Chapter 7

Layla just finished telling Nash the whole story, or at least the whole part that she knew of from Adrianna. Nash sinks back into his seat trying to absorb the information without seeming too happy or freaking out. The one thing Layla doesn’t know is that he and Jessica had slept together a few days back. He tries very hard to keep from realizing that.

“Well?” Layla interrupted his thoughts “Did I tell you too much?” She’s got a rather large knowing smile on her face. By his expression she has figured out that something went on between him and Jessica, exactly what she doesn’t know. But whatever it is she thinks that, that is the reason for the rift between Antonio and Jessica.

“Uh, no… no. You told me the exact right amount.” He notices her grin and manages a small smile in return. “Now if you’ll excuse me there is somewhere I need to be.”

She throws him yet another knowing glance and then he is on his way.

She sighs and turns back to her coffee, looking out the window she can see him fumbling with his keys. He just cannot get there fast enough. He must have been hoping for this for quite some time.

A short while later Layla turns around, sensing someone behind her. She looks up and sees Evangeline.

“Hey sis, did you change your mind about coming with me to see Gram? Because I think it would be good for both of us to get out of Llanview for a while, just to clear our heads.” She smiles at her sister. Vange just looked so much like their mother it was uncanny.

“I don’t want to leave right now, things are going too well with Cris. But… do you think Gram would like to meet him?”

“Are you kidding me Vange?! She would be on cloud nine. In her opinion Cris and you are a perfect match!”

“Well I suppose I could take some time off of work…” She’s still hesitant but more open to the idea




Dorian is sitting by Blair’s bedside talking to her all the latest news and inconsequential gossip that she can think of. Once she runs out of gossip the conversation takes a more serious turn… “Blair honey,” She starts, determined not to get choked up. “Honey you have to be OK, for the children. We haven’t told them how badly you have been injured yet. We didn’t feel the need to upset them just yet, but as soon as they are able to get up they are going to demand to see you. But Blair, honey please, get better! For the kids, yourself, the rest of the family and for…” She stops to try and compose herself, but the catch in her voice just won’t go away “for me. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Sweetheart you just mean so much to me, you’re my best friend.” She chuckles to try and stop from crying, “Haha, if you’re my best friend, then I really need to get out more.”

Dorian turns around when she hears a soft tapping at the door. What she sees leaves her with a catch in her throat… It’s Adrianna.

“Hi,” she says. “What’s the prognosis for Blair? I’m guessing it’s not good judging by the look on your face.”

“Ah, n…no.” she rather coughs. “No it’s not good… not good at all. But I’m glad you’re here. Honey, if you would just give me a chance to talk to you, maybe, just maybe we could clear up some of these misunderstandings.” She looks so hopeful that Adrianna almost feels bad about what she says next… almost “There are no misunderstandings to, ah, ‘clear up’ and there is definitely nothing left to say. I was willing to forgive you once but after what I saw I realized that you really don’t deserve it. Now if you don’t mind I came here to see Blair, so if you would leave that would be great.”

Dorian sighs as she gets up. “I should go check on Starr and Jack anyways.” She starts to walk away, when she gets to the door she turns around one last time to say; “And Adrianna, I’m not going to give up on us.” Adrianna just rolls her eyes and plops down next to Blair to tell her all about Rex and what her mother has done now…




Clint, Viki, Natalie and Jessica are all sitting in her suite talking about what happened tonight. Jessica had finally calmed down enough to talk about it.

“Well, I guess it started a long time ago… Before I was ma…ma…married.” She starts to get a little choked up.

“It’s ok honey, you don’t have to tell us everything all at once, just take it slowly.” Clint consoles his daughter, giving her a tight hug. What they don’t realize is that the hug is more for his benefit; it is killing him to see his precious Jessie in even more pain.

She takes a deep breath and then continues “I, I, I cheated on, on Antonio with Nash a while back. There I said it.” Tears start to run down her cheeks again. “Antonio figured it out tonight and now he wants to divorce me.”

“Oh baby. I think there is only one question you need to answer here. Which man do you really love? Because honey, you can’t do anything about this, this, situation until you can answer that.” Viki then takes her daughter into her arms and holds her for a good long while.

Natalie and her father just sit there watching them hold each other; they don’t know what they can do to help her through this. They both realize that only she can make the decisions of her heart. All they can do is support her and give her the advice she asks for.




Nash finally gets to the Palace after being stuck in a long line of traffic, as he approaches the front desk he thinks about how to ask where Jessica is without eliciting too much suspicion from the ladies at the front desk.

Once he gets there he has no choice other than to blurt it out. “Hello there, I was wondering if you could tell me what room Ms. Jessica Buchanan is in?”

“Don’t you mean Mrs. Buchanan Vega sir?” She questions while giving him a look of suspicion. “She is a married woman now you know. Why are you asking and just who are you? We’re not supposed to give out customer information.”

“Please Ms. … I really need to know the number of her suite.” At this point he is doing some very fast thinking on his feet. He manages to come up with a fairly good lie. “As you may be aware Jessica has a daughter who isn’t Antonio’s” The woman nods her head yes while maintaining her look of suspicion, so Nash continues. “Well I’m her daughters father, Nash Brennan, and our little girl is really sick she’s in the hospital. Now I need to go tell Mrs. Vega that myself, because if she hears it from someone else she will be furious. Plus my baby girl needs her momma, don’t you agree?” He shows her a picture of Bree to further his case.

The woman, touched by his plea, hurriedly gives him the number of the suite and directions on how to get there. As he turns to walk the short distance to the elevator the woman calls out to him, “I hope your little girl gets better soon.”

He enters and heaves a sigh of relief. “It wasn’t really a lie.” He starts to rationalize it to himself “it was a half truth. Besides which it was for a very good reason…”

With that the elevator stops at his floor and he gets off. He finds the right suite and knocks on the door. Much to his surprise, and he would later admit dismay he was hoping for Jessica to be alone so they could talk, an equally surprised Clint opened the door…



Dorian was tired she had spent the entire day at the hospital. She was also hungry, she realized as she walked through the back door and into her kitchen. It was a good thing, she told herself, that she and Clint had plans for dinner in about an hour, she didn’t really feel like eating by herself. An hour, that would give her just enough time to get ready and meet him at the Palace.

It would be a nice respite after all she had dealt with today. “A chance to laugh away my troubles.” She found herself saying out loud. Oh how she loved how Clint could always make her laugh. He just had this way of always trying to make things better for everyone, not just her. It was one of the things she loved most about him. He had left her a few messages earlier in the day, but she hadn’t gotten them until a little while ago. She had turned off her phone while she was at the hospital so as not to be interrupted. She tried to call him back but had gotten voice mail as well. “Oh well,” she started talking to herself out loud again. “I’ll se him in an hour anyways, I’ll just explain everything to him then.” And with that she left the kitchen to prepare for her evening with Clint.




A short while later Clint was getting into his car outside the Palace, he decided after much deliberation to go back to the mansion and change, and then come back for his dinner with Dorian. ‘Oh! Dorian, damn.’ He thought out loud. He had also left his phone off most of the day. Anyways after Rex had made good on his promise and brought a reluctant Antonio back. But as soon as Clint saw them he directed them away, they had finally calmed Jessie down enough to talk to her and they didn’t need to be put all the way back to square one. It was then he decided to turn off his cell phone if it was really important, they knew where he was, so he didn’t feel the need to keep it on.

Right now, he was wondering if Dorian had gotten his messages. He soon got his answer when he looked at his phone. The first one he got was from Natalie saying something about John. The excitement in her voice made it hard to decipher exactly what she was saying. Then there was one from Dorian. “Hello Clint, I see you have your phone off again.” She chuckles lightly “I just have to freshen up a little and hen I’ll see you at The Palace in an hour. If you get this it’s 6:15 cowboy, don’t be late, or I might just have to punish you…” She adds mischievously. “ I love you, see you later.”

6:15, damn he had less time then he had originally thought. Because when he looked at his watch he realized it was well after six thirty. He would not have the time to get to the mansion and then get back here, even though punishment from Dorian was sounding pretty good! ‘Hmmm’ he murmured mischievously, she was probably just getting out of the shower… He thinks about going over there, but he realizes he’s left his wallet up in Jessie’s room. So he hops out of the car and goes back up to get it…

Once he’s retrieved his wallet he decides that he could really use a drink, besides he’s got the rest of the night to spend with Dorian…



David is sitting at the Palace bar waiting for Viki. She wanted to talk about what had happened last night. David happened to think that last night explained its self. Mostly just a drunken one night stand, but then there was this lingering thought at the back of his mind saying, ‘It’s something more…’ but when he tried to convince Viki that she remained hesitant to let it go, so finally he gave up.

It was then that he saw Clint Buchanan enter. “Oh, great.’ He thought, ‘I think I get now what Viki wants to discuss.’ He slightly hunches over, towards the bar, in hopes that Clint won’t see him. Then he reminded himself, it wasn’t like Clint was that annoying friend who always wants to hang out, Clint hated him even more than he hated Clint, if that was even possible. So he straightened up and looked around, only to see that the only unoccupied bar seat, was the one right next to him. He then realized that Clint was making his way over, as he too had seen the empty chair.

He looks around to see if there is any way for him to get out of here without having any contact with Clint. But then he realizes that Viki is going to be meeting him soon for dinner. So for now, they’re stuck together at the bar, waiting for two women who hate each other, the only things that they have in common are the men that are in their lives. He just hoped they didn’t get here at the same time…




Dorian stepped from her bathroom in her robe. She walked over to her dresser and picked up a clock. She had about 30 minutes before she was to meet Clint. That was if he got her message she thought. ‘Damned Cowboy!’ She smiled to herself. ‘When was he going to get with the twenty first century?!’

She let her-self chuckle a little a little at that, Clint would never get used to all the new electronics for as long as he lived. It was in his blood, he was a Cowboy through and through, and for him horses and buggies would have been acceptable… Well maybe he wasn’t that bad. She thought, he’s not exactly a Quaker by any stretch but well, you know…! Then she walked into her closet to get dressed

Quite a while later after going through half her wardrobe trying to find something perfect she finally settled on a little red and black number. The was a red V-neck, very tailored blazer that flared at the waist with a square cut black tank-top underneath and a very flowey, knee-length skirt. Hurrying now because she was already very late, she picked up a pair of drop earrings and hurried out the door, her hair left loose, just the way Clint liked it…

Meags I'm so far behind. You are really working this! I like how you are picking up their thoughts. And I like Layla. I love the way you are writing her. I wish OLTL used her more!

And Jess....oh geez. Good job.

David/Clint/Viki/Dorian? That should be a good meet up. Fun Read!

Thanks, and yeah it's going to be interesting all right! ;) I've already got everything written I just haven't typed it up!

Speaking of getting behind, when do you think you'll have another chapter out? I'm missing it right about now.

Actually I'm working on it.

It's hard to pick up. But I found some notes and I think I can go from there. It's a goal of mine to finish it and soon.

It's fun when they're in your head and you have the ideas rolling around isn't it? I love being able to play with my favorites and make them say just what they "should" say!

I know, just watching the show there are so many lines I would rewrite for everyone, not just making them say different things but making them say things different ways and things like that. I love being able to express things through fictional characters.

And yay! I can't wait!

I can't wait to read them all together at the Palace. Viki/David/Dorian/Clint. I am enjoying the way that you write Dorian and Clint, Meags and I hearts1.gif the way that Dorian keeps referring to Clint as her cowboy. That nash880.jpg is sly. Looking forward to your next chapter! Also, glad that you will be writing again, Val!

Uh oh, you're making me want to re-write what happened with all your enthusiasm for this particular scene (but I won't). I hope I don't dissapoint you. :( lol