Alexis fans rejoice this week on General Hospital. Alexis finally decides it's time to tell Sonny how she feels about him. "So what took so long? Alexis is a master of control," offers Nancy Lee Grahn. "She's ethical,and he is not hers to be had. There's another woman involved." That would be Carly. "'Another thing, too, this is not the kind of man she'd think would be appropriate for her'", Grahn points out. "This is sort of like college, where your heart goes pitter patter and you do things you normally wouldn't say or do. I don't think she had the experience in high school or college, but she's having it now. She's more mature than this, in her appearance and how she thinks of herself."

Even when Alexis tries to forget her favorite client by accepting a date with Scott at the PC Grille, whoops ... there's Sonny ... and Courtney ... and Mike. When a fight breaks out at Sonny's table (the man can't even go out for a burger without causing a scene) Alexis ditches Scott and brings Courtney back to the penthouse. Alexis does her damnedest to play peacemaker and defends Sonny to Courtney, revealing the details of his troubled childhood and estrangement from Mike. When Alexis offers Sonny a shoulder to cry on later, she decides she can't hide her emotions any longer.

"I hear a lot of people like Sonny and Alexis as a couple," muses Grahn. "I thing the netword is doing 'oh now, what do we do?' This romance came out of the blue, which is what happens in real life."

Sonny and Carly fans certainly didn't see it coming -- and they're not happy Alexis is in and Carly is out. "Alexis comes across as Sonny's mother, not his lover, slams bouncybrunette on the Web Site wicked-games.com; which comes as no surprise to Grahn, who knows what she is up against. "The Carly fans are tough. I wouldn't want to meet them in an alley,"' she cracks. "They're going to beat me up."

But the growing legion of Sexis supporters is standing strong. "This will be the new supercouple at GH," predicts sonnydaman at WG. "These two confide and trust each other like I have never seen with anyone." Maurice Benard, who had a long investment in the Sonny/Carly relationship supports a Alexis/Sonny pairing too. "It's just there," he marvels. "We're in a scene and there's no work. This relationship came subtly -- it wasn't forced. It wasn't like, OK, let's get a chick and put her here with this guy -- whatever happens now will make sense." Benard adds that each of his leading ladies -- the other being Tamara Braun -- shows a different side to Sonny. "Nancy brings out the fun side, and Sonny cares about Alexis a lot," he offers. "The fun and the caring is nice, also the teasing that I like to do. Tamara brings out the pain and the love."

Which begs the question: What happens to Carly now?

"Ah, Carly loves Sonny -- there's no doubt about that. But interesting things happen to her," teases Megan McTavish. "We opened her up, got her in a business deal with Jax. We got Zander watching her for Sonny. I would just say that unexpected romance is the theme for this winter.

"Don't count Carly out of the triangle just yet. Carly is close to Mike. That will bring Carly and Sonny into each other's orbit again, promises McTavish. It also brings Alexis into his orbit again. So the question becomes: "Does all this emotional complication draw Alexis and Sonny closer together? And if so, what is Carly's response?"

There is a new hot triangle just waiting to happen in Port Charles! It wouldn't be the first time mob boss Sonny Corinthos and playboy/businessman Jasper Jax were both in love with the same woman. Remember Brenda. This time the lucky lady in question is Carly Benson Corinthos, Sonny's ex-wife.

Sonny and Carly's marriage was one of the hottest the show has ever had and their breakup was devastating not only to them, but the millions of viewers who wanted this couple to stay together forever. However, they couldn't. Try as she might, Carly could not convince Sonny not to divorce her after he discovered that she lied to him and her loyalty was in question. Then Sonny found that he didn't want to live his life without Carly and wanted her back. Even a romantic getaway to Sonny's island paradise didn't bring them back together. Only this time it was Carly that put the nix on their marriage.

Carly had finally discovered that she needed to be on her own, she needed to be independent and her own woman. Carly had an idea. She wanted to open her own club, but she needed a backer. She didn't want Sonny's money, she tried a few places, but didn't have any luck. Then she thought of someone who might be willing to give her a break in exchange for making money for him: Jax.

Carly convinced Jax that she could start this club and make it a success. Jax decided to give her a shot. Although at times he questions his sanity for doing it, especially when Sonny found out what was going on.

Now that they're working together Carly and Jax spend a good deal of time together and it's hard not to see the chemistry between them. But is this the chemistry of two friends or two potential lovers? So far, it looks like a special friendship. What will happen when Sonny sees them together? Will he be able to see that his ex-wife may be headed for a new romance? Carly has always said that Sonny is the only one she loves, but that was before she became business partners with Jax. This charming bachelor can whisk her away on his private jet for romantic dinners in far away places. So far, he has kept it strictly business, but there are times when he smiles at her, one has to wonder if he is falling for her.

A Sonny/Carly/Jax triangle would certainly be interesting considering Sonny and Jax's history. Is Sonny's love for Carly and hers for him strong enough to keep Jax from making a play for Carly?

It looks like General Hospital does listen to its fans. With the recent fantasy kiss between Sonny and Alexis, fans got to see what they'd been clamoring for, but will it lead to to anything permanent? It's been no secret that Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) and Maurice Bernard (Sonny) have chemistry together, but from what Update is hearing from fans, Sonny and Carly have too much love and history between them to be broken up for good. But with Jax now in the picture with Carly, teasing a Sonny/Alexis coupling would be a good move. -- Nelson Branco

In a recent issue, we aksed who you would like to see Carly paired with on General Hospital -- assuming Sonny was out of the picture for good. Nearly 2,000 fans weighed in, and according to the About.com/Soap Opera Weekly poll, a whopping 61 percent would get behind an A.J./Carly redux. Jax was in second place with 25 percent of the tally.

Ingo Rademacher's Jasper Jacks returned to Port Charles -- and General Hospital -- earlier this summer, and while he's remained a prominent figure, there has been little time for dating. Viewers have waited patiently as Jax mourned his great love Brenda, and later, Chloe. But now it's time to move on with another lady. Any front runner, at this point, is a shadow in comparison to the larger than life -- and our number-one pick -- Skye.

"It's great working with Robin Christopher (Skye)," Rademacher tells Update. "There is definitely something going on between them. It's fun the way they're writing it." But is Skye the only woman for Jax? Long shots include Elizabeth, who Rademacher himself has considered for his alter ego, and Carly (the two have entered into a business venture).

Bottom line, says Rademacher: "There's still something we don't know about what happened when Jax was away, and I think we'll come up with something ..."

Skye's feelings for Jax become obvious this week on General Hospital when she spies him with Carly. Clearly smitten, Skye becomes more so when Jax gives her his voting proxy for the ELQ board meeting. Skye is so convinced of his intentions, she defends him to Edward.

But all that changes when Skye catches Carly in Jax's arms. She races off before she can find out that Jax and Carly are actually talking business and celebrating the opening of their new club. Skye later confronts her rival and tries to get revenge by claiming Jax is just using her to get to Sonny. But Carly may have the last laugh, since that's not really the case.