Honey Babe

by Ryanne Anthony

  “Good question. So what kind of inkling?”

  “Just that I looked familiar but nothing other than that. She hasn’t figured it out.”

  “Maybe she was drunker than you thought. Or you’re unmemorable in bed.”

  “I guarantee the latter is not the case. Besides, it’s been almost eleven years and it’s not like she was in love with me.”

  “No, but she took your heart along with your virginity. The least she could remember is how she affected you. Not many men wait until they’re 22 to have sex.”

  “Yeah.”

  Les’ eyes went back to the brief on his desk but he didn’t read it. He thought back to how he had told his twin about the interaction between him and Honey and never tried to mask his disappointment in coming back to the room and finding her gone. He and Andy talked about it as they packed at the end of their family vacation to go to their new home in Thousand Oaks, as they waited to board the plane, as they sat on the flight. Andy allowed Les unravel the night’s events to him and never once made Les feel stupid or crazy for having the feelings that he had for Honey.

  Andy patiently listened, commented and asked pertinent questions, never once criticizing anything Les shared with him. Since they were young boys, Andy has been Les’ confidant and Les was his. On that day, Les appreciated Andy more than usual for his time and patience at listening about his special night.

  “Les?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you okay?”

  Les sighed. “She’s just as beautiful as she was the day we met.”

  “Old feelings returned?”

  “Yeah. From the moment I saw her entering that bar but honestly, they never left.”

  “I realize that. I still can’t believe you used a bet with her. Or that you told her I was gay. How the hell am I supposed to pull that off?”

  “What’s that about? Pull what off?”

  “When I officially meet her. She’s not going to believe that I like men and no matter how much you beg, I will not, and I mean there is no way I am admiring a man for you or anyone else. I’m all hetero, if you recall.”

  “How can I forget? I’ve been slapped or attempted to be slapped many times because of your antics with women, Andy. Maybe you won’t meet her. You make a play for her and I will kill you.”

  Andy laughed loud. “You couldn’t see the day when you could get near enough to make me feel the wind off one of your swings.”

  “I’d rip you to shreds and we both know it. Besides, she may not want me the way I want her. She could brush me off as soon as she figures out who I am.”

  “Please,” Andy scoffs. “You want her and you have always been as tenacious as I am when it came to your wants, Charles. You’ll have her and when you get her, I’m still not playing gay for you.”

  Andy was right. There was no way that woman was slipping away again. None. He was going to get her and keep her, after telling her the truth about everything. He would even jog her memory about their tryst and how he felt about her. He would pursue her and win her because he was Charles Christian Ford… any Ford… male or female, always got what they wanted.

  Les sighed. “Guess I’ll have to admit the lie when we get together then. This time I’m not touching her until she knows exactly what I want.” Les grinned at his twin. “Exactly what else I want.”

  Andy laughed, shook his head and stood. “Good choice, Les. Glad you’ve finally found her. Okay, I need to get to court. Miller v. Miller.”

  “Again with them?” Les scowled. “Now what?”

  “She wants his shoe collection.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. She wants his fucking shoe collection. No idea why. Maybe she has a fetish or something. I hope the judge tosses this out today.”

  “Hopefully,” Les shook his head. Why did they want their own firm again? “And consider dropping Carla Miller as a client. She’s going to make us look like buffoons with these ridiculous demands. And we don’t need her business.”

  “That’s exactly what I came in here to talk to you about. Well, that, the Forrest merger, Dad’s request and Mom called.”

  “I’ve read the paperwork on the merger. If you’re game, so am I. Only thing I had worth going was the deal with Harvey. That’s hammered out and will be signed Friday morning. I’m sick of the frivolity of these other cases and clients. Miller v. Miller is the top of the list, right along with that idiot getting arrested again over the weekend. We don’t need this shit and heading Dad’s legal team would be a lot better and challenging than the shit we’re starting to reduce ourselves defending.”

  “You so don’t need to convince me. I’ll call Sam Forrest tonight and let him know he has the firm, minus us. After that, we’ll let everyone else in on the deal. You good with the buyout amount?”

  “I wasn’t but then I negotiated higher,” Les nodded. “I knew Forrest badly wanted our celebrity clientele and he met me halfway. What’s going on now with Mom?”

  “She’s getting married.”

  “Again,” Les smirks. “Who’s the victim this time?

  Melina Hinton, the mother of Les and Andy, has married four times since the demise of her marriage to the twins’ father, David Andrew Ford I. She was the best at her job and lost her husband because of it. Not because she was good at being a celebrity agent, but because she let one celebrity get too close to her and had an affair with him. Devastated, their father divorced her then met and married one of Melina’s clients, a woman ten years younger than her and almost immediately got her pregnant.

  “Check this out. It’s Ronald Silverman. “

  Les blinked at the name. “The billionaire producer? Are you serious?”

  “I am. She needs a lawyer for her end of the prenup.”

  “Smart man. Negotiate a huge payout for her this time,” Les grinned. “I’ve already paid her for the backbreaking work she did to pay for my end of college.”

  “So have I. I was there with you, remember? Got-damn pictures are now online. Thank Christ our faces are in profile, right?”

  Thank Christ is right, Les thought. When the twins’ began law school, Melina’s weekly dinner date with her sons was tense and it took the boys until dessert to get her to reveal what was going on with her. She revealed she was part of a campaign for a new designer and had invested everything into getting his line going and make profitable. Two nights before the shoot, the models chosen decided they wanted more money; money no one had to spare. Melina was ruined. She was in the middle of a bender when everything came out, having drank her dinner that night, and after tearfully looking at her sons for what felt like an eternity to them, she begged them to help her by posing for the ad so that they could get it out on time. She needed to make her money back and pay her share of their law school tuition.

  The twins knew they wouldn’t have a problem with their tuition. Their father could and would pay their mother’s part without a problem. David was an extremely rich man and made money while he slept. But she was their mother and she was not so good with her investments. They could not allow her to suffer. The twins agreed to do the shoot and was completely pissed when they showed up in Florida on the first day and found it was for was for men’s underwear and attempted to bail from the project.

  “You boys are perfect for this,” Melina insisted. “Show the world what all that hard work did for your bodies. Show off what you worked hard to achieve all those hours in your father’s gym.”

  The twins caved again and spent the following days frolicking on the beach in different underwear, in different scenarios, careful to not show too much of their faces in order to salvage their potential legal careers. There were female models to hold and caress and on several occasions, Les knew a female model or two actually was ‘performing’ with Andy. Later, Andy confirmed ‘something’ happened once or twice, but only when Melina wasn’t around. Her presence was a definite buzzkill.

  The shoot worked. Melina quadrupled her investmen
t and the twins enjoyed silent stardom; everyone wanted to know who the ‘boxer twins’ were. Melina asked once if they wanted to be known it was them and after they both assured her they did not, she kept their secret and soon the hoopla died down but every so often, some TV show or another always asked who they were and where are they now. They were considered the ad world’s best kept secret. No one, to this day, has figured it out Charles and David Ford II were the models for that campaign. Thank God Andy had the foresight to suggest dying their hair and requesting colored contacts when they agreed.

  “Still, it’s your turn to do it this time. I have Darren Hollis’ contract renewal.”

  Andy scoffed. “Um, no. It’s your turn. I did the last one and besides, Hollis’ negotiations are starting in September, at the earliest. By then, it’ll be Forrest’s problem. We’ve got those demands in a lock so there’s no way anyone with Forrest can screw that up. You did the marriage with Bryce Holden. I did the one with Hugh Diller, the last marriage. Now, it’s your turn.”

  “Damn,” Les groaned. “How about you do this one and I’ll do the next three.”

  “I’ll tell you what. We’ll both do this one. Maybe we’ll be good luck charms and make this one stick.”

  “Yeah, that’ll happen. She’s still sleeping with Dad, you know.”

  “I do know and he’s been remarried what… 28 years?”

  “Almost. We just turned six, remember? We’ll be 34 in two months.”

  “Right, I remember now. Randa’s now what, 26?”

  “Twenty-seven, a month ago. Fine, we’ll handle this together. Have Brenda fit the initial consultation into my schedule this week.”

  “No problem, little brother.”

  “Andy…”

  “Not giving that up. Fall in line and call me ‘big brother’.”

  “As soon as you get Randa to call you that, then so will I.”

  “Randa? Please. She’s as stubborn as her mother. She’ll never do that.”

  “Exactly. Now get out. I have work to do.”

  “No problem. By the way, you want to join Nicola and me for a tea party at Hill’s Sunday afternoon?”

  “Another one?” Les snorted. “Hold it. You’re going to a child’s tea party in the daytime and in public?”

  “Don’t smirk, Les. You know Nicola is the only one I’d do that for. She is my only niece, you know, and she will only turn six once.”

  “I do know she’s our only niece. Unless Dad has more kids that has kids out there.”

  “Don’t say that too loud. It may damn well be true. Especially since he’s still sleeping with Mom and God knows who else over the years. Knob slobbing and all.”

  “Geez, Andy… I did not need that in my head,” Les shouted, throwing his stapler at his brother, missing on purpose. He frowned at Andy’s laugh, which made Les wish the stapler landed.

  “Haha! You so missed!”

  “I won’t next time, fucker. Out!”

  Chapter Seven

  Dinner

  Kendra sighed as the cab finally neared Mariano’s. She smiled big when she saw the sign, almost a half an hour later than she should have been here. Damn Murphy and his laws.

  Kendra arrived at her parents’ home a little before six. She should have been there an hour before, at least, but the plane was on a delayed schedule thanks to several inches of unexpected snow in Chicago the night before. Everyone on board sighed in relief when the captain announced they would indeed be in the air shortly.

  The flight itself was uneventful, thank the stars, so Kendra was filled with thoughts of how she hoped her night would go. Dinner. Dessert. Unbelievable sex with her charming companion.

  But first, she was expected at her parents’ home.

  Walking in their front door, Kendra rolled her case into the guest bedroom and frowned when she realized no one was home. Where were they, she thought as she went to shower. She exited the bathroom, grateful she’d gotten her hair done before her trip and was now sporting micros, so thin you can barely see the braids. And they were still curled. All she had to do was fluff it a little and apply her make-up. She stared at herself for a moment in the mirror, thinking of what she needed to do with her face.

  “Thank you, Mom, for the great skin!” Kendra grinned then applied her mascara. Add a little gloss, and boom… done! After spritzing a little perfume behind her ears and knees, she went to the porch for the dress she asked her mother to pick up. It wasn’t there.

  “Damn it!”

  She couldn’t understand why it wasn’t there. Her mother, from the time she was a young girl, always put the clothes from the cleaners on the hook on the porch until laundry day, which has always been Saturday. Kendra went to the porch again and still didn’t see it. She looked all around the house and couldn’t find it anywhere. Frustrated, she called her mother’s cell. Straight to voicemail. Where was she that she had to turn off her cell?

  “Damn it!”

  “Hey, hey,” Kendra heard behind her. She whirled around and saw her father, Sed, as he’s called, frowning and holding her dress.

  “Daddy! Thank God!” Kendra grinned. She ran to the dress, kissed her father’s cheek and was about to run to put it on when her father grabbed her arm.

  “Young lady! Language!”

  “I’m sorry, Daddy. I got frustrated when I couldn’t find the dress. Won’t happen again. Where’s Shane?”

  “Already at the alley with Andrea. She realized when we got there that she’d forgotten the dress. Sent me for it.”

  Ugh, Kendra thought. Her parents’ league bowling night where Shane hung out with kids his own age. How could she have forgotten the ritual?

  “And I’m grateful, Daddy. I really am,” Kendra grinned. “I’ll put a dollar in the jar before I leave. Forgive me?”

  “Of course, cherub,” her father smiled at her. “Go on and get ready for your date. We’ll see you Sunday.”

  “Sunday,” Kendra confirmed then kissed her father’s cheek again. Sed kissed her back then smiled as he walked out to join his wife and team at the bowling alley.

  Kendra called another cab and dressed quickly after depositing her dollar in the swear jar. The cab arrived ten minutes later and hit nothing but traffic, which Kendra found out was due to a gapers delay. All eyes wanted to see what was left of an accident. Usually, Kendra would want to see as well but, tonight, the only thing she wanted to see was Les. Naked.

  After paying the cabbie, Kendra ran inside and asked the hostess for Charles Ford’s table. She smiled and walked Kendra to the table where a smiling Les stood as soon as he saw her.

  Les sighed in relief when Kendra walked in.

  “She’s here, Andy.”

  “Thank God,” Andy drawled in the phone. “I thought I was going to have to rush down there with a Xanax or three. Call me when it’s over. Good luck.”

  “Thanks.”

  Les hung up, stood then waved off the hostess.

  “Hi, Les,” Kendra said with worry on her face. “I’m so sorry I’m late. Traffic is madness tonight.”

  “No problem, Kendra. It’s fine. I’m glad you made it,” Les replied smoothly, sounding nothing like the guy who was just in a complete panic and damn near whiny on the phone to his twin when he thought his date stood him up. He moved to hold out her chair then gently pushed it in as Kendra sat, what he thought, her beautifully formed backside in the chair.

  “So am I,” Kendra sighed. “It was touch and go for a minute there. What a gentleman. Thank you.”

  “My pleasure, Kendra,” Les grinned as he sat. “My mother raised complete gentlemen. How was your trip?”

  “Successful, thank you. They approved everything, including budget and gave me a target of Black Friday.”

  “That’s only six weeks away. That’s enough time?”

  “It is. More than, especially if I start as planned.”

  “When is that?”

  “First thing Monday morning. The crew is on standby and I will start o
rdering what’s needed Tuesday. Meeting Monday, buying Tuesday and work on Wednesday until finish. Easy and nice work if you can get it.”

  “What’s after that? After Crown’s, I mean.”

  “Hill’s needs to approve my design and I can really get to work.”

  Les frowned. “Can you do both without incident?”

  “I can and have,” Kendra grinned. “I have an amazing staff. I will probably be able to do it all by phone or Skype. I may never have to leave my office until final approval and walk through with Crown’s board. They fly in every year and have a visual.”

  “What about the other stores?”

  “I’m doing 50 out of their 112 stores. Mostly on the west coast. They like to spread it around. But I’ve been promised the flagship store next year, and it’s also Crown’s 100th anniversary. I was just told my design this year will also be in their Chicago windows, too. Stiff competition with Macy’s, who are notorious for their wonderful holiday windows. Luckily, I already have a design in mind for next year. I think your niece will love it, what I have in mind. Tell her to think ‘Frozen’.”

  “Nicola loves that movie,” Les grinned then whispered, “Don’t laugh, but my brother and I have to sing ‘Let It Go’ at every tea party we have with her.”

  “Awww,” Kendra smiled. “I bet the three of you sound adorable.”

  “Actually, no,” Les laughed. “We sound like mice scratching on a metal post.”

  Kendra laughed with him then placed her folded fingers on the table in front of her.

  “Congratulations on the new windows and for landing the flagship store as well,” Les said softly and squeezed her right wrist. “I’m sure you’ll do great, Kendra.”

  “Thank you, Les,” Kendra smiled softly.

  Les stared silently at her smile and his own smile grew bigger when he saw a red hue appear on Kendra’s cheeks. He was just about to suggest they skip dinner for now and get out of there when he saw their waiter beeline to them.

  “Ah, here’s the waiter. I’ve ordered some appetizers. I hope you like stuffed mushrooms,” Les murmured then released her wrist. He was tempted to shoot their waiter. Nope, can’t do it, he sighed. Orange really was a bad color on him.