The Second Time Around (Read 7,686 times)

[Kpatch]

Aug 7, 2015 16:55:35 GMT -5 unavitasegreta said:

Stephanie and Philip talk about their past.
We get some insight into Victor's thoughts about his relationship with Philip.
When Kayla comes for a visit, Stephanie isn't home ... but someone else is there!

I was about to ask for previews. Somehow I missed this yesterday.

I am wondering who Kayla will run into at Stephanie's. I'm going to guess it will be her inlaw, Ivy.

Sounds like a fabulous week. Is it Monday yet. Or better yet, post now!

[unavitasegreta]

Chapter Twenty-One

“Today wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Philip admitted as Stephanie unlocked her door.

Stephanie looked over her shoulder at him. “What did you think would happen?” she asked, pushing the door open.

“I don’t know, really. It used to bother me seeing him showing such open affection to Maggie, Daniel, and Parker,” Philip admitted, closing the door and following Stephanie into her living room.

Stephanie dropped her purse down on the couch. “It doesn’t anymore?”

Philip shrugged. “It probably does, but I stopped thinking about it.”

“It is weird to think that your father actually cares about someone other than himself,” Stephanie noted, “or his money and power.”

“My dad is capable of love,” Philip pointed out.

“I know,” Stephanie agreed, “but the two of them just don’t seem to go together. I mean, come on, it'd be like Bert marrying Oscar the Grouch instead of Ernie.”

“What?” Philip laughed.

Stephanie looked at him as if she were surprised that he didn't get her reference. “They're Sesame Street characters. Seriously, you don't know Bert and Ernie?”

“No,” Philip shook his head, watching as Stephanie threw some of Ava’s toys into a basket. “I've heard of the show, but I didn't watch things like that as a child.”

She quirked her head to the side. “Really? That makes even less sense to me than Maggie Horton being happily married to your father.”

“So, Sesame Street has two gay characters?” Philip asked. “That's very progressive.”

“They're not gay, but,” Stephanie sighed, “everyone knows that Bert and Ernie go together. Bert is all serious and uptight. And Ernie balances that because he’s kinda goofy. But Oscar the Grouch is ... oh, never mind!”

Philip smirked at her, stepping closer and wrapping his arms around her waist. “I’m just messing with you. Of course I'm familiar with Sesame Street.”

Stephanie playfully smacked his chest. “That wasn't very nice.”

“When will Ava be home?” he asked, pushing her hair over her shoulders and pressing his lips against her neck.

“Not long,” she answered as Phillip walked her backwards to the couch, pushing her down on it.

“Philip,” Stephanie called out his name as he pressed a trail of kisses across her chest. His hands tugged her camisole from her pants.

“Philip!” Stephanie called out his name again, pushing her hands against his shoulders.

“Yeah?” he sighed, his hands caressing her bra-covered breasts.

Stephanie gently pushed Philip off of her and sat up, tugging her undershirt back down. She ran her hand over her hair and smoothed it down, rising from the couch.

Philip watched as she stood and reached for her suit jacket, pulling it back on. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought we were having a nice time…”

“We were,” she stated, “I mean, we are, I think. I am. Are you?” she turned back around.

Philip rose from the couch. “Of course I am,” he told her, stopping directly in front of her. “Talk to me.”

Stephanie sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “I … I want this,” she motioned between them. “Us. It’s not like we haven’t slept together before. I know it’s been a long time, but I still remember what it was like. And how great it was,” she added, then looked up at Philip. “I’m making no sense, am I?”

“Not really,” Philip agreed.

“Please don’t get mad at me or take this the wrong way,” Stephanie started, sitting on the arm of the couch, her arms wrapped around herself.

“You’re starting to worry me…”

Stephanie looked up at him and then again ran her hand through her hair. “I want to make love to you, Philip. I really do.”

“I sense that you’re about to qualify that statement,” he noted.

Pushing herself up, Stephanie moved back in front of Philip. “I want to make love to you, Philip. Just not here, okay?” She continued before he could get a word in. “Sometimes I feel guilty and sad and conflicted. Like I’m being unfaithful. But my husband died.  And now I’m falling back in love with you, and I want to make love to you. Just not in the home I shared with my husband.”

Philip didn’t respond.

Stephanie felt her heart as it began to beat rapidly. She couldn’t tell if he was mad or upset. There was no clear expression that she could make out on Philip’s face. “Will you please say something?” she asked.

Philip swallowed, trying to find his voice. “You’re falling in love with me?”

[villa281]

Loving the story.

[heroicmuse]

Wow. what great emotional beats. Everything from humor to pain. I really feel for both Stephanie and Philip. I was surprised she wasn't concerned Ava would walk in on them.

[fluffysmom]

I'm thrilled that Stephanie admitted all of that to Philip. I'm anxious to see what happens next.

[Kpatch]

She just blurted that out and it's the only thing Philip heard. LOL. He needs to hear that.

I can completely understand why she would feel awkward making out with Philip in a home she shared with her late husband. Too many memories. So how'd Ash die anyway?

[unavitasegreta]

Aug 10, 2015 21:07:55 GMT -5 Kpatch said:

So how'd Ash die anyway?

You'll find out in a few weeks.  But there've been some hints given already.  ;-)

[Kpatch]

I do recall reading some hints. Does Philip know how he died?

[unavitasegreta]

Chapter Twenty-Two

Stephanie gasped. She hasn’t realized she’d said that. It was true, though. But maybe he didn’t feel the same way and she’d said it too soon.

Philip smirked at Stephanie’s shock over her admission.

“This is moving really fast, isn’t it? If you don’t feel…” she started, but he cut her off, pressing his lips against hers and wrapping his arms around her.

When Philip finally stopped kissing her, Stephanie opened her eyes and looked directly into his. “Can I assume you feel the same way?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” Philip agreed, kissing her again.

After a few minutes of making out on the couch, Stephanie pushed Philip back.

“Right,” he coughed, adjusting his trousers, “we agreed to wait.”

Stephanie tried to hide her smirk at Philip’s discomfort. “I hate to throw you out, but Ivy will be home with Ava pretty soon. I want you to meet her, but I don’t think she’s ready for that today.”

“I understand,” Philip assured her.

“We had a really good talk a few days ago. She seemed to understand what I was telling her. In fact, I think I may have gotten her a little too excited over the idea that she might be a big sister one day.”

Philip’s eyes widened.

Stephanie mentally kicked herself. “I don’t mean … not right now or … I’m not saying we will …”

Chuckling at her bumbling, Philip ran his hand up Stephanie’s thigh. “You aren’t going to scare me off.”

“Good,” she smiled. “I’m not assuming we’re going to get married or have kids or anything. I was just trying to get Ava to understand what a relationship is and-”

“It’s okay,” Philip assured her, leaning in to kiss her again. “And, I’m with Ava … she might enjoy being a big sister.”

Stephanie pulled back and looked at Philip. “Are you serious?”

“In the future, yeah,” he stated.

“You think about our future?” she asked. Philip nodded. “Me too,” Stephanie smiled widely. She kissed him again. “This is moving really fast, isn’t it?”

Philip shrugged, “probably, but we have dated for a long time. If you put it all together, it’s a couple years.”

“Just not consecutively,” Stephanie added.

“No, but we’ve seen the best and worst of one another. I was an idiot and slept with Melanie when there was still a chance we could make things work.”

Stephanie shook her head. “We weren’t together. I had no right to get so upset with you about that.”

“You did,” Philip insisted. “I ended any chance we had.”

“You wanted to be with Melanie, otherwise you wouldn’t have married her, Philip.”

“But that doesn’t change the fact that we might have made another go of our relationship if I hadn’t slept with her.”

“So you slept with her even though you still had feelings for me?” she asked, starting to feel annoyed.

“Of course I still had feelings for you,” Philip stated.

Stephanie stepped back. “I don’t think we should talk about this.”

“Why not?” Philip asked. “It’s part of our past.”

“Because I’m still not a Melanie fan. From the moment she arrived in Salem, it was all about her. Nathan loved her more than me. You loved her more than me.”

“I don’t think you can quantify love…” Philip tried to argue.

Stephanie glared at him. “You married her rather than me. I think that’s a quantification of your feelings for her.”

“I wanted to marry you,” Philip reminded her.

“But you didn’t. You married Melanie,” Stephanie stated.

“And we got divorced,” Philip sighed. “Besides, she’s with someone else now so none of this matters.”

“Is that why you’re with me? She’s not available?” Realizing what she’d said, Stephanie rose from the couch and turned away from Philip.

“That is not-” Philip started to defend himself, getting up.

Stephanie turned around and held her hand out, “Philip, stop.”

“Let me explain…”

Stephanie walked back to him. “You don’t need to explain. I sounded kind of crazy there.”

“No, you didn’t,” Philip assured her.

“Yeah, I did,” Stephanie laughed. “I’m obviously still a little sensitive about Melanie. But, you’re right, that’s all in the past. If we’d stayed together, I’d never have moved here and met Ashby. And I can’t even imagine a life where I’m not Ava’s mother. Everything happened the way it was suppose to happen. No regrets,” she stated, running her hands up Philip’s chest and around his neck. “I’m just glad that we’re here now.”

“Me too,” Philip agreed with a smile.

“But speaking of being here now…”

“I should go?” Philip chuckled.

“Yeah, probably so,” Stephanie laughed. “Otherwise we’ll be half-naked on that couch when Ava gets home.”

[heroicmuse]

Ooh... I thought we were in for some ridiculous argument over the past. Glad that got turned around Also glad that Stephanie remembered Ava was going to be home soon. LOL

Great chapter unavitasegreta! Looking forward to the next one.

[Kpatch]

I was also afraid that Stephanie was trying to pick a fight. I'm glad she was mature enough to stop it.

I remember on the show when they were dating and they were on the couch in the mansion admitting that they think about a future with each other. This chapter reminded me of that.

[fluffysmom]

I'm glad they were able to talk about the past without it turning into an argument. I like Stephanie reasoning that it all happened the way it was supposed to. I'm happy they are talking about the future. I wonder how Ava and Philip's first meeting will go.

[villa281]

I am glad it didn't turn into an argument, but I do think they need to have a honest coversation about Melanie and everything that happened.

[unavitasegreta]

Chapter Twenty-Three

Crossing the large suite to the dining room where Victor was seated in front of his laptop, Maggie came up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. “You’ve been working since you got back from the meeting,” she pouted, running her hands down Victor’s arms and leaning her head against his. “Can’t you take a break for dinner?”

Victor sighed, but stopped typing. “I didn’t realize it was so late.”

“If you don’t want to go out, we could order in,” Maggie suggested.

“Okay,” he agreed.

Maggie pressed a kiss to Victor’s temple and slid into the empty chair beside him. “Are you all right?” she asked, running her hand down his arm.

“Of course,” Victor insisted, forcing out a half-hearted smile.

“You seem a little … sad, maybe?”

Victor deflected the question, asking, “how was your afternoon with Stephanie?”

“She was always a lovely girl. And she’s grown into a lovely woman.” Maggie covered Victor’s hand with hers. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“About Stephanie being a lovely person?” he asked.

Maggie ignored his attempt to distract her. “You spent all afternoon with your son, yet you seem so down tonight.”

Victor looked back at his computer screen. “We went to the board meeting. Once we got there, we barely spoke. That’s all that happened.”

Realizing that he wasn’t going to open up to her, Maggie squeezed Victor’s hand, “I’ll go find a room service menu.”

Victor held onto her hand as she stood. “I know so little about my son’s life.”

Deciding to let him speak, Maggie remained silent.

“He seemed genuinely happy at lunch, didn’t he?” Victor mused. “He left Salem after dropping off Parker as a young man with no purpose or direction in his life. And now … I don’t know anything about his life here, Maggie. He never comes home for holidays or family events. If we speak on the phone, it’s about work.”

“He called and invited you to lunch today. That’s a step forward, sweetheart,” Maggie noted, wrapping her arms around Victor’s shoulder as she stood next to his chair. Victor nodded. “Maybe you should invite him for Thanksgiving dinner this year.”

“He’s always invited,” Victor reminded her.

“Yes, but do you ask him if he’s coming?” Maggie countered. Victor wrapped an arm around her hips and pulled her across his lap.

“No,” he admitted as she settled against him.

“Then we should ask him this year,” she stated simply.

“I will,” Victor agreed.

*

Stephanie poked her fork at the penne pasta that she’d made for dinner. When the noodle slid off, she stabbed it harder. She’d been in a crabby mood for the past few hours. Thankfully Ava had wanted to watch Frozen for the hundredth time this week and spent all evening in her room. Even the sound of her singing the songs and repeating every word along with the characters didn’t help put Stephanie in a better mood. It only annoyed her, so she’d taken her pasta to her bedroom and shut the door. Ava would come bargaining in if she needed something.

When her phone buzzed, she looked down at the name on the screen. Philip was calling for the second time. Pushing the button to ignore the call again, she went back to aggressively stabbing her pasta as she watched television.

*

Philip dropped his phone on his beside table and reached for the remote. Stephanie was obviously not around tonight or she’d be answering his calls. Today had unexpectedly turned out to be a turning point in their relationship. Stephanie had admitted that she was falling in love with him, which had only confirmed what he too was feeling.

Despite that he’d been living in Chicago for almost five years now, Philip hadn’t met one woman worth dating more than a few times. But that was probably due to the fact that he rarely dated. He’d had a fair number of relationships in Salem, but none of them had lasted. That had led him to conclude that the problem rested within himself.

It was no surprise that he was a failure when it came to relationships. Being the son of Victor Kiriakis and Kate Roberts was certainly a death sentence for a happy, loving marriage. He never expected for his mother’s marriage to Stefano DiMera to be a long-term commitment, thus their divorce hadn’t come as a shock. But his father’s marriage to Maggie Horton seemed to be a decent match. The only downside was that it meant Daniel was now officially the son that Victor never had.

Picking up his phone, Philip typed out a message. “I’m in a bad mood tonight. Cheer me up?”

No cheer here. 

Looking down at Stephanie’s response, Philip frowned. “What does that mean?” he typed back.

It means I’m in a bad mood. My chicken was tough and wouldn’t cut, so I repeatedly stabbed it with my fork until I felt better.

Philip laughed. “If you’re trying to make me smile, it worked,” he typed. A few moments after hitting send, an image popped up on the screen of an almost-empty bowl. Stephanie had indeed left stab marks in what he presumed to be the nearly-obliterated piece of chicken. “My excuse is my father. What’s yours?” he texted to her.

The chicken had it coming.


Note:  First, I want to say "thanks!" to everyone for putting up with my erratic posting schedule.  I never know when I'm going to get home from work.  FYI - I will be out of town Friday afternoon, so there's a chance I won't be able to post an update - or it may not be posted until sometime Saturday.

[heroicmuse]

Another great chapter. I liked how everyone's moods seemed to mirror each other's. Loved the Victor/Maggie scene of course I also wonder why Stephanie is in such a bad mood. Is it residual from the almost argument about Melanie, I wonder?