Chapter 4

"Well I see you finally decided to grace me with your presence. My time is billable and believe me, you will be charged for the forty-five minutes I have been sitting here waiting for you." Diane sassed.

Jason waved her off with his hand, "Whatever."

"Since we are on the subject I am going to give you advice, part legal and part personal… so it is billable." She smiled and Jason sat at his desk. "Stop being a stupid man! I don't know what is going on but ever since you had me take care of those items for your son and his mother you have turned into a self-destructive, juvenile… pig of a man. For god's sake Jason, shave!"

"I wish everyone would just leave me the hell alone. I pay you for legal counsel and anything beyond that is not billable. You are not my friend, Diane, you are my lawyer. I did not ask your opinion… nor do I want it." He spat. "Now, tell me about the waterfront property we talked about."

"It is no longer available." She stood from her chair and smoothed her hands over the front of her designer suit. She clucked her tongue and picked up a bottle of water from the minibar Jason had in his office. "I'm not saying all this as a friend Jason. I work for you and I cannot work for you if you are dead, so this is business. You are obviously on a self-destructive path and I value my current lifestyle. You pay me well, which I well deserve. That being said if you die then I need to spend even more money on a new suit for the funeral and have to go through the whole process of getting a new client, all things I don't want to deal with… well maybe the new suit, or perhaps a new pair of patent leather pumps from Christian Loubitan… Jimmy Choo…" she trailed off.

"Diane! Stop!" Jason yelled.

"Sorry, anyway… this is billable." She said retaking her seat.

He glared at her for a long minute before sighing. "Whatever, we are here to talk about business and that I all I wish to speak about right now, ok?" he growled.

Diane opened the folder in front of her and hat is exactly what they did. For the next couple hours they reviewed everything from his finances to business ventured he'd been looking into. By the time Diane left his office his headache was ten times worse then it had been when he'd gotten there.

He went through the rest of his meetings in a fog. He'd gotten used to going through the motions of his day. With the Russians gone for months and an agreement finally signed between his organization and the Zacharra's, which was being run buy his former best friend and associate, there weren't many confrontations or demanding issues. Since the agreement was signed there had been peace. Jason gave Sonny rights to Morgan shipping lanes with the strict orders that any shipments could not land within 50 miles of his territories. For months Sonny had stuck to the deal and had not given any indication of going against the agreement.

With the organization running well, it freed up Jason more time to think about things and fall into a deeper depression. At times he actually seemed to long for a dispute or breach so it could take his mind off things.

"Double." Jason said to the bartender and tapped on his empty glass. He had gotten it refilled countless times and the bartender seemed reluctant to fill it for him. Jason picked up the empty glass and waved it around before the bartender finally came over and filled it.

He was putting off going home, although he didn't know why. Perhaps part of him was afraid that Carly would be there again, maybe part of him thought his place held too many memories. Every room had a memory of Elizabeth, even Spinelli's room held a vivid memory from the night they made Jake.

Shaking his thoughts from his mind he threw back the tequila. Perhaps drinking this particular type of alcohol was self-torture in itself because it, too, brought back memories of that night. Jason lifted his glass in the direction of the bartender again. ""Make it Johnny blue instead."

The bar he was at was sure to have some good scotch. He originally was going to Jakes but decided to go somewhere he was sure to not run into someone he knew. This bar was on his way home and most of its patrons consisted of out of town businessmen since it was across the street from the Port Charles Hilton… Carly's competition. Jakes was not the type of place to carry a two hundred bottle of scotch but The Attic… or The Cellar, whatever this place was called, was sure to.

The bartender again case him an apprehensive glance. He seemed to have an internal battle about whether to serve Jason another drink. Finally the bartender reached to the shelf containing his premium spirits and pulled out a small bottle of Johnny Walker Blue. He grabbed a fresh glass and poured a small amount in the glass. He placed it in front of Jason. "I'm sorry but this is the last drink I can serve you."

"Excuse me?" Jason hissed.

The bartender seemed nervous, "It's policy."

"Policy?"

"Look, I know who you are and I don't want any trouble. But I could lose my job if I continue serving you. You are obviously drunk and if you leave here and something happens I am liable."

Jason rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to crash my car, I'll call a cab. Just keep them coming." Jason growled and downed the glass. It dawned on him what the bartender said, what did he mean that he knows who he is.

He looked around the bar which was now extremely crowded then his gaze turned back to the bartender who was serving another customer. Jason rolled his eyes when two men dressed in business suits ordered what appeared to be a couple of fruity, girly drinks. The effect of the scotch was already hitting him as the warmth was felt all the way in his feet. The bartender looked in his direction and Jason pointed at the empty glass in front of him.

The bartender shook his head and turned away from Jason. He stood from his stool and yelled, "Hey!" as he tapped the glass on the granite bar.

After a few minutes he finally took a few steps in Jason's direction, "I'm sorry Mr. Morgan but I can no longer serve you. Let me get your tab."

Jason could feel the heat building. When he approached Jason with a check in his hand Jason snapped. He grabbed him by the collar of his fruity golf shirt and pulled the man over the counter.

"Pour me another fucking drink!" Jason growled in a low voice.

The bartender did not speak, his eyes could not hide the fear he was obviously feeling. Jason could not stop the anger. The one thing that he was asking for, he could not get. He wanted so much, there were so many things that were fucked up in his life but alcohol was the only thing he would let in, the only therapy he allowed himself to partake in. Now this asshole behind the bar felt like he can tell Jason that he'd had enough. There was no amount of alcohol that could be enough to soothe what he was feeling. The least he could do is try to take the edge off.

Next thing he knew he felt four hands on his biceps and he was bring pulled away from the stool. Two bouncers had come up behind him and drug him back a few feet.

"It's ok!" the bartender said to the two large men that were holding Jason. In a sober state he would have been able to take them both without either of them knowing what hit them but tonight he didn't have the energy to even try.

"He was just leaving." The bartender voiced and nodded to the bouncers. "Would you please call him a cab?"

Before they could Jason pulled his arms free and left.

Jason did not remember his ride home but he made it and that was all that mattered. His key was having trouble sliding into the lock. For a minute he tried to remember if he had asked Cody to have his locks changed but it must have slipped his mind because the key finally went in and turned. He drug himself through the doorway, pushed the door closed and looked up to see Carly again sitting on his couch. "Fuuuuck Carly!" he growled. The he noticed it, the couch was flipped back over and back in it's place as was the rest of the furniture. How could Carly do all that, he was shocked. Then it happened… it was all in slow motion. The top of her head came into view from the armchair in front of him, her long brunette hair, then when she turned her head, her beautiful, angelic face. Her expression did not disguise her emotion, worry.

Jason leaned back into the door and sighed.