Episode 83

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Episode 83

Scene 1:

Gwen stared out at the lawn, twisting the ring on her finger nervously. The state of her family and her life was atrocious. She hadn't felt so...alone and desolate since James had died. Jamie and Michaela...well mostly Jamie hadn't been to the house since Hallie's wedding. Michaela was bringing the boys over still for weekly visits. Dane spent nearly all his time with that reporter...the redhead. Gwen never could remember her name. And Jude had gone so far as to keep his distance completely from her. She had made horrible mistakes in the last few months but no one seemed willing to forgive them.

Maggie knocked on her door and poked her head inside. "You have company Mrs. Mason," she said tossing her hair over her shoulder. Gwen turned slowly, an eyebrow raised inquisitively.

"And who is it, Maggie?" She asked.

"Hallie," Maggie answered, her face contorting as if she had just eaten something rotten. "I told her you were on a call..."

"And that stopped her? Not likely. Let her in before she barges in any way," Gwen instructed, taking a seat at her desk. Of all her family, Hallie's appearance seemed the least likely given her recent takeover at ME. Then again, she was undoubtedly here to rub Gwen's nose in it.
Well, let Hallie try, she thought lifting her chin. It wasn't over yet.

"Hello," Hallie said appearing in the doorway behind Maggie. "You can go now, Maggie." Maggie left with a quick roll of her eyes that was not lost on either Gwen or Hallie. "Your secretary is impossible," Hallie announced dropping down onto the settee opposite Gwen. "I don't know why you keep her around!"

"Good help is hard to find, Hallie," Gwen intoned imperiously from her chair. "What are you doing here? Come to gloat?"

"Of course," Hallie replied smiling. "I just thought you'd like to know, I'm planning on weeding out some of your cronies that have been hovering around ME for the last year."

"My cronies? Such as?" Gwen asked raising an eyebrow. Nothing Hallie did surprised her, but this move was just too ridiculous. Some of those executives at ME were invaluable.

"Jordan McNair. Carson Phelps. Tory Lawler. You know, just a few of the dead weights bringing ME down," Hallie replied blithely.

"It sounds to me, Hallie, that you're going to bring yourself down if you let so many good people go," Gwen advised. "Take it from me, if you want to be a success at ME, don't make so many enemies."

"Because you speak from experience? Aunt Gwen, I would never purposely make enemies! I just want what's best for ME. And of course, what's best for me. That means losing all your spies." Gwen shook her head but held her tongue. "Of course, your place at ME is a given, but I need to assure myself of one. And I need to do it with my own people there." She stood and went to the door, bored without any fight from Gwen. "But do drop in any time to say hello."

Gwen stood, her hands gripping the edge of her desk. "Hallie, don't be so smug. You haven't won, you know. Nothing you did brought about all these changes. So don't think that you are a woman of action just because luck happened to be on your side twice. I will make everything right," she said with more determination in her voice than she felt as of late. "Jamie will get past this and Jude will forgive me, make no mistake. I'm his mother after all! As for my husbands' company, I'll take that back from you as well. Don't get comfortable."

Hallie looked at her, the corners of her mouth curling into a grin. "I've forgotten what a sense of humor you have, Gwen! You'll never get ME back from now that I have control. I can guarantee that!" She announced, leaving the room. Gwen stared after her, eyes narrowed, resolve settling in. She wouldn't keep ME, Gwen decided. She couldn't do anything about Jude or Jamie quite yet, but she could certainly do something about ME! Hallie may have won a battle, but Gwen would win the war.

Scene 2:

"What are you doing?" Ellen demanded the minute Jude opened the door. Jude rubbed at the stubble on his chin thoughtfully.

"I haven't got a clue what you're talking about Elle," he replied leaning against the door jamb. "Last time I checked I hadn't done anything in about a month."

"That's exactly my point, Jude," she said, giving him a pained expression. "You're not doing anything! Nothing. No one's seen you in what? Three weeks? Come on, you can't pout about being our brother forever." She squeezed past him to the messy living room. He hadn't been much on cleaning up the last few weeks either. He flushed with embarrassment as she picked up an empty pizza box off the couch and set it aside, clearing a space for her to sit. "You need a maid," she said with a smile.

"Is that an offer?" He asked, sitting in the recliner that he hadn't really moved from in those three weeks either.

"Hell no. But you could let me hire one for you," she added. Her brows furrowed together in a concerned frown. "I'm worried about you Jude. You don't see anyone unless they surprise you like I just did. You don't look well either. When was the last time you were outside?"

"Ellie, I know you're concerned, but I just need to be alone."

"Hey, haven't we left you alone?" He nodded after a moment. They had. "You've got to talk about all this. I mean, if not with Mother...than with someone," she added at the look of disgust he gave her. "She's no saint, I know. But people make mistakes, Jude. All of us. There's that stupid saying, to err is human? Well, it is. You don't have to forgive her for her sake. I'm not even asking you to forgive her. But don't close yourself off from the world because of this. You have a girlfriend who is pretty cool from what I've seen..."

"Had." He said the word quietly, raising his eyes to hers. "It's okay, I know you didn't know."

"What happened?"

One of the reasons he had always liked Ellen had been her forthright manner and the way she had of cutting right to the heart of the matter. She didn't pretend to be sympathetic, she honestly was, regardless of her own opinion. The last thing he wanted right now was false sympathies. He'd had enough of that from Jamie and Maura.

"She...well, it's a long story. It boils down to her wanting me to show Gwen some compassion," Jude remarked realizing how cold that sounded. There was more to it. A lot more. Like the fact that she had felt sorrier for Gwen than him. But he hadn't wanted Maura to feel sorry for him. He wanted her support and she couldn't give it if she felt sorry for Gwen. It was very confusing.

"She must have had her reasons," Ellen answered. "I won't ask what they were. But I take it you couldn't handle her opinion?"

Jude shook his head. "No. There's more to it than just that though. She pretended to support me but the entire time she just wanted to ease her own mind..." He trailed off, not wanting to say more.

"I told you I wouldn't ask. But whatever you say, stays in this room, Jude. I swear." She crossed her heart with her index finger, kissed her fingertip and held it aloft in salute as they had done as children. "So now, you don't even have Maura? Jude. I love you. You're my cousin...my brother," she amended with a flash of her bright smile. "But forgive me for saying this, but you are acting like a spoiled brat."

"How do you figure that? I just found out that my aunt is my mother. And my best friend and closest cousin who is actually my brother, wanted me to deny any claims to the family name so that he could maintain his place in society, and my girlfriend wasn't honest with me about her own feelings about my situation and I had to find that out from her sister! How the hell am I supposed to feel?" He snapped.

"Well, that is a good start!" He blinked owlishly at her. "You're feeling anger," she pointed out. "That's something at any rate. But you can't feel anger for the rest of your life. You have to come out and face them. All of them. Before the anger eats you up. Jude, I love you but if you keep this up, I'm afraid I'll lose the sweet man I've always trusted and counted on when my mother or cousins went crazy."

"What would you have me do?"

"Shave first," she smiled. "Then get dressed and go out for lunch or a movie. One step at a time. Come back into the world. And when you think you can deal with them, you face the easiest one first. Whoever it is. And once you're past the first one, the others will be easier."

"You make it sound so easy, Ellie." He closed his eyes, leaning back in the chair. "It isn't that easy. Nothing will ever be easy again."

"Life isn't easy. If it was, it would be boring. Please, Jude? One step at a time." He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for a long moment. Finally, he sat up and leaned forward, his hand rubbing at his rough chin once more.

"I could use a shave."

Scene 3:

She hadn't told him after all his pleading. Maura had kept her secret through another confrontation and had left him feeling more unsure about her than he had in the previous few days. She was confused. That much was obvious. Somehow, she had developed feelings for Jude Fontaine and he didn't figure much into those feelings. But there was still a draw between them. He felt it and he knew she felt it.

The way he saw it, there were two things keeping them apart. First, whatever it was she was keeping from him about their break up. And whatever that was, was big enough to make her keep it from him for ten years. Second, Jude Fontaine. They weren't together any longer, but he was still between them. Honestly, Rick wasn't sure what she saw in Fontaine. He was boring. Anyone with eyes could see that! But he did have money.... No, Maura wasn't a gold digger. This would drive him crazy if he kept thinking about it.

Thankfully, the doorbell rang interrupting his brooding and he answered the door gratefully. "Phoebe!" He exclaimed, pleased to see his errant reporter. "Back from New York at last? I thought for a while there you might run off with Dane and elope!" She rolled her eyes at him, striding into his penthouse apartment.

"Don't think the runt didn't try," she muttered, pausing long enough to dig into her shoulder bag for a file. She flipped through it, making sure its contents were all there and handed it to him.
"This is all I could find out on Tristen Ford. No obvious ties to Maura. Sorry."

Rick took the file and sat down on the couch, motioning to a chair near him. "Have a seat," he said flipping to the pictures Phoebe had managed to find. She was a cute kid. Familiar in a way... "She looks like someone I know," he murmured. Phoebe nodded.

"Yes, she does," Phoebe said with a grin. "But you should see her parents. She looks like her mother." Phoebe reached into her bag again and produced another file. "Her mother is Katrina Ford. She's an actress, I think I told you that. Married to Bruce Ford, producer. Nothing weird. The story they told me was that Tristen was born in England ten years ago at the height of Katrina's fame. They had to keep her pregnancy a secret from the media they said. It's a crock if you ask me. They didn't seem to want to talk much about her. Boring theater people..."

"And they don't know Maura?"

"Not that I could tell. I didn't ask out right, but I brought her up a few times. Katrina just gave me that glass eyed look she gives her husband when he talks about money."

Rick flipped through a couple more pictures. "Jude Fontaine dumped her you know," he said after a moment. "She...we had dinner the other night and she almost told me why she left me."

"You should really forget that. It was ten years ago. And I'm sure if Maura wanted you to know, she'd tell you," Phoebe advised.

"I know. But I get the feeling she wants to tell me but can't bring herself to. It's pissing me off," he added throwing the file down. "And who the hell is this kid to her?!"

"Okay, Rick, you're certifiable," Phoebe said standing. "You can keep the file. If you want me to keep trying to find a connection, I will..."

"No, what's the use? Haven't found one yet and you are the best." Phoebe blushed at his compliment. "I'll just have to keep after her. Until she tells me."

"Yeah, that's a plan," Phoebe returned. "Maybe you should try letting it go and maybe then she'll tell you. If you really care about her, you'll give her some breathing room and quit being so aggressive."

He ran his fingers through his hair, setting it on end. "Maybe you're right. No, you are right. Okay...so what do you think? I'll woo her. Romance her. Maybe that's how that idiot Fontaine managed to make her all warm and fuzzy about him."

"I can't imagine why she doesn't rush right back into your arms, Rick," Phoebe said with a roll of her eyes. "I'll see you at work." Rick nodded, distracted. Romance, huh? Well, it had been a while since he had managed to be romantic with anyone. Come to think of it the last person who had the benefit of it was Maura. Well, he thought, letting a smile creep across his face, shouldn't be too hard to get back into the swing of things then.

Scene 4:

Jillie stood in the middle of her bedroom, surveying her surroundings. Her closet was empty, save for a few hangers that swung back and forth. Her television, stereo, videos, tapes, CDs - all had been put away carefully in boxes, as had the remaining trinkets and treasures she'd saved over the years. Her stuffed animal collection. A few photo albums. The jewelry box her mother had given her for her sixteenth birthday. Everything was packed in the back of both her and Jory's cars, waiting to be driven to her new apartment.

Yeah. The room was spotless. The bed was made. The soft glow of the lamp on the bedside table was minimized by the sunlight that streamed in through the open window. It was probably the best her room had looked since...well, since before she'd been born.

She heard the footsteps thundering up the stairs and looked over her shoulder, a wistful smile passing over her pretty features when she spotted her brother. There was some part of her that was going to miss this.

"You know, you don't have to move out," Jory said pausing in the doorway, surveying the near empty room. "Dad doesn't want you to and I don't want you to." He picked up a stray shoe and dropped it in another box. "I'll bet Maura doesn't want you to either. And I know Piper is devastated that you're leaving."

The latter made Jillie laugh. "I'm sure Piper's just waiting for her own chance to get out of here. And Maura...well...Maura doesn't really have a say in what I do." Her voice softened slightly as she looked back over the room. So many memories. How long would it take them to turn her room into an office or a home gym? "But I'll miss you. And Dad too," she admitted. "And it's not like I'm moving out of the country. I'm like, three blocks away."

"That's as far as you could get?" Jory asked raising his eyebrows. "I would think you'd be running for Washington or somewhere as far away from Maura as you could get."

"Yeah, well, let's just say there are some fireworks coming up, and I want a good seat for the viewing. Besides, it's not like I could just leave you all by yourself. What kind of sister - what kind of *twin* sister - would that make me?" Jillie teased.

"Ah yes. That's right. Without you, I'd have no friends at all," he smiled, hefting the last box up onto his shoulder. "Unless you count Luke, but I'm really tired of listening to him complain about his wife."

"The barracuda," she grinned, following him down the stairs. "Hey, after you put that one up, why don't you join me in the kitchen for one last raid of the fridge? I'm famished."

"Will do!" Jory replied cheerfully. He added the remaining box to his car and trudged around the house to the kitchen door. he wasn't exactly thrilled that she was leaving the house, but he knew why she was going and he didn't blame her at all.

"So, um, you know, we haven't had a real talk in a while. How's life treating you?" Jillie asked, pulling a leftover box of pizza from the refrigerator. There was another question weighing on her mind, one she'd turned over and over, but for now she wanted to focus on Jory.

"Oh you know, same as always. Can't get a date to save my life," he grinned. "Works good though. Even Ryan Corday has eased up on being such an asshole to me all the time."

"Good to hear. I'd hate to have to go over there and cause a ruckus," Jillie teased. "Then again, is he cute? I'm currently living a date-free life myself."

"I don't know if I'd call him cute," Jory replied picking up a piece of pizza. "Handsome, yes. But he's a little past cute. And I sincerely doubt you could be dateless for that long. Just don't go after Ryan. I can barely stand having a Barracuda in the family, I'd hate to add a Shark."

"I'll take that under advisement, and you're bad for my ego. Always have been. Something tells me, this time I'm in it for a long stretch. So, you better get used to the idea of me calling you up on Friday nights and telling you to get your hot little tushy over to my apartment for a stellar night of...oh, say, pizza and Scrabble?" She rolled her eyes and sat down at the kitchen table. "So this is what the single life feels like, huh?"

"Yup. Pizza and Scrabble. Every night," Jory sighed.

"Come on. If worst comes to worst, we can always head down to Richmond and prowl for hotties."

"God knows the dating pool here is dwindling," he muttered.

Jillie frowned slightly. She didn't want to ask. She just wanted to forget. "I don't know. I've noticed some new blood recently."

"Really? All I see is the same old crowd. I'm even seeing people coming back from high school. You'd think they would have the smarts to get out and stay out."

"I don't know. We came back," she pointed out dryly. "Then again, I guess that's not saying much."

"We didn't go that far," he pointed out. "I saw someone who I know went to Oxford to study. How's that for stupid? Go to college in England and come back to Conlan's Glen? Crazy."

"Maybe England's not all it's cracked up to be?" Jillie offered, but she didn't sound convinced. "I don't know. I could do without certain things here, but how would I survive without you?"

"You'd survive," Jory shrugged. "That's just what you do. So, you're telling me," he said changing the topic back to dating. "That you have zero prospects? I find that hard to believe."
She eyed him dubiously, but shrugged. "Prospects? Yeah, I could go out, point to a guy and say, 'Hey, baby, wanna go back to my place?' and he'd go, but...maybe I'm getting old. Can I help it if I want something...*more*?"

"What?" Jory shook his head. "Did I hear that right? You want more? What did Rick Upton do to you!?"

"Shut up," Jillie glowered, tossing a pepperoni at her brother. "Maybe it's what he *didn't* do to me," she suggested cavalierly.

"Yuck, I don't want to know," Jory said warding any excess information away with his hands.

She laughed, taking a huge bite of her pizza. "That's not exactly what I meant," she admitted a few moments later. "It's just...with Rick...we both wanted something. And, yeah, it happened to be the same thing, but.... I don't know if that's enough anymore. I mean...he...." Her words trailed off and she swallowed thickly, as if a piece of dough had caught in her throat. But she knew it wasn't that. "He just...set me aside...as soon as something 'better'," Jillie made a face, "came along. I hold no illusions of a great love, but...did he ever even really like me? He certainly never *knew* me...."

"Maybe he knew the Jillie you wanted him to know," Jory replied covering her hand with his.
"I've seen you operate, Jillian. And you don't always let people get to know you. Hell, sometimes I wonder if I know you. But he did set you aside, I agree with you there. But you should be glad he did. Any man who would do that to a beautiful woman like you, isn't worth worrying over."

Jillie stared at his hand as it covered hers, mentally willing the surge of emotion to go back to wherever it had come from. "Right before Valentine's Day, too. Let me tell you how much *that* sucked..." she grinned.

"Overrated holiday created by Hallmark to sell cards," he grinned back at her, releasing her hand.

"That's okay. I was well on my way to becoming oblivious...but this one guy had to completely ruin my buzz." Okay, so, why had she felt the need to bring him up?

"Oh? How'd he do that?"

Jillie shrugged. "He was just...I don't know. Weird. Acted like he knew me, but for the life of me I can't remember him. And don't even say it," she warned Jory. "I'm not so promiscuous that I can't remember who I...spend my time with."

Jory laughed aloud. "I wasn't going to say that!" He said, picking up the pizza box. "Acted like he knew you huh? What's his name?"

She shrugged again, pretending not to remember. But she gave in. "Leo something-or-other," she told him. "Kingston, I think."

He dropped the box in the trash, thinking. "Kingston? Why is that name s familiar?" He drummed his fingers against his thigh trying to place it. After a moment, he snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "I know who he is!" He exclaimed.

Jillie tried to appear disinterested, but failed miserably. She hadn't really expected Jory to know who her mystery guy was. "You do? Who?!?!"

He beckoned her to follow him, taking her to the living room and a shelf of yearbooks from their high school days. Pulling off a green book, he flipped through it to the Senior class until he found what he was looking for. "Leo Kingston," he said pointing a finger at the picture. "Not a great picture at all. He hung out with Luke for a while before Luke made the football team and was too good for everyone. You remember him, he was the guy that always asked Mom for Peanut butter cookies."

Jillie took in the thick Coke-bottle glasses, the dark hair that went every which way but down. The bad case of acne. The braces. "Oh my God," she laughed. "Okay, no. No, that is *so* not the guy I saw. I swear. No way, no how."

"He knew you though. How many other Leo Kingstons have you met in your life?" Jory asked, snapping the book shut. "I bet you money it's him."

She shook her head. "No way. I *remember* that guy. He was always hanging around. This one time, he even asked me out. The guy I saw the other day was...." Jillie had tried not to think about him much in the past couple of days, but it hadn't worked. "He was...*not* the guy in the picture."

"Well, you know what they say...every dog has its day," he pointed out.

"You should see this dog," Jillie said, still not certain she believed they were one in the same.

Jory shrugged and put the yearbook back on the shelf. "Maybe it isn't the same guy then. Can't imagine why that Leo would even speak to you," he added with a shrug. "You were horrible to him if I remember correctly." He grinned wickedly and wrapped an arm around her. "That is of course, why I love you so."

Scene 5:

Hallie ushered Chase into her new office and motioned to the chair opposite her desk. She went to the bar and picked up a decanter of brandy. Oh the benefits of being in charge. "Would you like a drink, Mr. Garrett?"

"No thank-you," Chase said, already feeling a sense of apprehension at this meeting. ME had taken a sharp turn since Hallie came into power. She reminded him of Fidel Castro. Chase took a seat, eyeing Hallie warily.

Hallie shrugged and poured herself a drink anyway, carrying it to the desk with her. She leaned against the desk in front of him, holding the glass and swirling the amber liquid in it. "My husband likes you quite a lot," she said casually.

Chase arched an eyebrow in question at Hallie's remark. "Luke's a good man, a casual friend," he remarked in reply with a shrug. And I pity that he's married to you, Chase silently added.

"Mmmm. And you're dating my sister-in-law," she added, smiling and fluttering her eyelashes. "I really didn't want to have to have this conversation with you, Mr. Garrett....may I call you Chase?"

"Call me whatever you like," he said quickly with a thought, "why don't you want to have this conversation?" he asked, having a feeling where it now might be headed.

"Well, you have talent. Luke says you've handled yourself quite well in the acquisitions department. It always saddens me when I have to let someone of your caliber go, Chase." She set the glass down on the desk and dropped the smile. "ME has been operating at ridiculous costs this last year under Jamie. Now that he's gone, I have to come behind him and clean up. I have to make ME profitable again. Do you understand?"

He had been expecting that, hadn't he? It only was something Hallie would do. He was one of the best employees here, even for his youthful age, and Hallie knew it. The sudden desperation he felt at her verbally saying it though did not reflect at all in his face.

"I realize you are only doing this to get back at the Mason's, Hallie," he said, now not bothering with formality. "Everyone knows your actions have been just that purpose of late." He shrugged, the gesture completely contradicting his insides. Of all people, he wasn't going to let Hallie Lennox ruin him and his goals. He rose from the chair casually, his act of Oscar caliber. "It's a shame this had to happen."

"It is a shame isn't it? I'm sorry you feel that way, but rest assured once we're solvent again, you will have a place here," Hallie replied without blinking. She'd heard worse than that already today.

"You're so generous, Hallie," Chase replied. "Good day." Chase shut the door behind him, very carefully. It was a shame and Hallie was going to find out how much of a shame it really was.

Hallie shrugged as he left. One down many more to go, she thought taking a drink of brandy. She was enjoying this.