Daily Updates

From: rika1@mindspring.com (Rika)
Subject: PC: Update, Thursday, April 2, 1998
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1998 23:51:56 GMT
X-Server-Date: 12 Apr 1998 23:52:21 GMT

                       PORT CHARLES UPDATE
                         Thursday, April 2, 1998

Sorry this is so late.  Life has been a little crazy lately, and I
decided to do the April 9 update first since that way at least *it*
could be on time!

TODAY'S STORYLINES:
------------------
* No, You're Chopped Spleen
* Onoma Nunn
* Jake and Lark and Frank and Julie

No, You're Chopped Spleen
--------------------------------------------
Scott is helping Eve to move her stuff out of the hospital.  He
insists that Devlin won't get away with it.  Besides, Eve will be
working for Scott, and "What am I, chopped gall bladder?"  Karen and
Joe commiserate with Eve.  They offer to go to the board on her
behalf, but Eve can't see the point in getting them all kicked out of
the program.  She asks them to succeed in spite of Devlin - and to
watch their backs.  The only bright side for Eve is that she won't
have to sit through Devlin's lecture the following day.  Just then,
Eve sees Devlin and approaches him.  While Karen, Joe, and Scott look
on (and, later Chris joins them), Devlin adopts a patronizing tone,
hoping she learned a lesson.  He insists he's just protecting the
hospital; Eve knows he wouldn't go after her unless he had more at
stake.  Devlin reminds her of the pending criminal charges.  She can't
be a doctor and a convicted felon, so perhaps she should learn to keep
her hands off things that don't belong to her.  Furious, Eve hauls off
and slaps Devlin HARD; the peanut gallery is amused (especially
Chris).  Devlin doesn't know when to quit - he threatens to file
criminal assault charges against her.

Chris walks up and picks a fight with Devlin, taking Eve and Scott's
side of the argument.  They snarl at one another for a bit until
Devlin stalks off.  Eve asks why he's suddenly on her side, since he
wanted her out of the way.  Chris claims that what Devlin has done to
her is unfair, and that he detests Devlin.

Later, Chris and Devlin meet at the nurses' station.  Chris murmurs,
"No hard feelings?"  Devlin points out that Chris had a lot of fun at
his expense, and he looks forward to returning the favor.  One thing
he likes about Chris - Chris will do anything to get what he wants.

On the way home from the hospital in Scott's truck, Eve worries that
she'll lose her chance at a medical career if she's convicted of
breaking & entering.  Scott admits that it's the worst-case scenario.
Eve thought worst-case would involve finishing her internship
someplace second-rate.  Scott assures her that if she's charged with
B&E, he'll sue Devlin for harrassment.  Besides, Scott doesn't think
she'll be tried for breaking into the lab to get her own notes.  Scott
promises her that he won't let her lose her license.

They discuss the possibility of a sexual harrassment suit.  Eve can
prove they had an affair - she's got the goods on Devlin.  Suddenly,
she has an inspiration.  She has something on Devlin that is so
humiliating and embarrassing that it won't just hurt him - "we're
talking torture."

ONOMA NUNN
------------------------
We see a book hurled at the door to the Lighthouse.  Kevin opens the
door, asking, "What was that?"  Lucy is angrily pacing the room; she's
been reading "General Homicide" (which is what she pitched at the
door), and it is "horrible and disgusting."  But she keeps reading it
because her character dies at the Nurses' Ball.  Kevin tries to tell
her it's just a book; she insists that Rex wrote the book.  The
author's name (Onoma Nunn) is just a pen name for Rex, and she's going
to sue him for libel.  Kevin, annoyed, insists that not everything
that happens in Port Charles has to do with Rex.  Lucy isn't listening
- she's going to make Rex pay.  Kevin points out that a civil suit
would take years.  Besides, what about the bad publicity?  Lucy
shrieks in sardonic laughter - after the book, how could the publicity
get any worse?  She grabs the phone to call Scott and begin legal
proceedings, until Kevin finally gets her attention and tells her that
*he* wrote the book.

Lucy is thunderstruck to hear that Kevin wrote that piece of....
Kevin helps her - "Trash?  Garbage?  Literary tripe?"  Lucy thinks
Kevin must hate her, since he made Nancy "the town joke."  Kevin
insists that Lucy isn't Nancy; she retorts that they have a lot in
common.  She doesn't see how Kevin could have done this to her.  He
explains that, when she was living in the hotel and then with Rex, he
used to sit up nights worrying about her.  He started writing down his
thoughts as a form of therapy, and eventually it turned into the book.
He never expected it to get published.  He reminds Lucy that she loved
the book till she decided that Nancy was "loosely based" on herself.
"Loosely based?" Lucy asks, incredulous.  Kevin reads two passages in
which his character (Kenneth) reveals his love for Nancy.  Then he
assures her that he loves her, and that the book was never intended to
hurt her.

This all thaws Lucy slightly, but she's still hurt that Kevin kept it
a secret from her.  He explains that he had to sign a non-disclosure
agreement - the publisher thought that the mystery about the author
would increase sales.  Lucy still doesn't see why Kevin couldn't share
the secret with her; he reminds her of her track record keeping
secrets, pointing out that she once displayed his paintings at the
Outback when she was fully aware that he didn't want people to see
them.  Lucy, in an attempt to dig out of this hole, says it was
different - people *liked* his paintings.  "Meaning?" Kevin shoots
back.  "Meaning," she retorts, "that no one's going to like this
book."  Kevin sarcastically responds that it's a good thing, then,
that nobody will know he wrote the book.  Lucy suggests, "Nobody but
me.... and a close friend like Scott."  Kevin insists that no one can
know, *especially* not Scott.  Lucy can't believe he really means
"nobody."  He assures her that he does - "nobody, zero, zip, zilch, no
one."  Lucy reluctantly promises; Kevin looks at her speculatively,
not sure she meant it.

Later, a delivery person stops at the Lighthouse to bring Lucy a box
of Rex's financial records.  Kevin asks how much longer she's going to
stay Mrs. Rex Stanton.  She explains that she's going to get every
cent back that he stole from her - it won't take much longer.  "Mrs.
Rex Stanton - I'm getting sick of hearing it," Kevin grumbles.  Lucy,
suddenly serious, asks Kevin if he somehow enjoyed killing Nancy in
his book.  "Of course not," he assures her, but she's not reassured.
She knows how mad Kevin was at her for marrying Rex, and she thinks
it's creepy.  Kevin remarks that he wasn't angry enough to want to
kill her.  She asks if he's sure - subconsciously, did he really want
to kill her?  "No," he says firmly, "you I wanted back.  Rex, I wanted
dead."  He points out that the book is a murder mystery, and lots of
people die.

Just then, Victor comes in from a walk down to the duck pond.  He
greets them heartily, "Bonjour, mes enfants!"  Kevin invites him to
play a game of chess; Victor says, maybe later.  First he wants a hot
bath, and the chance to finish "this remarkable book I found on the
hall table."  He pulls a copy of "General Homicide" out of his pocket.
Kevin grins at Lucy; she folds her arms and grimaces.  Victor goes on
talking about the book:  "Extraordinary... it's really awfully well
written."  He kisses Lucy's hand, saying, "A bientot, cherie," and
then turns to Kevin:  "I shall look forward to our game of chess.....
Onoma Nunn."  He snickers, and  Kevin and Lucy both stare at him in
astonishment as he heads upstairs, laughing.

Kevin turns on Lucy, annoyed, and accuses her of telling Victor who
wrote the book.  Lucy insists that she didn't tell, and the two of
them bicker at 65 mph, both talking at once, until the scene fades
(which was lots of fun to watch).

Later, Lucy is reading a passage from the book involving Nancy's death
while Kevin nonchalantly reads the sports page of the paper (the
SPORTS page?  Kevin?  Now THAT is scary).  Victor comes in as she
finishes reading, agreeing that it's a chilling scene.  Lucy thinks
"someone" thought Nancy deserved to die; Kevin suggests tartly that
"someone" was trying to write a gripping story.  Lucy recites the
"it's just fiction" excuse in a bored tone, and Kevin agrees with it.

Then Victor approaches Kevin; he looks concerned and uneasy.  He says
something strange:  "But there are so many dead people living,
especially in the last chapter.  I'm stunned; I had no idea you
remembered."  "Remember what?  It's a work of fiction," Kevin
responds.  Victor immediately begins to back-pedal on his remark.
Kevin asks what Victor meant about Kevin remembering something, and
Victor insists it meant nothing.   (He's wrong - it means a new
storyline for Kevin.)

JAKE AND LARK AND FRANK AND JULIE
-------------------------------------------------------------------
We pick up where Wednesday's show ended, in Jake's apartment.  Jake is
shirtless; Lark has just come out of his bedroom wrapped in a sheet;
Frank glares at them.  Jake tries to tell Frank that he had no idea
Lark was in the apartment; Lark says, "Jake, we might as well tell
him."  Frank yells at Lark to get dressed.  Frank shows Jake the
message slip addressed to Jake that wound up in Frank's message slot
(BTW, why does a paramedic have a message slot with the interns?  I
know, I know, because the storyline required it).  Jake insists that
Lark set him up.

After Lark gets dressed, Jake waves the message slip in her face and
asks if she wrote it.  Lark defensively asks, "So?"  Jake points out
that she set him up.  Frank figures out that the mixed-up messages at
the hospital were Lark's doing (DING DING DING DING!!!!  ALERT THE
MEDIA!  Frank DOES know where the Clue Shop is!!!!), and that she
wanted Frank to see her message to Jake; Lark denies it.  Jake admits
he was dating Lark, but that he didn't know she was under age; Lark
insists that Jake knew but didn't care.  Jake goes on to explain
Lark's "Chloe" persona, and that he stopped seeing her as soon as he
found out the truth.  Lark taunts him, reminding him that he enjoyed
every minute of their time together.

Frank asks Jake how long he knew who Lark was, and gets upset when
Jake admits he's known for a couple of days.  Jake explains that he
felt so stupid for "getting involved with a kid" that he was afraid to
admit it to Frank even though he knew he should.  Lark heaps some
coals on the fire:  "You didn't act like I was a kid when we were in
bed."  Frank leaves, dragging Lark along with him; Jake calls after
him promising that it will never happen again.

When they arrive home, Lark tries to escape to her room, but Frank
won't let her.  Frank asks her to tell him the truth - he believes
Jake's version of the story (I can't imagine why:  who to believe,
Jake Marshak or The Girl Who Cried Wolf Over and Over and Over and
Over..... hmmmmm.....).  Lark accuses Frank of refusing to believe the
truth because he is jealous.  She thinks Frank wants her for himself;
that's why he brought her to live with him.  Frank firmly tells her
that he wanted to be her foster parent because he'd wanted to help out
a kid in trouble for a long time.  He went through the foster parent
screening process before he met Lark.  "So it could have been anyone?"
she asks.  Frank responds that if she picked up any other signals,
he's sorry, but he would never do something like that.  And what
happened with Jake is over.  "Jake loves me, and you can't stop us
from being together!" Lark insists, running from the room in tears.

Later, Frank is poking at the fire in the living room fireplace when
Lark comes into the room.  She didn't mean what she said earlier -
she's not in love with Jake.  She doesn't see how Frank can stand to
be around her after the things she said (I often don't see how Frank
can stand to be around her, period. but never mind).  Frank asks her
not to be in such a hurry to grow up.  She thinks it's took late (and
I have to agree); she's not the happy-go-lucky kid he wants her to be.
He is surprised that she thinks he wants her to be something she's
not.  Every day, she says, she can see the disappointment on his face.
He tells her that it's frustration, not disappointment, because he
sees her beating her head against walls unnecessarily.  He cares about
her, and giving up is not an option.  She believes everyone thinks
she's nothing; he tells her it's not true.  He hugs her as she cries.
In her usual throw-a-live-grenade-on-an-unstable-situation style, Lark
leans up and kisses Frank just as Julie arrives home.  (Frankie, you
got some 'splaining to do!)

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