Breaking Ties: An Ensemble Story (Read 248,994 times)

[André DiMera]

Glad Sarah at least had enough sense not to drive. I still don’t see this ending well.

So glad David is at least coming for the hearing! I hope he changes his mind and stays longer!

It’s good that J.J. was able to remember enough about the blackmailer for the sketch artist. Ooh! So the blackmailer is the warden’s daughter! This is interesting!

Wonder what Ciara’s gonna say to Paige.

Can we please have previews, heroicmuse?

[tghca]

Ciara still has quite the attitude but Paige sure straightened Ciara out really quickly. But I wonder what Ciara tells Paige.

Sarah is out of the house but she's still drunk and if she's walking to find her sister Melissa, her mother Maggie and her step father Victor then she might just get hit by a car. It wouldn't be the first time either.

The warden's daughter is blackmailing JJ...but JJ still can't do anything about it because Paula still has the power now

[heroicmuse]

Thank you André DiMera , Kpatch , and tghca for your comments this week!

I don't know about you, but I'm super excited that David is coming back to Salem and that Maggie nowknows about Sarah's alcoholism. Here's a sneak peek at what's going on.

Next Week on Breaking Ties...



Melissa takes Maggie and Victor to her favorite restaurant to talk about what’s going on with Sarah. An emotional Maggie can’t believe she missed the signs, but Victor thinks that’s because they live far away, while Melissa feels guilty that she didn’t tell Maggie earlier about Sarah’s drinking.

Melissa is at a loss about what to do about Sarah, but Victor thinks the solution is obvious: tell her to shape up or ship out, advice which is very hard for Melissa to swallow even when Maggie mainly agrees. When a drunk Sarah shows up to confront them, will all hell break loose?

Sarah’s argument with her family doesn’t end well and she ends up being kicked out of the restaurant while Melissa struggles not to run after her. Sarah’s drunken misadventures don’t end there and the next morning she wakes up in a strange place with no memory of how she got there and no purse or phone, either. Will even these circumstances be enough to get her to want to sober up?

Meanwhile, in Salem, Ciara confides a secret to Paige about the incident with Wyatt that Paige thinks should be shared with Hope. But Ciara is adamant that Paige not tell, and Paige decides to keep their conversation to herself for now. Is she making the right choice? Meanwhile, Ciara begins to get a bit of attitude again when Paige’s own jail experience leads her to be hard on the young teen about how close she came to getting arrested. Will Paige’s well-intentioned lecture push Ciara back towards bad behavior?

While Paige is with Ciara, JJ is getting some more information from Hope about the woman who is blackmailing him. Hope tells JJ that the warden says she hasn’t seen her daughter in months, but is the warden telling the truth? Hope also tells JJ about Paula’s record, which leads him to theorize about a possible connection between Paula and Thorpe. Hope encourages him to be careful and also orders squad cars to keep an eye on both him and Alison until Paula is caught. Is this overkill, or are the young reporters in danger if they continue to pursue the story? And when Kelsey finds out about it and demands Alison drop the story for her own safety, will that be the end of the girls' relationship?

Later, JJ and Paige head home where JJ has a romantic surprise for Paige that results in them making love for the first time since Paige’s release from jail, but later Paige pays for that with a nightmare. Will she be able to continue moving forward despite her PTSD?

Valerie daydreams about the way things might have been different had Hannah not been arrested while waiting for David at the airport. Her reunion with him is not as romantic as she had hoped, as he is singularly focused on seeing Hannah in jail, and a disappointed Valerie sets off with him to go visit, unaware that her daughter is in solitary for another crime she didn’t commit.

Meanwhile, Nicole interviews Hannah and picks up right away on her jumpiness. Hannah doesn’t want to risk the warden’s wrath, but Nicole quickly gets the truth out of her. However, Hannah insists Nicole keep this off the record and only report on Hannah’s arrest and the fact that Valerie refused to bail her out. Will Nicole keep her promise, and will this story hurt the already fragile relationship between Hannah and her mother?

Elsewhere in Salem, Abe calls Theo to his office for a talk after his conversation with Valerie, fearful that his son’s Autism could get him into trouble if he were ever to be stopped by the police. During this difficult conversation, Theo again hints that Johnny has been bullying him. Abe heads over to Sami’s the next morning to complain about Johnny while she is alone in the house with Allie, unaware that he is interrupting just as Allie is finally gearing up to tell Sami the truth about what happened at camp.

Finally, Chloe is not thrilled that Jennifer is there when she drops Parker off at Daniel’s, Abigail is upset when her disability causes a problem during her date with T, and Claire is excited to learn she will be staying in Salem with her grandparents, though she’s disappointed that her parents have to head back to Hawaii.

[André DiMera]

Personally, I don’t think Sarah’s interested in sobering up, but we’ll see. I agree with Maggie and Victor.

I hope Ciara listens to Paige.Of course the warden is probably lying. And Kelsey shouldn’t be throwing around demands when she doesn’t seem to have time for Alison anymore (yes, I know she’s trying to keep her job to spy on Spota, or so she says, but still). Hope Paige can keep moving forward.

Glad David is coming back, I’m just sorry that his reunion with Valerie doesn’t go the way she hoped.

It’ll be interesting to see what Nicole does with this information.

Hope Allie eventually tells Sami what’s going on. Sad that Johnny is still bullying Theo.

Sorry to hear Chloe is upset with Jennifer. Wonder what happens with Abby and T. Glad Claire is staying!

Thanks for the previews, heroicmuse!

[tghca]

I too think Sarah is not interested in sobering up. If she we're, she would have done it already. Alcoholism is the disease and it is hereditary. I mean Sarah's mother Maggie is a former alcoholic but Maggie has been clean for years. The Horton Family has its fair share of substance abusers: Sarah's cousin Lucas who is a recovering alcoholic, Sarah's other cousin Jennifer a former drug addict, Sarah's cousin JJ another former drug addict. My point being Sarah comes from a family tied to substance abuse so she was bound to follow in their footsteps sooner or later.

The only way Sarah gets clean is if she hits rock bottom or something has to happen for her to hit bottom...either she gets into a car accident while drinking or she drinks and drives and hits someone with her car. That is the only way she can hit bottom.

heroicmuse I wonder if Melissa's son Sarah's nephew Nathan Horton the doctor, if Nathan knows about his Aunt Sarah being an alcoholic? I wonder what does Sarah even do for a living, does she even have a job?


Warden is obviously lying and she would obviously not sell out her own daughter like what did Hope expect? Yeah there's a connection between Paula and Thorpe but they still haven't figured it out yet. They do not even know how dangerous Paula really is because she very well could be. Paula still has the power, she still has the upper hand here and JJ would do well to remember that. All it takes is one phone call from her and Paige goes right back to prison. One phone call from her and Hannah stays in prison even longer. One phone call from her and she could single handedly destroy JJ's career too. He wouldn't ever be allowed to be a reporter or even a journalist for that matter because no one would hire him. She still has that power.


Nicole is not making things any easier because it is because of her that Paula has the power to destroy everyone else. If Nicole hadn't put out that broadcast, JJ wouldn't be in danger and neither would Paige or Hannah for that matter.

Johnny bullying his own cousin Theo...I wonder why Johnny is doing it? If only Johnny's Aunt Leche could see him now or does Johnny think that his father EJ would be proud of his son bullying his nephew? EJ loved Theo and he would be ashamed. Stefano I know wouldn't stand for this either.

[heroicmuse]

Week 233 - 1
Ciara pushed her hair behind her ear. “I don’t know how to say this.”

“Just say it,” Paige said. “Whatever it is, it’s okay.”

“It’s not, really.” Ciara sighed. “I kind of knew what I was doing was wrong but I thought Wyatt would get in trouble, not me.”

“Who’s Wyatt?”

“This boy.” Ciara stared straight ahead. “I hope he’s expelled.”

Paige frowned. “Why?”

“Cause he’s a loser, duh.” Ciara picked at a bead on her bracelet. “And he’s not very nice. He’s always in my face, like so close I can smell his stinky breath and I know he wants to kiss me.” Her lips twisted with disgust. “I would never kiss HIM, not in a million years. I’m waiting to be old enough to date so I can kiss Theo.”

Paige frowned. “Did Wyatt ever do more than get in your face? Did he, you know… touch you or anything?”

“Ew! No! If he had he wouldn’t have a hand anymore.” Ciara crossed her arms. “I pretended to be his friend so he could help me with this. I figured it was win-win. Claire would get to go to school and if we got caught they’d blame Wyatt cause he was the one who actually did the computer stuff. Only Claire had to go opening her big mouth about how the plan was my idea. I could kill her for that. Not literally, don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t worried.” Paige looked Ciara in the eye, but Ciara looked away. “Are you scared of what Wyatt might do now?”

“No,” Ciara said. “I mean, hopefully they had the sense to expel him. But what if they didn’t?” She picked at her bracelet. “If he’s just suspended too when we get back there’ll be hell to pay. He can’t do anything to me, he wouldn’t dare. But he and Theo have classes together, supposely they both have learning disabilities though I think the only disability Wyatt has is that he completely sucks. Anyway, he could pick on Theo to get back at me and it would all be my fault!”

Ciara blinked back tears. Paige said, “Don’t you think your mom should know about this?”

“NO!” Ciara shouted. “You said you wouldn’t tell! You promised!””

“I wasn’t going to,” Paige said quietly, “but mostly because I think you should tell her. She’s your mom, Ciara, she loves you and she can help you deal with Wyatt.”

“Don’t you have ears? I said I’m not worried about Wyatt for me.”

“Don’t be rude,” Paige told her. “And if Wyatt is bothering you -- or Theo -- that’s sort of a problem that needs grown-up help.” Ciara glared at her. Paige said, “Okay. Why don’t you want her to know?”

“Because,” Ciara said, “she practically disowned me over this whole thing!” She played with a pen that was on the table, pushing it all over the place. “I had to beg her not to take me out of the wedding, that’s how much she hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you, Ciara. She doesn’t.” Paige put her hand on Ciara’s wrist, but Ciara pulled away. “She’s scared, that’s all, she can’t stop thinking about all the people she’s arrested and she doesn’t want you to end up like them so she’s doing everything she can think of to make an impression.”

“Yeah, well, the only impression she made is a bad one.” Ciara’s voice was thick with hurt. “It’s a good thing Aiden told her I have to be in the wedding. She probably thinks I’m going to ruin the pictures.”

“Now you’re being overdramatic,” Paige said. Ciara shrugged. Paige asked her, “You must have been scared too when the principal called you into her office instead of Wyatt.”

“Nothing scares me,” Ciara said. Paige raised her eyebrows and Ciara said, “Except… when the principal said I could be expelled I kind of wondered what would happen then, how would I finish school if I was kicked out of 7th grade?”

“It’s a good thing you don’t have to worry about that,” Paige said. “I don’t know what would have happened then either but it would made your life harder.”

“Right.” Ciara bit her lip. “Officer Horowitz said what I did was so bad they could have sent me to grown-up jail if they wanted.”

Paige froze. “Y-you don’t want that to happen.”

“Um, I know that.”

“I’m serious,” Paige said. “I was only there three months and look how it changed me.” She leaned forward and caught Ciara’s eye. “Promise me you’ll start using your head and you won’t ever do anything you could go to jail for ever again.”

Ciara wriggled. “I won’t! Geez!” She bit her lip again. “Paige? Do you think I deserved to go to jail?”

Paige shook her head slightly. “If you ask me only the very worst people should be in jail, people like this girl who tried to stab me and my friend because she never got over me trying to sit at her table on my first day. And that’s not you. So no more crazy plans to take care of Wyatt, okay?”

Ciara nodded, blinking back tears. Paige held out her arms and Ciara let her hug her.


At Daniel’s, Jennifer leaned her head against Daniel’s chest while he hugged her and stroked her hair.

“Thanks for being there,” Jennifer said. “I’m sorry I’m so needy. It’s just, things are worse than ever with Abigail. I got the message loud and clear during therapy: I’m to blame for all the problems between us, if I would just stop hovering everything would be fine. So I tried, I really did, but then she got mad at me for telling her to have a good time with T instead of worrying about whether this was a good idea. I can’t win with her.”

“Give her time,” Daniel said, his voice soft. “Abigail, she’s gone through a lot and she… she is still mourning the loss of the woman she once was. But she loves you and in time she will come to see that you are only trying to protect her.”

“No,” Jennifer said. “That’s not all I’m trying to do.” She bit her lip. “The doctor said that he thinks all of this has to do with my mother. When I was five years old she left me on a bus because of her mental illness and I thought I had got over that a long time ago but today he suggested that maybe the reason I have such a hard time letting go of either of my children, that maybe the reason I smother them is because I don’t want them to leave me like she did.” She shook her head. “All this time I thought I was acting out of the purest of motives but really I was as pathetic as Eve Donovan, using my children to keep me from feeling lonely.”

“You are being way too hard on yourself.” Daniel kissed the top of Jennifer’s head. “Maybe part of your motivation came from your pain but Jennifer, no one loves their children more than you love yours and they… they know it no matter what mistakes you’ve made.”

“I hope so.” Jennifer sighed. “At times like this I miss Jack more than ever. Not that I’m not glad you’re here but he was their father and he knew how to balance me out so that I wasn’t so overbearing.”

“I know.” Daniel sighed. “I always thought, Jennifer, I always thought that JJ wasn’t the only one who lost everything when his dad died. But - “

There was a knock on the door. “Gimme a sec,” Daniel said. He looked out the peephole and then opened the door.

“DADDY!!!” Parker said, running in. Daniel scooped him up and then said, “Say hi to Jennifer too.”

“Oh!” Parker said. He ran to Jennifer as Daniel turned to Chloe. “Um, you wanna come in for a sec?”

“I’d hate to interrupt,” Chloe said, rolling her eyes. She came in and slammed the door.

Daniel frowned. “Something wrong?”

“Yes, actually.” Chloe crossed her arms against her chest.


“No way. The warden’s daughter?” JJ frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. When they first let Paige out, she told me how this girl Tiana had a freaking homemade knife and Paige and Hannah would have been goners if the judge hadn’t let Rafe go with her to make sure she made it out of there in one piece. And Paige said the warden knew this girl was trouble but she didn’t do a damn thing about it, not til after she got caught trying to stab innocent people, so me and Alison tried to get an interview with her to find out why.”

“And did you?” Hope asked.

“Uh uh. She turned us down cold. But the point is, if this Paula’s her kid, why didn’t she try to make me back off then when I was looking into her mom instead of trying to scare me off some judge that doesn’t have anything to do with her?”

“That’s a good question,” Hope said. “Who knows what’s in her head? She might think this is a way of getting revenge because you tried to suggest that her mom isn’t doing her job properly, or maybe she thought you’d be more likely to be intimidated if she said she worked for a judge.”

“No, that doesn’t feel right.” JJ tapped his fingers on the table. “There’s gotta be a connection between the warden and Thorpe that I’m not seeing, that’s gotta be why she’s protecting him.” He raised his eyebrows. “You think maybe she gives him kickbacks if he sends people her way? He locked up Paige for nothing, right, and Hannah too, so maybe…”

Hope shook her head slightly. “I’ve known Judge Thorpe a long time. He’s never been anything but fair and I can’t imagine him taking a bribe. But whatever the truth is, we’ll get it out of this Paula person as soon as we find her. And once we do, you’ll be the first to know.”

JJ frowned. “As soon as you find her? You mean you don’t know where she is?”

“I didn’t say that,” Hope said.

“Yeah, but you implied it. What’s that mean, Hope? Don’t you have an address or something?”

Hope shook her head. “Like I said, she texted you from somewhere in East Salem. But we don’t know exactly where.” She crossed her arms. “It goes without saying this is all completely off the record, but she’s… well, you remember when you were angry at your mom and you decided to live in the park?”

JJ turned bright red. “Wish I could forget.”

“I don’t bring it up to embarrass you, honey. I bring it up because this girl did the same thing, only she never came home. I called the warden and she said she hasn’t heard from her in months.”

“She’s lying!” JJ said. “She doesn’t want her daughter - “

“Maybe, but I doubt it. She’d know she wouldn’t get away with it,and anyway, when she told me… she was close to tears. She said Paula was arrested about a year ago for drugs, which we confirmed, and she's never heard from her since. By the way, did she seem high to you?"

“Maybe that’s why she had the sunglasses, so I wouldn’t see her eyes weren’t clear. But she wasn't out of it or anything. Honestly, she seemed like she could be working for Thorpe just like she said.” JJ’s eyes widened. “Wait. She got arrested? She went to court and everything?”

“Yes. She got community service and three months in rehab.”

“It makes sense now. That’s the connection!” JJ paced back and forth. “She gets arrested for drugs but Thorpe goes easy on her. So he’s, like, her hero or whatever, then I come along wanting to know what the hell he was thinking, sending my cousin and my girlfriend away for no reason and she figures, only way to save him’s to scare me off the story.” He stopped. “What?”

“Nothing,” Hope said. “Just… all that frantic movement because you think you’ve hooked a big story… it was like seeing your father all over again.” JJ reddened and Hope said, “Anyway… I don’t want you to worry, we’re going to find her and whatever she’s planning to do to protect Thorpe isn’t going to happen. In the meantime… be careful, honey, okay? If you’re going to keep pursuing this - “

“I am.”

“I didn’t expect anything less. But keep your eyes open and if anything happens… call us. Don’t try to be a hero yourself.”

“I will. I promise.” JJ stood. “I told you, Hope, I’m way past doing anything stupid.” He frowned. “You think Alison’s in any danger? She’s been helping me with the story, she stopped me from tearing that asshole’s throat out at the S-Mart and she’s looking into a few other things.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to put a squad car outside her dorm, and in front of your townhouse too, just in case. Probably overkill but better safe than sorry, right?” Hope made herself smile. “Go see Paige, honey, and go finish whatever it was I interrupted earlier. There’s no reason to stop living your life because of someone who probably has no power at all and who we’re going to catch before the night is out.”

“Right, okay. Thanks for everything, Hope.” JJ hugged Hope and left.

Hope said to herself, “I hope we’ll catch her, anyway. She’s probably powerless either way but you never know.”

[André DiMera]

I really hope Ciara listened to Paige! She still needs to change her attitude, but I’m glad she at least admitted she was afraid of getting expelled.

Glad Daniel and Jennifer talked. Wonder what Chloe’s problem is.

Well, that’s an interesting turn of events. I don’t necessarily believe that Paula and the Warden haven’t seen each other in a year or so, but regardless, this is really interesting! I hope Hope is able to find Paula!

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[tghca]

Ciara still has a mouth on her. I think she's getting quite the attitude on her and I am surprised Paige put up with Ciara's attitude. I know I would not have if I were Paige but I am glad that Ciara listened to Paige because Ciara is just in real need of guidance right now.

Either way I don't think Paula will be found by the cops and why I say that? Not only does she have Thorpe protecting her but her mother too I am sure Paula's mother would not give up her own daughter to the Salem PD by turning her in. Plus Paula she has always been 2 steps ahead of the cops and 2 steps ahead of JJ. So that being said, I can't see her being found just yet. I bet she will find out that the cops are on to her and she will end up going on the run but she will eventually end up being caught anyway that is what I think.

Chloe obviously doesn't want Parker around Jennifer...I mean it is so obvious that Chloe is jealous seeing her son run to Jennifer like that. Chloe obviously is still in love with Daniel and it clearly shows here.

[Kpatch]

I forgot Daniel and Jennifer are in a relationship. I always liked them together better than any of Daniel's other pairings.

I hope Paige got through to Ciara.

[heroicmuse]

Week 233 - 2

“I hope this place is posh enough for you,” Melissa told Victor. She had taken them to The Melting Pot, her favorite restaurant in downtown Nashville. It was crowded and wasn’t exactly a five-star restaurant; the place was popular with everyone from college students to business associates and the decor wasn’t much fancier than the menu.

“Oh, don’t let that ruthless exterior fool you,” Maggie said, sipping her water. “Victor doesn’t need anything more than tables and chairs.”

“And high quality food, of course,” Victor said. “Though nothing holds a candle to your mother’s cooking. I had a second kitchen put in just for her.”

“I see why she married you,” Melissa said dryly, leaving out that she’d never known anyone who could afford to build a whole new kitchen before.

There was an awkward silence and then Maggie said, “Does Sarah come here much?”

“She used to.” Melissa bit her lip. “Before… you know.” She wrung her hands, a gesture that looked almost exactly like one Victor had seen Maggie make a million times. “She wasn’t drinking when she first moved in with me, I swear.”

“Really.” Maggie tried to smile. “Are you sure she just wasn’t hiding it better? A-alcoholics can be very good at making it look like nothing’s wrong, you know. Even with all my years of experience I never guessed that my own daughter…” Her voice broke and she took Victor’s hand.

Melissa stared down into her salad. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. She kept begging me not to. She said that it would make her drink more to know how disappointed you were and she swore up and down she was going to stop drinking so it wouldn’t matter. Stupid me believed her. It wasn’t until like the ten millionth time she broke her promise that I got that she didn’t mean it.”

“Oh, she meant it all right,” Maggie said, dabbing at her eyes. “She just couldn’t stick to it. No alcoholic can, not without help. I lost count of how many last drinks I had before I finally decided to quit for real.”

“I can tell you how many Brady had,” Victor added. “It’s equal to the number of idiot women he attached himself to instead.”

“Is that supposed to be helpful?” Melissa asked. “Mom’s practically in tears, don’t you think you can put aside the judgmentalism for two seconds and just comfort her?”

“Oh, it’s all right,” Maggie said. “Strange as it seems, that’s Victor’s way of comforting me. And he does have a point. Brady tends to jump from one addiction to another. But let’s not go there right now. The important thing is for us to all get on the same page about Sarah.”

“If you have any ideas, I’m all ears. I’ve talked til I’m blue in the face and all I get is empty promises. This morning I finally had it with her and I told her it was up to her to clean up all the empties and if she didn’t and you found them, that was her problem. But obviously that was a mistake since she responded by drinking half a bottle of vodka when she said she was going to stay sober until you left.”

“I think you are placing the blame precisely where it doesn’t belong,” Victor said. “You’re not running a boarding house for drunks and derelicts. In fact, I don’t know why you’re allowing her to stay there when she’s drinking her half of the rent. If I were you I’d tell her to get her act together or she’s out on her ass.”

“Uh, she’s my sister, I can’t do that.” Melissa turned towards Maggie. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Well,” Maggie said, “you don’t have to put it in the same colorful way that Victor just did. But she’s not going to stop drinking until she hits bottom, and so far every time she gets anywhere close to suffering some consequences for her drinking, you’ve been there to catch her. You’ve put a roof over her head and food on the table, you’ve cleaned up after her, you’ve even lied and covered for her so that I wouldn’t know she was drinking. That doesn’t help her, Melissa, that just makes it easier for her to keep drinking.”

“But if I don’t, she’ll be out on the street. She came to me with nothing, how can I…”

“She’s young and healthy, except for what she’s doing to herself,” Maggie said. “There’s no reason she can’t get a job, and anyway, she clearly has the resources to get drunk on a regular basis so there’s no reason you can’t charge her rent. Unless… please tell me you’re not buying it for her!”

“Of course not. I’m not that stupid. I mean, I did once or twice, but not usually.”

Maggie shook her head sadly. “I can’t believe this. My daughter is an alcoholic and my other daughter is enabling her. How did I miss all the signs?”

“Because we’re in Salem and the girls are here,” Victor said. “Which brings me to my next point. I’ve already suggested that you stay with us at our hotel and let Sarah fend for herself for a few days, but to my way of thinking that’s just a trial run. If, as I suspect will be the case, your sister manages to survive without you there to provide her with the lifestyle she has become accustomed to, perhaps you should consider - “

“You’d be thrilled if I didn’t survive!” a slurred voice said from behind them. Melissa’s eyes widened as Sarah stumbled towards them.


Theo’s eyes darted all over the place as he came into Abe’s office. “I’m here, Dad.”

“Oh, good. Sit down, son.” Abe smiled slightly.

Theo sank into his seat. He grabbed the arm rests as tight as he could and rocked back and forth. “Did I do something wrong? I followed all the rules at school, so it cannot be that but you never call me to your office unless it is some serious matter.”

“YOU didn’t do anything wrong,” Abe said, “but there’s a few things I need to talk to you about, and you are correct in your assumption that they are important issues.”

Theo nodded. Abe said, “I’m not quite sure where to begin. I was talking to an old friend of mine today and - “

“What old friend?”

“You’re interrupting me. But since you asked, her name is Valerie and I knew her a long time ago, before I met your mother.”

“Did you call me in here to tell me you are going to resume your former relationship?”

“No. That ship sailed a long time ago, I’m afraid.” Theo frowned and Abe said, “That is an expression that means the time for that to happen is long gone. Anyway, I brought her up because… well, now that you’re growing up you need to know about some of the things that I talked to Valerie about, things that are hard to talk about.”

“I cannot imagine what.”

“I know you can’t. I wish I didn’t have to…” Abe sighed. “There are some people in the world, son, who may not treat you fairly for reasons that may seem silly and superficial to you. It is not everyone. There are many people who will be fair. But unfortunately, there are those who will not.”

“I know that already. Some people at school are mean to me because I have Autism.” Theo blinked hard. “Some people call me the R word and other things of that nature. And I am glad that Johnny is not in our school because I know he would be one of them.”

“I certainly hope he never does that. In fact, I think I’ll remind Sami at the earliest opportunity that you and Johnny are cousins and that she needs to do something about this.”

Theo looked away. “On television that always results in more bullying and the child being angry at the parent for interfering.”

Abe smiled slightly. “Are you saying you don’t want me to talk to Sami?”

Theo twisted a lock of hair. “No. I’m just hoping it will work differently in real life.” He wriggled. “Anyway, is that all you wanted to tell me?”

“No, son, not by a long shot.” Abe sighed deeply. “I am so sorry that your life is harder because you have Autism. Nobody should be picking on you because of it and it breaks my heart enough without… Look, son, Valerie’s daughter was arrested last year and part of the reason she is in jail is because of people who didn’t like her because of the color of her skin. And I feel duty bound to talk to you about that because Valerie asked me what I would have done if it happened to you.”

“But it did not happen to me. It happened to this girl who I do not know.”

“That is true, but you also may someday be in a similar situation. This girl - “

“Sorry for interrupting, but what is her name? I don’t want to call her Valerie’s daughter should I meet her.”

“Her name is Hannah, and hopefully someday soon you will meet her. Aiden is working on getting her out of jail. Anyway, the point is, son, that her problems began when someone called this police department because they were afraid of her, because they thought that a black teenager must be in a gang and reported a crime in progress when she was simply browsing the aisles at the S-Mart.”

“I don’t like the S-Mart. They sell too much junk food.”

“That’s certainly a point. But after talking to Valerie I realized that there is a possibility that someday you could be in a similar situation, a situation where someone calls the police unnecessarily because they are afraid of you based on nothing but what you look like. So this isn’t easy, son, but I need to talk to you about what to do if that ever happens, because even though I work for the police department, that doesn’t absolutely guarantee that you won’t be detained over some minor issue someday. Now, Hannah argued with the officers and that got her in more trouble. She was charged with resisting arrest and bail was set at a higher amount than warranted because of it, and she is lucky that is all that happened to her. She could have been hurt very badly if the officers thought she was about to become violent with them.”

Theo swallowed hard. He twisted a lock of hair around his finger. “You mean the police could have believed the report that she was in a gang and shot her?”

Abe nodded. “As it was, she ended up in jail for almost a year over something that could have been handled differently. She is not the only one who made a mistake in this situation but she made a potentially serious one. Now I hope to God this never happens but if a police officer ever wants to arrest you, no matter how much you think they are wrong, it is important that you cooperate fully. Keep your hands visible and move slowly if at all, and do not say anything except that you want them to call me and your lawyer. The time to argue is in court in front of a judge who can decide who was right, not on the street. Do you understand me?”

Theo nodded. He rocked back and forth, trying to calm himself.


Claire sniffed. “Y-you mean stay with Grandma and Grandpa while you’re not even here?” She grinned. “How soon can I move in?”

“I take it you like the idea, then,” Marlena said, a small smile on her lips. “I need to talk to Grandpa and make sure it’s all right with him before anything happens. In fact, I’m going to do that right now.” She walked off.

“And I wanted to make sure you knew we’re not just giving you away and that we still love you.” Belle’s voice was soft.

“I know.” Claire smiled. “Letting me do this makes you the best mom ever!”

“So that’s all it takes, is it?” Belle blinked back tears. “Daddy and I wish we could stay here with you but I have to finish school and Daddy has to see what he can do about getting a job in Salem so we can afford to move here. So we’re going to go back to Hawaii, but I promise you we will be back as soon as we can.”

“Take your time,” Claire said, but she had tears in her eyes.

Belle kissed the top of her head. “There are no words for how much I love you. I know now that you’re 14 you probably don’t like hearing it but I’m never going to stop saying it because it’s true.”

“We are all set,” Marlena said, coming back in the room. “Now, does she have enough clothes to tide her over until you can send some of her things to Salem?”

“She packed a week’s worth of clothes,” Belle said, “and don’t let her tell you she doesn’t know how to use a washing machine because she’s been doing her own laundry since her 12th birthday.”

Shawn added, “And it’s up to you, of course, but we’d prefer she not spend time with Ciara until after Ciara’s suspension is over.”

“Daddy!” Claire said.

“You two need a break from each other, Peanut,” Shawn said. “And Ciara is supposed to be in big trouble, why should she get to hang out with you while she’s being punished?”

“Whatever.” Claire crossed her arms.

“Don’t worry,” Marlena said. “Don’t tell Sami I said so, but she gave me quite the education in dealing with impulsive teenagers.”

“That’s… one way to put it,” Belle said. Shawn’s phone made a clanging sound and he said, “It’s time.”

Belle held her arms out. Claire hugged her and Belle kissed her forehead and said, “Don’t drive Grandma crazy, okay?”

Claire rolled her eyes but she said, “I won’t.”

Shawn hugged her too and said, “We’re going to miss you so much. We’ll be back as soon as we can.” Then he and Belle hugged Marlena.

After Belle and Shawn left, Marlena said, “Well. It looks like it’s just you and me for a little while.”

Claire sighed. “I bet you have to work.”

“I’m done for the day.” Marlena smiled slightly. “Tell you what. I know you have clothes, but that doesn’t mean I can’t take you on a Grandma/granddaughter shopping trip. How does lunch tomorrow at the food court at Salem Place followed by a quick trip to the clothing stores sound to you?”



JJ put a white bag on the nightstand and opened it.

“So what was this mysterious errand you wouldn’t let me be part of?” Paige asked when JJ got back in the car with the bag.

“You’ll see,” JJ said. “All I can say right now’s that I’m gonna make it up to you that our evening got interrupted by all this crap. Course, if you wanna try to get it out of me ahead of time…” He winked at Paige.

“Hope she likes these,” he said to himself as he unwrapped several glass candles and put them on the nightstand.

[André DiMera]

Melissa’s definitely enabling Sarah, and I don’t disagree with what Victor and Maggie are saying. Well, now that Sarah’s here, this is gonna be interesting.

I’m sure this is a hard conversation to have, but I’m glad Abe is talking to Theo about this very real, very sad situation.

So glad Claire gets to stay!

Ooh! Glass candles, sounds interesting! This should be a nice night.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[tghca]

JJ is planning a romantic surprise I see

It looks like Claire is sticking around and of all people she's staying with her grandparents Marlena and John...that's good because I figured Claire would end up living with her Aunt Sami or her Uncle Eric

[Kpatch]

Sarah's pity party does her no good. I heart Victor. Loved his comments about Maggie and her cooking!

[heroicmuse]

Week 233 - 3

T had taken Abigail to a small restaurant. There were candles on the table and soft music playing.

“I hope this isn’t too much for a first date,” he said. “I thought smaller would be easier. Less people to deal with.”

“It’s… you know, when there’s nothing less than exactly what you want.” Abby played with the edge of her menu. She stared down at it but the words swam in front of her.

“What’s wrong?” T asked, reaching for her hand.

“Nothing. Just I can’t…” Abby swallowed hard. “I used to be such a good reader but now the letters jump all over the place.”

T patted her hand. “Here. I’ll read it to you.”

“That’ll take… you know, it’ll be a long time.”

“How about I read you the headings and you tell me what kind of food you’re interested in?”

“I guess.”

T glanced down at the menu. “Do you want to start with appetizers? You always used to love fried calamari.”

Abigail shook her head. “Let’s just get main courses s-so you don’t have to read so much.”

T took her hand. “I don’t mind. I really don’t.”

“But I do. Your mouth’ll get dry and anyway…” Abby bit her lip. “I keep thinking this will get better. I have more words than I used to and I remember things better but I still can’t read.”

T massaged Abby’s knuckles as tears rolled down her face. She sniffed and said, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Positive,” T said. “Now are you in the mood for pasta or an entree with sides?”

“I didn’t just mean, you know… this list of food. I meant…”

“I know what you meant,” T said, “and I’m more than in. I’ve cared about you a long time, Abigail, that hasn’t changed just because - “

“But I’ve changed.” Abby blinked back tears. “I’m not...my brain is broken.”

“I don’t care. I hate Ben for doing this to you but it doesn’t make you any less Abigail to me.” T picked up the menu again. “So… dinner?”

“Pasta, I guess.” Abby sighed deeply. “And, you know… a drink with bubbles.”

T nodded. Abby stared into space unhappily while he read her the pasta choices.


“That’s not true and you know it!” Melissa said.

Maggie held up her hand. “Let me handle this,” she said. She stood. “Sarah. We certainly weren’t expecting you tonight.”

“Of course not. You think I’m STUPID!” Sarah stomped towards the table. “I’m not stupid! I know where Melissa goes to eat. She’s so predictable. But I’m not stupid.”

Victor started to say something, but Maggie gave him a look over her shoulder and he closed his mouth again. Maggie said, “No one thinks you’re stupid, Sarah. But we do care about you. I hope you didn’t drive here.”

“Of course not. I was going to but then I remembered that awful Eve Donovan.” Sarah giggled. “She knocked me flat on the ground, remember? I was only trying to chase my ball and she ran me right over.” Sarah sighed, suddenly sad. “Whatever happened to that ball?”

“It went to the same place as her sanity,” Victor said under his breath. Melissa put her finger on her lips.

“ANYWAY,” Sarah said. “I didn’t come here to argue. Uh uh. I just came to say I was done with all of you. Especially you!” She tried to lunge at Melissa. “You tricked me! You wanted Mom to see me like this so she would throw me away. You never liked me anyway!”

“That’s not true,” Melissa said. Victor shook his head and said, “Arguing with a drunk is a waste of perfectly good breath.”

“A DRUNK?” Sarah shouted. “That’s what you think of me? Of course it is. You’re loving this, aren’t you?. You want my mom all to yourself.”

“SARAH!” Maggie said. Victor beckoned towards a waiter.

“Excuse me,” Victor said to the waiter, “but I think we need the manager over here. I’m afraid some drunken riff-raff has wandered in off the street and is disturbing us.”

“I’ll get security,” the waiter said, and disappeared.

Melissa’s mouth dropped open. “That’s my sister! How can you - “

“How can she?” Victor said. “I told no lies. At the moment she is acting like some tramp none of us has ever seen before, and I will not have our dinner ruined.”

“Mom!” Melissa said as a security guard approached Sarah. “Are you going to stand for this?”

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Maggie said, her voice shaking. Sarah was struggling as the security guard grabbed her by the arm.

“Sorry, ma’am, but you have to leave.” The guard was soft-spoken but he gripped Sarah’s arm tightly. Sarah’s eyes flashed and she struggled, but he dragged her off.

“So what happens now?” Melissa asked. “Does she go to jail?”

“Let’s hope not,” Maggie said. “Though it might be the best place for her right now.” Her face trembled.

Victor took her hand. “Most probably they will simply escort her off the property and then leave her to her own devices.” He squeezed Maggie’s hand. “I suppose we should try to salvage what’s left of our meal in the meantime.”

Maggie pushed her plate away. “I don’t feel like eating. Let’s just go to the hotel.” She turned towards Melissa. “Did you want to come with us?”

“I guess.” Melissa bit her lip. “What I really want to do is run out there and make sure Sarah’s all right but I know that won’t help, so…” She sighed deeply.

“It really won’t,” Maggie agreed. “Pay the bill, Victor, and let’s all get out of here.”




JJ brought Paige into the room. She had her eyes closed and he had his arm around her, guiding her. “Okay,” he said, “here we are.”

Paige opened her eyes, blinking to adjust to the dim light. JJ had lit all the candles so that the little flames made a heart. He kissed her ear and said, “You said something about candles so I hope you like this. You’re more special to me than words can say, Paige, I hope you know that.”

Paige put her hands over her mouth, her face trembling. “Oh, JJ,” she said softly. “It’s gorgeous.”

“You sure it’s good enough? I got my guitar in the other room, I can serenade you.”

“I don’t need all that. I mean, yes, I love your playing. But all I need is you.” Paige hugged JJ tight and he hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. Then he tilted her chin up and they kissed for real, on the lips, and it was almost as good as their very first kiss.

“You don’t know how good it is to be in your arms,” Paige said as JJ stroked her ear. “I know I’ve been holding back but it had nothing to do with you, I swear.”

“I know,” JJ said. He kissed her ear. “Way back when we were first getting to know each other again after Jeff I told you, I’ll be patient, I’ll go as slow as you need, and that hasn’t changed. I love you, okay, you’re way more than someone to have sex with and as much as I wanna show you how I feel about you I can wait for as long as you need.”

“I appreciate that. I hate that I’ve been going backwards. Jail set me back a lot but I don’t want to let it do that to me anymore, I want to just be grateful I’m home and get back to where we were before I was arrested.”

“Me too.” JJ stroked Paige’s hair. They kissed some more and then they got on the bed. JJ kissed Paige’s neck and said, “Can I undress you?”

Paige’s eyes were wide with fear and somewhere in the back of her mind she saw herself facing the wall in the prison, her hands up, a guard holding her uniform while another one searched inside her bra. She swallowed hard, then let her breath out slowly. The image faded away and she said, “Please do. I have bad memories of being forced to undress in jail and I want to replace them with better ones.”

“Glad to be of service,” JJ said softly. He kissed Paige’s neck again, then slowly began unbuttoning her blouse. He helped her out of it, then she took off his tie for him and tossed it over her shoulder before unbuttoning his shirt.

JJ threw his shirt off the bed. He and Paige began kissing more. Paige ran her fingers gently over his wrists, then reached down and unzipped his pants and helped him out of them and JJ unbuttoned her jeans and peeled them off her.

Paige lay on top of JJ and kissed him and later they rolled over together while they kept kissing so that he was on top…

After they were done, Paige lay in JJ’s arms and he stroked her hair. “So?” he said, smiling slightly. “I manage to get those bad memories out of your head?”

“You…” Paige’s eyes were closing and she was mumbling like she wasn’t fully awake. “Should have done this sooner,” she said. “Love you.”

JJ kissed the top of her head again. “Love you too.” He held her close as she fell asleep.

[André DiMera]

This has to be frustrating for Abby. I’m glad T is so supportive.

It’s sad that Sarah ruined their evening. I hope things don’t get worse, but since alcoholics have to hit bottom....well, we’ll see.

So glad J.J. and Paige got to have a romantic night!

Great chapter, heroicmuse!