Prompt - Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk

Prompt - Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. Ernest Hemingway

Note – Thanks to Jen for the hilarious prompt, and for being a member here at Solo Ensemble.

Single Malt For the Romantic's Soul

Elizabeth wasn't surprised at all when she walked into her boss's office and found Jason Morgan, head of Morgan Enterprises, reclining in his chair with his feet on the desk and a cold compress on his head.

"What happened to you?"

Jason looked up at the sound of her voice and managed a weak smile for his assistant. An employee of Morgan Enterprises for the past five years, Elizabeth Webber was far from being a lowly assistant and was actually his right-hand woman. The sad truth – and everyone knew this – was that nothing would get done at ME without her.

"Tied on a few last night."

She grimaced and lifted his cold compress off his head. Jason swore by ice packs in alleviating his scotch-induced migraines and though she'd never understand the way his body worked, she liked for him to be comfortable. Even when he went out and did stupid things like getting drunk.

Jason studied her derriere as she walked over to the wet bar and refilled his makeshift ice pack. God, he loved those pencil skirts. Those combined with her silk blouses that she always left just a little unbuttoned at the top to allow the briefest of tantalizing peeks and he'd pant after her all day long. He was pretty sure he already did.

"Where were you this time? The Black Pearl in New York? Starlight in Manhattan? Or slumming at Jake's again?"

"None of the above," he murmured, eyeing her bottom one last time before she could turn around and catch him. "I was at home."

"Oh?" Elizabeth knelt by him and arranged the ice pack on his head, idly brushing a few loose locks of hair away from his face. "Having a party?"

"Not exactly," Jason winced, closing his eyes and blocking out that infernally bright morning light.

Elizabeth arched a brow at him, then had the nerve to look amused. "Okay, something happened. What was it? Spill it, Jason, I want to know."

"You're the worst friend I've ever had," he groused good-naturedly, knowing it to be a lie. "Can't you let me keep some of my dignity?"

"Dignity? Never heard of it," she chirped, sliding onto his desk and crossing her legs. She looked at him expectantly, not even noticing how his gaze betrayed him by running up and down her legs before he remembered himself and met her gaze again. "Tell me."

He couldn't imagine how any man could resist any word those plush lips of hers formed. "I…It was an interesting night."

Her little smile turned into a smug grin. She always won their little battles of wills. "A party?"

"Not really. More like…me and a girl I met at Jake's a couple weeks ago. We've been seeing each other since then."

He was probably imagining it, but her eyes dimmed a little even though that impish grin remained firmly in place. "Yeah? What was this one's name?"

Jason glared at her. "You make it sound like there were thousands before her."

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, only hundreds, but go on."

He considered glaring at her again, but it wouldn't have done any good. "Her name was Sam. Sam…SomethingOrOther. McGinnis. McAllister. Something like that."

"Okay, okay. So what happened that you're so embarrassed about?"

Jason groaned and let his head fall back. "I made another drunken proposal."

Elizabeth's jaw dropped. "Another one? Really? What's that make?"

"Six in the past month," Jason groaned again. "Six times I've proposed to random women that don't mean anything to me."

"While drunk," Elizabeth pointed out. "I wonder what's behind all of this."

He lifted his head. "Are you kidding? I'm drunk – there's scotch behind all of this, that's it."

"I'm not so sure," she murmured, idly scratching her calf and not noticing what that little gesture did to him. "They say that the only kinds of people that tell the truth are small children and drunks. There's something in you that's making you throw proposals around like so much confetti."

Jason huffed, not liking her analysis one bit. "What are you saying?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "Just that there's obviously something behind this, something inside you that you probably repressed or are insecure about or afraid of. Maybe you should think about talking to someone about this."

"I talk to you," he pouted. "Isn't that enough?"

"I meant a professional," she replied gently, stroking his hair back from his face. Jason, besides being the best boss a girl could have hoped for, was one of her closest friends in the world. They had clicked since the moment they met at her second interview, and they'd been inseparable at work ever since. And she hated the thought of him going through whatever it was that he was going through alone.

"Someone who can help you find out why you're doing this," she added. "You can always talk to me, Jason, you know that, but I can't give you the answers that will help you."

He remained silent for a long moment, then shook himself out of it. "I'll just have to be more careful, that's all."

"So what happened when you woke up this morning?"

"When I woke up Sam made me breakfast," he admitted with a grimace. "And it was only when she wouldn't shut up about beach weddings that I figured out what I had done."

"So? What did you do?"

He snorted. "Told her there was no way I was marrying her."

Elizabeth pulled a face. "How'd she take it?"

"She got mad and left and said she didn't want to see me anymore."

"Sorry."

Jason just shrugged. "It's not that big a deal. She was getting boring anyway."

He caught the way she rolled her eyes at that but didn't bring attention to it. "Listen, I have a favor to ask you. You got anything going on after work today? I'm having dinner with a business associate and his wife and I need you to come with me."

"Sorry, I can't," she grinned, hopping off the desk in one smooth, fluid motion. "Lucky's taking me out to dinner. I'm pretty sure he wants to set the date. Or, he's going to ask me to elope! In that case, I'll need a very long weekend."

It was his turn to make a face as soon as her back was turned. Lucky Spencer was her loser fiancé. The two of them had gotten engaged five months earlier and were in the process of planning their wedding. Elizabeth had confessed once after a few shots of tequila that she told Lucky they wouldn't sleep together again until after the wedding, and that it was going surprisingly well. Personally, Jason couldn't figure how any man after having slept with Elizabeth wouldn't go out of his fucking mind if denied having her even for the short span of five months.

"Take your sister," she suggested, picking up her files and preparing to head into her adjacent office. "Or, hey, idea, ask Amelia to go with you."

"She's your assistant."

"So?" Elizabeth shrugged. "She's brilliant, she's charming, and she makes a beautiful first impression. Plus, she's classier than any of the skanks you date, and she's sure to impress this associate of yours. You know, since I can't be there to dazzle him with my presence," she added with a grin.

"Later, Jason."

"Have…fun tonight."

"So why'd you cancel on Jax? He'll probably hand the account over to Sonny at Corinthos Industries."

"Let him," Jason snorted from behind his second glass of scotch. "If he's stupid enough to work with Sonny, then he deserves whatever he gets."

Johnny Zacchara of the Zacchara organization eyed Jason warily as he downed the rest of his scotch in one go and reached for the bottle again. "You sure you want another drink, Jase?"

His friend scowled and snatched at the bottle. "Yeah, and I don't need you asking me about it."

"Fine, fine," Johnny replied, holding up his hands. "But I'm not driving you home when you're so piss-drunk you can't even see straight. I don't need you throwing up in the Benz. I just had it cleaned."

"What's got him like this?" Nikolas Cassidine wanted to know. "Come on, Jason, what'd you do? Make another proposal?"

He hunkered down and glared at the amber liquid in his glass. "That's not it. But, yeah, I did."

Patrick Drake let out a low whistle. "What is that, the seventh this month?"

"Sixth," Jason all but snarled. "Give me some credit."

"So if it's not that, what is it?" Johnny wanted to know. "You've been pissy all night and if you're going to be like this, well, we might as well ply you with scotch until you're at least halfway fun again."

"It's nothing."

"That's a woman's answer and you know it," Patrick snorted. "What the hell is going on with you?"

"I bet it's a girl," Spinelli announced. All the men turned around and stared at him. "What? I haven't said anything in a while. But it's a girl, isn't it?"

"Which one?" Nikolas wanted to know. "One that you proposed to?"

Jason groaned and dropped his head. "No, I haven't proposed to her. I can't propose to her. Someone else already did."

"Does she work with you?" Patrick wanted to know.

"Yeah, otherwise I wouldn't fucking have this problem, would I?" He covered his face with his hands and let out a loud groan. "Where'd I put the scotch?"

"Let me take a wild guess," Johnny drawled, "She's engaged, she works with you, she's your best friend, she's helped you run your company for the past few years, she's a brunette with big old blue eyes, and her name starts with an Eliza- and ends with a –beth."

Jason didn't move his hands from his face.

Patrick couldn't quite help it and let out a hoot of laughter. "You still have a thing for Elizabeth? Buddy, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but that ship has sailed. A long time ago."

Nikolas smacked him upside the back of the head. "That's not what he needs to hear right now."

Spinelli tapped his nails on the tabletop. "Jason, I'm wondering if this isn't just a case of fin amour."

Johnny made a face. "Fin-a-What?"

"Fin amour," he repeated. "Eternal love. You've wanted her for so long that you've fallen in love with wanting her, not necessarily her."

Jason peeked out from between his fingers. "That's the fucking dumbest thing you've ever said."

"I think it's plausible," Spinelli replied defensively. "Just think about it. What if you had her? What if you had her, and you didn't get to cleanse and purify your soul with this eternal, purging love? What if you had her? Would you even know what to do with her?"

That was rich coming from a kid whose closest sexual encounter was the time he put his pants on too quickly after taking them out of the dryer.

The corner of Jason's mouth hooked upward. "Oh, I'd know what to do with her…"

Quite some time later…

Patrick couldn't stop laughing, Nikolas was choking on his scotch, Johnny was beet red, and Spinelli was taking copious notes. All of this was because Jason had just spent quite some time describing in great, graphic detail, every single thing he would do to Elizabeth Webber if given half a chance.

He was pretty drunk by the end of it, and his words were starting to slur. But this didn't bother Johnny and Spinelli, who discreetly put their heads together while Jason and Patrick were sloshing out some more scotch.

"Did you get it?"

Spinelli held up his video phone and grinned. "Caught all of it, right from the start."

"Well, this begs the question," Johnny grinned back. "Who do we show it to first?"