Chapter Nine
Nicole pushed open the door to the Penthouse Grill and immediately looked around for signs of her brother or Belle. Brandon had been at the mansion earlier and had told Nicole he had to meet Belle at the Penthouse Grill. Belle had wanted to talk to him about something very important, she remembered Brandon telling her. When she finally saw the two of them, she gasped loudly. Brandon and Belle had just stood up and were now kissing. Nicole winced at the sight. Belle and her brother? That was harshly disgusting.
Brandon noticed Nicole standing at the front of the restaurant and began walking towards her.
"What are you doing here, Nicky?" he asked her, his eyes distracted. Before she could answer, he looked at his watch and brushed past her, "I'll talk to you later. I have to go do something."
He left the restaurant and Belle tried to get past Nicole to leave the restaurant as well. But Nicole grabbed her arm and squeezed it in a painfully tight grip.
"Where do you think you're going?" Nicole glowered at the petite blonde, "I need to talk to you."
"About what?" Belle asked innocently, acting as though she didn't notice the seething look on Nicole's face.
"Why did you purposely wreck Sami's relationship with Lucas?" Nicole questioned her, "Why did you stick your nose where it didn't belong?"
Nicole's nails dug into her arm and Belle flinched, "It's none of your business. I don't know why you even care. Sami's just using you to get Brandon back, just like she was using Lucas. But she's not going to get Brandon. Because he's mine."
Nicole's voice was caustic, "Brandon would be insane to want to be with you. What about Shawn? You can't just string two guys along, you little slut."
Belle looked offended, "I am not a slut. I'm just going to break up with Shawn. He was starting to bore me anyway. He wouldn't even have sex with me, can you believe it? I bet Brandon will have sex with me."
"Well, he did have sex with Lexie so his standards can't be that high." Nicole mumbled, wondering if Belle realized that she had contradicted herself. She tried telling Nicole that she wasn't a slut but yet she confessed to breaking up with Shawn because he wouldn't have sex with her. It looked like virginous little Belle didn't want to be virginous anymore.
Nicole dug her nails in deeper to Belle's arm, drawing tiny drops of crimson to the surface, causing Belle to yelp in pain, "It doesn't matter what you do, Nicole! I will have Brandon, Sami's going top be alone like she deserves to be and I'll still be friends with Shawn. And Sami is going to be so upset that I ran off with her lover, she won't even try to come after me. She's probably take a gun to her head or something."
"What has gotten into you?" Nicole stared at Belle in dismay, "You used to be so nice. I can't believe you're talking about your own sister this way."
"I don't care." Belle's chin jutted out stubbornly, "It's Sami's fault my parents aren't together and I want to make her sorry. Besides, I'm sick of being perfect."
"So, you're pissed about your parents splitting up and you're taking it out on Sami?" Nicole was thoroughly disgusted now, "God, when are you going to grow up? The world does not revolve around you. There are so many people who are worse off than you."
"I don't have to listen to this." Belle replied in a whiny, high-pitched voice, pulling away from Nicole, "I want to go home right now." She left the Penthouse Grill and Nicole went after her.
"I wasn't finished with you yet." Nicole informed Belle, "Sami slapped me a little while ago because she thought I told Lucas about Brandon coming back to Salem when you were the one who opened your big mouth. I didn't appreciate getting slapped for you so it's your turn now."
Nicole put everything she could into that one slap. She slapped Belle so hard she went flying backwards and landed on the ground in the parking lot. Long scratches from Nicole's nails lined one side of Belle's face as she looked up at Nicole in amazement.
"And I'm going to make sure that Shawn never has anything to do with you ever again." Nicole added, beginning to walk off, "And that Jan gets Shawn so that she'll leave me alone." Nicole mumbled under her breath. She drove back to the Brady Pub and was relieved to see that Shawn and Jan were still inside.
Nicole came inside just in time to hear Shawn say, "I'm sorry about your parents. But if you need someone to talk to, I'll always be here." Jan nodded, keeping her eyes lowered, feigning sadness. Nicole smirked at the two of them. Jan had learned from her well. If you made a guy pity you, it was so much easier to sink your claws into him.
Nicole sat down next to Shawn and placed her hand over his comfortingly, "Shawn, I have some bad news and it's going to be very hard for you to hear."
Shawn looked at Nicole in confusion, "What is it?"
Nicole paused dramatically, making sure she had Jan and Shawn's complete attention, "I saw Belle at the Penthouse Grill. She was with my brother. And they were kissing." Shawn sucked in his breath and Jan covered a grin behind her hand, "She pretty much told me that she's planning on breaking up with you because you won't satisfy her needs and because she likes Brandon better."
Shawn was silent for a few minutes, then finally spoke, "Maybe it was for the best." he mumbled, his voice thick with emotion, "We were starting to grow apart and I have been getting really sick of her. But I can't believe that it's actually over. We went through so much together and now everything has fallen apart. I wasted so much time on her."
"I'm sorry, Shawn." Jan told him in a small voice, her eyes giving away the fact that this piece of news made her deliriously happy. Belle was finally out of the picture. That meant she didn't have to kill Belle. Once Shawn got over Belle completely, which Jan was sure wouldn't take very long, she would get to be with him.
"It's okay." Shawn responded, trying to keep from looking upset, "It may take me a while to move on though. But once I do, I'm sure I'll find someone else. Someone better...." his voice trailed off and his eyes bore into Jan's. Jan lowered her eyes so that Shawn couldn't see how they were sparkling triumphantly. Nicole watched the entire exchange and pulled Jan aside.
"There, you're going to get Shawn." Nicole told Jan, "But don't throw yourself at him right away. He'd hate that. You have to take it slow, be his friend and comfort him. Then you make your move."
Jan scowled, "I know that. I'm not stupid, you know. But we're still best friends right?"
"Right." Nicole gave Jan a fake smile. It wasn't enough to convince Jan though, who tilted her head and stared pleadingly into Nicole's eyes.
"You like Sami better than me." Jan stated, "How can we be best friends if you like her better than me? It's not fair!" she stamped her foot angrily.
"Of course I like you better than Sami." Nicole lied, "How can you ask such a silly question? Now, go over there and play with Shawn." she addressed Jan as if she were talking to a child but Jan didn't seem to notice.
"You do like Sami better than me! I think Sami's your best friend." Jan continued her childish rant, causing Nicole's impatience to further decrease, "Sami's going to pay for this. No one steals my best friend."
"Fine, you and Sami are both my best friends." Nicole compromised, not understanding how Jan could care so much about who Nicole's best friend was when she was so close to getting Shawn. This girl obviously did not have her priorities straight.
Jan seemed satisfied with that answer and went back to Shawn. Nicole's shoulder dropped in relief and as she drove back towards the mansion, she wondered if Sami had made amends with Lucas yet.
Brandon sighed in irritation and stopped knocking on the door to Sami's apartment. He grabbed the doorknob and to his surprise, the door popped open. Sami had to have a lot on her mind if she forgot to lock her apartment door. Maybe she had finally realized that he hated her and wanted her out of his life for good. All the lights were off and he made his way through the dark apartment. He hit his shin on something hard and swore under his breath. When had Sami moved the coffee table there?
He heard muffled noises coming from her bedroom and stepped inside the dark room. He could make out Sami's form in the bed. She was tossing and turning in the bed, making little whimpering sounds and muttering one word over and over in her sleep. He frowned to make out what she was saying. It sounded a little bit like liver. Why would she be talking about liver in her sleep? Brandon grimaced.
He heard her let out another whimper and he gave her a malicious sneer. He didn't know exactly what was going through her mind but he could tell she was miserable. And he was going to make her even more miserable. He went around to her side of the bed and shook her roughly. She started awake and her eyes widened when she noticed him standing next to her bed.
"Brandon, what are you doing here?" she asked, facing the last person she wanted to see at that moment.
