Greetings all! Now, I know that you are expecting Ryan's sudden decision to visit Greece to end in a peaches/cream happy reunion. But where would the drama be in that? Alas, I can promise nothing. But, I do love RM, so this isn't the end. Poor Paolo! I don't want y'all to hate him. Just see him for what he is: confused, impulsive, hopelessly in love. He's really not a bad guy. But, you know who is. That's right…Volchek. For this next chapter, I'm going back to Mini Cooper and her continued woes with her mom/Neil and Eric/Brad. Look for the following in upcoming chapters: Hailey's phone call to Kirsten, Ryan's interception at the airport, Seth's unexpected ass-chewing by an unlikely source, Summer and Anna grow closer, and, finally, a storyline for Sandy/Kirsten.
Chapter XII: Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon
For the last few months, Julie had been yearning for the days when the worst thing she had to worry about was Caitlyn's horse China having Alopecia. She remembered right around that time was when everything that she had known came crumbling down around her. All she had ever wanted was to keep her family afloat, and, although there were definantly mistakes that she had made along the way, she didn't regret any decisions she had made. Well, except one. Sending her youngest daughter to boarding school was turning out to be a huge error.
Since she had returned from the academy, Caitlyn had carried a chip on her shoulder that even Marissa at her most jilted couldn't rival. Sneaking out of the house at all hours, smoking pot, getting arrested, skipping school. It was like she had found Julie's high school playbook and was pulling out all of her old tricks. Julie wondered if having to raise these two unruly girls pretty much alone had been atonement for what she herself had put her mother through in her younger years. For their sake, Julie hoped that they would eventually learn from her mistakes. Marissa seemed to be on that path already, and she couldn't be more proud of her. But, Caitlyn; Julie wasn't so confident that Caitlyn would be as receptive to any wisdom that she tried to impart. No, she was her mother's daughter, and Julie knew deep down that the worst was yet to come.
The last thing Julie needed was another daughter trying to sabotage her new engagement. Marissa had done a pretty good job of that with Caleb, but the difference was that Julie hadn't cared for Caleb the way she did for Neil. She knew that Neil would never openly criticize her parenting the way Caleb had done. However, she could sense that every time her daughter rebelled and she did nothing, Neil was watching, taking note for future reference. She knew that if she was to salvage her relationship with her younger daughter, she was going to have to lay down the law. And soon.
As she finished zipping up her knee-high brown leather boots, Julie looked around the room that she now called "home". Realizing that she had survived every one of the extreme circumstances that had been hurled at her recently, Julie refused to hang her head over the current struggles she was having with Caitlyn. She kept reminding herself that things could and have been a lot worse. At least she wasn't living next to that Gus guy in the trailer. If she could handle that, she could manage anything. And, today, she decided, she had had enough of her daughter calling the shots.
"Dr. Roberts' office…how may I help you?"
Julie recognized the voice of Neil's secretary right away. She was sure that they were on a first name basis by now.
"Hi Janice, this is Julie. I need to speak to Neil."
Janice shook her head silently, annoyed by the fact that Dr. Roberts always seemed to pick women who didn't fully grasp the concept of surgery. They would always call, insisting to speak to him while he was in the midsts of a complicated procedure, and it drove Janice nuts. He needed someone who understood what he dealt with every day, someone who was respectful and sympathetic to his line of work, someone who had their own goals and ambitions. Somone like her. But, Janice knew that Dr. Roberts never went for those kinds of women. Instead, he went the for fake, plastic Newpsie women like Julie Cooper.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Cooper," she replied, trying desperately to hide the venom in her voice, "he is in surgery right now, and cannot be disturbed. She smiled secretively as Julie remained contemplatively quiet on the other end.
"Okay…that's fine. No message."
With that, Julie frustratedly hung up on Janice. She had been around the block enough to know that Janice didn't want to help her. However, she couldn't remember ever doing anything to Janice to make her act that way. It wasn't the first time a woman had been rude to her without prevocation. Julie just shrugged it off and decided that she would have to have this conversation with him when he arrived home.
Realizing that she was going to be late for her lunch meeting with Kirsten for NewMatch, Julie hurriedly grabbed her keys and went to let Caitlyn know that she was leaving for a few hours. Although it had seemed like she was rarely home these days, Julie still wanted to make sure her daughter knew where she was if she needed her. She had learned her lesson about offering too little space with Marissa, so she had made more of an effort this time around.
Letting herself into Caitlyn's room, she was immediately flushed with concern when she noticed her younger daughter curled up in a ball asleep on her bed. Inching closer, Julie could smell the cigarette and marijuana smoke still eminating from Caitlyn's clothes, which she hadn't bothered to change out of. Her eyes quickly began to scan the room, looking for any evidence that would confirm her worst fears. Her snooping skills had been highly refined from Marissa's teenage years, but Julie couldn't help but feel guilty as she rummaged through her daughter's stuff while she laid passed out right nearby.
'Bingo,' Julie sadly validated to herself. There it had been…behind her childhood Strawberry Shortcake stuffed animal…not even that well hidden. She picked up her daughter's stash…promptly noticing that there were some familiar and some unfamiliar pills in the bottom of the bag. Her mind began racing, wondering how Caitlyn had uncovered her secret. Was this all just a reaction to her negative influence? How could she really punish her daughter for something that she herself was guilty of?
Julie could feel her face begin to flush with emotion. She desperately wanted to sheild her baby from all of life's cruel injustices, but it looked like she might already be too late. Stuffing the bag into her pocket, Julie crouched down next to her daughter's bed, slightly brushing her hair gently. The tear that she had been fighting to keep in finally could no longer hold itself from falling down her face.
Caitlyn flinched slightly at the sudden feeling of wetness upon her cheek. Temporarily forgetting where she was, her mouth began to form her famous half-smile.
"Come on, Kev…cut it out…you know you wore me out last night," she said, still keeping her eyes tightly shut. She wondered what he would reply, knowing that Kevin relished in the unexpected. When she didn't hear anything, Caitlyn hesitantly opened one eye in curiosity.
Julie could not for the life of her get her gaping mouth to close. So, apparently her daughter hadn't been telling her the truth about whom she had been keeping company with either. She could've sworn that she heard her daughter say Kev…she swiftly recounted that Marissa had uttered that name many times when she was in the midst of her seditious era. It couldn't be…no…not Kevin Volchek. Julie's dissillusion turned rapidly to unruly temperment. If Kevin Volchek was again invading her daughters' lives, then it had gotten way worse than she thought.
"Caitlyn, we need to talk."
Julie tried to control her inner emotions in hopes that her daughter would actually talk to her. She sat down on the bed as her daughter lazily stretched and threw the covers off of her. Examining every detail of her face, Julie could tell that her daughter was following in Marissa's alcohol-indulgent path just by the color of her skin. The dark, heavy circles under her eyes contradicted her youthful age. It literally killed Julie to see her daughter like this. It raised up so much guilt within her, causing her to wonder if she had waited too long to confront her about this.
Caitlyn rolled her eyes in frustration, realizing that she had finally been busted. She really didn't have the energy to deal with her mother's accusations and insults, so she tried to come up with a quick fix that would get her to temporarily back off…at least, until she could get out of the house.
"Look mother……I don't know what you want me to say. And, as much as I adore these moments, I really don't have time. I have to get to the school…orientation is today."
Julie stood by helpless as her daughter began to hurriedly gather her things. Pondering if she should stand up to this behavior or simply let it go, Julie remembered that she had decided that today she was taking back the position of parent, and she couldn't let this continue for any longer. Julie Cooper was going to have to channel her old self if she was going to get anything accomplished.
"Caitlyn Cooper….sit down RIGHT NOW!" she exclaimed, emphasizing her point as she slammed her daughter's door shut. Caitlyn, not expecting her mother to have this sort of outburst, stood motionless, ceasing to pack her school items for fear of her mother's sudden change in mood. She wasn't going to be able to push this topic off any longer.
"SIT…," Julie re-iterated, motioning to her bed. Caitlyn obliged, timidly inhabiting the corner of bed while her mother internally navigated her next move. "Look, I know that I haven't really been there for you recently…and, that's my fault. I guess I've been wanting this relationship with Neil to go smoothly."
Caitlyn rolled her eyes at her mother's statement. It was so like Julie to focus on her romantic life and put everything else in the background. She could tell that she wasn't going to enjoy this mother-daughter time.
"But, I found these in your room today," she continued, holding up the baggie with the drugs, "and, if I'm correct in assuming that by 'Kev', you mean Kevin Volchek, then this problem is a lot bigger than I originally had thought."
Caitlyn knew her mother had put the pieces together, and she could no longer hide the truth. But, who was she to judge her? Half of those pills she had stolen from her mother's stash anyway. Wasn't this the pot calling the kettle black? Caitlyn quickly went from anxious to irate.
"So what, now that Marissa's not here, NOW I'M YOUR NEW PROJECT? Well, I have news for you mom….it's too little…TOO LATE!"
"Young lady, DON'T RAISE YOUR VOICE TO ME! I AM TRYING TO HELP YOU," Julie exclaimed, taking a deep breath to calm down before she continued, "Before it's too late. You need to know that hanging out with Kevin Volchek can only bring bad things to you."
Caitlyn rolled her eyes as she stood from the bed to cross the room.
"Says who? Marissa? I don't know. I overheard her telling Summer how hot he was and how good he was in bed….so I think you're wrong!"
"Caitlyn….THAT'S IT! I'm sorry, but you've forced me to do this for your own good. You are grounded until further notice…no cell phones," she emphasized as she hastily reached for her daughter's Blackberry, "Once school starts, you're to come straight home unless you have social club."
Caitlyn gasped in shock, not believing that her mom had finally grown the guts to punish. She furiously shook her head in discord, not interested in obeying her once-cool mom's new rules. She had to get that phone back before her mom saw all the dirty… 'Crap,' she thought. Plunging towards her mother, Caitlyn caught her offguard and snatched the Blackberry back.
"NO WAY! YOU CAN'T JUST COME IN HERE AFTER MONTHS OF BEING PRACTICALLY COMOTOSE AND EXPECT THAT I'M GOING TO JUST GIVE IN TO WHATEVER YOU SAY! I'M LEAVING…DON'T LOOK FOR ME!"
Julie's breath hitched in her throat as the moment that she had been dreading was finally coming to fruition. Her daughter was following in her sister's footsteps more than she knew. But, she had fought Marissa so hard to stay with her, and she remembered how well that had turned out. Should she go the same route with Caitlyn, only to be pushed away by her much stronger and more self-destructive daughter? Or should she let her go, let her learn the hard way, as she knew she would eventually?
"You know what? FINE! I'm not going to fight you like I did Marissa. You want to be out there on your own, GO FOR IT! We'll see how long that lasts?"
Julie hated the whole idea of tough love, but she hoped that going this route would nip this in the bud before it got any worse. She knew eventually Volchek would get tired of having to babysit, and she would have no where else to go. She just hoped that along the way, nothing too dangerous or illegal happened that would potentially threaten Caitlyn's future. But, she couldn't think that way now. She had to portray a strong, resolute figure. Crossing her arms, Julie raised her eyebrow in curiosity.
Caitlyn had not expected this exchange to go this way. She had thought for sure that her mother would fight for her to stay, maybe even going as far as reporting her as a runaway or threatening to have her commited, like she had with Marissa. Maybe that was it. Maybe she only fought so hard for the daughter that she loved more. It was already a sore subject for Caitlyn to think about, but that wound still had never fully healed from when they sent her off to boarding school. Did they imagine that she would come back a well-adjusted girl without a chip on her shoulder? Well, they were wrong.
Tears welled in her eyes as she stood in a stand-off with her mother. Finally, not knowing what to do next, Caitlyn tearfully began packing a bag with clothes. Her mind was in overdrive since the ultimatum her mother had hurled at her.
"Caitlyn, I'm only doing this because I love you. One day, you'll see that."
Turning away from her bed, Caitlyn spat out hatefully.
"Yeah, right….you're just doing what you know how to do the best with me…shipping me off to be someone else's problem when things get to tough. You're only willing to fight for the daughter you LOVE!"
With that, Caitlyn grabbed the final few things and angrily pushed past her mother and out the door. As Julie heard the slamming of the front door, she collapsed to her knees in tears, wishing that Jimmy was here to help her with this one.
As Caitlyn searched the front yard for her bike, she noticed Eric and Brad were lurking around the pool, obviously searching for her. She hurriedly composed herself, wiping her face with her sleeve, as they noticed her and approached.
"Hey…where are you going? Let me guess…staying another night with that Marissa's gross ex-boyfriend? You know, once she finds out that you're hooking up with her sloppy seconds, she's never going to talk to you again," Eric spat out, no longer capable of hiding his jealousy. He couldn't believe that Caitlyn would go for a guy like that. Couldn't she see that she was meant for him?
Caitlyn wasn't listening; she couldn't handle any more negativity. Locating her bike, she took off from the twins without even uttering one word.
After twenty minutes of pedaling as hard as she could, Caitlyn ran out of strength to go any further. Luckily, she had reached her location. Nervously looking up at the high-rise apartments, she pressed the buzzer. She had to wait for a moment before she heard someone answer.
"What ya want?" Volchek frustrating said, hoping that it wasn't the guy who he owed money to.
Caitlyn pushed the button to answer.
"Hey, it's me Caitlyn. Can I come in?"
"Hey babe…sure, come on up. I got a bed up here with your name on it."
Caitlyn smiled slyly as her previous sadness began to fade. She took one look out at the street before heading into the building, into a totally new phase of her li