On Concrete Shelves | Welcome back to Stone Creek |

Scene One

Now Town; Crunch

 

The waitress comes around and takes their orders, their menus and then leaves the two friends to carry out their conversation. After the last few days, and having to deal with her own reality of moving back to Stone Creek without any future plans, Megan Sutton is thankful to have a close friend to lean on. She takes a drink of water before she looks up at Jane and smiles. “I’m just glad that we were able to get a table this late in the day.”

 

“Why is that?” Jane Wilkinson frowns.

 

The blonde leans in. “This place closes at 2PM, didn’t you know?”

 

“Did you not see the line outside when we first got here?” Jane says. “This place would make a killing if they stayed open all day long like a lot of other restaurants. People have waited for hours to get a table.”

 

“Exactly.” Megan replies. “My friend Ariel used the be a waitress here during high school—”

 

“I thought you didn’t go to school here?”

 

Megan sighs. “I had friends here when I was child — don’t interrupt!” They laugh. “Ariel said that they make enough money working here to put herself through college and that the owner is from old money and only cares about being a chef…”

 

“You mean the owner is back there in the kitchen?”

 

She smirks. “Rumor has it.”

 

As much as she would love dipping into the history of this place, or the many other reasons she loves coming here, Megan sighs deeply. “Anyways,” she breathes. “There’s another reason why I invited you out for lunch.”

 

“That might be?” Jane says curiously.

 

When she moved back to Stone Creek, it wasn’t that she expected everything to go back to normal. As if the last four years didn’t exist. But something keeps nagging at her every day she spends in her parents cottage. “I think that my parents are hiding something from me.”

 

“What would they even be hiding from you?”

 

“I don’t really know for sure.” Megan shrugs. “You know how, when your parents don’t want to do something, like go to church on sundays, or even, I don’t know; tell you the truth about a pet? There’s just this weirdness going on around the house. Like they are faking it around me.”

 

Jane thinks it over. “Why don’t you just ask them?”

 

“I have.” Megan says. She thinks back to the conversation she had with her mother about their marriage and how that ended with more questions than anything else. “Every time I bring something up it turns into this mushy hallmark moment and I just have to bail out.”

 

“So, what is it that you want to happen?”

 

Megan clicks her tongue. “Honestly? I want them to just figure out their shit. They are either going to be truthful in front of me or they’re not. That’s basically it. I just want them to either stay together and be happy or get a divorce and be done with it.”

 

“You, really think that’s where they’re headed?” Jane asks.

 

“I don’t know. But what I do know is that if they can figure their stuff out then I will know how to react to it and we can put it all behind us.” Megan says. Their waitress arrives with their drinks; a Bloody Mary for Jane and a strawberry orange juice for Megan. “This looks amazing.” Megan mouths to Jane as they take their drinks.

 

“Megan, can I ask you something?” 

 

The words are soft and naive, to which Megan is starting to feel uneasy about them. “Yeah, go ahead.”

 

“How are you dealing with what happened in Paris?” 

 

There may be more ammo in the words than Jane intends, but Megan tries to keep her composure. “I’m over it, it’s fine. It’s one of the reasons why I want to move forward with my life. I hope that my parents can move forward with theirs as well. I actually got an interesting offer from my grandmother the other day.”

 

Jane perks. “What sort of offer?”

 

“She wants me to model at the agency.”

 

“That’s a good idea!” Jane says, she grabs her friend's hand eagerly. “That’s an amazing idea, Meg.”

 

Megan tilts her head. “I don’t know.”

 

Scene Two

Boulstridge Mountain; Calbourne Cottage

 

“I don’t want to intrude on you, or even push any stress onto you, but is there anything I can do?” Charlene Nelson Calbourne asks. Her husband is lying on the couch along with her and they have done so in silence for a few minutes before she decided to speak up and ask.

 

Although Reichen doesn’t say anything, she knows that there is something that needs to be said. When she was younger and her father used to beat her mother then next morning was always so sad and somber. Charlene knew not to talk about it when her parents weren’t around, but when they would walk to school she would always confide her feelings to her brother Frank and it would make her feel less alone as he shared his own with her.

 

Charlene clears her throat. “I know that this may not account for much, but I will always be here for you.”

 

He looks down at her. “Thank you, Charlene.”

 

“Always, Reichen.”

 

This gets a soft chuckle from him and he moves her so that he can position himself upright on the couch. “I feel like you’re doing that thing once again, trying to get me to talk about my feelings.”

 

“It doesn’t hurt to talk about them.”

 

He sighs heavily. “What do you want me to say?”

 

Charlene notes his voice rising and wants to stop it before the situation becomes a misunderstanding. So she moves off the couch and presents her case. “What I mean to say is that feelings can be hard to process and they can lead to things like turning to the bottle if they’re not expressed. When I was with Patrick god knows I wasn’t allowed to say anything that would upset him —“

 

“Why are you talking about Patrick?” Reichen scoffs.

 

“I’m not.” She redirects. “What I am trying to say is that I can’t have you falling off the wagon again, Reichen. I am trying to make you realize that we have a really good thing going here and I want to support you if you’re going through something more than your father’s death. That is all.”

 

They stare at each other for what feels like minutes before he softens to her once again. “They didn’t even let me attend his funeral, you know? They kept telling me that I wasn’t allowed to go because I left Wolf’s Creek so long ago and that he was a different person than the one I left behind.”

 

“Reichen.” Charlene lets her shoulders fall.

 

“When I arrived at my parents house my brother met me at the door and told me to come back to Stone Creek and that my presence wasn’t needed any more. They still blame me for what I did when I was younger. How I drank them into debt for so long and I don’t blame them.”

 

She sighs. “But you’re not that same person anymore either and they shouldn’t have made you relive that. That’s the worst thing they could say to anyone. To deny you the opportunity to see him.”

 

“Hey,” He coos, “I am in a better place than I was when I went back to Wolf’s Creek. I am in a better place now that I have you here. When I heard what they had to say to me I have to admit, I went straight to the bar to drink it all away.”

 

“Why didn’t you call me?” 

 

Reichen shrugs. “I just wanted to be alone.”

 

“But you’re not alone, Reichen. You have me here.”

 

Scene Three

Sage Gardens; Old Granger Manor

 

“I need your help.” Patrick Sutton says he has spent the last thirty minutes going over his plans for a takeover. There’s a certain gleam in his voice as he recites what he knows about Kimberly and Peter to his daughter, Gillian. She’s been working for the company for years now alongside them and in the last two years she’s been working alongside Esperanza Mendez as well, unknowingly playing a part in his plan.

 

Gillian throws her hands to her hips. “What exactly do you need from me? It’s not like I’m allowed at the grownup table at SE these days.”

 

Patrick smirks. He knows that his nephew hasn’t treated Gillian in the best light, but he also knows that that means she’s more able to slip under the radar these days. Catalina had slipped Patrick as much information about the dynamics within the company.

 

“Precisely why I need your help. Now that your husband here passed that nice little law into action.” Patrick pats Damien on the shoulder, in which Damien awkwardly nods his head. “Now Sutton Enterprises will be forced to look for financial help outside of Stone Creek.”

 

Damien scoffs. “How does that help you?”

 

“I’ve lined up an old client of mine to swoop in and rescue SE in their time of need.” Patrick replies sinisterly. “However, there are a few technicalities in the fine print that I need buried so that Peter doesn’t see them when he signs the merger into effect.”

 

“Okay, but how do I get the paperwork?” Then a light clicks in her head and Patrick smiles when he notices it happen. “Wait, you want Espi to lift the paperwork and pass off my reworded offer? Why me?”

 

Gillian turns to her husband and then her father. “You can have anyone in the country do this, so why are you coming to me?”

 

He sighs. “Because, Gillian, not only is this a great bonding victory for father and daughter, but I also know how smart you are. You’ve handled mergers for years before they took over the company. You know exactly how to phrase things so it gets overlooked by him. I trust in you.”

 

“That’s nice and all, Patrick.” Damien says from their side. “But you’re asking my wife to do something that could put her in jeopardy. What happens if they find out and Gillian becomes some sort of casualty of war? You need to guarantee something for us if we agree to this.”

 

“First, I’m not asking you to drop anything, Crenshaw, you’ve already played your part and I have thanked you for that. Now this is up to my daughter and if she wants to help take back the family company.” Patrick says. He looks at Gillian and knows she’s thinking the same thing that he is. “They’ve run this company into the ground.”

 

Gillian looks at Damien. “We wouldn’t be needing financial backing if they hadn’t been so quick to burn bridges in the beginning.”

 

“Exactly!”

 

“So, wait, who is this merger with and what happens if they try to take over the company before we can get our hands on it?” Gillian asks. “There’s still so much I don’t understand and so much that I’m just trying to process through.”

 

“I’ve been in talks with Lindy Llewelyn Lu at MDM.”

 

Gillian’s jaw drops. “They’re the biggest thing in the west coast right now.”

 

“Which means my dear sister would never skip this opportunity at a merger with them. Lindy is an old friend of mine and I have already spoken with her about working together for the foreseeable future. You see, they’re having trouble venturing out onto the east coast — which we have already done and secured backing with. It’s more of a mutual relationship here.”

 

“You know what Peter is capable of, though.”

 

“Which is why we need to be one step ahead of him at all costs. Now that we’ve basically backed him into a corner he will have no other choice but go into this deal and give MDM whatever they’ve asked for — don’t worry I have already made the deal possible. We just need his signature on the paperwork to push him out.”

 

This time, Gillian sighs heavily. “What about aunt Kimberly?”

 

The thought of his younger sister causes Patrick to chuckle. He has a very ironic fate for her after the deal is made. “Let’s just say, she’s going to get everything that’s coming to her.”

 

Patrick smirks. “I am back in business and we are getting the company that is rightfully ours.”

 

Scene Four

Now Town; Sutton Enterprises

 

Kimberly Sutton sends a text to a realtor friend in Stone Creek in hopes that he has a couple leads for her. In truth, it’s been a long time coming and she hasn’t found a reason to stay at the suite she’s been shacked up in for the better part of the last three years. After all, she’s had much success with Sutton Enterprises so the next logical step is to find a home of her own to set roots in the city once again.

 

Although, finding a house is the least of her worries. She moves through the halls of SE and makes her way towards her nephews office where she finds her latest annoyance waiting at the doors for her.

 

“Shove it.” Kimberly says. 

 

Esperanza Cortez meekly moves to the side as Kimberly passes her in strides and pushes the door open. Her nephew, Peter Sutton, JR. sits at his desk unphased by her intrusion.

 

“We need to talk.” Kimberly states. “I don’t feel right about the merger with MDM, after all.”

 

She is well aware that Esperanza follows her into the office. “Why don’t you get us some tea.”

 

Peter waves a hand for Esperanza to stop. “Please don’t make my secretary run errands for you aunt Kimberly. There’s more important things for Esperanza to do for us.”

 

Kimberly scoffs, as far as she is concerned there’s nothing important about the secretary. Especially with what she knows Esperanza has been helping her nephew achieve. The very annoyance makes her shutter. “We need to discuss this merger, Peter.”

 

He looks up at her. “I will have our best people looking at the contract, I assure you we will come out the victor in this partnership, aunt Kimberly. Just trust me, will you? After all, I’ve got us this far haven’t I?”

 

He’s too smug for her liking right now. There have been many men in Kimberly’s life throughout the years and not one has matched the smugness of her nephew. Not even her own father would blindly follow his own penis like Peter seemed to be doing with Esperanza.

 

Kimberly watches the other woman steadily. “Why don’t you leave the adults to play?”

 

“Actually,” Peter speaks up. “If you would get Gillian to meet me in the conference room, Espi, there’s a meeting we need to have.”

 

“She’s taking a week away from the office, actually.” Esperanza says. “She sent out an email with directions for everyone, I thought you read it? I guess not.”

 

Kimberly can’t help but laugh. “Well then I guess you should go find some busy work or some desk to sit under while we have a conversation without you.” She directs at Esperanza who quickly leaves the room and closes the door behind her.

 

“Okay, that’s not nice.” Peter quips.

 

“Oh, please, she’s just a busy body.” Kimberly snaps back. “Unless you haven’t broken things off with the poor girl and she thinks you’re going to propose to her someday. That, I would find tragically sad.”

 

Peter clears his throat. “So who exactly don’t you trust? Is it Lindy with MDM or my secretary?”

 

“Both.” Kimberly says. She moves over to her nephews desk and takes a seat across from him. “I think we should just fire the poor girl so that you can focus on the task ahead of you. We need to acquire the financial backing to stay in business and I find it highly convenient that MDM just shows up on our doorstep without a formal invitation, don’t you?”

 

He leans in. “I have a better proposition for you aunt Kimberly.”

 

Scene Five

Now Town; Crunch

 

“What do you mean, ‘you don’t know’?” Jane asks. She takes a sip of her Bloody Mary and nearly spits it out. “Oh, my god that is strong. It is really good, but so strong. Ah! Anyways, what do you have to lose?”

 

Megan throws her a look. “My dignity?”

 

But Jane counters this. “Please, you can have your dignity and become a model, Meg. It’s not like you’re going out naked in front of thousands of people. You’re looking for a job and it looks like your grandmother is offering.”

 

“That’s the thing. If Helen is offering me a job then it’s obviously for a reason and I don’t know if I’m ready to get put in the middle of my family and their awkward and relentless feud with her.”

 

Jane smacks her lips. “That can be daunting.”

 

“It really is, I thought coming back to Stone Creek would be a lot easier than this, you know?” Megan says. “But now that I have all these things going on with my parents and this offer from Helen. I don’t know why I even left Seattle.”

 

“Okay, hear me out here for a sec, will you?” Jane replies. “You say you want your parents to figure out their lives so that you can figure out your own. I totally get that, trust me. But why do you have to put your life on hold for them? They’re adults and you can’t afford to just sit around and wait for them to be adults.”

 

Megan knows that Jane has a point, but it still feels daunting to be taking Helen up on any offers. “What if I would rather do something else for myself?”

 

Jane nods her head. “That’s fine! You should do whatever it is that you want to do for yourself. The point is, you cannot just wait for your parents to tell you what to or not to do anymore. You’re an adult. You may not be able to drink alcohol yet, but you can figure out the career you want.”

 

“I don’t want to make modeling a career.” Megan reminds her friend.

 

“You don’t have to but you can make it a job until your career comes around.” The frizzy haired brunette says. “Your grandmother is offering you a job right now and with that comes independence and with that means your parents won’t be on your back about everything.”

 

Megan squirts her eyes. “You do have a point.”

 

She knows that if she can get a job and start making her own money then eventually she can move out and find her own place. Megan wasn’t exactly sure she was ready for that, but she also knows she cannot stay in her family’s cottage with the way her parents are acting.

 

“I’ll think about it.” Megan says warily.

 

Jane squirms in excitement. “Just think about all the amazing parties you will be able to go to and how I can live so vicariously through you as you tell me all about them! It’ll be so exciting.”

 

Megan rolls her eyes. “Speaking of vicarious living, how is that mystery man of yours? Have you seen him since he saved your life?”

 

Megan can sense there is apprehension after she mentioned the mystery man. This does intrigue her enough to pry into her friend's life a little bit more as Jane falls silent. “So, you have seen him.”

 

Jane opens her mouth to say something, but their food arrives at their table. So she closes it and smiles at the waitress. Megan does the same, but makes a note to pick up on the conversation as soon as the waitress leaves them alone.

 

Scene Six

Sage Gardens; Shenanigans Nightclub

 

“Did you not listen to a word I said?” Cassie Briggs says. She was on her way to visit with Taylor Kern when she got a call from the fire department. It wasn’t like she hadn’t expected to get one before she left town, but it was damned inconvenient having it done today.

 

The two occupants of the building appear; one from behind the bar and the other from the kitchen in the back. Dylan speaks first as she walks towards them from the back. “It was a small fire. I could’ve managed.”

 

“It wasn’t even her fault.” Jacks insists as he sits himself upon the bar.

 

Cassie scoffs. “You’re both pieces of work, you know that?”

 

“I’d detest that but honestly I am trying this new thing where I don’t lie to myself.” Jacks quips, he winks at Cassie to which she only musters a scowl. “One of these days you’re gonna take a liking towards me.”

 

“Ugh, enough.” Dylan squirms. “I’m sorry that they called you about the fire because I told them when they were here to not call you. It’s like the people in this town just do the exact opposite of what you say.”

 

The irony in the room is biting. Cassie takes a deep breath before she even begins to process what is going on in front of her. She now knows that Dylan and Jacks are linked again — which doesn’t make her feel comfortable, but is very consistent with both their rocking boats.

 

She places her bag on a table and then folds her arms. “I just need you to make sure that they have your phone number on record because I’ve already blocked their number. So I think the both of you need to get your shit together.”

 

Jacks throws his hands up. “Thanks for the help Cassie. We have everything under control now.” He then shoots her a thumbs up.

 

“What are you even doing here?”

 

“Jacks is allowed to be here.” Dylan says enthusiastically. “He’s my bar manager.”

 

He smiles devilishly. “I’m helping get things going again.”

 

The thought makes Cassie’s head hurt. “Of course you are. Fine just make sure that I don’t get anymore calls about this place. I am just thankful to have it off of my hands after all these years of headaches.”

 

“This place belonged to Clifton long before you got involved.” Jacks reminds her. “So, please spare me the woe is me speech, Cassie.”

 

She scoffs. Cassie has always despised the older man standing before her, every single thing about him just made her irritable. Still, he has always been one of her husband’s closest friends — which really doesn’t say much good things about Jacks if she’s being honest.

 

“Listen, I don’t care what you two decide to do with this place. The only thing that matters to me is that it is off my hands and I can go back to my husband and my boys and not have to worry about drug dealings and gunshot wounds.”

 

“So you admit there have been some dirty deeds going on here.” Dylan lights up.

 

Cassie rolls her eyes. “Don’t get caught up in whatever this man thinks he’s doing, Dylan. I like to think you’re a lot more strong willed and clever than the likes of this idiot.”

 

Dylan steps forward. “We will be just fine, thank you.”

 

‘Peachy’ Jacks mouths to Cassie.

 

“Well then, that’s my last warning. Now that Marina is on bed rest until the baby is born I decided I am taking this time to go see my children, I leave first thing in the morning. But I’ll be back to check-in on her.”

 

“I’m sure you will.” Dylan replies.

 

“Play nice, children.” Cassie says before grabbing her bag and heading for the front door.

 

Scene Seven

Now Town; Sutton Enterprises

 

She hates propositions.

 

When she was a young woman and so eager to help out at Sutton Enterprises and finally, after so many years of being the product of an affair, got to show her skills to her father — she was propositioned into marrying for her father’s profit. She was treated like a bargaining chip. Kimberly hated it, but she couldn’t say no. Not to the man that took her in and raised her out of the gutter trash her first five years had been.

 

Kimberly sits up and further from her nephew’s whispering range. “No.”

 

“Oh, come on aunt Kimberly you don’t even know what I am going to ask of you yet. I know the type of business woman you are and you’re not one to ignore a good idea once you’ve heard it.”

 

True, she wasn’t above listening. “What is it then?”

 

“I know that you say you don’t trust Lindy, and I have to be frank — there’s not trust there either. But I have had this weird assumption for a while now and the MDM thing was just the icing not the cake.” Peter states. “I know that you want me to fire Espi, but I think she has more use to us than you know.”

 

Kimberly scoffs. “Her on her knees under your desk benefits nobody other than you.”

 

“Look, she’s fun, don't get me wrong.” There’s a light in his eyes that causes Kimberly to roll her own. When Kimberly visited her brother she never thought she would be working side-by-side with her teenage son, or that he would become such a disgusting stereotypical jerk, but here she was right in front of him. “But you need to understand, I have my suspicions.”

 

This stops Kimberly. “Of what?”

 

“There’s something off about Esperanza Mendez. In the beginning it was this fun little cat and mouse game but halfway through she made things way too easy.” He replies like some sick predator. “She’s not as innocent as I initially believed she was.”

 

“You think she’s working with someone?”

 

Kimberly thinks back to conversations with the woman. How hollow and just the conversation always where, but still, it doesn’t make her feel as if Esperanza was a super spy. She seemed naive and flimsy. There’s no light on in between the ears of that woman, Kimberly would know a spy when she saw one.

 

Right?

 

She leans in. “How would she even do that?”

 

“Espi is the one that brought me the MDM deal in the first place and for some odd reason she has always been in the right place at the right time. She won’t talk about her past with me.”

 

Kimberly shrugs. “So she has her guards up.”

 

“Women don’t keep their guards up around me.” Peter replies smugly. They melt when I speak, I know the mail clerk’s grandmother’s dead fiancées last name. They tell me things easily — there’s nothing in Esperanza’s story that makes sense.”

 

“So what have you been doing? Toying with her this entire time?”

 

He shrugs. “The sex is great. But I need you to look into her background while I keep her occupied in the meantime. Don’t ask your half brother, he will be too obvious. We need someone out of town.”

 

“Seth wouldn’t tell anyone.”

 

Peter waves his finger. “Don’t give him the benefit of the doubt.”

 

Kimberly bites. Truthfully, she thinks her nephew has watched way too much game of thrones, but if this ends with Esperanza out of her life then so be it. At least she has control of the outcome here and that’s all that Kimberly needs to move forward with hiring someone to do the dirty work.

 

Scene Eight

Boulstridge Mountains; Calbourne Cottage

 

“Okay,” Charlene says, she moves her hair out of her face and turns towards Reichen who is still sitting on the couch with the throw blanket. “I just can’t get over the fact that they wouldn’t even let you go to the funeral. Oh my god, your poor mother. Did she have any say in this?”

 

He shakes his head. “She’s not doing too well herself. I have to admit that I did go to the cemetery and watched them bury him from the car.”

 

Charlene’s heart falls down to the ground, under the rug and out the door. As much as her parents destroyed her childhood she couldn’t even imagine not being allowed to find her peace after their deaths.

 

“I can’t even muster up the strength you must have had to do something like that. To have to watch them bury him from your car? Oh, honey,” Charlene says, she holds a hand to her chest. “I wish I was with you.”

 

Reichen peers up at her. “They had to carry my mother from the gravesite.”

 

“She must’ve been a mess.”

 

He nods. “Listen, I don’t want to get into the details of it all, especially with it being so fresh in my mind. I hope that you can understand that and give me some time to think about everything before we discuss it again?”

 

“Of course.” Charlene nods along.

 

“I left my hometown because I wanted to escape the life that I destroyed for myself and my family. There’s no way I could have known they would feel the way that they do, but it’s not without reason.” Reichen says, he looks at Charlene. “So,”

 

“So.” Charlene echoes.

 

He beckons for her to join him back on the couch and she does so. “So, I just want to thank you for being there and taking care of me in my time of need. For being the one person that I can turn to when I couldn’t even turn to my family.”

 

“I will always be here.”

 

“I know that now.” Reichen replies. “I was also hoping that you wouldn’t mention this to anyone else. I would hate for word to get out that I fell off the wagon and then everyone would just question every decision I make from here on out. You understand that, right?”

 

Charlene locks eyes with him. “This will stay between the two of us.”

 

“Good.” Reichen replies. “So, how about we talk about something else? How are things going at the restaurant? I hope the guys I hired haven’t been giving you any unrest?”

 

Charlene winces at the thought. She forgot to tell him that she fired the guys and that she had Charlie hire someone else a couple days ago since they really weren’t doing anything for Chantel.

 

The anxiety quickly filled the room once again. “About that.”

 

“What is it?”

 

Charlene scrunches her face. “I fired the guys a couple days ago.”

 

His face goes white. “You what?”

 

“They just weren’t getting the job done fast enough and Charlie said he knew a couple guys who could renovate the kitchen faster and get us open again. So I trusted him and we will open tomorrow. Surprise!”

 

Scene Nine 

Now Town; Crunch

 

Their time is almost up and she knows that Jane only has the rest of the day free until she goes back to work. So she doesn’t want to take too much of her friends' time, however, she also knows that they’ve been skirting around the topic of the mystery man and even though she hates to pry — where Jane is concerned, she knows she has to ask.

 

“So, this mystery man…”

 

“He has a name. It’s Jacks, remember?” Jane pointedly replies, she takes another sip of her Bloody Mary before discarding it to the side and looking up. “I saw him the other day at the hospital but I just… he has a girlfriend.”

 

Megan stares back at Jane dumbfounded. “How do you know for certain? Did he tell you that he has one?”

 

“Worse.” Jane whines. “I was at work, right? It was lunchtime and I was headed down to the cafeteria and bam! There he is—“

 

“In the cafeteria?”

 

“No! The elevator! It’s like, what the hell is the universe trying to tell me you know? First he basically saves me from running my dumb ass into traffic and then the next I am stuck with this man in an elevator.”

 

Megan agrees that this must be some sort of sign. The city is a lot bigger than before and it’s not exactly like running into someone inside the hospital elevator is a thing. Unless one was in a soap opera, or something. “So then what happened?”

 

“He was flirting with me. Or at least I feel like he was, I don't know. Everything was just happening so fast and then before I knew it he invited himself to join me for lunch and I agreed.” Jane says. “It was really nice to see him again and he is a lot older than I thought he was.”

 

This peaks Megan’s interests. “How old is this Jacks guy?”

 

“I didn’t ask.” 

 

Megan ponders. “Okay, fine, whatever, but what actually happened? Did he tell you he had a girlfriend? You’re missing key elements to this story.”

 

This gets a laugh from Jane, but then she quickly returns to her normal nervous face. Takes a deep breath, then replies, “We were in the elevator and then the doors pop open and a woman walks in, kisses him and that’s that.”

 

“Why were they at the hospital?” Megan asks.

 

Jane waves her hand. “I guess her cousin is having a baby soon, or something. Wait, actually I have a patient that has been having complications with her pregnancy.” Jane looks at Megan wearily. “It’s your aunt, Marina.”

 

“I know.” Megan turns away. “I have been trying to find time to see her at the hospital but my family has been so hectic and I’m not much of a hospital person. So I figured I will just show up to her house when she gets released and have a ‘self-care’ day with her.”

 

“She can use it.” Jane admits.

 

“Wait. So you think the mystery girlfriend is related to my aunt?” Megan is completely puzzled at this point. “Hold on, Jane, what does this woman look like?”

 

This seems more of a complicated question for her friend as her face is contorted into a thinking face. “Short. Brunette. Loud?”

 

“Dylan.” Megan realizes. “I’m not trying to scare you out of your happy ending but I think you need to abandon ship on this one. Dylan Tyree is not the type of woman you want to mess with.”

 

“I can handle my own.” Jane protests, but then scoffs. “What am I even saying? I don’t think proceeding with this crush is a good idea anyways. I should just stay focused on work and getting into the neurology program instead.”

 

Megan nods. “That’s a very wise idea.”

 

“Look at us, making adult decisions.” Jane replies, she raises her near empty glass and clinks it against Megan’s as the blonde does the same thing. 

 

Scene Ten

Sage Gardens; Shenanigan's Nightclub

 

“That looks like the last of them.” Jacks Hannigan says. Once Cassie had left, he went back to inventorying the liquor they had on hand. He appears from the doorway near the bar that leads to their storage room. 

 

Dylan smiles. “So does that mean we are done for the day?”

 

He watches her; Dylan pulled her thick brown hair into a ponytail a couple hours ago and with it pulled out of her face he can see her deep brown eyes more clearly. Her lips are pulled into a thin smirk and every now and then she would bite her bottom lip in concentration.

 

“Not quite.” Jacks replies, shaking out of his thoughts.

 

She appears next to him at the bar. “Okay, so what do we need to do now?”

 

“We need to establish some ground rules here.” He says, thinking back to their conversation with Cassie. “I don’t mind helping you out managing the bar, but I do have prior responsibilities and I won’t be here all the time.”

 

“So we need to hire more bartenders?”

 

He nods. “We are going to have to hire a few more bartenders, cocktail waitresses, and maybe a really good bouncer. I know a few people and I am sure that some of the previous employees won’t mind coming back to help out. Just know that a lot of these people are going to be hard to work with.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Jacks cracks a smile. He has worked with most of these people his entire life. They’re crooks, and sleazy and have been to jail a few times. But he also knows that if given the right push they will be loyal to a fault. He also knows the type of person Dylan Tyree is, and that she could potentially rub them all the wrong way.

 

“Look.” He says, he pulls her closer to him. “We need to get a few things straight around here, okay?”

 

She tilts her head in a way that makes him know she understands but is still hesitant to relinquish any control. “What’s that?”

 

“I need you to let me deal with these people in order to set them straight. I need full access to everything within this building so that we can train them and get them ready to go for opening night.”

 

“That’s not that far away.” Dylan reminds him.

 

He nods. “Which means you need to promise not to get in my way.”

 

Dylan pouts. “What will I do?”

 

“I want you to sit back and relax and just worry about being here during the opening and during the week. This is your dream, of course, I just want to make sure that it runs smoothly.”

 

He also wants to make sure that she’s not in the way when they do eventually start using the club to deal their drugs. But, he refrains from telling her that in its entirety. So, instead he smiles and pulls her in for a kiss.

 

“I know, I know, you’re a very stubborn woman.” Jacks says.

 

Dylan pulls away. “Not stubborn. A cow is stubborn, a Jesus freak is stubborn. Someone like me, I’m precise.”

 

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, okay, fine. Can I just get you to promise me that when it comes to the staff that I can take full control of them?”

 

“Promise me that you won’t do anything to jeopardize my reputation with this place?” She says, holding her pinky up for him to connect his own. “I can’t have this project fail on me, Jacks. This means way too much to me and my future.”

 

“That’s a lot to put on my plate.”

 

Dylan smirks. “I am a lot to put on your plate.”

 

“I can handle you Dylan Tyree.” Jacks says, he locks eyes with her and for a second they stay in silence. Then he leans in and kisses the brunette and one thing leads to another before he feels himself sitting upon the cement floor behind the bar and her warmth on top of him.

 

He sucks on her neck and begins to pull at her shirt. He can hear her moaning his name before he starts to undress them both.

 

Scene Eleven

Boulstridge Mountains; Lakeside Inn

 

“Hey,” Cassie says as she enters the ballroom at the Lakeside Inn. After her conversation with the two idiots taking over Shananigan’s Nightclub, Cassie made her way up Boulstridge Mountain and towards the Inn. There was still one more person she had to speak with, especially now more than ever. 

 

Tayler Kern turns to face her with a growing smile. “I was wondering when I would get a visit from you.”

 

“One of the girls at the front desk said I would be able to find you up here.” Cassie replies. “If you’re busy getting this place ready for whatever celebration that’s happening here.”

 

“It’s a sweet sixteen. Tomorrow night.”

 

Cassie looks around at the ballroom and how lavishly it is decorated. Growing up her birthday was always so close together with her siblings so she never got to have one that was just her own. She never got one quite like this. “She’s a lucky girl.”

 

Taylor raises an eyebrow. “She’s a bloody nightmare. I haven’t had this big of a headache planning a party in years. I’m thinking of getting back into law because of this spoiled brat.”

 

“Well, it would probably pay more.” Cassie snickers. “I won’t take too much of your time with this so that you can get back to work. It’s nice to be able to come back to Stone Creek and see nice familiar people.”

 

“As opposed to?”

 

Cassie takes a deep breath. “I just came from talking to Dylan and she has Jacks circling her like some sort of hawk.”

 

He nods. “They’re an item again, I saw that coming.”

 

“I really don’t feel comfortable about him doing that, but it’s also not my place. Let’s face it, I’ve never been best friends with either of them so I doubt they would ever even listen to me. God knows they haven’t listened to me yet.”

 

She can’t shake the feeling that Jacks is up to something where Dylan and the nightclub are concerned. Being that he did go into business with Clifton many times in the past, she wouldn’t put it past Jacks to be picking up where they left off and Dylan is just going to get caught in the crosshairs.

 

“Dylan is very stubborn.” Taylor replies.

 

Cassie turns to Taylor. “But she listens to you. That’s one of the reasons why I thought to come see you — other than the fact that it’s been awhile and I wanted to catch up.”

 

“Which I do adore.” He smiles. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you last. I actually was talking with Mac the other day and he is living in Colorado with Abigail and they’re expecting their first child.”

 

The mention of her old flame does give Cassie a bit of a sting, although they made their peace so long ago. She thinks about what her life would’ve been like if she hadn’t been pregnant with Clifton’s child when she first met Mac.

 

“I’m so happy for them.” Cassie says. “Your brother deserves all the happiness in the world and I’m glad that someone like Abigail was able to do so. If I can change the subject without making you upset.”

 

“Cassie, it’s okay.” Taylor chuckles. “What can I help you with?”

 

The mention of the word help does ring true to what she’s about to ask, so she leads with that. “Because you started off with the word help, I think it would be nice if you checked in on Dylan for me.”

 

“She’s my best friend, I check in on her all the time.”

 

“I know,I know which does make it easier for what I am going to ask you because she won’t feel like you’re attacking her in any way.” Cassie leads. “Jacks is my biggest worry because he helped Clifton a lot with the nightclub and now that he is helping Dylan I am worried she may be in over her head.”

 

Cassie thinks Dylan is in way over her head. “I’ll be frank. Clifton worked with some very powerful people here and that nightclub was a huge place of operations for them, Taylor. I know that Dylan will have Jacks to be a buffer for those people but I was wondering if you would just help Dylan with everything.”

 

“I don’t know how much help I could be, it’s not like I have mafia son skills or anything, but she’s my best friend and I’ll be there for her whenever she needs me. So of course I’ll help her.”

 

“Good.” Cassie breaths. “Because I need you to get her to sell that place as soon as she possibly can. I have to admit that I am so happy to have it off of our hands, but I really do worry for her.”

 

“Why did you sell it to her then?”

 

Cassie nods. “She’s persistent and wouldn’t let me take any other offer. So I just figured she would either get bored really early on and sell it to someone else or I would have to find someone else to get her out of there.”

 

“So what you’re saying is you want me to convince my best friend to sell the one thing she’s most excited about here in Stone Creek?”

 

“Get her out of that nightclub before she gets herself hurt, Taylor.”