FicWad

It's not like I've committed a crime or anything, it's just because I'm like a walking-million dollar bill. I'm fifteen, I'm 5' 7, and I have long, extremely straight brown hair. My grandparents on both sides are multi-millionaires, my aunt's and uncle's are all in charge of major cosmetic's companies, and my cousins, along with an assortment of good-friends, own the spa and the Crimson Lights coffee house. I guess you could say I'm just your average teenage girl.
My life hasn't been easy. Actually, it's been far from it. My parents died when I was two months old. I can't remember them. What I can remember though, is the will they left behind, the reason I've been stuck here, being raised by an entire town-AKA, my family- in Genoa City, Wisconsin all my life. You see, when my parents died, they decided to leave me in the hands of my entire family, about forty or so people, but I'm to lazy to count, and I can't say it's been exactly a fun time. I guess you could say the "being rich" part isn't really all that bad, but it does have its disadvantages. Up until my fifth birthday, I lived permanently with Paul Williams and Christine Blair. They aren't my real family- well, they have been by marriage once or twice, but they've always been like parents to me. I called them "mommy" and "daddy" when I was younger. Now, they're just Paul and Christine, sometimes Chris, sometimes Cricket- that's her nickname. Right now, though, I stay wherever I want, when I want, with whoever I want. Normally, I stay with Michael Baldwin, my uncle, and my aunt by marriage, Lauren Fenmore.
She has a son, Scott Granger, who is like my older brother. He's been my best friend all my life. When I was younger, I only got to see him every few months- he used to live in Toronto. Now, though, he's back in Genoa City, and living partly at the loft, partly at Michael and Lauren's place. "The Loft" is just a fancy name for the huge, totally awesome apartment that my uncle Kevin, who's more like my big brother, my cousin Scott, and the legendary Jeffrey Todd Hellstrom and Mackenzie Browning live in. Jeffrey Todd, known as J.T. and Mackenzie, known as Mack, are "on and off all the time", as Kevin likes to put it. They aren't really related to me, but they do have authority over me, seeing as their families were extremely close to my parents. And I guess it's a good thing I'm not related to J.T. since I've had a crush on him since I was seven. The one really important thing you should know about me, though, is not who I'm related to or how much money they have. It's who I am, my personality. I'm not exactly an angel. I'm kind of more like a mixture of half-devil, half-suck up when I want to be.
I have the ability to change from unbearably sweet, to downright evil. I guess one of the weirder things would be that ever since I was three, everyone in Genoa City has called me "Elektra." It all started with Paul and Christine. I remember when I was little, Christine said to Paul, "She's just like Elektra from that movie, so brave, so fierce, fiery, and in your face." So ever since then, for the past eleven years, I've been known by two names- my real name, Elizabeth Baldwin, Lizzy, Liz, Lissey, whichever you prefer. And then there was Elektra, fierce, fiery, and in your face. And that's exactly what I am.

It was getting late; I had been sitting in the same spot for almost three hours. I glanced at my wristwatch. It was ten till eleven. I heard someone's footsteps at the top of the stairs. I turned my head and glanced up the stairs behind me. Colleen was standing at the top, studying me carefully. She gave me a small, sympathetic smile.
"Hey, Lissy." Her voice cracked slightly. I stayed silent. She let out a frustrated sigh.
"Lissy, come on, you can't sit around moping forever!" I shrugged. "Who says?" She rolled her eyes. "I do!"
Another shrug. "And since when have I listened to you?" There was a hint of bitterness in my reply. She rolled her eyes again. "Lissy!" I sighed.
"Colleen, can't you please leave me alone?" She shook her head. "No, you're wallowing; stop wallowing." She sat down next to me at the foot of the stairs. I rolled my eyes.
"What if I want to wallow?" She shrugged. "Too bad, I'm not letting you." I was about to retaliate when I heard someone shout for me from the kitchen. "Liz, get down here!" It was Phyllis. I was in no mood to put up with her. "I am down here!" I snapped back, causing Colleen to snort into her hands.
"Well, get in here!" Phyllis yelled impatiently. I sighed and stood up. "Fine, I'm coming... see ya later, Cuz." I said to Colleen. It had been my nickname for her since we were younger. She smiled. "Later, Lis."
I marched reluctantly into the kitchen and found my aunt Phyllis pacing around the table, looking harassed. I raised my eyebrows at her. "Uh, you okay, aunt Phyll?" She jumped. "Oh, Lissy, yeah, I'm good... it's your uncle Jack, he wanted you to..." Her voice trailed off. "Um, he wanted me to what?" I didn't want to stand around all night waiting for her to finish one sentence. She sighed. "He wanted me to ask you if you could help your grandmother take some things over to your grandfather... he's says he can't bring himself to go over there just yet, and he doesn't want to be around Gloria, anyway." I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. I tried to keep the tears from spilling over at the mention of my grandfather.
"Who... who says...who says I'm ready to go over there yet, either?" Phyllis sighed. "Lissy, I know your upset about all of this, but eventually your going to have to-"No!" I cried, outraged at what I was hearing. "I'm not upset, I'm angry!" I could feel my eyes filling up. Phyllis looked about ready to pass out. She looked thoroughly ready to take whatever I was going to throw at her.
"Lis, please..." I sighed. "I can't, please don't make me go, I can't do it." Phyllis looked ready to beg. "You wouldn't have to go until tomorrow." I shook my head. "I'm not ready, I'm not going...send Colleen." Aunt Phyllis looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure if Colleen can handle it right now." My jaw dropped. Was I seriously hearing what I thought I was hearing? "What?" I cried furiously, "You won't send Colleen because she's not ready, but I keep telling you I can't handle it, and you see nothing wrong with sending me?"
She was about to reply when the doorbell rang, along with a loud knock on the front door. She sighed. "Hold that thought, Lissy, I'll be right back." She headed for the front door. "No!" I called after her tearfully, "I'm not holding anything!" And slamming the back door behind me, I stormed out of the house and into the rain, not even trying to stop the tears from falling.


I knew that the damn door would be locked. Why the heck had I gone there? I was standing outside Michael and Lauren's apartment, drenched from the pouring rain outside, and looking like some sort of zombie with the mascara running in streams down my wet face. It was late; I didn't want to wake them. But I had to get in. I couldn't go back to the Abbott place. There was no way. Sighing in frustration, I pulled out my cell phone. There was only one thing a girl could do in a time like this. Call her father.
Well, actually, he's not really my father, but for me, he's as close as it gets. And he'll do just fine. Flipping open my phone, I hit the Paul button on speed dial and held the phone to my ear. He answered after two rings; He was working late tonight.
"Hello, Williams detective agency, how may I help you?"
"Paul...daddy, hi...it's me." I had called him daddy when I was younger, and sometimes when I got overemotional, like now for instance, I still did. He sounded mildly surprised.
"Lissy, honey, what's the matter, are you okay?" He sounded worried.
"Yeah...yeah, I'm...okay." I couldn't remember the last time I had cried this hard.
"Liz, honey, where are you.... why are you crying?" I let out a loud sob.
"I...I'm at Mikey's...aunt Phyllis tried to make me go see Granddad.... I told her I wasn't ready, I mean, he's only been gone a day..." I wondered if he could understand me through the tears. "I told her to make Colleen go, and she.... she said...she..."
"Baby, hang up, I'm coming to get you, okay?" I nodded. "Okay..." I sobbed into the phone. I hit the off button. He was coming to get me. I was going home. I hadn't been home in weeks. You see, normally I stay at the Abbott's or at the Ranch, or with Mikey and Lauren. Normally, I don't go home with Paul or Christine, even though I lived there when I was younger and had called it my home for so many years. But somehow, tonight, going home seemed like the most comforting thing in the world.


After sitting in the hall outside Michael's apartment for almost half an hour, Paul appeared in front of me, looking solemn. I smiled a wet smiled as he helped me up from the floor. For the first time in a long time, I felt like someone was really there for me. Just having him there in front of me was so comforting. I felt loved. "Daddy...I wanna go home." I sobbed, a whole new round of tears on their way up. Paul's eyes were teary to as he pulled me into a hug. "I know." He whispered, "We're going home, it's okay, I'm here now."
One hour later, I was lying in my bed, still wide-awake with the moon shining in through the open window. The apartment was quiet. Paul was asleep. I should've been sleeping to, but my mind wouldn't allow such comfort. I couldn't stop thinking about Granddad, Colleen, Phyllis, and everything in general. But one certain thought stuck more than the others. It floated into my head and wouldn't' get out. For some weird reason, and for the first time in years, I wondered, and I'll admit, wished, Paul and Christine would get back together, and what it would be like to have a real family with the two people I loved the most.


It was almost five o'clock in the morning. Paul was still sleeping. I had been awake all night, staring at the ceiling. I couldn't lie there any longer. Without a second thought, I grabbed my cell phone from my nightstand and hit the Christine button. I knew she would still be asleep, but I didn't care. I needed to talk to her, and I knew she would understand. She answered in a sleepy tone after four rings.
"Heeelllooo?"
"Hey, Cricket", I mumbled, "Sorry to wake you, its Lis." Her voice took on a slightly more awake tone.
"Oh...oh, Lizzy, honey, hi... what's the matter, where are you?" I sighed. "Um, at home." She gave a little gasp of surprise.
"Home, really...with Paul?" I nodded against the phone. "Uh-huh." Chris sighed. "Why did you go there?" I took a deep breath and willed the tears to stay down. "I was a wreck last night... Phyllis tried to get me to go see Granddad today, and I told her I wasn't ready... she didn't understand...so I ran." Chris sighed again, this time, she sounded slightly upset. "Lizzy, that's not a good way to deal with your problems." I could feel my eyes burning. "Phyllis doesn't get me... nobody gets me, Cricket." Was it just me, or was she crying?"
"Lizzy, how did you get to Paul's?" I rolled my eyes. I was getting frustrated. "In a car." Christine said some not-so-nice words into the phone. "Sorry", I mumbled, "Paul... daddy came and got me at Mikey's... I tried to go there, but the door was locked, and it was late." I could tell Christine was thinking carefully on the other end. It was silent for a long time. "Can you come home?" I asked in a hopeful tone. "Lizzy, that's not my home now, you know that... Paul and I-"But I'm here!" I cried, "I'm your little girl, or at least I thought I was... and you loved Paul once, we were a family, don't try and deny that one, Christine!"
"Lizzy, that's not what this is about!" I shook my head. "No, your wrong... this whole thing is about you, me and Paul, and it always has been... it's about you two being selfish and not seeing what's best for me, or what I want... Paul still loves you, and I know you love him, Mommy, please, I never ask for anything, but I want this one thing more than anything, just this once!" I was crying again, darn it. Christine's voice was tearful the next time she spoke. "You haven't called me that for a long time, Lissy." I sighed. "Yeah, well, maybe it would happen more often if you took the time to play the part!" And I snapped the phone shut before I could hurt her anymore than I already had.

Half and hour later, to my surprise, my bedroom door opened, and Paul stuck his head in. "Lissy, hey...Chris says you called her this morning, about thirty minutes ago?" It came out as a question. I shrugged. "Yeah, so?" Paul sighed. "Lizzy..." I groaned. "Paul, I didn't mean to upset her, did she call you?" He nodded. I sighed. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean it, any of it...I only wanted to see her, I asked her to come home, that's all I wanted!" Paul shook his head. "Lizzy, this isn't Chris's home anymore, she has her own place, if you wanted to see her so bad, why didn't you just go there instead?" Normally, I didn't take offense easily, but this stung. "Because I needed you!" I cried, "I wanted to come here, I wanted you, but I need her to, she's my mother!" Paul looked absolutely exhausted. "No, Lizzy, Christine is not-"No!" I screamed, "Don't even say it!" I clamped my hands over my ears and started to rock by and forth on my bed. "Lissy, I'm sorry..." I shook my head madly. "No, I'm not listening to you, go away!" Paul sighed. "Liz, I'm only trying to be realistic." I laughed sarcastically. "Yeah, well, if Christine's not my mother, then you know what that makes you?" Paul shook his head slowly. "What, Lizzy?" I took a shaky breath before I screamed, "Nothing!" Then I watched Paul walk out of the room with his face in his hands.



I was reckless, I knew. I had hurt the two people I loved the most in less than one hour. I was on a roll. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get out of my bed. But then my cell phone rang. Sighing, I flipped it open and held it to my ear. "Hello?" It was Lauren. "Hey, Lissy, where are you?" I sighed. "At home...at Paul's." Lauren sounded surprised. "Oh, okay...well, would you mind coming over here as soon as possible?" I shrugged. "What for?" Lauren sounded really happy on the other end. "Oh, you'll see when you get here...will you come, please?" I nodded. "Yeah, okay, I'm on my way." Lauren laughed. "Okay, great, thanks, bye Sweetie." I smiled. "Bye..." I snapped the phone shut and climbed out of bed. Lauren sounded really excited about something. She had lifted my mood a little bit, too. After pulling on a pair of fresh jeans and a t-shirt, I grabbed my shoulder bag and trudged into the living room.
Paul was sitting on the sofa, watching television and reading the newspaper. "I'm going over to Mikey and Lauren's." I told him. He nodded without looking up. I sighed. "Paul, I'm really sorry." I sat down beside him and looked him in the eye. He shook his head slowly. "No, it's okay Lissy, I should be the one apologizing." I shrugged. "Nah, maybe we should just forget it." Paul smiled, although his eyes looked slightly teary to me. "Sounds good... why are you leaving so soon?" I sighed. "Lauren called, she said she wanted me to come over ASAP, and she sounded really happy about something." Paul grinned.
"Yeah, I almost forgot to tell you...she is really happy about something, Lizzy, you'll be excited...she told me yesterday when she found out about it, and I'm pretty sure she wants you there to help her tell Michael." A thought crossed my mind. My face lit up. "Oh, my, God!" I cried, already knowing what this was about. "Wow, this is...this is great, this is...a little weird!" Paul laughed. "Go Lizzy, Lauren wants you there." I smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye, dad... thanks for everything...and dad?" Paul was crying now. Wow, this day kept getting weirder. "Yeah, Lis?" I sighed. "I really am sorry."

Ten minutes later, I barged into Michael and Lauren's apartment without knocking, and flopped onto the living room sofa. Michael was sitting in the armchair, typing away on his laptop computer. "Hey, Mikey, where's Lauren?" He looked up, confused. "Good morning to you too, Lizzy." I rolled my eyes and propped my feet up on the coffee table while chewing on the subway stray of my Coke that I had picked up on the way over. "Ooookay, Good morning, uncle Michael, where's Lauren?" He rolled his eyes. "Uh, I think in the bathroom, or the bedroom or something, why?" I shrugged. "Well, she wanted me to come over...?" It came out as a question. "Yeah, uh-huh, that's nice..." I rolled my eyes. "You are so in your own world."
At that moment, the bedroom door opened, and Lauren walked out looking, for some reason, all dressed up. Then it hit me. I remembered why I was here; I remembered what was going on. "Aunt Lauren!" I squealed, before I could contain myself. I jumped up and raced towards her; and then I stopped myself. She was grinning from ear to ear. "Paul told you?" She whispered. I nodded, smiling. "Yeah, let's tell Mikey, please?" She nodded. "Yeah, I have a plan, follow my lead." I started bouncing up and down. "Okay, okay, okay!" Mikey looked up, annoyed. "Would you two mind?" I laughed. "Do your thing!" I told Lauren, still laughing, as I walked back over to the sofa and sat down on the edge.
Lauren sat down on the back of Mikey's chair and leaned over his shoulder. "I'm thirsty.", she told him, and "You want something?" Michael sighed. "Yeah, I'll have what your having, thanks." Lauren smiled. "I was thinking about having a big, tall, glass of milk." I tired hard not to laugh. Michael made a disgusted face. "Um, I was thinking of something a little less... gross; maybe like a scotch?" Lauren rolled her eyes. "Okay, one milk and one scotch coming up." I shook my head. This could take all day.
A few minutes later, Lauren came back into the room carrying a glass of milk and glass of scotch for Michael. "Thank you." He said distractedly. Lauren smiled and sat down on the coffee table in front of his chair. "So, um, I was watching TV last night, and I caught this really interesting documentary about storks..." Michael didn't even look up. "Yeah, fascinating birds, flamingoes." I groaned. "Uh, Michael, you are so stupid!" Lauren kicked me in the knee. "Storks." She corrected him. "Oh, yeah, storks...that's what I meant." He still hadn't even looked up from his computer. Lauren rolled her eyes. "And I really don't know why it interested me.", she continued, "It was just really fascinating." Michael nodded, still typing away. Lauren sighed and walked over to the fireplace behind Michael. She sat down on the edge of it. Michael kept typing. I kept watching him in disbelief.
Lauren wasn't giving up yet. "So, I was thinking we should redecorate, you know, freshen this place up a little bit?" Michael nodded. "Yeah, yeah, that would be nice." Lauren was smiling. "I think we should start with the guest room." Michael shrugged. "Sure, that works." I rolled my eyes. "What color do you want to paint it?", Lauren asked him, "Pink or blue?" My breath caught in my throat. Surely.... " Green.", Michael said distractedly, "I like green." I bit my lip. Lauren laughed out loud at this. "Oh, honey, you can be so dense." Michael finally looked up at his screen has Lauren walked over in front of him. "Me?", he asked in surprise, "Really?" Lauren nodded. I snorted into my hands. "Well, I'll have you know that I'm known as a very quick thinker and very, very bright man!" He was indignant now. I rolled my eyes as Lauren said, "Well, not today honey, because Michael...your gonna be a father!"

Getting to see the look on Michael's face was priceless. Watching him cry, then laugh, then pick up Lauren and swing her around in circles was...a little uncomfortable; but yeah, priceless. I had decided to leave the two lovebirds alone; I didn't want to stay and, well, you know, interrupt anything. After kissing them both on the cheek, and of course, telling them congratulations, I headed down to the Coffee House to celebrate; by myself, they asked me not to tell anyone. Actually, Lauren had given me permission to tell two people, people that could be trusted not to spread it around. She knew I would have a hard time holding in something that big, so she had given me the permission to let it slip just twice. As I sat at the counter, I glanced around, trying to find someone to tell. Then, just as I was about to give up looking, the perfect victim walked in; Phyllis. Grinning, I waved to catch her attention. She came running. "Lizzy, you ran off yesterday, I wasn't finished talking with you yet." I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well that's yesterday's news, there are much more important things to talk about today!" She raised her eyebrows suspiciously. "Okay, spill, you know I love good news!" I was so excited, I was nearly going to bounce off my seat. "Well, I'm allowed to tell two people, Lauren said only two, Mikey really didn't want me to say anything yet, but Lauren said I could tell two people, so I picked you since your good friends with them, and I figured you'd want to know; I just found out and I'm going crazy because it's just so cool and I'm not even sure if-"Lizzy, breathe!" Oh. I laughed. "Oh, sorry, I'm just so excited... Michael and Lauren are having a baby!" Phyllis's jaw dropped. "What?" I nodded, grinning. "Yep, a baby... they found out last night; well, I should say, Lauren did...I was just over there, Mikey just found out, you shoulda seen him, it was truly hilarious!"

Phyllis laughed. "I bet it was... so, have you seen.... Sharon?" I rolled my eyes. "No, why do you care?" Phyllis shrugged. "Oh, nothing, I was just wondering." I sighed. "Well, I gotta go find someone else to slip this too, so see ya later!" Phyllis waved me away with her hand as I bounced off my stool and made my way to the patio out back. I was just itching to tell someone else. Then it hit me. Duh, Kevin! Of course I had to tell him, he was Michael's brother! "Lizzy... Lizzy!" I spun on the spot to see Daniel running towards me. "Oh, uh, hey Daniel... have you seen Kevin?" Daniel grabbed me by the shoulders, and it was then that I saw the look of pure misery on his face. "Daniel, are you okay?" He shook his head. "Liz, we need to talk now, I've got something your going to want to hear."

"Okay, spill." I was sitting next to Daniel on the couch at the Loft. Mack and J.T. were out, and it was, what Daniel had said, "The only place where we could talk in private." I wondered vaguely why his own house where he lived with Phyllis wasn't private enough, seeing as Phyllis wasn't there, but when I had suggested it, Daniel made a face as if to say, "There ain't no chance." Daniel sighed. "Lizzy, I really don't know how to tell you this, your not going to like it." I gave him "the look." "Daniel, I've been told that my parents were dead, I've been told that the two people I thought loved me the most were getting a divorce, and that they didn't want me... I'm pretty sure I can handle this." Daniel scratched his head and shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I don't really know how to say this, Lizzy, but I just found out a couple of hours ago that my mother and Nicholas Newman..... have been having..... an affair." I felt waves of cold run through me. "What?... that's impossible!" Daniel shook his head. "No, Lizzy, trust me... they've just been really good at covering their tracks, that's all." I shook my head. "No, there's just no way... what about Sharon, does she know?" Daniel sighed. "That's the thing, Lizzy... I think she's just getting ready to find out."

My head spinning, I said good-bye to Daniel and hurried back into the Coffee House. I wasn't really sure what to do with what I had just heard. Sharon needed to know; I couldn't keep her in the dark about something like this. It was wrong. Tucking a strand of loose hair behind my ear, I sat back down at the counter with my chin in the palm of my hands. How could Nicholas do something like this? I was in deep thought when I heard someone say my name. I turned to see Kevin behind me, grinning. "Oh, hey Kev." I mumbled. He frowned and hopped onto the stool next to mine. "What's got you so down?" I sighed. "Oh, it's nothing." Then I remembered Michael and Lauren's news. "Kevin!", I said more cheerfully, "Have you talked to Mikey lately?" Kevin shrugged. "No, not since yesterday, why?" I grinned. "Come with me, your gonna love this!" I grabbed his hand and led him out the door and down the street. "Lizzy, can't you please tell me where we're going?" He asked me this as we were heading past Jabot on Main Street. I shook my head, still grinning. "No, I want Mikey and Lauren to tell you, Lauren did such a great job with Mikey, and I can't wait to see it again!"

Kevin was getting annoyed by the time we got to the apartment. I walked in without knocking, dragging Kevin in behind me. "Mikey, Lauren, yoo-hoo!" Kevin rolled his eyes has a bewildered looking Michael and Lauren hurried into the living room. Lauren grinned when she saw Kevin and I standing there. "Oh, Lizzy, baby, you've brought me darling little brother!" Kevin raised his eyebrows at me. Since when had Lauren talked to Kevin like that? "Uh, yeah, nice to see you, what's going on, Lizzy practically dragged me here?" Michael grinned and clapped his younger brother on the back. Lauren's eyes were teary. Talk about over-emotional.

Kevin looked confused. "Mikey, what's going on?" Michael cast me a sideways glance. "Lizzy, you are the worst in the family at keeping secrets, your telling me you haven't even told Kevin?" I grinned and shook my head. "Well, I told Phyllis, hope you don't mind, but I just found Kevin, and I want Lauren to tell him... I really enjoyed watching you make an idiot out of yourself, and I'm dying to see it again."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Alright, Kevin, if you must know... Lauren and I are having a baby!" Kevin's jaw dropped; I grinned. Lauren was laughing. Or was she crying? Maybe both; I couldn't tell. "Mikey, that's great!" Kevin cried, his eyes tearing up just like Lauren's. I laughed uncomfortably. "Well, sorry to break up this little happy session, but I've got places to be...you know, hearts to break, people to disappoint....later!" And I grabbed my bag and raced out of the apartment before anyone could question me.

I ran all the way to Newman Enterprises without stopping. I had to tell Sharon about Nicholas. It would be wrong to keep a secret this big. I spotted Victor, my grandfather, talking to Nicholas in the hallway outside Sharon's office. Nick was the last person I wanted to see right now. Making up my mind on the spur of the moment, I ran in their direction, and stopped when I got to Nicholas. They both looked surprised to see me there. My grandfather was swelling up like a balloon. "Elizabeth, you cannot go running up and down the corridors of this building, what are you doing here?" I sighed. "Uh, sorry, I'm uh, here to see Sharon?" He nodded, seeming to think this was a good enough story. He knocked on the door to Sharon's office. "Come in!" I smiled awkwardly. "Thanks, and if I don't come out alive, I may as well tell you now... I stole eleven Oreos from your cookie jar when I was ten." Nicholas snorted into his hands, while his father gave me a disapproving look. Smiling, and momentarily forgetting my hatred towards Nick, I pushed open the door of Sharon's office, and stepped inside, closing the door carefully behind me.

Sharon looked up from a pile of boring looking paperwork and smiled. "Lizzy, hi, what brings you here?" I sighed. "I, uh...Sharon, I need to tell you something...it's about Nicholas." Sharon looked confused. "Um, kay, shoot." I sat down on the edge of Sharon's desk. "I was at the Coffee House earlier; I talked to Daniel." Sharon nodded. "Okay, go on." I sighed. "Aunt Sharon, Nicholas hasn't been very faithful to you." Sharon looked surprised. "Lizzy, what...?" He voice trailed off. I took a deep breath. "Sharon, Nick has been having an affair...with Phyllis."

"Lizzy, how do know all of this?" Sharon and I were sitting on the sofa in the middle of her office; she was having a hard time taking in the truth about Nicholas. I sighed. "Sharon, Daniel...saw." Sharon let out a moan. "Lizzy, this cannot be happening, I absolutely refuse to believe..." She jumped up from the couch; I grabbed her arm and yanked her back down. "Alright then, if it's not true, tell me why Nick didn't come home the night of your anniversary?" Sharon shook her head. "Lizzy, he was stuck in a snow storm!" I laughed sarcastically. "Yeah, with Phyllis!" Sharon had her face in her hands. I instantly regretted what I had just said.

"Sharon...I'm sorry...I'm only trying to help, I'll just go." Sharon sighed, her eyes shining. "No, Lizzy, you're not going anywhere." I gulped. "Uh, I'm not?" Sharon shook her head. "No, you're going to stay here and help me confront Nick." My stomach dropped out of my butt. "Sharon, I don't think-"Lizzy, do you want to help me or not?' I sighed. "Yes, I want to help, but-"Then you have to stay; I can't do it alone."

After first checking to make sure the coast was clear, I hopped across the hall and into Phyllis's office. Phyllis and I had always been close: I didn't want to do this to her. But I had no choice; She made a mistake, she deserved to pay. Thank God, the room was empty. Carefully, I crept across the room to her desk, and grabbed a piece of scrap paper and a pen. Making sure to disguise my handwriting, I scribbled, Sharon knows on the paper, and tossed the guilty pen into an open drawer.

Now I had to get out of this office before someone came in. Oh, crap, too late. The door opened, and in walked Phyllis. She looked nervous and uncomfortable. "Liz, what are you doing in here?' I had to think fast. "I was looking for...my cell phone!" I cried, "I thought I may have left it here!" Phyllis nodded. "Did you find it?" I shook my head. "No, it must be at Paul's." She sighed. "Yeah, so um, why was the door closed?" I shrugged, feeling my face growing hot. "I didn't want to let in any bugs." I lied, knowing I had a fat chance at getting away with this one. Phyllis raised her eyebrows. "Bugs...inside the building?" I shrugged. "It could happen."

Phyllis sighed. "Lizzy, have you seen Nick?" It took all I had not to punch Phyllis in the face at the mention of my uncle. "No", I lied, not wanting Phyllis and Nicholas within thirty feet of each other, "I haven't seen him, gotta run, bye!" I was about to dash through the door when my worst nightmare happened; my cell phone rang...from the bottom of my shoulder bag. I winced. "Oh, whata ya know, my cell phone, it's a miracle!" Phyllis covered her face with her hands and sank back into one of the poofy chairs in front of her desk. I dug into my bag and yanked out my phone. "Hello?" I moaned miserably into the speaker. "Lissy, hey, it's your uncle Jack, where are you?"

I groaned. "Hit the road, Jack, I'm kinda in the middle of a family crisis!" I flipped my phone shut and stuffed it into my pocket. Phyllis let out a small moan from the chair. "How long have you known?" She asked as I sank into the chair beside her. "A couple of hours." I sighed. Phyllis groaned, and sat up in the chair. "Lizzy, what was I thinking?" I rolled my eyes, which were starting to fill. "Phyllis, you shoulda thought of that before you...ya know." Phyllis sighed. "Lissy, I wasn't thinking...does Sharon know?" I walked over to desk, grabbed the paper, and brought it over to Phyllis. "Answer your question?" I asked, pressing it right up to her nose. She sighed, and swatted my hand away. "What do I do now?" I shrugged. "Figure it our yourself." I muttered, feeling the tears roll down my cheeks, "I don't want anything to do with you right now."

Sobbing, I walked as quickly as I could out the front door of Newman Enterprises, and ran all the way down the street to Christine's office. Chris would understand, I could talk to her. When I got to Christine's office, I went in without knocking. She looked up, surprised to see me. "Lizzy, hey!" I smiled, although it was with half the enthusiasm of a dead worm. "Can we talk?" I asked, sitting down in the chair in front of her desk.

She nodded, "Of course, is everything okay?" I sighed. "Well, there's good news and there's bad news." She looked a bit worried. "Um, alright, what is it?" I took a deep breath. Breathe in, breathe out. "Good news first- Lauren's pregnant." Christine's jaw dropped. "Oh, my God, really?" I nodded. "Yep, so it seems." Christine's eyes were tearing. "Wow, that's great!"

I shrugged. "I guess." Chris sighed. "Lizzy, your going to have a little baby cousin to play with, you should be happy, your so good with kids, remember when Abby was born?" I sighed. "Chris, it's not about that." She looked slightly taken back. I sighed again. "It's just.... Them having a baby makes me think of you and Paul... about my family, what it would be like to have a brother of sister... I'm always by myself."

Christine sighed. "Lizzy, you have a huge family, filled with people that love you very much, how could you possibly be alone?" I shrugged. "Everybody has a brother or a sister, I'm just...alone...all the older kids have boyfriends and girlfriends, and I don't...I just feel a little left out sometimes...." Christine shook her head. "Lissy, your fifteen, it's okay for you to not have a boyfriend, you've got a lot of close friends." I rolled my eyes. "I don't know if I can trust all of them." Christine laughed lightly. "Lis, what are you talking about, you've got loads of great friends- Lily, Mack, J.T, Colleen, Abby, Daniel, Scotty...just because you lost Cassie doesn't mean your going to loose everybody." My eyes were tearing up. Why, oh why, did I have to be so overemotional? I looked down at my feet. "Chris...Nick's been cheating on Sharon." Christine didn't seem to see this one coming. "Oh, God, Lizzy, what?" I drew in a shaky breath. "God, Chris, I'm so sick of crying all the time....but yeah, he's been with Phyllis for the past few months." She sighed, looking sick. "Lizzy, that's....Liz, does Sharon know about this?" I nodded. "I just told her."

Christine shook her head. "That's awful, how is she?" I shrugged. "How good would you be?" She sighed. "Okay, well now what?" I shrugged. "I dunno...Phyllis wanted my help, I told her I couldn't help her...it's Sharon that I feel sorry for." Chris nodded. "I get that...wow, it must have been tough for you to abandon Phyllis."

I nodded back. "Yeah, it was...but it's for the best, Sharon needs me, Phyllis made a mistake...." Christine sighed. "What about Nick?" I shrugged. "What about him?" Christine narrowed her eyes. "Sorry." I mumbled, "As of right now, I'm not speaking to him, and I'm pretty sure the same goes for Sharon." She nodded. "Okay, well, where is Sharon?" I sighed. "Probably in her office, or at home, or at the Ranch, or maybe she's outside, or maybe, just maybe, she's hiding in your garbage can right now."

Christine rolled her eyes. "Okay, Lizzy, cut the sarcasm, where's your aunt?" I sighed. "In her office...I think." She nodded. "Okay, well, I think we should go over there and check on her, she may need our help dealing with Nicholas." I shrugged. "Okay." Christine grabbed her purse and headed for the door. She stopped in the doorway and turned to look at me. I hadn't moved from my spot by the desk. Chris sighed. "Lizzy, if you can't deal with this, I'll take you to the house." I shook my head and hurried across the room. "No, sorry, I'm coming." She smiled and closed the door behind us. I followed her down the hall in silence.

"Chris, do you think that we should tell anyone else about this?" I asked her this as we were walking down Spruce Street. She sighed, and I got up to her pace in order to hear her reply. "Lizzy, I don't think it's a good idea to spread this around, but Nicholas needs to know that Sharon knows...so he can stop making it worse", she added under breath. I nodded. "Okay, but what about Jack, he should know about Phyllis, shouldn't he?" Christine sighed. "I don't know, Lis, that's not up to me, he'll find out eventually."


**Will be posting new version soon!!!