- Marina decided not to print the article about Jared.
- With his affair over, Kevin thought back to his ex-wife, Melanie.
- Adrian confronted Gail about Dizzy’s presence.
- James forbid a vengeful Patrick from attending Shannon’s funeral...
[.....]
[.....]
Scene One:
2634 W. Parker St., Stone Creek. Callahan Condos #15
Marina, Cassie & Lucian’s Apartment.
“Lucian, Lucian look at me!” Clifton Briggs chuckled as he held his cellphone out in front of him, a video of the baby recording. “Smile, show daddy that gorgeous smile of yours again.”“I swear, he did it for me earlier.” Cassie spoke, holding her son in her arms. It had only been a couple of minutes since Clifton had arrived and she already felt safe. “Just ask Marina, he was smiling all day yesterday.”
Clifton looked up at Cassie. “I believe you.”
Cassie looked away sheepishly.
Every since being held hostage, things had changed for the little family. Cassie was getting more and more comfortable with Clifton being around. Which could have be to the fact that she wanted him in Lucian’s life as he grew up.
But there was something about the man that just made her feel safe. “He’s getting so big!” Cassie exclaimed, breaking from her thoughts and turning Lucian to face her. “I feel like so much time is passing us by and soon he will be crawling everywhere and then walking!”
“Just wait until we take him to tee-ball practice.” Clifton declared. “When I was in High School I was on the baseball team and so was my father before me.”
The brunette smiled at Clifton’s ability to let her in on his past. “So, I guess that means Lucian is already a baseball player? Being an athlete is in his blood. I like that.” She watched as the man fiddled with his phone. “I’m sorry you didn’t get a good video of him smiling.”
“That’s alright.” Clifton put his phone away. “There will be plenty of time for that. I enjoy being here with you guys a lot. It beats being at the office all day thinking about numbers.”
Cassie smirked. “I kind of know what you mean. Right now I’ve been plagued with math homework from my online class. It’s weird returning to school after being employed for a couple years. It feels like everyone is so far ahead of me.”
“I can help you if you’d like?”
“I think you’ve been helping me enough.” Cassie spoke, “I appreciate everything you are doing for us Clifton, but I don’t want to take all your time up. There’s a business you have to run and especially right now, you are in the middle of a divorce.”
Brushing Lucian’s hair, Clifton locked eyes with Cassie. “I don’t mind helping you out Cassie, I enjoy it.”
The doorbell rang, breaking their eye contact.
“I’ll get that.” Clifton spoke, walking to the door and opening it.
Kirsten Sutton was standing in the doorway, her attention stuck on Clifton, who she knew shouldn’t be there. “Is Cassie around? I need to speak to her about my daughter, Megan.”
“Hey Kirsten, how are you holding up?” Cassie asked, appearing at the door.
“The family is doing fine, it’s just weird with Shannon being gone. It came out of nowhere.”
Cassie knew how Kirsten was feeling. She didn’t particularly know who Shannon was, but the way most the people in the Thurlow family talked about her, she seemed like a genuine person. To know that Shannon was dead, it seemed strange.
But she sighed and refocused on the question at hand. “What’s going on with Megan?”
“As you know the funeral for my aunt is being held in Paris and I really don’t think it’s such a good idea to bring Megan on the plane.” Cassie understood where the conversation was going. “Besides I think it would be harder to explain to my daughter why we were there.”
“I’m sure she’d understand.” Clifton spoke up.
Looking between Cassie and Clifton, Kirsten forced a smile. “Still, I’d rather keep Megan here in town. I was wondering if you would be able to watch her? I know you have a lot on your plate but I don’t really have anyone else to trust who knows how to take care of children.”
Thinking it over, Cassie smiled. “Yeah of course, as long as you don’t mind Clifton being around?”
Kirsten’s face grew grim. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”
[.....]
Scene Two:
Now Town.
The Corner Store.
How he managed to get today off was beyond him, but between working at the Law Firm and playing personal assistant to Patrick Sutton, Kevin felt relieved. It’s not that he didn’t appreciate what Patrick was doing for him. Especially with the connections that he had. But he knew all of his intentions.
Kevin sighed, it took him all of three minutes after he got ready for his day to realize that he needed a beer. It was down time and since Charlene was now back with her husband, downtown had become his devil. So he slipped on his shoes and drove to the corner store.It was the beauty of living in the heart of Stone Creek.
When Kevin lived in Sage Gardens like most resident’s of the city, it was hard to move around, especially since it was so spread around. But in Now Town, it was much easier. There was a convenient store on every corner. If he wanted gas station food, or even the disgusting Chinese Kitchen, he only had to turn a corner.
That reminded him that he needed to place his order at Chinese Kitchen. It was easier to grab the beer and then pick-up his dinner on his way back home. Then it was time to relax and watch a cheesy slasher flick with more boobs then brains.
Unless he watched a zombie flick, then it would be about even. Thinking it over he decided a slasher flick was better this go-around. Then he could imagine Charlene as one of the brainless bimbo’s.
Ever since their split, he didn’t know if he was angry at her or if he was angry at himself. Who leaves a perfect marriage to a woman who doesn’t have interior motives? His marriage to Melanie was perfect, if not a little boring, he still enjoyed it.
A smile elicited feelings he had buried away.
But Deborah had told him that Melanie was leaving town, she was moving on. Just like Kevin was doing with the social climbing slut, Charlene. No she wasn’t a slut, just stupid.
Like the girls in his slasher movies.
Then it hit him, Kevin pulled out his cellphone, shifted his six back of Coors Light to his left arm and dialed her number. What was he thinking? Had he come full circle with his life already? As he waited in line, behind some twenty year old college student, he waited as the phone rung.
Would she answer?
“Hey, this is Melanie-”
Kevin perked up, licking his lips, ready to respond. But then he frowned when he realized he had caught her voicemail. Suddenly all the butterflies at the bottom oh his stomach were disintegrated by the acid that roared for Chinese food.
“Sir?” The cashier called, Kevin looked up. “Are you ready to check-out?”
Looking for the girl in front of him, he found that she was already gone. Kevin glanced back down at his phone and then hung up. “Yeah, I’ll just take the beer.”
[.....]
Scene Three:
Now Town.
Stone Creek Ledger.
When Ryan had asked Marina to cover the story about Jared, she was thrilled and a little confused. It was true, what her sister said about them having a very long history. So of course he would come to her, since she was in the reporting industry, first. But it seemed like there was more to his offer.She tugged at her shirt.
Had she wore the wrong shirt? What if Ryan was here? Her relationship with Ian was strained a little, especially with Natalie around again. But they promised to make things work and she was happy to do it. So having Ryan around, having him think there could be more.
“What floor Marina?”
“We can’t!” She snapped, her face stern, as she looked at the man who asked the question. Marina’s eyes grew big in embarrassment as a co-worker looked astonished at her. “Wait, what did you ask Wade? I’m sorry, I just- there’s just a lot on my mind.”
He nodded, motioning to the buttons for the specific floors.
Marina smiled understandingly. How could she let herself get so caught up in her thoughts? Stepping around him she pressed the button herself. Smiling politely at him, she turned to face the elevator doors. She had to collect her thoughts while at work. Closing her eyes she scolded herself.
“It’s alright you know.” He spoke, trying to loosen the mood. “I completely understand why you are nervous. A few of us were talking and we think that you were lucky to have your ex. boyfriend pull some strings for you. Wish I knew someone on the inside.”
She swiftly turned around. “What?”
“Your article about Jared Marlowe and the parallels of his politics and personal life. I know you aren’t one to write gossip, especially with the facts you collected about your step-mother and her missing daughter. But how in the world did Ryan know about Mr. Marlowe having an affair?”
Wade watched as her face dropped. “What I really want to know is where is this Cecily Kiefer? Which rings the bell, isn’t your boyfriend’s last-”
Marina placed her fingers to his mouth. It wasn’t something she would normally do. But she needed him to stop talking. Taking a moment to collect her thoughts, she turned back to Wade. “How do you know about any of this?”
The ding indicated that it was her floor, but Marina had much more to do. She ignored Wade motioning for her to get off the elevator. Before the doors shut, she put her arm out and folded her arms. “Talk.” Marina demanded, irritation kicking in.
---
Our love. Our fights. Our friendships.
On Concrete Shelves.
Forever, they shall be remembered.
---
Scene Four:
Now Town.
Stone Creek Ledger.
The amount of time it took Marina Thurlow to stride over to her editor’s office was alarming. She even encountered a few people glaring at her, which now she knew why they seemed perplexed. Everyone thought she was a spoiled rich girl with inside help.
How could she be so stupid?
When Marina first tried to get a job at the newspaper she was turned down, it destroyed her. But with her mother’s help, even if she didn’t want it, Marina scored the job. She took some other girl’s spot, the look on the girls face when she learned she couldn’t intern with the company.
“Mr. Keeler, sir, we need to talk.” She pleaded, stepping into his office. Marina watched as the other two editors sat in an awkward silence and then excused themselves from the room, nearly bumping into a panicked Marina. She took a deep breath before focusing on Seth Keeler. “Mr. Keeler.”
He was an older man, completely placid in his attitude. There was a respect she had for him, but not today. How could he sift through the garbage for her article? “What is everyone talking about? Why do they know explicit details of my article on Jared Marlowe?”
“Marina it is an excellent piece.” Seth exclaimed.“But I thought I told you I didn’t want to run it!”
He thought it over, he knew full well what their terms were. “That was before I found out what the article was really about. At first when you brought it to me, I thought it would be another sad, boring article praising our Mayor. But this article, Marina, I must say that I am proud of you.”
Marina shook her head. “You cannot do this. I have worked hard at keeping my relationship with Ian-”
Mr. Keeler burst from his chair, intrigued. “So it is true, your boyfriend is the long-lost son of the Mayor. My god look at how afraid you are. Look Marina, I really do feel for you. I’m sorry that this article is putting your relationship in jeopardy but I have to run it.”
Everything was falling apart. “This will kill him. Running this article will destroy Jared Marlowe’s career and I shouldn’t have even written it.” Mentally, she was beating herself up. How could she be such an easy target for Ryan?
Then it hit her.
Ryan was lying this whole time. Was he even working for Jared’s campaign? Accepting defeat, Marina grumbled at her current predicament. “This sucks!” She groaned, glaring at her boss.
“This is gold.” He bemused. “This will make your career.”
[.....]
Scene Five:
2634 W. Parker St., Stone Creek. Callahan Condos #15
Marina, Cassie & Lucian’s Condo.
Taking Kirsten to the side, mostly so she doesn’t have to blow-up in front of Clifton and the baby, Cassie tries to tread through the boundaries she knows she will be over stepping. “What do you mean it’s a bad idea? Kirsten you know me, you know I wouldn’t put Megan in any danger intentionally.”“You are a sweet girl Cassie,” the older woman exclaimed, trying to ease the situation. “But sometimes I think you’re a little naive. Everything that happened to you in the past couple of months wasn’t your fault, I know that. It all leads up to him.”
Cassie feels disgust towards her best friends older sister. “That’s not fair Kirsten and you know it. It wasn’t Clifton’s fault at all, everything that happened. There really wasn’t nobody at fault besides Catalina holding us hostage.”
“Either way, Clifton Briggs has dipped into illegal activities. Everyone knows about the strip-club he is running in the basement of his Nightclub. People who do those sort of things--they’re not good people. I was just saying that you seem to a-”
Getting offended, Cassie folded her arms. “I seem to what, Kirsten, Attract bad people?”
Kirsten sighed. “No! I wasn’t going to say that. I was going to say that you are a forgiving person Cassie. Which is not a bad thing at all, I just have my reservations about letting my daughter be around certain people. You’re a mother, Cassie, you know what it is like to be scared for your child.”
“I also know what it is like to have my integrity questioned.” Looking back into the apartment, she almost wished for Clifton to come out and interrupt their conversation to let her know her son needed her. Cassie wanted to prove to Kirsten that Clifton was a good man.
But he didn’t. “I think this conversation is over. I would love to take care of Megan for you while your family mourns Shannon’s passing, but if you cannot accept that my child’s father is going to be in his life, then you can go find someone else to take care of her.”
“Cassie-”
Cassie waved her hands. “No Kirsten, I do understand what it is like to feel afraid for your child’s safety. My child could have been killed by Catalina that night. That scares me to the core! But I wont allow you to come to my home and insult me like that.”
She watched as Kirsten admitted defeat whispered her goodbyes, turning around and headed for the stairs. Leaning against her doorframe, Cassie sighed. She didn’t want to hurt Kirsten’s feelings, since the Thurlow’s had always been there for her, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Is everything alright out here?” Clifton asked, arriving late for her rescue.
The brunette grumbled, secretly she questioned if Clifton was a good guy herself, although he hadn’t proved her wrong; yet.
[.....]
Scene Six:
1507 Mango Ln., Stone Creek. “Hollyoak Manor”
Patrick & Charlene’s Home.
The good thing about being in charge of a major company that pretty much runs itself is the fact that Patrick Sutton could work from home, in his pajama bottoms and a nice cup of coffee by his side. There was too much distraction at work, especially in his office.Which was the place he got shot at.
How could he had been so violated in his own office, it wasn’t something that Patrick had been used to. He was used to pushing everyone else around. Manipulating them to do everything he needed them to do. Patrick hired Ryan to air the Mayor’s dirty laundry and he annihilated his wife’s affair with Kevin.
But at his office, he only felt like that once before.
The music blared from the expensive speakers that lined against the wall of the spacious living room. From his view above he watched as all his friends had the time of their lives. After everything he had been through with his girlfriend, Patrick just needed time to himself.
Time to relax, loosen up, and party like the good old days. So once his parents left for Paris, he called everyone over and ordered three kegs, just for the hell of it.
His break from Shannon wasn’t a great one, there were words shared that caused him to hate himself. She was supposed to be like all the other girls, just a distraction until he went away for college, but she turned into so much more than that.
It was the pressure from everyone around him. They kept asking if he had sex with her yet. Patrick swiped a beer from one of the party guests, gulping it down and tossing it on the ground. There was no sign of his best friend Eric anywhere.
He was probably off shagging some chick.
Patrick grumbled at how his friends and his life made him sick. There was something about Shannon that made him regret everything. His eye had been glued to the video camera the whole time when they were having sex. He needed proof to show the guys.
But once Diem found out she couldn’t find it in her to keep her mouth shut. She told her boyfriend James, which obviously didn’t go over too well. Patrick pushed past a couple as they danced, bodies entwined. “Move out of my fucking way!”
“What gives?” The girl grumbled, grabbing her boyfriend and disappearing into the crowd of people.
“Patrick!” Eric shouted, shoving his way to her friend. “I was just telling the guys how you got Shannon on camera. Do you know how awesome that is? I bet she was amazing right?”
Patrick found himself walking away from Eric at that point. It was apparent that this party wasn’t going to make him feel better, as he grabbed another beer from someone’s hands, he looked up to see Shannon in the doorway. She looked amazing, even next to Isabelle Wilkinson, who was a bombshell in her own right.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, climbing the steps to reach her. But she didn’t have time to explain as the TV flickered on and the music was replaced with Shannon’s voice.
He knew right then and there that he was done. Closing his eyes because he didn’t want to see the look on her face as she was humiliated in front of everyone at their school, he waited for her to slap him. But it never came, instead he opened his eyes to see her turning away.
Isabelle shaking her head in disgust, slapped Patrick across the face and turned on her heel, racing to comfort her friend.
-----
“I brought you some coffee.” Charlene announced, breaking Patrick out of his thoughts. When she realized that he already had a cup of his own she pursed her lips. “Or not.” His wife looked at the cup, not knowing what to do now.Patrick faked a smile. “That’s fine Charlene, I’m sure I can use another cup. I have to get back to work though, if you don’t mind showing yourself out?”
The woman found herself flabbergasted. “I was just wondering if you needed anything. I wanted to check on you, knowing how close you were with Shannon in High School. Do you need anything before I leave? I could run by the store!”
He shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“Alright.” She mumbled, turning away, Charlene spotted the bottle of whiskey on the shelf and grabbed it. She would return to the kitchen before she left and make her a drink to drown out her worries. She knew that Patrick needed his time to mourn, but she was mourning too.
Most the days after dumping Kevin she felt alone. The sparkle that she once had when he was around began to dim and she knew her handle on the situation was loosening. This caused her to yearn for another affair, she bemused the idea.
An affair to get over an affair. Charlene downed her drink and made another one.
[.....]
Scene Seven:
420 N. Dayton St., Stone Creek. “Saunders Home”
Kevin’s Home.
“What is the emergency?” Deborah Nelson asked, letting herself into the house, it seemed like getting calls from Kevin Saunders was to become routine. It definitely put a snag in her plans, but not being able to see her children right now frustrated her and this was a nice distraction.Kevin appeared in the hallway and it seemed that he had traded clothes with a homeless person. “I think you called the wrong person, maybe you should call someone who can deal with this--Kevin, what is going on with you?”
He finally took notice that his house was a little mess, picking up the trays of Chinese food and stuffing them in the kitchen trash, he returned to Deborah’s side. “I’ve just been distracted lately is all. I haven’t had any time to clean the house.”
“You can say that again!” Deborah snarled, finding a spot on the couch. “I’m sure I can get a hold of my friend Karen, she runs her own cleaning service. Maybe she can help you maintain the place while you deal with whatever it is that you are dealing with?”
“I need to know where Melanie is staying.” Kevin spoke, completely ignoring Deborah in the process. “These last couple of months, I’ve been chasing something that didn’t exist and now I think I’ve made a mistake. I have to talk to Melanie, but she isn’t answering her phone.”
Deborah thought it over. “I can’t give you that information Kevin.”
Watching as her friend’s face fell. “I’m sorry, but that contradicts with her recovery. Melanie clearly stated to me that she was ready to move on and giving you the ability to barge back into her life--Are you even sure of what you want?”
“I made a mistake.” Kevin admitted.
She knew where he was coming from and it hurt her to lift herself off the couch. “We all make mistakes Kevin, I know that. But there’s no way I could give you her contact information unless I knew it wasn’t going to jeopardize her recovery.”
“It wont!”
Deborah narrowed her eyes. “Really Kevin, because the current state of your house looks to me like you aren’t in the right mind set to deal with your own emotions, let alone some else’s. Maybe you need to come to some of my therapy sessions?”
“Honestly right now, I don’t see why I shouldn’t go to one of your sessions.” Kevin quipped, he ran a hand through his hair and then looked at Deborah. “I really feel that talking to Melanie can resolve a lot of this. I know you are only protecting her feelings Debbie, but I would really appreciate if you could help me.”
The woman took a moment to think it over. If she was in Melanie’s place, if she had left Frank for his affair with Lucy, would Deborah want him to come back to her? Then she looked at Kevin, unsure if she was making the right decision. “Alright.”
[.....]
Scene Eight
1509 Mango Ln., Stone Creek. “Briggs Home”
Clifton’s Home.
Walking up the steps to his home, Clifton Briggs, stopped in his tracks. Before him, Audrey Briggs stood, her hands to her side, trembling. “I know we have already discussed everything and you probably don’t want to see me again, but I just needed to come see you.”
There wasn’t much he wanted to say to her, mostly because he was still trying to get over the fact that she lied to him for so long. “How are you holding up?” He asked, walking to the door and unlocking it, Clifton motioned for her to come inside.But she shook her head. “It feels really good out here, why don’t we just sit down for a minute?”
He joined her on the steps. “I could use the fresh air.”
“Do you remember when we first moved to Stone Creek? When you bought Shenanigan’s from the previous owner and we decided together that we would live here and raise a family?” She could feel a lump in her throat. “I had never felt more alive since then.”
Clifton smirked. “We had to stay in the Langford Willow Inn, I don’t think I’ve stayed in a more seedy place than that hotel. God, do you remember when you screamed your head off because you found a baby mouse in the shower?” They both let out a chuckle and the tension between them was slowly decreasing.
Audrey nudged his shoulder. “You were my hero.”
“Yeah, I was, wasn’t I?” He reminisced. “What happened to us Audrey? I know I have already asked that question. But everything was working out just fine. We had everything that we had wanted. I just want to know when we lost our way.”
She tilted her head up, the sun was ready to go down. The gentle summer’s breeze was enough to break her down, but she had already promised herself not to fall apart in front of him. She had already played victim for so long. “You better know how much I loved you Cliff.”
“I know.”
“When we found out that I wasn’t able to have children, that hit me the hardest.” She spoke, he took her hand. “But hearing all these stories about how there was still a chance for us to have children. Everyone gave me hope to carry on, so I waited it out.”
Clifton turned to her, she was so beautiful and it pained him to know that she suffered so much hurt. Leaning his head against hers, he kissed her fluffy of black hair. “I just became this bitter old woman. When all of our friends started to have children it got worse. Then I just couldn’t hang on anymore.”
“I would have hung on for the both of us.”
Audrey sighed. “That would have been selfish of me. This house, this town, it was the beginning of us and I loved every moment of it. But now we are over Clifton and I know neither of us wanted it this way. I can’t ask you to change your mind and I can’t erase my actions.”
“So this is it?” Clifton asked, taking a moment to look at her. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to find anyone to watch all my favorite movies with me and let me tell them my favorite parts although we’ve seen them a million times. Who is going to dance to Purple Rain with me?”
A tear fell down Audrey’s cheek. “Can you just hold me one more time?”
The request caught Clifton off-guard. He never meant to make her sad, even after all the lies she had told and all the fights they got into. He pulled her into his arms and patted her back as she slowly cried and then Audrey pulled away, wiping her eyes.
She looked at her husband, soon to be ex. husband. “I’m leaving Stone Creek. It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, I don’t really have much friends here and my parents have been letting me stay with them for the past couple of months.”
“I will always love you.”
“You’re a very good man, just remember that, okay?” Getting up from the steps, she waved her goodbyes and walked away from him, leaving Clifton to ponder if he was good. If Audrey was telling the truth and if so, then why did their marriage go so wrong?
[.....]
Scene Nine:
1507 Mango Ln., Stone Creek. “Hollyoak Manor”
Patrick & Charlene’s Home.
Stepping into the home, Charlie Sutton could feel a million childhood memories washing upon him. Even the smell of the house was the same, so cold and full of doubt. He passed by Bertie, one of the long-term maids and made his way to his father’s study.
“I came as soon as you called.” He spoke, pushing the door shut and finding his father in a chair. “How are you feeling? After everything that happened at James’ house, I didn’t know how you were dealing with Shannon’s passing.” Patrick looked up at his son. “I’ll be alright, okay?”
His son nodded. “I didn’t see mother home when I walked in. I know that the two of you have had your differences lately, but she has always had your best intentions at heart so don’t beat her up too much, okay? Everyone is mourning here.”
He scoffed at his son’s naiveness. If only their children knew that Charlene had been carrying out an affair for the last two years with Kevin Saunders. But it wasn’t worth bringing up and Patrick had grown tired of explaining the full details so he refrained.
“I’ll try to be a little kinder to your mother, I know Charlene is only trying to do good.” He knew Charlene was only trying to cover her ass as well. “I need you to deliver something for me. To Shannon’s gravesite, when they bury her I want her to have it.”
Charlie stood confused as Patrick shuffled through the room and pulled out a necklace. The gold glistened in the dimly lit room, a tiny jewel dangled at the end. “I gave this to her when we were younger, but when we broke up she gave it back to me.”
She threw it back at him, he had the tiniest of scars underneath his eye because of it, actually. “I know James doesn’t want me at her funeral and I don’t blame him, I had a minor breakdown at the cottage and I said some things that I shouldn’t have said.”
“If you want, I can talk to James and see if you can still attend the funeral.” Charlie spoke, handing the necklace back to his father. “So that you can give her the necklace yourself. James Thurlow has always been a reasonable man and you said it yourself, you didn’t mean to say those words.”
Patrick shook his head. “I don’t think I can actually attend the funeral anyways.”
He placed the necklace in his son’s palms. “I don’t regret meeting your mother and falling in love with her at all Charlie, you have to understand that. But Shannon was the love of my life and this necklace needs to be buried with her.”
“Okay.” Charlie sighed, holding the necklace before him. “I will make sure this necklace gets buried with Shannon at the funeral. I really am sorry that you can’t attend it dad. I’m sure that she would want you there, even if you did end on bad terms.”
Patrick smirked. Then he turned away from his son. “Well, it doesn’t matter now, because we will never know.”
[.....]
Scene Ten:
2300 Cranberry St., Stone Creek. Stone Creek Apartments #18
Bentley & Ryan’s Apartment
“Marina, what are you doing here?” Emily Roscoe asked, clad in her underwear, she wrapped her robe around her body tighter as he boss’ daughter stepped into the apartment. She had almost forgotten how close the Thurlow’s were to the Wilkinson’s, but she hadn’t thought she would see Marina around the apartment.Marina looked around, oblivious to what she might have interrupted. “Is Ryan here? I really need to talk to him and he isn’t answering his cellphone.”
“Babe, who is at the door?” Bentley hollered, he jogged into the living room in his underwear only to be surprised by the visitor. Gawking at the current predicament, he turned around dramatically and raced back into the bedroom. Where he then hollered again, “Marina what are you doing here?”
The youngest Thurlow rolled her eyes amused at what she walked into. “I’ve seen you in your underwear before Bentley!” Marina reminded him, she looked back at Emily. “So I take it that Ryan isn’t here? Look, I’m sorry for interrupting you guys with whatever it is that you guys were doing!”
Emily looked at Marina even more embarrassed then she was before. “We were just reading, for a movie we wanted to see. It looked really good in the trailer’s and we heard there was a book, so we just got really excited!” The words sounded stupid after they slipped out of her lips. Wanting to smack herself in the head, Emily’s cheeks grew bright red.
She knew Marina wasn’t going to buy that.
“Right.” Marina responded, she tried to make the encounter less awkward. “Well, do you know where Ryan could be?” She asked just as Bentley re-appeared, he took the time to put on all of his clothes, including two layers of sweaters. Something Marina noted to be extreme.
“I heard it might rain.” Bentley defended.
Marina couldn’t help but laugh, which caused the other two to do the same. “You know what? I’ll just go. I’m sorry for interrupting you. Take good care of this child, he is a really good guy.” She told Emily, looking straight at Bentley with a smile. “Just tell Ryan that I am looking for him, okay?”
Turning on her heel, she walked right into Ryan Bauer. “Why don’t you tell him yourself?”
She sighed, looking back at the two occupants of the apartment and then back at Ryan, Marina smirked. “Let’s go for a walk, I think the two of them need some time alone for a couple minutes. Besides, I think I could use the fresh air.”
“We were just watching a movie!” Bentley exclaimed, yelping as Emily slugged him in the arm.Ryan and Marina smiled, knowingly and then left the apartment together.
Bentley turned to Emily. “That went well, if I say so myself.”
The woman chuckled. “I think we were watching two separate scenarios because that was a complete disaster. Now Marina is going to think I just walk around in my underwear on my free-time away from the office. Do you know how embarrassing that is?”
“We hadn’t had sex since I was stuck in that wheel chair, I think she will understand.” Bentley exclaimed. “Now, where were we?” He asked, kissing her shoulder and trying to get her back into the mood.
Emily looked at the front door and then back at Bentley. “Apparently we were in the middle of reading a book to watch a movie that we were already in the middle of watching.” She muttered amused, then she kissed her boyfriend on the lips.
Bentley smiled, leading her back into his bedroom, gently pulling her robe off.
“Two sweaters, really?”
[.....]
Scene Eleven:
Now Town
Candle Light City Park.
It was near dark already and Marina had spent most of her day trying to right all of her wrongs. After finding out that her article was going to be printed, she had been kicking herself for hours. Then she knew she needed to talk to Ryan about it, since he was the only one who knew about the contents of the article she was writing.
Looking at him, she didn’t think he would go behind her back. But how could she really tell, people change in the course of a couple months and she knew that Ryan wouldn’t be any different.
“I’m sorry that you had to catch my idiotic roommate and his girlfriend in the middle of sex.” Ryan spoke, breaking the silence. Marina looked to him with a wry smile. “I’ve barely moved back to the apartment so things have gotten a bit awkward.”Taking a deep breath, Marina shrugged. “They’re just in love.”
“Yeah, I think so.” Ryan agreed, he found himself putting his hands in his pocket as the breeze picked up as the day waned on. It must have been the mountains around them, but Summer hardly ever felt like the Summers that Ryan was used to back home. “So what did you need to talk to me about?”
Marina didn’t know how to say it without offending Ryan, it was never something she had picked-up as a skill. She didn’t even want to think about how she was going to tell her boyfriend about writing a tell-all article about his father’s affair.
“The article I agreed to write about Jared Marlowe.”
Ryan stopped in his tracks, which caused Marina to look back curiously. “Are you changing your mind about printing it? Because I think that would be a good idea.”
She studied him as he covered the ground he missed when he stopped. He didn’t seem to know anything about the article being turned in without her consent, which made Marina relax a little more. “No, it’s not that. I still don’t want that article published, except we have one problem.”
“What’s that?”
“Someone turned it in.” Marina bit her lip, her eyes locking with Ryan’s. “I don’t know who did it, my editor told me the article was on his desk this morning. Did you turn it in without telling me? Because I don’t remember seeing you leave before me.”
There was a moment in which Ryan didn’t break contact from Marina. Then he turned away, and continued walking. “Why would I do that? It wouldn’t make any sense for me to go behind your back and turn in the article.”
Marina continued walking as well. “What do you mean?”
“I’m trying to get back in your good graces Marina, this whole project was for you.” Ryan admitted. “Don’t you understand what I’m trying to say? I want you back Marina. If I went behind your back then you would never forgive me, would you?”
He watched as Marina tried to catch-up with his mind. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” He spoke, he then stopped and turned towards Marina. “I understand that you are with Ian, I wouldn’t want to come between that. I just thought that if we worked on this article together that you would see me in the same way again.”
“Ryan-”
He shrugged it off. “I didn’t turn in the article, I don’t know who did. But it’s not like The Ledger is actually guarded by secret service so anybody could have went into the building and placed that article on your editors desk.”
Marina sighed, this was become a huge mess. “Who would do that though? I don’t think there is anybody in Stone Creek that would hate me enough to watch my relationship with Ian crum-” Stopping mid-sentence, Marina hated herself for not thinking of it first.
“What?”
She grew angry at how stupid she was. “Natalie.”
“Wait, do you actually think Natalie would go through all that trouble to see suffer? I mean, this is her family that we are talking about.” Ryan replied, hastily. “I don’t know if she would risk her family’s public image just to spite you Marina.”
“But that’s the thing!” Marina replied. “Nobody would know that it was her that turned in the article, once it is printed then Natalie can play the ‘poor me’ card that she plays so well! I’m sorry for accusing you of turning in the article Ryan, I really am.”
Hugging Marina, he smiled at the tale he was weaving. “Don’t worry about me, you have a lot on your plate right now if you want to stay with Ian. Maybe you should talk to him before the article gets out into the public?”
“You’re right.” She pulled away, Marina looked around. “I have to talk to Ian. He is going to hate me, you know that? It’s not like I don’t deserve it though.”
Ryan nudged her shoulder. “If he loves you, then he will understand.”
[.....]
Scene Twelve:
Sage Gardens
Alice’s Haven Cafe.
After having a terrible meeting with Cassie, Kirsten felt horrible as she closed up the Cafe. She never meant to hurt her dear friend in anyway, but she knew that she did. Kirsten just didn’t want to put her daughter in any trouble and she had heard stories about Clifton having mob connections.Kirsten’s thoughts had caused her to slip out of her daily routine and while at work she managed to drop a couple plates and ruffle a couple feathers. With Abigail gone, she found herself short staffed and it wasn’t until today did she realize that she missed Abigail.
There was this charm about the young woman, she knew how to talk to people and it worked well for her. But with her gone now, it just seemed like things were piling up. Kirsten was relieved to close the Cafe for the day, making sure the opening shift knew what to do, she let her staff leave and finished picking up.
She knew she needed to find a way to apologize to Cassie soon, Kirsten would figure out how when she got back from her aunt’s funeral. Kirsten sighed, it was weird not having Shannon around. She remembered when she went to Paris to visit, it wasn’t too long ago.
That was when we she met Charlie. A smile emerged on her troubled face. Being able to see him later would cheer her up, she knew that.
“Hey.” Came a voice by the door, it belonged to Adrian Stone. “I was headed home when I saw you through the window. I hope I didn’t startle you.”Kirsten shook her head. “No, I’m just closing, thinking about how much of a hypocrite I am.”
The man closed the door behind him and looked at his friend. “Nah, I doubt that you are a hypocrite. Maybe a little naive and a tad bit condescending.” Kirsten shot him a look that amused Adrian. “I’m joking, why do you think so lowly of yourself?”
Not wanting to get into it, Kirsten shrugged it off. “I’ll be alright, I think I’m just feeling bad about everything that has happened with my aunt. I don’t even know how my cousins are taking all of this. Aidan will be fine, but Imogene has always been a little over-dramatic.”
“Runs in the family, I see.”
Kirsten rolled her eyes. “Why are you coming home so late? Shouldn’t Gail be with you?”
This caught Adrian off-guard, he sighed. “Our old friend Dizzy is in town, so they are hanging out or something like that.”
“You sound so thrilled about this.” Kirsten quipped, taking a seat next to him.
“I would be thrilled, I haven’t seen Dizzy since I left Arizona. But we sort of had a falling out ever since the miscarriage with Gail. I just, I don’t know about her. Every time Dizzy is around, trouble is bound to follow and I have this sickening feeling that trouble is already here.”
“Have you talked to Gail?”
Adrian shrugged. “She’s not saying anything really. She’s hiding something from me, I can just feel it. I just wish I knew what was going on so that I could help her with it. But you know Gail, she doesn’t let anybody help until it’s too late.”
“I’ve seen the two of you and I’m sure that Gail will let you in when she is ready.” Kirsten stated, patting her friend on the shoulder. “Maybe you should get some rest and just try not to worry about it so much?”
He nodded his head, Adrian knew that Kirsten was right. But it was so much easier said then done. The two sat in the Cafe in silence, each enjoying the other’s company as they sorted through their thoughts.
[.....]
Next Time, On Concrete Shelves
- The Thurlow’s leave Stone Creek for a funeral.
- Marina cements her rivalry with Natalie.
- Kevin goes to face Melanie.
- Penelope waits for Catalina to make a decision...
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