Heart and Soul

Episode 86

Trust

By Allan Craig

 

Marc Monroe clicked on his pen repeatedly as he tried to clear his mind and gather his thoughts. After telling Will about the opportunity his father presented to him, the idea of having to choose whether or not to take the promotion and further his career seemed like a no brainer, until he began to wonder just how it would affect Megan and their marriage.

 

“I don’t see what the big deal is.” Will shrugged his shoulders as he sat in Marc’s office at Pulse.  “So you take the job…she’s hardly going to hold it against you.”

 

“How do you know that?” Marc wasn’t so sure that Megan would be as understanding about Patrick’s offer as he hoped. “Megan’s barely coping with the twins as it is, I don’t know how she’d handle me working longer hours, not to mention the travelling…and you know how she hates admitting that she needs help. I just don’t know if she could cope.”

 

“You need to give her more credit, Megan’s a smart girl, she’ll cope.” Will assured his brother-in-law. “And besides, she’ll know that you’re doing everything for the good of her and the girls, she’s not going to resent you for it.”

 

“I dunno, maybe I should just stick with Pulse, I mean, it’s doing well and I don’t know if I’d get to be as hands on with things if I took the job with my dad. I think he just expects me to follow blindly in his footsteps, and I’m not sure that’s what I want.”

 

“Well, what do you want?”

 

“I’m not sure, all I know is that I barely see Megan and the girls as it is, I don’t want to spend even more time away from them,” the last thing Marc wanted to be was a hands-off father. “And it’s not like we’re desperate for the money, between our trust funds we’ve got more than enough stashed away for a rainy day.”

 

“I thought Megan didn’t want to live off you guys’ parents’ money, though.”

 

“She doesn’t, but sooner or later she’s going to have to swallow her pride. I want my kids to be as lucky as I was growing up, and if that means taking my parents’ money…”

 

“…and losing Megan’s respect…” Will added.

 

“Well what’s the other option?”

 

“Taking the job.”

 

“Exactly,” Marc sighed, resigning himself to the idea that Megan wasn’t going to be happy with him no matter what he chose. “At the end of the day Cassidy and Emily come first, and we’re going to have to make this choice based on what’s best for the girls.”

 

“And what about what’s best for you?” Will reminded Marc; the option of him putting his own needs aside for Megan and the twins sounded all too easy, but Will knew if Marc didn’t think about himself in the situation things were bound to fall apart.

 

 

With winter showing no sign of going away any time soon, an icy haze fell on the trees and grass of Oakridge’s park, the ice coated greenery sparkling in the crisp sunlight as a fresh breeze reminded those who roamed the park that it was still very much January.

 

“Are you sure it’s not too cold for the girls to be outside?” Megan asked as she walked through the park with Carrie, pushing the twins in their pushchair whilst Carrie frantically tried to keep an eye on Adam as he ran ahead.

 

“It’s fine, they’re wrapped up warm.” Carrie assured her friend. “And besides, we’ll only be out for a little while, just for the kids to get some fresh air.”

 

“If you’re sure…”

 

“Relax!” Carrie rubbed her hands together in an attempt to warm them up. “You know, Adam’s totally besotted with the girls. He’s convinced he’s going to be able to teach them how to talk…” Carrie’s attention wandered when she saw Adam playing dangerously close to the frozen lake. “Adam, Adam come back here where mommy can keep an eye on you!”

 

As Carrie wandered off to retrieve Adam, Megan stopped in her tracks, her content daughters spontaneously bursting out in tears and piercing screams that made Megan want to curl up and block out the noise. Losing all control of her concentration, she allowed her grip on the double pushchair to loosen up, causing the girls to slowly move away from her down the gentle slope of the path. Her mind told her to grab control of the pushchair, but her body was frozen, a blank look overcoming her face as she blacked out. Carrie leapt across the park, regaining control of the pushchair and shaking Megan.

 

“Megan! What’s wrong with you?” Carrie struggled to catch her breath as she forced eye contact upon Megan. “Megan, are you okay?”

 

“Oh my god, I don’t know what just came over me. One minute I was holding onto the pushchair and then the next…I cant believe that just happened.” Megan’s eyes began to well up with tears as she shuddered to think what might have happened if Carrie hadn’t been there.

 

“Let’s just get you inside and calm you down.” Carrie wrapped one arm around her former sister-in-law. “Everything’s going to be fine, don’t worry.”

 

As Carrie ushered Megan, Adam and the pushchair through the park, she couldn’t help but wonder if things really were going to be fine, and began to wonder if Megan’s problems were deeper than anyone could have imagined.

 

 

“Can you believe how cold it is outside?” Ashley shivered as she made her way into Reilly’s, a cosy pub downtown, along with Tyler, the heat from the pub’s roaring fire providing a welcome change from the bitter cold that sat over Oakridge.

 

“Well, you know, it being winter and all…it’s kind of what you expect.” Tyler teased his girlfriend as she removed her scarf and her coat.

 

“You’re funny.” Ashley narrowed her eyes.

 

“Ain’t I just?” Tyler grinned as they sat down at a table.

 

“It feels so good to just have a nice lunch like this, we haven’t had a day off work together in weeks.” Ashley smiled, while she was enjoying every minute of having a career, part of her missed the days when she could just do things on the spur of the moment without her job at the magazine getting in the way. “We should do it more often.”

 

“With that magazine taking over your life, I don’t see that happening.” Tyler flagged down a waiter to take their orders, before quickly excusing himself and leaving the couple alone. “We barely have time to get together as it is.”

 

“Well we’ll just have to make time.” Ashley decided. “You know, I was talking to-”

 

“Sorry babe, I gotta take this.” Tyler interrupted when his cell phone rang. He stood up and made his way out of Ashley’s earshot. “What’s up?...what? Now?...okay, okay, I’ll be there…see ya.” Tyler hung up the phone and walked over to Ashley. “Bad news, babe, I gotta jet. Can I take a rain check?”

 

“But we just ordered…” Ashley began, confused as to what was going on.

 

“Don’t worry, I got it.” Tyler opened his wallet and placed a few crumpled notes on the table before waving to get the attention of the waiter. “Hey buddy, cancel my order and she’ll take hers to go. I’ll see you later, baby.”

 

As Tyler kissed her quickly on the cheek before making a swift exit, Ashley slumped over the table, propping up her head with her hand as she wondered what had just happened, why Tyler had been acting so strangely, and how a romantic lunch with her boyfriend had turned to a burger and fries to go.

 

 

The last place Kendall Sterling wanted to be on that frosty afternoon was sitting in Shane Baldwin’s office downtown, locked in the middle of a meeting that didn’t seem to be headed anywhere except for a fight.

 

“I’m telling you, cutting down on the amount of editorial spreads is the best way to reduce the costs.” Shane snapped, having had as much as he could take of Kendall arguing with him at every step over the content of Circus magazine, one of Sterling Publishing’s titles that had begun to see it’s readership decline.

 

“Those layouts are the main reason why anybody buys that magazine now. It’s totally out of touch with what readers want these days, it’s not edgy or daring in the slightest, the content is totally dated and the editorial team have gotten complacent.” Kendall was beginning to surprise even herself at how well she had taken to the publishing side of Sterling Enterprises. “It needs an overhaul, new writers, new layout, a relaunch…”

 

“Those things cost money, Kendall, and in case you haven’t realized, Circus just isn’t generating enough revenue to justify that sort of investment. Readership has been decreasing every quarter.”

 

“So what? We just fold?” Kendall was determined not to go down without a fight. “Isn’t the first rule of business that you have to spend money to make money? Investing in Circus could put it back on the map; expanding its web presence and getting some big names on board will generate enough buzz to recoup whatever we invest twofold.”

 

“In an ideal world…Kendall, magazine sales are going down in general, and with the current economic climate it’s just not a good idea to relaunch this magazine.”

 

“When are you going to admit that I’m right and you’re wrong?”

 

“When you’re right and I’m wrong, which doesn’t apply in this case.” Shane sighed. “When are you going to realize that I know more about business than you do?”

 

“You just hate it that I’m not sitting back and letting you run my company how you want, aren’t you?”

 

“Our company,” Shane reminded her. “And I’m all for you having a more hands on role in the company, but you need to step back and learn about how things work before you come barging in here trying to call the shots. I understand that you have personal issues with me, Kendall, but this isn’t personal, it’s business.”

 

“Like hell it is!” Kendall yelled, the very idea that Shane was still sat behind a desk at her family’s company was something that never failed to make her want to lose her temper. “Do you really think I’m just going to sit back and let you run my company after everything you’ve done to my family?”

 

“And this is why you’re not cut out for the business world, yet. In this office, the outside world doesn’t apply, you have to leave your issues at the door.” Shane’s patronising attitude made it hard for Kendall to keep her temper at bay. She refused to let Shane have the satisfaction of seeing her lose her cool around him. A bleep alerted her to a new text message on her Blackberry, causing her to lift it up and see that the new message was from Cal:

 

Dinner tonight? C x

 

“Seeing as we’re obviously getting nowhere with this, I’m going to go home.” Kendall tried her hardest not to let on her excitement about a date with Cal as she quickly text him back agreeing to it.

 

“You’re not seriously going to walk out in the middle of a meeting?”

 

“Something came up.” Kendall shrugged her shoulders, realizing that fighting with Shane wasn’t going to get her very far: if she really wanted to get him out of her company, she was going to have to remember the rule about catching more flies with honey than with vinegar.

 

 

“How was dinner with Kyle’s family last night?” Diane asked as Taylor made her way down the staircase in their penthouse, distracting her from Renee and Daniel trapped in an elevator on Eternal Flame.

 

“It was nice…” Taylor supposed as she took a seat on the sofa oppose Diane, trying to pretend she wasn’t watching the soap opera from the corner of her eye.

 

“You don’t sound too thrilled.”

 

“No, it’s nothing…it’s just something my dad said this morning when he was on his way out. I think he’s up to something.” Joseph’s words had been playing on her mind the entire day, she couldn’t help but think Joseph was putting his ambition before the good of his family.

 

“Well it wouldn’t surprise me, your father isn’t exactly one to sit back and watch the world go by.”

 

“I suppose, I just wouldn’t want to think he would do anything to jeopardize our relationship with the rest of the family,” Taylor wanted to believe her father had changed, but there was something about him that made it hard for her to accept.

 

“I’m sure your father will have learned from his mistakes on that matter the first time around.” Diane hoped, although deep down she wasn’t so sure, after all, a leopard didn’t change its spots, why should Joseph be any different?

 

 

“I got your call.” Madison Chase took a seat opposite Joseph Sterling in a secluded corner of the country club’s dining room. “Seriously, Joseph, if this is another of your hair brained schemes to take over Sterling Enterprises then I don’t want to hear it.”

 

“I can assure you that this is no scheme.” Joseph produced an envelope from inside his jacket pocked and slid it across the table. “I recently came across some information that might be of interest to you, and your client.”

 

“Very well,” Madison carefully opened the envelope, guarding her perfectly manicured fingers as she opened the envelope to produce a piece of paper; her eyes pouring over the information written in front of her as she felt the colour begin to drain from her face. “Where did you get this?”

 

“That’s irrelevant.”

 

“Hardly,” Madison re-read the information in front of her again, struggling to make sense of it all. “I honestly can’t believe this, how long have you been sitting on this?”

 

“A few weeks. Let’s just say I’m still checking my sources. Although if what’s written on that piece of paper is true, then no amount of plotting and planning is going to make the blindest bit of difference; Shane Baldwin won’t be sitting behind that desk for much longer.”

 

Across the room, Kimberley Sterling stopped in her tracks at the sight of her uncle and the young lawyer. She couldn’t quite understand just why Joseph was meeting with Shane Baldwin’s lawyer, considering he had been working with John and Kendall to get rid of Shane from Sterling Enterprises for months, but if she ever doubted Joseph was up to something, this made it clear that he was definitely not to be trusted.

 

 

After taking Megan home and waiting with her until Marc returned from work, Carrie had come home to find the things she had left needing done that morning were still waiting for her upon her return. Her afternoon had been spent ironing and cleaning, with the thought of Megan never far from her mind.

 

“She just totally froze.” Carrie told Nate as she stood at the worktop cooking dinner. “I’ve never seen her look like that before. I just don’t know whether I should tell Greg or Marc or not…I mean, do I really want to be poking my nose into their business?”

 

“If you think the girls are at risk,” Nate muttered as he glanced outside. “I guess.”

 

“I don’t know, maybe I’m overreacting, maybe she really did just lose concentration for a split second, but even still, what if I hadn’t been there?”

 

“But you were there. Problem solved.” Nate opened the fridge and produced a chilled beer before returning to his seat at the breakfast bar.

 

“And what about the next time something like this happens, what if I’m not there?”

 

“I don’t know, Carrie, I cant just come up with an answer out of nowhere. Either you tell someone or you don’t, but that’s not going to change what Megan’s going through, is it?”

 

“Okay, sorry I spoke.” Carrie shrugged her shoulders and returned to her cooking. “I just wouldn’t like to think what could have happened if I wasn’t there today, that’s all.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

 

“I just thought I could ask you what you thought, that’s all. I wont be making that mistake again.” Carrie turned and walked away from the stove. “I’m going for a bath. Take that off the heat when it simmers.”

 

Carrie made a quick exit out of the room and up the stairs, leaving Nate wondering if being so blunt with Carrie had really been such a good idea.

 

 

After spending the afternoon with Carrie, Megan had tried her best to avoid Marc upon his return to their home, the events that had occurred at the park earlier that day constantly replaying in her head, and despite Megan’s best attempts to block out her thoughts of ‘what if?’, she  couldn’t help but drive herself crazy at the thought of what could have happened to her girls if Carrie wasn’t there.

 

“How was your day at the park?” Marc asked as he walked into his cosy bedroom to find Megan emerging from the bathroom in her robe, fresh from a shower. “Did the girls enjoy it?”

 

“I think it wore them out, they’ve been sleeping for hours.” Megan managed a half smile, trying to hide her distraction over what had happened earlier that day. “How was work?”

 

“It was okay, I guess.” Marc supposed, unbuttoning his shirt and draping it over the back of the sofa. “I cant believe how cold it’s getting, looks like we’re in for a frosty winter.”

“It looks like it.” Megan knew she should tell Marc what happened, but what would that achieve? Either he’d be so worried about her that he’d blame himself, or he’d think she was a terrible mother and resent her for putting the girls in danger, still, was it really a good idea to start keeping secrets? “You know, I have to talk to you…”

 

“There’s something I have to tell you.” Marc skirted over Megan’s attempt to confess. “My dad offered me a job with his company.”

 

“Well that’s good news, isn’t it?”

 

“It’s a lot more responsibility…more money, but a lot more work and a lot more hours.” Marc continued. “I mean, I didn’t want to say yes until I’d talked it over with you but I really think this could be a good opportunity for us.”

 

“How much more work are we talking here? We barely see each other as it is.” Megan sighed, already having nightmares about turning into the doting wife of a busy businessman, images of her mother driving herself crazy as she wondered when her father would come home from what he claimed was the office flashed through her mind, and the idea that the same thing would happen to her made her feel queasy.

 

“I know, but with more money coming in we’ll be able to afford to hire someone to help out around here, I know you’re against a nanny but even something like a maid could help take some of the strain.” Marc suggested, hoping that Megan wouldn’t be too offended by the suggestion. “I just thought…”

 

“You just thought what? That I cant handle looking after the girls while you’re at work?”

 

“Megan, I didn’t say…”

 

“You didn’t have to say anything, it’s pretty obvious you don’t think I’m a good mother.” Megan began to allow her own doubts to eat her up inside. “You don’t think I can handle looking after Cassidy and Emily at the same time, do you?”

 

“Would you calm down? I’m not talking about the girls here…”

 

“No, you’re talking about yourself.” Megan snapped, “And you obviously haven’t been listening to anything I’ve been saying if you’re even considering taking this job. I want us to be able to be a proper family, I don’t want you to be like my dad, I want you to be there for these girls.”

 

“And I want to be there for them too. But I also want my daughters to have a good upbringing, I want them to be as lucky as I was. And I cant do that without working, especially since you wont let us live off of our parents’ money. Megan, I just don’t get it, what do you want? For me to just magic money out of thin air so that I can spend more time with you and the girls? Believe me, if that was an option, I’d have done it a long time ago, but you cant expect me to not try to work as hard as I can to provide for my family if you wont let us take advantage of the fact that our families have money. I don’t know why you’re so ashamed of that.”

 

“Because I don’t want to turn into my mother.” Megan yelled. “And I don’t want you to turn into my father.”

 

“You make it sound like you had a terrible upbringing, Megan, you don’t have a clue…you have no idea how lucky you were growing up.”

 

“What? Because I had a mother who was more concerned with being a lady who lunches and a father who spent more time at the office, carrying on with other women? Because I was raised by one nanny after another, with none of them being able to tolerate my mother for more than a year? Because my entire life I was just given presents to shut me up and keep me happy when nobody gave a damn about me?” Megan could feel herself turning red, she resented having to pull out the poor little rich girl card, she knew Marc wouldn’t understand what it was like for her growing up in the pack of lions that were her family. “Or because the first guy I fell in love with turned out to be my brother and nobody thought to tell me this until ten years after I aborted his child? Yeah, I really was lucky growing up, huh?”

 

“I didn’t mean…”

 

“No, you never mean it, do you?” Megan stormed across the room to the door. “I’m going to check on our daughters, if you remember what they look like.”

 

 

“I mean how could he do that?” Taylor vented as she paced the floor of her bedroom upon hearing what Kimberley had witnessed just a few hours earlier. “Just when I finally start to be able to tolerate Diane, no offence, he goes and cheats on her with that tramp?”

 

“Somehow, I don’t think Madison Chase is having an affair with your father.” Kimberley reassured her cousin, the very idea that a woman as young and glamorous would have any sort of interest in Joseph Sterling made her feel sick.

 

“Well if it’s not an affair then what is it?” wondered Taylor. “I mean he’s hardly just catching up with an old friend, is he? He’s got to be up to something.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Well, Madison Chase works for Shane Baldwin, right? What if my dad’s been meeting with her to try and dig up some dirt on Shane so he can force Shane out at Sterling Enterprises. It’s not exactly top secret that Kendall and John don’t want to work with Shane anymore, nobody in my family wants him at the company…what if this is all some big scheme to get rid of Shane?”

 

“Should I really be hearing this?” Kimberley hadn’t considered how Taylor would factor into any of the backstabbing that was clearly going on within her family until now. Her cousin had become one of her best friends, she hated the idea that they might be forced to take sides, although it was beginning to seem like a very plausible outcome to the whole situation if Joseph continued to go behind her father’s back.

 

“I just hope this is all above board, because if my dad’s been going behind John and Kendall’s backs, this could explode in everyone’s faces.”

 

“Would you relax? I’m sure it was perfectly innocent.” Kimberley knew Joseph was bound to be up to something, but she didn’t see the need in worrying Taylor about it until she had solid facts about it. “I would have thought your father would have learned his lesson about double-crossing people by now, wouldn’t he?”

 

“I hope so.” Taylor supposed, although Kimberley’s words failed to reassure her, she still had a nagging feeling that Joseph was going to do something that could tear her family apart for good.

 

 

Dr. Cal Ryan stood in his bedroom, nervously debating over whether his choice of outfit for his date with Kendall; he hadn’t been this nervous about a date since high school, but Kendall wasn’t like the other girls he’d been with, he couldn’t just pull out the doctor card to impress her; she was a multi-millionaire and part of one of America’s most powerful families, he’d have to work hard to make it clear to her that he was good enough for her. As he debated over whether his leather bomber jacket was a little too casual for the evening, his doorbell rang.

 

“I thought you were spending the day with Tyler?” Cal asked upon catching sight of Ashley standing in the hallway outside his apartment.

 

“He had to bail.” Ashley made her way into the apartment her cousin shared with her brother. In the cab ride across town, she had been unable to shift the feeling that Tyler wasn’t entirely himself when he dashed out of the pub without so much as a minute’s notice. “It was totally weird, he just got a call and left.”

 

“Well that’s Tyler for you, he’s not exactly what you’d call dependable.” Cal knew all too well from his previous dealings with Tyler just how untrustworthy and unpredictable he could be.

 

“Oh here we go again.” Ashley rolled her eyes. “You know, I really wish you’d stop trying to turn me off of Tyler.”

 

“I never said a word…” Cal protested.

 

“You didn’t have to.” Ashley folded her arms, knowing full well what Cal thought whether he said it or not.  “So how do you feel about the prospect of a DVD night?”

 

“I’d love to, but I’m going to have to pass.” Cal said apologetically. “I’m just about to go out for dinner. I’d invite you along but it’s kind of…”

 

“A date?” Ashley raised an eyebrow. “And who’s the lucky girl? It’s not Kendall Sterling again, is it? You never give up, do you?”

 

“Kendall and I are just having fun.” Cal insisted. “It’s not a date, just two people hanging out, that’s all.”

 

“Yeah, right.” Ashley began to unbutton her coat, before realizing how pointless it would be considering she knew Will was probably out for the night as well.

 

“So how’s living with the happy couple?” Cal asked.

 

“It’s alright, guess…but you know, I really think I should start looking for a place of my own. I mean my dad left me all that money and it’s just sitting there doing nothing. I might as well take advantage of the housing market and put some money into a property that’s going to make money for me in the long run…oh my god, I’ve been spending way too much time with John.” Ashley shuddered.

 

“You have a point though, you inherited a hell of a lot of money from Wesley, you might as well enjoy it.” Cal urged his cousin. “Listen, I really have to go before I’m late, but how about we go for a drink tomorrow night or something? I’ll walk you out.”

 

“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll hang out here for a while…I really need some time away from mom and John.”

 

“That’s fine by me, Will shouldn’t be too long anyway, I think he was at the gym.” Cal explained. “I’ll see you later.”

 

“Have fun on your date!” Ashley teased before settling down in front of Cal and Will’s plasma HDTV set and flicked to the latest episode of America’s Next Top Model, allowing herself to forget about Tyler’s strange behaviour as the latest group of girls freaked out about their impending makeovers.

 

 

“If you’re here for another of your pathetic attempts to try to get me to sell you my half of Sterling Enterprises, then you’ve had a wasted journey.” Shane snapped upon catching sight of Joseph in the doorway to his office. Night had fallen on Oakridge and Shane was still hauled up in his office, trying to find some sort of way to improve revenue at one of the company’s ailing magazine titles, Circus long after Kendall skipped out on their meeting.

 

“I can assure you that my reasons for visiting you are of benefit for both of us.” Joseph explained as he closed the door behind him.

 

“I’m listening…” Shane looked up from the files in front of him.

 

“Well, I have it from a very reliable source that Kendall’s looking to sell her interest in the company to an outside party.”

 

“Do you honestly expect me to believe that?” Shane rolled his eyes. “The girl’s been so determined to keep her claws sunk into this company. Why would she suddenly decide to sell up?”

 

“Kendall’s young, she’s fickle…now there’s no way she’s going to sell her half of the company straight to you, and I don’t exactly have the financial capabilities to buy her out myself, so I was thinking…”

 

“You can think again.” Shane rose to his seat, dismissing Joseph before he could even get started. “Not interested, not in the slightest. Now please, you’ve wasted enough of my time.”

 

“Just hear me out, Shane.”

 

“Do you honestly think I’d go into business with a snake like you?” Shane laughed at the notion that Joseph Sterling could even think he’d be interested. “Spare me, Joseph. Although this whole little escapade has been thoroughly entertaining, I’ll give you that.”

 

“Okay, your loss…” Joseph shrugged his shoulders and made his way out of Shane’s office.

 

Once Joseph was safely out of the office, Shane closed the door and perched himself on the edge of his desk. He picked up the phone and dialled a number, raising the phone to his ear as he waited for a response on the other end of the line. “It’s Shane…do me a favour and get me as much information as you can on Kendall Sterling potentially selling her half of Sterling Enterprises.”

 

 

“You know, I honestly didn’t expect you to show up tonight.” Cal confessed as he sat in The Bungalow with Kendall, the small table putting a comfortable distance between them as soft piano music tinkled away in the background.

 

“Really? I didn’t think your ego would allow you to even consider the notion of being stood up.” Kendall teased, although the idea of having something to take her mind off of everything that was going on with Shane and with Leo was looking more and more appealing, and when it was with someone who looked as good as Cal, the prospect only became more attractive. “Besides, there was nothing good on T.V. tonight, what else was I supposed to do?”

 

“Likely story,” Cal took a sip of his drink. “I knew you’d cave eventually. Oh and don’t worry, you’re totally forgiven for your, shall we say, previous offences.”

 

“I’m sorry, I was just going through so much, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Kendall apologised. “Not that that makes it okay, I shouldn’t have taken my frustrations out on you.”

 

“It’s fine, honestly…I was only joking.” Cal sensed that he’d picked the wrong time to try and charmingly crack a joke.

“No, no, I’m serious. Everything that’s happened with Leo and Shane…it had nothing to do with you…I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Is that a promise?” Cal grinned.

 

“You can count on it.” Kendall smiled, sensing that the process of making it up to Cal was one she was going to enjoy.

 

 

A broken up buzzing sound woke Leo Sterling from a deep sleep, the first few seconds of his return to consciousness had him wondering what the hell was going on. He lay in his Los Angeles apartment on top of his sofa, submerged in darkness despite it being the middle of the day, recovering from three days of solid partying; whilst in the past he had the energy to keep going for weeks, lately his body didn’t seem able to keep up to the strains of his former life. With the buzzing sound showing no sign of going anywhere, Leo reasoned it was his doorbell and stumbled across the spacious apartment to the front door.

 

“Well, well, well, isn’t this a surprise?” Leo opened the door to see Van standing in the doorway, her hands hug deep into the pockets of her vintage looking trench coat, while a pair of skyscraper heels adorned her feet, extending her already impressively long legs. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

 

“What can I say? I got bored.” Van stated seductively as she brushed past Leo and made her way into his apartment, observing the empty vodka bottles and white powder residue that covered the glass top of Leo’s coffee table  “Someone’s been a busy boy today, haven’t they?”

 

“There comes a time when you get sick of L.A.” Leo muttered, lighting up a cigarette as he sat down on his black leather sofa. “I mean, it’s the middle of winter and it’s still ninety five degrees out.”

 

“You’re not thinking of skipping town, I hope.” Van pouted her full, glossy lips as she opened her coat to reveal nothing but a lacy lingerie set that left nothing to the imagination and displayed her full, chocolate skinned figure in all it’s glory. “I mean, why would you want to leave all of this behind?”

 

“I’m beginning to ask myself the same question.” Leo took a draw of his cigarette as Van let her coat drop to the floor before mounting him on the sofa, kissing his neck as she unbuttoned his shirt to reveal his increasingly slender frame. Leo grinned as he felt Van reach for his pants, thinking that maybe staying in L.A. wouldn’t be so bad after all.

 

 

“I’m sorry about earlier.” Nate admitted as he stood in the doorway between he and Carrie’s bedroom and en-suite bathroom, where Carrie lay soaking in the bathtub. “I didn’t mean to be so…”

 

“Insensitive…uncaring…much of a jerk?” Carrie finished Nate’s sentence with a few options for him to consider.

 

“I’m guessing pretty much all three.” Nate tried to ease the situation with a rare attempt at humour. “I’m sorry, I’ve just been really distracted lately.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Carrie rolled her eyes, although it wasn’t so much ‘lately’ as ‘all the time’.

 

“Well, when you’re out of the bath, dinner’s about ready.” Nate realized he wasn’t getting anywhere in his misguided attempt to apologise to Carrie, who was clearly still mad about the situation.

 

“Nate, wait a sec.” Carrie yelled from the bathtub. “I’m sorry, it’s just…sometimes I don’t get you. You constantly blow hot and cold with me and I never know how you’re going to act. It just gets a little tiring trying to figure you out after a while. I just want us to be normal, you know?”

 

“You know we’re never going to be that white picket fence, two point four children couple, right?”

 

“I know, I know…I mean I just want us to have a normal relationship. I want us to be able to tell each other things, confide in each other, be able to open up to each other, and it just seems like the prospect of you ever opening up to me is getting further and further away by the day…I just don’t want that to happen. I don’t want us to fall apart.”

 

“Believe me… that is not going to happen.” Nate assured Carrie as he leaned over the bathtub, kissing her forehead. “Sure, we might have some issues, but who doesn’t? What’s important is that we stay together, no matter what.”

 

“I suppose.” Carrie agreed, although Nate’s avoidance of any sort of heart-to-hear was beginning to worry her as she became more and more concerned with what he was hiding from her. Suddenly the prospect of the most important thing is to stay together wasn’t becoming as relevant as she’d originally thought.

 

 

Despite Taylor having gone over to Kyle’s place at least an hour earlier, Kimberley had found herself still in the penthouse apartment that Joseph shared with Diane. Her attempts to unearth any evidence of what Joseph was up to were less successful than she cared to admit, but she knew all of Joseph’s files would be in his study, and there was one obstacle preventing her from having a good snoop around; Joseph himself.

 

“Kimberley, I didn’t know you were still here.” Joseph smiled as he emerged from his study upon catching sight of his niece in his living room, sitting upright on the brown leather sofa. “I thought you left with Taylor.”

 

“I thought I’d wait around, catch up with my mom, but I’m guessing she’s out for the night…” Kimberley tried to appear casual as her uncle sat down next to her.

 

“Actually she just called; she’s on her way home. How about I get you a drink while you wait?”

 

“I’m good, thanks. Although…if you wouldn’t mind…could I use your laptop? I left my Sidekick at home and I’m waiting on an important e-mail.”

 

“Fire away.” Joseph motioned to the computer. “So what’s so urgent? Is President Obama wanting to hear your thoughts on his taxation proposals?”

 

“Hardly; if you must know, it’s my publicist…something about some magazine article on heiresses….” Kimberley could feel Joseph’s eyes on the back of her neck. “Actually, Joseph, if the offer of a drink still stands I could seriously use a caffeine fix. Black with one Sweet ‘n’ Lo, if you don’t mind.”

 

“I’ll see what I can do.” Joseph made his way into the kitchen, leaving Kimberley with free reign on his laptop. Quickly she opened up his email inbox.

 

No password, idiot, she thought, before pulling a flash drive from her purse and selecting copy all. She inserted the device into the laptop and pushed send, watching intently as the files transferred before removing the flash drive and sliding it back into her purse. Not one to stop while she was ahead, Kimberley quickly spotted Joseph’s BlackBerry sitting on the coffee table and clicked on the email button, scrolling through the various news updates and emails from her father and Kendall until she finally hit on one from Madison Chase.

 

“What are you doing?” Joseph asked upon catching sight of Kimberley clutching his PDA.

 

“Um, nothing…I’m due an upgrade soon and I was thinking of getting one of these, although I dunno, it seems a little too bulky…” Kimberley lied. “Plus I don’t think my nails would do too well on those buttons.”

 

“You get used to it.” Joseph quickly snatched the device from Kimberley’s hand and slid it into his pocket.

 

“Actually, I just realized that I told Megan I’d drop off a pair of boots that she wanted to borrow. I cant be too late because I don’t want to wake the girls.” Kimberley quickly picked up her purse. “Tell my mother I stopped by.”

 

“I’ll pass it on.” Joseph couldn’t shake the feeling that Kimberley was up to something as she made her way out the door.

 

 

“Are they sleeping okay?” Marc asked as he watched Megan re-enter their bedroom.

 

“Hopefully they’ll stay down for the night.” Megan muttered, not caring to rehash her earlier confrontation with Marc.

 

“Listen, I’m sorry, I should have been more considerate about what you’re going through. I wont take the job with my dad.”

 

“I don’t want to hold you back, Marc. It’s a great opportunity for you, I think you should go for it.” Megan didn’t know what she thought, but she knew that if she stopped Marc from taking the job he would only end up resenting her for it.

 

“We don’t have to decide anything tonight.” Marc assured her. “And we’ll make the decision together, as a couple.”

 

“What did I do to deserve you?” Megan couldn’t help but crack a smile as she kissed Marc gently on the lips. “Listen, I’m going to go brush my teeth, I’ll be back in a minute.”

 

Megan made her way into their bathroom and closed the door behind her, double checking to make sure the door was locked before running the cold water tap and opening up her makeup bag and producing a small green bottle. She opened the lid and tipped two pills into the palm of her hand and quickly tossed them to the back of her throat.

“Megan, are you coming to bed?” Marc yelled from the bedroom.

 

“I’ll be two seconds!” Megan did her best to sound cheerful as she slid the bottle of pills back into her makeup bag, covering it up by rearranging the products inside before zipping the bag up and turning off the tap. She checked her reflection in the mirror, making sure a pristine smile was fixed on her face before making her way out of the bathroom and into bed with Marc. They kissed goodnight and Marc turned out the light, submerging the room in darkness as Megan curled up on her husband’s chest.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…