Hope
stared down at her clasped hands and Bo couldn’t read anything on her face. For
almost an hour she had listened to him as he told the whole story, not leaving
out what Shane told him, Roman and Abe. For the first twenty minutes she’d
stared hard at him then lowered her gaze, letting him talk with no
interruptions; which he didn’t expect. Now she was deathly calm, her face
expressionless as he ended his narrative. Bo waited for her to say something
and when she didn’t, reached for her hand. She immediately recoiled as though
he had a contractible disease. ‘Don’t you touch
me.’ She hissed, her voice trembling.
‘You’re
mad and I understand. I just never imagined I would ever see her again and in
this situation. The initial plan was simply help her get her memory back.’
Hope
finally raised her eyes and he saw that her face now wore a look of scorn. ‘And
I suppose sleeping with her was some form of therapy, huh?’
Bo
bristled at the insulting words but kept his temper. ‘Before Lawrence Alamain
took her away from me, Carly and I had a life; a wonderful life with Shawn D.
She was there for both of us in many ways… I know it hurts you to hear that but
it’s the truth. After Shane gave us his report and then she got shot saving
your life and Ciara’s; more than ever
I felt I owed it to her to help her get her memory back.’ He paused then
continued, ‘the rest of it… it wasn’t planned. It just happened and we’re
together now. You needed to hear it from me, which is why I asked you to meet
me here today.’
‘How
convenient for both of you. She
doesn’t remember you and you found yourself falling in love with an ex fiancée
who left you and our son… an ex fiancée you never
told me about! Was losing her that
painful that you just couldn’t tell me about her?’
‘I
had moved on with my life!’ Bo snapped back defensively. ‘With everything we
went through to stay together and the life we had, what was the point of bringing
up Carly Manning at all? She had nothing to do with us.’
Hope was silent for a minute, her anger mounting. ‘Well,
now I know who really replaced me while I was gone! I cannot believe you did this to me, Brady. I might buy that Clarice…
Carly… whatever her name is, fell in
love with you even in her present state but you… over two decades of us, you threw
all that away in an instant.’
‘You were willing to, the night you moved out of our
house, remember?’ Bo replied, his voice now cold. ‘And before you accuse me any
further; remember this. I never
expected to ever see Carly again. I never planned on falling in love with her
all over again but it happened. She’s back in my life and she’s going to stay in my life, amnesia or not.’
‘And that’s because she’s everything I’m not, isn’t it?’ Hope asked adamantly.
‘Let’s not do this, Hope.’
‘No, you’ll answer me right now since we’re being
honest here. She’s everything I’m not,
right… giving you all the warmth and harmony you didn’t get from me. Is that
how she was when she was Carly Manning; agreeing
with you every time?’
She knew from the expression on Bo’s face that he was
struggling to control his temper and braced herself for a defensive tirade. Bo
longed to tell her that while Carly was at times a tad too stubborn- just like
her- at least she would never have taken their child away from him or make him
feel he’d failed her in anyway, like she did. But he had a 25 year old history
with Hope and she was still Shawn D and Ciara’s mother; hence didn’t want to
hurt her by comparing her unfavourably with Carly. At the long run, he still
hoped they would be able to remain amicable friends. ‘I’m not going to dignify
your question with an answer.’ He said instead. ‘I’ve told you what I feel you
got the right to know. You’re mad but be mad at me, not her and I don’t want you go confronting her about a past
she doesn’t remember or feel that what happened between us is her fault; you know it’s not. And don’t let Victor
poison your mind against her either because he’ll try.’
The
part about Victor marrying Carly and then battling Bo over her later, had appalled
and disgusted Hope. ‘You can’t expect me to believe Victor tried to kill you.
He’s many things but you’re his son,
his flesh and blood.’
‘Victor’s
not above anything and he did try to
kill me.’ Bo snapped. It was a very long time ago but not something he’ll ever
forget, especially since it was Carly who walked into the trap instead. ‘He
even had the boat torched, imagine if Shawn D had been in there when it
happened. All because he couldn’t stand the idea Carly wanted to end that sham
of a marriage and be with me.’
Hope
felt sick at the level of Victor’s jealousy, still finding it appalling he
would do such a thing to Bo. Father and son, fighting over the same woman- both
men determined to win her. She swallowed, jealousy stabbing her in the gut. No
wonder Bo never told her about Carly Manning; their history was something
worthy of a movie! ‘I won’t discuss her with Victor.’ She said stiffly. ‘And I
guess I have to appreciate you telling me everything. But don’t expect me to
carry on as if I’m okay with the situation because I’m not. I’m angry, I’m hurt and I can’t pretend! I just can’t!’ She grabbed her purse and got up.
‘Hope
wait…’ Bo rose as well.
‘I
need to be by myself right now so just leave me alone.’ Hope hurled at him,
tears tricking the corner of her eyes. ‘Just let me be, okay?’ she left The Java, slamming the glass door behind
her. Bo sighed heavily. Well, it was done. Hope knew the whole story, now he
and Carly can stop sneaking around. He felt sorry for Hope; he would be upset
if he were in her shoes. Just as well she left, she needed time to cool off and
look at the situation more calmly. Paying the check, he went back to the
station. Clarice raised her eyes from the papers she was studying and smiled at
him as he entered her office. ‘Hi. Where were you?’
‘I
took Hope out for coffee and… I told her about us.’
Clarice
rose from her desk, her expression sober. ‘How did she take it?’ she asked,
walking to him.
‘As expected, not well.’
‘Oh
no.’ She shook her head.
‘Hey,
hey,’ Bo said, holding her face between his palms. ‘We’ve talked about this
many times, no guilt.’
‘I
can’t help it, I really feel bad for her. What woman would be happy knowing the
reason her marriage ended?’
‘Will
you stop that already? You’re not the reason and I don’t want to ever
hear you say that again.’
‘It’s
just...’ Clarice paused then went on, ‘you two were married for a very long
time.’
‘And
she walked out on me and no matter how much I begged, all I got was rejection
and then the divorce papers she had
me served with. This is the same argument we had when you had doubts about us
being together and what did I tell you?’
‘Pretty
much what you’re telling me now.’ She replied quietly, fiddling with his tie.
‘So,
no guilt because we’ve nothing to be guilty about. We love each other, that’s
not wrong.’
‘No…
no, it isn’t. But I still feel…’
‘Hope’s
going to be okay. After thinking things through, she’ll begin to accept it. She
just needs time.’
Clarice
nodded. ‘I just hope you’re right.’
‘I
am. Stop worrying about it.’ Stroking
her hair, he held her close. Clinging to him, Clarice imagined what Hope must
be feeling and how she would approach her from now on. And will Ciara remain
friendly with her after Bo informed her she was now his girlfriend? Clarice didn’t
want Bo having problems with his children because of her; she was yet to meet
the son Bo kept talking about. From the way he spoke of him, they sounded very
close and she hoped he wouldn’t resent her for being the new woman in his
father’s life.
Little
did she know that Bo had informed Shawn Douglas all about her via Skype. To Bo’s
relief, while his son was not exactly happy about the divorce, his reaction
about him dating Carly wasn’t of condemnation either. ‘Not even me, she doesn’t remember me?’ Shawn D exclaimed incredulously, barely getting
over Carly’s huge change in professional status and how she’d saved his mother
and sister.
‘No,
she doesn’t. She saw some old photos of you at Mum’s but she felt nothing
familiar. I don’t know how long it’s
going to be before she gets her memory back. The few flashes I know of were of
Larry beating her but she just thinks it’s a nightmare and an unexplainable premonition.
I don’t know if she’s had others.’
‘Dad,
this is terrible.’
‘An
understatement.’ Bo replied grimly. ‘But I swore I’ll do all I can for her and I
will, no matter how long it takes. Roman feels that gradually she’ll start
remembering things herself but I’m going to go about digging up some stuff that
might trigger something.’
Shawn
Douglas had wished him luck on it and promised to come over to Salem on a visit
as soon as he could.
‘By the way,’ Bo said, raising her head. ‘I’m taking
Ciara out for the day on Saturday. Will you come with us?
‘Of
course, I’d love to.’ Clarice’s eyes lit up at the thought of a whole day’s bonding
with Ciara. Whether it was because she was Bo’s little girl or she rescued her
from Dean; she felt a deep affinity towards her, a feeling she could only
describe as maternal. It surprised Clarice she would feel that way, after being
alone for so long but it was there, hence the great hope Ciara would still like
her after Bo explained the situation.
Bo
smiled, pleased to see the worried expression on her face earlier was gone. ‘You’ll
see that Ciara won’t change her mind about you,’ he assured her, sensing what
still lurked at the back of her mind. ‘She loves you.’
‘And
I love her too, I really do.’ Clarice touched his face. ‘And I hope I get to
know Shawn Douglas soon enough, I’m pretty sure I’ll like him too.’
Bo
thought about how upset his son was over Clarice’s inability to remember him,
he would cringe if he heard what she just said.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hope walked on and on, lost in her thoughts until she
got to the docks and stared down at the water.
Severe
Retrograde Amnesia. At first, Hope wanted to believe it was an elaborate
trick on Clarice’s part. But after hearing from Bo what Shane told him about
her, she had to accept Clarice’s condition was genuine. And from now on, she
would have to watch Bo with her. The same woman who
replaced me while I was gone but doesn’t remember... how’s that for bitter
irony? Hope Brady thought yet again,
fresh anger and pain cruising through her. I hate
her.
She sighed in frustration, her mind in turmoil. How
can she bring herself to hate the woman who saved her life and Ciara’s… nearly at the cost of her own. It was no point pretending she was the reason
they were divorced. Deep
down, Hope knew she brought it all on herself but blaming Bo’s amnesiac
girlfriend seemed a lot easier than blaming herself. The family didn’t say so,
but she knew they also thought she was to blame for the divorce but will never
say it to her face. Who could she talk to about it? After Clarice’s heroic act,
no one had reason to speak ill against her. Hope Williams Brady felt so much
alone.
‘Hope.’
She
raised her head, smiling faintly at Justin who walked up to her. ‘What’s wrong?
Did something happen?’
‘Bo,
he… he called me today and he had quite the story to tell me.’
‘Clarice?’
Justin asked warily.
‘You
mean Carly Manning, his ex fiancée. You know, a little heads up would’ve been
nice.’
‘It
wasn’t anyone’s place to tell you the truth; it had to come from Bo. We were
just as shocked when she resurfaced right out of the blue like that.’
Hope
turned away to stare back at the river. ‘Were you friends with her?’
‘Well…
yeah.’ Justin said uncomfortably. ‘Adrienne and I met her on our honeymoon. We
mentioned Salem to her and she was immediately interested. She was just starting
her internship at the time…’
‘I’m
not interested.’ Hope interrupted bitterly.
For
a while Justin watched her, not knowing what to say.
‘All
of a sudden he fell in love with her all over again and couldn’t wait to get rid
of his bitchy, neurotic wife.’ Hope said at last, her voice trembling. ‘I would
have a problem with any woman Bo dates but why does it have to be her of all women? It’s so humiliating.’ She
felt Justin’s arms come round her shoulders and tried to shake them off. ‘No…
don’t…’
‘Don’t
be silly.’ Justin said gruffly, turning her round to hug her. ‘If there’s
anyone who really needs a shoulder to cry on, it’s you. Just let it out.’
Hope’s
shoulders shook as she sobbed and Justin held her tightly, soothing her with
soft, consoling words.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
‘Clarice.’
Clarice
tore her eyes away from the priceless pictures on the walls to find herself
staring at Victor Kiriakis’ hard face. For the umpteenth time, she found it
hard to see any resemblance between this career criminal and her lover. The few
times they met, she always noticed the same thing; the rather sneering way he
pronounced her name. At first it baffled her, today it annoyed her. She hoped
Bo and Ciara wouldn’t be long; she didn’t want a lengthy conversation with
Victor.
‘Mr.
Kiriakis.’ She replied coolly, folding her arms.
‘What’s
with the formality? After what you did for Hope and my granddaughter, I thought
we were past that.’ Victor looked at his ex wife carefully, after all this time
still trying to get used to the fact that she truly had no memory of her past
life as Dr. Carly Manning. The woman who betrayed him and then left Bo later. She
was the reason Bo and Hope were no longer married; if she hadn’t come back to
Salem Bo would never have gone through with the divorce. In spite of her heroic
act, he blamed her for that. And it infuriated him that even after so many years,
despite her new identity; Bo was immediately affected enough to choose her over
his wife. What did Carly ever do except keep more and more secrets from Bo and
in the end left him and Shawn for Alamain and their bratty son. Now even Ciara
was taken in by her.
‘Maybe
I’d just rather be formal, Mr. Kiriakis.’
‘I hope you realize the damage you’ve done to
an innocent woman.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘My
daughter-in-law. How do you sleep at night knowing you destroyed her life?’ Hope
had returned to the mansion with red eyes a few days ago and it didn’t take him
long to guess Bo had come clean with her. She however refused to talk about it
with him or about Clarice herself.
‘I
am not going to bother dignifying that stupid
question with an answer.’ Clarice replied, equally coldly. Her profiler
training told her what Kiriakis was
doing. He knew the facts about Bo’s failed marriage, as well as everyone else.
But his unexplainable dislike for her was giving him the need to demean her… a
petty attempt to make her feel guilt for something she had no hand in.
Victor
tried to stare her down but the green eyes stared back at him; hard and
unflinching. There was a time Carly feared him and he had hoped that fear would be enough to bring her
back to him. But Bo, not the least bit scared of him, had urged her to go ahead
with the annulment. While she was recovering from the injuries she sustained
from the elevator crash, he had used veiled threats to get her to change her
mind. But there he overplayed his hand, because she had lashed out at him; her fear
of him gone. He could still remember her harsh, angry words.
‘You
don’t scare me anymore! You don’t control me like every other woman you’ve tried
to possess! You’re nothing but a fraud Victor, that’s all you ever were and
what you will always be. I tell you what…why don’t you just go to Greece and retire;
stay there. That way, nobody in town will know the truth about you… that you
are nothing but a miserable, cowardly excuse of a human being. Now get out of
here or I’ll get up and have you taken away! Consider it a final favor Victor-
call it *pity*, I don’t care! Just get out!’
Looking
back, Victor believed his hatred for Carly had begun from that moment. He hid
it very well for appearances’ sake but deep down, the hate was there;
growing when she constantly lied to Bo
and then went on to break his heart later on. He didn’t believe for a moment
their break up had been mutual; all he knew is that she hadn’t loved Bo enough
to stay with him or enough for Bo to fight harder for her. She had played them
both for fools. And now she was back, with no memory of her sins. Out of the
two of them, Bo was the bigger fool, allowing her back into his life and ending
his marriage. It was all her fault.
‘You’re a home wrecker and a whore.’ He said, his attempt at courtesy gone,
anticipating her angry reaction. Maybe he could still wear her down and hit a
nerve as they battled with words.
‘And
you’re a controlling and manipulative career criminal who thinks words can break me.’ was her scornful
reply. ‘You’re trying to get me mad; you’re hungry for my reaction to your
insults. I’ve profiled characters like
you and I study behavior so don’t think you can say anything to shock me. Bo is
an adult, so’s Hope. She made her choice that night, no one made it for her.
She ignored all advice, including mine. So… I have nothing to be sorry for.’
‘You’ll
be a lot sorrier when I’m done with you.’
Clarice’s
eyes narrowed. ‘A threat?’ She asked
slowly.
Victor
inwardly cursed. He’d forgotten she was now in law enforcement and Bo and Roman
will fall on him like an avalanche if Carly told them what he just said.
Before
he could speak, Bo and Ciara came down the stairs hand in hand. ‘Hi, Clarice!’
the child exclaimed, running into her arms.
‘Hi,
sweetie. All set?’ The little girl nodded eagerly.
‘Come
on, girls.’ Bo said genially, smiling as Clarice took Ciara’s hand. He turned to Victor. ‘Tell Hope I’ll have
Ciara back by six.’
Victor
nodded curtly, watching Clarice leave with his son and granddaughter. But the
ominous look she gave him on her way out told him she wasn’t going to shrug off
his words that easily. It was a stupid, impulsive mistake on his part but he
couldn’t help it, she brought out the worst in him.
How
to get her claws off Bo, was the nagging question.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
She walks in beauty, like the night; of
cloudless climes and starry skies…
And all that’s best
of dark and bright…
‘Princess,
are you okay?’
Clarice
forced herself back to the present, meeting Bo and Ciara’s gaze. ‘I’m fine.
Why?’
‘You’re
not eating.’ Ciara indicated the uneaten sandwich on Carly’s plate.
‘And
you seem far away. What is it?’ asked Bo.
‘It’s
nothing really.’ Clarice insisted, taking a bite out the roast beef sandwich,
though she wasn’t hungry like she thought. Those verses keep popping into her head,
has been for some time now. It was the poem she heard being recited in her
dream. Typing the first line on Google, she’d discovered they were words from
Lord Byron’s She Walks in Beauty; a
love poem. She wasn’t a big fan of poetry but the words just wouldn’t fade away
from her mind. Not sure what Bo would make of her strange dream, she didn’t share
it with him; wanting to work it out on her own.
‘Are
you sure?’ Ciara placed her hand on her lap, looking at her anxiously.
‘I’m
sure.’ Clarice leaned over to kiss the child on the forehead, ruffling her
hair. Bo looked at her carefully, wondering if she was experiencing another
memory. Back in the day they often picnicked with Shawn D at this very park. Remember something princess, he said in
his heart; still watching her. In the meantime he was glad she and his daughter
were getting along. It was mostly due to Clarice rescuing her and then later
saving her from Dean that made Ciara hero-worship her. Contrary to Clarice’s
fears, Ciara’s warm regard of her was still strong and it gladdened his heart.
‘Look
daddy, Mrs. Hopkins packed us Sno’ Balls. Do you want one, Clarice?’
Bo watched, his heart beating fast as Clarice
took one from Ciara; wondering if she would experience a flash of memory about
the rainy night in a cabin… how he’d lit a match on a Sno’ Ball after she told
him it was her birthday. The same night they fell in love. It was for that
purpose that he especially asked Victor’s housekeeper to pack some.
Clarice
stared down at the flaky coconut covered snack. Bo watched in anticipation, willing her to remember that night. But she shrugged then bit into it instead. He managed
to hide his chagrin, exchanging a smile with her.
Clarice
smiled back, pushing the nagging verses from her mind and concentrating on Bo
and Ciara. It was a beautiful day; she was with two people she adored and in a
lovely setting…
She
stared round at her surroundings, the strange feeling of déjà vu coming over
her again. Only this time it was more overwhelming.
As if I’ve been here
before,
She thought. I’m almost certain of it.
