A/N: Thanks for the great reviews! I know I took some time with this update, but the Sims 3 just came out and let's say my addiction for the game got the best of me… but here we go with an update that you will hopefully enjoy!

As always, I so don't own these characters…

Chapter 20 – Friendly Concern

-- Elizabeth's House --

It had been two days since her argument with Jason. Two days of flowing tears, brownie baking and ice cream munching for Elizabeth who couldn't seem to find enough courage to leave her house and face the world again. Two days filled with maybes, as she desperately tried to find a justification for the pictures but nothing made reasonable sense, especially since Jason's explanation had been less than convincing. The paparazzo who took that picture had made it almost impossible for Elizabeth to believe nothing was happening between him and this woman. If it was really about business then why couldn't he meet with her in his office, during daytime? Why was she half naked? So many questions storming through Elizabeth's lost mind.

Two days and no calls from Jason. Elizabeth knew she had made it clear that she didn't want to have anything to do with the man but still secretly hoped he would at least have tried to contact her, coming up with magic words that would make everything better. The brunette hated Jason had given a viper like Carly something to rub in her face and she hated even more the fact that she had been wrong about him the whole time. Everything almost seemed like a complete nightmare and all she wanted was waking up from it.

Right now he's probably slow dancing with a bleach blond tramp,
and she's probably getting frisky...
right now, he's probably buying her some fruity little drink cause she can't shoot whiskey...

Right now, he's probably up behind her with a pool-stick, showing her how to shoot a combo...

And he don't know...

That I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats...
I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...

Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats…

"Elizabeth you have to do something, you can't shut yourself up and stay cloistered in this house forever, and living off of chocolate!" Maxie said as soon as she entered her boss' house. "Don't tell me you're still in pajamas? Granted they are the cutest little thing but come on! Did you at least take a shower?"

The brunette managed a faint nod from her lying position on her sofa to reassure Maxie.

The young assistant made her way to the stereo and turned the music off. "This is not right! We need you at work Elizabeth, and you need to get out of here if you don't want to end up losing your mind listening to these breakup songs all day!"

"I am fine right here Maxie. And I am still getting some work done. See!" She pointed towards a naked sketch pad resting on her coffee table.

"This is blank Elizabeth."

"That's because I am still thinking!"

"Ok, now I am really worried! Are you sure you are ok? Elizabeth, you haven't come out of this house since what happened with Jason! I mean, yes Jason was a nice looking guy but he isn't the only one! And besides you did very well by yourself, you don't need him or anyone actually!" Maxie remembered Elizabeth had used the same arguments when she had tried getting out of dating Jason. The young assistant thought she should have kept her big mouth shut instead of pushing her boss in the hands of the biggest playboy in town.

"Please Maxie, I really do not want to talk about him."

"Ok… fine, I won't talk about he who shall remain nameless… but it's time you take your life back and show everyone that you are still on top of your game."

"Come out and face the cruel look of this city's gossips? I don't think so! This picture was in a magazine; like if the fact that he was with another woman wasn't enough, it had to be a public humiliation!"

Maxie was at loss of words to cheer Elizabeth up and maybe what her boss needed was getting away from the craziness of it all for a few days. "Then why don't you take a short vacation? You are supposed to go to Paris with Kate soon so why don't you take a quick trip to visit your Grandmother on the west coast before that? By the time you come back, everyone would have forgotten about what happened."

"Forget? Like this is ever going to happen!"

Maxie joined Elizabeth on her large sofa. "But at least you'll be away and will have some time to rest and work on finishing the collection. I'm sure a shopping therapy would help too, it always works for me. And you could also check in with the few boutiques that sell your line down there, and I'm sure your Grandmother will be super happy to see you."

"You're right she would, I haven't seen her in months." Elizabeth contemplated the idea for a few seconds. What Maxie had just suggested seemed to be exactly what she needed. All things Port Charles exasperated her and getting away from it all really sounded like the perfect solution. "I'd love to see her too. Could you make the arrangements? I want to leave this place as soon as possible."

-- Morgan Enterprises, Jason's Office --

"Carly? What are you doing here?" Jason asked surprised to see the woman enter his office.

"Umm, you forgot? We were supposed to have lunch today."

"Oh yes that's right. It completely slipped my mind." The man said flipping through a thick report, shadowed face and tired eyes. "But today won't be possible. I am dealing with a situation right now."

"Yeah, you definitely look horrible! Anyway, can we do dinner then? Because I really want to talk to you, it's been a while since we haven't shared about ourselves and things have gone from bad to worse with Jax. I really think we might not get back together this time."

"You said that the last time you were separated and here you are again. But tonight I can't either, I am really too busy."

"Is everything alright?"

"Well, not really but I can't really talk about it."

"Since when? You tell me everything Jason, remember? Or that was before muffin came into the picture." She said with disdain.

"Carly, I don't have time for this… and beside you'll be happy to learn that things aren't going so great with Elizabeth." He mindlessly added.

"Really?" She asked in a fake surprised tone. "What happened? You finally realized I was right all along? I'm surprised you didn't get rid of her earlier actually! But at least you finally came to your senses."

It was nothing like that but Jason had no desire to enter into the specifics of his relationship problems with Carly. Jason had been in over his head with the accusations pending on his company and hadn't tried to contact Elizabeth. The man was extremely hurt she hadn't believed his word and was as confused as ever by her sudden change in mood. He had decided to give her time, thinking that it might have been what she needed to get over what he considered a small incident.

The phone on his office beeped twice. It was his secretary announcing Diane Miller.

"Thanks Jillian. Carly, I have a meeting right now; I'll catch up with you later. I'll call you."

The blond woman left, sporting a giant smile, reassured that Jason hadn't suspected anything about her involvement in his situation with Elizabeth.

Diane entered the imposing office and dropped her briefcase on a chair facing his desk. "You owe me a very large bonus Jason Morgan! I am not nearly paid enough for the extraordinary work I do for you."

"What did they say?"

"Morgan Enterprises is free of charges and can operate without fear of further investigation."

Jason dropped on his leather chair extremely relieved. "Thank you!"

"There was no cause of action and they simply couldn't find any link between Coritnhos' illegal activities and you." Diane claimed a sit facing Jason's desk. "And you can also thank the fact that the agent in charge of the case has some kind of personal vendetta against Corinthos and wanted to force you into testifying against him by looming the threat of RICO charges above your head."

"So is it over?"

"For you yes, Corinthos still has to answer to the authorities for his shady dealings but they can't prove you were in on any of his illegal activities. Morgan Freight has only transported perfectly legal and delightfully aromatic coffee beans."

"Good, good… but that means one of our biggest client is underwater. Thank you Diane, you're the best, and that's why I pay you so much." Jason said with a light grin.

The red head crossed her arms facing her boss as gravely as ever.

"What else? Is there another problem?" He asked.

"Well, yes… although you might say it's none of my business but I'm sorry, I have to speak up! What happened with the designer?"

"Diane, I don't want to talk about this. I have an important meeting with my investors right now so if we're done here?"

"Ok… ok… but seriously! I can't believe you threw it all out the window! And for what?"

Jason was about to ask the attorney how she even knew so much about his personal life but was stopped by his phone beeping.

"Yes?"

"Mr. Morgan? Maxie Jones here to see you." His secretary announced.

Maxie? Jason was surprised she came all the way to talk to him and hoped nothing serious happened to Elizabeth.

"Let her in." Jason he instructed his assistant standing up from his desk.

Diane took her cue and with one last head shake walked out of the office, leaving the busy man to his next meeting.

Maxie made her way inside the supersized and sternly decorated office. She sat down in front of the large desk before Jason had a chance to offer her a seat.

"How is Elizabeth?" Jason asked.

"Not good at all, but that you could have guessed. She completely shut herself up since the last time you saw her. And now she's on her way to California to spend some time with her Grandmother, it was the only way she would accept to come out of her house."

"This is just not right! I don't understand why she wouldn't just trust me when I assured her that absolutely nothing happened with that woman."

"Absolutely nothing. Are you sure?" Maxie reached in her designer handbag and took out a copy of the gossip magazine.

"What's that?"

"Take a look." Maxie opened the publication to the right page and handed it to him. "How could you do this to her? Don't you know what happened with her ex boyfriend! She walked in on him and another woman! And here you are cheating on her with a cheap looking hooker!"

Jason couldn't believe his eyes when he recognized himself on the page with a half naked Sam her hands all over his chest. "Damn it that bitch!" Jason exclaimed. "Elizabeth saw this picture didn't she?"

"Yeah! She did, and has been a total mess since. How could you do this to her! And get caught while doing it!" Maxie replied with a highly accusatory look.

"It's not what it looks like! I didn't cheat on Elizabeth, Maxie. I would never do that, I care about her too much."

"Ok, easy to say, but how do you explain that." She pointed at the piece of evidence she brought with her.

"It's simple, this woman tricked me!"

"What a lame excuse Jason! And you think Elizabeth's going to believe that?"

"It's the truth! Sam called me the other day offering me very interesting information on one of my clients so I met her at the Metro Court where she is staying. I went up to her room and she literally threw herself at me. I didn't understand why she did all of that then but now I get it. It was so she could get these stupid pictures and make it look like there was more between us." Jason shook his head overwhelmed. "I was so upset over my argument with Elizabeth that I lowered my guard and got played like a beginner."

Maxie was looking at the charismatic man still baffled. She wasn't sure if she should believe that version or not.

He continued. "Look at this picture again. I am not participating in any way."

"Well, I already thought something was fishy when Carly came gloating in front of my boss about the article."

Maxie's comment particularly raised the young man's suspicion. "Wait, are you saying Carly showed this to her?"

"Yes, and she seemed extremely content about it too."

Jason hastily grabbed his phone and punched one number.

"Spinelli? I need you up here. Now!" He hung up.

Two minutes later, Damien Spinelli entered Jason's office carrying a black laptop under his arm.

"My master beckoned the Jackal's services?"

Maxie quirked her brows amused by the interesting character that just entered the room. "Who is he?"

"Maxie, this is Spinelli, he works as an IT specialist for my company."

"We could really use his help at EW… Anyway why did you call that guy for?"

"Yes, why did Stone Cold call me in presence of this enchanting blond one?" Spinelli added.

"I need you to find out who took these pictures." He showed the magazine pages to Spinelli who quizzically lifted his eyebrows surprised by his master's uncomfortable position.

Jason went on. "Also dig out everything you can on Sam McCall and try to see if she had any dealings with Carly these past few days."

"Easy task! The Jackal will get on it right away!"

"I have a meeting right now but let me know what you find as soon as you get anything." Jason left the two young people in his office informing his secretary that they were working on something of high importance at his request and that they shouldn't be disturbed.

"You know fair… Maximista, I can take care of this mission on my own, your presence is more than welcome but you don't have to remain in the center of command of Morgan Enterprises."

"I am representing Elizabeth here, and if someone has been messing with her heart and her head; I want to find out."

--

Next: Jackal and Jones PI

Song credit: "Before he cheats" by Carrie Underwood