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The Quintessential Q
Chapter Seventy Five
Plans for the Weekend.
Luke strolls up to the bar and orders a bourbon neat. Sort of a busman's holiday to be checking out the competition. Course Luke's is just a front for his other interests, and Claude ran the damn place most of the time anyway. He'd check out Jakes for the backroom action. He stopped by the Recovery Room but Mike's place was more in competition with Kelly's than Luke's. And now this place. Dance clubs come and go. The DJ is the thing. Whoever is mixing the tunes drew the crowd. This guy was packing them in nicely. Mostly fast tunes with an occasional slow one for the couples or those needing a bathroom break.
Luke checks out the crowd going high to see who is watching first. Sonny's there, Johnny (thought he was out of the business?). With Sonny here Jason can't be far behind. Luke keeps looking until he spots Jason standing on the edge of the dance floor. Luke follows his gaze to see what he is watching. Taggart. Lukes' brows go up. And baldie is talking to that Sweet Young Thing that had been with Emily today at Caroline's house. Luke grins and kicks back to watch. And totally embarassing himself on the dance floor. SYT was mopping the floor with him and Taggart knew it. Lucky and Elizabeth. Gees if I knew the cowboy was going to be here I just would have got the report back from them. As soon as the song comes to a close, Luke makes his way over to Maddy. He claps a hand on Taggart's back. "Damn good thing those two left feet didn't keep you off the PCPD."
Taggart grimaces. "Think you could have announced it any louder?"
Maddy tugs on Luke's arm, she'd recognized him instantly. Nobody stayed in PC for long without knowing who Luke Spencer is. "Come on, I hear you are da man. Fables of how you killed disco have spread to New Orleans where they still sing your praises." She flatters as she tugs to get him away from Taggart and blowing what remains of Taggart's minimal cover.
"It was a slippery sucker but someone had to do it." Luke cuts in leaving Taggart standing there like an idiot while he spins Maddy away. "So what's a nice girl like you hanging out with the local flatfoot?"
"Marcus isn't that bad." Maddy shrugs. "Actually he said something you'd be interested in-- as a club owner."
"Oh." Luke leads Maddy off the dance floor. He gets another bourbon and something soft for her. "What's that?"
Maddy takes the drink from Luke and offers it up like a toast. "There is a crew working the clubs with ruffies. This place is hot, so Marcus is here to keep an eye on things."
"Sonofabitch." Luke mutters. "Wrong crowd here for that tonight."
"Why do you say?" Maddy looks around.
Luke nods in Sonny's direction. "The Drugfree Don is here with his loyal sidekicks. The PCPD presence and then my son is here too."
"Your son?"
Luke points him out. "There he is with his girlfriend, Elizabeth."
Maddy checks out the roommates she hasn't met yet. "They seem to be attached at the hip."
"Those two have been through fire together, they aren't attached; they are welded. You're buds with Emily Bowen?" At Maddy's nod Luke continues. "Em had some problems a bit back, one of the photographers had a blackmail scheme going, into computer tweeked porno, a twisted piece of work. What came out at the trial was the sonofabitch also was responsible for assaulting Elizabeth. He never paid for that one."
"Oh ****." Maddy looks up at Luke.
"Exactly. Lucky can't turn back time to stop what happened to Em or Liz and he was overprotective of the wimmenfolk before but nothing like he is now."
"Lucky is the one who figured out who kidnapped Emily. At least that is what Nikolas says."
"Really?" Luke preens. "Bet it had something to do with computers. My boy can make those things sing." Luke gets serious. "Some limp dick who can't get a girl without slipping her a mickey first, if Lucky catches him at it first there won't be much left for Taggart to bag and tag."
"I haven't noticed a lot of reliance on the cops in this town." Maddy says wryly.
"Well Caroline is bucking that trend." Luke shakes his head in disgust at his niece's unSpencer trait. "I've heard ugly rumors that she has Taggart on speeddial. I'm going to have to talk to her about that. Things were different in the old days when Robert Scorpio was running things. Now he ran a tight ship. These days you either handle it yourself or hope that Corinthos will get involved to clean it up."
Maddy starts getting itchy feet. "This is my first day off, day out, since hitting PC. You wanna dance?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Luke shakes off the distractions to focus on the music. The dj had put on a dance mix version of EnVogue. But by the rest of the music standards it would probably be considered a slow song. The dance floor had cleared some leaving plenty of room. Lucky and Liz go to the sidelines when they see Luke take to the floor with Maddy. Luke is in exhibition mode and Maddy is in the mood to keep up. The spins are grander, the arm movements exaggerated. The dips are deeper and repeated half a beat later.
Many say that i'm too young
to let you know just where I'm coming from
but you will see it's just a matter of time
my love will surely make you mine
well living in the world of ghetto life
everyone seems so uptight
Nothings wrong and nothings right.
....
Giving him something he can feel
to let him know this love is real
hey hey hey giving him something he can feel
to let him know this love is real.
When the song is finished, Luke walks Maddy over to Lucky and Elizabeth's table. "Lucky, Liz, either of you know this sweet young thing?"
"Maddy Reynolds. I believe we're roomies." Maddy nods to Lucky and Liz.
"If figures my dad would like you. Anyone who can get over on a Cassadine is a friend of his."
"Maddy, my new love, You never told me!" Luke exclaims.
"You never asked. Niknik isn't with you?" Maddy asks Lucky.
"He was going to stop by the Q's first. It's Emily's first night back at the mansion."
"Really?" Maddy answers in the form of a question. Luke stares at Maddy with narrowed eyes. Maddy had been with Emily at Carolines'. She knew it was Em's first night home. "I should get out of here." Maddy glances at her watch. "It doesn't count as sleeping in unless you get more sleep than you normally do. Mr Spencer, It's been a pleasure."
"Next time come to my place and we'll really show them how it's done."
"I might take you up on that." Maddy makes her way to the door passing by Taggart as she does so. She stops to zip up her jacket right next to Taggart not looking at him as she speaks. "Luke Spencer says that the guys you are looking for won't do anything tonight here: too many cops, too many mobsters, too many eyes all together."
"Yeah, probably right." Taggart doesn't look at Maddy either.
"Does Carly Quartermaine really have you on speeddial?"
"Don't remind me." Taggart mutters. Maddy laughs and shakes her head.
Bright and early the next morning, Emily fumbles getting dressed in her Church clothes. Pantihose is out. No way it would fit over the cast and she ruined enough pantihose without mutilating her remaining pairs. Luckily she had some thigh highs still left over from summer. Nice long skirt except that got tangled in the damn crutches. Ok--Nice fitted skirt, that looked totally stupid with the cast. Screw it. She could just look stupid then. I'm on a time crunch; I have to get over pick up Michael, then over to Jason's and then to church. God can just take me as I am and appreciate the effort. Oh this is totally screwed I'm going to have to borrow a car seat from Carly. None of the Q vehicles have one. The mental todo list gets longer as Emily takes the elevator down to the first floor. She opens the drawer in one of the tables in the foyer and examines the choice of vehicles trying to remember which one is an automatic. As she is reaching for a set of keys the front door opens.
"Hey little sis."
"AJ. Have you come to save my life?" Emily smiles over at her brother and godchild.
"Or those poor fools on the road who don't know you would be a total lead foot with that thing. Carly told me you were going to try to get back to your routine."
Emily nods. "But it's going to be extremely slow. I'm going to be testing the turtle and hare theory for the next six weeks, no, make that five. Let's this get this show rolling." AJ holds the door for Emily. Once down at the car he unlocks the front passenger door. While Emily is getting situated, he buckles Michael back into his carseat. Once AJ is in the car and buckled up, "So anymore trouble with s-w-e-a-r-i-n-g?"
"No, whatever Luke did seemed to have impacted."
"He's mean, mean, mean!" Michael protests from the backseat.
"And lost one of his greatest fans in the process. That's the response you get whenever you mention his name."
Emily frowns. "I'm going to have to find out."
"Are you sure you are going to be able to handle this?"
"I'll have help once I get to the penthouse. Just get me to the Harborview. I'll take it from there." Emily says bravely.
AJ drives carefully to the Harborview towers and despite Emily's protests escorts her all the way to the elevators not leaving until the elevator car door closes with Emily and his son within. When the doors open they are on the penthouse floor. Michael runs to his daddy's door and starts pounding on it. Jason answers the door dressed only in jeans that are half buttoned. His hair is mussed and he covers a yawn. "Daddy!" Michael throws his arms up. Jason lifts him up and gives him a hug and smooch.
"What are you doing here?" Jason ask Em.
"Church remember. Gees and I thought I was running late."
"Are you sure?" Jason questions.
"Girl can't get kidnapped every week. Time to get things back to normal."
"If that is what you want." Jason shrugs. "Come on in, I have to get changed. Hey Francis! Go find out if Sonny is going to church with everybody this morning."
"I don't know, boss, it was kinda late night." Francis worries about getting on Sonny's grumpy side. "Pete said y'all didn't get in til 2am."
"If my sister has a broken ankle and wants to go to church then Sonny with a hangover can surely go."
"Hangover? Late night? Oh do tell!" Emily hobbles into Jason's penthouse.
"Later." Jason puts Michael down and races upstairs to get showered and changed. Emily looks around the penthouse and starts laughing. Only her brother would be taking a motorcycle apart in the middle of the living room floor. Wait a minute. that's my motorcycle. Emily tries to keep Michael from playing with the greasy parts until Jason gets back luckily it is soon. Jason hasn't shaved; his hair is wet and spikey, but he is dressed in slacks and jacket. His dress shirt is unbuttoned the first few buttons and no tie. But for Jason it's Sunday dress. "Taggart released your bike. He doesn't think this is going to go to trial, that they are never going to find the kidnappers."
"They won't." Emily says flatly giving Michael smoochies to distract him and her.
"How do you know? What do you know?"
"I just know."
Sonny walks into the penthouse sliding on his jacket as he does so. "The first couple of times Francis told me I thought he was kidding. You sure about this, kid?"
"Normal. It's a goal to strive for. I may never reach it but normal is good. And as shocked as you guys are acting, you know the press isn't going to be staking out Queen of Angels." Emily takes the lead out to the elevator, Jason follows with Michael and Sonny brings up the rear closing the door behind them. Once they are inside the elevator and the door closing... "So who is going to tell me what you two were doing last night? Or is my very vivid imagination going to run wild?"
Once at Queen of Angels, Emily takes Michael to the childcare area. She pulls the nun watching the children aside. "I wanted to warn you. Michael was with an older boy this last week and learned some words he shouldn't use in public. As far as I know he isn't taking the Lord's name in vain but everyone else is pretty much fair game." The nun nods. It isn't the first time she's run into this problem.
While Emily and Michael are in the childcare area Jason pulls Sonny aside. "Em knows what happened to the kidnappers."
"What?" Sonny stops in his tracks.
"Yeah, and she isn't saying."
Nikolas wanders down into the basement of the rehab project. The space that Maddy had taken over as it was the most finished. There was a half bath down here with a shower and the room she had commandeered as her own is actually designed to be a windowless storeroom. The door to her room has a sign posted. wake me and die Taking the sign seriously, Nikolas goes back up to the kitchen area. Now that Maddy had moved in there was a coffee pot here rather than just down in the carriage house. Something that Lucky would appreciate, he'd be able to sleep in down at the carriage house. Nikolas starts the coffee. The project book had been moved into the kitchen glancing through it. He is distracted from his reading by the conversation of two of the workers on graveyard shift.
"Did you get a gander of the rack on that sweet piece that came strolling in last night?"
"Don't think I wasn't thinking of sliding right into homebase on that one. Ohlala. I bet she'd be hot and tight." The guy tugs on his belt significantly.
Nikolas walks through the kitchen door. "And I bet if your employer heard you talking about his guest that way you would be fired on the spot." Nikolas says sternly centuries of training coming to the front. The guys can tell that fired is his second choice behind having them beheaded.
"Oh man, Mr Cassadine, we didn't mean anything about it. We were just joking you know." Both of the guys beat a quick retreat. Nikolas turns around and almost runs into Maddy. She is dressed in thermal long underwear bottoms with fuzzy socks and another ripped up oversized sweatshirt that hits her mid thigh.
"You never hung out around many construction sights have you?" Maddy goes over to the coffee pot and pours herself a cup.
"They were being inappropriate."
Maddy laughs. "Yeah, it's part of their job description."
"Not when you're living at the construction sight. I'll have them moved to a different shift. I'll eliminate the graveyard shift all together." Nik decides.
"You're overreacting." Maddy sighs. "Look it's really sweet and all but I'm fine. I've got a great lock on my door and I can take care of myself."
"You shouldn't have to." Nikolas protests.
"And it would be a lovely world if I didn't, wouldn't it? But since we don't live there I'll keep making arrangements to protect myself and be pleasantly surprised when I don't need them."
"Let me take you out to breakfast, to make up for this."
"There is nothing to make up for. And I already have plans for breakfast, brunch actually." Maddy looks down at her watch. "Dang. I have to get moving. Things to do before I meet my date." Maddy races down to the basement. Nikolas takes a seat at the table review the project book as before he had been interrupted. When Maddy comes up from the basement, the change is drastic. She is dressed in a manstyle charcoal suit that fits her perfectly. Instead of a skirt the slacks hit her heels perfectly making it look as if her legs go on forever. The snowy white shirt is open at the collar with the lapels neatly laying over the jacket. She is fastening a small gold hoop earring as she goes. Nik whistles at the change. Maddy does a little twirl ending with a pose.
"Wow. Who is the lucky guy?"
"It's business." Maddy doesn't really answer. "So did you get hold of Emily last night?"
"It was late so I called instead of dropping by. I was thinking of dropping by there today." Maddy is already shaking her head. "Why, Why not?"
"I know she's going to church this morning, and then brunch with her brother. I suppose you could crash the brunch... it's at Porter's." Maddy adds knowing that is the one place that Nik won't crash. "Who knows when she is going to be back at the mansion? You know her schedule better than I." Maddy checks the content of her bag. "See ya when I see ya, Niknik." Maddy runs into Lucky at the back door but keeps moving.
"That girl gets around." Lucky comments as he pours a cup of coffee.
"Excuse me?"
"Elizabeth and I ran into her last night at the dance club. She and my dad were having a grand old time. And I got the feeling there was something going on between her and Taggart."
"Taggart is dating her Aunt."
"Her Aunt?" News to Lucky, he didn't know Maddy had any connections in town other than Emily.
"Dara Jensen. Your father you say?"
"Yeah, but no big deal. It's not some kind of Spencer plot. Dad likes anyone who likes to dance. Hey Elizabeth has to do the family thing with Audry this morning. You want to head out to the truck stop for breakfast?"
"Truck stop?" Nik looks horrified.
Lucky rolls his eyes. "I swear your education is so lacking. Nothing beats a truckstop breakfast. Come on, Let's go."
"I should change."
Lucky looks at Nik in his heavy jeans and boots he wears for the construction site. "Nope, fine as you are. Truckstops are about food and lots of it; they aren't exactly long on ambiance. We'll take my truck."
Carly stares into the open fridge at the Happy Family House, not knowing exactly knowing what she wants but knowing it isn't there. AJ comes in the back door with an extra copy of the Sunday Herald under his arm. Lately, it had been an arm wrestling match to get the business section before his wife. "Damn, you're awake and dressed." AJ announces. There went his plan for waking his wife slowly and with enthusiasm.
"Yeah, kind of a surprise to me too. Where did you and Michael take off to so early?" Carly says absently. What sounds good?
"You said that Em wanted to get back to her routine." AJ shrugs. "So I went over took Michael over to the mansion and drove her and Michael over to Jase's. Church and brunch right?"
Carly shuts the refridgerator door. "You arranged for Michael to be with Jason on your weekend?" Carly throws her arms around AJ's neck causing him to drop the paper as his hands go around her waist. "You are the best husband, brother and papa in the world." Carly kisses AJ. He pulls her closer to him.
"Let's go back upstairs." AJ whispers in her ear.
"With the worst timing." Carly whispers back nibbling on his ear. "Lucas."
AJ groans. "He's already awake?"
"Oh yeah, and will probably be in here any second demanding breakfast."
"He does live with Bobbie and Jerry." AJ reminds her. Neither of his inlaws were short in the overt affection department.
"I know." Carly whines and grimaces. "But it's just ookie. I like to keep my exhibitions to adults only. Raincheck?"
"Yeah." AJ can hear the rumble of a herd of elephants coming down the stairs aka Lucas. He takes a step back from his wife. "So what is for breakfast?"
"I have no idea." Carly muses. "I want something and it isn't here." Lucas comes in and demands breakfast. "Go get your jacket." Lucas tears out of the kitchen again.
"What?" AJ wonders.
"I want grits. And there is only one place in Port Charles to get them."
"I thought you didn't like grits." AJ protests. What the hell is a grit anyway?
"I want grits and I want them now." Carly demands. "I'll drive." She knows if AJ is driving no way will he stop where she wants... needs to go.
Musical snippets.
Giving him something he can feel. By Envogue off of The Best of Envogue