Justus and Dara are having dinner at the new French Restaurant that just opened in Rochester.

" Well, Ms. Jensen, what do you think of the place?"

" Looks, nice. The reviews of the restaurant were wonderful, which I why I wanted to come here."

" I know. It's been so long since we've been able to enjoy ourselves. You were so wrapped up in that Dorman/Sonny/Brenda mess, and I have been knee deep in ELQ's troubles that I don't know what to do."

" How are things on that front?"

" I think that Ned will have to leave for a very serious business trip to Asia very soon. Like in the next few days. And it will be a long one."

" It's THAT bad?"

" It's that bad. Edward is going to give himself another heart attack if he doesn't cool it soon."

" Well, tonight will be about the two of us. May I say, Mr. Ward, that I was awfully impressed to be picked up in the limo tonight."

" Glad you liked it. I almost never use company limos, but you deserved it. I forgot to ask you, how was New York? The conference as stimulating as ever?"

" The conference, no. But, I caught up with someone there."

" Who?"

" Jasper Jacks."

" What could you possibly be doing with Jax? And what was he doing in New York?"

" He was there, to heal his broken heart."

" Broken heart? Hah. That's a laugh. You have to have a heart, in order to break it."

" I don't think that's very nice."

" Dara, please. Yes, Sonny Corinthos is the Teflon Don, but Sonny has more character in his little finger than Jax will ever have. He prays on people, exploits there weaknesses. Doesn't care anything about the internal workings of a family, and the delicate balnce that exists there. Besides, the man is no better than Corinthos. At least Sonny's wife died accidentally. Sonny didn't set the bomb that killed his wife."

" I don't understand. What do you mean?"

" That Jax's first wife, Miranda, nearly died because Jax couldn't get what he wanted from ordinary business dealings. The people wouldn't sell to him, so he thought he'd put them out of business permanently, through a bombing. Thing is, his  wife was nearly killed and spent years in recovery. And Jax, comes out smelling like a rose. Ah, the Golden Boy."

( shocked) " I didn't know these things."

" Yes, well Jax hides everything behind that smooth veneer of his. His perfect Captain of Industry Image. What a sham."

" This sounds personal between you and Jax, Justus. What did Jax ever do to you?"

" He tried to take over ELQ, Dara."

" And how much did you ever care for ELQ?"

" ELQ is my family, Dara. He used a member of my family, against the others. Exploited them when they were weak."

" It isn't Jax's fault that the family member in question was weak. Sounds like he was taking advantage of a business situation, Justus. Nothing more."

" And since when are you Jasper Jacks' defender?"

" I'm not. I am just pointing out, that what kind of person would call themselves a family member, if they would sell out to an outsider anyway. Doesn't seem like they understand the credo of family togetherness very much."

" Not when you have a serpent like Jax slithering around. I have about had it with Golden Boys who don't pay any dues and have the world handed to them on a silver platter. Enough about him."

" Fine. No more Jax. I won't bring the subject up again."

Dara is spared because the appetizers arrive. She and Justus have a good dinner, full of small talk. Dara could not help but notice the vehemence in Justus' voice against Jax. She had glanced in the business section how ELQ and J&J Jacks were going head to head all over the place. And several of the articles were quite favorable to Justus. How he had taken advantage when Jax's reputation was in disarray due to the Dorman drug scandal. How Justus had stolen, for lack of a better word, several very important deals away from Jax during this time. She also read and was disgusted as Ned stepped front and center and downplayed Justus' role in these deals and tried to claim some of the credit, because he was CEO. Jax is not a topic that she will bring up again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alicia and Alexis met in a private Dining Room at the Port Charles Hotel.

" Hello, Alexis."

" Alicia."

" Well, have you looked over my proposal?"

" This joke? You can't possibly be serious, Alicia? This is a complete joke."

" Alexis, this is my job. And you know that I am NEVER joking when I put an offer on the table. Not my style. No, I am the type that puts serious offers out front. Less time hemming and hawing. The offer is that my client is willing to accept a settlement of $100 million dollars from your client."

" And my client says that she'll receive not one red cent. I doubt that Bobbie has told you everything about her marriage to Stefan. Or the details of her VERY checkered past that would be a veritable cottage industry for the tabloids with all the unseemly gory details."

" You try and enter one bit of my client's past as evidence, and I will haul you up for contempt so fast, your head will spin. I know that you practice mainly corporate law, Alexis. So, let me inform you of a few recent legal precedent in family law. One in particular, Fried v. Fried. The husband tried to bring in the wife's unsavory past, even though she had been a completely law-abiding and productive citizen for 12 years, into the case for alimony. That a woman with such a background, did not deserve the money. The court ruled that the woman's background had absolutely NOTHING to do with the case at hand. IF the behavior did not occur during the marriage, then it was non-consquential. And that the past of a woman, like in sexual-assault cases, was not the province for any court to place in consideration when rendering a decision.  My client, to all who observed her, was nothing less than a model wife for your client, and a model mother to his nephew. It is noted time after time that my client showed nothing but devotion to both her husband and his nephew. Your client, on the other hand, had a blond girlfriend, from practically day one of the marriage. Oh, I forgot, those from the continent, call them mistresses. So, Yes, Mrs. Cassadine has indeed informed me of all the gory details of the marriage to your cousin."

" Including the part where she tried to poison my cousin, and ramsack his belongings?"

" I don't remember seeing police reports about an attempted poisoning. If it was so severe, why isn't there something on file with the Port Charles Police Department?"

" Because my cousin wanted matters handled quickly and quietly."

" So, you have PROOF that my client poisoned your client."

" She stole drugs from General Hospital."

" Once again, I have looked over at General Hospital, and there have been no reports of stolen controlled substances or my client being linked to them. Do you have proof?"

" She confessed to my client when caught."

" My client says thats she was afraid of the rage and said Anything to get off Spoon Island and into the safety of the busom of her family."

" She admitted that she poisoned Stefan to Nikolas. I will put him on the stand confirming this story."

" I doubt that you will do that, Alexis."

" And why not?"

" Because if you put Nikolas on the stand, then I will be forced to ask him all sorts of questions. Such as.....

'Mr. Cassadine, is it true that your Uncle, Stefan Cassadine, almost killed you by knocking you off a cliff in Switzerland? That the man who is responsible for your well being, shoved you off a steep cliff, without an afterthought and left you to die? Is this correct, Nikolas?"

" You wouldn't."

" It gets better. Oh, and Mr. Cassadine, on the night of July 11, 1997, were you not injured with a severe head trauma due to an encounter with Mr. Cassadine."

" Objection, your honor. I see not what this has to do with this divorce action."

" Your honor, I am trying to show a pattern of violence in Mr. Cassadine. A pattern of violence that would explain why my client, a former battered wife, would of course, choose to say anything to get away from what she considered to be potentially violent situation."

" You can't possibly be serious."

" Oh, it gets better. Please tell me, and remember that you are under oath, Mr. Cassadine, with penality of purgery under the laws of this country, what you know about the shooting of Ms. Katherine Bell on Spoon Island in December of 1996."

" Leading the witness."

" I'll be more direct, Mr. Cassadine. Do you know who shot Katherine Bell, on Spoon Island, in December of 1996? What do you think he will say, Alexis?"

" Obviously you have some idea of what he'll say."

" Yes, I do. So, do you REALLY want to play, 'Let's put Nikolas on the stand?' Of course, Nikolas is nothing compared to what's going to happen when I put Katherine Bell on the stand. You know I'm serious, Alexis. I respect you as an attorney. Let's not play games, here. Advise your client to settle. Before this gets completely out of control."

" Well, I see that you are not in the mood to listen to reason. So, I won't waste my time here. When you are ready to be reasonable and get your client to agree to the divorce that was arranged originally, call me, Alicia. Goodbye."

Alexis gets up and walks to the door.

" And of course, you have no idea where your client is, do you?"

" No idea at all, Alexis."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bobbie is at the Four Seasons Maui. Stefan may have gotten that $6 million, but she still had the money from her monthly allowances. And that added up to a nice chunk of change. Enough to bring her here.

She had heard of places like this. But this was truly beautiful. Bobbie was taken aback. Right on the beach, the Resort was more like Shangri-la. Anything and everything that Bobbie could ever want was right at her fingertips. She had made it out to one of the half-dozen pools when there was a waiter ready to pull out the chair for her. She sat and ordered a mai-tai and brought out a book. But, she didn't feel much like reading. She just sat there, and stared out at the sun reflecing off the ocean. She saw people, singles, couples, families, all playing. Building sand castles, playing in the water. Out almost to the horizon, she saw sailboats, windsurfers and catamarans. She was lost in thought and did not hear the voice when it first spoke to her.

" Pardon me? Is this seat taken?"

" No."

" Would you mind it if I sat here?"

" No. Not at all."

The woman responded in a very Upper-Crust British Accent. " Thank you so very much. I don't usually approach strangers, but all the other tables were taken quite suddenly and yours seemed to be a friendly face, if not an empty table. Unless, you are waiting for someone?"

" No. No one at all. Please, sit."

" Well, thank you for your hospitality. Why don't we make introductions. I am....wait. Why don't we try and do something different. Everytime I meet someone, I always get into the "Do you know" game."

" I doubt that we know the same people."

" I have had people say that to me all over the world, and I am never surprised when we do know the same people. We shall make this uncomplicated. No last names, no first names. How about initials. And if we find that we like one another, then the rest shall follow. I am A.E."

" I'm L.D."

" Nice to meet you, LD. From your accent, I would assume that you are an American."

" Guilty, and you are from England."

" Yes. Very observant. Is this a business or pleasure trip?"

" A bit of both. And for you?"

" I am getting a well deserved rest , before I must leave for the battlefield. "

" Don't tell me you're in the military."

" No. I am talking about the battlefield of business. When I return to my company, I will be in the throws of a major battle."

" Well, then, you should take advantage of all your time here."

" I will."

The drinks arive. The ladies talk about Hawaii and the resort, when AE turns to Bobbie and says,

" So. Are you looking for a man, or leaving one behind?"

" You seem to be so perceptive. You tell me."

" I would say that you have the look of a woman who is trying to get through a difficult relationship. Am I correct?"

" Yes."

" I assume a husband?"

" Why would you assume a husband?"

" Boyfriends do not usually warrant The Four Seasons Treatment. Was the divorce difficult, if I may ask?"

" The divorce WILL be very difficult."

" Ah...you are at the beginning of your journey. This is interesting. What went wrong?"

" There was another woman."

" Ahh..."

" No. It really wasn't her. I know that he would have never left me for her. I loved him anyway, even knowing about her. I don't know what that says about me. Maybe not too much. But, I loved him. You can't just not love someone on a dime. No, I was willing to stand in the marriage, and wait out the blond floozy, until the night, the lights went out."

" Huh?"

" I'm sorry. I'm rambling. Why don't we get something to eat. Drinking on a half empty stomach is no good for either one of us."

" I agree."

Bobbie motions for the waiter.