Darin walked into the restaurant, Kelly’s as it said on the front. Looking around, he saw that there weren’t any seats available, so he walked over to the bar and slid into one of the stools. An older blonde woman walked over to him.“What can I get you mister,” she asked in a friendly tone…and with a smile too.
“Well, that smile was just about enough to brighten up my day, but a man could use some nourishment. What’s the best thing you got around here?”
“Mister, everything we’ve got here is good.”
“Please ma’am, call me Darin.” Darin smiled and offered his hand to the woman behind the counter.
“Nice to meet you Darin. And it’s Tammy.”
“The pleasure is all mine Tammy. How ‘bout I just have a ham sandwich and some tomato soup?”
“Coming right up,” Tammy called as she disappeared into the back of the restaurant.
Darin looked around, noting the décor of the place. There was a kind of warmth here, sort of like back home in Florida.
“Darin, scoot over!”“I’m scooting…I’m scooting. Gee Caroline, have some patience.”
“We can’t have any patience Darin. We have to make sure Burke Walters sees us…with an older guy.”
Darin looked at his sister as if she had just sprouted a second head. “In case you haven’t noticed Carly, I’m you brother.”
“But Burke doesn’t know that,” an excited Caroline chimed in.
“Yeah. And once he sees Caroline and me here, hanging out with a much older…much more mature guy, he’s bound to ask one of us out.” Carly giggled in her excitement.
“You mean he’ll ask you out Carly. What then about poor Caroline over here? She’ll be stuck all by her lonesome.”
Caroline hit Darin on the shoulder. “Shut up stupid. You’ll still be here. You’re my date.”
“Car-o-line o mine, I’d be you’re date any day, but you know I’m too old for you.” But nonetheless, Darin gave his sister’s best friend a wink and watched as a blush slowly crept up her face.
“You two be quiet now. Here he comes.” Carly whispered across the table to her brother and friend.
The two girls straightened themselves out, fixing their hair and trying to act in a calm manner. Darin just rolled his eyes. Why did he have to hang out with these babies anyway?
Not a minute too soon, Burke Walters and a group of his friends walked over, on their way to their usual booth. Burke passed the table, but then stopped and came back. He seemed to be eyeing the girls, but Caroline more so than Carly. Seeing the hurt look on his sister’s face, he threw his arm around Caroline, marking her as his own. Again he saw the girl blush. Sometimes, she was just too cute.
“Hey Burke, you know what’s going on tonight,” Caroline asked, trying to get the conversation started.
“Nothing much Caroline. Hey Carly,” Burke smiled as he offered a greeting to the other girl.
“Hey Burke.” Carly batted her eyes, trying to look innocent. Darin and Caroline both rolled their own eyes at Carly’s shenanigans.
“Why don’t you join us Burke,” Darin injected. The sooner his sister got what she wanted, the sooner he could get out of there.
Burke turned to Carly with his own question. “Is this seat taken?”
“Excuse me sir, is this seat taken,” asked a polite voice.
Darin snapped out of his memory, turning to the dark haired woman who was asking him a question. “I’m sorry ma’am, I didn’t catch what you where saying.”
Hannah Scott smiled. “I asked if this seat was taken. There isn’t anywhere else to sit down in here. Its pretty busy with the lunch hour and all.”
Darin immediately stood up, his old southern manners coming into effect. “I’m sorry ma’am. No, it’s not taken. Please,” Darin pointed to the stool, as if offering her a prize.
Hannah smiled as she sat down. She wasn’t used to receiving that kind of treatment from…well, from anybody. Especially after it had come out that she was an FBI Agent. “Thank you. And it’s Hannah. Hannah Scott.”
Darin sat back down in his own stool. “Nice to meet you Hannah Scott. The second friend I’ve made today in this town.”
“Don’t count on it that she’s a friend,” came Tammy’s voice, this time with a meanness attached to it. “Here’s your meal Darin. Can I get you anything to drink?”
Darin looked from Hannah back to Tammy. “No…this will be fine, thank you.”
“Well, I’m starved. I’d like the chicken salad and a glass of lemonade if you have any,” Hannah ordered.
Tammy gave her a stare and just left for the kitchen.
Hannah shook her head, surprised that she was still getting the cold shoulder from Tammy, who used to be one of her best friends.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what was that all about?” Darin took a bite of his sandwich, chewing and waiting for Hannah to either answer or brush him off.
“Well, Tammy doesn’t really like me much…since, well, it’s a long story and I’d rather not get into it. Don’t worry, I’m used to it.”
“You must’ve done something pretty bad for her to treat you like that. She was as sweet as can be to me.”
“Yeah…well, I guess I did hurt her, but it was more of something I had to do than anything else.”
Darin nodded his head, understanding. “I hear ya. But I’m sure you’re not all that bad, now are you Miss Scott?”
“No Darin, I’m actually not,” Hannah answered with a smile. “It is Darin, correct,” she queried.
Darin put his sandwich down and wiped his hands on the napkin. “I must’ve misplace my manners this morning. Darin Roberts.” Darin extended his hand to Hannah for a shake.
“Nice to meet you Darin. And don’t worry. Most people around here don’t even have half the manners you possess.”
“Well, I can give thanks to my mama for that. She brought me up the old southern way.”
Hannah smiled again. The action actually seemed infectious with this man, who always seemed to be grinning. And he was very polite too. “So, you’re from the south? Where exactly?”
“Born in Graford, Texas, a small town west of Fort Worth. Our family moved to Lakeside, Florida, just outside of Tallahassee, when I was about 6. “
“Sounds nice. Was it just you? I mean, did you have brothers or sisters?”
“Yeah, I had a younger sister…but she died at 17…drunk driver.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry and I certainly didn’t mean to bring back bad memories.”
“Its okay Hannah,” Darin said as he placed a comforting palm on Hannah’s shoulder. “You asked, so I told you. No harm done really.”
“So, what brings you to Port Charles? If you don’t mind my asking of course.”
Darin smiled at her. “I sure don’t Miss Scott. I’ve come to see a friend actually. She lives here and I haven’t seen her in almost 10 years.”
“Really? Well, I’ll bet she’ll be surprised when she sees you.”
Darin only hoped Caroline wouldn’t faint dead at the sight of him. “Yeah. Well look here, guess I wasn’t as hungry as I thought,” he nodded towards his food.
“You haven’t even touched your soup. It’s the best thing on the menu…the best in town actually.”
Darin pushed the warm bowl over. “Well then, you enjoy Miss Scott. You never know how long it’ll take your own meal to wander on out here,” he winked.
Hannah nodded, noticing that neither Tammy nor her order were anywhere in sight. “Thank you. But, I’ll insist on paying if…”
Darin pulled out his wallet and placed enough bills on the counter to pay for the meal and a generous tip. “Please, my treat. It was nice meeting you Hannah Scott. I’m sure our paths will cross again.” Darin turned and walked out of the restaurant door, bumping into a woman who seemed as if she was in a hurry right outside.
“I’m sorry ma’am. Here, let me help you with those.” Darin knelt to pick up folders that had been dropped. Standing, he looked into a familiar set of dark brown eyes.
“Thank you. I’m sorry, I’m just in a rush because I’m late.” Bobbie smiled, took the folders, and proceeded inside to Kelly’s.
“No problem ma’am.” Darin called after the redhead as she flew into the restaurant. Shaking the feeling that he somehow knew her, he turned and walked on to his car. He would return to his room at the PC Hotel for the rest of the night. And then, he would figure out a way to confront Caroline…tomorrow.
Sonny clicked his cell phone shut and tossed it on the desk. Running his hand over his face, he started thinking. Not only were things with Carly on an unbalance, but Benny had just told him that there was some strange activity going on in Sorrel’s camp. All of his enemy’s shipments had been ‘held’ as Benny had put it. And to Sonny, that was damn strange.Ever since Sorrel had taken over Moreno’s empire, he had been adamant about speeding up the process of business, in order to gain more profits. Reports usually had Sorrel making shipments through PC twice, even three times a day. But now, all those shipments had been stopped. What was going on?
Sonny had summoned Benny to come and discuss the matters after they were brought to his attention. He didn’t really care about Sorrel or his business, yet he had an interest in how they would affect his own. That’s why he kept constant tabs on what Sorrel was doing at all times, as he probably did too.
Sonny had summoned Benny to come and discuss the matters. He really didn’t care about Sorrel and his shipments. Joseph Sorrel was a man that Sonny wished he could just wipe from the earth, to make his life simpler if nothing else. And he had expressed those feelings to Benny over the phone. But, the older man had disagreed. Even though he had no priority in knowing of Sorrel’s business, Benny had felt that this could possibly mean trouble for them down the road. And the last thing Sonny needed right now was more trouble. God only knew he was in up to his head in it already.
Just then, a knock came on the door, followed by Marcos’ appearing.
“Benny’s here,” the guard said in a hardened tone.
Sonny nodded his acceptance and stood as Benny walked in. Marcos closed the door, returning to his post.
“Would you like anything to drink,” Sonny asked the man after shaking his hand. He started to walk over to the bar, needing a small drink himself.
“No Sonny,” Benny answered. He walked over to the couch and took a seat, waiting for his boss to do the same.
When they were both comfortably situated, Sonny with a small glass of scotch in his hand, Benny voiced the same concern he had over the phone. “This is strange Sonny, and I know you don’t need me to tell you that. Sorrel’s been working like a mad man ever since Moreno died and all of a sudden it just stops! I’ve really got a bad feeling about this.”
Sonny nodded his understanding. Though he was trying to deal with this recent issue, part of his mind was also trying to figure out what to do with Carly next. And no matter what Benny thought, the business with Carly took precedent over any other dealings. Trying to put Carly aside for a moment, Sonny asked, “Has anyone seen Sorrel in the past few days?”
Benny shook his head in the negative. “I don’t really know? Our reports have the last time he was seen publicly as last Thursday, when he had a meeting with some of his men down by the docks. I really don’t know about his men. It’s like they’ve all disappeared!”
“And wouldn’t that just be better for us Benny? Maybe Sorrel couldn’t handle coming in second in this area, so he moved out. Have you considered that?”
Benny gave Sonny a look, as if he was crazy. “You know Moreno never backed down because he was second to you. And neither would Sorrel. If anything, he should be trying to take you down, but he’s gone. Something big is going down Sonny, and we just might be caught in the middle of it.”
Taking a sip of his drink, Sonny thought for a moment. If Sorrel was playing games with this ‘disappearance,’ he sure as hell wasn’t having fun. Especially since his time was better spent thinking of a way to deal with Carly. “Have someone look into it Benny.”
“Is that all you’re going to do,” the other man returned in disbelief. He had been in the business for much longer than Sonny Corinthos. He didn’t like the limelight that being the ‘Big Boss’ brought to you and that’s why he had chosen to stay in the word works, helping things behind the scene. And he knew that Sorrel’s disappearance as well as his halted business was not a good sign.
“Well Benny, what do you want me to do? Go out looking for the guy?” Sonny waved his arms around, angered by the look Benny gave him.
“No…of course not. But…”
“But nothing,” Sonny cut Benny off. “We just go about our business as if nothing’s amiss. We can’t let his slackened business affect our own. How would that look to the others? No,” Sonny said, shaking his head, “we will continue as always. But have someone working to find him…just to see what he’s planning.” Sonny stood, watching as Benny did the same, knowing it meant the conversation was over.
“Give me any news when it becomes available.”
Benny nodded as he moved towards the door. He opened it, ready to leave, but then stopped. Turning, Benny offered one last warning to Sonny, “You might want to increase security…just in case.” And then he left.
Frustrated, Sonny put aside Benny’s parting warning and headed for the stairs. He needed some sleep and now seemed as good a time as any.
But across town, in a darkened room, the single inhabitant wasn’t asleep. Having been planning this for years, they looked out over the city and smiled. Soon, it would all be hers.