Chapter 9.
Room 121, Hotel Concorde La Fayette, Paris, France.
Maxie stepped out of the bathroom and walked right into the small living room, stood in front of Lulu and smiled at her, "You can have your shower now, but there may not be a lot of hot water left."
Lulu looked at Maxie who was standing completely naked in front of her and forgot what she was going to say, "What in the hell are you doing? Put some clothes on for god sakes."
"Why?" Maxie asked, looking down proudly at her naked body, "I don't wear clothes at home after a shower, so why I should I change now?"
"Maybe because you aren't alone now." Lulu said, trying not to stare at Maxie's sexy body as she got to her feet, "I'm not asking, I'm telling you to put something on or I'll do it for you."
"Oh right. Like you could." Maxie laughed and walked slowly over to the balcony, checking over her shoulder to see Lulu watching her every step.
Storming after Maxie, Lulu stood beside her as they looked out into the beautiful clear Paris skies, "I don't know what you're trying to prove here, but your little peep show is really very lame."
"I'm not doing anything. This is how I like to relax after a shower." Maxie said innocently, looking down and smiling at her naked body, "If seeing me naked is this upsetting for you, perhaps you should go lie down for a while and cry yourself to sleep."
"Oh shut up." Lulu snapped, furious at Maxie's insinuations, "Fine, if you want to parade around like that go for it. See if I care."
"Good." Maxie smiled, turning to face Lulu, "Now, let's discuss the sleeping arrangements."
Lulu gasped, once again stunned by what came out of Maxie's rather cute mouth, "What does that mean?"
"If you had bothered to look around, Kate has put us in a one bedroom suite." Maxie smiled, walking into the living room knowing Lulu's eyes were all over her, "So since we know I'm getting the bed, you can either share it, or sleep on this lovely lumpy sofa here."
"What are you trying to do here?" Lulu asked bluntly, "I know you are somehow into girls now, so is this some kind of weird seduction technique or are you just trying to mess with me?"
Maxie couldn't help but smile at Lulu's observations, "So you know about me and Sam, so what. It wasn't a secret. You're afraid I'm after you now? I can't think of anything more amusing than the idea of kissing you."
"Oh, I'm that repulsive am I?" Lulu said, not even realizing how she sounded.
"Would you rather say I wanted to kiss you?" Maxie said as she stepped up close to Lulu.
Lulu stammered to find something to say, but instead stood silent as she felt Maxie's breasts pushing up against her own.
"You seem a little nervous, cat got your tongue?" Maxie asked with a sexy whisper as she moved her lips right up to Lulu's, "The closer I get, the more I can see that you actually have very nice soft lips. Maybe it wouldn't be so horrible to kiss them after all."
"Maxie." Lulu yelled, pulling away from the naked blonde, "Whatever you're doing, stop. That's enough. I am not kissing you so just keep away from me."
"Gladly." Maxie said with a big smile, turning to walk back to the bedroom, where she stopped and smiled again before slamming the door behind her.
Lulu sat down on the sofa and touched her lips, wondering just what she would've done had Maxie actually kissed her. Strangely enough, the idea didn't terrify her at all, which did terrify her a whole lot.
General Hospital.
Elizabeth bumped into Leyla as she returned from checking on a patient, "Hi, is the party for Anna still a go?"
"Yes, why, are you going?" Leyla asked, still not grasping the idea of tact.
"Well yes, Robin invited me. Is that a problem?" Elizabeth wondered, sensing some seriously negative vibes coming from Leyla.
Leyla knew what she wanted to say, but just as she was going to answer Nadine walked up to her. So she smiled at Nadine, "I was just talking to Elizabeth about Robin's party. She'll be there to."
"Yes, I know that." Nadine said as she looked over at Elizabeth and then back at Leyla, "Did I interrupt something?"
"No, I was just on my way out when I bumped into Lizzie." Leyla added, smiling politely at Elizabeth before giving Nadine a hug, "Anyway, I should get going, I'm starving."
Nadine called out Leyla's name but could tell she wasn't going to stop and then turned her attention to Elizabeth, "So what did Leyla have to say to you?"
"Not much really. She seemed surprised that I was going to Robin's party. I got the impression she wasn't happy about it, but I have no idea why."
"Well, this is kind of embarrassing, but she has this idea that you flirt with me."
"What? Why would she think that?" Elizabeth said, stunned at Nadine's comment, yet quickly became unsure of herself, "I don't, do I?"
"Honestly I don't know." Nadine said with a laugh, "We get along well when we're together, but Leyla seems to think she's seen you putting your hand on my arm and we do laugh a lot and I guess she got a little jealous."
"I didn't even realize I did that." Elizabeth said, trying to remember back to the last time she had talked to Nadine in a social situation, "If I do it, it's not to flirt, I must do it without even thinking. I have to talk to Leyla about this."
Nadine grabbed Elizabeth as she began to walk away, "No, you shouldn't do that."
"Why's that?"
"Well, there's one small detail that I haven't shared with you yet that Leyla bases her jealousy on."
Elizabeth could not have looked more confused as she stared back at Nadine, "There's more?"
"If it wasn't embarrassing before, it sure is now." Nadine sighed, moving slightly away from Elizabeth, "Um, I told Leyla that I admired you and she took it the wrong way. I do admire you for being able to raise two young boys while working and dealing with the divorce and the mob distractions that seem to come from knowing Jason. But, I admit that I also think you are a very beautiful woman and that's all Leyla seems to focus on."
"Oh, well I didn't know any of that. Still, I think I can straighten this all out for Leyla. We are just friends and you are happy with Leyla, right? So I need to reassure her that nothing has happened nor will it."
"Well that's pretty final, but you're right, it might help if she heard it from you." Nadine nodded, agreeing with Elizabeth as they walked down the corridor together.
Leyla watched them walk away and put her cell phone to her ear, "Nadine just left with Elizabeth, but I think it's clear that Elizabeth is no longer thinking about Jason."
"Is that so? She could be seeing him in secret. Are you positive she is out of his life for good?"
"I can't be 100% sure, but I'm 99% sure. She was happily with Lulu and even then she's known to have had a love/hate relationship with Sam and I've come to find out she even kissed her sworn enemy Maxie Jones, so I think her days of pining over Jason are history."
"Well, well, well." Brenda said as she lounged by the pool in a teenie weenie white bikini, "I always wondered about her, but it's good to know I don't have to eliminate her. Just keep her away from Jason and the mob and she'll live longer."
"What do you want us to do now?" Leyla asked, constantly looking around to see if she was being watched, "I think the only other person you asked us to keep an eye on that still has contact with Jason on a regular basis is Carly."
"That's not likely Jason's choice, but if she gets in the way then she will be dealt with. I've never liked her, but we may need to remove her from the situation until I've decided what to do about Jason."
"How are things going with Claudia? Has she accepted you as her new boss yet?"
"She will in time." Brenda said, sipping a glass of expensive champagne as she flipped through some files on her lap top, "Listen, have you had any contact with Anna Devane since you've been in Port Charles?"
"No, but I'm invited to her birthday party on Friday. Why?"
"I've heard rumblings that she's in town and she's out to take down the mob, which would be fine by me, but I've got too much tied up with this plan to let her get in the way. How close are you with Robin? Did you send her my little message?"
"Yes, we delivered your message, but we have no idea if she read it or how she reacted. We know her from work, but we don't really hang out a lot outside of work. Is Robin in danger?"
"Not if things go according to plan. I don't want anyone to get hurt, but I refuse to let this plan get derailed by Anna. If I need to use Robin to make that happen, then I will. If Robin starts questioning her mother about her many affairs with very young women I'm hoping this will preoccupy Anna enough for me to finish what I came here for." Brenda got to her feet, sat down her laptop and walked over to the balcony, "I want you to make contact with Anna at this party and do whatever it takes to get close to her. She's not likely to let you in quickly, but I think you are exactly her type and if she has any weakness at all, it's beautiful women."
"Okay, but I need to talk to Nadine first. We need to be on the same page here. If someone sees me flirting with Anna, they're going to tell Nadine and it'll be all over the hospital in no time, so we have to create a reason for this."
"Just do what you have to do." Brenda said bluntly, closing her cell phone as she saw Amelia pull up.
Amelia made her way through the large mansion, entering the spacious den hoping to find Claudia, but instead met up with another attractive brunette sitting on the edge of the large desk, "Who are you?"
"My name is Brenda and I know who you are, Amelia, so please, come in and have a seat." Brenda said, motioning to the chair right in front of her.
Feeling strangely uneasy, Amelia tried to keep her smile as she sat down in front of Brenda, avoiding her legs as they dangled inches away from her, "How do you know Claudia or are you here for Johnny?"
"I have business with the Zacchara's, but right now I'm more interested in learning about you." Brenda said softly, looking Amelia over very slowly.
"I don't think I want to talk about myself right now. I don't even know you. How is it you know my name but need me to tell you more about me? Somehow I think you know everything already."
"Oh, don't be a spoil sport; half the fun is hearing it all." Brenda smiled, hopping down to the ground and sliding onto Amelia's lap, "But, I admit I have done my homework and know a lot about you, but there's only so much information one can find out about a person, the rest has to come from them personally."
Amelia sat back in her chair as Brenda straddled her legs and inched forward until she was face to face with her, "Why do you need to know about me? I'm nobody really."
"That's hardly true or Claudia wouldn't find you so intriguing." Brenda said, her eyes zooming in on Amelia's cleavage, "Your beauty is part of it, but there has to be more to this than just that, so what can you do for Claudia? Is it your connections to her two biggest enemies? Does she want to use your TV station for something? Or does she really care about you?"
"I can't speak for her, but I do care about her and I'm feeling very uncomfortable with you sitting here like this." Amelia said, doing her best to avoid Brenda's healthy cleavage as she tried to extricate herself from the situation as politely as she could, "I think I should go. I'll get in touch with Claudia later."
Brenda smiled as Amelia rushed out of the room and quickly grabbed her cell phone from her purse. She clicked a number from her list and leaned back in her chair as she waited for a reply.
"Hello? Is that you Brenda? I told you not to call me on this line. This is the emergency line and if you don't stop I'm going to change it."
"Would you stop being so angry for one second and hear me out." Brenda said with an annoyed sigh, "I'm going to need you here. I thought I could handle things but there's just too much going on for me to do this alone."
"No. I told you 6 months ago I was done with that life. It almost got my son killed and I'm not going to risk anything like that again, not even for you."
"Look Olivia, you don't have to be in the mob to help. I have some people I need you to meet."
"Oh no, if you think you're going to toss me at some more of your mob clients you can forget it. What happened years ago happened because I thought we were in love and I foolishly agreed to things I can't believe I did, but how can you have the nerve to ask me that after all we've been through trying to patch things up over the years?"
"That's not what I meant." Brenda said as she gripped the desk firmly trying not to show her anger, "Have you heard of Amelia Joffe? She has some TV show on cable. She's a tall gorgeous redhead and I know how you like redheads."
"I've seen the show and yes she is beautiful, but if I know you, and we both know I do, you'll want me to sweet talk her into doing something she doesn't want to do, just so you can get something you want. How close am I?"
Brenda couldn't help but laugh at Olivia's dead on assessment of her request, "You are so cynical. Don't you want to come see Kate? I know you two have a lot of catching up to do. If Kate isn't enough to get you here, what about Sonny? Don't you have some unfinished business with him as well? I don't want to get all pushy here, but I'd really, really appreciate it if you could take some time and come visit me. I'll make it worth your while."
"Stop trying to buy me, I already feel cheap just talking to you." Olivia said as she hung her head, knowing full well what would happen if she ever said no to Brenda, "Fine, I'll come, but I'm not going to be seen with you, I won't make myself or my family a target. I won't be sleeping with anyone either, so if you still want me to come and have something else in mind, I'll start packing."
"Does that include me? The sleeping part that is?" Brenda asked with a wicked grin, before continuing, "Anyway, I'm sure I can find something for you to do, but you better bring an open mind, because I can only take so many no's before I get a little annoyed, okay sweetie?"
"Whatever, give me an address where we can meet and I'll call you when I get there." Olivia said with a resigned sigh, smiling as she looked up at the picture of her son on the refrigerator, wondering just what she was going to tell him this time.
End of Chapter 9.
