Post by rsafan on Sept 29, 2006 3:38:52 GMT -5
Chapter 4
She was in Salem Place, after having been released from the hospital, Shawn had insisted she stay in bed for a couple of days. Worried about the baby herself, Mimi had agreed. But there was only so much time one could spend resting, and her doctor had given her a clean bill of health. The tests results had all been satisfactory. She’d escaped the confines of the apartment the minute Shawn had left for work, if she stayed cooped up for one more day, she wouldn’t be held responsible for her actions. So she’d decided to do a bit of retail therapy.
“Whoa there…” Mimi felt someone grab her arm as the ground approached her at a frightening speed. “Are you okay?” she heard someone ask her through the buzzing going on inside her head. She needed to sit down, she needed to drink something, she needed to be able to put one foot ahead of the other, but all she could see was blackness.
Victoria guided the woman to a bench; she sat down next to her. “Can I get you anything?”
Mimi shook her head, “No, I’m fine. I just need to sit here for a while. My husband is going to be so angry if he finds out; I’m supposed to be at home resting.”
“Well then, we’d better get you home.”
“No, I’m fine. Really, see” she got up to prove that she was okay, but the dizziness just came right back and she had to grab a hold of the back of the bench to steady herself. “I guess I’m not as okay as I thought. I thought pregnancy would be a whole lot easier than this.”
“You’re pregnant?”
Mimi nodded, “I thought I’d slip out for a while, I was going crazy at home. I just had to get out.”
“Well, how about we make a deal. I’ll take you home and stay with you for a while, until your husband shows up. Then I’ll give him a lecture about leaving you cooped up in a house all day. How does that sound to you?”
“Like heaven.” She handed Victoria her keys and giving general direction and descriptions, allowed the girl to walk her to her car. Not more a moment did she ever dwell on the fact that just handed her car keys to a complete stranger, or that she was giving that stranger directions to their apartment.
Once Victoria had the woman settled nicely on the sofa, she called the husband. Salem really was a strange town, in Chicago, a woman would never go home with a total stranger and then have them call her husband without even getting a name. She glanced at the woman, she was obviously seriously stressed out and if she was pregnant, that couldn’t be good for the baby.
Someone picked up on the third ring, a woman, “Max’s Garage.”
Had she dialled the wrong number by mistake? “Max’s Garage? Sorry, I think I might have the wrong number. I was looking for a Shawn.”
“You’ve got the right place. I’ll just get him for you.” Chelsea placed the receiver on the desk and went to call Shawn.
He picked up only moments later, “This is Shawn.”
“Hi Shawn, I’m calling from your apartment, I think you might want to come home. Your wife isn’t feeling all that well.”
Shawn didn’t even bother to ask who the person was, all he heard was that Mimi was ill and that he had to get home. “I’ll be there in a few.”
He rushed out of the garage, giving Max some garbled excuse that he hadn’t even heard before Shawn was missing. “Well, I guess that was important.” Chelsea handed Max a cloth for his hands and smiled at him, “So, what was it you wanted to speak to me about? You’ve been trying to speak to me for days and we just always got interrupted.”
“Well Chelsea, you see it’s like this…”
It wasn’t long before Chelsea was storming out of the garage in much the same way her brother had moments before. While Shawn had left in panic, Chelsea left furious. How dare he! How dare he dump me!
Shawn made it to the loft apartment in record breaking speed. He stormed through the door demanding to know where his wife was and if she was okay. Spotting her on the sofa, he rushed over to her. “Are you okay? What happened?”
She wore a guilty expression on her face, “Don’t be angry, please.”
“Why would I be angry?”
“I went out, to Salem Place.” The expression on his face had her explaining pretty quickly, “I’ve been cooped up in here for days Shawn. Stress isn’t good for the baby and I was way passed stressed…”
He sighed, he wasn’t angry. He was just glad she was okay. He kissed her forehead, then her nose, his mouth lingered close to hers, but before they cold make contact a voice interrupted them. “Sorry to disturb you… You!”
“And you! What are you doing here?”
Mimi looked from one to the other, they obviously to know each other, “Okay, what is going on here?”
Shawn turned to her, “Mimi honey, this is the woman I told you about. The one who saved our baby. Victoria…”
“Campbell. Victoria Campbell. I didn’t exactly save your baby.”
“Had it not been for you, we wouldn’t have known she was pregnant, we wouldn’t have known to be careful. And now you’ve helped her and our child again. We’ll never be able to repay you.”
“Well, you can do one thing for me… You could tell me your names. We never got around to it, in the hospital or at the shops.”
Shawn got up and held out his hand, “Sorry, Shawn Brady.”
A confused expression came over her face, “Brady?”
“Yes Brady, does the name ring a bell?”
Her expression soon changed to one of shock, “Ring a bell? More like a siren. Brady…Shawn… Shawn Brady… you’re Rex’s cousin!” she accused.
It was his turn to look confused, “You know Rex?”
“Like I know myself, he’s only the coolest guy in Chicago. We share an apartment; he’s the best, especially when you’re really sick, takes care of you like you’re a baby. I love him to bits.”
“So you’re like his girlfriend?” It was Mimi who asked that question.
“Me? No way, that’s totally gross. I mean not that he’s gross, but his like the big brother I never had, the thought of …Ewww. That’d be like being with your brother, wrong on so many levels.”
“Your big brother?”
She sat down on the sofa, Shawn remained standing, “Yeah, we have an appreciation for the same things. If you know Rex, then you know that that’s basically things no one else understands.”
“So you’re another genius?”
“I wouldn’t say genius exactly, I’m more gifted. I don’t have the super-brain Rex does; I just understand things quicker and better than most people.”
Mimi’s curiosity was piqued, if someone could hold a conversation with Rex over his ‘interests’, then they had to be pretty d**n ‘gifted’ “So exactly how ‘gifted’ would you say you are.”
“Well, if my education is any indication, I attended a ‘private academic institution for gifted youths’ till I was ten, that was in England. Then we moved to the States, because of my dad’s business interests, I attended another school for the gifted in New York. I officially graduated high school at age twelve and by sixteen, I had acquired an MBA in both finance, as well as marketing from Columbia. That’s when I moved to Chicago, I wanted to study more, my parents didn’t want their sixteen year old daughter working, so they agreed. That’s were I met Rex, and Cassie, and Sara and Chris and a whole bunch other guys.”
They both just stared at her, saying she as ‘gifted’ was like saying Everest was just a hill. Shawn shook his head, sixteen? How did you get an MBA at sixteen?
“So what are you doing in Salem?”
“I have an internship at Titan, I start tomorrow. I also have more personal business to take care of.” She frowned, thinking about all she’d heard, processing it. Shawn hadn’t given her his wife’s name, but Rex had. She looked at Mimi, she was as beautiful as Rex had described her, “You’re Rex’s Mimi aren’t you?”
She was in Salem Place, after having been released from the hospital, Shawn had insisted she stay in bed for a couple of days. Worried about the baby herself, Mimi had agreed. But there was only so much time one could spend resting, and her doctor had given her a clean bill of health. The tests results had all been satisfactory. She’d escaped the confines of the apartment the minute Shawn had left for work, if she stayed cooped up for one more day, she wouldn’t be held responsible for her actions. So she’d decided to do a bit of retail therapy.
“Whoa there…” Mimi felt someone grab her arm as the ground approached her at a frightening speed. “Are you okay?” she heard someone ask her through the buzzing going on inside her head. She needed to sit down, she needed to drink something, she needed to be able to put one foot ahead of the other, but all she could see was blackness.
Victoria guided the woman to a bench; she sat down next to her. “Can I get you anything?”
Mimi shook her head, “No, I’m fine. I just need to sit here for a while. My husband is going to be so angry if he finds out; I’m supposed to be at home resting.”
“Well then, we’d better get you home.”
“No, I’m fine. Really, see” she got up to prove that she was okay, but the dizziness just came right back and she had to grab a hold of the back of the bench to steady herself. “I guess I’m not as okay as I thought. I thought pregnancy would be a whole lot easier than this.”
“You’re pregnant?”
Mimi nodded, “I thought I’d slip out for a while, I was going crazy at home. I just had to get out.”
“Well, how about we make a deal. I’ll take you home and stay with you for a while, until your husband shows up. Then I’ll give him a lecture about leaving you cooped up in a house all day. How does that sound to you?”
“Like heaven.” She handed Victoria her keys and giving general direction and descriptions, allowed the girl to walk her to her car. Not more a moment did she ever dwell on the fact that just handed her car keys to a complete stranger, or that she was giving that stranger directions to their apartment.
Once Victoria had the woman settled nicely on the sofa, she called the husband. Salem really was a strange town, in Chicago, a woman would never go home with a total stranger and then have them call her husband without even getting a name. She glanced at the woman, she was obviously seriously stressed out and if she was pregnant, that couldn’t be good for the baby.
Someone picked up on the third ring, a woman, “Max’s Garage.”
Had she dialled the wrong number by mistake? “Max’s Garage? Sorry, I think I might have the wrong number. I was looking for a Shawn.”
“You’ve got the right place. I’ll just get him for you.” Chelsea placed the receiver on the desk and went to call Shawn.
He picked up only moments later, “This is Shawn.”
“Hi Shawn, I’m calling from your apartment, I think you might want to come home. Your wife isn’t feeling all that well.”
Shawn didn’t even bother to ask who the person was, all he heard was that Mimi was ill and that he had to get home. “I’ll be there in a few.”
He rushed out of the garage, giving Max some garbled excuse that he hadn’t even heard before Shawn was missing. “Well, I guess that was important.” Chelsea handed Max a cloth for his hands and smiled at him, “So, what was it you wanted to speak to me about? You’ve been trying to speak to me for days and we just always got interrupted.”
“Well Chelsea, you see it’s like this…”
It wasn’t long before Chelsea was storming out of the garage in much the same way her brother had moments before. While Shawn had left in panic, Chelsea left furious. How dare he! How dare he dump me!
*****
Shawn made it to the loft apartment in record breaking speed. He stormed through the door demanding to know where his wife was and if she was okay. Spotting her on the sofa, he rushed over to her. “Are you okay? What happened?”
She wore a guilty expression on her face, “Don’t be angry, please.”
“Why would I be angry?”
“I went out, to Salem Place.” The expression on his face had her explaining pretty quickly, “I’ve been cooped up in here for days Shawn. Stress isn’t good for the baby and I was way passed stressed…”
He sighed, he wasn’t angry. He was just glad she was okay. He kissed her forehead, then her nose, his mouth lingered close to hers, but before they cold make contact a voice interrupted them. “Sorry to disturb you… You!”
“And you! What are you doing here?”
Mimi looked from one to the other, they obviously to know each other, “Okay, what is going on here?”
Shawn turned to her, “Mimi honey, this is the woman I told you about. The one who saved our baby. Victoria…”
“Campbell. Victoria Campbell. I didn’t exactly save your baby.”
“Had it not been for you, we wouldn’t have known she was pregnant, we wouldn’t have known to be careful. And now you’ve helped her and our child again. We’ll never be able to repay you.”
“Well, you can do one thing for me… You could tell me your names. We never got around to it, in the hospital or at the shops.”
Shawn got up and held out his hand, “Sorry, Shawn Brady.”
A confused expression came over her face, “Brady?”
“Yes Brady, does the name ring a bell?”
Her expression soon changed to one of shock, “Ring a bell? More like a siren. Brady…Shawn… Shawn Brady… you’re Rex’s cousin!” she accused.
It was his turn to look confused, “You know Rex?”
“Like I know myself, he’s only the coolest guy in Chicago. We share an apartment; he’s the best, especially when you’re really sick, takes care of you like you’re a baby. I love him to bits.”
“So you’re like his girlfriend?” It was Mimi who asked that question.
“Me? No way, that’s totally gross. I mean not that he’s gross, but his like the big brother I never had, the thought of …Ewww. That’d be like being with your brother, wrong on so many levels.”
“Your big brother?”
She sat down on the sofa, Shawn remained standing, “Yeah, we have an appreciation for the same things. If you know Rex, then you know that that’s basically things no one else understands.”
“So you’re another genius?”
“I wouldn’t say genius exactly, I’m more gifted. I don’t have the super-brain Rex does; I just understand things quicker and better than most people.”
Mimi’s curiosity was piqued, if someone could hold a conversation with Rex over his ‘interests’, then they had to be pretty d**n ‘gifted’ “So exactly how ‘gifted’ would you say you are.”
“Well, if my education is any indication, I attended a ‘private academic institution for gifted youths’ till I was ten, that was in England. Then we moved to the States, because of my dad’s business interests, I attended another school for the gifted in New York. I officially graduated high school at age twelve and by sixteen, I had acquired an MBA in both finance, as well as marketing from Columbia. That’s when I moved to Chicago, I wanted to study more, my parents didn’t want their sixteen year old daughter working, so they agreed. That’s were I met Rex, and Cassie, and Sara and Chris and a whole bunch other guys.”
They both just stared at her, saying she as ‘gifted’ was like saying Everest was just a hill. Shawn shook his head, sixteen? How did you get an MBA at sixteen?
“So what are you doing in Salem?”
“I have an internship at Titan, I start tomorrow. I also have more personal business to take care of.” She frowned, thinking about all she’d heard, processing it. Shawn hadn’t given her his wife’s name, but Rex had. She looked at Mimi, she was as beautiful as Rex had described her, “You’re Rex’s Mimi aren’t you?”
