Chapter 27

John is still sitting on the window sill, smoking another cigar. He has lost track of time. Hope left hours ago, and in the pitch black outside he can hear early morning birds starting to chirp. The chirping of the birds makes him realize that the night is nearly over, and that he had spent the entire night thinking.

Thinking about his life, thinking about his future, thinking about Stefano, and how Stefano betrayed him all those years ago, before he had the chance to be the betrayer by running off with Gina.

Thinking about what could have been, were it not for Stefano, or if Colleen didn't hide him from his father, and he grew up with his birthright. Would he have been more moral or less? Would he ever have met Gina, or what if he never met Stefano? Would he have became a force to be reckoned with, and competed with the Dimera empire, or would he have met a nice young girl and settled into a Roman-type suburban lifestyle?

The last part seems unlikely. If Stefano hadn't sent him to Salem as Roman, and he, as himself met Marlena on the street, would they ever have had a relationship? He doubts it. She is the exact opposite of what he wants out of life. She is secure and stable and moral and well, stuck. The type of person that the phrase "tied down" was invented for.

Then he gives a rueful laugh, but then again, the same can be said of Hope, and yet, without his moral filter, he finds it difficult to think of a reason not to try and seduce her… not just into his bed, but into freedom, away from this boring suburban existence.

If you take her out of this life, let her taste freedom and adventure, would she really want to return to it? That may very well be the reason she did the whole bounty-hunter gig a couple of years back, and apart from her modeling career, always end up returning to the force. Perhaps she craves the excitement? The danger?

He thinks back to the time they spend in the jungle with Stefano. What a waste of their precious time to save boring old Roman, and yet, it was fun, it was exciting, it was the first time he really got to know Hope, even after everything else they shared. They were stuck in the jungle, just the two of them against the natives and the wild and the elements, and he remembers the excitement in her eyes, mirrored in his soul… Yes, who knows if Hope would return to this stale environment if he can show her something more… The temptation is overwhelming.

Slowly he straightens his legs, muscles tight from the way he had been sitting the whole night, then he moves over to the couch he occupied with Hope earlier. As he looks at the spot she sat, he thinks back to a time, not so long ago, that he had her pinned on that very couch, just before they both rolled over onto the floor, feverish with passion.

Yes, the temptation is overwhelming.

He reaches over to the envelope on the coffee table. He feels certain that Stefano only hinted at some kind of, what? Blackmail type situation? Involving Marlena, hoping to drive a wedge between them. John rolls his eyes, wondering where the wedge is suppose to go when there is nothing to wedge it into.

Oh well, perhaps what is in here can be used in some way to further his own agenda?

"Let me get this straight." Hope states, hoping somehow that there has been some misunderstanding, then she glowers at Bo again, and repeats, "Let me get this straight. Your ex is moving in with us, into our house, our family's house, with you, me and Ciara?"

"Hope just calm down… Victor asked me to protect her, it is just until the danger is over…"

"Well, as I understand she killed the man she left you for, so when exactly will the danger be over? This month, next month, next year?"

"Hope, please, I need you to understand, you are a good person, surely you can find it in your heart to help Carly?"

Hope blinks, once, twice, then shakes her head to get rid of the roaring in her ears. She doesn't have the strength to deal with this as well, not with everything else going. How is she supposed to even consider telling Bo the truth about, well, what she suspects happened between her and John during those three weeks, with that… that.. hussy in their house?

"Please Hope, be the better person…"

Suddenly something in Hope snaps, and she throws down the empty cup she had been holding. Pieces fly all over the lounge.

"I am tired of being 'the better person" and I am tired of everyone always walking all over me. I've been turning my cheek for years… No Brady, this is not happening."

She grabs her bag, and slams the door on her way out.

As she pulls away, she realizes that she has no where to go, but to drive around aimlessly. Then as she nears the highway, she makes a split second decision. She has to get out of Salem, she has to clear her head, she must find a way to regroup, even if it is just to be calm enough to handle the situation better. Either way, she is not allowing her husband's ex to stay with them. She takes the on ramp to Los Angeles.