Dream a Little Dream

Chapter 18

Anyone seeing Laura Spencer enter General Hospital would have thought she was going to visit a dying relative, or coming in for the results of serious tests, by the grim look on her face.

She was going to see Alan and Monica Quartermaine for the first time since Saturday's disastrous reveal of the affair between her son, Nikolas, and their daughter, Emily, and the party on Saturday night. Afterwards, she would go see Stefan Cassadine to talk over things. She'd found out from Nikolas that he had recently discovered the affair, and tried to make Emily end things with Zander, but Emily had refused, thus setting up Zander's devastating discovery.

Laura had called Alan to set up a time to meet, and she could hear the sadness and fatigue in Alan's voice. She was sad for them, and scared they would blame Nikolas or her too much for what had happened. They had always loved and idolized Emily, maybe they wouldn't be able to see her role in everything.

She entered the lobby, and saw an elevator door closing.

“Hold the elevator, please!” she called, darting towards it.

She jumped in, and was surprised to see her mother, Lesley Webber, standing in there with a doctor she did not know.

“I thought I recognized the voice!” Lesley said with a kiss. “It's good to see you, darling. What brings you here?”

“I'm going to see Alan and Monica,” Laura said, not wanting to say anything else in front of a stranger.

“Laura, this is Dr. Rachel Adair,” Lesley said, introducing her to the young, pretty doctor with long, curled blond hair. “Rachel, this is my daughter, Laura Spencer. This is Rachel's first day, so we've been putting her through new employee disorientation.”

Laura laughed at her mother's description of a doctor's first day on the job at GH. All the paperwork to fill out – health insurance forms, 401K paperwork, life insurance forms, malpractice insurance forms, payroll information, etc. Then the procuring of the hospital ID badge, then the grand tour.

“Nice to meet you,” Laura said, shaking Rachel's hand. “Welcome to General Hospital. Despite the craziness of the first day, I think you'll be very happy here. It's a great place.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Spencer,” Rachel replied. “I think so, too. People like your mother have re-confirmed that I made the right choice in coming here.”

The bell chimed, and the door opened on the floor leading to Alan Quartermaine's office as chief of staff. Steven Webber was walking to nurse's station and stared at Rachel, who was staring back at him in blank shock.

Laura and Lesley were giving each other a peck on the cheek goodbye, with Lesley whispering a few words of comfort in Laura's ear, so neither noticed the brief exchange of stares between Rachel and Steven. Only Amy Vining's sharp eyes from the nurses' station saw anything.

“Your daughter seems very nice,” Rachel said to Lesley, recovering her composure after the doors closed.

“She is,” Lesley said. “She doesn't live here full-time – her job is in New York – so it's good to have her home for a visit.”

* * *

Dr. Chris Ramsey was in Alan and Monica's office.

“Emily wasn't in lab this morning,” he said. “I'll be honest and say I heard about Saturday night. If what I heard the students saying is true, I have to count today as an unexcused absence and give her a zero for today's assignment. After last week – she did really mediocre work and almost nodded off at her microscope – this is going to hurt her final grade. With fewer lab sessions in summer school, every session counts. So if there's something else going on that would excuse her absence, tell me and she and I can work out a make-up assignment.”

Alan shook his head.

“No, there's nothing else to say,” he said. “Treat Emily as you would any other student, Chris. If she can't excuse her absence, mark her accordingly.”

“Okay,” Chris said. “Thanks.”

He left.

Alan and Monica turned to each other.

“I'm beginning to fear AJ was right,” Monica said. “She could leave school for Nikolas. I can't believe her! She's always been ambitious to be a doctor. This is Nikolas' doing.”

Alan shook his head.

“No, Monica, it isn't,” he said. “This is Emily's doing. She's been just as self-absorbed as Nikolas. Maybe even more so. Perhaps taking a few lumps in school will help bring her out of it.”

“If not?”

“If not, then the consequences are her's,” Alan said.

* * *

“Good morning, Marcus,” Cameron Lewis said to Marcus Taggert, there for his twice-weekly counseling sessions ordered by his boss, police commissioner Mac Scorpio.

“Hey, Cameron,” Marcus said. “How are things with you? Heard about Saturday. How's Zander?”

“He's doing a little better this morning,” Cameron said. “He was determined to go to classes this morning, although I think another day in bed would have been better after his bender on Saturday night. He's going to stay with us for the week. Alexis wants to give him some TLC.”

“Poor guy,” Marcus said. “He's a good kid, and deserves a hell of a lot better than Emily or Cassadine gave him.”

Cameron nodded. “True,” he said. “But now, how Zander handles things is up to Zander.”

Marcus frowned.

“That's pretty cold,” he said.

“Cold?”

“Yeah,” Marcus said. “If that was my kid, I wouldn't be leaving him alone to handle things by himself. Cassadine would be in intensive care right now. And I wouldn't be letting that two-timing Emily have a moment's peace.”

“I've entertained revenge fantasies, believe me,” Cameron said with a chuckle. “But I have to realize that, like Gia, Zander not a kid, but an adult, entitled to his own feelings. He has the right to decide how to handle his life and this heartbreak. I can love him, comfort him, support him, listen to him, counsel him and try to guide him, but ultimately, how he deals with what Emily and Nikolas did to him is his call.”

“How can you just walk away like that?”

“Who's walking away?” Cameron said. “I'm right there for him. But if I try to jump in now and make everything better for him, or try to control him, I can only make things worse. He's got the right to hurt, and be angry, and come through it the best he can. Maybe he'll flounder, but I'll be right there to support and guide him, along with Alexis and his other friends. I remember once reading this phrase in a book – 'give him the gift of his whole pain.' It means that by trying to manage things for Zander now, I would be hindering his healing.”

Marcus nodded, getting what Cameron said, though not quite buying it for himself.

“Still, I bet it'd be nice to feel Cassadine's throat under your fingers right now,” he said. “I always knew he was no good when he was with Gia. Of course, she wouldn't listen all the times I told her to dump that little creep. And now, she's making another mistake.”

“Gia is an adult, Marcus, and has the right to make her own choices,” Cameron said. “She's responsible for those choices. By your trying to make her bend to your will, you're trying to keep her a child. That way, she's under your control.”

“I have to protect her, Cameron,” Marcus insisted. “I helped raise her. She's my responsibility.”

“No, Gia is Gia's responsibility,” Cameron said. “You and your mother did a terrific job raising her. She's got a great head on her shoulders – not many models with a major cosmetics contract parlay their earnings into a law degree the way she did. Nor do they come out of that environment with their values intact like she has. Instead of going into a big, fancy job, she's working to help the people who really need help but can't afford it. Because of her work with Justus Ward, the victims of Sonny Corinthos got some compensation. Slumlords have been held accountable. And she's a good, loyal friend – I know she's one that'll be right there for Zander. A large part of that is your work, Marcus. Be proud of it.”

“If her values are so great, why was she sneaking around and seeing Linc behind my back?” Marcus demanded. “Neither of them even asked permission!”

“You seem to keep missing the part about Gia being an adult,” Cameron said. “She doesn't need your permission to date anyone. Yes, it would have been ideal if she and Linc were upfront about their relationship. But you have to look inside yourself, Marcus, to see why she wouldn't want to be. Because that's where your anger and control issues lie, and until you deal with them, you can't expect things to change except for the worse.”

* * *

Laura knocked on Alan's office door.

“Come in,” she heard. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

Alan and Monica were in there. Monica looked like she did – pale, tired and grim. Alan looked tired and sad. Monica stood up, and went over and embraced Laura.

“How are you?” Monica asked. “Judging by your face, a lot like me right now.”

Tears filled Laura's eyes.

“I'm so sorry,” they both said at once. Alan waved his hand.

“No more of this,” he said. “Nikolas and Emily are adults. They made their choices, and are responsible for them. We can't take that on ourselves. All we can do is live with the fallout.”

Laura and Monica sat down.

“Have you seen Emily?” Laura asked.

“No,” Monica said. “After Saturday night, we just weren't up for another helping of their self-inflicted melodrama. I think we'll wait a few days. I want to talk to Emily alone, but those two are so wrapped up in each other it would take a crowbar and some power lifters to pry them apart right now.”

Laura laughed faintly and rolled her eyes.

“They were pretty ridiculous, weren't they?” she asked. “If it wasn't for Nikolas being my son, and seeing how much everything was hurting you, I could have laughed. Even when Luke and I were on the run, we weren't that crazy. Nikolas tried to fling that back at me yesterday. It didn't work.”

“You went there?” Alan asked. “Did you see Emily?”

“No, she stayed upstairs,” Laura said. “At least she had the sense to let Nikolas and I talk – or fight, as it turned out – things out alone.”

Laura told them of her visit to Wyndemere with Lulu, and how it ended.

“God, I love that kid!” Alan said of Lulu. “It's a pity we couldn't bottle her, and make Emily and Nikolas take a dose twice a day.”

“It must have been so hard for you, Laura,” Monica said. “Everything had been so good with Nikolas and you guys after Helena and Stavros died. And now, thanks in no small part to Emily, you're having trouble again.”

“And, thanks in no small part to Nikolas, Jason's homecoming and Skye's engagement announcement were ruined and you're all hurting when you should be happy,” Laura said sadly. “And let's not forget Zander. Lucky told us about finding him outside the restaurant on Saturday night. Zander's the biggest victim in all this.”

“Thank God for Lucky,” Monica said. “I don't think Cameron could have borne it if something had happened to Zander.”

“I say we stop letting them make victims of us,” Alan said. Monica and Laura turned to him.

“We shouldn't be thinking about how to deal with them,” he went on. “They should be thinking about how to deal with us, and the consequences of their actions. From what you said, Laura, they're still so full of themselves and their 'twoo wuv,' as Carly so aptly put it, they're not thinking of anyone but themselves. So I say, we make them face the consequences. We don't go to them. If they want to come to us, they're going to have to face the facts that they hurt a lot of people and aren't very respected or trustworthy right now. If they want to act like selfish children, I say we treat them as such.”

* * *

Zander Lewis questioned the wisdom of his decision to go to classes today from the minute he stepped on campus at Port Charles University.

His gastro-intestinal tract was still making its unhappiness known after his drinking binge on Saturday night. He had to make two stops in the men's room before his first class. He took a seat next to the door in case of any future distress calls.

His head still ached a little, and his legs were a bit wobbly. But that morning, the idea of lying in bed or sitting around at home, with nothing to do but think, drove him out of the house. At least classes would be a distraction.

But it was not a pleasant one. He knew, by the quick glances followed by averted eyes, that word had gotten out. He remembered his father telling him that he'd told Lucky everything while sitting drunk at the bar in Vagabond. The place was probably packed on a Saturday night. Which meant lots of people heard.

Damn, Zander thought. Now I can be a laughingstock here as well as that crypt where Emily ... God, Emily ... and Prince Nikolas are probably reveling in their happiness.

He concentrated furiously on what the professor was saying, taking meticulous notes. Somehow, he got through the class and was thinking he could handle his 12:30 class. But five minutes after the first class ended, another angry dispatch from his belly had him doubled over on a seat in a men's room stall, a sheen of sweat on his face. After it passed, he felt like he could make it home. So he hurried to the parking lot and left.

No one was there when he got home. Ida usually took Kristina to the park on nice days like this, or to the library on some rainy days. Zander loved his little sister dearly, but was grateful for the silence. He trudged upstairs and took a cool shower. He felt a little better, but decided to lay down for a bit. He could catch up on his studying.

He never got so far as opening his book. He sprawled on his back and fell sound asleep. Alexis, coming home early from work, saw him through the open door. She quietly closed it, then went down to get some chicken broth ready to heat up for a snack.

“Hello, darling,” she said after dialing Cameron's office.

“Hey, there,” Cameron replied. “You home already?”

“Yes, and Zander beat me here,” Alexis said. “He must have skipped his afternoon class. He was sleeping when I got home. I closed the door and let him be. I hope it's just fatigue that sent him home.”

* * *

Heartened by her visit with Alan and Monica, Laura went to Stefan's office. She hoped she could comfort him, and maybe get some insight on Nikolas.

She found him at his desk, looking like nothing had happened, as he read a report.

“Good morning, Laura,” he said with a smile she couldn't help but answer.

“I should have known you'd make me feel better,” she said, slipping into the seat across his desk.

“I take it you're here to discuss Nikolas,” he said. “It must have been mortifying as well as painful for you Saturday night. I was hoping you would be spared that.”

“Yes, Nikolas told me how you'd found out,” Laura said. “That must have been hell for you, Stefan. I'm so sorry you had to face that.”

“What did he say?”

“That you barged in on them one night,” she said. “That must've been a sight to see. Nikolas referred to your trying to get Emily to end things with Zander before things got worse as 'idle threats.'”

“As if a Cassadine makes those,” Stefan said with a grin.

“That's what showed me as much as anything how self-absorbed and delusional he is right now,” Laura said, telling him of her and Lulu going to Wyndemere, and the unhappy result, wrapping it up with, “I don't know what to do, Stefan, how to reach him. And it scares me.”

“That's how I've felt since I first got suspicious,” Stefan said. “And I'm still no closer to knowing how to reach him than I was that day.”

“So, what do we do? Alan and Monica said they're going to make Emily face the consequences of her actions whether she likes it or not,” Laura said. “I don't know how that will work with Nikolas, though. He's got the attitude and resources to tell us all to go hang if we push too far.”

“Alan and Monica have a point,” Stefan said. “But we don't have to force ourselves on Nikolas. I say, leave him alone. Let him get the feeling of victory out of his system. Right now, there's just no reaching him anyway. When it passes, then he'll start feeling consequences, and not just from us. Let him deal with calls from the European gossip rags, all dying for an exclusive interview with the Cassadine prince caught with his pants down. I don't think he'll find a warm welcome among his friends, including Lucky, after his seeing what happened to Zander. And his business associates will not be very happy. They don't like loose-cannon behavior. Maybe then he'll be receptive to the concept of causes and consequences, and the lessons they offer.”

* * *

Emily Quartermaine entered the Quartermaine mansion quietly. She was hoping to get her things and get out unseen. She was still wearing her party dress and heels, as she had no other clothes at Wyndemere.

So far, so good, she thought, as she scooted up the stairs unseen. Or so she thought. Alice had heard the door open, and, peeping from the dining room, had seen Emily. She went into the kitchen, where Jason was grabbing a sandwich before going to his first rescue class.

“Miss Emily just came in,” she whispered to him. “I wonder if your parents should know?”

“I'll call them, thanks, Alice,” he said.

* * *

Dr. Rachel Adair spun in her chair in her new office. She'd never had her own office before. In her previous gig, she'd had to share with two other doctors.

She'd already set things up, hanging her diplomas behind her desk, setting a picture of her with her parents at the beach at Watch Hill on her desk. She couldn't wait to dig into her immunology work here. Working with a respected hospital with a unit like the Stone Cates AIDS Wing would be quite an exciting challenge. She'd met Robin Scorpio, administrator of the wing, and was energized by Robin's drive and determination.

There was a knock at her door. Her first knock.

“Come in,” she called.

She was surprised to see Elizabeth Webber, in nurses' scrubs, walk in.

“Hey, Rachel,” Elizabeth said.

“Elizabeth!” Rachel said. “I didn't know you worked here! It's great to see you.”

“Is it?” Elizabeth said. “I was wondering how you'd feel about things. I can't believe you came here, after everything with Steven. How did you think he's going to handle things? Or maybe that's what you wanted.”

“Whoa!” Rachel said. “Last I heard, Steven was working with his father with the relief organization in Bosnia. Seeing him today was as much a shock for me as it was for him.”

“But you knew about our family connection here, and you came anyway,” Elizabeth persisted.

“I didn't seek General Hospital out, they sought me out,” Rachel said. “I didn't come here for Steven in any way. As I said, I didn't know he was here. And, now that I am here, I'm staying. This is a dream job for me in immunology, and I'm not going to run from it because my ex-boyfriend is uncomfortable with my being here.”

“He was more than your ex-boyfriend, Rachel,” Elizabeth said. “He was ready to propose. But you dumped him for that job in San Francisco. You could have followed him to Bosnia ...”

“I got my offer a week before Steven got his,” Rachel retorted. “Why couldn't he have followed me? Why is a man's job more important than a woman's? He could have gotten something in San Francisco, or Oakland, whereas there was nothing for me in Bosnia. Unlike Steven, I had a mountain of student loan debt – more than what my parents paid for their first house – and the clock was ticking to pay them off. The San Francisco job allowed me to count time working there as part of my payment, which turned out to help a lot. But he wouldn't even consider coming with me. Then he flung the Bosnia thing at me with a 'take it or leave it' attitude. So, I left it.”

“But what are you going to do now?” Elizabeth said. “This isn't going to be easy for Steven.”

“He can handle it or not, his call,” Rachel said coolly. “But I'm not going anywhere. And I'm not going to be tagging after him to work things out. I have a job to do. If he wants to talk, he can do it outside the hospital.”

* * *

Emily quickly changed out of her party dress, kicking it into a heap on her closet floor. She never wanted to see it again. She grabbed a suitcase from her closet and flung clothes into it. She put a few photo albums, yearbooks, and mementos in, then closed it. Her textbooks and notebooks went into her backpack and a duffel bag.

So absorbed was she in trying to get her stuff and get out of there, she didn't hear her parents approach the room. She looked up to see them in the doorway.

“Hello, Emily,” Alan said.

“Mom, Dad!” Emily said blankly. “What are you doing here? Who called you?”

“Jason,” Monica replied. Emily stared. She couldn't believe Jason would betray her like that, even after seeing him deck Nikolas.

“Look, I'm not interested in a replay of the other night,” Emily said. “I'm just going to get a few things and go.”

“You're not going anywhere until we talk,” Alan said firmly. “You think you can just make a mess and walk away? I thought you were more grown-up than that.”

Emily raised her chin defiantly.

“Fine,” she said. “Talk.”

Monica shoved down the urge to smack the puss off Emily's face.

“All right,” Monica said, sitting on the bed. “What happened, Emily? Why did you do that? If you were so in love with Nikolas, why didn't you just end things with Zander? That, we could have understood. But you lied to us for months, let us worry about you, and then you humiliate us at the party!”

Emily sighed in exasperation.

“Nikolas was right,” she said. “You don't understand.”

“Then make us understand!” Monica said, with equal exasperation. “How did this begin? And why did you let it go on so long?”

So Emily told them of her breast cancer scare, not noticing Monica's white face. She told of how their friendship grew stronger after that, and how it turned to love the night of the costume ball. She'd tried to resist, but couldn't. Afterwards, she knew Nikolas was right in how to handle things.

“Do you think I wanted Saturday night to happen?” Emily cried. “I didn't! But it did. And it's over now. So you all can either accept that I am with Nikolas, and that we are in true love ... or not. It won't change us being together.”

“Emily, I can understand your not coming to us about the lump,” Monica said. “I know how terrifying that can be. And I'm very grateful to Nikolas for getting you to the doctor. He did the right thing. But everything after that ... it was wrong. And it's not over, no matter how much you'd like it to be.”

“Why not?” Emily demanded.

“Because Zander is paying for what you did,” Alan said. “Did you know you devastated him so much he drank himself into a stupor that night? If Lucky hadn't have found him in the alley outside Vagabond, gotten him inside and brought in Karen Wexler to check him out, there could have been a real tragedy. He could have gotten behind the wheel of his car and killed someone or himself. He could have gotten alcohol poisoning. He could have fallen prey to a criminal. Cameron could have lost another son that night. If something had happened, it would have been all your fault, Emily. Your's and Nikolas'. And Zander's going to have to deal with this heartbreak, and shattered trust, for a long, long time.”

“I didn't mean for that to happen!” Emily exclaimed.

“Maybe not,” Alan said. “But you caused it just the same with your months of lies and manipulation. As much as you'd like to wrap yourself up in Nikolas' arms and shut out the world, you can't escape the consequences of what you did.”

Emily looked out the window. Nikolas had worried about her coming here alone, and he was right. All the family would do is gang up on her and try to tarnish their true love.

Then she turned her head and stared defiantly at Alan.

“So, what are you going to do?” she asked. “Ground me? Send me to bed without supper? Maybe another Outward Bound trip? You can't do anything to me, because I'm not going to be here!”

“Any consequences you face, Emily, you'll do to yourself,” Monica said. “You hurt a lot of people with your behavior. You ruined our party, Jason's homecoming and Skye's engagement announcement. You humiliated Zander, us, Laura, Stefan, Alexis and Cameron in front of our friends. You lied to everyone for months, treated Zander's love like a plaything to be tossed aside when you were bored, and have been completely selfish and unrepentant. Do you seriously expect us to trust you, or respect you or your judgment, after all that?”

Just then, they heard a childish voice in the hallway.

“Gwammy! Poppy!” Morgan called. He toddled into the doorway. Then he saw Emily and began screaming.

“Morgan!” Emily crooned, going over and holding out her arms to pick him up. “How are you, sweetie!”

“Go 'way!” he shrieked. When Emily tried to pick him up, Morgan bit her on her forearm.

“Ow!” she cried, withdrawing her arm. “Morgan, what's the matter?”

Suddenly, Carly was charging at her.

“You're what's the matter!” Carly snarled, gently pushing a sobbing Morgan back down the hall with a nod to Leticia to come get him.

“Oh, great,” Emily said, rolling her eyes. “So you all had to turn Morgan against me and Nikolas, too?”

“No, you did that!” Carly said in unchecked fury. “He heard what was going on the other night. Zander was his pal. It took AJ an hour to calm him down after hearing Zander all upset downstairs. Thanks to you, Morgan thinks he's lost his buddy. He's cried for Zander every day since!”

“More of what you didn't mean to happen, Emily,” Monica said caustically.

Emily felt trapped.

“That's it!” she said. “I'm sick of you all trying to ruin everything! I'm leaving! I'll send someone from Wyndemere over for the rest of my things. I'm done here.”

Emily slung her backpack over her shoulder, then picked up her suitcase and duffel bag.

“I'm not,” Carly said. Before Emily could say anything, Carly backhanded her across the face.

“The best thing I'll see today is your ass walking out the door,” Carly sneered, then marched out.

Emily stared at her parents.

“Aren't you going to do anything?” she demanded.

“Don't tempt me, Emily,” Monica said. “I might do the same as Carly.”

Emily flounced out in a fury.

* * *

Zander woke up around 4. He went into the bathroom to get a drink of water for his dry mouth. He looked in the mirror. A little less gray in the face, but his expression was flat. He heard his stomach rumbling, but this time it was a hunger pang. He went downstairs to see if there were any crackers.

Alexis was in the kitchen, cutting a boneless chicken breast into strips for Kristina's supper. She smiled as he walked in.

“Hi there,” she said. “Have a good nap?”

“Yeah,” he said. “You didn't come home early for me?”

“Partially,” Alexis said. “But it was also a quiet day at the office. So I went to the market and came home. It's been nice having an afternoon at home. But it's even nicer having company. How are you feeling?”

“A little better,” he said. “I may actually be hungry.”

“I've got some chicken broth,” Alexis said. “And I'll make you some toast to go with it, if you like.”

Zander smiled, touched by her loving care.

“Sounds perfect,” he said.

Alexis heated up a small pot of broth, and toasted some fresh Italian bread. She served them up to him at the kitchen table.

“Thanks for being so great, Alexis,” Zander said, dunking his toast in the broth. “You and Dad are the only things that have gotten me through ...”

He choked up. Alexis reached over and took his hand.

“I'm so sorry, Zander,” she said. “I'd understand if you didn't want me around because of ...”

“It's not your fault!” Zander said. “You and Stefan aren't responsible for what happened.”

The mention of Stefan brought up something Alexis decided to get out in the open.

“There's something I need to tell you now,” she said gently. “Stefan had found out a few weeks ago. He tried to protect you from finding out ...”

Alexis told of Stefan's discovery of the affair between Emily and Nikolas, and his efforts to keep things from blowing up the way they did.

Zander turned dull eyes to Alexis.

“That's why he wanted to see me the next day,” he said. “He was going to tell me. I can't believe it. Nikolas ... was his world for so long. He'd actually go against him?”

“Stefan is very, very fond of you, and respects you a whole lot,” Alexis said. “What was going on, it was sickening to him. He'd hoped to spare you. He feels like he failed you, Zander.”

Zander shook his head.

“Are you kidding?” he said. “He would actually stand up to the prince, and put himself through telling me, because he cared about me. That means ... so much ...”

Zander put his head on the table and sobbed. Alexis stroked his soft brown hair.

“Yes, he does,” she said. “A lot of people care about you, sweetie. And we're all here for you.”

* * *

Emily paced the parlor floor at Wyndemere, flinging her arms, her voice raising to a shriek at times, as she told Nikolas of what had happened when she went back home to get her things.

By the time she was done, Nikolas was in a cold rage.

“This is why we won't go groveling, my princess,” he said. “Your family had no right to abuse you in such a way. Carly is a pure Spencer – complete gutter trash. I say we leave them alone until they've gotten their tantrum out of their system. And I know how we can do it ...”

Emily listened, her frown slowly being replaced by a radiant smile. She flung her arms around Nikolas.

“It's perfect!” she cried. “You are a prince, Nikolas! You can make everything right.”

* * *

Alan sat at his desk the next day, checking his e-mail before Monica came to meet him for lunch. He noticed one from Emily, and opened it.

“Dear Dad: I have decided that I will no longer endure the family's abusive treatment of me, or my truest love for Nikolas. You will not have us around as your kickball for a while. By the time you read this, Nikolas and I will have left for a vacation at the Cassadine island in Greece. We will not answer phone calls, e-mails or letters. I have talked with my adviser, and will be taking incompletes in my summer classes. I'll make them up in the fall. Hopefully, you will have come to your senses by the time we return. Emily.”

Alan mechanically made a print of the e-mail, to show the family that night. He sat back down to wait to tell Monica, his face gray.