"Daddy..." Belle shakes her head in disbelief. She suspected it was bad, but this...? "Daddy cheated on you? No Mom there must be some mistake, he completely adores you."
"No honey," Grace wears the expression of distress with expert deception. "There's no mistake. Your father told me himself."
"I don't understand," Belle's blue eyes fill with tears. "Why would he do something like that Mom? Why?"
"Oh baby, I don't know," Grace reaches out and smoothes Belle's hair. "I wish I could give you some kind of reason but I can't. I don't understand it myself."
"Are you and Dad..." the girl's chin quivers as she fights the tears and Grace is silently amused by such weakness. She is certainly her mother's daughter. "Are you going to separate?"
"Honey, I don't know," Grace frowns. "I think we have a lot of things to work out. I can't really tell you one way or the other."
"But how can you work them out when he's not even here Mom?" Belle asks, the tears dribbling down her cheeks.
"I need some time Belle, some time to work out how I feel and what this means for all of us." Grace pushes herself off the sofa and walks to the window. It's all she can do not to laugh. The child is so trusting and accepting it's pitiful.
"But Mom, we just got to be a family," Belle pulls a cushion into her arms and then hugs it to her as she sobs quietly. "I don't want Daddy to move out."
"Oh honey," Grace turns back to Marlena's daughter. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you. This isn't going to be easy for any of us."
She pauses a moment and then her face lights up as though she has just had an idea. "Why don't you go and spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Evans in Colorado?"
"Colorado?" Belle's voice is timid.
"Sure," Grace nods as she moves back to where Belle sits and rubs the back of the girl's hand with all the fake affection she can muster. "Sweetheart, I'm not sure that it's going to be very pleasant around here for a while. It might be better for you to go and have some time with your grandparents where you can enjoy yourself and not get caught up in what's happening between your father and I."
"But," Belle shakes her head, her eyes are a cornflower blue and drenched with moisture, "Mom I won't be happy not knowing what's going on here."
"We can talk on the phone Belle," Grace's tone brooks no argument. Then she softens. "Please honey, it will be easier for me if I know you are away from all this."
Belle thinks about arguing with her mother, but her own distress precludes any coherent form of disagreement. She is devastated to discover that her perfect parents are not as perfect as she has thought. Especially her father.
"I feel sick," she moans softly.
"Why don't you go upstairs and get yourself sorted out and I'll call your Grandma?" Grace suggests with little sympathy. She wants to get the brat out of the way before she starts to cause trouble.
Belle turns her head and looks at her mother, her blue eyes narrowing slightly. There is something about her mother that is... not quite right. Belle can't quite put her finger on it, but...
"C'mon sweetheart, it'll be okay." Grace folds awkward arms around Belle. She hates this but she can't afford to raise the girl's suspicions. "I promise you, whatever happens, things will be okay."
Belle slips her own slender arms around her mother's waist and buries her face against Marlena's shoulder, letting the tears fall until they create a darkened area of moisture in the red fabric. Grace rolls her eyes and then looks at her martini with longing.
As soon as she can extricate herself from this scene with the child, she will arrange for her to fly to Colorado immediately. Then she will be free to put the next phase of her scheme into action.
~
"Marlena?" Grace is in Marlena's office contemplating where to go for lunch when she hears John Black's voice. She sighs inwardly and swings the chair around to meet his entrance.
"Marlena, what the hell is this about Belle going to Colorado?" he demands without preamble.
"That's right," she leans back in her chair, "she left at eight this morning. She should be there by now."
"What the hell do you think you're doing putting Belle on a plane by herself to go halfway across-country?" he challenges her. "And without consulting me first?"
"Oh I'm sorry," Grace's expression hardens. "I wasn't aware I had to clear it with the committee when I made a decision concerning *my* daughter's welfare." She pauses for a moment, considering her next route of attack. "And why are you so big on sharing all of a sudden anyway? Is this a case of one rule for you and one for everyone else?"
"Doc, this is not about you and me," John's jaw tenses. He knows she is hurting and hitting back and it's hard to see her so angry, knowing that he is the cause.
"John, it's *entirely* about you and me," Grace pushes the chair out from the desk and stands up. She's not about to let John Black gain the vantage over her in any respects. "I'm not about to let Belle get caught up in what's going on between us. And if you don't like it, well it's tough shit."
"What *is* going on between us Marlena?" John presses angrily. This isn't going the way it should be going. He's gone about it all wrong, as per usual. "You haven't even *talked* to me since I told you the truth..."
"No, since you were *forced* to tell me the truth, by *Stefano*," she rubs it in, enjoying his grimace as she spits the words at him. "Why the hell should I put myself out to talk to you *anyway*?"
"Because we're married, because we have to sort this out," John says frantically.
"We're married?" she looks surprised and to his shock, she laughs briefly. It is not a laugh he recognizes and he feels a chill visit him. "You could have fooled me. I thought married people didn't *lie* to each other, didn't *cheat* on each other..." she glares at him and then shakes her head. "Oh what the hell's the use?"
"Marlena.... Doc... honey look, I am *so* sorry for what happened," John can't deal with the coldness in her golden eyes. He needs to make her understand, he's desperate for her to understand. "I really am, but you *have* to believe, I didn't *cheat* on you. Not in my heart. I wasn't aware of what was happening, I was basically someone else and I wasn't even aware the present existed."
"Oh save it John," she's bitter and angry and he knows he's losing the battle. "Why don't you go and tell someone who cares. Like Hope." She raises her finger with the hint of a smile. "Oh that's right, I forgot. You're lying to her too."
"Doc-" He starts toward her but she takes a step back, the lilac coloured dress she is wearing moving fluidly over her body. God, she's so gorgeous, she's so amazing and wonderful; and he has totally screwed up her life *again*. Why does he keep doing it, he wonders? He's tried to stay away from her, but somehow, it never seems to work. He loves her beyond life itself and it's tearing him up inside to know he has done this to her.
He doesn't know why she should forgive him; he'll never forgive himself. But he needs it all the same. "Doc, please I-"
"John, don't you get it?" Grace is getting bored with this; she has more important fish to be frying. "I don't want to hear it. I don't want to know *anything* about what happened with Hope. I don't want to know the why's the how's, *or* the wherefores. I just don't want to know. And even less than that, I don't want to talk about this any more."
"Marlena, I'm not leaving." John folds his arms and stands his ground. "We need to settle this, we can't let this destroy us, not after everything-"
"You should have thought of that *before* you screwed Hope, *stud*." Grace feels surprisingly bitter about what John has done and she reasons that even though he cheated on Marlena, it is still her body and thus it is a betrayal of her too, in a way. But the anger passes after a moment and her expression alters to convey a slight air of boredom. "Look, I have work to do." She moves back to her desk and shuffles the papers arrayed there. She speaks again without raising her eyes. "You know where the door is. Don't let it hit your ass on the way out."
"Doc, I said I'm *not* going," John is getting angry again. He doesn't recognize this cold, distant Marlena and he knows he has to get her angry to have any chance of breaking through this barricade she has built around her. "You can't just brush me off, it doesn't work like that."
Grace looks up, her hazel eyes burning with antagonism. "And who are you to tell me how *it* works?" She has had quite enough of this. "This *is* my office and I *will* call security if you don't leave now. *That*, John, is how it works."
"I don't think you'll have to do that," a voice sounds from the doorway and Grace looks up to find Craig Wesley entering her office. A deliciously naughty smile finds her lips as she watches Craig bear down on John. "You heard the lady, Black. It's time for you to leave."
"Stay out of this, Wesley," John growls as he turns back to Marlena who is looking down at the papers on her desk again. "Doc, please reconsider. At least let me explain."
Marlena sighs and rolls her eyes at Craig. He nods and lays his hand on John's arm. "I think you got your answer buddy. Now let's go."
"Doc!" John's tone is beseeching but Grace simply shuffles the papers in front of her, refusing to look at him.
He feels Craig's hand on his arm and he throws it off angrily. "All right Doc, I'll go." Contrary to his words, he takes a step towards his wife but he stops as he feels Craig at his back. "But this isn't over Marlena. I'm not giving up on us and I know deep down you don't want to either. I know you're hurt and angry and baby, you have every right to be. I'm the first one to admit that. But I'm going to make it up to you, I promise. I don't care how long it takes, I will be that man that you love and trust again..."
He splutters to a halt, desperate for some kind of reaction from the woman behind the desk. But he is rewarded only with silence. His shoulders slump as he watches her impassive expression and he can only guess at the emotional tempest that's taking place behind the façade.
But there is nothing he can do right now, nothing that he can say that will take away her pain and her anger. And he deserves every bit of anger and hatred that she throws his way, he knows that. But he can't give up. She is his world and without her, he is simply cast adrift on oceans of sadness and oblivion.
"I love you Doc," he whispers quietly. The pain that emanates from the centre of his being just grows with each second that she ignores him. And finally he is left with no choice but to turn and walk from her office.