Chapter 5
Exactly twenty one minutes later, Carly joins Stefan in the conservatory. Stefan notes the time, but forces the annoyance out of his mind.
"I can't believe you got me up this early. It's seven in the morning! No wonder I didn't hear all the ruckus. I'm never up this early."
"And hence the reason for this meeting. Lying and laziness are the top reasons requiring this conversation." Before Carly can interrupt him with a retort, he continues. "Before you lie again, allow me to inform you that I know precisely when you wake. Do you think it escaped my notice that you have been watching my Tai Chi morning ritual in the last week?"
Carly flushes pink and grabs a scone from the table. Damn, what didn't he know about?
Stefan lifts a sheet of paper off the table. "Last night I made mention of ground rules. Without them, you cannot continue to stay here."
Carly stifles the urge to roll her eyes. "Oh, right. I remember."
"Let me go over them with you.... One, no lying. Any lie is grounds for termination of protection. Two, no spying. My study is off limits unless I am present and issue the invitation. The only rooms you have access to without my permission are the public rooms... which include the conservatory, your room, the kitchen, and the bathrooms."
Carly sips coffee nonchalantly. "Gotcha."
"Three, no acts of violence or property destruction. Again, grounds for termination of our agreement. Four, when you leave the island, you will be accompanied by me or security. Five, you will adhere to a strict schedule, negotiated by me..."
"Wait a second! A schedule? You have no right..."
"I have EVERY right," Stefan retorts firmly. "You have demonstrated an inability to keep yourself out of trouble. You are lazy, impulsive and undisciplined. A prescription for certain disaster. Until you are able to provide your own schedule, you will be on one that I provide. It will keep you busy and out of trouble. If that provision is unacceptable to you, then you are free to leave Wyndemere and my protection."
To say Carly hates the idea would be an understatement, but with last night's argument fresh in her mind, she wisely plays along. "Okay, assuming I agree to your conditions, what would your schedule include?"
Stefan passes her a piece of paper. "Merely a draft of a proposed schedule."
Carly reads the first item and her mouth hangs open. "Tai Chi at Seven?! That's too early!"
Stefan raises one eyebrow at her protest. "Would you prefer to wake earlier? You could join me for my morning run at six."
Faced with the threat, and knowing he won't hesitate to impose it, Carly quickly capitulates. "Okay, morning Tai Chi. Let's see.. breakfast and horse back riding? You'd let me ride one of your horses?"
Stefan smiles at her enthusiasm. "One of the gentler mares, yes. You do ride, do you not?"
"Yes, and I love it. It's been ages though... " Carly turns back to the paper, and the next item has her screwing up her face. "Horse grooming! That's manual labor! You have hired staff to do that!"
"For the next several weeks, my groomer will be busy with a new stallion I have acquired," Stefan explains. "And as for your objection, I will point out that you are staying in my home. I expect you to contribute."
Acquiescing, Carly goes back to reading the schedule. "Oh, so generous of you to give me time to eat lunch..." The next item she reads has her tossing the sheet back in his lap.. "Study time? Hello, I am not the type. Forget it."
"Are you not lacking the skills needed support yourself in the manner you would like to live? Have you not been living off one man or another since your arrival in Port Charles?" Stefan presses relentlessly. "Wouldn't you prefer to have a stable income that isn't reliant on the whims of a man?"
Carly gets up and strolls over to the fireplace, touching the candlesticks on the mantel. She was finding it increasingly unnerving how much he understood her situation. She shrugs, feigning a casualness she doesn't feel."Yeah, that's all true."
Stefan gently puts the discarded schedule on the coffee table. "Given that your presence in my home is temporary, it would behoove you to use your time here to your advantage. I am offering you an opportunity to leave here in a better situation than when you arrived."
Carly turns to face Stefan, fixing him with a hard challenging look. "Why? Why care what happens to me after I leave here? No one else ever has before. What do YOU get out of it?"
"This is not the first time I have helped someone's education so they could support themselves.." Stefan answers cryptically. "I would expect the arrangement I made with her to hold with you as well."
"Oh, an arrangement.. like sleeping with you?"
Stefan shakes his head at her crassness. "Caroline, if bedding you is all I desired, I wouldn't bother to educate you. If you remember, I had an opportunity last night to take you to my bed and keep you there indefinitely, without the hassle of educating you. Obviously, I chose not to."
Carly flushes pink and tosses her head angrily. "You're going to keep rubbing my nose in it, aren't you?!"
Stefan can't fight the smirk. "Only when you make the error of bringing up the topic." Rubbing his hands together, he continues. "What I would expect in return for providing you with the necessary education is compensation. Sometime in the future, I will require your loyalty and your service. I expect you to fulfill your end of our agreement without hesitation or complaint."
Carly crosses her arms in front of her chest, shaking her head adamantly. "No way! I know where this is going. Some day you're going to come to me and ask me to kill someone. No WAY I'm making that kind of a deal with you."
At this point, Stefan completely loses his temper. When he speaks, his voice is scathing. "Contrary the paranoid ramblings of Luke Spencer, I am NOT a murderer, nor have I ever been. Any task I give you will not require any acts of violence. Is that CLEAR?"
Carly puts her hands up in the air. "Okay, Okay. I got it. You don't have to bite my head off, okay? You gotta admit, Cassadines have a reputation for being a creepy bunch." Seeing his eyes darken even more, Carly quickly backpedals. "Hey, I'm not saying it's true of you... now that I've spent some time with you, you don't seem all that creepy anymore. And you have to know, people thinking your creepy is not necessarily a bad thing. Then they leave you alone." Realizing too late that she needs to stop talking, Carly flops on the couch. "Shutting up."
"Perhaps we can return to the topic at hand...education."
Carly blows hair off her forehead. "I'm telling you, I don't have the patience for 'formal education'. I didn't even make it through a year of nursing school."
"Then I suggest we table the idea of study for the moment. But it does leave us with the issue of what you might do to occupy your time. What is the America adage... 'Idle hands do the devil's work?' I can't think of a human being this applies to more."
"Great, now you're full of cliches." Carly rolls her eyes. "I'm sure you'll think of something for me to do."
Until such time as we can decide something more suited to your talents and interests, believe I can find some work through Cassadine Inc that is of low security risk....."
The next morning
Carly, bleary from lack of sleep and the early hour, plods down the steps of Wyndemere to her first lesson of Tai Chi, wearing a loose-fitting sweat suit and her hair pulled back in a severe pony tail. Just as she's about to head to the door to the gardens, Stefan stops her.
"We will be working inside this morning, Caroline." Dressed in his tradition eastern garb, Stefan extends a hand to her. Not only does he look rested and fully awake, he is almost excited.
Carly considers smacking his hand away, but opts instead to follow him. "Why inside?" She grumbles. "Not that I want to be out in the cold, but I thought that's where you study Tai Chi."
"It is where I often practice Tai Chi. But it is not a suitable site for you at this time. You need a place that will facilitate your concentration." Stefan guides her through a series of hallways that lead to the east wing. "When I purchased Wyndemere, I had a section of it altered for my meditation. I find meditation and Tai Chi essential to my continued well being." Placing a hand on her back, Stefan urges her through a door. "Come. Only a select few have seen my sanctuary."
Carly's mouth drops open as she enters the room. She feels transported to a completely different place and time. The room is filled with natural light which come from the skylights and large windows that look out into what would best be described as a striking Japanese garden, complete with a small pond. The room itself is decidedly austere and modern in contrast to the rest of the ornately gothic Wyndemere. There is no traditional furniture. In the center of the room is a large rock garden, with sand raked into patterns within it. The free standing screens with brushed drawings of whooping cranes and trees on the far side of the room lend balance to the larger boulders within the rock garden.
In front of the rock garden are two large bamboo mats that are obviously used for sitting. As Carly walks around the room to familiarize herself with it, she amends her first impression. The room isn't austere, it's the epitome of simplicity. The room has balance and a beauty all it's own. Even with her lack of knowledge about meditation, she could see why it would be used that way. It's welcoming without the distractions most rooms have.
Stefan watches from the doorway with avid interest as various emotions play over Carly's face while she explores the room.... shock, fascination, suspicion, and finally gleam of appreciation. He smiles when she bends over the rock garden, looking very much like she is tempted to stick a finger in the sand pattern. He is moved to speak. "The patterns in the sand are made with a special rake. Perhaps at a later time, you would care to try yourself?"
Carly steps back and shakes her head. "No, I don't think I'll ever have the patience."
Stefan steps into the room and motions for her to stand by one of the mats. "One of the main functions of Tai Chi-- patience. Remove your socks and shoes." He points to his bare feet, and watches as she hastily removes hers. "From now on, you will enter this room with bare feet. Sit down." They each sit on a mat cross legged, facing each other. Carly mimics his posture, upright, arms relaxed and hands resting on the knees. He closes his eyes, and she follows suit.
"Take a deep breath and hold it." Waiting several seconds, Stefan tells her to breath out and open her eyes. "Now we begin."
Carly begins to speak. "How is this---"
"You would do well to hold questions for the moment. It is likely that they will be answered shortly " Stefan says sternly, ending all dialogue. Assuring he has her attention, he begins. "Perhaps it is best to begin with the philosophy of Tai Chi, for without it, the exercises are meaningless...."
As Stefan goes on to explain the Tai Chi philosophy, Carly rapidly loses interest. Using a skill she perfected in school, she pretends to listen while she spaces off.
Almost immediately, Stefan stops. "You are not listening, Caroline."
Carly sighs and gets up. "I can't do this, I'm sorry. I warned you, I don't have the patience for this kind of stuff." Grabbing her shoes, she prepares to leave.
Chapter 6
Stefan halts her retreat by grabbing her elbow. "We are not finished."
Carly looks up at him defiantly. "Yeah, we are. Much as I'd like to lie and pretend to be interested in this Tai Chi garbage, you'll catch me anyway, and that'll just be one more reason to toss me out on my ass. So what's it going to be? Are you going to tell me to get out because I can't tow the line?"
"I don't believe for one minute that you 'can't' do it. Won't.. yes. That is the Caroline Benson I have come to know. Willful, lazy, selfish. How do you expect to ever get a chance with Michael again if you are unwilling to meet the slightest challenge?"
Carly flares. "Don't you dare use him to get to me! This has nothing to do with Michael, Okay?! This has to do with some god damned power trip you're on. You want me to conform to your rules. Play your game. Well I can't, I won't! I'm not you. I'm not some Zen weirdo who gets off on being able to control his own breathing! I could care less about that kind of crap."
Stefan calmly ignores all the insults. "This has everything to do with Michael, Caroline. It has to do with your ability to see the larger picture." He pauses, choosing to take another tact. "Would you not do anything to see your son again? Anything?"
"You know I would! If I have to breathe water to get Michael back, you better believe I'd grow gills! But what does this Tai Chi mumbo jumbo have to do with it?"
Stefan grips her shoulders in his hands forces her to look in his blazing eyes. "What if I were to tell you learning Tai Chi would get your child back? Would you do it?"
"But it won't!"
"I disagree. I believe it is integral. Putting aside your disbelief.. what if getting Michael back required learning Tai Chi? Learning self control? Would you walk away so easily?" At her attempt to protest, he cuts her off with the shake of his head. "Merely answer the question."
"I'll do whatever it takes to get Michael, even learning Tai Chi, but--"
"No buts." Realizing for the first time that he has her in a bruising grip, he loosens his hold and massages her shoulders gently. "I have a story to tell if you're willing to hear it. About how I won physical custody of my son."
"Nikolas?" Carly looks at him in surprise. "I thought you always had custody of Nikolas, even when the world thought you were his uncle."
Releasing her completely, Stefan paces the room, lost in the memories of over a decade old. "Not true. While I lived with him his entire life, his grandmother, Helena, had true physical custody and control over his inheritance until his seventh birthday, when I staged a coup to overthrow her."
"A coup? Sounds like a war, not a fight over custody," Carly replies dubiously.
"It was an all out war, though very brief, complete with spilled blood. To be sure that I was to be victorious, I planned and schemed for years, since before Nikolas' birth to be precise. I planned for every contingency, amassed my allies, and practiced patience. Had I been hasty in grabbing power, had I not practiced self control, self discipline, I would have assuredly lost my life. There were countless times I was tempted to throw caution to the wind and snatch my son from Helena. But if I had, the consequences would have been catastrophic." Staring sightlessly out the huge windows, Stefan pauses. Shaking off the memories, Stefan returns to the present. "Suffice it to say, Tai Chi saved my life and my son's life. It is not just an exercise, it is a way of life for me."
Carly is moved by his story and the loneliness she hears in his voice. She comes to a stand behind him and puts a hand on his shoulder. "It sounds horrible. I can't imagine the torment you went through. But my situation isn't the same. AJ isn't Helena, Michael isn't Nikolas, and I'm sure as hell not you."
Stefan turns around and fixes her with the fiercest stare. "With Michael living full time in that house, will they not suck the spirit out of that little boy?"
Carly shivers at his colorful yet apt description. "Yes."
Stefan pushes on relentlessly. "Will it not require elaborate planning to extricate him from their claws? Will they not destroy you in a heartbeat to hold onto him?"
Carly's eyes fill with tears. "Yes.. yes."
Still staring at her with frightening intensity, Stefan frames her faces with his hands, brushing her tears away with the pads of his thumbs in an unexpected display of tenderness. "Then it is the same. Can you risk ignoring my advice or my experience?"
"No I can't." Tears still streaming down her face, Carly nods. "I'll do it. If it'll help me get Michael back, I'll do whatever you say."
Smiling, Stefan lets her go. "Then let us begin again."
Stefan, dressed in a black jacket with white shirt, sits at his desk while he speaks on the phone. Next to the phone on the desk is a riding helmet. "So it can be arranged for early this afternoon? Excellent. See that it's done with utmost discretion."
A quiet knock at the door, and a moment later Carly tentatively sticks her head in. Stefan looks up at her and nods. "Thank you for your assistance in this matter. I will see that you are amply rewarded for your efforts."
Stefan checks his watch after setting the receiver down in it's cradle. "Prompt for horse back riding? Dare I hope this a trend?" He rises and picks up his helmet, revealing that fact that he is wearing a black jodhpurs and leather riding boots that come to just below the knee.
"I wouldn't count on it being a trend outside of riding." Carly's smile is impish. Dressed in a smart looking riding outfit that is very similar to Stefan's but is tan instead of black, she offers her arm to him. "I'm just itching to go. It's been YEARS!"
A short while later, Stefan and Carly are trotting down a well beaten horse trail at a comfortable pace. Stefan watches Carly acquaint herself with her mount in a way that demonstrates that she knows how to ride. He'd half expected her to pull a stunt to prove her ability, but thus far she's proven herself a more than able rider-- testing the mare's temperament, her responsiveness to directions, before moving the mare into an easy canter.
He'd intentionally picked a low risk mount for her... a gentle even tempered mare that is surefooted and quick. One that would never be a match for the spirited stallion he's riding however, in case a dangerous situation presented itself.
He finds Carly's silent company pleasant, much to his dismay. Since the only person he's ever truly enjoyed riding with was Nikolas, he's taken to riding alone after his exit to Oxford. He still missed Nikolas sorely.
As for his other riding companions of recent history, Katherine had been a disaster the first day he'd taken her riding. She prattled and preened constantly, more interested on impressing him than enjoying herself. The whole experience had been tedious and ever since, he'd found excuses never to take her riding with him again. Then there was Laura. While he had found great joy in their rides back in Greece, here he had never been relaxed enough to enjoy them. He instead found himself busy committing them to memory, knowing whatever time he had with her would be transient at best. And it had proved to be just that. At least he could be thankful that his obsession with her, as he now admitted as truth, was over.
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Carly bend over her mare and squeeze her knees in a barely perceptible motion, urging the horse to yet a faster pace. The next moment, Carly's mare is kicking up dust in his face as they take off in a full gallop. Smirking, Stefan urges the stallion to follow closely behind, but holds him back so he doesn't overtake the mare. After a few minutes at a full gallop, they reach a clearing. Carly pulls in the mare expertly, and lets out a joyous laugh.
Stefan reins in his stallion and guides him to a walk next to Carly and her mare. "Invigorating?"
Carly, with her eyes closed and her face upturned to bask in the brisk clear morning, sighs deeply. "Yes, to put it mildly. I didn't realize how much I missed this until now."
A comfortable silence lapses between them again as they let their horses cool down. When Stefan finally stops to dismount, he offers his hand to Carly, who accepts. In an oddly affectionate gesture, Stefan keeps hold of her hand after she's dismounted and leads her away from the now grazing horses and toward far end of the clearing, where there's a view of the water. "Come, I want you to see this."
The view of the water and in the distance, Port Charles, is breathtaking, and Carly stands speechless for a moment. The sun hits the water just right, so it practically glows. "I... I can't believe this view. It's gorgeous. And sunny, I didn't expect that..."
"Yes, gloomy Spoon Island. Who would have guessed that it would have a view like this on a sunny morning.? This has become my favorite spot on the whole island in the last few months." Finally letting go of Carly's hand, Stefan points at a striking structure in the distant horizon. "That is St. James Cathedral."
"Beautiful..." Carly has a lump in her throat, she hadn't expected to feel happiness like this again. Not after losing Michael. Now she had hope... and Stefan had given back to her a part of her identity she had forgotten. Blinking back tears, She asks in a shaky voice. "Do you think it would be okay if I came out here sometimes by myself? It's so peaceful."
"Absolutely," Stefan answers gently. "It is a place meant to be shared."
Overwhelmed, Carly hugs Stefan impulsively, almost knocking him off balance. "Thank you." Breathing deeply, she presses her cheek against his chest. "Thank you, you've given me so much, most of all hope that I might have Michael again." Lifting her head, she looks up at a startled Stefan whose arms have instinctively closed around her. Rising up on her toes, she presses a soft kiss into his bearded cheek.
Carly's sweet artless kiss triggers something in Stefan. Instead of pushing her away as he's done before, Stefan cups her face in his hands and kisses her with slow deliberateness, unconsciously groaning when she opens her mouth to him. He proceeds to kiss her thoroughly, deeply, relentlessly, leaving her weak in the knees. Reflexively tightening his hold so her body is pressed fully against him, his hands travel up and down her back, finding their way under her blazer only to be frustrated by her white blouse. Unable to resist, with one hand he cups her breast fully, squeezing just enough to illicit a small whimper of longing from Carly.
Suddenly coming to her senses, Carly pulls away breathless. Her eyes dart to his face quickly, noting that he's flushed and breathless as well. "Tell me that wasn't another one of your lessons," She asks, trying valiantly to bring her breathing back under control.
Stefan rubs her swollen lips with one of his thumbs, almost kissing her again and then dropping his hands. Talking a step back from her, Stefan's face changes to a slight smile. "More precisely a test, an unintentional one at that. And you'll be pleased to know you passed."
For a long moment, Carly considers bringing her boot down hard on his shin. But she thinks better of it, if only because she couldn't stand seeing his smug satisfaction at getting her to break the rules so quickly, not to mention the delight he'd have in throwing her out one day into their new agreement. "I don't believe our agreement included a provision banning profanity, so you and your so called tests can go to hell, you bastard! And don't even say it. I don't flipping care if I'm too easily provoked!"
Whirling away, an infuriated Carly goes in search of the mare to escape Stefan, only to be thwarted when he calls to the horses to his side. Blinking back tears, Carly stubbornly refuses any help into her saddle and immediately takes off in a canter towards the stable.
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