CHAPTER SIXTY TWO
Stealing Joy
"All right, let's have it?" Kristina said as she followed Alexis back inside the apartment.
"Weren't you on your way out?" Alexis asked. The return home had been uneventful, except for the fact that Kristina had opened their front door just as she and Sonny had stepped off the elevator. Sonny's bodygurards were just changing shifts, Johnny coming on to replace Max, so there'd been little time for anything else between Alexis and Sonny except a last glance and a smile, but that had been more than enough.
She and Sonny had both changed back into their usual style before returning to PC, and no one would have thought anything about their simultaneous return to their penthouse level. No one except Kristina, of course, whose eyes were bright with curiosity... and something else.
"I was heading down to L&B, but that can wait." Kristina said with a grin as the door shut behind them. "Alexis you are positively glowing! What happened - or do I need to ask?" she asked slyly.
Glowing? Another Alexis would have blushed, but today, all she could do is bask in the pleasure her memories brought her. She could still see Sonny in the hallway; the warmth in his eyes and the pure happiness in his smile was echoed on her own face. Still captivated by the sense of contentment she knew they shared, Alexis drifted over to her desk and sat down. She picked up the pile of envelopes and went through the motions of sorting through them. She wasn't really seeing any of it though. Or really listening to Kristina, until she repeated her name a few times.
"Alexis!" Kristina said for the third time. "I knew it! Look at you, you're practically purring." She threw her arms around a startled Alexis. "I am so happy!"
Alexis felt an irrepressible urge to grin back at her sister. "You're happy?"
Kristina let her go and practically danced around the desk. "I'm happy because you're happy, can't you tell? Everything is in alignment in you, Alexis. I can see it in your face, I can feel it in your aura. You're bubbling over with joy."
"Bubbling." Alexis repeated with a dry tone in her voice. "Me, bubble?" Maybe that's the right word, though. she thought to herself. She did feel a little like a bottle of soda pop, filled to the brim with a million tiny little bubbles rising to the top and ready to explode. The image caused her to laugh a little out loud and shake her head. Kristina could be so contagious in her exuberance at times. "I am happy. Is that enough?"
Kristina made an exagerrated frown at her, following quickly by another one of her soul-dazzling smiles. "There you are, letting your Cassadine genes kick into gear again. For you, happy takes on a whole new meaning - so yes, it's enough."
"Thank you for that." Alexis put the stack of envelopes down. Her Cassadine genes didn't trust happy. Happy never lasted. She got the sense of stealing joy from the fates. But she wasn't going to question it. Today was today. And today she was - well, happy. And if that was stealing joy, then so be it. "Let's just say that Sonny and I resolved some issues, and the both of us are happy."
"Only you could use the word happy, when what you really mean is joyful, euphoric, ecstatic!" Kristina laughed as Alexis just shook her head again.
"I'm happy, Kristina. I had a lovely time with Sonny. We had a lovely time, and as I told you, we're both - happy. And as lovely as that time with him was, that was then and this is now. Now is coming back to the real world, and doing my job. I'm sure I have a plethora of messages just waiting for my attention. And i do believe you have work of your own to see to" A not so-subtle hint that Kristina cheefully ignored.
"Well, Stefan called last night. Jax, too. Both of them mentioned that they'd tried calling your cell phone first, but couldn't reach you." Kristina eyes still sparled with remembered merriment. "You have no idea how persistent the two of them can be."
"Oh, yes I can." Alexis said. "I don't envy you dealing with their phone conversations one bit."
"Oh, I managed. After all, it was all for a good cause, wasn't it?" Kristina winked at her. "Jax called again this morning, though. I was surprised that Stefan didn't."
Alexis wasn't surprised at all. After all, he'd found out exactly how she had weathered the storm.
Kristina continued. "Jax wants you to call him as soon as possible. He said it was about business. That's what he said." The tone in her voice said Kristina thought otherwise.
"You don't think he suspected anything, did he?" Mentally, Alexis shook her head. That was a cloud in her sun-filled day, and a complication that she didn't want to deal with. Stefan with his questions and opinions, would be enough.
"I couldn't tell for sure, but don't worry, he didn't seem to suspect a thing and I didn't tell him anything that would make him think anything."
"Thank you."
Kristina glanced at her watch. "Now, I really have to go. Ned will have something to say about my being late. But it was worth it."
"Worth it? Why? I didn't tell you anything."
"You didn't have to. You still don't. I told you, you're glowing, Alexis. And it's wonderful to see you this way. I hope this happens a lot more often." A last laugh and a last hug, and Kristina was out the door.
Laughing out loud to herself, Alexis tried to turn her attention to her desk and the business waiting for her.
Stefan called. He may have not called back this morning, knowing that she wasn't there, but by now, he knew she'd left the island. Sooner or later, he would contact her. This was a call she was not looking forward to. Call me a coward, if you will, she thought to herself, but that is one conversation she was going to postpone having for as long as possible. Kristina had been right. She was feeling all of the things her sister had said. Happy, joyful, euphoric - there really weren't enough words in the dictionary for what she felt. And dealing with Stefan would undoubtably steal some of her joy. And that was something that could defintely wait.
Her eyes dropped to the phone. Jax was another problem, but in all probability, not as much as the one her brother would be. After all, Jax hadn't seen she and Sonny in such an obviosuly intimate scenario. In spite of herself, Alexis' lips curved at the thought of Jax's expression if he'd been the one to walk in on them.
But Jax was like enough to Stefan to want to know where she'd spent last night as well. Thankfully, she wouldn't have to lie to him. She spent the night out at the island. That was true enough. And he'd assume that she meant Wyndemere. But Stefan on the other hand, knew exactly where and with whom she'd spent the night.And given the chance, he'd have plenty to say on the subject, and Alexis could be fairly certain that little of it, if any, would be good.
Jax, on the other hand, wouldn't pry - if she didn't give him reason to feel the need to. And that means, Alexis sighed mentally, getting in touch with him and calming his worries as soon as possible. But facing Stefan first might be the better choice - like a dose of medicine - better to get it over with quickly.
Just as she reached for the phone, the reciever rang. "I was just about to call you."
"And I suppose I'll pretend to really believe that."
"My hand was over the receiver just as you rang." Alexis insisted. "But fine, don't believe me. You're always thinking you know it all. Cocky Aussie." she teased him, slipping into her best Australian accent. "What you need is to be taken down a step or two, me fine lad. And I'm thinking to be the one to do it."
"Careful now, my mother can probably hear you a world away and get herself on the first available flight to the states." Jax said. Alexis could feel his smile through the phone. "She always did approve of you as a wife."
"Have I told you lately how much I adore your mother?"
"Do I detect unwarranted flattery?"
Time for the preemptive strike. "Being that you don't believe that I was indeed in the actual process of returning your call, I decided it might be appropriate. Although if you don't, shall I call Lady Jane myself and mention how long it's been since she visited?"
Jax loved his mother, but she - and her ambition to see Jax settle down 'with a nice girl' - could be a bit overbearing at time. The silence on the other end of the line suggested he was digesting that very same fact.
"What are you doing for lunch today? I had a proposal I wanted you to look over. It's something that I've had percolating for a little while, but an opportunity has come up and I want to forge ahead on it." Success. Jax was changing the subject.
"What am I doing today? Working." Alexis said. "For clients who make appointments."
"It's an emergency." When Alexis didn't answer right away, he amended his words. "Okay, more like urgent. But it is something I need looked at this afternoon. I have a hunch..."
Jax's hunches were other people's high risks, but his hunches were usually right and usually paid off beautifully and bountifully. Which is why he was who he was. "Jax, how urgent?" Alexis asked, "You have no idea how this storm has mangled my appointments. It's probably done the same to my clients, all of whom will probably need to see me - immediately. All of them.
"It makes me tired just thinking about it. Due to the storm, I didn't get much sleep..." But not for the reasons you might think. Alexis tried to keep the laughter out of her voice. "... and I have a long hard afternoon in front of me. I haven't even begun to check of my phone messages."
"Alexis?..."
"Jax?"
"Alexis...."
He was so not going to wheedle her into giving in. "Jax, I haven't even checked in with my office yet. Lunch isn't even an option."
"Then don't check in. Not yet. Like you said, the storm has wreaked havoc all over town. Postpone it all - just for a little while and see me first. Tell them your messages got scrambled, take a shower and then.. then meet me for coffee and dessert. Shower, coffee, dessert. Me. Tell me that doesn't sound enticing enough?"
Alexis clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud. A shower, coffee and dessert? Oh Jax, you have no idea just how enticing that sounds. She struggled for a moment more, felt herself losing the battle; then unable to hold her laughter in another moment, she hit the mute button for a second, and let loose for a few self-indulgent seconds. Then she hit the talk button again.
"Alexis? Alexis?" Jax was saying... "are you there?"
"I'm here," she reassured him. "It must be the storm's effect on the phone lines." Alexis smiled as she asked forgiveness silently for the little white lie.
"Well, will you take my advice?"
"Disregarding the fact that it is totally self-serving?"
"Of course."
"Very well," she glanced at her watch. Meet you in an hour?"
----
"So what was this emergency?" Alexis said as Jax slipped her tranchcoat off of her shoulders and draped it over the back of her chair. The weather had brightened momentarily and she hadn't needed it. She slid into the seat opposite Jax, and turned to give her order to the waiter who instantly appeared at her side. When they were alone, Jax began to explain.
"An option suddenly came open on a prime piecce of real estate in Chicago. I need for you to look over the terms and see if you can't sweeten them a bit. But I am in a bit of a time constraint. They want an answer within forty-eight hours."
"Chicago?"
"The Magnificent Mile, no less."
"I guess this is the point where I should be impressed." Alexis held her hand out. "Let's see these oh-so-urgent pieces of paper."
Having gotten his way, Jax grinned at her indulgently and handed over a folder from his briefcase without a word. For once he didn't even comment on her choice of caffeine over anti-oxidants when it arrived. He even went so far as to pour her cream and to order a selection of pastries for her approval. Alexis quirked an eyebrow at his actions, but getting only a shrug and a smile from her favorite ex-husband, turned her attention to the sheaf of paperwork before her. She sipped at her coffee as she began to go over the documents. She stopped at the top of the first page.
"The Crowne Plaza? Now I am impressed." As Jax intended her to be; the triumphant grin and gleam in his face said it all. There was the challenge of a high-risk new deal in his eyes...nothing else brought out that particular twinkle. In spite of her earlier protests, Alexis could feel a thrum of adrenalin begin to flow through her own veins; she loved a challenge like this; a battle of wits and words, of give and take and compromise but still being the one coming out on top. Jax knew her well enough to laugh as he saw the answering battle-cry echoed in her eyes.
Alexis knew what a possible coup this could be for Jax; the Allerton Crowne Point Plaza was a historical landmark and famed for it's upscale accomadations. Getting a foothold inside of its prestigious precincts was quite a coup. She'd stayed there more than once when on business trips for the Cassadine concerns and remembered reveling in its understated yet luxurious opulence. "Just what business do you have with a hotel in The Gold Coast district?" she murmured as she continued reading.
A little further down the page and Alexis paused, then softly laid the papers back down before looking firmly into Jax's eyes. Her coffee cup hit the saucer with a definite click. "You want me to help broker a business deal for you and Carly? Have you utterly and completely lost your mind?"
