Heart & Soul

Episode 47

Walls Have Ears

By Allan Craig

 

The Sterling Mansion: Kendall’s Room

 

Kendall sat on the edge of her bed, wriggling her toes as one million thoughts ran through her head. Just how did Julie, the Sterlings’ maid, know about all the schemes and lies the family had encountered in the last few months?

 

She stood up and began to pace the floor. Sure, Julie was always around the house, cleaning and tidying, as the family would vent their issues towards one another as if she wasn’t there. But just how much did Julie know?

 

Kendall opened her bedroom door and walked down the hall towards Leo’s room. She knocked on the door before poking her head inside the room. Leo lay shirtless on is weight bench, lifting weights with his iPod on. Leo sat up and pulled his headphones out, drying the sweat from his body with a towel.

 

“What can I do for you?” he asked his sister, standing up and taking a drink of water from the bottle on his side table.

 

“I’ve been thinking,” Kendall began. Leo rolled his eyes, Kendall thinking was never a good thing, “The other day, I was talking to Julie…”

 

“You mean the maid?”

 

“Yeah, anyway, we were just chatting away and she made a comment about how the whole family seems to be not talking ever since all the plotting and scheming…I think she must know about Joseph trying to steal the company from me.”

 

“Well who doesn’t?” Leo reminded Kendall, “Oakridge is hardly the biggest city, word gets around…you know that.”

 

“Yeah, but, I mean, like, what if that’s not all she knows. What if she knows everyone’s little secrets but just isn’t letting on?”

 

“There sure are a lot of skeletons in these closets, I suppose. But Kendall, you have to understand. She’s just a maid…you’re being paranoid. I know everything that happened with Joseph made you less trusting, but come on, the maid? Really?”

 

Kendall tried to believe Julie was really just the maid, but something told her otherwise, something told her Julie knew more than she was letting on. And one thing was for sure, Kendall was going to find out.

 

Sterling Enterprises: Greg’s Office

 

Greg sat behind his desk, sifting through the mountain of paperwork that took up most of the surface of the large mahogany desktop. Upon hearing a knock at the door, he looked up to see Carrie standing in the doorway, with a car seat containing Adam held in one arm.

 

“Are you busy?” she smiled, unsure if she was disrupting her soon-to-be-ex husband’s work.

 

“Never too busy for my son,” Greg grinned, standing up from his desk, “Come on in.”

 

They moved over to the brown leather sofa that sat on the other side of his office and sat down. Greg lifted Adam out of his seat and held him.

 

“He’s getting big,” Greg commented, overcome with joy about seeing his son, “So what brings you to this neck of the woods?”

 

“Well I thought I better tell you,” Carrie rested her left hand, bearing an impressive engagement ring, on her lap, “Nate and I got engaged.”

 

“Um, that’s great,” Greg was dumbfounded, this had certainly come out of the blue.

 

“I know this is a cheek, and all,” Carrie continued, “But I think we need to get the ball rolling on divorce proceedings.”

 

And just like that, Greg was hit with the sudden reality that his marriage to Carrie was over.

 

“I know it’s blunt of me,” Carrie apologized, “But Nate and I want to get married as soon as possible.”

 

“Well you’ll have to wait,” Greg sat up straight, “Because I’m not signing anything until you and me have a joint custody agreement for Adam down on paper.”

 

The Sterling Mansion: Main Foyer

 

Upon hearing the doorbell ring, Leo Sterling grabbed a tight white wife-beater vest and headed out of his room. As he pulled the tight cotton over his toned torso, he saw Julie opening the door.

 

Julie pulled the door open to see Joseph standing out on the porch.

 

“Good morning, Julie, is Kendall home?” Joseph began to walk inside, but Julie stood in his way, blocking his entrance.

 

“I don’t think you’re welcome here,” Julie insisted, keeping the door half shut. Upstairs, Leo stood against the wall, observing the conversation out of sight.

 

“Excuse me?” Joseph was taken aback. He couldn’t believe a maid was talking to him like that.

 

“I don’t think Kendall would want to see somebody who tried to steal her company from her, do you?”

 

“Listen, Jenny,”

 

“Julie.”

 

“Whatever,” Joseph rolled his eyes, “You do not decide who comes and goes here. You’re the maid.”

 

“I think you’d better leave, or I’ll be forced to call the police,” Julie glared at Joseph, her sweet and innocent exterior giving way to an angry, defensive woman.

 

“This isn’t the end of this,” Joseph turned and walked away, as Julie closed the door.

 

Upstairs, Leo folded his arms, he was starting to think Kendall might be right, did Julie know more about the Sterlings than she was letting on?

 

Downtown Oakridge

 

Josh walked out of the gym in his three quarter length khaki pants, navy polo shirt and white sneakers, carrying a gym bag over one shoulder and his car keys in the other. He felt full of energy as he paced up the street to where he was parked, still on a high from his work out.

 

He spun his keys around his finger as he reached his car, opening the back door and tossing his bag onto the back seat, closing the door afterwards. As he walked round to the driver side door, he noticed a very familiar redhead sitting in the park across the street, it was Amber, the girl he had slept with a few weeks back.

 

He clicked the doors shut and put his keys in his pocket, walking cautiously across the road and reaching the park. She sat, almost angelic, engrossed in a book. As Josh got closer he took a deep breath, did he really want to approach her, or would avoiding the awkwardness be far easier? With any other girl, Josh would just forget about it, but there was something about Amber that just drew him to her, she was like a mystery he wanted to unravel, and he was about to start doing so right now.

 

“Well I didn’t think I’d be seeing you today,” Josh attempted to break the ice with a casual tone. Amber looked up from her book, and seemed almost taken aback to see him.

 

“Um, hey…” Amber began, struggling to remember the name of the man standing in above her.

 

“I was starting to think I’d never see you again, seeing as you never called,” Josh sat down on the bench next to Amber, as something clicked in her head about who he was.

 

“I’m really sorry about that,” Amber confessed, running one hand through her curly red hair, “I never really do things like that…pick up guys in bars I mean…I didn’t know what I was doing…I just…”

 

“It’s cool, it’s cool,” Josh tried to ease the tension, “Don’t worry about it. Listen, I really had a good time that night, and I’m not trying to pressure you or anything…but I really felt like we clicked…so if you ever wanna just get together for coffee or something, just for a chat, no pressure or anything…”

 

“I think I’d like that,” Amber smiled, clearly feeling awkward. Josh looked past Amber to a pushchair containing a little girl, maybe aged two or three, Josh reckoned.

 

“Is that your little sister or something?” Josh asked.

 

“Actually, this is Emily, my daughter,” said Amber. Josh didn’t know how to react, Amber didn’t look old enough to have a daughter, he thought.

 

“Wow, I didn’t see that one coming,” Josh managed an awkward smile, “You don’t look like you’d have a kid.”

 

“Well I’ve had a few ups and downs in my life,” Amber explained, “And from one of the downs came this little up.”

 

The Sterling Mansion: Lounge

 

Kendall lay on the sofa, flipping through the pages of a celebrity magazine with Kelly Clarkson blaring out of the hi-fi. Leo strolled into the room carrying a bottle of water.

 

“I think you’re right,” he said, heading over to the stereo and turning it down.

 

“I was listening to that,” Kendall sat up, “What do you mean?”

 

“I think you’re right about Julie,” Leo explained, “I think she knows just a little too much about the family.”

 

Before they could say anything else, there was another knock at the door. Leo placed his bottle on the sideboard and headed over to the door, opening it to see Joseph standing on the porch again.

 

“Well, well, if it isn’t good old Uncle Joseph,” Leo folded his toned arms, “Stole any companies lately?”

 

“I wanna talk to Kendall,” Joseph began, “Is she home?”

 

“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Leo was blunt with his Uncle, barely even making eye contact.

 

“No, let him speak, it might be funny,” Kendall appeared behind Leo in the doorway, “Five minutes and then you’re out.”

 

Sterling Enterprises: Greg’s Office

 

Carrie didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t believe Greg had came out with that bombshell…she couldn’t believe he was blackmailing her like that.

 

“Why are you being like this?” Carrie asked, “Resorting to blackmail isn’t something I expected of you.”

 

“You’re being unreasonable,” Greg decided to just tell Carrie like it is, he was sick of beating around the bush with her, “You have been ever since Adam was born.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“I’ve asked you umpteen times to let me see my son, and time and time again you’ve found a way to get out of it. I’ve not been alone with Adam since he was born, and I’m his father.”

 

“You know the situation’s difficult.”

 

“Why? Because you don’t get on with my mother? That doesn’t mean I should be kept from my son!” Greg grew angrier and angrier as he went on, “I’m not allowed to see my son, I’ve not been alone with him for even one minute since he was born, and then that rent-a-thug gets to take care of him all the time.”

 

“Don’t talk about Nate that way, at least he’s put me first,” Carrie remarked. She had always felt second best to Diane the entire time she was married to Greg.

 

“Whatever. Listen, Carrie, I’m not being unreasonable here, you are. Adam is my son too, and I’m not going to let you keep my son away from me.”

 

“You sound like your mother.” Carrie picked up her purse, fastened Adam into his car seat and picked it up.

 

“Well if you want a divorce you’re going to have to do what I want,” Greg insisted, “And what I want is a custody agreement that gives me guaranteed, set times alone with my son.”

 

“Whatever,” Carrie headed for the door, “I’m not being blackmailed like this. And you can forget taking Adam up to the mansion. Tell Megan she’s welcome to visit whenever she wants, but Adam wont set foot in that mansion as long as I have a say in the matter.”

 

Carrie stormed out, leaving Greg sitting alone in his office. He noticed Adam’s rattle lying on the floor and picked it up, at least he had something of his son’s.

 

The Sterling Mansion: Lounge

 

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry for everything that happened,” Joseph entered the mansion.

 

“And that’s meant to make everything alright, is it?” Leo interrupted.

 

“Let the man talk, Leo,” Kendall insisted, “Sure, he’s just going to talk a load of crap, but I’m bored and the Desperate Housewives marathon doesn’t start for another fifteen minutes.”

 

“Seriously, though,” Joseph insisted, his act wasn’t fooling anybody, not even himself, “I just want to clear the air. I can assure you nothing like that will ever happen again.”

 

“I’m bored now, he can go,” Kendall faked a yawn.

”You heard her,” Leo edged Joseph towards the door. Once Joseph was out, Kendall rolled her eyes.

 

“That man has some nerve,” Kendall walked back into the lounge and stood by the fireplace, admiring one of the ornaments that sat on top of it, “He thinks he can just stroll in and say sorry and, like, that solves everything? Nuh-uh, not happening. It’s gonna take a whole lot more for him to get back on my good side.”

 

“You wouldn’t seriously give him another chance, would you?” Leo rested his hands on his hips, “The man tried to steal an entire company from you. This isn’t just a little family matter, that’s like a crime.”

 

“Yeah, well, obviously, I wouldn’t trust him again,” Kendall stuttered, taken aback at her brother’s reaction to a throwaway comment, “But he is family, and mom wouldn’t have wanted us to shut him out completely?”

 

“You think? Kendall, how many times did our mother actually see Joseph? You know it was always her and Uncle John that were close. Joseph was like the black sheep of the family.”

 

“Kinda like me, then” Kendall muttered under her breath, “Whatever, I’m going to get a coffee, you wanna come?”

 

“Cool, I’ll drive,” Leo headed in towards the kitchen to get his car keys, which he had left on the counter. Upon opening the door that lead to the kitchen, he saw Julie lurking, listening to their entire conversation.

 

Downtown Oakridge

 

Still in the park, Josh handed Amber a paper cup of coffee and sat down on the bench beside her.

 

“Listen, Josh,” Amber began, “I’m sorry for acting off with you, not returning your calls, I’m just in a weird place right now and I’m not sure if I can handle a relationship.”

 

“This doesn’t have to be a relationship, though, Amber. We can just be friends, see where it goes from there. Besides, I need some practice being around kids. My little sister’s pregnant, so I could use some experience in that department,” Josh joked, “I’m not long out of a heavy relationship myself, and it ended messily to say the least.”

 

“Ugh, I hate those kinds of break-ups,” Amber rolled her eyes.

 

“I take it you’ve had at least one of those,” Josh commented, nodding towards Emily as he said it.

 

“Um, yeah, you could say that,” Amber, “Listen, Josh, do you want to have dinner with me next week? As friends, obviously.”

 

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Josh smiled, “I’d like that a lot.”

 

The Sterling Mansion

 

“Do you want to tell me what the hell you’re doing?” Leo demanded, folding his arms and staring intensely at Julie.

 

“Um, just doing my job, Mr. Sterling,” Julie insisted, lightly dusting the sideboard.

 

“You know exactly what I mean Julie,” Leo’s control on his temper began to slip, “Why were you listening to our conversation?”

 

“Leo, leave her alone,” Kendall interrupted, “Julie, I’m sorry about my bonehead of a brother. Listen, take the rest of the day off.”

 

“No, it’s fine, Miss Sterling,” Julie smiled, “I’ve still got a lot to do.”

 

“Yeah, wouldn’t want you missing out on any important conversations,” Leo muttered, staring up at the ceiling.

 

“Leo!”

 

“No, he’s right,” Julie admitted, “I do listen to the odd conversation here and there, but only because I’m looking out for you. These people, they’ll take advantage of you first chance they get. That’s why I sent…” Julie cut herself off mid sentence.

 

“Oh my god,” suddenly, everything just clicked in Kendall’s head, “It was you that sent me that note saying someone was trying to steal the company from me, wasn’t it?”

 

TO BE CONTINUED…