 |
||
The Quintessential Q
Chapter Twenty Five
A little Redemption
The next morning Emily rises and dresses in casual attire. She looks in the mirror and tells her reflection what had been running through her dreams all night. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Unable to bear her own company any longer she makes her way downstairs. Edward and Lila are already up and at the breakfast table set up in the den. Emily pours herself some coffee and takes a muffin. She sets them down at her place at the table. She greets Lila with a kiss on the cheek. "Good morning, Grandfather."
Edward studies his granddaughter carefully. He'd stayed up the night before to make sure she got in alright. Emily had been in early enough but she doesn't appear to have slept well. "Are you ready to get down to business, young lady?"
"Edward please, Can the child have her breakfast before you start?" Lila insists. Edward harrumphs but settles back to read the business section keeping a concerned gaze on Emily out of the corner of his eye.
"These came for you this morning, Emily." Reggie comes into the room holding a bouquet of flowers. "The delivery guy beat the newspaper here." Emily takes the bouquet and inhales the fragrance of the mixed flowers. She sets them down on the table and pulls out the note.
I hope you'll give me another chance,
Nikolas.
"They're from Nikolas." Emily says softly.
Lila reaches over for the bouquet and examines it carefully practically brailing the blossoms. "I'd say that the date didn't go well, dear. Did young Mr. Cassadine run into a rival for your affections, perhaps he behaved badly?"
"What?" Emily looks at Lila. "But... how did you know?"
"The benefits of a classical education, my dear."
"If it's got something to do with flowers then your grandmother is the expert." Edward says resolutely. "What did that punk do? The shotgun is loaded and ready to go if he steps foot on the property."
"I handled it, Grandfather. Have you decided what you're going to do with the promenade?" Emily tries to change the subject.
"I thought that was what you were going to work on." Edward allows himself to be distracted but he gives Lila a significant glance.
"If you two are going to talk business then I'd like to go out to the garden before the heat of the day takes hold. Emily, would you escort me please." Lila backs her chair away from the table.
"Of course, Grandmother." Emily opens up the French doors for her grandmother and accompanies Lila outside. After Emily closes the door, Lila pulls up. "How did you know what happened, Grandmother?"
"The bouquet, dear." Lila nods. "The choices are too particular to be random and all blooms are out of season: purple hyacinth, yellow hyacinth, witch hazel and peach blossom. Each chosen particularly and at no small expense. Or perhaps the young man has access to a greenhouse?"
"The Cassadines have a greenhouse on Wyndemere or at their summer house, I think maybe both. Witch hazel-- isn't that what you put on bruises and things?"
"Yes."
"What does it all mean?" Emily asks curiously
"There appears to be two messages, darling. The hyacinth mean I'm sorry and I was jealous. The witch hazel and the peach blossom combination-- I am your captive and you've put a spell on me. An interesting date, my dear."
"All that from a bouquet?"
"The language of flowers was developed back in the day when suitors didn't say what they were thinking or feeling but instead said it with flowers. It was more discreet and romantic. What did the note say?" Lila asks.
Emily shrugs. "Give me another chance."
"And will you?"
"I don't know. I have to think about this, Grandmother. I could really get hurt here." Emily crosses her arms defensively.
"Opening yourself up to love is always a risk, but the alternative is..." Lila waves her hand.
Emily sits down on the wrought iron bench next to her grandmother. "The alternative is safe. Look at Alan and Monica, even AJ and Carly. And gees Ned."
"Our family may not be the best examples, my dear. But even with all of our travails-- love is not something I would have lived my life without. Before I found Edward I had married, I had been engaged. Edward was no saint before I met him and almost sixty years of marriage hasn't changed that."
Emily laughs. "Masterful understatement there, Grandmother." Emily grows serious. "Grandmother, is it possible to be attracted to two men at the same time?"
Lila studies Emily closely. "Of course it is, dear. And it never seems to rain but that it pours. That's why it is so important to listen to your heart." Lila cups Emily's face with her hand. "Attraction is a foundation but only your heart can tell you if it is a foundation worth building on or one that will crumble over time."
Emily rises from the iron seat and leans over to kiss Lila on the cheek. "Thank you, Grandmother. You've given me a lot to think about. I'd better get back inside before Grandfather strains his ears listening at the door." There is a quiet snort that travels from inside the house and the curtains rustle in a nonexistent breeze.
"Emily, " Lila says quietly. "I've always loved flowers and the language of flowers was a casual hobby until I was engaged to one man but in love with another. Remember what I said-- romantic and discreet. Your grandfather knows exactly what the bouquet symbolized. He's used the same blooms over the years in arrangements he's sent to me."
Sagging back on to the iron bench, Emily's jaw drops. "Really? But that is so romantic. It's so not grand father."
"Look again, my dear. I think that if you actually study your grandfather and me you'll find that of the two of us, I am much more pragmatic and your grandfather romantic. That's why my disappointments over the years have affected him so strongly. Behind your grandfather's roguish exterior beats a tender heart." Lila pats Emily's arm and then sets her chair in motion down the well manicured path to her rose gardens.
Emily takes a deep breath and waits a second before rising and going back into the house. Lila had given her a lot to think about. She leans over and kisses Edward on the cheek. He looks up surprised at the unexpected affection. "Okay, grandfather, time to get down to business." Emily grabs the coffee pot from the breakfast buffet and refreshes her coffee and Edward's. "I've been doing a little informal market analysis. I wanted to find out what stores weren't already represented in the mall. And I've been trying to think of a theme that would tie the whole thing together. I was thinking it had to be nautical even though that is a little bit trite but also international because that is what the ports are all about. Bringing things from foreign lands to Port Charles blah, blah, blah." Emily pulls out a notebook from the pocket of her jeans. It was a habit she had picked up from Carly. Carly while in the midst of her house decorating wrote down all of her ideas and schemes. "One of the things that I noticed while I was in Italy with Monica-- supermarkets aren't the big thing in Europe. They have some now but they still lean toward the individual stalls: a wine shop, a fish market, a bakery, flower stalls, a deli, coffee shops-- I'm thinking one on either end since coffee is such a staple these days."
Edward leans back in his chair. "You're talking high end there, honey."
"True. Bring the tourists down to the waterfront. Isn't that what you wanted? But I think that there has to be a cross over for the people that work down there. The deli, the coffee shops cater to the lunch crowd that works on the docks. Pull some of the staff from GH or Mercy. You and I both know how bad the food is at the hospital cafeteria. Make a change from Kelly's." Emily muses for a minute. "There should be some things for entertainment too: a bait/fishing shop near one of the piers, maybe a kite shop. Grandfather, have you seen the pictures of the Pike Street Market in Seattle?"
"Seen it? I've been there Some damn driver thought he had to show me the town before I went to a meeting with that Bill Gates fellow..." Edward takes a sip of his coffee. "I like it. It sets up the next project."
"What next project?"
"Behind the promenade and above it putting in some yuppie apartments. Been reading in the paper about all those suburban types moving back into the city. It's a trend."
"Carly." Emily's eyes narrow and she murmurs softly before taking a sip of her coffee.
"What do you mean -- Carly?"
"If you're going to do apartments, you might want to get Carly involved." Emily smiles at Edward and cocks her head to the side. "It would go a long way to getting back on Carly's good side. It might also ease the situation between you and AJ."
"I bought her a damn horse for goodness sake! What is it going to take?" Edward grumbles.
"Oh that was small potatoes, Grandfather. AJ thinks that the key to keeping Carly out of trouble is keeping her busy. Because if she isn't then she will find a way to be. And since Carly keeps Michael with her Monday through Thursday..."
"Explain that one again."
"AJ takes Michael on Fridays; Jason has him every weekend. I pick up Michael after church on Sunday and bring him back to Carly. She takes care of him fulltime-- where she goes, Michael goes until Friday when AJ takes him to work with him. I know you've been hanging out at the ELQ daycare center on Fridays. In fact you haven't missed going into the office any Friday since AJ and Carly settled the custody with Jason."
"I go into the office everyday, young lady!" Edward grumps but doesn't exactly make eye contact with Emily.
"Um hum." Emily nods. "And you never have any appointments out of the office on Friday either. You used to play golf on Friday morning. You haven't lately." Emily takes the last sip of her coffee and meets Edward's close gaze cheerfully. "Did you think you were the only one with spies, Grandfather?"
"Now Emily...."
"Got to go." Emily rises and kisses Edward on the cheek. "I'm suppose to meet up with Liz on a project I'm working on. I'll talk to you later."