The Valentines Day Proposal

by Bella Winters

  “You’re right, but we were in a meeting. Save it for the room,” Veronica’s voice was low as Brent led the way to the rental car, pulling the keys out of his pocket.

  “Where to?” Brent asked as he looked at us.

  “Disneyland?” Veronica asked as I laughed. “Seriously. It’s not that far.”

  “We would have a few hours to stay there,” Brent said thoughtfully as he looked at me.

  “I can have my friends meet us for dinner. I’m so excited!” Veronica said as she slipped her bag over her body. She stepped closer to me and smiled into my eyes. “There’s a lot of dark rides there, you dirty boy.”

  We jumped into the car and Brent headed to Anaheim, waiting in the line of cars to park and then the line for the tram. The park wasn’t too crowded, and we made our way around, getting on the rides in a timely manner as we laughed and talked. There was no open affection between us at all, just a comfortable relationship. Veronica insisted on going on everything and loved every moment of it. She let Brent have a turn at her in Hyperspace Mountain as we raced through the dark, her screams echoing through the room.

  It was dark when we met her friends at a restaurant in a shopping area nearby. They were a lot like her, bubbly and loud and I looked on as I sipped the beer that I’d ordered. The place that she chose had animals set up around the room, fake ones that would come to life every so often. We were near the elephant, and it made me laugh as the kids around us went crazy over it.

  Veronica sat with the two girls, laughing as they sipped drinks and chatted about the day. I saw the way that they were looking at Brent and me as he cast me a smirk as we ate our food and looked around. We weren’t as well-known here, which was nice. We could walk around without being recognized, and though we did catch a lot of eyes, it was just admiration. It was easy and fun.

  We went back into the park to see the parades and fireworks, with the two girls joining us. Veronica dragged us on her favorite rides all over again, slipping her tongue between lips when her friends decided to sit out.

  After we had been done at the park, Veronica hugged her friends goodbye, and we headed back to the hotel. She walked into my bathroom and eyed the tub as she slipped her dress off. “I need a soak. Anyone want to join me?” She looked over her shoulder as she started to run some hot water, looking back into the big tub.

  “Why not?” I asked as I lifted my shirt over my head. Veronica dumped some lavender into the running water, giggling as bubbles rose to the surface. Brent got us each some water before the three of us slipped into the bath with Veronica between us. She twisted her hair up and draped her legs over us as we whispered about today, deciding what to do tomorrow.

  It was a long night as we enjoyed the last time we’d spend the night together for a while, using her in every way possible as she begged us to go harder, deeper. Veronica was insatiable tonight, and we finally wore her out, watching her pass out naked before us. She was going to be sore tomorrow but had shown us in the past that she didn’t care. Every moment that she lived life the way that she wanted to was worth all the sacrifices.

  We had breakfast on the beach in the morning, looking over the waves as we ate slowly. Our flight was at noon, and we made the drive to the airport after a walk, boarding together this time. Veronica passed out in her seat once we were in the air, with Brent following soon after. I sat back and looked out of the window, playing back everything that happened with a smile on my face.

  We landed that evening and caught cabs to our homes, with Veronica looking longingly at us as she slipped into hers alone.

  “That was a hot, fucking weekend,” I told Brent as he nodded in agreement. Mom and Ashley were waiting with dinner and asked us all about the trip, laughing when they found out that we went to Disneyland. We took our bags to our rooms, unpacking as we talked through our open doors about the tamer parts of the trip. It was back to work tomorrow, and I dropped into bed around midnight to get enough sleep.

  I missed the hotel room. I missed having her warm skin against mine, making me wonder if Brent was currently thinking the same thing. I drifted off to sleep with the memories playing through my mind like a movie.

  CHAPTER 13

  Brent

  The alarm sounded in the morning, bringing me back to reality. I rolled over on my side to hit snooze as I thought back to the dream that I was having. I slept a bit longer before rising to shower, dressing in a suit before I went for coffee. Brandon was down there looking about as enthusiastic as I felt about it being the morning as he sipped from the travel cup with weary eyes. “Ready for this?” I asked as he shrugged. “A lot of it will be meetings with the managers about what we learned. Dad always used to grumble about that.” I chuckled at the memory, suddenly feeling like a little kid doing a grown-up job.

  Dad would go to the conference to learn. Sure, he’d have dinner and a little fun along the way, but he never plowed a woman in the hotel room. I didn’t want to think about the times that Mom went with him, focusing on the fact that he was faithful. I wasn’t acting unfaithful towards anybody, and neither was Brandon, but it was a far cry from when Dad was alive.

  We left for the office quietly, making the short drive and parking in the garage. Everyone asked about the meeting as we walked in, and I forced an enthusiastic smile on my face. We agreed to a meeting at nine, once I had the notes as well as the time to make sure that everything was logical. Veronica agreed to bring the tablet in, and I sipped coffee as I let the computer warm up and looked over the city.

  “She’s not here yet,” Brandon spoke, and I looked up at him. “She has the tablet.”

  I walked towards the computer with a frown on my face, seeing a text on my phone.

  V: I am sick with some kind of stomach virus. I won’t be in, but I emailed you all my notes.

  I thanked her and checked the business email, pulling up the document and reading through it. She did an excellent job, and I could actually make sense of the things that she was trying to say in the second meeting. I did have to fix a few things but it made sense, and I printed out copies for the meeting as Brandon read over her text. “Think she’s okay?”

  “I hope so,” I replied, organizing the papers as I glanced at the clock on the wall. We had ten minutes, and I grabbed a folder to put everything into as I looked at him. “She’ll be back tomorrow.”

  The meeting went great, and they were all impressed by the notes, making me remind them that it’s good to have an assistant around. They mulled over the changes and news in the industry, but M&P was going to be just fine. We had a great team that cared about the company as well as my family, and we were only going to get better.

  We headed back to the office after we were finished, and caught up on the things we missed during our trip. It was surprisingly a lot. I was also relieved in part that Veronica wasn’t here because I was sure we’d both want to keep the weekend going and not get anything done. I had lunch with Ted and Brandon joined me at the last minute, chatting about the other people we met at the conference. Though my father preferred to go, he sent Ted a couple of times in the ten years that he’d worked here.

  “It can get pretty wild there sometimes, even though there are far more men than women. How many of them were drooling over you?” Ted teased as I sipped my water.

  “It wasn’t about that. I did mingle with some of the others, of course; but not for that reason. Let’s be honest. Ted. There’s plenty of women here that will do anything for Brandon and me, so we like to keep work separate from that.” I smiled confidently when I was done, knowing how far from the truth that statement was. We’d had a lot of sex in our room with our assistant, but nobody needed to know that. Ted made a joke about her missing work and asked what she did to injure herself, but we both let that go. I did make a point of talking to Veronica about the gossip going around about her. She might act as if she didn’t care about it, but I didn’t want it getting out of control.

  We took a bit longer of a lunch than needed
, heading back to finish up the day. I planned to take Mom to dinner tonight since we were gone for the weekend, pleased that Ashley wanted to join us. It was a bit awkward talking to her the other night before I left, but I hoped that she had her senses about her.

  Brandon was planning to go at this point. He had to have worked a lot out of his system over the trip, so maybe he would calm down. Glancing at him, I saw him sending a message on his phone and rolled my eyes as he caught me. My brother laughed as he waited for a response, putting his phone away once we got back to the building. “You know, someday you’re going to be older and not want sex all day, every day.” We’d just turned twenty-two, and I knew that it was far off in the future, but still enjoyed teasing him.

  “I think I’m glad that Veronica is out. I might be humping her like an animal today, otherwise. That was the best weekend of my life.” He grinned, and I laughed.

  “It was. I just hope that it doesn’t end badly since it’s the three of us and it’s been going on for a while. That’s always been a one off in the past.” I looked at him, trying to read his face.

  “I don’t have feelings if that’s what you mean. Veronica is a great girl, but it would be foolish to want more from her. She’s a wild one,” Brandon told me, making me nod.

  “That’s the problem. I fear the rumors are becoming more important than her work here,” I said as Brandon shot me a serious look. “What would Dad do, in this case?”

  “Talk to her.” It was an easy answer. It was an easy answer, but Dad never would have slept with his assistant.

  “Yeah. That’s going to be interesting.”

  Veronica wasn’t in the following day either. She sent another text telling me that she was still sick and I frowned. I knew that we could handle the work, but I wasn’t sure what was going on. Brandon went out after work that night, distracted and restless. I went home and had dinner with Mom since Ashley had plans with a friend. Mom looked at me, asking what was wrong.

  “Our assistant has been out the last two days, sick. I hope she’s okay,” I replied as I took a bite of the chicken.

  “How is that working out for you? Your father always liked having the help.” Mom looked at me, and I could see the sadness in her eyes for a fleeting moment.

  “It’s good to have the help, particularly learning the ropes,” I admitted as I sipped my water. “She knows her stuff, too. I just hope she’s okay.”

  “I’m sure you know to keep work professional, Brent. I know that you boys look just like your father and the money makes the women crazy. I remember the stories he told me about the staff there sometimes before he sat them down to discuss it. He liked to keep it business in the office,” she smiled and shook her head. “He was worried about you taking over too young. He was worried about you taking the business as seriously as he did. I can’t believe that man ran the red light and took him away from us.” Tears filled her eyes, and I walked around to hug her.

  “The business is great, Mom. We have that under control,” I assured her, holding her close. “We all miss him. I feel like I have to be him every single day sometimes, and then I worry about Brandon.”

  “You are doing a fantastic job. They keep in touch with me down there, and I’ve even had lunch with Kathryn a few times. Everybody is pleased.” Mom pulled away and composed herself. “Everybody 's happy.”

  “Good. They’ll keep feeling that way,” I promised her as I returned to my seat, watching her carefully.

  I went to bed early that night, and when I got into work, there was an email from Veronica. She explained that she was dealing with some health issues and had to leave the job, attaching a vague letter from a doctor. I read through it again, wondering what the hell was wrong with her as Brandon came in with coffee. “What’s wrong?”

  “Veronica is gone. She’s sick or something,” I said as he sat down and stared at me. “She sent a fucking email.”

  “Any details?” He asked, looking like he had a long night.

  “No. I think the note excuses that, though I’ll have to check with HR. I am new to all of this,” I replied as I took a sip of the coffee that he offered me.

  “No assistant,” he said, his face dropping. “She was so fun.”

  I sent her the last check, and the rumors ran wild once it got out that Veronica quit. She sounded like she slept with every living soul in the office and while I realized that Veronica was fun, she might have ended up being a problem. I knew that I’d miss her presence around here, as well as that hot body. I knew that my brother would miss her, but I made the decision to work without an assistant for a while.

  There were rumors that she was pregnant, but I hoped not. I thought that Brandon and I were always careful, but there were so many times that we slept with her.

  CHAPTER 14

  Brandon

  I tried to find out what happened to Veronica, missing her around. She was the perfect woman to have a little fun with, and she did her fair share of the business as well. I knew that Brent and I could handle it and he seemed a little relieved that the drama that came along with her was over.

  I also knew that he missed her as well. Brent was somewhere between being twenty-two and the owner of Dad’s company, with Veronica being the women that loosened him up. He was always the more serious one out of the two of us, and she made him forget all his problems.

  So now, it was back to business. I still had all the women outside of the office and considered flirting with some in the building just to keep things interesting. I held back, though, knowing that this was more than just a job.

  I ended finding out that she went to rehab two months after the final email. I didn’t know what for exactly, but it explained a lot. She was wild, free, and a hidden addict.

  I worked the eight hours a day, slipping back into my old party mode after hours. I left Brent in the evening, still working sometimes as I went to dinner with friends or spent time with a woman. I made a point of seeing Mom regularly so she wouldn’t worry about me and I kept up my role at M&P going strong.

  It was hard. The holidays were coming up and being the first one without Dad was going to be difficult. Things got hectic around the office during that time as well, and it was all-hands-on-deck. We worked closely with the managers, and I missed having an assistant. Working so much made it hard to get out since I was so tired at night as well as trying to keep up traditions at home.

  I went to a club one night on the weekend, even though we were working seven days a week. You’d think a shipping business for primarily businesses wouldn’t be as hectic as UPS, but customers liked to use us for their holiday shipping as well as some of the products.

  I was at the bar, talking to a brunette after I bought her a few drinks and looked around the room to see a familiar blonde. Veronica was smiling brightly beside a guy, looking as beautiful as ever. He looked over at her, and she kissed him, making me wonder if she had a real relationship in her life. If so, it looked good on her.

  I glanced back down at Kelly and laughed at something she said. The past was the past.

  The hours went up to ten at the office every day, and we stayed right along with everyone else. It was insane when I was used to going out every night on the town and drinking with friends for Christmas. I was barely present for Christmas Eve dinner in the years past, something that I regretted now. I missed precious moments with Dad, and I had a lot to make up for now around my work schedule.

  Life was so different.

  I was glad when we got to rest for four days on Thanksgiving, enjoying a meal mostly cooked by mom with a little help from Monica, and I loved hearing them laugh in the kitchen. Brent and I were watching a game while Ashley chatted on her phone. There was a significant presence missing in the house, but we were all here, focused on each other. That’s what mattered. We had a great dinner and watched a movie together, but Mom went to bed so she could get up and go shopping with friends in the morning. She was crazy for doing so, but it made her happy. I knew that t
he next day she would want to set up the tree and decorate the house, which was what she usually did but seemed to be in a rush this year.

  Both Brent and I could see her trying to keep busy to keep from thinking about Dad. We went along with it and pulled the holiday things from the attic after she went to bed, trying to keep quiet about it. We slept in the following morning, waking up in time for some lunch and sports scores before Mom came home with bags of stuff.

  She looked happy, though.

  I helped Brent take her to get the tree at a corner lot, settling on an eleven foot Douglas Fir that we had delivered at an extra cost. That was always a process for us, but I learned from Dad how to go about it when we were younger. Mom unpacked the ornaments and started to get the house going as we waited, with Monica and Ashley stepping in to help.

  Brent and I chuckled as we watched, listening to the stories about past holidays. It was Mom’s way of purging as she worked and we allowed it, listening closely. I knew that we’d be spending a lot of time at work over the next month, so I enjoyed this quiet time.

  I spent the following night under Carlie’s Christmas tree on a rug, watching her come in just the colored lights. She was pushing for more with me, but I didn’t know if I was ready for that. I didn’t know if I’d ever be ready for that, so I kept her happy with sex and the occasional dinner out. I had a few others for sex, but I knew that I’d be working a lot. I might not have them after this month. I finished the night in her bed, falling asleep with Carlie as I looked around the room.