Heart & Soul
Episode 67
Change
By Allan Craig
The
Abbot House
Lounge
Walking
through what was once a vibrant, noisy family home, Will Abbot glanced around
the eerily silent house, every memory packed into a box and shipped away,
leaving a bare carcass in place of the home he grew up in. John approached his
son from behind.
“Are you
okay?” John knew Will wasn’t okay; the man he’d grown up thinking was his
father had just killed himself and attempted to kill Will’s mother in the
process, so things were hardly going to
be rosy for him.
Will
nodded, managing a weak smile; “It’s just weird seeing it like this, you know?”
“Well you
grew up here; it’s going to be odd seeing it totally empty.” John folded his
arms. “You don’t have to sell this place, you know.”
“I
couldn’t stay here now.” Will insisted. “Too many horrible things have happened
under this roof in the last year; living here would just be…”
“I know
what you mean.” John walked across the hardwood floors of the empty house,
glancing around as he turned to face Will. “But you really should consult with
Ashley; after all, half of this place is hers as well.”
“She
agrees that it’s for the best to sell up. I still can’t believe she isn’t going
to come to the funeral, though.” Ashley hadn’t taken the news of Wesley’s death
too well; when she asked Will what Wesley was doing driving his car into the
river with Alex on board, Will had been forced to tell Ashley everything that
had happened in the last year, and the resulting conversation was far from pleasant.
“It’s got
to be a shock to her, finding out what Wesley did.” John reasoned with his son.
“She’ll come around in her own time.”
“I hope
you’re right.” Will couldn’t help but feel anxious over the future of what
remained of his family. One thing was for sure; more drama was the last thing
any of them needed.
Pulse
Gym
Rex
watched as his brother laid into a punch bag, his fists flying with great might
and strength. He took a swig of his water as
“Someone’s
got rage.” Rex joked.
“You know
how it is, bro. It’s better to get rid of all your stress like this than let it
eat you up inside.”
“In your
dreams, man, I don’t look a day over twenty five.” Rex laughed. “I got a lot on
my plate right now, that’s all.”
“Work
stressin’ you out a lil’ bit?”
“You could
say that, yeah.” Rex paused, noting the glare his brother was giving him to
spill all. “You know I cant tell you anything about cases I’m working on, Ty.”
“What’s a
little bit of Oakridge PD gossip between brothers?”
“Dream on,
little brother.” Rex sighed, although the fact of the matter was he was beyond
stressed about work. He had been put on a case of corrupt drugs making their
way through Oakridge; copious quantities of cocaine were loaded with an
as-yet-unknown substance that was poisoning those who used it.
Rex was
always the type to throw himself head first into a case, and this one was no
exception, he was determined to make sure that whoever was responsible for the
potentially fatal substance’s presence in the city was going to pay.
Shane
Baldwin’s Penthouse
“And so if
you just want to have an intimate gathering, why not show off your new place? I
mean it’s pretty special, the views of the city at night would be absolutely
stunning and would make a great backdrop for your party.” Jessica smiled as she
walked through Shane’s lavish penthouse with him.
Shane had heard
that Jessica had a keen interest in party planning, so when the time came for
him to throw a small gathering to celebrate
“I’ll look
into it.” Jessica jotted something down in her notebook; she couldn’t help but
feel a little pride that she was starting to achieve some sort of success,
especially doing something she’d always just seen as a hobby.
“Can I get
you a drink or something while you’re here?”
Jessica felt
a slight twinge of panic; what did professionals do? Politely decline and keep
it above board, or accept the offer and enjoy a more friendly relationship with
clients. She made an on the spot decision to choose the latter. “Why not? If
you’re having one, I might as well.”
“That’s
what I like to hear.” Shane grinned, pulling out a bottle of champagne from the
chilled compartment of his drinks cabinet and two glasses from the cupboard. He
popped the cork like an old pro and filled two glasses with the golden liquid,
handing one to Jessica. “A toast; to a successful working relationship.”
“Cheers.”
Jessica smiled, clinking her glass against Shane’s before taking a sip.
Will’s
Apartment
Living
Room
Setting a
mug of steaming hot coffee down on the coffee table, Will curled up on his
brown leather sofa and began to flick through the channels on his television.
As he began to forget about his family’s troubles by watching some detective
drama, he heard a knock at his door.
“Two
seconds.” Will yelled as he got up from his couch and made his way over to the
door, opening it to see the last person he expected standing in his hallway.
“Ashley!”
Will wrapped his muscular arms around his sister as they hugged. Finally, a
familiar face; someone who was going through the same thing as he was, “What
are you doing here? You didn’t call or…”
“It was
kind of an impulse thing.” Ashley explained, still keeping her brother’s arms
wrapped right around here. “I didn’t know what I was doing until the last
minute, but, you know, it felt like I really should be back home for his
funeral. After all, Wesley was my
father.”
“How are
you holding up?”
“Yeah,
fine, I guess…” Ashley shrugged her shoulders as they pulled away from their
hug. “It feels weird being back in Oakridge, though. I was going to come back
for the holidays, but I didn’t now if I could face a miserable Christmas.”
Will
couldn’t help but think back to last Christmas and how miserable it was for his
mother, and how Ashley was blissfully unaware of the fact that Wesley had
attacked and raped Alex.
“You cut
your hair.” Will commented, referring to the chin length, choppy locks that
hung from Ashley’s head. “It’s nice.”
“I needed
a change. Sometimes blondes really don’t have more fun. Not that brunettes are
a bundle of laughs, going by the last few weeks. Merry Christmas and a happy
New Year, yeah right. I was going to stop by Aunt Macy’s and see how they were
holding up, but I didn’t have enough for a flight to
“They can’t make it, apparently. Speaking of
which, I thought you weren’t coming back home for the funeral.”
“I was
being stupid.” Ashley admitted, the effect of her father’s death visible on her
pretty face; she wore barely any makeup, revealing bags under her eyes, and her
normally immaculately dressed frame was covered in jeans and an oversized
cardigan.. “What our…my father did was totally unforgivable…but that’s no
excuse to take it out on the rest of my family. Well, what’s left of it at
least. I just wish you’d told me all of this was going on sooner, Will. Maybe
if I had known what was happening I could have…”
“Don’t you
start blaming yourself, Ash.” Will stood aside to allow his sister entry to the
apartment, closing the door once she was inside and leading her over to the
sofa, where they both sat down. “There was nothing any of us could have done to
prevent what happened. Wesley totally lost it…none of us could have controlled
that.”
“But maybe
if I had been there…”
“There was
nothing you could have done, Ashley.” Will reassured his sister. “He wasn’t the
man who raised us, Ash, he was someone totally different. He’d lost his mind,
and that wasn’t anybody’s fault.”
“Yeah well
maybe if mom didn’t breeze back into all of our lives and fuck them up…”
“Don’t
blame her, she didn’t have anything to do with his breakdown.”
“All I’m
saying is, if she’d never come back, none of this would have happened.”
“And I’d
still be thinking that Wesley was my father. And I’d still have no idea that
Megan was my sister. She told the truth, and although it was really confusing
at the start and I hated her for it, I’m glad she did it. She didn’t deserve
what happened to her for telling the truth…” Will stopped himself mid sentence;
he had revealed way too much.
“What do
you mean, what happened?”
Will took
a deep breath, telling his sister that Wesley had raped Alex was something he
didn’t want to do, he’d hoped to keep it a secret, but he’d gone too far, and
he could lie to her; lying was what got his family into this mess in the first
place.
Jet
Lowery’s Mansion
Running
her hands down her celebrity lover’s smooth, toned chest,
“This
weekend has been amazing.”
“Well I’m
afraid it’s got to, babe.” Jet kissed
“What do
you mean?”
“I told
you, I’ve got to fly back to
“And I’m
meant to just sit around here, waiting for you, in the meantime?”
“Look at
where you are,
Jazz
& Co
Megan and
Marc had decided to go for a quiet drink, only to meet Rex and Jessica at the
bar. Despite how hard she had tried not to talk about her brother’s secret
marriage to Megan, Jessica couldn’t bare the pink elephant in the room any
longer.
“So when
are you going to tell mom and dad about you guys getting married?” Jessica
asked her brother.
“I thought
we weren’t going to talk about this, sis.” Marc rolled his eyes; Jessica was
never good at keeping secrets. “And besides, I don’t think it’s our parents you’ve got to worry about.”
“I can’t
imagine Diane will be too thrilled to find out her daughter got married behind
her back.” Jessica knew all too well how demanding Diane could be; Carrie’s
experience with the dragon was still fresh in her mind.
“And in
Vegas of all places; how tacky.” Megan giggled, mimicking her mother. “But
we’ll be keeping it a secret for now. Until we find out a way to break it to
her gently.”
“I’m
surprised you care what Diane thinks after all you’ve been through with her.”
Jessica took a sip of her vodka.
“Yeah,
well, at least her not knowing means I don’t have to put up with the diva
fits.” Megan laughed.
The
conversation was interrupted by the ringing noise from Rex’s cell phone. “I
gotta take this.”
As Rex got
up and walked out of earshot, Jessica rolled her eyes. Those four words had
become a routine part of life for her, and she was beginning to tire of it.
“So Jess,
Marc told me you took a job working for Shane Baldwin.” Megan, sensing her
sister-in-law’s discomfort, quickly changed the subject.
“Well I’m
just helping him organise a little party.” Jessica refused to allow herself to
get too excited at the prospect of a career doing such a fun job. “But you
know, one thing leads to another and…well, you never know, do you?”
“Look who
I found.” Rex interrupted as he sat back down on his seat, followed by
“I have
now,” Marc shook
“You too,
man. Can I get anyone a drink?”
“Sit down,
Ty.” Megan ordered her old friend. “It’s my round, anyway. Still a whiskey
sour?”
“You know me too well.”
“You two
know each other?” Marc raised an eyebrow.
“Megan and
I go way back.”
“You could
say that.” Jessica winked at her brother; her inability to keep her mouth shut
when she had juicy gossip was becoming more and more evident.
Will’s
Apartment
Ashley sat
motionless, numb to the bombshell her brother had just dropped on her. So many
feelings were rushing around inside her body, but she was oblivious to any of
it.
“He raped
her?” Ashley shuddered, unable to process what she had just heard. “But he…he
wouldn’t…”
“Wesley
wouldn’t. The man who brought us up wouldn’t do such a thing, you’re right.”
Will gripped his sister’s hand. “But he wasn’t that same man anymore, Ashley.”
“Even
still,” Ashley wiped a tear from her eye, horrified that her father could do
such a thing. “I just feel so horrible, all this time I’ve been hating her,
wishing she’d never come back into our lives and messing everything up, but
never…I wouldn’t wish what happened to her on my worst enemy.”
“You have
got to stop beating yourself up here, Ash. None of this is your fault.” Will couldn’t help but feel a little sorry
for his younger sister; she’d not been back in Oakridge more than an hour or
so, and already she’d been thrown in at the deep end, facing a barrage of
emotions as the traumatic events that had occurred in her absence were replayed
to her.
A knock at
the door caused Will to get up from the sofa and over to the door, “I’ll get
rid of whoever it is.”
He opened
the door to see Alex standing in front of him; her face was pale and washed
out, her hair pulled back into a ponytail, and her normal choices of stylish
ensembles were replaced by a baggy cardigan and jeans. Will couldn’t believe
his eyes; his mother, a shadow of her former self, had clearly been affected by
what had happened more than he could ever have imagined.
“Mom, hi.”
Will whispered, walking out into the hallway and closing the door behind him,
keen to avoid letting Ashley catch the sight of her mother in such a
dishevelled state. “Why didn’t you call to let me know you were getting out of
hospital?”
“You’ve
got a life to live, Will, I cant have you dropping everything for me.” Alex was
determined that Wesley’s actions wouldn’t affect anyone else’s lives, he’d done
enough to her, never mind getting in the way of anybody else’s lives. “I needed
to talk to you; John and I are thinking of moving in together, and I was
wondering how you felt about it.”
Will
didn’t know how to answer, of course he was happy that his mother had found
love again, she needed some happiness after all she’d been through in the last
few months, but he had his reservations about the whole thing. “I’m happy for
you, I guess. I just hope you aren’t rushing into things. You’ve been through a
lot lately; maybe you should give yourself some space to clear your head.”
“I’m not
going to get anything cleared by wallowing about on my own.” Alex was eager to
distract herself by any way possible; living alone would only force her to
drive herself crazy thinking about what happened, and she wasn’t going to let
it ruin her life. She was determined not to let Wesley win, and living with
John, being happy, seemed like the best way to get over what happened.
“If you
think it’s the best way to put what happened behind you, then by all means,
move in with John. I just don’t want to see you hurt again, that’s all. Things
didn’t work out too well for the pair of you decades ago, what makes you think
now would be any different?”
“You know
the circumstances are completely different now, for both of us. Will, please…I
just don’t want there to be any more…” Alex began, but was interrupted by a
heart-warmingly familiar face appearing in the doorway to Will’s apartment.
“Ashley!”
Without
uttering a single word, Ashley walked over to her mother and wrapped her arms
around her in a loving embrace; they may not have parted on the nicest of terms
before Ashley left for Europe, but none of that mattered now. All Ashley wanted
to do was be there for her mother, and without a single word being spoken, Alex
knew that at least one good thing had come of the situation; maybe she was
finally able to build bridges with her daughter.
Strata
Kristen
sat in the chic bar, running her finger around the rim of her glass as she
stared off into space. Even though it was her that ultimately ended things with
Greg, she could help but long to be with him again. In her heart of hearts she
knew that it wasn’t meant to work out; Kyle was right, it was bound to end in
disaster, but that didn’t stop her from being devastated about the
deterioration of her relationship with the man who could have been the one she
spent the rest of her life with.
“Excuse
me, is someone sitting here?” came a voice from behind Kristen. She spun around
to see Shane Baldwin standing at the stool neighbouring her seat.
“No, feel
free…” Kristen managed a half smile before taking a sip of her vodka.
Without
saying a word, Shane caught the barman’s eye and instantly had his attention;
“I’ll have your best scotch, and another of whatever the lady is having.”
“I’m fine,
but thanks for the offer.” Kristen wasn’t in the mood for any company,
especially not of the male variety.
“I insist.
And besides, what’s a gorgeous blonde like you doing drinking alone?”
“Excuse
me? Do I know you?”
“Shane
Baldwin, and you are?”
“Way out
of your league.” Kristen grabbed her purse and stood up, walking out of the bar
as fast as possible. She wasn’t in the mood for any male attention, she wasn’t
even ready to get over what happened with Greg, she just wanted to be left
alone.
Shane took
a sip of his scotch as he watched Kristen exit the bar. As someone being used
to having any woman he wanted, the blatant rejection he had just experienced
had only increased his determination to further get to know the feisty woman he
had just encountered.
Jet
Lowery’s Mansion
Hollywood,
California
With Jet
packed off to the airport, Kimberley sauntered down the marble stairs of his
spacious, uber-modern mansion, and took a seat on the cream sofa with a bottle
of white wine in one hand and a glass in the other. She filled it to the brim
and took a sip, a swig, a gulp, and found herself filling it up again.
She flipped
open her cell phone and dialled Leo’s number, hoping her cousin and partner in
crime would help amuse her for a while, but when it just rang out, Kimberley
raised her freshly filled glass of wine to her lips and took another sip.
Will’s
Apartment
“So tell
me, sweetheart, how are your travels going?” Alex asked her daughter as they
sat together in Will’s apartment whilst he made coffee. “I really like your new
hair, by the way. You suit it short.”
“Don’t
change the subject, mom.” Ashley rolled her eyes, she knew her mother didn’t
want to relive the events of the last few months anymore, but she didn’t think
it helped anybody by acting like nothing had happened.
“Has John
said anything to you about what happened at Christmas?” Will added, handing his
mother a steaming hot mug of coffee.
Alex
rested the mug on the table and pulled a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She
could understand that her children were worried, but she didn’t see the need to
relive every last detail of the last few months out all over again, “He hasn’t
mentioned it. And to be honest, I’m glad he’s not. It’s hardly a topic of
conversation I want to be having with John, I just want to get over what happened.”
“But you
can’t get over it until all your feelings are out in the open.” Ashley
insisted.
“If you
don’t let him know how you feel about it, then it will just eat you up inside.”
Will couldn’t help but worry about his mother’s desire to keep things under
wraps, lying and keeping secrets was what had gotten them into this situation,
so it was beyond him why she would want to do it again. “Where was he when you
needed him, mom? Cavorting around with that Natasha woman? Whether you admit it
or not, that had to hurt a little.”
Alex was
taken aback. When did her children become so grown up? “I suppose you’re both
right. I do need to talk to John about what happened.”
The only
question was, when?
TO BE
CONTINUED…