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Post by gapeach on May 23, 2012 11:47:36 GMT -5
Can't wait for Melanie to start learning the truth! Am loving this story.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2012 15:25:32 GMT -5
Chapter 21
Philip and Melanie had finally been able to convinced Parker to go to bed, after much effort. Melanie was standing back with a smile, watching as her “husband” tucked his son in to bed. He spoke softly as Parker nodded and giggled.
She was pulled from her stare when Parker’s eyes set on her, “Melnee?”
“Yes, Parker.” She moved closer to his bed.
“Can we have picnic tah-morrow?” His eyes were wide with question.
She nods, with a smile, “If the weather is nice, of course we can!”
He gasps, “Can we go to da park too!?”
Philip looks over his shoulder, flashing a dimpled grin to Melanie before turning back to Parker. “Maybe…” He leans in and kisses his forehead, “Okay, little man. Time for bed. And stay in your bed tonight, please. I don’t want to hear from grandpa that you snuck into their room again…”
Parker nods, “Okay, daddy.”
Phillip places another kiss on Parker’s forehead before standing and following Melanie out of the door and into the hallway. As they make their way down the hall, Melanie smiles up at Philip at he puts his arm around her.
“Your son is something else…” She laughs.
Philip sighs, “He definitely is. Knows how to keep us on our toes, that’s for sure!”
They stop outside of Melanie’s room, turning to face each other. Melanie looks at the door over her shoulder then back to Philip, “You know, I really don’t think I need to sleep in the ‘sick’ room anymore.”
He raises an eyebrow, “No?”
“No,” She shakes her head playfully with a smile, “I think I would sleep much better if I was in bed next to you…”
Phillip smiles, looking down momentarily, “I would too…” He placed a light kiss on her forehead, hugging her close as they disappeared into the bedroom.
In the master bedroom down the hall, Maggie is seated in front of her vanity, applying cream to her face to remove her make up as Victor emerges from the bathroom.
“I just don’t understand what their problem is. They can’t make a single damn decision without whining about it…” He grumbles as he pulls back the covers and gets into bed. “I’m tired of dealing with this stupidity…”
Maggie observes his reflection in her mirror as he picks up his book and places his glasses on the end of his nose, “I don’t know why you have yourself so stressed out about Titan. I mean, isn’t that why Phillip came back to town? So he could take care of all of that?” She questioned as she methodically wiped the cream from her face.
Victor sighed, “Yes, well Philip ended up getting more than he bargained for, didn’t he?”
He focused on his book as Maggie’s face fell, he continued his grumbling, “He’s having to deal with a lot more than just Titan. I didn’t count on him being so distracted. How can I really trust that he has his head into the game, with Melanie in the picture?”
Maggie observes him silently in the mirror and turns in her stool to face him, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He looks over his book, “What? It means what I said it means…”
“That it’s Melanie’s fault that you can’t trust Phillip to run Titan?”
“I didn’t say that.” He spoke without looking up from his book.
“That’s exactly what you said.”
He looks up at her, “Why are you putting words in my mouth? I didn’t say that it was Melanie’s fault!”
“Okay, fine.” She looks down and turns back to the vanity, “I know what I heard.”
Victor sighs, “Maggie, don’t overreact, I’m just frustrated with business, that’s all.”
She addresses him through the mirror, “This isn’t just business Victor. This is our family. When you have family running your business, it’s kind of hard to separate them, you know?” Her eyes were wide as she hastily finished moisturizing her face.
Raising an eyebrow he grumbles, “You’re right about that, especially with all of this drama going on.” He focuses back on his book, before Maggie slams her vanity drawer causing him to look up.
“Damn it, Victor!” She turns to face him, “Why don’t you stop making your little jabs and just get it out. You’re angry about this situation with Melanie and Phillip.”
He sets his book down and sighs, “Am I supposed to be happy with it?”
“Well it would be nice if you could be a little understanding.” She gets up and heads over to the bed, taking a seat on the edge.
“What do you want me to do, Maggie? I’m sitting back and watching my son fall back in love with his ex-wife… I can’t say it’s easy.”
She shakes her head, then turns to face him, “And this is easy for me?”
“Well, Phillip is putting his life on hold for that girl. Melanie isn’t the one that’s going to end up with a broken heart in all of this.”
“That girl?” Maggie’s eyes widen, “And like what she’s going through pales in comparison to Philip’s soon to be broken heart?”
He narrows his eyes, “I didn’t say that either. But you need to stop coddling her. You can’t protect her from life, Maggie.”
“Oh, really? This coming from someone who prides himself on keeping secrets and telling lies to protect his family. You’re certainly being rather righteous about this!”
“Yeah?” He chuckles sarcastically, “And for someone who is always preaching about the truth, you seem quite all right with living a huge lie.”
She shakes her head in frustration, turning off the light before rolling over with her back to Victor. He takes a deep breath and focuses back on his book.
Chapter 22 Preview
-- Victor inadvertently "rips the band-aid off", so to speak...
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Post by Kpatch on May 23, 2012 15:52:29 GMT -5
You left it there? OMG, I want to know what's going on behind closed doors. Is Philip going to give in, or is he going to hold back?
I'm glad that Victor is concerned about Philip's emotional state. I think Maggie should be more understanding. Victor isn't discounting Melanie's problems, but it's natural that he would be more worried about his son, just as she is more worried about her granddaughter.
Fantastic chapter, sjw!
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2012 16:28:13 GMT -5
Thank you! Behind closed doors? I guess that could be left up to the imagination.  I will say this, Philip is a lot smarter now than he used to be. As much as he is falling for her, he doesn't want to do anything that is going to make her resent him in the future. You have to remember, he's going this to make amends in some ways. He knows if they slept together and then she found out the truth, she might not be very happy. As far as Maggie goes... she feels guilty and she's taking it out on Victor. Just like Daniel, she's automatically thinking that Victor is blaming her for the situation, she just doesn't express it that way. It's easier for her to defend Melanie than it is to defend herself, but she doesn't even realize she's doing it. These next few scenes were my favorite to write. This is turning into a story of epic proportions. haha. I have so many plans, it's possible it could never end. LOL! |
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Post by MrsM on May 23, 2012 16:35:46 GMT -5
Great chapter!!! Can't wait for more!
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Post by krw627 on May 23, 2012 18:10:04 GMT -5
It never has to end...just keep writing!!! I love this story!
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2012 18:07:37 GMT -5
Chapter 22
Victor was up early and ready for a morning swim. It was a hot summer morning, he closed the patio door behind him and as he made his way to the pool, he was surprised to see Philip already swimming laps. He looked at his watch, 6:10am.
Philip arrived at the side of the pool, greeting his father, “Good morning.”
“Morning, you’re up early.” Victor set his things down as Philip jumped out of the pool and grabbed a towel.
“Yeah, I couldn’t really sleep.” He wiped his face with the towel and threw it over his shoulder.
“Everything okay?”
Philip nodded, “Yeah, fine.”
“You sure?” He raised an eyebrow.
His son put his hands on his hips and catching his breath from his work out, “Yeah, Dad. What? Why are you grilling me?”
Victor narrowed his eyes, “I walked past Melanie’s room this morning. The door was open and she wasn’t in here.”
“She slept in my room.” He spoke matter-of-factly, taking a drink from his water bottle.
His father’s eyes widened, “She did.”
“Nothing happened…” He rolled his eyes.
“Well, I hope not.” He huffed.
Philip sighed, “Dad, I’m doing the best that I can, okay?”
“What’s going to happen tonight?” Victor raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t know.” He shrugs.
“What do you mean, you don’t know. You can’t sleep with her, Philip.”
Phillip looked upward and took a deep breath, “I’m not going to sleep with her, dad. That’s not why I’m doing this.”
“Well, I know that’s not why. But I also know how you are.”
He narrowed his eyes, “I love Melanie. I do. I always will. That is why I went along with this, because there are things that I need to make right, and for some reason, I feel better knowing that I am doing something for her. The last thing I want to do is betray her trust by taking advantage of the fact that she’s confused.”
Victor crossed his arms, “And what if she doesn’t want to take no for an answer?”
“I don’t know, dad. She’s still recovering. I’m sure I can use that excuse for a while. Hopefully this will all be over soon.”
He nods, “Yeah.. we can only hope.”
“In the mean time, I’ll take it one day at a time.”
“Yes. But don’t forget… in the end- she is going to remember. She’s with somebody else.”
Philip rolls his eyes, “I know that. What do you think, I’m falling for her?”
“Yes.” Victor nods affirmatively.
“Well I’m not.” He rips the towel from his shoulder and dives back into the pool.
That afternoon, Maggie stared out of the kitchen window at Melanie, Philip and Parker playing in the backyard. Philip and Parker were chasing each other in their swim trunks as Melanie sat in the grass watching them. They really did look like a happy little family, so much that it broke Maggie’s heart knowing the truth. She shook her head and took a deep breath as Victor entered the kitchen, noticing his wife; he walked to the cupboard and retrieved a glass, filling it with water from the refrigerator.
“What are you looking at?” He turned, leaning his back against the counter, taking a drink.
She looked over her shoulder and then turned and walked back to the counter where she had been preparing sandwiches, “The kids are outside playing.”
“Oh,” He took another drink of his water; the tension was clear, “So are you ever going to speak to me again?”
Maggie looked up at her husband, “Aren’t you and Phillip going golfing or something?”
“Yes.” He nods. “We have a 12:30 tee time.”
She looks at her watch, “It’s 11:45…”
“Maggie, the golf course is ten minutes away. What is wrong with you?” He was growing agitated.
She sighed and froze her movements, taking a deep breath before looking up at him, “There is nothing wrong with me.” She stared into his eyes.
He sighed, “Is this about what I said last night? Because you know I didn’t mean…”
“No. Victor. You always mean what you say, exactly how you say it. You just regret opening your mouth after you piss me off.” She continued throwing lunch meat on bread.
Victor rolled his eyes, “That’s not true. And I love Melanie, you know that. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
She shrugged, “Well not for nothing, Victor, but it isn’t like Phillip doesn’t owe her this much after everything he put her through in the past.”
“I don’t want to get into this…” He walks over to the table grabbing the paper.
She turns, narrowing her eyes to him, “You’re the one that brought it up! If you didn’t want to get into it, I would have been perfectly happy with silence.” She slapped her hand against her thigh in annoyance.
He turned, lowering his eyebrows, “Okay, what? I was just making a true statement that Phillip is putting his life on hold for Melanie and I don’t think it is fair to continue to make him go on with this charade.”
“Yeah and I remember something along the lines of Melanie always being able to wrap him around her finger, wasn’t it? Oh and that I can’t continue to coddle her and shield her from the truth.”
“I didn’t say anything like that.”
“Not in those exact words but I know that is what you meant.” She narrowed her eyes, “And you most certainly did say that I was coddling her.”
Victor huffs, “Well you are.” He watches as his wife shakes her head and focuses back on the sandwiches. He sighs, “Maggie, it isn’t fair for my son and grandson to have to play this game. It’s ridiculous. How is she going to get her memory back if everyone is making her think this is reality? This has been going on for too long and someone needs to start to work with Melanie to get her to remember that she and Phillip are no longer married.”
Maggie turns and narrows her eyes to him, placing a fist firmly on her hip, “Are you really telling me what you think is unfair, right now?”
He sighs, “I’m not saying Melanie’s situation is fair, I’m just making a point…”
“No, Victor. Listen, I’m sorry if me putting my granddaughter’s well-being ahead of that of your son bothers you, but she is my main concern right now. And don’t you dare try to tell me you wouldn’t do the same thing if the situation was reversed.” Her voice cracked with the threat of tears.
“It’s not just Phillip that I think it’s unfair for, it’s Melanie too! Like I said, how will she ever start to get her memory back if everyone is enabling this?”
Maggie shook her head with a sarcastic chuckle, “Enabling? She isn’t an addict, Victor! She has amnesia!”
He shrugs, “It doesn’t matter. She should still be getting eased into what is actual reality.”
Maggie turns swiftly, wrapping up the sandwiches and piling them on the counter, “I’m done talking to you about this. You’re not even trying to be reasonable.”
He softens, “Darling, I am trying, I just think you need to see a different perspective.”
“Please don’t condescend to me…” She ceases to look up and focuses on sweeping the crumbs from the counter into her hand, “It just feels like no matter what I do, it’s never good enough.”
“What? Oh, come on, Maggie. Don’t do this...”
She looks up at him with widened, sad eyes, shaking her head, “Don’t you think that if I thought telling Melanie the truth would help everything that I would?” She throws up her hands, “Maybe this should have all been handled differently from the beginning, I don’t really know. All I know is at this point, I’m doing the best that I can. Melanie needs calmness in her life right now, and stability, and that’s what I’m trying to give her.”
He looks blankly at her, “Calmness and stability in a life that’s based on a lie.”
She shakes her head, fighting back the tears, “You are unbelievable.”
He sighs, “All I’m saying is that eventually she will need to know the truth. She is going to have to deal with the fact that she and Phillip haven’t been married for years and her baby isn’t his—!”
“What?”
Maggie and Victor both turn in shock to see Melanie standing in the open doorway, her face riddled with confusion; Phillip standing behind her holding Parker. Maggie draws a deep breath and looks to Victor, who stands sullen and frozen.
~Chapter 23 Preview~
--Melanie learns the truth.
--Daniel and Carly make a deal.
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Post by MrsM on May 24, 2012 18:57:47 GMT -5
I actually agree with Victor. Melanie needs to be told the truth at this point.
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2012 19:13:00 GMT -5
At this point Victor is really the only one thinking clearly. He's able to be involved in the situation but bring an outsider's perspective. Maggie just doesn't want to hear it. She's struggling with her own voice in her head telling her the same thing he is, but it's easier to fight with him than herself. Maggie is rarely irrational... but she is being irrational here, for many reasons. She lives by the truth, and she is totally going against her better judgment with this whole situation. I better stop before I give away meaty parts of future dialogue.  |
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Post by fluffysmom on May 24, 2012 20:13:01 GMT -5
I'm glad Victor spoke his mind. I don't think Melanie will take the news well.
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Post by Kpatch on May 24, 2012 20:56:06 GMT -5
Great chapter sjw! The visuals and the dialogue were perfect. You have created a movie in my mind. Great drama at the end of the scene too, with Melanie walking in and hearing exactly what she wasn't supposed to hear!
And I have to say that I don't mind picturing Philip slightly angry, dripping wet, and wearing nothing but swim trunks.
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Post by MrsM on May 24, 2012 21:05:02 GMT -5
Amen!!
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2012 21:18:00 GMT -5
Great chapter sjw! The visuals and the dialogue were perfect. You have created a movie in my mind. Great drama at the end of the scene too, with Melanie walking in and hearing exactly what she wasn't supposed to hear! And I have to say that I don't mind picturing Philip slightly angry, dripping wet, and wearing nothing but swim trunks. What a compliment! Thank you! Philip- yes. That was so easy to write because I could picture it so clearly in my mind. And it is definitely a nice picture.  |
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2012 11:27:56 GMT -5
Chapter 23
Just when Melanie thought she couldn’t be more confused, she was quickly proved wrong as Maggie, Phillip and Victor all sat around the kitchen table with her, Maggie holding firmly to her hand as they cautiously explained everything that had happened.
Melanie looks to Philip, taking a deep breath, “So you just came back to town? You haven’t been living in Salem?”
“No, Parker and I moved to Chicago in the Summer of 2011.”
Her eyes widened, “2 years ago?!”
“Yeah.” Phillip nods.
Melanie shakes her head, “But how did I have all of those memories of our life together? Of Parker? He was only a baby when you left.”
“Honey, your mind is just very confused. You invented a reality of your own to fill in the missing pieces of what you didn’t know.” Her grandmother spoke softly.
“That seems to be the only answer. I’m confused.”
Maggie sighed, “I’m sorry sweetheart, we just didn’t want to overwhelm you, and everyone said that we needed to let you remember on your own.”
“I know, It’s okay. I just feel kind of foolish.” She looks to Phillip, “I’m sorry you had to go along with all of this.”
“I wanted to, Melanie. I wanted to help you.” Phillip smiles, “And it wasn’t like it was torture or anything…”
She nods, then looks back to Maggie, “I just wish I could remember Chad. How can I have no idea who my boyfriend is? The father of my child…”
Maggie shakes her head, “I don’t know, sweetheart. It’s all so complicated. But your mom and dad, they really are confident that things should start to come back to you soon. And Chad understands what you are going through.”
“Yeah, but I don’t understand.” She sighs, “Maybe if I see him? Maybe it will bring back something?”
“Why don’t we wait and talk to your dad about it, okay?”
“Yeah.” She looks down.
Philip leans forward, “Is there anything you need? Anything I can do?”
“No,” Her answer was quick and distant, “I think you’ve already done enough for me. I really, I would just like to be alone. Thank you.” She looked up at him, wearily.
Philip nods and catches Victor’s eye, both rising from their seats, they head out of the room.
“Okay, honey.” Maggie nods and pats Melanie’s hand; she brushes her hand along Melanie’s cheek and then hugs her tightly, “I love you.”
Melanie sniffles, “I love you, too. So much.” The emotions that had been held so tightly inside through the whole conversation were irrepressible now; in the arms of the person she trusted the most in her life. She had never felt so naïve and so small. She squeezed her eyes tightly as a flood of stinging tears erupted. She didn’t want to let go, feeling like she needed to hold onto the embrace as a lifeline. Soon, she felt Maggie begin to pull away, and she attempted to compose her tears before facing her.
Maggie leans back, wiping a tear from Melanie’s cheek, “My darling girl." Kissing her head, she begins to rise from her seat.
Melanie holds tight to her hand, “No.” She watches as Maggie sits back down, looking at her curiously. She felt her eyes once again sting with fresh tears as she struggled to form words, “Can you stay here? Please...?”
She nods, “Of course. What ever you need.”
Melanie looks to Maggie, her eyes brimming with tears ready to spill, “I need you to hold me…”
“Oh, Melanie…” Choking back her own tears, she holds out her arms and wraps them around Melanie firmly, who buries her head in her shoulder and begins to sob. “It’s going to be all right… I’m right here.” Maggie soothes, rocking gently back and forth as Melanie’s body quakes with emotion.
Daniel stood leaning on his kitchen counter and listened intently as Philip spoke from the other end of the phone, “How did she react?... Understandably, yeah…. But you think she’s okay?... Good… She should rest… Okay, I’ll come by a little later then. I don’t want to overwhelm her even more…”
Carly enters from the back hall, listening to the conversation.
“I know. It was bound to happen… and as long as she is doing okay then I’m really glad it did… Thanks Philip, for everything… Bye…” He hangs up and notices Carly standing behind him, “Hey…”
She smiles small, “Hey… What’s going on?”
“Oh…” He sighs, “That was Philip… Melanie walked in on Victor making a comment to my mother about she and Philip no longer being married and the baby not being his.”
Carly’s eyes widen, “Oh, wow.”
“Yeah.” He nods, “So they sat down and told her everything.”
“She’s okay?”
Daniel shrugged, “As far as Philip knows. She said she wanted to be alone, and he thinks she might have gone to rest.”
Carly exhales in relief, “This needed to happen…”
Daniel walks around the counter and pours himself and Carly a glass of water, “It did, you’re right. I just don’t know where we go from here.”
“I never thought I would say this,” She accepts her glass of water from Daniel, “But I kind of feel bad for Philip.”
“I do too.” Daniel nods as he sits at the breakfast island, “I can’t help but feel guilty here. I didn’t really give him much of a choice in this, did I?”
Carly shrugs, “I don’t know. But if it wasn’t something that Philip thought he could do then he wouldn’t have done it, you know?”
“I used his guilt about his divorce with Melanie to get him to help her. It wasn’t right.”
She places a hand over his, “You wanted to protect your daughter. You did what any dad would do in that situation. Don’t do this to yourself.”
“I have to admit… I think it was kind of out of spite for Philip. I felt like he owed it to Melanie… and it was really wrong on my part.”
Carly shakes her head, “Daniel, don’t. We all make mistakes. We all think with our heart sometimes above our head.”
He shrugs, raising his eyebrows, “The only person I was really thinking of was Melanie… I couldn’t think of anyone else. I mean, we almost lost her, I wasn’t going to do anything that could set her back.”
She smiles, “You are such an amazing father, Daniel.”
“Oh, Stop.” He rolls his eyes with a small smile.
“No, I’m serious!” She pauses, looking down, “I’m just sorry that it took this long for you to be able to be a part of your daughter’s life.”
He takes a deep breath, “Carly. So, now you’re going to beat yourself up? What, it’s your turn now?”
“I’m sorry,” She sighs, “I’ll just never forgive myself.”
He reaches out and takes her hand, “How about me and you we make a deal? We both work together and help each other to forgive ourselves for the mistakes we’ve made, huh?”
Carly nods with a smile, “Deal.”
“So,” Daniel raises his eyebrows, “What do we do now?”
“I don’t know. Just be there for our daughter. She’s going to need us now, more than ever. She has to be so scared.”
“I know. I figured we would let her rest for a little while and then you and I could go over later.”
Carly nods, “That sounds good. Have you thought about telling Chad?”
“That she knows the truth?” He watches as Carly nods, “I don’t know. It isn’t going to make it much better for him. She still can’t remember.”
“But at least he will know that she isn’t living a pretend life with Philip anymore.”
“You’re right, I’ll call him.”
Carly gets up from her seat and starts to walk away. Daniel watches, “Hey, Carly.”
“Yeah?” She turns to face him.
Looking down momentarily, he then meets her eyes with a smile, “We, uh. We make a good team.”
Carly smiles, nodding, “Yeah, we do.”
Chapter 24 Preview
-Maggie apologizes to Melanie
-Chad informs Victor that he no longer needs his help.
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Post by fluffysmom on May 26, 2012 11:44:55 GMT -5
I'm glad Maggie is there for Melanie. I'm glad she knows the truth.
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I will say this, Philip is a lot smarter now than he used to be. As much as he is falling for her, he doesn't want to do anything that is going to make her resent him in the future. You have to remember, he's going this to make amends in some ways. He knows if they slept together and then she found out the truth, she might not be very happy. 
