Chapter 38 – Pizza And Beer

Esme was very relieved when her rideshare driver Ernesto told her he had gotten his tires replaced and could take her from the PCU campus to the pier again. She hadn't forgotten what Leora had told her regarding telling the campus police about Richard Thomas Smith if he continued to harass her. However, due to her own misdeeds, she didn't trust that they would take her seriously, and didn't want to get them or Jan involved unless she absolutely had to. There were two entrances to the building where her class was. Richard always seemed to be waiting for her at one end of the building, and even though it meant a slightly longer walk from the building to the parking lot, she figured that by going the other way she'd be able to avoid him.

Her instincts were correct, as she didn't encounter Richard on her way to the parking lot. She knew that this would most likely be a temporary solution as Richard would at some point figure out that she was taking the long way to the parking lot, but if he did, she was prepared to tell Nelle. She hoped that Nelle would be able to protect her from Richard without him finding out where she lived.

She had just gotten back to Wyndemere, set her stuff down, and was in the process of giving Ace his dinner when her phone rang.

Esme: Hello?

Willow: Hi Esme, it's Willow Tait.

Esme: Hi Willow.

Willow: I was wondering if you could watch the kids again for me tonight. It wouldn't be until after 6. Michael has to work late and I'm going out to dinner with a friend.

Esme: I'd love to, but…

*Nelle walks into the room*

Esme: I'll call you back.

Willow: Okay

*They hang up*

Esme: That was Willow. She wants me to babysit again.

Nelle: Are you going to?

Esme: No.

Nelle: Why not?

Esme: Because I have my own child I need to look after.

Nelle: Why not take Ace with you? He and Amelia are around the same age.

Esme: I don't know Nelle. Those are three kids I'd need to look after.

Nelle: There was one mom who I recently interviewed who has twins who are roughly the same age as Ace, as well as a four-year-old, and she needs to care for them 24/7. The kids have different fathers. The twins' father pays child support but otherwise isn't in their lives, and she has a restraining order against the older kid's father. The woman isn't even 20 yet. Also don't forget, you used to volunteer at our daycare center, so you have experience with watching multiple children at the same time.

Esme: Leann was also there though.

Nelle: If it's anything like last time I'm sure it would only be for a couple of hours to give Monica a break. And you said that Tracy was there too.

Esme: Yeah, and she wasn't exactly pleased to see me.

Nelle: She's seldom pleased to see anyone. Don't take it personally. But it isn't like you'd be completely without help.

Esme: I won't, and you're right. But Willow told me she needs me to come over around 6 which is when I usually eat dinner. And she didn't say how long she needed me to be there.

Nelle: There isn't anything stopping you from eating dinner before you head out.

Esme: I don't think that would be a good idea. I don't want to throw up on the boat ride.

Nelle: You could always get food delivered. You know the Quartermaines love pizza. In fact it's what their traditional Thanksgiving dinner consists of.

*Esme starts laughing*

Esme: Really?

Nelle: Yes. They have other "traditions" on Thanksgiving too. Wiley might be able to tell you about some of them.

Esme: That's hilarious. Okay, I'll call Willow back and tell her I can do it if she'll allow me to bring Ace.

Nelle: I don't see any reason why she wouldn't. She loves kids.

Esme: Okay.


Esme took a cab from the pier to the Quartermaines. Unlike the previous time she was there, Willow told her to come to the gatehouse as opposed to the main house, as it was where she and Michael lived with the kids. Like last time, Willow told Esme to let herself in.

Esme: Willow?

*Willow comes downstairs*

Willow: Good, you're here.

Esme: Well, I told you I would be. And thank you for letting me bring Ace.

Willow looks at Ace in his carrier*

Willow: Hi Ace! He has gotten so big! How old is he?

Esme: Next week is his first birthday!

Willow: Aww, happy early birthday Ace!

Esme: He might be starting to talk. When Jan and I moved back to Wyndemere and the launch was approaching, I pointed at it and told him we were going for a ride on a boat, and he said "Bo!" which may have been him trying to say "boat."

Willow: Aww, that's so cute!

Esme: It is.

Willow: Amelia's birthday was actually a couple of days ago! She and Ace are almost the exact same age!

Esme: Aww, well I'll be sure to wish her happy birthday. Where is she?

Willow: She and Wiley are playing upstairs. Have you eaten?

Esme: No I haven't actually. Every time I'm on the launch I feel like I'm going to throw up.

Willow: Oh no! Have you seen a doctor about that?

Esme: Wait, you don't know?

Willow: Know what?

Esme: I'm pregnant.

Willow: Oh my god, I had no idea!

Esme: I was meaning to keep it under wraps, but then Joss punched me at Spencer's memorial and…nevermind.

Willow: What is it?

Esme: I was getting ready to defend myself in case Joss attacked me again, but then Jan yelled at us to stop fighting because I'm pregnant. I'm honestly surprised you didn't know about this.

Willow: I knew about your broken nose, as Wiley told me about it when you were here last time, but he didn't mention how it got broken.

Esme: Well I was interrupted before I could tell him, but that's how. But I meant that I thought you would've heard that I was pregnant. Michael was there, and he witnessed the whole thing.

Willow: Michael and I haven't really spent a lot of time together recently. He seems to be burying himself in work, which leaves me to look after the kids mostly by myself. Monica as you know fell several days ago and is recuperating, otherwise I'd ask her to watch them.

Esme: It's not a problem. If anything, this will give me practice for when the baby comes, as I'll have my hands even more full than they already are.

Willow: Be sure to take care of yourself though.

Esme: I will. Have the kids eaten dinner yet?

Willow: I fed Amelia a little while ago. Wiley hasn't eaten yet. There are leftovers in the fridge, though if you want you can order pizza. I'm sure Wiley would like that.

Esme: What a coincidence! Jan suggested we get pizza. How is Wiley by the way?

Willow: Now that he's finished with his homework he's okay, and definitely hungry. I still feel like they're overworking him. As a nurse and a former teacher, kids definitely shouldn't be coming home from school every day with headaches.

Esme: Does he have a headache now?

*The sound of small feet running grows louder as Wiley runs down the stairs*

Wiley: I don't have a headache anymore.

Esme: That's good.

Willow: Hey Wiley, look who's here.

Wiley: Hi Esme!

Esme: Hi Wiley! Look who I brought with me!

Wiley: Hi Ace!

Esme: Say "Hi Wiley!"

*Ace doesn't say anything*

Wiley: That's okay. Amelia can't talk yet either.

Esme: Well, maybe next time.

Willow: Anyway, I should get going. I should be back in a couple of hours.

Esme: Okay.

Willow: Be a good boy for Esme, okay Wiley?

Wiley: Okay!

Willow: Bye bye Wiley!

Wiley: Bye bye Mommy!

*Willow smiles at both of them and walks out the door*

Esme: So, Wiley, what do you say about ordering pizza for dinner?

Wiley: Yay!

Esme: *Laughs* I hope you're okay getting a topping that isn't pepperoni though. It makes my tummy hurt.

Wiley: That's okay. I don't like anchovies though.

Esme: You know what? Neither do I. But we can get whatever else you want.

Wiley: Okay!

Esme: And while we're waiting for the pizza, why don't we go introduce Ace and Amelia. Maybe we can get Amelia to say hi to him!

Wiley: Yeah!


Willow was not going to dinner. Nor was she going anywhere with a friend. She didn't know where she was going or even what she wanted to do. All she knew was that she had to get out of the house and have a break from her usual routine.

After wandering around town for a while and not having any luck finding somewhere she hadn't been to before that looked interesting, she began to feel even more depressed than she already was. The thought crossed her mind of taking the kids and going on another mini-vacation with them. The last thing she wanted to do was abandon her kids, but with Michael hardly being around and being too stressed from work to want to do anything when he was, she realized that some of the other Quartermaines were pretty unpleasant to be around. And even though she and Nina were working on bonding as mother and daughter, they still had a long way to go, and was doing it more for the kids so they could spend time with their grandmother. She needed some fresh faces in her life.

While she was walking, she got the uncomfortable feeling that somebody was following her, though every time she turned around, no one was there. She hoped that she was imagining it. She eventually passed by a bar that she hadn't known about before called the Brown Dog. Not knowing what type of crowd frequented the place, she went inside. It wasn't a dive bar, but at the same time it wasn't anything like the Savoy. The crowd consisted largely of middle-aged adults, most of whom looked like they probably had spouses and maybe children waiting for them at home, though there was also a group of very young-looking guys seated at a table in a far corner, and she had the sneaking suspicion that they weren't even 18 yet, let alone 21, but decided that even if they had gotten in using fake IDs, it wasn't her problem.

She made her way over to the bar counter, taking seat at a stool at the corner. Next to her was a man who appeared to be in his mid-50s. In front of him was a bottle of beer and a glass that looked like it hadn't been touched. He looked as if he wasn't sure if being there was a good idea, which meant that Willow wasn't alone in feeling like this. The bartender was vigorously cleaning off empty glasses.

Bartender: What can I get you?

*Willow looks at the menu above the bar*

Willow: A Manhattan, I guess.

*The bartender makes the Manhattan and places it in front of her, then addresses the man next to her*

Bartender: So, you want another beer?

Man: Let me polish this one off first.

Bartender: Oh I'm sorry. I meant, do you want to at least get some fingerprints on that glass so I can polish those off?

*The bartender goes back to washing empty glasses, while Willow looks closer at the man. His light brown hair and blue eyes look somewhat familiar to her, but she couldn't figure out if she knew him from somewhere else*

Willow: Hi

Man: Hey.

Willow: Do you come here often?

Man: I used to. At least, I thought I did. It looks sort of like the Floating Rib, only it's not where I remember the Floating Rib being located at.

Willow: Uh, no. The Floating Rib was destroyed in a bombing a few years ago.

Man: Oh my god!

Willow: Yeah, it was horrible.

Man: Do they know who did it?

Willow: Yeah, it was Julian Jerome.

*Willow notices the man's expression when she mentions the name*

Willow: Did you know him?

Man: I don't remember. The name sounds familiar.

Willow: Well, he actually was just the person who planted the bomb. He was under orders from Cyrus Renault. Do you know who he is?

Man: It doesn't ring a bell. What happened?

Willow: Uh, well, the building was destroyed, several people died, and Lulu Spencer was badly injured and has been in a coma ever since.

*She notices his expression again when she mentions Lulu's name*

Willow: Did you know Lulu?

Man: I don't remember. That name sounds familiar, but It's all a blur to me.

Willow: Well, in any case, they've built a Bank of ELQ branch on the site where the Floating Rib used to be.

*She notices his expression again*

Willow: Are you familiar with ELQ?

Man: The name sounds familiar, but again I don't remember. Everything is a blur. All I remember was waking up in some hospital but it wasn't GH, and they told me I had been in an accident.

Willow: Were you…drunk when you were in the accident?

Man: If I was, I wasn't driving. I'm not even sure if it was a car accident. All I remember was waking up not knowing where I was or what had happened to me, the doctors telling me that I almost died but managed to hang on, that this wasn't the first time something like this had happened to me, and while this most recent one wasn't my fault, I needed to make better choices next time. The one thing I do remember is that I've struggled with alcoholism for a long time. I know I should be taking steps to get better, and yet, here I am, at a bar, with a beer in front of me.

Willow: Well, you haven't drank any of it yet.

Man: No, I haven't.

Willow: Well, that's good then! You have some self-control.

Man: I don't know about that. If you hadn't sat next to me just now I probably would've.

*Willow realizes that what this man just said was true for her*

Willow: You know what, I can say the same about myself. I came here not trying to find a break from my usual routine but wasn't sure where to go or what to do, and I find myself sitting here with a Manhattan in front of me, and yet, talking to you has made it so I haven't drank any of it yet.

Man: You're right. I guess.

*Willow smiles*

Man: So, uh, what's your name?

Willow: Willow. Willow Tait.

Man: That's a nice name.

Willow: It is. Although it wasn't the name I was given when I was born. As a matter of fact, I was actually taken away from my biological mother and illegally given up for adoption. The woman who adopted me forced me to grow up in a cult, and allowed the leader to take advantage of me, the way he took advantage of all the other vulnerable young women in the cult. I became pregnant and gave the baby up for adoption, mainly to get him away from his father but also because I had no means of caring for him by myself. Despite this I wanted to still be part of my son's life so his adoptive fathers would have me babysit occasionally. What I didn't know was that my baby had actually died of SIDS shortly after he was adopted and was swapped with another baby. And, well, long story short, the baby that I thought was mine was returned to his biological father, whom I married, initially in order to give him a better chance at getting custody. But, long story short, I fell in love with him, adopted his son, so he's legally my son too, and we have a daughter together as well.

Man: That's good that you did that.

Willow: It was. I thought everything was good, and that we were happy. There's a lot of other stuff that happened that I don't want to get into now. We've been arguing about me wanting to get to know my biological mother, whom I've been slowly bonding with but my husband and mother-in-law are deadest against, and I'm not going to go into detail about the fraternal twin sister whom I had no idea was my sister at all, let alone my twin, until after she was presumed dead. But our marriage has been under a lot of stress as of late. My husband has been dealing with it by burying himself in work, leaving me to raise the kids mostly by myself. And meanwhile my job makes it difficult for me to devote as much time to the kids as I feel like I should be.

Man: What do you do for a living?

Willow: I'm a nurse at General Hospital.

Man: Oh nice.

Willow: And before that I was a teacher. If anything I feel like I should go back to being a teacher as I don't like how they seem to be giving my son too much homework that I think is too advanced for his grade-level.

Man: How old is he?

Willow: He's six and in first grade. They give him so much homework that he hardly has time to do anything else before bedtime, and if that's not bad enough, he comes home from school pretty much every day with a headache.

Man: Oh my god!

Willow: I know. This is why I'm torn. On the one hand, I enjoy my job as a nurse and I feel good knowing that I'm making a difference, but I feel like I need to be there for my son more. And my daughter is only a year old, but before I know it, she'll be off to school too. So I feel like I need to do something about it now before she starts kindergarten.

Man: But instead you're at a bar with a Manhattan in front of you that you still haven't touched.

Willow: You're right.

Man: It seems like we're helping each other.

Willow: Yes it does.

*The man smiles*

Willow: So…what's your name?

Man: Albert. Albert Quin.

Willow: It's nice to meet you, Albert Quinn.

Man: *Chuckles* Call me Al.

Willow: So, Al, what do you like to do for fun?

Man: I don't know anymore to be honest.

Willow: Maybe we can find something fun to do together?

*Unbeknownst to either of them, Nelle, with her long red hair and most of her face hidden beneath her hood, is seated at a nearby table. smiling to herself as she records the sister whom she avidly despises having what appears to be an increasingly intimate encounter, seemingly unaware that the man she's talking to is Michael's biological father, A.J. Quartermaine*

Nelle (softly to herself): Get a room, you two!