PREVIOUSLY ON SUNRISE BAY...

*Luke offered to drive a tired Todd home from the hospital.

*A Jackson obsessed Shirley Ducane hired Cynthia right on the spot. Secretly, she hoped to work Cynthia to the bone as a means of feeling power over one of the very rich family members.

*Lacey was scared of the notion that Jasper Grey was in Sunrise Bay.

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TODD’S HOUSE

"Thank you so much for taking me home from the hospital. I hate to admit it, but I am pretty tired." Todd says as he plops all of his body weight upon the sofa. He inadvertently sends the remote control flying across the room. "Whoops, I think I’ll go get that." He smiles as he slowly rises from the couch, only to be knocked back on it by Luke.

"I’ll get the remote for you, OK?" Luke states nonchalantly as he bends down to search for it. He wears a smirk.

Todd just listens and watches the other man as he finds the remote, taking note of his rear end. My mom is right about something; Luke does have a nice ass! Todd takes in the view while smirking widely.

Luke sets the remote on the coffee stand in front of the sofa and gives Todd a strange expression. "Am I missing something? It looks as though you were just smirking real big. Is there something funny going on that I don’t know about?"

Todd’s face grows red. "Um, of course there is nothing funny going on. Well, I guess I lied, I find it funny that you demanded to find the remote control for me but I just have a very weird sense of humor I guess."

Luke looks as though he is trying to "get" the punch line of a joke. "Yeah, I’d say that is an odd sense of humor. I find nothing that funny about me getting a remote for my dumbass friend who sent if flying across the room when he slammed his fat ass onto the couch!" This sends Luke into laughter.

"Hey, I don’t have a fat ass!" Todd says in an intentionally defensive tone. "If anybody needs to go on a diet for his fat ass, it’s you. Twinkies are not exactly the best things to be eating!"

"Oh, is this coming from ‘I need a chocolate fix’ Todd? Give me a break, if anything, we both need to go on some kind of diet. By the way, I don’t think I need to go on a diet. I happen to like my ass and body for how it is, thank you very much."

Todd absorbs Luke’s "bitchy" comeback and finds it rather amusing.

"So, do you have anything more to say?" Luke asks with a forcefully macho tone.

"Yeah, you just sounded very gay right there when you were talking about how much you like your body. That’s all I have to say." Todd then crosses his arms and decides to leave it at that. He realizes that his heart is racing.

Luke goes quiet and his face reddens just as Todd’s did earlier. Todd is surprised by Luke’s apparent embarrassment at his "gay" comment. He begins to hope that it hit home for Luke. Maybe Luke really is…no, don’t even start this again Todd!

Luke rises from the couch, "I guess I should get going. You really need your beauty rest." Luke gives Todd a smirk and there is a twinkle in his eye that Todd seems to get lost in. Luke turns around for the door.

Todd is surprised as words flow from his mouth that feel as though he’s not controlling, "No, Luke. Don’t leave."

Luke stops in his tracks and slowly turns around and looks the other man in the eyes. "Why don’t you want me to leave?"

Swallowing hard, Todd tries to search for an answer.

The restaurant is full of its normal evening hustle and bustle. Lacey dutifully clears off the remnants of a small family’s meal, placing the dirty dishes on a tray. From the corner of her eye she spots the newest employee–Cynthia Jackson, making her way toward the line of bar stools. I can already tell that snob can’t handle this job. Besides, why did she want to work here in the first place? Is this some experiment to see how us normal people live our lives?

Meanwhile, Cynthia collapses on a bar stool near the front of the restaurant and wipes her sweaty forehead with her left hand. I swear that woman is trying to kill me! I haven’t got a chance to breathe since being hired at this sweat shop!

Lacey, carrying the full tray of dishes, makes her way over to the other young woman, "Well, is it time for your break already? You look real sweaty, I don’t think it feels that hot in here."

Cynthia glares at her, "I am just stopping for a couple seconds and you’re not back washing those dishes in that kitchen. I swear it’s like 900 degrees in there!"

So she’s the queen of exaggeration as well? "900 degrees, yeeaah." Lacey says, mocking Cynthia.

"I was just exaggerating so you can lose the mocking tone. Anyway, if you’ll excuse me, I see a table that needs waited on." Cynthia hops off the bar stool and grabs her note pad from her apron, making her way toward an elderly couple who are seated by a large window that overlooks the deep blue ocean.

Lacey watches the other woman while shaking her head and chuckling. She is about to pick up the tray of dishes when the opening door diverts her attention. She is pleasantly surprised to see an incoming Nicholas Kane. Noticing that Cynthia is busily distracted with her own table, she decides to take up the responsibility of being his waitress.

Nicholas spots her and smiles wide. "Hey neighbor, It’s nice to see you again."

"You as well." says Lacey as she motions Nicholas towards a free table. "That’s a nice shirt you got there, where’d you get it?"

Nicholas looks over the simple long sleeved gray shirt he is wearing and grins, "It’s nothing special. I got it from Sears, I believe. Thanks, by the way. Um, I really like your shirt too. Where’d you get yours?"

Lacey giggles, "Oh this was an expensive outfit. I got it from Shirley Ducane."

Nicholas looks confused, "Shirley Ducane? I’ve never heard of that particular store."

Lacey bursts into laughter, "Shirley Ducane would be the owner of this restaurant, silly! This outfit is the required uniform here."

Nicholas chuckles at his denseness as at that moment another waitress, wearing the same outfit, walks by them. "Now that’s what you call a visual aide."

"Yeah, exactly." smiles Lacey as she pulls a pen out of her pocket. "So, can I get you something to drink?" The opening of the door once again distracts her. However, this time the incoming patron causes her heart to drop to the floor. "Oh my god, it’s Jasper.", she whispers in horror.

Nicholas notices her horrified expression that is locked upon the newly arrived young man, "Are you OK? What’s wrong?"

Lacey suddenly bolts to the seat across from him at the table. It is blocked by a tall potted plant. "Whatever you do, don’t make eye contact with that man. He can’t see me, he just can’t." She reaches over and inadvertently touches Nicholas’s hand.

"OK. I won’t ask any questions. Just be nonchalant and pretend we’re some couple having a good conversation." He reaches over and grabs both her hands, immediately embracing the chance to "role-play".

Lacey squeezes Nicholas’s hands out of fear. Please, don’t let Cynthia spot me and Nicholas. She’ll definitely flip out and Jasper will know I’m here.

"So why don’t you want me to leave, Todd?" Luke curiously questions.

Todd swallows hard and tries to come up with an answer that isn’t too obvious in showing that he has developed feelings for Luke. "Um, I just suddenly feel like I need a little company. I just have so much on my mind. I guess you could say that I feel like letting out all my burdens on a friend." There, I hope he’s satisfied with that answer.

Luke pauses and then walks slowly towards the couch, instead of the door. "Ok. I see. I just thought you were so exhausted that you needed some sleep."

"Yeah, I was, well, I still am…" Todd says as he feels his face grow red once again out of embarrassment.

Luke lets out a slight laugh, "Well what is it? Do you want me to stay or are you going to hit the sack?"

"Stay!" Todd unintentionally yells out his answer. He then begins to take a "fascination" with his feet. They are enclosed in a pair of expensive Reeboks.

"Ok, then I guess I’ll stay." Luke makes his way to the couch that Todd is sitting down at.

Todd’s heart jumps when he sees that Luke is so close to him. He smells the aftershave Luke is wearing and it entices him. He reminds himself to keep his hormones in check.

"So what do you want to talk about?" questions Luke as he glances at Todd. His leg moves over just a bit and his foot is now a mere two inches from touching Todd’s. Todd can’t help but notice this.

"Well," Todd hurries to "find" a valid topic. "Well, I guess...I guess I’m a bit depressed. One of my best friends is in the hospital because of me and I just feel like a shitty person. That’s all, I guess."

"You guess or you know? Todd, you said guess like a million times in that sentence." Smiles Luke as he makes the comment. "Quite the journalist, you are!" He adds.

"You’re a smartass, you know that?" says Todd with a smile.

"Yep, I do and I’m proud of it!" Laughs Luke as he goes along with it.

"Oh my gosh, what a dweeb." Todd adds.

"So I guess I’m a dweeby smartass now?" questions Luke playfully.

"That you are." Todd says as he looks the other man in the eyes. Man, he has eyes to die for and look at those kissable lips…

Keeping the eye contact Luke responds, "Hey, I can live with that."

"Well good for you." Eyes still are locked. This is my chance to see where Luke is really coming from. Todd slowly moves his foot the remainder of the two inches towards Luke’s. He is surprised when Luke doesn’t budge. Their shoes now touch. Suddenly the loud ring of Luke’s cell phone fills the air and breaks the moment. Luke quickly moves his leg over and pulls out the phone from his pocket.

He stands up and turns his back towards Todd as he answers his phone. Todd immediately regrets touching Luke’s foot. However, he can’t push the thought from his mind how Luke didn’t budge for those couple of seconds, plus there was the eye contact they shared.

Luke then hangs his phone up and wears an upset expression as he turns to look at Todd. "Damn…"

"What’s wrong?" Todd quickly asks.

Luke slowly puts his phone back in its place. "It was my father. My grandfather had a heart attack and they think he’s going to die. This really sucks. Anyway, I think I need to get back to the mansion. I want to be close by as they get more information on my grandfather’s condition. I’m really sorry I can’t stay."

"By all means, go and be with your family. I’ll be fine. I think I should be getting some sleep like I was supposed to anyways."

Luke slowly nods, "I guess you should do that." He lets out a slight grin. "I’ll call you later." After a long gaze at Todd, he heads out the door.

As the door closes, Todd’s mind goes into overdrive. Yes, he hopes that Luke’s grandfather is alright but he wishes Luke could stay more than anything. Luke’s face dances around in his mind as well as the gaze that Luke had on him before leaving. Maybe I’m not crazy, maybe Luke is feeling the same way about me. The notion of that possibility puts a wide smile on his face. For the first time since the whole disaster, Todd has hope something good may finally happen.

Dr. Carl Jones puts the telephone to his ears after dialing a number that is second nature to him. It rings three times before he hears the ever-so-familiar voice of his wife. "Eve? Any news on Cassie? I’m going to be home really late tonight, by the way."

From the other end of the line, Eve clears her throat, "Yeah, Cassie called a little bit ago. She said that she’s very sorry if she worried us. Carl, I guess she just took a drive to clear her mind and everything. That’s what she said. However, you’re probably going to be upset with me for what I did--I made a call to Dr. Lynn Baxter’s office. I scheduled a therapy session for Cassie. I really think she needs this."

Carl sighs, "Why would I be upset about you doing that? I’ve been saying she’s needed help for the longest time. The only problem is going to be getting Cassie to agree to start going to the sessions. You know she’ll be furious at us for doing this behind her back."

"Yeah, exactly. We have to find some way to get her to the therapy. This is really what she needs, you’re right." Eve’s tone is very melancholy.

"Look hon, we’ll talk about this more when I get home later. In the meantime, I have to go and check on some tests results for Gabrielle Kane. They decided to assign me as her doctor since Dr. Maddox came down with a horrible case of the flu last night."

"Oh, well tell me how it goes. I’m curious. I’ll let you go. Bye, hon."

Carl smiles, "I love you too, bye." He places the phone on the receiver. Oh Cassie, I hope that therapy is the answer. Please let us help you…

He makes his way over to a long table where test results are recorded. He searches the files until he comes to Gabi’s folder. He opens it up and reads the various pages over.

He is surprised by the blood test results: "Well well well," says Carl as he reads over the paper, "It looks as though we have a pregnant woman on our hands…" He makes his way out of the darkened room, locking the heavy door behind him.

THAT CONCLUDES THIS EPISODE OF SUNRISE BAY!

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