Chapter 6 Emily stretched her arms out above her head and yawned. Mario glanced at her from his position by a tree and asked. “Tired?” “Extremely.” Emily said. “I had a very hard test this morning and then I was stuck at the dressmaker’s with Lucy all afternoon. Factor in my rehearsal and the fact that I didn’t get much sleep last night and well…” “This Nurses Ball thing seems to only tire you out.” Mario commented. “Yeah but in the end it’s worth it, you know? All the money we raise and it’s just plain fun to perform.” Emily lay back on the blanket that Mario had spread out. After Emily picked up their food from Kelly’s, Mario took them back to his place to pick up a blanket. Emily had been confused about what Mario planned until he drove her into a deserted wooded area a few miles out of town. He surprised her by taking her to where a small river ran through the woods and that’s where he spread out the blanket. They had eaten their dinner surrounded by the sounds of water rustling by and birds chirping. It had been very pleasant. Emily stretched out a little more, smiling to herself as she noticed that way that Mario couldn’t help but stare at her. She rolled over on to her stomach and grinned up at him. “So Mario Vega…tell me about yourself.” Mario popped a toothpick in his mouth and tried not to stare at her even though she presented such a delightful picture. “What do you want to know?” He started to roll the toothpick around his mouth with his tongue. Emily bit her lip as she watched his mouth move. “Anything… everything.” **Kiss me, out of the bearded barley Nightly, beside the green, green grass Swing, swing, swing the spinning step. You wear those shoes and I will wear that dress. ** “Well I was born on a rainy September morning.” Mario’s eyes twinkled at her. “Be serious.” She commanded. She got up and went to sit next to him. “Okay, I’ll be serious. Here I’ll start at the beginning. The name’s Anthony Emilio Mario Vega III.” Mario nodded when Emily’s eyes widened in shock. “Yup, it’s true. Gramps is Emilio, Dad’s Junior or Tony depending on who’s talking to him and me I got stuck with Mario.” “I happen to like Mario.” Emily said with a reassuring smile. “Me too, thanks.” He nodded. “So any brothers and sisters?” Emily asked as she watched Mario move the toothpick again. **Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight Lead me out on the moonlit floor Lift your open hand Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance Silver moon's sparkling So kiss me. ** “‘Do I have any brothers and sisters?’” Mario asked with a laughed. “It feels like I have hundreds of them.” “That’s so cool? Any close to your age? I was an only child until I was adopted by Monica and Alan and I still felt like one at times since Jason and AJ are so much older than me and I didn’t really grow up with them.” “There’s seven of us and I’m smack dab in the middle. I have a brother who’s about your age…” Emily held up her hand to stop him. “Hold on there. No trying to set me up with your kid brother okay?” “All right, no matching-making. He wouldn’t appreciate you anyway. You know, you and my sister Angela would get on well.” Mario suggested. “She’s about 20… I think.” Emily breathed a sigh of relief. She was afraid that Mario had been serious about trying to push her off onto his brother. “What about the rest of the family?” He was playing with that toothpick again, she noticed. From left to right and back again it went. Emily couldn’t help but think that he had the most perfect lips she’d ever seen. **Kiss me down by the broken tree house Swing me upon its hanging tire Bring, bring, bring your flowered hat We'll take the trail marked on your father's map. ** “The family’s a little spread out. My parents and the younger kids still live in our little house here in Port Charles. My big brother and two sisters have moved far away. I’ve got a sister in New York who’s trying to make it big on Broadway. She was an understudy-slash-extra in RENT last year, the whole family went out to see her. My brother Julio is in Chicago doing the corporate thing. My other sister, from the last postcard I got from her, is somewhere out in California. She was always the wanderer.” Mario looked over at Emily. She seemed to be staring off in space not paying any attention to him. “Baby girl? Am I boring you?” He asked. “What? Oh, no. Keep going.” Emily shook her head. She had been half-listening to him while she’d been transfixed by his lips. She wondered what it would be like to kiss him. “Okay, if you’re sure.” Mario said unsure. He leaned back against the tree and continued to talk. “Nobody knows this. Not even Angela and I tell her just about everything but I am going to tell you. Don’t ask me why but I am. I’m taking night classes at PCU. I want to get my degree. I can’t be a garage mechanic for the rest of my life.” Would he be an aggressive kisser or a soft gentle one? Emily could just imagine what it would be like. What would he do if she just leaned over and planted a big wet one on him? Emily laughed softly to herself. She could just see it now: **Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight Lead me out on the moonlit floor Lift your open hand Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance Silver moon's sparkling So kiss me. ** Emily sat up on her knees and stared at Mario. “Why don’t you just shut up and kiss me?” She just couldn’t hold it in anymore. “What?” Mario asked bewildered. “I have to do everything myself don’t I?” Emily asked in exasperation. She swooped down on him and cupped his face in her hands. He sat there speechless, letting her do what she wanted. “Your lips… are prefect…” She whispered as she stared down at them. “Do they taste as good as they look?” “Why don’t you find out for yourself?” He said huskily. He wet his lips quickly. “Yeah, why don’t I do that?” She said before bending her head closer to his and capturing his mouth in sweet slow kiss. **Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight Lead me out on the moonlit floor Lift your open hand Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance Silver moon's sparkling So kiss me. ** “Baby girl? Emily?” Mario frowned at her and waved his hand in front of her face. She was staring off into space again this time she was wearing a very small but satisfied look on her face. “Emily?” He snapped his fingers in front of her. “Hello?” “What?” Emily shook her head as she tried to clear her mind of the very pleasing daydream Mario just interrupted. She blushed as she realized that she had completely ignored him. “I thought you said I wasn’t boring you.” He said with a half-smile. “Oh no, it wasn’t you… I was just thinking about something and I got… sidetracked. So you have a big family huh?” She tried get back on topic. “Yeah, we went through that already.” He narrowed his eyes and stared at her. She was hiding something but if she didn’t want to tell him what, he wasn’t going to push her. Although he did have an idea about what she had been thinking about. He glanced up at the sky and was surprised at how dark it had gotten already. “It’s getting late. I better get you home.” “I can stay out a little later, you know. Sneak right on in.” Emily suggested. “Nah, you’ll just get caught again.” He said as he stood and began clearing up the remnants of their dinner. Emily immediately jumped and started to help him. “Well that was a one time thing, trust me.” She grabbed the blanket and began to fold it. “Usually I shimmy up the terrace outside my window.” “So why didn’t you do it last night.” He asked curiously. Cause I didn’t want you seeing me ‘shimmy’ up a terrace, she thought to herself, how embarrassing. Instead she shrugged. “Didn’t feel like it?” “So what were you thinking about just now?” He couldn’t help but ask. Emily almost dropped the blanket she was holding. She flushed quickly and lied. “Oh, nothing very interesting.” **So kiss me So kiss me… ** ~*~*~ At The Mansion Emily hopped off the motorcycle and handed the folded up blanket to Mario. “Here you go.” “Thanks. So will I ever know what you were thinking about?” Emily shook her head. “Girl’s gotta have her secrets, you know.” Mario laughed and nodded. “Right. Come here for a second.” He gestured her closer to him. Emily arched her eyebrow and inched closer to him. “Yeah?” He reached for her hand and pulled her down so that her face was inches away from his. He whispered. “I already know what it was.” He pressed a soft kiss to the back of her hand. “Next time… don’t stare at my mouth for so long.” Emily’s mouth dropped open and Mario chuckled to himself. He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and grinned. “See you around!” He started the motorcycle and roared away. Emily stood dumbfounded in the driveway. She pressed her hand to where Mario had kissed her and sighed. “Wow.” She floated into the mansion was ambushed by Lark. “There you are!” “What?” She asked confused by Lark’s sudden appearance. “Hey did I just hear a motorcycle outside? Was it that Mario guy’s? He looks the type to have one. So you rode his motorcycle. Cool!” Lark bubbled over. “Okay once again: What?” Emily repeated. “What are you doing here?” “Oh, you wanted me to drop off the T-shirts, remember?” Lark said. “I did?” “Yes, you did.” Lark prompted her. It finally dawning on her, Emily nodded her head slowly. “Yes, yes I did.” She looked around and whispered. “Where’s Sly?” Lark jerked her thumb behind her. “He went that way, searching out the kitchen. Your butler warned him about the cook for some reason but he didn’t listen.” “He should have.” Emily advised. “So you guys been here long?” Lark shook her head. “We just got here like a couple of minutes before you did. So *was* that Mario?” Lark asked. Emily couldn’t hide the smile on her face as she nodded. “Yeah, it was him. We just had a picnic.” “A picnic, huh? Sounds like Sly’s kind of fun. All he can do is eat!” Lark folded her arms and pouted. “Yeah it’s all a part of his charm.” Emily pointed out. “Yeah but it’s getting old… *quick*. So tell me about Mario…” “Hey, what did I say?” Emily quickly said. “Just curious. Remember I haven’t given up on Sly yet.” Emily calmed down. “Oh, okay. Mario works at Jason’s garage. He’s such a cool guy. He listens to me and that fact that he looks like a god without his shirt really helps you know! Broad shoulders, six pack, the whole nine yards.” Lark gasped. “Really? When did you see all that?” “Last night. Oh, we did nothing, I just sort of barged in on him.” Emily quickly added when saw that Lark was jumping to the wrong conclusion. “Oh.” Lark said disappointed. She was ready for some juicy stuff. Her ‘relationship’ with Sly was stuck on neutral so she had to live through others. “Hey Em, what’s up! Your cook rocks!” Sly came strolling down the hall towards them, a sandwich in one hand. “Cook made you a sandwich?” Emily gaped at him. “Yeah, she’s a nice woman. I don’t know why you go and on about her the way you do.” Sly said before tearing into his sandwich. “Well how do you like that?” Emily said in disbelief. “Miss Emily?” Reginald came out of the den holding a portable phone. “Telephone for you.” Emily took it and moved off to the side. “Hello?” “Em? It’s Liz. I’m at General. Lucky had an accident.” “Oh my God! What happened to him? Is he okay?” The words rushed out of her mouth. “Calm down. He’s fine. He was fooling around at Kelly’s and he slipped and twisted his ankle. I thought I’d just let you know so you can find someone to take his place during your skit. I don’t think he’ll be able to do it.” Liz informed her. “Oh, okay, well thanks and you tell him to get well soon. So I can kill him for this!” Emily hung up the phone. She sighed and looked over at Sly and Lark who waited for her to inform them. “Lucky twisted his ankle.” She explained. “What?” Lark blinked. “Is he okay?” Sly asked. “Yeah, he’s fine but he can’t do that skit now.” Emily frowned. “Lucy’s going to kill me.” “Why? This isn’t your fault.” Said Lark. “If I don’t find some one to take Lucky’s place in our skit that means we’ll have to dump it from the show and that’ll leave a hole in Lucy’s ‘perfect’ show and for *that* she’ll kill me.” “Oh.” Lark nodded with understanding. She nibbled on her bottom lip and thought for a second. She immediately looked at Sly when the solution came to her. She started to smile and said, “Sly? You know you’d be…” “…Doing me a big favor, if you’d take Lucky’s place in our skit.” Emily finished for her after she came to the same idea. “No.” Sly said clearly around a mouthful. “But please, Sly? Come on, be a friend, please?” Emily was practically begging now. “I’ll owe you big-time. I’ll get Cook to make you anything you want. I have no idea how I’ll accomplish that but I’ll worry about that later.” “Yeah Sly, do this!” Lark urged him. Sly looked at the two begging girls and shook his head. “No way. I don’t even want to do the one I’m in let alone do Lucky’s also. How did I get roped into that one anyway?” Lark scratched her ear. “I made you cheesecake brownies, remember?” Sly’s face lit up. “Oh yeah, those were good. You gotta make those again some time.” “I will if you do Lucky’s part.” Lark immediately offered. “No!” Sly said loudly. “Look, why don’t you just ask that Nikolas guy?” “I don’t think so.” Emily promptly said. There was no way she was going to share a stage with Nikolas especially not after his and Katherine’s big revelation about their relationship. “He doesn’t like to perform.” She said in explanation. “Oh, well then who are you going to get?” Lark asked, obviously giving on Sly at the moment. “I don’t know.” Emily frowned. “But I’ll figure it out.” *Song Credit* Sixpence None the Richer “Kiss Me”