All I can really say is I'm sorry everyone for being a terrible writer and not posting in forever. The truth of the matter is with a lot going on at work and with school I just lost time. And then with the way the soap world is going I lost a lot of heart. And the writers of this soap sadly aren't doing anything to improve that. Even the recent scenes of my favorite couple have done little to move me. But it was a few reminders from some great reviewers that got me to at least open a word document and try my hand at writing again. So this is just a short little chapter to get my feet wet and work my way back into it. I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own GH or the characters.
The ringing of his phone wakes Jason from a deep, comfortable sleep. Mindlessly reaching to his right for his phone Jason only finds air. Slowly opening one eye he sees that where his nightstand, lamp, and phone should be is nothing and he's confused for a moment until realizations dawns and his lips curve slightly at the ends. His night stand wasn't there because he wasn't in his bed or even at the penthouse, he was in Sam's old apartment. And speaking of Sam… Jason glances to his other side and feels the small smile forming on his lips grow as he stares down at the woman lying right next to him. Sam had curled up close to his side in the middle of the night…making it almost impossible for him to roll completely over to look at her. Reaching out with a tentative hand he brushes back her bangs to see her beautiful face more clearly Jason freezes when his phone goes off again, meaning whoever having called before must have just hung up and dialed again. So as quickly, and carefully as possible, not wanting to wake Sam, Jason reaches over her to grab the phone, fumbling to silence it before it wakes her. Staring intently at Sam he releases a sigh of relief when she doesn't stir awake, appearing unaffected by his movement around her in the bed or the ringing noise of the phone. His moment of relief is short-lived when his phone once again starts ringing, the noise now muffled since the phone was held tightly in Jason's hand. Resisting the urge to throw the device across the room Jason spends one more second staring longingly at Sam before pushing gently up from the bed, careful not to stir her, and leave the room before answering the call.
"This better be pretty damn important!" Jason says as menacingly as one can in a hushed tone.
"Jason Claudia is gone!" Sonny says excitedly on the other end of the line, ignoring his friends' words and tone completely.
"Gone? What do you mean gone? What did you do Sonny?" Jason asks immediately assuming his long time friend and business partner was at fault.
"What…me? No Jason!" Sonny quickly defends. "If anything it was Carly that drove Claudia away, the way the two of them have been bitching at each other lately. I don't know how much longer I could have stayed here with them both. Maybe now I can finally get some silence around here." Jason could hear the fatigue in Sonny's sigh over the phone. "Of course Carly will have to stop gloating before I get any real peace and quiet…I swear if she wasn't pregnant Jason I would…"
"You wouldn't do anything to Carly Sonny, pregnant or not." Jason says with a hint of warning in his voice, because Jason knew that wasn't the total truth. Sonny was known to enlist Max and Milo to take Carly off his hands from time to time if she got too annoying. Which, because it's Carly they're talking about she did get annoying…and often.
"You're right, of course, especially since I owe her for finally getting Claudia out of my life for good." Sonny says, the excitement from before back in his voice.
"Are you telling me Claudia left you because of Carly?" Jason asks, trying to piece together everything. Having a hard time of it because as much as he hates Claudia, he figured she would never just give up and walk away. It wasn't the Zacchara style and Claudia, even while married to Sonny, was a Zacchara first.
"Yes Jason! That is exactly what I'm saying."
"She just left? Just like that…she walked away." Jason says again, still not really believing it. Leaving quietly in the night wasn't Claudia's style. "She didn't say anything?" He asks sitting down on Sam's couch.
"Well…" Sonny says hesitantly.
"Sonny?"
"She said that someday, sooner than we think, we will regret the way we treated her." Sonny quickly blurts out. "But really Jason I don't think we have anything to worry about, this is Claudia after all. Without Anthony's support or the backing of the Zacchara organization there really isn't anything she can do. The organization is safe from her I'm sure."
Clenching his jaw and dropping his head to rest on the back of the couch Jason rubs his brow. "I'm not worried about the organization Sonny!" He grounds out through his clenched teeth.
"Then…what…what else is there to worry about?" Sonny asks completely clueless.
"What about Sam?" Jason asks slapping the hand rubbing his forehead down on his thigh and releasing a sigh. "Claudia has shown a lot of interest in Sam ever since she came back and I don't like it!"
"Sam is in your care Jason, you are with her practically 24/7 now. There is no way Claudia is going to get anywhere near her with you by her side."
"Did one of our men at least follow her so we know where she is right now?"
"They lost her somewhere near city limits." Sonny says reluctantly, knowing Jason was going to hate hearing that. "But she was leaving town Jason, so there's still nothing to worry about!"
"No Sonny she wanted it to look like she was leaving town." Jason argues right back.
"What does it matter Jason? This is Claudia…she's no match for us."
"I would be more confident of that if our men could keep track of her better." Jason practically grumbles.
"You worry too much." Sonny grumbles right back.
"I just don't like it Sonny. With Jerry playing his twisted games and now this with Claudia…I just don't like it." Jason repeats shaking his head.
"Jason I'm telling you everything is going to be fine." Sonny says on a sigh. "With Claudia gone my home is mine again and we don't have to worry about her overhearing something she shouldn't. All this sneaking around bullshit of hers is done with. Be happy, I am!" Sonny says with a laugh.
That's because Sonny never worried about anything, Jason silently says. In their partnership Sonny never thought things through, and Jason was the complete opposite in his over thinking. And right now Jason couldn't help but think Claudia disappearing couldn't have come at a worse time. Now he would have to keep an extra eye out for her, while he was already preoccupied with Jerry…he was starting to worry he would miss something. And his men were good, but he only trusted them so much and due to recent events he didn't trust them with Sam's life. Jason was broken out of his thoughts by Sonny's voice, apparently he had been talking and Jason had missed almost everything he had said. "Look Sonny I want a couple of the men working on tracking down Claudia." Jason says interrupting whatever the other man had been saying. "I want them to check out everywhere she has frequented in the last couple of weeks, months even. Go back into her history in the Zacchara organization, who knows what contacts she's held on to since your marriage. I want to know who's she talked to and how often, because if she's up to something or has been hiding something…and I'm sure she is…I want to know about it. I would have Spinelli on this, but he's getting married tomorrow and I'm not about to bother him."
"Jason I don't think…" Sonny starts to say, but Jason just talks over him.
"I don't care Sonny." Jason says with finality in his voice. "I'm not taking any chances. Not with Sam…not ever again."
Sonny knew when to argue with Jason and he knew when to give in, and now was one of those times to give in. "Alright Jason, I'll get one of the men on it right away."
After that they discussed a little more business, but Jason found he really didn't care about any of it anymore. All the talk of shipments and potential threats just seemed so unimportant compared to everything happening with Sam right now. Finally he just told Sonny that he had to go and hung up before his friend could respond. With another tired sigh Jason drops his head back to rest on the back of the couch and wonders when he had got to this point where the business meant so little to him. It could have been since Sam's return, but he didn't think so…he was pretty sure it had started before then. He was just starting to realize it.
In the kitchen making coffee Elizabeth could hear the boys above her, their laughter. The boys needed to get ready for the day at Grams and from the sounds of it that wasn't what they were doing. At the beep of the coffee maker Elizabeth grabs a mug. "I ask them to do one simple thing." She grumbles to herself pouring the hot liquid at the same time her phone announces a new message. Setting down the pot of coffee and taking the mug with her Elizabeth checks the message and discovers it's an address and what looks like a room number. "Boys you have five minutes and we're leaving!" Elizabeth calls scribbling down the address on a piece of paper and shoving it in her pocket with her phone. Dumping her untouched cup of coffee down the sink she shuts off the coffee machine and grabs her purse. She didn't want to waste any time meeting Claudia, especially since her confrontation with Lucky last night. "Boys lets go!" She calls from the bottom of the stairs and checks her watch. If they hurried, and Grams didn't try and talk her ear off, Elizabeth could meet with Claudia before her shift and only be a few minutes late.
That's what she thought at least until she realized that Claudia had picked a meeting place that didn't appear to exist. Driving in a seedier part of town Elizabeth pulls to an abrupt stop in front of a rundown motel that, under normal circumstances, Elizabeth wouldn't step foot in. But it appeared that this was where Claudia was and she had no other choice. So carrying her keys in her tight fist Elizabeth held them close to her chest ready for an attack, she counted the numbers on the doors until finally coming to the one she wanted. It was then that Elizabeth paused to think about what she was doing and wondered if maybe it was too much.
Her marriage was pretty much over. Not that she was said to see it end, but she was sure there would be repercussions from it ending. Lucky had a lot of ties in this town and their friends would most likely take his side. She had lost all credibility at the hospital, but the people there always did seem overly judgmental in the first place. And now here she was, standing outside one of the most disgusting motels she had ever seen prepared to team up with one of the most hated woman in town. Too much? Maybe, but all Elizabeth had to do was remember that look Jason could get in his eyes. And the fact that Sam McCall was once again getting in her way. Taking what was rightly hers and Elizabeth didn't care about the rest of it. Because once she had Jason nothing else would matter, no one else would matter. And with that final thought Elizabeth lifts her hand and knocks once on the door and waits for Claudia to let her in.
Like I said just a short little bit to get the GH juices flowing. I promise to try and do better from now on!