Chapter 28
A/N: Thank you for the reviews. I know this is late and I'm not explaining myself again. Just please be grateful. That's all I ask.
"Jason?" the voice cried from downstairs. "Jason, are you here?"
"You have got to be kidding me," Courtney groaned climbing out of bed. She grabbed a sheet and pulled it tautly around her body. "What is she doing here?"
"I don't know," Jason responded as both scrambled in the darkness to find their clothing.
He pulled on a pair of pants and shirt as Courtney did the same. "Stay in here," he instructed before walking out and closing the door behind him.
She sighed, scratching her head and then proceeding to walk around the room. She suddenly remembered Jason telling her how Sam recently had decided to designate 'His and Her' sides of the room. She picked up an extravagant lavender and silver perfume bottle and sprayed it, coughing at the spicy scent. It must have been that overly expensive stuff Jason was always complaining about.
Courtney found her way over to the closet, making sure to trace a hand over nearly everything single object on Sam's vanity table just because. She slid open the door and smirked at how uniformed everything seemed to be. It was a mere sea of black pants, black skirts, black boots and anything and everything else … in black. She laughed at how there was a separate rack for lingerie. Panties and bras, all in black of course, were hung meticulously. Who did such things?
But suddenly Courtney's focus turned as a flicker of silver caught her attention. She reached for the item, realizing it was a garment bag … then realizing that it could only be on thing –Sam's wedding dress.
She thought back to that day as she gently removed it from the closet, laying it across the bed. Sam had gotten her perfect wedding while Jason gotten a bill of nothing less of $800,000. But, Sam was happy and that was all that mattered.
Of course, she had every right to be. The months leading up to the grand soiree had been hell for Jason though he never would have admitted it. The initial date was scrapped due to the simple fact that Sam wasn't ready. Well, her dress wasn't ready. She decided that she wanted a one-of-a-kind haute couture gown for her wedding day, which she modeled after a little fairytale called 'Cinderella'. The dress was made in Paris by a little known yet "so unbelievably amazing" designer who spoke no English but decided that after only one meeting with the future Mrs. Morgan, she had the perfect design in mind. One genuine Swarovski crystal beaded bodice, complete 7-foot-long train, and 15 months later, not to mention arriving in a horse-drawn crystal carriage, it was solidified: Samantha McCall had not only had the wedding of the year, Samantha McCall had not only had the wedding of the decade but Samantha McCall had had the wedding of the century according to Port Charles.
Hell, even Carly had to give it to her. The woman couldn't decorate a room for the life of her but she knew how to throw together a wedding. Her name was a Society page fixture for weeks and young soon-to-be wives would stop her in various places and praise her until her freckled cheeks were blushing with embarrassment –exactly what the new bride had strived for.
Going against her yearn to remove the dress from the bag, try it on and twirl around the room in it once or twice, Courtney quickly placed it back in its spot before turning to follow after Jason.
She halted at the top of the stairs before seeing him standing at the table. She smiled as she crept up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She pulled back when he resisted, turning around to see Reese walk out with a mug in her hand.
Courtney smiled uneasily as she slowly back away from Jason. "Hey …"
In her typical stance, Reese just smiled tightly at her. She turned back to Jason. "I don't know where he is. He's not answering his cell. I'm really worried."
"He probably just hasn't had time to call," Jason assured her.
Reese nodded her head. "You're probably right."
Silence soon fell between the three in the room. Jason focused on his shoe. Courtney tried not to make eye contact with Reese, who, if she wasn't staring at Courtney, was fidgeting with her nails.
"Well," Courtney said, finally speaking up. "I'm leaving now. And Jason, if you ever need anymore help with … Sam's … anniversary gift just call me and we'll … get together or something."
She smiled quickly at Reese before walking out.
When she reached the lobby, she prepared for her regular routine. Her car was usually parked in the back, away from everyone else. One of the guards would park it for her and then retrieve it at the end of the night as she stood waiting in the shadows with another guard. She had been ready to declare herself home-free until the aroma of a familiar scent overwhelmed her.
She spun around and came face to face with Sam who was on her cell. When the brunette finally realized who she was through the darkness, the let whoever was on the other end go and slowly closed her phone.
Courtney smiled uneasily. "Hi …" She looked away.
"Hi," Sam replied. "Sort of late for you to be here –visiting Jason."
Courtney turned her focus back to Sam. "What do you mean?"
Sam laughed. "Oh, come on, Courtney. This act is really starting to wear thin. You're over here visiting Jason … at 1:07 in the morning. Probably telling him the good news, I bet."
"Actually, there isn't any good news. I'm not pregnant."
"False alarm?"
"No, actually," Courtney answered rather annoyed. "Like I told you earlier, Sam, I am not pregnant. Just worry about your own pregnancy, okay?"
"Okay, okay. No reason to get upset. My God, you act as if I caught you with your hand in the cookie jar or something." She smirked before turning around and entering the building.
"Guess I won't be picking out wallpaper swatches for a baby room any time soon," Courtney said accepting a mug of tea from Carly.
The two sat in Carly's apartment. The fiasco in the penthouse had happened a good week ago. Luckily, she hadn't run into Sam after that night. She hadn't seen Reese either. Jason had called a few times and a breakfast date had turned into a little something extra on the limo ride back.
But did she have any regret's? No. The pregnancy scare had, well, scared the shit out of her but she was admittedly stubborn. She didn't care at all. As long as Jason wasn't upset, she hadn't a care in the world.
"It was probably just a fluke in the test," she continued as Carly peered into her mug. "Are you okay?"
Her friend looked up. "What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."
"Carly … com on, I know you. What's wrong?"
She sighed and shut her eyes. "Oh, God. Um … I've never been good at admitting I was wrong so I'm just gonna get everything out and, no, I won't repeat it. Okay … I sorta lied and said you were pregnant even though the test was negative and the sign was clear as day. I'm really sorry but I just wanted to teach you a lesson and make you see how wrong you were for sleeping with Jason."
Courtney slammed her cup down on Carly's glass table. "You what?"
"Now, I said I wasn't repeating anything …"
"How could you? Carly, you made me think I was pregnant!"
"I know and I'm sorry but you needed to be taught a lesson! I did it because I'm your friend and I love you."
"No, Carly, that is not love. That is lying. I told you to stay out of my personal life!" Courtney screamed.
"You had a pregnancy scare. You thought your married lover got you pregnant, Courtney. I'm sorry but I would be a horrible friend if I didn't do something!"
"No, I think you're just a horrible friend. In fact, were you ever my friend?"
"Courtney …" Carly started taken by the surprise.
"No. The moment you get in good with someone, you go and you screw it up and screw them over. You've done things to me before and I've let them slide. You have your comments here and there and I just kept my mouth shut because, well, that's Carly. But this is different. You were out of line. Whether you think this thing with Jason is right or wrong, you didn't have a say in the matter. This is my life and I will make the decisions. You had no right."
"And you had no right keeping a pregnancy scare from me."
Carly looked up as Courtney turned around and came face to face with Jason.
She didn't even have to ask. She knew that he had heard everything.
