Keesha had just put the rolls in the oven when she heard someone knock at her door. She wondered who it could be. Surely Jax wouldn’t be this early, although, she couldn’t put it past him. She opened the door and was a little surprised. "Justus."
"Hey, Lil Bit," he said giving her a hug. "You look a little surprised to see me."
"Well," she said stepping back so that he could come in. "I am a little surprised. I didn’t know you were back in town already. You could’ve called to tell me you were back."
"I didn’t think that I had to. Surprising my cousin is a right that I reserve. Something definitely smells wonderful. Are you cooking?"
She smiled and joined him on the couch. "Yes, I’m making dinner. You know, contrary to popular belief, I do have to eat from time to time. So, how was your trip back home?"
He took a deep breath and leaned back. "Relaxing, very relaxing. How did you make out here? Anything exciting happen?"
She smiled and shook her head. "No, nothing at all."
"Too bad, or good, if you take this last year into consideration. A lot as happened in these past two years," he said reflecting. "Since you are already making your dinner, I guess you wouldn’t want to join your dear old cousin at the PC Grille, huh?" he asked hoping that she still might join him.
She shook her head. "No, I’m not planning to venture out tonight at all. Besides, I’m living here, and the Outback is a very nice restaurant as well. Well, if you overlook the fact that Mac has been behaving rather odd lately."
"He’s always odd, if you ask me. It’s just something about those Austrailians that just rub me the wrong way, you know what I mean."
"Really," she said smiling and nodding her head. "And this wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain Assistant District Attorney, now would it?"
"No, it wouldn’t. Take Jax for instance, what he did at ELQ was terrible. Siding with Tracey was a mistake."
"So, now, you’re Edward’s cheerleader. Now, I don’t pretend to know everything about went on there, but I wouldn’t base my opinion on someone on something like that, Justus, and I wouldn’t think that you would either."
"Your opinion of people is rarely lowered anyway, Keesha. You have forgiven people of so much. What would it take for you to hate anyway?"
"I don’t hate people, Justus. You know me better than that. I can dislike people, but I don’t hate them, or least I haven’t hated anybody yet. Anyway, I need to return to my dinner so that it does not burn. I’m sorry, but no matter how many times you’ve told me, burnt is not healthier," she said laughing.
He laughed with her. It was good to be with her and around her. She always made him forget about everything that was bad. Laughing came so easily with her. "Hey, you show me the studies that disprove that," he said standing up. "Thanks," he said hugging her again.
"You’re quite welcome for whatever you’re thanking me for. Make sure you do more eating than drinking, okay?" she requested.
"For you, I will. Have a good night. I might call later to see how you are," he told her. He wanted to check up on her.
She thought quickly. She didn’t know exactly what the night would bring, but if it brought what she hoped, she certainly didn’t want to be interrupted by a phone call even if it was from Justus. "It’s really sweet of you to want to check up on me, but it’s really not necessary. I’m probably just going to go to bed early anyway."
"Okay, if you’re sure?" She nodded her head at his question. "Well, if you need anything, just call me okay?"
"Will do. Bye, Justus," she said closing the door.
*****
"Hello, Counselor," Alexis said sitting at the bar in the vacant chair next to Justus. "I see you’re back."
"Very perceptive woman," he mumbled motioning for another drink. "What can I do for you?"
"Tell me how many of those you’ve had. Drowning your sorrows, I see. And, exactly what kind of sorrows do you have?" she asked leaning her elbow on the bar and supporting her head with her hand.
"Well," he said smiling. "It looks as if you’re here as well. Do you have sorrows, too?"
She leaned up and shrugged. "Give me whatever he’s having," she told the bartender. "It seems to be working wonders for you. So, I thought I would try some, too. And, to answer your question, isn’t life just one big sorrow? I mean, there’s just so much stuff out there that just keeps on knocking you down."
He nodded. "I know exactly what you mean," he said studying his drink. "I made a deal with my cousin tonight. I told her that I would eat more than I drank. Well, I’m falling a little behind in the whole eating thing. Care to join me?" he asked standing up.
"I don’t mind if I do," she said taking her drink from the counter and following him over to a table. "I must say that I didn’t expect to have company for dinner tonight. I’ve sort of gotten used to eating alone."
He smiled as he pushed her chair in and went over to the other side. "Well, I know what that’s like. Sometimes, though, it is okay to eat alone. You can think."
"Being left alone with one’s thoughts is not always good," she said musing. She thought about everything that had happened in the past year, everything that had gone wrong. She raised her glass in a toast. "Here’s to family."
He completed the toast with her and watched as she took a drink. "Not a very sincere toast, I see. Then again, you are in the Cassadine family. How wonderful can that be?"
"And you’re in the Quartermaines," she retorted.
"Yes, that is true. But, I do have the Ward side to keep me grounded, as well as my mother’s side of the family. What about you? What type people are the Davises?"
She became thoughtful. "New topic, please," she said looking away.
It was obvious that he had struck a nerve. "Sorry. Nice weather we’re having isn’t it?" he began.
She shook her head and smiled. "I tell you what, why don’t you tell me about your family," she suggested leaning closer to the table.
*****
"Hi, Jase," Carly said opening the door and finding him there. She took him by the hand and pulled him inside. "I’m so glad that you could come on such short notice."
He came in and sat down. "What’s wrong, Carly?" he asked simply.
"Only that my whole world is about to fall apart," she told him. He nodded; she was given to theatrics from time to time. "I don’t know what I’m going to do."
"Do about what?"
"About AJ and this baby. He’s pressuring me into performing all sorts of tests on this baby to prove paternity. I don’t want to endanger my baby’s life," she said protectively encircling her waist. "You can understand that, can’t you."
He shrugged. "I suppose so. What do you want me to do about it?"
"If he keeps pressuring me and I don’t give in, chances are, he will go to Tony about this. He’s already threatened me once. If he does, then for sure Tony will leave and probably try to take this baby from me. No one is taking my baby from me, Jason."
"No one should be able to," he agreed. "Why don’t you just have the test done? I’m sure that if there is any danger to the baby, then the doctors won’t perform the test. Get the test done so that AJ can see that the baby is Tony’s."
She looked away from him, and he saw the movement. "The baby is Tony’s, right?" he asked. She had been so insistent about the baby being his before, that he had never thought to ask outright about it.
"It has to be Tony’s," she informed him. He shook his head and looked away from her, prompting her to grab onto his arm. "Listen to me, Jason. If this baby is AJ’s, he will take him away from me. I can’t let that happen."
He looked back at her. "What do you want me to do?"
She smiled, "I thought you would never ask."
*****
AJ sat on the bench in the park. He was still holding his cell phone in his hand. This thing with Carly was really messing with his mind. Why was he so indecisive about dealing with her? He needed to talk to someone about this, and that someone was Keesha. He just couldn’t bring himself to dial the phone. He could already feel that he was becoming much too dependent on her. This was just something he had to work out on his own.
"Penny for your thoughts," Robin said upon finding him.
He smiled and looked up. "What are you doing out here so late?"
"Well," she said sitting down next to him. "I could ask you that same thing. You looked like you were really deep in thought when I came over here. You didn’t even notice I was standing there."
He sighed. "I’m sorry about that. I just have a lot on my mind," he said running a hand through his hair.
"So I gathered. What’s with the phone?" she asked pointing.
"Oh, this. I was going to call someone, but I think that I’m becoming somewhat of a bother."
"Really," she said smiling. "Is this someone Keesha? If so, I don’t think that you could ever be a bother to her. She understands what happened, and she forgave you for that. If that isn’t love, I’m not sure what is." She really hoped that it was. With Keesha and AJ happy and together, she presented less of a threat to her and Jason. With his so-called friendship with Carly a constant subject, she didn’t need anything more.
He laughed. "You’re probably right, but I don’t want to bother her more than I have to. The waters there have been tested a lot, and I don’t want to ruin a good thing."
"So, does this mean that the two of you are going to get back together? Inquiring minds want to know," she teased him.
He shrugged. "I can honestly say that it’s pretty much up to her. It’s her forgiveness that I need. It wasn’t exactly my idea to break-up. I just await her orders," he said chuckling.
"Well, for your sake, I hope her orders include going back to her. I want you to be happy, and I miss talking to you. You know, we should do this more often," she suggested.
"That would be nice. On neutral ground, of course. I doubt that I would be readily accepted at the penthouse."
"Maybe," she laughed at the look he gave her. "Okay, definitely. I’m sure we can come up with something." She looked down at her watch and pressed a button. "It looks like I’m going to be late. I’m supposed to be meeting Brenda, and we’re going to do a girls’ night thing tonight."
"Sounds like fun. Can I join you?" he asked joking.
"Sorry," she said standing up. "No boys allowed. Call me, okay. I’ll see you around," she said leaving.
"I hope you’re right, too," he said replacing his phone and standing up.