Chloe and Brady's date would remain in the forefront of his thoughts for a while. The clinker, the moment that etched the evening into his brain forever, was when Chloe took the stage to sing. As she stood humble and small behind the microphone, Brady realized that he had not really heard her sing since her high school days. He had certainly never seen her perform is such a public manner. The anticipation tore up his insides as the music started, and he was stunned when her eyes flew open and her voice rose. He thought he remembered the sound of her voice, but he was wrong. The woman standing up on that stage belted out I Will Survive with every fiber of her being. More than that, her eyes sparkled and her body moved fluidly in a slight dance to add the perfect inflection to the song. The power and the vitality of the performance overwhelmed him, and he was not the only one.
The crowd had lapped up Chloe's performance with silver spoons. She finished out the set with the 149th Street Band singing soulfully the music of Janis Joplin, Carol King, Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, and even some Ella Fitzgerald. At times, he felt like she was singing directly to him. One song in particular had lodged itself in his brain, Fleetwood Mac's Silver Springs. The lyrics went, "Time cast a spell on you, but you won't forget me / I know I could have loved you, but you would not let me / I follow you down 'till the sound of my voice will haunt you / You'll never get away from the sound of the woman who loves you." Haunt was an apt word, since that night the sound and image of Chloe Wesley had haunted him.
When the DJ took over and the band left the stage, Chloe had slid back into the booth beside him. He couldn't find the words to describe his scattered emotions, so he just grabbed her hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. Their fingers remained secretly entwined as family and friends migrated to the table to compliment Chloe on her performance. She accepted all their praise with a shy smile and a slight blush.
Their night together ended shortly after the club closed its doors. Chloe walked Brady out to his car, and they shared an intensely passionate goodbye kiss. Brady instinctively knew that it could have gone much farther than a simple kiss, but he was determined to do things the right way this time. So, he departed that night with them both wanting more.
With their first date securely behind them, Brady began his full frontal assault on her defenses. He soon discovered that dating Dr. Chloe Wesley would be more difficult than he had initially planned. Chloe's schedule was brutal, and Brady didn't want to jeopardize Chloe's dream of being a doctor. He decided to change up his plans a little and became more creative.
First, he thought to send more flowers to Chloe as a form of thank you, since their first date had been mostly her doing. Instead, he had hit upon the brilliant idea of sending balloon bouquets to all of the patients in the pediatrics ward. His spy in the hospital, Marlena, informed him that the children had be overjoyed at the gift from the Black Family Foundation, the Basic Black subsidiary that handled the all the family's charitable donations. The children's happiness was just whipped cream; the real treat was the simple voice mail he had the next day from a very special doctor. "Brady Black you are the craziest and sweetest person I know," Chloe's voice chimed in his ear, "Thank you very much." Second, he manipulated technology to further his cause. Every time a thought of Chloe danced through his mind, he shot off an email to let her know. He almost overwhelmed her inbox in a single day. Her voicemail also became a favorite target. The third step stumped him a bit, how to spend time with the overworked doctor?
Brady reclined slightly in his leather chair and contemplated the Salem skyline from his 24th floor office. If he craned his neck to the right, he could just make out the low brick building that was the Salem University Hospital. He rested his elbows on the arms of his chair and formed his fingers into pyramid. What to do next? He thought, Perhaps it wasn't too early to bring in some allies.
With a kick, he swirled around in his chair and hit the intercom button. "Yes, Mr. Black?" the voice of his assistant answered.
"Hold all my calls and visitors for a while, Karl," he ordered, "I'm going to be on some important conference calls."
"Sure thing, Mr. Black," Karl replied.
Brady clicked off the intercom and leaned forward to grab the phone. He punched in the number he had memorized in record time. The phone rang once, twice, and then was picked up with a breathy hello. Brady's brow wrinkled with confusion, "Hello," he called into the receiver, "May I speak with Jules Archer?"
"Brady-wady," she gasped into the phone. He smiled at her play on his name and took it as a sign that he was on the right track. Only the names of people Jules didn't know or didn't like came out of her lips unscathed. "You've been causing quite a stir around here Mr. Black!"
"Have I?" he chuckled.
"I'm thinking about investing in Teflon so it will be easier to scrape Dr. Wesley off the ceiling," she gushed, "That balloon stunt went over really well. I take my hat off to you, sir."
"Are you wearing a hat?" Brady joked.
"Actually…no," Jules confessed, "So I'll take my shoe off to you. What can I do for you?"
"I want to talk to you about Chloe," he began.
"One of my top ten favorite subjects," she quipped.
"I need some ideas for how to work around her schedule," he finished.
"Ohhhhh," Jules squealed, "Romantic stuff." Brady could almost picture her hopping back and forth in a little jig. "First off, just about every night is bad."
"All nights?" he wondered.
"Yeah," Jules sadly confirmed, "When Chloe-zoey gets home, she usually just crashes. Max and I try to check on her at least once a night. I swear we find that girl sleeping in the weirdest places. One time I discovered her standing, with the refrigerator door open, fast asleep."
"You're kidding," he uttered, "Do you have pictures?"
An evil little laugh rolled over the phone. "Of course, what kind of friend do you take me for Brady?" she demanded. "I've added it to the extensive file of blackmail material I've been collecting over the past eight years."
"I'd like to see that," he commented.
"I bet you would!" She added, "I'm starting one for you as well, so I expect some asinine behavior from you ASAP."
Brady groaned as she chuckled. "I'll do my best. I hope I can live up to your exacting standards."
"Just follow Max's lead," she recommended, "He could teach a night class in embarrassing situations." Snapping back to attention, she said, "Now back to the task at hand. Nights are pretty much off, so you need to squeeze yourself into her work day."
"Without putting myself in the hospital Jules!" he warned.
The silence at the other end of the phone was golden. Brady heard a few sputtering sounds, then, "I would never suggest that you do yourself bodily harm!"
"But it would help my Chloe situation, right?" he goaded.
"Well it would solve the obvious access problem," Jules admitted, "but it probably isn't a good idea. So…here are my suggestions. 1) Surprise Chloe with gourmet lunches. Remember she's a vegetarian. 2) Hang around Fantabulous at nights. If Chloe is feeling coherent, this is the first place she appears. Plus, we'd love to have your business. 3) Days off. Tricky to pinpoint, but she usually gets one off per week. 4)…"
"Jules," Brady interrupted in disbelief, "exactly how many ideas do you have?"
"Umm…" He heard the distinct sound of papers being turned. "Forty-six," she answered. "If that's not enough, I can probably come up with more."
Brady was stunned, absolutely stunned. "How long have you been working on this?"
"When did you ask Chloe-zoey out again?" Jules inquired.
"Never mind. Can you just fax it to me?" He shook his head as he read her the number. "Thanks Jules."
"Any time Brady-wady," Jules replied.
A piercing siren interrupted their conversation. Brady grew immediately concerned. "Is everything okay Jules?"
"I think so," she yelled over the siren. Brady couldn't quite make out a conversation that Jules was having with another person. He was considering using the other line to dial 911 when he heard Jules shout, "Max, what do you mean it's broken? I just wanted you to change the battery!"
The siren stopped and then began to screech again in random short bursts. Between shrieks of the alarm, Jules managed to say, "Good luck Brady-wady. Keep me posted."
The silence was deafening after Jules hung up the phone. Brady rubbed his right ear absently then transferred the phone over to his left ear before typing in a familiar number. It was time to call in the other big gun.
"Hello," Belle answered cheerily.
"Hi Belle," Brady said, "It's me."
"What's up big brother?" she asked.
"I need your help with a situation…" he began.
"With Chloe?" she interrupted, "Let me get my list."
Brady released a defeated sigh as he heard the sound of paper shuffling. "Not you too? How long have you been working on yours?"
"Huh?" Belle asked, distracted by her search.
"How long have you been working on your list?" he repeated slowly.
"When did you and I go over to Chloe's with Little V?" she inquired. The distinct sound of a drawer snapping shut echoed over the phone. "Here it is," Belle exclaimed.
Brady ground his teeth.
"Okay, number one," Belle read. "Invite Chloe to our family dinners. Now, it will probably too difficult to try and schedule a specific night, so just extend an open invitation. Number two…"
"How many?" he demanded in a flat tone.
"What?" Belle squeaked.
"How many items do you have on your list?" he clarified.
"Really Brady," she chastised, "There is no need to be rude. You really need to learn to be more specific in your questions. Any way, one-hundred and nineteen."
"You came up with one-hundred and nineteen things I could do to spend time with Chloe?" he gasped.
"Well I had help," she admitted. "Shawn had a few ideas, so did Mom…and Dad…and Hope," she continued listing, "Zack, my assistant, your assistant, the doorman at the penthouse, that nice clerk from Dot Com, and oooh, my ob/gyn was a big help."
"Fax it too me," he muttered before hanging up the phone.
Brady was too shocked to even move after getting off the phone with Belle. Apparently every single person in Salem had an opinion on the best way to woo Dr. Chloe Wesley. For a moment, Brady couldn't decide if he pitied her or himself more.
Karl barged into his office with a self-important smirk on his face and deposited two faxes on his desk before disappearing. Brady sighed as he reached out to grab them. He yelped with embarrassment as he glanced over the cover sheets. Belle had entitled her list, "119 Ways for My Brother to Get Lucky." Jules wasn't much better. Hers was called, "46 Suggestions for Getting Some Doctor Loving." He gulped as he started to scan the lists. Their suggestions ranged from the mundane to the down right pornographic. Karl's behavior could only mean that he had seen the cover sheets and probably read through the lists as well. By the end of the day, the documents would most likely be plaster in every single break room in the building. Brady immediately decided that he was the object of pity in this scheme.