Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Elizabeth’s Car

“Shoot,” Elizabeth muttered under her breath. She’d forgotten to grab the lunch she’d packed the night before and now she was going to be forced to buy from the cafeteria. She was never going to lose the last ten pounds of baby weight if she was going to have to live on that greasy food for long.

As much as she loved her job and had missed the hospital, she wished she didn’t have to leave her kids. Life was so absolutely perfect with Jason and their children, all under one roof, happy and safe. Cameron was getting so big–she could hardly believe her little boy had started first grade year. And Jake! It was almost as if she’d blinked and he’d grown from a baby to a little boy with a mischievous smile and a penchant for jumping from tall places.

And her sweet Juliet, the perfect addition to their family. She already had the most adorable smile and Elizabeth couldn’t wait to enroll her in a dance class. Carly had dragged her to a recital last year when Alexis’s Molly was performing. The small kids had been so adorable and Elizabeth just knew it could be something wonderful they’d enjoy together.

Jason had made sure she was aware that working was not something she had to do and part of Elizabeth yearned to just sit at home and watch her babies grow up and change. But she knew if she didn’t get back into the world and have just a slice of life separate from her family, she’d drive herself crazy.

She also loved the idea of Jason having to deal with three small children. She smiled to herself as she pulled up to a traffic light. She couldn’t believe how absolutely wonderful life was but she knew that she and Jason deserved it. After everything they’d been through, after all the hurt and pain, the broken promises and disappointments, it was only right that a little bit of good luck had arrived.

Elizabeth frowned when a car pulled into the intersection in front of her and stopped in the center. She flicked her eyes back at the traffic light and found it still red. This was a quiet intersection at this time of the morning — just after the kids had gone to school. There were no other cars.

A man in a dark suit stepped out of the car and Elizabeth tensed as he looked right at her car. She reached for her purse, opened her car door and took off, darting into the thatch of woods. She didn’t care if she looked like a lunatic–there were a few things Jason had drilled into her and any time a strange man was walking towards her, she was to run as fast as she could in the opposite direction.

She ran through the trees until she thought she was far away enough to find a hiding place and call her husband. Jason would know what to do. She ducked behind some bushes, scanned her immediate area and tugged her cell phone from her purse.

The phone just rang and rang until his voicemail picked up. Elizabeth swore, remembering that Jason had given his phone to the baby to play with earlier. It had probably been left in her crib. She tried the home phone and waited impatiently for the answering machine to pick up. They never answered the land line.

Just as their message clicked on, a branch snapped behind her. Startled, Elizabeth whirled around and dropped her phone. She sprang to her feet and stepped backwards, wincing as she heard it crack under her foot. “What do you want?” she demanded, preparing to dash in the opposite direction.

The man standing in front of her just smiled and Elizabeth realized belatedly that he was not the man from the car. Another branch snapped and a cloth came down in front of her nose. Elizabeth tried desperately to struggle out of the sudden grasp and sucked in some air, preparing to scream. Instead, she inhaled sickly sweet odor and the edges around her vision began to fade to black.

She clawed at her captor’s hands until consciousness fell away. The last thing Elizabeth saw was the chilling smile of a man she finally recognized. Andreas, Helena Cassadine’s servant.

Tuesday, July 23, 2024 (Eastern Europe Summer Time)

Rafina, Greece

Jason’s hand tightened around Elizabeth’s. “What do you remember?” he asked, wanting nothing more than to pull her into his arms and hold her.

Elizabeth bit her lip and shook her head. “Not very much. Like I said, until you came through the door, I didn’t even remember my own name or that I was married.” She tilted her head to the side. “Well, no, that’s not entirely right. I think part of me must have known I wasn’t free. Some of the men around here…” she shrugged. “I was just never interested. I think I always knew there was someone out there.”

“Why did Helena Cassadine give you a new identity?” Jason asked. “How did you lose your memory?”

“I’m not really sure about either of those questions.” Elizabeth hesitated. “The first few days after I woke up are fuzzy. I knew I wasn’t Maia Cassadine just because Helena didn’t know I couldn’t remember anything at first. Her expression…her entire attitude towards me did a one eighty when she realized that and suddenly, I was her beloved granddaughter.  I always felt like that wasn’t right.”

“She never gave you any hints, any indication of who you really were?” Jason pressed.

“No, she was extremely careful.” Elizabeth lifted a shoulder. “Maybe if she hadn’t died a few months later, she might have slipped up. She left me money in her will that I used to start up my shop, but no indication of who I was or why I didn’t remember anything.”  She pressed a hand to his chest. “Jason, my children….”

“Cameron, Jake and Juliet,” Jason said. He covered her hand with his own. “Cameron’s twenty. He just finished his second year at Boston University. He’s pre-law. He wants to be a lawyer.”

“Cameron…” A tear slid down her cheek. “He was so little…just learning to read. Did he grow out of his curls?”

Jason nodded, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “He was very relieved in junior high.

“Jake’s seventeen…” Jason hesitated. “He’s had a rough time. I didn’t–I couldn’t handle losing you and I messed up. I never talked to him–to any of them–about you and he started to blame me.”

“Blame you?” Elizabeth repeated. She frowned in confusion. “Why would he…” She closed her mouth. “Oh.” A sad smile flitted across her features. “I remember.”

“He’s a good kid,” Jason assured her. “His grades could be better. We have regular battles about that but he looks out for his sister and he’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

“His sister…”  Elizabeth’s lower lip trembled. “Juliet was just a baby. She doesn’t remember me at all, does she?”

“No…” Jason couldn’t stop himself from letting his hand drift down the back of her hair, soothing her the way he’d done so often. “But she’s just like you. She’d do anything for a friend…no matter how insane or unsafe. She’s got a good on her shoulders…” He paused. “She found you.”

“She found me?” Elizabeth repeated. “How?”

“When I looked for you, it never occurred to me that Helena Cassadine would have been involved and then she was dead. I kept feelers out all this time, but nothing ever came of it. Juliet has this shoebox that I found a few weeks ago…filled with pictures and newspaper clippings about you. She’d been collecting them for years and hiding them from me.” He exhaled slowly. “I never thought I made her feel like you were a forbidden subject and she was so worried that she’d upset me. It’s what made me pull out all the stuff I put in Carly’s basement all those years ago–”

“Carly…” Elizabeth grinned slightly. “I think I remember her.”

“She’s not easy to forget,” Jason chuckled. He sobered. “Juliet went over everything and started asking questions. She went to Lucky Spencer and Nikolas Cassadine and pieced together an idea about Helena–”

“Lucky and Nikolas–” Elizabeth interrupted. “I–I remember them. I think. Brothers. And…” she frowned. “Lucky and I were married once. We were…high school sweethearts.”

“He was the first person you met in Port Charles,” Jason said. The bitterness and anger he’d felt towards Lucky Spencer had faded long ago. They led their own separate lives and only crossed paths now because of their jobs. “Juliet started with him.”

“But she’s just a little girl, how could she possibly find me?” Elizabeth asked. “I didn’t even have the same name–”

“She enlisted Spinelli, a computer genius that’s worked with us for years,” Jason answered. “Together, they located you…a relative of Helena that didn’t fit into the family. No birth records other than what was filed in 2010. No record of Maia before the birth record. Nikolas had seen a woman who looked like you last year…here in Rafina. He’d seen you. And told Juliet about it. She put it together and brought it to me last weekend.”

“She sounds very resourceful and determined,” Elizabeth murmured. “I’ve missed their entire lives, Jason. They’re practically adults…”

“Maybe…” Jason allowed. “But they still need you.” He swallowed hard. “I need you.”

Tuesday, July 23, 2024 (Eastern Standard Time)

Metrocourt Hotel: Restaurant

Ric Lansing checked his watch for the third time. It wasn’t entirely unlike his daughter to be late for their monthly dinners but she was pushing it today. He had two hours before he’d have to leave to make his flight to New York and he’d wanted to spend some quality time with Molly.

She’d been eight when he’d made the break and moved to New York. He’d promised her that it wouldn’t change their relationship, he’d spend as much time with her as he could and that he’d still love her. Of course, he hadn’t been able to keep that promise. With Molly’s school schedule and his practice, he’d only been able to carve a few weeks in the summer and a few weekends a year. Now that she was eighteen, he didn’t even have that.  She’d graduated from high school the previous May and promptly told him that she’d kept up her end of the bargain all those years but she was independent now and no one could make her do anything.

In other words, Ric could no longer rely on a court ordered visitation to see his daughter. He’d have to schedule the visits and times with her.

He finally saw her at the entrance to the restaurant. She spoke briefly with Carly at the bar and then made her way to his table. “Hey, Dad, sorry I’m late. One of the girls flaked and Lucky begged me to stay until he could find someone else.”

He could hardly argue with her work ethic. Ric just smiled and reached for his glass of wine. “Not a problem. I’m just relieved we could finally make time for each other.”

“Hmm…” Molly opened the menu and studied it. “The salmon looks good.” Ric just sighed and opened his own menu. It always took some time for her to warm up to him.

After they’d ordered and Molly had an iced tea in front of her, he cleared his throat. “So your mother tells me you’re dating Cameron.”

Molly grimaced. “Not really. We’re just friends.” She trained her eyes on the basket of bread and refused to look away.

“That’s not the impression I got from Alexis,” Ric continued. “She’s a little worried that you two spend too much time together. Nearly every night for the last month, out late, sometimes you don’t come home at all.” He tried to say that casually, but he knew he hadn’t pulled it off. The thought of Jason Morgan’s son touching his little girl…it made a guy see red.

Her head snapped up and she flushed. “Mom’s just overprotective. Cam and I were just hanging out for a while.”

He wasn’t going to get any information that way so he changed the topic. “So you didn’t enroll in PCU for the fall.”

Molly rolled her eyes. “No, I didn’t. Lock me in jail.”

“Your mother and I just want what’s best–”

“No, Mom wants me to suddenly want to become a lawyer like you and her and Krissy. You just want Mom to leave you alone about the whole thing so you’re playing the bad guy. Come on, Dad, you never cared about my future before. Why start now?”

Ric was prevented from responding immediately by the waiter bringing their food.  “That’s not fair, Molly,” he said when the server had left.

“Look, I get that Mom’s worried about me. I even appreciate that.” She speared a piece of salmon with her fork and pointed it at him. “But you just want her to stop harping on you.”

“That’s not true–”

“I need some time to figure out what I want, okay?” Molly interrupted. “Unlike you, Mom and Krissy, I wasn’t born knowing what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.  So is it so hard to understand that maybe I need some room?” She pursed her lips and paused for a moment. “You know, Elizabeth Morgan was a waitress for like a hundred years and she still ended up with a decent career.”

He nearly spit out his wine. “Excuse me?”

“Elizabeth Morgan, your ex-wife,” Molly clarified. “Cameron told me she was a waitress slash artist until she divorced you and had to take care of him by herself. She needed a stable job and found nursing. And Cam says she loved every minute of it.”

“Molly, Elizabeth’s situation was different–”

“Well, of course. I’m not planning to get knocked up to find purpose to my life.” She rolled her eyes. “But I’m eighteen years old. All I’m asking for is a year to figure out stuff, okay?”

“I suppose that’s fair,” Ric sighed. “I know we haven’t been as close as I would have liked but I love you, Molly. You and your sister are so important to me–”

“Dad, I get it.” Molly held up a hand. “I know the score. I know Krissy and I are important to you and Mom. No, you’ve never been the most attentive of fathers, but I’m mostly grateful for that–because Mom more than made up for it and you always made sure Krissy felt like you were her dad too. I appreciated that. So, please just relax. We’re all grown up now.”

“I know you think that,” Ric said, “but believe me…you’re not even close to grown up yet, Mol. You and Krissy have your whole lives ahead of you to be adults. Slow it down–”

A waiter approached them, a large flower arrangement in his hands. “For the young lady,” he said, setting it down. Ric could barely see his daughter over the assortment of tulips, daisies and carnations.

“And the card,” the waiter said, holding out a white envelope.

Stunned, Molly took it and slit it open. She removed the cream-colored paper and almost dropped it when she recognized Cameron’s bold scrawl.

Molly-

 Morgan men never give up when we know what we want.

 -Cam

“They’re from Cam,” she murmured.

“Then again…maybe you’re a little more grown up than I want you to be,” Ric said wistfully, wondering where his little girl in pigtails had gone.

Zacchara Estate: Conservatory

Nadine hated this room. Her relationship with Johnny Zacchara had started, developed and disintegrated within these walls.

They should have used more of the house. Spent more time in the gardens or the dining room. Maybe then some of her memories would be spread out more and she wouldn’t feel such a violent dislike for this particular place.  But of course, this had been Johnny’s escape and she’d never wanted him to escape without her, so this was their room. For better or worse.

Johnny knew she’d entered from the moment the door had cracked open. He let his current composition trail off as he stared at her. “Twice in one month. That’s got to be a record. First time in a decade, right?”

“I didn’t come here to fight, Johnny,” Nadine said, but was resigned to the fact that this conversation would end the same way the rest did.

“Come here to tell me your wedding plans to the prince are off?” Johnny inquired.

“Lulu Spencer paid me a visit,” Nadine said, bluntly. “It’s the first time I’ve seen her since…” she shrugged.  “Since everything happened. She seemed to think there were a few details I missed.”

Johnny closed his eyes. “I’m sorry she felt the need to harass you after all this time,” he said. “She never did know how to mind her own business–”

“Johnny, what happened that night?” Nadine interrupted. She cleared her throat. “I never…I never asked and I never let you get past the ‘I slept with Lulu’ part to find out.”

Johnny frowned and slowly rose from his seat. He came towards her. “What’s this about, Nadine? Why does it even matter now?”

“It just does,” she said stubbornly. He stopped a few inches from her and she resolutely lifted her chin, not wanting him to see how uncomfortable she was with him so close.

“I don’t remember anything from that night,” Johnny said. “There are some vague flashes but nothing concrete. If it hadn’t been for the waking up naked and the note she left, I wouldn’t have known anything had happened at all.”

Nadine swallowed hard. “Lulu told me that she found you practically passed out in a room above Jake’s. That you thought it was me.”

With six words, Nadine had silenced the doubts that had raged in Johnny’s mind for over a decade. He could never explain to himself why he’d sleep with Lulu, no matter how drunk he knew he’d been that night. No matter how strained their marriage had been after the miscarriage, he could never reconcile himself to the fact that he’d chosen to break his vows.

But if he’d been drunk and thought it was Nadine…it didn’t make it right, but it made it different. It shut up the little voice that had always told him that he couldn’t do anything right.

It would have been nice if Lulu could have dropped this bombshell before. Like ten years ago. He might have had a prayer of saving his marriage. They could have gone to counseling. He’d wanted that then, but Nadine hadn’t.

He focused on his ex-wife and noticed her chewing her lip, a sure sign that she was either nervous or uncomfortable. “So I thought it was you,” he said flatly. “And I guess Lulu wasn’t in a discriminating mood.”

“I guess not. I think she thought you’d realize eventually and it wouldn’t…” she shook her head. “Anyway, she said she was mortified afterwards and left you a note.”

A three line note telling him she was sorry, that they should never tell his wife and that she’d been in touch if anything unwanted developed. She hadn’t even bothered to sign her name.

Johnny folded his arms. “Why are you here, Nadine?”

Nadine frowned in confusion. “To tell you what Lulu said–”

“Why?” he asked. “Does it change anything? Does it make our divorce null and void now you that finally believe I didn’t want Lulu?”

“Johnny–”

“Does it change the fact that you plan to marry someone else?” he demanded, feeling irritated. He stepped towards her and Nadine instinctively took a step back.

“No–”

“Does it change the fact that you shut me out for months and then walked out, took our daughter and have spent the last ten years punishing me for something you now find out wasn’t entirely my fault?”

“Johnny–”

“No, it doesn’t change a damn thing. So why the hell did you bother?”

Nadine folded her arms under her breasts and looked away. “Because I feel guilty. Because I didn’t let you explain or even delve into it back then. You wanted to fix things, to try counseling and I refused.”

“So you’re here so I can forgive you?” Johnny said skeptically. He laughed bitterly. “Oh, that’s just great. You want me to say I forgive you for throwing our life away without a second glance so you can go to your next marriage with peace of mind? You can kiss my ass. I’m not in this to make you feel better.” He turned his back, dismissing her with a wave of his hand.

“That’s not surprising,” Nadine spat, with sudden vehemence. “You were never in it any of this to make me feel better. Do you have any idea how it felt for me to constantly find you with her? To want to tell you that we were having another baby? To constantly wonder if you thought marrying me was a mistake? If our daughter was a mistake–”

Johnny spun around, truly angry now. “I never thought Amalia was a mistake. Not for a single second. Marrying you? That wasn’t a mistake. That was a train wreck of mammoth proportions.” He jabbed a finger in her face. “Don’t you ever accuse me of not wanting my daughter, Nadine. That’s a low blow and I don’t deserve it–”

“Then what do you deserve?” Nadine asked. She spread her arms out at her side. “You came to me and told me you slept with Lulu barely a month after I lost the baby. Was I supposed to forgive you? Hug you and give you a kiss on the cheek? What should I have done, Johnny?”

“You should have trusted me!” Johnny exploded. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “You should have known I would never do that to you, that I would never willingly destroy the best thing in my life!”

“The best thing?” Nadine echoed. She laughed in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I was a girl you knocked up–”

“You were my wife,” Johnny said through clenched teeth. “And I honored that every day that we were together. You knew me better than that. Or you should have.”

“A little difficult to know something like that when every single time I saw you for two months, you were with Lulu or talking about her,” Nadine snarled. “How was I supposed to believe that you hadn’t seen her and wanted her back?”

Johnny released her so suddenly that Nadine stumbled back. “If you think that now, or if you thought that then, then you never believed in our marriage. How could you think I’d want someone else after being with you?”

“Not someone else,” Nadine retorted. “Lulu Spencer. The girl who disappeared one day without a trace and broke your heart.”

“I’m done with this,” Johnny said.  “Go marry your beloved prince, live happily ever after. I don’t give a damn.”

“That’s the problem between us, Johnny,” Nadine softly, all the anger gone from her voice. “I never really believed you did.”

He stared at her for a long moment, not really believing she was standing in front of him, saying she didn’t believe he’d loved her then. Maybe he hadn’t said it much or at all, but hadn’t he taken care of her? Cherished her? Protected her? Kept her safe? Made her laugh, tried not to make her cry? What had she wanted from him? Blood?

He’d loved her more than anyone else in his life and had been desperate to make her even a fraction as happy as she’d made him. Had he really failed to make her see that?

In the impulsive way of his youth, Johnny acted without thinking. He grabbed his ex-wife’s arm, dragged her up against him and covered her mouth his own, trying desperately to pour every ounce of love and devotion he’d ever felt for her into the kiss.

Her free hand came up to shoulder and first flattened against his chest as if to push him away but then she curled her fingers into the thin fabric of his black shirt. He tried to make it last as long as he could, knowing that when he finally let her go, she’d walk out the door and marry someone else.

Finally, the need for oxygen won out and he released her lips. They clung to each other for a moment, breathing hard.  He was about to release her and step back when he felt her cool fingers on his cheek, moving to frame his jaw. Startled, Johnny’s eyes flew open to find her looking back at him with a soft expression, much like she’d once had. “Nadine–”

She shook her head and slid her arms around his neck and lifted herself onto the tips of her toes to press her mouth to his again. Now that they’d both given into the urge, it was like neither of them could bear to feel anything separating them. Hands flew, buttons came undone, her skirt fell to the ground followed by his jeans.

He lifted her in his arms and took the steps to the nearby sofa. Johnny gently lowered to the cushions and then covered her, attacking the smooth flesh of her neck with his mouth. Her fingers curled in his dark hair and she dragged him back up to kiss him again.

When they came together for the first time in so many years, Johnny wondered how he could have let so much time go by without feeling like this, touching her skin, drinking in her scent. He kissed her eyes and tasted the salt of her tears. He smiled — she’d always cried when they’d made love.

After wards, they lay in each other’s arms, their bodies heated from the exertion. Nadine was sprawled across his chest, staring at the dark fireplace, remembering all the winter nights that had ended this way.

She felt his fingers slide through her hair and she closed her eyes, wishing she could throw caution to the wind and stay just like this forever.

But she wasn’t the twenty-four year old girl who’d slept with Johnny Zacchara in a bar one night and she wasn’t the twenty-eight year-old woman who’d divorced him either. She was the woman who’d spent most of her adult life alone and was terrified at how easy it’d been to throw away all the promises she’d made to herself.

The promise she’d made to Nikolas.

Like a bucket of cold water splashing over her, she sat up. Nikolas. Her fiancé.

“Nadine–” Johnny propped himself up on his elbows, recognizing that look of alarm in her eyes. She’d snapped back into reality and he was afraid all over again that she’d walk out on him. “I know–”

“I’m just like Lulu,” Nadine murmured, feeling sick to her stomach. She reached blindly for something to cover herself and found his black polo. She pressed it to her chest and looked at him with glazed eyes. “She wanted you and didn’t care who she hurt and now I’m doing the same thing–”

“Who does this hurt?” Johnny asked. He reached for her but Nadine stood and reached for her panties, dragging them up over her hips. “Nadine–”

“I’m engaged,” Nadine said, horrified. “I promised Nikolas that I would marry him and honor him. Oh my God, I feel sick–”

Insulted, Johnny scowled. “Why are you thinking about that now? It doesn’t matter anymore–”

Nadine paused in the middle of trying to fasten her bra and drag her skirt on at the same time. “Why?” she asked. “Because we had sex? My promises and my word don’t matter anymore because I had sex with you?”

He didn’t particularly appreciate the way she said ‘sex’ like it was a bad thing. “Nadine–”

“This–” Nadine waved her hand toward him frantically. “This was just an aberration. I was lonely, okay? And I haven’t been with a man in a long time, okay?” She pulled her shirt over her head and tugged her hair out from underneath the collar. “This was sex, Johnny. It doesn’t fix anything.”

She found her purse on the floor and rushed out of the room, leaving her ex-husband both confused and pissed off.

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