Author's Note: Here's wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year!!! Have fun but be safe! :)
True North
By Jaclyn Parker
Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go.
-Brooks Atkinson
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Just as Carly had predicted to Lily over the phone, Jack arrived at Metro with the two boys at five after eight. They were all surprised at how many people were already inside, ready and waiting to dance the night away at Oakdale's hottest spot for New Year's Eve.
After saying hi to a slightly hectic Jessica and receiving their VIP wrist bands, Parker, J.J., and Jack moved towards the dance floor to check out the DJ and the awesome decorations that had been put up. When Parker and J.J. both commented on the trick bartenders juggling three bottles of Malibu Rum between them, Jack turned into "Mr. Cop". He immediately started spouting off his typical threat to end any person's life if they touched alcohol tonight while both boys resisted the urge to roll their eyes. He was in mid-lecture when they heard a greeting called out.
"Happy Birthday Yank!" Mattie's voice called out and all three turned to where she and Lee where now entering Metro.
Jack realized after a moment that Parker hadn't answered back and when he glanced over at his sons he had to quickly hide the smirk that spread across his lips. Both boys' jaws were dropped and their eyes were huge.
"You..you look…" Parker stammered.
"Hot!" J.J. finished for him and received an elbow to the ribs for his outburst.
Mattie just laughed and rolled her eyes. It was quite a different reaction than her uncle's when she had shown him the outfit that Carly had specifically designed for her.
The short, strapless, satin dress was done in tie-dyed shades of black, emerald green, and silver that flowed gracefully to end in a slightly "bubble" hem just above her mid-thigh. Lee had immediately started yelling about how "no niece of his" was going anywhere wearing an outfit that short. Finally Mattie had to crack her impassive face and laughingly show him the black leggings that she would be wearing with it as well the black cropped sweater that she would bring to cover her shoulders if she got cold. She had to admit that her uncle had been very endearing as he had sputtered and tried to act like he knew there was more to the outfit all along.
Carly had also shown Mattie a fun way to accentuate her green eyes with sparkling eyeliner and slightly over the top green iridesent eye shadow. With her long brown hair pulled back in a mane of curls reaching her mid back, Mattie knew she looked good and was damn proud of it. She might have liked remodeling vintage cars but she was still a girl!
"Okay, we can fawn over me later, boys. I want to check everything out!" Mattie grabbed both of their hands and throwing a quick goodbye over her shoulder, proceeded to drag them to the VIP section.
"I think we've been dismissed, mate." Lee said as he watched them go with a smile on his face.
Jack inwardly cringed at the friendly slang term, knowing that Lee didn't mean to sound so Australian. But after everything with Simon, Jack had to admit the accent still irked him.
"Yeah, I guess so." Jack said back lamely and both men shuffled their feet a moment as they tried to think of something to say.
"So, Carly told me how much she enjoyed Christmas. It was nice of you to have her at the farm." Lee said, attempting to start a conversation again.
'I bet she didn't tell you everything, mate.' Jack thought, remembering what had happened between him and Carly under the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree. He hoped the smug smirk he heard in his mental voice didn't show on his face.
"Yeah, the kids were really happy she was there." Jack said and Lee raised an eyebrow.
"The kids, huh?" Lee said and Jack frowned at the insinuation he heard in the other man's voice.
Deciding that he wasn't going to hold back on his true position anymore, Jack turned to look Lee dead in the eye. "It's where she belonged."
"Hm." was the only reply Lee gave making Jack's blood begin to boil. But before he could say anything to the doctor, a movement caught his eye.
Carly had begun to slide through the growing crowd, occasionally stopping to say hi to a familiar customer or to be introduced to whoever they were with.
Her hair was pulled up in a mass of curls, with a few loose ones here and there, in the hairstyle that Jack liked so much. To him it just screamed to have each bobby pin slowly pulled out to free the locks and let his hands tangle in them. The black sequined dress came to about the same above mid-thigh length as Mattie's dress only Carly wasn't wearing leggings like the teen. Her long toned legs showed proud and true, ending in that same pair of dangerously high and dangerously sexy black stilettos. The front of the dress appeared to be a sleeveless turtleneck, but when Carly turned to answer a question from Jessica, Jack almost choked on his own saliva.
There was no back to Carly's dress.
The turtleneck look was actually a thick banded halter style and the scoop of the back of the dress rested well below the small of Carly's back. In fact, if it was about another inch and a half lower, Jack envisioned he would be able to see her panty line…if she was wearing any.
"Whoa." Jack said, not being able to help himself. Lee, let out a low whistle at the sight of her too and Jack felt a red hot jealously sweep over him. At that moment, he never wanted to break a bottle over someone's head more.
Carly finally saw them and paused, momentarily stunned to see them standing next to each other. Pasting a smile on her face she made her way over to them, saying her last little hellos as she went.
"Hi." She said simply and accepted the hug and kiss on the cheek from Jack, trying to ignore the tingle that went down her spine. Then she turned and received the same from Lee. At Jack's small frown and slight glance between them, Carly realized she had a small part to play tonight. With a smile that she hoped wasn't more of a grimace she leaned into Lee's side, squeezing his waist subtly.
To his credit, Lee caught on quickly and bent to kiss her head, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"Where are the kids?" Carly asked, pulling away to look around the crowded club.
"Are you kidding? The VIP section was calling their name." Jack said jokingly, trying to pull himself together at the sight of Carly and Lee.
"So I guess that means I won't see my son until everything is over, since I'm under strict instructions not to show my face once his friends get here." Carly said, rolling her eyes.
"You got the 'I'll die of embarrassment' speech too huh?" Jack said, nodding his head towards the entrance where Jessica was handing out VIP wrist bands to a large group of teens and checking them off her list.
"Yup, but I got it covered." Carly said and waved a hand.
Sensing a movement to his right, Jack turned and found himself nose to chest with an oak tree. Except this oak tree was actually a large African American male, about 6'5 with muscles that looked to be the size of Sage's head.
"Jack, this is Marcus Royale. He'll be the head bouncer appointed to the VIP section tonight since we aren't even allowed to look in that direction." Carly said, smirking.
"Um, nice to meet you." Jack said, holding out his hand and trying not to wince as Marcus shook it firmly. He could tell that the bodyguard wasn't trying to show off, it was just his natural grip.
"You too, sir." Marcus said back in a voice that was so deep it reminded Jack of the actor, James Earl Jones.
"And you remember, Lee Reynolds." Carly said, gesturing to the other man. Lee had been waiting to take Carly to lunch the day Marcus had come in for the interview.
"Yeah, no need to shake hands. I'm a doctor, remember?" Lee joked and Marcus sent a wide white smile.
"Ms. Tenney, I'm going to head over now. If you need me, please just let me know." Marcus said and with another smile, he was gone.
"Are you sure that guy isn't a brick wall posing as a human?" Jack asked, watching the giant man walk away.
"He's ex-Special Forces. Comes highly recommended." Carly said, trying to hold back a laugh as she watched all her son's teenaged friends do a double take as Marcus posted himself outside the VIP section.
"Shocking news" Jack muttered sarcastically. He glanced at the door to Metro and grinned. "Ah, the cavalry is here."
Waving the newly arrived Holden and Lily over, they all exchanged pleasantries before Holden clapped his hands lightly.
"Alright. Small talk is over. What do you say we get this party started?" He asked and soon the small group was laughing and dancing with the best of them. Carly was sticking to tonic water and lime, vowing that with her son there she was not going to let her guard down with alcohol. Not to mention that the woman was often pulled in several directions, making sure everything was running smoothly.
Jack never noticed how much satisfaction Carly took in her job. It might not have been her dream of a fashion house, but she threw herself into it 110 percent anyway. He couldn't help the look of utter pride that crossed his face every time someone complimented her on the night or when she solved a problem quickly and discretely.
Before anyone knew it, it was 11:00 and the DJ had lit up a large digital clock next to his station that held a countdown all the way to the millisecond. The lights around it pulsed to the rhythm of the beat belonging to whatever song that he played.
"That's pretty cool." Jack commented, pointing to it with the same hand that held his glass of rum and coke.
"Definitely. He's a good DJ. Where'd you find him?" Holden turned to Carly, but noticed she was focused on something else. They all followed her gaze and made surprised noises as soon as they caught sight of what she was staring at.
"Is that…?" Lily started to ask but trailed off.
"Excuse me." Carly said, not even glancing at the others, especially Jack, as she moved towards the female nervously talking to Jessica.
"I'm sorry. You're not on either list for tonight's entrance." Jessica said, flipping the pages and scanning again. "I'm really sorry."
"Jessica, everything okay here?" Carly asked, placing a hand on the hostess's shoulder looking into the face of the person arguing with her.
Brown eyes looked into Carly's blue ones and a momentary flash of defiance flickered across the other female's face before settling into one of resignation.
"Hi, Carly."
"Hi, Liberty."
The young girl tucked her light brown hair behind her ears making the dangling gold earrings that matched her gold and black sparkling dress flash in the club lights.
"I, uh, I was invited." Liberty said slowly, glancing again at Jessica and her lists.
"I thought Parker said that you told him you wouldn't come. I believe the exact words were 'when hell froze over and monkeys ice skated with the devil'." Carly said, trying to suppress a smile at the memory just like she had when an obviously upset Parker had told her the girl's response. The phrase had sounded like something she would have said in a similar situation.
"I know. After that." Liberty said, blushing slightly at the reminder.
"By who?" Carly asked.
"By me."
Both Carly and Liberty turned to see Mattie standing just off to the side, her brilliant green eyes flickering back and forth between them as she walked closer.
"Parker really wants you here and I think…I think you really wanted to be here too." Mattie said, smiling softly at the other young girl.
"Yeah, I really did." Liberty said back and returned the smile, although it was smaller than Mattie's was.
"I see." Carly said and whispered into Jessica's ear, who nodded and without comment placed a wristband on Liberty.
"Have a good time." Carly said, keeping her own personal feelings in check out of respect to her son and after shooting Mattie a look, she turned to walk away.
"Wait, Carly!" Liberty said and she reached out to touch Carly's arm. When Carly stopped and looked at her, Liberty sighed and dropped her hand. "I just wanted to say…I'm sorry. I only wanted my mom to be happy. I don't…I didn't mean…"
The girl trailed off, unsure of how to exactly say what she wanted. She meant the things she said at the time, but she regretted them now as evident by her eyes looking down at the floor.
"I know." Carly said and placed a hand on Liberty's shoulder then made her way back to the small group of stunned adults waiting for her.
Liberty watched her go and upon seeing that Jack was a part of that group she momentarily stiffened.
'You know what, Mom? It's not my fight anymore.' Liberty thought and nodded firmily to herself before following Mattie to where the rest of the teenagers were.
"Liberty's here?" Holden asked as Carly reached for her drink that Lee had been holding for her.
"Good catch there." Carly said, sipping from her glass and exchanging amused glances with Lily. "It'll be okay."
"Definitely." Lee said and then clinked his glass with hers, making her look at him and grin.
Jack watched them with slightly narrowed eyes and in one smooth gulp, made half of his drink disappear. Holden noticed and clapped a hand on his cousin's shoulder then bent over and whispered into Jack's ear. A slow grin spread over Jack's face and he nodded. Holden turned and smiled at Lily, Carly and Lee.
"Will you guys excuse us for a moment?"
Without waiting for an answer they turned and disappeared into the crowd. The three that were left looked at each other curiously and shrugged. Suddenly Lee started slightly and looked down at his waist. Unclipping his pager, he frowned looking at the number.
"Go ahead. Use my office." Carly said, inclining her head towards the back, rolling her eyes.
"Thanks, Luv. Won't be but a minute." Lee said and leaned over to kiss her cheek before also shimmying through the mass of people.
Lily waited patiently until he was out of ear shot and then grabbed Carly's arm eagerly.
"So? How was everything before we got here? We kind of just jumped right into the party so I didn't have a chance to ask you." Lily asked, her brown eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"That's true. And I didn't get to tell you that you looked great by the way! That sapphire blue suits you!" Carly said gesturing to the satin off the shoulder blouse that Lily wore with black slacks and strappy black heels. Her long brown hair was newly highlighted and curled at the ends. It was half pulled back with a gorgeous set of combs, showing off the black dangling earrings that Carly had loaned her.
"Thanks!" Lily said, preening for a moment then immediately becoming serious again. "Now stop stalling."
"Better than expected, but completely weird." Carly said, sighing. "It didn't occur to me that I would have to play like Lee and I are dating."
"Oh, yeah." Lily said, frowning. "Not good."
"Yeah and it just hit me. What do I do at midnight?" Carly said and Lily's eyes widened then narrowed as an impish smile grew on her face.
"Kiss him like there's no tomorrow." Lily said, shrugging.
"What?" Carly exclaimed, looking at her best friend like she had lost her damn mind.
"Look, he's your date right? It'll look weird if you don't kiss him. Plus, it'll drive Jack completely insane." Lily said, sipping her cosmopolitan, her eyes dancing merrily over the rim of the glass.
Carly sent her a wide eyed look before cracking a smile. "True."
"What's true?" Jack asked as he and Holden suddenly reappeared at their sides. Carly jumped at the sound of his voice so close to her ear and the body heat she could feel from him. She looked at him over shoulder as she took a shaky step away.
"Nothing." Lily said, noticing Carly's reaction with a hidden smile, and then looked at her husband in mock suspicion. "And just what were you two doing?"
"Nothing." Holden said back, looping an arm around her neck and kissing her temple.
"Uh huh." Lily said and just nodded unbelievingly at him. She surveyed where she had a sneaking suspicion they had gone and pointed. "Then why are Parker and his friends sending panicked looks at Marcus every five seconds. And why did he just crack his knuckles and neck before sending a wink over here."
"I don't know. I mean, I guess someone might have paid one of the kids twenty bucks to start a rumor that someone had tried to sneak alcohol and that Marcus found out. Then that someone also might have paid another kid to start the rumor that Marcus was trained to kill a guy by just using his pinky when he got mad." Holden said looking over at Jack who wore a completely innocent face.
"And then another someone might have let Marcus in on the fun." Jack said, his lips twitching from him trying to keep a straight face.
"You started a rumor to torture our son on his birthday?" Carly asked, turning to face Jack incredulously.
"No. Never." He said shaking his head no then quickly nodding yes, that smug grin of his lighting up his face. The one that always made Carly wonder whether to slap him or kiss him silly.
"So where'd Lee go?" Jack asked quietly, bringing Carly back to the present as their laughter died down.
"He got a page from the hospital. I don't know…" Carly started to say but the man of discussion suddenly reappeared. Just by the haunted look in his eyes, Carly knew something was wrong. "Lee?"
"Drunk driving accident. Pretty bad. I've got to go." Lee said, running a hand through his hair causing it to become disheveled.
"Don't worry about Mattie, Lee. Holden and I can take her home when we leave or if she wants she can come with us and stay at the farm." Lily said and Lee sent her a grateful look.
"I'm pretty sure she'll want to go home but either way, that'd be great. Thanks." Lee said and Carly took his hand.
"Come on, I'll walk you out." She said and after he said goodnight to the others they headed towards the door.
"Are you okay?" Carly asked and looked up at him as he got his coat from the coat check.
"Yeah, it's just…it was a family and another young couple. Apparently the guy was so drunk that he passed out at the wheel and slammed into a minivan." Lee said, placing a tip in the glass jar as she slid his coat on. "It's just so much like…"
"I know." Carly said, placing a soft hand on his cheek. He leaned into her palm and then bent forward to kiss her gently.
"Have fun, okay, Luv?" Lee said and she nodded.
As he glanced casually back into the club, he noticed Jack trying desperately to act like he wasn't watching their every move. A small sparkle reappeared in Lee's eyes and he bent down again, this time pressing a longer kiss to her mouth. Startled, Carly's own eyes widened and when he pulled away she sent him a puzzled look. While the kiss definitely wasn't unpleasant, it lacked the toe curling chemistry that should accompany it and they both knew it.
"What in the world…?" Carly started to say but he only hugged her and whispered into her ear.
"Just giving you a New Year's gift. Let me know how Detective Snyder reacts after seeing that kiss." Lee said and Carly pulled away, looking him in the eyes before bursting out laughing.
"You're crazy. I love you, but you're crazy." She said and after tweaking her nose gently he winked and left the club.
Carly watched the doorway for moment, shaking her head. Turning to head back into Metro, she caught a glimpse of Jack quickly turning away from where he was blatantly watching her and act like he was listening to Holden and Lily.
"Hmm, maybe you're not so crazy after all, Doc." She muttered. Then hiding the smirk on her face, Carly lifted her chin and walked back inside.