Philip bound down the stairs with a silly grin plastered on his face. To his side, he carried a single red rose for the woman he knew was waiting for him in the kitchen. Of course, there would be a dozen more roses waiting for his beloved at her office. Then, when she arrived home, Philip would have the entire penthouse filled with flowers, all for her. In fact, everything Philip did was for her. Somewhere along the way, when Philip was living his life, she'd become his entire world.

He couldn't even remember the moment he had fallen in love with her, but he had. From their first date to their wedding day, Philip had tried to create a fairy tale world for her. He had attempted to shelter her from the harsh realities, opting to have her live her life in some type of protective bubble where she would always be happy and spared the details of the cold actions of those she loved.

Of course, even the mighty Philip Robert Kiriakis could not stop the world from turning and the darker side of life from showing. In the end, Philip hadn't been able to protect her the way he had wanted to, but that didn't stop him from trying. Whenever circumstances that proved displeasing would threaten to disturb their fragile life together, Philip would do whatever it took to convince her that what they had would last forever and that they were meant to be together. It didn't matter what the rest of the world did as long as they had each other. After all, they were a perfect match for one another, or at least they appeared to be.

Just as Philip began crossing the living room, he felt a sudden force stop him. His feet lost the ability to move. Looking down, Philip smiled at his giggling assailant. Picking up the small child, he kissed her forehead and said, "Good morning, sunshine."

Carrying the girl to the kitchen with him, Philip smiled with anticipation of the night to come. He and his cherished would be the guests of honor at the biggest party of the year. Half the town's population would be in attendance and Philip could hardly wait to have her at his side as others watched in envy.

Though he regretted having to leave Katrina with her nanny for the entire evening, Philip knew that was the only option. Even he realized that a party with the guest list this one had coupled adult beverages was not the most productive environment for a young, impressionable child. In fact, Philip had serious doubts if it was the best environment for anyone in their right mind. Then again, Philip Kiriakis never missed the chance to shine in public.

Besides, it was the one night in the year that was solely his and his wife's. It was the night that the rest of the world disappeared and they were the only stars in the sky. After the party ended, Philip planned to surprise his wife with a romantic night at the Riverview, Salem's latest and greatest hotel. Not to mention a lovely emerald necklace that cost more than most new vehicles.

Philip stopped in the doorway of the kitchen when he caught his first glimpse of his wife that morning. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail that Philip found strangely sensual. That's what he loved most about being married, the little things became all the more important. He loved the way she insisted that she put on her blush before she applied her eye make-up, none of which Philip thought she needed. He loved the way she kept a list of all the take-out places by the phone. He loved the way her nose would crinkle when he said something corny. He loved her. That simple. Well, it appeared that simple.

Unfortunately for Philip, fate never allows complexities to not arise.

Carrying a plate of pancakes to the table, the woman first noticed her husband's adoring stare. Despite the initial reservations that had plagued her at the beginning of their relationship, she knew that she could always depend on him to love and protect her. Grinning wildly, the woman pointed to the rose in his hand and asked, "Who might that be for?"

Placing Katrina in her chair at the table, Philip quickly approached his wife and pulled her into his arms. Offering her the flower, he huskily whispered, "Only the most beautiful woman in the world. The woman who exactly two years ago today made me the happiest man to ever live. This is for my Belle."

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

After spending an unknown amount of time lost in her thoughts, Mimi decided that it was time she returned inside. She stepped through the balcony door just as her husband sauntered down the front staircase, a wry smirk gracing his handsome face.

Barely even casting his wife a glance, he peevishly muttered, "Well, look what the cat drug in. It's amazing what trash is able to get into the building."

Mimi rolled her eyes and chose to ignore her sadistic husband's comments. For roughly the first year of their unloving, unholy union, she had allowed his words to pierce her. Now, she had become numb to them, to everything. Her feelings of worthlessness in high school were truly child's play compared to the one's that she carried in her adulthood.

Snatching his own keys from the coffee table, Mimi's spouse remarked with a heartless grin, "Gee, honey, I would ask what gutter you slept in last night, but, to be honest, I don't care."

Mimi instinctively flinched at the venom that dripped from every word he spoke. That was the way it was with him. It didn't matter what he said, but how he said it. Tightly squeezing her eyes shut to block the escape of her tears, Mimi only opened them when she felt that she could compete in his battle of cruel words and icy glares. "It's a little early in the morning for you to be up isn't it? After all, you usually don't drag your hungover self out of bed until noon."

Not bothering to even look at Mimi, he retorted, "Yeah, well, you would be the last person to know about my bed, seeing how unwanted you are there." After a slight pause, he looked up and gave Mimi a conceded smile before adding, "Then again, you're not welcome in any man's bed, are you?"

Gaining confidence from her rising anger, Mimi countered, "Trust me, you would be the last person to know whose bed I slept in last night. Well, I suppose sleeping wasn't really involved."

Throwing Mimi a disgusted look, her husband turned from her and began walking to the door. Turning back to give her one last glance, he said, "I'm going to work. God knows it's better than being stuck here with you."

As soon as the door slammed shut, Mimi fell prey to a fitful anger. Marching around the room, she haphazardly threw various objects to the floor, to the walls, to any place that they would crash. Each shattered object became a reflection of her own shattered dreams.

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

Jan Spears gleefully admired her own reflection as she stood before the mirror in her apartment. A stunning maroon dress covered her body, or at least enough of it to keep her from being arrested for indecent exposure.

She was definitely ready for the party that would be held that night. She had the perfect dress to upstage the golden girl Belle at her own party. Even better, she had the perfect plan to make Jason finally commit to her. Apparently, he was more than content to be engaged to her as long as he never had to set an actual wedding date. Well, Jan refused to sit by and watch as all their other high school chums find men to marry them while she spent her life alone.

The one thing Jan knew about her husband-to-be was that he had quite the temper when provoked. Jan would just make sure that Jason saw some drunken thug hitting on her and became jealous. Then, she would play the upset fiancee saying that she just wanted to know what it felt like to be appreciated since Jason obviously hated to be near her. That way, she'd get him all upset at the other guy and then make him feel sorry for her. Flawless.

Of course, Jan knew that she would have snagged Jason long ago if it hadn't been for that controlling scoundrel Victor Kiriakis. That man had singlehandedly ruined the lives of so many people - including Jan's. At least she had that creep's money to keep her satisfied until she completely won Jason back.

When Victor had finally kicked the bucket, Jan had been quite near to jumping with joy. She had done his bidding for so long, she had almost forgotten what it was like to formulate schemes of her own. Within a week of his death, Jan had made her return to Salem and found that even in death Victor Kiriakis commanded the city.

Had Jan been a little less heartless, she may have actually felt sorry for the poor fools that Victor destroyed. Because she knew the lies that others mistook for the truth, Jan was able to clearly see that in his quest to better the lives of his family, Victor had done nothing more than destroy them all.

Victor had left no life untouched by his unfeeling plots to further himself and his family, or at least certain members of his family. It seemed to Jan that Victor had been quite prone to playing favorites with his relatives. No matter what, though, giving Philip a life that Victor deemed appropriate was always put before anything else. Even if Philip and everyone close to him was hurt by that forced life.

Then again, Jan did not really have a problem with seeing some of those people suffer. She really didn't see what was so bad about having an unloving spouse if you had enough cash to buy him or her a mansion of their own. Though she wanted Jason, Jan would never trade the fortune she had conned out of Victor for some sappy romance.

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

More than an hour and a half after Mimi had silently left his apartment, Jason found himself crossing an almost empty parking lot with weary steps. He wasn't sure if the feeling came from the loss of sleep or the loss of Mimi. Either way, he felt completely drained of life.

Jason tried to push all thoughts of the previous night out of his mind as he approached the back entrance of Star Lane, the hottest night club within a hundred mile radius. Each night the place was packed with patrons dancing to the latest music and drinking the most intoxicating concoctions. It was definitely the place to be if you were looking for a good time.

Stepping in the door, Jason allowed himself a moment for his eyes to adjust to the change in lighting. The dim inside of the building contrasted greatly with the sunny day that was emerging outdoors.

With quick, self-assured strides, Brady Black approached Jason. "I see you finally decided to come to work. How nice of you. The other guys have been up on the stage for almost forty minutes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you or did you not say that you wanted to help with the work on the stage for tonight's concert?"

"Yeah," quickly answered Jason. There was definitely something off with Brady. His normally brooding eyes looked even more callous than usual. "I figured I could use the extra money."

"Is that your way of saying I don't pay my bartenders enough?" Brady snapped angrily.

Brady's harsh tone was all the proof Jason needed that this was going to be one of those days. One of those days where the entire world gangs up against you. One of those days where you're running late for work and get pulled over by some conceded cop who would rather hand out speeding tickets than bust the really dangerous criminals. One of those days where you wake up with an attractive woman laying in your arms but know that she'll be leaving before you can memorize every beautiful detail of her sleeping body. One of those days where you go to work and the first person you see is your hostile boss, the husband of the before mentioned beautiful woman. Yeah, Jason hated those days.