Chapter 16

Jason sat at a table at Jake's nursing a beer. He'd been there for thirty minutes, but was still on his first drink. Make that his first and last drink. He needed to be alert for later that night when he took out Sorel. After leaving Sonny, he'd gone to the courthouse to hear the opening statements of Sorel's murder trial. District Attorney Dara Jensen surprised the courtroom by requesting Sorel be charged in relation to the recent bombing to the Corinthos-Morgan warehouse. Sorel's attorney objected arguing the incident was not connected to the crime his client was on trial for and therefore irrelevant. The judge agreed and suggested the DA deal with one crime at a time.

The DA then pushed for the court to reconsider the situation of bail. She wanted Sorel's bail revoked and Sorel remanded into custody. She stressed it was for Sorel's protection. She was afraid Sorel might not live to the completion of the trial. The judge declined the request and ordered the opening statements to begin. Jason sat quietly in the back and surveyed the courtroom as the two attorneys outlined their respective cases. Only two bodyguards sat behind Sorel. Jason didn't consider them a threat. Not that he would take Sorel out in public. No he would wait until night to do the job. Jason knew Sorel only kept a small number of guards around him during the day, however at night his house was fully protected making the hit difficult but not impossible.

After the court adjourned for the day, Jason made a couple of stops to pick up certain items he would need before returning to Jake's. Everything was ready, he thought glancing at his watch. In three hours, the Sorel problem would be over.

"Jason, hi," he looked up to see Elizabeth walking slowly to his table.

He stood, "Hi."

She stopped in front of him and looked cautiously around. She's nervous, he thought. He waved to the chair across from him and sat. She looked around again and sat down. She fiddled with a coaster on the table still not really looking at him. He didn't want to push. He knew she would say what she wanted to say when she was ready.

"I just wanted you to know I didn't tell Lucky anything. All he knows is that I saw you at the warehouse. He doesn't suspect anything." She fidgeted in the chair.

He heard the lie but didn't call her on it. He could only image what Lucky thought. He squeezed his fist under the table. He wanted to knock some brains into Lucky. How could he love Elizabeth the way he says and treat her like a possession? "Okay."

She leaned closer and whispered, "If Lucky ever finds out you stayed at my studio…"

"He won't unless we tell him," he interrupted before finishing his beer.

She nodded, "You make everything so simple."

He shrugged, "It is sometimes."

She gave a worried smile, "Just not at the moment."

He didn't know what to say to her. He didn't know how to make this easier for her. He certainly didn't want to make her life any more difficult. He watched her fidget again then start nibbling on the stale pretzels on the table. "Are you hungry?"

She dropped the pretzel, "Oh, no. The food here is dreadful."

"Okay," he said. He hated that she felt uncomfortable around him. He'd never wanted that. For a second he almost wished he hadn't kissed her yesterday. As much as he didn't regret kissing her if he knew their friendship would change, he might not have done it. When he couldn't take the silence anymore, he asked, "Do you want to go for a ride?"

She smiled and her eyes met his for the first time, "I thought you'd never ask."

Jason brought the bike to a stop and waited for Elizabeth to climb off. He killed the engine and sung his leg over to stand next to her.

She removed her helmet and looked around, "Where are we?"

He placed the helmet on the seat and looked down the road, "On a road to no where."

"That's poetic."

He turned to her, "No, no, I mean it." He pointed down the road. "There used to be a house out here, but it burned down a long time ago and the owners turned the property over to the state. All that's left is this road and that bridge over the gorge."

"Do you know where the house was?"

"Yeah, but they must have bulldozed the foundation or something. You can tell that the place was big, and a lot of gardens, a couple of old benches and some statues they didn't take out."

"What kind of statues?" She stepped closer and searched the horizon trying to see anything she could.

Jason rubbed his eyebrow, "Wow, uh, one's a girl, she's holding something and the other one's a horse."

She turned back to him, "Will you show me?"

He shifted awkwardly, "Uh, you know, I don't, I don't think I'd be able to find them in the dark. I'll bring you out some afternoon. We can look around."

"It was a mistake, Jason." She couldn't believe she had blurted it out like that. Since this morning when she saw him at Kelly's, it was all she could think about. Never, in all the versions she'd gone through, did she imagine the discussion would begin with polite chitchat about statues in an abandoned estate. She didn't know Jason could chitchat.

He sighed, "Elizabeth, …"

"It shouldn't have happened," she cried and moved away from him. "I love Lucky. He is who I want to be with." She turned back to him, "This is all my fault."

"No, it's not," he didn't want her to take all the blame. He was the one who had kissed her.

"Yes, it is. I came to the studio when I said I wasn't going to. I brought up Christmas and our first kiss." She covered her face with her hands, "God, I even asked you what would have happened if we hadn't stopped."

"But I was the one who kissed you," he stated.

"I practically begged you, Jason. I did everything but rip my clothes off and tell you to take me."

"It wasn't like that."

She laughed, "Yeah? What was it like? Because that's pretty much how I remember it." When he didn't reply, she knew he agreed with her. "See, you can't even argue with me. If Lucky ever found out we kissed, I …"

"Who would tell him?"

She continued as if she hadn't heard him, "Lucky was so mad yesterday just because I hugged you and cared that you hadn't died. I don't know what he would do if he found out that I betrayed him."

Jason grabbed her shoulders and gave a little shake, "He's not going to find out. The only people who know are you and me and I'm not going to tell him."

Elizabeth could smell Jason's scent. One small step and she would be in his arms. If she tilted her head up, she would be only fractions away from his lips. For a split second she wanted to give in. She wanted to feel the electricity that ran through her when his lips touched hers. She twisted out of his hold and turned her back to him. She couldn't get through this if she looked at him. "Jason, we can't be friends anymore."

He dropped his arms and sighed. It was worse than he thought. "Lucky asked you to stay away from me."

She turned and faced him angry that he knew without her having to tell him, "Can you blame him? He's my boyfriend. He has the right to tell me not to see you. He may only suspect but I've given him reason to doubt me and my relationship with you. Even now, I'm with you right now when I should be with him."

"I didn't think you liked people telling you what to do."

"He's not telling me what to do. I'm choosing this on my own," she argued. "You know, he's never asked me to do anything for him before. Not directly. And I don't think he's being that unreasonable."

"If you don't mind him choosing your friends," he needed to change her mind. He knew being her friend wouldn't be easy, but he didn't want to deal with not being her friend, of not being able to talk to her or go riding with her or hearing her mutter while she painted. He needed her like he needed his next breath.

"You're more than a friend, Jason, and he knows it. He knows I care about you, and he's threatened by that. I have to respect his wishes." She wiped her hands under her eyes. "Please don't be mad."

He wanted to take her in his arms and take away all her hurt, but he knew she would push him away. "I'm, I'm not mad at you. I like riding with you. The way you yell when we're going fast and how you, how you think of everything in pictures and you try to describe them to me. I like to hear about all the places that you're going to see."

She gave a sad smile, "You're making this really difficult."

"Is that wrong? I know you don't really want to do this."

"Part of me wanted you to understand and say it was for the best and wished me well, and the other part of me is so glad it all meant as much to you as it did to ma. I loved being free. But I love Lucky more. So could you do me a favour? Please accept that I'm doing this even though I don't want to, and help me by staying away." She needed to leave. If she stayed any longer, she would breakdown right in front of him.

He stared at her. She squirmed under his intense gaze. She felt like he was looking into her soul. "You want me to stay away from you?" he finally asked.

She looked into his eyes and knew she wouldn't be able to lie to him, "I want to make Lucky happy." For a second she thought he wasn't going to agree. A part of her didn't want him to. But then he nodded and walked silently to the bike. She followed and took the helmet he offered without speaking.

They drove back in silence. Elizabeth couldn't quite enjoy the ride even though she knew she should savour it since it would be her last one. She just couldn't put her heart into it. She wondered what Jason was thinking. She knew she had hurt him, and she had never wanted to do that. She wanted more than anything to take away his pain but knew that she couldn't. She never thought she would ever have to hurt someone she cared about to make someone else happy.

Jason brought the bike to a stop in the alley behind Kelly's and waited for Elizabeth to get off.

"Thank you for the ride," she said quietly handing him the helmet.

There were so many things he wanted to say, but sure was all he could say. She walked to the door, but stopped before opening it. He stood waiting for her next move.

She hesitated then turned around. "The statue of the girl. Did she have a long dress or a short dress on?"

His heart sank, "It was long."

She took a step closer to him, "Was she smiling?"

He took a step closer to her, "I don't know. Why don't you go hike up there and see it? Maybe you could go with Lucky."

She sighed and looked away, "No. I hate this."

He touched her cheek, "Then why are you doing it?"

He leaned down to kiss her. She raised her head to meet him, but before their lips could meet she turned her head and reached for the door. As she stepped through the doorway she looked back and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Jason stared at the closed door. He wanted to hit something. He thought maybe a bar fight would work, but then remembered something even better. Sorel was waiting.