Her glasses were perched low on the bridge of her nose. Alexis’ eyes scanned the documents sprawled out in front of her, her hands shuffling through the loose pages at a frenzied pace. When one of the sharp corners scraped across the side of her thumb, she didn’t bother to stop and wipe the blood on a tissue. There wasn’t enough time to waste on trivial matters like paper cuts or the salad she hadn’t bothered to eat during the half hour it had been on the table.
Jason Morgan watched his former lawyer from the doorway of the Port Charles Grille. He didn’t notice he had been smiling at the sight of her until his cheeks suddenly felt numb. He shook his head and dropped his arms to his sides, slowly walking across the stretch of carpet that led to Alexis’ table.
“Are you ever calm? Do you ever just sit and relax?”
The papers slipped out of Alexis’ fingers. She looked up, startled. Her eyes briefly became a scowl, partly because she had been disturbed but mostly because she was not used to the sound of Jason’s voice. After a long pause, she offered the only smile she had time to give and said, “No. There aren’t enough hours in the day for that.”
Before Jason could say another word, he had already lost her attention. He tugged on the chair beside her and sat down, draping his forearms over the tabletop. The weight of his body pulled at the tablecloth, and Alexis glanced up at him. “Sorry,” he laughed, lifting his arms from the table.
Alexis took a pen and began underlining and circling several sections on each page. The tip of the pen scraped on the paper, and Jason winced as the force of her writing tore into one of the documents. “Damn. It. All. To. Hell,” Alexis sneered, her teeth clenched. She sat up, rolling her eyes at Jason. “Nothing is going right. There are pictures of me, naked pictures of me, hanging up all over the world! The man that I love is out cavorting in leather pants with teenaged girls clawing at him. My client is going to be spending the next fifteen years of his life in prison because I’m a terrible, rotten lawyer without an ounce of integrity!”
Jason pursed his lips and a hand over his mouth. When he had stifled his laughter, he reached forward and held his fingers around her shoulders. “Alexis,” he said her name slowly, waiting until she nodded to say. “Take a deep breath.”
She nodded. Alexis closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath, slowly letting it out through parted lips.
“Good. Now listen to me. You’re not naked in those pictures. Your boyfriend does not have teenage girls clawing at him. Sonny isn’t going to prison, and you’re not a rotten lawyer.”
“Well thank you for that vote of confidence, Jason, but I’m afraid it’s of no use to me,” Alexis sighed, holding her palm over her forehead. She was aware that it was such a melodramatic gesture, and that was overacting to everything. But there didn’t seem to be any other way to handle her personal life or her client’s future.
Jason leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other. He folded his hands over his knees and winked at Alexis. “I may not be able to do anything about Ned or those pictures… except for look at them. But,” he smiled, recoiling when he saw her hand dart out to slap his arm, “I can do something about Sonny’s future.”
“And that would be?”
“You said it yourself. To Sonny. I can take Carly out of the country.”
Alexis nodded slowly, releasing another pent up breath. “I know Carly is your friend. I’m glad she has someone. But if you were to do that, you could never come back. She could never come back. She would be leaving her mother behind, and Michael would never be able to see Bobbie or Sonny or any of the Quatermaines. I can see how you would be prepared for that, but do you honestly think Carly is?”
“No,” Jason responded without an ounce of hesitation. His shoulders sank and he sighed, not realizing that taking Carly out of the country had been more than just a slight possibility. He hadn’t let himself think about how nice it would be to feel like a family, and to show Michael the world.
“Then there you go. That’s my problem. I’m Sonny’s lawyer, and I’ve given him the only two options I can. Marriage or packing Carly’s bags. If Sonny has too much pride and good sense to marry Carly and we know she can’t handle leaving Port Charles, then I’ve failed my client.”
Jason shook his head. “No, you haven’t. Most people wouldn’t give a damn what happened to him. You’re lookin’ out for Sonny. And you don’t realize it, but you’re lookin’ out for Carly too.”
“How’s that?” Alexis asked, choking on her words. She took a sip of water and studied his face; so calm and sure of everything he said. Never a doubt in his eyes.
Jason shrugged, as though it were so obvious. “You could tell Sonny he has to marry Carly. But you’re just tellin’ him it would be a good idea. You know that Carly’s life is involved in this too, that she should have a say. That’s why you’re a good lawyer and a good friend for him.”
Alexis smiled sincerely, tilting her head to the side. “Thank you,” she said, although the words emerged from her lips as little more than a whisper.
“Well… I need to go,” Jason told her, rising from his chair. He stood beside her.
“Where? I mean, are you leaving?”
Jason nodded. “Soon. By myself.”
Alexis stood up. She extended her hand, a rush of warm air coursing through her body as he wrapped both of his sturdy hands around hers. “Be careful, Jason. And if you should suddenly changed your mind about taking Carly out of the country, please let me know. I’d like to have some good new for my client.”
“Well, that won’t happen. I mean, me taking Carly away.”
“Okay. Then best of luck to you. How soon are you leaving?”
Jason shrugged and said, “I’ve got a few goodbyes to take care of. Why?”
“I’m just thinking Sonny will probably need a friend in the next few days,” Alexis told him, glancing down at the floor and rolling her eyes. She hated the feel of failure.
Jason tapped her on the shoulder and assured her, “He’s got friends. And he’ll need them to celebrate. I’ve got a feeling.”
Alexis’ eyes fell shut for just a moment, and she smiled warmly at Jason. “Thank you. I wish I had half of your positive thinking,” she laughed, opening her eyes. The words died on her lips as she realized he was gone. She turned to face the door and mouthed the word, “Goodbye,” as she saw the double doors swinging shut.
“Do you get a kick outta tellin’ other people what to do?”
Alexis jumped, spinning around to see a red-faced Carly. “Nice to see you,” Alexis said, chipper. She smoothed her hands down her skirt as she sat down. When Carly roughly pulled the other chair away from the table and sat down, Alexis smiled and said, “Please, have a seat. Oh, and by the way, telling other people what to do is my job. I’m a lawyer.”
“Not a very good one,” Carly sighed under her breath.
“I’m in the middle of something. Do you have anything productive to add or do you just enjoy wasting me time?” Alexis asked, waving a paper in front of Carly’s face. “See, these are your friend Sonny’s legal documents. These are all of the reasons he’s going to be spending fifteen years in a tiny little cell. And if you don’t leave me alone so that I can work, then I’m afraid-“
Carly held a hand in mid-air. “Just shut up, Alexis. You’re right about one thing; Sonny is my friend. So is Jason. And I don’t appreciate you encouraging him to get outta town as fast as he can. You don’t know him. You don’t need him the way that I do.”
Alexis clamped her jaw shut before any words reached Carly’s ears. She sat back in her chair, relaxing as best she could. She could see that the skin under Carly’s eyes was red and that her eyes were glistening with moisture. She had obviously been crying, and it was no doubt over Sonny. In a soft and gentle voice, Alexis leaned towards her and said, “I don’t like to remind myself of this, but I do care about what happens to Sonny. My job doesn’t end when he goes to prison or is relinquished of all charges. If he goes to prison, I’m left with feeling like a failure and spending the remainder of his jail term trying to get him out. If he remains a free man, I have to bite my nails in anticipation of the next time. Or worrying about all the people out there that have it in for Sonny, and hoping I can protect him from them. So please don’t think I sent Jason away because I’d get a kick out of seeing you on that stand, testifying against Sonny. I don’t particularly understand why, but you are important to him and I do not enjoy seeing him miserable. And you testifying on behalf of the other side would be a problem for him.”
Carly clucked her tongue in annoyance. “Are you finished, Ms. Davis?”
Alexis nodded and shrugged. “I’m never finished, Miss Benson. But I can withhold further comments. For now.”
Her mind was reeling. Insults were resting on the tip of Carly’s tongue, but her thoughts were so chaotic that she just didn’t have the energy to throw them at Alexis. Not now. Not when she needed someone’s advice and when she was so desperate for any kind of encouragement. “I don’t know what to do,” she confessed, catching Alexis’ gaze. Her eyes closed and Carly felt pools of tears building behind her lids. Without opening her eyes again, she cried out in a broken voice, “Tell me what to do.”
Alexis didn’t realize that her hand had reached out and was draped over Carly’s. She swallowed hard, swallowing all her preconceptions about Carly and all of the terrible things she had ever thought of her. Alexis looked at the frightened young woman in front of her as a client, as a desperate friend. “Do you want Sonny to be a free man?”
Carly nodded. She opened her eyes and was surprised at how quickly the feeling of shame passed through her, at how easy it was to talk to Alexis. “Yes. Yes. He can’t go to jail, Alexis. He can’t.”
“Then I won’t let him. Then you won’t let him. There are only two people who can keep Sonny out of Pentonville, Carly. And that’s his lawyer and his wife. He’s got one of those and he needs the other.”
“But I… I don’t think he wants to marry me,” Carly admitted sadly, accepting a napkin from Alexis to wipe her eyes.
Alexis tilted her head to the side, watching the way Carly’s hands shook and her chin quivered. Only a woman in love would care so deeply, become so involved in a man’s struggle. “You go home to him right now, Carly. You go home to him and tell him that you need him more than you need anyone. That the thought of him in prison scares you to the core. Then you see how he feels.”
“But that’s so wrong, Alexis.”
“Why?”
Carly sniffled and wiped the back of her hand over her eyes, smearing mascara down her cheek. “Because. Sonny wants to marry a woman that he loves and wants to have a family with.”
“Well. Isn’t that why you don’t want him to go to prison? Because you love him and you want a family?”
Carly blinked her eyes several times, clearing her blurred vision. She focused on Alexis’ round, brown eyes. She had always looked at them as the eyes of a fierce shark, a self-righteous woman who was out to prove how much better she was than everyone else, and just how rotten Carly herself was. It took Carly a moment to respond. It took her a moment to realize that Alexis Davis had just made perfect sense.
Alexis smiled to herself when Carly stood up, the force of her movements shaking the table. Water spilt over the edges of the glass and some of the legal documents fell to the floor.
Carly stopped suddenly and spun around. She moved back to the table, sitting down again, this time closer to Alexis. “Are you sure this is gonna work?”
“Like I said,” Alexis told her, “Sonny needs his lawyer and a wife. It won’t do him or you any good if he marries me or that woman wearing the hideous green hat at the bar. It has to be you, and something tells me that’s exactly how he wants it.”
Carly smiled widely, baring her teeth. Tears of relief coursed down her cheeks and her heaved sobbing soon became laughter, overlapping with Alexis’ own girlish giggles. “Okay. I’m gonna do this,” she said proudly.
“Okay.” Alexis waited for her to get up, but she didn’t move. “What’s wrong?”
“Do I look okay?” Carly asked, twirling a strand of hair around her index finger.
Alexis laughed and reached for a clean napkin. She dabbed the soft cloth against Carly’s cheeks and said, “Perfect. Now get outta here. I’ve got other clients.”
Carly nodded and said, “Yes, ma’am.” She grabbed her purse from the table and swung it over her shoulder. Her hand trembled slightly as it fell against Alexis’ shoulder. “You know somethin’, Alexis?”
“What’s that?”
“I was looking for a way through this. I was waiting for Jason to sweep down and rescue me and Sonny. I was hoping my mother had some kind of genius plan, or that I’d get some kind of message from God,” Carly told her, stumbling over her words.
Alexis nodded and said, “I guess you were looking in all the wrong places. It happens sometimes.”
“Yeah,” Carly agreed, her arm dropping to her side. “I guess so.” She took a moment to memorize the smile on Alexis face, and the way her eyes weren’t looking back at her with contempt.
Both women took a moment to memorize the calm in the air. To enjoy the quiet, the understanding and what could be the first and only time they agreed. And just as quickly as it began, Carly walked away and Alexis went back to shuffling through the papers crowding her table. And it was over.