Nicole re-enters the room as Brice holds open the door for her. She wears an apprehensive look upon her face as she takes a seat in the comfortable black chair that is across from a larger black one. She folds her hands and looks Brice in the eye, "So what was so important that Gary had to talk with you in private?"
Brice wears a grin as he lowers himself on the largest chair in the room that is across from Nicole.

"Let’s just say he was here to make the last minute arrangements to handing over the company to me. Jackson Industries is now officially my company and I have major plans and aspirations to make it better than ever. On the top of the list of my aspirations is making you the bona fide celebrity known to come from this company. Have you considered my offer, Nicole? I have all the documents for you here to sign on the dotted line."

Nicole sighs and studies his face. He is so damn cute. I just don’t want his hotness to waver my judgment. It’s not like a Jackson hasn't betrayed me in the past. Trying to dismiss the thought of Creg's betrayal from her mind, she then says, "Before I answer, I just want to clear a few things up, OK?"

"Of course, my darling."

Nicole laughs a little as she says, "First of all, don’t call me darling. I’ve always hated that. Secondly, I want you to tell me exactly what your big plans are for me. How do you plan on making me become this big celebrity you have in mind?"

"You are such a smart cookie. I like that in a girl--beauty and intelligence. Anyway, getting to your question. First off, I plan on making a few calls to my big shot connections that I have around the United States. I have many connections in LA. That, as you should know, is the hot spot for stardom and celebrity. Anyway, I will mention to them that I have the perfect girl to star in all of their big-budget movies and that she is just dying to break out into the open—"

"—Just a second! Hold it right there. Movies? Come on, you have to be kidding me! How am I supposed to believe that you could ever have the power to get me on movies? I’m just your everyday girl living in a small Florida town." Nicole gives him a highly skeptical expression as she crosses her arms.

Brice can’t help but be amused as he lets out a chuckle and says, "You are hell-bent on not believing me, aren’t you?" He shakes his head as he reaches into his desk, "I didn’t think I’d end up having to show you this in order to get you to actually sign the deal but I guess I will have to resort to it." He opens the drawer and pulls out a packet of what looks like to Nicole to be over one hundred pages. He places it into her hands and she dives into the packets’ text.

Oh my gosh, it’s a movie script. Thinks Nicole as she reads the title page intently. Suddenly something jumps from the page and surprises her fully: Written by Brice Jackson. She looks up at him with a baffled expression, "You wrote this?"

Brice gets a clever smile and sits back in his seat. "Why yes I did and I am very proud of it." He then pauses for a moment and then says; "By the way…"

Nicole quickly looks up, "What? What more is there?"

"The thing has finally been approved! Nicole, I am getting prepared to cast and direct my own film!"

Nicole’s heart flutters excitedly. Now everything he has told her seems to be more concrete and possible. She then quickly questions, "Are you trying to tell me that you want me to star in this?"

Brice’s smile is wider than ever, "Now you are catching on." He swiftly pulls another document from the desk and scoots it over to Nicole’s side and places a black pen by it. "Just sign on the dotted line and then start your road to celebrity, Nicole." He flashes his piercing eyes towards her and she almost melts.

Nicole looks up at him and back at the script and the document that is a contract. Her world has just been changed forever within a few moments and all’s she has to do is sign on the dotted line to make it happen.

Creg is at his desk busy with a pile of papers that his father wanted him to look over a couple of days ago. Every time he tries to focus his energy on completing them he can’t help but let his mind wonder to the sight of Todd and Gabi having sex behind his back.

"Damn them!" He suddenly screams aloud as he slams his pen upon his desk. "They think they can make a fool of me, well, that asshole Todd has another thing coming. Man, when is my detective going to call back about what he’s found about him? I can’t wait to use every little bit of info they find to my advantage."

Suddenly there is a slight knock at his door that is immediately followed by a female voice, "Creg, it’s me, Mindy! I have a message I was supposed to deliver to you!"

"Come on in!" Creg yells. He wouldn’t mind seeing who he considers the sexiest secretary that the company has--Mindy Whitmore.

The door swiftly comes open and Creg is immediately greeted with the sight of Mindy’s long brown hair and sexy green eyes. She is wearing a short blue skirt that showcases her long and slender legs. Her smile looks as though she is just as eager to see him as he is to see her.

She prances slowly up to his desk and hands him a small piece of paper and then says, "My, a man like you all alone in a big office. I bet you sure get lonely, don’t you?"

Creg cracks a huge grin. "Yeah, sometimes I do wish I had a little company in here while I toil over all of my papers."

She then wears a very suggestive smile. There is no doubt in Creg’s mind as to exactly what Mindy wants from him. Creg suddenly is overtaken with the desire to take Mindy for a little afternoon ride. Screw Gabi, he thinks. Two can play this game.

"So Mindy, what would you say about keeping me a little company for a while? I sure have been meaning to ask you."

"Oh really?" Mindy lets out a seductive laugh. She then turns and shuts his door, locking it as well. "Yes, let’s do that. Keep me company."

Creg is shocked about how fast things have moved along but he loves every second of it. He ignores the message that is upon his desk and he immediately gets up and pulls Mindy into a passionate kiss. She then pushes him onto his desk and gets straight to the point by ripping off his shirt. Not so long after, all their clothes are ripped off and they are going at it like dogs in heat.

Luke Jackson eyes the tanned body and feels overcome with desire. He's held back his feelings for so damn long. He's never explored that part of himself but he knows it is there, lurking and teasing him with every attractive figure that catches his eyes. Will he ever work up the courage to explore that side of his sexuality?

That's when he realizes he's staring. The other man, who has a set of sky blue eyes and long blonde hair, looks a bit freaked out and turns away, whispering to the attractive blonde woman at his side and giving Luke a glare. Luke then feels his face grow red. He moves quickly along the beach and inhales the fresh tropical air. Wow, Luke, you are quite the smooth one.

His eyes then focus upon a figure that is in the distance. He immediately recognizes that it is Todd Lansing. He's pretty cute, thinks Luke as he decides to act like he didn't notice the other man. However, Todd seems fully distracted by a phone call on his cell phone.

As Luke approaches Todd nonchalantly, he can't help but be nosy and listen in to what Todd is talking about to the mystery person. He then catches the name "Gabi" being uttered. This immediately makes all of the recent discoveries rush to his mind. He flashbacks to being in his brother's room and discovering an official document from the investigation on Creg's stolen money:

Luke snaps back into the present and is now right next to the other man. Todd still hasn't noticed Luke and has his back facing him. Luke continues to listen in and is surprised when he hears Todd say: "Gabi, come on, nobody has obviously found out that you did it. Look, I just want to thank you again for doing that for me. It made me realize how much you truly care for me."

Luke's mind then works overtime and tries to put together the pieces. Shit, Gabi stole the money for Todd! Wow, this is news. What could he have needed for. You know what…what if there is more going on between Gabi and Todd than I originally thought. Luke doesn't have much longer to sort through things as he feels a strong hand grab him by the shoulder. Luke quickly turns around to be gazing into Todd's suspicious face.

"Exactly how long were you standing there?!" Todd questions vehemently as Luke's face once again grows red…

Mindy slips back on her stylish shirt and gives Creg a naughty look, "That was fantastic. I’m going to have to deliver you messages more often, you sexy hunk."

Creg sits on the top of his desk in his boxers wearing a smug expression. He always knew that he could satisfy a woman sexually and he is damn proud of it. He gives Mindy a smile and then says, "I’ll deliver you messages any time. Just come back when you get the urge to receive one."

She giggles happily and turns for the door, "Don’t worry, big boy. I’ll be back for more. By the way, I hope your girlfriend isn’t mad at me." She then acts as though she’s thinking hard and then says, "On second thought, I don’t give a damn what she thinks." She opens the door to begin leaving.

Before she can leave he says, "Hey Mindy, I don’t give a damn what she thinks either!" She giggles and then shuts the door behind her.

Creg keeps the grin locked as the door shuts. He then jumps off his desk and searches the floor for his pants and proceeds to slip them on. He notices that the message that Mindy delivered has managed to find its way to the floor during their little romp. He swiftly bends down to pick it up and reads over the scribbled words. He then crumbles it up in his hands and throws it into the garbage can in anger.

"Damn it!" He grabs his shirt and quickly slips it on while making a quick exit from his office.

Luke's face grows red but he thinks fast, "Whoa, Todd. Settle down there! I just got here like a mere three seconds ago."

Todd's face quickly evolves from suspicion to embarrassment, "Oh, man. I'm sorry for getting so paranoid on you there."

"No problem! We all have our paranoid moments, at least you and I do. Hey, what have you been up to?" questions Luke. He suddenly flashes back to his comical encounter with Todd when he jumped awake from his sleep and fell upon Todd. It was the night he and Annie stayed over. He then adds, "Have you recovered from getting smashed by me?"

Todd lets out a small grin, "At least I think I have. My life did flash before my eyes when that happened. It was so fast that I didn’t know what to think."

Luke smiles and scratches his chin, "Well, as long as you’re not going to sue me."

"Hey, I never thought of that! You’re filthy rich. On second thought, I think I’ve been experiencing some internal bleeding." Todd jokes.

Luke laughs and then says, "Well, it was cool of you to let me stay that night. Even though it was all of Annie’s idea. I can’t believe how scared she was to go out in that storm. Has she always been that scared of storms?"

Todd scratches his ear and responds, "Yeah, I remember this one time when we were little and she snuck into my bed while I was sleeping. It was during this violent storm. She moves around so much in her sleep that she ended up knocking me off the bed. Yeah, it was pretty funny now that I think of it."

Luke nods his head and then quickly looks Todd over. He wants to wait for the right moment to bring up Creg but he doesn’t feel as though it’s going to come up any time soon so he gets to the point and says, "Todd, there is something I’ve been really wanting to tell you…"

Todd gets a calculative look upon his face. "What is it?"

Luke turns his gaze towards the ocean real quickly and then back to Todd’s face. "Well, it’s about my brother Creg. Look, I know that you and his girlfriend are really good friends and I’m not saying that you two shouldn’t be hanging out and stuff but…"

"But what?" Todd has no idea where Luke is leading this.

"But I think that you should definitely be watching your back. Todd, my brother is a very arrogant person. Not to mention, he has a lot of self-imagined power. It has everything to do with growing up as a Jackson. I never let all of the money go to my head but with my brother it’s a different story, you know what I mean?"

"Actually, I’m not quite sure what you mean or where you are getting at. Wait, are you trying to tell me that Creg is pissed off that I hang out with Gabi?"

Hanging out. That’s a way to put it, thinks Luke before continuing, "Not that it’s any of my business but I think he suspects the two of you of having an affair."

Todd is a little stunned by what Luke just said. He lets out a small laugh and then scratches his chin before saying, "Gabi and I are not having an affair, Luke. We are just good friends and nothing more."

Luke studies his face intently. I wonder if he’s lying. He then presses the matter a bit farther, "Are you sure there is nothing more than friendship going on between the two of you?"

"Luke, if anyone would know it would be me. Trust me, Gabi and I are not having an affair." Todd says this and then quickly adds, "Though I’ll be the first one to tell you, Gabi wants nothing more than to have an affair with me."

"Really?" Luke's interest is once again peaked as he looks the attractive man over.

JACKSON INDUSTRIES, ROOM 120

"Sign the contract, Nicole. Let’s make things official." Brice eagerly waits for Nicole to pick up the pen and kick things into high gear.

Nicole has an amazed expression adorning her face. "I can’t believe this is happening. I never thought that anyone would be giving me a deal that would probably change my life."

"Probably, Nicole? Come on, this is going to be a definite thing." Brice says to woo her further. "You are going to be the main star in my first feature length movie!"

Nicole clasps her hands together and pushes them against her chin. She then reaches for the black pen and signs as though she is going to lose this one time chance if it isn’t done speedily. After signing, she quickly sets the pen back on the desk, "There, I did it! I am officially going to star in your movie!" She excitedly rises from her chair and happy thoughts are rushing through her mind at every angle.

Brice jumps from his chair and makes his way around right next to Nicole and hugs her tightly, "You are not going to regret this decision. Trust me." He smiles and looks her straight in the eyes while he still has his arms around her.

Nicole looks star-struck as she stares back at him but she quickly breaks the eye contact and the embrace. "I am so happy right now! Look, Brice. I have to go talk to my sister and well, everyone! "She waves goodbye and happily opens the door. She jumps backwards when she is greeted by the face of someone way too familiar-- Creg.

"Nicole? What are you doing in my Uncle Brice’s office and why do you look so happy?" Creg questions, as though he is entitled to know.

THAT CONCLUDES THIS EPISODE OF SUNRISE BAY!

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