Bobbie sat at Wyndemere, waiting for Stefan to come home. She had to ask him about Lisa and hope that he cared enough to tell her the truth.
The next person to come in the door wasn’t Stefan, but Nikolas. Nikolas walked in and saw Bobbie sitting in the living room in a daze. He walked over to her, “Bobbie, what’s the matter?”
She jumped slightly, just noticing that he was in the room. She thought for a minute. Maybe he was the one to get a truthful response from. “Oh, Nikolas, I didn’t see you.”
“Apparently.”
“What can you tell me about Lisa?”
Uh oh, he thought. I sense trouble. “Lisa who?” he asked.
“My niece, Lisa Spencer.”
Nikolas was surprised to hear that Lisa was going by her old name. “I see she’s gone back to Spencer. What was wrong with Smith?”
“Then you do know her?”
Nikolas nodded. There was no reason to hide the truth. Part of it, anyway. “She was a servant to our family for as long as I can remember. My uncle released her of her services several years ago. I hear she just travels around on the money we gave her.”
“Nothing else?”
“Not as far as I know,” he lied. It was easier for him to think of Lisa as a separate person from the Leezia that was part of the family. The circumstances that changed one to the other were very drastic. He’d heard terrible stories about a cousin named Evans.
Bobbie seemed satisfied by his response. Nikolas had no reason to lie to her, she thought. “Thanks Nikolas. I needed to hear that.” She decided to wait for her husband upstairs. “Goodnight.”
Nikolas nodded as Bobbie left the room. Nikolas breathed deeply, knowing that he’d dodged a bullet for his uncle. The next few days should prove very interesting.
*****
Alexander Spencer was waiting by the docks for someone. Just as he thought his old bones would freeze, Lisa walked up to him. He shook his head. “Land sakes, child, this must be the coldest place in Port Charles. What are you trying to do, freeze your old grandpa to death?”
She rolled her eyes, “You said you wanted to meet someplace low key.”
“Yeah, but it could have been indoors.”
“Get over it. What do you want?” she asked harshly.
“Why do you think I came to town?”
Lisa shrugged, “Boredom? Here to cause trouble?” After a minute of no response from Alexander, she continued, “I have a idea, though.”
“Go on.”
“I think Helena sent you here to get rid of me.”
He laughed, “Don’t flatter yourself, Lisa. Helena doesn’t think that much of you.”
“I’m not flattering myself. I’m remembering the last time I saw you.”
“Let me fill you in. For once, I’m doing something because I want to. I came here to make peace with my children and grandchildren. All of them. Lucas, Barbara, you, Caroline, Lucky, BJ, Lucas and Lesley Lu.”
Lisa stared at Alexander, “If you knew half the things about your family as you claim to, you would know that your family isn’t what you think it is. Little BJ was killed in a car accident a couple of years ago.”
Alexander looked truly upset. “Little BJ is dead?”
Lisa nodded, “Yes. Just so you know, Caroline is dead too.”
“No, she’s alive, I’ve seen her, you know her. You and she are good friends.”
“Look, Gramps,” she said the word with disgust. “You’re wrong. Caroline Benson is dead. That girl you know is Carly Roberts. So get your facts straight, or you might as well give up trying to make peace with anyone.” And with that, Lisa started to walk away.
Alexander called after her, “Don’t turn your back on me, Lisa!” She turned around to face him. He continued softly, “Your life is not that valuable. However, if you were to leave Stefan and let him continue his life with Barbara Jean, it will not be necessary to eliminate you.”
Lisa wanted to hurl an insult, but her stomach was in her throat. She had been right, he was trying to kill her. Without another word, she quickly walked away. She had decisions to make.
“Consider that your warning,” Alexander shouted to her retreating form.
*****
Stefan and Alexis stood in the guest house on Spoon Island. “Do you honestly think this will work?” Alexis asked him.
“I have no other choice, Alexis.”
She laughed. “I think you do. Stefan, you’re going to have to make a decision. Do you want to continue your marriage to Lisa, or do you want a divorce so you can marry Bobbie for real.”
“A divorce?” he frowned as he said that word.
“Unless you want to risk being charged with bigamy, yes.”
Stefan continued to frown as he walked around the room. “Have you spoken to Leezia about moving here?”
Alexis nodded, “I told her that it would be beneficial to her. If she wanted to fight for your marriage, she would have to be closer to you. Since she obviously can’t live in Wyndemere with you and Bobbie, I suggested that this would be the next best place.”
“What was her reaction?”
“She’s a smart woman, Stefan. She arranged for her cousin to help convince her father, Laura and Bobbie that she was leaving town again.”
Stefan stared at the fireplace, “What were you able to find out about Alexander?”
“Helena’s guards are very closed mouthed about the whole situation. The closest I’ve been able to come to a motive is...” she stopped mid-sentence when her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket quickly. “Hello.”
“He’s trying to kill me!” Lisa’s frightened voice quickly said.
Alexis tried to calm her down, “Lisa, slow down. Who’s trying to kill you?”
Stefan turned towards Alexis anxiously.
“Alexander. He said that if I divorced Stefan, I wouldn’t be killed.”
“Okay,” Alexis said slowly, “Are you packed?”
“Yes.”
“Go ahead and meet me at the guest house on Spoon Island. Everything’s prepared, you can stay here.”
“Does Stefan know?” Lisa asked. Before Alexis could answer, Lisa answered for her, “Nevermind, stupid question. Meet me at Luke’s, I need to talk to you about something. I can’t come there. I’ve made my decision.”
“All right. I’ll meet you there in an hour.” Alexis hung up her cell phone and turned to Stefan. We just got Alexander’s reason for being in town.”
“Well?”
“He’s trying to break up your marriage with Lisa. She’ll leave you one way or the other. Either by choice, or in a body bag.”
Stefan practically growled. “I’ll take care of it.”
*****
Lisa sat in Luke’s office. “What are you saying, Sunshine?” Luke asked.
Lisa shrugged, “I guess I’m going to tell Stefan where to get off.”
Luke beamed, “Good for you, Darlin’. Now if I could just convince your aunt to do the same thing.”
“Not likely,” Lisa admitted. “She came over to my place the other night.”
“What did she want?” Luke asked.
“To ask me if I was sleeping with Stefan. Then Caroline came in.” Lisa laughed slightly, “She called us both husband stealing tramps and left.”
Luke frowned, “I don’t think that’s very funny.”
“It was if you had been there. Anyway, I convinced her that I was leaving town. That seemed to calm her down some. But I expect that Stefan had some heavy questions to answer.”
Luke nodded, “So what are you telling the Cassadine mouthpiece when she gets here?”
“Just what I told you, Daddy. That I’m telling Stefan it’s over.”
Luke stood up and gave her a quick hug, “I’m so proud of you, Sunshine.”
Lisa smiled slightly, not wanting her father to see how upset she was about the whole situation. And definitely not wanting him to find out that the only reason she was willing to give up on her marriage was a death threat. From her own grandfather, even.
*****
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Lisa sat at the bar of the club and warmed herself with a cup of coffee. She sighed as Alexis walked in and immediately rushed over to her. “Lisa, tell me you’re not serious. You aren’t giving up on Stefan.”
Lisa looked at Alexis and then back at her coffee. “Hello. And yes, I’m serious. Never been more serious in all of my life.”
“Does Stefan have any clue about this?”
“If Stefan had much of a clue about me, these measures wouldn’t be necessary.”
“Have you lost your mind? This just isn’t done.” Alexis took a good look at Lisa and saw the hurt in her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s this thing with Bobbie, isn’t it.”
Lisa drank her coffee and frowned, “Well, it’s that and the fact that if I don’t, my own grandfather’s going to kill me.”
Alexis sighed, “He won’t do that. Stefan can protect you.”
Lisa glared at her, “Just like he was able to protect me from Billy?”
Alexis got defensive, “You’re still alive aren’t you? If you had been forced to marry Billy, you wouldn’t be. He would have killed you long ago.”
“Billy’s dead because of my father. Not because of Stefan. Stefan never attempted to get rid of the problem.”
Alexis put her hand up in defeat. “All right. You are right. Just please, talk to Stefan, before you do something you might regret later. Okay?”
Lisa nodded, but didn’t say anything.
Alexis looked at her again, “And go ahead and move into the guest house. At least there the security is loyal to Stefan and will be able to watch you. Please.”
Lisa looked at her for a minute. Was she sincere, or just putting on her lawyer face. She’d rather believe the former. “Okay. I’ll do it. After I talk with Stefan. It may be a moot point after our discussion.”
Alexis nodded, “Fine.” She left as quickly as she came in.
Lisa made a quick call to Stefan and told him that they needed to talk. She drank the rest of her coffee as Luke walked in. She stood up and met him by the door.
“Well?”
“Wish me luck, Daddy,” she said as she kissed him on the cheek and left.
“Always, Sunshine,” he said, smiling.
*****
Stefan was very patient where Lisa was concerned, but she had sounded upset on the phone and now she was running late, something she had never done before.
He was alone at Wyndemere. Bobbie and Lucas were out shopping, Nikolas was at the hospital, and the staff were off for the evening. He heard the front door open. “Leezia?” he called.
As Lisa walked in the living room, Stefan opened his arms to her. She refused to approach him.
She took a deep breath. She was about to do something no Cassadine had ever done before. “I have to give you something.”
Stefan frowned, “What’s the matter Leezia, is it bad news?”
She reached up slowly to undo the clasp on her pendant when he stepped over and stopped her. “Don’t,” he said.
She looked at him. “Why not? What good is it?”
“You are my wife, you deserve to wear it.”
She was hoping he would say something like that. “Deserve? Stefan, you only married me to keep me from Billy. Now he’s dead, and you want your freedom. I’m giving it to you.”
“I never said that. Is your father putting crazy ideas in your head?”
“No, you are. Stefan, you said that you care for Bobbie. I can’t be your part time wife. I deserve better, so do you and so does Bobbie.” She started to cry as she said the next sentence, “I don’t have to worry about Billy coming after me or my children anymore. You don’t have to protect me. You can go on with your life.”
Stefan frowned again, “This is because of Alexander, isn’t it?”
She shook her head, refusing to admit that Alexander was the reason. “It’s over, Stefan.”
“It’s never over as long as you wear that pendant.”
Refusing to yell, she calmly said, “That’s why I’m not wearing it anymore.” She quickly snatched it off, breaking the chain, threw it at him and ran out.
He caught it deftly and yelled after her. “Leezia! Come back!” But she was already gone. He looked gently but sadly down at the pendant, put it in his pocket and walked out the door.
*****
Lisa ran off the launch from Spoon Island and towards the passenger side of the waiting car.
Laura watched as Lisa got in the car. She could see the tears in her eyes. She understood how much Lisa was hurting. “Do you want to just drive around for a while?”
Lisa nodded. “Would you mind? I’m not ready to go back to my empty room at Kelly’s.”
Laura pulled out and started driving. “How did he take it?”
Lisa shrugged, “Better than me, I guess. I didn’t give him the chance to say anything. You know Momma, he’s the only man I ever loved. I feel like I just cut out my heart.”
“I know what it’s like to feel like you have to be apart from the man you love.”
Lisa looked over at Laura, “You mean when you and Dad were separated?” Laura glanced at her, Lisa continued, “Lucky told me.”
“Do you really think that Alexander would go through with his threat against you?”
Lisa nodded, “He works strictly for Helena. She’s never approved of my relationship with Stefan. She was always calling me a commoner, a servant and so on and so forth. She thinks Stefan should be married to royalty.”
Laura laughed slightly, “That would hardly be Bobbie.”
“I know, but in her eyes, I guess that Bobbie is a more mature woman and somebody worthy of Stefan’s attention.”
Laura shrugged, “Possibly.” Lisa turned and stared out the window. The rest of the trip was spent in silence.
*****
Stefan knew that Lisa wouldn’t go back to her boarding room immediately, so he used the time to his advantage. He pulled the never before used key out of his pocket as he entered Kelly’s. Fortunately, no one was around, so he walked upstairs, unobserved, and let himself into Lisa’s room to wait.
*****
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