Alexis stood next to a man in an elevator that she barely knew. He'd just given her an alibi to avoid being hauled off by two security guards to be questioned about an assault with a deadly weapon that she had indeed committed.
It had mostly been in self-defense but because the whole idea of the party in the town's most renowned hotel ticked her off. Human trafficking and prostitution in the midst of Pt. Charles society. And if it was true that Sonny had his mark on it, well she'd deal with him later.
In the meantime, she had to deal with media mogul Derek Wells who had just lied for her and she didn't know why. She knew his motive for doing it had to be much more than nailing some time with her for an interview. After all, that was just going to be a few inches of fluff buried inside a publication with her trying to come up with clever answers to inane questions.
Right now, she was riding with him in the express elevator up to a suite that he had on the top floor of the high-rise.
He looked at her, a smile on his face, and his eyes sparkling but he said nothing…just looked with his hands at his side, no sign of tension.
Unlike her, because she felt like a tightly coiled spring, not knowing what awaited her, what he would do when they stepped over the threshold into the suite and he closed the door behind them. It had nothing to do with him after all but it annoyed her anyway. She was a woman, a Cassadine who had survived being born and raised in a pit of vipers.
Then she felt a lurch as the elevator stopped and she gazed around.
"Why are we stopping?"
He tilted his head studying her carefully.
"I don't know.…"
"Did you try the buttons?"
He started pressing different ones but naturally nothing happened. The elevator light which read the 10th floor blinked.
"I think we're stuck between two floors."
Alexis threw her hands up in the air.
"That's just great. Isn't there a call button…or phone somewhere?"
He looked around and then glanced up at her.
"Call phone is locked," he said, "but I'll try this button…"
He pressed it and tried alerting whoever might be listening on the other end but after several attempts no one answered.
She folded her arms as he looked back at her.
"No one's home. I guess we'll just have to wait this out until someone can help us or it gets fixed."
She nodded, backing against one of the steel walls.
"I suppose it could be worse…"
He leaned against the opposite wall.
"Getting stuck in an elevator's not the worst thing that could happen."
Her face lightened.
"I know that but it could have been worse. I could have been stuck inside one with Sonny Corinthoes. You know him?"
Derek pursed his lips.
"I've heard of him…"
Alexis continued, her eyes still scanning the elevator looking for a way out that didn't involve ruining her dress.
"Yeah well he's claustrophobic, doesn't like confined spaces and he got stuck in the GH elevator once and I could hear his ranting and yelling in the lobby 10 floors below."
Derek grimaced.
"Then I guess it could be a lot worse. I'm not worried about being confined in small spaces."
She smiled.
"That's a relief. But I hope it doesn't take long for them to get us out of here. What happened? Did they have a power outage?"
"I don't think so. Lights are working on here and they didn't even flicker. Probably a shorted wire."
She sighed as she looked around the confines of the elevator. Like Sonny, she wasn't a fan of confined spaces. She knew all about being locked in closets as a child but she didn't let it run her life. Sometimes…no most of the time Sonny could be such a drama queen.
Derek? He looked completely calm, even as if he were within his element. He took off his jacket and draped it over a railing.
"So how long do you think we'll be trapped here?"
He shrugged.
"Not too long if it's isolated to the elevator. Longer if it's the entire building or the city."
She smiled at him, feeling more relaxed.
"Well, then let's make ourselves comfortable until we do get rescued."
She sat on the floor, her back against the wall, closing her eyes. She did feel a whole lot better.
In the lobby, chaos erupted. Carly and Brenda had bumped into each other again and within seconds were rolling on the floor tearing at each other's hair and clothing. Someone yelled nearby.
"Cat fight…"
That attracted a crowd and soon security guards were trying to push people back while the two women tussled on the floor. Carly had several inches and some pounds on Brenda but Brenda had just gotten a manicure and her fingernails proved dangerous. Sonny of course stood on the sidelines thoroughly enjoying his wife and ex-girlfriend fighting over him. Liz clutched Ric who had retrieved her from her conversation with Nikolas and had her standing by his side.
Sam walked up to Ric.
"Isn't Brenda your date and you're just standing there getting off on what's happening?"
Ric just smiled.
"Yes that's true. She is my date but she's always had a mind of her own and if this is what she wants to do I can't stop her.
Sam just shook her head, knowing Ric was so like his older brother in many ways.
"Typical…"
She knew she had to find Jason because if Lucky wasn't here then the paths of the two men might have crossed. Lucky had been hitting the liquor pretty hard and with whatever else he might be taking…Jason could be in trouble. So Sam went off looking for him, leaving the rest of the guests to watch the spectacle taking place in front of them.
Ava entered into the suite and sat in the chaise waiting for her prospective buyer to walk into the room. The décor was contemporary, tasteful and yet Ava's own sense of artistic flavor would have gone in a different direction.
She knew that this buyer wanted to purchase some of Franco's work but she hadn't explained why. Now Ava was as soft on Franco as she'd ever be on a guy but she didn't think he was the most talented of her growing stable of artists. Not to mention he had been moonlighting in areas he wouldn't divulge to her. But judging by the many bodies that had turned up…altered in the So Ho district where he lived, she could only guess that it was possible that he might also be the serial killer who eluded authorities.
After all he was quite secretive when he wasn't at the gallery and sometimes impossible to reach on the phone, but murdering women…that would be more difficult to believe.
Suddenly a woman walked into the room. She was an older woman, distinguished in her choice of attire and her face partially covered by a veil.
Ava's eyes widened.
"Are you….?"
The woman didn't smile, even as she lifted her veil off of her face.
"Yes, I'm Helena Cassadine."
Ava nearly froze in her seat. She'd heard all kinds of stories about the infamous Helena but she thought she'd died not too long ago.
"I thought you…"
Helena sneered.
"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."
Ava regained her composure. After all there was money to be made here.
"I see…well if you got in touch with me, you must be interested in paintings by the artist called Franco."
Helena sat down in a chair opposite of her.
"Yes I am. One in particular. It's a landscape of the Parthenon in Athens, surely you know of it."
Ava blinked at her in confusion.
"Yes I do…but it is but one of Franco's minor works. He doesn't specialize in landscapes."
Helena waved her hands.
"Yes I know but this is the painting of his that I'm most interested in buying. Is it available for sale?"
Ava still felt puzzled but she recognized the look in Helena's face.
"Well…yes I believe it's still for sale. We can negotiate a price in case other buyers are interested in it."
Helena narrowed her eyes.
"I want it and I'm willing to pay a much higher price for it than your other buyers."
Ava could see that in her voice. If she played her cards right she might get herself a good price on a painting that hadn't generated much buzz elsewhere.
"Okay it's just been appraised and I'm awaiting the value on it," she said, "If you want to wait, I can send you the price."
Helena looked bored.
"I'll pay for it right now. Why wait?"
Ava wondered why Helena was so interested in the painting. She knew that the Cassadines had a lot of disposable income but still…
She smiled back at Helena.
"I see you're quite interested in the painting."
Helena cut to the chase.
"I'll pay a half a million dollars," she said, "if you can deliver it to my suite by tomorrow afternoon."
Ava felt taken aback. Damn that was fast! She didn't even know if she could accomplish that. She still had to negotiate with Franco and he could be so…temperamental especially when in one of his moods.
"I don't know if that's possible," she said, "A couple of days maybe but…"
Helena interrupted.
"Tomorrow afternoon. I would imagine that since I'm sure the appraisal value will be quite a bit lower than my offer that would motivate you to accommodate my request."
Ava could count the money already even though it hadn't been wired yet into the account, but Franco he might view it differently.
"I'll see what I can do and get back to you," she said, "That's all I can promise you at this point in time."
Helena curled her lip.
"Amateurs, perhaps I should deal with Franco myself…"
Ava held up her hand.
"That won't be necessary. I'll contact him and see if he'll agree to it. I'm sure he will. He's got bills to pay like the rest of us do."
Helena didn't look appeased by that. But Ava didn't know what else she could do. She knew that for whatever reason Helena badly wanted the painting. She just didn't know why.
Derek and Alexis sat on opposite sides of the elevator as they had for the past half hour with no signs of rescue in sight.
She tried to make light of it.
"I'm sure we're being spared any drama that's taking place downstairs."
He stroked his jaw line with his thumb, his eyes never leaving her.
"I'm sure…well why we're trapped in here, maybe we could do that interview."
She thought about it. God knew when they'd be sprung from this trap so might as well keep her mind occupied on other things.
"Okay…I agree to that. Ask away."
He paused and then smiled at her.
"I know most of the basics in your bio already," he said, "Your professional accomplishments and your personal history. You were married once…"
She smiled widely.
"Yes I was, to Jasper Jacks. My date tonight. I hope he's not worried about me."
Derek digested that information.
"But you're divorced…"
She nodded.
"The marriage…it was a business arrangement to help out a mutual friend," she said, "I'd never marry for love."
Derek frowned.
"Why not?"
She shrugged.
"Love…infatuation really doesn't last. Marriages are built to last so it makes sense to me to base them on something else besides love."
Derek paused for a long moment.
"I see…so you and Jasper Jax married to help a friend and then later divorced."
She nodded.
"Yes we did but it was amicable. He's my very best friend," she said, "I'd do anything for him."
Derek drew in a deep breath, exhaling it. Her curiosity sparked.
"What about you? You ever been married?"
He shook his head.
"I've never met anyone I'd marry," he said, "Except back while I was in grad school in New York. I met a bright, pretty young woman there and well, I thought about marrying her but my father didn't approve."
She tilted her face.
"You needed his approval?"
He felt defensive.
"Well yes…you see he was in charge of the family business and I wanted him to be proud of me and that meant doing what he wanted."
"Even over your own wishes?"
He paused looking down at his hands.
"Sometimes…isn't that what all children face with their parents?"
She studied his face which awaited her answer.
"Not all children…I didn't know my parents or who they were for most of my life," she said, "A friend set me straight on some things not long ago…but it wouldn't change the way I lived my life."
"I see...you became a success anyway."
She shrugged.
"I learned not to live for their approval because I'd never get it," she said, "I was illegitimate anyway. So it didn't matter to them…"
"Didn't matter?"
She shook her head.
"My father didn't acknowledge me," she said, "and my mother died when I was very young. Too young to really remember much about her."
Derek narrowed his eyes.
"My father ran my whole life," he said, "What he wanted is what happened. But I never quite met his approval…"
At that point in his confessional, the lights went out leaving them in darkness.