by M T Stone
“I want to introduce you to Kate,” Jack yelled over all of the noise.
“Is she another daughter?” some smart ass yelled back.
Jack let out a laugh before saying, “As you have noticed, Kate is 27 years younger than me. She’s a fashion designer and just happens to be the new love of my life.” There were a variety of reactions as the small mob scrutinized Jack’s words.
“As most of you know, I lost my wife a few years ago, and Kate is the one person who is healing my broken heart,” he added as traffic began to move.
“Thanks, Jack,” I said as we retook our seats in the back of the car.
“I love you, Kate, and I want everyone to know it. In fact, there’s another call that I need to make,” he replied, picking up his phone.
I knew that the next call would be to his mother. He had been avoiding her for the past month and it had been bothering him. Shit, I’m going to have to talk to my mom, too. I really wasn’t looking forward to untangling a month’s worth of lies. I’ll give her a call this evening. I definitely can’t handle her right now. I haven’t even had my latte yet.
Jack
As Mom’s phone began to ring, I found myself hoping it would go to voicemail. It’s pretty early, I might get lucky.
“Jack, is everything alright?” she asked, sounding as if she had been up for hours.
“Everything’s fine, Mom. I didn’t realize that it was so early until I had already dialed your number.”
“That’s fine. What’s going on?”
I took the time to go back to the beginning, telling her a slightly modified version of our story. In this version, Kate and I had begun working together about a month ago and had slowly fallen in love. I also explained that there would probably be some press coverage in the near future due to our age difference.
“Don’t they have anything better to fuss about?” Mom replied in a surprisingly supportive tone.
“Anything to sell a few papers, Mom, you know that. I just wanted you to know about Kate and me before you read it somewhere.”
“You know that I don’t read that crap, Jack. Besides, Jayne and I had you two figured out a couple of weeks ago. If you think that you can hide something like that from your mother and your daughter, you are sadly mistaken.” I could somehow hear the smile crossing her face. Apparently, everyone had been keeping closer tabs on me than I thought.
“So you and Jayne have been talking about us?” I asked instantly causing Kate’s cheeks to flush. I patted her knee and gave her a reassuring smile. Judging from my mother’s tone, she didn’t have anything to worry about, other than maybe being teased by her at some point.
“Yes, I’m afraid we’ve had some good laughs at your expense,” she continued. “You should never try to keep secrets from me. You should know by now that it just makes me more curious.”
I suddenly had visions of my mother tailing us in her Buick Lacrosse.
“I’m glad that you and Jayne can laugh about it, Mom. I wasn’t sure how you would handle it.”
“We’ve both spent plenty of time worrying about you the last few years. We’re just glad to see you happy. Oh, lord…. You may want to get a hotel room with curtains next time, though.”
“Mom, get off the iPad. I thought that you didn’t read that crap.”
“I didn’t read it. I just looked at the pictures. Very tasteful, Jack, your father will be so proud.”
“On that note, have a good day, Mom.” I hung up the phone and shook my head in disbelief. “I can’t believe my mother sometimes.”
“Well, at least she has a sense of humor about it. That’s more than I can say for mine,” Kate replied as she began fidgeting nervously.
“I’ll talk to her if you want me to,” I offered.
“No, that’s fine. I’m planning to call her tonight. I’m sure she will have already heard about it from somebody. That way, she’ll have had some time to cool off,” Kate replied looking preoccupied.
“Yeah, she’s probably going to need a little time to adjust.” Like a year or two…
As I looked out the window, my thoughts began to drift as well. I knew the paparazzi stunt was tied to the other strange things that had been going on the past several weeks. Someone had been threatening me ever since they caught wind of our little Made in America clothing venture.
I’ll bet it’s the Ricci brothers. Their father, Alfonso, was one of the largest contract manufacturers in the U.S. for the clothing industry. More than a dozen designers had switched from using his services to my outsourcing platform in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. His business declined to the point where he ended up selling what was left, and his boys had turned to less honorable business dealings. They did not intend to ever revive their father’s business, but at the same time, they were determined to cause as many waves as possible for me. I’m going to get in touch with a guy that I grew up with. These two punks need to be shut down. If I hadn’t put their dad out of business, someone else would’ve done it. All of the old-school manufacturers are gone. It was nothing personal for Christ sake.
Kate
Judging by the intense look on his face, Jack was contemplating something pretty serious. I began to think about Jack’s weakening heart and wondered if that was his concern. Tim stopped by my place so I could change into some fresh clothes. I didn’t want to show up at the office in the same outfit that I had worn on Monday.
Jack said he was going to make a coffee run while I changed, but instead he stopped by Café Boulud. Between his love of beef, and his fascination with French cuisine, it was easy to see why he would choose stem cell therapy instead of following his father’s strict regimen. On the way to the office, I enjoyed Brioche French toast with orange butter and passion fruit syrup, while he had short rib hash with caramelized onions and eggs over the top. Heavenly…
“I thought the reason you stayed in shape was because you ate very light during the day and saved your appetite for dinner time,” I teased him.
“It’s been a rather stressful morning, so I needed a full stomach,” he countered with that sexy smirk.
“Alright, I’ll let this one slide.” I gave him a wink to let him know that I was only half-serious.
~~~
The second we joined Brandon, Jayne, and Brenda in the conference room, we knew the cat was out of the bag. Brenda was acting normal, but the other two looked like they were both struggling to contain themselves.
“Did you guys have a good night?” Jayne asked with a not-so-subtle look of disapproval.
“Where did you stay last night, Dad?” Brandon added. “It wasn’t the Atrium Room was it?”
“Alright, I’m not going to take any shit from you two this morning. We were set up,” Jack replied flatly, as he slapped his briefcase on the conference table.
“Really?” Jayne continued, “How did they coerce you into having sex in a room filled with windows?”
“Moving on,” Jack said without even looking up.
Suddenly Brenda was up to speed and the look on her face was priceless. Jack pulled out a pair of reading glasses and began going over the things he wanted to cover before lunch. I was impressed by how he instantly turned everyone’s attention back to business. Both Brandon and Jayne were obviously disappointed that they weren’t going to get more mileage out of the scandalous topic.
Jack went through the agenda at a blistering pace, making snap decisions and tabling anything that couldn’t be immediately resolved. It was obvious that Jack wanted to minimize the time he spent in the city.
“Are you intent on covering the entire manufacturing line in one day?” Jayne asked when lunchtime came and went without a break.
“Yes. Then we will go through the supply chain tomorrow and marketing on Friday,” he replied.
“Okay,” Jayne said, “so you are leaving right away?”
“Yes. I’m scheduled to be in the Bahamas on Monday,” he told her.
“For what?” Brandon interjected.
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Apparently, I’m not the only one who Jack has been keeping in the dark. What if something went wrong? I understand he’s self-reliant and doesn’t like people worrying about him, but this is way over the line.
“Let’s order in some lunch and when it gets here I’ll discuss it with all of you,” he said as he turned his attention back to the agenda. “I’m not hungry, so order from wherever you want.”
After that huge breakfast, I wasn’t the least bit hungry either. Jack seemed happy to check a few more items off the list before lunch arrived. As the others began eating, he went on to the next item of business.
“Sorry, Dad, but you’re not reneging on telling us what’s up,” Jayne insisted.
“It’s no big deal guys. I’m just going down to Freeport to meet with a cardiologist about the prospects of using stem cell therapy to regenerate some heart tissue,” he replied as if it were an annual physical.
“Stem cell therapy? You think that’s a minor detail?” Jayne said appearing shocked. “Are they using bone marrow? What’s the risk of rejection? They just passed legislation down there that shut down several clinics that were promoting unproven techniques.”
“Have you been working on a medical degree that I didn’t know about,” Jack asked with a dose of sarcasm.
“Really, Dad? The males in our family have been cursed with degenerative heart disease. You don’t think I’ve done a little research on the issue?” she retorted.
“Sorry, Jayne, I didn’t mean to insult you. Apparently, they use my own stems cells, so there is no rejection risk. There is still contamination risk and of course, there is always a risk when you insert a catheter and inject anything directly into your heart. If there are any red flags, I won’t pursue it. You know that I won’t go and do anything foolish.”
“Why weren’t you going to tell us?” Brandon demanded.
“I haven’t even talked to anyone down there yet. I didn’t want you all sitting here worried about me,” Jack explained.
“So you were just going to do this and let us know afterwards?” Jayne reiterated.
“I would never do anything serious without talking to you guys, but this is minor,” Jack assured all of us. “I promise I’ll be cautious and I’ll keep you guys posted. Now, is there anything else before we get back to business?”
“I have one more request,” Brandon said with a smirk.
“Yes…” Jack acknowledged him hesitantly.
“Please stay at the St. Regis from now on,” he requested, almost causing Jayne to choke on her food.
“I’m sorry you had to witness this, Brenda,” Jack said shaking his head and trying to shoot his son a serious look.
“Actually, I’m enjoying it. I love hearing some good family banter,” she assured him.
As I sat there laughing with Jayne, Brandon, and Brenda, it occurred to me that they had accepted the fact that I was with Jack. There wasn’t any uncomfortable tension, and we could actually joke about the scene we had accidentally created the night before at the hotel. Today has gone much smoother than I had imagined it would.
As if on cue, my phone began to buzz. Looking down, I saw that it was Mom, so I chose to press the ignore button. I then waited to see if she called right back. If she did, then I would know that she was upset and determined to talk to me right now. I know she’ll call me right back. She’s probably heard the news. Those thoughts hadn’t even passed when my phone began to buzz a second time. Pressing ignore once again, I knew I would have an interesting voice mail to listen to when our meeting adjourned. My phone beeped indicating a new voicemail, just as I had predicted.
Within seconds, Jack reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved his ringing phone. He muted the sound and looked over at me as a subtle smile rolled across his face. Whoa, Mom is really pissed.
Jack
As the day wrapped up, I checked with Tim to make sure he had retrieved my bags from The London. I informed him that we would be spending the rest of our stay at the St. Regis. The view from the Diamond room was good enough, and they would ensure our privacy as well. There would be no paparazzi lurking outside our door. I have to get in touch with my old friend Anthony Garcia. He will be able to help me take care of the Ricci bothers. Anthony and I had gone to grade school together back when we lived in Queens and we had played football against each other in high school. After high school, Anthony joined the Marines and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the Special Forces unit. He’s such a badass. They won’t know what the hell hit them.
As Kate joined me in the limo, all of the thoughts regarding stem cells, paparazzi, and the Ricci brothers faded into the background. She kicked off her shoes and slid toward me across the soft leather seat.
“Damn, it’s cold out there,” she said slipping her cold feet between my thighs.
“Yeah, I’ve had enough winter for one year. My god your toes are freezing.” I grabbed hold of them to speed up the thawing.
“I’ve been freezing all day for some reason,” she said as if she didn’t realize it was February in New York.
“I told you to grab your blue fox coat this morning.”
“It always makes me feel self-conscious wearing something like that.”
“It looks so good on you, but I suppose you could go back to wearing that old trench coat.” Ouch! I had momentarily forgotten that her feet were between my legs. I thought back to that first night at the St. Regis when she had been too ashamed to wear or even carry it. She was so adorable.
Chapter 7 – A Little R&R
Kate
Checking into the St. Regis felt much different than it had the first time. No one was giving us disapproving looks or saying things in hushed tones. In fact, no one seemed to care whether Jack and I were even a couple. The bellhop greeted both of us by name and took us up to the beautiful Diamond Suite. It was strange being back there again after only a few days. In some ways, it felt like it had been a long time since we checked out. Neither Jack nor I had gotten much sleep since Saturday night, so we ordered a couple of our favorites from room service. While Jack took care of the food, I threw on a warm, fuzzy robe and began to fill the Jacuzzi tub with steamy, hot water.
I sat along the edge of the tub and dangled my cold feet into the steamy water. The shocking temperature difference sent a shiver up my spine. I hope Jack still intends to work from the yacht for the next few months. Escaping this city until May would be totally awesome. There is nothing I need to be back for until my graduation from Fashion U. I straightened my arms and let the robe fall to the floor as I slid the rest of my body into the tub. Mmmm, that feels fantastic. Jack came up behind me and began massaging my neck and shoulders.
“You have such incredible hands,” I said softly as he caressed away the tension.
“After watching you drop your robe, I want to use more than just my hands. Unfortunately, I have to wait a few more minutes for our food to arrive. I don’t want Gerard to run into a sexual encounter within the first hour we’re back.”
I just smiled and thought about how embarrassed Jack had been upon finding lattes or a meal that had been delivered to the room while we were having sex. I’m sure those types of things happen all the time in hotels like this. The staff has to be completely immune to it. After the scene at The London this morning, though, I’m sure Jack will be rather subdued for the rest of the week. I can’t believe they didn’t get a clear shot of him in any of those pictures. It’s easy to tell that the photographer and editor were both men. I know damn well that Jack had his bare ass in front of that window, too.
Jack
The strain in my pants was becoming almost unbearable by the time Gerard finally knocked on our door. After a quick adjustment, I greeted him and gave him a nice tip in exchange for Ahi Tuna Tartare, Kobe Beef Sliders, and a bottle of Dom Perignon, along with Godiva truffles and a double shot of Hennessy Ellipse for dessert.
“It started out kind of healthy, but then a few cravings hit while they
were taking my order,” I confessed as I set our tray down next to the Jacuzzi.
“I don’t mind.” She smiled. “I haven’t eaten much the past couple of days other than breakfast this morning.”
She didn’t waste any time before popping a dark chocolate truffle into her mouth, so I uncorked the champagne and poured her a glass to complement it. As I shed my clothes, I couldn’t help smiling at the thought of spending another romantic and sensual night with Kate in this incredible suite. She had the most radiant smile, which perfectly offset her mischievous eyes.
“This reminds me of our first business meeting,” I teased as I slipped into the tub and swept her up in my arms.
“I was just thinking the same thing. That was the best cheeseburger and fries ever.”
I love it when she giggles like that. “Cheers,” I said grabbing my glass.
“What are we toasting?”
“I think we should toast to the beginning of a beautiful life together.”
Small tears began to form in the corners of her eyes as she held up her glass and clinked it against mine.
“I really appreciate what you said to the reporters and photographers this morning. Do you really think I can heal your heart?” she asked.
“My heart has been healing since the day you came into my life. Hopefully those stem cells will be able to do the rest.”
“I’ll toast to that…”
Kate
That night was the happiest I had seen Jack in the entire time we had been together. He was relaxed and didn’t seem to be distracted by anything going on in the back of his mind. The Ahi tuna and Kobe beef were definitely good choices, but the champagne and truffles were my favorites. I have never had much of a sweet tooth, but it felt as if I was becoming addicted to dark chocolate with champagne. This must be how Jack feels about beef. I wonder how many calories are in each truffle. I have a feeling I’m better off not knowing.