 |
||
The Triumph Of AJ Quartermaine
Chapter Sixty Eight
Oasis
Happy Family house.
Carly is alone in the house after AJ has left to go back to work. Carly settles into AJ's study after starting a fire in the fireplace. Opening the curtains, she watches the sheets of rain come down outside. The rain and the gloom make the house an oasis out of time. Carly smiles as she stretches; the deep blue silk caftan flutters around her settling in against her skin. The sensuous feel of the fabric rubs against nerve endings still over stimulated. It had been a long time coming with AJ. And maybe this time he wouldn't forget it. Mama would be dropping Michael off soon.
Evans was history. She looks around her. Maybe now I can finally concentrate on getting the house in order. AJ hadn't seemed to thrilled with the thought of taking Ned out. I guess like my relationship with Mama-- it's complex. AJ might get frustrated with Ned but he didn't want him out of the picture. Carly goes to AJ's desk and curling up in his chair turns on the computer. She checks her mail and gets a warm feeling when there is some. No more occupant for her. Carly sends out an email to a list of people giving them the status on Evans as well as links to the television station and Port Charles Herald so they can keep up on Evan's progress through the system. The next email is a reply to Hassan. He'd found a gem of an estate sale coming up this weekend; one that he was planning on attending himself. It was time to get the living room put together. Carly calls up AJ's schedule on his computer at the office and inserts a block of time for him to go with her. She also inserts a note on AJ's block of time with Irene Chang-- a reminder for AJ to have Irene call her if she needs help figuring out Port Charles.
The next is a reply to the broker that Jerry had found for her. There are a list of stocks/mutual funds that he recommended buying. Carly takes each suggestion individually and studies them. It's hard and seems unnatural. Spending money's easy, learning how to make money much harder. Carly finds a couple that she thinks would be blue chip and sends in an order in Michael's name. A couple are eliminated and there is one... Carly bites her lip. It looked soooo good but... "I need to talk to Jerry about this one." She mutters to herself. Printing all the info, she tucks it into a file to go over with Jerry later. A thought occurs to her and she tears AJ's desk apart until she finds it. A file on Katherine Bell. Maybe there is something that she can do now. Carly bites her lip as an idea occurs... "Wait a minute... that's a way to get Ned and not tick off AJ!" Carly taps her chin leaning back in the chair with her eyes narrowed and her nose wrinkled as she concentrates. "It's not like Ned is doing anything with it." She prepares to do some online research when there is the sound of the door bell ringing. "That must be Mama." Carly rises and goes to the door opening it without even looking.
"Surprise." Jax says looking down at the exotically dressed blonde before him. Her red painted toenails peek out from beneath the flowing caftan. Carly looks up at him disconcerted momentarily.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" She demands even while she goes to slam the door shut. Jax reaches out and pushes the door back open and steps over the threshold. "Nice shiner." Carly sneer even as she is stepping back.
"I think it's time we had a little chat."
"We've nothing to talk about." Carly retreats further.
"Jerry and/or the news crew setting up at the end of your driveway." Jax shuts the door behind him
"Oh you're kidding?!" Carly flips on the monitor to see the end of the drive and groans. She quickly activates the gates to slam them shut. Crossing her fingers, she hopes that the crew doesn't notice until too late. Carly walks away from Jax and back to the study. Picking up the phone she makes the most important call. "Mama, I've got a news crew at the end of the drive. I shut the gate so you're going to have to use your code to get in. Let me know if you have a problem. Hopefully the rain will make things more difficult for them, but I don't want any pictures of Michael on the TV... No Mama, I didn't do anything wrong." Carly rolls her eyes. Carly tries to distract Bobbie. "Did Jerry get home okay?... well that's good. Look Mama, I don't want to talk about it. Ask Jerry, if you don't trust me. He was there." Carly's voice starts to raise. "I didn't ask him to be there, all right? I had everything under control. Mama, MAMA, I'm NOT going to talk about this over the phone. FINE. I'll see you when you get here."
Carly disconnects the call and makes another to Det. Taggart. She waits as he is put on the line. His voice is distracted as he is up to his ears in paperwork, requests for attorneys and media requests. Without identifying herself she asks. "What's the rule on trespassing? What do you mean who is asking? Is there a different rule depending on who you are? OH whoops, Forgot who I was talking to. It's me, Caroline Benson. I got two issues-- a news crew taking up space at the foot of my drive and an overgrown Australian who pushed his way into my house." Carly listens to Taggarts answer. "What do you mean I can't do anything about the news crew? Dammit Taggart, You of all people know WHY I don't want pictures of my son on the six o'clock news." Carly is mollified only slightly when Taggart says that he will send a sector car out by the house. "What about Jax?" Carly's eyes narrow as Taggart answers that she can have him arrested for trespass but that would do nothing to get rid of the news crew. "Fine, I'll take care of it myself." Taggart groans on the other end of the line. "Thank you so much for your support, see if I do you any favors in the future." Carly snarls hanging up the phone.
"Guess you're on your own." Jax says smugly even as he is looking over the files on AJ's desk. He lifts the files that Carly had just made up and starts glancing through them. Carly snags the files from him and shoves them in the middle drawer of the desk.
Carly makes her last call. "AJ, I got a situation here at the house..... No, you don't have to come home; it'll keep, but I didn't want you to be surprised. There is a news crew at the end of the drive. Yeah, I guess Bowles recognized one of us today and thought that there might be a story. I already called Taggart; he says there is nothing we can do unless they come onto the property.... Oh please, like I'd call Mac Scorpio. He wouldn't spit on me if I were on fire. Taggart says he is going to send a sector car through just to make sure they aren't violating any laws. Am I forgetting anything?.... Of course." Carly starts getting flustered glancing over at Jax. "I'll call them next. I think that you should stay at the office for awhile. Maybe this will die down if they don't get anything for the evening news. I made a few notes in your work calendar-- one for Irene and one for this weekend.... Okay. I'll call you if the situation changes." Carly hangs up and then thumbing through the rolodex she finds the number for Arrow Security. She informs them of the situation and after they promise to send a car out to monitor the problem she hangs up and looks at her uninvited guest.
"All caught up now?" Jax quirks his head sideways. Carly's calls were interesting. Showed her priorities and her style-- do it herself and then having AJ fill in the blanks. And the files. He'd seen AJ's handwriting before. What was AJ up to with Katherine Bell? And the online broker mentioned in the other file was someone that he'd recommended to V after she had taken her stake of the Monte Carlo winnings. "Ready to have our chat?"
Carly takes a seat behind AJ's desk. She curls up in it as she had before. Her demeanor is one of casual calm but her eyes say something different. "I don't know what we have to chat about."
"Jerry." Jax takes the chair across the desk from Carly. He assesses the body language of his mark.
"Your relationship with Jerry is not my responsibility. I suggest you talk to Jerry." Carly opens.
"Well Jerry isn't talking to me right now." Jax watches as Carly grabs a letter opener. She runs her finger along the edge of it as she studies him. The hair goes up on the back of his neck as he realizes she is wondering where to stick the letter opener first. Sharp objects and Ms. Benson are not a good combination. Carly finally winds her hair up on the top of her head and uses the letter opener to anchor it.
"Not my problem." Carly stonewalls. "I told you the day you brought that bitch into my house that if you didn't appreciate Jerry, that my family does. I don't owe you jack, Jacks. But we're keeping Jerry; he's part of MY family now. You chose her over Jerry-- live with it."
"It was never my intent to choose Robin over Jerry or Bobbie even. I didn't know that Robin was back to testify for Jones."
"But you knew that you were bringing HER to my house." Carly reminds Jax. "Not too bright. The haloed one has never made her opinion of me a secret."
"Once upon a time, Robin was welcome just about everywhere in Port Charles." Jax shakes his head.
"Times change. I may be the resident nut in Port Charles. I'm sure for some it's a coin flip between me and Kevin Collins. But there are certain places where I've discovered that I need to feel safe. It keeps me... balanced. Jerry thinks that he is keeping it a big secret from me but I can tell that one of his current priorities is to maintain that balance. I'm sure that he thinks that it makes things easier for my mother if I'm not shooting, drugging or otherwise wrecking havoc on the citizens of Port Charles." Carly admits. "Jerry smoothes the waters between me and Bobbie and makes sure that I don't get bored. IN return I make sure that family life doesn't get too boring for him. Balance you see."
"Oh I see, very clearly. But Jerry is MY brother." Jax demands.
"Now that it's convenient for you." Carly retorts. "I might have been locked up fighting for my sanity, but even I know you kissed him off over the whole money laundering thing; Bobbie and Lucas didn't. You are such a spoiled ass. You got to be the playboy and the corporate raider and the only reason you were was on the back of Jerry's hard work. What's the matter now, Jax? You afraid of getting your hands dirty? Afraid that you won't be such a golden boy now that Jerry isn't there to clean up your messes? Didn't it ever occur to you that your parents kissed Jerry off to make you their golden child? You owe him-- not vice versa. I don't understand it. I really don't. Jerry talks about the standing joke it is in his Family how many times he's been kidnapped. My son has been kidnapped-- I went through hell waiting for him to be returned. I would have done anything to get him back. That witch helped the kidnapper get away with it. Michael is everything to me-- EVERYTHING. How could they do that to their own son; how can they joke about his being kidnapped, being in danger?"
Jax falls silent considering what Carly had said. The golden boy stuff he wrote off to her association with Jason and Sonny but he couldn't argue with what she'd said about his parents. "I don't know. Jerry can take care of himself." He shrugs. "He always has."
"Right. Just like he was born with the ability to haul your chestnuts from the fire so your delicate hands won't get singed." Carly rolls her eyes. She turns toward the study door as a sound draws her attention. Jerry stands in the doorway. Carly doesn't care how much he has overheard; she hasn't said anything that she wouldn't say to Jerry's face. "Are Michael and Mama with you?" Jax turns in his chair as Carly addresses someone behind him.
"Yeah, we came in around the back. Your mum and son are still in the kitchen getting out of their gear." Jerry answers Carly but his focus is on his brother. "Told Michael that we were playing a game of peekaboo when we went through the reporters so that he would hide under a blanket. They didn't get any pictures of him. Since you warned us about the jackels we left Lucas with Betty."
"Are you going to be able to stay awhile?" Carly asks quietly.
"Thought we'd stick around until AJ got home if he wasn't here already. Didn't know that you had company."
"AJ had to go back to the office before they even arrived. He's going to try to wait out the crew so that they won't have anything to go on. But he said he'd come home if there were any more problems. As for him..." Carly points to Jax. "He's here to see you." Carly rises from the chair behind the desk pulling the two files from the middle drawer of the desk. "I have some things I want to run by you. Do you want me to put some coffee on?" Carly ignores Jax.
"That would be great. Some of that Hazelnut Psycho Roast if you've got it." Jerry says absently. He takes the files from Carly and sits down next to the fire to review them.
Carly pats him on the arm. "Thanks for today. But I had it under control."
"Right. Convince your mum of that one." Jerry laughs. Carly pats him on the arm again and standing up straight takes a deep breath.
"Wish me luck." Carly leaves the study. As soon as the door closes behind her, Jerry sets the files down and looks over at his brother.
"You shouldn't have come. Last bit of advice, brother, stay away from Carly. She's not known for turning the other cheek. And an eye for an eye is a concept she is still struggling to grasp." Jerry glances down at his watch and sees that it's nearing five o'clock. He grabs the remote from the table beside him and flips on the television putting on the news. As he had suspected, Evans was the top story. "See that guy... the one in cuffs looking like he's going to wet himself? That's Carly's old doctor from Ferncliffe. He withheld her mail." Jerry falls silent as he hears Taggart's list of charges against Evans and his staff. "OH BLOODY HELL!" He snarls.
"What?" Jax is also focused on the television.
"That better be all that he did." Jerry and Jax stare at each other as Taggart's interview wash over them. Jerry starts pacing. "Bobbie said that Carly wasn't allowed visitors, then they were limited. Bobbie never said anything about this."
"Carly wouldn't say and she wouldn't have told Bobbie. Jerry, I was watching her when she found out about the reporters. Asking for help, expecting help, is her last resort-- she'll do it the hard way." Jax admits.
"HELL-- BLOODY, BLOODY HELL!" Jerry continues to pace. "What about Morgan? He's suppose to be a damn psychic-- the human lie detector. If Evans had done more than withhold her mail, he'd have killed him right?"
"And gotten caught, put in jail, leaving Michael without a parent and subject to the whims of the Quartermaines." Jax lists off the most pessimistic of possibilities.
"Shut up, you're no help." Jerry crosses over to the desk and dials up the PCPD. "Det. Taggart please..." He waits impatiently. When Taggart comes to the phone he immediately demands. "I want to know what Evans did to Caroline Benson." Taggart denies Carly's involvement even though he has guessed who is on the other end of the phone.
"So did she call you to throw your and I quote --overgrown Australian-- brother out of her house?" Taggart laughs. "She called wanting to know the rules on trespassing seems he pushed his way in." Taggart attempts to distract Jerry but Jerry is having none of it.
"The news said anonymous source. Who's the source?" Jerry demands.
"And if I told you it wouldn't be anonymous, now would it? Man, you know we use snitches all the time. That's the way we got you. The case against Evans was made with Collateral information. The anonymous source knew where to do the digging and the PCPD did the rest." Taggart finally relents slightly. "The anonymous source has a deep seeded and justifiable fear of not only courtrooms but also what would happen to ... how should I put this... significant otherS, even now after Evans has been arrested." Taggart puts the emphasis on the last S. "The only case that Caroline Benson and I have in common is the trespassing/attempted burglary charge that is pending on Edward Quartermaine. Are we clear on that, Mr. Jacks?"
"Crystal." Jerry slams down the phone. He stalks from the room with Jax following him to the bright and cheery kitchen where Carly is making coffee and nodding her head and muttering acquiescence as Bobbie continues to lecture her.
"Yes, Mama. I know, Mama. I'm the demon seed, Mama; Michael will be in therapy forever with such a lousy example as me. I should stop involving Jerry in my schemes; I'm worse than the Cassadines since I don't need no stinking machine to call up the weather. Just call me Hurricane Carly."
"How about we just call you Carly and let the hurricane be implied." Jerry quips trying to break up the growing tension in the room. "Dandy of a rain storm you've called up this time."
"I like the rain." Carly looks at Jerry and sees the questions in his face. "Especially here. When it's raining outside and it's so nice and warm inside-- nothing bad can happen, nothing can touch me here. My very own oasis."
Bobbie looks back and forth from Carly to Jerry recognizing that there is a subtext to their comments but not getting it. She looks at Jax and is bewildered by the pitying look he's giving Carly. Carly glares at Jax and he wipes his face free of any expression. Jerry takes a deep breath and nods. "Is the coffee about done? And did you make enough for a cup for Jax. He normally has some good ideas when it comes to business schemes. Jax, why don't you go get the files and bring them in here." Jax leaves to get the files.
Carly bites her lip. "Are you sure, Jerry? About Jax I mean? Just because I don't want any nastiness in my house doesn't mean that I won't kick him out for you."
"We needed to clear the air and we've done that. Jax does generally give good input... business is something that we can normally discuss rationally." Jerry admits taking a seat at the table next to Bobbie. Carly pours coffee for everyone and carries it over to the table setting a place for Jax as he gets back. As all take their seats Jerry waves a hand generously to Carly. "It's your meeting; what's first on the agenda?"
Carly grins. "Okay, I thought you could go over my broker decisions first... make sure I didn't screw up too badly and then we can figure out how to snatch the Deception Spa out from under Katherine Bell."
Jax chokes on his coffee, spitting it back into the cup. Bobbie rolls her eyes. Michael and Jerry just laugh.