CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Conversations, Complications and Consequences
Alexis met Kristina for lunch and for a surprise, she had invited Jax. "And remember, no fussing. We will have a pleasant lunch, engage in totally idle chit chat and have fun." She ordered.
Amen to that, Alexis thought to herself, even while they were all studying the menu. Try as she might, she couldn't get her thoughts off of Carly. If she hadn't gotten it into her head to just walk into Sonny's apartment, she would have never had been there the night she and Sonny had made love, and would have never gone flying in a rage out into the night.
Alexis had talked to Zander earlier today and had learned from him that in typical Carly fashion, she'd gone running to him with every intention of seducing Zander, but then had opened her mouth in the midst of the act, damning her and Sonny. Zander hadn't taken too kindly to the idea of being used as either a substitute or a weapon for revenge and had thrown her very rudely out of his bed and his room. That had probably been the last straw for Carly. But Sonny still thought it was all his fault that Carly had gone racing off into the night in her car. The truth was, it was all Carly's doing. Just as Jax had said, as soon as she got an idea in her head, she acted on it, without stopping to think about the consequences of her actions.
Alexis sighed out loud.
"Anything you want to share, Alexis?" Jax asked.
Kristina looked from Jax to Alexis, a small frown of anxiousness on her face. She didn't want this to turn disagreeable.
"Nothing really, "Alexis said. She lifted one hand in the air. "Just ... circumstances. The whole situation with Sonny and... Carly."
"I know that this – situation - is something that concerns you, and that makes me concerned." Jax said. He reached out and took Alexis' hand. "I've got no love for Corinthos, but even I wouldn't wish this on him. Or Carly.
"I know you two never really got along, and I can see why... but away from Corinthos, she actually has a few good qualities."
"You're singing her praises?" Alexis lifted a finely shaped eyebrow.
"Hardly that." Jax answered. "But working with her, I've come to realize a great deal about what makes Caroline Benson Spenser Quartermaine Corinthos tick."
"She's the ex-Mrs.Quartermaine-Corinthos on both counts." Alexis reminded him.
"Now, now, Alexis." Jax teased her. "Let's not be petty, shall we? As an ex-wife yourself, where's your sympathy?"
"You're about to sing me the praises of Carly and you use the word 'petty' in reference to me?" Alexis quipped back. "Speaking of ex-wives, if this continues, this ex-wife may have to revise my alimony arrangements."
"There were no alimony arrangements."
"Exactly." Alexis replied with a mock ominous tone in her voice, and then they all laughed.
"Carly is not without her faults." Jax began. He was answered by a very unlady-like snort from Alexis and another outright laugh from Kristina, but continued on nevertheless. "But she has grit and determination. And passion for what she believes in. Channeled in the right direction, those are very productive traits."
"So now you've volunteered to become her mentor? I wondered why you agreed to partner with her in this club thing to begin with."
"She wanted to build a life away from Sonny. I admit it, I was all too willing to help." He looked directly at Alexis. "Getting caught in his web is the worse thing that can happen to a woman. He swallows them whole and leaves them with nothing."
"A woman who doesn't know herself, perhaps, Jax." Alexis said. "I can see where a woman without a strong sense of herself could become riddle with so much insecurity dealing with a man like Sonny, that it could become detrimental to her. But that won't happen to me. First of all, I know exactly who and what I am – faults and all; and I accept them. Secondly, Sonny and I are friends – true friends. I think sometimes, that I am the first woman friend that Sonny has ever had in his adult life. And for the record, I've seen how he treats those he doesn't respect."
"Like me?" Jax asked innocently. Well, as innocently as he could manage and keep a somewhat straight face.
"I plead the fifth." Alexis said. "At any rate, I have never expected that behavior from him and have never allowed it on the rare occasion when that part of his nature has attempted to raise its ugly head."
"He didn't respect Carly. Honestly, I don't think he ever did, despite the fact that he did love her. Which leads me to wonder just what kind of love can survive when there is no trust or respect. But in true Carly fashion, when she saw that Sonny gave me the respect ant trust that she felt should have been exclusively hers, she retaliated."
A sudden thought came to mind. "Do you think that Carly could have set all of this up somehow?"
"Stage her own death to hurt Sonny?" Kristina asked, stunned by the implications. How could one soul do that to another?"
"Do you really think that Carly would do that to Sonny?" Jax asked.
"She turned him into the FBI, Jax." Knowing what she did about Sonny, it was that one act that had hardened her heart against Carly. How could she have been married to the man and not understand that most basic thing about him?
"She told the Quatermaines that Jason kidnapped her child. And she set up AJ Quartermaine by drugging him and making him believe that he'd fallen back into alcoholism so that he'd leave town. She came to town to destroy her birth mother, and she played a major part in destroying Bobbie's marriage. In the end, her actions even drove Tony Jones crazy. After all that, there's not much I wouldn't put past Carly. She never thinks of the consequences of her actions. Only the results."
"But she has a child, a mother that's holding on to hope of seeing her daughter again. Would Carly really put them through this just to get back at Sonny? I find that hard to believe, but I'll put some people on it to check out the possibility." Jax said, his expression still bemused by the thought. "But back to Sonny, I don't want to see you end up in the same place, Carly or Brenda did, Alexis."
"It won't. I wouldn't allow it, even if Sonny were inclined to try it. Which he is not." Alexis said firmly.
"I'm glad to hear that, although I'm not surprised."
"That much is true," Kristina said. "Sonny is an absolute gentleman when it comes to Alexis. Always."
"Corinthos... a gentleman. It boggles the mind." Jax said. "So now you're friends, you and he. Can I ask just how close of a friendship has developed between you two?" He didn't miss how Kristina eyes suddenly dropped away from his, or the slight flush that climbed into Alexis' face. His lips quirked into an odd smile. "Pleading the fifth again?"
Jax's bright blue gaze studied Alexis intently. "I'm not trying to pry into your private life. I just don't want you to become a casualty to Sonny's ego and issues. You have to know that that's a huge part of the man. He's a complication you don't need."
"But there are other parts of Sonny that you have never been allowed to see." Alexis answered. "He needs someone to be there for him, Jax."
"He needs Alexis, Jax." Kristina asserted. "Believe me, he does. More than he even knows."
Both Alexis and Jax looked at Kristina in surprise. Before anyone else could speak, a cell phone shrilled. It was Jax's. He apologized as he stood up and stepped away from the table to take the call.
"What was that supposed to mean, Kristina?" Alexis asked. "I don't need Jax knowing anything about Sonny and I. He cares too much to just let that bit of information go by without a fight."
"I didn't tell anything but the truth. He needs you as friend first and foremost. and whatever else you choose to be for him. And Jax doesn't need to know that. I have no intention of telling him anything, Alexis. I'll leave that to you, to tell your friend in a time and place of your choosing. You care too much about Jax to lie to his face, don't you?"
"I hate it when you're right. But it isn't something he needs to know right now. There's just too much going on right now, and I can't deal with the complications that will surely come about if Jax learns that Sonny and I have taken our friendship to a whole new level. There's the complication that I don't need. And truthfully, I really don't know what's going on there right now." Alexis said. Before Kristina could answer that, Alexis noticed, gratefully, that Jax was coming back to the table.
She turned in her seat as Jax rejoined them. "That was quick, must have been only a minor company raid instead of a world-wide conglomerate take- over."
Jax found it hard to meet Alexis' eyes, even hard to tell her the news. "That was one of the leaders of my search group. A body's been found in the lake. Unidentified for now...but it was definitely a woman. A woman with blonde hair."
Conversations, Complications and Consequences
Alexis met Kristina for lunch and for a surprise, she had invited Jax. "And remember, no fussing. We will have a pleasant lunch, engage in totally idle chit chat and have fun." She ordered.
Amen to that, Alexis thought to herself, even while they were all studying the menu. Try as she might, she couldn't get her thoughts off of Carly. If she hadn't gotten it into her head to just walk into Sonny's apartment, she would have never had been there the night she and Sonny had made love, and would have never gone flying in a rage out into the night.
Alexis had talked to Zander earlier today and had learned from him that in typical Carly fashion, she'd gone running to him with every intention of seducing Zander, but then had opened her mouth in the midst of the act, damning her and Sonny. Zander hadn't taken too kindly to the idea of being used as either a substitute or a weapon for revenge and had thrown her very rudely out of his bed and his room. That had probably been the last straw for Carly. But Sonny still thought it was all his fault that Carly had gone racing off into the night in her car. The truth was, it was all Carly's doing. Just as Jax had said, as soon as she got an idea in her head, she acted on it, without stopping to think about the consequences of her actions.
Alexis sighed out loud.
"Anything you want to share, Alexis?" Jax asked.
Kristina looked from Jax to Alexis, a small frown of anxiousness on her face. She didn't want this to turn disagreeable.
"Nothing really, "Alexis said. She lifted one hand in the air. "Just ... circumstances. The whole situation with Sonny and... Carly."
"I know that this – situation - is something that concerns you, and that makes me concerned." Jax said. He reached out and took Alexis' hand. "I've got no love for Corinthos, but even I wouldn't wish this on him. Or Carly.
"I know you two never really got along, and I can see why... but away from Corinthos, she actually has a few good qualities."
"You're singing her praises?" Alexis lifted a finely shaped eyebrow.
"Hardly that." Jax answered. "But working with her, I've come to realize a great deal about what makes Caroline Benson Spenser Quartermaine Corinthos tick."
"She's the ex-Mrs.Quartermaine-Corinthos on both counts." Alexis reminded him.
"Now, now, Alexis." Jax teased her. "Let's not be petty, shall we? As an ex-wife yourself, where's your sympathy?"
"You're about to sing me the praises of Carly and you use the word 'petty' in reference to me?" Alexis quipped back. "Speaking of ex-wives, if this continues, this ex-wife may have to revise my alimony arrangements."
"There were no alimony arrangements."
"Exactly." Alexis replied with a mock ominous tone in her voice, and then they all laughed.
"Carly is not without her faults." Jax began. He was answered by a very unlady-like snort from Alexis and another outright laugh from Kristina, but continued on nevertheless. "But she has grit and determination. And passion for what she believes in. Channeled in the right direction, those are very productive traits."
"So now you've volunteered to become her mentor? I wondered why you agreed to partner with her in this club thing to begin with."
"She wanted to build a life away from Sonny. I admit it, I was all too willing to help." He looked directly at Alexis. "Getting caught in his web is the worse thing that can happen to a woman. He swallows them whole and leaves them with nothing."
"A woman who doesn't know herself, perhaps, Jax." Alexis said. "I can see where a woman without a strong sense of herself could become riddle with so much insecurity dealing with a man like Sonny, that it could become detrimental to her. But that won't happen to me. First of all, I know exactly who and what I am – faults and all; and I accept them. Secondly, Sonny and I are friends – true friends. I think sometimes, that I am the first woman friend that Sonny has ever had in his adult life. And for the record, I've seen how he treats those he doesn't respect."
"Like me?" Jax asked innocently. Well, as innocently as he could manage and keep a somewhat straight face.
"I plead the fifth." Alexis said. "At any rate, I have never expected that behavior from him and have never allowed it on the rare occasion when that part of his nature has attempted to raise its ugly head."
"He didn't respect Carly. Honestly, I don't think he ever did, despite the fact that he did love her. Which leads me to wonder just what kind of love can survive when there is no trust or respect. But in true Carly fashion, when she saw that Sonny gave me the respect ant trust that she felt should have been exclusively hers, she retaliated."
A sudden thought came to mind. "Do you think that Carly could have set all of this up somehow?"
"Stage her own death to hurt Sonny?" Kristina asked, stunned by the implications. How could one soul do that to another?"
"Do you really think that Carly would do that to Sonny?" Jax asked.
"She turned him into the FBI, Jax." Knowing what she did about Sonny, it was that one act that had hardened her heart against Carly. How could she have been married to the man and not understand that most basic thing about him?
"She told the Quatermaines that Jason kidnapped her child. And she set up AJ Quartermaine by drugging him and making him believe that he'd fallen back into alcoholism so that he'd leave town. She came to town to destroy her birth mother, and she played a major part in destroying Bobbie's marriage. In the end, her actions even drove Tony Jones crazy. After all that, there's not much I wouldn't put past Carly. She never thinks of the consequences of her actions. Only the results."
"But she has a child, a mother that's holding on to hope of seeing her daughter again. Would Carly really put them through this just to get back at Sonny? I find that hard to believe, but I'll put some people on it to check out the possibility." Jax said, his expression still bemused by the thought. "But back to Sonny, I don't want to see you end up in the same place, Carly or Brenda did, Alexis."
"It won't. I wouldn't allow it, even if Sonny were inclined to try it. Which he is not." Alexis said firmly.
"I'm glad to hear that, although I'm not surprised."
"That much is true," Kristina said. "Sonny is an absolute gentleman when it comes to Alexis. Always."
"Corinthos... a gentleman. It boggles the mind." Jax said. "So now you're friends, you and he. Can I ask just how close of a friendship has developed between you two?" He didn't miss how Kristina eyes suddenly dropped away from his, or the slight flush that climbed into Alexis' face. His lips quirked into an odd smile. "Pleading the fifth again?"
Jax's bright blue gaze studied Alexis intently. "I'm not trying to pry into your private life. I just don't want you to become a casualty to Sonny's ego and issues. You have to know that that's a huge part of the man. He's a complication you don't need."
"But there are other parts of Sonny that you have never been allowed to see." Alexis answered. "He needs someone to be there for him, Jax."
"He needs Alexis, Jax." Kristina asserted. "Believe me, he does. More than he even knows."
Both Alexis and Jax looked at Kristina in surprise. Before anyone else could speak, a cell phone shrilled. It was Jax's. He apologized as he stood up and stepped away from the table to take the call.
"What was that supposed to mean, Kristina?" Alexis asked. "I don't need Jax knowing anything about Sonny and I. He cares too much to just let that bit of information go by without a fight."
"I didn't tell anything but the truth. He needs you as friend first and foremost. and whatever else you choose to be for him. And Jax doesn't need to know that. I have no intention of telling him anything, Alexis. I'll leave that to you, to tell your friend in a time and place of your choosing. You care too much about Jax to lie to his face, don't you?"
"I hate it when you're right. But it isn't something he needs to know right now. There's just too much going on right now, and I can't deal with the complications that will surely come about if Jax learns that Sonny and I have taken our friendship to a whole new level. There's the complication that I don't need. And truthfully, I really don't know what's going on there right now." Alexis said. Before Kristina could answer that, Alexis noticed, gratefully, that Jax was coming back to the table.
She turned in her seat as Jax rejoined them. "That was quick, must have been only a minor company raid instead of a world-wide conglomerate take- over."
Jax found it hard to meet Alexis' eyes, even hard to tell her the news. "That was one of the leaders of my search group. A body's been found in the lake. Unidentified for now...but it was definitely a woman. A woman with blonde hair."
