Chapter 12
Jason fitted the rifle butt to his shoulder and positioned the two-legged support stand on the windowsill. He peered through the telescopic sight to the warehouse below. The .308 high-powered rifle felt comfortable in his arms. It had been a while since he had held one, but his body had not forgotten the familiar weight. He focussed the sight on a worker standing by the entrance of the warehouse. Soon Sorel would be standing there for his meeting with Sonny. When he made his move, Jason would be ready to take him out. Others might worry about the distance, but not Jason. He knew the range of the rifle and he knew his skill. He regarded his accuracy as a given. This was what he did, a part of who he was. When he was sure of his target, he loaded a round into the chamber. He was ready. Now he just had to wait.
He lowered the rifle to the ground and peered out the window with his arms crossed. Soon it would be over, and he would leave the studio. He thought of Elizabeth. When this was done, he would leave Port Charles, maybe for good this time. He was causing problems for her and he didn't want that. He didn't want Elizabeth to hurt because of him. He had come to her, he admitted, not only for a place to stay, but to see how she was, to see if she was happy with Lucky.
He shook his head. If she had been happy with Lucky this wouldn't be so hard. He would have done his job and left without any problem. But she wasn't happy with Lucky. He could see that on the first day. Lucky was possessive and controlling. Elizabeth couldn't see it but she was trying to change who she was to fit Lucky's needs. Anger flowed through him. He wanted to hit Lucky and make him see what he was doing to her. But he couldn't and wouldn't. Elizabeth needed to fight her own battles. She needed to stand up for herself, just like she had done that long ago Christmas. She needed to know that she was strong enough to make her own decisions. He just didn't know if he could stay here and watch Elizabeth find herself with Lucky. It would be too much. He sighed and moved away from the window just as there was a knock on the door.
The door opened to reveal Elizabeth. "Hey, it's just me." What am I doing here? Elizabeth asked herself outside her studio. She shouldn't be here. It was Valentine's Day. She should be with Lucky exchanging gifts, but instead she was standing outside her studio. Lucky didn't even know she was here. She had left before Lucky woke and had walked around Port Charles thinking about her life. Without realising it she had ended up here again. She couldn't seem to stay away.
Jason was shocked to see her. He glanced down to the rifle sure that she couldn't see it. "Oh, man. I thought, - I thought you were going to stay clear until I left tonight," he said.
"I knew you would be hungry, so I brought you lunch," she said as she walked passed him and place the bag she was carrying onto the table. This was a bad idea. She shouldn't have come, but she didn't want to leave either.
"I would have been fine." He told her feeling many conflicting emotions all at once. The meeting would be starting soon, he needed to be ready, but he was also happy that she came to see him. He didn't think he would see her again.
"All right, then, I did it for me. If I had to think of you sitting here starving to death, my whole day would have been shot." Don't tell me to go, she said silently.
"It's not your problem, but thank you." He wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to spend another few minutes with her. They could talk then he would get her to leave.
"Jason, I wish I could do more for you, but I can't go on keeping a secret from Lucky."
He sighed. He wanted to talk but not about Lucky. Jason turned toward to window again. "After today, it won't be a problem."
"What is so fascinating out that window?" Elizabeth moved toward him and looked down to see what he was looking at. She didn't notice the rifle by his feet. "There's Sonny going to the warehouse. So that's the reason you wanted to stay here – because it has a good view of the warehouse."
"That was one of the reasons," he said, a little uncomfortable with Elizabeth being so close to him. "When I knew I'd have to keep out of sight, I thought of you and this place. I knew I could trust you, but I didn't think enough about you and how tough this would be." On you and me, he thought.
"Would you not thank me again?" Elizabeth walked back to the bag from Kelly's. She dug her hand into the bag and pulled something out. She looked back at him hesitantly, "I brought you a present. It's fudge. My version of Tammy's recipe." She handed the fudge over to Jason. "Happy Valentine's Day."
He toke the fudge from her but didn't know what to say. He hadn't expected anything from her. "Thank you. You know, I don't have anything for you."
"Oh, no, it's --," she didn't need anything from him. She felt guilty enough making him leave.
"No, no, no, wait a minute. I do." He turned around searching for his bang. He remembered the glass. He had seen it in Italy one day and without thinking had bought it. He didn't know what had possessed him.
"Jason, you don't … have to give me anything." Elizabeth was getting a little uncomfortable herself. She didn't know why she had decided to give Jason the fudge. Valentine's Day wasn't even one of her favourite holidays. She just didn't like to think of him being in the studio alone on Valentine's Day. She should be with Lucky and give him his present, but she couldn't seem to get Jason out of her head.
"No, when I went to Italy, okay, I saw these glass blowers, and they made all kinds of stuff." What was he doing? He should have just taken the fudge. "Some of it was pretty junky – lots of gold and paint all over. But the colour of the glass was so intense; I brought back a piece to remind me. Look it's – it's kind of like a stained glass window at a church."
Taking the glass from his hand, Elizabeth was shocked. "What an incredible red. Jason, you keep this. It's important to you."
"It's not a ruby. It's a hunk of glass. Take it," he insisted. "Happy Valentine's Day."
"Thank you. It's beautiful."
They moved to the window and Jason raised her arm to allow the light to pass through the glass. "Yeah. There, you kind of – you really need to take it outside to see the – to see the light coming through. And I'd go with you if I could." He looked down at her uncertainly.
"It's perfect here." She looked up at him.
They stayed that way for a few moments until Jason dropped his hand and moved away. It felt good to have her in his arms. Too good. Elizabeth was with Lucky and the sooner he remembered that, the better it would be - for him and her.
Elizabeth turned towards Jason. She had felt something a moment ago. Had he? Was that why he had walked away? It was the same thing she had felt when she'd kissed Jason that Christmas and when she thought Jason was going to kiss her yesterday.
"Do you ever think about what happened that Christmas?" Elizabeth asked quietly. What was she doing? She'd promised herself she wouldn't bring it up. She didn't want to have this discussion. Then why did you ask? She wasn't sure, but now that it was out she nervously waited for his answer.
Jason wondered where that had come from. How had she gone from Valentine's Day to Christmas? He looked in her eyes and knew she was thinking about the kiss. "All the time," he replied.
For a split second, Elizabeth could feel Jason's lips on hers. It had been over a year ago, but it felt like it just happened. "I know I asked you to forget about the kiss, but I never did. I'd told you it was a mistake, but when you left I thought about it a lot. You showed me that I could feel desire. After the rape, I wasn't sure if I would ever want a man. I was comfortable with Lucky. I had known him before it happened. When Lucky died, I thought I would never meet another man that I could feel that comfortable with to let him touch me. But you showed me that I was over the rape. That I could feel that desire."
Jason tried to hide his disappointment. "I'm glad I was able to help you." To him the kiss was the turning point in his life. He realized that Elizabeth had meant more to him than any other person in his life. At the time, he hadn't been ready to deal with that information but now he knew that he had fallen in love with her. Somewhere deep inside he had hoped that she had felt the same way. It was stupid, especially when Lucky had returned. He knew how much she loved Lucky. But he couldn't stop the hope from lurking inside him.
"Do you ever think about what would have happened if we hadn't stopped?"
Jason was shocked. He couldn't speak. He just looked at her. What did she want him to say? If they hadn't stopped, he would have ripped off her clothes and they would have ended up having sex on her couch. He was sure of it. That's what he had wanted to do. As soon as her lips touched his, every other thought but her had left his mind. A desire he hadn't even known about had taken over. Does she want to know that? Does she want to know how he felt and still feels? She was with Lucky now. Why was she bringing up something that didn't happen and wasn't going to happen?
Elizabeth was shocked. What was she doing? She could see that her question had bothered Jason. He was staring at her but hadn't said anything. What was he thinking? No, the idea of having sex with you was too revolting to think about. I was only kissing you to make you feel better. I never really wanted you. Why had she brought up this subject? What was she even doing here? She should be with Lucky. This was Valentine's Day. The day you should spend with the person you love. Yet here she was with Jason, and she didn't know where Lucky was.
Jason still hadn't said anything. Oh my God! I think I going to die right this minute. Please, Jason, just say something, anything. I can't take this silence, she thought. "You know what, forget I mentioned it, okay. It was nothing. I don't even know why I asked. I think I'm going crazy, just ignored me." Elizabeth couldn't look at him. She turned around and started to clean up the brushes she had left on the easel last night.
"Elizabeth…. Elizabeth… Elizabeth," Jason tried to get her to stop but she moved quickly around him and walked to the table. Before she could run, again Jason grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. There was so much he wanted to say, but nothing came out. Instead he lowered his head and kissed her.
At first she just stood there, frozen in shock, but soon she was kissing him back. Just as before, the desire surged out of control. Without breaking apart, they walked toward the couch. Elizabeth began pushing Jason shirt above his torso and ran her hands over his muscular chest. She couldn't think. All she knew was that she wanted him. She had never felt like that before. Not even with Lucky. Not since that first time at Christmas.
Did the earth just move? Before she could answer that question, Jason had stopped kissing her and was moving toward the window.
"What was that?" She asked. She slowly pushed herself off the couch and moved toward him. Her mind was still cloudy. It took a moment to understand what she was seeing. The Corinthos-Morgan Warehouse was on fire. "What happened?'
"The warehouse exploded. Elizabeth, call 911. I have to get Sonny!" Without looking back, Jason ran out the studio.
Elizabeth rushed to the phone. "Hello, 911? The Corinthos-Morgan warehouse just exploded. There are people inside. Please, you've got to send help." Elizabeth returned to the window to see Jason run into the burning building. Oh my God! What if he got hurt? She didn't know how long she stood there staring out the window. All she knew was that he wasn't coming out. Why wasn't he coming out? This couldn't be happening again. She had to go down there. She had to know that he would be okay. As she looked around for her jacket, she heard a knock at the door.
"Lucky!" What was he doing here?
"Hey."
"Hey. Did you see the fire?" She really didn't want to talk to him. All she could think about was Jason in the fire. "It's Sonny's warehouse. We have to go." She had found her jacket and was hastily putting it on.
"Hold on, hang on a second." He grabbed her arm as she tried to walk through the door. "My gosh, you're shaking. I'm sorry. Are you all right? I came running as soon a I heard the explosion and the sirens."
"I saw Sonny go into the warehouse." She desperately wanted to run, to find Jason and make sure he was okay.
"Yeah, but Elizabeth, the rescue teams are already there. I think he's going to be okay. I'm sure he's all right." He pulled her back into the studio and closed the door.
She needed to calm down. She couldn't let Lucky know that Jason was here. She sat back on the couch and finally noticed that Lucky was carrying flowers. "You brought me white roses."
"Hey, Happy Valentine's Day."
"Thank you." She took the flowers from him. "Uh, I left your present at Kelly's." She had to get down there. All she could think about was Jason running into the warehouse. "Can we just go down to the warehouse for a moment. I need to know that everyone is okay. Then we can go to Kelly's and have dinner. How does that sound?"
"Okay, let's go."