| Subject: Entropy Chapter 9 |
Author:
Becca
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Date Posted: 19:18:06 04/24/02 Wed
In reply to:
HeyBecca
's message, "Entropy" on 19:23:01 02/10/02 Sun
Entropy 9
Inroads
“I feel like cherry wine, like Valentines, like Spring is coming, and everything is all right. I’ve got a love that’s new, I hear you’re happy too. That’s the way it should be, but lately I feel like crying.”
--“Over You” Sheryl Crow
“Where should we put her?” Jax asked as he and Zander held the chair Kristina was tied to. They stood in the center of the empty office in Nikolas’s building, looking slightly confused.
“Does it matter?” Sly wondered. He took off his sunglasses and slid them in the collar of his shirt. “She’s a hostage tied to a chair. Are we suddenly practicing Feng Shui? Will our karma be better if we put her in the center of the room or in the corner?”
“Ok, someone give the actor a Valium,” Nikolas cracked.
Sly scowled at Nikolas as he slid into the leather desk chair. He propped his feet up on the desk, which was nearly empty save for the telephone and laptop computer.
“He’s probably, right,” Zander shrugged. “It doesn’t matter where we put her down . . . so long as we put her down.”
“Well, actually, we shouldn’t put her in view of the window,” Jax pointed out. “We don’t know how long this is going to last, that building across the street has a clear view in here, come Monday morning they’ll see a woman tied to a chair.”
“We can install blinds,” Nikolas suggested. “Actually, we should install blinds.”
“Well, we’ll have to do it ourselves,” Jax said. “I for one don’t want to lug Kristina out of here again, so that workers can come in and put in blinds, and then move her—.”
As Jax spoke, Zander dropped his head of the chair, causing a loud thump to reverberate around the room.
“I guess that settles where you’re putting the chair,” Sly observed with a smirk. “Now what are we supposed to do?” he asked as he tried to get the computer to work.
“Well, Carly and the girls are working on a schedule,” Zander explained.
“And that means, what, exactly?” Sly frowned.
“Really, mate, what the hell is wrong with you?”
“I’m a petulant actor with deep rooted psychological issues stemming from my father dying in front of me,” Sly blurted out, then smirked. “Are we done with the therapy now, Jax?”
As the guys bickered, Kristina squirmed in her chair, a bit shaken from suddenly being dropped by Zander. They all looked at her fearfully, as if a woman tied to a chair could actually cause them harm.
“Do you think we hurt her? I mean, when Zander dropped the chair . . .” Nikolas mused. “What? She is still my aunt.”
“That’s just all sorts of creepy,” Zander chuckled.
“Should we see if she’s ok?” Jax asked.
“I’m not taking the gag off,” Sly said. “I’ve learned my lesson.”
“She can shake her head ‘yes’ or ‘no’, she doesn’t have to speak,” replied Zander after a moment of silence. “Ok, Kristina, if you are hurt—nod.”
“And don’t lie. We’ll know if you’re lying,” Jax added.
When she didn’t nod Zander smiled and folded his arms across his chest. “See, she’s not hurt. Can’t blame me.”
“For hurting her, you’re technically one of the kidnappers still,” Nikolas told him, an oddly smug smile on his face.
“Hello! That’s a given, Cassadine.”
“You know a thing or two about kidnapping, don’t you, Smith,” Nikolas shot. “Didn’t you once have a thing with Kristina? Maybe you ARE the kidnapper. After all, you took Emily as your hostage once.”
“You fucking bastard!” Zander yelled before launching himself in Nikolas’s direction.
Jax jumped in front of Nikolas, stopping Zander’s attack. Sly remained in his seat, enjoying the show.
“That happened how many years ago? How many times do I have to apologize, Nikolas? Really! Besides, you won, she’s not with me. You got the girl man!”
Nikolas shook his head. “It’s not about that, Zander. Back then I didn’t look at Emily that way. But you put her in harms way, you almost got her killed.”
“And, as evidenced by our current situation—being with you is doing her a HELL OF A LOT OF GOOD!”
“Ok, ok, separate corners, boys,” Jax demanded. “First of all, why bring up something that’s ancient history? Secondly, our current predicament isn’t anyone’s fault. We are the victims of blackmail and . . . and . . . forced kidnapping.”
“Which of us has been kidnapped? I haven’t been kidnapped,” Sly mused with a sigh.
“No, not us, we were forced to . . . oh, sod it,” Jax grumbled. He looked to sit down but realized that other than the desk there was no other furniture in the room. “We need some furniture!”
“Carly,” Sly stated simply.
“Huh?”
“Jax, you know the woman you’re basically in love with? She’ll get you furniture for this joint.”
Nikolas smoothed the front of his shirt and interjected, “Or Liz, she likes to decorate. She has a real artistic flare.”
“She’s great. Liz helped me pick out some furniture for my apartment. We went to an estate sale and found the coolest stuff,” Zander added with a smile.
“Is it me or have we stepped into a bizaro world?” Carly asked, making her presence known.
“Are they actually talking about decorating?” Emily asked with a laugh, sending a smile to Nikolas.
“Oh gosh, keep Nikolas away from color schemes and fabrics. He may be a Prince, but he has no taste at all,” Gia informed as she joined the girls.
The guys shrugged, trying to look macho and less guilty. Sly stood up and counted, “You’re missing one.”
“What?” Carly wondered.
“The fourth one, you know, your partner, the one with the massive obsession with Lucky, the one who is not you three, and not Liz—NATALIE,” Sly rambled with a yawn. “This has to be some sort of twisted nightmare.”
Emily walked over to Nikolas and gave him a quick kiss, causing Zander to clench his jaw in frustration.
“Sly, honey, are you PMSing?” Emily asked with a smile. “You seem awfully pissy.”
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing—ok, nothing,” Sly muttered, flopping back down in his seat. “Do we have to wait for Liz and Lucky to reveal your big schedule—and where is Natalie?”
“She had to run an errand,” Gia noted. “Though, call me crazy, but we’re in the middle of trying to cover up a kidnapping and god knows what else, running errands isn’t exactly what I’d call a priority.”
Carly glared at the woman who once worked for her. “Listen, Nat had something important to do. She’ll be here in ten minutes. Lay off, Gia, I mean it.”
“My god, she’s like the female Lucky. Don’t say a bad word against them, you’ll get reprimanded,” Gia mocked. “I couldn’t have picked a group of people I’d less like to do crime with than you.”
“Yes, because we all picked each other,” Jax snipped. Carly stepped next to him, giving him a ‘don’t fight’ look.
Natalie ascended the stairs into the office a moment later. “Oh, suddenly quiet. All for moi?”
“You know it, hot stuff,” Sly said with a wink, trying to get himself out of his fowl mood.
Natalie smiled and winked back. “Any word from the cutest cat burglars in the world?” she asked, a slight sense of jealousy in her voice.
“No, nothing from Lucky and Liz yet. I’m sure we’ll hear something soon,” Nikolas explained.
**
“Excuse me,” Elizabeth said as she stepped up to the receptionist at the New York Daily News. She wore a business suit and a pair of glasses, holding a briefcase in her hand. “I’m here to see Mr. Duncan.”
“On a Sunday?” the receptionist asked skeptically.
“Do you doubt me?”
“Well, ma’am, if you give me your name . . .”
“Does Mr. Duncan usually have appointments on Sundays?” Elizabeth retorted.
As Elizabeth distracted the receptionist, Lucky crept behind her and into the practically empty office at the Daily News. He looked around, casually checking the desks for Kristina’s. When he found it, he stopped and sat in her chair.
“Damn,” he muttered, realizing her computer wasn’t at her desk. He opened the drawers of her desk, intrigued that they were still relatively full. This wasn’t a person who was going to take off and leave. In fact, this was someone who left everything but her computer at the office.
Lucky looked up from the desk and noticed Elizabeth and the receptionist walk by. Elizabeth dropped her briefcase next to Lucky; he smiled and watched in awe as she strutted past him.
Quickly he retrieved the briefcase and began throwing documents and files and CD’s into it. Anything he found remotely suspicious of Kristina’s Lucky put into the briefcase.
A few minutes later, Elizabeth came flying towards him with an angry receptionist on her heels.
“You little bitch!”
Elizabeth stopped in her tracks, right in front of Lucky, and faced down the woman. “Listen, I’m just a young reporter who wants a break. So I conned my way into see the editor. So what! That doesn’t give you the right to call me a bitch. You ARE the bitch!”
She bent down, picked up the briefcase and strode out of the office in a huff. The receptionist, looking a bit embarrassed, hurried back to her desk out front. Lucky chuckled and got up to leave.
Outside the lady’s room on the first floor of the Daily News, Lucky leafed threw the address book he snatched from Kristina’s desk.
“Nothing,” he muttered. The bathroom door opened and Elizabeth stepped out. The business attire in her hands, she had changed back into her jeans and, this time, a light blue blouse. “You really couldn’t stand being in that, could you?”
Elizabeth shuddered dramatically. “Corporate Liz isn’t fun to be. Too stiff.”
“It’s not you, anyway,” Lucky noted with a grin. “And, may I add, damn good work up there.”
“I should have been an actress,” Elizabeth said with a smile as they walked out of the building. “Did you get anything?”
“A few data CD’s, they may have some info on them. Files, but I haven’t been able to read them yet. I say we give Carly a call, tell her what’s up, then go and check out Kristina’s apartment. Hopefully her computer is there,” Lucky explained.
Elizabeth nodded. “Wait—that means we have to break in.”
“Yeah. Listen, if you don’t want to . . . I understand.”
“No, no, hey I’m already involved in the cover up of a kidnapping, what’s a little breaking and entering?”
**
Zander paced the sidewalk, glancing at his watch nervously. He managed to sneak out of the warehouse without much argument from his partners in crime. So, there he was, standing in front of Serendipity, laughing at the absurdity in his current life.
“I was worried you weren’t going to show.”
The sound of the Australian voice sent a chill down the young man’s spine, eliciting a joyous grin from him.
“You,” Zander said, pointing at Nicole Kidman, his own, personal, living, breathing, fantasy, “thought I wasn’t going to show up?”
“Love, I find it hard to believe you don’t have women lining up to be with you.”
Zander shook his head and smile; “You have no idea, really.”
“Shall we go in? There’s no line today, which is good,” she said, taking his nearly shaking hand. “How was your morning?”
“Uh . . . it was all tied up,” he noted with a laugh. “How long are you going to be in the city?”
“In New York?” she asked as they were seated. “I live here, I have a home here. My children are with their father on vacation, so living the single, free life for a while. Why?”
“Well, I really like you and, if you are so inclined, I want to spend more time with you. However . . . things are a little weird for me right now, and I’d hate to blow my chance, you know?” he explained, trying to play it as cool as possible. When, in reality, Zander was a nervous wreck. Not only was he discussing the possibility of dating a world famous film star, but also he was involved in the most ridiculous kidnapping plot he could ever conceive.
Nicole reached across the table and took Zander’s hand. “We’ll work it out. Let’s not put too many pressures on whatever this is and just have fun.”
“Fun sounds like a great idea.”
**
Lucky knelt in front of the door to Kristina’s apartment, his lock picking kit in his hands as he fiddled with the lock. Instantly it clicked and he turned the doorknob, pushing the door open arrogantly.
“Like riding a bicycle,” he said with a smile as Elizabeth walked in past him. He shut the door, instinctively locking it behind him. He had a thing about people not being able to just walk in on him. He had enough of that in the past.
“You’re my hero,” she teased. Making quick eye contact with Lucky, Elizabeth went towards the living room and started looking for the computer. Lucky went into the bedroom.
“ ‘Redbook’?” Elizabeth snickered, picking up the magazine. “No wonder why she has no idea how to do her hair . . . ever hear of ‘Cosmo’, Krissy?” Elizabeth asked sarcastically to nobody. As she went through the magazines and Kristina’s mail, Elizabeth heard a sudden, sharp noise from outside the apartment. It sounded like a key sliding into a lock.
“Lucky!” she yelled in a whisper.
“What?” he asked, stepping into the living room, the laptop under his arm.
Elizabeth pointed to the door. “Someone is trying to get in.”
His eyes bugged for a moment as he strained to hear. “Oh shit,” he muttered. Lucky grabbed Elizabeth’s hand and looked around, spotting the fire escape on the other side of the living room. They jumped out onto the tiny fire escape, standing on either side of the window so they couldn’t be seen.
“We can’t even go down without making a racket,” Elizabeth noted, observing that the escape later had to be pushed down in order to be used.
He motioned to lower her voice. “That’s fine, I want to see who’s trying to get in, anyway.”
They both looked in the window, trying to stay hidden while also getting a full view of the room. A tiny, blonde young woman entered the apartment. She threw her keys on the kitchen counter and searched the refrigerator, finding a bottle of water and chugging it.
“Who is that?” Lucky mouthed.
Elizabeth squinted, realizing in an instant who it was. “Do you know Alison Barrington?”
Lucky shrugged. The name was familiar, but he never met the girl. “Must be her roommate,” Lucky whispered.
The phone rang and Alison quickly answered.
“Hola,” she said with a laugh. “Yeah, I just got in. I had a big account to close . . . I know, I know . . . no, the roommate isn’t in, THANK GOD! She is so annoying . . . no I wouldn’t. I would not invite her to the movie tonight . . . I do not, don’t even joke about that. Once, I felt bad for her and invited her out with us. I’m a nice person, so sue me . . . yeah, just give me thirty minutes. I’ll meet you there. Bye.”
Alison hung up the phone and disappeared into the other bedroom.
“I didn’t even know they knew each other,” Elizabeth noted. “Apparently she doesn’t like her much. Should we talk to her?”
“Eventually, but for now, let’s just get back to the others,” Lucky said, sliding down the wall and sitting down. “Once Miss Barrington leaves, of course.”
“Of course,” Elizabeth sighed, sitting down herself. “Lucky?”
“Yeah?”
“Where are we?” she asked honestly.
“The Upper West Side,” Lucky said, realizing how late in the day it was already.
Elizabeth smiled. “No, I don’t mean where are we physically. I mean . . . where are we, you and I . . . what is going on?”
“I don’t know . . . something,” Lucky said softly. “We got a lot out, in the open last night. Then we had a major fight.”
“And now we’re acting like friends.”
“Is that such a bad thing?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “Not at all, Lucky. In fact, I’ve missed it. Being able to run to you and tell you whatever is on my mind . . . I miss that so much.”
“Me too,” Lucky smiled. “Don’t get me wrong, everyone in my life is great but they’re not . . . they’re not you.”
“Oh,” she gasped, almost unable to believe her ears.
“This is where you’re supposed to say ‘the same for me’,” Lucky teased.
“You know that’s how I feel,” she told him seriously. “Lucky, I know we are a far way from . . . well, you know. But, do you think we can try to start over?”
Lucky’s smile quickly turned serious as he looked at Elizabeth. “I don’t know if we can. I think we should . . . take it one day at a time. Friendship is where it started once, right? Maybe that is what we should concentrate on for now.”
Elizabeth smiled, “I’d like nothing more.”
Lucky held out his hand to her, “So, here’s to friendship and the future.” Elizabeth took his hand and shook it.
“Lucky, there’s something I have to tell you,” Elizabeth began. She looked around and sighed. “This isn’t the place, but there is something I really need to talk to you about.”
“Then we’ll talk. We’ll take the computer and everything else back to the others and then we’ll grab some time and talk,” Lucky nodded and smiled. “We’ll talk.”
**
“This is boring,” Jax groaned as wadded up a piece of the Sunday edition of the Daily News. He tossed it towards the trashcan, missing by a few inches. Carly did the same, sinking her shot. “This is so boring.”
“Message coming in, loud and clear, Captain,” she groaned, sick of hearing his complaining. She looked up at Jax and smiled. “Let’s play a game.”
“Not exactly what I had in mind for the evening,” he grumbled in frustration. With a simple glare from Carly, Jax forced a smile. “What kind of game?”
“Name your five favorite songs—but don’t think about it. Just five off the top of your head.”
Jax scratched his head, “Yeah, ok, um . . .”
“No thinking!” Carly ordered, punching him playfully in the arm.
“Ok—‘Nights in White Satin,’ ‘Let It Be,’ ‘Down Under,’ ‘Go Your Own Way,’ and ‘Roxanne.’ Hah! I did it.”
Carly looked at him suspiciously. “Wait…what was the third song you said? ‘Down Under’? By Men at Work? Jax . . .”
“What? I’m Australian.”
“Oh, but Jax, that’s not excuse,” Carly said with a laugh. “And here I was thinking of sleeping with you again. First you have to burn all your Men at Work records, and possibly Fleetwood Mac.”
“Ok!” Jax protested as he spun around on the floor so he was facing her. “First of all, there will be no burning of records. Secondly—what do you have against Fleetwood Mac?”
“Nothing they’re just . . . boring in an overactive, soap opera-ish sort of way.”
“Soap Opera? You still watch Sly’s old show,” Jax argued with a smirk.
“Yeah, but that’s television. Leave the drama out of rock and roll, man,” Carly stated with a triumphant smile.
Jax nodded his head and returned to his game of throwing paper into the trashcan. “Your turn.”
“Easy—‘Androgyny’ by Garbage, ‘Heroin’ by The Velvet Underground, ‘Wicked Games’ by Chris Isaak, ‘My Favorite Mistake’ by Sheryl Crow, ‘Rainmaker’ by Traffic, ‘With or Without You’ by U2. Hah! That’s six! And my list is cooler than yours.”
Jax looked at Carly, his smirk curling into a seductive smile.
“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re sexy when you gloat?” Jax asked, inching closer to her.
Feigning innocence. “Why Jasper Jacks, are you coming on to me?”
“That depends.”
“On?”
“When Nikolas and Emily are going to get here to relieve us of babysitting the hostage,” Jax whispered as he moved forward, hovering over Carly. He studied her lips intently, remembering how sweet they tasted. It seemed like a million years ago, but it was just last night. He wanted to return to that night.
“Are you going to kiss her or just stare at her lips?” Emily asked as she and Nikolas entered the loft. “Go on, we won’t look.”
Jax looked back at the duo, glaring slightly.
“We don’t want to look, I swear,” Nikolas claimed, holding his right hand to his heart. “I’ll close my eyes.”
“Sorry kids,” Carly said as she jumped up. “I’m not into exhibitionism. What do you have there?” she asked, pointing to what looked like take out Chinese.
“Food,” Nikolas deadpanned. “For nourishment, sustenance.”
“Oh, we just figured you would have eaten before coming,” Jax noted.
Emily and Nikolas exchanged a guilty look. “Well, that was our intention, but we got sidetracked.”
“AND,” Emily continued. “It occurred to me that if we don’t want Kristina to die from starvation we should feed her.”
“I suggested we give her an IV drip, Emily didn’t like that idea,” Nikolas added with a shrug.
“Sounds like a good idea,” Carly told them as she opened one of the cartons. “Lucky and Elizabeth called. They got the computer and are going to go through it over at our place. He also said something about Alison Barrington and how we might want to consider her as being involved.”
“Alison Barrington? Are you sure?”
Jax nodded. “Apparently she was living with Kristina. We’ll discuss it tomorrow when we all meet back here.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Emily said.
“Well, we’re out of here. I’ll be at Jax’s place if you need me,” Carly told them as she followed an impatient Jax out of the loft. “Bye!”
Emily waved before turning to Nikolas. “So, how are we going to pass the time without getting ‘sidetracked’ in front of Kristina?”
“You’re insatiable, Quartermaine,” Nikolas told her with a smile. He pulled her into his arms. “Not that I’m complaining.”
**
“Gia, is that you?” Steven yelled from the kitchen as Gia crept into the apartment, trying to go undetected.
“You’re home?” she asked guiltily.
He popped his head out of the kitchen; “I missed you today. Did you have fun shopping with the girls?”
“Huh?” Gia asked, temporarily forgetting that she told Steven she was going out with the girls as her excuse to meet at the club about the note. With everything that went down her white lie to Steven seemed completely irrelevant. “Oh, yeah, great. I had a blast. Didn’t buy anything—you know me, I’m spoiled, I’d much rather wait for the Fall shows to get the latest stuff.”
“Whatever, babe,” Steven said with a smile. He returned to the kitchen with Gia following him. “I’m kind of glad you got home kind of late.”
“Really?” she asked, a hint of hurt and sadness in her voice.
“Actually, I wish you were even later.”
“Well, yeah. See, I was planning a romantic dinner. As you can tell,” he motioned to the food cooking on the stove, “I’m cooking and the table is set with candles and such. And I know I’m not the king of romance or anything, but I want to be. Because I love you.”
Gia looked up into Steven’s blue eyes and felt her knees weaken. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, but I also wanted to . . . I wanted to make it up to you. My sister acted foolish last night and I want you to know that I do not agree with her at all. You are the woman for me. That day you dumped your latte on my lap at Starbucks was the most important day of my life. I went home that night and I knew, Gia, I knew I met the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”
“Steven . . .” she sighed.
“You make my life better. Before you I worked sixty hours a week, I had no life, and my wardrobe was dull, I mean really bad. Then you came into my life, full of spunk and fire and you changed everything. So, Gia Campbell,” Steven slowly reached into the pocket of his chinos and pulled out a black satin box. He lowered himself to one knee. “I was going to do this over dinner, but, what can I say—I can’t wait. Will you marry me?”
With tears springing to her eyes, Gia reached out and touched Steven’s face. “Oh my gosh . . . Steven . . .Yes, yes! I will marry you.”
“Yes?”
“Yes!”
“Yes!” Steven shouted with joy as he slid the ring on her finger and then pulled her into his arms, swinging her around the room excitedly.
**
“Ugh!” Lucky cried, slamming his fist down on the desk. “Who the hell knew Kristina was so good at encrypting files?”
“Having trouble?” Elizabeth asked. Surrounding her on the couch were all the files Lucky stole from Kristina’s desk. They had been going through the paperwork and the computer files for hours, coming up empty.
“I need a break,” Lucky said as he left the desk and went into the kitchen. “Want a beer?”
“Sure,” Elizabeth answered. She tried to get her eyes to focus on paper in front of her but was having no luck. Lucky came back into the living room and sat down on the couch adjacent to hers. “Thanks,” she said, taking the bottle from him.
“So.”
“So?”
“You said . . . when we were at Kristina’s apartment that there was something important you had to tell me. We said we were going to talk. We’re here, alone, we should talk,” Lucky suggested with an easy smile.
Elizabeth nodded. “We should talk.”
**
Sly entered the small pub and sat down at the bar. He nodded at the bartended.
“What can I get you, kid?”
“A shot of courage,” he muttered.
“I’ve got JD.”
“I’ll take it,” Sly declared, slamming his hand down on the counter. “Because tomorrow I have to tell my cousin, the best friend I ever had, that I slept with the only woman he’s ever loved!”
“Kid, my motto is ‘if you got cash, I’ll pour you a drink, but I ain’t no shrink.’ Can’t help you on your little situation.”
Sly sighed. “That’s cool. I just want the alcohol anyway.”
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