A/N: Horribly AU. And in some parts…just plain horrible. But whatever.
Big
Fat Happy Sunshine Day
Overcrowded Room
--Chapter One--
.:ELQ:.
The click of Caroline Benson's crimson bejeweled Manolo-Blahniks on the polished hardwood of the ELQ lobby was unmistakable, and the secretary looked up immediately at the sound. Smiling at the regular, she pointed unnecessarily to the reserved elevator and resumed her work as the young woman went about her business as usual.
The blonde scrolled through her missed calls on her crimson Razr, frowning when she realized that not one of them had been from her little stepsister. The girl was as free-spirited as they came, and she probably wouldn't even own a telephone if she didn't need it to always order new barware that the regulars at her dive kept breaking in their weekly brawls.
Carly let out a sigh and flipped her phone shut when the elevator announced her floor, and stepped off with as much grace and authority as if she owned the corporation. Dressed in a chocolate brown business suit over a prim white oxford that she left unbuttoned at the top with her crimson leather Coach bag and matching Manolos, she was the picture of wealth and the entrepreneurial spirit. But that didn't mean she actually liked these bi-monthly board meetings.
Her pout stretched and curled into a bright smile when she spotted her friend Nikolas Cassidine flirting with the secretary, and she waved as she walked over. "Hey, Nikolas – you actually beat me today."
"Carly," he grinned back, tipping his head at his fellow trustee. "What can I say? I was visiting Lila today, and Old Man Quartermaine dragged me here himself. How's your house-hunting going?"
"All right," she allowed, signaling the young intern to fetch her the normal espresso that only barely managed to get her through one of these meetings. "I'm trying to find a place that Elle likes, too, and that's…harder than I thought."
"Elle agreed to live with you?" Nikolas inquired, quirking a brow at her. "Really?"
The blonde shrugged. "Well, not officially, but yeah. I just kept badgering her about it and telling her that since neither one of us wants to live with Noah and my mom by the lake, and since I just moved out of Jax's place, we need to find some place where we can stay together."
"I thought she liked living above her club, though."
"See, that's what she keeps saying," Carly sighed, brushing her bangs out of her face and gratefully accepting her coffee from the unpaid intern. "But the rooms are all so tiny and the carpets are worn out and dirty and it's so noisy from downstairs, and you don't even want to hear about the bathrooms. I'm pretty much forcing her to move in with me."
"You two seen anything you liked?"
The woman shrugged. "Well, Elle's pretty much left the final decision up to me. She says that as long as we find someplace cozy with a lot of closet room, a big kitchen, and a fabulous bathroom, she's cool with it. I mean, I'm the one that's actually going to be living there full-time, so it works."
"Well, good luck," Nikolas chuckled, taking another sip of his sweetened black coffee. "Elle's about as stubborn and picky as they get."
"Oh, I'll find some place that she loves," Carly assured him, narrowing her eyes. "Just leave that to me. So, anyway, how was your trip to Greece?"
"It went well, all things considered," the Prince replied. "I stayed indoors for the whole week, ironed out a messy territory squabble, and even managed to add a considerable amount of holdings to the Cassidine real estate portfolio."
"Impressive," Carly smiled, punching him in the arm. "Sounds like you had a good vacation."
Her friend laughed and leaned closer, his voice dropping to a more confiding tone. "Speaking of vacations…I got a very surprising phone call last night and…well, guess who just got back from an extended vay-cay?"
Carly's eyes widened and she peered around the massive area like a schoolgirl, unable to help herself. "Who?"
Nikolas tilted his head in the general direction of the mystery traveler, and the Prince's dark eyes twinkled when Carly's face instantly contorted in displeasure.
"Oh, you're kidding," she groaned, turning away from a tall man in an impeccable Italian suit engaged in serious conversation with Alan James Quartermaine, Jr. "Not again. Why couldn't he just have stayed in New York City instead of coming back here like a big Warren-Buffet-style hero and-"
"Oh, hi, Jason," Nikolas cut in, smiling at a point right over Carly's shoulder. His smile turned into a large grin when the blonde gasped and whirled around only to find that her competition was still all the way on the other side of the room.
"Not funny, Nikolas," she hissed, swatting his arm as she glanced over at the tall blonde once more. Jason looked up just then and Carly whirled around, quickly grabbing her old friend's arm and tugging him into the main boardroom on the heels of Alan and Monica Quartermaine. "Come on – before I have to actually talk to him!"
.:ELQ Lobby:.
Carly and Nikolas were both laughing as they stumbled past the reception desk on their way to the elevator.
"Did you see the look on Edward's face?" the blonde cackled, her hand resting in the crook of her friend's elbow. "I thought his head was going to explode when Jason sided with Junior and totally poked holes in his demand-pull inflation cop-out."
Nikolas, too, was grinning broadly as he punched the button to go down. "Serves the old goat right," he snickered, glancing over at his colleague. "He was the one that called Jason in New York City and practically offered him the world with a picket fence around it if he came back to ELQ. He thought he was getting a sycophant-"
"A lapdog," Carly clarified, chuckling as they waited for the busy elevator.
"-and it serves him right to see that Jason actually has a mind of his own."
"-Not to mention a pair of his own," the blonde cracked, elbowing her friend in the gut and not noticing that they had company.
"Carly," came a smooth voice from behind her that caused the broad smile to drop off the woman's face. "Nikolas. What were you saying about my pair?"
The blonde rolled her eyes, forcing herself to contain a smile. "We were talking about your pants, Jason," she explained sweetly, batting her lashes at her long-time competition in the ELQ boardroom. "Your lovely pair of pants – and how lucky you were not to spill anything on them, unlike poor Nikolas here."
He nodded, making it clear that he didn't believe a word out of her mouth, and firmly shook Nikolas' hand. "I heard from Tracy that you just got back from Greece. How was it?"
"So-so," the Prince replied, moving aside to let his friend stand with them as they all waited for the elevator. "Worked the whole week, barely got any sleep or food. You know how it is."
Jason chuckled in agreement, ushering Carly forward when the elevator finally opened. He held the door with his hand as Nikolas boarded it, and finally stepped on himself. He had known the two of them for years, and had teamed up with them in the boardroom against Alan and Monica – and sometimes Edward – in the past. Nikolas was a very close friend of his inside the boardroom and out, but Carly was a different story.
He knew the woman well: her positive attributes as well as her not-so-positive ones. Caroline Benson was one of the sharpest minds on the board of Edward and Lila Quartermaine's company, and knew the workings of the corporation inside and out. She was ruthless when cornered, and had earned favor with Alan James, Jr. and Tracy Hornsby by fighting Edward tooth and nail when he tried to undermine her. She was the youngest person on the board, and a woman at that, and so Carly worked twice as hard as the rest of the members to prove that she was worth her salt.
Jason had to admit that he admired all of those characteristics in her, and very much so. She always spoke her mind…and that was when the two of them got into trouble sometimes. Carly was fairly emotional when it came to business; she often thought with her heart, not with her mind. He, on the other hand, was more deliberate and calculating when it came to entrepreneurial matters, and that was when they often clashed.
Still, the antagonism kept their uneasy friendship alive, and Jason knew that he wouldn't even entertain a modicum of enthusiasm for the ELQ bi-monthly meetings if Carly wasn't around for him to spar with. Sometimes, he liked to throw her by actually agreeing with her – nothing annoyed the woman quite as much as that. And after three years of working for an established corporation downstate, he had finally returned to take back the seat that his father and grandfather had once held on the board and passed on to him. Nepotism was alive and well at ELQ, and he couldn't have been more pleased.
"Okay, it's, like, a million degrees outside," Carly was muttering as she fumbled in her large handbag for her phone. "And after that meeting, I need a drink."
"Me, too," Nikolas agreed, stuffing his hands in his pockets as they waited for the elevator door to open.
Carly was out like a shot as soon as they landed in the lobby, but Jason made sure to keep up. "I think I'll join you," he announced dryly, glancing at the woman out of the corner of his eye and feeling a slight twinge of pleasure when she deflated.
"Sounds good," the Prince agreed good-naturedly, oblivious to Carly's displeasure. "Hey, why not go to Elle's place? Jason, you've never been there, have you?"
"Elle?" he repeated, trying to place a face to the vaguely familiar name. "No. Who's Elle?"
"My stepsister," Carly replied breezily, scrolling through her unanswered text messages. "Elizabeth Drake – you remember her, right? She and her dad came to Port Charles a few weeks before you left."
"Elizabeth Drake," Jason repeated, still trying to envision the girl. "…No, I've never met her."
"She's about six years younger than us," Nikolas supplied helpfully, tipping his head at the secretary as they walked toward the north exit. "Five foot two at most, dark brown hair, big blue eyes. She's nice – you'll like her."
He frowned at his friend as the woman flipped her phone shut. "What? No Elle?"
"No Elle," she huffed, dumping the Razr back into her bag and crossing her arms over her chest as they stepped into the sunshine. "I don't know where that girl is – I've been trying to get a hold of her for the past four days and-"
"Carly!"
Jason snapped his head around at the sound of a woman's voice and looked around for the owner. He searched through the busy crowd of people that walked by, trying to find a young woman who might look like Carly's stepsister. She'd have the features that Nikolas had described, and would most likely be impeccably dressed like her sister and…
"Hey! Carly!"
"Elle! Elle!" The blonde let out an uncharacteristic squeal and raced across the sidewalk to the parking lot, throwing her arms around a petite brunette. "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here!"
"I'm a surprise!" came the proud answer.
Carly tucked her hair behind her ears before latching onto the brunette's arms once more. "Where the hell have you been? I've been calling and calling-"
"I know, I know," the woman panted, brushing her wild hair out of her face as her sister's two companions approached. "I've been in Manhattan for the past few days and just got back right now – man, do I have news for you!"
"What were you doing in Manhattan?"
"Shopping, sketching, attending this awesome street festival, meeting with a gallery owner, kneeing a would-be mugger in the groin, eating my weight in cheesecake, being chased by three Rottweilers, arguing with the Filafel Man, getting slobbered on by a horse, stalking a man that looked exactly like Lorne Michaels for five city blocks, pretending to be a mannequin in a store window, being tossed out of said store, accidentally walking onto the set of the Spiderman movie-"
"Okay, okay," Carly interjected, rubbing her temples as Jason and Nikolas came to stand by her side. "I'm sorry I asked!"
The Prince snickered, watching Jason's brows crinkle as the petite brunette continued to ramble on about the gallery owner she'd managed to get in touch with in the city and how well they'd gotten along. The other man exchanged glances with him, quirking a brow, and Nikolas simply shrugged. Elle was an acquired taste, he seemed to be telling his friend.
Finally, the young woman finished up her long, winding tale and took a deep breath before energetically turning to her sister's friends. She immediately granted Nikolas one of her signature beaming grins, and blushed prettily when the dark-haired man heartily congratulated her on furthering her art and wished her best luck in the future. Still smiling, she turned to face Jason and immediately stuck out her hand.
"Hi," she grinned, shaking his large hand firmly. "I don't think we've met. I'm Elizabeth Drake, but everyone calls me Elle. And you are…?"
"Jason," he replied simply, withdrawing his hand and slipping it back into the pocket of his dark navy suit jacket. This girl wasn't anything like the one he had half-expected. She was tiny, just as Nikolas had said, with hair the darkest brown and illuminating blue eyes. The woman wore a pair of frayed stovepipe blue jeans with a gaping hole on the knee, paired with a tight olive green tank top under a white wife beater along with a medallion necklace and an armful of silver bangles. He nodded his head once, his eyes flickering down to her Indian-style bejeweled flip-flops. "Jason Morgan."
"Jason," she smiled happily, not bothering to tame her wild, curly hair as it fluttered openly in the breeze. "And what do you do?"
"I work with your sister."
She waited for him to expand on that, but he didn't. Instead, the man simply towered above her, looking down at her with a distant but curious gaze that reminded her of the way her dog would glance condescendingly at the mindless little chipmunks that pranced all over his backyard.
Pursing her lips into a small smile, she nodded and turned back to Nikolas and her sister, the far more agreeable ones. "So, anyway, Carly, I know I've been MIA for, like, a week, and I totally suck. So I thought I'd swing by and see if you wanted to get something to eat and just talk – I know this really cute little sushi place that just opened up and I thought you and I could check it out. Nik, you're welcome to come along." She cleared her throat and glanced up at the imposing man at her side. "You, too, Jason."
But the older man simply shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, but I can't. I should be going, anyway."
"I'm sorry, Elle, but I don't have time for lunch, either," Nikolas spoke up apologetically. "We were gonna head out for drinks just now, but I just remembered that I promised Grandmother I'd drop by the yacht today. I'll take a rain check, okay? It's been way too long since I've seen you."
The brunette offered her sister's close friend a bright smile and nodded. "Don't worry about it, Nik. Gramma Cass comes first. Swing by the club sometime, though, okay? I've got a bottle of single-malt with your name on it."
The Prince laughed, pleased, and Elizabeth turned toward his friend. With a small, strained smile, she tipped her head at Jason. "It was nice meeting you, Jason. I guess I'll see you around."
He didn't say anything in reply but only nodded, then offered a goodbye to Carly before turning and walking over to the reserved section of the parking lot with Nikolas in tow.
The brunette watched them go, her arms crossed over her chest. Carly quirked a brow at her, then elbowed her when her stepsister didn't notice.
"Charming, isn't he?"
"Oh, it's Big Fat Happy Sunshine Day in Jason Morgan Land," Elizabeth huffed, rolling her eyes as she whirled around and grabbed her sister's arm. "He looked like he'd rather step on me with his fancy calfskin shoes than look at me."
Carly laughed aloud, allowing herself to be pulled along to the restored Shelby that Grampa Drake had left to his only granddaughter. "Jason can take a while to get used to," she allowed, unlocking the passenger side door of the convertible while Elizabeth simply hopped over the driver's door.
"I bet you're just thrilled that he's back," the brunette snickered, inserting her key into the ignition and smiling proudly as the Mustang purred to life. "How long has it been? Three years? Four?"
"Somewhere around there," her sister agreed. "I thought I finally got rid of him at ELQ, only…eh, not so much."
"Is he a real hardass in the boardroom?"
The blonde considered the question as her sister backed up and took off down the aisle. "Yes and no. Jason's brilliant when it comes to this stuff – he was working with a real big name in New York City. He's really stubborn when he knows that he's right, and it's almost impossible to get him to back down. But he always listens to everyone's counter-arguments before he rips holes in them and moves on."
Elizabeth laughed, slipping her shades from the dash and putting them on. "He's a regular Prince Charming. And here I was, listening to you and thinking that he hadn't left of his own choice this last time but had been chased out with pitchforks and burning tar."
Carly laughed along. "Hey, it's true! I mean, I couldn't have been the only one plucking chickens, right? Man, but what can you do? He's back, and I just died a little inside."
The brunette grinned cheekily at her older sister, finding the arrogant businessman far more amusing now that she was no longer standing in such close proximity to him. "You know what? That's what we'll drink to: Welcome back, Jason Morgan. Goodbye, sanity."