Chapter 33

Carly yawned loudly as she rolled over in the wide bed.  She patted the space 
beside her and was very disappointed to find it empty.  She raised her head 
slightly and was comforted to hear the shower running. How he could be up so 
early and showering she would never know.  

She considered getting up and joining him but as tempting as that thought was, 
she just didn't have the energy.  Carly stretched out languidly in the middle of 
the wide bed and luxuriated in the feel of silk sheets against her bare skin.  
She smiled as she heard the shower shut off.

She threw the sheet off her and posed seductively as Jason padded into the room 
wearing only a little white towel.  "Good morning."  She purred.

Jason smiled at the picture she presented.  "Morning."

Carly crooked her finger.  "C'mere."

"With an invitation like that…" Jason crossed over to the bed.  

Carly hooked her fingers into the towel and pulled it away. She breathed in 
slowly as the towel flitted down to the floor.

"Ah, yes, that's much better."  Carly reached up and drew Jason down to her.  
Jason went more than willingly.  He covered her mouth in a deep kiss.  When he 
finally released her mouth they were both panting heavily.

Carly grinned.  "Now *that* was a good morning. But you need a shave."

Jason dropped onto the bed.  He ran his hand through her hair. "Did you have a 
good time last night?"

Carly chuckled.  "Oh, yeah!"

Jason smiled.  "I already know that.  I meant the date."

Carly trailed her hand down Jason's wet chest.  "Well…we didn't go dancing…"

"We did dance."  Jason frowned.

Carly giggled as she remembered how she'd dragged Jason out of the bed shortly 
after one.  He'd reluctantly slow danced with her.

"But dancing in a club is different."

"Yeah, you don't dance naked there."  Jason grumbled.  He stretched out on his 
back.

Carly hopped on top of him. "Did I thank you for dancing with me last night?"

Jason put his hands on her waist and squeezed gently.  "A few times but your 
gratitude is always welcomed."

"Well then…" Carly had started to bend down when out of the corner of her eye 
she spotted the clock.  "Oh my God."  She gasped.  "Is that clock right?"

"What?"  Jason asked bewildered.  He started to work his hands upwards.

Carly slapped his hands away.  "The clock?  Is it right?" She demanded.

"Yeah sure."  Jason tossed out, he didn't know and he didn't care. He wanted to 
get back to the matter at hand.

Unfortunately for him, Carly had other plans.  She scrambled off of Jason and 
across the bed.  Jason watched her in disbelief.

"Where's my clothes?"  Carly asked desperately. 

"In the living room where we left them."  Jason reminded her.

"Oh, right!"  Carly dashed out of the room.  Jason reluctantly got out of bed, 
grabbed a pair of boxer briefs, and followed her.

The sight of Carly wiggling into her dress greeted him.  "I can't believe this!" 
She squealed.  

Jason rubbed his jaw, Carly was right he did need to shave.  "Okay, what's 
wrong?"

"What's wrong?  What's wrong?"  Carly repeated.  "It's almost seven and I'm here 
and not at home!"

Jason came up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.  "You are 
home."  He started to nibble on her neck.

"Right now home is Spoon Island…where my son is."  She reminded him as she 
arched her neck to give him more room.

"Michael…right."  Jason had forgotten all about him.

"Yeah, Michael.  He's probably wondering where I am."  Carly stepped out of 
Jason's arms.  As much as she liked what he was doing to her, if they kept it up 
she'd never get home.  "So I gotta go now!"

"You know if you would just move back in here, you wouldn't have to do this."  
Jason grumbled as he shoved his hand through his hair.

"Do you have a hairbrush I could borrow?  My hair looks like a rats nest."  
Carly pointedly ignored his comment.

"Carly…" Jason growled.

"Mmm, I do like the way you say my name."  She smiled. "Look, I told you I need 
more time before I just up and move back in with you.  I don't want to rush 
things."

"Then what the hell was that?"  He gestured towards the bedroom.

"Uh."  Carly bit her lip.  "That was something we've both been waiting too long 
for?"

"Is it too much for me to want you back here with me?"  Jason asked. He was 
ready to start his new life with Carly and he wanted her with him.

"No, but is it too much for me to want a little time?"  Carly walked back over 
to Jason.  She wrapped her arms around.  "Be a little more patient and I'll make 
it worth your while."  She promised.

"Car-ly…" Jason growled again.

"Jay-son…" Carly mocked him. She smiled up at him.  "Please? I'll be very, very 
grateful."

"Well…if you put it like that…" Jason gave in as he knew he would. Right now he 
would do anything to get Carly back where she belonged but he wasn't about to 
push it.

"Thank you."  Carly gave him a quick peek on the lips.  When Jason moved to 
deepen the kiss she ducked out of the way.  She waggled her finger at him.  "Uh-
uh.  I have to go."

Jason sighed.  His plans for this morning were blown.  "Okay, give me a few 
minutes to get dressed and I'll give you a ride home."

"You don't have to do that." Carly said immediately.

"I want to."

Carly smiled to herself.  "Okay. Hey, how about we go dancing Saturday night?  
Michael will be with AJ for the weekend…I wouldn't have to come home early…" She 
offered sweetly.

"Sounds like a plan."

~*~*~

Carly floated into Wyndemere. She knew she was wearing the goofiest grin but she 
couldn't help it after the goodbye kiss Jason had given her at the docks…and the 
good morning kiss…and the "See you later" kiss…and the "See you on Saturday" 
kiss.  Carly sighed.  Things were going very well, she thought.

Carly started up the stairs, still thinking about Jason.  She didn't notice 
Nikolas on his way down. Luckily, he saw her and was able to get out of the way 
in time.  

"Good morning, Carly.  Just coming in from your date?"  He asked.

"What?"  Carly blinked and tried to clear her head.  "Oh, hey Nicky. What are 
you doing up so early?"

"I went riding on Sheba." He answered.  "So, it looks like things between you 
and Jason are working out."

"Yes, they are."  Carly smiled broadly.  "He loves me, Nikolas, and I couldn't 
be happier."

"Good, I'm happy things are going good for you." Nikolas nodded.

"What about you?"  Carly cocked her head to the side.  "Have you talked to Emily 
yet?"

"I went to see her yesterday but she was…occupied.  Alan may be coming home."  
Nikolas told her.

"Again?"  Carly gasped.  Why didn't AJ mention it when she saw him? Now she 
would have to take a trip over to the Quartermaines'.  

"Again."  Nikolas confirmed.  "So she was busy dealing with that."

"So you're using her father as an excuse to not tell her how you feel?"  Carly 
narrowed her eyes.

"No, no!  I'm going to tell her. Today, at the docks."  Nikolas said firmly.

"The docks?"  Carly gaped.  "I thought you were smoother than that? What 
happened to a nice dinner, a little candlelight, a little mood music?"

"Carly, I was going to tell her in the middle of her living room, all right?  I 
don't care about the setting."  Nikolas swore.

"Well, Emily might.  That's all I'm saying. If you'd think about it you would 
see that I'm right.  Which is rare I know but it does happen."

"I don't know…" Nikolas rubbed the back of his neck.  

"Look, I know for a fact that you Cassadines can be very romantic when you put 
your mind to it.  Look at the way Stefan romanced my mother." Carly propped her 
hand against her waist.  "You can do this.  I know it's in you."

"I, I'm going to have to make a lot of phone calls." Nikolas said hesitantly.

"You're a Cassadine!  Use your connections!" Carly urged. "Emily will love 
this…"

"Well…"

"Listen, I am very tired and I need at least another hour of sleep before I go 
over to the Qs and start up some major trouble.  I don't have the energy or the 
time to stand here and build you up.  Are you going to do this or not?"  

"Yes, I will."  Nikolas vowed.  "Wow, I have a lot to do now."

"Right, get to it."  Carly clapped him on his back.  "And I want a full report!"

~*~*~

Later

Carly knocked on the Quartermaine door again. She rolled her eyes. Didn't they 
have people to answer the door for them?  How hard is it to get the door?  

Reginald answered the door.  Carly hated Reginald. He had this way of looking 
down on her as if she was dirt on the bottom of his shoes. "What's up Reggie?"  
She sneered.

"The name is Reginald."  He shot back immediately.

"Whatever."  Carly waved her hand in front of him.  "Where's AJ?" She brushed 
pat him without waiting for an answer.

"AJ is not here, he's at work."  Reginald lied smoothly.

"Liar, I called ELQ and I was told he was working at home today. So, tell him 
I'm here…Reggie."  Carly folded her arms impatiently.

Reginald sighed.  This woman was one to try his patience.  If he didn't know 
better he would think she and Katherine Bell were related.  Reginald went over 
to the living room and threw open the doors. "Carly Spencer to see you."

AJ looked up from the papers he was going over in surprise. "Carly?  What are 
you doing here?  Is it Michael?"

Carly walked in and flopped down on the couch.  "Why do you always expect the 
worst?  No it is not Michael, it's-" She stopped to glare at Reginald who was 
still standing in the door.  "Don't you have some garbage to take out or some 
doors to eavesdrop at?"

Reginald rolled his eyes but held his tongue.  Maybe on his way to "take the 
garbage out" he'd run across Mrs. Quartermaine Jr. and let it slip that Carly 
was in the house.  That could prove to be fun, Reginald thought cheerfully.

AJ folded his arms and leaned against the desk.  "If it isn't Michael, why are 
you here?"

"I missed your smile?"  Carly said sarcastically. 

AJ scratched his ear.  "If the only reason you came here was to be sarcastic and 
to annoy Reginald, you could have done that on Saturday."

"I didn't come here for that though it is fun.  I came because of Alan."  Carly 
nodded at AJ's cringing look. "Yeah, I know about Alan…again!"

"What do you have here?  Spies?  Is Cook on your payroll?"  

"Quit avoiding the topic.  I want to know why I wasn't told about Alan's 
homecoming… again!  I told you before that this is very important to me.  I 
don't want my son in the same house as a junkie!"  Carly jumped off the couch.

"I'm a recovering alcoholic and you don't seem to have any problems with that."

"Well, you've been a recovering alcoholic a lot longer than Alan has been off 
the drugs.  Wasn't it barely two months ago that Alan was supposed to come back 
but he was caught?"

"People change, Carly.  I did and my father will too."  AJ said earnestly.

"Yeah, right."  Carly snorted. "Look, I just want to be informed about these 
things, okay?  I'm sick of hearing about this second-handedly. Whatever's going 
on in this family is going to affect Michael and as his mother I have to protect 
him."

"And as his father, it's my job also."  AJ said quietly.  "If Dad isn't…himself 
when he comes back, then Keesha and I will move into a suite at the Port Charles 
Hotel until things settled down and Michael will visit me there."

"Like the missus is going to like that." Carly snorted again. "That'll go over 
big."

"Could you stop with the snorting?  It's not attractive."  AJ complained.

Carly gasped.  "Like I want to be attractive for you!"

"That's right, you just reminded me.  How did things go between you and Jason 
last night?  I was very surprised to see the two of you together."

"Like you care.  But if you must know things went just fine."

"I don't care. I just don't want my son getting hurt because of this."

"My son!"  Carly shot back.

"Our son."  AJ amended.

"Michael's not going to get hurt.  He loves Jason."

"I know."  AJ said quietly. It still hurt at times to think about how much 
Michael seemed to prefer Jason over his own father. "So are Robin and Jason 
really broken up?"

"Would I be dating him if they weren't?"  Carly arched her eyebrow.

"That never stopped you before."  AJ answered truthfully.

"Yes, they are over."  Carly hissed.  "And this time Jason came to me, not the 
other way around."

"What happened between the two of them?"  AJ asked.  He was baffled at how Robin 
and Jason could be so in love one week and the next week Jason's wining and 
dining Carly.

"Look, people grow apart, it happens everyday.  If you want the details, you 
better ask Jason or Robin, not me."

Carly ran her hands through her hair and decided it was time to change the 
subject back to why she came. "Now, if we're done with my personal life, I just 
want to remind you that this thing with Alan better not hurt m-our" Carly 
corrected herself, "son."

"Carly, don't worry about it.  I have things all ready planned." AJ said 
soothingly.

"Right, the move to the Hotel.  Yeah, that'll work." Carly smirked. She checked 
her watch.  "I have to go.  I left Michael with…"

"Why didn't you bring him with you?" AJ asked quietly.  He would have loved to 
see his son.

"I didn't want him to hear us yelling at each other and Bobbie wanted to spend 
some time with her grandson."  Carly shrugged.

"You live in the same house!  She sees him all the time."  AJ argued.

"So?  It's a big house.  Besides she was taking him to see Ruby and Ruby never 
sees him!" Carly countered.  "AJ, you will see Michael on Saturday so just get 
over it, okay."

AJ groaned.  "I would just like to see Michael more often, that's all."

"I understand, AJ, but I didn't bring Michael today.  So stop making such a big 
deal about it." Carly snapped before marching out of the room and out of the 
house.  

Seconds later, Keesha flew down the stairs determined to give Carly a piece of 
her mind.  She was crushed to find out that she was already gone.  "She left?"  
She wailed. "Damn it!"

~*~*~

"Okay, I want the roses to be there at least an hour before.  I don't want any 
mix ups."  Nikolas stated firmly.  The florist on the other end of the line 
promised repeatedly that nothing will happen and of course, the flowers would be 
early.

Stefan strolled into his study and was surprised to see Nikolas was there.  
"Nikolas?"

Nikolas looked up from his list of things to get ready for the night.  "Hold on 
a minute, Uncle." Nikolas went back to his conversation. "And I want them to be 
red… no wait, make that yellow… on second thought, make them all pink but send 
one red.  That will be all."

"What are you doing?" Stefan inquired.  He was very interested in whatever it 
was that required Nikolas to order roses.

"I'm, uh, planning something… for Emily and me."  Nikolas tapped his pen on the 
desk nervously.  He knew that Stefan didn't approve of his relationship with 
Emily.  Though it didn't matter to him what Stefan thought, he didn't want to 
get another discussion about it.

"Oh?"  Stefan arched his eyebrow. "I thought the two of you were not dating."

"We aren't."  Nikolas admitted.  "But if things go well tonight…"

"Tonight is very special to you?"  As much as Stefan didn't approve of the girl, 
he did approve of anything that would make a smile return to Nikolas' face.  

"Yes, tonight is very special."  Nikolas nodded.

"If all goes well, am I to expect Miss Quartermaine's prescience on the island 
once more?"

Nikolas wasn't sure if they would go back to their old relationship of spending 
as much time as possible together.  "I certainly hope so." Nikolas smiled 
brightly.

Stefan nodded.  "Perhaps I could offer my assistance with anything?"

Nikolas shook his head.  "I'm almost done.  I just have a few more calls to make 
and then I have to go meet Emily at the docks and tell her about the change in 
plans."

"She doesn't know about it?"

"No, it's a surprise.  I hope she'll like it." 

~*~*~

Later Still

Emily checked her watch again as she paced along the docks. Nikolas was supposed 
to have met her here at least ten minutes ago.  She scanned the water again.  No 
sign of the launch so maybe he was already on land but was somewhere else. She 
wondered what he wanted to talk to her about. He was secretive the other day and 
nervous. Emily hoped he hadn't forgotten about her. 

Emily was thinking of leaving when someone tapped her on her shoulder.  She 
turned around with a big smile.  "Nikolas! Finally!"  Her smile dimmed a little 
when she realized that it was Tino.

"Hey, chica."  Tino smiled.

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard you were going to be here.  Where's the Nik man?"  Tino looked around.

"Who told I would be here?"  Emily frowned.

Tino shrugged. "Risa told me.  She said that your… friend seemed to make a big 
deal about it."

"Well, I don't like Marisa telling other people about my personal life."  

"What, I'm not a part of your life anymore? You didn't want me to know?"  

"No, it's not like that."  Emily swallowed. "It's just that this is between me 
and Nikolas.  Marisa had no right telling you about my business, even if it's 
harmless."

"Look," Tino started to rub her arm.  "I'm sorry.  I'm apologizing for myself 
and for Risa. She never should have told me."

Emily sighed. "It's not that important.  I just have something very important to 
talk to Nikolas about and…"

"Hey, it's okay.  I just got worried when Risa told me you were coming to the 
docks, that's all."

"Why? The docks are perfectly safe." 

"No place is ever perfectly safe, especially the docks."  Tino said quietly.

Emily was going to ask what he meant by that but the sound of the launch coming 
in distracted her.  "That should be Nikolas."  Emily said with a smile.

Nikolas spotted Emily and headed her way, his walk slowing when he saw Tino was 
there with her. "What's he doing here?"  He asked coldly.

"Tino just bumped into me."  Emily lied quickly.  "Isn't that funny, how we're 
all here?"

"Funny, right.  I need to talk to you. Alone."  Nikolas spoke directly to Emily.

"Hey, what's up Nik?"  Tino said cheerfully.  He made it plain that he wasn't 
going anywhere.

"Would you excuse us?"  Emily said politely.  Someone had to be civilized.  She 
walked a few feet away from Tino and Nikolas followed.  "Okay, what is it?"

Nikolas shot a quick look at Tino and quickly came up with a way to tell Emily 
about the change in plans.  "I can't talk to you with Tino over there."

"I'll just tell him to go."  Emily offered.

"No, why don't you go home, put on your best dress and I'll pick you up in two 
hours?"  Nikolas smiled.

"What?"  Emily gaped. Where did this come from?

"Just do it."  Nikolas urged.  "I don't think the docks is an appropriate place 
for what I wanted to discuss with you."

"But… you want me to dress up?"  Emily asked.

"Yeah and do that thing with your hair where you put it up with the curls."  
Nikolas reached out and gently touched a lock of hair.  He thought he heard a 
growl from behind him but he wasn't sure. 

"I, uh, okay."  Emily grinned.  "Best dress, curly hair, you got it.  But could 
give me just a hint about what's going on here?"

"Nope."  Nikolas shook his head.  "I'll see you later then." Nikolas trailed his 
finger down her jaw before walking back to the launch.

Emily watched him go in wonder.  What on earth was he planning?

"What was that?"  Tino demanded to know from behind her.

Tino…she'd forgotten about it.  "Uh, Tino, I have to go home.  I'll see you in 
the group tomorrow, okay?"  Emily leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on his 
cheek.  "See you!"

Tino touched his cheek as Emily walked away.  He glared out at Spoon Island.  
What was Nikolas Cassadine up to?