Half Way Up-- Chapters 3 & 4
~3
Faithe walked down the stairs the next morning to find Elizabeth sitting on the couch eating a muffin.
“Oh Faithe you need to try these. Mrs. Fargate made them this morning.”
“Yum.” Faithe said sitting down. “So where are the guys?”
“Um… Lucky’s in the kitchen getting some orange juice and Nikolas and Gillian went to have breakfast at some place called the Valley Inn.”
“Oh… that’s nice.” Faithe said half-heartedly.
“Faithe.” Elizabeth started, “They’re just friends.”
“I don’t care what Nikolas does in his spare time. He can have breakfast with whoever he wants.” Faithe said defensively.
Elizabeth smiled; she was not going to be fooled so easy. “Oh so you don’t care that he’s having breakfast with a tall, leggy, gorgeous, worldly, European princess? Not to mention one that he was best friends with when he was a kid. I mean they have a history and they’re comfortable together, that can mean a lot.”
“Well if he wants to go after the Princess Gillian then I say more power to him.” Faithe successfully pushed down the raging jealousy she was feeling. “Nikolas and I have gone out a couple of times and we have fun. But the main reason we’re together is cause we like annoying Luke and Stefan. There’s really nothing more there.”
The shrill ring of the phone came into the room but it stopped quickly so the girls assumed that Lucky had picked it up in the kitchen.
Liz just stayed silent while Faithe got up and started pacing around the room.
“Anyway I don’t need a heavy relationship right now. I mean the last relationship I had the guy killed my father, kidnapped my friends and me, and almost killed Luke.” Faithe said with a large sigh.
“Well if that’s what you’re worried about then I can assure you that Nikolas wouldn’t kidnap you or your friends.” Liz said smiling.
Faithe smiled back. “What about trying to kill Luke?”
Liz shrugged. “Well, he’d have to be seriously provoked.”
Both girls laughed.
Then Lucky came out of the kitchen and grabbed his jacket off the back of the couch.
“That was Nikolas, he wants us to come to the Valley Inn and have breakfast with him and Gillian. Gillian wants us to meet someone or something.”
“Ok, it would be nice to see a little more of this town.” Liz said cheerfully and her and Faithe got up and got their coats.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I can’t believe Dimitri’s gone.” Nikolas said shaking his head. “How is your Grandmother taking it?”
“She’s all right, she’s still holding out hope that he’s still alive. I am too, but it’s hard.” Gillian said sadly.
“I know the coast guard never found a body, but it’s a pretty slim possibility that Dimitri survived.” Nikolas said gently.
Gillian sighed. “I know, but I have faith and so does Grandmama.” Gillian paused and smiled. “Enough about gloom and doom, I want to know what is up with you and the dark haired beauty that was glaring at me yesterday.”
“Faithe was not glaring at you.” Nikolas said shaking his head.
“How did you know I was talking about Faithe?” Gillian said slyly.
Nikolas laughed nervously.
“Are you two together?”
“Not really, we’ve gone out a couple of times, but mostly we just have fun annoying my uncle and Luke Spencer.”
Gillian laughed, “Well yes annoying Stefan was always great fun. But if you two aren’t together then why was she jealous of me.”
“Why would you think she was jealous?” Nikolas asked completely confused. “I didn’t notice anything.”
“You’re a man.” Gillian said dismissively. “Women can tell.”
“I’m sure she wasn’t jealous, if she was glaring at you it was probably because she just doesn’t like strangers.”
“If you say so.”
Nikolas rolled his eyes.
“Anyway where are those people you wanted us to meet, Lucky, Liz, and Faithe should be here soon.”
“Oh Becca and Scott will be here soon. Becca’s been in Pine Valley for a few months. She works at the Glamorama. And Scott’s a good friend of mine, I almost married him.” Gillian said grinning at Nikolas’ surprised expression. “That was over a year ago and he was just trying to save me from getting deported. Now he’s with Becca, who’s much better suited for him if you ask me. Oh there they are.” She said getting out of her chair and meeting them.
“Scott, Becca, I want you to meet a very old friend of mine Nikolas Cassadine.”
Nikolas smiled as he shook the hands of both of them.
“It’s nice to meet you Nikolas. What brings you to Pine Valley?” Becca said brightly.
“Um… my brother knows Mrs. Fargate so we’re here visiting her.” Nikolas said uncertainly. “My brother, his girlfriend, and my… our other friend are on there way over here now.”
Scott looked thoughtful. “Cassadine? As in Cassadine Industries?”
“Yes, my uncle runs the company.” Nikolas said uncomfortably.
“My uncle’s Adam Chandler, Chandler Industries. I guess our uncles have a lot in common.” Scott said smiling.
“Well the Cassadines aren’t any typical rich family, they’re royalty. Right?” Becca said with energy.
When the others gave her a strange look, Becca got nervous. “What? There wasn’t much to do in Pigeon Hollow, where I grew up.” She explained to a confused Nikolas. “We read a lot of tabloids. The Cassadines are Granny Tyree’s favorite royalty. Sorry.”
Nikolas chuckled nervously. “That’s all right. You get used to the tabloids. Yes I am a prince, but it only matters to the other members of the family.”
“I suppose that’s how you two know each other then, since Gillian’s a princess.” Scott said smiling.
“That’s right Nikolas and I knew each other when we were very young, but I haven’t seen him in years.” Gillian said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Swanky place.” Faithe remarked as they walked into the lobby of the Valley Inn.
“Yeah this place is great!” Liz exclaimed.
“Well I think the dinning room is this way.” Lucky said pointing to the open double doors at the other end of the lobby.
“I’ll meet you guys in there, I’m going to the restroom.” Faithe said and started walking toward the restrooms.
Liz and Lucky nodded and went into the dinning room.
A few minutes later Faithe came out of the restroom and started walking toward the dinning room. She started rummaging through her purse to find her chap-stick when she walked smack into what felt to her like a brick wall. But when she looked up all she could see was the chest of a man.
“Are you OK? I’m so sorry. Are you all right?” The man said obviously concerned.
“Um… I’m fine.” Faithe said staring into his deep blue eyes. When she looked down she saw that those eyes belonged to a very well built body that was shown off by the slightly tight T-shirt and jeans he was wearing.
“You sure? You look a little dazed.” He said with a faint smile playing on his lips.
“I’m fine I just need to start looking where I’m going.” Faithe said with a smile.
“No it was my fault, I wasn’t paying attention. Anyway my name is Ryan Lavery.” He said extending his hand to her.
“Lavery? Are you Gillian’s ex-husband?” Faithe asked rather boldly.
“Um… yeah, how do you know Gillian?” Ryan asked.
“Oh, some friends and I are staying at Mrs. Fargate’s and one of them is a childhood friend of Gillian’s.” Faithe explained.
“Ah, that explains it.” Ryan said smiling.
“I’m supposed to have breakfast with Gillian and my friends, so I better get over there.” She said walking away. “Oh and my name is Faithe Reynolds.”
“I’ll probably see you around, it’s a small town”
“Bye.”
Faithe walked over to the table.
“And this is our friend Faithe Reynolds.” Lucky said, obviously having just finished introductions. “Faithe this is Scott Chandler and Becca Tyree.”
They all sat down and ordered their breakfast and then a waiter came up to the table and cleared his throat.
“There is a message for Mr. Spencer at the desk.”
“I wonder what that’s about?” Faithe said.
Lucky shrugged his shoulders and got up from the table. “Only one way to find out.”
He walked into the lobby and up to the registration desk but there wasn’t anybody there so he waited. A few seconds later he was tapped on the shoulder from behind. When he turned around Lucky saw none other than his father dressed in a bellman’s uniform.
“Dad! What are you doing here?” Lucky whispered fiercely.
Luke leaned in close and whispered in Lucky’s ear. “I’m undercover.”
“I can see that. But what are you doing here?”
“Oh I stopped by the boarding house and Myrt said you were here.”
“No I meant why are you here?”
“I came to update ya Cowboy.” Luke said with a sly grin.
“OK fine, what’s the update.”
“Well I think I might have a lead on who tried to make road pizza out of Faithe.”
“I thought we already knew that. It’s Ilias.” Lucky said confused.
“I might be him, but there’s a possibility it cold have been Steffin.”
“Stefan!? Why would he try and kill Faithe? Nikolas could’ve gotten killed.” Lucky reasoned.
“Since when does Nosferatau need a reason to do anything.” Luke said dissmisively.
“What makes you think he has anything to do with this?”
“Well he came by the club last night and something just wasn’t right about him.”
Lucky rolled his eyes. “Dad you always think that about Stefan.”
“You know you and your mother are making me feel like Chicken Little here!” Luke said indignantly.
“Or maybe the boy who cried bat?” Lucky said grinning mischievously.
“Smart mouth brat.” Luke muttered. “Just trust me on this. Don’t tell Nikolas or Faithe about this until I’m sure, but just watch your back Cowboy.”
“Like I wasn’t doing that already.” Lucky said raising an eyebrow.
“Hey I’m just trying to give you a heads up.”
“I know, and I’ll be careful.” Lucky said and walked back into the dinning room.
Luke stood there, leaning against the desk, watching his son walk away when someone tapped him on his shoulder.
When he turned around the small and beautiful woman handed him a small envelope.
“Could you please see that Dr. Hayward gets this?”
Luke looked strangely at the woman. “Do it yourself.” He said handing the envelope back to her.
The woman looked aghast that he would dare to refuse her. “I could get you fired. Do you know who I am?”
Luke shook his head. “Should I?”
“I’m a legendary model and business woman. I’m Erica Kane.” She said as if she was doing him a favor by telling him her name.
“Sorry babe I don’t keep track of the modeling world.” Luke said giving her a gentle pat on the head and walking out of the hotel. Leaving a sputtering and speechless Erica in his wake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~4
“Who was it on the phone?” Faithe asked as Lucky sat back down at the table.
“Oh it was just Luke checking up on us.” Lucky said dissmsively.
Faithe narrowed her eyes at Lucky. She hated not being able to tell if he was lying or not, he was too good at it.
“Well do you guys want to go with us to SOS tonight?” Becca asked brightly.
“What’s SOS?” Nikolas asked.
“Oh it’s this great Latin club run that happens to be run by two of my best friends.” Gillian said smiling.
“Yeah I’m glad Hayley and Mateo are back together.” Becca said happily, obviously a hopeless romantic.
“They still have a long way to go, they’ve been through a lot. But I sure am glad to see them back on the right track.” Scott said smiling, then he frowned as he remembered something. “The only thing now is that Uncle Adam is going around complaining that Mat isn’t good enough for Hayley.”
Scott chuckled at the confused faces of the newcomers. “Hayley is Adam’s daughter, making her my cousin. And the problem is that when Uncle Adam feels that part of his family is in trouble he gets a little… well to say he’s controlling would be putting it mildly.”
Liz smirked. “Sounds like Uncle Stefan.”
All the Port Charles residents at the table laughed. Nikolas however stopped short when his eyes drifted to the door.
“Can anyone tell me why Greenlee Smythe is here?” Nikolas asked, a mask of pure surprise, fear, and panic on his face.
Scott glanced over his shoulder and then turned back to Nikolas. “Ah I can see you know Greens.” Scott’s voice was a combination of amusement and annoyance at Greenlee Smythe.
Becca bridled at the mention of her name.
“Shortly after I came to Port Charles Stefan decided I needed to be introduced to American high society and of course the Smythes were there. Greenlee smelled money and royalty, sunk her claws into me and wouldn’t let go. I spent the better part of the evening trying to avoid her.”
Scott laughed “So you’re the prince she was always bragging about. She kept saying that her prince was so taken with her he gave her a tiara, which of course was conveniently at her Grandmother’s house. She also said she turned him down because he was just too pushy.” He said still barely containing his laughter.
“Well I can assure you none of that is true. How dare she brag about something that didn’t even happen!” Nikolas said angrily.
“That’s just Greens.” Scott said waving his hand dismissively. “No one ever believed her when she told the story and she didn’t even mention your name. So don’t worry about it.” Scott glanced over his shoulder again and saw that Greenlee had spotted him and was headed their way.
“Scott it’s so good to see you again.” She cooed sweetly and then added in a polite but obviously dismissive tone “Becca”
“Greenlee.”
As Greenlee perused the table her eyes fell on Lucky in an almost predatory stare. Which caused Elizabeth to unconsciously lean closer to Lucky and take his hand. Lucky squeezed her hand in reassurance and in thanks. Greenlee’s glance then noticed Nikolas and she squealed in delight.
“Nikolas darling! It’s so wonderful to see you again. I’m so surprised to see you in such company.” She said looking pointedly at Becca, Liz, Lucky, and Faithe.
Nikolas smiled politely. “Oh Greenlee you’re such a joker. I would think that you would know my cousin Elizabeth, my brother Lucky, my friend Faithe, and of course you already know Gillian and my good friends Scott and Becca.” Nikolas said making it clear to Greenlee that the insult was not appreciated.
Greenlee was floored that the shy Nikolas Cassadine she had met years ago had grown to be so assertive… and handsome. But she recovered quickly and smiled.
“Well I see you’re still single.” She said leaving the insinuation that she’d be happy to remedy that hanging in the air. Greenlee did notice Faithe sitting beside Nikolas and Gillian on the other side of him, but even if Nikolas was attached it didn’t bother her.
Becca was of course happy that Greenlee had apparently given up on Scott, but she felt bad for Nikolas and for Faithe since she assumed that they were a couple.
Nikolas squirmed in his seat. He found himself wishing that he could take Faithe’s hand and tell Greenlee that she was his girlfriend, but he didn’t know how she would feel about it, he didn’t even know he felt about it. Even if they just pretended so they could save him from Greenlee it would raise issues between them that they weren’t ready to deal with.
Gillian rolled her eyes at the both Nikolas’ and Faithe apprehension. She surprised both Nikolas and Faithe when she leaned into Nikolas and took his hand.
“He’s not single Greenlee. He’s with me.” Gillian said with a grin.
“You?” Greenlee said surprised.
“Well he is a prince and I’m a princess, it’s only natural.”
Greenlee shrugged it off and smiled winningly. “Well I see Grans over there, so I should get going…”
“Oh don’t let us stop you.” Becca said with obvious resent for the woman.
Greenlee ignored Becca’s comment smiled at Nikolas. “See you later Nikolas.”
As soon as Greenlee was gone Nikolas pulled Gillian out of her chair. “We need to talk.” He whispered fiercely.
“What do you think you’re doing Gilly!” Nikolas exclaimed as soon as they were in the lobby.
“What! Why are you upset, I just saved you from Greenlee!”
“But you didn’t have to do that… I had it under control.” He stammered. He couldn’t explain to her that in some way he wanted Faithe to take his hand.
“Oh nonsense, you were sitting there like a lump in a bog!”
“Um, Gilly… I think it’s bump on a log,” Nikolas said smiling slightly.
“Whatever, either way you still weren’t doing anything!” Gillian said waving her arms frustratedly, like she did every time she butchered the English language.
“Okay, okay, thank you for saving me.”
“That’s better.” Gillian said happily and then led him back to the table.
Becca looked at her watch and stood up. “Well I have to get to work. Oh hey! I have the best idea why don’t you girls come with me and I can get you all appointments at the Glamorama!”
Faithe and Liz looked skeptical, but Gillian jumped in and made the decision for them.
“We’d love to go wouldn’t we. You girls will love Sven.”
“OK, that sounds like fun.” Liz said getting a little more excited.
“Yeah.” Faithe said, a little less enthused.
“Hey! What are we gonna do?” Scott said grinning at Becca.
“I don’t know, go find Ryan and do some ‘guy thing’” She said smiling.
Liz and Lucky both stood up. “Don’t love Sven too much.” Lucky joked.
“Don’t worry.” Liz said and kissed him softly.
Faithe walked past Nikolas when she got up and walked towards the door. “Come on girls let’s get out of here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Myrtle adjusted a mannequin in the deserted boutique. For a second she wondered why nobody came there anymore. Just as she had walked back behind the register the door swung open. A tall figure clad in what could have been a bell man’s uniform, but right now it looked more like a red blur, bolted across the boutique, screamed something about “sanctuary,” and dove into the dressing room.
“What is going on here?” She mumbled as se walked to the dressing room. “Excuse me, but would mind explaining yourself?” Myrtle called into the dressing room.
The man stuck his head out from behind the curtain. “Oh Darlin’ I think that would take too long.” He smirked.
“Luke!” What on earth are you doing here?” She exclaimed, “And what are you wearing?”
“It’s a long story Myrt, but you gotta hide me! Some security and an underdressed bell boy are out to get me!” He explained quickly.
“Okay, okay. Just put this on.” Myrtle said as she quickly handed Luke a bright green and yellow dress she had had on hold for Opal, who was probably the only person who was close enough to Luke’s height, and a wig.
Luke gave Myrtle a strange look. “Myrt, you know I look better in blue.”
“I don’t think you have time to be choosy!” She said and she pushed him back into the dressing room just as a guard burst through the door followed by a young man wearing only boxers and an undershirt.
“May I help you gentlemen?” Myrtle asked politely.
“Yes did a man come in here wearing a red bell man’s uniform?” The guard asked gruffly.
“No I’m sorry sir, it’s just me.”
The guard and the young man looked around the store. “All right ma’am sorry to bother you.”
But when they turned to leave, there was a loud crash and soft curse coming from the dressing room.
“What was that?”
“Oh that’s just my customer.” Myrtle said quickly.
“You didn’t say anything about a customer before.” The guard said skeptically.
“Well she’s in the dressing room changing, I didn’t want you to bother her.” Myrtle said.
“Myrtle! Do you think this fits right?” Came a high pitched voice from behind Myrtle. When Myrtle turned around she almost fell over laughing. There was Luke, wearing Opal’s dress and a curly blond wig. Luckily Luke was in one of his clean-shaven phases. She rolled her eyes when she noticed that Luke had found a bra and some tissue and had made himself some breasts! He was twirling around and checking his but in the mirror.
“Do you think this makes me look fat?” He said putting his hands on his hips.
“No Roxy dear, I think you look great.”
The guard eyed “Roxy” with a leering grin on his face. “Ma’am, have you seen a tall, skinny, old guy, with a bad hair cut, and earrings run in here wearing a red uniform?”
Luke opened his mouth in outrage, about to give the guy a piece of his mind about the “old” crack when Myrtle stepped on his foot, hard.
“Owwno… no sir I haven’t seen anyone here except you wonderful gentlemen.” Luke said finishing with a smile.
“Okay, thanks ma’am.” Then he leaned in towards Luke and winked at him. “You know I get off at 2.”
Luke let an astonished expression cross his face and his hand drew back and slapped the man across the face. “Well I never! I’m a married woman!” and then he stalked off back into the dressing room.
The guard held his face where he had been hit and looked skeptically in the direction “Roxy” had gone. Then he turned to the young man, who looked quite cold.
“Come on Jeff let’s get you back to the hotel, I don’t think we’re gonna find him.”
The young man nodded his head and followed him out the door.
When they left Luke came out of the dressing room and looked at Myrtle looking like he was teetering between laughter and anger.
“Do I look like a Roxy!”
Please Send Feedback:
