Heart and Soul

Episode 81

The Shape of Things to Come

By Allan Craig

 

Standing in the luxurious master bedroom of the penthouse she had recently begun to call home, Kristen Masters pulled her thick blonde hair to one side as she struggled with the clip on her delicate white gold chain.

 

“Allow me,” Shane smiled as he approached his fiancée from behind, kissing her softly perfumed neck as he helped her fasten her necklace. “You look absolutely gorgeous.”

 

“Are you sure this dress isn’t a little much?” Kristen did her best to ignore the butterflies in her stomach as she smoothed down the floor length plum dress that hung from her slim frame.

 

“You don’t know how lucky I feel to have someone as stunning as you on my arm at our engagement party,” charm oozed from every pore on Shane’s body, his sparkling eyes gazing admiringly at Kristen as he walked across their bedroom and rolled up the sleeves on his black shirt. “What time did you tell people to arrive at?”

 

“I think I said around seven thirty.” Kristen glanced at her Cartier watch, unable to shake her nerves; she didn’t know why she felt so nervous, it wasn’t like she had a reason to dread their family and friends coming over to celebrate their engagement, but there was an ever tightening knot in her stomach that refused to shift…she couldn’t shift the image of Greg’s face from her head, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, to tell herself that there was no way she could have a future with Greg, she still couldn’t stop herself from thinking about him; she loved Shane, she couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life with him, but she still couldn’t stop herself from thinking about Greg. “I need a drink.”

 

“Cant you wait for the guests to arrive?” Shane joked, kissing his fiancée again on her lightly glossed lips. “Okay, maybe not…champagne?”

 

“Vodka” Kristen stated, already mentally drinking her first glass in an attempt to steady her nerves, it wasn’t so much the party that was tearing her up inside, but more the thought of standing up in front of their loved ones and declaring her love for Shane when she wasn’t entirely certain of it; she may have loved Shane, but there was a small part of her that kept saying she was doing the wrong thing, saying she should be with Greg instead, and that part of her seemed to be getting bigger and bigger every day.

 

 

“Okay, okay! I’m coming.” Megan Monroe yawned as she made her way along the corridor to the nursery where her baby daughters, Cassidy and Emily, seemed to be competing over who could cry the loudest. She glanced at the two screaming babies in front of her, unable to decide which one to tend to first.  “Marc, I need your help in here!”

 

Megan reached for Cassidy, the louder of the two, and picked her up, rocking her gently in a frantic effort to stop her from crying, while Marc made his way into the room and tended to Emily, who seemed to instantly quieten down in her father’s arms while Cassidy continued to bawl.

 

“Maybe you should take Cassidy outside before Emily starts again.” Marc advised his wife, clearly neither had been getting much sleep in the three months since their twins were born if the bags under their eyes were anything to go by.

 

“I think she’ll settle soon.” Megan hoped as the crying slowly began to fade before gently resting Cassidy back into her crib. “See?”

 

“I’m going to make some coffee, do you want any?” Marc asked, already bracing himself for the work-filled night ahead of him; combining being a first time father to twin girls with running a successful business.

 

“The last thing I want is to be awake any longer.” Megan rolled her heavy eyes. “I’m going to go lie down for a while. Will you be up soon?”

 

“I’ve got a ton of paperwork to catch up on.” Marc kissed his wife apologetically. “Hopefully I won’t be too late.”

 

“Hopefully.” Megan sighed, her shoulders slumped as she made her way along the corridor to her bedroom; a few months ago it all seemed so perfect: she was married to a man who she loved, she was carrying twins…she was getting her dream of having a family, but the reality of the dream was nowhere near the fantasy she had held for so long…in fact, it was becoming more of a nightmare.

 

 

Greg handed Adam a glass of milk as he sat down in front of a movie with his five year old son. However, before the credits could roll, the doorbell of his new home sounded. He got up from the sofa as Adam remained fixated on the screen, and walked over to the door, opening it to see Will standing on his porch.

 

“How’s it going?” Greg smiled as he stood aside to let his brother into his home.

 

“I take it you’re not going to Shane and Kristen’s engagement party, then?” Will asked, closing the front door as Greg walked into the kitchen.

 

“Seeing my ex celebrate her engagement to a known drug lord whose reputation is dragging my father’s company through the mud and tearing my family apart? Not exactly my ideal way to spend a Sunday night.” Greg opened the fridge and produced two chilled beers. “Besides, Carrie needed someone to watch Adam while she went.”

 

“And she still doesn’t know about you and Kirsten?” Will followed Greg into the living room, sitting next to Adam and patting his nephew on the head.

 

“Nope, and we’re going to keep it that way. What’s the point in dragging up the past again?”

 

“Because you’re still in love with her?” Will raised an eyebrow.

 

“Adam, why don’t you go upstairs and get your new Game Boy to show Uncle Will?” Greg suggested, eager to keep is son from hearing the conversation. Adam gladly obliged and leapt from the sofa, scampering up the stairs as Greg pushed pause on the DVD player remote. “Can you please watch what you say about Kristen around Adam?”

 

“It’s not my fault that you’re still in love with Kristen, Greg. I’m just stating the facts, that’s all…”

 

“Well don’t.” Greg took a sip of his beer. “Me and Kristen…we’re in the past, and that’s where it’s going to stay.”

 

“If you insist.” Will rolled his eyes; he knew Greg was far from being over Kristen, but unless he admitted it to himself, he would never be able to get closure on the situation.

 

 

“I love your dress.” Carrie pulled away from a hug with her sister to admire the elegant dress that Kristen wore. “You look gorgeous.”

 

“You don’t scrub up so bad yourself either.” Kristen smiled, it was rare that she’d ever see Carrie getting the chance to get dressed up and go out, something she hoped her sister would have the chance to do more of now that Adam was growing up.

 

“Can I get either of you a drink?” Shane asked Carrie and Nate. “White or red, Carrie?”

 

“White, please.” Carrie responded.

 

“I’ll give you a hand.” Nate followed Shane across the spacious living room of the penthouse apartment, leaving Kristen and Carrie together as they took a seat on the sofa.

 

“No sign of either of Shane’s kids tonight?” Carrie asked.

 

“Things aren’t exactly great between Shane and Lucy right now…”

 

“And Leo’s living in L.A. now, right?” Carrie glanced across the room at Taylor and Kyle, who appeared besotted in each others’ company. “Does he talk about his kids to you at all?”

 

“I don’t think he likes to talk about the fact that he doesn’t exactly have a good relationship with either of them.” Kristen supposed. “You and Nate look pretty cosy tonight, I take it things are finally on the up?”

 

“We’re getting there.” Carrie smiled, the last few months had seen her relationship with Nate only get better and better. She knew they still had a long way to go, but at least things were going in the right direction.

 

“What’s wrong?” Kyle asked as he watched Taylor look increasingly uncomfortable as the evening went on, they stood across the room at the window overlooking Oakridge, an electric blue dress hanging on Taylor’s petite frame. “You seem kind of on edge.”

 

“I just don’t really know how I’m supposed to act, that’s all.” Taylor feigned a nervous smile. “I mean my father hates Shane Baldwin…my whole family do…and here I am at his engagement party?”

 

“I’m sorry, I should have realised…” Kyle sighed. “Do you want me to run you home?”

 

“No, I’m fine.” Taylor insisted. “Although I could really use another glass of champagne right about now.”

 

 

“I wonder how Taylor’s enjoying Shane’s engagement party.” Joseph paced the floor of the penthouse apartment he shared with Diane.

 

“She couldn’t exactly miss it…her new boyfriend’s parents invited her there, it would be rude for her not to go.” Diane shrugged her shoulders as she sat on the sofa flipping through the pages of a bridal magazine. “Do you think it would be a cheek for me to wear white at our wedding?”

 

“Not at all, grandma.” Joseph joked as he poured himself a scotch.

 

“I beg your pardon?” Diane flipped the magazine shut and glanced at her watch. “I think I’m going to go upstairs and run myself a nice hot bath. Care to join me?”

 

“As tempting as that sounds, I’ve got a lot of work to be getting on with, sorry.” Joseph took a seat opposite the laptop he had set up on the coffee table. “I’m meeting with Kendall and John tomorrow to discuss our options.”

 

“I thought you’d come to the conclusion that Shane’s ownership of his half of Sterling Enterprises was concrete.” Diane furrowed her brow, confused as to why her fiancé, her ex husband and her niece were still trying to find a way to force Shane out of the company.

 

“We’re just looking at some other options, that’s all.” Joseph insisted. “It’s not like it hurts to try.”

 

“Didn’t Shane made it crystal clear that he wasn’t interested in selling his half of the company?”

 

“If all goes to plan, he might not have a choice.”

 

“Meaning?”

 

“You’ll see.” Joseph promised, taking a sip of his scotch.

 

 

Kendall dropped her purse to the floor and instantly set about freeing her feet of the stiletto heels that had begun to cause her immense pain towards the end of her twelve hour day.

 

“You look like you could use this?” Lucy Baldwin appeared in the doorway to the living room of the Sterling mansion carrying a mug filled with hot cocoa.

 

“I didn’t know you were home.” Kendall smiled as she kicked off her shoes. “I thought you’d be at Shane’s party.”

 

“Do you really think I want anything to do with my father, let alone his engagement party?” the sixteen year old blonde took a seat on one of the plush grey suede sofas in the spacious living room of the mansion, handing Kendall the cocoa.

 

“I just don’t want you to feel like you have to choose, that’s all.” Kendall insisted, smiling as she took a sip of the cocoa and secretly wishing it was something stronger.

 

“I have chosen.” Lucy shrugged her shoulders; she didn’t want anything to do with her father ever again after realizing the truth about him. “You and Leo are my family now.”

 

 

As an anonymous blonde slid down his naked body, Leo Sterling emptied the remainder of a bottle of vodka down his throat and grinned with pleasure as the latest girl he had picked up continued to pleasure him. He closed his eyes, taking in every second of the experience but enjoying none of it; instead a feeling of emptiness and loneliness that he had been unable to shake off since he relocated to Los Angeles continued to prevail.

 

The ringing of his cell phone distracted him from the empty sensation, but upon glancing at his sister’s name on the caller ID screen, Leo ignored the call…he couldn’t face talking to Kendall, not now. She would only try to get him to come back to Oakridge, and that was the last thing he wanted.

 

 

Kimberley Sterling stood on the front of the house Megan had recently moved into with Marc and rang the doorbell, pacing back and forward as she waited for someone to answer whilst typing a text to Taylor into her phone.

 

“Kimberley, hi.” Marc smiled as he opened the door to see his sister-in-law standing outside his house. He stood aside to let her inside, despite his concerns about her dropping by unannounced during such a busy time. “What can I do for you?”

 

“Does a girl need an excuse to visit her sister, brother-in-law and nieces?” Kimberley barged into the clearly-in-need-of-a-tidy house. She produced a brown paper bag. “I figured you guys wouldn’t have had a chance to eat, so I brought some takeout.”

 

Marc smiled, it wasn’t like Kimberley to be so thoughtful…at least not without some ulterior motive. “I’ll go tell Megan you’re here.”

 

“It’s fine, I’ll go up and see her. You…go eat, we’ll be down soon.” Kimberley ordered Marc before making her way up the staircase and down the corridor to Megan’s room, where her sister sat on the edge of her bed, her eyes red and bloodshot. Kimberley rushed over and wrapped her arms around Megan, pulling her older sister in for a hug. “You look awful!”

 

“Thanks.” Megan sighed.

 

“I’m serious, Megan, you look like you haven’t slept in weeks.”

 

“Did you just stop by to tell me how crap I look, or was there another reason for your visit?” Megan rolled her eyes.

 

“Honestly, Megan, why won’t you hire a nanny to help out around here?” Kimberley urged her sister. “Marc’s so busy with work and you cant be expected to cope single-handedly with the twins…you need someone to help ease the strain.”

 

“I don’t need a nanny.” Megan insisted. “I’m not my mother, I’m not going to palm my kids off on someone else while I get my nails done.”

 

“Getting a nanny won’t make you a bad mother, Megan…if anything it’s going to help your girls get a better upbringing. You’re not going to be any use to them if you’re too tired to spend any time with them.”

 

“I’m fine.” Megan maintained, determined that she would not need to pay someone to look after her kids. “I’m not going to let my daughters be raised by a stranger. It might have been good enough for our mother, but it’s not what I want for my kids. Look at us…me, you, Greg…we don’t exactly have a healthy relationship with our mother. I don’t want that for my daughters, they deserve better than that.”

 

 

Diane tightened the belt on her silk bathrobe as she made her way across the spacious master bedroom and took a seat at her dressing table, where she proceeded to rub a face cream that probably cost more than what a family of four spend on groceries for a month into her face.

 

“I thought you’d be in bed by now.” Joseph smiled as he entered their bedroom and began to unbutton his shirt.

 

“What can I say? I got sucked into the book I was reading and before I knew it I’d been in the tub for an hour.” Diane closed the lid on the tub of face cream and made her way across the room.

 

“I’m going to have a shower.” Joseph made his way into the en-suite bathroom, leaving Diane to relocate to her bed, where she opened her book and resumed reading it. The flashing light on Joseph’s BlackBerry distracted her, prompting her to pick it up and read a missed call he had just received from Madison Chase. She knew Madison had had dealings with Joseph in the past, but from what Diane could understand, Madison now worked for Shane Baldwin…so why was she calling Joseph?

 

 

“Well, I better be going, I’ve got a ton of work to do tomorrow.” Madison Chase glanced at her Rolex before looking back up at Shane. “Enjoy your night.”

 

“Thanks for coming, Madison.” Shane kissed his lawyer politely on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow? For our meeting?”

 

“I’m looking forward to it.” Madison smiled and slid out of the penthouse, already typing a text message on her BlackBerry as she exited.

 

“I just cant believe it.” Valerie Masters appeared behind Shane. “You and Kristen are engaged! Honestly, I’m just thrilled for you both.”

 

“Thanks.” Shane grinned as he walked over to the sofa with his mother-in-law-to-be. “You just have no idea how lucky I feel that she actually said yes.”

 

“I’d like to make a toast!” Eric Masters stood up. “To Shane and Kristen!”

 

“To Shane and Kristen,” echoed the party guests as Shane wrapped his arm around Kristen.

 

 

“To Shane and Kristen…” Greg glanced at a photo of himself and Kristen as he sat on the edge of his bed. He scrunched the photo into a ball and tossed it across the room, watching as it landed perfectly in the waste paper basket. Maybe it was time for him to accept that Kristen could move on and be happy with another man, but he wasn’t prepared to go down without a fight.

 

 

“Isn’t Megan coming down for some food?” Marc asked as he caught sight of Kimberley walking down the staircase.

 

“I think she just needs to catch up on some sleep, to be honest.” Kimberley explained as she took a seat on the armchair opposite Marc. “She’s pretty drained from looking after the girls, and since she wont hire a nanny…Marc, I don’t want to stick my nose into you guys’ marriage, but you’re spending so much time dealing with your work, and Megan’s the one paying for it.”

 

“This is really none of your business,” the last thing Marc wanted to hear was a lecture from Kimberley about how bad a husband and father he was, when in reality all he really wanted to do was be a good father and provide for his family.

 

“All I’m saying is, something’s got to give.” Kimberley continued, oblivious to Marc’s desire for her to stop talking. Marc knew Kimberley was right, he knew he needed to sort out his priorities and put his family first, but he was determined not to turn to his father for money, he was determined to be able to provide for himself and his family on his own, but at the same time, he was determined to keep his relationship with Megan and his daughters on track.

 

 

“Who are you texting?” Kyle asked as he walked Taylor home from the party, his jacket wrapped around her shoulders to shield her from the cold breeze that blew through Oakridge that night.

 

“Kimberley.” Taylor explained. “We’re supposed to be having lunch tomorrow.”

 

“Did you enjoy tonight?”

 

“It was fun, I guess.” Taylor shrugged her shoulders. “I mean, I was afraid it would be a little awkward if I had to talk to Shane Baldwin, but I didn’t. Hey, at least the food was good”

 

“Oh really?” Kyle raised an eyebrow. “And what about the company?”

 

“I’ve had better.” Taylor joked.

 

“You think so, huh?” Kyle leaned in and kissed Taylor. He couldn’t help but feel things were so much less complicated with her, and while neither of them were really looking for a serious relationship, that only served to make the prospect of a relationship with Taylor more appealing; after being with Natalie and all her baggage, Kyle needed to date just like any other guy his age, and Taylor seemed like the perfect candidate.

 

 

“That was fun.” Carrie smiled as she stood in the bedroom she shared with Nate, removing her earrings as Nate emerged from the bathroom. A combination of the champagne and the happy occasion had left Carrie with a warm buzz that was in no danger of going away. “You know, I was thinking…we should go out more often. Now that Adam can stay at Greg’s place, it’s about time we had a social life of our own. Maybe we should go out to dinner with Shane and Kristen one night next week?”

 

“Maybe…” Nate climbed into bed.

 

“What’s up?” Carrie knew Nate had been too good to be true all night, but did she really have to deal with him closing up at the end of what had been an enjoyable night?

 

“Nothing, I’m just a little tired, that’s all.” Nate insisted.

 

“That’s a shame,” a mischievous smile appeared on Carrie’s face as she unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor, revealing some sexy black lace underwear. “Because I was hoping we wouldn’t be going to bed just quite yet.”

 

“I’m sure I could stay awake a little longer.” Nate grinned as Carrie climbed on top of the bed. She leaned in close as she climbed on top of him, removing his T-shirt before kissing him on the lips, the pair quickly finding themselves in the throes of passion.

 

Outside, she watched as the light went out in the upstairs bedroom of their house. Tonight it was too late, but soon she’d make her move, she’d have to…before time ran out.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…