Are you lonesome tonight?
Do you miss me tonight?
Are you sorry we drifted apart?
Does your memory stray?
To a brighter sunny day?
When I kissed you, and called you sweetheart?
~"Are You Lonesome Tonight?", Elvis Presley
Susan Banks had a plan. She'd been working on it most of the night. She'd had a little bit of help from Lisa Marie and Elvis, but she was pretty happy, because most of the plan was hers. Step 1 of her plan involved the gathering of supplies. She'd need quite a few, you know, just in case. Looking at baby Elvis as he gurgled in his crib, she said, "Good morning my little pumpkin pie! We need to go shopping, and lookie here! I've got a list!" Her baby looked at her, and smiled, making her even more determined to follow through with her plan. There was no way she was going to allow that mean ole' Kristen, and Stefano DiMera to steal her baby. No way. No how. Picking Elvis up out of his crib, she says, "Let's get you dressed, and ready to go. It's going to be a big day, but I still gotta keep all mean ole' Kristen's secrets, or she's gonna burn down Graceland. She'd do it too. You know why? Because she's that mean. She's mean, mean, mean."
Susan turned to the door as it opened, and John entered, looking at Elvis in her arms, and saying, "How's my boy this morning?"
"Well, we were just getting ready to go out," she said to John, before turning to the baby and saying, "Weren't we?"
"I was hoping to spend some time with him today, with Belle and Brady. Chelsea was bringing the kids here until Marlena is found," he said.
Susan felt the guilt gnawing at her, desperate to get out; desperate to tell John, so he would know that Marlena was locked in a room in the dungeon, and being fed by vampires, but she didn't say anything. He would find out soon enough if her plan worked out, and she'd get herself, and her son, away from Salem, and away from the vampires. "Well...I could do the shopping without him," she said slowly. "I just don't want you to have too much."
"Too much? No, my kids are the best thing in my life. With Marlena missing...well, I need to spend some time with them. I want them to have some sense of normalcy in their life right now," he said. "You go ahead, and run your errands. I've got him." Reaching for the baby, he took him from Susan's arms, kissing his face, and saying, "Hey, slugger, time to get you dressed. What do you say?"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Less than a full day alone, and Marlena felt like she was going to go crazy with the silence. Where is Kristen? Didn't she promise to taunt me while I was in here? Marlena knew something was wrong, and she knew something else too...Kristen's plan wasn't working out the way she wanted. Marlena knew from her absence, and her lack of communication, that something wasn't right. She also knew, because she'd seen Ivan yesterday, and Vivian came by with her food this morning.
She lay back on the bed with a book she had packed in her luggage hoping to finish it as a way to distract herself from the antics Kristen would pull with John when she knew Marlena was around. Always touching him, kissing him, sitting extra close, or talking about their wedding, or the baby...anything Kristen could think of that might irritate Marlena, she did it. The book was meant to be a distraction. Instead of reading, she found herself thinking of John, and the children. Before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep.
