They had gotten back from the island the Sunday after Sonny had told her about the center. That was three weeks ago. Since then, she had talked to three different architects until she had found one that had a design that she really liked. The plans called for 100 rooms, each with their own bathroom, bedroom, living space and small kitchen. There was a cafeteria on the premises, but she decided that the women should also be able to cook for themselves if they wanted to. Inside this main building, there were 10 meeting rooms so that the groups could remain small, so as not to overwhelm the women that met there. There was also one big hall that would serve as a theater, with a movie screen that came down in front of the stage. She had hoped to get guest speakers in there every now and then to keep the women encouraged and uplifted. On the property there would also be small apartment buildings, each of which consisted of four two bedroom and two three bedroom apartments, in case a woman who was fleeing domestic abuse had children. A small clinic would also be on the grounds, to provide medical care as it was needed. There was a big swimming pool and a pond on the property as well. In the middle of the pond was a fountain. It was supposed to represent an eternal spring of hope that she hoped every woman who came to the center felt.
The next two things that she had to get working on was the interior design and landscaping. She really didn't have much expertise in the area of landscaping, so she had set that aside. She was staring at carpet and wallpaper samples when Sonny walked in. He had to smile seeing her so engrossed with this project. She had been smiling and laughing so much lately. He rarely saw her sitting alone anymore. She was always taking care of the boys or some details with the center. The sight of her with such purpose, joy and peace did wonders for his heart. It was such a change from the young defeated girl that had shown up a few months ago. He knew Jason would be glad to see her doing so well. Jason and Sam had just gotten back today. He hadn't wanted Emily to know. He wanted it to be another surprise for her. They had gone back to the penthouse to get unpacked and changed. They'd be here in about an hour and he knew Emily would be so happy to see Jason. Emily looked up to see him standing there watching her. As soon as she made eye contact, he flashed her his famous smile.
"What are you grinning at Mr. Corinthos? Is there something amusing about a woman practically buried in carpet and wallpaper swatches?"
"Not really. I'm just smiling because it does my heart good to see you doing something that you care so deeply about. You've come so far in such a short time, given what you've been through, and I'm so proud of you. Watching you beat this has encouraged me to be a better person and to try and let go of some of the things in my past."
Emily got up from where she was sitting, walked over to Sonny and hugged him. At first, the contact sent electricity to Sonny's whole body, but he still managed to give her a friendly hug. "What is that for?" Emily let him go and took his hands in hers. "That's one small way for me to thank you for doing this for me. This has been such an amazing project to be involved with so far. Not only does it mean something for me, it's going to mean something special to all the women who are going to come to the center."
Sonny smiled at her again. He couldn't help it. When she got so excited about this project, her joy was infectious. "Do you think you could handle two more surprises?"
Emily's smile got really big. "I'm not sure. Given the enormity of your last surprise, I'm don't know if I could handle two more. But I'm going to brace myself and hope for the best. What are the two surprises?"
"I'm not going to tell you about the first one, but it will be here in about 45 minutes. The second surprise are some pictures from the site. They've already got all the foundations for the buildings started, and both the pool are dug and filled already. I made them turn on the fountain in the pond so you could see it working. Do you want to see the pictures?"
"Of course I wanna see the pictures!" Emily was practically jumping up and down on the couch with excitement. Sonny handed her the pictures and her hands were shaking as she opened the envelope. The first picture was of the pond with the fountain in the middle. She stared at it for about thirty second, and as she did, the smile faded from her face. "Is there something wrong with it Emily?"
"It's amazing Sonny. I know this is a still picture of it, but it's still amazing. I really hope that this will inspire the women who go to the center. I think making it one of the first things they see as they drive up to the center was a really good idea." She flipped to the next picture which was of the pool. It consisted of five different areas. The main pool was four feet deep at the shallow end, and seven foot deep at the deep end. At the shallow end of that pool were two shallow pools. One was only a foot deep for really small children, and the other one was three feet deep, for older children who weren't quite ready for the shallow end of the big pool. On the deep side of the pool was a rock wall that had a waterfall coming over the top of it and plunging down into a narrow canal. The narrow canal ran down under the diving board into the main pool. It was part of the water recirculating system for the pool, to try and keep it fresh and clean. On each side of the rock wall were two hot tubs. "I really like the way this looks. It will help the women feel more like they're on vacation. It looks great." The next couple pictures were the foundations and some of the framing for the main building. It was going to be a five story building when it was complete. The top four floors would each have 25 rooms, while the main floor would have all the offices, the theater, the cafeteria and all the meeting rooms. The foundation was also set for the apartment buildings as well as the clinic.
As she flipped through these pictures, Emily had a feeling she had seen this place before. "I don't know what it is Sonny, but when I look at the pictures of this area, it seems so familiar to me. I'm not sure why that it."
Sonny knew why, but he feigned ignorance. "Maybe you have just pictured what it would look like in your head so many times, that it seems like you've already been there." Emily shook her head in disbelief. "I don't think that's it, but I can't be sure of that either. At any rate, the builders are making great progress. Hopefully the center will be open for business in another month or two. I'd like to make July 4th the opening day. Don't you think that Independence Day makes for a great theme for the opening?"
"I think that's a wonderful idea. How do you want to handle the opening? I know you had told me that you wanted the area to be remote so the women would truly feel safe there. How did you plan on getting the word out about the center?"
"I've already talked to the staff at a few of the local clinics that deal with women who are abused. They said they'd be happy to tell the women that come there about it. Quite a few of them actually said they'd be willing to volunteer from time to time at the center. I'd like to get a brochure done soon. But I'd need a picture of what it's supposed to look like. Maybe the architect could draw something up. And you'd have to provide a map to the place. I promise you that I won't peek at it. I'll send the specs to the printer for the brochure and have them send the finished product to the clinics directly. I also talked to Mac at the police station, and he said they'd make that information available to women they come in contact with who are victims of rape or domestic violence. So I think I've got all the right bases covered to make sure that we get some people there on opening day."
"Well Ms. Quartermaine, you've got everything well in hand it seems. I'm so proud of the work you've gotten done so far." Emily walked back over to the desk she had the wallpaper and carpet samples on and let out a sigh. "I just wish I had some help on the interior design. It would be nice to have another woman working on this with me. I'm not very good at this kind of thing. I know what looks nice, but all this information I've got to look through is starting to overwhelm me right now."
"Do you think I could help you out Emily?"
Emily looked up to see Jason and Sam standing in the doorway. They were both smiling at her. They looked so good. The vacation had done wonders for the both of them. Emily got up, and ran over to hug Jason. "I missed you so much Jase!" She hugged him for a minute, and then turned to look at Sonny. "Was this the other surprise?" Sonny smiled and nodded. "It's a very good surprise. I don't know how in the world you were able to keep this a secret though. You're good."
Everybody laughed as Sonny blushed a little bit. "I just did what I could to take care of Jason's little sister while he was gone. You two look great, by the way. I can see that your time away from Port Charles has been good for you."
"Jason took me to Italy and then Greece. He showed me all sorts of places that I'd never seen before. It was alot of fun. We really needed this time to get away and heal. Now, can you use my help on this project Emily? I'd love to have something to keep me busy now that I'm back."
"Of course you can help! This is gonna be so much fun now that you're here to help me out."
With that, both women went over to the desk and started looking at carpet and wallpaper samples. They smiled and giggled as girls do when they're together.
"Thanks for looking after her when I wasn't here. You're going to have to fill me in on everything that happened while I was gone."
"I was glad to be here for Emily. She's been such a blessing to me and the boys. As for some of the details, you're going to have to talk to her about them first. It's really not my place to tell you about some of the things. After you've had a chance to speak with her, I'll fill you in on the rest. Right now I've got one small thing to go take care of. I'll leave you alone with those two for now. Do you think you can handle it?" Sonny nudged him and laughed when Jason grimaced at him.
"Why do I think I'm going to have to kill somebody by the time Emily's done telling me what's going on? I guess I better get it over with so it can be dealt with."