*Only Time* Ch. 9 ~Words are Just Words~
by rockstar

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Whitney walked into the living room of the Russell home just in time to see Noah walk through the front door.

"Hey, I'm glad you got my message to come here for dinner." Whitney said, "Simone should be home soon."

"Great. Where's your dad?"

Whitney turned away quickly, "Umm, he's working out back."

Noah sighed, knowing 'working out back' meant her dad was in his shed again. He knew it made Whitney feel strange knowing her dad would go out in to his shed and then not tell anyone what he was doing. What was worse was he had been spending more time out there since the discover of Eve's past with Julian Crane.

"Should I go get him?" Noah asked.

"No. He, he just needs some alone time. With everything that's happened, he needs it."

"He didn't need alone time before."

"I really don't feel like talking about this."

"Like you never feel like talking about your mother? You going to have to eventually."

"Well, not now."

"You said you'd think about it." Noah sighed walking over to Whitney.

"I did. I think I gave it a two-second thought. Any more would be a waste of time."

"Whit, she's your mother. No matter how much you're angry with her. She's still the woman that carried you for 9 months and raised you into the wonderful woman you are today. I know from experience that we both grew up being made to believe that our parents are inhuman and unable to do a single thing wrong, but we were wrong. They are human. My dad was human when he fell in love with Ivy Winthrop and she got pregnant with Ethan. And my mom was human when she married David Hastings and then lost her memory. What I'm trying to say, Whit, is my mom and dad have made mistakes, but they have put their heart and souls into making their lives right again. Just like you mom wants to."

"Things will never be right again. Not with what she's put me, my dad, Simone, and -"

"What about what she's going through?" Simone's voice boomed through the living room from the front door surprising Noah and Whitney. "Mom's been put through hell and back with no one giving her any help."

"How can you defend her?" Whitney said, walking over to Simone. "After all the hurt and pain she's put all of us through. You're defending her?"

"She's our mother, just like Noah said."

"Well, you know what, you can defend that woman all you want, but I will never forgive her for what she's done. Every time I look, think, or talk about her, I remember the streak of pain I felt when I heard her say those 4 words." Tears slowly fell down her face. "Nothing will ever make me forget that feeling. Nothing."

Whitney walked upstairs leaving Noah and Simone in silence.

"She's never going to be able to say his name, is she?" Simone asked looking at Noah.

"She will. Just like she'll talk to Eve. It's just going to take time. But she is right about one thing. She's never going to forget the way she felt when Eve told her THE 4 words."

"Chad is my son." Simone whispered, remembering her mothers voice.

"That feeling is the reason it's going to take so long for her to come around." Noah said.

"So while Whitney's dealing with her own insecurities and my dad is growing more and more psychotic with the shed thing, my mother has to suffer?" Simone said angrily.

"Why are you all of the sudden, defending your mom? I haven't even heard you speak of her in a long time." Noah said crossing his arms. "And how do you know she's doing so bad?"

"Well, if you must know, I talked to her." Simone said walking past Noah and sitting on the couch.

"You talked to her? Did you go see her or something?"

"No actually I thought the best way to talk to my mother for the first time in 3 months was by e-mail. Don't you think that's a good idea? It's right up there with breaking up over the telephone." Simone said sarcastically as Noah sat on the couch next to her and ignored her sarcasm.

"So you saw her? So you two are okay?"

"Yeah," Simone said with a faint smile on her face, "all things considering."
 

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Chad paced along the docks where he had been not an hour earlier with Julian. He still had to take care of the Simone and Eve situation. And all fingers pointed to TC making up some fake signature for Simone on the restraining order. And Chad refused to let TC get away with it.

He had gone over to the Russell's that night to confront TC, but before Chad was spotted by him, he saw TC go into his shed. He had stood there for a few moments, hoping his freaky psychotic episode wouldn't last too long, but then Chad decided he'd just wait for TC inside the house. He made his way by the shed without TC seeing or hearing him through the window, when he got near the back door to the house, Chad froze. Gazing into the kitchen window, he saw Whitney at the sink. He hadn't seen her in so long. His eyes couldn't help but notice the pudge on her stomach.

She was 3 months pregnant. Three months, 2 weeks, and 3 days to be exact. It wasn't hard for Chad to remember the exact date. The day the baby was conceived was already the worst day of Chad's life. The fact that the woman he loved had had sex with another man on that same day, just happened to make it the worst possible day in history. "Whitney's baby, should be my baby." Chad use to say to himself, but now it was impossible.

Chad needed to stop thinking of the past. All of the terrible things that have happened to him and others around him. He needed something new to grasp hold of. That was one of the main reasons he was helping Simone and Eve. But once that was taken care of, what would he do then? He needed something to keep him busy and occupied for the rest of his life. Sure he had his club, but could that keep him happy forever? Of course not, it was a business. A building. But what could make him happy again? More importantly, could he be happy again?

"Chad?" the woman voice came from behind him. Chad turned around and was needless to say, shocked.

"Nelly. You're still in town." Chad said, gazing at her. She was wearing a blue skirt and blouse with a black coat. Her black curls bounced as she walked closer to him.

"Yeah, did you think I was cutting out?"

"Well, there's so many jazz clubs in the US. You need to go check them all out." Chad said sarcastically, leaning against the dock post. Nelly chuckled and walked even closer up to Chad.

"Why, are you insisting that what I told you isn't true?" she said in a cocky tone.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm insisting. So what are you doing in this dead-end town?"

"Oh now that's not nice. I kind of like Harmony. It's very homey and relaxing and seems like an ideal place to get fish."

"You're avoiding the question." Chad said leaning closer toward Nelly.

"What question?" Nelly asked.

"Why are you in Harmony?" Chad asked forcefully.

"Why are you asking?" she asked seductively looking into his dark eyes.

"I want to know," he answered staring into her equally dark eyes with his own cocky tone.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'd like to know a little more about the woman I slept with." Chad said, his mouth so close to Nelly's face, she felt his breath, but she immediately stepped back, but continued to keep her cool.

"If you want to know more about me, why don't you join me for dinner? Smells like there's something great a brewing up the docks," she said looking in that direction.

Chad's eyes never left her, "That's the Lobster Shack."

"Great, I love lobster. Come on." Nelly said, walking ahead of Chad.

Chad watched Nelly as she walked toward the restaurant and sighed, "They all have to be hiding something. So what's she?"
 

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Eve sat on at a table in the Harmony Hotel dining room when a dark haired woman in a business suit walked toward her.

"I'm sorry I had to cancel our earlier appointment." Eve said, standing up to greet the woman. "You're my lawyer, I take it."

"Yes, Alexis Davis," she said, extending her hand.

"Eve Russell. I was kind of surprised to get a call from you. Since I've never met you before in my life. It's no secret you're the best lawyer in New York."

"Well, thank you. Now maybe I can get that recognized here in Maine." Alexis said as she and Eve sat down. "So I've been told, you need help with a divorce. And this afternoon, on my train out here, I was called and informed of a custody issue also." Alexis said.

"Yes, there is, but you never told me who's been giving you this information." Eve asked curious to who was handing her such a great lawyer.

"You don't know? He didn't tell you?"

"No, who's 'he'?" Eve asked as Alexis pulled a file out of her briefcase.

"A Chad Harris." Alexis said, flipping through the papers. Eve nearly collapsed.

"Chad Harris? Chad HARRIS called and told you I needed a lawyer?" Eve asked in disbelief.

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"I just haven't spoken to him in so long. I thought he hated me." Eve said, a faint smile forming on her face.

"He said the whole issue was confusing so why don't you just fill me in on everything."

"That is probably a good idea."
 

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"This is a nice place." Nelly said as she looked from the table around at the fishnets and life savers covering the walls of The Lobster Shack.

"You're impressed easily." Chad said, looking at the menu.

"And you're in a bad mood. What's wrong? Bad day?"

"Bad life," he said sitting down the menu when he noticed the waiter coming toward their table with their drinks. The waiter sat them down and walked to the table right next to them.

"So, what bit you on ass today?" Nelly asked not noticing the waiters appalled look hearing her say the word 'ass'. Chad chuckled to himself catching the waiters expression. 'She sure doesn't look like the kind of women to use that sort of language.'

"I'm just having trouble with some people." Chad couldn't believe he was opening up to this woman he barely knew. Was he crazy?

"People at work? Friends? Family?" Nelly asked drinking from her straw, never taking her brown eyes off Chad.

"Just people." Chad sure wasn't stupid enough to open up to her THAT much.

"Okay," Nelly said, backing off from the subject. It was fairly obvious the way Chad winced at the mention of the word 'family'.

"So, I thought you were going to tell me some things about you." Chad said, turning the tables on Nelly.

"What do you want to know?"

"How about we start off with your gig. You know what I do, so how about you?"

Nelly smiled and sat down her drink, "I'm a journalist."

"Yeah and you're wanted by the royal family in some country in Asia."

"I'm telling the truth this time." Nelly laughed, "I am a journalist for the Boston Globe."

"Really? So are you working on a story here in Harmony?" Chad asked.

"Just taking a vacation. Harmony seems like an ideal place for that."

"And you always have one night stands on your vacations?"

"No," Nelly chuckled slightly and leaned toward Chad. "There's something I need to tell you."

"What, you investigated my club and it's not up to regulations?" Chad laughed taking a drink. He couldn't believe he was actually having a good time with this woman.

"No, umm, you see, last night, when I took to my hotel room, we kind of...." Nelly looked away to the floor.

"We kind of what?" Chad said, bringing Nelly's eyes back to Chad's. She looked into his eyes, who were so understanding and focused on her and every word she was saying.

"We didn't do anything." Nelly sighed looking away from Chad's eyes, but when she looked again, she no longer saw understanding.

"What do you mean, we didn't do anything?" Chad asked confused.

"We didn't do IT."

"But you said we did. And I was tad bit underdressed the next morning."

"I was going to have sex with you, but when we got back to my room, you were really pretty out of it, and right when we got up to it, you just sort of zonked out."

"Zonked out? I don't zonk out when I'm in a hotel room with a woman wanting to have sex with me." Chad said as the couple got a few stares from guests around the room thanks to Chad's rising anger and voice.

"I thought that was a little strange too."

"So if we didn't do anything, then why did you say we did?"

"Well, like I said, I was going to sleep with you, but I guess at the last minute before you went out, I...just lost my nerve I guess. And since we didn't do anything, I wanted see how you'd react if you thought we had, since I've never had a one night stand before." Nelly said, staring into Chad's face, trying to figure out all of the different emotions.

"You wanted to see how I'd react?" Chad said, sounding understanding again.

"Yeah." Nelly smiled, all fear of Chad being anger at her was leaving her body.

"Well, you saw how I reacted when I thought we had sex in your hotel room," Chad practically yelled, gathering the entire rooms attention, "so now, you can see how I react when I find out you are just like everyone else in my life. A two-face liar. And believe me, that population is highly exceeding its limit. So I can do without one." Chad stood up as the waiter came back over to their table.

"Excuse me, sir. You need to keep your voice down."

"That won't be necessary. I'm leaving." Chad said before heading out the side door onto the street.

Nelly sat there for a moment and finally stood up and went out the door for Chad.