AnotherWorld - View topic - Part 3 of AW ~ The Rewrite - The *Fans* Board - Free Message Board Hosting by FreePowerBoards.com

Another World ~ October 1995: The Rewrite

Prologue

Part III: The Meeting

Still cramped in the corner of Room 252, he tried to shift his weight from his left leg to his right and recalled the last time he felt this confined. It was a couple of weeks ago when he snuck aboard the small jet that brought him back to Bay City. Halfway during the flight, while the plane was cruising at 37,000 feet, the man remembered his name: Mitchell Lewis Blake. He also remembered the woman, Felicia, was his wife and the young man was his son, Matthew, by ex-lover Rachel Cory. He spent the rest of the flight trying to figure out where Felicia’s little girl fit in his life, if at all. When the plane landed and all had disembarked, Mitch Blake crept out of the aircraft. He was too late to follow Felicia, Matt and the girl to their destination but that was all right with him. He had to get his bearings and become reacquainted with the seedier side of Bay City. It didn’t take him long to find a room on the east side of town. Two days later, he was standing in the hallway outside Suite 2416 of the Love Tower.

“What do I do now?” Mitch thought as he stared at the door. He barely had time to make it around the corner when the door opened. The little girl from the restaurant and plane came sneaking out, a backpack flung over her shoulder and a key in her hand. She closed the door quietly as if someone was sleeping inside and she didn’t want to wake them. He thought she was going to turn right toward the elevator but before he could react she rounded the corner and bumped into him. She stared up at him for a moment, startled. He recognized the ivory skin, big green eyes and the head of rich, dark curls. He had no doubt that this is what Felicia Gallant looked like at eight years old. “Excuse me, Mister” she said with just the slightest hint of attitude and started quickly down the hallway. He thought he was going to jump out of his skin when she suddenly turned and looked at him again and asked softly “Are you lost?” For a moment he didn’t know how to answer that. Should he tell the child the truth? That, yes, he has been very lost for a long time and the only answers he seems to find lie in his obsession with her and her mother? “No” he answered, “I just went the wrong way.” “The elevator is around that way if that’s what you’re looking for.” And with that matter-of-fact statement she turned and continued down the hall. He knew that it was wrong to follow her but resigned himself to the fact that he had followed her this far, he might as well see where she was going. She got into the service elevator and was gone. He was very familiar with that elevator and knew exactly where she was going with the key. The rooftop of Love Tower.

As he suspected, the key the girl was carrying was to gain entrance to the roof. She used the key, unlocked the door and closed and locked it again behind her. Against his better judgment, he picked the lock with no problem (another “skill” he seemed to have acquired), stayed out of sight and watched as she sat on a bench. She pulled a notebook out of the backpack and began writing. As he tried to get comfortable without making a sound, he suddenly remembered Felicia’s last visit to Africa, how they both admitted they had been unfaithful to each other while separated and the sad realization that although they still loved one another, love alone was not going to be enough for them. He knew when Felicia left that day that she was going home to Bay City and to Lucas. Lucas. Of course. This was Lucas’s child, Lucas’s daughter. That was why he didn’t have any memory of her. She was born to Felicia and Lucas after he had left Bay City. He smiled to himself as he recalled the conversations he and Felicia had about whether or not the two of them would have children when they married. The conversation with Lucas must have gone in an entirely different direction, he thought to himself.

“You really shouldn’t sneak up on people.” He jumped, startled, suddenly realizing that the girl was looking directly at him.

“Didn’t your mom ever teach you not to talk to strangers?” he asked sheepishly, knowing full well how he got onto the roof and wondering if he was frightening her.

“You’re not really a stranger are you?” she replied in the same matter-of-fact tone she had used earlier. She didn’t appear to be the least bit frightened.

"What makes you say that? he inquired.

“Are you hungry?” she asked, ignoring his question. “You can have part of my snack.” She reached into her backpack.

He was very hungry and accepted the snack without hesitation, though he was still confused by her response. As they shared a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, he learned that she snuck up to the roof whenever the opportunity presented itself, which meant when the nanny fell asleep watching her “stories.” She was careful not to stay too long and prided herself on being able to sneak back into the suite before anyone noticed. She spent minimal time with the nanny, instead happily tagging along with her mother to TOPS or Wallingford’s, the bookstore Felicia owned with Cass and Frankie, where she loved playing with the Winthrops’ little girl, Charlie. Lately though, Felicia had been spending more and more time with Mr. Lockhart and her disappointment at having to share her mother’s time was apparent.

"Who’s Mr. Lockhart?” Mitch asked, not sure if the inquiry would anger the child.

“My mom’s been doing out on dates with him. You know, the kind where you dress up all fancy,” she replied without a lot of enthusiasm.

“You don’t like Mr. Lockhart?” he asked, not sure what response he was looking for.

“He’s okay, but he always has on a suit and he uses big words I don’t understand. I think he does it on purpose. He’s a lawyer or something like Uncle Cass but I don’t think he likes kids. Plus, he’s not even a Cubs fan!” she exclaimed as if that was this Lockhart’s worst fault. “Oh and he likes to call me Belle, like from ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ you know, the girl in the yellow dress?” She made the finger down the throat gesture and he laughed despite the fact that he didn’t have a clue about the girl in the yellow dress.

“Oh, so you like the Cubs?” he asked, realizing that he may have found some common ground. If this was Lucas’s daughter, he was hard-pressed to find any resemblance.

“I love the Cubs!! Matt used to take me to games all the time. At least before Donna,” she stated with a hint of a snicker.

“Donna?” he asked, and then thought of how proud he was of his son to have remained close enough to Felicia to take her daughter to Cubs games.

“Donna Hudson, he’s gonna marry her.” she answered, then rolled her eyes.

“Wait a minute, Matthew is marrying Donna Hudson, the Donna Hudson?” he asked, somewhat confused.

The girl nodded, seeming to understand his confusion. She had that the same incredulous look on her face that Felicia had years ago every time she was reminded that Lucas was going to marry Iris.

They ate in silence for a few moments, and then he started to ask the real questions he wanted answered.

“So, your mom, she’s not married?”

“No, not anymore.”

“Um…was she married?” he asked, then held his breath for the answer. He remembered that he and Felicia had agreed to a divorce but he disappeared before any paperwork was filed. He got a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach when he wondered if she had him declared legally dead.

“Yes,” she answered, simply.

“Yes?” he asked, his voice rising slightly at the end.

“Yes,” she said again, not realizing he was looking for more than a one-word answer.

“To Lucas?” he asked, pretty sure he already knew what she would say.

“Yes, but I don’t really remember him though. He died when I was really little,” she said in the matter-of-fact tone he had come to recognize.

“Lucas…died?” he asked, still not totally comprehending what she just said.

“Yes, he was killed. My mom was sad for a long time. And…well…she…she was just very sad… .” Her voice trailed off and he knew there was more to the story but he wasn’t sure if it was right of him to inquire the details from her. She couldn’t have been more than eight or nine years old he decided, though she had maturity about her that he found refreshing. Still, he could tell the conversation was making her uncomfortable, as if she didn’t want to be reminded of the details. He recalled meeting Felicia right after her husband, Zane Lindquist, had been killed and he knew how devastated she was by his death. He didn’t want to think about the grief that Felicia, and her daughter, must have gone through when Lucas died. Perhaps this little girl had no choice but to be mature.

“I’m sorry. I know what it’s like to lose your dad when you are very young.” he said sadly, realizing that he had more in common with her than simply the Cubs.

“It’s okay. Like I said, I was kinda little so I don’t really remember him. And he wasn’t my real dad” she said, then added quickly, “He was my step dad.”

“Step dad? Okay, wait then who’s your…”

“Izzie? Isabelle, are you up here?” It was Felicia and the irritation in her voice was something the both of them had heard more than once before. As she got closer to them, Mitch slipped quickly behind a bench. Izzie started scrambling for the rooftop exit but didn’t quite get there in time to stop her mother from yelling for her again.

“Isabelle Wallingford BLAKE!” she yelled again, more sternly. “Get your little hind end over here RIGHT NOW!”

And with that, Izzie mouthed, “See ya” and she was gone, knowing full well she could rush by her mother and get down the stairs before Felicia even stepped onto the elevator. This evasive tactic worked perfectly in her favor every time.

Mitch Blake just stood there frozen for a few moments, the realization sinking in that he had just been carrying on a conversation with his own eight-year-old daughter. Not Lucas’s daughter, his daughter. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry so he just remained immobile. And then he smiled. Had anyone seen him, they might have said this was Mitch Blake’s biggest smile ever.

~ TO BE CONTINUED ~

_________________
"It has been a magnificent journey..." ~ Linda Dano, 1999 Daytime Emmys

https://twitter.com/AWFans