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Continued...
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Scene: Chez Rendezvous.

Felicia shakes her head in disbelief that Emily would even have the nerve to defend Liz Bryant . With all the pain that she supposedly caused her son, Terrence , there was no way that she could have any sympathy for the lawyer. Indeed, Felicia leapt at every chance she could to tear apart the damsel in distress.

"Look Emily, if you ask me, there is only one reason why your niece left town. There is only one reason that Kayla was driven out of town and her name is Liz Bryant. The woman is simply out of control! She knew very well that Rick was happy with Kayla and she still decided to sink her claws into the relationship."

"Yes Felicia, I understand your obvious dislike for Liz- especially where it concerns your son- but there has to be something more to the story," Emily replies. "Kayla is a very strong young woman. She simply wouldn't give up like this. No, there's just no way that one single person could drive her to the point of insanity like this. There just has to be more to the picture that we're not seeing."

"You mean something happened that was so horrible that not even Kayla could tell you. Something so terrible that Kayla couldn't bear to look at her husband again- and even worse, she couldn't take care of her daughter. I?m telling you Emily, I think I know what happened..."

"Oh, and would you please enlighten me?"

"I think that Liz and Rick slept together and that Kayla somehow found out. That's the only thing I could think of...Come on Emily, you're such a smart woman. No friends are as close as Liz and Rick without...you know..."

"I suppose you might be on to something." Emily mulls over the idea that Kayla could have caught them. "Still, why wouldn't she fight? It's just not like Kayla to run away from her problems like this. We were so close too...I mean, I would think she would have told me if something that extreme happened."

"When you really love someone there is no telling how you're going to react to a situation like that. All I'm saying is that if you really want answers there is only one place you're going to get them right now."

"And where is that, Felicia?"

"I think you need to pay Liz Bryant a visit."

"I think you might just be right..."

"I'll get the bill. You've already wasted enough time, Emily. You need to head over there now and not waste another second. You have to put the pieces together and find out what's really going on. She lives at Pac Towers- condo seven. I'm sure she's home at this hour."

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Scene: The Ocean Cafe. 

Diane walks back towards her table and suddenly she feels a knot in her stomach. She has always trusted her gut reaction about someone and something tells her that things are terribly wrong with this situation. This man seems so charming and complimentary, yet he is considerably younger and is presumably new to town. Why, Diane wonders, would he show such an interest in her. Perhaps he could have lied and truly recognized her from her picture in the paper, but why if he was such a fan had he never written her a personal response to any of her columns. Things just didn?t seem to add up with him and she simply didn't feel comfortable conversing with him further.

However, if it was Diane's true fault, she was always too trusting and never wanted to blow someone off. She thinks back to a time so many years ago when she first met Steve. She remembers how persistent he was and that he never took no for an answer. She also remembered how charming he was when she first met him and how he consistently made her feel like a million bucks.

In fact, the more she thought about him, there were more than just a few similarities between her former husband and this new man. Indeed, the more she thought about her relationship to Steve, especially this being their anniversary day, the more she felt sick to her stomach.

Her gut told her that she wasn't ready. Her gut told her that something was terribly wrong with this charming young man.

"Is something wrong?" Braden inquires as she stares at Diane who appears as if she's in another world.

"Yes...I suddenly feel a bit ill. I'm sure it's something I'll get over, but I think I need to get home and get some rest."

"I'm so sorry. I truly hope you feel better and I regret we can't talk more while you're here. Perhaps I can give you my number and you can call me when you're feeling better. Maybe we could do dinner later this week?"

"I don't think so..." Diane trails off and stands there in shock that she uttered such words. She realizes that perhaps she just mastered the art of blowing someone off. Was this how it really felt?

She thinks that she should feel remorseful for saying such words, but damn, she realizes it feels so good.

There was only one man on her mind right now and that certainly wasn?t the gentleman that was sitting in shock behind her as she walked towards the door.

The man on her mind was the man she married all those years ago...and she was now convinced that it was time to pick up the phone and make amends.

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