Daily Updates

From: rika1@mindspring.com (Rika)
Subject: PC: Update, Thursday, 1/22/98
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 02:38:28 GMT
X-Server-Date: 29 Jan 1998 02:40:11 GMT

Sorry that this is so late.  This semester is pretty crazy.

                       PORT CHARLES UPDATE
                     Thursday, Jan. 22, 1998

TODAY'S STORYLINES:
-------------------
* Spot Digs for a Bone
* True Love Wrapped in Spandex
* Our Dinner at Mario's

SPOT DIGS FOR A BONE
--------------------
Matt and Chris are at the Nurses' Station, discussing the start of
their pediatrics rotation.  Chris reminds Matt of the planned dinner
party that evening.  Matt promises not to disappoint Chris; as he
departs, Chris murmurs to himself, "I'm sure you won't."

Later, we see Grace and Matt arrive at Chris's place.  Grace admires
his place and remarks on the bachelor motif.  Chris offers Matt wine -
or rice milk.  Matt takes some; Chris asks Matt why he became a
vegetarian.  Matt just believes in healthy eating.  (There's one
failed attempt to draw Matt out.)

Grace wonders where Eve is (she's supposed to be Chris's date) - Chris
figures she's held up at the hospital.  In the meantime, Chris
remarks, it gives them a chance to get better acquainted.  Matt
insists that there's not much to know about him.  "I doubt that,"
smirks Chris.

Chris whips out his high school yearbook and hands it to Grace.  Matt
wishes he'd known to bring his old report cards, and Chris appears to
take this seriously.  (Sheesh, this guy is DESPERATE).  Grace laughs
at Chris's graduation photo, and Matt notes that Chris was voted "Most
Likely to Succeed."  Chris wonders if Matt got voted anything like
that - Matt responds, "Most likely to sleep through the bell."  Grace
was a cheerleader.

Chris asks Matt about relationships; Matt was too busy dealing with
his injury.  Chris asks Matt about activities.  Sports, Matt responds,
and then when questioned about academics, he denies Chris's guess that
he was an honor student.  Matt feels it's best to keep the past
buried, and he abruptly changes the subject:  "When do we eat?"

Apparently they ate during the commercial break, because afterwards
Matt is congratulating Chris on the quality of the food.  Chris
somehow manages to turn this remark into a reminder of family.  He
asks Matt if he sees his family often; Matt offers a noncommittal
response.  Then the subject turns to Joe Scanlon, and Chris having to
take a shift for him so he could play footsie with Karen.  Chris
remarks that he hasn't screwed up that bad since high school, and then
asks Matt if he ever got into trouble in high school.

Eve arrives and apologizes for being late.  Chris mentions his bad-boy
story, and it's pretty dull - trying to "get a book out of the
library."  (C'mon, Chris, you can do better than THAT!)  Eve asks why
they're traipsing down Memory Lane; Chris offers his "we need to get
better acquainted" excuse, and asks each person to tell the worst
thing that ever happened to them.  Grace observes that it sounds like
"Truth or Dare," and Chris agrees.  Eve and Grace beg off; Matt asks
if he can "be like Switzerland and claim neutrality."  Chris, wearing
that ingratiating smile, asks about Matt's high school experiences,
and Matt confirms that he was an athlete before his accident.  What
high school?  First Matt asks, "Do you know much about Detroit?" Your
updater does, but that wasn't the question, and evidently Chris
doesn't.  Matt agrees to tell Chris about it - but not tonight, he's
tired.

Matt and Grace leave, much to Chris's chagrin; Eve stays.  She smugly
asks Chris if the evening was as productive as he hoped.  Chris
pretends ignorance, but Eve isn't fooled.  "From what I saw, you're
the dog and Matt's past is the bone.  Well, guess what, Spot, you're
barking up the wrong tree."  Chris replies, "Well, see about that."
(Bummer - I was hoping for "Woof woof.")

TRUE LOVE WRAPPED IN SPANDEX
----------------------------
Rex's housekeeper, Mrs. Humphreys, congratulates Rex on his
engagement, and then leaves with the coffee tray.  He embarks upon a
lengthy soliloquy about Lucy.  Does he trust her?  "About as much as I
trust a roulette wheel, but I do so love playing roulette."  "Who
would have guessed that true love would have fallen into my lap,
wrapped in Spandex?"  He realizes that she is conniving and
treacherous - and that's what he likes.  He figures he's in for "the
ride of my life."  (To the moon, perhaps?)

Meanwhile, back at the Lighthouse (it's good to see it again after a
long absence), Kevin arrives home and checks his mail.  He grumbles at
the fact that one is addressed to "Current single resident."  Lucy
comes into the living room; Kevin is surprised to see her.  Lucy
points out that "I used to live here."  Kevin sarcastically quips that
he barely remembers.  He admires her evening gown, sniping, "It looked
good on you last night too."  Lucy asks what he means; he remarks that
he's tired and gives her a rather casual kiss on the cheek which
troubles Lucy.  Kevin asks Lucy why she's at the Lighthouse, and when
she arrived; she explains that she was there all night waiting for
him.  "That would have been nice.  Sorry," he responds.  Lucy wonders
why he's sorry:  because she had a long wait for him, or because she
caught him coming in from "an all-nighter with Eve."

Kevin can't believe what he's hearing.  Lucy goes on to review Kevin
and Eve's flirtatious behavior - and the kiss - at Mario's the evening
before.  Kevin cuts to the chase - he spent the evening with Scott,
planning for hypnotizing Serena, and after that he did some research
on recovered memory in children.  Eve went home right after dinner.
Lucy grudgingly says that "if that's your story, I guess I have to buy
it," and then Kevin gets mad.  He reminds Lucy that it was *her* idea
to involve Eve in "this lunatic scheme," and Eve has been doing
exactly what Lucy told her to do.  Not quite - Lucy never told Eve to
kiss Kevin.  Kevin can't see why Lucy should be getting jealous - it
seems like her "other fiance" is keeping her awfully busy.  Lucy
flings back the remark that Kevin seemed to be having a lot more fun
with Eve than she (Lucy) has ever had with Rex.  (And why not?  Kevin
and Eve are on the same side of this war, and Eve isn't an evil
psycho, as far as we know.  But I digress.)  Kevin disagrees - for
someone who hates it so much, Lucy seems to be having fun:  "Say, is
that a ring on your finger?  Set a date yet?"

Kevin grabs his coat and heads for the door.  He's leaving before he
says something he might regret.  Lucy flings a vase of flowers at the
door (well, actually, at the spiral staircase) after he leaves and
bursts into tears.  A quacking Sigmund does his best to console her.

At the hospital, Scott tells Eve about the plan to hypnotize Serena.
He's worried that the recovered memories might upset her more.  Eve
feels that Kevin might be able to help Serena to put it all behind
her.  Her phone rings - it's Lucy, looking for Scott.  She wants him
to come to the Lighthouse right away, and Eve tells Scott that Lucy
sounds very upset.

At the hospital, Kevin approaches Eve and asks if she has a minute to
talk.  She tells him she's on her way to dinner - Kevin sighs in
resignation - but she "always has a minute for my favorite shrink."
She can tell there's a problem, and asks what it is.  From here, we
see intertwined cuts of two scenes - Lucy telling her troubles to
Scott, and Kevin telling *his* to Eve.

At the Lighthouse, Lucy tosses Scott an apple and checks Kevin's alibi
(bad form, Lucy).  Scott confirms that he was with Kevin, and then
stops - "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

Cut to Kevin and Eve.  Kevin can't blame Lucy for thinking that, after
seeing The Kiss.  Eve reminds him that it didn't mean anything.  It
was like kissing her brother, or "one of those little dogs that you
just want to go up and kiss on the nose 'cause they're so cute."
Kevin thanks her in a voice dripping with irony; Eve tries to recover,
saying that's how *Lucy* should have interpreted the kiss.  Kevin
tried to make her understand that.

Cut to Lucy and Scott, as Lucy remarks that sometimes she doesn't
understand Kevin at all.  It's different with Scott - they understand
each other all the time because they're alike.  She figures they have
a cosmic connection together - warriors together in past lives.  And
they do anything it takes to win.

Cut to Kevin and Eve.  Lucy drives Kevin crazy when she barrels ahead
with her "so-called plans," which really amount to flying by the seat
of her pants.  Eve reminds him that they're all fighting the same
battle.

Cut to Lucy and Scott, who is reminding Lucy that the important thing
is Serena, and Kevin will understand that Lucy did what she had to do.

Cut to Kevin and Eve, as Kevin (working himself into high dudgeon - I
love him when he gets like this) rants about the way Lucy does "what
she says she has to do."  He doesn't like watching her flirt with Rex,
even for a good cause.

Cut to Lucy and Scott, as Lucy explains that the reason Kevin kissed
Eve is because he's jealous of Rex.  Scott reminds her (with more than
a trace of annoyance) that it was *her* idea for Kevin and Eve to act
like a couple.

Cut to Kevin and Eve, as Eve points out to Kevin that Lucy is just as
jealous as he is, even though they're both playing a role.

Cut to Scott and Lucy, as Lucy admits that Kevin and Eve's kiss did
convince Rex that Lucy and Kevin are through.  Scott reminds her that
there's only one person to blame for their troubles - Rex.

Cut to Kevin and Eve, as Kevin remarks, "That's the guy we have to
get."

A bit later, Lucy meets Rex at Mario's for dinner.  She remarks that
Rex likes to go out constantly.  He asks if she'd prefer a romantic
evening alone, and in an unguarded moment, she answers, "No!"  She
recovers from that faux pas.  Rex has something to run by her; she
remarks that she needs a bright spot in her day.  Anything wrong, he
asks?  No, she replies - it's just been a hard day.  At work, she
hastens to add, but of course we know otherwise.

Rex remarks that no one knows about their engagement.  "That's good,"
Lucy remarks, and again hastens to dig herself out of a hole,
suggesting that she doesn't want a lot of gossip.  Rex disagrees - he
wants to shout the news from the rooftops (and if he does, I'm sure
Kevin would like to be up there too to push him off), and share the
news with "all of our friends."  "But you don't really have any
friends," Lucy remarks, continuing to display symptoms of
foot-in-mouth disease.  "I meant here in Port Charles," she stumbles.
Rex wants to meet all of Lucy's friends.  He explains that he wants to
throw a big engagement party.

Back at the Lighthouse, Scott is visiting Kevin.  Despite his
reservations, Scott has decided to let Kevin hypnotize Serena.

OUR DINNER AT MARIO'S
---------------------
Frank, the Patron Saint of Bad Jokes, sees Julie at the nurses'
station and asks her, "Are you ready to make like a baby and head
out?"  Julie suggests that they meet later for dinner.

And indeed they do.  Julie takes Frank to Mario's.  Frank thinks it's
a bad idea - Lark is working there that night, and she'll think
they're checking up on her.  Good instinct - maybe this guy *is* cut
out to be a foster parent.  Meanwhile, though, Julie flunks the test
by chirping that she "wants Lark to think of us as family."

Lark sees them and has a fit (albeit a quiet one), asking Mario why
she has to wait on them.  They asked for her station.  (Yeah, I can
see why - that winning smile and cordial personality would draw me to
a restaurant too.)  Lark arrives at their table to take their order
and manages to strike the first blow when Julie orders mineral water.
"We're out," she shoots back with fake good cheer.  Frank orders a
substitute and Lark smirks off to the kitchen.  Julie hopes the
evening wasn't a mistake.  Frank suggests that Julie is worried she'll
end up wearing her pasta.  "No," she replies, "I'm worried Lark
might."  (Sheesh - I'd hate to see Julie's reaction if they're out of
cannoli when it's time for dessert....)

Later in the evening, Lark is still fuming about the presence of her
foster folk, and Mario is still trying to calm her down.  She's tired
of them checking up on her, "Especially Shirley Temple."  Frank thanks
Mario for the meal, and Julie asks Lark when she'll be home.  "When
I'm done," Lark replies, and she begs off to get back to work.  Julie
jabs at Frank about the big tip he left Lark; they leave.  Lark
pockets the tip - a $20 - and mutters, "Big deal."

---------------------
by Rika, Thursday updater