Summer Song - Chapter Nine

Shawn had tried to get Phillip to go to DotCom or the pub or maybe the movies, anything to lift him out of this.

"It's not worth it..." Phillip had said. "My dad would kill me."

"Come on." Shawn reasoned. "Who's going to notice if you get back from the construction site a few minutes late? Your dad is in Italy and your mom won't c...your mom" Phillip looked very carefully at Shawn's face. "Your mom won't call you on it. She like lives to spoil you rotten, which she does a great job of, I might add."

"Forget it Shawn."

"What, you're going to hang out here by yourself?" Shawn said looking over the mansion sized bomb shelter the Kiriakis family called home. "I don't think dinner even counts as breaking your grounding..."

"I won't be by myself." he said as Kate walked in with a young handsome man on her arm. Shawn recognized him. It was Nicholas Alamain, an employee at the Kiriakis business, Titan Publishing and a relative of Belle's, though he couldn't remember how.

"Sweetheart, I see you have company." Kate said looking at Shawn. "I'm glad because. I hope you don't mind, but Nicholas and I are going out to dinner. We have some business to discuss."

Shawn had only met Nicholas a couple of times but the impression he got was that Nicholas had about as much brain power as Jan and almost as much charm. But apparently Kate didn't mind much. About the only business Shawn saw, was going on about six inches beneath Kate's deep neckline. A quick glance from Phillip asked Shawn not to notice and he gladly obliged.

"Good night honey!" Kate called out as the door closed behind her and Nicholas. From then on Shawn dropped the subject of Phillip sneaking out. Phillip would snap out of this in his own time and there wasn't much anyone could do in the meantime. As for right now Phil not being around was a definite plus because the Brady's health insurance might night have been enough to cover the damage if Phillip had seen Shawn walk up the steps to Jason's front porch.

"Come on in Shawn." Mrs. Huntingdon said sweetly. "Jason's waiting for you in the living room."

"Thanks." he said. Jason had his chemistry text open and lo and behold he was actually reading it.

"Hey Brady. You know I'm just doing this for my mom. She's like 'it's so much better to study with someone. It's more fun.' Not that I need you to help me."

"No, of course not." Shawn said. Initially he'd been pretty shocked when Jason called but when he thought about it, it made perfect sense. Who else would do it?

It wasn't like Jason apologized or anything. No, Jason would dive-bomb a Japanese war plane into a Pacific island before he'd do that but he did ask for Shawn's help and with no put downs or attitude either, just straight up asking. For a guy who lived on pride that was something. And then Jason had done him a good turn, sort of, with the whole Chloe mess. Jason hadn't said a word about the bet and Shawn didn't ask. He believed there was a lot more to what happened that night with Chloe than either he or Phillip knew, but Phillip couldn't see it that way and Shawn understood.

"Hey Brady, you gonna daydream about Belle Black or you gonna do what you came for?" he said handing Shawn a thin booklet of practice questions.

"Hey leave Belle out of this." Shawn said. He opened the book and read the problem. "Okay you need to have five molecules of..."

"Five? Did you read this?" He said grabbing the booklet. "You need a multiple of three. Is five a multiple of three? It's six you moron."

"Hey!" Shawn shouted. "If you want me to leave..."

"Just go on."

"Okay." Shawn looked around the room collecting himself. The living room was full of frilly picture frames with photos of Jason and his little sister and their friends. There was even one with him and Phillip. Jason held the handle of his brand new red wagon while he and Phillip sat inside. Jason was tugging at those pants that were always teetering on the edge of his waist. It was hard to imagine looking at Jason now but he was a pretty scrawny looking kid. Phillip and Jason. 'My wagon's shinier than yours... my tricycle's bigger than yours... my Lego tower is taller than yours... my dad's richer than yours... well only Phil could say that. Jason's family didn't come close. "Hey Brady!" Jason snapped his fingers. "You awake?"

"Patience, you jerk. It's not like I'm even getting paid for my time."

Jason paused and lowered his head. Shawn wished he hadn't said anything.

"Yeah, well you're getting paid all you're worth, man." Jason said in an irritated tone. Shawn just continued with the next problem but it wasn't long before a scowl appeared on Jason's face.

"What is it now?" Shawn said.

"Man, you don't just think with your ass, you count with it 'cause you can't count any higher than two. Look one and two make three not two Mr. Tutor."

"Hey man if you don't need my help why..."

"Is everything all right in there?" Mrs. Huntingdon said nervously as she came running into the living room.

"Fine." Shawn and Jason answered almost together. Mrs. Huntingdon came back a moment later with sodas and chips which she put down on the coffee table before returning to the kitchen. Assured that everything was all right Mrs. Huntingdon didn't mind the noise. The house had been way too quiet lately.

"Let's go on to this next one..." Jason said looking at Shawn nervously and they went through the rest of the problems without any distractions.

Shawn felt strange to just close the chem books and leave without saying anything. "So the Wiz Kid's working on any new moves for next year?" Wiz kid, after Jason's idol the Wizard of Oz, Ozzie Smith. Jason looked like a power hitter, right fielder maybe, muscled and well built but he played shortstop. He was quick as whip and he could run too, probably would have run track if it wasn't less cool than baseball. And Jason could eyeball a base hit between two needles in a haystack.

"No baseball next year. Academic probation."

"Ouch."

"Oh yeah, ouch. Gotta do community service too. I get to entertain the folks at the Salem Home for the Elderly."

Shawn successfully stifled a laugh at that.

"No military school though."

"Nope." Jason's father had always said if he passed chemistry he wouldn't have to go to military school and so it would be. Adjustments were not the Huntingdon way.

"You know I was wondering..." Shawn said, "If you're not all that keen about polite chit chat with Mr. Goldberg and Mrs. Lorenzo at Salem Home..."

"Oh no..." Jason said. "Oh no, don't even think it..." but Shawn was thinking and so was Jason.

Belle and Chloe sat atop a tall stack of iron girders their feet dangling freely in the air.

"Ah, this is the life." Belle said as she stretched her arms up in the air. "On top of the world."

"Well, you may not stay there long if you keep leaning back that way."

"Oh please. Chloe Lane you are such a scaredy cat sometimes. Oh look, the scenic route." Belle said as she pointed out Phillip and Shawn working hard drilling holes in the future front porch of the Lockhart home.

"I've seen better." Chloe said.

"Chloe, you can't stay mad forever. They are kind of cute and I know for a fact Phillip's crazy about you."

"Belle, he's crazy about the way I look in a tight red dress. He's crazy about my singing...."

"Okay Chloe, you're right. Phillip's crazy about your looks and your singing and the gorgeous feelings that come out of it; and he's crazy about how smart you are and how funny you are and how you make Mimi's brother feel so loved... You know what Chloe? You take enough of those things and add 'em together and they are you. Okay? It's you Phillip's crazy about. Chloe, Shawn and I had to practice for weeks to do that dance at the Last Blast and we looked like we'd practiced for weeks... You have all these gifts and you talk like..."

"Belle, no...you have the greatest gift there is. You make people around you feel good and I... I should know. Believe me I'd trade you in a minute."

"Really?"

"Really."

"You wouldn't trade me in a minute."

"No, probably not." Chloe said looking down and laughing. "But then neither would you." Now it was Belle's turn to show that knowing smile. Belle jumped down off the stack of girders her giggly self almost completely back. Then Shawn walked right by without seeing her.

"Chloe," he called out and began another of the many speeches she and Shawn had given on the sincerity of Phillip's feelings. With all that Chloe had gone through in life Belle sometimes thought it couldn't be that bad spending all your time having everyone convince you how much you're loved and respected. Not bad at all. Mimi, standing nearby and also watching Chloe with Shawn, in that rare instance, felt differently from her best friend Belle. Very differently...

Phillip hadn't spoken to Chloe since the time she'd picked up the CD's at his house, at least nothing you could call conversation. He hadn't sent any letters, cards, or gifts, hadn't made any calls. They had to be in each other's company since they were all still volunteering on Mimi's house and neither one thought it right to quit. Chloe said 'Hi', 'Bye', 'Yes', 'No', 'Pass the wrench' - which Phillip did very carefully - little meaningless, polite phrases and she even gave him cold smiles after the first week or so. He waited for a sign from her. It was the least he could do.

None of the other volunteers noticed anything obviously wrong. Distance. That's what Chloe put between them and it was far more effective than any rage. Today Phillip and Chloe had worked side by side for the first time in weeks. "Hey could you pass me a bunch of those nails over there?" he said almost asking for the hammer but deciding against it.

Chloe's hand touched Phillips as she gave him the nails and Phillip held on to it, reluctant to let go. She quickly pulled it away.

"Chloe," he said nervously "I'd like to try to explain..."

"You know Phillip I'm pretty busy right now..."

"I guess you're still mad, huh?" He couldn't believe this was the best he could do, the guy who managed to win third prize in a city wide poetry contest with a poem he wrote in the five minutes Mrs. Wertheim used to collect the homework. Of course he hadn't told anybody about it, not even Shawn.

"Oh no. Not at all. I just don't think we have anything to say to each other. You've made that pretty clear."

"I did leave you that message. I just figured..."

"Not your strong suit Phil."

"I wasn't sure what to..."

"You were pretty sure of yourself when you made that bet..."

"I know you need time. I understand that. I'll give you all the time you need..."

"Give me time? You're going to give me time? How generous of you..."

"Maybe in time you can forgive me..."

"Forgive you?"

"You did tell me to hang in there and I... I-"

"Hang in there? You sat there and listened to me... you let me say those things and all the time... I made a complete fool of myself and you let me do it... you didn't even blink. Forgive you? This is not about whether I forgive you." She said suddenly calm. "It's about whether I still like you."

He didn't say anything and he didn't move a muscle.

"You want to hang in there Phillip? What a great idea. Go hang yourself!" she shouted, picking up her backpack and letting it swing wide so as to give Phillip a nice jolt in the stomach as she walked off.

One look at Phillip's face was all Shawn needed to know how things stood with Chloe. He gave Phillip a pat on the back as he passed by on his way to talk to Belle.

"Hey Brunhilda!" Shawn called out to Belle who wore her hair with a thin braid framing her face in German folk style. "Or is it Heidi?"

"Stop it." She cried slapping the shadow of his hand.

"So what are we reading today?" Belle said grabbing the book out of Belle's hands. "Make up tips for the fair skinned woman... do you need some help getting that man to see your beautiful eyes...?"

"Give me that." she said tugging at the book as Shawn struggled to hold on.

"A thin coat of eyeliner, not completely covering the lower lash but..."

"Shawn..." she said as he lifted the book up high to avoid her.

"Making sure to taper slowly toward the edge of the eye. For blue eyes..."

"Give it to me..." she said and pulled with so much strength she managed to get it back though a bit worse for wear. Her face red as a fire engine and her breathing almost as loud, she said "I know it's not Shakespeare but..." She had on this pout that was usually reserved for a five year old who found out they couldn't keep the stray puppy that wandered into the house. Shawn looked over at Chloe and then at Phillip. He grabbed Belle by the waist and pulled her close, then put one hand on each of her shoulders. "Don't ever change." he said and kissed her on the cheek. Shawn sped off to his co-workers, impatient at his longer than usual absence. Belle barely noticed them. A minute later she was still looking at the same spot, the one where Shawn stood.

"She'll come around." Shawn said to Phillip who was pretending to work, something that usually meant an ambulance would be needed soon.

"I guess." Before that exchange Phillip had been hopeful though not confident but now... Funny the only thing that gave him the slightest hope - and slight it was - was that jibe at the end. Chloe hadn't cooled down yet, not completely.

"She adores you."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Phillip said in an exasperated tone.

Shawn stifled a smile Even in agony Phil was still so... Phil. Only the Philster wasn't happy. He was absolutely serious and from what Shawn could tell, pretty desperate though Phillip stood away from him, facing the wall.

"Hey bud, there are other fish in the sea." Shawn said. Big mistake. Phillip spun around with a face so heartsick it hurt Shawn to look at him.

"I've got to do something. I think it's already too late." Phillip had never been so grateful to have Shawn as his friend, the only guy in Salem or possibly the world, who couldn't utter the words ‘I told you so.'

"It's never too late. My man, I have an idea... Hey!" Shawn yelled but Phillip's attention was gone. "What the hell is he doing here?" Shawn heard Phillip shout. And what was this amazing site? Jason Huntingdon, not only at the Habitat lot, but apparently ready to start work. Phillip ran up to him, grabbed him by the collar and shouted "You son of a..."

"Calm down." said Shawn as he pulled Phillip off Jason.

"You calm down. This jerk ruined my life." Phillip said as he tried to wriggle out of Shawn's grasp and take a swing at Jason at the same time. Eventually Phillip realized it was no use, stopped trying and Shawn let go.

"Since Brady here doesn't want to let me pulverize you for some strange reason, let's talk." Phillip said. "You like to talk, or better yet sing. Now I get it. That's why you hate Chloe so much. She's a better singer than you, but hey man, don't sell yourself short."

"I am no rat, Kiriakis."

"Oh I know. It was Deep Throat."

"It was an accident man. Your freaky girlfriend's freaky mom threatened to tell my folks about the chicken blood thing at the dance. I had no choice."

Phillip responded with a stare.

"Hey all I wanted was to pass that stupid chem class. That's all man. It was an accident... I didn't mean it... Chloe wasn't even there when I told her mom."

"And you didn't think Chloe's mom would share that with her?"

"I didn't think..."

"No you didn't."

"I wasn't trying to hurt Chloe. I asked her to help me with the test..." Phillip looked doubtful. "Okay I asked her to help me cheat and she went nuts. I didn't try to hurt her. Seriously, I didn't want her to find out. It's the truth. You believe me man?"

"Why are you here?"

"Summer school's out and it was either this or military school." Shawn said nothing though he knew it wasn't true.

"Whatever." Phillip said as he kneeled down to screw in a bracket.

"So where's your second skin?" Philip asked Jason. Shawn grabbed Phillips shoulder and mouthed the word 'No'. but it came too late. Jason wavered a moment before saying coldly "I dumped the bitch." He remembered that night at the pub. Close enough. "She was bringing me down. I'm better off without her." Neither Shawn nor even Philip had the heart to agree with him out loud. The BMW in the Huntingdon garage was not going to impress the girl whose father had a Mercedes and a Porsche. A Stanford education? The girl who prided herself on getting kicked out of Salem Academy? Medical degrees? Not even close. That meant the Huntingdon's were working class and every wild stunt impressed only as far as the next wilder stunt waited. Deep down Jason must have known, but deep down was a long ways away.

"Forget about him Phil. Look I had an idea about Chloe." Shawn began. Phillip stepped away and motioned for Shawn to follow when he realized Jason had moved in closer to listen.

"Are you out of your mind Shawn?" Phillip shouted. "An aria?"

"It's a sure thing man."

"Yeah, and after that I can run a two minute mile, a 3.9 hundred yard dash and cross the channel three times and back. No way."

"Just a thought. What you need is..."

"I got it." said Jason. Phillip stared openly and even Shawn was skeptical. "What you want is a grand gesture right? A sacrifice. You want to prostrate yourself, leave yourself without a shred of dignity to your name.... abject humiliation."

"You're the expert." said Phillip.

Jason ignored Phillip's comment. "Brady was on the right track." he said. "Not an aria but..."

As Phillip stood on the front lawn of Chloe's house he wished he hadn't let Jason finish that sentence but there was no going back now. He didn't completely trust Jason though something in Jason's eyes... it did seem like he was trying... What did it matter anyway? What mattered was getting through to Chloe and to hell with Jason's reasons... though he couldn't help thinking that Jason, whether he meant well or not, was getting a hell of a laugh out of this. But tonight wasn't about Jason. The ball was literally in his court and he was going to run with it or rather throw it. Chloe came running to the window when she heard Will's little Nerf football ball hit.

"What the..." she cried but stopped cold when she looked outside.

Phillip felt completely ridiculous. Why did he listen to those... this ridiculous red and white striped jacket, white pants, red bow tie, and who could forget the straw hat? Thank goodness he held his own against the cane and spats. He definitely got Chloe's attention. The next part was far worse than a silly hat or even spats. Now Phillip's voice wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. He was basically a crooner. Not too high and not too low and he was sort of okay but not for Chloe. He'd vowed Chloe would never hear him sing and to sing, he swallowed hard, Barry... another choke overcame him... Manilow. But it had to be done. He was going for broke... Chloe was about to leave the window when Phillip began...

Can't Smile Without You...

Can't Smile Without You...

He swore he saw Chloe mouth the words "God no..."

Can't laugh and I can't sing

At that point Chloe shouted, "I'm coming down okay? Just Shhh! I'm coming."

"Thanks."

"What can I say? I have mercy on my neighbors... and all living creatures with hearing." she said out of breath after sprinting down the stairs and out the door.

"I wanted to talk."

"Okay, talk."

"At least you're smiling."

"Can I help it? You look like a show tune."

"I think we have some things to work out."

"All right. I haven't got all night... I mean all day." she said looking at her watch. "So talk."

He cleared his throat, opened his mouth and stood for a moment without saying anything.

"So what have you got to say for yourself?" Chloe asked.

"I...don't know. Nothing I guess." He couldn't think of one thing, not one thing that didn't sound stupid or presumptuous or empty. A flowery, passionate speech full of noise and grandeur would probably have only irritated Chloe but that one word got her attention.

"Okay Phillip. What you did here tonight was sweet, in a lunatic kind of way and yes, I probably will forgive you and we'll probably end up friends."

At that the coffee beans inside Phillip's brain started doing their thing. Phillip perked right up.

"You know how things were, when I first came here. I didn't feel comfortable with people. Even Belle and Shawn... it was like I'd talk to people but it wasn't really me. Like I was listening to somebody else talk... To this day I..." Chloe said.

"I know I made you uncomfortable... I'm sorry..."

"But you see that's where you're wrong. You were the only one I didn't feel uncomfortable with. Even when I first came here and you treated me like..."

"I know that I made things rough for you... I'd like to make it up to you... I..."

"No you're not listening. With you I didn't worry about what I said or how I said it or... it was just you and me... it was the most incredible relief..."

"For me too." Phillip said thoughtfully.

Chloe looked steadily at Phillip and spoke in a philosophical tone. She wasn't happy but she appeared composed. "See the difference is I don't feel that way anymore. And there's nothing you or I or anyone can do about it."

He just stared at her, waiting for her to say something more. When she didn't he said "I understand." and he did though it didn't make things any easier. Phillip walked away slowly, his face as long as a Wagner opera.

Chloe went upstairs. Music. Good music. That's what she needed. Mozart. Subtle, graceful and when the music got too grand you could see the twinkle in his eye. She grabbed her Le Nozze Di Figaro off the top of the dresser. "Dove Sono" she sang along. "i bei momenti"... - What happened to those golden moments?

Chloe lay down on the bed and listened as Countess D'Almaviva sang of her faithless husband's lying tongue, of the good memories that wouldn't leave her...

"Ah! Se almen la mia costanza..." she sang. "nel languire amando ognor mi portasse una speranza." - Ah! If then my constancy still loves through its sorrow the hope yet remains..." Stupid comic operas and their happy endings. She shut off the music and went to sleep.