Heart and Soul

Episode 70

Home Truths

By Allan Craig

 

Jessica Monroe was always the type of girl who couldn’t help but be drawn to trouble. Even when she was a little girl she’d never be able to resist the temptation to touch a hot stove or put her finger in an electrical socket, and that was one habit that she certainly hadn’t grown out of.

 

She knew what happened with Shane was wrong. It was pure pleasure, an experience she wanted to repeat again and again and again, but she knew she couldn’t ever have sex with Shane again, no matter how hot, how steamy, how wildly ecstatic it was, no matter how often she would have to resist the urge to replay it in her head over and over, she told herself that she had to forget it. Rex was the man that she was to spend the rest of her life with.

 

But why? Whenever she felt guilty about what happened with Shane, it would soon be followed with her heart telling her that Rex had let her down one time too many, put his work before her and made her feel inferior in more ways than she cared to count.

 

“You’re not still mad at me for the other night, are you?” Rex asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee while Jessica sat gazing into space at the table.

 

“Not at all. Why would I be mad?” Jessica shrugged her shoulders flippantly. “I mean it’s not like you knew I had gone to the trouble of planning and setting up a special night in for us, only for you to decide to stay at the police station working on some case that could have quite easily waited until the morning…oh no, wait, silly me, that’s exactly what happened.”

 

Rex sighed as he took a seat across from Jessica at the table, trying his best not to repeat the same conversation that they’d had so many times already. “Jessica, you know my job is important. It’s how we met, for crying out loud. I don’t like having to cancel on you any more than you like me doing it, but it’s part of the job; I thought you understood that.”

 

“Understand what, Rex? There’s a difference between being dedicated to your job and letting it totally take over your life.” Jessica reached out for her orange juice, only to find the glass empty. Frustrated, not only at the lack of juice but at her general situation, Jessica rose up from her seat and walked towards the fridge. “I barely get to see you these days, and it’s getting beyond ridiculous. How am I meant to fully commit to this relationship when it barely registers on your list of priorities?”

 

“That’s not fair, Jess. You know how much I love you…”

 

“Really? Do I?” Jessica cut Rex off mid sentence. How was this the same man she had fallen in love with last year? What had happened to that hot, sexy, passionate man who made her feel special with just a single look? Now she was lucky if she felt anything at all when Rex looked at her. “I just don’t know anymore, Rex.”

 

“What do you mean?” Rex got up and wrapped his arms around Jessica, although she flinched at his touch. “You know I love you, baby, and I promise, I’ll do the best that I can to make sure my work doesn’t get in the way of us anymore, okay, I promise.”

 

Jessica smiled and responded to Rex’s passionless kiss. As much as she wanted to believe Rex’s promises, she couldn’t help but feel they would be just as empty as the glass she was still holding in her hand.

 

 

The last thing Megan Sterling ever thought her life would be was stable; but the last few months had seen her married to a loving husband who was about to embark on a steady job that could provide her with a steady and comfortable life without having to rely on her family’s money. As she sat at the dresser in her bedroom, slipping her pearl earrings in before flipping her hair forward, she couldn’t help but notice just how uncomplicated her life had become.

 

Sure, her family didn’t know she and Marc were married yet, and while she had enjoyed the suspense that came with keeping their Las Vegas wedding a secret, she knew it was time to own up and tell her parents the truth.

 

“Are you sure you’re ready to do this?” Marc asked, buttoning up his navy blue shirt as he approached Megan from behind.

 

“It’s better to get it over with now, I suppose.” Megan sighed, having enjoyed the last few weeks of secrecy. “Otherwise…well…could you imagine my mother’s reaction if she ever found out from someone else? Besides, now that your dad knows, and probably your mom as well, it’s not fair to keep it a secret from my parents…no matter how much we don’t see eye to eye.”

 

“I suppose.” Marc shrugged, folding up his sleeves. “Just remember I’m right next to you if you need moral support.”

 

“You make it sound like we’re confessing to a murder.” Megan joked. “Not that we got married behind their backs. Wait a minute, it’s Diane Sterling, I might as well have committed murder. As much as I don’t want to tell them, I guess we kinda have to, considering…” Megan bit her lip, wondering whether to continue with her sentence or not.

 

“Considering what?” Marc raised an eyebrow.

 

“I didn’t want to tell you until I was sure.” Megan stuttered. “I mean I’ve taken a test and all that but I just wanted to make sure…”

 

“Make sure about what?” Marc already knew what was coming, and the butterflies in his stomach were swirling about at a rapid pace.

 

“There’s no easy way to tell you this, but I think I’m pregnant.” Megan sighed, relieved to have got at least one thing off of her chest.

 

“You’re what?” Marc gasped, unable to control his delight. He lept across the bedroom and wrapped Megan up in his muscular arms; kissing her excitedly before Megan pulled away.

 

“Are you okay with this?”

 

“Of course I am. I’m totally over the moon. Why would you ask?” Marc was still buzzing from his wife’s sudden revelation, already mentally thinking about baby names and what colour to paint the guest room to turn it into a nursery.

 

“It’s just, it’s all happening so soon.” Megan couldn’t help but feel a little reserved about the whole situation. She didn’t know if she was ready for a baby, but Marc’s excitement told her how committed he was to her, easing her tension. “I just can’t imagine what my mother’s going to say.”

 

“Relax. It will all be fine.” Marc kissed his wife on the cheek reassuringly.

 

“Let’s hope so.” Megan smiled. She knew she was a grown woman and she didn’t have to explain herself to anybody, let alone the parents she barely spoke to, but part of her couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread at the impending meeting with them.

 

 

Nate Rutledge never thought he’d be a family man, and the thought that he had become the polar opposite to his old self never really crossed his mind until he caught sight of himself in the frozen foods aisle of the supermarket, pushing a cart filled with groceries for himself, Carrie and Adam. He used to kill people for a living…and now he was living a quiet suburban lifestyle with a wife to be and another guy’s baby. What had happened to his life?

 

“Get a grip of yourself, man.” Nate told himself, assuring himself that he was doing the right thing standing by Carrie, but part of him yearned for the danger of his old life, living on the edge had never looked so appealing. But he loved Carrie, at least he thought he did…but did he really want the ‘normal’ life that went along with it?

 

 

“I thought we should talk about what happened the other night.” Jessica barely waited for Shane to open his door and invite her in before her mouth opened and the words poured out. She had decided that enough time had passed for them not to feel awkward around each other, and discuss their feelings in a mature and adult manner.

 

“Sure, come on in.” Shane stood aside as he looked around his pristine living room for a shirt. Not that he had reason for being modest; Jessica had seen him in a lot less than his fitted black boxer briefs just a few nights ago. “I haven’t heard from you in a few days…I was beginning to think…”

 

“I didn’t know whether I should wait for you to call me or not.” Jessica explained, taking a seat on the edge of Shane’s sofa, unable to take her eyes off of his built, athletic, tanned, toned, smooth, glistening body…she couldn’t help but feel that same attraction as she looked at Shane standing so confidently in such little clothing. “Although I thought we should really talk about what happened. I don’t want…what happened…to get in the way of our professional relationship.”

 

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Jessica.” Shane insisted, not that he had ever intended to call Jessica; being in a relationship with someone who was so easy to seduce never crossed his mind, but now that she was in front of him, clearly wanting a repeat performance, part of him couldn’t resist just how easy it would be to take her on the floor of his penthouse. “Listen, Jessica, you’re a beautiful…intelligent woman, and if Rex cant see what he’s got then he’s a fool.”

 

“I didn’t come here to talk about Rex, I came to talk about us, Shane.” Jessica insisted, trying her best not to succumb to Shane’s charms. “I love Rex…he’s the one I want to be with.” Jessica hoped that by saying it out loud it would be true, but part of it just didn’t sit well in her head.

 

“And I wouldn’t want to come between that, Jessica.” Shane oozed charm with every word he spoke, noting that Jessica had become increasingly flustered as she sat in close proximity to his near-naked body. “I just thought…call me crazy, but it wasn’t me turning up at your apartment the other night, was it? And I didn’t come to visit you today either, did I? Don’t deny it Jessica, you’re just as drawn to me as I am to you, and not to act on that type of chemistry…it would be stupid, wouldn’t it?”

 

Jessica didn’t need to be asked twice, she had stood up and wrapped her arms around Shane’s shoulders, kissing him passionately as they fell to the couch. Shane couldn’t help but feel a slight twinge of satisfaction, safe in the knowledge that, whether he was interested in them or not, he could still get almost any woman he wanted into bed.

 

 

As she waited for the paint on her nails to dry, Ashley Abbot glanced at the pages of a celebrity magazine, careful not to smudge the French manicure she had spent the last hour perfecting. The hope that someone else’s life would be in greater turmoil than hers, thus allowing her to take her mind off of her own troubles, didn’t seem too likely when all she could see for pages and pages of happy celebrities in their perfect homes with their perfect babies. Why didn’t she buy something trashier?

 

“Mom called looking for you while you were in the shower.” Will told his sister as he entered the apartment fresh from jogging.

 

“I’ll call her later.” Ashley blew her nails in an attempt to dry them, unable to face talking with her mother when she had so much on her mind. It wasn’t that she was in any way still attracted to Leo, she didn’t want him…did she? No, she told herself, the last thing she wanted was to get involved with Leo Sterling. Her father had just died after raping her mother and her entire family, no matter how hard they tried to disguise it, was falling apart. What happened the other night at Theatre had only served as a reminder of how much better she was out of Oakridge. But she couldn’t leave again, she needed to be with her family, they needed to heal from the traumatic events of the last few months, the events that Ashley couldn’t help but blame herself for.

 

 

Diane Sterling drummed her manicured fingernails against the arm of the leather chair she had settled into as she made herself comfortable in the mansion that she had once called home. Joseph paced the carpet by the fireplace as John and Alex entered the spacious foyer and made their way into the lounge.

 

“Just what I need,” she muttered, rolling her eyes.

 

“Behave.” Joseph warned his fiancée.

 

“Does somebody want to tell me what’s going on here?” John asked as he stood over Diane, “I thought hell would have frozen over before Kendall and Leo let either of you two back into this house again.”

 

“Why don’t you ask them, John? After all, it’s you that still lives in this house even though it doesn’t belong to you anymore.” Diane snarled. “It’s been, what, like three years now? Maybe you should think about getting your own place.”

 

“And maybe you should think about shutting your mouth before I shut it for you.” Alex hissed at the woman who had forced the destruction of her relationship with John the first time around. “Besides, now that we’re engaged, John’s going to be moving into my place…aren’t you?”

 

“Um, yeah,” John was taken aback by the sudden announcement of both their engagement and moving in together, the latter of the two was unknown even to him, but he couldn’t help but notice the shock in Diane’s face, which had suddenly gone a whiter shade of pale.

 

“Well congratulations,” Joseph held out his hand to his estranged brother, “to the both of you.”

 

John declined his brother’s offer of shaking hands and made his way to a sofa with Alex.

 

“Ah, good, you’re all here together.” Megan smiled as she entered the room, holding hands with Marc.

 

“Do you plan on telling us why you’ve summoned us all here?” Diane asked, clearly wanting others to think she had better places to be.

 

Marc laughed and glanced at Megan before turning back to face his new in-laws, “Megan and I have an announcement to make.”

 

“How formal.” Diane’s sarcastic tone echoed throughout the room.

 

“Look, Diane, if you don’t like it you can leave.” John snapped at his ex-wife. “Otherwise, stop being so goddamn rude.”

 

“Where do you get off…” Joseph began, before being silenced by Megan yelling.

 

“Shut up, all of you,” her parents and step-parents’ constant bickering had quickly grated on her last nerve. Now, the reason we’ve asked you to be here is because Marc and I have something very important to tell you all; we got married!”

 

“When?” Diane asked before anyone else could congratulate the happy couple. “Did our invites get lost in the post?”

 

“Actually, we did it when we were in Vegas.” Marc explained.

 

“Oh my god it just gets worse…” Diane rolled her eyes.

 

“Megan and I love each other very much and want to be with each other forever, so it made perfect sense. Neither of us wanted a big, over the top wedding, so we did it our way. We don’t need to answer to anyone else when it comes to our relationship. We’re not asking for your opinion, Diane, because frankly it doesn’t mean anything to us.” Marc stated, putting his new mother in law well and truly in her place.

 

“Congratulations, sweetheart.” John got up and gave his daughter a hug before shaking Marc’s hand. “I hope you plan on taking care of my little girl, Marc.”

 

“Megan can take care of herself.” Marc joked, “But yeah.”

 

“Yes, congratulations, both of you.” Alex added.

 

“I suppose…congratulations…I mean really you should have included family in the ceremony, but…” Diane began.

 

“Quit while you’re ahead, honey.” Joseph stopped Diane from finishing her sentence. “Great news, guys.”

 

“There is one other thing…” Megan added, unsure whether or not it would be wise to drop another bombshell on her already pissed off mother…although part of her wanted to shock her even more just to see the look on our face. She reached out and held Marc’s hand, glancing lovingly into his eyes for some support.

 

“Megan…well Megan and I…we’re expecting a baby.” Marc grinned from ear to ear, the prospect of becoming a father having still not quite sunk in.

 

“Isn’t that just great news.” Diane grinned, the ice queen melting. Her longing for a grandchild had not quite been filled by Adam, who until recently she had seen once in the year since he had been born despite him living within fifteen minutes of her. “I couldn’t be happier for you both.”

 

Megan was taken aback at her mother’s reaction; she had expected Diane to throw a huge diva fit, not congratulate them. She looked at Marc and looked back at the mother she had managed to keep at an arm’s length for years, and suddenly it dawned on her; now that she was about to produce one of Diane Sterling’s grandchildren, she wouldn’t be able to keep her mother away.

 

“What have I let myself in for?” Megan asked herself, already dreading the next few months, wait, scratch that, the next few years.

 

 

“What you got for me, Pratt?” Rex asked as Bobby entered his office, clutching another folder that he placed on Rex’s desk.

 

“Not much, boss.” Bobby opened up the folder and slid a pile of documents over to Rex. “A couple toxicology reports.”

 

Rex glanced at the files, raising an eyebrow as he noticed that the casual drug users of Oakridge had been snorting a whole lot more than just cocaine. “This is not good. Not good at all. Have the lab determined what it is that’s in the cocaine that’s poisoning people?”

 

“Not yet, but they’re working on it.” Bobby explained.

 

“Well tell them to get a move on. Whoever’s shipped these drugs into town has circulated them pretty wide and pretty fast. If we don’t manage to put a stop to this soon, we could be looking at a whole lot more than just a drugs case.”

 

“You don’t mean…?”

 

“Luckily, the last few victims have only taken small quantities of the coke. If someone was to…overindulge…a little, we could be looking at something a lot more serious.”

 

 

“Did you get detergent?” Carrie asked as Nate unpacked the groceries in the kitchen. A few years ago he was killing people and having an affair with his gangster boss’s sexy wife. Now he was engaged and living a quiet suburban life.

 

“It should be in one of the bags.” Nate muttered as he grabbed himself a beer, one of the few pleasures he could still allow himself.

 

Carrie pushed a stray lock of hair back behind her ear as she unloaded the oversized box of soap powder into the cupboard under the sink. With Adam spending the afternoon with Greg, she had hoped for a cosy afternoon with Nate, but he was acting different…distant, and she knew something was up.

 

 

“What up, cuz?” Cal asked as he entered Will’s apartment clutching a cardboard box and some beers. “I got pizza. You guys up for a chill out night?”

 

“Sounds like a plan.” Will agreed as Ashley nodded, glancing up from the screen of the new BlackBerry she bought herself to cheer herself up. If she couldn’t see the friends she had made whilst travelling, she could at least keep in touch with them.

 

“And I have news.” Cal announced as he placed the box down on the coffee table. “Guess who got a job right here in Oakridge?”

 

“Seriously?” Ashley asked her older cousin. “That’s great news. Are you going to be working at Oakridge General?”

 

“Yep, I start in three weeks, which gives me enough time to hopefully get a place sorted out here and then go back home to get my stuff and bring it back here.”

 

“You know if you need a hand we’re always here to help.” Will volunteered his services to his cousin. “And if you’re stuck for a place there’s always plenty of space here.”

 

“Actually, I’ve got my eye on a place I saw up for rent down by the river. In one of those converted warehouses?”

 

“Those apartments are pretty slick.” Will commented. “Pretty hard to get, though.”

 

“I’m sure I’ll come up with something.”  Cal smiled as he handed both Will and Ashley a cold bottle of beer.

 

“A toast.” Ashley raised her bottle, “To new beginnings.”

 

“New beginnings.” Will and Cal’s voices echoed her sentiments as the glass bottles clinked together. Ashley smiled as she took a sip of the beer; while she didn’t care for the taste, she couldn’t help but feel things were taking a turn for the better. Finally there was someone else fighting her corner, someone who would be able to help her keep the family together.

 

 

Sprawled naked across Shane’s sofa, Jessica couldn’t help but feel satisfied by her hot afternoon with Shane. Pulling up his boxers over his naked body, Shane smiled as he poured what little champagne was left from their steamy few hours into two glasses and handed one to Jessica.

 

“You go through this stuff like water.” Jessica grinned as she took a sip of the chilled gold liquid. “It must cost you a fortune.”

“Nothing I can’t afford.” Shane had always managed to find a pleasure in flashing his wealth to attractive women. It was almost as good as sex. Almost.

 

“Well, this was amazing.” Jessica moaned, already dreading the thought of returning to an empty apartment, well, unless Tyler was still roaming the place. “But I suppose I’d better be going, I’ve got a lot to do for this party.”

 

“It’s nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow, Jessica.” Shane insisted, running his hand up Jessica’s soft, smooth arm, along her porcelain shoulders and through her golden blonde hair. “Unless you’d rather be some place else?”

 

“No, not at all.” Jessica insisted, being with Shane was the only place she wanted to be, but that would be letting Rex down, and as much as he’d let her down in the past, she didn’t want to sink to the same level. But then again, why should she feel guilty getting pleasure from Shane? She certainly wasn’t getting it where Rex was concerned now that he was so tied up in his job.

 

“Well, more champagne?” Shane pushed Jessica for an answer. She nodded and smiled as Shane leapt up and wandered naked across his living room to the mini-fridge that housed his champagne collection. However, before he had the chance to pop the cork of the latest bottle, a knock at the door rang through the penthouse. “Give me two seconds, I’ll get rid of whoever it is.”

 

Shane pulled his fitted white boxer briefs over his naked body and wandered over to the door, looking through the peek-hole as another impatient knock echoed through the apartment. “Shit,” Shane whispered, looking at Jessica.

 

“Who is it, your wife?” Jessica asked jokingly.

 

“No, it’s my daughter,” Shane whispered, motioning for Jessica to gather her stuff and hide somewhere. Jessica picked up her clothes, using them to cover her naked body as she made her way hastily up the staircase, while Shane pulled up his jeans and threw his black sweater over his rippling body. Once Jessica was safely out of sight, Shane fixed his messy hair and took a deep breath, opening the door to the pretty blonde teen that stood on the other side of it. “Lucy!”

 

“Hey, daddy,” the petite blonde smiled as she embraced her father in a warm hug, unaware of what she had just interrupted.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…