 |
||
Diversion
The sound of the phone ringing wakes Cookie from a sound sleep.
She reaches over to the beside table to grab it. "Yeah?"
She asks sleepily.
"Is my dad there?"
Cookie sits up in bed. She can hear the tears in Vicki's voice.
She glances over ot the otherside of the bed. "He's pulling
an all nighter at the office, I guess. He's got a jury."
"Damn." Vicki knows as well as Cookie does
that when JD is pulling an all nighter at the office that he is
practically impossible to get hold of. "I really need
him." There is a sob in her voice.
"What the hell is going on?!" Cookie demands.
Under normal circumstances Vicki would never tell Cookie anything.
"I have to get out of here. I can't take it anymore.
Phillip..."
"Did he lay hands on you?"
"Just once he said he was sorry but..."
"Start packing; I'm on my way." Cookie says grimly
cutting off her stepdaughter. She glances over at the clock.
"If he starts giving you any trouble... lock yourself in the
bathroom. You still use a lighter to soften up your eye pencils?"
"Yeah." Vicki wonders where she is going with
that.
"Lock yourself in the bathroom. If he starts coming through
the door take a can of hairspray and the lighter. You can use it
to hold him off until I get there. He starts making a move on you--
fire them both up. It'll be like a flame thrower. That'll back
his candyass off."
"I don't think I can..."
"Do what you have to do, Vicki. One way or another I'm on my
way. I'll be there in a couple of hours. Three tops. Keep your
cell phone with you. if you don't think you can fry him then be
ready to call 911."
"Okay." Vicki hiccups as she swallows a sob.
Cookie disconnects the call and dials another number. Carly picks
up before the first ring even stops. "Hello?"
"Carly, it's Cookie. I need you to fly me to Salem now."
"Oh gees what did she do now?!" The bad blood
between Carly and Vicki goes way back.
"I could give a shit what she did. That limp dick she
married raised a hand to her."
"Meet me at the airport." Carly hangs up.
Cookie hops from the bed and going over to her walk in closet
pulls out a pair of jeans and tshirt. She dresses quickly
stomping on her running shoes. She runs a quick brush through her
hair and binds it back in a scrunchie. she'd have to braid it
once on the plane. Grabbing her jacket and purse she walks down
the hall to Rita's room. Knocking once on the door she walks in.
"Rita, honey?"
Rita flops over in the bed pushing her hair out of her eyes. She
leans up on one elbow. "Yeah?"
"Vicki just called. There is trouble and she's ready to come
home. I called Carly to fly me out there. Your dad is at the
office. If he checks in let him know what's up. Hopefully I'll be
back before he is."
"I'll come with you." Rita starts climbing from the bed.
"No, I need you to handle things here."
"Cookie, Don't get arrested."
"Nah. Not going to happen. If anyone is getting thrown into
the can, it'll be that punk she married."
"Okay. But when he gets thrown into the can he has
to have all of his body parts-- even the small ones."
"Well that depends on him, doesn't it? Tell your father just
enough for him to not worry if he should call." Cookie
strides out of the room.
Rita sits up all the way in bed crossing her legs indian style
under the covers. Resting her elbows on her knees she holds her
head and sighs. Just enough for him not to worry? Hell that meant
not telling him anything. Rita leans over to the phone and prays
that the number hasn't changed. "Ricky? it's Rita. Cookie is
on the warpath and is taking Carly with her. My sister is having
trouble with her husband. They are going to fly out ASAP to pull
her out of there. Is there any way you could go along and make
sure they don't get in trouble? Thank you. I really appreciate
this and I know my dad will too." Rita sighs and decides she
isn't going to get anymore sleep so grabbing her robe from the
foot of the bed, decides to put on a pot of coffee.
PC Airport. The private hangers. The Quartermaine hanger is
staffed 24/7. Carly had called the mechanic before heading over
so the doors are already open. Carly pulls up beside the hanger.
She grabs an overnight bag from out of the back. Luke thought it
was her getting back to her Spencer genetic roots. She always
figured it was just practical. Between the horseshows and the
estate sales that fill her weekends, it's always better to be
prepared. She locks up the vehicle and sets the alarm. Carly
walks into the hanger. In addition to the ELQ jets, her plane,
Jerry's plane and even Lucas' plane, when he's home, are kept
here. The mechanic greets her wiping his hands on a towel. "It's
all fueled up and ready to go, Mrs Quartermaine."
"Thanks. I'm going to go into the office and file a flight
plan before I go over the plane with you. Mrs Porter should be on
her way. Will you let her know where I am?"
"You got it." The mechanic steps out of the hanger to
have a quick smoke and keep an eye out for the other passenger.
The next car that pulls up, the mechanic looks him over with
narrowed eyes. "You don't look like Mrs Porter."
Ricky laughs. "Yeah, it's a good thing. So we're still
waiting on Cookie." He glances over to the other vehicle.
"Where is Carly?"
"In the office."
Ricky nods and goes inside. Walking into the office he gets
Carly's attention by asking, "Is there any coffee on?"
"What are you doing here?" Carly looks up from her
paperwork.
"Rita called me. Figured y'all needed a saner head to
prevail."
"Ha! And she called you?!"
"Okay so I'd have a better idea of where to bury the body
then."
"That I believe." Carly goes over to the fax machine
and faxes the flight plan to the tower. "There is the coffee
pot. The coffee is in the cupboard over it. There is a thermos in
my overnight that needs filling. I have to do preflight."
The mechanic has finished his smoke and meets Carly by her plane.
Trained by the best, Carly starts going over every inch of the
plane after putting on a pair of gloves to save her manicure.
She'd only had to ditch once in the last ten years of flying and
that was 'cause some dumb duck had flown into the engine. That
was enough. There is no way in hell she is going to have to do
another emergency landing especially for something as preventable
as mechanical trouble.
Cookie arrives as the sun is starting to come up. She sees Carly
is busy checking out the plane and being a nervous flyer on her
best day decides to not interrupt Carly. She goes over to the
office. "what are you doing here?"
"Rita called me. In case there is trouble." Ricky sees
Cookie is about to protest. "Hey, nobody knows better than
me that you can handle just about anything. So... you handle the
hubby, Carly can get Vicki out of there and I'll drive the
getaway car okay? I got your back."
"Don't you have to be at work?"
"Oh please. If I have to spend another day reading memos...
I'm between projects okay? Lets do this."
"Just don't get in my way."
Ricky holds both hands up. "Wouldn't think of it. You're
running the show."
Rita glances over at the clock. This was going to be make her
crazy. It's only a four hour flight to Salem. They'd just arrived...
maybe they could even be still in the air if there had been any
delays at the airport here in Port Charles. She jumps in her seat
at the breakfast bar when her father comes up behind her and
gives her a smooch on the cheek. "Too much caffeine,
pumpkin?"
"Yeah probably." Rita gets up from the barstool and
starts pulling out ingredients to make her father breakfast.
"Are you hungry? For anything special? Speak now or get what
I give you..."
"Did Cookie go in to the restaurant? If you want I'll take
you out."
"Don't trust my cooking, Dad?"
"It isn't that..."
"She's not at the restaurant, Dad." Rita blurts out.
"Vicki called last night and Cookie went to go get her."
JD sags onto the barstool that Rita had just vacated. "How
bad?"
"Everything will be fine." Rita says with some fake
cheer as she breaks a couple eggs into a bowl and starts whipping
them together with a fork. "I called Ricky and made sure he
went too. Just in case."
JD angles his head as he watches his nervous youngest putter in
the kitchen. "Cookie didn't fly commercial, did she?"
Rita bites her lip. "No."
"Oh Son of a Bitch." He runs both hands through his
full gray hair. "Well why don't you wait on breakfast. Call
AJ and invite him over with the kids. We might as well all worry
together."
"Dad, it will be fine-- Really."
JD picks up the phone and hits the speeddial. "AJ? Yeah,
it's JD. So you already got the bail money lined up?" JD
snorts at AJ's answer. He looks over to Rita and nods. "Look
Rita's cooking-- why don't you and the kids come over for
breakfast." JD nods again and then hangs up. "They are
on their way over. AJ said twenty minutes."
Rita is the one who snorts this time. "He never did advance
to oven in the kitchen lessons, did he? Strictly microwave and
toaster."
"And backyard BBQ." JD reminds her. "AJ, Lucas and
Michael all do the grill thing."
Rita glances down at the couple of eggs she'd blended to make her
father an omelet. Shrugging she grabs a few more and transfers
them all to a bigger bowl. Omelets out. French toast in. "That's
'cause of Jerry. It's a macho thing." Rita drops her voice
an octave and grunts and frowns. She beats her chest for effect.
"Me make fire. Me tough guy."
"Jerry has a few blindspots." JD admits remembering
with a grin the times when the summer BBQs with Carly's extended
family had been at their house rather than at Carly's or over at
the brownstone. Jerry had practically come out of his skin
wanting to take over for Cookie. And Cookie had practically come
out of hers with him getting underfoot. "But the other 98%
of his personality is feminist. He did make Carly take her plane
apart and put it back together."
"Twice. The first time she ended up with some spare parts."
Rita laughs.
Ricky whistles as he comes up the long drive of the Kiriakis
Mansion. This place is definitely built to impress. His father's
place down in New Orleans is big too but has a more wide open
feel to it. Dad needs lots of room. All this thing needed was a
moat and a few cannons on the roof to complete the fortress/castle
design. "You weren't kidding when you said she married into
money."
"Marry for money and you earn every penny." Cookie says
grimly. This place was giving her the heebies. It looks too much
like the house her first husband had grown up in. The husband
she'd gutted like a fish after he tried to beat her one more time--
turned out to be the last time. She'd done time for that one.
Years away from Johnny who'd only been a boy when it all went
down. The system figured she should called the cops, should have
gotten a restraining order, should have moved to a shelter.
Nevermind that she'd done all those things over and over again.
Her late unlamented spouse had been aces at stalking long before
it became trendy. She'd packed her bags and Johnny's too after
the first blow figuring it wasn't going to get any better and
moved out. And everywhere she moved-- there the sumbitch would be.
Well things were going to be different this time. "I'll
distract the husband. Carly, you get Vicki and get her moving.
Ricky, make sure nobody comes up on my back."
The two nod. "You know it." Ricky says grimly. "You
going to have a little chat with the guy."
"Yeah, he's already burned his bridges with this family but
maybe it's not to late for a little lesson in manners."
Carly pulls Ricky back a step and hisses in his ear. "Keep
her away from the sharp objects... or anything she could make
into a sharp object."
"You just make sure that Vicki isn't packing the kitchen
sink. The sooner we get out of here the less the damage will be."
Carly nods in agreement.
Cookie presses the front door bell. A servant in formal attire
answers the door. "Henderson right?" Cookie presses by
him. "Where is Phillip Kiriakis?"
"Ma'am." Henderson tries to block her in the foyer.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes. You can tell me where Phillip Kiriakis is and then you
can take this lady up to see my stepdaughter."
Henderson looks from Cookie to Carly. He is getting a very bad
feeling about this. He looks over both women's shoulders to the
black guy standing inside the door now, closing the door. The guy
has the look of hired muscle. "I really should call Mr
Kiriakis." He says nervously.
"Yeah, maybe you should." Cookie nods in agreement.
"Cause I'm starting to get a feeling that you don't want me
to see my son-in-law and I'm starting to wonder why. Is there a
problem, Mr Henderson? Something I should know about?"
"No, of course not." Henderson blusters.
"Henderson!" Phillip bellows from the front room.
Cookie slowly grins. "I'll take care of that for you,
Henderson. Take Carly to see my stepdaughter."
"But..."
"Oh I'd do like she says." Ricky says softly. "It'll
give you a chance to call your boss. One way or another this is
going down."
Carly comes up on the guy and strings her arm through his and
starts tugging him toward the stairs. "You know that's a
great carpet in the entry way... Karistan? I do so prefer those
to the one with the Russian influences." Henderson allows
himself to be dragged away.
"HENDERSON!" Phillip bellows again.
Cookie walks over to the front room where the formal dining room
is set up. Phillip is reading the paper and drinking juice from a
crystal goblet. Ricky stays in the foyer out of sight but within
hearing range. "Mr Henderson is tending to an errand for
Vicki."
Phillip rises to his feet. "Mrs Porter." He looks at
her warily. His wife had plenty to say about her father's wife
none of it good. "This is unexpected." He walks over to
greet her, putting on his charming face.
As soon as he is within range, quick as a snake Cookie reaches
out and grabs him by the balls. The fabric of his clothing offers
some, but not enough, protection. Phillip tries to pull away but
Cookie tightens her grip. "We're going to have a little talk
and I want to make sure I have your full attention."
"Are you crazy?!" Phillip stands totally still.
"Yes. But I'm sure you already know that."
"Look, I don't know what Vicki told you but she..."
Cookie squeezes again. Phillip groans but shuts up. She eases up
on her grip. "This isn't about Victoria. She can be the
biggest bitch in the world but you knew that before you married
her. Nothing, and I mean nothing she could say would give you the
right to lay hands on her. Man who'd do that is no kind of man at
all and has no use for these. I'd be doing the gene pool a favor
if I ripped them off right now. Or how about give them a little
twist. I hear sometimes that's enough for gangrene to set in then
you can have them surgically removed."
"Vicki..."
"I told you I don't care what Vicki did. This is between you
and me. I'm telling you how it is going to be. Vicki is out of
here today. You are not to call her, write her letters, or come
to Port Charles to see her. If you got something to say send it
to her lawyers. Davis and Jenson in Port Charles. You can make
this easy or you can make it hard. But I tell you-- fuck with me
and you won't be hard for long... if ever."
"You can't threaten me!"
Cookie laughs. "Do I look like I'm threatening you?
Do I look like the type who bluffs? Is it your imagination that
we're standing here in the middle of this mansion and I've
literally got your balls in the palm of my hand? How does it feel
to be the one with no power, Philly? Kinda helpless, kinda scary?
Takes a real big man to beat up on someone smaller than you,
doesn't it? But I figured this was something you'd understand.
Consider this my warning to you... kinda like the smack you gave
Vicki. The ball, pardon the pun, is in your court. You want this
to get messy? I can do that."
Carly comes down the stairs carrying some suitcases. Vicki is
behind her with some more as is Henderson. "Keys." She
demands of Ricky. Ricky tosses them to her not looking away from
the scene going on in the dining room.
"I have something to say to my husband." Vicki snears.
She's got some guts now that she has some backup.
Ricky takes in the hand print shaped bruise on the side of her
face. "You can have your say when you rape him with the
lawyers. Go to the car."
"But..."
"Go to the car, Victoria. This is over. Your father is
waiting for you in Port Charles. We're not staying a minute
longer than we have to. I got better things to do." Vicki
makes a face but follows Carly and Henderson out of the house. As
soon as they are out of the house, Ricky goes into the front room.
"You about done here? I'm ready to go."
"Yeah, I'm done." Cookie lets Phillip loose.
He steps out of range of her but has to save face since Ricky is
there. "This isn't over."
Cookie shrugs. "Your choice." She deliberately turns
her back on Phillip and walks from the room leaving Ricky there.
"Count your blessings, man." Ricky tells him with
verbal sympathy even though his eyes are cold as ice. "Pay
Vicki off and get on with your life. I get the feeling you don't
know who you are dealing with. Why don't you ask your Daddy
before getting any brilliant ideas about trying to get over."
"Who the fuck are you?" Phillip blusters.
"A friend of the family. A very good friend. My name is
Richard Robideau. I've done business with your father in the past.
He knows who I am." Ricky turns around and starts to follow
Cookie out the open front door. He runs into Victor, Phillip's
father, on the way out. "Victor."
"Ricky." Victor frowns noticing for the first time the
suitcases being loaded into the trunk of a rental car. "What
is going on here?"
"Your son forgot his manners. Vicki's step mother just gave
him a quick refresher course." Ricky says casually as he
keeps walking. "I'll see you at the media conference."
Victor goes calls out from the foyer. "Phillip?!"
Phillip comes out of the front room carrying a glass of something
it's too early for... his hand shaking as he takes a sip. "Are
you okay? What happened?"
"She'll pay." Phillip says grimly. "Nobody treats
me like that. Nobody! I'm going to call Gene." Phillip
refers to the family attorney.
"Why was Ricky Robideau here?" Victor's question stops
Phillip as he is going to make the call.
"He says he's a friend of the family." Victor winces.
"Why?"
"I think you need to tell me exactly what
happened. And don't leave anything out." Victor warns.
Phillip fills him in on his side of things leaving out a few
details that reflect poorly on him. But they are details that his
father can fill in knowing his son. "Pay her off."
Victor walks past Phillip to the front room where he pours
himself a glass of water.
"WHAT!! No way that bitch is going to get anything from me!
Not a single dime!" Phillip follows him.
"That bitch, as you call her, is your wife. The wife you've
been cheating on since days after your wedding. The wife whose
father is a federal judge..."
"So what? Vicki isn't exactly caesar's wife in all this. We
can beat her. We sure as hell have better lawyers... real lawyers--
than Vicki could find in that backwater town she is from. That
witch of a step mother said she is already represented by some
podunk firm... Davis and Jenson. Whoever heard of them?"
Victor sits down. "Are you trying to give
me another stroke? I'll call Gene myself. Go... take a cold
shower or something. When he gets here I want you in a more
reasonable frame of mind. This is the last mess of yours I clean
up, Phillip."
Ricky stows the luggage in the plane while Carly does her
preflight, going over the plane with the same attention to detail
that she'd used in the predawn hours. Ricky comes around to where
Carly is checking the flaps. "Well that was fun."
"Who was the old guy? The one who looked like his face would
crack if he smiled?"
"Victor Kiriakis. Vicki's soon to be ex father-in-law You
might have heard of him... Bella Magazine? Titan Industries?"
"Oh him." Carly grimaces. "I think Jerry knows him."
Carly strips off her gloves. "I'm ready to blow this
popsicle stand."
Ricky looks at the plane reluctantly. "I'm not looking
forward to four hours on a plane with Vic."
"You can always ride up front with me." Carly says
cheerfully. But then her eyes narrow. "And if you even think
of sending Vic up to sit with me... I'll ditch us in the middle
of a corn field." Carly threatens.
"Wouldn't think of it." damn that blew that idea.
They climb onto the plane. The ground crew pulls the stairs away.
Ricky shuts the door and fastens is shut.
"Everyone buckle up." Carly orders. "We'll be in
the air as soon as I get clearance."
AJ hangs up the phone. "Well that was Carly. She says she's
about an hour out of town. Everyone is in one piece."
There is a collective sigh of relief from all of them--Rita, AJ
and JD. Michael and Ally are in the Judge's gameroom playing pool
to avoid the obvious stress that all three of the adults are
under. Rita rises from the kitchen table. "I guess I'll go
make up the guest room for Vic." She pauses at the door.
"Daddy..."
"I know." JD sighs again. "But I think even Cookie
will give Vic a little breathing room before Vicki gets her own
place."
"I'd offer to help out but..." AJ shakes his head-- no
way Vicki could stay with him and Carly. There would be blood
shed within an hour tops and that was only cause Carly might be
feeling sorry for Vicki. "There is always the Port Charles
Hotel. I do have pull with the owners."
"I'll let you know." JD nods.
Ally and Michael wander into the kitchen. Michael pulls up a
chair with all the guys at the table. Ally drapes herself over
her Dad. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, your mom is on her way home. She just called."
"We should go out to the airport and pick her up." Ally
suggests bored at being in the house all day even if Rita and her
dad are cool.
"She's got her car." AJ pats his daughter's hand.
"But why don't we head home." AJ rises from his seat.
"You guys are going to need some time to catch up."
"I'll drive, Dad." Michael suggests cheerfully.
"Not only no, but hell no." AJ says calmly. "We'll
see you later." AJ says to JD as he gathers up his kids and
starts herding them toward the door.
"Mom lets me drive." Michael protests as they are
walking to the car.
"Your mom does a lot of things I don't." AJ says
without heat. No hard feelings here. He knew Michael had to ask.
And Michael knew he'd turn him down.
Back inside the Porter House, Rita comes back down the stairs.
"I saw AJ's car leaving."
"Yeah, they decided to meet Carly at home rather than doing
the reunion here."
"Ah." Rita says. No need to say anything more. AJ has
become a genius in avoiding situations that might end up in Carly
going off on someone. Well unless he actually wants to see it.
And then it would not be when the kids are around. "Alls
well that ends well right, Dad?"
"Why don't we wait for the other shoe to drop with Kiriakis
before the pat on the back thing."
"Dad, Vic..."
"Vicki needed to get out of there." JD reassures.
"I had a bad feeling from the day of the wedding. But I also
know my daughters. Honey, if it were you-- you would have packed
up and been back here with no phone call to anyone. Even if it
meant you had to walk. Or you would have killed him. But one way
or another it would have been over. Vicki doesn't believe in
quick. This is just the beginning." JD sighs.
Carly taxis the plane to the hanger leaving it just outside so
that the mechanic can go over it and give her baby a bath after
the long trip. She shuts down everything and makes quick notes in
her log. Gathering up her overnight bag that she ended up not
needing she walks back to the cabin. Cookie, Ricky and
Vicbitchtoria are already off the plane. Carly walks down the
stairs. The mechanic meets her. "Mrs Quartermaine, your
hubby called; he's going to meet you at home."
"Great thanks."
"How was the flight?"
"Great. I had a wonderful time."
Ricky is storing the last of the bags in the backseat of Cookie's
car... the trunk is already full. He overhears Carly's last
comment and walks over toward her. "And you so owe me for
that."
"Hey." Carly's eyes go wide. "Someone had to fly
the plane. And someone had to bitchsit. Guess you should have
taken up Jerry on his offer to teach you to fly."
Ricky looks over to where Vic is already working herself up in
preparation of meeting with her Daddy. JD while having his eyes
open to his daughter still managed to get sucked into her drama.
"I am not looking forward to this."
"Then don't go. You did the back up thing already."
Carly suggests.
"Yeah, but..."
"How did things go last night?" Carly changes the
subject but has she really? "With Winslow? With Rita?"
Ricky reads the devilish glint in Carly's eyes. "You knew
what she was going to do." He realizes.
"Me?!" Carly says with some drama. "Would I do
that to you?"
"In a heartbeat."
"Tell Rita she's more than welcome to move in with me and AJ
if Vic starts getting on her nerves. Or she can stay up at the
stables either." Carly climbs into her SUV.
"Paybacks are a bitch, Quartermaine."
"Ain't they though? And you'll thank me for this eventually."
JD is waiting on the front porch when Cookie pulls up. Ricky is
right behind her in his car. As soon as the car comes to a halt
Vicki is out of the car and flying into her father's arms. "Daddy,
it was so horrible. He was so mean to me. I was so scared."
JD hugs her close and starts patting her on the back. "You're
home now. You did the right thing, Vic. You called and Cookie
came and got you. You know we're always your safety net."
Cookie is at the back of her car opening up the trunk. She rolls
her eyes. Vicki had calmed down enough on the flight. Had even
gone back to the silent treatment that has been the totality of
their relationship. "Help me, Lord."
Ricky comes up and grabs some of the suitcases. "Divine
intervention already, Cookie? That doesn't bode well."
"She's had a rough time of it." Cookie reminds herself
and Ricky too.
"Oh yeah. And so will we before it's all through. You know
she's going to play this." Ricky starts pulling suitcases
out of the trunk of the car and setting them to the side.
"So you want a roommate?"
"When you moving in?"
"I meant Vicki."
"Yeah, I know, I'm ignoring that. The only woman moving into
my place is going to know how to cook. I have my standards."
"You're a sexist pig."
"And you're living with Vicki." Ricky falls silent as
JD nears with Vic still under his arm. JD grabs one of the
suitcases. Cookie grabs two more and follows after her husband
and his daughter. Rita comes out of the house and grabs another
suitcase. Ricky takes the last two. Rita slams all the doors shut
on the car and the trunk too grabbing Cookie's keys.
"Ricky, thanks for going with. I know I had no right to ask
but Cookie and Carly..."
"Would have been just fine. But it was a good reminder not
to piss Cookie off. So where did you put Vic?"
"In her old room. Dad converted it to a guest room after Vic
went off to college. It has it's own bath and everything. It's
where you would have been staying if Cookie hadn't gotten you
your own place when you moved to PC."
Ricky nods he is as familiar with the Porter house as he is with
his father's or his own. "I can come back and get that one."
Ricky tells Rita referring to the suitcase she is lugging with
both hands.
"Nah, I got it." Rita puts the suitcase down as they
get into the entryway and shuts the door after Ricky is clear.
Then picking the suitcase up again she follows him up the stairs.
"But I really should have put her in the first floor guest
room."
Up in Victoria's room, the bed is soon covered with suitcases.
She is sitting in the window seat telling her father everything
that happened and how Phillip had been cheating on her from day
one and when she got sick of it and confronted him on it... that
he'd backed her off with a smack. She pushes her hair back so he
can see the bruise. Meanwhile Cookie is unpacking the suitcases
putting everything away. "Don't you have any real
hangers?" Vicki protests in mid sob story. "Those are
designer originals. They'll be ruined hanging on those cheap
things."
Cookie bites her tongue. Rita goes to her room and pulls out some
padded hangers and brings them into Vic's room handing them to
Cookie who rehangs the precious garments on a more worthy hanger.
"How much stuff did you bring anyway?"
"Everything." Vicki says defiantly. "Who knows
what Phillip would have done to them. Probably given them to his
little opera singer!"
"Right." Cookie walks into the walk in closet. Hell
when she and Johnny were on the run they'd managed with one small
bag. And then most of the stuff had been Johnny's. Okay a bag and
a box. The bag had been clothes and the box had been her kitchen
gear. "I think we should get Taggart over here."
JD nods. "Rita, why don't you call him. See if he can make
it over."
Rita goes down to the kitchen with Ricky following her. "The
guy is chief of police." Ricky shakes his head. "You
really think he is going to show up to take pictures of Vic?"
"Probably not." Rita agrees. She bites her lip. "Exactly
what did Cookie do to Phillip?"
Ricky groans. "Yeah, we're going to need Taggart. Lets just
say... I don't think Cookie should step foot in Salem for a good
long while." As Rita is dialing the phone. "So how soon
can I meet with Mei?"
Rita looks up at him. "Do you mean it? You mean it!"
Rita reaches across the breakfast bar to grab Ricky by the shirt
front and pulls him to her and plants a quick impulsive kiss on
him. Ricky brings a hand up and cupping the back of her neck
deepens the kiss. Rita's eyes close as her knees start going weak.
If Ricky wasn't half holding her over the counter she'd been in a
puddle on the floor by now.
"Taggart. Is anyone there? I can hear you breathing. You
know how freaking stupid it is to crank call the chief of police?!
"Oh shit." Rita comes to her senses sorta and pulls
away from Ricky. "Sorry. Chief Taggart... this is Rita
Porter. We have a situation over at the house. Both Cookie and
Carly kinda got mixed up in it..."
"I'm on my way." Taggart hangs up.
"Why did you do that?" Rita asks still holding the
phone in her hand.
Ricky takes the phone from her and hangs it up. "You started
it." He comes around the breakfast bar and sits down on one
of the stools half blocking Rita next to the bar. "I just
wanna know if it was a fluke." Their eyes meet. Rita starts
breathing more rapidly. She nervously bites her bottom lip. Ricky
reaches up and cups the side of her face with his hand. He frees
her lip with his thumb. Leaning in, he kisses her again. Rita
parts her lips and brings up her hands to rest on his shoulders.
Ricky brings his other hand around sliding it low on her back and
pressing her closer to him between his parted legs. With a groan
he comes up for air, and then kisses her again. What ever the
hell this is... it ain't no fluke.
"Ricky." Rita whispers at the next break her forehead
resting against his and trying to catch her breath. "Timing
sucks. Vicki... Taggart... Daddy right up stairs."
"I know." Ricky agrees. He leans back but can't seem to
keep his hands off of her. Pushing back a lock of hair. Running
his hand down her bare arm. Finally he forces himself to stop, he
sets Rita away from him. Even then she is just too tempting.
"What in the hell happened to you?" Ricky asks with
some confusion.
"I grew up."
"Have dinner with me." Ricky demands.
"When?"
"Tonight. Hell." Ricky realizes that is impossible.
"Tomorrow. I'll pick you up."