Thursday - 12/16
CHEZ ROUGE
Melanie and Philip sat at a table. There were several semi-eaten pieces of cake sitting in front of them.
PHILIP: You know, I never thought that the combination of chocolate and orange would be good, but it actually is.
MELANIE: Hey, if anyone can make it work, it’s Maggie.
PHILIP: Very true. It’s nice of her to volunteer to watch Dani while we sample wedding cakes.
MELANIE: Definitely.
Melanie put a bit of cake on a fork.
MELANIE: What about this one?
She put the fork in Philip’s mouth. A moment later, he took it out and licked his lips.
PHILIP: Oh, that’s good. Let’s see, it’s caramel and…I’m blanking on the other flavor.
MELANIE: That would be banana.
PHILIP: Banana. I was thinking that might be it. What do you think?
MELANIE: I love it, personally. Then again, I’ve loved most of the cakes we’ve tried so far.
PHILIP: If you had to pick your top two, though, what would they be?
Melanie thought for a moment and took a bite of the cake she had just had Philip taste.
MELANIE: Either this one or the pumpkin spice one.
PHILIP: Pumpkin spice was good, too.
MELANIE: Yeah, but in March, it won’t really be in season.
PHILIP: Hey, it’s our wedding, we can do whatever we want.
Melanie chuckled.
MELANIE: Good point.
PHILIP: Speaking of which, you’ve got a little something…
He pointed to the corner of his mouth. Melanie used her napkin to wipe it away.
PHILIP: Looks like there’s still a little there. Let me just…
Philip leaned in and the two kissed. Then they laughed.
MELANIE: Very clever, Mr. Kiriakis.
PHILIP: Hey, I gotta try when I can.
MELANIE: For which you get extra points.
PHILIP: Lucky me.
MELANIE: Speaking of lucky you, which are your top two favorites?
PHILIP: Honestly, the last two we tried were the best, in my opinion.
MELANIE: All right, well since we’re both in agreement about caramel banana, shall we go with that?
PHILIP: Hm. Maybe we need one more taste.
Philip picked up his fork and put a piece of cake on it.
PHILIP: What do you think?
Philip put his fork in Melanie’s mouth, then took it out.
MELANIE: Yeah, definitely this one.
PHILIP: Fantastic. Well, that’s one thing off the list.
MELANIE: Two, actually. I heard back from the people in charge, and the pavilion in the Town Square is ours on March 20th.
PHILIP: Awesome! Two things, then.
MELANIE: Yep. Only a thousand more to go.
NATURE CENTER - BURNT HILL
Allie was observing the wings on a great horned owl, one of which was broken and currently being mended. She wrote something on her notepad. Sofia walked over.
SOFIA: How’s our friend over here doing?
ALLIE: He seems to be doing better. His sleep patterns are going back to normal and his wing should be almost completely healed.
SOFIA: Excellent.
ALLIE: Just need to finish writing something down here.
SOFIA: All right. When you’re done there, you can go on your break.
ALLIE: Thanks, Sofia.
Allie wrote something else down, then quietly shut the door so as not to wake the owl. She walked back to the main building of the Nature Center, hung up her coat and went into the fridge to get her lunch. She had just taken it out when she felt a tap on the shoulder.
DIMERA MANSION
Johnny hesitated. E.J. had just finished explaining his plan for the next video tape.
JOHNNY: Do you really think that’s necessary?
E.J.: Of course I do. And why not? I can make things happen just as well as André can.
JOHNNY: No one’s saying you can’t. I’m just thinking, Uncle André might not be too happy to find out that you took over on his project. I mean, he’s been planning this for a long time. Besides, you know how he gets, he’s particular.
E.J.: My son, I understand that you don’t want to potentially incur your uncle’s wrath, formidable as it is. However, you have nothing to worry about. On the contrary, I think André will be thrilled to know that we’re carrying on the project in his stead. And this is the perfect time to do it, as in just about a month and a half, you’ll be back in school and too busy to assist.
JOHNNY: Let me think about it, okay?
E.J.: What’s there to think about?
JOHNNY: Well, for a start, it’s not like I’m gonna have a bunch of free time over break. Mom and Lucas are gonna drag me to the Horton ornament hanging on Christmas Eve, and I’m sure I’m gonna have to spend all day at the Pub on Christmas Day. Plus, Meadow and I kind of have a few plans to spend time away from Salem U over break.
E.J.: Ah yes. How is young Meadow?
JOHNNY: She’s okay. Still a bit shaken by finding her best friend’s body, but she’s getting there.
E.J.: Good.
JOHNNY: Anyway, like I was saying, there’s a lot of things to consider.
E.J.: You wouldn’t be trying to back out of this, would you?
JOHNNY: What? No! Of course not! Father, you know how committed I am to this family and everything it stands for. Besides, Uncle André picked me especially for this. I would never dream of disappointing him like that. Or you, for that matter.
E.J.: I’m glad to hear it. I should hate to think for any reason that you weren’t committed to the project.
JOHNNY: Well, there’s nothing to worry about there. I am totally committed. I just need time to figure things out. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time for me to work on it, but I need to work on my schedule before I can give you a definite day and time, that’s all. But, as soon as I know, you’ll be the first person I tell.
E.J.: Very good. You think on it, then, and get back to me.
JOHNNY: I will. I’ll be in touch soon. Now, I should go.
E.J.: All right. It’s good to know I can count on you, son.
JOHNNY: Always.
E.J. and Johnny hugged. Then, Johnny left.
E.J. (thinking): I should certainly hope you’re telling me the truth, son.
