Adrift

His conversation with Sonny Corinthos finished, Mason turned to Alexis as Sonny walked away. "A penny, or should I say; ten percent of your hourly rate for your thoughts."

"What?" Alexis was startled by her very carnal thoughts. Visions of strawberries and chocolates had thouroughly captured her attention.

"Where were you just now, Alexis?" Mason asked, his eyes intent as they looked into hers. "If I weren't already impressed with you, Alexis, I'd be now."

"Oh?" Alexis' eyebrow arched questioningly.

"From what I understand of Mr. Corinthos' business holdings and interests, the fact that he hold you in such obvious high esteem is something I find very interesting. Are you and he mere business associates or something more?" Again Alexis found herself the object of his very intense scrutiny and not for the first time, wondered just wha it was Mason saw, and why he was so intent on pursuing her. She was female enough to feel flattered, but Cassidine enough to wonder at exactly why.

Mason obviously felt her sudden discomfort, and he changed the subject smoothly. "I only ask because I thought perhaps I might have a rival for your attentions?" He paused as though expecting her to either confirm or deny his question, but Alexis did neither, so he continued with a shrug.

"And besides, that encounter was ..very strange. But he did do us a service...how do you feel about new york cheesecake? ...as in a trip to New York City. Junior's makes the best and we could be there in..oh .. say a little more than an hour."

"In what," Alexis couldn't help herself "A speeding limo? Might be handy indeed, to have a lawyer with you - if you're planning to break the law."

"If that's what it takes to get you to take a trip with me, I'd chance it... but no, Alexis, I meant by air. My private jet." He reached out and surprised her by taking her hand. "We can have cheesecake with strawberries and chocolate -- or anything else you might desire -- before midnight."

He smiled at her in what he thought was an enticing manner. "Come on Alexis. Live dangerously."

Those words.. two simple words that had changed her world, shifted the direction of her life. If you only knew how much I'm already living those words. Alexis thought to herself. As for cheesecake - and everything else, it's already covered. She gently disengaged her hand from his. "One more round of martinis and our meeting is ended. Or else, I might start billing you for overtime." She handed him her refusal with a gentle smile.

"For a smile like that, you can charge me time and half..no double...for one more, I'll even triple your hourly rate."

"Mason..." Alexis shook her head and couldn't help but laugh as the waiter delivered their drinks.

"She says my name!" Mason exclaimed. He turned to the waiter. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes I did, sir. She said your name."

Mason pulled out a bill from his wallet and without glancing at it, handed it to the waiter. The man smiled automatically, then did a double-take, eyes widening as he realized that Mason had handed him a hundred dollar bill. "She said my name.. there's hope!"

"Mason!"

Mason merely grinned and handed the waiter a second bill.

"Thank you!" The waiter grinned. "And good luck, sir!"

"Obviously, I'm not charging you enough!" Alexis said dryly.

"We could renegotiate that, over one more round..on my jet..." Even as she shook her head again, Mason showed no signs of letting up. "What can I do to change your mind? I enjoy a streak of stubborness, but all I want to do is sweep you off of your feet and take you away from all of this."

"I'm perfectly content with 'all of this' As you put it." Alexis said. "And I have no desire to leave it."

"And why is that?" Mason was relentless.

"And why do you want to know?" Alexis countered.

Mason sat back in his seat with a smile. "Because you interest me, Ms. Davis. I'll be blunt with you Women fascinate me; women in all of their infinite variety.Like a garden with a myraid of blossoms and blooms in all their variations, I strive to savor them all"

"I'm sure you don't lack for female companionship, Mr. Lane -- Mason." she amended herself before he could correct her.

"Thank you for the compliment." Mason smiled. He neither confirmed nor denied her statement, but neither did he show any arrogance over the fact. "And well the truth is, I find you in particular, a very fascinating. woman. Even that small interruption earlier" - referring to Sonny''s momentary appearance at their table - "..only intrigues me all the more. And so I want to know more. I want to know all about you, Alexis. I know your resume, I know your reputation. But I also know that there's more to you than what I can find on paper or gather by hearsay." He leaned forward, to stare into her eyes. "I want to get to know - you - Alexis."

The look in his eyes was flattering, but there was something else there too. A flash of an avaricious, somewhat predatory glint that sent a shiver down her spine. She was not about to become another trophy for his mental wall of conquests... and that would be true even if Sonny were not part of the equation. Alexis couldn't put her finger on exactly what bothered her. He was the type of man who made a woman feel her femininty, but at the same time something niggled in the back of her mind and solely by instinct, her mental walls went up, safely innoculating her from his charm.

Mason must have sensed something, because he relented. "I see now, that I've overstepped my bounds. I don't mean to offend you, Alexis."

"You're just not used to hearing no, are you Mason?"

"Truthfully," And here he smiled again, the predatory gleam gone from his eyes as though it had never appeared, and once again, he was the charming devil-may-care businessman with the silver tongue. "No, I'm not. And don't think I'm accepting it now. But I will back down. For now -- for tonight, at least - before you have a chance to say it."

"Mason..." he was being quite impossible.

"In fact, I will guarantee that your next words will not shoot down any small hope I still harbor by bidding you a fond good-night." Mason put action to words by slipping his business contracts into his briefcase and rising from his chair. He offered his arm to Alexis "Allow me to escort you to your car."

As they walked towards the exit, Mason was true to his word, he gave her no chance to shoot him down or to refuse to see him again other than for business purposes. Her car was brought swiftly to the curb and he handed her down into the driver's seat himself.

Mason took one hand, and bent low over it, raising it briefly to his lips. "Perhaps at our next meeting, you'll be more.amenable to suggestion...A bientot, ma cherie..." Before she could reply, Mason said his final goodnights and closed her door. Alexis' last view of him was in her rear view mirror as she pulled away from the curb, an unreadble smile still n his face.

****

Sonny smiled a polite goodnight at Mason as he left, making brief eye contact with Alexis as she walked out at his side, then sat back contentedly at his seat in the bar. Lane's action didn't faze him. Johnny had already confirmed that Alexis' car was being brought around even as the pair walked to the exit. Mason would be spending the rest of the evening alone. And the cheescake guaranteed that he, Sonny, would not be.

Sonny grinned briefly. He already knew a place on the way home where he could get the fresh strawberries and now he pondered over a decision of whipping up a small pot of hocolate fondue. A pot of melted chocolate had intresting possibilities. He waited for the fresh-baked cheescake being prepared to his exact specifications to be delivered with a sense of content and satisfaction and allowed his thoughts to wander. Maybe he should take a meeting with the curious and ambitious Mr. Lane. If the man thought himself a candidate for Alexis' affections, well, it wouldn't hurt to keep a close eye on the man. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer...

"Sonny?" The sound of his sister's voice interrupted his thoughts. Sonny turned to see his Courtney and his father standing there. Sonny slid from the stool and hugged Courtney and offered his hand to Mike.

"Everything all right?" Sonny asked.

"It's fine, Sonny." Courtney replied. "We're here to meet my husba -- AJ for dinner. He just got a commendation from his grandfather at work, and we decided to go out to dinner to celebrate." Her eyes slid into the dining room of the Grille, looking for her husband, then came back, almost guiltily to Sonny.

Sonny remembered everything Alexis had told him and tried, for his sister's sake, to remain calm and collected. "Hey, if you're happy tonight, then I'm happy for you."

"That's great, Sonny." Mike said. "I'm glad you feel that way."

"All I want is my sister's happiness, Mike. That's the most important thing to me right now." How he felt about AJ went unspoken. He was gratified to see the happiness in Courtney's eyes, but there was something in her gaze that troubled him. "Courtney?" Sonny made his voice as gentle as he could.

"Could I talk to you for a minute?" she asked softly. There was a tremor of fear in her voice that saddened Sonny. He didn't want his own sister afraid of him. But that was what his anger and hatred of Aj had done to her. Alexis had pointed that out to him time and time again, but it took the look in Courtney's eyes to really drive that fact home for him. Sonny took her hand in his and motioned for her to sit down next to him at the bar.

"Why don't I go and keep AJ company for a little while?" Mike suggested. He was happy enough to see the two of them sitting side by side without arguing. He smiled at them encouragingly before moving away to join AJ.

Sonny turned back to Courtney. In spite of all of his misgivings, Sonny forced himself to smile at her. This was the first time in a long time that she had made any sort of overture to him. He wouldn't destroy any chance for them to reconcile their differences before it had begun.

Courtney returned his smile tremously. "Before you start to worry, I only want to talk to you about Michael. If I'm going to accept you as my brother, than that means that Michael is my nephew. And while I'm getting to know all of my new family..and that includes you and Mike, then I was just wanted to ask you- doesn't that include Michael as well?"

Sonny took a deep breath. His first thought was that AJ had put her up to this. And that thought brought a surge of protectiveness that once upon a time, would have sent him into an explosive rage. But instead, Sonny struggled to control his first spurt of anger. He resisted the urge to order a sescond drink.

"Of course it includes Michael." he asked tightly. "And where does AJ come in with all of this?"

"He doesn't come into it...at least not the way you think. He had nothing to do with this, Sonny." she said. " Look at me.I promise you.. I swaer to you, what I'm talking about with you now, did not come from AJ, or anything you think he might have put in my head. This is about Michael. Doesn't he deserve all the family he has? Especially with you and your wife divorcing?"

"That's a done deal already." Sonny said roughly.

"And so Michael needs all the love and security he can get. I will see him under any reasonable structure you will allow. You can set the times and the places. I can even understand and accept any security measures you might feel are necessary. But what Michael needs most of all is to be a little boy. He has to know that things are strained between you and Carly right now. And what he needs should be the most important to everyone concerned."

"And I ask you again, Courtney. Where does AJ come into all of this?"

She looked towards her husband, now staring at them from the table and back to Sonny again. "My own opinion? AJ and Michael have a right to get to know one another without the feelings of either you -- or Carly -- coloring that. But for right now, the only one I'm thinking about is him."

Sonny was listening to his sister talk to him, but suddenly his body tensed. AJ had risen from the table and headed their way. Just before he reached them, Courtney slid from her seat, putting herself between her husband and her brother. She put a restraining hand on AJ's arm, even as the two men locked angry and accusatory stares.

"Courtney, are you all right?" AJ asked her. He wrapped a protective arm around her and brushed his lips along her temple. His eyes never left Sonny's.

"I'm fine, AJ, I swear. I'll just be a few more minutes, and then we can have dinner, just like we planned."

AJ's voice was deceptively gentle, althugh the gaze he leveled at Sonny remained stone-hard. "Fine by me, sweetheart. Don't worry. I'm just going outside to get some fresh air. I'll be back in a few minutes."

When he was gone, Courtney turned her attention back to Sonny. "No matter what you might think, my first concern is with Michael right now. As much as I know you hate AJ, as much as I know AJ despises you, I know that you both love Michael. Or at least AJ wants the chance to love Michael. I know what it's like to grow up without knowing family. Without knowing that there is family out there, waiting and wanting to know you and ..waiting to love you. Is that what you want for Michael? Even while you claim to love him?"

Now her eyes challenged him and he knew what she was saying without words. Hadn't he felt that same void she spoke of when Mike had left him and his mother? Isn't that what he claimed as far as his feelings for her? Everything that he had tried to do for her, didn't he claim he'd done it all in the name of love?

Courtney seemed to sense the pain her words invoked in him, and her voice gentled. It had never been her intention to hurt him. "Do you really want Michael to grow up with that hole in his heart? With the same wound that you and I both share? Only love can fill it. And there's no such thing for a child as too much love, Sonny."

Those words, oh so softly spoken, had all the effect and devastation of a well placed bomb. It rocked Sonny to the core, reached inside of his innermost heart and found the lost little boy who had lost love all too soon in his life and had been left with a gaping wound instead that had never really healed in all these long long years.... and after a long long moment, where this all crystallized for him, Sonny answered her.

"I hear what you're saying, Courtney. After a lifetime of living with that void in my heart, I don't want that for Michael. But I don't know if I can do it. It's been there so long and been a part of me for so long, I just don't know. Can I promise you that I'll think about it? And that I'll try?" His voice caught in his throat for a moment but he forced the words out. "For Michael's sake, I can promise to try."

Courtney slid from her seat. In an unexpected gesture, she leaned over and bruhed her lips against Sonny's cheek. "I think I know how hard that was for you, and tonight, I won't ask you for anything more than that." She pulled back so that she could look into Sonny's eyes, one hand lightly touching his face. "Thank you, Sonny. Thank you so much. One day, it will be your son thanking you. Think about that."

Sonny rubbed a hand across his face. Courtney had reached inside of him and touched a place he thought no one could get to, a place he'd never really admitted even existed. He didn't know if he could handle it. If Courtney was right...if ...Could his heart really open itself enough to give Michael what he really needed? Could his hatred of AJ be overcome by his love for Michael. AJ was scum, a liar, a betrayer of trust, an abuser of women. All the things that Sonny had hated all of his life...how could his hate ever overcome that?

His thoughts were floundering his emotions flooding to the surface, thratening to drag him down into an undertow of feelings he wasn't sure he was ready to deal with. He needed an anchor to see hims safely to the shore. And his mind already knew what he needed. No, who.

Alexis.