Disclaimer: I don't own General Hospital or its characters.
Author's Note: Wow, I actually don't have much of anything to type here. Again, thanks to everyone who's still reading, I really appreciate it! And if you can think of any Journey scenes you'd like to see redone, let me know. Or, if you have any ideas on how I can either recreate the shaving scene, or do something similar, ideas are always welcome!
Love, Daisies, and Troubadours – Chapter 5
"Jason." Sonny looked up as Jason walked into the penthouse. "How was Atlantic City?" It was a week later and Jason had just gotten back from a second trip to the Golden Towers.
"Big problem," Jason said as he handed him a file. "Andrews has taken literally millions from just the casino alone."
"You think he's working for someone?" Sonny flipped the file open and scanned it. "Is he taking from any of the other companies?"
"Thomas is checking on two other casinos and one of the warehouses and yeah, he has to be working for someone else, he's not smart enough to be doing this on his own."
"Got anyone in mind?"
"Same person you're thinking of. Nothing's positive yet, but we cross-referenced the accounts that the money is being filtered through with accounts being used by some of the competition and one name keeps coming up with the same offshore account locations."
Sonny nodded. "Jackson Parelli." He flipped a few more pages. "We'll just have to wait until Thomas finishes with the rest of his work before we decide on a game plan," he decided as he shut the folder. "How is everything else going?"
"Everything's good." Jason looked around. "It's quiet, where are Carly and Michael?"
"Michael's upstairs with Leticia and Carly is out shopping with Courtney getting stuff for the club." He laughed. "She's driving me crazy with all of this club stuff I can't wait until the place is open. I'm glad she's bothering Courtney for once."
Jason laughed with him. "So how are things with you and Courtney?" he asked casually. "Have you gotten to spend any time with her lately?"
"Not as much as I'd like," Sonny said with a shake of his head. "I feel bad about it, she's been in town for so long now and I've barely gotten to know her. Carly says she's pretty happy and that she seems to be enjoying town." Sonny looked up. "Has she been okay since AJ left town?"
"Yeah she's been great," Jason answered honestly. "She's settled into her new place and AJ won't be bothering her."
"Good, good." Sonny went over to the bar and poured himself a drink, offering one to Jason who declined. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy she came to Port Charles and I love having my sister around but I'm getting concerned."
"Concerned about what?" Jason asked, wondering if Sonny had caught on to what was going on between him and Courtney.
"Jason, you know if Parelli is the one we're dealing with, we're going to have an all-out war with him and I don't want her to have to see that. She shouldn't have to deal with it."
"You think it'll get that bad?"
Sonny nodded. "Parelli's been trying to get to me for years now. Now that he has and we're going to shut him down, it's going to get ugly," he said seriously. "It's bad enough that Carly has to see that part of my life, I don't want it to touch Courtney."
"Yeah, I guess not." Jason ran his hand through his hair. "You can't just send her away though," he pointed out. "She's not a child."
"You're right," Sonny agreed. "But I can put her through college. On the west coast."
"West coast?" he echoed. "Does she want to go to school there?"
Sonny shrugged. "It doesn't have to be the west coast, it can be anywhere she wants to go, as long as it isn't here," he replied.
"But you just said how Carly said she's happy here, and how much you like having her around," Jason pointed out.
"If getting her out of town saves her life, than it's worth it," Sonny said. He looked over at Jason. "Maybe you could help me," he suggested. "Maybe you could talk to her and find out where she'd like to go to school?"
Jason blinked. "Shouldn't you be the one to do that?"
"If I do, she'll see that I'm just trying to get her out of town," Sonny explained. "If you ask her about school and then I present her with a few different options, she'll see it differently." He laughed. "She's like Carly in that aspect, you know? Things just need to be manipulated slightly. So, can you help me with that?"
"Yeah," Jason said finally, not liking it, but not knowing what else to say. "I'll see what I can do."
"Good." Sonny picked up the folder again. "So what other companies do you think Parelli's infiltrated?"
"So let me get this straight, you two still haven't slept together?" Carly asked incredulously as she and Courtney entered the club. "And you're okay with that?"
"What am I supposed to do Carly?" Courtney asked exasperatedly. "Threaten to break up with him if he doesn't?"
"That might work," Carly said thoughtfully. "Seriously, I thought that when I talked to him that—"
"Wait, what?" Courtney turned to face the other woman. "You talked to Jason? About what?"
"Nothing really," Carly said quickly. "Well, about you, but we only talked about how much he cares about you and how happy is he with you."
Courtney shook her head. "Please don't do that anymore," she pleaded. "I know you're trying to help, but really, there's no need. We're fine. I'm happy, he's happy, we're good."
"Right." Carly handed her a glass of water. "So when are you going to tell Sonny?"
"We think it's best to wait until after Club 101 opens," Courtney said. "I just think it'll be easier."
"I am a big fan of that idea," Carly agreed. She gestured around. "So what do you think of my place?"
"It's gorgeous," Courtney said genuinely. "I can't even imagine how excited you must be."
"You have no idea," Carly grinned. "Poor Sonny, I must be driving him crazy, but he hasn't said a word to me. Oh, while I have you here, are you still going to take me up on that hostess gig?"
"I don't know Carly," she said reluctantly. "I've already relied on my dad to get me a job, and now you too? Just once, I'd like to get a job not given to me by family."
"Sweetie, this is Port Charles," Carly laughed. "Everyone works for family, it's just how it's done. And, if you become my daytime hostess, you don't have to work opening night which means you can attend the party with Jason."
Courtney rolled her eyes. "And how can I do that without tipping Sonny off?" she asked.
"I have that all figured out." Carly waved her hand dismissively. "I'll just tell Sonny that I told Jason to take you because I want to have the family celebrating my club together and you two are our closest family, so it's only natural that you come together. Trust me, it'll work out perfectly."
"Mm-hmm." Somehow, Courtney knew better than to believe that. "I need to get going," she said standing up. "But I'll let you know about the job later."
"Yeah, yeah, we both know you'll take it." Carly smiled. "I'll see you later."
"Bye." Courtney waved as she walked out into the bright sunshine. She looked at her watch and realized she was going to be late for her shift at the diner. Digging through her purse she finally pulled out her phone and called to tell Penny that she would be running about fifteen minutes behind.
"Carly talk your ear off?"
Courtney smiled and turned around as she put the phone back in her purse. "What else is new?" she asked, standing on tiptoe to kiss Jason. "What are you doing?"
"On my way back from the warehouse." They began walking again. "Did you and Carly have fun today?"
"Yeah we had a great time. She picked up a few odds and ends for the club and we looked at dresses for opening night."
"Oh yes, black tie." Jason made a face. "Did you buy something to wear?"
"Narrowed it down to two possible choices," she confessed. "So we'll see. Oh!" She turned and looked at him quickly. "Carly says she has it worked out so you and I can go together without Sonny getting suspicious."
"What's her plan this time?"
"Something about telling Sonny she wants us to go together because we're family." She laughed. "She wanted to know when we're telling Sonny about us, but she didn't seem too concerned about it, I think she loves the whole secrecy thing."
"Yeah, she would." Jason rolled his eyes. "So when do you get off work tonight?"
"Around seven, why?"
"I thought I'd stop by tonight, I've got the night off."
They reached the entrance of Kelly's and stopped walking. "You know Jason, eventually, I am going to have to spend a night alone at my place."
"You spent the first night alone," Jason pointed out. "But if you don't want me to come over, that's fine, I can—"
"See you around eight?" she asked, slipping her arms around him.
"Eight sounds good," he agreed. "Have fun at work."
"I will." They kissed until Courtney finally pulled away from him. "I really need to get in there, I'm already running late." She laughed as he tried to kiss her again and she swatted at him. "Stop!" she protested.
"All right, all right." He let go of her and stepped back. "I'll see you tonight."
"Bye." She smiled at him again before turning around and almost colliding with someone. "Oh, Elizabeth, I didn't see you there," she apologized.
Elizabeth smiled tightly. "Penny said you were running late, I thought maybe something was wrong."
"Oh, no I was with Carly and just lost track of time," Courtney explained. "You know how she is."
"Yeah." Elizabeth looked over her shoulder pointedly. "So you and Jason, huh? When did that start?"
"Oh, not long ago," Courtney said uncomfortably. "A couple of weeks, maybe."
"I see." Elizabeth nodded. "Good luck with that. Well, since you're here, I'm going to go on break, so if you could cover the front, I'll tell Penny to handle the back?"
"Yeah, sure." Courtney rolled her eyes as she watched as Elizabeth walked away and then glanced around the mostly empty diner. Only one table was occupied, and the guy was only drinking coffee. "Hey Penny, thanks for covering for me," she said as she walked up to the counter and smiled.
"Oh, no problem hon." Penny smiled warmly at her. "Some flowers came for you earlier," she said, gesturing to the box that lay behind the counter. "So who's the secret admirer?"
"I don't know, let's just se—" Courtney's smile faded as she lifted the lid off of the white box.
"What is it?" Penny asked, peering over her shoulder. "Oh wow, those are beautiful," she said, fingering the daisies that lay nestled in the greens. "And daisies are out of season right now, you must be very special."
"Must be," Courtney murmured, picking up the card that was lying on the flowers. She waited until Penny went to refill the one customer's coffee cup before opening the envelope.
"Missing you Daisy, and spending every night dreaming of you on stage. You'll be dancing for me again in no time. See you soon," she whispered before tossing the card down and covering the flowers again. "Damn," she muttered to herself. "AJ, you bastard." Quickly, she moved behind the counter and called the first person that came to mind.