The phone was ringing in the house when Robin Scorpio came through the door. She dashed to get it before it stopped ringing. "Hello?" she said breathlessly.

"Is he there?" The tone was brisk and unenthusiastic.

"Brenda! I don’t know. I just got in. Let me check and see." She put down the receiver and walked toward the back of the house. She knocked on the heavy mahogany door and turned the knob.

Sonny Corinthos looked up from the papers in front of him. "Yes, Robin?"

"The phone is for you."

"Who is it?"

"Just answer it." She turned on her heel and walked back out the door. He was so infuriating sometimes. She didn’t know why Brenda had ever married him in the first place, though she had gained a very close friend when they had. Returning to the front hall, she heard him finally pick up on the phone and she hung up the receiver in her hand.

"Hello?" His voice sounded very annoyed at being interrupted.

"It’s me."

"Yes?"

"Geez, don’t sound so happy to hear my voice."

"What do you want, Brenda?" He didn’t have time for these games right now.

"I just wanted to let you know I’m spending a few more days here in New York. Something came up and I’ll be meeting with someone here." She figured that was easier than telling him she was staying to be with Jax.

"What, is Jax there or something?" He was full of jealousy as he always was when he suspected Jax was involved.

Brenda’s hand began to shake slightly as she fought to keep control. So what if he is here? You can’t hold a candle to him! "It’s business, nothing more," she said coldly. Now she was lying, but he didn’t have to know that.

"Fine, do whatever you." He hung up the phone on her then. He knew it had to be for Jax. She didn’t schedule meetings so randomly. But he couldn’t care less. He wouldn’t have been there when she got home that night, let alone two days from then. He had a business trip scheduled to Boston and he certainly wasn’t going to postpone it just to see her.

Brenda continued to exchange polite comments to the dial tone once he had hung up on her. Jax didn’t know the extent to which her marriage had disintegrated. She didn’t want him to find out just yet. When she finally hung up the phone she sighed deeply.

"Didn’t take it well?" Jax asked. He knew more than she thought he did. Not everything, but enough to know she wasn’t happy. "I heard you trying to tell him it wasn’t me you were staying for."

"Figured that out, huh?" she smiled warily. "He knew, but at least he didn’t make a big deal out of it. Why does he always have to be so jealous?"

"For the same reason my wife always is. And I have no idea why that is. It’s not like there’s anything romantic left in our relationship, right?" But he was only trying to convince himself of that. He knew that at least he felt distinctly different.

"Right." Wrong, Jax. Can’t you see it? But she also kept her mouth closed on those feelings. She wasn’t allowed to feel that way anymore. And he wasn’t allowed to know she did.

Jax squeezed her hand and smiled slightly, "My turn."

"Good luck." She gave him a supportive smile in return.

He picked up the phone and hit speed dial three. He wondered briefly what his wife would think if she knew that Brenda and Ned’s numbers were ahead of hers on his phone. She’d just be jealous again, of course. The phone rang three times before the housekeeper picked up. "Mrs. Whitter, is my wife home?"

"Yes, Mr. Jacks. I’ll got get her. She’s out back by the gardens."

A minute later, Jax heard her pick up the phone. "Jax." She said it succinctly and with virtually no emotion.

Is this what we’ve come to? "Miranda, I just wanted to let you know I’m not in London anymore. I’m actually in New York and I’m going to stay at the apartment for the rest of the week."

"Why? Is Brenda there?" She sounded full of contempt at the mere mention of her name.

"Must you be like that? And the answer is yes, she is. But I’m not staying for that reason. I have some business to take care of with Ned here in the city."

"Right, whatever you say, dear."

"You know, Miranda, sarcasm does not suit you very well." He sighed and wiped a hand over his face. He really was not in the mood for this.

"Fine, Jax. Do whatever you want. But don’t be surprised if I’m not here when you get back."

Jax made every effort to contain himself and turned his tone hopeful. "Really? Do you mean it?" He smiled slightly, knowing he was driving her absolutely nuts. Who cared anymore? Certainly not him. Their marriage had been over for a very long time, almost before it started. "I’m going to have to go now, Miranda. I’ll see you when I get home," he said cordially. He realized he couldn’t have said much more without making Brenda suspicious. She had absolutely no idea how bad his marriage really was, and he didn’t want her to know.

Miranda hung up the phone on him without saying goodbye. She was fuming in her home in Port Charles. She just knew Jax was with Brenda again. Then, as she remembered something, her face softened. She smiled and walked back to the gardens slowly. He was still sitting on the bench where she’d left him. No matter. At least Jax hasn’t guessed about Brian, yet. She kissed him as she sat down, determined to put all pictures of Jax and Brenda out of her mind.

What Miranda didn’t know was that Jax did, in fact, know everything about Brian Dolway. He’d been Jax’s employee for years until Jax fired him. He’d been trading inside information for months before Jax finally caught on. Fired immediately, Brian had sworn he’d take Jax down, though Jax dismissed it as a meaningless threat. Now, Miranda was having an affair with him and thought Jax knew nothing about it. He did, he knew it all, but he was letting her get in deep enough that she would have no basis to get his money when they finally did divorce. As he thought about it now, Jax had no idea why he’d ever married her in the first place. Yes, I do. I know exactly why, but why did I stay married to her?

Brenda had been watching Jax’s expression since he’d hung up the phone. His clenched jaw told her something was wrong or he was not happy. "Penny for your thoughts." She startled him out of his reverie.

"You know, the rate’s gone up with inflation." His face relaxed and he turned to face her. Smiling, he said, "Besides, my thoughts just now weren’t even worth that." And that is definitely true.

Yeah, right, Jax. What are you so upset about? Brenda searched his eyes with her own, but he gave nothing away. Deciding to drop the subject and move on, she said, "What time are we meeting Ned and Lois tonight?"

He knew what she was doing and he did appreciate it. Flashing her a look of thanks, he answered, "We agreed to seven o’clock at the restaurant. Is that okay?" He teased her and she laughed.

"Not until seven, huh? Then, what are we doing for the next two and a half hours?" She found that talking and joking with Jax was making her forget about Sonny and him about Miranda. Good, maybe we can have a pleasant evening.

"I thought we’d go back to my place for a drink and catch up for awhile. We haven’t seen each other for over three weeks and I’d like to talk to my best friend."

Brenda smiled and grabbed her purse as the limo came to a stop in front of the thirty-two-story apartment building. The door opened and they walked through the impressive lobby to the bank of elevators. They teased and laughed the whole way.

The elevator stopped on the thirty-second floor and opened into a small private hallway with a set of double doors at the far end. Jax put his key in the door and opened it. He held it for Brenda and she walked in with him following her.

The front foyer reached to the kitchen and Brenda stood in it looking around. Something was different, but she couldn’t place it. There was a table to the right of the door and she put her purse down on it. She looked at Jax to find him watching her carefully.

"Something’s different, Jax. What is it?"

"You tell me," he said cryptically. He was smiling as she continued to search.

"Oh, what is it?" she muttered to herself. She could tell it had something to do with her based on Jax’s look. He was all but telling her she had influenced what it was. She turned to her left and saw it. "You got it? I can’t believe you really bought that, Jax!"

"That" was a famed Renaud painting they had seen on display at an auction one afternoon. Brenda had fallen in love with it instantly, thought Jax didn’t understand why.

"Yes, I bought it." He was laughing at the expression on her face.

"But I thought we left before it went up."

"We did. I used a telephone buyer."

"I don’t understand why you bought it, though. You didn’t seem to like it that day at the auction house."

"It goes with the décor," he said flipply.

"Jax…"

"Seriously, Brenda?" Because you liked it and anything you like, I love.

"Yes."

"I bought it because you like it so much. I thought at least if I had it, one person would appreciate it. Besides, it really does go with the decorating, doesn’t it?"

She hit him lightly on the arm and laughed. "I’ll bet Miranda just hates it."

"Actually, she hasn’t seen it yet. But even if it were a Monet "Water Lily," she’d hate it, if she knew why I bought it." He turned and walked into the room behind him. It was his office, but it always served as a living room with his friends. The windows that covered one wall looked out over the city and it was decorated to compliment the sunsets that could inevitably be seen from the windows. It was Brenda’s favorite room in the apartment, for reasons other than its eminent beauty.

Brenda took a seat on the L-shaped couch and pulled one leg beneath her. She was mesmerized by the sunset outside.

"What would you like to drink, Brenda?"

She turned momentarily and said, "White wine would be good." He poured them each a glass and went to sit by her. "It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?" she said without breaking her glance.

"That it is," but he wasn’t looking out the window when he said it. They watched the sun disappear behind the horizon, each lost in their own thoughts.

Jax remembered something and went to his computer to check for an e-mail he was to have received. When his messages came up and he began to read them, he swore softly under his breath.

Brenda turned to him, surprised, "What’s wrong?"

He sat down heavily in his desk chair and sighed. He took a moment, swore again, and ran his hands through his hair.

"Jax, is something wrong?" She was concerned it was more than work.

He looked up at her. "What? Oh, it’s nothing."

"I know you better than that, I should think." She got up and crossed the room to him. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she began to massage his muscles. "You’re extremely tense now. You weren’t like this a minute ago. What is wrong?"

He took another deep sigh and leaned forward, placing his head in his hands. "God, you are persistent, Brenda. All right," he smiled slightly. "I just had a company taken out from under me again. By the same people who have taken three others in six months." He straightened up and pulled away from her. "I have to make some calls before it’s too late."

"Should I call Ned and cancel?"

"No, I’ll be done in a little while. If I can’t get it in these calls, I can’t get it back." He picked up the phone and furiously punched in a number.

Brenda closed the door behind her as she left. She wandered around the huge apartment before taking a seat in the kitchen. She sat at the baker’s island on a high stool, looking at the deepening dusk. She took a sip of her wine and reflected on the day. How did this all happen? Only a few years ago, if things had been different, Jax and I would be married now. How do things always go so wrong? She thought back to those times and a light smile played on her lips.

They had been so happy. Who would have guessed that Jax and Brenda would be engaged after knowing each other for five years? Certainly not Ned and Lois. They were as surprised as anyone the day they found out Jax and Brenda had become a couple. It had always been the four of them, all best friends from college. No one, least of all Jax and Brenda, had expected them to realize they were in love.

Now, Lois swore she’d always seen it coming. She had known Brenda was falling for the guy in her economics class. Nothing got by her best friend and college roommate. Brenda met Jax when he sat next to her in a 300-level economics class her junior year in school. They'’ started sharing notes and studying together. Before they knew it, they’d become close friends. Even better was the fact that Lois liked him. One night when they went out, Jax brought along his own best friend from college, Ned Ashton. He’d lived down the hall from from Jax and they’d hit off on the first day they moved in their freshman years. From that night, through many groups of friends, there were always the core four. They became inseparable and spent as much time as possible together. They still did now. All of them had sworn at one time that there was absolutely nothing romantic among any of them, but then Jax and Brenda happened. The friendships all continued unchanged, though Jax and Brenda were even closer now, if it was possible. They had said nothing could tear them apart. Not until that night.

"There you are. Why are you in the kitchen?"

Jax’s voice startled her out of her thoughts. She jumped in her chair and swung around quickly. "You scared me!" She laughed. "I was just thinking."

"Not about cooking, I hope." Their running joke on her horrible culinary skills came back to haunt her again.

"Ha-ha. No, I was just thinking about my life and the way things worked out."

"For the best, of course. You’re a completely capable, very successful businesswoman now."

"Yes, well, right. Are you done with your calls? You look a little happier." She smiled at him.

He ran his hands through his hair again. "Yes, I’m done, and yes, I’m happier. I was able to get my company back." This time.

"Good." She looked at her watch. "Are you ready to go? It’s almost six-thirty."

"That late already? OK, yes, if you’re ready, so am I."

They walked to the front hall where he picked up his keys and handed her purse to her. He pulled open the door and ushered her through it. "Let’s go."

As they got in the elevator, Brenda’s thoughts flashed back to their previous track. I’ve got to stop thinking about that. It happened and nothing will ever change that. We can’t go back to what we once were. He doesn’t even want to, regardless of how much I do. It’s over. We’re better off just being the best friends we are now. A puzzled look came over her face momentarily as she pondered her final thought. Right?