Chapter Seventy
"Are you going to make me choose?"
Elizabeth bumped into Nicholas at Kelly's earlier, and asked to speak with him in private. They decided on the docks.
Nicholas tilted his head and stared intently at Elizabeth, who, throughout their conversation, remained calm. "Aren't you the one making that decision?" he said ominously.
Elizabeth shook her head, feeling the silky locks brush against her windblown face. "No," she stated. "I don't want to have to choose between my oldest friends, and Jason."
"What else can you do?" The hackles rose on the back of his neck. What would she choose?
"Why are you making it a choice?" Elizabeth exclaimed angrily.
"Because of your safety," Nicholas replied. "I don't want you to get killed, and neither does Lucky."
Nicholas knew Lucky was working hard to regain his memory. And when he did, it would be, Jason who?
Elizabeth clenched her fingers into a fist. "And you're willing to throw it all away? Our friendship, because you and Lucky hate Jason that much?"
"I won't be the one throwing it away," Nicholas corrected. "You will."
Elizabeth closed her eyes, trying her best to hold back the hot tears burning inside. "And I'm not willing to let you threaten me into some stupid promise, that I won't see Jason." Her heart was pounding. She was angry now, just plain angry.
Nicholas felt like he had hedged his bet and it had gone sour. She would choose Jason over him and Lucky. "Elizabeth," he said steadily. "Listen…"
Elizabeth had enough. She had tried to reason with Nicholas, but he was stubborn like his uncle. "I have to go." She felt a hot, wet tear rolling down her cheek "I can't believe you made me do this," she said resentfully.
Nicholas reached out to stop her from walking away, but her hand slipped from his grasp. "Elizabeth!" he called hollowly. His voice was lost on the open water.
~~~
"So Mr. Morgan, I've always wanted to know why you have chosen this profession?"
Jason studied the fidgety, uptight, brunette lawyer Sonny had put on retainer. She was over at Sonny's penthouse often, nowadays. He didn't know what to make of her.
He knew she was straight-laced; this was Sonny's reason for hiring her, that and she was the best. Alexis Davis would never be put on Sonny's 'payroll', though; she had made that clear. It was an aspect of her character that made him respect her.
"Why not?" he replied stoically.
The brilliant attorney eyed him suspiciously for a moment; his answer had been insufficient for her.
"Don't bother," Sonny chuckled as he entered the living room. His penthouse smelled of garlic and basil. "You won't get a straight answer from him, Alexis. He'll only get you riled up!" He clasped his hands together loudly to punctuate his point.
Jason watched as Sonny playfully teased his already tense attorney. He could tell Sonny had grown close to Alexis since he'd been away.
"So Jason, are you going to stay for dinner?" The dark-haired mob boss pointed at him, cocking his head to the side in his customary way. "I made enough for three."
Jason shook his head. "I just wanted to let you know Nam's on his way back to Italy, today."
The Triad Boss had hung around to make sure Rosco had truly left, and once he was assured of that, Jason only had to confirm that he would personally keep an eye on Jaime. Once Nam had departed, Jason felt his weight lighten, in a manner of speaking. Sonny had been wary of another 'accident' occurring while Nam remained in Port Charles. The sooner Nam left, the sooner everything would return to normal.
Sonny clucked his tongue and smiled happily. "Good. Business as usual?" he inquired.
Jason nodded, while Alexis wagged her finger cautiously at Sonny. "I'm just going to pretend you were talking about your coffee business," she said coolly. "Don't say another word!" The jittery attorney turned and walked toward the dinner table.
"Whatever you say, Lawyer lady," Sonny teased, following her.
Jason sighed and quietly excused himself from the dinner scene.
He still wasn't quite sure what he thought about Sonny's growing attachment to Alexis. He shook his head. It was none of his business.
~~~
"Hey!" A quiet voice startled Elizabeth from behind.
She spun around to see Jason standing casually, with his hands in his leather jacket. "Hey," she said softly.
Elizabeth had been walking the streets of Port Charles for a couple of hours now. Over and over, Elizabeth replayed the conversation she had with Nicholas, asking herself how it could have gone differently. She ended back at the docks.
Jason could see Elizabeth had something on her mind. "Something happen?"
"You could say that," she chuckled half-heartedly. "I had a talk with Nicholas, and asked him not to make me choose between being friends with him, and being friends with you."
Jason was stunned. He knew the Greek prince was unhappy about Jason, but he hadn't expected this. And from the expression on Elizabeth's face, he hadn't agreed. "Did he?"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself, as if she were cold. "Nicholas takes after Stephan; he's stubborn." She paused. "No. He made me choose," she said finally.
Jason blinked in the silence of the admission. "I'm sorry." He couldn't think of a better response.
Elizabeth stood under the dimness of the street lamps. She waited for Jason to bring up the fateful question. Who did you choose?
When he remained silent, she frowned. "Aren't you going to ask me what I chose?"
Jason shrugged. "You were going to tell me when you were ready."
The casual manner, in which he said that made Elizabeth laugh. "Of course," she chuckled at his simple reply.
He hoped the lightness of her expression meant she hadn't decided to walk away from him. Again. Jason knew he couldn't hedge his bets.
Elizabeth looked Jason in the eye, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "I chose you," she said breathily, unsure of whether she would be able to get the words past her lips.
Jason felt his heart skip a beat. He never expected himself to allow such a decision to weigh heavily on him, but it did.
And she had chosen himElizabeth watched him closely for some kind of reaction on his unreadable face. There was none. She smiled briefly and tucked an imaginary lock of hair behind her ear, a nervous habit. "Well," she laughed timidly, "some kind of choice, huh?"
When he had gotten over shock of the reality of her choice, Jason smiled. "I guess." He paused, staring at Elizabeth for some sign of regret. "Are you sure there's nothing you can do?"
Elizabeth walked out to the edge of the docks. The water was lapping at the wooden pillars that held her above its shimmering darkness. It was a warm night, and the stars were out in all their sparkling wonder. "He seemed pretty adamant."
Jason sighed. He wished her relationship with him wasn't so difficult on her. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
Elizabeth had been waiting to hear those words ever since she had made her choice. She turned around slowly, and faced him.
She had a mischievous glint in her blue-grey eyes. He knew what she wanted.
"Take me for a ride."