The Devil You Know: Chapter 56

By time Starr had gotten home, she not only knew about Dorian’s presence in town and her dinner plans, she had already set up a cover to not be at it.  Thanks to Tina’s call, they had made plans for a brainstorming session for the wedding.  Sarah and Jessica would be there and Sarah had agreed to bring Dillon along for a cover, as had Starr invited Michael.  So, upon entering the main house, where she was greeted by her father, she already had her excuses lined, up.  Now all she had to do was act the part.  “Aunt Dorian’s invited us to dinner?”



“Yeah and she seemed to imply that it was mandatory,” Todd responded.  “All of us.”



“Damn, I made plans with Sarah, Michael and Dillon.  It’s been a while we’ve all had the time to hang out together,” Starr said all innocent.  “Look, with the holidays, I probably won’t be able to even see Michael.  He’s already being torn between his parents and I can’t be another factor in that tug of war.  Look, I’m going to call Aunt Dorian and beg off.  I’ll even do breakfast with her tomorrow to appease her.”       



She made her call and after a half-hour of wrangling, was free of the dinner.  She said her goodbyes to her parents and brothers and headed over to Michael’s apartment to pick him up, then they headed over to her Aunt Tina and Uncle Cord’s house. 



When they got there, Tina opened to door and informed her, “Dorian wants to take over the wedding!”



Tina was in her usual melodramatic act, at which Starr rolled her eyes.  “I’m having breakfast with her and I will tell her we all have it covered.  Hopefully, the fact that I’m the one actually organizing it will calm her down.”



“Good luck with that,” Tina muttered as she walked towards the dining room.  Michael and Starr followed her to find Cord, Sarah, Dillon and Jessica there.  They all sat down, and, like an executive, Starr went to the head of the table.



“Okay, so we have the venue, right?” she asked Tina.



Tina nodded.  “Yes, but there may be a slight problem.”  Starr was caught off-guard, but Tina assuaged her.  “Carly told me that Todd was looking to book the room for the same night.  Now, she told him it’s already reserved for another event, but he booked it for the next night.  Carly acted like she made the arrangements, but if Todd goes looking for anything further with it…”



“If you want,” Michael offered, “I can be the point man on that.  You know, get info from my mom.  Maybe even act as event planner.”



Starr smiled.  If there wasn’t half her family there, she’d give him a kiss.  Maybe later.  “Thank you.”  Then she turned back to the table.  “How are we on Reverend Carpenter?”



Jessica had been assigned to that.  “I spoke to him this morning.  He’ll be up here the day before New Year’s Eve.  And Cassie will be with him, as will Kelly, Joey and Zane.”



“Now, Kelly’s is you mom’s cousin, right?” Michael asked.



“Yes, and you met Joey in Llanview.  Cassie is Aunt Dorian’s oldest daughter.  Her other one, Adrianna, has never been a fan of Mom’s, has bad memories of Victor which cloud her view of my dad and led her to decide not to come, which all works out for the best, really.  And Langston, who is also my Aunt’s daughter and my best friend, is back up with work in LA so she’s unlikely to be here either,” Starr explained.  “Okay, so, I talked about some of this with Jack.  I’d pretty much figure that Mom and Dad would want us as the maid of honor and best man.  Now, I know Dad want’s CJ and you, Sarah, in the wedding.”



“Yeah, Uncle Todd mentioned it.  I think he wanted us to escort Sam and Bree down the aisle, as they were planned to be the ring bearer and flower girl,” Sarah informed her.



“Well, that we can tweak.  Do you think your brother would object to being a groomsman and you can walk down the aisle as a bridesmaid?” Starr asked. 



Sarah was stunned.  “Um, is that what your mom and Dad would want?”



“My dad has taken way too long in planning this, so I really don’t care if he objects,” Starr stated.  “So, what do you say?”



Sarah was still hesitant.  “What about, I don’t know, Uncle Victor?  Would Uncle Todd want his brother as a groomsman?”



“Todd and Victor?  It took all of Viki’s doing to get them to walk her down the aisle,” Tina commented.  “Sweetie, I don’t think Todd would object at all to your or your brother being in Todd’s wedding.  And I really don’t think Victor will either.”



Sarah seemed to relent.  “Okay, then I’ll be a bridesmaid.”



Starr smiled again.  “Okay, then, can you talk to your brother about helping Jack with the tuxedos?  They each need one, as does dad, of course, and Sam.” 



Sarah nodded to that.  “Speaking of Jack, where is he?  I thought he’d be here for this planning session.”



Starr’s face morphed into her father’s smirk.  “Thanks to Aunt Tina’s warning that Aunt Dorian was here, I was able to make an excuse for not going to dinner.  Jack was not so lucky.”



And at that moment, Jack was ready to kill.  The last place he wanted to be was stuck at the Metrocourt’s restaurant with his parents and his mother’s aunt.  He had decided to remain quiet and just watch the ping pong action going on between Todd and Blair and Dorian.  Yet whenever he looked at them, he noticed his father looked as annoyed as he did. 



“But I can’t understand why you’d want to stay here!” Dorian’s raised voice asked Blair.  “La Boulaie, at Christmas--”



“Because that’s what she said, Dorian,” Todd finally told her.  Blair shot him a look, but he just lifted his shoulders. 



Blair could tell that Todd was getting to the end of his rope with Dorian.  “Dorian, you have to accept, Todd and I have made a home here in Port Charles.  We are very fortunate that all of you here for the holidays, though.”



“This town has brought all of us nothing but grief, from the moment Starr and Cole…” Dorian choked out, though Jack thought it was mostly for show.  Then she drew herself up straighter as she said, “I’m surprised the both of you don’t want to get out of here.”



“Please, don’t say that.  I couldn’t deal with having him back in Llanview,” another voice added.



Todd had never before been so happy to see Victor and Tea enter a room.  “Please join us,” he practically begged.



“No, we’re fine,” Victor answered.



Todd stood up and pulled two chairs over to their table.  “No really, I insist.” 



“Actually, Uncle Victor, I’d really like it if you joined us,” Jack added hoping to convince him.



Victor turned to Tea.  She shrugged in response to Victor’s questioning look.  “Fine,” he relented, pulling out a chair of Tea before seating himself.



Dorian looked less than thrilled.  “You know, I was hoping to have a dinner with my family,” she said pointedly.



Todd pointed in the direction of Victor.  “He was family at one time, right?  Blair and he were married.”  It amazed Todd that he had gotten to a point with the notion of being replaced and Blair married to the replacement not bothering him.  It also might have been the fact that he was using the experience to annoy Dorian and taking pleasure in it.



“Besides, Victor and Todd are still technically your stepsons,” Blair commented, adding fuel to the fire.  “And you did say you wanted to have dinner with your family.”



“I meant you,” her aunt replied firmly.



“Then I guess I can go,” Jack said, finally finding his exit.



“Jack!” his mother exclaimed.



“John Cramer Manning, if I have to sit through a dinner with Dorian, so do you.”  Todd smirked at his son’s miserable expression.  Then a genuine smile replaced it.  “Tracy Quartermaine, how are you?” he asked.



The ELQ CEO rolled her eyes at the newspaper publisher.  “Todd.”  Then she looked at his twin.  “Victor.”



“Tracy, have you had a chance to meet Blair’s aunt, Senator Dorian Lord?”  When Tracy’s eyebrows rose, Todd went in for the kill.  “Dorian, aren’t you on a financial oversight committee?”



Tracy took the bait.  “Senator, I am so glad to see you.  I’ve been trying to reach your office about a merger that needs government approval.”



“Well, then, isn’t that fortuitous that she’s here, right Tracy?” Todd asked.  “As you two seem to need to talk shop, I really need to get home.  Long day at the office tomorrow.”  He stood and Jack and Sam, who had been very quiet and well-behaved throughout the nightmare dinner, got up as well.  Even as Blair stood, she seemed relieved by the distraction.  Victor and Tea moved on to another table and the Mannings headed home. 



On the ride back, Blair turned to Todd.  “Tell me the truth--you sent a signal to Tracy to show up at the right time, am I correct?”



“I wish I could say that was true, but no.  It was just a happy accident that my least favorite person in town showed up as I was having dinner with one of my least favorite people from home,” he told her. 



“We can’t avoid Dorian for the rest of the time she’s here,” Blair reminded him.



“Yeah, but the next time we see her, I’ll have my big sister there to protect me from her,” Todd said.  Then he let out a loud sigh.  “Christmas day with Dorian Lord and Viki Buchanan.  What were any of us thinking?”             



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