Lucky let out an irritated sigh. Sometimes he wondered why he lived so damn close to his family. First, his mother had called him no less than fifteen times today and those didn't include his conversations with his sister. And all of those calls were about the same subject. Now, Patrick had demanded he come to his studio. He pounded on the large door. This was going to make him late and that was the last thing he needed. His mother had already promised to disown him if he even thought about not going to Cameron's parent-teacher conference tonight. Cameron was three. What was the teacher going to tell him? That Cameron colored too much with the blue crayon?
Lucky knew he needed to be more involved in Cameron's life. He didn't want to be the type of father who knew nothing about his kid. He should be more involved. Certainly his mother told him that enough. He could still hear her voice from earlier that day. "Lucky, before you realize it, Cameron will be grown and gone. And you'll have nothing to look back on. Honey, I know you are working as hard as you are for him, but he won't remember that. He'll remember everything you didn't do." Never let it be said Laura Spencer couldn't work a guilt trip. She was the master of it. Lucky unconsciously loosened his tie, still feeling about as tall as his three-year-old when she had said that.
He continued to pound on Patrick's door. The asshole demanded that he show up here and then he refused to answer the door? "PATRICK!" Lucky roared, not caring if his cousin was going to get in trouble with the resident's board. "OPEN THE DOOR!"
Patrick's hand floated above the doorknob and for a second he considered not opening it. He could hide in his studio. It'd make him worse than a pussy, but he could get away with it. His reputation as a suave businessman would be called into question, his dream of having a three-some with Helen Hunt and Jordana Brewster would be crushed forever. So he yanked the door toward him, the sudden jolt causing little beads of sweat to pop up on his forehead and the back of his neck.
To say that Lucky looked pissed off would have been the greatest understatement since Richard Nixon botched up his presidency. Go figure that on the day Patrick's life was threatened, his cousin would look bothered by the fact that his own life had been interrupted. "When you demand someone to show up at your place, the least you could do is open the damn door." Lucky exploded, his hands immediately thrown out in front of him for emphasis.
"Would you shut the hell up?" Patrick all but roared in response, wanting to shake his cousin until he realized just how serious what he was about to tell him really was. Of course, in the beginning, Lucky would be reluctant to believe it. He already knew that Emily was stalking Patrick, but, how far was he willing to reach in order to support his cousin? If the situation was reversed, Patrick would have thrown him out for wasting his time. It was then that Patrick realized he hadn't explained why he had dragged Lucky out of whatever event required he wear a suit and tie. "Come in." He gestured past him and took a few steps back, but Lucky stood there, clearly put off and impatient for Patrick to get to the point. "I'd rather not do this in the hallway." With a sigh, Lucky crossed the threshold and slammed the door behind him, more likely than not because he knew it would make Patrick angry.
"What was so important that it couldn't wait until morning?" Lucky demanded, slamming his hands against Patrick's five-thousand-dollar digital camera. Patrick's eyes widened and he managed to grab a hold of his cousin's shoulders, steering him toward the back of the apartment.
"Emily Quartermaine has threatened to kill me on several occasions—" Until Lucky interrupted him, Patrick was certain that he'd be able to get through this without a hitch. Unfortunately, Lucky's response had not been one of immediate action. Patrick gritted his teeth together when the younger man threw back his head and laughed. He wondered if his cousin would find his dead carcass spread drastically on the cover of The PC Insider as entertaining.
"Em—Emily Quartermaine? A psychotic killer?" Lucky had actually dated her so his incredulity was expected. Still, did he really have to say what he said next? "Wait. Back up a minute. The tiny little rich girl? Patrick, Cameron probably outweighs her."
It was an incredulous image to say the least. Emily weighed ninety pounds if that. Lucky doubted she knew anything about cars outside of opening a door, if that. Patrick was scared of Emily Quartermaine? Had his cousin been drinking? It wasn't an uncommon outlet for the Drake men, but Patrick had never gotten quite this ridiculous. Other than the words coming out of his mouth, he didn't seem inebriated. His clothes were a little wrinkled…Lucky finally took a look at his cousin. The last time he had seen Patrick look this disheveled, he had been sick with the flu. Image was everything to the businessman. He wouldn't have dulled his appearance on purpose, meaning that, no matter how unlikely, he seemed to really believe what he was saying. "Are you ready to tell me what's really going on? You look like shit." Lucky assured him.
Patrick tried again. "The woman who's stalking me, the one who has called all over town looking for me, is Emily Quartermaine. You know that much. You believe that much, don't you?" Lucky didn't respond right away so Patrick went on, "Tonight, she threatened to cut my brake lines and I think she means it. Look, enough of the wide-eyed stare okay?" He reached into his back pocket and extracted two miniature cassette tapes. He handed them over. "I've got proof. On the tapes, you'll see I've dated them. I need you to get these to Mac Scorpio."
"You've lost it, Patrick. You can't honestly think that Emily had anything to do with this." Lucky argued.
"Listen to me! She's the perfect kind of crazy, because no one would ever suspect her. I sure as hell didn't, not even after the first few times she took credit for my current misfortunes. If you'll only listen to the tapes, you'll recognize her voice instantly. It's her." He stressed the last two words in a low voice.
Lucky could not wrap his head around this. He had seen the damage done to Patrick's precious car, but any one of the man's disgruntled conquests could have done the damage. And it wasn't like blue Ferraris were all that common in Port Charles. Emily could have just seen the damage and claimed that she had done it. Cameron once claimed he planted a tree at his parents' house that was taller than the house itself.
But Patrick was family and that fact stopped him in his tracks. He doubted Patrick's life was in true jeopardy though he doubted his cousin would leave the safety of his studio tonight.
Patrick was beyond paranoid. As a safety precaution, he had quit ordering in, worried that she might have gotten fed up and put something in his fried rice. All of his dreams featured her. All of his dreams were simply premature nightmares which came later in the night. "I know what you're thinking. I've thought it too...over and over again as a matter of fact. But, Lucky, she is insane!"
Lucky sighed, realizing he was beaten. "Give them to me." Taking the tapes out of Patrick's hand he turned them over. "I still don't understand why I have to play messenger boy on this one. It's not me she's stalking."
"I don't want my name run in the crime report. You hand this over, you do it anonymously. The last thing I need is for the media to get a hold of this, so you have to keep Cruz in the dark." Patrick instructed. It was a plausible lie. While Patrick didn't want his business under public scrutiny, his reluctance to deal with the commissioner had more to do with family relations than anything else. His younger brother, Logan, had been married to the commissioner's niece for five years. She had come into Patrick's life briefly during that time, enough to make him despise her. From the day Logan brought her home Patrick had felt an instant dislike, one that grew over the years. Robin Scorpio had come into their lives, judging and making demands that the family be more social toward her. She had made a big impact to say the least, and was notorious for most of her blatant disregard for Patrick's close family. He only received news of their impending divorce in an email that the little witch had put together and forwarded to every single person in her address book. She had taken Logan to court, her allegations preposterous, and cleaned out what little he had in his bank account. Patrick would always blame her for his brother's missed chances. Logan had had potential and now he had nothing but a bottomless supply of alcohol.
Lucky rolled his eyes. If anything his bringing in the tape would be more likely to get the media's attention. He suspected it had more to do with the still friendly relations between the Scorpio and Spencer side of the family. He felt sorry for Logan, really he did, but Patrick had always had a bit of a blind spot when it came to his little brother. He just couldn't see the incredible self-destructive choices he continued to make. Not that Lucky could blame him on that one. He still saw Lulu as six years old instead of a college freshman. "Fine. But you owe me. When my mom asks why I was late for Cameron's parent-teacher conference you are taking the heat."
"I'll call her after you leave and make you sound noble. Just please do this for me." Patrick wasn't above begging.
"Not noble. Sainthood. I want sainthood." Lucky tucked the tapes into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and left for the parent/teacher conference he was over a half hour later for.
Elizabeth had learned quickly to use the time between her conferences wisely. In her first year of teaching she had made the mistake of calling a student's mother his grandmother. It was not a mistake she wanted to make twice. She twisted an errant brown curl behind her ear as she reviewed the information card she kept on all her students. "Cameron Spencer." she murmured. "Father: Lucas Spencer Junior. Emergency Contact: Laura Spencer- Grandmother."
It was odd Cameron had no information for his mother listed on his card, but there were any number of reasons for that. While it wasn't all that uncommon for there to be only be one parent listed in the school records, it seemed strange that they should mention his father and not his mother.
She checked the clock. Seven o'clock. Regardless of the parent listed, he was very late. Elizabeth rose from her chair and went to the door, putting on her "happy to meet the parents" smile. Opening the door, she blinked when she realized there was no one there. She glanced up and down the hall. Still no one.
Leaving the door open, she moved back into her room. It was possible Cameron's father or grandmother was just running late, very late. Out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth spotted some of the dishes they had used earlier in the day scattered in the corner of the play area. Sighing, she bent over to pick them up.
Lucky raced down the hall towards the room number his mother had told him. After he had left Patrick, he had quickly stuffed the tapes into his briefcase. Tomorrow would be soon enough to give the tapes to Mac. He paused briefly to catch his breath and slow down. Running in late and out of breath was not the way to make a good impression. Taking a deep breath, he smoothed out the invisible wrinkles on his silk shirt and took the final few strides towards the room.
He turned, intent on making his apologies, and found his breath was stuck in his throat. Whenever Cameron had talked about "Miss Elizabeth" he had always pictured an older woman, with white hair in a bun wearing long shapeless flowered dresses. While he could only see the back of Miss Elizabeth, he already realized his assumptions had been way off base. She had on a denim skirt that hit her knees, leaving the rest of her shapely legs free for his perusal. Her brown hair was pinned haphazardly to back of her head and some pieces had determinedly freed themselves. She rose to her full height, which admittedly wasn't all that tall, and turned just enough that he caught sight of her biting her full lip. Damn, where were teachers like that when he was in school?
Say something, he told himself fiercely. Don't just stand there like a tree! Clearing his throat, he announced his presence. "I am so sorry I'm late. I had a brief family crisis."
Elizabeth jumped slightly when she heard the distinctly male cough and voice from behind her. Turning, she caught sight of who she assumed was Cameron's father. Silk pinstriped shirt, slightly undone tie, blue suit. Sandy brown hair and a killer smile. Although she knew she had never seen met him until this second, Elizabeth couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen him some place before. She just couldn't place where. Certainly she would remember meeting someone this good-looking.
"Nothing serious I hope." She forced herself to walk towards him and offer her hand. "Elizabeth Webber, Mr. Spencer. Nice to meet you."
"Nothing worth the drama it caused." Patrick was going to owe him more now. He had almost missed seeing her thanks to him. "Thank you for being so understanding." Lucky took her hand and shock it. "Nice to meet you Ms. Webber. And please call me Lucky."
The second she heard his name, it clicked. Lucky Spencer. Playboy record mogul. The very same one she saw every week in the magazines with a different younger star. Whose name was always linked in the gossip columns with any up and coming singer. He was Cameron's father? She had never heard anywhere that Lucky Spencer had a son. Was Cameron's mother one of his former protégés? Why hadn't anyone ever reported this?
Elizabeth forced herself into professional mode. She could do this. "Lucky. That is certainly an original name."
"An old family joke." He motioned to the chairs she had set up. "Do I get to sit in the big people chairs or do I get the little one as a punishment?"
"Please, sit down." As they walked towards the chair, her mind was still going a mile a minute. This was unreal. Yesterday she had been looking at pictures of him out every single night of the weekend with a different young beautiful thing. And now here she was conducting a parent-teacher conference regarding his three-year-old. 'Calm down' her brain commanded her. 'You will not under any circumstances be an idiot here. You are a professional. You will act like a professional teacher.'
Lucky found himself savoring her walk. It was a short distance, only three feet at the most, but he was entranced by the way she moved. He shook his head. It had been entirely too long since he had met a woman who had caught his attention at first sight. He briefly wondered who the last woman was. Emily the supposed stalker? Susan? Maureen? Oh God it couldn't have been Jess could it? No way it had been that long? Please not that long.
As Elizabeth sat down, she motioned for him to do the same. "I'm not entirely convinced I shouldn't bring the timeout chair over for your lateness." 'Ok good, joking with him. That's good. No creepy fan girl type statements. You can do this.'
He was at a loss for words. He, Lucky Spencer, son of the local legend Luke Spencer could not think of a single intelligent thing to say to a joke made by his son's preschool teacher. He could think of several stupid things to say, which was entirely problematic. This attraction he was feeling was completely preventing him from being a mature, rational adult capable of carrying on an adult conversation. What the hell was he to do?
As insane as it was, his mind flashed to Patrick. Sure at this moment his cousin was the poster child for mental instability, but if there was one thing Patrick had always been able to do it was talk to women. Even in high school when the rest of them shook in their boots, Patrick never seemed ill at ease. That was the solution, he thought. He'd just do what Patrick would do.
Some small voice in the back of his head, which sounded suspiciously like Cruz, reminded him that he was in fact not Patrick and never had been. But a louder voice told the pseudo Cruz voice to shut the hell up or come up with a better plan. With no further brilliant insights coming, he decided to go ahead.
"If you really want me to, I'll bring it." That was what he thought Patrick would say? That really came out of his mouth? The little Cruz voice got louder in his head. 'Ohh great comeback. Smooth Spencer real smooth.'
"No it's quite alright. I understand job responsibilities are sometimes hard to leave behind." Elizabeth was quite proud of herself for not adding in ' Even though as a vice-president of a record label you probably could pick and choose your hours.'
"Yes there are some people that should not ever be left behind." He smiled his best smile. Better. He had wanted to add "Like yourself" to that but had stopped just short. Much closer to something Patrick would have said.
Elizabeth missed his smile. She had turned to gather the folder she had put aside regarding Cameron. "Now Cameron is a true joy to have in my class this year and I will miss him in the fall. He's really a charmer."
"Family gift." Of course his son was a charmer. He had generations of charm to fall back on. He also had generations of conning, scamming, guilt trips, musical taste, and not to mention impulsiveness. Lucky was just grateful so far Cameron showed much more of an inclination to take the good characteristics than the bad.
His quip threw her off. Surely he wasn't flirting? That was a joke, right? It had to have been a joke. She decided the best course of action was to pretend it had never been said. "He appears to be on target with his peers as far as his pre-reading skills, his counting, color recognition, and so forth."
"That's good news." He momentarily forgot about being Patrick to bask in pride of his son being on target.
"It is. He is making friends here and I hardly ever have to redirect him." She smiled and closed her folder. "In fact, I do wish I had more students like your son to teach. He will do just fine next year in the four-year-old room."
Her smiled blinded him. Lucky could feel himself about to say something ignorant. It was right there on the tip of his tongue. 'Think man! Think!' As if he could hear his cousin whisper in his ear, Lucky found the words to say. "Well maybe someday you will."
She had caught his grin that time. Elizabeth hadn't thought it possible, but he appeared more attractive when he smiled. And had she imagined a look in his eye that seemed to indicate he wasn't talking about future students in the abstract sense, more like the very specific sense? He could not be flirting with her. This was a parent-teacher conference about his son for the love of Pete! Someone had to be professional here. "I certainly hope so, but I do believe that every child is unique."
"I agree with you. But siblings do tend to share similar traits don't you agree?"
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "Well yes, but I understood Cameron to be an only child." She felt her heart race. Was she about to learn a gossip scoop not even Perez Hilton had hinted at?
Lucky laughed. "Currently he is, but I do plan on having more children one day." He paused and looked directly at her. "Of course that is if I meet the right woman." Yes Patrick would have been proud of that one.
She had to force herself to breathe. Okay there was no way she had misinterpreted that. Lucky Spencer was 100 flirting with her, at a parent-teacher conference concerning his son. What had already started as an unreal event in her life had skipped right into bizarre and unfathomable. Who actually flirted at a parent-teacher conference? She had noticed he was attractive, but she hadn't flirted with him had she? Elizabeth quickly raced the previous events through her mind and was satisfied that she had in fact kept a professional tone to this meeting. And now he was blatantly flirting with her?
Every picture she had ever seen him in flashed before her eyes. No girl twice. No girl that wasn't some sort of upcoming star. She remembered some of the comments she had read. "Playboy." "Ladies Man" Could all the talk be true? Did he really think he could have any girl he wanted?
Flustered, she glanced down at the folder she still held in her hand. That poor little boy she thought. If his father would spend his parent-teacher conference flirting with his teacher, what kind of father could he be to that precious three-year-old?
Elizabeth bit her lip. Someone had to be professional and it was going to have to be her. "Well I wish you luck in that search Mr. Spencer." She emphasized using his more formal address. No more calling him Lucky. She stood abruptly and walked towards the door. "It was nice to meet you sir and I do hope to see you at more events in the future this coming school year."
Lucky was confused at the sudden shift in her tone and her movement. What had he done? Something had pissed her off, that was for certain, but what the hell was it? He took her hand awkwardly and shook it. "I certainly hope to come more often."
"Excellent. Parent interaction is always encouraged here at Woodlawn Preschool. If you'll excuse me, I do have another parent scheduled in a few minutes." She turned on her heel and forced herself to walk back to her desk.
He watched her retreating back with as much interest as he had before. "Sure. Not a problem."
He walked down the hall, not aware of the other parents he passed on his way back to his old Jeep Cherokee. As he sat behind the wheel he puzzled over the ending to his meeting with Miss Elizabeth.
"What the hell went wrong?"