by Sadie Grubor
"That’s Celia," Dixon said in a cocky tone.
Lilli moved in next to Celia, they started dancing and singing to each other. I think every person at the bar was a guy, a lesbian or would have definitely become a lesbian. People crowded up at the bar, hollering and whistling, as well as drooling, over the contrast of beauty in front of them.
Celia was six feet of intimidating curves and long blond hair with lightly tanned skin. Lilli was mahogany waves, cream colored skin, probably no taller than five feet five inches but with well-proportioned curves for her frame. She had a very pinup girl type of figure. Celia had bright blue eyes and Lilli’s were hazel. They were a complete contrast but seemed to blend perfectly.
Then Celia and Lilli threw bottles, flipping them in the air. Circling around each other, they ground and sway against each other, pouring drinks. Like Dixon had said, she knew how to draw a crowd.
Lilli appeared before us.
"Need a refill?" She smiled at Dixon. He pushed his glass out to her. While Lilli was making his drink, she yelled over to us. "What can I get you guys?"
"Can I get a Corona?" Oz yelled.
Lilli nodded and looked to me with a raised brow as she sat Dixon’s drink down.
"Bourbon." Smirking at my request, she moved to get the drinks. Lilli slid the beer to Oz and then placed the Bourbon down in front of me with an umbrella in it. I laughed when she winked and smiled at me. Then she was gone, moving on to the other patrons.
Oz and I finally dragged Dixon to a table near the bar. We sat talking and flirting with women most of the night. A tall, lean red head appeared at our table and requested my presence out on the dance floor.
"Hey there gorgeous," the red head leaned down to me. "I think you need to dance with me," she grabbed at my chest, gripped my shirt and pulled me onto the floor.
Who am I to hurt her feelings?
As we passed the bar, I heard a loud burst of merriment and noise.
"Oh, dude, she totally burned you!" A guy with slick dark hair yelled at a sulking blond haired guy. Then I noticed Celia high five Lilli and toss her head back.
At the end of our night, we said goodbye to Dixon who was waiting till closing for Celia and Lilli. Oz drove since I was way too many drinks under. The plus side being that I had more time to preoccupy myself with Lorna in the back seat.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Waking up to the familiar blue walls and large windows of my bedroom the next morning was brutal. It was even worse when the redhead from last night found out I couldn’t remember her name. Then I realized she was still dressed.
So wasted I couldn’t perform, nice Aidan.
Monday rolled around too quickly. It was time to get back to AIS and Grandfather. The week passed with long hours and boring client dinners. However, the weekends became a change from the normal go out, drink, hook-up and move on routine.
Oz and I had started spending more Saturday mornings playing ball with Dixon. We even spent more time hanging out with him at his place. We were very close to becoming the three musketeers. It was nice to having another guy to hang out with since Oz would often have to work a weekend shift at the hospital.
Lilli hung out with us occasionally. She liked baseball, some video games and had a massive guy movie preference. I found out through small conversations with her, or with Dixon, that she was trying to finish college while working nights and weekends. I was confused as to why she worked more than went to school. That seemed a little odd to me, but it wasn’t my business. I just enjoyed her when she was around. Lilli was becoming a friend and was fun to hang with.
When we introduced James into the mix, I was little nervous. He can come off a little blunt. Dixon was put off at first, but learned to just brush James off and give it back to him. Lilli seemed to tolerate him, but when he was around she would avoid the group. At least that’s what it seemed liked.
A couple of months went by and we seemed to become a group. Dixon came to my place with Oz after work one night when I wasn’t working late with Grandfather.
"Holy shit," Dixon exclaimed when he entered the two story apartment. "Explain to me why we have been hanging at my shitty place when there is this option?"
"There is nothing wrong with your place." I handed him a beer and we gathered around the pool table in the game room.
The game room was just an extra room that could have been a dining room but I wasn’t holding dinners here. So in its place went the pool table, dart board, chess board, etc. James showed up with another friend and we hung out for most of the night. It was just us guys, until James called over some friends. James friends were typically of the young, fake breasted variety.
When the doorman buzzed up, James barked his order to let them up. I apologized to Jeffrey immediately.
"James, don’t fuck with Jeff man! He’s a cool guy!" I smacked his arm.
"Whatever, he should have some respect for who you and I are."
I rolled my eyes.
On the Saturday morning before my life entered a fucked up reality, I arrived to Dixon’s place. I was supposed to meet him so that we could all head out to a Yankee’s game. We were meeting Oz and James at the box.
Lilli answered the door. Her eyes were swollen and red. It was obvious she had been crying.
"Dixon’s not here," she said as she opened the door.
"Oh…he told me to meet him here, is he…?" she walked away from the door. "Hey are you okay?"
The messy knot of hair on top of her head shifted up and down with her nod.
"Yeah, I’m fine." She was a bad liar.
"Are you sure? If something is wrong I can—"
She forced a smile.
"Everything’s fine, thanks. Just reality comes crashing in on me every once in awhile," she laughed half-heartedly. "Dixon is probably running behind. You can wait here for him." She forced another smile and went down the hallway. I sat down feeling really shitty for interrupting her ‘moment’.
I couldn’t help but notice the papers that were on the coffee table in front of me. Bank statements, a letter, pay stubs and some other financial paperwork sat scattered all over. Dixon burst through the door. I turned my head to him quickly.
"Hey man, sorry. I got caught in traffic. Just give me ten—"
"You may want to check on Lilli," I glanced toward the hallway leading to her room. "She looked like she was crying when I got here." I added the last part quickly, so he didn’t think I'd done something.
Dixon studied me before looking down towards the bill covered coffee table. He moved quickly down the hall.
"Lilli," he said softly and knocked on her door. I heard the creak of the door. "Oh Lilli," he exclaimed and I could hear her sniffling. "It’s going to be alright, shhh."
"How can you say that?" she seemed upset. "You know that he’s going to lose the house," she sobbed. "He has nowhere else to go if that happens!"
"I know, but we’ll figure something out," Dixon was trying to soothe her. Unintentionally, I moved closer to the hallway to better hear them.
"It’s not your responsibility, Dixon, it’s mine." The defeated tone in her voice gripped at my chest.
"I think you should take me up on not paying part of the rent—"
"Dixon Thomas Haywood, don’t you even finish that sentence! I am not going to let you pay for me to live here," she shouted. "I’ll just have to get another jo—"
"Don’t you finish that sentence," he yelled. "You’ve already pushed yourself down to part time status at school and now you won’t finish up when you originally planned. Besides, you work way too much as it is!"
"Well, what am I supposed to do, Dixon?"
The guilt of my eavesdropping started to sink in so I went back to sit on the couch. When I sat down, I couldn’t help but glance at the papers again. I saw something about a mortgage and a past due notice, along a letter with a lawyer’s letterhead.
Dixon emerged about twenty minutes later; fully dressed, but his mood wasn’t the same.
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"Dixon we don’t have to go."
"Oh, don’t get me killed, Aidan. If the harpy down there finds out I skipped the game she will rip off my balls and feed them too me. She’s vicious when she’s angry."
He smiled lightly, but not the normal Dixon smile. Sighing, he led the way to the door.
Monday arrived again. I got into my office with my grandfather sitting at my desk and immediately knew what kind of day this was going to be. He was going to be relentless and brutal. His first attack was to grill me on the different things going on with the company. His test to make sure I was paying attention. The second attack was to start criticizing the different deals that we had on the table with multiple media outlets; another one of his tests to see if I could argue a case for each deal. Third was the usual attack on my personal life. This was the lecture of marriage, an heir, the Iverson name and having a purpose in life. I just couldn’t grasp why he thought that marriage was what anyone needed for ‘purpose’ in life. It didn’t make sense to me. Once he was finished, I got my usual half hour alone in my office before being ushered into meeting after meeting.
It was Wednesday and I was just walking in the door when my cell phone rang. I hit the silent button and threw myself onto my bed. It had been a brutal day and it was ten at night. I was beat. My cell rang again. I sighed, ready to mute it again when I saw it was Vi.
"Hello?"
First, I heard the sobs. Panic seized my lungs of air but finally released, allowing me to rush through an array of questions.
"Vi! What’s wrong? Is it Liam? Maggie?"
"No," she sobbed. "Aidan, it's your grandfather."
This time it wasn't panic seizing my lungs. Terror stilled my body, yet churned in my gut long enough to bring nausea. Without saying goodbye, I dropped my phone and was out of my apartment. Before I realized my surroundings, I was in the car speeding through New York.
No matter how much we disagree and argue, Grandfather was dear to me. To lose him felt as if a piece of my soul would be torn from my body.
Arriving to Grandfather’s mansion, I rushed through the door. Most of the family was gathered downstairs crying. I ran to Viola and wrapped my arms around her.
"Oh, Aidan, he had a heart attack when he got home," she sobbed. "Mrs. Giles found him when she went to offer him his nightcap." She sobbed louder.
"Is he—?"
Liam entered the room. I looked to him. His face carried deep lines of stress, reflecting his age.
"Is he...?" I couldn’t choke out the word. It was so final.
"He doesn’t have much time left. He —"
Liam didn't have a chance to finish. I flew up the stairs.
Grandfather had been a tough man and hard to love. But, for how much he had done and given me, he held my respect and my love. I rushed to his side.
"Grandfather," the whisper fell from my lips.
"Aidan," he croaked. "My son," He coughed.
"Don’t talk…just get some rest." I knelt to the side of his bed.
Afraid to touch this unusually fragile man before me, my hands gripped the edge of his mattress. Tears rolled over my cheeks. His skin was ashen and glistening with sweat, as if each word was an effort for his body.
"No crying." He tried to demand but his ragged cough stole from his stern intention. As much as I hated his reprimands and disapprovals, it broke my heart that he couldn't yell at me—swear at me—like he used to. Closing my eyes, I tried to hold in my tears.
When his hand landed upon the fist I was making in his bed sheet, I jerked my head up to look upon his face.
"I get to see my Isobel again." His raspy sigh ended with a weak smile. Then, he was gone. Gone. The grip of his hand loosened on my fist and slid to the mattress.
I buried my head in the softness of the bed and cried. I cried like the night I lost my parents—like a part of my soul was stolen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I sat with Uncle Liam and Aunt Viola at yet another family funeral. It felt like only yesterday that I was sitting in this exact spot listening to the priest say the same heartfelt words about my parents and listening to traditional Irish harps play behind us.
Now that Grandfather was gone I had some large shoes to fill as the sole heir to the family’s multi-billion dollar company. After the burial, the family gathered in Grandfather’s mansion. The immediate family was requested to sit in the cold leather chairs of the library—a room ironically never used by my grandfather—as the final requests of Aidan Iverson Senior was read.
I sat once again between Liam and Viola. Viola held on to my hand tightly. Mr. Devlin, the family attorney, stood at my grandfather’s large mahogany desk with folders, papers and a small plastic case in front of him.
"First of all, I would like to express my deepest condolences for your loss," Devlin paused for a moment before he continued. "Per the request of Mr. Iverson we have a DVD that you are to watch after the will is read."
Mr. Devlin proceeded to establish everyone’s share of the inheritance. Most were receiving monetary inheritance or physical assets like property or cars. Liam and Viola were given a large sum of money along with an island Grandfather bought for his first wife—Isobel. My cousin, James Iverson, acquired a monetary inheritance as well.
Mr. Devlin turned, his eyes on me and sighed.
"Your grandfather has made his intentions for you, Aidan, very clear, However, before his death he made changes to his last will and testament." Everyone in the room looked at Aidan and then the whispers circled from one family member to the next. Devlin cleared his throat. "You are the sole heir to your grandfather’s home, possessions, AIS and a large monetary inheritance." He took a deep breath. "However, your grandfather left certain conditions with your inheritance." Mr. Devlin held out a DVD.
"I don’t understand." Staring at the plastic case held out before me for a long moment, I hesitantly reached out and took it.
"You will need to watch the DVD." Devlin stood, asking everyone, except me, to leave the room. Liam and Viola stayed at my request.
At the large, old box shaped TV, I placed the DVD inside the player sitting on top. Nerves swam in my stomach, causing my finger to shake as I pressed play. Aidan Senior appeared before us. Viola sniffled as I sat between her and Liam to watch the video.
"Aidan, my boy, if you’re watching this damn thing, then I’ve finally kicked the bucket!" His deep laughter filled the room. Tears welled in my eyes. I would never hear the bluntness of his remarks or his laughter again.
"Well, by now that swindler Devlin has told you about the inheritance and my changes." Grandfather smirked at the camera. It was a smirk I knew too well. This look was reserved for when he knew he’d won. The knot in my stomach tightened.
"Aidan, you know I favored you. Hell, everyone knows it. Now, I will tell you why."
I straightened my spine. This wasn’t what I was expecting from him.
"You, my boy, are the exact image of your Grandmother, Isobel— love of my life, just as your father."
Liam stiffened at my side but I couldn’t take my eyes from the television screen.
"Well, it’s as simple as that." He chuckled again. "Know, my boy, that I loved you as a son and have always wanted what was best for you." Then he sighed heavily.
"Now, on to the pressing bullshit," Aidan Sr. put a glass of brown fluid to his mouth and took a gulp. Knowing Grandfather, it was bourbon. "Aidan, you get the house, all the possessions and the money to do with as you wish, as long as, within a year from tomorrow, you are married."
Choking on my own saliva, I barely heard Liam and Viola gasp next to me.
"Did he just say married?" Glancing to Devlin, he simply silently nodded.
"Yes my boy…you have to get married!" Jerking my head back to the screen, my grandfather laughed from the television screen. Before I could say anything, he continued.
"You may have not listened to me before, and continued to carry on with those harlots. Well, my son, now you will have to
pay attention to my wishes." He leaned in toward the camera and smiled. "Now, for the rest."
"There’s more?" I groaned, putting my head in my hands.
"AIS, ah yes. You are a shark, my boy, and an excellent asset to the company. I have to say you’ve learned and even taught well. However, you still lack one thing we all need in our lives." Aidan Senior smiled and leaned back into the high back leather chair. "You will inherit AIS, one hundred percent, after you’ve married and conceived an heir to the Iverson family fortune within the first year of marriage."
I baulked. Liam and Viola gasped, again.
"You have to be kidding me," Shouting, I threw myself back into a chair.
"You will have temporary custodianship of the company and money during the first year—along with the board of directors. However, if you do not meet my conditions at the given times, then the house and money will be dissolved and distributed. And AIS will fall into the hands of the board." Aidan Senior’s face grew grave and he raised his glass to the camera. After a long drink he slammed the glass down and spoke again.
"Do me proud, my boy!" The screen went blank.
Shock consumed me. Staring at the blank screen, I didn’t know what to say, what to do. How could he put me, the family, in this kind of position? Did he realize that the family could lose everything he had built?
"Um…Aidan, we need to go over a few details." Devlin interrupted my moment of shock. He headed back to the mahogany desk.
"There’s more?" I asked, incredulously, turning to look at Devlin.
"Well, it’s more just the fine details to your grandfather’s conditions." Devlin looked over the top of a folder he held in his hands. "You know that your grandfather was a stickler for details." Devlin grinned.
"Yeah, I know." I growled. Where sadness, worry and shock had knotted in my stomach, anger grew.
"Like grandson like grandfather?" Devlin’s attempt at humor only helped to fuel the anger.
"Let’s get this over with," I groaned. "Apparently, I’ll have to go out and propose to someone tonight."
Devlin began to read the specifics of my conditions.
"Well, as you know, you need to be married within a year from tomorrow." He looked up, meeting my eyes as I rolled them. "Okay, well it must be a valid marriage. Meaning, it must be equally joined into as well as consummated and monogamous. Infidelity will immediately violate the terms." He cleared his throat. "The…um…marriage has to last no less than four years."
