by CJ
The Kiss - 14
Jax had been gone for 4 days and both Lois and Carly were doing their best to avoid Brenda who’s moodiness was getting worse as each day without Jax passed by. And thanks to a suddenly enormous workload on the job, Brenda kept missing Jax’s phone calls as well. She was not a happy camper by any stretch of the imagination.
Thursday night she came home as late and as moody as ever. "Misery, thy name
is Brenda," she groaned as she let herself into the cottage. Lois and Carly
were scarce as usual, no doubt staying out of the way of Typhoon Brenda who
was like a walking rain-cloud these days. She went into the kitchen and grabbed
a diet Coke and her mail and then went upstairs to her bedroom. She tossed
her keys on the dresser and tossed herself on the bed, staring up
at the ceiling wondering if she was destined to always be this miserable
when she and Jax were apart? This was definitely the downside of love, she
thought wistfully. She checked her messages and let out a frustrated scream
as she realized she had missed the fourth message Jax had left her since
he had gone to Maui.
"Hey Brenda," his beautiful voice played over her answering machine, "You
know, I’m starting to take this personally. How can you not be home
every time I try to call you? Look, serisouly, if you don’t want to
talk to me for some reason, that’s fine, I won’t call anymore,
although I would appreciate an explanation as to why, when I get back. But
if you DO want to talk to me and for some inexplicable reason we just keep
missing each other, then call
me okay? Collect. It’s one o’clock in the afternoon here and I’ve
got meetings all day starting in a couple of hours, so you have to call me
before 9 p.m. your time there, okay. So - - -you should definitely be home
by then, right? The number is - - - "
Brenda anxiously scribbled down the number, picked up the phone and then
sighed as she gazed at the clock. 9:45 p.m. That meant is was 3:45 in Hawaii
and Jax was already in his meetings. "Damn this job!" she said in frustration
as she put the phone down and hurled her pencil across the room. It fell
with a thud in the lap of her big white Teddy bear seated in the white wicker
rocking chair by her window. Had she been home at her normal time of
6:00 p.m. she would have been here for Jax’s call. Now there was no
way she could reach Jax until late tomorrow.
She closed her eyes, wishing they were together right now. She REALLY hated
her job. She had been getting home at 9 p.m. or later for the past four nights
- missing all of Jax’s calls, unable to return his calls due to the
time difference. No wonder he thought she was deliberately avoiding him!
She called Jax’s hotel number that he had left, knowing he would probably
not be there, but giving it a shot because she was going crazy without him
and
wanted him to know that. But sure enough, when she was connected to his room
the phone just rang and rang. Finally it bounced back to the hotel operator
just as Brenda opened her mail.
"Mr. Jacks appears to be out of his room, miss. Would you like to leave a message?" the perky hotel operator asked.
But Brenda did not hear her as she hung up the phone in slow motion, her eyes livid as she read the piece of paper in her hand. It was an unexpected, unsolicited, and unapplied for job offer to be a TV weather-girl from KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, with a cc to none other than Jerry Jacks. Brenda slammed down her diet Coke, grabbed her keys and the letter, and marched out of the cottage.
# # #
"You bloody idiot!" Jerry was yelling into his phone. "Why the hell would you cc me on that blasted job offer letter? I wanted my part in this to be anonymous, remember?"
There was a series of loud knocks on his door of the PC Hotel Penthouse, and he went to answer it, while still talking on the phone. He saw Brenda Barrett standing there looking fit to be tied. Gorgeous as ever, but fit to be tied all the same.
"Gotta go," Jerry said to the person on the other end of his phone line as he put away his flip phone and gave Brenda a bright smile. "Well hello there," he greeted her.
She did not return his smile nor his greeting. "I don’t know what you think you’re doing," she said, "but I’m here to tell you to stay out of my life," she warned him as she threw the crumbled job offer letter at his feet. Her voice was calm but icy cool, and her eyes were brown-amber-fire. Absolutely bewitching and obviously very much displeased with him.
"I can’t do that," Jerry said, not bothering to pretend that he had no idea what she was so upset about. "As long as you’re in my brother’s life, then I’m in yours. That’s the way it works, Brenda. Now, if you really do want me out of your life, then you’ll break it off with Jax," Jerry advised her.
Brenda’s eyes were blazing, yet she was not acting the part of the hysterical young girl that he had expected. "I will never do that," she informed him. "And no amount of little tricks or manipulations pulled by you will ever make me. You need to understand that and stop wasting you time."
Jerry rubbed his temple. "Look, Brenda, can’t you just attach your lovely
young self to some other rich bloke in town? Try one of the Quartermine boys,
or the Buchanan boys, why don’tcha? But forget about Jax. Cause I’m
tellin’ ya, you’re not gonna snare my brother. Alright? It’s
just not gonna happen, luv. I won’t let you."
"You won’t LET me?" She paused, trying to hold onto her tenuous hold
on calmness and rationality. "You know, Jerry, you SEEM like an intelligent
man. Has it ever occurred to you that Jax WANTS me? That he wants to be with
me - that we like each other a LOT and want to be together? I’m not
out to snag him or any other nonsense that you seem to like to perpetuate
to somehow validate your weird need to yank me out of his life. Jax wants
me IN
"Oh but I do. You see, my kid brother is lost at the moment. He’s lost
in soft brown eyes that glitter like amber jewels in the sea, and a face
that would make a man sell his soul like a damned fool. He’s bewitched
by soft laughter that sounds like a caress, and a smile that could light
a pathway straight to heaven. He’s lost in a haze of mad desire for
you that unfortunately shows nary a sign of diminishing from where I’m
standin’. In his
"Jax can look out for himself," Brenda assured him. "You insult him by thinking
anything less. And let me just make it perfectly clear to you, Jerry, that
you can NOT buy me away, bribe me away, charm me away, guilt me away, or
scare me away. And you’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you
take from me the most wonderful thing in my life just because of your unfounded
paranoia and your apparent lack of faith in Jax’s own judgment."
Jerry rose an eyebrow. Brenda rose one of her own and then left.
Brenda stayed up late that night working on something for Jax. She was not
going to take any more chances missing phone calls between them. She got
her package together and then dropped it off at the DEL same-day air delivery
office on her way to work the next morning. She had to pay quite a bit for
same day delivery to Hawaii, but he was worth it. She would just not stand
for another day with no communication between them except answering
At work, her mind was on nothing but Jax and how much she was loathing this
job and the sudden insanity of it. This had to be the worst week she’d
ever had at the reservations desk. In a rare moment where she actually found
that she had a spare few minutes, she called Jax collect at the expense of
the PC Hotel, using the desk phone to make the call. It was three o’clock
in the morning in Maui, so the operator asked her if she wanted to ring
Jax’s
"Actually, can you connect me to the voice mail in his room?" Brenda asked
quietly, her eyes scanning the lobby to make sure she would not get busted
for making this personal and costly phone call while on the job.
"Certainly, miss. One moment please."
Brenda got connected to the voice-mail for Suite 14A and quickly left a message.
"Jax, it’s Brenda. I have to be really quick because I’m at work,
but I just wanted to tell you that I miss you SO much. Worse than the last
time you were gone. Lois and Carly hide from me all the time now! Oh, and
excuse me but how could you ever think I would be trying to avoid you?!"
she demanded. "I happen to be crazy about you as you very well know, and
for your information the only reason I’ve been missing your phone calls
is because my job
Brenda hung up the phone quickly as she saw Tracy about to pass by.
"Working hard?" Tracy asked with a catty smile as she breezed past her. "You
know, Brenda, I’ll just bet that while you’re working hard here,
Jax is playing just as hard on the beaches of Maui with some exotically gorgeous
Hawaiian goddess who’s only too happy to put you out of his mind," Tracy
added as, with a laugh, she walked out of the hotel.
"No he’s not," Brenda muttered to Tracy’s retreating back.
# # #
It was 6:45 a.m. and Jax was running late for a 6:30 breakfast meeting. He
saw his message light lit, but assumed it was Joe Tanaka reminding him that
the meeting was starting, so when he finished getting dressed, he left the
hotel room, not bothering to check the message which the red light signified
was waiting for him on his phone.
# # #
At 12:39 Brenda had just got done canceling twenty reservations for the Torkelson
family reunion, a reservation set she had just taken an hour ago. A reservation
set that had taken nearly a hour to complete what with the list of twenty
extremely difficult to spell names and the heavy southern accent of the persons
making the reservations. And now, here she was having to cancel what had
taken her an hour to put together in the first place.
To add to her illustrious day, she was preparing to go on her lunch break
when she gazed up into the dark brown eyes of Jerry, dressed in a suit, standing
in front of her at the reservations desk.
She sighed. "What do you want?"
"Good day to you too, luv. Got any lunch plans?"
"I’d rather starve to death than have lunch with you, Jerry," she informed
him. "I think you know this."
"Oh, come on, Brenda. I’m offerin’ ya the olive branch, here. No
tricks, okay? I just got to thinkin’ that maybe I’ve misjudged
your intentions towards Jax, and maybe some other members of my family would
be more objective."
Brenda’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Other members of your family?"
"Yeah. My parents. They’re here for a couple of days - little surprise
visit. Now, if you can win THEM over, I’ll throw in the towel and confess
that I was wrong about you. So - what do you say? Will you have lunch with
me and the folks upstairs?"
Brenda swallowed. Oh god! Jax’s parents?
"What’s the matter? Scared they’ll agree that I was right about
you?" Jerry taunted.
Brenda’s eyes lit a fiery, defiant amber and Jerry knew he’d gotten
to her.
"Karen," she said as Karen Wexler just got off the phone from taking a bunch
of reservations, "I’m going to lunch now."
Jerry grinned and offered her his arm. Brenda ignored his gesture and walked
over to the elevator that would take them to the penthouse suite.
When they walked inside, room service was just leaving , having set up an
elegant lunch. Brenda then turned and saw a tall man and a petite woman coming
down from the steps that led to the second bedroom. They were both dressed
as if they were going to the queen’s palace or something and Brenda
felt the need to laugh at their appearance but quickly covered her mouth,
horrified that she would do such a thing as laugh at Jax’s beloved parents!
His
"You must be Jax’s latest in a line of many girlfriend’s," Jane
Jacks said. "What was your name again, dear? Bertha?"
"I think it was Bedelia," John Jacks said.
"Brenda," Brenda corrected them. "My name is Brenda and it’s a - - -er
- - pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Jacks," she said extending her hand
to them.
"Lady Jane," Jane said, ignoring her extended hand.
"Excuse me.?" Brenda said.
"Lady Jane!" she shouted into Brenda’s ear as if Brenda were deaf. Brenda
jumped back with a start. "You are to address me as Lady Jane and my husband
as Sir John. Is that understood? Now shall we be seated for luncheon?"
Brenda’s heart sank as she realized that she instantly disliked this
woman. A LOT. Hadn’t Jax told her how much he adored his parents? How
wonderful they were? What chance could Brenda have with him if she could
not stand them on sight and thought his idea of "wonderful" was terribly
skewed, if he considered these two to be worthy of that adjective? Oh this
was already a disaster!
"One moment," Jane Jacks said, gazing at Brenda’s appearance. "Surely
you don’t intend to sit with us wearing that burlap bag?"
"Excuse me?" Brenda said gazing down at her perfectly fine black dress with
the PC Hotel blazer over it.
"We always dress formally for lunch, Bertha," John informed her, his eyes
continuing to sweep over her in a manner that made her uncomfortable. Jerry,
on the other hand, appeared to enjoying this discomfort between his parents
and his brother’s girlfriend.
"Please, my name is BRENDA. And I’m sorry but - - nobody told me that
you guys - - uh - -dress up for lunch," Brenda said casting Jerry a look
of irritation, "and anyway, this was not a planned lunch on my part, and
I’m working so I can’t exactly go home and change - - "
"Oh excuses, excuses. Peasants always seem to have them." Lady Jane sighed
as she dismissively gestured for Brenda to be seated anyway.
Peasants?! Brenda could not get over the overt rudeness and repulsive elitism
of Jax’s parents. They were disgusting! How could this possibly be?
Her sweet, perfect Jax was NOHTING like them. NOTHING. And Jax adored his
parents. It was unthinkable to Brenda that he could ever adore these two
people standing before her being so obnoxious and rude. It was impossible
to imagine that they had even given birth to a beautiful treasure like
"So," John said, pouring a glass of champagne for himself, and pouring too
much so that some spilled onto the table. "How long have you and my son been
having sex?" he asked, his eyes pinned to her.
Brenda coughed in the midst of tasting a slice of turkey. Jerry patted her
back, enjoying this luncheon immensely.
"And are you using protection, Bedelia?" Lady Jane demanded. "Because we
won’t tolerate any horrible little accidental offspring trudging their
muddy feet through our White Persian carpets at home, for gods’ sake,"
she vowed gazing at her reflection in the gaudy diamond ring on her finger.
"John, this ring has lost it’s luster. I want a new one," she said taking
the ring off and tossing it into the trash as a suspicious Brenda watched.
These
Brenda caught Jerry give his mother a glare and an eyeroll which she found
an oddly insulting and disrespectful thing to do to one’s own supposedly
beloved mother.
Brenda folded her arms as she watched Jerry.
"Mum, Dad, you know Brenda told me last night that I should stop interfering
in her relationship with Jax because he’s the most wonderful thing in
her life or something like that," he said as if dismissing Brenda’s
claims. "So I was thinking that I may have been wrong about her. Maybe
she’s actually in love with him or something," Jerry said. "What do
you think, folks? Truth or fiction?"
Jane Jacks snorted and the sound was so unpleasant and overdone that Brenda
burst out laughing, which alarmed Jerry.
"Yes in love with his wallet, perhaps," Jane said. "Does he pay you to sleep
with him, dear?"
Suddenly Brenda smiled at them. "Actually, I pay Jax to sleep with me. He’s
really unbelievably sensational, you know. Worth every penny. You sired quite
a stallion there, papa Jacks."
John Jacks was laughing so hard that Jerry kicked the man hard in the shin
beneath the table, setting the man into a howl of pain.
"And while we’re all being so HONEST," Brenda continued, "Yes, I do
love Jax’s money. Every beautiful billionaire cent of it." she disclosed.
"I knew it!" Jerry said triumphantly. Well it didn’t take much to crack
her after all, did it?
"Oh yes, Jerry, of course you knew it. You are SO smart after all. So, yes,
as I was saying, I do want Jax’s money, and I intend to have it all.
Every last dime. And I intend to have Jax as well and keep you all out of
his lives by ANY means necessary." She gave them all her most sinister look.
"Was that a veiled threat? Young woman, are you insane?" Lady Jane demanded.
"I’m about as insane as your accent is real."
"Brenda!" Jerry said, shocked by her rudeness. And yet, he could hardly wait
for Jax to see this side of his stunning, dark haired angel. Jax would drop
her faster than a bad stock option.
"I just feel the need to truly be myself with you people," Brenda said, on
a roll now as she crossed her legs, bouncing one up and down as John Jacks
watched her with lusty eyes. "So let’s get back to Jax and I, and our
sleeping together, since you brought it up, Mr. Jacks. We’re astonishingly
good in bed together, you know. I thought that might interest YOU, Mr. Jacks
- - oh I mean ‘Sir John’ -- since you’ve been ogling me ever
since I walked
Lady Jane gasped. Jerry’s eyes just flew open wide in utter amazement.
She was going mad!
"Oh, and Lady Jane? I think I should tell you that your name is ridiculous
given the fact that you couldn’t act like a lady if your life depended
on it," Brenda pointed out with a sympathetic glance.
Jerry was struck dumb as Brenda continued to hurl her calmly stated insults
with no sign of remorse.
"As soon as I do get my hands on all of Jax’s billions," she continued,
folding her hands together, her lovely eyes looking ravenous with greed,
"I intend to have you and your husband killed so that Jax and I can inherit
your fortune as well. Jerry, I think I’ll keep you around because at
least you can occasionally act as a source of tiresome amusement.
"Why you cheeky little harlot!" Jane said, rising to her feet in shock.
"Oh please sit down and keep your trap shut, lady, I’m NOT finished,"
Brenda informed her.
Jane Jacks was stunned into silence as she dripped back into her seat.
Jerry got a load of the way Brenda’s eyes sparkled and she appeared
to be enjoying the dickens out of herself.
And then he knew.
He knew that SHE knew that she was being conned. That these were not really
Jax’s parents at all.
"All right, Brenda," he conceded.
"All right, what , Jerry?" she asked innocently. "Please don’t interrupt
me now, I have a few more things to say to these revolting people who gave
birth to you."
"Brenda, stop," Jerry said. "I know that you know," he clarified.
Brenda got up, her eyes lit with that defiant fire that Jerry was annoyed
to find so damned attractive. "You’re damn right I know! Did you really
think you could pass off these two losers as your parents? Jax has told me
all bout John and Jane. I may never have met them or seen them but just from
his words I know that they are the absolute antithesis of these two bozos
you hired. You’d better get a refund, Jerry. I can’t believe you
would try
"You’re not gonna tell ‘im, are you? Come on, luv. No harm was
done."
"But you wanted harm to be done, Jerry," Brenda said opening the door.
"No, you’re wrong. I didn’t. I don’t want to hurt you. I just
want you to stay away from my brother. I don’t think you’re right
for him, Brenda. I never will."
She caught him off guard by smiling. "You know something? I don’t think
YOU’RE right for him." she said. "And maybe, just maybe, I’ll put
as much effort into splitting YOU two up as you are into splitting me and
Jax up, and we’ll just see how you like it when the shoe’s on the
other foot?" She winked at him, gave an exaggerated wave to the awful Mom
and Dad Jacks impersonators and left the room.
# # #
At 12:30 p.m. Maui time, having just finished up his third meeting of the
day on this resort buy-out and renovation project, Jax was on his way back
to the hotel, carrying around a strange moodiness that had been with him
for the past couple of days. He wondered why Brenda was never home when he
called her? Why she never called him back yesterday when he had left the
number where he could be reached? He had even told her she could call
him
Jax’s cell phone rang. Of course he knew it could not be Brenda, as
she did not have this number. "Hello?" he said as he stepped into the hotel
lobby.
"Aloha," Stefan’s voice came over the line. "I just got your message,
Jax. Is everything all right? You sounded somewhat frustratedwhen you left
the message for me."
"I - - - crazy meeting ,that’s all," Jax lied. "Stefan, have you seen
Brenda at anytime this week?"
"Sure. I had lunch at the PC Grill twice and I saw her both days - - Tuesday
and yesterday. She was at the reservations desk, working. She scarcely said
hello to me, as it appeared she was preposterously busy and not in the most
engaging of moods. She was most assuredly not quite herself."
"Oh," Jax said picking up his messages from the front desk and noticing that
not a single one was from Brenda. This made five days now. A whole business
week with not a word from her. Granted she had no way to reach him until
he’d left the number last night, but - -why hadn’t she called last
night? Or left a message at least? He also picked up a package waiting for
him and tucked it under his arm as he hit the elevator button. "Are you
sure
"Not that I ever took notice of, no. She seemed perfectly fine, albeit harried,
and moody, and two seconds away from turning in her resignation. So, is that
what you called me for? To check on Brenda? You mean to tell me the two of
you haven’t spoken to one another since you left late Monday night?"
Stefan asked, surprised.
"No we haven’t," Jax said, letting himself into his hotel room. "Although
it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying on MY part. I can’t believe
I was so wrong about her," he said sitting down in a nearby armchair and
tossing the package onto the desk.
"Wrong about what exactly?" Stefan asked.
"Jax?" Stefan said. "I asked you what it is that you think you were wrong
to believe about Brenda?" Stefan repeated.
"That she would actually miss me as much as she claimed she would," Jax said.
"You mean as much as you miss her," Stefan corrected.
Jax sighed. This was his best friend, He could tell him anything.
"Yes, as much as I miss her," Jax confided. "I have never missed anyone this
way before. I have to tell you it’s getting on my bloody nerves"
Stefan laughed. "Jax, I’ve seen the way this girl looks at you. Her
eyes radiate like a jewel lit from within. I can almost guarantee you that
as much as you miss her she is missing you even more," Stefan said with
certainty.
"Then why doesn’t she ever answer the phone when I call? And why
hasn’t she returned my call, I left her the number here, you know.
It’s been five days now."
"If you’d like I can run over to the hotel right now and try to talk
to her. I can inquire if anything is troubling her or try to discern why
she hasn’t had the opportunity to return your phone calls," Stefan offered.
"No, don’t do that," Jax said. "I just wanted to make sure she was okay,
and since you said you’ve seen her, then she’s obviously okay."
"I’ll be more than happy to talk to her for you, Jax," Stefan assured
him.
"No," Jax insisted.
"Fine," Stefan agreed. "I just think that communication is the best thing
for you both right now before either of you jump to erroneous conclusions."
"Well I have been communicating all week. I’m done with that now. Brenda
will just do - - whatever Brenda wants to do," Jax decided. "I’ll talk
to you later. Thanks for getting back to me."
"How much longer are you going to be in Maui?" Stefan inquired.
"Another five days," Jax said.
"Jax, you can’t let another five days go by with no contact between
you two," Stefan warned him. "Too much misunderstanding will come from this."
"Well, that’s up to her isn’t it? I’ll talk to you later."
Jax hung up the phone, took off the jacket of his suit, loosened his tie
and sat down in the chair by the desk. He gazed out at the tropical paradise
surrounding him and then shut his eyes, running his hands through his rich
blonde locks and wondering if he was destined to always be this miserable
when he and Brenda were apart? His mind was instantly flooded by memories
of the last time
He opened his eyes. Yes, she may have said the words, but she certainly
wasn’t acting like she loved him now. His eyes took on a shade of silvery
blue as they grew rather wistful and he felt a bizarre sense of loss. Of
course it could not be loss if he had never had the thing in the first bloody
place could it? If she had never loved him to begin with, then why should
be feel as if he had lost something he wanted so much?
And why did he want it so much? Her love. Her adoration. Her heart to be
inexorably tied to his own. Why the hell did he crave that when the very
reason he had gladly went on this trip in the first place was to give the
relationship an opportunity to cool down and slow down. To give her the chance
to realize she was not in love with him at all. And now all of a sudden this
hope that she would fall out of love with him had turned into what - -
a
"Brenda," he murmured, as he ripped the envelope open to find nothing but
a cassette tape that said in bold black letters - - -. PLAY ME! With a curious
raise of his blonde eyebrows, Jax popped the tape into the stereo system
next to the TV and depressed the play button.
‘Hi Jax, it’s me. Brenda. I’m going to call you from work
tomorrow morning - that would be Friday. I know it’s going to be the
dead of night where you are, but I wanted you to get my message when you
woke up.’
Her message?
Jax recalled seeing the red-light lit with a waiting message this morning.
One he had ignored assuming it was from Joe Tanaka telling him that he was
late for their meeting.
He reached over to the phone and depressed the message-play button and sure
enough there was Brenda’s message, dated to have come in at 3:17 a.m.
He listened to the message and had to grin at her angrily berating him for
ever thinking she would try to avoid him.
Then he returned to the stereo and lifted the pause button from the cassette
player to hear the rest of her recorded message.
‘Anyway, Jax. I went to the doctor today and I thought I’d better
share with you what he told me, since it DOES have a lot to do with you,’
she was saying.
He froze momentarily. Doctor? A lot to do with him? Oh god - - was she? Could
she be - - -?
But then he heard music in the background and a smile touched his lips as
he heard the song piping through the speakers.
Doctor’s orders say there’s only one thing for me
Won’t get better till your back again he told me
‘So I really hope you can help me out,’ Brenda finished up with
a playful laugh.
Jax stopped the tape, laughing softly at her creativity. There was just no
one else like her. And he had her.
"Yeah I can help you out," he whispered. "In fact I think I have just the
remedy you’re looking for , Miss Barrett," he murmured as he reached
for the phone to set his plans in motion.
# # #
Back at the reservations desk in the PC Hotel, Brenda was finally looking
forward to leaving on time for a change. That turned out to be untrue when
she didn’t get done until 6 p.m., half an hour than usual, but it was
a far cry from the 8:30 p.m. nights she had been enduring all the previous
days this week. Tonight she could actually probably be home to get Jax’s
call! And hear what he thought about her little package, she thought with
a grin.
"Oh Bren, what a shock. You’re actually leaving here when the sun is
still out," Karen Wexler teased as she picked up the ringing phone while
Brenda nodded with a happy smile at being able to leave at a decent hour.
Lois and Carly stopped y the hotel to check if their roomie was once again
in a dismal mood thanks to the absence of Jax as well as her late working
hours. They were so pleased to see a chipper Brenda, changed out of her PC
Hotel
"Wow, we actually don’t have to hide from her tonight," Lois joked.
Brenda flashed them her pretty dimpled smile. "No, you don’t. I’m
actually leaving here as close to on-time as I have all week, AND I am going
to talk to Jax tonight, I know it!" she said excitedly. "He’s going
to call me and this time I will be there to get the call, or else I’m
going to ring his room non-stop until I get him."
"Cool. Let’s go," Carly said.
Karen was struggling with the person on the phone who’s thick Arabic
accent was difficult to follow. Her supervisor, William Quimley took the
phone from her, trying to help.
"Oh my goodness! Yes right away. Sir!" he exclaimed, putting out his arm
to stop Brenda from leaving. "I’m sorry, Brenda, but we need you."
"NO!" Brenda said. "No! I am leaving here right now, Mr. Quimley."
Jerry walked by just then on his way out of the hotel, he gave Brenda a little
smile which she ignored.
"Brenda, I’m sorry, but this is urgent. No one from the meet and greet
team is on the premises right now. We have a famous oil Sheik at the airport
and we need someone to escort him to the hotel. We’ll send you in a
limousine and it won’t take very long at all. Just deliver him here
and we’ll have the meet and greet team take it from there."
"I can do it," Karen said, seeing how upset Brenda was getting.
"Fine," Quimley said. "You go, and Brenda you stay here and man the phones
until Karen gets back."
Brenda felt a migraine coming on. "I’ll go to the airport," she said,
thinking it would be much quicker to pick up this guy, drop him off here
and hurry back home than to stay and have to deal with a possible onslaught
of reservations that would entrap her here until 9 o’clock again. She
was NOT going to miss Jax’s phone call!
"Fine, fine. I don’t care which one of you goes. Just get going. The
limo is waiting outside and his private jet has already landed. We don’t
want to keep him waiting!"
"We’ll see ya at home," Lois said, rubbing Brenda’s shoulder.
"You’ll be there before you know it, Bren. The airport is just like
fifteen minutes away from here. And we’ll listen out for your phone
so if Jax calls we’ll force him to hold until you walk in the door,"
Carly promised.
Brenda forced a smile and then stormed out to the limousine. When she got
to the airport she was directed towards the terminal where the sheik’s
private jet was and she waited impatiently for the man to get off the plane
so she could shove him in the limo and get him back to the hotel.
A stewardess came off of the plane alone.
"What is the problem? Where is he?" Brenda asked, looking down to glance
at her watch only to remember she no longer had it since she had lost it
on the beach at Catalina Island. She glanced at the clock on the Departures
monitor instead and saw it was five to seven. "Where is this person?!" she
said again.
The stewardess apologetically explained to Brenda the Arab custom in which
the sheik expected her to come on board to greet him and then escort him
off the plane and to the limousine.
"What?!" Brenda shook her head in frustration and then stormed on the plane
determined to get this nonsense over with. She was on the plane for less
than a minute when she realized that it was empty. No sheik, no nobody. Then
she heard the airplane door lock and as she was hurrying towards it to see
what was going on, when she felt the plane moving, slowly taxiing away from
the hangar. So obviously there was a pilot in that cockpit.
"Hey!!" she shouted banging on the cockpit entrance door. "Stop this plane!
Somebody’s in here!! Namely ME!"
"Yes I know that, ma’am," the pilot’s voice came across the speaker
system.
"You KNOW I’m on here and you’re still moving? STOP!!" she yelled
banging on the door until her hand hurt.
"Miss Barrett, we’re going to be cleared for take off in a few minutes,
would you please take a seat and buckle up? I’d appreciate it, ma’am."
"Yeah and I’d appreciate getting the hell off of this plane!" she yelled,
kicking the door.
"STOP THIS PLANE!" Brenda insisted. But when she felt the plane picking up
speed, she knew he was taking off alright. She raced to a seat on board the
fancy lear jet and buckled herself in thinking that Jerry would absolutely
pay for this, this time!
# # #
Several hours later the plane finally landed and Brenda’s fury had not
dissipated one iota. In fact, it had increased because the plane ride had
been so unbearably long! Apparently Jerry was having her sent to China to
get rid of her!
Brenda undid her seat belt and angrily stormed off the plane. She found that
she was not in an airport terminal, but apparently outside of one. She walked
down the steps of the plane and out into the most amazingly gorgeous, warm
air. Palm trees, exotic flowers. Exquisite beauty all around. Where on earth
was she? She was greeted at the foot of the steps by women clad in grass
hula skirts presenting her with floral Leis. Brenda gasped.
Jax immediately gazed into her eyes searchingly for a moment. He saw it --
still there as imposible to hide form him as it ever was. Then he kissed
her, soft and searching, and he felt it still there. The love for him, evident
in both her gaze and the way her lips touched his as if he were still the
precious thing she cherished. The thing she wanted most in all the world.
She was still in love with him, he realized triumphantly. He hadn’t
been
As he led the ecstatically happy Brenda over to the jeep he was renting while
in Maui, he explained to her that he had called Ned telling him that he wanted
Brenda to come out here and Ned had in turn spoken to Karen Wexler, who agreed
to swap vacation time with Brenda so that Jax could execute his plan to whisk
Brenda away for the duration of his stay in Hawaii. He then told the thrilled
Brenda that they didn’t have to be back in Port Charles
In anticipation of Brenda’s arrival, Jax had checked out of the hotel
and into the timeshare villa that he and Jerry both owned. It was a gorgeous
beachfront complex in Wailea and Brenda fell in love with it at first sight.
After Jax got her settled in the villa and familiarized her with it, they
were seated on the couch, Jax stretched out on it, Brenda stretched out on
him. He checked his watch.
"Hey," he murmured against her hair, "I actually have to step out for about
an hour to sign some papers," he told her. "You take this," he handed her
his credit card, "and go buy yourself a wardrobe since I did kind of abduct
you without bothering to allow you to pack,"
She laughed and kissed him. "I don’t even care about clothes. Jax, I
can’t believe I’m really here with you," she breathed, stroking
the front of his dark blue shirt, knowing he was real and that they were
together.
"Well I don’t care about clothes either," he confessed with a smile
that made her want to kiss every conceivable inch of him with a slowness
that would drive him crazy. "But we’re in Hawaii and I hardly think
it’s fair to keep you in the bedroom every single day, and you will
need clothes for when we go outside, so - -get some," he said, kissing her
cheek, delectably close to her lips. "Oh and here," he said handing her a
bunch of brochures.
I love you, her heart sang. "Okay," her lips said, her eyes just alight with
her happiness.
"Okay," he murmured. They shared a secret smile that said more than their
words did, and then they shared a long, sultry kiss goodbye. When Jax left,
an excited Brenda curled up in the armchair and went through the brochures,
marveling at the beauty of this Island and all there was to do and see here.
her heart was still racing with the initial indescribable joy of seeing him
at the airport. Then she suddenly got a better idea for what
"Oh, yeah. This is going to be prefect!" she said giddily, as she grabbed
Jax’s credit card, her back-pack, slipped on her sneakers, and left
the villa.
CJ
his life, not out of it. It’s his decision, Jerry, it has absolutely
NOTHING to do. Jax is your brother, for goodness sake, he is not your child!
You have no say in this."
current state he can’t very well look out for his own best interests.
So I’m doing it for him. Lucky for Jax. Unlucky for you."
machines and hotel operators.
room at this hour or simply leave a message at the front desk.
has been a nightmare and I’ve been working the most awful hours. Jax,
I get in at nine or later every night now. It’s so horrible that I’m
ready to just quit," she whispered. "Oh, I sent you something this morning.
I know it’s only 3 a.m. there right now, but hopefully you’ll get
my package around 9 a.m. your time or a little bit later. Jax I really -
- -"
mother’s arms flashed and glittered with so much jewelry that Brenda
felt she would go blind. The woman regarded her with cool politeness while
the man gazed at her rather rakishly, to Brenda’s shock.
Jax. And then suddenly, Brenda had to wonder as her eyes narrowed suspiciously,
- - HAD they given birth to him?
people were the most obnoxious, ridiculous duo she had ever come across.
Jax would never love and adore and speak so reverently about people like
this. He would despise people like this. He would be ashamed to be any relation
to them.
into the room like the sick, depraved pervert you obviously are."
to pull something so low as this! To have these Vaudeville rejects impersonate
your mom and dad to try and scare me off! You know, you really are more far
gone than I ever imagined," Brenda said, walking towards the door. "I wonder
what your real parents would think about this latest stunt of yours? I wonder
what Jax would think?" she taunted him, her hand on the doorknob.
collect for godsake - so what excuse could there possibly be?
that she’s okay?" Jax asked. "There wasn’t some short, dark haired
guy following her around or anything, was there?"
he and Brenda had been together. A night where the fireworks in the sky could
not hold a candle to the fireworks they had created in front of that fireplace
in her bedroom while the rain fell outside. The love he had seen in her eyes,
THOUGHT he had seen in her eyes. It had held him breathless in a moment of
wondrous fascination. He had never seen love so clear as crystal as the way
it glittered in Brenda’s eyes. But of course now he had every
reason to doubt he had ever truly been seeing love at all. Perhaps some other
emotion. Lust, desire, wild attraction, a deep wanting and needing. Maybe
that’s truly all it ever had been and for some odd reason he had
romanticized it all and deluded himself into believing her in love with him.
fear? A fear that she had indeed fallen out of love with him? It was madness
to miss her this much and it was pure hypocrisy to crave the very love he
had always told himself he never wanted to receive from her. He should be
rejoicing, not acting and feeling as if he were in bloody mourning or
something.
His desire to call her, even now, annoyed him beyond all reason. He would
NOT call her again. Then he shook his head at the state this woman had left
him in, and determined to forget about her, he reached for the package that
was sitting on his desk. He felt his heart jump ever so slightly as he noticed
the hand writing, and then the return address.
Nothing he can do, cause only you can cure me
Says in my condition
Love’s the best physician
He’s prescribed a potion
Full of warm emotion
Everyday a loving spoonful to be taken
It’s the only way to stop this empty heart of mine from breaking
Doctor’s orders I need your loving arms to hold me
Don’t leave now, I know there ain’t no doubt about it
I’m so hooked on your love I can’t live without it
I know you’re away, just please don’t treat me like a
stranger
Doctor’s orders say, one kiss from you and I am out of danger
She could also rat on Jerry for his actions in Jax’s absence, she
remembered, her grin getting bigger. But she wasn’t sure she was ready
to turn Jerry in just yet. It might be better just to let him THINK she would
do it.
uniform of black dress and burgundy jacket and into light blue jeans shorts,
a blue and white form fitting, short sleeved, midriff baring top and white
hi-top Reeboks. She was sliding her back-pack pocket book on, and preparing
to leave.
Jerry! She thought furiously. He was responsible for this. He was trying
to get her out of town so that she wouldn’t tell Jax about his schemes.
No wonder Jerry had given her that little smile as he left the hotel!
Hawaii?! She was in Hawaii?! Maui???? She turned her head, right and then
left, and then she saw him. Looking perfect and devastatingly attractive
leaning against a tree. When she caught sight of him her eyes lit up with
what he could only describe as heartfelt joy. He felt his heart sway. He
waved at her, a sexy smile touching his lips and then she was off! She squealed
with delight as she raced with unrestrained delight into his arms where
it was clear to anyone with clear vision that they were ecstatic to see each
other.
wrong about that at all. And then he was somewhat stunned by how much relief
and pleasure he took in this knowledge.
until next Thursday, which gave them five nights and six days in Maui. And
then, if she wanted, they could plan something for Friday, Saturday and Sunday
in Port Charles since she was on vacation until the following Monday.
"Decide what you’d like to do tonight and we’ll do it," he promised.
"Whatever you want." The way he said that sent delicious shivers throughout
her being.
they should do tonight.