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Wyndemere***********
"Yes? Hello. Main Street Florist?"
Nik spoke into
the telephone. "I'd like, oh, five,
no, ten dozen red
roses sent to 1234 Mockingbird
Lane. Yes, I'd like
the message to read, 'A simple
reminder of my
presence.' Oh, the bill? Uh, I've
got a credit card
right here? Yes. The number is
90045-8976-98790.
Expiration date January 1, 2001.
Yes, thank you. I'd
like those sent today if at all
possible. Thanks. Bye."
Nik replace the phone back in its
cradle, pleased
with himself. 'Liz will be stunned.'
He knew Lucky
could never afford so extravagant
a gift as ten dozen
roses. The cost barely put a dent
in the limit on his
card. 'There's something I'm forgetting?
Oh, yes!
The dinner and hotel reservations!'
Of course it
didn't occur to Nikolas that Elizabeth
might not wish
to attend a private dinner with
him in a suite at the
Port Charles Hotel.
Dialing the number of the hotel,
Nikolas impatiently
waited for a receptionist to answer.
Finally, after about twelve rings,
some one picked up
the other line.
"Hello, this is Nikol---"
He was cut off as a receptionist
said, "Hello? Please
hold."
'Urrh. What on earth do they think
they're doing?'
Nikolas' anger only heighten when
the muzak of
Barry Manilow began on the other
end. Smoldering,
he was not a happy camper when
finally, after ten
minutes, the receptionist answered.
"Hello! PC Hotel. How may I help you?" she asked.
Controlling his annoyance, Nik said
in a clipped
tone, "I'd like to reserve your
best suite for the
evening of November twelfth. I'd
also like to arrange
a private dinner to be served there,
a full five-course
meal, prepared that day by your
best chef."
Flustered, the receptionist replied,
"Well, sir, it
seems that our best suite is already
reserved that
entire week. And I really don't
know that we serve
private meals of that caliber---"
Tired of her prattling, Nikolas
said, "Look, why
don't you let me talk to the day
manager. I'm sure he
or she would be much more help
than you are right
now." Inwardly, he heaved a sigh
of frustration.
'Lord, I hate dealing with stupid
people.'
The poor woman replied, "Oh, dear,
I'm afraid Mr.
Stevens is out at this moment,
but perhaps you'd like
to go ahead and reserve another---"
"LOOK!" Nik barked into the phone,
"this is Nikolas
Cassadine, as in the nephew of
Stefan Cassadine!
When your Mr. Stevens gets in,
have him give me a
call." Saying that, Nikolas slammed
down the phone.
"Oh, poor baby, are the peasants
giving you a hard
time?" said a voice dripping with
sarcasm.
Whirling around, Nik was much surprised
to see
Sarah Webber standing in the middle
of his living
room.
The park***********
"Lucky? LUCKY!," Elizabeth panted.
"Slow down.
You've been dragging me across
Port Charles at a
non-stop pace for half an hour.
I need to rest."
Breathing heavily, she slumped down
on a stone
bench. Lucky, still incredibly
angry at Sarah, paced
restlessly back and forth in front
of Liz. Finally, it
dawned on Liz what was truly bothering
Lucky.
Sitting up straighter, Liz asked
point blank, "What'd
Sarah do this time?"
Startled, Lucky looked at her. 'How'd
she know?' he
thought. Needless to say, Lucky
had attempted,
though rather poorly at times,
to protect Liz from
Sarah's pettiness.
Trying to look nonchalant, he said,
"Nah. Its not
Sarah. Why would she bother me?
She is, after all,
my future sister-in-law."
Running his fingers through his
hair, Lucky sat
down next to Liz, struggling to
pull off an act of
innocence. However, his efforts
were ineffectual.
A bit peeved, Liz said, "Look, Spencer,
I'm not an
innocent babe. I know all
about Sarah's reputation
in high school. You don't have
to protect me. I'm a
big girl."
Not giving away a thought, Lucky
merely smirked.
"I don't know about the innocent
part, but you
definitely ARE a babe."
"OHHHH! Sometimes you make me want
to
scream."
"Look, seriously, I know I don't
have to protect you
one hundred percent of the time,
but nor does that
mean I'm going to abandon you in
the clutches of
your sister," Lucky replied. Changing
the subject, he
asked Liz, "So, why'd you look
like hell this
morning? I hope it had nothing
to do with us?"
The laughter was extinguished from
Lizzie's eyes.
They became shadowed and haunted.
At the
memory of the sheer terror, tears
formed in her sad
eyes, and they traced an erratic
path down her
cheeks.
Concerned, Lucky gathered her in
his arms, "Hey,
hey. What's wrong?"
Sniffling a bit, Liz told him, "Right
after you left, I
talked to Sarah for a few minutes,
then went into my
room. As soon as I got into bed,
the phone rang.
However, when I answered it, no
one was there..."
She trailed off as shudders of
horror shook through
her body.
Lucky, already with a vague indication
of where the
conversation was heading, pulled
Elizabeth closer to
him. She buried her head into his
shoulder. Feeling
her tears on his neck, Lucky struggled
to leash the
rage that roared through him.
In a clipped voice, he said, "Liz,
baby, what
happened?"
Turning her body so she was leaning
against him,
she continued, "Well, the line
wasn't dead, but I
couldn't hear anything, so I hung
up. Well,
immediately, the phone rang again.
When I
answered, a voice called me a slut
and that if I ever
hung up him again, he would hurt
me..."
Lizzie pushed away the panic building inside her.
"He then said that I was heading
on the same path
that got me hurt in trouble two
years ago. I could
only assume he meant the rape.
I couldn't sleep, and
when I did, I had the nightmares
again..."
Sobs shook her from head to toe
now. Lucky just
held her, rocking comfortingly
back and forth, until
her weeping subsided. However,
as she continued to
cry, his anger increased.
"God, Elizabeth, why didn't you
call me? Or tell
Sarah? No wonder you looked affright
this
morning!" Lucky chided.
"I don't know. I just was so scared,
but it was
probably just a crank call. I mean,
its not as if the
rape is a secret anymore," Liz
said in a small voice.
"No thanks to Sarah," Lucky muttered.
Upon her return from Europe, she
hadn't been
exactly discreet about her sister's
attack. Just
another reason Lucky hated the
blonde bitch.
However, not one to wallow, Lizzie
stood up and
looked down at her fiancé.
Grinning a little sadly,
she said, "Come on, loverboy. Let's
go tell some
people about our future together."
Catching onto her ploy, Lucky responded,
"Ah, no,
ya don't. Liz, this call may have
not been a crank.
My dad has a tracing device I want
you to borrow.
The next time this guy calls, keep
him on the line
and get an address. Then call me.
I'm going to kick
his butt. Understand?"
He stared hard into Liz's eyes and
squeezed her arms
at little harder than usual to
emphasize his point.
Though not normally forceful with
Liz, he wanted
her to understand the seriousness
of the situation.
"All right, Lucky. I'll do what
you say, but I still
think it was a crank call."
"Good," Lucky replied.
Taking her hand, he pulled her onto
the main path in
the park. "Come on, let's go pay
a visit to Mom and
Dad."
Liz nodded her agreement, and they
walked away in
happiness, unaware of the watching
eyes.
Wyndemere**********
"Sarah! When did you get back?"
Nikolas asked,
struggling to sound pleased.
"Oh, a few days ago," came the syrupy sweet reply.
"Well, uhm, can I get you anything?
A Coke?
Water?"
"Oh, no. I came to talk business,"
Sarah said, her
eyes hard and cold.
Not quite sure what to expect, Nik
cautiously said,
"All right then. Talk."
Walking to the sofa, Sarah spread
herself out on it,
looking at Nik with an evil sneer.
Nik began to feel more uneasy.
"Well, where shall I begin. Let's
see. How would
you like to break up Liz and Lucky?"
Caught completely off-guard, Nik asked, "What?!?!"
"Oh, come on. I know your hot for
little Lizzie. You
have been for awhile. What I want
to know is how
far are you willing to go to get
her away from
Lucky?" said Sarah point-blank.
"Now, look, Liz is a nice girl,
but I don't feel
anything beyond friend----"
Cutting off his protests, Sarah
said, "So, is that why
you watch her from afar? Is that
why you sent her
that pendant? Those flowers? Is
that why you're
arranging a romantic evening of
wining and dining in
the Port Charles Hotel? Come, come.
how stupid do
you think I am?"
Even more bewildered, Nik asked,
"How did you
know?"
Smirking, she said, "I have good
sources. Now,
answer me. What will you do to
break up Little Miss
Sunshine and Ducky Lucky?"
"Anything," came the unequivocal reply.
"I thought so."
Nik surveyed Sarah for the first
since she had barged
unannounced into the room. She
was wearing a
short, tight black dress that scooped
low in the
front. Her face was loaded overkill
with makeup,
and her hair was brushed sexily
into her eyes. He
easily understood why pretty much
any able-bodied
male wanted to sleep with her.
"Like what you see?" came the coy question.
Smiling wickedly, Nik replied, "Not
really. I prefer
nicer girls. Natural looking girls,
not some demon's
harlot."
Approaching her, Nik displayed the
extreme, cold
control Cassadines were notorious
for. "Now, what's
in it for you?"
Startled by the sudden change in
Nikolas'
disposition, Sarah mumbled, "Wha-what
do y-you
mean?"
"I mean, you're not doing this as
a favor to me. You
want to hurt someone. I want to
make sure its not
Liz or me. Just call it protecting
my interests."
"Well, I've never been a huge fan
of Elizabeth, but
its really her little boy toy I
can't stomach. He
humiliated me. He has to pay."
Sarah looked Nik straight in the
eye. If one were to
witness the scene and the disgust
brimming from
both parties, one would never have
guessed that
they used to be in love.
"So, are you in?"
"No."
Not expecting that answer, Sarah
screeched, "What
do you mean?"
Unmoved, Nikolas answered, "I mean
no. You will
hurt Elizabeth in the process,
either emotionally
and/or physically, and I will have
nothing to do with
bringing any harm to her. Besides,
I already have my
own plans set in motion. I don't
need or want you."
"Fine," Sarah said coldly, rising
from the sofa. "I
think it best I left now."
"I couldn't agree more," Nik conceded.
"I'll walk
you out."
"Unnecessary."
She walked away, towards the front
door. However,
she had not gone far when Nik's
next words stopped
her cold.
"Oh, and Sarah? If I find out that
you have hurt
Elizabeth in any way, I will destroy
you."
When he had finished, Sarah resumed
her pace and
did not look back.
After she was gone, Nik stood alone
in the room,
contemplating his options.
The Spencer's**********
"So, how should we tell them?" Lucky
asked Liz as
they walked up the porch steps
to his parents house.
"I don't know," Liz said nervously.
"What about just
telling them out right? Luke would
approve."
"All right. But let me do the talking, okay?"
"I don't think so."
"Why? I think I know my parents---"
He was cut off as Laura opened the front door.
"Oh, hi!"
"Hey, Mom!"
"Hey, Laura!"
"Well, don't stand out there. Come in, come in."
Ushering them into the house, Laura
closed the door
and embraced Elizabeth.
"Its been so long since we've seen
each other. How
are you?"
At this, Lucky merely rolled his
eyes. "Aww, Mom,
the two of you went shopping at
the beginning of
last week. You act as if its been
years."
Liz and Laura both grinned. The
two of them had
become good friends over the course
of the last two
and half years, drawn together
not only by their
shared tragedies, but also by their
shared love for
Lucky.
"Well, for us girls, that's a long
time. Anyway,
whenever you and Foster are separated
for more
than an hour, you become emotional,"
Liz scolded.
"I do not," Lucky said, taking immediate offense.
"Do to."
"Do not."
"Do to."
"Do not."
"Do to."
"Do not."
"Do to."
Their mild disagreement was cut
short by Luke's
appearance.
"Hey, Cowboy, don't argue with the
lady. Whatever
it is, I'm sure you do it. Hello,
gorgeous!"
In usual Luke flamboyance, the senior
Spencer
picked up Liz and whirled her around.
Next he did
the same to his wife.
"So, what brings you here, Elizabeth?
Can't be
Lucky."
"Gee, thanks, Dad. Actually, it
involves both of us.
You see, over the years of our
friendship, that is,
Liz's and mine, we've grown pretty
close. She and I
bonded, we became, I guess, soulmates.
It wasn't
easy. Fate didn't seem to favor
our pairing, but we
finally found each other---"
Sensing that Lucky was going to
take forever in
coming to a point, Liz merely raised
her left hand.
Her engagement ring shone with
bright and beautiful
intensity.
"Oh, wonderful!" Laura said.
"Great!" replied Luke.
"But Mom, Dad, I haven't finished---"
"We both think its wonderful you're
getting
married," Luke said. Not wanting
to hurt Lucky's
feelings, he added, "We noticed
her ring."
"Oh," Lucky said, still confused.
"This calls for a celebration," Laura said.
"How about dinner at the club?" Luke suggested.
"Perfect!" both women chimed in.
With that, they headed out for Luke's.
***********
Unfortunately, during this time,
an intruder made
their way into the Spencer family's
vacant house.
However, this person was not there
to take items.
Quite the contrary, they were there
to put into place
certain 'special' pieces of incriminating
evidence,
strategically arranged in Lucky's
room: a black ski
mask, a ripped and dirty red dress,
and the hint of a
spicy cologne smell.