ELQ Board Meeting: Part 23 (Edward, Lila, Alan, Monica, AJ, Jason, Ned, Alexis and Justus are gathered waiting for Jax's arrival) Brenda(enters)Is Jax here? Ned:No, but I'm sure he soon will be. Edward:Ned's right. The vulture is just waiting until the very last minute so he can make an entrance. Jax(standing in the doorway)Now is that any way to talk about the new owner of ELQ International? Alexis:You're not the owner, yet, Mr. Jacks. Brenda(runs to Jax and throws her arms around him)Jax, darling, thank goodness you're back. Why didn't you call me? I've been so worried. You don't know how awful your brother has been to me. Jax:We'll talk about it later at home, Brender. Right now, I've got business to conduct. Brenda:Of course, Jax, darling. Edward:Let's get this over with, shall we? Jax:All right, old man. Because of the ELQ dock project all your available capital is tied up. I've paid your suppliers twice the going rate so they'd seel me the supplies they were supposed to ship to you, which means you need to get a new supplier to meet the demands of the companies you deal with. But you can't do that because your cash poor and need those supplies to make you solvent. Also the ship transporting your goods overseas sank before it made port. Ned:Because you sabotaged it. Jax:You can't prove I had anything to do with it. You could sell this house, but it still won't dig you out of the financial hole you're in. Do yourselves a favor. Quit while you're ahead. Quit while you still have a roof over your heads. I'm willing to pay you a fair price for your stocks in the company, at, of course, below the market rate. Considering the financial condition the company's in at the moment, I'm being very generous. What do you say? If you turn down my offer, the next time I make it, it'll be considerably lower. Sonny(standing behind Jax)You know, Candyboy, you're like a poker player shose so confident he has the winning hand, he starts pulling the pot towards himself before waiting to see what his opponent is holding. Well, guess what, Candyboy. My hand's better than yours. Jax(spins around to confront Sonny)Corinthos! What are you doing here? Sonny:Aside from the fact I own stock in this company, I wanted the pleasure of seeing your face when I pulled the rug out from under you.(Sonny walks over to Edward)Last time we were all gathered here because this Corporate Kangeroo tried to steal the candy store, I told you to get him off this board and you told me it was beyond my ken. I warned you he'd try it again the first chance he got. Now, I'm not pouring millions of dollars into this company just so this can happen for a third time. I want him out. Jax:There's nothing you can do to force me off this board or to sell my stock in this company. Sonny:Oh, really? Jason? Jason(turns to Justus)Justus? Justus(smiles)My pleasure. (he goes over to Jax and hands him a file) Jax:What is this? Justus:Concrete evidence that you were behind the sabotaging of the ELQ ship. We're willing to hand it all over to you in exchange for your immediate resignation from this board and on the condition you sell all your stock to Mr. Corinthos. Sonny:I'm willing to be generous and give you above the market value. Jax:You've thought of everything, haven't you, Corinthos? Sonny:I've learned to cover all the bases when dealing with a shark like you. Justus, do you have the papers? Justus:Right here. All you have to do is sign them, Jax, and our business will be complete. Jax(signs them with a flourish)You think you're so smart, don't you, Corinthos? Well, you may have won the battle, but the war is far from over. Sonny:(hands him a check)You're so right, Candyboy. The war between us has just begun and you declared it on me at that Aids fundsraiser in the ballroom of the Plaza Hotel and when I'm through with you all that's going to be left is a charred corpse. Jax:Come on, Brender, let's get out of here. Brenda(as she walks by Sonny)You're dispicable. Lois(and Brooke enter)What's going on? Ned:Lois, what are you doing here? Brooke(notices Sonny and goes running to him)Uncle Sonny! Lila:Isn't it wonderful, Ned, dear. Lois has come home to stay. Sonny(picks up Brooke, tosses her playfully up in the air and catches her)Brookie, did you miss me. Ned(snarls)Get your hands off my child, Corinthos!(he walks over to Sonny and holds out his hands for her)Give her to me. Brooke:(hugs Sonny)No, I want to stay with Uncle Sonny. Lois:Ned, I want to talk to you outside. Now. Ned:Fine, there's a few things I want to say to you, as well.(they go out on the terrace)I will not have Sonny Corinthos stealing my child from me. Lois:Stealing? That's ridiculous. Ned:He's made a career of stealing family members and he's not going to do it with my child. Lois:What are you talking about? Ned:He stole Stone from Jagger and Jason from Alan and Monica. Now he's trying to steal my daughter from me and I won't have it. Lois:If you only knew how far that is from the truth. For you information, Sonny has been the one trying to convince me to let you have more access to your daughter. He's even suggested I share custody with you. Ned:Bully for him. I don't care. I don't want him near my child. Lois:And I don't want Edward near my child, either. Look, you may not like this, but Brooke loves Sonny. By trying to keep her away from Sonny, you're only going to end up hurting her in the long run. Look, if I have to put up with Edward, you're just going to have to put up with Sonny. End of discussion.(she walks back inside, with Ned following close behind) Lila(as they re-enter)Oh, there you are Ned and Lois. I've just had a wonderful idea. We're going to throw a party in honor of Mr. Corinthos and Lois. Our company was saved from Mr. jacks by Mr. Corinthos and our Lois has come back to use. That calls for a celebration.(Sonny and Lois share a look) Emergency Room, General Hospital: (Stefan is rushed in on a stretcher) Bobbie(is shocked to see her ex-husband and looks to Kat for answers)What happened? Kat:He fell down the stairs. Will he be all right? Alan:I don't know. I won't know until we do X-rays. You'd better call Helena Cassadine. If we need to perform surgery, we'll need her to sign a release form. Jax's Penthouse: Jerry(follows Jax and Brenda inside, slamming the door behind them)You bloody idiot! Is it true V warned you that Jason Morgan might have enlisted Sonny to bail out ELQ and you ignored it? Jax:Yes, but I didn't think he'd jeopardize his identity of Michael Corelli to help them, then when I exposed him I thought he had too much on his plate to concern himself with ELQ's problems. Jerry:Your problem is you judged him by your own standards. Sonny Corinthos is an island unto himself. Brenda:How dare you talke to him, like that. Jerry:Oh, shut up. When I want advice from the Peanuts's gallery, I'll ask. This doesn't concern you. So just stay out of it. Brenda:Jax, are you going to let your brother talk to me like that? Jax:Jerry's right. This isn't any of your business. Jerry:The minute you learned Jason Morgan was meeting with Sonny, considering his reputation for bailing out companies under attack by corporate raiders, you should have taken measures to counteract any and all measures Sonny might employ or bailed out of the takeover. I don't even want to think about how many millions we sunk into this white elephant. Jax:Look, Jerry, we can write-off the expense when we takeover and gut Deception. Emergency Room, General Hospital: Alan(as Kat re-enters the cubicle)Were you able to locate Helena Cassadine? Kat:She's out of town. Alan:Then we'd better get her back here, fast. Stefan is bleeding internally. If we don't operate, at once, he could die. But without permission from the next of kin, we can't operate. Kat:You don't need Helena to sign the release form. The next of kind is already here. Alan:Katherine, what are you talking about. Just because you're sleeping with the man doesn't make you the next of kind. Kat:I wasn't talking about myself, I was talking about Bobbie. Bobbie can sign the release. Bobbie:What are you talking about? Stefan and I are divorced. Kat:No, you're not. You and Stefan are still legally married. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com