Here - Chapter 31
Tuesday, 15-Aug-00 06:44:29

152.163.206.187 writes:
Here - Chapter 31


Sonny gathers himself before closing the door behind him. He runs his hands over his face in an attempt to get Carly's face out of his head. Then he walks over to the sofa, where Susan is seated, her head still burrowed in the papers in her lap.

She looks up when she hears him, a knowing smirk on her face, "Female trouble?"

He looks at her sharply, a warning in his eyes not to go there. He says gruffly, "Straighten everything out with Benny?"

Susan nods curtly, seeing that she has crossed an invisible line. Instantly, she is back to business mode. Her voice is cold, her eyes wide blue daggers, "Oh yes. While you were," she says the next with disdain, "taking care of your guest..." She lets that hang in the air a few seconds, then, "your business manager answered my questions thoroughly enough for me to know that you're lying to me."

Shit, Benny, what did you say?? He looks at her, his face expressionless save a tiny tic in his cheek.

When he says nothing in his own defense, she shrugs, stands, and stretches. Then she slips her shoes back onto her feet. She announces, "I suppose I should get going. I would like to meet with Mr. Pfizer tomorrow morning, which means I should fly back tonight."

The humiliation is seeping through his body, but he refuses to let her see it.

With a sigh, she steps toward the door, "I wish I could say it was nice doing business with you, Mr. Corinthos."

He wonders if he should let her walk out. He wonders what would happen if he did. Finally, he purses his lips, "Wait..."

She stops, then slowly turns to look at him. She says evenly, "I assume that you are used to dealing with Mickey Mouse organizations, Mr. Corinthos. But I am not." She steps back into the living room and waves a hand toward the folder on the sofa, "Those numbers are as flimsy as tissue paper. Wet tissue paper."

He closes his eyes briefly, then opens them again. He says gruffly, "So now what?"

She moves closer to him, until their faces are inches apart. Her breath is hot, her blue eyes are frozen. The sound of her voice is like a driving over gravelly ditch in the road, "I don't like being lied to. I don't like being played for a fool."

He holds her eyes, not backing down, but seeing now that this woman is not just smart. She is dangerous.

She sets her jaw, her fingers playing with his shirt collar, an action that makes Sonny wonder if she is going to kiss him.

Or slit his throat.

After a beat, she whispers, "Unlike you, I am going to be honest. We need your network, almost as much as you, apparently, need our cash." A tiny ghost of a smile plays on her lips, as if she is enjoying Sonny's discomfort. She adds, "But we can survive without you." Her smile grows, a wolf bearing teeth, "Can you say the same?"

She blinks slowly, taking a step back. She is grave, "If you want a chance in hell at our money, don't lie to me again."

She kicks off her shoes once more, walks to the sofa, and throws the folder to the floor as if it is garbage. Then she sits down, her face sweet and serene again. She smiles at him, the picture of patience, "Perhaps we should begin again?"

He knows there is no point in denying anything. He knows that there is no point in bluffing. He needs her that much. He hates it, but it is a fact. Without her behind him, without Pfizer's money, Sonny is dead in the water.

Without a word, he goes back to the desk, pulls out the folder with the real numbers, and hands it over.

Pleased, she utters a soft, "Thank you," and starts studying anew.

*****

Luke is sitting behind the bar, his unlit cigar clenched between his teeth. He looks over the small crowd and watches the waitress deliver drinks to one of the tables.

Carly storms into the bar then, slamming the door open and looking around the club like a U-boat on a search-and-destroy mission.

Luke can see in her eyes as she stomps toward him that she has both barrels blazing. "Uh-oh..." he mutters to himself, wondering what set his niece off now.

Instead of sitting alone in her room at the brownstone, where she is certain that Bobbie would make an unsolicited attempt to comfort her, Carly has decided to blow off some steam. As she glares at her unassuming uncle, she knows that she has found the perfect target.

Available and deserving!! she thinks with grim satisfaction.

She gets to the bar and stares at him angrily.

He tries a smile and asks cheerily, "Did you pass your test??"

She narrows her eyes and jabs her finger in the air toward him, "How dare you????"

He raises a brow and responds in a confused voice, "How dare I what? I was just asking about your test...you know, showing a little interest in your life..."

Carly ignores him, "You had no right to talk about me behind my back like you did!!"

Luke's mouth opens and his cigar slips to his lap.

She continues, "I never gave you permission to tell anybody anything about what's going on in my life!"

Luke's eyes widen. Immediately, he assumes she has spoken to Sonny. He puts up a hand, ready to offer some sort of explanation. He does not know what he is going to say yet, but he opens his mouth just the same, "Carly..."

"Don't!!!" she warns him when she sees him start to speak, her nostrils flaring and finger shaking from rage. "Don't you dare try to deny it!"

He blinks and pleads, "I was just going to try and give you my side of the story!" Damn big-mouth Corinthos!!!

"Don't bother!" Carly hisses. Then she lets him have it, "Bobbie told me everything!!!"

This stops Luke in his tracks. His brows jump to his forehead in confusion, "Uh...she did?"

Carly nods, "Yes! She did! So don't bother trying to tell me she forced you to tell her anything!"

He turns his head slightly and squints at his niece. He manages, "Uh...okay...I won't..." as he slowly places the cigar back in his mouth.

She looks over at Claude, who is steadfastly ignoring the exchange, "Claude! Could I get a scotch and soda over here??"

Claude jumps to attention, "Sure, Carly..."

"I can not believe you, man!" Carly says more softly to Luke, her face filled with sadness and disappointment. She examines her thumbnails, shaking her head to herself, "I mean, I trusted you..."

Luke gulps, not knowing what to say.

He asks himself if he should deny whatever it is that Barbara has blamed him for. Then he decides to dig a little deeper first, just in case the truth would get his sister in more trouble than he is currently in.

He relaxes in his stool, then asks with a defeated expression, "What, exactly, did Barbara Jean tell you??"

Claude delivers the drink and disappears to the other side of the bar again. He moves away quickly, quicker than a man his size should be able to move.

Carly takes a sip of the drink and winces, "She told me everything, all right? She told me that you spilled all the details of my life to her! About PCU, about my driving, about my custody agreement!" At the last enumerated item, she stops short and stares at Luke.

Luke clears his throat and turns away, pretending to look over Carly's shoulder at a customer.

In confusion, Carly says, "You didn't know anything about my custody agreement...?"

Luke tries a quick save, "Yeah, yeah, I did. Remember? You mentioned that to me, uh, last week I think...during one of our drives..."

"I did?" Carly asks, trying to recall.

Luke stands up, as if someone behind her has his attention, "Yep. I'm sure you did. Yeah, your lawyer..."

She studies him quizzically, then turns and looks over her shoulder. She only sees the waitress, staring over at Luke with a blank look on her pretty face.

"Yeah, I'll be right over!" Luke gestures to the waitress, who is looking at him now in confusion.

He taps the bar in front of Carly, causing her to turn back around to face him. He says, "I have to go take care of something right now." He tries an uneasy laugh, "You just can't find good help these days..." Then he makes his escape.

Carly takes another sip of her drink, then reaches for the glass bowl of nuts on the bar, tossing a handful into her mouth and chewing angrily. She is angry at Luke, but not as angry as he thinks she is.

She is more mad at herself for messing up her life again. She tells herself she should have known that things can only go so well for her before the other shoe drops. Then she wonders, for the hundredth time that evening, why??

Something wells up within her as she sits at the bar, as her mind replays the day. The emotion she feels is not anger, not pain, not even embarrassment. It is an emotion she barely recognizes, as she has felt it so infrequently.

It is pride.

She suddenly finds herself thinking, You know what? You don't deserve this, Carly! You did nothing wrong. You deserve to be treated better than like a common slut. Not that she truly believes that Sonny treated her that way, but it makes her fury at him easier to sustain. She tells herself, You don't have to settle, Carly!

Luke returns reluctantly to his station behind the bar, out of reasons not to be there. He takes his seat and snatches the newspaper from the shelf beneath the bar. He opens it up and lifts it so that he can not see Carly. And she can not see him.

She reaches over the bar and bends the paper down.

He looks up at her, acting annoyed, "What?"

"I'm not quitting," she informs him.

He shrugs, "Fine."

She continues, "But I'm going to come here, do my job, and collect my paycheck. And that's it. And I want you to mind your own damn business! I'm not telling you another thing about my life because I just don't trust you anymore."

He barks, "Ha! Didn't know you trusted me in the first place, kid!" He shakes the newspaper out of her grip and straightens it in front of him again.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she says to the newspaper. Then she gets up and leaves.

Luke slowly lowers the paper and watches her walk out of the bar. The rush of feeling that comes over him at her admonishment is unexpected.

Claude sidles quietly up to Luke and nudges him with an elbow, causing Luke to almost fall out of his seat in surprise. "What???" Luke snaps loudly to his bartender.

Claude, wiping out a shot glass, says pointedly, "Geez, Luke. You sure are touchy tonight..."

Luke furls his brow, his cigar still secure in his teeth as he speaks defensively, "I'm not touchy! I'm mad!" He waves a hand in front of him, sputtering, "Look at this pitiful crowd! Just look at it!"

Shrugging, Claude replies, "Yeah? This is how it usually is on a weeknight..."

Luke sputters a bit, "Well then...we ought to do something about it then!"

Claude nods noncommittally and walks away.

******

"So, she's home now?" Sonny asks under his breath into the phone, his back to Susan.

"Yeah," Francis reports.

Sonny looks at his watch, "What took her so long?"

"She stopped at Luke's," Francis says flatly.

"Luke's?" Sonny scratches his chin, inexplicably nervous, his heart quickening, "Uh...what? Was she alone?"

Francis is confused, "I'm sorry?"

Sonny rubs the back of his neck with the heel of his hand and asks again, more insistently, "Did she go home alone?"

"Oh!" Francis utters. He nods into his receiver, "Yeah. She went home alone."

Sonny nods, relieved, "Okay."

He hangs up and turns around, only to find Susan staring at him with that irksome grin on her face.

******

Carly is playing with Michael in the library, the early morning sun streaming through the glass of the French doors.

She forces herself to be cheerful, despite a restless night. She spent the entire night sleeping, then waking up with a start. She would be sure that her telephone was ringing, that Sonny was calling her.

Then, of course, reality would hit and she would get disappointed and peeved again.

She holds the storybook up in her hands as she reads, so that Michael can see the pictures. She finds that she has mastered the motherly skill of reading upside-down quite nicely.

She looks up when she hears a nervous, "Ahem..." behind her.

She mutters, "Hello, AJ."

He walks into the room, smiling and waving at Michael, who is grinning at his father. AJ stands beside her as she sits on the floor with their son and folds his arms across his chest. He says curiously, "Whose car is that outside? Somebody give you a ride?"

She smirks at him smugly, "It's my car." Sure, I haven't exactly paid for it yet...

He is genuinely taken aback, "Wow. Carly. You're driving??"

"Um," she says snidely, "isn't that usually what a person does with a car?" Idiot.

He is flabbergasted, "Wow...that's great! I mean, well, congratulations! Wow..."

She rolls her eyes, "Thanks. You don't have to be so shocked!"

"It's just that, well," he is having trouble finding the words, "it's just, it's unexpected that's all."

"Why?" she counters, the ache of the night before still with her like a bad hangover, "because it's me? Because it's Carly? And Carly is never supposed to do anything good, right??"

He shakes his head slowly, "I didn't say that, Carly."

"Well, you thought it!" she says accusingly, trying to keep her voice calm in front of Michael. She smiles at AJ and asks, "What do you want, AJ? You're horning in on my time."

He sighs and takes a seat. He clears his throat, evidently nervous. "I have something I need to discuss with you."

Latecia peeks in as if on cue.

AJ says to the nanny, "Could you take him out on the terrace for a few minutes?"

"Of course," Latecia agrees with a smile. She offers her hand to Michael. He looks over at his father, then at his mother, the question in his eyes.

Carly kisses Michael's cheek and assures him, "Mommy will be right here when you get back."

Latecia gently urges him with her, and he goes, looking over his shoulder often to make sure Carly is still there.

Once they are out of earshot, Carly turns to AJ. "This better not be about Sonny..." she warns. Then she remembers. She says softly, "Never mind. That's not a problem anymore."

He widens his eyes, "It's not?"

"No," she answers shortly, seeing the pleased look in his eyes. Then she adds before he can open his mouth again, "And don't ask!"

"Okay," AJ says, the relief all over his face, "I won't ask." After a pause, during which AJ counts his lucky stars, he starts again, "Listen, I wanted to talk to you about next week."

She looks at him warily, "What about next week?"

"I want to take Michael to Philadelphia," the words tumble out of AJ's mouth one on top of the other.

"What??? Again???" When he just looks at her sheepishly in response, she rails at him, her voice a rough whisper, "You listen to me and listen good, AJ! If you think you can take my son and move him away to Philadelphia, you'd better think again!" She points to the phone and bluffs, "I can have my lawyer over here in fifteen minutes!!!"

He puts his hands up in a calming gesture, "Now, I'm hoping we can be reasonable about this, Carly. I am more than willing to have you take him for a week after we get back," especially now that the mobster's out of the picture.

Carly is about to make her objections clear when she hears Michael chirp through the partially open door, "Keekee!!!!"

She looks over at her son and sees the smile on his face, wide and engaging. Keekee, Carly grimaces inwardly.

AJ continues, "Listen, I'm not trying to steal our son away from you or anything. You know that."

"I do?" Carly snaps without thinking.

"Yes," he says in frustration, "you do." He waits a beat, then says, "I know how much Michael loves you, how much he wants to spend time with you. I wouldn't do anything to hurt him."

She looks out at Michael sadly.

AJ squats so that he is level with Carly. Then he smiles as he looks at their son, "He talks about you, you know. A lot."

She looks at AJ and asks softly, "He does?"

AJ nods, "All the time. He always wants to know when you're coming over. When he's going to get to see Mommy again."

Carly blinks slowly, her eyes stinging. She sniffs, trying to keep from crying. She admits grudgingly, "He talks about you too."

AJ is pleasantly surprised, "Really?"

Carly nods. She bites her lip, "A week?"

"A week," AJ confirms.

She pouts, assenting, "Okay."

"Thank you, Carly," AJ sighs, happy and relieved at her cooperation.

Carly simply nods and looks away, trying to hide wiping a tear away from her cheek.

No Michael.

No Luke.

No Sonny.

She knows that this next week will be the longest of her life.

******

Sonny's got the phone to his ear, anxiously listening to Benny's elated voice. "Are you sure, Benny??" he asks.

"Yes," Benny laughs, "I can't believe it, but it went through, Sonny! We got Pfizer!"

Sonny shuts his eyes and lets himself breathe again.

Yes!! He was certain when Susan left the penthouse the night before that he was doomed. He was not even able to sleep.

Sure, he was finally honest with her about the true state of his organization, but she would not let him know one way or the other whether she was going to support him with Pfizer.

Apparently she has.

Sonny hangs up the telephone and hangs his head, relief flooding his body. He claps his hands together and smiles to himself. Then he looks around the penthouse and his happiness is subdued.

He sees only empty space and dead furniture looking back at him.

He wants to celebrate. He feels too good to be alone.

And he can think of only one person with whom he would like to celebrate.

Carly.

He opens the front door and calls for Johnny to come inside.

Sonny rubs his chin, his manner edgy. He clears his throat, then says to the bodyguard, "Now, say you wanted to apologize to somebody...?" He lets his voice trail off and his eyes watch Johnny with a mixture of anticipation and embarrassment.

Johnny clears his throat too, knowing exactly what Sonny is talking about. He says, "Well, it would depend on who I was apologizing to. Now, if it was a woman, say, a girlfriend or something, then I'd take flowers, maybe a bottle of nice wine."

Sonny nods, weighing the bodyguard's words.

Johnny shuffles his feet, then adds hesitantly, "And if I really pissed her off, I'd get a lot of flowers."

Sonny meets his eyes questioningly, "A lot?"

Johnny echoes, "A lot."

Sonny nods to himself again, "You want to take care of that for me?"

The bodyguard remains impassive, but manages a slight nod as Sonny puts a wad of cash into his hand.

Then Sonny waves Johnny out of the penthouse.

He wonders how angry Carly could actually be. After all, he reasons, she was the one who showed up unannounced during a meeting she knew about ahead of time.

Interrupting my meeting for no good reason...

He figures all he has to make up for is brushing her off.