A/N: I see Sarah was a hit… Lol! Let's see how dinner goes, shall we?
Not my characters… or liason would so be together right now…
Chapter 11 – Double Date
-- Il Mezzo Restaurant --
The photo shoot had gone relatively well after the dress incident. True to nature, Sarah had whined about her make-up, her hair, her shoes and the lighting that she believed were all unflattering. But hopefully Elizabeth had been able to get through her incessant drama and in the end the photographer had managed to produce some incredible work.
Elizabeth was very surprised Jason wanted to meet Sarah. She warned him about what to expect; but surprisingly enough, the young man was curious about meeting her sister and finally putting a face to all the stories Elizabeth had shared with him. For a minute the designer feared that maybe there was an ounce of truth in what Sarah suggested and Jason was interested in comparing both sisters making sure he made the right choice. After all she was a model, she was tall, blonde; everything he was supposed to be attracted to. But the man had turned out completely differently from what she had first expected him to be so she needed to give him credit. He seemed to have too much class to jump from one sister to another.
Jason arrived at the upscale Italian restaurant that evening at the agreed upon time and settled at the bar waiting for the two ladies. A young woman dressed in a flirty plaid black and white dress made her way towards the businessman.
"What are you drinking?"
"Scotch." He brought the glass to his mouth then placed it back on the bar as the blonde woman fixed him with an impudent smile. "Can I help you with something?" Jason then politely asked.
"Well, I was hoping you would offer me a drink."
"What would you like to drink?"
She leaned against the marble bar getting closer to the man. "I'll have a pomegratini."
Jason, being the gentleman that he was, called on the bartender and ordered the woman's cocktail.
"Are you waiting for someone?"
The businessman was losing patience with the woman but nodded trying not to be rude.
She went on. "I am not from Port Charles; I was just here for work. Any idea how I could turn my last evening here into something… highly memorable?" The woman spoke with a naughty smile. "You know like… a really fun activity." She placed a hand on Jason's lap and ran it up and down his thigh as she spoke.
The blond man simply picked up her hand from him and delicately placed it on the bar counter. "I'm not sure what you are alluding to, but I'm not interested."
She was outraged at his lack of interest in her. "Wow… playing hard to get I see."
"Like I said, not interested."
"So you're really into my sister huh?"
"Excuse me?" Jason asked wondering what the annoying young woman was talking about.
She extended an arm towards him. "Sarah Webber."
She had recognized him as soon as she arrived in the restaurant; the magazine picture definitely made him justice. The man was gorgeous with high cheekbones and crystal blue eyes to die for. She couldn't help herself. Elizabeth already had a great career and was friends with the elite of the fashion world while she was still an anonymous model. Elizabeth didn't need a man like Jason; she never cared about the money. And besides, she was prettier, taller and probably more of the guy's type. If he had fallen for her advances, it would have been very easy for her to cry to Elizabeth about how her womanizer boyfriend made a pass at her. But it seemed he was really serious about her sister as he hadn't even shown a tiny bit of interest in her; to her chagrin.
"I'm Elizabeth's sister." The young woman clarified.
"I see, so you know who I am."
"Of course! Who doesn't?"
"And do you make a habit of hitting on your sister's boyfriends or was this little act only reserved for me?"
"Oh… I see why she is interested in you; just like her you're pretty direct. But be reassured, I had no intention of taking this very far; I just had to figure out how serious you were about my sister." The young woman blatantly lied.
"Right…" Jason replied before being interrupted.
"Hey you two! I see you've met already!" Elizabeth said as she joined Jason and Sarah at the bar.
The designer was unfortunately held up at work in a meeting with ELLE's fashion editor. The two had spent not less than an hour trying to decide what pictures to use for the editorial the magazine was doing on her new collection as well as a page on fashion accessories featuring some of EW's most popular looks. She did her best to be there on time as the last thing she wanted was for Sarah to keep Jason company until she arrived.
The simple thought of her sister alone with him made the woman freak out a little as something inside her couldn't help but feel worried. Since their younger age, her sister unexplainably enjoyed stealing anything that was Elizabeth's; now that they were adults, men weren't off limits. But the designer repeated to herself that Jason wasn't Lucky and that everything would be fine now that she was there.
"I guess we have." Sarah spitted out obviously annoyed by something. The young blond was at least happy Elizabeth missed her seduction act on Jason or she might have had to look for another place to sleep that night.
"And that you're wearing my dress." Elizabeth remarked as she saw the younger girl in one of her creations.
"Oh yeah, you can tell it's yours, its two sizes too big, but I managed." Sarah said sporting a wicked grin.
Ignore, ignore, ignore would be Elizabeth's motto for the evening. "Anyway… Sorry I'm late, had some last minute things to take care of at work."
"It's ok; I was able to… get to know your sister better." Jason said with a half smile. "Oh, and because we were three, I asked one of my associates and friend to join us. I hope its ok with you ladies."
Sarah's eyes opened wide. Maybe she wouldn't score Jason that night but another rich handsome man would definitely be welcome.
"You'll see; he's a very interesting and charming guy." The younger woman grew interested every second. "Oh, here he is." Jason said as he saw the younger man enter the dining room of the Italian restaurant in a very fitting black suit.
Alright, that's not what I imagined but if he's rich, that'll do Sarah thought.
The party got directed to its table by the Maitre D and Elizabeth and Sarah got to properly meet the newly arrived stranger.
"It is my highest pleasure to finally meet the Fair Elizabeth. I've heard and read such positive things about you." Spinelli tried very hard to be understandable by the common human being as Jason had asked him to be. Jason knew how much the young man fancied blondes and had therefore asked him to tag along to balance the dinner out.
Sarah rolled her eyes as she couldn't understand half of what was coming out of the newly introduced man's mouth. It would be a long night for her. But Elizabeth was intrigued by the young man. "It is very nice to meet you too Damien."
"Please call me the Jackal." Spinelli crossed eyes with his boss then continued. "Or Spinelli."
"Very well the Jackal." Elizabeth chuckled lightly. "So tell me, how did you meet Jason?"
"The Jackal used to make a living by fixing ailing computers when one day my services where beckoned by my master here whose own personal information mine was stricken by a most opulent virus attack. Of course the grasshopper was able to fight the virulent invasion and in the process impressed Sto…Jason so much that he offered him a much coveted position as an Information Technology specialist in his company."
"I'm not sure I got everything but that sounded great." Elizabeth said, realizing that Jason had perfectly introduced his friend; the young man was charming and definitely interesting.
Sarah was listening to Spinelli's tale without much interest and couldn't wait to place Jason back in the center of the conversation. "Jason, tell me; how'd you meet my wonderful sister?"
"I saw her for the first time during her last fashion show." The young man said not wanting to go into details of how insensitively he had sought her out in the first place having his assistant invite her out.
"Oh, you didn't seem like it but are you one of those metro sexual guys? Because I didn't think you were the kind who would sit through fashion week." Sarah declared with an amused chuckle as her eyes met her sister's threatening glare.
"Well, you have this right, I don't know much about fashion. I was just there with a friend that's all." He said then took a sip of his liquor.
"A friend? I see… you mean you were taking your last girlfriend on a shopping spree right? How many girlfriends did you have this year by the way? I read something like fifteen, twenty maybe… impressive."
"Sarah, enough!" Elizabeth was losing patience with her sister who she knew was doing all this only to get under her skin. Elizabeth who was sitting next to Jason faced him with an apologetic look that he gave back to her feeling guilty as he was the one who insisted on meeting her sister.
The young blonde spoke again. "Oh what… I was just sharing what I read, getting to know your new boyfriend better."
Spinelli who noticed the tense atmosphere decided to jump in the conversation and hopefully break the awkward exchange. "The sly blonde one shouldn't believe everything she reads in these gossip periodicals as most is simple conjecture and imagination."
She answered him with an insincere smile and heard the young man go on. "So what was the reason for the visit of the Fair Elizabeth's sibling in town?"
"I was doing ELLE, in my sister's clothes." Something Sarah always enjoyed was talking about herself. "The clothes were just ok… but I'm sure I made the best of it."
"I see the sly blond one is a model, fashion runs in the family."
"You could say that." Sarah replied.
A young waiter came by to offer water to the table and take their orders, interrupting the uncomfortable party.
*****
A few minutes into the dinner and Sarah couldn't hide her massive boredom anymore. Elizabeth and Jason pretty much had eyes only for each other while she was left to converse with a guy that she could have sworn was just removed from a weird video game. It was a little like Spinelli wouldn't stop talking to her so she would leave the happy couple alone. But Sarah, who had enough of the young man decided she was ready to make this dinner more entertaining.
"So Jason, are you a good swimmer?"
"Yes… why are you asking me that?"
"Because my sister hates the water. You'd think she drowned once or something but not at all..."
"What are you talking about, I don't hate swimming… it's just not my forte. Not everyone can be as gifted as you Sarah." Elizabeth said with sarcasm.
"That's for sure… and just a little piece of advice, do not try anything she cooks… she's a real danger in the kitchen."
Jason sent a quick amused look at Elizabeth who was fuming on her chair. His cell phone went off and the businessman excused himself to take what seemed to be an important call.
Elizabeth watched Jason distance himself from the table then spoke to her sister. "Did you make it your goal to embarrass me tonight?"
"Hey, everything I said is true, I'm just helping Jason get to know you better that's all."
"No you're not! You're just trying to make me look like a fool! I knew this was a bad idea! Couldn't you at least behave for a few minutes? No, you basically have to go on and on pointing all my shortcomings to Jason!"
"Oh come on Lizzie! I'm just making dinner a little more fun! I'm sorry to break it to you but your guy Jason is a little boring…"
Spinelli was attentively listening to the two women squabbling back and forth with no remedy to break the animated exchange of words. He saw Jason approach their table again and felt relieved.
"Sorry, I really needed to take that call."
"It's ok, Jason." Elizabeth reassured him.
Sarah didn't wait a second to keep the drama going. "So Jason; did Elizabeth tell you about the day…" Elizabeth sent her sister another menacing look that went ignored. "Oh my god, it was so funny! There was this play at school based on the war of Troy. Of course I played the role of the beautiful Helen, not that this anecdote is about me… anyway Lizzie here was in charge of costume designs and decorations and well she messed up badly and had to fill in as a poor ridiculous laurel tree standing in the background during the whole play! I should have brought that picture I couldn't stop laughing for two days!"
Elizabeth couldn't believe she had dared tell that story! The designer had made her swear not to talk about this ever again but of course she had taken the first occasion to put her down in front of Jason. Elizabeth knew this dinner had been a terrible idea and couldn't wait to get out of there and ship her sister back to wherever she came from.
Spinelli, who had been following Sarah's tale with interest, joined in on the conversation. "Actually the Jackal cannot think of any greatest honor than incarnating a sacred laurel tree. In the ancient and most revered Greek culture the beautiful nymph Daphne had inadvertently accomplished to attract the fervent attentions of the greatest sun God Apollo, by her most gracious beauty. In order to elude the deity's pursuing, the beautiful nymph was transformed into a laurel tree. After the fair nymph's metamorphosis, this tree became quintessential to the worshiping of the very powerful God Apollo. Until today, the laurel tree is still most present. It can be observed in the Olympic Games when it adorns the heads of the victorious ones into crowns."
Spinelli left Sarah wordless. "Yeah, whatever." She said before giving her attention back to her tiramisu.
The party's waiter came up to their table. "I am sorry to interrupt your dinner Mr. Morgan, but a Mr. Grant is on the patio and would like to offer you and your date a drink."
"Very well." Jason now faced Sarah and Spinelli. "Elizabeth and I will have to excuse ourselves. There is someone I want her to meet. Sarah, it was… nice meeting you. Spinelli will take care of calling you a cab home if it's not…"
"Wait, Lizzie, you're not just gonna drop me like this."
"Sarah, dinner is over and you are driving up early tomorrow, you need your rest and you should definitely go to bed. You know what mommy would say about driving tired."
Elizabeth smiled at Spinelli then held Jason's arm as they walked away.
The young computer genius who was left with a cranky Sarah tried to talk to her. "Um… if the Runway Diva wishes, I will call her a vehicle to take her to her sister's most welcoming abode."
"Please just stop talking to me! I can't believe she would just cut me off like that. I'm out of here!" The young woman stood to her feet throwing her napkin on the table and left Spinelli behind as he wondered how two sisters could ever be that different.
*****
"I'm so sorry Jason. She can be a real pest when she wants to." Elizabeth told Jason as they made their way towards the restaurant's terrace.
"Nothing to be sorry of; she definitely is an interesting piece of work that's for sure. But you warned me."
"Who is this Mr. Grant?" Elizabeth asked intrigued as they kept walking.
"Actually… No one. I gave our waiter a nice tip just so he would say that to help you get out of babysitting duty."
"Did I tell you how great you are?" Elizabeth said before reaching up for a tender kiss.
The couple arrived in the restaurant's deserted patio which was lit with numerous little candles. A few small round tables were scattered around and a romantic jazzy music could be heard in the background.
"So now that your rescued me… what are the plans for the rest of the evening?"
"Well, we could… stay here, enjoy another glass of wine or we could go back to my place…"
Elizabeth was sure that spending a night with Jason would be wonderful but she also knew that she didn't want to mistake his present affection for more. How could she be sure that the man wasn't only trying to seal the deal before turning his attention to another woman? Even though Jason had been incredible to her he was still a man and she had long ago come to the conclusion that they could never be fully trusted.
"Oh… that sounds really tempting; but remember, taking things slow..."
The last thing Jason wanted to do was pressure her; now that he knew the brunette better; he learned that being too forward would have her take steps backwards. He had accepted to let her set the pace for their relationship and that was exactly what he would do. "Right… right. We'll take things as slow or as fast as you want. I'm just offering options here."
"Thank you for being so understanding. I just don't want to rush things up and then realize I am making a big mistake. Not that you are a mistake, far from that. You've been more than great to me since we've started dating. It's just that you kind of came out of nowhere, at a time when I wasn't even entertaining the idea of being in a relationship. I just need more time… to feel comfortable enough before we take the next step."
"You don't have to justify yourself Elizabeth. The last thing I want is for you to regret anything ok? And if this is about what your sister was saying, I want you to know that it's not how it seems. Yes I dated my fair share of women but it was mostly casual; I never met anyone with who I had this much in common."
"I know Sarah was just saying all this to undermine me. And it didn't work."
"Good, I'm happy to hear that." Jason said looking intently in her doe shaped eyes. "So why don't we stay here a little longer and enjoy the nice setting…"
Her lips formed a large smile as Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Jason. "And dance to the nice music…" She completed his sentence then her face found its place against his strong chest.
Jason imitated the brunette and held her close to his body resting his chin on the top of her head as they very slowly swayed to the melodious tune. "I don't dance you know?" Jason declared lost in the thoughts born from her closeness.
She closed her eyes savoring the perfect moment. "What are you talking about… you're dancing right now."
Without putting much thought into it, the man kept moving slowly to the mellow tune, embracing Elizabeth tightly. Jason Morgan never danced, but it seemed for Elizabeth, he could make an exception.
--
A/N: Next on A fashion Affair: "Running Interference"... Please Review!
Also I posted a link to a new banner I made for another short story I am working on. It's going to be called "The Stranger Game" and you can access it through my profile page!