No Amount of Fire: Part II
Since Ric no longer had a job, he had a lot of time on his hands. And a man could only sleep for so long. He'd been in the Metro Court bar late last night, he hadn't been drinking because of the memories of the last time he'd drank in that particular place. When he'd finally gone up to his room, he fell asleep with his phone clutched in his hand, ready to answer when she finally called him back. He woke at 7 a.m. and got ready to greet the day.
The morning progressed, and he kept it near him wherever he went. He was just about to get on his work out clothes to get a morning jog in when the call he was expecting finally arrived. All of a sudden, he was nervous. He couldn't bring himself to answer the phone and talk to her. It made it all seem more real that it was finally going to happen. He was going to tell her what had gone on between him and Reese. He let the phone's ringer fade out, the last notes of "Memories of Us" drifting into the air, he sighed at how pathetic he seemed. He was really scared at what her reaction was going to be.
The phone notified him that he had a message awaiting his attention and he pushed a button so he could hear it. Kristina would be at Sonny's? He wondered what buttons he had pushed to get her to agree to that. Putting thoughts of Sonny aside, he set the phone down and fell onto his bed. Alexis wanted him to come over to her apartment to talk. It was now that his panic reached an all time high.
How ironic was it that the woman he had cheated on Alexis with was one she had on her list? His anger and resentment stemmed from his taking second place in Alexis' life, but he knew those reasons weren't enough for him to do what he did. He couldn't see how she could forgive him for his indiscretions when he couldn't do the same. Ric thought that a good run would distract him from over thinking how he was going to approach this with Alexis.
While Ric was trying to run his way around thinking, Alexis was in court trying to do the same thing. Try as she might, she couldn't get the impending talk with Ric out of her mind. She was perfectly able to defend her clients against the overzealous ADAs without her full concentration. It was when court was in recess or breaks between cases that she found it hardest to not let her feelings get the best of her.
It had only been a day since she had received his message, but his words had been branded into her brain. Part of her wanted her cases to take as long as possible to delay the inevitable, but the other part wanted them to be over quickly so they could get it over with and move on. Whether they would move on together or apart would be up to what he told her.
Whether by luck or curse, Alexis' day went by quickly and she was out of the courthouse by 4:30. Her bundle of nerves had rejoined her on the courthouse steps as she walked to her car. Her plans were to get home quickly to spend time with Kristina before she went over to her father's house.
The drive to the apartment was fast because of the light traffic. Kristina jumped up from her coloring and ran into her mother's open arms. Viola had already gotten her overnight things ready, so that gave them more time before Sonny came for Kristina. Alexis sat Kristina back down at her coloring and put some Vivaldi on the CD player. She returned to her daughter's side at the coffee table and Kristina shared all about her day. This had been the only time during the day that Alexis' mind wasn't burdened by the night's activities.
Time flew by as Kristina and Alexis talked and before they knew it, a loud knock sounded from the door. Alexis walked over and opened it, shock showing on her face. Max, not Sonny, had come to take Kristina to Greystone. "Oh! What a surprise! He couldn't even come pick her up himself."
Max came through the door to pick up Kristina's bag, replying "Mr. Corinthos had some business to take care of."
Just as he was about to walk out the door with Kristina, Alexis said "Well, tell Mr. Corinthos that I'll be over to pick her up at eight in the morning. We have plans."
Shock overcame his face. "Mr. Corinthos won't like that, Ms. Davis."
"Well, maybe he shouldn't have planned this little visit so suddenly. If he makes a fuss about it, I'd advise you to tell him to give me a little notice next time. Next time I won't be so lenient." With that, she gave her daughter a kiss and shut the door once their backs faced the doors.
Alexis then moved about the apartment, cleaning up the mess of coloring books and crayons that littered the coffee table. She declined on shutting off the CD; it was doing wonders at calming her nerves. After cleaning up the mess in the living room, she went into her room and changed into her most comfortable jeans and her favorite Yale shirt. Glancing at the clock, Alexis saw that it would be another half an hour before he would be there. She went over to the bookshelf to select something to keep her mind occupied. She skimmed the titles and was about to pick up the book on Tort law when a memory from the New Year's Eve party at Jax's hotel invaded her mind.
Ric: Really? Because every time we go out, you're always self-conscious, you're always guarding, you're always condescending and judgmental of everybody else and yourself. You know, you're a drag.
Alexis: No, I'm dressed in it.
Ric: No, you are. You're a big, plumed drag.
Alexis: You know, I think that that's not very nice.
Ric: Ok, well, fine. You know what? Why don't you just go home and put on your little jammies and your little footie slippers and curl up in front of the fire with a nice book on tort law.
Alexis: Oh, God, that sounds like fun. You want to come?
Ric: Oh, God, obviously, I'm the only person here who, of the two of us, who can enjoy this party.
Alexis: Well, aren't you just Mr. Everything.
She hadn't touched her book on Tort law since then, partially as a reminder that she hadn't needed that to have fun. It amazed her how in touch with her he was. She began wondering when all that went so wrong, grabbed the book and went over to the couch to read.
Ric had been very restless during the day and his run hadn't helped at all. Of course, as luck would have it, he ran past all of the places that reminded him of Alexis…the courthouse, the park and Kelly's. After twenty minutes, he knew he wouldn't achieve the distraction he was searching for, so he headed back to the hotel and went to get ready for his trip to Alexis' apartment.
He glanced at the clock after stepping out of the shower and his stomach tightened up in knots. In twenty minutes, he'd be breaking his wife's heart. He quickly got dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and tennis shoes. As he was picking up his car keys and wallet from the dresser, he heard a knock on the door and went to investigate.
Standing at the door was a very drunk Reese. He looked down to the ground. "Reese, what are you doing here? I don't have time for this. I need to go meet my wife. I'm finally going to tell her about that horrible night. I need to tell her the truth."
Reese stumbled into his room, slurring her words. "She doesn't need to know, Ric. We both know it'll get to Sonny somehow and I don't need anymore grief from him than I already do."
"Don't tell me what I can or cannot tell my wife. This is the least I can do." His voice flat lined as he asked "Oh, is something wrong between you two?" With a sigh, he checked his watch. How much longer was this going to take? He needed to get her out of there so he could be to Alexis' apartment on time. "Reese, I think it's time for you to go. Maybe sleep it off or something." He opened the door for her and held his hand toward the hall for emphasis.
"Well, maybe you'll change your mind when she won't forgive you for this. After you go break her heart, come by my room. We could be good together, given half a chance." She sauntered out of the room, but not before he grabbed her arm.
His anger was apparent, "You really think you're better than she is? Well, news flash, Reese. You will never compare to her…in any way. I made the biggest mistake of my life by choosing you and Sonny over her. Now, I'm going to have to live with that, but you better stay away from me from now on." He picked up his wallet, withdrew a twenty dollar bill and threw it in her direction. "Thank you, but your services are no longer needed. Now, it's time for me to go meet my wife. So leave."
She looked at him in disbelief but did as he said, but no before picking up the money he had thrown. Ric shut the door behind her and waited a couple of minutes before beginning the trek down to the parking lot.
Ten minutes later, Ric got off the elevator. He briskly walked to her door and knocked twice. Alexis jumped up from the couch and tossed her book onto the coffee table. She walked to the door and stopped right before she grabbed the doorknob. She took a couple of deep breaths, wishing she had a paper bag with her. It only took her a few moments to compose herself, but on the other side of the door, Ric was wondering what was taking her so long. Just as he lifted his hand to knock again, she opened the door and was greeted with his hand descending toward her face.
"Well, this isn't the sort of hello I'd expected," she murmured with a nervous laugh.
He chuckled along with her and as he stepped through the doorway, he caught a whiff of her perfume, Jasmine Paradise. He'd always loved the smell of jasmine, but in general, the smell was nowhere near as perfect as it was on her. God, I can't believe it's come to this. I finally realize she's "it" for me and I'm going to break her heart. I'm such an idiot. He hung his head and cleared his throat. "So…how are you?"
Alexis walked over and picked up her book, then started to walk over to the shelf to put it back. "I'm okay. Tired, but okay. Kristina keeps getting more active and this little one is eager to join her out here." While she was speaking, he looked up at her. She's glowing; pregnancy really agrees with her. "Kristina has been talking to her everyday; telling her what adventures they'll go on when h-…the baby's here." He saddened at the fact that he wouldn't ever be around long enough to see Kristina talking to her mother's belly. That had been one of the things he had been looking forward to during this pregnancy, and it sounded just like he had imagined it would.
"I'm glad Kristina is excited; I'd hoped she would be." He glanced nervously at his feet. It was time to divulge his secret.
Alexis caught this and asked "Would you like to sit down? Might be more comfortable during our 'divorce talk.' And would you like a glass of wine? Water, perhaps? I've got pretty much everything. Even that decaffeinated tea you got for me." She was rambling. God, Alexis, pull yourself together.
"Yes, I'd love to sit down and no, thank you. I'm fine right now." He motioned for her to sit down on the couch and she did as he asked.
"So, about that message…" she started nervously.
"Yeah, I need to explain some things to you, Alexis." He stopped for a moment, suddenly wishing he had taken her up on her offer of a drink.
Suddenly, a glass appeared by his face. "I know you said you didn't need one, but I got you one…just in case." Ric took the drink from her and took a large gulp of water. She sat back down on the couch and waited for him to continue.
He set the glass down and went to begin again. "Well, you know when you asked me to sleep with someone so we could get our divorce moving along?"
Alexis closed her eyes for a second, and then softly responded "Yes."
He stood up and started walking around the room. "Well…I did it. I'm not proud of it, but it happened. I got drunk and she was right by me, getting as drunk as I was. Then one thing led to another and we were in her bedroom. She stumbled, I caught her and I'm sure you can imagine the rest."
Panic shot through her as he spoke, but she contained her emotion when she said "Who was it?"
"Reese…Agent Marshall." This time he looked at her for her reaction.
Another pang shot through her. She gasped for a breath.
He ran to her side and reached for the glass of water. Ric handed it to her, angry because of the pain he was causing her.
She accepted the glass of water and drank greedily. Her breathing slowed down enough for her to ask her next questions. "Why? And when?"
"Well, I guess I was hurting and angry. You had threatened a divorce and to take our child, I wasn't handling those thoughts very well. As for the when, is that really important? I mean, what's done is done. Why add more pain than what is already being caused."
Her eyes shot daggers at him. How quickly she changed emotions…I never noticed. "It matters to me. I need to know."
"Right after I left the courthouse, I went over to the bar at the hotel."
"My God, you went right to it, didn't you? Not even an hour after we agreed to divorce." Alexis shook her head at the thought. A single tear rolled down her face. "What kind of man are you? I am pregnant with your child. Does that mean nothing to you?"
Ric's eyes shone with unshed tears. "Of course that matters to me. You're my wife. I guess I…"
"Yeah, sounds like you had a really tough time deciding whether or not to cheat on me. It took you half an hour to find someone to replace me. Great job, Ric." She leaned back into the couch and brought her hands to her face.
"How could you ask me to cheat and then behave like this?"
"Don't turn this back around on me!" she yelled.
"I'm not, but how can you say that then change your mind when you hear that it happened?"
"I don't know. Hmm…maybe because you've done it to me."
"What?!?" he asked incredulously.
"Yeah, when we got married it was to protect Kristina from Sonny's lifestyle. And now, it seems like you couldn't give a damn about her well-being." He started to open his mouth to speak. "I know you love her, but what about keeping her safe? I thought we were together on that. Then you turn around and go all noble towards Sonny. You know he will never accept you as a brother like you want him to. And this? He'll see it as the biggest betrayal. You've slept with 'his woman' and you've screwed yourself into a hole you can't dig your way out of."
His shoulders sagged, "Alexis, I do love her, and this family. But this goes beyond keeping Kristina safe. Sonny is her father and he has rights to be a figure in her life. Until he is brought down for his misdeeds, he'll continue to have that presence in her life. I may not agree with his lifestyle, but he has that right. It's not fair for you to try to take it away from him."
Alexis pushed herself up from the couch and started to pace around the living room. "Even if it costs Kristina her life? I mean, how much will it take for him to get a clue? Michael is kidnapped and presumed dead, yet during the memorial in his child's honor he orders the death of nine men? That is something I do not want my child around. And then there's Michael. He's nine years old. He should be living a carefree life, yet being around Sonny has cost him his innocence. How many nine year old killers have you come across being in the legal system? Not many, but sure enough, here he is…another homicidal influence for Kristina. I can't let them do that to my daughter."
He hung his head and sat back down in the chair. "I do see what you mean, but you've got to let the legal system work. You can't pull stunts like leaving for London to get their attention. It'll only affect you negatively."
Alexis was livid at that remark. She'd done some stupid things in her life, but if it was around her daughter, it was only for the good of her daughter. Nothing less would work. Nothing else was working with him and she was getting drained of what little energy she had had before he'd started their discussion. So she decided to end this one way she knew would work.
"Congratulations, Ric. You've finally done something your brother will be proud of you for. Maybe not for the tool you chose use to end this marriage with, but with the way you went about it. You've never been more like your brother than you have in this moment."
His mouth gaped open as the truth was spoken from her beautiful lips. Nothing she had ever spoken had more barbs attached. It ripped him open more than anything, even her lies, had done. And she couldn't have been more right if she had tried. He'd become the one thing that he'd wasted his life, and their future, trying to obtain. As he thought about her truth, Alexis walked to the door and opened it, gesturing that it was time for him to leave. He stood and tried to gather some of his bearings as he gathered his things from her desk. He glanced at her one last time before he walked out the door. As he walked toward the elevator and pushed the button, he whispered "I'm not like him. I'll make this up to you, you'll see." He walked in and pushed the button for the ground floor.
As soon as he left, she collapsed to the floor, her body wracked with sobs. She cried for the family she thought was going to make it, the man she thought she could trust.