He finally located his missing shoe under a pile of clothes. He would have to arrange for someone to pick up his laundry; it hadn’t been done since he’d moved there a week ago. Finally fully dressed, he ran his fingers quickly through his long hair in an attempt to make it presentable enough for his appointment.
As he reached for his keys, he heard a knock at the door. Flinging it open, Todd gasped loudly. Once his initial shock wore off, he managed to ask, “what are you doing here?”
(part one by Smiles)
“What do you mean by that?” Blair pouted and pushed past Todd into the penthouse. “I thought you’d be happy to see me, Todd. I am about the only friend you have in this town these days.”
“With friends like you, who needs enemies,” Todd muttered under his breath.
“What was that Todd?” Blair asked. She ran her hands over the richly textured sofa. “I actually stopped by here to do you a favor…”Blair’s voice trailed off.
“OK, spill it, Blair. What’s up?” Todd practically growled as he sat down to slip on his shoes. “Make it snappy, too. I got somewhere to be.”
Blair sat down next to Todd on the sofa. “I came by to tell you about Starr. She has been asking to see you. I know the courts only want you to see her with supervision.”
“Blair, if this is about custody, don’t worry. I won’t be trying to take Starr away from you anymore. Since I started this therapy thing, I realize that maybe I should stay away from her for a while. At least, until I’m better.” Todd sighed, almost as if in pain. “Poor Shorty,” he thought, “what am I doing to you?” His arms ached to hold his daughter. It had been almost a year since he’d last seen her. Todd pushed the overwhelming emotions away and stood up. “I have to go, now, so if you’re done…”
“Todd Manning, sit down and shut up, right now.” Blair was now standing up, eye to eye with Todd. “I came by to tell you that I think you SHOULD get to see Starr. She needs her daddy. Especially now.” Blair’s eyes filled with tears, and she turned away from Todd. But Todd had seen the sheen of tears in her eyes. He knew Blair was hurting; he knew he should say something to comfort her, but what?
He touched Blair on the shoulder. “Blair, are you OK?” he asked softly. Suddenly, he had an overwhelming urge to touch her hair. He lifted his hand, and gently stroked her hair. Within seconds, Blair was in his arms, sobbing softly onto his shoulder. Todd was startled. What should he do next?
(part two by Missinrog)
Todd held Blair close. He could smell her sweet perfume, which he had remembered. This felt very familiar to him. Feelings he hadn't thought of in months, years rushed back to him. He had loved her once. His mind was racing. It felt good to hold someone and to be held. His hands stroked her hair in a calming manner. She looked up at him, brushing his hair away from his face.
Slowly Todd took a step back from her. "What’s wrong, Blair? What's this all about?”
Blair wiped her tears and matter of factly said, "I'm fine. Nothing. Nothing is wrong.”
Todd moved closer towards her as they stood inches apart from one another. "Then why the tears. Is it Starr???" Todd nervously asked.
“She needs a daddy, Todd.”
Todd interrupts. "Look, Blair. I've been working real hard at trying to understand who and what I am. I discovered a lot about myself. I want to be a dad Starr can be proud of."
“She loves you,” Blair said. "I wanted to give her two loving parents Todd. That’s why I..."
Todd noticed her hesitating. "Spit it out," he said.
"That’s why I married Max."
"You married Holden?!" He shakes his head as he walks toward the door. "I'm outta here. I told you I have somewhere to be!"
As he opens the door for Blair, he just looks at her.
(part three by Doorsgrl)
Todd stood there leaning on the door waiting for Blair to leave. He grew impatient.
"Blair. The door is open so you can go."
Blair picked up her purse and threw it over her shoulder. "Alright. I am leaving."
Todd opened his mouth to speak. Blair cut him off. "We are not finished talking yet Todd." Blair strolled out the door.
Todd made a face at her back. He then picked up his keys and walked out the door. It was time to pay a special visit to the wife, Tea. She didn't know he was in town and couldn't wait to spring it on her.
Todd rode the elevator up to the penthouse. He got off the elevator and stood in front of the door. Everything looked the same, but he knew things were different. Should he knock or just barge in? Suddenly the door flung open. There stood…
(part four by MarieK)
There stood Tea, in the doorway, laughing, looking just as he remembered her except for her hair. Todd asked himself, “what did she do to her beautiful hair?”
Then his eyes were drawn to her mouth, it was still the same and those eyes, those eyes that didn't lie; they were the same, too. Todd stood there frozen, lost in between the past and the present, as hundreds of memories danced in his head. Suddenly, he was jolted out of his daze.
Her face had changed; he saw fear in her eyes. "Todd?" she asked softly, and then louder. "Todd? Is it really you?"
The color had gone out of her face. She stood there, and she looked through him as if she was looking at a ghost. And, then just as quickly as before, her face changed again. He saw her mouth tense up, he saw anger (or was it hatred) in her eyes. She came closer.
"What are you doing here, Todd?" she demanded. "You have no right to be here!" she spat. She was inches from him, but Todd couldn't speak. The words wouldn't come. Instead, instinct took over, and he reached out for her and pulled her to him, kissing her full on the mouth. He held her tight and kissed her hard. He felt her protest and then give in. He'd seen her go from happy to afraid to angry in a matter of minutes. He wanted to look into her eyes as they kissed, those eyes that didn't lie, but she kept them shut tight.
(part five by Em)
Suddenly, he heard a growl from behind Tea and felt two strong arms tearing them apart.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Manning?” barked John Sykes. “Tea doesn’t belong to you anymore. She’s mine. Now stay away from her before I have you arrested.”
If Todd thought he saw anger in Tea’s eyes before, it was nowhere near the rage he saw in them now.
“Yours!?” she demanded as she turned to face the balding detective. “I’ve been telling you for weeks now that we’re finished, John. You can’t seem to get it through your shiny skull. Do I have to spell it out for you? It’s over. O-V-E-R. Now you stay away before I have a restraining order sworn against you.”
Todd smirked as he watched Delgado rake the pompous cop over the coals. Sykes shot one last leering glance at her before heading for the elevator in defeat. After the doors slid closed, Todd turned to her with a huge grin, only to have it disappear immediately.
“Don’t you smile at me, Todd Manning. That had absolutely nothing to do with you. As a matter of fact, nothing in my life has anything to do with you. Good-bye.” She half-heartedly tried to slam the door in his face, but he caught it before she could.
“Listen, Delgado. I think we need to talk about all the stuff that’s happened. About the way I treated you. I know now what a jerk I’ve been. See I’ve been doing this therapy stuff, and my shrink says I gotta talk to all the people I care about. I gotta try to make things right.” He bowed his head and looked up at her with puppy dog eyes.
“Todd. There’s nothing between us anymore to try to make right,” she sighed.
“That kiss wasn’t nothing. I can tell you still care about me. You haven’t tried to kill me yet. That’s a good sign,” he joked.
She smiled in spite of herself; then the smile faded. “I don’t know Todd. You’ve hurt me badly. I don’t know if I have the strength to go through that again.” She wrapped her arms around herself in comfort. He had never seen her looking so stressed, even during the worst of times in their marriage. He realized he needed to back off a bit.
“Will you at least think about it? Please?” he asked sincerely. He desperately wanted to make things right all with the important people in his life.
She stared into his green flecked eyes as though trying to read his thoughts. After a long pause she finally said, “Okay, I’ll think about it. I’m not promising anything. But I will consider talking to you. Later. Right now I have an appointment with another lawyer.”
“Oh, no,” he exclaimed. “I completely forgot. I was supposed to meet Viki at the Banner half an hour ago. I gotta run. She’s gonna be pissed.” As he turned to leave, he couldn’t resist stealing another quick kiss.
Tea practically shoved him out the door. He raced toward the elevator, pushing the button repeatedly. His nerves were back in full force. He knew Viki wasn’t going to like what he had to tell her.
