The Perfect Storm (Read 18,315 times)

[sportsgirl]

I also have lived through some hurricanes and many that scared me because it looked like it was coming right at us. The 1st time we got stuck in traffic, stayed at a hotel for the night because it was getting late & the next day when we finally reached part 1 of our destination there was no vacancy anywhere. We wound up going back home and hunkered down. It would up turning right a bit and we got a bunch of wind & some rain..
but the next one we didn't even try to leave. Scared the daylights out of me.. The Cat2 Hurricane Ike went right at us. We lost power of course & the wind was horrible. Then it was real calm until the back-end came. Scarier than the front. But we lived thru it. Yes, we had some damage and no power for days, but all was well.
I didn't have to deal with a child, but I feel Chloe should have gone with Brady & Parker. Philip is an adult that can & has taken care of himself. He shouldn't also have to deal with worrying about them & helping those who need his help.

[Kpatch]

And this proves that everyone reacts differently. No wrongs or rights. Everyone needs to do what they feel is right for them and their family. Ron and I are adults and he wasn't on a rescue mission, but his employer required him to be at work anyway, and I hated to be apart under those circumstances, so I went with him to work.

[Kpatch]

Chapter 22a

Chloe watched the windshield wipers thump back and forth and back and forth as she gripped the steering wheel of her car. Driving back to the house with Parker, Chloe remembered telling Brady, “We can’t leave without Philip. We’re a family, and we stay together no matter what.”

Chloe grew up in orphanages. She never had a family she could depend on, a family she felt safe with, a family who would take care of her no matter what. All those foster families could always “throw her back” whenever they wanted. Even after Nancy and Craig claimed her as their own, it took a long time for her to feel secure. It was only once Nancy got pregnant with Joy in order to provide a bone marrow match that she realized she had parents who would do anything for her.

Philip may not have been an orphan but he had a father who disowned him at the drop of a hat, and a mother who was a psychotic would-be killer. No wonder the man had insecurities.

Now, however, the two of them had come together and, along with Parker, they formed a family. She could not abandon him. She would not abandon him.

“Philip’s a lucky man,” Brady told her.

“I’m the lucky one,” she replied wistfully. “Come on, Parker. We need to get going.” Holding Parker’s hand, she gave Brady a one-armed hug. “Stay in touch, okay? Be safe.”

“And you be careful out there,” he told her as he hugged her back.

Glancing at Parker, she vowed to keep him safe. In the long run, Chloe was glad she didn’t let him go to Salem without her. She couldn’t bear being apart from him and she had no way of knowing if her son would truly be any safer flying in weather like this to get back to Salem. She hoped the Titan jet would be able to get out of here and bring Brady back to Nicole safely. Earlier, Brady had said, “I’ll never really understand your relationship with Philip.” Well, Chloe didn’t completely understand Brady’s relationship with Nicole either, especially the way Nicole was keeping Brady and Holly apart. Chloe believed Nicole was handling things all wrong by not giving Brady a chance to be a stepfather to a little girl he loved.

But even though Chloe carried Holly for nine months and gave birth to her, she didn’t have a say in how Nicole was raising Holly, any more than Nicole had a say in the way Chloe raised Parker. “You need to do what you believe is right for your family,” she said quietly, “no matter what other people may think.”

[heroicmuse]

While I'm glad Chloe doesnt care what other people think, shes putting her fears over what is best for Parker. This situation has nothing to do with when she was growing up in an orphanage and she needs to think more clearly.

[André DiMera]

Hopefully Chloe and Parker will be safe during the storm. Glad she realizes she doesn’t have a say in how Nicole raises Holly.

[meemz]

Seriously , with the show right now ... any rejection towards brady is like aloe on a sunburn to me, highly appreciated this 🤣 kpatch !

Wonder what chloe will do now, i know philip would have loved if they left him, but i know deep down he will be so moved. This is a clear message from chloe that we are one.

[sportsgirl]

Stupid move endangering herself & her son. Now Philip will have to worry about them too along with trying to help others. They could have waited out the storm and then got in touch with Philip.

[mae00]

I understand that people react differently and I get that Chloe's past comes into play in terms of abandonment....but. Keeping yourself and your son safe by evacuating is not abandonment. And it's not like he gave her an ultimatum to not leave. He agreed (despite his feud with Brady) that her leaving was the best. Not only that, but now Philip does not know that Chloe didn't leave town. No one is going to know that they need to go check Philip's place which can be a very bad thing. If they hadn't talked at all, at least he would have made sure that they either were ok or weren't there at all.

[doolfan4life]

I’m not entirely sure I believe Brady’s story about Nicole
Has anyone heard her side of it?
Brady always had a tendency to be controlling and a bit of a condescending ass with Nicole
I would like if Chloe eventually reaches out and let’s nicole open up her side of it as that’s what friends do
Flying in conditions isn’t safe and neither was staying I guess it boils down to a decision
I’m glad she’s staying with parker in the end but I won’t lie and say I’m not disappointed she didn’t evacuate with him

[fluffysmom]

I hope Chloe and Parker make it back to the house safely. Being in an airplane doesn't feel like a safe option now either.

[Kpatch]

Chapter 22b

As soon as they got home Chloe flipped on the lights. She sighed with relief when they worked. Philip always told her she’d be happy they had a generator, and now she knew exactly what he meant.

“We’ll be safe here,” Chloe told Parker as she hung their wet raincoats in the laundry room. “We’ve got plenty of shelf-stable food, even if we lose power.”

Parker left her side and went running through the house. “Where’s Uncle Philip?” Parker asked as he returned to the laundry room.

“Oh, he’s helping the Coast Guard save people.”

“Save people? What from?”

From their own stupidity, Chloe thought to herself. But she told Parker, “Sometimes, when the weather is bad like this, people get stuck. And Uncle Philip is helping them get um unstuck.”

In truth, Chloe wasn’t sure she was doing the right thing by staying here on the Key. She just knew that the thought of leaving Philip behind would drive her mad, not knowing if he was safe, not knowing when she’d be able to communicate with him again after the storm. It’s hard to know which choice would be safest. But flying on a private jet during a storm didn’t seem the best idea either. The plane crash on the way to Ireland may have been ages ago, but the harrowing experience and memories were still fresh in her mind. So, when Parker protested, she thought there was probably a reason. She didn’t want to be apart from Parker any more than she wanted to be apart from Philip. Despite their fights and differences, they were a family. She knew that she and Parker were safe here at home, but she didn’t know if Philip was. She kept trying to swat away the image of him flailing in the angry sea, struggling to keep from drowning, but it kept returning.

Parker tugged at Chloe’s blouse. “Mommy, the door is knocking.”

Chloe shook herself out of her thoughts. Stroking his hair, she said, “It’s probably the wind, angel. Maybe a tree branch.”

They heard the noise again, only louder this time. “Nope. It’s definitely the door,” he told her.

“Who would be visiting in the middle of this rainstorm?” she wondered. Chloe left the laundry room and headed to the front door with Parker close behind. Before opening the door, she called, “Who’s there?”

“Coast Guard, ma’am,” she heard someone say.

She looked at Parker. “Oh God.” They’ve come to tell her that something awful has happened to Philip. She opened the door and a man wearing a raincoat, military cap and holding a clipboard stood on the other side of the door.

“I’m here to evacuate you.”

“What?”

“You can’t stay here, ma’am. All the houses on this strip are on stilts, so everyone in this zone has got to get out.”

Chloe’s eyes went wide. “And go where?”

“To a shelter, ma’am. We’ve got a bus outside. Let’s go.”

Chloe looked toward the street and through the rain coming down, she could make out the shape of something that sort of looked like a bus.

Parker held her legs. “I don’t wanna go to a shelter, Mommy.”

Me either, Chloe thought to herself.

“It’s a mandatory evacuation, ma’am.”

Chloe nodded slowly. “Um. Can you give me a minute to get some things together for me and my son?”

“We need to hurry,” the Coast Guard officer said.

“I’ll just be a minute,” she promised.

[heroicmuse]

The irony of Chloe thinking Philip is saving people from their own stupidity. Too bad she didn't listen to him when he told her to take Parker to Salem with Brady.

Now they have to go to a shelter. How is that better? And please tell me she's not going to try to hide from the Coast Guard so she can stay.

[Kpatch]

Feb 18, 2021 8:33:37 GMT -5 heroicmuse said:

And please tell me she's not going to try to hide from the Coast Guard so she can stay.

She is not going to hide from the Coast Guard. LOL.

[André DiMera]

Glad the Coast Guard showed up.

[doolfan4life]

After all that she ended up getting evacuated anyways
I get the hesitation with a plane but not sure I buy it when she was prepared to send parker on his own with Brady
It only seemed like a bad choice when she was expected to go with him....
hopefully parker doesn’t kick up a fuss and cooperates