Helena lightly drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. The slight sway
of the yacht did nothing to soothe her anger. Her manservant Andreas walked
up behind her and began to massage her tightly knotted shoulders. "You seem
upset."
Helena scoffed. "That's putting it lightly. It's been a week and I've heard
nothing about Nikolas. Instead of going to the media as I wish he went to
see Carly. Because of that nothing has happened. Something like this should
be on the lips of every Cassadine relative. The lawyers should be meeting
as we speak and yet not a word has trickled down to me."
Andreas frowned. "That can't be good, can it? Perhaps she didn't believe
him."
"Perhaps. Or perhaps my son is just taking his time looking into this.
Stefan is covering this all up. He would do anything to make sure his
precious daughter stays in control."
Andreas decided to play Devil's Advocate. "If your Nikolas plan doesn't
work…"
"Of course it will work." She snapped. "However I do have back up. You
insult me by thinking I wouldn't."
"I apologize madam." Andreas immediately said.
"In fact…" Helena picked up the phone. "It is me. I have come to the
realization that I might have to use you sometime in the future, my dear. I
want you to be ready to go at my word."
~*~*~
Luke was sitting on the porch with his feet propped up on the railing when
Laura came out of the house. She muttered. "Get your feet down."
Luke ignored her order and snagged around her waist. He pulled her down on
his lap. "Where are you off to?"
"I have a few errands to run and then I'm going to the store. You want me
to pick up anything?" Laura smiled at him.
"I got everything I want right here." Luke said and began to kiss her.
Lately he was getting worried about her. He noticed the silence and the way
she'd been pulling away from him.
"Oh, would you not do that out in the open?" Carly grumbled as she came up
the house.
Luke ignored Carly until he finished kissing Laura, long and slow. He shot
Carly a look. "You were saying?"
"You could make a person go blind." She muttered.
"Hardy har har." Luke said as Laura squirmed off of his lap. He frowned.
"Where are you going, woman?"
"I told you, the store." Laura smoothed down her hair. She smiled at Carly.
"Hello dear."
"Hi Aunt Laura." Carly smiled back. "Where's Lulu?"
"Out back digging up my yard. *Someone* told her there was buried treasure
back there." Laura shot daggers at Luke who just shrugged and grinned.
"Every princess needs a buried treasure."
"I thought that was pirates?" Carly quipped.
"What do you know?" Luke sneered.
"Luke, be nice." Laura said. "When I get back all those holes better be
filled up. Keep an eye on her, Luke."
"Foster's back there, he'll keep her in line." Luke said knowing that in a
few minutes he'd go back there to see what the girl was up to.
Laura shook her head and went to the car. She paused. "Are you coming down
the club tonight Carly?"
Luke groaned. "Don't tell her. I can't handle two visits in one day."
"Someone special singing?" Carly asked.
"I talked Dara Jensen into doing a one-night only show." Laura said. "I'm
surprised you didn't see the flyers up."
"I've been busy lately." She shrugged then tossed a grin at Luke. "I think
I can talk Jason into a night at the club."
"Thanks a lot, darlin'. Now I have to put up with her and Dr. Boredom."
Luke grumbled.
"I *like* Jason, I don't think he's boring at all." Laura said
apologetically to Carly.
Carly shrugged. "Don't worry about it, Laura. I know how Jason is."
"Well, hopefully I'll see you two there tonight then." Laura climbed into
the car. Luke waited until she'd gone before nodding at Carly. "You got
that look on your face. What's going on?"
Carly folded her arms. "I didn't want to say anything while Laura was
here…"
"Spit out, Caroline. I don't have all day trying to figure out what your
little Cassadine mind is hiding."
She glared at him. "*Carly*. Has anybody been hanging around the house? A
guy, average height, dark hair, brown eyes?"
Luke narrowed his eyes. "Why? What's going on?"
Carly took a deep breath. "Some joker showed up in my office a few days
ago. He said he was Nikolas Cassadine."
Luke's feet hit the porch with a loud thud. "What?"
"He's obviously a con artist but I wanted to warn you in case he came
looking for Laura. I have some people looking for him right now but no
one's found him yet."
"Give me his description and I'll find him." Luke said coldly. After Carly
filled him as best she could, he pointed a finger at her. "You don't say
one word about this to Laura, you hear me?"
Carly placed her hands on her hips. "Like I would be that insensitive. Give
me enough credit."
Luke snorted in disbelief. "How long did you sit on this before bringing it
to me?"
"I wanted to see if I could find him first myself."
"You went to big daddy didn't you?"
"And if I did?" She said definitely. She ignored the fact that she hadn't
heard from Stefan since. She could assume that he was working on it but she
had no idea.
"I don't need Vlad to handle this. This is my business."
"Excuse me, like I need an impostor on *my* ass?" Carly snapped. "I have
enough relatives pissed that I was born female, thank you. They hear about
him and they'll jump on him in a minute to get me out of the way, fake or
no fake."
"He's a *fake*." Luke said stubbornly. "My wife's son is dead and she
doesn't need to have his death brought up again."
"I know." Carly said softly. "I care about Laura too and I know how his
death must have devastated her. No one should lose a child."
"No, you *don't* know." Luke said bitterly. "You were playing with dolls
when all this went down. You weren't there."
Carly pinched the bride of her nose. "This is what I get for wasting my
lunch hour on you. I try and do the right thing and you jump down my
throat."
"Thanks for telling me so *I* can handle it." He said gruffly.
Carly clutched her heart and staggered back. "My God, did I just hear a
Spencer say thank you?"
Luke rolled his eyes. "Don't get used to it. You sticking around for a
little bit? Lulu's been asking for you. Something about a tiara?"
Carly grinned and started up the steps. "I told Lulu I'd have someone back
on the Cassadine Island grab one of the smaller ones from our vaults and
ship it to her. Don't worry, it's not that gaudy, a few diamonds, some
rubies, emeralds, that sort of thing. It's part of my inheritance and I
can do whatever the hell I want with it so you won't get any angry phone
calls. I thought Lulu might like it, you call her princess all the time."
"Hold up, wait a minute." Luke put his hand up. "No daughter of *mine* is
going to go running around in some Cassadine tiara!"
"That's fine." Carly smirked and patted his shoulder patronizingly, "While
*your* daughter won't be wearing it, *my* cousin will be enjoying her
gift."
~*~*~
Laura was on her way back to her car when she got the feeling that someone
was following her. Actually the whole afternoon Laura had that feeling. Who
and why she couldn't figure out but she had a way to find out. From years
of living with Luke she knew how to lose a tail and then double back so
that she was behind them. She quickly went around a corner, ducked behind a
dumpster and waited. She gingerly picked up a broken bottle.
Seconds later, a young man turned the corner also and walked down the
street obviously looking for her. She waited until he was halfway down the
block before coming out of her hiding place. Her voice trembled as she
shouted,
"Who are you?" She brandished the bottle in front of her like a weapon.
Nikolas whirled around. He'd been following his mother but then somehow
he'd lost her. He'd been following ever since she left the house. He was
hoping he could get her alone so he could finally speak to her face to
face. He had plenty of chances to approach her over the afternoon but each
time he found a flimsy excuse to wait. Now it seemed that he had no choice.
Laura's heart was beating triple time and her hand shook. It'd been years
since she had to worry about someone coming after her and her family. It
could be a regular mugging or something far worse. She took a breath and
tried to steady her nerves and said, stronger this time, "I said, who are
you? What do you want?"
Nikolas could only stare at her. His first meeting with his mother and she
was scared of him. He didn't want her to be scared, he just wanted some
answers. He didn't know what to do or say to her. 'Hi, I'm the son you
threw away and probably hadn't given a second thought to since' seemed
wrong. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again.
"Is it money? What?" Laura demanded. With one hand she started to reach
into her purse.
He held up a hand and whispered. "No…this is…I can't do this."
Laura watched as he turned and quickly walked away. It was several minutes
before she dropped the bottle at her feet and took a few deep breaths to
get herself back under control. She frowned in the direction that he'd
gone.
~*~*~
Carly was seated at her vanity table later that night. She was dressed only
in her underwear, garter belt and stockings. She was carefully putting on
her makeup when out of the corner of her eye she spotted the nightie that
Sonny had dubbed his. She put down her mascara and reached for it. Staring
down at it, she sighed. It'd been a week since she saw Sonny and she had to
admit that she missed him. It was hard to admit it. She rarely allowed
herself to miss anymore. Really missing people was another sign of weakness
to her. Allowing someone to have that much control over your life so that
you'd miss them uncontrollably when they were gone was not a part of the
game plan.
Carly took a deep breath and shook herself out of it. The only thing she
missed about Sonny was the sex. She certainly didn't miss the man himself,
vulgar, arrogant, charming, sexy as sin… It was the sex and only the sex.
That was it. That was all she was going to allow it to be.
She stood up and carried the nightgown over to her closet. Standing on her
tiptoes she tossed it on the top shelf. Just as she came back down on her
feet a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and a mouth nuzzled her neck.
"Mmm." She murmured as she crooked her neck to get a look at who it was.
"Jason."
"Hi, I got your message. I'd love to go to Luke's tonight."
"Oh, you actually have time for me?"
"Carly, I apologized about how busy I've been this week." He said. "But I'm
here now."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" She pushed away from him. She
grabbed a dress and walked over to a full-length mirror. Jason followed.
"Did I say that?"
"No but your tone implied it." Carly stepped into the dress. "Zip me up."
He crossed the room and instead of zipping her up, he reached into her
dress. Cupping her breasts, he kissed the back of her neck. "Would it help
if I apologized right here, right now?"
She inspected her nails and pretended boredom. "Depends."
"On what?" One hand abandoned her breast to roam down her body and into her
panties. She obligingly spread her legs for him.
Carly leaned back against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She
purred. "Depends…on how good you make me feel."
Jason laughed and turned her around in his arms. He pushed her dress down
and when it fell to the floor, she stepped out of it and kicked it away.
Carly grabbed his tie and used it to lead him over to the bed. She pushed
him down on it and crawled over him. Jason had just reached up to kiss her
when Carly glanced at the clock.
"Damn." She scrambled off of him.
Jason sat up confused. "What? What happened?"
"We're going to be late." Carly said as she scooped up her dress and
quickly put it on. She grabbed a pair of high-heeled sandals and hopped on
one foot as she put them on.
Jason lay back on the bed with his hands covering his face. "Carly…"
Carly snapped. "Stop fooling around and zip me up."
Jason rolled off the bed and zipped her up. He rubbed her bare shoulders.
"I've got a few days of vacation saved up. How about we go away sometime
this week?"
Carly turned around his arms. "Just because your schedule's free doesn't
mean mine is. There's too much for me to do right now. I can't just drop
everything to go run away with you."
Jason frowned. "First you complain that we don't spend enough time together
but the moment I have any free time you want nothing to do with me."
Carly traced his mouth with her finger. "Jason…ask me again in a few days.
There are some things going on that need my personal attention. When it's
all cleared up maybe we can go away for the weekend or something."
"Maybe." Jason said annoyed. He folded his arms and nodded his head several
times. "Maybe."
Carly rolled her eyes and picked up her matching purse. She tossed a light
wrap around her shoulders and started for the door. "If you've finished
pouting, you could join me at Luke's. If not, I'm going by myself. Don't
forget to turn the lights off on your way out."
Jason waited a few minutes before following her out the door.
~*~*~
Luke was behind the bar talking with Laura and Mac Scorpio when Carly and
Jason came in. Carly touched Jason on the arm. "I need to speak with my
Uncle Luke for a minute. Go grab us a table, would you?"
"I wouldn't mind saying hello to Laura." Jason took her by the arm and
started guiding her over. Carly stopped.
"Luke and I have some thing to discuss and you know how he is with you. Why
put yourself in that position? I'll tell Laura you send your love." She
kissed him on the cheek and sent him on his way.
Luke was in the middle of goading Mac. "Pick up that long face, Bubba. Just
because I stole your wife from her Outback only shows don't mean you have
to be depressed about it."
"Correction, your wife talked mine into it." Mac grumbled.
"Thank you." Laura smiled. She still hadn't told Luke about her strange
encounter that afternoon. She didn't want to worry him in case it was
nothing.
"It's still a coup for Luke's. The first non-Outback performance by local
songbird Dara Jensen." Luke grinned around his cigar.
"Rub it in my face a little more, thanks."
Carly came over to them. "What's Luke doing now? Being his usual boorish
self?"
"Please, darlin', insulting my character like that ain't gonna score you a
free drink. I see you dropped Dr. Boredom back there."
"I'd rather he not have to listen to you yap." Carly shrugged.
"Unfortunately for me, I have to."
"What do you want? You here to tell me you stopped shipment on that tiara?"
"Actually I'm having it shipped express mail." Carly grinned.
"Then I guess I'm going to have a lot of fun selling it off, piece by
piece." Luke grinned back.
"Luke, you take one thing off of Lulu's tiara…" Laura threatened.
Carly smirked at him. "It's three against one, Luke. Give it up."
Luke muttered. "Whatever. You came over here for a reason?"
"Yeah, this afternoon…" Carly raised her eyebrow.
"Looking into it. Should have an address by tomorrow."
Carly looked impressed. "That was fast."
"Naturally." He smirked. He checked his watch. "Looks like it's time to
introduce Dara."
Carly nodded and started to walk to the table that Jason had gotten. Just
as she passed by the door Sonny walked in, followed by two unscrupulous
looking men. Carly didn't hesitate in her step but she did lock eyes with
him. If anyone had been watching them, they would have been shocked by the
hot looks passed between them.
Luke jumped on stage. It was dimly lit with only a piano and a microphone.
"Instead of me standing up here, going on and on about what a complete
*joy* it was for me and my lovely wife," he winked at Laura, "to steal this
singer from her usual singing gig. I guess she finally figured out that
*Luke's* is the place to be. Isn't that right folks?"
The regulars burst into applause and Luke nodded at them. "That's right.
Now keep it up for Dara Jensen!"
Dara stepped in front of the microphone. She was dressed in a long black
sequined dress and had a red rose in her hair. She nodded at the piano
player who began playing softly. Dara smiled at Mac before singing,
**Can you hear it in my voice
Was it something I let slip
Does the whole world know
Isn't it obvious?
I'm the one who's in control
Now I'm acting like a fool
Do my feelings show
Is my face all aglow
Isn't it obvious? **
Sonny's eyes followed her through the club. He watched as she sat next to
Jason and accepted his warm kiss. Sonny's hands curled into fist and he
fought the urge to go rip her out of Jason's arms. He was just about to
take a step towards them when Luke came up and whispered, "Buddy, you've
got lousy timing. Commissioner Ardanowski *and* her hubby Lieutenant
Taggert are at the back table and we both know Taggert's after your ass."
"If I'd known, we would have come through the back."
"Too late for 'if onlys'." Luke said. "I'll meet you in my office."
"All right." Sonny glanced once more in Carly's direction and found that
Carly was staring back at him while Jason was nibbling on her ear. Sonny
narrowed his eyes at her for a brief minute. The force of his stare should
have made Carly flinch but she shrugged helplessly and stared boldly back.
He looked away and led his associates to the back.
Carly tried to twist around in her seat to see where Sonny had gone but
Jason had his arms around her. She squirmed. "Jason, stop, we're in
public."
Jason sighed. "I need a drink, you want one?"
"I'd just rather listen to Dara. She has a beautiful voice." Carly
murmured.
**That I don't know what I'm doing anymore
I'm feeling like a little girl
Caught up in emotions
I'm out of control
Isn't it obvious?
Do you see my hands, they tremble
Wonder why I can't look you in the eyes
Don't know how long
I can keep this inside
Isn't it obvious? **
She wondered how long Sonny had been back in town and why hadn't he called
her. Of course she never called him whenever she returned from a trip but
that was completely different. How she didn't know but it was still
different. If he'd called her he would have known that she was going to be
out with Jason. From the cold look he'd given her she could tell that he
was not happy that she was with Jason. But that wasn't her problem now was
it?
Jason signaled for the waitress and asked Carly. "Are you sure, you don't
want anything?"
"White wine would be nice." Carly said softly. She placed her hand on his
leg and let it roam it up his thigh.
Jason shot her a questioning look. Carly smiled back. Why should she be
worrying over Sonny when she had her warm willing fiancé right here next to
her? Forget Sonny. Forget that look in his eye. "I was thinking, maybe I
*can* get away for the weekend."
"Really?" Jason said, surprised at her sudden turnaround.
"Yeah." She nipped at his mouth. "Why don't you look into a few places for
us?"
"Okay." Jason thrust his hand into her hair and kissed her softly. Carly
cupped the back of his neck and kissed him back trying to get the image of
Sonny walking away out of her mind.
Sonny came out of Luke's office in time to see Carly passionately kissing
Jason. He pressed his lips together in a hard line. Carly lifted her head
and happened to glance across the room. Her eyes locked with his and she
slowly and deliberately kissed Jason. She raised her eyebrow in defiance.
Sonny mouthed the word, "Bitch." Then he spoke to Luke. Luke followed him
to the back. Carly closed her eyes and pushed Jason away.
Jason rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip. "Where did this come from?"
She cleared her throat and ran her fingers through her hair. "Um, I'll be
right back."
Jason grabbed her hand as she stood up. "Where are you going?"
"Ladies room, I'll be right back, Jason." Carly told him firmly.
**That I don't know what I'm doing anymore
I'm feeling like a little girl
Caught up in emotions
I'm out of control
Isn't it obvious?
Suddenly these emotions are in control of my heart
Can you see it in my eyes
Every glance, every smile must give me away
And I feel so much I can't hide **
Carly leaned over the sink in the bathroom and stared in the mirror. That
little show for Sonny obviously backfired. She rubbed the back of her neck
and sighed. She was too old to play these stupid games with him. This was
getting her nowhere. She rinsed and dried her hands. She tucked a few
strands of hair behind her ear and left the ladies room.
On her way back to the main room she had to pass Luke's office. The first
time she'd gone through the door had been tightly closed. Now it was
slightly opened and she could overhear the men speaking inside. She peeked
through the cracks. Luke sat on his desk. Sonny and the two men he'd come
in where by the door.
Sonny was saying, "Alright, so the shipment will be in by next Tuesday.
I'll have a warehouse all ready and set up for you."
The younger man nodded. "I'm sure everything will go fine."
The older one grumbled. "It better."
"Moreno, I'm positive, nothing will go wrong." Sonny swore.
"And that's why I walk into this bar that the commissioner frequents?"
Moreno countered.
Luke got up and walked over to the door. "Gentlemen, I assume our business
is concluded. There's a back way out, how about I escort you out? Sonny,
I'll meet you out front."
Luke showed Moreno and his man the way out and Sonny walked over to the
door. He jerked it open. "Come on out, Caroline."
**I don't know what I'm doing anymore
I'm feeling like a little girl
Caught up in emotions
I'm out of control
Isn't it obvious? **
Carly came out of her little hiding place. "How'd you now I was there?"
"Smelled your perfume." He folded his arms. "Come here."
"What about Luke?" She said as she slowly walked towards him.
"He's not coming back here." Sonny grabbed her by the back of the head,
slammed the door behind her, and backed her up against the wall. He covered
her mouth with a harsh deep kiss. Carly kissed him back just as roughly.
She wrapped her leg around him and he ran his hand under her skirt. His
fingers teased at her panties. He broke the kiss long enough to say,
"Don't pull a stunt like that with doctor boy ever again." He murmured
against her neck.
"I'll do whatever I want, when I want." She moaned.
"Try it again and see what happens." He threatened.
She pushed against his shoulders. "Don't tell me what to do, Corinthos. How
was your little trip?"
Her sudden question seemed to come out of nowhere and stopped him cold.
"What?"
She glared at him. "Yeah, your little trip to Brooklyn? How were your wife,
Lois, and the kids?"
*Song credit* Obvious by Christina Aguilera
of the yacht did nothing to soothe her anger. Her manservant Andreas walked
up behind her and began to massage her tightly knotted shoulders. "You seem
upset."
Helena scoffed. "That's putting it lightly. It's been a week and I've heard
nothing about Nikolas. Instead of going to the media as I wish he went to
see Carly. Because of that nothing has happened. Something like this should
be on the lips of every Cassadine relative. The lawyers should be meeting
as we speak and yet not a word has trickled down to me."
Andreas frowned. "That can't be good, can it? Perhaps she didn't believe
him."
"Perhaps. Or perhaps my son is just taking his time looking into this.
Stefan is covering this all up. He would do anything to make sure his
precious daughter stays in control."
Andreas decided to play Devil's Advocate. "If your Nikolas plan doesn't
work…"
"Of course it will work." She snapped. "However I do have back up. You
insult me by thinking I wouldn't."
"I apologize madam." Andreas immediately said.
"In fact…" Helena picked up the phone. "It is me. I have come to the
realization that I might have to use you sometime in the future, my dear. I
want you to be ready to go at my word."
~*~*~
Luke was sitting on the porch with his feet propped up on the railing when
Laura came out of the house. She muttered. "Get your feet down."
Luke ignored her order and snagged around her waist. He pulled her down on
his lap. "Where are you off to?"
"I have a few errands to run and then I'm going to the store. You want me
to pick up anything?" Laura smiled at him.
"I got everything I want right here." Luke said and began to kiss her.
Lately he was getting worried about her. He noticed the silence and the way
she'd been pulling away from him.
"Oh, would you not do that out in the open?" Carly grumbled as she came up
the house.
Luke ignored Carly until he finished kissing Laura, long and slow. He shot
Carly a look. "You were saying?"
"You could make a person go blind." She muttered.
"Hardy har har." Luke said as Laura squirmed off of his lap. He frowned.
"Where are you going, woman?"
"I told you, the store." Laura smoothed down her hair. She smiled at Carly.
"Hello dear."
"Hi Aunt Laura." Carly smiled back. "Where's Lulu?"
"Out back digging up my yard. *Someone* told her there was buried treasure
back there." Laura shot daggers at Luke who just shrugged and grinned.
"Every princess needs a buried treasure."
"I thought that was pirates?" Carly quipped.
"What do you know?" Luke sneered.
"Luke, be nice." Laura said. "When I get back all those holes better be
filled up. Keep an eye on her, Luke."
"Foster's back there, he'll keep her in line." Luke said knowing that in a
few minutes he'd go back there to see what the girl was up to.
Laura shook her head and went to the car. She paused. "Are you coming down
the club tonight Carly?"
Luke groaned. "Don't tell her. I can't handle two visits in one day."
"Someone special singing?" Carly asked.
"I talked Dara Jensen into doing a one-night only show." Laura said. "I'm
surprised you didn't see the flyers up."
"I've been busy lately." She shrugged then tossed a grin at Luke. "I think
I can talk Jason into a night at the club."
"Thanks a lot, darlin'. Now I have to put up with her and Dr. Boredom."
Luke grumbled.
"I *like* Jason, I don't think he's boring at all." Laura said
apologetically to Carly.
Carly shrugged. "Don't worry about it, Laura. I know how Jason is."
"Well, hopefully I'll see you two there tonight then." Laura climbed into
the car. Luke waited until she'd gone before nodding at Carly. "You got
that look on your face. What's going on?"
Carly folded her arms. "I didn't want to say anything while Laura was
here…"
"Spit out, Caroline. I don't have all day trying to figure out what your
little Cassadine mind is hiding."
She glared at him. "*Carly*. Has anybody been hanging around the house? A
guy, average height, dark hair, brown eyes?"
Luke narrowed his eyes. "Why? What's going on?"
Carly took a deep breath. "Some joker showed up in my office a few days
ago. He said he was Nikolas Cassadine."
Luke's feet hit the porch with a loud thud. "What?"
"He's obviously a con artist but I wanted to warn you in case he came
looking for Laura. I have some people looking for him right now but no
one's found him yet."
"Give me his description and I'll find him." Luke said coldly. After Carly
filled him as best she could, he pointed a finger at her. "You don't say
one word about this to Laura, you hear me?"
Carly placed her hands on her hips. "Like I would be that insensitive. Give
me enough credit."
Luke snorted in disbelief. "How long did you sit on this before bringing it
to me?"
"I wanted to see if I could find him first myself."
"You went to big daddy didn't you?"
"And if I did?" She said definitely. She ignored the fact that she hadn't
heard from Stefan since. She could assume that he was working on it but she
had no idea.
"I don't need Vlad to handle this. This is my business."
"Excuse me, like I need an impostor on *my* ass?" Carly snapped. "I have
enough relatives pissed that I was born female, thank you. They hear about
him and they'll jump on him in a minute to get me out of the way, fake or
no fake."
"He's a *fake*." Luke said stubbornly. "My wife's son is dead and she
doesn't need to have his death brought up again."
"I know." Carly said softly. "I care about Laura too and I know how his
death must have devastated her. No one should lose a child."
"No, you *don't* know." Luke said bitterly. "You were playing with dolls
when all this went down. You weren't there."
Carly pinched the bride of her nose. "This is what I get for wasting my
lunch hour on you. I try and do the right thing and you jump down my
throat."
"Thanks for telling me so *I* can handle it." He said gruffly.
Carly clutched her heart and staggered back. "My God, did I just hear a
Spencer say thank you?"
Luke rolled his eyes. "Don't get used to it. You sticking around for a
little bit? Lulu's been asking for you. Something about a tiara?"
Carly grinned and started up the steps. "I told Lulu I'd have someone back
on the Cassadine Island grab one of the smaller ones from our vaults and
ship it to her. Don't worry, it's not that gaudy, a few diamonds, some
rubies, emeralds, that sort of thing. It's part of my inheritance and I
can do whatever the hell I want with it so you won't get any angry phone
calls. I thought Lulu might like it, you call her princess all the time."
"Hold up, wait a minute." Luke put his hand up. "No daughter of *mine* is
going to go running around in some Cassadine tiara!"
"That's fine." Carly smirked and patted his shoulder patronizingly, "While
*your* daughter won't be wearing it, *my* cousin will be enjoying her
gift."
~*~*~
Laura was on her way back to her car when she got the feeling that someone
was following her. Actually the whole afternoon Laura had that feeling. Who
and why she couldn't figure out but she had a way to find out. From years
of living with Luke she knew how to lose a tail and then double back so
that she was behind them. She quickly went around a corner, ducked behind a
dumpster and waited. She gingerly picked up a broken bottle.
Seconds later, a young man turned the corner also and walked down the
street obviously looking for her. She waited until he was halfway down the
block before coming out of her hiding place. Her voice trembled as she
shouted,
"Who are you?" She brandished the bottle in front of her like a weapon.
Nikolas whirled around. He'd been following his mother but then somehow
he'd lost her. He'd been following ever since she left the house. He was
hoping he could get her alone so he could finally speak to her face to
face. He had plenty of chances to approach her over the afternoon but each
time he found a flimsy excuse to wait. Now it seemed that he had no choice.
Laura's heart was beating triple time and her hand shook. It'd been years
since she had to worry about someone coming after her and her family. It
could be a regular mugging or something far worse. She took a breath and
tried to steady her nerves and said, stronger this time, "I said, who are
you? What do you want?"
Nikolas could only stare at her. His first meeting with his mother and she
was scared of him. He didn't want her to be scared, he just wanted some
answers. He didn't know what to do or say to her. 'Hi, I'm the son you
threw away and probably hadn't given a second thought to since' seemed
wrong. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again.
"Is it money? What?" Laura demanded. With one hand she started to reach
into her purse.
He held up a hand and whispered. "No…this is…I can't do this."
Laura watched as he turned and quickly walked away. It was several minutes
before she dropped the bottle at her feet and took a few deep breaths to
get herself back under control. She frowned in the direction that he'd
gone.
~*~*~
Carly was seated at her vanity table later that night. She was dressed only
in her underwear, garter belt and stockings. She was carefully putting on
her makeup when out of the corner of her eye she spotted the nightie that
Sonny had dubbed his. She put down her mascara and reached for it. Staring
down at it, she sighed. It'd been a week since she saw Sonny and she had to
admit that she missed him. It was hard to admit it. She rarely allowed
herself to miss anymore. Really missing people was another sign of weakness
to her. Allowing someone to have that much control over your life so that
you'd miss them uncontrollably when they were gone was not a part of the
game plan.
Carly took a deep breath and shook herself out of it. The only thing she
missed about Sonny was the sex. She certainly didn't miss the man himself,
vulgar, arrogant, charming, sexy as sin… It was the sex and only the sex.
That was it. That was all she was going to allow it to be.
She stood up and carried the nightgown over to her closet. Standing on her
tiptoes she tossed it on the top shelf. Just as she came back down on her
feet a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and a mouth nuzzled her neck.
"Mmm." She murmured as she crooked her neck to get a look at who it was.
"Jason."
"Hi, I got your message. I'd love to go to Luke's tonight."
"Oh, you actually have time for me?"
"Carly, I apologized about how busy I've been this week." He said. "But I'm
here now."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" She pushed away from him. She
grabbed a dress and walked over to a full-length mirror. Jason followed.
"Did I say that?"
"No but your tone implied it." Carly stepped into the dress. "Zip me up."
He crossed the room and instead of zipping her up, he reached into her
dress. Cupping her breasts, he kissed the back of her neck. "Would it help
if I apologized right here, right now?"
She inspected her nails and pretended boredom. "Depends."
"On what?" One hand abandoned her breast to roam down her body and into her
panties. She obligingly spread her legs for him.
Carly leaned back against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She
purred. "Depends…on how good you make me feel."
Jason laughed and turned her around in his arms. He pushed her dress down
and when it fell to the floor, she stepped out of it and kicked it away.
Carly grabbed his tie and used it to lead him over to the bed. She pushed
him down on it and crawled over him. Jason had just reached up to kiss her
when Carly glanced at the clock.
"Damn." She scrambled off of him.
Jason sat up confused. "What? What happened?"
"We're going to be late." Carly said as she scooped up her dress and
quickly put it on. She grabbed a pair of high-heeled sandals and hopped on
one foot as she put them on.
Jason lay back on the bed with his hands covering his face. "Carly…"
Carly snapped. "Stop fooling around and zip me up."
Jason rolled off the bed and zipped her up. He rubbed her bare shoulders.
"I've got a few days of vacation saved up. How about we go away sometime
this week?"
Carly turned around his arms. "Just because your schedule's free doesn't
mean mine is. There's too much for me to do right now. I can't just drop
everything to go run away with you."
Jason frowned. "First you complain that we don't spend enough time together
but the moment I have any free time you want nothing to do with me."
Carly traced his mouth with her finger. "Jason…ask me again in a few days.
There are some things going on that need my personal attention. When it's
all cleared up maybe we can go away for the weekend or something."
"Maybe." Jason said annoyed. He folded his arms and nodded his head several
times. "Maybe."
Carly rolled her eyes and picked up her matching purse. She tossed a light
wrap around her shoulders and started for the door. "If you've finished
pouting, you could join me at Luke's. If not, I'm going by myself. Don't
forget to turn the lights off on your way out."
Jason waited a few minutes before following her out the door.
~*~*~
Luke was behind the bar talking with Laura and Mac Scorpio when Carly and
Jason came in. Carly touched Jason on the arm. "I need to speak with my
Uncle Luke for a minute. Go grab us a table, would you?"
"I wouldn't mind saying hello to Laura." Jason took her by the arm and
started guiding her over. Carly stopped.
"Luke and I have some thing to discuss and you know how he is with you. Why
put yourself in that position? I'll tell Laura you send your love." She
kissed him on the cheek and sent him on his way.
Luke was in the middle of goading Mac. "Pick up that long face, Bubba. Just
because I stole your wife from her Outback only shows don't mean you have
to be depressed about it."
"Correction, your wife talked mine into it." Mac grumbled.
"Thank you." Laura smiled. She still hadn't told Luke about her strange
encounter that afternoon. She didn't want to worry him in case it was
nothing.
"It's still a coup for Luke's. The first non-Outback performance by local
songbird Dara Jensen." Luke grinned around his cigar.
"Rub it in my face a little more, thanks."
Carly came over to them. "What's Luke doing now? Being his usual boorish
self?"
"Please, darlin', insulting my character like that ain't gonna score you a
free drink. I see you dropped Dr. Boredom back there."
"I'd rather he not have to listen to you yap." Carly shrugged.
"Unfortunately for me, I have to."
"What do you want? You here to tell me you stopped shipment on that tiara?"
"Actually I'm having it shipped express mail." Carly grinned.
"Then I guess I'm going to have a lot of fun selling it off, piece by
piece." Luke grinned back.
"Luke, you take one thing off of Lulu's tiara…" Laura threatened.
Carly smirked at him. "It's three against one, Luke. Give it up."
Luke muttered. "Whatever. You came over here for a reason?"
"Yeah, this afternoon…" Carly raised her eyebrow.
"Looking into it. Should have an address by tomorrow."
Carly looked impressed. "That was fast."
"Naturally." He smirked. He checked his watch. "Looks like it's time to
introduce Dara."
Carly nodded and started to walk to the table that Jason had gotten. Just
as she passed by the door Sonny walked in, followed by two unscrupulous
looking men. Carly didn't hesitate in her step but she did lock eyes with
him. If anyone had been watching them, they would have been shocked by the
hot looks passed between them.
Luke jumped on stage. It was dimly lit with only a piano and a microphone.
"Instead of me standing up here, going on and on about what a complete
*joy* it was for me and my lovely wife," he winked at Laura, "to steal this
singer from her usual singing gig. I guess she finally figured out that
*Luke's* is the place to be. Isn't that right folks?"
The regulars burst into applause and Luke nodded at them. "That's right.
Now keep it up for Dara Jensen!"
Dara stepped in front of the microphone. She was dressed in a long black
sequined dress and had a red rose in her hair. She nodded at the piano
player who began playing softly. Dara smiled at Mac before singing,
**Can you hear it in my voice
Was it something I let slip
Does the whole world know
Isn't it obvious?
I'm the one who's in control
Now I'm acting like a fool
Do my feelings show
Is my face all aglow
Isn't it obvious? **
Sonny's eyes followed her through the club. He watched as she sat next to
Jason and accepted his warm kiss. Sonny's hands curled into fist and he
fought the urge to go rip her out of Jason's arms. He was just about to
take a step towards them when Luke came up and whispered, "Buddy, you've
got lousy timing. Commissioner Ardanowski *and* her hubby Lieutenant
Taggert are at the back table and we both know Taggert's after your ass."
"If I'd known, we would have come through the back."
"Too late for 'if onlys'." Luke said. "I'll meet you in my office."
"All right." Sonny glanced once more in Carly's direction and found that
Carly was staring back at him while Jason was nibbling on her ear. Sonny
narrowed his eyes at her for a brief minute. The force of his stare should
have made Carly flinch but she shrugged helplessly and stared boldly back.
He looked away and led his associates to the back.
Carly tried to twist around in her seat to see where Sonny had gone but
Jason had his arms around her. She squirmed. "Jason, stop, we're in
public."
Jason sighed. "I need a drink, you want one?"
"I'd just rather listen to Dara. She has a beautiful voice." Carly
murmured.
**That I don't know what I'm doing anymore
I'm feeling like a little girl
Caught up in emotions
I'm out of control
Isn't it obvious?
Do you see my hands, they tremble
Wonder why I can't look you in the eyes
Don't know how long
I can keep this inside
Isn't it obvious? **
She wondered how long Sonny had been back in town and why hadn't he called
her. Of course she never called him whenever she returned from a trip but
that was completely different. How she didn't know but it was still
different. If he'd called her he would have known that she was going to be
out with Jason. From the cold look he'd given her she could tell that he
was not happy that she was with Jason. But that wasn't her problem now was
it?
Jason signaled for the waitress and asked Carly. "Are you sure, you don't
want anything?"
"White wine would be nice." Carly said softly. She placed her hand on his
leg and let it roam it up his thigh.
Jason shot her a questioning look. Carly smiled back. Why should she be
worrying over Sonny when she had her warm willing fiancé right here next to
her? Forget Sonny. Forget that look in his eye. "I was thinking, maybe I
*can* get away for the weekend."
"Really?" Jason said, surprised at her sudden turnaround.
"Yeah." She nipped at his mouth. "Why don't you look into a few places for
us?"
"Okay." Jason thrust his hand into her hair and kissed her softly. Carly
cupped the back of his neck and kissed him back trying to get the image of
Sonny walking away out of her mind.
Sonny came out of Luke's office in time to see Carly passionately kissing
Jason. He pressed his lips together in a hard line. Carly lifted her head
and happened to glance across the room. Her eyes locked with his and she
slowly and deliberately kissed Jason. She raised her eyebrow in defiance.
Sonny mouthed the word, "Bitch." Then he spoke to Luke. Luke followed him
to the back. Carly closed her eyes and pushed Jason away.
Jason rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip. "Where did this come from?"
She cleared her throat and ran her fingers through her hair. "Um, I'll be
right back."
Jason grabbed her hand as she stood up. "Where are you going?"
"Ladies room, I'll be right back, Jason." Carly told him firmly.
**That I don't know what I'm doing anymore
I'm feeling like a little girl
Caught up in emotions
I'm out of control
Isn't it obvious?
Suddenly these emotions are in control of my heart
Can you see it in my eyes
Every glance, every smile must give me away
And I feel so much I can't hide **
Carly leaned over the sink in the bathroom and stared in the mirror. That
little show for Sonny obviously backfired. She rubbed the back of her neck
and sighed. She was too old to play these stupid games with him. This was
getting her nowhere. She rinsed and dried her hands. She tucked a few
strands of hair behind her ear and left the ladies room.
On her way back to the main room she had to pass Luke's office. The first
time she'd gone through the door had been tightly closed. Now it was
slightly opened and she could overhear the men speaking inside. She peeked
through the cracks. Luke sat on his desk. Sonny and the two men he'd come
in where by the door.
Sonny was saying, "Alright, so the shipment will be in by next Tuesday.
I'll have a warehouse all ready and set up for you."
The younger man nodded. "I'm sure everything will go fine."
The older one grumbled. "It better."
"Moreno, I'm positive, nothing will go wrong." Sonny swore.
"And that's why I walk into this bar that the commissioner frequents?"
Moreno countered.
Luke got up and walked over to the door. "Gentlemen, I assume our business
is concluded. There's a back way out, how about I escort you out? Sonny,
I'll meet you out front."
Luke showed Moreno and his man the way out and Sonny walked over to the
door. He jerked it open. "Come on out, Caroline."
**I don't know what I'm doing anymore
I'm feeling like a little girl
Caught up in emotions
I'm out of control
Isn't it obvious? **
Carly came out of her little hiding place. "How'd you now I was there?"
"Smelled your perfume." He folded his arms. "Come here."
"What about Luke?" She said as she slowly walked towards him.
"He's not coming back here." Sonny grabbed her by the back of the head,
slammed the door behind her, and backed her up against the wall. He covered
her mouth with a harsh deep kiss. Carly kissed him back just as roughly.
She wrapped her leg around him and he ran his hand under her skirt. His
fingers teased at her panties. He broke the kiss long enough to say,
"Don't pull a stunt like that with doctor boy ever again." He murmured
against her neck.
"I'll do whatever I want, when I want." She moaned.
"Try it again and see what happens." He threatened.
She pushed against his shoulders. "Don't tell me what to do, Corinthos. How
was your little trip?"
Her sudden question seemed to come out of nowhere and stopped him cold.
"What?"
She glared at him. "Yeah, your little trip to Brooklyn? How were your wife,
Lois, and the kids?"
*Song credit* Obvious by Christina Aguilera