Jax rolled his shoulders, not looking forward to the phone call he needed to make.
"Jax, what's up?" Carly answered the phone.
"Do you have a minute? I need to update you on my houseguest."
"Yes, Sonny is at the warehouse. What did Nikolas do now?"
"Elizabeth came over to pick up Cameron. Her divorce was final today, and she ran into Nikolas."
"She finally lost the one creep and now she finds another?"
"It was a shock to her. I offered her a room in the Metro Court to spend the night without the boys. I'm hoping we can talk to her in the morning. She really ripped into Hayden."
"Eh, Hayden deserved it for what she did to Drew."
"She does have her own agenda. I called Nina to send down some changes of clothes."
"Nina, huh? What's going on there?"
"She's a business associate who deserves better than Valentin."
"Like you?"
"We're not discussing this. I just wanted to let you know to charge the room to me and to lay off Elizabeth if you run into her."
"Okay"
Elizabeth let herself into a suite near the top of the Metro Court. She had developed a headache on the drive over that had nearly driven her to tears on top of everything else that had happened today. There was a wet bar just inside the door. Elizabeth poured herself a glass of water and swallowed the Tylenol she had fished from her purse. Leaving her purse on the counter, she carried the glass over to the sofa. What to do now? With the boys, she'd rarely had a chance to fall apart in private when life was spinning out of control. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the back of the sofa. The tears started falling and she let them.
It was a while later that Elizabeth wiped her eyes and sat up. She looked at the wet bar again, maybe it had something stronger.
The bar was well stocked. Elizabeth chose some red wine. Taking a sip, she surveyed the room. The bar was next to the doorway with the sofa, coffee table and TV in front of her. A king size bed was on the far wall, and she assumed the bathroom was through the arched doorway to her left. As she took another sip, she noticed a large box on the coffee table. She was really out of it that she didn't see it before. Opening it, she found a blue silk set of pajamas. She set them aside deciding to get a shower and change into them after she looked through the box. Net was a pair of Calvin Klein Jeans, an off-the-shoulder, incredibly soft, red cashmere sweater with a matching bralette. Whoever had picked it out had exquisite taste.
Elizabeth drank the rest of her wine in one quick swallow. She picked up the pajamas and went to find out what type of luxury soaps Carly stocked in her hotel.
Elizabeth walked out of the bathroom while wrapping her wet hair in a towel. The purse on the wet bar was vibrating, and she heard it ringing as she finished adjusting the towel.
"Hi Cameron," Elizabeth tried to force a cheery note to her voice.
"Mom, I didn't know you were scheduled to work tonight. Weren't you going to get the divorce papers today?"
Elizabeth winced. Cam had become overprotective of her ever since Franco had taken his place for the procedure. "I did, and I just needed to keep busy. Give your brothers a hug for me. I'll see you all in the morning."
"Have you talked to anyone about this?"
A knock sounded at the door before Elizabeth could answer.
"I'm being paged but I'll see you in the morning."
"Okay but talk to Epiphany or someone. I needed my friends after Oscar's death."
"You're right. I will talk to someone soon. Just promise you won't let your brothers terrorize Gram."
"I'm on it."
The knock sounded again, "I love you and I have to go."
Elizabeth hung up the phone and answered the door. A bell boy was standing there, "May I help you?"
"I was told to deliver this to Elizabeth Webber's room"
She gestured to sit it on the coffee table and moved to get the tip from her purse.
"It's covered. Have a nice evening." The bell boy quickly left.
Was Jax trying to buy her silence with designer clothes? Elizabeth wondered. There was only one way to find out. Opening the box, there was a note on the top. "Liz, you're my best friend on earth. I know you have a lot to process; I hope this helps. Please talk to me. I can't come back without at least one Musketeer by my side. Always, N"
Elizabeth put the note down. What else was in the bar? Brandy, no, that was what Nikolas had always used when he wanted to wallow. Tequila, no, that had led her and Nikolas down an unbelievably bad path. She chose a white wine before walking back to the box. She was morbidly curious now as to the contents. First was a sketch pad and a pack of freshly sharpened drawing pencils. She threw the pad across the room as hard as she could. Her forgiveness couldn't be bought.
She picked up her phone to follow Cameron's advice. She thought about calling Robin and Patrick, but what would she say to them? There was no one she could call except….
"Elizabeth, why are you calling? Is Aiden okay?"
"Aiden is fine," Elizabeth replied as she realized two things. First, that it was the middle of the night in Ireland, and second, Lucky had only asked about Aiden and not Cam or Jake.
"Good. Why are you calling at this time of the night?"
"Sorry, I wasn't thinking about the time." She paused, "When was the last time you talked to your family?"
"I talked to Mom and Lulu a week or so ago and Dad about a month ago."
"Are those the only family members you've spoken to recently?"
"What? Who? Why are you asking me this at 2am?" Lucky's voice was losing the sleepiness it had held when he first answered the phone.
"I went to pick Cameron up at Jax's today and received quite a surprise."
"Oh"
"All you have to say is 'oh'?"
"Can we talk about this in the morning?" Elizabeth heard him murmur "shh go back to sleep" away from the phone.
"Sorry to disturb you." Elizabeth heard the bitterness in her voice but couldn't bring herself to regret it. "Please call first thing. I don't think I'll be getting much sleep tonight."
"I will. Try to get some rest. This could be considered good news." Lucky hung up phone or the Transatlantic call dropped before she could respond.
Good news? He had no idea how her day had gone. Her glass was empty, but she probably should eat something before she drank anymore. Jax or Nikolas could afford her room service bill.
While she waited for the nachos to arrive, Elizabeth walked over to pick up the sketch book. She went back to the sofa and picked out a pencil. She found herself writing Franco's name in script the way it had appeared on their wedding invitations. He was gone. She had been drawn to him and how he accepted her and her boys. Everyone had treated her and Nikolas like less than dirt when the town found out that Jake was Jason. She would always be grateful to him for his sacrifice taking Cameron's place in the memory mapping. Would Kim have gone after her son if he'd had Drew's memories?
Cameron, her sweet, dependable son. He had shouldered so much responsibility as the man of the family for far too long. She wished she had been able to provide him with a stable male figure in his life. Hooking up with Zander had been one of the dumber choices in her life, though she hoped he could look down and be proud of their son. Ric had tried to fill the void from the very beginning, but it always had involved manipulation. Trying to hire a wife for "Jake" or gunning for Jason to get closer to Sonny or locking Carly in the secret room or framing Nikolas for murder, it was always, always some kind of scheme. Something that could have been said about the brief time she had been with A.J. as well.
A knock at the door brought Elizabeth out of her revere to answer the door for room service. The smell of the food was irresistible to her. She had barely eaten in the past few months and her appetite suddenly woke up. She ate half the plate before she got up to pour herself a drink of whiskey.
Whiskey – that was what she and Jason had drank the night of the black out. She pushed the glass away. That night had changed so many things. Jason has always lurked in her mind as her knight in, well, tarnished armor. She would always love him, but her love was now of a friend. Maybe she was needy, but she couldn't accept third place behind Sonny and Carly. Elizabeth walked over to the bar to grab a bottle of water. Taking a sip, she decided to order some dessert. She hadn't been third place with Jake, rather, Drew. Elizabeth had always wondered what Jason would be like free of his job and loyalty to Sonny. With Drew she had that chance, as had Monica and Michael, even if they didn't realize it. And she was protecting Nikolas from the truth, ugh, she wasn't going there.
Anyhow, Drew had been an incredible father to Jake and really to the other two boys, unlike Lucky just now. She couldn't remember the last time he had invited Cameron and Jake to visit him. His vow to love and treat them as his own seemed to have been one of the things Lucky had left behind in Port Charles. He had been such a sweet boy in high school, helping her recover from the unthinkable. It had broken her heart when she had believed he died. In many ways, the boy she loved had died that night. No one could say they hadn't tried but addiction and infidelity had taken their toll. She wasn't even sure that he genuinely believed she wasn't involved in Siobhan's death. They'd had so many struggles through their marriage. She remembered the day that he knocked her to the ground when he was going through withdrawal. Fortunately, Nikolas had arrived and insisted she go to the hospital. Nikolas…
Her chocolate cheesecake had arrived. Taking her first bite, she knew she couldn't avoid it any longer. If her mind insisted on reflecting on all the men in her life, she had to include Nikolas. He had been in her life as long as Lucky. As a teenager, he had been a musketeer and Emily's fairy tale prince. When they believed Lucky was dead, he had been a constant if overbearing, at times, presence in her life. They had never been the best friends that Lucky and Emily had been, but they were close. She would have never made it through Lucky's addiction and affair with Maxie without his help. They had mourned Emily together. And that had exploded spectacularly when Rebecca Shaw had come to town. It turned out that the dreamy prince was truly flesh and blood. Very much flesh and blood, memories of being in the turret with him filled her mind. It had been the first time she felt like a woman rather than a doll to be protected. Until Franco, a small voice reminded her, after each long day at the hospital, she could have been living with Nikolas in Paris. She could never believe it was that easy. When Nikolas had moved back, their timing just sucked. Maybe she should have reached for the brass ring, but maybe Nikolas should have fought harder as well. Anyhow, all of that had died with Nikolas. And now he wasn't dead. Did she want to get back on that carousel or stay far away from him?
Anyway, nothing more could be resolved tonight, and her head was swimming from the memories and the alcohol. Maybe she would lay down and hope to get some sleep.
Author's Note: I don't know that I would characterize all these relationships this way, but I think a bitter and upset Elizabeth could pick the flaws out. Or I'm not trying to upset any specific fandom. 😊