“Courtney! What are you doing?” Joe exclaimed pulling away shocked.
“I just…I though that…”
“I’m in love with Karen, Courtney. You and I are just friends who share a child together, that’s all. And even if I was interested in more then a friendship, it wouldn’t work, not now. I have to much to work through.”
“I can help you. I can be there for you to lean on and to support you…”
“Do I really have to say it again? I’m in love with Karen, not you. When I get everything worked out, I’m going to get her back. Sooner or later she’ll see right through Corinthos and when she does, I’m going to be there to get her back.”
“Whoa, wait, did you just say Corinthos? As in Sonny, that mob guy?” Courtney asked, Joe nodded slowly, “Wow, that’s got to be the last person I expected Karen to end up with! Didn’t her get her into stripping and drugs? They had an affair, didn’t…”
Courtney stopped her questioning when she noticed the hurt expression that crossed Joe’s face as his head hung sadly.
“I’m sorry, Joe, I don’t know what I was thinking. I should have kept my mouth shut.”
“Don’t worry about it, it won’t last long. Karen’s going to wake up and see just how dangerous it is to be around him. I just pray that she doesn’t have to find out the hard way…” Joe’s voice trailed off, “ I should go, Neil will be home soon and I don’t want him to see me like this.”
“You know that he loves you no matter what. And don’t worry, I won’t say anything to him about you and Karen breaking up. I’ll let you handle telling him however much of it you want to tell him,” Courtney said following him to the door, “Again, I’m sorry about before, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” She said innocently.
“It’s done and over with,” Joe told her before walking out the door.

“Sonny…hi, what can I do for you?” Mike asked surprised to see him.
“Two large regular coffees to go.”
“Two, huh? Male or female?”
“I don’t think that’s any of your business, Mike.”
“Ah, so it is a woman, then. Business or pleasure?” Mike inquired smirking.
“You just don’t give up, do you?”
“I just want to see that you’re happy, and besides, I’ll find out sooner or later, so you might as well just tell me. Do I already know her?”
Sonny just stood there for a second, looking at Mike as he debated telling him. Mike handed him the coffee.
“Fine, you win,” Sonny gave in, “It’s Karen.”
“Karen?” Mike thought for a second, then it came to him, “Karen Wexler? Wow…now that’s not something that I saw coming! I can’t believe…how ling has this been going on?”
“You know, you ask more questions then Taggert! Thanks for the coffee, I have to go,” Sonny picked up the cups and walked out the door.

“I’ll be right there!” Kellie yelled towards the front door from the bathroom where she was putting on lipstick.
She hurried to the door and opened it to find Frank standing there with a bouquet if daisies.
“Thank you, Frank, they’re beautiful. Daises are my favorite flower,” Kellie said with a smile as she put them in a vase.
“When I saw them, I had this feeling that you liked them. I’m glad you do,” Frank smiled back, “Shall we?”
Kellie took his hand and followed him to his car.
“So, what do you think of Port Charles?” Frank asked as their food came.
“It’s definitely different from Manhattan, but having family here makes it easier.”
“How long had it been since you and Rhonda had seen each other?”
“Not since just after Rhonda told our parents that she was pregnant. They were anything but supportive and Rhonda got sick of the way they were treating her and told them she was moving out. We had a huge fight about it and I wasn’t very nice to her. I was a freshman in high school and felt like my big sister was abandoning me. So, I told her that if she left, that I would never speak to her again, and…” Kellie stopped as the memories came flooding back.
“I’m sorry I brought this up, it’s none of my business. Let’s change the subject,” Frank apologized.
“It’s okay, I don’t mind talking about this with you. It’s just that as I tell you about everything, I remember how wrong I was and that if I had just been there for her, like she was always there for me, that this whole mess could have been avoided.”
“You were young, and it’s natural that you would have felt that she was abandoning you. Joe wasn’t too happy with me for going to college out of state, but he realized that I wasn’t doing it to leave him behind.”
“By the time I stopped being to selfish and realized why Rhonda really left, I felt that it was too late and if I tried to contact her, she’d just hang up on me. Not like it wasn’t what I deserved.”
“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. Rhonda forgave you didn’t she? It looks like you’re working things out and get caught up on each other’s lives. Everything’s going to be fine, you just need to give it some time and before you know it, it’ll be like nothing ever happened,” Frank tried to reassure her as he paid for the check and they got their coats on.
“Thank you for everything. I had a really nice time tonight,” Kellie said as they stood outside her door.
“So did I. We’ll have to do this again soon. Next time it’ll be when I don’t have to be up early for work and we can go for a walk in the park.”
“I’d like that,” Kellie smiled.
Frank stood there awkwardly, wanting to kiss her, but not sure if he should. He looked into her soft blue eyes and made the decision. He leaned in slowly until her lips caught him, and to his surprise, returned his kiss.