Possessive Best Friend

by B. B. Hamel

  “No, it’s not so bad.”

  I take his hand and can’t stop smiling.

  20

  Dean

  I sit in the middle of the warehouse with the contents of the folder spread out around me and I feel almost a little dizzy.

  Leo wasn’t kidding when he said he had everything. There are receipts for orders from fifteen years ago mixed in with personal memos. Everything’s just shoved in the folder with absolutely no filing system at all.

  Lora lies on her back, throwing a ball up into the air and catching it again. “How’s it going?” she asks.

  “Same as it was five minutes ago,” I grumble. “You could help, you know.”

  “Okay, okay,” she says, tossing the ball aside. She crawls over and lays her head on my shoulder. “Can I just nap here?”

  “You’re killing me.”

  “Sorry.” She grabs a stack of papers and start to read.

  We lapse into silence. Right now, we just need to find the permits so we can figure out what to do next. I got a hold of a local lawyer that explained the permitting process to me, and basically, if we have an original permit, even if it was in a different person’s name, we can renew that permit without much trouble at all.

  The zoning is another issue, but even that can be fixed, the lawyer said. It would just take time and money, and fortunately, we have both.

  “When this is all over,” she says, her voice soft, “what do you want to do?”

  “What do you mean?” I ask, glancing through some memo about handwashing and food handling.

  “I mean, with us.”

  I look up, frowning. “We’re having that conversation, huh?”

  She shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe. We should probably think about it.”

  “Well,” I say slowly. “I don’t need to think.”

  She frowns at me. “That’s not super helpful.”

  “I already know what I want from you,” I say.

  “Yeah? And what’s that?”

  “You.” I shrug. “Plain and simple. I want you. All of you. And you’re mine. That’s all I need to know.”

  She laughs and shakes her head. “How can you think it’s so simple? I mean… it’s just not.”

  “I think it is. I know we come from different worlds and your family is this big rich institution, but none of that matters. You’re all that matters.” I laugh and put down the paper I’m looking at. “I mean, shit, I quit my job. I bought a truck for your uncle. You see that I’ll do anything for you, right?”

  She bites her lip. “I know you will.”

  “And I think you’ll give me whatever I ask for. But all I’ve ever asked for is you.”

  She nods a little and looks away. “Okay. Yeah.”

  “Happy we had this conversation?”

  She laughs and nods but doesn’t answer.

  I move over to her and pull her against me. I kiss her cheek and hold her tight. “Now,” I say. “Let’s stop the bullshit and get back to work.”

  She nods. “Yes, sir.”

  “That’s what I like to hear.”

  I get back to it and she joins in a minute later. We read through pages, moving them from the unread pile to the read pile. It takes us about an hour, meticulously flipping over page after page, before we finally find what we’re looking for.

  “This is it,” Lora says, her voice quiet at first. “Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck, Dean. DEAN!” She grabs my arms and screams.

  “Wow,” I say, laughing, and take the paper from her hand. I give it a quick skim and sure enough, she’s right.

  It’s a permit for commercial use, signed by the registrar and Leopold Archer.

  I collapse onto my back and stare up at the ceiling. “I really didn’t think this existed,” I say.

  “Yeah?” She leans her head against my chest. I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight.

  “Really. I thought… I thought it was all bullshit. And we were just wasting our time.”

  “What was your plan if that were true?”

  “I don’t know,” I admit. “Break into my dad’s office. Torch his dealership.”

  She grins up at me. “We can still do that.”

  “Probably not the smartest move.”

  “No, probably not. But think about it. Your dad’s not going to just… let this go. Do you think he’ll just ignore us now?”

  “No,” I say softly, staring up at the ceiling. It’s so far away, so high up. Every noise we make redoubles, echoes back down toward us.

  She’s right. I keep thinking it. This whole permit thing, it’s just the first of many ways my father’s going to make life difficult for us. I know him, I know what type of man he is. He’s going to take my relationship with Lora as a personal affront and never let it go.

  “We’ll take care of that,” I say softly. “But first, we need to take care of this permit thing.”

  I shift a little and sit up. She sits up beside me and grins, staring down at the paper. “Come on. Let’s go talk to my mom.”

  “Your mom?”

  “We stay out of politics, Dean.” She slowly gets to my feet. “But my mother is still Sylvia Lofthouse. If anyone can make this go through faster, it’s her.”

  “You in a rush?” I tilt my head toward her with a little smile.

  “Fuck, yes, I’m in a rush,” she says, laughing. “I want to get started. I’m so sick of waiting. Aren’t you?”

  “I’m ready when you are,” I say.

  She smiles, reaches out a hand.

  I take it and stand with her.

  We find Sylvia in her painting room. I get the feeling that she spends most of her time up in this tower, which almost doesn’t make any sense. She apparently runs this family and wields serious political power, and yet she’s hanging out alone in some tower painting all day. I’m not really sure how that works, but I’m not about to question it.

  Her mother looks at us. She’s sitting back on a stool and looks tired. The canvas in front of her shows a realistic mountain vista, glorious and gorgeous. She’s very talented, as far as I can tell.

  I expect Lora to start in by asking her mother about the permit, but instead she takes a different tact.

  “Did you know Uncle Ron is involved with gangsters?”

  Sylvia frowns and sighs. “Yes, dear. I knew that.”

  “You did?” Lora seems surprised.

  “Of course. Nothing happens in this house without me knowing.”

  “Or without your approval.” Lora frowns.

  But Sylvia just laughs. “Not quite. Ron has his own views on things, and although he stays within the lines, more or less… he doesn’t play by the rules as we’ve set them out. I told him again and again that he needed to get out from under those nasty men.”

  “You knew he needed money when you told us about the warehouse,” Lora said, frowning.

  “I did,” Sylvia admits. “I suspected he’d give you a good price. I’m surprised you didn’t negotiate harder.”

  I wince. “That’s on me. I thought we were getting him down.”

  “You did well enough, but I bet he would’ve settled for a million.” Sylvia shrugs a little. “Doesn’t matter. Ron’s mostly out of debt, and you have your warehouse. I’m not sure what the problem is now.”

  “The problem is he mismanaged it when he owned it,” Lora says.

  “That was his business partner. What was that man’s name?”

  “Leo,” I say. “We met Mr. Archer down in Florida.”

  She raises an eyebrow. “You went to Florida?”

  “We did,” I confirm.

  “And we talked to Ron’s partner,” Lora says, dropping the uncle bit. “Leo says he did all he could to keep it running, but Ron’s associations ruined the place.”

  “Hm. Makes more sense than the story Ron told me.” Sylvia shrugs. “But again, I’m not sure what it matters.”

  “It doesn’t have the proper permits anymore,” I say. “We have proof that Leo once had
it permitted, but it’s not current anymore. We need to update our permits if we’re going to get construction moving.”

  “Ah,” Sylvia says. “I see.”

  “We can provide the paperwork,” Lora says. “But I was hoping you could make it go through faster than it would otherwise.”

  Sylvia nods a little, looking even more exhausted. “I’ll see what I can do, but no promises. We hold sway in this town, but we don’t control it.”

  “Thank you, Mom.”

  “But before I do that, let me say this.” She looks at Lora, her eyes sharp. “You took money from your siblings.”

  “I did,” Lora says.

  “You cannot let them down. Regardless of whether you enjoy the process of putting this place together, you will follow through. Do you hear me?”

  Lora flushes with anger. “I always planned on it.”

  “Good.” Sylvia looks at me. “And you will not get bored and abandon her.”

  “I’m not in this for the business, Sylvia,” I say. “She’s the reason I’m here.”

  She smiles. “Good. Then we’re all agreed.”

  “Mother—” Lora starts and then stops. She takes a breath and lets it out. “Was it a mistake to take money from the family?”

  She frowns a little. “No, darling, I don’t think it was. But it does add pressure to this venture. It’s not just the two of you anymore. Shaun, Jacob, Brent, and Delia are all a part of this, whether you want them to be or not. Fortunately, they love you, and they’ll support you no matter what.”

  Lora lets out a breath. “That just makes it harder.”

  “Good.” Sylvia stands. “The best things are the hardest. And never expect praise, darling, it may never come.” She gestures at the room full of paintings, some of them quite beautiful. “Like these. I don’t paint them for praise, I paint because I like it. Your father would love to hear me talking like this, so please don’t tell him.”

  “Your secret’s safe with me, mother.” Lora takes a deep breath. “Thank you. We couldn’t have done this without your help.”

  “Well, not so easily, at least.”

  Lora crosses the space, goes to her mother, and hugs her. I stand there frowning a little. Both women look like they’ve hugged a total of five times in their entire life, and it’s a little uncomfortable… but it’s nice. It’s really nice.

  “Oh, go on,” Sylvia says. “I’m busy. I have a painting to finish.”

  “It’s really nice,” Lora says.

  “Out, both of you. Or I’ll call Archie and he’ll drag you out.”

  Lora smiles, walks over, takes my hand, and we descend out of her mother’s tower together.

  21

  Dean

  The next day, we stand outside of my father’s dealership together, holding hands and not moving.

  “Okay,” Lora says. “Part two of the plan. You ready?”

  “Yes,” I say, but don’t move. “You know, I had a good relationship with my father before all this.”

  “Did you?” She raises an eyebrow at me.

  “Okay, no. But I’m trying not to go into this hating him with a blind passion.”

  “Afraid you’re going to do something stupid?”

  “Yep.”

  She squeezes my hand. “You’ll be fine. Just stick to what we discussed.”

  I nod, kiss her, then stride forward. She hurries to keep up. I head into the dealership and smile at everyone I see. I mostly get smiles in return, but there are a few odd looks thrown in here or there, which almost breaks my fucking heart.

  I worked with these people for years. I know it was my father’s company, but I thought of a lot of these people as my friends. Now, I’m realizing that I haven’t gotten a single call or text from any one of them.

  I get it. They’re probably afraid of how my father will react to it. This job is important to a lot of them.

  Even still. I thought I’d get a few messages from some of the guys that I was close with, but it’s been radio silence. Nothing at all.

  Letting that wash over me makes this a lot easier. For some reason, I was still hanging on to what I had here, but that’s long, long gone now.

  I made my decision and I’m not looking back.

  I smile at Lora as we turn the corner and walk to my father’s office. I knock on the door and step inside, and of course he’s in there, he’s always in there this time of the morning.

  He looks up with a frown, sighs, and leans back in his chair.

  “To what do I owe this pleasure?” he asks.

  I shut the door behind me. Lora doesn’t sit, just lingers near the wall. I walk over to my dad and take a seat.

  “I came to talk,” I say.

  “Did you?” He laughs. “Not much to say, I think.”

  “I solved my permit problem. And the zoning issue will be cleared up in a week.”

  He frowns, looking surprised. Clearly, this isn’t the conversation he was expecting.

  “How’d you manage that?”

  “I managed it,” I say, not going into detail. “But here’s the thing. I have a feeling this isn’t going to be the like time you try to fuck with us.”

  “Dean, Dean, Dean,” he says, shaking his head. “You’re my son. Why do you think I’m so petty?”

  “Because you are. And because you apparently want to be mayor. Frankly, Dad, I think you’re going through something right now, and I don’t want you taking that out on us.”

  He stares at me and I can see anger flitting over his expression. “I don’t think you know what you’re saying.”

  “Oh, I do.” I cross my arms. “I’m here to solve this, right now.”

  “What’s there to solve?” He gestures at Lora. “You chose the Lofthouse family. You made your decision. I knew sending you to that fucking school on their dime was a bad idea. I thought I got you back when I refused to let you go to college, but clearly I failed.”

  “No, Dad,” I say, shaking my head. “You lost me when you decided that this strange hatred of the Lofthouse family is more important than our relationship.”

  He snorts. “Not how I see it.”

  “I know.” I frown at him and let out a slow sigh. All my anger seems to dissipate as he stares back at me. I see him for what he is, a petty old man obsessed with keeping his son in line.

  “So what do you want? If you’re not here to make me mayor, I’m not interested in what you have to say.”

  “You can’t really think that was going to happen.” I lean back in my chair. “Here’s the deal. The Lofthouse family doesn’t do politics.”

  “So they keep saying.” He glances at Lora. “But I don’t think that’s true.”

  “It’s true,” she says.

  “They don’t do politics,” I continue. “But they do plenty of other things. You realize what they are, don’t you?”

  “A bunch of rich assholes,” he says. “So what?”

  “They’re a machine, Dad. They have money and connections and power. They don’t care if you hate them because you don’t matter. You can fuck with them all you want and they don’t retaliate, because why crush the ant that keeps running into your foot? It’s a worthless waste of energy.”

  He glares at me. “They really did a number on you, huh, boy?”

  “But the thing is,” I say, “if you keep coming at me and Lora, there will be problems.”

  “Oh, interesting.” He smirks and mirrors my posture, leaning back in his chair. “So you’re here to threaten me.”

  “That’s right,” I say. “Although I’m not seeing this as a threat. I’m telling you that if you try to make life hard for us, the Lofthouse family is going to crush you. I’m warning you, Dad. Lora’s siblings all have a piece of this business, and they all want to see it succeed. Any one of them could crush you like an ant, and fucking with her is fucking with all of them.”

  He stares at me for a long moment before slowly shaking his head. “I get it,” he says. “You’re gone. You’re
on their side. Seduced you with money, and now you think you’re better than me.”

  “Dad, I didn’t want to leave. You’re the one that pushed me into it. I wanted to work with you, wanted to make something with you, but you couldn’t get over this silly one-sided feud you have with the Lofthouse family.”

  “Fine,” he says, spreading his hands. “You win. You can walk away.”

  “Dad,” I say, shaking my head. “I already did. Don’t you get that? I’m here to warn you now. Stop messing with us or the Lofthouse family will retaliate.”

  “How?” He sneers at me. “They can’t hurt me. I have money too.”

  “Not like they do. They’ll buy up land all over this town, build a bunch of dealerships, sell cars at cost, and drive you out of business. They’ll lose millions just to see you go bankrupt, and it won’t even touch their bottom line.”

  “He’s telling the truth,” Lora says, shrugging. “I could probably do it on my own with just my trust.”

  He glances at her, frowns, and then shakes his head. “Bluffing.”

  “Dad, they’re not. They casually got together over a million dollars in just a few days. It was nothing to any of them.”

  He takes a breath. I can see the anger rising again. “You’re making a mistake.”

  “I’m sorry, Dad,” I say, really feeling it. “I didn’t want to get to this. But I’m warning you. Come after us one more time, and they will crush you. I don’t want to see it happen, but they will.” I stand up.

  “This isn’t over,” he says.

  “I really hope it is.” I shake my head, turn away, and walk to the door. Lora takes my hand and we walk out together.

  I don’t look at anyone as we leave. They don’t even try to say a word. I’m done with this place, with these people. I’ve been betrayed, and now I’m moving on.

  “I’m sorry you had to do that,” she says to me outside the dealership.

  When we reach the truck, I pull her against me and hug her tight.

  “I hated that,” I say. “But it had to be done. He needs to get it.”