Fairy Tale-177 to 191

by: Belle

"Well, well, well....look who finally decided to show up and grace us all with their presence." Kieron joked, when Jax and Brenda strolled in to Luke's nearly 20 minutes late.

"Sorry everyone." Jax apologized, pulling out a chair for Brenda next to Lois and then sitting down next to her. "We ran into some..."

"*distractions?" Kieron suggested laughing. "Really you two - this is becoming a habit...."

Before Jax could respond, Ned noticed that his left-hand was wrapped like a mummy in white gauze. Pointing at Jax's hand he laughed. "What happened here? Been living with Bren for two days and you're already injured?" he teased.

"Ha ha ha. You're very funny Ned." Brenda stuck her tongue out at Ned. "Actually, Jax's hand is why we're so late." she burst into giggles. "Jax freaked out when I didn't hear him calling me through the bathroom door and he knocked the door down."

Ned and Kieron burst into laughter. Jax smiled sarcastically at them. "Well guys - you know those bath bubbles can be awfully ferocious." This cracked everyone up even more, and they were all laughing until Brenda's pouting calmed them down.

She took Jax's hand lovingly into her own and kissed it. "It's not funny....he really hurt himself."

Jax tried to shrug it off. "It was only a scratch."

"A scratch!" Brenda cried. "You were bleeding *everywhere* is I remember correctly." she smiled suggestively at him. And he flashed her a lopsided grin in return.

"How could I forget...." he mused wrapping his arm around her shoulders. They began kissing and J&K, N&L all looked at eachother.

Ned cleared his throat. J&B broke apart and turned to him, smiling guiltily.

"So...." Brenda said, straightening her hair and smiling at her four best friends. "How are the four of you getting along?"

"Great!" Juliet and Lois both cried while Ned muttered something under his breath and Kieron just glared at him.

"Best friends already." Jax commented dryly. He turned to talk to Brenda but she was already engaged in conversation with Lois and Juliet who seemed very bonded for having just met. He gave both Kieron and Ned a look that said - "did they just meet?" and started talking with them about business.

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"Hey mister - think you could stop chatting for a moment to come dance with me?" Brenda asked, wrapping her arms around Jax's shoulders as she stood behind him and kissed his cheek.

They had just finished dinner, and dessert was being served. Lois and Brenda had spent the entire meal telling Juliet all the PC gossip - who to avoid, who to see, who was seeing who - the basics. They had also told her all about L&B and how Lois wanted to get Sonny out of it. Brenda was happy a wonderful evening. She could hardly believe how well Lois and Juliet were getting along and how much they seemed to like each other. Already, she could tell that the three of them were going to be incredibly close. And despite all the mens' hemming and hawwing and complaining about one another, the three of them had been busily arguing and teasing each other all night and even they seemed to be having their own form of fun. In fact, Jax, Ned and Kieron had been so involved in conversation all evening, that Brenda was beginning to feel ignored.

One smile from Jax was all she needed to feel content again. "Duty calls." he joked to Ned and Kieron, getting up from his seat, and taking Brenda's hand. "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?" he asked staring into her eyes and gently caressing her cheek. Brenda looked amazing. She was wearing a short silverly white dress made of satin. It had a square cut at the neck, and she was wearing her diamond drop necklace, along with diamond earrings. Her hair was pulled back in tiny barrettes and she had a glow that lit her entire face and eyes up.

Brenda sighed. "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonite?" she murmered, following him to the dance floor. The song playing was Foolish Games by Jewel.

Jax laughed. "Although I don't usually appreciate being referred to as *beautiful* I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should." Brenda smiled up at him. "And you are beautiful." she traced him jaw and face with her forefinger. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." she whispered.

They became lost in each other's eyes and arms. The entire world was shut off to them - everything including the commotion at their table when Sonny and Lily walked in.

When the song was over, they returned to the table, both smiling in a way that only people in love do.

"Don't look now.." Lois whispered in her ear. "But you know-who just walked in and looked like he was going to explode when he saw you and Jax dancing." she nodded her head in the direction of Sonny and Lily's table.

Of course Brenda looked over at the table, and she groaned. "Oh god - why did he have to show up?"

The disgusted look on Brenda's face caused Lois to burst into laughter. "Now here's a different tune from what I used to hear." she teased.

Brenda shook her head. "And here I was having a nice, romantic, fun evening and Sonny and Lily had to show up." Glancing over at Jax, Brenda whispered. "I hope Jax doesn't see him. He always gets really strange whenever Sonny comes up in conversation."

Lois was about to respond that it was probably because he was in love with Brenda but still thought she loved Sonny, but Brenda's attention was diverted by Jax who was whispering in her ear.

"Did you see who just walked in?" Jax asked looking over at Sonny.

"No." Brenda lied. "Who?"

"Your lover boy." Jax rolled his eyes. "Guess it's show time, huh?" Despite Brenda's weak protests, Jax stood up and banged a spoon against his glass. Everyone in the restaurant stopped talking and turned to face him. Brenda looked at Lois desperately, and Juliet and Kieron laughed quietly. They thought Brenda was embarrassed. "I'd like to make an announcement." Jax said loudly. "But first of all - Mike?" he gestured for Mike to come over to the table. "I'd like to treat everyone to a glass of the best champagne you have."

"Everyone?" Mike asked increduously. The restaurant was packed.

"Everyone." Jax confirmed. "I'd like to make a very important announcement. While vacationing in Colorado, Brenda Barrett did me the honor of accepting my marriage proposal - we're engaged."

Cheers rang through the crowded restaurant. Jax quieted them by banging on his glass again, and then holding the glass in the air. "And so - I'd like to propose a toast. To Brenda.....Two months ago," he began, "I came to Port Charles all alone. Although I was very content at the time, I didn't realize how empty my life was until I met this you." he wrapped his arms around Brenda. "You've has taught me about life and fun and music...." he laughed and gave her a private smile. "you've even taught me about making business deals - and that's a true accomplishment. But most of all..." Jax looked at Brenda tenderly. "You've taught me about love. And may you continue teaching me things for the rest of our lives together." he raised his glass. "To Brenda."

Mumers of "To Brenda" echoed throughout the room. Sonny had knocked his glass over in surprise and Lily was trying to mop up the mess with her napkin while holding back tears. Jax saw how upset Sonny was out of the corner of his eye, and he thought that Brenda must be in 7th heaven. Yet, Brenda had no idea what was going on around her. All she could think about was how much she loved Jax. Her dark eyes were spilling over with tears of happiness and she had to take a deep breath before speaking.

Banging *her* spoon against her glass, she announced. "not to be outdone - I'd like to make a toast of my own. Mike - another round of champagne." Brenda smiled at Jax. Holding her glass in the air, she began..."To Jax - You've always been there for me. Whether I needed a friend, a confidant, a lover, a partner...you mean more to me than you'll ever know. You are always ready to help me however you can, and I'm not only referring to knocking down doors to save me from woman-eating bubbles." she giggled. "What I'm trying to say is - you're the man of my dreams, the prince of my fairytale, and my very best friend. I love you and - if this *is* a dream or fairytale - I hope I never wake up." When she fiinished, she leaned over and gave Jax a passionate kiss on the mouth.

Everyone applauded and returned to their meals, a number of people coming over to the table and congratulating them as well as thanking them for the champagne.

"Well Mr. Jacks - I'd say our engagement is a success." Brenda said, as she slid onto Jax's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Yeah..." Jax nodded. "too bad it's a hoax."

"Bren?" Lois interrupted them, tapping Brenda on the shoulder. SHe had been watching the two of them all night and she was realizing that Brenda wasn't about to come clean to Jax.

"Yeah?" Brenda murmered, smiling at Jax, and threading her fingers through his dark blond hair.

"I'm going to the girls' room - want to come?"

Brenda shook her head. "No thanks - I think I'll stay here."

Lois shot her a look. "Well - I'd kind of like to talk to you....." she raised her eyebrows glaring at her best friend.

"About what?" Brenda asked innocentely.

"Now" Lois mouthed. "We'll be back in a second." she announced to everyone else, taking Brenda's hand and practically dragging her into the bathroom.

"Lois! What's wrong with you!?" Brenda cried, pulling her hand out of Lois' grip and staring at her indignantely. "I was busy."

"Yes I could see that." Lois said in an irritated tone. "Brenda - what are you doing? When are you going to tell Jax the truth?"

"I don't know." Brenda admitted. "I just can't tell him right now. Lo - try and understand, what am I supposed to say?"

"how about 'I want to be with you, I'm tired of this game, I don't love Sonny, I love you' to name a few."

Brenda looked at Lois sadly, a pitiful look on her face. "I'm scared." she confessed.

"Oh honey." Lois gave her a hug. "I know - you've got to be honest though. Jax deserves to know what you're really thinking and feeling. HE should know that eventhough the engagement is supposed to be fake, you want it to be real."

"What do you mean the engagement is supposed to be fake?" Juliet's voice rang out from the entrance to the bathroom. Lois and Brenda whirled around and saw her. Standing in the doorway, her hands on her hips and a confused look on her face. "Okay girls - time to fess up. What's really going on here?"

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"Okay - so dinner, movies and girl chat tomorrow at Lois' around 6 p.m.? Sounds perfect. Your brother? He's in the shower." Brenda leaned back against the fluffy pillows on Jax's/her bed, talking on the phone to Juliet. It was 11 p.m. and she and Jax had gotten home only 30 minutes before from dinner. As soon as Jax had stepped into the shower, Brenda had called Juliet to make sure that she wasn't upset about the entire "fake engagement" situation. "So Jules, are you positive you aren't mad at me?" Brenda smiled. "okay good because I couldn't handle that. You understand why I didn't tell you right?" as she listened to Juliet say she understood, Brenda picked up BRIDE's magazine from her nightable and flipped through the pages. "Uh-huh, okay - " Brenda heard Jax get out of the shower. "Alright - well Jax just got out of the shower, so I should go. We'll talk about everything tomorrow. Say good-night to Kieron for me. I will. Love ya. Bye." Brenda hung up the phone, and sighed. She was so relieved that Juliet had taken the news about her and Jax so well. After Brenda explained everything, Lois had suggested that the three women get together the next day for "girls' night" and discuss everything and Juliet had seemed really excited.

Jax stood in the doorway of the bathroom, towel drying his hair and watching Brenda. She was sitting on his bed, wearing a cute pale blue terry-cloth shorts set. The shirt was cropped and exposed a very tan stomach, and the shorts came to her mid-thigh. She was leaning against the pillows, her dark hair piled messily on top of her head, reading BRIDE's magazine. She was humming softly to herself, a habit that Jax found incredibly endearing. Crossing his arms over his bare chest, he let out a whistle. "Hey sexy."

Brenda grinned. "Hey yourself. How was your shower?" she stayed on the bed, and continued reading her magazine.

"Okay." Jax tossed the towel into the bathroom and strode over to the bed. Sitting next to her, he leaned over and held up the cover. "Interesting choice." he remarked, smiling at her.

Brenda blushed and smiled self-consiously. "You're mother sent it to me." she explained, "and I felt like looking at the dresses."

Jax just laughed. "You don't have to explain. So - which dress do you like?"

Brenda looked at him surprised. "Do you really want to know?"

"Well I am the groom - or the pretend groom."

Brenda's face lit up. "Okay. Well, I was looking at this one...." Jax leaned back on the pillow's next to her, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and looking over her shoulder. She pointed to a long, creme silk dress. It was very simple and went straight down. It was strapless and had an empire waist.

Jax nodded his head. "I like it. You would look beautiful in it." he grinned at her. "but then you'd also look beautiful if you wore a paper bag. I don't know...I think you should wear something more distinctive." he looked considerate for a moment. "If we were really getting married, I would have someone design a dress especially for you."

"Really?" Brenda cried. "That would be wonderful." she looked wistful for a moment. "I wish I could know what kind of dress they'd want to make."

"Well...if you want, since we're *pretending* to get married, you could have someone draw some sketches just for the fun of it!"

Brenda threw her arms around Jax and kissed him on the cheeks, nose, eyes. "I would love that! Thank you, thank you, thank you."

When she drew away, Jax sat absolutely still. "You're welcome." he said laughing. They sat on the bed together for a long time. Jax doing work on his lap top, Brenda looking through the magazine, and occasionally pointing out things for him to see. At about 12:30 a.m., Brenda looked over and saw that Jax was dozing off. "Hey-" she whispered, poking him, "I set up all your blankets on the couch."

At the mention of the couch, Jax's eyes flew open. "Thanks." he said, reluctantly getting off the bed. He dragged his feet to the couch, and sat against his pillow, trying to finish the work he had been doing. However, he was so distracted by Brenda, who was looking comfortable and sexy on the bed, that he couldn't get anything done. The most annoying thing was that Brenda seemed oblivious to the fact that he was even in the room. She was so engrossed in planning their pretend wedding, that Jax was beginning to wonder if she even remembered he was there. "Bren?" he called.

"Hmmhmm?" she murmered, not even looking up from her magazine.

Jax racked his brain, trying to think of something to say. "Would you like to go out for breakfast in the morning?"

"Sure." she looked at him for a second, smiled, and then returned to her reading.

Jax frowned, and tried to do some work. He lasted 1 minute. "Where do you want to go?"

"When?" Brenda asked confused.

"For breakfast?" Jax explained, facing the bed, and hoping she would give him some attention. She didn't. Damn that BRIDE's magazine.

Brenda rolled her eyes. "I don't know Jax - why don't we decide in the morning?"

Jax was getting very frustrated. He couldn't work, he couldn't sleep, he couldn't do anything but think about Brenda, and here she was, engrossed in a magazine and ignoring him. He couldn't take this anymore. Getting up from the couch, he climbed onto the bed and knelt beside her. She didn't move or acknowledge him. "Bren...." he said, running his finger up her arm. That did the trick, she looked over at him, smiling.

"You are so persistant." she said, shaking her head. "What is it?"

"Well....I've been thinking....."

"There's a shock." Brenda teased.

Jax smiled at her laughing. "I've been thinking about our agreement." He looked into her eyes, and Brenda knew what he was hinting at, but she didn't let on. She wanted to make him suffer.

"What agreement?" she asked innocentely, furrowing her brow and looking confused.

Jax's blue eyes got wide. "What agreement? Don't you remember? The agreement about not making love?" he was speaking in a loud voice, and Brenda could see that he was very confused.

She giggled. "Oh! That agreement. What about it?" she continued to look at her magazine and Jax was about to strangle her and throw the magazine out the window.

"Well maybe it wasn't such a good idea." Jax mumbled softly.

Brenda shut the magazine, and held it in her hand. Looking at Jax, she smiled triumphantly, her dark eyes dancing with excitement. "Why Jasper -" she purred "Are you saying that you're surrendering?"

Jax swallowed, trying to ignore the impact her closeness was having on him. "I'm saying that maybe the agreement isn't necessary. Afterall, if we're pretending to be engaged, and we're living together, we might as well..."

"You're surredering." Brenda stated, laughing. "Admit it. I want to hear the words. I, Jasper, surrender to you, Brenda." as she said this, she ran her forefinger slowly up Jax's chest, causing his body to shudder with desire.

"Never." Jax managed to say. "And don't call me Jasper." He tried to fight her, but their eyes met and she saw the desire in his eyes. He couldn't hide from her.

"I think I can call you whatever I want." Brenda crooned. She kissed him on the mouth. "But - if you deny it, then i'll just read my magazine. There's nothing I can do about your denial." she moved away from him, opened her magazine, and continued reading.

Jax glared at her. How had this woman done this to him? Here he was, practically begging her to let him make love to her, and the worst thing was - she was right. She could call him whatever she wanted, He was hers, and that scared the hell out of him. He tried to fight how much he wanted her, but one look at her sitting next to him, was all it took to undue all resiliance he had. In one swift motion, he yanked the magazine out of her hands, tossed it on the floor, and pushed her down on the bed, covering her with his own body. "Okay...you win." he whispered, cupping her face in his hands and smiling. "I, Jasper, surrender to you Brenda."

Brenda smiled up at him, her eyes also shining with desire. "No..." she said, as she began to kiss him, "we're surrendering to each other."

The song "Kissing You" from the movie William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet begins to play.

"You know..." Jax whispered, as he slid his hands down her arms, pulling her shirt over her head and trailing kisses down her neck and towards her breasts. "I really hated sleeping on that couch." He spread baby kisses across her stomach.

Brenda giggled, and ran her fingers through Jax's hair, Jax responded by kissing her even more intensely on the mouth. His tongue teasing her mouth by lining her lips twice before plunging in and meeting hers in an erotic dance. Brenda's hands slid down Jax's chest, and pulled the drawstrings that were fastening his black cotton pajama bottoms. Jax kicked the pants off so he was only wearing a pair of dark blue silk boxers. With his left hand he pulled the elastic out of her hair, letting the dark curls loose so that they spread across her face, his right hand ran down her breasts, over her stomach and pulled off her small blue shorts revealing white silk underwear.

Brenda was sprawled across him, and she stopped kissing for a moment, and leaned on her elbows, gazing down at him, her dark hair hanging down and tickling his face. "You know...." she whispered, gently caressing his face with her hand, "I hated it too." Laughing, their eyes met and for a few moments they just stared into each other's eyes, revelling in their closeness and the feel of each other. Drawing her to him, Jax kissed her on the nose, then on both cheeks, then on the forehead, and finally on the mouth. And then....he made passionate, magical and amazing love to her all night long.

"Hmmmm..." Brenda sighed, slowly opening her eyes and smiling as she snuggled deeper into her pillow. "Why are you out of bed?" she looked up at Jax, who was standing next to her, wearing nothing but boxer shorts and lightly stroking her cheek.

"Well sleeping beauty - I decided to bring you breakfast in bed." he said, smiling and winking at her. "I figured that after all the energy you used *last* night, you'd be hungry when you woke up."

Brenda giggled. "I am kind of hungry..." she sat up and leaned against the pillows, stretching. "Are you going to eat with me?"

"What? Do you honestly think I'd miss a chance of laying in bed with you?" he grinned. "Never."

Brenda scooted over so that he had room. "Okay good. So Mr. Jacks - what are we having for breakfast?"

Jax took a silver tray off his desk, and settled it on her lap. Lifting the cover off with flourish, he announced. "We are having crepes with strawberries and whipped creme, hazelnut coffee, and fruit salad."

Brenda gazed at the incredible display of food in front of her. "This looks delicious."

"Well.." Jax shrugged. "I aim to please."

Looking at his confident smile, Brenda laughed. "You didn't make this did you Jax?" she asked bluntly.

"Brenda!" he cried. "How could you?" He was about to protest, but he saw the look in her eyes and he new he was beat. "Okay, so Chez Maurice made it, but - it's the thought that counts, right?"

"Definitely." Brenda confirmed, kissing him on the lips. "Now let's did in!" Jax climbed up onto the bed and they ate in comfortable silence as Brenda flipped the TV to Sunday morning cartoons. Jax picked up the paper and began to leaf through it. When he turned to the Society page he burst into laughter. "What?" Brenda asked, leaning over his shoulder and trying to see what he'd found so amusing.

Well I guess it's official." Jax teased, folding the page back so Brenda could see the headline. It read in large black script: A Match Made in Heaven: Supermodel Brenda Barrett, and Billionaire Jasper Jacks announce :"We're engaged!" Underneath the headline was a picture of them dancing the night before at Luke's. Jax was looking down at Brenda, and she had her hand on his cheek. They were dancing very closely and smiling. It was a very loving picture. Brenda skimmed the article. It basically talked about their toasts at Luke's and how in love they both seemed.

Looking at the picture and article somehow made the entire situation seem even more real, and it made Brenda even more determined to get what she wanted : Jax.

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"Jax! Hey - Jaxxy Boy, where you going?" Sonny shouted across the parking lot of the PC Hotel. Jax was leaving the penthouse and walking towards his beamer when he was interrupted by Sonny's irritating voice. For a moment, Jax considered stopping and talking to him, but then he thought better of the situation and elected to ignore him. When Sonny saw that Jax was still walking to the car, he grew angry and hurried to the beamer, to meet Jax.

"Hey Jax - didn't you hear me? I was trying to get your attention." Sonny said angrily, standing next to Jax.

"Were you? I thought I heard something annoying, but I didn't think it was human. Now, if you'd excuse me - I'm trying to get into my car." Jax moved past Sonny and stood outside the door of his car.

"Wait!" Sonny cried, pushing the door shut. "I wanted to talk to you for a few minutes."

"Fine." Jax shut the door and looked at Sonny expectantly.

"She'll betray you." Sonny declared. "The girl has a serious problem with loyalty."

"Really?"

Sonny smirked. "Yes...one way or another she'll turn against you. After all, that's what she did to me when she -"

"Wore the wire." Jax stated. Seeing the surprised look on Sonny's face, he grinned. "Yes, Brenda told me all about it. We don't keep any secrets from eachother, but then again - why should we? I'm not the local mafia prince." Sonny glared at Jax, hatred blazing in his dark eyes. "You know what really throws me Sonny. Is why it's always Brenda who's blamed for ruining your relationship. You rant and rave about how she betrayed you, but what about your part in the incident? If you hadn't been betraying and lying to her all along about your business, than she never would have worn the wire in the first place."

The two men stared at each other for a few moments. The air was so thick with tension and hatred that Jax could hardly breathe. Finally, Sonny spoke. "She doesn't love you."

Jax remained silent for a second. "Why don't you go home to your wife?" he asked, opening the door, "and leave Brenda alone. In fact - leave me alone also."

"Make me." Sonny dared, stepping closer to the door.

Jax stepped closer to Sonny and stared down at him. "You stay away from Brenda."

"Is that a threat Jaxxy-boy?" Sonny sang out. Jax pushed him away, and stepped into the car. Starting it up, he rolled down the window.

"You can take it in whatever way you want." Jax growled. "Nice chatting with you Sonny." He peeled out of the parking lot and sped to Kieron's office. They had a lot to talk about.

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"I don't know Lois." Juliet said, spooning a pile of spaghetti onto her plate. "I think I agree with Brenda. Telling Jax that she loves him might scare him away. Jax has always been very resilliant to love, and Brenda *does* need to sneak up on him."

"You see Lo? I knew I was doing the right thing!" Brenda chimed him happily, carrying the caesar salad over to the table, and sitting down. The three woman were eating dinner at the gatehouse and discussing Brenda's next move with Jax. Lois had prepared spaghetti, caesar salad, garlic bread and cannolis for dinner. Brenda had rented Sleepless in Seattle and One Fine Day to watch, and Juliet had brought facial masks and jiffy pop. They had all the necessary ingredients for a perfect "girls' night" - including the guy problems to talk about.

"I didn't say you were doing the right thing." Juliet announced. Brenda turned to her in shock. "Wait!" Juliet held her hand up to keep Brenda from talking. "I think that you're smart in keeping your love a secret, but I do think you should tell Jax that you're over Sonny."

"I totally agree." Lois said, grinning. "But - I'm sure you won't."

Brenda pouted. "You're right - I won't and I don't." Looking at both her friends she cried. "You guys - I know what I'm doing. Trust me. What I need from both of you is support. Can I get that?" she looked pleadingly at Juliet and Lois.

Juliet and Lois looked at each other and then at Brenda, smiling slightly, they both nodded. "Of course." Lois confirmed.

"Always. Afterall - one way or another, you are going to be my sister-in-law."

Juliet teased.

"Thanks! Great - I know that I can do it if I have both of you helping me!" Brenda jumped out of her chair and hugged her friends.

The rest of the evening was wonderful. After dinner, the women settled on the couch, drinking coffee, eating dessert and talking about their lives and men. Then they did their nails and toenails. Lois showed Juliet how to paint flowers on her toenails and Brenda helped them both with facial masks. As they waited for their masks to dry, they ate popcorn and thought up romantic outings for Brenda to take Jax on. Their golden idea was that the three of them convince the men to go to NYC altoghether. Both Juliet and Lois assured Brenda that in NYC they'd scheme ways for J&B to be all alone in *very* romantic places. They decided to go in 2 weeks.They settled down and watched One Fine Day, laughing and sighing about George Clooney. Finally, they cried over Sleepless in Seattle. Before leaving, they decided to have weekly girls' nights, rotating houses. Lois and Juliet also re-confirmed their promise to help Brenda get Jax.

"Partners?" Brenda suggested, sticking out her right hand.

"Partners." Juliet and Lois said together, placing their hands over Brendas and hugging.

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"Has Ned seen these prospectives?" Jax asked Kieron at dinner that evening. The two men were eating at the PC Grill and talking about the various business prospectives Kieron had picked up that day when sneaking around Wall Street.

Kieron shook his head. "The earliest they'll be out is the end of next week."

Jax frowned as he looked over ELQ's numbers again. The company was definitely on the way down. "And William said that the drop in numbers is because of Sonny Corinthos' position on the board?" William LaRouche was a spy at Wall Street that Kieron and Jax relied upon for information.

"That's what he said." Kieron confirmed taking a bite of his hamburger. "I also spoke with Tracey Quartermaine-Solito's lawyer today, and the papers for the stock transfer will be ready tomorrow."

Jax was impressed. Kieron had somehow convinced Tracey to sell him her share of ELQ stock because of some mess she'd gotten herself into when she married a mob boss from Brooklyn. "Nice work McKinnon."

Kieron shrugged. "What can I say?" he joked. "I'm the best."

"One of the best." Jax clarified. Picking up the sheets he shook his head. "This does not look good for Ned or ELQ."

"Exactly." Kieron smiled. "So buddy - what are we going to do about it?"

"I don't know." Jax said, eating a spoonful of his penne in sundried tomato sauce.

"You don't know?" Kieron asked increduously.

"I don't know." Jax repeated. He took a long sip of his orange juice. "I was thinking that maybe we could help him."

Kieron choked on his kiwi-strawberry spritzer. "Help him? Jax! Are you crazy? You've always wanted ELQ, and now we're finally in the position to get them."

Jax sighed. "You're right, I did always want ELQ, but that was before..."

"Brenda." Kieron suddenly understood. Lois and Ned were practically Brenda's family, and Jax didn't want to ruin their lives. Jax nodded and smiled slightly.

"Pretty pathetic, huh?"

Juliet's face flashed before Kieron's eyes, and he imagined how enraged she'd be if he did anything to hurt Brenda or her friends. "It's not pathetic - it's smart. Just like always, you're protecting your own interests. Okay..." Kieron leaned across the table and grinned at his best friend. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to get rid of Sonny." Jax said. Kieron's eyes flew open. "No! I don't mean get *rid* of Sonny. I may be a little crazy Kier - but I'm not a murderer." Kieron laughed. "We're going to get him off the board, transfer his stock to Ned, trade Jacks' Cosmetic's for Lucy's stock, and then take control of ELQ with Ned as our partner."

"Get rid of Corinthos huh?" Kieron murmered. "That should be fun."

"Just leave it to me." Jax flashed him a lopsided grin. "I'll take care of everything...."

To Be Continued....

PREVIEW OF NEXT INSTALLMENT: Brenda takes Jax shopping to redecorate the penthouse....Kieron and Jax fill Ned in on their plan - the three men become partners....Juliet, Lois and Brenda convince the men to go to NYC....Jax receives a photograph in the mail that causes Juliet to freak out...the 6 friends leave for their trip.

If you have any comments/ideas/suggestions or opinions, e-mail me. I *love* getting feedback and hearing what you think of A Fairytale. Thanks!

- Belle

J&B Reuniters - Sonny never, Jax forever!

J&B Angels

IRFC