John and Marlena (Finally) Get a Q!

Chapter 54 - Pancakes and Rose Silk

Marlena was scanning the front page of the Chronicle when Gene placed the breakfast trays on the covers of the bad. Smelling the fresh, warm scent of pancakes and the divine aroma of freshly brewed coffee, she grinned and dropped the paper into her lap.

"Mmmmm...", she took a deep breath at the same time as she removed her glasses. "Gosh Gene, that looks *incredible*!"

The tray in front of her had a large plate piled high with pancakes with maple syrup standing by. The pancakes themselves were surrounded by piles of fresh summer fruit and berries. There were two glasses of champagne on the tray and another tray on the dresser held a bottle of champagne and a plunger of black coffee.

"One of my...." Q slipped into the bed next to where she sat with her legs bunched up in front of her and ran one hand down a shapely thigh, "my many, many talents,"

"Oh, you don't need to tell me about your multitude of talents," Marlena raised her eyebrows as she shook her head and smiled sexily. "I think I'm doing a pretty good job of discovering them for myself."

She leaned towards Q, her eyes beckoning for him to skip the food and head right for the main event. But he was having nothing of it. He laughed as he put up his hand to ward her advances off.

"No Marlena. You've got to eat if you want to keep this up. Breakfast first and *then* dessert."

Marlena rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and then winked at him.

"You'll keep." In truth, she was starving and couldn't wait to get started on breakfast. In one movement, she flicked the newspaper from her lap onto the floor and pulled the tray towards her.

******

Sami held Will tightly to her, tears trickling down both of their cheeks. Another dull thud signaled a blow to the door, but they seemed to be slowing. Sami took the opportunity of the lull to call out to the man on the other side.

"You'd better get lost before I call the police." She tried to sound as brave as she could as her little boy clung to her in terror.

She flinched as Grant dealt another angry blow to the door.

"I'm calling them now." She grabbed at the portable phone and almost swore when she discovered that the battery had run down. The only other phone was in the bedroom, but she was so terrified that it had almost immobilized her. And besides that, she would have to walk past the door to get there.

But then, as suddenly as they had started, the impacts on the door stopped and there was silence. After a moment, Sami suddenly found that now that the adrenaline rush was over, she no longer had any strength left in her body and she sank to the floor, sobbing into Will's hair.

******

If Marlena had taken the time to look at the front page of the paper, she might have seen that the identikit picture on the inside front page looked vaguely familiar, and she might have had an inkling that her daughter's suitor was not all he seemed. But Marlena had not talked to Sami since she had run out of the penthouse two days ago and she could not have known that her fears about Sami's dalliance had been realized in an all too frightening way.

But instead, for the first time in far too long, Marlena was putting herself and her needs first. She was engaged in her own life, and she and Eugene were doing their best to shut everyone and everything else out. Indeed, reality was not something either of them wanted to contemplate at this moment.

******

Kristen rubbed her stomach as she knocked on the loft door. She looked around the landing with a slightly bored expression as she waited for John to answer the door. It was time to press the small advantage she had gained.