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The Quintessential Q
Chapter Twenty Six
Frustration's Reward
Nikolas stares at his cell phone. "Ring damnit." He bursts out. The contractor looks up from the plans.
"You ever hear a watched pot never boils?"
"Cooking is not a Cassadine trait. We specialize in ordering. But a pot will boil whatever you do to it depending on altitude and temperature; its a matter of simple chemistry." Nik mutters running his fingers through his hair. He looks around the controlled chaos of the construction then back at the phone. The words leave his mouth unchecked and unknowing. "Have you ever done something really, really stupid?"
The contractor laughs. "Yeah, who hasn't? Hope you're not talking about the money pit here."
"No. It's more important than ever. I have to have this and as soon as possible."
"This is about a woman, isn't it?"
"Isn't it always?" Nik mutters.
"Well there are a few sane men out there. But they normally end up with each other. I'm the wrong person to ask." The contractor relents. "If she's gonna call, she's gonna call. And it doesn't matter anyway cause you're just gonna call her later anyway. You want her to have some breathing room and you need to keep busy. So here." The contractor tosses Nik some heavy leather gloves.
"What are these for?"
"Save those prissy hands from slivers or blisters. You want to get this project going and need to expell some energy. I got this wreck of a house next door that needs salvaging. How are you with a sledge hammer?"
"Never tried one."
"Not exactly a finess tool but it gets the job done. And what a sledge hammer doesn't finish a crow bar will." The contractor claps Nikolas on the back and together they walk over to the ruin next door. The contractor points carefully at the walls that are okay to come down and hands the sledge hammer to Nikolas. "Have a blast."
The contractor walks out of the room and is stopped by one of the workers. "What are you doing? The bulldozers will take down the walls."
"Yeah, but it won't hurt for him to work out some of his aggression. And he isn't hurtin' anything."
The worker shrugs. "Whatever boss."
The mallet came down against the boneless chicken breast with a sudden wack, and another and another.
"Johnny, what are you doing? Did you find a recipe that calls for raw chicken paste? The bird is already dead for goodness sake." Cookie comes up along Johnny in the prep area of the kitchen. Before Johnny can bring the mallet down again Cookie puts a hand on her son's arm. "Stop. Go Stick your head in the freezer or something. 'Cause it certainly isn't in your work."
"Lay off, Ma." Johnny growls and shrugs out from under his mother's arm.
"You got something to say--say it. Cause you're a pain to be around. This got something to do with the Judge?"
"Nope."
"Emily then." Cook claims confidently.
"What do you know about Emily?" Johnny asks suspiciously.
"I'm not blind or stupid. I got eyes. So does old man Quartermaine."
"So does Nikolas Cassadine. That's part of the problem."
"That boy's been nothing but trouble. Him and that Katherine Bell both. Don't know which was worse for that girl being invisible to Cassadine or the trouble she got in with that poor Matt."
"Poor Matt was a pusher and a stooge for Dorman." Johnny grabs another chicken breast and pounds it into submission.
"And he paid for that." Cook nods. "It was about that time I was wondering about that girl and starting to keep a closer eye on her. Letting her in the kitchen. Course I wondered if she had killed Dorman. It wouldn't have surprised me. The girl is a tiger where her family is concerned. And she's got a temper."
"Yeah, I found out last night." Johnny shuts up abruptly.
Cookie starts putting the pieces together. "You, Nik Cassadine and Emily in a temper. hmm."
"Let it be, Ma."
"Don't let it fester, Johnny. If you made an ass of yourself then apologize, make amends and go on. Emily doesn't hold grudges. Well... at least not like Ms Quartermaine."
"Lila?" Johnny looks at his mother in confusion.
"Hell no-- Carly."
"Ah True." Johnny steps back from the counter and unties his apron. "Look if you can handle things here, there were a few things I had to talk to Ms Benson about anyway."
"Sure. Go. I can more than handle things here."
Sweat glistens on Nik's forehead and neck. Bits of plaster adhere to him in direct proportion to his enthusiasm in pounding holes into the walls and taking them down. Stopping to catch his breath he wipes his forearm over his forehead. Stripping off his shirt he uses it to mop off the sweat and to brush off the chunks of debris. Nik tosses his shirt into a safe corner and his eyes narrow as he stares at the wall and plans his next attack. His well developed muscles ripple in reaction to their strenuous workout. Putting his gloves back on, Nik takes up the sledge hammer and with a mindless focus begins taking down the rest of the wall.
The contractor's partner steps gingerly over the debris on the first floor to make his way up to where his partner had said the new owner was pitching in. He sucks in a breath at the powerful male form in action. He thinks to himself, "Gees it's like that stupid madonna video come to life." Partner clears his throat and gets Nikolas's attention.
"Did someone call for me?" Nik asks in a rush.
The partner shakes his head regretfully. "Sorry, no. Larry, the contractor, told me you were on sight. I have a few additions to go over with you. Things I research to make the rehabing of the building more historically accurate."
"Like I told your partner, accurate isn't as important to me as it appears to be to you." Nik walks over to where his shirt lays. He grimaces but slides it over his head anyway. The partner sighs but then gets back to business.
"Yes, but in this case accuracy isn't going to impact on comfort." The partner looks back to the wall that Nikolas had been opening up. "What is that?" He asks curiously and walks over.
"I didn't notice I was ... distracted."
"I heard." The partner murmurs. "The staff is going to have to be very careful in dismantling the buildings from now on."
"How do you mean?"
"Looks like things were stuffed in the walls as hidey holes. It looks like some kind of safe." The parner muses. "Do you think that Al Capone hung out in Port Charles?"
"Excuse me?"
"Nevermind I guess you aren't the Geraldo Rivera type. I wonder what is in it? Did you get any kind of history on these buildings?"
"The realtor is still looking into a title search on all of the buildings. But this was taken for the taxes so I doubt there will too much information on it."
"Fascinating. I have to know what is in this." The partner runs fastidious hands over the black wall safe exposed by the material Nikolas had pounded away.
"You have a cell phone on you?"
"Sure, but don't you have one yourself?"
"Yes, but I'm hoping for a phone call." The partner hands his phone over. Nikolas quickly dials. "Lucky? I have a mystery for you." Nikolas gives Lucky the directions to the house.
"Who is Lucky?"
"My brother, Lucky Spencer. He'll be able to tell us if he can get into the safe or if we're going to have to get a professional."
"Interesting family."
"You don't know the half of it." Nikolas shakes his head. He hands the phone back to the contractor's partner and follows him back to the carriage house to wait for Lucky's arrival.