Previously on On Concrete Shelves
+ Emmet Thurlow traveled to Stone Creek to ask for his grandmother’s engagement ring.
+ Helen Schmidt ordered Mac to Arizona to find Adrian.
+ Caitlyn found mysterious packages being delivered to her.
+ Kirsten’s frustration elevated...
+ Helen Schmidt ordered Mac to Arizona to find Adrian.
+ Caitlyn found mysterious packages being delivered to her.
+ Kirsten’s frustration elevated...
[.....]
[.....]
Scene One: Langford Willow Inn-Room 73
Charlene Sutton slipped her gown on, this was one of the most important nights in Stone Creek and she felt the bottom of her stomach burn with anticipation. While she got help zipping up the dress, she watched herself in the mirror.
There had been so much going on, “I have to go.”
She could feel Kevin Saunders pulling her back, letting him embrace her Charlene kissed him once again. It wasn’t a place she was unfamiliar with, Charlene felt like she was at home at the Langford Willow Inn.
Something she hadn’t decided was a great thing yet.
But there was still animosity about Kevin’s impending divorce from Melanie and if she were to visit him at his house she knew everyone would assume the worst.
“Stay.” She could hear him whisper in her ear.
Charlene turned around to face the man she had been making love to for nearly two years now, she gently smiled at him. “I have to meet Patrick at the Lakeside Inn in less than an hour. Being late to The Founders Ball is not an option.”
Kevin took note. “I still don’t understand why you didn’t let me book us a room.”
“Because you know how suspicious that would look? You might as well have told Melanie you were leaving her for me!” Charlene snorted, slipping on her heels. She then turned back to him, he looked amazing in his tuxedo. Half of Charlene wanted Kevin to go with her.
The other half wanted Kevin not to show up at the ball so she wouldn’t be tempted.
“I could tell Melanie if it would make things easier.” Kevin smirked, a smug smile that seemed to creep on his face at the most inappropriate of times.
Charlene rolled her eyes. “You think everything is so easy!”
“If you want it to be, yes.” Kevin replied, the duo locked eyes. Charlene could feel the question being asked in his mind, as if his lips were asking for permission from his brain to ask Charlene himself.
“Charlene be with me, only me.”
The room fell silent and for a slight moment the spark that had enlarged around the two ceased to exist. But once Charlene realized she had stopped breathing all together, she took a deep breath and returned to reality.
“You cannot be asking me this now.” Tears swelling in her eyes.
Kevin hung his head. “Why wont you leave Patrick? You have said it yourself already, the two of you don’t love each other anymore. Not like we love each other. The children are grown so you have no excuses to stay with him.”
Charlene shook her head, wiping the tears. “I don’t understand what changed Kevin. Are you lonely in that big house of yours? It’s like as soon as you divorced Melanie you’ve been wanting me to divorce Patrick! It doesn’t work like that Kevin, I told you that already! I can’t leave Patrick, but if you keep probing me with the same question over and over again than I will be forced to make a decision and you wont like it.”
“I’m sorry!” Kevin replied.
With a deep sigh, Charlene waved him off. “I can’t do this every night Kevin, I have to leave. Don’t approach me tonight, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”
Charlene backed out of the room, purse in her right hand and her left hand to her chest. She watched as he watched her close the door. Charlene needed a drink.
[.....]
Scene Two: The Lakeside Inn
James Thurlow escorted his wife, Caitlyn Thurlow into the main hall of the Lakeside Inn. The luxurious room was vibrant with a mahogany hardwood floor that sported the long turquoise rug Caitlyn collected for her step-daughter, Kirsten months ago. The walls were supported by large pillars of mahogany wood that stretched to the ceiling and across the room.
The couple looked at one another and Caitlyn leaned her head against James’ shoulder. The walls a rich shade of blue that glistened underneath the miniature-sized chandeliers dangling from the ceiling.
The long room had calmed Caitlyn’s nerves. She wandered through the main hall along with a couple other early arrivals, with every obsidian colored vase lining the entrance way to the grand hall stealing her attention.
As they approached the melodious orchestra in the grand hall Caitlyn looked around in search of Kirsten to tell her about the marvelous job she did, but the younger girl was nowhere to be found.
Instead James led her to a table where Frank Nelson and his wife, Deborah were waving them down. “It’s nice to see you Debbie.” James spoke first, initiating a generous kiss on the cheek.
Deborah relinquished a greeting to the couple as well and gave Frank enough time to greet James and Caitlyn. But Caitlyn knew she would be uncomfortable sitting at the table, she could feel Deborah’s disapproval stabbing into her back.
----- ----- -----
In the kitchen, the servers moved vastly, avoiding collisions like experienced LA drivers. Kirsten Sutton took note from the sidelines, careful not to get into the wrong lane without using a signal. A pair of hands took a hold of her as she readied herself to jump through the traffic.
Turning around she sighed relief, the person she was looking for had only been in the main hall this whole time. “I was looking everywhere for you!” Kirsten spoke, her words louder than she meant.
Charlie Sutton led his wife out of the busy kitchen and into a more quiet side-room. “I’m sorry, I was just going over a few things. Apparently one of our guests was having trouble accessing his room upstairs.”
“Is everything alright?” Kirsten asked concerned.
Charlie waved it off. “Everything is fine. The staff is taking care of it and I just think he had a little too much to drink.”
“Already?” Kirsten spoke, panic clearly leaking into her body. “It’s barely ten Charlie, we can’t have drunk hotel guests running around before the Founder’s Ball even starts! How is security handling this?”
Charlie grabbed a hold of Kirsten, it seemed a little too hard as he quickly let go. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” She replied, looking around for a witness. “I think my nerves are getting the best of me.”
Once again Charlie took a hold of his wife, but this time in a more gentle, comforting way. He brushed his hand against her cheek and kissed her forehead. “Everything is going to be alright Kirsten. No surprises. No injuries. Just a party.”
----- ----- -----
In room 309 Damien Crenshaw paced around, this was the moment he had been waiting for, all he had to do was wait until Caitlyn got his final letter and everything would be set.
His palms were sweating, his mind was racing. He had spent too long away from the woman that he loved and it had all been his fault. But now that Caitlyn has moved on with some other guy--this angered Damien.
Caitlyn was never supposed to leave Damien in the first place. They were supposed to be together forever. He approached the mirror along the dresser and took a deep breath. She was never supposed to pack her bags and move in with her parents.
“I can’t do this.” Caitlyn spoke, her words seemed as if they had been thought about for months but never said out loud. There was no practice in her words, they seemed so vulnerable and fresh and that is what hurt Damien the most.
“I have no clue what you are talking about.” He spoke.
The man sat at a dinning room table, a beer in his hand. While Caitlyn moved around the kitchen, she looked so stunning to him. Her hair was put up with a scarf tied into it. She was always a crafty woman, this he knew. Her turquoise day dress with a egg yolk yellow apron added on.
“Please explain.”
The midday heat was getting to Caitlyn, he could tell as she swayed from hip to hip, wiping her frizzled hair out of her face. The loose strands falling to the side. “Damien, look at us. Are we even happy anymore?”
“Of course we are!” He bellowed.
Caitlyn turned away from him. “We don’t even talk about it anymore.”
“Do you know how hard that is for me?” Damien asked, his words only getting angrier at the mention of the topic. “We can talk about something else. Anything else that you want to talk about. Do you still want to go to LA? Do you want to move to California?”
Caitlyn turned back around with tears in her eyes. “I want to talk about it. I want to talk about her. Do you just want to continue our lives like if she had never even existed?”
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Damien knew his words weren’t enough to make Caitlyn stop talking about their daughter. But he needed Caitlyn to understand that he still loved her, he still loved the both of them. “I want to spend my life with you. I love her and I always will.”
“Then why can’t you say her name?!” Caitlyn shouted.
The words caught Damien off-guard. He never realized how hard it was to say her name. Slowly he backed down from the conversation trying to find his daughter’s name. He watched as Caitlyn left the kitchen, he listened as she packed her bags.
Why couldn’t he say her name?
The slamming of the front door broke his concentration but he was too stunned to get up and follow Caitlyn to the car.
A crash in the bathroom caused Damien Crenshaw to jerk his head. “Who’s there?” He asked turning the rest of his body towards the small bathroom. “I don’t want to play games with you! Show yourself!”
“It’s just me!” A voice replied, a woman, a little more than half the age of Damien walked out of the bathroom. “I was wondering when you’d be back. What took you so long?”
“I told you to stay in Paris!” Damien replied, hastily he made his way to the young woman. “What are you doing here?”
The girl shrugged away from Damien, annoyed with his sudden change in mood. “Do you really have to be bossy with me today? Its not a good mood for you. If you haven’t noticed there is a huge ball downstairs, why would I miss something like that?”
Damien sighed. “Are you sure you want to go downstairs?”
She nodded.
“Fine. We will go down together, but you do know that if we do this there is no going back.” Damien responded, he rubbed the woman’s shoulders. “There are going to be a lot of surprised people down there tonight.”
“Please, this isn’t the first bombshell i’ve dropped on the town of Stone Creek.” The girl replied, she then shuffled over to the mirror to fix her make-up. “I just need to jump into my dress and then we can wipe those smug looks off their faces!”
“Good.” Damien spoke.
The woman kissed Damien’s cheek and pranced back into the bathroom, “Hey!” Damien hollered, the girl doubled back. “I love you, Gillian Sutton.”
The girl smiled. “I love you too.”
---
Our love. Our fights. Our friendships.
On Concrete Shelves.
Forever, they shall be remembered.
---
Scene Four: Callahan Condos #15
“Thanks for babysitting for me.” Marina Thurlow hollered at Cassie Lakhani as she fixed her dress.
Cassie sat in the living room flipping through the TV stations looking for cartoons. She wasn’t in the mood to join the rest of Stone Creek at the Founder’s Ball. Her morning sickness had spilt into the evening in the last couple weeks.
“Hey!” Megan Sutton shouted when Cassie passed her favorite cartoon.
“What?” Cassie asked, snapping out of her trance. “Oh.” She replied when she realized she had passed the show. “How about I make us some popcorn?”
Megan nodded her head.
Marina Thurlow showed up in the hallway, struggling with her earrings. “Popcorn? I don’t think that’s such a good idea Cassie. Kirsten has been trying to keep her away from sugars this late.”
Cassie shrugged. “It’s unsalted.”
A chuckle escaped Marina’s lips and she rolled her eyes. “Fine. But not too much.” She watched as her friend prepared the popcorn. “Are you sure you are fine with not going to the ball?”
Cassie turned to Marina. “I think I need a distraction for a little bit. Away from everyone in Stone Creek and the spotlight.”
“Well, that little girl is a great distraction.” Marina spoke.
“She’s a good kid.” Cassie replied.
Marina nodded. “I’ll be back around midnight so you don’t have to be here alone all night. I meant what I said about being there for you Cassie. You’re my best friend and I wont leave your side.”
“Come here!” Cassie said through tears, she pulled Marina into a hug. “I love you Marina Thurlow.”
“I love you too.”
[.....]
Scene Five: The Lakeside Inn
It had been thirty minutes since Caitlyn Thurlow had to sit through the excruciating pain of Deborah Nelson’s smug remarks. Finally finding friendly faces she tugged at her husband James Thurlow.
He knew exactly where they would be sitting for the Founder’s Ball. As the couple approached their new table guests, he greeted his two oldest friends with sincere hugs and a kiss on the cheek for Daphne Wilkinson.
“It has been awhile since we last saw you.” Daphne scolded as she went over to Caitlyn’s side. “You look stunning in this dress! Doesn’t she Gideon?” She asked her husband who had found his spot next to James’ side.
Gideon nodded his agreement. “Let’s let them sit down Daphne, from the looks on their faces it has already been quite a night!” A chuckle erupted from his mouth as he offered to seats across from the Wilkinson’s.
“We had a run in with Frank and Deborah Nelson earlier.” Caitlyn spoke, taking the seat that Gideon had offered her. “It wasn’t too big of a deal, although I still don’t understand why Deborah hates me.”
“She’s Helen’s best friend, she is programmed to hate you.” Daphne spoke with distaste for the way Deborah treated Caitlyn. “Don’t worry too much about it though, there are plenty of people here to mingle with.”
Caitlyn shook her head in agreement, she just hoped that Damien Crenshaw wasn’t one of them.
“How are the children?” Gideon asked James, the mention of children caught Caitlyn off guard as her heart sank. She was, however, able to recover.
James smiled. “They’re not children anymore, you’ve seen Marina lately haven’t you? She’s dating that friend of your son Bentley.” There was a nod between the two as James went on. “Kirsten has made me so proud, the renovations to this place are phenomenal!”
“Truly they are!” Daphne added. “When Greta told us about the purchase Kirsten and Charlie made I never dreamed they could create such a beautiful Inn.”
As the couples caught up, the grand hall started to fill up, coming alive as the partygoers began to mingle, laugh and dance to the melodious music being played in the background.
----- ----- -----
“I feel like we are at prom all over again!” Marina Thurlow spoke, slipping into Ryan Bauer’s arms. She then looked at the rest of her friends, they had all come to the ball together in a stretch limousine.
Ryan kissed Marina’s cheek. “I’m so glad we are here together.”
“Alright love birds, move along.” Bentley Wilkinson quipped, nudging Ryan’s shoulder. His sister Greta Wilkinson right beside him and her boyfriend Miles Fowler right next to her.
“Bentley is just jealous because Emily Roscoe hasn’t given him the time of day.” Greta teased, nudging her brother. Bentley shot Greta a look which caused her to sink into Miles.
“Hey Bentley, look over there next to our parents.” Marina said, pointing to the other side of the room. “Tonight might be your chance to prove to Emily that you are more than just a playboy.”
“Playboy? Really?” Bentley chuckled.
Miles patted Bentley’s shoulder. “Go talk to her.”
Across the room Emily Roscoe was talking to Caitlyn Thurlow, the two start laughing about something that Bentley can’t make out. Her flawlessness is too much for him to take and he looks back at his friends.
Bentley shrugged. “Maybe later without the audience that are my parents.”
Quietly Bentley Wilkinson wished he had the courage to go up to Emily Roscoe and talk to her. Especially after he stood her up on their first date. His nerves had gotten the best of him around Emily.
----- ----- -----
Charlene Sutton slipped into the grand hall, trying to appear unnoticed. She was already late in meeting with her husband and that terrified her. Looking around the room she spotted Deborah Nelson.
Although it wasn’t the first person she wanted to talk to, she knew with Deborah’s big mouth, keeping on her good side was always a must. “Deborah!” Charlene called out, getting the woman’s attention and then following with a hug.
“How are you Charlene?” Deborah asked, noticing the lack of a suitor by her side. “I can’t help but notice that you aren’t with Patrick.”
Charlene nodded. “Well we were supposed to meet here but I didn’t notice how much people would show up this early!” A calm chuckle escaping her lips. “Have you seen my husband around?”
Deborah eyed Charlene suspiciously. “I saw him next to the mayor a couple minutes ago. Would you like me to show you where they were?”
“Oh, no.” Charlene spoke. “I’m sure I can find them on my own. But thank you so much. I’ll let you get back to your husband, my brother.”
Before Charlene could make her escape, Deborah positioned herself in front of the woman. “Your brother the cheater? I’m sure you know all about that little skank of his! I can’t believe you went along with it and let me look like a fool.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Charlene replied.
Deborah glared at her sister-in-law. “But of course you do! Frank tells you everything Charlene. But you should also know that I know a couple things about you. How is Kevin treating you?”
Charlene resisted the urge to slap Deborah, she knew it would only provoke more attention and all she wanted to do was get away from the accusations that Deborah was throwing at her.
“The Nelson family is full of adultery, why did I think this generation would be any different?” Deborah huffed as Charlene walked away. There was something pitiful in the way that Deborah spoke to her as if Charlene was lower than scum.
[.....]
Scene Six: Callahan Condo’s #15
Cassie Lakhani walked into the kitchen to retrieve some cookies that she started early before she agreed to watch Megan and before she couldn’t get her mind off of her current dilemma: who drugged her?
As she bit into it, she scrunched up her face.
Cookies used to make her feel better but now they just made her lousy. Everything was making her feel lousy, even her career as a model. Cassie took a deep sigh, the thing growing inside of her had changed everything.
“Cassie?” Megan asked, walking into the kitchen.
The little Sutton’s babysitter looked at her. “What’s up Meggie?”
It was a nickname that Marina started when Megan Sutton was a baby. Cassie knew how much Kirsten hated it, she said it sounded awful. But somehow it stuck and now Cassie found herself calling the little girl by it.
“I think I’m hungry again.”
Cassie chuckled. “Oh really now? What makes you think that?”
Megan’s cheeks grew red and she shrugged. “Because my stomach is growling.”
Cassie watched the little girl as she climbed up on a stool. She hadn’t realized how fast Megan was growing up. She remembered the day that Kirsten brought her home from the hospital. The miracle baby was growing up so fast.
“Well then, we must figure out how to stop your stomach from growling!” Cassie spoke, she rubbed Megan’s knee and felt the scar from the girl’s first cut. It was when Marina decided that Megan was old enough to play on the playground. Kirsten was angry with the duo when Megan fell and cut her knee open.
The intensity of the hospital visit scared Cassie and it was the first moment when she felt like a mother. She felt Kirsten’s worry and anger as she busted through the doors demanding to see her daughter.
Cassie snapped out of her thoughts when Megan called her name again. “Is everything alright auntie Cassie?”
“Yeah,” She spoke, her breath caught in her throat. Cassie placed a hand to her stomach as she felt the baby move around. “Everything is just fine Meggie. Let’s find you something healthy to eat. It’s way too late for cookies.”
Megan groaned at the thought. But Cassie knew she was in the right.
[.....]
Scene Seven: Lakeside Inn
Through-out the whole evening while Emmet Thurlow was busy catching up with his family and friends, he had been too nervous to keep up an intelligent conversation. His attention was set on finding his mother, Helen Schmidt.
Iris however was getting along great with everyone. He left her talking to Diem Joplin about how James and Emmet are a lot alike. A topic that would have worried Emmet if he had not caught wind that his mother was on the balcony.
“Mother?” Emmet asked, slipping into the lingering breeze. “We need to talk about something very important.”
“Emmet?” Helen asked, not surprised to see her son at the Founder’s Ball. But surprised that it took him this long to talk to her. “Where have you been all night? I didn’t think you were coming.”
“We’re not exactly on the greatest terms these days.” He spoke, but noticed the change of topic and tried to steer away from it. “There’s something we need to talk about.”
“It’s not my fault that we haven’t talked lately.” Helen muttered.
Emmet shrugged. “Can we talk about that another time, I’d rather not get into it right now. I need to ask you something and it is very important to me.”
Helen huffed. “Oh but of course it is!”
“Stop it!” Surprising both of them with his outburst. “Just here me out.”
Helen sighed, “Fine.”
“Look, I want to marry Iris Galloway. I went to dad already looking for the ring but he said that you had it and I know we have our differences but I was wondering if you would give me my grandmother’s ring.”
The request took Helen by surprise, her posture rose as she pondered the question. Had she been so oblivious to her children’s lives in the last couple years that she didn’t know Emmet was thinking about marriage? “You what?”
“Grandmother’s ring.” Emmet replied.
Helen cleared her throat. “I know what you are asking Emmet, I’m not deaf. It just came as a great surprise to me, I think everything is starting to come as a surprise to me. I don’t even have a handle on my own family anymore.”
“Excuse me?”
Helen shrugged him off, as if right on cue her phone began to ring and she pulled it from her pocket and went right into crisis mode. “I have to answer this Emmet.”
“But mom!”
She put her hand up. “I don’t have the ring, I can’t help you with that. I have things to do, can we talk about this marriage situation at a later time? I have to answer this phone call.”
----- ----- -----
“Oh Charlene!” Patrick spoke with so much power it was enough to almost knock the fragile woman over, which is part of the reason she grabbed onto the rail and climbed onto the larger platform towards the back of the grand hall.
Patrick Sutton was with a large group of his peers, Charlene could smell the money on the attendees. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you honey.” Charlene spoke, her words took caution to his gaze.
He turned to his friends. “Yeah, well she apparently didn’t use her brain!” He boosted and was greeted with an uproar of laughter. “Seriously though Charlene, where have you been?”
Looking at the men who stood before her, she felt as if she was being interrogated. “Like I said, I was looking for you. We were supposed to meet in the hall after I was done visiting my mother at the home.”
“That was hours ago.” Patrick spit.
Charlene apologized. “I’m just going to go get some champagne if you’d allow me? Maybe even find people from my own crowd.”
The woman was embarrassed from her debacle with Patrick to realize that she was on a collision course with Caitlyn Thurlow and Diem Joplin. Dropping Diem’s drink on her turquoise colored dress.
“You should watch where you are going Charlene.” Diem muttered, tending to her dress. “Where is that husband of yours? Maybe I should give him my dry cleaning bill, god knows he can take care of that!”
“I’m so sorry!” Charlene spoke, her voice growing mousier by the minute. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“Damn right you weren’t!”
Caitlyn shot Diem a look. “Diem, it wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t an accident. By the looks of it, Charlene seems like she has had a horrible night already. What’s wrong Charlene, is everything alright?”
But before she could open her mouth, the music turned off and the lights began to dim. The room was full of gasps and whispers, leaving the three women to huddle close together trying to find an explanation for the occurrence.
“Caitlyn?” The voice of Kirsten Sutton spoke from behind the trio. “What’s going on?”
“I have no clue Kirsten, this isn’t part of the program!” She spoke, her words falling short of an answer. The darkness in the room only helped strengthen Caitlyn Thurlow’s fear of her ex. husband.
“Caitlyn? Kirsten?”
“Daddy?” Kirsten squealed as she wrapped her arms around James Thurlow. “Everything is ruined! We don’t know what is happening!” She spoke as others joined her group.
Lights flashed on the entrance to the grand hall, which garnered the groups interests. Slowly the guest began to gather around the steps leading up to the entrance. Murmuring to each other.
“What is going on?” Diem spoke.
Charlie appeared at her side. “I think we are about to find out!”
As more of the guests arrived by the entrance two people appeared at the doorway, an older man who Caitlyn recognized as her ex. husband. In that moment she felt her breath escape her lungs and she grasped onto James and Diem who were on either side of her.
“This isn’t happening!”
Charlie Sutton stepped up from behind Diem as he recognized the other person. A woman with long blond curls and dazzling blue eyes. She was much younger than the man and this angered him as they were clutching hands and he was helping her down the stairs.
Her long pearl dress barely wrapped around her.
“Oh Charlie!” The woman erupted in squeals, she hugged Charlie Sutton and then looked at Charlene Sutton who looked as if she had just seen a ghost. “Mother!”
Patrick Sutton broke through the crowd. “Gillian Sutton, what the hell is going on here?”
The bubbly blond lifted up her hand to show a glistening diamond ring. “I’m getting married daddy! I’m engaged to the most amazing man in the world, Damien Crenshaw!”
----- ----- -----
Although Helen felt bad about shunning her son, she had more important things to worry about. Answering her phone she knew she needed to tell Mac to stop Adrian from confronting Gail.
“What do you mean send him back to Arizona?” Mac questioned on the other end. “There isn’t exactly a conversation we can have that he will listen to now. I told him about the baby that Gail might or might not have had.”
When David told Helen he would ruin her career if she hurt one hair on Gail, all the plans went out the window. “I don’t know. He has to be stopped, Mac if Adrian and Gail see each other it could be disastrous for the both of us!”
“Do you always have to be so over the top?”
“Mac, where is Adrian?” Helen asked.
She could hear her assistant gulp on the other end of the phone. “He’s on his way to see Gail right now.”
[.....]
Scene Eight: Schmidt Household
When the doorbell rang Gail Schmidt was on her way to start her nightly shower. She had decided to stay away from the social aspect of Stone Creek tonight as she had been sick for the last couple of days.
All day she had been sneezing and coughing. Nothing was helping and it was only irritating Gail even more. With her father at the hospital and her step-mother away attending to the Founder’s Ball Gail tried to find peace in the silence of the house.
But then the doorbell rang.
She tightened her robe and made her way to the door, hoping to be rid of the annoyance on the other end and get back on track for a relaxing shower. That was her plan. That was until she saw him on the other end of the door.
“Gail.” Adrian Stone spoke. “I think we need to talk.”
[.....]
Next Time on, On Concrete Shelves
- Gail and Adrian come to blows.
- Patrick blames James for ruining his daughter’s life.
- Marina has had enough of Natalie Marlowe
- Damien reveals a secret to Caitlyn that could change everything...
