"Earth to EJ," Kate said with obvious annoyance as she waved her hand back and forth in the viewing path between his eyes and his cell phone in attempt to snap him out of whatever disgusting daydream involving Nicole he was caught up in. The two were sitting side by side on the couch in the DiMera mansion living room going over some important topics for EJ's speech later that evening. Well, Kate was at least. She doubted EJ even heard a word of it.
"Yes, Kate, sorry. You were saying," he said semi-apologetically as he reluctantly stuffed his phone back into his jacket pocket with a sigh.
"You need to focus, darling, or you are never going to be able to pull this off. There will be plenty of time for celebrating with Nicole later."
"I'm sorry. I guess I'd just feel better if I got a chance to talk to her. She's not returning my calls or answering any of my texts. I'm a bit worried."
"What's there to be worried about," Kate said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. "Mary and Dave are both there with her to make sure she has all the help she needs to get ready. In fact, I just talked to Mary a few minutes ago when I stepped out of the room and Nicole was just getting out of the shower and then they were going to take her out shopping for a dress and to get her hair and nails done. Sounds like her day is going to be just as busy as yours."
"Well, as long as she's alright." Yes, that was the most important thing though he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that she hadn't called, even for a brief two minute call just to say hello.
"Look, I know what you're thinking but, let me tell you. I've actually known Nicole a lot longer than you have and believe me, now that you've let her in on what's going down tonight, she's probably just so focused on rehearsing what she's going to say. The girl loves a scheme just as much as the rest of us."
Kate's surprisingly pro-Nicole statement couldn't help but make him smile. Actually, he'd been quite amazed at how receptive she'd been to the idea of involving Nicole in tonight's events overall. He'd never intended to share his plan of winning Nicole back with his father and Kate, at least not before he already accomplished the goal. He would have faced nothing but opposition from the both of them and they would have executed every trick in the book to keep it from happening. However, he also hadn't expected to win her back so soon. He'd imagined there would be months of flirting, wooing, and begging before she would finally cave and give him another chance. Now that she had officially recommitted, there was no reason to keep it a secret. He couldn't if he had tried; from the moment he walked through the door that morning they were onto him, making all sorts of accusations and assumptions based solely on the smile on his face and his cheery disposition. There was no longer any reason for him to deny it; his wife was coming back into his life and his father and Kate, and whomever else might have a problem with that, were just going to have to learn to accept it. Much to his delight, they did. At least as best as they knew how to. He hardly expected Nicole to receive a red carpet welcome, but at least they'd resigned themselves to the fact that he was in love with Nicole and there was nothing they could do about it.
"You're right, she probably is," EJ said with a bemused grin as he pictured Nicole standing before a mirror, carefully coordinating her lines with the perfect facial expressions to match.
"Yes, and you my dear need to be doing the same so can we please just concentrate?"
EJ rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and let out a deep sigh. "I already can't wait until this bloody shindig is over with."
"Focus, darling," Kate said while rising up out of her seat. "I'm going to go have the kitchen make us a fresh pot of coffee. By the time I get back, I want you to be able to tell me just how you plan to improve the job situation here in Salem."
"Well, for starters I plan to create several openings on the Salem police force, just by doing a bit of weeding," he jokingly called out after her, expecting her to pop her head back in the doorway to voice her disapproval. When she didn't reappear, he knew it was safe to steal a few moments to check his phone. Still no messages. He dialed her number and was once again forwarded directly to her voicemail. He quickly terminated the call before the beep prompted him to leave his message. He couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that something just wasn't right. He'd already left her close to a dozen messages and sent her a dozen red roses in just three hours time without a single word from her in response and, when she was supposedly wide awake. Even if she was just busy as Kate had speculated, Nicole would have called. She was the kind of woman who went out of her way to make you feel special. In their happier times, in addition to several phone calls and texts throughout the day, she'd often left little written notes for him to find on his pillow, inside his briefcase or suit jacket pocket, just to say I love you or to leave him a little tease as to what bedroom endeavors she had in store for him when he, or she, got home. It was the little things just like that he'd missed so much over the last several months.
It wasn't unlike her, however, to completely avoid him when she was angry and that was what scared him. Although he couldn't fathom what he might have done to make her have a change of heart, since the last time they spoke she was telling him how happy she was as she drifted off to sleep in his arms, he wasn't about to sit around assume all was well. Maybe she simply decided she would continue to help him but when it came to them being a couple, she was having second thoughts.
With this thought fresh on his mind, he sprang to his feet and headed toward the door, only to be cut off in the doorway seperating the living room from the foyer by his father and Chris Matthews, the political advisor Kate had hired two weeks prior to assist them with the campaign.
"Ah, Elvis good. Something very important has come up that Chris needs to go over with you right away."
The young, skinny blonde-haired man with the thick tortoise shell-rimmed glasses nodded in agreement. "Yeah, EJ, there's quite a few things we need to discuss about tonight due to this change in plans." The change in plans being Nicole's involvement.
"Why? Is there some sort of problem?"
"I have many problems with this, actually," the young man said nervously as he shifted his weight back and forth from one foot to another.
"Really? Such as?"
"Well, where do I begin? Shall I start with your estranged wife being a former porn star who was arrested and convicted for kidnapping your daughter?"
"Really? Well then, let me finish this conversation by telling you, you're fired!"
"Elvis," Stefano raised his voice authoritatively, placing a hand on his son's shoulder to calm him. It was never a good thing when he saw his son's eyes turning red."Just listen to the man, hmmm?"
"EJ, I'm not passing judgment on Mrs. DiMera, I'm just stating facts. Facts that the media and the public is well aware of and that your opponent will use to their advantage to defeat you. Politics is a dirty game in which nothing is held sacred. Your wife, your children, will all be put in the crossfire. My only intention is to prepare you for how you respond to these attacks and, judging by the way you just tore my head off a minute ago, it seems we've got a lot of work to do."
"Alright, fine. I have a great idea. Why don't we just have Nicole come over here so we can all sit down and talk this thing over together?"
"Actually, I suggested that to your father myself but it seems your wife is unavailable at the moment. Apparently she's in the middle of having her hair done and won't be able to make it here for a few hours and we simply can't wait on her. That's why we're sending Kate over to brief her while I go over this with you and your father."
EJ frowned but reluctantly agreed. Even if Nicole did change her mind about him, it appeared that as far as the plot went, she was in. He'd just have to spend the next several months trying to convince her his feelings were real all over again but it didn't require him doing anything he hadn't already planned. He'd already vowed to spend the rest of his life making her feel like the most special woman in the world.
"Good. Now that we're all on the same page, I'll leave you two alone to get to work while I go find Katherine and fill her in."
Stefano quickly ducked outside into the hall and strolled the corridor, peeking into each and every room as he walked by it, searching for his wife. When he turned the corner in the direction of the kitchen, the two of them collided.
"Where have you been, I've been looking all over for you," Kate demanded in a husky whisper.
"I've been busy thinking up ways to keep Elvis occupied. I thought I told you not to leave him alone for a second. I swear I caught him just as he was about to run out the door and go running back to Nicole."
"Oh really? In what car? Isn't that precisely why we sent everyone out on errands this morning?"
"Well with the way he's acting, that poor fool would crawl to her on broken limbs if he had to."
"Darling, you need to learn to realx," Kate cooed as she stroked her husband's cheek. "We have got this all under control. Mary is out doing the all day grocery shopping with Dave and, after you so curtly reminded them which Mr. DiMera it is that signs thier paychecks, I doubt either one will be giving away our little plan anytime soon. I can pretty much guarantee that at this very moment, Nicole is sitting alone in her miserable little apartment, wondering how she let EJ get the best of her once again. Oh, and you'll be happy to know I also successfully intercepted a dozen roses being delivered to her apartment and had them sent to Patti's hotel room instead."
"Ah, yes. That does make me feel a little bit better," Stefano said, chuckling. "And what did Patti think of her flowers?"
"Well, hopefully they won't arrive before I do. I'm about to go see Patti and make sure everything goes smoothly tonight before I head off to pay Nicole a visit. By the time I get to her apartment, she should be a complete mess. Of course I'll have to do the right thing and comfort her, assuring her that she is very much part of EJ's plans for the evening. 'Course she won't be thinking that his plans were to humiliate her, just yet anyway."
"Don't you mean, OUR plan. It's seems such a shame to let Elvis take credit for something so brilliant."
"Oh, But it'll all be worth it, my darling. It will be so worth it."