A/N: Thank you for taking time to comment Erin, Guest, Cheryl, Caranath, Max, cameron1812, and Red! I really appreciate it. Also, I should also warn you that this isn't a short story. I felt like this situation was so complicated and wrought with ever-changing emotions, that I couldn't be trite and wrap it all up nice and neat with a pretty red bow very easily. So, if you need a summer beach read...lol. Anyway, thanks to everyone reading!

Chapter 11

Iola glanced down at her phone, which had been buzzing non-stop since the interview ended. Joe was texting her.

Are you okay? I'm worried about you.

Iola quickly texted back. I'm fine. Really. Don't worry about me.

Joe's reply was almost immediate. Impossible.

Iola smiled. I'm not finished here, but I'll talk to you when I get home tomorrow. And thanks for caring. It means a lot.

I never stopped caring, was Joe's reply.

Iola texted him back a smiley face, slid her phone back into her purse, and turned as the producer approached her.

"You did an incredible job, Miss Morton," the producer said. "Have you been on the air before?"

Iola laughed. "Well, there was that one time when I was Bayport's 'Apple Blossom Queen', but I'm pretty sure that doesn't count."

"Then you're a natural. And that is rare indeed." The producer moved closer so that Iola could see his clipboard. "After your interview on Daybreak tomorrow morning, I'd like you to stay on set for the next segment. It's a fun piece on autumn parties and activities, and I think you'd be good at that."

Iola felt alarm. "What would I have to do?"

"Chat with the host and the guest. Ask a question or two. Try the food."

"Eat on the air?" Iola was horrified. She would be wearing the food by the end of the segment, she was sure.

The producer laughed. "Just a bite or two. You'll be great. Like I said, you're a natural. I think you might have a future with us."

He walked away and Iola stood, trying to process what had just happened. Was this an audition? For Daybreak?

Maybe her life really was headed in the right direction.

OOOoooOOO

Callie had left Vanessa about a half hour after Conversation with America had ended. She thought Vanessa was feeling better about everything, but she couldn't be sure. Either way, she was going to stay out of it. She'd learned from experience that getting in the middle of other people's relationship problems was a sure way to make things worse.

As she drove down Main Street, she saw the lights were still on at Hardy Investigations. She pulled her car in front of the building, and dialed Frank's phone.

"Hey, I'm outside," she said, when he answered.

In a moment, the front door opened, and Frank stood there waiting for her.

Callie couldn't help smiling as she got out of her car and hurried over to him. He was so handsome. So sweet. So….everything. And he was hers. She brushed past him as he held the door for her, and then turned and threw her arms around his neck.

"I missed you," she breathed.

"I missed you, too," Frank said. "It's been a long time since lunch."

Callie gave him a gentle shove. "I'm serious. I just came from Vanessa's, and that interview was really hard for her to watch. I think there may be some difficult times ahead for her and Joe."

"Why was it hard for Vanessa?"

"She didn't know about Joe and Iola," Callie said. "I guess he forgot to mention the sex to her. Or worse, he told her he hadn't slept with Iola. I'm not sure."

Frank winced and reached for his phone. "Joe just left here about five minutes ago. Should I warn him?"

"We should probably stay out of it," Callie said. "I doubt we'll be able to help matters. This whole situation is something they're going to have to work out for themselves. Although I did try to smooth things over a bit for Joe before I left."

"That was good of you," Frank said. "Let's just hope Joe's teenage stupidity doesn't come back to bite him now."

"Yeah," Callie said. "And all of this has made me realize how lucky I am to have you."

"You mean because I have no dead girlfriends who might come back to life in the near future?" Frank said with a laugh.

"No." Callie slid her fingers into his hair and pulled him close. "Just because you're you, and I'm so grateful for that."

Frank bent his head toward hers and kissed her. Callie couldn't help the small sigh of pleasure that escaped her. Frank's kisses always made her feel slightly dizzy and weak in the knees, ever since their first kiss on her front porch after their sophomore dance. And in seven years, nothing had changed.

They stood together, just inside the main door to the office, kissing each other slowly and leisurely, until Callie heard someone clearing their throat. She looked up to see Fenton standing there, smiling.

Callie felt her face flush, and she hastily stepped away from Frank.

"Sorry, but you're blocking the door," Fenton said with a grin.

"Are you leaving now, Dad?" Frank asked. "Have you heard anything from the feds?"

"They're monitoring the situation. It's early morning in Rei Ta Viti, so we don't know if anyone in the palace has seen the interview yet. Young and Castellano are waiting to hear from their contacts on the ground there," Fenton explained. "If there's an emergency, they'll phone me."

Frank nodded. "So we meet here tomorrow morning?"

"Yes. Iola will be on the air again sometime after seven AM. Then we'll wait to hear from the feds regarding our next move." Fenton moved toward the door. "Hopefully the publicity ends this whole nightmare for Iola tonight."

"It has to," Callie said, unable to hide the distress in her voice.

Fenton reached out and touched her shoulder. "We are going to do our damnedest to make sure it does."

OOOoooOOO

Joe pulled his car into his assigned parking space at the condo and got out. He was still furious over what had happened to Iola on the air tonight. On top of everything she'd been through, they had to broadcast her sex life on national television. It was a total invasion of her privacy, and no matter what she'd said to him, she couldn't possibly be fine with it.

Joe approached the door to his condo, unlocked it, and walked inside. The smell of Chinese food wafted through the air. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until now. He spotted Vanessa sitting on the couch, staring at the television. Joe smiled at her, but she didn't return it. He stopped.

"Is everything okay?"

"Not really," Vanessa said. "Callie and I watched Iola's interview tonight."

Joe sighed. "Yeah, I can't believe what that reporter did to her. What a jerk."

Vanessa leapt to her feet. "You can't believe what the reporter did to her? What about what you did to me?"

Joe had no idea what Vanessa was talking about. But she looked steamed. So it must have been something bad. Had he forgotten some obscure anniversary? Like the night of their first official date or something like that? Maybe her birthday? No, her birthday wasn't for six months. He had no clue. He was going to have to bite the bullet.

"You'll have to help me out here, Van," Joe said. "What did I do to you?"

Vanessa stared at him, an incredulous look on her face. "You really have no idea, do you?"

"I said I didn't. Maybe you could enlighten me." Joe crossed his arms in front of him in a defensive posture. He had a feeling he was about to be chewed out.

"You told me that you and Iola had never had sex." Vanessa moved to stand in front of him. "You lied to me."

Oh, shit. Had he really said that? He didn't think so. He couldn't imagine telling her an outright lie like that, but he just couldn't remember. He sighed. Well, he'd be honest now. It was the safest route.

"I'm sorry if I did," Joe said, reaching for her. "I honestly don't remember."

Vanessa jumped away from him like he was poison.

"You don't remember?" Her voice was a hoarse whisper.

"I don't. I'm sorry. It was a long time ago," Joe tried to explain.

Vanessa's eyes filled with tears. "You don't remember talking about the first time we planned on making love?"

Well, dammit, no. He didn't. But he sure as hell wasn't going to say that. This was a girl thing obviously, and he was clueless on how to proceed next.

"I remember the first time, of course," Joe said, pausing to see how that went. When she didn't lash out, he continued. "I just don't remember the conversation. But I promise, I wasn't thinking about Iola at the time."

He added that for good measure. She was obviously feeling insecure about the whole thing.

"And you weren't thinking about me, either," Vanessa said, her voice still filled with hurt. "Because if you had been thinking about me and the future of our relationship, you would have been honest with me from the start."

And then you wouldn't have slept with me, Joe thought. Vanessa had clearly never been an eighteen year old boy.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Joe said, thinking he'd better start groveling. "I was a kid. You're right, I wasn't thinking. But that has no bearing on our life together now."

Vanessa was teary-eyed again. "But it does, Joe. Don't you see? Our whole relationship is built on a lie."

Joe sighed. This was ridiculous, and he was in no mood for it. He'd had a horrible day. He was exhausted, hungry, and worn out. He had no strength to get into an argument over something that had happened three years ago. Something of which he had no memory.

"Look, Vanessa, this obviously hurt you, and I'm truly sorry for that. If I told you I hadn't slept with Iola, it was to spare your feelings. I thought Iola was dead, so what did it matter if I'd slept with her or not? I really don't see the problem here."

"No, of course you don't," Vanessa said. "Because starting a physical relationship with me didn't mean anything to you. I was just another notch in your belt, wasn't I?"

Joe refrained from rolling his eyes, but just barely. Now he was annoyed. What was the point of all this? He'd been an ass, and he'd apologized. Nothing new.

"Vanessa, I said I was sorry. But you know yourself that Iola wasn't the only woman I'd slept with before I met you. Why aren't you freaking out about them?"

Vanessa's voice went deadly calm. "First of all, I am not freaking out. Second of all, you weren't in love with any of those women. You were only using them to try and dull your pain."

"And that's not worse?" Joe seriously did not understand women.

"No. Being in love with Iola…wait, let me quote her…"we were very much in love", is infinitely worse. You lied about sleeping with her, Joe, because having sex with her meant something to you."

Joe's head was spinning and now he was pissed. He couldn't say anything right at this point. So, if Vanessa wanted to fight over something this idiotic, then fine. He'd start a fight. Maybe then she'd stop speaking to him for the night, and his head would finally stop pounding.

"Vanessa, you are overreacting, and you need to calm down and think rationally about this. You're upset over something that happened years ago. If you want to be upset, then you should be upset for Iola. She just had the intimate details of her sex life spewed over national TV. If anyone has a right to be hurt and upset, it's her. Not you. This is not about you. Not even close."

Vanessa's mouth dropped opened in shock, and she turned and stormed out of the living room.

Joe turned and went to the kitchen.

Hopefully there was still some Chinese food left in the fridge.

OOOoooOOO

Vanessa was hurt and furious all at the same time. Calm down? This isn't about you? Joe was taking Iola's side over hers, and that stung. Iola's feelings were obviously more important to him.

Vanessa plopped down on the edge of her bed, hot, angry tears running down her face. Couldn't Joe see how upset she was that he'd avoided telling her about him and Iola? And worse, that he didn't even remember anything about it?

The fear that had gripped Vanessa's heart when she'd first learned that Iola was alive hadn't been unfounded. Iola was going to be a threat to her and Joe's future together.

And Vanessa didn't know how to stop it.

OOOoooOOO

Joe heated up the rest of the Chinese food that had been left in the refrigerator. He brought his plate over to the kitchen table and sighed. He really didn't understand Vanessa at the moment. She seemed so insecure, and that was not who she was. Vanessa was sassy and sarcastic. She was bold, and she didn't take crap from anyone. But now…

He was sure all of this was his fault somehow, but Joe had never been very good at picking up nuances from women. He wasn't the sensitive type, and more than once he'd been accused by the opposite sex of not being "attuned to their needs." He wasn't even sure what that meant.

He was great at apologies, and he was always willing to admit he was wrong…even if he felt that he wasn't. But he really sucked at figuring out what was going wrong before the train derailed. Which apparently it had just done.

Joe was torn. He wasn't going to ignore Iola. She needed him, and he had been assigned to her case. It was his job. He was smart enough to know that what had happened to her tonight was going to affect her. And he wasn't going to let her face it alone, especially since he was the other party involved.

He was also struggling with his feelings for Iola. They were still there, and he didn't know what to do about them. When he was around her and she smiled at him, his head started to spin, and his knees went weak. He'd missed her so much.

And then Vanessa would flash into his head, and the guilt he felt was overwhelming. He loved Vanessa. He truly did.

But he was terrified that he still loved Iola, too.