CHAPTER 29

'Carly, I…' he stopped, gripping her a little harder. 'What's wrong?' She was suddenly blinking and shaking her head. 'Are you okay?'

Carly blinked again. 'A little headache.' She placed a hand to her head.

'Do you need to sit down?' he asked, concerned.

'I'm fine.' Carly focused her eyes on him. 'Now, you were saying?'

They both jerked at the ringing coming from his jeans pocket.

'Damn it!' Bo exclaimed savagely. Carly winced at his swearing.

'Sorry…' one arm remaining round her shoulders; he pulled out the offending phone. 'What the hell…?' he frowned, staring at the caller ID.

'Who is it?'

'Victor. Why the hell is he calling me now?'

Scowling, he pressed the answer button. 'This better be important.'

'It is important,' Victor's impassive voice replied. 'I need to see you.'

Bo sighed, exasperated. 'Fine; I'll stopped by tomorrow.'

'It has to be tonight.' Victor said sharply.

'Stop talking to me like I'm one of your lackeys!' Bo snapped crossly, letting go of Carly.

'It's imperative we meet tonight, Bo- it concerns Olivia.'

Bo stiffened. 'What? What are you talking about?'

'I can't discuss this over the phone; get over here now please.' He paused for a bit then added, 'and bring Roman with you, I assume he's at the party as well.'

'Yeah but...' CLICK. Victor had hung up.

Carly stared at Bo as he slipped the phone back into his pocket. 'What does Victor want with you?'

Bo shook his head, bewildered. 'He wants to see me urgently, told me to bring Roman.'

'A police matter?'

Bo looked at her. 'He just said it concerned Olivia.'

Carly grabbed his arm. 'What? What else did he tell you, Bo?!'

'Calm down, we'll find out once we get there...' he soothed.

'What could he possibly have to say about...?' Carly stumbled and Bo caught her before she could hit the floor.

'Princess! What's wrong?' Bo exclaimed, scared. Her face suddenly looked pale and sweaty and her eyes were closing.

'My head's pounding... and my eyes hurt.' she mumbled.

Slipping his arm under her legs, he lifted her and carried her back to the living room.

'What happened?' Olivia exclaimed, running to them. Everyone gathered round.

'Everybody- stand back,' Kayla instructed, going into doctor mode as Bo placed Carly on the couch, slipping a cushion behind her head. The family looked at Carly anxiously.

'Did she faint?' Frankie demanded.

'No, she suddenly complained her head was hurting... and her eyes as well.'

Kayla placed a hand to Carly's temple. 'Might be a migraine but she's not burning up. Is this the first time it's happened, Carly?'

She nodded.

'I'll give you some painkillers now but if it goes on I'll run some tests...'

'I'm sure it's nothing serious, I'll be fine in the morning.' Carly said, trying to smile.

Bo pulled his brother aside and relayed Victor's message.

'And he didn't tell you what it was?' asked Roman.

'No, and we might as well go see what it is. Shawn...'

Shawn Douglas went up to his father who briefly explained.

'Why now?' he asked, astonished. Caroline, overhearing, appeared at his elbow.

'Why does he want to see you tonight? What's this about?'

Bo glanced at Roman who shrugged. He turned back to them. 'Victor said he has to see us about something that has to do with Olivia.'

'What could it be about?' Caroline demanded.

'That's what we're going to find out.'

'I'm coming too.' Shawn Douglas said firmly. 'I'll go get my jacket.'

'Mum, explain things to everyone and please tell Carly not to worry.'

'Yes, yes... go!'

::::::::::::::::::::::::

Victor was waiting at the foyer and looked very disturbed to see Shawn Douglas. 'You didn't have to bring Shawn Douglas along, I only asked for you two.'

'Olivia's his sister; more than enough reason for him to be here. Now spit it out!' Bo snapped, irritably. 'What the hell's going on?'

Victor glared at him for a minute. 'Listen, I didn't let her know I was calling you; I felt it was best you heard her out yourselves...'

'Who?' Roman asked, impatiently. Sighing, Victor turned to the living room, the men following.

'WHAT?' Bo barked, flabbergasted the sight of the apprehensive woman seated on the couch. Roman was speechless.

'You!' Shawn Douglas yelled, outraged. Vivian sprang from the couch to cower behind Victor. 'The hell's that bitch doing here?'

'Exactly what I was about to ask.' Roman said, the icy cold tone making his drawl ominous; eyes not leaving Vivian's face. She bit her lip.

'For heaven's sake, Vivian!' snapped Victor, grabbing her arm and pushing her back onto the couch. 'No one's about to attack you here.' Vivian kept her head down, wringing her hands.

'I can't believe you have the audacity to set foot back into my town after what you did to Carly; I have every reason to rip your throat out!' Bo took a few steps forward, his face as hard as granite. Victor blocked his way. 'If you can't control yourself Bo, I'll have to ask you leave.'

'Control be damned!' Roman said, completely disgusted. 'We all know you don't give a shit about Carly but this is way too much, even for you! What are you now, Vivian's fucking advocate? What stops us from arresting her right now?'

'You don't have a warrant to arrest her and you know it.' Victor's face was impassive.

'Omar Naveen has written testimonies from Ivan Marais and the herbalist...'

'And she tried to kill grandma!' Shawn Douglas snapped, glaring at Vivian. 'I bet she didn't tell you that part!'

'I called you here to listen to what Vivian told me, not get involved in a screaming match with you!' Victor said sharply.

'She buried Carly alive, sat back and watched we all mourn her; I never got to see our daughter being born...' Bo's voice went up several decibels, his face red with fury, 'and you're telling me to listen to what she has to say?'

'This is absolute bullshit!' Shawn Douglas spat. 'Just what the hell does she have to say to us now?'

Roman placed a placating hand on his nephew's shoulder. 'Might as well hear it... and then take the necessary course of action afterwards.'

::::::::::::::::::

'I had fun tonight, and it was nice seeing you again.' Nathan said as Olivia walked him to his car.

'Well, I'm glad you were able to stay; you always seem to be so busy and all.'

Nathan laughed, shrugging. 'Yeah, well... a doctor's lot...' he smiled at her, wishing they were at the stage when he could pull her into his arms and cover her with kisses. He suddenly wondered if she's ever been kissed before.

'Would you like to go out with me sometime?' he asked, finally taking the plunge.

Olivia raised an eyebrow. 'Go out with you?'

'Yeah, a date. I know a great place here that serve excellent food, ambience's great too.'

Olivia smiled. 'Sounds lovely. So when?'

'When next I'm free, after New Year's Day. I'll call to tell you what time I'll pick you up.'

'I'll be expecting you then,' Olivia held out her hand and they shook hands. She stood back, waving as he drove off. He was good looking and rather sweet, and unlike E.J DiMera, she'd gotten a good vibe from him.

She frowned. Not strictly true; until Shawn Douglas and Grandy told her otherwise, she'd found the man very attractive. But, experience has taught her to look beyond a smile- a person could be terribly handsome and beautiful on the outside, yet be terribly ugly and evil inside. Just like the character in a book she'd read as a child, The Picture of Dorian Gray. And just like the man she'd called father. She'd do well to remember that from now on.

Turning, she walked back to the house, and then stopped. A small box rested on the edge of the step, wrapped in silver paper, a card taped to it bore her name in black ink. She hadn't noticed it when seeing Nathan off.

Picking it up, she shook it warily. Deeming it safe, she took it inside.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::;

'Hello, dear. Where've you been?' asked Maggie as Nathan entered the kitchen.

'At Gram's- she asked me to deliver something at Dr. Manning's house and I was invited to stay for the party.'

'Oh, Carly was hosting a party?' Maggie raised an eyebrow.

'Yeah, just dinner and exchanging presents... Olivia played the violin afterwards...' he grinned, unable to help himself.

Maggie looked at her grandson carefully. 'You like Olivia a lot, don't you?'

Nathan only smiled wider, and then stopped. 'Why are you looking like that?'

Maggie was frowning.

'Grandma,' Nathan got up from the counter. 'What's wrong?'

Maggie shook her head. 'I don't think it's a good idea for you to get involved with Olivia Alamain... at least not at the moment.'

'Why not?' Nathan demanded. 'You think she's out of my league or too young...'

'No, it's not that. If Hope finds out...'

'What's it got to do with Hope?' Nathan snapped. 'She can't tell me who and who not to date!'

Maggie shook her head again and took his hand. 'Honey, Hope resents Olivia and Carly; more so now that she and Bo are in the middle of the divorce...'

'She and Bo are actually getting the divorce?' Nathan asked, surprised. 'I didn't think she'd actually go through with it.'

'Neither did I. But Bo insisted and right now she blames Carly for his decision. It will make things worse if she finds out you're considering dating their daughter.'

'I'm in love with Olivia and Dr. Manning has nothing to do with Bo's decision to walk out of a marriage already on the rocks before she ever came back!' Nathan said angrily. 'Why can't Hope see that?'

Maggie's face was set in a scowl that said it all. 'Oh, my God... you blame her too! I don't believe this!'

'She and Bo have always been able to work out their problems, if Carly didn't make a move on Bo...'

'How do you know she did? Doesn't it occur to you that Bo wants to move on with his life at long last? Hope left him, for heaven's sake! And you said yourself that Bo loved Carly very much!'

'But he loved Hope as well; they've been married for so long; they have Ciara to consider!' Maggie argued stubbornly. 'He needs to think about that!'

'Hope should have thought about that before she left town with Ciara in the first place! If doing that and then filing for a divorce was a ruse to call Bo to heel; it didn't work. If I were in his shoes, I'd want out myself!' Nathan snapped.

'Hope needed time to think!' Maggie protested.

'Hope is a spoilt brat!' Nathan shouted, finally losing his temper. 'As far as I'm concerned, Bo's way too good for her; always making excuses for her, always allowing her to make him feel guilty!'

'Keep your voice down!'

'I'm doing no such thing; it's time to stop making allowances for her; she's a grown woman! She made her choice, she and nobody has the right to hold Bo hostage by using guilt- he has no reason to feel guilty at all! And I cannot believe you actually think Carly's to blame!'

'I'm not saying she's to blame!' Maggie denied hotly. 'I just feel that if Carly hadn't probably given Bo some encouragement...'

'She's the woman Bo wants, he doesn't need any encouragement,' was the cold reply. 'If you think he and that cousin of mine can find their way back to each other again, you're mistaken.'

'How could you possibly say such a thing?'

'Because I saw Bo kissing Carly in her kitchen and trust me, the way they were at it, I don't think he was thinking about Hope at all.' Nathan said bluntly. 'Face it, he's moved on.'

Maggie bit her lip, looking over his shoulder. Turning, he saw Hope standing at the door leading to the landing, white in the face.