Author's Note:
Sorry for the delay, but a little thing called Writer's Block and an "Alias" story I'm obsessed with writing got in my way of working on this. Thanks as usual for all the wonderful replies and responses. You guys are making this fun to write. Courtney's still in Paris here and we're getting towards the end of our story, probably just one or two more chapters. This chapter has gotten so long that I've divided it into two parts. Expect one part today and the next tomorrow. I hope you enjoy!
~ * ~
"And the trouble with the truth
It's just what I need to hear
Ringing so right deep down inside my ear
And it's everything I want
And it's everything I fear
Oh, the trouble with the truth
Is it's just what I need to hear."
- "The Trouble with the Truth", Patty Loveless
~ * ~
Her house was nothing like I'd pictured it, but then again Robin Scorpio was nothing like I'd imagined she'd be. Jason had told me she was HIV positive and I'd imagined a frail, sad little thing, but Robin Scorpio was full of love and life. She was studying to be a doctor, specializing in AIDS research, and really wanted to make a difference in the world, "With the time I have left," she explained later. Brenda got teary-eyed when she said that and I watched jealously as Robin wrapped an arm around her shoulders and told her it was okay. My entire life I'd wanted a friend like that, someone who stood by me through thick and thin, someone who knew what I was thinking before I even uttered a single word. I thought I'd found that kind of friend in Carly, but now I'm not so sure. It's not like she did anything to me--it wasn't her fault she was kidnapped--but I don't know how I can face her after everything that's going on with me and Jason. If she didn't exist, Jason and I wouldn't be losing touch. But she does exist and she's the wedge driving us apart--and there doesn't seem to be anything I can do to stop it.
I could hear Brenda grumbling in the kitchen and Robin laughed and told me to make myself comfortable while she got the tea.
I went to her living room, full of bright furniture and big windows and a fluffy cat curled in the corner. The place was full of pictures. They were everywhere, lining every surface and the majority of the wall space. There were pictures of Sonny and Brenda, Ned and a dark-haired woman I didn't recognize; pictures of Mac Scorpio, Felicia, and her daughters; pictures of an older man and woman I guessed were Robin's parents; a picture of herself, Jason and Michael when he was a baby, and other pictures of Robin and friends like my father and brother and Brenda and Nikolas Cassadine. But most of all I noticed the photo of a boy with long black hair and deep, dark eyes gazing up at her with such love in his eyes it made me turn away. I couldn't bear to see that kind of love in another couple, especially when I was struggling so much with Jason.
She caught my gaze and smiled gently, her expression far away. "That's Stone," she said softly and set down the tea tray. "He was the first boy I ever loved."
I sat down and picked up a cup of tea. "What happened?"
Her voice got very soft, almost a whisper. "He died. Of AIDS."
"I'm so sorry."
She smiled a little. "It was a long time ago. That's why Sonny gives so much money to the hospital," she continued. "Because of Stone. He was like a brother to him."
"Sonny's my brother."
Robin almost dropped her cup of tea. "Are you serious?" she asked and took a long look at my hair.
"Yeah," I laughed. "Not much of a resemblance, I know, but we're related. Mike's my father."
She nodded. "Mike's a great guy. He loves Sonny so much, even if he doesn't always show it in the best way."
Brenda came in and plopped down in an armchair. "He was like a father to me too. Even after Sonny and I broke up he never forgot me."
"He was so devastated when we thought you were dead, Bren," Robin added. "I think he cried for weeks."
Brenda nodded and the two continued their trip down memory lane, their voices getting soft as they reminisced about the past. Suddenly, I felt very much the outsider. These two women had such history with the men I thought were my family, my rock.. Sonny and Mike and I might share blood, but Robin and Brenda had such a deeper connection to them. Sonny was a brother to Robin's boyfriend? Why hadn't anyone told me that story? Or Mike serving as a father figure to Brenda? I felt like I didn't know my family at all.
Their laughter interrupted my thoughts and I felt even more left out when they began talking about someone named Lucy getting naked at some charity event called the Nurses' Ball. A naked lady was funny? It made me think of my stripping days I had to restrain a shudder.
"Sorry," Robin said as she wiped tears of laughter off her cheeks. "I'm sure you didn't come to hear about Lucy and Katherine's feud."
I smiled politely, never letting on that I had no clue who Lucy OR Katherine were. It was easier to play along like I had a connection to Port Charles or the people living there. It made me feel a little more involved in their conversation, a little more connected to my home. "That's all interesting, but I came to hear about Carly."
"Right. You know, we didn't get a long very well. I'm not sure how much help I'll be."
"That's an understatement," Brenda mumbled under her breath and Robin punched her lightly. Again, I felt that twinge of loneliness, that I had no friendship like theirs.
"Anyway," Robin continued. "She was in love with Jason and he was in love with me. She could never quit grasp the concept that he wasn't going to leave me for her."
I glanced up in surprise. Carly had been in love with Jason? I always knew she loved him, but was in love with him? "So what happened?" I managed to say.
Robin regarded me curiously. "No one told you this story? Didn't you say you and Jason are engaged?"
I could feel a flush creeping up my cheeks. This was obviously an important part of Jason's past. It was something I should know, but I didn't. What kind of fiancée was I if I didn't know some of the most significant events of Jason's life? "We don't talk about our pasts," I explained quickly. "We like to live in the present."
"She used to be married to AJ," Brenda interjected and Robin nodded with understanding.
"He didn't want to hear about my past with AJ so he never told me about his past with Carly."
"But he told you about me?"
"You're different. He said you taught him to love."
Robin sighed. "Yeah, I guess that's true. Did he tell you anything about his accident?"
"Not much, just that AJ wrapped him around a tree and he lost his memory."
Robin and Brenda exchanged a glance and I again felt like I was missing something. Patience, I told myself, patience. Good things come to those who wait. I'd learn what I came for eventually, even if I'd have to sit through hours of inside jokes. "That's a very abridged version," Robin said. "I was still in high school when it happened. I had the biggest crush on Jason Quartermaine. He was the ultimate goody-goody. He was smart and funny, great athlete, charming, volunteered at the hospital. He was going to be a doctor and save lives. Everyone loved him, especially his family and the community and -"
I couldn't help but laugh.
"What?" Robin asked.
"He sounds so. . .boring."
Robin and Brenda both laughed at that. "Well, he kinda was, " Robin said. "But that all changed the night of the accident. AJ was driving drunk and Jason tried to stop him. He got in the car with him, and. . ."
"And AJ wrapped him around a tree," Brenda finished.
"When he woke up he had no memory of his life as a Quartermaine," Robin explained. "He had no memory of anything. His family, his friends, Keesha, she was his girlfriend at the time--he didn't remember any of them. He didn't remember me either."
"Or me," Brenda added. "I was his prom date. He doesn't remember a thing."
I almost dropped my teacup at that one. I'd seen Jason and Brenda together and I could not imagine them as friends, let alone prom dates. "Really?" I managed to ask.
"Yup. He was a great date," Brenda said. "Romantic, handsome, we had the best time."
"Ahem," Robin cleared her throat. "What about Jagger, Karen? Your plan?"
Brenda threw a magazine at her. "Another story. Courtney wants to hear about Jason, remember?"
"Sure, sure. We can air my past, but the minute we creep into yours it's time to change the subject. You don't play fair, Bren."
"I never said I did. Now, back to Jason."
I still wanted to hear about Brenda's "Plan," but this was my one and only chance to learn about Jason so I turned my attention back to Robin. "How did you and Jason meet, if he didn't remember you?"
Robin sighed heavily and looked away for a moment. I met her gaze and realized she was staring at the portrait of her dead boyfriend. I think she said his name was Stone. "I guess to understand me and Jason you have to understand me and Stone," she started. "We fell in love when I was in high school, when Jason was off at college and in love with Keesha. He was this bad boy. He lived with Sonny over Sonny's strip club--"
That time I did drop my tea. "Sonny's strip club! He ran a strip club?"
"And got Jason's first girlfriend hooked on drugs, but that's another story," Robin quickly said. "Let me explain about Jason and then Brenda can tell you everything you ever wanted to know about your brother. Okay?"
"Yeah," I said shakily. "I think I'd rather hear about Jason anyway. But Sonny really owned a strip club?"
"Uh-huh. And he and Stone lived up there before they moved into the Penthouse. We met and fell in love, kind of like Romeo and Juliet. We even performed a scene once." Robin took a deep breath and looked at his photo again. "We used to compare ourselves to them. We didn't know it would really happen like in the play. My Uncle Mac--"
"The Police Commissioner?" I interrupted.
"Yes. He's my father's brother. My parents were dead and he's raised my since I was a little girl. A few years ago my mom turned up alive after all, but I didn't know that until I was grown. I spent a lot of my childhood with Mac. Anyway, he wanted to keep us apart. He thought Stone was bad for me, but I didn't care. I loved him and he loved me. Then we found out he had AIDS. He barely had a few months to live and right before he died I found out I was HIV positive. Everyone was devastated."
"I'm so sorry," I said softly. Robin was even younger than me when all this had happened, when the man she loved died and she was dealt a life sentence. I couldn't imagine going through that
"It's okay," she said and squeezed my hand. "I've had a long time to adjust and I've learned to live with it. I had a lot of people to help me too. Mac, Brenda, Sonny. . .everyone was wonderful after it happened. Jason helped a lot too, even if he wasn't trying. We met right after the accident. In fact, I was with him when he woke up, even if he didn't remember me. He couldn't remember anything: emotions, behavior, relationships, society. . .he was like a little kid in an adult body. He didn't know how to care about other people. He didn't even know what love was. I had to teach him that."
"What do you mean?"
"We met on this bridge one day. We were both feeling sorry for ourselves. He was dying under all the pressure from his family. They wanted him to be the boy Jason Quartermaine used to be and he didn't want to be that boy. He couldn't deal with being unable to remember them and all the expectations they heaped on him. He was looking for a way out."
"And you gave it to him?"
"Sort of. We were kind of the same. He couldn't remember his past and I didn't think I had a future. I was convinced I was going to die. I was angry and bitter and depressed. I was tired of pretending I was okay when I was dying inside. But Jason changed that. I could be myself around him and visa versa. I didn't expect him to be Jason Quartermaine. I just let him be. I had to show him everything: love, friendship, loyalty, trust. He didn't know a thing when we first met. He got a job with Sonny around then and found a purpose. We were just friends at first, but the more time we spent together the more we realized how much we needed each other. We were both so scared of life, of living. . .but he gave me a reason to live and I taught him how to live. We just fell in love."
They sounded so innocent and naïve, so pure. No games, no false pretenses, just pure, true love. So unlike the first time I had fallen in love. All AJ had brought me was pain. Still, I managed to smile. "You make it sound so beautiful."
"Love is always beautiful," Robin said. "At first at least." She gazed at the diamond on my finger. "As you know, it didn't last."
"Because of Carly?"
"For a lot of reasons, but yes, Carly had a lot to do with it."
"I don't understand. You sound like the perfect couple, so incredibly in love and happy. What happened?"
Brenda had been oddly silent this entire time and finally spoke up. "Because Jason turned into a mobster wannabe and wouldn't get rid of Carly. He treated Robin like a second class citizen when she was the woman he loved. And why? Because of that idiot Carly and her stupid promises. . ." she would have gone on and on, but Robin laid a hand on her arm and she stopped ranting with a huff.
"It's not that simple, Courtney," Robin explained.
I was a little taken aback by Brenda's reaction. I could understand her being angry with Carly because of Sonny, but what had Carly done to Robin that was so evil? "How so?" I finally asked.
Again, a long sigh. This story was getting more and more complicated by the second. "Carly came to town around the time Jason and I first met. She and Jason began sleeping together. I couldn't because of my HIV, I was too afraid of Jason becoming infected, and he didn't know it wasn't okay to sleep with one person and love another. As soon as he figured things out he broke it off, but she became obsessed with him."
It took me a moment to digest the information: Jason and Carly had been sexually involved. They weren't just friends; they were former lovers. That added a whole new dimension to their relationship.
"How did they meet?" I asked.
Robin bit her lip. "I'm not sure exactly. It as at Jakes', the bar near Cortlandt Street. All I know about Carly was that she came to Port Charles to steal her mother's husband-"
"Bobbie's not married."
"Not anymore, but she was then."
"To Tony Jones," Brenda piped in. "He kidnapped Robin."
Robin noted my startled expression. "Brenda," she sighed. "Why do you have to make this so complicated?"
"I just want Courtney to know what she's getting into when she calls Carly her best friend."
Robin looked surprised. "Carly's your best friend?"
I nodded stiffly. "She was. Now I'm beginning to wonder if I ever knew her."
"Do you want to hear this?" Robin asked. "We can stop if you want. It can be hard to hear the people you love aren't who you think."
I know how that goes. I thought Jason would love me forever and now I'm beginning to doubt if he loves me at all, or if I'm just a substitute because he can't have Carly. The more I hear about the two of them the less I want to know. Friends, lovers? What else was I going to hear? I took a deep breath, looked long and hard at my ring. I was Jason's fiancée, I was the woman would marry, I was the woman he would love forever. What harm could a little talk do? "Sure," I said and pasted on a thin smile. "Tell me everything you know."
~ * ~
Please, please, please respond!
Sorry for the delay, but a little thing called Writer's Block and an "Alias" story I'm obsessed with writing got in my way of working on this. Thanks as usual for all the wonderful replies and responses. You guys are making this fun to write. Courtney's still in Paris here and we're getting towards the end of our story, probably just one or two more chapters. This chapter has gotten so long that I've divided it into two parts. Expect one part today and the next tomorrow. I hope you enjoy!
~ * ~
"And the trouble with the truth
It's just what I need to hear
Ringing so right deep down inside my ear
And it's everything I want
And it's everything I fear
Oh, the trouble with the truth
Is it's just what I need to hear."
- "The Trouble with the Truth", Patty Loveless
~ * ~
Her house was nothing like I'd pictured it, but then again Robin Scorpio was nothing like I'd imagined she'd be. Jason had told me she was HIV positive and I'd imagined a frail, sad little thing, but Robin Scorpio was full of love and life. She was studying to be a doctor, specializing in AIDS research, and really wanted to make a difference in the world, "With the time I have left," she explained later. Brenda got teary-eyed when she said that and I watched jealously as Robin wrapped an arm around her shoulders and told her it was okay. My entire life I'd wanted a friend like that, someone who stood by me through thick and thin, someone who knew what I was thinking before I even uttered a single word. I thought I'd found that kind of friend in Carly, but now I'm not so sure. It's not like she did anything to me--it wasn't her fault she was kidnapped--but I don't know how I can face her after everything that's going on with me and Jason. If she didn't exist, Jason and I wouldn't be losing touch. But she does exist and she's the wedge driving us apart--and there doesn't seem to be anything I can do to stop it.
I could hear Brenda grumbling in the kitchen and Robin laughed and told me to make myself comfortable while she got the tea.
I went to her living room, full of bright furniture and big windows and a fluffy cat curled in the corner. The place was full of pictures. They were everywhere, lining every surface and the majority of the wall space. There were pictures of Sonny and Brenda, Ned and a dark-haired woman I didn't recognize; pictures of Mac Scorpio, Felicia, and her daughters; pictures of an older man and woman I guessed were Robin's parents; a picture of herself, Jason and Michael when he was a baby, and other pictures of Robin and friends like my father and brother and Brenda and Nikolas Cassadine. But most of all I noticed the photo of a boy with long black hair and deep, dark eyes gazing up at her with such love in his eyes it made me turn away. I couldn't bear to see that kind of love in another couple, especially when I was struggling so much with Jason.
She caught my gaze and smiled gently, her expression far away. "That's Stone," she said softly and set down the tea tray. "He was the first boy I ever loved."
I sat down and picked up a cup of tea. "What happened?"
Her voice got very soft, almost a whisper. "He died. Of AIDS."
"I'm so sorry."
She smiled a little. "It was a long time ago. That's why Sonny gives so much money to the hospital," she continued. "Because of Stone. He was like a brother to him."
"Sonny's my brother."
Robin almost dropped her cup of tea. "Are you serious?" she asked and took a long look at my hair.
"Yeah," I laughed. "Not much of a resemblance, I know, but we're related. Mike's my father."
She nodded. "Mike's a great guy. He loves Sonny so much, even if he doesn't always show it in the best way."
Brenda came in and plopped down in an armchair. "He was like a father to me too. Even after Sonny and I broke up he never forgot me."
"He was so devastated when we thought you were dead, Bren," Robin added. "I think he cried for weeks."
Brenda nodded and the two continued their trip down memory lane, their voices getting soft as they reminisced about the past. Suddenly, I felt very much the outsider. These two women had such history with the men I thought were my family, my rock.. Sonny and Mike and I might share blood, but Robin and Brenda had such a deeper connection to them. Sonny was a brother to Robin's boyfriend? Why hadn't anyone told me that story? Or Mike serving as a father figure to Brenda? I felt like I didn't know my family at all.
Their laughter interrupted my thoughts and I felt even more left out when they began talking about someone named Lucy getting naked at some charity event called the Nurses' Ball. A naked lady was funny? It made me think of my stripping days I had to restrain a shudder.
"Sorry," Robin said as she wiped tears of laughter off her cheeks. "I'm sure you didn't come to hear about Lucy and Katherine's feud."
I smiled politely, never letting on that I had no clue who Lucy OR Katherine were. It was easier to play along like I had a connection to Port Charles or the people living there. It made me feel a little more involved in their conversation, a little more connected to my home. "That's all interesting, but I came to hear about Carly."
"Right. You know, we didn't get a long very well. I'm not sure how much help I'll be."
"That's an understatement," Brenda mumbled under her breath and Robin punched her lightly. Again, I felt that twinge of loneliness, that I had no friendship like theirs.
"Anyway," Robin continued. "She was in love with Jason and he was in love with me. She could never quit grasp the concept that he wasn't going to leave me for her."
I glanced up in surprise. Carly had been in love with Jason? I always knew she loved him, but was in love with him? "So what happened?" I managed to say.
Robin regarded me curiously. "No one told you this story? Didn't you say you and Jason are engaged?"
I could feel a flush creeping up my cheeks. This was obviously an important part of Jason's past. It was something I should know, but I didn't. What kind of fiancée was I if I didn't know some of the most significant events of Jason's life? "We don't talk about our pasts," I explained quickly. "We like to live in the present."
"She used to be married to AJ," Brenda interjected and Robin nodded with understanding.
"He didn't want to hear about my past with AJ so he never told me about his past with Carly."
"But he told you about me?"
"You're different. He said you taught him to love."
Robin sighed. "Yeah, I guess that's true. Did he tell you anything about his accident?"
"Not much, just that AJ wrapped him around a tree and he lost his memory."
Robin and Brenda exchanged a glance and I again felt like I was missing something. Patience, I told myself, patience. Good things come to those who wait. I'd learn what I came for eventually, even if I'd have to sit through hours of inside jokes. "That's a very abridged version," Robin said. "I was still in high school when it happened. I had the biggest crush on Jason Quartermaine. He was the ultimate goody-goody. He was smart and funny, great athlete, charming, volunteered at the hospital. He was going to be a doctor and save lives. Everyone loved him, especially his family and the community and -"
I couldn't help but laugh.
"What?" Robin asked.
"He sounds so. . .boring."
Robin and Brenda both laughed at that. "Well, he kinda was, " Robin said. "But that all changed the night of the accident. AJ was driving drunk and Jason tried to stop him. He got in the car with him, and. . ."
"And AJ wrapped him around a tree," Brenda finished.
"When he woke up he had no memory of his life as a Quartermaine," Robin explained. "He had no memory of anything. His family, his friends, Keesha, she was his girlfriend at the time--he didn't remember any of them. He didn't remember me either."
"Or me," Brenda added. "I was his prom date. He doesn't remember a thing."
I almost dropped my teacup at that one. I'd seen Jason and Brenda together and I could not imagine them as friends, let alone prom dates. "Really?" I managed to ask.
"Yup. He was a great date," Brenda said. "Romantic, handsome, we had the best time."
"Ahem," Robin cleared her throat. "What about Jagger, Karen? Your plan?"
Brenda threw a magazine at her. "Another story. Courtney wants to hear about Jason, remember?"
"Sure, sure. We can air my past, but the minute we creep into yours it's time to change the subject. You don't play fair, Bren."
"I never said I did. Now, back to Jason."
I still wanted to hear about Brenda's "Plan," but this was my one and only chance to learn about Jason so I turned my attention back to Robin. "How did you and Jason meet, if he didn't remember you?"
Robin sighed heavily and looked away for a moment. I met her gaze and realized she was staring at the portrait of her dead boyfriend. I think she said his name was Stone. "I guess to understand me and Jason you have to understand me and Stone," she started. "We fell in love when I was in high school, when Jason was off at college and in love with Keesha. He was this bad boy. He lived with Sonny over Sonny's strip club--"
That time I did drop my tea. "Sonny's strip club! He ran a strip club?"
"And got Jason's first girlfriend hooked on drugs, but that's another story," Robin quickly said. "Let me explain about Jason and then Brenda can tell you everything you ever wanted to know about your brother. Okay?"
"Yeah," I said shakily. "I think I'd rather hear about Jason anyway. But Sonny really owned a strip club?"
"Uh-huh. And he and Stone lived up there before they moved into the Penthouse. We met and fell in love, kind of like Romeo and Juliet. We even performed a scene once." Robin took a deep breath and looked at his photo again. "We used to compare ourselves to them. We didn't know it would really happen like in the play. My Uncle Mac--"
"The Police Commissioner?" I interrupted.
"Yes. He's my father's brother. My parents were dead and he's raised my since I was a little girl. A few years ago my mom turned up alive after all, but I didn't know that until I was grown. I spent a lot of my childhood with Mac. Anyway, he wanted to keep us apart. He thought Stone was bad for me, but I didn't care. I loved him and he loved me. Then we found out he had AIDS. He barely had a few months to live and right before he died I found out I was HIV positive. Everyone was devastated."
"I'm so sorry," I said softly. Robin was even younger than me when all this had happened, when the man she loved died and she was dealt a life sentence. I couldn't imagine going through that
"It's okay," she said and squeezed my hand. "I've had a long time to adjust and I've learned to live with it. I had a lot of people to help me too. Mac, Brenda, Sonny. . .everyone was wonderful after it happened. Jason helped a lot too, even if he wasn't trying. We met right after the accident. In fact, I was with him when he woke up, even if he didn't remember me. He couldn't remember anything: emotions, behavior, relationships, society. . .he was like a little kid in an adult body. He didn't know how to care about other people. He didn't even know what love was. I had to teach him that."
"What do you mean?"
"We met on this bridge one day. We were both feeling sorry for ourselves. He was dying under all the pressure from his family. They wanted him to be the boy Jason Quartermaine used to be and he didn't want to be that boy. He couldn't deal with being unable to remember them and all the expectations they heaped on him. He was looking for a way out."
"And you gave it to him?"
"Sort of. We were kind of the same. He couldn't remember his past and I didn't think I had a future. I was convinced I was going to die. I was angry and bitter and depressed. I was tired of pretending I was okay when I was dying inside. But Jason changed that. I could be myself around him and visa versa. I didn't expect him to be Jason Quartermaine. I just let him be. I had to show him everything: love, friendship, loyalty, trust. He didn't know a thing when we first met. He got a job with Sonny around then and found a purpose. We were just friends at first, but the more time we spent together the more we realized how much we needed each other. We were both so scared of life, of living. . .but he gave me a reason to live and I taught him how to live. We just fell in love."
They sounded so innocent and naïve, so pure. No games, no false pretenses, just pure, true love. So unlike the first time I had fallen in love. All AJ had brought me was pain. Still, I managed to smile. "You make it sound so beautiful."
"Love is always beautiful," Robin said. "At first at least." She gazed at the diamond on my finger. "As you know, it didn't last."
"Because of Carly?"
"For a lot of reasons, but yes, Carly had a lot to do with it."
"I don't understand. You sound like the perfect couple, so incredibly in love and happy. What happened?"
Brenda had been oddly silent this entire time and finally spoke up. "Because Jason turned into a mobster wannabe and wouldn't get rid of Carly. He treated Robin like a second class citizen when she was the woman he loved. And why? Because of that idiot Carly and her stupid promises. . ." she would have gone on and on, but Robin laid a hand on her arm and she stopped ranting with a huff.
"It's not that simple, Courtney," Robin explained.
I was a little taken aback by Brenda's reaction. I could understand her being angry with Carly because of Sonny, but what had Carly done to Robin that was so evil? "How so?" I finally asked.
Again, a long sigh. This story was getting more and more complicated by the second. "Carly came to town around the time Jason and I first met. She and Jason began sleeping together. I couldn't because of my HIV, I was too afraid of Jason becoming infected, and he didn't know it wasn't okay to sleep with one person and love another. As soon as he figured things out he broke it off, but she became obsessed with him."
It took me a moment to digest the information: Jason and Carly had been sexually involved. They weren't just friends; they were former lovers. That added a whole new dimension to their relationship.
"How did they meet?" I asked.
Robin bit her lip. "I'm not sure exactly. It as at Jakes', the bar near Cortlandt Street. All I know about Carly was that she came to Port Charles to steal her mother's husband-"
"Bobbie's not married."
"Not anymore, but she was then."
"To Tony Jones," Brenda piped in. "He kidnapped Robin."
Robin noted my startled expression. "Brenda," she sighed. "Why do you have to make this so complicated?"
"I just want Courtney to know what she's getting into when she calls Carly her best friend."
Robin looked surprised. "Carly's your best friend?"
I nodded stiffly. "She was. Now I'm beginning to wonder if I ever knew her."
"Do you want to hear this?" Robin asked. "We can stop if you want. It can be hard to hear the people you love aren't who you think."
I know how that goes. I thought Jason would love me forever and now I'm beginning to doubt if he loves me at all, or if I'm just a substitute because he can't have Carly. The more I hear about the two of them the less I want to know. Friends, lovers? What else was I going to hear? I took a deep breath, looked long and hard at my ring. I was Jason's fiancée, I was the woman would marry, I was the woman he would love forever. What harm could a little talk do? "Sure," I said and pasted on a thin smile. "Tell me everything you know."
~ * ~
Please, please, please respond!
