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Episode 42 Scene 1: "Can I ask you a personal question?" Rick said leaning back in his chair. "Why are you still here in this town with all your talent?" She thought about the question for a moment before shrugging idly. "I did spend some time away. And then Mom got sick and I came back.... I suppose it's simply a place to be. Working freelance enabled me to use this as my home base. Sometimes I feel like taking the job at The Observer means I'm putting down roots, but...I fully intend to get out of this town. Right now, there are just...some things I have to do first." Things that revolved around Maura, of course. Why she felt she had to prove herself, Jillie wasn't sure. But she did. There was no questioning it, in her mind. "Your mother must have been very important to you," Rick said softly. To all of the Conlan children it appeared. Wasn't that what had brought Maura back to this town as well? At least, that's what she told him. Who knew if that were the truth. He looked into Jillie's pale blue eyes and smiled. "I admire that. My own mother was a little cold and I never felt too strongly about her one way or the other. What was your mother like? Was she like you? Beautiful and sweet with a bit of playful thrown in for good measure?" "More flattery?" she grinned, smiling to cover up the twinge of pain she felt at the mention of her mother. Important? The sun and moon had risen with her mother. "She was...all of that. All of that and more," Jillie told him, turning serious. "I'm not like her. I...could never be like her. But...I don't know. She accepted me. She accepted all of us for the people we were...the people we longed to be. She was definitely something special." "To have raised a remarkable woman like you she must have been. Oops, there I go with that flattery again." He grinned at her in an attempt to lighten her mood. "Now it's your turn. Go on, ask me anything." "Well...what about you? With all of your talent, why are you in a town like Conlan's Glen?" "Are you asking for the honest answer?" Rick asked, turning serious himself. "I wouldn't ask for a lie." "Okay. About a year ago, my divorce from my wife was final. She got everything. The house, the car, the dog, and the friends. I got left with my career except that all the friends were involved somehow in my career. I started looking for another job and I heard about this one through a headhunter actually. When I realized that it was Conlan's Glen...and I might see Maura here, I jumped at it," he answered, exposing himself. "So...what's keeping you here? I know I don't need to state the obvious, but things between you and my sister, well.... I'd guess they haven't turned out the way you might have liked. Why stay, when I'm sure you could easily find a job elsewhere." Jillie smiled faintly. "Not that I'm trying to push you out of town...yet." "As far as your sister is concerned, all I wanted was a few answers that she doesn't seem to want to give me," Rick replied easily. It was mostly true. "As for staying...well, I like this town, believe it or not. I've made a couple of good friends and I'd like to stick around and see what happens with you." "Stick around then. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised." Scene 2: Piper had been avoiding Connie's for the past two days. She had told Maura she was too busy with the play and called in someone to cover her shifts, but she could only go on like that for too long. Slapping a wet rag down on to the table, a stoic expression on her face, Piper went through her routine of work like that all day. Luckily it hadn't been too busy. A bell jingling at the door caught her attention and she subtly averted her gaze in that direction, silently praying it wasn't Dinah. Her prayer didn't work. Piper looked the other way and pretended not to notice her. Dinah practically floated to the break room at Connie's. She still felt absolutely giddy with happiness over her date with Noah. It couldn't have gone better if she tried. Tying an apron around her waist, she stuffed her order pad in one pocket and headed back to where she had seen Piper. They hadn't seen much of each other this summer but Piper seemed to be happy with her new boyfriend, why shouldn't Dinah share her happiness with her best friend? "Hello?" She said ducking into Piper's eye line. "I didn't know you were working today. Did someone call out sick?" She didn't even act guilty. "Yeah, and Maura insisted I cover since I called in a couple times," Piper said. She wanted to scream at Dinah, but she could only silently think of all the things she wanted to say and play it out in her head. "Oh. What about the play? I thought Maura was letting you off working because of it. God, how is it going anyway? I bet it's everything you'd ever hoped for," Dinah commented leaning against the counter that Piper had just wiped down. "And you have to tell me about this Chase guy. He is really gorgeous." "Chase? We're just friends and the play is going very well," she said simply, moving on to her next table, hating standing so close to Dinah. "You're just friends? Maura says you're out with him every day, I don't see how that could be just friends. If I were hanging out with a guy like him, I'd be sure to make it more than friends," Dinah went on following Piper to her next table. "I bet he's rich too...I've seen that car he drives." "He's well off, so why don't you go after him?" Piper said, trying not to let the bitterness slip into her voice. "He's more your type," she turned to face Dinah when she said that, something unexplainable flashing in her eyes. As quickly as she did she turned back to her work. "What does that mean?" Dinah asked bewildered by Piper's personality shift. "I don't need rich," Dinah replied, thinking of Noah. "Handsome isn't even a requirement...hey, are you mad at me or something?" "No, why would you think that?" No! Why couldn't she just say, yeah, I'm mad at you, you backstabbing bitch! "Well, you keep turning away from me for one thing...what did I do, Piper?" They had been best friends for 15 years. It was impossible for them not to know each others' moods. "I'm working," she said simply. Of course, that had never happened before, and Dinah could read her like a book, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it aloud. "Whatever it is, I'm sorry," Dinah offered. "I don't like this Piper, tell me what's wrong." After, several minutes of contemplating silence, Piper finally found the courage to say it. "You and Noah." There she said it. Dinah could only stare at Piper. How did she know? Had Noah told? He said he wouldn't until Dinah could talk to her. Dusty wouldn't have said anything, she promised. Of course, it didn't matter how she knew, the fact was, Piper knew. And she wasn't happy. Dinah wrestled with her instinct to laugh it off. She could tell Piper it was a mistake. There was nothing there, but that would be a lie and they had never lied to each other. Dropping her gaze, she searched for something to say. "Me and Noah," she repeated lamely. Piper rolled her eyes and turned her back to Dinah. She viciously wiped the tables, letting out some of that aggression she had kept under control for SO long. "I saw you the other night, Dinah, and it wasn't just friendly." She was proud of herself for not bursting into tears. In fact she sounded kind of mean. "Saw me?" Dinah swallowed, feeling a lump in the back of her throat at Piper's words. "Saw me doing what?" Piper finally turned to face Dinah. "Stop playing stupid, Dinah! You know what I'm talking about!" "Piper, it happened...it just happened," she said, her voice quivering. "I like Noah a lot. And I think he likes me too. I never meant for you to get hurt. It's just that when you started seeing so much of that Chase...I thought you'd moved on." Piper couldn't think of anything to say because she knew she was about to cry. The bells jangled and someone entered the diner. It was Noah. Piper dropped the rag into Dinah's hand. "My shift is over," she said as she took of her apron and chunked it on the counter. She turned in the opposite direction to take the back door, afraid everyone would see her cry. Scene 3: "Jude, this is so beautiful," Maura sighed looking out over the water of the pond at the Country Club bathed in moonlight. "I never knew this place had so much...beauty." Jude paused on the bridge over the little pond and smiled, taking her hand. "There's beauty because you're here," he replied. "Have I told you that I missed you while I was in Washington?" "Only about a million times," she answered rolling her eyes. "But I like hearing it. I think I missed you too." "Think?" Jude echoed cocking an eyebrow teasingly. "Okay, I really missed you. Life around here is kind of boring without you," she replied with a light laugh. "Is that true?" Maura sighed and shrugged. "No, not really. I have this soap opera about to happen at Connie's," she told him. Catching his puzzled glance, she explained about Piper's crush. "Noah has no idea...at least I don't think he does. And Dinah is a nice girl but I don't think he knows what he's getting into." "They're teenagers, Maura. They'll survive," Jude replied smiling as if he knew the eventual outcome. "Oh I know...it's just hard to watch my sister get her heart broken." "Maybe Piper should watch Jillie on how to handle men," Jude interjected. "Jillie certainly knows how to handle them. I saw her at The Fountains a while ago. She seemed to have her date wrapped around her fingers." "Date?" Maura's face remained impassive though her heart began to beat faster. Was Jillie's date with Rick? And even if it was, why should it bother her, she scolded herself. But it did bother her! She hated the idea of Jillie with Rick. Her Rick. Oh jesus, she hadn't expected to still feel so strongly after all of the time she had spent pushing Rick Upton from her thoughts. "Maura? Are you okay?" Jude asked studying her face. "Did I say something wrong?" Maura shook her thoughts of Rick and the jealousy of Jillie that was forming in her heart and smiled at him. He didn't need to be bothered with her mood swings. He was too sweet for that. "I'm fine. I think you were talking about missing me?" Scene 4: Noah met Dinah's eyes briefly as Piper fled the main dining room. Thank god, Maura wasn't here to witness this little scene, he thought briefly before following Piper to the storeroom. "Piper? Hey, are you okay?" He asked softly. She had her head buried in her hands and her body shook with gentle sobs. "I'm fine," she choked out, hating Noah so close to her as well. She wanted the world to just go away for a little bit. Sucking it all up, Piper kept her back to Noah, "I have to go to rehearsal," she said, throwing her things into her bag. "Don't go just yet, Piper," Noah said stilling her hand with his own. "We should probably talk. I guess you know that Dinah and I went out on a date. I wanted to tell you...but you've been so busy. I just haven't seen you much lately." Piper jerked her hand away and continued with what she was doing. So obviously Noah knew she liked him and obviously that meant he had never had feelings for her. She knew that, but she had always secretly hoped. "Hey, it's whatever. Glad you two are getting along so well," Piper said, zipping up her bag. She tossed it over her shoulder. "I have to go to rehearsal," she said, but her legs wouldn't move. "Piper come on. It just happened. One date, one kiss. It doesn't mean that we're getting married," he told her, trying to convince the both of them. "I like Dinah...she's my friend. But we're friends. Nothing more...well, obviously we're more than friends, but aren't you and I more than friends too?" Piper raised an eyebrow. She must have missed something. "Um, not that I knew of," Piper said. "You're my best friend, Piper. You have been since I moved here. Didn't you know that?" "No." "Then I'm a big jerk for never telling you. I wish you wouldn't be upset over this Piper. What can I do to make you feel better?" Piper looked up at him. He knew she liked him now as more than a friend, so there was no hope there. Dinah liked him and maybe he liked Dinah. "Nothing." Noah stepped aside to let Piper leave. What was he supposed to say? Yeah, um, Piper, see here's the deal, I like Dinah but I really like you even though I kissed Dinah. Yeah, that would go over well. Piper left without another word. She felt completely rejected. Dinah had always been the pretty one, the flirt, even sexy and Piper was...Piper. Nobody noticed her, including Noah. |
