by Tia Siren
I reached my arm around his waist and pulled him close. He put his arm around my shoulder, and his warmth was welcome. I finished the remainder of my wine and returned to his apartment.
I rested comfortably on the couch, and he joined me. I leaned against the armrest, and he rested his head in my lap. I sat there, stroking his hair for a time.
He fell asleep, and I didn’t mind. I could feel his satisfaction with each breath he took. Then, in the darkness, I found myself edging closer to sleep until I couldn’t fight it off any longer.
6.
A knock woke the two of us the next morning. Sunlight blinded me as I looked around the quiet apartment. Zach stretched himself out over the length of the couch before easing off me. My arm was still tingly with sleep, but I stood up to stretch myself.
“What is it, Adam?” Zach said, tiredly answering the door.
Adam stepped in and caught my attention. For a second he looked incredibly frustrated, clenching his fists and ready to throw a tantrum.
“I see she really did spend the night here,” Adam said.
“What of it?” Zach asked. “She’s a grown woman.”
“We have to get to work. Dad said he has some final paperwork to finish before going off for his honeymoon,” Adam said.
“I’ll be right there,” Zach said.
“Bring her too,” Adam added. “She has business with him as well.”
I knew I did, and I was looking forward to the possibility.
“So how did you get her to come over? Did you tell her about your poor ex-fiancée?” Adam teased.
“That’s none of your business,” Zach replied.
“Well did you tell her the real truth of it all?” Adam asked.
Zach sighed and didn’t have much to say.
“What truth? I thought I heard everything that needed to be said,” I said.
Adam laughed.
“There’s a reason I never tell the story. It’s still a bit of a bitter pill to swallow. But I’ll tell you how things really went down.”
Adam walked in and started sifting through Zach’s kitchen, preparing a couple of things to eat while talking.
“We both fought over the same woman, but really there wasn’t much of a fight. She was my high school sweetheart. I was about to propose to her before this gentleman here decided to woo her away from me. It’s a funny thing, isn’t it? He has that soulful and vulnerable attitude when it suits him.
“So, when I finally fight for her and win her back from Zach, he starts pushing me out of the company. When I finally start pushing back, I get a note from her saying that she regrets leaving Zach in the first place. I was devastated for a second time.
“I was glad when Zach turned her down. It just let her see herself for what she truly was. Isn’t that right, Zach?”
Zach stood there, silent. I was so ambivalent.
“Adam, you are the worst person I know. You found yourself attracted to your own stepsister, and only a day later you were sleeping with her. Don’t turn this one on me because it didn’t go in your favor,” Zach said.
“Yeah, well, don’t think I’ll let you get away with ruining another girl’s life with your emotional shortsightedness,” Adam rebutted.
I’d had enough of listening to their fighting.
“Both of you, shut it,” I said.
The stopped shouting at each other and turned toward me. I felt like an idiot. I felt used, and most of all I felt drained, both emotionally and physically.
I grabbed my heels from the floor and straightened my black dress from the other night.
“You two deserve each other,” I started. “And would you like to know why? You’re both terrible people. You feed off the emotions of others and sow discord. That’s always been my problem with people that have too much money and not enough brains.
“This girl you guys fought over made her own decisions. She loved both of you and couldn’t make a choice. I should know how that feels, because I just spent the last two days in the exact same situation.
“Two incredibly gorgeous men were entertaining a girl, whom until this point hadn’t really felt like much. I’m the result of enough failed relationships ending poorly, and for once I thought something might work out. Then I realized that you’re both my new brothers and that there’s absolutely no way this could work out in the slightest.
“I love you both, but I can’t deal with your bickering and attempts to one-up each other. Your old girlfriend and fiancée made her choice, and in the end she found it best to just leave both of you for good. You’re both poison. And if either of you could see that, then maybe you’d realize that she made the right choice.”
I stormed off toward the elevator. Neither of them made any attempt to stop me, even when I stood there for a moment, awkwardly waiting for the elevator to arrive.
I had business with their father, and he had to know what was going on with his sons. I felt it was only right that he should hear it from his new daughter.
7.
I rushed to the office after taking a moment to straighten myself up at my apartment. I knew Tom wouldn’t want to wait long for me to speak my piece.
I caught up with him in the lobby of his head office, surrounded by more than one assistant trying to shuffle papers into his face for him to sign.
“Liz!” he shouted, pushing past his group.
He reached out and pulled me into a fatherly hug.
“How was your weekend? I heard you spent some time with your brothers,” he said.
I let out a laugh of embarrassment. If only he knew.
“You said you had some paperwork for me to look over,” I said, changing the subject.
“Of course.” Without looking, an assistant shoved a stack of papers into his hand, which he handed straight to me.
I took them and looked over the contract. From my initial investigation, he appeared ready to pay me a rather sizeable sum to do the job. I wanted to sign right there and start right away, but something nagged at the back of my mind.
I thrust the papers back at him.
“Can we talk in private for a little while?” I asked.
Tom held a hand up, and the crowd around him dispersed.
“Let’s talk in my office,” he said.
He led me down the banks of elevators to the private one in the back. It thrust us straight to the top of the building and his personal office.
“Tell me, what’s on your mind,” he started.
“I really want this job,” I said, “but I can’t work with Adam and Zach.”
He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.
“Why is that, if I may ask?”
“I got to know them this weekend,” I said.
“So knowing them makes you not want to work with them?” he asked.
“It’s not that,” I replied. “They’re great guys, but with their heads in the wrong places. I’ve found myself wrapped up in their personal drama over a girl that left them some time back. They act like children and fight constantly. So, I have to decline your offer.”
He sat in his chair behind the desk and sighed.
“They’re a handful. I’ll give you that,” he said.
I took a seat in the chair opposite him and tried to avoid looking too nervous.
“So you’re sure that you want to turn down an offer like this?” he asked.
I picked up the pages again, looking at the absurd amount of money he wanted to offer me for the job. But I knew what would come with it.
“Think about it. You could be there to guide them. You could make sure they don’t fall apart and bicker like they do,” he added.
I shoved the paper away and stood back up.
“Sir,” I started, “there’s no amount of money in the world you could pay me to be a babysitter to those two.”
I turned around to leave and then stopped in place. Adam and Zach had snuck in without me being aware. There was a pit in my stomach and I just wanted to be any
where but here.
“Babysitter,” Adam said.
“I thought you were just going to be our accountant,” Zach added.
I started walking toward the elevator as confidently as I could.
“As I told you earlier, I can’t be that close to you two. I thought I had found a couple of men, but instead I met a couple of boys. Maybe if you two grew up, I would find my way back. For now, I have something better in mind.”
I clicked the elevator button, leaving them once again in silence. I hated feeling like the bad guy, but that was the only way they would take me seriously.
They had both played me over the last couple days, and even though I was absurdly physically attracted to both of them, I couldn’t see past their faults. Adam was a wonderful lover, while Zach was a truly compassionate and caring man. But I couldn’t handle the two of them together.
I needed to find my own path.
8.
I didn’t talk to them much over the following six months. My mother and Tom continued to stay in touch while on their honeymoon. In fact, they took an extended vacation and were gone for almost three months. If only I were so lucky as to take a vacation longer than a week.
After a month of soul searching, I finally figured out what I liked to do. I was good with numbers, and I wanted to share that gift with everyone who needed it, so I started my own free accounting service. The money wasn’t the best, but I always had to stay afloat, mostly due to my mother.
Then, one afternoon, the twins found me.
“Hey, Liz,” Adam said.
Zach just stood like a professional and waited.
“Hey, guys,” I replied. “To what do I owe this surprise?”
Zach pulled an envelope from his breast pocket and handed it to me without a word.
“This is for you, from the two of us,” Adam said.
I opened the envelope, pulling out a single check with more zeroes than I had ever seen before. I looked back at them, puzzled.
“You’re our sister, and after we heard you started your own company, we thought we’d provide you with some seed money.”
I pushed the check back into the envelope.
“I don’t need it,” I said.
Adam pushed back.
“Listen to what we have to say first,” he replied.
I crossed my arms and waited.
“You told us what we needed to hear. We really were acting like children. We’d been like that since we were young, so it was only natural that we continued into our adult years. But then you called us on it. At first we just laughed it off, but over the last few months we reconciled and have bonded again. Really, we have.”
I laughed. “You expect me to believe that?”
“We do,” Zach said.
I pulled out the check and looked at it again. It would set me up for life if I invested it properly, which was a hard thing to even consider turning down.
“Where did you get this money?” I asked.
“We raised it,” Adam said. “Smart investments always pay off.”
Tears started to well in the corner of my eyes. I didn’t know if what they were telling me was true, but I wanted to believe it.
I raised my arms and brought them in for a group hug.
“You know, the money is great and all, but why didn’t you guys ever visit?” I asked.
“I thought you hated us. I thought you were waiting for us to come up with a grand gesture to win back your approval,” Zach said.
“You left us pretty broken up when you left,” Adam added.
I laughed uncontrollably, and they both stared at me quizzically.
“You guys really are idiots. We’re family, and family is supposed to stick together. Maybe you still have a lesson to learn after all.”
We all laughed heartily that afternoon. I still loved them, but not as lovers. I loved them as the brothers they had become.
*****
THE END
BILLIONAIRE BOSS Romance – The Boss’s Kiss
“Do you know what Obama has done for people our age?” Olivia asked Madison and Abigail. They both looked at her blankly. Neither of them had a clue about politics. Olivia took a mild interest in current affairs, but the other two just knew who Obama was; they certainly had no idea what he had or hadn't done for the country. “Well if you don't know, I'll tell you. He's done nothing. Eight years of nothing. I'm leaving this country and going to seek my fortune elsewhere,” Olivia said.
Olivia's friends looked at her as if she'd announced she was training to be an astronaut. “Leaving the US?” Abigail said, her blue eyes almost popping from her head.
“Why?” Madison asked. “This is the greatest country in the world.”
“Jesus, Madison, you sound like you've been brainwashed by Fox News. Do you really think this is the best country in the world? I want to see something else of the world,” Olivia said.
Madison and Abigail looked at each other. “It's all right for you. You went to college because you parents left you a good inheritance,” Abigail said. “You should put yourself in the position of poor people like us. We have no choice but to accept whatever is handed to us.”
Olivia looked at the two women and wondered why they were still her friends. “We all went to school together, right?” Olivia asked. They nodded. “We went to the same school, studied the same subjects. The only difference being, I studied harder than you two lazy bitches.”
“Oh, that's not fair,” Madison exclaimed. “We tried just as hard as you.”
“Bullshit. If that’s the case, why are you two working the tills at Walmart when I've got a college degree?” Olivia was aware that she sounded boastful, but she'd had enough of her whining friends. “You guys don't realize that life is what you make it. You're just too lazy to get what you want.”
“Come on, Madison,” Abigail said. “We don't have to listen to this shit. You know, Olivia, since you went to college you've become a real snob. You're no friend of ours anymore.”
The two women got up from the table they were sitting at in the Millstone Café and walked toward the door. “I suppose I'm paying?” Olivia shouted after them. They both stuck a finger up at her. Tramps, both of them, Olivia thought.
It wasn't going to college that had made her a snob, as Abigail had said. It was just that she hated moaners. Both of them still had their parents, yet they called her privileged because she'd been to college. She would have swapped all her education to have her beloved mom and dad back again. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. “How dare they,” she muttered under her breath.
“George, bring me the check,” she shouted across the empty café.
“You're not going, are you, Olivia?” he asked.
“Yeah. I just fell out with those two idiots. I think I'll go for a swim.”
“I thought you'd maybe stick around. I get off work in an hour. Maybe we could—”
Olivia interrupted him before he could finish. “No thanks, George. How many times have you asked me out this year?”
“Lost count,” George said instantly.
“How many times have I said no?” she asked.
“Same number.”
She smiled at him. “George, you're a great guy. If I'd just met you, I'd really dig you and want to date, but we've been neighbors since I was in diapers, and we went to school together.”
George, who was a lanky six foot three, put his hand to his chin to pick a spot that had been bothering him all week. “What difference does that make?”
“It means it's boring. There is nothing to discover between us. It's all been said and done. I need adventure, something different to make me feel something. I'm going fucking crazy in this two-bit town.”
He loved Olivia. She was the only woman he'd ever asked out. He loved her enthusiasm for life and the fact that she had the hottest body in town. She was blond, and her face was so pretty she turned heads as she walked along the street. If he couldn't have her, he'd
take a rain check on women he'd previously decided against. “I'm sorry you're feeling unsettled. I love our town.”
“George, it's a backwater, an insignificant bunch of boring buildings and even more boring people.”
“Then go and get rid of your wanderlust. Stop telling everyone how pathetic they are for liking it here and go.”
“Am I arguing with you now as well?” she asked.
“No. But sometimes you sound like a broken record that just goes round and round and round.”
He was probably right, she thought. Since her parents had died, she'd felt increasingly isolated. People had been very kind to her and supported her through her grief, but she'd pulled back into her own world, and now all she could do was tell other people how lazy and boring they were. She would go away and experience something else in the world. She'd get a job in another country.
That evening she sat alone in what used to be her parents’ home, and was now hers, and searched the internet for journalism jobs.
“London,” she muttered. “Hundreds of jobs.” George had hit the nail on the head, she told herself. She needed to put her words into action. She had more than enough money to tide her over until she found a good job, and she could get an agent to look after her house in the US.
“Six hundred bucks. Okay,” she said as she hit the “BOOK” key on the British Airways website.
*****
“This happens to me every time I fly,” a short man said as he raked his hand over the sweat covering his bald head. “You'd think with better technology airlines would be able to get their act together, but no, they make all the excuses under the sun for their tardiness.”
“This is the first international flight I've ever taken,” Olivia said as she stared at the departures board. “It just says delayed. Don't they have to give a reason?”
“My dear girl, you are very naive if you think they would tell their customers anything. They are perfectly happy to take our money. But tell us what's happening when things go wrong? Never.” The man had a British accent; he sounded very much like Prince Charles to Olivia's untrained ear. “If I were you, I'd go to the information desk and ask, but all they'll say is that they can't be held liable and that it's not their fault.”