Chapter 18 “The course of true love never did run smooth.” William Shakespeare It is the Fourth of July. Luke has been out of town on business for a few days, and decided to visit a friend on his way back. Alexis and Ned agreed to meet at the picnic, and let the Quartermaines slowly get used to the idea of them being more that just co-workers. Early this morning Alexis retrieved the basket from Ari. He said that Helena was in one of her moods and probably would stay in her room all day. Alexis was relieved at not having to see Helena, took the basket, drove to Pier 54, and placed it on the boat. It was a very attractive wicker picnic basket. Alexis is well aware, that with Helena, attractive things are only there to lure a person in. It is about nine o’clock in the morning. Lucky and Liz are ready to go, and are saying good-bye to Laura and Lulu. In order to keep her promise to the kind, older woman, that she wouldn’t tell where the boat really came from, Liz came up with her finest fabrication, yet. She told everyone, namely the Spencers and her Grandmother, she won a contest. She said she saw one of those boxes they have in stores to sell you a gym membership, filled out the paper, and they just called her to let her know she won. The adults asked one hundred and one questions, but Liz had answers to them all. Lulu has been pouting all morning watching Lucky get ready. Laura tried to explain that this was a special day for Liz and Lucky, but she and Mommy would go to the picnic and watch the fireworks with Lucas and Aunt Bobbie. Lulu’s mood darkened when Liz arrived. Laura goes over the last minute “rules” with the teenagers, but they are fidgety and want to get going. Laura: (to Lulu) Say bye-bye to them. Lulu: (sad) I wanna go, too. Laura: Now, Lulu… Tears begin to trickle from Lulu’s eyes as she gives Lucky a look that melts him. Lucky: (looking at Liz) Do you think it would be O.K.? Liz really doesn’t want Lulu to tag along today. She was hoping that she and Lucky could have their first “real” kiss, and maybe… But Lulu’s pleading looks are more than Liz can take, too. Liz: Sure, why not. Lulu: (brightens and claps her hands with joy) Yeaaaa! Lulu runs to get her favorite toy, a stuffed pony, and runs back to Lucky and Liz. She begins shoving them toward the door as Laura gives instructions. Laura: Sweetie, why don’t you go get your backpack and put some juice boxes and some cookies in it. (Lulu runs to the kitchen) Oh! Get your coloring book and crayons, too! Now Lucky, be sure you put a lifejacket on her, and sunscreen, and keep an eye on her, you now how she likes to wander off. Lucky: (exasperated) Yes, mom. I can take care of her. I won’t let anything happen. Laura: O.K. (to Lulu, who has run back to Lucky’s side) Now you listen to what Lucky tells you. No running off by yourself, understand? Lulu: Uh-huh. Laura: All right, you be a good girl. Lulu: I will. Liz, Lucky and Lulu all happily set out on their big adventure. Laura is relieved that Lulu went with Lucky and Liz, it will save her from having to explain to Bobbie why she would need to leave the picnic for a few hours. Laura heads upstairs to change her clothes before she visits Wyndemere. Alexis is rushing into her room at the Port Charles Inn. Her assignment for the day completed, she is now in a hurry to get ready to meet Ned at the picnic. As she closes the door, someone grabs her from behind. It is early afternoon and a couples horseshoe tournament is underway. The teams are comprised of: Jasper & V vs. Mac and Robin, Jerry and Katherine vs. Scott and Eve, Kevin and Lucy vs. Allan and Monica, A.J. and Keesha vs. Mike and Bobby. After the first round everyone takes a quick break and then the second round starts. The teams are Kevin and Lucy vs. Mike and Bobbie, and Jasper and V vs. Jerry and Katherine. Katherine is standing at the same end with Jasper, and V is standing at the opposite end with Jerry. Jasper: (yelling) V! WATCH HE DOESN’T DISTRACT YOU BY GOOSING YOU! HE LIKES PINCHING WOMEN’S BUMS! Jerry: HEY! I’M A MARRIED MAN YOU KNOW! Jasper: OH, WELL THAT’S DIFFERENT! Jasper is laughing and turns to look at Katherine. K: (removing her finger from her ear) Do you think they heard you? Jasper: (apologetic) Oh, sorry. So, how are my little… are they boys or girls? K: (smiling) We won’t know until late August, and they’re fine. Jasper: (watching the game. nonchalantly) Jerry taking good care of you? K: (firmly) Yes. He’s wonderful. It is their turn to throw. When they are finished they resume their conversation. J: Wow! *Two* ringers, I’m in shock. I always heard that… Nevermind (Katherine smiles, then Jasper becomes serious) I’m worried. K: (concerned) About what? J: That someday soon my brother will get one of his itches, and leave you stranded. (Shaking his head, bewildered) You do seem to have a power over him, that no other woman has had, but still… K: (reassuringly) I appreciate your concern, but I’m not worried. I was fully aware of Jerry’s need to wander the globe when I married him. I’ve told him that if he ever feels trapped, he can go. As long as he comes back to me. J: Have you thought about what you’ll do if he doesn’t come back? K: (shaking her head and sighing) I don’t want to think about that. Katherine is moving toward the poll to retrieve the shoes, when Jasper grabs her arm and turns her towards him. J: (sincerely) I want you to know, if he EVER leaves and *doesn’t* come back, I’ll be here for the children AND you. That’s a promise. Katherine is so shocked and moved by his statement she bursts into tears. Jerry sees her crying, runs to her, and puts his arms around her. Jerry: (gently) What’s wrong? (Looking at Jasper sternly) What did you say to my wife? Jasper: (innocently) Nothing, I swear! K: (through her tears) It’s O.K., really. (Drying up and pulling away from Jerry) I’m fine, it must be the hormones. Jerry: (stroking her hair, and looking into her eyes) Are you sure you’re all right? K: (taking a deep breath) Yes. Let’s play. The game continues, and Katherine and Jerry win. Over at the other match, Lucy and Kevin narrowly beat Mike and Bobby. There is a break before the next game begins. Meanwhile, Laura has gone to visit Stefan at Wyndemere. Nikolas, who was out for a ride, saw Laura stepping off the launch, and wondered what she was doing there. So got off Sheba and entered the guesthouse and took one of the passages to the main house. He hid himself so that his Uncle and Mother don’t realize he is listening to their conversation. L: We have to talk. S: Yes, if this is ever to end, we need to discuss it. L: Then you go first. Stefan takes a deep breath. He knows if he is ever to get past his feelings for Laura, he needs to say them aloud, to her. Ask her the questions he’s never had honest answers for. S: (sincerely) I loved you all those years. I prayed every night that you would come back for Nikolas. For me. Nikolas can’t believe what he is hearing. His Uncle told him, repeatedly, that they were only friends. L: While I was on that island, I cared about you, but my heart has always been Luke’s. It always will be. S: I told myself that Luke had some sort of sick hold over you because he raped you. L: (shaking her head) I’ll never understand how you figured that out. S: Stavros did all the work. From the moment he saw you, he was obsessed with you. He found out everything he could about you. L: *He* was obsessed with me? And *you’re* not? That night, back in April, when Katherine found us together, and even just a few weeks ago; I think you can’t stop obsessing over me. Nikolas is angry. Not only did his Uncle betray Katherine with another woman, that other woman was Laura. The lies his Uncle has told him, the lies his mother has told him, the things Helena has said about his Uncle are all twisting in his head. S: (accusingly) You didn’t stop it. You came to me, both times. (After a long pause) I have done a great deal of thinking since our last encounter. I know now that I am no longer beset with you, or thoughts of you. “Obsessed? Beset? Helena was right.” Nikolas thought. S: I do have a question, though. L: What? S: How could you marry a man who did that to you? How could you love him, but not me? L: (miffed) YOU shot Katherine, yet she loved you… S: (abruptly) What happened to Katherine was an accident. What Luke did to you was deliberate, and yet you loved him afterward. How? L: (distant) I loved Luke even before that night. I was married to Scott, but he never made me feel the way I did with Luke. Yes, it was a terrible thing that he did to me, and we really haven’t discussed it, but even that didn’t stop me from loving him. I need him. Stefan is staring at her. Trying to see in her eyes what he always hoped he would see; her love for him. S: (probing) All that time we were in Greece, you never felt about me the way I felt about you? That night in April and just a few weeks ago, you seemed as if… L: I’ll admit I did have feelings for you. You were the only kind person on that island. And I enjoyed our time together, but it wasn’t love. I never said that I loved you. When you came to Port Charles I was afraid of what you’d say to Luke. (Looking guilty) That’s why I came to you, and why I let you kiss me. I was afraid you would take away the one man, the ONLY man I’ve ever loved. He finally sees Laura without the veil of memory clouding his thoughts. He can see in her eyes that she feels nothing for him. He suddenly longs to see Katherine’s warm loving eyes. Laura is uncomfortable with the way Stefan is looking at her. L: (quickly) But you don’t love me, either. Can you honestly say that the information you held over my head was an act of love? The information you’re still holding over my head. Do you realize… S: (irked) Yes! I fully comprehend the ramifications to both of us. L: (persuasively) You do understand I could never make you happy, Stefan. I could never live up to the memory you hold of me. I know I would fall short of the fantasies you’ve let run in your head. Of how I would say or do things just the way you wanted me to. That woman, that Laura, doesn’t exist. She never did. (Pausing to see if she is getting through to him) It makes me truly sad to think of all those years you wasted, because you were in love with a memory, *not* with me. (She studies him to gauge his reaction to what she said, but there is very little she can discern) I just hope, that after all these years, you can find a woman who makes you happy. (Sincerely) I think you deserve to be happy. S: (ardent) I *was* happy with Katherine. (Almost sentimentally) For the first time, in a very long time. What’s that saying? “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” L: (smiling) I have no doubt that if you set your mind to it, you will have her. You are steadfast if nothing else. And, after all, you’ll be starting from a place we were never at. S: Where’s that? L: She loves you. All this Cassadine baggage you and Nikolas carry - it didn’t deter her. If Stavros hadn’t *dragged* me to Greece, I would *never* have been a part of the Cassadine world. You couldn’t have *paid* me enough to become involved with your family. Yet, Katherine wasn’t bothered by it. She happily embraced it. (Smirking) I won’t go into what I think of that. S: (suddenly business like) Well, this was enlightening and helpful, but if you’ll excuse me I have important business to take care of. They both leave the room and Nikolas walks in. He can barely focus on where he is going and bumps into an end table, knocking over a vase. He doesn’t finch at the crashing of it, his mind is racing and he feels as if his heart will explode from the weight of all the truths he’s heard. He runs out the door without a plan as to where he is going. Alexis and Ned join the Quartermaines at their table. Edward: Where in tarnation have you two been? I was expecting you to be in the horseshoe tournament. (Disgusted) A.J., Keesha, Alan and Monica proved to be no match for anyone. Alan: Now, Father, you know I haven’t been feeling well. Alexis: Well, I’m afraid our tardiness is my fault. I… I had a dental emergency. Ned: (grinning broadly) Yes, she had something stuck between her teeth. Alexis: (looking mortified) It was… Well, it’s a looong story. Ned: (leaning in, and whispering in her ear) Why, thank you. Alexis: (trying not to smile) I think I’ll go get something to drink. Ned: (smiling) I’ll go with you. The last round of the couple’s tournament is underway. Lucy and Jerry are at one end and Kevin and Katherine are at the other. Much to Lucy’s dismay, Jerry has been able to knock all of her points out. L: You’ve been hanging around Kathy too long. J: How’s that? L: Her nastiness is rubbing off on you. J: (laughing) You two never cease to amuse me. (Winking and smiling) You know you love her like a sister. L: (disgusted) I DO NOT! How dare you SAY such a thing? Ewww! J: (chuckling) Yes, you do. If you didn’t, you would have let her walk out on the stage that night. Babies or no babies. You two actually remind me of Jasper and myself. Always fighting, getting on each other’s last nerve, but when it comes right down to it… you’d protect her with your life AND she would do the same for you. Your *problem* is you’re exactly alike. Kevin was able to tie up the game and it is game point. Lucy angrily walks up prepares to throw, but she is outraged at Jerry’s accusation. She throws her first shoe, it bounces and lands in front of the pit. She tries to shake off Jerry’s comments, and throws her last shoe. It bounces off the back of the pit and almost hits Kevin. Lucy walks away pouting. Jerry throws his shoes and they’re both ringers. The couples meet in the middle, and Katherine and Jerry are presented with a trophy. Lucy has been sulking the whole time. She feels she has to say something because Katherine is looking too smug. L: That’s NOT fair. They shouldn’t have won. (Pointing at Jerry) HE cheated! Kevin, Jerry, and Katherine: How? L: (pouting) He distracted me. He said that I actually like, no, no he said *love* her (pointing to Katherine) like a *sister*. And that we’re exactly alike. Kevin: (hesitantly) Wellll, you do… annnd… you are. Lucy looks repulsed, but is so angry she can’t form a sentence, so she storms off. Kevin rolls his eyes, shakes hands with Jerry and Katherine, and rushes after her. Katherine: (yelling) Better luck next time, Lucy! (Looking at Jerry) That was a wonderful way to distract her. How did you come up with that? J: It’s the truth. Katherine looks stunned. K: It is NOT. J: Yes, Lois, it is. K: (repulsed) HOW can YOU say that? We’re… We’re… Ugh! Katherine storms away and Jerry slowly follows after her, smiling. It is late evening, and the three adventures have spent the warm, sunny day exploring the little island. Ari has been in a boat off shore, watching the threesome. He had thought about letting Helena know that there was a little girl with Lucky and Liz, but “Madame” was in one of her moods. The kind of mood that would have her locked in her room all day. Ari could always hear her through the door. He knew she was clutching a photo of her eldest son, crying incessantly, and speaking of revenge for his death. Ari didn’t really enjoy working for Helena, but she held his family’s life over his head, as is the Cassadine custom. The only person who worked for the Cassadines, who thought it was an honor to do their bidding, was George Papas. Ari always felt that George spent so much of his life catering to the Cassadine whims, that he lost his will to fight back or his memory of why he should want to. Ari has worked for Helena since he was eighteen. She spotted him laboring in his father’s marble quarry. She asked politely if he would come to work for her. The lustful way the old woman leered at him made his skin crawl, so he turned her down. That was the last time he denied her anything. She became enraged and killed his brother right in front of him, and threatened to do the same with the rest of his family. He’s worked for her, following her every despicable command, ever since. He always hoped that someday he could be free of her, but today wasn’t the day. The little band of explorers have made their way back to the shoreline, and the spot where they set up their picnic items earlier. Lulu is throwing stones into the water. Lucky and Liz are standing nearby watching. Liz goes to the picnic basket and grabs the Champagne from the insulated bag. Liz: (surprised) Hey! It’s still cold. Lucky: Annnnd? Liz: Why don’t we have some? Lucky: I’m a beer man, myself. Liz: Oh, come on. One glass won’t hurt, and besides we have plenty of time for it to wear off before we have to go. Lucky: Well, all right. But I really don’t like the stuff. Liz smiles at Lucky as he opens the bottle. Ari phones Helena to let her know it’s started. Liz hands Lucky two plastic drinking glasses. Lucky: Don’t you want to use the fancy Champagne glasses? Liz: Ummm… No, I would hate for them to break. Lucky shrugs and fills the cups, then puts the bottle back in its holder. They hold up their glasses, to make a toast. Liz: (sweetly) Here’s to the future and possibilities. Lucky: (smiling) Here’s mud in your eye. Lucky takes a swallow of his, but Liz gulps almost all of it. Lucky: Hey, you should go easy, you’re not used to drinking. Liz: I’ve had drinks before. Lucky: Yeah? When? Liz tries to think of all the times she’s had a drink, but can’t come up with anything but Katherine and Jerry’s party. Lucky takes another swallow of his, then sets his glass down. Liz: (irked) All right, not that many. Liz is staring intently into Lucky’s eyes. She wants to kiss him. To show him how much she appreciates everything he’s done for her since the rape. To show him that she truly cares about him and wants to be closer to him. Liz leans in to Lucky. Lucky realizes what Liz is doing, and is not sure what to do. If he doesn’t kiss her, she’ll be hurt. If he does kiss her… His mind starts to wander into the possibilities. Before his thoughts wander too far, their lips are together. They both close their eyes and share many soft kisses. Just as their desire is beginning to build, Liz becomes extremely dizzy. She pulls away from him. Liz: Ohhhh, my head. Lucky: See, I told not to drink it so fast. Let’s sit down for a minute. He tries to help her to the blanket, but is having trouble standing up himself. Liz makes it to the blanket, then passes out. Lucky lies down next to her then passes out. Lulu wanders over to tell them she is thirsty, and sees them lying there. She assumes they’re taking a nap and gets herself a juice box. She pokes at Lucky, but he doesn’t budge. So she decides to take her juice and her stuffed pony, and go play “captain” on the boat.