Title: I Know How He Feels
Category: TV Shows » Days Of Our Lives
Author: And The Moment's Gone
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T
Chapter: 8, Words: 7,515
Warnings/Spoilers: AU after Chloe's return to Salem after faking her death.
Summary: I know how he feels, how strong his touch can be, when he believes it's real. I've been there. And I know how he feels
Official Disclaimer: All Days of Our Lives characters and plots belong to Corday and the NBC. I do not hold stock either the man or the company. Chloe Lane, Brady Black, and any other character featured are NOT mine. The title, summary, and lyrics come from the Reba McEntire song I Know How He Feels and I don't own that either.
Feels Like Making Plans
Even without the alarm, Chloe was up at quarter after nine, seemingly more tired than she was when she fell asleep. She rolled to the left, in the direction of her usual side of the bed, and froze when she encountered a hand. Finally opening her eyes, she sighed and rolled in the opposite direction, crawling out of bed.
Joy rolled into the empty space, pulling the covers with her and burying her head into the pillow that Chloe had vacated. The older Wesley just laughed and ran a hand through her hair.
A shower was the first thing on the menu, immediately followed by Chloe brushing the rancid taste of alcohol out of her mouth. She enjoyed a double shot of Listerine and shrugged into a petal pink tank, groping through a drawer for a pair of jeans. Without waking her charge, she pulled open the bedroom door and headed out to the living room, starting her morning ritual of CNN and steaming hot coffee.
The phone rang just as she took her first sip, and Chloe grabbed for it, hitting the button before the second ring. "Hello?"
Belle Black Kiriakis shifted in place on the large couch her husband had insisted on buying and tried not to squeal. "Hey! It's Belle."
She tried not to shout the word 'duh' when she heard the perky blonde. How was it that no matter the time, a pregnant woman always in a better mood than she was? "I would never have guessed." She joked, downing the mug and filling it up again. "I was actually going to call you." She moved into the breakfast nook and leaned against the wall as the NASDAQ closings edged along the crawl. "I need a favor and I think Jan's pissed at me."
"You're going to Paris?" She guessed, trying to hold in her excitement. Of course Chloe was going to Paris. After all, she had been the one to mention the company image to her father.
Chloe didn't bother asking how Belle knew. "After Nicole's drinking binge, Kate and your father decided it best not to send her."
"So you're going?" Belle asked again.
"Did I not just answer your question?" Chloe snapped, realizing that there had to be a reason that Belle knew, more importantly there had to be a reason Belle was so excited about it.
"With Brady?"
That was the point where Chloe realized that there was definitely something up. "When smart people play dumb it's very disconcerting." She announced, eager for Belle to just spill it.
But the girl on the other end just bit her lip and smiled into the receiver. "What can I do for you then?" She asked carefully. Belle had heard the agitation in Chloe's voice, and she wasn't about to push it.
"Would you mind watching Joy for the week?" She asked only half paying attention to whether Belle was answering her or not. Nicole's picture flashed up on the television screen and Chloe was enthralled by the picture of the woman's fiancée that was posted next. She shook herself when she realized that she hadn't heard a thing that she had said. "She could stay with you and Phil, or I could stock my fridge and you can just stay here..." She sighed and wandered back into the kitchen. "I'll even change the sheets and you can sleep in my bed." Chloe offered as she yet again refilled the glass mug.
"Can I use your tub?" The blonde asked even as she began a list of all of the things she would have to remember to pack.
Chloe could just picture her, sitting on the couch with a pink personalized notepad while she twirled a sharpie in the air and chewed on the cap. "I'll even buy you bubble bath."
Belle laughed. "Sold." She said sweetly, setting the list down and leaning back. "Just tell me when I can move in."
"Thank you." Chloe smiled as sincerely as she could. "Joy and I are going up to Salem Place today. Would you like to come with?"
"Shopping?" The woman all but yelled. "Of course!" She jumped up and began to scurry around the living room. "Give me an hour to shower and get dressed and I'll be at your house." She hung up the phone with a squeal and dropped the offending piece of plastic onto a side table.
She could barely hold the phone long enough to hit the off button as she giggled like a schoolgirl. "Take your time." She told herself, only certain that Belle would be running herself ragged just to get there as soon as possible.
There was a bump in the doorway and Chloe turned just in time to see Joy scurry to the fridge. With one hand she grabbed a glass out of the cabinet and with the other she pulled the orange juice out of the child's hands.
"I hate to tell you this Monster, but I have to go out of town again." She started, focusing on the glass in front of her and then turning to look at the child's face.
"But my soccer game…" The kid started out, taking a sip of the juice and pouting like a true Wesley. "You promised!"
Leave it to a seven-year-old to think about a soccer game over the fact that she just got out of the hospital for falling down a flight of stairs. "I know I promised, and Brady and I will be back in more than enough time for your game. Triple Promise." She held three fingers up in the old fashioned Girl Scout promise and sighed. "And you're going to have Belle here."
"You're going away with Daddy?" She asked hopefully, shifting gears. She watched Chloe sigh and run a hand through her hair.
The older never quite understood when they had started referring to Brady as her father. They had been together for the year and a half after she had come back. A year and a half that Chloe had managed completely deny existed, and yet Joy remembered it. She still had to resist the flinch every time her sister referred to her as "Mommy" as well. She bit her lip again and shook her head.
"You know that just because we take business trips together, Brady and I aren't getting back together." She said, pulling the child up onto the island and kissing her forehead.
"I know." There was a huff as her face fell. "You don't have to keep reminding me!" She slammed her juice cup back onto the counter and stomped her way up the stairs.
The doorbell rang less than a second later and Chloe threw the dishtowel into the sink before heading through the formal dining room and into the foyer. Upstairs Joy's bedroom door slammed as Chloe jerked open the door. "Should I ask what happened?" The blonde questioned as she dropped her purse onto the side table.
Chloe led the way back to the kitchen and filled another glass with juice without asking. "I told Joy that I was going out of town with Brady and we went through another round of 'when's he coming home?'" She grimaced as a headache shot through her head and rubbed her temples.
"Oh honey." Belle set the glass down and pulled Chloe into a hug. "You know she didn't take your break-up with Brady well." She released the girl and frowned. "Yes, she was little, but she bonded with Brady."
Chloe slammed the mug into the sink. "I don't need another person telling me that!" She snapped as she pushed herself away from the counter. She froze and bit her lip, trying her hardest to calm down. It wasn't Belle's fault that everything with Brady happened. And she didn't kill Chloe's parents in the car accident giving Chloe custody of the child. "I'm sorry." She said quickly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled."
The blonde smiled. "It's okay." She decided. "You had a long night?"
Chloe nodded. "Joy fell down the stairs at the Deveraux's."
"Oh my God!" Belle gasped. "Is she okay?"
Chloe laughed. "Perfectly fine; she has eight stitches that she thinks are the coolest." She laughed. "But I didn't check my messages when I came in last night, so Shawn wound up calling Brady." There was a hint of amusement in Belle's eyes that Chloe chose to ignore. "And believe me when I say that Brady looked like he went three rounds with your soon-to-be sister-in-law." Again there was the smallest hint of a smile. "Not to mention the little fact that I didn't come home alone – "
Belle jumped off her new perch on the counter and squealed. "Oh my God!" Chloe honestly thought she was about to go brain dead. "What happened?"
"Not a whole hell of a lot, all things considering." Chloe sighed at how excited the woman was getting. "Nothing that I need to get tested over." She decided to divulge. "Brady caught me topless though."
Again another gasp. "He walked in?" She shouted.
"No!" Chloe gasped. "He knocked on the door and I thought he was Shawn."
"But you were…" Belle raised an eyebrow.
The doorbell rang and Chloe froze.
Joy hopped down the front staircase as if nothing had happened. Before Chloe could stop her, she threw open the door with vigor. She stopped short however, when she realized the person on the other side wasn't who she was expecting. "Daddy!" She shrieked, launching herself at the man she had caught completely off guard.
Brady lifted her off of the floor and kissed her cheek as he stepped into the foyer. He sighed when the child giggled. "Does this mean I can come in?" He asked the empty room. It confused him for a moment how the room had managed to look exactly the same. He could remember all too vividly the very last time that he had walked all the way into Chloe's home; when it was his home as well. He was also reminded of the fact that he hadn't made it past the porch the night before. The shock soon wore off however, when his sister beat the woman in question around the corner though the dining room and stopped just short of the entryway.
"Brady!" She said almost too surprised. "How are you today?" Belle couldn't help the grin on her face as she exchanged looks with her brother before Chloe physically pushed her out of the way.
She ran a hand through her hair before she actually realized that she had done it. It was a nervous habit that she had somehow developed after her hair had strengthened when she was finished with the chemotherapy. Chloe could have kicked herself when Brady smirked at her. It hadn't escaped her notice that he was still holding Joy as well. "Only you wouldn't call before you showed up." Chloe's aim was annoyance, but to everyone it sounded more playful.
The line that Brady would have said died in his throat when he actually looked at her. She wore a petal pink long sleeved sheer lace top over a matching tank and a pair of overly faded blue jeans stylishly riddled with holes that appeared as if they would drop right off her hips if she dared to breathe wrong. His top lip twitched in a smile when he noticed that her toenails were as perfectly made up as her fingernails, complete with little French tips.
"Did you drive all the way out here just to stare at my feet?" She asked after a moment, wiggling her toes and raising an eyebrow at the blonde man in front of her.
Balancing Joy on his hip, Brady held out a hand with two neatly stacked and bound folders and he smiled weakly. "I brought you the information packet that Dad had me go over." He told her after a second, smiling brightly when she took it from him and thumbed through it.
"I was planning on getting these from John when I took Joy into town later." Chloe said absently as she realized that the packet also contained Brady's personal notes on the merger material and Kate's notes on which the profiles of each executive. Obviously Brady hadn't made her a copy, he had given her his.
"I saved you a trip." He tried to make it sound as if he had done her a huge favor, when in all actuality he just wanted to get away from Nicole for the afternoon. They still hadn't made up from their fight in the early morning. "And I wanted to check on the Monster here." He ruffled Joy's hair and smiled when she giggled. "Since when do you have a game on Saturday?"
"Since the schedule was made." Chloe looked skeptical. "I still have to go to town." She informed him harshly, slightly annoyed that he had the audacity to waltz into the house and insert himself into her day. Not to mention the fact that he still tried to bend over backwards to do things to make her life easier. It hadn't escaped her notice that she hadn't seen a copy of the insurance bill from the night before. "And I could have sworn we covered Telephone 101 on Friday night."
"We proved last night that that is one of the least reliable of ways to get in touch with you." He bit his lip gently, trying to come up with an excuse to stay. "And I'm here now, so I'd be more than happy to go over everything with you."
She wanted to scream, or throw something at him. And since the file was the closest movable object and Brady was holding Joy, Chloe decided against doing either. "We have an eight hour flight ahead of us first thing in the morning." She reminded him, wishing that he would just set Joy back on the floor. "I think we can come up with a game plan then." She turned and glanced at Belle for backup.
"Aren't we grumpy today?" He teased gently, trying to find some kind of friendly banter. Just for kicks he smiled down at Joy. "Did somebody wake up on the wrong side of nobody this morning?" His lips curled into a smile when he saw his sister giggle out of the corner of his eye, and Chloe held the file folders against her chest as she crossed her arms. Brady realized as she prepared to square off against him that maybe making fun of her frustrated situation wasn't his best bet that morning.
Biting back a wry smile, Chloe ran a hand through her hair again and glared at him. "Well sad to say the entire town doesn't put out quite as easily as the person you share a bed with." She gave it a thought and allowed her eyes to meet his. "And I lost the 1-900 number that you seemed to have found your life partner with."
Belle stepped in between them and raised both of her hands in each of their directions. "Corners people." She almost snapped, looking at each of them in turn. While Chloe seemed to be seething, Brady's eyes attempted to hide his amusement at the situation. Belle then put her hands on her hips and took a step back. "Now you two have files and notes to go over before you land in Paris, and Joy needs a haircut." She watched the child in Brady's arms frown and clapped her hands together as if she were the only adult in the room. "Joy get your shoes on." She ordered, watching the child slide from her brother's arms. "Will there still be a house standing if I leave you two alone?" She asked pointedly.
If she didn't find Belle attempting to be more stubborn than herself and Brady amusing, Chloe would have been mildly annoyed that yet again Belle was cruise directing her day. She looked as if she was going to try to fight with her and she bit her lip. "Yes mother." She laughed, again pulling her hand through her hair and turning to Brady.
"Now apologize." Belle instructed, again as if she were speaking to a room full of children.
Brady frowned as he looked down at Chloe. "I'm sorry that I made fun of what happened last night and your currently single status." He said dejectedly, crossing his arms and looking to make sure his sister was pleased with herself.
"And I apologize for yet again referring to your fiancée as a cheap call girl." She had to force herself not to draw attention to the fact that the way she had described Nicole had been fairly accurate, but that just helped her make her point. She dropped her eyes to the floor and then locked looks with Belle. "Satisfied?"
The pregnant woman in front of the stairs was grinning from ear to ear. "Of course." She giggled. "Come on Joy! The sooner we get out of here the sooner we get back." And when the child finally returned to the foyer, Belle allowed Joy a short moment to kiss both Brady and Chloe before she ushered the kid out the door. "Have fun!"
Alone at last, Brady turned to the door that his sister had just shut. "I think we should have sold her on the Black Market." He said offhandedly, trying to gage Chloe's newest attitude without actually looking at her.
"Or at least not condemned Sami when she tried it." She quipped back. She wasn't sure when she had been regaled with that particular tale in the 'adventures of Sami Brady-Roberts' but just as Brady had said the word 'market' she recalled the story. She took a step back and finally frowned. "Since it's obvious you're not going anywhere, would you like something to drink?"
The way she bounced to the kitchen without so much as a confirmation from Brady reminded him of the woman that she had been years ago. Her loose hair swayed behind her and a smile came to his lips as he followed her through the dining room and into her kitchen. He watched her set the files on the counter next to the refrigerator and then smiled as she expertly navigated around the island, prepping to refill the empty glass pitcher with freshly brewed lemonade from the jar on the windowsill while handing him the last glass from the old batch.
"Thank you." He said softly, noticing that she didn't acknowledge his saying anything outright. When their hands touched, however, he watched her shiver. Brady reached for the files and pulled a stool around from the counter to the island. He flipped it open and watched her lean against the counter attached to the sink with a yawn. "The first think that you should note is that most of Cassman's approvals don't come without a nod from his wife."
Chloe flipped the page in her own file folder and she smiled. "She owns thirty-one percent of his forty-nine in the company and at present holds his proxy."
For a second, Brady wondered how she knew that if he was holding the file with the information in it. She was currently perusing the pages of executives. But this was Chloe after all, and if there was one thing she knew, it was the business. He tipped his glass to her. "Therefore most of your schmoozing should go to her."
"She likes opera and ballet." Chloe mentioned offhandedly, pouring herself a glass of juice and wishing that they were doing this over the phone so she could have the beer she was craving. "She loves the Russian Bolshoi Ballet, which isn't the best that I've ever seen, but she and her daughter say that they do a mean Swan Lake."
Brady looked impressed. "You asked her about her preferences to ballet?" He asked with a grin.
"I have my ways." Was all she replied before taking a sip.
Brady stopped for a moment and then the grin just got wider. "Belle sat next to them last night." He noted.
"You'd think I didn't just pick up ethics from your father." Chloe nodded.
Now he was truly impressed. "Bravo."
But Chloe wasn't looking for his accolades. She was looking to get this done.
He was one step ahead of her train of thought already. "Why do I have the feeling that you're about to tell me you've planned out how you're going to woo Stone Records?" He finished off his drink and smiled.
"The Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris has started its run of La Belle au Bouis Dormant." She informed him after a second. She had been introduced to the conductor of the orchestra when she'd toured Paris before her accident. "Karoui owed me a favor." She was going off of his look, "We have box seats for Tuesday night; pack a tux. And I have already extended an invitation to her and her daughter to tour Isabel Marant's boutique and get a peek at next year's spring line." She didn't feel the need to tell him that she now owed the designer an introduction to his sister, and an invite to Basic Black's New Years party. "And we're all on the guest list for a exhibition and reception at the Cluny. They're honoring modern trailblazers."
Brady couldn't seem to wipe the smile off of his face. "Dare I ask what you planned for her husband?"
"Vincent let it slip that he hated to feel like he's being bought." She poured herself another drink and debated switching back to her coffee. "So I was hoping that I could get you to help me out a little." When Brady nodded, she leaned both elbows onto the island. "There's a tee time with your name on it Tuesday morning at the International Golf Club." He shook his head, knowing that Chloe was fully aware that golf was a sport that he did not excel. "I also expect you to lunch with him while the ladies and I are out, but I think that you can manage your own reservations."
He laughed at the triumphant look on her face and scooted the stool back to get a better look at her. "Sounds like you and my sister got up early this morning."
Chloe tried not to look offended; of course he would jump to the conclusion that Belle had been involved. His sister was there when he arrived. "I took care of most of it last night after you dropped us off." She informed him. Brady was taken aback and she just crossed her arms again. "I had to find some way to relieve the tension."
It was a tense moment and Brady tried to think of anything but Chloe and what she may or may not have done before he got there with Patrick. He coughed nervously and looked around the all too familiar kitchen. "Can I have more of this lemonade?" He asked after a moment.
"Sure." Chloe laughed, she understood that she shouldn't have said anything. It made her kind of nervous talking about that with him as well. "I can even manage a sandwich too if you promise not to make fun of my culinary skills."
"What culinary skills?" Brady joked, and when she threw the dishtowel at him he laughed. "I'm sure I can hold my tongue." He informed her politely.
Without looking at him, Chloe worked quickly and efficiently, pulling ingredients out of the fridge without thinking twice; two different types of meat, both American and Swiss cheese, and kosher dill pickles along with yellow mustard and tomato slices that she had chopped up for Joy's school lunches. She carefully laid out the bread and doused it liberally with the mustard and then put the tomato on one side. She layered the meat on gently, almost just like she had watched Henderson do so many times and then the cheese was placed in the dead center of the sandwich. The pickle she placed to the side, just as she had learned was best when giving a sandwich to Brady Black. He had once told her that he never knew whether or not the sandwiches required a pickle until he had taken a bite out of it. Chloe packed the ingredients back up and put them away in their appropriate places before turning to place the plate in front of Brady. It only took her a second to realize what she had just done.
"Well..." Brady sighed as she dropped the plate and refilled his glass. "This is awkward."
With a shrug and a sigh, Chloe just shook her head. "I just remember that you're a picky bastard about your food." She said with a sigh.
"Not true." He scoffed, almost shoving the entire sandwich in his mouth at one time. "I'll eat anything." He dripped some mustard onto the file and watched as Chloe frowned. "Sorry." He grunted with the sandwich still hanging out of his mouth.
Chloe pulled the folder away from his plate and threw the roll of napkins at him. "And now you see why I wouldn't let you eat in the living room."
"The couch isn't new anymore Diva –"
Again the silence in the room was deafening.
Again Brady was the first to break the through it. "You get the feeling we're being set up?" He asked after a moment. "I mean Belle seemed pretty ecstatic about me just showing up here."
"She also knew I was going to Paris before I told her."
"You still want to go?" Brady put the empty plate in the sink and rinsed it off before dropping it into the dishwasher, not even bothering to ask if the stuff already in there were clean or dirty. Chloe wouldn't allow anything to stay there for long if it were clean. "I mean with Joy –"
"Joy's fine." She insisted. "She knows I'll be back for her soccer game. She's more upset that this trip is business, not pleasure."
Brady laughed and set himself onto the counter, daring her to call him on it. "You can't blame her for dreaming."
"It's not the dreaming that I have a problem with, it's the fact that she doesn't seem to understand that it's not going to happen." Chloe rubbed her neck with the hand that wasn't holding the file folder. "She thinks the world of you."
"I love her too." Brady said sincerely, watching Chloe clam up right before his very eyes. "The Wesley women are a very special bunch."
She tried not to think about the last time he had told her that. She tried not to think of anything he was telling her. "I think we're done here." She bit out. "I've got to call Skye and get my schedule rearranged." Both folders shut and out of the way and Chloe was trying not to look at him. "The flight leaves at four so I'll get Shawn to stay the night; he can take Joy to school."
There was nothing he could do but stand. "Keep your fax on, I'll have Lindy send you the itinerary."
"You work her too hard." Chloe said as he went to leave through the dining room.
"We all work hard." He reminded her. Their eyes caught for a second and she was the one to turn away. "Tell Joy I said bye?" He asked. Brady didn't have to be looking at her to know she nodded. "Place looks the same." He whispered on his way out the door.
"Shawn!"
The shrill tone of his wife brought a slew of curses to his lips. At Jan's request, Shawn had boxed up half of his case files and brought them to his home office. She had wanted him to spend time at home so they could be with each other more. And now that he was there, she proceeded to question him at ten to fifteen minute intervals about everything and anything under the sun from Nicole's new centerpiece choices to why he had brewed yet another pot of coffee up there in his office rather than asking her to in the kitchen.
He was honestly just seconds away from faking an emergency just to get her to leave him alone.
"Shawn!"
"What do you want woman?" He bellowed back. Pushing his chair away from the desk, he stepped out of his second floor office and up to the banister. "I love the curtains you picked out, Nicole should keep the roses that Brady's already paid for, Winnie the Pooh is a wonderful theme for a baby shower and no the dryer hasn't stopped. So what asinine question can I answer for you this time so I can get back to work?"
From her place by the front door, Jan honestly looked ashamed. Had she really been bugging him that much? Was he really that mad at her? "Patrick's here to see you." She whispered sheepishly. "And lunch is ready."
Again Shawn cursed himself. "Send him up." He told her, making sure that none of the residual anger was still in his voice. "And I'll be down in a minute for lunch."
"Would you like anything?" The dark haired woman asked Patrick as he ascended the stairs.
The ISA agent just smiled. "No thank you, Jan." He said sweetly, flashing his dimples. "And the cookies smell divine."
Stepping into Shawn's office was like stepping into a time warp. Old world solid mahogany seemed to be the theme for the large space. Even the high backed covered chairs in front of the large desk were held together with the polished wood. It had been the only thing that Shawn had asked for when Victor had died. Brady got the mansion and a handful of the estates around the world, Bo and Hope the yachts and a seaside retreat as well as a sizable chunk of sellable shares of Titan, Chloe and Joy had walked away with stocks and bonds, a seat on the board of the Tuscano Foundation as well as a trust fund and college nest egg respectively, Phillip and Nicole managed to split Titan, the former selling his shares and gaining his father's Brownstone that he and his wife now shared and all Shawn had asked for in addition to his trust was the contents of Victors office. As he looked back at the room he realized how bizarre he must have seemed to the lawyer.
"Come on in man." He waved Patrick to a chair and dropped himself onto the corner of his desk. "What's up?"
"What's Chloe's favorite ice cream?"
Shawn coughed and his eyes narrowed. "You drove all the way out here to ask me that?" He asked carefully. That sounded like something his sister would do, but Patrick? The elder Lockhart had proven that he knew how to use the phone. "Mocha Chip." He responded easily. "Joy prefers strawberry. It's Brad-"
But Patrick had already caught the slip. "What happened between them?" He asked slowly.
The younger man shook his head. "Not my place to say." He told him simply, and it wasn't. Chloe held those eighteen months close to her heart, cherishing the shortness and at the same time pretending that they never existed. That was why she still had a closet full of Brady's clothes that he hadn't come to collect, and an entire box of jewelry she never wore. It was the same reason why in the back of his closet in his bedroom there were the boxes of memories that he was holding onto for Joy. Chloe couldn't bear to admit to herself that they had happened, but at the same time it wasn't just her past she was hiding. "You're going to have to ask Chloe."
"Chloe's not talking." Patrick leaned against the arm of the chair and blew the breath out of his mouth. "All she says is its history."
"I can't say more." He apologized, hearing the phone ring before his wife picked it up.
Not even a second later, Jan's voice echoed through the halls.
He lifted the receiver, and once he heard Jan drop it on her end, he sighed. "Hello?" He waited a second and a string of curses left his lips before he could sensor himself. "You have got to be kidding me." He tried to laugh off the annoyance in his voice. "Of course I will, I'll be there in a few." He said before he hung up the phone. "Ever have one of those days…" His voice trailed off and he shoved the files he was going over into his briefcase. Patrick eyed him suspiciously and he just shrugged. "And if you're planning on seeing Chloe at all this week, you should think about hurrying with the ice cream."
His keys were snatched from the table, and Shawn kissed his wife on the way out the door.
The front door opened, and then shut, and for a moment Chloe pictured that the man walking up behind her in the kitchen was not the dark haired man that was wrapping his arms around her now.
"You okay?"
Chloe jumped at the voice in her ear and she leaned back. "Better now." She admitted, turning to smile up at the look on Patrick's face. Then she allowed her gaze to fall over the man's shoulder as Shawn looked down, trying to be inconspicuous. "Something tells you are about to watch me eat my weight in Mocha Chip."
"Shawn tells me eating ice cream with you is a contact sport." He laughed as he handed her the shopping bag, watching her tear into it to find not one, not two, but three pints of mocha chip in addition to some strawberry that she was only sure was supposed to go to Joy when she got home.
"Only if you try to take it away from me," Chloe admitted sheepishly, depositing the bags safely into the freezer and turning back around. "Would you boys like something to drink?"
As he pushed past her, Shawn couldn't help but to look into Chloe's eyes. "Tell me you're okay?" He asked carefully. Chloe only nodded and he pulled her into a hug. "Now tell me what happened."
"Chloe? Brady? We're home!"
Four words told Shawn all he needed to know about the phone call Chloe had made. "Brady was here?"
"Daddy left?" Joy asked carefully. She set a large box on the counter and turning back to her aunt and Chloe. "I thought - "
"Honey, he had a problem at the office." Chloe told her as she squatted to be at the same level as the child. "But he told me to tell you bye and that he may need a hint on what kind of souvenir you want from Paris."
Shawn closed his eyes and leaned against the fridge. That was why she called. Brady had brought her over the files instead of letting her pick them up, and something had happened. It was a shame that Joy had seen him though. Things were confusing enough for the little girl already.
"Aunt Belle and I got him something." Joy exclaimed reaching in to the house shaped box and pulling a fully dressed teddy bear out. It was in black silk, a complete Zorro outfit with a mask and Chloe just shook her head. "We got him the girl bear last time." She reminded Chloe. "He calls it his Diva Bear so I thought he should get a boy bear."
For a moment, Belle actually thought Chloe was going to kill her.
"And where have you been all morning?"
Brady dropped his keys onto the table and turned to watch his fiancée saunter down the stairs, hair pulled back perfectly into a bun and her arms crossed directly in front of her. He shook his head and walked up the stairs she had just cleared, hoping that she wasn't following him.
Unfortunately when she slammed the bedroom door he realized that she had. "Henderson!" Brady shouted as he picked his suitcase off of the closet floor and turned back to the room.
Nicole was now sitting on his side of the bed, facing him. "Are you planning on talking to me?"
"How's your hangover?" Brady snapped back just as the aging butler entered the room. "Could you find out where my black Cavalii went? I need to make sure that have-" He watched Nicole reach for the case, flipping the lid open and closed while he attempted to finish his sentence. "Can you just pack for me please?" He asked with a sigh. "My headache isn't going to stand thinking."
"Your headache?" Nicole asked plainly. "And did we enjoy seeing Chloe this morning?"
Brady opened the bedroom door and had to force himself not to throw something. "Have another drink Nicole." He shouted, slamming the door and storming down the hall.
"Don't tell me I'm interrupting something?" Brady whirled in his place at the foot of the stairs to see a maid taking Kate's jacket. "You two sound like you're ready to be newlyweds."
He didn't want to answer her. Brady didn't even want to speak to her. He wished that he would turn around and she would be gone. But as he poured himself water, he realized that ignoring Kate wasn't about to make her go away. "What can I do for you this afternoon?"
"You weren't in when I called." Kate observed, she took in the disheveled look of his hair and the frustration wrinkling his brow and at once knew where it was he had been. Couple it with his overheard argument with his fiancée and she understood just how fast Brady Black was imploding. "I wanted to remind you of your early flight and that you're not meeting with the board until Tuesday. It should calm everyone down on the plane." When Brady just threw himself on to the couch she smiled. "I hope you don't mind but I'm sending someone along with you - "
Brady shook her gaze off. "Whatever Kate."
"Don't 'whatever' me." The older woman snapped, barely resisting the urge to stalk across the room and slap him. "Just because you're my stepson do not think that I won't pull you off of this project faster than your father yanked Nicole."
That got his attention.
"Excuse me?"
"She's worked hard for this Brady." Kate told him easily, not bothering to elaborate which 'she' that she meant. "And I don't care if its ego, or blind panic that's forcing you to behave like the ass hole we've seen for the last few weeks, but you are not going to jeopardize this merger." Brady sat up a little straighter and when he opened his mouth she began speaking again. "You've screwed with her heart. You've screwed up her life." Kate threw the file John wanted him to see at him and turned around. "You screw with her company and I'll personally reassign to you the copy room."
It took a moment for him to stand. "You've made your point Kate." He told her carefully, trying to gage what the correct response to her outburst was supposed to be. "I have no interest in Chloe outside the walls of Black Label, and I think you and everyone else on the planet should make a note of that. I'm marrying Nicole in February and I would appreciate it if everyone would stop telling me how to live my life." He picked the folder off of the floor where it had fallen and dropped it onto the coffee table. "I'm not about screw up the Label."
"Chloe is the Label." Kate reminded him. "And you've wound that so tight you're head's about to fly off." She changed directions then, trying not to back out of the room. "Just remember me when you're in your suite in Paris." Kate smiled. With a blown kiss she was back in the foyer. "Have a nice trip."
Four AM came far too quickly for Chloe, who had spent most of the evening curled up on her couch with Patrick and a tub of ice cream as they watched movies with Joy. Shawn had gone home to pack for the overnight stay and Belle had exhausted herself to the point where she crashed in Chloe's bed around eight. Dinner was pizza, much to Joy's delight and Chloe could feel her arteries clog when Patrick fed her slice after slice. Between packing for the trip and another failed conversation with Joy, Chloe honestly didn't think she had slept more than the ten minutes she had dozed off in Shawn's arms in the middle of the living room floor shortly after midnight.
And now she was sitting in the back seat of a town car, courtesy of John Black, fiddling with files and trying to make sure that all of her information was somewhere she could reach it easily on the flight. The only good thing about the trip was that she didn't have to fly commercial. It made stretching out and working easier.
The car came to a stop, and she smiled when the chauffeur opened the door for her, holding out his hand to help her from the vehicle. "Thanks Lenny." She smiled, allowing him to pull her from her seat. He took her laptop bag out and handed it to her, and then her carry on. The rest of her luggage he handed straight to one of the attendants.
"May I take your bags Ma'am?"
Chloe snapped to attention when Duke said 'ma'am' and she shook her head gently. "Thank you, Duke." She smiled as she handed him both of her bags to secure. The body man had been flying with the younger Black executive and Chloe for as long as she could remember. "Has Brady boarded the plane yet?"
"Not yet." Duke stepped back to allow Chloe access to the rest of the jet and stopped. "But Mr. Brady is in the cabin already."
It only took a second for Chloe to remember that Brady was Mr. Black and Mr. Brady was one of the sons of Kate Roberts. She stepped behind the partition and smiled when her eyes landed on Rex. Suddenly this trip wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would. "I didn't know your mother was sending you." She said with a grin.
"You have parties to attend, Ms. Lane." Rex dropped his outdated book bag on one of the seats and winked at her. "You think she would allow you to show up alone?" Kate Roberts-Black had the foresight of Belle Black and the intuition to follow through with every little detail. There was no stone unturned with her, and Chloe looked up to her as a businesswoman and a maternal figure. "Besides, Mimi is doing her monthly solo spa retreat this week. So it was either this, or guzzling down beers at the Pub and pretending that I'm bad at pool with my dad." There was a laugh and he looked Chloe up and down. "And you'll look better in a dress."
She threw her purse onto her own seat and laughed. "That you know of." She countered with a grin.
They heard a deep curse and Chloe turned to look at the man who had just boarded. "So now I'm el dateless uno?" Phillip asked as he stalked to the empty couch. "Great."
"You're wife's pregnant." Chloe conceded, trying to honestly make him feel better. "You don't get a date."
Phillip pouted playfully, winking at Chloe before turning on his brother. "And he married Mimi..." He laughed. "I get your point." When his brother protested loudly, Chloe laughed.
"I get to have one on each arm." She joked sweetly, placing herself directly between the men and latching herself to their arms. She threw herself on to the couch and watched as Rex tried not to fall on her.
"Room for a third?"
The entire room tilted as Chloe looked up from the smooth leather. She and Brady had matched that morning, both in jeans and plaid shirts. Hers was tied on the bottom over a tank top and Brady's was just loose. Chloe could see the rippling of the muscles below the thin fabric. Chloe turned away and sighed, of course Brady would almost make them late. And of course he would poke fun yet again at the fact that Kate had sent her an escort. "What would your wife say?" She growled, moving her briefcase and dropping herself into a chair.
"She's not my wife yet." He answered with a grin, setting his bag down on the table and completely ignoring the way Rex's jaw dropped to the floor.
Chloe sighed and nodded, his point had been made. "Me and three men alone on a plane…" She joked, pulling a file out of her laptop bag. "Whatever shall I do with myself?"