Chapter Four

Courtney’s plane arrived in Port Charles at 9:30am. All of her boxes and bags had been delivered to where she was going to stay, a loft she bought before leaving California. It had come fully furnished so she left the old furniture she’d had at the penthouse in California but sent everything else ahead of her, two days before.

Outside of the airport, she got a cab and gave him the address of the building, and twenty minutes later, she stood outside. The air was a bit chilly, very different from the weather on the west coast, but the change didn’t bother her. So, this is where I’m going to live, Courtney said to herself, going inside.

The apartment Ms. Willis lived in was found pretty easily and she knocked on the door. The woman had said she would be home and Courtney could come by to give her the money for the loft she was buying. The blond lightly knocked on the door again and a few seconds later, a small black woman opened it. She looked nice enough, in a motherly way. “You must be Courtney Matthews.”

Courtney smiled and nodded. “Yes, I am. You said I could come by and get the key and drop off the check when I got in.”

Ms. Willis beckoned her inside and closed the door behind her. The apartment was small and it was evident that she lived there alone. Jamaican and Caribbean sculptures and paintings decorated the room. “That I did. Here is the key. The movers put the boxes in the loft already.” She held the key out to her and Courtney took it, feeling the cold metal against her finger tips as reality washed over her. She was really going to be living here, in New York.

“Thank you, I appreciate it,” she said, and handed the check to the woman.

“You’re very welcome. I hope you enjoy the place.”

Looking at the number on the key, she started her search for the loft that she would now call home.

~*~

Kelly’s diner was slow this morning and Elisabeth and Penny were standing behind the counter when Carly walked in, heading downstairs.

“Carly, wait. Jason called a little bit ago and told me to let you know that he’d get the blue prints and bring them over for you.” Penny informed the woman, catching her just as she reached the stairs that led to Kelly’s basement, where Carly’s club was now housed.

“Okay, thanks. Could you just send him down when he gets here, Penny?”

“Sure, Carly”

Elisabeth, having heard all the dialogue between Carly and Penny, sighed with sadness. She hadn’t seen much of Jason over the past two months since their breakup and she knew that it was intentional on his part. He didn’t want to see her because of what had happened the night two months ago. Now, she regretted that night with everything that was in her. She still wanted to be with him, but it was nearly impossible for that to happen, Elisabeth knew. She’d said things that were horrible, but at the time, she’d meant them.

Five minutes later, Jason walked into the diner with a roll of paper, obviously Carly’s needed blue prints, in his strong hands. Elisabeth avoided looking at him, knowing that it would only bring more pain, to look into his deep blue eyes. But, if he talked to her, she’d respond. Maybe that would be the first sign that they could slowly rebuild their relationship.

“Hey, Penny, is Carly here? I’ve got her blue prints.” Jason asked, blatantly ignoring the other waitress. He couldn’t talk to her, not after all she’d said to him.

“Yeah, she just came in. She said to send you downstairs.” Penny responded, noting the tension in the air.

He nodded and went down the stairs, with Elisabeth looking after him with tears in her eyes. She’d lost him forever and there was nothing she could do about it.

~*~

Courtney put the key in the lock and slowly turned it to unlock the door to the loft she would now call home. Slowly, the door opened and she could see inside. The living room held a ream colored couch with a dark cherry coffee table in front of it. There was no television but she hadn’t wanted one so it didn’t matter. A small kitchen was at her left, a refrigerator and stove between counters. A hallway stood on the other side of the room, most likely leading to a bathroom. There wasn’t a bedroom, just a bed surrounded by shelves that separated it from the living room and a fireplace on the one solid wall that was there. It was beautiful and had a cozy feel to it.

I’m home, she said to herself, taking it all in. The movers had stacked her boxes neatly around the furniture, so nothing was blocking her way. Slowly, she placed the key on a key shelf and walked over to a stack of boxes, opening one up and beginning to unpack. Her life was starting over again and tomorrow, she’d go to the office building of Phillips Matthews and get to work. But today, she had to put her life back together after moving.

~*~

Jason found Carly in her office at the back of The Cellar, her first club. It was a hit and she enjoyed working with it but, she also wanted another one, and that was what the blue prints were for. Once Carly started on one project and that one had a great turn out, she had to start another one.

“Carly, here’s the blue prints. Anything else you need before I go?”

The woman looked up from her work for just a second before continuing on with the papers she was filling out. “Thanks so much, Jase. No, I don’t need anything else. Ric called a few minutes ago and said he was finishing up something for Sonny and he’ll be here. I’ll send him if I need anything.”

Jason nodded, relieved that she didn’t have any other errand for him to run. He loved Carly to death, sure, but she figured he had nothing better to do than run around getting things she needed. He walked out of the office and was heading up the stairs when the cell phone in the pocket of his leather jacket started to ring. “Yeah, okay, I’ll be right there

~*~

“Okay, Marco says that the woman is in town and she’s already got a loft that she’s moved into.” Sonny said to his right hand man and partner as he walked around his office. Jason sat on the edge of the desk, hands crossed over his hard chest, listening to the new information.

“She’s settling in pretty quickly, then. If she doesn’t decide to change the leases, she most likely won’t contact us. But, I’ll still give her a week and make an appointment so we can get this off to a good start.” Jason replied. He didn’t want to give the woman a bad impression, no, but they did need to know who each other were, just for business sake. Sonny obviously didn’t usually have meetings with the leasing companies, so Jason had to do most of the interaction on both of their parts.

“Okay, you do that. But, we’ve also got another problem: Faith Rosco. She wants to lease Pier 85 from Phillips-Matthews. You need to convince her that we will not let that happen.”

“Got it.”

“She’s becoming too arrogant, too confident, Jason. Not to mention she wants that pier for more drug access. The next shipment she has, I want it destroyed.”