Stefan is sitting in the dining room when Mrs. Lansbury enters.

" Alicia Lozano to see you, sir."

Stefan gets up to greet Alicia.

" Ms. Lozano, I am very pleased that you could join me this afternoon."

" Well, Mr. Cassadine, I have to say that I was curious when I received your invitation to lunch. So, what is it that you want to discuss. Or, shall discussions be tabled until Ms. Davis gets here?"

" Alexis will not be joining us. This will be a private conversation."

" I see."

" Yes, I believe you do. Alicia Patricia Lozano. Born and raised in Spanish Harlem by her maternal grandmother and grandfather following the tragic car accident of your parents when you were 8. Your grandmother was a domestic, your grandfather an unskilled laborer, but somehow, you managed from the time you could go to school, to always procure scholarships to the best schools: Dalton, Phillips Exeter, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where you proceeded to graduate second in your class."

" Well, now I know that you have a crack research department. Is all of this supposed to mean something, Mr. Cassadine?"

" Yes. You are an ambitious woman with drive. There are all sorts of opportunties that could befall a woman of your intellect and cunning."

" Such as?"

" Such as Chief Legal Counsel for Cassadine, Incorporated."

(laughs) " Well, you're ahead of schedule."

" I beg your pardon?"

" I said you're ahead of schedule. Usually it takes at least 2 or 3 meetings before the husband has me to his office, or club, or dining room somewhere and offers me these 'wondrous opportunities'. And all I have to do is sell out my client in order to get them."

" I would call it preserving your best self-interest."

" No. It's selling out. So, I'm going to tell you what I have told all the others. No. No to any offer that you might have. No, to sabotageing my client. You can read. You know what I am asking. When you are serious about settling, have Alexis call me."

" You won't get anything. I'm a very ..."

" Let me finish that for you. You're going to say what a powerful man you are. Maybe you have friends all over. And that if I know what's good for me, I'll deal with you. Well, Mr. Cassadine, I think that  I have seen the depths of human depravity growing up where I did, so I think I'm prepared."

" Even for a Cassadine?"

" Especially for a Cassadine. I can do research also, Mr. Cassadine. I know about megalomaniacal fathers, uncles and brothers. A mother that would make Satan blush in pride. And your eternal Spencer/Cassadine Feud. Unless you are a murderer like the rest of your family, then I have nothing to fear. I came from nothing, so having nothing scares me not a wit. You want to take me on, I'm ready. You can hire 10 suits, being the borderline misogynist that you are, I know that Alexis is the only woman, and it won't matter. Because I have the facts and I have your wife on my side."

(laughs) " You believe having Barbara on your side is an asset?"

" Absolutely. Barbara Jean Cassadine is EXACTLY the kind of woman that I want to do battle for. I've read the file on your mistress, Mr. Cassadine. Comparing the two, you are a perfect example of why money can't buy taste. I'll take my leave now. See you in court, Mr. Cassadine. I will see myself out."

And with that, Alicia leaves Stefan there, speechless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bobbie has been enjoying her time with A.E. They have taken full advantage of the Four Season's Spa, going for the entire treatment: mudbaths, herbal wraps, massages, manicures, pedicures, steam rooms. Bobbie hasn't felt this relaxed in ages. She finds herself completely at ease with A.E. Today, she suprised Bobbie with a private helicopter tour of the Hawaiin Islands. Bobbie spent most of the trip, with her mouth agape. However beautiful one would thnk that Hawaii is from the ground, seeing it from the air is a wondrous sight. What suprised Bobbie is how much of the Islands are completely undisturbed. How the natural environments have been protected. The hills and hills of undeveloped countryside. The lush greenery with bursts of fields of flowers. The colors so wondrous you would think that you were looking at a painting.

But the sights of the volcanos truly made Bobbie awestruck. The almost endless sea of black. Getting close...seeing the steam shoot up from some....the ridges and holes in the ground..thinking....once upon a time, the entire Earth was like this. It is one of those moments that connects the present and the past.

Bobbie and A.E. are enjoying a quiet dinner catered on the beach. As they look out at the ocean, seeing the sun quietly shimmer off the water and sink beyond the horizon, both women are quite pensive. Bobbie speaks first.

" This has truly been an amazing day."

" I'm glad that you enjoyed it. It was quite pleasant for me also. I must confess something."

" What?"

" That you were entirely a private dare on my part. I saw you sitting there, and I dared myself to go over and talk to you."

" Why?"

" Because the book that I was reading was boring me out of my mind. I usually don't like strangers."

" What a coincidence. Neither do I."

" And I was already to pick up and never see you after a polite evening's conversations, but you ARE interesting."

" Thank you....I think."

" Oh, it's most definitely a compliment."

" Well, I enjoy your company, too. You're quite mature for your age."

" Ugh...for my age? You act as if you're ancient, or something."

" Am I ready for Social Security, no. But, I have to be at least a good 20 years on you."

" You denigrate yourself. There is no way that you are 2 decades older than myself. No. And you are a fantastic looking woman. This is not patronization at all when I tell you that I would be completely delighted to have your looks and figure at your age."

" Well, aren't we just a mutual admiration society."

They both laugh. Bobbie asks A.E., " When you were asking me about my husband, I got the feeling that maybe you were getting over someone. A husband, perhaps?"

" No. I had a husband. But that was sometime ago. And what he cost me, was definitely not worth the aggravation. I have deliberately stayed away from the topic of your husband., after I realized...."

" Realized?"

" Yes, that you were recovering from a case of poisoning."

" Poisoning..."

" Yes. You were a victim of snake venom. Cause that's what your husband is...isn't he....a snake?

(laughs) Yes. I think that snake is an apt word to describe.."

" Ah-ah-ah. No names. Just initials."

" OK. Yes, I was married to the snake 'S'. And you?"

" Oh, MY snake's initial is 'J'. You know we're smart ladies here. Why don't we, while we're sitting here, make the outline of a book...." SNAKES...How you can spot 'em, and what to do once they've coiled themselves around your heart. You want to begin."

" OK. Chapter 1. How to spot them. Snakes are handsome."

" Eh. I have to stop. You know, what makes a snake a snake, isn't pure looks. A snake doesn't have to be the best looking man in the room."

" It doesn't hurt."

" No, it certainly doesn't. But what makes a snake a snake is his presence. His being. His..."

" Aura. An aura of absolute magnitism. Underneath that oh so smooth veneer is..."

" Abolute sex!"

They both laugh.

" You know your snake well. Yes, the sexual charms of the snake are legendary. And you know that if you ever took him home to meet your mother..." Bobbie sees that A.E. has a strange look on her face.. " I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

" About taking him home to meet your mother. I guess maybe a mother could have helped me."

" You didn't have one?"

" No."

" Well, another thing we have in common. My mother died when I was a little girl. My brother and aunt raised me."

" I was adopted by my father when I was an infant. He has been both mother and father to me my entire life."

" Are you two close?"

" We used to be. We used to so close that once upon a time I thought we shared the same brain. But, things are different now."

" Why?"

" Our relationship changed when I took up with my snake. My father could spot what trouble he was, but, of course I didn't listen to him. When I say that my relationship with my snake cost me dearly, I mean that. My father and I have attempted reconciliations, and we had successfully re-established our bond, and then I found out certain things about my father that renewed our estrangement. Now, being estranged almost seems as comfortable as sitting in front of a roaring fire on a chilly day."

" I don't believe you. From what little I know of you, I can't think that you can possibly be this placid about your estrangement from your father."

" Sometimes, when you don't say anything to someone for quite a while, the silence says everything."

" NO. The silence is just silence. Is your father a proud man?"

" Very."

" Well, maybe he expects YOU to make the first move."

" Why should it be me who takes the first step?"

" Because, possibly you should show that you're an adult. What do you have to risk?"

" My father's rejection."

" And even if he does, then what? You have the silence routine downpat, so would it be that hard to return to it?"

" I suppose not.  Anyhow, the subject of my father is entirely too serious for such a playful night. So, where were we in our book?"

" I think we were at the chapter where we tell those unsuspecting women how to fight a snake."

" I think that we should be completely honest to the women out there. We knew what we were getting into when it was happening. But, we chose to surrender to it..."

" Because the ride was wild, exciting, enticing. And oh, so seductive."

" Those are indeed the adjectives to describe the snake. But seduction is most appropo. He does slither up to you, and wrap himself around the very cortex of your heart, to the point where you can barely breath."

" Or think."

" Thinking is not an option."

" Yes, I don't want the women out there to think that snakes are sociopaths. Because they're not."

" No. They usually hide their shed skins behind several admirable personality traits that are truly noble."

" And that you cling to, like a liferaft, while trying to justify you staying with them."

" So true."

" Can we write a chapter of how to get over the snake?"

" Hatred?"

" Doesn't work. Just takes the passion and wraps it around another part of your heart."

" I agree. I think that the only thing to do is hope that you develop an internal anti serum that can innoculate his venom. Because the strange thing about a snake, is that he's always there."

" I agree."

" I know. Even now, there are times that I see a photograph of my former husband in the business papers, and just looking at the photo will stir things in me. It is at those moments, that I am pleased that he and I no longer communicate. Dealing with a snake can be very bruising to the ego."

" You're telling me."

" What I hate most about my snake is what he cost me in terms of family. In a cost/benefit analysis, I was completely shortchanged. What about yourself?"

" If I had to think of one thing that I hate S more than anything,  is......I've been looking for a place for years. A place where I felt accepted for who I was in my entirety, with no judgement. What I resent most is that now I don't trust myself anymore. I always thought that when I found that acceptance, I would know. I was married to my previous husband for 8 years, and even though I know that he loved me, he never accepted me. But, with this husband...."

" The acceptance?"

" Yes. But, what if I am wrong? What if I am nothing but a dupe? And that nothing I felt was real. That my core is a joke because I was so easily fooled by him. That I could fall for someone who could delve into the deepest recesses of my soul and twist them against me. If it was all a fake, then I don't know myself at all. So, if I resent like hell that snake, it's for making me doubt that I know myself."

" Well, this is fun. Seems as if those scars aren't quite as worn as we pretend them to be. Why don't we leave the book writing to another day, and proceed to be the wildly attractive, newly buffed and toned, I think that is the correct phrase, powerfully sexy women that we are."

" What do you have in mind?"

" You'll see. Let's go, L.D."

Bobbie and A.E. leave the beach, go upstairs, change and come down in killer knockout dresses. They proceed one of the bars of the resort. A kerioke bar.

Bobbie questions.." Kerioke? THIS is supposed to make me feel better?"

" Absolutely. They are having a contest tonight, and WE are going to win first prize."

" Oh, we are? We haven't practiced anything, and we're going to win."

" Yes. So, stop being a skeptic and go gather us a table."

A.E. leaves to go register her and Bobbie for the contest. She returns with 2 drinks.

"  I thought that you could use this to loosen up your vocal cords."

" Thanks...what are we..."

" Shhhh...the contest is about to start."

The Manager of the Club begins the contest. There are four acts before A.E. and Bobbie. Then the Manager gets up to announce: "Ladies and gentlemen, our next contestants. They call themselves 'The Initial Ladies.' Put your hands together."

A.E. gets up first and takes the mike. " This is a song for the women of the audience. And to the men who comprehend why this song is special to so many women. Many thanks to the living legend, Ms. Tina Turner, an inspiration to women everywhere.":

you know..

everynow and then, i think you might like to hear something from us ...nice and easy
but then there's just one thing...
we never ever do nothin'.... nice and easy

we always do it nice and rough
but we're going to take the beginning of this song and do it easy...

but then we're gonna do the finish... rough...

The way we do "Proud Mary"

rollin'.....rolllin'......rollin' on a river...

listen to the story now:

left a good job in the city
working for the man every night and day
and i never lost one minute of sleep  and i was worryin' about the way that  thangs might have been

big wheel keep on turnin'
ooh... the proud mary keep on burnin'

and we're rollin'.....rollin'......rollin' on a river...

cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis
popped a lot of tang down in New Orleans

but i never saw the good side of the city
until i hitched a ride on the riverboat queen

big wheel keep on turnin'
oooh.....the proud mary keep on burnin'

and we're  rolling.....rolling......rollin' on a river...
said we're rolling.....rolling......rollin' on a river...

(Then the music picks up, and the ladies start a shaking and moving and complete the song in the upbeat tempo)

By the time Bobbie and A.E. finish, the entire club is on its feet cheering them on and joining in. There is a resounding standing ovation. The other acts following them drop out, and Bobbie and A.E. win the trophy.

" Well, I'll know better to doubt you ever again, A.E. I can't believe what we just did."

" What? You enjoyed it as much a I did. Tell me that singing that song wasn't cathartic for the soul..."

" You're right. It is cathartic. I must say, you know how to pack a whallop into a day, but I'm bushed. Will I see you for breakfast?"

" You can count on it. "

" You are so full of surprises. I would have not thought, with your English veneer.."

"I wish to inform you that Ms. Turner's most faithful audience is in Europe, where she presently resides. Unlike you Americans, who throw out cultural icons at the drop of a hat, we are very loyal to those that we like. I can remember my first Tina Turner concert. I was 10 years old, and it was in London's Wembley Stadium. My father took me himself, and was completely out of place, but I think he wound up enjoying himself."

" What are we going to do about the trophy? There's only one."

" You keep it. And everytime you look at it, remember your power as a woman. It is enormous."

" Thanks. See you in the morning."