Chapter Three

A week later, Courtney Matthews was on board an early morning flight to Port Charles, New York, where she would be taking over the job as president and operating owner of Phillips-Matthews, one of the largest companies in the city.

It had taken a week for her to get everything settled and make the arrangements for her bank accounts to be transferred to the P.C. Bank and finish the work she was during for the tenants she had in San Francisco. Then, she’d handed those over to Perry and most of the time was spent packing for the move. She’d decided not to sell her penthouse, since it was the first home she’d ever lived in on her own, and Perry had said he’d watch it, although he didn’t understand the sentimental value of it.

Perry…she missed her older brother already. When she told him about their grandmother’s offer, he hadn’t been surprised. He’d known about it and had encouraged Louise to offer the position to his little sister, knowing that she would most likely say yes. He was happy that they would both be running the two separate family companies, but he was sad to see her go. That didn’t stop him from asking about her personal life, though.

**Flashback**

Courtney was in her penthouse packing her clothes, when Perry walked in

“Hey, in a hurry to leave?” he joked, spying all the boxes and bags scattered around the living room.

“I wouldn’t say that. And, don’t you know how to knock?” she responded, glaring at him. Even when they were in high school, he would always march right into her room, never mind knocking, whenever he wanted to talk to her.

“Yeah, I know how, I just don’t do it.”

Courtney chuckled. “So, why are you here, to help me back?”

Perry laughed, looking around the room again. There were piles of clothes, pictures, dishes and blankets all over the floor. It looked as if a hurricane had blown through it. “Not hardly. Mr. Jasper Jacks has been calling me and practically begging me to persuade you to take him up on his offer for dinner.”

She stopped packing a pile of jeans in a box and spun around. Would the man never give up? He’d already sent her a dozen white roses after she didn’t return his first phone call and now he was trying to get her brother to plead his case to her? That turned her off even more. What guy would do that, one stuck in high school? Fixing him with an icy stare, she asked, “You’re not here to do that, are you? Because, if you are, you can walk right back out the door.”

Her older brother sensed the defensive tone in his baby sister’s voice. She was definitely against having any sort of interaction with Jasper Jacks and Perry couldn’t say he blamed her. Jacks was the kind of man who would push to get what he wanted and that, in this case would annoy anyone. She’d told him no and he wouldn’t respect her by backing off.

“Court, you know me. I’m not going to try to get you to go on a date with him. But, I do have something to talk to you about that’s indirectly related to this ‘issue’ with Jasper Jacks,” he responded cautiously. This was most likely a sensitive issue for her and he didn’t really want to get her angry at him just before flying off to the other side of the country.

“What is it?”

“Well, since you’re leaving, I was hoping you’d explain why you’re scared of being with someone to me.”

Slowly, Courtney turned around to face her brother. Was he accusing her of being scared of love? “Perry, I know what you’re getting at, but don’t go there. My love life, or lack of, is off limits,” she warned.

Perry backed off. “Okay, I’m sorry. Well, I’ve got to go, office work calls. I’ll see you before you leave.”

**End Flashback**

Courtney sighed. Her brother had asked about her lack of love life, by her own choice, before but for some reason, he’d seemed more interested since the owner of Jacks, Inc had expressed open interest and determination in persuing her.

She tried to push it back into her head, far away from her thoughts, but as soon as that day was, a new train of thought emerged. The dream she’d hade just a week before. The one with a man with the most gorgeous blue eyes in the world and a body that would make any woman melt. Frustrated, Courtney reached into her bg and pulled out a small black book and began to write.

So, here I am, on my way to Port Charles, New York to start a new life. Well, sort of. Maybe it’s just me starting a new path, not exactly a new life.

            I can’t help but wonder if I’m going to like it there. I know it’s so different than San Francisco and it’ll be nice to have a change in scenery, but this isn’t a short vacation. It’s forever, however long that may be.

            Perry asked me about my lack of love life again and pretty much accused me of being scared of love. I love him to death and I trust him more than anyone but I couldn’t tell him why I’ve never had a date in my life or why I didn’t want to date in high school. It’s the deepest desire of mine to fall in love, it really is, and I’m not scared of it. It’s just that I can tell whether I’d want to date or marry someone the second I see them. I know I’ll find him eventually. He’ll be perfect.

            My mind always goes back to the dream and the man in it. He was perfect in every single way, his body, his eyes and his personality. I could tell everything about him just from my dreams, that he was just what I like in a man. I’ve always been around cocky, self-conscious, squeaky clean men my entire life and I don’t like them. They’re afraid to get dirty and back out of everything.

            Maybe my soul mate will find me in Port Charles.

~*~

Mob boss Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan stood in the living room of the Corinthos penthouse, talking business. Not mob business, but part of the legit coffee business, with slight indication of the illegal.

“Okay, so Phillips-Matthews has a new president, since Gerald Fox retired. Sources say it’s a woman and she should be here today.” Sonny said, pouring himself a drink. The change of control in Phillips-Matthews wouldn’t be a problem if the woman kept things the way they were, but if major changes were made, they’d have to fix it.

“So, you want me to talk to her, see what’s going on?” Jason asked, knowing what his partner was getting at. New control over their leasing company posed a problem, not only to them, but also other people within the business, Faith Rosco especially. There was no telling what she would do when surprises on the waterfront popped up and they definitely didn’t need to have to deal with that right now.

“No, no, not yet. We’ll wait for her to ask to see us, play by their rules. It could turn out worse for us to waltz in there and ask to see the new president before she even gets settled. She could get irritated and pull the leases, who knows. We don’t know her and until we do, we’re going to play this how the company wants to play it. They could not even change anything at all.”

Jason nodded. “Okay, I’ll go when and if she contacts us. If not, after she’s been here a week, I’ll set up an appointment.”