Scorpio House, Port Charles - 2 Weeks Later
She is in the nursery with William in the rocking chair when she hears the front door open and close. She promised herself tonight would be the night that she would confront him on the Faison mess. Its really been bubbling under the surface since their fight about the money. She has been holding this in for over a month now since Mac confessed to her what really went on while she was gone and what happened 3 weeks ago. It shook her to her core to think that Robert might have believed that she was with Faison willingly. It did explain his reticence in asking her what happened during her captivity. She knows when it comes to her and their family; he is very possessive and has probably convinced himself that not knowing the truth is easier. But she has to admit to herself that it hurts her to think that he cannot put his own feelings aside and bring himself to discuss any of it. It also makes her angry that after everything they have been through together to get to this point in their lives, he still doubts her and possibly does not fully trust her.
She has been preparing herself all day for this discussion and has reinvigorated those feeling from a month ago that she buried for the sake of their family immediately following William's birth. Mac was right in letting it go then and to enjoy the moment now and deal with it later. Well its later now and its time.
"Hey, there you are." He says all smiles as he kneels down in front her. He caresses and kisses William's head and then gives her a long deep kiss which she welcomes readily.
"Missed you today, how are you doing?" He asks still kneeling and looking at his son feeding enthusiastically.
"We're good, we missed you too. I think he knew you were gone; he was up most of day." She says while lifting the baby onto her shoulder to burp him.
"Really, well maybe I have the magic touch. Listen let me change and I'll help you out ok? Where's Robin?" He asks.
"She's in her room on the phone. So I already got the order of do not disturb."
"Yeah well, I don't take orders, so let me go say hello."
While Robert is in Robin's room, she hears talking and laughing so she assumes the "do not disturb" orders were only for mothers and brothers. William has fallen asleep, so she puts him in his crib and heads for the bedroom. She proceeds to change her clothes as Robert walks in and closes the door.
"Is he asleep already?." He says walking up behind her and putting his arms around her waist.
"Yes you do have the magic touch, and fortunately we only have to wait until I see the doctor tomorrow to get the all clear before I can experience it again." She says leaning back into him.
"Another day huh? That still means everything?" She laughs out loud at that question.
"What are you thirteen? Want me to spell it out for you in baseball terms? And I think we have both been amply satisfied over the last month." She says turning around in his arms to face him
"Very funny, no, I get it, it was a valid question, I think. Six weeks, well we've gone longer, so I guess it won't kill me. Plus, you're right, I am very satisfied." He says smiling at her. He notices that she is suddenly not smiling anymore.
"Hey, I was just kidding you know." He says.
"I know." she says without looking at him.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing's wrong, I'm just a little tired I guess." She says looking at him, but now he sees the unshed tears in her eyes.
"There is something, what is it? Did something happen today?" He asks holding onto her tighter. She vowed to herself she would not do this in tears, but it's inevitable now, she has to get it out in the open.
"There is something I want to talk to you about, but let's wait until later until maybe after Robin's gone to bed. Actually, I'd rather get out of the house for awhile and maybe take a walk or something. I don't want to talk about it with Robin in the house. Olin's staying tonight so we can get out for an hour or so." She asks stepping back from him.
"You're kidding me, right? You tell me something's wrong and with you that means something's really wrong and now you expect me to wait another four hours to hear the details outside of the house no less. I don't think so." Robert says sternly as he backs away from her.
"Well, too bad Robert. You're going to have to wait because I'm not doing this now." She says turning around to get something out of her dresser.
"Anna just say it." He demands as she walks away.
"Robert, just drop it for now. We'll discuss it later." And she walks into the bathroom and shuts the door.
Docks, Port Charles
They are walking side by side down by the docks in silence. Robert has been silent for most of the night because he truly has no idea what it is she could possibly have to say to him. He has been very impatient and practically forced Robin to go to bed saying she had a class the next day and she better get a good night sleep. Robin was not fooled for a second and knew something was not right between the both of them, so she didn't put up a fight. She hates it when they get like this. It's been such a long time since she felt this tension between them. In fact, this hasn't happened since before the Faison incident. She hopes whatever it is, it's not a sign of bad things to come.
They have stopped now and are leaning on the railing at the end of a pier.
"Okay Anna, we're out of the house now, so do you mind telling me what this is all about?" Robert says turning to her.
She looks at him straight in the eye and says "Why haven't you asked me anything about what happened during my time with Faison or anything about Faison for that matter." He's shocked, but just stares at her as if he didn't hear the question. In fact, it's the last thing he expected her to say.
"What? Is that what this is all about?" He asks incredulously.
"Yes, I want to know. Why haven't you even brought up the entire incident since we've been back?" She says with determination.
"I don't know, I just figured you wouldn't want to talk about it. That you would rather forget it ever happened. I mean, we've had other more important things going on these last few months, why ruin it by bringing all that up again?" He says matter-of-factly.
"I'm not buying it Robert."
"Not buying what? It's the truth." He says a little agitated.
"Robert, you never even asked me anything while we were in Aruba, not once. I mean, even Felicia asked me while we were there because you know what? It was an obvious question for a concerned friend to ask, not to mention a husband. Don't you want to know what happened for all those months we…"
"Why Anna, why even discuss this now or bring it up. What's the point?" He interrupts and looks away out into the water.
"The point is that how can we move past it, if you can't even discuss it?"
"I have moved past it, I thought you had too." Robert says quietly.
"Moved past what Robert? What do you think happened while I was with him?"She says grabbing his arm forcing him to look at her.
"Anna, whatever did or didn't happen will never ever change the way I feel about you, don't you understand that? None of it matters, because I love you that much. Having you rehash it for me, was never something I wanted to put you through just so that I could know the truth. I figured if you did want to tell me, you would."
"I do want to tell you, but you don't seem to want to hear it. Robert don't you think this is a huge issue hanging over our marriage? That you not knowing the truth would hurt me more? Did you ever think about that? Can't you even get past your own hang-ups and issues to ask your wife what happened to her while she was held captive by another man? Tell me Robert, did you think I was with him willingly?"
"What are you talking about? I didn't think that. I knew what happened, how he arranged your kidnapping and how he tricked you with that fake school incident with Robin." Robert says dismissively.
"Robert, I know about the tape, the letter and I know about Sean and what he saw that day at Faison's jail cell." Anna says accusingly.
"Who told you about that?"
"It doesn't matter who told me. But it did shed a new light on things for me as to why after all these months you couldn't bring yourself to ask me about Faison. And you know what Robert? That's the part that hurts the most. That maybe deep down you really still don't trust me." Anna says looking away with tears in her eyes.
"Well did your little informant also tell you that I didn't buy it, any of it, even after they authenticated the tape? Did your little friend also tell you that I never stopped searching for you, never gave up on you , on us? Maybe a very small part of me carried a suspicion down to Venezuela, but you know what Anna? As soon as I found you on that boat and looked into your eyes, in that very instance, I knew none of it was true and that whatever he did to you would never change the way I feel about you ever. Because do you know what I saw? I saw the love of my life standing there looking at me, loving me as much as I love her. Any doubts or suspicions disappeared in that instance. So, for you to stand here now and accuse me of being selfish and uncaring for not believing in us and for not wanting to put you through the pain of reliving that nightmare, that's what hurts me the most. It's because I do care, I care too much to ask you to relive that experience just to allay my fears. You know what, it hurts me that you really don't know me as well as I thought you did. Yes, I'll be the first to admit that I am arrogant and stubborn to a fault, but to say I put my own needs above the concerns of my family and their needs, when I have always put them first, well I really don't know what to say to that." He starts to walk away back up the pier, he's disgusted and defeated.
"Robert, wait." Her tears are flowing freely now.
"Anna, I'm done with this conversation. I was done with it the minute I found you. I'm going for a walk." He says looking back at her for a brief moment before he turns and continues up the pier.
Could she really have gotten this all wrong? She never gives him the benefit of the doubt; she always assumes the worst when it comes to his feelings and issues. How do I fix this? The bottom-line is that he must know the truth about what happened. She has to find him, but it's getting late now and she has to be home for William in ten minutes so she starts back home.
Outback, Port Charles
Robert finds himself in front of the Outback, he actually doesn't remember how he got here. It's closed Monday nights and he knows Mac's usually in New York with Holly. Oh well, he doesn't want to go home yet so he takes out the spare key and opens the door. It's dark and eerily quiet inside the club. He walks up to and behind the bar.
"This isn't so bad, unlimited alcohol and no one to stop me. Pinch me I think I'm dreaming" he says to himself.
He pours himself a double scotch and sits on the stool behind the bar. He rehashes the conversation with Anna and gets angrier. Why does he have to constantly prove himself or defend his actions? Just when he thinks he is doing the right thing and being more sensitive, he gets called out on it. But part of him knows she's half right. He doesn't want to know the details of what went on while she was with him. Did he force himself on her? Did he rape her? Did she have to give in to him to survive? And worst of all, did she willingly give herself over to him? God he doesn't think he can take it, the images, the emotions are too much for him to bear.
It's worse than when Faison hypnotized him last year into thinking he saw them in bed together. As real as that appeared to be, this is much, much worse to even contemplate. But again he realizes she's right. It is his ridiculous pride and possessiveness that is preventing him from even asking her what she went through. It is also his inability to completely trust anyone. Does he trust her completely? Why can't he for once try to deal with it rationally? But he knows when it comes to his wife, it's all emotional, everything. Even his training as an agent could never separate his professional and personal feelings for her. She is the only one that has ever gotten under his skin this way and now it's coming between them and it's his fault. The first time this happened, he walked away when he should have stayed and listened. He has this second chance and he's blowing it again.
"Thanks Faison, you screwed me again. Hope it's hot enough for you down there." He toasts the floor and throws the glass against the wall as he turns around, he sees Holly come in at the same moment. She is startled to see Robert and even more so at his sudden outburst.
"Robert what's wrong? What are you doing here?" She immediately goes to him and stands in front of him as he tries to recover himself.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was here. I thought you and Mac were in New York tonight. I didn't mean to frighten you." He says looking away and sitting down at a table.
"We were we just got here, Mac is inside. What's going on? Why are you so angry?" She says standing across the small table from him.
"Nothing, nothing really. It's just one of those days, I guess."
"Obviously something has happened, please Robert tell me, maybe I can help." She says sitting down.
"Trust me Holly, you don't want to hear it. It's just something I have to fix and right now I'm not sure how to do it." He says looking down.
"Does this have something to do with Anna?" She asks quietly.
"Yes." He pauses and looks at his drink. "But it's really more about me and my stubbornness and well you know my ridiculous pride." he says looking up briefly.
"Yeah we've met." She says trying to lighten the mood a little. He smiles at that.
"Robert, what happened just say it." She says placing her hand on his.
"Let's just say that I made another selfish mistake as a husband that has once again affected my marriage." Holly is surprised at that confession. "I'm sure it's not as bad as you think." Holly says trying to sound sympathetic.
"It is and you would think after all this time and the experiences that I have had, I would have learned a lesson or two, but no." He says standing up, now visibly upset. Holly gets up as well as walks over to him as he is leaning with both hands on the bar. She grabs his arm to turn him around to face her.
"Robert, I have known you for a long time and the one thing I can never say about you, is that you're selfish. You are the most selfless person I know. So I can't imagine how anyone could say or even think that about you." She grabs both his hands hanging at his sides.
"Think about it, everything you have done in your life for me, for Robin and Anna and all your friends. You have always been there when you were needed, giving part of yourself every time." She says all of it meaning every word.
Scorpio House, Port Charles
He's still not home and it's after midnight. She has taken care of William for at least the next four hours. Olin comes out of the kitchen and says she's turning in for the night.
"Olin, listen I need to go out again for about another hour or so, William should be down for the night, I just fed and changed him. Can you take the monitor in your room until I get home?"
"Sure, no problem. Is everything ok Anna with you and the Commish?" Olin asks now very worried.
"Everything's fine, don't worry. You know us, never a dull moment." Olin gives her a questioning glance. "Look we had a little disagreement, but it's fine, I just need to find him and straighten things out. I'm pretty sure I know where he went. I just don't want to bring this home, I'd rather settle it tonight out of earshot of Robin ok?" Anna says to her friend.
"No problem. You two. It's always fireworks isn't it? "Olin smiles at her.
"Yes, I suppose so." She says with a smile putting her coat on. "I'll be back very soon and thank you."
Outback, Port Charles
Robert is visibly affected by her words and smiles at her. "Thank you, I needed to hear that, especially from you. You know, after everything that has happened between us, I never did apologize to you for what happened in Australia. I mean I drove you, away didn't I? My stubbornness about work and my commitments here, again you could categorize it as selfishness. I didn't see or refused to acknowledge how it was affecting you did I?" He asks.
"Robert that's all in the past and truth be told, we were both at fault. I should never have left the way I did or stayed away for so long letting you believe I was dead, and if I hadn't…." She pauses suddenly choked with emotion and tears. "Well let's just say, we would be having a different conversation right now." She says looking up at him.
He notices how upset she is and he realizes she's right. If certain events hadn't happened, they would be in a totally different place right now. And it's a place he knows with certainty, he doesn't want to be in.
"I don't know what to say, except I'm sorry. I can't change the past Holly, none of us can, but please know that I will always cherish the time we had together, always." He says honestly.
"I know that Robert, I do. I want you to know that it was the happiest time in my life. You were a wonderful husband." She says looking up at him. "Thank you, that means a lot to me, more than you'll ever know." He says with meaning. They simultaneously move to hug and kiss each other on the cheek, but again she deliberately moves at the last second and their lips meet. Again, she lingers too long, albeit briefly, but long enough for Anna, who is now standing inside the front door, to witness the scene.