Heart & Soul

Episode 65

In Too Deep

By Allan Craig

 

Oakridge General Hospital

Dr. Melissa Stafford’s Office

 

Natalie fastened Grace back into her pushchair as her appointment with Melissa came to a close. Melissa rested her clipboard on her desk and turned to face Natalie with a warm smile.

 

“Well Grace seems to be doing fine.” Melissa folded her arms and perched herself against her desk. “But what about you? How are you coping with everything?”

 

“As well as can be expected, I guess.” Natalie couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened, after all, her relationship with Kyle was almost certainly over, and things with Leo weren’t exactly civil.

 

Melissa knew too well how difficult bringing up a child alone could be, she’d done the very same herself and saw a lot of herself in Natalie. “It’s definitely tough, but you know if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, or just someone to listen, I’m here.”

 

“Thanks, it’s good to know.” Natalie was almost touched by Melissa’s kindness towards her; she hadn’t made many friends since arriving in Oakridge, and it felt like she was making one in Melissa. Sure, she was just a doctor doing her job, but it felt nice that someone was finally considering her problems.

 

Wesley’s Car

 

Alex struggled to open her eyes as the morning sunlight bounced off the darkened windows of Wesley’s car. She lay across the back seat; her skin sticky, her hair sweaty, her face damp and tear stained; being tied up in the back of the warm, clammy car hadn’t been the most comfortable of nights for her, especially when she had no clue what Wesley was going to do.

 

“Good morning.” Wesley sat in front of her in the driver’s seat, grinning from ear to ear. It was clear to Alex he had lost his mind completely.

 

“Why are you doing this?” Alex was determined not to cry as she adjusted herself to sit upright. “Haven’t you fucked my life up enough?”

“Oh, Alex,” Wesley chuckled. “It was you that fucked MY life up when you let me raise another man’s child for over twenty years.”

 

“And you raping me wasn’t enough?” Alex stuttered, barely able to bring herself to mention the word ‘rape’. Wesley’s invasion of everything Alex thought was sacred had destroyed her confidence, no matter how much she tried to hide it, but her close proximity to the man she once loved, the man who now terrified her, caused Alex’s tough exterior to crack whether she wanted it to or not.

 

“I didn’t rape you, Alexandra, you were begging for it. And damn well you know it.” Wesley remained chipper throughout the conversation, putting Alex even less at ease. She had no idea what Wesley was about to do, but she was absolutely terrified.

 

The sound of Alex’s cell phone ringing interrupted the conversation, and Wesley was quick to snatch it from her purse on the passenger seat, glancing at John’s name flashing on the caller display. He quickly yanked the battery out and tossed the powerless cell phone onto the floor of the car.

 

“Let me go, Wesley. Hate me all you like, but don’t let it ruin your life.”Alex pleaded.

 

“Ruin my life? You make me laugh, Alexandra, really, you do. My life was ruined, might I add that it was you who ruined it, a long time ago. Now, my life is about to be over, Alexandra.” Wesley laughed eerily. “And so is yours.”

 

Sterling Enterprises

John’s Office

 

John flipped his cell phone shut, frustrated at Alex not answering his call.

 

He sat down on his chair and spun around to face the window, sighing as he struggled to think why Alex wasn’t answering his call.

 

Oakridge Country Club

Dining Room

 

“Thank you for meeting me at such short notice, Shane.” Kendall smiled as she sat down opposite the charming older man.

 

“Not a problem, what can I do for you?” Shane greeted his business partner warmly, the fact that Kendall’s urgent request to meet him was cutting into his morning workout annoyed him, but he did his best to hide it.

 

“Well first of all, I brought you a few snaps of Grace,” Kendall handed Shane a brown envelope stuffed full of photos of his granddaughter. “But what I wanted to talk to you about was…”

 

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” came a voice interrupting their conversation. Shane and Kendall both looked up to see Joseph standing above them. “Does your brother know you’re meeting with his father, Kendall?”

 

“I don’t see what this has to do with you.” Kendall hissed at Joseph, clearly still full of hatred for the man who tried to swindle her out of her inheritance. “Besides, haven’t you got a company to try and steal, or something? Remind me, Joseph, what is it that you actually do these days?”

 

“Joseph Sterling,” Shane had never been a fan of Jackie’s brother, and time certainly hadn’t changed that. “Isn’t this a surprise? Unfortunately, I think you know you’re not really wanted here so why don’t you do all of us a favour and clear off?”

 

“Oh Shane, you don’t get rid of me that easily.” Joseph grinned sarcastically. “Although I hear you’re now co-owner of Sterling Enterprises. If that isn’t throwing money down the toilet, I don’t know what is.”

 

“Well it cant be that much of a money waster if you were so keen to try and steal it from Kendall.” Shane snarled. “I mean I know it must be a terribly bitter feeling knowing that both John and Jackie made something of themselves with multi billion dollar corporations while you ran your father’s company into the ground, but stealing from your own niece? And right after she lost her mother? That’s pretty pathetic, don’t you think?”

 

“You want to watch your mouth, Baldwin.” Joseph hissed.

 

“Or what?”

 

“Look, Joseph, why don’t you stop making a fool of yourself and leave us to our lunch?” Kendall was quick to put a stop to the situation before it got out of hand. “Although to be honest, I’m starting to lose my appetite.”

 

“You heard the lady, run along, Jo-Jo.” Shane smirked; loving that Kendall had put Joseph well and truly in his place.

 

“I’d like to say this has been a pleasure…” Joseph began.

 

“But that would be a lie, wouldn’t it?” Kendall’s eyes began to scan the menu, clearly indicating to Joseph that she had grown disinterested in their confrontation, whether he liked it or not. “Then again, that really is your forte, isn’t it Joseph?”

 

“This is far from over.” Joseph snapped, feeling himself turning increasingly red as he became more and more humiliated. What made it even worse was that the person doing the humiliating was at least twenty years younger than him, and there she was, already acting as if he didn’t exist. The one thing that Joseph hated was to be ignored, and the fact it was some little girl…his fists clenched as he struggled to remain composed in the public space. After all, the country club was full of gossip mongers, and he wasn’t about to make a show in front of them.

 

“Do you hear something, Shane?” Kendall faked a yawn.

 

“Nope, nothing at all,” Shane grinned as he turned away from Joseph, who promptly stormed off, fists still clenched, and suitably put in his place.

 

Oakridge Mall

 

Having dropped Grace off at Leo’s, Natalie had hoped to clear her head and get her thoughts in order as she indulged in some retail therapy, but even tempting herself with clothes that showed off how quickly she had got her old figure back following her pregnancy couldn’t stop Natalie from feeling like crap; her relationship with Kyle was truly over. She’d begun to realize just how much she took Kyle for granted, expecting him to put up with all the Leo crap and then even getting mad at him for standing up for her where Leo was concerned.

 

She glanced across the mall, spotting Kyle emerging from the record store, and rushed over to him.

 

“Can we talk?” Natalie tapped Kyle on the shoulder. He turned around to face her, but it was clear he didn’t want to be standing opposite her.

 

“I don’t see what there’s left to say.” Kyle insisted, fearing a conversation with Natalie while he was still raw from the break up would do more harm than good. “You made your choice, Natalie, and you chose Leo.”

 

“I didn’t choose Leo. I didn’t choose any of this. It just happened. I was just trying to make things work for us. For all of us.”

 

Kyle rolled his eyes, dismissing Natalie’s explanation, “Well you didn’t make much of an effort to fight for our relationship, did you?”

 

“I’m trying just now, aren’t I?”

 

“Well it’s too little, too late.” Kyle didn’t want to be such a jerk to Natalie, his love for her wasn’t something he could just turn off, but he couldn’t face opening himself up to Natalie again, only for her to once again let him down, so making her hate him was the only possible solution.

 

“But Kyle…” Natalie pleaded.

 

“But nothing, please Natalie, just face the fact that we’re over. Maybe eventually we can be friends, but please, it’s not going to work, and if we’re honest, it was never going to work.”

 

Natalie could feel her eyes welling up with tears, but she wasn’t about to break down in public, “You’re wrong, Kyle, you know it. You cant just suddenly fall out of love with someone.”

 

“Maybe sometimes love isn’t enough.” Kyle knew that he still had to love Natalie, just a little, otherwise he wouldn’t be getting so pent up, but as far as he was concerned, they could never be together.

 

“You don’t mean that. You know as well as I do that we should be together.” Natalie reached out and touched Kyle’s arm, but he pulled away. “Cant we try again?”

 

“What would be the point, Nat? As long as Leo Sterling is a part of your life, me and you…us…it won’t work.”

 

“If that’s how you feel.” Natalie didn’t want to give up, but she just didn’t have the energy to argue; and she wasn’t about to make herself look like a whiny, pathetic shrew when Kyle’s mind was clearly made up. As she struggled for the words, she could feel her heart breaking as it sank to the pit of her stomach. “Then I guess we’re over.”

 

And with that, Natalie about turned and walked off into the crowd, leaving Kyle at a loss for words, had Natalie really just agreed to give up on their relationship? In his head, it seemed like the perfect solution, but now that it was a reality, he couldn’t believe it.

 

Marc and Megan’s Apartment

 

“So how was Vegas?” Jessica asked her younger brother as he handed her a cup of tea, placing himself on the sofa next to her.

 

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” Marc joked, not only referring to the fiasco he and Megan had encountered with Kimberley, but the fact that he was now a married man.

 

“Oh shut up, it cant have been that exciting.”

 

“You’d be surprised.” Marc couldn’t help but feel a slight tinge of irony in his sister’s comment. Vegas had been surprisingly eventful, what started out as a quiet getaway from all the hustle and bustle of Oakridge had been even more dramatic than life at home. “How’ve you been, anyway? It feels like I’ve barely seen you lately. Romance with Rex must be taking up all of your free time.”

 

Jessica managed an uneasy smile to avoid telling her brother the truth about her strained relationship with her career driven boyfriend. She took a sip of her coffee and flipped her long blonde hair out of her face. “Have you heard from mom or dad lately?”

 

“As far as I know, dad’s still in London on business. And mom, apparently, has a new boyfriend.”

 

“Ah yes, the famous Lazlo.” Jessica scoffed. “She seems to be handling the divorce particularly well.”

 

“When she’s got five million of dad’s hard earned dollars, she’s got no reason to be handling it any other way.”

 

Jessica couldn’t help but notice that Marc didn’t seem as fond of his mother as he once did; and he had every reason to feel that way; since her divorce with Patrick, their mother had reverted back to acting like a spoilt, selfish teenage girl. Part of Jessica almost envied her mother’s foot loose and fancy free ways, after all, what was the point in being stuck in a relationship where you weren’t happy? A question that Jessica was constantly asking herself as Rex spent more and more time at work and less and less time with her.

 

“Hey hubby, I’m home,” the chirpy voice of Megan interrupted their conversation as she entered the apartment, stopping dead in her tracks when she noticed Jessica sitting on the sofa. The secret was well and truly out.

 

“What did you just say?” Jessica almost spat out her coffee at Megan’s slip of the tongue.

 

“I said ‘honey, I’m home’.” Megan insisted, doing her best to back track.

 

“No you didn’t, you said hubby!” a wide grin appeared on Jessica’s face. “You guys got married?”

 

Marc and Megan stared at each other, as if to transmit a message on what to do telepathically. Both newlyweds sighed, their secret was well and truly out.

 

Wesley’s Car

 

“Wesley, please.” Alexandra’s heart raced with fear; how could it be that the man that she once loved more than anyone else in the world, the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, was now about to kill her? “Surely we can talk about this.”

 

“The time for talking is over.” Wesley seemed calm, relaxed even, as if he had embraced what he had decided was his destiny, and fully accepted that killing both Alex and himself was the right thing to do.

 

“So what, you’re just going to kill me? Just like that?” Alex knew that getting an attitude with Wesley wasn’t going to help matters, but if he was going to kill her, she might as well go out with a bang. “My god, you’ve gone totally crazy.”

 

“And whose fault is that, huh?” Wesley raised his voice a little, but his eerie calmness still remained. “Who was the one that let me raise another man’s son for over twenty years, even though she took off and skipped town? And then waltzed back into my life years later and shattered everything I thought was real?”

 

“How many times do I have to say I’m sorry?” Alex yelled, slowly realising that if Wesley was going to kill her, she was going to go out with a bang. After all, she wasn’t one to give up without a fight. “What do you want from me, blood?”

 

“Not quite.”

 

“Well what then? What is killing me going to achieve?”

 

“If it means you never get to fuck up another man’s life the way you have mine, then it’s for the best.” Wesley felt almost noble, ridding the world of one life-wrecking wench was doing it a favour, as far as he was concerned.

 

“You’ve totally lost it, do you know that?” Alex hissed.

 

“I lost it the day you told me Will wasn’t my son. I lost everything that day, you evil, conniving little slut, so what else do I have to lose? If I’m going down, I might as well take you down with me, right?”

 

“And what about Ashley? How’s she going to react when she discovers her father killed her mother?” Alex was resting everything on her trump card, but if Wesley had indeed lost it as much as she feared, would the mention of their daughter make a difference?

 

Sterling Enterprises

John’s Office

 

“Have you heard from my mom?” Will’s voice distracted John from an important email from Shane about the company. He looked up from his computer screen to see his son standing in the doorway. “I was meant to meet her for lunch two hours ago, but she never showed.”

 

“Have you tried her cell phone?”  John asked as Will entered his office.

 

“No answer, it’s switched off.”

 

“It’s not like your mother to leave her cell phone switched off. I called her earlier but it just rang out.”

 

“Usually I wouldn’t think anything of it, except on my way over here Wesley’s car wasn’t in the drive for the first time in months…so I can’t help but think…”

 

“…if that bastard’s done anything to her I’ll kill him!” John grabbed his car keys and headed out of the door, followed promptly by Will.

 

The Masters House

Kitchen

 

Valerie watched as Kyle sat, staring at his rapidly cooling lunch as he pushed his fork around the plate of untouched food.

 

“He’s been like this all day,” Valerie whispered to Carrie, “I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

 

“Just leave him, mom, we’ve all been like this at one point or another.” Carrie insisted, knowing the look on her younger brother’s face was directly related to the other sex, or more specifically, Natalie.

 

“But it’s just not like Kyle to be this…this moody. You and Kristen, maybe, but Kyle…”

 

“I’ll stop you there before you offend me any further.” Carrie joked. “Do you want me to talk to him?”

 

“Would you?” Valerie gushed as a grin appeared on her face.

 

Carrie smiled and headed across the spacious, homely kitchen to the table where Kyle sat, and perched herself on the seat opposite him. “No prizes for guessing what’s up with you, then. Things not going too well between you and Natalie?”

 

“They’re not going at all.” Kyle muttered. “We broke up.”

 

“How come?”

 

“I ended it, I just didn’t want to be in such an intense relationship, especially when she was always putting Leo before me.”

 

“He’s the father of her kid, Kyle; she has to at least…” Carrie stopped herself before she was able to complete what would have become one of the most hypocritical sentences to emerge from her mouth considering how she’d treated Greg. “She’s young; she’s confused, I’m sure she just needs time to adjust.”

 

“I just cant put myself up for such a rejection, Car. What’s to stop her getting back with Leo a few years down the line because all the time they’re spending together with Grace is making them closer?”

 

“So you’re going to stop it now, just in case she happens to get back with the ex boyfriend, who, if I remember correctly, she despises?”

 

“Even so, I’m not up for that.”

 

“Well it’s your choice, Kyle. I’d just hate to see you throw away a shot at happiness because of the slim chance that it might not go your way.” Carrie gripped her brother’s hand across the table and rubbed it reassuringly.

 

Kyle half smiled, he couldn’t bear the possibility that his older sister was right. Had he really thrown away his once chance of true love because of the possibility…the extremely slim possibility…that Natalie could end up leaving him for Leo?

 

The Sterling Mansion

Conservatory

 

Kendall entered the spacious, glass walled room of the mansion to find her brother perched on one of the armchairs, wiping the remnants of cocaine from around his nose as he listened to some music.

 

“I thought you’d stopped that.” Kendall frowned disapprovingly at her older brother.

 

“You thought wrong.” Leo rolled his eyes, an icy tension between him and Kendall was still totally evident. “What’s the big deal?”

 

“It’s the middle of the day.” Kendall sighed.

 

“Just a little pick me up. Grace had me up most of the night, Kend, and I’m going out tonight.”

 

“Haven’t you ever heard of Red Bull?”

 

“So what have you done today?” Leo quickly changed the subject, growing tired of his younger sister’s lecture.

 

“Not much really, did a little shopping, had a business lunch with Shane, got my nails done…”

 

“If I didn’t know any better, Kendall, I’d say you were developing a crush on my father, the amount of time you spend with him.” Leo hated the fact that Kendall was still talking to his estranged father, after all the trouble his arrival in Oakridge had caused.

 

Kendall sighed and rolled her eyes, feeling like she had to defend herself about a high school crush. “We’re business partners, remember? We run a multinational, billion dollar company. A lot of time together is kinda required.”

 

“Just do what I do with JCo; put someone else in charge and take the money at the end of it all.” Leo didn’t share his sister’s determination to make something of herself, business wise. He’d inherited his mother’s own company, whilst Kendall had inherited John’s, when Jackie died. While Kendall was keen to be involved in the running of Sterling Enterprises, getting a nine to five job with a suit and tie wasn’t exactly Leo’s thing. “It’s so much more fun that way.”

 

“If you want to do things that way, then that’s your choice.” Kendall perched herself on the seat opposite Leo.

 

“It most certainly is, my dear sister.” Leo grinned. “It most certainly is.”

 

Marc and Megan’s Apartment

 

“Congratulations!” Jessica hugged her brother and his new wife, overcome with a feeling of romance and happiness that she herself had not experienced in weeks. “But why keep it a secret?”

 

“Well, you know how our families…my family…can be.” Megan chuckled as she perched on the edge of her sofa as Jessica and Marc returned to their seats. “My mother would never forgive me if she found out I’d got married without the full society affair, but it’s just not my thing.”

 

“Remember Greg and Carrie’s wedding?” Jessica laughed, the wedding day that Carrie had barely any control over was something all of them would care to forget. “Talk about a circus.”

 

“Exactly,” the last thing Megan wanted was an over the top, over co-ordinated fiasco like her older brother’s wedding. “So you see why we did it secretly?”

 

“Totally,” Jessica agreed.

 

“And we just wanted to keep it quiet, just for a while, so you cant tell anyone, Jess, promise?” Marc urged his sister. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of his relationship with Megan, totally the opposite, but keeping things quiet kept it fresh and exciting, and he loved that.

 

“It’s not that we’re ashamed or anything.” Megan quickly jumped in. “But we just don’t want everyone knowing. Not right away. With everything that’s gone on with the custody case and Kimberley doing a vanishing act, it just doesn’t seem right.”

 

“At least we know Kimberley’s fine now, but still, I don’t think its right for this to be out in the open right now.” Marc continued. “So promise me you’ll keep it a secret?”

 

“I promise.” Jessica smiled, she was a gossip at the best of times, so keeping something this juicy a secret promised to be a difficult task. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.”

 

John’s Car

 

“Slow down!” Will urged his father, who continued to speed through the streets of Oakridge regardless. John was determined to find Wesley’s car, if only to put their minds at rest. For all they knew, Alex could have been at the salon getting her nails done, but both John and Will had the feeling that something was awry.

 

“I swear to god, if he’s touched one hair on her head…”

 

“Look over there! That’s Wesley’s car!” Will exclaimed as they drove past an abandoned warehouse by the riverside. “I’m sure of it.”

 

Wesley’s Car

 

“Just let me go, Wesley, let me go and all of this will be forgotten.” Alex pleaded as a tear ran down her cheek, her desperation to escape Wesley’s clutches had taken over, but the chances of her being free were looking increasingly weak.

 

“This can never be forgotten.” Wesley whispered in a sinisterly loving tone. “Not unless we end this now, once and for all.”

 

Alex dug her nails into the ropes that bound her arms and struggled to break herself free, but all of her efforts were too little, too late, as Wesley’s gaze was fixed on the river. “Please, don’t do this Wesley…I’m begging you here. You’ve got what you wanted…you’ve scared the shit out of me…you’ve won, Wesley, you’ve made me pay for what I’ve done to you. Just please, please let me go.”

 

“This isn’t about you paying for what you’ve done to me anymore, Alexandra. This is about making things right for everyone. The lives you’ve ruined; John’s, Will’s, Ashley’s, mine, this is making up for all of that…”

 

Alex’s heart began to race as her mind began to click that Wesley had well and truly gone insane. This wasn’t the man she married, the man she loved, the man she left both John and Matt for…this was a completely different, psychotic person. It just wasn’t Wesley. He turned the key in his ignition and pushed his foot down on the accelerator, allowing his car to race at an alarming pace towards the river.

 

“I love you!” Wesley yelled with a look of happiness on his face, as Alexandra gasped for breath, just before the car crashed through a barrier and hurtled into the cold, icy river, plunging below the surface as Alex’s blood curdling scream echoed through the air.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…