Viki was at home with Charlie when the doorbell rang. Charlie had been hoping for the phone to ring and did not like that someone was at the door. "Well, now, who could that be?"
"I'll get it," Viki insisted, concerned.
Charlie waited, hovering near the telephone until he saw Bo and Nora enter the foyer. "Any news?" he asked before he even offered a hello.
"We just wanted to stop by and check in," Bo offered as an encouraging apology. "You know that if I hear anything before you do, you'll be the first person I call."
Nora hugged Viki. "Clint wanted to be here but he's caught in a meeting at B.E. right now. He'll call later."
"How is Matthew?" Viki ushered them to the couch.
"Oh, you know … still as Buchanan as ever," was Nora's only explanation. "Are you two sure you're alright? Working from home today?"
"Yes, we thought a quiet setting seemed more productive. We're fine," Viki assured.
Bo wasn't certain. "It's just we know you both have a lot on your mind right now, with the election and everything…."
"To be honest, Bo," Viki admitted, "the election is the least of my concerns right now."
Nora wondered with a smirk, "You mean Dorian is the least of your concerns right now?"
"That too," Viki agreed. "Although she would prefer otherwise."
"I don't know, Viki." Nora shook her head. "You know she's been waiting for a perfect opportunity to hold her head up and strike." She mimicked the movement of a snake with her hand and arm.
"Well, then, let her," Viki insisted. "It won't do her public image any favors."
Charlie was helpless. He glanced at the phone and Bo caught him doing it.
"See, the thing is," Bo offered, "that while she may be the least of your worries right now – and rightly so, rightly so," he nodded, "she is also the one you can deal with."
"What are you getting at, Bo?" Charlie wondered.
"The interim mayor is pretty much in a holding position until we get a new mayor in town hall. This is about the first time in years we've been able to do our jobs at the station without someone from the mayor's office running interference. At the end of this election, I'm going to have a new boss, and it just remains to be seen what might happen in a situation like the one we're facing right now, with Jared."
Viki looked over at Charlie while he nodded his understanding. "Well, to be fair," she offered, "I have to give Dorian some credit. I don't think either one of us would interfere in an investigation like this one."
"Ah, the key words," Nora insisted. "'Like this one.'"
There was an awkward silence between the four as they each wondered over their own thoughts on the matter.
Bo spoke up again. "By the way, Viki – this is relevant to your interests. The hotline got an anonymous tip this morning … from someone who was insisting that we should investigate the current hospital chief of staff because they said he has or had close personal ties with the former mayor."
Nora nodded with a funny all-knowing grin.
"Well, isn't that convenient?" Charlie wondered.
"That's true though," Viki agreed. "In fact, now that I think about it, I'm surprised he managed to slip under all of our radars for so long, considering that prescriptions were a large part of the drug operation."
"So this is a concern to you?" Bo asked with genuine interest.
"In fact, yes," Viki nodded. She looked at Nora's expression. "Why?"
"I listened to the call," Bo admitted. "The anonymous caller had a very familiar voice."
Viki slapped the top of her leg. "I knew it! I knew she was doing this. I was just telling Charlie - the chief of staff position is why she even got involved in Lowell's campaign to start with."
"Because he was on the board?" Bo asked.
"Yes, and he wouldn't vote for her becoming chief of staff due to his ties with the current one … which I'm sure involved campaign contributions … and since we're on the subject, perhaps even drugs?"
They shared a collective sigh.
Viki paused. "Again, to be fair, that is exactly why I decided to run for mayor as well."
"Because Dorian was supporting him?" Nora blinked.
"Oh, goodness no," Viki shook her head. "In fact, we didn't even find out she was his campaign manager until after the decision was made. But she did help me realize that someone had to at least try to defeat Lowell."
"And she was the first to defend him. That's rich." Bo smirked. "But to her credit, she did get him to resign."
"And how did she get him to do that?" Charlie wondered.
"Well, you know what?" Bo offered. "To me, that doesn't matter as much as the end result. We're finally going to have a new mayor." He smiled at Viki. "And I'm able to do my job. Lowell's behind bars…."
"…And Dorian's a lesbian," Nora grinned with glee as Viki rolled her eyes. "Speaking of … does David still wander in here from time to time?"
"Oh, yes he does," Viki assured her. "Often. Usually on a mission."
"A Dorian-commissioned mission?" Nora smirked. "Well, you know as well as I do that there is no way this lesbian thing is even - by the widest stretch of the imagination - genuine," Nora stated.
"And yet," Viki observed, "There really is no way to prove that or even insist upon it without aggravating the gay community – which, by the way, I still have somewhat solid support from."
"The reason I ask about David," Nora elaborated, "… Does he still have feelings for her?"
Viki smirked. "David's sentimentality only goes so far as his libido, and yet, Dorian and David will always share a connection I don't even want to start to contemplate."
Bo nodded agreement.
"It's sort-of tragic, you know?" Nora considered. "She divorced him – despite the fact that he was a Buchanan – presumably to be with Ray Montez. You remember how crazy she got after he left town."
"How could I forget?" Viki half-shuddered, and half-smirked. "And that happened right before all of this mayor interest came up."
"Then David comes back to town and gets caught up in this lesbian farce. She demotes him to make Amelia her campaign manager. You know this all has to be making him crazy."
Bo was a bit uncomfortable with the conversation. "I'm sure it is."
Viki was curious. "Where are you going with this, Nora?"
"Well, I mean … maybe you can't prove Dorian isn't a lesbian right now…."
"…But David can," Viki knew.
"... And he listens to you, and good ol' Pa here," Nora nudged Bo's arm as she teased him. "I can't believe you've had this ace up your sleeve this whole time and it hasn't occurred to you to use it."
"Well, no offense to you, Nora, but I like to think I'm a bit bigger than that. Dorian plays in the mud and taunts me to get in with her, but I'd rather stand outside the ring and watch her make a ridiculous mess of herself for no reason. Case in point - the LGLA."
"On the other hand," Bo thought it out for them with startling reality, "While I would never presume that Viki doesn't have a leg up in this election, we have Dorian on the other side with a pretty fair shot to be our next mayor – and under what we all assume to be a false pretense. You wouldn't exactly have to get in the mud for her to look dirty all on her own."
"You're encouraging this, Bo?" Viki gasped.
"I'm just saying … there would be nothing dishonest about reminding David and Dorian of their deep-seated feelings for each other."
"I take it you're not voting for Dorian then?" Charlie asked Bo, half-joking, and they all shared a chuckle over it.
"Well, you're right," Viki acquiesced. "There would be nothing dishonest about it. I just can't help feeling a bit guilty at the thought that Dorian can be so easily manipulated. For goodness sakes, she had a fit over The Banner publishing an article about Jared."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Bo asked.
"It's a … conflict of interests," Charlie explained. "She was spouting some nonsense about media bias."
Nora snapped her fingers. "And that's why she wanted to remain anonymous on the tip hotline."
Charlie couldn't help his own observations. "I just wish someone had a tip about Jared."
"It'll happen soon," Bo assured him. "This whole chain of events has unraveled so fast…."
Charlie nodded. They sat in respectful silence for a moment.
Viki changed the subject, hoping to ease Charlie's mind again. "You remember what Dorian said at her initial press conference?"
"You mean when she hijacked the mic after Bo's press conference?" Charlie clarified.
Viki smirked. "She said, 'I will never betray your trust … and I will always uphold your faith in American democracy.' The sad thing is that she meant every word of that at the time."
"And then the LGLA knocked on your door instead of hers," Charlie observed.
Viki looked to Bo. She knew he understood what she was getting at.
He nodded and muttered, "Easily manipulated."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Viki asked him.
"Do you want to lock the election?" Bo answered.
"I have a confession," Nora smirked. She leaned forward as they looked at her. "I ordered a couple of wedding pictures I will never hang on my wall. I keep them tucked away just to remind myself of what an ass Dorian made of herself that day."
Viki was stunned. "You ordered wedding pictures of Dorian?"
"Granted, at the time it was not cool," Nora clarified, motioning with one hand, "But now when I look back I'm a little amused by it. First of all, she did it to herself. Second, imagine if she knew I had those pictures."
Bo was calm as he asked, "You weren't thinking of feeding those pictures to the press?"
Nora straightened her face into innocence and looked to each of them in turn. Her tone revealed that she was not sincere when she told them, "The thought hadn't even occurred to me."
Viki couldn't help but grin in amusement. Nora was entertaining. She elected to not respond one way or the other on the matter of the wedding pictures.
Bo changed the subject again. "You know there's something I never did get about that Ray Montez guy." He met the curious gazes of those around him. "He was in prison, he tried to take Langston from Dorian. I mean, Dorian was mad enough at the guy she was ready to do away with him even when she knew Clint was behind his coming here, and in a way, she could have even blamed him for her losing B.E. back to the family. Dorian married David just to get the Buchanan name back – you remember?"
Nora and Viki shared a look. "How could we forget?"
"You know – at least at the time – that was one of Dorian's top priorities. She even went Buddhist over the whole thing."
"Yeah. Right," Viki smirked.
"But then," Bo elaborated, "She's going out on a date with Ray Montez? And after he leaves, does she get back with David? No. What the heck happened?"
"She realized she was a lesbian," Nora joked.
"I don't know," Viki offered, "But if there is one thing I've learned over the years as far as Dorian is concerned, it is that if it doesn't make sense, she's probably up to something."
Viki looked over at Charlie, who seemed as concerned about what Dorian was up to as he did about Jared. That was wrong. She winked at him as she laced her fingers through his and squeezed his hand.
Bo nodded. "Well, we have more important things to figure out than Dorian's machinations at the moment. And we will," he promised Charlie.
Viki looked at Nora. She thought of asking her to leave the wedding pictures alone but decided to keep her attention on Charlie for the moment.