Heart & Soul
Episode 30
Resolution
By Allan Craig
The
Greg walked down the stairs, rolling up the sleeves of his crisp,
white shirt as he approached the lounge. Ever since Carrie left, he had moved
back upstairs to his old room, he needed to erase all memory of what happened,
and until the guesthouse had been completely renovated, he couldn’t go back
there. Greg noticed a photo of he and Carrie sitting on the side bureau on his
way to the lounge. He picked it up and glanced at it, putting it back face
down. The doorbell rang, and Greg wandered over to get it, reaching for the
golden knob and pulling the door open. His face dropped when he saw Carrie
standing on the terrace clutching her leather purse.
Michael DiCenzo slid a photo across his gleaming mahogany desk to
another man. He picked it up and glanced at it.
"Pretty," he ran his eyes over the hazy image,
"What did she do?"
"Ripped me off," Michael laid back in his leather chair,
"Big time. So I want you to go to Oakridge, find her at this
address," he handed the man a piece of paper, "And take her to the
second address written down there. Keep her there until I can get to Oakridge,
and don’t hurt her. I wanna do that job myself. My jet is waiting to take you
to Oakridge, by the time it gets back here, I’ll be ready to go. I’ve just
gotta sort some stuff out here first."
"Anything else, boss?"
"Yeah," a devilish grin appeared on Michael’s face,
"Don’t mess this one up, Nate."
"Do I ever, boss?" Nate stood up, putting the photo and
the paper inside his jacket.
"Exactly," Michael lit a cigar, "I want Megan
Sterling to pay, and that’s why I’ve put you on the job."
Joseph’s Penthouse;
Lounge
Joseph flicked the light switch, illuminating his new home. He
took Diane’s hand and led her in, closing the door behind them.
"Well?" asked Joseph eagerly, "What do you
think?"
Diane scanned the spacious, tastefully decorated apartment. Brown
leather sofas, polished dark wooden floors, it was like a cabin, a den, it was
Joseph. The large stone fireplace, complete with burning fire, warmed up the
room no end, and the view of the city was breathtaking, "It’s lovely. How
did you get it ready so soon?"
"I bought it just after I came back to Oakridge," Joseph
led Diane further into the room and over to the window that stretched across
half of one wall, "It’s been getting renovated for months, it just wasn’t
finished. And I didn’t want to bring it up in case
"You’re asking me to move in?" Diane was taken aback.
Sure, she had known Joseph for a large part of her life, but most of the time
he was just her brother in law, "Is it not a bit soon?"
"Don’t worry, you’ll have your own room," Joseph
chuckled, "I’m not trying to rush you into anything. Diane, you know what
it’s like at that place. Especially since Kendall and Leo have moved in. It’s a
mansion, but it’s not a hotel. Just because there are twelve bedrooms, it
doesn’t mean it can hold all of the Sterlings…and their egos."
Diane sighed, she wasn’t sure how to react given the current situation with her
children, fearing this could put an even bigger gap between them, "People
will talk, Joseph."
"Let them!" Joseph walked Diane over to the sofa and sat
down with her, "Who cares what anyone thinks apart from us?"
"I suppose," Diane smiled, reluctantly accepting
Joseph’s offer, "We better get going."
"Why?" Joseph raised an eyebrow.
"We’ve got some serious packing to do," Diane stood up,
folding her arms as she waited for Joseph to follow.
The
Greg sat down on one of the cream armchairs as Carrie settled into
the sofa opposite. He stared around the room vacantly, waiting for Carrie to
speak. Carrie cleared her throat, sat up straight and took a deep breath.
"Don’t give me the silent treatment, Greg," Carrie sighed.
"Why not?" Greg stared at his estranged wife, still
madly in love with her but at the same time full of hatred, "Just because
you left me without so much as a ‘it’s over’…you know, if my mom hadn't walked
in on you packing, I probably still wouldn’t know. Did you even think about me
in all of this? No! You just walked. You walked out of this marriage without
even saying goodbye. You walked out of this marriage while you were carrying my
child. Could you be any more selfish?"
Carrie looked down, "Don’t do this."
"Why not?" Greg got up, "Do you know how much you
hurt me?"
"It wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for me either,
Greg," Carrie looked up at him again, "It took a lot for me to leave
you."
"Don’t play the sympathy card, Carrie, it wont work."
Carrie got up from the couch and walked over to Greg. She placed
one hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off.
"Greg please don’t hate me," Carrie begged, "If not
for your own sake, for the sake of our child. You have to understand, I
couldn’t do this anymore. This house, your mother, it was like a prison."
"You could have talked to me about it," Greg turned to
face her.
"I tried. I tried so many times. But you always chose
her," Carrie tried to hold back the tears, "I cant go through life
being second place to Diane. It’s not fair."
"But I always loved you, wasn’t that enough?"
"For a while, yeah. But you wouldn’t stand up to her. You let
her trample all over our marriage. We were never really together, not just the
two of us. Diane was always there, somewhere, hovering around and telling us
how to run our lives. And I couldn’t take anymore of that."
Greg sighed; he knew Carrie was right, but he didn’t want to admit
it. Whatever happened to the days when love conquered all?
The Bungalow
Pamela took a sip of her coffee as she poured over the paper.
Nothing interesting, as usual, just news that was of no interest to Pamela
whatsoever. She noticed her cellphone ringing and fumbled in her handbag to
find it and noticed the display; ‘GINA CALLING’. She quickly answered it.
"Hi! How you doing?…what?" the colour drained from
Pamela’s face, "Oh my god sweetie, are you okay?…Yeah. sure…yeah I’ll ask
Patrick to mind the place…I promise…okay, I’ll call you when I’ve booked…are
you sure you’re okay?…well I better go and start making the arrangements…see
you then."
Pamela flipped the phone shut just as Patrick entered the
restaurant.
"Just the man," Pamela got up off of the stool and
hugged him, "Would you be able to do me a huge favour?"
"It depends what it is," Patrick joked, "For you,
anything…well, almost."
"Gina just called me there, she’s having a bit of
relationship trouble and she sounds pretty upset. She doesn’t have many friends
in
"Are you sure?" Patrick scrunched his forehead up,
"I mean, do you really want to trust me with this place? I’ll do it, but
there might not be a restaurant for you to come back to."
"I have every faith that you’ll do a good job," Pamela
kissed Patrick on the cheek, "Because if you screw up then you’ll be
severely punished."
"That a promise?" Patrick joked.
Fix Coffee House
Josh sat, staring out of the window at the people walking up and
down Main Street as he stirred a spoon round his bottomless pit of coffee. None
of those people, he thought, would be feeling as shit as he was right about
now. He hadn't spoken to Jessica since before Christmas, and part of him never
wanted to speak to her again…it wasn’t so much the fact she slept with his best
friend, because they weren't even dating back then, but it was the fact she
kept it from him…the fact that the both of them kept it from him. How could he
trust them, either of them, ever again, knowing they had kept that secret from
him. His bad day was about to get even worse; Jessica had just saw him as she
walked by, and it looked like she was coming into the café.
Madison Chase’s
Apartment
Madison took a sip of her orange juice as she walked into her
living room. Just as she was about to sit down, Wesley barged into her
apartment, slamming the door behind him. Madison got up, placing her juice down
on the coffee table.
"We need to talk," Wesley stopped, breathing heavily.
"Wesley," Madison frowned, looking confused but still
retaining that element of sexiness that kept grown men drooling, "How did
you get in here?"
"I came in through the back, one of your neighbours were
putting their trash out and they left the door open," Wesley took off his
coat and threw it over the back of an armchair, "I’ve been thinking, we
need to change our plan of action on getting rid of Matt."
Madison rolled her eyes, "Wesley, we’ve been arranging these
plans for months. We cant just abandon them just like that."
"But they wont work!" Wesley rubbed his forehead,
"I cant believe we never saw it sooner; just because Matt’s in jail, Alex
will still love him. We need something more serious here, something that will
destroy every element of trust between them."
"What are you suggesting?" Madison folded her arms,
looking at Wesley skeptically.
"We need to set up an affair between Matt and another
woman," Wesley decided.
"I think you better explain this plan of yours," Madison
sat down, smoothing down her pencil skirt as she lowered herself down onto her
sofa.
1142 Winchester
Boulevard: Penthouse
Michael stubbed out his cigar in the marble ashtray on his desk as
his wife, Loretta, slid into the study holding two glasses of brandy and handed
one to her husband.
"Honey I thought you’d stopped that," Loretta wafted the
smoke out of her face as she perched herself on the edge of his desk,
"What was Nate doing here?"
Michael watched as she took a sip of her brandy, her full, glossy
lips pressing against the shiny, crystal glass, "He was just running a job
for me. Did you pack my case?"
"Yeah ‘course I did doll," Loretta’s Brooklyn twang
remained strong even though she and Michael had lived in Manhattan for years,
"Where are you going this time anyway?"
"Oakridge…a city in Georgia, I got some business I gotta take
care of there," Michael got up from his seat and began kissing his wife,
his lips roaming her smooth, tanned skin. The desk, although polished to
perfection, had been rubbed by their bodies many times, but today wasn’t going
to be one of them.
"Business…or ‘business’ business?" Loretta pulled away,
folding her arms, "I don’t want you getting into any danger Mike."
"Don’t worry ‘bout it," Michael attempted to continue
kissing Loretta, but she was hesitant, "I’m not the one in danger Loretta,
I’ll be back in a couple days time when this problem is sorted."
"Okay honey, just take care of yourself," Loretta kissed
Michael on the cheek, "I gotta run, I’ve got an appointment at the salon.
Now don’t worry, just ‘cos you ain’t gonna be around for the next few days,
I’ll be totally fine. In fact, I might go back to Brooklyn and see my
mom."
"If you're going back to Brooklyn I want you to be careful,
and I don’t want you going alone," Michael paused briefly, thinking of
what staff would be free, "I’ll tell Bobby to go with you, just in case you get any trouble."
"Mikey don’t worry," Loretta giggled, "I’ll be
fine, nothing’s gonna happen to me in Brooklyn, but if you insist, I’ll take a
guard. Just not Bobby, let’s be honest, he’s not the best talker and you know
how bored I get."
Michael rolled his eyes, his wife sure did like to talk, he loved
that about her, but he also hated that about her, "Look, I really better
get going Loretta, I have business to take care of, I’ll call you when I get to
Oakridge."
He kissed her on the cheek and walked out, leaving her to drink
her brandy.
Madison Chase’s
Apartment
Madison placed the empty orange juice glass on her coffee table,
taking in the plan Wesley had just presented her with. She could feel his eyes
on her, waiting for her reaction. She could feel his anxiety, she could tell
that he would crumble if she tore the plan to bits. Part of her wanted to, just
to keep him in his place, just to keep him under her thumb, but deep down,
Madison knew Wesley was talking sense, in fact, she was kicking herself for not
coming up with it sooner.
She winced, slightly, pretending to think it over, as if she was
analyzing the plan’s many flaws and scrutinizing every hole in Wesley’s plot,
"Hmm…it needs some work, but it just might work."
"So you’ll do it then?" Wesley’s eyes lit up.
"Me? Wesley, you have got to be kidding me," Madison was
grinning inside at the fact Wesley had screwed up, "I cant do it,. for one
Alex has met me before and it would be way too obvious. No, we need someone
completely unconnected to you, me, Alex or Matt."
"Do you know anyone?"
"Give me a day and I promise you Wesley Abbot," Madison
smirked, "We will have our girl."
Fix Coffee House
Jessica stopped dead in her tracks when she entered the busy café.
It was full of people, but she could only look at one. Was this such a good
idea? She didn’t know. That was Jessica in a nutshell, acting before thinking.
Should she have just walked past and left Josh alone? No, she told herself, we
need to talk. Josh got up from his table, taking some money out of his wallet
and leaving it on the table as he grabbed his coat to leave. He tried to blank
Jessica, ignoring her very existence and walking past, but she pulled on his
toned arm, stopping him from leaving.
"Please don’t do this, Josh," Jessica’s tried her best
to make eye contact with Josh, staring at him with the eyes that hadn't stopped
crying since her birthday, "We really need to talk."
"I’ve got nothing to say to you," Josh, stone cold, looked
straight ahead, making Jessica feel about 2 inches tall. Sure, she could have
told him, but she knew it would end up like this.
"You know that’s not true. Josh, why are you being like this?"
"Hmm, let me see," Josh faked a puzzled expression, "Well,
you slept with my best friend before we started dating and you didn’t tell me;
then you play spoiled little princess because daddy’s given you some bad news
and you cant take it, so who’s left to pick up the pieces? Me! I guess we did
need to talk. And I have. I’ve said everything I need to say to you, except one
little thing."
"What’s that?" Jessica’s heart had sunk to the pit of
her stomach, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear what would follow, but she
took the chance.
"I want my stuff back, I’ll be over later tonight to get it."
Josh continued past Jessica and out of the café. She stood,
motionless, ignorant of the stares coming from the people in the café. All she
wanted to do was cry, but she wasn’t going to cry in public.
The Sterling Mansion;
Lounge
Carrie sat on the edge of the cream sofa tapping her fingers on
her lap as she waited for Greg to make coffee. Behind her, Megan entered the room. Carrie turned around,
Megan smiled awkwardly, Carrie responded with an equally awkward greeting.
"Hey," Megan tried to break the tension that made the
spacious room seem like a broom closet.
"Hey," Carrie moved over to allow Megan to sit down next
to her.
"How’ve you been?"
"Yeah, okay, considering," Carrie cleared her throat, "What
about you?"
"Yeah, things are definitely looking up," Megan flipped
he long, blonde hair back as she thought of Marc, "You know, you missed
one hell of a Christmas."
Carrie laughed, starting to loosen up, "What happened? Did
Diane lose one of her acrylics in the stuffing?"
"What? You actually think my mother would lower herself to
lifting a finger around this place?"
"True," Carrie checked her watch, "Look, I really
gotta go, my appointment’s in half an hour and traffic’s really bad on the way
to the hospital."
"Hospital? Is everything okay with the baby?"
"As far as I know," Carrie got up, "It’s just a
routine scan to see how this little critter’s doing."
Outside the Sterling
Mansion
Nate sat, slouched down in his car waiting for Megan to come out.
He glanced at the photo; Megan looked very different in the photo; for one, her
long locks of golden hair were a dark, chocolate brown. He looked over at the
gates to the imposing mansion as the gates opened. A small, silver car pulled
out and sped along the road. Nate could make out the woman inside, long, brown
hair, looked enough like the blurry picture, he started the ignition and began
to follow the car.
Josh & Jessica’s
Apartment
Jessica stood in front of the mirror, staring. Quite what she was
staring at was another matter. She didn’t even know what she was staring at.
She was just staring. Thinking about Josh. Thinking about how she could fix
things. However, she wasn’t making any progress. In fact, her mind was blank.
She walked into the living room; where two boxes and three suitcases, packed to
the brims, covered the hardwood floor. Jessica sat down on the couch, trying to
lose herself in The OC, but failing.
Just as Marissa reached for the vodka, something Jessica was seriously
contemplating doing herself, there was a knock at the door. Jessica, her stomach
tied in knots, got up and checked herself over in the mirror one last time
before reaching for the doorknob.
The Sterling Mansion:
Lounge
Megan sat back down on the sofa and turned on the TV, flipping the
channels until she found The OC. She settled
into the seat, snuggling up with a glass of diet coke as she watched Kirsten
and Sandy chat. Suddenly, the tranquillity of the blue skies and beautiful
California sunshine was shattered as her mother entered the room. Megan sat up
straight, placing her glass on the coffee table as she watched Diane sit down
in one of the armchairs opposite.
"So, what have I missed?" Diane tried her best to make
conversation. She didn’t care for the trivial, over the top show. She didn’t care
for TV at all. But if it would help her get through to Megan, she would play
along.
"Don’t even act like you watch this," Megan continued to look at the
TV, it was just like her mother to come barging in at the most annoying times.
In this instance, her favourite show.
"Okay, you got me," Diane stood up, "I’m just
trying to make conversation."
"Well can you try and make conversation after this is
finished?" Megan turned up the volume, "In fact, can you try and make
conversation when I’m somewhere else?"
"Okay, what is your problem with me?" Diane demanded, getting
up and folding her arms.
"I though I’d made my feelings clear about that," Megan
raised herself out of the chair, "You’re nothing to me, nothing but a
lying, manipulative whore. For god’s sake, you and dad haven't even started
divorcing each other and you’re already moving onto Uncle Joe, who I’m pretty
sure is still married to Aunt Margo."
"How do you know anything about that?" Diane herself didn’t
even know about Joseph’s marital status, so the fact that Megan knew more
caused concern.
"Taylor. You know, my cousin, his DAUGHTER" Megan looked
at Diane like an idiot, "We were best friends before they moved to Texas,
do you really think we’d lose contact just like that? But then again, that just
shows how little you know about me. Everything revolves around Greg, and that’s
the way it always has been. He’s the golden boy, I’m that girl who kept getting
in the way."
"That isn't true," Diane’s harsh tone softened, "You
have always been just as important to your father and I as Greg."
"Oh, so when Greg and Carrie got together right out of high
school, that was okay, but when me and Will did the same thing at the same age,
you do everything in your power to rip us apart."
"That’s different," Diane insisted, "Will Abbot
took advantage of you. And there wasn’t a baby involved when Greg and Carrie
got together."
"No, and there wasn’t a baby involved with me and Will,
either, seeing as you made me abort it," Megan, her eyes filling with
rage, looked Diane up and down, like a piece of dirt that she had stepped in, "You
made ME give up MY baby. You had absolutely no right to do that. But you did
it, you did what you always do. You have to have everything your way, you
always have to be in charge of everything. You ruined my life, and you’ve
ruined Greg’s now as well. Congratulations, mother, you really are a great
parent."
Megan stormed out of the room and up the stairs, as Diane stood,
trying to hold back the tears, but failing. And just as Marissa sobbed on the
widescreen TV behind her, Diane’s eyes welled up.
Fenwick Road, Oakridge
Carrie walked across the empty street, clutching her brown paper
bag from the Chinese takeaway. Her show had finished, and she had a serious
craving for Kung Po Chicken. She couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel so she
could chow down. She started to take a shortcut down an alleyway, the lights of
the Plaza sign in her sights. Suddenly, she felt a hand covering her mouth and
another grabbing her arm.
"Don’t move, don’t say a word," came a man’s voice from
behind her, she could feel his breath on her neck. She couldn’t move. Carrie
was terrified, she didn’t know what to do, her face went chalk white as he
pulled her out of sight.
The Sterling Mansion:
Greg’s Room
Greg sat on the edge of his bed, waiting for Carrie to pick up her
phone. It just kept ringing out, until finally he reached her voicemail.
"Hey, Carrie, it’s me, Greg," he paused, trying to think
of what to say next, "Megan told me you had a scan today, I was just
calling to see how it went…call me…bye."
Greg flipped his phone closed and sighed, he really hoped there
was a way to repair his marriage, he loved Carrie more than anyone else. Even
though he knew she was right about Diane’s interference, he couldn’t do that to
his mother, tell her to get lost. He didn’t know what to do.
Somewhere in Oakridge
Nate finished tying Carrie’s wrists together and looked at her,
bound and gagged, as he dialled DiCenzo’s number on his cellphone. Voicemail.
He must still be in the air, Nate reckoned, as he awaited the beep.
"Hey, Mr. DiCenzo, it’s Nate…just letting you know that the
job is done. I’ve got Megan right here," Nate stopped, "We’re at the
address you gave to me, call me when you land."
Once he hung up, he dialled another number on his cell, and waited
for it to be picked up, "Hey…Loretta, it’s Nate. Has he left?…Good. I hope
this job’s over soon so I can get right back to New York and be with you…well I
better go, he could be here any minute…love you…bye." Nate hung up.
Carrie sat, tied to the chair, her mouth gagged, wondering what
the hell had happened. There was only one thing on her mind…the baby.
TO BE CONTINUED…
NEXT TIME:
On Heart & Soul
·
Is it too late for Josh and Jessica to mend
their relationship?
·
Greg becomes worried when Carrie fails to return
any of his calls.
·
Diane tries to fix things with Megan, but she
has bigger worries when she learns DiCenzo is in Oakridge.
·
Ashley makes a discovery that could change her
life, as well as Leo’s.
·
Joseph’s attempt to gain control of Sterling
Enterprises leads to a whole other side of Kendall coming out.
·
Is Wesley another step closer to winning Alex
back?
·
Michael’s arrival in Oakridge spells danger for
Nate and Carrie.