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Chapter 10

Three weeks, six days, and fifteen hours. That was how long ago Jason had walked away. How pathetic was she that she knew that to the hour? Elizabeth wiped down the already spotless counter once more before looking at the time. In another hour she could close the diner for the night and go home to her empty studio. That was a good thing since Elizabeth just wanted to be alone right now.

It wasn't healthy and she knew that, but the one thing she wanted she didn't have. What she did have was home, her art, and work. Nothing else. The thought of even trying to have a social life held absolutely no appeal. She didn't even have school to distract her. That the missed week of work last month and the new couch had meant she couldn't register for the winter semester. She never got that second job because it meant time away from Jason.

Last week she had a sleepover with Emily at the mansion and her friend had suggested that Elizabeth take the bull by the horn. That it was time to go get her man. Emily had to fight to be with Zander and she was glad she did, it was time that Liz did the same. It was time that she stopped letting the guy who had made her a complete wreck call the shots.

Elizabeth had just nodded and agreed that her friend was right. All the while wishing she could tell her friend that the man in question was her older brother. That she and Jason couldn't be together because of the business but he had told her he was coming back for her. That as much as she wanted to be with him it wasn't safe just yet, but he was working to change that.

She wanted to tell the exact same thing to Carly and shut the annoying bitchy blonde up.

The door opened and Elizabeth gave an inward groan as Carly breezed into the diner. Speak of the devil. The other woman was only here to cause drama. At least they didn't have an audience this time. "Hello Carly." Elizabeth wasn't going to back down or be cowed. Carly didn't scare her.

"Coffee." The blonde said taking a stool. "Put on a fresh pot."

Turning to do so Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Here you go." She gave a wide fake smile as she placed the cup down. Elizabeth also poured a cup for Johnny who'd followed the annoying woman in. Behind Carly's back he gave her a quick grin.

"I'm not paying for that." Carly treated the guards like servants, the fact that Johnny might want coffee never even entered her mind.

Reaching into the tip jar Elizabeth pulled out the correct amount. Normally she'd just give him the cup no charge, like she did for Emily's guard, but Carly would most likely make a stink about that was well. She'd probably be accused of stealing the coffee. "There, can I get you anything else?"

Looking the brunette in the eye Carly pushed her cup over spilling the hot liquid everywhere. "Oops." She said with a smirk. "Guess you should clean that up." She'd been told to stay away from Elizabeth, something she had no intention of doing. The brunette bitch was the reason Jason was walking away even if no one had said it out loud yet.

Biting her tongue Elizabeth picked up her cloth, cleaning up the mess and getting Carly another cup.

"Have you seen Jason lately? I saw him last night over dinner." Carly taunted the other woman. "He looks good, you'd never even know that he was shot. Of course now that he's healed he doesn't need you anymore does he. Ouch I bet that hurt." Carly still believed that Jason had been with Elizabeth last month.

As much as she didn't want it to it hurt that Carly was possibly getting to spend time with Jason while she wasn't. Elizabeth was weighing her need for this job against letting Carly have it when the door opened again. This time Emily walked in. Seeing Carly she too rolled her eyes. "Hey Liz."

"Hey Emily. What can I get you?" Elizabeth figured Emily was waiting for Zander to come pick her up.

"How about a brownie?" Emily was deliberately ignoring Carly. She couldn't stand the woman. In fact the news that she and Jason had broken up made the young woman do a happy dance. "I'm meeting Zander."

Carly snorted. Zander was nothing but a wanna be mobster.

"Oh, I didn't see you there Carly. It's kinda late for you to be out. Shouldn't you be warming Sonny's bed like the skank that you are?" Emily didn't hesitate to lay into the blonde.

"You little bitch!" Carly said snarling. The little Quartermaine princess was someone else she hated.

"Better a little bitch than big fat whore." Emily shot back.

"At least I'm with a real man. Not some poser." Carly responded getting in Emily's face.

"You're just a place holder. Sonny will get tired of you and move on like he always does. Then what will you have, everyone knows that Jason wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire. You screwed his friend and you lost him." Emily called out the blonde.

Elizabeth digested that bit of news. She had been ashamed to admit that what had worried for a moment was that Jason had forgiven Carly. Not that Elizabeth would ever try to tell him who to be friends with. But she didn't trust Carly to not try to get back in Jason's bed. Looking over to see if the guards were going to intervene she noticed they were both on the phone. She wondered who they were calling. Turning back she saw Carly ball up her fist. Having had enough she picked up the pitcher of water and threw it on the older woman. "Oops." She repeated the line from earlier.

"How dare you?!" Carly screeched standing there looking like a drowned rat. "Do you know how much this outfit cost?" It wasn't hard to transfer her anger from Emily to Elizabeth. She had seen Johnny pull out his phone, no doubt calling Jason.

"Wow, you didn't melt. To answer your question, I have no idea how much your outfit cost, but I know you didn't pay for it." Elizabeth shot back, apparently this job didn't mean that much to her. It wasn't worth being walked on.

"You're going to lose your job for this." Carly promised reaching for her coat. Maybe her getting Elizabeth fired would make it so she saw less of Jason. After all he could come here and visit anytime he wanted to. Turning Carly stopped cold. Jason was watching them from the doorway. "She threw water on me." Carly complained trying to get him on her side. Jason hadn't said two words to her since finding her with Sonny if she was going to get him to forgive her that needed to change.

"You were told to stay away from Elizabeth." Jason said not moving from the doorway. "What about that didn't you understand?" He had been expecting this. Carly always wanted things her way. She and Sonny were a perfect fit that way. This time she was going to be disappointed. "Why are you here?"

Carly was taken aback by the coldness of Jason's tone. Looking at him and then Elizabeth she saw the way the woman behind the counter looked at him with longing. She also noted that since he walked in Jason's eyes kept moving to the petite brunette almost like he couldn't look anywhere but at her. "Jason she started it." She pointed at Emily.

"ENOUGH CARLY!" He yelled causing everyone in the room to jump. Jason rarely lost his temper but when he did even the guards took cover. "You are to stay away from Elizabeth and my sister. If I find out you haven't I will forget that you are Sonny's girlfriend." That was all she was to him at this point. "Leave, now. Johnny make sure she goes right home." Jason instructed. Next week Johnny wouldn't have to deal with Carly anymore. The green eyed LT. was leaving the Corinthos Organization to work for the Morgan Organization. When the blonde and his friend were gone Jason looked over at the two remaining women.

Emily had also noticed the looks her brother and best friend were trying not to give one another. Realizing she wasn't needed Emily excused herself and went to the restroom. Of course she was planning on standing at the door and listening to what they said. She wanted to know what was going on.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked. He could tell she was tired, but she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. All he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and not let go, but he didn't have the right. Not yet. He would go see Sonny in the morning and let him know this was the last straw. The next time he would deal with Carly like he would any other threat.

"Yeah, Carly is all bark." Elizabeth said smiling up at him. He looked better than she remembered. "How have you been?" She knew that he still came to Kelly's just not on her shift.

Jason just shrugged, not wanting to answer. He wouldn't lie to her still he couldn't tell her the truth. He couldn't tell her that he wasn't sleeping because he missed her. That nothing made sense without her by his side. He didn't want her to feel any worse than he suspected she did. The separation was hard on both of them. Looking at the clock he realized she'd be closing soon. "I'll get out of your way." He told her taking one last look before walking out the door.

Emily counted to one hundred after Jason left and walked out of the restroom. They hadn't said anything overt, but if you knew either of them well then you would have heard what she did. Longing, pure and simple. They wanted to be together. For some reason they were not. Emily would need to give this some thought. What she wouldn't do was say anything to her brother or best friend.

The two women made small talk until Zander showed up and Emily left with her boyfriend. She had finished cleaning so Elizabeth locked up for the night. It was cold and she walked quickly towards home. She was looking forward to a nice hot shower to warm her up.

After her lecture from Sonny, Carly slipped into the guest bathroom upstairs. Dialing a number she listened while it rang. When a man answered she started talking. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, she's closing up now." He replied.

"You remember your instructions right?" Carly checked the mirror she'd placed by the door so she would know if Sonny was coming.

"Yes, I got it." They'd only gone over this five times already. He was a professional and quite frankly the fact that she kept calling was annoying. But she was paying him a good amount of money. "I'll get it done."

He watched her walk home noticing the dark haired man who was trailing her. He wondered what that was all about. If he thought to hurt Lizzie then he had another thing coming. No one was going to hurt his girl. Tightening his finger on the trigger housing he was prepared to kill the man if he had to.

He had a surprise set up at the studio for his love. She would love it, as much as she loved him. It was nothing big but he wanted to let her know that he was home and that he was ready to pick up where they had left off. He also wanted to apologize for all the time he had been away. For the time that he had left her alone. For the times that he had let them take her away from him.

He loved her and now it was time for them to be together. Just as it should be.

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