Episode 325
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Deidra wait,” Dean reached out to her drawing her back before she
could launch an attack on her husband. He glanced over at Andy wondering what
he was doing at Ben and Diane’s in the first place as it was clear no
one was expecting him to arrive at the door.
“Andy, what are you doing here?” Diane questioned pushing her way
over to where he stood near her door.
“I thought I would bring over a housewarming gift,” he explained
holding the bottle of wine out to her. “I had no idea that you were throwing
a party.”
“Well we are and you’re not on the guest list,” Ben added with
a huff his eyes narrowing up at the man who had caused so many problems for
the two sisters over the years. Looking over at Deidra he could see that she
was ready to attack should she be provoked in the slightest bit by Andy.
“Is that right?” Andy’s blue eyes narrowed in down at Ben,
“because the last time I checked this was Diane’s house too and
I would think that you would let her have some say in who should and shouldn’t
be here.”
“Now really isn’t a good time Andy,” Diane began trying to
be as polite as possible now that she was right in the middle of a potentially
disastrous situation.
“No I think this is as good a time as any,” Andy pushed the bottle
of wine into Diane’s chest before his eyes narrowed in over at Deidra,
“What aren’t you going to give me a welcome home kiss since we haven’t
seen one another in a while honey?”
“Oh please,” Deidra rolled her eyes at him, “I’m sure
you’ve had more than your share of kisses from everyone else in town.
You don’t need mine.”
“It would appear that you aren’t exactly lacking in the kiss department
there either,” Andy quipped with a sarcastic smirk before turning his
attention to Dean. He held his hand out to Dean and spoke up again, “Hi
I’m her husband and I’ll assume that you’re her means of getting
revenge on me because of the tiff we had.”
Deidra slapped his hand away from Dean’s before they could make any contact
with one another. Frowning Deidra pushed out of Dean’s arms and glared
up at Andy. “What the hell is wrong with you? Did you figure you didn’t
make me miserable enough in Florida, so you came here to finish the job?”
“It looks like you’re finishing the job all on your own with your
boy toy over there,” Andy snarled down at her, watching the way she placed
her hands on her hips in a defiant stance, “Besides don’t flatter
yourself Deidra because I can assure you that the reason I’m back in
town has absolutely nothing to do with you and everything to do with me.”
“It sounds like the story of your life, but as much as I would want to
believe that was the case, your little phone call you left on my answering
machine leads me to believe differently,” Deidra shot back at him icily,
“but I didn’t expect you would show up at my sister’s house
like this.”
“Funny because I would’ve thought you’d see that I enjoyed
her company more,” Andy spoke up with a sharp tone, his blue eyes giving
Diane a lecherous once over before he turned to Deidra once again, “She
was always the one who knew how to have fun in the family.”
“Yeah I’ll bet,” Deidra raised her hand as if she was going
to slap Andy, but Dean prevented her by doing so when he stepped in between
them.
“I think we should just all cool down,” Dean offered up hoping to
get a distance between Andy and Deidra.
“Oh no please don’t stop her on my account. My wife is known to
fly off the handle. She’s got bouts of depression that carry over her
and she’s been dealing with that and all of her other inadequacies all
of her life,” Andy mouthed in a dry, hollow tone before turning to Diane,
“I truly didn’t realize you were having a party tonight. I would’ve
called first had I known that you had her here.”
“Like it would matter considering that you live to make me miserable,”
Deidra shot back at him feeling Dean’s hand on her shoulder.
“Why don’t we just go off into the kitchen and get those drinks
we talked about earlier?” Dean suggested trying to scoot Deidra into
the other room.
“That’s right. Why don’t you find a corner to go make out with
her in so that she can forget about the real man that tossed her to the curb,”
Andy blurted out with an icy tone.
“You know what…” Dean felt himself losing his cool at Andy’s
condescending attitude.
“I think it’s time for you to leave,” Ben pushed the front
door open further before moving in closer to Andy, “I’ll even walk
you to your car if you would like.”
“I’ll find my own way out,” Andy mouthed smugly before turning
to Diane, “I’ll call you later. You take care and again I’m
sorry I ruined your evening.”
Diane nodded not saying a word as Andy walked to the door. She watched Andy
and Ben exchange glares with one another before Ben slammed the door behind
Andy’s exit. Once he was gone Diane turned around to see her sister staring
at her fury building behind her eyes.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing spending time with him?
After all he’s done to hurt me, how in the hell could you invite him
into our lives again Diane?” Deidra spoke up in an accusatory tone letting
Diane know that this night had gone from easygoing to a living nightmare in
the blink of an eye now that Andy had made his mark on the evening.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Brant felt a moment of worry press over him, his thoughts returning to what
Ken would say in seeing Angela. There was no denying that she looked just
like Avery, but the question was how would Ken react? Judging by the look
on Ken’s face Brant knew he needed to act fast before this situation
took a spin in the wrong direction.
“Ken this is Angela,” Brant spoke up hurriedly seeing the strange
look his brother was giving him.
“Angela?” Ken glanced over at her for a long moment, “Wow for
a second there I could’ve sworn that you were…”
“Someone else,” Brant cut him off refusing to give Ken a chance
to say something to upset Angela. “Hey it happens all the time around
here. I mean look at Ken and I…”
“I am looking at the both of you,” Angela shifted her gaze between
the two men before turning to Brant again.
“We’re twins,” Brant informed her stating what was plainly
obvious to everyone in the room.
“Oh my God,” Angela gasped a sudden realization hitting her. “That
must be why we’re having twins because you’re a twin.”
“What?” Ken blinked back at the both of them.
“That’s right,” Brant informed his brother with a firm warning
look, “Angela and I are having twins with each other.”
“How did you manage that one?” Ken quipped unable to contain himself.
“I mean that seems fast doesn’t it?”
“We met a while ago,” Angela explained turning to face Ken again,
still feeling Brant’s arms around her. “He and I hooked up with
one another on an island…”
“At Christmas time,” Brant added throwing another glare out at Ken.
“Really?” Ken’s eyes widened before understanding poured in
over him. “Oh you mean you two met on the island…”
“That’s right,” Brant nodded quickly.
“Well, I can certainly see what it is that Brant took to you for,”
Ken noted catching the ‘I’m going to kill you’ look that Brant
was issuing him. “I mean, it’s nice to meet you…Angela was
it?”
“That’s right,” she stepped forward reaching out to shake his
hand. “It’s nice to meet you too Ken.”
“Tell me something,” Ken couldn’t help but ask once he’d
finished shaking her hand, “How did you two find one another exactly?”
“You mean on the island or in Coral Valley?” Angela asked curiously.
“How about both?” Ken suggested watching Brant shake his fist at
him.
“Well, we were both having a not so great Christmas and that’s when
we met,” Angela confessed with a warm smile taking the time to talk with
Ken about things.
“Yeah, you remember what Christmas was like, don’t you Ken? You
know back when you and Caitlin thought it was nice to treat me like dirt,”
Brant grumbled back at his brother.
“Whose Caitlin?” Angela questioned curiously.
“That’s not important right now,” Brant waved his hand dismissively,
“but what is important is that Ken should know just how much you mean
to me. I mean every time he’s been in love in the past I’ve supported
him and even forgave him for some mistakes he’s made.”
“Brant, I really don’t think that…” Ken shifted on his
feet uneasily.
“Am I missing something here?” Angela couldn’t help but ask
suddenly sensing tension between them.
“No, not really other than the fact that Ken slept with my wife at one
point in time, isn’t that right Ken?” Brant tossed out a firm warning
look at his brother urging him to stop before he started.
“It was a mistake,” Ken replied opting to just let the matter go
for now with Brant. “I wasn’t myself.”
“Oh my,” Angela couldn’t help but gasp in surprise. “Look
you both don’t have to get into this considering that…”
“It was a long time ago and in the end it worked out for the best since
she wasn’t the one I was meant to be with anyways,” Brant added
with the beginnings of a smile. “I mean if I would’ve been with
her, I never would’ve found the woman I was supposed to be with, now
would I?”
“It’s funny how fate has a way of working itself out,” Angela
turned to look at Brant with a small smile.
“I’ll second that,” Ken nodded in response hearing the sound
of footsteps in the doorway. Before he could say anything further Wendy walked
in wearing a bright smile.
“There you are,” Wendy wrapped her arms around Ken’s waist.
“I thought I lost you for a second there.”
“Actually I was talking to Brant and,” Ken started to explain as
Wendy glanced over at Brant and Angela.
“Oh hey Brant,” she waved with a wide smile unaware of the circumstances
surrounding the tense meeting between the brothers, “hi Avery.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Oh my, do you think they are actually going to be ready for us?”
Guy questioned fixing his shirt as he felt Gabe place his hand on his shoulder
as Guy took in a deep breath. “I don’t want to be here too early
if they are busy and…”
“Guy, calm down,” Gabe hushed looking down into Guy’s worried
eyes, feeling Brittany squeeze his hand tighter as Gabe let out a small laugh.
“If anything, I think we are about two minutes late. I’m sure everything
is going to be ready with Russ and Avery. Trust me.”
“Why are worrying so much Guy?” Brittany stepped forward to look
up at Guy as they stepped onto the porch of Russ and Avery’s house. “I
mean, it’s your sister right?”
“It’s just a grown up thing honey,” Gabe informed her kneeling
down to her height and reaching out to hug her in his arms tightly before
pushing back her hair gently. “Sometimes we freak out about the weirdest
things. You might not believe it, but sometimes I act this way too.”
“I know grown ups freak out,” Brittany whispered seeing Guy smile
and reach down to pick her up after Gabe stood up. “All grown ups are
just weird I tell you.”
“Well, I can’t say you’re wrong,” Guy chuckled touching
Brittany’s nose playfully feeling her arms wrap around his neck before
he reached out to ring the doorbell. “Sometimes us old people are just
plain crazy.”
“Tell me about it,” she sighed heavily getting a laugh out of both
Gabe and Guy before the front door opened for them to see Russ standing before
them with a bright smile.
“Hey guys,” Russell opened the door a bit more motioning them to
come in before closing the door behind them. “Avery is just getting the
baby ready for a nap, she’ll be done in a second.”
“We can come back later if you would like,” Guy informed Russell
nearly blurting out his words as he set Brittany down on the floor, seeing
Brittany stare up at Russ with her curious eyes. “You want us to do that?”
“Nope, I’m here,” Avery’s voice spoke up in the room as
she stepped into the room with Erin in her arms. “The little one here
doesn’t want to go to sleep. She heard company and wanted to see what
the fuss was about.”
“A baby,” Brittany stepped forward towards Avery holding onto Gabe’s
hand tightly as a wide smile spread out over her young features. “Oh
wow, can I see her?”
“Actually,” Russ spoke up wanting to give Avery and her brother
a bit of alone time, so he carefully grabbed Erin from Avery’s arms cradling
her close to him. “How about you come to her room with me and I might
even let you hold her.”
“That sounds great,” Brittany excitedly answered following Russ
with Gabe at her side. “We’ll be back in a couple minutes Guy. I
promise.”
“No problem kiddo,” Guy waved goodbye before looking back towards
Avery offering up a small smile. Guy stepped forward reaching out to Avery
giving her a strong hug, feeling her pat him on the back gently. “How
are you doing sis?”
“I’m doing pretty good,” she answered quietly taking a step
back thinking things over before walking over towards the couch, motioning
Guy to follow her. “How about you kiddo? How are you doing?”
“Oh, me? I’ve never been better,” Guy half laughed seeing Avery’s
dark eyes staring out into his as he shrugged his shoulders and slumped down
in the couch. A long sigh escaped his lips knowing that Avery could tell he
as lying to her. “Okay, so I’m not doing that great. I was just
thinking about mom and…”
“You know, you shouldn’t let her upset you like this,” she
pointed out reaching out to squeeze Guy’s shoulder gently seeing his
eyes look up at her as she spoke. “I know it’s hard to do, but you
have to let her go. The only thing she is going to do is cause trouble for
you. You know that just as well as I do.”
“I know Avery, it’s just I can’t believe I couldn’t see
her for what she was,” he gulped down thinking about the past and how
much he had tried to protect and stand up for Brooke in the past. “Trust
me though, I want nothing to do with her right now. Actually, I don’t
want her in my life at all if you get my point.”
“I don’t blame you,” Avery took in a deep breath reaching out
to pat Guy on the knee gently thinking about earlier and how Richard had come
over. “You know, you just missed dad and Judy.”
“Oh really? Well, I will catch up with them later,” Guy reached
his left hand up and pushed back his short brown hair, taking in a deep breath
as he thought. “I’m sorry Avery. I’m sorry for being such a
jerk all that time. I never knew what she was capable of and…”
“It’s okay sweetheart,” Avery hushed him worried about her
little brother as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly.
There was a pain that they would both have over their mother for a long time,
but no matter what they did it would never go away. “You didn’t
know and I wish you never did.”
“Well, I had to open my eyes one day,” Guy breathed in deeply thinking
about his mother, holding Avery in his arms tightly. All that time his mother
was his world, but in the reality of things--she would have been his ending
if he didn’t see her for who she was. “I love you sis. You and dad
are the only family I need.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“So how are things really going?” Gabe questioned taking note of
the exhaustion behind Russell’s eyes. “Having late nights around
here?”
“Among other things,” Russ nodded turning to look at Gabe. “I
mean Erin’s great, but…”
“Avery’s still upset about Brooke,” Gabe replied knowingly
before offering a sympathetic nod, “She put them through a lot especially
Avery. When you were gone Brooke did a lot of horrible things to Avery--things
that I know have to be still hurting her.”
“I’m aware of that, but I just don’t know how to help her.
It doesn’t help the situation that Brant decided to take Avery’s
stability in her career away from her by firing her,” Russ sighed heavily
watching Brittany talk to Erin as Erin was in her seat on the couch. “It’s
just all so overwhelming.”
“I just don’t understand how a parent could be that way to their
children,” Gabe added knowingly, “And Brant, well I don’t expect
much from that family given how much of a tyrant Nicholas was… I mean…Russ,
Guy told me about him being your father, but I really wasn‘t thinking
about you when I just said…”
“It’s okay,” Russ nodded stopping Gabe from apologizing. “I
don’t consider myself to be one of them. I’m far from it, so you
don’t have to spare my feelings when it comes to telling me how horrible
Nicholas was. He’s nothing to me other than someone I’d like to
see punished for what he’s done.”
“I only met him once when he was dealing with an associate of mine, but
it was one time too many if you ask me,” Gabe pointed out with a small
frown, “Though with Avery, I’m glad that she has you here with her.
I know I try to be there for Guy, but he’s not really talking about it.
He’s holding it all in no doubt trying to be strong in his own way, but
I know this has to be killing him.”
“Especially considering that he’s always been close to Brooke,”
Russell added with a heavy sigh. “I just don’t understand why that
woman couldn’t just get over herself long enough to start thinking about
what was best for her children. She could’ve avoided so many horrible
things for everyone if she would’ve just grown up.”
“Some people never do,” Gabe informed him with another sigh, “I
mean take my ex-wife Noelle for example. Granted our marriage falling to pieces
was my fault, but I have always tried to do what was best for her and Brittany.
Sure, I wasn’t honest with her about my sexuality when I married her
and I wouldn’t blame her for hating me until the end of time, but what
happened with the two of us should be between us, not put on Brittany. I’ve
tried to do everything in my power to make things right, but Noelle is just
so set on hating me that she won’t hear of it.”
“I take it she’s still pushing on the custody issue, huh?”
Russ remembered all that was happening with Gabe and Noelle before he’d
vanished from town.
Gabe nodded, “Ironic isn’t it? She doesn’t have enough time
for Brittany--hasn’t seen her in months, yet she’s wanting to go
to court to get full custody of our daughter simply so that I’d be obligated
to give her even more than I already have. The sad part about it is that I
have never denied anything that she has asked of me other than her wanting
to ship Brittany off to boarding school. I refuse to let my daughter be raised
by strangers when I’m perfectly capable of being with her.”
“I wouldn’t let anyone take my daughter away from me for the world,”
Russ nodded firmly, “So I’m with you on that.”
“Even so, I think Noelle is convinced that the courts will be sympathetic
to her since she is Brittany’s mother,” Gabe continued to explain.
“Yes, but Brooke was a classic example that not all mothers are good
for their children,” Russ reminded him pointedly, “I’m sure
that any judge will see that.”
“I hope so. I mean I don’t want to keep Noelle from Brittany, but
I can’t risk losing my daughter when I know that I need her in my life.
I can’t imagine not spending as much time as I do with her watching her
growing up more and more each day,” Gabe continued to relay to him. “I’ve
grown so attached to her and to have someone tell me I can’t be with
her…”
“It won’t happen,” Russ promised knowing that there was no
way that Noelle would be able to prove that Gabe wasn’t a good father.
“Tell me did you find yourself a good lawyer?”
“I’ve got a few friends I’ve been speaking with about the subject,
but I’m always up for advice,” Gabe replied eagerly, “Anything
helps.”
“Well you could always ask Avery or Grady to help. I’m sure that
either one of them would do a hell of job in getting the courts to see you’re
the one to keep Brittany. Avery’s one of the best and now that Brant
isn’t monopolizing her time, I’m sure she’d more than welcome
the challenge. You already know she’s a big supporter of the cause given
that she’s seen first hand how a destructive mother is anything but good
for a child.”
“Maybe I will talk to her. I feel comfortable with her and…”
Gabe started pondering the thought.
“Daddy,” Brittany rushed up and over to her father. “Have you
seen Erin? Isn’t she so cute? Come on you have to look at her closer.
She makes the funniest faces.”
“They aren’t funny,” Gabe wrinkled his nose at his daughter.
“She’s just little and…”
“Sure they are,” Russ smiled at Brittany letting Gabe know that
it was okay, “She thinks she’s a comedian already. She likes to
hear jokes, do you know any good ones?”
“You bet I do,” Brittany nodded rushing over to Erin’s side
once again. “Look at her hands dad. She’s so little.”
“Yes she is,” Gabe walked over to his daughter, “You know you
were that little once upon a time.”
“Really?” Brittany’s eyes widened curiously. She turned to
her father again and smiled up at him eagerly, “Dad, do you think we
can get a little baby like Erin? I would really love to have a little baby
to play with all the time…”
“Well I don’t really know if we will do that right now,” Gabe
replied nervously exchanging looks with Russ, “but we can think about
it.”
“Cool,” Brittany squealed turning to Russ, “Do you think I
can hold her?”
“Well I don’t know if Russ wants you to…” Gabe replied
worriedly knowing that Brittany hadn’t had much experience with babies.
“Only if you sit on the couch right here,” Russ motioned to the
sofa beside him. “Your daddy can get you a pillow and you can hold her
if he sits next to you.”
“Okay,” Brittany replied leaping onto the couch, “I’m
really good at this. I have lots of baby dolls and I take really, really good
care of each and every one of them.”
“I’m sure that you do,” Russell smiled down at her reaching
out to pick his daughter up. He carefully held her into his arms before lowering
her down to Brittany to hold.
“Wow, she’s so tiny,” Brittany exclaimed turning her eyes up
to her father, “She’s so cute daddy. Can’t we have a baby like
Erin too? Please.”
“We’ll see,” Gabe offered up bringing his arm around his daughter’s
shoulders as he tried to keep from making promises to her that he wasn’t
sure he’d be able to keep. Seeing her with Erin only further reminded
him of the time he’d already missed out on with Brittany and he vowed
that he wasn’t about to let Noelle steal any more of it from him. He
would be with his daughter one way or another.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Kyle, what are you talking about?” Sarah’s eyes narrowed
out at the two men seeing the way that Grady’s green eyes were staring
out at Kyle. “Kyle, what mistake are you going to make?”
“Sarah,” Kyle fought to find words as he stood next to Grady on
the porch, feeling his breath taken out of his lungs and if he was going to
continue to speak he would most likely tell her what he was really talking
about and that wouldn’t be such a good thing. “You see, I was telling
Grady about…,”
“A bet he was going to make for some sports,” Grady answered quickly
for Kyle seeing the way Kyle’s hazel eyes looked over at him before Kyle
nodded slowly. “You know me and Kyle, we played for that football team
which means we are always going to be big supporters of that team. So, Kyle
and I were going to put a big bet down on them to win, but Kyle was trying
to remind me that if he did this he might make a huge mistake.”
“And why is that?” Sarah eyed Grady over carefully seeing Grady
look over to Kyle for the answer as Kyle slid his hands into his pockets and
thought things over for a second. “Well?”
“It’s a football thing,” Kyle spoke up carefully seeing Grady
nod as he spoke slowly. Kyle wrapped his arm around Grady’s shoulders
before smiling widely and speaking up again. “You see the team just made
a horrible play in the last game and ended up losing just because of one mistake.
We noticed that it has been happening quite a lot and I think the team seems
to be going down. So, if I put a bet on it I would have made a mistake. Now
I know I can lose some money, but the amount we were thinking about might
hurt me just a little bit.”
“Well, that wouldn’t be good. Betting on things isn’t good
anyways,” Sarah reached out to grab Kyle’s hands in hers leading
him back into the room as Kyle shot Grady a pleading look so Grady would follow
them. Sarah tugged Kyle into the living room motioning him to sit down on
the couch before she sat in his lap feeling him place his hand over hers gently.
“I don’t know why you two like football so much anyways.”
“I’m more of a baseball guy,” Kyle blurted out not even noticing
what he said as Grady shot him a small look and Kyle cleared his throat uneasily.
“But me and Grady had thought about starting a fantasy football league,
we just didn’t know if it was worth the effort.”
“Oh, anyways,” Sarah didn’t even bother to take in what Kyle
said before she got off his lap and sat down next to him placing her hand
on his leg. “So, what do you have planned today? I was hoping you were
actually available to spend some time together.”
“Actually,” Kyle got up from the couch grabbing his leather jacket
from the chair before shrugging his shoulders. Kyle backed up slowly with
Grady at his side before giving her a small frown. “Were going to go
back to work. You know, to help clear Diego’s name.”
“You’re serious?” Sarah frowned seeing him nod slowly as she
got up and saw him stop at the door for her. She reached out to squeeze his
hand in hers gently before feeling him press a small kiss against her lips.
“I guess you could go then, it’s for a good cause I suppose. I can
come and help you know.”
“Trust me, I don’t think that is a good idea,” Kyle inhaled
deeply feeling Grady elbow him in the ribs as Kyle let out a small wince before
giving Sarah his attention again. “It’s clear that Cori hates you
and the only way we are going to get the truth out of Cori is to confront
her without you, but I promise I will be back.”
“Alright,” Sarah sighed deeply feeling his hand slip out of hers
before he quickly walked out the door and to the car with Grady. “This
is just wonderful, I’m alone--again.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Okay, so like I was saying,” Kellen began sitting down on the
couch and hanging his legs over the side as Kipp walked over towards the couch.
“Last night, I just happened to be the king of kings with Heather Babes.”
“How so?” Kipp’s interest perked up at the name of Charles’s
mother and Kellen’s best friend. Kipp walked over towards the computer
desk pulling out a few disks before meeting Kellen’s blue eyes again.
“What did you do now?”
“Yesterday, you remember how we had that big shoot to do with Heather
and me?” Kellen grinned widely seeing Kipp nod slowly as Kellen held
up his hand showing the bandage that covered it. “Well, I got hurt and
it looked as if the show would not go on, but Kyle Houston was there. You’re
going to love this.”
“A story with Heather, I might be okay with Kellen,” Kipp pointed
out pushing back his short hair before letting out a small laugh and walking
over towards the CD player. “But Kyle Houston walking is more of your
thing. He’s not my type.”
“Stop being silly, I have a good story here,” Kellen grabbed the
pillow from underneath him throwing it over at Kipp and hitting him in the
back of the head with it. “Anyways, I get Kyle to say yes to doing the
photo shoot because Heather needed an extra set of hands.”
“Ah I see,” Kipp nodded slowly turning the song down a bit before
turning around to pick up the pillow. Kipp swung it around in his fingers
for a moment before throwing the pillow over at Kellen. “Anyways?”
“Kyle gets dressed and I have to tell you--he looked good. He looked
like a true god walking out in only his boxers and nothing else. That boy
looks so good and…,” Kellen went to say more before meeting Kipp’s
dark glare making him let out a hesitant laugh. “Trust me honey, no one
looks better than you. I’m just stating Heather’s opinion here.”
“And how do you know Heather’s opinion?” Kipp wiggled his eyebrow
at Kellen stretching out his back muscles before walking into the kitchen
quickly. “Go on.”
“You know what the shoot was supposed to be like, right?” Kellen
questioned loudly seeing Kipp walk back into the room with his hands over
his chest as Kellen let out a small laugh and nodded slowly. “Well anyways
towards the end, I could feel some tension and then it happened.”
“What happened?” Kipp muttered seeing Kellen swing his legs over
the back of the couch and hang his head down at the bottom. “Kellen?
Come on, you’re stopping at the good part.”
“Kyle does this full blown kiss, it was like an explosion going off.
Heather was melting in his arms and Kyle’s tongue,” Kellen went
to go on before nodding slowly. “You have to trust me on this Kipp, that
was the sexiest kiss I have ever seen. It’s like in the movies when that
one special kiss happens. You should have been there to see it, Kyle and Heather
belong together Kipp.”
“Now I think you’re dreaming,” Kipp chuckled hearing the doorbell
ring as Kellen shook his head slowly letting out a small laugh. “Come
on, Heather and Kyle? The Kyle that’s getting married to Heather’s
sister? No Kellen, making stories aren’t always nice.”
“Making stories,” Kellen gasped seeing the door open telling him
one thing, it was Heather. Only Heather had a key to the house and he was
right, Heather walked into the room not even seconds later. “Heather
Babes.”
“Why didn’t you open the door? I rang the bell a couple of times,”
Heather pointed out seeing the way that Kellen was sitting on the couch and
she let out a small laugh. “You know, all your blood is rushing to your
brain right now and your face is totally red.”
“Well hello to you too,” Kellen chuckled seeing Heather walk over
towards Charles’s room before he grabbed the pillow moving it in front
of his lips. “Hey Heather, who am I?”
Heather turned around to see Kellen grab the pillow and pull it in for a kiss
squeezing it tightly to him before letting out a few small noises.
“Oh Heather,” Kellen grumbled hearing Kipp let out a small laugh
from the background as he started to lick the pillow, seeing Heather approach
him as she glared down at him. Kellen wiggled his eyebrows at her before speaking
up in a high pitched voice. “Oh Kyle, I want you so bad. I want your
big…”
“Have a nice fall Kellen,” Heather placed her foot over Kellen’s
chest making him fall back to the ground in a loud thud making him let out
a small groan as she shook her head slowly. “I blame you for what happened
last night. Kyle would have never done that if you…”
“Oh bull Heather,” Kellen blurted out getting to his knees before
fixing the bandage on his hand. “You know just as well as me that the
guy is head over heels in love with you.”
“I’m going to go see Charles,” Heather informed Kipp seeing
Kipp’s confused dark eyes look into hers as she walked toward the back
hallway. “You know where you can find me.”
“You weren’t lying,” Kipp pointed out confused as he saw Kellen
get up to his feet slowly and let out a small laugh. “Oh wow, that really
happened? I think you’re in trouble with her now buddy.”
“She’s just in denial,” Kellen muttered to himself flipping
his head back before letting out a tight breath. “Trust me, major denial.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Can you believe the nerve of some people?” Evie huffed bringing
her arms up over her chest. She turned around to face JT after he walked out
of the restaurant and frowned, “I mean what a jerk to sit there and accuse
me of stealing his wallet like that. Really where does he get off in doing
something like that? What a creep!”
“He can say it because you did it,” JT tossed out at her with a
scowl. “I saw you toss it across the restaurant Evie.”
“I didn’t,” she shook her head at him, “JT I never touched
it.”
“Cut the lies,” he snapped at her, shaking his head disapprovingly.
“I saw you pull it out of your purse and throw it over towards the counter
while he and I were arguing. What were you thinking?”
“JT, you saw wrong. I wasn’t…” she stammered a bit.
“Stop lying!” he snapped at her having had more than enough of her
game. “Evie, do you have any idea who you just stole from? That man happens
to work for my brother. He’s an ex-boxer who worked for my brother’s
father--for the mafia no less and here you are thinking you’re big stuff
in picking his pocket. Do you have any idea what he could have done to you
if he wanted to?”
“He couldn’t prove anything,” she frowned up at him, “I’m
not stupid. I worked my way out of that situation.”
“You never should’ve been in that situation in the first place.
Can’t you see that you’re falling into the same cycle of repeating
the same mistakes over and over again,” he continued to snap at her pulling
her further away from the restaurant. “You’re never going to learn,
are you?”
“Look JT, I was just trying to…” she pleaded with him watching
him turn away, “JT wait. Where are you going?”
“Away from you because it’s clear that the only place you want to
take yourself to is jail. It’s obvious that you want to spend your time
behind bars and I’m not going to sit back and watch that happen. I tried
to help, but when it gets down to it, you can’t help anyone but yourself,
so that’s what I’m doing.”
He started to walk down the street and she watched him horrified before chasing
after him. “JT please wait.”
“I’ve heard more than enough Evie,” he waved his hands in the
air, “I’m done with it. I’m done with trying to help you when
it’s clear the only place you’re happy is when you’re hurting
yourself.”
“No, JT I’m not like that. It’s just that you don’t understand,”
she pleaded with him, her voice coming out desperate and needy, “JT my
life isn’t easy.”
“Whose is?” he spun around to face her with a frown. “A lot
of people have problems Evie, but that doesn’t excuse what you’re
doing. People find a way to fix their situations if they want to. They try
to find a way out of them…”
“I haven’t been able to do that,” she explained urgently.
“Because you haven’t wanted to. You see it’s easier to pick
a wallet out of a guy’s pocket than to earn money the right way,”
he shook his head at her, “That’s something that only you can change.”
“Look I’m not doing it for me. I’m doing it because…”
she paused tears burning behind her dark eyes, “JT I haven’t exactly
had an easy life.”
“Who has had that Evie?” he frowned back at her seeing her tears
overtake her.
“Look, I quit school when I was sixteen and I never went back because
I spent my time taking care of my mom,” Evie informed him bitterly, “My
parents split around the time I was fourteen and she took it hard--really
hard. Here my dad is living the high life, but he doesn’t send a dime
our way. He sent child support for a while, but my mom started blowing it
all on cocaine. She is an addict and we live in this dump of an apartment
with one another. She’s constantly strung out and since my father isn’t
obligated to take care of me anymore, well you do the math.”
“Look Evie I’m…” JT began with a frown.
“Yeah I know you’re disappointed in me, but hey take a number. Unlike
you I don’t do what I do because I’ve been ignored by my big time
Hollywood producer father. I do what I have to because if I don’t I’m
going to starve to death. I do what I can to take care of my mother because
despite the fact that she probably doesn’t even know who she is half
of the time, she still is my mother and I can’t let her die.”
“Even so…” JT started.
“Ever since I can remember this was all I’ve known,” she continued
tears pouring down her face, “My father didn’t exactly teach me
how to be on the up and up. He taught me what I needed to survive and after
he left, I clung to that. I couldn’t sit back and become what my mother
is, so I did my own thing and yes I know it’s wrong, but what other choice
do I have? Who else is going to take care of me considering that neither one
of my parents gave a damn enough to worry about where I’d be in the future?”
“Look Evie, I’m…” he took a small step towards her.
“Save it JT. You don’t like what I am and I most certainly don’t
need your pity. I’m sorry I can’t be a perfect upstanding person
like you want me to be. I’m sorry that you can’t accept who I am,
but I’m not exactly at a point in my life where I can change,” she
started to walk away only to feel his hand on her arm.
“That’s what I wanted from you. This is what we needed,” he
urged her to turn around and meet his worried gaze. “I wanted you to
stop with the lies and now that I know…”
“You see me as weak and pathetic and maybe I am pathetic,” she began
in a rant.
“You aren’t pathetic, and you need to see that there are alternatives,”
he stared with a heavy sigh. “I mean look at what you’re doing at
the bar. Sure, maybe you weren’t looking for the job, but it found you
and if you stop stealing then you might be able to establish a new life for
yourself. If you stop fighting the help that’s in front of you, you may
actually find that you get ahead on things.”
“Right now all I want to do is stop having you looking at me like I’m
someone to pity. I want you to see me as what I am really,” she explained
with a small sob feeling him reach out to touch her cheek gently.
“I do see you for what you are,” he moved in closer to her bending
down to bring his lips just over hers, “and now that you’ve stopped
lying to me we’ll have something to work on with one another.”
“I don’t want to be your pet project JT. I want to be more than
that. I want you to stop thinking about me as a charity case and more like
someone that you could fall for,” she blurted out behind damp lashes.
“That’s where the problem comes in,” he confessed in a small
whisper inching his lips over hers, “I already do see you that way and
that’s what scares the life out of me.”
“But…” she stammered moving to say something more when she
felt his lips collide with hers tasting them in a soft, yet yearning kiss.
She threw her arms around his neck hugging him to her and wanting oh so much
more from him, but his holding her was a good start. Once they parted she
found herself gazing back up into his eyes.
“How about we forget about this right now and go shopping like we planned
on?” he suggested in a soft, teasing tone, “I’ll buy you something
for work and then we’ll go back to my place for a while and kick back
with a movie and dinner later or something. What do you say?”
“It sounds like heaven,” she smiled up at him, “And JT?”
“Yes?” he questioned lacing her fingers in his.
“Thanks for not giving up on me yet,” she squeezed his hand gently,
“because that means everything to me.”
“As long as you stop getting into trouble we won’t have a problem.
If you quit with the stealing and let me help you, then I’m sure we’ll
be more than okay,” he promised hoping that sooner or later Evie would
realize that the life she had been living was one that was far from where
she was meant to be. Maybe together they could move past both of their past
demons and have a happy life somehow. It was a nice thought anyways.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I hate this stupid place,” Nate grabbed the boxing gloves from
the side of the gym putting them on slowly before walking over towards the
back of Rob’s gym. In the back there was a place for people to go practice
boxing and since today was going slow, Nate figured it might be a good time
to try and practice a bit. Nate walked over towards the person in charge of
marking the ring before patting him on the back. “Hey Jefferson, I’m
going in. Who am I going up against?”
“No one big,” the guy replied seeing Nate grab his head gear before
putting in on carefully. “He’s new at it, I’m sure you can
teach him one or two things.”
“Alright, cool,” Nate smiled widely jumping up to the side of the
ring before getting in slowly. Nate met the other boxer in the middle of the
ring before hitting knuckles with him. “You ready to do this?”
“As ready as I will ever be,” the guy answered back seeing Nate
take a step back before bouncing up and down slowly to stretch out. “Are
you a professional.”
“I like to fight, I don’t have a death wish,” Nate answered
with a small chuckle seeing Jefferson get in the ring and motion the two of
them to start fighting. Nate stepped forward seeing the guy before him take
a swing as he ducked and took a quick swing at the guy getting him in the
center of the jaw. “You have to be quicker son little man.”
“I’ll show you quick,” the guy replied going to hit Nate again
feeling Nate grab his arm and hold him in place hitting him a couple times
before letting him go, hitting him a final time and knocking him down to the
ground.
“You better get up little man,” Nate teased the guy further seeing
him get up on the count of four and normally in Rob’s gym the count would
last until five. “Alright, there you go. Try harder, I won’t hit
you, I promise.”
“Alright,” the guy nodded going to hit Nate again only to have Nate
catch him and trip him with his legs as he let out a small grunt. “Don’t
hold back, I want you to try and hit me.”
“Okay,” Nate agreed seeing the guy get up and Nate put his mouth
guard in stretching out his neck muscles before moving forward dodging another
hit before hitting the guy multiple times taking him down for the count of
five. “Round two?”
“Sure,” Jefferson nodded seeing the other guy get up before he motioned
Nate and the kid to do it again. “Start.”
“You got to be quick,” Nate whispered putting his mouth guard back
in before hearing someone call out his name. Nate turned to the side seeing
Cori on the edge of the ring as he stopped to see what she wanted only to
feel a fist collide with his face making him fall to the ground. “Damn.”
“Oh wow,” Cori laughed seeing him try and pull himself off the ground,
but the count of five came before he was up. “I guess I just made you
lose, didn’t I?”
“Funny,” Nate threw off the gloves and headgear before following
Cori out of the room and back to he front. “You think you are perfect
don’t you? I think you are perfect, but damn you are a bitch.”
“Oh give me a break you loser,” Cori turned around pushing him back
in the center of the chest making Nate stumble back but not fall to the ground.
“You know, just go lose again or something because I really didn’t
want you following me around.”
“Alright beautiful,” Nate chuckled seeing her brown eyes glare into
his before he offered up a small shrug watching her walk. A laugh escaped
his lips as he called out to her once again. “I’ll always love you--no
matter how crazy you are.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“First of all you need to back off of me Deidra,” Diane held her
hands up in the air ready to fend off her sister’s attack now that Deidra
had pulled Diane into the kitchen to talk with her one on one.
“Did you learn nothing the first time Diane? Andy is a creep who lives
to hurt people. He doesn’t care how he does it as long as he finds a
way to dig the knife in deeper,” Deidra twisted her hands around in the
air making small fists with her fingers. “He slept with you on my wedding
night to hurt me and now he’s returning because he wants to do it all
over again.”
“First of all I admit I made a mistake sleeping with him like I did before,
but I swear to you that I did not invite him here. Think about it Deidra,
why in the world would I want to hurt you now? You’ve helped me through
so much and we’re finally getting to the point where we like one another
again. Why would I risk that by getting involved with him?” Diane challenged
seeing her sister trying to mentally come up with a good reasoning behind
her logic that Diane was involved with Andy. “Think about it. Tonight
I wanted it to be special for the four of us. Ben and I are now starting our
lives together, so why would I risk that again?”
“Maybe because you already did once with JT. Maybe it’s because
you have a self destructive side that can’t help but invite trouble in,”
Deidra shot back at her catching Diane’s wounded expression.
“Yeah that’s it Deidra,” Diane rolled her eyes back at her,
“I managed to screw up my life and almost lose the man I loved, but since
I didn’t and I only suffered a miscarriage I figured that I would just
invite trouble back into my life so that I could lose everything instead.”
“Diane I…” Deidra felt foolish when she saw the pain flash
behind her sister’s eyes. She watched Diane attempt to walk away out
into the living room again, but Deidra stopped her. “Look I’m sorry
okay. I didn’t mean that. It’s just seeing him here like that flustered
me.”
“I know and that was what I was trying to avoid when I pulled you into
the kitchen before,” Diane tried to reason with her older sister. “Not
so long ago Andy just showed up on my doorstep and caught me completely off
guard. I had no idea he would be in town and when he was here I realized that
he might be trouble. I was upset and I talked to him, but that was it. Then
when I realized that he must be around to cause problems for you I knew I
had to tell you. I wanted to tell you before something like this happened.
I didn’t want him to catch you by surprise.”
“He sure as hell did a good job of it tonight considering I was completely
unprepared for that one,” Deidra ran her fingers through her hair, “I
mean one minute we’re enjoying our evening and then there he is ready
to fight again.”
“He seems like that’s his goal lately with you,” Diane noted
with a nod, “I know you’re going through the whole divorce thing
right now so it’s going to be hard no matter what, but…”
“This wasn’t your fault,” Deidra blurted out trying to calm
herself down, “Andy loves to stir up chaos and he was no doubt trying
to butter up to you to get to me. He’s good at doing things like that
and I’m sure this is only the beginning of what he’s got prepared
for me now that the divorce is in full swing. With him in town then I’m
sure it’s only going to mean more trouble and…”
“You can’t let him get to you. Just because he’s here doesn’t
mean you have to stop living your life and doing what you’ve been doing.
You’re happy now Deidra and you shouldn’t let him take that from
you,” Diane tried to plead with her sister knowing full well what kind
of worries Andy could bring about in Deidra.
“I know that, but now that he’s here,” Deidra looked out into
the living room where Ben and Dean were quietly speaking with one another.
She felt a tiny shudder race over her at the idea of her soon-to-be-ex being
so very close to them again, “I just can’t shake the feeling that
trouble is going to follow for all of us.”
“If that’s the case, then we’ll be prepared for whatever it
is he has planned ahead of him,” Diane offered up encouragingly as Deidra
silently wondered what tricks would be up Andy’s sleeve this time now
that he’d made a point to let her know he was back and sticking around.
Closing her eyes she realized that saying good-bye to her marriage would no
doubt be harder than she’d anticipated. Now she was almost afraid Andy
was going to bring with him some kind of war now that he’d seen first
hand that Deidra wasn’t lost without him. He’d been upset when Ben
tossed him out of the house and Deidra knew full well when Andy was upset,
disaster seemed to follow!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Major denial or not, I think she is mad at you,” Kipp pointed
out seeing Kellen place his hand over his chest before falling back onto the
ground, resting his back against the couch. “You are totally serious
about this whole kiss thing?”
“Yeah Kipp,” Kellen began taking in a deep breath remembering the
scene that went on before him and the photographer. “You don’t get
it, if Kyle wouldn’t have stopped. I think I could have sold the proofs
for quite a lot to a pornography company if you get my point.”
“Kellen,” Kipp rolled his eyes letting out a small laugh before
catching the seriousness behind Kellen’s blue eyes. “You have to
be kidding me, there is no way that those two would…they did? Didn’t
they?”
“I’m just saying, those two are so hot together,” Kellen grinned
widely before holding his bandaged hand up in the air. “I guess I have
to thank Tripsy for all of this because she was good enough to help me out.
You want to know the best part about everything?”
“What’s that?” Kipp pondered what Kellen told him before letting
out a long breath and folding his arms out in front of his chest. “Wait
a second, I thought your dog was with your mother for a little while.”
“She is,” Kellen wiggled his eyebrows up and down pulling off the
bandage to show Kipp his hand. Kellen waved it in front of his face slowly
before shaking his head slowly. “You can’t see my hand hurt.”
“You lied?” Kipp gasped seeing Kellen nod slowly and stand up to
step forward towards Kipp. “How could you do something like that, I mean
Kellen you could have ruined everything. Wait a second, you planned every
little bit of this didn’t you?”
“Well not exactly, I didn’t expect to have that full blown out kiss,
but Kipp I have to get them together,” Kellen declared with a wide smile
not believing that everything seemed to be going out perfectly. “I will
get those two together Kipp, I just have to come up with the perfect plan.”
“Kellen I doubt that they will even work,” Kipp tried to suggest
seeing Kellen shake his head over and over again before Kipp took in a deep
breath. “Sarah is more of his kind of gal that would…”
“Be a total bitch to him,” Kellen spat seeing Kipp’s dark eyes
look out into his as Kellen shook his head over and over again. “You
don’t get it Kipp, Sarah is no good for Kyle and I know Heather is perfect
for him.”
“I’ll tell you what, if you really think that Sarah is no good for
Kyle,” Kipp cleared his throat uneasily seeing Kellen grab the bandage
and put it back on his hand carefully. “Then I will help you in any way
possible.”
“You better stay true to that,” Kellen stated with a small shake
of his head watching Kipp intently before stepping to the side to watch Heather
in Charles’s room. “Because I have a feeling that this is going
to take a lot out of me and I know I am going to need a lot of help. Just
hopefully, this works out the way I hope it will.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“You think this is going to work?” Grady questioned peering around
the corner of the wall to see Cori across the crowded gym. She was talking
to a few women over by the water cooler and as Grady pulled back he tipped
his head up to look at Kyle.
“It’s going to have to,” Kyle nodded letting out a long sigh,
“We promised Diego that we’d get him out of that situation and we’re
going to.”
“Yes, but are you sure you still want to follow through with this especially
if he and Sarah are…” Grady couldn’t help but ask thinking
about the earlier conversation he’d had with his friend.
“Maybe he’ll be more inclined to be honest with me when he sees
what I’m doing to help him get out of this situation,” Kyle noted
taking a small step forward. “In fact let me deal with this one.”
“What are you going to say to her?” Grady questioned watching him
move forward.
“I don’t know, but it’ll come to me,” Kyle shrugged his
shoulders not bothering to look back at his friend. His gaze was firm on Cori
and as he moved towards her, he vowed to find a way to get the truth one way
or the other. He cleared his throat completely ready to wing it when he realized
she’d spotted him.
“Kyle, what are you doing here?” Cori questioned lowering the clipboard
that was in her hand. “Come around to tell me thank you for clueing you
in on what a slut Sarah is?”
“As much as I’m sure you’d like that, I thought we could talk
about Diego,” Kyle suggested catching the frown that swept over her lips.
“He’s a jerk and he’s getting everything he deserves right
now,” she huffed in response shaking her head at him. “And I can’t
believe that you of all people would even try to be nice to him right about
now.”
“Look Cori, I get that he broke your heart. I get that you’re pissed
at him and yeah if I was in your shoes I don’t think I’d be happy
either, but there are better ways to go about this,” Kyle sighed shaking
his head at her. “We both know that he never attacked you.”
“Did I tell you that I saw him and Sarah together? He was with her and
they were having this food fight when I walked in on them and…”
Cori began again with a huff.
“Look Cori if this is about Diego dumping you, get over it. People fall
in and out of love all of the time. It happens to all of us,” Kyle snapped
at her, “but rather than letting this grudge suck you down and lessen
you as a person, why don’t you just stop with the lies now and just admit
Diego never touched you?”
“Because that wouldn’t be the truth,” Cori folded her arms
in front of her chest, “If I told you that I’d only be saying what
you wanted to hear.”
“Look Cori, we both know that there were and are inconsistencies in your
story and I for one am not buying them,” Kyle snapped back at her, “Even
your brother has his doubts.”
“Dave knows I’m telling the truth,” she replied with a scowl.
“He knows what a jerk Diego is.”
“I don’t think that’s really the case,” Kyle shook his
head at her, “I make a living on trying to read people and I would have
to say your brother believes your story even less than I do. He knows something,
but because he loves you he’s not saying anything about it.”
“My brother is trying to make sure the man who upset me pays for what
he did,” Cori clutched her clipboard closer to her chest, “and I
have nothing further to say to you.”
“Cori,” Kyle reached out to grab her arm stopping her from walking
away, “Do yourself a favor and just let go of Diego. If you think that
this is going to help the situation or help you win him back, all it’s
going to bring to you is even more pain because when everything is said and
done you’ll come off as being the liar.”
“Well excuse me if I’m not part of the boys club. Just because I
might not be a guy doesn’t mean that I’m not being on the up and
up about what he did to me. Diego hurt me and I’m going to make him pay
for that whether or not you agree with it,” she wrinkled her nose at
him before stomping off into one of the private offices.
“Great,” Kyle threw his hands up in the air and groaned, “that
went well.”
“Hey,” Grady approached him. “I take it we’re still at
square one.”
“She hates Diego and she’s not going to cave,” Kyle replied
with a heavy sigh turning around to face his friend. “I still can’t
shake the feeling she is lying about this.”
“Do you think that maybe she’s telling the truth?” Grady couldn’t
help but ask.
“No, not at all,” Kyle mouthed with a frown, “Besides, what
kind of question is that from Diego’s lawyer?”
“It’s one from your best friend, not Diego’s lawyer,”
Grady replied thinking about Kyle’s earlier suspicions about Diego and
Sarah.
“Look I just want to get this over with so that I can get down to the
truth about what’s going on in my life. I don’t think Cori is anything,
but feeling bitter about Diego breaking up with her. That being said I don’t
think she’s going to fess up to either one of us about that. If she had
a friend however…” Kyle trailed off watching Cori step out of the
office and walk over to one of the guys in a uniform. She watched her say
a few more words to the man before walking away and back into her office.
“What?” Grady questioned.
“Maybe a friend might get her to open up. I’ll be right back,”
Kyle decided making his way over to the man she was talking to. He could see
the guy heading off towards the locker room area and he stopped him. “Hold
up.”
“What now?” he frowned turning around to glare at Kyle, “Can’t
you see I’m on a break?”
“Whatever,” Kyle rolled his eyes, “You’re Shannon’s
brother, aren’t you? Nate, right?”
“Who wants to know?” Nate frowned up at him.
“A friend of your sister’s. Look I saw you talking to Cori Warner
a little while ago and I was wondering if I could ask you something about
her,” Kyle continued to explain to him.
“Why?” Nate looked bored and disinterested.
“I know that you two are kind of spending time together now that you
work here and I was wondering if maybe she’s said anything about the
situation she has going on with Dr. Hernandez?” Kyle arched a curious
brow.
“Nope, can’t say I have heard anything about it,” Nate shrugged
his shoulders at him, “though if you ask me the man is an idiot for breaking
up with her. She’s hot.”
“If you’re into the whole psycho thing I suppose,” Kyle replied
glancing over to the office where Cori disappeared into. “Though I have
to tell you it is a bit amusing to think that you like her.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Nate corrected with a frown, “I
just said she was hot.”
“Hot or not, I think Cori is the kind of woman who could use a friend
more than a date right about now,” Kyle continued to explain to him,
“and I noticed you talking with her just a few minutes ago.”
“So what of it?” Nate shrugged.
“Isn’t she also staying with you and Shannon right now?” Kyle
couldn’t help but ask.
“So,” Nate mouthed.
“So maybe you could talk to her and see what’s really going on.
You see my friend and I think she’s lying about Dr. Hernandez and we
just need a confession out of her,” Kyle explained matter of fact, “and
since you’re Shannon’s brother I was kind of hoping that…”
“That what? I’d get it out of her for you?” Nate gave Kyle
a brief once over before laughing in his face, “Fat chance buddy. It’s
not my problem.”
“Maybe not,” Kyle watched him start to walk away, “but if I
called Shannon and let her in on the fact that you’re slacking on your
community service…”
“Big deal,” Nate rolled his eyes at him, “What does that matter
to me?”
“It matters enough that if you don’t at least think about giving
me a hand with this one, then you’ll be stuck in your sentence longer
than you were hoping for,” Kyle watched Nate stop walking and turn around
to glare at him.
“You don’t have that kind of influence,” Nate shook his head
at him, “From what I’ve heard you’re just a P.I.”
“Perhaps,” Kyle shrugged, “but I do have a few friends in town
that can make things happen and if you helped me, well maybe I can help you.
Perhaps I can get you out of all this grunt work earlier than anticipated
if you are able to get the goods on Cori for me. So what do you say Nate?
Feeling like maybe making a deal here?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Avery, who’s is Avery?” Angela questioned watching the way
that Wendy looked at her with recognition and warmth. Suddenly things felt
very strange in the Ashford kitchen.
“Well she’s…” Brant trailed off realizing that Wendy had
accidentally gotten him into a situation he’d just as soon avoid with
Angela.
“Wendy this is Angela,” Ken quickly explained bringing his arm around
Wendy’s waist, “She’s Brant’s…”
“Angela?” Wendy questioned giving Angela another long look. “You’re
just playing around with me, right? She looks just like Avery. That’s
Avery.”
“No actually,” Ken began again seeing Angela’s eyes widened.
“Oh my God,” Angela’s jaw dropped as she looked to Brant, “I
didn’t imagine your wife looking like me, did I? She does look like me.”
“Angela I can explain. I can…” Brant watched her throw her
hands up in the air and march out of the kitchen before he threw a glare over
at Ken. “This is just wonderful.”
“What did I do?” Wendy blinked back hearing Brant chase off after
Angela.
“Look it’s a long story, but you didn’t do anything wrong,”
Ken kept Wendy in his arms, “My brother just has this habit of doing
things in such a way that it complicates them.”
“But I thought that was Avery,” she frowned slightly, “Are
you telling me that woman wasn’t Avery?”
“It doesn’t appear that she is,” Ken shook his head catching
Wendy’s confusion, “Yeah, that’s exactly what I was thinking
earlier. Don’t ask me how Brant manages to get dumped by Avery, yet returns
home with a woman that looks just like her.”
“It just seems…” Wendy found herself at a loss, “Well
I suppose if he’s happy there.”
“I don’t know what he is,” Ken reached out to touch her cheek
gently, “but in all honesty I don’t want to think about him right
now. Let him deal with his own messes.”
“That’s not a very brotherly attitude,” Wendy frowned slightly,
“especially if I was the one to cause some sort of problem for them.”
“Brant’s the one bringing on problems,” Ken shook his head
trying to dismiss her worries, “Besides you and I had no idea what we
were walking into.”
“Even so,” Wendy frowned again, “I feel so bad for calling
that woman Avery if…”
“They’ll be okay,” Ken tried to get her to refocus on them
instead of Brant, “Besides I was hoping that I could surprise you this
morning. I was thinking about something romantic for us. Maybe a little trip.”
“A trip?” she arched a curious brow. “What kind of trip?”
“One that you’ll never forget,” he revealed with a small smile,
“I’ve been meaning to do it for a while, but now that I have the
chance, well it only seems appropriate. What do you say?”
“Didn’t you want to stop by the office today?” Wendy arched
a curious brow.
“I did, but it can wait,” Ken paused, “or maybe we can stop
by my office on the way to our destination. So what do you say? Are you in
the mood for an adventure?”
“I think I can handle it,” Wendy nodded wondering just what plans
were in store for her and Ken for the day ahead of them.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Angela wait,” Brant followed Angela down the hallway, moving faster
in the hopes of catching up with her now that she’d had a head start
on him.
“Save it Brant! I’m not interested,” she snapped back at him
finding herself at the foot of the stairs. “I knew this was a mistake
in coming here. I just should have followed my instincts and…”
“Angela please,” he reached for her arm preventing her from walking
back to the bedroom to get her things, “Just hear me out.”
“Hear you out?” she spun around to face him, “Brant, I’ve
been hearing everything that you’ve been saying, but it’s what you’ve
been trying to hide that really hits home here. I mean I think it was pretty
obvious what was going on when that woman called me Avery. That was your wife,
right?”
“Yes that was her name, but…” Brant stammered finding himself
overwhelmed by the situation taking place in front of him.
“And let me guess you were in love with this Avery when you met me too,
right? You were hoping to be with her, but since you told me she was interested
in someone else, you decided to go out and find yourself the next best thing
when you met me, right?” Angela’s voice raised with anger. “That’s
what this is, isn’t it? She dumped you, so you’re looking for Avery
part two aren’t you?”
“No, Angela that’s not it,” Brant shook his head at her, “That’s
not it at all.”
“So then you’re going to tell me that she doesn’t look like
me, right?” she demanded her brown eyes wide with anger.
“No, I can’t say that, but she’s…” Brant offered
up again watching her turn towards the staircase once more.
“I’m done. This is pointless,” she mouthed ready to take one
step up when Brant circled around her moving in to block her from leaving.
“Look yes she looks like you, but when it gets down to it, she’s
not you. She could never be you and I knew that. I thought that I cared about
her--that she was what I wanted, but when I had her--when I was with her,
the truth to the matter is she didn’t even come close to what I was hoping
for. In all of the time I spent with her, she was never you. She wasn’t
the one who haunted my dreams--the one that had me mad with desire,”
he explained desperately, “she wasn’t who haunted my mind…”
“Yet she was your wife and now you’re here with me--with the replacement
whore, right?”
“No it’s not like that,” he insisted firmly, “It’s
not even close to being like that. Angela I love you.”
“Why Brant? Because I have Avery’s face?” she snapped tears
burning behind her eyes. “Because I look like the wife that let you down
so now you’re hoping to share the dreams you had for her with me?”
“No that’s not how it is at all,” he took her hand in his,
“Angela please just listen to me. I promise you that isn’t at all
what’s going on here. I swear that she has nothing to do with the way
I feel about you and if you’ll give me five minutes I’ll prove that
to you. Please just give me a chance to explain.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
...to be continued...