Chapter Twenty-Two

The Ladies Turn (continued)

Kay and Miguel stood together in the middle of the dance floor waiting for the music to start. Kay was dressed in a black two-piece micro-fiber skirt set. The top was a silky soft camisole that neatly went along with the spandex skirt that flowed freely around her legs or rather her thighs since the skirt ended mid-thigh. Miguel was dressed similarly in a black pants that fit his well sculpted body to a T and a white dress shirt to match it.

"So Miguel are you going to talk to me at all?" He was still a tad angry about her dance with Max.

"Kay, I haven't stopped talking to you. I know that you were just doing what …" he paused as he tried to search for the right words. "Well, actually I don't know why you were doing it. I mean, what was your motivation for doing what you did? I don't have a clue as to why you did it. But, maybe you could enlighten me?" He asked and awaited her response.

"I did it because it was fun and also liked making you jealous. Frankly, it's nice to see you so irritated. There was a time when I thought you would never feel that way about me. I hope you didn't get too mad." Kay said as she walked over to Miguel and placed her hands on his chest.

"Kay, all of the guys at the table had to hold me back. I was ready to come up there and beat the hell out of Max. Of course, I'd be mad if I see you dancing with another man like that. Especially, like that! I think that was particularly annoying. But, I will get over it eventually. Now, come on let's get back into position to work this dance and win." Miguel said as he gently kissed Kay's lips and pushed her away from him so that he could get in position. The curtain opened and then the music started.

Miguel walked to Kay who stood at the far end of the stage. When he got to her, he touched her shoulder and she slowly turned her head to look up at him. Once she saw him she turned around completely. He held out his hand and he pulled her to him. As she drew closer to him, he maneuvered them into a medium speed salsa.

Kay and Miguel danced in sync with one another. They both looked into each other's eyes as if they were the only people there. His hand moved from around her waist to touch her cheek.

As they began to spin around the floor, Miguel reached up and gently caressed her cheek. His hand slid down her cheek onto her neck as he looked down at her lips. Then when as it looked like he was going to kiss her, his hand slid lower still. His hand moved down to her waist as he stopped her from dancing and enthused her into a twirl around his body.

She stopped twirling and stood beside him. He pulled her body into his and just held her. His hands moved from the small of her back to frame her face. She placed her arms around his neck below his hair. Then she placed her head against his shoulder as they held each other briefly.

He released her and she danced around him. Ensuring that her skirt swayed around her long legs. After she returned in front of him he grabbed her hand and pulled her into step with him

They danced around the stage until they were ready to do the next movement. Stopping so that Kay was in front of him, her back to his front. He pulled her close and then lifted her off her feet. He swung her around making sure to keep her secured about his body.

Keeping one arm around her waist he hoisted her up in the air and slid an arm under her legs. Now he was holding her with one arm under her knees and another on the small of her back and began to spin her around in a circular motion. As he spun around Kay maneuvered herself so that she was turned toward him. He stopped spinning around and Kay turned herself so that she was now on his back.

With Kay on his back, Miguel moved toward the chair strategically set up on the back of the stage. As he eased himself down, Kay stood on the chair and when he sat down completely she placed both of her legs on his shoulders and slid herself down onto his lap. He arched out one long leg as he dipped Kay in the chair sitting down. Kay framed his face with her hands, and arched up to meet his lips in a kiss. So as the song ended they were kissing on the stage.

The curtain closed on the kissing couple as the last note of Enrique Iglesias' "Could I Have This Kiss Forever," featuring Whitney Houston ended.


Backstage

Twenty minutes after Kay's performance

Mimi and Chloe were talking to the deejay about the order of their songs when Marvin, the dance coordinator came up.

"Okay ladies, it's Showtime for one of you." He checked his list. "Alright, I don't have a specific person named just this time blocked off. Any who, whichever one of you is going to perform, you need to get ready." He looked at his watch. "You have approximately two minutes." As he walked away from Mimi and Chloe, who tried to decide who would go next.

"Look, Chloe why don't you go ahead. I still need to get the music settled for my mix."

"Are you sure Mimi?"

"Of course, I am. Now go get Philip and get out there before he tries to bail." Mimi shooed Chloe away and finished talking with the deejay about her songs.

Chloe and Philip followed the dance-coordinating assistant to the stage where they would dance .

"Are you sure you should be doing this?" Philip asked as she stretched her legs to get ready to perform in her three-inch heels.

"You're not trying to get out of this are you, Philip?" she asked in return as looking into his eyes.

He shook his head. "Of course not. I was just worried about the baby. I don't want you to do anything too strenuous." Philip said as he walked to her and stopped her from stretching to look at him. "I mean Chloe, you are four months pregnant."

"First, Philip although, I love you for worrying about me, I don't need you to. I talked with a family friend who is a doctor and she assured me that there is nothing to worry about. I'll be fine. And anyways, I'm not yet four months pregnant, I am almostfour months pregnant. Don't worry. Besides, it's not as if I've never danced like this before so it shouldn't be a real problem."

"Okay, I was just checking. Now, how about you tell me who told you about the plan?" Philip asked as he hugged Chloe to him.

Chloe knew that he had obviously figured out that they had some sort of help. "I'm sorry but I can't reveal my sources. You shouldn't be concerned anyway because our informant didn't know what you were planning to do. Only that you were planning to do something tonight. But, who cares it's over now. And the only thing that I want you to be concerned about is winning this event."

"Well, if that's how you feel, then by all means let's do this." Philip said as they moved into their position center stage.


"So does anybody know whose on next?" Kay asked the group at table.

"Well, when I just went to talk to Theresa a few minutes ago, she told me that Chloe is going to be next." Maria answered sitting down in her seat next to Michael after going to call Paloma and check on the twins.

"Look, it's starting." Belle said excitedly as the music started to play and the curtains opened.


Chloe and Philip made a very striking couple as they stood in position on the stage. She was wearing a black satin shirtdress with French cuffs and a wraparound belt holding it closed. Her leg was arched out in front of her showing the golden skin of her lower thigh as it came through the slit in front. The dress framed her pregnant body so nicely that she didn't look pregnant if you saw her from the front only. Her long brown hair added to her overall beauty as it hung straightened along her sides. The man was in a dark blue shirt that stood out on the darkened stage and a pair of black pants that were molded to his body perfectly showing off in all the right places.

She stood in front of Philip leaning back on him slightly looking directly out to the audience. Philip stood in back of her with his arms about her waist under her long hair. He was looking down at her. They were waiting for the music to start.

"When is that damn music going to start? Or is it already on?" He whispered down to her careful not to break his dancing stance.

"It should be on in a few minutes, Philip. Just relax."

"Relax, yeah right," the last words died as the music started.

Chloe looked up at Philip and he down at her. Her arm was draped up around his neck. She slowly slid her hand down his muscled chest until she ended up where his hands were down by her side. As their fingers touched he brought his hand up and twirled her around so that she was facing him.

Still holding her hand, he raised his and they met palm to palm. As their hands became intertwined Chloe moved closer to Philip. He released her hands and pulled her to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they moved together slowly, seductively with the beat of the music.

She moved her hands from around his neck to slide down to his shoulders and then his chest. She gently pushed him back from her; once he was an arm's length away he reached out and grabbed her out-stretched arm to spin her in circles around him. As he spun her one last time he pulled her back to his body to stand in front of him.

Chloe turned to face him, she mimicked the words of the song using her hands as the offering, gesturing in the air. Philip grabs her hands and shakes his head. He placed her hands down by her side before he moves to the belt on the dress. He unties the belt and then slowly slides it out of the loops. Chloe's eyes widen as she realizes what he is going do to, she reaches out to grab it from him however he anticipates it and throws the belt into the audience.

With her dress falling open to Philip's eyes, he pulls her to him and then he turns her around so that she faces the audience. He takes a side of the dress in each of his hands and pulls it apart only allowing her shoulders to be exposed making it seem as if she doesn't have on anything else. He continues to pull it off until she's out of it and he throws it into the audience and spins Chloe to face him as two songs mix and move to the next one, "Ain't Nobody" by Chaka Khan.

Chloe's outfit had changed to an electric blue dress with spaghetti straps and a criss-cross back along with a dazzling silver mesh tab choker and matching bracelet. Her long hair streamed down her back, as she looked at Philip and held her hand out to him. He grasped it and pulled her to him. They came together following the beat of the Chaka Khan song.

Philip placed his leg between hers as they danced together bringing their bodies even closer. He released her hands and moved down to grasp her waist. Once he did so, he stopped their movements to ease down and pull her closer to him, so much so she was practically sitting on his leg. Wrapping his arms around her, he lifted her off the floor and spun her around. Her hair flew out as they spun around.

As he stopped spinning around to place her back on the ground, her hair flowed behind her. They went back to their dance steps this time a little faster to keep in tune with the music. They moved into some simple samba steps and parted, Philip held one of Chloe's hands while she moved out to the side of him and did a samba rhythm box step around him.

As she moved in front of him he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back to him. So that her back was to his front, he wrapped his arms around her and took one hand to grasp one of hers, holding it out front of them. Then slightly leaning forward (almost bending), he moved them around in a circular motion performing the samba roll. Chloe was held tightly in front of him as they danced so in sync with one another that they seemed to be one person moving.

After going through the motions of the samba roll, Philip stopped them on the dance floor. He took the hand wrapped around her waist to spin her out away from him. Chloe showed off her samba steps solo while Philip moved to the background to strip off his shirt so that he stood in a matching electric blue short-sleeved t-shirt. He walked back to Chloe and interrupted her solo steps.

She turned toward him and they came together looking into each other's eyes intensely. She caressed the side of his face, while he lovingly cradled her head and moved them into a deep dip. The only part of him she touched was his face as he moved her down. Gently and slowly with the song, they rolled and swayed together upward. Once they came up together the spun apart.

They came together again in an overlap above his arm with Chloe's thigh propped on his hip, she head hung back (looking at the audience) and her hair cascaded down to the floor. He embraced her around the small of the back, creating a center of balance for her as he looked down at her. She had a hand on his shoulder completely trusting to him to hold her.

As he agilely rolled her up she caressed his face. He moved one of his hands to her nape (under her hair) and prompted her to spin around him, hair flying. While she spun around he grasps one of her hands and stops her. Once she came to a stop he raised his hands (head level) for their special hand signal (i.e. Prelude to Love). She raises her hands to meet his palm to palm they become intertwined as Philip pulled Chloe into a standing floor twist, which brings them up and down.

When they are up again he releases one hand and spins her out, only to pull her in front of him. With their arms out on their sides, they intertwined their hands. Philip looked down at Chloe, while she gazes up at him. He leads in wrapping both their arms around her waist as they swayed to the beat of the music.

Unwrapping his arms from hugging Chloe's waist he kept one hand intertwined and spun her around. Then spinning her around once more and she spun him around afterwards. As the song ended, they came back together, her arms went around his neck and his about her waist as they smiled and gazed into each other's eyes.

After Chloe and Philip left the stage they returned to their seats in the audience. And watched the performances that followed after them waiting Brady and Mimi's performance. Meanwhile, Brady and Mimi were backstage getting ready to go on.

"So did you make the song changes like I suggested?" Brady asked Mimi as she glanced around at the stage making sure all of their props were in place.

"No of course not. I already told you Brady this is my performance I'm not changing anything. Besides, it's too late to make any changes and you already agreed to this for me without the other songs."

Brady, who had been watching his wife from the chair on the stage, got up and walked over to her to fix her tie. It was crooked. Mimi was wearing a suit with a white dress shirt and a black tie. As he fixed her tie, he let his fingertips linger under it to mess with the buttons of her shirt. "Well, if you're sure, then you know I will do this for you. There is nothing that I won't do for you, babe."

"Brady Black, I know what you are trying to do. So stop it." She grabbed his hand before he released one of the buttons on her shirt. "I already told you that I am not changing the songs. But, I did add one more to the list."

"Which one?"

"The last one, the guy told me that we could have up to three songs, if we wanted. So I just added one more song. To end our performance." Mimi moved closer to Brady and wrapped her arms around his neck to angle his head down to hers.

"Well, at least you got one of my choice's added. I guess that I'll settle for that. I'll consider it payback for that dance you did with Evans." He leaned his head down and was about to kiss Mimi when Marvin strolled up behind her.

"Hey you two you'll be on in about a minute and half so you might want to stop making out and get into place." The annoying dance coordinator left as quickly as he came up.

Brady sighed. "We'll just have to finish this later. Go get your sweet self in to place so that we can win this thing and go home to finish what we started." Mimi nodded and brushed her lips across his, adjusting her hat she then walked back to her spot. As soon as she was in place Brady moved off to the back of the stage out of the view of the audience.


When Chloe and Philip had returned to the table she went to sit in her own seat but, Philip pulled her into his lap. And that was where she was currently sitting while her chair had the shirtdress she took off during her performance and Philip's shirt on it.

"I think that Mimi and Brady are going next." Chloe said

"That's good. I can't wait to see what they are going to do." Kay responded.

"Yeah then maybe we can find out who told."

"Philip, I don't really think that's important right now. Besides, all you really need to know is that we knew about it. And we still thought it was a great idea. But, our idea was better planned and no one found out about it." Chloe said teasingly to Philip and when he opened his mouth to protest Chloe silenced him. "Shh, look the curtain is opening. We'll discuss this later." She then turned to the stage to watch as the curtain opened on the stage.


The curtain opened and the spotlight brightened to show a black chair backwards on the stage with Mimi on it. She had on a black suit complete with a black tie and black top hat. Her arms were crossed around the back of the chair and she was looking down towards the floor. The only way anyone knew that it was her was because her auburn hair stuck out brilliantly with the all black ensemble that she was wearing. Brady was nowhere to seen on the stage yet. The Janet Jackson song "I Get So Lonely," begins to play.

She looked up and uncrossed her arms from around the chair. As she looked up her expression turned sad and longing as she looked around the stage.

After looking around and seeing no one there she stands up and walked around the chair when she comes back to where she started at, she sits down once again. Having sat down, she reaches up and takes off her hat throwing it off to the side.

She starts to wrap her arms about herself only to feel another pair of arms behind her. Brady had come up behind her and wrapped his arms around her as he moved to sit behind her.

Mimi turned in faux surprise to see Brady. She stands up and fully hugs him. From the hug they move into a seductive slow dance as they rock from side to side. Her hands began to slide up and frame his face to make him look directly at her. They shared a heated look if passion. She grasps his hands and leads him back to the chair; facing it forward she sits him down in it.

Mimi is now standing in front of Brady, who is sitting in the chair, with her back to the audience. She moves back a few steps.

Slowly walking back to Brady sitting in the chair, she stands in front of him. She then does a side-to-side erotic hip movement that makes her go down until she's on Brady's lap. He positions her so that her legs are outside of his over his lap. Her hands are on his shoulders as she makes eye contact with him. He lifts her up from the seat and placed her in front of him.

When the music began to mix and it switched to another song, he unbuttoned her suit jacket. As the background beat of 'Touch It,' by Monifah came one, he leaned down and tore her pants from her legs and then threw them to the side.

Mimi now stood on the stage in an off the shoulder strapped corset like top the bared her midriff nicely and a matching asymmetrical skirt that was a vibrate jade color. Brady stood by her side still in his all black attire of pants and a shirt.

He moved towards her with the beat of the music. And when he was on her side he moved to touch her.

She backed away from his hand and then placed her hand on his chest to walk him backwards to the chair. After she got him seated, she turned around and faced the audience. She put her hands on her hips and seductively did a body roll, moving up and down. When she came up again she turned her head and inclined it toward Brady as if to say 'Come here.' Brady got up from the chair and walked to Mimi pulling her to him.

Brady had Mimi standing in front of him as he put his lips on her neck and started to nibble at it. His hands were everywhere feeling on her body. They were at her breasts, her thighs, and then finally resting on her waist as he spun her around.

Mimi, who had been caressing Brady head was holding him to her neck, turned around and hooked one leg on his thigh. As she did this Brady's hands moved down to her butt and pulled her closer to him as they began to rock with the beat of the music.

After they stopped rocking, Mimi backed up away from Brady. She turned to her side and did another body roll, accentuating the movements with her hips as she went down. Once she was back up, she grasped his hand and did a fast spin in the center. Still holding his hand she moved in back of him and pulled his shirt out of his pants. She released his hand and spun in front of him to tear the shirt off him, buttons went flying everywhere. Brady then took off what was left on the shirt from his body and threw it into the audience.

He grabbed Mimi's waist and pulled her to him, quickly spinning her around and dipping her. As she went back, his hand slid down and raised her leg to place it over his. Then the music mixed again blending two songs together until the new song started playing completely, it was "What's Your Fantasy?" by Ludacris.

With the change of song was a newly dressed Brady. He stood on the stage holding Mimi with his tight black pants still on with the added attraction of a black wife beater that showed of his muscular physique perfectly.

Brady pulled Mimi up and then released her. She eased down to her knees making the motion like she was licking Brady from his head to his toes. When she stood again, he dropped in front of her grabbed one of her legs and licked her leg as far as he could go with the skirt on. Once he was eye-level with her waist she pulled him closer to her body. Mimi pulled back slightly and used her hands framed around his face to bring to his feet. When he was standing she lead him back to the chair.

She gestured toward the chair and pushed him into it. Standing in front of him she arched one leg and acted as if she were smoothing down her pantyhose sliding her hand up her leg. When she got to her upper thigh, she looked up and winked flirtatiously at Brady. He flicked his head up in response like he were saying 'Yeah, come here.'

She walked back over to him placing one leg on the chair; he grabbed her leg and pulled her to him so that she was standing directly over him with one leg propped up. His hand was still on her leg as he slowly slid it up her thigh where he then tugged her down to straddle his lap.

Brady's hands were on her hips as Mimi gave him an erotic lap dance. She rolled her hips on his lap seductive undulating movements. She put her hands on his head and brought it down to the valley of her breasts. In sync with her movements on his lap she began to lean back until her back met his knees, where she then flipped her head back and looked out at the audience all the while still holding his head to her body.

Meanwhile, Brady used his tongue and caressed her skin starting with the valley of her breasts until he had made his way down to her belly button. Once, he reached her navel in an extreme dangerous maneuver he rose from the chair and went to sort of jump on to a mat on the stage. And as he jumped he somehow managed to flip himself so that he would land on the bottom and Mimi was on top of him. Then, as he became settled in, Mimi placed her hands on his chest and lifted herself up and to her feet, where she then walked toward Brady who was leaning back on his elbows.

She bends down and places her hands on Brady's face. She slowly mouths the words of the chorus to him and sweeps her hands across his body from his head to his toes. Then she released his head to lean down and kiss him, flicking her tongue across his lips.

As she turned to stand up, Brady quickly moved to slide Mimi over and under him, moving in between her legs. He also mouthed the words to her slowly; her hands went to his waist. Then, as the chorus ended she mastered flipping herself over on top of him. So as the song ended the audience saw Brady sitting halfway up and Mimi leaning down towards him. The curtains closed.


Everybody was sitting at the table except of course for Max and Liz who had left earlier. They were carrying a conversation amongst themselves about everything that had happened that night from Belle's fake labor to the group performance and dedications to Brady and Mimi's final dance.

"You know Brady, I can't believe you did that. I mean in public and all. It was like you two were having sex up there. My God I wonder what Dad would have said if he saw this." Belle said still a little shell-shocked by the performance.

"Belle, isn't that what you wanted? You told the girls to do something that they wouldn't ordinarily do in public. I mean I thought that was the whole point." Shawn said to his wife laughing at her expression.

"Well, it was but I didn't think that they would do that!" Belle said.

"Okay, Belle now don't take this the wrong way, but where do you think I learned it from. I mean haven't you ever walked in on your mother and Dad before dancing." Brady said also laughing at her facial expression of absolute terror at the thought of her parents doing that.

"Brady, you so did not need to go there." Belle said her face forming a face of distaste. Everyone at the table laughed at Belle everyone but Chloe that is.

Chloe had moved from sitting on Philip's lap and was leaning on him from her chair, laying her head on his shoulder while her legs were in his lap. Although, she was listening to the conversation she was tired so she closed her eyes for a second.

"Hey, you're not going to sleep on me are you?" Philip asked looking down at his wife.

"No, I'm not sleeping. I am just a little tired that's all." She said right before she yawned. Philip smiled; maybe it was time for them to leave.

"You want to go?" Chloe looked up at Philip surprised.

"We don't have to go yet. Besides, I don't want to make everyone else leave early. Since we all came together."

"Everyone doesn't have to go, I had my car brought here so I could drive us home in case we wanted to leave early. So do you want to go?"

Chloe sat up and straightened to look at Philip, taking her legs off his lap. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Of course, I don't mind. I did what I wanted to do and now I'm ready to go, so if you want to we can leave. You wanna go now?" Chloe nodded and then she and Philip rose from their seats. He reached around her and grabbed her stuff from one of the other empty chairs and she got her purse from the table.

Everyone else had been holding conversations at this time when they all noticed Chloe and Philip getting ready to leave. "Hey are you guys leaving?" Belle asked the question stating the obvious.

"Well, if you must know Mama Kiriakis is tired and she needs to rest." Philip responded putting his arm on her shoulder.

"But you can't leave yet. They haven't announced the winners of the Latin dance show. And how would you feel if you won something and didn't get it? I mean I know my kids would love to see me come home with a trophy."

"Yes, but my child isn't born yet so… your point would be what?" Philip responded sarcastically.

"Philip, wait I think she's right. We should stay to commiserate what we did tonight, so that we always remember it. If we do win something it would be something to show our kids one day. So … let's wait until after the awards are given before we leave, please." Chloe pleaded on the off chance that they would win something.

"If you want to." Chloe kissed him on the cheek before she relieved him of their things, placing them in the chairs and sitting back down. Philip sighed and sat back down.

Theresa walked out onto the stage in a nude colored lace slip dress with a soft pink liner. It ended right by her knees. "Tonight's event has been a raving success thanks to all of you out there. We have surpassed our goal this evening in raising money for this important cause." The audience clapped to that. "But, before we leave for tonight, there is one more thing that we must do. We need to announce the winners of the Latin Sensation Dance Contest. Before we do that, can we please give around of applause for all those who participated in it." As the audience clapped for the performers a table was brought out with some trophies on it as well as Ethan alongside. "My husband and one of the judges for tonight's event, Ethan Winthrop, shall help me give out the trophies. There will be eleven awards handed out tonight; the first ten will go to the top ten performers of the night. And the eleventh award will be for the couple that has not only been picked as the audience favorite but the judge favorite too. So let's get the show the road because I know we are all anxious to see who wins. Ethan will you please begin announcing the first five couples." Theresa turned toward her husband as he took a sheet of paper out of the envelope and moved next to his wife.

"I sure will honey. I'd also like to ask that the ten couples please remain on the stage until all of the winners are announced. So without further a do, in tenth place, Heather Olson and Aaron Van Wagner." A couple ran up on the stage with a lot of giddiness as the lady received her roses and the man the trophy as well as an envelope with a special prize, they took their place on the stage. "In ninth place the intoxicatingly seductive couple Brandy Alexander and Tom Collins." The next couple came onto the stage and received their awards and then went to stand next to Heather and Aaron. "In eighth place Galen Gering and Mackenzie Westmore," they also followed the pattern of the other two previous couples. "Seventh place goes to," Ethan eyed the audience and smiled. "My brother-in-law, Luis and Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald." As the couple came on the stage, Ethan shook Luis' hand and hugged Sheridan before they got their awards from Theresa who also hugged them. "The sixth place goes to Liz and Max Evans," when Ethan noticed that they weren't at their table he looked to his wife. She shrugged.

"Since Liz and Max aren't here to except their award, I will except it on their behalf. Now for the top five places in the Latin Sensation Showcase, I will like to ask the winners to please remain on the stage for the rest of the presentation. In fifth place, Kay and Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald." Theresa smiled happily as she saw her other brother and his wife come to the stage to get their award. Eying the list in her hand she smiled and waited until after they got the award and went into place to announce the next award. "Fourth place goes to my helper for tonight's event, Maria and Michael Guerin," she saw the look of surprise on Maria's face as she stood up with Michael at her side and made her way up to the stage. "Third place goes to the group performance of Zan and his Mistresses of Destiny (I changed the name because I thought it sounded better! J). It seems like our Zan has left for tonight, but maybe one of his ladies would like to receive this award on his behalf." She looked at the table on the floor where everyone was.

Down at the table the ladies were trying to decide who should go when Chloe came up with a great idea. "Belle, why don't you go get the award?"

"Yeah, Belle you should get it. It was your idea in the first place and I'm sure Max and Liz would want you to get it if they were here." Mimi said as she placed her hand on Belle's while telling her to go.

"Are you guys sure?" Belle asked hesitantly not wanting to step on anyone's toes by going to get the award.

"Yes," both Brady and Philip answered for their wives and then looked at each other conspiratorially. "And Shawn why don't you escort her up there." Philip suggested. Shawn looked towards Belle and he knew that she would want to go up so he stood and offered her his arm to her, she took it and they went up to the stage to get the award. After Belle received the group award, she and Shawn took the place next to the other winners.

"And now for the top two couples," Theresa paused and looked toward the audience dramatically "Miriam and Brady Black." Mimi jumped up out of her seat and hugged Brady before she excitedly pulled him to the stage where they were hugged by all of their friends.

"Let me just intrude for a moment to say that this was a very hard decision to make but, in the end we had to go with the points and you guys only came up one point short of being the number one couple." Ethan explained as he shook hands with Brady and Mimi. Then turning back to Theresa he looked at the first place winners with her. They were going to announce the number one couple together.

"Okay and finally, the number one couple of the Latin Sensation Event tonight is," The Winthrop's paused. "Chloe and Philip Kiriakis."

As they heard their names called, Philip looked over at Chloe and she was truly surprised, the shock was still evident on her face. "Come on babe, let's go claim our prize." Philip stood and helped Chloe up beside him as he made his way to the stage with her following behind him holding his hand.

When they got on the stage they were bombarded with people surrounding them to congratulate them on their achievement. Philip was doing all the talking, Chloe had yet to say one word. After everyone had clamed down a bit and Philip received the trophy and envelope, while a bouquet of red roses went to Chloe. Philip and Chloe stood back next to all the other winners to pose for pictures. He looked down and saw dazed look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure. But, did we really win this Philip? I mean I know that I said we should stay in case we win something, but I didn't honestly think we would. Let alone even win first place. It's a little surprising that's all." Chloe said as she smiled for the last picture.

"Hey, I told you that we would win tonight, cause a Kiriakis doesn't like to lose." Philip leaned down and kissed Chloe.

"Okay, now we have one more order of business before we let go you guys go for the evening. The audience and judge favorite of all the performances was chosen to represent what we really liked and even I have to say that I loved this one, anyway, the winner is Miriam and Brady Black for their sexually and seductively shocking performance. It not only wowed the audience but the judges as well. Please step up and receive your second award." Theresa said holding another trophy that Mimi and Brady happily took. They stood for pictures again and then walked back to their place.

"Well, that ends this years Latin Sensation Showcase Event, I hope all of you had fun I know I did. And thank you all for contributing to this charitable cause, I think that after all the money we've raised we will one day soon find a cure for this affliction in children. Now Ethan what do you say we end this evening right, let's dance. And please feel free to join us for the last dance of the evening." Theresa grabbed Ethan's hand and they walked down the stage to dance on the dance floor only to be followed by the other winning couples on the stage and audience members to join them dancing.

Everyone was dancing, Shawn and Belle were, Mimi and Brady were and so was everyone else who had been at the table. Except, for Chloe and Philip who were on the stage kissing the night away, as the curtains closed.

Author's Note: As of 4/29/05 I have taken out the lyrics Ain't Nobody by Chaka Khan, One in A Million by Aaliayah, Could I Have this Kiss Forever by Enrique Iglesias featuring Whitney Houston, I Get so Lonely by Janet Jackson, Touch It by Monifah, and What's Your Fantasy by Ludacris,as per the request of the management anywhere the lyrics appeared there is now an . So please take note if you wish to see the chapter in it's entirety with the lyrics please check my website.