Spring was around the corner.
Along with wedding bells and ...
dress shopping with her friends.
Lili looked amazing as she stood all in white as Reese and Stacey watched her in the mirror.
"Wow! This is so ridiculous. That dress is nicer than the other one." Stacey blurted out.
Reese chimed in, "Well, unless you prefer the first one she tried on."
"I don't know. This is so hard. I only didn't like two of the dresses so far." Lili whined.
This was her seventh dress and the decision was just getting harder to make.
"Nothing stands out as special." she was starting to whine and get frustrated.
She was a ball of confusion and finally Reese opined, "Lili, you are beautiful and the important thing is that Finn will love you on that day no matter what you are wearing."
"Oh, I know but pictures last forever!"
They all laughed at the face that she made
The city was alive. This was going to be such a great night. Life was almost normal for Finn and Lili. That's if you can define normal... That said, the group was standing around outisde of the Ritz on Broad Street waiting for their limo. Lili was holding Finn's hand and she whispered, "Something is up with Stacey and Anders. Do you know what's going on?" "He asked her to marry him, but they are keeping it secret until we get home. They don't want to intrude on our weekend." Finn replied back. "Oh, that's wonderful. They don't have to hide it. I don't need to hog the limelight." "If I announce it, Anders will kill me," Finn said with a mischievous grin. "Yeah, but it's Stacey that you better watch out for. She's the real killer." Lili was giggling when she caught Stacey's eye and gave her a big grin. Lili then yelled, "Stacey, I want to see the ring
The group arrived back at the hotel after dinner and headed straight up to the penthouse suites.No one was drunk or disorderly.This was a very conservative group and trouble wasn't expected.Except...There was trouble lurking behind one of the bedroom doors after midnight.There would be words said, that could never be taken back.Never fixed...Even if forgiveness could be given...This damage ran too deep and for way too long.In essense, this wrong was unforgiveable but waited for a midnight confession to be revealed.She locked the door and sat on the bed with tears streaming down her eyes.She was sober and a wreck.How was she going to tell the tale that needed to be told?She new that she would be gone within a few hours and that their relationship was finished.He had friends! A career. A life outside. She wasn
Finn kept knocking on the door to Drake's room and after ten minutes without an answer, he barged in and found Drake curled up on the bed in his jeans and shirtless. Drake was in the exact same position that he was in when Claire left the room at 1:25 am. He was conscious, barely. Finn ran over to the bed and picked up his arm and found a pulse. He screamed for Lili to call 911. Drake needed help and stat! "No! No! It's just shock. Pain. It just hurts all over. My heart is broken. I might die of a broken heart but it's ok. Just let me go." Drake babbled as Finn tried to revive him. "What are you talking about? Drake, where is Claire?" "She left me for William. Apparently, I was a worthless and absent lover." Drake managed to say. "What? You two were so in love. I saw it when I lived with you!" Finn was appalled! Just then Lili walked into the room but stayed by the d
Oh the evidence was good and the alibi was shaky. Or was it the other way around? The detectives on the case were intent on nailing a dirty detective and Drake was going down. The broken detective was so wrapped up in despair that he was too far gone to defend himself. Nor did he care. He didn't even bother to call Finn or the others. His Claire was dead and so was his baby. If it was his. He just sat in the jail cell alone and stared into the distance. Drake wanted to die and give it all up. Without Claire it didn't matter. How did it come to this? Why? Was there any reasonable explaination? He didn't have the answers and in the end, he didn't really want them. Life could go on without him and it wouldn't really matter anyways. *** The group was sitting around laughing when they heard a persistent k
Finn stared at the photo and just remained silent as he studied every feature of the picture. Keeping his eyes down he just stayed focused. He was starting to think that Gus was the dirty cop that was gunning for Drake and not the other way around, but he wasn't going to let on. "So, how do you explain this Thomas James Finnegan? That is you and Drake in the throes of passion?" Gus was gloating and Finn saw victory in his eyes. His response was not what Gus was expecting, "If you think that is Drake and I then try to prove it in a court of law." Gus gave Finn an odd look as he tried to figure out what Finn was saying. Finally he replied, "Oh, I will." Finn thought, 'Actually you won't but I am not telling you your one big major mistake.' "Now that you have seen the proof, do you want to confess to your affair with Drake?" "No!" Finn replied definitively.
Somewhere in Philadelphia, someone knew the truth but for now, the detectves were clueless as to who was behind the killing of Claire and William.Who knew that she was pregnant and who's child was it?Was Drake a killer in a jealous rage or was this crime committed because of William's sinister behaviour?Leah and Jim were starting to think that the revenge was from someone on William's side as his finances were out of control. He had mounted debts that he couldn't pay based on his income and the messages that they found on his phone were vile.William was not a good man.Full stop!Then why would Claire leave Drake for him?He was not her type from what they had already uncovered.What was she playing at?All of Drake's friends insisted that they had a good marriage and that they loved each other.No one was aware of any issues between them and those that knew Claire insisted
The house seemed to be empty, even as voices could be heard from the kitchen. It's heart was ripped out of it, without the soul of Caire's. She was the bright light that had roamed the halls. Drake was barely functioning and Lili and Finn were trying their best to keep up his spirits. Nothing that they did worked. He was a different man. Broken. Silent. Distant. Lost. Finn wasn't sure what to do and he just wanted his friend to wake up and find that the nightmare was over. Reality was setting in and he realized it would never be over and Drake would never be the same. Every blasted room in the house had pictures of Claire and Drake smiling and laughing and .... Memories were all around Drake and dragging him down the rabbit hole of dispair. Finn and Lili agreed that they needed to get him out of the house and so Finn called Detective Jim to
Drake was sitting on the front porch when Anders and Finn pulled up and got out of the car."What's going on?" Drake managed to ask."We just got off of the phone with Jim and Leah and we have some news about the investigation to fill you in on." Anders said."What?" Drake growled out."Well, they don't think that Claire had been intimate with William on Saturday night after she left you. There was no sign of sexual intercourse based on DNA and other observations.""So was she cheating on me?" Drake asked."They are leaning against it." Finn added and looked at Anders for support. He knew that the next bit of info was going to send Drake over the edge.Then Drake asked, "So no sex Saturday but she said she was cheating on me. What proof do they have otherwise?""Other proof that they haven't filled us in on. Listen, they are leaning towards blackmail and not cheating. That's