Please remember that in my warped view of GH history, the Nurses’ Ball is more of a dinner dance and doesn’t have the entertainment portion.

The 1998 General Hospital Nurses’ Ball appeared to be a rousing success, and it had only begun. All the tables in the elegant Versailles Room were sold out, at a substantial donation per plate. The corporate backers had assured that almost every dollar pledged would go to fund AIDS research. And Brenda Barrett had declared her own personal Independence Day.

Harlan Barrett and Sonny Corinthos had been speechless when Brenda appeared at the entrance to the ballroom. Harlan had sputtered something about suing Windom’s for not getting the right dress, but Brenda had stood up to him and told him the other dress just didn’t look right.

Sonny Corinthos had been speechless also, but for different reasons. Brenda tried bite her tongue as he leaned over and whispered in her ear what a "hot babe" she looked like tonight. {If he does it one more time, I’m going to knock that greasy head right off that greasy body of his.}

Brenda watched as much of Port Charles assembled for the annual event. She particularly perked up when the Jacks party entered the room. John and Jane looked like a matched set, as usual. Jane had on a long sheath in a muted shade of light blue with an overdress of blue tye-dyed silk. John was dressed in a dark blue tuxedo. Brenda almost gasped aloud when she saw Josie. She was truly a knockout – all 5 feet of her – in a long sheath dress with solid diagonal sequin stripes in a rainbow of colors.

Harlan was saying something to Sonny, and then asking Brenda if she agreed when she was dragged back to reality. Where was Jax?

It was then that she saw him. He had come with the Brent party, and had a long, willowy brunette attached to his arm. Brenda recognized Ashley as a fashion model, having seen her picture on some magazine covers. Ashley had chosen to wear a black crepe gown, cut down to her navel in the front and up to her thigh in the back.

"Well, I guess we all know what Ashley hopes to accomplish tonight, don’t we?" Harlan smirked to Sonny, and both men shared a sexist comment about her anatomy. Brenda gave them both a withering look, and turned back to see Jax’s eyes searching the room. He had on a black tux to match Ashley’s black dress, but with a dark mauve tie. Brenda couldn’t help but wonder why he chose that color, which matched her dress so perfectly.

"You know," Sonny was saying, "I heard old man Brent saying just today that he expected Jax to pop the question to Ashley any day now. Seems that before he went to Hong Kong, they were quite an item."

Brenda seethed and fidgeted. "Excuse me," she muttered. "I’m going over to the Quartermaine table to say hello." She escaped just in time to hear her father invite Sonny to the bar for another round.

Brenda made her way to the Quartermaine table, and Ned rose immediately and gave a long wolf whistle. "Brenda! You look mahvelous, dahling!" he said, in his best Billy Crystal imitation. Brenda blushed at the praise, but A.J. and Jason both rose too, and the looks in their eyes gave away their approval of her dress.

"Well, I wouldn’t have been able to find it if your lovely wife hadn’t taken the time to go shopping with me," Brenda said shyly. She still felt a little uncomfortable about wearing something this revealing in public, and secretly checked to make sure nothing critical was showing.

Lois pulled Brenda aside. "So, any word from Mr. Right about how you look tonight?"

Brenda looked confused for a moment. "Oh, you mean Jax?"

Lois put her hands on her hips. "No, Brenda, I mean Santa Claus! Of course I mean Jax! I saw him come in a few minutes ago with some vampire queen. Who is she?"

Brenda sighed. "That’s Ashley Brent, the model. According to the gossip at our table, they’re almost as good as engaged."

"According to who?"

"My charming companion for the evening." Brenda looked with disdain over at Sonny, who was still at the bar consuming liquid nourishment. She shook her head. "Daddy paid for the tickets for the entire table, so I think Mr. Corinthos is determined to get daddy’s money worth in booze for the night."

Lois turned Brenda’s head back towards the Jacks table, where Ashley and Jax had gone to say hello. Ashley was leaving and heading towards the photographers, but Grandma Josie had a firm hand on Jax’s sleeve.

"They don’t look that close to me," Lois muttered. "He looks like he’s having as much fun as having a root canal."

"Brenda, dear," Lila Quartermaine interrupted. "Do you know my dear friend, Josephine Jacks? She appears to be trying to get your attention."

Sure enough, Josie had Jax by the sleeve, and while John was speaking to him about something that appeared to be serious, Josie was motioning for Brenda to come over to their table.

Lois smiled. "Now’s your chance, girlfriend. Go get ‘em!"

Brenda smiled back weakly and went over to the Jacks’ table. "Josie, are you trying to make all of us look bad tonight? You look positively stunning!"

Josie waved off Brenda’s comment, and as Jax turned and saw Brenda for the first time, his eyes widened and turned a dark shade of blue. He had been kicking himself since that day in the office when he acted like such a fool. Brenda had stirred his libido like no other woman had recently, and yet he had tried to act cool and collected in her presence. Seeing her tonight, he wanted to grab her and make passionate love to her right in the middle of the ballroom.

Brenda could feel the heat from Jax’s eyes, and as he looked her up and down, she felt like he was undressing her right there in the middle of a public place. Why did she always get that unusual tingling when he looked at her? A.J. had done his share of leering at her earlier, and Sonny was practically drooling on the linen tablecloth, but they didn’t cause that funny feeling like Jax did. {Mission accomplished, Bren.}

She had to mentally shake herself and pay attention to what Josie was saying. "Oh, this old thing? It looks like a burlap sack compared to your frock, don’t you think so Jax?" She punched him in the arm to make sure he was listening. It was a good thing – he was off in a reverie of his own, and it was definitely X-rated.

"Oh, right Grandma. You look beautiful tonight, Brenda," he stammered, and his eyes still had that burning intensity that made her drop her gaze to the floor.

They both stood there tongue-tied for 30 seconds, and Grandma Josie thought she was going to have a stroke. Just as she was about to kick Jax in the shin, Sonny came up and asked Brenda to dance.

"Please excuse me. Lovely seeing you again, Josie. Thanks for your help in finding the dress," she said sadly as Sonny led her to the dance floor.

"YOU helped her find the dress, Grandma?" Jax said as the light dawned. "And YOU insisted I wear this tie this evening? What do you have going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

Grandma Josie heaved a big sigh. "Great move, Jasper. We finally got rid of the Queen of the Underworld for a while. I guess she had to go apply another coat of plaster to her face."

"What’s the matter, Grandma? Don’t you like her? She’s a brunette," Jax said teasingly.

Josie stood up and planted all of her 5 feet of height next to Jax’s 6 foot, 2 inch frame. She took her program for the evening and whopped Jax on the arm with it. "YOU BLEW IT!"

"Ow, Grandma, that hurt!" Jax looked shocked at her candor. "What do you mean, I blew it?"

Josie stood nose to ….. shirt with him and looked up sharply in his deep blue eyes, so much like those of her dearly departed husband. "Jasper, I love you with all my heart, but SOMETIMES YOU ARE DUMBER THAN DIRT!!! Why didn’t you ask the woman to dance before that slimeball she came with could? I swear, your Grandpa Jasper would be so disappointed in you."

"Grandpa Jasper? What’s he got to do with this?"

"If Grandpa Jasper, God rest his soul, were here tonight, and saw the way Brenda looks in that dress, he would have had her out on the terrace in less than 2 minutes and would be investigating what’s holding everything inside!"

Jax blushed at his grandmother’s comments, just as John overheard. "Mother!!"

Josie sat back down. "Well, it’s true," she bristled. Then, as an afterthought, she looked Jane. "What DO you think is keeping things from falling out, Jane?" she whispered. "Sticky-tack?". Jax had taken a drink of his cocktail, and had to control himself mightily so that he didn’t spit it out laughing.

Meanwhile, Brenda was enduring dancing a slow song with Sonny. His hand felt slimy on her bare back, since he had snaked it up in under her jacket while they were dancing. It was giving Brenda shivers down her spine, and they certainly weren’t the kind of shivers she got when Jax had kissed her. Finally, the music ended.

She excused herself and was heading for the powder room, when she saw Ashley Brent coming back the other way. Ducking through an open side door, she finally found her way to the terrace outside the ballroom. She took deep breaths to steady her nerves, and was enjoying staring at the stars when she heard an irritating voice.

"Aha, so this is where you escaped to. I don’t blame you – this is much nicer than the party inside," Sonny leered.

"Well, I really needed a breath of fresh air, but I think I’ll go back inside now," Brenda said briskly. As she tried to go past him back into the ballroom, he caught her arm.

"No, why don’t we stay out here for a while. We can still hear the music, and I like this private dance floor a lot better than the one inside, don’t you?" he asked.

{NO!!!!} "OK, I guess we can stay out here for one more dance," she said, as he was holding her firmly by the arm and she really didn’t have an option. He pulled her into his arms, and she could feel his hot breath on her bare shoulders and smell the whiskey he had consumed earlier.

They danced for a few minutes, and then Sonny pulled her closer and started to nuzzle her neck and reach his hand around to the front of her dress.

"No, Sonny, let’s go back inside now," Brenda said firmly.

"Come on, Brenda, it’s more private out here. We can dance the way I’ve been wanting to dance since I first saw you tonight." The hand crept higher and tried to slip under the brocade closure to un-snap it.

"Sonny, I really don’t want this," Brenda insisted, becoming alarmed. She really couldn’t break his grasp, and she started to struggle in earnest. She was beginning to drown in the smell of the whiskey and his eyes were glittering like some small rodent.

"Come on, Brenda," Sonny rasped, "don’t be such a d*mn tease." To her horror, he planted his mouth on hers and tried to give her a wet French kiss.

Suddenly, from behind the bushes on the terrace, Brenda heard the sound of an angel’s voice. "Why don’t you let the lady decide for herself, Corinthos? I really think your technique leaves something to be desired," Jax said as he came through the bushes onto the patio where they were struggling.

"Butt out, Captain Kangaroo," Sonny slurred. "This is none of your business." As Sonny turned back to Brenda again, he felt a firm grip on his arm. Jax pulled the smaller man away from Brenda easily. Jax saw the look in Brenda’s eyes, and he knew that she didn’t want him to leave.

"Oh, but this is my business, haven’t you heard? I’m into rescuing damsels in distress now as a subsidiary of J&J Jacks." Jax smiled, but then his face took on a deadly serious look. "Come on, man. You don’t want to make an ass of yourself here in front of all of Port Charles at the biggest social event of the season. Why don’t you go inside and get some coffee and sober up?"

Sonny looked at Brenda, and she tried to slow her breathing. "Go ahead, Sonny. Just go back inside, and I’ll try to forget this happened and chalk it up to you having too many drinks and no food." Sonny wove his way back through the French doors, and Brenda shakily bent over to pick up her wrap, which Sonny had stripped from her in his pawing.

Jax bent down at the same time, and their fingertips touched as he helped her. He could see she was still shaking, and thanked God he had been able to follow her through all the hallways after she left the ballroom.

She smiled at him wanly. "Somehow, thank-you just doesn’t seem quite adequate in these circumstances." She shook her head and walked toward the low stone wall around the edge of the terrace. She tried to calm her racing heart. "I guess I was really lucky that you happened to walk out here at the exact moment I needed rescuing!"

Jax smiled at her and rubbed the sides of her arms, turning her around to face him. "Well, please don’t nominate me for sainthood yet. I was actually looking for you to make my own set of moves on you, and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Believe me, my motives were not at all pure!"

Brenda laughed a little, but something inside of her went all mushy at the thought of Jax "making moves" on her. "Great. Now you’ll probably think that I’m a tease, too. Just like my inebriated escort does."

Jax thought a moment. "Well, I really don’t have enough information on that to form an opinion yet. After all, I’ve never really tried anything with you." He paused. "Well, except for that time after your father’s birthday party, and I guess you turning me down that night shouldn’t count. After all, you hadn’t led me to believe there would be anything more than a cordial good-night. Of course, Corinthos might have a better argument since you wore this outrageously sexy dress for him tonight."

Brenda’s eyes flared with anger. "I did NOT wear this dress for him!" As Jax’s eyes filled with merriment and crinkled at the corners, she realized she had been trapped into admitting she wore the dress for somebody else. She tried to recover. "I simply wore the dress because I like it." But she knew that Jax saw right through her maneuver.

"So, when Corinthos isn’t a slobbering drunk, are you always as unresponsive to his advances?" Jax asked as he gently traced one finger up and down her arm.

She pulled away, since it was giving her chills, and they were not the unpleasant kind. "Certainly not, although I’m sure that’s what you’ve heard."

Jax feigned ignorance. "Why, what do you think I’ve heard?"

Brenda sighed and turned away again. "I know that men talk. Believe me, they talk about a woman scorned, but there’s nothing worse than a man who’s been turned down. I don’t happen to think I’m cold or unfeeling. I just don’t happen to believe that I need to sleep with every man who asks me."

"So there have been some who made it all the way past first base to home plate?" Jax teased.

Brenda whirled again, eyes blazing. "I am not frigid!" At Jax’s raised eyebrows, she added, "And I am not gay, Jasper Jacks!"

"Whew," Jax whistled. "That’s good! Then at least I have a chance!"

Brenda realized he was teasing her again. Her eyes got a faraway look. "I guess I just really never found a man I wanted. You know, my father isn’t exactly the poster boy for ideal husband of the year. I refuse to be a doormat, like my mother was while he had his affairs. And when I do marry, I want it to last forever, and not have to walk out like my mother did when I was little. I guess my standards are pretty high." She stared up at the stars.

Jax pulled her into his loose embrace. "Poor Brenda. In search of Mr. Right. What can we do to help her?" His face took on a serious look, and she began to have her own doubts about his motives.

"Jax, don’t look at me like that."

"Like what?" he asked innocently, still holding her disturbingly close.

"Like a new company you’ve just decided to acquire."

Jax chuckled and released her a little. "Tell you what. Why don’t we get out of here and go someplace more fun. No stuffed shirts. No party manners. Just good old-fashioned," he saw her alarmed look, "WHOLESOME fun." She was still looking at him skeptically. "Come on, love. I really don’t move that quickly. I promise you I’ll behave like a perfect gentleman and you won’t have to arm-wrestle me at the door."

Brenda hesitated for a moment, gazing longingly at his outstretched hand. Smiling broadly, she placed her hand in his and then took her shawl. They came back through the ballroom long enough for her to grab her purse, and then made a quick exit out the front doors, holding hands and giggling like two teenagers. It was long enough, however, for Grandma Josie to see them leaving together.

"YES!!" she said to herself, pumping her arm up and down in triumph.

To be continued…..