Chapter Five

Early the next morning, Courtney Matthews was sitting in her office, going over the tenant files that Gerald Fox had left for her. Most of the leases that the company had were to Morgan-Corinthos, a coffee business. Her intuition as a businesswoman told her that that was not all that they did. She would have to research these two and then figure out how to deal with this.

She knew that if they were into illegal activity, new stipulations would be created to make sure that the company was not implicated in anything if Morgan-Corinthos happened to get caught. It didn’t bother her if they did do illegal activity on her property, that was their problem and at least they were paying them money, a lot of money. That was the main issue. Stipulations would have to come into play as a consequence of now being allowed to use the piers and have the president of the company knew that illegal activity was taking place on her property. Gerald Fox hadn’t known, obviously, or else he would have talked to her about it.  Her job was to make this company successful and as long as they weren’t shipping drugs or arms, she would let them continue with their business, on her rules. This was her playground and the kids would play how she wanted or they’d get off.

~*~

Morning found Jason Morgan outside his penthouse, talking to Johnny about their newest task.

“Okay, and you’re sure that the next shipment comes tonight?” he questioned the man. He’d just told Morgan that Faith’s latest shipment, which was to be landing at Pier 85 when it arrived, would be tonight. Faith was moving fast to get that pier if Johnny’s information was accurate. This information did not make Jason Morgan, the most feared man in Port Charles, happy at all. It wasn’t good for anyone.

“Yes, sire. Her men aren’t too good at keeping things quiet.”

“Okay, thanks. I want you, Marco and James to intercept that shipment and destroy it.” Jason ordered the man, knowing that the three of them were capable of handling it.

“Yes sir.”

Jason fixed him with a stern, icy death stare. “Johnny, I know you guys can handle this but if you screw it up, it won’t be good for you.”

Johnny turned to the elevator as Jason followed him. They rode downstairs in the contraption and went their separate ways, Johnny into a black SUV and the blue-eyed man to his motorcycle. It was time for an early morning ride again.

Jason reached Vista Point and hopped off of the motorcycle, heading to his usual spot. The blond haired woman was still on his mind on a consistent basis and she wouldn’t go away, especially not when he laid in bed trying to go to sleep at night. Loneliness would creep over him, not for Sonny, for Carly, Micheal, Morgan or even Elisabeth. No, definitely not Elisabeth. The only woman he felt lonely for was the dream woman.

The feeling in his heart, the feeling that he knew was love, had stayed strong and he could feel it with every beat of the main muscle of his body. But, with that feeling came pain, because he was not with her and she was a dream, nonexistent. The only woman he’d ever loved this much was in a dream. How pathetic is that, Morgan, he asked, scoffing at himself.

Looking out over the lake, his thoughts took a quick turn to the night he and Elisabeth had broken up. That night, she’d told him she loved him and he couldn’t tell her the same. He didn’t love her and he wouldn’t lie to her about his feelings. She’d wanted him to lover her and was upset that he didn’t, so before he knew it, she was crying hysterically and told him that he was ‘an unemotional hit man who didn’t and couldn’t feel anything for anyone besides Sonny Corinthos.

After she’d said that, he told her to get out of the penthouse. And that had been their breakup, more dramatic than it needed to be in his honest opinion. Now, he stayed away from her, because he realized that he could never have the type of feelings she demanded of him for her. To be honest, she didn’t make him happy and the relationship had been mostly parasitic, her taking so much from him but giving nothing in return. She didn’t help him, Elisabeth only wore him out. He hadn’t loved her and she knew that, but whenever he saw her, Jason could see that she wished he did. But, he couldn’t.

Jason ran a large, strong hand through his hair with a deep sigh. The woman in his dream had loved him and he loved her. That love he’d seen in her eyes in the dream, it was different than what he saw in everyone else’s. It was pure, unselfish and undemanding of him; as if all she wanted to do was love him and be with him, not tell him what to do all the time. It went deeper than anyone else’s and that’s the way he knew he loved her, even if she was a dream.

~*~

The blonde woman sat on the bed in the loft, her laptop computer in front of her and the Morgan-Corinthos coffee warehouse file beside her. The web page on the computer screen held an article on Micheal ‘Sonny’ Corinthos Jr. and Jason Morgan, written by the local newspaper. The article confirmed what her intuition had told her, that the coffee warehouse owners were suspected of having mob ties.

Sighing, Courtney shut the computer down and sat it beside her bed. Okay, now, I’ve got to have a meeting with Mr. Corinthos and Mr. Morgan and go over the new terms of their leases. I’ll call them tomorrow morning. Again, she took the journal she had off the stand beside her bed, opening it to a new page, feeling the fresh, crisp paper under her elegant fingers.

The first day of work…it was strange to not have Perry in the same building, his office so close to mine. I’m so used to him being there and now, suddenly, he’s on the other side of the country. I miss him, much more than I thought I would.

The dream I had still keeps coming back to me. The blue-eyed man is always there, when I close my eyes at night and when I wake up in the morning. The entire time I was going over the files today, his chiseled features, perfect body and gorgeous eyes would pop into my head, so unexpectedly.

Why is he always there? And why do I feel love for a man that has only existed in one dream? It refuses to go away or even fade, it feels exactly the way it felt in the dream, so real.

Even now, I find myself craving his touch and then, I remember that he’s not real and I want to cry. I truly love him, even if he is just a man from a dream. How ridiculous is that, to fall in love with a nonexistent person? Maybe I’m going crazy.

See? That should prove to Perry that I’m not scared of love. I fell in love and I want the person to be real so I can be with him. So, there, big brother, eat your heart out. No, don’t really. But, if I told him that the man who finally is everything I wanted in a man is in a dream I had, he’d have me committed to an asylum.

But, it’s true. He is everything I’ve always wanted in a man. He’s everything I’ve waited for to walk into my life and he did, while I was sleeping.

~*~

“Damn it, Johnny! You said that the shipment would be coming in for sure and suddenly it just disappeared?” Sonny Corinthos yelled that night, with Johnny, Marco, James and Jason present. The shipment that the guard had informed Jason of hadn’t done so and Johnny had no idea what had happened to the ‘precious’ cargo.

“Sir, I don’t know,” he responded, eyes wide with fear of his boss. This was one of the few times Sonny had ever let anyone besides Jason and Carly see how angry he was and it had Johnny to the point of trembling with fright.

“Well, you should know! You’re the one who gave Jason the information and then allowed the shipment to suddenly vanish into thin air!”

Sonny walked back to his desk and flipped the chair over, causing Johnny to flinch. Jason watched him with sharp eyes, examining his demeanor. He was nervous about something and it wasn't just the fact that he'd screwed up or that Sonny was angry that made him like that. The guard's eyes darted back and forth sporadically and he wasn't able to look at either Morgan or Corinthos, which Jason knew could mean only one thing: betrayal.

Jason Morgan's blood boiled and he stepped in front of the three guards, pacing, his glare colder and more cruel than when he was usually working. Marco and James stood still, knowing that this was a major problem and that Johnny had probably made the biggest mistake of his life.

"Why so nervous, Johnny? You scared of something?" Jason looked at him with the cold stare. Johnny continued to fidget. "Stop moving! What did you do and how much did Faith pay you?" Jason yelled, louder than Sonny had just moments before There wasn't anything he hated more than a traitor and the way that this one was shaking gave him away. Marco and James both kept looking straight ahead, not moving, so Jason knew that they had not been in on their coworker's scheme.

Johnny whimpered. "She threatened to kill me."

"Then you should have died! You knew the risks of the job!" Jason reached inside his waistband and had his gun out, cocked and pointed at the man's head before Johnny could even attempt to move. His eyes grew wide with fear as he looked down the barrel of Jason Morgan's gun. He'd seen people in this situation before but had not experienced the horror of it.

Sonny, who had been standing behind his desk, watching the ordeal, spoke. "Marco, James, you can leave. Call Meyer and see if you can help him with what he's doing."

Both men left the room, leaving Jason Morgan and Sonny Corinthos in the office with a guard who would not live to see the light of another day. Sonny was about to blow. One of his guards, one of the most trusted, had turned on him, distracted them and who knew what had happened in that space of time. Who knew if there really was a shipment of drugs or not? Stepping around the desk, Sonny looked at Jason.

"Put the gun down, Jase."

As the man did so, Johnny looked relieved that he was no longer in a staring match with the weapon. Jason noticed and as he tucked it back into his jeans, he said, "Don't look so happy. It won't last long."

Sonny ran a hand over his face and looked at his best friend, "I'll take care of it." Chocolate met sky as Jason looked him straight in the eyes and nodded before leaving the office. Five men had been in that room but only four would walk out of there alive.

~*~

Courtney exited Kelly's diner after finishing a meal. She hadn't had time to go shopping for groceries yet so there wasn't any food in her refrigerator. That was something she'd have to do tomorrow. Wow, I've got two things to do already. Grocery shopping and setting up an appointment with Morgan-Corinthos. Busy day, she thought in amusement

The city of Port Charles had already grown on her, with the loft, her company and the small diner. Everything was so calm and the people were friendly and seemed to naturally love each other. The most surprising thing was that there wasn't anyone running around all the time, as if they were scared to stand still for more than five seconds. No, everything flowed smoothly and no one was in a hurry to get anywhere.

She turned towards the docks, longing to see water, since growing up in San Francisco had gotten her accustomed to seeing it often. At least she'd still have a tiny thing like her childhood hometown. Now, this was becoming her home.

~*~

Jason found his way through the waterfront on his feet. He didn't feel like driving. All he felt was anger, and love, but that was always there. One of Sonny's most trusted and loyal guards had betrayed him, lied to them about Faith Rosco's shipment.

The man reached the docks and stood next to a brick building, looking out over the dark water, the moon casting it's light on the black surface. Why didn't I see this? He's not that clever, obviously, but he was able to pull it off! Anger grew behind his ice blue eyes and they grew harsh, colder by the second and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He hadn't felt this rage since the night he blew up and Sonny offered him a job with him, not long after the accident. Sure, it was toned down a little, but it was right up there with the top ten moments he'd been the angriest. And underneath all the anger, the love for his dream woman still burned, as if it was there to encourage him and give him hope that there were still people out there that he could trust, that they wouldn't all betray him or use him. It's love for a woman who does not exist! he screamed at himself silently.

Jason Morgan, the hard, cold enforcer, with a better side, lost control. He snapped and began to punch the wall of the brick building on the dock next to him. He couldn't feel the pain shooting through his hands, he was beyond it. He couldn't feel the blood on his hands as the flesh of them was tore open by the hard, rough surface of the brick. He didn't care, even when he saw it. It was nothing compared to what he felt.

~*~

She walked along the docks, watching the water glisten in the moon. Complete silence had taken over the night and calmness over the water.

As she walked further, she could hear someone grunting, breathing hard. Looking up, she saw a man in a black leather jacket and jeans, punching a wall, breathing heavily. She could see the blood on his hands as he punched it, his back to her. Those hands looked oddly familiar. Brushing it off, she ran up the steps.

"Hey, hey, stop." she said, reaching out to grab his arms, hoping to stop him. She did and he was still panting from the fight with the wall.

Jason heard the woman tell him to stop but didn't want to. Bringing his left fist to strike the wall again, he felt her touch his arm, stopping him. Not looking at her face, only at the brick wall in front of him, he could feel her hands holding his and a charge of electricity ran itself through his body from the tender touch of her skin on his.

She didn't see his face, she just held his hands, bloody with deep gashes all over them. "You're bleeding. Did you notice?" she asked softly, worried about the man who had been so violent seconds before and still feeling comfortable with him. And those hands, they were so familiar to her, as if she'd seen them every day of her life.

He looked at the blond woman, with her long hair hiding her face as she looked down, examining his self-inflicted wounds. There was something about that voice, he knew.

And carefully, she lifted her head to look him in the face and ask what was wrong. As blue met blue, two worlds exploded in the atmosphere, a catalyst to the universe as two hearts bonded together, refusing to let go.