- Stavros Lakhani came to Stone Creek to fetch his son, Callum Lakhani, from jail. He later orchestrated a hostage situation at the Wilkinson home where he revealed himself to be Rodney Burnett -- an old and vengeful ex. lover of Daphne Wilkinson. But his daughter, Cassie Lakhani, shot and killed him in a struggle.
- Aidan Jurado came to Stone Creek and found a hot and heavy relationship with Amanda Tucker to be the distraction he needed. However, his growing feelings for Taylor Kern caused him to question his sexuality, eventually he left Amanda for Taylor.
- Threatening the marriage of Frank and Deborah Nelson, Lucy Hahn, showed up in Stone Creek and kidnapped Frank with the hopes he would runaway with her and their toddler son, Sebastian.
- Marina Thurlow developed a plan to rid her competition -- Olivia Joplin -- from the Stone Creek Ledger by forcing Olivia to face her past, but the plan backfired when Marina found herself the driving force of an almost failed undercover assignment.
[.....]
[.....]
Scene One:
1509 Mango Ln., Stone Creek. [Briggs Home]
Clifton, Cassie & Lucian’s Home.
The months in Stone Creek had come to a crashing halt. It had been a very sleepy Christmas for Cassie Lakhani and her immediate family; which now consisted of her brother -- Callum Lakhani, her son Lucian, and his father Clifton Briggs. What her relationship with Clifton was -- Cassie couldn’t define it. But since no one had asked her about it, she had no problem just going with the flow of things and living her life by the day. Today would have been just another day to the young woman, her dark black hair flowed in the winter breeze as she stood outside the mansion that she had called her home for months now. How she could find the word to say goodbye to the brother she had just started to re-connect with, she wouldn’t be able to begin to explain so she stood there in front of him. Her mouth shut closed as tears began to fall from her eyes and her mind, as gentle as it was, began to search for a reason to keep him in Stone Creek. Any, if one at all.
It was also true that her twin brother had come to Stone Creek under excruciating circumstances and the loss of life was no understatement. But it was their bond from childhood that brought a sense of comfort back to her otherwise chaotic life. She had no family in the bustling city. None other than her toddler son, Lucian. Cassie had friends, she had friends that she considered her family and if she needed someone to lean on, she knew she could count on Clifton to be there. It’s just that when Callum reappeared in her life he brought back the memories of her childhood that she had missed for so long.
“You can’t go.” Cassie spoke with urgency, she placed a hand on her brother’s arm. “I just got you back Callum -- there’s still so much that I want to tell you, that I want you to be here for... how can I return to just living here in Stone Creek without my twin brother?” She asked, shaking her head.
His eyes caught a hold of her’s and he frowned. “I’m glad that I finally found you again, Cassie. But I can’t stay here in Stone Creek... it was never my home to begin with, and what would I do here?”
“Spend time with me!” She pleaded, the breeze caught her skin and she shivered in spite. “Stone Creek might not be your home but you can make one here... just like I did when I moved here from Wolf’s Point. You can feel at home here. Don’t forget Callum, you still have myself and Lucian. You have family here... and Clifton... I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you staying. I’m sure of it!”
Callum chuckled, which caught Cassie off-guard. “Do you remember what I did to Clifton?”
She could recall the moment she found Clifton motionless on the living room floor, but it was easy enough to blame their father, Stavros Lakhani, for that mishap and it was so easy for Cassie to blame his alter-ego, Rodney, for the death of Emily Roscoe as well. After all, Callum did try to save everyone at the Wilkinson Home, she would bring this up as a defense if anyone would try to prove him as a dangerous criminal. “You laid in a hospital bed for months in a coma because Stavros smashed your head in with a gun! I think you more than paid for your crimes against Clifton-”
“You’ll always be my biggest supporter.” Callum replied, he wrung his neck. “But do you seriously think that anyone in this town would see me other than the spawn of Rodney Burnett?”
“If they do then they will have to see me in the same light.” Cassie proteted, she knew it wasn’t an argument she would win, but desperation was one thing she had grown so used to that it was an argument she didn’t mind making.
Callum shook his head. He stood there in front of his sister in a grey zip-up hoodie and baggy black jeans. His hands, dug into his pocket and ready to make haste his exit from town. But his light brown eyes caught his sisters. “I will forever be thankful to you for helping me realize what an awful man our father was.”
“Stay.” She pleaded. her lips trembled.
“I need to find a place where I belong, Cassie... this isn’t the place for me. We both know this and it hurts me even worse that I’m leaving you behind here in Stone Creek. But these people here... they will never look past my crimes against them... how does anyone move on with their lives if I’m a constant reminder of who Stavros Lakhani really was?”
Behind Callum, the taxi cab pulled into view and Cassie knew that this would be her final plea to get her brother to stay in town. But there weren’t any words that could match his own and she fell silent. Her shoulders slumped.
“I’ll take care of your sister.” Clifton Briggs spoke from the pebbled driveway of his home. The siblings turned their attention to the older man as he carried, Lucian. “I understand why you need to leave, but I also understand how much Cassie wants you to stay.”
Callum stiffened. “I hit you in the head with a gun-”
“Now’s not the time for that.” Clifton took his attention off of Lucian and directed it towards Callum. “You’re family, Callum... we might not be the poster family for Stone Creek, but we’re family nonetheless. The best thing for you to do is to leave town without the control of your father, and who knows... maybe we will be seeing you sometime soon.”
“Yes!” Cassie enthused. “Come back home.”
“This isn’t my home, sis.”
“But it’s mine.” Cassie refined, she could feel Clifton step closer to the two of them and she hugged Callum goodbye. The salty tears, as warm as they were, began to slide down her cheeks and warm them up. “This isn’t goodbye.”
Cassie stepped back and let Clifton move in, he handed Lucian over to Callum to say his goodbye’s to the little boy and then when Lucian was safe in Clifton’s arms again he held his hand out for Callum to shake. It was a small gesture that gave Cassie a plea of hope as her brother reached out and took the handshake. There had been so much tension between the three of them for the last two months for everything to end like this, it pulled at her heart strings. Clifton handed Lucian over to Cassie who welcomed the warmth of her baby boy and held him close to her body.
“Take this.” Clifton spoke, he handed Callum some cash, then he stepped back and wrapped his arm around Cassie’s shoulders. He pulled her in close to his body as they waved goodbye to Callum Lakhani and all that he stood for.
[.....]
Scene Two:
510 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Nelson Home]
Frank & Deborah Nelson’s Home.
Deborah Nelson sat in the dining room of her massive home, perched with her back straightened up and her legs one crossed over the other one. It had been three months since she took her leave at Harper Smites Clinic and now she was preparing for her return. Eagerly, but still with restraint, Deborah circled January, 22nd on her calendar and leaned back in her chair to admire her first session back in the office. It shouldn’t be left out that she was enjoying her time off of work. Being able to spend the holidays at home with her husband, Frank, was exactly what the couple had needed. She could feel their marriage begin to breath again.
Actually, she could feel it in her bones -- all that stress, all that anger -- it was all just starting to wash away and as the sun usually rose in mid January, so did the promise of her marriage to Frank Nelson.
“What are you doing?” His voice was soft, full of purpose.
Deborah turned around to face her husband and she smiled with intention, “I was just marking my first session back at the clinic... I cannot believe the holidays have gone by as fast as they did this year. But truthfully...”
“Truthfully... you’re excited to get back to Harper Smites’?” He finished, making his way into the room and finding a spot next to his wife. Deborah nodded her head just as Frank placed his hand on her shoulder. “God help the son-of-a-bitch who’d try to stop you from working.”
“I’m not that bad,” she mused, but secretly knew it was true. His words, no longer would they offend Deborah as he spoke his mind around her. No longer was she feeling that she needed to read into them for signs of his wandering lips. So easily, she slipped into his embrace and watched as Frank made his way into the kitchen to start his morning routine.
Frank turned back towards the dining room. “I don’t mind that you’re so eager to get back to Harper Smites, but I will say that I am definitely going to miss having you home at decent hours of the day. Ever since James hired that Reichen fellow I haven’t been needing to stay at the office later, so it was nice...”
He lowered his voice once Deborah joined him, “it was nice being able to spend nights here at home with you, Debbie. In long john’s and thermals... cuddled up under a blanket.” She chuckled as Frank cozied up to her and ran his hands along her body. “But I also know how much you really love your job and after what we have been through I think it is only fair that I respect your wishes. That I start respecting you.”
“This is nice.” She breathed, her eyes closed as Frank wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.
If Deborah Nelson had known what true serenity felt like, she would have coined the way she felt deep in her soul in this very moment as that. The chill from the drafty kitchen windows couldn’t reach her while she was wrapped in her husband’s arms. But the next words that came out of his mouth would cause he to prepare for the chill.
“I have to get going.” Frank said, he let go of Deborah and smiled at her. “I have to get to the office and get Reichen started on a couple of concepts for the re-tooling of the company that James wanted me to get started on.”
Serenity would have to wait for later, she would soon box this feeling up and sell it to those around her so they too could feel it. Deborah smiled lightly and kissed his cheek. “I still have vacation days until the twenty-second, so don’t be gone too long.”
“If I make it back in time before dinner, do I get a reward?” He asked, immediately causing her to smile. A technique that Frank had used many times before. “Not that I really need a reward to come back home to you.”
“Good save.” Deborah cooed, she shook her head in amusement just as the doorbell rung. “I think maybe you should get that while I think about possibly getting you coffee before you leave...” She walked back towards the coffee maker and watched as her husband made his way to the front door.
No longer was Deborah’s body aching for an argument just so that she could feel like Frank cared about her. She had spent so much of their marriage trying to use anger and manipulations just so that she could be sure of his love that now, standing in the kitchen and listening to nothing but the coffee maker, Deborah finally felt at peace.
“Deborah!” Frank hollered, she wrung her hands free and turned towards his voice.
There were no other words that called after her and in that moment her heart sank, cursing herself secretly for pulling down her walls of security and thinking that peace would come to them. The woman tilted her head and slowly began to walk into the hallway.
“Deborah! Come quick!” Frank turned around, and she spotted the grin on his face. She let go of the breath she had held captive and let her body loosen-up when he moved out of the way and let the visitor in. “Look who came in with the Winter’s Storm.”
“Oh, please, daddy,” the voice of their daughter, Laurie Jonas, spoke. It was long enough to be drawn into the air and by the time the words made their way to Deborah’s ears, she eagerly ate them up. Laurie hugged her father and then looked at her mother with a smile. “The winter’s storm doesn’t start until February, everybody knows that.”
Standing before Deborah, the younger woman’s light brown wavy hair fell passed her shoulders and curled up towards her body. With one light skinned brown hand she pushed her hair behind an ear and walked over towards Deborah with a knowing smirk. Laurie’s hazel eyes met her mother’s light blue ones and slowly the younger woman’s lips parted. “Hello, mother.”
[.....]
Scene Three:
Stone Creek; Boulstridge Mountains
Cutler Road, The Lakeside Inn; Charlie Sutton’s Office
When Charlie Sutton envisioned taking over the Lakeside Inn, he had this plan for the Inn and its success that would put his name on the map and distance itself away from underneath his father’s thumb. He would redefine what being a Sutton legacy meant in the city of Stone Creek. But with great dreams comes a murmur of reality and within the first year of the Lakeside Inn being open, he had felt that he failed himself. It was a travesty that would have kept Charlie down for the count if it wasn’t for his friends, and his make-shift family that took him in after his father had so viciously thrown him out. What was a plan was re-drawn and turned into a work-of-progress that began to mold him into the man he was willing to be, so standing in his office and holding a glass of champagne -- in front of two of the men who he now considered to be founders of the same dream he envisioned -- Charlie was more than willing to celebrate the success of the Lakeside Inn.
This past New Years the Inn held the annual New Years Eve Ball for a second year in a row, and although it wasn’t as news worthy as the first ball -- and thankfully nobody had been shot -- it was still a success in bringing in the revenue they needed to push towards the future.
“I think we need to start drafting plans for another event,” the english man to his left spoke, he bore a boyish grin as he clanked glasses with Charlie.
When Charlie agreed to help Aidan Jurado come to Stone Creek and rebuild his life. He never thought that his wife’s cousin could help the Inn become the success that it now was. Their friendship had become stronger as both shared hardships and stuck by one another to see the future of their dream come alive. He also knew, as both gulped down the bubbly liquid, that Aidan had dealt with many blows to his life in the last two years that Charlie couldn’t even begin to understand and here they were, still friends, still family if not by blood but by faith and marriage.
Charlie chuckled, “I think we should just enjoy today first, just enjoy this moment for what it is worth. We have lifted ourselves out of debt for one year. A whole year the Lakeside Inn has been able to stay afloat without owing a bank or an investor.”
“How does it feel?” Aidan asked, a question that Charlie couldn’t even explain without taking a deep breath and letting it go, relief.
Standing before both men, his suit jacket flanked onto the nearest chair and the top button of his heather grey dress shirt unbuttoned, Charlie chuckled. He placed a hand in his slacks and nodded his head. “It feels awesome!”
The three men chuckled.
Charlie watched as Aidan moved closer to the third man and kissed him on the cheek. His muscular left arm wrapped around the light skinned American man. “To think it took us this long to figure it all out, to figure out this entire process and we owe it all to you!”
“Now you’re just talking.” The man spoke, his voice rugged but sweet.
He smirked enough to be called a smile and then he nodded his head and turned towards Aidan. “You are the main reason the Inn has succeeded,” then he turned towards Charlie, “Well, we wouldn’t be anywhere without Charlie, but it was also your brilliant ideas and strategy that has put this place on the map!” He kissed his lover on the lips.
Charlie smirked, he looked down at his phone and texted his wife. He then flipped his phone closed and patted Taylor Kern on the shoulder. “I know that it took this knuckle head a very long time to realize how beneficial you are, but I’m glad that you were able to come aboard and manage the customer service aspect of the Inn.”
“I’m glad to find something that I actually enjoy.” Taylor replied.
In his voice, Charlie could tell that Taylor was being genuine, which made him cautious of the man. He went from being a lawyer, to a decently successful writer and now, as if his own life was a chapter in one of his books, Taylor Kern has downgraded himself to Customer Service.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” the three men turned towards the door to see Caitlyn Thurlow standing there with her hands by her side. “Although by the looks of it, it seems like I broke-up a celebration.”
“You’re just in time to join.” Charlie spoke, he walked over to his step-mother-in-law and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, a gesture he had done many times before. Then he turned to the other men. “We were just celebrating the success of the Inn.”
“How exciting!”
Once Charlie had guided her towards the men he let go and gave everyone enough time to finish their greetings before he continued. He took a gulp of his drink and thought about how ironic it was that the Thurlow family had taken him in so kindly, especially since his father had been so weary about the clan years before.
Aidan clapped a hand on Charlie’s shoulder and shook him from his thoughts. “Can we help you with anything, Aunt Caitlyn?”
“I was hoping you boys could, actually.” She gleamed, exiting an embrace with Taylor Kern. “As the three of you know, my stint on the Council hasn’t been that squeaky clean as of late so I took it upon myself to get the next town event started,”
Charlie watched as she led them on, “and what do you have in mind?”
“I was wondering if we could use the Lakeside Inn for another ball... I know it is last minute but I wanted to throw a ball in honor of the late February storm.” Caitlyn said, her words filled the office. “It would really get the town to forget the terrible events that happened two winter’s ago.”
“What happened two winter’s ago?” Taylor asked.
Charlie turned towards him grimly. “There was an accident at a bar, a car collided with the building and two people were killed,” he then turned back to Caitlyn, “It’s not that I think you can’t pull off a successful ball Caitlyn... but don’t you think a ball all the way up here, in the mountains, during a snow storm is a bad idea...”
She slumped her shoulders and in that moment Charlie knew he hadn’t been the only one questioning her idea. After losing her daughter, Charlie knew that Caitlyn was only probably looking for something to help distract herself. But he also knew that this ball could be dangerous, especially the winding roads leading up the the Inn.
“What if we offered a discount at the Inn, for the guests who would like to spend the night.” Aidan offered, he stood off to the side of Charlie. “I mean, just think about it. If we can get everyone in town to come up here for the ball... I’m sure we have enough rooms to house them all for the night. Which would mean less traffic leaving that night.”
“It’s possible.” Charlie replied.
Thinking it over, Charlie knew that she had a point. If they could get everyone in town excited about the February Ball, they could in theory get most of them to stay the night at the Inn and avoid any disaster that seemed to accompany the ball. He looked at the three occupants of the room and knew he needed to give them an answer.
[.....]
Scene Four:
Stone Creek; 813 Crystal Hill St., Stone Creek. [Bayou Oaks Condos #11]
Ryan Bauer’s Condo.
We need to talk. There was something about the words that ran through her mind that caused Marina Thurlow to shudder and right on cue, her boyfriend wrapped his arms around her frame and kissed her cheek. This wasn’t a talk about their relationship, although it could turn into that if things didn’t go according to Marina. She turned around in Ryan’s bed and faced him. She cupped his face with her right hand and traced the stubble along his cheek, lightly. 
“We need to talk.” Marina said, she watched as his express changed from content and satisfied to that of a deer stuck in headlights and she eagerly wanted to change that, so she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. After all, the things she wanted to talk about had nothing to do with him and everything to do with Olivia Joplin.
He eye’d her suspiciously. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on.” She replied hastily.
Ryan Bauer ran a hand through her light brown hair and -- much like Marina did earlier -- brushed it across her cheek and found a place for his hand along her chin. He rubbed it gently, a finger tracing her lips. “Are you going out on me again? Is that horrible animal surgeon back?”
She sighed. “No. He’s not back in town, at least from what I know.” Marina knew they were keeping Ian Kiefer’s name out of their everyday life, so she went along with the charade. But she had to keep herself from defending Ian whenever Ryan called him names and so this time she overlooked him calling Ian horrible and instead focused in on what she needed to get off her chest. “We need to talk about my time away at the shelter.”
“Okay,” Ryan led with a shake of his head.
“Alright.” Marina breathed, much harshly then she had intended to. “This is going to sound really bad but I just want you to hear me out after I tell you this... it’s not exactly my proudest moment,” Marina exclaimed, she winced at the thought, “but it is nonetheless a moment about me.”
“Well, we have already talked about being honest with each other, so please, shoot!” This time, instead of caressing Marina and making her feel better, Ryan sat up in his bed and her attention fell on his chiseled god-like body and all the things she wanted to do to it. It was enough to make her turn away daintily and collect her thoughts. “Is something wrong?”
Marina chuckled, she turned back around to face him. “Put a shirt on.”
Ryan gasped and dramatically covered his chest with the sheets. “You’re looking at my chest! How ruined of you.”
“It’s not my fault that you just flaunt it around.” Marina exclaimed, right on cue.
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you calling me a slut?”
Marina pouted, taking in the moment before climbing on top of the covers and sitting in front of Ryan --indian-style and in a pink spaghetti strap and light pink underwear -- which she knew was still inappropriate for this conversation, but she wasn’t sure how he would react and knew she couldn’t prolong the conversation.
“What is it that you want to share, today,” Ryan asked, he pulled Marina closer to her and she knew he could tell that something was bothering her. “Girlfriend.”
“I don’t think you’ll want to be my girlfriend after this...”
“Just tell me Marina!” He urged.
She shook her head. “It’s about the shelter and the real reason why I actually wanted to go there... as much as I’d like you to think that I wanted to do it for the great cause that it was, that wasn’t the case I’m afraid... there’s a lot more to the story than you could ever believe.”
“Then start at the beginning.”
“I found out something about Olivia that I felt would make her want to leave Stone Creek and let me have complete control of the Editorial Editing position at the Ledger. I know it was a stupid thing to do... believe me, now that I think about it -- especially that it didn’t work,” she rolled her eyes, “I went to Helen for advice and she gave me some information on Olivia that I could use as blackmail-”
“You blackmailed Olivia?” Ryan chuckled.
“It’s not funny!” Marina smacked him, she furrowed her brow. “Ryan, this is serious... I’m actually trying to be honest and not scheme my way around town like my mother. I had this brilliant plan that if I forced Olivia to go to the shelter with me then she would have to re-live her past. Her ex. husband physically abused her while she was away from Stone Creek... Helen found out and insisted I use it against Olivia, but then we got to the shelter and everything backfired!”
“Are you mad that it backfired?”
Marina shrugged. “Sort of. But at the same time I’m really happy that it did... either way it really doesn’t help. The women at the shelter felt a lot more comfortable with Olivia than they did with me. The story we wrote... it was mostly Olivia’s doing.”
They sat there in silence, neither making an effort to continue the conversation and Marina knew that something between the two of them had changed in that moment. It was like all of the events that took place prior to her telling him about Olivia were put in a folder and given an expiration date and filed away in a cabinet.
She looked away from him. “I’m going to step out of the Co-Editorial chair and let Olivia take reigns from here on out... she deserves it.”
“Don’t do that.” He spoke, it had startled Marina as she didn’t think she’d hear him say anything other than to instruct her to get out of his bed. “You deserve to be Co-Editorial Editor with Olivia, even if you don’t think that.”
“That’s kind of you.”
He lifted her head to meet his gaze. “I mean that. I know that you feel really bad about what you tried to pull off with Olivia... but I’ve done some really shitty things as well, so I can’t judge you for it. Besides, it sort of turns me on when you fight for what you deserve.”
“So we’re not breaking up?”
“You cannot get rid of me that easily.”
Marina smirked, but pulled away when he leaned in to kiss her. “Even still, I think stepping away from the Co-Editorial position might be best for me right now. I can focus on other things in my life... like my family, maybe just writing articles and not having so much control over them... and you.”
“I’ll support whatever you want to do.” Ryan said, taking Marina into his grasp and letting the sheet flow to the ground.
[.....]
[.....]
Scene Five:
Stone Creek; Now Town
The Stone Creek Ledger; Editorial Room
Olivia Joplin looked up from the computer and towards the door where the intruder was revealed to be her mother. She smiled warmly and asked her to join her in the otherwise empty Editorial Room. Besides the computers, magazines and scribbled on dry-erase boards there had been no other visitors to the room to keep Olivia occupied. “Did you come to see Seth?”
“I did, indeed,” Diem Joplin started, she looked around the room for a moment and took it all in. It was nice having her daughter moving forward with her life after the mess that her ex. husband Richard had put her through. When Olivia revealed that Richard had abused her in the same way that William Maverick had abused Diem all those years ago -- the wounds re-opened. “But I also wanted to come by and see how you were doing, darling.”
“That’s nice of you.” her daughter replied, scooting over and letting Diem sit along-side her. “I’ve been better... but there’s no need to call the doctors in to diagnose me or anything. I’m still a little angry with Marina for what she did... but I played into her hands as well, so I can’t be too mad.”
Diem bit her lip. “You can feel how ever you want about that... I just wish you'd let me tell James what had happened between the two of you girls, I know he wouldn’t call for that type of bullying. I guess Marina gets something other than that red hair from her mother.”
“It’s more of a reddish brown.” Olivia observed, which caused both women to chuckle.
“Either way-”
“Either way...” Olivia started, she leaned against her mother, “It’s all over with now and I don’t think her father needs to get into any of our disagreements, I’m not a little girl anymore. Besides, I think Marina and I have an understanding now. Things here will be better, I can just tell.”
“Alright, alright,” Olivia watched as her mother sat-up straight and waved her hands, “I will stop nagging about Marina and James. Darling, I trust that you know what you’re doing. How about you come to lunch with Seth and I? Have you had a thing to eat, today?”
Olivia shook her head. “I’m fine, besides I am not going anywhere... especially to lunch with my mother and her boyfriend -- who happens to be my boss!”
“Are you sure you’re alright with the two of us seeing each other?”
At first it had bothered Olivia to see her boss flirting with her mother. But then she had heard the stories about Diem’s relationship with her father, William, and noticed how happy that Seth made the older woman. “I couldn’t be any happier that you’ve found someone.” It also made things easier for Olivia to get to know her father with her mother being pre-occupied. Truth be told, Olivia was at first scared when her father arrived in town because she didn’t want her parents to reunite and bring the stories to life with any more heartache.
She liked them where they were. Separated.
“I’m not interrupting, am I?” Both women turned around to see Seth Keeler in the doorway. “My assistant said you headed off this way, Diem, and since I figured Leia was in the office I would find you in the Editorial Room. How’s this weeks page going, Leia?”
“It’s good.” The younger woman spoke, she forced herself out of her thoughts and tried to smile, although there was no tension in the room, she could still feel a haze falling upon them, if not only in her own thoughts. “I will be done with it by this evening and if you will take my lovely mother to lunch, I might get done with it sooner.”
Diem stood up. “Alright, I know a hint when I hear one!” She chuckled and turned towards Seth, he took her hand in his.
“Mother,” Olivia spoke, she waited until Diem turned back around, “Thank you for understanding, and inviting me to lunch... and I did mean what I said earlier. I’m really happy for you.”
“I love you.” Diem replied, she squeezed Seth’s hand and they made their exit from the room. Leaving Olivia alone to get back to work. She knew that Marina would be getting into work soon and wanted to get the articles into position and edited before she did so.
[.....]
Scene Six:
Stone Creek; Sage Gardens
Gladys’s Bistro; Inside
It had been a very long time since Deborah Faulkner-Nelson had even thought about stepping foot inside of Gladys’s Bistro, and she would rest assured that everyone knew it wasn’t because she was ashamed of being in Sage Gardens. She had lived close by, after all. No, the reason why she had stopped coming to Gladys’s was merely because her husband had found it riveting to eat out at places like Sisyphean’s where they could feel more like equals to their higher society friends. That and the fact that they would be dinning on top of a twenty story building was always a thrill.
But today she was at Gladys’s and it didn’t bother her as much as she had thought it would. It had actually brought back memories of when her children were younger and they would bring them here for family night, or whenever one of them received an award from school -- which did get taxing after awhile.
“That salad must be really great,” Her daughter, the clever and observant Laurie Jonas spoke. “You’ve not said one word to me since the waitress brought it to you.”
Deborah looked down at the mediocre salad and then back up apologetically at her daughter. “I was just thinking about the times we would come here... Could it really have been so long ago?” She asked, but didn’t need confirmation as she knew it had. Instead she put her fork down and placed her napkin in her laps. “How are you doing, sweetie?”
“Things are good.” Laurie said.
“Things are well for your father and I, too.” Deborah replied, putting emphasis on the correct terminology.
Laurie looked up at her mother. “Don’t do that. I don’t need you to correct my grammar like that, mother. Because I’m a grown woman.”
“I wasn’t correcting,” Deborah lied, trying to cover-up the habit she had become accustomed to around her children. It was never to hurt them or to belittle them in any way, after all, it was just like holding onto the back of their shirt as they began to walk, or guiding them into a parking lot when they had begun to drive. So natural and yet so easy to have forget.
“I’m sorry, I just haven’t seen any of you kids since the Christmas before last and sometimes I just fall into old habits. I won’t do it again. I promise. But you have to talk to me, okay? I want to know why you decided to come all this way from Oregon without Michael or the children. I would have loved to see them as well, Laurie.”
The younger woman shook her head. “They have school.”
“Then maybe you could have come down for the Holiday’s when they were out of school.” Deborah insisted, it would have been easier and they could have had more time to see each other. “Especially since your father and I did fly up to see everyone. Not that I’m insisting that you owe us anything-”
“Mother,” Laurie trailed.
But Deborah didn’t want to end her sentence so harshly, she waved her hands in front of her and continued talking. “I would have loved it if you had brought Michael here to Stone Creek. We could have spent more time with him and the kids and then you could have shown them where you grew up... they’ve never been.”
There were so many things that Deborah wanted to show her grandchildren and there was obviously so much of their lives that she had missed as they grew older. Having Laurie show up so unexpected and without them -- it worried Deborah and she had already made it her mission for two thousand and thirteen, not to be so stressed out.
“Michael cheated on me!” Laurie spat, her eyes cold.
The words caused Deborah to flashback to last year when she found out about her husband Frank’s illegitimate child with Lucy Hahn and then further to when Deborah had denied there was an affair going on in the first place. She locked eyes with Laurie and she remembered when the girl was younger and how much light was in those hazel eyes.
“What?”
Laurie swallowed hard, “He cheated on me and I just couldn’t... I couldn’t bare to look at him any longer so I grabbed some clothes and I jumped in the car and I came to see you... He was so guilty and so sorry that it made me sick to my stomach. So I told him that I needed a couple of hours to think about everything and I ended up here... in Stone Creek.”
“You have to go back, Laurie.” Deborah spoke. The words came out of her mouth faster than she had the ability to process them, so she licked her lips to figure out a reason why Laurie had to go back. “Those children need you and I bet they are worried sick about you!” Her words hushed so that nobody else could hear their conversation. A habit she had picked up dining at Sisyphean’s.
“I’m not going back,” Laurie shook her head. “I cannot go back to that life the way you went back to father after he cheated on you. When I was younger I watched how he continued to let you down mother, I saw it with my own eyes. That’s not the life I want for myself... I don’t want to continue to wonder what he is doing or where he is going. I will drive myself crazy!”
Deborah closed her eyes, because she knew these feelings all too well. “But you can regain each other’s trust, Laurie! You have to do it for the children.”
Her daughter shook her head. “What happens when Michael father’s a child by one of these whores? Then what do I do? Sit and wait... spend the next eighteen years of my life waiting in fear for this child to come back into our lives looking for him? What happens when Sebastian grows up? Please tell me that you’ve thought that far ahead, at least, after you took daddy back?”
“This isn’t the place-”
“Then where is?” Laurie cried, she stared at her mother. “He’s going to come looking for him you know. I don’t know when but he will and your life is going to be rocked once again... I can’t let myself go through something like that... I just can not.”
[.....]
Scene Seven:
Stone Creek, Sage Gardens
Alice’s Haven Cafe; Inside
After having talked to her best friend over the phone, Cassie Lakhani grabbed a bag for her son and left the house for the day. She just needed to find something to occupy her mind from her brother leaving Stone Creek, and herself, behind. Jumping into the car that Clifton had bought her she found herself in the parking lot of Alice’s Haven Cafe, but first lingered in the car for a moment to collect herself.
Callum was the only other person in Stone Creek -- besides Miles Fowler, of course -- that had grown-up with her. The only other person that she felt had completely understood her. But that of course was silly because at one point Callum had also shot her with a gun on New Years Eve in two thousand eleven, and brought back their father who also had pulled a gun out on Cassie, which made it hard for her to comprehend how she missed him already.
Her thoughts left her briefly when she lifted Lucian up out of his car seat and into her arms and headed inside the Cafe. Maybe some advice from Kirsten could help her today... that and a hot cup of cocoa to share with her son.
“Mac!” Cassie exclaimed, it dawned upon her that she hadn’t talked to him in some time... especially after their relationship.
“Mac!” Cassie exclaimed, it dawned upon her that she hadn’t talked to him in some time... especially after their relationship.
The man looked up from his computer and smiled at her. “Oh, hey Cassie! Would you care to join me?” She could tell that he was startled to see her, which made sense as Cassie hadn’t really stepped foot in Alice’s since she moved in with Clifton. So she nodded her head and carried Lucian over to Mac’s table. He cleared a space for the two of them to join. “How is the little guy?”
“He’s good.” Cassie replied, she looked down at her son. “He does miss you, when he gets really fussy I remember how you showed me to calm him down. It still works, after all this time. It still works.”
Mac Kern chuckled, “That’s good, I’m really glad.”
The boyish looking man gulped before he continued speaking and Cassie could feel the tension begin to rise as he asked his next question. “How’s Clifton?”
“How’s Dr. Roberts?” Cassie challenged.
Cassie locked eyes with Mac and she hadn’t realized how much time had past until that moment, both of them seemingly have moved on. There was a time when she was fighting with Clifton because all she wanted to do was be with Mac. Now, things had definitely changed and she could feel the tension between the former lovers rise.
She looked around before focusing back on his computer. “So, is this where you go to study?” She asked, keeping the rest of their conversation light. Cassie watched as Lucian took a hold of Mac’s index finger and began swinging it slowly. Mac nodded his head, but his attention kept to the little boy. “I wish I could go back to school.”
“You should.”
“I feel like I’ve sort of passed up my opportunity, you know?” Cassie replied, that and she had a toddler to take care of. Although she knew she could hire a nanny to take care of Lucian while she was at school. Cassie didn’t know if she felt comfortable with a stranger watching her son quite yet.
“Honestly Cassie,” Mac said, “I think now is the perfect time for you to come back to school. After all the stuff your brother and father put you through... you’re a lot stronger than you think you are. I mean, even before that I really looked up to you.”
Cassie smirked. “Thank you... would you like to,” she stopped herself from continuing, her body wanted to buy Mac a cup of cocoa but her mind kept telling her to leave things be. After everything she had been through with Mac and how she broke-up with him for his own good... all Cassie wanted to do was sit down and continue their conversation. “Would you like a cup of cocoa?”
“Sure.” Mac replied, he eye’d her cautiously.
[.....]
Scene Eight:
Stone Creek; Now Town
Sutton Enterprises; Patrick Sutton’s Office
After having spent the morning with Marina, Ryan Bauer felt like everything was finally falling into place. Especially since Marina was able to tell him a secret she had been keeping for a long time. A secret that she thought would drive a wedge between the two of them. It didn’t, of course. But the fact that she felt like she needed to share it -- he felt like she was growing up and starting to treat their relationship like an actual relationship. Of course, he had his own secrets he was keeping from her... but there wasn’t anytime for him to confess this morning as they both had needed to go their separate ways.Jumping out of the elevator he made his way to Patrick’s office and knocked eagerly, waiting for his boss to let him into the office. He wasn’t like any of these other employees at Sutton Enterprises, if he were speaking truthfully, he wasn’t even an employee of the company. He was just a ‘henchman’ for Patrick -- so to speak, of course.
“What’s with the grin, Bauer?” Patrick asked letting the younger man stroll into his office.
Knowing that Patrick Sutton had his reservations with the Thurlow family, Ryan had tried to keep him out of his personal life. Although at one point he had led Patrick to believe that he was only leading Marina along to get the scoop on Ian and Jared Marlowe. That ship had sailed over a year ago now, so his relationship with Marina was now only one of pleasure. “I’ve been spending more time with Marina Thurlow.”
“I told you to watch out for that family.” Patrick warned, he walked around his desk and began to fill something out before he returned to Ryan. “They might not seem like it, but they are nothing but trouble... after all, look at what happened to Shannon... do you want for someone to cause your death like they did hers?”
Ryan furrowed his brow. “That has nothing to do with her family...”
“It had everything to do with them.” Patrick replied coldly, which made Ryan question if there was anything else there. But he decided to stay out of his boss’ personal vendetta and focused more on the paper in his hands.
“How about we just keep my personal life separate from work?”
Patrick stood before him, sternly, and Ryan knew that there was something the older man wasn’t telling him. For as long as Ryan had known Patrick Sutton he knew the man was capable of a lot of things. When he wanted to run for Mayor there was only one person standing in his way -- Jared Marlowe -- and Patrick took care of him, even if he did end up losing out to Damien Crenshaw. There was one thing Patrick did not like; defiance, so standing up to the man took a lot of courage.
He licked his lips, “I didn’t mean to snap-”
“It doesn’t matter.” Patrick replied, he held out his hand and thrust the piece of paper into Ryan’s hands. “None of that really matters right now because I am firing you. I’m letting you go, signing you off and I need you to know-”
“You’re firing me because I’m sleeping with Marina?”
Patrick shook his head and turned on his heel. He paced back to his chair and with his hands firmly on the desk he guided himself back into his chair. “I don’t give a rats ass who you’re sleeping with, and I really don’t want to hear the details Bauer. I just wanted you to know that you can’t trust that family.”
“Okay, I get that.” Ryan said, he rushed towards Patrick’s desk demanding answers. “But why are you firing me?”
“Because I need someone on the inside. This whole time I had been trying to get one-step ahead of Damien Crenshaw by playing a guessing game and do you know how incredibly exhausting guessing games are? Of course you do, you’ve been there along the way this entire time! I can’t continue to be overtaken by this idiot in my hometown like this. It’s unacceptable.”
“But what does that have to do with me?”
Patrick smirked. “We need to stop guessing and get a picture of what Damien Crenshaw plans to do next. I need this man out of Stone Creek and away from my daughter at once. The only way I can do that is to get someone that I trust on the inside and that someone is you! Do you see now?”
Of course Ryan could connect the dotes, the very obvious ones. But he still had no clue as to how they were going to get him on the inside. Damien Crenshaw has known about Ryan’s involvement with Patrick’s campaign since the beginning, how was he going to slide right into Damien’s brain? “You fire me and what? Suddenly Damien will realize that I’m the perfect asset?”
“Not exactly.” Patrick admitted, he flinched. “That is why you need to convince the man that you’re no longer working for me and that you are willing to trade vital information for a job with him on the council... or at least as an assistant... anything to get your ear to the right door.”
Ryan looked down at the paper and noticed that it wasn’t just any paper, lifting it up closer to his eyes he realized that it was a check. A final check? “So this is it?”
“This is just the beginning.” Patrick smugly replied.
[.....]
Scene Nine:
Stone Creek; Boulstridge Mountains
The Lakeside Inn; North-end Porch
“I really must thank you for taking me to lunch today -- even if it was only a few steps away,” Caitlyn chuckled as she stood out on a back porch of the Lakeside Inn, she grasped the younger man’s hand and shook it lightly, “I’m really thankful to be here today, actually, just to be alive and breathing. Too many times I just laid in bed and let life pass me by. It wasn’t fair to the ones we’ve lost.”
The words hit Aidan in the chest, although he recovered quickly he could still feel the loss of not only his mother, but the life he once had in Paris, France with his father, sister and grandmother. It wasn’t to say he wasn’t happy here, because being in Stone Creek is where he had learned to live again as well, just like Caitlyn was.
He looked out at the view they had. How the snow covered mountains seemed to go on forever to the North of them. The frost in the air was enough to fight the heat within their bodies, but the heat would fight on and it was a blessing. “We have to keep living for Emily and my mother, both.”
“Yes,” She nodded her head, “we do. Which is one of the reasons why I want this Ball to go off without a hitch -- oh gosh,” Caitlyn scrunched up her nose, “did I just say that? Do people say that saying anymore?” She chuckled, letting out a much needed breath of air.
Aidan shrugged. “My American slang is still a tad rusty, I would say. But, I too am excited about the Ball. It will definitely be festive and if all the plans go over well, we can make it the best one we’ve had yet. With the discounts that we will be offering the guests if they choose to stay here for the night, I think we can turn a profit.”
“That was a perfect idea, keeping with the theme of making sure that everyone is safe.” Caitlyn replied, she found a bench for them to sit at and Aidan followed her towards it. “Now that we have all of the basics out of the way, why don’t you tell me about how things are going for yourself and Taylor?”
The question had caught Aidan off-guard since it hadn’t been up for discussion before and quite frankly, most of his family had started to get comfortable with the idea that they had stopped asking questions in general. Caitlyn had become closer to both Aidan and Taylor over the holidays, mostly because Taylor was an amazing cook and had invited the family over for dinner on a couple different occasions. So it was only natural that she would ask this question.
He smirked. “Things are going really good... really great for the both of us.”
“I’m glad.” Caitlyn beamed, full-heartily.
With both Aidan and Caitlyn too deep in their conversation to care about anything surrounding them, they both failed to notice the person watching them from afar. Clad in dark rimmed glasses, a brown wool peacoat buttoned-up to their chest and a hat holding in their locks of golden hair the person stepped into the snow with heavy black snow boots.
[.....]
Scene Ten:
Stone Creek; Now Town
Stone Creek City Hall; Damien Crenshaw’s Office
“Everything is finally falling into place.” Clifton Briggs said, he closed the hard wooden door to Damien Crenshaw’s office and turned to face his employer. “I have finally got that lowlife criminal out of my house for good.”
Damien looked at the dark-skinned man and shook his head. Hearing a lowlife criminal call out another criminal as being lowlife, it was definitely means to stop and think about the company he was keeping. Although he couldn’t deny his shading deeds -- especially where Clifton was concerned. He motioned for the man to sit down in front of him.
“So I see the brain-washed one is finally taken care of. I hope it wasn’t too messy.” Damien joked, taking note of the shrug coming from his companion. “Seriously though, are you still pinning away at the young pair of legs you fathered a child with?”
“Her name is Cassie.”
He knew her name, Damien knew a lot about the young woman -- so much in fact that he was tired of hearing her name so he found new nicknames to give her, for his amusement, of course. The light in Damien’s office flickered which caused him to move the conversation along.
“Right,” he spoke, strategically placing himself near his desk. Damien had already been the mayor of Stone Creek for a year and beyond wearing ties and suits everyday he had learned to carry himself with more grace than before. It helped knowing that everyone in Stone Creek had loathed him. Especially Patrick Sutton.
Damien sat in his chair, “Well, if you’re really looking to get in good with Pocahontas, she seems fragile enough at the moment to take you up on your offer. Seriously, her father tried to have her killed and her brother shot her... you couldn’t find a more fragile thing if you put a bull in a china shop. What you should really do is send her to a shrink!”
“She’s not crazy!” Clifton protested, “And Cassie is nothing like her father.”
It wouldn’t have been a surprise to Damien if she were crazy... he knew if he were put in her situation he probably wouldn’t have made it out with a shred of sanity. But he really didn’t want to think about that -- nor did he want to show Clifton his more hidden sensitive side so he just shrugged it off. “How about we start working on a way to secure ourselves the City Council?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that I need to get my hands on the City Council... I’m Mayor of Stone Creek, yes, but that still doesn’t give me complete control of things in this city. Now if I had my hands knee-deep in the council then maybe I can get the control I’m looking for... I’m talking about getting Penelope Wilkinson and Caitlyn Thurlow off the council.”
“They’re both really well respected in the community...”
Damien could almost hear Clifton ask him how he would do that and he in that moment that everything from here on out was going to be his own doing. He sighed. “I just need the council to think that Caitlyn is a little less than stable these days... which shouldn’t be too hard. As for Penelope, she’s old... like, dinosaur old.”
“So it’ll be that easy, you think?”
“I know.” Damien scowled, he rolled his cold brown eyes. “Besides, I think that Caitlyn should focus on rebuilding herself. We both lost our daughter this past year and did you see the way that woman fell apart? It would be best for her to take an absence from the council anyhow... if her seat gets occupied in the meantime... well, that’s not our fault.”
“You’re a bastard.”
That I am, he thought with a smug grin. Besides his ex. wife had many chances to jump on Damien’s bandwagon since his his appearance in Stone Creek and all she had managed to do was help build bigger targets on Damien’s back... oh, and place a restraining order against him. It wasn’t that he thought she deserved getting the boot from the council as much as he wanted to just see her put in her place.
“When are we going to move forward with the plans to bring Shenanigan’s to ‘Now Town’?” Clifton asked, it was a question that Damien had grown tired of avoiding. He turned toward the darker man and stared past him for a moment, processing his next instructions.
Damien sighed. “How about you just go and find a vacant space for the Nightclub and we will see what can be done about it, alright?”
“Sure thing, boss.” Clifton smirked.
“Don’t call me that.” He snarled, licking his chops.
[.....]
Scene Eleven:
341 Wallow St., Stone Creek. [Schmidt Home]
David Schmidt’s Home.
The porch light flickered on and Helen Tyree found it weird that the light hadn’t already been on, but of course she no longer lived there and like most things that no longer involved Helen -- she figured that things had already fallen apart. Especially where David were concerned. After all, her life had skyrocketed once she finally left David and found her friendship with Patrick Sutton to be more profitable. Of course it would eventually venture into a sexual relationship that paved way for Helen to move into the Holly Oak Manor -- which of course she did with command.
“Helen, why are you here?” Dr. David Schmidt asked, he opened the front door, but blocked her from entering the house.
It was a valid question and one that Helen planned on answering once he had let her inside. It was freezing cold in Stone Creek tonight and she wanted to very much enter the place she had called home for thirteen years of her life. When David’s guard of the house wouldn’t let up she sigh, pouted and then crossed her arms.
“If you would let me in... I’d tell you!” She shrugged and watched as his barricade slowly began to fall, it was something she had grown used to with the doctor. Helen realized the thing that tore them apart was how predictable he had come and how for some reason it was the thing that she wanted to cling to for fear that she wouldn’t ever meet a man that would cater to her like David had. “It’s freezing out there.”
“I see you still haven’t adjusted to the weather since leaving your rightful spot in hell, Helen.” She chuckled at his jab, moved past David, and led him towards the Kitchen where she made herself at home and searched the cabinets for a glass to pour water into.
Then she turned to David with a condescending smile. “We need to talk, about some very important things that concern the two of us... I think it’s the least you can do after I let you keep your home, don’t you think?”
He shook his head. “I was trying to rest me eyes tonight without a headache Helen, but sure why not -- for old times sake? Bring it on.”
“Your sarcasm is impressive.” Helen replied, she smirked. “I wish this side of you had showed it’s ugly face a lot more while we were together David, it was the one side of you I loved the most -- just think about all the wild sex we could have had afterwards.”
“I think we had enough wild sex.”
Helen shrugged. “There you go taming the shrew again. I really think that we could have made something work between the two of us. After carrying on an affair behind James’ back for ten years -- you’d think our actual marriage wouldn’t have been so... boring.”
“Is there a point here Helen?”
There is a point and she knows that by the end of their conversation all she wants to do is make David feel bad. Because quite honestly she doesn’t know how to deal with her own emotions about him. About what they once were. Which was a lot more than she was with James -- by far. Helen shifted her weight from one studded heel to the other, “There’s a point.” She insists.
“Are you drunk?” He questioned, just as she stumbled her weight around again.
But Helen pulls the glass to her lips and quickly sucks in the water she had poured earlier. It’s a miracle that she isn’t drunk. “No, I am most certainly not. What? Do you think because I’ve started seeing Patrick that I automatically picked-up a drinking problem?”
“After ‘seeing’ him, I think anyone would, frankly,” David scoffed, he sighed. “Then what is going on Helen? Why have you come over and invaded my home? There was a part of you that wanted nothing more than to take it from me a couple of months ago... then you gave it back,”
Because that stupid lawyer of yours, she thought.
“So tell me why you’re here.”
Helen was there, standing in front of her ex. husband because she wanted to just feel the power they once had. Was she foolish to leave David because Patrick seemed more intriguing? Was she one to be called fickle because she jumped from one man to another? Or would one call her cunning because she chased their power and drained them of it?
“I’m here to tell you that I’m staying with Patrick at the Holly Oak Manor,” she gritted, deciding that she wouldn’t swallow her pride where David was concerned. She knew better to be weakened by her feelings towards other people. “I’m here to tell you that I want to be with him.”
Her ex. husband scoffed. “Well, good for you! I think you have officially conquered all the rich and powerful men in Stone Creek. Bravo! Do you want anything else from me Helen? Do I need to hand over my balls in a nice box with a bow on it? Is that why you’re here?”
“No!” She squirmed. “Patrick has treated me with higher regard than you ever have... he appreciates me David and I just wanted to let you know that you can thank him for you being able to live here with your dead ex. wife’s memory.”
“You two deserve each other.” David shook his head. “I think you should leave, Helen... I think you should leave right now. You’re not welcome here any longer and quite frankly I think it was only a matter of time before you found out the hard way-”
“Found what out?” She challenged.
He smirked, devilishly, “How it feels to be alone.”
“But I’m not.”
“You will be once Patrick gets his way with you. He was married to Charlene for years and not once did he ever actually love her... you think you’re any different? That man loves the chase and he loves controlling other people even more. Just wait until he no longer needs you in his bed to keep him warm... just wait until he kicks you out of his home.”
Helen laughed off his threats, she placed the glass down on the counter and moved closer to David. “He’s not going to leave me...”
“How sadly you believe that.” David replied, coldly.
[.....]
Scene Twelve:
813 Crystal Hill St., Stone Creek. [Bayou Oaks Condos #21]
Aidan Jurado’s Condo.
“That’s nice you know,” Aidan could hear Taylor say from the hallway, his boyfriend appeared in Aidan’s bedroom not too many seconds later, “Having someone in your family to talk to about things... other than Kirsten, that is. I think they are trying to understand our relationship and I’m really glad that they’ve accepted me into your life.”
Aidan smirked, deep down he was ecstatic that they could accept Taylor as Aidan’s boyfriend. Although he knew that coming out to his uncle’s family was a huge step... he also knew that keeping his father in the dark was a cop-out, but that was a topic for another day. He looked at his boyfriend and smiled, the tall and lanky man was what Aidan would refer to as a ‘hunk’, even if he were an All-American Boy. At least Aidan knew that Taylor was all his.
“What’s on your mind?” Taylor asked, stepping out of his pants and pulling on a more comfortable pair of knitted pajama bottoms he had left at Aidan’s home. Their routine had come with ease that it paralleled many of Aidan’s previous relationships.
“It’s nothing... I was just thinking about this Winter Wonderland Ball that Caitlyn wants to throw at the Inn. She had a point that it is exactly what the town -- and we need -- collectively.” Aidan watched Taylor from the corner of his eye as the man went into the bathroom, turned on the light, and began to brush his teeth.
A couple minutes later Taylor stood in the doorway, the light from the bathroom off and the silhouette of his boyfriend playfully teasing him. “Do you think we should ask the Chief of Police if he could get a couple patrols along Cutler Road that evening? That way we can be sure nothing extremely terrible can happen this time around?”
“That’s a good idea.” Aidan replied.
Taylor smirked. “I will call the station tomorrow in the morning and see what they think about that.” He told his boyfriend and slipped into bed with him. Crawling up towards Aidan and laying on his chest. Taylor ran a hand along the man’s body. “Do you think we can pull this off with such a short time schedule?”
Although he had been confident enough with Caitlyn about the Ball, it was definitely a question that Aidan had asked himself as well. They had about a month to invite everyone, get the plans ran through and decorate for it. February was just around the corner. “I think we can do it.”
“Just think?” Taylor teased, he lifted his head and rested a hand on Aidan’s chest and his chin on the hand. He flashed Aidan a smile.
“I know.” Aidan declared, he arched an eyebrow and leaned down to kiss Taylor’s head. In that moment Taylor picked his head up and met Aidan’s lips with his own. Both fell back on the bed with Aidan on top of his lover. “As long as we don’t hit any snags along the way... we can get this Ball off onto it’s feet. I believe in us.”
“I believe in us too.” Taylor breathed.
The men lay there; Aidan ran a hand through Taylor’s hair as he used the other one to hold the man’s chin in place as he kissed him. While Taylor ran both his hand underneath Aidan’s body and down towards the waist of the cotton shirt he had on, ready to tug it off.
In an instant Aidan is up off his back and shirtless, showing the sparse hairs on his well defined chest and wrapping his arms around Taylor’s waist as they kiss one another tenderly. His hands, which have become occupied with getting Taylor just as naked tremble with delight. As Aidan leans against Taylor shoulder and tugs at the back of Taylor’s shirt he could feel the other man’s warm breath against his naked neck. He kisses Taylor’s lightly.
Aidan leaned back to get a good look at his boyfriend as he pulled the shirt off and then pulls the man down onto the bed and on top of his shivering body.
[.....]
[.....]
Scene Thirteen:
Stone Creek; Now Town
Sutton Enterprises; Patrick Sutton’s Office
From what he could see -- mostly from his own predictions, Patrick Sutton could tell he was alone in the office building, or at least on the current Floor. His desk light shone bright against the pale moonlight of the dramatic floor to ceiling window that his back now faced.
His conversation with Ryan earlier seemed as unexpected as the thought behind it, but he knew that there was a story to uncover where Damien Crenshaw was concerned. Patrick had watched the man slowly take everything away from him, first he stole Gillian away from her family -- how ever ill-conceived Patrick’s attempts were to keep the family together -- he didn’t want Gillian to become so enraged with her father. Then Damien took the revenge that Patrick loved getting over the Thurlow family and lastly, as if to be a constant figure in Patrick’s nightly dreams, Damien managed to collect enough votes to become Mayor of Stone Creek. He had garnered himself enough leverage to become a notorious foe to Patrick’s unconventional hero.
A knock on the open office door followed by a greeting from a rather tall blonde woman caused him to do a double-take and then scoffed at the idea of her appearing in his doorway. “What in the devil’s name are you doing back in Stone Creek?” He asked, his attention fully on her answer, as if it were her intent.
The woman smirked and lingered around his doorway. “Oh dear brother, why do you always have to bring the devil into our conversations?”
“Because he father’d us both, Kimberly.”
She laughed, enough to captivate even the strongest of foes. Then nodded her head in agreement, “Even still, I don’t think he really raised either of us... besides I am not here to talk about Cutler Sutton as much as I am here to say hello to you.” She sighed, frowning, “how are you?”
“What are you doing here?” Patrick maintained, ignoring her otherwise innocent question.
Kimberly Sutton placed her hands on her hips and shrugged. “Your daughter asked me to come to Stone Creek to help with a couple plans for father’s company... if you really need to know. Also, I’ve sort of missed being here, home. I know I haven’t been back since before my last divorce...”
She looked at her hands, holding them in front of her in the dim light of her brother’s office. This was a constant thing that Patrick picked-up on whenever Kimberly didn’t want to talk about a certain subject. She would divert her attention to something else, cutting off all eye contact. A coping mechanism that Patrick assumed Kimberly picked up from her whore of a mother, Nancy Keeler.
“I don’t want to talk about your last divorce.” Patrick gritted.
“Me either.” She smiled, wrangling in a stray lock of blonde hair and smiling lightly at Patrick. “I was just dropping a couple of my things off here at the office before I went back to my hotel and I saw a light on so I wanted to say hello.” She waved, exaggeratedly.
“Hello.” Patrick snuffed.
He watched as Kimberly began to make her way out of the office, but then turned back around. “Listen, I know the shit that went down between us all those years ago still runs cold in your veins... since you’re the first person who thinks with revenge on his mind. But you damn well better listen to me Patrick, this company needs the both of us guiding your bubbleheaded little daughter if you like it or not. So please, if you could pretend that I’m back in town as a good thing... that would be nice.”
Patrick smirked, restrictively, “Welcome back to Stone Creek, dear sister.”
“That’s more like it.” Kimberly chuckled. “I’ll be seeing you a lot more Patrick, I hope that we can bring this company back to the forefront of what it used to be when the scum that was our father ran it extremely successfully.”
“Of course.” He nodded, watching her go.
[.....]
Scene Fourteen:
510 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Nelson Home]
Frank & Deborah Nelson’s Home.
Deborah Nelson picked up a morose purple colored show pillow from the bed and for a second she held it, debating exactly why it even belonged on the bed. It was a simple -- yet often routine thought, as if she were putting butter on her toast. Simple; too easily of a thought and already planned out before she even entered the room. She tossed it on a nearby dark hued Skyline Accent Chair, then looked up at her husband who was on the other end of the bed and doing the exact same thing.
She sighed, they were getting ready for bed and after the long days they both -- respectively -- had, all she wanted to do was get into their huge California king sized bed. “Do you think she would come back, though?” Deborah asked, carrying over the conversation the two of them had while in the bathroom brushing their teeth.
Frank looked up at her, without a thought, “She’s not coming back. There’s no room for Lucy Hahn to even think about returning to Stone Creek -- or Cuttlebone County -- for that matter! That woman, she might be the mother of my child, but she definitely isn’t coming back!”
“I know you say that Frank and I know that you would do everything in your power to have her contained if she did ever decide to come back to Stone Creek. But you both share a son and quite frankly that baby boy is going to grow-up sooner than later...” Their daughter’s words echoed in her head and she did everything she could to knock them out after lunch but she couldn’t and they began to seed. “Which means that in the next ten to twenty years that boy is going to become a man and he is going to start getting these ideas-”
“He’s not!”
How foolish you are being, Deborah grumbled to herself, she shook her head and bit her tongue. Reminding herself of the goal she had for tonight: to go to sleep without fighting. They had finally begun to rebuild their marriage and the trust. The trust was finally back in the picture. It helped that they talked openly about Sebastian more than not... but he never budged on what they were going to do for the future, if the boy ever did come search out Frank.
So in hindsight, it wasn’t only Laurie’s words that scared Deborah. Her own fears were doing a damned well job of that as well. She pulled the comforted up and across the bed and leaned into the cushion, in hopes that it would ease her stress. “But what if he does?”
“I love you,” Frank said.
Deborah grinned, conflicted.
So he scooted closer to her on the bed and took her hands in his own. “I love you and the way you worry for this family so much... but Deborah, we have no control over what Sebastian is going to do in ten years from now. There’s no telling if he will even know who I am or where I am, for that matter.”
“I just don’t want one more thing coming between the two of us.” She admitted, and she felt so naked laying the truth out in front of him that she dug her nails into the comforted and pulled it closer to her body. “There’s nothing else I want more than this right now.”
“Then nothing else you will get.” Frank spoke, with a grin.
Deborah closed her eyes and she could feel Frank’s breath upon her cheek, his lips moist and warm and sending shivers down her body. She knew planning ahead would be difficult for them now that Sebastian and Lucy Hahn could destroy everything on a moments notice. It wasn’t easy knowing that she had once shared her husband with another woman... but Deborah was working through that.
Then she thought back to what Laurie had told her earlier and she knew now that her only daughter knew exactly how Deborah felt. Although she felt more equipped to help Laurie cope with everything... she also felt her heart drop just thinking about how much pain the younger woman must be going through. So she shook her head, leaning it against Frank’s in hopes that eh could lighten her load.
He kissed her forehead. “I think it’s time for bed.”
“I think so too.” Deborah agreed.
[.....]
Scene Fifteen:
510 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Nelson Home]
Frank & Deborah Nelson’s Home.
A shaggy brown bear sat slumped in a corner, it’s black beady eyes trained on the only person in the room. Laurie had named him ‘Charlie’ and he was a birthday present from her father when she was eight years old. Her younger brother Kyle used to call him ‘Ass-hat’ whenever their parents weren’t around. The relationship between the siblings was strained and it had been ever since.
Laurie’s childhood room looked the same as she last seen it. When she was twelve she ordered her parents to the closest Hardware Store to pick-up black paint so she could paint over the cream colored walls. But they wouldn’t listen and she spent a week in her room ignoring them unless dinner was ready. It was so juvenile of her to do, but at the time it was where her heart was.
Now she couldn’t stop mentally thanking them for keeping this part of her life the same, the memories. After everything that Laurie had been through -- it was nice to return home. To a place that was so familiar that it gave her mind some time to stop spinning.
‘WHERE ARE YOU?’ the text read, it was clear who it was from and most of her body urged her to put the phone away and ignore it. It was her reaction to anything that involved her husband at the moment. Just to pretend that he didn’t exist. Pretend that he didn’t humiliate her in front of the whore he was sleeping with. Laurie knew the woman -- they had met each other many times, which made it even harder.
She lifted the phone up, her hands betraying her mind, ‘I JUST NEED TIME TO MYSELF, MICHAEL.’ Laurie replied, sniffling.
If it were a lie she was telling him, her mind obviously was keeping it from her body. Coming to Stone Creek was the only thing that Laurie could think to do. Was it the right thing to do? Was it right to leave her children with her husband and run away from everything? Her mind was telling her that it was, but her body was missing them terribly.
So instead of continuing the conversation she pulled up a video she had taken of her children on Christmas Day, when they had opened their presents. Her children -- Colin and Ava -- sat in front of the Christmas tree, chuckling and giggling away while they opened their presents. Her four year old was excited. The brown haired little girl would show her mother every present after it was opened, as if to tell her mother how excited she was that Santa remembered what to get her. While Colin -- a very coy and sly six year old looked at the camera with a knowing grin, but for his sister’s sake he thanked Santa for the presents as well.
Then there was him. Her husband.
He looked at the camera with a sparkle in his deep brown eyes and a grin that she knew all too well. A grin that Laurie had begun to see in their son and up-until she found out about her husband's indiscretions she had expressed her fondness for the similarities. Now she had wished she could just kill Michael for what he had caused for their family. In the video, still holding the conversation that morning -- his hair frazzled and his lips chapped, he scooted closer and for a minute the camera went dark. Laurie knew that he had kissed her and she had liked it.
The kids squealed at the kiss. Laurie paused the video -- the life she had once had, it was now gone. She placed the phone on the nightstand and turned off the bedroom light. Laying in the bed for what felt like hours...
[.....]
Scene Sixteen:
1509 Mango Ln., Stone Creek. [Briggs Home]
Clifton, Cassie & Lucian’s Home.
When Clifton finally arrived home, he found his housemate in the Living Room. She was facing away from him, but a heavy flicker of light from the fire place told him all that he needed to know; Cassie was still digesting that Callum left Stone Creek. He made his way into the room after hanging up his coat in the hall closet and cleared his throat, signaling his presence. Although it caused her to jump, it seemed as if she were happy to see him home, a smile evaded her otherwise troubled expression.
“I take it Lucian is already tucked in for the night?” Clifton asked, he took a seat across from Cassie in an old leather lounge chair and looked at the younger woman. Her attention caught on the flames of the fireplace, Clifton wanted so desperately to know what she was thinking -- feeling. “I was thinking about Callum earlier at work and I thought... you know, since we now have a way of contacting him that maybe, if you’d like -- whenever he gets settled in, we can go visit him.”
Cassie looked at him and smiled half-heartedly. “That would be nice.”
“Are you sure you’re alright?” He asked, he caught her off-guard and was sure she was trying to find a way to sugar-coat things, as she always had done when it came to him. It angered Clifton that she no longer tried to confide in him. As if she were trying so hard to keep the boundary between them just that... a boundary.
There were many things in life that Clifton kept at arms length, so he was used to the feeling. His relationship with the girls who worked at his club, although he made sure they were taken care of, he almost always kept a professional relationship with them. Even his ex. wife Audrey was kept at a distance, for the most part. Their marriage was so well organized that it felt more arranged than lustful towards the end of it.
“I’m fine.” Cassie replied, she held her hands close to her body. “I’m really glad to be here Clifton, don’t think I’m not... You wanting to help me go see Callum, it’s really nice. I can’t thank you enough. I’m just sorry that my head has been so distracted lately, with everything going on --”
“Cassie, never apologize to me.” He spoke, earnestly.
They locked eyes for a moment and Clifton felt as if he had finally made a connection. When the moment was gone and their eyes found drawn to other spots in the room, Cassie to the flame as it danced in front of them and the heat that vibrated off of it, Clifton to the hallway closet where his coat hung. Then he turned back to Cassie, “I bought you something earlier.”
“You need to stop doing that.” Her lips curled up.
But Clifton was already making his way over to his coat and taking the item out of one of the pockets. When he turned back to her he motioned for her to go outside with him to the porch. While he was in town he had walked by a little shop wedged in between two buildings and something inside had caught his attention. It took him a moment to realize why it caught his attention as all it was was metal and string, but then he remembered a story his mother used to tell him when he was a boy.
The story about a man who left home, left his wife and children behind so that he could become a better man. She would tell Clifton how this man had wronged his family by laying his hands on his wife and roughing up their children so he decided to leave and give them a better life. The wife, relieved but depressed hung a wind-chime on their porch of a man holding up a lantern as a symbol of her husband’s search for strength to one day come back to his family and be a better man.
Clifton held the very similar wind-chime out for Cassie to take a hold of and retold the story to her as she admired it. She looked at him with a furrowed brow, “Did he ever come back?”
He shook his head. “Strength isn’t in not coming back... but not giving up hope. Since I figured Callum had left for these very reasons I thought it was only fitting for us to do the same as that lady -- my mother -- had done before, when I was a child.” Cassie looked at him surprised that he would let something so secret and close to his heart out. “How would you feel if we hung this up for Callum?”
“I’d love that.” Cassie said.
Clifton went back into the house and minutes later came back out with a hammer and a nail. “Lets hang it up together, shall we?”
She nodded her head.
[.....]
Next Time, On Concrete Shelves
- Kirsten Sutton has a proposition for her old friend, Adrian Stone.
- Marina Thurlow goes to talk to Seth Keeler about stepping down from her position at the Stone Creek Ledger, but he has a surprising reply for her that she never seen coming.
- Aidan Jurado plans to move things forward for himself, Taylor and the Winter Wonderland Ball. But is he pushing things too fast and could it spell out disaster for the couple or the Ball?
- Laurie Jonas tries to cement her future in Stone Creek by asking one of her old boss’ for her previous job back...
