Plea: Again let me know what you think. Also this is pretty much it for the transcript modification. See explanation on Chapter 1.
Stephanie
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The Ripple Effect
Chapter 6
~Bridge~
Elizabeth was laughing when she climbed off the bike, she caught part of her pant leg on the taillight and hopped backwards trying to free it from the bike.
Jason watched her in amusement, "You okay?"
"Yeah," she grinned sheepishly, before pulling off the helmet and looking around. "I never knew this was here," she crossed over to the large cement barrier. "Where does it go?"
Jason followed her to the edge, "Over the gorge," he pointed out into the night. "I guess there used to be an estate out there. The bridge is all that's left."
She moved closer so she was leaning over the edge of the barrier and peered down, after a few feet the only thing she could see was an inky blackness. "How far down does it go?"
"Far, you can't see the water at night but you can hear it if you're quiet," he explained moving to stand beside her.
"Quiet," she repeated shooting him a look. "Am I supposed to take that to mean something?"
"No," he looked down at her and couldn't resist going on. "When I want quiet the last thing I do Elizabeth, is come and find you."
"Funny," she glared at him and shifted her hip to bump into him, but she would have had more luck trying to move the concrete. She had either forgotten or blocked out just how big he was. She glanced down at his hands when he looked out over the gorge, they were so much bigger than hers were. They weren't soft, she could feel the calluses on his hand when he touched her, but they were gentle. And she knew they were capable of the softest caress like when he touched her face the night before.
She tore her gaze from his hands and looked out into the night. It was better that she forget about last night and what she thought almost happened between them. If she thought about it too much, or tried to analyze it, it might cause problems with their relationship, and she didn't want that. A small smile crossed her face when she heard the sounds of the water far below them. This really was a nice spot, she was glad he brought her here. "How did you find this place?"
"I found it by accident the first time, I was out riding and I followed the road, it dead ends not to far from here," he hadn't allowed himself to remember that time in his life, it had been to painful and he didn't like to look back. The only time he had felt free anything even close to being happy, back then, was when he was on his bike, and that had led him here, and to her. "There was a girl here crying."
She tilted her head to look up at him, "Who?"
"Robin," he half expected to feel the pain he used to feel when he spoke or thought about her, but he didn't. "I'd seen her once before at the hospital, but I didn't know her," he shrugged and looked around. "This is where we met, after that we came here a lot."
"Why did you bring me?" She could tell he was okay being here, and even okay talking about Robin. His voice didn't go all stiff, and his eyes weren't sad, the way they used to be when he spoke about her.
"You know it's away from everything. It's quiet, I thought I'd take you to the boxcar, but that would make you think of Lucky or me being shot. So this seemed better." This could also be a new place for memories of the two of them, the way her studio was. He also liked the fact that he knew Lucky had never been here with her, it made it more personal, between the two of them.
"Does it bother you to be here without her?" It seemed, like he had let the pain that Robin had caused him go, but she wanted to be sure, she didn't want him to hurt anymore.
He looked around and thought about it, he had expected to feel something, even if it was just a sense of awkwardness, for being here with Elizabeth instead of Robin, but he didn't. "You know this is the last place that I ever saw her after she told the truth about Michael. I thought I'd never come back. But when we turned up the road, I didn't see any point in avoiding it. Now I know it's just a bridge, whatever it used to mean is gone."
She considered what he said and was envious. "I wish I could do that. Just go to the boxcar and not have it mean anything." The few times she had been there since Lucky had returned, had made her head swim with memories. Memories of happier times, with Lucky, but also memories of that terrible day with Jason. "To go to Kelly's and not remember Lucky's arms around me when we danced." She frowned, again the memory had changed from Lucky holding her on that last night, too the time she had asked Jason to dance with her. She had been trying to recreate a memory that night with Jason, but it hadn't worked. Jason was too strong of a personality and too close of a friend, to pretend that he was someone else, or to be used as a substitute. Because he wasn't a substitute, he was a dream of the future. She inhaled sharply at that thought, was Sonny right, did she want more from Jason? More importantly did he want more from her?
"Are you okay?" He had watched her retreat inside herself, and lose her color all of a sudden.
"Emily told me you loved Robin more than your life and when it was over you just let go," she turned to face him, desperate for the answer. "Can you teach me? Because even though we promised each other forever, Lucky doesn't want me to love him anymore. So I need to learn how to let go of that promise I made to him."
He thought about her words, tonight she didn't say she loved Lucky but that she wanted to keep a promise. He wondered what that meant.
"When did you stop hurting over Robin? How long did it take?"
"I wasn't really keeping track," he frowned and thought about it. With everything that happened with Michael, Carly, Sonny, and even with her, Robin had gotten pushed to the background. "I had so many other things to think about. And when Robin left it was easier."
Elizabeth grimaced, "I see Lucky everyday." Even when she didn't want to see him, sometimes, he was still there. "He says he wants to be my friend, so I put on my fake perfect friend smile, and tell him that everything is fine with me."
She demonstrated the smile for him and he could see that it didn't reach her eyes. When she smiled and meant it, her eyes shone. He wondered why no one else, especially Lucky couldn't see that.
"I can't show how I really feel because Emily or Nikolas or somebody else with the best of intentions will tell me not to give up. That I'm right for loving Lucky, that he just needs time," she groaned and shook her head. "Time won't fix it, he doesn't love me. I just have to move on and accept it."
He could hear the frustration and doubt in her voice. "Yeah but you say that like you did something wrong. It's not your fault that Lucky changed his mind."
She turned so she was leaning against the barrier and facing him. "But why did he Jason? I mean that's the thing." And it was she just needed to know why. "You know why you and Robin broke up. You have a reason your feelings changed. If Lucky has a reason for not loving me anymore he won't say it. If he'd just give me some sort of explanation, maybe I could do what he wants and let go." She had to hang on until she knew why, there had to be a reason, something that happened that made him stop loving her. If not it meant that she just wasn't the type of person people could love for a long time. Her own parents were supposed to love her, but she rarely spoke to them and hadn't seen them in years, her brother and sister were the same way.
The only people who had said they loved her and proved it by staying around were her Grandmother and Lucky. And now Lucky said he didn't love her anymore. She couldn't help but think that maybe she had done something that made him stop loving her. That he had finally realized that she was unworthy of his love. But maybe there was another reason she could point to for his change of heart. Maybe it had nothing to do with her. She just needed to know, if it was her fault that he stopped loving her. She pulled herself out of her thoughts when she realized Jason was talking, "What?"
"I said what does Lucky say besides he doesn't love you?"
"To be with Nikolas, to be happy," she rolled her eyes. "Don't ask me how he's convinced himself that Nikolas can make me happy."
"He shouldn't be jerking you around," he could see the pain in her eyes and hated to see it there.
"Yeah well he does and I keep letting him," she smiled bitterly. "That's the part I should be able to change, but I don't know why I can't."
"Maybe you're scared of what will happen if you don't love Lucky," he put his hand over hers on the barrier causing her to look at him. "You see I didn't know who I was if I didn't love Robin. I thought she'd leave and there would be this emptiness inside me forever." She turned her hand over and laced their fingers, to offer support, but made no move to interrupt. "I was wrong. It hurt, it hurt worse than anything for awhile, but it fades and you remember that there are other things to live for, other people," his eyes searched hers and his voice got softer. "You remember there's stuff that you want to do, things you want to feel, and eventually you just realize the pain is gone. At least that's how it happened for me." He reached out and brushed a strand of her hair off of her cheek, her skin felt as soft as it had been last night. "What do you like?"
There was that feeling again, a feeling she hadn't felt before in her life, until last night. It was both a longing and nervousness, and it seemed to happen whenever he touched her. "I don't understand?"
"What do you like?" he repeated. "Painting, ice cream, going fast…"
Her eyes lit, "Going fast." She interrupted him with a grin.
He answered her grin with one of his own, "Why? Why fast?"
"I don't know," she let go of his hand to gesture. "It makes me laugh, and I feel alive. It makes my heart pound." It was hard to explain the rush that being on the back of his bike gave her. It was more than adrenaline it was freedom.
"I used to fight."
"With whom?" She asked in surprise, other than those times with Nikolas, he seemed to be in control all the time.
"Oh anyone," he admitted. "I don't know."
Her eyes raked him over, "You don't strike me as the fight-picking type."
He didn't know if he had just been complimented or insulted so he let it go. "Well you know I'm not really," he shrugged. "But there must be something about me that irritates people."
"I can see that," she teased with a laugh.
He glared at her but she kept smiling. "Or maybe they just knew it was what I wanted, because I'd go to Jake's and I wouldn't even be paying attention, then some guy would insult one of the waitresses. I'd try to stop them, and all hell would break loose."
"So you want to go to Jake's and pick a fight?" Her eyes were practically glowing at the thought of it.
He tapped her shoulder, "You ever been in a bar fight?" He asked looking her over.
"Well I guess the first night that we met. Remember you got that creep away from me."
'Yeah." He nodded and shifted so he was directly in front of her.
"I wasn't very grateful," she admitted sheepishly.
"So what you want to dance with some jerk you don't know?"
"No," she shook her head and put her hands on her hips. "Listen you can pick the fight and I'll just be your back-up."
"Really?" He questioned, lightly shoving on her shoulder to test her balance. She frowned at him and took a step back. "First I need to know if you can handle yourself."
"Oh," this time when he shoved her she was prepared and kept her balance easily.
"How hard can you hit?"
She looked at her hand, she'd wondered the same thing earlier today when she thought she was going to fight with Carly. "I don't know I don't go around hitting people every day." She laughed, "this whole bar fighting thing is going to be kind of new to me."
"Alright," he held up his hands, palms out, about shoulder level. "Come on and try it."
"Are you serious?" her eyes went wide at the thought.
"Yeah go on," she made a half-hearted swing and he smirked. "You can do better than that."
"Well I don't want to hurt you," she countered with a laugh. She couldn't believe he was doing this. She was getting a boxing lesson, she would definitely be ready for Carly then. But she probably shouldn't mention who she hoped to try her newfound technique out on.
"Well if you can't hurt me, then it's not a great idea that we go bar fighting at Jake's," he held up his hands again. "So you need to show me that you can fend for yourself."
"Okay," Elizabeth made a fist and swung harder, this time when her hand hit his palm, it made a smack sound.
"Go ahead, better," he nodded his approval. "Now other hand."
She made a face and swung harder, "Ouch." The impact sent shockwaves up her arm, but barely even moved his hand. God that was frustrating.
"There you go other hand now," he could see the frustration on her face, but he could also see how alive her eyes looked. She had a lot of anger and tension in her that was dying for release. He decided to push her a little harder. "I want you to hit harder, get mad."
She paused and looked at him instead of his hands. "You don't want to see me mad."
"No I do want to see you mad," she needed to let it out, and he wanted to help her.
"Oh no you don't," she warned him. No one liked to see her mad, she'd spent the last few years burying her temper, because no one wanted to see her mad. And here he was telling her to let go. How did she know that if she did let go, she would ever be able to hide it again?
He could see her fighting with herself, trying to bottle back the emotion. "Come on," he taunted, "hit me."
She swung harder and connected with his right hand and then pulled back and aimed for his left, he moved suddenly and she missed his hand, and on her follow through she ended up, turned around with her back against his chest. Her off balanced weight was being supported by him, and his hand on her waist. Her shirt had ridden up so his hand was partially on her bare skin, it felt like he was branding her. "Oh," she managed finally, feeling out of breath for a minute and the reason had nothing to do with the boxing lesson.
"See." His voice was next to her ear, causing her to shiver in reaction. "Now you got to keep moving, otherwise you're to easy to catch."
She tilted her head slightly to look at his profile, her hand had dropped to cover his on her waist. What if she wanted to be caught? She continued to look into his face, making no effort to move out of his arms.
He had only meant to give her a tip about standing in one place, he didn't realize how she would feel against him. How the muscles in her stomach seemed to tense under his fingers. How her eyes, which had been alive with anger and determination, would suddenly turn dark and mysterious. He lowered his head slowly, moving closer to hers. His eyes were locked on hers the whole time.
An old farm truck went past them on the road and tooted his horn, startling them both, and the moment was shattered.
"Okay I'll keep moving," Elizabeth quickly stepped away from him.
"Okay," Jason said slowly watching her jerky movements. She didn't want to talk about what almost happened, he sighed and let it go. "So do you want to rest or do you want to try again?"
"What do you think?" She asked the same time she swung.
He jerked back so she missed by several inches.
"I almost got you," she cried moving her feet like he told her too.
"Not even close," he countered her movements and held up his hands. They dropped back into their normal teasing routine easily enough, "other hand now, alternate."
"Yeah," the swings packed a little more power now. For a minute there she had thought he was going to kiss her, and she couldn't help but feel both disappointed and frustrated that she'd been wrong again.
~Port Charles Hotel~
V knocked on the door for the third time and still got no response, she hesitated and then used her key to let herself inside. "Jax are you here?" she moved over to the stairs that led up a level to the bedroom, but there was no response.
She crossed back to the couch and sat down tiredly. The last week in Alaska with Jax's parents had taken a lot out of her. It wasn't that she didn't like them, because she did, it was just she had felt like she was under a microscope the whole time and she didn't like that.
Maybe it would have been easier for her if she hadn't known how much they had loved his former fiancée Chloe Morgan. They hadn't known that their relationship had been a sham, they had thought they were getting a new daughter in law. Since Chloe and Jax had dated years ago before Brenda, that had known her and approved of her for a very long time. She frowned if Jax had told them he was bringing her and not Chloe to Alaska, they would have been prepared, and maybe they wouldn't have shown their disappointment so keenly when she walked through the door instead of Chloe. But Jax had wanted to surprise them. Well they had been surprised all right.
She rubbed at her temples, the headache that she'd had for the last week was making itself known again. She wished she'd told Jax no when he'd invited her to Alaska. They were still so new, it was far too soon, to be meeting the parents. But it was hard for her to say no to him. Running into Chloe today hadn't helped. Talk about having your biggest insecurities on display. Chloe was blonde, beautiful, smart, charming, classy, wealthy, and petite, while she most definitely was not.
"Those look like too heavy of thoughts to be having on such a beautiful night," Jax's voice came from behind her.
She kept her eyes closed and let him take over for her and rub her temples, "Is it night? Time seems to blend."
"Long day?" Jax moved to sit beside her, mimicking her pose by resting his feet on the coffee table.
"Not really, I'm just not used to having so much free time," she rested her head on his shoulder. When it was like this, just the two of them, she felt strong about being a couple. It was when she was alone, or they were in public that the doubts seemed to assail her. He hadn't picked up on it yet and for that she was grateful. She was a trained police officer, used to dangerous situations, so how was she supposed to admit that formal dinners and 5'5" blondes with perfect manners terrified her?
"You know you can always come back and work for me. You were the best personal assistant I ever had." He knew something was bothering her, he just hadn't broken through all her walls yet to find out what it was.
"No, if I'm dating you, I'm not working for you." On that she was firm.
"What about L&B? You know Ned would love to have you back. He hated the fact that you quit in the first place."
"Well it would have been kind of hard to work for L&B while I was living in the Riveria, besides between Elizabeth and Nikolas I've been replaced."
Jax lost his smile at her words, he hated remembering how she had almost left him to go with Simon. What galled him was the fact he had introduced them, when he was trying to get his money back. He never thought Simon would spend months pursuing her, and follow her across the continent until he finally wore her down enough that she agreed to leave with him. He had been so sure that Simon had only pursued her because he thought she was with him. But even after he knew she wasn't, that Jax was in fact engaged to Chloe, he kept after her. It had been a huge wake-up call for him, when she announced she was leaving town with Simon.
"What are you thinking that has you frowning so?" V asked getting his attention again.
He brought her hand up to his lips, "I was just thinking what would have happened if I couldn't stop your plane, and you had left."
"Well since you blocked the runway with your plane, it was a pretty safe bet that I wasn't going anywhere." She tried to joke off the most romantic thing that had ever happened to her, but she couldn't stop the thrill the memory caused her.
"I needed to get your attention, I couldn't have you leaving now could I?"
"I guess not."
"So what are you going to do?" Jax asked, he knew she wouldn't be happy unless she was working.
V glanced at her bag and the application and notebook that she knew was in there. She had a feeling that he wouldn't like what she was thinking about doing. He had said earlier that it was a beautiful night, so she didn't want to ruin it by arguing. She tilted her head and began to nuzzle his neck, "I'm going to do lots of things to you, Mr. Jacks."
"What did I tell you about calling me Mr. Jacks?" He moved so she was pressed under him on the couch. He had never realized how playful she was.
"I believe you said something like you were going to throttle me the next time I did so," she replied her fingers working on the buttons of his shirt. "But before you do I have a last request."
"That seems fair," his hand traced its way up her long leg.
"Good," she grinned wickedly and whispered in his ear, before nipping on his earlobe.
"Why Venus is that any way for a Goddess to talk?" He asked, before kissing her, he was willing to give it a shot.
~Bridge~
"Come on left hand," Jason said. "Keep moving, now the right."
Elizabeth swung again connecting with his palm, "Ow." She stopped moving and began to shake out her hands.
"So how does it feel?"
"Like my arms are going to fall off," she admitted with a small laugh.
He nodded, "Yes fighting is different," he jerked his head to the bike. "So you ready to go to Jake's?"
"No," she backed away to lean against the barrier. "I'm fine right here, my heart is going 100 miles an hour."
He moved over beside her, "It worked then." All the tension she'd had in her was gone, he could see that in her eyes.
"What? Do you think I should go pick a fight at Jake's everytime Lucky hurts me?"
"No," his voice was serious. "I just think you should do what you have too, to remember that you're alive."
She thought about that for a minute and then looked at him with a smile. "I think I'll leave the motorcycles and boxing lessons for when I'm with you and I'll just paint the rest of the time."
In that case she would never be in a fight and for that he was glad. He'd take her for a ride whenever she wanted, whether she was hurt or not. "That's good, that you get a rush from your art."
"Well it's even more fun when it actually works," she grimaced. "I tried painting the Nurse's Ball this year, kind of like The Wind. It didn't work though, I couldn't capture that intensity." She paused and debated a minute before going on, "I saw Robin at the Ball."
"I didn't know."
"She talked about living with H.I.V. and how things were for her in Paris," she bit her lip then asked the question she didn't know if she wanted to know the answer too. "You didn't go to Paris did you?"
"No," the thought never even crossed his mind. He wasn't angry with Robin anymore, but he didn't have any desire to see her either. "I'm glad she's happy though."
"Yeah," she was relieved that he hadn't gone to see her and the jealousy that thought aroused in her dissipated. Uneasy when she realized she had been jealous of Robin she changed the subject. "You know Emily really missed you that night, she said she wished you were here."
Since she brought the subject up he decided it was time to press her. "Is this about whatever you were trying to tell me last night on the pier?" She refused to meet his eyes and he knew he was right. "What happened to Emily?"
"It's nothing to do with the Nurse's Ball." She told him truthfully.
"Lucky told you not to tell me," he shook his head, disappointed that she still wasn't going to tell him.
She saw the flash of hurt in his eyes before he hid it. "God Jason it's complicated." She touched his arm hoping he would understand, and yet at the same time hoping he would push her for the truth. Because they really could use his help.
"Elizabeth, it's not for me." He took her hand, "My sister is hurting, something happened to her. She wanted to tell me, but Lucky stopped her." He searched her eyes, "You wanted to tell me too, I saw that."
She couldn't lie to him, not when he was looking at her like that, and was touching her. "Emily and I think you could help. But Lucky had some good reasons to keep it a secret and we all agreed."
He let go of her hand and started to rub at the back of his neck, he was starting to get real tired of Lucky. "Did whatever this is, happen to Emily or Lucky?"
"To all of us, its kind of ever-expanding," she admitted quietly. "Jason I told you if it was up to me, I would tell you, but its not."
"But the problem is getting worse Elizabeth. How bad are you going to let it get before you let me help?" He followed her when she turned to look over the gorge. "I don't care what happened. All I want is to fix it for Emily," he turned her so she faced him, "for you. If Lucky can handle things that's fine, but I can see that you're having doubts, so that worries me."
"I promised Emily, Jason you know I don't like to break my promises."
She didn't want to break her word to Emily, not Lucky, he sighed heavily and looked down at their joined hands. He didn't even remember taking her hand, or had she taken his? "If somehow this gets out of hand, if something goes wrong and you and Emily are going to get hurt, I want you to promise me that you'll call me, okay? Whatever this is I can take care of it no questions asked."
"I promise," that would be one promise she would keep above all the others.
"Thank you," it was the most he could hope for right now. He'd talk to Emily in the morning, maybe she would tell him.
"I think I should be thanking you," she kept a hold of his hand and leaned against the barrier again.
"So you want to head back?" he asked after a minute. He wasn't ready to leave, but he wouldn't mind going for another ride.
"No," she said immediately. "Although I probably should, I could stay out here with you forever. In fact why don't we?" She turned towards him only half joking.
"We could do that," he agreed. "But I seem to remember that you like to eat."
She swatted his arm. "Don't you know you're not supposed to comment on how much a woman eats? Jeez Jason you really should know better. And you better be nice, or the next time you're in Kelly's all you'll get is sou…" She trailed off her eyes going wide.
"What?"
"Oh my God, I was supposed to close tonight, and I ran out of my shift." She took a step away only to jerk to a halt when he didn't move, and her arm went tight, she tugged on his hand. "Come on, Tammy had a date tonight, if she didn't find someone she'll be stuck. I swear if I were her, I would fire me."
"No you wouldn't," he moved with her this time over to his bike and handed her the helmet.
"So you think I can steer?" she pulled on the helmet and tightened the chinstrap.
"No," he kept his answer short, figuring she wouldn't have a way to argue then, he was wrong.
"What if I told you it made me feel alive?"
"I'd tell you to get your own motorcycle."
"Oh come on you'd miss me too much if I did that, besides your acting like I did a really bad job last time," she put her hand on her hip and glared at him. "I think I'm insulted."
He avoided the glare by getting on the bike, "We almost crashed last time, didn't we?"
"Please," she waved the remark off with her hand and changed tactics. "You know I just need some practice, come on you'll be right here, holding onto me, I won't have a chance to mess up," she placed a hand on his thigh, "please."
~Harborview~
"Hold the elevator," Alexis called racing for the doors. She wished she hadn't hurried when she saw who was inside.
"I thought lawyers were ambulance chasers not elevator chasers," Carly said snidely.
"I'm talented," Alexis said sweetly. "Hi Pete."
"Ms. Davis," Pete nodded his head at her. Among the guards she was one of the favorite people that associated with Mr. Corinthos. She knew everyone's name, and always called him by it. She never treated them like they were beneath her, just because they were guards, unlike some people.
"You do know that peach is not your color don't you Alexis?" Carly taunted she was still wired from her run-in with Elizabeth and the follow-up tongue-lashing she had received from her mother.
Alexis turned around and studied the blonde, "At least I don't wear ketchup I eat it."
Carly glanced down and saw a smear on her shirtsleeve. "Damn'it this is silk."
Alexis got off the elevator and headed for her door. "Carly you might be able to afford silk now, thanks to your talent with men but, you really should learn how to take care of it. You never know how long it will be before you can afford another blouse." There was something about Carly that set her teeth on edge, and brought out the cattiness in her.
"What the hell do you mean by my talent with men?" Carly demanded.
"You forget I know everything about you, including the fact that you haven't worked since you were six months pregnant. You've relied on Tony, Jason, A.J., and now Sonny to support you."
"I don't think I like what you are insinuating," Carly moved closer.
"Then I must not be doing it correctly because there should be no doubt, you shouldn't like it. You know what they say the truth hurts." Alexis' frustration over not being able to find a loophole to help Sonny had reached a boiling point. So when faced with the reason for his trouble, Carly, she found herself insulting the woman on a level she normally reserved for Helena.
Johnny's eyes widened at Alexis' remark and he knocked discreetly on the door to alert Sonny. It wasn't that he minded bloodshed but he wanted to make sure the right woman was bleeding when it was all said and done.
"Are you calling me a whore?" Carly shrieked.
"I wasn't going to use that name, it's so declasse but if that's the word you prefer, I'll go with it."
Carly started to charge, when she was jerked to a halt by an arm around her waist. "Stop it Carly. What the hell are you doing?" Sonny demanded of her, "Are you alright Alexis?"
"Is she alright?" Carly jerked out of his hold and turned on him. "She's the one who called me a whore and you want to know if she's alright?"
"Actually you called yourself a whore, I was merely pointing out a few facts." Alexis corrected causing Johnny and Pete to grin.
"You skanky ass little bit…"
"Enough Carly," Sonny interrupted her. "Get inside."
"I'm not a dog Sonny I don't follow your orders. Why the hell are you defending her?" Tears sprung to her eyes, "she attacked me."
"Go inside Carly," he repeated tiredly, nodding at Johnny to open the door.
"Fine but this isn't over." Carly warned them both before entering the penthouse and slamming the door hard enough that it moved Johnny back a step.
Alexis rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "In all honesty I might have started this little skirmish. I let her get to me, normally I don't."
"Carly can get to anyone if she has enough time, believe me."
Alexis opened her door and gestured for him to come closer. "I heard from Dara Jensen," she lowered her voice so the guards didn't hear. "Carly's deposition will be in two weeks."
"I thought we had two months."
"Dara fast-tracked it. I tried to stall, the most I was able to do was delay for two weeks, that doesn't give me a lot of time to figure a way out of this for you."
"Do your best," Sonny told her taking her hand. "It's always been good enough before."
She looked down at their hands then back into his warm dark eyes, his faith in her was reassuring but also troublesome. She didn't want to let him down or give him false hope, "Son…"
He placed a finger over her lips to stop the words, he could see the doubt in her eyes, but he didn't want to hear it expressed out loud.
Alexis froze at his touch, he was a mixture of scents, his cologne, along with oregano or basil, and coffee. It shouldn't have worked but on him it did. Her stomach twisted into knots the longer he looked at her.
He wanted to kiss her. It didn't matter that they were standing in her doorway with two of his guards only a few feet away. It didn't matter that Carly was in his penthouse no doubt destroying it in a temper tantrum. It didn't matter that she had a ring on her finger that said she belonged to another man. The only thing that mattered to him was the need to kiss her. He didn't know if it was wishful thinking or not, but in this instant he could swear he could see the same need reflected in her eyes.
Before he could move, her phone began to ring and she pulled away from him.
"I-I need to get this, it's probably…probably," she stammered.
"Ned," Sonny finished for her.
"Yes, Ned he's supposed to call, so I'm sure that him calling like he's supposed to. I really need to talk to him too, so I'll have to talk to you about the case some other time because I really need to answer the phone." Why couldn't she stop talking?
"Alexis take a breath and answer the phone." Sonny interrupted her before shutting the door in disappointment.
He leaned against the door for another minute before he headed for his own door, "Pete what are you still doing here?"
Enjoying the show, Pete wisely buried that thought and got to the point. "You wanted to know if Ms. Benson went around certain people."
Sonny rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Who did she go see?"
"Elizabeth Webber, in fact they almost got into a fight in the middle of Kelly's."
"Thanks Pete," Sonny dismissed him with a shake of his head. The question of what to do with Carly was becoming more tiresome everyday. He stood in front of the door for another minute bracing himself for the fight he knew was coming. "Shut up Johnny," he said finally and opened the door.
"I didn't say a word Boss," Johnny answered the laughter evident in his voice.
Sonny spared him a glare before entering the penthouse.
Johnny waited until he closed the door, before he let his grin show. His boss had his hands full with both the women who lived on this floor.
~Kelly's~
"Admit it you had fun," Elizabeth tugged on his hand, when he didn't respond. "Admit it."
"You know that bike is way too big for you," Jason kept his expression stern.
"How would you know?" She scoffed. "You never even took your hands away, basically all I did was sit in front of you with your arms around me for a change."
He came to a stop by one of the tables in front of the door. "If I didn't brace you, you'd have to control my weight, plus the bikes, plus the force of the wind."
"What about my weight?" She demanded.
He couldn't resist, her face was the picture of outrage, he reached out and placed his hands on her hips, as if testing her weight. "That's my point you're not strong enough to control the bike on your own."
"Oh Emily says you never lie," his hands were still on her hips but she didn't mind.
"Not often," he admitted moving closer.
"Yeah well I think you're lying tonight. I think you like being the one who decides where we go," she felt the exhilaration she normally felt after a ride, but she felt something else too. Something more powerful than that, and somehow she knew it was in direct reaction to Jason and the fact he had his hands on her. She knew that she should move away, that they were just friends, that he probably had no idea that she had suddenly developed a crush on him, but with her adrenaline pumping she didn't feel like backing off.
"I offered to take you anyplace you wanted and you said nowhere."
"Yeah but we did go somewhere," she rested her hands on his arms and searched his face. "I had the greatest time, I would have gone crazy had I not found you in that alley."
"I'm glad I was there," his hands seemed to have a mind of their own and they moved so they spanned her back.
"I'm so glad you're home," she moved then and wrapped her arms around his neck, rising up to kiss his cheek.
His arms tightened around her immediately he bent slightly so her head was even with his, he couldn't stop himself from pressing his face into her hair.
She drew back slightly and her eyes locked on his, his mouth was just a few inches away, giving into temptation she shifted again and pressed her lips to his.