Molly Davis Lansing sat on her bed clicking the remote, looking for something to watch. The poetry reading she had planned to attend that night had been canceled by her very hip and rocking women's lit professor.
The older woman had gently stroked her hair back in a way that soothed Molly as she delivered the unfortunate news. She remembered years ago, when her own mother had done that. During any illnesses she experienced, after she woke up from nightmares.
When her favorite soap, Southwest General, had been canceled.
Her brow furrowed as her slender fingers worked the buttons on the remote. Her mother. Oh yeah, it had been ages since she had talked to her or dropped in at her lakehouse. When was the last time she had even thought of her? She thought about it for two minutes and then finally shrugged, flopping on the bed. Maybe a text tomorrow?
Damn there was nothing to watch on the tube. She had exhausted the libraries of all of her livestreaming platforms. Not that most of the movies weren't total junk at this point. Her hand idly reached for her chai ice tea bottle as she clicked to a news station. A woman with her hair pulled back tightly in a bun looked somber as she spoke to her audience standing in front of a house that had been cordoned off by yellow crime tape.
Molly's eyes widened. The house, there was something very familiar about it, which warranted a closer look.
"This is Wendy Wright from KLAX at the scene of a house where tonight a body was found near the front door. The victim of an apparent drive by shooting. A development which has rocked this usually very peaceful, unassuming neighborhood."
Molly rolled her eyes, knowing from experience there was no such thing outside of a novel. After all the house where she grew up had been blown up because her mother's no good mobster thug of a boyfriend turned husband had tried to leave the mob.
Only he hadn't done so and had even tried to frame her dreamboat daddy before her smoking hot father had to fake his own death...like something out of a... the now defunct Southwest General.
The reporter continued.
"There's no confirmation yet or release of the name of the his next of kin have been notified. Only information released by LAPD is that he's a caucasian male in his early fifties who neighbors said was a partner at a prominent law firm."
Molly bit her lip in thought just as her boyfriend TJ walked in her dorm room and dropped his heavy stack of textbooks with a sigh. She glanced at him.
"Midterms tough?"
He nodded, then walked to the mini frig to grab himself a chia tea and joined her on the bed.
"What's this?"
Molly sighed.
"Some poor guy got shot to death on his own front step by some gangster driving by," she said, "in a really nice neighborhood too."
TJ shrugged.
"Shit happens. Hey why don't we go to Kelly's and get ourselves some real food. Even though for you it's that tofu crap."
She nodded and they walked off hand in hand out of the room, leaving the TV blaring behind them just as a man's face appeared on screen.
Across town at the MC, a willowy woman danced around her penthouse office. She writhed on the furniture and climbed onto her desk, shimmying her hips the entire time. Her dress, an expensive marriage of leather and lace clung to her figure as she waved her hands fervently.
"I'm the best. God I'm the best,. I have all the best clothes. The best office. Everything's the best."
She jumped off the desk onto the floor, picking up a stack of letters that had shared the best news.
Her family had expanded greatly in the past several hours. She had a newly discovered sister. Another brother and two more ex husbands.
Best of all she had a newly discovered daughter AND a son. She knew her husband, Valentin would be so pleased for her! Clapping her hands she went to her cabinet to grab some wine and a glass to celebrate her good fortune. She poured it and toasted it to the ceiling.
"To my family new and old, to my fabulously rich husband, to my new horse stable, tand to you...Frank."
She heard a knock on the partially opened door and leaned into her desk, hand on hip.
"Who is it?"
A young blonde walked in carrying a stack of magazines. Nina rolled her eyes..
"Oh it's just you…"
Maxie gritted her teeth at the condescension coming from the loon who had stolen her birthright away from her. But she swallowed her resentment and forced a smile, silently biding her time to get back what was hers.
By any means necessary, that bitch was going down.
"I've completed the schedule for the shoot at the waterfront. Rico is going to bring some of his best models."
Nina waved her hand.
"Oh that...I changed my mind. I'll be modeling all the new designs myself. I'm much more beautiful, sexy and everyone loves me."
Maxie bit back an easy retort. She would get back what was hers if she played her hand carefully. Nina might have wealth of privilege and favoritism and one hell of a powerful sugar daddy, but she wasn't all that bright.
"I don't think that's a wise choice. I booked some of the best models in the business. We can't just cancel."
Nina flipped her hair back.
"Oh 'we' don't have to do so. That's your job. As Nelle's assistant. And since she's my assistant, that means you answer to me."
Maxie rolled her eyes, reining in her more homicidal instincts. She tried another tact.
"Nina, I know you're beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful woman in the city."
The other woman narrowed her eyes.
"Only in this city? After I model these clothes and Dillon does the shoot, I will be in demand all over the world as a world famous model."
Maxie shrugged. She didn't want to do anything to discourage that because it might get her Crimson back.
" Okay the entire world and I think that's a brilliant idea. I know a good agent who could book you some jobs. Help you get your feet wet."
Nina looked blank.
"My feet. What's wrong with my feet?"
She waved her hand idly.
"No matter I can do it myself. After I go try on some new outfits and get a mani-ped even though there's nothing wrong with my feet."
Maxie just rolled her eyes again, clenched her talons into fists. She just wanted to clock the bitch. It's not like there hadn't already been a murder in this office. She reached for the monogrammed letter opener on the table…
Sam looked at Kristina who had dropped by the penthouse bearing gifts, in this case takeout from Noodle Buddha. She blew past Sam and started arranging the food on the table. Kristina wore one of her flowery tops over a pair of beige slacks and sketchers. Her sister looked at her with some reproach.
"Have you been getting any sleep?"
Sam waggled her index finger.
"I'll tell you the answer to that question is no...but the kids are tucked in their beds and asleep. I'm just waiting for Jason to return home."
Kristina frowned.
"I'm sure he'll be back home soon. You know how devoted he's been to you and the kids lately. Which is a bit odd when you think about it."
Sam collapsed on the floor.
"I know it's not like him at all. I don't know why I didn't notice the obvious signs earlier. Maybe because so much was going on and I just hadn't paid attention but...I can't believe I'm even considering this"
Kristina walked over to the sofa and sat down, curling her feet underneath her.
"What is it? What is i that has you so upset?"
Sam hesitated, not wanting to put her suspicions, her deepest fears into words that would change everything.
She sat down to join her younger sister.
"I don't think Jason is really...Jason."
Ned Ashton Quartermaine stepped in between the two women. One had her hands wrapped around the neck of the other one, and both were struggling.
"Ladies, I don't think this is necessary…"
Both women ignored him. In fact they started pulling each other's hair and tousled down to the ground.
Awkward to say the least. That's because one of them was his auntie Monica and the other one his betrothed Olivia Falconeri.
"You need to just stop this right now. Monica. Olivia. You need to get up off the floor and apologize to one another."
Neither woman listened to his advice. Olivia straddled Monica and curled her fingers into a fist.
"I'm going to slap that trashy spit right out of your mouth."
Monica gritted her teeth in defiance.
"I'd love to see you try."
Ned sighed, not sure how to proceed in resolving this disagreement between the matriarch and wannabe matriarch of the Manor. Suddenly, the butler Reginald walked in, glancing down at the brawl in distaste before focusing his attention on Ned who arched his brows.
"What is it?"
Reginald smiled.
"I come bearings gifts." He pulled out one of his hands behind his back and presented a brightly wrapped box.
Ned felt confused.
"Gifts? I'm not expecting any presents. Is there a card?"
Reginald handed him the box and Ned searched it ignoring the two women on the floor who were still going at it.
"You'll have to see it for yourself sir."
Ned frowned as he did indeed find a card. Nothing fancy, just some writing elegant in its simplicity.
"It says Happy anniversary, signed…it's not signed at all. Oh well I guess I'll just see what's inside it."
He walked out of the room into the foyer unwrapping the box carefully. He lifted the lid of the box and his eyes narrowed as he saw what was inside it. His eyes widened suddenly.
"What the…"
An explosion ripped away his words in mid sentence and shook the entire mansion .all the way down to its foundation.
The woman sat in the bar, after she ordered an Arnold Palmer. She'd almost gone for the White Russian on the menu, almost tasting it in her mouth. But as the bartender awaited her order unaware of her inward struggle,, she chose something tamer.
She looked around her at this familiar bar that was many miles away from the city she'd left forever and many years away from one night a lifetime ago.
The bartender provided her drink and a cocktail napkin and she walked to an empty table. As she nursed her drink, she sighed, wondering why it had taken her so long to get to this point. She had itched to commit these acts for so long now. They were hardwired into more than must her fucked up DNA.
The door opened and she side eyed it, until she recognized the person and her eyes widened. He bypassed the war walking directly to her table.
"Hello darling…