January 23, 2002 Transcript
"Pain in the Butt"

Sonny: I'm asking you to leave, Alexis.

Alexis: You broke my vase and slammed my door.

Sonny: I need some time alone to think. Can you get that?

Alexis: I get it. I think you think way too much as it is. Maybe you should try talking about it, getting it out in the open for something, you know, different.

Sonny: Ok. You know what? I know you mean well, and I appreciate everything you've done, I really do, but I just need some time right now --

Alexis: Listen, you say we're friends, let's be friends.

Sonny: Ok, you want to be my friend? Then you -- you need to leave.

Alexis: Can't.

Sonny: Whatever.

Alexis: Look, your sister made a clumsy attempt at trying to get you and your father to sit down together today. She did it by ambushing you and it stunk. It's not business as usual.

Sonny: I'll deal with it. And by the way --

Alexis: And don't act like it's not affecting you.

Sonny: It --

Alexis: Oh --

Sonny: Of course it's affected me.

Alexis: Talk about it, Sonny.

Sonny: Ok. You want to talk about it, I'm tired of people who screw you over and walk back in your life with faded old pictures and useless explanations, whining about their problems like that's going to make everything ok.

Alexis: Is that what you think Mike did with Courtney?

Sonny: He tried to work her for her sympathy, ok? Told her he wanted to start over. Mike knows damn well that he's given me that same speech a hundred times. What did he think I -- did he think I was just going to sit there and listen and not warn Courtney? Not that it would have done any good anyway because she's -- she wants to believe in Mike. She's waiting for him to break her heart. I don't need this. I don't need them.

Alexis: Yes, you do. That's the whole damn trouble.

Sonny: There are people I care about and people I can do without. I don't need anybody.

Alexis: I think the person that you're angriest at is yourself.

Sonny: Good night, Alexis.

Alexis: I'm so sorry. I don't think you realized the responsibility in accepting me as your friend because it comes with obligations and entitlements. And one of them is that when i want to help you, you have to let me help you.

Sonny: Alexis, I'm handling it.

Alexis: You think so?

Sonny: Whatever.

Alexis: I think it's fair to say that you have trust issues. You had them with you wife, and now you find that your father has kept a big secret.

Sonny: Well, wow. That wouldn't be the first time, now, would it?

Alexis: Well, you see? That makes it even worse.

Sonny: Mm-hmm.

Alexis: And while you may be mad at him, you're angrier at yourself because you wanted to trust him. And yet, you knew that he would let you down, and he did.

Sonny: Well, you've just made my point. Needing anybody, especially your family, is a trap.

Alexis: You're right.

Sonny: Right.

Alexis: When you're right, you're right.

Sonny: Mm-hmm.

Alexis: I mean, it would be a lot easier if we didn't need anybody, because that way, nobody could hurt you and you wouldn't have to feel anything at all, which really wouldn't be living, I guess. It's ok to need someone.

Alexis: Risking heartache is certainly a lot better than the alternative, which is just cutting yourself off.

Sonny: You know what? Don't take this the wrong way, but that's questionable advice coming from you.

Alexis: Yeah?

Sonny: Well, you're the one who bolted from the altar, right? And you've had a pretty good life for yourself -- alone. You don't need anybody.

Alexis: I -- do, too --

Sonny: Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Alexis: Need people.

Sonny: Right.

Alexis: People who need people are the luckiest people in the world. I need my brother, my sister, I need nikolas.

Sonny: And none of the baggage that I'm handling.

Alexis: You know, you are not the only person who gets to be complicated.

Sonny: Well, what do you want me to do? You want me to let it all slide and act like -- like nothing happened?

Alexis: No. No, I --

Sonny: I don't understand what you want me to do.

Alexis: I want you to do just the opposite. I want you to feel it, acknowledge it, let it in. Experience it. If you get -- I was going to say "get mad," but, you see, you've already done that. You did that in the restaurant, you did that in my apartment, remember --

Sonny: Right.

Alexis: When you slammed the door and broke my vase. Ok, fine, break something. If you'd like, I could break it because I really enjoy breaking things.

Alexis: He smiles. God, you make me work so hard. Pain in the butt.

Sonny: That girl, my sister, she's -- she's brave. I mean, she's trying her best, but she's stuck in a bad situation. She's got a mother who, you know, did everything she could have to hold things together, including blackmail. And then she has a father who was never there for her. He can't be trusted or relied on. How do you explain that to yourself? The father, you know, you looked up to and loved cares more about a game than he does his own family. You know how fast that makes you grow up, what it makes you see, the things that you carry around with you every damned day?

Alexis: Courtney's not the only one.

Sonny: I've known Mike for years. Courtney just found out. I mean, you should have seen her when she realized that he was alive, but he never bothered to come looking for her. A light went up in her eyes, and I don't ever want that light to be gone.

Alexis: So then tell her that. Tell her that you understand what she's going through. You know, she has no idea who you are behind the face that you put on to the rest of the world. So show her. Talk to your sister.

Sonny: I've tried talking to her, but, you know, I can barely get two words out of her.

Alexis: You know, she's got to come up for air sometime. Just try again and then try again because she's your sister.

Sonny: I got to -- I got to go. I got to -- I got a shipment to clean up, and I got things to do, but I appreciate this.

Alexis: Ok, so if you need anything else, you'll let me know.

Sonny: Yeah.

Courtney: Sorry. I forgot my key.

Alexis: Why don't you ask Sonny? He's got a key.

Courtney: I didn't mind waiting.

Alexis: Come on in.

Alexis: You ok?

Courtney: I'd be fine if everyone around here would stop treating me like I'm 4 years old. I went for a walk, that's all.

Alexis: Ok. Just asking.

Courtney: Sorry. Again. I ran into someone who knows you. By the way, he knows Sonny, too. When i told him I was Sonny's sister, everything got all tense and weird. Don't you get tired of that?

Alexis: People have a lot of misconceptions about your brother. That happens when you're in a powerful position.

Courtney: When you're dangerous, you mean?

Alexis: What did this person tell you?

Courtney: No one had to tell me anything. What Sonny wants goes. It didn't take me long to figure that out. What i don't understand is why. What gives Sonny the right to make the rules?

Alexis: Because he's concerned about you.

Courtney: So I'monly allowed to like the people that Sonny likes? He doesn't want to see my father, so I can't, either? Sonny is making all these decisions about my life when he has no idea what I want or what I need. He has no right!

Alexis: Courtney, he has every right.

Courtney: Sonny doesn't even know me.

Alexis: That's because you won't let him.

Courtney: Why should i? I've seen how he operates. Look what he did to my father tonight.

Alexis: You know, Mike is Sonny's father, too.

Courtney: So why did Sonny treat him like dirt? Why did he have to hurt him like that?

Alexis: Let me give you a little perspective on what hurts. When Sonny was a little boy, his stepfather used to lock him in a closet while he beat his mother. Sonny blamed himself for not being able to protect his mother. This all happened after Mike abandoned him and disappeared. Sonny was also beaten when he was a little boy. That hurts. Sonny knows that your life was difficult when Mike left, but what you need to understand is that his was a lot worse. He is dealing with a hurt that you can't and never should be able to understand. This is why his relationship with Mike is so difficult and so complicated, and if you knew that ahead of time, I'msure you would have had second thoughts about trying to set both of them up. Courtney, this isn't just about you. This is about Sonny, too.

Courtney: Why didn't he tell me any of this?

Alexis: Because he has trouble trusting people and because he wanted to protect you.

Courtney: But I'm his sister.

Alexis: Exactly.

Sonny: You all right?

Courtney: Fine. Are you?

Sonny: Yeah.

Courtney: Sonny?

Courtney: I'll see you in the morning.

Alexis: Night, Sonny.

Sonny: You know, I still don't need anybody, you know? But I'm glad that you're my friend.