Chapter Four: Living In The Past
Kelly's
"Wow," Carly said, shaking her head, "just goes to show how wrong I can be about people. Mac Scorpio, huh? I didn't really know him or anything, but I never would've pegged him for a horse person."
Taggert opened the door for Carly, waiting for her to walk into Kelly's before following her. "A what?" he laughed. He sat down across from her at the small table and grinned. "Is this another of the 'rules of life according to Carly Benson'? You have to be a special kind of person to run a ranch now?"
Carly shook her head in mock sadness. "You know, the PCPD really is getting desperate; they'll let just about anyone into the Commisioner's office these days. Pay attention, Marcus; I'm about to educate you." She rapped smartly on his knuckles with a fork as he rolled his eyes and leaned back, with a 'this is gonna be good' expression on his face. "Okay, look," she leaned forward, "the world is divided into horse people, and non-horse people. That's just, you know, the way it is. I," Carly smiled creamily, "am a horse people. I would have bet just about anything that Mac Scorpio," she wrinkled her nose slightly, "wasn't."
Taggert lifted an eyebrow, tilting his head as he watched her. Carly Benson had a smile like no one else on this earth. Why the hell had it taken him so long to notice that? And, now that he had figured it out, what was he gonna do about it? No, he caught himself before his mind traveled further down that forbidden path, no. Carly was -- the closest thing he had in this world to a little sister, and that was all. For his own sanity, that was all. He cleared his throat, wrenching his mind back from where it had gone when she'd smiled at him, noting her puzzled glance and ignoring it. "Well," Taggert said, only the hint of a crack in his voice, "I don't know about horse people, but I know that Mac would do just about anything to save his family. So, when the ranch came up for sale in Texas, he bought it, moved Felicia and the girls down, and resigned, all in a couple of weeks. Leaving me," he fingered his badge, "with his job."
"And takin' Felicia away before my uncle came back to town," Carly added shrewdly. She laughed at Taggert's expression. "Despite what some people think, Marcus, I do pay attention to things that don't involve me, and I'm not an idiot." She shrugged. "Mac shouldn'tve worried though. Luke and Laura are solid." Carly grimaced. "Believe me, I know. I walked in on them at the Brownstone," she shuddered, lifting her water glass to her mouth and taking a long gulp.
Taggert laughed, and Carly pointed a finger at him. "It was not funny." She couldn't help joining in as he laughed. "Okay, okay, laugh. But, picture this: my uncle Luke, shirtless, his tongue down Laura's throat," Carly rose, as Taggert's laughter stopped abruptly. She grinned down at him. "And, I'm gonna leave you with that particular mental image while I go to the ladies room. If Tammy or whoever ever gets here , I'll have a salad, no dressing and a cup of Ruby's chili." She sauntered away, and Taggert leaned back in his chair and watched her walk, a slight grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, despite the fact that he knew, he knew looking at Carly this way was only gonna lead to trouble. Or worse.
"You know, Sonny, when you owe somebody something, you really pay it back," Alexis pronounced, gesturing at the restaurant they were standing in front of. "I mean, when you said you were going to take me out to lunch, I thought maybe the Grille or Café Matisse, but Kelly's?" She shook her head, suppressing a grin. "Mr. Corinthos, you really take my breath away."
Sonny leaned against one of the tables, and smirked at her. "Yeah, well, what can I say?" He grinned, his dimples deepening. "When I'm good, you know, I'm good." He became slightly more serious for a moment. "I figured it was a nice day; we'd eat outside, relax. But, if you wanna go to the Grille--"
Alexis held her hand up shaking her head. "Kelly's is perfect, Sonny," she said, sitting down at the table. "Like you said, it's a nice day, and -- it'll be refreshing. I've had too many dinners at the Grille lately. Truth be told," she leaned across the table as he sat down, and lowered her voice as if expressing a confidence of the highest nature, "I've never really liked the Grille. Too stuffy."
Sonny tilted his chair back, and laughed. "And here I pictured the Grille as your kind of place, Counselor. Stuffy and all." He shook his head, resting his chin on his fingertips, and looking at Alexis. "The more time I spend with you, Alexis, the more I learn. I like it."
Alexis smiled back, aware that she was enjoying their repartee more than she should. And, for more reasons than she should. "You don't know the half of it, Sonny," she said, her voice lightly teasing. "I'm just full of surprises."
"Tell me about it," Sonny responded, his voice low, leaning forward and locking his eyes with hers. He cleared his throat, then reached out deliberately, almost hesitantly, to cover her hand with his. Alexis tensed slightly, but she didn't pull away. Sonny opened his mouth, about to say something, when a beeping from his pocket called his attention to his cell phone. His jaw clenched, and Sonny let out an exasperated sigh, dropping her hand and pulling out the phone. "What?" he snapped. He listened for a second. "Yeah, I'm on the cell," Sonny glanced at Alexis, then down. "I'll call you back." He snapped the phone closed, then looked over at Alexis. "I have to take this," he said, semi-apologetically.
Alexis half-shrugged, half-nodded, sitting up straight in her chair as he stood up. "Don't do anything stupid," she called out, and Sonny paused, his hand on the door to Kelly's and turned to grin at her.
"Me? Do anything stupid?" He shook his head, his dimples prominent. "Nah; it'll never happen." Sonny was still grinning as he walked in, and with Tammy's permission, used her phone to call Benny back. "Yeah, alright," he was saying a moment later. "I'll take care of it." Sonny hung up, turning around to head back outside to Alexis, and barely stopped himself from running into Carly, returning from the ladies' room. They both froze for a moment; Sonny spoke first. "Hey," he said, softly, his voice low.
Carly stared at him without comment, folding her arms tightly across her chest. Finally she sighed. "I should probably apologize for hitting you the other night," Carly said.
"Yeah, probably. And, I should probably apologize for the things I said," Sonny answered, both of them aware that their words were not an apology. Suddenly, Sonny's expression softened, and Carly broke into quiet laughter. "Damn," said Sonny quietly, a half-smile on his lips, "the two most stubborn people in this town, huh? Neither one of us gonna admit we were wrong."
Carly's laughter quieted, but her face remained soft. She shook her head. "How 'bout we were both wrong? Can you live with that?" Sonny pretended to think for a moment, then nodded, ruefully. Carly's face stilled even more, and she looked at her ex-husband. "This is really hard, Sonny," she admitted, her voice a whisper.
Sonny nodded, once, his eyes darkening. "It's a small town, Carly," he said, his voice low. "We've got to run into each other. And -- there's Ginia."
"Ginia," Carly echoed softly. She looked down, then lifted her eyes to meet his. "It's just -- I don't know how to do this. How to get from what we were to what we are."
"What are we, Carly?" Sonny asked, his eyes very dark, and locked on hers.
She lifted her shoulders once, tears suddenly pooling in her eyes despite the fact that she'd sworn to herself she wasn't going to shed any more tears over Sonny Corinthos. "Parents," Carly said. "People who used to love each other, I guess."
"Used to?" Sonny asked, his voice barely audible. His hand started to rise to touch her cheek when Carly's eyes flicked once over his shoulder and then back. Sonny turned, to see Marcus Taggert watching them from a table for two, with Carly's purse slung over the back of the empty chair. His face hardened, and he snatched his hand back, quicker than pulling it away from a hot stove. "Well, you always did move fast, sweetheart; we both know that. But, Taggert? C'mon, Carly, I thought you had better taste than that."
Carly shook her head, her whole body tensing. "I'm not gonna do this, Sonny," she said, her voice sharp. Carly looked at him a moment longer, then brushed past him, walking back to her table. She froze as she heard Sonny's voice behind her.
"Go ahead, walk away, Carly," he said, his voice biting. "You always do."
~*~ The glass shattered against the wall, and Sonny turned from his desk, his eyes dark, to face his wife. Carly stood in front of the couch, hand on her hips, her own eyes flashing. "Gonna look at me now?" she snapped.
"It depends," Sonny drawled, deliberately speaking slowly despite his anger because he knew it infuriated Carly. "Gonna say anything worth listenin' to?"
"God," Carly exploded, "that is exactly what the whole problem is! You shut me out; you don't listen to me. You make these decisions, and I-- I'm not doin' this anymore."
Sonny looked at her, standing up slowly. "Why do I feel like I'm comin' in in the middle of a conversation, and I never got the memo on what the hell we're supposed to be talking about?" he demanded, his voice edged with sarcasm.
"Why did I have to find out from my mother that you're goin' out of town next week?" Carly burst out, her words following quick on his, her breath coming fast.
Sonny stopped for a moment, shaking his head once, a crease in his forehead. "Bobbie? How did she--"
"Roy," Carly interrupted. "He happened to mention that he was gonna have to work extra hours at the warehouse next week 'cause his boss was going to be out of town. See, unlike you," Carly bit out, taking a step nearer to her husband, "Roy actually informs people he cares about what's going on in his life. Unlike you, Roy likes bein' upfront about his life. Unlike you, Roy doesn't lie to the people he loves!"
"I'm not the only one who lies, little girl," Sonny snapped, his voice dangerously low as he took a step towards Carly. "Better watch it before you start throwin' stones that get thrown right back."
"Oh," Carly said, her voice very small, and her eyes very big, "so that's what this is about. You're still mad at me because I lied to you when Jason came back. You're never gonna forgive me for that, are you?" Sonny shrugged and looked away, and Carly nodded, slowly. "Yeah, well, at least the cards are out on the table, huh? You don't trust me, and I lied to you." She gathered herself almost visibly, and Sonny tensed. He knew what was coming next, had seen it coming for weeks. Carly shook her head, all her anger draining out replaced by weariness. "I'm not gonna do this anymore, Sonny; I can't."
"Don't do this," Sonny said, his voice low and rough, the words almost ripped out of his throat. "Don't leave, Carly. Don't go to him."
Carly stared at him incredulously. "Is that where you think I--" She broke off, lifting her hand to her mouth for a long moment. "Tell me that you need me," Carly whispered finally, every emotion that ever was quivering in her voice. "Tell me that you need me, that you can't live without me, and there's nothing on this earth that can make me walk out of that door." There was a long silence that seemed to stretch onto forever, as their eyes held. But, nothing was said. No one spoke. Finally, Carly turned, gathering her purse and her jacket. She spoke without looking at Sonny. "Ginia and Michael and I'll be at the Brownstone. Come by and see your daughter whenever you want." She lifted her eyes to his, a thousand years older than they were a moment ago. For a moment, Sonny thought she was going to say something else, but she dropped his gaze and walked out of the penthouse without looking back.
"I need you, querida," Sonny whispered as the door closed softly behind her. "Don't go." ~*~
Sonny's eyes bore into the back of her head; he knew she was remembering the same thing he was. Truth was, that was why he'd said it. But, just like then, she didn't turn around; after a moment, Carly just kept walking, sitting down across from Taggert, ignoring him fully. He turned on his heel, determined not to look at his ex-wife a moment longer, and walked out the door. It was with momentary shock that he found Alexis watching him from the table where he'd left her; he'd totally forgotten she was waiting for him. He walked over to her table, and started to sit down, then stopped. He couldn't do this. "Alexis, I'm sorry, but I've gotta go. Business," Sonny said, his voice more abrupt than he wanted it to be.
Alexis looked at him with a lifted eyebrow; even if she hadn't heard what had just happened, she'd seen him with Carly Benson neé Corinthos; she wasn't an idiot. "Okay," was all she said, her voice light, "another time, then. You can owe me."
Sonny nodded, paused a moment as if to say something more, then walked away. Alexis watched him go, then sat back hard in her chair. She was a fool; she was such a fool. But, even knowing that, she knew that there was going to be a next time. And, even as he walked away, his mind totally caught up in his ex-wife, she was already looking forward to it.
"We can leave," Taggert said quietly. "I'll take you back to the Brownstone -- whatever you want."
"No," Carly shook her head, flashing a brilliant, if totally false smile at him, "I'm not gonna let Sonny drive me out of my mother's restaurant. And, now," she leaned forward, her smile a great deal smaller, but equally more sincere, "I'm gonna totally change the subject, and you're gonna let me. Did Lucky tell you where he was going when you 'ran into' him earlier?" she asked, trying her best to get Sonny's eyes out of her mind, and convinced that the best way to do that was to worry about her wayward cousin.
Taggert shrugged, allowing Carly to change the subject. It was growing hard to deny the woman sitting across from him anything, he was starting to realize with varying degrees of despair. "He said something kind of strange," he said.
Carly's forehead furrowed in concern; she knew some of what coming back to Port Charles had meant for Lucky, and 'strange' was not a comforting adjective when applied to him. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Strange-bad? Should I call Luke?"
"No, no," Taggert reassured her, laying his hand forestallingly on her arm, "it wasn't bad. Just -- strange. Something about seeing a girl about a dog?"
PCU campus
Lucky laughed, then collapsed on a nearby bench, Emily sitting down beside him. He looked at the dogs romping on the grass in front of them and laughed again. "Man, Em," he shook his head, "you know, I knew Foster was smart, but Raphael -- he's his ol' man's kid."
Emily giggled, pushing her sunglasses on top of her head with one palm and unstrapping her sandals with the other hand, slinging them together in one hand. "I thought Foster would like getting to know his son again. Remind me next time, though, not to take you on a tour of the art building next time we do a father-son dog thing. I am sooo glad Grandmother didn't let me take Annabelle; if I had brought her home like that," Emily pointed to the dogs, whose coats had recently become a rather bright shade of blue, spotted with green, and dissolved into another fit of laughter.
Lucky joined in, then just leaned against the back of the bench, watching her for a moment.
"What?" Emily asked him, as he continued to stare. "Do I have paint on my face or something? Lettuce in my teeth?" she grinned.
Lucky shook his head, still smiling. "No, it's just -- you seem so comfortable here. In this place, ya know?" He indicated PCU with a sweep of his hand. "It looks good on you, Em. Confidence, I mean."
"Wow," Emily said quietly. "Thanks. That could be one of nicest things anyone's said to me. Kind of ironic, coming from you, though."
Lucky leaned back against the bench, watching her. "Why's that?" he asked, curiously.
"Because when I first came to Port Charles, that was what I saw in you," Emily said, softly. "I was this little kid who's world had just turned upside down, and everything was so complicated. Except you," she tilted her head and looked at him. "You were just this normal kid. No," Emily shook her head, "I take that back; you were never normal, Lucky Spencer," she laughed lightly, but continued, seriousness behind her words. "What you were was totally at ease with everything around you. Whether it was snakes in the desert or my weird new family. And, because it was so easy for you to be around them, around this place, I figured out a way for it to be easy for me."
"And, now, you're the one who's life makes sense, and I'm the one who can't figure out how to make the world click into place," Lucky finished for her, his voice quiet.
Emily looked at him with concern. "Lucky, I didn't mean to--"
He shook his head. "No, Em, it's okay; you didn't do anything wrong. I'm just saying that it's your turn to point the way, mine to follow." Lucky glanced around, his gaze oblique, before turning back to her. "I'm thinkin' of enrolling in PCU for the summer session; Aunt Bobbie says they've got a good computer program, so," he shrugged, "I was just hopin', I guess, that you could show me the ropes."
"I'd be glad to," Emily smiled, then held up a finger. "Rule number one," she paused for dramatic affect, "Foster stays at home." Emily was able to keep from laughing until Foster, hearing his name, ran over to Lucky, planting his big, blue, wet paws on Lucky's shoulders, and licking his face with enthusiasm. "Oh, Lucky," Emily howled, holding her sides tightly as he turned his blue tinted face towards her, "I am so glad you're home!"
