Episode 8
Scene 1:
The Conlan home
bustled with energy in the evenings as a collection of the Conlan siblings
descended on the house for dinner. Luke had moved out years ago, but he
managed to drop by every so often to catch up with Maura. Jillie still
lived at home, but her social life was demanding and her evenings were
usually spent in the company of friends. Jory lived at home as well but
his nose was always buried in a book studying for his bar exam. Now that
that was over, he spent more time out and about, but that would change
soon too. To have them all in the same room at once was a rarity, a
welcome one however. Kevin looked around the table at his children,
pleased that they had all managed to show for a change. Jillie was
strangely quiet and Piper was still pouting over her recent grounding but
Maura and Luke were both quite talkative.
"Jamie Mason?" Maura was saying. "I think I remember him. Used to be a
figure skater or something?"
Luke nodded. "Yes, apparently he's given all that up for his wife. I don't
know, Hallie doesn't think very highly of him," he added.
"Who does she think highly of?" Piper asked rolling her eyes. Maura shot
her a warning look before turning back to Luke.
"What happened to Hallie in all this restructuring he did?"
"He moved her to the Mason Foundation. Gave her some song and dance about
how she was needed there, but she didn't buy it and neither do I.
Personally, I think he's got his own agenda. After all, bringing Jude
Fontaine in isn't coincidence. He has no experience in corporate America."
"Jude Fontaine?" Jory asked sticking his head into the conversation.
"Isn't he a lobbyist in D. C.?"
"He was," Luke replied. "Left it recently. Hallie doesn't know why...says
he's been hanging around Four Winds for about a month now. Guess his
timing was perfect."
"Well, Hallie doesn't know everything does she now?" Jillie purred with a
slight wink. Luke gave her a playful pinch and ignored her.
"And what would you know?" He joked. The doorbell rang, interrupting the
meal. Looking around the table in surprise, Maura made a motion to stand.
"Anyone expecting company?" She asked. Everyone shook their heads.
Interruptions during a meal were unheard of in the Conlan home. Maura
shrugged and went to the front door. Pulling the door open, she drew a
sharp breath as Rick grinned at her.
"If Mohammed won't come to the mountain, the mountain will come to
Mohammed," he said leaning against the door frame.
"What are you doing here?" Maura demanded glancing over her shoulder
towards the dining room. Please don't let anyone see him talking to her so
casually, she prayed.
"Maura...I'm tired of this cat and mouse game you're playing with me. We
need to talk."
Scene 2:
Noah clocked out for the evening and threw his apron in his bag to take
home with him. It had been a long shift...a long day...and he was ready to
call it a night. After everything that had happened with Piper and Dinah
and then having the worst possible shift of his entire career at Connie's
he was ready to hit his bed without a second thought. He rounded the
corner of the building and fumbled for his car keys.
"Noah?" He spun around at the sound of his name as a slender figure
emerged from the shadow of the building.
"Dinah...jesus...you almost gave me a heart attack! What are you doing out
here so late?" She stepped out into the yellow light of the street lamp
and he could see how swollen her face was. "Have you been crying?"
"It doesn't matter," she replied. "Would you mind giving me a ride home?"
He nodded and unlocked the passenger door for her, throwing a few tapes
out of her way.
"Sorry about the mess," he apologized as he climbed behind the steering
wheel. Dinah nodded, but didn't reply. Noah shrugged and started the car.
If she wanted to talk, she would. He wasn't about to force her. "You'll
have to tell me where you live," he said after a moment of silence.
"I live off Drake on Newton," she told him keeping her eyes down.
"Noah...do you think I'm a bad person?"
Noah glanced at her sideways to see if she was serious. He didn't know
Dinah as well as he did Piper, but she was okay. A little on the reckless
side at times, but not a bad person. Her brother-in-law must have done a
real number on her head.
"No, I think you're okay. I wouldn't listen to what your brother-in-law
said," he replied after a moment.
"You know, he and my sister got married after only knowing each other for
two months. She was pregnant after another month. He hardly knows her! And
I am nothing like Kelly. I would never run off like Kelly did. I just hate
him. If it weren't for Mia, I wouldn't go to his house at all." She paused
for a moment and Noah thought he heard a sniffle. "I didn't mean to forget
her. God, she must be so mad at me!"
"You know Dinah, she's what? 6? I think she'll forgive you. Kids are
resilient like that. If you want my advice?" He looked at her quickly to
see her nod before turning his attention back to the road. "You should
apologize to her as soon as you can. Dr. Gennaro deserves one too. What
you did today was rather stupid."
"I know, I just wasn't thinking," she said sounding a little better.
"Piper said we shouldn't do it, but I told her she was being a baby."
"Piper's got a good head on her shoulders. You should listen to her more,"
Noah answered as the car pulled to a stop at the light on Drake. "Just
apologize and I'll bet Dr. Gennaro will too. You're a good person
Dinah...you're just...well, you're just 18 and that's what 18 year olds
do."
"Ooooh, like you're soooo much older than I am!" Dinah giggled. He smiled
and shrugged.
"I've been around," he replied with a shake of his head. They fell silent
for a moment as he turned down Newton and stopped the car in front of her
house. "It'll be fine." Her expression changed slightly as she climbed out
of the car and leaned back down to him.
"Hey, thanks again, Noah."
"Not a problem. No go on...I'll see you tomorrow," he replied, smiling.
Dinah smiled gratefully and backed away from his car. She was going to
have hell to pay. He hoped she came out of it okay.
Scene 3:
"You knew he was going to do this!" Hallie screamed, throwing herself on
the small divan in Gwen's office. "You knew and you let him do it!" Gwen
hook her head and made no move to respond. "How could you let Jamie just
shuffle me out of ME? I was doing exemplary work. It's not like I'm Dane
and can't tell a business proposal from a book of the month club title!"
"Hallie. Calm down. Jamie did not do this on purpose. We discussed it last
night and it makes perfect business sense. You are doing a wonderful job
at ME...but the Foundation is floundering right now and it needs someone
like you."
Hallie's chin jerked up in defiance as her eyes blazed with fury. Gwen
knew she would react this way. It was for the best that Jamie had a house
to look at this evening, thought she wished he were doing anything but
that! She had just assumed he would want to live at his family home.
Couldn't live with Hallie, he said. Of course, she knew the real reason he
couldn't was Michaela. She didn't want to live there. There was time to
correct that later. For now, she had Hallie to contend with.
"You did know! I can't believe it. First Dane and now me? What's next?
Will you be disinheriting Ellen while you're at it?" Hallie snapped.
"How dare you say that to me?" Gwen's face flushed with anger. She and
Ellen might not get along but she certainly would never think of leaving
her own flesh and blood with nothing. "I would never do that to her. And I
haven't done anything to you. Jamie is looking at the future of ME and the
Foundation. He's already got Luke and Stephen at ME. He needs someone like
you at the Foundation to turn it around."
"You can say that until you die Gwen, but I will never believe he did this
for any other reason besides the fact that he hates me."
"He doesn't hate you!" Gwen replied tersely. Hallie was more than a little
childish at times. "Look, I know this is a blow. But you're resilient. You
can rebound from this move. Look at it as a challenge. Besides with the
wedding coming up, you're going to be too busy to worry about this. I was
going to wait until later but now seems as good a time as any. I've
decided to let you use Four Winds for your engagement party in May. You
may have the house and the grounds for the entire day." Hallie's eyes
glittered brightly and she fell silent waiting for the rest which was
surely to come. "I've also decided to host it for you. You may plan it as
you wish and I'll make sure it happens. Spare no expense, Hallie. You only
get married once."
"Why are you doing this?" Hallie asked, her eyes guarded for a moment.
"Because my own daughter would likely not allow me to," Gwen replied
honestly. And because Jamie's transition needs to be as smooth as
possible, she added to herself. She studied Hallie, seeing the gears
turning in her head as she contemplated accepting.
"Fine. I can let you do that....thank you," Hallie said after a moment.
She stood then and left the room, leaving Gwen. Hallie was a strong-willed
woman, Gwen knew, but even she had a price.
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