Masquerade Chapter 16

Chapter 16
Brenda could hardly believe how long it was taking her to get through airport security. She had set off the alarm so many times that she was wondering if it was something internal. She knew that she had steel pins in her hip from the hit and run accident, but that couldn’t be the problem because she had gone through airport security hundreds of times since the accident. Luckily, the traffic at that security check point was slow, so they kept letting her go through. Somehow, Brenda couldn’t stand the thought of them checking her with one of those security wands, it seemed so invasive.

Guard: Are you sure that you don’t have some loose change in your pocket?
Brenda: I don’t have any change at all, but I’ll check my pockets.

She reaches into her pocket and feels something small and metal, she pulls out Sonny’s class ring.

Brenda: I had forgotten I had this, but I’ll bet it was what was causing the problem.

She places the ring on a tray and moves through the detector with ease. She picks the ring back up and holds it in her hand, tightly.

Brenda: *To herself* You aren’t even here Sonny, and yet you still make my life complicated.

Brenda rushes to catch up with Lois and Ned, who are waiting for her at the gate. Lois has her hands on her hips and is giving Ned and exasperated look.

Lois: What do you mean, you invited Sonny to go to Coney Island with us?
Ned: I mentioned that we were going and he said that he would like to see you and Brooke.
Lois: What about Brenda?
Ned: : Sonny is like a brother to you and Brooke Lynne’s honorary godfather, Brenda is not a factor.
Lois: She would be crushed to find out that we are spending the afternoon with Sonny.
Ned: Why should Brenda find out, she will be half way to Paris by this afternoon.
Lois: What if Sonny shows up early?
Ned: I told him to meet us at the house at 2:00.
Lois: All I can say is that Brenda better not!

Brenda walks up in time to only hear the last part.

Brenda: I better not do what?  

Lois gives Ned a desperate look, she was no good at lying, especially to Brenda.

Ned: You had better not be late to check in at the airline desk.

He steers her towards the desk.

Brenda: I have plenty of time.
Ned: The sooner you check in, the better, you wouldn’t want to delay the whole flight. 
Lois: Yeah, what happened at security anyway? It took you ages.
Brenda: I guess the sensors are just sensitive.
Lois: Well, never mind, lets go get you checked in and on your way.
Brenda: Okay, now I’m starting to think that you are trying to get rid of me.
Ned: Not at all, but we do need to be back at the house by 2:00.
Brenda: What happens at 2:00?
Lois: Remember, we told you that we were going to Coney Island?
Brenda: Oh yeah, I’ve always wanted to go to Coney Island.
Ned: You’ve never been?

Lois gives Ned an "I told you so," look.

Ned: You’ll have to go next time.
Lois: When you aren’t in Paris.

Brenda gives them a puzzled look, she is convinced that something is going on, but she can’t even guess at what their secret might be and she didn’t really care. She secretly hoped that they were having an affair, at least that way one couple that was meant to be together would be together.

Brenda: Okay, guys, I’m going to the ticket counter.

Brenda walks over to the counter and is met with a smile from the ticket attendant.

Attendant: Good morning, may I see your ticket and a form of identification?

Brenda hands her both and the attendant types something into the computer.

Attendant: May I see your passport, Ms. Barrett?

Brenda hands her the temporary passport issued to her by the U.S. embassy in Santiago, Chile.

The attendant types in some more information and waits impatiently. After several minutes of waiting the attendant hits another key and then frowns in frustration.

Attendant: Is this the only passport that you have, Ms. Barrett?
Brenda: Yes, is there a problem?
Attendant: I’m sure that it is only a computer glich. You may wait over there while I straighten it out.

Brenda goes back to a seat, while the attendant makes a phone call. In a few minutes the attendant calls Brenda back to the counter.

Brenda: Did you find out what’s wrong?
Attendant: Yes, this passport has been revoked.
Brenda: What does that mean?
Attendant: It isn’t valid and you can’t use it to leave the country.
Brenda: What about my ticket to Paris?
Attendant: I’m sure you can get a full refund or use the ticket at another time.
Brenda: What should I do about a passport?
Attendant: You will have to apply for a new passport, I’m sorry.
Brenda: No, it isn’t your fault, but I think I know who to blame.

Brenda walks over to Ned and Lois with a dazed look on her face.

Lois: Brenda, what’s wrong?
Brenda: There has been a change in plans, I’m not going to Paris today. 
Lois: Why not?
Brenda: I don’t have a valid passport, so I guess I’ll go to Coney Island with you guys.

Ned and Lois exchange worried looks.

Ned: What happened to your passport?
Brenda: Sonny Corinthos happened! Somehow he had my passport revoked.
Lois: You have to be wrong, honey, how would Sonny get a passport revoked?
Brenda: I don’t know or care how he did it!
Ned: Revoking a passport is pretty serious, he would have to go through the federal government.
Lois: Why would Sonny go to all that trouble?
Brenda: Because he is a controlling manipulative jerk! He didn’t want me to go to Paris.
Ned: That sounds like a classic Corinthos move, we should know his MO by now.
Brenda: Well, I say that it deserves a counter move!
Ned: This doesn’t sound good.
Brenda: Sonny can’t stay out of my business, so a want a piece of his business.
Ned: You want to become a mobster?
Brenda: No, I want to sit on the ELQ board with Sonny.
Ned: Sonny drives you crazy as it is, why would you want to be on a board with him?
Brenda: So I can vote down all of his proposals.
Ned: Brenda, ELQ is not a forum for carrying out your own personal grudge matches.

Brenda and Lois almost choke as they hold back a laugh.

Lois: Since when?
Brenda: Sonny has  a 12% interest in ELQ, right?
Ned: Actually, he sold 6% back to Jason.
Brenda: I know that Jason votes with Sonny, so I want to own more than their 12%.
Ned: All ELQ votes are equal, but I could let you have Katherine and Jax’s stock, 5% each.
Brenda: That is only 10%
Ned: I could let you vote Brooke’s proxy.
Brenda: Sold!
Lois: Brenda, are you sure you want to do this?
Brenda: Yes, I’m going to take every opportunity to let Sonny know how I feel about his tactics!  

Hannah had insisted that Sonny leave the terminal where she was even before the Concord arrived because she didn’t want to run the risk of Sonny seeing Lopez. Actually, Sonny had felt a strange sense of relief when he left her. He had caught a glimpse of Lopez when he was walking away. He assumed that he was the photographer that Hannah was supposed to meet at the airport. He also remembered Lopez as the man who a scared Brenda on the docks. He would have to ask Brenda if she had met Lopez when she was modeling. Sonny was walking back from leaving Hannah at her gate to catch the Concord when he saw Brenda, Lois and Ned. He walks up just in time to hear Brenda’s last statement.

Sonny: If you have something to say, go ahead and say it to me now.
Lois: *To Ned* This is not good.
Ned: Maybe we should just go, Brenda.
Sonny: No, if she has a problem with something that I’ve done, I want to hear her complaint.
Brenda: Good, because I’m going to tell you how much I hate you meddling in my life! 

Brenda is more angry than Sonny has seen her in a long time. She looks like she is about to explode, not that he is exactly upset. She always look so cute when she is telling him off big time.

Lois: This could get really messy.
Ned: They look like they are enjoying themselves though.
Lois: I know, but we should try and get lost.
Ned: I agree.

Ned and Lois try to sneak off to avoid the explosion.

Brenda: Where are you two going?
Lois: We need to go call maw and check on our daughter.
Ned: That is where we are going.
Brenda: You have a cell phone, call from here.
Ned: The battery is dead.
Sonny: You just Talked to me a few hours ago.
Brenda: You talked to Sonny?
Ned: We have to go.

He drags to a pay phone, leaving Sonny and Brenda to give each other intense looks.  

Brenda: Do you know how angry I am at you right now, Sonny? 
Sonny: Judging from the look on your face, I would say that you are pretty steamed.

He puts emphasis on the word "Pretty," which only makes Brenda more angry.

Sonny: You see, when you are really mad you arch your eyebrows and lock your jaw.

He uses his hands to frame her face.  

Sonny: Over all, it is a beautiful picture if I do say so myself.

Sonny lets out a deep breath and gives her a smoldering look that would melt an iceberg.

Brenda: Do not try and patronize me, I’m so mad at you right now I can hardly get the words out! 
Sonny: Don’t worry, they’ll come,

He gives her a dimpled grin.

Sonny: Wait a minute, shouldn’t you be someplace else, Brenda?

She reminds herself that she is angry and him and forces herself to overcome his charms. 
 
Brenda: See, Sonny, that is where you’re wrong!
Sonny: I’m wrong, because I could have sworn that you weren’t supposed to be here right now.
Brenda: You don't tell me where I should be, and you can’t keep me from going where I want to go.
Sonny: Wait a minute, sweetheart, because you lost me somewhere near the start of the conversation.
Brenda: Don't play innocent with me, Sonny. I know that you are trying to control where I travel.
Sonny: What are you trying to blame me for Brenda, did they cancel your flight?
Brenda: You know they canceled my passport!

The surprised look on Sonny’s face was genuine. After all that had happened in the past few days he had forgotten about having her passport revoked.

Sonny: I’m sorry, Brenda.
Brenda: No, you did this Sonny, so why would you be sorry?
Sonny: I revoked your passport, so now I’m the federal government?
Brenda: Somehow you managed! You went to a lot trouble to keep me from going to Paris.
Sonny: Your theory is that I did all of this to keep you away from Robin?
Brenda: I know that you made this happen. It was a stupid, and immature attempt at controlling me!
Sonny: Actually, I would have called in a huge favor to get your passport revoked, Brenda.
Brenda: Am I supposed to be flattered because  you're willing to waste favors just to control me?
Sonny: You are sounding paranoid, Brenda. Why would I do this terrible deed?

He gives her an instance look, that almost throws her off balance.

Brenda *softly* Why don’t you tell me, Sonny? 
Sonny: I don’t know what you want to hear?
Brenda: Be straight with me for once.
Sonny: I might do something like this if I was scared of loosing you, sweetheart.

He stares off into space, getting that look in his eyes that Brenda knows all too well. It is times like this when Brenda can look into his eyes and see that frightened little boy. The boy that she wants to embrace tightly and reassure that everything is going to be all right. Some people might have called that twisted, even sick. As if Brenda thought that sex could fix Sonny’s problems, but she wasn’t thinking about a quickie on the couch in the airport terminal. She was thinking about reaching out to some one that she cared deeply about and trying to erase some of the pain that she knew Sonny always carried around in his heart and in his head. I few people had even overwhelmingly convinced Brenda for a while that what she felt for Sonny was some sick twisted joke. Brenda knew now that those people were wrong and she was wrong to believe their take on her and Sonny’s love. The people who knew Sonny the best loved him, and of those people, Brenda was the only one who knew him to his deepest core, past all the hurt and the tough guy exterior, down to the beautiful, but vulnerable person Sonny was inside. It was that part of him that Brenda wanted to reach. After all, it was like Sonny had told her earlier, they shared the same heart. When he hurt, she hurt.   

Brenda Takes his hands in hers and wills him to look at her, so that he knows she is sincere.

Brenda: Why would you be afraid that you would loss me?
Sonny:  I could hardly believe that you were alive. I didn’t want something else to happen to you.
Brenda: Sonny, it isn’t up to you to decide where I travel or what risks I take.
Sonny: I know that, but I just wanted you close by for a while, not forever, just for a while.
Brenda: *smiling slightly* Are you finally admitting you did this?
Sonny: It was a gut reaction, the night that you came back. Now, I’m sorry that I made the decision.

He runs his hands through his hair in a show of determination.

Brenda: I wish that I could believe you, Sonny, but you have done this kind of thing before.
Sonny: I was wrong before and I was wrong to do it this time, but you do things to me Brenda.

He gives her another intense look.

Sonny: I admit it, you cause these feelings in me to rise to the surface and I react in selfish ways. 
Brenda: You aren’t totally to blame, I know what you mean about strange feelings.

Sonny meets her eyes with a very steamy look, the kind that only he gives her, the kind that makes her pulse race.

Sonny: That is the problem, the feelings aren’t strange, they are all too familiar.  

Brenda finds that she can hardly think, much less form the words to speak.

Brenda: *Finally muttering* I don’t think this is something that we need to explore at the moment.
Sonny: *Letting out a breath* It’s up to you. Does this mean you forgive my lapse in judgment?
Brenda: I’ll let you go this time. As long as it doesn’t become a chronic lapse in sense.
Sonny: I really don’t want you angry at me, Brenda.
Brenda: I don’t want to be angry at you either, Sonny.
Sonny:  How soon can you get a new passport?
Brenda: It will take a couple of months, unless you can pull some strings?

She gives him a hopeful look, almost like a child asking for a new pony, it makes him smile.

Sonny:  I wish I could help, sweetheart, but I seem to be a little low on favors.
Brenda: I guess I’m stuck stateside for a while.

Something else occurs to Sonny, something he hadn’t thought of before. If Brenda doesn’t have a passport, she can’t go see Jax, even if she were to find out where he is hiding. Also, Jax can’t make physical contact with Brenda because he was deported after AJ’s accidental death trail. Sonny feels compelled to mention this to Brenda, even though he knows it will make her angry. She will be convinced that Sonny had her passport canceled just to keep her away from Jax, when the truth was the thought hadn't crossed his mind until this very moment.

Sonny: I guess that kind of puts a damper in your plan to find Jax.

She gives him an angry, cold look.

Brenda: Was that your plan all along, to keep me from finding Jax!
Sonny: I swear to you, Brenda, the fact that this would keep you away from Jax just crossed my mind.
Brenda: I can’t believe that I fell for your line about needing me close by, this was always about Jax!
Sonny: You’re right, I don’t want you anywhere near him, the man is a murderer!
Brenda: So you tell me, but I won’t let you keep me from hearing his side of the story!
Sonny: You don’t have a choice, Jax can’t come back to this country and you can’t leave!

Ned and Lois have come back from calling Gloria in time to hear this final exchange.

Ned: You know, I have to agree with Sonny, Jax is dangerous.
Brenda: He would never hurt me in any way.
Lois: I believe you, Bren, but you don’t even know where Jax and Alexis are right now.
Brenda: I won’t find out anytime soon either, thanks to Sonny’s stupid stunt.
Sonny: Hey, I’m standing right here, why do you have to hurt my feelings?
Brenda: Sometimes I wonder if you have any feelings to hurt?
Sonny: *Pained* I do, and besides, I didn’t do this to keep you away from Jax. 
Ned: That was just a positive benefit from the situation. 
Brenda: I can’t believe that you are taking his side!
Sonny: He knows I’m right and that is why he’s invited me to go to Coney Island with him today.
Brenda: Wait a minute! I think I should get to go, because I have never been to Coney Island.
Sonny: You really did have a deprived childhood.
Brenda: Do not insult my upbringing.
Sonny: Sorry, what I mean is that every child should go to Coney Island, at least once.
Brenda: Fine, then it is settled. I’m going to Coney Island with Ned, Lois and my goddaughter.

Sonny Gives her a doubtful look 

Sonny: No, it isn’t settled.

Brenda rises her eyebrow, returning his own doubtful look.

Sonny: I haven’t seen Brooke Lynne in months, I want to spend some time with my goddaughter.
Brenda: You aren’t Brooke’s godfather, I would remember that!
Sonny: Only because I wasn’t given the chance early on, but that has been remedied.
Ned: *Sighing* Lois made him an honorary godfather.
Brenda: *Not believing*  When did this happen?
Sonny: *Teasing* While you were playing dead, sweetheart.

He flashes him a dimpled grin, she gives him a perturbed look.

Lois: He was depressed about you, I thought maybe it might make him feel better.
Brenda: So now I have to share my godparent duties with him?

She indicates Sonny.

Ned: For some reason my daughter seems to adore him, like most women I know.
Brenda: Wait till she gets to know him better.
Sonny: Ouch, you sure know how to wound a guy, Brenda.
Brenda: So, I’m supposed to let him have his way and go to Coney Island in my place?
Lois: No.
Sonny: So then I’m supposed to let Brenda get her way?
Lois: No children, you can both go to the amusement park.
Ned: How is that going to work?
Lois: They just have to promise to behave. So what do you say, Brenda, can you be nice?
Brenda: Of course, I’m not a spoiled child!

Sonny coughs, trying to suppress a laugh.

Lois: Sonny!
Sonny: *Innocently* What?
Lois: Will you try an overcome nature and behave for the next few hours?
Sonny: I won’t start nothing unless she does.

He indicates Brenda, who just rolls her eyes at him.

Lois: That is not the answer I’m looking for.

Lois puts her hands on her hips.

Sonny: Fine, I’ll be as angelic as schoolboy.
Lois: You were never angelic, even when you were a schoolboy, but I’ll take what I can get.
Ned: I’ll go get the car, do you think you can handle these two while I’m gone?
Lois: Of course.

He exchanges a look with Lois, as if to ask if she knows what she is doing. Then he leaves Lois in the terminal, hoping that she can keep the peace. Ned knows that Sonny and Brenda love to fight, it is the way that they connect when all else fails. Fighting is the way that Sonny and Brenda fuel their passion. If Sonny and Brenda really wanted to hurt each other they could both leave the other person black and blue. That was the down side to a love like theirs, they knew how to hurt each other.  Nobody really believed that what they were doing right now had anything to do with pain. This was Sonny and Brenda’s way of courting each other, teasing just enough to make life exciting.  Ned just wishes that they didn’t have to drag Lois into their lovers quarrel, but she loved them both and that was something Ned knew he just had to accept. He takes a look back at Lois and almost laughs. She has Sonny and Brenda sitting on chairs and facing straight ahead, and Lois is sitting between them like a chaperon at a high
school dance. Ned stands there and watches the scene for Sonny keeps giving Brenda longing looks whenever he gets the chance.  Brenda decides that she will be a lot better off if she can stop melting every time Sonny flashes his dimples at her. His dimples are the most powerful tool that he has to use against Brenda and which he knows. Of course Brenda’s smile affects him the same way, all she has to do is smile in his direction and he would literally move heaven and earth for her. So they are both floating in the same boat, yet they aren’t going anywhere because neither of them will admit to needing and wanting the other person.

Masquerade Next Chapter