Chapter 36
"I’ll stay," Mimi responded automatically, the words out of her
mouth before she even realized what she was saying. "I mean, I told you I
would and I really don’t have any other plans tonight. I can hang out
here."
Brady had left his room and was beginning to walk down the stairs towards them.
"Okay," Belle said. "Brady can keep you company while we’re
gone." She turned to face her older brother and wagged one finger at him.
"You be nice to Mimi, or else you’ll have me to answer to."
"I plan on being very nice to Mimi," Brady said in a tone of mock
innocence, his eyes roving over her body quickly. Only Mimi caught his
underlying suggestion and hungry look, and she had to force herself to breathe
normally.
"The baby is upstairs in my room ‘sleeping’ right now," Belle told
Mimi. "We’ll be home as soon as we can. See you guys later!"
Shawn and Belle waved goodbye to everyone and left. Shawn offered Belle his arm
once they were outside the penthouse and he pushed the down button on the
elevator. "You know, they’re kind of funny," he began.
"Who’s kind of funny?" Belle queried, reaching a hand up to
ascertain that her hair was in place.
"Brady and Mimi," Shawn replied.
"Funny ha-ha or funny weird?"
"Funny weird. Sometimes when I’m around them I get this vibe like…"
Shawn trailed off, not sure of how to say what he wanted to.
"Like what?" Belle asked, confused. She had no idea where Shawn was
going with this.
"Like there’s something going on between them."
Belle began to laugh. "There is nothing going on between Mimi and Brady.
Don’t you think I’d be the first one to know about it? It’s almost like…incest
or something. I mean, I know it’s not, but she’s been my best friend since I
was five, and Brady’s my brother. That would just be too strange." Belle
shrugged her shoulders as if to ward off the feeling the idea gave her.
"It would be strange. But last week Philip said something about seeing Mimi
and Brady together at the frat party, and that he saw her leaving Brady’s room
the next morning. Brady told Phil he was delusional and imagining the whole
thing, but I don’t know…"
"I do know. Nothing’s happening," Belle asserted firmly. "Now
are you going to talk about Brady and Mimi the rest of the night or are you
going to kiss me?"
"Hmmm. Tough choice," Shawn joked right before he leaned in to kiss
Belle gently on the lips.
**************************************************
Chloe crossed her arms and glared at Nancy. She always had to make everything so
difficult. Why couldn’t this one thing be easy?
"If you don’t watch the baby, I will fail this class and possibly end up
spending the rest of my life here because I couldn’t graduate from high
school. I need you to watch her."
"So now you need me?" Nancy purred. There was nothing she liked better
than being in a position of power. "Well, if you need my help so badly, I
suggest you be a bit more cooperative."
"Fine," Chloe growled as she flopped onto the couch in the study. She
heard the front door opening, and knew that Craig had finally returned from his
shift at the hospital. "Hello?" he called out. "Anybody
home?"
"We’re in here, sweetheart!" Nancy called back. Craig came into the
study and kissed Nancy hello. He noted the very sour look on Chloe’s face.
"Don’t you look pretty all dressed up? Or am I not supposed to notice
that? I’m still new at all this dad stuff," he joked as he went over to
kiss Chloe on the top of her head. Her scowl nearly scared him off. "Did I
interrupt something?" he probed. Craig placed his briefcase on his desk,
shrugged his suit coat off and placed it on the back of a chair. He picked up
his mail on the desk and began sorting through it.
"Chloe was just about to tell me what she’s doing tonight," Nancy
explained. "Or else I won’t watch her baby for her." Nancy leaned
back in her chair, crossing her arms, a very self-satisfied look on her face.
"Come on, Nancy," Chloe pleaded. "This might be your only chance
to baby-sit a grandchild."
"Where are you going and with whom?"
"I don’t know, and I’m going out with Philip."
"Philip Kiriakis?" Nancy screeched. "You’re going out with that…that…"
Craig put the mail down and crossed to Nancy, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Nancy, I’m sure that Philip is a very nice young man."
Nancy glared at him, shooting daggers in his direction. "But what do we
know about him?"
"We all know that you know where he lives," Chloe muttered
sarcastically. Nancy barging into the Kiriakis mansion to yell at Philip’s
father was still fresh in her mind.
"What we know is that Chloe has decided to accept Philip’s invitation and
go out with him. That should be good enough for us. We’re going to have to
trust her judgment. We’re not the ones dating him," Craig told Nancy
gently, stroking her hair in an attempt to calm her down.
"Well, what in the world could Chloe actually know about him?" Nancy
sputtered, disliking the feeling that Craig was taking Chloe’s side in this
argument.
"I know I like him, and that his parole officer has high hopes for
him," Chloe said in an ironic tone, and got up to leave the room.
"What are his standards? Does he do drugs? Does he drink?"
"Like a fish," Chloe calmly replied. "That’s one of the reasons
I like him so much." Chloe left the room, hearing Nancy still protesting
and complaining to Craig as he tried to soothe her.
**************************************************
Mimi sat in Belle’s room, trying to read the textbook she’d brought with
her. She wasn’t having much success focusing on any of the words in front of
her. She could hear Marlena and John downstairs talking, their soft voices
carrying to the upstairs landing. She knew Brady was in his room, but it was too
risky to go to him now, to be near him with his parents right downstairs.
Besides, she was still irritated that he hadn’t tried to call or see her since
earlier in the week. She’d become a total insomniac waiting for him to show up
at her window again, and he didn’t. The longer Mimi thought about it, the
madder she became. Why had she stayed? she wondered indignantly. She should just
go downstairs and tell Belle’s parents that she had to go, and ask if they
would watch the baby for her.
She’d resolved to just do that when Marlena appeared in the doorway of Belle’s
room. "I see that you’re doing some homework, but if you’d like a
break, John and I were going to watch a movie. Would you like to join us?"
"Sure," Mimi smiled, unable to think of a polite way to say no. Mimi
had a tendency to get a little tongue-tied around authority figures. She got up
from the bed and dutifully followed Marlena back downstairs. She sensed Brady
before she saw him. He was sitting on the loveseat, while John occupied the
sofa. Mimi could suddenly smell the overwhelming aroma of buttery popcorn, and
wondered how she hadn’t noticed it earlier. Marlena nestled against John, and
he stretched out the length of the couch. Mimi had no choice but to sit on the
love seat next to Brady.
"Everyone all settled in?" John asked. He picked up the remote and
started the movie.
Mimi tried to pay attention to the movie. She tried to pay attention to the
plot. But she kept sneaking glances out of the corner of her eye at Brady. What
was he thinking? Had he changed his mind about her? Is that why he hadn’t
tried calling her that whole week? Mimi grabbed a small bowl of popcorn,
grateful for the distraction.
She quickly ate the entire bowl and realized how thirsty she was, and that she
needed to wash her hands.
"I’ll be right back," she said quietly. "I’m going to get
something to drink. Does anyone else want anything?"
John and Marlena both shook their heads no, and Mimi didn’t dare look at
Brady. She went into the kitchen and washed her hands at the sink. After she
dried them she went over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. She
slammed the door and upon turning around found Brady standing right behind her.
"Dammit, Brady!" she swore. "Haven’t we already déjàed this
vu?"
"Looks like someone had an extra helping of bitch flakes this
morning," Brady said dryly. He once again backed her against
"their" counter, his arms on either side of her. His eyes roamed up
and down her body. "Damn, here you are with all these curves and me without
my brakes."
"I have a feeling you’re going to crash and burn," Mimi spat back at
him.
"Why are you so pissed?" Brady asked. Mimi only glared at him.
"What - are you mad that I didn’t call you or something?" Brady saw
the brief change in Mimi’s eyes and knew that he had hit the nail on the head.
"Lest you forget, you challenged me. You said I couldn’t go that long
without seeing you or calling you. And I did."
Mimi shook her head, rolled her eyes, and sighed. Brady was infuriating. Plain
and simple. But she knew there wasn’t anything about Brady that was plain and
simple.
"I don’t really want to be around you right now, so if you’d move…"
Mimi said, gesturing that she’d like to leave.
"That’s not what I’m hearing," Brady replied.
"Then clean out your ears."
"Your body’s telling me what it is you want, Mimi," Brady murmured,
moving closer to her. "I can see the pulse in your neck here," he said
as he reached out to run his fingers over it, "beating faster and faster. I
can hear your breaths being shorter and shallower."
"Yippy skippy for you, Brady. Two points for observation. Now move."
"You know what your problem is?" Brady asked as his eyes narrowed at
her.
"You?" she offered helpfully.
"No," he chided gently as his arms slid around her, pulling her
against him. "You haven’t been kissed today. And to quote Rhett Butler,
you should be kissed. Often. And by someone who knows how."
"I suppose you think you’re that person?" Mimi whispered, struggling
to cling to her sense of outrage and ill use of her and not be distracted by how
good it felt to be in his arms, to have his big, strong body pressed against
hers.
"I know I’m that person," Brady smiled down at her, his blue eyes
twinkling with anticipation. "I know what else you need. A good
tongue-lashing. And trust me, you’ll love the way I do it."
"Somebody should stick a parental advisory label on you," Mimi growled
back, trying to banish the unbidden images that were jumping into her mind.
Brady wanted nothing more than to kiss Mimi right then. It had been far too long
since the last time he’d kissed her, and he wanted to again more than
anything. It was all he’d thought about since he first saw her that evening.
How she’d tasted. How she’d felt in his arms. And how excruciatingly sweet
it would be to make slow, lazy passionate love to her all night.
Brady suddenly released Mimi. "You know what? I don’t think I will kiss
you. You’re going to have to come to me. Later tonight. You know where to find
me."
Mimi felt a sense of loss as Brady walked out of the room, whistling to himself
as if he’d been totally unaffected by what had just happened here.
Mimi decided she had to stop going into the Black kitchen by herself.
**************************************************
Philip stood on the porch for a few minutes, unable to make himself ring the
doorbell. Tonight shouldn’t have felt different, but it did. He actually felt
nervous. Philip Kiriakis, king of cool and confidence, felt nervous. She’s
just a girl¸ he thought. But Chloe was more than that, and he knew it.
He finally lifted his hand up to the door, and knocked gently. After a few
seconds, he saw a shadowy figure behind the door and hoped it was Chloe.
He was sorely disappointed.
Craig Wesley opened the door. He extended his right hand to Philip to shake it,
and in his left he held a .22 semi-automatic rifle. "Philip! Come in!"
Philip reluctantly walked inside and tried to steer clear of the weapon.
"That’s a, uh, nice gun, sir."
"Isn’t it? My father used to take me hunting when I was little and it was
the darndest thing, but tonight I just felt the urge to get it out and clean
it." Craig walked into the living room with Philip trailing behind him.
"So, you haven’t shot it off in awhile?" Philip tried to ascertain.
When Craig shook his head negatively, Philip breathed a little sigh of relief.
At least he wouldn’t be a very good shot.
Craig continued cleaning his gun, running a soft cloth with oil over the barrel.
"You know that Chloe is very special to us, don’t you Philip?"
"Yes, sir," Philip responded, trying not to let his voice sound small.
"She’s very special to me, too."
Craig stopped what he was doing, and studied Philip, as if trying to get the
full measure of him. "I know. That’s the only reason I’m letting you
take her out. Just remember what she means to all of us, and treat her
accordingly."
"I can do that, sir."
"As long as you understand that, you and I will be fine. And please, call
me Craig." Craig got up and went to the bottom of the stairs and yelled up
for Chloe. She appeared immediately, and Philip felt a funny little catch in his
throat when he saw her. She looked absolutely stunning. Philip again thought
that he’d never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. Her hair had been
straightened and hung like a silken waterfall down her back. He was aware that
she was wearing make-up, but he didn’t know exactly what she’d done. He only
knew that she looked too beautiful to be real. She was wearing an ankle-length
black skirt, and a soft blue cashmere top that made her eyes look even bluer.
And she wasn’t wearing her wire-rim glasses.
"Wow. You look amazing," Philip said in a tone of voice that made it
sound like he didn’t believe what he was seeing. She tilted her head and
blushed slightly at the compliment. "So do you," she responded. Philip
did look amazing. His blonde hair shone in the light, and that one stubborn lock
fell over his forehead. He wore his customary blue jeans that molded to his
muscled body perfectly, and a dark blue button-up shirt that set off all of his
features.
"Ready to go?" he finally asked. Both of them were completely
oblivious to Craig’s smug and knowing smile.
"Yes."
Philip opened the front door for her and she walked out. Craig came up behind
him, watching them walk down the sidewalk to his car. He watched as Philip
opened the car door for Chloe, made sure she was in, and then shut it for her.
He ran around the car to the driver’s side and climbed in. Craig waved, but
was sure that neither one of them noticed him. He shut the door and went back
into the house, having memories of being sixteen and a certain red-haired girl…
"So," Chloe said as she pulled her seatbelt on, "Are you going to
tell me where we’re going?"
"You really want to know?" Philip smiled, putting the car into drive.
"Yes."
"Okay. I’ll tell you."
to be continued...
Home Page Chapter 37
Fan Fics by Others
My Fics Guestbook
