Just Breathe - A Sonny and Alexis Website

Soap Opera Digest
March 26, 2002
Alexis Admits She Loves Sonny! Just As He And Carly Reconnect…
Three's Company
By Kristin Gallagher
For so long, the much-debated triangle of Carly, Sonny and Alexis has danced around the issues of getting together and/or getting back together. But recently, Sonny's attentions have been set not necessarily on his love life, but rather on his family life-namely, the seduction of half sister Courtney by his loathed enemy, A.J. This week, both lives overlap, as Carly steps in to aid him in his quest to extract Courtney from A.J.'s sphere of influence, and Alexis does the same. But by Friday, look for Alexis to admit out loud for the first time that she's in love with Sonny-a statement that could change everything.
"Carly is not doing this to score points with Sonny," begins Head Writer Megan McTavish, of the former Ms. Corinthos's motivation in offering to help Sonny get Courtney away from A.J. "She feels that this is her fight, as well as Sonny's. She strongly feels responsible for what A.J. is doing to Courtney because it all started with her. It started with Carly getting drunk and sleeping with A.J., which created Michael. It started with her lying to A.J. about whose baby Michael was. The history with A.J. and Carly goes back several years, and it's rotten. So she, in a way, feels responsible for how A.J. is going after Sonny and his family now."
Adds Tamara Braun (Carly): "She definitely feels strongly about getting Courtney back. Carly has been in Courtney's shoes in a certain way. She never fell head over heels for A.J., but she knows what it's like to be with him, and she doesn't want that to happen to Courtney. She's innocent-she doesn't deserve it. No one deserves to be used and to have their feelings compromised because somebody is trying to get something from somebody else. So, Carly does not look at this as an opportunity to get in good with Sonny. Absolutely not."
It does, however, serve another purpose in Carly's mind. "She wants to be important in Sonny's life and to help him," relates Braun. "She wants to prove that she's a worthy individual who's important and who has good ideas." All of which she gets to reinforce to Sonny at his penthouse, as she convinces him of her value in this particular battle. "The fact that he hasn't told her to leave and get out in two seconds is nice. He has had her come back to the penthouse to talk about things. He wants her advice, which is a wonderful thing. Is it confusing for her? I don't think at this point. It's certainly an opening for Carly to be closer to Sonny and for Sonny to be closer to Carly and to trust her. And that's something she desires."
Speaking of desires… Needless to say, old attractions die hard between these two. "They still have strong emotional ties to each other," sighs Braun. Concurs McTavish, "Their shared history with Michael, their shared history with losing the baby at A.J.'s hands, has resonance throughout all of this. There are some emotional moments between Sonny and Carly because of this. It brings up a very emotional part of their past where they started to fall in love with one another after they lost that baby."
But that connection is put on hold when Alexis arrives at the penthouse, much to Carly's annoyance. The two women eventually begin arguing over Carly's role in creating the animosity between Sonny and A.J. in the first place, prompting an aggravated Sonny to storm out. "Alexis genuinely thinks that Carly is trying to help Sonny," allows Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis), but her problem with Carly is that sometimes, in a genuine attempt to help, she doesn't make the best choices. Alexis says to her at one point when Carly is telling Alexis to mind her own business, 'I'm trying to help you. I'm trying to keep you from doing something that will impair your relationship with Sonny for the rest of your life, instead of just temporarily.'"
Not that Carly wants to accept this "assistance" from Alexis. "I think Alexis, to Carly, is a big annoyance," elaborates Braun. "In Carly's eyes, Alexis is trying to get to Sonny, but she's not honest about it. She plays games because Alexis is the kind of person who leads with her head, where Carly leads with her heart." Ultimately, says McTavish, "Alexis turns to Carly and says, 'We don't need this. This is not what this is about. This is not a battle between you and me-let's not take it there. It is about Courtney and Sonny and A.J.'"
That point is hammered home when a disturbing note from A.J. gets slipped under Sonny's door on Wenesday. "That doesn't help things," laughs McTavish. "This battle is escalating." As for just how far the mad-as-hell mob boss might be willing to go? "Depends on har far A.J. is going to push him," muses the scribe. "I would look for this to get worse before it gets better. Or to get better before it gets worse, depending on your point of view [laughs]! But Sonny is the kind of man…his response will be in direct proportion to how far you push him."
In other words-watch out, A.J. "Sonny has already lost one family member to A.J. He's not about to lose another," asserts the writer. "Both Carly and Alexis are steadfast in making sure that is not going to happen again. They are just doing it in very different ways. "
And so, the triangle continues, with feelings still unresolved for all, and both women continuing their efforts to get Courtney away from the manipulative Quartermaine. "At this moment, I couldn't tell you which woman Sonny would choose," shares McTavish. "And I don't think he could, either. It depends on where he is emotionally and what effect all of this with A.J. and Courtney is having on him. It's totally possible at any moment that he could choose either one. This could all change again tomorrow. This story has a lot of twists and turns in it."
Such as the fact that by week's end, Alexis verbalizes her true feelings for Sonny in an admission that apparently surprises even her. "It slips out," teases Grahn, with a wink. "And I think if anyone ever tries to get her to say that again, there could be a GENERAL HOSPITAL murder [laughs]!"