by Cee, DW
“What a bitch! She totally used you.” I appreciated Chloe’s indignance.
“Thanks for the support, but I don’t think Laney is capable of using people. She’s really a sweet woman. It came down to her loving someone other than me.”
“It almost sounds as if you’re not over her.”
“I am.” I admitted with a silent sigh. “I saw her ‘accidentally’ the other day when I was in LA with Grandfather. Her body was fuller because of her babies, and her smile was fuller because of her husband. There were four men sitting in an office and the only one she noticed was Donovan Taylor. That was love at its loveliest. I was jealous not so much of the man, but of the depth of their connection.”
“Wow. That sounds fictional to walk into a room and to have eyes only for one man.”
“Their love is a fairytale. I can’t see myself living such a fantasy.” The sigh this time wasn’t so silent.
“You’re young, titled, wealthy, and good looking. How can you think you and your future wife won’t live your own fairytale? Laney Reid is not the only woman to catch your fancy. England is filled with beautiful women.”
“Laney Taylor, I am repeatedly told, is not the only woman out there…I hope.” I decided enough was enough. This maudlin conversation was done. “Enough about me, catch me up on your life.”
“There’s not much to tell. I landed a decorating job with the Kent’s, and she’s kept me busy since last May. I’m just waiting for you to tell me where to start with Grandpa Harry’s properties.”
“Oh, that reminds me. You were recently at the Paris apartments, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You noticed the desperate upgrades needed by both places?”
“I did.”
“I should have asked you first, but I’ve scheduled the contractors and kitchen consultants to come give me bids in two days. I was hoping you could be there with me. While the home-side properties are under construction, I’d like to work on the Paris apartments. Are you available?”
My friend’s body language told me she wasn’t as available as I’d expected. “Well…” she stuttered through her sentence, “I’m supposed to be in New York.”
“Oh!” Perfect. I needed to be there as well. “When? How about we go to New York together after Paris? I need to be there, too. There isn’t anything wrong with the New York penthouse, but I’d like to rearrange a few pieces and purchase new light fixtures. It won’t take much of your time. Can we kill two birds with one stone?”
“Um…” She was practically squirming in her seat.
“Spill it, Chlo-No. What’s the deal?”
“I’m kinda seeing someone and that someone will be in New York.”
That statement shocked the hell out of me. “Who…are…you…seeing?” Those words were difficult to spit out. “Anyone I know?”
“Well…actually, it turns out you do know him.”
“I do?” I wasn’t expecting that answer. “Who is it?”
“Brendan O’Shaughnessy.”
“Babe-magnet Brendan O?”
“Um…I guess?” she sounded unsure.
“That’s great…he’s a good guy…” Too many pauses fell between each word. “I’m happy for you.” I think…
Chloe: Old Friends
Wealthy people enjoy life differently than the rest of us.
After a luxurious flight with my long-lost best friend, we arrived in Lausanne, Switzerland. The duke and his cronies were staying at a resort that boasted luxuries unimaginable to the rest of us commoners.
“Chloe. Come here and meet my friends.” The duke waved me over. With a relaxed demeanor, the duke was a completely different person.
“What about me, Grandfather, your heir.” Michael kidded.
“Yeah, yeah. You too.” He motioned the both of us over to his table. “They’re about to serve lunch. Sit so I can make introductions.”
We followed direction, and I met three gentlemen whose mischievousness reminded me of the duke.
“Is this the future Bennington Duchess?” A gentleman by the name of Alfred Connor inquired with a wink.
“She must be,” George Leopold, friend number two, declared. “Did you see the way Michael walked in with his arm possessively on her? That’s the sign of a man marking his territory around other men. Michael knows we’re all single again.” The four friends laughed at our expense.
As far as I remembered, Michael only touched me when he saw that I was headed to the wrong table. It wasn’t done as an amorous gesture.
“You chose well, my boy. Good thing you walked away from Estelle-reincarnated.” Niall Harrison rounded out the foursome.
“I’m just hired-help,” I answered in part-jest.
“You’re what?” Michael raised his voice to me. “Why the hell would you say something like that? When has Grandfather ever treated you like anything but family? The rest of us consider you family as well, just in case you forgot.” He didn’t take well to my joke.
“You see what I mean?” George spoke. “Possessive and already taking a firm hand with his little woman. That’s where your grandfather was lacking. Had he taken a stronger stance with Estelle, he wouldn’t have lost her to some commoner. What did Jerry Reid have that Harry Bennington didn’t? Women, I tell you. They might complain, but what they really want is a man to take charge, to lead them to their promised land.”
“You all sound like dinosaurs. No woman likes to be led around in chains.” I voiced my complaint.
“Michael hasn’t tried the chains on you yet?” Niall’s comment had the elderly folks giggling like little boys peeking in the girls’ locker room. “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.” They were now in a full roar.
Misery loved company as I found comfort in Michael’s discomfort.
“I see you four are already up to no-good this weekend. Leave poor Chloe alone. Look at the blush on her pale face. I’m sure Grandfather told you she’s his assistant and interior designer. She and I are not in a ball-and-chain relationship.”
“Take it from all of us, my boy, ball-and-chain relationships are the best kinds if you do them right.”
“Niall. Let’s stop before Chloe believes we’re all dirty old men,” The duke warned.
“I brought everything you needed, Grandfather.” I handed the duke his cell phone hoping to divert the attention elsewhere. “There are many messages awaiting your attention. If you open this document here,” I gave him a step-by-step tutorial, “you’ll see that I’ve listed who called, why they called, their return call numbers, all listed in order of importance. All you need to do is push on the highlighted number and it’ll automatically dial out for you.” The duke was a sharp man. No other instructions were necessary.
“When did you get a phone, Harry? I thought you wanted to stay in the dark ages.” It was when the duke gave him a duke-like glare, Alfred changed subjects and said, “I need myself a pretty, young assistant. Where can I find one of those, Harry?”
“Maybe Chloe can help you, Alfred.”
They all stared at me. It was daunting. I bumbled through, “Sure, I can help you find someone. There will be no guarantee on her looks, but I can find someone competent.”
“That seems to be the story of my life. My late wife had no looks to boast, but she was a damn competent wife and mother.”
“Let’s not forget her wicked sense of humor and the way she could mix a perfect cocktail.” George reminisced.
Watching these four friends, I supposed this was what they did all weekend long. They reminisced about the good days and the not-so-good ones. Their friendship was based on a longstanding trust and understanding of one another. If a man was judged by the friends he kept, I’d say Harry Bennington was as fine as they came.
“Chloe?”
“Yes, Your Grace?”
“I have a room on hold for you and Michael. Will you stay a couple of days? I’d like you to help me coor
dinate a few meetings, and these old geezers would like to spend some time with a beautiful young lady.”
How could I refuse? “I thought you four were an old-boys’ club. New memberships weren’t allowed.” I teased.
“We don’t let ugly old men in, but for a pretty young thing like you, we’ll make an exception.” Niall winked and turned his attention to his lobster salad.
“What do you think?” I asked Michael.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” he whispered aloud. “These geezers may not look like much, but they actually denied membership to some pretty high up peeps in the royal family. It takes a lot for them to accept you. Take it while you can. They travel to some of the most exclusive resorts in the world.”
“All righty then, I guess I’ll stay and hang with you boys.”
“That’s my girl,” the duke praised.
Renting a “room” in this resort meant you rented an entire villa. The villa was as big as most couples’ starter homes. With two bedrooms, living room, kitchen, spa bathroom, and a wraparound deck, Michael and I shared one villa.
“Is this how you rich people vacation? Since your homes are so extravagant, the places you visit must rival where you lay your head?”
“You’ve been on plenty of vacations with the Benningtons to know we’ve had our share of bad trips.”
I watched Michael go on autopilot. As soon as we walked in, I laid on the couch to “recover” from the private plane ride and lobster salad while Michael opened every drawer in this place of dwelling. Since he was a kid, whenever he was in a new place, he had an unusual fascination with knowing what was in every closed cabinet. Soon, he’d walk into his room, place his clothes in the drawers, and line up all his toiletries. His toothbrush had to stand in the toothbrush holder, or a cup if the lodgings didn’t have a holder, his hair products lay next to the toothbrush, and finally, he had to quadruple check that he had his floss. He could NOT sleep if he didn’t floss his teeth.
I found an odd pleasure in watching these rituals. Similar to the duke and his friends, our longstanding friendship gave me—and Michael, too, I hoped—comforts not found with new friendships.
“I see that smirk, Chlo-No. Get rid of it,” Michael warned from his bedroom.
I laughed. “I’m in the living room and you’re in your room. There’s a thick wall between us. You have x-ray vision now? And for your information, it wasn’t just a smirk. I was outright making fun of you.”
“You’ve known me long enough to know how important it is for me to have everything placed in the perfect position.”
“Is this how you are when you have sex?” Michael popped out of his room with his jaw to the ground after I asked this highly inappropriate question. I said it, but had no idea where that bit of voyeurism came from.
“I’m going to have to keep you away from those dirty old men, Little Chlo-No. I see they’ve already corrupted you.”
I teased him further in words and gestures. “Your leg needs to be in a perfect one-hundred-eighty-degree line. Your head must be aligned with mine and your eyes must look at my nose, not my eyes. Only then, can we create the perfect missionary position.”
He showed no mercy. As I knew all his weaknesses, he was privy to mine. His fingers went straight to the underarms and he tickled me until I fell off the couch and hit my head hard on the marble floor—again. What the hell was it with these guys and making me bonk my head on the floor?
“Oh shit.” Michael conveyed his apologies while howling. “Sorry. Are you hurt?”
“Damn you. I’m going to have a golf ball on my forehead.”
“Perhaps it’ll improve your disposition.” Michael didn’t even try to hold back his laugh.
“Thanks, Friend! See if I don’t tell your future duchess what an OCD neat freak you’ll be on your honeymoon. I’ll tell her to bring a book on your wedding night to keep her company while you figure out and explain the perfect position for every limb.”
“If I recall correctly, you didn’t need a book to keep you company when we went at it every summer we were home from school. You were an active and needy participant.” He got his jibe in.
“Needy?” I yelled from my place on the floor. “What the hell do you mean when you say I’m needy? And, your facts are incorrect when you say every summer. You only came home the summer after your first year at school. After that, you were always off to some exotic place with a different woman each summer.”
Michael’s comments quickly took our conversation from inappropriate to out of control! “More Michael. Faster, harder, slower, here, there, suck, lick…”
“Enough!” I called out, mortified that he pegged my voice, tone, and neediness. “You are no gentleman for remembering and recanting such private matters.”
With an aghast expression, Michael said, “Who started this? You don’t need to flaunt your sex life knowing I’m in a drought.”
“Who’s flaunting what?” I asked. “I wasn’t flaunting anything. I was only making fun of your uptight ways.” I was probably redder than the lobster I’d just consumed. “I can’t believe you remembered all those things about me. We were young, horny, experimenting teens. Whatever I might have said wasn’t a commentary on your skills or my needs. It was only because you always made me feel so comfortable with you that I was able to tell you what I felt. I always loved that about us. Our comfort level was that of an old married couple. I haven’t had that with any other man but you…” Like the rest of this conversation, I definitely shouldn’t have revealed that last bit. It placed me in a vulnerable spot.
Michael stopped his argument and listened to all I’d said. After pausing to understand my sentiment, he said, “I, too, enjoy that part of our relationship.” Michael got me off the floor and onto the plush sofa next to him. “If we’re playing the honest game, I don’t think I’ve ever been with a woman as expressive and as appreciative as you.” Michael quickly cut off what I was about to say. “Appreciative is not a negative word, Chlo-No. I loved how much you loved me, and what we meant to one another. You were open and honest to give praise as well as critique my juvenile methods. I do believe I’ve improved since the end of my teenage years.”
I laughed at him, and he joined me in the ribbing.
As inappropriate as this conversation was, I appreciated Michael’s honesty as well. We were each other’s first lover. We taught each other, learned together, and fell in love--at least I fell in love. Or was it that I had been in love all along?
“I should probably give Brendan a call and tell him I’ll be delayed a few extra days.” The attempt to change subjects and venue didn’t work. Michael had more to say.
“I bare my heart, and you tell me you have to talk to your boyfriend?”
I was at a loss for words concerning both Michael and Brendan. “Brendan and I are not exclusively together, at least we’ve never talked about it. He’s busy with work and traveling to far-off lands more than he’s home.”
“You guys live together?”
“My friend Cat, her boyfriend Daniel, Brendan and I share a two-bedroom flat—and no, I don’t sleep with him.”
“How convenient.” Michael said sarcastically.
“Anyhow, let me add my last thought to this honesty game. I’ve never loved anyone as I loved you. You were my first friend, my first love, my first lover, and my first heartbreak. For that, you’ll always hold a special place in my heart until I find that man who will be my final love. Is that honest enough for you?”
Whether or not it was, I walked away with the excuse of calling Brendan. Michael sat on the couch for as long as I sat in my bedroom, wondering why I played the honesty game so honestly. I supposed this was all part of the comforts of being old friends.
Michael: Angry Friends
After the most awkward and revealing conversation, it took until the following day to revert to our comfortable friendship. We circled around each other and didn’t get up close and
personal until the four cronies literally pushed us into a sleek Porsche 918 Spyder.
“Uh, what is this car doing here, and why are you giving me the keys?”
Niall grinned like a teenager with his first convertible. “You, my boy, get to drive this down to Geneva.”
“I can’t drive a car that costs 600,000£!” The thought both thrilled and scared the shit out of me. “What if I get into an accident? I won’t be responsible for a car that costs as much as a house.”
“This car is better insured than the Queen.” Niall and the other three men drooled over the vehicle. “If I were even ten years younger—hell, if any one of us was ten years younger—we’d fight each other to ride in this beauty.” They all agreed.
