Brenda Barrett forced a smile when Edward Quartermaine handed her a glass of ginger ale, his tactful way of reinforcing that the champagne was not for those under age twenty-one. She supposed it could have been a Shirley Temple. "Thank you, Edward," she said.

"Of course, my dear, you looked a little lonely over here all by yourself," Edward said.

Brenda noted that Edward's eyes were much more focused on the other side of the room, where Jax was having some very animated but hushed conversation with Katherine Bell and Nikolas Cassadine stood about ten feet away out of earshot, than her face."Yes, apparently Katherine appears to have stolen my I should return the favor."

"Since my poor niece Alexandria's untimely demise, I can't in good conscience recommend you take up with a Cassadine, even if it would solve my corporate image problem," Edward said.

Brenda started to laugh but then caught herself quickly and realized he was likely dead serious. She had met Alexander and Andrea Quartermaine at Ned and Lois's wedding. She had also heard the story that they had been conceived the night of their older sister's funeral when their parents turned to comfort sex in their grief. Pregnancy in her mid-fifties apparently hadn't been a great thing for Abbra Quartermaine and she had suffered a stroke shortly after giving birth to the twins who were almost a year older than Allison Quartermaine.

"You mean because Katherine showed up with Nikolas?" Brenda asked.

"He isn't even eighteen. There are laws against that in New York State!"

"You know, Edward, for someone who opposes premarital sex, you should consider that it is possible to date underage partners without committing statutory rape," Brenda said. She had dated Sonny Corinthos for over a year before she turned eighteen and he had never committed statutory rape.

Edward laughed. "Of course, dear, but we're talking about Katherine Bell here," he said.

XXXXXXXX

"If you're worried that someone has figured out what we did thirteen months ago, I wouldn't think that causing a scene here would be the best way to dispel the rumors," Jasper Jacks hissed.

"I just want to be sure we're in agreement. You also need to know that if I go down for this, I'll be sure that the PCPD knows where I got the drugs," Katherine said.

"You have no proof of any of that," Jax said.

Katherine cackled. "Surely you don't believe that. I dated Damian Smith; I know all about paper trails," she said. Technically what she said was true but she was afraid that Jax could see through her words and knew that she didn't have any direct proof that the rohypnol she had given Ned had come from Jax.

Jax glared at her for a moment but didn't speak.

Katherine forced a smug smile. For the moment she needed to keep him believing that she could possibly have some proof of his involvement. Then she noticed a familiar face lurking. The girl's name escaped her, although she knew she worked at Deception. She had tried to speak to her a few months ago but Katherine had laughed in her face and kept moving. Some people just never learned.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Amy wanted me to see if you were ready to introduce the new spokesmodel. She said that the board members are meeting for dinner at 8:30 so she wanted to make sure there was sufficient time for the announcement."

Katherine flashed the most condescending look she could muster. "I will make the announcement when it is time. I don't take orders from my lackeys. I certainly don't take orders from the lackeys of my subordinates."

The girl turned and slunk away. Katherine smiled.

Jax offered a silent clap. "You're evil!"

Katherine was pretty sure he intended it as a compliment.

XXXXXXXX

Danielle Ashley bit her lip and fought off the tears as she made her way across the room. Her grandmother would have told her that Katherine had her own issues. As much as Danielle was sure she did, especially after her conversation with Scott the night before, it still hurt.

"I'm sensing that did not go well. I'm sorry I should have sent you to talk to Ms. Murdoch."

"It's ok, Katherine will make the announcement when she feels the time is right," Danielle said.

"Of course, she will. Doing otherwise would require someone else might occasionally have valuable input. I'm sorry, I should have known that and known how she would react."

"Can I ask you a question?" Danielle asked.

"Sure," Amy said.

"Is Katherine actually good at what she does? Or does she just make everyone miserable and take credit for everything you, Jeremy, and Ned actually accomplish?"

Amy didn't say anything for a few moments as if she was considering the question. Or perhaps considering how to answer diplomatically. "I suppose to be fair, part of being a CEO is being good at delegating. That is definitely something Katherine has mastered. According to Ned, before Katherine was installed as CEO, she did PR & Marketing and I think she does have some ability there so perhaps she isn't a horrible CEO. She might actually be a horrible person though and as her sister that must be incredibly hard to take and I'm sorry," Amy said.

"Yeah, but I guess since I survived twenty-two years without a sister, I should be used to it by now," Danielle said.

"Only child status has it's perks," Craig Everett said as he joined them along with Danielle's fiancé, Dr. Jake Marshak.

"Like?" Danielle asked.

Craig laughed. "Ok, now that I said that, I can't really think of a response that won't make me look like a selfish jerk who can't play nicely with others so maybe we can just forget I went there," he said.

"That might be good. But thanks for not coming to that realization when Chloe was visiting," Amy said.

"Ok, on a better note, Jake and I were thinking about dinner at the Post Road Diner after this. Believe it or not Jake has never been there," Craig said.

"Welcome to the life of an intern. I haven't been many places besides Port Charles General Hospital," Jake said.

Amy laughed. "See what you might be getting yourself into, Craig? Are you sure you want to do an oral surgery residency? Unfortunately, I have to attend the board dinner at 8:30 so I can't," she said.

"That's too bad. But, Jake, you and Danielle should go. I can give you directions."

"It's ok, I know how to find it," Danielle said.

"You do?" Jake asked.

"I went with Scott and Serena. I guess it was one of Dominique's favorite places," Danielle said wistfully.

XXXXXXXX

"So, is this a private evil conspiracy or can anyone join in?" Ned Ashton asked as he approached the corner where Jasper Jacks and Katherine Bell had been in deep discussion for at least twenty minutes.

"If you must know, we were discussing the concept of marrying down. I would imagine that is a topic you are intimately familiar with," Jax said.

Ned maintained his countenance. "I am sure you both underestimate and underappreciate my wife. I suppose that isn't anything new. Katherine, I expected a bit better from you but I suppose that is no matter. On that note, Grandfather is ready to address the shareholders and then he wants you to introduce the new Deception Spokesmodel so we can all get to the Board Dinner Meeting on time. I am sure I don't have to remind you that there are two issues the board must vote on this evening before the Shareholder's Meeting tomorrow," he said.

Katherine released a put-upon sigh. "You know Ned, you had such potential but it seems that each marriage just brings you down further," she said before she turned and started across the room.

Ned decided he would presume that she was leaving to make sure that their new Spokesmodel was ready. He nodded to his grandfather who made his way onto the stage. As his grandfather picked up a microphone which Ned doubted he truly needed to use, he made his way back to where Carly was sitting with his grandmother and Trisha Alden McKenzie.

"Good evening, I am Edward Quartermaine, the CEO of ELQ Enterprises. As most of you know Deception Cosmetics became an ELQ Subsidiary in July 1996. We thought this was only fitting since ELQ Diversified was one of the original investors in Deception Cosmetics. The ingenuity, perseverance, and quest for justice that Dominique Stanton-Baldwin displayed during her far to short life have always been valued by ELQ Enterprises as a corporation and by our family. I am proud to welcome you to our Shareholder's Event and look forward to this opportunity to meet all of who shared Dominique's vision and supported it financially. At 8:30 the Corporate Board Dinner Meeting will begin in the Empire Room. Tomorrow the Shareholder's Meeting will begin at nine in the Chapparal Salon and those of you who are joining us for the Golf Outing we will be meeting at Noon in the Lobby for travel to the Country Club. Now, it is my pleasure to introduce current Deception Cosmetics CEO, Ms. Katherine Bell, who will be introducing the new Deception Cosmetics Spokesmodel," Edward said.

Katherine made her way onto the stage and took the microphone from Edward. "Thank you, Edward, such kind words about my sister, Dominique. Now, without further delay, I would like to introduce our new spokesmodel, Steffi Alden."

Trisha McKenzie Alden gasped loudly and then turned to Ned. "Did you know about this?"

"Katherine has sole hiring discretion for anything under publicity or marketing. Any campaign or spokesmodels fall under that budget. I knew she had hired someone but I had no idea who it was," Ned said.

"But don't you prepare all of the contracts?" Trisha asked.

"Currently I do. Once we have hired a new junior counsel for ELQ then they may do a lot of the straight forward ones. I suppose if you're asking why I didn't catch the name when preparing the contract that is because technically, we haven't sent a contract yet."

XXXXXXXX

Steffi Alden forced a smile for the photographers. On some level she had known that eventually Cooper would learn about her new job. She just hadn't planned on him knowing before she actually signed a contract. Exactly when had his cousin acquired Deception Cosmetics stock?

As she forced more smiles Steffi realized that Trisha had slipped out of the room. If she had gone to call her cousin then Steffi was quite certain that life as she knew it was over. Cooper would be furious. He had made it quite clear he didn't want her to return to work. But Cooper was going to need to accept that it was the twentieth century and women could work. As much as Cooper might feel that his life would have been better if his mother hadn't worked, Steffi was quite certain her life would have been exponentially better if her mother had worked.