Alexis sat in her office. She was finishing up paperwork for a case and then had an appointment with Morgan and his parents. She needed to inform them she was dropping him as a client, so she could file with the court later that day. She wanted to storm over there the very next day, but she took a breath, waited. Would keep it professional and not risk the court saying she had to follow through due to an impulsive and rash confrontation because she was certain Carly wasn't going to take this well. She wasn't even sure if Sonny and Carly knew. She also wanted the time to strategize because she had hoped her daughter would agree to press charges before this conversation and she wanted to get ahead of his defense because she was certain as soon as Sonny and Carly knew they'd be planning strategy and she was almost certain they'd try to drag her daughter through the mud to do it. She would do whatever it took to protect her baby girl.
As she waited she looked over the paperwork for her divorce. She hadn't filed yet. There was one detail she couldn't bring herself to make a decision about. One that was hers and hers alone. Did she want her old name back? Would she go back to simply being Alexis Davis? Would she request the change in the petition that needed to be filed before they would proceed, sign, and finalize. She had been torn and then to complicate her feelings further he messaged her and they both admitted how difficult this was. He wanted to talk. She agreed, not quite sure what good rehashing everything would do. It was complicated and she was brought from her train of thought when her secretary let in Morgan and Carly.
"Morgan, Carly. Thanks for meeting with me. Is Sonny joining us?" Alexis said as they sat across from her desk.
"No. What's this about, Alexis? The court didn't go back on the agreement, did they. He's trying. He is. The fight with Owen–" She tried to cover, hoping that it was just her and her son who knew what happened that night.
"I'm pretty sure your son knows what this is about. Morgan?" Alexis interrupted.
"You know." Morgan stated, reading the seriousness of her tone.
"I know. And I'm informing you that you'll have to seek new legal counsel."
"Alexis, he wasn't well. That wasn't him. He didn't mean it. He's sorry. Morgan, aren't you?"
"He didn't mean it? Say what it is, Carly. You've known about this and allowed me to defend my daughter's assailant? That's pretty low even for you."
"He's my son and for the record I just found out myself. He's remorseful. He is. He wants to make this right Alexis."
"I am. I do feel awful about it. My mom is right. I want to apologize. I want to make this right."
"Well you should feel awful. It's sexual assault. You assaulted my daughter, Morgan. I can't, I won't represent you and you aren't going near her again. You can't make this right. Stay away from Addison. You hear me, don't go near my daughter."
"I won't. I'll try and stay away. I will."
"You'll do more than try or you'll find yourself with a restraining order. Now if you'll excuse me I have other clients to tend to." Alexis said as she stood and walked towards the door.
"Who will we get to represent him now? He has another court appearance just days from now." Carly asked, defensive.
"He should have thought about that before he tried to rape my daughter. I don't care what sort of state he was in. This is a direct result of his upbringing."
"You think this is my fault? Sonny's?"
"You raised your son around violence and he learned it was normal. And you know Sonny's temper better than most. The way he treats women when he's been betrayed. The way he talks to women. Your son saw that. He saw your dysfunctional relationship and he internalized the worst of it."
"Mom, we should go. Let's go. Diane can handle it. Dad's charges were dropped." Morgan stated walking towards the door and Carly followed.
"You can't just drop a client in the middle of a case. This isn't over Alexis, when Sonny finds out–"
"Oh it already is." Alexis interrupted. "I will defend my daughter. She may not be ready to tackle this head on, yet. But I am." She explained, letting her inner Cassadine out in full force and closed the door behind them. She walked back over to her desk pleased with herself and then looked at the petition that was drafted on her desk. It would stay that way. They had agreed to meet. To talk. She hoped they'd agree they could do this. It was hard, but they could follow through. They'd agree it was the only way to stop hurting each other, while also figuring out what the path forward for Addison was.
That afternoon she walked into the Grille. She kept her afternoon open. She didn't know how long they'd need. She was caught off guard. He was sitting at the bar with Julia. She'd seen them flirt all those years ago in Monte Carlo. He'd told her about his affair with her when his marriage to Jenny was unraveling. There was a history. There was an attraction and there was obviously chemistry. It was hard to ignore, despite knowing she wanted them to follow through with their decision. They were meeting because they both admitted they were struggling with being apart, but maybe Julia was helping him move on. Maybe Julia would help him see he could be happy without her, but also the sight of her with him…it hurt. She approached it head on. She walked over to the bar and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hi."
"Hey, when did you get here?"
"Just now. Hi Julia, good to see you again."
"Alexis, you too. Ned, I'll get that contract to you tomorrow. I'll leave you two to your lunch."
"Thanks, Julia." He said as he stood.
"Good luck." Julia said quietly and touched his arm before leaving the bar of the Grille. Ned deserved to be happy.
"We could have rescheduled if you already had plans. It's ok." Alexis said as she watched Julia leave and turned to him.
"I'm not seeing Julia, Alexis." She was jealous. It gave him hope.
"You were flirting, she was flirting. Be honest, Ned. I know you have a history."
"We do and that's our dynamic. I won't lie about that. But I'm nowhere near ready to move on. I can't imagine moving on. I still have this sliver of hope that maybe this isn't actually happening…" He took a step towards her.
"Honey…" She sympathized as he let down his own guard. She knew he had hope and his blind faith they could withstand anything was hard to resist.
"Isn't that why we agreed to talk? Our life is the only life I want, Alexis." He stepped closer to her and took her hand. He could tell he was getting to her. "You and me. That's it." She brought her hand to his cheek. He leaned in and she looked into his eyes. She shook her head slightly, giving in, knowing they shouldn't but she let him kiss her softly and then instinctively responded to deepen the kiss as they stood there in the corner of the bar at the Grille.
Suddenly, she quietly pulled away, breathless. "We can't do this. It's too hard as it is."
He took her hands, "Shouldn't that tell us something?"
"It tells us what we already know."
"And what's that?" He needed to hear her admit the truth. She hated this as much as he did. But her cell phone started to ring. She looked at him sympathetically. "Go ahead, answer it." He said resigned.
"Alexis Davis."
He froze. She dropped the Ashton. When did that happen? Hearing it was like a knife to his heart. Maybe she wasn't struggling as much as he was. Maybe they were in fact on separate pages.
"You're changing it back?" He asked as she hung up.
"What?" She looked at him confused.
"Your name."
"Oh." This was not how she wanted to tell him. She knew she was leaning towards it, but this wasn't how she wanted to tell him this when she wasn't certain. She'd become Alexis Davis-Ashton and she wasn't sure a name change could erase that.
"So are you?" He asked, trying to read her.
"I've thought about it." She watched the hurt flash across his eyes. "But, I'm not sure. I just, well, I guess all this time I've been spending alone and it's been on my mind…it slipped out."
"You want to go back?" He asked and took her hand.
"I don't think that's possible. You're a part of me now." She quietly admitted.
"You're a part of me, too." He said as he stepped towards her.
She needed to save them. She changed the subject. "That was the school nurse on the phone. I've got to go pick up Addie."
"Is she ok?"
"I think so. She's struggling with her anxiety about being there." She said as she squeezed his hand, let go and stepped away.
"She has to face this…we have to find a way to help her face this." He stated as it became clearer they were still on separate pages about their daughter as well.
"I know. I'll let you know." She touched his arm and walked away. Their emotional connection was hard to ignore and she was almost thankful the nurse had called and brought them back to reality. She drove to the school. She picked up her daughter. She had no idea how to help her without breaking the trust she had with her. She'd promised her daughter she'd have some control. But it was becoming clear she was going to need to step in as her mother and take the heat sooner rather than later. Her daughter was becoming school avoidant. She'd work from home the rest of the afternoon. She'd think about how to approach this before she went to Ned with a plan. Whatever it was they'd need to present it to her together.
Addison was at home, trying to accomplish some of her missed work. She'd been absent two days last week and missed some class time by escaping to the nurse. Walking back into the building continued to be emotionally draining and she had a massive migraine from the stress. Math was driving her nuts, she thought maybe she'd ask Owen for help. Her mother was clear. She came home sick; she couldn't see Cam. But Owen had just gotten home and she didn't want to bother him, yet. She was taking a break and was looking for a snack in the kitchen when the doorbell rang. "I've got it!" Addison yelled as she made her way from the kitchen to the door. She knew her mother was trying to work and she felt badly for being the reason she was working from home again.
"Hi. Can I help you?" Addison said to the stranger on the other side of the door.
"Addison Ashton?"
"Yes. Who are you?"
"Sorry, Ric Lansing. District Attorney."
"Oh. Are you here for my mom?"
"I was hoping I could talk to you."
"Me? Why?"
"Addison, who was at the door?" Alexis asked as she came out of her office. She saw Ric. "Making house calls in the middle of the afternoon?" Alexis said and Addison opened the door wider and let him in.
"Alexis. Can't even say a simple hello?"
"I'm sorry, hello, what brings you by?"
"I called your office. They said you were here. I was hoping to talk about the Corinthos case. There's new evidence. Potentially new charges."
"He said he wanted to talk to me." Addison added.
"He's probably recalling Owen." She said to her daughter and then turned to Ric, "It's harassment. My son did nothing wrong."
"No, your daughter heard me correctly. I'm here about her. Is your husband home? You'll likely want him here since you can't be present during questioning."
"Why on Earth are you calling in my daughter as a witness?" Alexis asked defensively.
"Mom, what's going on?" Owen asked as he came downstairs.
"Hi, Owen. Good to see you again. Your son left out some pertinent details in his statement. And you know it did throw me for a loop when he said he left to look for his sister, but then I remembered the cell phone videos from another case. They suddenly seemed relevant. The young girl running down the street in the background of one, the girl we couldn't make out in the background pushing Morgan off of her in another. So I came here to see for myself if I was right and low and behold I was. It was you Addison. You were with Corinthos and something happened…didn't it?"
Addison started to panic, "Mom. He can't do this. Can he do this?"
"I need you to leave. Now." Alexis stated and opened the door again to escort him out.
"Call my office. We'll set up a time to get her statement. And Owen, if you want to amend yours…" Ric stated.
"Do I need a lawyer? Mom, am I in trouble?" Owen started to panic.
"I'm your lawyer. Both of you." She directed at both her children.
"You can't represent the defendant and the witnesses."
"Well update your file DA Lansing because I filed a motion to withdraw from the case this morning."
"Well, today is full of surprises. I look forward to hearing from you." Ric said and left, as Alexis closed the door behind him.
"Mom…" Addison said, frozen. She was leaning towards coming forward and now she'd been shoved off the cliff and felt like she was losing control.
"Hey, hey listen to me. I'm going to do everything in my power to protect you and your voice in all of this. I promise you."
"Should I call Dad?" Owen asked, concerned.
"No. I'll handle it. I want to see what they think they have to suddenly pull your sister into this first. He could be bluffing."
"He said there were videos…" Owen said.
"That prove your version of events Owen. That she was there. That she left the party on foot. Everything else is an inference on his part because his case is falling apart. He's looking for more charges and I won't let you be used in some vendetta, peanut. If you come forward it's on your terms."
"Promise?"
"I'll fight this with everything I've got. You have my word." Alexis reached for her daughter and pulled her close, then opened her arm and hugged her son. "I've got you. Both of you."