by Kira
Prelude:
Jax and Brenda's love had seemingly survived the return of his "dead"
wife Miranda - and Sonny's attempts to win Brenda back had failed. But
the combined manipulations of Sonny and Ned could not be stymied
forever - and finally succeeded in sending this couple to a place where
they could not recover their lost love. Brenda chose to move to Brooklyn
to be with her best friend Lois, who had also experienced such a loss
and Jax remained in Port Charles - a bitter, driven man intent on
gaining
revenge on those who caused him the loss of Brenda & their marriage.
His target was not only Sonny Corinthos now, but Ned Ashton &
the
Quartermaine's as well. He would not be as forgiving this time as he was
the last time he went after the Quartermaine's. This time he intended
to
make them pay ... and pay dearly.... in Quartermaine blood.
And it is today, the first day of Spring, that Jax has finally been
handed
the one key that he knows may just bring the empire crashing down
around Ned's and the collective Quartermaine's head.
SCENE: Jax's Penthouse. He is seated at his desk, having just picked
up
the black cellular phone at his elbow to phone his personal assistant
Adele.
"Addie - call the airport. Have my jet fueled and ready to go within
the
hour." Jax put the cell phone down slowly, his face an icy mask as he
picked up the manila folder that had been delivered to him just
that
morning. Opening it carefully, he thumbed through the first pages
....
pausing only when he came to a large glossy photograph enclosed within
the other documents. As he stared at the image there, an unholy
smile
touched his lips.
"Oh, my dear Miss Quartermaine....." he whispered softly, "You have
NO idea what is in store for you."
SCENE: London, England The Offices of "Elizabeth Diane
Fashion
House". Standing in stocking feet on the desk, Victoria Quartermaine
is
attempting to change the lightbulb in the overhead
Tiffany
lamp.....balancing precariously to try and reach. When the door opens
&
slams, she jumps, and the lightbulb crashes to the floor.
"EMILY!!!" she gasps, staring at her secretary in a mixture of fear &
relief.
Emily is fortyish and severe-looking, with a no-nonsense attitude.
"Miss Quartermaine - I have Mr. Bellamy on line one - and he INSISTS
that he speak with you IMMEDIATELY. He said it is MOST urgent,
Miss."
Victoria sighed, scooting to the edge of the desk and sitting down, her
legs dangling over the edge of the desk. She is a stunning young
woman, with an almost childish sense of playfulness. She almost seems
like a little girl playing at being a corporate head.
"Hey, diddums!" she teasingly addresses the phone after pressing the
button.
"Miss Victoria! Thank God!!" Mr Bellamy replied.
"Hey, you sound happy to hear me, Richie.....I'm almost ready to come
over there and give you a great big ole bear hug ......" she
teases
laughingly
"Miss Victoria, Jax Enterprises just went public with the fact that
they
have managed to swipe 42% of our stock off the open market."
Victorias smile evaporated instantly.
"WHAT?!!" her eyes flew to Emily, "How did this happen?? When??!
Omigod..."
As Mr. Bellamy droned on with the maneuverings that enabled Jax
Enterprises to buy such a large quantity of Elizabeth Diane stock,
Victoria
sat in frozen horror, her one finger winding and rewinding the phone
cord.
"I don't understand, Bellamy..... they sold Jax Cosmetics
last
year......what could they possibly want with us??" Victoria finally
blurted
out, her forehead wrinkled in concern. She listened silently for a
few
minutes, nodding, and then replaced the receiver.
Standing up, she stared for several moments at the phone before turning
to face Emily.
"Mr. Jacks has requested my presence at a meeting tomorrow to discuss
the future of Elizabeth Diane." Her apparent composure did not fool
Emily for a second. Victoria was scared. And Furious.
SCENE: Morning - The Royal Almsbury Hotel, London England,
Jax's
Suite He is seated on the couch, reading the morning paper with
apparent unconcern & sipping his coffee. He is still in his
sky-blue
bathrobe. The door suddenly slamme open - and Victoria Quartermaine,
fully dressed and armed for battle, with fire blazing from her eyes,
stormed in.
Jax nearly spit out his coffee, temporarily taken back by the
unexpected
appearance of this blonde virago.
She stopped directly in front of him, hands on her hips.
"Jasper Jacks?!" she demanded loudly.
Jax allowed her a grin, recovering now.
"Yes."
"I'm Victoria Quartermaine!" she announced loudly.
He nodded without surprise,
"I know."
The calm acceptance temporarily threw her. Victoria looked at him for a
long minute before tossing her head.
"Mr Jacks, you've been playing in someone else's backyard.....and I
don't like it."
"I have? Pray tell, whose?" Jax leaned back, eyeing her
with
amusement.
"MINE." Victoria responded without batting an eye, "I'm here to put you
on notice, Mr. Jacks. I don't like your games and I don't intend you to
own 42% of my company either."
"49." Jax corrected smoothly, stopping her dead.
"What?!" she squeaked.
He nodded sagely, "Yes. As of this morning, Jax Enterprises owns 49%
of Elizabeth Diane. Go ahead. Check with your broker."
Victoria's hand moved to her chest briefly. It was worse than
she'd
imagined. Regaining her composure, she inhaled deeply.
"So what is it you want, Mr. Jacks?" she asked with admirable civility.
Jax eyed her speculatively - taking his time. Victoria withered
slightly
beneath his intent scrutiny, but refused to be cowed by it.
"You'd be surprised, Miss Quartermaine." he finally answered.
Victoria swallowed. There was something in the icy depths of those blue
eyes that suddenly glinted .... something ominous, and very frightening.
Beneath that icy exterior, she sensed a predator of proportions she
had
never yet encountered. And Victoria had been raised around predators.
Mr Jasper Jacks was a dangerous man. A very dangerous man.
"Try me." she invited, refusing to back down.
Jax leaned forward, placing his coffee mug carefully on the table
before
him. When he stood, his 6 foot 2 frame dwarfed her smaller one, but
she
refused to step back.
"Would you like some breakfast, Miss Quartermaine?" he asked with
impeccable politeness.
Victoria's nails curled into her palms. She was impatient, and he was
toying with her like a proverbial mouse. Forcing herself to smile, she
shook her head.
"No thank you, Mr. Jacks. I'll just take a rundown of your agenda, if
you
please."
"On an empty stomach?" he teased, laughing a little.
Victoria inhaled deeply.
"Mr Jacks, I did not come here to be your breakfast partner, your
business partner or your friend. I came here to find out what it is you
want for those shares of my company."
Jax walked across the room, stopping to lift the domed plate from
the
breakfast cart.
"What a shame. I ordered enough for two. And it looks very tasty."
Victoria's patience was at an end,
"What do you WANT, Mr. Jacks?" she demanded without further
preamble.
Jax raised his head, his eyes like two glacial pools, and said softly,
with
deadly calm,
"You, Miss Quartermaine."
Victoria sputtered. Her eyes widened, searching for some granule of
laughter in his implacable features. But she found none. Jasper Jacks
was, for all intents and purposes, deadly serious.
"Me? Wha- ! I mean, you can't be serious!! What do you mean??"
Jax replaced the cover meticulously, unconcerned by her outrage.
"Exactly what I said, Victoria." he replied coldly. Walking towards her,
he came to stand a few inches away - his face no longer politely bland.
"By the end of business today, my company will own controlling interest
in yours."
At her initial burst of denial, he held up a hand.
"Trust me on that." he inserted, then continued without preamble, "By
then, perhaps you will be willing to here my proposal without
interruption."
Victoria swallowed, a thousand emotions assaulting her at once.
Fear,
outrage, and the certain knowledge that she was being played by a
master warred with the one great emotion threatening her now the
certainty that she had already lost.
"Tell me now." she finally managed, although the tightness in her
throat
threatened to engulf her.
Jax studied her for a few moments, before finally replying.
"Very well." His hands slid nonchalantly into the large pockets of
his
dressing gown,
"When I have controlling interest of Elizabeth Diane, it's fate will
no
longer be yours to decide directly."
Her lips closed, fighting back an angry retort.
"However, " he continued, "Indirectly - the fate of Elizabeth Diane does
lie in your hands."
She tried vainly to still the impulse to reveal her hatred in her
expression,
but she failed miserably. Jax, however, was completely unconcerned.
Her emotions mattered little to him.
"If you agree to my proposition, I will allow you to run Elizabeth Diane
as
it has always been run since the day that your great-grandmother
started it." His head tipped to the side, preparing to deliver the
remainder of his message in the same uncaring tone, "If, however, you
do not..... then I shall take Elizabeth Diane apart brick by brick and
sell
her in so many pieces that she will be scattered to the winds as
though
never existing."
"My God." Victoria gasped. It was worse than she'd ever imagined.
This man was a monster. For every bit of beauty he possessed on the
outside, on the inside he was pure stone.
" I thought you might see it my way, Victoria." There was neither
warmth nor mirth in his soulless smile.
Turning away, Victoria struggled to grasp the enormity of what stood
before her. After several minutes, she turned back, her back straight
and
proud.
"What is it you want, Mr. Jacks?" She asked.
"It's very simple, Victoria." Jax replied softly, "You are going to
marry
me."
The words rolled across the room like thunder, hitting Victoria so hard
she alternately laughed and gasped at the same time.
"Are you INSANE?" She finally managed, giving in to the urge to laugh.
But without warning, Jax moved towards her as swiftly and silently as
a
panther. She discovered herself nearly pinned by his overwhelming size
and bearing. The laughter froze in her throat as he stared down at her,
blazing determination etched in every perfect line of his face.
"I never joke about business, Miss Quartermaine."
The stinging assurance succeeded in removing whatever doubts
remained as to his sanity. He was perfectly in control of his faculties.
And he had somehow managed, without her ever knowing how, to
become in control of her own as well. A feeling of pure, dread terror
slid
through her veins.
"Why?" she finally whispered, too overcome to think rationally any
longer.
"That isn't your concern, Victoria." He replied roughly.
"How do you figure that?" she shot back, her eyes moving to his face,
"I
mean correct me if I'm wrong but you just asked......No, make that
ORDERED, me to become your wife. How can that be of no concern to
me?"
"You are deliberately misunderstanding me." he returned smoothly.
"And you are deliberately misleading me!" she retorted sharply.
He shrugged,
"Suffice to say that I have my reasons."
"No kidding." She eyed him acidly, "Let me guess.....you've seen my
picture somewhere and fallen madly in love with me.....and this is the
way you usually go about courtship?"
A small smile suddenly broke through Jax's exterior - the first real
smile
she'd ever witnessed from him. Yet before it she could marvel at
it's
appearance , it vanished as though it had never existed.
"Not exactly." he finally admitted.
She looked at him speculatively,
"What kind of a marriage?" she finally asked, knowing that she was
stalling for time, but unable to think of any other ploy.
Jax reached out unexpectedly, one hand coming to cup her cheek. Her
eyes flew to his, startled & more than a little frightened.
He
acknowledged her initial reaction with a small flicker of his eyes, but
did
not release his hold.
"A marriage in every sense, Victoria Quartermaine." he answered
deeply, and her breath lodged somewhere in her throat and refused to
be
expelled, "Except for the fact that I don't now and will never love you
and I don't expect that emotion from you in return either."
Her eyes widened even further. She was too overwhelmed to form a
single response.
"I've done my homework on you, Victoria. You're a beautiful young
woman. Bright, Educated, Gracious, and socially acceptable." He
continued, "You'll make an adequate wife. In return, you will have all
the benefits of being the wife of a Jacks'."
As though struck by a sudden bolt of lightening, Victoria finally
came
alive. Pushing his hand away forcefully, she spun away from his
mesmerizing presence.
"That's it. That's enough. I've had it!!" She stomped away, turning to
shake her head at him, "Mr Jacks, you are completely around the bend.
A coupla sandwiches short of a picnic, if ya know what I mean! I would
no sooner marry you than I would marry Vlad the Impaler! I mean,
what is this, some sick twisted little game you play when you're
out and about in Europe?! Honestly, Mr. Jacks.....you ought to think
about taking up a hobby. It's cheaper." With a toss of her
shoulder,
Victoria marched to the door.
But before she could exit the room, Jax's voice stilled her movements.
"I need your answer by the close of business today, Victoria." he
warned
menacingly, "One minute later, and you can kiss your great-
grandmother's legacy goodbye." he paused dramatically before delivering his
final blow,
"You didn't take very good care of it,
now, did you?"
Victoria's back straightened, and without turning or deigning to reply ,
she
exited the room.