Chapter 5:
One Week Later
Brady sat at the desk in his office humming 'We Will Rock You,' all the while crumpling up crisp sheets of plain white paper and shooting baskets in the hoop set up on the back of his door. Down to his last piece of paper he began: "This is for the championship. Brady Black's got the ball. Ten seconds on the clock. He moves left. Dribbles right and the crowd cheers. Haaaaa (Making cheesy crowd noises). He takes the shot," he threw the paper towards the hoop. "Three. Two." His door suddenly opened and instead of the ball traveling to its intended destination, it hit John's face instead. "Dad! Oh s&^%. I'm sorry." He got up to meet his father by the door.
"Ahhh.it's okay, Brady," John sighed as he looked at the mess his son's office was in, crumpled up balls of paper splayed all over the floor, sports memorabilia strewn across the walls.
"I can clean this up," Brady bent down to pick of the papers.
"No, son stop." John put a hand on his shoulder and leaned his hip on Brady's desk.
"Okay, well umm." Brady reached for his tie but again realized it was already off, so he scratched his hair and tugged an earlobe instead.
"Relax Brady. It's just me, your father."
Brady chuckled. "I know that dad but I guess I'm not used to working with you, ya know? I mean in New York we did things a certain way and well here it's different."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about actually."
"Oh yeah?" Brady plopped into his New York Jets inflatable chair. "Shoot."
"Well I talked to Dave Strobers this afternoon."
"The potential client for the 'Swirly Shoes' account."
"Right, right," John nodded. "And well, he seems pretty confident that he's choosing us to handle his business."
"That's good. That's great dad. We kicked major butt this morning then huh?"
"Yeah, we did real good son. But you see well, I informed him that I will be leaving by the end of the month for a long vacation and that the control of the account would become yours until I got back and that even when I did come back, I would not be taking back full control."
"Yeah, that's cool. That's why you brought me here anyway. And trust me, I've handled bigger businesses than 'Swirly Shoes' in New York." Brady laughed.
John joined him in laughter and shook his head. "I know. I know. I tried to tell him that, that you're the only person I would ever trust to take over the Salem offices."
"But?" Brady felt a 'but' coming on.
"But," John sighed. "He wasn't convinced you could handle it. You seemed a bit too flighty for the guy."
"Flighty?"
"Ugh, you know what I mean Brady. Too resistant to the idea of being tied down. Not family oriented enough. Too single."
"Too sing-- Are you serious?" Brady looked at his father incredulously. "I have never had a problem like this in New York."
"That's just it Brady. You're in Salem now, not New York. Here the focus is a little different so clients tend to like a more stable handler. And the people Strobers' is trying to target are not city folk. He's looking for suburbanites to buy his products. And he thinks you won't be able to fully identify with the consumers he's trying to attract. But he's an idiot Brady. Forget about him. The only thing that matters is that we land his account and I can say with absolute certainty that we did."
"We did," he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his father. "And just how did we do that exactly?"
"I kind of told him a little white lie, that's all. It's necessary in any business son."
"I know all about that. Now what did you tell him dad?"
"That you were." he mumbled something under his breath.
"Speak up dad."
"That you were engaged."
"What!?" Brady shot out of his chair.
"Relax. I didn't give him any names or anything. Just that you were engaged to a very lovely girl and were planning a wedding for next June. I didn't even give him the chance to ask me anymore about it, okay?"
"Oh, Dad, honestly." Brady flopped back down in his chair and shook his head in disbelief.
"You mad at me," John asked sheepishly. John knew that marriage was a touchy subject for Brady ever since his fiancée, Patricia, left him for his best friend back in New York. Brady had virtually shut down that sensitive side that believed in love and wanted love but if you ever mentioned Patricia, he would visibly tense and that told John that Brady was more hurt and scarred by this than he would ever admit to anyone.
"Am I mad at you?" Through it all Brady found himself chuckling. "Yes, ya big dork!" *********************
"So, you think you'll come to dinner Chloe," Belle asked her as she watched her friend exhibit some truffles in one of the display windows.
"I dunno, Belle." Chloe sighed and wiped her hands on her apron. Belle was inviting her out to Tuscany for dinner with her, Shawn, Marlena, John and of course Brady. She hadn't seen him in a week. She had definitely lucked out. If she never saw him again it would be too soon. Now Philip, on the other hand, she had seen him twice since the cab incident and both times were the same. Philip kept telling her how sorry he was and how he never meant to hurt her. He'd even been "honest" with her, telling her this "fling" with Cynthia had been going on for only two months. 'Two months too long,' Chloe thought. But he seemed sincere and genuinely sorry. So now, she didn't know what to think. Her heart told her that Philip was a fool that couldn't be trusted. But somehow her head had come to the conclusion that Philip's infidelity may have been hurtful but that their relationship was worth a second shot.
"Please Chloe. I've already told Brady he has to play nice. Besides, I think he feels pretty bad about the last time you guys spoke."
"Good, I hope he feels awful," Chloe replied as she walked to the back of the shop. Belle followed. "Susan, can you watch the front for me?"
"Sure thing, Chlo." Susan left Belle and Chloe in the back.
"Chloe," Belle whined. "Come on. It'll be fun. And you need to get out and see the world again. Nancy and Craig and Shawn and my mom and dad, we're all worried about you. And like I said Brady's just a big teddy bear."
"Right Belle. A demonic teddy bear if ever I've seen one."
Belle chuckled. "Honest he is. And you don't even have to talk to him tonight. I know what an ass he can be. It's just that Patricia really hurt him."
"Patricia?"
"Ex fiancée who cheated on him with his best friend a few years back in New York. Ever since then he's kind of just closed himself off. Not that he doesn't have a different woman on his arm every night. The guy's a man whore but he's an awesome friend to have."
Chloe laughed. "I find that hard to believe. I mean he's attractive and everything, gorgeous even, but he's got a really unpleasant attitude."
"Don't I know it," Belle chuckled. "You've just got to get to know him. He's a really good guy underneath all the cockiness and stubbornness and just plain 'porkrhine-eating-never-says-the-right-thing-leaves-the- toiletseat-up' guyness."
Chloe only laughed and shook her head. "I'll believe that when I see it."
"Oh.my.G-d," Susan came from the front of the shop.
"What is it Susan," Chloe was worried, dread rapidly pooling in her stomach.
"The most awesome looking guy ever just walked in the store and he's asking for you Chloe."
"Me?"
"Yes."
"Who is he?"
"I have no idea but he's got this incredible beach blonde hair and these twinkling, baby blue eyes. He's got that whole California surfer thing going on you know? And then his voice, smooth as silk I'm telling you. What a babe. He's so sweet too."
Both Chloe and Belle erupted into a fit of laughter. Now Chloe was curious. Not that she would be interested in anyone romantically but well she wondered what hunky guy would be looking for her.
"For goodness sakes Chloe, don't keep the man waiting." Susan huffed and tried to push her out of the room.
"Okay, okay." Chloe attempted to walk out of the room but Belle pulled her back.
"Fix your hair Chloe and you have cocoa powder all over your cheek."
She pulled away from Belle's grasp. "I don't care Belle. I just broke it off with my fiancé; I'm not looking for a love connection. Besides, Philip and I may not even be over."
"What!?" Belle shouted, shocked that Chloe was even considering taking the snake back. When Chloe remained silent, Belle sighed defeatedly. "Okay, we will talk about this later."
"Of course," Chloe gave her a bright smile and walked to the front of the store. She spotted the back of a man's head as he looked out her front window. "Yes?"
Brady turned around and found himself staring at Chloe again. She was so cute standing there behind the counter, cocoa powder on her face and clothes. Finally, a girl that didn't mind getting dirty. It had been years since he'd met anyone like that. Not that he was interested in her romantically or anything because she was still a vamp. "Chloe, hi. Good to see you."
"What do you want?" Chloe crossed her arms over her chest.
"Ah," he smiled. "So friendly." She merely arched an eyebrow at him, so he continued. "This is a great looking place you've got here." He gestured to the cozy shop that smelled of baking brownies and rich cognac. It was pretty small, with its hardwood floors and a few wooden tables that were lined before the counter. It reminded him of one of those 1950's drugstores or an old English shop. He liked it, very personable. So very unlike its owner. "Very nice place."
Chloe narrowed her eyes at him, not sure she liked him trying to be nice like this. "Uh.yeah.umm.thanks. But like I said before what are you doing here?"
"And you take compliments so well too." Brady laughed. "I was actually looking for Belle. I'm not really sure if I want to go to that dinner tonight. You going?"
"I don't know yet, but I'm leaning towards 'no'."
He chuckled and walked over to stand before her as she still stood frozen behind the counter. "Same here."
"Look, umm.let me go get Belle okay?"
"I saw you and Philip talking in Salem Place earlier this week. You're not really going to get back together with that lug are you?"
"It's none of your business what I do."
"I know that and look, Chloe, I'm not going to try and give you advice-"
"Well then don't. You're certainly no expert when it comes to love anyway."
"I happen to be very good with the ladies," Brady said half joking, half serious.
"Well, you couldn't keep Patricia. What's that tell you?" Chloe didn't mean to say it but it slipped. She had wanted to hurt someone as Philip had hurt her but she now knew she was taking it out on the wrong person, a person she barely knew. And she knew Belle would not have appreciated her rubbing this in Brady's face.
"How the hell do you know about that?" Brady eyes cooled with an icy fire.
"I inquired." Chloe lied.
"Let me tell you something now: You stay out of my business and stay out of my life."
"You do the same."
"Tell Belle, I won't be going to that dinner tonight."
"Tell her yourself," Chloe walked to the back of the store. But when Chloe glanced back to look at him one last time, she saw him storm out of the shop. What was his problem? Why did he make her so crazy every time she saw him? Chloe was sure she never wanted to find out.
One Week Later
Brady sat at the desk in his office humming 'We Will Rock You,' all the while crumpling up crisp sheets of plain white paper and shooting baskets in the hoop set up on the back of his door. Down to his last piece of paper he began: "This is for the championship. Brady Black's got the ball. Ten seconds on the clock. He moves left. Dribbles right and the crowd cheers. Haaaaa (Making cheesy crowd noises). He takes the shot," he threw the paper towards the hoop. "Three. Two." His door suddenly opened and instead of the ball traveling to its intended destination, it hit John's face instead. "Dad! Oh s&^%. I'm sorry." He got up to meet his father by the door.
"Ahhh.it's okay, Brady," John sighed as he looked at the mess his son's office was in, crumpled up balls of paper splayed all over the floor, sports memorabilia strewn across the walls.
"I can clean this up," Brady bent down to pick of the papers.
"No, son stop." John put a hand on his shoulder and leaned his hip on Brady's desk.
"Okay, well umm." Brady reached for his tie but again realized it was already off, so he scratched his hair and tugged an earlobe instead.
"Relax Brady. It's just me, your father."
Brady chuckled. "I know that dad but I guess I'm not used to working with you, ya know? I mean in New York we did things a certain way and well here it's different."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about actually."
"Oh yeah?" Brady plopped into his New York Jets inflatable chair. "Shoot."
"Well I talked to Dave Strobers this afternoon."
"The potential client for the 'Swirly Shoes' account."
"Right, right," John nodded. "And well, he seems pretty confident that he's choosing us to handle his business."
"That's good. That's great dad. We kicked major butt this morning then huh?"
"Yeah, we did real good son. But you see well, I informed him that I will be leaving by the end of the month for a long vacation and that the control of the account would become yours until I got back and that even when I did come back, I would not be taking back full control."
"Yeah, that's cool. That's why you brought me here anyway. And trust me, I've handled bigger businesses than 'Swirly Shoes' in New York." Brady laughed.
John joined him in laughter and shook his head. "I know. I know. I tried to tell him that, that you're the only person I would ever trust to take over the Salem offices."
"But?" Brady felt a 'but' coming on.
"But," John sighed. "He wasn't convinced you could handle it. You seemed a bit too flighty for the guy."
"Flighty?"
"Ugh, you know what I mean Brady. Too resistant to the idea of being tied down. Not family oriented enough. Too single."
"Too sing-- Are you serious?" Brady looked at his father incredulously. "I have never had a problem like this in New York."
"That's just it Brady. You're in Salem now, not New York. Here the focus is a little different so clients tend to like a more stable handler. And the people Strobers' is trying to target are not city folk. He's looking for suburbanites to buy his products. And he thinks you won't be able to fully identify with the consumers he's trying to attract. But he's an idiot Brady. Forget about him. The only thing that matters is that we land his account and I can say with absolute certainty that we did."
"We did," he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his father. "And just how did we do that exactly?"
"I kind of told him a little white lie, that's all. It's necessary in any business son."
"I know all about that. Now what did you tell him dad?"
"That you were." he mumbled something under his breath.
"Speak up dad."
"That you were engaged."
"What!?" Brady shot out of his chair.
"Relax. I didn't give him any names or anything. Just that you were engaged to a very lovely girl and were planning a wedding for next June. I didn't even give him the chance to ask me anymore about it, okay?"
"Oh, Dad, honestly." Brady flopped back down in his chair and shook his head in disbelief.
"You mad at me," John asked sheepishly. John knew that marriage was a touchy subject for Brady ever since his fiancée, Patricia, left him for his best friend back in New York. Brady had virtually shut down that sensitive side that believed in love and wanted love but if you ever mentioned Patricia, he would visibly tense and that told John that Brady was more hurt and scarred by this than he would ever admit to anyone.
"Am I mad at you?" Through it all Brady found himself chuckling. "Yes, ya big dork!" *********************
"So, you think you'll come to dinner Chloe," Belle asked her as she watched her friend exhibit some truffles in one of the display windows.
"I dunno, Belle." Chloe sighed and wiped her hands on her apron. Belle was inviting her out to Tuscany for dinner with her, Shawn, Marlena, John and of course Brady. She hadn't seen him in a week. She had definitely lucked out. If she never saw him again it would be too soon. Now Philip, on the other hand, she had seen him twice since the cab incident and both times were the same. Philip kept telling her how sorry he was and how he never meant to hurt her. He'd even been "honest" with her, telling her this "fling" with Cynthia had been going on for only two months. 'Two months too long,' Chloe thought. But he seemed sincere and genuinely sorry. So now, she didn't know what to think. Her heart told her that Philip was a fool that couldn't be trusted. But somehow her head had come to the conclusion that Philip's infidelity may have been hurtful but that their relationship was worth a second shot.
"Please Chloe. I've already told Brady he has to play nice. Besides, I think he feels pretty bad about the last time you guys spoke."
"Good, I hope he feels awful," Chloe replied as she walked to the back of the shop. Belle followed. "Susan, can you watch the front for me?"
"Sure thing, Chlo." Susan left Belle and Chloe in the back.
"Chloe," Belle whined. "Come on. It'll be fun. And you need to get out and see the world again. Nancy and Craig and Shawn and my mom and dad, we're all worried about you. And like I said Brady's just a big teddy bear."
"Right Belle. A demonic teddy bear if ever I've seen one."
Belle chuckled. "Honest he is. And you don't even have to talk to him tonight. I know what an ass he can be. It's just that Patricia really hurt him."
"Patricia?"
"Ex fiancée who cheated on him with his best friend a few years back in New York. Ever since then he's kind of just closed himself off. Not that he doesn't have a different woman on his arm every night. The guy's a man whore but he's an awesome friend to have."
Chloe laughed. "I find that hard to believe. I mean he's attractive and everything, gorgeous even, but he's got a really unpleasant attitude."
"Don't I know it," Belle chuckled. "You've just got to get to know him. He's a really good guy underneath all the cockiness and stubbornness and just plain 'porkrhine-eating-never-says-the-right-thing-leaves-the- toiletseat-up' guyness."
Chloe only laughed and shook her head. "I'll believe that when I see it."
"Oh.my.G-d," Susan came from the front of the shop.
"What is it Susan," Chloe was worried, dread rapidly pooling in her stomach.
"The most awesome looking guy ever just walked in the store and he's asking for you Chloe."
"Me?"
"Yes."
"Who is he?"
"I have no idea but he's got this incredible beach blonde hair and these twinkling, baby blue eyes. He's got that whole California surfer thing going on you know? And then his voice, smooth as silk I'm telling you. What a babe. He's so sweet too."
Both Chloe and Belle erupted into a fit of laughter. Now Chloe was curious. Not that she would be interested in anyone romantically but well she wondered what hunky guy would be looking for her.
"For goodness sakes Chloe, don't keep the man waiting." Susan huffed and tried to push her out of the room.
"Okay, okay." Chloe attempted to walk out of the room but Belle pulled her back.
"Fix your hair Chloe and you have cocoa powder all over your cheek."
She pulled away from Belle's grasp. "I don't care Belle. I just broke it off with my fiancé; I'm not looking for a love connection. Besides, Philip and I may not even be over."
"What!?" Belle shouted, shocked that Chloe was even considering taking the snake back. When Chloe remained silent, Belle sighed defeatedly. "Okay, we will talk about this later."
"Of course," Chloe gave her a bright smile and walked to the front of the store. She spotted the back of a man's head as he looked out her front window. "Yes?"
Brady turned around and found himself staring at Chloe again. She was so cute standing there behind the counter, cocoa powder on her face and clothes. Finally, a girl that didn't mind getting dirty. It had been years since he'd met anyone like that. Not that he was interested in her romantically or anything because she was still a vamp. "Chloe, hi. Good to see you."
"What do you want?" Chloe crossed her arms over her chest.
"Ah," he smiled. "So friendly." She merely arched an eyebrow at him, so he continued. "This is a great looking place you've got here." He gestured to the cozy shop that smelled of baking brownies and rich cognac. It was pretty small, with its hardwood floors and a few wooden tables that were lined before the counter. It reminded him of one of those 1950's drugstores or an old English shop. He liked it, very personable. So very unlike its owner. "Very nice place."
Chloe narrowed her eyes at him, not sure she liked him trying to be nice like this. "Uh.yeah.umm.thanks. But like I said before what are you doing here?"
"And you take compliments so well too." Brady laughed. "I was actually looking for Belle. I'm not really sure if I want to go to that dinner tonight. You going?"
"I don't know yet, but I'm leaning towards 'no'."
He chuckled and walked over to stand before her as she still stood frozen behind the counter. "Same here."
"Look, umm.let me go get Belle okay?"
"I saw you and Philip talking in Salem Place earlier this week. You're not really going to get back together with that lug are you?"
"It's none of your business what I do."
"I know that and look, Chloe, I'm not going to try and give you advice-"
"Well then don't. You're certainly no expert when it comes to love anyway."
"I happen to be very good with the ladies," Brady said half joking, half serious.
"Well, you couldn't keep Patricia. What's that tell you?" Chloe didn't mean to say it but it slipped. She had wanted to hurt someone as Philip had hurt her but she now knew she was taking it out on the wrong person, a person she barely knew. And she knew Belle would not have appreciated her rubbing this in Brady's face.
"How the hell do you know about that?" Brady eyes cooled with an icy fire.
"I inquired." Chloe lied.
"Let me tell you something now: You stay out of my business and stay out of my life."
"You do the same."
"Tell Belle, I won't be going to that dinner tonight."
"Tell her yourself," Chloe walked to the back of the store. But when Chloe glanced back to look at him one last time, she saw him storm out of the shop. What was his problem? Why did he make her so crazy every time she saw him? Chloe was sure she never wanted to find out.