Chapter 96
“Oh, he’s dead,” Nikolas grumbled, frowning at the screen. “I can’t believe he just called me Nikky on national television!”
Emily laughed and patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, no one knows it’s you.”
“Angel. Did you hear, he called her angel,” Luke whispered to Laura, grinning like a madman. “And he used the L-word. He didn’t have to do that, but he did it anyway.”
“Don’t get too excited, Luke,’ Laura warned. “I’m sure it’s still part of the act.”
“Baby, it’s too late for that. I’m already excited,” he laughed, wiggling his eyebrows. She groaned and rolled her eyes, then turned away from him to watch the remainder of the ceremony. The phone rang a minute later, and Luke jumped up to get it, pretty sure who would be calling.
“Hello!”
“Luke, did you see that?” Charisma asked excitedly.
“Oh yeah, I certainly did. What do you make of it?” He glanced over at Carly, who was watching him, trying to figure out who he was talking to.
“I don’t know, but he seemed almost sincere. I would have given anything to have seen Liz’s face just then!”
Luke laughed. “Me too, darlin. Well, keep me posted, okay?” He could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on him and didn’t want to take the chance that he’d say something to give away what was going on. He hung up and returned to his seat, throwing a quick wink at Carly to let her know what the call was about.
~*~
“I thought he’d be back by now,” Liz said, craning her neck towards the front of the crowded auditorium. The show had just ended, and everyone was milling about, filing slowly outside. Lucky hadn’t come back to his seat yet, and she was starting to worry that she was going to get lost in the crowd.
“Do you want me to stay with you until he shows?” Chad asked, also looking around for him.
She smiled gratefully. “Would you? I’m not used to this kind of stuff yet, so I’d rather not be here alone.”
“No problem. I’m off-duty now anyway, so I don’t have anywhere to be.”
“Hey, Liz, we’re heading out,” Brad said from behind her, tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention. She turned around and smiled.
“We’ll probably stop by most of the parties, so we’ll see you around?” Jennifer asked, looping her arm through his.
“Yeah, sure,” Liz said, awed that they were talking to her like they were old friends.
“It was fun. Give Lucky our best.” Brad smiled warmly and squeezed her shoulder, then lead Jennifer out to the aisle so they could leave.
Chad laughed softly at the look on her face. “I take it you’re not used to all this fame and fortune yet?”
She shook her head. “Not even a little bit. It’s so weird, you know?”
“Hey,” he said, reaching into his pocket for some paper, “here’s my number. Give me a call the next time you’re in town.” He quickly jotted it down and handed it to her.
She took the paper and smiled, then ripped off part of it and reached for his pen. “Here’s mine, too. I doubt you’ll ever be in Port Charles, but call sometime anyway, we can catch up on old times.”
Chad took the number from her, then reached out to hug her. She smiled and hugged him back.
Lucky hurried down the aisle to their seats, hoping Liz hadn’t wandered off to look for him, and was surprised to see her with Chad again. She was writing something down and handing it to him, then hugged him. As she pulled away, she kissed him on the cheek. Not wanting to watch any longer, he stepped forward and cleared his throat.
Liz turned at the sound and smiled. “There you are. I thought you had left me.”
He stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. “I’d never leave you.”
Chad smiled at the seemingly happy couple. “Well, I can see you’re in good hands now, so I better head home.”
Liz nodded and reached out for his hand. “Thanks for waiting with me. It was good to see you again.”
“It was good to see you too, Lizzie. It’s nice to see you so happy.” He slapped Lucky on the shoulder and smiled. “You’re a lucky man.”
“That’s what they call me.”
Chad chuckled and brushed his hand against Liz’s chin quickly before turning to walk away. “I’ll talk to you later!”
“Good night!” she called after him. Once he was gone, she turned around in Lucky’s arms to look at him. “So what happened to you back there?”
“There was a press conference set up for the winners. I had to stay and answer some questions. I got away as soon as I could.”
“Oh, well, that’s okay. Chad waited with me.”
“I could see that,” he mumbled. “What’s up with him, anyway? He seemed to be touching you an awful lot.”
Liz smiled a little, wondering why he cared. “That’s just how he is, don’t worry, he’s not threatening your territory.”
“Territory?” he asked, frowning at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She shrugged. “Nothing. It’s just that there was something awfully possessive about the way you came up and grabbed me just now. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous.”
Lucky suddenly realized he was still holding her and quickly let go. “Um, no, I just didn’t want people to get the wrong idea. I mean, all it would take is one picture of you hugging him or kissing him on the cheek, and all the papers would be printing stories about how my wife is already cheating on me.”
“Oh, come on, that’s ridiculous. He’s just an old friend.”
“We might know that, but the general public doesn’t. I’m just trying to protect my reputation, that’s all.” He started to walk up the aisle, tired of standing in the middle of the theater.
Liz followed him, groaning. “Ah yes, the all-important reputation. You know, it’s that stupid reputation of yours that got us here in the first place!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We could have gotten this divorce right away, but you didn’t want your precious fans to know that you got drunk and married the first girl you saw. It was your idea to play along for a while, and now we just keep getting in deeper and deeper. First your whole family found out, then we had to move into my house, then Charisma came to stay there, then the tour, and now this awards show. When is it going to end?”
“I told you, once Alexis gets the papers done, we’ll get the divorce. We just have to make it until tomorrow. I’m sure she’ll have them by the time the tour’s over.”
“She better. I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”
He laughed as they approached his car. “Yeah, limos and celebrities everywhere, it’s downright inhumane!”
Liz rolled her eyes and climbed into the back of the car. “Well, if it came down to that or keeping my sanity, I’d choose sanity any day!”
“Oh, come on, sanity’s overrated,” he joked, climbing in next to her. “Look, this party is the last big thing we’ll have to do, then we can go back to the hotel and be ourselves again.”
She sighed, staring out the window. “Fine. At least this isn’t being televised.”
“No, but there will be press there,” he explained. “We can’t drop our guard for a minute, because you never know when someone is aiming a camera at you.”
“Goody,” she groaned, leaning against the window as the car pulled to a stop. The driver came around to open the door for them. Once they were out of it, they hurried into the building amidst more flashes and cheers.
Inside, Lucky lead her around, introducing her to some of the other artists, chuckling at how startstruck she still was around them. Some of the people from the show were there, such as Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Will Smith and Miguel Morez, who ended up sitting with them and talking about Port Charles and L&B for a while. Liz was starting to relax, feeling more comfortable there, when something suddenly hit her.
“Oh my god, Lucky, what’s today?” she asked. Miguel had just finished excusing himself, so at the moment, they were alone, at least, as alone as they could be there.
“Wednesday, why?” he asked, looking over at her.
“No, I meant the date, what’s the date?”
“The 30th, I think. Elizabeth, what’s wrong? You’re white as a sheet all of a sudden. Are you sick?” He reached across the table for her hand, worried about her.
“No, not yet at least,” she muttered, shaking her head. “This can’t be happening, it’s not... I don’t believe it...”
“Elizabeth, whatever it is, it can’t be that bad. What has you so shaken up all of a sudden?”
She looked up into his eyes and felt herself relax a little. “Lucky, I’m late.”
“Late?” he asked, frowning at his watch. “For what?”
“No. I meant I’m late,” she said, lowering her voice so no one would overhear. Lucky looked at her for a moment, not understanding at first what she was getting at. Finally, it dawned on him what she meant.
“No, that’s not... it’s been less than two weeks! How can...” he stuttered, his own face paling to match hers.
“I know, but this never happens to me. You could set your watch by my cycle, it’s that consistent!”
“Okay, that was more information than I needed,” he joked, making a face. They both fell silent for a minute, letting everything sink in.
