Chapter 2
1 week later
Stefan was in his office at the hospital, talking on the phone to Dr. Jake Martin of Pine Valley. "I really appreciate you changing your mind about the consultant job, Dr. Martin. We really do need your expertise in emergency room management. Pine Valley Hospital is well known for its efficiency."
"I'm glad to accept, Mr. Cassadine. I could use some time away right now. I'll be catching a plane out this afternoon and can be at the hospital bright and early tomorrow morning."
"Excellent. I look forward to seeing you." Stefan hung up the phone and leaned back with a satisfied smile. He had been wooing Dr. Martin for quite awhile now. But the good doctor had put him off, claiming that he didn't want to leave Pine Valley, even for a short consultant job. Stefan had surmised that the reasons were personal, and had not pressed. But he was very glad that Dr. Martin had finally accepted the arrangement, even if it would be only temporary. His reverie was interrupted by his secretary buzzing him. "Mr. Cassadine? There is a gentleman here to see you from the law firm of Tyler and Rowland." Stefan frowned. That was the firm that Helena had had on retainer. That is, until he cut off her funds, and she was forced to accept the services of a novice public defender. His curiosity getting the better of him, he instructed his secretary to let the gentleman in. It was Sam Rowland. "Hello Mr. Cassadine. I'm sorry to barge in without an appointment, but this came up quite unexpectedly, and I wanted to take care of it as soon as possible. Its about your mother." Stefan frowned. "I thought you no longer represented Helena." Mr. Rowland cleared his throat. "We don't, not for any new business anyway. But this was something she had tasked us with a long time ago, and she just now called us today to enforce it." Mr. Rowland handed Stefan an envelope. "This is a sealed envelope she gave to us twenty years ago, after the death.er.presumed death of your brother Stavros. She said that it should only be delivered to you in the event of her death, Nikolas's death, or if she herself requests it. I've already gotten a signature from her stating that she has requested delivery of the letter, and now I only need a signature from you acknowledging that you have received it." Stefan stared at the letter, a deep sense of foreboding flooding his entire body. "Mr. Rowland, what are the legal consequences if I accept this envelope and open it? Is it like a subpeona?" "I don't know what is in the envelope, but I can say that unlike a subpeona, you have no legal responsibility to acknowledge the contents or follow any instructions that are contained therein. I think it is perfectly safe to accept it. You can do with it what you will."
Stefan believed what the lawyer was saying. But he still felt extreme apprehension. Helena was capable of unleashing absolutely anything imaginable upon her family. He could refuse to look at the contents of the letter, and live in ignorance. But knowing Helena, if he did not, then it would come back to haunt him. Forewarned is forearmed. He took the letter and signed the release.
Kelly's
Nikolas and Gia are sitting at a table, and he excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Carly walks into the door, and sees Gia. "Gia! I have fantastic news. I'm going to be opening a new club soon, and I'm hoping that you will be at the grand opening." Gia looks startled. "You're opening a club? That's interesting. Um..sure, I'd love to come. I'm sure it will be a smash success." Carly smiles brilliantly, "I'm sure it will be too. Oh my! That's quite a rock you have on your finger, girl!" Gia's smile is just as wide. "Thank you! Nikolas gave it to me. We're engaged." Carly looks delighted. "That's fantastic." At this moment, Nikolas walks up to the table. Carly turns to him and says Congratulations, then the smile dies on her face. Nik asks, "Is something wrong?" Carly looks flustered. "No, nothing is wrong. I just realized.um.nothing." Gia frowns. "Carly, you never have a problem speaking your mind. Spill it."
Carly clears her throat. "Well, when I looked at Nikolas, I suddenly remembered about Lucien Cane. I mean, Stavros Cassadine." Nikolas looks grave. Gia is uncomfortable, but says, "You know, you tried to warn me against him. I should have listened." Carly looks rueful. "I should have taken my own advice. After he apologized for his behavior in the park, we sorta became friends. I was asking his advice on a business deal. He kept popping up at my home. I guess he wanted to get close to me because of my Spencer connections. I had really warmed up to him the last time I saw him - he was talking about his son. I guess that was you, Nikolas." Nikolas looks up, startled. "He talked to you about me?" Carly nodded. "Its creepy now that I know the whole story. He was saying that his family had taken his son away from him and told him all kinds of lies about his father. He said he wanted more than anything to have a relationship with his son. Thinking of my own experience with Michael, I told him to never give up and fight for his son. Geez, all that time he was talking about you. He really twisted the situation to make himself out to be the victim, didn't he?" Gia looked angry. "He sure did. Where did he get off acting like the wronged one?" Nikolas didn't say anything.
Carly looks up and sees Ned walking into Kelly's. She excuses herself and walks over to Ned. When he spots her, he gets a wary look on his face. Carly smiles ingratiatingly. "Hello Ned. How are you?" Ned narrows his eyes. "What do you want Carly?"
Carly's smile falters abit, and she clears her throat. "Look, I know I'm not your favorite person, and I know you normally wouldn't give me the time of day. But I'm hoping you will for Jax's sake." Ned sighs. "Just what is it you're plotting against Jax?" Carly laughs like he was joking. "Nothing of course, its what I'm plotting with Jax. He's agreed to finance a new nightclub for me. I expect it to be open in time for New Year's Eve." Ned's eyebrows go up. "So Jax is helping you out. That's a new one. So what do you want from me?" Carly smiles again. "Well, like I said I doubt you would ever do me a favor, but since it would benefit your close friend Jax, I figure you might hear me out." Ned sighs again. "Just spill it Carly." "Well, the grand opening of the club wouldn't be complete of course without some first rate entertainment. I thought it would be perfect if I could get someone to sing a song for the guests, someone that would bring down the house."
Ned rubbed the back of his neck. "Carly, I have no desire whatsoever to perform on stage, even as a favor for Jax." Carly smiled condescendingly. "I wasn't talking about you. I'm looking for a woman. Someone who could belt out a torch song, you know what I mean? I know you mostly handle rock stars, but there was that one time you worked with Brenda Barrett. I was hoping you knew of a beautiful young lady with a fabulous voice who might be interested in performing at my club."
Ned frowned thoughtfully. He immediately thought of Kristina. Would she be interested? She had already agreed to make a few recordings at the studio. How would she feel about performing live? Carly smiled encouragingly. "I can see your wheels turning. That means you know someone. Am I right?" Ned winced. "Ah.Carly, please don't push it. I do know someone like you describe, but I don't know yet if she'd be interested. Let me talk to her and feel her out." Carly looked eager, like she wanted to extract the woman's name from his brain so she could make her pitch directly. But Ned's face was set in stone, so she decided to take his advice and not push. "I appreciate this so much Ned. Please let me know as soon as you can. Here's my card." Ned paused before taking her card. Carly had business cards?
Gia said to Nikolas, "You know, I was just thinking. Knowing Carly, I'm betting that her club will be the hottest place to be seen. And I'm also betting that it will be the hottest place to book for special occasions. Such as engagement parties." Nikolas frowned at her. "But we're already planning to have the party at Wyndemere." Gia sighed. "Nikolas, I think Wyndemere is a wonderful, majestic place. Truly I do. But it just isnt very.well I just don't think that it has what you might call a celebratory atmosphere." Nikolas's lips quirked. "You mean you don't think the gargoyles are.um.jolly?" Gia laughed. "Lets just say they inspire fear, not cheer. I think the Cassadine Prince and the Face of Deception should have their engagement party at the most happening place in town. And I think that place will be Carly's club." "Well, you know, it hasn't even opened yet. This means we would have to postpone the event." Gia shrugged. "That's okay. The engagement will be a long one, so its not necessary to have the party right away. Besides, it will give the gossips a chance to work themselves into a frenzy."
Nikolas groaned. "Just how long of an engagement are you thinking, Gia?" "I told you, it takes at least a year to plan a wedding like the one I want." Nik rolled his eyes, then smiled indulgently. "Maybe my little brother will beat me to the altar after all." Gia raised one eyebrow. "If Elizabeth ever gets back to town, maybe. But what does this have to do with him? Are you having some sort of contest? Is that why you asked me to marry you, because little brother had the gall to get engaged first?" Nik laughed. "You have to be one of the most paranoid people on earth. You aren't related to Luke by chance are you?" Gia laughed with him. "Don't ever say stuff like that. Especially not in front of Taggert. Luke's not one of his favorite people." "Yeah, well at least I didn't suggest you were related to Sonny Corinthos."
Pine Valley, Jake's penthouse
Greenlee burst through the door and saw Jake packing his suitcase. "So the rumor I heard is true. You're leaving me!" Jake raised one eyebrow. "Leaving you, Greenlee? In order to leave you I would have to be with you in the first place, right?" Greenlee sighed and ignored the question. "You can't go! What about your family? What about your friends? I thought you loved Pine Valley!" Jake laughed. "Yes I do, but I don't think the city will crumble if I am gone a few weeks." Greenlee frowned and slumped down on the couch. "A few weeks? I thought you were leaving for good. That you had taken a job in another city." Jake rolled his eyes. "Typical rumor, developing a life on its own. For the record, Greenlee, I am taking a job in another city." Greenlee leaped up and grabbed his arm. "Its all my fault isnt it? I broke your heart by accepting Leo's marriage proposal! Oh Jake don't go! You mean so much to me! You are my best friend, I couldn't stand it if you left me!" Jake pulled her hand off his arm and grasped her shoulders. "Greenlee would you cut the dramatics for just one second. I'm not leaving for good. I do have a job, but it is a consulting job. Which means it is temporary. I will be back." He let go of her shoulders. "And this has nothing to do with you and Leo. I knew all along that you still loved him. I knew that given the chance you would go back to him. And that is exactly what happened. We are both adults. We had a nice time together, while it lasted, now it is time to move on."
Greenlee narrowed her eyes. "Move on? Is that what you plan to do? Is it so easy to forget about me? Is it so easy to shrug me off, pretend that what we had didn't matter?" Jake slammed his suitcase shut. "What is your problem? You are allowed to go through life, making whatever choices you want, moving on to something new. But you refuse to accept others doing the same? You broke your engagement to Leo, but then when he moved on to someone else you couldn't let it go. Yes, you were right that he made a huge mistake by marrying Laura. The whole thing was a disaster, just as you predicted. But even if it wasn't, even if it had turned out to be the best choice he ever made, you wouldn't have been able to handle it. You would have still stuck your nose in until you got him back. Now that you have gotten him back, you can't be content with letting me move on with my life. Face it Greenlee, the world does not fall prostrate at your feet and remain there. You have made your choice, now walk away and don't look back. Please." Greenlee stood there, speechless. Her huge brown eyes pleaded with him to understand. To hold her. To love her. But he was right. She had chosen Leo. It wasn't fair to Jake. She sighed. "Oh, Jake. I'm so sorry. You and I both knew that my feelings for Leo would get in the way, yet we plowed on anyway. I didn't want to hurt you." Jake caressed her cheek. "I have no regrets, Greenlee. I will never forget our time together. I just need to get away for a little while. But I will be back, and maybe we can still be friends. Just not as close as before. Okay." She smiled tremulously and nodded. Then walked out the door.
1 week later
Stefan was in his office at the hospital, talking on the phone to Dr. Jake Martin of Pine Valley. "I really appreciate you changing your mind about the consultant job, Dr. Martin. We really do need your expertise in emergency room management. Pine Valley Hospital is well known for its efficiency."
"I'm glad to accept, Mr. Cassadine. I could use some time away right now. I'll be catching a plane out this afternoon and can be at the hospital bright and early tomorrow morning."
"Excellent. I look forward to seeing you." Stefan hung up the phone and leaned back with a satisfied smile. He had been wooing Dr. Martin for quite awhile now. But the good doctor had put him off, claiming that he didn't want to leave Pine Valley, even for a short consultant job. Stefan had surmised that the reasons were personal, and had not pressed. But he was very glad that Dr. Martin had finally accepted the arrangement, even if it would be only temporary. His reverie was interrupted by his secretary buzzing him. "Mr. Cassadine? There is a gentleman here to see you from the law firm of Tyler and Rowland." Stefan frowned. That was the firm that Helena had had on retainer. That is, until he cut off her funds, and she was forced to accept the services of a novice public defender. His curiosity getting the better of him, he instructed his secretary to let the gentleman in. It was Sam Rowland. "Hello Mr. Cassadine. I'm sorry to barge in without an appointment, but this came up quite unexpectedly, and I wanted to take care of it as soon as possible. Its about your mother." Stefan frowned. "I thought you no longer represented Helena." Mr. Rowland cleared his throat. "We don't, not for any new business anyway. But this was something she had tasked us with a long time ago, and she just now called us today to enforce it." Mr. Rowland handed Stefan an envelope. "This is a sealed envelope she gave to us twenty years ago, after the death.er.presumed death of your brother Stavros. She said that it should only be delivered to you in the event of her death, Nikolas's death, or if she herself requests it. I've already gotten a signature from her stating that she has requested delivery of the letter, and now I only need a signature from you acknowledging that you have received it." Stefan stared at the letter, a deep sense of foreboding flooding his entire body. "Mr. Rowland, what are the legal consequences if I accept this envelope and open it? Is it like a subpeona?" "I don't know what is in the envelope, but I can say that unlike a subpeona, you have no legal responsibility to acknowledge the contents or follow any instructions that are contained therein. I think it is perfectly safe to accept it. You can do with it what you will."
Stefan believed what the lawyer was saying. But he still felt extreme apprehension. Helena was capable of unleashing absolutely anything imaginable upon her family. He could refuse to look at the contents of the letter, and live in ignorance. But knowing Helena, if he did not, then it would come back to haunt him. Forewarned is forearmed. He took the letter and signed the release.
Kelly's
Nikolas and Gia are sitting at a table, and he excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Carly walks into the door, and sees Gia. "Gia! I have fantastic news. I'm going to be opening a new club soon, and I'm hoping that you will be at the grand opening." Gia looks startled. "You're opening a club? That's interesting. Um..sure, I'd love to come. I'm sure it will be a smash success." Carly smiles brilliantly, "I'm sure it will be too. Oh my! That's quite a rock you have on your finger, girl!" Gia's smile is just as wide. "Thank you! Nikolas gave it to me. We're engaged." Carly looks delighted. "That's fantastic." At this moment, Nikolas walks up to the table. Carly turns to him and says Congratulations, then the smile dies on her face. Nik asks, "Is something wrong?" Carly looks flustered. "No, nothing is wrong. I just realized.um.nothing." Gia frowns. "Carly, you never have a problem speaking your mind. Spill it."
Carly clears her throat. "Well, when I looked at Nikolas, I suddenly remembered about Lucien Cane. I mean, Stavros Cassadine." Nikolas looks grave. Gia is uncomfortable, but says, "You know, you tried to warn me against him. I should have listened." Carly looks rueful. "I should have taken my own advice. After he apologized for his behavior in the park, we sorta became friends. I was asking his advice on a business deal. He kept popping up at my home. I guess he wanted to get close to me because of my Spencer connections. I had really warmed up to him the last time I saw him - he was talking about his son. I guess that was you, Nikolas." Nikolas looks up, startled. "He talked to you about me?" Carly nodded. "Its creepy now that I know the whole story. He was saying that his family had taken his son away from him and told him all kinds of lies about his father. He said he wanted more than anything to have a relationship with his son. Thinking of my own experience with Michael, I told him to never give up and fight for his son. Geez, all that time he was talking about you. He really twisted the situation to make himself out to be the victim, didn't he?" Gia looked angry. "He sure did. Where did he get off acting like the wronged one?" Nikolas didn't say anything.
Carly looks up and sees Ned walking into Kelly's. She excuses herself and walks over to Ned. When he spots her, he gets a wary look on his face. Carly smiles ingratiatingly. "Hello Ned. How are you?" Ned narrows his eyes. "What do you want Carly?"
Carly's smile falters abit, and she clears her throat. "Look, I know I'm not your favorite person, and I know you normally wouldn't give me the time of day. But I'm hoping you will for Jax's sake." Ned sighs. "Just what is it you're plotting against Jax?" Carly laughs like he was joking. "Nothing of course, its what I'm plotting with Jax. He's agreed to finance a new nightclub for me. I expect it to be open in time for New Year's Eve." Ned's eyebrows go up. "So Jax is helping you out. That's a new one. So what do you want from me?" Carly smiles again. "Well, like I said I doubt you would ever do me a favor, but since it would benefit your close friend Jax, I figure you might hear me out." Ned sighs again. "Just spill it Carly." "Well, the grand opening of the club wouldn't be complete of course without some first rate entertainment. I thought it would be perfect if I could get someone to sing a song for the guests, someone that would bring down the house."
Ned rubbed the back of his neck. "Carly, I have no desire whatsoever to perform on stage, even as a favor for Jax." Carly smiled condescendingly. "I wasn't talking about you. I'm looking for a woman. Someone who could belt out a torch song, you know what I mean? I know you mostly handle rock stars, but there was that one time you worked with Brenda Barrett. I was hoping you knew of a beautiful young lady with a fabulous voice who might be interested in performing at my club."
Ned frowned thoughtfully. He immediately thought of Kristina. Would she be interested? She had already agreed to make a few recordings at the studio. How would she feel about performing live? Carly smiled encouragingly. "I can see your wheels turning. That means you know someone. Am I right?" Ned winced. "Ah.Carly, please don't push it. I do know someone like you describe, but I don't know yet if she'd be interested. Let me talk to her and feel her out." Carly looked eager, like she wanted to extract the woman's name from his brain so she could make her pitch directly. But Ned's face was set in stone, so she decided to take his advice and not push. "I appreciate this so much Ned. Please let me know as soon as you can. Here's my card." Ned paused before taking her card. Carly had business cards?
Gia said to Nikolas, "You know, I was just thinking. Knowing Carly, I'm betting that her club will be the hottest place to be seen. And I'm also betting that it will be the hottest place to book for special occasions. Such as engagement parties." Nikolas frowned at her. "But we're already planning to have the party at Wyndemere." Gia sighed. "Nikolas, I think Wyndemere is a wonderful, majestic place. Truly I do. But it just isnt very.well I just don't think that it has what you might call a celebratory atmosphere." Nikolas's lips quirked. "You mean you don't think the gargoyles are.um.jolly?" Gia laughed. "Lets just say they inspire fear, not cheer. I think the Cassadine Prince and the Face of Deception should have their engagement party at the most happening place in town. And I think that place will be Carly's club." "Well, you know, it hasn't even opened yet. This means we would have to postpone the event." Gia shrugged. "That's okay. The engagement will be a long one, so its not necessary to have the party right away. Besides, it will give the gossips a chance to work themselves into a frenzy."
Nikolas groaned. "Just how long of an engagement are you thinking, Gia?" "I told you, it takes at least a year to plan a wedding like the one I want." Nik rolled his eyes, then smiled indulgently. "Maybe my little brother will beat me to the altar after all." Gia raised one eyebrow. "If Elizabeth ever gets back to town, maybe. But what does this have to do with him? Are you having some sort of contest? Is that why you asked me to marry you, because little brother had the gall to get engaged first?" Nik laughed. "You have to be one of the most paranoid people on earth. You aren't related to Luke by chance are you?" Gia laughed with him. "Don't ever say stuff like that. Especially not in front of Taggert. Luke's not one of his favorite people." "Yeah, well at least I didn't suggest you were related to Sonny Corinthos."
Pine Valley, Jake's penthouse
Greenlee burst through the door and saw Jake packing his suitcase. "So the rumor I heard is true. You're leaving me!" Jake raised one eyebrow. "Leaving you, Greenlee? In order to leave you I would have to be with you in the first place, right?" Greenlee sighed and ignored the question. "You can't go! What about your family? What about your friends? I thought you loved Pine Valley!" Jake laughed. "Yes I do, but I don't think the city will crumble if I am gone a few weeks." Greenlee frowned and slumped down on the couch. "A few weeks? I thought you were leaving for good. That you had taken a job in another city." Jake rolled his eyes. "Typical rumor, developing a life on its own. For the record, Greenlee, I am taking a job in another city." Greenlee leaped up and grabbed his arm. "Its all my fault isnt it? I broke your heart by accepting Leo's marriage proposal! Oh Jake don't go! You mean so much to me! You are my best friend, I couldn't stand it if you left me!" Jake pulled her hand off his arm and grasped her shoulders. "Greenlee would you cut the dramatics for just one second. I'm not leaving for good. I do have a job, but it is a consulting job. Which means it is temporary. I will be back." He let go of her shoulders. "And this has nothing to do with you and Leo. I knew all along that you still loved him. I knew that given the chance you would go back to him. And that is exactly what happened. We are both adults. We had a nice time together, while it lasted, now it is time to move on."
Greenlee narrowed her eyes. "Move on? Is that what you plan to do? Is it so easy to forget about me? Is it so easy to shrug me off, pretend that what we had didn't matter?" Jake slammed his suitcase shut. "What is your problem? You are allowed to go through life, making whatever choices you want, moving on to something new. But you refuse to accept others doing the same? You broke your engagement to Leo, but then when he moved on to someone else you couldn't let it go. Yes, you were right that he made a huge mistake by marrying Laura. The whole thing was a disaster, just as you predicted. But even if it wasn't, even if it had turned out to be the best choice he ever made, you wouldn't have been able to handle it. You would have still stuck your nose in until you got him back. Now that you have gotten him back, you can't be content with letting me move on with my life. Face it Greenlee, the world does not fall prostrate at your feet and remain there. You have made your choice, now walk away and don't look back. Please." Greenlee stood there, speechless. Her huge brown eyes pleaded with him to understand. To hold her. To love her. But he was right. She had chosen Leo. It wasn't fair to Jake. She sighed. "Oh, Jake. I'm so sorry. You and I both knew that my feelings for Leo would get in the way, yet we plowed on anyway. I didn't want to hurt you." Jake caressed her cheek. "I have no regrets, Greenlee. I will never forget our time together. I just need to get away for a little while. But I will be back, and maybe we can still be friends. Just not as close as before. Okay." She smiled tremulously and nodded. Then walked out the door.
