Heart & Soul

Episode 58

Playing With Fire

By Allan Craig

 

Sterling Enterprises: Kendall’s Office

 

Kendall watched with baited breath as Shane signed his name for the last time on the complicated document that sat on her desk. He closed it over and looked up at Kendall and the lawyer who had been called to witness the signing. As the lawyer glanced over the multiple pages of the document and slid it into his briefcase, Shane looked up at Kendall.

 

“Is that us?” Shane smiled; now officially half owner of Sterling Enterprises. The lawyer nodded and quickly excused himself as his cell phone rang.

 

Kendall grinned as she shook Shane’s hand, “Let’s celebrate.” Kendall walked over to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of vintage champagne.

 

“That label is very rare, are you sure you want to open it?”

 

“What’s the point of having expensive champagne if you never drink it?” Kendall shrugged. A playful smile emerged on Shane’s face as Kendall popped the bottle open and filled two glasses with the golden liquid, handing one to Shane.

 

“To a lucrative partnership,” Shane raised his glass. Kendall clinked her glass against Shane and they both took a sip. Shane spun around in the leather chair to look out the window, “You know, Kendall, I really think I’m going to like it in Oakridge.”

 

“I think you will too,” Kendall took another sip of her champagne, “So do you think you’ll be in Oakridge long term?”

 

Shane shrugged his shoulders, still facing the window, “I don’t see why not. I mean I do have a lot of other things to sort out while I’m here.”

 

“Leo’s on his way in,” came the secretary’s voice through the intercom. Kendall’s heart sank into her stomach, her brother’s sense of timing was certainly impeccable, to say the least. As she watched Leo approach the double doors to her office, she felt like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She knew the row that was about to explode and she wanted nothing more than to disappear.

 

“Since I’ve barely seen you since you got back in town, I thought I’d take you to lunch so we can…” Leo stopped dead in his tracks when he turned to see is father sitting in the office, “What the hell is he doing here?”

 

“Hello son,” Shane could barely believe how much Leo had grown since they last saw each other; he was now a fully grown man, “It’s been too long.”

 

The Abbot House: Will’s Room

 

Despite his best attempts to distract himself by exercising, all Will could think about was the bombshell his mother had dropped on him the day before. As he continued to do sit ups to the point where his stomach muscles throbbed in agony, the music in his headphones cut out. Will picked up his iPod, noticing the empty battery icon on the screen, and threw it back down in a fit of rage. He stood up and looked at himself in the mirror, rubbing down his sweaty, shirtless torso before sitting on the edge of his bed. Wesley had raped his mother, and he knew Alex was telling the truth, he could see it in her terrified eyes as she told him details of what happened on Christmas Day, doing her best to keep some of the more gory details out of the story to spare her son’s feelings, but not quite succeeding at certain times.

 

“The sick bastard,” Will thought, his fists clenched. Luckily for Wesley, he had not seen Will since Will’s meeting with Alex, or Will would have probably killed him in a fit of rage, “How could he do that to someone? How could he do that to my mother?”

 

Sterling Enterprises: Greg’s Office

 

Oblivious to the drama unfolding upstairs, Greg sat behind his desk typing at his computer, glancing over at the pile of papers sitting on his desk every now and again before hearing his intercom bleep.

 

“Carrie’s here to see you,” came his secretary’s voice through the muffled speaker.

 

Greg rolled his eyes, this was the last thing he needed. He took a deep breath, pushed the button on his intercom and leaned into the mic, “Send her in.”

 

As he waited for his ex wife to enter his office, Greg stood up and poured himself a drink, knowing he was going to need it. The door opened and Carrie walked in, closing the door behind her and folding her arms.

 

“Where the hell do you get off?” if looks could kill, then the icy stare Carrie was shooting Greg would have him six feet under.

 

“What are you talking about?” Greg took a sip of his vodka as he perched himself on the edge of his desk.

 

“You know damn well what I mean!” Carrie pulled a pile of papers out of her bag and slammed them down on Greg’s desk, “Suing for full custody of Adam? What the hell do you think you’re playing at?”

 

“Oh, so you thought I was just joking when I said that?” Greg did his best to patronize Carrie with a chuckle, “But then I guess that’s the way it’s been all along, hasn’t it Carrie? You’ve just thought you could walk all over me and I’d take it lying down. Well think again, because I’m not putting up with your shit any longer, and the sooner you realize that, the better.”

 

“I realize it perfectly. I realize that you’re nothing more than a spoilt little rich boy who isn’t used to getting his own way, so he’s throwing his toys out of the pram.” Carrie hissed, “And if you think you’re going to get full custody of my son then you’ve got another thing coming.”

 

“Don’t make me laugh. Do you really think any judge in the country is going to give you full custody when you’re living with a known criminal and keeping Adam away from his family while I can provide a stable and normal upbringing for him?”

 

“Normal? With your family?” Carrie raised an eyebrow, “I can’t believe you’d do this, Greg, I really can’t. What happened to the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with?”

“Oh, so it’s me that’s changed?” Greg turned his back on Carrie, folding his arms as he stared blankly out of the window, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but who was it that just decided one day to get up and leave me without even a goodbye? And then who was it that decided to keep my son away from his family? Yeah, Carrie, it’s me that’s changed. I’m the bad guy in all of this.”

 

Carrie marched over to Greg and pulled him around to face her, staring angrily into his eyes, “I am not taking this from you Greg Sterling, I disappeared once and I’ll do it again. And this time, I won’t come back. Ever. So try getting full custody of the son you won’t be able to find, I’m sure that’ll work.”

 

“You’re going nowhere,” Greg insisted, “If you even try to skip town you’ll be sorry. I’ll have you arrested for kidnapping.”

 

“Well you can forget seeing Adam at all,” Carrie revealed her trump card; she still had custody of Adam and Greg had no rights towards him, not on paper, anyway, “Until you quit playing these pathetic little games, the only father Adam is going to have is Nate.”

 

“That bastard is having nothing to do with my son. And if you keep my son away from me, then I swear to god I’ll make sure that WHEN I get custody he’ll be seeing as little of you as possible. And I’ll personally see to it that you’ll only be a stranger to him when he’s growing up, I promise you.”

 

Carrie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. For the first time in her life, Greg reminded Carrie of Diane, and she hated him for it. She couldn’t believe she’d been in love with this guy, she didn’t even feel like she knew him anymore, and she didn’t want to say another word to him. She picked up her purse and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind her and leaving Greg standing in the office with a smirk emerging across his face.

 

Sterling Enterprises: Kendall’s Office

 

Leo stood motionless as he struggled to process what he was seeing; his father, the man he had wanted nothing more to do with years and years ago, was standing right in front of him, with his sister of all people. He felt the colour drain from his face as he looked at Shane, a mixture of disgust, hatred and anger overcoming his body.

 

“I thought I told you I never wanted to see you again,” Leo scowled at his father.

 

Shane didn’t quite know how to react to Leo. He was overcome with joy at seeing his son for the first time in years, but he knew the feeling was far from mutual, “You’re my son; you didn’t seriously think I’d stay away forever, did you?”

 

“When I said never, I meant never,” Leo’s eyes filled with rage, “What are you even doing here anyway? How could you even think it was a good idea to follow me to Oakridge?”

 

“Well when Kendall called about…”

 

“You called him?” Leo’s angry stare turned to his sister, “You called my father? What the fuck are you playing at, Kendall?”

 

“Shane’s bought half of Sterling Enterprises from me,” Kendall tried to explain, doing her best to calm the situation.

 

“Oh this just gets better and better,” Leo rolled his eyes; he had to laugh at the situation, it was the only way of dealing it. He ran his hands down his face and let out a nervous laugh, “I gotta hand it to you, sis, you sure know how to fuck things up royally, don’t you?”

 

“I didn’t mean for…” Kendall began, but was interrupted by Leo.

 

“You didn’t mean for what?” Leo yelled, the rage coming out of his body causing his voice to break, “Because the second you thought it was okay to call that bastard, there was only one possible outcome and you know it!”

 

“But I just thought maybe it was time for…”

 

“You DIDN’T think, that’s the problem,” Leo turned his back to Shane and Kendall.

 

“Don’t take it out on her,” Shane interrupted, “This was business.”

 

“Bullshit it was business,” Leo spun back around, his eyes fixed intently on his father with an angry stare, “And don’t you DARE try and get involved in this. Just get the HELL out of here before I do something I regret!”

 

“Kendall, I’ll be in touch,” Shane picked up his jacket and took one last look at his son before heading out of the office.

 

“Leo, I can explain,” Kendall insisted, edging closer to her brother.

 

“DON’T!” Leo yelled, “I don’t even want to hear another word from you. Do you even realize what you’ve done you stupid little bitch!?”

 

Kendall couldn’t believe she was hearing these things from Leo, he had been the one person she could depend on all the time, so being called these names by him was something she’d never have expected, not ever, no matter how bad things got, “Leo…I…”

 

“I don’t want to know. What you’ve done is unforgivable, Kendall,” Leo stormed out of the office, leaving Kendall alone as she began to break down in tears, wishing she could just hit an undo button and everything would be fine. She never thought Leo would react like this, and now she wanted nothing more than to undo what she’d done.

 

Oakridge General Hospital

 

Natasha wringed her hands out as she tried to steady her nerves. Melissa had informed her that the specialist she had flown in to take a look at April’s condition was on his way to the hospital straight from the airport.

 

Ever since Melissa had called the doctor, Natasha had been wrought with nerves; on one hand she was eager to find out what was wrong with her daughter, but on the other, being told what was wrong would make everything too real for her, and she didn’t know if she, or April, could deal with it.

 

“I brought you a coffee,” John appeared beside Natasha, handing her a paper cup as he sat down next to her, “Emily’s having a blast at the crèche.”

 

Natasha smiled, safe in the knowledge that Emily wasn’t aware of the situation, “I just really need to get this over with. I just need to know what’s going on. All this not knowing is driving me crazy.”

 

“Relax, everything is going to be fine,” John reassured his old flame, taking a sip of his coffee, “Look, here comes Melissa now.”

 

John and Natasha looked up to see Melissa get off the elevator with a handsome older man dressed in a sharp suit. The pair walked over to John and Natasha.

 

“Ms. Garrett this is Dr. Rick Hathaway,” Melissa explained as Natasha stood up and shook hands with the doctor, “I faxed him over some tests of April’s before he got into town and he’s been taking a look at them already.”

“Please, doctor, be honest with me,” Natasha gulped, “Is my daughter going to be alright?”

 

“Well I need to run some further tests with her but at the moment I’d have to agree with Dr. Stafford, I think it’s extremely likely that April is suffering from D.I.D., but we have to determine what group she fits into?”

 

“What do you mean?” Natasha was confused. She had barely been able to deal with the fact that her daughter was suffering from multiple personalities, but now there was more?

 

“Well basically patients suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder can be divided up into three categories. There are those that can generally recover completely with the right treatment, those that take a little longer to treat if they have symptoms of serious psyciatric disorders, and then there are those who are not completely curable.” Rick explained, doing his best to simplify things for Natasha, “It’s important to establish the root of what caused April to develop an alternate personality, before we can fully progress into treatment so I’m suggesting hypnotherapy. However, I think it might be best if April’s family are around her so perhaps continuing our treatment in Texas could be more beneficial to everyone concerned.”

 

“Are you sure April would be okay to travel just now?” John interrupted, noting that the redhead was in no fit state to be around other people.

 

“I’ll get the Bradshaw jet up here as soon as possible,” Natasha suggested.

 

“Well that would probably be wiser than putting her on a flight with the public,” Rick agreed, “But for now I think it’s important for me to have a chat with April, to see how she’s coping. Is that okay?”

 

“Certainly, doctor,” Natasha nodded.

 

“I’ll show you to her room, Dr. Hathaway,” Melissa smiled at Natasha and walked with Rick over to Amber’s hotel room, as Natasha sat back down next to John.

 

“Are you okay?” John put his arm around Natasha as she broke into tears.

 

“My daughter…my baby girl…she’s got multiple personalities…” Natasha weeped, “What did I do to deserve this?”

 

“Nothing,” John tried to comfort her, “Besides, Dr. Hathaway said there’s a strong possibility she can be cured completely.”

 

“He said there’s a chance she could be, providing she falls into that group,” Natasha wiped a tear from her eye, “But what if she doesn’t, John? Then what?”

 

John didn’t know how to answer Natasha, because he didn’t know the answer himself. For all he knew, April could be plagued with the condition for life, but he hoped for the money Natasha was paying Dr. Hathaway that April would quickly recover. He just didn’t want to say that in case he gave her false hope, because the truth of the matter was he was just as clueless and confused about the whole thing as she was.

 

The Abbot House: Kitchen

 

Wesley stood at the sink, staring blankly out of the window in a daze, the same daze he had been in ever since Christmas day, ever since…he quickly stopped himself from thinking about it. Will walked down the staircase, stopping when he saw  Wesley, and folding his arms.

 

“You sick bastard,” Will’s voice was full of hate and disgust.

 

Wesley felt his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach, it dawning on him that Will knew the truth about what had happened with him and Alex, “Will, Will, I can explain…”

 

“I don’t want to hear anything from you,” Will remained frozen.

 

“It’s not what you think,” Wesley tried to reason, “I didn’t mean to…”

 

“You didn’t mean to what?” Will yelled, “Rape my mother? Oh I can see how that would happen, totally accidental, Wesley. What kind of idiot do you take me for?”

 

“Listen, son,” Wesley walked closer to Will.

 

“Oh I’m not your son. And thank god for that,” Will clenched his fists; he could feel his blood boiling as Wesley approached him, “No, you’re going to pay for what you did to my mother you sick bastard.”

 

Will swung his arm and punched Wesley with full force, knocking him to the ground where Will proceeded to kick him in th stomach. Wesley wasn’t even putting up a fight, he was just lying there, taking it, almost as if he knew he deserved it. As will laid into Wesley, his rage boiled and he blacked out, losing all control of his body as he violently battered into Wesley.

 

The Sterling Mansion

 

Leo slammed the door to the mansion shut with a loud thud as he entered. Kimberley appeared in the doorway of the living room, visibly shaken at her cousin’s rage. She’d never seen him this way before, not even on the night when Leo had went through nearly two bottles of vodka and god knows how much cocaine.

 

“Leo, what the hell?” Kimberley watched as Leo picked up a vase and threw it across the room, watching it shatter into a millon pieces when it hit the wall. Kimberley winced as Leo began to take deep breaths, “Calm down, calm down.”

Leo felt his cousin’s arm around his broad shoulders and began to feel calm. He slowed down on his breathing and tried to get his heart rate down to something normal, “You wont believe what Kendall’s gone and done.”

 

“What?” Kimberley was even more confused now; never had Leo been so angry with his little sister, so she didn’t understand what could cause him to be so fuming with her now.

 

“She’s only sold half of Sterling Enterprises.”

 

Kimberley couldn’t believe she was hearing this. Sterling Enterprises was her father’s company, and everyone knew that deep down, so in her eyes Kendall had no right to be selling it to anyone, “Seriously?”

 

“Oh and yeah, she’s sold it to Shane.”

 

“Shane as in your father, Shane?” Kimberley struggled to make sense of the situation.

 

“The one and fucking only,” Leo took a seat on the staircase, “I mean can you believe her?”

 

“Especially when she knows how much you hate him,” Kimberley joined her cousin on the bottom step of the sweeping staircase, “Why would she, like, go looking for him like that when she knows how much drama it would cause?”

 

“I don’t know what she’s thinking,” Leo buried his head in his hands, “I mean, bringing that man into our lives again after all these years…seriously, I just don’t get why she’d even think it could be a good idea to get in contact with Shane.”

 

“I know,” Kimberley didn’t know what to say to Leo, dealing with tricky situations like this had never been her strong point, “Did you see him?”

 

“Yep. He’s still the same piece of shit he always was,” Leo ran his hands through his choppy blonde hair as he struggled to clear his head, “I just cant understand why she’d do something like this.”

 

“Maybe she didn’t think you’d react so badly,” Kimberley shrugged her shoulders, “Maybe she just didn’t think full stop.”

 

“Well I know you’re right about that,” Leo rolled his eyes, all he could think about was how he wanted to get to know his child because he never really knew his father, and now the opportunity to get to know his father properly was right there in front of him, and he didn’t know if he could let it pass. Sure, he hated Shane for what had happened in the past, but at the end of the day the man was his father, “I just don’t know what to do.”

 

Nate & Carrie’s House

 

Carrie took a seat on the edge of her sofa and lit up a cigarette; the first cigarette she had left touch her lips since college. She just needed something to take the edge off of her and Greg’s fight, she was so angry she could happily punch a wall or something, just to rid herself of some of the rage building up in her body.

 

“Since when did you smoke?” Nate emerged from the kitchen, noticing his fiancée had been in at his cigarettes even though she had previously never been off of his back about stopping.

 

“You won’t believe what shit Greg’s trying to pull now,” Carrie stubbed out the cigarette in an ashtray, “He’s suing for full custody of Adam.”

 

“You’re serious?” Nate knew Greg was playing hardball, but this was going too far, “What the hell is he playing at?”

 

“I don’t know, but we’re leaving Oakridge tonight,” Carrie got up, ignoring Greg’s threats to have her arrested, “So get packing. He can’t take Adam if he can’t find him.”

 

“Calm down” Nate rubbed Carrie’s shoulders in an attempt to de-stress her, “We’re going nowhere. We’re staying right where we are and we’re going to fight him on this. And you know what? We’re going to win.”

 

Carrie rolled her eyes, she couldn’t believe how foolish Nate was being, “You don’t get it, do you? The Sterlings are the most powerful family in this town. If Greg wants Adam then he’ll get him; all he’ll do is call some hotshot lawyer that charges ten grand an hour and do everything within his power to take my son off of me.”

 

“I won’t let that happen,” Nate promised, giving Carrie a reassuring kiss, “If he wants to get to you, he’s going to have to go through me.”

 

“It’s not that simple, Nate,” Carrie did her best to believe in Nate’s promises, but she knew she was virtually powerless against the Sterlings, “I’m going to have to call my dad, see if there’s anything he can do.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe he knows someone who can help me out,” Carrie picked up the phone and dialed her parents’ number, “A lawyer or something…”

 

Nate folded his arms and sat down on the sofa. If this was anyone else, he’d have him killed, but he knew if he tried anything it could only affect Carrie’s chances with the custody case. Either way, they were screwed.

 

Oakridge General Hospital: Amber’s Room

 

Having been in conversation with her for a good half hour, Rick was at a loss as to why Amber could have possibly developed an alternate personality. She seemed so happy, so bubbly, so confident, and wasn’t showing any signs of having any mental problems. He’d seen this type of case many times before, but something seemed different with her.

 

“So, April…” Rick began.

 

“For the last time, it’s Amber,” she snapped, he’d kept calling her April throughout their conversation and it was really getting on her last nerve.

 

“Amber…tell me why you came to Oakridge.”

 

“I don’t know why,” Amber picked up a glossy magazine and began flipping through it ignorantly, “I just wanted to get away from River’s Edge. You can understand why?”

 

“I can’t say I’ve ever been,” Rick maintained a gentle and caring tone in his voice throughout the conversation.

 

“Well if you had been, you’d know why I wanted to leave,” Amber rolled her eyes.

 

“No, what I mean is, why weren’t you happy in River’s Edge?”

 

“Well for one being a Bradshaw isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Amber felt like she’d had this conversation so many times before and she was getting sick of it, “Look, Dr. Hathaway, I don’t mean to be rude or anything but do we really need to be having this conversation?”

 

“I’m just trying to help you, Apr..Amber,” Rick quickly corrected himself.

 

“Well what if I don’t need any help?” Amber got up from her bed and turned her back on Rick.

 

“I think we both know that’s not true. So I’m advising that we continue our treatment in River’s Edge. I think it’s important that you have a sense of normality, stability and family to help you through your treatment.”

 

“Treatment for what?” Amber snapped, “April Bradshaw is long gone, and I’m in control. And that’s not changing for nobody.”

 

Sterling Enterprises: Kendall’s Office

 

Kendall sat on the edge of her desk staring out over Oakridge as she bit intently on her French manicured nails. Her heart raced as she thought about her confrontation with Leo; she felt so bad for bringing Shane back into his life; she had thought that perhaps Leo would be ready to face his father again, but evidently she was wrong. She heard a knock at her door and turned around to see Kimberley standing in her doorway.

 

“If you’ve come to have a go at me…” Kendall began, not sure she could take any more confrontation.

 

“Relax,” Kimberley insisted, “What goes on between you and Leo is none of my business. I just thought we should talk.”

 

“Look, Kimberley, I’m not really in the mood for talking right now, I kinda want to be on my own.”

 

“Well lucky for you, I’m always in the mood for talking, so all you have to do is listen,” Kimberley strolled into the office and placed her obscenely large designer handbag on top of the desk, taking a seat on top of it next to Kendall, “What you did…”

 

“Is none of your business.”

 

“I think someone’s suffering from amnesia, because technically, this is my business. One third, to be precise. I don’t know what you were thinking selling half of this company to Shane Baldwin, I mean I don’t know what’s worse; the fact you’ve sold away half of my father’s company, or the fact you sold it to someone who isn’t a member of this family.”

 

“This company was mine to sell. Life sucks, Kim, but it’s just the way the cookie crumbles,” Kendall’s defenses shot up in anticipation of Kimberley’s lecture.

 

“But to Shane? I mean didn’t you think how much this would affect Leo? Or did you not think at all? Because from where I’m standing that’s exactly what happened.”

 

“This is really none of your business, Kimberley,” Kendall got up and walked across the room, picking up her coat and bag, “I really don’t need this right now.”

 

“Well Leo doesn’t need that bastard coming back into his life; you know why they stopped talking so I don’t…”

 

“That’s just it, Kimberley, I don’t know why they stopped talking,” Kendall yelled, feeling herself lose control of her composure, “Because as usual, nobody tells me anything when it comes to these things, and yet I’m just supposed to know and go along with it quietly. Well I’m sorry if I sound like a bitch here but I’m not taking this shit anymore. I’m just as much a part of this family as anyone else, and I want to be treated like that.”

 

“So selling half of the company solves that?” Kimberley stood up, “When this gets out, do you really think everyone’s going to be loyal and welcoming towards you?”

 

“Like they’ve ever been. I mean come on, your mother and Uncle Joseph tried to steal this company out from under me. At least with Shane in charge that’s not going to happen.”

 

“I really hope so,” Kimberley managed a half smile towards Kendall, realizing that Kendall was just confused and naïve. She just hoped that Kendall would never realize what Shane was truly capable of, for all their sakes…

 

TO BE CONTINUED…