With Jason out of the house - thankfully doing something for Sonny a county over - Sam sits in the local diner eating breakfast. She'll be leaving to visit with her brother soon, something she was most definitely looking forward. It has been years since she was able to settle down long enough to visit him and now she finally has the chance to.
Although, she is a little nervous about leaving town right now. With the "she" who is probably going for sainthood, Sam just wasn't convinced that leaving town right now was the best move. She missed her brother terribly, but leaving could put the final nail in her coffin where Jason is concerned. With a sigh, she takes a drink of her tea, trying to forget about madam perfect.
"That better not be coffee in that cup." a voice scolds playfully, causing a smile to grace her lips. "I'd hate to drop kick a pregnant woman."
"Emily, hey." Sam stands up to hug her friend. "I didn't know you were back in town."
"Just got in." Emily admits, shrugging out of her jacket. "I'm just dying for some of Ruby's chilli."
"I wonder who else is coming back to this town." Sam comments, sitting down when Emily sits.
"What does that mean?" Emily questions, waving over the waitress. "Is everything okay?"
"Y-Yeah." Sam shakes her head, picking up her cup. "Everything's awesome."
"You're still a bad liar." Emily chuckles, giving the waitress her order before focusing on Sam. "Spill. What's going on?"
"Its nothing, really." Sam insists, wishing she didn't open this door. "Just much of the same."
"Okay...for one, you're the world's worst liar. And two, the last time we talked you mentioned something about a girl, but you wouldn't elaborate." Emily says seriously. "So spill. What's going on?"
"You probably already know her." Sam says carefully, not sure if she should speak freely, in case Emily knows the "she". "She's Jason's best friend."
"Robin?" Emily looks at her curiously. "She's back in town? I didn't think she'd be back so soon. I mean, I wouldn't be if I was living in Paris. That place is epically beautiful."
"She came back for the Nurses' Ball and accepted a position at General Hospital." Sam concedes, allowing Emily to think that's the best friend she was referring to.
"Oh, wait a minute." Emily shakes her head. "You don't have to worry about Robin. They're close, yeah, but that's all it is. I mean it would be a different story if..."
"Emmy?" a voice exclaims in surprise from the doorway to the diner. "Oh my gosh!"
"Lizzie!" Emily shrieks at the same time as Elizabeth, both unable to believe that they were finally back in the same town. "Oh my gosh!"
"Of course." Sam mutters, she should have known they'd be friends. "Should have known."
"I can't believe you're back in town." Elizabeth says with a bright smile, pulling out of the hug. "This is amazing!"
"Me?" Emily scoffs, shaking her head. "What about you? What are you doing back in town?"
"I'm heading up my own gallery." Elizabeth admits, a little proud of herself for that. "I'm back for good."
"That's so great!" Emily says excitedly, she can see so much potential with that. "We seriously need to have a girls' night out and soon."
"Sounds great." Elizabeth agrees, remembering why she came into the diner in the first place. "I'm just grabbing a cup of coffee before I head back to work, but I'll definitely call you later. Where're you staying?"
"With the family." Emily admits a little reluctantly. "I'm getting my own place soon though."
"That's perfect, we can make a day out of it." Elizabeth can already picture the kind of house Emily would stay in. "I'll see you later, okay."
"Definitely." Emily agrees, retaking her seat when Elizabeth walks to the counter, noting the annoyed look on Sam's face. "You weren't talking about her, were you?"
"Yes. I was." Sam sighs, taking a drink of her tea. "Should have known you two would be close."
"Ah, sorry." Emily apologies, now understanding Sam's uneasiness. "I should have known you meant her and not Robin."
"What do I do?" Sam questions, really wishing there was someone in this town that doesn't know the "she" or thinks she's amazing. "Your brother obviously loves her."
"Yeah, but it doesn't go both ways." Emily assures, waving at Elizabeth when she's leaving the diner. "You're worrying for nothing."
"I wish I could believe that."
"Liz spent more time with Francis than she did with Jason anyway." Emily says with a shrug. "If anything, she has a crush on Francis. They were practically inseparable."
"Really?" Sam had felt something was happening between the "she" and the guy that didn't refrain from showing his distaste for her. "Maybe you're onto something."
"Trust me." Emily says with conviction. "Elizabeth doesn't want to be with my brother."
"I hope you're right." Sam sighs, eating the last of her burger. "I really care about him and I don't want the wedding to fall apart."
"Don't worry so much." Emily encourages. "And when you get back from your visit with your brother, we'll hangout at our usual spot."
"Sounds great."
She knew it wasn't right to lie to Sam, but what else could she possibly say? Yes, Sam, you have a right to worry. No. You shouldn't leave Jason and Elizabeth alone unless you want the wedding to be called off. None of those sentences can ever leave her mouth. No matter how she feels about Sam, she has to stick by her one and only rule. Live and let live. And that meant, letting people figure out their own lives with the hope that they'd pay her the same respect.
"No. The main gallery will be in the center." Elizabeth says, directing the foreman. "I want the wet bar to positioned in the corner of the room."
"One big one or one in each room?" Victor, the foreman, questions, looking at the blue print.
"I want them in each room and I want them to be like the one in Venice." Elizabeth says, handing him the file. "Spare no expenses where the wet bar is concerned. We like to take care of our art lovers."
"I'll get on that." Victor says without hesitation. "Let me know if you see any other problems with the layout."
"I will, thank you." Elizabeth says gratefully. "Your men did a great job with the entrance hall, by the way. Its absolutely perfect."
"I'll tell the crew you think so." Victor says with a smile before walking off.
"This whole boss thing suits you." a voice comments from behind her, prompting a smile to touch her lips. "How's your day going?"
"Better now that you're here." Elizabeth wraps her arms around him. "Not that I thought it could get any better."
"Should I be offended?" Francis looks at her curiously.
"Not at all." Elizabeth laughs softly, leading him to her makeshift office. "Emmy's back in town."
"Huh. I didn't think she'd be back for a couple more years." Francis comments, closing the door behind him. "We should probably give O'Brien a heads up."
"Nah, I think he can take care of himself." Elizabeth can just imagine how what will happen when the two see each other again. "What do you have planned for today?"
"Depends on why you ask." Francis counters, knowing she wanted or needed something.
"There's this antique chandelier in Rochester that I really want to get for the gallery, but they don't do shipping and I need to go pick it up." Elizabeth smiles coaxingly. "I was hoping a certain friend of mine would help me out with that."
"Sure." Francis chuckles, seeing that she was really excited about the piece. "We can head over to Johnny's place and borrow his SUV."
"Thank you, thank you!" Elizabeth hugs him tightly before grabbing her jacket and purse. "You're seriously the best person I know!"
"Uh-huh. Lets just go." Francis shakes his head, opening the door for her. "I have to drop off a file to Sonny beforehand."
Jason is debriefing Sonny on the meeting he just had with one of the suppliers when Johnny walks through the door in a hurry. Curious, but a little annoyed, Jason looks at his friend with an arched eyebrow. Of course, Johnny knew that they were having a meeting and that he was supposed to be stationed outside the door, but he just couldn't do it.
"Your sister's here." Johnny says in a hushed tone, peering out of the peephole. "She's on her way up from the lobby."
"Thus you hiding like a little girl." Jason counters, folding his arms over his chest. "Grow a spine and get out there."
"No way." Johnny says firmly. "Not in this lifetime."
"She's his sister, not the Chinese Army." Sonny pulls open the door, shoving him out of it. "Man up and grow a pair."
"Hi, Johnny." Emily says as the door shuts behind him.
"Emily...hey." Johnny says nervously. "When did you get back in town?"
"A few hours ago." Emily says simply, watching his expressions. "You okay? You look nervous."
"Wha..me?" Johnny waves away her concern. "I'm good...great...awesome."
"Same ol' Johnny." Emily laughs softly. "Tonight at eight...you and me...dinner at Eli's. Dress nice."
"Huh...okay. Yeah. Sure." Johnny shakes his head. "Awesome."
"Stop picking on him." Elizabeth says as she walks off the elevator. "And Johnny, we all know you have a crush on her...take the date and be done with it."
"Fine." Johnny shrugs. "I'll see you at eight."
"Great." Emily kisses his cheek. "Later lover boy."
"Just great." Johnny slumps against the door once Emily's long gone. "Jason's gonna kill me."
"No he won't." Elizabeth assures as Francis walks into the apartment to drop off the packet. "Emily's grown up...he'll probably just beat you up or something. Definitely not kill you."
"Wow, Webber." Johnny shakes his head. "You sure know how to make a guy feel better."
"Relax." Elizabeth chuckles, finding this version of Johnny quite amusing. "By the way, can Francis borrow your truck? He needs to take me to Rochester to pick something up for the gallery."
"Sure. I'm gonna be dead by tomorrow anyway, you might as well take my truck." Johnny mutters, handing her his keys. "But I want to use your car in the meantime."
"Deal." Elizabeth says, handing him her keys. "But when Jason kills you, can you make sure you're out of my car when he does? Blood is wretchedly hard to get out of my carpets."
"Ha, ha. Not funny."
"Kind of is."
Shaking her head, Elizabeth walks into the penthouse after being granted entrance by Sonny. Off to the side, Sonny and Francis are discussing the contents of the packet that he dropped off. She is about to walk over to them when she spots Jason standing by the couch, waiting for Sonny to be done with Francis.
"Hey, you." Elizabeth greets, walking over to him. "You look bored."
"Bored? No." Jason shakes his head, looking at her. "Irritated...a little."
"Still? Seriously?" Elizabeth shakes her head. "I really don't get why you don't like Francis. I mean, everyone likes Francis."
"Not everyone." Jason says plainly. "Why are you here?"
"Waiting for Francis." Elizabeth shrugs. "He's taking me to Rochester."
"Why?"
"There's a shop there that's willing to give me an antique chandelier for free if I can pick it up by tonight." Elizabeth explains, fiddling with Johnny's keys in her hand. "I asked him to take me."
"Huh." Jason swallows the words that would have formed into why didn't you ask me. "Are we still on for the fourth?"
"Of course." Elizabeth says without hesitation. "We're not staying in Rochester. We're just picking it up and heading back to town."
"Liz, you ready?" Francis questions, unknowingly ending her conversation with Jason.
"Yeah." Elizabeth looks at Jason with a slight smile. "See you later."
And just like that she was out the door with Francis. Knowing Sonny was probably reading something into his expression, Jason kept the emotionless mask on while he concluded his meeting. A part of him hated that he was annoyed with the older guard, but he couldn't help it. The thought of Elizabeth going on a road trip with Francis instead of him had Jason really frustrated. Looks like its not going to be as easy as he thought it'd be.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews, we hope you keep up with them.
-ROCkER & The Jackal's Vixen-