Emily and Elizabeth took seats across from one another at a smaller
table closest to the pool as the servants went about clearing away what
remained of their lunch. Emily sat quietly watching Elizabeth as she
watched Jason exit the patio with her mother and father. It was easy to
see whatever was happening inside Jason with regards to Elizabeth was also
taking place within her as well. As much as Emily wanted her brother to
find happiness and someone to love, she couldn't shake the feeling of doom
that engulfed her when she thought about the pairing of Jason with
Anthony's wife.
"I'm sorry about my mother's behavior. This whole wedding has just got her in a tizzy," Emily offered an explanation.
"There's no need to apologize. I was the one who showed up at your house without warning."
"That still doesn't excuse her rudeness."
"Emily, be lucky you have a mother to share in this time with you. When Anthony and I were married my mother was already dead and I had virtually no one."
Emily detected a hint of sadness mixed with animosity in Elizabeth's voice. "I do. It's just that sometimes I think it's her wedding and not mine." Emily smiled knowing that Elizabeth was right, but at times Cassandra's overpowering manner got the better of her.
"Joseph," Cassandra said, "I would like to talk to you before you leave."
"We are already running late. I don't want to keep the stockholders waiting."
"This will only take a minute."
"Fine," he relented. "Jason, wait for me in the car. What is it?" He turned to his wife.
"I can't put my finger on it but something isn't right between Jason and Elizabeth. Did you happen to see the way he was looking at her all through lunch? Or how he came to her defense on more than one occasion?"
"Can't say as I did," Joseph lied.
"I don't believe that," Cassandra countered. "She's a married woman, Joseph. Married to Anthony Malucci no less. I think you need to have a talk with our son."
"I have....."
"You have? But I thought you just said...."
"Forget what I said. Jason is well aware of my feelings on such things. He is also more than aware of Rocco's illness and more importantly of his impending demise. Jason isn't about to jeopardize all that we have worked for. You needn't worry Cassandra. Jason is a smart young man who knows and understands the score. I really need to be going." He leaned in kissing her once more.
Cassandra closed the door and wondered if their son really did know the score as her husband had put it. She had her doubts.
"So where do you want to begin?" Elizabeth asked opening the portfolio in front of her.
"Well the hospital set the ticket price at twenty-five hundred dollars a couple so that's out of the way. My father has given me a list of people that he wishes to be invited."
"I'm sure that won't be a problem," Elizabeth reached for the list that Emily offered. "Especially taking into consideration how much your family is doing for the benefit. It still amazes me that your brother made such a generous offer. It blows my mind actually." Elizabeth smiled broadly.
"I have to admit I was surprised myself."
"He sort of stole Anthony's thunder," Elizabeth said absently flipping through the papers in front of her.
"I noticed," Emily concurred. "I wish that those two would just settle down and start acting like adults. They have forever been trying to one up each other for years."
"I hate to say this, but Jason has always been on top."
Emily wasn't sure exactly how to take Elizabeth's comment. Could she have been reading the petite brunette all wrong? Did she really have feelings for her husband – a man who thought so little of her? "I don't think that I quite understand."
"I just meant that Jason is the son of The Don. He's always going to have the power and respect. Not to mention that Jason is far more refined than my husband will ever be."
There it was again – Emily saw the look of admiration in Elizabeth's eyes when she spoke of Jason. "I actually don't know Anthony all that well," she stated. "I was never included all that much. Besides up until a few years ago, both my brothers thought of me as just a little pest," Emily laughed.
Elizabeth joined in with her as well. "You should feel blessed to not know my husband," she said suddenly somber. "You certainly aren't missing much."
"I'm sorry," Emily found herself saying.
"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I never did apologize to you and your fiancé for the scene I made at your party. I don't know what got into me that night."
"No harm done really," Emily answered. The only true harm had come to her brother, who was falling for a woman Emily knew he could never have.
"Thank you for being so kind, Emily."
"Can I be frank with you Elizabeth?" she asked.
"Certainly."
"Do you have feelings for my brother?"
Elizabeth nearly choked on the gulp of iced tea she had just swallowed. "What?!"
"I think you heard me. Do you have feelings for Jason?"
"NO!!" Elizabeth offered hoping that she sounded convincing. "I admire his generous nature and am thankful that between he and my father in law, they saved me from making an even bigger fool of myself the other night. As for having feelings for Jason – no – no I don't have feelings for him."
"Good," Emily said not believing a word of Elizabeth's speech. "Jason's had a tough time of it lately, especially with A.J.'s marriage and now my own. I just want to be clear on where you stand."
"I am Mrs. Anthony Malucci. Doesn't that tell you where I stand?"
Joseph eyed the agenda for the meeting that his secretary handed him and tried not to think of his wife's pointed comments regarding their son. He too had noticed Jason's not so subtle manner when it came to Elizabeth Malucci. Even if he wasn't about to outwardly admit it, that worried him almost as much as what was going to happen when Rocco was no longer part of the equation. It wasn't that Joseph didn't care for Elizabeth. Actually he liked her very much. It was obvious to him that she cared a great deal for Rocco and, if circumstances had been different, it would have been a pleasure to call her his daughter-in-law. At the moment, however, that was neither here nor there.
Jason sat next to his father and attempted to gather his fractured thoughts. The lunch that he had spent in Elizabeth's company had sent him into a tailspin of sorts. As much as he wanted to keep his distance from her, that's how much he looked for reasons to be close to her. Sitting next to her that afternoon on the patio having lunch with his family felt so right to him. It felt as though it was the way things were supposed to be. Jason was more then aware of Anthony's exploits. He knew that he had little regard, if any, for the woman he had married. It still baffled Jason why a beautiful and obviously intelligent girl like Elizabeth had married Anthony Malucci out of all the men she could have had. It had only taken an instant for Jason to see that Elizabeth was a woman to be revered and respected, but Anthony had done neither of those things.
"Jason," his father's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Huh???"
"Are you with me here son?"
"Yeah...."
"I think you should be prepared to discuss your little charity endeavor. I am sure that one of the stockholders has gotten wind of it by now."
"We still have controlling interest of the company," Jason countered, sensing his father was still on the fence with regards to his action.
"That may be true but we are still accountable to the men that will be occupying these seats in a few minutes. I would suggest that we broach the matter first rather than be put on the defensive."
"If that's how you would prefer to play it, then fine."
"Thank you."
Jason sat back in his high-back leather chair and watched as each of the men filed into the room. He heard the arguing voices within him, each one attempting to win a losing battle. While he knew that the Coronary Care Benefit was a great cause that would stand to gain Morgan Enterprises notable recognition, that hadn't been the real reason for Jason's lavish gesture. Not even Anthony's fury at being upstaged by the Morgan Family again had been what Jason had really been after. It was Elizabeth's smiling face that met his own, that had been what Jason had been truly searching for. Yet receiving it had only fueled his need for seeing it again. Suddenly Jason felt as though he was on a merry-go-round he couldn't get off of.
"Would someone care to explain this?" Ralph Arnold said, waving The Chicago Sun Times in the air. "When has it been a practice of this company to make such a commitment without first going through the proper channels?"
"Ralph," Joseph said in an attempt to calm the man before him, "could we please at least try to keep to the protocols of the meeting agenda?"
"To hell with the agenda!"
Joseph swallowed his anger, sensing that at the moment it wouldn't help. "Once the meeting has gotten underway, Jason will giving you all an in- depth explanation of the event."
"I say no time like the present!" Ralph spoke.
Seeing that there was no other way around this, Joseph offered Jason the floor.
"Jason.......Jason......." Finally he had been forced to nudge his son's shoulder to attain his attention.
"Huh?" Jason's obvious lack of attention angered Joseph
"Mr. Arnold would like for you to explain the Coronary Care Benefit that we are backing."
Jason cleared his throat as he stood. It was times like these that he longed for his father's chameleon abilities. He did his best to showcase all of the event's finer points and the great recognition that it would bring to the company by in large.
"Do you understand the potential money we could be talking here?" A gentleman from across the table now spoke.
"As a matter of fact I do," Jason offered.
"This is nuts. No amount of recognition is worth the tens of thousands of dollars we are going to be dishing out!" Ralph Arnold barked again.
"Mr. Arnold," Jason did his best to be diplomatic. "I understand that finding out about something of this magnitude on the front page of the paper before being apprised of it by the members of the board was a tough pill to swallow. That wasn't my intention at all. As a matter of fact, I didn't even give this interview. Please know that my father and I have much more respect for you all then to blind side you in such a manner."
Joseph smiled, impressed by his son's sudden take-charge attitude. It was nice to know that all his teachings hadn't been lost along the way.
"Then how the hell did it end up in the paper?!?!?!" Ralph questioned, not being easily swayed by Jason's flowery speech.
"That's my fault I am afraid," Joseph spoke up. "This event is being sponsored by Malucci Manufacturing, a company we work very closely with as you know. I just wanted Mr. Malucci to understand that we in no way were looking to steal his thunder by our gesture. Apparently it was he who gave the interview to The Sun. I personally think that his mention of Morgan Enterprises shows a great alliance of the two companies."
"I still don't like it." Ralph Arnold made no bones about it.
"As you well know, the Morgan family has controlling interest in this company," Joseph countered. "I feel that the expansion of the Coronary Care Unit is one that would serve the community as a whole. Morgan Enterprises being a major benefactor in that expansion will only serve the company as a whole very well."
"So are you saying that we as board members don't get a vote?" Ralph was taken aback.
"No, no that's not what I am saying at all." Joseph smiled a smile that Jason had seen so many times before. A cordial smile that just below the surface, to those that looked carefully hinted at deviousness.
"Shall we take a vote then?" Jason asked taking his cue from his father. Joseph nodded for him to continue. "A show of hands of all those in favor." Each man at the table knew this vote wasn't a true vote at all. The announcement as to Morgan Enterprises matching funds of the event was public knowledge now. There was no way that they could rescind the offer at this point so each man, even a reluctant Ralph Arnold, raised his hand. The remainder of the meeting followed the agenda without any deviation, for which both Jason and Joseph were thankful.
"Jason," Joseph began as he shut the door on the last man leaving the room.
"Yes?" Jason said gathering the papers before him.
"I feel that you and I need to get a few things straight."
"Such as?" Jason knew that this speech had been coming, yet at this very moment he wasn't quite prepared for it.
"I want to know the real reason you are involved in this charity event."
"For the same reason as Emily."
"Which is?" Joseph asked at Jason's obviously evasive answer.
"We both know how much you want our family and Rocco's to make amends before......well you know....."
"You mean before Rocco dies? Suddenly you can't say it. Up until now, you have had no trouble reminding me that my friend is on his death bed." Jason sensed a note of sarcasm in his father's tone.
"Well, yes that's what I mean. So I was just attempting to do that, bring our families together."
"You may be able to get away with that mock concern with the men that just left this room, but it doesn't wash with me. This little show of yours is for anything but organizational unity."
"I have explained this to you all before. I thought that given all we have done for the hospital in the past that we shouldn't let an opportunity like this pass us by." Jason shifted uneasily before his father, knowing that this was one question he wasn't going to get out of answering. The true test for him would be if he had enough wits about him to lie his way out of it.
"And?"
"And what?"
"Jason, do you really think I was born yesterday?"
"What?" Jason asked, buying himself a bit more time to think.
"I know that you take every opportunity to put Anthony in his place and this was no exception. If that's all I thought this was I could handle that, but it's not. You know it and I know it."
"I don't think that I do," Jason offered, swallowing hard around the lump in his throat.
"So you mean to tell me that working so close with Anthony's wife never entered into your mind?" Joseph asked in a straightforward manner.
"No!" Jason said a bit too quickly. "Elizabeth had nothing to do with my decision what so ever!"
"Jason????" Joseph said all knowing
"What?"
"So you mean to tell me that you don't have any feelings for Elizabeth?"
"FEELINGS?!?!? She's married for God sakes, married to Anthony Malucci to boot. The only thing I feel for her is sorry!" However the quick turn of Jason's head told Joseph all the answers he needed to know.
"I'm sorry about my mother's behavior. This whole wedding has just got her in a tizzy," Emily offered an explanation.
"There's no need to apologize. I was the one who showed up at your house without warning."
"That still doesn't excuse her rudeness."
"Emily, be lucky you have a mother to share in this time with you. When Anthony and I were married my mother was already dead and I had virtually no one."
Emily detected a hint of sadness mixed with animosity in Elizabeth's voice. "I do. It's just that sometimes I think it's her wedding and not mine." Emily smiled knowing that Elizabeth was right, but at times Cassandra's overpowering manner got the better of her.
"Joseph," Cassandra said, "I would like to talk to you before you leave."
"We are already running late. I don't want to keep the stockholders waiting."
"This will only take a minute."
"Fine," he relented. "Jason, wait for me in the car. What is it?" He turned to his wife.
"I can't put my finger on it but something isn't right between Jason and Elizabeth. Did you happen to see the way he was looking at her all through lunch? Or how he came to her defense on more than one occasion?"
"Can't say as I did," Joseph lied.
"I don't believe that," Cassandra countered. "She's a married woman, Joseph. Married to Anthony Malucci no less. I think you need to have a talk with our son."
"I have....."
"You have? But I thought you just said...."
"Forget what I said. Jason is well aware of my feelings on such things. He is also more than aware of Rocco's illness and more importantly of his impending demise. Jason isn't about to jeopardize all that we have worked for. You needn't worry Cassandra. Jason is a smart young man who knows and understands the score. I really need to be going." He leaned in kissing her once more.
Cassandra closed the door and wondered if their son really did know the score as her husband had put it. She had her doubts.
"So where do you want to begin?" Elizabeth asked opening the portfolio in front of her.
"Well the hospital set the ticket price at twenty-five hundred dollars a couple so that's out of the way. My father has given me a list of people that he wishes to be invited."
"I'm sure that won't be a problem," Elizabeth reached for the list that Emily offered. "Especially taking into consideration how much your family is doing for the benefit. It still amazes me that your brother made such a generous offer. It blows my mind actually." Elizabeth smiled broadly.
"I have to admit I was surprised myself."
"He sort of stole Anthony's thunder," Elizabeth said absently flipping through the papers in front of her.
"I noticed," Emily concurred. "I wish that those two would just settle down and start acting like adults. They have forever been trying to one up each other for years."
"I hate to say this, but Jason has always been on top."
Emily wasn't sure exactly how to take Elizabeth's comment. Could she have been reading the petite brunette all wrong? Did she really have feelings for her husband – a man who thought so little of her? "I don't think that I quite understand."
"I just meant that Jason is the son of The Don. He's always going to have the power and respect. Not to mention that Jason is far more refined than my husband will ever be."
There it was again – Emily saw the look of admiration in Elizabeth's eyes when she spoke of Jason. "I actually don't know Anthony all that well," she stated. "I was never included all that much. Besides up until a few years ago, both my brothers thought of me as just a little pest," Emily laughed.
Elizabeth joined in with her as well. "You should feel blessed to not know my husband," she said suddenly somber. "You certainly aren't missing much."
"I'm sorry," Emily found herself saying.
"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I never did apologize to you and your fiancé for the scene I made at your party. I don't know what got into me that night."
"No harm done really," Emily answered. The only true harm had come to her brother, who was falling for a woman Emily knew he could never have.
"Thank you for being so kind, Emily."
"Can I be frank with you Elizabeth?" she asked.
"Certainly."
"Do you have feelings for my brother?"
Elizabeth nearly choked on the gulp of iced tea she had just swallowed. "What?!"
"I think you heard me. Do you have feelings for Jason?"
"NO!!" Elizabeth offered hoping that she sounded convincing. "I admire his generous nature and am thankful that between he and my father in law, they saved me from making an even bigger fool of myself the other night. As for having feelings for Jason – no – no I don't have feelings for him."
"Good," Emily said not believing a word of Elizabeth's speech. "Jason's had a tough time of it lately, especially with A.J.'s marriage and now my own. I just want to be clear on where you stand."
"I am Mrs. Anthony Malucci. Doesn't that tell you where I stand?"
Joseph eyed the agenda for the meeting that his secretary handed him and tried not to think of his wife's pointed comments regarding their son. He too had noticed Jason's not so subtle manner when it came to Elizabeth Malucci. Even if he wasn't about to outwardly admit it, that worried him almost as much as what was going to happen when Rocco was no longer part of the equation. It wasn't that Joseph didn't care for Elizabeth. Actually he liked her very much. It was obvious to him that she cared a great deal for Rocco and, if circumstances had been different, it would have been a pleasure to call her his daughter-in-law. At the moment, however, that was neither here nor there.
Jason sat next to his father and attempted to gather his fractured thoughts. The lunch that he had spent in Elizabeth's company had sent him into a tailspin of sorts. As much as he wanted to keep his distance from her, that's how much he looked for reasons to be close to her. Sitting next to her that afternoon on the patio having lunch with his family felt so right to him. It felt as though it was the way things were supposed to be. Jason was more then aware of Anthony's exploits. He knew that he had little regard, if any, for the woman he had married. It still baffled Jason why a beautiful and obviously intelligent girl like Elizabeth had married Anthony Malucci out of all the men she could have had. It had only taken an instant for Jason to see that Elizabeth was a woman to be revered and respected, but Anthony had done neither of those things.
"Jason," his father's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Huh???"
"Are you with me here son?"
"Yeah...."
"I think you should be prepared to discuss your little charity endeavor. I am sure that one of the stockholders has gotten wind of it by now."
"We still have controlling interest of the company," Jason countered, sensing his father was still on the fence with regards to his action.
"That may be true but we are still accountable to the men that will be occupying these seats in a few minutes. I would suggest that we broach the matter first rather than be put on the defensive."
"If that's how you would prefer to play it, then fine."
"Thank you."
Jason sat back in his high-back leather chair and watched as each of the men filed into the room. He heard the arguing voices within him, each one attempting to win a losing battle. While he knew that the Coronary Care Benefit was a great cause that would stand to gain Morgan Enterprises notable recognition, that hadn't been the real reason for Jason's lavish gesture. Not even Anthony's fury at being upstaged by the Morgan Family again had been what Jason had really been after. It was Elizabeth's smiling face that met his own, that had been what Jason had been truly searching for. Yet receiving it had only fueled his need for seeing it again. Suddenly Jason felt as though he was on a merry-go-round he couldn't get off of.
"Would someone care to explain this?" Ralph Arnold said, waving The Chicago Sun Times in the air. "When has it been a practice of this company to make such a commitment without first going through the proper channels?"
"Ralph," Joseph said in an attempt to calm the man before him, "could we please at least try to keep to the protocols of the meeting agenda?"
"To hell with the agenda!"
Joseph swallowed his anger, sensing that at the moment it wouldn't help. "Once the meeting has gotten underway, Jason will giving you all an in- depth explanation of the event."
"I say no time like the present!" Ralph spoke.
Seeing that there was no other way around this, Joseph offered Jason the floor.
"Jason.......Jason......." Finally he had been forced to nudge his son's shoulder to attain his attention.
"Huh?" Jason's obvious lack of attention angered Joseph
"Mr. Arnold would like for you to explain the Coronary Care Benefit that we are backing."
Jason cleared his throat as he stood. It was times like these that he longed for his father's chameleon abilities. He did his best to showcase all of the event's finer points and the great recognition that it would bring to the company by in large.
"Do you understand the potential money we could be talking here?" A gentleman from across the table now spoke.
"As a matter of fact I do," Jason offered.
"This is nuts. No amount of recognition is worth the tens of thousands of dollars we are going to be dishing out!" Ralph Arnold barked again.
"Mr. Arnold," Jason did his best to be diplomatic. "I understand that finding out about something of this magnitude on the front page of the paper before being apprised of it by the members of the board was a tough pill to swallow. That wasn't my intention at all. As a matter of fact, I didn't even give this interview. Please know that my father and I have much more respect for you all then to blind side you in such a manner."
Joseph smiled, impressed by his son's sudden take-charge attitude. It was nice to know that all his teachings hadn't been lost along the way.
"Then how the hell did it end up in the paper?!?!?!" Ralph questioned, not being easily swayed by Jason's flowery speech.
"That's my fault I am afraid," Joseph spoke up. "This event is being sponsored by Malucci Manufacturing, a company we work very closely with as you know. I just wanted Mr. Malucci to understand that we in no way were looking to steal his thunder by our gesture. Apparently it was he who gave the interview to The Sun. I personally think that his mention of Morgan Enterprises shows a great alliance of the two companies."
"I still don't like it." Ralph Arnold made no bones about it.
"As you well know, the Morgan family has controlling interest in this company," Joseph countered. "I feel that the expansion of the Coronary Care Unit is one that would serve the community as a whole. Morgan Enterprises being a major benefactor in that expansion will only serve the company as a whole very well."
"So are you saying that we as board members don't get a vote?" Ralph was taken aback.
"No, no that's not what I am saying at all." Joseph smiled a smile that Jason had seen so many times before. A cordial smile that just below the surface, to those that looked carefully hinted at deviousness.
"Shall we take a vote then?" Jason asked taking his cue from his father. Joseph nodded for him to continue. "A show of hands of all those in favor." Each man at the table knew this vote wasn't a true vote at all. The announcement as to Morgan Enterprises matching funds of the event was public knowledge now. There was no way that they could rescind the offer at this point so each man, even a reluctant Ralph Arnold, raised his hand. The remainder of the meeting followed the agenda without any deviation, for which both Jason and Joseph were thankful.
"Jason," Joseph began as he shut the door on the last man leaving the room.
"Yes?" Jason said gathering the papers before him.
"I feel that you and I need to get a few things straight."
"Such as?" Jason knew that this speech had been coming, yet at this very moment he wasn't quite prepared for it.
"I want to know the real reason you are involved in this charity event."
"For the same reason as Emily."
"Which is?" Joseph asked at Jason's obviously evasive answer.
"We both know how much you want our family and Rocco's to make amends before......well you know....."
"You mean before Rocco dies? Suddenly you can't say it. Up until now, you have had no trouble reminding me that my friend is on his death bed." Jason sensed a note of sarcasm in his father's tone.
"Well, yes that's what I mean. So I was just attempting to do that, bring our families together."
"You may be able to get away with that mock concern with the men that just left this room, but it doesn't wash with me. This little show of yours is for anything but organizational unity."
"I have explained this to you all before. I thought that given all we have done for the hospital in the past that we shouldn't let an opportunity like this pass us by." Jason shifted uneasily before his father, knowing that this was one question he wasn't going to get out of answering. The true test for him would be if he had enough wits about him to lie his way out of it.
"And?"
"And what?"
"Jason, do you really think I was born yesterday?"
"What?" Jason asked, buying himself a bit more time to think.
"I know that you take every opportunity to put Anthony in his place and this was no exception. If that's all I thought this was I could handle that, but it's not. You know it and I know it."
"I don't think that I do," Jason offered, swallowing hard around the lump in his throat.
"So you mean to tell me that working so close with Anthony's wife never entered into your mind?" Joseph asked in a straightforward manner.
"No!" Jason said a bit too quickly. "Elizabeth had nothing to do with my decision what so ever!"
"Jason????" Joseph said all knowing
"What?"
"So you mean to tell me that you don't have any feelings for Elizabeth?"
"FEELINGS?!?!? She's married for God sakes, married to Anthony Malucci to boot. The only thing I feel for her is sorry!" However the quick turn of Jason's head told Joseph all the answers he needed to know.