King stared at the photograph on his phone, his jaw slack. Then, he shut it, closed his phone, and tried to think of a stinging retort to send back to Vivi so she wouldn't think he was some sort of wuss who could give it out, but couldn't take it.

He thought and thought about how to reply, but couldn't think of anything. Then, it hit him: what if the best response was to just ignore her? He knew she was probably sitting somewhere, her phone gripped tightly in her hand, just waiting for a response from him showing how upset her message had made him. But he wasn't gonna give it to her. Let her be happy with her older, richer boyfriend. It wasn't like he didn't have anyone he could replace her with.

"How's Rebecca?" He asked his mother as he caught her on the way out of his room.

"She's doing better," Gwen replied. "That nice Eli boy saved her life when he gave her that blood."

"Yeah," King nodded. "Poindexter's not so bad after all."

"Are you all right?" Gwen asked him. "You seem upset."

"No, I'm not upset," King replied. "Vivi and I are just going through a rough patch right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Gwen replied and gave him a hug. "But what else can you expect when you model your relationship on romantic advice from your father?"

"Well, I mean, the two of you work out well enough," King replied. "So I didn't think there would be any harm."

"But you forget that I'm not a sixteen year old girl and have been through enough that I can deal with your father's nonsense without being truly hurt by it," Gwen reminded him. "Vivi is another story entirely."

"Well, you don't have to worry about her," King replied. "She's moved on and so have I."

"Already?" Gwen asked in surprise. "My goodness. Will you be all right, dear?"

"Yes, Mom," King replied. "I'll be fine."

"Well, if you're ever not, you can talk to me," Gwen replied. "It would be a much better idea than going to your father."

"Don't worry," King replied. "I'm never gonna ask Dad to help me with romantic problems ever again, since he's made it clear that he has no time for that sort of thing and that I should just figure it all out myself."

"Well, good luck," Gwen replied. "And please don't do anything stupid."

"I'll try not to," King promised her. "But unfortunately, that ship may have already sailed."


"So, this former boyfriend of yours," Viktor said to Vivi as they walked around. "What was he like? It's not too sensitive of an issue to talk about, I hope."

"Oh, no," Vivi said. "I can talk about it. I first met him when I was six years old, and even then, our relationship was a bit of a challenge. He was raised in a household where his father taught him that since he was a man, that made him the be-all and end-all of the universe. Now, that attitude is just not acceptable to me, because I want a real relationship, you know? I want to be loved and respected as an equal, and he's just got such a busy social schedule that he can't fit me in the way I want to be fit in, so I finally gave up after trying for so long and broke up with him. I bet he doesn't even care."

"Well, it's his loss," Viktor replied. "You seem like a very beautiful, intelligent, and wise young lady."

"Well thank you for saying so," Vivi replied. "You're very sweet." She paused. "You think you could go tell him that?"

"Well, even if I tried, he seems like he would be much too thickheaded to get the message," Viktor replied. "So why don't you just forget about him and stick with me for awhile?"

"Really?" Vivi asked in surprise. "I mean, are you sure I won't make you bored or something? I am a lot younger than you are."

Viktor chuckled when he heard this. "Well, if you're anything like your father, bored is the last thing I'll be. By the time I'm finished with you, that young man will rue the day he let you go. Do you trust me?"

Vivi smiled. "Use me, Pygmalion. For I am a block of clay for you to sculpt as you wish."

"So you read mythology?" Viktor asked.

Vivi nodded. "I read a little of that. Where are we going first?"


Amy's jaw dropped as Viktor led a more sophisticated-looking Vivi into her house after a day of shopping. Where previously she'd worn jeans and t-shirts, she now wore leather. Lots and lots of leather, along with stiletto boots that Amy was sure would make Vivi break her ankle.

"My god, what's happened to you?" Amy asked her daughter.

"I've decided to make a few changes in my life," Vivi told her mother. "And I'm starting with my look."

"Don't worry," Viktor assured Amy. "It's all part of a specific plan. I won't have her traipsing around the docks and going after strange men."

"Oh, it's not her going after men that I'm worried about," Amy replied. "It's men going after her."

"She won't dress like this always," Viktor replied. "Just to show a certain young man what he's missing."

"So she got you roped into this thing with King?" Amy sighed. "You know, that's really not something you should be encouraging."

"This'll be the last time," Vivi promised. "He'll see how hot I am and that I'm with Viktor, it will make him cry, and then I'll be content to leave it alone."

Amy shook her head. "This still worries me, but I can't do anything to stop it, can I?" She sighed and went to call Savannah and ask how her taking Mary to meet Susanna and Marcel had gone.

"Nope," Vivi said to her mother's retreating back. "Not really."

She and Viktor then left again to flaunt her new look in King's face. They found him at a cafe with one of his 'dates', and as Vivi strode in, she saw him staring at her out of the corner of his eye long enough that his date noticed and tried to recapture his attention.

"Did it work?" Viktor asked as they took a seat at a table. "Did he see you?"

"He did," Vivi laughed. "And his reaction was priceless. I could see him be like that for years!"

"That's not a problem," Viktor replied. "We can do this as long as you like."

"Really?" Vivi asked.

Viktor nodded, a smile on his lips as he finally noticed King's shocked and aroused expression, even from across the room. "Really. I'll even act as your boyfriend if you'd like."

"Why would you do all this for me?" Vivi asked. "We've only just met!"

"Are you nervous?" Viktor replied. "Do I scare you?"

"No," Vivi shook her head. "Do I scare you?"

"Definitely not," Viktor replied. "So...do we have a deal?"

"Yes," Vivi nodded and reached out to shake his hand. "We have a deal."

But instead of shaking her hand, he leaned forward and gave her a kiss in front of the whole restaurant, and everyone (even King) was looking. Vivi saw his face afterward and realized that at the moment, nothing was better than that.


In an attempt to cure Mikael's ongoing bad mood because of the presence of his former father-in-law, Regina came to visit him when she knew Dr. Vladimir would be present, and was very pleased when it was the good doctor who answered the door.

"I'm sorry if you were hoping to see your grandfather on the other end of the threshold," he apologized. "But he seems to have disappeared and I can't tell you where he went."

"Well, that's good," Regina replied. "Cause I was hoping to talk to you privately."

"You were?" Doctor Vladimir asked, his voice full of concern. "What about?"

"You're gonna think this is really dumb, but...I'm worried about Declan," Regina replied. "I mean, at one point, we were seeing each other every day. Then he just disappears on me without a word. Could you...could you tell me if he's all right? You do know where he is, don't you?"

"Oh, yes, I know where he is," Doctor Vladimir replied. "And I'm sorry if his sudden disappearance alarmed you. But you have to remember that the boy isn't quite right in the head. He was on the verge of having one of his attacks where he gets very violent, and I thought that having him around you when he's like that wouldn't be good, so I had him go away until he sufficiently recovered."

"Oh, all right," Regina nodded. "So he's...better now? Can I see him?"

"Of course," Doctor Vladimir replied. "I'll have him come visit you tonight. I promise."


With Doctor Vladimir's words in mind, Regina waited eagerly all day for Declan's arrival, and even into the night. But much to her disappointment, he never showed. She fell asleep thinking that perhaps he didn't love her anyway, and didn't see Declan and Doctor Vladimir sneak ito her room. "I told you I'd let you see her again," Doctor Vladimir whispered. "I would never lie to you, boy. Now, we have to get her out of here. Are you wearing your gloves? We don't want to hurt her before we can put her to good use."

"Yes, I'm wearing my gloves," Declan whispered. He then picked Regina up, tying her up with his magic to keep her restrained before following Doctor Vladimir out to his car, throwing Regina roughly into the trunk, which caused her to awaken and let out a scream at the sight of Declan's menacing figure. He slapped her to keep her quiet and she fell back onto the floor of the trunk. "Be silent!" He whispered.

"Declan?" Regina asked, able to hear the unique accent in his whisper. "Is that you?"

He slapped her again. "Be silent!" He repeated. "No speaking until we get where we're going!"

"And don't worry, dear," Doctor Vladimir added. "I'm sure you'll find it most comfortable, and us most hospitable hosts." Then, both Declan and the doctor burst into laughter as Regina struggled to get herself free.

The End

Up next (published in a few days) a sequel story, Wicked Games