EPISODE SEVEN: "It's All Fun and Game Until..."
PREVIOUSLY ON MT. VERNON SQUARE...
After a confrontation with Paul at The Brew, Bill--Holly's father--was hospitalized for a broken rib and a concusion. Once he was released from the hospital and while staying at Holly's Bolton Hill home, the truth was uncovered that he did try to buy Paul out of Holly's life and Holly demanded he leave. Valerie continued to stalk Alex as her jealousy of Holly just increased more and more. While having a work dinner with Ashley, Bret learned that Ashley knows some of his friends. He watched as Catrina and Ashley had it out with a plate of food and learned that Scott had been sleeping with Ashley since Catrina kicked him out of their house. However, this all didn't stop a drunken Bret from trying to bed Ashley (he encountered a little functional problem). Upon waking up with no memory of what happened the night before, Ashley promptly fired Bret from his job with her company. Catrina, having seen Bret with Ashley, warned Jamie about her and what she can do to a relationship. Jamie quickly retaliated against Ashley and read her patient file at a psychiatrist's office at the hospital. Jamie learned of Ashley's abusive relationship in NYC and contacted Ashley's husband to let him know where Ashley is hiding. And now Mt. Vernon Square, Episode Seven....

It's about 3pm in the afternoon and Brooke is leaving the school at which she teaches. As she walks across the parking lot, someone watches her from a car near where she is parked. Brooke gets to her car and a horn sounds and startles her. She looks across the parking lot and sees Catrina getting out of her car. Brooke smiles at her, but Catrina doesn't return the smile. Brooke opens her car door and places her belongings on the front seat. Catrina walks up to her and has obviously been crying.
"Cat,
are you okay? What's going on with you?" Brooke asks as she
reaches out to hug Catrina. Catrina quickly backs away from her.
"No, Brooke," Catrina begins. "I need to say some things to
you and then I need some time. I know it's not your fault but I just need
to tell you." Catrina begins to cry again. Brooke just stares
at Catrina.
"Scott is your secret admirer," Catrina begins as Brooke looks in disbelief. "Just hear me out, Brooke. I found a receipt for the flowers you received the week before the wedding. I confronted him about it and he told me that he is and has always been in love with you." Catrina wipes the tears away from her eyes. "We aren't together anymore. I've sold my salon and I'm leaving Baltimore for a while." Catrina turns and walks back toward her car. She stops halfway across the parking lot and turns back to Brooke. "I love you, Brooke. You've always been the greatest friend to me and I love you for that. I'll call you when I'm ready. I'll call you when I can look at you again and not feel so much anger."
Brooke watches, still in disbelief, as Catrina gets into her car and drives away. She stares as Catrina drives away from the parking lot. Her stare is interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. She grabs the phone and answers the call.
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On the other side of town, Jamie opens the door to her house in Bolton Hill and
is surprised to see Bret sitting on the
couch. "What are you doing home, Bret?" she inquires of
him. Bret looks surprised himself to see Jamie and stumbles over his
words. She interrupts him, "You lost your job, didn't you. So
what happened? You wouldn't sleep with Ashley so she fired
you?"
Bret looks up at Jamie. "You know Ashley too?" he asks. Jamie sits down on the sofa beside Bret. "Jamie, I couldn't believe it. I was working so hard and so many hours, and it didn't matter. She didn't want someone to work for her, she wanted someone to sleep with her. I quit because I couldn't work with her."
Jamie leans over and hugs Bret. "I love you. You made the right decision," she tells him. "Now, I'm going to take a hot bath and then maybe we can head to The Brew for some drinks--on me." Jamie stands up from the sofa and walks out of the room. Bret looks across the room to the fireplace mantel and stares at a picture of he and Jamie. "I love you, too, Jamie."
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In
Bolton Hill, Holly is sitting in the living room alone. Paul walks into
the house through the front door and then into the living room.
"Holly, are you okay?" Holly looks up at Paul and he can see
that she has been crying. She stands and walks over to him.
"Can you ever forgive me, Paul?" she asks as she wraps her arms around
his neck. Pauls kisses her on the top of the head and squeezes her body
close to his. "Already done, Holl. Already done."
The two stand there for a few minutes. Holly pulls away from him and wipes her eyes. "I have asked him not to come here anymore. I told him I never wanted to see him again," she tells Paul. Paul just listens as she continues. "I found the check that he wrote to you. I'm so sorry I didn't believe you, Paul." Paul reaches out for Holly and embraces is her again and she starts to cry.

Later that evening, at The Brew, Brooke and Kyle are in the upstairs
office. "That's what she said, Kyle. I can't believe it.
And I have no idea where she's going," Brooke tells him. Kyle is
angry. "Scott has been harassing you--even stalking you--all of this
time," Kyle asks. Kyle is pacing back and forth in the office.
"I'm gonna kill him, Brooke." 
Brooke walks over to Kyle and grabs his right hand with both of her hands. "He didn't hurt anyone, Kyle. Just let this go. I'm more worried about Catrina," she tells him. Kyle pulls away from Brooke. "No, I'm not going to let it go. I'm going to teach Scott a lesson." As Kyle storms out of the office and toward the back stairs, he yells back to Brooke, "Tell Alex to take care of things here. I'll be back later." Brooke runs over to the door of the office and yells out to Kyle. "Kyle!? Kyle!? Don't do this!" She can hear the back door to the bar slam shut. "Oh, God. I need to warn Scott."
Brooke runs over to the telephone and calls Scott's cell phone. At his office, Scott looks at his cell phone's caller id and sees that the call is coming from The Brew. He turns the cell phone off and puts it on his desk, "I guess Kyle knows now." Scott goes back to his work.
A
few minutes later, Valerie walks into Scott's office. "Hey Scott, I
have Brooke on the phone and she says its urgent. Do you want to take
it?" she asks Scott. Scott pauses for a moment.
"Yeah, Val. I'll take it. Why don't you head home for the
evening. We can finish this stuff tomorrow morning." Valerie
smiles and agrees and then leaves the office. Scott picks up the
telephone.
"Brooke? What a pleasant surprise," he answers. A worried Brooke is on the other line. "Scott, you have to listen to me. Get out of there now. Catrina told me everything. I know about the flowers and the notes, and so does Kyle," Brooke warns Scott. Scott, matter-of-factly says, "Oooh. Is the big Mr. Fletcher coming here to beat me up or something." Scott snickers, and there is silence on Brooke's end of the phone. "Brooke?"
"Scott, he's mad enough right now that if he gets a hold of you, he's going to kill you," she warns. "Please, just get in your car and leave there. I don't where you've been staying the past couple of weeks, but go there and avoid Kyle at all costs. I've never seen him this angry before and I'm afraid of what he will do." Brooke hangs up the phone.
Scott shuts down his computer and packs up his things. He grabs his briefcase and as he's heading toward the office door, he stops at the bar and grabs a drink. He downs the drink, flips the light switch and leaves the office.
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Meanwhile, back at The Brew, Brooke runs down the main steps and gives Kyle's message to Alex. She tells Alex where Kyle has gone and tells him that she will call him as soon as she finds Kyle. As Brooke runs out of the front door, Ashley walks from the bathroom to the bar, noticing Brooke's speedy exit. She sits on a stool in front of Alex at the bar. "So where's Miss Atzman running off to in such a hurry. Did poor helpless little Catrina call and boohoo or something?" she asks Alex.
Alex leans on the bar in front of her. "You know, Ashley. You can be a huge bitch sometimes." He starts to walk over to another customer and turns back to her and continues, "and don't you forget that Brooke is now Mrs. Fletcher. Something you could never be." Ashley glares at Alex and take a drink from the cocktail sitting on the bar in front of her.
Alex gives the other customer his drink order and then walks over to
Ashley. "What are you doing here, anyway? It's not like anyone
here really likes you, and I know Kyle has made it clear that he doesn't want
you in his life."
Ashley snickers. "What makes you think I'm here to see Kyle? Or are you just still living in your older brother's shadow? That was a big source of tension for the two of you, wasn't it? Or should I say, it IS still a big source of tension?" Alex takes Ashley's half full glass and dumps it into the sink. "You're done here, Ashley. Why don't you leave before you piss off the wrong person and get yourself hurt."
"I'll be gone in just a few minutes, Alex," Ashley tells him. "I'm just waiting for a client and then we're heading to a real restaurant to eat dinner. Now, can I have another drink since I wasn't finished with the one you took that I already PAID for."
Several minutes later, Bret and Jamie enter The Brew. "Oh, God! Ashley is here," Bret tells Jamie. Jamie looks around the bar, "Don't worry about it. She's on our turf tonight. Just then, Ashley turns and notices Bret. As Bret and Jamie walk toward her, because Alex is standing there, he says hello to them. "So Baltimore is a small town, isn't it? Shouldn't you be looking for a job, Bret?" Ashley snipes.
Bret gives Alex his and Jamie's drink order, ignoring Ashley's comment. Jamie walks over to Ashley. "So you're the infamous, Ashley." She puts out her hand, but Ashley doesn't reciprocate. "So, you are as much of a bitch as I've heard," Jamie jabs. Alex laughs as Bret stands off to the side nervously.
"You know, I'm getting really tired of you people calling me a bitch. It's starting to get really old," Ashley complains angrily. Jamie laughs, "If you would have just stayed in New York with your husband and away from Baltimore, I guess it wouldn't be an issue, would it?"
As Jamie completes her sentence, the door to The Brew opens and catches Ashley's attention. "Oh my God! I can't believe it," she says aloud. Jamie turns to look at the door.
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Downtown, in the parking garage beneath Scott's office building, Scott is
rushing to his car. Brooke enters the garage and looks around to find
Scott's car as she drives around the levels of the garage. Scott is
walking down the driveway in the garage and can hear a car start nearby.
He looks around and doesn't see anything or anyone. He starts walking more
quickly
toward his car, which he can now see just just ahead of him. From behind
him, a car comes out of nowhere with its high beam lights on and accelerating
rapidly. Scott turns and looks at the car, but cannot see because of the
lights. He turns back and starts to run.
As the car rapidly approaches behind him, he makes it around a wall of the parking garage and dives between his car and another, narrowly missing being run down by the speeding vehicle. Scott lays in between the two cars as he listens to the car that ran him down speeding up the levels of the garage toward the exit.
Seconds later, Brooke turns the corner and sees Scott's car and Scott lying on the ground. She stops her car and jumps out and runs over to him. "Scott, are you okay?" Scott is holding his knee in pain and responds to Brooke, "Yeah, I'll be fine but your psychotic husband needs some help."
Brooke, crouching next to Scott, looks at him. "That wasn't Kyle, Scott." Scott looks at her. "Yeah, right. You called me and told me he was on his way here and was angry," Scott tells her. As Brooke is about to respond to him, Kyle walks up to the car and the two of them. "She's right, Scott. It wasn't me. Your sorry ass isn't worth it to me. But it must be to Catrina."
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Back at The Brew, Ashley stands up as John Barnett approaches her. "John, just get out of here," Ashley pleads. John walks over to her and grabs her arm. "Come on, Ashley, we're going home." Bret and Alex watch with concern as Jamie watches with a smile on her face. John pulls Ashley away from the bar. "You're hurting me, John. Let me go!" Ashley continues to plead.
Bret walks over to John and steps in front of him. "I don't think she
wants to go with you, so why don't you get off of her," Bret demands.
By this time, Alex has hopped over the bar and pulls Ashley away from John.
"Ashley, go behind the bar," Alex tells her and then turns to
John. "You, my friend, need to get out of here before I call the
police."
John backs down and looks over at Ashley. "We're not finished here, girl. When I finally get my hands on you, you're going to wish you never left New York," John threatens as Ashley cries in fright. Jamie watches as Ashley cowers and John leaves the bar. Alex walks around the bar to Ashley. "Are you okay, Ash?" he asks. "Who was that?"
Ashley, in tears, responds as she's hugging Alex, "That was the man who used to beat me. That was the man who tried to kill me. That's my husband." Bret and Alex look at one another in shock as Jamie sits on a bar stool and takes a sip from her drink, still smiling a bit. Ashley looks over at her.
"You did this, didn't you?" Ashley accuses Jamie. "You found out about him and you called him because I fired Bret." Jamie jumps on the defensive as Bret and Alex look on. "I don't know what you're talking about, Ashley. I don't even know you."
"No, you don't," Ashley continues, "but you mentioned New York City and my husband when you first got here tonight. Oh, God. Do you realize what you've done?" Ashley walks around the bar and over to Jamie, who follows her with her eyes. "Do you realize what he's going to do to me now?" Ashley walks over to Jamie and slaps her across the face. Jamie grabs hold her cheek with her hand. "Thanks a hell of a lot."
Bret walks over and grabs Ashley. "Come on, Ash. I'll take you home." He looks over at Alex. "Can we use the back entrance, Alex?" Alex nods and Bret looks over at Jamie. "I can't believe you, Jamie. How could you do this to her? How could you know and do this to anyone? I thought I knew you, but I guess I was wrong." Bret and Ashley start walking toward the back entrance of The Brew as Jamie watches, a single tear dropping from her eye.
Alex walks over the bar next to Jamie. "Are you okay, Jame?"
Jamie looks over at Alex. "No, I'm not," she responds.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Coming Soon, Episode Eight: The Hurt Before the Healing...