Serendipity-37

by Dawn 

[Recap: It's been a long time, so let me go over the ground rules so no one gets too confused -- Mac isn't police commissioner or married to Felicia, Brenda and Jax never reconciled after her breakdown, Jerry actually physically resembles Jax and he never firebombed any warehouse, and V is still Jax's personal assistant, isn't a police officer but works as a PI with M&F on occasion. I hope that covers it. Last chapter, Jerry walked in on a game of strip poker at the penthouse between Jax and V. Now, on to the Nurses Ball.]

Chapter 37: Intermission

"Can I interest you in a game of cards?"

The rough drawl of Jerry's voice abruptly drew V's attention from her quiet perusal of the bustling Versailles Room. A light blush colored the tops of her cheeks at his teasing reminder of what he'd found her and Jax doing earlier in the day. Their lunchtime activity had provided Jax and V with a much-needed lighthearted reprieve from the constant demands in recent weeks of business, heated and stalled negotiations, undercover work and investigations, and too little downtime. It had provided Jerry with fodder for his amusement.

"Shouldn't you be scavenging the crowd for some unsuspecting female who'll fall for that lecherous tilt of your mouth that passes for a smile?" As she accepted the bubbling glass of champagne that he offered, V cut him a look from beneath her dark lashes that she hoped would end the worst of his jesting.

No such luck.

"I do believe the lady protests too much." Jerry's broad grin twinkled back as he held his free hand dramatically to his chest and drew conspiratorially closer to murmur near her ear. "C'mon, darlin', admit it. The notorious Jacks charm brings out that ruthless, card shark tendency beneath your Dorothy Do-Right exterior. First, against my father and then little Jasper. Mere amateurs, I assure you. You haven't lived until you lose your shirt to me."

"What makes you so sure I'd lose?" V couldn't hold onto her forced serious expression completely as the sparkle of laughter danced in her eyes.

"Because I'm a much better cheat than either of them." Despite his most incorrigible attempts at embarrassing her, Jerry made it hard not to adore him.

"Oh, now that I believe." V tried to tamp down the curl of her mouth with a quick tilt upwards of her chin. Well, at least for *women* to adore him. Jax's elder brother seemed equally pleased to either hoodwink or alienate others of his sex depending on his mood. "Besides I'm not wearing a shirt."

"All the better." The seductive smile that was so evocative of Jax's was in full force as Jerry took the opportunity to appreciate the view. She was decked out in simple and stunning fashion, a copper sequin gown that skimmed her body from thin straps at her shoulders to swirl around her feet -- a gift from Jax that she'd been unable to refuse. Her hair was pushed back softly behind her ears revealing dainty topaz studs and no other jewelry or adornment. Their sweet Venus was quite a sight. "I'll have to help my baby brother beat back all the men throwing themselves at your feet tonight. Then again, let little Jasper fend for himself while I whisk you away to a cozy tropical island I know."

V rolled her eyes. "You're so hopeless. I think there was supposed to be a compliment somewhere in all that palaver, so thank you. You clean up nicely yourself. I'm sure you'll have no trouble breaking a few hearts this evening." She flashed back a lopsided smile before they turned to watch the crowd together. Jerry's gaze traveled expertly over the women in the room before pausing to scrutinize the guests at Mac Scorpio's table -- most notably, Felicia. V took notice of his interest and muttered a warning. "-->D-->on't even think about it."

Jerry played innocent, of course. "There's no ring on the lovely Ms. Jones' finger that I can see from here."

"As if that would stop you."

He grinned back at her completely unabashed. "Ouch! Such a sweet face, but a sharp tongue to go with it. Does my brother know what he's gotten himself into? Then again perhaps that's why ---"

"Leave my body parts out of this, please. And I'm serious. Felicia's off-limits, Jerry. If Mac didn't slug you, I might."

"Aww... are you sure? I don't see how any woman could be tied to Scorpio without a big diamond on her hand and a lotta rope." Jerry didn't bother to point out that he was more interested in the scene near the lovely blonde's shoulder -- in the direction of the tables where Jason Morgan, Robin Scorpio, the young daughter of Drs. Quartermaine and tuxedoed guards were seated and the Quartermaine table just beyond that.

"Behave yourself." V reprimanded him under her breath, continually surprised there actually was someone who enjoyed being at odds with Mac over virtually anything more than Jax. Luckily, the Jacks brothers and their fellow Australian expatriate had been harangued into a civil if sarcastic truce for the night. Mac and Felicia were finally making some headway after the Jimmy debacle and V didn't want anything to interfere with it just to get under the former police commissioner's skin.

She debated whether to let on that she knew how hard Jerry was covertly scrutinizing Jason Morgan's table. It was unusually subtle on Jerry's part, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he'd made keeping an eye on Mr. Morgan his pet project as of late. And from the occasional cool glance that Jason gave Jerry in return, it wasn't a surprise to him either.

The penthouse had been the scene of some very heated arguments between Jax and Jerry lately when they were alone -- though they did there best to pretend differently. They seemed content to think that V had no idea that they were fighting so much or so angrily. So far, she'd been willing to accept their brushing aside the disagreements as "nothing" whenever she'd asked what was wrong. She hadn't needed to ask what they were at loggerheads about -- Jason Morgan and the dock project. More to the point, Jerry -- and, V suspected, his father as well -- was pushing Jax to pull out of the project altogether. But judging from the escalating clashes between the two brothers, Jax wasn't budging.

Despite her silence on the subject so far, she wanted Jax to wash his hands of the whole mess, too. But the Quartermaines, Morgan, Jax's shipping partners and Jerry were all pushing and pulling at him from all sides at the same time. And like it or not, the more opposition and demands he faced the more intractable Jax became. He wouldn't walk away until he decided it was a lost cause -- him and no one else.

Still, she was glad that Jerry had decided to hang around for a while. He and Jax might start breaking furniture over each other's head soon, but when push came to shove Jerry would back his little brother against all comers. And vice versa. "Do you think Mr. Morgan is planning on shooting Jax right here in the middle of the Versailles Room?"

Jerry shot a quick look over at her, momentarily startled. Then he smirked into his champagne glass as he took another sip. "Hadn't considered that, darlin'. It'd make a hell of a closing number to this party, but I think the man everyone wants to shoot is the loony tune Dr. Jones. Why do you ask?"

"No reason in particular. Just thought that might explain why you're studying Morgan's table like the latest issue of Playboy."

"I don't think dear old Hef could airbrush the pup enough to be centerfold material. The delectable Ms. Jones however."

"Jerry"

Jerry winked at the reprimand that was forming on her lips, perfectly content to let her think that the young Mafioso was the one he was watching so closely. Things stood now as they had since Jax returned from Asia -- Morgan watched them and they watched Morgan. Nothing tonight required closer scrutiny on that front.

In truth, it was the occupants of the Quartermaine table who were the subject of his perusal at the moment. One occupant especially Brenda Barrett.

Jax was across the room where he was cornered by two business associates, their wives and -- given the predatory smile of her marriage-minded mother -- at least one single daughter. Jerry caught his brother's impatient glance as he searched for V. Poor Jasper so besotted and so clueless about women at the same time. Well, it wasn't the woman he was with that was the problem. However the woman that he *wasn't* with had been watching Jax like a hawk, although she pretended not to. Jax's mistake was that he insisted on trying to be friends with his beautiful ex whatever the hell that meant. Hmph. The last time Jax and Brenda were "friends" she'd dumped him for Sonny Corinthos and had the gall to want Jax to attend their wedding and to later hold her hand when Corinthos escaped the marital noose. Jerry didn't see anything in that little experiment with being friendly with an old flame that warranted repeating it.

Normally, Brenda occupied less of Jerry's thoughts than his barber did, but tonight she wasn't acting herself. No attempt to monopolize Jax's time. No playful flirtations to lure him back into a more licentious relationship. No false front of bravery and independence to prove that she was fine without him. No wounded bird look to show how hurt she was that he was with another woman. No deluded insistence at misinterpreting Jax and V's public togetherness -- discreet though it was -- as professional and not personal. Any or all of the above would've been in keeping with Brenda's usual behavior. But instead -- other than an initial exchange of pleasantries at the outset of the evening when Jerry, V and Jax had paused at the Quartermaine table on the way to their own -- she just watched his brother surreptitiously throughout the evening while Jax remained seemingly unaware.

It wasn't like the Brenda Barrett that Jerry knew at all and that made him nervous.

Lately nerves had been so strained and his baby brother and V had so little time alone together that wasn't concentrated on one business problem or another that the Jacks men were determined that tonight go well. The Nurses Ball was a much-needed reminder of the fragile nature of life and what was important and a respite where the brothers had put their current disagreements aside and strictly forbidden all other distractions. So far, the night had been a tremendous success. Lucy Coe had organized a cavalcade of entertaining acts spotlighting Port Charles preeminent citizens, give or take a few strange moments thanks to the overly medicated Dr. Quartermaine and the non-tranquilized Dr. Jones. The candlelight readings had been poignant, even to a jaded man like himself. They'd chatted amiably throughout the event with the magnificent Ms. Felicia Jones and friends -- even Scorpio managed to not sour the mood even though he made a face like he'd sucked lemons every time Jerry or Jax came around.

All in all, the festivities were running as smooth as glass. But something about that woman just wouldn't stop gnawing at the oldest Jacks boy and he didn't like it. And Jerry'd be damned if some surprise from his brother's last mistake would ruin the evening for their favorite goddess.

Before he could ruminate any further on what Brenda might be thinking -- not that he gave her as much credit for knowing what that verb involved as Jax did -- Ned Ashton began thanking everyone for their contribution to making the event a success. As he introduced the musical finale, the chorus line, Jerry ushered V back to their table and held out her seat as she turned her head to look for Jax. Judging from the sudden glow that accompanied the smile upon her face, Jerry knew that his younger sibling was on his way back to join them before Jax slid into the seat next to her.

Jax leaned close his head to V's and swallowed the wide smile in her eyes as eager as a little boy eats candy. "I'm sorry I got sidetracked. It seems the Bromptons have a charming daughter they want to see married in a 'socially acceptable manner in keeping with her upbringing'."

V smirked back at that comment, trying not to laugh at his exaggerated imitation of old man Brompton. "I take it that 'socially acceptable' doesn't mean in a big church with all the trimmings. Funny, but for some reason I think they might have all the arrangements taken care of except for the appropriate groom. I bet gorgeous Australian millionaire might be just what they had in mind."

"That's only because they haven't *met* Jerry that they're willing to add him to their pristine gene pool." Jax teased just beyond his brother's earshot. "Although 'gorgeous' might be a bit of an overstatement."

V elbowed him not too gently while trying not to grin as she quickly shot a look in Jerry's direction to make sure he didn't overhear. "Why is it suddenly my lot in life to try and get one or both of you to behave?"

Jax turned from his brief study of the final act and replied close to her ear with an alluring ruffle of his warm breath against her skin. "Give me five minutes to ditch the audience and I'll behave any way you like."

She calmly struggled to brighten to a dull shade of pink at the suggestion and once again checked to make sure Jerry couldn't hear before she retorted. "Get me home and out of this gown and I just might take you up on that, Mr. Jacks."

He looked momentarily shocked at her boldness, then suddenly gave into a muted rumble of laughter as they pretended to watch the chorus line with great interest while silently hurrying it along.

The way the Jax draped his arm protectively across the back of V's chair and the two of them shared a whispered commentary amid the smiles and laughs at the action on the stage, Jerry doubted either of them was aware of the loving picture they presented. Or cared, for that matter. He'd waited so long to see Jax happy that Jerry couldn't help feeling a little bit of the sensation rub off on him.

But when he felt the corners of his mouth curl up in that same goofy grin that his brother was wearing at the sight of them, Jerry was startled and not pleased. Aww, hell! I've been around this two too long! Now my brain's gone soft as theirs. That settles it -- gotta get Jasper's butt out of a sling and get out of this town before I start shopping for his-n-her pajamas.

Just as that rather disturbing thought flitted through his mind, the mysteriously absent Ms. Cue tumbled out of an errant wardrobe locker that had rolled onto the stage delightfully absent a costume. Jerry's rakish smile returned in full force to its usual position on his rugged face. Now *that's* something to smile about!

And for the moment, everything was back to normal <g>.

To be continued.

Dawn -- who's feeling VERY rusty, so all comments are appreciated.