Chapter 24  <br><p> 



Mac was wavering in that zone between deep sleep and 
consciousness, resisting the urge to open his eyes and 
awaken. After viewing channel 7's scathing report on 
his relationship with Dara, he spent the remainder of 
the night in a fitful restless sleep. However now, 
after sleeping only a few hours, Mac knew that he was 
dreaming because of the warm, pleasant sensation he 
was experiencing, and he wanted to prolong it as long 
as possible. Light, feathery kisses and the tinge of a 
warm breath moved from his face to his neck to his 
chest. For some time two soft hands gently played with 
his curly hair and caressed his face. Now they teased 
him, sliding to his shoulders and chest lightly 
touching him. Instinctively he reached out with his 
right hand but Dara's quickly reached up to restrict 
his movement. As his eyes started to flutter open Dara 
moved her body over Mac's and he heard her whisper 
into his ear, "Don't move. Let me do this, let me make 
love to you."  <br><p> 

Never before, no matter how much she wanted to be with 
Mac, had she initiated their lovemaking. Dara saw the 
night before how angry and hurt Mac had been by the 
television report, knowing that most of his distress 
was on her behalf and due to how the report depicted 
their love. The couple said very few words for the 
remainder of the night and later Dara had felt Mac 
toss and turn in the bed until early in the morning. 
Nothing could really take away the momentary pain 
experienced that night, but Dara wanted to show Mac 
that the report or whatever Felicia said or could do 
would not affect what she felt for him. Tightly 
gripping the sheets, Mac held in a groan as Dara's 
warm body moved over his. Slowly, methodically and 
with incredible tenderness, Dara completely focused on 
giving Mac pleasure. Only towards the end of their 
lovemaking after their bodies had became one did Dara 
urge Mac to join her in an intimate dance that 
spiraled them both towards ecstasy.  <br><p> 

~~~~*~~~~~~ <br><p> 

Long ago Marcus Taggert first admired Dara's skill as 
a district attorney, but today watching her give her 
closing argument in Moreno's trial, he believed he had 
witnessed her best professional work. Dara's closing 
argument was perfect, emphasizing all of the strengths 
of her case and skewing the defense's strained 
attempts at generating reasonable doubt. When 
countering the defense team's disparaging comments 
regarding the character of key prosecution witnesses, 
Dara deftly reminded the jury of Moreno's character 
and what it said about him that these witnesses were 
close associates of his. Yep, Taggert thought, Dara 
ought to be pretty proud of herself today. Or she 
would be if everyone weren't talking about that news 
report broadcast. Understanding Dara as he did Taggert 
knew that she despised having her private life made 
public and that news report was a doozy. He wasn't 
going to bring it up first but he would be there for 
her if she wanted to talk about it. Leaving his seat 
in the rear of the courtroom Taggert quickly strode to 
the prosecution's table just at the court adjourned 
for lunch. "You did good today," he praised Dara, 
gently touched her arm. "I need to go out now and get 
some champagne to celebrate. Want to come along with 
me?"  <br><p> 

"Oh no." Dara shook her head as she flashed an 
incredibly attractive smile. "I'm not going to jinx 
this by getting overconfident. How about going to 
lunch instead?"  <br><p> 

"I haven't had a better offer today." Placing his hand 
at Dara's waist, Taggert escorted her from the 
courtroom and the two friends enjoyed their lunch 
date. <br><p> 



Meanwhile, in the 6th floor GH open lounge area, Lucy 
Coe cornered Ellen for an impromptu meeting regarding 
her wedding plans. Ellen was not successful in 
completely suppressing her skeptical expression as 
Lucy chattered on. "Ellen, we can do so much more to 
make your wedding THE event of the year in Port 
Charles if only you'd consider some of my 
suggestions." Lucy was doing her best to convince 
Ellen to "spice up" her wedding. "Think how romantic 
it would be to release a dozen white doves just as you 
and Matt leave the church for the reception. And my 
new boutique can provide ALL of your bridesmaid 
dresses. Can't you picture how chic the wedding party 
will be if my team works with all of you on the 
wardrobe? Plus, you and I need to get together to 
start on your trousseau for the honeymoon." <br><p> 

Those doves would have shortened lives if there were 
released outdoors in early March, Ellen mused. 
Fighting mightily to hide a smile as she imagined how 
Lucy would dress her bridesmaids, Ellen did her best 
to gently refuse Lucy's good-hearted gestures. "Lucy, 
this is my second marriage, not my first. And even 
though my first wedding was not a 'dream' wedding, I 
certainly don't want my wedding to Matt to be an 
extravaganza." <br><p> 

Exasperated, Lucy pouted. "I thought that you promised 
to change your mode of operation after our adventure 
in the woods?" Bringing out that long-ago promise 
might be a way of getting Ellen to agree to Lucy's 
plans for the wedding. Ellen was saved from responding 
when she spied help, in the form of Kevin Collins, on 
the way to aid her in dealing with whirlwind Lucy.  <br><p> 

"Hi Kevin!" Ellen said enthusiastically. "Come and 
join us for a minute." Being so caught up in escaping 
Lucy's proposals Ellen almost missed the slight scowl 
on Kevin's face as he approached them. But she knew 
that something was going on when Kevin asked to speak 
to Lucy alone for a few minutes. Ellen quickly excused 
herself and headed to the nurse's station while Kevin 
sat down on the couch. <br><p> 

"You're a difficult man to catch, Doc," Lucy teased as 
she gazed lovingly at Kevin. She truly missed having 
Kevin in her life and Lucy was on a mission to get him 
back. <br><p> 

Kevin took in a deep breath and prepared himself to 
hear Lucy's explanation. "Lucy, what were you thinking 
when you agreed to take part in the news interview I 
saw last night? Felicia wasn't on screen but that was 
no doubt her handiwork. How could you do that to Mac?" 
<br><p> 
Silently Lucy cursed for agreeing to help Felicia. She 
didn't want the first words for Kevin to say to her 
after weeks of silence to be criticisms and 
chastisements. Then, upon reflection, Lucy didn't 
think that she really did anything wrong and proceeded 
to tell Kevin so. "Hold on a minute Kevin. I don't 
need to apologize for anything. The interviewer asked 
me about public servants' responsibilities when it 
came to their personal life and I gave a reasonable, 
fair answer. Mac is my friend too but if he isn't seen 
in a positive light after that news report then it's 
due to his actions, not mine." 
<br><p> 
Lucy never ceased to amaze Kevin with the 
justifications she gave for her actions, and this time 
was no different. "Are you going to sit here in front 
of me and say that you didn't give that interview to 
help Felicia? Why would the reporter pick you to give 
an opinion on public servants and morality?" an 
incredulous Kevin inquired. 
<br><p> 
"I gave the interview as a favor to Felicia, just like 
you did when you escorted her to the New Years Eve 
party," retorted Lucy. Arching a well-shaped eyebrow 
she asked in a challenging tone of voice, "And why 
shouldn't the reporter pick me for such an interview? 
I'm a prominent person in Port Charles and it makes 
sense that they would want to interview me on this 
topic."  <br><p> 

Wisely, Kevin cautioned himself NOT to go there and 
state how ludicrous it was to consider Lucy the Port 
Charles authority on morality. Instead he warned, 
"Lucy, I'm doing my best not to get sucked into this 
mess between Mac and Felicia. Let them work it out 
alone and between themselves. I'm just giving you some 
advice as a friend not to get involved." 
<br><p> 
Somehow, in this strange moment, Lucy would have 
infinitely preferred for Kevin to be passionately 
enraged by her actions, rather than giving her 
friendly advice. Biting her bottom lip, Lucy swallowed 
her disappointment on how her encounter with Kevin was 
unfolding. It didn't go unnoticed by Lucy that 
something was different about Kevin in his reaction to 
her, but she couldn't pinpoint what was different. 
Hoping to get more insight into his state of mind 
about their relationship she offered, "Doc, I really 
don't want to talk about Mac or Felicia now; I'd 
really like to talk about us and our relationship. Can 
we go somewhere now and talk in private?" 
<br><p> 
Kevin knew that it wasn't fair of him to keep putting 
off Lucy's advances without being honest with her and 
telling her how he felt. But there were a few things 
that he wanted to do before he had that fateful 
conversation. Rising from the couch Kevin made a 
suggestion. "I can't meet right now Lucy. But maybe we 
can get together on Saturday or Sunday and talk. Can I 
call you Saturday morning and let you know?" Upon 
obtaining Lucy's agreement to meet later, Kevin went 
to catch up with Ellen who was just leaving the 
nurse's station. Ellen was heading for a meeting with 
Alan Quartermaine and Kevin informed her that he was 
going the same way, so maybe they could talk. He first 
mentioned Mac's dinner invitation and Ellen 
immediately acquiesced to the plan that they go 
together to Dara's apartment. Ellen noticed that 
Kevin's meeting with Lucy was unusually brief and she 
quizzed her friend about it. <br><p> 

"I saw that you didn't draw any blood." Giving a 
full-dimpled smile to Kevin's puzzled look, Ellen 
explained." You didn't look too pleased with Lucy when 
you first approached us." <br><p>  

"Did you overhear any of the conversation?" <br><p> 

"Kevin, I was at the nurse's station. Of course I 
heard everything!" They both laughed at the obvious 
truth in that statement. Ellen's laughter gave way to 
somberness. "I saw the news report last night," she 
confided. "It was pretty brutal on Mac and Dara." <br><p> 

Running his hand through his hair in a sign of 
frustration, Kevin pointed out, "Lucy, in her typical 
fashion, feels that she didn't do anything wrong of 
course." <br><p> 

When they arrived at Alan Quartermaine's office, Ellen 
stopped walking and turned her back against the wall 
to face Kevin. "Of course she feels that way," 
agreeing with Kevin's assessment, "but in this case 
she may be technically correct."  <br><p> 

Astonishment registered on Kevin's face as Ellen 
defended Lucy. "Keeping away from the fact that you 
and Dara are now friends, would you have given that 
interview, no matter how innocent your words may have 
been?" <br><p> 

Ellen didn't have to think at all to respond, 
immediately replying, "No, I wouldn't have done it."  <br><p> 

Unexpectedly pleased to receive the response he had 
anticipated from Ellen, Kevin smiled. "I didn't think 
so. Neither would I." Noting Ellen didn't seem 
inclined to rush into Alan's office, Kevin decided to 
continue talking. He moved very close to her and 
asked, "Hey, how are the wedding plans going? The date 
is coming up pretty soon. Are you nervous?" <br><p> 

Ellen had to tilt her head up a bit to look at Kevin 
directly since he was standing so close to her now. 
"Nervous? No, it's not like I'm a blushing bride of 
twenty." <br><p> 

"I know, but you don't have any reservations? I mean, 
Matt is the only man that you've dated since Sam's 
death. Do you wonder if he is really the right man for 
you or that you're with him because he was the first 
person to make his feelings known to you?" Kevin knew 
that Ellen sometimes saw him in the role of a 
confident, but he anxiously hoped she'd be open to 
seeing him in another way, perhaps soon.  <br><p> 

Smiling broadly, Ellen was somewhat amused by Kevin's 
line of questioning. "Oh right Kevin. I've really had 
to beat that long line of suitors off with a stick." <br><p> 

"Don't sell yourself short Ellen." Speaking slowly and 
deliberately, Kevin continued, "I'm sure that there 
are a number of men who want to have a closer 
relationship with you, especially if they thought they 
had a chance to do so." Wanting to touch her but 
knowing that it would be foolhardy to do so now, 
especially in such a public area, Kevin placed his 
hand on the wall a few inches from Ellen's hair. He 
leaned in even closer and inquired, gazing at her 
intensely, "Have you ever opened your eyes to such a 
possibility?"  <br><p> 

Slowly perceiving the undercurrent of his words, 
Ellen's eyes widened in shock and a gasp escaped her 
lips. She involuntarily pressed herself further 
against the wall. She was completely taken aback as to 
what was unfolding and found that she had trouble 
breathing. Kevin was excellent when it came to reading 
people. He saw surprise, confusion, and possibly even 
fear in her face, but he was thrilled not to see 
outright rejection. "Ellen..." <br><p> 

Upon hearing Alan's door open, Kevin quickly moved 
back from Ellen. "I thought I heard voices out here. 
Hi Kevin, Ellen." Speaking directly to Ellen, Alan 
said, "I'm ready to meet with you now Dr. Burgess, if 
you're ready."  <br><p> 

Still at a loss for words, Ellen finally broke her 
gaze with Kevin?s and turned to enter Alan's office. 
Pull yourself together, she thought. Ellen briefly 
glanced back as she entered the office and she heard 
Kevin's voice remind her, "I'll pick you up at 7:30 on 
Friday night for dinner."  <br><p> 

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