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Thursday
“Blair, no way in hell,” Todd shouted, walking inside the Manning home.
“Come on Todd, it’ll be fun,” she called, following him in with Jack in her arms.
“I’ll go,” Starr interjected following her parents.
“You know I hate wearing tuxes and you know I hate Morgan. Why would you do this to me?”
“You don’t hate Jason, Todd,” Blair told him, rolling her eyes and setting Jack down. “We’re going.”
“I’ll go!” Starr tried again.
“You’re not going, either,” Todd told Starr.
She crossed her arms across her chest. “Why not? You said . . .”
“Starr,” Todd interrupted. “You’re not going.”
“I never get to do anything fun around here,” she huffed and made her way into the living room.
“Here,” Todd picked up Jack and held him out to Blair at arms length. “Take Jack. Put him in a tux and call him mini-Todd.”
She simply raised an eyebrow at Todd and crossed her arms across her chest. Jack began to squirm sensing the not so good tension between his parents. Todd put Jack down and he ran after Starr.
“Come on, Blair, I heard they have vampires there. That's not normal!”
The other eyebrow went up in response.
“God damnit,” Todd muttered. “If I get bitten by a vampire it’s your fault. Remember that,” he told her, stalking into the living room.
She rolled her eyes and couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her mouth as she followed him. “Stop saying there’s vampires, Todd. People are gonna think you’re nuts.”
“I am nuts for marrying you,” he told her grabbing her from behind and pulling her against his chest. “You owe me big for going to this deal with you.”
“I can think of couple of ways to thank you,” she told him, a playful smile on her lips.
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday
“What do you want from me, Steve?” Lou asked him walking out of her bedroom and into the living room.
“Your word that you won’t go out with that jerk O’Brien again,” he told her as he stood from the couch to face her.
She sighed walking past him and into the kitchen. “He’s gonna be there at the ball so just let it go.”
“Fuck if I’ll let it go. I don’t like him. There’s something off about him, Lou. He uses women, I can tell.”
“Steve, please,” she pleaded walking past him once again.
He grabbed her by the elbow stopping her frantic movements. “I thought we were friends, Lou.”
She looked at him, hurt in her eyes. “Of course we’re friends. Steve, you’re the best friend I’ve had in . . . ever. Why would you even say that?”
He shrugged and his shoulders sagged a little. “Then why did I find out about you and O'Brien from Todd?”
“This is why, Steve,” she told him softly motioning between them. “I didn’t want you to get overprotective and angry.”
“I don’t think I could take it if something happened to you, Lou.”
She couldn’t help but smile at him, trying to not only reassure him, but herself as well. “I know, but I can handle this.” She patted him on the arm gently. “Really, Steve.”
“If he fucks with you, I get to kill him.”
“Okay,” she told him dismissively.
“Promise?”
“Yes, I promise. Now get going, I have to finish packing.”
“Just one more thing,” he told her, cupping her face with his hands.
“Steve, what--”
He cut her off with a kiss before she could respond and she wrapped her arms around him instantly melting into him.
“I love you, Lou,” he gasped.
“Oh, god, Steve,” she whispered against his mouth. “I love you, too. So much.”
Lou awoke with a start and sat up in bed breathing heavily. “Jesus,” she muttered to herself running a hand through her hair. “Where the fuck did that come from?” She fell back onto the mattress and tried to ignore the chill that went up her spine. “That’s it. No more cheesecake before bedtime,” she chastised herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday
Todd began to tug at his collar, already uncomfortable with the choking sensation the bowtie was giving him. He wanted nothing more then to rip it off and fling it across the room. His eyes roamed about the Port Charles Hotel lobby and finally found what he was looking for. He grabbed Blair’s hand and they walked further into the crowd.
“Morgan,” Todd simply said, coming up behind him.
“Manning,” Jason replied as he turned around.
And without prodding or hesitation, the two men shook hands comfortably.
“Heard anything?” Todd questioned.
“Nothing. You?”
“Same.”
“Sonofabitch,” they both muttered at the same time.
Blair cleared her throat and Todd remembered his wife by his side.
“Jason, hi,” Blair greeted. Jason smiled in return and accepted the kiss on his cheek a bit uncomfortably.
“Blair, come on, don’t kiss the guy.”
“Shut it,” she told him and kissed him as well. “Carly?” Blair simply asked.
Jason pointed towards the right and Blair caught sight of Carly. “Thanks.”
A few seconds later, Steve and Lou approached Todd and Jason. They greeted one another before a small silence engulfed them.
“Where’d the girls go?” Lou finally asked, breaking the silence.
Jason pointed to the ever growing crowd of women.
“Great.” She went to move towards them, but Steve didn’t let go of her arm. She turned to him, confused. “Steve?”
“I wanna talk to you first.”
She frowned slightly and excused themselves from Todd and Jason. “What's wrong?” she asked concerned, her arm still firmly held with his.
“Louise, . . .”
“Don’t start, Steve.”
“Lou, honey, be careful.”
Her eyes fell downcast at his statement, but she quickly looked back at him. Sudden memories of her dream from the previous night flooded her, but she quickly pushed them away with a shake of her head.
“Don’t worry,” she finally told him. “I can take care of myself.”
“And I’m not questioning that,” he paused briefly. “I can’t help but worry about you, Lou.”
Her eyes danced over his face waiting for a further explanation.
“You know I love you like a sister.”
Her eyes fell to the floor again and an unexplained mixed feeling of pain and anger swept through her. “You should get back to Todd,” she finally sighed.
“You’re my first priority.”
Her face hardened and she finally slipped her arm away from his. “Well, it shouldn’t be. I’m a grown woman, Steve. I think it’s time you realized that.”
She stared at him for a few seconds and then walked away towards Blair and the other women. Steve’s eyes closed, wanting to follow her, but he knew it would be unwelcome. By the time he walked back to the other men, Manny and Johnny were there as well. The men greeted each other with their manly grunts and nods as their eyes traveled back to the group of women.
“Damn those girls are hot,” Johnny finally voiced and they could only nod dumbly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lou reached the other women and pasted a smile on her face. She greeted Carly and was introduced to Marci and Sonja. A few seconds later, she excused herself from the small group and made her way to the restroom.
Once inside, Lou leaned back against the closed door and sighed deeply. This night was not turning out the way she expected. She was ready for a party when Blair invited her to the ball, but now she just wanted to leave. Her funky dream from the night before had thrown her for a loop and try as she may, she couldn’t get the damn thing out of her head. She wished for the millionth time that she never had that stupid dream. She wanted to leave Port Charles. She wanted to go back home to Llanview. And more than anything, she didn’t want to stay overnight in the same hotel room as Steve. He was pissing her off for some reason. His usual over-protectiveness that she usually found charming was now getting on her nerves.
Lou pushed herself off of the door and walked towards the hanging mirror at the far end of the room. She studied herself closely and shook her head. “What the hell is your problem, girl?” she asked herself with a frown.
Her thoughts went unfinished as Blair entered the restroom.
“You okay?” she asked Lou.
“Peachy keen,” she smiled as she turned to face her. “Why?”
“I dunno. You look kinda down.”
“Nah, I’m okay, it’s the hotel thing. You know they freak me out.”
“Well that’s why Steve’s with you. To protect you from all those boogeymen,” she laughed lightly.
Lou frowned slightly at that. “Yeah. Listen, um, do you think it’d be okay if I crashed on the couch in your room tonight?”
Blair’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Okay, now I know something’s wrong. Did you and Steve get into a fight?”
“No, it’s just . . .” she thought quickly. “Steve might find a girl tonight and wanna be alone.”
“Right,” Blair drawled. “Because that sounds like our Steve,” she finished sarcastically. “He’d never do that Lou and you know it. What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing,” Lou finally answered with a small laugh.
Blair narrowed her eyes at Lou, not believing her for a second. “Lou, come one, what’s going on?”
“It’s nothing, really. I think Todd freaked me out with all his stupid vampire talk.”
She rolled her eyes at that. “There’s no such thing as vampires. He needs to stop saying that or people are gonna think he’s insane.”
“He is insane.”
“True,” she shrugged. “Come on, let’s go. I think that cutie Johnny was looking for you,” Blair told her as she linked their arms together.
Lou couldn’t help but smile. This was exactly what she needed. A distraction. A good distraction from a guy who liked her. She followed Blair out of the restroom and she found Johnny waiting outside the door.
“Hey there, green eyes,” he greeted her with a smile.
His arms opened and she immediately fell into his embrace. This can work, Lou tried to convince herself. He’s cute. He likes me. This can work.
Her eyes fluttered shut; the deadly glare Steve gave them went unnoticed as did the displeased one from Sonja.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sonja watched the small reunion from a distance with narrowed eyes. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen Johnny flirt with hundreds of other girls before and she wasn’t willing to admit that it was bothering her now. He was free to do what he wanted. It wasn’t like she was in love with him. She scoffed at her own thoughts. Those feelings she had for him were dead and buried. They were from another lifetime that she had no intention of revisiting.
Although Marci and Carly had not brought up the topic of Johnny in the past two weeks, the subject always loomed over them. Her eyes continued to follow Johnny throughout the room and a small frown crossed her face. She was not in love with him.
Carly couldn’t help but notice Sonja from the other side of the room. She walked over to Sonja and nudged her softly with her shoulder.
“Hey,” Carly greeted.
“Hey yourself,” she answered.
“You still mad at me?”
Sonja rolled her eyes and dug the point of her Jimmy Choo slingback into the plush carpet. “I’m not mad at you, you crackhead.”
“You’ve been avoiding me,” Carly answered in return.
Sonja frowned and finally made eye contact with her. “No, I haven’t. I’ve just been . . . busy.”
“Busy avoiding a conversation about a certain guy?”
“Maybe,” Sonja finally conceded.
“Sonja, honey, you gotta decide what you want and then you have to act on it. Standing by isn’t going to get you anywhere.” Carly stepped in front of her and smiled at her. “You deserve to be happy, you know.” She pushed back a lock of her hair and glanced towards Steve. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”
“Carly, no.”
“Sonja, yes. It’s not like you have to marry the guy. He’s really nice and he’s cute.
Carly took her hand and started to tug at it as Sonja reluctantly followed.
“Steve, I don’t think you’ve met my friend Sonja yet.”
“No, I haven’t had the pleasure,” he smiled.
Sonja grinned in return, temporarily forgetting about Johnny at the sight of Steve’s dimples.
“Great,” Carly replied happily. “Sonja, Steve, Steve, Sonja. I’m gonna go find Jason, you two have fun.”
Carly quickly walked away as Sonja stared daggers at her retreating back.
“So,” Steve started. “Do you work with Carly?”
“Nope.”
“Friends?”
“Yep.”
Steve could see that this was gonna be harder than he thought. “So what do you do?”
“I work for Jason.”
“Really, doing . . . ?”
Her eyebrows went up in response.
“Oh . . . oh! Well that’s great . . . for you . . . wow . . .” he trailed off for the first time left completely speechless. “You want a drink?” he finally asked.
“Yes, please,” she answered relieved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carly made her way across the room to where she had left Jason, but found him only a few feet away. He began to shake his head at her as she stopped in front of him.
“Already getting in trouble?” he teased.
“Shut up, I am not. Sonja looked miserable so I introduced her to a new guy. Big deal.”
Jason wrapped his arms around her waist and Carly’s eyebrows rose. “What’s with the public groping? So not Jason Morgan.”
“I miss my wife.”
She laughed lightly in response. “You think this dress is hot, right?”
“That too,” he shrugged.
“Pig.”
He smiled at her and ran his fingertips down her bare back. “Did I tell you, you look beautiful tonight?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “You always look beautiful, Carly.”
Her eyes danced across his face as she patted his chest. “What the hell has gotten into you?”
His fingers continued to dance across her spine and he grinned. “I dunno, but it’s true. I love you, you know.”
“I love you too, sweetie.”
He lowered his head and kissed her softly on the mouth. “You think we can leave early?”
“Why?”
“I rented a room for tonight.”
Her smile grew wider. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, Mr. Morgan, I think we can arrange that without a problem.”
“Good.” He kissed her again and brought his mouth to her ear. “Cause I can’t wait to get you outta that dress.”
She felt her face flush, but before she could respond he walked away.
“Damn,” she muttered.
But she wouldn’t be outdone. She chased after him and grabbed him by the elbow dragging him towards a secluded corner.
“Carly?” he asked with a smirk.
She pushed him against the wall and ran her hands down his chest, a devilish smile on her face.
“What’s up?” he asked her unfazed.
Her hands continued to slide down his chest and stomach until they reached the zipper of his pants. She cupped his already hard cock and her eyes lit up in amusement. “You, apparently,” she told him.
“You offering to take care of that problem for me?”
“I don’t know, Jase. Have you been a good boy lately?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
She pressed herself against him and pulled his head down to hers for a kiss. She pulled away quickly and settled her mouth against his ear. “That’s all you get for now,” she whispered and walked off without looking back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Todd continued to tug at his collar watching people carefully as they walked by. He nudged Blair with his elbow, his eyes following a small petite woman.
“Look, Blair, I betcha she’s one of them. She’s as white as my shirt.”
Blair rolled her eyes at her husband. “Todd, stop it. She’s not a vampire. There are no vampires here.”
He huffed, continuing to tug at his collar and survey his surroundings at the same time. Blair silently wished she could get him to stop doing that.
“You know, if there are vampires,” she started, pushing Todd’s hand down to his side. “All that tugging at your collar is bringing attention to that juicy neck of yours.”
Todd’s eyes widened at that. “See, you’re starting to believe me, aren’t you?”
“Todd . . .”
“What in the hell are you two doing here?” came the shrill voice from behind.
Todd and Blair turned to see who it was and Blair sighed deeply.
“See, Blair,” Todd began. “There’s my proof. Look at that pale skin and that big fat mouth. There’s only one explanation for that.”
Skye Quartermaine glared at the two people in front of her. “Answer my question. You can’t just come here and crash this party.”
Blair crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Todd. “Is she talking to us?”
“If we ignore it, will it go away?” he asked her in return.
“If the two of you don’t leave this hotel in five seconds, I’ll have security throw you out.”
“What’s going on?” Jason asked coming up behind Skye.
“Jason, thank God! These two are uninvited trash from Llanview. You need to get someone to throw them out.”
“Llanview, huh?” Jason replied.
“Yes, Llanview. Why are you just standing there? Get rid of them!”
“Why?”
“Look, I’m just looking out for you. They own a rag paper and they’re probably here to print lies about you.”
“There you are,” Carly stated as she took hold of Jason’s hand. Her face crinkled with disgust when she saw Skye. “Why are you here?”
“I’m trying to help you,” she snapped back.
“I’m so bored with this already,” Blair sighed. “Get lost, Skye.”
“What?” Skye shrieked. “I’m here by invitation, unlike you.”
“They’re here as our guests, you stupid wench,” Carly told her. “Now leave before we have you thrown out for harassment.”
“You’re friends with these morons?” Skye asked incredulously.
“The only moron around here is you,” Jason told her. “Leave. Now.”
She glared open-mouthed at the four people in front of her. Todd smiled at her and then snapped at the air with his teeth.
“Pig,” she muttered and walked away.
“Friend of yours?” Carly asked laughingly.
“We go way back. I think she’s still mad that we tried to frame her for attempted murder. Go figure,” Todd replied.
“Some people just can’t take a joke I guess,” Blair laughed.
“Good to know you hate the same people we do,” Carly replied with a grin. “Come on, let’s go sit down, these heels are starting to kill my feet.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Todd looked on with disgust as yet another person got on stage and attempted to sing. He cringed when her voice cracked and he wanted nothing more than to throw his cold chicken at the crowd when they applauded her horrid singing when she was finished.
“What the hell is this?” Todd finally asked, dumbfounded. “Is this some kind of punishment? How can you sit there and listen to this crap? None of these people can sing! Where did these clowns come from?”
“They live here,” Jason explained. “People pay for the tickets to raise money for AIDS research. They don’t hire entertainment. The people who live in town are the entertainment.”
“So let me get this straight,” Todd laughed. You guys come here and watch the town folk make idiots of themselves?”
“Pretty much,” Carly grinned.
“Do you go up there?” he asked Jason, eyebrow raised.
“Fuck no.”
“So you just come here, pay money and watch people make asses of themselves?” Carly and Jason nodded with grins on their faces. “Cool, we should do this back in Llanview.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Versailles Ballroom was bustling with activity during one of the night’s intermissions and as the minutes ticked away, the louder it became in the room. Marci and Manny were tucked away in a secluded corner whispering quietly to one another. Sonja glanced their way and watched them steal a kiss and continue to look like the happy couple that they were. She couldn’t help it and stuck her tongue out at them in disgust. People shouldn’t be allowed to be that happy. She downed what had to of been her seventh glass of champagne of the night and grabbed two more as a waiter walked by with a fresh tray. She and Steve had quickly bonded over the never ending flow of free liquor.
“Look I got more booze!” she told Steve proudly. Her focus went back to him and couldn’t help but laugh as he tried to unsuccessfully untie his bowtie. “Problems?” she laughed.
“This thing,” he continued to struggle, “is starting to piss me off.”
“Here,” she sat the two champagne flutes down and took the few small steps needed to stand directly in front of him. “Let me help.”
Steve’s already glazed over eyes crinkled in return and the deep dimples once again graced his face. “Hey,” he whispered softly as Sonja’s fingers did their magic. “You wanna leave this dump?”
Sonja stepped even closer to him, her breasts pressing up against his chest. “Fuck yeah,” she grinned. “My apartment’s right down the street.”
“You got more booze?”
She laughed lightly and grabbed him by his loose bowtie. “What do you think?”
They drunkenly stumbled their way out of the ballroom unnoticed by all.
On the other side of the room, Johnny continued to shamelessly flirt with Lou. His sole goal at the moment was to prove to Jason and Manny that he was in no way, shape, or form romantically interested in Sonja. She was his best friend and his occasional "girl on the side" end of story. There was nothing wrong with their relationship and Sonja would agree to that as well. To prove his point he'd spend some time with Lou, wine her and dine her and then life could get back to normal. So far, things were going well. He liked Lou, he really did. She was smart and didn’t fall for the bullshit that came out of his mouth. She just wasn’t the type of woman he was used to being with and he knew that nothing more would come of this.
He just wanted to prove his point.
Lou, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised that her slight infatuation with Johnny had continued to slowly die down. She had already started to compare him to every other guy she knew or dated, including Steve, but she was determined to stop that line of thinking. She took another sip of her champagne as her thoughts turned to Steve and her dream. It was just the cheesecake she told herself again and forced her mind to focus back onto Johnny. She bit her bottom lip as she continued to listen to him talk about growing up in Chicago. What she needed to do was stop nitpicking every guy she met. Johnny was really nice and he'd been nothing but sweet to her. If she thought about it, Johnny very well could be her type.
Maybe.
“Stop it,” she chastised herself silently. "So, Johnny," she started, finishing her champagne in one drink. "Where's the best place to get a martini around here?"
"Honestly?"
"Yeah," she smiled.
"No one can make a martini like me," he grinned wickedly at her.
"Is that right?" her eyes twinkled.
"Yeah and I can even tell you what kind you like." Her eyebrows lifted curiously and he couldn't help but laugh. He took a step back and tilted his head to the side. "Appletini," he announced after a few seconds.
Lou's mouth fell open in genuine surprise. "How the hell did you know that?"
"It’s a gift . . . you up for one?"
"God yeah."
He took her hand and started to lead them out of the ballroom. "Let’s blow this joint."
“Really, what harm could one martini do?” Lou asked herself silently.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Where the hell did everyone go?” Carly asked curiously. Lou, Sonja, Steve, and Johnny were nowhere to be seen.
“I thought I saw Lou leave earlier,” Todd shrugged. “That was awhile ago though.”
“That’s weird,” Blair frowned slightly. “I’m sure she’s with Steve,” she finally shrugged.
At that moment, Luke walked over to the now near empty table. “Caroline,” he smiled.
Carly rolled her eyes at her uncle. “Luke, these are the Manning’s."
Introductions were made and Luke’s gaze fell onto Blair.
“You look awfully familiar, darlin’. You sure we haven’t met?”
“Can’t say we have,” Blair told him pointedly.
“Maybe you’re right. I think I’d remember those gorgeous cat eyes of yours.”
Her eyebrows furrowed taking in the older gentleman, he did look familiar for some reason. Todd began to say something to Luke, but he was quickly cut off.
“Calm down, buddy. Wasn’t making a pass at your woman, got my own angel waiting for me right over there. Wouldn’t trade her in for anything in this world. No offense, darlin’,” he told Blair.
“None taken,” she told him, continuing to eye him suspiciously.
“Ill talk to you later, baby doll,” Luke told Carly, kissing her cheek.
“Your uncle,” Blair began.
“Is weird,” Carly finished. “Yeah, I know. But he’s harmless.”
Blair nodded and grasped Todd’s hand tightly underneath the table, an unexplainable feeling washing over her. Todd noticed Blair’s body stiffen and he tugged at her hand quickly as he stood from his seat. “Blair, I need some air, come on.”
She looked up at him and relief washed over her face. She nodded quickly and excused themselves from the table. Todd led her out onto the balcony and the cool crisp air greeted them.
“You ok?” he asked her simply.
She hugged herself tightly and her eyes danced over his face. “I don’t know. That Luke guy, he looks familiar, Todd. I’ve seen him before.”
Todd stepped closer to her and he began to run his hands up and down her bare arms. “You probably saw a picture of him when we were doing the research on the Morgan’s.”
“No,” she shook her head. “No, it isn’t a recent memory. I just can’t remember from where.”
“You’ll figure it out.” He took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders. He kissed her softly and the corner of his mouth quirked upwards in a smile. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you,” he reassured her.
“I know,” she told him with a smile. She began to walk back into the ballroom but paused when Todd didn’t follow. “You coming?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.”
She nodded and made her way back to their friends. Todd looked out over the balcony and almost as if on cue, his cell phone began to ring. He didn’t bother to check the caller ID, already knowing what the call was regarding.
“What happened?” he sighed. He listened carefully as the information was relayed to him. “Sonofabitch,” he cursed when he heard the news. “Alright, we’ll be back first thing tomorrow and I better have more info than this shit.” He hung up the phone and walked back towards the French doors that lead back into the ballroom. He was able to signal for Jason to join him on the balcony, without anyone else noticing.
“What’s going on?” Jason demanded as soon as he walked thru the doors.
“Another drop.”
“Fuck,” he sighed. “Where at?”
“Back in Llanview. Two envelopes, one addressed to Blair the other to Carly. My guys found them no more than five minutes ago at my building. They’re checking the surveillance and questioning the night staff. I got someone to run them for prints so it’s gonna take some time.”
“Okay,” Jason nodded, not in the least surprised at Todd’s thoroughness. “We leave first thing in the morning.”
Todd nodded in agreement. “I’m not gonna tell Blair about this tonight. That old guy creeped her out enough as it is.”
Jason snorted. “Luke creeps everyone out.” He glanced towards their table and watched as their small group of friends laughed. “We’ll keep it between us until tomorrow. There’s nothing we can do now anyway. I’ll have a car downstairs at seven to take you to the airport.”
“We’ll be ready.”
Both men walked back into the ballroom and large peels of laughter began. Up on stage, Todd noticed the almost naked woman and couldn’t help but chuckle. “Is it always like this?”
“Yeah,” Jason grinned. “The night isn’t over until Lucy loses her clothes.”
“As long as she’s not a vampire,” he muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Chapter 9
Family Secrets Home Page
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