For the third time that evening, Chloe was changing her dress again. She first tried on the black dress, but tossed it on the bed when she realized that it was the same dress she wore on New Years. Then she tried the purple dress. Although it was pretty, it just didn't seem like the right dress to wear tonight. Then, she saw it in the closet. It was the perfect dress for her Valentine's date with Jax. A scarlet red dress with little straps that tied around her neck. Perfect.

Then, Chloe had the problem of fixing her hair. Down or up? It was such a hard decision. Chloe opted for up, styling her hair in a pretty bun with little tendrils hanging around her face.

And then, the shoes. The black ones were not working. The red ones weren't exactly the same shade of red as her dress. Chloe was getting desperate, fearing that she would have to make a very quick trip to Wyndham's for some new shoes. But fortunately, she found the right shoes. Silver dressy sandals. Silver went with everything.

Chloe looked at her reflection in the mirror, yet again, to check her appearance. "Chloe," she said to herself, "Stop freaking out, okay? This is just a date between friends, Jax said so himself. It's nothing more than that, all right, so stop thinking that it is something more, otherwise you are in for a big disappointment."

Just as she was putting the finishing touches on her makeup, she heard a knock at the door.

Chloe, with sweaty palms, took a deep breath and opened the door. And there he was. Jax.

Jax always did look sexy in a suit, Chloe thought. Well, he always looked sexy, regardless of what he was wearing, but especially in one of those stylish suits. Or even better, perhaps nothing at all…

"Hi, come on in," Chloe said.

"You look beautiful," Jax said, hoping that Chloe hadn't noticed him gaping at her when she opened the door. He couldn't help himself though, Chloe was just so damn sexy and she had no idea! The scarlet dress she wore brought out the fire in her eyes and the wisps of hair around her face were incredibly alluring.

"Thank you," Chloe said, knowing for sure that the blush on her face now matched the color of her dress. "You--you look great too. Are those for me?" she asked, pointing to the dozen red roses that Jax held in his right hand.

Jax smiled. "Of course they are." Jax handed Chloe the bouquet and watched her as she inhaled them all at once. He loved the way she smelled flowers.

"They're beautiful. Oh but, Jax, you didn't have to bring me roses."

"Don't be silly, I wanted too. Oh, and I also brought you something else." Jax reached in his pocket and pulled out a small red heart-shaped box.

"Chocolate! And in a little heart-shaped box! That's so cute! Oh, thank you, Jax."

Jax smiled. "You're welcome."

"I'll just go put these flowers in some water," Chloe said and went to the kitchen. When she came back, she had her purse and was ready to go. "So, where are we having dinner?"

"I was lucky enough to get us reservations at Abbott's."

"We're eating at Abbott's?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"That new restaurant in town?"

"Yep."

"That new *expensive* restaurant in town?"

"Well expensive to some I suppose," Jax laughed. "If you don't want to eat there, we don't have to. We can eat somewhere else, I don't mind."

"No, no, Jax, I would love to eat at Abbott's! I've been dying to go there and check it out. It's just that, well, Abbott's is so extravagant. I was thinking more along the lines of The Grille or Café Mattisse. But, no, Abbott's is just fine. It's perfect actually."

Jax grinned. "Good, perfection was what I was going for."

Chloe gasped when she walked into the restaurant. She had been to her share of fancy restaurants before, but not of this caliber. Vanilla scented candles adorned each table along with an elegant red tablecloth. The lights were low, giving the place a romantic ambiance. In the background, there was soft music playing, to which a few couples were dancing to.

The hostess led them to their table. Jax was quick to pull out Chloe's chair for her.

"Thank you," Chloe said.

Shortly afterward, the waiter arrived at their table. "Good evening. Welcome to Abbott's. I'm William, your waiter for tonight. What kind of drinks can I start you off with?"

Jax looked at Chloe.

"Champagne is fine with me," she said to Jax.

Jax looked up at the waiter. "We'll have a bottle of your best champagne."

The waiter nodded. "Very well, sir. Here are your menus. I'll be back in a few minutes to take your order." The waiter smiled and walked away.

"This is a nice restaurant, Jax. Thank you for taking me."

Jax smiled. "The pleasure is all mine. I've been wanting to eat here for weeks and now I finally have an excuse to."

Chloe flipped through her menu. "I can't decide what I want. Everything on this menu looks good."

"I know what you mean. I think I'm leaning towards the steak though."

"I think I might be in the mood for the chicken, but oh, that looks good too! Oh, I can't decide!" Chloe laughed.

"Well take your time. We've got all night," Jax said with a wink.

As they waited for their food, Jax and Chloe sat at the table and talked. Jax suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out a long black box.

"Chloe, I have something else for you." He handed her the box and Chloe eyed it with curiosity and surprise.

"Jax, what--what is this?"

"Open it."

Chloe opened it. Lying against the velvet interior of the box was the most beautiful diamond and gold bracelet she had ever seen. "Jax," she gasped. "It is absolutely beautiful. Oh, but, Jax, this must have cost a fortune. Really, you didn't have to spend this much money on me."

"I wanted to."

"But, Jax, this is a diamond bracelet! Really, you didn't have to."

"Well if you don't want it, I can take it back."

"No, no!" Chloe held the bracelet close to her. "You better not take this back, I love it!"

Jax laughed. "Here, let me put it on you."

Chloe handed him the bracelet and her arm. She felt her skin tingle as he carefully fastened the clasp around her wrist.

"Perfect fit," he said.

Chloe held her arm up. "Oh, Jax, this is beautiful. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome."

"How in the world did you know that I wanted a bracelet like this?"

"You told me."

"I did?"

"Yeah, don't you remember?"

"No, what are you talking about?"

"It was a long time ago. We were in high school. We were shopping at Wyndham's one day looking for Mother's Day gifts, and when we were looking at jewelry, there was a bracelet just like this one in the glass. You said that you really loved it and that one day, you were going to have one just like it. Well, today is that day. You now have your very own diamond bracelet."

Chloe felt tears sting her eyes. "Jax, I can't believe you remembered that."

"Of course I remember it. I wanted to buy it for you for your birthday, but I didn't have the money back then. But now I do, so I hope you don't mind getting it 15 years later."

Chloe laughed. "You, Jasper Jacks, are the sweetest guy I have ever met."

Jax grinned. "I'm about to get even sweeter. Would you like to dance?"

"I would love to."

Jax took Chloe's hand and led her out to the dance floor.

Chloe couldn't believe how perfect the evening was going. Here she was, dancing with the most beautiful man on earth, at the most exquisite restaurant in town, on the most romantic night of the year. She was on a date with her best friend, the man she loved more than life itself. And at that moment, Chloe truly felt like they were a couple. No one in that restaurant would be able to tell that they were only friends just by looking at them. Everyone assumed they were together, and that made Chloe deliriously happy. It was as if Jax was all hers for the evening. She was like Cinderella and was given one perfect night. She only hoped that by midnight, the fantasy would not disappear. Chloe rested her head on Jax's shoulder and held on to him tighter.

Jax knew he was grinning like a fool, but it was unavoidable. Chloe had this overpowering effect on him. He loved her so much. He didn't know if Chloe felt the same way, but god, he hoped she did, because he honestly couldn't imagine spending his life with anyone other than her. Chloe *was* his life. Without her, nothing would be worth living anymore. He instinctively held her closer to him. He never wanted to let her go.

Suddenly, a familiar song began to play.

"We've danced to this song before," Jax whispered into Chloe's ear.

Chloe looked at Jax and smiled. "You remembered."

"How could I forget? That day out in the gazebo with you. How old were we? Fifteen?"

"Yeah, I think so," Chloe nodded and smiled.

"And you were wearing that gorgeous red dress, a lot like the one you're wearing now."

"Wow! Two points for your keen powers of observation."

Jax laughed and they went back to slow dancing.

The end of the evening was approaching, and Jax escorted Chloe back to her suite. This was it, he thought. This was the moment he was going to kiss her. Jax had thought about it all night long. And although kissing Chloe was the one thing that he wanted to do the most, it was also the one thing that he was terrified of the most. He had no way of knowing how Chloe would react. He had no clue if she even felt the same way. And this wasn't going to be some kiss like on New Years or kissing under the mistletoe, or even that silly kiss in the grocery store. No. This was going to be a *real* kiss, one with feeling, and one with meaning. If only he could get his heart to stop beating so fast.

Chloe smiled as Jax led her to her door. Everything about tonight had been wonderful. And now, it was time to say goodnight. Chloe felt her face getting hot. This was it, she thought. This was the moment where she would find out how Jax truly felt about her. If he felt even the slightest romantic tendencies toward her, then he would definitely end this evening with a kiss. A kiss on the lips.

But, if he kissed her on the cheek, then all of Chloe's romantic illusions would be proven false. And in fact, this evening would be, simply, a date between two friends. Just friends. Plain and simple.

"So, I guess this is goodnight," Jax said.

"Yeah," Chloe agreed.

"So, uh, I really had a good time."

"So did I. Jax, thank you so much for tonight. It was wonderful. You made Valentine's Day great again."

Jax laughed. "We'll have to do it again next year if we're still pathetic and single."

Chloe laughed with him. "So."

"So," Jax repeated.

And Jax leaned forward, ever so slowly. He was going to go for it.

Chloe automatically closed her eyes. This was the moment she had been waiting for all night.

Jax continued to lean forward, and then he panicked.

He kissed her on the cheek.

And he slowly pulled away.

Chloe opened her eyes and smiled to hide her disappointment.

"Goodnight, Chloe," Jax said softly.

"Goodnight, Jax."

Chloe smiled one more time at him, and then went inside her suite and closed the door. The moment she heard the door click behind her, she felt the tears stinging her eyes. Chloe leaned against the door and slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor. She looked down at the bracelet Jax had given her. The bracelet he had given to her as a friend. Just a friend. Chloe buried her face into her knees and started to cry.

Jax stormed into his penthouse and slammed the door behind him. Jax looked at his desk, covered with papers. In one swift movement, everything on the desk was pushed onto the floor. He stormed to his bedroom, kicking the walls and throwing more things onto the floor in the process. He looked at himself in the mirror.

"You're so stupid!" he screamed to his reflection. "Why didn't you just kiss her? It's not like you haven't done it before! Perfect opportunity and you ruined it! Damn you!"

Jax sat down in an attempt to cool off. He couldn't believe how incredibly stupid he was.

Chloe, with tears blurring her vision, got up from the floor. If she thought she hurt now, she knew that the moment she saw Jax again, she would feel even worse. Just knowing that he didn't reciprocate her feelings made her hurt all over again. She had to get away. Seeing Jax again would just be too painful.

Chloe walked to her bedroom and reached for the suitcase under the bed.

To be continued…

*Pictures courtesy of TSN

*Song Credit: "As Time Goes By" performed by
whoever sang it on "General Hospital" :-)