Heart and Soul

Episode 78

One Step Forward...

By Allan Craig

 

Another night where she might as well have been sleeping alone had led Carrie Masters to a bottomless cup of black coffee as she sat at the table in her kitchen, vacantly gazing at the morning paper but barely reading a single word. All she could think about was how distant Nate was being, how it had gone on far too long and how she just wanted some sort of resolution, but every time she mustered up enough energy to talk to him, to urge him to air out their issues, she could never bring herself to say it out loud.

 

A knock at her door caused Carrie to make her way across the kitchen and through the living room of her townhouse to open the front door, where Greg stood in her porch with Adam in his stroller.

 

“Sorry I’m so early, I had to reschedule a conference call.” Greg explained as he made his way inside the house with his son. “Besides, I think someone’s been missing his mommy.”

 

“It’s understandable.” Carrie joked as she made a hello face at her toddler son. “Did he sleep okay?”

 

“Like a baby.” Greg joked. “Listen, I really have to get a move on or I’ll be late. Give me a text if I’ve forgotten to pack anything and I’ll drop it by later tonight.”

 

“No problem, have a good day,” Carrie smiled as she watched her ex husband exit the house, glad that, after months of being at each others throats, they were now able to be civil to each other. She closed the door behind Greg and lifted her son out of his pushchair, sitting him down next to her on the sofa as they settled into an episode of her favourite soap opera, just as Nate made his way down the stairs.

 

“You’re up early,” Nate remarked.

 

“I couldn’t sleep.” Carrie’s gaze remained fixed on the screen.

 

“Right, well, listen, I gotta head out, I’ve got some business to be taking care of.”

 

“There’s a surprise.” Carrie muttered under her breath, secretly hoping that perhaps Nate would hear her. “When will you be back?”

 

“I shouldn’t be too long.”

 

“So are we ever going to actually get to talk about what’s going on with us, Nate, or are you just going to keep walking out that door for the rest of our lives?” Carrie snapped, stopping her fiancé in his tracks.

 

“I really don’t have time for this right now.” Nate sighed.

 

“Well when are you going to have time, huh?” Carrie stood up and walked over to her fiancé. “Because this has been going on for months and I for one am tired of constantly hitting my head against a brick wall.”

 

“Seriously Carrie, I cant be having this conversation with you right now.”

 

“Okay, you know what?” Carrie yelled. “We’re having this conversation, whether you like it or not. Got it?”

 

Nate headed towards the door, prompting Carrie to yell. “If you walk out that door, Nate, don’t bother coming back.”

 

Carrie sighed as Nate made his way out of their house, slamming the door behind him and leaving Carrie standing alone in the living room.

 

 

Since discovering that Shane was responsible for the shipment of ethanol-tainted cocaine that was making its way through Oakridge and putting Leo in hospital, Kendall Sterling had been unable to get even a wink of sleep. In the time that she spent away from the hospital, she lay awake in bed, fuming with rage at Shane for his actions, and at herself for bringing Shane back into her brother’s life. She continually berated herself for thinking it would be a good idea to go into business with her brother’s father, wondering why she ever thought it would be possible to patch up the rift between father and son, when now it was only going to make things worse.

 

Now, making her way into the hospital after another night of no sleep, Kendall stepped inside the all too familiar elevator and glanced at her ghostly reflection in the mirrored wall. Her eyes were dark and tired looking, while her skin was washed out and in severe need of some sunlight. She had lived her life between her bedroom and her brother’s hospital room, trying to run a multi million dollar company from her BlackBerry in the journeys between the two.

 

“I think we have good news for you today,” said Dr. Melissa Stafford upon spotting Kendall stepping out of the elevator at the floor where she had spent the majority of her time over the last few days. “Leo is showing remarkable signs of pulling through today.”

 

“That’s fantastic,” Kendall tried to sound enthusiastic, but no matter how delighted she was about her brother’s possible recovery, she was too tired to make it convincing.

 

“It really is.” Melissa explained. “He’s definitely a fighter.”

 

“You don’t know the half of it.” Kendall joked, the first smile she had managed to crack since she first found her brother close to death in his bedroom. “Is it okay for me to go and sit with him?”

 

“I don’t see why not, although he’s already had a visitor not too long ago…”

 

“It wasn’t Shane Baldwin, was it,” Kendall spun around, cutting Melissa dead in the middle of her sentence.

 

“No, don’t worry, our security guards are on the lookout for Mr. Baldwin and are under strict instructions to escort him from the premises should he turn up, as per your request.” Melissa assured Kendall. “It was his younger sister…Lucy, isn’t it?”

 

“Can you believe it, Kendall?” Lucy’s cheerful voice cut through the awkward silence of the hospital corridor. “They think he’s getting better!”

 

“It’s great news.” Kendall agreed.

”I’ll stop by later on to see how he’s getting on.” Melissa excused herself and made her way along the corridor, leaving Kendall and Lucy together.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming here? I would have given you a ride.” Kendall took a seat outside Leo’s room and motioned for Lucy to join her.

 

“Because I brought her here,” interrupted Lucy’s mother, Nadine, who emerged from round the corner, “To say goodbye to her brother. I’m taking her home.”

 

“I thought we established that Lucy was staying in Oakridge with me?” Kendall asked.

 

“Well I’ve decided that sixteen or no sixteen, I want my daughter to have a safe, stable environment, and I’m afraid you simply cannot provide that for her.” Nadine glanced down at Kendall. “I’m sorry, Kendall, but a house where people steal, cheat and lie to each other, to their own family, is not one that I want my daughter living in. I’ve heard a lot about your family, and I most certainly will not be allowing my daughter to get caught up in that. Not to mention the fact that there must be copious quantities of drugs floating around that place; no, I simply cannot allow it.”

 

“I guess drugs weren’t a problem when they were affording you all the luxuries you’ve come to know and love.” Kendall snapped back at Nadine, determined not to let her push Lucy around. “Lucy’s decided she’s staying put with me, and that’s exactly what she’s going to do.”

 

“Miss Sterling, come quickly.” Melissa interrupted. “Your brother is showing signs of waking up.”

 

 

Jessica tapped her fingers anxiously on the top of her kitchen table as she stared aimlessly into space, struggling to forget about her recent actions despite many attempts to move on from what happened.

 

“You look like you’re a million miles away.” Rex’s voice snapped Jessica out of her daze. “What’s up?”

 

“Nothing, I’m fine.” Jessica insisted, “Just daydreaming.”

 

“I’m surprised your not out and about, didn’t you have that big party to throw for Shane Baldwin or something?”

 

“Shane thought it best to cancel Kendall’s 21^st, what with Leo being in the hospital, especially now that he’s more involved than anyone would have thought.” Jessica explained. “How do you think his case will turn out?”

 

“Who knows.” Rex shrugged his shoulders; as hard as he had tried to bring down many people in Shane’s position over the years, the legal system never really worked as it should. “Baldwin’s a powerful man, he’ll bribe some official and get off, probably. My hands are tied, they’ve taken the case off me now that it’s become so big.”

 

“That’s not very fair considering the amount of work you put into it.” Jessica attempted to sound interested.

 

“That’s how these things work.”

 

“What’s up, guys?” Tyler interrupted, making his way into the living room, dressed for a night on the town.

 

“You look very smart tonight, where are you going?” Rex was used to seeing his brother in basketball shorts and wife beaters outside of his workplace, so seeing Tyler in a pair of stylish black jeans and an expensive grey and black pinstripe shirt was a shock to the system.

 

“I’ve got a date.” Tyler took great pleasure in announcing this fact, having wasted barely any time since his arrival in Oakridge to already have an old flame running around town. “And as much as I would love to spend some time sitting here making small talk with you guys, I’ve got a seriously hot honey waiting for me to pick her up.”

 

Tyler made his way out of the apartment, leaving Rex to make an announcement to Jessica. “I’ve been offered a promotion.”

 

“That’s great news…” Jessica smiled, although the look on Rex’s face told her otherwise, “…isn’t it?”

 

“It’s in Philadelphia.” Rex explained, causing Jessica’s face to drop…either Rex was about to up and leave her for a new job in Philadelphia, or he was expecting her to drop everything and come with her, either way, Jessica was far from happy.

 

 

“So he just walked out?” Kristen asked as she handed Carrie a glass of wine. Her sister shook her head, declining Kristen’s offer, but Kristen slid it under her sister’s nose. “Believe me, you need this right now.”

 

“I just don’t get it, I mean what is his problem?” Carrie wiped a tear from her eye, still shaking from her confrontation with Nate.

 

“You know I’m not the guy’s biggest fan, Car, but this is just plain low.” Kristen took a sip of the wine she had brought over to Carrie’s place after she called. “I mean, there you are trying to actually sort out whatever problems you guys have got going on, and he just walks? He’s lucky he’s not here right now because I swear to god I could kill him for what he’s putting you through.”

 

“Do you think he’ll come back?”

 

“Of course he will,” Kristen lied, the truth was, she didn’t know if either herself or Carrie would ever see hide nor hair of Nate Rutledge again, but she had to keep hope alive for her little sister. “He loves you, Carrie, any fool can see that.”

 

“What if sometimes love isn’t enough?” Carrie pondered.

 

Kristen sighed, she of all people knew that love wasn’t always enough, the breakdown of her relationship with Greg had taught her that much. And while she hoped they had seen the back of Nate, she couldn’t stand the heartbreak that would cause her little sister.

 

 

Lying in his hospital bed, Leo Sterling felt weak, drained of all energy. His sisters stood over him, but he was too tired to speak. He managed a faint smile before his eyes closed again.

 

Kendall panicked, touching her brother’s face in the hope it would bring him round again.

 

“Relax, this is to be expected.” Melissa explained. “He’s been through a lot and his body’s in recovery, he just needs rest. We’ll obviously need to keep him in for a while to run some tests and monitor his progress, but he’s showing signs of making a full recovery.”

 

“That’s fantastic.” Lucy squealed, turning to her stern mother who stood in the doorway.

 

“Come on, darling, we really need to get going. I have a car waiting outside to take us to the airport.” Nadine ordered her daughter.

 

“I told you, I’m staying here.” Lucy instantly regretted allowing the words to come out of her mouth, fearing her mother’s reaction.

 

Nadine sighed, she just wanted to take her daughter home and keep her safe, but part of her began to realize that as much as she wanted to wrap Lucy up in cotton wool and shelter her from the big bad world, her daughter was becoming a woman now, and she needed to treat her as one.

 

“And I really can’t convince you to come home with me?” Nadine asked her daughter, hoping Lucy would have a last minute change of mind. Lucy shook her head, and Nadine relented. She walked over to her daughter and attempted a warm hug, before pulling away and turning to Kendall. “Make sure you take care of her.”

 

“I will.” Kendall assured her before looking over to a semi conscious Leo. “We both will.”

 

“Well I better run or I will miss my flight.” Nadine gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek. “You call me any time, day or night, do you understand? Whenever you need me, I’m only a phone call away.”

 

“Okay, mom.” Lucy rolled her eyes as her mother made her way out of the hospital room. She turned to Kendall and smiled. “Thanks so much for doing this, by the way.”

 

“Not a problem.” Kendall insisted. “In a while we’ll head over to Shane’s place and pick up the rest of your stuff. Welcome to the family, Lucy.”

 

 

Deciding that Carrie needed to be alone, Kristen volunteered to drop Adam off at the Sterling Mansion in order to give her sister time to think without the distraction of her son. She knocked on the door, hoping that she’d get Kimberley or John or anyone other than Greg, but when the door opened, she was greeted by none other than Greg, stood dripping wet with only a towel wrapped around his waist, the perfect reminder to Kristen of something she wanted so much but couldn’t have.

 

“Um, hey, come in.” Greg stuttered, standing aside to let Kristen, complete with Adam in a pushchair, inside, before the closing the door. “Give me a minute to go throw some clothes on.”

 

“I’m not sticking around.” Kristen attempted to look Greg square in the eye, but she couldn’t help but have another glance at Greg’s body, the body she had explored every inch of several times but never got tired of looking at again. Her attraction to Greg threatened to take over, but Kristen wasn’t about to let it. “Um, I just was wondering if you could maybe watch Adam for a while. Carrie’s not feeling to well and I’ve got to catch up on paperwork at the restaurant, and my mom and dad are out of town this weekend, so if you wouldn’t mind…”

 

“Of course not, it’s no problem.” Greg insisted, having only just got home from work himself. Although he was looking forward to chilling out and watching ESPN, he didn’t mind watching Adam, after all the time he missed having his son, he was grateful for every extra moment with him. “Are you sure  you don’t want to stick around? We’ve really got a lot to talk about, Kristen, whether you want to admit it or not.”

 

“Like I said, I’m really busy at the restaurant right now. And besides, I don’t think us talking is such a good idea, Greg, do you?” Kristen wasn’t about to give Greg the chance to answer. “I think we need to just accept that what happened between us was a mistake and get on with our lives.”

 

“You really don’t think we had any chance of a future at all?” Greg urged Kristen to rethink the status of their relationship. “Because I did, I really did.”

 

“You had a funny way of showing it.” Kristen muttered. “Look, Greg, what’s the point in dragging up the past again? You and me, what happened, it’s done, over, and there’s not any point in going over it again, what’s it going to solve?”

 

“You could realize what we’re missing out on,” Greg had tried to push Kristen to the back of his mind, but with her standing right in front of him he couldn’t fight his feelings like he had hoped. “I love you, Kristen, that hasn’t changed. Cant you see that?”

 

“I really cant listen to this right now, Greg,” Kristen silenced her old flame. “If you cant have Adam overnight then give Kyle a call, he said he’s free after college at five. I’ve really got to go.”

 

Before Greg could say another word, Kristen quickly made her way out of the mansion, fearing that if she staid another minute all the feelings for Greg that she had pushed to the back of her mind would all come flooding back to her, and opening herself up for even more hurt wasn’t an option.

 

Once outside the mansion, Kristen flipped open her cell phone and dialled a number before raising it to her ear. “Hi, it’s me...I need to see you.”

 

 

Sat at their table in The Bungalow, Tyler and Ashley browsed the menus as soft music played out in the background. Tyler glanced over at Ashley, her blonde hair pulled back from her face, highlighting her dark eye makeup and high cheekbones.

 

“You look nice tonight.” Tyler commented as a disinterested Ashley took a sip of her wine.

 

“I was surprised when you called.” Ashley admitted. “I thought the great Tyler Davis waited for the woman to make the first move.”

 

“What can I say? When I want something I go after it.” Tyler reached across the table and placed his hand on top of Ashley’s. “You of all people should know that after Monaco.”

 

“Is that all you’ve got to talk about, Tyler?” Ashley rolled her eyes. “It wouldn’t kill you to broaden your horizons from just casual sex.”

 

“Why mess with success? You know, it was a real surprise to see you here in Oakridge…who knew we both lived here all of our lives and never met each other until we were in a foreign country?”

 

“Oakridge is a big place. These things happen…”

 

“Fate works in mysterious ways.”

 

“Oh please,” Ashley tossed her head back, Tyler’s clichéd ‘smooth operator’ lines were enough to make her crack up with laughter. “You know, Cal doesn’t seem to keen on me going on a date with you. What exactly went on with you guys?”

 

“Let’s just say Cal and I don’t exactly see eye to eye,” Tyler explained, avoiding any details. “Why are we talking about your cousin? I want to know about all about you.”

 

“Let’s just get one thing straight, okay? Your so called charm might work on the regular floozies that just hang off of you, hoping against hope that they might be lucky enough to take a ride on the Tyler train, but I prefer to fly, so cool it with the player chat, okay?”

 

“Got it. Damn, you don’t waste any time cutting to the chase, do you?”

 

“You of all people should know that after Monaco.” Ashley mocked Tyler, although the truth was she was finding herself immensely attracted to him, more so than she cared to admit to herself let alone Tyler.

 

 

“Philadelphia?” Jessica asked her boyfriend, unsure about what exactly he meant by announcing his promotion. “So, what, you’re leaving?”

 

“I didn’t say that.” Rex insisted, he knew breaking the news to Jessica was going to be an arduous task, especially when he didn’t know what he wanted himself. “I said I’ve been offered a promotion there.”

 

“What does this mean for us?” Jessica thought that she and Rex could finally start afresh, so his bombshell had thrown her for a loop.

 

“Whatever you want it to mean, Jess. My job means…it means a lot to me, but I love you, you know that, right? I’m not going to take it unless you say you’ll come with me.”

 

“And what if I say no? You resent me forever for passing up a great job opportunity and I have to deal with that guilt for the rest of my life?” Jessica sighed, after everything that happened with Shane, she chose Rex, knowing fully how devoted he was to his job, even if it meant her being second best, and now this?

 

“You’re putting words in my mouth here…” Rex began.

 

“It’s only what you’re thinking, isn’t it? Look, Rex, I don’t want to hold you back from your career. But if you expect me to drop everything I have here in Oakridge and follow you blindly from one place to another while you climb the ladder,,,”

 

“Of course I wouldn’t expect that of you, Jessica.” Rex insisted; he knew Jessica was right in her reaction; just dumping something like this on her wasn’t exactly a task he had been looking forward to. “I would like to think that maybe you would consider how important this is to me and…”

 

“Oh, what, like you consider things that are important to me?” Jessica yelled, beginning to feel herself getting angry about the situation that Rex was putting her in. “How many times have you just ran out on me whenever something came up about your job? Huh? How many dates, dinners, plans, whatever, have you just cancelled without even giving it a second thought because your job was more important? And I’m meant to just up sticks and move to Philadelphia to put up with more of the same?”

 

“You need to cool off, Jess.” Rex rolled his eyes at Jessica’s tendency to fly off the handle. At first, her feistiness was something that attracted Rex to her, but now it was beginning to grate on her.

 

“Yeah, that’s right, Rex, head for the door. Hey, why not go to work? You seem to love spending time there more than you do spending time with me.” Jessica watched with rage as Rex made his way across the living room away from her.

 

“Who could blame me, the way you overreact to everything?” Rex slammed the door behind him as he made his way out of the apartment, just as Jessica picked up the mug of coffee that sat on the table and fired it at the wall, watching as it shattered into a million pieces, leaving a stain on the wall.

 

 

Taylor Sterling sat up on a stool in Theatre, running her finger around the rim of her martini glass as she took in the hip hotspot. She glanced down at her cell phone, the cell phone that had seen barely any action since her arrival in Oakridge. Her friends from Texas barely got in touch, while her love life was non existent except from a few run ins with a jerk named Travis whom she had no interest in seeing again.

 

“What are you doing here?” came the voice of her cousin, Kimberley, as she sat down on the stool next to her. “Drinking alone at this time of the day, Taylor…it’s a slippery slope.”

 

“Funny.” Taylor brushed her cousin’s comments off as she took a sip of her martini. “Isn’t there some paparazzi you should be flashing your ‘you know what’ to right now?”

 

Kimberley faked an obnoxious laugh as she motioned to the bartender for her usual. “Seriously, though, Taylor, what are you doing spending your time sitting in bars drinking alone at your age?”

 

“You were the same at my age.” Taylor reminded her cousin.

 

“I was never alone.” Kimberley smirked as the barman handed her a colourful cocktail. “Honestly, Taylor, do you really want to end up that sad old lady that lives with her cats and smells of pee, cheap perfume and even cheaper wine?”

 

“When you’re new in town your social life isn’t exactly packed.”

 

“Well let’s do something about that.” Kimberley decided, raising her glass to two guys who looked like they had just stepped off of a Calvin Klein billboard sitting across the bar with a mischievous smile appearing on her glossed lips.

 

 

Sitting alone in a luxurious hotel room, Kristen filled two glasses with champagne and adjusted her silk negligee, awaiting her lover’s arrival. She touched up her lip gloss as she heard a gentle knock at the door, making her way over to the door and double checking her reflection in the mirror before pulling the door open.

 

“I’ve been waiting for you,” Kristen pouted as her mystery man entered the room.

 

“Good things come to those who wait.” Shane promised, smiling as his lips touched Kristen’s and they pulled in for a passionate kiss.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…