Ch 10

Jason picked up his cell phone to call Keesha but realized that he didn't have her number. 'Damn it', he thought. He didn't want to call the Quartermaine's so he did the next best thing; he called the Metro Court.

"Metro Court, this is Carly"

'SHIT', Jason thought. He hadn't expected Carly to answer the phone. She would recognize his voice and then it would be a lecture like none he had ever heard before. Carly was his best friend but she was nosy as all hell, and she hated Keesha. Jason knew that if he wanted to talk to Keesha he was going to have to bite the proverbial bullet and ask Carly to connect him to Keesha's suite.

"Hey Carly, it's me. I need you to connect me to Keesha's suite, please"

"Keesha? You're calling my hotel to talk to Keesha? Jason we have been friends for all this time and you would do this to me. I can't believe you. And to talk to Keesha Ward, no less".

"Carly I don't really have time for this. Could I just please speak to Keesha?" Jason pleaded with the stubborn blonde.

"I guess, hold on just a second. Oh yeah, when you get Keesha, remind her that we are interviewing for nannies tomorrow. And tell her to call me if she wants to do breakfast with the kids in the morning. Alright? Good and you can call me later too".

Jason stood with his mouth open. Had Carly just said that she and Keesha were doing something together? And she wanted to have breakfast, what in the world was going on here? Jason didn't have time to finish the thought before he heard Keesha's voice.

"Hello", she said.

"Hey, Keesha, this is Jason". He could almost hear her surprise.

"Jason, ummm, hi. I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon. Have you learned anything?"

"I know you have a lot of questions, but I would rather not talk about this over the phone. Do you mind if we meet someone? I could actually meet you at the Metro Court, so you don't have to leave the kids alone".

"Well we could meet here; I actually think that I could get Carly to watch the kids while we talk. They absolutely love spending time with her".

Jason was shocked once again. "You know, I thought that Carly had lost her mind when she told me that you two were interviewing nannies tomorrow. But I guess that I was wrong. So, you and Carly are friendly?" Jason asked.

"Yes, I know that it is difficult to believe, how do you think we feel about it. I couldn't believe how much she has changed, but I realized that I've changed too. And Carly and I realize that we have a lot in common now. We actually had a lot in common then too; we both we in love with a man who wasn't in love with us. And that is exactly what we were fighting about. We both wanted you and you wanted something and someone else. We got over that and now we're… friends", Keesha said.

"Wow, I just never thought I'd ever see the day".

Keesha laughed. "Well Mr. Morgan are you coming to the hotel, or not?"

"Yes ma'am, I'm on my way".

"Good, I'm starving. We can go have lunch. The kids wanted hotdogs and I just couldn't do it today".

"Alright, I guess lunch is on me. I'll be there in a minute. See you then", Jason said as he hung up the phone.

Jason walked out towards the garage and headed towards his car. Then he changed his mind and went towards his bike. He didn't know why, but Jason thought that he might take Keesha for a ride. The thought brought a smile to his face.

"Jase", Carly yelled as her best friend walked into her hotel. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a bear hug.

"Hi Carly. You're acting as if we haven't seen each other in years. It's only been a few weeks".

"I know but that was just so long ago. I miss you when I don't see you. Alright alright", Carly said as she watched the smirk on Jason's face grow.

"Alright Carly, are you happy now? Good", he said not waiting for a response. "I need to talk to Keesha. Did she ask you if you could watch the kids for a while?"

"No, she hasn't come down yet but I would love to watch the kids while you two go and talk over lunch", Carly said raising an eyebrow.

"Don't you start too, Carly"?

"Start what? And who else is starting with you?" Carly asked.

"I don't want to talk about it, Carly".

"Oh no, I'm not giving up that easily and you know it", Carly responded.

"Could you just tell Keesha that I am here? I'm starving and I'm ready for lunch".

"Jason, do you really think that you can get anything past me? Really? You know that I can read you like a book and there is something going on"

Jason laughed and shook his head at Carly's insistence that something was going on. Just then, the elevator doors opened and Keesha and her kids walked out. Keesha looked beautiful in a purple sundress that complimented her skin tone perfectly. Her hair was straightened and it hung past her shoulders. 'She is so beautiful' Jason thought and then noticed that Maya was wearing a similar outfit and she really was a mini Keesha. Justus was wearing denim shorts and a shirt the same color of his mother's dress. Jason had a feeling that little Lila was wearing something similar to her mom and big sister.

Carly noticed the look on Jason's face; and it told the whole story. Jason was enamored with Keesha Ward. Carly thought to herself. 'Is that the right word to use?' Jason Q loved Keesha Ward, Jason Morgan had despised her. But this new Jason seemed to really be into the woman. And who could blame him, Carly thought as he looked at the beautiful African American woman. Carly surely couldn't.

Keesha pushed the stroller in front of her and wondered to herself what Carly and Jason had been in the middle of talking about. They both looked as if they had been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Hello Jason, Carly. How are you all doing?" Keesha asked as she approached the two friends.

"Good", Carly spoke first. "You look absolutely beautiful in that dress. I will have to tell Avery to order more garments in that color for the boutique".

"Carly you don't have to do that. If you did that then we wouldn't have to take our trip to the city", Keesha said.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Nothing is going to keep us from making that shopping trip".

"Carly, I hate to ask you this, but Jason and I need to talk and I need someone to watch the kids while we talk".

"That is not a problem, come on kiddies let's go and see what kind of trouble we can get into. Does that sound like fun?" Carly asked the kids

"Yeah"

Keesha and Jason watched Carly and the kids walk towards the door of the hotel. Jason turned to look at Keesha.

"You are so beautiful", Jason whispered.

Keesha had barely made out what Jason said. She was scared that if she acknowledged that he said it that he would change his mind or take it back.

When Keesha didn't respond, he thought that she had heard him. So, he said it again; louder this time.

"You are so beautiful, Keesha Ward".

She turned her face towards him and looked into the eyes of a man who she had loved and hated. A man that she still loved. She thought back on a time when she and Jason Q had been in Paris. He looked at her with the same expression on his face and said the same beautiful words. Two different men same face, same voice, same words. Same love.

"Thank you, Jason. I don't know what to say other than that. You surprise me at every turn. I'm so used to you shunning me or ignoring me. You're being nice and sweet and caring. God, Jason; you're confusing the hell out of me. I don't know what to do. You are acting more like my Jason than the Jason Morgan I knew".

At the words my Jason, he stiffened. Her Jason was Jason Q, a man who no longer existed. 'Could I ever be her Jason?' he thought to himself.

"I don't mean to confuse you; I'm just as confused as you are. I don't know what I should do or how I should treat you. I've thought about you before and don't know how I could have been so cruel. All I can say to you is that I'm sorry. It all came crashing down on me when Alan died and I found out that I was going to be a father. How about I tell you the story over lunch?"

"I would like that. It would be nice if this lunch were about some good things and not just me trying to figure out when a crazed mob boss is going to try and kill me", Keesha said attempting a joke.

"Please don't talk like that; they aren't going to hurt you. That may be their plan but believe me, Sonny and I aren't going to let that happen. So, what do you want for lunch?"

"I don't know. I'm hungry enough to eat a small horse", Keesha said.

Jason's face scrunched and he couldn't get the mental image out of his head. "That doesn't sound too appetizing Keesh".

The smile on Keesha's face disappeared slowly when she realized that Jason Morgan had just used Jason Quartermaine's nickname for her. Jason Morgan had never once called her that. He always said her complete name. She was shocked and she didn't even think Jason realized what he had said.

"Well, Mr. Morgan, what did you have in mind?"

"I think that we should go to the grill and get something light so that we can have cheesecake afterwards", Jason said with a smile.

Keesha was in shock again! How did Jason know that cheesecake was her favorite?

"How did you know that?" Keesha asked stunned.

"Know what?"

"That cheesecake was my favorite?" Keesha asked confused.

"I… I didn't; I don't think", Jason was confused.

"You know what, it doesn't matter. That sounds like a great idea. Let's go to the grille".

"Uh, I don't know if you like motorcycles. I never asked you before; but I brought my bike just in case. If you don't want to we can take a cab or I can call one of the cars for us".

"I've never been on a motorcycle. Maybe… I don't know. But I know I definitely can't wear a dress on the back of a motorcycle", Keesha said laughing.

"Well, you could. I think that would be sexy as hell", Jason said smiling.

Keesha slapped his arm, "You're bad".

Jason's smile brightened, "Yeah, real bad. But anyway, let's go eat. I'm starving. Do you want to take the bike? We don't have to".

"Let me go change. I'll be back in a few minutes or you could come up with me. Yeah, just come up to the suite with me".

Jason followed Keesha to the elevator, hesitantly. Jason took a deep breath and stepped into the elevator with the beautiful Keesha Ward.

When they got to the top floor suite, Jason followed Keesha off of the elevator. He was nervous. 'Damn it, Jason Morgan is nervous', he thought to himself. 'What the hell is this about?'

Keesha turned to Jason once they entered the suite, "I'm sorry for the mess, it's really hard with three kids", she said.

Jason looked around the suite and all he saw was a few toys and shoes on the floor. "I don't know what you are talking about, this place looks fine. You should see my place when I have both Cameron and Jake; it's crazy".

"Well, have a seat. I will be right back", Keesha said as she turned and headed for her bedroom.

Something in Jason's loins stirred and suddenly he had the urge to follow the beautiful woman to the bedroom. 'Down boy', he said to his crotch. He looked around the room trying to find something to distract him with. He focused on a picture that was placed on the mantel. It was of Keesha, her children and her husband. Jason took a closer look at Daniel Livingstone. This was the man who had Keesha is so much trouble. He was handsome, Jason guessed. His eyes were the same color blue as Lila's; the same blue as Jason's. He wondered if Keesha saw him when she was looking into her husband's eyes. 'No', he thought. She wasn't still thinking about him; she had moved on, just like he had told her to do.

Keesha reappeared in the living room. 'Oh my god', Jason's mind roared.

Keesha was wearing tight hip hugging blue jeans with a tube top made of red bandana fabric. She had put her hair up in a pony tail and she was slipping on a leather jacket to match her high heeled leather boots. It took all of Jason's strength not to push Keesha back into her room and rip what little clothing she was wearing, right off of her body.

"You know", Keesha said. "I don't think that I'm dressed to go to the grille. Is there somewhere else you want to go?"

'Yeah', Jason thought 'Right to your bed, my bed, the floor, the kitchen table…Uhhhhh, the kitchen table. DAMMIT!' Jason's mind and his groin were screaming.

"Jason?" Keesha questioned. "Are you still with me?"

'Oh yeah, I'm with you. Right there with you', Jason shook his head to get the gutter out of his mind. "Yeah, you're fine. I mean" 'Oh my god, did I just say that out loud?' "I mean, you're fine… I'm fine. I'm good, real real good".

Keesha smiled on the inside. She had planned the outfit on the spare of the moment, but she knew what this outfit did to Daniel. She had sort of hoped for the same reaction from Jason; and she had gotten it.

"Are you ready?" Jason asked.

"Ready, willing and able", Keesha said as she slid by him out the door.

'Dear God, please let this woman stop torturing me', Jason prayed silently.