Chapter 32

Nikolas had burst into the Quartermaine Mansion determined to not let a chance 
at being with Emily slip away from him.  He was unsure of what was going on but 
he was not about to let an opportunity like this get away from him. He hugged 
her closer to him.

"Emily?  What happened?"  He murmured against her hair.

"My father's coming home." Emily's words were muffled by the fact that her face 
was buried in his shoulder.

Nikolas stepped away slightly.  "What did you say?"

"Alan is coming home."  Emily said clearly this time.

"Are you sure?"  Nikolas smoothed back her hair as she nodded.

"Monica just told me and I… I can't believe, I just can't."  Emily sighed and 
sat down on the couch.  Nikolas joined her and she continued. "This is just so 
hard for me.  Do you know how hard it is for me to try and pretend each time 
that Dad is better when we all know he's not?"

Nikolas wrapped his arm around her shoulders and Emily leaned her head against 
his shoulder.  "I wish I could tell you that it's all going to be okay."

Emily shook her head.  "The only way everything's going to be okay is if Dad 
stops using the pills for good and who knows anymore what he'll do.  Those pills 
have controlled his life for so long that what the family wants no longer 
matters."

Nikolas just continued to hold her.  There wasn't much he could say about Alan 
and his drug problem.  He didn't know the man well enough and he didn't think it 
was his place to be talking about.  After all he wasn't family.

"And do you know what the worst part of all this is? Dad still doesn't know 
about the suicide attempts."  Emily said quietly. "The family thought it was in 
his *best interests* not to know. When he finds out he's going to freak.  He's 
going to blame himself and I don't want that to happen because it had nothing to 
do with him."

Nikolas took a deep breath and said lamely, "Well, Em, all I can say is that you 
should try sitting him down and explaining it all to him the way you did me."

Emily shrugged.  "Maybe…I just don't know.  I don't even know why I'm worrying 
about this so much.  I should just wait and see how everything goes."

They sat quietly for a few minutes until Emily sat up suddenly. "I'm so sorry, 
Nik, you didn't come here to listen to my problems." This is your opening, 
Nikolas told himself, take it! He reached into his pocket and took a hold of his 
Cassadine medallion. "I had to talk to you about…"

Reginald coming into the room interrupted him.  "Emily? There is a Marisa here 
to see you, something about mixed up bags."

"Tino's sister."  Emily told Nikolas.  "We went shopping today. I must have 
grabbed her bag by mistake."  Emily reached for her bags. "Tell her to come on 
in, Reginald."

"Shopping with Tino's sister. Great."  Nikolas mumbled under his breath. He 
stood and moved across the room.

Emily looked up.  "Did you say something?"

"No, ah, just clearing my throat." He lied. 

Marisa came bouncing into the room all smiles. "Hey Em, I couldn't believe it 
when I got all the way home and realized I had your shoes and you had mine."

"Found them."  Emily held up the bag.  "It's a good thing you checked."

Marisa finally noticed Nikolas standing off to the side. "Hello there.  Emily?"

Emily rolled her eyes.  She guessed that was Marisa subtle way of asking for an 
introduction.  "Marisa this is my friend Nikolas, Nikolas this is Marisa."

"Nice." Marisa looked Nikolas over from head to toe.  "Very nice." She murmured.

"I, uh, I'll see you later, Em."  Nikolas started to head for the door. "Nice 
meeting you… Marisa."

Emily started after him.  "But I thought you wanted to talk?"

"Tomorrow. Do you have any free time?  When we can be alone?" 

Emily nodded.  "Yeah after school probably."

"Okay, meet me at the docks then?"

"Yeah sure.  I'll see you tomorrow then."  Nikolas nodded and walked out.

"Mmm, he's cute."  Marisa said behind her.  "You two are just friends right? 
Because my brother doesn't need to be…"

"Just hold on, Nik and I are…just friends."

"Good but I can see how you could be tempted.  He's something else."

*~*~*

Wyndemere
 
Carly swiped at her hair in frustration before slamming down her brush.  
"Dammit." She muttered.

Bobbie, who was walking Michael to his room, poked her head through the door.  
"Carly? Something wrong?"

"My hair is just plain… ugh!" 

"Looks like Mommy's having a bad hair night."  Bobbie winked at Michael.

"Mommy's got bad hair."  Michael giggled and waved the teddy bear he was 
carrying.  Bobbie laughed also.  Carly shot her a fierce frown.

"Bobbie." She snapped.  "This is not funny!"

Bobbie rolled her eyes and sighed.  "Michael go sit on your mother's bed, looks 
like Grandma's going be awhile.  So what's the problem, sweetie?"

"My hair just won't do what I want it do."

Bobbie picked up the brush.  "What do you want?"

"Up, away from my face.  I'm going to wear the diamonds Jason gave me so I want 
them to be seen."

Bobbie nodded and grabbed a handful of hairpins.  "I get it. So… you nervous?"

"Well… just a little.  I want to look perfect.  This whole night needs to be 
perfection.  This is like our first real date.  Jason and I, we never did the 
date thing, you know?  We went from the pick up at the bar straight to…" Carly 
looked in the mirror to see Michael rolling around on her bed with his bear, 
"straight to the bedroom without even knowing each other names."

"And Jason isn't the date type, you know?  If it had been up to him, the second 
Robin was out of the penthouse Michael and I would have been on our way back in.  
Not that I'm opposed to that. It's just that it's happening very fast and this 
time around I want things to go slowly for us and now I'm rambling."

"Honey, it's okay. So you're a little nervous, that's fine." Bobbie squeezed her 
shoulders gently.  "I'm done with your hair, you like?"

Carly glanced in the mirror.  Bobbie had twisted her hair up and piled it up on 
top of her head with a few tendrils curling down.  "It's okay."  She shrugged.

Bobbie gasped.  "Okay?  This happens to be my best work yet."

Carly laughed.  "I was just teasing.  Thanks for the help.  So how do *I* look?"  
Carly stood, showing off her slinky strapless gray silk dress.

Bobbie whistled lowly.  "Nice.  Definitely going to knock Jason's socks off.  Is 
he meeting you at the docks or…"

"I convinced him to come on up to the big house."  Carly grinned. "He's coming 
up to say goodnight to Michael.  Jason should be here soon, I think.  We better 
get downstairs before Stefan pops up and scares him off."  Carly picked up 
Michael off her bed and scooped up her wrap and purse.

"Stefan scare of Jason?"  Bobbie laughed.  "Not likely.  Where's Jason taking 
you tonight?"  She asked as she followed Carly out of the room.

"God! What's with the questions?  But to tell you the truth, I have no idea.  I 
told Jason somewhere fancy where I can go all dressed up but no place too high 
profile.  I want to be able to get through dinner without dirty looks being shot 
at me and Jason."

"You shouldn't care that much about what others think of you." Bobbie advised.

"Like I didn't know that, oh wise one."  Carly said sarcastically. "I don't care 
what people think.  Well, not that much anyway.  But hey, is it wrong for me to 
want to be able to get through a meal without half the people thinking I'm about 
to flip out and the other half thinking Jason's going to shoot up the place?"

"Understandable." Bobbie nodded.

Bobbie and Carly came to the landing and saw Jason waiting for them just as Mrs. 
Lansbury walked up to them.

"Mr. Morgan is here for you Miss Spencer."  She said. Carly nodded not looking 
at her.  

Jason was casually leaning against the banister, his hair slicked backed and 
dressed in a dark suit.  Carly thought he looked wonderful.

Still carrying Michael, Carly walked down the stairs and stopped in front of 
Jason.  "Hi."  She said.

"Hey."  Michael reached for Jason.  Jason took him out of his arms and gave a 
kiss on the cheek.  "Hey buddy."

"Well?  What do you think?"  Carly asked about her appearance.

Jason shrugged.  "You look good."

"Good?" Carly twirled around.  "Honey, I'm a knockout. Admit it."

"Okay, okay."  Jason gave in. "You look great."

"That's better."  Carly looked him over.  She ran her hand down the sleeve of 
his jacket.  "Nice suit."  She arched her eyebrow in a silent question.

"It's one of yours."  He answered.

Carly grinned.  "Good boy. Hey, where are my flowers?"

"You wanted flowers? You were serious?"

"Dead serious.  I told you, the whole nine yards. Dinner, dancing, *and* 
flowers."

"Next time, okay?"

"You better."

Glad to have that over with, Jason checked his watch.  "We should get going. 
We've got reservations."

"Where at exactly?" Carly was curious.

"PC Grill."  Jason said simply.

"The Grill?  Quartermaine territory! Very nice, Jason, very nice." Carly fumed. 
She crossed her arms and glared at him.

Jason put Michael down and glared back.  "What's wrong with the Grill? It's what 
you wanted."

"I wanted to be able to eat in peace and not have people looking at me the whole 
time."

"You like it when people pay attention to you."

"Not when they look at me like I'm the town pariah! I wanted this night to be… 
you know?  Never mind.  You want to the Grill? We'll go to the damn Grill!  God, 
at least you didn't pick the Outback."

Carly settled her wrap around her shoulders and picked up her purse.  She 
glanced at Jason.  "Ready?"

"Finished making a big production out of everything?"  He asked. Carly nodded. 
Jason kneeled down gave Michael a hug.  "Goodnight Michael."

Carly bent and gave him a kiss on the forehead.  "Be good Mister Man, Mommy will 
see you in the morning." 

Bobbie, who had stayed quiet during Carly and Jason's exchange, spoke up.  "And 
when will you be coming in tonight?"

Carly and Jason exchanged a quick hot glance and Carly said. "Let's just put it 
this way.  Don't wait up."

~*~*~

Mac and Felicia's

Robin looked around to make sure that Maxie was still occupied with homework 
before going in the hall and quickly dialed her cell phone. She waited 
impatiently as the line rang over and over.  

Finally someone picked up. "Hello?" Said a sleep-roughened voice.

"Stella? It's me."  Robin said softly. 

"Why are you whispering?" Asked the woman.

"Never mind that. I can't talk for long.  Did you go in for your appointment?"  
Robin asked.

"Yes. The doctor said that everything is fine and on schedule."  

"Good, good.  I'll try to come out to see you sometime this week. Do you need 
anything?"  

"A little money. Just a couple of hundred or so."  Stella mumbled.

"What happened to all the money I gave you two weeks ago?"  Robin demanded.

"I had… bills and stuff.  You know, got to stay healthy and all that."  Stella 
lied.

"Whatever." Robin sighed. "I'll bring the money."

"Robin?  I need some help!"  Maxie called out from the living room.

"I'll be right there."  Robin called back.  "So all you need is two hundred?"

"Actually more like three."  Stella corrected.

"Okay, three, is that it?"  

"That's all, thanks."  Stella said cheerfully.  "You're such a nice girl for 
doing this."

"Nice has nothing to do with it."

~*~*~

PC Grill

"I've been thinking lately that I need to get a job." Carly said suddenly as 
they waited for the waiter to return with Jason's coffee and Carly's chocolate-
raspberry cake.

Jason looked at her in surprise.  "Did I just hear the words 'get a job' come 
out of *your* mouth?"

"Don't act so shocked.  I can only live off of the Cassadine money for so long 
before dear old Step-Vlad gets annoyed. So I was thinking maybe interior 
decorating."

"Decorating?"  Jason asked. "You want to shop for a living?"

"Is that so bad?  And it's not shopping; it's changing a bland room into a 
statement.  Like what I did to Michael and my rooms at Wyndemere. We were living 
in tombs, I swear and now they are inviting to the living not the dead.  This 
could be great."

"You can redecorate the penthouse when you move in." Jason suggested.

"Believe me, I am, but stop trying to bribe me into moving back in so soon.  
Michael and I will be moving in when I'm ready. But for the record, I have big 
plans for the penthouse."

"So did being here turn out to be as bad as you made it out to be?" Jason asked 
to change the subject.
 
Carly smiled slightly as she shook her head.  "Actually no.  We got a lot less 
stares than I expect.  Though I could have done without those two women looking 
at you like you were on the desert menu."  

Jason cocked an eyebrow.  "What women?" He started to look around.

"Those two."  Carly glared at the women sitting across from their table until 
the women stopped looking in Jason's direction.

Jason laughed.  "Jealous?"

"Of them? I'm just protective of what's mine.  Now that I have a hold of you, 
I'm not about to let go."  Carly reached out and Jason took her hand. 

The waiter showed up with their coffee and desert and Carly released Jason's 
hand.  The waiter placed the cake in front of Carly and she waited until he was 
gone before digging in.  She took a bite and closed her eyes as she chewed.  "Oh 
my God!  This… this is so good.  I have to get the recipe and see if Mrs. 
Lansbury can whip this up."

"Is it that good?"  Jason asked in amusement as he sipped his coffee.

"Better than good… it's better than sex!"  Carly exclaimed before taking another 
bite.  Jason suppressed a grin at her enthusiasm.

She paused and looked up at Jason.  "Maybe not better than sex with you but 
better than sex with say… Tony, hell eating *my* cooking is better than sex with 
Tony."  Carly laughed. She cut off a piece and lifted the fork in Jason's 
direction.  "Here taste."

Jason opened his mouth and Carly served him the cake.  He chewed dutifully 
before nodding.  "It's good."

"Good?  It's fantastic!  You must not be a chocolate lover because if you were 
you would know."  Carly said as cut off another piece for herself.

Jason shook his head.  "You just love making the biggest deal out of the 
smallest things don't you?"

Carly grinned.  "It's just one of the things you love about me, isn't it?"

"One of the things."

"What else, hmm?"  Carly laid down her fork and folded her arms across the table 
and leaned in.

Jason leaned in also.  "Now if I start to list them all, we'll never get out of 
here and I thought you wanted to go dancing?"

"Dancing?"  Carly feigned confusion.  "Who said anything about dancing? I 
thought we were talking about me?"

"Right, you're favorite subject."  Said a voice from beside her. Carly looked up 
to see Keesha standing by their table with AJ right behind her.  

Carly rolled her eyes.  "Oh, goody, it's my favorite person in the whole world. 
Hello Keesha, AJ."

"Carly. Jason."  AJ nodded, he stared intently at Carly. Jason didn't say a 
word.  He continued to drink his coffee and wait for them to be on their way.  
He wasn't in the mood for whatever drama Keesha and probably AJ were about to 
stir up.

"I see you don't waste time, Carly.  Robin's barely gone and look, you're 
already trying to take her place. Aren't tired of being second best?"  Keesha 
asked.

"I don't know.  Why don't you let me know when you tire of it." Carly snapped.  
"Now if you're done with trying to ruin my evening, why don't you just run 
along. Maybe go by yourself something pretty? God knows you do it more than me." 

"AJ?  Aren't you going to say something about this?"  Keesha asked.

"Why?"  AJ shrugged.  "I didn't want to stop. You did."

"The mother of your son is out with a known criminal, this placing your son in 
danger."

"Now all of a sudden you're concerned about my son, is that it?" Carly demanded.  
"Michael is never in any danger. I can protect my son and AJ knows that."

"Keesha, let's go, what Carly does is none of my business, as long as it doesn't 
hurt Michael."  AJ looked at Jason briefly before gently moving Keesha away from 
the table.

Carly groaned.  "There goes my appetite. Are you ready to go? Because I am."

Jason put down his cup.  "You're not about to let them run you off are you?"

"Normally, I wouldn't but Jason, I want to enjoy tonight and I want you to enjoy 
tonight and fighting with Keesha won't make you happy. So why don't we go while 
my temper is still level?"

"Okay, we'll go.  Do you want to go dancing or not?" Jason asked as he waved the 
waiter over.

"I know how much of a sacrifice it was for you to even suggest that but no, I 
don't feel like dancing anymore."

"You want me to take you back to Spoon Island?"  Jason asked hoping she would 
say no.

"Where'd you get that idea?  This date is far from over.  I just want to go 
someplace where we can be alone and not get… interrupted."

"The penthouse?"  Jason asked.

"You can read my mind, can't you?"