Only moments after Jason departed the penthouse in a disgruntled state,
there was a light tapping on the door. Brady quickly closed his briefcase
and crossed the room to discover the identity of his visitor.
Opening the door, Brady stepped to the side and granted his guest entrance to his home. Offering his sister what he hoped at least appeared to be a smile, Brady said, "Hey, Tink. I guess you want me to give you back your kid, huh?"
For the briefest of moments, Belle considered throwing her expected behavior to the wind. For just a split second, she wanted nothing more than to forget her facade of happiness and to show her true feelings. But, Belle understood that in life everyone was given some innate responsibility. For Belle Black, that responsibility was to be the sunshine in the lives of her family and friends - no matter how cold she felt on the inside.
However, Belle had no chance to give a reply to Brady's greeting. Before she could even stammer a falsely cheerful response, Mimi came walking down the front stairs with Katrina. With a light mist of tears building in her eyes, Belle watched the little girl slowly walk down the stairs, her hand tightly clasped in her Aunt Mimi's.
It seemed that each little step was an accomplishment for the young child. And, though she was able to make it all the way down the stairs, she was only able to do so with help from a loved one. Belle couldn't help but wonder if that was the way that adults should also live their life. After all, wasn't anything possible if you had someone who loved you?
Bringing the child to Belle, Mimi glanced around the room in search of the one person she most wanted to see. Yet, as her eyes roamed across the room, Mimi did not find any signs of Jason's presence in the home. A slow, yet powerful fear washed over her as she realized that if Jason wasn't in the penthouse, then he must have left - without her.
Taking Katrina's tiny hand in her own, Belle gave her brother and Mimi one final smile and said, "Thanks so much for watching her."
Waving his hand in the air, Brady simply said, "Don't worry about it, Belle. I love spending time with my favorite niece."
Belle took one last look at her big brother and his wife. On some level, she knew that there was something wrong. She knew that Brady and Mimi were far from being what they presented themselves as being. However, Belle simply opened the door and departed the penthouse. She refused to truly acknowledge just how demented life was.
The moment Belle left, Mimi turned her pale face to Brady and questioned, "Where is he?"
Despite the slight breaking of his heart, Brady forced himself to display an indifferent expression as he answered, "He decided that he didn't want to stay after all."
After turning away from his wife, Brady was able to take but a few steps before Mimi ran to him and tightly gripped his strong, muscular arms. For a few seconds, he battled Mimi as she pulled and tugged to make him look at her. Then, he merely turned to face her. He'd had enough fighting.
"What did you say to him, Brady? Huh?"
Looking down into Mimi's tear-filled eyes, Brady forgot that he was forever supposed to be the strong, unwavering one. Tossing aside his false indifference, Brady quietly replied, "Mimi, you may not believe me, but I didn't get rid of Jason to hurt you."
A sob of sadness catching in the back of her throat, Mimi slammed her fists against Brady's firm chest and choked out the a single sentence, "I hate you."
With great swiftness, Brady grabbed hold of Mimi's wrist before she could continue her pained assault on his body. At first, she attempted to pull away, but Brady's firm grip made her efforts pointless.
Staring up into her husband's unreadable eyes, Mimi asked, "Why did you make him go away?"
"It wasn't to hurt you. I swear. It was just something that had to be done."
Continuing to gaze into Brady's icy blue eyes, Mimi asked almost sympathetically, "You honestly believe that, don't you?"
"It's the truth," declared Brady. But, even he realized that Mimi wasn't really the one he was trying to convince.
"No, it's not. You and I both know that things can be different. If you would just stop hating the world . . . "
With a dramatic fling of his arm, Brady silenced Mimi by clearing the nearby stand of all its contents. Watching a vase and its beautiful contents crash to floor, Mimi found herself oddly fascinated by the shards of glass that began to litter her living room floor.
She was reminded of an angry tantrum she had thrown not so long ago after a bitter argument with Brady. It had been the morning after her first night with Jason, and she had returned home only to find Brady in his usual sardonic mood. And, after he had left her alone, she had haphazardly knocked items to the floor. Like her life, the pieces were nearly broken beyond repair.
Stepping over the mess he had made, Brady crossed the room and muttered, "I need a drink."
Mimi considered telling Brady that it was a little early in the day to be hitting the bottle, but she knew that her words would be of no importance to him. As in his youth, Brady Black refused to be controlled by people he couldn't respect. And, Mimi had lost his respect long ago - if she ever had it at all.
Still standing near the broken items on the floor, Mimi asked, "Are you going to tell me what really happened, or should I go find Jason and ask him?"
His freshly poured drink in hand, Brady turned to Mimi with a cruel smirk and questioned, "You're actually pathetic enough to go chasing after that loser, aren't you? You're so weak, Mimi."
"You're the weak one, Brady Black. You're too afraid of your own feelings to ever let Chloe Lane get close to you again. I don't know why, but for some reason, you honestly love that diva. I'll never understand why you pushed her away like you did. You had everything within your grasp, and you just threw it away."
As Mimi spoke, she kept a watchful eye on the glass Brady gripped in his hand. Part of her almost expected it to shatter right before her eyes as he tightened his grip with anger.
However, Brady shocked Mimi when he gently sat the glass down on the coffee table and placed his body on the couch. His gaze solely focused on the balcony doors, Brady responded, "It was never within my grasp, Mimi. I was kidding myself. I got caught up in the moment and forgot what my life was really like. That was the mistake."
Mimi slowly neared the couch and sat down, keeping herself a good distance from Brady. As she watched the pained expression that covered his face, Mimi realized that he had never really wanted to hurt Chloe. He somehow believed that he had actually been doing the right thing.
But, Mimi's brief pity for her husband wasn't enough to make her forget that he was the same man that had not only made her miserable for years, but had somehow managed to force Jason out of her life.
Her anger hidden just under the surface, Mimi asked, "What's the difference, Brady? Why were you willing to accept me sleeping with Shawn, but insisted upon getting Jason out of my life?"
His glass halfway to his lips, Brady paused and actually considered giving Mimi an honest answer. After years of living a lie, he couldn't help but be tempted by something as simple as the truth. Yet, it was his hatred of both the outside world and the inner world he had created for himself that motivated him to simply push the truth into yet another dark corner.
His distraught mind flashing back to the horrid photograph that he had used to blackmail Jason, Brady knew exactly why it was that he would never allow Jason Masters to ruin his marriage. Brady knew what Jason had done, and it was probably something best forgotten.
But, Brady could never forget.
~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~
The pounding seemed unnaturally loud as Chloe dashed across her hotel room to answer the door. Swinging it open, she discovered her guest to be none other than Jason Masters.
Most definitely not in the mood to even pretend to have manners, Jason pushed past Chloe and entered her room. While Chloe slammed the door shut, Jason made himself at home by tossing his athletic figure onto Chloe's bed.
As the woman who had so often served as both his nemesis and confederate approached him, Jason stated, "So, you almost got Brady back."
"Yeah, but you and I have both heard the old saying. Almost only counts in horse shoes." When Jason merely tucked his arms behind his head and gave no response, Chloe sat down on the edge of the bed and questioned, "What? No, where there's a will, there's a way? Aren't you going to tell me that Brady and Mimi's marriage is the work of the devil and it must be destroyed?"
His voice giving away his inner feelings of defeat, Jason simply replied, "Not this time."
Looking at Jason with obvious curiosity, Chloe asked gently, "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
Jason slowly moved his arms away from his head and used his elbows to prop himself up and look at Chloe. "As much as I hate to admit it, you were right." Taking note of the somewhat shocked expression on Chloe's face, Jason explained, "On some level, you knew that we were fighting a losing battle, didn't you?"
"It doesn't really matter now, Jason. We were trying to win a game that has no winners - only losers."
"I'm beginning to see that," admitted Jason in defeat. After a moment of contemplative silence, he continued, "I guess there's something you should know."
"Somehow, I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this."
"Oh, you won't. I know I didn't."
Crawling to the top of the bed, Chloe dropped her body roughly a foot away from Jason, and the two resigned themselves to staring at the ceiling. Almost afraid of what her high school bully had to say, Chloe stated, "This has to do with Brady, doesn't it?"
"He knows, Chloe. He knows that you and I had sex."
Chloe's body made no movements. As though she were physically frozen in that moment, Chloe did little more than continue to stare emptily up at the ceiling. She didn't cry, and she didn't scream. She accepted.
Knowing that some part of Chloe wanted an explanation but would never ask for it, Jason continued, "I had finally won Mimi's trust, and we went back to the penthouse to tell Brady that their marriage was over."
"And?"
"And, Brady sent Mimi upstairs to check on Philip and Belle's rugrat. Then, he gave me a nice little surprise . . . a photo of you and I together on the New Year's Eve before you left Salem." With an uncovered venom in his words, Jason added, "He said that he got the photograph from Jan."
Releasing a frustrated and unamused chuckle, Chloe commented ruefully, "Why am I not surprised?"
Continuing to keep his gaze focused on the ceiling above him, Jason replied, "I honestly hate her. I actually hate her more than I do Brady. I have a feeling that if it hadn't been for Jan, Brady Black never would have been an issue in my romance with Mimi."
Chloe turned to face Jason for the first time in several minutes. Overwhelmed by her own curiosity, she questioned, "How so?"
Turning his head to meet Chloe expectant gaze, Jason answered, "First, of course, is the fact that Jan gave Brady a picture of you and me in bed together. I have no idea how she managed to get a snapshot of that, but she did."
"She's a satanic tramp," Chloe commented quietly. "She's capable of anything."
"Yeah, well, there are some other things that have been bothering me about Jan . . . things that just don't add up."
"Such as?"
"Do you know who was Mimi's closest confidant around the time she married Brady?" Answering his own bitter question, Jason stated, "Jan."
"I take it that there's a point to this somewhere?"
"Come on, Chloe, you're an intelligent person. Just look at the big picture."
"The big picture? The big picture is that you and I were foolish to even waste our time trying to destroy Brady and Mimi's marriage."
Shaking his head, Jason replied, "That's only part of the picture, Vampira. You're only looking at a few recent events. You're overlooking some very important facts. More than likely, Jan has known all along that you and I slept together."
Growing wearing of Jason's conspiracy theory ramblings, Chloe impatiently demanded, "So?"
"So . . . well, I'm not quite sure. But, Chloe, you have to admit that there are way too many coincidences happening for there to not be some type of scheme. And, I'd bet my life that Jan is behind everything."
"It wouldn't surprise me," stated Chloe matter-of-factly. "Jan Spears has been a thorn in my side for as long as I've known her . . . perhaps even longer."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Jason questioned as he wondered if there was yet another part of the big picture that he was missing.
"All I'm saying is that Jan has always gotten away with things and had her own way. She gets the rewards in life, and everyone else receives the punishments."
"Yeah, I'd give anything just to see Jan get what she deserves. Of course, if Jan is guilty of just half the things I suspect she's done, then even death is too good of fate for her," vehemently growled Jason. The more he considered all the things that Jan was possibly responsible for, the more angry he became. He would forever blame Jan for Mimi marrying Brady. And, he would also blame her for not being able to steal Mimi away from Brady because of some taudry photograph. And, he would forever hate Jan for all the other photographs that she might possibly possess of other unlawful or immoral events in Jason's life.
"Too bad someone didn't get rid of her a long time ago," stated Chloe as she allowed herself to momentarily dream of a world without Jan Spears. "Life would have been so much better if Jan had never existed."
"Who would have thought? You and I agreeing on not only one but two issues. Brady and Mimi's marriage is hopeless, and someone needs to make Jan pay for everything that she's done."
"Oh, yeah," responded Chloe as she smiled just slightly and stared into Jason's amazing eyes. "Someone needs to make Jan suffer."
Sharing Chloe's line of thought, Jason commented, "Or, maybe two someones."
"Jan Spears is going to be sorry that she ever crossed either of us."
Opening the door, Brady stepped to the side and granted his guest entrance to his home. Offering his sister what he hoped at least appeared to be a smile, Brady said, "Hey, Tink. I guess you want me to give you back your kid, huh?"
For the briefest of moments, Belle considered throwing her expected behavior to the wind. For just a split second, she wanted nothing more than to forget her facade of happiness and to show her true feelings. But, Belle understood that in life everyone was given some innate responsibility. For Belle Black, that responsibility was to be the sunshine in the lives of her family and friends - no matter how cold she felt on the inside.
However, Belle had no chance to give a reply to Brady's greeting. Before she could even stammer a falsely cheerful response, Mimi came walking down the front stairs with Katrina. With a light mist of tears building in her eyes, Belle watched the little girl slowly walk down the stairs, her hand tightly clasped in her Aunt Mimi's.
It seemed that each little step was an accomplishment for the young child. And, though she was able to make it all the way down the stairs, she was only able to do so with help from a loved one. Belle couldn't help but wonder if that was the way that adults should also live their life. After all, wasn't anything possible if you had someone who loved you?
Bringing the child to Belle, Mimi glanced around the room in search of the one person she most wanted to see. Yet, as her eyes roamed across the room, Mimi did not find any signs of Jason's presence in the home. A slow, yet powerful fear washed over her as she realized that if Jason wasn't in the penthouse, then he must have left - without her.
Taking Katrina's tiny hand in her own, Belle gave her brother and Mimi one final smile and said, "Thanks so much for watching her."
Waving his hand in the air, Brady simply said, "Don't worry about it, Belle. I love spending time with my favorite niece."
Belle took one last look at her big brother and his wife. On some level, she knew that there was something wrong. She knew that Brady and Mimi were far from being what they presented themselves as being. However, Belle simply opened the door and departed the penthouse. She refused to truly acknowledge just how demented life was.
The moment Belle left, Mimi turned her pale face to Brady and questioned, "Where is he?"
Despite the slight breaking of his heart, Brady forced himself to display an indifferent expression as he answered, "He decided that he didn't want to stay after all."
After turning away from his wife, Brady was able to take but a few steps before Mimi ran to him and tightly gripped his strong, muscular arms. For a few seconds, he battled Mimi as she pulled and tugged to make him look at her. Then, he merely turned to face her. He'd had enough fighting.
"What did you say to him, Brady? Huh?"
Looking down into Mimi's tear-filled eyes, Brady forgot that he was forever supposed to be the strong, unwavering one. Tossing aside his false indifference, Brady quietly replied, "Mimi, you may not believe me, but I didn't get rid of Jason to hurt you."
A sob of sadness catching in the back of her throat, Mimi slammed her fists against Brady's firm chest and choked out the a single sentence, "I hate you."
With great swiftness, Brady grabbed hold of Mimi's wrist before she could continue her pained assault on his body. At first, she attempted to pull away, but Brady's firm grip made her efforts pointless.
Staring up into her husband's unreadable eyes, Mimi asked, "Why did you make him go away?"
"It wasn't to hurt you. I swear. It was just something that had to be done."
Continuing to gaze into Brady's icy blue eyes, Mimi asked almost sympathetically, "You honestly believe that, don't you?"
"It's the truth," declared Brady. But, even he realized that Mimi wasn't really the one he was trying to convince.
"No, it's not. You and I both know that things can be different. If you would just stop hating the world . . . "
With a dramatic fling of his arm, Brady silenced Mimi by clearing the nearby stand of all its contents. Watching a vase and its beautiful contents crash to floor, Mimi found herself oddly fascinated by the shards of glass that began to litter her living room floor.
She was reminded of an angry tantrum she had thrown not so long ago after a bitter argument with Brady. It had been the morning after her first night with Jason, and she had returned home only to find Brady in his usual sardonic mood. And, after he had left her alone, she had haphazardly knocked items to the floor. Like her life, the pieces were nearly broken beyond repair.
Stepping over the mess he had made, Brady crossed the room and muttered, "I need a drink."
Mimi considered telling Brady that it was a little early in the day to be hitting the bottle, but she knew that her words would be of no importance to him. As in his youth, Brady Black refused to be controlled by people he couldn't respect. And, Mimi had lost his respect long ago - if she ever had it at all.
Still standing near the broken items on the floor, Mimi asked, "Are you going to tell me what really happened, or should I go find Jason and ask him?"
His freshly poured drink in hand, Brady turned to Mimi with a cruel smirk and questioned, "You're actually pathetic enough to go chasing after that loser, aren't you? You're so weak, Mimi."
"You're the weak one, Brady Black. You're too afraid of your own feelings to ever let Chloe Lane get close to you again. I don't know why, but for some reason, you honestly love that diva. I'll never understand why you pushed her away like you did. You had everything within your grasp, and you just threw it away."
As Mimi spoke, she kept a watchful eye on the glass Brady gripped in his hand. Part of her almost expected it to shatter right before her eyes as he tightened his grip with anger.
However, Brady shocked Mimi when he gently sat the glass down on the coffee table and placed his body on the couch. His gaze solely focused on the balcony doors, Brady responded, "It was never within my grasp, Mimi. I was kidding myself. I got caught up in the moment and forgot what my life was really like. That was the mistake."
Mimi slowly neared the couch and sat down, keeping herself a good distance from Brady. As she watched the pained expression that covered his face, Mimi realized that he had never really wanted to hurt Chloe. He somehow believed that he had actually been doing the right thing.
But, Mimi's brief pity for her husband wasn't enough to make her forget that he was the same man that had not only made her miserable for years, but had somehow managed to force Jason out of her life.
Her anger hidden just under the surface, Mimi asked, "What's the difference, Brady? Why were you willing to accept me sleeping with Shawn, but insisted upon getting Jason out of my life?"
His glass halfway to his lips, Brady paused and actually considered giving Mimi an honest answer. After years of living a lie, he couldn't help but be tempted by something as simple as the truth. Yet, it was his hatred of both the outside world and the inner world he had created for himself that motivated him to simply push the truth into yet another dark corner.
His distraught mind flashing back to the horrid photograph that he had used to blackmail Jason, Brady knew exactly why it was that he would never allow Jason Masters to ruin his marriage. Brady knew what Jason had done, and it was probably something best forgotten.
But, Brady could never forget.
~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~
The pounding seemed unnaturally loud as Chloe dashed across her hotel room to answer the door. Swinging it open, she discovered her guest to be none other than Jason Masters.
Most definitely not in the mood to even pretend to have manners, Jason pushed past Chloe and entered her room. While Chloe slammed the door shut, Jason made himself at home by tossing his athletic figure onto Chloe's bed.
As the woman who had so often served as both his nemesis and confederate approached him, Jason stated, "So, you almost got Brady back."
"Yeah, but you and I have both heard the old saying. Almost only counts in horse shoes." When Jason merely tucked his arms behind his head and gave no response, Chloe sat down on the edge of the bed and questioned, "What? No, where there's a will, there's a way? Aren't you going to tell me that Brady and Mimi's marriage is the work of the devil and it must be destroyed?"
His voice giving away his inner feelings of defeat, Jason simply replied, "Not this time."
Looking at Jason with obvious curiosity, Chloe asked gently, "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
Jason slowly moved his arms away from his head and used his elbows to prop himself up and look at Chloe. "As much as I hate to admit it, you were right." Taking note of the somewhat shocked expression on Chloe's face, Jason explained, "On some level, you knew that we were fighting a losing battle, didn't you?"
"It doesn't really matter now, Jason. We were trying to win a game that has no winners - only losers."
"I'm beginning to see that," admitted Jason in defeat. After a moment of contemplative silence, he continued, "I guess there's something you should know."
"Somehow, I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this."
"Oh, you won't. I know I didn't."
Crawling to the top of the bed, Chloe dropped her body roughly a foot away from Jason, and the two resigned themselves to staring at the ceiling. Almost afraid of what her high school bully had to say, Chloe stated, "This has to do with Brady, doesn't it?"
"He knows, Chloe. He knows that you and I had sex."
Chloe's body made no movements. As though she were physically frozen in that moment, Chloe did little more than continue to stare emptily up at the ceiling. She didn't cry, and she didn't scream. She accepted.
Knowing that some part of Chloe wanted an explanation but would never ask for it, Jason continued, "I had finally won Mimi's trust, and we went back to the penthouse to tell Brady that their marriage was over."
"And?"
"And, Brady sent Mimi upstairs to check on Philip and Belle's rugrat. Then, he gave me a nice little surprise . . . a photo of you and I together on the New Year's Eve before you left Salem." With an uncovered venom in his words, Jason added, "He said that he got the photograph from Jan."
Releasing a frustrated and unamused chuckle, Chloe commented ruefully, "Why am I not surprised?"
Continuing to keep his gaze focused on the ceiling above him, Jason replied, "I honestly hate her. I actually hate her more than I do Brady. I have a feeling that if it hadn't been for Jan, Brady Black never would have been an issue in my romance with Mimi."
Chloe turned to face Jason for the first time in several minutes. Overwhelmed by her own curiosity, she questioned, "How so?"
Turning his head to meet Chloe expectant gaze, Jason answered, "First, of course, is the fact that Jan gave Brady a picture of you and me in bed together. I have no idea how she managed to get a snapshot of that, but she did."
"She's a satanic tramp," Chloe commented quietly. "She's capable of anything."
"Yeah, well, there are some other things that have been bothering me about Jan . . . things that just don't add up."
"Such as?"
"Do you know who was Mimi's closest confidant around the time she married Brady?" Answering his own bitter question, Jason stated, "Jan."
"I take it that there's a point to this somewhere?"
"Come on, Chloe, you're an intelligent person. Just look at the big picture."
"The big picture? The big picture is that you and I were foolish to even waste our time trying to destroy Brady and Mimi's marriage."
Shaking his head, Jason replied, "That's only part of the picture, Vampira. You're only looking at a few recent events. You're overlooking some very important facts. More than likely, Jan has known all along that you and I slept together."
Growing wearing of Jason's conspiracy theory ramblings, Chloe impatiently demanded, "So?"
"So . . . well, I'm not quite sure. But, Chloe, you have to admit that there are way too many coincidences happening for there to not be some type of scheme. And, I'd bet my life that Jan is behind everything."
"It wouldn't surprise me," stated Chloe matter-of-factly. "Jan Spears has been a thorn in my side for as long as I've known her . . . perhaps even longer."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Jason questioned as he wondered if there was yet another part of the big picture that he was missing.
"All I'm saying is that Jan has always gotten away with things and had her own way. She gets the rewards in life, and everyone else receives the punishments."
"Yeah, I'd give anything just to see Jan get what she deserves. Of course, if Jan is guilty of just half the things I suspect she's done, then even death is too good of fate for her," vehemently growled Jason. The more he considered all the things that Jan was possibly responsible for, the more angry he became. He would forever blame Jan for Mimi marrying Brady. And, he would also blame her for not being able to steal Mimi away from Brady because of some taudry photograph. And, he would forever hate Jan for all the other photographs that she might possibly possess of other unlawful or immoral events in Jason's life.
"Too bad someone didn't get rid of her a long time ago," stated Chloe as she allowed herself to momentarily dream of a world without Jan Spears. "Life would have been so much better if Jan had never existed."
"Who would have thought? You and I agreeing on not only one but two issues. Brady and Mimi's marriage is hopeless, and someone needs to make Jan pay for everything that she's done."
"Oh, yeah," responded Chloe as she smiled just slightly and stared into Jason's amazing eyes. "Someone needs to make Jan suffer."
Sharing Chloe's line of thought, Jason commented, "Or, maybe two someones."
"Jan Spears is going to be sorry that she ever crossed either of us."
