MetroCourt, Port Charles
It was Friday night, and Anna was grateful that the long exhausting week was at an end. She was more than ready to unwind as they entered the Saturday-night-crowd filled dining room. Anna's arm curled contentedly around Finn's forearm, and she held his gaze in hers as she scanned the faces around her.
The Metro Court was buzzing with activity and already quite warm, so Anna shrugged off her coat into Finn's waiting hands and unwound the scarf from around her neck, revealing her body encased in a form-fitting black dress. The ink-black fabric skimmed her body like a glove, and Finn tried not to gape at her openly but failed spectacularly. Anna gave a sly smile knowing the dress had the effect she intended when she bought it at Wyndham's on a whim. She had barely stepped foot out of the dressing room when Felicia said: "Buy it."
Finn cleared his throat as she turned towards him. "Did I tell you yet that you look beautiful this evening?" he asked.
"No you haven't, but I will take the compliment." she winked so quickly at him he thought maybe he had imagined it. A full grin bloomed on his lips.
"Will you? Good to know."
The corner of her mouth turned up almost simultaneously. Even in a crowded room, she could still enjoy the way the precisely cut jacket framed Finn's broad shoulders and stature. "Yes. And you look handsome as always. Have I told you that I like how you fill out a three-piece suit? Although you are equally appealing out of it." She remembered earlier when she was in no hurry herself, the robe tied loosely around her naked body, leisurely applying moisturizer to her hands and enjoying the sight of him getting dressed for their rare evening out.
Satisfied with her eyes appraising the full length of him, he responded. "Anna Devane, are you trying to make me blush?"
She stood up straighter and aimed a sultry smile at him. "I'm trying to give you a hint about how I plan for this evening to end," she purred, suppressing a smirk of smug satisfaction when his eyes widened, and she saw a flush that reached his ears.
"I like how that sounds." Finn pursed a smile and reached out to give a soft stroke of his thumb to her hip, happy to feel her shift slightly under his touch. "I'm going to take our jackets to the coat check. Do you want to go to the bar to get yourself a drink?"
A bright glimmer of amusement was in her eyes as she answered. "No. Not yet. I'll wait here for you." She smiled widely at him, and Finn couldn't resist sliding his arm around her small waist and placing a quick kiss on her lips. He felt her body respond and pulled back. He was enjoying her wanting him.
"I'll be right back," he whispered into her ear, relishing the feel of her shiver at his words.
"I know," she stood on the tips of her toes and kissed him again softly, "I will be here," her mouth lingered close to his still.
Finn's chest rose in elation; his hands pressed firmer against hers before Finn stepped away and made sure that their jackets were safely stowed in the coat check room.
Then Finn looked back at her. She stood gracefully, cooley elegant in her high heels and dress, and Finn was so focused on the picture she made that he didn't notice when he walked right into the path of some poor unsuspecting stranger.
Except it wasn't a stranger.
He had barrelled directly into Alexis Davis and knocked her backward. Fortunately, she was being held upright rather than sprawled on the ground.
"Oh my God! Alexis! I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"
"Yes, fortunately, I had someone to catch me." A good looking man in a suit, tie, and with graying hair that seemed unsure if it was coming or going held her fast in his arms and quickly helped set her to rights. Alexis ran her fingers through her hair, making sure that all her ends were tucked in and her skirt straight.
The nervousness on her face was unmistakable. Finn recognized the look of someone on a date.
Then it dawned on him, and Finn looked at her companion with recognition. "Hello, You are Dr. Byrn? I have seen your name on the schedule at General Hospital. I'm Dr. Hamilton Finn." He figured that Alexis wouldn't appreciate him betraying that he mostly knew about him from her long stream-of-consciousness elaborations before and after their AA meetings. Finn offered his hand, and Neil gripped it with impressive strength.
"Hello, I've heard your name, and it's nice to formally meet you." Neil smiled
"Same."
Out of the corner of his eye, Finn could see Anna approaching. She had abandoned her post and moved to stand by his side. She waited there a moment and then resisted the impulse to roll her eyes. She would have to take the initiative.
"Hello." Anna stepped forward and looked at Finn expectantly until he suddenly caught the clue that he should introduce her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Dr. Byrn, this is Anna Devane, my fiance."
"It's a pleasure, Dr. Byrne." Anna held out her hand
"Oh, I remember. You both were engaged at the Nurses Ball, I believe. And please, call me Neil, Ms. Devane."
"Of course. And it's Anna then."
"Anna."
An awkward quietness settles between the foursome, and Alexis rocked back and forth on her heels uncertain of what to say as the silence took root.
"Hello, Alexis." Anna addressed her.
Alexis smiled tightly, wishing she sounded more natural, but she was feeling uncomfortable and off-center with Finn looking at her curiously. Adding to the strange mixture of emotions was feeling the warmth of Neil's hand against the small of her back. It hadn't left since he caught her.
"It's nice to see you, Anna." she managed.
Fortunately, at that moment, a cheerful hostess approached them and asked if they had a reservation. Finn nodded in affirmation.
"Hi, yes, we have a 7:30 reservation. Under Finn, table for two."
Neil nodded his own greeting and answered, "And Byrn. We have a reservation for two also."
The young blonde woman smiled, "Yes. Let me see if your tables are ready. Just one moment." She walked briskly away. Finn and Anna stepped back a few paces, and Alexis saw her moment to place even more distance between them. She walked swiftly away, and Neil quirked his eye at her and followed, his feet keeping time with the clicking of her heels.
"Was it my imagination, or did I sense some awkwardness there?"
Damn his perceptiveness.
"We dated." She said quickly in her usual blunt manner, darting a glance over her shoulder. "Finn and I."
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh so is he one of those ruthless, cruel, and unattainable men that you are so drawn to?"
"Ruthless and cruel? No. No. Finn was sort of a one-off. Actually, Finn's probably one of the more "normal" people I've been involved with. If a man who has an emotional support reptile and a fascination for clean silverware can be considered normal."
"So there is a precedent then of you having a non- inappropriate relationship with a non-power hungry or unattainable man. See, proof of concept. That's encouraging."
"Well almost. I feel I should disclose that we were both in AA when we decided to begin our... our...uh....consolatory intimacy, so inappropriate still checks out but only because one of the main rules of recovery is to not get involved with others in the same recovery program.
"So why didn't it work out between you two?"
"Well, Exhibit A- the now-fiancee. "Alexis gestured towards Anna, who was in the middle of laughing huskily at whatever Finn was whispering into her ear. Neil opened his mouth but she put up her hand to halt whatever sentence he was thinking up. "And before you say anything, yes I am well aware that my choice to embark on a tryst with a man who was already in love with another woman was ill-advised. But we have already discussed my penchant for poor relationship choices. But more important than Exhibit A is Exhibit B, my own personal, relational hang-ups on a certain individual that I won't bother to mention here."
"Is there a reason you are reluctant to talk about Julian? Even to the point that you refuse to say his name?"
"Are you asking why I'm being evasive? Maybe it's because he's like Bloody Mary. If I say his name three times, he'll suddenly materialize and look there is a mirror right over there, I'd better not risk it."
"You are using humor to deflect, and I will let you right now because you look beautiful tonight, and I'm happy to be here with you, but one day you are going to have to conjure up enough courage to discuss him with me." Neil took a step closer until he was an inch or two inside her personal space. Alexis was very aware of how close he was. For a brief moment, she thought he was going to kiss her, which despite their very public first display of affection, they hadn't tried since. But instead, he continued speaking.
"I say this because, while it's interesting on sort of a...psychology-enthusiast-level, it's probably not the best thing for us to have an invisible third wheel in this relationship. At least not in the long term."
Neil reached and took her hand in his and placed his lips tenderly on each of her knuckles. Alexis could actually feel the color surging to her cheeks, and she felt her heartbeat out of her chest like it was attempting to make a break for it, and she didn't blame it one bit. She felt breathless what his words implied and tried her best not to stutter and ramble her way through cross-examination of his intent. She felt a wild mix of panic, bafflement, hope, and, based on the telltale look in his eyes, lust. She took a deep breath to compose herself before beginning.
"Long term? Now when you say "long term" in conjunction with the word "relationship" what do you-"
Before she could get any farther, the hostess interrupted their critical moment. She was so flustered she almost didn't notice that Finn and Anna had been beckoned towards them. They both stood there, puzzled.
"I'm sorry, sirs. We have a table ready, but I apologize there seems to be a mistake. We had you down as a party of four under the name Byrn not two parties of two. As you can see, we are very busy tonight. It will be at least an hour to an hour and a half until another table is available. Or we can seat you as one party right now. If you would like to dine together?"
Neil clasped his hands together and turned to his companion. "We would love to have you two join us. Right, Alexis?"
"Uh...sure…" she said hesitantly.
"Oh that's very kind of you-" Anna started to say before she felt Finn's hand on her elbow pulling her away.
"Um, could you excuse us for a moment?" He smiled and nodded at Neil and shepherded Anna away from the hostess desk.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"Should we really be intruding on their evening?"
"Do you have another suggestion? Would you like to try and go somewhere else…" Anna suggested
"It's a Saturday night. We aren't likely to get a table wherever we go without a reservation."
"Well this dress," she smoothed her hands down the supple fabric, "wasn't meant for all-you-can-eat wings night at the Floating Rib." She did her best to mask her disappointment, but Finn saw her crestfallen look before she could stow it away. "If we aren't staying here, I guess we should go home then..."
"No way!" Finn said determinedly. "Mac and Felicia offered to watch Violet for us, and I promised I would take you out somewhere and that we would talk about adult things or anything other than the Princess Unicorn Power Squad."
"Glow Squad," Anna said absentmindedly as she looked with envy at all the adults seated at tables, not a plate of mac and cheese or chicken fingers to be seen.
"What?"
"It's the Princess Unicorn Glow Squad," she said in a clipped manner.
"Whatever," Finn said with exasperation.
"Well then, if you want adult conversation, why don't we have dinner with other adults?
"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, we could try Pazzulo's. Maybe we will get lucky-"
"Why are you being so strange about this? We can have a lovely meal with lovely people. Things were tense with Alexis for a while there, due in no small part to your terrible timing at the Nurses Ball I might add, and this might be the perfect opportunity to bury any awkwardness that might remain. Alexis and I are both professional women, and now that Julian is no longer a barrier between us, there is no reason why we can't be better friends than we are. Now don't sulk."
"I'm not sulking."
"You are a little. But I'll admit that it doesn't diminish how handsome you are one iota." Anna leaned in close, slid her hands up his jacket lapels, and gave him her brightest smile. Finn was dazzled and instinctively leaned in to kiss her, but before he could, she leaned around him and called out, "Alexis! We would love to join you and Neil. It's very kind of you to share your table."
Finn sighed. Enough avoiding the inevitable. It was just an impromptu double-date. He could do this. How bad could it be?
They wound their way through the occupied tables to a corner four-top, and they had barely settled into their seats before their waiter approached.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" he asked politely.
"Club soda with a twist of lime would be great," said Finn
"Coffee, black," Neil ordered
"Water is fine for me, thank you." Alexis decided.
"Scot-" Anna looked around the table and stopped herself. "Uh...Actually, I'll have hot tea, please." Finn raised an eyebrow at her in surprise. She lifted her chin haughtily in reply.
"Green or black tea?" asked the waiter.
"Black. Thank you. With cream and sugar," Anna requested. She was having a nice dinner with her fiance and friends. There really was no need for anything harder than tea.
Once their drinks had been ordered and delivered, it was time for small talk to begin, but Finn was at sea when it came to how to proceed. Fortunately, Neil began for him.
"So Finn, Alexis tells me that your specialty at the hospital is infectious disease."
"Yes, it is." Finn wiped his mouth and nodded.
"That has to be difficult work. I imagine it takes a fair amount of deductive reasoning, especially if the root cause of your patient's illness is a mystery. Almost working backward, treating the symptoms first before you can find their origin." Finn opened his mouth to respond but was beaten to the punch by Anna.
"Being an infectious disease doctor is really just one percent brain worms and ninety-nine percent Chlamydia, right Finn?"
She started to laugh, but as soon as she saw the look on Alexis and Neil's faces and heard Finn's pained groan, Anna regretted her words, and she cringed. That joke had been better coming from Finn in the comfort of their living room and was probably not the best for dinner conversation. When had she gotten so bad at small talk?
Neil cleared his throat politely and was kind enough to try and rescue her. "So, Anna. What do you do for a living? Your accent leads me to believe that you hail from across the Atlantic, but perhaps you have resided in the US for a number of years." He smiled at her invitingly, and Anna appreciated his ability to put a person at ease.
"Well done!" She acknowledged his correct hypothesis with a bow of her head. "Yes I'm in Port Charles by way of Canada and originally England. As for what I do? Oh well, that's a complicated question to answer, really. I am a contracted liaison to a large international intelligence agency-"
"She's a spy," Finn said dryly.
"A spy?" Neil said with astonishment
She shot a hard look at Finn and then turned back towards Neil. "Well...yes. My career has always had an espionage component to it, but the word spy makes it seem more cloak and dagger than maybe it should. Agent is probably a better term to use."
"That's fascinating. I think everyone as a child had aspirations of being James Bond when they grew up."
"Not everyone…" Finn muttered under his breath. Anna kicked him swiftly under the table, and he sputtered into his club soda. Fortunately, Neil didn't seem to notice, and he continued. "I'm sure the reality is nothing like the movies. No exotic islands, eccentric villains, jumping off trains or defusing bombs, right?"
Anna could feel Finn's eyes on her, and she laughed nervously. It came out louder than she intended. "Well...You know what they say if I told you I'd have to kill you- Waiter!" She waved her hand to get his attention. She avoided Finn's smirk but knew his eyes were saying. This dinner had been her idea.
"Can I please get a scotch? A double." She was wrong. There was no way she was going to get through this evening without some sort of liquid fortification.
Their waiter returned with her drink, and after he took their entree orders, an awkward silence fell over the foursome. Anna, legs crossed, leaned back and nursed her scotch. Finn occupied himself with inspecting the silverware. Alexis read over her dessert menu like it was a legal brief. That left Neil to get the conversation going once more.
"So I find it helpful when making new acquaintances or deepening existing relationships to use an icebreaker to help get a conversation started. Would any of you object to that?
Alexis picked up her water glass and took a long gulp, while Finn became suddenly very concerned with the state of his nails. Anna's eyes narrowed, and then she looked up and smiled.
"That sounds very interesting. What do you have in mind?"
"My favorite is called Common Ground. It's an icebreaker where individuals at a table have to find at least four things they have in common. Exploring commonalities and differences is an important part of interpersonal connectedness. Anna, why don't we start with you and Alexis. What do you two have in common?"
Finn sat exceptionally still when he felt two pairs of brown eyes settle on his face and would have given anything to melt away into nothing and disappear altogether. Anna looked quickly away and drained her glass of its contents, then signaled for another.
Alexis felt an overwhelming need to get the conversation moving anywhere else as quickly as possible. "I don't think we really need to talk about what we shared-I mean share...I mean, we are sharing a meal... that's something we share. We share things as necessary...but that is to say-uh...we aren't in the habit of sharing things often..." The words tumbled out of her mouth without heed and felt her cheeks flush. They flamed even hotter when she felt Neil place his hand over hers and squeezed it comfortingly.
"It's not meant to be intimidating or difficult. It's good to let our guards down once in a while. Think of it as a way to help you relax around others."
"And what's more relaxing than telling people intimate details about your life?" Finn raised his hands and shrugged, and the sarcasm fairly dripped from him. He was certain if looks could kill Anna would be arrested for his murder.
"Sorry, about him." Anna apologized quickly. "He gets like this when he's tired or needs a snack."
"It's true." Alexis assented
Finn thought it best to keep his mouth shut.
Anna gritted her teeth and set her mind to the questions Neil had posed. "Alright, so what do Alexis and I have in common. Ok, I'm willing to try this." Anna sat for a moment, though. "Well, we are both a mother?" She said slowly, her accent on display through her non-rhotic Rs.
Neil nodded in encouragement. "There you go. But try to think of things that are outside of the box."
"We are both professional women in high stakes careers."
"That's good but still firmly in the box. Think of some things that are unique to you both."
Alexis said the first thing that popped into her head. She wasn't sure why it was the first thing that occurred to her, but it definitely was outside of the box. It wasn't even in the same universe as a box.
"We were both married to the mob and somehow lived to tell the tale," Alexis said boldly.
Anna stared at her. The initial spark of shock faded, and Anna nodded her head slightly. "Alive, but now without losing a piece or two of our hearts."
They held each other's gaze for a long moment, a thread of heartache and pain was spun between them. There was a moment of kinship kindle in each, and then they smiled broadly at each other, tension melting like winter snow in spring. They understood each other at that moment; they knew what common ground they held. They were survivors.
"I'm pretty sure we have both been held, hostage?" Anna offered.
"That's a good one!" Alexis snapped her fingers. "I forgot about that!"
"And we both were held hostage by Jerry Jax, no less." Anna chuckled.
"That's right!" Alexis exclaimed, then leaned in towards Neil and lowered her voice." He was one of those psychopaths with aspirations for world domination that I tend to attract."
Finn looked up at her startled.
Alexis waved him off "I'm not talking about you. You're just a run-of-the-mill doctor."
"Thank you, I think…?"
"I have a good one. We have both been accused of murder!" Anna added enthusiastically.
"And have both "killed" people that turned out to be alive!"
"Yes, we have!"
Alexis and Anna leaned across the table, and their glasses clinked sharply as they saluted each other and laughed until they were both out of breathe.
At that moment, their food arrived, and they all tucked into their steaks and salads while Anna and Alexis reminisced over some of their more unusual life experiences.
"Alright, ladies," Neil interjected. "Maybe we should table your common ground discussion for now and move onto Finn and Alexis?"
"You want to go first?" Alexis asked politely
"Nah, why don't you."
"Ok, we are both in AA-" Alexis stated
"We both like donuts and bad coffee," Finn interjected.
Alexis plowed ahead, "We both like to hide our true feelings behind sarcasm and bad jokes."
"We both have a habit of wearing suits and like to finish conversations quickly. You said four things, and that's definitely four things, so I think we can close out that part of the discussion."
"Alright Finn, I appreciate a person that can get to the point quickly, but how about you and Anna. You are going to be married, so this is a good time to see where you are starting from."
They looked at each other, and both of their minds went blank. The silence was deafening in Anna's ears, and she was sure that the color she could feel creeping into her cheeks was betraying her embarrassment. Here they were sitting and staring at each other like deer in headlights rather than two people who were in love and tune with each other. She felt the panic rise.
Then Finn smiled into her eyes and took her hand in his. She knitted her brows in puzzlement when a smile broke over his face, and his eyes sparkled.
"We both sleep naked."
The tension that had wound around her evaporated, and the whole table laughed.
"And we are good at taking down international drug cartels," she added, squeezing his hand and gazing into his eyes. Finn's blue eyes held her brown ones, and the rest of the room faded into the background. Finn and Anna only had eyes for each other.
"And we both have been blessed with beautiful daughters. And we have experienced intense loss and been able to find love again."
The waiter arrived with their checks. And Finn reached for it while Anna turned back to their dinner companions.
"And we have a little girl we need to say goodnight to when we get home, so we should get on our way." Anna looked at Neil and smiled. "Thank you so much for a lovely evening. The conversation was...unexpected."
"It was nice to meet you."
"Good night, you to both of you." Finn nodded to Alexis and Neil as he tucked money into the check presenter and then stood up and held his hand out, and Anna took it as they rose together. Neil stood politely as well. Anna looked at Alexis with approval. Nice catch.
Alexis and Neil watched as Finn wound his arm tightly around Anna's waist, pulled her close, and whispered into her ear. The corners of Anna's lips curled up, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. Finn kissed her temple as they walked away.
"They seem happy," Neil observed.
Alexis smiled softly. "They do. I'm glad for them."
"I'm happy too," he said.
She turned to look at him and was immediately struck by his eyes piercing hers.
"I hope you are ready for dessert because we haven't talked about the things we have in common yet. I don't intend to leave until the topic has been thoroughly explored."
A wide grin lit her face. "Well, you are lucky because I have all night."
