Heart & Soul

Episode 64

Look Me in the Eye

By Allan Craig

 

As the valet loaded their suitcases into the back of the cab, Marc pecked Megan on the cheek as he wrapped his arm around her. Megan smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, on a high from their blissful vacation together, minus the sleazy porno director who had put a dark cloud over the first few days of their trip by blackmailing Kimberley.

 

“Where is Kimberley?” Megan glanced at her watch, clutching flight tickets for herself, Marc and Kimberley, but her younger sister had yet to turn up and they were due to leave for the airport in five minutes at the latest.

 

“Maybe she caught sight of herself in the mirror and got distracted.” Marc joked. “No, wait, here she comes now.”

 

Megan turned to see her sister tottering out of the hotel, not a suitcase in sight, only a pair of oversized Chanel sunglasses and her jewel encrusted Sidekick cell phone in her perfectly manicured hand.

 

“Aren’t you packed?” Megan asked her younger sister.

 

“Change of plans, Meg. I’m gonna stick around for a few more days and chill out. God knows I need it after these last few weeks.” The way Kimberley spoke, one would be forgiven for thinking she’d been held captive by terrorists, not blackmailed over the phone by some low rent drug dealer who happened to have a video of her in a compromising position. “Besides, I’ve met a guy.”

 

Megan rolled her eyes; those four words coming from Kimberley’s mouth could only ever end up trouble. “You have got to be kidding me.”

 

“And not just any guy either, you know Jet Lowery?”

 

“The movie dude?” Marc knew the name from a few chick flicks Megan had dragged him to.

 

“Yep. We hung out a few times when I was living in L.A. and I ran into him last night at Pure, one thing lead to another and…”

 

“That’s enough information thanks, Kim.” Megan certainly didn’t want to hear anything else about Kimberley’s sex life following their recent escapades.

 

“But anyway, I’m gonna stick around and see what happens.” Kimberley raised an eyebrow. “Jet is brutally hot. Better than any guy Oakridge has to offer.”

 

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.” Marc laughed as the cab driver honked his horn. “We better get going or we’ll miss our flight.”

 

“Eww, you’re not flying commercial, are you?” Kimberley scrunched her face up, clearly she would rather walk from Vegas to Oakridge than fly in anything other than a private jet.

 

“Give me a call when you’re coming home, which better be soon, by the way.” Megan gave her sister a hug before climbing into her car, followed by Marc. Kimberley waved them off as their car sped out of the hotel grounds and folded her arms, she had no intention of going home any time soon.

 

“You know,” Marc leaned over to Megan, a mischievous look on his face. “There is one little pit stop I’d like to make before we get to the airport.”

 

“Where’s that, then?”

 

Marc leaned in and whispered in Megan’s ear, a look of shock and amusement appearing on her face. “Are you serious?”

 

“Well, when in Vegas...”

 

Downtown Oakridge

 

Strolling out of Fix clutching his triple shot espresso cappuccino, Leo lit up a cigarette and headed over to his sleek silver convertible.

“Nice car.” Shane observed as he approached his son.

 

Leo rolled his eyes; an encounter with his estranged father was the last thing he wanted. “Can I help you?”

 

“I have one just like it.” Shane continued, consciously oblivious to his son’s hostility. “One hell of an engine on her.”

 

“Yeah well maybe you should drive it off a cliff. Preferably with you in it.” Leo took one long draw of his cigarette before blowing the smoke in his father’s direction.

 

“When are you going to stop with this hostility, Leo?” Shane smiled patronizingly as he wafted the smoke out of his face. “Surely you’ve held this little grudge of yours long enough.”

 

“Remind me again why you’re talking to me?”

 

“Because, whether you like it or not, I’m your father.” Shane did his best to restrain his temper, but Leo was pushing it to the limit. “And the sooner you realize that and stop acting like the spoilt brat that Jackie turned you into, the better.”

 

“Don’t you dare even think about mentioning my mother,” Leo hissed. “At least she took an interest in her kids.”

 

“That’s right, I’m mistaken. Right, remind me again how many years you spent at boarding schools?” Shane couldn’t stand the fact that Leo saw his mother as such a saint; especially when she was, in fact, a coke snorting, ball busting, card carrying, class A bitch who didn’t give two shits about her kids except from when using them as a bargaining tool.

 

His fist clenched, Leo tossed his half smoked cigarette to the ground and opened the door to his car. He wasn’t about to give Shane the satisfaction of seeing him lose his temper, instead opting to get into his convertible and drive away as fast as possible. “Stay the fuck away from me, asshole.”

 

Leo turned the key in the ignition and sped off down the street, leaving Shane on the sidewalk, chuckling to himself. He was more similar to his son than either would care to admit, but Shane wasn’t about to give up without a fight. They were going to be a proper father and son, whether Leo liked it or not.

 

Sterling Enterprises

John’s Office

 

John was surprised to have been paid a visit by Will to discuss a present for Alex’s impending birthday, and had decided to order in lunch for himself and his estranged son. Both men sat in an awkward silence, their relationship as father and son had hardly been cemented over the last year.

 

“So…” Will’s best attempt to ignite conversation failed miserably. “My mom says you two are planning on going away later this month?”

 

“Nothing’s definite as yet, but we’re thinking about perhaps taking a vacation out west, just by the beach or something for a little getaway.” John explained, although his attempt to ease the tension was quite unsuccessful. “What about you, are you going away anywhere?”

 

Will couldn’t believe the complete lack of conversation between himself and his supposed father, it was like an awkward chat with a complete stranger, making small talk to pass the time. “I don’t think so, I’d like to travel over to Europe and visit Ashley for a while, see how she’s getting on travelling.”

 

“Oh really? Whereabouts is she just now?”

 

“Last time I heard from her she was in Milan.” Will explained. “It sounds like she’s having fun, but I’d like to check up on her in person, just in case.”

 

“You’re her brother, it’s natural you would be worried and overprotective.” John could feel a slight warmth between himself and Will as the ice began to melt. His cell phone rang and he glanced at it to see Alex’s number flashing on the screen. “I better take this, it’s your mother.” John flipped open his phone and lifted it to his ear. “Hello?...Alexandra…how are you? Yes, lunch tomorrow would be nice…I’m not doing much just now, just having something to eat with Will…yes, really, you sound surprised…well I better go, but I’ll pick you up tomorrow around one? Great, see you later.”

 

John hung up the phone and slid it back into his desk.

 

“So things are going well between you two then?” Will raised an eyebrow, one thing he’d never really wished for since discovering he was John’s son was for John and Alex to get together, but now it was happening, he quite liked the idea of having both of his parents together; it was something he’d never really had growing up.

 

“As well as can be expected,” John had always held a torch for Alex secretly, but the way things ended years ago had meant that being in a relationship with her was never really a possibility, not until now.

 

Metro Hotel

 

On the balcony of the luxurious hotel suite that Greg had whisked her off to for the night. Kristen stood sipping her umpteenth cup of coffee that day. She tried her best to clear up the muddle of thoughts inside her head. She loved Greg, and wanted to be with him, but not when he was so eager to keep things quiet. This wasn’t what she wanted, and it wasn’t what she deserved.

 

“I thought you’d done a runner on me while I was in the shower.” Greg laughed as he emerged onto the balcony, only a towel to guard his modesty. He had hoped that a romantic getaway, even if it was still in Oakridge, would have eased some of the tension between himself and Kristen, but a tense attempt at sex was all that had been gained.

 

“Do you want a coffee or anything?” Kristen avoided eye contact with Greg, she couldn’t get mad at him for his insistence that they kept their relationship quiet, for now, even if it had been going on for months now, but she couldn’t help be a little angry, even at herself, for the state of her love life.

 

“No thanks.” Greg felt the chill of the morning air against his damp torso, folding his built arms to keep himself warm. “Let’s go inside, you can warm me up?”

 

Kristen rolled her eyes at Greg’s proposition. Why would she want to have sex with a man who didn’t want to admit to anyone that he was with her? “I’m not in the mood.”

 

Kristen headed inside, followed by Greg, and took a seat on the sofa.

 

“What’s up?” Greg knew fine well what was up with Kristen, but she had picked the worst possible time to go public with their relationship; Greg’s joint custody arrangement with Carrie was still being finalized, so he wasn’t about to blow it by telling her that he was in the midst of a relationship with her sister.

 

Kristen sighed, Greg playing dumb only served to make her even madder at him. “We’re not seriously going to go back down that road, are we? You know exactly what’s up.”

 

“Not again, Kristen.” Greg buried his head in his hands, eager to avoid the conversation that he had just unwittingly started. “I cant risk telling Carrie about us right now in case she takes off with Adam.”

 

“She wouldn’t be that stupid.” Kristen knew her sister better than she cared to admit, and Carrie wouldn’t risk losing Adam permanently by going on the run.

 

“It’s a risk I’m not willing to take.”

 

“Why don’t we cut the crap here, Greg? What’s the real reason why you’re so keen to keep our relationship secret?” Kristen stood up and faced Greg. “Do you still have feelings for Carrie?”

 

“I’m not listening to this.” Greg stood up and headed into the bedroom area, reaching for his clothes.

 

The Bellagio Hotel
Las Vegas

 

Fresh from a quick costume change into her most fabulous designer bikini and another pair of oversized Chanel sunglasses, Kimberley sauntered along the side of the pool, her massive designer handbag dangling from her elbow as she reached her destination.

 

“Worth the wait?” Kimberley raised an eyebrow as she stopped where her male companion sat on a lounger.

 

“Well worth it babe, you look totally hot.” The man lowered his sunglasses with effortless Hollywood ease and admired Kimberley’s slim yet shapely figure in her barely there bikini. The man, Jet Lowery, was the exception to the Hollywood heart throb rule in that he was just as hot, if not hotter, in person; his chiselled cheekbones and mesmerising eyes were enhanced only by his sculpted – but not too sculpted – body and his Colgate worthy smile.

 

Kimberley dropped her bag next to the empty lounger and seductively lowered herself on top of it, picking up the cocktail that Jet had ordered for her and sipped on it as she soaked in the atmosphere of the young, hip and wealthy that populated this particular area of the hotel.

 

“Fancy a dip in the pool?” Jet asked, standing up to reveal the true extent of his svelte, muscular body, his loose, long Hawaiian print shorts hanging low off of his slim hips. Kimberley couldn’t help but feel a little turned on at the sight of Jet alone, never mind the fact that he was a mega movie star and was paying her all sorts of attention.

 

“How about we just chill in the Jacuzzi?” Kimberley winked.

 

“In that case, we should take it back to the one in my suite.” Jet laughed flirtatiously as he mounted Kimberley and planted a hot, steamy kiss on her. The offer of spending some one on one time with Jet, away from the glare of gawping fans and shady journalists was one that was too much to resist.

 

The Abbot House

 

Dressed in his sharpest suit, Wesley Abbot emerged from his house ten times the man he had been for the last few months, not a hint of depression or upset in sight as he eerily strolled into his car for what promised to be an explosive afternoon.

 

Josh’s Apartment

 

Natalie’s peaceful afternoon with her baby daughter had been interrupted by Leo’s abrupt arrival; the tribulations of being a single mother, along with the fact that her relationship with Kyle was in tatters, had caused her to totally forget that it was Leo’s day to spend with Grace.

 

“You could have called first.” Natalie couldn’t help but allow a slight tinge of resentment to leak out as she stuffed the essentials into an overnight bag for Grace while she bounced around in her pushchair.

 

“I didn’t think I’d need to seeing as we’d arranged this last week.” Leo muttered, too distracted by waving his finger around in front of Grace and watching her eyes follow it everywhere as she giggled. “I’ve got more than enough for her at my place. You don’t need to pack anything.”

 

Natalie wasn’t about to relinquish total control to Leo; she wanted to have Grace’s outfits, meals and toys pre-set before she embarked on her weekend at the Sterling mansion. “She needs her things.”

 

“Do I detect a slight chill in the air?” Leo turned his attention to Natalie’s hostile behaviour. “Or are you just giving me attitude because all is not rosy with lover boy.”

 

“And who’s fault is that?”

 

“That whiny little kid, that’s who.”

 

“The only reason Kyle got pissed off is because you were constantly pushing his buttons, Leo. What was your problem with him, anyway? I mean what did he ever do to you?” Natalie’s best attempts to keep her temper at bay were failing fast.

 

“He was a little shit. You could do better. Hell, you have done better.” Leo couldn’t help but feel slightly arrogant when it came to Kyle, feeling vastly superior in every way to him.

 

“And look where that got me.” Natalie hissed.

 

“Do you want to watch what you say around my daughter?” Leo began to yell ever so slightly, maintaining an air of cool around himself as Natalie went into meltdown mode, not wanting or needing to be reminded about her break up with Kyle…least of all by Leo, the very guy who had caused it.

“How dare you?” Natalie was taken aback at Leo’s sudden perfect parent routine. “I mean where the hell do you get off?”

 

“I could start naming the places but we’d be here for a while.” Leo could control most things in his life, but not his sarcasm. “So if you’re all packed up, I’ll be taking my daughter for the night.”

 

“So you can palm her off on the maid and go out and get wasted? I don’t think so.”

 

“We had an agreement.”

 

“Well I’ve changed my mind.”

 

“You don’t want to do that, Natalie. You really don’t want to start fucking me around when it comes to Grace. I’ve got rights, I’m her father.”

 

“I cant trust you to take care of my daughter.” Natalie was still reeling from Leo’s condescending attitude; no way in hell was he going to be looking down his nose at her. “So you’re not having her overnight, I’m afraid.”

 

“Are you retarded? Or are you just that ignorant that you don’t know what’s going on around you?” Leo stood up and folded his arms, overshadowing Natalie. “My family’s lawyer just got Greg joint custody of his son, and the mother was in a stable, loving relationship at the time. She’d have no problem taking Grace away from her over stressed, mentally unstable single mother if I told her to.”

 

“You wouldn’t dare.”

 

“Is it a risk you’re willing to take?” Leo paused as Natalie looked down at the floor, an air of awkward silence descending on the room. “Nope, didn’t think so. I’ll have Grace back to you before noon tomorrow.”

 

Natalie sighed as Leo picked up Grace’s overnight back and pushed her out of the apartment. Defeated, she flopped herself down on top of the couch and buried her head in her hands. She tried her best to think of a way to get herself out of the situation with Leo, but everything seemed so complicated. There had to be a way out, and she was determined to find out.

 

Flight 1281

 

On their way back to Oakridge, Marc and Megan relaxed in the comfort of first class as they unwound from their adventure in Las Vegas.

 

“I cant believe we just did that.” Megan grinned from ear to ear, elated following the events that had just taken place.

 

“I just don’t know how we’re going to tell everyone.” Marc ran his hand down Megan’s arm to her left hand, and ran his finger over the gold band that had been freshly placed on her fourth finger.

 

“I’m sure we’ll find a way.” Megan struggled to breath she was that excited.

 

“I’m sure we will, Mrs Monroe.” Marc smiled as he leaned in for a kiss, locking lips with his new bride as they sailed through the sky.

 

The Bellagio Hotel

Las Vegas

 

Her pink silk robe hanging off one shoulder, exposing her lacy bra, Kimberley climbed over her luxurious bed clutching a bottle of chilled champagne and sat up against the headboard as she snuggled up to Jet.

 

“That totally rocked.” Jet’s voice was sexily croaky; the gravely tone of a heavy smoker, although his bright, youthful skin proved otherwise.

 

“Well I aim to please.” Kimberley winked; taking a swig of the champagne from the bottle before beginning to drizzle the remnants of the bottle over Jet’s rippling six-pack. She climbed on top of him and began to lick up the champagne as one hand reached inside Jet’s designer boxer briefs, before their lips met and locked in a kiss.

 

Jet ran his hands down Kimberley’s body and undid her robe, allowing it to slide off of her as he wrapped his arms around her body, not once allowing their lips to part.

 

Metro Hotel

 

“What are you saying, Kristen?” Greg asked, unable to comprehend Kristen’s overreaction to the matter, “That because I don’t want to risk Carrie taking Adam way from me permanently, I still love her? That because I’m not shouting our relationship from the rooftops, I don’t love you and I still love her? How can you be so wrong?”

 

“I cant make this work if you’re still in love with my sister,” Kristen yelled, doing her best to hold back the tears…it was something that had always been in the back of her mind but now she’d said it, things just seemed a hundred times worse. “And you’ve given me no reason now to think otherwise.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“You know fine well what I’m talking about; dragging her through the courts, blackmailing her about not giving her a divorce, if you really wanted things with Carrie to be over you wouldn’t have been stalling so much. You got joint custody, the divorce is through; you’ve got nothing left to wait for. I put up with this for months, keeping this quiet just because you asked me to for the sake of you getting to see Adam, but you’ve got that now. It’s all official. What other reason do you have for wanting to keep this secret?”

 

“Kristen…you’re reading too much into things.” Greg insisted.

 

“Am I? Am I really? Look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t love Carrie.”

 

“Look, Kristen…” Greg did his best to look Kristen in the eye, but somehow he just couldn’t.

 

“You cant do it, can you?” the tears began to trickle down Kristen’s face as her voice got louder, her heartbreak audible in her breaking voice, “You cant look me in the eye and tell me you’re not still in love with her, can you?”

 

Greg didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t thought he still had feelings for Carrie, but now that Kristen was putting him on the spot, something inside him just wouldn’t let him look her in the eye and tell her he didn’t love Carrie.

 

“Kristen…” Greg reached out his hand onto Kristen’s shoulder, “Let me…”

 

“Don’t’” Kristen yelled, shrugging off Greg’s hand, “Forget it, Greg, we’re over.”

 

Picking up her handbag and coat, Kristen couldn’t even stand to look at Greg one more time. She grabbed her car keys and walked out of the suite, closing the door behind her and leaving a confused Greg standing alone. He didn’t realize what had just happened, he knew he wasn’t in love with Carrie, no way could he be after everything that had happened between them, but then, he couldn’t lie to Kristen, so there must have been something inside of him…even just a smidgeon of love for Carrie, he just had to figure out what to do about it.

 

Safely inside the escalator, Kristen dropped her bag and coat onto the floor and crouched down, bursting into a fit of tears, the agonising pain of her heart being ripped into a million pieces caused her to lose her breath. As she wept, gasping for air, Kristen couldn’t help but feel absolutely devastated, losing Greg was enough, but the sudden dawning on her that every single minute insecurity she had been harbouring was, in fact, reality caused her heartbreak to hurt even more than even she had ever imagined it would. The first man she had ever truly loved had betrayed her in a way that she didn’t know she could forgive.

 

Downtown Oakridge

 

As night fell on Oakridge, Alex made her way out of her car, clutching a bag of groceries as she approached her apartment block. Upon dropping the bag and seeing what was soon to be the contents of her refrigerator spilled all over the sidewalk, Alex dropped to her knees and began to scramble as much as she could carry into the remnants of the brown paper bag. Once she had gathered as much as she could, Alex clamoured back up onto her feet.

 

“Need a hand?” came a chilling voice standing above her. Alex looked up to see the last person she expected or wanted to see…Wesley. Standing in his smart suit, looking incredibly polished, but still, the last person she wanted to see, Wesley’s presence instantly put Alex’s back up.

 

“Not from you, no thank you.” Alex did her best to brush past Wesley and make her way across the quiet road to her apartment block, but instead felt the disgustingly familiar grip of Wesley around her arm, causing all sorts of memories of what happened between them at Christmas to come flooding back to her. “Get your hand off of me now or I’ll scream.”

 

“Not until you listen to me.” Wesley muttered through gritted teeth. “And that’s what you’re going to do you evil, vindictive witch.”

 

“I’m not putting up with this, let go of me right now.” Alex struggled to get free, but it was as if Wesley was possessed, his grip stronger than ever. She let out a piercing scream, but it went unnoticed in the quiet street.

 

“Nice try, now move.” Wesley dragged Alex, kicking and screaming but now mute thanks to his hand covering her mouth, into a darkened alleyway, her heels dragging along the ground as he tossed her into the passenger seat of his car, locked the doors and sped off into the night.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…