Fourteen
Florence Taggert wanted nothing more than to sit at the back of the tiny chapel and pray. Pray for Mike Corbin's soul, pray for her own, and most of all pray that her son Marcus would get past his anger long enough to simply make an appearance at Mike's memorial.
She had gone to the little place prepared to stay. But the empty room and the watchful eyes of Michael Corinthos had unnerved her. Florence had expected the cover of at least one or two mourners to help disguise her lingering presence. She had not expected that Mike would have had no others to grieve his passing except his son and daughter-in-law.
For just a moment Florence was tempted to turn her car back toward the business district of Port Charles. A heartfelt plea, delivered in person to her angry son at the PCPD, might finally convince Marcus to go and pay his respects to his father.
Florence winced as she recalled trying to persuade Marcus to attend Mike Corbin's memorial. Marcus had been irate at the very suggestion. 'You and Corbin had no trouble being hypocrites,' her son had bit out through clenched teeth. 'I have no intention of becoming one as well. I've got no feelings where Mike Corbin is concerned. I'm not going to go stand there and pretend I did.'
How could she make her son understand that the decision he'd made not to deal with his hurt and anger would only come back to haunt him tenfold? After the continual lie Florence had lived regarding his paternity, Marcus was not receptive to anything his mother had to say.
Bitter tears began to stream down her face. Florence pulled over to the side of the highway and tried to dash the salty sorrow away. But with each swipe of her slender fingers across her cheeks, the flow of tears grew stronger.
For the first time since hearing the news of Mike Corbin's death, Florence Taggert allowed herself to grieve. She grieved for the memory of the roguish young man who slipped charmingly past her defenses. She grieved for the lifetime of deception that she had chosen to perpetrate regarding Marcus' paternity.
But most of all she grieved for a son whose life would never be the same because of her.
