After spending the morning walking around town, getting a feel for the place that she would be calling home for a while, Elizabeth had to admit that she truly loved it. The entire feeling about the town was just too perfect, not like Charlotte perfect, but perfect in its own right. The locals aren't as open as she's used to, but some have granted her a warm greeting and a nice smile when she smiles at them.
Jason has sent her random texts through the day, making her smile with each one because he's supposed to be this tough mobster yet he's being all romantic and she's the only one that gets to see it. Sending him a quick text back, she walks to the place that Jason had pointed out as the diner she'd be having lunch with Emily at.
For a moment her mind brought her back to Mamma Carrie's diner, but Elizabeth quickly shook the image away because she wasn't in Charlotte anymore. Even though the woman that owns the place looked a lot like Mamma Carrie and she even sounded like her too. It was so crazy that she had to wonder if all diner owners had that look about them.
"Hey, you made it!" Emily greets her, rising to her feet as Elizabeth shrugs out of her coat.
"Am I late?" Elizabeth checks her watch as she sits down at the table. "I was so sure that I got this thing working the right way..."
"No, you're not late." Emily chuckles softly, shaking her head. "This is the usual hangout...not much else to do with the weather getting colder."
"There's always ice skating...or nature walks." Elizabeth points out, finding the idea very tempting. "There's a lot of things that colder weather inhabits that warmer weather doesn't."
"And that would be the artist's way of looking at things." Emily smiles slightly, seeing that her brother has finally chosen right. "Not all of us can see things that way."
"You could if you tried." Elizabeth counters, shrugging as she takes the menu. "So, what's good?"
"Almost everything." Emily assures, waving over the waitress. "Can I get my usual, Georgie?"
"Sure thing, Emily." Georgie, the waitress, smiles brightly as she jots down the order. "Oh, hi, I'm Georgie Jones! What can I get you?"
"I actually have no idea." Elizabeth shakes her head, setting the menu to the side. "What would you recommend?"
"Well...my favorite is Ruby's chilli." Georgie admits, shaking her head. "Its won more than its fair share of cooking awards..."
"Sounds perfect." Elizabeth says simply, smiling brightly when the girl's smile grew wider - not that Elizabeth thought it was possible. "And my name's Elizabeth."
"Nice to meet you!" Georgie exclaims, taking the menus from the table. "One usual and one Ruby's chilli coming up...any choices on drinks?"
"Sweet Tea." Emily says before pulling out her cellphone.
"Um...water's fine." Elizabeth decides after much thought. "Thank you, Georgie."
"My pleasure." Georgie assures before walking off to put in their orders.
Across town, in one of his many warehouses, Jason secures his cellphone in his pocket before returning to the job at hand. He was more than thankful that Sonny sent him straight to the warehouse when he went to check in. He wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not, but he was glad that Sonny sent him away before Carly came down for breakfast. He still wanted some time before he had to deal with her million questions and overly loving friendship.
"The products are complete and headed off to the loading docks." Francis informs him, pushing Johnny forward. "O'Brien has something to tell you."
"Spit it out." Jason snaps when Johnny just stands there like a scared little kid.
"Mrs. C kinda knows that you're moving out of your penthouse." Johnny concedes carefully, inching his way back. "She saw the guys moving your stuff and...well, she's sorta really pissed off that no one told her anything...and she's really searching for you now."
"I told you to be discrete!" Jason practically shouts before running a hand down his face. "Just go."
"I didn't..." Johnny tried to defend himself.
"GO!" Jason snaps, turning away from the pair to walk back to the office. Its only a matter of time before Carly tracks him down and then he'll never hear the end of it.
Shutting the door behind him, Jason decides to work on the warehouse logs, making sure everything was up to date and that nothing needing fixing or replacing. As big as most of their warehouses are, there always seemed to be something wrong with one or more of their machines. Either they break down or they needed parts to be replaced. Which, in case it wasn't obvious, came with his job description.
"Aw, looks like little Emily Quartermaine does know how to make friends."
"Leave us alone, Carly." Emily groans, seriously tired of dealing with the worst mistake of her brother's life.
"I would, but I need to find your brother. He moved out of his penthouse and I need to know why." Carly says firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "And I know that he doesn't do anything without telling you. So where is he?"
"Why?" Emily counters, rising to her feet. "Did the tracking device you planted on his jacket break?"
"Just tell me where he is." Carly states. "Your yammering is giving me a headache."
"Okay." Elizabeth stands up, having enough of this pointless argument. "You wanna know where Jason is? I'll tell you."
"Elizabeth!" Emily looks at her in shock. "Don't tell her anything."
"You know where Jason is?" Carly steps in front of her. "Now, why would you know that?"
"Why does it matter how I know?" Elizabeth counters, looking at her plainly. "Shouldn't it only matter that I'm going to tell you?"
"Fine." Carly groans. "Where is he?"
"He has gone apartment shopping near Courtland street." Elizabeth concedes, retaking her seat as the food arrives. "You might want to hurry. I doubt he'll be there for long."
Without another word, or insult, Carly was out the door and out of their hair. Emily was more than surprised that Elizabeth had outright lied to Carly, but she was also impressed in the same sense. Elizabeth, on the other hand, knew exactly who Carly was and just couldn't resist yanking her chain a little.
"Okay, first of all, how do you know about Courtland street?" Emily questions, taking her seat after they thanked Georgie for the food and drinks. "And, secondly, nice job with Carly."
"I spent a lot of time walking around town this morning." Elizabeth shrugs, laying a napkin across her lap. "Figured she wouldn't leave until she got some kind of idea on where to find him."
"You do know who she is, right?" Emily questions, wondering if she knows exactly what she just did. "She's one of Jason's best friends."
"Jason told me all about her and her husband." Elizabeth assures her, smiling slightly when she feels the slight vibration in her pocket.
"Jason?" Emily guesses when Elizabeth pulls out her cellphone.
Zander: ~* Heading to Port Charles now. C u tomorrow. *~
"No...a friend." Elizabeth shakes her head, sending back a text before putting her cellphone away. "Food looks great. Lets eat."
After a long day at the warehouse, Jason couldn't wait to get back to the cottage, back to Elizabeth. It was harder than he had initially thought, returning to his enforcer mode after having spent so much time with Elizabeth. It was like a totally different part of himself was starting to emerge with her and it just completely clashed with his usual self.
"Elizabeth?" he calls out into the house, shutting the front door before tossing his keys in the bowl.
"Kitchen!" she calls out, causing a smile to grace his lips. "Stay there. I'll be right out."
Waiting patiently for her to come out of the kitchen, Jason wondered what she could possibly be up to now. With Elizabeth, anyone's guess would be as good as his, she was just too unpredictable. After a long moment, Elizabeth walks out to greet him, kissing him softly before taking his hand and leading him to their bedroom. The look on his face had her laughing softly, but she didn't comment on the thought running through his head.
"You hung my painting." Jason was more than surprised when he walked into the room and spotted the painting she did of him at Cape Cod.
"I know you said you'd hang it up, but I couldn't resist." Elizabeth wraps her arms around him. "I figured that this would be the best place for it."
"I love it." he concedes, leaning down and kissing her softly. "Thank you for hanging it up."
"I'm working on another piece for the living room, but you can't see it until its done."
"Of course not." Jason chuckles, shaking his head. "How was lunch with Em?"
"It was fine." she shrugs. "Kinda sent your best friend, Carly, on a wild goose chase."
"Wild goose chase for what?"
"You." Elizabeth smirks. "I told her you were apartment shopping down near Courtland street."
"Why am I not surprised?" Jason counters, kissing her lips before leading her out of the bedroom. Too many thoughts start to pop up when they're in there. "So...what are we having for dinner?"
"Whatever you want." Elizabeth shrugs, allowing him to walk them towards the kitchen. "I get to choose dessert tonight."
A/N: I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in a long time. Life's just hectic right now...so much has been going on, but I won't dump it on you all.
I wanted to put a couple chapters together for you while I had some downtime. I'll do my best to update as much as I can, but it won't be often.
I'm still a Liason fan, I'll never give up on them, but my life's just beyond crazy right now. I hope you're all doing great...take care.
- ROCkER