Episode 144

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Episode 144

Scene 1:

"My spirit sleeping somewhere cold, until you find it there and bring it back home. Wake me up inside, wake me up inside, call my name and save me from the dark, bid my blood-What the hell! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Darcy snapped at Catherine.

"You've got a nice voice, Darc," Catherine commented. Darcy shot her one of those you're-a-complete-dumbass looks. Catherine luckily had developed an immunity to them after eight years of friendship. "I was just saying, I've never heard you sing before," Cat continued, turning down the stereo. Darcy had a secret talent for music. She could play numerous instruments, even though Macy was the musical prodigy of the family.

"I think Jareth's in Richmond today-" Darcy interrupted before Cat could go off on a predictable tangent about how Darcy should try pursuing her music.

"Darce," Catherine began with annoyance. "I don't just come to your house to see Jareth, don't pull that shit with me!" Darcy rolled her eyes and turned the stereo back up. Catherine turned it back down, "its never been that way and now that my relationship with Jareth has changed, that doesn't mean anything."

"Please, Cat, you and Jareth have been flirting since the day you two met!" Darcy returned with the same snap and vigor.

"And you've been my best friend since then too! Why are you letting a guy destroy that?!"

"He's not just any guy, he's my brother, Catherine!"

"What difference does it make?!"

"Don't be so dense Cat!"

Catherine threw up her arms, stopping her. "Darcy, I don't want to fight, this is stupid!" Catherine cried, the anger in her voice dying, almost sounding like desperation. "Do you want me to stop dating Jareth?"

Darcy was ready to throw another insult out at the mention of his name, but she stopped when she realized what Catherine had said. "What?"

"You heard me."

Darcy stammered slightly, "you would do that for OUR friendship?"

"You act as though that's insane..."

"I don't want you to do that," Darcy tacked on as soon as Catherine began to trail off.
Catherine breathed a sigh of relief. "So, still best friends?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Oh, Darce, you're so eloquent in these mushy moments."

"Bite me, Cat," Darcy replied, turning her music back up.

"Mother has a huge social event tonight, want to come?" Darcy sneered at the idea. "Aw, c'mon Darce, no one will know you and you can borrow one of my dresses."

"Alright," Darcy agreed surprising Catherine and even herself.

Scene 2:

Georgia looked around Ian's apartment with curiosity. They'd been together for nearly two months but this was the first she had seen of his sumptuous home. And yes, she decided, sumptuous was the right word. Compared to where she had grown up and where she lived now, Ian's apartment was almost a mansion to her. It was tastefully decorated in a style she wouldn't have thought Ian capable of but that seemed to fit regardless. She picked up a picture frame and turned it over, studying it.

"My grandmother," Ian commented at her elbow. "She was my favorite person in the world when I was a kid."

Georgia nodded thoughtfully and took in the woman's face. There was no resemblance between Ian and his grandmother. She supposed he took after the other side. "She's beautiful. Your mother's mother?"

"Father's. Grandma Anne. She helped out a lot when my dad died," he added taking the picture from her.

"You never talk about your father," Georgia noted. "Do you miss him?"

"Why should I? He was a drunk and I hated him," Ian answered setting the picture back in its place carefully. "But she was a saint. She put up with a lot from him."

"You hated him? Why?" She asked following him to the kitchen where he was unloading their Chinese food from a bag. "I mean, I don't particularly care for my father either, but I don't think I hate him."

"Why don't you like your father, Georgia?" Ian asked, turning her question back at her. "Did he beat you or your mother?"

"No, he just disappeared when I was ten. Did yours? Beat you, I mean."

"Sometimes. He was a drunk after all." He handed her a plate and pushed the rice at her. "I don't really want to talk about him if that's okay with you. I'd much rather talk about something else. Anything else."

"Okay...like what?"

"Tell me about where you grew up," he said with a shrug. "New Jersey right?"

"Yes, New Jersey. What do you want to know?" Georgia asked with a laugh. "About my mom, my dad? Jay?"

"I'd like to know everything," Ian answered offering her a glass of wine. "There isn't anything about you that I don't want to know."

"It's dull, I promise you..."

"Somehow, nothing with you is dull, Georgia. Now come on, spill."

Georgia grinned and took a bite of her dinner. What was there to tell, she asked herself. She knew her family wasn't on the same level as his but just the fact that he wanted to hear about them at all was a new thing to her. "Well, you've met my mother. She's really not as bad as she was that day. In fact, when we were growing up, I thought she was the best person in the world," Georgia began as Ian settled next to her at the bar. "She used to let us have friends over whenever we wanted and would make special meals for them. All of our friends loved her. But she had a pretty miserable life when we were young. My dad left when I was ten and we never heard from him after that. She got her divorce papers in the mail."

Ian nodded thoughtfully but remained silent letting her tell her family story. Georgia hadn't realized how much she had wanted to share it until that moment. After all, she hadn't had friends to share it with in ages. Even Jory, as sweet and thoughtful as he was, hadn't bothered to ask. The mere thought of Ian being interested in her past and her family as much as he appeared to be made her heart skip happily.

"Anyway, you met my brother too. John Jr. Or...well, we call him Jay. He's not so bad. Kind of a screw up when he was younger. But he met this girl when he was 18 and just fell madly in love with her. And she loved him too. They were so cute together. But they couldn't make it last. They got married and just grew totally apart. My mother adored her too. Blamed Jay for the break-up. She lives here you know. Strange thing is that I never see her. I don't know why. I guess she was just closer to Josie."

"Josie?" Ian echoed.

"My sister. You haven't met her. She's just finishing college. Josie...well, Josephine. We just call her Josie. She's a good kid. Smart as a whip and bound to make something of herself. Okay, now it's your turn," Georgia said giving him a playful poke.

He opened his mouth to reply but the doorbell cut him off. "On that note... Let me get rid of whoever that is and I'll be back to tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the McCormick family." He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving her to her dinner for the moment. Grinning happily to herself, Georgia sipped her wine and waited for him to return, feeling happier than she had in a long time.

Scene 3:

"I don't think I have enough boobs to hold this dress up," Darcy commented.

"Well, its the only one you'd settle on," Catherine remarked. The black, strapless gown was well suited to Darcy, more so than she probably thought. It hugged a figure most males didn't know existed.

"Do you not have anything modest in your wardrobe?" Darcy asked, examining her thigh that was revealed from a long slit up the side.

"Nope," Catherine replied, leaving her hair down, the slinky silver dress moving fluidly with her body. With her grace acquired from years of dancing, Catherine currently appeared the picture of high class...then she'd open up her mouth and that image vanished. That was one of things Darcy liked best about her. They descended the staircase, Catherine surprised by how easily Darcy could move in heels.

"Okay, overview, who's all here?" Darcy asked. The two girls mingled into the crowd, but not easily, Catherine without even trying commanded attention to herself. Darcy would have rather drowned into it: drowning in an ocean of people.

"The lady over there is my great-aunt Athena, yes, remember I am half-Greek. If you've seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, you'll have an idea of her, unless you want to hear her life story from the day she was born in Greece to this very second, I suggest you avoid her. That's my mom's best friend Evelyn, she's actually really cool. Apparently before my mother married my father, she wasn't so heinous. Ick, that's Damien. We once dated. Did not work. He's a rich, cocky asshole."

"Too much like you?"

"Yep."

"There's Max, you know who he is, will talk your ear off, and he's kind of creepy, sometimes I swear he's trying to flirt with me. Oh dear gawd, my mother is beckoning me, I'll be right back." Darcy watched as Catherine disappeared into the crowd. She'd rather be lost in this crowd of the socially elite then be within hearing and speaking range of Eleanor Fairchild. After a while of passing wordlessly through the crowd and having lost Catherine a long time ago, Darcy felt she needed to get outside before she had a social anxiety attack.

"Great fun this party, hm?" a strong, male voice commented from behind. His voice made her think of liquid amber. Darcy caught his solid figure in her peripheral vision.

"Please, I'd rather be covered in honey and eaten by ants," Darcy returned.

"I wouldn't mind seeing you covered in honey, but I could do without the ants part," he remarked.

Darcy whirled around on him, mouth agape at his comment. "Oh you're the dick, Catherine commented on," she remarked casually after giving him the once over. What was his name again? Damien?

"I've been called worse, probably by the girl you speak of," he replied with a casual shrug.

"I think being out here with you is almost, no as bad as being in there, so if you will excuse me," Darcy snapped and pivoted on her heel.

"You're awfully quick to judge," Damien said, giving her a charming smile, but Darcy viewed it more as slimy.

"Well, what can I say I just wasn't moved by your Id-like-to-see-you-covered-in-honey line," Darcy said, turning back on him.

"Really? I found that to be rather original. Better than the your-pants-are-like-a-mirror-I-can-see-myself-in-them line."

"Charm you lack-"

"There you go being presumptuous again." Darcy couldn't believe this guy. "At least, I'm honest," he said.

"Honest, where do you get off?"

"Wouldn't you like to know-" Even Darcy was shocked by that and it took a lot to shock her. "I find myself sexually attracted to you, at least I'm being upfront about it, rather than trying to be charming, steal your heart, then use you for sex. I'd rather go straight to the sex part."

"I don't think you could steal a girl's heart if you tried."

Damien shrugged, "you're probably right. By the way, I thought you were leaving? Apparently hobnobbing with Virginia's elite is more fun than me."

"You forgot to add and being covered in honey and being eaten by ants," Darcy replied. He glanced at her sideways with a smile, which she returned. She looked even better when she smiled.

"Well, apparently, I did something right, you smiled at me," he said, breaking the brief silence.

"I think you're the one being presumptuous now, I'm merely humoring you," Darcy returned.

"I can deal with that," Damien said, stepping closer to her, and openly giving her the once over.

"Oh, I'd ask if I live up to your standards, but I have a feeling you'd jump anything with two breasts and a vagina?" Darcy said sarcastically, moving out of the unnatural light shining on the balcony from the French door windows.

"Yep, I'm just a lowly male, driven by his raging hormones, Gloria Steinem. I'd even settle for one breast and a vagina." Damien chuckled, lighting up a cigarette.

"If you're going to insist on standing so close to me, dispose of the cigarette," Darcy said, but did so for him. Damien watched the cigarette sail through the air and land somewhere in a bush of white roses.
Darcy could easily see where Catherine and Damien had clashed. Too much alike was on target.

"So if I ask if I can escort you through the rose garden would it be entirely futile, since you know my motives already are to get into your pants...well, dress," Damien asked.

Darcy arched an eyebrow at him. "Yes, it would be futile."

"Well, then, what if I told you I was falling in love with you?" Damien asked.

Darcy pondered, "that would be futile, too, because love isn't something I'm too interested in."

Damien nodded, "yeah, me too. I have to wonder who ever developed the concept. And do you know what's even worse, the term soul mates. One person in the world meant to be your other half, they complete you." He dramatically placed his hand on his chest. "I pity those who can't feel whole without another person."

Darcy pondered his words, them being such a clear reflection of her own. Either he meant them or he was trying another approach to getting into her dress. In his tux with his dark hair, he magnified the tall, dark, rich, handsome man, but his words echoed something entirely different.

"You're trying every angle you can, aren't you?" Darcy asked.

"Are any working?" he asked with a wry grin that would be charming had he not been such an arrogant bastard.

"The last one was okay."

"Good because it was the closest to the truth I got," he admitted with a laugh.

Scene 4:

"Whoever you are," Ian started as he opened the door to his apartment, "this had better be good!"

Ellen Mason smiled back at him from the hallway, a devilish glint in her watery blue eyes. "I think it is. May I come in?" She took a step forward but Ian blocked the doorway, barring her entrance. "I can't come in?"

"No, Ellen, you can't. Go away," he returned dangerously. "I'm not in the mood for your antics right now."

"Really? Well, I think you might be if you would just hear me out."

He glanced over his shoulder towards the kitchen briefly before stepping into the hallway and closing the door behind himself. The last thing he wanted was for Georgia to get mixed up in anything to do with Ellen Mason. "What do you want?"

"You have company." It wasn't a question. Rather, she made it sound almost accusatory. "Georgia? Well, I think we can discuss this out here if we have to."

"Discuss what? The last time we spoke, Ellen, I believe I told you I didn't want anything to do with you."

"You did. But I think I can change your mind. If you'll let me talk for more than a sentence at a time," she bit back. He shrugged impatiently, wishing she would just leave. "Well. My brother is out of town right now..."

"So? What does that have to do with me?" Ian interrupted belligerently.

"So," Ellen continued undisturbed by Ian's impatience. "Don't you want to know why he's out of town?" Ian stared at her, waiting. She wanted to tell him and his lack of interest made her want to tell him more it seemed. "All right. If this is how you want it," she went on after a moment. "He went to New Orleans looking for a man named Joshua Manning."

"Get to the point."

Ellen smiled at him, her eyes glinting. "He's a doctor. And a very good friend of Jamie's. Dane told me he was hoping to get him to apply for Chief of Staff. You know, that job you wanted? The one I said I'd help you get? You should be very concerned Ian. After all, Jamie doesn't like you and I can get that job for you."

"Even Jamie Mason would admit that I am the most qualified man for the job," Ian said stubbornly. He wasn't sure he believed that completely but he did believe he had a better shot with Jamie than he did with Ellen. "If this Manning is a doctor? So what? He could be looking for someone to replace Barbara Stafford."

"He's not," she replied in a sing-song voice. "You know it and I know it. He wants his own man running the doctors there. Looks like you're out of the race before it even began." She paused and leaned closer to him. "But I can help you. I'm on that board. And I can be very persuasive. After all, I am my mother's daughter, as you so aptly put it the other day. Max Jency...well, I think he'll listen to me. And then of course there is my mother. She's dying to make our relationship better. What better way than to grant me this one favor?"

"What about the others?"

"Oh them," she said dismissively. "A bunch of nobodies who only suck up to rich people. Nothing to worry about. I can make the job yours, all you have to do is say yes."

"No. I don't trust you, Ellen. What's the catch?"

"The catch. Right. Well, I can make your life a living hell. You and I are both aware of that. So, I guess there is a catch." She paused and looked away for a moment as if contemplating her next words, though if Ian had to guess, he'd say she had thought this all through quite well. "You know I'm still in love with you."

"Not this again..."

"Let me finish. I want you Ian. And I want to see you succeed. But I don't think you'll succeed if you continue to see that...nurse. And I know you've always wanted a woman with a certain pedigree, we'll call it. Someone like me. Drop her and marry me and you can have the job."

"Do I look insane? No fucking way would I ever do that. No job is worth that kind of misery!" Ian hissed at her.

"How about your career then? Your reputation? Your life?" She added with a menacing tone. "Don't push me, Ian. I won't back down so easily. I'm not as young and vulnerable as I used to be."

Dammit, he swore silently. She would do something to ruin his life if it suited her purposes. Two could play at that game, though. "Go right ahead. You do that and I'll tell your brother all about these secret little meetings you keep having to try and blackmail me."

"Do you really think he'd believe you? After what you did to me?" She worked up some false tears. "Oh Jamie. He's lying! He just won't admit that he raped me the night of the ball. I said no but he kept after me. I couldn't fight him off!"

"Rape? Oh my god, Ellen. Not even you are that crazy..."

"No? Well, how about this little scenario then? Let's try the truth for a change. You tell Jamie that I'm blackmailing you for your affections and I'll just have to tell him about how we slept together the night of the ball and now I'm pregnant. And that, won't be a lie. For once, Ian, the truth is on my side."

He staggered back against the door, struck by her words. She couldn't be. She was lying. She had to be. How could he have been that stupid? Besides, it was just a few weeks ago. Surely she couldn't know this soon!

"I'm not lying," she continued reading his thoughts it seemed, before meeting his eyes with her own triumphantly. "You can perform your own little pregnancy test if you want. And then, we can tell Nurse Georgia together."