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PREVIOUSLY ON MT. VERNON SQUARE...
Ashley recovered in the hospital after the attempted abduction and subsequent car accident that led to the death of her estranged husband John Barnett...a drunken Jamie confessed to Bret--while he was out of the room--that she lost her job for "murdering" John Burnett at the hospital after the accident...Valerie attacked Holly a second time, triggering Holly's memory of the first attack in The Brew ladies room...after convincing Alex that Holly was a psycho, a confrontation ensued between Valerie and Holly that ended with the revelation that Alex is still in love with Holly...the night ended with Alex telling Valerie to stay out of his life and an upset Paul walking out on Holly...And now...Mt. Vernon Square Episode Ten....
EPISODE TEN: "THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER"
In Mt. Vernon Square, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, Brooke and Ashley are walking toward the Washington Monument. "You know, Brooke. I can't believe how wonderful the two of you have been the past few weeks--especially you," Ashley begins. Brooke smiles at her as they sit on a bench under a tree near the park's west side. "You have opened your home to me, opened your life, and after all I've done since I came back to Baltimore. You put that all in the past and given me a second chance."
Brooke reaches over and clasps Ashley's hand with her own hand. "You've been through hell Ashley. Kyle and I are just happy that we could help," Brooke replies. She looks up at the sky and smiles. "It's such a gorgeous day, isn't it." Ashley looks at the sky and agrees with Brooke. She jumps up from the bench and turns to Brooke. "How about if we grab some lunch? My treat?" Ashley asks. Brooke smiles at her and stands up. "Sounds great to me." The walk through the park toward Brooke and Kyle's Mt. Vernon Square home.
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In Butchers Hill, at Jamie and Bret's house,
Jamie is lying in bed. Bret walks into the bedroom and pulls the covers
off of Jamie. "Come on. You can't do this forever. You
have to get up. You have to eat. You have to do something. You
can't just lay here and feel sorry for yourself for the
rest of your life," he tells her.
Jamie pulls the covers over her body and disagrees, "I don't have a life. This is it. This is me now, Bret." Jamie stands up and walks to the bedroom door. "The hospital didn't press charges and gave you a clean slate so you can get a job somewhere else. You need to get past this, Jamie. You did what you had to do. You didn't do anything wrong." He pauses for a moment and waits for a response from Jamie. After a few seconds, he continues, "This is destroying us, Jamie. I'm going to the living room. I'm going to wait for twenty minutes and then I'm going to get lunch. Hopefully you care enough about this relationship to join me. We've got to start over Jamie. We've got to start over and move forward. Either we do it together or I go it alone." Jamie stares at the ceiling of the bedroom as Bret she listens to Bret walk down the hall and into the living room.
"It's just not that easy, Bret. It's just not that easy anymore," she says softly as she continues to stare at the ceiling.
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In Bolton Hill, Holly is sitting in her living room studying one of her textbooks and a glass of milk. The telephone rings. After she finishes reading a sentence, Holly hops up and runs into the kitchen to answer the telephone. "Hello?" She pauses for a few seconds. "Hey there, where are you?"
"I'm
actually in a cab in Manhattan right now. I'm heading to the train
station. Your mother and I were wondering if you were interested in coming
up to visit for a few days," her father, Bill asks from the other end of
the line. "It sure would be nice to see my baby girl."
"Daddy, you know I would love to come up for a few days. I could use the time. But I have finals and then my summer class starts next week," Holly replies. "But I promise that I will be home soon. Tell Mommy I said 'hello' and have a safe trip back to Long Island. I love you." Holly hangs up the phone and stands in the kitchen holding it for a few seconds. "On second thought," she says to herself. She picks up the phone and dials.
"Hello?" Bill answers. "Daddy, it's me," Holly begins. "I'm going to come up for the weekend. At least I'll get to spend some time with you two this evening." After talking with her father for a few minutes, she disconnects the phone, walks into the living room, and gathers her school books together. She heads up the steps to her bedroom to pack for her trip.
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At The Brew, Alex and Kyle are behind the bar restocking the inventory and preparing to open for business for the day. As they share the responsibility of restocking the beer coolers, Kyle asks Alex, "So, have you heard from Holly at all lately?"
"No. She doesn't return my phone calls and I haven't seen her at
school at all. It's like she's changed everything about her normal
schedule to avoid me," Alex tells him. "I went over there the
other day--to her house--and I saw her look out of the
window and she still didn't answer. This whole situation is just really
screwed up. I didn't mean to destroy her relationship with Paul. And
I had no idea what was going on with Valerie. How about you? How are
Brooke and Ashley getting along, speaking of screwed up situations?"
Kyle laughs out loud. "Well, when she first got out of the hospital a few weeks back, it was fairly rough. Now she and Brooke are like best friends. I think this whole thing with her husband has changed her. I mean, who would of thought Brooke and Ashley would be this close. Even before everything happened, they weren't this close. It's actually kind of scary in a way, you know what I mean." Alex smiles and responds, "yeah, it is frightening." The two continue to replenish the stock in the cooler as Kristine, the bartender walks into the front door.
"Hey, hey my two favorite men," she greets. Kyle and Alex return her gesture with their own greetings. "It is a beautiful day outside so I'm thinking we should close shop and go to the harbor and just sit by the water today. What do you guys think?"
"Sure, Kristine. And then we can go out of business, not be able to pay our bills, and all live in a box down by the water at the harbor," Kyle jokes. The three laugh together. "What brings you in so early today?" Kristine sits on a bar stool and explains, "Nothing much, really. I was just lonely sitting at home by myself and figured I would come hang before my shift starts." Alex places a box of beer bottles in front of Kristine on the bar. "Then by all means, don't just sit around," he tells her, leaning against the bar and smiling.
Kyle watches from the other side of the room and notices the flirting between Alex and Kristine. Kyle smiles in approval and then continues to stock the coolers.
Later that evening, just a few blocks north
of Mt. Vernon Square, Paul sits in his own apartment attempting to study his
textbooks and class notes. 
He
looks up from the books and taps his pen on his notebook. "I need to
get out," he says to himself. "No, Paul. You can't go
there. She might be there with him and that would just upset you." He
continues to tap his pen for a few minutes until finally closing his
books. He walks over to the telephone and picks it up and dials.
After it rings several times, an answering machine picks up, "Hey, you've reach Holly. I'm not here so leave me a message and I'll get back to you." At the tone, Paul hangs up the telephone without leaving a message. "Holl, where are you? I haven't heard from you in weeks. You haven't called me or anything since I moved out of your place in Bolton Hill. I wish I knew what you were doing. I wish I knew what you were thinking."
Paul places the phone back on its base and grabs his car keys. He heads out and closes the door behind him.
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Back in Bolton Hill, Bret returns to the house after being gone all day. He walks into the bedroom and Jamie is still laying in bed and staring at the ceiling. "I see you've had a productive day," Bret jabs. Jamie looks over at him. He walks over to the bed and sits on the edge. "Jamie, I did some thinking today while I was out. I think it's best if I rent a place of my own for awhile."
Jamie sits up and looks at Bret in disbelief. "What? You're
leaving me." Bret grabs her hand and explains, "No, I'm not
leaving you. I'm giving you space and time to heal, to figure out what it
is you need in your life. This isn't working for me, Jame. You just
lay here and feel sorry for yourself all of the time and I can't watch you do
this to yourself. It's destroying me--and it's destroying us."
Bret stands up and walks across the room. Jamie stands up, and with a tear in her eyes yells at Bret and he turns to her. "Destroying you? Destroying you? What do you think this thing has done to me? I let a man die on my table at the hospital, Bret. I let him die." The tears flow down Jamie's cheeks. "I let him die because of what he did to Ashley. I let him die because of what he did to you. I let him die because of what he would have done had it not been for the accident, Bret. I played God at the hospital that day. I played God and now I try to live that decision and with myself everyday, not knowing if I would have been able to save him. " Bret walks over and embraces Jamie in his arms. She continues, "And now I don't even know if I can save myself." Jamie buries her head in his chest as he hugs her tightly and she continues to cry.
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Later that same night, at Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Catrina and Scott are having dinner at one of the restaurants on the water. As Catrina wipes her mouth with her napkin and places the napkin on the table next to her plate, she sits her elbows on the table and leans onto her folded hands. "This is wonderful, Scott." She smiles at Scott.
Scott returns the smile. "Yes, it is. I'm glad you finally called, Cat. I have missed you more than you could ever know." Scott places his napkin on the table next to his plate and stands up. He walks around the table and holds out his hand for Catrina. "A dance, my lovely," he asks her. Catrina graciously accepts his offer and two head to the terrace dance floor where they dance in the warm spring night air, under a sky full of stars.
As
they hold one another and dance in circles around the floor, everything around
them seems to melt away. After several minutes of enjoying a dance,
Catrina looks up at Scott. His attention is on something across the
room. She turns around and looks behind her and see Brooke walking toward
the two of them on the dance floor. Catrina and Scott stop dancing and
both turn to face the approaching Brooke.
"Thanks for keeping him company until I got here, Catrina," Brooke says as she pushes Catrina aside and takes over the dance with Scott. Catrina grabs Brooke's arm and a struggle ensues. After a few hits and pushes, Catrina runs toward Brooke and with the force of the collision, both fly over the terrace balcony.
Catrina's eyes open suddenly. Her heart is racing as she lies in her bed all alone. Her breathing is heavy as she leans up and looks around the room. "It was just a dream," she says, relieved that she is in the safety of her own home. Catrina climbs out of bed and puts on a robe that is hanging on the back of the bedroom door. "Some warm milk should help me get back to sleep."
Catrina walks down the steps and through the living room to the kitchen. As she turns on the light in the kitchen, she is startled by Scott sitting at the table. "Jesus Christ, Scott. You nearly scared me to death. What in the hell are you doing in here? How did you get in here?" Catrina yells.
Scott looks up and he's crying. "You didn't change the old lock on the basement door and I found my key at the office yesterday. I miss you, Cat. I miss you so much. I can't go on without you in my life. When I eat, I think of you. When I'm working, I think of you. When I dream, I think of you." Catrina stares at him as tears begin to fall from her eyes. "I dream about you too, Scott," she tells him, almost laughing because of the dream she just had that is keeping her awake. However, her tears overcome her and she walks over and sits across from Scott.
"I love you, Catrina. I have always loved you. I will always love you. You are my life and I want to make sure that we're together forever," he tells her. "Will you be my wife? Just tell me you'll marry me."
Catrina, in complete shock over Scott's proposal, just stares at him.
The next morning, Alex wakes up and looks around the room. "Where am
I?" He looks in the bed next to him and sees a
sleeping Kristine. "Oh no," he sighs to himself. Alex
quietly sneaks out of bed and finds his clothes on the floor next to where he
was sleeping. He quickly gathers his clothes and sneaks out of the
bedroom.
In the living room of Kristine's apartment, Alex gets dressed. "What have you done, Alex?" he asks himself. "What have you done?" Alex quietly leaves the apartment as Kristine remains asleep in her bed.
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At Brooke and Kyle's Mt. Vernon Square apartment, the couple and Ashley are having breakfast and chatting. "So, I found a more permanent place so I'll be out of your hair by week's end," Ashley tells them. Brooke interrupts, "You're not in our hair, but that's wonderful, Ash." Ashley continues, "They've just opened a new condominium building in Fells Point and it's on the water. I sign the papers tomorrow. I would've told you sooner, but I wanted to be sure before I said anything."
"That's
great, Ashley," Kyle congratulates. "So a condo on the water in
Fells Point. Sounds expensive," he asks. Brooke smacks Kyle on
the arm. "Kyle, that's none of your business."
The three laugh and Ashley responds, "Oh, no. It's okay, Brooke. Really. I am using the John's life insurance policy to cover the cost." The room is silent. "The man may have been a jerk while he was alive, but he sure did set me up in case anything would've happened to him. I suppose I should have some gratitude for him, but I don't. Could you pass me the butter, Kyle?" Kyle passes the butter to Ashley.
"Are you sure you're ready, Ash?" Brooke asks. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you need to, you know." Ashley thanks her. Kyle leans back in his chair. "I think this is just what Ashley needs. Your recovery has gone remarkably well, Ash, and you're a pretty independent person. I think this condo is just what you need to cross that final hurdle." Kyle raises his orange juice glass. "To Ashley and her return to independence. Beware Baltimore, she's back in full gear." Ashley and Brooke raise their glasses as well and they toast along with Kyle. "Thanks," Ashley tells them.
"Oh, and I've decided to move the business too. I'm going to move into the new office space they have above Penn Station," Ashley adds. "Oh, I've seen pictures of the remodeling they've done with the train station building and it's gorgeous," Brooke tells her. Ashley continues, "I think a completely fresh start is the best thing for me. There's seems to be a lot of negativity for me at the Belvedere and in the old office." Ashley sits and stares as Brooke and Kyle watch her and then look at one another.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Coming Soon, Episode Eleven...