2 weeks later. Scorpio House , Day before Thanksgiving, Port Charles 11am
"That was exhausting." Robert states as he follows her out of the office.
"Yes, it was. So we are in agreement then on Mrs. Bingham, I think she has the best qualifications. She was wonderful with William, did you see how he reacted to her, it was so sweet. I will feel very comfortable leaving him in her care when I go back to work in a couple of weeks." Anna rambles on not even realizing Robert has not commented on anything she has said up to this point. She finally turns around and notices him re-reading the stack of resumes of the 6 nanny's they had interviewed that morning.
"Robert, are you listening to me?"
"Yes, I'm listening. You know, I just want to run one more background check on her, I don't know maybe hit the bureaus again and maybe Interpol just to be sure. What about this other woman, Miss Swenson, her credentials are amazing. She's worked for senators and members of congress and has many of them as references."
She looks at him exasperated. "I don't know, she never showed up. Robert, look I know you want to be absolutely sure about anyone we chose and I'm right there with you, but seriously, the woman is perfect and all of the background checks to this point have yielded absolutely nothing, except a parking ticket from like twenty years ago. This decision needs to be made today; we have interviewed over a dozen people. We are running out of time. I want to have the person come in as soon as possible. They can't start the day I go back to work."
He gives her a sideways glance.
"Don't even start. We agreed that I would go back to work when William was 3 months old, well he is now over 4 months now. Sean and Felicia are swamped and I promised them a month ago I would return more regularly. Felicia has sacrificed time with Maxie for me, I can't ask her to continue to do that, it's not fair to her. So don't think delaying this with more investigations is going to change anything we planned. I have put up with all of your nonsensical disqualifiers over these last 2 weeks, like she's too short, or she has an odd hair color oh and my personal favorite, she has crooked eyebrows. Today I am drawing the line."
She is so frustrated with him and is tired of having the same conversation on the same subject. Uncharacteristically he remains quiet but gives her a look of annoyance and walks past her to sit on the couch, petulantly. Mostly she figures because he knows she's onto him and he knows he's wrong. He remains silent, except for a sigh. She waits him out for a minute but when he stubbornly does not say anything, her temper flares.
"Fine, you won't decide, then I will. Mrs. Bingham it is, I'm calling her tomorrow." She states with authority and walks away into the kitchen. He rolls his eyes as he gets up to answer the doorbell.
"Hey Sean, Tiff." He says as greets both of them and walks them into the living room.
"What are you so down in the mouth about. Did we come at a bad time?" Sean asks noticing his mood.
"I'm not down in the mouth and it's not a bad time."
"Oookay, wheres Anna?" Tiffany asks
"She's in the kitchen." Tiffany gives Sean a smirk and goes toward the kitchen.
"Hi Tiff." Anna states as she returns the hug.
"So wow you really are cooking dinner tomorrow for all of us. I don't know if you're brave or just plain crazy." Tiffany states as she looks around at the kitchen crowded with vegetables, fruit, desserts and everything that involves preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for 12.
Anna laughs and states "Probably the latter."
"So whats going on? Is it Robert that's making you crazy?" She asks with knowing smirk. Anna returns the smirk.
"What gave it away?" she chuckles.
"Well, when we walked in, I immediately noticed his scolded husband look that I see at least once a week on Sean's face. So, what did he do this time?"
"Nothing serious, it's just his infuriating inability to make a major decision, his constant procrastination and even more so his ridiculous views on the roles of men and women. You know the usual." Anna says continuing to organize.
"Oh well, as long its nothing out of the ordinary." Tiffany states rolling her eyes as both women laugh. "So, what's the decision he's not making?"
"Well as you know we have been interviewing nannies for William and of course he is trying every maneuver to delay the inevitable. But it doesn't matter anyway because I made the decision as usual and I am completely confident in my decision. So let's forget it for tonight and enjoy the rest of the evening. Tonight I can finally have wine after over a year and I plan on enjoying that immensely." Anna states filling her glass and pouring Tiffany hers.
"Well that is a cause for celebration; let's get this party started then."
Frisco, Felicia, Luke, Laura, Bobbie, Tony and Mac have arrived for dinner and all the guests have adjourned to the living room after a delicious Chinese takeout meal with their drinks, waiting for the coffee and dessert. Anna comes into the living room with her wine glass and notices Robert making space for her on the coach. She smiles at him finally succumbing to his boyish groveling looks and the effects of wine she has been drinking.
She has to give him credit for the night since he was really a good sport when most of the evening's laughter and stories were at his expense, especially coming from her and Sean. Besides she has major plans for them tonight and she doesn't want their argument earlier to dampen the mood. She sits close to him under his arm on the couch and rests her hand on his thigh, he gives her quick smile and a kiss which she happily returns. The doorbell rings and he kisses her again before she states that she will answer it.
Anna opens the door and before her stands a stunningly beautiful blond woman about a foot taller than her. However, those attributes would turn out to be the least eye-popping of the woman's very startling features.
"May I help you?" Anna asks after a brief hesitation.
In a very thick Swedish accent she replies, "I'm Olga Swenson, I am here about the Au Pair position that my agency stated was available. The job is still open, yes? Is Mrs. Scorpio available?"
"I'm Mrs. Scorpio."
"I am very pleased to meet you Mrs. Scorpio." She states extending her hand which Anna takes.
"I'm sorry Miss Swenson, but your interview was scheduled for earlier today. My husband and I are currently entertaining guests.
"I am so sorry Mrs. Scorpio but my flight from Washington was cancelled earlier due to the storm and I rushed over right from the airport." Taking pity on the woman, Anna relents.
"Of course, please come in, can I take your coat?"
"Oh thank you, Mrs Scorpio, I promise not to take up too much of your time." Olga says
"Please call me Anna, come into the living room I will introduce you to my husband."
At that, the women walk into the living room. Immediately all eyes open wide and are upon the woman standing in the foyer and immediately following, all mouths open simultaneously as the woman proceeds to remove her overcoat to revel the largest of her attributes. All six men immediately freeze and all that can be heard in the room are muttered, "holy…", "good God" and very low "have mercys" from Frisco and Luke at the same time.
The women are equally stunned and all respond unconsciously by looking down at themselves. Anna to her credit makes quick removal of her position standing next to the woman.
"Everyone, this is Miss Swenson. She is here to interview for the nanny position but her flight was delayed from this afternoon so I apologize for the interruption, this should not take too much time. Robert?" She says looking at her husband, who is as stunned as the rest in the room. "Robert?" Anna says this time more forcefully.
"Oh right sorry." He says standing and walking toward the women.
"Miss Swenson, this is my husband Robert." Anna states as Robert extends his hand to the woman who is his equal in height.
"Very pleased to meet you Mr. Scorpio, I hope I live up to your expectations."
"I'm sure you will, um your um, resume was pretty substantial. Is that a Swedish accent I detect?" he asks now turning on the charm, most likely subconsciously.
"Why yes it is, you are as smart as you are handsome, Mr. Scorpio, if you don't mind me saying?"
Anna, whose eyebrows raise momentarily, and then narrow at the woman's brazen flirtation with her husband decides she has to move this "interview" into another room.
"Robert, lets conduct this interview in the office shall we?" She says with slight irritation in her voice. "Excuse us everyone." She adds as the three move into the other room. The guests stare in their direction until the door closes.
The men instantly burst into laughter and the women become instantly annoyed.
"What is so damned funny, I thought that was appalling. Openly flirting with a man right in front of his wife." Tiffany says looking at Sean.
"Honey relax, she's on a job interview, she's late, and well she's Swedish, so you do the math."
"You know what's really funny, regardless of how Robert handles this situation, he's screwed." Luke says laughing while all the men chime in with agreements and laughter.
"Why are you agreeing?" Bobbi asks Tony.
"Because it's true, with woman there is no right way for us to handle this situation. Although I have to say, I can't wait to find out how this turns out, 10 will get you 20 that Robert says he wants to hire her." Tony states looking at all the men in the room.
Quickly you hear, "Im in.. me too".
"I know my brother, he's not that stupid. He knows Anna will see right through him and make his life miserable." Mac states.
"I agree I don't think Robert will make that obvious mistake." Tiffany states with some inside information she gleaned earlier on Anna's decision.
Twenty minutes later, Robert and Olga come out of the office laughing and smiling as he helps her on with her coat and escorts her to the door. Anna trails behind watching the whole scene with venomous eyes boring into the back of Robert's head.
"We'll be in touch tomorrow then Miss Swenson, we would like you to come back and meet William."
"That would be lovely and thank you so much Robert for agreeing to take the time to meet me you are so very kind. I'm sure your son is as equally sweet and would be pleasure to take care of as well."
Anna's eyes along with everyone else's in the room go wide with that last comment, and said eyes turn slowly in her direction to see her reaction.
Robert, in his usual practiced ease, handles the offhanded comment with extreme smoothness thinking it may have been a language gap. He smiles that smile that would melt any woman's resolve and responds
"Yes, William is a very good boy and thank you, we'll be in touch." With that he closes the door and turns around to a silent room with all eyes equally split on him and Anna who is still standing facing him with her arms crossed about 20 feet away.
"So she was pretty amazing huh. What a great resume and what a great personality. I think we found our nanny, what do you say Love?" Robert says completely oblivious.
"Hold onto something." Sean whispers to Tiffany.
Immediately cash begins to change hands, unbeknownst to either Robert or Anna
"Robert, that decision has already been made and this "interview" changed nothing." Walking to the couch and dismissing him.
"Really? When did that happen? Besides if it was already "decided" He says with mimicking her air quote gesture, "why did we just waste a half an hour of everyone's time talking to the woman?"
Still standing and with a condescending tone and smile, "Robert, we are not discussing this now, please."
"Why, you have been after me for weeks to make a decision, well I've made it, I want to hire Olga, there case closed." He states with an arrogant smile.
"Yes, the case is most definitely closed, but not with your so-called decision. It was closed this afternoon." She states daring him to respond.
"Why because you made it? Well not this time, I am making a well-informed, well thought out decision. I will call Olga in the morning." Both are now standing with hands on their hips basically challenging the other.
"Should we leave?" Bobbi whispers to Felicia.
"No I'm dying to see who blinks first. I feel like I'm in a scene from High Noon." She responds leaning back in her chair.
Anna doesn't know if its her anger right now, her embarrassment or the 3 glasses of wine but the next sentence that comes out of her mouth shocks everyone including herself.
"The hell you are. Unlike you Robert, I don't leave most major decisions to my penis." She says taking a swig from her wine glass.
All eyes go wide and chokes and gasps and a little chuckling could be heard.
"Now we should leave." Felicia states to Tiffany.
Robert looks around and sees everyone's reactions. He is pissed but she got him good with that one.
Sean who is sitting closest to Robert is muttering, "Stop talking, Stop talking." So only he can hear. Of course, he doesn't listen.
"Excuse me? Why don't you put the wine glass down, I think you've had enough." Robert is beyond embarrassed, but at the same time refuses to give her the satisfaction of having the last word especially in front of this audience.
He knows his wife and knows too well her liquor tolerance is very low and it tends to remove all her inhibitions. He is almost afraid of what she will do next. Luckily Sean knows her as well and tries to diffuse the situation, before Anna can respond to Robert's condescending reply.
"Hey, look let's take a step back here you two before there is blood-shed. Its late and up until 30 minutes ago it was a great night, let's call it a night everyone. We have another big day tomorrow. Hopefully." Sean says while standing between them chuckling slightly trying to lighten the mood.
As if a fire drill was put into motion, the guests practically run into each other to get their coats and say their good-byes to their hosts. Of course, Luke can't resist getting in a parting shot to Robert on his way out. "Have to say, you guys put on a great floor show and boy you have not lost your touch with the ladies."
"Shut-up and get out." Robert says pushing him out the door.
Robert remains in the threshold with his hand on the door knob attempting to control his anger before facing his wife again. He knows that in moments like this they both can and usually do say things they will regret, and also knowing he is the more sober one at the moment. He proceeds into the living room and sees her sitting on the couch with her back to him still drinking from her refilled glass of wine. He walks to the facing couch as she watches him not knowing and at the moment and not caring what his next move will be. They stare at each other for a beat before he speaks.
"Well that was embarrassing."
"I quite agree." She responds.
It does dawn on him, that this is a side of Anna that he rarely sees, the insecure jealous Anna. She has been burned before in the past and he does forget that from time to time. That has to be it he thinks and at the same time realizes what an ass he was and how he embarrassed her in front of their friends. Although, he thinks, she really got him good with her last remark. He smirks as he recalls her venomous comment.
"Do you find this funny?" She asks suddenly.
"No, well kind of. You really got me good there." He says with a slightly bigger smile.
"Well you deserved it and much more Robert. You embarrassed the hell out of me, not to mention yourself with the way you were acting." She says emphatically.
"I know, I know and I'm sorry. I do take advantage of the fact that I know in absolute certainty that you would never have to worry about me and another woman, ever. I forget that you might not be so certain of that. So I am sorry, very sorry for the way I acted. You know that I'm still learning when it comes to being a considerate husband and human being." He says with a smile hoping it lightens her mood or at least her anger a bit. He looks at her but her expression has not changed.
"Robert, I'm not going to prolong this or make a bigger deal out of what happened tonight, but you are right you do have a lot more to learn when it comes to other people's feelings. I'll get over it, plus I think I made my point quite clear." She says. She is completely pissed off still with the way he acted tonight and she's not going to let him off the hook so easily.
"Its late I'm going to bed and try to get some sleep before William is up again." She says as she stands.
He has a disappointed look on his face, due to the fact that he was expecting more. However, he realizes suddenly how he truly screwed up tonight because there is one thing his wife truly hates and that is being made to feel insecure, inadequate or embarrassed in any way. He was 3 for 3 for the night. He mutters a quick "Ok" and watches her climb the stairs.
He decides to head for the office and give her and himself some space for a while. After about an hour or so catching up on stuff from work, Robert decides its late now and assumes Anna must be asleep by now and heads up the stairs. Of course, he is wrong and Anna is in William's room rocking him to sleep. He walks by the room without stopping and proceeds to Robin's room. He looks in and sees she is sound asleep. He is hoping she heard none of what went on downstairs. He closes the door and heads to their bedroom.
He thinks to himself, "I still have a lot to learn when it comes to women, especially this woman." She is not the type to be insecure, but she did come back to him in 1985 with a lot of baggage as well as being hurt by Lavery too many times to count especially when he cheated on her with that Jerome woman. When she walked in on he and Holly together, he was also surprised by her reactions, now he is beginning to get the full picture.
He is in the bathroom when he hears her entering their room and closing the door. He closes the light in the bathroom and enters their bedroom watching her as she gets into bed and shuts her light. He proceeds to his side of the bed and does the same. They are now both in bed on their sides facing away from each other with their eyes wide open. Suddenly Robert starts to chuckle thinking of what transpired this evening remembering the looks on everyone's faces when she took off her coat.
Anna turns on her light and turns over and punches him in the shoulder and asks, "What the hell is so funny?"
"Im sorry but that whole scene tonight just made me laugh. Did you see the look on everyone's faces when Olga took off her coat?" Now Robert is really laughing and its starting to get contagious as Anna also remembers looking at everyone. She begins to chuckle as well.
"Actually, I was more concerned about the look on your face and it was the same as every other man in the room."
"And yours was the same as every other woman in the room." Now he is really laughing, and she keeps whacking him on his shoulder. He turns around and sees her smiling face.
"I hate you." She says.
"I hate you too" He replies and kisses her sweetly. "Anna, you will never ever ever have to worry about me and another woman. Unfortunately, you are stuck with me."
"Robert, I know that believe me. I'm convinced. You don't need to prove yourself to me." She says.
"Yeah but you're drunk." He says laughing and she hits him again.
"I am not." She says
"Oh yes you are." He says tickling her. "Stop it." She says laughing. They smile at each other.
"I'm really sorry for the way I acted. I was being an ass." He says.
"Yes you were, but apology accepted. Love you." She responds and kisses him. "I love you too, now lets go to sleep so I can have some sweet dreams of Olga." He says wiggling his eyebrows.
She punches him hard and struggles as he pulls her into an embrace where she is laying on his chest. They both are laughing as they settle in.
"You're an ass." She says. "I know." He responds hugging her tighter.
After a long moment, "You know I had plans for us tonight." She says looking down at him.
"Did you now?" He says looking up at her.
"Yes I did, but now I'm not so sure you deserve it." She says smiling.
"Hmmm, what did you have in mind? I promise I'll be a good boy." He says as he caresses her body causing her to sigh.
She kisses him with intent. It escalates very quickly and Robert turns them over and removes her nightie. She reaches for his boxers and pushes them down his legs and he removes them the rest of the way. Robert reaches into his nightstand. She stops him.
"We don't need those anymore." She says smiling up at him. He looks down at her and smiles.
"Amen." She laughs at him and kisses him. They make love passionately trying to keep the noise to a minimum.
"Hmmm, didn't think this was going to happen tonight. I have to say I love that we don't have to use those things anymore" He says catching his breath. She smiles.
"Oh me too, definitely. Considering your behavior tonight, I didn't think this would happen either." She pauses thinking again about what happened earlier in the evening.
"Robert is that what turns you on? Tall leggy blondes with huge breasts." She asks laying on his chest. He laughs and it pisses her off. She looks at him.
"Why do you find this so funny?"
"Because it is funny. I was not turned on by her at all. I was just as shocked as you were when she took off her coat. It's like seeing a car accident. You know should look away but you can't." She laughs at him.
"Then why did you want to hire her so quickly?"
"Well because she had the best credentials of any of them and she was nice."
"Yeah right."
"It's true. I like Mrs. Bingham too, but you can't deny Olga's credentials and Im telling you that was my motivation in hiring her. I know you dont believe me but understand this and I'm surpirsed that after all these years you don't know how I feel. What turns me on is the most stunningly beautiful woman I have ever met, who is a perfectly proportioned British woman with major attitude and a license to kill who I know can kick my ass at any given moment. Whose gorgeous body gave me two beautiful children and whose body I love and know every inch of and what I think about all day, every day. That is what turns me on always." He says with conviction.
She looks at him and smiles broadly. "That was a very good answer." She says.
"I thought so. It is the truth you know." He says putting her hair behind her ears. He kisses her. "I love you." He says. She has tears in her eyes. "And I love you." She kisses him and it quickly becomes passionate. He rolls them over and proceeds to show her how much he loves her and her body.