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Chapter One
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(Two and a half months later.)
Mimi stood outside the home of Belle and Shawn Brady's upscale, but still cozy, three-bedroom home waiting for someone to answer the door. It had been a long few months of waiting, but today was the day that her column made it's syndicated debut, appearing in newspapers across the nation. Mimi would have preferred a quiet night at home, but her co-workers at the Spectator had celebrated her all day long, and now Belle insisted on another celebration.
Shawn answered the door with a large smile and gave her a brief congratulatory hug as he ushered her inside. "Hey Meems..."
Mimi sat her purse down on the table near the door and smiled back at him. "Hey, where is everybody?"
"Well, the kids are at my parents house probably annoying the heck out of their Uncle Zack. Belle wanted it to be a night for grown-ups... That way we don't have to eat macaroni and cheese tonight."
Mimi chuckled softly, but her expression changed to horrified as another thought entered her mind. "Wait a minute... Belle didn't... She didn't COOK, did she?"
Shawn wrinkled up his nose in disgust and shook his head. Just like her mother before her, Belle had a reputation for being a terrible cook. "Oh God no, I wouldn't let her... We got everything from the pub. More food than the three of us can possibly eat... So, we invited some surprise guests..."
"Surprise guests? Where?"
"They are in the back yard with my wife..."
Mimi gave him a surprised glance, but wasted no time in thinking over who it might be. She pushed past Shawn and marched through the house towards the back door. She opened the sliding glass door and stepped out on to the back porch where Belle was chatting happily with their two guests, a beautiful brunette and her tall, blonde husband.
"BRADY! CHLOE! OH MY GOD..."
The two surprise guests pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tightly as she greeted them. "You guys aren't supposed to be here until next week! I can't believe it!"
Brady gave his trademark grin and wink combination as he replied. "Hey... Do you really think we wouldn't want to congratulate you on your amazing achievement?"
Mimi smiled at him and waved her hand to dismiss him. "Oh stop... It's not that amazing."
Chloe looked at her doubtfully and shook her head. "Mimi, come on. It's a HUGE deal. You are one of the youngest people in history to have her own syndicated column. The whole country is reading you now..."
"Yes, and now I have billions of people waiting for me to offend them with my words instead of just half of this state."
Belle jumped in and gave Mimi a brief hug before offering her own words of encouragement. "Hey, don't say things like that... If you weren't a brilliant writer, which you are, then they wouldn't be paying you to syndicate your column. Everyone in this country is going to LOVE you just as much as we do."
Mimi giggled and rolled her eyes at her friend. "Wellllll, if you say so..."
Shawn was standing in the doorway motioning towards the inside of the house. "Well, I say that there is a whole lot of food in the kitchen about to get cold. Come on..."
The group began to filter inside, and Mimi latched herself to Chloe's side as they headed through the house towards the kitchen. "So tell me, Chloe... What are you doing here? Why did you come home early? And... How come you didn't tell me?"
Chloe laughed at her as they reached the kitchen and began filling up their plates together. "Always the reporter, even now... Let's see, my recording sessions for the new album ended earlier than I expected, and John wanted Brady in town for this meeting with a new client for Basic Black. So, it just happened to work out to be today -- the day we celebrate your accomplishments. We took the first flight from New York this morning."
"You've been here ALL day?"
"Yeah, we spent some time with Craig and Nancy this morning, went to see John and Marlena too... It's been a busy day."
Mimi and Chloe joined the rest of their friends at the dining room table, as they all began hungrily digging in to their dinners. The conversation was light and easy, completely lacking any strain or stress. At least until near the end of the meal, when Brady tactlessly brought up the impending Salem High reunion.
Brady wiped his mouth with his napkin and grinned wickedly. "So, I know I didn't go to your high school, but I'm ready and willing to start laying down some money on what happened to your former classmates."
Belle looked at her brother with a confused glance. "Laying down money? What are you talking about?"
"You know... Let's make some bets... Who got fat? Who is going bald at the tender age of 28? Who is more successful than you would have expected? Who is LESS successful than you would have expected? Who won't be there because they're in jail? Who came out of the closet? Come on, it'll be fun..."
The whole table was laughing but Shawn shook his head in shame as he replied to Brady. "You are too twisted for words, Brady Black..."
Brady rolled his eyes and grabbed his glass of iced tea off the table. "Please, like you aren't all DYING to find out what happened to some of those people you didn't keep in touch with."
Mimi grinned and raised her hand slightly as she interjected. "I'm not... I don't give a crap what happened to those people, and I'm sure they feel the same way about me."
Chloe frowned at her from across the table. "Now Meems, aren't you just a little bit excited about showing off all of the success you've had?"
"Is that why *you're* going, Chloe?"
"I -- I'm not going to show off."
Everyone at the table stared at her with doubt all over their faces. Chloe wasn't the type of person to brag, but considering how most of Salem High had treated her, she had every right to shove her success in their faces at the reunion. Chloe laughed and nodded her head, begrudgingly giving her agreement to Mimi's question.
"Okay, maybe just a *little*. But, I can't help it... After all the hell I went through at that school, I can't help but be curious as to what the reunion is going to be like. Not that I need their approval or anything, I just want to go... And you should too, Mimi."
"No way, not going to happen... We've been over this every day for the past 2 months. I'm not going. Besides, we were supposed to RSVP a week ago, and I didn't... So, I can't go."
Belle gave her husband a conspiratorial glance and then looked towards Mimi. "Then it's a good thing that when I RSVP'ed for Shawn and myself, I also told Penny that you were going to be there so to count you in..."
Mimi nearly choked on her drink as she stared at Belle in shock. "You did WHAT? You told Penny I was coming?"
"Well, she is the head of the reunion committee, and I figured you would change your mind eventually..."
"Except that I haven't. I haven't changed my mind and I'm not going to either. I will NOT be at the reunion... I refuse to go."
Shawn sighed softly and pleaded with her. "Come on, Mimi... It won't be any fun without you. The whole gang will be together again, and it's not very often that we're all in the same place at the same time. Phillip will..."
Mimi nodded and waved her hand as she finished his sentence. "I know, he called to congratulate me this morning. He'll be here in a few days... blah blah blah... the whole gang is back together. Believe me, I enjoy spending time with my friends, but not at a high school reunion."
Brady gave her a mock pout, joining in on everyone else's begging. "Come on, Meems... EVERYBODY is going to be there. You wouldn't want to be left out, would you?"
"Not everybody. I mean, there was that whole list with our invitations... you know, people that nobody can get a hold of... Those people probably won't be there. So pretend I'm one of them."
There was a pause of silence as Chloe eyed Mimi suspiciously, one perfectly shaped eyebrow raised high. "Mimi... You know, I was thinking that you didn't want to go because of someone who will be there. But now, I'm starting to think it's because of someone who WON'T be there. Could this have something to do with someone on that list? Someone named --"
Before Chloe could spit out the name, Mimi's green eyes went wide and she shook her head. "NO! Chloe, shush!! It has nothing to do with ANYBODY. Just me... Can we please drop this now and find *something* else to talk about? We are all reasonably intelligent and interesting people, I'm sure there are plenty of topics of conversations we can involve ourselves in besides this... Okay?"
Belle giggled softly and nodded in agreement. "Fine, fine, fine... We'll shut up about it. We're supposed to be celebrating you, not making you cranky... I'm sorry..."
Mimi smiled happily and motioned for everyone to continue talking. Shawn began telling a story about a case they had just cracked at the Salem police department this week, but Mimi was only half-listening. The highly suspicious glance that Chloe had thrown her had not gone away, her dark-haired friend was still glaring at her, as if to say. "It is Jason, isn't it?"
Mimi sighed softly and averted her eyes from Chloe's fixed gaze. Chloe Lane was the only person who knew what had happened that night. Mimi somewhat regretted never confiding in Belle, they were supposed to be best friends after all, but somehow it had just remained a secret. It didn't seem like a big deal really, not something that everyone needed to know about, and the only reason Chloe knew was because it had accidentally slipped out during a private conversation between the two of them.
Thankfully, the topic of the reunion was kept out of the conversation for the remainder of the evening. However, it still remained fixed in Mimi's brain. She began to wonder if she was acting ridiculous about the whole thing, but still, she was keeping her resolve, adamant in her refusal to not go.
~*~
(Meanwhile - Los Angeles, California)
Jason stared blankly ahead, his mind not where it should be. He was thinking about the high school reunion that was only seven days away. The committee had not been able to find him, and for that, he had been extremely thankful. But, it didn't keep him from finding out about the upcoming event.
An e-mail had arrived at his office a few weeks ago from an old classmate, Cynthia Reynolds. Somehow she had tracked him down and informed him of the reunion. But, Jason didn't reply, sending the letter to his trashcan immediately. He had washed his hands of Salem a long time ago, and wasn't ready to go back any time soon. In fact, he had never even been back to visit his parents, instead flying them out to Los Angeles to visit him for holidays and vacations.
His secretary Katie stepped through the door of his office and laid today's Los Angeles Times on his desk. She smiled politely at him and Jason broke his blank stare to smile back at her.
"It's the paper you asked for, Mr. Masters."
"Thanks Katie, thanks a lot."
Katie nodded and returned to her desk in the outer office as Jason began peeling the newspaper apart. His mind was racing with far too many thoughts to concentrate on the articles, but as he reached the section with the syndicated columns and articles, his eyes stopped immediately on a column he had not seen before.
The black and white picture next to the name of the writer showed him a familiar face. A face that he had thought about many times, one that had only grown more beautiful in the years since they were in high school together. His fingers ran over the name, Miriam Lockhart, and then lovingly grazed the picture of her smiling face. He felt a strange twisting in his heart, something he hadn't felt in far too long.
Jason couldn't figure out what possessed him to do what he did next, but without even thinking he hit the speakerphone button that called Katie at her desk.
"Katie..."
"Yes, Mr. Masters... What can I do for you?"
"Call my travel agent. Book me a flight to Salem, Illinois as soon as possible... and get me the best room at the Salem Inn."
"Sir, is everything okay?"
Jason sighed softly and stared at the picture once more. "Everything is fine, Katie... I'm going home."
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Thanks for all the great feedback!! Have I mentioned lately how much I love Mason fans? You all *rock*. :) :)
Chapter One
~*~*~*~*~*~
(Two and a half months later.)
Mimi stood outside the home of Belle and Shawn Brady's upscale, but still cozy, three-bedroom home waiting for someone to answer the door. It had been a long few months of waiting, but today was the day that her column made it's syndicated debut, appearing in newspapers across the nation. Mimi would have preferred a quiet night at home, but her co-workers at the Spectator had celebrated her all day long, and now Belle insisted on another celebration.
Shawn answered the door with a large smile and gave her a brief congratulatory hug as he ushered her inside. "Hey Meems..."
Mimi sat her purse down on the table near the door and smiled back at him. "Hey, where is everybody?"
"Well, the kids are at my parents house probably annoying the heck out of their Uncle Zack. Belle wanted it to be a night for grown-ups... That way we don't have to eat macaroni and cheese tonight."
Mimi chuckled softly, but her expression changed to horrified as another thought entered her mind. "Wait a minute... Belle didn't... She didn't COOK, did she?"
Shawn wrinkled up his nose in disgust and shook his head. Just like her mother before her, Belle had a reputation for being a terrible cook. "Oh God no, I wouldn't let her... We got everything from the pub. More food than the three of us can possibly eat... So, we invited some surprise guests..."
"Surprise guests? Where?"
"They are in the back yard with my wife..."
Mimi gave him a surprised glance, but wasted no time in thinking over who it might be. She pushed past Shawn and marched through the house towards the back door. She opened the sliding glass door and stepped out on to the back porch where Belle was chatting happily with their two guests, a beautiful brunette and her tall, blonde husband.
"BRADY! CHLOE! OH MY GOD..."
The two surprise guests pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tightly as she greeted them. "You guys aren't supposed to be here until next week! I can't believe it!"
Brady gave his trademark grin and wink combination as he replied. "Hey... Do you really think we wouldn't want to congratulate you on your amazing achievement?"
Mimi smiled at him and waved her hand to dismiss him. "Oh stop... It's not that amazing."
Chloe looked at her doubtfully and shook her head. "Mimi, come on. It's a HUGE deal. You are one of the youngest people in history to have her own syndicated column. The whole country is reading you now..."
"Yes, and now I have billions of people waiting for me to offend them with my words instead of just half of this state."
Belle jumped in and gave Mimi a brief hug before offering her own words of encouragement. "Hey, don't say things like that... If you weren't a brilliant writer, which you are, then they wouldn't be paying you to syndicate your column. Everyone in this country is going to LOVE you just as much as we do."
Mimi giggled and rolled her eyes at her friend. "Wellllll, if you say so..."
Shawn was standing in the doorway motioning towards the inside of the house. "Well, I say that there is a whole lot of food in the kitchen about to get cold. Come on..."
The group began to filter inside, and Mimi latched herself to Chloe's side as they headed through the house towards the kitchen. "So tell me, Chloe... What are you doing here? Why did you come home early? And... How come you didn't tell me?"
Chloe laughed at her as they reached the kitchen and began filling up their plates together. "Always the reporter, even now... Let's see, my recording sessions for the new album ended earlier than I expected, and John wanted Brady in town for this meeting with a new client for Basic Black. So, it just happened to work out to be today -- the day we celebrate your accomplishments. We took the first flight from New York this morning."
"You've been here ALL day?"
"Yeah, we spent some time with Craig and Nancy this morning, went to see John and Marlena too... It's been a busy day."
Mimi and Chloe joined the rest of their friends at the dining room table, as they all began hungrily digging in to their dinners. The conversation was light and easy, completely lacking any strain or stress. At least until near the end of the meal, when Brady tactlessly brought up the impending Salem High reunion.
Brady wiped his mouth with his napkin and grinned wickedly. "So, I know I didn't go to your high school, but I'm ready and willing to start laying down some money on what happened to your former classmates."
Belle looked at her brother with a confused glance. "Laying down money? What are you talking about?"
"You know... Let's make some bets... Who got fat? Who is going bald at the tender age of 28? Who is more successful than you would have expected? Who is LESS successful than you would have expected? Who won't be there because they're in jail? Who came out of the closet? Come on, it'll be fun..."
The whole table was laughing but Shawn shook his head in shame as he replied to Brady. "You are too twisted for words, Brady Black..."
Brady rolled his eyes and grabbed his glass of iced tea off the table. "Please, like you aren't all DYING to find out what happened to some of those people you didn't keep in touch with."
Mimi grinned and raised her hand slightly as she interjected. "I'm not... I don't give a crap what happened to those people, and I'm sure they feel the same way about me."
Chloe frowned at her from across the table. "Now Meems, aren't you just a little bit excited about showing off all of the success you've had?"
"Is that why *you're* going, Chloe?"
"I -- I'm not going to show off."
Everyone at the table stared at her with doubt all over their faces. Chloe wasn't the type of person to brag, but considering how most of Salem High had treated her, she had every right to shove her success in their faces at the reunion. Chloe laughed and nodded her head, begrudgingly giving her agreement to Mimi's question.
"Okay, maybe just a *little*. But, I can't help it... After all the hell I went through at that school, I can't help but be curious as to what the reunion is going to be like. Not that I need their approval or anything, I just want to go... And you should too, Mimi."
"No way, not going to happen... We've been over this every day for the past 2 months. I'm not going. Besides, we were supposed to RSVP a week ago, and I didn't... So, I can't go."
Belle gave her husband a conspiratorial glance and then looked towards Mimi. "Then it's a good thing that when I RSVP'ed for Shawn and myself, I also told Penny that you were going to be there so to count you in..."
Mimi nearly choked on her drink as she stared at Belle in shock. "You did WHAT? You told Penny I was coming?"
"Well, she is the head of the reunion committee, and I figured you would change your mind eventually..."
"Except that I haven't. I haven't changed my mind and I'm not going to either. I will NOT be at the reunion... I refuse to go."
Shawn sighed softly and pleaded with her. "Come on, Mimi... It won't be any fun without you. The whole gang will be together again, and it's not very often that we're all in the same place at the same time. Phillip will..."
Mimi nodded and waved her hand as she finished his sentence. "I know, he called to congratulate me this morning. He'll be here in a few days... blah blah blah... the whole gang is back together. Believe me, I enjoy spending time with my friends, but not at a high school reunion."
Brady gave her a mock pout, joining in on everyone else's begging. "Come on, Meems... EVERYBODY is going to be there. You wouldn't want to be left out, would you?"
"Not everybody. I mean, there was that whole list with our invitations... you know, people that nobody can get a hold of... Those people probably won't be there. So pretend I'm one of them."
There was a pause of silence as Chloe eyed Mimi suspiciously, one perfectly shaped eyebrow raised high. "Mimi... You know, I was thinking that you didn't want to go because of someone who will be there. But now, I'm starting to think it's because of someone who WON'T be there. Could this have something to do with someone on that list? Someone named --"
Before Chloe could spit out the name, Mimi's green eyes went wide and she shook her head. "NO! Chloe, shush!! It has nothing to do with ANYBODY. Just me... Can we please drop this now and find *something* else to talk about? We are all reasonably intelligent and interesting people, I'm sure there are plenty of topics of conversations we can involve ourselves in besides this... Okay?"
Belle giggled softly and nodded in agreement. "Fine, fine, fine... We'll shut up about it. We're supposed to be celebrating you, not making you cranky... I'm sorry..."
Mimi smiled happily and motioned for everyone to continue talking. Shawn began telling a story about a case they had just cracked at the Salem police department this week, but Mimi was only half-listening. The highly suspicious glance that Chloe had thrown her had not gone away, her dark-haired friend was still glaring at her, as if to say. "It is Jason, isn't it?"
Mimi sighed softly and averted her eyes from Chloe's fixed gaze. Chloe Lane was the only person who knew what had happened that night. Mimi somewhat regretted never confiding in Belle, they were supposed to be best friends after all, but somehow it had just remained a secret. It didn't seem like a big deal really, not something that everyone needed to know about, and the only reason Chloe knew was because it had accidentally slipped out during a private conversation between the two of them.
Thankfully, the topic of the reunion was kept out of the conversation for the remainder of the evening. However, it still remained fixed in Mimi's brain. She began to wonder if she was acting ridiculous about the whole thing, but still, she was keeping her resolve, adamant in her refusal to not go.
~*~
(Meanwhile - Los Angeles, California)
Jason stared blankly ahead, his mind not where it should be. He was thinking about the high school reunion that was only seven days away. The committee had not been able to find him, and for that, he had been extremely thankful. But, it didn't keep him from finding out about the upcoming event.
An e-mail had arrived at his office a few weeks ago from an old classmate, Cynthia Reynolds. Somehow she had tracked him down and informed him of the reunion. But, Jason didn't reply, sending the letter to his trashcan immediately. He had washed his hands of Salem a long time ago, and wasn't ready to go back any time soon. In fact, he had never even been back to visit his parents, instead flying them out to Los Angeles to visit him for holidays and vacations.
His secretary Katie stepped through the door of his office and laid today's Los Angeles Times on his desk. She smiled politely at him and Jason broke his blank stare to smile back at her.
"It's the paper you asked for, Mr. Masters."
"Thanks Katie, thanks a lot."
Katie nodded and returned to her desk in the outer office as Jason began peeling the newspaper apart. His mind was racing with far too many thoughts to concentrate on the articles, but as he reached the section with the syndicated columns and articles, his eyes stopped immediately on a column he had not seen before.
The black and white picture next to the name of the writer showed him a familiar face. A face that he had thought about many times, one that had only grown more beautiful in the years since they were in high school together. His fingers ran over the name, Miriam Lockhart, and then lovingly grazed the picture of her smiling face. He felt a strange twisting in his heart, something he hadn't felt in far too long.
Jason couldn't figure out what possessed him to do what he did next, but without even thinking he hit the speakerphone button that called Katie at her desk.
"Katie..."
"Yes, Mr. Masters... What can I do for you?"
"Call my travel agent. Book me a flight to Salem, Illinois as soon as possible... and get me the best room at the Salem Inn."
"Sir, is everything okay?"
Jason sighed softly and stared at the picture once more. "Everything is fine, Katie... I'm going home."
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Thanks for all the great feedback!! Have I mentioned lately how much I love Mason fans? You all *rock*. :) :)