immigrationman1chap24.htmlTEXTGoMk3?V?V Welcome to Adobe GoLive 4 Mr. Immigration Man, Chapter 24




Stefan is sitting in the conservatory, waiting for his plan to come to fruition when....

" Hello Stefan. Surprise!"

" Katherine? What are you doing here?"

" Aren't you glad to see me?"

" Yes, well, no. This is not a good time for me. I am quite busy."

" Funny. You did not look busy when I walked into the room."

" I am not busy NOW...but I fully expect to be busy quite soon. There are serious problems with a couple of our companies in Russia. I am awaiting contact from the executives over there, and I was relaxing before that all took over."

" Oh. I see. Well, I could stay with you until the calls came?"

" No. That's not necessary. And actually I have to go over some paperwork. I AM sorry Katherine, but this is crucial to the business."

" I understand. I will leave you to your paperwork. But, if you ask me, you are giving up a better time?"

" Indeed, I am."

" Goodbye, Stefan."

Kisses him.

" Goodbye, Katherine."

As Katherine leaves, Stefan sits and waits. And hopes that his plan will come to fruition. Everything is in place. And with Ms. Jones and Dr. Hardy gone on trips, Ruby Anderson gone for a surprise sweepstakes win that he planned, and the Drs. Quartermaine in NYC with their daughter, Barbara would have no one else...but him, when her world began to fall apart.

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

Bobbie is sitting in the living room with the yearbook.

" I wonder why Luke never showed this to me?"

Bobbie sits on the couch. She begins to read the yearbook. She automatically turns to try and find her class picture. But there is nothing but a blank picture there. She reads all the messages to Caroline. All the words. She begins to look through the book, page by page. And she stumbles upon a picture of Carly.

" What's Carly doing in this yearbook?"

Her eyes then go down to the Caption: Caroline Bensen: Life of the Party.

Bobbie reads them over and over again. Dumbstruck. No, they must be mistaken.

She then goes through the book until she comes to the head of the Caroline's Class Section.

She Reads:

This section is dedicated to Carly Roberts, who died in an unfortunate car crash this year. She was one of our finest and most promising students. We asked Carly's best friend, Caroline Bensen, if she would write the tribute to her.

Bobbie did not bother with the tribute. She felt the bile rising in her throat. She barely made it to the sink before she regurgitated. She went upstairs to the bathroom, and rinsed her face off and gargled with mouthwash. But as she came down the stairs, the tears were streaming down her face.

Carly Roberts WAS Caroline Bensen.

The Caroline Bensen that was HER daughter.

The girl/woman who:
befriended her
stole her husband
was willing to instigate a custody fight that would lose her her son
and is now pregnant by said husband with his child

She knew that this was the truth. But how do you reconcile that something you've wanted for such a long time: to be reunited with your child, with the child being a monster?

And then Bobbie fell back on the steps.

Because it finally dawned on her why Luke never showed her the yearbook.

Because Luke knows the truth.

He knew the truth and kept in from her.

He allowed all of this to escalate completely out of control.

He used her to betray her husband, knowing full and well that he had betrayed her in a way unimaginable.

Luke.

The tears were stinging almost like acid as they came down her face.

And a rage began to well in Bobbie. One that she decided against trying to control.

As she got up off the steps, she heard a key in the door.

Luke opened the door, with a silly grin on his face. He saw Bobbie and immediately came over to her.

"Barbara Jean? What's wrong?"

Bobbie pulled away from him. And turned her back on him.

" Bobbie?"

With all her might, Bobbie rolled up her hand and as she turned around, struck Luke with everything she had. She knocked him down.

" What the hell is wrong with you?"

" No. The question is, my dear darling brother, is why I didn't do worse."

" Bobbie..."

" Before you say anything, I'd like to tell you that, while cleaning, I made an interesting discovery. A yearbook."

" A yearbook?"

" Yes. A yearbook. Come on Luke. Spin those lies. You do them so well."

" Bobbie, make some sense."

" TELL ME THE TRUTH! Tell me about my daughter!"

" BJ?"

" Don't be stupid."

" Oh."

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

Nikolas and Alexis were in her suite at the Port Charles Hotel.

" So, my Uncle has a hot date?"

" No, not that I know of, why?"

" Why did you bring me here?"

" I told him that I wanted to discuss some private family matters with you, and since he has a great deal of business, he thought that maybe we would be better off here."

" Oh. What did you want to discuss?"

" You future plans. Where do you see yourself, Nikolas?"

" See myself? I will Head the Family, one day."

" I know that. Have you thought about University?"

" I don't know. What do you think?"

" Well, I went to Harvard. And it's not bad. Although, there are several on The Continent that I know your Uncle is considering."

" He really doesn't want me to stay in the States, does he?"

" No, he doesn't."

" Before we get deep into this, may I ask you a question?"

" Sure. What?"

" About my Uncle and Bobbie. Do you think that he's forgiven her? I mean, she did try to drug him."

" I don't know about your Uncle's feelings towards Bobbie. How were they on the trip?"

" Fine. Polite. No, more than polite. They were friendly towards each other. I just don't see how they could get past what she did to him."

" I thought that you wanted and was trying to have Bobbie as a friend."

" I am...but she did not try and drug me."

" Well, Nikolas. Sad to say, but in the annals of Cassadine marriages, what Bobbie did was quite mild. Doesn't even rate up their in awful things done to Cassadine spouses. And, even though , you are mature for your age, you'll learn that people do all sorts of things for passion in relationships that make no sense."

" But, that's just it, Alexis. I don't think that Bobbie drugged Uncle over Katherine at all."

" Why would you say this?"

" Just a feeling I have."

" Well, how about the two of us in a marathon backgammon feast."

" What does the winner get?"

" Those terms will be negotiated at the end."

" Spoken like the attorney you are."

They both laugh.

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

Barbara Jean..I can explain."

" Oh, you can. I don't think so."

" Darling, you were in pain. So much pain...remember, due to Tony?"

" Tony and MY DAUGHTER!"

" Yes, Tony and Carly."

" Uh-huh."

" Well, I just didn't think that you could handle it."

" Handle what, Luke? And you think I can handle your despicable lies now?"

" Yes."

During this time, Bobbie's reaction is not one of wild fury. Quite the opposite. Her voice is lowered, almost to a whisper. A very cold whisper.

" Well, you're wrong! You're so wrong, I don't know where to begin. I would never, in my entire life, thought that you were capable of such betrayal. I don't know why, cause I saw what you were capable of when you faked Laura's death. How, you stood, in this room and accused me of being Stefan's accomplice in killing Laura. Why didn't I realize it then, that if you could do that to me, you could do anything."

" Bobbie..please..."

" PLease what, Luke? Understand? I am trying to understand. I did. But I can't. What, did the cat just hold your tongue all this time? You certainly had enough to say about Stefan all this time? In all the time that we were together, you just couldn't say...Bobbie, Carly's your daughter? What were you thinking? What was going on in your mind? You're so big on family, Luke. It's your mantra. Did you ever think of MY family Luke? Particularly my son, your namesake? Did you EVER think of the ramifications of a 6 year old boy? Back when you found out, we could have protected Lucas from it all. It was only concerning the adults, and he need not have known anything. But now? What am I going to do about him? Gail Baldwin will have him in therapy for years. Now, I have been telling him to get adjusted to his father's new life. With his father's new girlfriend. And now, the baby. The Baby. My God, Luke, there's an innocent child involved now. My grandchild. Lucas'......well, what do I tell him, his brother/sister, or niece/nephew. Do you know how my stomach is turning at the thought that I will have to explain this to Lucas. HOW can I do it. And don't even think about telling me that kids are survivors. I wanted more for my children than that. I am not the one who kept my child on the run from the Mob for almost a decade."

" Hey.."

" Hey, what? What the hell am I tellling you that isn't true? You think about yourself, Luke. You don't have a focus outside of yourself. You certainly did not give me any thought. You know what? Stefan said that I was a fool to believe that you were...as he called it...my Errand Knight...he said that you'd toss me, like anyone else."

" Now, you're quoting Stefan Cassadine to me?"

" Oh, finally a sentence. About my family, the words can't come off your lip, but I mention Stefan Cassadine, and they flow. Great, I see your priority. Nice to know how high I rank. I never thought...in all my life, that you would take a knife to me, Luke. But that's what you've done. Well, no need. I don't need or want your protection anymore. Barbara Jean Spencer will take care of herself. And do for herself whatever the hell she wants. You can just take me off your pity list. I'm not there anymore. Goodbye."

" And where are you going?"

" As far away from you as possible. Don't let this calmness fool you. I have never thought I would be capable of extreme violence towards you. But, at this moment, if I stay, I think I'd kill you."

With that, Bobbie leaves. She hears Luke calling for her, pleading in his voice. But she ignores it all. As she gets into her car, the only thing that she could feel was that rage that she had contained while in the house. Bobbie goes back to the Brownstone, looking for Felicia and then Simone. But then she remembers that they took the kids on a camping trip, and that's where Lucas was too. Then she got back in her car and started towards the Quartermaines, but then remembered that Alan and Monica had taken Emily to NYC for school shopping and family time. She thought of Ruby. When she got to the diner, Gina told Bobbie of the surprise sweepstakes that Ruby had won. Bobbie thanked her and left. Sitting on a bench, on Bannister's Wharf, Bobbie began to sob. In the middle of her cry, she lifted her eyes and saw Spoon Island.

AND, then she heard Stefan's voice in her head, telling her that Luke was capable of deep betrayal. Does Stefan know?, she thinks. She decides to find out. And before she knew it, she was on the launch, on her way to Wyndermere. &nOKUCancel:K_Cancel *҈Progress2AҀPdOKKUnable to Complete OperationK)Due to Memory Constraints..K>Try Closing Som