Fallout
Chapter Seventeen
[Sorry for the time
jump...but don't worry, you didn't miss anything.
Phillip & Chloe haven't spoken since the last time.
People rarely get to speak to Mimi because she's doing her community
service, and Jan is gone! Ding Dong, the witch is gone!
Belle and Shawn are continuing their "near couplehood".
Brady & Chloe talk every now and then, but for the most part attempt
to avoid each other for fear of their "feelings for each other".]
(Nearly 4 weeks later...)
Chloe rode up the elevator to
the Black penthouse alone. She
wondered what the big emergency was. Belle had called her and told her it was URGENT that she get
over here by 5 o'clock. < I hope
nothing is wrong. God knows, just
when things are getting better, the bottom drops out again. > The elevator stopped and Chloe exited and nervously walked
towards the door to the penthouse. She
rang the doorbell and waited for an answer.
She could hear Belle's voice
yell from inside, "CHLOE! IS
THAT YOU?"
Chloe yelled back,
"YEAH, BELLE...IT'S ME! OPEN
UP!"
"JUST OPEN IT CHLOE...
IT'S UNLOCKED!"
Chloe paused for a moment,
wondering why the door would be unlocked and Belle couldn't answer it herself.
She shrugged it off, and opened the door to an extremely dark penthouse.
She felt frightened all of a
sudden and called out weakly, "Helloooo?"
All of a sudden, the entire
room lit up and a chorus of voices screamed, "SURPRISE!!"
Chloe jumped back with a
startled look on her face. It took a moment for the shock to wear off before she
could look around the room and see all the bright decorations and balloons, and
a room filled with her favorite Salem citizens.
Belle, Shawn, Brady, Marlena, John, Bo, Hope, JT, Nancy, Craig, Kevin,
Susan, Jack, Jennifer, Abby, Alice, Mickey, Maggie, PopShawn & Caroline and
an array of various sorted other Salemites had all turned out to wish Chloe a
happy birthday.
Chloe put her hand to her
heart and exclaimed, "OH. MY. GOD. You scared me half to death.
My birthday isn't today, it's not even for another 4 days."
Belle smiled shyly,
"Well...that's part of the surprise, silly.
We knew you wouldn't suspect a birthday party if it wasn't your
birthday."
Chloe smiled back at her and
reached to give Belle a hug. "Thanks
so much, Belle. You are the
greatest..."
Belle smiled back at her
friend, "Well, happy birthday and you're welcome.
And, I can't take all the credit. Brady
and Shawn helped a LOT."
Shawn grinned and gave Chloe
a brief hug, "Well... I hate to brag and all... but, Happy Birthday."
Brady smiled at her softly,
"And hey, I... blew up all the balloons."
Chloe playfully hit his arm,
"Geez. Why am I not surprised?
You do have all the hot air needed."
Brady laughed before giving
Chloe a very quick hug, and whispering "Happy Birthday" in her ear.
Chloe broke away, smiled briefly at him and then moved on to greet the
rest of her guests.
***
(Later on, Chloe has just
finished unwrapping her birthday presents. Basically, she got a lot of the normal stuff we all get for
our birthdays. Clothes, books,
CD’s, some gift certificates. Brady
got her a few CD’s of classical opera. She
finishes the last of the presents and starts to thank everyone.)
Chloe looked around at the
warm, friendly faces surrounding. She somehow felt safe here, in a room full of people who
cared for her, and took the time to gather here to celebrate her birthday.
She smiled gratefully at everyone, “Thank you all so much.
I can’t even tell you how much it means that all of you came here
tonight. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything.
The gifts are amazing, and more than I deserve.
And the party… well, the party is just perfect.”
Belle walked over and handed
her three more small packages. “Well,
it’s not over yet, Chloe. This
first one is from me, ‘cause I didn’t think the other gift I gave you was
quite special enough… but the other two, I’m not sure.”
Chloe looked at the packages with a confused look, until Belle couldn’t
stand it any more. “Wellllll…OPEN
IT! C’mon… don’t leave us in
suspense.”
Chloe laughed and tore open
the shiny pink paper. Inside,
wrapped in a thin piece of tissue was a beautiful cherry wood picture frame.
The picture inside showed Chloe and Belle sitting together at Dot.Com and
smiling. Behind them were Shawn and
Brady… Brady didn’t even want to be in the picture, so he got his revenge by
giving bunny ears behind Chloe’s head and grinning like a devil.
Chloe laughed and clutched
the picture to her chest. “Oh
Belle… this is so great. I love
it….Thank you…”
Belle crinkled her nose and
laughed too, “Well, I just kinda thought it summed up Brady perfectly… and
the rest of us look good too.” Belle
winked at her friend and gave her a quick hug.
Chloe glanced curiously at
the remaining two packages. The top
one was a plain brown manila envelope with her name written on it in someone’s
round neat handwriting. She opened
it up and a small card dropped out. Inside was written:
Dear Chloe,
Happy Birthday. I’ve been working
at a community center with a wonderful group of children to fulfill part of my
community service obligation. Can
you even believe that they’d let me work around a bunch of fragile
impressionable minds after the things I’ve done?
I certainly can’t. But, I
do love it actually. Anyway, I
don’t have a lot of money so I couldn’t buy you a real gift.
And besides, I don’t think that would make up for anything anyway.
But, at least I hope this makes you smile.
I had all of the children help me with it.
Eat lots of cake and have fun. But,
don’t eat the cake if Belle baked it.
Sincerely,
Mimi
Chloe pulled the rest of the
gift out of the envelope, and fell immediately in love with it.
Mimi must have had each child draw one page.
It was a book put together out of construction paper, and ribbon.
Each page told another part of the story. A story of a lovely princess named Chloe.
A princess who remained locked in her tower, her beautiful voice being
her only connection to the outside world until the day when her Prince Charming
came along and was so entranced by her song that he took her away into the
sunset.
As Chloe thumbed through the
handmade storybook, she had handed the note to Belle to read.
Chloe lovingly glanced at each handpainted page of the book, until she
reached the end. She stopped and
smiled at Belle, who had tears in her eyes.
“Belle… I think the old Mimi is coming back…”
Belle nodded and smiled,
“So do I… ”
Chloe placed the gift from
Mimi aside, and turned her attentions to the final package.
She opened the small thin box and found a note stapled to a front of a
folder.
Chloe,
I tried too hard to think of ways to make my mistakes go away.
I don’t want to do that anymore. I
know that they never will. But, I
also know that we can be friends someday. I
want us both to be able to move on, and more than anything, I want you to be
happy. I know that if there is one
thing that will make you happy, it would be to learn about your father.
I can’t give you his name, or where he is at.
But, my father had his people check into your mother’s background and
the background of your birth & adoption.
Inside this folder is all the information we could find.
I’m almost positive it will be enough for you to find your father now.
I know that your mother will never give you the information you want, but
you have this now. I hope you find
the answers you’ve been looking for, Chloe.
Good luck, and happy birthday.
Love always – your friend,
Phillip
Chloe breathed in deeply and
she could feel the hot tears streaming down her face.
She paused for a moment, trying to digest what this could mean for her.
She was so close now. But,
she stopped and brought herself back to reality quickly and snapped the box shut
hoping that Nancy wouldn’t see what was in there.
Belle sat next to her and placed a hand on her arm.
“Chloe… what is it?
Are you alright?”
Chloe pushed the box aside
and smiled widely, “It’s nothing, Belle… It’s just… I’m great.
I really really am.” And
for the first time in a while, she said it and meant it.
***
(Little bit later… The
party is in full swing. Cake (not baked by Belle) has been passed around, music
is playing. It’s a swingin’
shindig, Salem style…)
Shawn spotted his target
standing at the CD player fiddling around with the buttons.
Belle looked just as beautiful as ever, and Shawn knew that he had been
putting off the inevitable for far too long.
He walked over behind her and placed his hands around her waist.
“Hey… pretty lady… wanna dance?”
Belle chuckled, “Did you
have a breathmint yet? Because, I
saw what you had for dinner and frankly, it can’t smell that great in
there.”
Shawn turned her around and
gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “What
do you think?”
Belle grinned at him, “I
don’t know… you know, I got some Altoids in the kitchen.
Follow me.”
Shawn rolled his eyes but followed her anyway. They went into the empty kitchen and Belle leaned against the counter and grinned at him. “You know… I was kidding about the breath. Why did you follow me anyway?”
"Because I’d follow
you anywhere Belle Black.”
Belle looked at him
skeptically, “Is that so?”
Shawn stayed serious,
“Actually. It is.
I wanted to talk to you in private anyway, so it’s good that we came in
here. Now, I’m gonna say some
stuff, so just let me say it or I might lose the nerve.”
Belle raised her eyebrows at
him and prayed silently that this was ‘good stuff’ and not something bad.
“Go ahead, Shawn. I’m
right here.”
“Okay… All this
‘playing around’, dating every now and then and getting cozy with each
other, but still playing the ‘just friends’ card.
It has to stop. I don’t
want to do it anymore. I want you
to be mine. No more casual dating.
I want to be with you every day if I can… I don’t want to take the
chance to losing you to some other guy.”
Belle sighed, “Shawn…
don’t be silly. Why do you think
I’ve turned down dates from other guys at school?”
“Mmm.
Because those guys were all jerks?”
Belle groaned, “Noooo,
Shawn Brady. That’s not true.
I turned down those guys, because I’ve been waiting for you.
Jeff, Dylan, Seth – those are all nice guys, but when it came right
down to it. None of them ever
compared to you, Shawn. Not even a
close second… or third. I
couldn’t imagine being with someone else when all I can think about is you.”
“Really?”
Belle nodded, and Shawn
pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her.
He ran his arm up her back and placed it on the back of her head.
He pulled her head back and placed his lips on hers.
The kiss slowly intensified, and became stronger than the kisses they had
shared before. Shawn finally broke
it off so he could look at Belle, and drink in all of her beauty.
He couldn’t believe how much time he had wasted already, and he had no
plans to let any more time with this perfect girl in front of him pass him by.
“Belle… I… I lo… I
lo….” He stuttered. <Damn my
nerves. Why does it take so much
for me to open up to people? >
Belle placed one finger on
his lips to quiet him. “You don’t have to say it yet, Shawn. I already know.” She
smiled at him again and nuzzled her head against his chest.
“Me too…” Shawn stroked her hair softly and smiled.
He felt like he could stay like this forever until he heard his Mom’s
voice through the door, “Shawn! If
you’re in there, come out! Mickey
is taking your Gran home and she wants to say goodbye!”
The two kissed again quickly
and began to walk out of the kitchen hand in hand.
“So, Belle Black… does this mean you’re my lady now?”
Shawn spoke in his best impression of The Ladies Man.
“Well… if you keep
talking like that, I may have to reconsider… But, yesssss… duh.”
Belle winked at him and exited back into the living room.
***
Chloe downed the last bit of
her Sprite and glanced around the room searching for Brady.
She finally spotted him off in the corner talking to his father.
She walked over there, and placed a hand on Brady’s arm.
“Hi Brady, Mr. Black…
I’m not interrupting anything important, am I?”
John smiled at her, “Not at
all, Chloe, we were just talking about what a great job Belle did setting up
this party.”
Chloe nodded in agreement,
“I know. I’m so grateful.
And, thank you so much for letting her have it here. I really appreciate
it.”
“You’re welcome.
Glad we could help… Now, I’m gonna leave you two kids alone.
I have a wife over there looking for me.
Happy Birthday, Chloe.”
“Thank you…” Chloe
smiled and waited until John had walked off. “Brady… is there somewhere we can talk in private?”
Brady nodded, “Of course…
follow me.” He grabbed her hand
and led her out on the balcony of the penthouse, closing the door behind them.
They stood together at the railing, waiting for someone to break the ice.
“Brady… I wanted to…”
she hesitated for a moment.
“Chloe… let me go
first.”
Chloe motioned for him to
continue.
“I wanted to give you your
REAL birthday present… in private.”
Chloe looked at him
curiously. “My REAL present?”
Brady nodded and reached
inside his jacket and pulled out a velvet box.
“Yeah. This is it…”
Chloe raised her eyebrows at
him, “Ooookay….” She took the box from his hand and opened it slowly.
When she glanced at what she saw inside, she drew in a deep breath and
put one hand to her chest. “Brady…it’s
beautiful…” It was a small
silver bracelet with an engraved ID plate… the front of it was engraved with a
bird escaping from its gilded cage, surrounded by the moon and the stars. Flying high and free…
“Chloe…read the
inscription…”
Chloe turned the plate over
and read the words written in French on the back aloud.
“L’amour est un oiseau rebelled, que nul ne peut apprivoiser.”
She paused and went over it
again in her head. “Brady… it’s from ‘Carmen’…Isn’t it?”
Brady nodded, “It means…
‘Love is a rebellious bird…”
“…that nothing can
tame.’” Chloe finished his
sentence and looked up into his blue eyes.
“Brady… it’s the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen…” She
reached up and wrapped her arms around him, whispering softly, “Thank
you…”
Brady held tightly to her,
but let go after a moment and reached down to her wrist.
“Here let me help you put it on.”
Brady bent closer to her and began to work the clasp on the bracelet and
place it on her wrist. His touch was so gentle, and warm and safe.
Brady chuckled for a second,
remembering that it was she who had dragged him out here.
“So, what was that you wanted to talk about Chloe?”
“I wanted to tell you about
my last package I got in there. It
was… from Phillip.”
Brady sighed and leaned
against the railing, but Chloe continued. “No. Don’t
get the wrong idea. He’s moving
on now, and so am I. His birthday
present… was, well he found some information that is going to help me find my
father.”
Brady’s eyes widened with
excitement, “Really? God,
Chloe… that’s so fantastic. That’s
the best news I’ve heard all week.”
Chloe smiled at him, “I
know. And that’s why I need
you… I may need your help to finish the rest of the puzzle.”
Brady smiled and clasped her
hand in his, “Of course. Anything
you need, you can always count on me.”
Chloe nodded knowingly, “I
know. Thank you… And Brady… uhm,
one more thing…”
Brady wrinkled his eyebrows
and waited for her to finish. But,
instead of continuing she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.
When she finally broke the kiss, she looked into his eyes and whispered
softly. “Brady… I’m ready now… Thank you for waiting.”
Brady smiled and brushed a
stray piece of hair off of her cheek. “I would have waited an entire lifetime for you.”
He paused and he could tell that Chloe was almost blushing.
“Of course… I’m glad I didn’t have to.
I’m much more fun now than I will be in 60 years.”
Chloe laughed and wrinkled
her nose, “Well… I can only imagine. I mean, you’re a cranky person now… I dread seeing you
after you’ve broken your hip twice, can’t remember what your own name is and
you’ve lost all your hair.”
Brady looked jokingly
offended, “Hey… I am not going to go bald.”
Chloe smiled softly, “And
even if you did… I still wouldn’t care.” She ran his hand through his blonde hair and kissed him once
more. He held her close, and she
knew that this was where she belonged – and even though his arms were wrapped
around her tightly she knew she was free. Free
to fly from her cage, because Brady would never hold her back, he would only
give her the wings she needed.
The End (Click on Next Chapter to read Author's Notes)