Chapter
Four
As Brenda
straightened up the living room of her cottage, in preparation
for the pajama party she was having with Lois and Alexis that
night, she thought over the events of the day, bad and good.
Lunch at the Port Charles Grill had proven to be the final
business expense for L&B Records, when Lois had revealed that
the company had, in fact, and in spite of their best efforts,
been bought by J&J Jacks of Alaska. They were broke, and out
of business.
It had been
months since Brenda had modeled for Deception, and even though
she had immediately called her boss, Lucy Coe, she wouldn't be
able to work for a few months, at least, until Lucy could
organize a new campaign. And so Brenda had made another phone
call, to scrounge up money, to Katherine Bell, realtor to Port
Charles' VIP, hoping to rent out the guest room in her cottage.
She had offered the room to Alexis, who declined the offer, since
she had just moved out of the PC Hotel and into an apartment
about the law offices that she, and her partner, Scotty Baldwin
had recently opened. Though Katherine promised to be discreet
about Brenda's identity to potential renters, she was privately
determined to ensure that Brenda's new roommate would be nothing
but trouble for the model, Katherine's former employee at
Deception.
With that part of
business done, Alexis, Lois, and she had decided to end Brenda's
solo days in the cottage with a slumber party, scheduled to start
in twenty minutes. As she stoked the fire, Brenda gazed into the
flames and couldn't help but remember the other part of lunch,
the better part, the part that made her feel hotter that the
flames into which she was looking.
Before the
turmoil of the day had commenced, she had been enjoying lunch at
the PC Grill, although, she admitted to herself, she had been a
little distracted waiting for a reply from FlyGuy, and after
disclosing her little secret to Lois and Alexis, she had suddenly
received an instant message from FlyGuy himself. He had said:
FlyGuy: Hi
She, in turn, had
replied:
PrncessBB: Hi
FlyGuy: How are you?
PrncessBB: Fine. And you? How are you?
It was after
that, that the conversation had gotten sticky, with both she and
FlyGuy stepping on each other's conversations, out of
nervousness, and because they were each being influenced by
outside sources, she by Lois and Alexis, and Jax by Jerry.
PrncessBB: Sorry
FlyGuy: Fine. Why?
FlyGuy: Why are you sorry?
PrncessBB: Good. I mean, I'm nervous
FlyGuy: Me too.
PrncessBB: That's why I'm sorry.
FlyGuy: Don't ever be sorry.
A long, awkward
pause followed, before each of them simultaneously asked the
question that had been burning in their minds, since their
friends and family had pestered them about it earlier. Actually,
they each admitted to each other, they had been wondering it a
lot longer than that.
FlyGuy: Are
you married?
PrncessBB: Are you married?
After such
blatant synchronicity on their parts, both Brenda and Jax relaxed
visibly. They each sent each other a smiley face
FlyGuy::)
PrncessBB::)
and gave each
other the answer they had been longing to hear:
FlyGuy: No
PrncessBB: No
PrncessBB: I really loved the poem you sent me. It was so
beautiful. It moved me; it was beautiful and soulful and
musical-everything I imagine you to be.
Getting wide-eyed
looks from both Lois and Alexis, Brenda continued, unaware that
just outside the restaurant, Jerry Jacks snickered at her
remarks, and began chiding Jax about his new role as poet
laureate of the Jacks family.
PrncessBB: Umm-I
can't really talk right now. I want to but, I'm kind of in the
middle of a big business thing.
FlyGuy: No problem. Me too. I'm waiting for some business
associates right now. We'll talk later, okay?
PrncessBB: Yes! Great, I'll talk to you later. Like this.
We should do this again.
FlyGuy: Definitely. Talk to you later, Princess.
PrncessBB: Thanks for the poem. Bye
FlyGuy: Bye.
And just as
quickly as it had started, it was over. In the lobby of the Port
Charles Hotel, Jax watched PrncessBB log off of America Online,
and as Jerry approached the concierge for a newspaper, Jax seized
the opportunity to write to his Princess. *His* Princess? Was she
*HIS* Princess? Was she his Princess? It was crazy. He barely
knew her. Like Jerry said, she could be some psychopath or a
stalker or god knows what. Not that it would matter, he reminded
himself. It wasn't like he really cared about her, beyond any
casual sort of-Who are you kidding, Jax? WHO? You can't stop
thinking about her, you can't stop writing to her--maybe they
should meet?
Staring into her
fireplace, Brenda recalled asking the very same question to Lois
and Alexis. "Maybe we should meet?" Meeting the
astonished gazes of her friends, Brenda laughed off the idea.
"Yeah. Cuss it's so *real* and so *romantic*! Yeah right!
Maybe it'll just be the new Deception campaign, I mean, maybe
it'll---It COULD be the new Deception campaign! You guys, I did
it!"
"That
actually might work," Alexis admitted. "It's certainly
more clever than just selling you looks. I mean, with this angle,
you're selling you're entire personality and in essence, saying
that the fragrance represents everything about you and attracts
men to everything about you." Lois signed the bill, with a
sigh, and put the L&B credit card away.
"Well that
was fun while it lasted." As the three partners made their
way out of the restaurant and into the lobby, Brenda and Alexis
tried to cheer up Lois, but upon reaching the lobby, Brenda, now
realized that the day had gone from bad to worse. Correction,
worse than worse. Just as Lois was the most upset over losing her
dream, the loss was only flaunted in their faces at the sight of
Jasper and Jerrold Jacks, who were lately known to Brenda, Lois,
and Alexis as the "Brothers Grimm." Alexis had halted
them in their tracks, as Lois, Brenda, and she had watched
"Jax" and "Jerry" working on a computer and
reading the newspaper, Brenda's temper got the better of her.
Immersed in
writing a reply to PrncessBB, Jax didn't even notice the
approaching women until Jerry elbowed him in the ribs.
"Bingo." Jax looked up and caught his breath at the
most utterly beautiful and amusing scene he had ever witnessed.
Approaching the couch and coffee table he and his brother
occupied was one of the most bewitching creatures he had ever
seen. Her long brown hair came to rest on the lapels of her gray
pinstripe suit; her chocolate eyes flashed fire in his direction
as he watched her struggle, locked in a death grip with two other
beautiful women, also dressed in business suits, who seemed more
than reluctant to approach them.
Brenda stood
directly in front of the blond one, "Jax," but was too
angry to notice how his aquamarine eyes gazed over every inch of
her, noticing how the angry amber flecks in her eyes and the
flush on her cheek only made her look more enticing and more
irresistible. This one was a handful, alright. Before Jax could
address the women, Jerry stepped forward. "Ms. Davis. Ms.
Cerullo. Ms. Barrett." He extended his hand to each one in
kind, and was brutally rebuffed by all. Recognition dawned on
Jax's face, and as he was about to stand, he was distracted by
the movement in the "irresistible" one's eyes, Ms.
Barrett, and he could see her mind spinning.
Ignoring Jerry's
remarks, Brenda turned from them men to her partners "Hey,
Lo? Alex? What do you think of these flowers?" Jerry, Lois,
and Alexis were puzzled, but Jax could anticipate some sort of
set-up. "I mean, how do you think they'd look at the Jacks
Brothers' funeral, after I kill them for stealing out
company?" And in an instant, Jax, the easier target, since
he was still sitting, found the entire vase of flowers dumped
over his head, triumphantly by Ms. Barrett. He couldn't help but
smile as wet leaves and petals plastered themselves to the back
of his neck; a woman after his own heart.
Lois and Alexis
stifled a laugh as they finished the gag. "'Ya know, Bren? I
dunno if those are really the right flowers for him? Whaddya say?
Maybe those lilies over there might be better?"
Alexis removed
her glasses from her pocket and inspected the still dripping
"Jax" as though she were seriously contemplating the
effectiveness of wildflowers vs. lilies. "Actually, I think
these will do, although lilies might look nice on" and she
paused, using the finger quotation gesture that had been a source
of amusement for the three since they were first confronted with
the Jax brothers, "Jerry."
Jerry's patience
gave way with a "Why you little-" but he was cut short
by a unanimous "Buh-bye," as Alexis, Lois, and Brenda
made their way out of the hotel, as the concierge and bellman
tried desperately to dry Jasper Jacks.
Brenda laughed to
herself as she put a bunch of CD's in her multi-disc player,
still picturing the dripping wet "Jax." She could see
the petals and leaves sticking and dripping on his expensive
Italian suit, the way the white shirt, soaked with water, clung
to his broad chest, the way that the leaf that stuck itself above
his left eyebrow seemed to bring out all the green specks in his
eyes. Revenge was so very , very sweet.
**
Jax hung up the
phone, and turned to his brother in the penthouse they shared.
Jerry looked up from his magazine, urging his brother to
continue. "That was Katherine something on the phone. She's
some real estate agent here, and she heard about the 'incident'
with Ms. Barrett, and was wondering if I was looking for an
alternate residence."
"You're
moving out? Jax, you just got here!"
Jax sighed and
ran his hands through his hair. "We're gonna be here a
while, and I'm sick of living out of a hotel. I want a house, a
home, 'paradise,' 'heaven.' I described to her what I was looking
for, and she said she thinks that something just became
available, on the outskirts of town: a pristine white, Victorian
cottage. Some woman, with no family, needs some help taking care
of the place; Katherine says that she recently came into some
financial troubles, and needs to rent it out. It'll work, for
now. She's taking me to see it tomorrow."
**
"Tomorrow?" Alexis held the phone to Brenda's ear, as
Lois finished painting her nails. "You found someone that
soon?"
In her canopy bed
on the other side of Port Charles, Katherine grinned from ear to
ear. "Just looking, Brenda. You can't expect me to rent out
you room without showing the house. It's not a definite thing.
Don't worry about it. Just straighten up and put all of the
pictures of yourself away. We don't want anyone to know it's you
just yet, right?"
"Right,
Katherine. I'll be at Alexis' office or at Deception tomorrow, so
you can reach me on my cell phone if you need me. You know, if
they take it. Make sure I get the message, okay?"
"Oh, you'll
get the message, Brenda. Goodnight." Katherine hung up the
phone and turned out the light. Revenge was so very, very sweet.