Episode 152

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Episode 152

Scene 1:

She was more than a little nervous. In fact, she was a lot nervous, if she really thought about it. Doing what she had done had taken a lot out of her. It had sunk her to Hallie's level and she didn't like that at all. But what could she do? Hallie had left her with no choice. All she had to do now was wait it out and hope that the fallout was what she had hoped for. In the meantime, Liza Gennaro had some explaining to do to Luke Conlan. Finding him had taken a little longer than she had anticipated. He hadn't been at the Conlan's home nor was he at ME. Thankfully though, he had at least checked in with his father at Connie's.

"Off scouting a location for Connie's in The Drop," Kevin had told her with a wink. She walked to The Drop and looked over Stephen Roth's development. He had done a remarkable job getting businesses in so quickly, she thought watching as a crew of workmen painted the exterior of Tia Rosa's dress shop.

"Liza?" She turned at Luke's voice, her stomach fluttering nervously. "What are you doing here?"

"Luke...I-," she broke off not sure of what to say.

"Are you all right?" He asked, alarm flaring in his eyes.

She smiled at his concern, feeling the nerves melt away. "Yes. I'm all right. The best I've been in months," she added. "I was looking for you."

Luke's dark eyes widened in surprise at her admission. "What? Why? I mean..." He stumbled over his words too confused to make sense.

"Well, I've had quite an afternoon. I wanted to share it with you," she told him. "Though, if you sent me away right now, I wouldn't blame you."

"I would never send you away!" He took a step closer and when she didn't flinch or step back, he offered her his hand. She looked at it for a moment, saw how it trembled slightly, and placed her own in it. The warmth of his hand over hers made her heart race as it had the first time he had touched her. "Liza, if this isn't what I'm hoping it is, please tell me now," he said, begging silently with his eyes.

"I overheard Hallie telling her brother that she slept with you last night," Liza said suddenly.

"What?! Liza, I promise you, I did not sleep with Hallie. I was drunk..."

"You passed out. I know. She said so. But she was planning on telling me that it had really happened. Luckily for me, I heard her before she could do any damage."

Luke raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Why would Hallie do that? It doesn't make any sense..."

"Hallie is a vengeful bitch, Luke. She just wanted to make sure I felt as low as I possibly could. But it didn't work. I let Hallie ruin my happiness before, Luke, and I won't let her do it again."

"So she did force you to end it with me," Luke mused. "How? And why did you let her?"

"Does it matter?"

"No," Luke replied firmly pulling her close. "As long as what you say right now is true. You promise you won't let Hallie interfere again?"

Liza smiled gently, laying her cheek against his chest. "I promise, Luke. Hallie is about to get a taste of her own medicine. I only wish I could be there to see it."

Scene 2:

Jamie walked into Four Winds, sensing almost immediately the tension in the air. He dropped his bag in the foyer and made his way towards living room. He paused in the doorway long enough to see his mother and sister staring angrily at each other while Dane and Jude sat nearby ready to interfere.

"Hello. What am I interrupting?" Jamie said as casually as he could from the doorway. Gwen and Ellen both turned towards him, offering him twin looks of relief at his appearance.

"Jamie! Thank goodness you're home! Maybe you can talk some sense into Ellen!" Gwen announced holding her arms open for him. Jamie stepped into the room and allowed her to embrace him before turning to his sister with a questioning gaze.

"Oh god, Mother. Don't be so dramatic. Jamie isn't going to be able to talk me out of it any more than you were," Ellen sniffed.

"Tell him what you've done then!"

Jamie glanced at Jude and Dane for a hint at the severity of Ellen's actions but received only a modest shrug from Dane and a slight shake of the head from Jude. "Can't be all that bad, can it Mother?" Jamie asked lightly. "After all, doesn't look like any of us are maimed or dead. Well, except for Hallie. Where is Hal? Shouldn't she be here if we're having a family meeting?" He added with a grin in the hopes of lightening the situation.

"This isn't a family meeting!" Gwen snapped. "This is an emergency. Do you know what she's done, Jamie?" He was fairly certain Gwen's question was one that did not require a response from him. Instead of replying, he merely shrugged and waited. "She's married!"

"Married?" Jamie echoed, stunned at the announcement. He snapped an inquiring frown at Ellen. "Who did you marry? I wasn't aware you were serious with anyone."

"Don't know everything then do you?" Ellen replied frostily. "But since you haven't heard the good news, I'll tell you. I married Ian McCormick yesterday..."

"What?!" Jamie exploded angrily. "Ian? Why the hell did you do that? He's a menace! Not to mention how badly he's treated you in the past. I don't get it, Ellen."

"It's really very simple," Ellen answered with a roll of her eyes. "I am in love with Ian. I have been for a very long time and since I've moved back to the Glen, Ian and I have...seen each other...very privately," she added with a pointed look at Gwen. "We decided just after you left for New Orleans to get married," she added returning her gaze to Jamie. "It was lovely."

"Ellen, what on earth possessed you to marry that jerk?" Jamie demanded.

"He's changed!" Ellen flared back hotly.

"I doubt that very much. Ian McCormick is still violent. Not to mention the fact that he has never cared anything about you except that you have a prominent family!"

"That is not true. And anyway, you won't be able to talk me out of it since I've already done it. You could be supportive instead of tearing me down like Mother. After all, I am not a college kid anymore. I am an adult who makes her own decisions. I wish the both of you would quit treating me as if I were some kind of idiot child!" She added with an angry flip of her hair before storming from the room.

"I will not allow this Jamie!" Gwen snapped. "You have to do something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Get rid of him somehow."

"No," Jamie answered setting his jaw firmly. "Ellen's made her bed and now she'll have to lie in it. I won't be the one hurt her. If anyone does that, it'll be Ian. You and I need to stay out of it."

"You might be able to do that, but I simply cannot. Ellen may not like me much, but I am her mother and I do not want to see her destroyed again. Ian hurt her terribly the last time and I cannot bear to watch it happen again. This marriage is not going to last the month!" Gwen snapped, pivoting on her heel and stalking out of the room.

Scene 3:

"Well? What happened?"

Josh opened his eyes, blinking against the light Honey had turned on as she entered their bedroom. He rolled over and glanced at the clock next to the bed. Two a.m. She'd gotten off early. He hadn't expected to rehash his conversation with Jamie Mason until the morning or early afternoon at the latest. Explaining his decision to her would be easier after a Bloody Mary to get him going in the morning.

"Josh?" Honey persisted when his eyes fluttered closed again. "Please, I'm tired and I've been waiting to hear about this all day. Did you talk to Jamie Mason?"

Rubbing his eyes, Josh rolled to a sitting position and yawned. "I did. Heard everything the bastard had to say."

"And?"

"Oh Christ, Honey. It was the same shit from the day before. That's all," he muttered.

Honey pressed her lips together in a disapproving line. Sometimes, Josh thought, she reminded him of his mother and the way she looked at him when he was a teenager. He reached for her hand and pulled her down on the bed with him. She resisted for a moment but sighed and kicked off her shoes before settling next to him.

"Look, he wants me to move to Virginia and work at his hospital," he began. She jerked away from him and stared at him, ready to chastise him for whatever he would say. "Just hear me out all right. Jamie Mason is a rotten shit. For that matter, so am I."

"What are you talking about? You're not..."

"I am," he cut in firmly. "How long have we been together?"

"A year."

"That's right. A year. And in that year, how many jobs have I had? None. I don't contribute anything to your life. You do it all. You let me move in here. You give me money when I need it. You come home after work and make dinner, while I sit around and let you do it. Jamie is a class a creep, but he was right about one thing. You don't deserve this life."

"I like this life," she said softly. "I like that you're in it and that you're here. I don't care if you work or not. I'm sorry if you thought it mattered to me. It doesn't."

He smoothed a stray wisp of hair away from her face. "I want to believe that it doesn't matter. But it does matter. It matters because you deserve more. Something more than I can give you."

"What are you saying?" Honey asked suddenly, the color draining from her face. "Please, Josh..."

"Wait, let me finish okay?" He released her and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "I...I've been thinking a lot today. Jamie said some things that I hadn't considered because I am a selfish bastard. You know it more than anyone else in the world, I think."

"You aren't though. You're just..."

"Don't defend me or my behavior," he snapped harshly. He got to his feet and pulled on the shirt he had discarded earlier, not bothering to button it. "The fact is you've had to do everything for me, while I've done nothing for you. That's...well, it's wrong. So, I've been thinking today. You know, I think you would be better off without me." She started to protest but he held up his hand, silencing her. "But I wouldn't be better off without you. The one thing Jamie said that really struck me was how you didn't deserve an ungrateful mooch like me." He moved around the bed to where she was sitting and knelt in front of her. "But you've saved my life the last year and I don't know what I would have done without you. So I made a decision. I'm going to take him up on his offer."

He saw the muscles in her throat jump as she swallowed, trying to keep whatever emotions she felt at bay. "Good," she managed after a moment, offering him a gentle smile.

"I'm not done yet," Josh said taking her hand in his. "I'll take his offer. But only if you come with me. I couldn't make it in Virginia without you, Honey. I need you too much. But if you don't want to, I understand."

"Not want to?!" She exclaimed with a burst of tears. "You jerk! How could I not want to? I love you, Josh! If you'll have me, I'll go anywhere with you!"

"Well, just Virginia, okay?" He smiled and lifted her into his arms, cradling her as she sobbed with relief against his shoulder. At least, he could do this one thing for her. Even if it did mean relying on Jamie Mason again.

Scene 4:

The house was dark when Hallie pulled into the driveway, though Stephen's car was parked in front of the house. She climbed out of the car, puzzled that he hadn't called her cell phone to let her know he was home. That wasn't like him. Not that he was pretentious like that. That was something that Jude would do for Maura. Not Stephen. Still... It was odd.

She paused at the door, keys in hand. The door stood ajar, an open invitation to thieves or anyone else. "Stephen?" She called, dropping her keys into her purse and fishing out her cell phone, ready to call 911 if she had to. "Are you home?"

"Upstairs." The reply floated down the staircase to her sounding dreadfully serious. Was something wrong? She left her purse on the foyer table and climbed the stairs toward the room they shared, flipping lights as she went. She paused in the open doorway to the bedroom, staring at the bed. It was a tangle of clothes and suitcases.

"What happened? We haven't been robbed have we?" She asked in alarm.

"No," Stephen replied shortly. He flipped a lamp on by the chair he was sitting in, spreading a warm yellow glow around him.

"Oh good. You scared me for a minute there!" Hallie exclaimed with a nervous laugh. "The door was open downstairs and then all the lights are out in the house...and you're sitting here in the dark staring at me as if I were a ghost... Well, you can imagine what I thought!"

"Yes, I can well imagine."

"Are you all right?" Hallie asked staring at him. His face was still, with no emotion showing, and his eyes bored into her, a spark of anger flitting through them briefly. "Did something happen?"

"Depends on how you look at it," Stephen answered getting to his feet. He edged towards the bed and picked up a piece of clothing. Hallie glanced at it, recognizing it as one of her negligees.

She raised an eyebrow in question at him. "What are you doing?"

"Can't you tell?" He asked, not bothering to turn around. "I'm packing."

"But those are my things..."

"Yes, they are." He stopped and turned to face her at last, his mouth drawn into a grim line. "I'm packing your clothes and kicking you out of my house."

"What?! Don't be absurd, Stephen!" Hallie exclaimed jumping forward. She seized the negligee, yanking it out of his hands. "If this is your idea of a joke, it isn't funny!"

"It's not a joke, Hal. I don't want you in my house another minute longer."

She blinked in surprise, staring at him with her mouth hanging open. He had to be joking! "Stephen, I don't know what's happened and if you're teasing me, I'll..."

"You'll what?" Stephen demanded dangerously. "Cheat on me with another man? Oh wait, you've already done that. How stupid of me to forget that." He slapped his head, mocking her as he did so. "I left town and you cheated on me. That's right. I've got to try to remember these little details."

"Cheated on you?" Hallie echoed. "I never..."

"You did. Don't lie."

"I didn't!"

Stephen snatched the nightgown back and shoved it unceremoniously into a suitcase. "Couldn't wait until I was gone, could you? What made you do it? Do you have some little plan I don't know about? One that makes me look like a fucking fool for loving you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about! Will you just tell me? Tell me what I supposedly did!" Hallie took a step closer to him and laid her hands on his, stilling them form throwing more of her clothes into the suitcase. "Because I didn't do anything while you were gone!"

"No? Not what I heard. Do you want me to repeat what I heard? Give you all the lurid details?" He asked staring down at her. "Fine. You went looking for Luke. For your husband. I forget that little detail sometimes. Probably because I had myself convinced you didn't care about him. I guess I was wrong. You went looking for him and found him. Am I right so far?"

"Oh Stephen! You've got it all wrong!" Hallie smiled brightly, relieved for the moment. It was just a misunderstanding! He just didn't know the truth. "Nothing happened."

"Did you or did you not go looking for Luke Conlan, wearing this?" He reached down and yanked a slinky dress off the bed and shoving at her. "Because this is a dress that I would guess you only wear when you want someone to notice you."

"It is. And he did notice me. But nothing happened."

"I don't believe you," he answered staring angrily at her. "You lie, Hallie. It's one of those things you do. Once, I thought I could tell when you lied but not anymore. You've gotten too good at it. You slept with Luke Conlan the minute my back was turned. I can't even begin to understand why."

"First of all, I did not sleep with him! I don't know where you heard that, but it isn't true. Second, I did go looking for him. I had an idea of how to hurt Liza Gennaro a little bit more. That's it. I was never going to sleep with him! Give me some credit!"

"For what?" Stephen snorted. "For scheming? No, I don't think you deserve credit for trying to make someone else's life miserable. God, you're amazing. You thought you could get away with all of your little tricks no matter who you hurt in the process, didn't you Hallie?" Stephen uttered a short, brittle laugh. "I thought that maybe once you and I were together all of your schemes would go away. I can see now how wrong I really was. I'm just not willing to let you ruin my life along with yours."

"I didn't sleep with him!" Hallie exclaimed again forcefully. "Who told you I did? Dane? He's just mad because whatever he was planning with Liza didn't work out!"

"It wasn't Dane."

"Then who was it? Tell me!"

Stephen sighed and threw another lump of clothes into the suitcase, closing it after the clothes. "No, I don't think I owe you that courtesy. You've made a fool of me for the last time, Hallie. Go back to your husband and continue on with your self-destructive ways. I've had enough."