Author's Note: starbright: :blush Thank you!

ghjourneybabe: Thank you, too. I'm going...I'm one of those writers who has to write because she needs to see where her own story is going to take her, lol, so there's no chance of me quitting ever :D

dreamcatcher6: I absolutely adore your screenname. It's so cute. Thanks for the review :)

light*hope: Hey, stranger! Yes, you have to see Save the Last Dance, it is an awesome movie. Most of that Elizabeth scene was actual things she said slightly modified. Some were from when she called things off with Jason, and others were when she found out Journey was together. Thanks for reading and the review, so glad you like :)

abc: LOL, if you make it through one chapter of TF, you are not lazy :p Everyone's the same age as they would have been in October 2002...so Courtney's 20 or 21, and Jason's late twenty-ish...thanks for reading :D

theblondeone07: Thank you! I'm one happy writer...

No Journey interaction this chapter, but that will change soon enough... ;)

Reflection

Chapter Three ~ Kelly's

Courtney looked up at the clean, turn-of-the-century red brick building before her, taking in the high windows and doors, the dark ivy cascading over the bricks, the brown-and-white checkered curtains in the windows. On either side of the door, separate signs were displayed, one declaring the name of the restaurant in neon cursive, the other saying it was OPEN.

Thank God. She was hungry, not having eaten anything other than a few cheap, unhealthy snacks from the vending machine at the bus stop in Atlantic City. She checked her pockets, coming up with a dollar and change. A full meal wasn't in the budget, but she could at least afford a cup of coffee.

She grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. Warmth came crashing across the threshold. She stood there for a moment, smiling and letting herself adjust to the sudden increase in temperature. Mmm, it felt so good to be out of the cold.

From behind the counter, an older woman with deep red hair glanced up at her with a smile, and Courtney hastily closed the door, not wanting to get yelled at. Her old boss would bite the heads off of anyone who left the door open more than a couple of seconds this time of year.

She looked around her. The wooden tables, mostly occupied, were set up in tidy rows, two rows, three tables a row, four chairs a table. She walked down the center of them to the counter, where five stools cushioned by green leather pillows were lined up. Only one person sat at the counter, sipping from a mug and reading a paper. She gratefully slipped into the stool next to him, depositing her backpack on the floor and pulling her scarf from around her neck. Shaking out her platinum locks, she returned the hostess's smile.

"Hi, honey. What can I get you?" the woman asked. She didn't speak condescendingly, but as if Courtney was a member of her family. Courtney felt instantly at home.

"A cup of coffee, please."

"Coming right up." The woman turned around and pulled the coffeepot from the burner that kept it warm. "Have you heard anything from Luke?" the woman addressed the question to the guy skimming the paper.

"No, but I'm still looking." The guy tossed the paper on the counter.

Courtney discreetly tugged the paper over to her when the bold type up top caught her eye. If the headline was any indication, this place was pretty weird. Something about two people coming back from the dead...and one of them had a name that looked familiar. Her curiosity aroused, she turned to the guy, her hand already in her coat pocket, grasping for the paperwork. "Can I look at this?"

He glanced her way and shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

Courtney compared the names of people her father associated with on the private investigator's list to that in the paper. Perfect match. This Corinthos guy was a mobster. Could he be bankrolling her father's gambling? God, her dad couldn't be that stupid. If you got into debt with one of those guys, you were as good as dead.

The guy next to her looked to the woman again. "You know, I should get going. I'll call you if I find anything."

"Bye, Lucky. And be careful."

"Hey, thanks for the paper," Courtney said hastily, holding it out to him.

"You can keep it," he said, declining it with a wave of his hands and a smirk. "Nothing very interesting in it anyway."

Courtney raised her eyebrows. Okay...did that mean stuff as weird as this happened around here all the time?

The woman pushed the steaming mug toward her. "There you go."

"Thanks," Courtney said, flashing a smile up at her. She took a sip, allowing the liquid warmth to spread throughout her body.

"Hey, Lucky," she heard from the door. A very nicely dressed blond woman stepped up to the counter. She was wearing a neat outfit of charcoal slacks that matched her coat and a fancy black shirt. Courtney couldn't help envying her. She didn't exactly feel pretty in her baggy sweater and jeans. In fact, she felt completely ordinary. The only thing sort of special about her was that both her parents were dead except one really wasn't. And that wasn't exactly something she could feel good about. Suddenly, that lighthearted feeling she'd been carrying around in her heart since her meeting with Jason faded away. What she wouldn't give to look into those sapphire pools of endless understanding again...

"Hi, Mom," the new arrival addressed the woman behind the counter.

Bobbie came around to hug her daughter. "Hey, honey. It's so good to see you."

"Yeah, it's good to see you, too." Carly smiled.

Courtney watched them with tears forming in her eyes. She rubbed them away, focusing on the paper instead of the mother-daughter exchange she would never experience again.

The article described something that sounded like a movie plot. Some guy, Luis Alcazar, who had held this girl people had thought was dead, Brenda Barrett, captive for four years had barged into her cottage and shot a friend of hers, local businessman Jasper Jacks, Friday night. Brenda had proceeded to shield Mr. Jacks with her own body, knowing this Alcazar, who was madly in love with her, wouldn't hurt her. Then this other guy, the one whose name was on the list, "alleged" mob boss Michael Corinthos, Jr., had showed up and shot Alcazar twice. Corinthos had been presumed dead, and, really, Courtney couldn't blame anyone for thinking that. Hello, he'd been shot five times. Or at least the cops had been tricked into thinking he'd been shot five times. He actually hadn't been shot at all. Whatever. That was way too confusing.

Even as she read, she was still vaguely aware of the conversation going on behind her. "You look upset," the hostess was saying. "Carly, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," the blond said a little too quickly. "It's just that—I don't know. Mike came by last night and he's really mad at Sonny and me for lying to him. I just wanted to make sure you weren't mad at me, too."

Courtney tore her eyes away from the paper when she heard his name. Carly's eyes were filled with tears and Courtney didn't need to be her mother to see whatever lie she had told was tearing her up inside.

The hostess pressed her mouth into a smile as she gave her arm a sympathetic, understanding pat. "Oh, honey. Why would I be mad at you? I figured out a long time ago that when it comes to you and Sonny, I just have to bite my tongue and hope for the best."

Carly smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

There were a thousand Mikes in the world, and these two couldn't be referring to hers. Courtney looked back at the paper.

That's when she came across his name.

Acting District Attorney Scott Baldwin says Corinthos's business partner, Jason Morgan, alleges that Corinthos shot in self-defense. This statement is contradictory, as Ms Barrett claims Morgan did not make an appearance until after Luis Alcazar was shot. It was, however, Ms Barrett's statement that secured the release of both Morgan and Corinthos. The PCPD will not be pressing charges...

Courtney didn't know what to think. Jason Morgan. The man with the name she loved so much, the man who had been so nice to her on the docks, who she couldn't deny feeling an inexplicable connection too...he was involved with the mob.

And not only was he involved with the mob, he was involved with Michael Corinthos. She'd heard enough about him in Atlantic City, but he was referred to with some nickname she couldn't remember. The guy supposedly ruled the entire East Coast, and part of Puerto Rico, too. His warehouse had been bombed, what, three times now?

This was what she got for trusting a stranger. Her mom had always warned her about that. Ugh, how stupid could she be?

He'd been so matter-of-fact, though, so...honest. Unlike any guy she'd ever met. He'd told her what had happened between him and that Elizabeth girl when he didn't owe her an explanation at all. And the way he'd listened to her about her mom and sounded genuinely sorry even though he hadn't known either of them...

Okay, she was getting way off the track here. There was no way she was going to get involved with some guy with ties to the mob. Not even if the guy happened to very nice and incredibly sexy. It just wasn't happening.

...But wasn't she sort of setting a double standard? Her dad was involved with the same guy, and that wasn't keeping her from wanting to find him.

The mom and daughter finished up their exchange, the hostess inviting the blonde to sit and stay awhile.

"I can't actually, I have to go get Michael. But thanks."

"I'll see you later."

Carly waved on her way out.

Her cup of coffee finished, Courtney decided it was time to go. She dug in her pocket, coming up with the exact change to pay for the liquid warmth. "Have a nice day," she said to the hostess, who returned the farewell.

Courtney was halfway to the door when a thought occurred to her. She really liked this place. It had a great atmosphere, and it was really clean. The place she had used to work had cockroaches crawling around, and she wouldn't have eaten anything there if her life depended on it. But this place...it was just all around nice.

She turned back to the hostess, a bit apprehensive to be asking this question when she hadn't seen any signs requesting help. "Excuse me, I'm sort of new in town and I'm looking for work. There wouldn't happen to be any job openings here, would there?"

"As a matter of fact...yes. We could use another waitress."

Courtney let out an inward sigh of relief. Now all she needed to do was get the job. How hard could that be? You really didn't need many qualifications. Endless pleasantness, the patience of a saint..."Great. Do you think I could fill out an application?"

Bobbie could tell this girl was going through some hard times. She could see the sadness in her eyes, and she just had to help. "You know what? I have the paperwork right here"—she pulled it and a pen from beneath the counter and passed it to Courtney—"and you can fill it out, but I like seeing firsthand how my waitresses interact with customers."

"Oh?" Courtney was surprised. Her old boss never would have used a technique like that.

"So, I'd like to put you on a trial period, if you're really interested in the job."

Was she kidding? "Believe me, I am. God, this is perfect. Thank you so much."

"When would you like to start?"

She got to pick? Now that was weird. Was everyone in this town nice? Well, obviously not everyone, she thought, reminding herself of the confrontation on the docks. But Jason, who had given her a sympathetic ear, Lucky, who had given her his paper, and this kind woman, who was giving her so many opportunities...if she didn't know better, which she did, she'd think it was too good to be true. "Um, wow. I can start tomorrow if you like."

That seemed to please the hostess just fine. "Great. I'm Bobbie Spencer, by the way. I own Kelly's with my brother, but chances are you won't be meeting him anytime soon."

"Courtney Matthews." They shook hands, sealing their business arrangement and their introductions. "You wouldn't happen to know of any cheap places to stay around here, would you?"

"Actually, we have rooms upstairs here. The room comes with the job."

Courtney was starting to get suspicious. This was way too easy. "Look, I'm not a charity case or anything." Yeah, right. Half the clothes she owned came from the Salvation Army, and now she didn't even have a half-dollar in her pocket.

"I didn't think you were. I give all the girls the same offer."

Her mom had taught her to be suspicious, but one of her friends had told her when a popular guy had asked her out that sometimes a date was just a date, that maybe the guy wasn't looking to get some, but just to get to know her. Her friend had been wrong, the dude was only looking to go places Courtney didn't want to, but maybe the same principle applied here—the offer was just an offer. She decided to take it. "Thank you, Ms. Spencer."

"Bobbie," she insisted, reaching under the counter and coming up with a piece of silvery metal. "Here's the key. Third room on the left. One of the other waitresses lives here, and my nephew, Lucky, who you just met. Why don't you bring your stuff upstairs and then you can come down and tell me a little bit about yourself?"

Courtney accepted the key with a smile. "Okay." She picked up the private investigator's documentation and the newspaper, swinging her bag onto her shoulder. "I'll be right down."

With that, she headed upstairs to check out her new home, hoping it wouldn't end up being an extremely temporary one.

~*~

P.S. That was pretty boring. But there just might be Journey next chapter ;)