Heart & Soul
Episode 42
History Repeating
By Allan Craig
Fix Coffee House
Jessica sat, tapping her fingers anxiously
on the table top. She watched as Nate walked in and scanned the large café
before locking eyes on her and walking over.
“Hey I got your message,” Nate sat down at
the table with Jessica, “What’s the emergency?”
“I had to tell you, I didn’t know what
else to do.” Jessica leaned in closer to Nate, “Michael DiCenzo has been
released on bail.”
“Are you serious?” Nate raised an eyebrow,
“How did you find that out?”
“Rex told me, he thought you should know,”
Jessica explained, “Do you think you’re safe?”
“We should be. DiCenzo’s a dangerous man
but he wouldn’t be so stupid to come anywhere near us while he’s on bail,” Nate
supposed, “It would be too much of a risk.”
“I hope you’re right,” Jessica took a sip
of her coffee; “Him coming back to Oakridge is the last thing Carrie needs.”
“Yeah about Carrie,” Nate leaned in
closer, “I think its best if we don’t tell her about this just now, she’s just
getting settled in our new place with the baby. Something like this could
really screw her up mentally.”
“We can’t just lie to her, though. She
needs to be prepared in case he turns up.”
“Well then we’ll just have to make sure
she’s never alone. Seriously, Jessica, you can’t tell her about DiCenzo, I
don’t think she’ll be able to handle it.”
“Okay, okay,” Jessica rolled her eyes,
“Even though I think you’re wrong, I won’t tell her. But if anything happens to
her I’m blaming you.”
Nate sighed. He didn’t have a clue what
DiCenzo’s next move would be, but he knew he would have to just stay one step
ahead at all times, or else he and Carrie would be in serious trouble.
Sterling Enterprises: John’s Office
John looked up from his desk after hearing
a knock at the door. When he saw Alex standing in the doorway, he smiled and
motioned for her to come in.
“Alexandra, what can I do for you?” John
got up and walked over to the drinks cabinet in his office, “Scotch?”
“Please,” Alex sat down, “I hope you don’t
mind me popping by without any warning, I just thought I had to apologize to
you for telling Will against your wishes.”
“It’s something that can’t be undone now,
Alex, you don’t need to apologize,” John handed her a drink and sat on the edge
of his desk, “I was foolish to think this would never come out.”
“Well we managed to keep it a secret for
over thirty years. I just wish I’d never told him now. My entire family don’t
want to speak to me anymore. I just feel like I’ve put them all through so much
crap, and for what? I have absolutely nothing. And all
because I just had to clear my conscience.” Alex downed the whisky John
had given her.
“Sooner or later they’ll come around,”
John tried to comfort her; “I don’t know what’s going to happen when my family
find out. All hell is going to break loose. How Greg, Megan and
“Megan especially,” Alex reminded him.
John’s secretary, Jenna, knocked at the
door before entering the office.
“Mr. Sterling, this came for you by
private courier.” Jenna handed John a large brown envelope before smiling and
walking out.
John opened the envelope and pulled out a
document. He quickly read over it before throwing it on the desk and rolling
his eyes, “This day just keeps getting better and better.”
“What do you mean?” Alex asked, running
her finger around the rim of her empty glass.
“That was just from my lawyer. I’m now
officially a single man again. My divorce from Diane is finalized.”
“I’m surprised she let you go so easily,”
Alex tried to lighten the mood, “I thought she’d drag you through the courts
until she could squeeze every penny you have out of you.”
“She knew it would be pointless,” John
turned to face his window, gazing out over the impressive view of Oakridge, “My…empire…is
untouchable. Even by me.”
Marc and Megan’s Apartment
Marc handed Patrick a mug of coffee and
sat down beside his father on the couch. He hadn’t seen his father in a while;
he’d went off on a business trip just before Ally came to Oakridge and had only
just got back.
“So how was
“You know, business is business, I didn’t
really get a lot of time to do much else,” Patrick told his son, “I just wish I
could have been back sooner. Has your mother been in touch?”
“Yeah, she wanted to fly back from
“You have to let people fuss over you in
times like this, son,” Patrick insisted, “You’ve always put everyone else
before yourself, Marc. That’s why you almost got you and Megan…” Patrick
stopped himself when he realized what he was saying.
“Killed?” Marc hated the fact people were
too scared to remind him of what happened. What people said didn’t make any
difference to him, it didn’t stop him from replaying what had happened over and
over again in his mind, “It’s fine, you can say it dad. But can we please
change the subject…I saw the Bungalow is up for sale?”
“Yeah, Pamela wanted to go be closer to
Gina. We ended things a while back just before she left. Just
before I left for
“She’s gone to get a present for Carrie’s
baby.” Marc smiled, “She loves being an aunt, in fact
I think she’s getting broody.”
“So it won’t be long until you’re making
me a grandpa?”
“Who knows?” Marc laughed, “I think Megan
still has a lot of issues to work through with her own parents before she
starts to think about becoming one herself.”
Joseph and Diane’s Penthouse
Diane closed the front door and opened the
large brown envelope that had just been delivered to her. She read it over and
placed it on the sideboard.
“Who was that at the door?” Joseph asked,
walking down the staircase.
“Just a courier. That’s my divorce finalized from John now.” Diane explained, walking
out onto the balcony.
“That was quick,” Joseph remarked,
“Considering how recently it was you guys began proceedings.”
“Well money talks,” Diane waited for
Joseph to follow her out onto the balcony, “And after everything that happened
with Megan, I think it made us both realize that life is too short and there’s
no point going through all the drama of dividing our assets, no matter how
little they are these days.”
“Especially after our plan to get control
of Sterling Enterprises didn’t quite work out the way we expected it to,”
Joseph sighed.
“You need to stop dwelling on that. Big
deal, we’ll think of something else.”
“I suppose,” Joseph rolled his eyes, “But
I just cant stand how wrong it went. If Leo hadn’t
come barging in…”
“Well no matter how the plan would have
turned out, you were always going to be vilified by the rest of the family,
Joseph,” Diane rapped her arms around his waist, “At least this way we don’t
need the guilt of it all hanging over us for the rest of our lives.”
“Guilt?” Joseph raised an eyebrow, “There’s a word I never thought I’d hear from
you.”
“Watch it!” Diane joked, “Besides, its not like you don’t have money of your own. The company
was just a pride thing, we don’t need it to get by for the rest of our life, it’s not going to make me love you any less.”
“And now you’re a free woman…”
“Who knows what might happen?”
Joseph leaned in and gave Diane a kiss.
Nate and Carrie’s House: Lounge
Jessica sat down on the armchair opposite
the sofa which Carrie sat down on, holding her baby.
“The place looks great,” Jessica pointed
out, constantly telling herself that Carrie mustn’t
find out DiCenzo is out of jail, “You did a great job.”
“Thanks,” Carrie smiled, barely even
looking up from her baby, “The timing was really strange, we just got
everything finished and then this little guy came along. It was like he knew we
were ready for him.”
“Well he’s definitely got your patience.
He’d been through a lot before he was even born, what from Diane to everything
that happened with you and Nate…”
“Again, I’m so sorry for what I put you
through, how worried you must have been,” Carrie had wanted more than anything
to call home and let them know she was alright, “I wish I had been able to let
you know that I was fine.”
“You did the right thing, Carrie,” Jessica
reassured her friend, “Nobody holds that against you. We’re just glad you’re
okay. The pair of you.”
“Well he’s a fighter, just like his
mommy,” Carrie smiled; she still couldn’t believe she was a mother. The
doorbell rang.
“Don’t you get up,” Jessica insisted,
“I’ll get it.”
Jessica walked over to the door and pulled
it open to see Greg standing in front of her. He smiled and she motioned for
him to come in.
“Just thought I’d swing by to see my
little guy and see if you wanted me to take him for a while, so you can have a
rest. He must be wearing you out.” Greg held out his pinky, and the baby
wrapped his tiny hand around it, bringing a huge smile to Greg’s face.
“It’s okay, he’s been sleeping really well
since we got him home, and Nate’s been great about taking his turn with feeding
him.” Carrie insisted.
“Have you thought of any names yet?”
Jessica asked
“I was thinking about Adam. Adam Gregory
Sterling. That’s got a nice ring to it.” Carrie suggested, “That’s unless you
have any other ideas, Greg?”
“Adam’s perfect,” Greg agreed, “Your
parents will be touched.”
“Yeah, the minute Kristen suggested it I
knew it was the perfect name for him,” Carrie smiled, thinking of her still
born brother, five years her junior.
“I was thinking, would you mind bringing
him over to the mansion soon?” Greg asked, “Let little Adam get to meet more of
his family?”
“Yeah, I think he’d like that. Do you want
to hold him?”
“Try and stop me!” Greg grinned. Carrie
stood up and gently placed Adam in Greg’s strong arms, smiling as he saw Greg’s
eyes light up.
The
Kendall and Leo entered the newly
redecorated room.
“Well sis, I have to hand it to you,” Leo
sat down on one of the plush white sofas, “You’ve gave this place a seriously
needed update.”
“I just decided,
this place is our house, why should we leave it the way it was when it was
Uncle John and Aunt Diane’s? I mean the only other people that still live here
are Uncle John and Greg. And they’re cool about us changing things.”
“True, true,” Leo agreed, “It feels so
empty now compared to the way it was last year.”
“Things change. Let’s not try to deny this
family is falling apart, it’s just been one thing after another.”
“And the only people that stay the same
are me and you.” Leo pointed out.
“Totally. It’s been me and you against the rest of them ever since we got here.
Especially after that stunt Joseph pulled.”
The sound of Julie vacuuming in the dining
room could be heard as
“I, like, never should have trusted him,”
“You must have a guardian angel, sis,” Leo
ran one hand through his hair, “And I don’t mean me.”
They both laughed.
“But, like, I cant
let Joseph get away with this.”
“Well, just ask yourself what mom would
have done. When you figure it out, do exactly that. Having a bitch for a mother
has its perks; you don’t grow up with her and not learn a few things.”
“Do you know,”
The Abbot House: Lounge
Will closed the front door, sweating after
his run. He headed through to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out the
fridge, barely noticing his father, who was sitting at the kitchen table on his
laptop.
“Whoa, dad,
didn’t see you there,” Will smiled, removing the headphones from his ears and
taking his iPod out of his pocket and turning it off.
“Sorry,” Wesley got up and walked over to
Will, “How was your run?”
“Yeah really good thanks. It’s really
great for clearing my head and giving me time to think about stuff. And with
everything that’s gone on lately, I need to do a lot of that.”
“You know, Will, I’m not going to stand in
your way if you want a relationship with John,” Wesley could barely bring
himself to say this, but he knew it was for the best for Will, “It wont take
anything away from our relationship. But John Sterling is your father, so don’t
feel like you have to block him out just to spare my feelings.”
“I’ve already got a father,” Will
insisted, “I don’t want another one.”
“You may feel like this now, but in my
heart you will always be my son, so if you ever feel like you want to get to
know John a little better, don’t let me stand in your way. Promise me that
much?”
“It’s a deal,” Will took
a swig of the water, “But I don’t think that’s something either of us will be
worrying about. John Sterling knew he was my father for my entire life and
never said anything about it/ I don’t want anything to do with that. The only
reason I’m keeping this quiet is because it will screw up too many lives if it
comes out.”
Sterling Enterprises: John’s Office
John stared at the empty whisky bottle on
his desk. He and Alex had polished off the entire bottle as they talked about
what messes they had made of their lives. John sat down in his leather office
chair as Alex finished the last of her drink.
“That was excellent. You always did have
good taste,” she commented, “Among other things.”
“Why thank you,” John smiled, “Well I must
have if I was attracted to you.”
“Couldn’t have put it better myself,” Alex
got up and walked around to the other side of the desk, where John sat. “Do you
ever wonder what would have happened if we had ended up together? If I had left
Wesley and you had left Diane?”
“I don’t ever wonder what if, Alex. Megan
and
“Good point. You always did talk sense,”
Alex sat on the desktop, “Another reason why I was so attracted to you.”
Alex leaned in and began to kiss John. He
pulled away, “We’ve both been drinking, are you sure this is what you want?”
“More than anything else,” Alex got up
from the desk top and sat in John’s lap. She wrapped her arms around him and
began to kiss him passionately. That spark hadn’t faded over the years, in fact
it was stronger.
Joseph and Diane’s Penthouse
Diane walked down the staircase to see the
living room in darkness, except from a multitude of candles.
“Joseph, what’s all this?” Diane asked?
Not even able to see Joseph.
Another set of candles lit up over at the
table, illuminating Joseph’s face. He smiled at Diane.
“It’s just a little treat for you to
celebrate your new found singleness.” Joseph winked, waiting for Diane to sit
down opposite him.
He handed Diane a glass of champagne and
picked up his own.
“To a new chapter,” he smiled. She clinked
glasses with him and took a sip.
“A new chapter.”
“And I have just the thing to mark that,”
Joseph reached into his pocket and handed Diane a small black box.
“Joseph, what’s this?” Diane smiled.
Joseph opened the small box to reveal a diamond ring, one of the biggest and
most perfect diamonds Diane had ever seen set in an immaculate white gold ring.
“Diane Sterling, would you do me the
honour of marrying me?”
Diane was taken aback. For once in her
life she was speechless.
“Of course I will!”
Joseph got up and walked around the table,
picking up the ring and placing it on Diane’s finger before she stood up and
kissed Joseph, overcome with happiness. She had only been divorced for a couple
of hours and was already engaged again, but this time it was different. This
time it was about love, and love alone. And this time,
nothing was going to ruin it.
TO BE CONTINUED…