Chapter 8
Chloe closed the last of the drawers and sighed. "God, I hate unpacking."
Philip looked down at his bags, still closed and untouched. "That's why you should stick to the Kirikias form of unpacking."
Chloe crossed her arms and smiled. "Just pulling whatever you want to wear for the day
out of your bag and then throwing it on the floor later?"
"Exactly. Easy. Simple. Practical."
"Wrinkled."
"Well, seeing as how I plan to be wearing my bathing suit for practically this entire week, I really don't mind have wrinkly clothes."
Chloe was only half-listening since she was staring out the sliding glass door. "Philip..." she whispered.
"What? What's wrong?" Philip jumped off the bed and ran to Chloe's side.
"The sunset," she said softly. "It's...I never saw anything so amazing before." She slowly walked over to the sliding glass door and opened it, stepping out onto the balcony. There was a light breeze and Chloe took her hair down from her ponytail. The air lightly tossed Chloe's hair off her shoulders and she closed her eyes. The vision took Philip's breath away. Wearing her white sundress, Chloe Lane looked like an angel.
"Yeah, amazing..." He whispered. Chloe turned to face Philip with tears in her eyes. "Chloe! What's wrong?" He was by her side in a second and grabbed her hand.
"Philip--I...I need to tell you something."
"What is it, baby?"
"Please...Philip, please, don't call me that. It'll make this so much harder."
Philip all of a sudden felt nauseous and very afraid. His throat grew dry and he choked out the words, "Make what so much harder?"
Chloe opened her mouth when there was a knock on the door. "Um...come in."
Mimi opened the door with an excited smile on her face. She was wearing a one-piece red bathing suit. "Ready?"
"Ready for what, Mimi?" Philip snapped, suddenly in a very crabby mood.
"We're all going down to the beach, remember? You said you'd be down after you finished packing." Philip rolled his eyes and sighed irritably. "I guess going through male-PMS distracted you, huh, Philip?"
"Mimi..."
She continued in good nature. "I have some Midol in my room, just let me know if you need some," she teased.
"Shut up, Mimi!" Philip exploded and Mimi stood there with a wide-eyed expression on her face.
"Um...We'll be at the beach in a minute, Meems, we just have to get changed," Chloe said quickly.
"Yeah, okay," Mimi said. "Good luck with Phil," she muttered under her breath as she left the room.
"Philip! What is wrong with you?"
"Me? Here you are in tears about to tell me some big thing and she storms in here making her dumb jokes." Philip said rapidly, hoping Chloe didn't know he was lying. He was really just scared Chloe was breaking up with him and just wanted to get Mimi out. But why would Chloe break up with me?, he thought. Everything is...perfect. Isn't it?
"Look, um, we should get changed and join everyone before they start to worry," Chloe said. She got her bathing suit and started to walk out the room. "I'll change in the bathroom and meet you downstairs."
"Chloe, wait! What were you going to tell me?" But she was already gone. Philip screamed in frustration and stormed over to his luggage. He opened the bag with such force he almost tore off the zipper. Philip clenched his jaw and vowed to figure out what was up with Chloe before the night was over.
Chapter 9
The four guys watched as Belle and Mimi tried to teach Chloe how to do a cartwheel in the sand. They clapped as Chloe successfully did one...until she landed on her butt.
"Nice try, Chloe," Brady offered. Chloe gave him a strange look...he's been nice to her ever since they arrived at the condo. It turned out Belle and Brady had a long talk about Chloe while everyone was unpacking. Belle convinced Brady that if Jason and Chloe could be friends, then so could him and Chloe. Brady agreed to try and make nice with her, so everyone could have a good time on the trip and not worry about a blow-out fight between Chloe and Brady. Chloe couldn't believe Brady agreed so quickly but Belle assured her that Brady put up his usual brat act before finally giving in for the sake of the vacation. When Belle tried to bring up accepting Marlena for the sake of the family, Brady told her not to push it and left to change into his bathing suit. Chloe appreciated yet another person accepting her--first Mimi, then Jason, and now Brady--but it still felt weird that Brady Black was being kind to her.
"Thanks, Brady," Chloe said, deciding it wasn't worth it to start things with him. She grinned at Philip and grabbed his hand. "Let's go for a swim," she whispered in his ear. Philip nodded tightly. What the hell? he thought. One minute she's cold and the other she's hot...very hot. He shook his head, remembering his vow to find out what was going on. Philip refused to be confused by Chloe this entire week. He didn't think she was playing games...that wasn't like her. He had a feeling deep down Chloe wasn't sure what she was doing, either. He decided to pointblank ask her when they reached the sea.
Belle watched with a smile on her face as Chloe led Philip down to the ocean. All of a sudden, she felt something hit her on the back. She whirled around to see Brady and Mimi talking quietly and Shawn talking about the Yankees with Jason. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and turned back to watch the sun set over the water. A few seconds later, she felt a cold lump hit her in the back of the head. She grabbed the back of her hair and felt wet sand stuck in-between some of the strands. She turned back to the gang...Mimi and Brady were still deep in their conversation. Shawn was loudly talking about Derek Jeter and Jason had his hand over his mouth. Belle saw a red bucket peeking out from behind Shawn's back and a pile of wet sand next to him.
"Shawn Douglas Brady!" she screamed.
"What, Belle?" he asked mock-innocently as Jason burst into a fit of laughter. "I am trying to have a conversation here."
"Don't play that game with me, Shawn." She approached him as he scooted over to his left, trying to hide the bucket. "I can see the bucket of wet sand behind your back, I'm not retarded. I told you I didn't want to get wet and smell beach-y all night, Shawn."
"Well, I swear to God this bucket doesn't have wet sand in it."
"Oh really? Prove it."
"Belle--the wet sand's--right next--to him--" Jason tried to say through his laughter but Shawn shook his head. "Nah, Jase. Belle wants me to prove it, I'll be glad to." Shawn picked up the bucket and chucked the water right onto Belle. "Oh...wait. Did you say you didn't want to get wet tonight? Oops!" Shawn said, laughing.
Belle stood there, soaked from head to toe, with an expression to kill. Shawn looked down, not wanting to notice how beautiful she looked. The sun was almost done setting completely and there was a breathtaking light bouncing off her eyes. Belle tilted her head and slicked her wet blond hair back with both hands. Shawn cleared his throat, suddenly feeling like a middle school boy who was looking at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. "That's it, Shawn. Your gonna get it now."
"Bring it on, Belle," Shawn said, never taking his eyes off of her. "I'll give you a head start," she responded evenly. After a minute, Belle was chasing after Shawn down the beach. Mimi, Jason and Brady watched them run away until the three couldn't see them anymore. Mimi leaned over to look in the cooler. "Damn, we're out of drinks."
"I'll go back up to the condo and get some more," Brady answered. "What do you want?"
"Just a Coke." Brady nodded and ran back up to the condo. Mimi heard Jason clear his throat and closed her eyes. She forgot she'd be alone with him.
Jason looked over at Mimi. "I--I, uh, like your bathing suit."
Mimi turned her head to look at Jason. "Oh. Um. Thank you," she said, with a strange tone to her voice.
"What's wrong?" Jason asked.
"Nothing. Just thank you. That actually means a lot coming from you," Mimi answered honestly. Maybe he really is a nice guy, she thought.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It's just you never say anything really nice to me, so when you finally do--"
"God, Mimi, I just said I liked your suit. It wasn't exactly my asking your permission to join the Mimi Lockhart Fan Club."
"I knew it wouldn't last long," Mimi muttered.
"Can't you say a simple thank you instead of turning it into a big thing?"
"Well, I don't get any compliments, so I really can't help you there!" Mimi blurted out.
Jason stared at Mimi quietly and looked down. "I..."
"Just forget it, Jason," Mimi said, getting up. "I'm going to the condo, I'll see you later." She ran up the beach as Brady was returning with her drink.
"Here, Meems. I hope you don't mind that I took a sip--" Mimi knocked the drink out of Brady's hand as she ran past him.
"Damn, girl!" Brady shouted as the Coke spilled down his stomach. He looked over at Jason, who had his head in his hands.
"You really have a way with the ladies, Welles."
Belle finally caught up with Shawn and jumped on his back, sending them both crashing down on the sand. They rolled down the beach until Shawn dug his foot into the sand to stop them. Shawn was ontop of her and they were right on the shoreline. The water rushed over their legs and he looked up. They ran so far that the gang wasn't anywhere in sight. Shawn looked back down to see Belle looking up at him with an expression he never saw before. The water rushed over their legs again and Belle smiled slightly.
"This is just like that old black and white movie," she whispered.
"From Here to Eternity," Shawn answered back. He brushed Belle's hair off her forehead, never breaking their gaze.
Belle reached her hand up and held Shawn's hand to the side of her face. "The only difference is that they were in love."
Shawn said the words before he even thought them in his mind:
"No...Belle, there is no difference, because--because I'm in love with you."
Chloe closed the last of the drawers and sighed. "God, I hate unpacking."
Philip looked down at his bags, still closed and untouched. "That's why you should stick to the Kirikias form of unpacking."
Chloe crossed her arms and smiled. "Just pulling whatever you want to wear for the day
out of your bag and then throwing it on the floor later?"
"Exactly. Easy. Simple. Practical."
"Wrinkled."
"Well, seeing as how I plan to be wearing my bathing suit for practically this entire week, I really don't mind have wrinkly clothes."
Chloe was only half-listening since she was staring out the sliding glass door. "Philip..." she whispered.
"What? What's wrong?" Philip jumped off the bed and ran to Chloe's side.
"The sunset," she said softly. "It's...I never saw anything so amazing before." She slowly walked over to the sliding glass door and opened it, stepping out onto the balcony. There was a light breeze and Chloe took her hair down from her ponytail. The air lightly tossed Chloe's hair off her shoulders and she closed her eyes. The vision took Philip's breath away. Wearing her white sundress, Chloe Lane looked like an angel.
"Yeah, amazing..." He whispered. Chloe turned to face Philip with tears in her eyes. "Chloe! What's wrong?" He was by her side in a second and grabbed her hand.
"Philip--I...I need to tell you something."
"What is it, baby?"
"Please...Philip, please, don't call me that. It'll make this so much harder."
Philip all of a sudden felt nauseous and very afraid. His throat grew dry and he choked out the words, "Make what so much harder?"
Chloe opened her mouth when there was a knock on the door. "Um...come in."
Mimi opened the door with an excited smile on her face. She was wearing a one-piece red bathing suit. "Ready?"
"Ready for what, Mimi?" Philip snapped, suddenly in a very crabby mood.
"We're all going down to the beach, remember? You said you'd be down after you finished packing." Philip rolled his eyes and sighed irritably. "I guess going through male-PMS distracted you, huh, Philip?"
"Mimi..."
She continued in good nature. "I have some Midol in my room, just let me know if you need some," she teased.
"Shut up, Mimi!" Philip exploded and Mimi stood there with a wide-eyed expression on her face.
"Um...We'll be at the beach in a minute, Meems, we just have to get changed," Chloe said quickly.
"Yeah, okay," Mimi said. "Good luck with Phil," she muttered under her breath as she left the room.
"Philip! What is wrong with you?"
"Me? Here you are in tears about to tell me some big thing and she storms in here making her dumb jokes." Philip said rapidly, hoping Chloe didn't know he was lying. He was really just scared Chloe was breaking up with him and just wanted to get Mimi out. But why would Chloe break up with me?, he thought. Everything is...perfect. Isn't it?
"Look, um, we should get changed and join everyone before they start to worry," Chloe said. She got her bathing suit and started to walk out the room. "I'll change in the bathroom and meet you downstairs."
"Chloe, wait! What were you going to tell me?" But she was already gone. Philip screamed in frustration and stormed over to his luggage. He opened the bag with such force he almost tore off the zipper. Philip clenched his jaw and vowed to figure out what was up with Chloe before the night was over.
Chapter 9
The four guys watched as Belle and Mimi tried to teach Chloe how to do a cartwheel in the sand. They clapped as Chloe successfully did one...until she landed on her butt.
"Nice try, Chloe," Brady offered. Chloe gave him a strange look...he's been nice to her ever since they arrived at the condo. It turned out Belle and Brady had a long talk about Chloe while everyone was unpacking. Belle convinced Brady that if Jason and Chloe could be friends, then so could him and Chloe. Brady agreed to try and make nice with her, so everyone could have a good time on the trip and not worry about a blow-out fight between Chloe and Brady. Chloe couldn't believe Brady agreed so quickly but Belle assured her that Brady put up his usual brat act before finally giving in for the sake of the vacation. When Belle tried to bring up accepting Marlena for the sake of the family, Brady told her not to push it and left to change into his bathing suit. Chloe appreciated yet another person accepting her--first Mimi, then Jason, and now Brady--but it still felt weird that Brady Black was being kind to her.
"Thanks, Brady," Chloe said, deciding it wasn't worth it to start things with him. She grinned at Philip and grabbed his hand. "Let's go for a swim," she whispered in his ear. Philip nodded tightly. What the hell? he thought. One minute she's cold and the other she's hot...very hot. He shook his head, remembering his vow to find out what was going on. Philip refused to be confused by Chloe this entire week. He didn't think she was playing games...that wasn't like her. He had a feeling deep down Chloe wasn't sure what she was doing, either. He decided to pointblank ask her when they reached the sea.
Belle watched with a smile on her face as Chloe led Philip down to the ocean. All of a sudden, she felt something hit her on the back. She whirled around to see Brady and Mimi talking quietly and Shawn talking about the Yankees with Jason. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and turned back to watch the sun set over the water. A few seconds later, she felt a cold lump hit her in the back of the head. She grabbed the back of her hair and felt wet sand stuck in-between some of the strands. She turned back to the gang...Mimi and Brady were still deep in their conversation. Shawn was loudly talking about Derek Jeter and Jason had his hand over his mouth. Belle saw a red bucket peeking out from behind Shawn's back and a pile of wet sand next to him.
"Shawn Douglas Brady!" she screamed.
"What, Belle?" he asked mock-innocently as Jason burst into a fit of laughter. "I am trying to have a conversation here."
"Don't play that game with me, Shawn." She approached him as he scooted over to his left, trying to hide the bucket. "I can see the bucket of wet sand behind your back, I'm not retarded. I told you I didn't want to get wet and smell beach-y all night, Shawn."
"Well, I swear to God this bucket doesn't have wet sand in it."
"Oh really? Prove it."
"Belle--the wet sand's--right next--to him--" Jason tried to say through his laughter but Shawn shook his head. "Nah, Jase. Belle wants me to prove it, I'll be glad to." Shawn picked up the bucket and chucked the water right onto Belle. "Oh...wait. Did you say you didn't want to get wet tonight? Oops!" Shawn said, laughing.
Belle stood there, soaked from head to toe, with an expression to kill. Shawn looked down, not wanting to notice how beautiful she looked. The sun was almost done setting completely and there was a breathtaking light bouncing off her eyes. Belle tilted her head and slicked her wet blond hair back with both hands. Shawn cleared his throat, suddenly feeling like a middle school boy who was looking at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. "That's it, Shawn. Your gonna get it now."
"Bring it on, Belle," Shawn said, never taking his eyes off of her. "I'll give you a head start," she responded evenly. After a minute, Belle was chasing after Shawn down the beach. Mimi, Jason and Brady watched them run away until the three couldn't see them anymore. Mimi leaned over to look in the cooler. "Damn, we're out of drinks."
"I'll go back up to the condo and get some more," Brady answered. "What do you want?"
"Just a Coke." Brady nodded and ran back up to the condo. Mimi heard Jason clear his throat and closed her eyes. She forgot she'd be alone with him.
Jason looked over at Mimi. "I--I, uh, like your bathing suit."
Mimi turned her head to look at Jason. "Oh. Um. Thank you," she said, with a strange tone to her voice.
"What's wrong?" Jason asked.
"Nothing. Just thank you. That actually means a lot coming from you," Mimi answered honestly. Maybe he really is a nice guy, she thought.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It's just you never say anything really nice to me, so when you finally do--"
"God, Mimi, I just said I liked your suit. It wasn't exactly my asking your permission to join the Mimi Lockhart Fan Club."
"I knew it wouldn't last long," Mimi muttered.
"Can't you say a simple thank you instead of turning it into a big thing?"
"Well, I don't get any compliments, so I really can't help you there!" Mimi blurted out.
Jason stared at Mimi quietly and looked down. "I..."
"Just forget it, Jason," Mimi said, getting up. "I'm going to the condo, I'll see you later." She ran up the beach as Brady was returning with her drink.
"Here, Meems. I hope you don't mind that I took a sip--" Mimi knocked the drink out of Brady's hand as she ran past him.
"Damn, girl!" Brady shouted as the Coke spilled down his stomach. He looked over at Jason, who had his head in his hands.
"You really have a way with the ladies, Welles."
Belle finally caught up with Shawn and jumped on his back, sending them both crashing down on the sand. They rolled down the beach until Shawn dug his foot into the sand to stop them. Shawn was ontop of her and they were right on the shoreline. The water rushed over their legs and he looked up. They ran so far that the gang wasn't anywhere in sight. Shawn looked back down to see Belle looking up at him with an expression he never saw before. The water rushed over their legs again and Belle smiled slightly.
"This is just like that old black and white movie," she whispered.
"From Here to Eternity," Shawn answered back. He brushed Belle's hair off her forehead, never breaking their gaze.
Belle reached her hand up and held Shawn's hand to the side of her face. "The only difference is that they were in love."
Shawn said the words before he even thought them in his mind:
"No...Belle, there is no difference, because--because I'm in love with you."