Leftover Baggage from Llanview

8

Dorian:

Late the following week late one afternoon, I'm working a bit late in my office.

Almost all my office staff have gone home and I'm completing a document.

Just as I send it and close my computer, my office landline rings. I pick the phone up absently, forgetting to check the number.

"Senator Lord's office."

"Dorian!" Tina's voice practically shrieks in my ear and I jump. "Finally! I was wondering if you'd gotten so wrapped up in those Washington big wheels that you'd forgotten me!"

Shhhiiiiit...I mouth silently, my upper lip curling almost over my nose.

I have received at least seven messages from Tina this week and managed to dodge and delete them all.

"No, I haven't forgotten you," I tell her dryly. "You're not forgettable, Tina...what is it that is so urgent?"

"Listen, Dorian..." Tina pauses for a second. "I feel really bad about the way my sister treated you all these years...and I'm sorry for anything nasty I said to you over the years, especially over Victor's fortune and over David Vickers and all..."

She's obviously missed the dry sarcasm in my voice, has missed that I'm not thrilled to hear from her.

Silently rolling my eyes, I wonder just what Tina is getting at. Nothing is ever straightforward with her, so I know that she really is not offering me any real apologies.

"Dorian...since tomorrow is Saturday, can you come meet me for lunch or something tomorrow...?"

My eyes widen, wondering just where she wants us to meet.

"Are you busy tomorrow?" Tina presses. "I really would like to see you, make sure you're okay after all that went down here."

I guess my silence unnerves Tina because she wheedles, "We can meet someplace on the outskirts where no one will see us, especially Viki...do you know that Clint died last year? So you won't have to deal with him either."

"Tina, I really am busy here, so I can't make any trips out to see you..."

"Oh..." Tina pauses again and I can tell she's a bit nonplussed at my refusal to make a special trip to Llanview.

"In fact, I've had a long busy week and I am craving a quiet weekend with just David and Risa."

"Oh...uhhh..." Tina sighs and I can tell she is still smarting over David not being with her.

Tina's jealousy over David is so silly because she bounces between Cain and Cord on and off like a tennis ball..

"Goodnight, Tina..." I tell her, getting ready to hang up.

"Dorian...wait!" Tina squeals, hurting my ear with her shrill voice.

I have to hold the phone away a minute, frowning with my ear ringing. I'm so glad she doesn't have my cell number.

"I'm going to be driving by DC late Sunday morning," Tina tells me. "I'm traveling on business...I'm starting a new spa...remember Serenity Springs back in the nineties? I'm meeting with...clients. Why don't I swing by your place on Sunday, so we can have lunch together and talk? That way you don't have to make a trip out to Llanview."

I groan to myself and roll my eyes once again at Tina's nerve.

"Tina...I really am not open to guests now..."

"Dorian, I truly do want to make things up to you," Tina cajoles.

I'm quiet a minute, not because I really believe her but because I am wondering just what she is after.

Common sense tells me that I should hang up, but I sense that she and Viki have more drama going on in their lives.

Back in Llanview, when all the drama was going on between Viki, her late husband Clint and Viki's lover Sloan, I'd worried about their kids, who were in the middle of that upheaval.

Now I am full of fears for Jessica's innocent kids, Bree and Ryder.

I think about Natalie's son Liam, who is also another innocent pawn in the drama that I know is still broiling between Jessica, Natalie, John and Ford.

Natalie and Jessica's fights are even more vicious than mine and Viki's fights.

Viki and I wasted so many years being mean and nasty to each other, but Natalie and Jessica are downright cruel and sinister to each other.

And unlike Viki and me, who are not even related, Natalie and Jessica are twin sisters.

"Dorian, please..." Tina whines again. "Looking back, I can see how unfairly you've been treated...I know how you feel now because lately Viki's been treating me the same as she treated you...and she's got Natalie, Roxy, Cord, John and Bo eating out of her hand...she's spreading lies about me all over town...you're the only one I can talk to now...can't we just meet and talk? I really want us to be friends."

I have to stifle a snorting snicker. Partly out of curiosity to see what mess Tina has gotten herself into this time and partly to try to feel out for how Viki's grandkids are faring in the latest Buchanan/Lord drama, I decide to bite, but with conditions.

"All right, Tina, I will meet you, but we'll have to meet away from my home...there's a Silver Diner café just outside of DC in a suburb of Greenbelt...have you heard that area?"

I smirk a bit...on the way back from Langston's place, we stopped at a large shopping mall in that area.

It's quite an impressive sprawl with an array of stores and people. Many of the people there speak several languages, mostly Spanish.

It's actually a very attractive, bright shopping center in a pretty area.

Despite Greenbelt being a suburb outside the city, in many ways, it feels like downtown DC or even downtown New York City.

Outside the mall is a quaint Silver Diner café. I'm sure Tina will hate it and will probably hate the entire area.

And no doubt if queen Victoria ever set foot in the area, would look down her nose at the entire area, maybe even most of Maryland.

"No...where is that?" Tina asks. "Why can't I just drop by your place...just give me your address...I can bring us lunch...wouldn't that be easier for both of us?"

"No," I tell her. "I told you that I'm not up for visitors, Risa is doing a lot of studying and David is working on film editing that's taking up most of our living room."

The last part is a bit of a lie, but I just detest the idea of Tina being in my home and knowing where I live.

I don't ever want any of that old-money crowd, especially Viki, her daughters and their many husbands, to start inviting themselves over or heaven forbid, dropping in my home, expecting favors and trying to curry favor with me because of my position.

Knowing most of those sycophants, they'll start wanting to be seen in public with "Senator Lord" and having their pictures with me and other "important" people publicized all over social media.

Even worse is that they'd try to wheedle me into going to DC landmarks like the National Monument and trying to convince me to partake in selfie sessions with them and posting them all over the place.

That would be my idea of a perfect nightmare in absolute hell.

The mere thought of Viki showing up here and showcasing herself all over the place as the "best frenemy" of "Senator Lord" has me feeling a bit queasy and actually turns my stomach over with a gurgly flop.

I give Tina the address of the café in Greenbelt and tell her that I will be there at one, then hang up quickly without giving her any chance to argue.