What’d I tell you about the attitude?
Claudia: What time did she leave this morning, your little friend?
Johnny: I’m not getting into this with you.
Claudia: Come on, John. It’s a simple question.
Johnny: You’re trying to pick a fight.
Claudia: No, I’m not. I’m trying to avoid a fight, actually. Listen, the last thing I want to do is stumble over Lulu coming out of your bedroom in the morning.
[Door knock]
Anthony: Ta-da! Aren’t you going to invite me in?
Claudia: Well, daddy, what do you think?
Anthony: Why you had to lease a place is beyond me. There are plenty of rooms available at the metro court.
Claudia: I don’t like hotels. They’re too impersonal. This place feels like a home.
Anthony: With someone else’s stuff around?
Claudia: What, you don’t like the furniture?
Anthony: No, it’s not what I would have picked.
Johnny: Well, then I guess it’s a good thing you don’t live here.
Anthony: [Mocking] I still want to be comfortable when I visit. Now, it was nice that you found a place across from my hotel, and it’s not going to be any trouble to come see you, as long as I got the kid here to help me down those stairs.
Claudia: Daddy, come on. We can just put a ramp in if it’ll be easier for you.
Anthony: Don’t bother. By the time you get this place accessible, the house will be ready for us to move back in.
Johnny: Claudia and I are staying here.
Anthony: Oh, I want my children with me.
Anthony: We’ve already lost so much time together as a family.
Johnny: Aw, whose fault is that?
Anthony: I wasn’t in my right mind when I sent Claudia away. Now that she’s back and I’m sane, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be together. As soon as the house is rebuilt, we’ll all be moving in.
Claudia: Well, daddy, if that’s what you want. I mean, yeah, of course. Me and John’ll come home. Right, john?
Johnny: Sure.
Anthony: I’m glad to hear that. In the meantime, I’ll be expecting a dinner invitation soon. Come on, kid. I’m not getting up those stairs by myself.
Johnny: There’s no way in hell I’m going back to that place. I just got my freedom back. I’m not giving it up now.
Claudia: Johnny, a lot can happen in the time it takes to rebuild that house. Look, who knows where daddy will be? Who knows if daddy will even be alive by then?
Claudia: Nikolas Cassadine, we meet again.
Nikolas: Imagine that.
Nikolas: You following me?
Claudia: Are you always this paranoid?
Nikolas: You don’t expect me to believe that you were just walking on by here.
Claudia: I like to walk. I do. It’s good exercise. And, hey, you never know what kind of unexpected things you might see. Like you, here. What are you doing?
Nikolas: What am I doing? I’m opening up a clinic in Emily’s name. Free health care.
Claudia: That’s wonderful. Nikolas, I know how much you miss her. That’s a really beautiful way to keep her memory alive. Please allow the Zaccharas to contribute.
Nikolas: I appreciate your offer, but this clinic is my last gift to emily. I want to build it myself with my own money.
Claudia: You mean without money that’s tainted by organized crime? If you think I meant to use your place as a front or something, you couldn’t be more wrong.
Nikolas: No, no, no. That thought never even crossed my mind, honestly.
Claudia: Good, then let me help. We both know I owe you.
Lulu: Johnny?
Claudia: Johnny’s not here. But then, if you’d bothered to call instead of just barging in, I could have saved you a trip.
Lulu: Well, I can wat.
Claudia: I live here, too, lulu. So you don’t just get to barge in without knocking.
Lulu: Johnny gave me a key.
Claudia: What’d I tell you about the attitude?
Lulu: I don’t listen to what you say. It makes it easier for me to tolerate you for Johnny’s sake.
Claudia: Let me put this in a language that you can understand, Little Lulu.
[Lulu laughs]
Claudia: The only reason that you’re still alive is because my father is using you to manipulate my brother. If you actually cared about John at all, you wouldn’t hang around and give my dad the leverage he needs.
Lulu: You can save the speech. Trevor already tried to get me to leave town, but I’m not going anywhere.
Claudia: No, of course you’re not. Because why would you do anything that wasn’t in your own selfish best interest? All right, let me put it this way, Lulu. If you want to go on living your safe little sweet life, you stay the hell away from my brother.
Lulu: You may be a spoiled bitch who’s used to getting everything she wants, but not this time. You’re not getting Nikolas and you’re sure as hell not keeping me out of Johnny’s life. Tell him I came by.
