Tough as Steele

by Elizabeth Knox

  “Alfred, you know I can’t do that.” I heard him chuckling in the background, his British accent becoming thicker.

  “Yes darling, you can. You won’t because you’re as stubborn as your mum.”

  Mom. Why did he have to bring her up? I missed her. These past couple of years had been pure torture. I went through so much in my personal life, both good and bad. I just wished I could call her. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I wasn’t grateful for Alfred. He was my father, but our relationship was cold; stagnant. It felt forced. It wasn’t like that with Mom. I could tell her whatever was on my mind without having to worry about the reaction she might have.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I jabbed the red button on my steering wheel, ending the call. I wasn’t in the mood for any more small talk. We’d have much more of that tomorrow anyway.

  ****

  I pulled into the parking garage at my apartment building, parking in my reserved spot, greeting the concierge, Marco, as I made my way inside the lobby. The elevator ride was quiet, and I was okay with that. I didn’t feel like talking when I had so much going on in my head, preparing mentally for this meeting tomorrow. I had to convince someone who was most likely a multi-billionaire on why they should invest in my product; why they should bet on my horse. When I really thought about it, all I had was a load of passion and knowledge. I didn’t know if they’d bet on my horse, and that scared the daylights out of me.

  The doors to the penthouse opened, perfectly lit, contemporary but comfortable furniture spread out all over. Alfred wanted to make sure I liked it there. He insisted I took the penthouse, and he furnished the entire thing. As much as I appreciated his kindness, money couldn’t buy me, not even his. He had to show me he cared with actions. He had to be there. He missed so much of my life, twenty-two years to be exact. I set my purse down on the table in the foyer, walking down the hall into the living room. I scanned over the area, assessing that everything was the same way that I left it. I’d done this every time I left, as a precaution.

  I could never be too safe.

  Turning the corner, I spotted a silhouette in my kitchen, flipping flapjacks on a pan. Cautiously, I made a few quiet steps closer. The figure’s back was facing me, so I walked a little further. It was Seb. Thank God!

  “When did you get back?” I shrieked, causing him to drop the spatula.

  “Just a couple hours ago. Where have you been?” I yanked at my sweaty attire, and he pulled me into a hug, my little but big brother.

  He towered over me, I wasn’t short, maybe 5’7”, but he was a mystical fucking creature at 6’5”. Mom always joked that he’d make a great basketball player, until she made him try it. Let’s just say that basketball did not agree with Seb. He looked like a toddler when he tried to dribble the ball across the court, barely making any shots into the basket.

  “What are you doing tonight?” I slid onto the barstool closest to Seb as he flipped the flapjacks, putting them on a plate.

  “Nothing, why?” He cocked an eyebrow at me, reading my expression.

  I smiled widely. “Why don’t you come out with Elise and I?”

  He shook his head, “No, not gonna happen.”

  “Seb, c’mon!” I walked over to him, pulling his shirt “Pleeeeassseeee!” I begged like a child. I hadn’t seen him in almost eight months. I missed him, and we had a lot of time to make up for.

  “You’re no better than a child, whining and all.” He knew me all too well.

  “I’m your elder, and you’re supposed to listen to me,” I laughed, half kidding but mostly serious.

  “Fine. Mason’s?”

  “How’d you know?” I joked, smacking him on the back. “I’m going to get showered. I’ll be ready in an hour.”

  “Yeah right, more like two.”

  I walked back towards my room. “You know me so well!” I shouted back, hearing his familiar laugh in the background.

  Chapter 2

  Brooklyn

  I stared at my closet for about twenty minutes until I found something suitable to wear. I had plenty—more than plenty—of clothes to choose from. I would never admit it but I was kind of a clothes hoarder. But, I’m just horrible at making decisions. I yanked at a dark mustard colored dress. It was knitted with spaghetti straps, a V line coming down exposing enough cleavage to still classify as sexy, but not as slutty.

  I wiggled a black thong on, then slid the dress over my head. I hated panty lines. Some dresses needed a bra; this one did not. I grabbed a pair of nude pumps, tied a gold choker around my neck, and put on a tad of makeup, all from my line that’s being developed. A soft plum matte lipstick, black eyeliner, dark brown eyeshadow, and a bit of bronzer, just to make my face pop. Looking at myself in the mirror, I looked hot. Yes! My straight blonde hair was falling over the right places, stopping just above the middle of my back. Sometimes I would curl it, but I didn’t really have the time or the patience for that tonight.

  I walked out of the room, and Seb was already ready and waiting, his dark brown hair combed back, almost making him look like an Italian guy from the 1950’s. Sometimes, when he combed his hair back, he reminded me of Fonzie from Happy Days, which always managed to bring a smile to my face. He was in a dark purple fitted tee and dark wash jeans. He never had to do much, and I envied him for it. Being a man must be easy, they don’t have to try as hard as we do.

  We walked into Mason’s, my phone glued to my ear as Ashley was giving me an update on tomorrow morning’s meeting. I took in every single word she said, even as she continued to babble on and on, constantly stopping to ask “Did you get that, Brooklyn? Are you sure?” She reminded me to stun tomorrow, wear my product, have my speech ready. The list of things could go on, as did most things when Ashley was explaining them.

  Elise was already on the dance floor, drink in hand, grinding up against some drunk schmuck, no doubt. “Sorry, Ash, I’ve got to go.” I stopped her mid rant and wiggled over to Elise, many different bodies rubbing against mine. Ew. The man rubbing up against Elise looked over in my direction as I approached, grinning from ear to ear.

  I’ll give him something to smile about. I smirked to myself. “Thanks for keeping my girlfriend company.” I winked at him, pressing my lips to Elise’s. I heard an ‘Oh fuck’ as he walked away, pulling from hers.

  “I can’t believe you, he was cute!”

  “And married!” I scowled at her, pointing to the gold ring on his left finger. Her eyes drifted down towards the floor.

  “Shit, I didn’t see that.” I laughed, and, of course, she didn’t. She is the nicest person on the planet, but also the most gullible, and naive.

  “Seb’s in town!” I smiled, “He’s here, actually, not sure where he went, though.” I looked around the room, Elise turned a little pale and the smile she’d been wearing before dropped off her face, I cocked my head to the side in confusion.

  “You okay?” I asked, grabbing her hand, leading us to a booth.

  We both slid in. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.” She gave me a forced smile in return.

  I called bullshit. “No, you aren’t, what’s going on?” I pressed. She sighed, putting the palms of her hands to her forehead, grunting.

  “I’m gonna need a drink for this discussion.” She walked over to the bar, grabbing us both two shots and two extra dirty martinis.

  “Take the shot, you’re gonna need it as much as I will.” We clinked the shot glasses together and both took them down.

  “Okay, bitch. Spill.” Elise took a hefty drink of her martini, gazing around her, almost looking to make sure no one was around.

  “I sorta slept with your brother,” she spit out, so quickly I almost thought I heard her wrong.

  “What?!” I shrieked, and her hands covered her face instantly. She knew that she almost gave me a heart attack.

  “When – How – What…” I was puzzled, flabbergasted even. I was completely speechless.

  “You slept with my baby brother?” I didn’t m
ean to have judgement in my tone, but I did. Wow. I. Shit. I was speechless.

  “He’s not a baby, he’s actually very, very much of a man.” She blushed as she said it as I slowly died inside, pushing down the remnants of my lunch that threatened to come out of my throat in that moment. “Oh my God, no, nope. Stop talking!” I took a large gulp of my martini, which was the only way I could stomach this conversation.

  “How many times did you two….” I didn’t want to know the answer, I really didn’t, but if it was casual, this wouldn’t be too weird.

  “Ummm…like…probably thirty times?” Yep, this was gonna be weird.

  “WHAT?!” I screamed it at her, people around us turning at my sudden outburst.

  “Stop, Brook, oh my God. I’m literally dying of embarrassment over here.”

  “Why are you telling me now?” I asked, wondering myself why she didn’t tell me before. She probably was scared, scared for an outburst like the one I just had.

  “Ughhh,” she groaned. “I haven’t seen him in a couple months, when he left for business we, I don’t know. He kinda stopped talking to me…completely?”

  “So, you’re telling me my little brother ghosted you?” I cocked an eyebrow, in complete disbelief.

  “Yes.” her head shot down to the table. She looked like she’s literally dying of embarrassment.

  “He’s here….” I muttered, feeling absolutely horrible for my best friend and furious for the fact my brother was the one to treat her so badly.

  “I knooooowwww, thanks for that by the way.” She yanked her head up, flipping me the bird.

  “Well, maybe if you told me you fucked my brother thirty fucking times I wouldn’t have invited him,” I hissed. She’d never kept anything from me, ever. This was the first time. Elise downed the rest of her martini, grabbing mine and chugging it.

  “Very lady like,” I teased her with a snort. She flipped me the bird again.

  “When have I ever been a lady?” She was right; she’d never been one of those. It was something she seemed to pride herself on.

  Elise and I hit the dance floor for a majority of the night, grinding up on each other, swaying our hips with the beat of the music, A few guys approached us, but we shoved them off, pretending to be each other’s girlfriends. We had a couple of offers for threesomes, which we turned down and stuck our noses up at them. We actually pretended to be lesbians quite often, and it always seemed to work. I guess when you’ve been friends for as long as we have, it works that way. Our moms used to be best friends, and that was the start of us.

  “More drinks!” Elise exclaimed, as she tugged on my arm towards the bar. We found two open stools and each sat on one. She ordered four shots of tequila and two extra dirty martini’s. We downed the two shots each. Personally, I was starting to feel a little tipsy, and really, really good.

  “I know what you need!” Elise exclaimed suddenly, the expression on her face telling me that she thought she had the best idea in the world.

  “What do I need, Elise?” She smiled, grinning wickedly.

  “You need to pick a fine piece of man and go fucking tonight.” She twirled around on her barstool, scanning the area for perspective targets.

  “Elise, you need a water. You’re so fucking sloshed.”

  “And you need to get laid, you’ve been so cranky, you need some DICK!” She continued to scan, as she found her eyes fixated on someone to my right. “Like him, take him home, if you don’t, I will.” She winked at me, I swirled around, looking for who she was talking about, until I found him. Sitting right next to me.

  He sipped on his whiskey, and his face turned towards me, our eyes meeting, a blush starting to rise up my chest until it reached my cheeks.

  “I must be the chosen one.”

  I died, cringed on the inside, actually. But damn, the only reason I was cringing was because of his masculine perfection.

  Jesus, take me now.

  “I’m sorry, she’s sloshed,” I turned back to Elise, shooting her a ‘what the fuck’ look with my eyes. She giggled, and not in the innocently cute way. I sighed, it was going to be a long night. An hour or two passed as we talked about what was going on in our lives, her telling me way too much about her and my brother’s sexual escapades.

  I found out way too much more than I cared to know. We still hadn’t seen him yet. I ordered another martini for me, and a water for Elise, which she frowned at but accepted anyway. I saw Seb out of the corner of my eye, walking over toward us. He spotted Elise and almost did a 180 until he saw me watching him the entire time, eventually giving in and walking towards us. “Hey ‘Lise.” He looked at her, scanning over her body like a disgusting pervert.

  “Hi,” she muttered, taking a sip of water. Oh, the tension was brutal. You could have probably cut it with a knife at that point.

  “Why did you ghost her, Seb?” I asked, thoroughly annoyed. I needed to get straight to the point. I wouldn’t give a shit if he ghosted any other little hussie out there, but not my best friend. She’s practically my sister.

  “Uh, I.” He glanced toward her, his young idiot self, trying to find the words. “I fucked up, I fucked up big time ‘Lise.” Her beady blue eyes met his, watching him. I felt like I was in a rom-com right now, or some kind of trashy telenovela. “I love you. I’m sorry, take me back. I’m an idiot, a big fucking idiot.” She jumped off the barstool into his arms and kissed him.

  I had to pick my mouth up off the floor and close it before I vomited all over them. Was this even real life? She yanked away from him, sporting the biggest grin I’d ever seen for him. “We’re gonna…go. I’ll see you later, bitch.”

  “For the record, I fucking hate you…both of you!” Seb smiled as I said it, taking her hand in his and walking her out. I ordered another drink in the meantime, flipping through schedules on my phone. The fact that I had such a jam-packed day was finally hitting me, right square in the face.

  Mason came from around the bar, “Mase!” I yelled, he turned and walked toward me. I’d known this old man since I was a little girl. It was his place, my spot, my happy place.

  “Buttercup, what’re you doin’ out so late?”

  I laughed at him, “Oh you know, stirring up trouble.”

  He took my hand, “Don’t tell me that lass. We all know your Pa now, if you’re really, I’ll call him up in a jiffy.” He chuckled, pressing his lips to my hand. “Your momma would be so proud of you, the woman you’ve become.”

  “Don’t make me start crying at your bar, it won’t look good,” I laughed, if only he knew the seriousness in my tone. Whenever anyone spoke about my mom I teared up, like a kid who dropped their ice cream cone.

  He chuckled, pressing another kiss to my hand. If I ever had a grandfather, I would imagine he would be a lot like Mason. The man had to be in his late seventies. “The day you cry, is when the angels fall from the sky,” he winked at me, I couldn’t help but do the same back at him

  “You must’ve had a lot of game back in the day.”

  “Who says I don’t have it now?!” I laughed at his response. This was why I loved Mase, because he made me laugh all the time. I thought, in the back of my head, that it was why Mom loved him so much too.

  Mase handed me another extra dirty martini. “You trying to get me drunk?”

  He laughed. “Oh lassie, you have a liver stronger than most Irishmen I know. I don’t think you’ve ever been drunk in this bar.” I agreed with him, I’d never been drunk at this bar. I’d been tipsy, but never drunk.

  The man next to me spoke as I went through emails on my phone. “Mason, could I get another?” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see he pointed to his drink. Mason nodded, topping it off for him.

  My phone started ringing, the caller ID reading ‘Ashley’. I picked up, in much reluctance.

  “Ashley.” I knew she could hear the sigh in my voice.

  “Why are you answering the phone? It’s almost midnight!”

  “Your point?”r />
  “You have the biggest meeting of your life tomorrow, woman, get your shit together, get home, and into bed!” I could mentally visualize her vein popping on her forehead as she said it.

  “Ashley, send me the financials again. I need to look them over one last time. I’ll see you at 8:30.” I hung up on her, putting my phone on silent before she could even begin to argue with me.

  Chapter 3

  Brooklyn

  “Still here?” Mason popped back by, my eyes glued to my phone, reading over trajectories for my line.

  “Yep,” I commented idly, making sure each line went directly into my brain for tomorrow.

  “It’s passed one lass, better get back before Ashley gets ya!”

  “I’m not scared of Ashley.” I looked up to Mason, his face going red from withholding his laughter.

  “I know what you’re going to say, ‘You should be, mighty fine temper on that one’ right?” I faked an Irish accent, Mason going red again, laughing hard at that.

  “Don’t do that, it was horrible, you offended my country right there, lassie.” He feigned a look of disgust.

  “It wasn’t that bad!”

  Mason looked to the man next to me, “Eh, Logan. How’d you rate that one?”

  Logan, the man who Elise told me I should take home and fuck. I’d almost forgotten about him. But there he was, still as beautiful as he had been an hour ago.

  “One of the worst I’ve ever heard,” he chuckled, bringing his hand over his head and running it through his hair.

  “Well at least I’m giving you both some comedic relief tonight,” I cocked a smile, chuckling at myself. I’d always had a good sense of humour.