The Prodigal Daughter-Chapter 2

"Chloe," Alexis said for the fifth time without receiving an answer from her friend. She sat back in her seat and watched her stare at him. This was getting beyond bad; Chloe was bordering on obsession. She understood that she was not ready for her relationship with Jax to be over, but it had been her who ruined it. "Chloe," she said reached over to touch her hand.

Chloe reluctantly looked away from him and back over at Alexis. "I’m sorry. You were saying something?"

"Yes," she smiled wanly. Chloe had to stop doing this. "I wanted to know if you were still coming to the party."

Chloe sighed, "I don’t think I’ll be up to it."

"Chloe, you have to stop this. You and Jax are both my very good friends, and I want you both to be happy, but I don’t think that you will be happy together. You need to move on, Chloe. Ned and I both want you to be there. You’re one of our dearest friends, how could you not show up to our three month anniversary party?" Alexis asked laughing.

Chloe managed a smile. "Okay, I will come. Will Jax be there?"

Alexis sighed again. She had a feeling she would never get over him, or at least it would be a long time coming. "Yes, he will be there. I told you he would."

"And I suppose he will be bringing someone, won’t he?" Chloe said sulking.

"Ned mentioned that he would be. It seems that he is coming with someone who is just returned to town. More than that, he won’t tell." Alexis leaned forward now, "Are you going to be comfortable with that? We really want you to be there, but if you don’t think that you can handle, it’ll be all right." Alexis liked Chloe as a friend, but it was getting to be a little difficult coddling her all the time. Jax was over it, why couldn’t she be.

She nodded, "I’ll be okay. I want to be there for you and Ned since I missed your wedding. I’ll never forgive myself for that." She thought about the events that led up to the day of the wedding. "I was supposed to be your maid of honor, and I let you down. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to make up for that."

"I told you that everything was okay. I really understand why you couldn’t be there." She looked back over at Jax across the room at a table with Bobbie and Jerry. She remembered how hurt he had been on the day of their wedding, but he put all that behind him so that would not ruin Ned’s and her day. "So, you will be there. That’s great; we’ll have a good time, I promise. Are you going to bring a date?"

Chloe shrugged, "I don’t really know anyone I can bring. I’ll see what I can do." She looked back over at Jax.

Alexis picked up her fork and started on her dinner. She had a feeling that it was going to be a long night.

 

*****

"How did dinner with Chloe go?" Ned asked as he walked into their bedroom.

Alexis continued to brush her hair. "She’s coming, at least. Other than that, not well. She really needs some help or something. I don’t think that she is completely in touch with reality. But, how was your day?" she said rising to go over to him.

He gave her a hug and a kiss. "It’s wonderful now. Seriously, Alexis, we need to work our schedules so that at least we can see each other in the mornings. What time did you get in last night?"

She slumped against him in exhaustion. "Really, really late. Dara and I have been really working hard on this Isabella Moreno case. I can see an end soon, though." She smiled, "What are you working on?"

He smiled back, flashing his dimples. "What do you mean? I’m not working on much. Just basic ELQ stuff," he said moving away and removing his tie.

"Oh, basic ELQ stuff, you and Jax are working on basic ELQ stuff. Now, that’s interesting," she said turning back the covers on the bed.

Sometimes Ned forgot he was married to a very smart lawyer. She would figure out everything in time. "Yes, he has some interest in this company you know. Listen," he said pulling her close again, "I don’t want to talk about business or work right now. I just want to take a shower and then go to bed with my wife. Care to join me?"

"Ned," she said looking down at her night apparel, "I’m already dressed for bed."

Pulling her behind him, he said, "A shower is not the only thing I had in mind."

*****

She stopped at the front door just short of ringing the doorbell. It had been many years since she had been in that house. Not enough years, she thought as she contemplated whether or not she was in fact ready to go into the house. Maybe all of this was a bad idea. She would just tell Justus to take the stock back, and she would tell Ned that he had to get someone else to rattle AJ. That was silly. She had to get over this and move on with living. She couldn’t let AJ hinder her anymore than he already had.

"You know it would be a lot easier if you press the button," she heard from behind her.

She turned around and smiled. "Thanks for the advice. I’d almost forgotten how to work one of these things," she said as he reached around her to press the button.

"I’m glad to help whenever I can. I’m sure the Quartermaines will be very happy to see that you have returned to town."

She nodded, "Yes, I’m sure they will. I just hope that they don’t think that I’ve come back to save AJ. That is the last thing that I want to do."

Reginald opened the door, "Keesha," he said shocked. "Is that you? You look so different."

"Yes," she laughed, "I am me." She gave him a quick hug before he ushered her inside.

"Maybe if we walk in together," Jax whispered bending down to her ear, "Edward won’t be so quick to try to throw me out."

She laughed. "Does he still try that?" she said remembering the few occasions that she attended one of these meetings. "I would have thought that by now you and Edward were the best of friends."

"Who was at the door?" Edward demanded as he exited the living room. "Keesha, so it’s true, you are back," he said coming over and pulling her into a hug. "Be careful with this pirate around," Edward said motioning towards Jax.

"Oh, Edward," Keesha said smiling. She placed a hand on Jax’s arm. "I don’t think he’s that bad. Should we all go in? I really want to get started with the meeting. There are a lot things I want to take care of today."

As they walked towards the door, Jax asked Edward, "Will AJ, our fearless CEO, be here today?" Jax already knew the answer to the question; he just wanted to see what kind of reaction he would get from him.

His plan did not fail. "No, he won’t be here today. It seems that his meeting has run over," Edward replied somewhat angrily. He softened as he addressed Keesha, "Justus told me that he signed his shares over to you. I’m glad that he made such a wise decision." That was only partly true. He was in fact pleased that Justus gave his shares away; the last thing ELQ needed was more bad publicity. But, he wanted him to sign the shares over to him, not Keesha.

"Yes, I hope that working with ELQ will be a great learning experience for me. I hope that this works out well for all of us," she said smiling as she entered the room.

*****

"Well, I think that went well," Ned said drinking his glass of water.

"Yes, it did. Keesha didn’t come on too strong for her first meeting. I think that even if she were aggressive in her positions, Edward wouldn’t think very ill of her. Look at how he’s staring at her. I wonder what’s going on in his mind," Jax said glancing at Edward, and back at Ned.

He nodded, "Me, too. I think that I’m going over to have a little chat with dear old Gramps. Excuse me."

Edward noticed Ned coming over. "You really enjoyed taking over for AJ today, didn’t you?"

He shrugged and smiled. "I like to help out whenever I can. It seems that you’re very much enthralled by Ms. Ward. You should stop ogling her like that or Grandmother will surely get jealous."

"Please, Ned. I’m just glad that she’s back in town. After Carly messed with AJ’s head, he needs somebody like Keesha to straighten him out."

Ned smiled and shook his head. "I don’t think so, Grandfather. I don’t think that will happen for AJ and Keesha. I would safely say that she has moved on past Junior. If she is as smart as I think she is, she has left him the past for good."

Edward gave Ned a glance that translated to he didn’t know what he was talking about. "I think that they will get back together. AJ was a fool to break up with her in the first place."

"How odd it is that you say that considering you were the main one pushing AJ to marrying Carly to get Michael into this house. I wonder if Keesha knows about that. Just a small piece of advice, I think that you need to leave that alone."

"I’m not going to do anything. I’m just going to let nature take it’s course. I believe that she will make a wise decision, and that decision will be in the best interest of all concerned."

"In the best interest of ELQ, you mean. You think that if AJ gets back with her, he will be a better CEO. You do amaze me sometimes. Thank you," Ned said smiling again, "I couldn’t have had a better teacher." He left with Edward staring after him.

"Keesha, when did you get back into town?" Alan asked.

"Only a couple of days ago."

"A couple of days," Monica said. "I’m surprised that no one knew about it. You must be very good at hiding if the PC gossips didn’t see you."

She laughed, "Well, actually I saw Ned and Jax my first day back. I asked them not tell very many people. I want to test the waters before I decide to jump in completely. Actually, I don’t really plan to be here very long. I basically just came for the meeting."

"You’re not going to leave soon, are you?" Monica asked. "I’d hate to think that you would leave quickly before we had a chance to really talk and catch up"

She shook her head. "No, not soon. I have some other interests here that I want to tend to."

"Really," Alan said giving Monica a look. Could Keesha really want to stick around until AJ returned? Did that mean there was some hope to them getting back together? He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but he definitely hoped that was the case. He was glad when someone entered to take his mind off of that. "Hello, Chloe."

She went over to where the three of them stood. "Hello, Alan and Monica," she said giving them each a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Edward joined them, "Chloe, I’m glad that you’re looking better today. Have you met Keesha Ward, yet?" he asked bringing her forward.

"No, Edward, I haven’t." She extended her hand, "I’m Chloe Morgan."

"Hello," she said taking it. "That name sounds very familiar."

"I’m a clothes designer. Maybe that’s where you heard of me. I’m also one of Lila’s cousin."

A cloud passed over Keesha’s face, "Hence the last name Morgan, right?"

"Yes, that’s Lila’s maiden name. You are Justus’ cousin, right?"

She nodded, "Yes, that’s right." Ned and Jax came over to join them.

"Jax tells me that the two of you are going to lunch," he said to Keesha as they came over, and before he noticed that Chloe was there as well.

 

Chloe stared intently at Jax. Keesha noticed the look and smiled slightly. She wondered what was going on there. Was this the woman in Jax’s life? If that was the case, then why was he agreeing to this plan? "Yes, we are going to lunch. Do you want to join us?" she joked.

"No, I would never dream of intruding. Besides, I think that Alexis might be able slip away for a little while for lunch. Since I don’t think that will be happening again for a while, I’m going to take advantage of this opportunity right now. So, I will see all you later," he said leaving the group.

"Hello, Jax," Chloe said in a small voice.

He smiled at her. "Hello, Chloe. I heard that you were back from Milan. How was your trip?"

"It was productive. It was a business trip, you know."

Wow, Keesha thought as she noticed the forced conversation between the two of them. The tension hung in air as everyone remained quiet as the two of them talked. She didn’t know what was going on, but whatever it was had to be big. "Okay," she said turning back to Jax. "I’m starving. I didn’t have a chance to have breakfast this morning. Are you ready to go?"

He turned back to face her. "Yes, I await you. Good bye, everyone," he said as they began to leave. Keesha waved good bye as they left.

"That was interesting," she said as they reached his limo.

"What?" he asked as he waited for her to get in.

"Back there. So, is Chloe Morgan a topic of discussion?"

"There is not much to discuss about her. We went out; we broke up. There is not much else to tell."

"Right," she said nodding. She smiled, "Are you sure she knows that? The looks she was giving you, surely don’t relay that."

He shrugged, "It really doesn’t matter. AJ is coming back soon, and we need to get everything in place," he said changing the subject.

She sighed, "Okay, let’s." She knew that was all the information she was going to get out of him on that subject.

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