Older and Wiser

~Chapter Five~(Time, Love, and Tenderness)

Chloe’s telephone rang at a quarter till seven. She had been dressed in the new gown with her hair piled atop her head and makeup perfectly applied for over an hour. She had been patiently waiting for the sound of Brady’s truck down the street, but for the last twenty minutes, her nerves had been jangled because there was still no sign of him. Then, the shrill noise of the telephone caused her to jump from her ratty armchair.

“Hello?” she yelled into the phone.

Brady’s voice sounded like liquid velvet. “Hey, little lady.”

Chloe let out a breath she was unaware she had been holding. “Brady,” she exhaled. Just the sound of his deep, vibrating voice had her yearning in sweet anticipation for his touch. Shaking the thought from her head, she sat back down in her chair.

There was a bit of static on the line before his voice came over the speaker. “There’s no need to yell at me yet. I’m on my way.”

She laughed a little. He always seemed to know what to say to set her mind at ease. “Sorry. I was just a little worried. It’s almost seven, you know. We do have dinner reservations.”

He grunted a reply before parking the car. Walking down the sidewalk, he hummed into the phone.

“What’re you humming?” Chloe asked.

“Just a song I heard this afternoon before we went dress shopping.”

“Oh? Sing it to me, Brady.”

Thinking twice before busting into song on the sidewalk, he began softly singing into her ear. When he reached the old, battered house, he simply pushed the door open, shut off the phone, and sang louder. Chloe bolted out of her seat, realizing that he was right behind her. She turned quickly, just in time to have him pull her into his arms and kiss her deeply. She whimpered as his tongue caressed her parted lips. Then, she melted.

When he finally pulled away, he gazed into her sparkling blue eyes. “You look beautiful, Chloe,” he whispered. She shivered at his words. His voice made her tingle with sensations that were new to her. His touch made her burn with a passion she hadn’t experienced before. Her face flushed and she broke their gazing stare to hide herself.

“You look very nice yourself, Brady,” she complimented, scanning her date’s attire.

His golden hair was brushed back, allowing her to see into his deep cerulean eyes. He was dressed all in black-a black-on-black suit-except for one small fold of color on his chest. A smile passed over his lips as he saw her surprised face. She’d noticed his handkerchief. Tucked neatly inside his pocket, the handkerchief stood tall. It was the exact color of the dress she was wearing. She looked back into his eyes, unable to speak.

“Nice touch, don’t you think?” he asked finally.

Her fingers grazed the edges of the cloth, causing tiny ripples of desire to shoot up and down Brady’s spine. He gasped, grabbing her wrist. She looked into his eyes before his hungry lips came down upon hers once more. When they finally broke away from each other, they were both gasping for air.

“What did you do that for?”

He looked serious. “Whenever you touch me, that’s what goes through my mind. I just happened to act on my thoughts this time.”

She turned away blushing. Abruptly, she was pulled backwards into his hard body once more. Through the thin pink fabric, she could feel his hardness at her back. He moved his hips slowly, letting her feel once more his longing. She gasped sharply. “Brady, we have dinner reservations…” she started.

Turning her around, they met in a feverish embrace. He moaned as her arms sought out the nape of his neck, and her warm body touched his in places that hadn’t been touched for a while. She clung to him as he eased his lips from hers, to softly nibble at her neck.

“Brady, dinner…”
“Dinner can wait,” he murmured against her peach-scented skin.

At this, she arched her back to his hot mouth. A breathy sound came from her lips as his mouth sought out the skin at the top of her dress. “Brady…” she cried.

Her voice sang in his ears, calling out to him, telling him to continue. Yet, his mind screamed at him to stop before it was too late. Brady, get control of yourself. For God’s sake, she’s four years younger and your sister’s best friend. You can’t let this happen. Even if you do love her. And at that moment, he truly knew he loved her. I can’t let her get away. I’ll never forgive myself if I do that.

With that, he tore himself from her body. He staggered backwards, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I can’t…I can’t just take advantage of you like this. I feel like I’m starving for your touch, but I don’t want to…we need to get to the restaurant,” he stammered.

Chloe’s face took on a look of bewilderment before turning to outrage. “This is just going to continue, isn’t it, Brady? I can’t believe that I even thought you cared beyond friendship for me. God, I am so stupid,” she yelled, hands balling into fists.

“No, Chloe, you have to believe me. I feel so bad right now. I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say a word, Brady Black. I’ve heard enough from you. We have reservations. Let’s go.”

She stalked out of the house, arms crossed defiantly over her breast. He ran after her, pausing to close and latch the door behind them. By the time he reached the car, she was already sitting primly in the leather seat, talking to Belle and Shawn. They watched him walk to his side of the car before ending the conversation from the backseat.

The car ride to the restaurant was long and tense. Shawn and Belle sat quietly in each other’s arms, afraid to speak, while Chloe glared out the passenger window. Brady had turned off the radio for a while, but the silence only made his thoughts more evident, so he turned it back on.

Dinner was the same way. Shawn and Belle held one conversation, while Chloe and Brady sat silently and ate. Then, Belle started in about the dress.

“I had a dress just like that once, only green,” she pointed out, wiping crumbs off her blue silk one.

“Really?” Chloe asked, trying to act interested in her friend’s words.

“Yes. It was very expensive though,” she stated. The tone of her voice and her glance at Brady showed that she knew that Chloe hadn’t bought the dress herself.

“Even dirt poor people have credit cards, Belle,” Chloe snapped.

“I knew that.”

Brady looked up at the two quarreling girls. Belle seemed embarrassed now, but Chloe was calmly angry. She sat holding Belle’s stare, waiting for the blonde’s next comment. It never came. Instead, Shawn piped up.

“You know, Belle, not everyone comes from a wealthy background. And hardly anyone has a wealthy brother who’s willing to pay her way through school,” he stated, eyes latched on Chloe.

“I said I was sorry,” Belle faltered, eyes dropping onto her lap.

“It didn’t sound like it,” he replied angrily.

Belle’s mouth snapped shut. Brady, trying to save what was left of their group outing, cleared his throat. “So, I guess no one’s in the mood for the opera then?”

“Nope, not really,” Chloe said, shooting him a look of poison. She loved the opera. In fact, they were going to see one of her favorites, The Phantom. But, her eyes showed a certain amount of upset that couldn’t be mistaken.

He sighed. Two hundred and sixty-eight dollars down the drain for sstupstupid misunderstanding over an hour ago. After picking up the tab, they drove home, in both silence and stubborn anger. The only sound was of Belle, coughing and sneezing every so often.

~*~

A week and a half later, Chloe got an urgent message at school. She left her class under Jason’s care while she took the call.

“Hello?”

“Chloe, it’s Belle.” Brady’s voice sounded panicked anrainrained.

“What’s wrong with Belle?”

“You know that flu she’s had? It’s complicated into pneumonia. She’s in the hospital. I need a favor from you.”

“Oh? What do you want me to do, Brady?” she asked, worried for her friend.

“I need you to come by this evening and take care of her. I’m swamped. She’ll be home by 8, so I need your help. Please?” he begged.

“ I suppose. I can bring my work over I guess. Thanks for letting me know, Brady.”

“Thanks for doing this for me.”

“I’m doing it for Belle as much as for you,” she retorted.

“Whatever, Chloe. Thanks again.”

The phone clicked off in Chloe’s ear. Later that evening, she found herself standing in front of the penthouse door. Sighing, she knocked softly. When he answered the door, Chloe gasped.

“Shawn! What are you doing here?”

“Caring for Belle,” he replied.

He leaned against the doorframe, sly smile spread across his face. When Chloe tried to walk past him, he swung his arm across the doorway, blocking her way.

“Excuse me!” she cried angrily. “This doesn’t look much like caring for Belle to me.” She strode through his arm and into the living room.

“Hey!” he yelled.

She turned, fire in her eyes. “I have nothing to say to you right now.” Then, she marched up the steps to Belle’s room.

“Chloe! You’re here!” Belle exclaimed from her four-poster bed. She was wrapped in a white down comforter with her hair disheveled and her nose beet red.

Chloe smiled. Being sick made Belle look even younger than she was. It made Chloe feel old to see her like this. In fact, she felt like she did when she was teaching. She was for a moment: a child’s caregiver, companion, and educator.

“Do you need anything?” she asked, looking around the room.

“Shawn went downstairs to get me some more water. But I could sure go for some chicken noodle soup, if that’s okay,” Belle said sheepishly.

“Sure thing, hon. I’ll get right on it.”

As she was leaving, Shawn entered the room, holding a tall glass of water. Chloe sent him a ‘go to hell’ look before going out the door and down to the kitchen.

She found everything she needed in the vast cupboards of the Black kitchen. She even decided to make Belle some instant pudding. After warming the soup and mixing the pudding, she began doing dishes. Not too long after she had started rinsing glasses, a pair of strong arms encircled her waist.

She wriggled her way out of them, and turned to face him. “What are you doing?”

Brady grinned at her. “Sorry if I scared you. I just felt like hugging you. You are, after all, taking care of my baby sister.”

She smiled warmly back at him. His blonde hair sat plastered to his head, water dripping from the ends. “Is it raining?”

“Yeah, just started in fact. I just wanted to thank you again, for…”

They were interrupted by the sound of clomping feet on the stairs. Shawn grabbed his jacket from the closet and muttered something about getting cigarettes. Then he stomped out the door. When he was gone, Brady shook his head. “I don’t like him. I don’t like him at all.”

Chloe cleared her throat and turned to switch off the stove. She scooped a bowlful of soup out and placed it on a tray, along with the small plate of pudding. “What’s this? Chloe Lane is cooking? Hold on a sec. Let me grab a camera. This may never happen again!” he joked.

She laughed lightly, carefully picking up the tray and balancing it on her open hands. “How would you know?”

He placed a kiss on her cheek. “I wouldn’t. After you get done taking that up to her, would you come back down so we can talk?”

“But when Shawn comes back, he’ll wonder…” she started.

“It’s my house,” he cut her off.

She nodded and walked slowly up the steps. Belle’s door was slightly ajar, causing Chloe to silently thank heaven. The girl was dozing, lightly snoring in the huge bed. But she awoke when Chloe set the tray down on the night table.

“Here you go, dear.”

“Thanks, Chloe. Where’s Shawn?”

“He went out for a few minutes. He should be back anytime.”

“Oh. I see.”

Belle turned to her soup and a television set that was blaringm hem her desk. Sensing that she was all right, Chloe stepped out of the room and went downstairs to Brady’s office. Before she could turn the knob, he was there, pulling her by the hand into the darkened room.

“It’s so dark in here, Brady. How do you work in here?”

“I’m not tonight.”

She gazed into his eyes. That glint, that glimmer. He looks just like he did that night…the night Philip died…the night that…