Christmas Miracle
Ch. 7

Emily quickly hid her shock and dismay
at seeing Juan and stepped forward, deliberately
putting some distance between herself and
Nikolas.

“Hey beautiful,” Juan whispered loudly
as he moved forward to greet her, dropping a
short and possessive kiss on her lips before
turning to greet Nikolas. “Cassadine. Fancy
meeting you here.” The hostility in his voice
was only vaguely controlled and Emily winced.

“Nikolas is staying at the gatehouse
with Will for the holidays. I was surprised to
see him here myself.” Emily ached inside with
the conflicting feelings running through her.
Why was she apologizing to Juan for Nikolas’s
presence? She hadn’t done anything wrong and
fantasizing about a guy was not cheating, was
it? And worst of all, why did it feel like she was
cheating on NIKOLAS when Juan kissed her?
What had Nik been about to say? He’d
probably been about to go on and on about
how much he loved Liz. Emily shuddered
visibly.

“You okay, querida?” Juan whispered
softly as he snaked his hand around her waist.
Emily tried not to flinch and pull away, tried to
remember that as far as Juan was concerned
they were solid. A couple.

“I’m fine,” Emily said shakily. “Just
really surprised to see you here.” God she was
getting good at understatements since she had
come to Llanview. “What are you doing here?”

“Jason had business in Philadelphia so I
convinced him to let me tag along. Johnny
dropped me off and he’ll be back later on this
evening to pick me up.”

“Great,” Emily smiled weakly. For just a
moment, she contemplated a pleasant fantasy of
getting even with Jason by holding a surprise
dinner party and inviting Karen, Keesha, Robin,
and Carly. She banished the thought and tried
to remember that Jason probably thought he
was doing her a favor. “Great we have the
whole afternoon and the evening.” At least he’s
not staying overnight she thought and then
immediately hated herself for thinking such a
thing.

At least he’s not staying that long,
Nikolas consoled himself as he watched the
drama unfolding in front of him. His eyes
narrowed as they focused on Juan’s hand firmly
clasping Emily’s waist, but was it his
imagination or did Emily seem less than thrilled
to see her boyfriend. He remembered what Will
had said about Emily being more available than
he thought. He could still feel that sensation
that had pulsed through him when she had
touched him while they were making snow
angels. He looked the handsome Puerto Rican
over and couldn’t help wondering to himself if
Juan was a roadblock or a momentary detour.
Come on Nikolas, he said to himself silently,
Lucky and Luke could fill volumes with stories
about how the Cassadines can manipulate any
situation to their advantage. Are you going to
turn tail and flee because of a little competition?
If Emily is what you want, isn’t she worth a
little effort? A lot of effort? Was Emily what he
wanted? He remembered how she looked in the
clearing, her eyes glowing and her cheeks
tinged with pink. He remembered her laughter
as they had their snowball fight. Katherine had
always made him feel like the Prince, the
Cassadine. Liz had always made him feel like
Lucky’s brother. In all of his life only one
person had ever made him feel like just Nikolas
and that just being Nikolas was a good thing
and she was standing in another man’s arms.

Did he want Emily? Like that? Hell yes.

Nikolas stopped himself. What was his
track record with women anyway? He’d
dropped Sarah when the possibility of Robin
appeared. He’d seduced his father’s
ex-girlfriend, no matter how bad the
relationship had ended Nikolas knew that it was
his fault that it began at all. Face it, he told
himself, you have a history of hurting the
people you claim to love. Can you risk the fact
that you will hurt Emily? Hell, what was he
saying? It was more like could he risk the fact
that he would hurt Emily AGAIN?

“Nik? Nikolas?” He looked up when he
realized Will was addressing him.

“I’m sorry.” He apologized briefly
looking momentarily at Emily standing in Juan’s
embrace. “I guess I zoned. What were you
saying?”

“Actually it was Jess who saying. We
were suggesting that maybe the five of us could
have dinner at the Llanview Palace in honor of
Juan’s visit.” Will turned to Emily. “Unless the
two of you want to be alone?”

“No!” Emily said quickly, then covered.
“Jess is my best friend and I really want Juan to
get to know her.” God I hope that sounds
good. “Maybe we could invite Christian?”

Will groaned. Inwardly at least.
Outwardly he merely smiled. “I’m sure that
would be fine.” Great. First Mr. Ricky Martin
want to be interrupts just when it looks like I
might be making progress with Jess and now I
have to sit at a dinner table watching Jess and
Christian play Romeo and Juliet. Maybe
somebody should remind them that Romeo and
Juliet die in the end.

As the five young people trudge back
through the snow to the main house to get
ready for their dinner, only Juan seems to be
blissfully aware of the undercurrents racing
around him like wildfire.

Llanfair
A little later

Emily is absently trying to decide
whether to wear a black skirt with a black
sweater or a white sweater. Shaking her head,
she goes with the white sweater, switches the
skirt to gray then the sweater to silver and then
the skirt to white and then the sweater back to
white again, adding a soft cardigan for warmth
in the winter air. She smiles grimly as she
surveys the pile of clothes on the bed.

“Em? You decent?” Jess calls and enters
at Em’s muffled “define decent”. Jess surveys
the chaos in front of her with a smile. “The
famous model is having difficulty picking out
something to wear. You want to borrow
something?”

Emily shrugged. “No thanks. This is
good enough. Unless you don’t like it?”

“No, it’s fine. Besides I’d hate to see
what would happen if I said I didn’t like it,”
Jess pushed a few layers of clothing to the side
and sat down. “You know for someone who’s
gorgeous boyfriend decided to show up to
surprise, you don’t seem all that excited.”

“I know,” Emily said softly. “Does that
make me a terrible person?”

“Should it?”

“Maybe. I mean for the last six months
I’ve been racing around telling Juan, my
parents, and almost everyone else in Port
Charles how much I love him. We went through
this huge melodrama to get him to stay in Port
Charles. And now all I can do is sit here and
wish he had done just that- stayed in Port
Charles. I’m an idiot.”

“Hey, you can’t go around calling my
best friend an idiot,” Jess chided. “Emily we’re
young. We’re suppose to fall in and out of love
all the time. It’s encoded in our DNA or
something.”

“I don’t want to fall in and out of love. I
don’t want to be the kind of girl who collects
guys like some people collect stamps. That’s
not me. All I’ve ever wanted is to fall in love
with the guy- you know the right guy- and be
with him forever.”

“Em, you can’t force yourself to love
someone you don’t.”

“But that’s just it. Up until the last few
days I thought I did love Juan. I mean look at
him, you said it yourself that he’s gorgeous.
He’s funny. He’s sweet. And if I said jump he’d
probably say how high. If I let him he would
love me forever.”

“And bore you to death in five minutes
flat.” Jess said pointedly. “Come on Emily this
is me. I know you. Maybe better than you know
you. I’m sure Juan is a great guy. And he was
probably a great first romance. But are you
seriously thinking about spending the rest of
your life with the guy?” Jess shook her head
and leaned back so that she lay flat on the bed
and stared at the ceiling. “I mean close your
eyes and imagine the person you want to wake
up next to every day for the next fifty years. Do
you really see Juan? “

Emily didn’t want to think too deeply
about who she did see.

“Juan is a great guy,” she protested with
a groan.

“But he’s not your forever guy.”

“He could be.”

“Emily. You said it yourself. You want
a love where you do something not because its
expected of you or because its the right thing to
do but because you can’t imagine not doing it.
Is that what you have with Juan? That kind of
love?”

“No,” Emily sighed and fell back next to
Jess. “I don’t feel that way about Juan. I like
him. I like being around him. But I’m not in
love with him the way I should be. The last few
days have shown me that. My feelings for Juan
can’t be that strong if I can’t stop thinking
about....” Her voice trailed off and Jess felt her
entire being focus on what Emily was saying..
“I guess I’m just confused. I thought I was in
love with Juan and I’m not. What if I’m wrong
about being in love with him? What if I’m just
fooling myself again? There’s the age difference
not to mention the fact that he’s used to being
around girls who are older and more
sophisticated. I can’t pretend to be something
that I’m not. I’ve learned that much this last
year.” A long pause. “I guess I just have to be
honest with Juan and take the other thing one
step at a time.” Emily sat up. “Thanks for
listening Jess.” Emily sat up and fumbled
underneath the bed. “What do you think- gold
shoes and accessories or silver.”

Jess who was still numbly trying to
process what Emily had just said automatically
said silver. As Emily moved closer to the mirror
to check her outfit one last time, Jess stared at
the ceiling and tried to comprehend the fact that
her best friend was in love with the guy.....she
what? How did she feel about Will? She
remembered that moment earlier before Juan’s
arrival. She remembered Will and Em dancing
in the diner. She tried to visualize Will and
Emily kissing, maybe doing more than
kissing....A sick feeling settled in the pit of her
stomach as she fought a jealousy more intense
than what she had felt when she had discovered
that Roseanne and Christian had slept together.

“Jess?” Unaware of the fact that Jess
had completely misconstrued her confession,
Emily turned to her friend with a puzzled look.
“You okay? You don’t look well?”

“I just realized that I needed to get
going and change my own clothes.” Jess latched
onto the first excuse that came into her mind.
“I’ll meet you downstairs in a little while.”

Emily nodded as Jessica made her exit
as quickly and gracefully as she could.

The Gatehouse

Nikolas paused to consider something
that he rarely thought about, would a white silk
shirt or a black silk shirt make him look better?
He held up first one and then the other.

“I’d go with the white. Especially if you
are going to wear that dark gray Armani.” Will
said in an amused voice from the hallway.
“And maybe those silver cufflinks that set off
the highlights in your hair.”

“Shut up Rappaport,” Nikolas picked up
a pillow from the bed and threw it good
naturally at Will, even as he tried to quell the
blush that spread across his cheeks.

“You were the one who said that the
Palace was one of the classiest places in town.”

“Right. But this is Llanview, not
London. Being the classiest place in town
doesn’t mean it rates Armani on a week night.
Come on Nik, you probably cut your teeth
socializing at places like the Palace. Besides I
know Renee and she probably could care less if
you showed up in something you bought ready
made at Sears. Why don’t you just admit that
you are dressing up for a certain young lady
who you hope to impress?”

“What about you?” Nik countered.
“Why aren’t you dressing up for the occasion?”

“I’m a firm believer in the theory that
the man makes the clothes not the other way
around. Some of us make even the ready to
wear suits at Sears look good.” Will grinned,
ignoring Nik’s groan. “Besides some ladies are
intimidated by expensive Italian suits. They’d
rather have a guy who knows he looks just as
good in denim.” Will paused. “Besides with my
natural charm and intrinsic good looks, why do
I have to worry about the competition.”

“That competition is the guy she’s been
in love with for months.”

“A passing fling. We’re all entitled to
them. Mine was called Roseanne. I believe
yours answered to Katherine? Or was it Sarah?
Or maybe Robin?” Will thought about Christian
and Jessica. “Besides, as much as she wants to
be in love with her, he’s not the type of person
she needs to make her happy. No matter how
much she pretends otherwise to herself. Or to
him.”

“But you can make her happy?”

“Ecstatic.” Will shrugged. “I’m going to
make call my dad really quick before we leave.
I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Nikolas stared after him as he left.
Could it be possible that Will’s feelings for
Emily went deeper than he thought? He shook
his head. He wasn’t going to think about it
right now. He thought instead of what Will had
said about some girls preferring the casual look
in a guy. He picked up a sweater that was lying
with the clothes he had discarded on the bed.
He held it up next to him and put it down with a
rueful smile. He was just an Armani kind of
guy.

Llanfair

Juan Santiago waited patiently in the
sitting room, sipping a mug of hot cider that the
housekeeper had brought him.

Something was wrong. The uneasiness
he had first began to sense between Emily and
himself before she had decided to leave town
for the holidays hadn’t been his imagination.
Emily was pulling away from him. She was
probably upstairs right now trying to figure out
a way to let him down. Knowing Emily, he
figured she would plan a way to do it that
would let him down easy. Emily hated cruelty
and she would go to great lengths to avoid the
image of dumping him.

He smiled. Not that he was going to let
himself be dumped. He loved Emily. She
was his. His girlfriend. His. They’d been
through too much to be together to let a case
of the nerves or something break them up.

It was this town. Or being around her
friend Jessica. Or more than likely Nikolas had
taken this opportunity to criticize him and put
him down. Cassadine had never liked him and
the feeling was mutual.

He would make it impossible for Emily
to break up with him tonight. And when she
returned to Port Charles he would do
everything in his power to make her realize that
she belonged to him.

There was something more than
romance at stake here. Juan had his eye on a
future with Jason’s organization. A future that
would be bright indeed if he was Jason’s trusted
brother-in-law.

No, there was no way that he was
going to let Emily break up with him tonight or
any night.

Next chapter: The dinner....and guess who else
is dining at the Palace (hint her name starts with
an R)