Maybe Baby Lite

by ANDREA SMITH

  “Twinkie: (n) young, innocent beautiful female that has no nutritional value; a snack to tide one over until the real thing comes along.

  I resisted the urge to jump over the table and slap her. Wow, one morning with Gina had already changed me into an east coast girl. I got up from the table, not wanting to spend one more minute in the company of such a nasty bitch.

  “I’ll see you back in the cellar, Gina. I've a phone call to make.”

  I hurried outside, pulling my phone out of my pocket and called Trey’s phone. Of course, I got his voicemail. I didn’t care. At the moment, he was responsible for my being cast into “Twinkdom,” and he was going to get his fair share of the crap.

  “Trey it’s me, Tylar. You have my number. My message will be extremely brief: I AM NOT YOUR FREAKING TWINKIE!” I pushed the end button and strode back to the wine cellar, still seething.

  Twinkie my ass!

  I reported back to the wine cellar, putting my apron on and starting back to work. Gina came in just a few minutes later.

  “Hey,” she said, “don’t worry about that bitch Jenna. She's just jealous. I mean, you know that right?”

  “What could she possibly be jealous about?” I asked, putting a new roll of labels onto the round spindle.

  “Uhh hello? You landed the second most gorgeous, sexiest man in the western hemisphere?”

  “Who’s the first?” I asked.

  “Why my Ian, of course!”

  We both laughed.

  “No really, Gina,” I said, “it’s not what you think with Trey and me. He’s just got this sort of protective older brother kind of thing going on with me, you know?”

  “Sure, I understand,” she replied, smiling. “It’s not all that unusual. I think they call it incest?”

  “No seriously,” I explained, “It's not like that. He feels totally protective of me on account of something that occurred a few weeks back. If you don't believe it, stay at the manor with me this week. You'll see that I have my own room, and there's nothing going on. I won’t hear from him because of a big trial starting tomorrow. Now is that really how a guy treats his Twinkie?”

  We both started laughing. The rest of the afternoon went quickly. Gina took me up on my offer to stay at the manor, saying that wealth had its advantages. I was eager to find out. We decided it would be fun to go swimming and maybe have a barbeque outside. Gina and I decided to walk back to the manor after our shift. I let her know that I needed stop off at my cottage to get some more clothes, since it was on the way. We took the trail and walked through the woods, coming out at the bank of cottages on the Sinclair estate.

  I didn’t go into much detail about why I wasn't staying at my cottage, only telling her that someone had left a menacing item there. Once we were inside everything looked to be in place. I located my backpack and emptied the rest of my underwear and sleepwear drawers into it. I packed my swimsuits and the rest of my toiletries and make-up.

  Gina was looking through my stack of CDs in the living room. “You have some good music here,” she said. “Here open your backpack, let’s take these with us.”

  We headed out the door. Gina stooped to pick up a piece of paper on the floor we hadn't seen coming in.

  “This must be yours,” she said, handing the folded piece of paper to me. I opened it and read the note, written in inky, block letters:

  Sissy, I miss the sweet taste of your cunt. Where have you been? Don’t worry, I'll find you.

  “Let me see, Ty,” Gina said. I handed her the folded paper.

  “Shit,” she said, handing it back to me. “Is this the reason you don’t stay here?” I nodded. “Aw jeez I’m sorry about nosing into your business like I did this morning. I totally understand why you can’t stay here with some maniac stalker fucking with you like this. It’s good of Trey to worry about you and make sure that you’re safe. He’s a good guy, ya know?”

  I nodded, still numbly holding the paper. This latest communication was clearly meant to terrorize me. Who did this? Mom might know. But where was Mom?

  “Listen,” Gina said as we locked the cabin behind us, “I’ll ask Aunt Becky to bring my clothes over. We’ll hang out; find something fun to do to take your mind off of this, okay?”

  I nodded again.

  Arriving at the manor, Gina got settled into a guest room in the “east wing.” She did have her own bathroom, but it wasn't nearly as luxurious as Trey’s badass bathroom. I retrieved Trey’s bathrobe and went over to his suite to take a shower. Everything in his suite was clean and orderly. I was disappointed that the room didn’t smell like his aftershave anymore. I needed my Trey fix and nothing in there provided that now. I showered, brushed my teeth, and went back to my room wearing Trey’s bathrobe, I heard my cell phone ringing. It was Trey.

  “Hello,” I answered, bracing myself for his anger over the message I'd left on his phone earlier.

  “Hey there,” smooth and silky said.

  “Hey,” I replied, now suddenly shy and composed. I sat on my bed, knees up under my chin, wondering what I could say if he mentioned my angry message. Maybe he wouldn’t ask.

  “Tylar?”

  Here it comes, get ready.

  “Uh huh,” I answered.

  “You're many things to me. When I think of you, I think of the way you make me laugh at times; other times how you make me crazy. I think of your gorgeous eyes, and how you affect me when I least expect it. But I swear to God, I've never, ever thought of you as a Twinkie. I don’t even know what that means!”

  “It’s something that Jenna's spreading around about me. I’m your Twinkie, which I guess is some younger, more attractive version of a bimbo.” I answered, the tears brimming. “It’s not important,” I said in a small voice.

  “It was important enough for you to leave a screeching message on my phone this afternoon. You’re neither a “Twinkie” nor a "Bimbo" to me, got it? I’m surprised that you let Jenna get to you like that anyway,” he said.

  I didn't answer him because he was right, I shouldn't have let the bitch get to me like that.

  “Tylar? Are you there?” He heard my sniffle, confirming that I was still on the phone.

  "Is something else bothering you?"

  “There was another note left for me at my cottage.”

  “What were you doing back at your cottage?”

  “I needed to pick up some more clothes and stuff. Gina—you remember Gina, Becky’s niece?”

  “Vaguely,” he responded, still very irritated with me.

  “She went with me so I was safe. It’s just kind of creepy, you know?”

  “What did the note say?” he asked.

  “Something vulgar and that he missed me and would find me.” I could hear Trey catch his breath. “Anyway I invited Gina to stay here with me this week is that okay with you?”

  “No problem, sweetie,” he replied, his tone now gentle and soft. “I'll let Thatcher know to keep an eye out for anyone lurking around as well."

  “Thank you,” I said. I still had Trey’s robe on, but the scent of him was starting to diminish. I had his voice, but only for another couple of minutes.

  “What’s wrong, Tylar?” he asked again, sensing my despair.

  “I’m fine,” I squeaked.

  “Obviously you're not,” he said. “What can I do to make you feel better?”

  “I don't know. I guess I didn’t like the way we parted this morning,” I admitted.

  There was a long silence from the other end of the phone.

  How needy does that sound?

  “Hey, I've been thinking about you today. You don't totally fall off my radar while I'm gone."

  That was something. He'd given me something; I felt a connection again. “I’m getting ready for bed. Are you?” I asked him softly.

  “Well, I have some depositions to review before I turn in, but I’m in for the night if that’s what you mean.”

  “Can we sleep together tonight?” I asked. “By phone?”<
br />
  “How does that work exactly?” He seemed genuinely interested.

  “We just put our phones on our pillows or beside us in bed and go to sleep.”

  “Let’s do it, then. I'll leave my phone on; you do the same. You go to sleep. When I’m ready to go to sleep, I'll kiss you good night over the phone, how's that?”

  I smiled into the phone and nodded. “Okay, Trey. Good night.”

  “Sleep well."

  CHAPTER 16

  I was plugging my phone into the charger just as Gina bustled into my room. It was only 6 a.m., but she was freshly showered and dressed for the day.

  “Get your lazy ass up,” she greeted me, a cup of coffee in one hand and an unlit cigarette in the other. I didn’t know Gina smoked.

  “It’s only 6 a.m. We don’t have to be there for three hours. I'm going to lay back down for a bit. You aren’t going to light that are you?”

  “Of course not,” she said, as if it was illogical for me to even think that. “I quit two years ago; it’s just I still like the feel of a cigarette in my hand when I’m having my morning coffee.” She took a long drag off of the cigarette, slowly exhaling invisible smoke, and then followed it with a sip of her hot coffee.

  “Check this out,” she said, “Aunt Becky said if we want we can start our shift earlier and then be outta there earlier. I figure if we get there by 7 a.m., work through lunch, we can be out and heading to town by 1:30. The day will still be young, as they say.”

  “It sounds good to me,” I said, suddenly energized, bouncing off the bed and getting dressed. Thatcher was more than happy to drive us over to the Belle. We officially clocked in at 6:47 a.m. Gina showed me how to operate the corking machine and she handled the filler tank. We both did some labeling. I started assembling the corrugated partitions that fit into each wooden case to keep the bottles from banging against each other during transport. Tomorrow we would finish with the Applewood Rose, and the tanks would need changing out to the house merlot. That would be the last of it.

  Gina made the sound of the end of shift whistle like from the Flintstones and we clocked out. She instructed me to wait out front for her. Several minutes later she was back. “My aunt is the greatest,” she said jingling car keys. “She let us have her car; said she would catch a ride home with someone. Let's go!"

  Downtown Bristol was quaint and trendy. Bristol, Virginia bordered its twin city, Bristol, Tennessee. The state line between Virginia and Tennessee was on State Street. The cities shared a downtown district. Gina parked the car near the main drag.

  “Anything in particular you're looking for?” I asked Gina.

  “I need a swimsuit for sure,” she replied. “We need to take advantage of that Olympic-size pool back at the manor.”

  I was a bit hesitant, remembering my last time in that pool.

  “What?” Gina asked, catching my uneasiness.

  “It’s just that the last time I was in the pool I was drunk and nearly drowned.”

  “Oh dear God,” she said. “Well that isn’t happening as long as I’m around. Really, Tylar, the dangerous company you keep!”

  “I know, right?” I laughed. “Trey actually saved my life when that happened.”

  “I bet he did; he's probably owned you from that moment on,” she commented.

  “What do you mean?”

  “He just seems like the type that doesn’t stop with the saving your life part. He strikes me as one that would take permanent responsibility for the person he saved, you know, like moving you into the manor, wanting to keep tabs on you.”

  “He doesn’t keep tabs on my every move,” I said, thinking back to the weekend of the horse race. I'd been practically home free on that one. “But you’re right Gina, he can be pretty intense.”

  We found a beach boutique and Gina tried on five different bathing suits. She finally decided on a designer bikini by Salinas. The bottom was very low slung, with a gold-tone band running along the top edge; it had adjustable side ties. Gina definitely had the body to pull it off. I tried on a really cute pair of red low-slung board shorts and a tank half tee.

  “What do you think?” I asked Gina as I come out of the dressing room

  “They are the bomb on you girlfriend, just need to accessorize a bit.”

  I ended up buying two pairs of the board shorts in red and purple, and two tank half tees, one in black and one in red.

  “Now,” she instructed once outside the store, “let’s accessorize. Follow me!”

  We walked to a shop called, “Make Me Holey.”

  “Body piercing?” I asked, aghast at what Gina had in mind as far as accessorizing.

  “Yeah, I noticed you could use some ‘holiness’ Tylar,” she mused.

  “I’ve got double pierced ears,” I argued, pulling my hair back so that she could see for herself.

  “Yeah nice,” she replied, “but I was thinking you may want to bring a little more focus to that flat, sexy tummy of yours.”

  “My bellybutton?”

  “Yeah, you have the perfect kind for a piercing.”

  “Are you having yours pierced too?”

  “Already did darlin’,” she answered.

  I hadn’t recalled seeing a ring in it when she was modeling the swimsuits for me earlier.

  “I don’t have my banana bell in right now,” she said, “but trust me, it’s pierced and we're both going to get something new pierced today. My treat!”

  I didn't love the idea nearly as much as Gina, but what the hell? If I didn’t like it I could always take it out. It wasn’t like it was going to be anywhere that couldn’t be covered by clothing. We went inside and Gina picked up a price list and brought it over to me so that we could view it together.

  “So what are you getting pierced today, Gina?”

  She was perusing the list as if it was a menu, trying to figure out what she was going to order for lunch.

  “I believe I’m going to go with the Vampire’s Kiss.”

  “A what—?” I looked at the listing and saw that it went for $120.

  “Here,” she said, opening up the pamphlet and locating a picture of it. “Right there,” she said, pointing.

  Oh my God, it was a surface piercing on the neck, near the clavicle that had entrance and exit points. The jewelry was either a surface bar or curved bar bell that sported red ball dips to look like blood. It was to look as if a vampire had bitten her neck.

  “Are you really getting that?” I exclaimed. “Shouldn’t you ask Ian about it first?”

  Gina looked at me as if I had two heads, and then scoffed.

  “Yeah, right. I don’t need my man’s permission for what I do to my body,” she replied, laughing and shaking her head. She caught an attendant’s attention behind the counter, waving him over. “Yeah, over here. She’ll be having the Number 14 with the basic hardware. I’ll be having the Number 27 but would like see the hardware upgrade with the genuine ruby ball tips, please?”

  Forty-five minutes later, Gina and I walked back out on the street with four new holes in our bodies. Mine really didn’t hurt much at all, but it hurt me to look at Gina’s. We both were given our after-piercing care kits with instructions. I was to shower for the next five days; no bathing. I couldn’t go into chlorinated water unless I wore a bandage covering it for two weeks! So much for showing off my sexy tummy at the pool. I pointed out the irony to Gina, who wasn’t deterred.

  “Tylar,” she explained with a hint of exasperation creeping into her voice, “you can still wear a bikini and lay out in the sun with it for Chrissake! I bet Trey will think it’s really hot!”

  Don’t count on it.

  We got back to the manor at 5 p.m. Gina dropped me off at the front door, saying she was going to return her aunt’s car and be back in a bit. Thatcher opened the front door before I got completely across the porch.

  “Good afternoon, Tylar,” he greeted somewhat cheerily. “Will Mrs. Hatton be arriving soon?”

  “Thanks Thatcher
,” I said, going through the door with my packages into the entry. “Yes, Gina will be back over shortly. We ate a really late lunch so please don’t go to any trouble with dinner. We'll probably just make a sandwich or something later if we're hungry.”

  “Very well,” he replied. “Just let me know should you get hungry and we can set up something informal.”

  “Will do,” I said anxious to get my stuff up to my room. I'd left my cell phone on the charger all day today. I hurried upstairs to retrieve it, anxious to see if Trey had called. I had a text message from him that came in around 4:30 this afternoon. It read:

  “Why is your cell phone not with you?"

  How did he know that? I checked my voicemail and there was a message was from him as well.

  “Tylar, its Trey. I've got about 15 minutes before court resumes. I was worried when I lost the signal last night while you were sleeping. I called the house this morning and Thatcher said you'd already left for work and that your phone was in your room. Please keep your phone charged and with you, otherwise I'll worry. Be good.”

  That's it? Keep my phone charged and with me; be good?

  Hmmmp!

  Gina arrived back before 6 p.m. It was still sunny out and warm, so she had the great idea of lying out by the pool, jamming to some music, and getting some color on us.

  “What about our piercings?” I asked.

  “What about them?” she replied. “You don’t have to keep a bandage on it Tylar, in fact the sun will do it good, lots of vitamin D, you know. So we like lay out for awhile, get some color, then at dark, we get the old Tiki torches going and invite some of the others over for cocktail hour?”

  “I guess that would be okay. Let’s do it!”

  We both changed into our bikinis and lounged by the pool, letting the afternoon sun wash over us. Gina got on her cell phone, calling Rodney, instructing him to invite some others up for a “sundown” swim. She also asked Thatcher to deliver some cosmopolitans to us poolside. I wasn't nervy enough to do that. She cranked the music on the portable Bose stereo up a few notches. Before I knew it, Thatcher was bringing trays of warm appetizers and a fresh pitcher of cosmopolitans out to us.