~ Only Time ~ Chapter 5
 by rockstar
 

Nikolas ran through the park in running shorts and a tank top for his morning jog and stopped to take a rest.
"You're very fast," a familiar woman's voice came from behind him. He smiled and turned around to see Kay wearing her own running outfit, had obviously been running herself.

"Were you trying to catch me?"

"Actually I was just out jogging myself when I saw you. So how was your family dinner?"

"Oh, it was just a complete disaster." Nikolas laughed.

"Being away from home so long, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"You know, you never told me your name last night. At least not your first name."

"Nikolas."

"Does anyone call you Nik for short?"

"Not yet."

"All right, Nikolas Bird, I have to tell you, I've never heard of your family and neither have my parents. And they know everyone in this town."

"My family's not very popular. I don't think."

"Really? I always thought the most unpopular family in this town were the Cranes."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Julian is just a sick pig. Felicity, I've only seen around town a couple times, but she was always a bitch. And Alistair, who I guess I'm lucky I've never met, is supposed to be the worst of them all. I guess Sheridan's the only good seed out of that patch."

"What about the other Crane kids?"

"I don't even know what they look like or what their names are. They're probably just as snotty as Felicity."

"You think so?"

"Take our morning routine for example, those rich kids probably pay someone to run for them."

Nikolas laughed, "What are you doing today?"

"I don't know, yet. Why are you asking?"

"I was hoping maybe you'd like to give me a tour of Harmony."

"Why? You're only going to be her for a week."

"When did I say that?"

"Last night. You said your vacation was over in a week and you were going back to school."

"No, I said my parents expected me back at school. I never said I was going."

"You're staying in Harmony?"

"Yeah. I'm transferring to Castleton College."

"That's were I go to school."

"No kidding?" Nikolas said as Kay's phone started to ring.

"Hello? On hey, what's up? Now? Okay, I'll be there in 10 minutes." Kay hung up her
phone and stuck it back in her pocket.

"I have to go. My best friend's going through a really hard time right now so I need to go see her."

"Yeah of course."

"Why don't I meet you at the Book Cafe at 3?"

"For my tour?"

"Yeah." Kay said turning around, but the sound of Nikolas calling her name made her stop.

"You never told me your last name, Ms. Kay."

"It's Bennett."

"Bennett." Nikolas said, questioning the name.

"Later, Nik." Kay said before she was gone.

"Bennett. Bennett." Nikolas thought out loud. "Where have I heard that name before?"
 

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Livvie stood in front of her building and read the window "Bennett & Winthrop Law Associates." She opened the door  and walked in. She knew her mother's maiden name was Winthrop and that Ethan was a lawyer, but she didn't know if Ethan had taken their mother's name. Livvie also knew that Ethan's real father was Harmony's Chief of Police, Sam Bennett. Although she didn't know anything about the Bennett children, could one of them had opened a practice with Ethan? And since the man who had been invading her thoughts and dreams in the last 24 hours had given her one of their business cards, could he work for Ethan and one of his half-siblings?

Livvie walked straight up to a desk where a redheaded woman was sitting.

"May I help you miss?" Alice asked.

"Yes, I was wondering if Ethan...Winthrop was here?"

"Well, he's not usually here on Saturday's but today he is. Do you have an appointment?"

"No, this is just a surprise visit."

"So he knows you?"

"Yes. We haven't seen each other in a really long time, though."

"What's your name? I'll tell him you're here." she said standing up.

"Livvie Cr-  Bird. Livvie Bird."

"All right Ms. Bird. I'll tell Mr. Winthrop you're here."

Livvie chuckled to herself. Hey, since she had to come see her mother's "golden
child" shouldn't she have a little fun with his coworkers? A few moments later, Ethan walked out and was very surprised.

"Livvie? What are you doing here?"

"I needed to come ask you for something. Are you busy?"

"No, why did you tell Alice you last name was Bird?" Ethan whispered to her.

"Long story. I just came by to ask you about someone who might work here with
you."

"How'd you know I had this place?"

Livvie reached into her purse and pulled out  the coffee stained business card. "This guy ran into me yesterday, spilt coffee on me and gave me his card to cal him when I got the bill."

"You're going to make him pay the bill."

"Yes. Now he was about this tall," she showed him with her hand, "with sandy blondish hair-"

"Noah."

"Noah? That's his name? You're sure?"

"He told me about the incident yesterday. He's Sam and Grace's son."

"Your half brother? He's a lawyer?"

"Yeah, by the way, do you have his briefcase with you?"

"His?"

"Yeah, when he open his up yesterday, it had pictures and art things in it."

"That's mine."

"Yeah, he knows. He tried to find out who you were. If I'd known you were back in town, I would've recognized the description he gave. He has your briefcase with him."

"He does? Where is he?"

"At his house probably."

"Where's that?"

"I don't know if you should go over there-"

"Either you tell me now, or I find out and get over there in an hour." Ethan sighed, "It's on Eastwood Drive. The house number's 602."

"Thanks. Livvie said and left out the door.
 

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"Thank you so much for helping me today, Whit." Theresa said hanging up clothes in her downtown shop. "I've been really understaffed lately." Theresa had opened her store about 5 months ago after she and Ethan decided to postpone their wedding until they were both on their feet.

"Oh I really needed to get out of that house like crazy." Whitney said putting some clothes on a shelf.

"Noah not working today?"

"No, he's sleeping in. He's been putting in a lot of hours this week."

"How are things going with you two?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, you two have been married for almost 2 months, and you have a baby on the way."

"So why wouldn't things be good between us?"

"I never said they weren't."

"You sounded like you were hinting things weren't going good for us. What did you mean"

"All I meant was that you two getting together happened pretty fast. And you two  just realizing that you loved each other."

"I do love him!"

"But are you sure it's the way married couples love each other?"

"You know, I have enough going on not to stand here and listen to this." Whitney started to head for the door when Theresa stopped her.

"I'm sorry Whit. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just worried about you."

"Well, you don't have to. Noah's a great man and he's going to be an amazing father to OUR child."

"Is that why it looks as if you just settled for him?"

"Settled for him? I love Noah. I do! I wouldn't have married him if I didn't."

"Even though you're pregnant with his baby?"

"That just moved it along a lot faster. I would've married him anyway."

"If you say so."

"I am because it's true."

"And marrying Noah wasn't just a way to forget about Chad?"

"How dare you! How can you even think about talking about him to me?"

"You're going to have to talk about it sooner or later. And I think sooner is better."

"Listen you want to know everything, fine! I slept with Noah after I found out that I had fallen in love with my half brother. I felt like dirt. Noah made me feel better. And between the time we had made love and when I found out I was pregnant, he was still there for me. He comforted me. And I love him for that."

"You should love him for more than him sticking by you and being the father of your child. You should be IN love with him."

"I am!"

The two stood in silence for a moment while Whitney calmed down.

"I'm sorry for upsetting you, Whitney."

"It's all right. I overreacted. I need to be going, I have a doctors appointment."

"Oh, to check on your baby?"

"Yeah, the 3 month check up."

"3 months huh? You look almost the size of Sheridan."

"Well, it looks like I'm going to have to find you a new godmother." Whitney joked looking at her belly as if her baby could hear her.

"Bye." Theresa smiled as Whitney left the store.
 

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9:03 A.M. flashed on the digital clock next to the large bed in one of the rooms in the Harmony Hotel.

Chad's groaned as his eyes opened. Laying on his stomach, he rolled over so he was on his back where he got his first of many surprises that morning.

He sat up in the bed and spoke, "Where are my clothes?" he asked himself confused. "Where am I? How did I get here?"

Just then the door to the bathroom opened the woman from the night before walked into the room wearing a pair of jeans and a gray T-shirt. "Good morning." she smiled.

"You!" Chad said, remembering meeting her at the Jazz Club. "Nelly!"

"You remember." she walked over to a chair and grabbed a pile of clothes.

"What happened last night?" Chad asked her.

"You aren't brought to women's hotel rooms often, are you?"

"Did we-"

She nodded with a sexy smile.

"Right here-"

"All night long." she threw him the clothes. "Here are you clothes."

"Thanks."

"You don't remember?"

"No." Chad said as he checked his wallet. There was something about this girl that was something to be suspicious about.

"So would you be embarrassed if I stayed in here while you got dressed?"

"I wouldn't have before." Chad said as he moved to get out of bed.

Nelly walked over to the dresser which to her convenience was right next to a mirror that was facing Chad. She couldn't help but look at the reflection of him and smile with a cocked eyebrow.

"I know there's a mirror there, I just really want to get out of here. I need to get to work sometime today." Chad said putting his shirt on and walking toward the door.

"Well, I need to get going, too. I need nourishment." Nelly said as she grabbed her purse and walked to the door next to him. She went to open the door when Chad stopped her.

"Wait, how much do I owe you?"

Before Chad a chance to reach for his wallet, the force of Nelly's hand across his face made him really wake up.

"I'm not a hooker!" She yelled, no longer sounding like the fun woman she was a few moments ago.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." Chad apologized, putting his hand on his face, feeling the blow her hand gave him.

"Well, you did!"

"Listen, you said you were hunger. Why don't I take you out to breakfast?" Chad asked her. 'What are you thinking? You just slept with the girl, now you want to treat her to a meal?' he asked himself.

"You're going to buy me breakfast?" Nelly asked, confused.

"Yeah, if you'll let me."

Nelly stared at him and the red shape forming on his cheek, feeling bad about hitting a hung-over guys remark, she nodded her head. "Okay, where do you suggest?'

"I know a place." Chad told her as the two walked out of the room.
 

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Kay walked into the Book Cafe and saw Simone sitting in her normal seat. Kay immediately walked over to her and saw that she had been crying which hadn't been an unusual thing in the past months.

"Hey sweetie, what happened?" Kay asked as Simone stood up and hugged her.

"My life is awful, Kay!"

"Come on, sit down. Now tell me, did your dad or Whitney say something? Or did you see your Mom?"

"I wish. This morning my dad was in such a good mood. He was happier than he's been in a long time, so I decided to ask him if he knew where my Mom was. And in just a blink of an eye, he did a complete 180 and got so mad at me. He kept asking me why I wanted to know where to find the woman who destroyed our lives. But I can't help it, Kay. Even after everything that's happened, I want to see her. I want to her hear version of it. Does that make me as bad as her?"

"No, of course not. Your mom's not bad. Why don't you go to the hospital and see her?"

"I don't even know if she's working today, and even if she was I'd much rather be with her alone. That's why I asked my dad if he knew where she was living."

"I bet someone has to know."

"Like who?"

"Maybe, Julian? Or Sheridan? Luis?" Kay paused for a moment, "Chad's club is just a few blocks from here. He might know."

"Listen, dealing that Chad never loved me was one thing, but dealing that he's my half-brother? I could deal with because I want to see my Mom so bad, but I don't know if Chad would really want to see someone who reminds him of the past or Whitney."

"Chad's a strong person. He can handle a lot."

"You're right."

"So you want to go down there?"

"Sure." Simone smiled and her and Kay left for Chad's club.
 

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The phone was hanging off the hook as Noah laid in bed asleep, but was awakened by a continuous knock on the front door. He ignored it for a moment until there was a loud sound against the door sending Noah out of bed and downstairs to investigate. He swung open the door and found the last person on earth he expected to see again. "You."

Livvie stood in front of Noah for a moment taking in the sight of him only wearing a pair of pants.

He looked down at the outside of the door and saw black marks near the bottom, "Did you kick my door?"

"Yes. And what took you so long? It's almost 9:30, you should be up." Livvie said coming out of her trance.

"How did you know where I live?"

"I went by your office and my half-brother told me." She looked inside and saw her briefcase open with her things spread out on the coffee table. "Hey," she walked past Noah, "this is mine."

"Yeah, I know. Who's your half-brother?" Noah asked as he closed the door.

"You could've known just by looking inside. You didn't have to look through it."

"I thought maybe it would say who you were. By the way, you never told me you and your brother's name."

"It's the same as yours."

"Your name?"

"No, our half-brother."

"How'd you know I had a brother?"

"He's the one who told me where you live."

"But-"

Livvie walked up to Noah and stuck out her hand, "Livvie Crane."

"Cr-, I hope you don't mean-"

"-the almighty rich SOB's that live up on that big 'ole hill? Sadly, yes."

"You're Julian and Ivy's daughter?" Noah asked, double checking.

"Not by choice. So listen, I'm just going to take my briefcase and I figure it's going to be a good 90 bucks for a new outfit to replace to one you ruined." Livvie said putting her things in her briefcase.

"You can't be serious."

"Oh I'm almost always serious."

"You want me to pay for a woman's clothes who just happens to be in the richest family in the world?" Noah practically screamed.

"Not just any woman, Me."

"You could buy you're own shopping mall!"

"So? Wait, I think daddy bought me one in Milan." Livvie joked.

"I hate to break it to you, but I'm not giving a Crane any money."

"You ruined my outfit!"

"You can afford to buy a new one yourself."

"It's the principle of it."

"Get out of my house!"

"Not until I get the money you owe me."

"I don't owe you any!" Noah said, walking toward the door to let her out.

"2 months. That's how long I'm betting your law firm will stay up after I sue you. Spilling coffee on a woman could be considered a weapon. Hot. Steamy. And since I'm a Crane and you're Bennett, well, it won't be too hard to convince the jury that you were just acting out your rage on the Cranes."

"I didn't even you were a Crane then."

"How do I know that? But more importantly, how will the jury?"