Chapter Six: Facing the Music
WVL offices
Todd opened the door of the empty lobby of WVL and grimaced in pain as a wave of music hit him. "What the hell is this crap?" he said, to no one in particular.
"Can I help you, sir?" asked a young woman sitting at a desk towards the back of the lobby.
Todd strode over to her, covering one of his ears and wincing. "Yeah, you can tell me what the hell this music is. Is it playing on the air right now?"
"Yes, sir, it is," she wrinkled her nose. "This is Pete's Polka Hour; polka plays continuously for the next," she glanced at her watch and sighed, "42 minutes and 18 seconds."
"Like hell it does," Todd muttered.
The woman hid a grin. "Excuse me?" she asked.
Todd looked at her, seeming to notice her for the first time. "Who are you?" he asked, glancing at her nameplate. "Lauren McDonnell?" She nodded, slightly taken aback by this man's attitude. He looked familiar, Lauren thought to herself, but she just couldn't place him. She was jolted out of her study of his face by his hand on her arm. "Do you like this shit?" he asked, gesturing at the speakers on the ceiling.
She hesitated then responded with a conspiratorial grin. "Not even a little bit," Lauren admitted. "Though it is slightly more bearable than the Bedtime Ballroom Beatles Band playing every weekday evening from eight to ten PM," she recited in a tone that said expressed eloquently what she thought of the 'Bedtime Ballroom Beatles Band'.
A supreme look of disgust crossed Todd's face. "C'mon," he said to Lauren, jerking his head in the direction of the offices. "You've been promoted or whatever. You're now the executive secretary in charge of whatever I decide to put you in charge of after I fire all these idiots."
"Wha--," she stood up, trying to keep up with Todd as he strode across the room purposefully. "Who are you?"
He paused to look at her, a grin starting to spread across his face. He was back, damnit, and soon, everybody was going to know it!. "I'm the station manager, your boss. Name's Todd Manning," he said, relishing the look that crossed her face. "And I'm gonna turn WVL upside down. You can either come with me, or get out." With that he opened the door separating the lobby from the offices and began to stride down the hall, not bothering to look back.
Lauren stood totally still, watching him with her mouth almost literally hanging open. The infamous Todd Manning! She had known he owned the station, but ever since she started working here about 2 1/2 years ago, she hadn't seen even a hint of his presence around the building. And then, there had been all that stuff in the papers, one of which he had owned, about him kidnapping people, and faking some kind of mental illness before skipping town. She watched him starting to go into the On Air room, then heard the polka screech to a halt. Lauren paused for a moment longer, then started down the hall after him as raised voices began to come from the room. She grinned as she saw Polka Pete come scurrying out of the room in a hurry as the newest 'Live' album started playing. Lauren McDonnell had a feeling that WVL had just become a very, very interesting place to work.
the front door of Llanfair, a couple of hours later
Viki walked towards the front door, calling back over her shoulder, "Her things are there on the couch; I think everything's there." She drew the doors separating the entry hall from the living room closed as she continued walking towards the door and whoever was so insistently knocking. She threw open the door, and took a step back, her hand flying to cover her heart as she came face to face with her brother.
"Hey Sis," Todd said, softly. "Miss me?"
"Todd!" exclaimed Viki in a whisper, her voice refusing to work. She looked at her brother for a long moment, taking in his face and the burden that seemed to be somehow lifted from it. "Oh yes," she said, the tears starting to fill her eyes, "I've missed you very much."
"I wasn't sure you'd say yes," he said, leaning slightly against the doorframe. "Last time I saw you, you weren't exactly thrilled with me."
"Last time I saw you I was furious with you, and with good reason," Viki retorted. She stepped back slightly, "But, that was two years ago, and -- I've missed my brother. So, I guess the question is, are you coming in or out of that door?"
Todd hesitated, looking at Viki in that silent communion that he could always maintain with his sister, when he let himself. In a way, he could communicate better with Viki than with any other woman in his life, ever. Maybe it was the blood they shared, maybe it was the father they shared, maybe it was just that she just seemed to know him in some essential way. Didn't matter. All that mattered was that she hadn't turned him away. He took a deep breath and wordlessly stepped into his sister's home, looking hard at the surroundings to mask the feelings going on in his heart. "Looks pretty much the same, Vik. Guess not much has changed since I've been gone."
Viki smiled at his characteristically ego-centric view as she softly closed the door behind her baby brother who she had missed, in spite of himself and in spite of herself, desperately. "Oh, Todd, you're looking at surfaces instead of the big picture, as usual. You've been gone a very long time, and an awful lot has changed," she said, starting to say more but cut off by the doors from the living room opening.
Will Rappaport backed into the room, holding a baby of about a year and a half in his arms, his hands full of baby bags. He was pulling the doors shut as he spoke, not looking over his shoulder. "Mrs. Carpenter, is Samantha's winter jacket upstairs? It's starting to get co--" He stopped in mid-sentence as he turned around, and came face to face with Todd.
Viki smiled at Will reassuringly and took the baby from his arms. She walked over to Todd. "Todd, this is your great-niece, Samantha Megan Rappaport, Jessica's daughter. Talk about changes, hmmm?" Samantha looked up at Todd and gurgled happily as he grinned slowly back at her, the bond that Todd and children always had shining brightly between uncle and baby niece.
"Hey there, you," Todd said softly, reaching out to touch Samantha lightly on her cheek, "hey. Jess makes good-looking looking babies, huh? You too," he added, jerking his head in Will's direction, not looking up from Samantha's smiling face.
"Yeah, uh, thanks," said Will, guardedly, moving closer to Viki and his daughter. "So, you're back in town, I guess?"
Todd looked up, lifting an eyebrow. "Yep. But, you don't have to worry; I'm all grown up now, you can have daddy all to yourself."
"I wasn't worried." Will reached out for his daughter, and Viki handed her to him. "My dad'll probably be glad to see you, though." He turned back to Viki, "Is her jacket upstairs? Jess didn't put it with the rest of her things, and I've got to get home to my wife."
"It's in the hall closet, Will," Viki said, pointing to a closet behind his head.
"Right," he got the jacket and draped it over his daughter's shoulders. "I'll see you later, Mrs. Carpenter; Jess is picking Samantha up at the end of the weekend. Todd, it was . . . interesting to see you again." He left with his daughter and her bags.
Todd followed Will out with his gaze, the falsely sweet smile dropping as soon as he left. He turned back to Viki. "His wife? Don't tell me Jessica and that kid....?
"No, no," Viki shook her head, amused at Todd's attitude towards Will. "Will married Roseanne Delgado, Téa's niece, about six months ago. They're young, yes, but they were determined. And, I think a lot of it had to do with Will really wanting to provide a two-parent home for Samantha. He and Jessie share custody; she's living in the Carriage House now and attending PCU part-time. They've both, Will and Jessica, grown up a lot in two years, Todd. A child will do that to you, make you grow up quickly."
"Whatever."
"So," she said, looking at him searchingly, "what about your child? Have you seen Starr?"
Todd walked past Viki into the now empty living room, and spotting a bowl of nuts on the sideboard, picked up several, cracking them between his palms. "Yep. Saw her last night and this morning."
"And?" Viki pursued him.
"And, my kid burst into tears when she saw me," Todd said, the torment on his face belieing his detached tone.
"Oh, Todd," Viki said, moving towards her little brother and laying her hand on his arm, "I'm so sorry. Starr's missed you very, very much; I'm sure, in time, things between you will be better."
Todd shook his head slightly. "No, you know, it's gonna be okay. Blair and I started to work things out with her. And I told her that I'm not goin' anywhere, and I think she believed me so . . ." He shrugged his shoulders, popping a pecan in his mouth.
Viki gave her brother a long, hard look. "You and Blair?" she asked.
Todd groaned, shifting restlessly. "Look, Viki, don't make a big deal out of it or anything, okay? I got in kinda late last night, went to see Shorty, Blair let me crash on the couch at the penthouse. That's all, end of story. Doesn't mean anything at all."
Viki spoke slowly, an interesting possibility beginning to form in her brain. "I'm not the one who seems to be making a big deal out of anything Todd."
Todd returned Viki's look. "Okay. I'm outta here." He moved towards the front door, Viki following him with a knowing smile. He turned back to his sister as he opened the front door. "Hey, Viki?"
"Yes?" she responded.
He was silent for a moment, looking at her. "I'm sorry," said Todd, quietly.
"I know," his sister answered, the same note of quiet truth entering her voice.
Todd continued to look Viki in the eyes, then slipped out of the door, quietly, without looking back.
