(19) Windy City

The next morning, the four sat through an unbearably tense breakfast. Shawn and Brady did their best to lighten the mood. Chloe and Belle only miffed in response. Afterwards, they strolled in a park near the lake. Brady gestured to Shawn to leave the two girls alone. Shawn gave him a chin up and the two meandered to a nearby park bench. Belle and Chloe found their way towards their inevitable shouting match. Lakeside shouting match…

Ignoring the drama in front of them, Shawn and Brady marveled the frosty scenery amidst the unusually sunny sky. Shawn entertained himself with his visible breath in the frigid air.
He leaned back comfortably, “So did you guy’s have a good time last night?”
Brady nodded at the memory, “Oh yeah, it was crazy as hell. Eric is living it up for real. It was great just having the three of us hang out again.”
“That’s cool.”
“What about you?”
“You’re looking at it.”
“That bad huh?”
“Ehh, sorta. It was pretty hilarious actually. Belle had a bug up her ass to go shopping. Jason and Chloe bailed on us, so she and I just went. We came back early and the room was totally deserted. Bottle of wine opened, two emptied glasses, bed worn in. So Belle knocks on the bathroom door and Chloe’s like ‘be there in a minute,’”
“Then what?”
“You should have seen it. I mean, could she have been more obvious? She comes out of the bathroom just tore up. Hair a total mess, wearing Jason’s SHIRT. She couldn’t even look at us. It was like she made it worse.” Shawn stopped to laugh, “Then freaking Wells comes out a minute later without a shirt on. He’s all nonchalant, like ‘Yo what’s up?’ He acted like nothing happened. I was about to crack up for real, but then Belle started freaking out.”
“Bad?”
“Oh yeah. Jason’s giving me that “Fuck it, I just hit it, who cares,” look. All I could think was how cool he was to be screwing her in the bathroom. Blah blah blah.”
Brady laughed heartily, “I can totally see Jason doing that too.”
“You know how he is. But still, I got to admit they even threw me for a loop. It’s kind of jacked up for Philip.”
“Are they still together?”
“I guess not. Apparently she broke up with him. But it’s no big deal. Philip’s pretty resilient.”
“I don’t know man, he seemed pretty hung up on her.”
“He was. But Phil’s a true Kiriakis. He won’t let anyone make a fool out of him.”
“True.”
Shawn pointed to the arguing duo, “Dang, they’re really going at it.”
“Last night, Belle admitted she’s on the rag, so I’m sure this could go on forever... She’s stubborn, but she’s not that bad. She’s got about a four, maybe five hour recovery time.”
“I’d give it 6 hours if you include the condition,” Brady retorted.
Shawn crossed his legs, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Brady narrowed his eyes and scratched his chin, “That Chloe, she’s a different cat. She actually stands up to Belle. She’s nothing like Mimi, who blubbers away, giving in to Belle every time. Hell, Chloe’s even feistier.”
Shawn laughed in agreement “Yes, she is sometimes.”

Brady changed the subject to an unexpected, “So are you screwing my sister or what?”
Shawn shifted nervously, and in his most confident voice said, “No Brady, not yet. I’m working on it.”
“I don’t think so,” Brady replied in a protective manner.
“Oh come on Brady. Would you rather it be me, or some asshole stranger?”
“Neither,” he replied unwaveringly.
“It’s possible, but highly unlikely.”
“I prefer the latter. But given the reliance of human nature, I’ll say this… If you’re going to have sex, fine, but if she ends up knocked up. I’ll kill you. That’s my little sister. You give her the utmost respect.”
“That’s great Brady. Thanks for the heads up.”
“And since we had this conversation, I’m going to check up on you periodically to see if they’re a condom in your wallet.”
“Already taken care of.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yep. We got ribbed, ultra think, glow in the dark, and with spermicide”
“You sick f---!”
“Doesn’t matter anyway, because this arctic climate had pretty much rendered my balls useless.”
“True that, true that.”
“This is ridiculous!” Shawn cupped his hands over his mouth, “Belle! Kiss and make up already! I’m about to freeze my nuts off.”
********
Later that day while Eric and Brady left to buy film and Shawn and Belle were napping, Chloe dialed the Ambassador. “Room 1533 please.” Matt answered the phone, then after a little teasing, handed the phone to Jason. Chloe heard a fumbling sound, then his voice echoing, “Hey Chloe. What’s up? I didn’t think I’d hear from you.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in our special place… Matt and my dad are just outside the door,” he said in a hushed voice.
“If it’s a bad time to call, then I can let you go.”
Jason took a seat the step where he removed Chloe’s jeans less than twenty- four hours ago. “No, it’s ok, really it is. I like hearing your voice.”
“So what’s up? What are you guys doing today?”
“Right now were just being bums, but we’re about to go out soon. When are you guys leaving?”
“Tomorrow morning I guess.”
“Same with us. So can I see you again or what?”
“I don’t know Jason.”
“I made you uncomfortable, didn’t I?”
“Jason no, it’s not that. After all, I’m the one that started it.” She shrugged to herself, “It’s just unexpected that’s all. I’m very …attracted to you.” Very SEXUALLY attracted, she told herself.
“I hear you, same here.”
Plagued with doubt, Chloe sighed and mumbled “I don’t know, I don’t…know”
There was a brief silence as Jason sensed her confusion “We’ll take it as slow as you want to. Last night was just a glimpse of what could be.”
Chloe smiled and covered the receiver. She had no idea what to say.
“Are you still there?”
Chloe nodded, “Yeah, I’m here.”
“You all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? Even with Belle and everything.”
“We had it out today. Everything’s fine now. Well, sorta. I think she and I at least understand each other.”
“That’s good to hear…Shit! My dad’s knocking on the door. I guess they’re ready to leave now…Look, I won’t bother you at school. Not because I don’t want to or anything, but I figure you’re still uncomfortable around the K-man. I don’t want to make things any worse for you.”
Chloe leaned the back of her head against the wall, “I think that’d be best for now. You don’t mind do you?”
“No, not at all. I got someone to think about too,” he admitted with a hint of conscience.
“How could I forget?” she answered sarcastically.
“Why don’t you drop me and email or an instant message sometime. What’s your screen name?”
“Ahhhh, I don’t really want to say… But I suppose I can make up a new one.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know…Wait, I got it. It’s perfect.”
“Shoot.”
“Goalie Chick.”
Jason gave a seductive laugh, “Well in that case, look for Grezky#1”
Chloe grinned sheepishly at his comeback, “You would come up with something like that. It doesn’t matter really, I’m hardly ever on-line. I don’t have a computer anymore, but my roommate has a laptop. Maybe she’ll let me borrow hers once in awhile.”
“Roomate?”
“Oh yeah, I figured you heard already.”
“Heard what?”
“Mimi and I moved out of our parents house. We’re living with Ginny in our own apartment.”
“Whaaat?”
“It’s true. We moved in this past Sunday.”
“That is so wicked… Are you going to invite me over sometime?”
“Do you want me too?” she asked coyly.
“What do you think?”
“I suppose I could invite you over for supper some night?”
“You gonna cook me up something nice?”
“You bet! I’ll make you a nice ramen noodle special.”
“Ramen noodles,” he laughed. “Listen to you… Hey, I really got to go. Don’t be a stranger.”
Chloe hugged herself, blushing. “I won’t.”
“Bye Chloe.”
“Bye Grezky.”

Belle stirred gently in Eric’s bed and turned to face the window. She blinked lazily at the impending dusk. She shivered uncontrollably and nestled herself into a deeper spoon with Shawn.

Shawn jerked wildly as he snapped awake from a wild dream. He was alone on the hockey rink, charging the puck towards the unguarded goal, when out of nowhere, a tall opponent slapped the puck away from him and smacked it into the net.

Belle turned to him, alarmed by his sudden twitch. “Are you ok? Did you just have a bad dream?” Shawn sat up slightly and looked around the room. “Yeah, it was really weird. It was one of those dreams where you can tell it was sending you some kind of message, but you don’t know exactly what until it happens…Fuck.” Bewildered, Shawn lay down again and snuggled up to Belle. He kissed her temples and secured the blanket around her tightly.

Belle sighed, “Shawn, this cold weather is too much. It’s nice during Christmas, but I don’t know if I can take it. It’s making me depressed…and tired as hell.”
“Gee Belle, what ever could I do to cheer you up?”
Belle turned around and met his eyes, “How about two first class tickets to Maui. Or Bali… Rio… The Cayman Islands. I don’t care as long as it’s exotic and WARM.”
“I don’t know about that Belle. You’re against us being half naked in water, warm…you know what you said.”
“This would be different though. I don’t think I could even help getting aroused in that type of environment. I think it’d only seem natural, with the whole heightened sensuality thing going on.”
“Sorta like the Garden of Eden.”
“Or the Blue Lagoon.”
“Or one of those corny soft pornos where two couples go to on a weekend retreat.”
“Whatever…you get my drift though, don’t you?”
“Hell yeah. But its not like we can just get on a plane and go.”
“I know, but I wish we could… God, it’d be so PERFECT!”
“There’s always the sauna Belle. Or the steam room, jacuzzi…they’re all suitable substitutes.”
“It’s not about SEX, Shawn!”
Shawn held his hands up in frustration, “OK Belle!”
Belle sat up. “I want the whole nine yards…the weather, the sun shining on my face, the breeze blowing my hair…a fruity tropical drink.”
Shawn rested the back of his head on his hand and shrugged. “Well right now we’re here in Chicago. It’s about zero degrees outside and the wind is pure ice. It’s five o-clock at night and it’s almost dark out. So what are you going to do about it?”

A devilish grin curled on Belle’s face. “This!” she shouted before she raised his shirt and blew an explosive kiss on his belly. Shawn curled up defensively, “Stop! You can’t tickle me!”
“I can and I will!” she said as she continued her torture.
Shawn tackled her and the two slid to the floor in a heap of blankets, laughter filling the air.

The door opened suddenly. Brady loomed before them, his tall frame backlit by the hall lighting. He fired Shawn a dirty look and barked, “What did I tell you?”
An agitated Shawn fired a fearless, “What’d I tell YOU?”
Eric joined Brady at the doorway, “Are you guys ready to take pictures or what?”
Belle groaned, “Oh yeah!!!”

Shawn and Brady were sucked into helping Eric set up for the in-house photo shoot. Belle noticed Chloe going into the bathroom. Belle followed her and stood in the doorway, watching her as she combed her hair. Chloe met Belle’s eyes in the mirror and glanced away nervously. Belle rested her head on the door frame, “Truce?” Chloe turned around, nodding appreciatively, “Truce.” Belle gave her a genuine smile.

All grudges pushed aside, the hair and make-up session began.

*********

Eric thumbed through his CD collection to find “attitude music” for the girl’s to loosen up to. He picked out a few popular CD’s chosen by some of his older models.

He began with TLC. He ordered Shawn and Belle to the floor first. Belle, completely at ease in front of the spotlight, danced seductively around her camera shy boy-toy. She teased the camera, singing along with the lyrics, playfully flashing Shawn’s chest and abs…

Shutterbug, shutterbug

“So I CREEP, yeah
Just keep it on the down low
Said nobody is supposed 2 know…”

“Hey Chloe! This is your song!” Belle shouted in jest. Chloe rolled her eyes, unable to hide her smile. Belle backed her hips into Shawn, “I’m just playing.” Chloe nodded and glanced in Brady’s direction, “I know you are Belle!”

Shutterbug, shutterbug.

For Chloe, Eric threw on Sade. He directed Shawn and Brady to change the backdrop and position the chaise lounge. Belle danced barefoot around the dark living room to the rhythm of “Paradise.” She winked at Shawn, “How appropriate, huh?” Shawn leered and resumed positioning the lights. Chloe took a seat on the chaise. Eric frowned from behind the camera.

She was stiff as a board.

He beckoned for Belle and whispered, “Can you touch her powder and lips up a little?”
Belle nodded, still grooving, “Sure?”
Eric lowered his voice, still eyeing his subject camera, “And can you tell her to freaking loosen up. Cuz if she can’t, I can guarantee her career is going NOWHERE.”
Belle covered her mouth to contain an oncoming giggle, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Belle grabbed her make-up bag and knelt in front of Chloe. “Hi sweetie, how are you?”
“Belle, I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“You’ll do fine Chloe. It’s just a warm up. It’s supposed to be fun,” Belle said reassuringly. She busted some more powder on her forehead. She eyed Chloe’s furrowed forehead with concern. “Try to relax hon, think SEXY.”
“I can’t with that bright light shining in my face.”
Belle looked behind her, “Eric’s going for the classic Hollywood look. It’ll look great.” She touched up Chloe’s lipstick and adjusted her hair around her shoulders, “Don’t look at the light right now. Look at the floor, or look at Brady.”

Brady waved from behind the camera, munching on an apple. “Hey sexy,” he cooed.

Chloe laughed, “I can’t look at him.”
Belle slumped to her knees, “Ok, look at the floor.”
Chloe obeyed, eyeing a spot in front of Eric’s tripod.
“Now breathe deep,” Belle commanded softly.
Chloe became conscious of her breathing.
“Close your eyes,” the voice ensued.
Chloe closed her eyes.
“Listen to the music Chloe… feel it.”

The all-knowing, seductive lyrics of Sade…

You give me the sweetest taboo
That's why I'm in love with you (with you)
You give me the sweetest taboo too good for me
(Sometimes I think you're just too good for me)

“Think of….Jason,” Belle whispered.

The lyrics, the memory of his eager touch, his tongue on her body, his eyes consuming her every curve, his voice…

And that’s all it took,

Shutterbug, shutterbug…