This entry is part 3 of 23 in the Fiction Graveyard: Poisonous Dreams #2
July 1, 2003
Corinthos Penthouse
“You have to what?” Courtney demanded in shrill voice.
Sonny scrubbed an impatient hand over his face. His sister had been waiting with Carly when they’d gotten back from the No Name. Her eyes had narrowed when she’d seen Jason behind Elizabeth, his hand on the small of her back. As soon as Jason had spied his girlfriend, he’d dropped his hand like a red hot coal and stepped away.
Carly had been eager for details of the meeting but from the expressions on the engaged couple’s faces, she had an inkling it hadn’t gone quite as they expected. Apparently, she’d been right.
“We have to live together,” Elizabeth said, softly, answering the enraged woman’s bitter question.
“Live together,” Courtney bit out. “For how long?”
“Until Ric and Faith are dealt with,” Sonny supplied. “The families have agreed to leave Elizabeth and her child alone under the following conditions. The marriage is to appear real, meaning they live together and see no one else. They will have a real ceremony and a reception. Honestly, it’s not as bad as it seems—”
“Not as bad?” Carly cut in. “What do you think would be worse?”
“They could have shot Elizabeth where she stood and killed her,” Sonny snarled, effectively silencing his wife. Elizabeth closed her eyes and shook her head, willing away the image of her standing in front of the families as though she were facing a firing squad.
“I can’t handle this,” Courtney declared. “This cannot happen. Jason, you can’t do this.”
“I’ve already agreed,” Jason told her quietly. “I can’t pull out now.”
“You can and you will. Or we are through,” Courtney announced.
Sonny grabbed his sister’s arm forcefully and jerked her into the hallway. “I need to talk to you for a minute alone.” He slammed the door shut behind them.
Elizabeth eyed Carly warily. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to be,” she told the other woman, fearing their truce had ended.
Carly swallowed hard. “Yeah. I believe that. I’m going to go check on Michael.” She crossed to the stairs and disappeared onto the second floor.
Elizabeth smoothed her hands over her arms and turned away from Jason. “I’m sorry Courtney’s reacting like this,” she said.
He shook his head. “Sonny will talk to her.”
“All right then, I’m going to go upstairs and call Luke,” Elizabeth replied. She hesitated another moment before climbing the stairs slowly and disappearing after Carly.
Hallway
“Damn it,” Courtney seethed. “I will not stand for this! Jason is my boyfriend!”
“I understand why you’re upset but try and think about someone other than yourself for five seconds, okay?”
Courtney paled. “Sonny, I am your sister. You are not supposed to deliberately try to hurt me—”
“That is not what I’m doing,” Sonny hissed. “I am trying to save someone’s life. Do you remember when you were accused of the accident and Elizabeth cleared your name?”
“Yes,” Courtney muttered.
“And I’m sure that’s not the only thing Elizabeth’s ever done for you.”
“No, it’s not,” Courtney grumbled.
“Now, multiply that by a thousand and you still won’t get how much Elizabeth has helped Jason. She has saved his life more than once and nearly sacrificed her own just as many times. She came to us to save hers. The families would not hesitate to use her to take Ric down if they thought we didn’t care. I will not let an innocent woman die because you’re a petty little brat!”
Courtney stepped back, stung. “Is that how you see me?” she asked softly.
Sonny muttered a curse under his breath and shook his head. “No, it’s not. I know how difficult it’ll be to see them together, but this is the way it has to be done.”
“I can’t do it Sonny,” Courtney whispered. She shook her head. “I just don’t think it’s possible. Even if I skip the wedding, I’ll end up staying here and I will have to see them and I know that I will not be able to handle that.”
“Okay, okay.” Sonny exhaled slowly. “Will Bobbie give you time off from Kelly’s?”
“She’s still got to replace Elizabeth,” Courtney said. “But I heard she was tapping one her nieces for that.”
“Ask her. Tell her the situation. She’ll understand.”
“What exactly am I asking?” Courtney asked her brother. She tilted her head to the side.
“I’m suggesting that you take time off from work and go on a well-deserved vacation,” Sonny said.
“Where and for how long?”
“To the island and until this mess is over. You’re right. You don’t have to deal with this and you shouldn’t have to see your boyfriend marry someone else.”
Courtney shook her head. “I don’t know Sonny. If Jason’s going to marry Elizabeth of all people, I don’t know that I should be leaving right now. I mean, it’s not that I don’t trust him, I do…” she trailed off and thought for a moment, searching for the right words. “Come on, Sonny, you know better than I do. They have this…connection. It’s still there, no matter how much anger or how hurt there is. Look, Jason hasn’t talked to her in months and he’s already stepped up to offer himself as the sacrificial lamb.”
“Do you think he’s still in love with her?” Sonny asked curiously.
“No, I know he loves me. But…you know, no matter how much you move on with someone else, part of you will always belong to someone else. I mean, AJ…” Courtney sighed. “Part of me still loves the man I thought he was. And I know you still love Brenda deeply.”
“You’re right,” Sonny agreed. “I think Jason still loves Elizabeth very much. But there’s a difference between being in love and just loving someone.”
“I know. I know that he’s in love with me and that Elizabeth is in his past. But, she was his present for so long…how can I really compete?” Courtney asked, her voice aching for reassurance.
“Go to the island,” Sonny encouraged. “I’ve got a little cottage just off the beach, it’d be perfect for you. I’ll even see if I can smuggle Jason down there occasionally. I’ll visit. I just think you need some time away from this.”
“Let me think about this all right?” Courtney asked. She kissed her brother on the cheek. “Thanks, Sonny.” She pushed past him and headed for the other penthouse.
Corinthos Penthouse
Jason was waiting for him when Sonny reentered the living room. He looked at him expectantly. “Is Courtney okay?”
“She’s fine. We talked and I understand what’s bothering her. I suggested sending her to the island while this is going on.”
Jason frowned. “We don’t know how long this will be, Sonny. It could be weeks, months, as long as a year.”
“I understand that. But the alternative is letting my sister stay here and watch you be married to your ex-girlfriend.”
“Sonny, you know that Elizabeth and I—”
“Still care for each other?” Sonny supplied. “Are still friends? Yeah, I know that. Trouble is, so does Courtney. And she understands that the two of you have history. She’s not begrudging that. I just don’t think she should be here to watch it.”
Jason sighed. “Okay. If Courtney is okay with it, then all right.”
“All right.” Sonny shifted. “Johnny and Francis are in England. How’s that lead they have?”
Jason shook his head. “Didn’t pan out the way we expected. But Johnny found a store owner who remembers Lansing. Said he overheard something about them sticking around Europe for a little while.”
“They’re keeping a low profile,” Sonny said. “Makes sense. There’s a lot of heat on them right now. Their best bet is to stay out of sight for a while. Tell you what, makes my life easier. I can concentrate on everything else.”
Elizabeth’s Room
“Hey, Luke,” Elizabeth greeted. She cradled the phone between her shoulder and her head, keeping her hands free as she unzipped her dress and slipped some sweat pants and a tank top.
“Hey, darlin. How’d the meeting go?”
She sighed. “Okay, I guess. They agreed.”
Luke leaned back in his chair at the club, focusing on a picture of his wife Laura. “Doesn’t sound good. What kind of negotiation tactics did they use?”
“It was kind of surprising, really,” Elizabeth admitted as she hung up the dress in the closet and shut it. “For a bunch of cold blooded killers, they sure are strict about marriage.”
“Yeah, their priorities are little twisted.”
“I’ll say. One of them wanted to lock me in a room until the baby was born.” Elizabeth sighed. “God, Luke, they’re so determined to make Ric pay they don’t care who it is.”
“I will say this about Jason and Sonny. Idiotic as they may be, they’ve got some shred of decency. So?”
“Well, what it boils down to is that Jason and I have to look married. Apparently, a fake marriage offends their morals,” Elizabeth said sarcastically.
“Never let it be said that hypocrisy is dead. So, looking married…” Luke trailed off. “Real wedding I suppose?”
“Yeah. Complete with a reception,” Elizabeth said with mock cheerfulness. “We also have to live together and he can’t see Courtney.”
“Hey, there’s a silver lining on an every cloud,” Luke replied, affably.
Elizabeth laughed then and sank onto the bed. “Oh, Luke.”
“Well, listen, you know if there’s anything you need, I’m there for you.”
“Actually,” Elizabeth bit her lip. “There is something I’d like. This is my wedding, I guess. And I don’t know much about planning a mob wedding so I’m just going to go with my instincts, you know?”
“Okay…”
“Could…could you walk me down the aisle?” Elizabeth asked softly. “And let Lulu be my flower girl?”
“Aw, darlin’, I’d be honored. And of course my little princess can be the flower girl.” Luke scratched his head. “I know this is tough, kid. But you’re a strong girl. You can get through this.”
“I don’t know if I can,” Elizabeth admitted. Her eyes filled with tears and she glanced towards the ceiling. “I called my grandmother and she disowned me. I don’t have anyone, Luke. No family.”
“How can you say that?” Luke demanded. “What about me? Cowboy, the demon’s spawn? Emily? Don’t we count?”
“Of course you count,” Elizabeth assured him. “It’s just…I’ve always had this unconditional support from you guys and it just makes me remember all the more that my own family can’t be bothered.”
“Your family is just as stupid as the five families,” Luke decided. “Listen, come to the club tomorrow. You bring Emily, I’ll supply Lucky and the spawn. We’ll start planning this here wedding.”
“I don’t know,” Elizabeth hesitated. “Isn’t there stuff I should run by Sonny and Jason? Shouldn’t…I don’t know…shit, Luke, I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
“No one knows what they’re doing here, darlin’, but we just try and muddle through life the best we can.”
“Yeah….yeah, I know.” Elizabeth sighed. “Thanks, Luke. Noon?”
“Hell, no. Make it two.”
Luke’s Office
Luke placed the receiver back in the cradle and sat forward to peer at Laura’s face again. Laura would be glad he’d set aside his anger and bitterness towards her Cassadine son and was working with him to help Elizabeth. Laura always had a soft spot for the girl.
In fact…Luke’s eyes lit up as he remembered the velvet box Laura had hidden in their closet, just waiting for Elizabeth’s birthday. It’d be a perfect wedding gift for the girl he considered a daughter.
July 2, 2003
Corinthos Penthouse
Elizabeth sighed and pushed her plate away the next morning at breakfast. “Sonny, there’s something I have to ask you.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, I’m meeting Luke and the others at the club today,” Elizabeth reported, shoving her hair behind her ears. “We’re going…well…plan the ceremony, I guess I should say. And I just wanted to know if there’s anything I need to know. Like is this different from a normal wedding?” Elizabeth flushed. “I mean, I know it’s obviously different—”
Carly cut the flustered girl off with a grimace. “Security. You have to plan for security. With the five families in attendance, you’re going to need a lot.” She leaned forward. “Does it bother you if they don’t blend in?”
“No,” Elizabeth managed to say. “They’re there to do their jobs, what does it matter how they look? As long as they’re comfortable.”
“Good.” Carly thought. “Way I figure it, you’ll need someone at the door to check invitations. Possibly two. Once you guys decide where the ceremony will be, you can figure out how many guards you’ll to patrol the perimeter—”
As Carly went on, Sonny sat back and smiled at his wife, proud of her for stepping forward with the knowledge Elizabeth needed.
“Carly,” Elizabeth interrupted. She smiled. “Would you come with me? I mean, you’ve planned a few of these weddings and you…you’ll be able to help with the guest list and all.”
Carly hesitated. “I don’t know. I was supposed to help Courtney with packing.”
“Oh.” Elizabeth nodded. “Okay, I understand.” She shoved her chair back and stood. “I need to go get ready.” She disappeared upstairs.
Sonny eyed Carly. “Courtney hasn’t decided whether or not she’s going. You don’t need to help her pack.”
“Just leave it alone,” Carly advised. She stood. “Just leave it alone.” Quartermaine Mansion: Emily’s Room
Emily combed her brush through her hair before securing it into a ponytail. She grabbed the bridal magazines and the wedding planner she’d nabbed from the mall the other day and was halfway out of her room when Zander came through the window.
“Hey,” she greeted. “I was just heading out.”
“Sorry,” Zander apologized. “Where you going?”
“To help Elizabeth plan her wedding,” Emily said. “I don’t know why we’re going all out, but apparently, the families want a real wedding and Elizabeth is going to bend over backwards to do it, I guess.”
Zander frowned. “You don’t sound happy about this.”
“I want Elizabeth to be okay,” Emily told him. She sat on her bed. “I hate that this is happening, but I honestly feel like everyone’s just…protecting her. They’re so busy assuring that none of this is her fault…they’re not letting her take any of the blame.”
Zander frowned. “What does Elizabeth need to be blamed for?” he asked with almost an edge to his words.
“It’s not like my brother didn’t warn her about Ric. And Elizabeth admitted to me herself she had suspicions Ric was up to something. But she stayed with anyway, Zander. All I’m saying is that Elizabeth is not a saint. She needs to take credit for her part in this.”
Zander shook his head. “Emily—”
“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Emily sighed. “I love her to death, but I see her for who she is, okay? She has a tendency to be selfish.”
“Is that what you think she’s doing?” Zander asked incredulously. “She’s marrying herself off to your idiot brother to save her baby, not herself. I honestly worry that Elizabeth wouldn’t give a damn otherwise.”
“Oh, don’t you champion her, too,” Emily scoffed. “Elizabeth made the decision to marry Jason with both her eyes open. It’s not like she doesn’t know exactly what she’s doing. She knows that Jason’s over her and I know she won’t use this as an opportunity to get him back.”
“Of course not. Your brother is head over heels for the stripper,” Zander joked. “I doubt Courtney would let Elizabeth close enough to Jason to make a difference.”
“Jason really loves Courtney, I know that. But you know, he still has a soft spot for Elizabeth. I don’t want him to confuse that for anything more.”
“Emily—”
“Look, I’m not trying to be a bitch. I just want everyone to keep a realistic outlook here. Elizabeth and Jason aren’t living a fairy tale. If they’re lucky, they’ll come out of this with a friendship. But I just think this is going to end badly. For everyone.”
“What happened to my optimistic dreamer?” Zander said, laughing and kissing her on the cheek.
“She grew up,” Emily murmured. She gathered the magazines and planner back into her arms and stood. “She grew up and realized her little fairy tale world crumbled while she was away.”
This entry is part 2 of 23 in the Fiction Graveyard: Poisonous Dreams #2
July 1, 2003
Corinthos Penthouse
“You told him it would be okay?” Carly demanded. She tossed aside another baby name book and rolled her eyes. “Great.”
Courtney sighed. “Well, what was I supposed to do? Play the raging bitch and tell him it’s over if he does? You know that wouldn’t have gone over well.”
“You should have argued more,” Carly accused.
“Yeah, well you should have kept your damn mouth shut about marriage,” Courtney snipped. “It doesn’t really make a difference. Jason told me it will be in name only. She probably won’t even set foot in the penthouse.”
“That’s true,” Carly nodded. “It’ll be okay, I guess. I mean, Jason’s obviously over the little twit.” Her face lit up. “And when this is done, maybe we can convince Sonny to send her to the island.”
“Yeah, like I’d get that lucky,” Courtney grumbled.
Morgan Penthouse
Jason looked up from some paperwork when Elizabeth knocked on the already open front door. “Hey.”
“Hey.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Are you busy or do you have a minute?”
“It’s fine, come on in.”
Elizabeth only stepped inside a few feet. She made it no further than his desk. “I…I…made my decision,” she said softly. “I thought it be for the best to tell you as soon as I made it so you could tell Sonny and work out the details with the families.”
“Okay,” Jason said.
“I think…that for my child, the best decision would be to do this,” Elizabeth told him. “If this were just me…I never would have even hesitated. In fact, I would have been on the first plane to Greece last month, but I am pregnant and no matter I go, I’m a target. I know this, I’ve come to terms with this.”
“You’ll have to be present at the meeting,” Jason informed her. “Sonny wants a show of strength. That we’re not backing away from the threat.”
“Sonny said they’ll want to negotiate the details,” Elizabeth said. “What does that mean?”
“The families…” Jason hesitated, thinking about how and what to tell her. “The families are…well, they’re petty. And sometimes getting them to agree to the simplest of things is a chore.”
“So what kind of details will be negotiated? Where? When? How?” Elizabeth asked.
“More than likely.” Jason paused. “I know this isn’t the ideal solution, but—”
“It’s fine,” Elizabeth interrupted. “I…I’m a little tired. I’m going to go take a nap.” She turned and left the apartment abruptly.
Jason stared after her for a moment before picking up the phone and calling Sonny at the warehouse.
Corinthos Penthouse
Courtney and Carly watched in silence as Elizabeth opened the door and crossed the room to the stairs. She did so without a word and when she had disappeared from view, Courtney took a deep shuddering breath.
“Why do I suddenly have the feeling that entire world has shifted on its axis and it won’t be the same again?” Courtney asked her sister-in-law.
“Because I think Elizabeth is about to be the next Mrs. Jason Morgan,” Carly murmured.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Courtney said, stricken. She shook her head. “I mean, what kind of ceremony will they have to have? Will they have to go to Vegas? Will it be in a real church—”
“Don’t get yourself worked thinking about this,” Carly said immediately. “This will be just like his marriage to Brenda. Even less real, I promise.”
Elizabeth’s Room
“Gram? It’s me.”
“Oh, my dear, Elizabeth, how are you?” Audrey Hardy asked warmly.
“I…I’m fine. How’s France?” Elizabeth asked softly. “Are you having a good time?”
“Oh, it’s lovely dear. I do wish you would have been able to join me on this vacation.”
“Next time, Gram,” Elizabeth replied. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
“What is it darling?” Audrey asked, sounding alarmed. “Is something wrong? Are you all right?”
“Well, I guess I’m fine. I’m…I’m getting married, Gram,” Elizabeth told her. She held her breath and waited.
There was silence for a moment on her Gram’s side of the line. “I thought you’d broken up with that lawyer.”
“I did, Gram,” Elizabeth replied. “But it’s not him. It’s…I’m…I’m marrying Jason.”
“Oh, Elizabeth,” Audrey sighed. “I really thought you’d gotten that out of your system.”
Elizabeth’s eyes filled with tears and she looked towards the ceiling. “Gram, I don’t expect you to understand, but—”
“I don’t. I thought you were finished with Jason Morgan and the whole lot of them. I’m very disappointed. What were you thinking, accepting a marriage proposal from that thug?”
“He’s not a thug, Gram,” Elizabeth whispered brokenly. “Please, just let me explain.” Hallway
Carly was headed for the bathroom when she heard a voice inside Elizabeth’s room. The door was ajar and she stepped closer to listen.
“Gram, please just let me explain. I promise it’s not as bad—no, this isn’t about rebelling against you. I’m…” She heard Elizabeth’s voice break. “Gram, stop calling him a thug. If you can’t speak about this rationally—Gram, please just let me explain…hello? Gram? Hello?”
Carly bit her lip when she heard Elizabeth start to cry. How horrible it must be for her own family to reject her. Carly had never liked Audrey Hardy—it had always felt like the nurse was judging her.
She pushed the door open, startling Elizabeth who hung up the phone and started wiping her eyes. “Did you need something?”
“Something I’ve learned about pregnancy is that your emotions are always right on the surface,” Carly said quietly. She sat on the bed next to the other woman. “Sometimes the slightest thing can set it off. Last week, Sonny got me nut brownies instead of fudge brownies and I was crying for three hours.”
“You’re very lucky, you know,” Elizabeth said softly. “Your mother loves you unconditionally.”
“Yeah, my mom is great,” Carly agreed. “Always there when I need her.” She hesitated. “She loves you, too. She’s always thought of you as part of the family.”
“I love Bobbie,” Elizabeth replied. She looked towards the ceiling. “She’s done so much for me since…well…since I became friends with Lucky. And I’ve always appreciated the surrogate family I’ve found here.”
“But?” Carly prompted.
“Is it so hard for my biological family to just accept me for who I am?” Elizabeth asked. She wiped her eyes. “Why is every decision I make a rebellion against them? Why is it so hard for them to accept that I’m twenty-one years old? I have my own life, now. I support myself.”
Carly shrugged. “You just got dealt a bad hand, I guess. At least you’ve got this group of people that love you.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” Elizabeth asked.
“Because you were nice to me when I needed it,” Carly replied. “When Sonny faked his death, and Jason wasn’t around, you were nice anyway. You weren’t seeking to gain points or rate their approval. You were just nice. And that meant a lot to me at the time.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Okay. That sounds reasonable.”
“Don’t tell anyone,” Carly warned. “They find out I’m being reasonable and I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Elizabeth laughed then. “Yeah, can’t have that.” She looked the blonde. “I told Jason that I…I agreed to marry him.”
“Yeah, Courtney and I figured that,” Carly replied. “Look, we’ll never be the best of friends. But for the next few weeks, maybe months…we should call a truce.”
“I agree,” Elizabeth said. She took a deep cleansing breath. “Oh, well. Gram has disowned me before. Once this marriage is over, I’ll be able to explain this to her.”
Sonny knocked on her bedroom door. “Hey, everything okay here?”
Carly glanced up at him and nodded. “Yeah. Princess and I were just discussing mood swings.”
Sonny grimaced. “Sounds like fun. Uh, I came home when Jason called me. He tells me that you’ve agreed.”
“Yeah,” Elizabeth reported. “He told me that you want me at this meeting.”
“I think it’s for the best, yes,” Sonny replied. “I called the families. It’s at six tonight. Be ready.”
“I will.”
Sonny left the room then, leaving the door open. Elizabeth closed her eyes and took another deep breath. “Here we go.”
No Name
“Okay, when we go in there, don’t speak unless spoken to,” Sonny directed Elizabeth. “They don’t take kindly to women speaking out of turn here. Reminds them too much of Faith. You are the direct opposite of Faith and we want to show them that.”
Elizabeth looked down at the white cotton dress he’d instructed her to wear. “Is that what this is for? Because Faith always wore black?”
Sonny grinned. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” He glanced at Jason. “I’m fully expecting them to demand stupid shit so that they don’t have a reason to agree to this. Which means we have to be prepared to bend on a lot of topics.”
“Like what?” Elizabeth questioned. “What kind of topics?”
“Well, where the wedding would be held, I suppose. How long the marriage would have to last. You get the idea, right?”
Elizabeth nodded. “Okay.” She sighed and looked away.
“Sonny, give us a moment, okay?” Jason asked him as he steered Elizabeth a few feet away. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine, Jason. I just want this over with,” Elizabeth replied. She crossed her arms stiffly.
“It’s just…I know you feel about people telling you what to do.”
“I hate it,” Elizabeth admitted. “But I…it’s not just me I have to worry about anymore. My baby is all that is important to me and I will do whatever I have to do to ensure her safety.”
“Okay.” He and Elizabeth headed back to Sonny. “Let’s do this.”
The representatives of the families were seated around the long table in one of the back rooms of the restaurant.
Sammy Tagliatti stood. “Mr. Corinthos, Mr. Morgan, welcome.” The smile fell from his face as Elizabeth stepped into view. “Ms. Webber,” he greeted stiffly. He flicked his gaze to Sonny. “What is she doing here?”
“Well,” Sonny said amiably, “I thought since this was her life we were discussing, she should be present.”
“Very well,” Tagliatti said. He took his seat. “You said you have a deal.”
“Ms. Webber is very important to me,” Sonny began. He pulled out the last remaining empty seat and sat, leaving Jason and Elizabeth standing behind him. “I want her safety ensured.”
“And you understand why we perceive her as a threat,” Michael Hernandez spoke up. He leaned forward and stubbed out his cigar. “Ric Lansing embezzled a lot of money from me and I want him to pay.”
Elizabeth stiffened and she clenched her fists at her side. The implication was clear. They couldn’t find Ric, they’d settle for her.
Sonny shrugged. “He tried to kill me, raped my wife and he tried to kidnap a girl I consider a sister. I want him to pay as well. But Ms. Webber is pregnant and I think she should be afforded special consideration.”
“And I want to know what assurance we have that the kid isn’t the next Ric Lansing or Faith Roscoe,” Hernandez shot back.
“Simple,” Sonny replied. “The deal is that Elizabeth Webber marries Jason Morgan, my second-in-command.”
Tagliatti smirked. “Therefore making her untouchable. Very smart Corinthos.”
Elizabeth let out a relieved breath. This was going to work. It had to work.
“A fake marriage?” Daniel Vega scoffed. “I can’t agree to that. Marriage is a sacred undertaking. It’s common knowledge Morgan’s been seeing your sister, Corinthos.”
“Yes,” Sonny replied. “Jason has been dating my sister, Danny. But this is a negotiable deal. We’re open for suggestions.”
“I’ve got a suggestion,” John O’Reilly remarked. “Let’s just lock her somewhere and wait for Lansing to come and get her. He’s obviously not through with her.”
Elizabeth made a whimpering sound and took a step back. Jason steadied her with a hand on the small of her back.
“Okay, John. Say I decide to renege my decision to forget that nasty little deal where you tried to blackmail my wife into running drugs through my territory,” Sonny said. “Say I want you to pay. You want me to grab Gracie and lock her in a room while she’s pregnant?”
O’Reilly narrowed his eyes. “That’s a low blow and completely irrelevant.”
“I don’t think so,” Sonny replied smoothly. “You want to lock up the fiancée of my second-in-command.”
“The fake fiancée,” Vega interjected. “Look, locking up a pregnant woman—or anyone woman is out of the question. I would never agree to that either.”
Tagliatti sighed. “This is getting us nowhere. Danny, you hate the idea of a fake marriage. Fine. We can solve that.” He looked at the couple. “Condition number one. The two of you live together through the tenure of the marriage. Condition number two, Morgan doesn’t see his girlfriend on the side. That work for you Danny?”
“Yeah sure,” Vega remarked. “What do you say Corinthos?”
Sonny shrugged. “What do you think about that, Jason?”
“It’s fine,” Jason replied stiffly. “Elizabeth?”
Elizabeth nodded mutely, careful not to speak. They obviously loathed the very sight of her and she was going to heed Sonny’s advice. Seen and not heard.
“Okay, that’s agreed. What else?” Sonny said, folding his hands.
“I want assurance this kid is safe from the influence of Lansing and Faith,” O’Reilly demanded. “How do I know she ain’t gonna turn this kid over to him?”
“I’d rather drink poison,” Elizabeth blurted out.
Sonny closed his eyes and sighed. “Elizabeth, I thought we agreed…”
“No, no,” O’Reilly said, waving his arm away. “This is the mother of the child. I want to hear from her.”
“I hate Ric Lansing with every fiber of my being,” Elizabeth bit out. “He threatened my life, he threatened to kill to my child. He tried to kidnap me two weeks ago. How could you think I would willingly turn my child over to him?”
O’Reilly had the decency to sit back and look away. “Okay. Not willingly. I apologize.”
“You want protection for her through this marriage, then this marriage has to last until Lansing and Faith are dealt with,” Hernandez dictated. “Weeks, months, years. I don’t care. She is a target and she is what will bring him back to Port Charles.”
“That’s fine,” Sonny agreed. “Anything else?”
“I’m not convinced Lansing won’t just kidnap the child,” O’Reilly said, shaking his head. “What do you have to say to that, Ms. Webber?”
Elizabeth hesitated. She glanced up at Jason and then back at the well-dressed gray-haired man who’d posted the question. “That’s a question that terrifies me,” she confessed. “If Ric were ever within five hundred feet of my child…I think I would probably kill him.”
“Well, that works me for me,” Tagliatti agreed. “When will this wedding be held?”
“As soon as we can contact the justice of the peace,” Sonny replied.
“No good,” Vega decided. “You must have a church wedding.”
Elizabeth inhaled sharply. “A church wedding?”
“Elizabeth, let me handle this,” Sonny directed. “A church wedding is out of the question. Once they’re divorced, neither of them would be able to marry in the church again.”
“Get an annulment,” Thomas Caracas spoke up finally. “Morgan’s got experience with that.”
“That’s fine. Jason, Elizabeth?”
“Fine,” Jason replied, shortly.
“That’s fine,” Elizabeth agreed.
“I expect an invitation to a wedding ceremony and a reception,” Tagliatti announced.
“Of course,” Sonny agreed. “Is that it?”
“I believe that’s it for now. We’ll let you know if there any other details to work out.”
Sonny stood. “We’ll be leaving then.” He gestured for Jason and Elizabeth to lead the way out of the restaurant.
Once they were outside, Elizabeth leaned against the brick wall and closed her eyes. “They probably would have shot me if given the chance,” she whispered painfully.
“I doubt that,” Sonny said. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders to steady her as they walked towards the car. “Are you okay? I should have insisted that you sit.”
“It was so hard to sit there and let dictate the way I’m going to live my life,” Elizabeth told him. “I hate being told what to do, I despise and loathe it.”
“It’ll be okay,” Sonny assured her.
“Yeah, well, at least I’m not the one who has to tell Carly and Courtney the details of this deal,” Elizabeth said as Johnny opened the door to the limo.
Jason sighed and followed her in. He almost wished he could convince Sonny to tell Courtney. He did not relish this responsibility.
This entry is part 1 of 23 in the Fiction Graveyard: Poisonous Dreams #2
June 30, 2003
Corinthos Penthouse
Carly Corinthos leaned forward and wagged her finger at her husband. “I’ve got it!” she announced gleefully. “It’ll solve all of our problems!”
Luke Spencer smirked and took the cigar out of his mouth. “This ought to be good.” He leaned against the fireplace and eyed his niece.
They’d been at this for hours—every suggestion was shot down for one reason or another. Elizabeth had been quite adamant, she wanted to stay in Port Charles at all costs.
So immediately, any idea Nikolas Cassadine or Luke had come up with was rejected. Luke wanted her to disappear while Nikolas wanted to barricade her on a Greek island.
It was nearly midnight now and Elizabeth was upstairs in the guest room, fast asleep. Her pregnancy was making her more tired than usual and she’d been sleeping more and more.
Carly’s pregnancy was somehow making her superhuman, which was why she was still up trying to contribute to the conversation despite Sonny’s pleas for her to rest.
“Just marry her off!” Carly declared dramatically.
Jason Morgan frowned. “And how in the world is that supposed to help?” he asked.
Carly shrugged. “She’ll be protected if she gets married to someone in the organization, right?”
Sonny stroked his chin thoughtfully. “I think she may have a point.”
Luke shook his head. “I can’t believe the day came when I’d agree with my psycho niece.”
Carly glared at him. “I resent that.”
Jason shook his head. “I don’t think this is gonna work. Lansing made the families very nervous. He embezzled from three of them and the other two want to kill him on principle. They don’t care if Elizabeth is under our protection. She’s a way to get to him and the baby she’s carrying is an extension of him in their eyes.”
“Look, Lansing and Faith have taken off for parts unknown,” Nikolas spoke up. “And I don’t give a damn about them right now. All I care about is that Elizabeth doesn’t get caught in some stupid mob war.”
“I agree,” Lucky Spencer chimed in.
His father snorted. “You would.”
Lucky glared at Luke. “Look, I thought this was done with. You and Nikolas are never going to agree about Mom’s treatment. I thought we agreed that as long as she’s getting the best treatment—that Elizabeth’s safety was going to take priority over this god damn rivalry.”
“As long as Luke can keep up,” Nikolas smirked.
Luke opened his mouth to reply, but Sonny jumped in. “Hey, I know there’s about twenty years of hatred between your families, but do you think we can concentrate on the matter at hand? The families want an answer.”
“Fuck the families,” Luke announced. “Bunch of inbred idiots.”
Sonny stood. “Look, the three of you are being included in this at Elizabeth’s request. Now, I promised that girl when she came to me that I would protect her. Whether it be from my enemies, from my half-brother or from anything else. I am not going to let anyone get in the way of the promise.”
Lucky shook his head. “All of this damn fighting is getting us nowhere. Let’s get back to the topic. Sonny, just how much protection would she guaranteed if she married someone in the organization?”
Sonny shrugged. “Depends on the person. If it were me, she’d be untouchable. If it were one the of guards, well it would ensure her safety to a certain point.”
“Well, obviously you’re not a possibility,” Luke decided.
“Damn right,” Carly muttered.
“What about Morgan here?”
“No way!” Carly declared, lunging to her feet. “There is no way that twit is going to force herself into Jason’s life again!”
Jason stood slowly. “Carly, just…stop it, okay? You brought the idea up. We’re looking at all the possibilities.”
“What about Courtney, huh?” Carly demanded, crossed her arms and glaring at her best friend. “You know how uncomfortable this whole situation has made her. What would she think if she knew you were considering this?”
“I don’t give a damn about that girl thinks,” Luke cut in. “What I do give a damn about is that girl sleeping upstairs. She’s got nowhere else to turn to. Her grandmother is out of town, her biological family could give two shits about her. The only people she’s got on her side are the six of us and Emily Quartermaine. I’ll be damned if the whims of some jealous little twit—”
“So?” Luke scoffed. “I thought she agreed that whatever had to be done would be done. Why are you now worrying about her feelings?”
“Because I doubt Courtney thought Elizabeth marrying Jason was even a remote possibility!” Carly snarled.
“Yeah, like Elizabeth would be jumping through hoops at the idea,” Nikolas retorted. “I can’t think of anything she’d like less. She left this life, remember? She got out.”
“And then she turned right around and came back! First by dating that idiot and then by coming to Sonny for protection!” Carly tossed back.
Jason rubbed his hands over his face. “Look, all of this fighting is getting us nowhere. We’ve got to figure this out and we’ve got to do this soon. Elizabeth is our only key to finding Lansing so her leaving Port Charles is out of the concern.”
“Careful,” Lucky sneered. “Wouldn’t want you to choke on that concern of yours.”
Jason paused momentarily to glare at the younger Spencer. “I don’t want anything to happen to her,” he said, patiently. “I want to do what’s best for everyone involved. Lansing threatened her, he threatened the baby and in my book, that would have been reason enough to get rid of him.”
“But you didn’t, did you?” Nikolas accused. “You two idiots sat on this information, letting Elizabeth come and go as she pleased. Well, I guess you learned your damn lesson when she was almost kidnapped, huh?”
“Okay, that’s enough!” Carly announced. She used two fingers and whistled loudly. “Apparently, I’m voice of reason here. Look, I’m not thrilled about the idea, but Elizabeth came to us for protection. Not you three Stooges, but she came to Sonny. She trusts him. That is his niece or nephew she’s pregnant with and you have our word she will be protected.”
“Your word means nothing to me,” Nikolas announced. “If I had my way, Elizabeth would have been in Greece last month.”
“Yeah, well, we all know what she thought of that plan, don’t we?” Carly retorted. “Look, I am exhausted. Is she marrying into the organization or not?”
“I think before we decide that, this needs to be run by Elizabeth,” Lucky interjected. “She needs to approve this. This is her life, her child.”
Luke nodded. “Right. I’ll go wake her.”
“There’s no need. You all woke me up with the arguing,” Elizabeth murmured as she descended down the stairs.
The past month of stress and worry had taken its toll on the petite brunette. Her hair was pulled into a limp pony tail, her eyes sunken, her face more pale than ever. She was dressed in an oversized T-shirt and a pair of sweat pants.
She folded her arms. “So? What’s this about me marrying someone?” she asked softly.
Luke cleared his throat and crossed the room to his surrogate daughter. Winding an arm around her shoulders, he steered towards the couch. “Sit down, darlin’. We got something we need to discuss.”
“Luke, I’m not a child,” she said. She pushed his arm away. “Just tell me what’s going on.”
“The basic summary?” Sonny said. “We think your best bet is to marry someone in the organization.”
Elizabeth didn’t say anything. She just arched her eyebrow and waited.
“We haven’t really nailed down who yet,” Sonny continued hesitantly. “But we agree that someone of Jason’s standing in the organization would be the most ideal.”
Elizabeth sighed and nodded. “This is the best you can do?” she asked.
“The best way to get the families off our back,” Sonny replied. Carly shook her head and crossed her arms. Participating in a scheme to save Elizabeth Webber’s life ought to gain her saint hood or something.
“If I weren’t pregnant,” Elizabeth began, “then I would have taken my chances elsewhere. I would have taken Luke’s offer and disappeared.” She looked down at the ground. “But this isn’t a decision to make just for myself. This is for my baby. And that’s the only thing that matters to me.”
“So, this is okay?” Lucky asked, stepping forward.
“I don’t know,” Elizabeth replied. “Who would I have to marry?”
The room was deadly silent, the tension was thick and palpable. Lucky shuffled his feet and looked away. Nikolas crossed his arms and looked at his feet. Luke stared into the fireplace.
Jason stepped forward. “Me,” he announced. “You’d marry me.”
Carly gaped at him. “What?” she sputtered. “What about Courtney?”
Elizabeth didn’t take her eyes off of Jason and completely ignored Carly. “Are you serious?”
“Hello!” Carly said, waving her arms. “Does the name Courtney ring a bell?”
Jason inhaled slowly and looked at Carly. “She’ll understand. It’s not permanent. It’s temporary.”
“Yeah, okay,” Carly said, rolling her eyes.
Sonny touched her shoulder. “Look this is something that’s up to them, okay? Marriage was your idea.”
“Yeah, well this wasn’t what I had in mind!” Carly screeched. She shrugged off Sonny’s arm and crossed to Elizabeth. “You listen here—”
“Hey, back off,” Nikolas interjected, stepping in. “You are not his keeper. He can make his own damn decisions, he doesn’t need a guard dog. And if you ever speak like that to Elizabeth again, you’ll regret it.”
“Are you threatening me?” Carly demanded.
“You’re damn right I am.”
“Wait, wait,” Elizabeth said, waving her arms. “Let’s just take a step back here and calm down, okay? I haven’t agreed to anything.” She looked at Sonny. “How long do I have to decide?” she asked.
Sonny rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, the sooner we deal with this, the better. The families are gonna wanna negotiate this further and we need to be ready in case there’s retaliation from Ric or Faith.”
“Can you give me until tomorrow night?” Elizabeth requested. “I’ll have an answer then.”
Sonny nodded. “Yeah, tomorrow night.” He glanced at Jason. “You might want to spend tomorrow getting Courtney ready for this possibility.”
Carly snorted. “This is so damned ridiculous.”
“Come on. You need to get to sleep,” Sonny directed, steering Carly towards the stairs.
Lucky hugged Elizabeth. “Meet me and Nik at Kelly’s tomorrow for breakfast?” he suggested. “We’ll call Em.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah, sure.”
“See ya,” Nikolas said, hugging her and kissing her on the forehead. The brothers exited the penthouse. Luke sighed.
“Okay, well, call me if you need me. If this goes through, I wanna hear all the details about this so-called deal, understand?” Luke told her.
Elizabeth nodded. “You’ll be the first one I call.”
“Good. Night.”
After Luke was gone, she and Jason were alone in the room. She shifted. “I’m going to go back to sleep.”
“Elizabeth, wait a second,” he said. “Look, if this makes you uncomfortable in any way—”
“I think I’m the one who should be saying that,” Elizabeth replied. “You’re the one who’d be sacrificing for this. You’re the one that’s got to tell the woman you love you might have to marry someone else. I appreciate you being willing to do this, Jason, but I just…” she sighed and looked away. “I don’t know if I could handle it, that’s all. So I just…I need to think about it further, okay?”
Jason nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See ya,” Elizabeth echoed as she watched him leave.
Kelly’s: The Next Morning
“I don’t know,” Emily Quartermaine began. “This whole thing sounds…off. To me, at least. How will you marrying Jason help anything?”
Elizabeth stirred her hot chocolate absently. “I’m not sure really. I think there’s something about the level of respect. Sonny and Jason were really more concerned about the families’ threat against me rather than Ric. I guess if I were married into the organization…the families would be obligated to leave me alone.”
Nikolas shook his head. “I just don’t understand the code there. They’ll respect you to your face, but plot your death behind your back.”
Emily ignored Nikolas and concentrated on Elizabeth. “Gut instinct. Is this a solution you could see yourself handling?”
Elizabeth shrugged. “A year ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated. I would have said yes. But now…there’s so much…distance between us. We’ve barely talked in months and I can’t tell you the last civil conversation we had.”
“So, you agree that marrying Jason would be a bad idea,” Lucky decided.
“No, I didn’t say that,” Elizabeth said. “Logically, I know that it’s the safe solution. But…”
“Yeah, I guess that’s the best way to put it,” Elizabeth replied. “Emotionally, I don’t know that I’d be able to survive it.”
“Has Jason said anything to Courtney?” Emily asked.
“He’s supposed to do that today,” Elizabeth replied. “I’m being selfish, I guess. I shouldn’t be thinking about what’s best for me. I should be thinking about my child and what’s best for her…or him.”
Emily nodded. “Well, then I guess you’ve made your decision,” she said quietly.
“I guess I have.”
Morgan Penthouse
Courtney eyed her boyfriend skeptically. “Are you serious?” she asked. “You want me to be okay with you marrying your ex-girlfriend?”
Jason sighed and shifted on the couch. “Courtney, it’d be like it was with Brenda more or less. Name only. I don’t even think she’d have to set foot in the penthouse.”
Courtney shook her head. “No…I don’t think I could be comfortable with this.”
“You agreed you’d help in any way possible,” Jason reminded her.
“Yeah…but I never dreamed it’d be like this,” Courtney sighed. “I thought…I don’t know what I thought. But this was not even something I thought of in my wildest nightmares.”
Jason rubbed his temple. “I love you,” he assured her. “But I gave Sonny my word that I would do this for him. He feels guilty that Ric even came to town at all. He’s depending on my help.”
Courtney sighed. “Okay. Okay. But I want it on the record that I’m not happy with this.”
If there was one thing Lucky Spencer did well, it was driving Elizabeth Webber away.
He’d clearly perfected it this time, but he realized now that he’d been doing it for years. Maybe since the day his parents brought him back to Port Charles and he stood in front of her on the docks and knew he’d never be the man she needed again.
Everyone looked at him and saw that boy he’d been once. That wise-cracking boy who exuded self-confidence, with the warm and generous heart who went to the wall for his family and friends.
That Lucky had been dead since the fire, since the night someone stole into his room, drugged him and took him away from everything he’d ever known. Lucky knew he would always be found wanting in the eyes of those who claimed to love him.
For his father, his choice of becoming a police officer would always be a source of bewilderment and disappointment. For his mother…well, maybe Laura didn’t care who had come home from the fire, but she’d been gone from his life so long, what did it matter? His sister didn’t know him. Nikolas saw someone to save—he’d needed constant saving after the fire, from Helena and brainwashing, from his own stupid plans. Emily wanted the boy with whom she’d run away with once, who shared puppies with her dog and saved her from blackmail.
And Elizabeth would always look in his eyes, search for that boy and always find him lacking. But that was fair, because he’d looked into her eyes, to find that delicate, fragile girl he’d fallen in love with and she’d been a stranger to him as well. He hadn’t wanted her to stay a victim, but maybe he hadn’t expected her to be so self-sufficient.
So when he picked Sam McCall up in Jake’s a few weeks earlier, maybe in the back of his head, he thought this would be the last time he’d have to remind people he wasn’t Lucky Spencer, pre-fire. He was Lucky Spencer, post-fire, and people who didn’t accept that were just doomed to disappointment. He was done doing what people wanted him to do. He didn’t love Elizabeth the way he was supposed to do. He cared for her, would always care for her, but he knew they’d settled last year even if she didn’t.
Sam had been downing tequila, reeling from the discovery that the woman she hated most in the world was her birth mother, at a loose ends with her life, hating who she’d become. People didn’t know, she had drunkenly declared. That was her fault, because she was such a good fucking con artist, she’d gotten lost inside her own con.
She’d forgotten who she used to be, and now she didn’t want to be who she’d become.
So after several rounds, they’d asked for a key and gone upstairs.
He’d always intended to confess to Elizabeth, to calmly ask her for a divorce. Maybe he’d even ask why she didn’t see this coming. They were both playing roles, both pretending they were each other’s soulmates. They were each other’s eighteen-year-old soulmates, but that was then. This was now. He’d needed a night with another woman to tell him that.
But it hadn’t been a one night stand. Lucky had kept going back to Jake’s, and then eventually to Kelly’s during shift breaks, and then as often as possible. Because Sam didn’t know Lucky Spencer, pre-fire. She knew him as he was today. He didn’t know the con artist or Jason’s girlfriend. He knew Sam McCall. And there was something freeing about that.
He’d wanted to confess to Elizabeth, but the words had never come. He understood now, why she’d never walked away from him before during those dark days he’d been so jealous about Jason. To stand in front of Elizabeth and admit that they were never going to work, that they were never going to be right for each other, it was harder than it should have been.
It meant saying goodbye to pre-fire Lucky Spencer, and for the first time, he wasn’t entirely ready to bid cast his old self away. He’d spent so much time trying to be that boy, he didn’t know who this man was. Did he like being a cop? Did he want to be married? Did he want to have a family?
Did he like his family? Did he have any real friends?
So after Elizabeth had rushed out of Kelly’s, he hadn’t gone after her. He’d gone to Jake’s and stared at a shot of tequila, remembering how it had fallen apart.
A body dropped onto the stool next to him. “You have no idea how hard you are to track down, Lucky Spencer.”
Patrick stepped into the living of Bobbie Spencer’s brownstone and halted in his tracks. Bobbie and Robin were sitting there looking at him expectantly. He slid his hands into the pockets of his pants and grinned at them.
Robin narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t find her. I know those dimples.” She looked at Bobbie. “We should go look—maybe call Emily or something, She’ll know where to look.”
He scowled. “Hey, I found her. I talked to her. But Jason’s got people looking for her, too. One of his goons showed up to haul her away back to the penthouse so Jason can…” He shrugged. “Whatever. So I told Max that I had it under control, Max started arguing with me and Elizabeth got away from us.”
Robin pursed her lips. “Jason will find her eventually, but I’m still worried about her.”
“I’m less worried,” Patrick said. “She snuck away from a mob guard. Clearly, she knows what she’s doing.” He cleared his throat. “Am I…still in trouble?”
“Why would you be in trouble?” she asked sweetly.
“Because I woke up this morning to find that I was still a man, and therefore, always wrong.”
Bobbie snorted and turned away to hide her laughter as Robin shot her a look. “I heard what Carly said—”
“Hey, she said tried to seduce.” Patrick pointed at her. “Try. You know what try means? It means not successful. And she did it to annoy you. It worked. Therefore, mission accomplished. I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” Hell. Women. Neurotic as hell. This woman was lucky she had a sexy crooked smile that made him think of all the ways he’d like make her smile.
“Okay.” Robin nodded. “I appreciate you looking for her, Patrick. I know Jason will find her.” She tapped her chin. “As for you…”
He saw the devious look in her eyes, as she looked at her friend. “Bobbie, I think we’re going to head back to my apartment. I think Patrick needs to apologize a little more.”
He drew himself up, indignant. Apologize? What the hell…and then he saw that wicked smile.
Well, he could apologize a bit more if she had something specific in mind. Never let it be said that Patrick Drake couldn’t admit when he was wrong.
And he’d been a very bad boy.
“I absolutely think I have to make this up to you,” he said with a serious nod.
Max Giambetti was a good Catholic boy, which meant he made his confession every week. An edited version of that confession, but he and Father Coates both knew he was fudging a bit.
He was glad it was a Monday, because tonight, as he stood in front of Jason in his penthouse, Max would die with a clean soul.
“You were distracted,” Jason said flatly. “I asked you to help me find Elizabeth, to make sure she was okay. You found her, and she got away from you because you were distracted.”
“See, when you say it that way, it sounds so much worse than it actually is,” Max said. “She was standing there, and she didn’t want to come with me. I figured you could tell her I had my orders, but it’s not like I could drag her away, Jase. I thought you’d frown on that.”
“Explain to me again why I asked you just to keep an eye on her, and not only did she run away from you, but that you weredistracted enough not to know she was gone.”
“We’re getting stuck on that distracted part, aren’t we?” Max sighed. “Well, Patrick Drake told me he had it under control, and I was explaining to him I couldn’t trust him with Miss Webber. He’s a neurosurgeon. He wouldn’t take a punch for her. I always liked Miss Webber, you know that, Jase. She’s very nice, and she made Carly brownies when she thought Sonny was dead. She always made a batch for the guards. Cody never got over losing—”
He closed his mouth because Jason’s eyes narrowed. “That is to say, I still got men looking for her. Milo is on it, Cody and Marco volunteered—you wouldn’t believe how many of the guards remembered her. I don’t even know how they knew her—”
He closed his mouth, when Jason’s eyes remained icy. He was not talking himself out of this. “And this time, I told the guys, hey don’t bother her. Just keep an eye on her. Make sure she’s not in any danger. But you know, you could…” He licked his lips. And figured hell, he was already going to get assigned to guarding one of Sonny’s kids for this failure tonight, might as well make it worth it. “Youcould find her yourself.”
“I…” Jason paused. “I tried. But I’m not sure she’d wanted to see me. After all it was my…Sam that she saw with Lucky.”
“True.” Max nodded. “True. But it’s not like Miss Webber would hold that against you. She’s a sweet girl, Jase. Well, sweet woman.” And shit, that didn’t sound right because the muscles around Jason’s mouth tightened and Max remembered why he and Carly had enjoyed those brownies—Elizabeth had been seeing Jason then. Right. “Anyway. What I meant to say was is Miss Webber doesn’t seem to hold a grudge, you know. She even was going to be Courtney’s surrogate, despite all the crap that woman put her through—” And he stopped again, because damn it if this world wasn’t littered with mines.
He coughed. “She’d be less likely to run from you.” Except she had once. Twice. Maybe even three times.
Maybe Max should shoot himself and save Jason the trouble.
“This is all my fault,” the guard declared. “I let her get away—”
“Because you were distracted.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Max, you’re a guard,” Jason said with an air of disgust. “I trust you to guard the people close to me. To train other guards to look after Sonny, his kids. Carly. You know Elizabeth…” He muttered something under his breath. “How do you think it sounds that you let Elizabeth slip by you? Why did you even approach her? Did I say to talk to her? To annoy her? I told you she was having a bad night.”
Max closed his mouth because all of these things were true. “Well, truth be told, I was just so relieved to find her I just kind of blurted it out—” And he cringed. Guards didn’t blurt out information. “Listen, it’s just…Miss Webber’s different, Jase. You know that. She’s not part of this world. I didn’t think of her like I do Sonny or Carly, like someone who’s life is in danger. I just…she’s a nice girl who had a really bad thing happen to her. I didn’t want to just follow her around. I wanted to offer my help, my…sympathies.Something, you know. She deserves better than Lucky Spencer. Cody and Milo think so, as well. So I just…wanted to be nice to her. I really am sorry, Jase. But she looked okay when I saw her.”
He saw the tension slide from Jason’s shoulders and Max thought he’d bought himself a reprieve. “Maybe you should go look, Jase. She might want someone who knows how awful what happened is, you know? And you probably even know where to find her, if she wasn’t at her apartment or her grandmother’s. Where does she go to be alone?”
“I still want the guards out, and someone keeps an eye on her if they find her.” Jason said, reaching for his keys. Not the SUV keys, Max noted, but the motorcycle ones in the desk drawer. “I don’t want anyone else bothering her tonight.”
“Got it, Jase.”
“Try not to get distracted while I’m gone,” the boss tossed over his shoulder as he exited the penthouse. Max scowled.
“He’s not going to let that go, is he?” he asked the empty room.
For Part Six
– Who is sitting next to Lucky?
– What happened to Sonny and Sam?
– Hey, where’s Emily?
– How long does Jason have to look before he finds Elizabeth?
This is set in the era of 2006 GH, but isn’t tied to any specific storyline. It takes place vaguely after the spring, but before Sam got shot and Lucky’s drug addiction.
Inspiration
I wanted to write fluff. I wrote about half of this back in 2006, and then let it sit until finishing it in 2019. I recommend the YouTube playlist for this because it’s basically an ode to eighties music.
Banner Here
July 2006
Kelly’s: Courtyard
If you’re blue and you don’t know where to go to
Why don’t you go where fashion sits
Puttin’ on the ritz
“Absolutely not.” Robin Scorpio leaned forward and switched off the CD player. “No one even likes that song.”
Brenda Barrett stuck her finger in the air and wagged it at her friend. “If no one liked that song, how did it become a hit?”
“It was the eighties,” Robin sighed. “They were all high.”
“You’re thinking of the sixties,” Elizabeth Webber corrected. She pressed the skip button on the CD player a few times. “What about this one?”
If you see a faded sign by the side of the road that says
15 miles to the Love Shack!
Love Shack, yeah
“It’s predictable,” Brenda vetoed. She started to flip through her stack of CDs.
“Exactly. We’re not picking music we like,” Elizabeth reminded her. “We’re picking music that’ll appeal to the masses.”
Brenda snorted. “The masses of Port Charles have no taste.” She noted it down anyway for the play list. “We have to get serious about this or we’re going to find ourselves at the Metro Court with no music and a lot of bored people. Not the way to raise money for the Stone Cates Foundation if you ask me.”
“Okay, okay,” Robin consulted the list of songs on the current CD. “We’ve got ten, that’s not a bad start. Liz and I have another fifteen minutes before we have to get back to work and you have to go check on the caterer.”
Brenda leaned towards Elizabeth. “You’d think I’d never planned a party before. Chica keeps forgetting that I am the original party girl. Hello!”
“How about this?” Elizabeth pressed play.
Poor old Johnny Ray
Sounded sad upon the radio
He moved a million hearts in mono
Our mothers cried and sang along and who’d blame them
“Hell yeah!” Brenda leapt to her feet and pulled Robin up with her. “I love this song!”
“Brenda—“ Robin laughed as her friend pulled her into a dance.
Now you’re grown, so grown, now I must say more than ever
Go toora loora toora loo rye aye
And we can sing just like our fathers
“Girl can still move!” Brenda bumped butts with Robin before launching into some kind of weird combination that had both her co-hostesses laughing. Robin pressed a hand to her mouth, trying to control herself.
Come on Eileen, well I swear (what he means)
At this moment you mean everything
“Come on, Liz!” Brenda tugged the nurse to her feet and dragged her into their dance. “Get down with your bad self, you’re way too young to look so sad!”
With you in that dress my thoughts I confess
Verge on dirty
Ah come on Eileen
Robin laughed as Brenda tried to dip Elizabeth, forgetting that all three of them were basically the same height. Elizabeth was laughing to hard to keep her own balance and slipped, pulling Brenda down with her.
“You—guys—look—so—ridiculous!” Robin managed to choke out between the giggles.
Brenda and Elizabeth looked up at the doctor from their positions on the ground and each reached out to grasp Robin’s ankles and yanked her down to the ground with them.
These people round here wear beaten down eyes
Sunk in smoke dried faces
They’re so resigned to what their fate is
“You are horrible!” Robin gasped as she rolled her to her knees. She tried to be mad but just started giggling again. “It’s no wonder this benefit is next week and we’re still not getting anywhere.”
“Yeah, we totally can’t work together anymore,” Elizabeth sighed with a snorting giggle. She hoisted herself to her feet.
But not us, no—
She switched off the song and plopped back down in the chair. “Come on, we’ve only got another ten minutes before we have to get back.”
Brenda sighed. “Yes, ma’am.” She saluted. “What’s the next song?” She and Robin sat back down.
“Well, we probably need a ballad,” Elizabeth said. “Some people do bring dates to these things.” She snorted. “Can’t imagine why. Men suck.”
“I hear that,” Brenda sighed heavily.
“They’re the root of all evil,” Robin agreed. She glanced over the list of songs. “How come no one’s ever written a song called Men Are Pigs?”
“Probably have but there’s no commercial success in that,” Brenda sipped her soda with a loud slurp. “Everyone wants happy sappy songs or unbearably angsty breakup songs. You know—I love you girl, I screwed up girl, I want you back girl. They just don’t write the song—I’m sorry I screwed your best friend girl, I’m sorry I left you at the altar or in the rain—”
“I’m sorry that I refused to adopt your son and blamed you for the death of your partner,” Elizabeth chimed in.
“I’m sorry I’m a rotten lying cheating man whore who needs to sleep with every trashy blonde that comes my way,” Robin added dryly.
“Well, there is always the country music genre,” Brenda perked up. “Goodbye Earl is one of my personal favorites. Give the old man a what for and all that.”
“Anyway, angsty ballads, cue—” Robin pressed play.
All alone on a Sunday morning
Outside I see the rain is falling
Inside I’m slowly dying
But the rain will hide my crying
Elizabeth snapped it off. “Okay, that’s enough angsty goodness. We’ll just okay it and then I’ll duck out of the room when it plays.” She noted the title and song down, “Next?”
Turn around
Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you’re never coming round.
Turn around
Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears.
Robin grimaced. “I hate the eighties.” She pressed stop. “Let’s go for a love song, eh? It’s gotta be better than angst.”
I can’t fight this feeling any longer
And yet I’m still afraid to let it flow
What started out as friendship has grown stronger
I only wish I had the strength to let it show
Elizabeth switched off the CD player. “And on that note, I’m going back to work. Brenda—”
“Caterer, yes, yes,” Brenda started shoving the CDs and notes into her bag and both Robin and Elizabeth watched in horror as all their hard work disappeared into the abyss of Brenda’s tote. “Chill, chicas. I have a system.”
“Dear God,” Robin moaned. She hit her forehead with her palm. “Brenda, just remember—we’re feeding the masses, not Brenda Barrett.”
“Chill out,” Brenda rolled her eyes. “Look, sweetie, I’m all about pining away for the guy—do you remember my post Sonny days when he married Lily?”
Robin snorted. “There’s pining and there’s stalking, Brenda.”
“Details,” Brenda sniffed. “Anyway, it’s been two months since you caught Doc Hot in a tryst with the bottle blonde from hell. Move on, already.” She turned to Elizabeth, “And you—”
Elizabeth arched an eyebrow. “Yes, oh wise one?”
“Lucky is an ass. Go find a hottie in a bar and boink his brains out.” She frowned. “Just not Robin’s hottie, understood?” She stood and tossed her tote over her shoulder. “Now if you don’t mind, I have a charity benefit to finish planning.”
“You know, I’m glad she’s back home,” Robin said after a long moment. “Even if she could take lessons in subtlety.”
“Nah,” Elizabeth finished her soda. “I prefer the bluntness. Too many people never tell the truth anymore.” She eyed Robin warily. “Don’t you have a consult with Patrick scheduled when we get back?”
“Don’t remind me,” Robin pursed her lips. “I’d really rather not think about him if I don’t have to.” She tossed her cup in a nearby trash and stood. “Don’t you have a meeting with Justus after work?”
Elizabeth grimaced. “Don’t remind me. The next time I want to get to married, just smack me.”
“Not a problem.” The duo headed for the parking lot. “So, are you bringing a date next week?”
Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “Oh, definitely. I blackmailed Jason into taking me. I figure he can’t sit around in that penthouse any longer. He’s got to get up and move on with his life. So what if his ex-fiancé went totally all stalker psycho on her birth mother and then left him to rot in jail because he didn’t agree with her?” She slid a sly glance to Robin. “And you, my fellow loser in love?”
“I have a fabulous escort, I must confess,” Robin said breezily. She unlocked her car door. “He’s a perfect gentleman and he’s adorable to boot.”
Elizabeth frowned at her. “Have I met this paragon?”
“Unfortunately yes,” Robin sighed. “Ned’s taking me. How much of a loser am I? You at least get someone who’s…well…” she pursed her lips. “Well, you’re actually right there with me on the loser scale. I’m taking one of my oldest friends and you’re taking one of your oldest friends and I believe we both had to blackmail them into doing that, so…” she stuck her tongue out at Elizabeth.
General Hospital: Fourth Floor Nurse’s Station
“How was the planning lunch?” Emily asked as Elizabeth stepped up at the nurse’s station to scan her patient’s charts.
“It was okay—we settled about on about five more songs, so it’s an improvement.” Elizabeth flashed a smile at her oldest friend. “Brenda’s meeting with the caterer, Robin’s finalizing the Metro Court with Jax later tonight and I’m supposed to meet the party designer there after work.” She reached for a chart only to find that someone else wanted it.
“Sorry,” Elizabeth muttered, releasing the folder like it had scalded her hands. Dr. Patrick Drake sighed heavily.
“How long is the deep freeze going to last?” he asked pointedly. “I didn’t even do anything to you.”
Elizabeth sniffed. “That’s a matter of opinion. I happen to be very loyal to my friends.” She picked up a different folder and walked away.
“She’s not really mad at you,” Emily offered. “Well—that’s probably not true.” She laughed and tucked her hair behind her ears. “The divorce is not going well and she’s just taking it out on you.”
“So everyone who knows Robin is going through a tough time and just taking it out on me?” Patrick asked, resigned. “That’s fine. I probably deserve it.”
Emily snorted. “Probably? More like definitely and absolutely but hey, that’s just my opinion.”
Metro Court: Banquet Hall
“Okay, look, I know what you’re trying to tell me,” Elizabeth said, frustrated. “But bright clashing colors and balloons and streamers is what we’re going for.”
“It’s just unseemly, Mrs. Spencer,” Elton said with a sniff. “It’s garish and unappealing—”
“So was most of the eighties which is the decade we’re shooting for.” Elizabeth tossed Elton’s proposed colors of silver and blue aside and reached for the material book again. “And when it comes down to it, the client gets what they want, remember?”
“It’s the designer’s job to inform them when they’re making a ghastly mistake,” Elton replied. He yanked the book from her grasp. “After all we know better.”
“Hey, if you want me to take my money elsewhere,” Elizabeth said.
“Well, as I understand it, Mrs. Spencer, it’s not your money,” Elton corrected. “It’s Ms. Barrett’s and she has impeccable taste.”
“Oh, I highly doubt that,” Carly drawled from behind her. “Elton, we already went over this remember?”
“What do you mean?” Elizabeth demanded. “What do you have to do with this?”
“Elton brought his concerns to me and while I agree in theory, classy and elegant isn’t the theme,” Carly shrugged. “I remember the eighties and I’ve seen all the movies. It was not a fun time for fashion and matching colors. It was almost as bad as the seventies.” She patted Elton’s shoulder. “Now someone who hopes to have our customers referred to him on a consistent basis should know that the customer is always right.”
“Fine,” Elton sighed. “I will find a way to make this room as garish as necessary.” He gathered up his materials and left the room in a snit.
“Good grief,” Elizabeth muttered. “Thanks for the help—apparently, a divorced nurse’s opinion doesn’t count for much in this town.”
“And apparently a divorced reformed con artist and town tramp’s opinion does,” Carly remarked wryly. “It’s a strange world. Jax called—he had to cancel his meeting with Robin and sent me.”
Elizabeth arched an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
“That’s what I told him. So I knew you were still here and maybe you’d want to play referee so I don’t go for her hair and she doesn’t try to kick me in the knees as midgets are inclined to do.”
“You know, one day, Carly—you and Robin are going to find you have something in common,” Elizabeth replied. “I hope I’m there to see it.”
“We do have something in common—utter loathing for each other.” Carly sat down at the table across from Elizabeth. “So I asked Jason if he was coming—he always supports these AIDS benefits and he told me that you had talked him into it.”
“I needed a date, and he needs to leave that penthouse every once in a while,” Elizabeth replied. “Besides, there’s nothing that’ll piss Lucky off more.” Elizabeth started to shred a piece of paper into pieces. “Not that it’s totally why I asked Jason but it is a nice side benefit.”
“Oh, no I totally agree that Jason needs to start moving on with his life. He’s just been shut in since Sam left him in jail and then took off to—” Carly faked quotes in the air using her hands, “find herself.” She snorted. “And then with the Sonny and Emily implosion —which I totally predicted—he’s not talking to Sonny now.” She exhaled in a huff. “I swear, he just needs one night out where his life doesn’t suck.”
“Don’t we all,” Elizabeth muttered. “I met with Justus about the divorce and can you believe Lucky’s trying to go for custody of Cameron?”
“Men,” Carly sighed. “Can’t live with them and can’t shoot ‘em.” She snorted. “But apparently, they can shoot you.”
GeneralHospital: Fourth Floor Nurse’s Station
Robin stomped up to the desk and slapped a medical chart on the counter, muttering to herself. “Arrogant, self-centered, egotistical…”
“I don’t need a crystal ball to tell me who you’re talking about,” Emily said, with a sympathetic gaze. “The consult went badly?”
“I don’t even know why the parents even bothered with me. They had all but decided on surgery and then Patrick just had to tell them I haven’t had much success with my trials.” Robin huffed. “How am I supposed to get any kind of progress in my research if he never lets me have a patient?”
“Well, you know, we could always do what my mother did with a doctor that pissed her off once. He sued her for sexual harassment, remember?”
“Dr. Dorman,” Robin nodded. “Another man who thought he’s was God’s gift to the female race. I remember that because Jason stopped her. Probably should have let her put a bullet between his eyes.
“Yeah, well he was a worthless human being. I’m not advocating the killing part of it, but I wouldn’t mind shoving Patrick Drake into a supply closet and leaving him there to starve for a few days,” Emily said.
“There’s an idea I could get behind,” Robin sighed, “Unfortunately, I have to go meet Jax about the benefit—”
“Oh, he called and left a message. He had to cancel and you’ll have to meet with Carly,” Emily said, braced for Robin’s reaction.
“Yep, that’s just the way the day’s been going,” Robin muttered. She finished making her notes and shoved the chart away. “I’m going to go get changed,” she told Emily and turned away—smacking into the object of her annoyance. “Watch where you’re going,” she snarled.
Patrick steadied her on her feet before taking a step back. “I’m sorry if you’re pissed because I told the kid’s parents the truth but they deserve to know all the options.”
“No, you mean that you just wanted to slice his head open and the only way to make sure to do that is to badmouth my research every time we have a consult,” Robin retorted. “That’s fine—because the only place where you’re actually as good as you think you are is in the operating room.” She stalked away.
“Hey, she complimented you,” Emily said, a little surprised. “That’s new.”
“Only Robin Scorpio could compliment someone while telling them exactly what she thinks of them.” Patrick rubbed his eyes. “Does she hold grudges for a long time?”
“Have you seen Robin with Carly?” Emily asked seriously.
“So the answer would be yes.” Patrick grimaced. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
Metro Court: Ball Room
I never meant to be so bad to you
One thing I said that I would never do
“I’m going,” Jason said immediately after entering the garishly decorated room. He made a face and started to turn.
“Hey, hey, remember the part about my complete and utter humiliation as the dumped divorcee?” Elizabeth demanded, catching his arm. “We made a deal.”
“And what do I get in return for this?” Jason sighed, allowing himself to be led towards one of the front tables.
“My undying devotion,” Elizabeth replied perkily. She grinned up at him and Jason reluctantly decided inwardly that if his being here was going to make her smile like that, then he would stay until the bitter end or die trying.
Unfortunately, he was pretty sure it was going to be the latter.
One look from you and I would fall from grace
And that would wipe this smile right from my face
“She actually managed to drag Jason here,” Ned Ashton remarked, highly impressed. Robin smiled brightly and started to lead him to the same table.
“There is very little that man won’t do for her. If I still believed in fairy tales and happily ever after, I’d think they were in love.” She scowled at seeing Patrick enter the ballroom solo. “Luckily, I know that’s all a load of crap.”
“Ah, there’s my sweet and sentimental Robin.”
Do you remember when we used to dance And incidence arose from circumstance
“My girls!” Brenda proclaimed as they all reached the table. “My fabulous chicas! We did such an amazing job, didn’t we?” She rounded the table and hugged an irritated Jason. “How’s my favorite ex-husband?”
“Considering I’m the only legal one you have, I’ll take that for what it’s worth,” Jason said dryly. Brenda pinched him. “Ow! Hey!”
Elizabeth flicked Brenda in her bare upper arm. “Hey! What did I tell you about bugging Jason tonight?”
“To make sure to do it out of your sight?” Brenda asked innocently.
“Right,” Elizabeth nodded.
“Duly noted. Let’s get this party rolling!” Brenda grabbed the other two women by the arms and all but dragged them to the stage erected at the front of the room. She made a motion to the DJ to cut the music. “Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the best eighties bash ever held in Port Charles!”
There was smattering of applause and several catcalls as Brenda twirled in a circle, showing off her skimpy silver grown. “Before we get this party started, we need to be serious for a moment and remember why we’re here.”
She cleared her throat and smiled at Robin before turning her attention back to the crowd. “Ten years ago last November, we lost a very special person. Most of you knew him and I’m sure you would all agree—he would have had a blast tonight. Stone Cates meant a lot to all of us, and tonight, we honor him with the first benefit held by the Stone Cates Foundation. To explain a bit more about this organization, I’d like to introduce its founder and one of my fabulous co-hostesses, Robin Scorpio.” Brenda handed the microphone to her friend and stepped back next to Elizabeth.
“Before I talk about the Foundation, I want to thank Brenda and Elizabeth Webber for all their help and support in getting tonight ready. I couldn’t have done it without you guys,” Robin remarked. “Stone Cates died due to complications of the AIDs virus. In the ten years since his death, we’ve raised so much money right here in Port Charles for research and we have one of the country’s most prestigious outpatient care facilities at Genera lHospital, donated by Sonny Corinthos. We’ve come a long way and prolonged so many lives, including my own. If not for the research that led to development of the cocktail I currently take, my HIV might have developed into AIDs years ago and I might not be here today.”
“Unfortunately, there is still no cure in sight and until that day, we have to continue the fight, both here and around the world. So in memory of Stone, I ask you to donate all that you can, even if it’s just a few dollars. Every bit helps.” She handed the microphone to Elizabeth.
“Before I hand the reins back to Brenda, we wanted to take a moment to single out some of the donations we have already received.” She held up a paper. “First and foremost, a million dollars has been donated from each Sonny Corinthos, Jason Morgan and Jasper Jacks. Due to the generosity of Jasper Jacks and Carly Corinthos, the use of the MetroCourt was given to the foundation tonight free of charge and the Quartermaine family has graciously underwritten the rest of tonight’s expenses.” She paused for a moment. “Nikolas Cassadine has pledged three hundred thousand dollars, Michael and Morgan Corinthos have each donated what I’m told is their entire life savings—three hundred dollars.” Elizabeth smiled. “And Cameron Webber, with the help of Audrey Hardy, has donated fifty dollars he was saving for a Chuggin’ Charlie train.” She flicked her eyes to Patrick. “And fifty thousand dollars from Dr. Patrick Drake.”
“Let’s hear a round of applause for the generous donations so far,” Brenda called, clapping her hands. “Port Charles has the best citizens—with the exception of Carly.”
“Hey!” came the outraged cry from the back the room.
“I’m kidding!” Brenda grinned. “Mostly.” She threw her hands up. “Let’s party! Play some music!”
If you see a faded sign by the side of the road that says 15 miles to the… Love Shack! Love Shack yeah
“Thanks, Jason,” Robin said. “That was a very generous donation.”
“No problem,” Jason replied. He eyed the people on the dance floor warily before looking at Elizabeth. “You’re not going to make me dance are you?”
“Make you do something you despise?” Elizabeth sniffed. “As if I would ever do that!”
“I think it would be great to see Jason dance to the Love Shack!” Brenda declared. She wiggled her hips. “Love Shack, baby!”
“Please, I beg you,” Ned winced. “Don’t sing.”
“I have an amazingly melodic voice!” Brenda said, scandalized.
“If the definition of melodic is nails on a chalk board,” Jason muttered. Ned broke into laughter.
“That’s exactly what it sounds like!”
“I’m going to go where I’m appreciated,” Brenda flounced off to flirt with Jax and drive Carly insane.
“Sometimes I’m almost sure I missed her,” Ned remarked.
“And then she opens her mouth,” Jason finished.
“If you’re going to keep badmouthing Brenda, I’m going to go flirt with some cute doctor,” Elizabeth warned her date.
“I’d hate to break his legs,” Jason replied simply. “But if it comes to that—”
“Come on, Ned,” Robin tugged her old friend to his feet. “Let’s go show all these people why the women used to throw their underwear at you.”
Hop in my Chrysler,
It’s as big as a whale And it’s about to set sail!
“She’s only flirting with him to make me jealous,” Patrick told Emily confidently. Emily raised her eyebrow.
“Yeah, okay, Captain Delusional,” she rolled her eyes. “Do you think you can pay attention to me? Remember? Your date?”
“I remember. I also remember that you keep making googly eyes at the Cassadine over there so don’t be a hypocrite,” Patrick replied.
“Jerk,” Emily muttered. “I was not making googly eyes.”
“You so were.” Patrick narrowed his eyes when Ned wrapped one hand around Robin’s waist and started to twirl her. “Show off.”
“I thought you didn’t do jealous,” Emily teased.
“I’m not jealous,” Patrick denied. “I’m…perturbed.”
“Uh huh.”
“I never get jealous.”
“Right.”
“Jealous is for guys who haven’t been given the deep freeze.”
“I’m not arguing.”
Love Shack, baby Love Shack! Love Shack, baby Love Shack!
As the song transitioned into the next one, Brenda abandoned Jax to saunter over to Jason and Elizabeth. “You are too young to be a wallflower,” she told the younger woman as she took Elizabeth’s hand and all but dragged her to the dance floor.
Some boys take a beautiful girl And hide her away from the rest of the world
Elizabeth rolled her eyes but Brenda’s enthusiasm was contagious as she shimmied and sang the words in her incredibly off-key voice. “Come on!” she declared, snagging Robin as she and Ned tried to sneak past Elizabeth and Brenda.
“I want to be the one to walk in the sun!” Brenda wailed as she twirled Robin.
Oh girls, they wanna have fun Oh girls just wanna have That’s all they really want
Ned was still laughing as he found Jason grimacing back at his table. “It’s nice to see Robin smiling and laughing,” he told his cousin. “And Elizabeth, too. Emily told me she’s been down since she left Lucky.”
“Yeah,” Jason said as he watched the trio of women dancing and singing to one another. “Nothing is ever boring when Brenda is involved.”
Some fun When the working day is done Oh girls, they wanna have fun
Robin was still laughing as the song ended and Nikolas caught her hand before she could leave the dance floor.
“Have some time for an old friend?” he asked as he pulled into a dance.
“I haven’t seen you around lately,” she said with a smile. “I’m glad to see you getting back into the swing of things.”
“Having Spencer helps,” Nikolas told her. “Thanks for convincing Jax to tell me.” He grimaced, catching the blond Australian heading back towards Carly. “Who knows how long he would have kept that secret.”
We’ve known each other for so long Your heart’s been aching but you’re too shy to say it
“Why does he have to hold her so close?” Patrick muttered as he finished his drink. Sitting next to him, Emily folded her arms and rolled her eyes.
“Patrick.”
“What?” he asked after she repeated his name. “What?”
“Why exactly did you and Robin break up if she’s all you can think about?”
Patrick scowled and glared at his date. “She is not all I can think about.”
“Sure, because that’s why we’re currently sitting here while you glare at every dance partner.” Emily got to her feet. “Listen, when you graduate high school and can admit you like a girl a lot, maybe we can be friends. But I really don’t have time for this.”
She stalked off.
Inside we both know what’s been going on We know the game and we’re gonna play it I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Elizabeth sighed and put her head on her chin as she watched her best friend storm out of the ballroom. “How much longer do you think you and Emily are going to be fighting?”
“We’re not fighting,” Jason said, almost defensively. “She doesn’t talk to me.”
“I’m glad you took a stand against that Sonny crap,” Ned declared. “So was Grandfather.” He got up and went to go annoy Alexis across the room where she stood with Ric.
Elizabeth snickered as Jason glared at her. “It’s nice to see you agreeing with the Quartermaines. Next thing you know, you’ll be throwing chicken wings at their annual Fourth of July food fight.”
Gotta make you understand Never gonna give you up
Jason arched a brow at her. “You think that’s funny?”
“I think it’s hysterical.” Even as her lips continued to twitch, she swallowed a giggle. “Seriously. She and Sonny have broken up. You were right. He broke her heart. Would it kill you to offer the olive branch? You know Emily never will.”
“She doesn’t want to hear from me,” Jason muttered as he looked down at the table. Elizabeth reached over to touch his hand.
Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you
“She does, but she’ll never admit it—” Elizabeth blinked as she watched Patrick stalk across the dance floor towards Robin and Nikolas. “Oh…that’s not good.”
Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
“I’ll take the next dance, Cassadine. Thanks,” Patrick said as he smoothly cut between the friends, took Robin’s hand and tugged her away from the prince.
Robin scowled up at him. “You know, it’s the twenty-first century, Gronk. You could have asked.”
I believe it’s meant to be, darling
I watch you when you are sleeping
“You would have said no.”
“Oh, so that makes it okay?”
“See, this is why we broke up. You have to argue with every little thing I say—”
You belong with me Do you feel the same?
“I thought we broke up because I was getting too attached,” Robin snarled. She shoved him back and stormed out. “Isn’t that what you said after I found you feeling up that nurse?”
“Second woman in ten minutes,” his father quipped as he twirled Bobbie Spencer past him. “You’re losing your touch.”
Patrick all but growled at his father as he chased after Robin.
Am I only dreaming Or is this burning an eternal flame?
Jason set down another soda for Elizabeth, then sat in a different seat than he had before he’d gone over to the bar. Elizabeth smiled at him.
“You know, I saw Lucky and Maxie when they came in. You don’t have to block my view of them,” she told him as she gestured at her ex-husband and the woman he’d left her for. They were intertwined on the dance floor, with her stepfather and his sister glaring at them.
“I just didn’t want anything to ruin your night,” Jason told her. “You worked too hard on this.”
Close your eyes, give me your hand, darling
“First of all,” Patrick declared as he caught up to Robin outside of the ballroom. He took her elbow and spun her around to face him. “I wasn’t feeling up the nurse. I was talking to her.”
“You were doing that thing your eyes!” Robin retorted, jabbing her finger in his face. “You were looking at her.”
“Because she was in front of me! How else am I supposed to interact with the human race?” He threw his hands up. “You were so ready for me to cheat on you, you decided looking at another woman was enough!”
Do you feel my heart beating Do you understand?
“Well—” Robin huffed. “That’s just…It’s not true. If you weren’t sleeping with her, you would have—”
Patrick forced himself to take a deep breath. “I get that you’ve been hurt before. I get that your father turned out to be an idiot, that your first love died, and Jason was also a dick—”
“That has nothing to do with it!”
Do you feel the same Am I only dreaming Is this burning an eternal flame?
“We’ve separated four months ago,” Elizabeth said with a shrug of her shoulder. “Our divorce is finalized. It turns out…for once…it was really easy to let go of Lucky Spencer.” She smiled at him. “He can’t ruin my night. Not anymore.”
She held out her hand. “Dance with me.”
Jason sighed, but took her hand and allowed her to lead him onto the dance floor—far away from Lucky and Maxie.
Close your eyes, give me your hand, darling
“The way I see it, Robin, we could either make each other’s lives miserable the way we have for the last few weeks,” Patrick told her, “or we could knock it off and just—” He shook his head. “Stop running away.”
Robin’s heart pounded as she shook her head. “I’m not running away—”
“You were literally running away five minutes ago. I care about you, Robin. I’ve missed you. If you don’t feel the same—”
When she just stared up at him, his shoulders slumped. “I get it. Fine. I’ll see you around—”
She grabbed his arm to stop him from going back into the ballroom, fisted her hand in his white dress shirt, and tugged him down to kiss him.
Do you feel my heart beating Do you understand? Do you feel the same
“Thank you for coming with me tonight,” Elizabeth said looking up at Jason. “Even if I did have to blackmail you.”
“Do you think I’d really be here if I didn’t want to be?” he asked her, with that old sweet look in his eyes. She grinned.
Am I only dreaming, ah
“No. But it was nice of you to let me think I could make you do something.” She smoothed her hand down the lapel of his suit jacket. “If only you’d agreed to the lime-green blazer.”
“I have my limits.”
“There’s always next year,” she threatened, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “I’ll figure out how to get you to dress for the theme. Did I mention Brenda’s already planning it?” She giggled as he grimaced, but neither of them remarked on her assumption they’d be attending next year together.
Is this burning an eternal flame? Close your eyes, give me your hand, darling
“Thank you, Port Charles!” Brenda declared several hours later as she stood in the center of the stage solo. She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at her co-hostesses who remained in the audience. “It’s always nice when we can get together without explosions or mayhem!”
“Night’s still young!” Lulu Spencer called out.
“Haha. Very funny. Thanks for your generosity and we’ll see you back next year!” She turned to their DJ. “Play one more for the road!”
Because I’ve had the time of my life
No, I never felt this way before
Yes I swear it’s the truth
And I owe it all to you
Sonny Corinthos didn’t pull his hand back, merely left it hanging and when he didn’t answer, Sam slid her hand into his and allowed him to pull her to her feet. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Mike called,” Sonny replied. “Mentioned you might need a ride somewhere.” He scratched his chin. “I hear you got yourself into a spot of trouble.”
Sam chuckled bitterly. “Don’t be nice to me. You don’t mean it. I blew up my life and now you’re here to pick up the pieces.” She narrowed her eyes. “Why, exactly, are you going to the trouble?”
“Because of our daughter,” Sonny said bluntly. “I will watch out for you, I will worry about you for the sake of our daughter. But don’t for one second think that I’m taking your side in this. Jason didn’t deserve this, Sam.”
“We don’t deserve a lot of things that happen to us,” Sam said caustically. “Doesn’t stop them from happening all the same.” She stepped away from him. “I don’t need you. I don’t need Jason, I don’t need anyone to fix this.”
“That’s usually what Carly says right before she makes things worse,” Sonny warned.
“I’m not Carly,” Sam retorted. “I’m not your selfish and insane ex-wife, I’m not your perfect saintly sister, I’m not pretty porcelain Emily and I’m sure as hell not damsel in distress Elizabeth. I’m me.” She flattened her hand against her chest. “I’m wrong side of the tracks, white trash, con artist Sam. And I’m so sick and tired of pretending to be otherwise. So, yeah, I blew up my life, but maybe my life was just a fucking wasteland, Sonny.”
“You and Jason loved each other–”
“Jason loved the person I was trying to be,” Sam interrupted. “And I don’t like that person. That person had no life. Had no ambition, no life separate from Jason. And it was fine for the first year because it was nice to feel loved and wanted but I woke up one day and I realized that I didn’t know who that was in the mirror. My life revolves around Jason, and that makes me sick. And he didn’t even realize that I wasn’t real. So what the hell was this grand love all about?”
“Sam–”
“And as for your saintly pity and concern,” Sam spat, “you can shove it because I don’t need you feeling sorry for me for the sake of a daughter you couldn’t give a shit about. You didn’t even bother to name her before you shoved her into the ground. You told the doctors not to bother.” She shoved him. “So get the hell out of my life and stay out. From now on, I’m on my own.”
“I don’t believe for that one for one second,” Patrick shook his head.
“Oh, it’s so true. I was thisclose to being the Face of Deception,” Elizabeth said earnestly. “But I decided I didn’t want to be a model and finally Lucky accepted the decision so Gia was chosen.” She wrinkled her nose. “Is it so hard to believe I could be a model?”
“That’s not a trap or anything,” he replied. “I remember when Brenda Barrett was the Face,” he said, fondly. “I had her picture in my locker for nearly a year in high school.”
Elizabeth snorted. “Don’t tell Robin that, that’s her best friend.”
Patrick straightened. “Are you kidding? Robin’s Brenda is the Brenda Barrett?” his face lit up. “Well, clearly, we’re going to have to go visit her in Italy.”
Elizabeth whacked him in the arm. “Pervert.” She narrowed her eyes. “So, what, I’m not model material?”
“Oh, you are definitely pretty enough to be a model,” Patrick said quickly. “But you don’t have the personality.” He shook his head. “You’re happier having dinner at home with your kid.”
“Hmm…nice save.” Elizabeth studied him for a moment. “Okay, well that was my closest brush with fame. And it’s my turn to ask a question. Were you ever in love before Robin?”
“That’s not sneaky or anything,” Patrick grumbled. “Without admitting anything, no. I was never in love before. You?”
“Before Lucky, no,” Elizabeth shook her head. “But I’ve been in love twice before I married him. Lucky was in a fire and we thought he was dead, so Jason and I became close–”
“What is with all the women in this town and Jason freaking Morgan?” Patrick muttered. “Robin moves heaven and earth to save his life, Carly offers to sleep with me if I’ll perform the surgery, you dated him–”
“Carly will offer to sleep with a dog if she thinks there’s something in it for her,” Elizabeth said dryly. “And Jason is a wonderful person. You just don’t like to share the spotlight. Anyway, Jason and I were close but he left town and Lucky came home. When Jason came back, things were complicated but there was definitely something there. And I don’t think it was until he came home the last time that I realized that I had been in love with him since I was eighteen.” She sighed. “But our timing was never right so that fell apart. And then there was Ric, my first–and my second husband. I loved him but I never knew him, not really.”
“Three great loves,” Patrick remarked. “So much for the theory that there’s one person for all of us.”
“I still believe there is,” Elizabeth said. “I just don’t think I’m ever going to end up with him.” She sighed and tilted her head up to the stars. “Thank you for staying, Patrick. You really got my mind off things.” She paused. “But I think I’m ready to go now.”
“Great.” Patrick got to his feet. “So Brownstone? So I can take you to Robin and Bobbie?”
“No, I think I’d rather be alone,” Elizabeth replied honestly. “Seriously, I appreciate the effort and I will be sure to tell Robin that she’s got a very sweet boyfriend–”
“We’re not really into labels,” Patrick said uncomfortably.
“–but I’m just going to go and see my son at my grandmother’s.”
“Fine,” Patrick nodded. “I’ll walk you there.”
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “I can make it on my own.”
“I’ll just walk behind you if want you, but I’m not letting you walk around Port Charles by yourself at this time of night.” He shook his head. “Not going to happen.”
“Listen, if I wanted someone to be in charge of my life, I never would have moved out of my grandmother’s house,” Elizabeth said hotly. “I don’t need to be told where I can go and who I can go with.”
“Miss Webber, thank God!”
Elizabeth and Patrick turned to find Max Giambetti at the top of the stairs. “You would not believe how many places I have looked for you tonight,” he began.
Elizabeth frowned. “And why are you looking for me?” she asked curiously.
“Because Jason sent me to look for you–he’s got a few guys combing the city for you. I’m under orders to bring you back to the penthouse,” Max told her, joining them.
“Well, don’t worry, I’ve got it covered,” Patrick said arrogantly. “You can tell your boss I’m looking after her.”
“You are not,” Elizabeth said, irritated. “Max, I appreciate it–”
“If you’ll just come with me, Miss Webber, you can tell Jason to leave you alone but I got my orders–”
“I don’t give a damn about your orders,” Patrick stepped in front of Elizabeth. “I’ve got it under control and I’ll make sure she gets home safely–”
“And you were too sissy to do anything but throw a pool ball in bar fight,” Max remarked sardonically. “How you gonna protect Miss Webber if you’re not willing to get your hands dirty?”
“Hey, I was not injuring my hands over Emily Quartermaine,” Patrick retorted. “These hands are worth more than eight of you–”
“Exactly my point. You can see why I’m not leaving Miss Webber with a pansy ass neurosurgeon,” Max returned. “Now if you’ll just come with me–” he glanced around. “Miss Webber?”
Patrick frowned and turned to where he’d last seen Elizabeth. She was gone. “Elizabeth?” he called.
“Great, you lost her,” Max said disgustedly. “I just spent four hours looking for her and now I have to find her again.”
“I lost her?” Patrick repeated, offended. “Hey, buddy, she wasn’t running away from me until you showed up. This is clearly your fault!”
Elizabeth blinked at Patrick. The wave of confusion filtering through her brain was the first emotion she’d allowed herself to feel in hours. She tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips. “Why?”
The doctor grinned and stepped closer. “You want the ulterior motive or the selfless one?”
She narrowed her eyes. “I’ve had about all I can take of men and their lying tonight so why don’t you give me the ulterior motive?”
Patrick sighed. “Okay, so Robin and Bobbie wanted to check on you. They couldn’t find you, I figured if I could deliver you to Robin, she might not be so damn mad at me.”
Elizabeth folded her arms underneath her breasts and scowled at him. “What’d you do to her? Cheat on her?”
He hesitated. “No. But she thinks I did—look, it’s not important. So let me just take you back to the Brownstone–that’s where they’re waiting. I’ll take you back, you’ll do the girl thing with the ice cream and creating voodoo dolls, and I’ll have myself back in Robin’s good graces. Everybody wins.”
“Maybe if you men kept your pants on, you wouldn’t have to worry about it,” Elizabeth retorted. “Is sex really that important? I mean, is it really worth destroying everything you’ve built? Blowing your life out of the water? Making your children’s lives miserable?”
Uncomfortable, Patrick slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks and rocked back and forth on his feet. Clearly, she wasn’t going to go without a fight. Tracking her down had made a lot more sense an hour ago. “Well, it’s important but I don’t see the point in cheating,” he said after a moment. “Which is why I don’t make commitments so I can avoid hurting people like you’re hurting now.”
“Right,” Elizabeth drawled sarcastically. “It’s so much better for Robin to think you’d rather be with a lot of women and that you enjoy rolling from her bed to another woman’s. That’s so much more compassionate of you.”
“Hey, how did I become the villain here?” he demanded, a little put out. “I came looking for you out of the goodness of my heart–”
“You came looking for me because you wanted to further your own agenda,” Elizabeth shot back. “Don’t delude yourself. You men are all alike–”
“Hey, just because you’re pissed at Lucky–and rightfully so because he’s an ass–it doesn’t mean you get to dump all over me,” Patrick interrupted. “Ulterior motive be damned, I don’t see anyone else standing here.”
Suddenly tired, Elizabeth slumped on a park bench. “That’s because there is no one else. Nikolas is Lucky’s brother, Emily was Lucky’s best friend long before she was mine and I bet anyone else gave up the search a long time ago.” She shook her head. “Thank you for the attempt, as lame as it is.”
Still a little chagrined, Patrick jerked a shoulder. “Whatever. And for the record, it’s not my fault Carly decided to list all her past deeds in an effort to make Sam look even worse. And there was barely any attempt to seduce me so really, I don’t know what Robin’s all put out about.”
“Maybe because Carly almost single handedly destroyed Robin’s life the last time she lived in town.” Elizabeth frowned. “What did Carly do tonight?”
“She laid into Sam, and then Sam tried to turn it around on her. It would have been more amusing if she’d left me out of it.” He held out a hand. “Come on, I’ll take you back to Bobbie’s, so you can curse men around people who’ll appreciate it.”
“I’d rather not be around people right now, if it’s all the same to you.” She hesitated. “However, I will be sure to tell Robin that you very nicely came after me and that she’s lucky to be sleeping with the one jackass in town that’s not completely worthless–”
She stopped talking when Patrick sat down next to her and stretched out his legs, clearly settling in. “Can I help you?”
“Nope, I’m fine. I’m just staving off the hitting that’ll come from both Bobbie and Robin if I left you in the park after dark. So you just sit there with your thoughts, I’ll sit here with mine and then I’ll walk you wherever you want to go.”
Elizabeth stared at him for a long moment before turning her attention back to the fountain. She’d walked all over Port Charles that evening but had found herself back here–a place that she had rarely visited in the nine years since the rape. “Don’t you have a hot date tonight?”
“I would have if Carly hadn’t chased her away,” Patrick scowled. “Though I don’t know how many hot dates start as double dates with one’s father.” He paused thoughtfully. “I blame Robin for this you know.”
“For what?”
“A year ago, I could have ignored the entire situation, even if it had happened to someone I knew. And I’d be out, trying to pick someone up.” Patrick shifted. “Thanks to Robin, I’m sitting in the middle of the park, being verbally abused by someone who has hit me with a chart every time I’ve tried to pick her up. Thanks to her, my dinner dates are at a diner with my father and thanks to her, I’ve haven’t slept with anyone else since December.” He scowled. “So I blame Robin for this.”
“Yes, feel free to blame Robin for teaching you about compassion, kindness and the value of being selective with one’s partners. Oh and for giving you back your father. Clearly, she’s a menace to society and must be stopped,” Elizabeth said dryly.
“You’re not kidding,” Patrick grumbled.
There was a long silence before she spoke again. “Thank you,” she said softly. “For not walking away. People usually find it easy to walk away from me. Or to let me go. So thank you.”
Highly uncomfortable now, Patrick shrugged. “I’m only doing this to get Robin to not be irritated with me. It has nothing to do with you.”
Not convinced, Elizabeth smiled faintly. “Of course not. You just go out of your way for all of Robin’s friends. It’s nice that she’s important to you.”
“That’s not–I never–” he glared at her. “You’re a pain.”
She patted his arm. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”
She’d been crying for hours, or maybe it had been minutes. It was all bleeding together into one long miserable nightmare. She had sabotaged the best thing that had ever happened to her for an affair with someone who had run after his wife. Lucky didn’t love her–Sam didn’t delude herself about that, and if Jason had ever felt anything other obligation for her (she was not convinced he’d ever really loved her but she didn’t really know what love felt like so maybe he had) it was gone now, replaced with disgust and hatred.
But Jason could never hate her as much as Sam hated herself.
A hand appeared in front of her face and Sam looked up, blinking through her tears. “What do you want?” she demanded.
Samantha McCall knew panic. She knew what it was to taste it, to feel it in her bones, for it to choke at her throat and black out everything in sight. She knew panic, she knew desperation–she had been here before.
But it was keener this time, its edge sharper and dug more deeply into her flesh. She grabbed at the sides of his leather jacket, desperate to keep him from leaving her, from turning his back and walking away but at the same time, knowing it was inevitable.
“I can explain,” Sam assured him. “There’s an explanation and it’s a good one, you just–you–”
Jason Morgan reached up and pried her fingers from his jacket. He released the slender digits as though the very touch offended him, as if he’d touched scalding water. “I don’t have to do anything,” he said coldly. His stony gaze flickered around the dining room–to the eyes of those who pretended they weren’t watching, weren’t hanging on every single word. He looked to the sympathetic eyes of his best friend and the confused eyes of her son.
He never met Sam’s eyes.
“Don’t be at the penthouse after tonight,” Jason said. “I don’t care where you go, but I want you out.”
“Jason–” Sam reached for him but he was already slipping away from her. Stepping back, stepping towards the double doors of the diner. Walking away from her, from their future and their life together. He was walking away, turning his back and he’d never turn to her again unless she stopped him. “Jason, please–”
“You make me sick,” Carly Corinthos muttered. She stepped forward and grabbed Sam’s arm to keep her from running after him. “You’ve wrecked one marriage tonight and broke Jason’s heart. Aren’t you finished yet?”
Sam yanked her arm from Carly’s grasp. “You have room to speak,” she spat. “How many marriages have you destroyed? How many lives lay in your wake, how many hearts have you smashed?” She waved her arms at those standing around them. “How many of those people are in this room?”
Carly smirked. “Michael, go in the back with your grandfather.”
“But, Mom–”
“Now!” Carly ordered. After Michael had huffed and stalked into the back room, Carly put a hand on her hip and pointed to a table in the back of the room where her mother was sitting with Noah Drake, his son and Robin Scorpio “I think there’s only two here tonight. There’s my mother–whose husband I seduced and there’s Robin. I seduced her boyfriend, ran her out of town and then tried to seduce her newboy toy.”
She paused and thought for a moment. “Jason–he just left–but I destroyed his life more than once. Sonny’s not here but I turned him into the Feds once.” She paused. “Well, twice, but the first time was an accident. We can’t forget AJ–I drugged him and then lied to him for months about the paternity of his son.” Carly arched an eyebrow. “If you were trying to make me feel guilty or ashamed, Sam, it didn’t work. You know why?”
She didn’t wait for an answer, only took another step closer to the brunette. “Because I have never tried to pretend that I am anything less than I who I am. I’m not the con artist who came to town, got pregnant and then decided I was the Virgin Freaking Mary. You’ve pretended that your shit doesn’t stink since the second you latched on to Jason but we both know who you are and where you come from.”
Carly leaned closer and put her lips next to Sam’s ear. “We’re the same, you and I. But you know what sets us apart? I accept myself. I know who I am and I don’t care. You’re ashamed to be in your own skin and you’re just going to keep destroying your life until you learn to accept that you came from trash and part of you will always be trash.”
She stepped back and yanked her coat from the back of the chair. “You know, Jason’s going to need comfort, someone who understands him and has never let him down.”
“And I suppose that’s you,” Sam said caustically.
“No.” Carly tilted her head to the side, her hair cascading over one shoulder. An unholy glimmer of amusement slid into her eyes. “But you know, Elizabeth and Jason have been friends for a very long time. And right now, she’s probably feeling as shell shocked and heartbroken as he is. It wouldn’t surprise me if the lovely Mrs. Spencer found him on her doorstep.” Her smile widened then. “You know, just to check on her.”
“You don’t even like Elizabeth,” Sam retorted.
“No, but I like her a hell of lot more than you right now.” With taking her eyes from Sam, Carly raised her voice. “Michael, we’re going.”
Michael, whom Mike hadn’t been able to keep from eavesdropping ran out from the back and looked at his mother questioning. “Mom, what’s seduced mean?”
“Adult word, I’ll tell you when you’re older.” Carly gripped his shoulder and led him from the diner.
Sam stood alone in the middle of the diner for another long moment, feeling the stares of all those present. Humiliation began to sink in. Her face flushed and her hands shook. But Sam did not run, she didn’t flee. She turned on her heel and stalked out of the diner, keeping her composure until she was out of the courtyard and in the parking lot. And then she sank to her knees and began to cry.
Inside, Jesse Beaudry sat back in his chair and grinned at his girlfriend. “Man, I love living here. That kind of stuff happens every week.” She scowled at him and kicked him under the table.
“That’s your partner that just cheated on his wife that that hussy,” Maxie Jones huffed. “You should go after him and kick his ass, aren’t you supposed to be his friend?”
“I don’t really think Lucky wants to see anyone right now–” Jesse began but the glare from her silenced him. “Okay, okay, I’m going.”
Robin tossed her napkin on the table and turned a fulminating glare at the man seated next to her. “Carly tried to seduce you, huh?” she demanded. “When?”
“I don’t think that’s really all that important,” Patrick Drake began carefully. “What’s important is that you should, ah–” he looked to his father for help but Noah just held up his hands as if to say you’re on your own, son. “I bet Liz could use an ear right now,” he said in a lame attempt to deflect attention from him.
“I’ll go check on her,” Bobbie practically leapt from her seat in an attempt to escape the situation. Robin glared again at Patrick before grabbing her purse and getting to her feet.
“This isn’t over,” she warned him before following the redhead out of the diner. Patrick slumped his chair and glared at his father.
“Thank you so much for all the help, you lousy bastard.”
Jason waited by her apartment door for nearly an hour before realizing that Elizabeth didn’t intend on returning. He put the word out on the streets that he was looking for her and even pried Max away from Sonny and ordered him to find her.
To concentrate on Elizabeth and her well-being focused him, kept him from remembering the slicing pain that had ripped through him when Elizabeth had barreled past his table, followed by her half-dressed husband and Sam, buttoning her shirt rapidly.
He hadn’t needed a second look, hadn’t needed to consider that the scene was anything but what it was. He’d let himself feel it, and then he’d shut down. It was easier to worry about Elizabeth, she was the one who had walked in, had found them, had had the betrayal shoved in her face.
It had happened this way once before for her, four years ago. She walked into a room–he wondered briefly it was the same room–to find Lucky with someone else. She’d fled the scene, had found him and he’d been there for her.
He wanted to be there for her again and maybe she’d be able to tell him how you lived with that image in your brain. Because somehow, this was worse than Sonny and Carly. He knew now that he hadn’t loved Carly, not really. But he’d loved Sam. Planned a life with her.
He wondered if Elizabeth could tell him how to forgive the unforgivable.
She’d walked the street of Port Charles for hours–Elizabeth had had every intention on going home and packing before picking Cameron up at Emily’s and then going to her grandmother’s. But every time she tried to turn her feet in that direction, they’d disobeyed and gone the opposite way.
She wasn’t yet ready to go home.
Footsteps bled out from the darkness behind her and Elizabeth whirled around, planting herself against the side of the business, still edgy from being at the fountain. “Who’s there?” she demanded shrilly.
A familiar figure came into view. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” he said.
So, I guess in 2006 I decided to go with a recent trend and start a story where I would write a part, offer two choices on how the next part could go, people would comment, and I’d write the next part with that input. For whatever reason, I stopped after Part Four.
I’m cleaning out my writing folders, making sure that everything that needs to be on my site is there, and I found this. I actually don’t hate it, so I thought I’d post the first four parts and see if I can make this happen again.
So at the end of Part 4, I’ll offer a series of questions. You guys answer them, offer some suggestions. I’ll write the one that seems the most fun 😛 Make it difficult for me, people. I get bored easily.
So, this is set in 2006. Sam wasn’t shot, Lucky’s not on drugs. Jesse’s not dead, so Maxie is less skanky.
Part One
There is a theory that in every life, there is a turning point. That one decision puts your life on entirely different path than it would have been if you’d made another choice.
There is not one person in the history of the world that has not looked at their life and felt that if they had just done that one thing differently, everything that came after that would be all right.
For Elizabeth Webber Spencer, that moment felt as though it had come a thousand times. The night she decided to hop on a plane and fly to Port Charles. The night she walked through a park instead of going to a school dance. The night her first love died in a fire. The morning she walked through the snow and found her friend bleeding to death. The day she decided not to marry her first love. The day she found out she was pregnant for the first time. The moment she found out she had lost her child. The moment she held her son. The moment she looked into her first love’s eyes and saw a future once again.
All were defining moments in her life but none of those was the quintessential turning moment. Her turning moment–one that would abruptly separate her life into a before and after was the moment she opened a door.
It was a door that she had passed through a thousand times in her nine years of living in Port Charles, in the six years that she had worked in Kelly’s and in the two that she had lived here. It was a door that matched the other four on the floor above the diner. It was a door that led to a room that she had once slept in, lived in and shared moments with her now-husband in.
She opened the door and everything she knew to be true was found false in that moment as she relived a nightmare that she thought was four years in her past.
She opened the door and would have thought she’d stepped back in time except the woman clutching a sheet to her bare breasts was a brunette and not blonde. The woman with the wide eyes and startled gasp was not her sister, but the fiancée of her best friend’s brother.
And the man in the bed with the guilty eyes was not her sort-of boyfriend who no longer remembered their love. The man with the apologies spilling from his lips was not the sweet first love of her youth, but the husband that she had stood before God, family, and friends and pledged her eternal devotion.
Elizabeth Webber Spencer would always remember that before she opened the door, she had the perfect life of a wife, mother and nurse and that afterwards, she was still all of those things but the perfection had been shattered and she wondered if it had ever existed at all.
“I’m so sorry,” Elizabeth murmured. She stepped back and calmly shut the door before hurrying down the hallway. She could hear shouts and some thuds from the room but still she fled.
Her steps quickened as she heard the door open and he called out her name. She clattered down the steps and flew into the kitchen, her breathing as fast as her pace. The further away from that room, the more her breathing hitched, the more the tears burned behind her eyes.
In the dining room of Kelly’s, a crowd of people that she knew were seated. They were gathered at different tables, there for different purposes, but all she could focus on was that they were present at the scene of her humiliation. She hesitated in the doorway and thought that she might escape from the back door when she heard his footsteps on the steps.
She rushed through the dining room and heard no less than five people call after her but she ignored them and broke into a run when the door to the diner swung shut.
She ran so hard and so fast that her heart was pounding in her chest and she thought for sure any moment it would burst and she almost wanted that because then this would be over and she wouldn’t feel like this anymore.
When she couldn’t run anymore, when her legs simply gave out and she collapsed, she gave into the grief that had choked at her since the moment she opened the door to Lucky’s old room above Kelly’s.
Her head buried in her hands, her sobs ripping from her throat as though she’d surely die if they did not escape, she did not even register the scene of her breakdown until she heard the water rushing into the fountain behind her and it was only then she took in the concrete benches surrounding the fountain at the Port Charles Park.
It was a sick joke that her life would end here, that it would end again the way it had ended so brutally eight years ago.
A voice broke through her misery and Elizabeth reluctantly raised her eyes to the compassionate ones of an old friend. “Go away,” she muttered. She swiped at her eyes and ignored the hurt look in Nikolas Cassadine’s dark gaze. “I d-don’t want anyone to see me.”
“Liz…” Nikolas knelt down and held out a handkerchief to her. “I don’t have to ask what’s wrong, I already know.”
Her head snapped up, her eyes met his and the horror of what he admitted seared her soul. “You–You knew?” she demanded, brokenly. She sat back on her heels and stared at him. “You k-knew and you l-let me go on l-looking like a fool?”
“No, no–” Nikolas held up his hands. “Lucky came down after you and not far behind–well, it was an unfortunate moment for them to choose to…because Jason was there with Carly and Michael, too. It was pretty clear what happened since neither of them was fully dressed.”
“Oh, God…” Elizabeth’s hands started to shake. “I d-don’t u-understand, N-Nikolas. What’s going on? Why?” She shook her head and dragged herself to her feet. She wanted to snap at him when he put an arm around her waist to steady at her but she needed the support too much to complain. “We were happy, weren’t we?”
“I thought so,” Nikolas murmured. He gently led her to a bench and helped her sit down. “Elizabeth, I wish I knew what to say, what to do.”
“There’s nothing.” She swallowed hard, ignoring the bile in her throat. She took a deep breath, and forced her insides to freeze. The only way she could survive this experience was to be numb. When she felt like she could speak again, when she could function again, she looked at him. “There’s nothing you can do. I have to go to the apartment, I have to pack some things and go to my grandmother’s.”
She felt his body tense but she gave him some credit, his expression remained neutral–remained concerned. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
“The only thing in my life that I am absolutely sure about is that I just found my husband in bed with Samantha McCall,” Elizabeth said. “And I’m not sure you’re the right person to give me advice since you left Emily for a married woman.” She pushed herself to her feet and felt a calm settle over her.
There was no going back, there was no changing what she had seen. The only thing she could do was move forward, to make a decision and to figure out the next step.
This takes place in 2010, but it’s part of the Hand Me Down universe, so you should read If I Don’t Try With You first. I haven’t really worked on the HMD universe in a long time, but it begins after Michael’s shooting. Michael ended up dying, and Sonny died after going after Johnny. Jason and Elizabeth stayed together. That’s basically what you need to know.
Inspiration
This was definitely inspired by a challenge to write about a GH holiday with some fluff, but I only know that because of the topic of the story and the fact that I found the OG file in my Challenge response folder on my computer when I brought back the site in 2014.
Banner Here
July 4, 2010
The annual Fourth of July picnic was one of the few days of the year when the citizens of Port Charles gathered and managed to remain civil to one another for at least three hours. That particular record had been set by the Quartermaines themselves in the early nineties. They had been within fifteen minutes of three and a half hours, but Edward had blustered about something that Alan had taken offense to and somehow, the mayor had ended up with mashed potatoes in his hair.
Each year, the celebration had grown in attendance until one couldn’t go to the park on that day and not tread over a picnic blanket, a table or in the case of more well-to-do residents – an entire tent.
On this particular day, the tent in question belonged to Jason Morgan. He was there with his wife, their two boys and their newborn daughter, Juliet. He had invited his best friend Carly, her husband Jax and their two children. It was a bittersweet celebration as neither Jason nor Carly were completely adjusted to spending this holiday without Carly’s ex-husband Sonny Corinthos and son Michael. Both had died just two years earlier.
They had endeavored to move on with their lives and both had done so with the birth of subsequent children. Each had solid marriages to their spouses and if life wasn’t exactly perfect, it was as close as either of them had ever been.
Despite the shade the tent offered, the day was steaming hot and sweat dripped from Jason’s adopted six-year-old son Cameron’s face. Cam had been chasing Carly’s son Morgan in a circle and both were red-faced and panting from the heat.
His wife, Elizabeth, bit down on her lower lip. “Maybe I should take them back to the car. Sit in the air conditioning for a while.” She adjusted her two month old daughter in the portable crib that had been set up and studied Cameron and their three-year-old Jake, who didn’t look much cooler. “It’s hotter than it was supposed to be.”
Carly gripped the front of her sweat-soaked cherry red tank top and pulled it away from her chest. “Well, it is summer,” she said with a smirk. “I’d be surprised if it was chilly.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Anyway,” she said, directing her remarks to Jason. “Maybe we should feed the kids and take them home. We can bring them back for the fireworks.”
“No!” Cameron argued. He shook his head. “I want to stay!”
“It’s too hot out here.” Elizabeth reached for a napkin, dipped it into a glass of iced water and started to wipe down her son’s face. Cameron squirmed.
“Come on, Mom!” he complained, twisting away. “I’m not a baby!”
“Which is why I didn’t spit on it first.” She sighed and released him. “Fine. Go. Run. Get heatstroke.”
“Thanks, Mom!” Cameron immediately tagged Morgan. “You’re it!” he crowed and took off.
“I’m taking Jules back to the car,” Elizabeth told Jason. She reached down and picked up the infant. “I can take Cece if you want.”
Carly glanced over to her fourteen month old daughter who was chattering away to her daddy about a ladybug she’d seen crawling on her arm. “I think she’s okay for now. I’ll make sure the boys don’t keel over from too much sun.” She glanced over at them and narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me. My kid is wandering too close to the Quartermaine tent. Nothing good comes from that.” She made a quick exit to grab head off Cameron and Morgan.
“We can all go back to the house,” Jason offered. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, I’m okay, but if you think the kids are going to get too sick—”
“No, no,” Elizabeth shook her head. She smiled. “It’s the first year we’ve all been together as a family. Last year Carly and Jax were visiting Lady Jane, and I know Cam’s having a good time with Morgan.” She brushed her hand over Juliet’s almost existent fluff of blonde hair. “I just don’t think it’s good for Jules.”
“I wasn’t able to stop Edward from coming over to see his great-grandchildren,” Carly huffed, hauling both boys back, a hand wrapped around each one of their arms. “What did we say about wandering away from the tent?” she demanded.
“To stay away from Robin Drake,” Morgan said with an impish smile.
“And the Zacchara tent,” Cameron added dutifully. He grinned, revealing his dimples.
“I’m pretty sure that’s not what I said,” Carly muttered.
“And I’m almost positive that I said not to leave the immediate area,” Elizabeth said, arching an eyebrow. “Isn’t that right?”
“Possibly,” Morgan nodded. “But Cam was gonna tackle me and the last time he did that, I ate dirt.” He shook his head. “So not interested in repeating that experience, Aunt Liz. I think you can get what I’m saying.”
“I can get that you didn’t follow my instructions or your mother’s,” Elizabeth remarked. She grinned. “Because I’m pretty sure we both said to stay away from the Quartermaine tent.”
“That is…” Cameron paused. “Entirely possible.”
“Mayday,” Carly hissed to Elizabeth. “Incoming. Quartermaine at ten o’clock.”
“You think if I hide Jake under the table, he won’t notice him?” Elizabeth asked. “The last time we took the kids over, Edward was trying to convince us it was time for Cam to go away to boarding school.”
“I told you visiting Edward was a mistake,” Jason shook his head. “But you insisted.”
“To be fair, I took them to see Monica,” Elizabeth reminded him. She pasted a smile on her face as Jason’s grandfather joined them. “Mr. Quartermaine,” she greed politely.
Edward rubbed his hands together, looking uncharacteristically harmless in a pair of khakis and a polo shirt. Elizabeth wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen him out of a suit. “Now, now, my dear, I’ve told you to call me Edward.” He smiled charmingly. “Or Grandfather.”
“Right, Mr. Quartermaine,” Elizabeth nodded. She turned to Jason. “I think I should take the kids to the car for the air conditioning. They need a break from the heat.”
“Oh, but I’ve just arrived.” Edward leaned closer trying to get a closer look at Juliet. “And I’ve hardly had time to meet my great-granddaughter.”
“Will you try to enroll her in college before she can walk?” Jason asked, a little resigned.
“It’s never too early to plan for the future,” Edward advised firmly. “If you have a firm idea now, you will be able to execute it without a flaw later. It’s solid parenting advice that Lila and I followed for our children and it worked. Alan was a splendid doctor and Tracy is well…” he paused. “She had great potential at one time. I can’t quite fathom her marital choices, but she’s not bad at business.”
Elizabeth glanced at her husband, looking for some direction. Jason just shrugged. When it came to Edward, it was best to let him have his say and avoid conflict. “That’s very nice advice, Mr. Quartermaine,” she said. “Jason and I appreciate it.”
“Don’t patronize me, young lady,” Edward said sternly. “It’s not my fault that they were both incapable of raising their own children. Lila and I did a fine job but our entire crop of grandchildren was worthless. Except for Emily, of course. She was a fine girl who is still missed greatly.”
“Of course,” Elizabeth replied, softening. She held out her daughter. “Would you like to hold Juliet for a moment? It’s a bit warm out here for her so I’m going to take her into some air for a while, but I’m sure she’d like to meet her great-grandfather first.”
Edward’s eyes lit up as she placed the infant in his arms. “That’s very kind of you, my dear.” He cradled Juliet in his embrace and smiled down at her. “I was very pleased when Monica told me Jason was marrying you, you know.”
Jason shook his head, knowing that Elizabeth was a lost cause now. She’d insist Edward have regular visits from now on, she’d feel obligated to both the old man and his sister. His wife had always been a soft touch.
“You were always so good to Emily,” Edward continued, “and you had such a good work ethic and a strong moral compass. You are the exactly the right woman for my grandson and for the mother of his children. He is very lucky you chose him.”
He handed the baby back to her. “You get that child out of the sun,” he cautioned. He looked to Jason. “You have a very nice family. Don’t screw it up.”
Edward ambled back over to his tent where Monica and Tracy were arguing, Dillon was attempting to hide behind Alice and Ned was ignoring everyone and speaking to his daughter, Brook Lynn. Another day at the Quartermaines.
“I give them five minutes before Tracy throws water in her face,” Carly nodded.
“Ten before the ribs goes flying,” Elizabeth replied.
“I doubt they’ll hold out that long,” Jax joined them. “I can see Monica eyeing up the hot dogs.”
“You’re all wrong,” Jason surprised them by speaking up. “Tracy’s hand is inching towards the chicken wings.”
Sure enough, a moment later, Tracy flung the first chicken wing at her sister-in-law. Monica retaliated with a hot dog and Dillon ducked in the picnic table entirely to avoid the ribs that flew a moment later.
“They’re going to need that water,” Carly remarked. “To cool down and to clean up.”
Elizabeth laughed and reached up to kiss Jason’s cheek. “I think I can take Jules back to the car now. I’m glad I didn’t miss the annual food fight. It’s just not the Fourth of July without it.”
