Prologue
"No I won't do it and you cannot make me!" Ned Ashton, dapper in his Armani suit walked into the Outback restaurant quickly trying to rid himself of his shadow.
"Ned come on. All she asks is that you wear your leather pants. It's not like you don't still have them, I checked." Ned's shadow, AKA V Ardanowski shot back, hurrying in after him.
"You checked?" Ned whirled on V. when she gave him an impish smile; he threw up his hands in defeat. "I am not discussing this now. Let's just have a civilized lunch." He sat down at a table in the middle of the dining room and grabbed a menu. "What's this?" he questioned as an envelope fell out.
"It's our free internet service sir." A waiter informed, materializing at Ned's shoulder. The Port Charles chamber of commerce is giving out free internet service. You take that cd rom home and pop it into your computer then choose a nickname and you can get online free of charge.
"What's the catch?" Ned asked and the waiter shook his head.
"No catch sir but every time you dial in you'll see some ads for different businesses around town. You should try it. I was online all night last night." The waiter said with a yawn.
"Maybe." Ned said noncommittally. V put the disk eagerly in her purse. "You don't even have a computer!" Ned exclaimed.
"Oh yeah?" V challenged. "You need to meet Big Bessie." Big Bessie was her computer;
ancient but it had been upgraded extensively and ran like a charm.
"Big Bessie?" Ned commented, shaking his head in amusement, but someone already distracted V at the door.
"No Jerry, that's not going to work." Jasper Jacks followed his older brother Jerry into the Outback. He was trying to stop his brother from doing something incrediably stupid and arrogant.
"Why not little brother?" Jerry asked. "You can flirt with Alexis and get the information we need." Jerry said feeling like he was overstating a fact. "Look at her over there. She's a beautiful woman." Both pairs of eyes found themselves gliding over the very attractive woman that sat at a table waiting for them. She was absently fingering an envelope of some sort.
"She isn't a lady to be flirted with and left." Jax said firmly. "She's a lady to be wined and dined."
Jerry arched his left eyebrow in an inquisitive way and smiled. "Does little brother have a thing for Alexis?"
"No little brother doesn't." Jax said rolling his eyes. "Hello Alexis. What's that?" Jax asked, motioning to the disk she was tapping on her palm.
"Some sort of free internet service. They're giving them out but no one seems interested.
"Oh?" Jax said as they got down to business. "A free internet service would never take off." The waiter who was taking their drink order shook his head. Famous last words he thought trying to stifle his yawn.
Chapter 1
One week later
Alexis Davis sat in her suite at the Port Charles hotel and booted up her laptop. She had some notes to make about her latest case and she wanted to use some quiet time to do some research on her cd rom law library as well. With some soft classical music playing in the background, Alexis stretched and slipped on a silk robe, letting her hair down in the privacy of her hotel suite. The rooms sometimes seemed like her oasis and yet other times her prison. Tonight was one of the nights she craved the anonymous solitude the nondescript walls offered. There was a certain comfort in knowing she was one of many.
As Brahms played throughout the room she returned to her computer. Alexis hadn't been out at night since she and Ned had called a friendly end to their relationship. Casual sex wasn't working for either of them anymore and they both appreciated the freedom to have other relationships, though neither had started anything. Alexis was convinced Ned would eventually end up with Lois, his ex wife, though he hadn't so much as hinted at it yet. When a couple had a child together it bound them, more than anything did. Alexis didn't have that bond with Ned; all she had was an awareness of his professional and family responsibilities.
As she rummaged in her laptop case for the computer disk she sought, a cd rom fell out. "Port Charles Online internet for everyone." Alexis repeated. Sighing, she dug deeper into the bag but no floppy disk was forthcoming. "Fine." She sighed. "I can take a hint." She turned the computer off and picked up a book by John Grisham. She was addicted to his books. For some unexplainable reason though, she couldn't concentrate on the thrillers that usually made time stand still for her.
"All right, I give up." She announced as she snapped the hardcover shut and rebooted her computer. "Port Charles Online here I come."
"Yes Mum I'll have him call you." Jerry Jacks said into the phone. His mother and father were estranged from his brother Jax over some family business dealings gone bad and they relied upon Jerry to try to open the doors of communication. "Yes mum I'll see what I can do. Until next week mum." He hung up the phone and looked around his hotel suite. Though Jerry had been in Port Charles some months now, this was the first time he had lived in a hotel suite. First, there had been a huge apartment in this same hotel, and then he had taken an apartment in Bobbie Spencer's brownstone. He had fallen hard for Bobbie and his heart had been broken when she reunited with her ex husband, Stefan Cassadine. Finding it too awkward to stay in his former love nest moved his meager possessions back into the Port Charles hotel. An apartment would become available in the next few months, he was told. He didn't really mind the smaller space, for the hours he passed in the suite were becoming less and less as warmer weather started blowing into the northern New York hamlet.
Jerry picked up the phone to dial his brother, thought the better of it, then turned the TV on. As usual, nothing held his attention, so after awhile he moved to his desktop computer and put in his Port Charles online software. He had tried this the first night he had gotten it and now went on most every night. As the dial up icon came up he typed Dangermouse in the username box with a wry grin then tapped in his password. Dangermouse…. Jerry Jacks, too bad he was the only one who knew the irony of the name. As the connection completed he touched an icon that read chat. He loved these internet chats.
As Jerry entered the room he saw only one name there-Fablady. "Fablady?" Jerry recited as he looked at the screen. He had no idea who that could be. He was about to leave the chatroom when 'hello' blinked on the screen. 'Hi there' Jerry typed back and reached over to pour himself an ice water. This was going to be interesting.
"Dangermouse." Alexis smiled as the other person in the chatroom started typing back. "This can be addicting." She said out loud. 'How are you?' she typed and was rewarded when Dangermouse replied 'It's a quiet night here'.
Taking a sip of wine, Alexis tried to picture the type of person that would allow himself to be called Dangermouse. It was either a good looking man with a great sense of humor or a guy that had the market on the word nerd. 'Dangermouse,' she typed. 'Why are you at home so early?'
Jerry wondered how to answer her question. 'Sometimes a guy just has to stay inside and relax. And you fablady? Why is such a fab lady staying in tonight?'
'The same reason.' Alexis typed back. 'No significant other and my friends were all busy.'
"I see we're in the same boat.' Jerry replied. 'I've just come off a breakup.'
V Ardanowski walked into her apartment over the Outback and put her bags down. After a long day at work she had just gotten some carryout downstairs and wanted to relax. She turned her TV on and cursed. Just snow, as usual. She received a free satellite hookup from the Outback but it didn't appear to be working right now. She glanced at the pile of tapes in her bag warily. As managing officer of L&B records she received dozens of demos a week. Since the company was so small, the task of listening to demos and weeding the best candidates for a contract out fell to her. Fortunately she didn't have much of a social life and could listen to demos most every night.
Finding the task of listening music wasn't enough; V pulled out a sketchpad. Her all time dream besides being married with a family was to draw. She had often though about illustrating children's books but had never followed that dream. She would someday she told herself sketching a head of unruly hair, and deepening the blue into a deep set of eyes. Studying the portrait, she threw it down. "I can't keep thinking of Jax that way," she said on a groan. She had the worst feelings for her old boss, Jasper Jacks. Some might call it a crush, but she knew she was in love with the young and handsome business tycoon. Unfortunately, Jax didn't know that and if V had her way he never would. He just wasn't interested in her that way.
Looking longingly at her most prized possession 'Big Bessie' she wondered if she could go Online. She found it a lot easier to speak to people when she wasn't face to face. Turning on the battered computer she fiddled with the Port Charles online cd rom. She had been online every night looking up info on Jax online and even joining a singles mailing list, hoping to get her mind off him, to no avail.
As the computer finally came on with a mighty sputter, V typed in girlnextdoor and her password and waited patiently for the connection to complete. Deciding to wait to read her email, she clicked the chat icon, wondering if she'd meet the man of her dreams in there tonight.
Chapter 2
Jasper Jacks listened to his answering machine messages as he walked toward the shower. "Hi Jax." He heard. "Hi Jerry." He said back in an exaggerated voice, not that his brother could hear him. He listened to the rest of his brother's message with a slight smile on his face. Jerry always called for meaningless reasons, when in reality he was checking up on Jax. Even though things were tense between them, Jax appreciated the effort. "I'm fine Jerry." He said as he stepped into the shower and allowed the hot water wash his thoughts away.
Jax didn't like to think when the night loomed long and lonely. Invariably his thoughts would turn to Brenda. He had loved Brenda passionately and mourned her every moment since her death almost six months ago. Recently, Jax had been facing the thought of a life without Brenda, a life he didn't fancy living it alone. Faced with these thoughts and guilty over the fact that he would be betraying Brenda's memory to date again, he had spent many a sleepless night wondering what she truly would have wished. The nights were always the time when Jax's thoughts hit him the worst. Feeling a prisoner to his conflicting thoughts, Jax had turned to his computer, working out financial reports for J&J Jacks every day and emailing Jerry and some of his clients after business hours.
After he got on the shower and toweled off his hair, Jax turned on the radio, donned a pair of silk boxers, and sat down at his desktop computer. Dialing into the J&J Jacks server, he emailed Jerry a hello, contacted three of his business clients then disconnected. As he disconnected he saw the Port Charles online disk and decided to install it. Surfing on the internet using the J&J Jacks server was too expensive to be used for pleasure but this looked like an entirely free offer. He loaded the cd rom in and, when prompted to choose a username he typed Pirate with a wicked grin. "Corporate raider, pirate." He rationalized out loud. "It makes sense to me." He set up his free email and loaded the yahoo.com website. Feeling curious, he typed in Port Charles to the search engine. "Wow look at all the entries. Port Charles online." He recited. "Ingo Rademacher. What a name. Poor chap to be saddled with that name. Anthony Geary? Rebecca Herbst? Vanessa Marcil? What is this?" He said clicking on one link. "Oh it's a bloody television show set in some town named after ours." With a chuckle, he closed yahoo and clicked on the chat icon.
'Welcome to Port Charles online chat 4 members here', he read. "Fablady, dangermouse, and girlnextdoor see pirate isn't such a bad name." Unsure of what to do, he typed a simple 'hello'.
As three hellos blinked back on the screen, Jax could feel he was gaining confidence. 'Are you all from Port Charles?'
Jerry smiled at the new people in the chat. Fablady and pirate were obviously new. He liked Fablady right off the bat though. There was something about her. 'This internet service is free only to the residents of Port Charles' he typed. 'And seems this is the lonely adults channel. Are you'll Male? Female? Married? Taken? single?' after a moment's pause he added 'I'm male, thirtysomething and single.'
Alexis sighed in satisfaction as she saw that dangermouse was within her age range. With an embarrassed sound and red face, she chided herself to stop. "This is only the internet Alexis. This is why people warn about it." Quelling her burgeoning feelings, she typed 'Single woman, professional thirtysomething. That's very politically correct DM.'
'Thanks.' Jerry replied, hoping that girlnextdoor and pirate would respond.
'I'm just a girl,' V typed. 'Mid twenties and totally single.'
Jax watched the responses blink. 'I'm in my late twenties, a man and also unattached. Perhaps we should consider forming a club of the available and unwanted.' He added. Three people across the town of Port Charles smiled.
As Jerry drummed his fingers on the keyboard, he wondered how to coax the next responses out of his intrepid band of internet folks. 'And what are your stories?' he asked. 'I fell for the right person at the wrong time. She went back to her husband. It was good while it lasted.' Admitting that in a room of strangers made him feel a little better about things.
Alexis's heart went out to this stranger. She could almost feel the pain in his typed words.
'For me, it was a case of my ex not being able to get over his ex as well. She and I are so different and I felt compared to her. We mutually decided to break it off and are friends.'
V sensed a lull in the typing and jumped in. 'I haven't had a serious relationship in awhile. No one interested is anyone I want to date. I have high expectations I'm told.'
'High expectations aren't bad.' Jerry replied. 'If you kiss a frog you look for a princess next time or a prince.'
'He's right.' Alexis agreed liking the rapport they all shared.
Jax realized he couldn't be as honest as he wanted to be, so he took his thoughts back to when Brenda had left him for Sonny. 'My story is that she was in love with another man, a different man from me.' He hadn't really lied; he had just put a different spin on the truth.
Felicia Jones put her children Maxie and Georgie to bed early. Both children had had a very long day, from school, to the babysitter, and then a call from their father. Felicia and her ex husband Frisco had been divorced some years now, but an irrefutable bond had formed between them, with the birth of two beautiful girls, and the subsequent illness of one that culminated in a heart transplant. Due to the nature of Frisco's work the girls didn't see him as much as they all would have liked but he called faithfully. Still, single parenthood was very hard on Felicia. She found the nights to be the loneliest. Her thoughts drifting, Felicia thought about Mac Scorpio. She and Mac were the best of friends and she had even convinced it was going into the more than friends arena until he started dating she-cat Katherine Bell.
Shaking her head ruefully, Felicia turned on her computer. She was planning on writing the great American novel and failing that the great American romance and she used her evenings to write. She also used Port Charles online and the internet for research. Deciding to check out Elizabethan England menus online, she clicked the Port Charles Online icon, hoping she could get out of the rut her life was in.
Chapter 3
Felicia finished connecting to the internet and entered the chatroom as aztecprincess and looked at all the names there. Ooh this is hopping, she thought as she typed a hello.
'Hi there az.' Jerry typed. 'We're being the young and lonely tonight. Have any dating woes to share'
Felicia chuckled. Dating, yeah right! She hadn't been interested in anyone for some time, with the exception of Mac, and things weren't exactly romantic there. They never had been, despite Felicia's wishes. Deciding to make dm wait, she walked into the kitchen for a rice krispie treat and coffee before returning.
'Hi Dm.' She replied. She liked Dangermouse, the unofficial leader of the chatroom very much. Wondering what he was like, she found herself smiling. 'I haven't dated in awhile. ' She admitted, wondering for the thousandth time how a computer screen loosened people's inhibitions. If she was in a bar she would never be this forthcoming. If she was in a bar she probably wouldn't even talk to any of the people in this chatroom.
Felicia wondered who the people in the room were. Dangermouse might be Sonny Corinthos or Jason Morgan. Fablady, she'd never seen that name before. Maybe Bobbie, but wasn't Bobbie with Stefan? And pirate who could that be? Maybe that smarmy Jerry Jacks. Felicia shook her head, ignoring her naturally curious thoughts.
'You'll fit right in then.' Flashed on the screen, followed by 'Are you 20 or 30 something?' Felicia smiled at Dm's question.
'I'm 30 something.' She typed back 'And you Dm.'
Jerry smiled at that. Aztec could flirt with the best of them and he loved getting at her. 'Fab and I are thirties while pirate and girl are still youthful in their twenties.' He took a sip of his drink and waited to see if he would be again well met.
'Old enough to drink, gamble and do everything fun.' She replied knowing that she was getting a rise out of him. As pirate, fablady and girlnextdoor joined in the conversation she realized she really liked this group and relaxed into a fun night of conversation.
V was having a wonderful time chatting with her newfound internet friends when her phone rang, disconnecting her internet connection. "Drat." She muttered as she grabbed the phone. "V here."
"Hi Venus guess who?" Thought Jax had been having a blast in the chatroom his thoughts had turned to V and he had felt he needed to connect with her. Unsettled and not knowing why, he had dialed her number.
V took a deep breath. The Australian purr took her breath away for a moment. "Hello Jax how are you tonight?" She turned down the demo that was playing in the background.
"I'm good." Jax replied typing a few words on his computer. "I was just doing some work here and realized we hadn't spoken in awhile.
"You're right we haven't." V agreed, only now realizing how much she had missed him. "How have you been Jax, really been? Is everything going well?" These were the times when she wished she still were working for him, so that she could keep an eye on him. Even though he and she weren't involved, through no lack of desire on her part, V liked to make sure Jax was ok.
"I'm doing better V. Every day, I do better."
"What about every night?" She asked him gently, knowing from experience that nights were the worst. When V's parents had died she and her sister had the worst times at night.
"They aren't perfect but they are getting better Venus. One day at a time."
"One day at a time." She replied as her call waiting beeped. "Drat I should get that Jax."
"Work awaits anyway. I'll stop by the gatehouse tomorrow V." he said and returned to the chatroom.
With a sigh, V clicked over and took her next call. "Hello?" She said with a little annoyance in her voice. This wasn't the way she'd wanted her call with Jax to end.
"Venus? Is that you?"
"Atlanta?" V said in shock. She hadn't spoken with her younger sister in the longest time. When they lost their parents as teens, V had buckled down and become more serious, even giving up her dreams while Atlanta became much more the wild child. As they were living with their senile Aunt Hortense, it wasn't hard for Atlanta to break the rules and break them she did, often. After Aunt Hortense died and V had moved to Port Charles, they hadn't spoken more than a couple times. Her fashion designer sister was hard to pin down and secretly V wondered if Atlanta was in trouble.
"Yeah it's me." Her sister replied. "Guess where I'm moving? Port Charles. Deception needs a new designer and they just hired me." She said nervously wondering how V would react.
"Oh wow." V said in shock. "Atlanta that's great! Do you need a place to stay?"
"Everything's taken care of V" Atlanta replied shortly. "But thanks for offering. I'll be in tomorrow. I'll call you ok?"
"Ok bye sis." V said confused. She redialed in to Port Charles Online, perturbed by the tone in her sister's voice.
"It's done." Atlanta hung up the phone and moved to the older man smoking a thin cigar. "Cesar what is so important in Port Charles that we need to drop everything and go there like this." Idly, she caressed his naked chest wondering how she had gotten here. She loved Cesar but also feared him. She knew how lethal he could be both in and out of bed.
"Port Charles has a great many things of interest." Cesar replied, stroking her hair much as one would stroke a pet. "The Jacks family, the Cassadines and of course, "His voice lowered to a tone that sent a chill up Atlanta's spine, "The Spencers and Scorpios."
Atlanta nodded and wisely didn't say a word, curling up beside him even as she wondered how she could get out of this mess alive.
Chapter 4
Ned Ashton fidgeted on his corporate jet. They were flying in a holding pattern over Port Charles and had been for the last hour. Some other jet had precedence over the airspace. While this was a rarity in Port Charles, Ned had things to do. Looking down at his leather pants, he chuckled. What was he supposed to say to V and Jake? Gee I was late because my corporate jet got caught in a holding pattern. Some days his two jobs conflicted each other too much and Ned found himself thinking he was a set of twins-one a laid back musician and the other a cutthroat corporate CEO. Mentally shaking his thoughts back to reality he realized the jet had left the holding pattern and was landing. "Finally." He muttered.
Atlanta watched Cesar warily. She had never intended to fall for the man. This was just supposed to be an assignment, a job. But somehow her heart became entangled with his black one and she didn't know if she could get out of this entanglement alive and whole. Now that they were in Port Charles, Cesar was going to be impossible, revenge foremost in his mind. As their plane landed, she quietly gathered their bags and followed her boss, her master in some ways off the plane.
Cesar surveyed the private jet terminal of the Port Charles airport. He was here, he was back now and this time, this time they would all pay. Lighting one of his thin cigars he waited for Atlanta to join him.
Ned jogged down the jetway and into the terminal, looking at his watch anxiously. Without looking ahead to check that the way was clear, he moved on, running into someone. They fell in a tangle of arms legs and baggage.
"I am so sorry." Ned said, offering the woman a hand. She looked up at him and his eyes and dimples just took her breath away.
"It's ok. I wasn't looking. I was overloaded." Atlanta stammered hazarding a glance into his eyes. Bad idea, she admonished silently as her heartbeat quickened.
"Are you ok?" Ned inquired looking at the young woman. Coppery hair and big hazel eyes framed a delicate yet determined face. He was immediately enchanted.
"Fine." Atlanta replied, a little out of breath. "And you?"
"Better than I've been in a long while." Ned said meeting her eyes. "I'm Ned Ashton." He said shaking her hand.
Cesar had had enough. "Come on." He said pulling Atlanta up and away. She gave Ned a look that clearly said she was sorry even as he rose to offer assistance. When she saw what he intended to do, she shook her head. There was no reason he needed to anger her boss.
"What's your name?" Ned called after her.
Cesar looked at Atlanta. "Don't get any smart ideas young lady."
"Yes sir." She told him, demoralized for the moment. Casting one look back at Ned, she sent him a sad smile.
Jax was walking outside the Outback when V ran by him. "Venus!" He called.
V stopped suddenly and turned, looking at Jax. "Hi Jax. I'm on my way to Jakes. How are you?" She asked breathlessly. "Don't call me Venus." She added as afterthought.
"Ned?" He asked, something in his voice that made V think he might just be jealous.
"Yes. He has a show there tonight. Do you want to come?"
Jax considered saying no, but he was worried about V with the Jakes crowd. "Yeah I'll be glad to come. "What time does he go on?"
"At seven." She said and started to walk away. "See you then Jax."
"Until then." He echoed watching her, perturbed by these new feelings. I'm just worried about her, Jax told himself as she walked away. Still he couldn't help feeling foolish as he went back to the penthouse, changed clothes and arrived at Jakes in twenty minutes, pulling into the parking lot behind her.
"Hi again." Jax said falling into step with V. He was shocked when she whirled on him and her eyes flashed alarm.
"Hi." V said warily pulling back a little computer printout from the night before in her hand. She couldn't let Jax see this. He'd just laugh at her.
"So…where's Ned?" Jax asked lamely. They had never had a problem speaking before and he was frustrated and concerned that they had reached this point.
"Ned?" V asked focused on the night before. "Oh he'll be here soon. What are you drinking tonight Jax?" She asked going up to the bar. He shook his head and mumbled something, his attention still on V and the state of their friendship.
Ned arrived at Jakes his mind firmly on the woman at the airport. There had been something about her that had captivated him more than anyone recently, a tough thing to do especially when he was in the not looking phase. He had really cared about Alexis, but he wasn't stupid. They were two ships passing in the night, sips that had docked and had a wonderful time. They both had too much emotional and physical cargo to make it in the long run. Ned found himself looking over his past relationships, Monica, Dawn, Lois, Katherine, Alexis, was he fatally flawed in romance? Glancing down at his attire he couldn't help wondering if the dual life had a lot to do with his roamntic failures. How many women could go from board meeting to roadhouse bar without batting an eyelash.
Walking up to Jax and V, Ned wondered when the star-crossed lovers would get together. "Nice night for a show, or to fall in love." He remarked as he approached his friends.
"Yeah." Jax and V both replied, each thinking about the nameless face at a keyboard they had connected with last night.
Diana comes to Jakes and connects with Jax and V Jerry and Alexis meet Faison online.
Chapter 5
After they'd arrived at the Port Charles hotel Cesar had taken some raw opium and fallen asleep. Where the man found raw opium Atlanta would never know. Still, she was thankful for this interruption. This would allow her some time to get out and explore without his breath on the back of her neck. She shuddered and again wondered how she had gotten in bed with that vile disgusting creature. He owned her for now and she knew it.
Atlanta double checked before leaving the suite. She knew that Cesar might only sleep for awhile but he couldn't fault her for leaving if he hadn't told her otherwise. She looked in the mirror, at herself before she left. Her emerald green blouse and black jeans set off shoulder length natural curls. She was attractive but unassuming. She had to be with her history with Cesar.
Walking into the lobby, her mind on her sister and the man at the airport Atlanta asked the concierge where a good down home place to catch some music and have a beer would be. She had considered the Port Charles Grille but that seemed like a businessman's restaurant and she just wanted to relax. She was given the name of a bar called Jakes and decided to take a cab there. "If I like it I'll call V and have her meet me there." She said. Upon arriving at the rather seedy joint, Atlanta almost changed her mind. This place looked kind of rough.
V was deep in thought about her internet friend as she sat at the table with an also silent Jax and Ned. Ned might be worried about the show or whatever scrape the Quartermaines had gotten into, but Jax was very uncharacteristically silent. Just as V roused herself from her thoughts, the door of the club opened and her sister walked in. In shock for a moment, V could only stare. Her sister looked so different, her sparkle and confidence dimmed.
Ned had a feeling that raised the hair on the back of his neck and he too turned to the door. He was amazed to see the woman from the airport walk in and immediately strode over to her. "So we meet again." He said with a smile that showed his dimples. When he realized her gaze was focused beyond him, he turned to see V standing and moving to the woman. As they embraced, Ned and Jax shared equally perplexed expressions.
"Atlanta!" V exclaimed, half in shock and half in a mothering tone. Her sister had often seemed to be a lost soul and no time even more so than now. Something was going on with Atlanta and it wasn't good at all.
"Hi V." Atlanta replied hugging her sister close. It was only then that she saw the dark haired stranger from the airport. She risked a small smile, then emboldened that Cesar was not there, a brighter one still.
"Who's Dimples?" She asked V, motioning to Ned.
Turning around, V saw Ned standing almost on top of the girls. "Ned Ashton, my sister Atlanta Ardanowski. Atlanta this is my boss Ned." V said wondering if she was being singed by the obvious attraction crackling between her sister and boss.
"Atlanta Ardanowski." Ned repeated as a small smile turned wider. She was blushing just the slightest bit and that endeared her to him all the more. Making a mental note to ask V about the imposing and severe man Atlanta had accompanied, Ned extended his hand to her. "Atlanta beautiful name for such a stunning woman." He said quietly, flashing dimples as he bent to kiss the hand she offered to shake.
Blushing more deeply, Atlanta lightly tugged her hand from his, and looked to her sister. She wanted to be introduced to the blond as well. Catching her gaze and emitting a small smile, V locked arms with her sister and pulled her to the table.
"This is Jasper Jacks." She announced grandly. "Jax, my sister Atlanta." She said, wondering if her attraction for the man was written all over her delicate features.
As Jax looked down at the two ladies, he noted the strong resemblance, but also spied something in Atlanta's eyes that reminded him so much of Jerry. The woman had something to hide. "Hello Atlanta." He said softly, wondering why V had never mentioned having a sister when they obviously were so close. Sometimes this woman had so many secrets and others. She was an open book.
"Jax? Your former employer?" Atlanta confirmed with her sister. At V's nod, she let out a small whoop and in a stage whisper, said. "I had no idea he was so good looking V!"
Hearing this all Jax could do was blush while Ned gave him a teasing look. Taking a sip of his beer he watched the two women whispered frantically, no doubt about him. Jax walked a few paces over to Ned and leaned in close. "Are you all right. You look rather starstruck."
Ned nodded and smiled, never taking his eyes off the enchanting Atlanta. "She and I met in the airport. It was quite an interesting meeting until some guy dragged her off." He shook his head, trying to rid himself of that image. "He was manhandling her Jax and something about him didn't sit right with me."
Watching the women thoughtfully, Jax nodded. Write down everything you remember about this guy and I'll do some research. Things don't seem right to me either, but I can't quite put my finger on what the problem could be."
Emily Quartermaine pulled Elizabeth Webber to her desktop computer in her messy bedroom at the mansion. "Come on you need to check out Port Charles Online." She said softly.
As the girls sat at the computer, Emily logged in and used the name PrincesGirl.
"PrincesGirl?" Elizabeth asked, speaking for the first time. She hadn't really wanted to come over to the mansion but Emily and Nikolas were doing their level best to keep her head above water. Since Lucky's death, Liz has been merely going through the motions.
"Yeah." Emily giggled a little. "See before Nikolas shacked up with Katherine Bell I really liked him, but everything's changed now." Liz nodded in agreement. She knew just how much everything changed. Once she had thought forever was Lucky but now everything seemed so uncertain. The only thing she knew is that she had to go on, to honor Lucky in some way, as hard as that was right now.
"Ok." Liz tried not to sigh. "Are we going to chat tonight?"
"Yes." Emily replied. "I'm been speaking to this really nice guy named Chance for the last few weeks and I told him to meet me here at nine."
In a small room, Lucky Spencer stared at his computer screen. He had been in this prison for two months now, held by a man that by all rights was dead to the world years ago. What Faison's agenda was, Lucky didn't know. He felt foolishly grateful for the few luxuries granted him. Though he was strictly monitored, he was granted access to the Internet and chatrooms. Though his messages were delayed as they were screened for every possible means of alerting others to his plight, Lucky still felt connected with the world. He entered the chatroom at Port Charles online and looked for PrincesGirl.
'Hi there.' Lucky typed when he saw his favorite internet friend was present.
'Hi How are you?' Emily typed. 'How are things?'
'Nothing changes.' Lucky replied. 'Nothing stays the same. What a tangled web we all weave.'
Chapter 6
Emily stared at the screen and sighed. "I think he's really sheltered Elizabeth. There's something about him that makes me wonder. Some days he seems so sad."
"Like us?" Liz questioned quietly.
Emily leaned over and hugged her friend tightly. "Sometimes I forget how hard this is for you. I can tell him I need to go." She said quickly, even though she wanted Elizabeth to meet her internet friend.
"No really that's ok. Tell me about your friend. What's it like just typing to each other like this." She asked curiously. "Do you feel like you can get to know someone that way?"
"I can and have. Just watch." Emily said encouragingly. 'What kind of webs have you woven today? Done anything fun?' she typed.
Lucky let out a small chuckle as he read the words on the screen. 'No.' He typed in reply. 'Dad is out of town and I got grounded.' That was all he dared say. If he got too close to the truth he knew that Faison would shut down his only connection to the outside world. 'What about you? How's your prince?'
Emily giggled as she looked at Liz. "You know that he isn't my prince right?" She said with an urgent note in her voice.
"Whatever you say." Liz weakly teased. She knew Emily had a crush on Nikolas for awhile, but she wouldn't push the issue if her friend was embarrased.
"Thanks. Please please don't tell him." She begged quietly. 'He isn't my prince. He's just the brother of my best friend and he happens to be Royalty.' She typed.
Lucky stared at the screen in shock. "Emily?" He whispered, searching his mind for some code that Faison might not pick up on right away. 'I thought all princes were named horrible names like Raoul and names like that ' he finally said, hoping the reference was subtle enough to be picked up yet not too obvious.
"Raoul?" Emily said in shock. Something had seemed off about this person from the beginning and now she was more convinced than ever now. "Something like that.' She replied back. 'But I have to see my friend Elizabeth home now and go visit my other friend's dad. Bye Chance.' When she typed Chance it all solidified to her. 'See you here soon. Good Luck.' She typed with a smile, knowing her friend would pick up on the hints she was handing him.
'See you around princesGirl.' Lucky typed back as he allowed a faint smile to break through his tension tightened features. She knew he was trying to give her clues. She knew he was alive!
Jerry Jacks spared a murderous gaze to his computer. "You bloody hunk of metal. Why did you have to go and break. I'm bored and there is nothing on the telly." He sighed and looked at a book for a couple of minutes then grabbed his keys. "I'm going out and I'm not coming back until you've fixed yourself or I've purchased your replacement." He threatened as he slammed the door shut. Jasper wasn't even around. What was Jerry to do? As he walked off the elevator he decided to stop at the Grille.
"Well hello counselor." Jerry approached a familiar form haunched over legal breifs. "I excpected you to be at the Eddie Maine concert, or does he now go musically by Ned Ashton as well?" Jerry smirked as he settled in a chair across from Alexis.
"Mr Jacks do you need something?" Alexis snapped. She didn't want to be working here but if she was in her room her computer was distracting her. To be fair it wasn't the computer that was the problem, it was her interest in one computer user-Dangermouse. She had spent all day wondering who he could be.
"The pleasure of your company." Jerry suggested. "I'm bloody bored and could use a friendly face. Of course yours isn't the friendliest right now but let me buy you a drink and we'll see what we can do about that."
Alexis sighed and pulled her glasses off, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she nodded. "That sounds nice actually. A gin and tonic please." She said as she placed her pile of paperwork back into her briefcase. "And by the way, Mr Ashton and I are no more so no I would not be attending his concert."
"Oh I didn't know. I'm sorry." Jerry said with a serious expression replacing his former merriment. "Really Alexis I am."
"Such is life." Alexis replied with a small smile. "Now what about that drink?"
"Come on everyone let's sit down." Ned's hazel eyes were somber as he conveyed concerns to Jax about V's sister's well being. He knew the guy at the airport was very bad news.
Just as Atlanta sat down her cell phone rang. The whole table saw her tense up and V reached for her sister's hand.
"Hello?" Atlanta's voice trembled.
"If you value your child's life you will come back to the hotel now." Faison said in a snarl.
Atlanta shuddered. "Yes sir, be right there sir. I'm sorry." She said as she hung up the phone. "I need to go." She whispered before basically running out.
"Something is wrong with her." V said turning tear filled eyes on Ned and Jax. "Will you both help me?"
"We're already on it V." Jax assured quietly.
Chapter 7
"Come on Liz we need to go to Luke's club." Emily said as she pulled her best friend's arm gently. She felt compelled to tell Luke everything about her new friend, the man she was certain was Lucky, but she wasn't sure how Elizabeth would take the news.
"I'm sorry Em, I can't." Elizabeth said. She was so raw and tired. Hearing Emily talking about Nikolas was further draining to her. All she wanted to do, all she needed to do was to take a little time and space for herself. Unable to deal with her friend, she just whispered a goodnight before leaving.
Emily watched Liz in silence as she rushed out of her room and soon heard the resounding thud of the front door opening and closing. "I wish I knew where he was." She said in frustration as she grabbed some warm clothes and opened her window. It seemed prophetic that she make this journey outside in a tribute to her lost, yet very alive friend.
"Lucky we will find you. Just hang on." She said in a firm voice as if to will strength into her friend. It only took her a short time to maneuver her way across town to Luke's club and soon she was standing in front of the dazed and very perplexed elder Spencer. "Mr. Spencer I have something shocking to tell you." Emily said quietly.
~*~
"You're on it? On what?" V repeated as she looked from Jax and Ned. "What can you be on? What do you two know?" V asked quietly as tears formed in her warm brown eyes. "What do you know that I don't know about my own sister?"
Ned sighed and waved Jake over for a round of drinks before slipping an arm around his friend's shoulder. "I ran into your sister at the airport. She was with a guy."
"A guy." V replied slowly. "Tell me more." She settled into Ned's embrace, drawing comfort from the feel of his arms around her.
Jax gave Ned a small glare. He didn't quite know why, but the sight of Ned's arms around the redhead were causing some conflicting feelings in Jax. Sure, She was just his assistant but he wanted to be the one offering comfort and love to her. He wanted to be the one wiping away the lone tear trickling down her cheek.
"Well." Ned said in a softly voice, his fingertip brushing over her cheek to sweep away the moisture staining her cheek. "This was a man in his forties and he seemed like her…. boss" He said as he searched for words that wouldn't upset V. "She was with him V, but she didn't look very happy with him and he did…" Ned trailed off. "Boss her around some." He finished.
V sighed and ran her hand through her auburn tresses. She met Jax's eyes, unsettled by the intensity of his gaze. "Did you get his name Ned? And did he seem to be emotionally coercing her at all?"
Ned took a couple of sips of his beer before answering. This was so hard. "V he seemed to be dominating her. When he told her to go, she went. When he made it clear that he didn't want her talking to me, she backed off."
"So who is he?" V asked thoughtfully as she fingered her papers. She pulled off the chat from the previous night and started writing on the back of it. Some things were more important than possible connections with men. "Tell me everything you have on him, Ned." She felt comfortable handling this like a police investigator.
"Physically, not a good looking man." Ned said as he conjured up an image of the creep that had been manhandling his woman. "European accent, long stringy graying hair, not a handsome face by a longshot. He's tall but very thin and looked scruffy."
"Oh God." V whispered. "Ned tell me more." She said urgently as she started sketching a monster from her past.
~*~
Atlanta hurried back to the hotel at a near run. Waiting for a cab was a luxury she couldn't afford. Every minute she was late would be taken out of her hide at this point and with V in town, she couldn't afford to put her sister in danger. Hopefully with Jax and Ned around V would be protected. Atlanta knew she would have her hands full with Cesar.
She reached the hotel room door and took a deep breath before slipping the key card into the lock. Cesar would be most displeased and she was certain to have her insolence and independence taken out in strips of hide. Atlanta sighed, wondering for the millionth time how she had come to be in this position.
"Cesar I am very sorry." She started even as she opened the door. She was unprepared though not surprised as he yanked her into the hotel room. "Atlanta Devane Ardanowski, you push me every bit as much as your mother did, and you know what her eventual end was."
Chapter 8
Luke watched his son's friend Emily as she shifted from foot to foot in front of him. "You have something to tell me? Well, out with it then." He said as he watched the young woman. His son's friend was acting very strangely indeed. "Emily what is it?' Luke asked, this time a little more sharply as the girl stood before him.
"Please sit down." Emily said as she finally located her voice. It was so hard to talk past the lump in her throat. How would Mr. Spencer take this? Would he even trust her? Emily was thankful that she had the chat logs from her conversations with Lucky.
As Luke settled into his office seat, he eyed Emily. Was she using drugs again? Those Quartermaines, he thought to himself, allowing a slight shake of his head to be shown to the young woman. They were all certifiable except for Lila. This one hadn't been the same since she started mooning over the Cassadine prince, Luke reminded himself.
"I was on my computer tonight in a chat." Emily started, then met Luke's eyes. "Do you know what computer chats are like sir?"
"I can imagine Emily and it's Luke to you. I don't answer to sir and you know it." Luke said with an inpatient wave of his unlit cigar.
"I started talking to a guy on there named Chance." She said in a rush. "The way he talked, he knows a lot about me, and Luke, I need you to come back to the mansion with me." Emily finished.
"Why and what do you mean he knew a lot about you. Is someone stalking you darlin'? Those people on the computer are nuts." Luke confessed.
"No Luke, just please come on." Emily said in a desperate voice, wondering how she would sneak him in.
~*~
Felicia sighed and snapped her laptop open. Yet another day where her writing just hadn't come to her was at a close. She had more and more days like this one. They called it a writer's block but Felicia felt a more descriptive term was stopped labor. For her, writing was the equivalent to giving birth and the abrupt secession of the process had her as frustrated as if real labor had ceased. She had a deadline to meet and hadn't written a word all day. In fact, her ideas and creativity seemed to have dried up and Felicia didn't know how to get back on track.
She stared at her computer screen for a few moments before hitting the power button. Was she going to try to write or just relax? As solitaire started, Felicia remembered the Port Charles Online software and plugged her modem in. The girls were watching a movie and she was all alone, why not chat with some of the residents of the town?
As she signed on, she tried to recall her chat name and the room she'd been in…. wasn't it aztecprincess? She typed it in and nodded. That was it. Would any of her newfound chatmates be in the rooms tonight? She browsed the topics, then clicked on a room titled PortCharlesAlum.
"Who is this?" Frisco Jones muttered as someone came in a private chatroom he and Donely had set up. "I thought we made this thing private?" he yelled across the office part of the safehouse he, Anna Robert and Sean shared.
"Didn't we?' Sean asked as he approached. They were trying to monitor Port Charles' internet activities in the hopes of ferreting out Cesar Faison.
"That's the open chatroom. Remember you need to set up a rapport with the people, Friskybear." Robert teased.
"You don't like my name?" Frisco gave Robert a mock glare. "It's much better then DingoDung, where did you come up with that one?"
A dingo is an Australian dog." Robert recited, happy for this moment of lightheartedness. "And typifies who I am mate, just as China typifies my beautiful wife." Robert motioned to the sleeping form of Anna Devane.
"How's she doing?" Frisco asked gently. All kidding was aside now and the three men were united by their love and caring for the delicate woman with a steel will that sat slumbering in an oversized desk chair.
"Ever since we found out the trouble Atlanta is in, she's been pretty grim." Robert confessed. "You both know what lengths it would take to get us out of hiding and a problem with Robin, Atlanta or Venus would be the only thing that would bring us back." Robert tensed then tried to relax each muscle group, one buy one, starting with his back. "Robin is safe but our other girls are in trouble." He finished as he rolled each shoulder slowly.
"Even Venus?" Frisco asked as he wondered why the name aztecprincess was making alarm bells go off in his head.
"Even Venus. Do you think we want her with that money grubbing Jasper Jacks? That will give Faison way to get to V through Mr. Corporate Raider."
"Plus the hold he has on Atlanta." Frisco reminded.
Robert nodded grimly. "It will be a bloody miracle if we get both girls out of this mess alive and well."