Chapter 2

Johnny was bored and restless.

Since arriving in Port Charles nothing had interested him in the slightest bit; no good bars, attractive women, or any place to just go and get into trouble. He hadn't been in the small town long; just a few weeks, desperately trying to get away from everything that had happened in Manhattan. He'd hope to come into the town, cause some trouble, get a rise from all the right people, and leave.

Instead, he'd been contacted by a legitimate businessman who genuinely wanted to go into business with him; despite his name, despite who his father was, and most likely because Johnny had come into a lot of money in the last few months. He wouldn't have given the idea of donating to some small town clinic a second thought if so many people hadn't rebuffed it immediately, and clearly this was the only way to get a rise out of anyone for right now.

Well, that and the silly, blonde nurse with the loose tongue, who should have learned to ask names, addresses, and maybe even life histories before she started ranting off to a complete stranger.

At least now, he'd get to have some fun.

"What in the hell did you put in this thing?" Nadine spat, her head popping out from beneath his sinneak, a wrench in one hand and a pipe in the other.

"I'm not sure exactly," he lied, crossing his ankles as he leaned against the counter, a hand on his hip. "The damn thing just stopped working this morning."

She swore under her breath and disappeared back under the cabinet, continuing to mutter something about her Aunt Raylene and kitchen appliances.

He grinned happily, taking in the sight of her in a loose fitting t-shirt and a pair of black yoga pants, completely at his beck and call. Normally, he'd use this kind of situation for a different result, but something told him this morning when he was emptying out his cereal bowl that shoving a couple spoons down the garbage disposal might prove to be more fun.

After all, she was the one willing to do anything to keep Nikolas from finding out that she'd insulted one of the wealthiest possible investors in his sad, little clinic.

Johnny had done his research on Nikolas, his business, and his family legacy, and was a little saddened to find out that the man's fiancé had died the very night he proposed, murdered by some serial killer who'd made his way into Port Charles. It was a tragic loss, the kind Johnny knew too well, but it didn't really help him sympathize with the Greek Prince. His sister, Claudia, came to mind and her motto that love kills, which somehow managed to prove truthful time and time again.

"Spoons!?!" she cried, popping out from beneath the sink, two very bent spoons and a butter knife (he had no idea where that came from) clenched in her fists. She tossed the wrench down on the ground along with the pipe and pushed herself up from the floor. "How in the hell did you manage to get two spoons and a butter – oh, you jerk!" She narrowed her eyes and slammed the silverware into the sink. "You did this on purpose."

"You said you were willing to do anything," he shrugged, flashing a pearly grin that failed to charm her. He almost laughed at the sight of her standing in his kitchen, hands on her hips, dirty-faced (he didn't even want to think about what was beneath his sink) and angry. "I just wanted to see how far you'd go."

"You could have called for building maintenance," she griped, wiping her face with the back of her hand. Her nose twitched at the black smudge she'd wiped from her face, and he just continued to grin.

"You owe me for being so damn insulting," he reminded her, holding out his hand and starting to count off. "Bad, classical music. Annoying, harpy whore – though I think my sister would find that quite offensive, but I'll try not to let her know. Did I miss anything?"

"Just the part where you equally insulted me," she growled, folding her arms over her chest and blowing her hair from her face.

"Only because you insulted me first," he pointed out, causing her to scowl.

"Are you five years old?" she asked exhaustedly.

"You're asking me that?" he asked, placing a hand on his chest. "I got a closer look at your doormat this morning, Ms. Hello Kitty."

"Jerk," she hissed, kicking the pieces of piping around on his floor. "Looks like you will have to call maintenance now because I-"

"Uh-uh," he interrupted, shaking his head. "You said you were willing to do anything."

"You woke me up at seven thirty this morning – on my damn morning offf, after pulling a late shift at General Hospital – to unclog your stupid garbage disposal, which you clogged yourself. I did my time, now give Nikolas some money and go the hell away."

Ha.

He almost laughed aloud.

It was handy being friends with the owner of the clinic and a member on the hospital board. Who knew the mess that his father had left him would actually prove to be helpful.

"Wow," he murmured amazed. "What a way to treat someone who is actually trying to help your best friend do some good-"

"Look, I'm sorry," she apologized, taking a deep breath. "I'm exhausted and annoyed and I have to be at the clinic in a couple hours. Like I told you yesterday, I'm not getting any sleep and it's partly your fault." She stepped closer to him, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "You turned your stereo up last night on purpose."

He shrugged and stepped towards her. "I couldn't sleep. Get some earplugs."

"I couldn't sleep either," she said, gritting her teeth. "So keep your damn music turned down."

He smirked, taking another step forward. "I turned it up so I could hear it over TV Land."

"My television is not that loud."

"Is."

"You really are all of five years old," she hissed, shaking her head and starting towards the door.

He reached out, grabbing her by the wrist, and tugging ed her back to him. "We're not through yet, Nurse Crowell. I'm having dinner with Nikolas tonight, and I'm sure he's going to ask me what I-"

"What the hell do you want me to do?" she asked, jerking her arm away. "Mop your floors? Polish your coffee table? Make your bed? Because I'm sure a man like you could hire a maid."

"Maybe I want you," he replied, meaning to clean, but of course, she took it as any way but that.

Her eyes widened, and she looked briefly amused, then disgusted, and lastly really upset. "You're disgusting. Is that what you use your money for? You think I offended you so badly that I'd sleep with you to keep this from Nikolas? Or maybe this is like Indecent Proposal and you think if you offer me a million dollars-"

"You said you'd do anything for your best friend," he reminded her, smirking widely.

"You're a pig. What kind of man just thinks he can offer a woman money to sleep with her? Do people really do that? I mean, I grew up in a small town and I don't go into the city often, so I'm sure they have those high class hookers, and honestly, if that's you're thing, Nikolas is probably better off-"

"Actually," he interrupted firmly, waving a hand at her to try and silence her. "I was going to present a different type of challenge." She stiffened, her eyes darkening, but she didn't start towards the door. "I want to know why I should donate to the clinic."

"That's it?" she scoffed, a slow smile spreading across her face. "You'll be helping lots of sick people who can't afford to get help. General Hospital won't help the uninsured and Nikolas-"

"No, no, no, this is boring," he cut in, raking a hand through his hair. He clasped his hands in front of him, pointing at her as he grinned. "I want you to show me – to convince me - why, and I don't want some silly speech about it being good and for love and Nikolas doing something right." She looked confused. "I want to know why you are so serious – so determined to help him. Why do you believe in this? And unless, you're in love with your best friend…" He chuckled when her cheeks flushed and she looked away. "Well, maybe that's the only reason, and sadly, I don't make donations in the name of love."

"I don't love Nikolas," she argued hastily, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Not that it's any of your business, but he and I – well, I helped him after Emily – that was his fiancé – she was murdered. HeAnd he was ready to give up, to stop living, and we became friends – I helped him through that, but it doesn't mean I love him." She started to get flustered, her cheeks reddening by the second. "Do I care about him? Yes. Do I love him? Yes. Am I in love with him? Well, buddy, no worry there because that shipped has sailed. I already learned my lesson about falling for a guy who is in love with a dead woman, and I won't go there again."

"Finished?" he asked, when she stopped to catch her breath.

"Yes," she replied weakly, wringing her hands. "I just have this problem where I talk and talk, and I don't know how to shut up. It's especially difficult now because you make me nervous. Essentially you're holding the fate of the clinic in your hands. – iIf word gets out that you didn't want to donate, not even a small amount, people will ask questions, and the press will be bad – and it's just not good. None of this is good…"

"So, it's settled then," he said, after her voice trailed off.

"No," she rebuffed, glaring at him. "You cannot make something like this into a game because you're bored and I pissed you off."

"I can," he shrugged, motioning her towards the door. "Either you find a way to convince me to donate, or I don't at all."

**********

"Late again," Nikolas commented, looking up as Nadine slammed her purse down on the front desk, failing to wipe the defeated look off her face before he noticed. "Okay, what's the matter?"

"Tired," she shrugged, stepping behind the counter and grabbing the stack of charts that had been waiting on her arrival. "You know – no sleep, annoyances of life, loud noises, Ricky Ricardo is doing the howling thing again – and well, I'm just worried."

"About me," he sighed, shaking his head as leaned against the desk.

She nodded, wishing Nikolas would understand how much he meant to her and why she worried about him.

When they'd met, he'd been a patient at General Hospital, having gotten into a messy car accident not too long after Emily was murdered. He'd been drinking, not enough to break the law, but enough to make things hazy, and he confessed to Nadine in the ER that he just wanted to die.

Maybe she'd broken all kinds of rules by getting too close to her patient, but Nikolas meant something to a lot of people. Like her best friend, Elizabeth Morgan, who was Emily's best friend. The fellow nurse had been pretty distraught when Nikolas was brought into the ER after trying to trash himself, and somehow, Nadine felt like she had to do something. She was used to fighting for everyone else's life; it was part of her job growing up and partly why she became a nurse.

Along the way, she and Nikolas became friends, and she liked to think she helped him see the light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe she wasn't his reason to live, but she gave him a reason to, and this clinic was a large part of that.

Sure, for a while, she'd had a crush, but it was clear that Nikolas had feelings for Emily that were too intense for him to let go of anytime soon. Well, she'd thought she'd gotten over it, but after standing in Johnny's kitchen that morning, maybe part of her still pined for what couldn't be with Nikolas. She tried to chalk it up to a silly fantasy. The fluttering she felt when he smiled or touched her hand had long ago faded, and she was sure it was something about his royal stature that would always make her have a crush on him.

What girl didn't want to be a princess?

"The clinic," she admitted, looking at him from the corner of her eye. It wasn't a complete lie, especially now that she'd gotten into all kinds of trouble with Johnny Zacchara.

Aunt Raylene always said a mouth like that would get her into trouble. Surely, the woman was spinning in her grave and cackling in heaven.

"Don't worry," he said, laughing at her fears. "I've made some great connections. A lot of which are in Port Charles – Jax and Sonny are definite contributors. And I know that Elizabeth and Jason will make a hefty donation in Emily's honor."

"That's good," she replied, smiling nervously as he continued to ramble on.

"I've been working on meeting with some people from Manhattan, as well as a couple of investors on the West Coast. I'm pretty lucky that Johnny Zacchara ended up in Port Charles. His father left him a hell of a bank account when he passed away last spring."

So, not only was he a stupid, annoying neighbor, but he was a stupid, annoying neighbor spending Daddy's dime.

"I don't like that face," Nikolas teased, poking her in the arm. "I know that people talk about Johnny's father – say he embezzled and was involved in all kinds of horrible things, but so are Sonny and Jason. They've been on trial for their crimes and-"

"No, it's not that," she admitted, her tongue starting to wag in her mouth, the words slowly piling up on the tips.

Why couldn't she just fix this without involving Nikolas?

"I met John – Mr. Zacc – Johnny yesterday," she started apprehensively, her stomach churning. "He was here, waiting for you, and I – well, you know that new neighbor I've been complaining about? How I can't sleep and have a single moment of silence-"

"The reason I've been trying to convince you to stay at Wyndemere," he laughed, nodding his head.

"Don't laugh yet," she muttered, holding up her hands. "I haven't gotten to the funny part yet. You see I went in the break room, and I didn't see Johnny sitting there, and I was tired and upset. And I started ranting – you know how I rant-"

"Yes," he interjected curiously as he followed along.

"Well, I ended up complaining about my neighbor who likes classical music and has some whore that's harping at all hours of the night. Come to find out that not only is the neighbor, Johnny Zacchara, but the whore is his sister, and he's the new investor for your clinic – and yes, I managed to tell him all of this to his face." She pursed her lips and rocked back and forth on her heels. "This is where you laugh."

"You mean to tell me you insulted him? You knew that he was-"

"No, I didn't know. That's the funny part," she said, following it with a mock ha, ha that he clearly didn't find amusing.

"Nadine," he hissed, narrowing his eyes at her. "You know how important-"

"I know, Nikolas, and I'm so sorry. It's not like I insulted him on purpose."

"Precisely why you should bite your tongue," he muttered, grabbing a stack of papers from the desk and stalking away. "I'll be in my office."

Shit.

He didn't even give her time to explain that she was trying to fix it, trying very hard. So hard, in fact, that she'd gotten up with the sun this morning and crawled beneath a very dirty sink, while he looked her up and down, clearly enjoying her disheveled state.

Jerk.

Sighing, she picked up the phone and slipped the piece of paper he'd written his number down on from her pocket. She gritted her teeth when he sounded unusually chipper as he answered the phone.

She couldn't help but remember when she used to be unusually chipper.

"It's me," she said stiffly.

"I know."

"Something about the angry tone of my voice?"

"That and Caller ID."

"Oh, of course, I, I have you saved under Jerk Boy."

"I like it. It suits me, Hello Kitty."

She bit her tongue so hard that it was probably bleeding, but it was the only way to stop herself.

"Did you call for a reason? Or did you want me to play some classical music over the phone?"

"Yes and no," she spat, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to convince you."

"It won't be easy."

She smirked, having had experience with men like this in the past. Hell, she put up with Patrick Drake and Matt Hunter on a daily basis. "I'm up for the challenge."