Revisiting The Past
Parts 8-9
By Kellie
"Carlos! Why was he there?" Danny asked in a near shout as he clenched his fist.
"Danny, calm down before you wake up the entire house," she responded with a firm voice.
Michelle watched as Danny paced the room determinedly. She could tell he was struggling to control the anger he had pent up. Finally, Danny stood by the window and faced her as he spoke calmly, "Michelle, what happened when Carlos showed up?"
"Basically, Carlos let me know that there was no way he was going to let you leave the business easily."
"Michelle, there’s more to it than that. You knew my leaving the business wouldn’t be easy. I know there was more to what Carlos said than that."
Michelle looked up to meet his penetrating gaze, "It wasn’t so much what he said, it was what he implied and the tone he made his veiled threats with. He hinted around that you would have trouble with liquor and restaurant suppliers when you took over Millennium."
"We had already discussed that problem and decided we could handle it. What are you leaving out, Michelle?"
She stood and turned away as she spoke, "Danny, I can’t tell you anymore. I promised not to let anyone know about this."
He crossed the room and put his hand on her shoulders, "Michelle…"
"I know you deserve the whole sorted story, but…"
"No buts – Michelle, there’s not anything you should be afraid of telling me."
"I promised Claire I wouldn’t tell anyone her secret."
"Claire, I should have known," Danny ranted as he slammed his fist on the table.
"I can’t do this," Michelle whispered before taking off out the back door.
Danny watched from the window as she sank down on the backyard bench. He could see her head in her hands and he knew she was crying. Silently counting to ten in an effort to calm down, Danny headed out the door and took a seat next to her.
"Michelle, I’m sorry I lost my temper in there." He reached out, tentatively putting his arm around her shoulders. "Please tell me what Carlos knew about Claire that would make you leave me."
Raising her head, she looked at him with puffy, red eyes. "It wasn’t just Claire – he blackmailed me with some information involving Claire and Rick."
"What kind of information?" Danny quietly asked as he tried to get at the truth.
"Carlos had found out that when Rick was in medical school, Claire helped him cheat on the medical boards."
"Aren’t those the tests you have to pass every couple of years to maintain a license to practice medicine?"
Michelle nodded. "I guess that was around the time Rick must have been hooked on speed."
"Rick never came right out and said anything, but he indicated there was more to why he went along with Claire’s desire not to tell you about what happened when you were a baby. That must be the reason he went along with her."
Michelle nodded as she continued, "Rick passed them on his own a year later, but since he didn’t pass the original tests while he was in med school, his medical degree is invalid. Both his career and Claire’s career would be destroyed if anyone found out."
"And Claire confirmed this after Carlos spoke with you?"
"Yes." Michelle stood and looked out towards the rising sun. "Carlos wanted me to encourage you to stay in the business in exchange for his silence. I couldn’t do that, so I decided to leave you and Springfield…"
"To protect everyone you loved," he finished for her as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.
Michelle closed her eyes as tears rolled down her face. "Yeah, to protect all of you."
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Michelle stood behind the stove scrambling some eggs. Danny was sitting on the stool across from her watching. It had been nearly half an hour since they had come back inside. Danny had wanted to continue their discussion the minute they came in the door, but the sound of her growling stomach had brought their conversation to a halt.
"Your hunger pangs still have interesting timing," he said breaking the silence between them.
Laughing, she replied, "What can I say? A girl's got to eat."
"I see your cooking skills haven't improved. I think you better get that toast out of the oven before you have charcoal to eat," Danny said as he pointed at the smoke coming from around the oven door.
"Damn," she said as she pulled the oven open and grabbed the pan and set it on the counter. "I wish Rick would break down an buy a real toaster. Well, now I know what to buy him for Christmas."
"Michelle, be honest - your talents lie outside the kitchen."
She raised an eyebrow as she met his gaze, "I better not justify that remark with an answer."
"You're cute when you're embarrassed."
Deciding to steer the conversation in another direction, she asked, "How are things going at Millennium?"
"Business is better than ever. Rick told me you finished at the top of your class in med school. How's the residency going?"
"It's tough - lots of long hours, especially with this accelerated program Claire pushed me into."
"I guess that's what were referring to when you said you realized what a control freak she is."
Michelle nodded before continuing, "Claire seems to have mapped out every move I should make for the rest of my life - whether it's what I want or not."
Putting the eggs onto two plates, Michelle popped open the microwave and pulled out the bacon and added it to the plates. "Please put these on the table while I pour us some fresh coffee."
Danny nodded as he took the dishes from her hands and headed over to the table. A moment later, she joined him with two cups of coffee. They ate in silence for several minutes. Finally, he asked, "What happened after Carlos left the cabin?"
Michelle pushed the food around on her plate contemplating her response. "I asked Claire point blank about Carlos' accusations regarding her, Rick, and the medical boards. She said they were true and asked me not to tell a soul. I told her that there was no way I could encourage you to go back to the business - not even to protect her and Rick." Michelle paused and reached out to grab his hand. "I told her that you were the most important person in my life and there was no way I could encourage you to stay in a business that could get you killed. I remember saying something about wishing there was a way to protect all of you from Carlos. That's when Claire suggested that I leave you and Springfield behind. She said that if I was gone, Carlos wouldn't have anything to hold over your head to make you go back to the business. Without me to hold over your head, Carlos had no reason to reveal anything about Rick's medical boards."
Danny bit his lip and closed his eyes as he started counting to himself. He knew the progress he and Michelle had made through the night was too fragile to upset by losing his temper over Claire.
"Aren't you going to say something?" she asked.
"If I told you what I wanted to do to Claire at this moment . Well, it's not worth upsetting you again."
Michelle tightened her grip on his hand as she whispered, "Thank you."
"What did I do to deserve that?"
"Controlling your temper just now. I know how hard that had to be for you."
"Michelle, working all of this out is more important to me than anything else. It's even more important than fixing Claire a set of those cement shoes I've been out of since that night I threw you in the shower."
"That's not funny," she replied as she looked back at her breakfast.
Danny couldn't help smiling at her as he recalled her drunken adventure at Millennium.
"I haven't thought about that night in ages. I was such a brat to you that night."
"Yeah, but I deserved it. Michelle, we got past that and I want to get past this. I know you said that our problems haven't vanished and you're right. That night proved that we could get past just about anything. I know a lot of time has gone by since you left, but I want to work this out. When we got married that last time at Laurel Falls, we promised to be together forever."
"I know, that's why I never pursued a divorce; even when Claire hired a lawyer and tried to push me into one," she answered.