- Stavros came looking for his son, Callum.
- Caitlyn accused Diem of wanting James back.
- Oliver insisted Natalie leave Stone Creek with him.
- Iris confessed to where Lucy was...
[.....]
[.....]
Scene One:
2634 W. Parker St., Stone Creek. [Callahan Condos #15]
Marina Thurlow’s Home.
“You know that you still don’t have to pay rent here,” Marina Thurlow stated receiving the check from her best friend Cassie Lakhani as soon as the raven haired beauty walked into the Condo. “Especially since you don’t live here anymore. Which really upsets me since I no longer have anyone to bake cookies with.”
Cassie pulled her friend into a hug. “Call me over and Lucian and I will be here in an instant.”
“I’ll take you up on that.” Marina placed the check down on the counter and turned to Cassie. “I just don’t know what to do. The other day I found Ian on my doorstep waiting for me to get off work and we had a huge fight over Ryan again.”
“What happened with Ryan?”
“I kissed him the night of the black out.” Marina winced.
Cassie’s eyes grew big in the way that they always did when she was pretending to be surprised by news. This caused Marina to laugh and feel like the past couple weeks were just some horrible vacation she had been taking and finally she was back to reality. Just this time, without a boyfriend.
Marina went to the kitchen. “Do you want lunch?”
“What did you make?” Cassie scrunched her nose teasingly, knowing that Marina was never that great at cooking.
“I ordered lunch from the chinese place down the street. I figured if you were coming over for the first time in awhile I wouldn’t poison you with anything made by me.” She proceeded to open the take out boxes, Cassie peering over her shoulder. “Yes, I got your favorite.”
“Thank you!” Cassie kissed her friend’s head. “Don’t worry about Ian, I’m sure that he will come back to you. They always come back to you once they realize what they’re missing out. As for Ryan, I’d advise you to stay away from him if you want the Ian thing to work out.”
Marina nodded. “You’re right.”
Taking a moment to chew her food, Cassie looked at Marina. “My father arrived in town the other day.”
“Is he here for Callum?” Cassie nodded her head. “Well what did he say? Have you talked to him about why he abandoned your family all those years ago? That bastard!”
Cassie shrugged. “He’s being really vague with us.”
“Do you think he knows why Callum tried to kill Miles Fowler?” Marina forked her food around before she had a decent portion and shoved it in her mouth. While working at the Ledger has helped Marina keep up with the case against Callum, being friends with Cassie is where she got most of her information. Marina knew Cassie’s theory that someone else was behind the shootings.
“He wants to bail my brother out.”
“That’s good, right?”
Cassie locked eyes with her best friend. “I think he wants to help Callum skip town. There’s something strangely different about my father and I didn’t really recognize the way he spoke. Like he’s changed. But how could he be the same man? He walked out on our family when I was still in High School.”
“People change over the years.”
Marina looked down at her plate of food and wondered if she was changing as well.
[.....]
Scene Two:
Stone Creek; Sage Gardens
Gladys’ Bistro; Inside.
Dizzy Roberts emptied the sugar package into her Iced Tea and began to stir the mixture with the end of her spoon. “It’s nice to get out of the hospital and my apartment every now and then.” She spoke to her companion as he dug into his food. “Your brother seems a little hesitant about our relationship.”
“Taylor is hesitant about any relationship.” Mac Kern responded, not even bothering to look up from his food.
She frowned. “Well, since arriving in Stone Creek and doing that book signing of his Taylor hasn’t done much in town besides lust after Aidan. Maybe he just needs a distraction of some sorts. To tell the truth I wasn’t too sure about our relationship either.”
“Why’s that?” Mac asked.
Because Dizzy didn’t think that Mac was mature enough for her, to tell the truth. She sighed. “It just seemed so sudden all I knew about you was that you were playing puppy dog to Cassie Lakhani. I just didn’t think you were ready for the kind of relationship I was looking for.”
She looked away.
This caused Mac to stop eating, he gulped and looked at Dizzy. But just as quickly he shook the words off. “What do you think we should do about my brother? Take him to a bar and let him have his way with some inexperienced little twink?”
“Did you just say twink?” Dizzy chuckled.
Mac shrugged. “I’m not completely sheltered.”
Dizzy eye’d her boyfriend. “Well I don’t think we should find him a ‘twink’ but maybe another guy that fits his qualifications? He needs a distraction from Aidan and not just a one-night stand. A solid and stable and available,” she stressed, “man will do.”
“That sounds great, but do you know any in Stone Creek?”
She frowned. “No.”
“Then we have to think of another plan Dizzy. Maybe we can think of something later? I have class in an hour and I can’t be late.” He got from his seat and left a couple dollars on the table. “I don’t mean to cut this short, I just have a lot of studying I need to do.”
Then he took off, leaving Dizzy to realize that she didn’t have a ride home. “I rode here with you!” She shouted, but got no response. She turned back to her food and looked around. “How am I getting home?” She asked herself, frowning.
Maybe she was right, maybe Mac just didn’t know how to be in a relationship.
[.....]
Scene Three:
Stone Creek; Sage Gardens
Alice’s Haven Cafe; Inside.
Melinda Lombardi stirred her coffee after she doctored it up at the counter. Then she turned to her companion and they found a table to occupy while they held their meeting. It wasn’t exactly the place that Melinda was known to populate but since David wanted to meet here, she really had no reason to deny that.
He was her client after all.
“I think we need to rethink our strategy against your wife.” Melinda acknowledged the defense that Helen was holding up with William Maverick. She placed her coffee down. “I admire that you want to play this as clean as possible David, but do you really expect them to do the same?”
Dr. David Schmidt sighed. “That’s not the point Melinda.”
“Then what is?” She asked.
One look at David and you could tell he was raised in a white picket fence, two parents and a dog named rover who died while David was away at college. He had lived a completely different life than the brown eye’d Jersey Girl that sat across from him.
“Listen David, I don’t necessarily know how acquainted you are to William Maverick but if it’s anything that he shares with Helen it’s that they are both cutthroat and you might as well kiss that house goodbye.” She shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable with the chairs. “Don’t make the mistake of trusting either of them.”
“I was married to Helen for twelve years-”
“Then you know I’m right.” Melinda said.
She sat there across from him tapping her foot on the ground, thinking of a way to convince David that they needed to find something on Helen or even on William. If she can prove that either of them were hiding any sort of secret. Melinda shook her head. This sort of thing would never happen to her, never would she let anybody bully her.
“If we do this...” David caught her attention. “We need to do this my way Melinda.”
A smile brightened her strict face. “Certainly.”
Scene Four:
Stone Creek; Now Town.
Stone Creek Police Station; Callum’s Jail Cell
Miles Fowler stopped in front of his once best friend’s jail cell. To think that the guy he used to play football with on the Wolf Point’s High team was now being charged with shoot not only himself but his own sister. He gulped, a part of him still felt sorry for Callum, if what Cassie said was true.
But it was hard to believe. There was something different about Callum, like most his emotions towards anybody other than Cassie were void. A lot had to have happened in the short couple years he had left Wolf’s Point. “Hey man, I need to tell you something.”
“Don’t do that to me.” Callum replied. “Don’t treat me like we’re best friends again.”
“I never wanted trouble with you.” Miles spoke.
Callum reached the bars. “I shot you!”
“Can you keep that down?” Miles snipped, getting closer to the bars. “You keep saying that around here and you’re going to be seeing a lot more than just these bars. We’ve been able to keep you here, away from the Prison Callum. But I can’t do much if my hands are tied behind my back.”
The other man stepped away, turned towards the bed he had called his own for months.
“You’re father is in Stone Creek.” Callum turned back around. “He wants to bail you out Callum, but I was able to stall him from doing so. Your sister seems-”
“Cassie assumes a lot of things!” Callum replied. “You keep her away from my father, got it?”
The hairs on the back of Miles’ neck stood up as Callum uttered the demands. “I can’t promise anything, but I will keep her safe. Like I’ve always done. But you need to do something for me buddy. You need to tell me what’s going on.”
He shook his head. “There’s nothing going on. Can he bail me out of here or do I have to stay behind bars until the trial gets underway? Miles, really, I’d feel safer being outside of this jail cell than behind bars if my father is in town. He only wants to help me.”
“We all do.”
Callum frowned. “Do you?”
When he didn’t get an answer out of Miles he scoffed. “Don’t worry pretty boy, I won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. If my father can bail me out I’ll stay in Stone Creek until the trial. Let me enjoy my last couple of days outside of a Prison.”
Miles sighed. “It’s not over yet Callum.”
“No,” Callum shook his head. “Not by a long shot.”
[.....]
Scene Five:
Stone Creek; Now Town
Sutton Enterprises; 6th Floor.
Gillian Sutton found herself approaching Caitlyn Thurlow after she was alerted that the woman was in the building and looking for her. Taking Caitlyn by the arm, she led her away from the crowd of employees that started to form around them. It wasn’t a secret that Gillian was married to Caitlyn’s ex. husband Damien Crenshaw.
It also wasn’t a secret that Gillian had taken control of Sutton Enterprises by force. So as long as she was inside the walls of her father’s company her business was fodder for everyone else. “What are you doing here Caitlyn? It’s my understanding that you put a restraining order against my husband.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“To me?” Gillian scoffed, she couldn’t believe that Caitlyn was even in the building in the first place and now she wanted to talk to Gillian? “What the hell would you even say to me and why would I listen? I could kick you out right now!”
Caitlyn turned away for a second to recollect herself, this obviously annoyed Gillian who asked again why Caitlyn was there. “I need you to understand what kind of man that Damien Crenshaw is, Gillian. The two of you are married -- I get that -- but you don’t know the things he is fully capable of.”
“What I know about my husband is my own damned business Caitlyn.” Gillian snapped, she folded her arms. “Besides, why would you care? I understand that he has done terrible things to you Caitlyn, I get that and personally I am sorry for his actions. But Damien has been a great man since then! Cut him some slack.”
The older woman put her arms on Gillian’s shoulders. “I once defended him like you are now-”
Gillian pushed Caitlyn away. “Do you not listen to a word others are saying? Leave Damien alone!”
They stood in silence, Gillian paced back and forth trying to figure out a kind way to get Caitlyn out of the building since she knew that Caitlyn was still grieving for the loss of Danielle. But her blood was boiling and Gillian was a Sutton which meant she was a loose cannon when provoked.
“I’m terribly sorry about your loss Caitlyn, but you need to understand that my marriage to Damien is none of your concern. You can’t come here and tell me that I need to be careful around my husband. Besides, it’s my understanding that you knew Emily Roscoe was really Danielle the day after the blackout.”
Gillian folded her arms. “Which means you not only stooped to Damien’s level, but you even surpassed him by not letting him grieve. I know you want to go all witch hunt when it comes to Damien. But not once has he stopped you from grieving over Danielle.”
“My daughter is dead!” Caitlyn snapped.
“So is his daughter!” Gillian shook her head. “Get the hell out of my building before I call security to get your ass out of here! I’m sorry about Danielle, but you’re not playing Saint Caitlyn with me today. I’m not as gullible as you may think I am.”
Caitlyn stepped back. “I was just-”
“Leaving.” Gillian pointed towards the door.
[.....]
Scene Six:
Stone Creek; Now Town.
Thurlow Lumber Mill Building; James Thurlow’s Office.
With Frank Nelson out of commission for obvious reason, it was up to James Thurlow to keep his father’s business afloat but he didn’t realize how much he relied on his friend for a lot of the financial aspects of the company and with nobody else to go to it was harder to stay focused.
Usually whenever Frank was on vacation he was still able to get a hold of him, or even yet, he would ask Frank’s secretary for help or access codes that James didn’t have time to remember. But none of that would help him now and with the death Emily Roscoe, he felt more alone than ever.
James tried to not think about her death because not only did it impact him on a professional level but it drove down to his core. The thought of anybody harming the spirited and stress-free Emily Roscoe made him shutter. He couldn’t think of a reason why anyone would want to murder her.
He never thought of how much he relied on her as well. “Are you busy?”
The voice of Diem Joplin asked as she stepped foot into his office. She closed the door behind her and revealed a platter of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies from Alice’s Haven Cafe and placed them on his desk. “I know how much you love the cookies at Kirsten’s Cafe.”
“That I do!” James exclaimed. “What’s the occasion?”
“You can’t just sit here and work through everything by yourself.” Diem admitted, she sat across from her once high school sweetheart and smiled. “Emmet and Gideon are off in Germany trying to track down Lucy and Caitlyn is at home having her own emotional breakdown. Someone needs to worry about you.”
“Diem-”
Stopping James from continuing she pulled out a piece of paper. “And I wanted to bring you this. While I was at home I did a little thinking and I kept asking myself how Lucy was getting all this money. I mean, I know she was working in Sunset Valley, but there had to be another source.”
“What’s this?” James asked, holding the paper up and reading it.
“It’s her ex. boyfriend’s credit card statements.” Diem said. “It looks like someone made a trip to Germany and look at the bottom, they used his cards at a hotel. Somewhere in Germany no longer is a question we have to ask. This proves that she is there.”
“We need to tell Gideon!” James picked up his phone. “Diem, this is huge!”
[.....]
Scene Seven:
980 Cutler St., Stone Creek. [Faustino Cottages #10]
Natalie & Amanda’s Home.
“The trash man comes every Tuesday,” Natalie Marlowe said. It was a simple schedule but even for her it was as tedious as it was nauseating. She ran a hand through her frizzled hair, trying to think of anything else she needed to tell her best friend.
Amanda frowned. “When are you coming back?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. Then she sat across from the blond and gave her a tight hug. “You’re my best friend here in Stone Creek so I have to come visit you at least once a year, that’s a guarantee, got it? Don’t worry about the house, since my parents own it you don’t have to leave.”
This caused Amanda to look around at the space of their living room. It had always been too much for either of them to handle. The room itself was huge, even the amount of furniture couldn’t fill it up entirely and now she was going to have to deal with it alone.
“You will have to find another roommate, but I’m sure one of the models would fill in just fine.” Natalie rubbed her friend’s shoulder. She tried to smile, but tears came to her eyes. “Now I’m crying, damn it.”
“I’m going to miss you.”
Natalie wiped her tears. “You need to pursue Aidan.”
Amanda looked up.
“Look, I know everything that happened with that Taylor guy is humiliating but I’ve seen how you light up when you talk about him. It’s the same way I was when I would talk about Ryan all those times. I don’t want you to miss out on something that could be really good for you.”
“You think?” Amanda scrunched her nose.
Natalie shrugged. “I’m moving away with Oliver because he might be the best thing for me. He wasn’t my first choice but Ryan didn’t want me the way I wanted him. So I had to ask myself ‘why do I keep running after a guy who keeps running away from me?’ When there’s a guy out there who is waiting for me to run to him.”
They both sat there awhile, enjoying the other’s company for the last time. “So, Paris, huh?”
“Yeah!” Natalie chuckled.
“Lucky bitch.” Amanda snipped, a chuckle following suit.
[.....]
Scene Eight:
Stone Creek; Now Town.
The Stone Creek Ledger; Main Editing Room.
Leia Joplin arrived just in time to catch Marina talking about how she spent hours on a project that she wanted to cover with her new partner--Leia. She looked at the other girl with confusion, but upon seeing their boss she smiled and joined the group discussion, placing her bag on a close desk.
“What project is this?” She asked, garnering the attention of those in the room. Mainly just a couple photographers and fresh reporters they were assigned to. She folded her arms, looking at Marina.
The brunette smiled back, proud of what she was going to unleash on the room of her unsuspecting audience. “Well, as everyone knows our publisher and editor, Seth Keeler,” Marina waved a hand over to the man standing in the back of the crowd with his arms folded. He smirked. “has been wanting our street team to focus on issues current with Stone Creek.”
This got Leia to scowl at the smoke Marina seemed to be blowing.
“I spent all night brainstorming issues in Stone Creek that ring dear to me.” She pouted. “After all, Journalism is about writing something that you really care about. So I thought that we should do the same.” Marina pulled out some posters, clad with bulletins, bright colors and pictures of buildings. “I thought we should go undercover and write about spousal abuse.”
A couple people whispered to each other about the idea, but Marina didn’t bother to think about their opinions or reactions. The one she was mainly focused on was the one who looked the most uncomfortable and nervous: Liea Joplin.
“So, Olivia,” Marina mused, “what do you think of the idea?”
Leia’s face grew red as she shifted around. “Do we really have to go undercover?”
“We want the best story.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know Marina-”
“I think it’s a fantastic idea.” Seth spoke from the back, everyone turned to him. Even Leia who looked as if she were going to barf. “The only way to get an honest story is to pose as the very same people you are writing about. Think of this as a learning experience if you will. What else do you have for us Marina?”
Marina smiled with success.
[.....]
Scene Nine:
Stone Creek; Now Town.
Thurlow Lumber Mill Building; James Thurlow’s Office.
“There’s another thing.” Diem said, she watched James as he hung up the phone with Gideon Wilkinson and focused his attention on her. “I didn’t really know how to bring this up because it’s kind of embarrassing, actually, kind of awkward. But I got into an altercation with Caitlyn the other day.”
“Altercation?” The word caused James much dread.
Diem sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. “She thinks that I’m trying to steal you away from her.”
He chuckled at the thought, which made Diem nervously chuckle as well. It had been so long ago that they dated, Diem didn’t even know if she harbored feelings for James Thurlow. He was still a striking man, that much was for sure and he had a huge heart. But her mind was occupied at the moment. There was no way she could have feelings for two men right now.
“It’s not that she accused me of trying to steal you away, that’s not my concern.” James looked at her intensely. “What I’m really worried about is her grieving over Emily. James, you didn’t see Caitlyn when she was yelling at me. I don’t know if she talks to you about anything-”
“We don’t have much time to talk, with work and Frank’s disappearance.” He reassured her. It was more a defense than a reassurance and Diem made sure she would apologize for defending him once he was done speaking his mind. “If I knew something was wrong with Caitlyn, I would have gotten help.”
“I know you would have, I apologize if I’m coming off a certain way.” How could she help her friend without making it seem that he was carelessly forgetting about his wife. Diem bit her lip, then she started again, more accurately speaking. “She’s not talking to anybody.”
“Maybe I should get her to talk to Deborah?” He thought, then he looked at Diem and chuckled. “I’m so sorry that she thought those things of you, Caitlyn has been so stressed which you are already aware of. I’ll talk to her about snapping in that manner-”
“No!” Diem blurted. “James, it’s fine. I just wanted you to know just so you were aware that she isn’t exactly helping her situation. The confrontation between us, it’s nothing. We are friends, but I do think that maybe we should keep our distance.”
“What do you mean?”
Diem shrugged. “I shouldn’t be bringing you cookies like this, for one.”
She looked down at her hands as the memories of their relationship flashed before her eyes. Diem remembered when they first made love and how awkward she felt afterwards because the whole time she was so nervous to be intimate with James in that way. How she was counting the items in his room, the books on the shelf.
“Fine,” He replied. “No more cookies.”
“I also think that if I find out anymore clues to where Lucy Hahn might be that I take the information directly to Gideon and Emmet.” She said, unfolding her legs and climbing out of the chair. “James, we are all friends but for the time being, lets keep things simple.”
“Simple.” He muttered.
Diem smiled. “I’ll go see if I can find anything else out about Lucy and I’ll give Gideon a call once I do. We will find Frank and everything with Caitlyn is going to get better. Don’t worry so much about that. Don’t worry about our friendship either, you’ve always been a great friend to me.”
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Diem.” James replied, exchanging goodbyes.
[.....]
Scene Ten:
Stone Creek; Now Town.
The Stone Creek Ledger; Hallway.
It didn’t take long before the meeting was over and everyone started piling out of the editing room, Marina Thurlow went to the front to grab her poster boards. She was thinking of placing them in the editing room that was assigned to Marina and Leia and the rest of their group so that they could keep in mind the important aspects of the project. There was a confidence in her stride.
She now had her way of getting Leia to break down.
“What are you doing?” Leia yanked Marina into the hallway, she waited for everyone else to leave. But she had no idea that Seth Keeler was still in the editing room, nor that he was listening to their conversation from the doorway. How could she though? Every since Marina brought up the project, all Leia focused on was Marina.
Marina pulled her arm from Leia, but the other woman’s grip was strong. “What are you talking about? Can you stop man-handling me? I’m sensitive.”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Marina.” Leia spat.
But the other woman pouted. “Seriously Olivia, you’re really hurting me.”
Leia let go of Marina, she watched as Marina over dramatically tended to her arm. Her eyes burning holes through her co-editor. “Why would you insist that we go to the battered women shelters in the first place Marina? That doesn’t seem like something you’d be interested in.”
“How would you know that?”
“Because,” Leia folded her arms. “In High School all you were interested in was boys and writing false and over dramatic articles about protests and the cheerleading team. You never once showed interest in community service or the likes.”
“People change, Olivia, don’t tell me that you don’t have the heart to help write this spread.” Marina regained her composure and her edge over the taller Leia Joplin. She could see in the woman’s dark complexion that she was nervous. Her nose flared. “If you want, I could ask Seth if you can sit this one out.”
But Leia scowled. “You’re not getting away with this so easily, Marina. I don’t know what your motive is exactly but you’re not going to succeed. There’s nothing that can stop me from rising to the top here at the Ledger, not even a spoiled little rich girl like you.”
“You come from the same kind of pedigree!” Marina stepped closer. “So please, don’t try to play kid from public school not having the money to get into private school on me. We wore the same uniforms and if I recall, they looked much better on me.”
“Is everything alright here, girls?” Seth Keeler appeared, leaving his hiding spot.
They both looked at their boss, forcing smiles on their faces. “Perfect.”
[.....]
Scene Eleven:
Cuttlebone City; Airport
Loading Dock; Flight to Paris.
‘GOODBYE, RYAN’ the text was written at least three different times before she got the courage to press send and left that part of her life behind. Natalie Marlowe closed her phone and put it in her pocket, a huge relief felt in her entire body as she did this. There was no way to know for certain if she was completely over him, but for now, turning to see Oliver Cuthbert waiting for her it seemed that she would be just fine.
Natalie joined him as they waited to board their flight to Paris. Her decision to leave Stone Creek was made on the whim that she thought about turning around and running back to her life. But was she really going to have anything in Stone Creek that could match her life with Oliver in Paris?”
“What are you thinking about?” He asked, holding her close.
She shook her head. “Nothing really.”
“Not about Stone Creek? Or Ryan?” He asked. Natalie pulled away and made a face of uncertainty. “So you were thinking of both or at least one of those things. How about you share with me which one? I won’t judge you. I’m just excited you decided to join me.”
Looking at the people in line, they all waited for the same flight except that they were all headed to Paris for different reasons and quite frankly she didn’t care for their stories. But she knew that they were all leaving something behind, even her. “I was just thinking of my failed life in Stone Creek.”
“You didn’t fail.” Oliver said.
“I hardly tried.”
He kissed her forehead. “Stop! You’re psyching yourself out.”
Natalie Marlowe spent a couple years fighting for Ryan Bauer and then once she had him she didn’t know what to do with him. She had been involved in a terrible accident that nearly caused her her life, ending her modeling career and garnering her scars that would last the rest of her life.
She put a hand to the burns on her face. But Oliver quickly replaced the scars with his own hands, grasping at her’s and holding them tight. “You are beautiful.”
A tear fell from her eye. “So this is it.”
“You got it.” He snickered.
“Lets go to Paris.”
[.....]
Scene Twelve:
813 Crystal Hill St., Stone Creek. [Bayou Oaks Condos #21]
Aidan Jurado’s Home.
Although he was given the next couple days off, Aidan couldn’t get a hold of Taylor Kern. It was as if the man had finally disappeared from the face of the earth and once that occurred he realized how lonely he now was. But was he really? He was surrounded by family. No matter where he went there was always a person who knew who he was and not because he was part of the Thurlow clan but because he was slowly helping rebuild the Lakeside Inn to it’s once full glory.
Aidan walked across his living room in nothing but sweatpants and thin black sport ankle socks, the A/C had stopped working sometime around noon and after notifying the renters, he was told nobody would be around to fix it until tomorrow morning. Which meant that he had to sweat out the night, his brown hair clung to his forehead.
He had already opened up the windows but the sound of the City was too much for him to concentrate on the new project that Charlie had given him so he sacrificed the slight breeze for silence. A decision he had been regretting for the last several hours.
His cousin, Kirsten Sutton had warned him about the heat waves that occurred through out the summer in Stone Creek and that he should get a plug-in fan just in case. At the time he thought she was just exaggerating and put off buying an electric fan. Now he was wishing he had taken her warning. So instead of a fan he was going to try another shower, he grabbed a towel from the hall closet and patted his way to the bathroom.
Loosening his sweatpants as he did so.
Aidan turned the water on, then tugged at his socks taking a moment to stop and listen for the sound of the doorbell that wrung throughout his apartment. He sighed. It was just what he needed, the repairman must have had a change of heart and couldn’t leave him in this dyer heat.
The second it took Aidan to leap for the front door was remarkable, his face filled with embarrassment when it wasn’t the repairman on the other end. Unless Taylor Kern had taken up the profession recently without him knowing. Aidan stood there in his loosened sweatpants, he mumbled a decently coherent greeting he had assumed since Taylor flashed him a smile and replied.
“It’s nice to see you too, Aidan.”
“What-” Aidan leaned against the doorframe and licked his lips in confusion. He cleared his throat. “What are you doing ‘ere?”
Taylor balled his hands up and looked down. “I just wanted to come by and apologize--first because I didn’t call you back the first three times you called me.” He waved a hand insisting that Aidan not interrupt him. “And second I wanted to apologize for the way Amanda found out about our kiss.”
“So you told ‘er?” His eyes bulged.
“No, actually I didn’t say a thing.” Taylor responded with a grin only a child would make when doing something bad. “But I knew who she was when she approached me and I shouldn’t have said anything at all. The reason she hates you is because of me so I am sorry about that.”
“It’s fine.” Aidan finds himself replying, since he wasn’t with Amanda anymore it wasn’t like he could really be mad. Aidan was the one after all that was lying to Amanda about the kiss and it was ultimately his fault that she had found out and dumped him.
He wrung his neck in awkwardness.
The caused Taylor to gulp, in nervous horniness as he admired Aidan’s sweaty body. “I just wanted to thank you for helping me with the book signing and if I could ever find a way to pay you back, I most definitely will.” His gaze lingered over Aidan’s body, so instead he looked down at Aidan’s feet.
But this didn’t help because he found himself wanting more. So he let his eyes wander up the heather grey sweats to the bulge and from the bulge to Aidan’s chiseled frame. Taylor licked his lips as he found Aidan’s shoulders connected to his neck. The adam’s apple of the man he dreamed about bobbed up and down as Aidan too gulped. Then Taylor found himself looking at Aidan’s lips and how bad he wanted to greet them with his own.
“I should be going.” Taylor licked his lips, finally looking at Aidan’s eyes. He found that the other man had already locked eyes with him. Eager to look away, Taylor couldn’t find himself. But neither could Aidan as he grabbed Taylor by the shirt and eliminated the space between the two of them.
He kissed Taylor hard on the lips, running a hand through his hair, Aidan pulled the man into his apartment and then closed the door behind them.
Next Time, On Concrete Shelves
+Something worries Dizzy about her relationship.
+Amanda comes to seek Aidan’s comfort.
+Greta’s new client makes her uneasy.
+Gideon and Emmet are surprised by what they find in Germany...
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