Here - Chapter 28
Monday, 07-Aug-00 03:02:07

152.163.207.189 writes:
Here - Chapter 28

"Sonny??" Carly calls, frowning and rifling through the items on his dresser until she finds the one brush he has that she likes to use.

Annoyed, he peeks into the bedroom from the bath, his face smeared with a rich lather of shaving cream, "What?"

Still brushing her hair, she turns to him, her best comely smile on her face, "Can I take the car with me?" She bites her bottom lip, "I mean, like, right now??" She hurriedly adds, "I'll pay you when I get my next check. Promise!"

He shrugs, "Sure." Then he disappears into the bathroom again.

"Uh...I'm going to need all that stuff that goes with it..." she reminds him gently, walking to the bathroom door and leaning on the doorway. Her eyes roam over his body, wrapped in nothing but a towel at his waist. Then she watches as he carefully runs the razor over his olive skin.

He keeps his eyes on the mirror in front of him, but moves the razor away, "What 'stuff?'"

She plays with her nails, "You know...the stuff..."

He turns to look at her, obviously confused and distracted. He has a lot on his mind. He has a make-or-break meeting in front of him. The last thing he has time for is guessing games.

She sees his tension, but does not mention it. She uses one of her fingers to make a circle in the air, "The, um, registration and, uh, insurance...and that pink paper...?"

He manages a smile from behind the white foam, amused, "You mean the pink slip?"

Embarrassed at her lack of knowledge, she folds her arms over her chest and rolls her eyes, "Right. You know what I meant!"

He returns to the mirror and says, "It's all in the glove compartment. Insurance is paid up for the next six months. After that, it's up to you."

She is insulted, "Of course!"

"All right...just letting you know," he says quietly, watching her - unbeknownst to Carly - in the mirror.

He watches her face make the journey from elation that she can have the car, to fear and worry that she is going to have yet another expense to worry about in six months. He can see the wheels turning in her head as she tries to figure out how she is going to afford actually owning a car.

Maybe I jumped into this too fast..., she worries with chagrin, just like everything else...

Sensing him, she suddenly looks up at his reflection in the mirror, surprising him by meeting his eyes as he thoughtfully studies her.

In that split-second, she knows he knows what she is thinking.

In that split-second, he knows she knows.

It is one of those moments of utter clarity between them. A connection so fierce and powerful and true that to acknowledge it inspires fear.

Carly is the first to look away. "Okay," she sighs, "I'm going."

He clears his throat, "You have a key?"

She looks at him strangely. "A key?" To what??

He sees her confusion. For my place? For my bed? For my soul?. He clears his throat and clarifies, "For the car."

"I never gave it back to you," she supplies with a smirk. She adds, only partially teasing, "You know, for a mob boss, you're really not all that observant."

He meets her eyes again sharply, "Who says I'm a mob boss? I'm a coffee importer, Carly. Remember that."

She scoffs.

Then, a half-smile on his lips, he says clearly, meaningfully, his eyes running up and down the length of her familiar body, "And I see what I need to see."

She narrows her eyes at him, a lousy attempt to keep him from noticing the blush making its way across her cheeks, "I'm leaving." She turns toward the bedroom door.

"You said that already," Sonny calls after her.

She stops at the door, turns around, then reappears at the bathroom entryway and watches him again.

Sonny winces, her sudden presence nearly causing him to nick himself. "What??" he groans.

"I just wanted to say 'good luck' on your meeting tonight..." she answers softly, "like you wished me luck at my test."

He turns his head to look at her, his brown eyes burning into hers. He wonders if she knows something, if she picked something up, if he let something slip inadvertently. But he can see that she is, simply, wishing him luck. Finally, he utters a small, uncomfortable, "Thanks."

"But, unlike you, I'm wishing you luck in person," she mutters.

He slides his eyes to her, then back to the mirror. He is nearly done. For some reason, it is taking him forever to do this every day chore with Carly standing there.

She stays where she is, trying to work up the nerve to do what she wants to do before walking out of the room.

After a few aggravating seconds, he snaps, "Don't you have someplace to be??"

She blinks, "Uh...yeah...I do..."

Then she swallows hard, takes a step toward him, grabs his face in her hands and turns him toward her. While he is still has no idea what she is doing, she plants a kiss on his lips.

He instinctively kisses her back, his free hand wrapping around her waist to pull her closer.

A good night kiss. A kiss between lovers. A kiss that says 'I'll be back.' A relationship kiss that says that two people are more than just bedmates. A kiss that makes them more than just bedmates.

A kiss Carly has always dreamed of having, but never had. Not in her youth because she was too young to believe. Not with Tony - because she never truly believed. Not with AJ - because she never wanted to believe. Not with Jason - because she was too busy trying to make him believe.

A kiss she always expected in her life. So much so, that she tried to force it to fruition.

Until now. Until here.

A kiss Sonny has had before, but never failed to lose. With Lily, at the end, he believed for her sake - for their child's sake - he wanted to believe. With Brenda, he believed, but he threw it away. When he came back to retrieve it, it was too late -- and it always would be. With Hannah, he believed, but it turned out to be a lie.

A kiss he never expected to have in his life again.

Until now. Until here.

When they end it, both are breathless in its presence.

Carly runs a hand through his hair and whispers, "Bye." Then she is gone.

"Bye," he says to himself after she has left the room.

He rubs a hand over his face.

Only then does he realize that he is bleeding.

*****

The Carly that Bobbie sets eyes on when she walks out of the front doors of GH is a Carly Bobbie has never seen before.

Bobbie knows that part of this 'newCarly' is due to the information she'd snooped around to find. But there is something else about her daughter that seems different. It is as if a veil has finally been lifted from Bobbie's eyes and sees before her a confident, self-reliant woman. A work-in-progress to be sure, as all people are, but a woman nonetheless.

This is my daughter.

Bobbie smiles warmly, proudly, "Hi, Carly."

"Hi! Ready to go?" Carly asks, nearly bubbling over with excitement.

Bobbie nods, "Sure. Where are you taking me to dinner?"

"Anywhere you want," Carly announces, opening the door to the vehicle parked behind her. My car.

Bobbie blinks, surprised, then widens her eyes, "Carly...?"

Carly laughs, "Don't worry, Mama. It's not stolen. It's mine."

"Yours??" Bobbie says in wonder. "Carly! When did you buy a car???"

Carly stares oddly at her mother's reaction.

Bobbie forgets for a moment that she is not even supposed to know that Carly knows how to drive. When she remembers, she plays dumb, "And how are you going to drive anywhere without a license???"

Carly purses her lips, then asks accusingly, "Luke told you, didn't he??"

Bobbie opens her mouth to deny it. Then she thinks of the alternative: having to tell Carly that she broke into her room and invaded her privacy and went through her personal papers. Sorry, Luke.

No I'm not.

"Yes. He did. Luke told me everything," Bobbie lies, patting her daughter's shoulder sympathetically, "but he didn't mean any harm. He just thought I should know."

Carly is disappointed, "I can't believe him! I never thought he would do that to me." She really thought that she and Luke had an understanding between them, a sort of omerta. She wonders now who else Luke is talking to. She wonders if Luke told Sonny about AJ's threats.

After a pause, Carly pouts and asks Bobbie, "Did he mention PCU too?"

Bobbie makes a guilty face and nods slowly, as if confessing, "He told me about the classes, yeah..."

Carly throws her head back, angry and sad that Luke did not let her tell Bobbie.

Bobbie tries to cheer her up, "Well, he didn't tell me about the car!"

Carly mutters, "He didn't know about the car. Jerk."

Bobbie frowns, then takes Carly into her arms, "Carly, this is wonderful news. There was no need to hide it from me."

Carly hugs her mother back and swallows her disappointment, bucked up by Bobbie's obvious pride. Carly backs away and says, "I wanted to surprise you. I wanted to be able to tell you something good for a change..."

"Well," Bobbie laughs, "you certainly did that!" She turns serious after a moment, smoothing Carly's blonde hair as the light breeze displaces it. Bobbie's eyes are moist and her mouth is set in a line. She places a hand on either side of Carly's face and utters, "I am proud of you, Carly. But I want you to know that I love you. I don't need surprises. I just love you. Always. No matter what." Then she allows herself a small smile, "But it is good to know that you're pulling yourself together."

Carly feels herself start to tear up, but her reflexive defensiveness rears its ugly head, "Never thought it would happen, right?"

Bobbie does not let Carly's attitude intrude on their moment. She says, "Always thought it would happen." Then she adds, holding out a handkerchief to Carly, "Just wasn't sure when..."

Carly lets out a little laugh and wipes her eyes with the hanky. She sniffs, "Let's go to dinner."

****

Sonny touches the cheek, the small mark where he'd nicked himself earlier, and it makes him think of Carly.

Then he erases her from his consciousness and checks his watch, trying not to appear anxious in front of Johnny and the other guards he has stationed inconspicuously at the arrival gate - in case of a trap set by Pfizer.

The plane has landed, and the passengers have yet to disembark. Sonny's eyes scan the area, feeling protected and sure of his preparations, although he is just as certain that Pfizer is not out to get him.

The passengers walk wearily through the door of the gate, some alone, some in packs of two and three. Sonny watches them all closely, hoping to make eye contact with the representative.

Then something.

A whiff of perfume, all too hauntingly familiar, makes him turn his head.

His eyes immediately find the source, a bobbing brunette head walking away from him.

His heart stops.

Same hair. Same walk.

His heart is beating now.

But it is fast, pounding, pulsating, hammering inside his chest. As if it wants out of his body, out of its prison.

He can not breathe, yet he is breathing. He is not only breathing, he is moving. Following the scent of her perfume, following the brown, bobbing head with lustrous hair atop a petite, stylishly clad body.

There is no way it can be, he tells himself, even as he dogs her steps, weaving his way through the crowd, a confused and concerned Johnny trailing him.

She turns her head slightly, allowing him a glimpse of a tanned cheek, squarish jaw line, the tips of long dark lashes behind a set of large designer sunglasses.

Sonny is almost there. Almost with her. The closer he gets, the more disbelief he feels. He looks at her tiny, perfectly-formed hands. My God....

She walks into the airport lounge purposefully and takes a seat at the bar, her back still to him.

He tries to calm himself. Knowing this can not be who he thinks it is, but afraid not to find out.

But what if...??

He takes a deep breath and is standing a few steps behind her, ready to tap her shoulder, but not ready for her to turn around.

Before he can gather himself completely, the woman spins in her stool and is facing him.

He narrows his eyes at her, his heart skipping a beat.

She pulls off her sunglasses, revealing eyes the violet of a day-old bruise. She smiles a catlike smile, "Hello, Mr. Corinthos."

It is not her. Of course it's not her.

She gestures to the empty seat next to her, "I hope you don't mind a drink before dinner?"

Sonny's face remains impassive, but his are insides melting from the heat of his self-directed anger.

As he meets the woman's knowing, almost condescending, blue eyes, he realizes that he may have blown the deal already.