Risk

Chapter XLVI

Strange Conversations

Michael catches both Jason and Stavros looking out on the balcony where Nik and Carly are in a deep serious conversation. "When is Mama going to come in? It's cold out there. And she's not wearing a hat. She always makes me wear a hat."

"What did your mother say, Michael?" Stavros inquires.

"Nuthin. Nikolas said they had business-- private business." Michael goes over to the glass and presses his face to it, squishing his nose against the french door's window pane in the process. "They're shaking hands. That means they're done right?"

Jason shrugs. "That's what it normally means.

Michael whips the door open. "Are you done yet, Mama? Uncle Jason is here. And your tea is getting cold. You want me to order more? I can call room service."

"Michael, stay off the phone." Carly says impatiently. But she gets to her feet. "Yes, we're done for now. There are a lot of things to be done." Carly's comment is to Nikolas and sort of veiled.

Nikolas nods. "I'm sure Lucky will have something to say."

"Hopefully he has his hands full with his skank." Carly replies.

"Mama, what's a skank?"

"It's a bad word." Carly kicks herself. She knew Michael was right there but couldn't leave it alone.

"Like Damn Attorney's?"

"Worse. And Damn Attorney's is two words." Carly replies. "Where is your hat?"

"You're not wearing a hat!" Michael protests but he steps back into the hotel suite anyway.

"Did you show Uncle Jason your pictures from Switzerland?" Carly changes the subject and follows Michael into the suite.

"I'll go get them." Michael goes racing off.

"Carly..." Jason shakes his head.

"Don't start with me." Carly points a finger at Jason. "Just shut the hell up. I know I screwed up." Carly sighs. "He'll probably be calling everything skank now."

Stavros comes over and takes Carly's coat from her throwing it over the couch. "You seem out of sorts. If you continue in such a fashion, Michael will insist on your taking a nap later."

Carly grins up at him. "Oh and I bet you'd suggest it to him. Nap's been cancelled. I'm going to have to go to the glass factory and talk to Manolo."

Stavros looks from Carly over her shoulder to Nikolas. "So that was your private business? Deception?"

Nikolas nods figuring that while Deception was Carly's project that his father was as up to his ears in it as Carly was in the Estate. "First order of things is making it... safe for both of you to return to Port Charles. While most Deception dealings can be done via fax and modem... the occasion might arise..."

Stavros nods. "Stefan is already working on that. Perhaps you can light a fire under him upon your return to Port Charles."

"Where are Gia and Penny?" Nikolas asks Jason as he sits down at the table. Carly takes a seat as well pouring Nikolas a cup of coffee and shoving it his way.

"Gia took Penny shopping." Jason looks over to Stavros. "Once I figured out what Carly had in mind-- I invited Penny along but didn't give her time to do more than grab her coat and passport."

"She was the perfect addition." Carly barely manages to keep the glee out of her voice. "Liz might have been able to wiggle away from me and Gia." Carly makes little quote marks in the air. "Cause we're the bad girls. And you, Jase..." Carly snorts. "...Anybody but you. Still it would have been nice."

"It would have been overkill." Jason says flatly.

Michael comes running out of the back bedroom and climbs up in Jason's lap. He starts with an apology. "These are proofs cause I didn't know we were coming to Italy. Stavros doesn't send stuff to his book guy back in Greece til after we leave a place." Michael leads Jason on an hour by hour explanation of Gstaad.

"You're going to the glass factory?" Nik asks. He keeps his voice low but speaks directly to Carly not interrupting Jason and Michael's conversation.

Carly shrugs. "I could do it by phone but I owe someone a vase." Carly makes a face at Stavros. "Although... Jase, You really should pay for half of it!"

"Um... NO. Considering..." Jason covers Michael's ears and speaks softly. "...you broke the vase over my head."

"Fine-- be that way but you're the one that broke it."

"Yeah, my head got in the way."

"Watcha talkin about?" Michael demands brushing Jason's hands away.

"About maybe finding Sophie a present at the glass factory." Carly covers.

Michael brightens and then frowns. "But Uncle Jason is here! And I haven't seen him FOREVER."

"Nikolas, do you have an international license?" Stavros asks. At Nik's nod. "There. Nikolas will go with you. Jason and I will strive to entertain Michael in your absence."

"You game?" Carly asks Nik.

"Sure."

Carly rises to her feet. She puts a hand at the back of Jason's neck and presses a kiss on the top of Michael's head. Then goes over to Stavros and gives him a quick smooch. "Do not start anything without me."

"Would I do that?" The tongue in cheek is clear. Carly just grabs a bag and her coat and starts for the door shaking her head as she does. Nik gets there before she does and grabs the handle to open it for her.

The Lobby. Carly and Nik have just finished getting a car and directions when Gia and Penny come back from their spree. Nik had expected Penny to be the one on overwhelm but it is Gia who is practically floating with excitement.

"Nik rented a car. You want to go out to the glass factory?"

"Sure!" Penny answers for both of them.

Nik finds the car and unlocks it by remote then opens up the trunk. Penny and Gia throw their bags in the trunk and then climb in the back seat. Carly takes the front passenger seat nobody waiting for Nikolas to open doors. Nik slams the trunk down and sees all his passengers are already seated and in the process of buckling up. He climbs in the driver's seat. Before he can start the ignition, Gia passes him a piece of paper. "I am so off the hook with Marcus. As soon as he sees this, He won't care if I spent the weekend with Jack the Ripper!"

"It's a signature." Nik turns the paper over to see if there is something important on the paper.

"It's an autograph!" Gia gushes. "I can't believe he was just sitting at a cafe have a cup of coffee!"

"Who is Marvin Hagler?" Nik asks. "Does he sing?"

"Oh that explains so much about Taggart." Carly laughs.

"Only the best middle weight boxer ever!" Gia says at the same time. "I didn't know he moved to Milan after he quit fighting. He was just sitting there. Marcus is going to freak." Gia takes back the piece of paper and makes sure it's pressed flat in a compartment in her purse. "Where are we going anyway?"

"To see a guy about some bottles."

"Lucky, say something." Liz pleads as she stares at her boyfriend's back-- hopefully still her boyfriend. "Carly..."

"Stop! Just stop, Elizabeth." Lucky turns around. "You know what ticks me off the most? Aunt Bobbie. I ripped into her; I defended you. My dad ripped into her-- it pushed her even closer to the Cassadines! If you had told me the truth.... And that Jason knew. I wasn't the only that changed the year I was gone. You changed too. You moved on."

"Lucky, I love you!" Liz says tearfully. "Nothing can change that."

"Do you? Or am I... safe?"

"Carly doesn't know what the hell she is talking about! She hates me, Lucky."

"And you hate her too. At least admit it's mutual and the reason you hate her is because of Jason. Because Carly has never done anything to me."

"She tried to cause fights between you and Nikolas, you and your mother!"

"Your battles with her started long before that." Lucky reminds. "And you did more to cause battles between me and Nikolas than Carly ever did."

"What?!"

"You could never just accept Gia could you? Even though she made Nikolas happy for the first time since he came to Port Charles."

"Lucky, she blackmailed Emily!"

"We covered up the murder of an undercover cop! Gia tried to save you from being raped after Zander slipped you some E at that rave! And didn't she try to save you from being killed on the yacht when Nikolas had you drink poison."

"You saved me at that rave not her. And she almost ruined everything! Helena had to believe that Nik would kill me... believe he was really a Cassadine."

"Well baby, I think you're the one that proved that Nikolas is really a Cassadine."

"What are you talking about?"

"One little lie to cover has snowballed into an avalanche, Elizabeth. You've managed to drive a wedge between my Dad and Aunt Bobbie, between me and Aunt Bobbie that the Cassadines could never manage on their own. One little lie that was the catalyst for Gia breaking up with Nik... probably with Nik taking over Deception and turning on my mother. And you know what? Carly had nothing to do with it! That was all you!"

"Lucky! I never meant for anything like that to happen. I was embarrassed okay?! Bobbie wouldn't even give me a chance..."

"Do not put this on Aunt Bobbie." Lucky says between gritted teeth. He exhales sharply. "I'm a Spencer, Elizabeth. You've been around long enough to know what that means. Legal/illegal not really big deal to us. But we know if we get caught-- it's the cost of doing business. You stole, You got caught. Period. We could have dealt with it. This..." Lucky shakes his head.

"Lucky, please..."

"When Jason flies back to the States with my dad I think you should go with them."

"Lucky, no please... let me explain."

"The time for explanations is long over, Elizabeth."

"We can't be over... not over this... not after everything that we've been thru."

"Yeah, that would really suck." Lucky agrees. "But I think we need a little time apart. Time to figure some things out."

"We were apart for over a year!"

"Yeah, and things changed. We've both been trying to pretend that they haven't. Go home, Elizabeth. Once I finish this shoot and returned to Port Charles... if you still want to talk then. We will."

"Lucky..."

"Pack your stuff. I'm going to find Jason." Lucky goes over to the door and not looking back walks out for the second time within twenty four hours.

"Carly, are you sure we have the right address?" Nik asks with a hint of tension in his voice. "We passed the glass factory back there."

"How should I know? It's in Italian. You're the guy that got the directions. Besides nobody is at the factory remember... strike?!" Carly points. "Take a right here." Nik turns off onto a rutted road that had winded up behind the glass factory. Carly squints at the directions. "Okay if I'm reading this right-- it's 1km and then on the right. And the directions say you can't miss it."

"Ha! Famous last words." Gia snorts from the back seat.

"It's so beautiful here." Penny sighs as she stares off to the mountains. "Those are the alps, aren't they?"

"Yep." Carly agrees turning around in her seat so she can look at Penny. "Nik's father has been trying to teach me and my son how to ski. But you know I think I'd have better luck snowboarding. Because I can surf and I can skateboard. Although it's been awhile. But that two skis crossing thing." Carly shakes her head and shudders dramatically. "I was always a better slalom waterskier anyway."

"You were skiing in the Swiss Alps."

''Yeah." Carly grins. "Life is good."

"I think this is it." Nik says without much confidence as he turns down another even more rutted road. Calling it a road is too kind. It's more of a path. And he is very grateful that he is in a rental car rather than his own jag.

"There is a house over there." Carly points. "I see chimneys." Nik pulls up to the house. Carly climbs out and hollars. "Manolo!"

A woman comes out to the front door. "Mrs Corinthos?" She continues in a spat of Italian.

"What did she say?" Carly asks Nik.

"I think she said her husband is in his workshop out back?"

"Grazie!" Carly waves and starts tromping through the snow followed by Nik, Gia and Penny until she finds a cleared path that leads to an outbuilding that is overwhelmed by a huge chimney. Carly knocks on the door but there is no answer so she goes in anyway. A wave of heat hits her.

"Shut the damn door!" A voice in English with a thick brooklyn accent demands.

Penny hurries to shut the door behind her. And then starts unbuttoning and unzipping her coat. Cause it's HOT.

"Manolo?" Carly asks.

"Give me a sec." The guy keeps twisting and blowing working liquid glass until he is satisfied and then cools it in sand breaking off the bottle smoothly. "Yeah. Whatcha want?"

Carly goes forward with her hand out ready to shake. "Carly Corinthos."

Manny strips off his heavy gloves. "Never expected to see you in person." He shakes her hand. "Just a voice on the phone and a check in the mail."

"You ready to go back to work?"

He grimaces. "Yeah, I guess although it's been nice to work on my own stuff. If I wanted to work in a factory... I could have always moved to Detroit. Come on let's go up to the house. Maria's probably got the kettle on by now." He walks over to the door and opens it for everyone checking that every thing is safe and secure before he steps out and locks the door. He takes the lead up to the house going in the back door directly into the kitchen. Being a considerate husband, he knocks his boots before going in the house and tracking over his wife's spotless kitchen floor. Everyone takes the clue and does the same.

"So you don't like working at the factory?" Carly sees a hook inside the door and takes off her coat and hangs it there.

"It pays the bills." Manny shrugs. "I came over here to study and never left. The difference between what I do and what the factory does.... Get comfortable." He indicates the table. "I'll go make some calls and tell everyone it's back to work tomorrow."

"Thanks." Nik says. one thing down and one to go... now to just get the essence back on line.

Lucky knocks on a door. The front desk had called and confirmed that Jason was in this room. Lucky winces knowing that it isn't Jason's room. Which meant it was probably Carly's. He'd prepared himself for another scene but it wasn't one with Carly.

The door is flung open. "Who are you?!" A small child demands.

Lucky looks over the child's head to where Jason and Stavros are sitting. At Michael's demand, Stavros jaw has gone tight and Jason's face blank. He winces. There was no excuse. Sure, he'd been gone a year. But before that... and after. "I'm your Cousin Lucky. Actually I'm your mama's cousin."

"I have uncles--Uncle Lucas, Uncle Sonny, Uncle Jason. I don't have any cousins."

"Yep... and your Uncle Lucas is my cousin Lucas. That makes us cousins too."

"Michael, let Lucky in." Stavros says softly. His voice is in direct conflict with his eyes that are cold. He waits until Michael steps back from the door and Lucky enters. "Since it is apparent you didn't come here to talk to Michael. We shall go make some calls. Come Michael." Stavros rises and holds out a hand to Michael.

"But Uncle Jason..."

"I'll still be here, Buddy. And the more you get done on your school stuff the more time we'll have for exploring later."

"Okay." Michael says reluctantly. He takes Stavros hand and goes in the back bedroom.

Lucky looks around the room and Jason catches him at it. "Carly's out with Nikolas."

"And she just leaves her kid with him?" Lucky indicates with a thumb in the direction of the back bedroom.

"Michael didn't want to go with her because I was here visiting. You didn't come to see Stavros. You had no clue who Michael was. So you here to see Carly? If so I'll give her a message and have her get back to you."

"I was actually looking for you."

"Oh? About what?"

"My dad for one."

"He's fine. We'll be leaving back to Port Charles in the morning. If Carly and Stavros follow their normal pattern, even if your father gets a flight back to Italy the same day they'll be gone. Next."

"Elizabeth."

"What about her?"

"Will you take her back to Port Charles too when you go?"

Carly hugs the well packed package to her. It wasn't going in the trunk. It wasn't going to leave her hands until she could unwrap it infront of Stavros. "Damn if I knew there were vases out there like this one I would have broken all of those damn Ming vases long ago."

Nikolas winces. "Apples and oranges, Carly. The Ming vases have history. And you don't have to break the Mings to get these too." But he drives extra carefully over the rutted road to keep the jarring to a minimum. Carly hadn't been the only one to go nuts once they'd realized that the glass in Manolo's house he'd created in the backshed furnace and was for sale. Gia and Penny had also cast lustful eyes. He'd managed to make a deal with Manny after he'd called from making his calls to get the workers back to the factory. Tomorrow. Tomorrow they'd start working on the Deception order. "How did you meet that guy anyway?"

"Ha! Like I'm going to give away my secrets." Carly teases. "You've got the bottles. But you're not getting the essence until we have a deal hammered out." She breathes a little easier as they get back onto a smoothly paved road that leads back to Milan. "So what's everyone up for when we get back to the hotel? More shopping?" Carly looks back over at Gia and Penny. "I didn't have a chance to do my research on Milan before we arrived. But Michael should have a list of all the hot spots by the time we get back to the hotel."

"Michael?" Nikolas looks over at her in disbelief.

"You bet. He always finds at least one thing I'll like about a place. And the shopping is an easy one."