Rain Drenched Promises Part 4

March 2006
Location - Caroline's

Carly stood behind the bar and surveyed the decorated room before her. Luke's Blues Club had never looked this good when he ran it. The sign outside read Caroline's but, in truth , it wasn't 100 percent owned by her.

She had given Sonny back every penny of the divorce settlement, keeping only the child support. Her children deserved the best even if their mother could not give it to them on her own. At least, not yet.
But that little move to salvage some of her shattered self esteem left her broke, except for Lorenzo's money.
His cash was fine for eveyday expenses but everything about this new business had to be obtained on her own. It marked her first taste of freedom in years.

Luke still owned the building, the liquor license, and the furniture. For letting her use it he insisted on 25 percent of the profits.

"10." Carly had told him, with a grin. " And you better say thank you because we both know I could get it for free if I put in a little more effort."

He whined about being cheated by his niece but gave in easily enough.

Carly figured 90 percent of something was better than 100 percent of another business that had to be financed by her ex-husband Sonny or her current husband, Lorenzo. The working capital was the hardest part for Carly to come up with. She could have went to her mother or Jason. But this business venture needed to be born from her hard work. Carly sold the only thing she owned that Sonny did not buy., the jewelry Jason gave her years ago. To auction that off hurt but nothing like the pain of being indebted to a man who could take away his love and money if she didn't please him.

Lorenzo had promised the world when he whisked her out of the mental hospital and into a supposedly bright future.. But he was more absorbed in his son's problems, his mob dealings, and his run- ins with the Port Charles police than he was with Carly's happiness. She asked Lorenzo to come to the grand opening of Caroline's tonight. He said he would try to make it.

Carly pushed down her aggravation at her inattentive husband. The people she needed to be here tonight would be. Her mother and brother were coming. Leticia would bring the boys for the ribbon cutting and then get them home in time for bedtime. The so called high society circle also got invitations. Carly would love to rub her success in their faces. Ditto for the Quatermaines.

The rest of the guest list was rounded out with media and the few people Carly invited to please Jason, his tag along Sam, goody good sister Emily and her newly re married husband Nikolas Cassadine. Carly invited them to make Jason happy. But, she knew, he would have came without them. He always came through for her since the day she showed up at his doorstep soaking wet begging him to claim Michael as his own.

Anyone else would had called her crazy. Everyone else did, and maybe she was. She destroyed every good thing that came her way. That couldn't be completely sane. But she never destroyed what mattered most, her bond with her kids and her love for Jason. Nothing could take that from her.
As the first people walked into her club Carly smiled knowing if this business flopped she would still have her three guys to rely on for the rest of her life.

I can take my chances
I can swing from the trapeze
I'm not afraid of falling
Cause I know that you'll catch me
When my sky is running out of blue
And when I just don't know what to do

You
Would be the faith that carries me
You
Would show me the grace to make me see the truth

Sara Evans