Chapter 14
Coop woke up to the sound of a loud ringing noise. He reached over to hit the snooze button on his alarm clock only to find air. He woke up and realized his other arm was numb. The sun was so bright, he realized he wasn't in his room in the bed either. He looked down and saw Lizzie. He remembered they had sat down last night to spend just a few more minutes together before they went home, and they must have just fallen asleep. Alan was going to freak and not to mention Frank.
" Oh, my God", Coop said to himself, while noticing that Lizzie was moving around and was about to wake up.
" Oh, My God," Lizzie said sitting up and trying to fix her rumpled hair. " Look at my hair,".
" Lizzie, I think we have a lot more important things to be worrying about right now than your hair," Coop said, getting up and pulling her up with him.
" Like what?" Lizzie said.
" Like the fact that we stayed out all night together without even telling our families where we would be, that is just for starters." Coop said.
" Coop, honey, I think you need to get some more rest. You are not thinking clearly, just a few minutes ago we were going to go home and I talked you out of it. We still have plenty of time to get home before the morning comes." Lizzie said, oblivious to the fact that it was already morning.
" Lizzie, look around. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it's the beginning of a brand new day. We were out the entire night. How are we going to explain this?" Coop asked.
Lizzie looked around and suddenly got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. " You're right. Oh my god, Coop how am I going to explain this to my grandfather?" Lizzie said, starting to panic.
" We are just going to tell him the truth, Lizzie. Nothing happened that shouldn't have." Coop said, kissing the top of her head.
"Okay, if you say so." Lizzie said, taking Coop's hand and he led them off the roof and onto whatever was waiting for them at home.
Alan had not slept a wink last night. He had been sitting in that hard chair at one of the tables at Company all night long. Elizabeth still had not returned home.
" Buzz! Your son has kept my granddaughter out all night!" Alan suddenly yelled.
Buzz had finally gotten some sort of sleep before Alan's loud yelling, which startled him and woke him up. Now Buzz was a little worried about Coop and Lizzie being out all night. He was hoping that what he thought may have happened, didn't. He didn't want to be around if Alan found out something like that. He knew Coop, and he knew he wouldn't put Lizzie in any kind of danger, not with the strength of his feelings toward her.
" Alan, I'm sure they are fine. They are adults, they can do whatever they want to." Buzz said, trying to calm Alan down.
" You are just hoping your son got a score last night," Alan stated, his fury getting worse.
Just then Frank came down the steps, obviously not having slept either.
" Dad, Coop didn't come home all night. I was up waiting to knock some sense into him, but he never showed. Please tell me he is not still out with Lizzie." Frank said, obviously very upset over the whole ordeal.
" Frank, your brother is an adult and a very smart one at that. He is not going to do something he is going to regret." Buzz stated.
" Well, he is going to regret staying out all night with Elizabeth, that is for sure," Alan jumped in, yelling.
" Alan…" Buzz started to say, but he was interrupted when the door to Company was opened.
" Granddad, Good Morning," Elizabeth said, cheerfully, trying to decide what kind of mood her grandfather was in.
" Elizabeth, where have you been?" Alan yelled, grabbing Lizzie's arm and dragging her over to the corner of the restaurant for privacy.
Over across the other side of the restaurant, Frank has drug Coop over to discuss what happened last night.
They both knew it was going to be a long morning.
Over across town at the Spaulding Mansion, Alan Michael was sitting at his father's desk looking at the pictures of his brother Phillip. It was true that he and Phillip rarely got along, but that didn't mean he didn't love him. But what he knew about Alan and everything else that could go down, he didn't know who to trust and who to avoid.
Just then, Gus walked into the living room and interrupted Alan Michael's thoughts.
" You must be Alan Michael" Gus said, extending his hand to his newly found brother.
" That's right, but who are you?" Alan Michael said, confused.
" Oh, don't tell me dear oh dad forgot to mention to you he has another son." Gus stated, actually shocked Alan hadn't mentioned it.
" A what? Another son? Who?" Alan Michael said, stunned.
" That would be me. Gus Aitoro." Gus said, preparing to tell the whole story.
Lizzie and Alan had left Company some time ago, but Frank was still grilling Coop about his night with Lizzie.
" Coop, look, I know you have some sort of crush on Lizzie, and I know you are a guy and you have certain needs, but really Coop, a Spaulding?" Frank said, trying to make Coop see things his way.
" Frank, it is more than just a crush, okay. I honestly have real feelings for her. I am not joking around, this is a very serious relationship." Coop said, a matter of factly.
Frank sighed. " Coop, I know you want to believe that, but she is just using you until someone better comes along. I know the Spauldings, that is all that they do. They use people. I don't want you to become a victim of that." Frank finished.
Coop was getting a little irritated. " Frank, I wish I could just talk to you as a normal person. Most guys can talk to their brothers about stuff like this. I can't talk to you about Lizzie because you erupt like a volcano." Coop finished.
" Coop, just answer me one question. Did you or did you not sleep with Lizzie last night?' Frank asked.
" No, Frank. We did not sleep together last night or any other night. For right now our relationship does not involve sex in any way. We are still developing our relationship and building our trust. I know it sounds stupid, but I don't need sex to make a relationship work." Coop said, trying to make Frank see his point.
" Coop, you really care about her, don't you?" Frank asked, finally getting how Coop felt about Lizzie Spaulding.
" Yeah, I do. But, I think it is a lot more than that." Coop said, thinking about the depth of his feelings for Lizzie.
" What do you mean?" Frank said, curious as to what Coop was talking about.
" Well, I can't be sure about this, but I think I might be falling in love with her," Coop said, finally letting his true feelings out in the open. " I'm not sure because I have never been in love before." Coop said, wondering if his brother could give him any advice.
" Wow, Coop, I didn't know that things had gotten this serious with you two." Frank said.
" Is that your way of saying that you approve?" Coop said.
" Not on your life." Frank said, getting up and leaving the table.
Coop sighed and leaned back against the wall and thought about the girl of his dreams, and what he had to do to make sure she was safe and that she did not succumb to the cancer growing inside of her.
Alan Michael and Gus had been chatting for the last three hours getting caught up on everything. Gus explained how he discovered he was a Spaulding. What Alex and Alan had done with the drug ring and how he had lost Harley in the process. But he did mention that he and Harley were back together since returning from New York City. Alan Michael was once married to Harley and he loved her very much back when, but he decided he was totally cool with Gus and Harley, and he loved this connection he seemed to have with Gus, a connection he never had with Phillip. Alan Michael had also explained to Gus that Alan had been Phillip's real killer. Needless to say, Gus was shocked to his core.
" Oh, my God." Gus said, totally shocked at what Alan Michael had just told him. " Our father killed our brother?"
" He called me up for assistance, because he knew that Phillip and I kind of had a feud going on about the time he was killed. It was over who ran Spaulding Enterprises, but after Lucy and I got married, we left town to avoid Alan and everything that goes along with Spaulding and Cooper war." Alan Michael explained to Gus. " So, I knew something was really up when he called me for assistance in getting rid of Phillip. He had it in his head that he was protecting the family by killing Phillip." Alan Michael finished.
" So you helped Alan kill Phillip?" Gus said, very confused.
" No, I made him think I was on his side. I have known dad needed help for so many years. He told me the whole sordid story, and it is very whacked." Alan Michael said. " But I have one more shocker for you, Gus."
" What?" Gus said, eager to hear more of his father's plot.
" Forget everything I just told you." Alan Michael said, getting ready to shock the life out of Gus.
" What? Why would I want to do that?" Gus said.
" Because our dear oh brother Phillip, is still alive." Alan Michael said, preparing for Gus's reaction.
" What? Phillip is still alive?" Gus said, now very confused.
" Phillip called me the same day to tell me about his plan to take the children. I don't know how, but some how, I managed to talk him out of it. So he sent those invitations out for Beth, Harley, and Olivia so that he could give them their children back. But dad didn't see that. He shot Phillip. Somehow Phillip faked his death and got away." Alan Michael continued. " Phillip has been seeing a psychologist for a long time now, and he is about back to normal." he finished.
Gus's brain was about to shut down. This was a lot of information to take in in such a short time.
" Why are you telling me this? We just met. Why would you tell me this." Gus said.
" Because I found out you are my brother. I would like to get to know you a little better. But I know we want the same thing: All of this fighting between the Coopers and the Spauldings to stop. I think we should work together and teach dad a lesson he will never forget." Alan Michael finished.
" You are on." Gus said.
" But what do you say we add another member to our team." Alan Michael said.
" Who?" Gus asked.
" Our brother Phillip. He wants revenge on Alan for turning his life upside down and he wants revenge for what Alan has done to his family. It is perfect. The three Spaulding brothers taking down the mighty Alan Spaulding." Alan Michael said, very confidently.
" Let's do it." Gus said, more than ready to teach his scheming father a lesson. "Let's find Phillip."
Spoilers For Chapter 15
Lizzie has another sign of Leukemia, but luckily, Coop covers for her again
Coop comes very close to admitting his true feelings for Lizzie
Gus and Alan Michael travel to Arizona to find Phillip
Phillip agrees to team up with Alan Michael and Gus in order to take Alan down
Down the Road:
Lizzie's leukemia takes a turn for the worse, and she is getting sicker and sicker. Coop promised to keep this a secret, but will he be able to keep his promise when he sees the woman he loves dying?
Meanwhile, Alan Michael, Gus, and Phillip are coming up with a plan to prove Alan's guilt and to teach him a lesson. Phillip finds out Coop and Lizzie are dating and realizing all the pain she has been through her whole life, he decides to let her be happy for once and doesn't interfere with their relationship. Phillip is still believed dead by Lizzie, so when Phillip and Coop come face to face, Phillip gives his approval and explains the plan to Coop. The Coop has the decision whether to tell Phillip about Lizzie's condition, or to keep his promise and let her deal with it alone. What will he do?
Whitney