--Chapter Eleven--
.:Port Charles Hotel, Fourth floor, Room 431, Kitchen:.
"See, I had a feeling that there was something going on between them."
"Oh, bravo, Columbo," Carly snipped, resisting the urge to biff her good friend upside the head. "Of course there was something going on!"
"Hey," Nikolas protested, scooting to the edge of the kitchen chair he occupied. "Look, it's easier for you girls to figure out when something's going on with one of your own – you have those girly nights where you all come over and do each other's hair and toes and order pizza and get into pillowfights and confess the secrets of your soul."
The tall blonde stared at him as if he had sprouted three heads before finally just shaking her head and resuming her pacing. "Nikolas, you're going to make one very lucky girl very…confused one day."
"All I'm saying is that Jason isn't exactly your Dear Diary type of guy," the Prince pressed on. "He doesn't talk to anyone, and even though he does talk to me, he doesn't say much. And definitely not about women. I knew he liked Elle, but I didn't think it was…like this."
"Obviously, something happened at that party," Carly continued, pointing her finger at her friend. "Jason, for whatever reason, said something to Elle and she ran off convinced he was a grade-A asshole, the kind of thinking that I'm not entirely averse to, by the way-"
"Carly…"
"And according to you, Jason moped around for the rest of the party and left early. I know we're missing some of the pieces, but we have enough to do what we need to do."
"And what do we need to do, exactly?"
"We need to help Elle," Carly announced, bracing her palms flat against the countertop.
"Aha," Nikolas murmured, propping his chin up in his hand. "And how are we going to do that?"
"We're going to get her vaccinated!" the blonde beamed before quickly shaking her head. "No, no, okay, enough of that. I can't help her if I keep ripping on him, right? Damn. Anyway, what I meant was, we're going to get her and Jason to fix this."
"And how are we going to do that?"
She glared at the Prince, her lips pursed into a thin red line. "You are absolutely no help, you know that?"
"Hey, you're the visionary. I just follow procedure."
"Good point. Okay, how are we going to do this?" Carly ran her hands through her open mane, pacing around the small island where Nikolas sat. "Okay…okay…"
"Okay…"
"Shut up – you're not helping."
"Okay."
"Okay," she agreed, stopping to tap her nails on the wood. "Hey, are you sure Jason didn't say anything else after the party? I mean, I know you talked to him and he said he liked Elle…although what she did to deserve that curse, I'll never know…"
"Just what I told you. He was drinking on the terrace when I asked him why the hell he was out there instead of with Elle…"
"Such a people-person, that one," Carly snorted, dropping her elbows to the counter and using her hands to prop up her chin. "Go on."
"He said that she'd already gone home and wouldn't be coming back, and it was probably better for everyone in consideration that she didn't get too close."
"Woah, Silent Cal said all that?"
"Well, to be fair, he was kind of drunk at the time. He had already had a few glasses of Uncle's favorite cognac."
"Ooh, Elle's worth the hard stuff? Good for her. That's gotta be a first."
"Anyway," the Prince continued, glaring at his old friend. "I did my best to get him to talk, but he was in a terribly foul mood. He did say, though, that there was no way that he and Elle would work and that it was only a matter of time before this happened. They were just too different."
Carly's eyes darkened dangerously, a scowl marring her delicate features. "He said that? That asshole actually said that? Oh, wait until I get my claws into him."
"Wait a second, Carly, he didn't-"
"No," she spit back, holding up her hand. "No man has ever snubbed his nose at me or my sister and lived to tell about it. He wants to play the she's-beneath-me card, fine – he'd just better be ready to face the consequences. And by consequences, I mean…castration. Yeah. I did the same thing to that Richard Lansing jackass who tried to humiliate me before, and I have no problem doing it again for Elle's sake-"
"Carly! Will you just listen to me for a second?"
"What?"
"Jason didn't mean it that way," Nikolas struggled to clarify. "He'd never say anything like that about Elle – in fact, he even told me right there that it wasn't about their different social positions."
"Then what did he mean, that they wouldn't work out?"
"I don't know, to be honest. For a while I thought it was because he's so…set in his ways and she's so unpredictable. I mean, Jason doesn't like surprises and Elle is one big surprise, you know? But that didn't sound right, either. He kept saying something about her being used as a pawn."
"What the hell did he mean about that?" Carly wondered to herself. "But go on – what else happened on the terrace?"
"He pretty much spent most of his time cussing out the Quartermaines," Nikolas shrugged. "He was exceptionally clear about his feelings on Edward. Which makes sense, to be honest, because Edward's always tried to sabotage him personally while keeping tabs on him throughout his life, so…"
"Wait a minute," Carly interrupted. "Say that again."
"Say what again?"
"That stuff about Edward."
Nikolas looked at her strangely but obliged her request. "Edward's always trying to keep tabs on him – you know, find out who his friends are, where Jason hangs out, the women he sees. It's his way of trying to control him and keep him under his thumb because he knows that Jason won't come to him on his own and he needs a lackey like that in the boardroom. He did the same thing with Keesha and Robin, even Brenda; he tried to pull them over to his side so that they'd do the same with Jason."
"Oh, my God. Nikolas – you're a genius. That's it!"
"That's what?"
"Don't you get it?" Carly asked, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she leaned closer to her old friend. "You spelled it out right there. Jason's afraid that Elle's going to be used as a pawn, right?"
"Right…"
"Yeah, and whose pawn is she going to be?"
"…Edward's."
"Exactly," the blonde replied triumphantly. "And that's why he doesn't want her to get too close – because Edward's going to be on her like Elvis on a pack of bacon. Fat Elvis, not Elvis-circa-hotness-and-hip-gyrations."
"Got it. I'll make a mental note."
"Anyway…he doesn't want her to get too close to the ELQ side of things. And you know that's what's going to happen. Edward is going to use Elle anyway he can to have an 'in' when it comes to Jason. Eventually, he'll use it to drive a wedge between them until Elle's the one fighting all of Edward's fights with Jason. Not that I'm saying that she's stupid and she'll fall into it…"
"But Edward's a psychological terrorist and even Elle can't resist it forever," Nikolas finished, understanding. "That makes a lot of sense, Carly."
"Yeah – too bad it's stupid."
"Huh?"
"It's stupid," she repeated. "Jason's stupid."
Nikolas blinked at her, puzzled with her declaration. "But…Carly, you just said it yourself. Edward's going to use Elle and make her life Hell if he finds out that she and Jason are an item. She'll be dragged into the mire of ELQ politics, and you know as well as I do how terrible all that is. It wreaks havoc on the mind. Jason's just trying to protect her from that; don't you at least agree with him there?"
"No," Carly repeated stubbornly. "I still think he's stupid."
"But why?"
"Because that kind of game plan is just legally retarded," she explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world to understand. "What, he's so afraid of Edward trying to control his life that he's going to let Edward control his life?"
"What?"
"Okay, I'm going to try to use small words here," Carly started, holding up her hands. "Try to follow along, okay? Why is Jason so quiet and uptight around Edward?"
"…Because Edward wants to know what he's doing at all times and who he's seeing and who his friends are."
"Why?"
"Because Edward wants to use that information to his advantage in bringing Jason over to his side…or at least have something to hold over his head if he gets out of line and starts siding with you and Junior too often."
"Right," Carly agreed. "Now, what is he going to do since he found out that Edward's got his beady bug-eyes set on Elle?"
"…He's going to stay away from her," Nikolas started, beginning to understand what the neurotic blonde was getting at, "…effectively letting Edward control his life by limiting who he can and can't be with. Why didn't you just say that in the first place, Carly?"
She rolled her eyes, huffing men under her breath. "Okay, now that we know the details…let's work on fixing this. Or rather, getting Jason and Elle to fix it themselves."
"How are we supposed to do that?"
"Well-" Carly's tentative plan was interrupted by the loud slam of the door and the next thing she knew, her stepsister was racing into the kitchen.
"Hi, Carly, Nik," she greeted them without even meeting their gaze as she darted over to the cabinet and pulled out a glass. "Jesus, it's as hot as Wesley out there! Where's the lemonade?"
"Right here," the Prince spoke up, handing the brunette the jug. "So, Elle-"
"Man, I'm parched," she interrupted, speaking a mile a minute as she poured herself a tall glass and began to down it rapidly. "Would you believe what Noodle did? He went rabbit hunting. That's right, rabbit hunting. He tore up the entire damn lawn trying to unearth their nest and I only found out about it when I got up, so here I am, chasing him around the lawn behind Jake's in my Gumby pajamas, looking like a total crazy person! I'm so sending him to the glue factory."
"Um…" Nikolas glanced at Carly who took a sip of her own pink lemonade without batting an eyelash. Apparently, this was nothing new for her. "Glue is made from horses, Elle, not dogs."
"I know that," she replied, now hunting through the refrigerator for something to munch. She found one of Carly's chocolate protein bars and quickly nabbed it, ignoring her sister's protests. "I'm not sending him there so that they can turn him into glue. That's inhumane. I'm sending him there because he hates glue. He ate a whole bottle of Elmer's once and got a real bad tummyache, and now he goes berserk if he sees it. I have to use rubber cement, nothing else, because the smell of rubber cement scares him so he won't come anywhere near it. They say dogs can't read, but he just has to see the glue stick, even, to know it's the same thing."
Nikolas blinked, then turned back to his sandwich. It was best to leave well enough alone.
"Where are you going, Elle?" Carly called out as her sister dumped her empty glass in the dishwasher and took off for the guest bedroom where she kept some of her stuff that she didn't want sitting around Jake's. But she didn't receive an answer, so she continued speaking anyway.
"Listen, I know I told you to go check out the loft on Maple, but I changed my mind. It's got terrible neighbors – some crack whore named Corky-"
"Or, Courtney, which is actually a female name?"
"Maybe - Courtney or something who doesn't bathe and apparently lives with a donkey. We're so not moving there, so don't bother going over, okay?"
"Okay!" came a yell from the bedroom as Elizabeth was heard thumping around in there.
"But," Carly continued, "I found an ad for a penthouse in Harborview Towers, and I drove by the place and liked the area. It's really great from the outside, and in a very convenient location. It's just a block or two from Kelly's, too, and the docks are right there. I called the owner and left a message, so I should be able to get in to see it pretty soon. If I like it, I'll send you over to see if there was something I missed, okay?"
"Okay!"
"Harborview Towers?" Nikolas asked, interested. "I know a few people who live there – that's a really great area, Carly. Pretty upscale, and definitely worth it."
"Yeah?"
Her friend nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking of getting a place there myself for when I was on land and didn't feel like taking the launch back to Wyndemere, but then I found the cottage and liked the secluded location, so I went with that. But it's a great place to live. How'd you find out about it?"
"Jason, actually," the blonde replied, tucking her hair behind her ears as Elle continued to thump around. "He knew that I was looking around and circled the ad for me and told me to check it out. Whatever he is, Jason Morgan definitely knows his stuff when it comes to this town."
"Jason Morgan?" came a harried voice from down the hall and Nikolas looked up just in time to see Elizabeth storm into the kitchen once more. She was wearing a pair of pale blue hip-huggers covered in paint spots and an Ed Wood t-shirt with Johnny Depp's face plastered in front of the giant Hollywood letters in Los Angeles. Her hair, straight and sleek today, was pulled up into a bun and her bangs were pinned to the side.
"Who's talking about Jason Morgan?" she continued, taking off her blue tweed ballet flats and searching around for the extra sneakers she knew she kept at Carly's. "That asshole doesn't deserve the energy it takes to talk about him."
Carly quirked a brow at her old friend, then turned deliberately toward her sister. "Lemme guess – you saw him today."
"Unfortunately," came the answer as Elizabeth located the sneakers in the closet and flopped down on the floor to put them on. "I was running with Noodle and he was leaving Kelly's. Jerk."
"What happened? Did he say something?"
"No – he ignored me, I ignored him, it was all good." With a huff, Elizabeth pulled the laces as tight as she could, not caring that she was almost cutting off circulation to her feet. "Listen, I've gotta go – Lulu got a new armoire and wants me to help her paint it all boho-style. Do you need anything? I'm heading back to Jake's first and then the grocery store on my way back."
"Grab a six-pack for me?"
"Sure, whatever. Later, guys." With that, Elizabeth grabbed her tote bag and ran off, slamming the door behind her.
Carly sighed, her eyes lingering on the closed door before she slowly turned to her old friend. "Well, she's psychotic and he's painfully anti-social. A match made in Heaven."
.:Luke's Bar:.
Elizabeth Drake hobbled on one foot outside of the quiet bar, trying to get the little crack in the door open wide enough with her other foot so that she could squeak in. Three stacked cans of wood-safe paint obstructed her vision, and her tote bag weighed more than she did since she had crammed it full of her brushes.
"Come on," she muttered, applying force with her ankle in hopes of being able to kick the door open. "Just a little further…"
"Let me get that," came a familiar voice and the next thing Elizabeth knew, the front door was wide open and Jason Morgan had taken two large cans from her, allowing her to stare directly into his equally surprised eyes.
"No thanks," she replied coolly, switching one can to her hip in order to take the other two from his arms. "I'm doing just fine on my own."
"Elle," came a squeal behind the counter, and the brunette tore her eyes away from Jason's to see Lulu trotting toward the front door. "Yes! You're here! I can't wait to get started."
"Let's go," she smiled, stepping around Jason and handing Lulu the tote bag. The blonde accepted the bag and hefted it easily, grabbing one of the paint cans.
Elizabeth cleared her throat, feeling Jason instinctively reach out to help, but stepped just out of reach. Lulu looked at her strangely, then at Jason, and the brunette did her best to show that nothing was wrong. "Well, we gonna do this or what?"
"Yeah," the blonde answered hesitantly, still looking at Jason who stood nearby. "…Yeah, let's go. Dad set up a tarp out back, and Lucky and some of his friends are going to take it upstairs when it's dry. Thanks so much for doing this for me, Elle."
"What are friends for?" she asked easily, adjusting her grip on the two remaining paint cans and briskly following Lulu.
Jason sighed and watched her walk away, trying his best to tear his eyes from her slim figure and failing miserably. He couldn't help it if those jeans worked really well for her – and not bad for him, either. But then again, he had no right to look at her that way after how he treated her at the Bacchanalian Ball. If he just kept reminding himself that this was for the best, they'd all be okay.
Luke stood behind the counter, polishing glasses as the girls made their way toward the back door. When Jason looked over, the older man glared at him and tipped his head in Elizabeth's direction so hard that for a minute Jason thought he'd developed a violent tick. But when he realized what Luke was up to, he simply shook his head to himself and turned away, heading toward the pool tables once more where Max and Johnny were waiting and watching him curiously.
They said nothing as Jason picked up his cue, smoothing a hand over the red felt before lining up his next shot. There were two hundred and eighty dollars riding on this last ball; if he sank it, he won and if he didn't he was out almost three hundred bucks.
He let out a sigh and bent lower, carefully lining up his cue. If he were honest with himself, he'd admit that his reason for backing away from Elizabeth wasn't only because he wanted to protect her from Edward's mind games and the poisonous politics at ELQ.
Elizabeth Drake was a very strange girl. He couldn't say that he ever met anyone like her. She was younger than he was, and quite the free spirit. She dressed any way she pleased, alternating between punk princess and a man-eater in her camisole-free suit ensembles. She was very rarely punctual, she didn't care what people thought of her, and she was very hands-on in almost every aspect of her life, it seemed.
He, on the other hand, was entirely the opposite. He liked schedules. He liked timetables. He liked being in control all the time. And he liked all of those things so much only because he hated surprises that much. Knowledge had always been power to him; if he knew about it, he'd know how to act accordingly when the time arrived. Surprises were dangerous, debilitating. Surprises exposed weakness, and that was a word he never associated with himself when he could help it.
But Elizabeth was just one big surprise to him. There were times when he could sense impatience and even thinly veiled disdain from her regarding himself. But there were other times when she showed herself to be among the warmest and most compassionate women he knew.
The change in demeanor was puzzling to him, but she revealed pieces of the puzzle as they went along. For example, he had initially misconstrued her anger over his sudden and unannounced appearance at Jake's that one night for vanity and a misguided sense of independence. But as he came to know her, he learned that she had dealt with many men in the past who belittled her efforts and her hard work – either intentionally or unintentionally like Luke with his break-a-nail comment - simply because she was a young woman, and she wasn't about to stand for it.
But the biggest surprise of all was how much he genuinely liked her…and how quickly it all started. It took him forever to let a relationship progress: there were steps he followed, each one carefully planned and orchestrated. But Elizabeth was a whirlwind; he highly doubted that any one of his plans would stand on its own with her around. She had bounded into his life dressed like a college student living in her parents' basement and run circles around him, keeping him intrigued and guessing.
The chase, while invigorating and even a turn-on, also left him disoriented and confused. She didn't behave anything like he expected women to behave, and he wasn't used to the constant feeling of having to wonder what she was up to.
He pursed his lips, hearing Max and Johnny grow restless as he took his time perfecting the shot. Maybe it was fear that provided further incentive to keep Elizabeth at arm's length; maybe he was a coward for behaving this way. But at the moment, he didn't know what to do so his current plan would just have to suffice. After all, plans offered him stability and certainty, two things that Elizabeth seemed to thrive on taking away from those she was around.
Letting out a heavy, strained breath, Jason pulled back and orchestrated the shot, intending to send the eight ball in the corner pocket. The sharp crack echoed in the still bar, and the pool cue hit the table with a dull thud as Johnny triumphantly picked up his winnings.
.:Outside Harborview Towers, En Route To Kelly's:.
"Fabulous," Carly beamed, clapping her hands as she and Nikolas walked toward the parking lot on Elm Street that stood between them and Kelly's diner. "Absolutely fabulous!"
"It's a great penthouse, Carly," Nikolas agreed, slipping his hands into the pockets of his pressed trousers. "You'd be crazy not to lease it."
"Actually, I was talking about the landlord, but the penthouse isn't bad, either," the blonde replied, her hazel eyes twinkling as the Prince rolled his eyes. "Tall, dark, and handsome – and the dimples are just a fringe benefit!"
"Wall-to-wall, brand new appliances, and a great view," Nikolas reminded her, interrupting her daydreams of her suave, dimpled potential neighbor. "And Elle's going to fall in love with the closets."
"Speaking of Elle," Carly interjected, looping her arm through her old friend's as they stepped onto the pavement. "I cleared the last details of our plan, and we're all set."
"That easily?" the Prince asked, surprised. "When are you going to tell Elle?"
"It depends," she answered. "I have to find a day where both she and Jason are free around the same time. And the penthouse will be open whenever I make the call – I made sure that-"
"Carly."
The pair looked over to see Jason walking toward his car, unlocking it with his automated key. Quirking an excited glance at her friend, the tall blonde pulled Nikolas over to the black Mercedes.
"What do you want, Morgan?"
"I have something for you," came the bland answer as Jason pulled open the driver's side door and depressed the seat, scrounging around in the back.
"Oh," she replied, slightly confused but forging ahead anyway. "Hey, guess where we were – Harborview Towers! We just saw my new penthouse."
"You signed the lease already?"
"Well, no," Carly huffed impatiently, "but it's as good as done. Just one or two more things need to be done, and then I'm moving in. Hey, what's that?"
Jason licked his lips, holding out a pair of neatly folded blue jeans. The blonde accepted them after a moment's befuddled stare, fingering them before realizing who the pair belonged to. "…These are Elle's."
The businessman shifted awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "She left them in the car," he replied quietly, straightening the seat. "Give them to her for me."
With that, he slid into his seat and closed the door, rolling down the windows as Nikolas pulled Carly away to the sidewalk once more. The blonde unfolded and refolded the jeans in her arms as they resumed their walk toward Kelly's.
"…And those are the two idiots we're supposed to help," she groused, stuffing the rolled up jeans under arm.