Chapter 8- The Middle of the End

"Um, hey Courtney?" said Jason tentatively.

"'Um, hey Courtney?'" she mimicked in a less than pleased voice. "Is that all you have to say to me?"

"Look, this isn't what it looked like" he said, getting off the couch and taking a step towards her but she backed off.

"Oh, I think it's exactly what it looks like" she snapped. "I heard that my daughter was sick and I came over to check on her. But I guess you've got it all under control, right? Instead of taking care of her, you're messing around with her teacher. I didn't realize we were seeing other people. Looks like I never got that memo, but don't worry, I have it now" she snapped before turning on her heel and storming out of the apartment.

"Wait! Courtney!" he yelled, trying to chase after her.

"Jason, let her go. She needs some time" said Veronica as she softly put her hand on Jason's arm.

He pulled away from her touch and tried to run after Courtney again but Veronica blocked the door this time.

"Jason, trust me, I am a woman. I know how she's feeling. And the last thing she wants right now is half-assed explanations and overcrowding. Give her some space, she'll calm down. Besides, she's right about one thing. Your daughter's here and she's sick. She needs her daddy"

"I guess" grumbled Jason as he went back to sit on the couch.

"You ok?" she asked sweetly.

"I'm fine" he mumbled, and it was obvious that he was lying. "Maybe its better if you just go" he said.

Veronica pursed her lips together and didn't say anything for a moment before silently getting up and gathering her things.

"Call me if you need anything. I hope Meg gets better soon" she said tensely before leaving and closing the door tightly behind her.

Meanwhile, Courtney had rushed into her car and was driving at breakneck speed. When she reached her destination, she parked her car and ran towards the building. Racing up the stairs, she banged on the door while trying to catch her breath.

"Courtney, are you ok?" Joshua asked as he pealed open the door.

"I am now" she whispered, still breathlessly as she pulled him into a passionate kiss.

"Aunt Carly, why are you taking me to school?" asked Meg innocently from the seat in the back of the limo next to her aunt.

"So that you and I can spend a little more time together" lied Carly.

After all, how do you explain the real reason to a five year old? That daddy's sleeping with your teacher (despite his claims) and mommy resents both of them for it? Carly smiled at her niece and tried to pretend like everything was ok.

"Aunt Carly, I know that mommy and daddy had a big fight. I heard daddy tell Uncle Sonny that mommy was never going to forgive him. Why not? What did he do that was so bad?"

"Don't worry about it sweetie. Daddy and Mommy are just being very dramatic right now. It's just a lot of grownup stuff" said Carly.

"I don't like grownup stuff" the little girl told her aunt. "I like when me, Mommy, Daddy, and Simba all live together and we're happy. Mommy and Daddy don't spend time together anymore"

"They're just angry with each other right now. They'll calm down soon and it'll go back to that" Carly told her sympathetically.

She now understood how Courtney had felt all those times that Michael had run away to her house while Carly and Sonny were fighting. It was a feeling of total helplessness. It was as though she couldn't provide any comfort for the little girl.

"What if they don't calm down? What if it's a really long fight?"

"Don't worry about that honey. Just go to school, have fun, and play with your friends. It'll all be ok"

"Promise?" asked Meg.

Carly just smiled at her, a hard, forced smile.

"Why are you looking at Ms. Hartman like that?" Cameron asked Meg as he saw her glaring at their teacher all throughout story time.

"She came over my Daddy's penthouse the other night. And after that, he and my mommy got into a huge fight" Meg explained.

"Why?" asked Cam.

"I don't know" said Meg. "Grownup stuff" she said, and Cameron nodded his head in understanding.

"Grownup stuff" sighed Jessica. "My Uncle and Aunt had grownup stuff. And then my aunt moved out and I haven't seen her since than" said the little girl as she looked up from the picture she was coloring.

"What happened?" asked Cameron.

Jessica just shrugged.

"Maybe she joined the circus" suggested one kid.

"Or went someplace warm. My mommy always wants to go someplace warm" said another.

"Maybe she was eaten by a bear" suggested Cameron, and the kids nodded at this as though it made sense.

"Maybe we should ask Ms. Hartman. She's good at answering questions" tried Jessica.

"No, let's not ask her" said Meg, glaring once more at the teacher as she put away the books they had been reading.

"I'm here to pick up my daughter" said Courtney huffily as she walked into the classroom.

"I…uh…haven't seen you in a while. Usually one of Meg's aunts or uncles pick her up and drop her off" said Veronica.

"Yeah, I guess your boyfriend can't take time out of his busy schedule to take care of his daughter. I on the other hand, have been avoiding you by letting her relatives pick her up. I didn't want to slip up. After all, the last thing my daughter needs to know is how big of a slut the woman she's supposed to look up to is and how big of an asshole her own father is"

"Look, not like anything happened between me and Jason or anything, but if it did, it's perfectly understandable. You two are separated. In fact, you were the one who got the papers and came up with the idea in the first place"

"Don't even pretend to know everything about me and my relationship with Jason" snorted Courtney. "Because you know nothing. Jason and I are complex. And someone like you wouldn't be able to even begin to grasp that complexity. So I'm not even going to try to explain it to you"

"Nothing happened between me and Jason" maintained Veronica.

"Are you attracted to him?" asked Courtney.

"I don't really think that's any of your business" said Veronica haughtily.

"See, and I think that it is" sneered Courtney. "You're messing with my family. My husband and my daughter. Maybe Jason and I are separated, but we are still legally man and wife. And I am not going to let a tramp like you come here and mess with my family"

"You kicked him out. Excuse him if he took that as an opportunity to broaden his horizons" hissed Veronica.

"Even so, he's my family. He's my daughter's father. And she doesn't need to have to deal with something as grotesque as her father dating her kindergarten teacher. So hear me when I say that if I wouldn't bat an eyelash about reporting this to the school board"

"Are you that desperate?" asked Veronica viciously.

"No, I'm that protective of my daughter. And I really don't approve of you exploiting her like this"

"It's not exploitation, don't worry"

"Oh I am worried. I won't let you use my daughter to get to Jason. You can come in here with your fake smile and your low cut top, but when it all comes down to it; you are just sweet talking everyone to get your way. If Jason is too blind to see that, then I can't tell him otherwise. But my daughter won't be a pawn in your game to bag my husband. Are we clear?"

"Crystal" said Veronica through clenched teeth. "But for your information, you were the one who came here, not me. This is my classroom. And I think it's time that you left"

"Fine. Come on Meg" she said, her voice softening as she spoke to her daughter.

"Goodbye Meg, I'll see you tomorrow" Veronica called to the little blonde girl, her sugar coated voice returning.

Meg looked at the woman and sighed. She gave her teacher a half-wave and then followed her mother, still unsure of whether to trust Veronica Hartman or not.

"Jason" said Veronica the next morning, the surprise evident in her voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Just dropping Meg off" he said as he watched his daughter run to play with his friends. "Why do you seem so surprised?"

"No, it's nothing. It's just that another relative of Meg's usually drops her off"

"Yeah, actually my sister Emily was supposed to but she has her own daughter and she got caught up with her, so she called me and let me know at last minute"

"And I'm assuming Courtney had already went to work and dropped Meg off at your place" said Veronica.

"Ah, yeah, why?" he asked.

"Because I doubt she'd let you be here around me if she knew about it" said Veronica bitterly.

"What do you mean?"

"Courtney and I had a talk yesterday. Basically, she accused me of using Meg to get into your pants" she said bluntly.
"She what? That doesn't sound like my Courtney! She's usually so calm and collected"

"Alright, first of all Jason, you don't have a Courtney anymore. You're separated remember?" she asked him.

"It doesn't mean anything" he mumbled.

"Oh Jason" she sighed. "And second of all… Courtney was no where near calm and collected. She threatened to report me to the school board"

"For what?"

"Sleeping with a student's father"

"We're not sleeping together though"

"I know that, and you know that, but Courtney doesn't seem to know that, and that would be a pretty serious accusation against me" said Veronica.

"I'll talk to her" said Jason with a sigh. "But give her a break, she hasn't been herself lately"