Heart
& Soul
Episode
1.02
By Allan
Craig
Diane
drove into her driveway and turned off the engine. She got out of the car and
walked to the door.
She walked inside to see John sitting on the sofa.
“You're home early” Diane removed her gloves.
“I took the afternoon off” John muttered back
“Do you want to go to Chez Antoine tonight for dinner?”
“We don’t have any reservations”
“You're John Sterling, you don’t need reservations” Diane was quick to remind
her husband of his status.
“Then lets get ready” he groaned, obviously not to keen on his wife's plans.
Diane wasn’t going to let anything ruin her marriage. Calinda
was out of the way now, all she needed to do was keep John’s attentions turned
to herself.
The Abbot House
Ashley hung up the phone. Her father, Wesley, walked into the room.
“Who was on the phone?” asked Wesley.
“I just signed up for the pageant” Ashley replied.
“That’s great”
“Well, I better go, I’m meeting Nick. We’re going to the movies tonight"
“What are you gonna see?”
“They’re re-showing Friday the 13th” said Ashley in a spooky voice.
“Sounds good. Don’t be out too late” his overprotectiveness
wasnt the best hidden case.
“I won’t be” she shot her father that Colgate worthy smile.
Ashley picked up her bag and walked out of the house.
The
Greg and Carrie sat in their living room.
“Greg honey” Carrie greeted her husband with a tired but pretty smile.
“Yes…” Greg knew that tone of voice
“We really should get our own place. Living under the watchful eye of your
mother is really getting to me”
“I know, but I just get so comfy here. We don’t have to do anything, laundry,
cleaning, paying bills, it’s all taken care of” Greg liked his current abode.
“But I want to live like a
“Me too Carrie, but it’s hard. Buying a house costs money”
“Which you have tons of” she reminded her husband.
“Just because I’m a rich man’s son, doesn’t mean I’m automatically rich”
“But you are, Greg. I can’t stay here much longer. Do you know, the other day
Diane came over after I moved the furniture around to give it her inspection”
Greg could tell Carrie was serious.
There was a knock at the guest house door.
“It’s open” Greg yelled. The door opened and Diane walked in.
“Just to say that John and I are going to Chez Antoine for dinner tonight, and
we were wondering if you’d like to join us” Diane's eyes wandered around the
living room, checking for dust.
“Sounds good to me” Greg grinned, “What about you, Carrie?”
“Great” Carrie responded, just to please her husband.
“Well, we’re leaving in an hour, sharp” Diane ran her finger along the window
ledge. Carrie shot Greg a look. Diane walked out.
“See, I told you” Carrie muttered under her breath.
“Okay, tomorrow we’ll go down to the real estate agents, how’s that?” Greg
said, with no intention of following through.
“Like music to my ears. I better go get ready” Carrie walked into the bathroom.
Jazz & Co
Will sat in the bar. Jessica walked in and sat on the stool next to him.
“Hi Jessica, can I buy you a drink?” asked Will.
“Vodka, on the rocks” Jessica replied without even looking at him.
“You heard the lady” Will nodded towards the barman, “And a beer for me”
“So Will, what’s a guy like you doing here without a beautiful woman on his
arm?” the ever flirtatious Jessica enquired.
“Things are pretty quiet on that front at the moment”
“Perhaps I can help you out there” Jessica offered.
“Tell me”
“How about I show you?”
“Sounds good to me” Will perked up.
Jessica took Will’s hand and pulled him out of the bar.
Chez Antoine
Diane, John, Greg and Jessica sat around a table sipping drinks.
“How was work today, John?” asked Diane.
“Quite busy, wasn’t it Greg?” John replied., trying to get Diane's focus off of
him.
“I suppose, but I don’t exactly wanna talk about work
right now” Greg's simple statement cut the tension.
“Too right” Carrie added, “So, what are you having?”
“I love the salmon here” said Diane.
“I think I’ll have the steak” John's stomach rumbled. He had burned alot of calories for sure.
“Me too” Greg's eyes wandered up and down the menu before his fingers wandered
up and down Carrie's thigh.
“It all looks so nice, I think I’ll have the shrimp cocktail” Carrie
desperately tried not to giggle.
The waiter walked over.
Oak Place
Ashley and Nick walked out of the movie theater.
“So what did you think of the movie?” asked Nick, holding Ashley’s hand.
“It was good, wanna go get a burger or something?”
asked Ashley.
“Sounds good to me”
They walked down the somewhat empty street, lit by streetlights, with a drizzle
of rain. They came to Ruby’s, a 50’s style burger bar, one of their
favourites. They walked in and slid into one of the vinyl booths. Some old music
played on the jukebox, and a waitress skated over to them.
“What can I get you?” she asked, chewing heavily on gum.
“I’ll have a cheeseburger and fries with a strawberry milkshake” without even
glancing at the menu, it rolled off of Nick's tongue.
“And I’ll have the same, except a chocolate milkshake please” Ashley's manners
were, as usual, spot on.
The waitress jotted it down and then skated off.
“Remember when we last came here?” Nick recalled.
“Our third date. You were wearing your hair a lot shorter, and had on your
faded jeans. We ordered the exact same thing as we did just there” every detail
was as vivid as the night in Ashley's memory.
“You had longer hair, and you had just gotten pink streaks put in, it must’ve
been almost a year ago” Nick reminded Ashley of her fashion faux-pas.
“Well, if I remember right, it was the day before midterms ended, so it was a
year today” she worked out.
“Here’s to our third date anniversary then” Nick raised a toast.
The Sterling Mansion: Guest House
Greg closed the front door.. Carrie flopped down on the sofa.
“Well, that was unbearable” Carrie groaned.
“Tell me about it” Greg knew exactly what she meant., “You could cut the
tension with a knife”
“We really need to get a place of our own Greg, I’m serious” Carrie pleaded.
“I told you we’d go down to the real estate agents first thing tomorrow
morning” he reassured her.
“I cannot wait to move out of this place” Carrie started to take off her
jewellery.
“If it’s to get away from my mother, it ain’t gonna happen, she’ll be round every day checking on how
tidy it is or how the garden looks” Greg pictured the scene.
“Could you imagine if we had kids?” Carrie joked.
“I know, she’d be telling us how to raise them”
“You know Greg, we could get away from your mom”
“How?” the prospect of escaping Diane's clutches was alien to Greg.
“We could always leave town” Carrie responded in a tone that was deadly
serious.
TO BE CONTINUED…