Bona Fide Beauty

by Landra Graf

  “Worried about weddings?” Kat asked.

  “Not in the least, but a good analogy, right?”

  “Yes, it is. The thing is, he might be worth it.” In a split second, she saw it, her day with him by her side. A possibility of a future she’d barely dreamed of in the past.

  “Worth what?”

  “More than anything material I have. More than my house, my car, my bank account.”

  Betty scoffed. “You’re crazy. I’d never throw away my security for a guy. That’s nuts.”

  “People are worth more than things.”

  “Who said that?”

  Her grandma, that’s who’d said it. Mark’s reminder of their gran’s words filled her ears, though he’d botched the phrase a bit. She’d heard Gran utter those sentences hundreds of times, whether watching the news or talking with a friend who’d made bad choices—even when her son went to prison.

  You put your value in people; things will let you down time and again, they don’t last. People who get a little piece of you typically hang around.

  A perfect reminder to show her she’d once again let go of the important things. “Someone I loved very much, and now I need to apply it.”

  “I hope this doesn’t blow up in your face.”

  She hoped so too.

  23

  Dev had barely slept the night before, tossing and turning without any hope of getting well-rested. He’d tried counting sheep and drinking a glass of warm milk with cinnamon, as his Madre always encouraged, but to no avail. Instead, he’d given up on rest at around four in the morning and rose early to run, shower, and ensure the final touches on his presentation were complete. Then he sent everything off via email and headed into the office. Everyone showed up on time, as if they wanted to put their best foot forward. Preliminary discussions had already been held with their “new face,” Stacy, in preparation for the worst. Even if he didn’t lose his position, having someone groomed to take on the limelight seemed the intelligent thing to do.

  Then the hours ticked by, fast and furious, leading up to the moment when he walked into the board room and took his place at one end of the table. Pru stood at the other end in deep conversation with two of the eight board members. She didn’t have intimate connections to them all, but they knew each other from the country club. In a past life, they’d been associates of Pru’s dead husband and now, by association, with her. Cultivating those relationships had taken time and determination on her part, which he’d never deny. They stood feet away, possibly talking about his future and what they wanted him to do.

  He’d come up with the idea of Bona Fide, dreamed about it in his youthful high school days and into college as he watched women fall prey to assholes because of self-esteem or fail to put a dent in the glass ceiling due to being shy or soft-spoken. He’d been searching for a way to help, and help he had. Small stuff at first— volunteering for a suicide hotline and leading a positive image class at a local rec center. Then with Victoria and Pru’s success came the full-fledged business, the promise of an investment group to give them the cash amount up front for space, a building allowing them to hold corporate sessions, to take on my consultants. His dreams were finally a reality and she wanted to strip them away. The same woman who’d worked alongside him to build him up. At the first sign of him moving on from them as a couple, she couldn’t handle it.

  He stared her down, watching Pru deftly ignore him, but he let those eyes of his bore into her. When she finally acknowledged him, he caught the first glimmer of a crack in her armor. She blinked and he didn’t. Her skin took on a pinkish hue. He’d made her lose the staring contest and blush. Mark came in shortly after, a stack of portfolio’s in his arms. The other investors filed in with the exception of three of them, Pru’s biggest fans were not there. Dev looked at his watch, almost one. Kat’s meeting with the Beautification Board may have had something to do with the board members’s absence and he sent up a silent thanks to the Lord for this one little mercy.

  “Are we ready to get started?” he asked trying to sound as innocent as possible.

  Several of the gentlemen agreed, and everyone took a seat, Pru being the last. As the President of the Board, she got to speak for the group and hold the floor. “I’m glad almost everyone could come today. Thankfully, even without everyone, there are enough folks present to count as a quorum. We’re here today to discuss the latest publicity challenge for Bona Fide, courtesy of Dev’s personal activities. The article in the local paper was very damaging. As to the extent of the damage, that’s what we’re going to discuss. We will also discuss our expectations moving forward and hear any comments from the Bona Fide CEO and VP before we make any final recommendations. If we are in agreement, say aye.”

  A chorus of ayes filled the room.

  “Then, Mark, if you please?” Pru pointed to the portfolios, which Mark passed down the table.

  Mark cleared his throat. “If you’ll please turn to page two.”

  And so it began, twenty minutes of debating over their previous meeting’s proposed successes and the new proposed losses they’d suffer. Mark laid it on thick, with comparison charts and the whole nine yards by way of analytics with financials. When he finished, they asked Dev to speak, and so he did.

  He detailed his professional relationship with Kat, mentioning it only turned personal after the client/consultant piece had come to a close. Pru chimed in with an ill-put comment about it being the same night, but Dev stuck to the truth. He even brought forth his understanding that she’d been a pro bono case, not an official client on the books, but a side project to help him gain his confidence again.

  “In summation, I think whoever the article’s source was is unreliable and damaging the company’s good name out of spite toward me. I see it fit to ask for a retraction and potentially an interview from a competitive publication to get our side of the story out.”

  “But the source was correct; you’ve had relations with two Bona Fide clients in the past.” This comment came from the oldest member of their board, Henry.

  “Yes, true, but everything else was false, and I believe that deserves to be said. My reputation within Bona Fide and outside of it is threatened, but I wouldn’t take any step unless this board decides to back me.”

  Another board member, Wilbur, spoke next. “We’ll need time to consider all this information. May we ask for a few moments alone?”

  Before Dev could say yes, the conference room doors opened, and Victoria stood there, a big smile on her face. “I apologize for the interruption, but a young lady is here to add some additional insight to the discussion, if it so pleases the board?”

  Wilbur, Henry, and the others all nodded in agreement, except Pru. She’d gone sour-faced, and he felt the anger in her gaze as Victoria stepped aside and Kat walked in. He’d never been so happy to see her before, not because of what she might tell the board, but for getting the pleasure of seeing her again. She looked radiant, hair up in a high ponytail with her jumpsuit on and ankle boots.

  “Good morning, everyone.” Her voice sounded like music to his ears... Shit, he’d become a sappy mess.

  “Good morning,” went the chorus.

  “I wanted to see if I could clear up a couple things because”—she looked at him—“it’s the right thing to do.”

  Wilbur chimed in. “Then go ahead, young lady.”

  “You have Dev on trial for being in a personal relationship with me when I was a client, but Dev and I were always in a personal relationship. He did the consulting as a pro bono deal as a favor to Mark, my cousin. No money ever exchanged hands between us. All expenses were covered by my cousin. He didn’t break your rules, and what’s between him and me is exactly that… between us.”

  “Yes, but why didn’t he say that, then?” Henry quizzed.

  She shrugged her shoulders, and he basked in her beauty, her courage... for him. “Not sure, but it probably had to do with my paperwork being accidentally filed into Bona Fide’s syst
em. Once there, it couldn’t be taken back without looking suspicious. Then there is the matter of him wanting to keep me out of this. He didn’t want me involved or my character maligned as his has been. Would you want that for someone you love?”

  Several of the board members shook their heads in disagreement.

  Then Pru opened her big mouth, “Yes, but what about you and Mark? I have a copy of a contract stipulating that you had an agreement to exchange money if you received a makeover.”

  “Yes, there was an agreement and a contract.”

  No gasps, just silence. Dev wanted to pipe up and lay the blame at the appropriate party’s feet. Kat, his hermosa, beat him to it.

  “But the agreement between us was between the two of us. Nothing about it directly affected Bona Fide, and neither did Dev working with me. All business and meetings took place after hours or on weekends. He helped me prepare for a big event, and I made sure that any help he offered didn’t impede his work here.”

  “What did he prepare you for?” Wilbur’s question came with a serious expression and furrowed brows.

  “He helped me attempt to save my house from being condemned for failing a code inspection via a meeting with those who could reverse the decision or give me funds.”

  Henry followed up with, “Did you succeed?”

  “No.”

  Dev’s heart thumped in his chest, all anxious energy coupled with hurt. She’d been fighting so hard and hadn’t made it. Kinyon either never received his email or ignored it. Damn.

  “But,” Kat continued, “I’m not sure how things would’ve turned out since I skipped that meeting today to come to this one.”

  Kat hadn’t planned any of this out, the entire process a complete fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants job. She’d tossed and turned all night, and when she’d finally fallen asleep, her rest had been filled with nightmares about Dev, her home, and her Gran looking disappointed in her. She’d awoke in a cold sweat and immediately taken a hot shower. Sitting on her couch in sweats at five in the morning with a hot cup of tea, she’d pondered over everything all over again, weighing the possibilities and scenarios if she showed up at Bona Fide versus going to the meeting, and trying to determine which route held the most chance of success. In the end, she determined that not helping Dev would be something she’d regret for the rest of her life. To love someone and not do what you could for them… the end result was unthinkable.

  Those had been the final thoughts pushing her out her front door and on a route to the Bona Fide office. She’d hesitated for only a brief second at a stoplight. Straight had meant Dev, and right would’ve possibly saved her house. She’d taken the rocky road by coming here and risking everything.

  Her nerves became even worse when she’d walked in the front door and up to Victoria’s desk. Victoria, for all her shock and surprise, had become super excited when Kat told her why she was there.

  “Then you need to get in there right now. Come with me.”

  The secretary had marched right down the office hallway and toward their big conference room. Deep breaths and counting her steps had seemed to help. She’d heard Victoria introducing her, noted the acknowledgement to let her in the room.

  Walking in, she’d expected a bigger crowd and to be looked at with disdain. Instead she noted interest, curiosity, and even, from her cousin, respect. From there it wasn’t hard to start making her case, to face down the mob who wanted to hurt the one she loved.

  “Well, thank you for that little summation, but this is a lost cause.” Pru’s snide remark could be heard throughout the room, and her dismissive physical reaction was in plain view of everyone. Kat found herself surprised Pru had let her true feelings show when the woman worked so hard to cultivate her image.

  Kat refused to give her the satisfaction of being angry or to let the woman’s attitude affect her own. Kat had lost everything today and pinned her hopes on the fact that Dev still wanted her. Love didn’t pay the bills, but it certainly gave a person someone to bounce ideas off of. Maybe she’d get another meeting with the Beautification Board, or maybe she’d crash and burn. None of those things really mattered at this moment. “Is he a lost cause? Last I knew, his commissions are the highest at Bona Fide.”

  “They aren’t anymore,” Pru countered. “And it’s a good chance they won’t ever be again.”

  Other board members nodded in agreement. Whenever someone asked about this day, she’d cry “witch hunt” loudly and proudly. Pru wanted Dev’s head roasted, based upon the daggers she’d been staring at them as soon as Kat had arrived.

  Before she could rebut anything additional, her enemy added, “I believe it’s time for a vote. The only solution to this problem is to have Dev’s resignation. He’s cast a horrible light on the company. I motion for resignation.”

  One of the board members who’d questioned her said, “Second.”

  Then a bunch of “nays” followed. Pru and the old man were the only ones wanting Dev to resign. Everyone else appeared to want him to stay. Both Dev and Mark looked surprised. The butterflies from her stomach and the fear gripping her seeped away at the board’s decision. She sighed in relief.

  “The board has spoken. Dev, you get to stay. For now.” Pru sounded less than excited by the decision. No, the decision ruined her plans, and she was the first to gather her bag and stomp out of the room.

  Kat wanted to challenge her on what “for now” meant, except she’d grown self-conscience in the past fifteen minutes. She’s arrived to save him, to help without any thought to what it cost her. If she thought about the house, she’d cry, but a life not spent with Dev had already brought her to tears this morning. Her luck would be that she’d never find someone confident, stubborn, or perfect to spend every day of her life with. Now that one part of her mission had been accomplished, she needed the courage to ask for the other part.

  The boardroom began to clear out, and she stood stock still. No one talked or looked at her, except Mark. He winked and then followed behind a few others. In moments the room was nearly empty, except for one person who still stood there.

  Dev, looking at his phone and scrolling, had never looked sexier. Being without him for days had done something to her brain chemistry because she wanted to run to him, hop in his lap, and do all sorts of things were inappropriate for the workplace. The courage she’d lacked moments ago was renewed by being alone with him. When he finally tucked the phone away and looked at her, her heart pounded. Blood rushed to her ears and for a moment she lost the concept of sound. She saw his lips moving, but couldn’t respond to his simple question.

  He stood and rushed to her side. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” she managed. “Just excited to see you, to tell you.”

  “Tell me what?” He grinned before touching the tip of her nose with his index finger. “That you love me? Because you don’t have to say it. I love you, and I already know.”

  “How? How did you guess?”

  “You gave up your house, the potential to win it, for me. How do you feel about that?”

  “Horrible, awful, devastated.” She reached out to hug him, and he let her. The smell of citrus and spice against her nostrils, comforting and secure. “But houses are just that—houses, and they aren’t worth more than people.”

  Dev chuckled against her hair. “Really? What genius taught you this?”

  “My grandmother. I was too blind to see it. She never would’ve pushed for this so much, not if it caused other folks pain. I hurt you, said some cruel things, and thought the worst. Would you be willing to give me a second chance?”

  “I am more than willing. Are you open to the idea that I don’t think you lost your house?”

  Hope bubbled up, fast and furious like a shaken soda. She’d have refused the emotion if she could’ve, but no dice. “I would love the possibility, but I don’t think it’s true.”

  Dev reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. A few touches and swipes later, he flipped the screen
around so she could see.

  “You’re fucking kidding me.”

  “Nope, hermosa. It’s true; Kinyon loved the plan pitched to him about making the house a historic landmark, even agreed to do low-impact remodeling that won’t take away the unique structure, inside and out.”

  She kissed him then, had to kiss him. There existed no other option in the world, and one kiss proved not enough. “How?”

  “I put the proposal together and sent it to Kinyon this morning. Made it sound like it was all your idea, that I’d just reviewed it for you and approved. He obviously believed me, gracias a Dios.”

  “Yes, thank Dios, whoever he is.”

  “He’s God, hermosa.”

  Laughing she pulled him in close again. “I had no clue.”

  “It’s okay; I’m happy to teach you.”

  “I’ll be happy to learn. Just... I’m overwhelmed.”

  “By what?” Dev pulled back, watching her intently.

  “You, us, and the house. Oh my gosh, I get to keep everything. I get all the things, which is crazy.” The day had turned into a miracle, a marvelous thing she’d never forget. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Are you ready to take the next steps?”

  “With you by my side, I’m set.”

  24

  Six Months Later

  “If you don’t stop, we’re going to be late.” Kat’s threat was rather empty since she giggled while Dev pressed kisses to her neck. His goatee tickled her skin.

  “I love you, and I don’t want to be late, but I can’t help myself.”

  “All you have to do is wait two hours and then we can be back here and doing whatever we want.”

  Dev twirled her around in his arms, and she sighed at the way he held her close. “You promise?”