CHAPTER 22
A.J. saw Keesha sitting in the conference room near her office and asked if she had a few minutes to talk.
"Yes," she said. "You've been on my mind all morning. Let me put these files in my office. Do you want to get a bite to eat?"
"I'm waiting for my mom to page me. Do you mind if we talk here?"
"No."
A.J. could not believe how much paperwork Keesha had. She was surrounded by manila folders and computer printouts.
"How many cases do you have?" he questioned, taking a seat across from her.
"Fifty? I'm not sure. I've lost count. I know I've added five this week."
"How's your job been going?"
"It's okay. Hectic, but interesting. I'll probably be taking some of these files home over the weekend to work on them, but that's all right."
"You're more than welcome to work at my place," A.J. offered.
"Thanks, A.J.," Keesha said, placing her hand on his arm. "I've loved staying with you, but I do think I need to spend some time at my apartment. You know, to pay my bills, water my plants..."
"I understand," A.J. said and smiled. "I'm just sorry I haven't been more available for you, Keesha. You've done nothing but listen to me ramble on about my problems and my life. I want you to know I'm here for you, too."
"A.J., you have nothing to apologize for. Believe me, I would not want your life right now if it were handed to me on a silver platter."
"Thanks a lot," A.J. said. He tried to sound insulted but couldn't. "I don't want my life as it is either. But things may be looking up."
"Did your talk go well with your dad?" Keesha asked, leaning forward.
"No. He's in bad shape. My mom and Tony managed to find a hospital room for him so he could sleep. He was barely holding on when I was talking with him. My mom wants to tell the family and issue a statement before the rumors start. She's going to page me when she's ready. Hopefully, my dad will agree to treatment."
"Sounds as though some progress was made."
"He's in a bed. Let's see if he stays."
"How's Monica?"
"I could tell my mom was shocked by his appearance. But she's so busy arranging everything I doubt it's hit her."
"How do you think your family will take the news?"
"I'm sure they'll be surprised and concerned."
Keesha sighed. She was about to ask A.J. how he was feeling when Carly appeared in the doorway.
"Why am I not surprised to find the two of you together," she said, pointing to A.J. and Keesha. "Have you two become joined at the hip?"
They turned to look at Carly. A.J. could tell by her attitude that Tony had not talked with her.
"This will teach us to leave the door open," A.J. said to Keesha with a wink.
She grinned and nodded in agreement.
A.J. turned his attention to Carly. "What is it that you want?"
"We have unfinished business, A.J.," she said seriously.
"What exactly would that be?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Excuse me?" she said, looking at him as if he'd lost his mind. "There's a little matter regarding this baby I'm carrying and a certain sonogram."
A.J. decided to enlighten Carly. "*That* unfinished business has been handled."
Carly and Keesha looked at him in surprise.
"What do you mean 'handled'?!" Carly demanded.
I'd like to know, too, Keesha thought.
"I had no unfinished business with you, Carly. My unfinished business was with Tony. So, I talked to him."
Keesha wanted to jump for joy. Carly was ready to lynch him.
"When?!" she cried.
"Less than an hour ago. It's all over, Carly. He knows the truth."
"How could you do this to me?!" she screamed "You said we would talk. How dare you tell him your spiteful version. I had a right to be there, A.J.!"
"Why?" A.J. challenged, not backing down. "So he could hear more of your lies and histrionics? He doesn't need it, Carly. What I told him was the simple honest truth."
"The simple honest truth according to A.J. Quartermaine - millionaire frat boy and alcoholic extraordinaire." Carly emphasized her words with her hands and shook her head in wonder. "What a joke! I can imagine how you made me look!"
A.J. ignored the name calling.
"I didn't have to make you *look* like anything. The truth spoke for you," he told her, remaining calm.
"What did Tony say?!" she demanded. "You have to tell me everything that was said, A.J.!"
"I suggest you find Tony."
"Damnit, why did you do this to me?!" Her eyes were brimming with tears.
"I considered my alternatives and decided that if I gave you so much as a minute's notice that I planned to talk to Tony, you would have managed to turn things around in your favor. You left me no choice."
"I hate you, A.J.," Carly said, her voice dangerously low. "You are going to pay for this."
"I already have, Carly," A.J. said, tired of her threats. "In ways you could never even imagine."
"I have to find Tony!"
She turned to leave, her vision blurred by her tears, when Tony approached. He had been on his way to the gym to tell A.J. the details of the impending paternity test when he heard Carly's ranting voice.
"Tony! I was just on my way to find you. A.J. told me he talked to you. You have to believe me when I tell you that he's wrong. You have to listen to my side of the story. You have to!"
"No, I don't, Carly. A.J. gave me the full story. I know what the truth is. Your version would only cloud the issue."
He entered the room and shut the door. His light blue eyes were icy as he stared past Carly and nodded at A.J.
"I've made the arrangements for the test. It'll be done as soon as the baby's born."
"Test?" Carly questioned, looking from Tony to A.J. "What test?"
"The paternity test," Tony said matter of factly. "You know, to determine who the child's father really is since the mother couldn't keep herself from sleeping around."
"I *know* this baby is yours, Tony! I know it is."
"Well, *I* don't," Tony said, his anger beginning to surface. "And I will be damned if I will raise another man's child because its mother got drunk one night and found it so damn easy to be with another man!"
"It wasn't like that, Tony. You have to understand. We'd had that huge fight. I was scared. I thought I'd lost you!"
"So, of course, the solution, the way your mind works, " Tony said sarcastically, "Is to find another man, as quickly as possible, and jump into bed with him instead of staying and working things out with the one you're with. Using that logic, I wonder if there are any other potential fathers out there for consideration!"
Carly recoiled as if Tony had slapped her. She could not believe he was talking to her this way. His biting words caused her tears to stop. She took one look at his stone-cold face and knew it as over. Whatever they'd had, and she doubted it could be called love, was finished.
"Is this it, then?" Carly asked, regaining some of her composure. "Is this how we end? What about the baby?"
"I can't worry about the baby because *I* don't know if it's mine! As far as our relationship is concerned, you'd better believe it's over. You can stay at the apartment until the baby's born. I'll take a room at the Port Charles Hotel."
"Am I supposed to *appreciate* your generosity?!" Carly spat out.
"I don't care what you do, Carly. I just want to be as far from you as I can."
Carly watched as Tony opened the door and walked out, never looking back. She turned on A.J. and Keesha.
"You two think you're so smug and so smart. I can't wait until I prove all of you wrong about who I am and what I'm made of. You're both going to be sorry you ever messed with me."
"I already am," A.J. said, looking at Keesha.
"Me, too," she agreed. "I can't believe I ever thought of you as a friend."
"Same here, Ms. Goody-two-shoes," Carly snapped. "Do you think I would have ever picked you for a friend? Please. I would rather end up totally alone than to ever have to depend on *you* for anything."
"Be careful what you wish for, Carly," Keesha warned.
"I wish both of you would go to hell!" Carly cried. "I'm sick of all of you!"
She fled the room; her legs felt like rubber. She could barely see through her tears, but she didn't stop until she'd reached the elevator. She leaned against the wall and tried to catch her breath. The walls were moving and lights were flashing in front of her. She grabbed her stomach and let out a piercing scream. A second later, she was lying, unconscious, on the floor.