Spoon Island. The Guest House.
Claudia finished dressing for the day. She'd found a set of clothes hanging in her closet, all washed and ironed. She vaguely remembered Nikolas carrying her up the stairs the night before, but she doubted he was directly responsible for the clothes. He'd probably sent out a minion. Or had elves in the basement of Wyndemere. Who cared? They fit her perfectly, and they were in her style. Both of those qualities, however, made her doubt they had belonged to Emily.
In the morning, Alfred had stopped by with towels and toiletries. The towels, like everything else on Spoon Island, were too much. The choice of towels, that is. Apparently, Nikolas thought she'd be ready to pick a color scheme before showering.
Nikolas' breakfast invitation was sweet, but a little inconvenient. It was going to take her a long time to get the guest house in order, and she wanted to get started on it right away. This was the first place that had ever been her own. And she wasn't sure how long her stay here was going to last -- whether it be cut short by death or the fact that she'd already gotten on her host's nerves. But she was surprised to find out that she liked the quiet. She liked deciding where something should go in the kitchen, and not having someone move it, belittle it, change it, or get rid of it.
She was also afraid to see Nikolas this morning. He was too much of a gentleman to change his mind about her staying there, but yesterday afternoon had frightened her. She always knew that things were easy between her and Nikolas. And she liked who she was around him. Yesterday all of that had disappeared. Claudia was not prepared for how empty she felt without even the possibility of whatever this easy thing was between her and Nikolas. She knew he had a lot of friends and family who were always happy to see him. So she doubted he would miss what she missed. She did her best to shake this feeling. It was Nikolas, after all. Even if he was sick of her, he'd treat her well. And she could handle the rest.
************************************
Wyndemere. Living room.
In the end, it was Spencer who'd made it easy for everyone at breakfast. He was one of the funniest kids she'd ever known -- aside from Johnny, he was probably the only kid she'd ever known, but regardless -- he cracked her up. She suspected that she had ticked the nanny off by instigating a spoon swordfight with the kid, but Nikolas didn't seem to mind. The nanny did, however, make a quick exit with Spencer after breakfast. Claudia had been all ready to go back to the guest house when Nikolas invited her to tea and the morning paper in the living room.
A samovar was sitting on a breakfast bar. The Sunday Times was sitting untouched on an end-table.
Nikolas began to pour the tea. "It's herbal," he reassured her.
"Thanks," she said.
Was it rude to grab the magazine section before he could get to it? She was getting anxious about what this little tea party meant, and a good crossword puzzle would take the edge off. Claudia snatched the magazine section and took out a pen. 1 Down.
Nikolas set her tea beside her on an end table and went to prepare his own cup. 8 Across.
He wondered if she was avoiding him.
"I thought we could talk," he said.
"Sure," she said. He noticed she didn't stop doing the crossword puzzle.
"Rebecca came to see me last night."
"How'd it go?" She kept filling in little boxes.
"I need to tell you what I did."
"Go ahead."
He took the crossword puzzle from her hands.
"Sorry," she said. "It's a compulsion."
"Crossword puzzles?"
"Forget it. What did you need to tell me?"
Nikolas picked up the unfinished puzzle and looked at it quizzically. "I don't get it," he said.
"Once you've done enough of them, they get easier," she said.
"I don't get the whole phenomenon of doing crossword puzzles," he clarified. But he didn't say as if he was putting her down. He said it as if he were genuinely interested.
"They exercise your mind. Keep you sharp. It keeps someone like me distracted from other worse things I could be doing or saying."
"Really?"
"Yeah. You'd better get used to these, too, if I'm going to be staying here. Because there are only a few things that keep me occupied and away from plotting and trouble. And the last time I stayed here, you made it pretty clear that you weren't interested in option #1. The doctors ruled out all other exercise, which was option #2. And I can only cook so much before I have the next three months' meals prepared."
Nikolas moved from his chair to a place on the couch beside her. "I want you to stay, Claudia."
"Good." He wasn't sure she believed him.
"And I need your help."
"Oh."
"That's not why I invited you here." She studied him for a long moment. He looked like the same old Nikolas.
"Okay," she said.
"Once I explain," he continued. "I'll understand if you say no. But I'll need you to keep quiet about what I'm up to."
Claudia cocked her head to one side. "Okay."
Nikolas wondered if his convoluted scheme would be too strange for Claudia. And then he remembered who he was talking to. "My grandmother, Helena, is to me as your father is to you," he began.
"Maybe we should lock them in your dungeon together and see if they kill each other."
Nikolas looked like he was seriously weighing the possibility.
"You have a dungeon?"
Nikolas would only smile cryptically. Then he continued. "Barring the dungeon option, I have something else in mind."
Claudia waved her hand as if to say he had the floor.
"Rebecca is conning me," he began.
"I'd say technically you're wrong about that," she interrupted.
"Why? What do you know?"
"Well, I know that if you're on to her, she's not conning you anymore." Claudia smiled, picked up her teacup and sipped.
"Really? Are you certain of that?" Nikolas smiled back sarcastically.
He really needed to wipe those canary feathers from his mouth. "I'm listening," she said.
"Alexis believes that Rebecca is working with my grandmother."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"Wow." Claudia put her teacup down.
"I know." No point in beating around the bush. "I need to lay a trap for Helena, and I need for you to be the bait."
"Oh." Claudia wasn't sure where he was going with this. Didn't bait get eaten by the quarry?
Nikolas leaned in closer to Claudia. "I would never put you or your baby in any danger."
"So what are you saying? I'd be more like a plastic fishing fly and less like a live, wriggling worm?"
"I prefer not to think of you either of those ways, thank you very much."
"No," corrected Claudia. "Thank you very much." Nikolas looked a little uncomfortable at even a hint of flirtation, so she shifted gears. "What do you need?"
"If Rebecca is working with my grandmother, whatever Helena is up to hinges upon me falling for Rebecca." He checked in with Claudia. She was following this like it was second nature. "I told Rebecca that you and I were helping each other in some matters. I told her you were staying here. When she asked if we were sleeping together, I took umbrage."
"Thanks."
"Stop that. I phrased it in such a way that given time, Rebecca will realize that I never answered her question."
"You dog." Claudia had no idea that Nikolas was capable of psychological manipulation. Interesting new development. Attractive.
"I told her I'd call her today. I'm going to forget to call. And should she show up at the Island, she will find me with you. Because the men who control the Port Charles end of the launch have been given strict instructions to warn me when she's coming."
Claudia chuckled.
"What?"
"Nothing," she answered. But she appeared to be looking at him through new eyes. "How many people know about this?"
"About my suspicions about Rebecca and Helena? Two. Elizabeth Webber and Alexis. About what we're up to? No one."
"That's good. The less people who know what's going on..."
"The more people will speculate, and the more Rebecca will overhear."
"And," Claudia interjected, "She'll be overhearing what you want to her to overhear." Nikolas nodded. "What else?"
"I need for Rebecca to believe that I never discovered her con. And I need for Helena to believe that whatever is happening between you and me is interfering with what could be happening with Rebecca and me. I need for Helena to tip her hand. I need her to become so desperate that she will need to come and check things out for herself."
Claudia shook her head. There was a flaw in this plan. "Why?," she asked.
"Why what?"
"Why would she check it out for herself? Couldn't she hire someone to do that?"
"Yes," Nikolas answered matter-of-factly. "And she will. And when they turn up nothing, she'll become so infuriated by their incompetence that she'll show up asking questions."
"So she's one of those Do-It-Yourself types?"
"If she's been thwarted enough, yes. She's also got an ego the size of the Taj Mahal."
"That's useful," Claudia noted.
"It is if you're not growing up under her thumb," Nikolas pointed out.
Claudia got that. "Okay. Sure." Claudia saw that Nikolas thought she was merely agreeing with him, and quickly made herself clear. "I'm in."
She put her hand out. After a moment, Nikolas realized she was waiting for him to bind the deal with a handshake. He shook her hand. Claudia gave a quick nod, signaling the end of the conversation and struggled to get to her feet. This change in her center of gravity was disconcerting. Nikolas grabbed her elbow and helped her up. When she was steady, he let go.
"Claudia." She looked at him. "You don't have to stay in the guest house. We can move you in here if you'd like."
Claudia considered her options. "You know what? I think I'm going to stay at the guest house. It's nice having my own space." Nikolas looked a little taken aback. "Besides, I think it will make your plan even better if I'm out there. People will wonder if it's the Kept Mistress Shack."
Nikolas shook his head in disapproval.
"Ah-ah," Claudia said. "You're going to have to work on your poker face."
Nikolas got serious. "Thank you, Claudia."
She smiled. "Any time." She picked up the crossword puzzle and started for the door. Nikolas sat back down on the couch and picked up his tea.
Claudia turned and looked at him from the doorway. She tapped the puzzle against the palm of her hand. She walked over to the couch.
"When I was sent away to Italy..." Claudia didn't know why she was suddenly compelled to tell him this. "I was cut off from everyone and everything that had been in my life up 'til then. No one I knew spoke English fluently. So crossword puzzles were my way of keeping English with me."
Nikolas was quiet for a moment, then got up and began searching the bookcases. Claudia felt exposed. What was he doing? She tells him something she's never told anyone else before and he looks for reading material? Should she go?
Nikolas pulled an old Atlas from a shelf and returned to Claudia. "When I was growing up, the only things I knew about my mother were that she was beautiful, and that she was from a place in America called Port Charles." He opened the Atlas and turned it toward Claudia. "This was the only information I had about Port Charles. All I knew was that it was a shipping port. So I learned to sail." He closed the Atlas. He laughed. "It turns out Laura didn't even grow up here."
Claudia reached out and touched his arm. They looked at each other for a long moment. Then she thought to herself, Do not destroy this, Claudia. She withdrew her hand.
"I should get going," she said.
"Claudia, wait." He went to the desk, put down the Atlas and pulled a file out from a large stack. "Here." He held it out to her.
She came over and cautiously took it. "What's this?"
"It's a company that specializes in technology development."
"Helena owns it?"
Nikolas laughed. "Helena has nothing to do with it. It's one of my interests. I've been unable to raise sufficient capital in the current economy. Why don't you take a look at it and see what you can do?"
Technology development? She was good, but she was no Spinelli.
"I want to see what you can do with a legitimate company."
"You want to keep me distracted."
"When you're not cooking or doing crossword puzzles. Open it up."
Claudia opened the file.
"There are five countries involved," said Nikolas.
Claudia laughed delightedly. "Oh, and surprise, surprise -- I just happen to speak every one of the languages involved."
"No pharmaceuticals, so you won't be tempted to black market anything," Nikolas pointed out.
"Don't kid yourself, Nikolas," she said. "I'll always be tempted. But I won't wreck one of your companies with it. We done?"
"Yes," he said. "You can use the study if you'd like. I'm headed into town for a little while."
Nikolas made his way to the door. Then he stopped and looked at Claudia. "Helena --" Nikolas stopped himself.
Claudia looked up at Nikolas. "What?"
"For the past few years, the only thing Helena has wanted is Spencer."
"Well, then," said Claudia. "All the more reason to annihilate her."
Nikolas silently agreed. But the whole subject of Helena brought up another unsavory thought. Technology development. He called to Claudia over his shoulder, "Try not to freeze the world while I'm gone."
Claudia shook her head. Nikolas was nice, but he was a very strange guy.
************************************
When Claudia arrived back at the guest house later that morning, she found the whole place had been cleaned and put in order.
At one o'clock, a dishwasher was installed in the kitchen.
At two o'clock, four large, burly men she recognized as part of the Russian syndicate arrived with all of her belongings that had been left behind at Sonny's house. She was sure that it didn't take four men of that size to carry two suitcases. She was also sure that it did take four men of that size to get them out of GreyStone.
At four o'clock, she was so engrossed in the technology lab file that she declined an invitation to dine at Wyndemere.
And at five 'clock, Johnny showed up ready to kill Nikolas.
