indeed he was. Todd flipped open the cell. "Hi", he said in the most gentle voice. "Hi" Evangeline responded in a voice that melted his heart." We need to talk", "Ok" he said, can I meet you at the penthouse in about an hour?" she asked. "Of course, of course, I will be here". "Alright, see you then" Evangeline said."See you then", he replied. The line went dead and Todd hung up the phone. "Here we go", he said to himself. "This will have to be the moment of truth for me"...