Discreetly pointing in Philip's direction, Jason whispered, "Go for the K-
Man."
Not having been told of Philip and Chloe's breakup, visions of being hammered into the ground by Chloe filled Mimi's mind. Looking at Jason, she silently pleaded with him to choose anyone else, but he refused to give in to her mute request.
Mimi turned away from her tormenter and stared intently at Philip who, for some reason, looked as though his favorite pet had been hit by an eighteen- wheeler. Pushing away her thoughts of sympathy, Mimi concentrated on the task at hand. She knew that if she didn't greet Philip in a very friendly manner, she would be proving that she was incapable of upholding her end of the bet. And, in her mind, that would make her a loser and Jason a winner. Mimi Lockhart just couldn't allow that.
Doing her best impersonation of Jan's sultry walk, Mimi sauntered over to Philip, and purred, "You know, Phil, I don't think that I really greeted you good-morning properly."
Philip's eyes nearly popped out of his head when Mimi gave a nervous smile and began to run her hands from his stomach all the way up to his shoulders and back down again. And, for a brief second, even Philip was too distracted to remember his heartache.
Not quite sure what to say, Philip mumbled, "Good morning to you, too, Meems."
As a deep blush crept into her cheeks, Mimi stole a quick glance at Jason and saw that he had already selected her next victim - Shawn Brady. Taking a step back from Philip, Mimi offered him a weak smile before approaching Shawn.
Displaying false confidence, Mimi laid her right hand in the center of Shawn's chest. Grabbing hold of his shirt, she twisted her hand, causing the dark green material to wrap itself around her fist.
Mimi then pulled a stunned Shawn to her and huskily whispered, "How you doin', Shawn?"
"Um, okay?" Shawn questioned as he wondered what exactly would be the appropriate answer. He didn't know what was going on with Mimi, but he was afraid that if he said too much, she might get the wrong idea and take her mild seduction up another level.
As the bell rang, Mimi took several steps back from Shawn and, as though she had done nothing out of the ordinary, replied, "Well, that's good. So, um, is everyone ready for first period?"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
By the time lunch rolled around, the news of Philip and Chloe's breakup had spread across all of Salem High - as had the gossip concerning Mimi Lockhart's choice of revealing attire.
In the center of the cafeteria, Belle and Shawn were seated at a table and were engaging in their usual banter. Across from Belle, Chloe sat silently, knowing that her two friends would eventually see just how special the bond they shared was.
As Philip Kiriakis grabbed his tray and began to cross the room, all eyes were upon him. Would he even spare Chloe a glance? Would the two share a heated exchange? Would the star quarterback find a new beauty to have lunch with? Just what would happen when Philip and Chloe were no longer the super- couple of Salem High?
Philip was well aware of the curious stares he was receiving as he chose to sit beside Shawn. He was making quite a powerful statement - whether he knew it or not. Yes, he was sitting at the same table as Chloe Lane. However, he purposely chose to sit on the opposite end of the table. While Philip directed his attention to the mystery meat upon his tray, the majority of students in the cafeteria continued to keep their attention focused on him.
Lost in his own thoughts, Philip failed to notice that Shawn and Belle's conversation came to an immediate end once he sat down. It was only when Philip willingly kept his distance from Chloe that Shawn and Belle fully realized that two of their closest friends were no longer a loving couple. The question remained - what exactly were Philip and Chloe to each other?
Breaking the silence, Shawn motioned toward some people staring and humorously asked, "So, Phil, ever feel like you're being watched?"
To his own surprise, Philip found himself softly chuckling in response to his friend's remark. "You know what, Shawn? Sometimes I do feel like I'm being watched. How about you, Chloe? Ever get that feeling?"
"Nah, never," sarcastically replied Chloe with a faint smile, grateful that Philip had made a point to bring her into the conversation. Her gaze drifting away from her friends at the table and to an approaching couple, Chloe curiously asked, " What is going on with those two?"
Turning to see who had captured Chloe's attention, Philip, Shawn, and Belle found themselves looking at none other than Jason and Mimi. As the rest of the students also began to turn their stares toward Jason and Mimi, Philip and Chloe both felt a twinge of relief. After all, for the moment, they were no longer the school's main source of entertainment.
Although Mimi's clothing was surely enough to grab everyone's attention, it was what she was wearing over her clothing that really had people talking. Covering the skin that she had been showing at the beginning of the day was a certain football player's letter jacket - Masters written in that familiar style across the back.
Mimi reached the table first and purposely chose to sit on the end, across from Philip. That left only three available seats - the one between her and Chloe, and the two seats on the other end of the table, one by Belle and the other by Chloe. Mimi was hoping that Jason's dislike for Chloe would win over his desire to torture her and he would choose the seat by Belle. He didn't.
Feeling as if the silence was choking her, Mimi glared at her friends and demanded, "What? Why are all of you looking at me like that?"
Trying to not sound terribly nosy, Belle politely replied, "Well, Meems, I guess we're all sorta curious about the way you've been acting today and the way you and Jason are acting around each other. It's a little weird."
Jason gave a wicked grin and said, "I don't know what you're talking about. There is nothing weird going on with me and Mimi."
Mimi groaned as Jason said her name. Smiling with false cheer, Mimi stated, "This hunk with a great body is absolutely right. There is nothing weird going on."
Staring at Mimi and Jason, Belle wondered how they could possibly deny their own strange behavior. It seemed like Mimi had made comments about Jason's body nearly every time she opened her mouth. In fact, every time Jason spoke to Mimi or said her name, she made some remark about how great his body was.
"So, why are you wearing Jason's jacket?" Shawn asked with a smirk.
Before Jason could answer, Philip declared, "I can answer that one for you. After first period, all the guys in the hallway were stopping to stare at Mimi. Next thing you know, Jason ran out to his truck and grabbed his jacket to cover Mimi up with."
"It wasn't a big deal," grumbled Jason, praying for a change in conversation.
His prayers were answered when Zach and Hawk approached the table with their trays. However, what was a blessing for Jason was more of an undeserved punishment for Chloe. First, Zach had befriended Jason. Now, he was becoming buddies with Hawk. Could things get any worse? Of course.
Gladly taking the empty seat beside Belle, Zach left the empty one beside Chloe for Hawk. He knew that she was probably having a really hard day and hoped that having someone like Hawk by her would prove to be a small distraction. Of course, Zach would never admit that he dragged Hawk over to temporarily get Chloe's mind off her breakup. He'd rather his housemate just think that he wanted to annoy her for his own benefit.
Jason offered Zach a weak smile and said, "Hey, man, I owe you. I talked to my sister in the hallway earlier, and she was still all excited because all those other sophomore girls saw her get out of your car this morning. I can't even remember the last time I saw Erin so giddy."
For reasons he did not yet understand, Zach felt quite uncomfortable discussing Jason's younger sister. Shrugging, he casually replied, "It wasn't a big deal."
Slowly, the teens began to have more normal conversations as they devoured their lunches. While Shawn coaxed Philip into talking about sports, Jason continually said Mimi's name just so she would have to compliment his body. After she stated in that infamous note that he didn't really have that great of a body, Mimi was receiving what Jason viewed as her retribution.
While the guys surrounding her continued to make predictions for the school's sports teams, Belle said, "Oh, Chloe, I almost forgot. Brady wanted me to tell you to drop by the penthouse after school."
From Belle's side, Shawn overheard the conversation and asked, "Why would your brother want to see Chloe?"
"I'm not sure. He just said something about giving Chloe music lessons for an organ. He said she really wanted it bad."
Choking as he attempted to keep from spewing his soft drink, Jason felt the liquid escape his mouth and slide down his chin. As his friends openly stared at him, Jason grabbed a few napkins from Mimi's tray and wildly wiped his face.
"Organ?" Jason questioned once the Dr. Pepper had been sufficiently removed from his face. "Brady said Chloe wanted it bad?"
"Uh, yeah," answered Belle with a confused smile. "At first, I thought he meant piano music for an opera, but he assured me that it had to do with an organ." Directing her warm gaze at Chloe, Belle innocently asked, "Are you planning to give a performance at the school's annual talent show and have an organ accompany you?"
"You know, Belle, I think that your brother is seriously mistaken. I'll, um, I guess I can drop by and set the record straight after school."
Shawn curiously watched as Chloe and Jason shared a knowing glance before sending each other their usual dirty glares. He wasn't quite sure what was going on with all his friends, but they were definitely acting stranger than usual. Much stranger.
Philip, who was normally quite outgoing, seemed slightly withdrawn, but he showed no signs of possessiveness toward Chloe. Shawn wondered if he should consider that a good strange. As for Chloe, Shawn couldn't quite name what was strange about her. But, something was definitely up.
Shawn wasn't even sure he wanted to know what was happening with Jason and Mimi. Sure, Mimi had always been on the unique side. But, her recent behavior around Jason was odd even for her.
Taking a quick glance around the table, Shawn decided to just let his friends act as strange as they wanted. After all, he couldn't exactly force them to be normal. That was about as likely as Stefano DiMera becoming a priest. Some things just weren't going to happen. Shawn Brady having normal friends was one of those things.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Somehow, Chloe managed to survive her day at school. Despite numerous uncomfortable moments, she had endured it all and was alive to tell about it. Still, Chloe had a feeling that her day was far from over.
After taking a deep breath, Chloe knocked on the front door of the Black penthouse. After two more knocks, she heard Brady's confident voice tell her to enter.
Chloe felt slightly annoyed when Brady didn't even bother to get up and answer his own front door. However, she became even more annoyed when she saw that he was sitting on the couch playing some type of video game.
Her displeasure taking over, Chloe loudly slammed the door and stormed over to Brady. Dramatically tossing her hair over her shoulder, Chloe demanded, "I want to know what is going on, and I want to know now!"
Never taking his eyes away from the television screen, Brady calmly replied, "I just scored a thousand points by defeating my enemy's spaceship." When Chloe offered him no response, Brady paused just long enough to give a look and say, "Sit."
Even as she sat down beside Brady, Chloe retorted, "I'm not a dog, and you can't give me orders."
"I know."
Chloe wasn't sure what to say after Brady seemed to agree with her. Usually, the gorgeous young man was challenging every word out of her mouth. Chloe could only wonder if his amiable attitude had anything to do with his constant talk of some scheme he had concocted.
Suddenly remembering the message Brady had sent via Belle, Chloe felt her initial displeasure returning. Slapping Brady's arm quite forcefully, Chloe asked, "What was the meaning of that twisted message you sent with Belle?"
"It got you here didn't it?"
Rolling her stunning blue eyes, Chloe wondered if she found Brady more annoying or captivating. Deciding that it definitely wasn't a safe topic to be pondering, Chloe tried to force her thoughts to stay clear of Brady. However, with him sitting less than a foot away, it was a very, very difficult task.
"Okay, Brady. It's time to stop playing these games. You keep saying that you have some type of master plan. Either tell me what it is or leave me alone."
Brady appeared completely unaffected by Chloe's outburst and continued to play his game as he answered, "It's actually quite simple. You and I both want something from life, and you only have to do one little thing for us to both get what we want."
"Okay, I'll bite. What is it that I have to do?"
Keeping his eyes focused on the television, Brady nonchalantly answered, "Marry me."
Not having been told of Philip and Chloe's breakup, visions of being hammered into the ground by Chloe filled Mimi's mind. Looking at Jason, she silently pleaded with him to choose anyone else, but he refused to give in to her mute request.
Mimi turned away from her tormenter and stared intently at Philip who, for some reason, looked as though his favorite pet had been hit by an eighteen- wheeler. Pushing away her thoughts of sympathy, Mimi concentrated on the task at hand. She knew that if she didn't greet Philip in a very friendly manner, she would be proving that she was incapable of upholding her end of the bet. And, in her mind, that would make her a loser and Jason a winner. Mimi Lockhart just couldn't allow that.
Doing her best impersonation of Jan's sultry walk, Mimi sauntered over to Philip, and purred, "You know, Phil, I don't think that I really greeted you good-morning properly."
Philip's eyes nearly popped out of his head when Mimi gave a nervous smile and began to run her hands from his stomach all the way up to his shoulders and back down again. And, for a brief second, even Philip was too distracted to remember his heartache.
Not quite sure what to say, Philip mumbled, "Good morning to you, too, Meems."
As a deep blush crept into her cheeks, Mimi stole a quick glance at Jason and saw that he had already selected her next victim - Shawn Brady. Taking a step back from Philip, Mimi offered him a weak smile before approaching Shawn.
Displaying false confidence, Mimi laid her right hand in the center of Shawn's chest. Grabbing hold of his shirt, she twisted her hand, causing the dark green material to wrap itself around her fist.
Mimi then pulled a stunned Shawn to her and huskily whispered, "How you doin', Shawn?"
"Um, okay?" Shawn questioned as he wondered what exactly would be the appropriate answer. He didn't know what was going on with Mimi, but he was afraid that if he said too much, she might get the wrong idea and take her mild seduction up another level.
As the bell rang, Mimi took several steps back from Shawn and, as though she had done nothing out of the ordinary, replied, "Well, that's good. So, um, is everyone ready for first period?"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
By the time lunch rolled around, the news of Philip and Chloe's breakup had spread across all of Salem High - as had the gossip concerning Mimi Lockhart's choice of revealing attire.
In the center of the cafeteria, Belle and Shawn were seated at a table and were engaging in their usual banter. Across from Belle, Chloe sat silently, knowing that her two friends would eventually see just how special the bond they shared was.
As Philip Kiriakis grabbed his tray and began to cross the room, all eyes were upon him. Would he even spare Chloe a glance? Would the two share a heated exchange? Would the star quarterback find a new beauty to have lunch with? Just what would happen when Philip and Chloe were no longer the super- couple of Salem High?
Philip was well aware of the curious stares he was receiving as he chose to sit beside Shawn. He was making quite a powerful statement - whether he knew it or not. Yes, he was sitting at the same table as Chloe Lane. However, he purposely chose to sit on the opposite end of the table. While Philip directed his attention to the mystery meat upon his tray, the majority of students in the cafeteria continued to keep their attention focused on him.
Lost in his own thoughts, Philip failed to notice that Shawn and Belle's conversation came to an immediate end once he sat down. It was only when Philip willingly kept his distance from Chloe that Shawn and Belle fully realized that two of their closest friends were no longer a loving couple. The question remained - what exactly were Philip and Chloe to each other?
Breaking the silence, Shawn motioned toward some people staring and humorously asked, "So, Phil, ever feel like you're being watched?"
To his own surprise, Philip found himself softly chuckling in response to his friend's remark. "You know what, Shawn? Sometimes I do feel like I'm being watched. How about you, Chloe? Ever get that feeling?"
"Nah, never," sarcastically replied Chloe with a faint smile, grateful that Philip had made a point to bring her into the conversation. Her gaze drifting away from her friends at the table and to an approaching couple, Chloe curiously asked, " What is going on with those two?"
Turning to see who had captured Chloe's attention, Philip, Shawn, and Belle found themselves looking at none other than Jason and Mimi. As the rest of the students also began to turn their stares toward Jason and Mimi, Philip and Chloe both felt a twinge of relief. After all, for the moment, they were no longer the school's main source of entertainment.
Although Mimi's clothing was surely enough to grab everyone's attention, it was what she was wearing over her clothing that really had people talking. Covering the skin that she had been showing at the beginning of the day was a certain football player's letter jacket - Masters written in that familiar style across the back.
Mimi reached the table first and purposely chose to sit on the end, across from Philip. That left only three available seats - the one between her and Chloe, and the two seats on the other end of the table, one by Belle and the other by Chloe. Mimi was hoping that Jason's dislike for Chloe would win over his desire to torture her and he would choose the seat by Belle. He didn't.
Feeling as if the silence was choking her, Mimi glared at her friends and demanded, "What? Why are all of you looking at me like that?"
Trying to not sound terribly nosy, Belle politely replied, "Well, Meems, I guess we're all sorta curious about the way you've been acting today and the way you and Jason are acting around each other. It's a little weird."
Jason gave a wicked grin and said, "I don't know what you're talking about. There is nothing weird going on with me and Mimi."
Mimi groaned as Jason said her name. Smiling with false cheer, Mimi stated, "This hunk with a great body is absolutely right. There is nothing weird going on."
Staring at Mimi and Jason, Belle wondered how they could possibly deny their own strange behavior. It seemed like Mimi had made comments about Jason's body nearly every time she opened her mouth. In fact, every time Jason spoke to Mimi or said her name, she made some remark about how great his body was.
"So, why are you wearing Jason's jacket?" Shawn asked with a smirk.
Before Jason could answer, Philip declared, "I can answer that one for you. After first period, all the guys in the hallway were stopping to stare at Mimi. Next thing you know, Jason ran out to his truck and grabbed his jacket to cover Mimi up with."
"It wasn't a big deal," grumbled Jason, praying for a change in conversation.
His prayers were answered when Zach and Hawk approached the table with their trays. However, what was a blessing for Jason was more of an undeserved punishment for Chloe. First, Zach had befriended Jason. Now, he was becoming buddies with Hawk. Could things get any worse? Of course.
Gladly taking the empty seat beside Belle, Zach left the empty one beside Chloe for Hawk. He knew that she was probably having a really hard day and hoped that having someone like Hawk by her would prove to be a small distraction. Of course, Zach would never admit that he dragged Hawk over to temporarily get Chloe's mind off her breakup. He'd rather his housemate just think that he wanted to annoy her for his own benefit.
Jason offered Zach a weak smile and said, "Hey, man, I owe you. I talked to my sister in the hallway earlier, and she was still all excited because all those other sophomore girls saw her get out of your car this morning. I can't even remember the last time I saw Erin so giddy."
For reasons he did not yet understand, Zach felt quite uncomfortable discussing Jason's younger sister. Shrugging, he casually replied, "It wasn't a big deal."
Slowly, the teens began to have more normal conversations as they devoured their lunches. While Shawn coaxed Philip into talking about sports, Jason continually said Mimi's name just so she would have to compliment his body. After she stated in that infamous note that he didn't really have that great of a body, Mimi was receiving what Jason viewed as her retribution.
While the guys surrounding her continued to make predictions for the school's sports teams, Belle said, "Oh, Chloe, I almost forgot. Brady wanted me to tell you to drop by the penthouse after school."
From Belle's side, Shawn overheard the conversation and asked, "Why would your brother want to see Chloe?"
"I'm not sure. He just said something about giving Chloe music lessons for an organ. He said she really wanted it bad."
Choking as he attempted to keep from spewing his soft drink, Jason felt the liquid escape his mouth and slide down his chin. As his friends openly stared at him, Jason grabbed a few napkins from Mimi's tray and wildly wiped his face.
"Organ?" Jason questioned once the Dr. Pepper had been sufficiently removed from his face. "Brady said Chloe wanted it bad?"
"Uh, yeah," answered Belle with a confused smile. "At first, I thought he meant piano music for an opera, but he assured me that it had to do with an organ." Directing her warm gaze at Chloe, Belle innocently asked, "Are you planning to give a performance at the school's annual talent show and have an organ accompany you?"
"You know, Belle, I think that your brother is seriously mistaken. I'll, um, I guess I can drop by and set the record straight after school."
Shawn curiously watched as Chloe and Jason shared a knowing glance before sending each other their usual dirty glares. He wasn't quite sure what was going on with all his friends, but they were definitely acting stranger than usual. Much stranger.
Philip, who was normally quite outgoing, seemed slightly withdrawn, but he showed no signs of possessiveness toward Chloe. Shawn wondered if he should consider that a good strange. As for Chloe, Shawn couldn't quite name what was strange about her. But, something was definitely up.
Shawn wasn't even sure he wanted to know what was happening with Jason and Mimi. Sure, Mimi had always been on the unique side. But, her recent behavior around Jason was odd even for her.
Taking a quick glance around the table, Shawn decided to just let his friends act as strange as they wanted. After all, he couldn't exactly force them to be normal. That was about as likely as Stefano DiMera becoming a priest. Some things just weren't going to happen. Shawn Brady having normal friends was one of those things.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Somehow, Chloe managed to survive her day at school. Despite numerous uncomfortable moments, she had endured it all and was alive to tell about it. Still, Chloe had a feeling that her day was far from over.
After taking a deep breath, Chloe knocked on the front door of the Black penthouse. After two more knocks, she heard Brady's confident voice tell her to enter.
Chloe felt slightly annoyed when Brady didn't even bother to get up and answer his own front door. However, she became even more annoyed when she saw that he was sitting on the couch playing some type of video game.
Her displeasure taking over, Chloe loudly slammed the door and stormed over to Brady. Dramatically tossing her hair over her shoulder, Chloe demanded, "I want to know what is going on, and I want to know now!"
Never taking his eyes away from the television screen, Brady calmly replied, "I just scored a thousand points by defeating my enemy's spaceship." When Chloe offered him no response, Brady paused just long enough to give a look and say, "Sit."
Even as she sat down beside Brady, Chloe retorted, "I'm not a dog, and you can't give me orders."
"I know."
Chloe wasn't sure what to say after Brady seemed to agree with her. Usually, the gorgeous young man was challenging every word out of her mouth. Chloe could only wonder if his amiable attitude had anything to do with his constant talk of some scheme he had concocted.
Suddenly remembering the message Brady had sent via Belle, Chloe felt her initial displeasure returning. Slapping Brady's arm quite forcefully, Chloe asked, "What was the meaning of that twisted message you sent with Belle?"
"It got you here didn't it?"
Rolling her stunning blue eyes, Chloe wondered if she found Brady more annoying or captivating. Deciding that it definitely wasn't a safe topic to be pondering, Chloe tried to force her thoughts to stay clear of Brady. However, with him sitting less than a foot away, it was a very, very difficult task.
"Okay, Brady. It's time to stop playing these games. You keep saying that you have some type of master plan. Either tell me what it is or leave me alone."
Brady appeared completely unaffected by Chloe's outburst and continued to play his game as he answered, "It's actually quite simple. You and I both want something from life, and you only have to do one little thing for us to both get what we want."
"Okay, I'll bite. What is it that I have to do?"
Keeping his eyes focused on the television, Brady nonchalantly answered, "Marry me."