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: 9, Words: 8,153
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.
Truce
Her comment was short lived, however when everyone seemed to settle into the part of the flight that John Black himself had often referred to as domestic. Brady had perched himself on top of the large conference table, papers strewn over the remaining surface as he studied pictures and profiles of execs that he had no intention of coming across. Faux pleasantry had always been Nicole's forte, not his. Phillip and Rex had long since given up on their game of chess in the paired seats, and now each brother was sprawled haphazardly across the two couches in the room. Chloe on the other hand, seeing as though when they settled, she had no real place to stretch out, plopped herself on the floor across from the conference table and perched her glasses on the brim of her nose, submerging herself into back logged paper work that she knew had to be finished before she could take over Brady's office for his honeymoon.
She was too wrapped up in her reading to notice when Brady slid himself off of the table and onto the floor in front of her. "What are you looking at?"
She shook slowly before mentally slapping him for scaring her. "Gruber file." She admitted softly.
"Ashlee or Ames?"
Chloe took the top sheet off of the file and handed it to him to glance over. "Ashlee." There was a pause before he frowned. "She has some nice compositions." It was just what he was thinking, but neither one of them wanted to acknowledge that fact out loud. He leaned closer so he could look over the rest of the file and Chloe couldn't help but take a strong breath full of his aftershave. "No lyrical talent to speak of, but we can work with that."
Brady nodded absently, trying to rid his nostrils of the jasmine shampoo that she still used. "Is she supposed to be at the Merger Gala?" He leaned back only to find the scent followed him.
"Head to toe Hilfiger if what her publicist says is true." The annoyance of artists and their labels was thick in Chloe's voice, and she had to stop herself before she knew Brady would remind her that she only tolerate wearing his sister's creations when it came to her own wardrobe for parties and award shows. "Apparently she's trying to wriggle some studio time out of her brother."
"And Ames?"
"Vying for my attention." Chloe took a sip of her drink and allowed a playful smile to come over her face. Ames Gruber, while a hopeless flirt, was the least of her worries on this trip. "He wants me to sit in on a demo sessions."
Brady cocked an eyebrow at her and tried not to frown. "You don't produce." It was more of a statement than a question, and he still didn't know why Chloe would be wanted in the studio.
She set her mug down and pretended to be offended. "I used to record." She reminded him needlessly. "I know the ropes."
One of the couch cushions landed next to Brady's foot, and when he arched his neck, he honestly wasn't able to figure out which one it had come from. "Could you two please shut up?" Thick with sleep, the voice could have belonged to either brother shouted over the expanse of the room.
"We're trying to sleep." That one was Phillip; burying his face into the only pillow he had left.
Brady took Chloe's hand and pulled her up off of the floor. He didn't speak, choosing instead to nod his head in the direction of the back of the plane, before pulling her in the same direction
Once the door was shut, Chloe shook her head. "Tell me again why your father has a sleeping compartment on his personal jet." She asked after another second. John's was the only one that had it, Brady – and Nicole's – containing a couch that pulled out to a queen bed, and Phillip's had yet to be renovated in since it was handed down to him.
Brady laughed when she wrinkled her nose. "Even I don't like thinking of that." He quipped, launching himself onto the bed and giving it a good bounce. "My step-brothers have reminded me that sleep doesn't come easily to the over-worked." He fluffed the pillow behind his head and then nodded back to her. "I know I'm tired, and I'm willing to bet that you didn't sleep at all last night..." He let the tail end of his sentence fall off as Chloe just stared at him. "Come get some sleep."
"Not in that bed." Chloe sighed. "And not with you."
"Because the floor in the other room is going to be more comfortable? Or were you planning on sleeping in one of the chairs?" He cocked an eyebrow and then when Chloe scoffed he rolled completely to what was once his side of the bed. He patted what would have been hers and smiled. "Come on." Brady sighed. "Truce? We can go back to being angry and defensive on the way home."
She said nothing as she kicked off her slides and climbed onto the mattress.
They had slept through both breakfast and lunch, not even waking when the brothers checked in to find them curled together above the covers. Phillip laughed it off; claiming that Chloe was just a cuddle kind of person, but Rex couldn't shake the feeling that that wasn't going to be an ordinary business trip.
Local time read six thirty-two when the Leer set down, and Phil had woken up the two with a laugh and the threat of cold water. It was juvenile, yes, but he wasn't about to come between them. His wife was already going to kill him when he told her about the pair falling asleep, just for the fact that Rex's camera was under the plane, and he had left his phone in the front of the plane. If he told a story like that with no hard proof, Belle was going to skin him alive.
Her phone buzzed just as she was sliding back into her shoes, and Brady checked the number for her out of habit. When he drew back, more than slightly confused, Chloe checked the phone herself. "Shawn." She said solemnly, wishing that Brady would just back up. "He's wondering why I haven't called yet."
Brady watched as she picked up her laptop bag. "Exactly what kind of thing have you got going on with the Deputy?" He asked as she took her first step off of the plane. If she didn't know any better, Chloe would have sworn there was a hint of jealously in his voice.
"What kind of thing do you think?" Chloe flashed him a sweet smile and went back to checking her messages. "Married men make the best lovers. Just ask your sister." When she watched Brady's step falter, she realized that she had been a little louder than she intended.
"Cheap shot." Brady accused. "Tink's not even here to defend herself."
Chloe and Rex shared a look and then Chloe laughed. "She wouldn't if she was here, and you know it." She countered, hooking her hands together and stretching her arms over her head.
"What I want to know is why you two can be civil to each other as long as there are no witnesses?" The older brother stepped back to fall into line with Brady and Chloe and raised an eyebrow at them both. He didn't understand them \, and from everything he had heard, it was quite possible that he never would.
Chloe bumped him with her laptop bag and moved up behind Phillip. "We're nothing without a little mystery." She winked at him, then Brady and turned to her ex-boyfriend without a second thought.
"Can we stop with the mystery?" Phillip's phone call to his mother had not been what he had expected, and he hoped that they could pull it together long enough for him to wrap his brain around it. She had been able to tell that he wasn't telling her everything about their prep on the plane, or lack there of, and she hadn't been too happy about it. "This car isn't going to wait forever."
They slid in, Rex and Phillip taking seats on each of the side couches, leaving Brady and Chloe the back seat to share. "Scoot over." She ordered with a whine, trying to get him to give her more legroom.
"Scoot over" Brady mocked her gently, pushing against her and then laughing when she pushed back.
"Jesus! You two." Phillip would have thrown his phone if he weren't trying to check his messages as they rode. "You're perfectly fine on the plane, but the second you're in public, you flip from Jekyll to Hyde."
At the same time, both adults seemed to digress. "No we don't!" They shouted in unison.
"No, they don't." Rex agreed. "They just drop a couple hundred IQ points a piece."
Again they were heard in surround sound. "Do not!"
Brady pushed against Chloe one final time before settling in and smirking wildly. "She's breathing my air." He pouted to Rex, trying his hardest to keep a straight face, even when she popped her knuckles into his chest. Her hand collided with his chain and he didn't have to explain what it was. "She just hit me!"
"He deserved it." Chloe argued.
"Children!" Phillip snapped again, wishing that he had the mind to pack duck tape and rope when he had been told that he was now flying with both Brady and Chloe. "Joy and Zack are better behaved than this!"
Brady shrugged and reached into the wet bar. "Most likely." He decided, popping the top on a juice bottle before handing it to Chloe.
She took it from his hand and smiled at the two men in front of them. "Thank you." She said carefully, making sure not to let her hand touch Brady's.
"According to Mom, with the last minute change, they were only able to book three executive suites." The second Rex had said it; Phillip wished he had waited until they had gotten out of the car. They had, after all, just gotten Chloe and Brady to stop picking at each other. There was the option that one of them could get a separate suite, but they ran the risk of being father away, and it was possible the room would go unused.
"I'm going on record right now and saying that I'm not sharing a room with any of you." Chloe took the final sip of her juice and threw it in the trashcan.
Brady threw her a confident smile. "Too bad you couldn't fit Lockhart in your carry on." He threw out casually.
For a split second, Chloe was wondering if she had been imagining their truce earlier. "Did we remember to chain up the dog before we left the mansion this morning?" She asked in the most pleasant tone she could find. Then she turned to her ex and his brother and laughed before looking back to Brady. "And make sure you call Henderson and remind him to feed her or the bitch'll starve."
"That is enough!" Phillip shouted, finally closing his phone and deciding that the next time his mother sent him on a trip with Brady and Chloe, be was going to conveniently be needed on another continent. "Rex and I can share a suite." He decided, not bothering to actually confirm it with his brother. "Can you and Brady just pretend that you're semi-functional adults while we're here? Please?"
Once again, almost synchronized, they looked at him with the same childish expression. "Yes sir."
The limo pulled to a stop and Brady was the first one out, grabbing hold of Chloe's carry on bag and hoisting it up onto his shoulder with his own.
Chloe beamed back at him and then winked at Rex. "Thank you, kind sir." She joked sweetly.
"Now they're doing this just to drive us crazy, you know that right?" Rex picked up Chloe's suitcase and watched Phillip laugh as he closed the limo door.
"You get used to it." The younger man said, watching Brady hold the door open for his ex. They truly were a pair. The question was a pair of what?
Rex wasn't convinced. "Really?" He asked, watching Brady and Chloe fall easily into step beside each other. "How long did it take you?"
"Seven years."
He wasn't sure whether or not his brother had been joking. "That's hopeful."
This was going to be a long five days.
Phillip checked them in while Chloe supervised the unloading of their luggage from the limo. He distributed the amenities packets first, on their way to the elevator, double-checking room numbers. Then Rex got the second key to the room in the middle of the three. Brady and Chloe could decide which of the remaining rooms belonged to whom. The elevator was quiet, almost alarmingly so. Even the poor bellhop didn't seem to know what to do with himself. Phillip wondered how long it would stay that way. He had never known Brady and Chloe to leave each other alone for this long. No, he corrected, searching his pockets for his cell, there had been a time when they both pretended the other didn't exist.
Chloe couldn't help the smile when she realized that Phillip was distracted. She slid one of the room keys our of the hand that wasn't patting himself down, and opened the door to the room, not even bothering to hold the door open for anyone else. Bags dropped onto the floor just inside the door, and Rex used what little French he remembered to tell the bellhop to just leave the cart in the living area. The boy looked confused for a moment, but with the hundred-dollar tip that Brady handed over, he didn't ask questions.
Rex pounced onto the couch, looking up at his traveling companions expectantly as Phillip unloaded his laptop bag on the side table and Chloe and Brady seemed to follow a ten-foot rule, Chloe taking her stuff into the bedroom and Brady checking out the mini bar. "Okay." Rex broke the silence, checking his watch and reminding himself to call his wife later. "Seven o'clock in a foreign city?"
Chloe exited the bedroom and checked her own watch. It was barely noon in Salem, and she had already let Shawn know that she had made it. As long as she called Joy before bed, she should be all right. "I vote for room service and an old fashion cram session." She nodded to the briefcases on the cart and sighed. "We have to be at the top of our game here boys."
"Hate to say it." Brady popped the top on a can of soda and smiled. "But she's right."
"Of course I'm right." She shot back at him.
Phillip quenched the argument before it started. "Room service. Check." He held up the phone and started punching in the code to be connected to the concierge. "What does everyone want?"
Brady spared a look at his ex before smirking "Pancakes." He shouted, "And don't' you dare let them skimp on the fixin's."
Chloe shook her head. "BLT; with turkey bacon" couldn't help but chuckle at the picture they made, standing ten feet apart but looking like they were going to jump each other at any moment. He wished he knew the secret on how to keep the tension that high. He would make a killing.
"Seven years huh?" Rex watched his brother nod carefully and shook his head. "I'll take whatever you're having." He decided at last.
Phillip nodded and made the order, taking a moment when the concierge confirmed the room number. "Wait. Who's room is this?" He watched Rex shake his head before deciding that it didn't really matter anyway. Basic Black would be billed regardless, and their secretaries could play detail roulette later.
"Chloe's." Brady announced, not bothering to remind everyone that she had already started unpacking everything and her shower bag was most likely already in the bathroom. "And I'll bet money that this is the most action it sees all week."
Chloe growled and threw a pillow at him, digressing for the sake of digressing. "I'm the only single one in the room, Black." She reminded him with shake of her head. "I would watch what you say to me."
"And what will the threat be this time, darling?" Brady didn't seem to overly concerned with the fact that she just might bring a guy back to her room just to tick him off. "Shaving cream?" He asked with a grin. "Or are we graduating to actual pranks?" When Chloe didn't answer he sauntered closer to her. "You can't get my room key anymore."
She grinned to herself, readjusting the tank under her plaid shirt before removing the plaid all together. "I'm only certain that I can find a perfectly nice maid around here somewhere," She wrapped her arms around his waist and brought her face terribly close to his. "One that doesn't read English tabloids and would be more than happy to believe that future Mrs. Black flew all the way here just to surprise her fiancé…"
Rex watched in awe as Brady tried to pretend he wasn't sputtering. "She's just cruel."
"She's had practice." Phillip quipped, dropping the phone back to its cradle and smiling at the pair. There was a reason they worked so well together. "Just thank God, Nephew, that she's not threatening rats or super glue conditioner."
Her cheeks flushed, forcing Chloe to let go of Brady and drop to a chair before the giggles forced her to give up standing. She took in a deep breath as Brady just chuckled along with Phillip. "I completely forgot about that!" When she was finally able to breathe normally, she looked up. "And it was shampoo by the way."
"Who did she?" Rex was more than confused and Chloe's giggles erupted again. "The way she's laughing I'm gonna have to guess Mimi?"
"You'd be right." Brady took in a breath and couldn't get the grin off of his face. It only served to remind him of the woman she had become. Chloe Lane, president would be more creative than Chloe Lane, high school girl.
Rex joined the rest of the room in another fit of laughter. "Do I want to ask?"
Phillip scooted onto the couch with his brother. "Well Meems did deserve it." He told his brother carefully, not bothering to mention the pictures on the school projector or the blood. To everyone else it seemed like another life, there was no reason to bring up the pain now. "She picked the fight with 'Ghoul Girl.'"
He didn't realize what he had said before Chloe's hand connected to the back of his head. "Don't call me that." She deadpanned, and he threw her an apologetic smile.
"That table going to be big enough?" Phillip asked as he looked to the dining table on the other side of the room. They could fit all four of them at the table, but with their laptops and paperwork, it could get a little tight.
"Should be." Chloe agreed, moving her laptop over to it and choosing her seat. "But can someone bring the coffee table closer though, just in case." When they all looked at her she shrugged. "The Black Ego has got to show up eventually."
"I'm not gonna last seven days." Rex decided, realizing that his brother had neglected to mention that Brady and Chloe verbally spar was an eccentric form of psychological foreplay.
"Why do you think I moved out?" Brady cracked, pulling a chair up to the makeshift conference table. He missed the hurt that flashed across Chloe's face, and he wasn't looking for the roll of her shoulders or the way her head dropped forward.
She growled in frustration and slammed her portfolio onto the table. "Go to hell." Without so much of a glance at the other two, she stormed into the bedroom. The slamming of the door knocked a picture off of the wall.
Brady didn't curse until he realized just what had come out of his mouth to promote Chloe's outburst. From his seat on the larger couch, Rex just blinked. "That was different." He coughed.
"Yeah." Brady restacked the papers that Chloe had accidentally knocked off the table. "I'll be right back." He tapped lightly with his knuckles, knowing that she would hear him.
"Go Away!"
He didn't look at his uncle before opening the door. "I'm sorry." He said slowly, shutting the door behind him.
"I thought I told you to go away?" She snapped, not turning from her seat on the bed.
Brady sat himself on the edge of the bed and sighed. "Yeah well, I chose to ignore you." His lips curled up when she readjusted her hair. "Not a new a thing."
She scooted away fully aware of the fact that his hand was inching to her back. "True" She decided.
Another minute of silence before Brady decided that he couldn't do this. He couldn't carry on any kind of conversation with the back of her head. Rather than asking her to turn around though, Brady simply picked her up and spun her in his arms, feeling her tense. "Chlo." He started, finding her eyes in the darkness. "I'm sorry." When she looked down, he physically raised her chin again. "I want to start this truce over. Fresh. No Patrick Lockhart, no more cracks on Nicole. Please?"
She was sitting in his lap. It was the only real thought that she had in her head at that moment. Brady had turned her around, and now she was sitting in his lap. The comfortable position unnerved her more than she wanted to admit. "Can I still make fun of you?" She asked with a smile. Brady laughed and nodded. "Then deal."
Brady pushed himself from the bed and held out a hand to her. "Come on." He whispered softly, far too sweetly for Chloe's taste. "I'll let you eat all of my blueberries."
"Strawberries." Chloe corrected, allowing him to pull her into a mock hug.
"Let's not get greedy now." He laughed as he opened the door and let her be the first to step out. One look to the tables and he realized that Rex was more confused now than ever before.
But Chloe hadn't noticed. "Creep." She snapped back, allowing him to pull her to the room service tray.
Their first presentation went well the next morning. Rex joked that it was far tamer than anything to ever come out of a Basic Black boardroom. Then again, all of the essential personal for Basic Black and the Black Label were family, therefore arguments and downright shouting matches were considered normal. It actually wasn't considered a good meeting if someone didn't get a pen or cell phone launched at their heads at least once. The last one they had attended, Phillip had brought popcorn.
Chloe had pushed the right agenda, playing the typical bad cop to Brady's good. No one really paid attention to the other two. They were there as back up, or babysitters for the pair that was a completely composed super couple, if the occasion called for it. They confirmed their ballet reservations for that evening, and Chloe made sure that she had already set a time for their boutique tour negotiated for the next day.
As they all poured themselves back in to Chloe's room, they were a bottle of wine and a phone call closer to telling John and Kate that they had sealed the deal. There was another meet and greet on Thursday, but they had survived the truly business portion of the trip.
"I am exhausted." Rex laughed, dropping himself onto the couch and kicking his shoes across the room. They landed with a thud somewhere between his brother and the door and he laughed when Brady tripped over them.
"You're exhausted?" Chloe asked with a frown, throwing herself over him on the couch and laughing when he rolled onto the floor trying to get out from underneath of her. "And what exactly did you do to deserve the right to be exhausted?"
Phillip could see where this was heading. "I was in the room thank you very much."
"While Chlo and I did all the work." He handed Chloe a drink and then Brady sat himself on the arm of the couch. Their arms touched and Brady shook his head. "I swear I thought you'd fallen asleep standing up."
"He's not that talented." Chloe sighed, laying herself across the couch fully and propping her feet on the arm farthest away from Brady. "And besides, it's not he was sent here to be any help in the boardroom."
Rex clutched his chest and stumbled back to another chair. "That hurt, Chloe. It really did."
"There's some ice in the fridge if you need something for that burn." Phillip pointed in the direction of the kitchenette, marveling at how wound up Chloe still seemed to be. While it was true that the stakes were high, by the end of this week, the Black Label could own a sizable subsidiary; there was no reason for her to be worried about it now. The meeting had been flawless.
Brady watched Chloe as she closed her eyes, not thinking twice about wrinkling her pantsuit as she curled into a ball and took a deep breath in and a deep breath out. "So what do we do with ourselves for the rest of the afternoon?" He asked with interest, watching as all three people in the hotel room with him opened their eyes to look at him.
"Anyone been to Euro Disney?" Rex shrugged.
"You want to go to Disney World?" If her voice weren't the least but skeptic, Brady would have asked her if she was okay. She pulled herself to a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. Chloe was going to need a nap soon if she were going to make it the rest of the day. If she were back in Salem, her office door would be locked as she proved yet again why the leather couch in her office was so big. Not many people knew that once upon a time both she and Brady had been able to fit on it. "Rex my dear, I think you have passed the 'little bit weird' stage your family seems to go through."
"I'm not weird anymore?" Rex asked hopefully, perching himself on a chair.
"I never said that." She countered; leaning against the arm of the couch Brady was perched on to try to get her bearings. The more she thought about it, she really should call Joy and tell her to have a good morning at school. She was only sure that the little girl would want to talk to Brady. He was in the shower when Chloe had called the house the night before, and Joy had been crushed that he couldn't make it to the phone. Belle made her promise that the next time she called, the older man had to be available to talk to the girl. "I think I should call home." Chloe said to the room, more to Brady than anyone else. "Joy has that spelling test in school, and I think Belle's regretting her enthusiasm to stay with the kid; Shawn's about to send her home."
"Which list?" Brady asked seriously, trying to recall what words were on this week's spelling list, and whether or not he was supposed to have known about it.
"'F' words." Chloe rolled to her briefcase and pulled out her copy of the spelling list and handed it to Brady. "She's fine with most of them, but you know Joy and tests." She shrugged as she pulled her phone out of the holster. She dialed through the string of numbers and laughed when Belle answered the phone one the first ring. "Hey!" She said into the phone, smiling at the look that she received from both of her exes. "Is Joy gone yet?"
Belle mumbled something incoherent and shouted for the young Wesley. When Joy bounced to the phone, Chloe heard Belle asking for Joy's shoes before the girl actually put the receiver to her ear. "Hello?"
"Hey honey."
"Mommy!" Joy shouted so loud that Chloe pulled the phone from her ear and everyone in the room could hear her. "I didn't know you were gonna call."
She leaned against Brady again, not too sure if she was doing it on purpose and laughed. "That's why they call it a surprise." She laughed. "And I'm not going to keep you long, I just wanted to tell you that I love you and I hope you do well on your test. If you ace it, Shawn has been authorized to take you and Aunt Belle for ice cream."
There was another shout and Joy laughed. "I'll do my bestest I promise."
"Your best." Chloe corrected, understanding that the child was excited. "Do you want to talk to Brady?"
Chloe held the phone from her ear so Brady could hear Joy scream and then handed him her phone. "Hello there, Monster." Brady started, "I'm sorry that I was the shower last night when your mom called. I wanted to hear about your day."
He had become a different person just by putting the phone to his ear. Everyone in the room could see the man he used to be, before the accident and before Victor's death. Subconsciously he toyed with the chain around his neck as he just sat there and listened to the way Joy went on and on about the park that Belle and Shawn took her to the day before. Apparently Shawn had even picked up his brother from school as well and they were allowed to wear themselves out. When she mentioned that her skates were tight, Brady made a mental note that she needed new ones.
He scribbled a note on the pad by the phone, handing it to Chloe just for her to glower at him. Of course he would have started a list of things to get her just from five minutes on the phone. Brady Black was worse than Belle when it came to buying gifts for Joy. He was the reason that the unfinished room upstairs in her house was Joy's playroom. They didn't have anywhere else to put her stuff.
"I'm glad that you're having fun with Aunt Belle." He told her sincerely, watching Chloe roll her eyes at him. She had been right five years ago when they had first moved the child into their home, just like her older sister, Joy had Brady wrapped around her little finger. "You ready for your test?" He could hear his sister in the background, trying to get Joy ready for school, a difficult task all on its own. "Sounds like Uncle Shawn will be there soon, honey." He interrupted her newest tale about her teacher with a smile. "I'll let you go so you can get to school and ace that test." She was chattering away again, trying to convince Brady that she still had time to talk. "I love you Monster." He cut her off. "Your mom and I both love you very much."
"I love you too Daddy." Joy said sweetly, and for a moment in the little girl's life everything was okay. "And I love Mommy." She added quickly.
Brady laughed and looked across the room where Chloe was currently pouring herself yet another mug of coffee. "I'll pass the message along." Brady told the kid. There was another whisper and Brady laughed. "You got it kid. Bye." He hit the end button and then laid the phone back on the coffee table, face down. Before she could sit back up. His lips pressed to cheek gently, and when Chloe jerked back he shifted himself back into his seat.
"The Hell was that?" Chloe snapped, resisting the urge to slap him.
"Joy told me to kiss you for her." He said matter-of-factly, seemingly nonplussed at the fact that he felt like he had just stuck his tongue to a car battery.
She shook her head and almost vaulted off of the couch, heading for the arm of the chair that Phillip was sitting in. "Do it again and they'll have to drag the Seine to find your body." She threatened, wiping her face with the back of her hand.
"Not a problem Diva." Brady said slowly, touching his own lips with the tips of his fingers and pretending to follow her actions.
Phillip leaned away from Chloe and shot a look to his brother. "One of us should probably call for a paramedic." He suggested, slouching into his seat and watching Chloe seethe.
There was a knock at the suite door, and Chloe looked around the room, slightly confused before standing and heading over to it. It wasn't a bellhop at the door, but a teen wearing a printed tee with the same of a French florist on the front. He handed Chloe an embarrassing display of wild orchids that really didn't belong in Paris and turned to run from the hallway. She stood there for a long minute, just staring at the vase in her hands. Without blinking, Chloe backed back into the room and raised an eyebrow at the men around her.
"Whichever one of you did this should sleep with one eye open." She decided, moving to set the bundle on the table and actually look at it.
It was an impressive display. Something that she knew someone had spent money on. There were more than enough beautiful red roses; offset by white and purple orchids that she could tell hadn't been dyed. The roses hadn't been dethorned, and she smiled when she looked at the way they were situated around one single calla lily.
It took her a minute to find the card buried in the flora. It was a single white envelope, with her name written in a masculine hand. Throwing one last look to the guys, who now seemed to be hiding behind the couch spying on her, and she slid a nail underneath the seal, pulling it apart and smiling at the plain piece of card paper.
Phillip stared at her as she mouthed the words when she read it. Then her smile just got wider, and she just continued to stare. "What's it say?" He asked carefully, watching the smile just get larger when she realized that she had an audience.
"Other men have seen angels. But I have seen thee. And thou art enough."
"Cute." Rex said after a moment, noticing that the grin on Chloe's face was reversed by the scowl on Brady's. It had now become completely obvious that the display and the card didn't come from anyone in the room. "Who's it from?"
Chloe set the card on the table and leaned to sniff the lily. It was sweet, fresh, and she shook her head. "Patrick." She said after a moment. "I can't remember the last time anyone sent me flowers."
Phillip watched him bite his lip. The way Brady was sitting, the younger man would have sworn he had drawn blood. Brady's arms were crossed in front of his chest and the patented Black glower was creasing his brow. Phillip wished he were vicious enough to point out that Brady was not happy with the most recent development in Chloe's life. The poor man was downright jealous. And it was a terrible shade of green.
"Last week." Brady almost snapped. "Dad sent you some for handling the acquisition papers." He stood and wandered over to the table, trying to get the thought of someone sending Chloe flowers out of his head. Yes, they obviously made her happy, but he was supposed to be the only one to know about the meaning behind that particular arrangement. As he turned back to the vase he realized that there was only one person who could have shared that little piece of information with Lockhart.
When they returned to Salem, Shawn Brady was a dead man.
"They're nice." Brady commented off handedly, trying not to give Chloe a chance to coo about how wonderful Lockhart was. The poor ISA agent probably didn't even realize what Shawn had instructed him to send. What kind of agent knows the meaning on flowers anyway? "They're not going to survive the trip back to Salem." He tried to tell her.
"Are you threatening my flowers?" Chloe crossed her arms and stood straight and tall. "Because you lay one hand on the smallest thorn and I swear Brady Black you will regret even stepping foot in this suite."
Phillip watched Brady open and close his mouth in his best fish impression. "I'd say our Chloe officially has a suitor."
"I'm not sure I qualify as 'your' anything Phil." Chloe said with a smirk.
The man just smiled. "You and I have almost had sex how many times now. And I don't even want to think about the positions that I've found you and my nephew over there in." Phillip laughed. "The only person in this family that hasn't seen you naked yet is Rex, and Meems would murder the both of you." When Chloe blushed, Phillip laughed. "Face it Chloe, you're ours."
"Be that as it may," Chloe turned and looked at her arrangement again. "They're beautiful and I can't think of anyone I would rather be courted by." She threw a pointed look at her exes and then shook her head. "I have a thank you call to make." She turned on her heel and did her very best expression of Belle. "Excuse me."
"There's a punching bag in the gym." Phillip suggested helpfully. Chloe had gone into the bedroom of the suite and he had been left alone with his brother and nephew. "I'm sure we can find a picture of Lockhart to tape to it if it'll make you feel better."
Brady just stood there. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He said carefully, his jaw clenching in a way that Phillip hadn't seen in quite sometime. "I'm going to call my office." He decided, striding from the room.
"You'd think he would learn to lie better." Phillip stood and made his way to the counter, fully intending to pour himself some coffee. "Five bucks says this isn't the last we hear from him about her flowers."
Rex listened to the sound of Chloe giggling in the bedroom. "You're on."
Shawn Douglas hadn't taken three steps into Chloe's home after dropping off Joy at school before he heard a squeal in the kitchen. "Oh my God!" When he finally walked into the room, Belle was literally hopping up and down. "That is so sweet." She finally noticed her ex and smiled. "Shawn guess who got flowers in Paris?"
"If you're about to say Brady I'm gonna laugh." He told her, watching her pout. He was supposed to make an actual guess. "I'm going to go with Chloe." He decided at last, watching the grin on Belle's face spread again. "What did Patrick send her?" He asked after a second, watching the frown spread on Belle's face. He had just told her too much. There was no way he could deny knowing about it before the fact now. "When you're done squealing in Chlo's ear I want to talk to her." He said at last, turning and leaving the room.
"He knew who they came from." Belle gushed. "I wonder if he helped Patrick pick out the perfect arrangement." He didn't catch what Chloe had said, but Belle stopped laughing. "I don't think that's what he was thinking." She told her friend carefully. "Hold on." She wandered into the bedroom and held the cordless out to him. "She wants to yell at you."
He looked at the phone a minute, trying to decide the best way to placate her. Belle had already told her that he knew about he arrangement. The biggest question was whether or not he should fess up to giving Patrick the name of the florist Brady used to use. Was it his fault that the florist suggested the same arrangement that Brady Black had taken a fondness of sending?
Sighing, Shawn gave in and put it to his ear. "Yes Ma'am?" He asked with a twitch of his upper lip. "How may I service you?"
"Being cute is not going to get you out of trouble." Chloe snapped.
"I gave him the number to the florist and I told him that they know you there." He tried to keep to the truth, and not deny anything. He neglected to mention to Chloe that he suggested that Patrick ask for a recommendation from a specific florist. She didn't need to know that.
Chloe wished she could slap him through the phone. "Did you recommend Donna?" She snapped. "Did you tell him that Brady used to use Donna to send me flowers?"
"I didn't think that he needed that bit of information." Shawn said carefully, mentally noting that it was the second question that he was answering. "And I think you should calm the hell down." He listened to her breath and shook his head. "The man sent you flowers - very expensive flowers by the way. I think that you should accept the flattery and get off my back because I sent him to a florist that Brady doesn't even use anymore." She sighed again and Shawn laughed. "What did the card say?"
"Other men have seen angels. But I have seen thee. And thou art enough."
There was a pause and then Shawn laughed. "Moore," he told her. "Not bad. Did you thank him"
"Called him before you." She nodded.
"I'm handing you back to Belle now." He waited as if trying to hear her protest. "Try to have a good trip." Belle snatched the phone from his hand and almost ran back into the kitchen.
He sat there for a moment, staring at the ceiling of Chloe's bedroom and for a second he actually allowed himself to think that Chloe would finally be all right.
Not that he would ever admit it to anyone, but he had watched her. From the moment she returned to Brady's life until it all fell apart, Shawn had seen the way she handled things. With a laugh and a smile, Chloe had dove into motherhood when her parents died, taking joy in her little sister's happiness and almost erasing the pain. He had watched them become a family, with Brady more than happy to be the father that Joy didn't have anymore and remain the kind and caring lover to Chloe.
Victor had spoken quite a bit about the family they made. He had even tried to talk Brady into having a lavish wedding, just so the old man could be assured that he had finally found everything that had been lost when his mother died. Shawn still finds it ironic that Brady didn't take him up on the offer. Brady blamed it on Chloe though; she had her hands full with Joy and just didn't have time to dive in to the planning of a wedding. And the more that Belle would have gotten involved, the less likely it would have been what Chloe wanted. Shawn loved the younger Black dearly, sometimes he would even tell her that, but the woman could take a simple thank you card and turn it into a party. That wasn't what Chloe would have wanted.
Then it all crumbled.
Victor died in August of 2006 and again Shawn watched as Chloe tried to keep it together. She planned the funeral, almost entirely by herself, handled the New York estate lawyer that Victor had hired to handle the major affairs, and managed to keep a firm handle on Brady's grief. Not that it helped. Brady pulled from her faster and harder than anyone realized. Chloe began spending more time with him and Zack while Brady was drowning in his work. He took on half of Nicole's workload from Titan, insisting that his grandfather's company would be all right.
Again Shawn watched.
Brady wasn't around at all for Chloe in the last three months of their relationship. He spent his mornings at Basic Black, and then he was holed up in a makeshift office in the Titan building at night. He had to give her credit though; Chloe took it all in stride. She sent him dinner every night, from a different restaurant or begging Phillip or Belle to take it to him. She never did step foot in the building any time there was a possibility of her running in to Nicole. Chloe also had fresh clothes for him, making sure that he was always taken care of. Even when Joy had gotten the flu she had stayed up all night, taking care of the work that John had told her she shouldn't be doing and taking extra care to keep the house clean to keep Brady from getting sick as well.
It broke his heart when Shawn finally realized that it was going to end. Chloe had tried so hard to keep it together. She had almost literally bent over backwards to keep Brady happy and not bothering with herself.
He slid down the bed onto the floor, and frowned when he realized that he was in the exact same spot that he had found Chloe in that night.
It never occurred to him until now that he still hadn't been given a recap of exactly what had happened that night. Chloe told him what she could, between chokes and sobs, but it had never been explained exactly how it had come to the point where Brady walked out and Chloe turned into the woman she was. She even kept the room looking exactly the same. Shawn couldn't help but to question why.
Then he looked across the room, to the door that was positioned near the master bathroom. Beside it was a wall hanging behind an intricately carved chest of drawers what Chloe had gotten out of Victor's. He laughed then; just at the fact that he had never thought that Chloe could actually do it. There was a door behind the hanging; a closet door that led to all of the things Brady had forgotten when he left. Books, clothes, everything in that room were just how it was when his cousin had said good-bye to the future he always wanted. And Chloe boarded it up and tucked it away.
Belle giggled from the kitchen, squealing at something Chloe had said, and Shawn finally pulled himself off of the floor. It still unnerved him that he could still smell the strawberry candles, and somehow, when he was in the room alone he could hear Chloe's sobs.
The steady hum of the overhead lights provided just enough of a beat for Brady to tap out into his head as he abused the punching bag. One hand and then the other, the man didn't let up as he beat his frustration into submission. He just kept asking himself the same question, trying to get an answer that kept him from flying home and beating the hell out of his cousin, and then taking the rest of his aggression out on ISA agent Lockhart.
What did it matter to him?
If Chloe was happy, that was really all he could ask for. He left her. Chloe deserved every right to find the happiness that she deserved. And if she found it with someone else, what did it matter to him? He was getting married anyway.
But the little nagging voice in the back of his mind that reminded him far too much of his grandfather wouldn't leave him alone. Patrick sent Chloe flowers. Patrick had ordered the same arrangement that Brady himself used to send her for no reason at all. This translated into Shawn helping Patrick. Shawn was helping another man take Chloe away from him.
His fist slammed into the bag with fervor and Brady focused not on the thoughts, but his actions. Chloe wasn't his anymore. He was marrying Nicole.
Brady sighed, shaking his head and hammering out a new rhythm.
He was getting married. In three months he was marrying Nicole at St. Luke's in front of God and three hundred of his nearest and dearest family friends and business associates
So why did his mind keep going back to the fact that Chloe got flowers?