Until the End of Time
By
Melanie Schuster
Copyright 2003 by Melanie Schuster
Dedication
To all my girlfriends, sister friends, reader friends and sisters in Christ. When all is said and done there’s no substitute for a true friend.
Acknowledgments
For all my readers and friends, especially my “First
Fan”, Janice Sims who convinced me that I could do it.
Thanks so much to all of you to all of you for your continued support and friendship.
Stay Blessed!
Prologue
A somewhat familiar fragrance permeated the deep sleep of Andrew Cochran. He vaguely recognized it as the smell women left behind in the bathroom after taking a shower; a moist, sweet aroma that was incredibly sexy to an 18-year-old man. It was especially nice when it wasn’t his sister’s fragrance and it couldn’t have been hers. She’d left the dormitory suite some time before to put gas in the hoopty they shared and pick up some breakfast. Yet the smell persisted and got even stronger when the door to the bathroom that joined the two bedrooms of his sister’s suite opened. Andrew’s head was buried under the covers. He didn’t think it wise to answer the voice, since its owner obviously thought the lump he was making in the bed was his twin sister, Benita.
“Bennie, I’m wearing your silver hoops, okay? I have that interview this morning and I want to look tres chic. Merci, mon amie!” the voice said cheerfully.
Damn, that’s a sexy voice, Andrew thought. Her voice was like that of a jazz legend, rich and smoky. He couldn’t resist peeking and felt his heart stop. The woman who had blithely hailed his sister was picking up a pair of earrings from her dresser. She was wearing a pink towel wrapped around her head and not another stitch. Andrew’s heart started pounding and he couldn’t have spoken if his life depended on it. She was gorgeous! She was tall, although not as tall as his sister. She had a fabulous figure, too, with nice round hips, beautiful full breasts and legs that not only went on forever, but were big and shapely, too. When she turned to go back into the bathroom, Andrew got a glimpse of her tummy. It was smooth and round and looked as delicious as the rest of her. Best of all, her skin was the flawless, smooth color of melted chocolate. Altogether, she was the most delectable thing Andrew had seen in his entire life.
He felt like the worst kind of voyeur in the world, but there was nothing short of instant blindness that would’ve made him close his eyes. Thank God, she left the room. In what seemed like seconds she was back, this time wearing pale lacy pink bikini panties that were somehow worse than total nudity. She was still chattering away to the long gone Bennie, too, something about hairspray. She had taken the towel off her hair and Andrew could see that it was a healthy, shiny black, worn in a tight knot on the top of her head. It was severe, but it suited her, showing off her perfect features. She had a short, pointed nose, a mouth that curved in a sweet cupid’s bow and huge eyes that were remarkably golden, even in the dim light. The contrast with her skin was absolutely dynamite. Once again she disappeared into the bathroom.
Andrew considered slinking out of the room, which would be difficult, since he was well over six feet tall and not the most graceful person in the world. Plus, his observations had rendered him quite unable to move quickly due to a natural male response to a vital, lush, feminine stimulus. His best move, he thought, would be to continue to hide until she got completely dressed and left. God, I hope Bennie doesn’t come back before she does. That poor girl would die of embarrassment.
Unfortunately, the chocolate vision came back one more time, this time in a robe, thankyouJesus. It was a short, silky, kimono of a robe, but at least she was covered. She had a gray suit on a hanger in one hand, and a red jacket with a black skirt dangling from the hanger in her other hand.
“Okay, Bennie, this is the last time I am bothering you this morning. Which one should I wear? The gray suit is very conservative and corporate, but the red and black is corporate and has a little savoir-faire. Which shall it be?” she asked gaily.
Something evil possessed Andrew at that very moment—he had no idea what made him speak up but he said “I like the red. It brings out your skin color much better.”
The poor woman jumped straight in the air screaming at the same instant that Bennie’s door flew open to reveal his twin sister Bennie standing there with two cups of coffee and a bag of take out from a local diner. Bennie looked from her suitemate Renee Kemp to her twin brother and smiled gamely
. “Well, I see you two have met,” she said dryly.
Chapter One
“Benita, if you don’t do something about that brother of yours, I’m going to be forced to take drastic measures.” Renee Kemp accompanied the ultimatum with a look that said she wasn’t playing, either. Bennie tried not to smile, but it was difficult.
“Well, Renee, which one of my five brothers would that be?” she asked sweetly.
Renee rolled up a magazine and lightly whacked her best friend in the head with it. “Don’t get cute! You know very well that I’m referencing your twin brother, the perennial thorn in my side, Andrew Bernard Cochran, Junior. He needs to be restrained or lobotomized, whichever.” Renee fairly spat the words, which meant she was really steamed. The two women were in the sitting room that adjoined Bennie’s bedroom in the big house that they shared in the Indian Village section of Detroit. They’d been friends since college and were as close as sisters, which is why Renee felt free to disparage Bennie’s twin brother in that fashion. Not that it would do any good; she and Andrew had not gotten along since the day Renee discovered him in Bennie’s half of their dormitory suite. She swore to this day that he had seen her naked, a charge which he had denied ever since. They had declared many truces over the years in deference to their love for Bennie, but with the best intentions in the world they couldn’t get along for more than a week. Renee was just too much fun to tease, in Andrew’s estimation.
Bennie tried to be sympathetic, but it was difficult. She looked at Renee who was obviously pissed. “Well, what’s he done this time?” she asked warily.
Renee turned her golden eyes to Bennie. “He’s been sending me samples of Viagra in the mail. Samples and brochures, thank you very much,” she hissed. “I don’t have to tell you how funny that isn’t,” she added.
Unfortunately, Bennie did think it was funny. She tried to control herself, but she started laughing, deep belly laughs that had her convulsed with merriment within seconds. Renee dated older men exclusively. Her dates were very wealthy, well-connected men who were at least 10 years her senior. Her escorts of choice were a never-ending source of hilarity to Andrew who never seemed to run out of lame jokes to make at her escorts’ expense. Even Renee had to admit that sending the information packets on impotence had a certain sly, albeit crude wit about it, but she’d never acknowledge it aloud. That kind of humor was just too primitive for her so she continued to try and look perturbed, although it wasn’t easy with her best friend rolling around laughing like the proverbial hyena.
Renee had a great deal of practice in looking aloof. It was an expression she’d mastered after years of having her tender feelings trampled on by others. Renee’s personality was often at odds with her appearance and no wonder; it was a deliberately and elaborately constructed thing. Renee was as complicated as one of those tiny ivory balls hand carved by Japanese artists that are actually a series of balls, one inside the other, each with its own intricate pattern. She’d learned over time that the best way for people to hurt you was for them to get to know you in some way. She stood by this precept steadfastly but she and Bennie had known each other for too many years to hide much. Bennie knew her extremely well,
better than anyone who wasn’t a blood relative. Now Renee waited patiently for her BFF to get over her fit of laughter. Theirs was a friendship that Renee truly treasured, although it was being tested this day.
Bennie finally regained control of herself. “Ne-ne, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I laughed,” she gasped, wiping away the tears “and I’m sorry that Andrew is being a jerk again. I’ll have a little chat with him, but you know how that goes.” Bennie sat up straight on the loveseat and took a deep breath. “You know my brothers think of you as a sister. So I think it’s just brotherly…you know, that makes him tease you so,” she offered in a voice of conciliation.
Renee gave a ladylike snort. “Ain’t gonna work, girlfriend. Andrew is your true brother and he treats you like gold. No, like platinum studded with diamonds, so don’t hand me that sibling hi-jinks crap. None of your brothers would go to the lengths that Andrew does to plague me. He’s just perverted, that’s all. That man acts like I’m some kind of play toy for his amusement,” she said. She was starting to get angry all over again. “One day, I’m going to have him just where I want him. And he will rue the day that he ever laid eyes on me,” she vowed. There was so much fire in her eyes that Bennie had to believe she meant every word.
***
At that very moment, the culprit was bringing his long day to an end. Dr. Andrew Cochran was in his private office at his clinic, speaking rapidly into a small tape recorder that would be used to transcribe his daily reports. A knock at the door caused him to look up and bid the caller to enter. It was his youngest brother Adonis, who answered only to Donnie. Andrew was pleased to see his brother, although not necessarily surprised. He was close to all of his siblings but his schedule was so packed that often the only way he saw them was when they dropped by his office.
After exchanging greetings, Andrew asked what had occasioned the visit. “I know you didn’t come by here just to gaze on your older and wiser brother. What’s up?”
Donnie picked up a small wooden maze from Andrew’s untidy desk and laughed as he shook it. “The jury is still out about the ‘wiser’ part. Listen, Adam and I are going down to the islands in a few weeks and we wondered if you would come along. You haven’t had a vacation in like a thousand years and the three of us haven’t hung out in a while. How about it?” Adam was the Cochran brother next in age to Donnie, and like Donnie and Andrew, he was single.
Andrew hesitated for a moment. He was sorely tempted, but he shook his head in regret. “Can’t do it, Donnie. I’m booked until June and then I go to Haiti with Medic International. That’s going to be my vacation this year,” he said.
In point of fact, it was his vacation every year. Andrew was a board-certified plastic surgeon who specialized in facial reconstruction. He wasn’t the man to give one a prettier nose or to turn back the hands of time by removing unwanted wrinkles. Andrew Cochran specialized in hope. For burn victims, patients with congenital deformities and recovering from disfiguring accidents, he was often the only man who could restore even a part of their normal lives. Andrew was totally dedicated to his career. He had yet to marry, and in truth he had never made time for any really serious relationships. He worked very long hours at his clinic and at the hospitals where he had privileges. He also lectured and wrote articles that had been published in many magazines. As if that weren’t enough, he’d also been interviewed on TV more times than he could count.
Donnie sighed with real regret and he couldn’t resist pointing something out to Andrew. “You know, you need to have some kind of social life, too, man. I know you’re a great doctor and your patients depend on you and all of that, but you’ve got to take some time for yourself. This is why you never got married and why you can’t keep a woman. You work too much.”
Andrew lifted his brows and stared at his brother with amusement. “And what makes you think I can’t keep a woman? I got plenty of women, hordes of ‘em. There’s a couple in the closet, and one under the very sofa you’re sitting on. And they’re all fine, too,” he added with a yawn. “Stone foxes,” he said tiredly.
Donnie had a smart rejoinder on the tip of his tongue but the telephone interrupted his flow. It was Benita, touching bases with Andrew. “Don’t tell me,” he chuckled, “your little friend got a package in the mail that she wasn’t too happy about, right?”
Bennie moaned with exasperation at Andrew’s voice of amusement. “Yes, Bunchy, she did. And no, she’s not happy about it. Although,” Bennie let out a guilty laugh, “it was pretty funny. But nevertheless, you’ve got to stop that! Can’t my brother and my best friend get along for two minutes without me having to referee?”
Andrew took a deep breath. It was childish and he knew it, but it was so much fun at times. Still, he made a half-hearted promise to try and behave himself. “So are we still on for tonight?” he asked, referring to his weekly dinner with his sister.
Bennie looked forward to the meal as much as Andrew did, but she had one stipulation. “Yes, but either you cook, we get take out or we eat out. I wouldn’t show my face around here for a couple of days if I were you.”
Andrew laughed. “Damn, is she that mad?”
Bennie confirmed that she was indeed. “At least she says she is. You know that her hot button is her gentleman callers. Anyway, are you willing to take that risk?”
Andrew decided that he wasn’t. But he couldn’t resist a parting shot. “Yeah, well, tell her if she doesn’t want people getting her goat, she shouldn’t let them know where she ties it up.”
Donnie was looking at his brother with a big smile when he got off the phone. “So you’re still picking at Renee, hunh? Why do y’all go at each other like that? Can’t you get along like adults?”
Andrew didn’t answer for a moment. The truth was way too complicated to try and explain. If he were to be completely honest about it, he’d have to admit that there were indeed times when he wished that he’d never heard the name Renee Kemp. He wished that his sister had found herself another suitemate altogether when she attended University of Michigan. That way, Andrew reasoned, he would’ve never even seen Renee, at least not the way he had when they were all college freshmen. It was a sight that he’d never been able to forget and the recollection of it could still precipitate the need for a cold shower. It was probably the immense impact of that first sighting that caused Andrew to pick at Renee so endlessly.
Yes, it was the erotic memory of their first meeting, coupled with the fact that Renee bristled like a wet cat every time Andrew came near her. She would puff up and skitter away from him the same way a startled kitten would and it cracked him up every time she did it. It was her reaction as much as anything that kept him on her case; she just looked so adorable that it was worth infuriating her. Renee made no secret of the fact that she could barely stand him. The fact that his pulse jumped every time she came into a room was no one’s business, he felt, but his own.
Finally Andrew answered Donnie. “I don’t pick on Renee, she picks on me. I’m just trying to defend myself. You know she’s madly in love with me and won’t admit it.”
“In love with your old tired butt? Please! You must be delusional!” Donnie laughed. “Now if she was after me or Adam, the fine Cochrans, I could see that, but not you, Bunchy. Not with your non-partying, non-playing, workaholic self. You’re way too out of it for someone like Renee.”
Andrew threw a paperweight at his brother, which Donnie easily caught. “I party plenty,” he defended himself. “And I’d watch the cracks about my looks since you look just like me.”
It was true; all of the Cochrans shared a decided similarity in features. They were all well over six feet. They shared with their sister Benita a golden caramel skin color, and thick wavy black hair that fairly gleamed with health and good grooming. Andrew also had what used to be referred to as ‘bedroom eyes’, large and sexy with eyelashes that were unfairly long for a man. He had shiny thick eyebrows and a perfectly shaped mouth that would have looked almost feminine had it not been for
his thick black moustache. All the Cochran men, Andrew included, were big, handsome and pretty much irresistible to women. But when it came to Andrew’s long-standing feud with Renee, all bets were off. She might have loved his brothers like they were her family, but she didn’t have those same feelings for him.
Finally Andrew’s hunger overrode his musings. “Let’s go. I’m hungry and so is Bennie. So why don’t you come with us to dinner? And since you’re the youngest, you get to pay,” he said with a grin.
Donnie agreed, although he made his feelings about picking up the tab quite plain. “Man, this is why you need a wife,” he complained. “We wouldn’t be eating out and my money would stay in my wallet.” Continuing their amiable bickering, the two men left the clinic.
***
Bennie and Andrew needn’t have worried about a confrontation with Renee. She had a date that evening with one of her usual escorts. She had agreed to accompany Edwin Jackson to a play and a late supper afterwards. As always, she took great care with her toilette. Renee took a lot of pride in her appearance, which ironically was not symbolic of vanity, but of years of insecurity. It was sometimes difficult for Renee to reconcile the reflection in the mirror with the image she held in her mind. Renee jumped guiltily as Bennie entered her bedroom. She hated for anyone to catch her looking into the mirror. No one knew what she saw reflected in its depths. Bennie, however, knew pretty much what was on her friend’s mind.
“Renee, you always do that. You can’t stand for anyone to see you looking at yourself. In fact, I think you can’t stand to look at your own reflection! After all this time, why is that?” Bennie asked her pointedly.
Renee narrowed her eyes at her friend. “Have I told you how much I dislike the caring, perceptive part of your personality?” she murmured. “Bennie, it’s hard to explain. I look in my mirror and it’s like looking into my past. I don’t see what you see, I see what I remember,” she admitted softly.
Until the End of Time Page 1
