I think I've set a record. Philip is mentioned in every single chapter I've written so far and he's not even a main character. I found this out when I proved myself to be a bigger perfectionist that I thought I was. I've been spelling his name wrong this whole time and went back to change it in everything I've ever posted.
"She won't budge!" Lucas laughed as Sami plopped huffily down on the couch beside him, "That woman is so stubborn."
"Says the most stubborn woman in the world," laughing off her glare he continued, "What did you try on Bonnie?"
"Only offering her enough money to make your eyes bug out and your voice get all high and squeaky."
"Let's not run ourselves into the poor house yet. We just need a better plan. Now think, if it isn't about the money," Sami's snort displayed her doubt of that fact better than words could, "Okay, let me rephrase. If it isn't just about the money, what else is there?"
They sat in silence for a moment before the proverbial light bulb went on, "Mickey!"
"I don't know, Sami. I don't think she actually loves him, at least not like that."
"I'm not saying she loves him. He's stable, he'll always be around. Bonnie likes that there's a man there when she gets home."
"Okay, so all we have to do is find Bonnie a new man?"
"Exactly," Sami smiled in delight at her own brilliance. It felt good to scheme with Lucas again.
"This is going to be harder than I thought," Lucas sighed in resignation, "What man in his right mind would want Bonnie?"
…………………………………………..
"You've been avoiding me."
Mickey finally found Maggie hiding in her room. He had been searching for her ever since she had left the other night.
"What did you expect?"
"I'm so sorry. I wish Bonnie hadn't interrupted last night, but I've got good news. I finally told her to leave."
Maggie turned in surprise to her husband; she definitely hadn't expected that, "Really?"
"Really. She refused, but I'm sure we can find a way to fix this sooner or later."
She allowed him to sit next to her as happiness took over, "So you chose me?"
"Of course I chose you. I love you, Red. I know I've been a bad husband to you lately, but I want to make up for it. We are going to celebrate the right way, right now."
He grabbed her hand and in her blissful state of mind she followed, until a thought struck her.
"Wait, we can't do this. Not yet."
"What? Why?"
"Bonnie's downstairs. Now, I don't care much about her feelings, but Conner's another story. Maybe we should put off celebrating in public until everything is settled."
"We just need Bonnie to understand. I'm sure I can talk to her. She'll come around eventually."
She shook her head think, thinking of how Lucas and Sami had looked the night before, "I doubt that. Besides, I think we've already got some people working on that. You see, I went to Lucas and Sami last night when I ran out."
He nodded his head in agreement, "I bet they're already plotting. I know we shouldn't encourage that behavior, but…"
"They wouldn't listen to us anyway."
………………………………………………
A few days later, Lucas sat in his office trying to work, trying being the operative word. There were just too many things to think about. The fact that Sami was way too good at hiding Christmas presents, the fact that his brother was in an awful marriage, the fact that his mother was still claiming that Sami would destroy him and of course the fact that he had no clue who would want to take Bonnie off Uncle Mickey's hands.
He was beyond tempted to lure Austin back to Salem, just to sick her on him. But, he wasn't sure which one it was crueler to, so he had to postpone his fun indefinitely. His evil train of thought was interrupted by the door opening.
"Philip, if it isn't my little brother. Shouldn't you be in war or something, maybe at the base?"
"I don't ship out until late January, early February."
Lucas heroically reigned in his indignation. If he wasn't shipping out for months why the hell did Phil and Belle have to take his wedding day? Still, he knew there was no point in yelling, the poor boy was suffering enough with Belle as his wife."
"Sit down, take a load off. Distract me from the work I'm not doing. How's married life treating you?"
Philip leaned back and sighed. He never thought he'd be saying this, but these last couple of days with only Belle and his mother as company had opened his eyes, "Man, Belle is driving me nuts."
Lucas nearly laughed out loud at this confession. It seemed his earlier musings were proven correct, Phil was suffering enough, "What's wrong?"
"Has she always whined this much, or is it a new development? And, geez, I've never met a more shallow person in my life! You should hear her. I don't know if I can take much more."
"Maybe this is just a phase. Hang out here for a few hours, you know, absence makes the heart grow fonder."
"I can't, man, she's everywhere. A 'few hours' is not enough time to make me miss her whining, I don't think 50 years is enough time. And when she's not there, Mom is encouraging me to impregnate her before I go."
Privately thinking that the world would be better off if Belle Black Kiriakis was never involved in procreation, Lucas cautioned his brother, "Are you sure that's a good idea? You both are really young and with you going to war…"
"I know, that's what I told her. She just keeps wailing about how I'm her only hope for grandchildren."
"Oh, nice Mom, forget about Will completely. And what about Billie, Austin and Rex, don't their future kids count. Forget about me though, because any child with Sami as a mother obviously wouldn't show up on her radar."
"I'm sure she didn't mean it like that."
"That's exactly how she meant it, Phil. Don't get pulled in by her."
Silently he wondered how far she had reeled him in. He shuddered at the memories of what she made him do. Lucas would do anything to protect his brother at all costs, even if it meant going against his mother.
"Mom's harmless, Lucas, she wouldn't do anything to hurt her kids. Thanks for letting me vent, but I actually came here for a reason. I wanted to warn you, Belle keeps going on and on about paying Sami back. I'm not saying it's anything to worry about, but I thought you should know."
"I doubt Belle could even come up with anything to do to us. No offense, but she's not the sharpest tool in the shed."
"I thought I'd tell you anyway. I'm late for lunch with her actually. See ya."
Once Philip was out the door, Lucas scoffed at the idea that Belle could actually do anything to ruin their wedding. She had no talent for scheming and was far too unoriginal to come up with anything. He had more pressing matters to deal with, like finding his 'Aunt' Bonnie a man.
Mentally, he ran through every single man in Salem he knew, and a few he didn't. It was impossible to know what she wanted. She needed to be interested in him and he had to be really into her, but most importantly, he needed to be easily manipulated.
Deciding to concentrate on work for awhile, Lucas actually got some of it done. Thankfully, a knock on the door saved him from working too much in one day. After all, the people of Salem couldn't do too much work in one day; it gave them a bad reputation. He had never expected Bart to be the one to open his office door.