Unexpected Love

Email to: Emrald 11@aol.com (dont forget the space between d and 11)
By Rina

OK, here's the scoop. This is set in the year 1997. Jax and Miranda were married 9 years ago, and she died 9 years ago. Brenda and Jax have never met. Everything else is, until further notice, as is in PC. Oh, and Bryony is pronounced "Bree-uh-nee." I'd love to hear any comments and feedback you may have. : )

"Unexpected Love" part one

by Rina

A stunning Bryony Cummings walked through the heavy door to the Outback with a nervous look on her face. She couldn't believe that she was going to a strange bar in an even stranger town to look for a sister she hadn't seen in over 10 years, when she had been 12. She stood just inside the door and looked into the dim room.

"Oh, God," she thought. "What was I thinking? I can't do this!" It was too late, however. Just as she turned to go back out the door, she felt a restraining hand on her shoulder. She spun around and saw a handsome man with short, curly brown hair, and warm brown eyes.

"Welcome to the Outback! . . . You're not going to leave so soon, are you?"

"Well, actually, I, umm. . . . . ," Bryony stammered, wondering if she should really tell this man what she was thinking .

"Come on, give us a chance, . . . I promise, you'll live," the man grinned. "Trust me, I should know. After all, I am half owner of the place. Mac Scorpio, at your service."

"Well, I guess I can stay. There is nowhere else to go," Bryony said with a sigh. Maybe she wouldn't run into Felicia after all. It had been over a year since she had written, so maybe she had left Port Charles. "So, you're half owner, huh? Who's your partner?," she asked as Mac seated her.

"She's my best friend, Felicia Jones. She's in the office right now, but she'll be out in a few minutes." Bryony paled, and Mac looked concerned.

"Hey, are you OK? You don't look....."

"I've got to get out of here," Bryony said weakly. "Bye, Mac. It was nice meeting you." Just as Bryony stood up, a thin, yet attractive blond woman walked out of the office and headed to the table where Mac and Bryony stood. Bryony quickly turned and tried to leave, but Mac caught her arm. The woman reached the table and grinned at Mac. "You know, sometimes it's not a good idea to physically restrain patrons if they want to leave." She laughed, teasingly.

Mac, some what annoyed, made a face and replied, "Ha, ha, Felicia. Normally, I'd agree, but I don't think that this woman is OK. She's very pale."

Felicia turned toward the woman, looking concerned. Bryony lost her temper and spun around, wrenching her arm from Mac's grip. "Look, I'm fine! You don't need to talk about me like I'm not here!," she snapped, her green eyes blazing.

Felicia gasped and looked like she had seen a ghost. "Bryony", she whispered. "Is it really you?"

Bryony gulped, wishing she was anywhere but where she was now.

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"Unexpected Love" part two

Across town, Jax sat at his luxurious desk. In his spacious, well accommodated office across the street from the Port Charles Hotel, he tried to concentrate on his phone call, but that was nearly impossible. "Thao. . . . Thao. . . THAO . . !," he shouted. On the other end, Thao paused.

"Yes?", he asked.

"Look, I've got to go. People to see, businesses to dismantle, you know . . . , the usual."

"OK, Jax. Don't forget, though, you can't fool me. Never could, never will," Thao responded.

"I don't know what you mean," Jax answered, looking at his watch, wondering what else he could possibly be doing right now. "Why would I try to fool you?", he said off-handedly.

"Jax, my friend, I remember what today is, too. It is the 9th anniversary of Miranda's death.", came Thao's voice over the line.

Jax closed his eyes and sighed.

"Jax, it's been nine years. It's well past time to move on," Thao said gently.

"I have moved on, Thao. Now come on. You know...."

"No, Jax, you come on. In nine years, how many dates have you been on?" Thao interrupted, " One, two. For heaven's sake, you're still wearing your wedding ring!", he finished with a shout. There was a loud silence. Then Jax's voice came, almost inaudible.

"That's not true, Thao."

"Ex-excuse me?" Thao faltered, stunned. "What did you say?",

almost not believing what he had just heard.

Jax looked at his bare hand and sighed. "That's not true Thao", he repeated, louder. "I took off the ring."

Thao was still in shock. "What? I mean, that's good, but why? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad. Happy for you. In fact . . .", Thao rambled on.

Growing tired of Thao's babble, Jax tried to close the conversation.

"Look, Thao, I just decided it was time to move on. There's never going to be another Miranda, but . . ."

Thao interrupted him again. "Did you meet someone? Is that it, Jax?" He sounded excited, nervous and wary at the same time.

"No!" Jax exclaimed. "I just said that there was no one else like Miranda. Now, I have to go. It's Addie's day off, and I don't feel like ordering in. So I'm going to get a bite to eat. Talk later." With that, Jax hung up the phone, leaving a still stunned Thao hanging. Jax looked at his watch.

"Perfect," he said to himself. "I can go to the Outback and it won't be so crowded that people will see me and try to talk." With that thought, he grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Unexpected Love" part three

"Bryony?", Felicia asked again, a little unsure now.

"Um, hi, Felicia," Bryony responded in a quiet voice. Felicia's face lit up as she grabbed her younger sister in a bear hug, while Mac looked on in utter confusion.

"Felicia?, he asked. "Who's Bryony?" Not having any idea how they could know each other, he looked adorably baffled.

"Me! Haven't you been listening?", Bryony grinned wryly.

"She's my little sister, Mac," Felicia responded, still not letting Bryony

go.

"I'm kind of surprised you recognized me, Lecey. It's been so long," Bryony said, attempting to disentangle herself from her sister's grip.

"Remember you? Of course I remember you! You're my baby sister!," Felicia exclaimed. "But you're not a baby anymore, are you, Bree? Let's see. You're—"

"Twenty-four now," Bryony grinned. "Which means you're absolutely ancient." Bryony couldn't believe how easy it was to fall back into their old camaraderie. Maybe this hadn't been a mistake after all.

"Oh, you're going to have to pay for that remark! How's Aunt Luisa?"

Felicia asked, trying to catch up on all the news she's missed in the past year.

"Aunt Luisa?", Mac repeated. "What's this? Is there an entire family I don't know about? What other secrets have you been hiding from me, your best friend?"

"Oh, Mac, don't overreact," Felicia said calmly.

Bryony watched their exchange with a smile. Mac's look of outrage was just enough over-the-top for her to see he was kidding.

"It's just Bree, Aunt Luisa, Grandmother, the girls and I," Felicia continued. "After out parents died, Bree went to live with our aunt and I went with Grandmother. We saw each other often," Felicia explained.

"Yeah, until 12 years ago, when Lecey moved to PC. After that, we only wrote sporadically, completely stopping a year ago," Bryony said, looking at her sister.

"Yeah, I guess neither of us can write for long. But you never answered my question. How's Aunt Luisa?"

Bryony's smile fell off her face. "Umm, that's part of the reason I came. Lecey, Aunt Luisa died last week," she said gently.

Felicia looked shocked. "What? I don't believe it!"

"I'm sorry, Lecey. I truly wish it wasn't true, but it is. I knew you'd want to know, and I didn't want to do it over the phone."

Felicia took a steadying breath. "Wow. I can't believe it. I'm not sure why though. We weren't all that close. What happened, Bree?"

Bryony looked troubled as she sighed, very near tears. "There was a fire at the house. I was out to a movie and dinner with some friends. When I got home about 1 am that night, everything was gone. Aunt Luisa, our cat Simon, the house, our clothes, everything." Bryony broke down into tears, and both Felicia and Mac moved to hug her.

Just then, Jax walked into the Outback. The first thing he noticed was that the most beautiful woman in the world was crying. He walked over to where she was standing with Mac and Felicia just in time to hear the end of their conversation.

"You've lost everything, haven't you? Do you have any money or anything?", Felicia sympathetically asked.

Bryony looked really uncomfortable as her tears slowed. "Um, not really," she said softly. "Most of the money I've had in the bank was used for college expenses, the funeral, and the trip up here. Not to mention buying some necessary clothes, since all I had were shoes, jeans and a T-shirt. And then the hotel room and rental car I just got today." Bryony realized she was babbling nervously and stopped, blushing.

"Well, of course, honey. That makes perfect sense. But I want to make one thing clear. You are moving out of that hotel room right now and coming to stay with me," Felicia instructed.

Bryony was about to object when a gorgeous blond man appeared behind Mac.

"Hi, Jax," said Felicia, giving him a welcoming smile.

"Hi, there, Felicia, Mac," greeted Jax, bending down to give Felicia a friendly kiss on her cheek. "And who is this lovely lady?", he queried, turning his heart-melting smile on her that made all of her tears disappear as she smiled back.

"This is Bryony Cummings, my younger sister," Felicia introduced.

"*Very* charmed to make your acquaintance," Jax said, his Australian voice as smooth as silk as he took Bryony's hand and gently kissed it. "My name is Jax."

"Jax?", she questioned, nearly breathless from his one kiss. "No first name, or is it no last name?"

He laughed easily. "It's a nickname. Jasper Jacks is my full name. Speaking of names, Bryony is quite unusual. Where did you get it?"

"Well, my parents gave it to me," she tossed at him, grinning wickedly with no further trace of tears.

Jax laughed appreciatively. "I guess that. Where did your parents get it, if you don't mind me asking. It just sounds, I don't know, old, maybe."

"Well, that's because it is," Bryony admitted. "It's ancient Welsh, I think. I'm not quite sure where they got it from. By the time I was old enough to realize that it was odd, they had died."

Jax looked surprised. "I'm sorry. I didn't know, Miss Cummings."

"It's OK, really. I grew up with my aunt, and Lecey and I were close," she reassured him.

"Lecey?", Jax questioned.

"Felicia," Bryony explained. "I've called her that for as long as I can remember. She's also the one who started calling me Bree. Now almost everyone does. Speaking of my name, you don't have to be formal, calling me 'Miss Cummings'", she imitated, making a face. "It makes me sound so old-maidenish. Bryony or Bree will be fine."

Jax gave her another of his breath-taking smiles. "OK, Bryony it is. And you can call me Jax."

Felicia and Mac, who had been standing right there listening to the conversation, turned to walk away. Bryony noticed and stopped them. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" she demanded.

"The two of you were getting along so well....", began Felicia.

"...That we thought we'd leave you alone," Mac finished.

"Well, that was very considerate of you," Jax said with a grin. Turning back to Bryony, he asked, "Bryony, do you have any dinner plans?"

"Um, not that I know of. Why?", she asked, looking surprised as Jax felt. Why was he asking a strange woman out to dinner on this of all days? His answer surprised him even more.

"Well, I'm offering. 7pm here?," he asked, half hoping that she'd decline, but also wanting her to accept.

"I'd love to Jax, but I don't think so. This is my first night here, and I have a lot of catching up to do with Lecey, and I have to meet my nieces, and I have to...."

"Nonsense," Felicia interjected. "You can't meet the girls tonight because they're at the baby-sitter's for the night, and I'll certainly be here tomorrow. Come on, we can go get your stuff from the hotel and bring it to my place to get you ready."

"Hey, wait," Bryony protested. "I never once said that I'd move in with you. I can stay at the hotel for awhile. It's not a..."

"That's enough," Felicia commanded. "You're moving in with me," she smiled, "And you're going out with Jax tonight. Case closed." She walked away as Bryony glared at her, not believing she had just done that. She turned to Jax with a sigh.

"Well, you heard her. We're on. See ya in a couple of hours." She turned and stalked off. Jax laughed softly as he heard her muttering to herself, "Ooh, she's so annoying. Even bossier than before." He knew this was going to be one h*ll of an interesting evening.