The Melaswen Paradox (Read 319,197 times)

[André DiMera]

Chapter 412

BLACK PATCH
The next day, Anna walked into Black Patch.
STEVE: Anna, what can we do for you?
ANNA: I need you to help me.
JOHN: How so?
ANNA: That...that creep André is back and he's whisked Tony off somewhere. I need you to help me find him!
STEVE: All right. Let's start at the beginning. How long has Tony been gone?
ANNA: I don't know exactly. About a month, I'd imagine. It was right around the time that he and Chad stopped E.J.'s hostile takeover by agreeing to promote him to co-CEO. He started acting strangely a month ago. It was little things at first, but after a while, I just couldn't ignore it. So, I confronted him and André revealed himself.
STEVE: Any idea where he might've been taken?
ANNA: Of course not! And it's not like André would tell me!
JOHN: Well, there are a few places I can think of. One of the secret rooms in the Mansion, maybe Aremid. Or maybe...
John and Steve looked at each other.
STEVE: Oh, you've gotta be kidding.

JAVA CAFE
Nicholas was on his way to work, but stopped to get a coffee on the way. Just as he was about to leave, Philip walked in.
PHILIP: Hey, where's the fire?
NICHOLAS: No fire. Just excited to get to work.
PHILIP: Really? Man, I thought you would have taken it harder than that.
NICHOLAS: Taken what harder?
PHILIP: Well, haven't you seen the headlines?
NICHOLAS: What headlines?
PHILIP: The headlines of the Salem Financial Review.
Philip handed Nicholas a paper which he had been holding under his arm. Nicholas looked at the paper and frowned.
NICHOLAS: “Alamain Stock Plummets as Company Loses New Acquisition”. What is all this?
PHILIP: Oh, you mean you didn't know? Ouch. This is gonna be awkward. Didn't your company just get hit by a major breach for the second time yesterday?
NICHOLAS: There was a breach, but I got it sorted out.
PHILIP: Well, you might wanna read the press a bit more closely. Turns out some of your investors lost faith in the company, and with the ones that left went one of your new buys.
NICHOLAS: But, this is ridiculous! I spoke with the investors yesterday and they said they understood!
PHILIP: What can I tell you?
Nicholas read the rest of the article.
NICHOLAS: “In addition to losing a sizeable investment, Alamain Industries also lost one of its newest acquisitions...Ecosystems”.
Nicholas glared at Philip.
PHILIP: Ouch.
NICHOLAS: Victor put you up to this, didn't he? He hired somebody to mess with me so Ecosystems would jump ship and join Titan, didn't he?
PHILIP: Victor doesn't run Titan anymore. Besides, how should I know why the investors jumped ship and took Ecosystems with them?
NICHOLAS: Oh, so you're gonna tell me that it's just a huge coincidence that Alamain Industries suffers a major breach and loses Ecosystems within days of one of its major competitors and former owners vows to win it back? Please. I have a little more sense than that.
PHILIP: Nicky, trust me, this is nothing personal. It's just business.
NICHOLAS: You're the one who said you were gonna fight to get Ecosystems. Well, if you wanna fight, prepare for a war.
PHILIP: You forget, one of us has already been to war and come out on the other side. You want a war? It's on. Good luck.
Philip clapped Nicholas on the shoulder and walked out.

[heroicmuse]

Oooh Philip vs. Nicholas! This is great! Nicholas should have known it wasn't going to be that easy to repair the damage that was done.

I wonder whether Steve is thinking they have to go back to Melaswen.

Great chapter André DiMera.

[Kpatch]

Loved Philip's comment about having been to war. Good one@andredimera. So happy to see Philip with the upper hand. Wheeee!

I agree with heroicmuse. I'm guessing Steve and John presume Tnoy's been taken to Melaswen.

[fluffysmom]

It looks like a trip to Melaswen may be happening soon.

Go Philip!

[André DiMera]

Chapter 413

ALAMAIN INDUSTRIES
Nicholas had gotten to the office and was currently on a phone call.
NICHOLAS: I don't care how long it takes, just get it done. I will not be embarrassed like that again. If this is going to be a seriosu company, I need to have the best damn protection ever. This company needs the best of the best. It's what it deserves. Yes. Thank you.
Nicholas hung up. He shook his head, then pressed a button on his desk.
NICHOLAS: Ivan, please have Hadley come into my office.
Nicholas let out a sigh, then looked at the newspaper in front of him.
NICHOLAS (thinking): As soon as I'm able to think of something, Philip Kiriakis is going to pay for this.
Nicholas looked up when he heard a knock on the door and saw Hadley come in.
HADLEY: Mr. Alamain, sir?
NICHOLAS: Hadley, hello. Please, take a seat.

BLACK PATCH
ANNA: What?
JOHN: It would make sense. It's one of his Mos.
STEVE: No denying that.
ANNA: Would either of you like to fill me in on what exactly it is you're thinking?
JOHN: It's possible that Tony may be on Melaswen.
ANNA: Melaswen?
STEVE: And island in the tropics identical in every way to Salem, and just off the coast of the Bermuda Triangle.
ANNA: And how exactly did you find this place?
JOHN: About fourteen years ago or so, André made it look like Doc had gone crazy and killed a bunch of our loved ones. Turned out he had brainwashed her, and nobody was actually dead, they were just on this island. Hope, Bo and I found them and brought them home.
STEVE: Then about six years ago, Bo went out to find some miracle drug to help with Caroline's memory problems. On his way home, André kidnapped him and placed him there. In 2015, he made it look like Will Horton and my favorite nephew's girlfriend, Paige Larson, had died. I tracked them there and wa able to bring them home, as well.
ANNA: Well, you/ve gotta do the same thing for Tony, then!
JOHN: That's a fact. And we will. We just need to get a few things in order, and then we'll be on our way out.
ANNA: Well, let me know when you're going. I'm coming, too.
JOHN: Anna-
ANNA: And don't try to talk me out of it! If Tony is on this Melaswen Island, then I want to be one of the first people he sees. Besides, I'm one of the few people who can tell the difference between Tony and André. I know Tony on a much more intimate level than you two would.
STEVE: She's got a point, dude.
JOHN: Well, we'll see what happens. Either way, we'll be in touch.
ANNA: Thank you. Thank you so much!
STEVE: You got it.
Anna left.
STEVE: Well, looks like we've got another adventure on our hands.
John nodded.
JOHN: Thing is, both times that we've been to Melaswen, we've found people we weren't expecting. The first time it was Colin Murphy. The second was Will and Paige. I'm just wondering, when we go on this search for Tony, who else are we likely to find?

[heroicmuse]

That's a good question. I wonder who else is on Melaswen. And I am sure Anna is not going to take No for an answer and is coming with them one way or the other.

I hope Nicholas isn't going to blame Hadley for what happened and realizes she is an asset to his company.

Great chapter André DiMera.

[Kpatch]

Looking forward to going back to Melaswen.

Nicholas seems to think Hadley is a superwoman. Should I be visualizing Hadley as someone in particular? From House maybe?

[fluffysmom]

I wonder who Steve and John will find on melaswen this time.

[André DiMera]

Not quite, Kpatch, though that would be funny. Hadley is around the same age as Shawn, Belle, Philip and Nicholas (since I'm writing Nicholas as being Philip's age), possibly a few years younger. She's got dark blonde hair and wears glasses. Oddly, I haven't actually modeled her on anyone in particular. I'll have to get on that.

Glad you're all enjoying the story!

[André DiMera]

Chapter 414

SALEM HIGH
Claire and Ciara were walking to their lockers.
CIARA: Seriously, you guys are so lucky! I bet it was awesome!
CLAIRE: It was really cool! You and Trix should try to see it.
CIARA: One of these days, maybe.
Joey walked over to them.
JOEY: Hey guys.
CLAIRE: Hey.
JOEY: So I hear you and Chase got to see Hamilton over the weekend.
CLAIRE: Yep.
JOEY; How was it? Was it amazing?
CLAIRE: It was pretty sweet.
JOEY: Yeah, Noelle's been hoping to go for a while. I may take her sometime.
Ciara rolled her eyes.
CLAIRE: Is she still giving you a hard time?
CIARA: Yep. But, it's whatever. I explained the whole thing about us being stuck on an island with no cell service and spotty internet last year when she came back from Ireland. If she doesn't want to believe it, that's her issue. Anyway, Joey, are you two, like, official now?
JOEY: Not “official” official.
CIARA: So, basically you're dating but you don't want to say you're dating.
JOEY: It's not a big deal. We're just good friends. She's fun to hang out with, that's all.
CIARA: That's what you said about Jade the last time.

ALAMAIN INDUSTRIES
Hadley sat down across from Nicholas.
HADLEY: I'm sorry to hear about what happened yesterday. Losing Ecosystems and some of the investors, I mean.
NICHOLAS: Oh, don't be sorry. It's not your fault. You were a big help yesterday, actually.
HADLEY: Yeah?
NICHOLAS: Definitely. Sure, we may have lost a few investors, but your quick thinking made sure that we didn't lose as many of them as we might have. Plus, it was your idea that brought us back online. I'm quite pleased with your work, to be honest.
HADLEY: Thank you. That's really nice of you. I'm glad I was able to help.
NICHOLAS: I'm glad you were, as well. And I have a feeling that I may be needing more help. I've been looking over your performance records since we hired you as a secretary, and I'm impressed. Especially after yesterday. So, I was thinking about promoting you.
HADLEY: Really?
NICHOLAS: Really. Of course, it's up to you whether you want the promotion or not. As I said, I have the feeling that I'm going to be needing more help in the near future. How would you feel about being my personal assistant.
HADLEY: Your personal assistant?
Nicholas nodded.
NICHOLAS: It wouldn't be that different to what you already do now. Mostly answering phones and using computers. There are a few other things, of course, but I'll go over those if you accept.
HADLEY: I mean, I'd like to, but I thought Mr. Marais was your personal assistant.
NICHOLAS: Ivan is a different kind of personal assistant. He helps in things mostly outside of the office. Really, he's a man of all work for my entire family, not just me. Now, what you would be doing would be just at work and you'd report directly to me. So, what do you think?

[Kpatch]

Thanks for explaining about Hadley André DiMera.

I think she should find out what "a few other things" means BEFORE she accepts the job.

[heroicmuse]

I wonder what Hadley will say about this offer.

Joey! Don't be an idiot. Listen to your friends and stay away from Noelle. No Jade 2.0 please.

Great chapter André DiMera! Will there be previews?

[André DiMera]

Thanks for reading and commenting, everyone!

---

Next week...

After finding out a secret, Ciara and her friends confront Noelle.
CIARA: What the hell?
CLAIRE: Oh my gosh. It all makes sense now!

Meanwhile, Nicholas waits for an answer.
NICHOLAS: What do you think?

And a visit to an island may be more than they bargained for...
STEVE: We're gonna need backup.

Who else is on Melaswen Island?
JOHN: Be prepared for anything.

find out as THE MELASWEN PARADOX returns to Melaswen!

[heroicmuse]

I wonder what Noelle did. Is she in league with Tripp, maybe?

I'm looking forward to hearing Hadley's response to Nicholas' offer and I can't wait to see who Steve and John find on Melaswen.

Thanks for the great previews André DiMera!

[fluffysmom]

Thanks for the previews André DiMera. I'm looking forward to the return to Melaswen Island.