Disclaimer: I own nothing Degrassi...
Okay, so here's the big reveal! Hope you like how this plays out. Story isn't over yet though. How will Emma react? Will Jay and Emma ever patch things up?
Manny shifted her feet anxiously, shooting impatient looks at the new bartender, trying to prepare the drinks she had ordered with speed and precision. His venture was failing, as Manny was tired of the looks she was getting from her customers who were still waiting for their original orders.
"Can you be any slower?" she finally asked, letting her emotions get the better of her.
"Doing the best I can here," he responded, in a voice that told Manny just where she could take her attitude. "Why don't you go get their food orders first?"
"Hey, Bartender Boy, you just make the drinks, okay?" Manny said sarcastically.
"Santos," came a deep voice behind her.
Manny spun around to be faced with none other than Jay Hogart! Could this day get any worse? "What do you want?"
"We need to talk."
Manny waved her hand around the restaurant. "I'm kind of busy here. Besides, I have nothing to say to you. Now unless you're here to order something, use the door and leave."
Jay took a seat at the bar and smiled at the bartender, who was trying to seem as though he weren't eavesdropping on the conversation in front of him, even though he was. Jay nodded at the guy. "Must be a real bummer having to work with this bit...girl, huh?"
The guy laughed openly, avoiding the death glares that Manny was shooting his way. "What do you want, Jay?" she asked.
"Well if you don't have the time, Santos, I can just sit here with my new friend..."
"Sam," the stranger offered.
"Sam, and shoot the breeze. Maybe Sam might be interested in a few Manny stories from back in the day? Like the one where Manny showed the entire school her boo..."
Manny pointed her finger at Jay, warning him to keep his mouth shut. "I have a break in about fifteen minutes. Meet me at the coffee place across the street then."
Jay got to his feet, smiling at Sam. His face straightened as he looked at Manny. "You'll regret it if you stand me up."
Manny watched Jay walk out of the restaurant and tried to concentrate on her job, but found it difficult. She had expected to see Jay months ago, but he had done everything in his power to avoid any contact with her whatsoever. So why was he here now? Had something changed? Manny worried, but also fought to hold back some joy. Maybe Jay had come around to believing that the sun didn't actually rise and fall with Emma Nelson.
Fifteen minutes later Manny sauntered into the small coffee shop directly across the street from her own place of employment. Jay was sitting with his back to the door. Manny smiled to herself and walked over to Jay, giving him a slight hug from behind, small enough not to give him the chance to bat her away.
"Save the slutty tactics for someone who's interested, Santos," Jay told her pointedly. He leaned forward slightly and whispered, "I'm not."
Manny's smile faded. "Same old Jay. Always trying to be the tough guy. What do you want?"
Jay smirked. "What do I want? What do I want? Let's see. I want you to pay for ruining my life!"
"Ruining your life?" Manny asked. "I'd love to take credit for that, but I can't."
"Does the whole lying thing make you a better actress? Because you have that down pat! Too bad the gig is up!"
Manny raised an eyebrow. "I'm not following."
"Well you never were very quick on the start, were you?" Jay asked, his face contorting and making Manny very nervous. "Cut the shit! I know! I know everything!"
"You'll have to clarify," Manny said, swallowing hard.
"Did you know that the biggest mistake criminals make, is trusting the wrong person?" Jay shot Manny an inquisitive look, hoping it had the desired effect. "Your accomplice sung like a canary."
Manny remained silent, the colour rushing out of her face, leaving her skin pale. Her eyes darted around the room, finally focusing on a random object on the other side of the room. She avoided Jay's eyes at all costs, but that didn't stop him from continuing with his plot.
"I had the weirdest conversation with Darcy. She had some pretty interesting things to tell me about that night, long ago. You know, when you and I got all down and dirty. Wanna know some of the facts?"
Manny shifted in her seat, wishing she could magically disappear from this place, and end up anywhere else but here. Jay just sat, savouring this moment, loving to see Manny squirm as much as she deserved to.
"There was this party at Marco's place. Tons of people, booze, food. But one thing was missing. Emma. She had some party to get to first, but promised me she'd be at Marco's later on. I promised not to get too drunk before she came. And you know what? The funny thing is, I only remember having two, maybe three drinks. Two of those drinks happened to come from you and Darcy. Isn't that a funny coincidence?"
"What? Trying to be nice to Emma's boyfriend?" Manny asked.
Jay's face showed no amusement. "I've been drinking since I was thirteen years old, Santos. No way two or three drinks could ever make me lose control."
"How do you know you lost control?"
"I ended up in bed with you, didn't I?" He revelled in Manny's hurt look, knowing that he had her just where he wanted her to wrap this all up. "Drugging someone and taking advantage of them is a crime, Manny."
"I never drugged you and you can't prove that I did."
Jay pursed his lips together tightly. "I can't prove it, but Darcy watched you put the drugs in my drink. And she'd have no problems telling the authorities that either. If it comes down to that."
Manny got up from her seat, unable to control herself any longer. If Jay thought she was going to be bullied into come kind of confession, he was wrong! Manny Santos was not afraid of Jay's empty threats!
She leaned over the table, her face directly in front of Jay's. "You think this scares me? You've got nothing, Hogart. Nothing!"
Jay grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her around the table, back to her seat. "Sit your ass down. Now!" He kept his voice even so as not to draw attention from the few other patrons in the coffee shop. "You think I want this to come to that? I don't. I just want Emma to know the truth. You remember Emma, your friend? She has a right to know the truth."
"The truth?"
"That I was set up! Don't mess with me, Manny. You will regret it!"
Manny swallowed and hoped Jay didn't mistake the action as a sign of weakness. "Nothing I say will ever make Emma take you back."
Jay shook his head. "That doesn't matter. I just want her to know the truth."
Manny squinted, trying to fight back tears, but her control was weak and the tears flowed anyway. "Why do you love her so much?"
Jay laughed. "If you even have to ask that, you don't really know Emma at all."
"I know all about Emma!" Manny suddenly screamed. "I know that she isn't this perfect little angel that guys fall all over themselves to get close to! I know that she's downright pathetic sometimes! She starves herself and fakes pregnancies and falls for old men on line and gets gonorrhoea! And I also know that she stole you from me! You were supposed to be with me!"
Jay sat there, looking over at the couple ordering their coffees at the counter nearby. He sighed. "Would you keep your voice down?"
"No! I won't! Just like I wouldn't stand by and watch you fall further under her spell without doing something about it!"
"Something like?" Jay prodded, knowing he was about to hear it all, right from the lips of the one who had plotted and planned the whole thing.
Manny smiled wickedly and Jay thought she'd never looked uglier, as she revelled in her mischievous means. "I gave you those drinks, the ones that were drugged. I got Darcy to help me with my plan and all it took was convincing her that you were the wrong person for our precious little Emma. Darcy told you that Emma had arrived at the party and was upstairs waiting for you. You were already flying high by that time and just so happened to stumble into the very room I was in. You barely made it to the bed before you passed out cold, making my job so much easier."
"Your job?"
"I undressed you and made it seem like you and I..."
Jay suddenly felt like everything in his world had just been righted. "We didn't sleep together?" he asked, excitedly.
Manny stared, open-mouthed. "Darcy didn't tell you..."
"Darcy didn't know. I knew it! I knew I could never have done that to Emma! I knew it! And now all you have to do is find what was once a decent person inside of that twisted shell of yours, and tell Emma the truth."
Manny dried her eyes and took a deep breath. Leaning back in her chair, she let the breath out slowly. "Fine. I'll tell Emma what I did. But it won't make a difference. Somehow, Miss High and Mighty will find a way to still make this your fault."
"Well that's not really your concern, now is it?" Jay asked rhetorically. "You just tell Emma exactly what happened. I'll worry about the rest."
Jay got up to leave, but Manny shouted, "Did you ever like me? That whole time when you and I were sort of messing around. Did you ever mean any of it or were you just imagining it was Emma?"
"You are who you are and Emma is who she is. Who'd you rather be with?"
Love that last line! Please R&R!
