by Nathan Grant
"That would be lovely, however do you happen to have a bit of Orange juice handy? I usually don't drink straight alcohol until after lunch you know," she laughed, watching a slow smile light Olive's exotic face.
"I'm glad we think alike, and yes come inside while I pour us each a little something," she remarked turning away.
Upon entering the beautiful cottage, Franny quickly surveyed her surroundings. As she looked around, she was astonished at how quickly the room had come together, along with the wonderful furnishings.
She then noticed two magnificent paintings by a famous artist, hanging in prominent spots. Franny was astounded she’d never seen them listed in any publications.
Strewn with thick jewel toned Persian carpets the scraped dark wood floors held several ornate heavy pieces of Jacobean dark wood furniture.
Glistening items of Baccarat crystal graced the polished gleaming surfaces, while Asian and various other worldly collectables added a mysterious elegant character to the wonderful space.
"My late husband was a collector of undiscovered artists; most of the time he gathered appealing paintings that were mostly pretty junk. Over time he happened upon several treasures and this time however, he hit the mark and when I had them insured several years ago. I was dumbfounded at how well he had done. And even though I hated to part with them, a couple of his lesser finds have certainly kept me in comfort over the last twenty years or so that he's been gone," she explained.
"They are wonderful paintings and so vibrant. Your late husband must have been a very discerning man," she commented, still entranced by the artwork.
"He was all of that, but stingier bastard never walked the face of the earth, trust me. Please don't get me wrong however, he was the kindest and most loving man to me in so many other ways, but when it came to spending money, each penny was accounted for several times over I’m afraid. I really don't think I purchased a new dinner dress the entire time we were together."
Franny’s features softened upon hearing about Olive’s earlier life with her late husband, and turned to face her.
"Sometimes people find comfort and security knowing how their finances have progressed and can become overly concerned to the point of obsession. From what I see here he did very well indeed and created a beautiful place for you to live," Franny said, not truly knowing what to say to her.
Olive looked at her and smiled.
"So we are both great-aunts with a not great difference between our ages I would guess. Your nephew is quite the looker and his fiancé is right up there with him. I'll have to invite them over for a chat one evening, if they'd put up with an old woman for a couple of hours," she said slowly watching and gaging Franny's reaction again, tempered with a sly grin as she abruptly changed the subject away from her own personal life.
Franny was taken back by the sudden switch in conversation, but didn’t let on about her feelings regarding the ‘old woman’ comment.
"Of course I'm sure they be delighted to come and get to know you, and if there is anything you might want, all you need do is ask," Franny told her warmly, enjoying the verbal cat and mouse game.
"That is nice to know. So tell me Ms. Simon are all the recent scandalous things I've heard about your family true," she asked, seeming to relax a bit.
Franny was expecting this considering how prominently her family had recently graced the news, not to mention the tabloids.
"Let’s make it Franny please since we are getting a bit personal, and if you are talking about the shooting incident, I'm afraid that is very sadly true. Actually, it was how my great-nephew Zain met Luc. Luc was the man who was shot while Claudia's husband was shooting at her," she explained, mentally bracing herself for the next questions.
Olive nodded, and sighed looking truly concerned and sad.
"I read about it on the Internet, and Claudia is Zain's exquisite sister then?" she asked, thinking aloud about their connection.
"She is, and I'm sure you'll meet her as well before too long, and I know she is looking forward to it. Claudia is quite the character, and does love a touch of alcohol now and then, mostly in the now," she laughed.
Olive looked delighted at the prospect.
"And probably the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, next to you Franny," she smiled and took another deep sip of the almost pure orange scented Vodka drink.
Franny was completely surprised but this unexpected turn of events, but worked to hide her feelings.
"Well thank you for that Olive; may I call you that considering I have been? I'll make sure the guys stop by very soon to meet you if that's okay with you. Like I said before, they can’t wait to meet you as well," she asked, still amazed by how wrong she’d been about Olive.
"Since I owe them for my beautiful home, I'd be delighted to meet them and I promise not to bother them with a lot of my nonsense," she told her, with a sudden unexpected tinge of intense sadness in her soft still sexy voice.
This time it was Franny’s turn to wave her hand in the air in dismissal, after hearing the hint of sorrow.
"You won't bother them one bit and I'm sure they'll love having you here on the property. Now I must get going and I want to thank you for your very welcome hospitality. There is still a lot of construction going on here so be careful if you are out walking alone," Franny told her. She stopped for a moment to give her a quick unanticipated hug, and then almost ran down the stairs and down the path back to the resort.
She was almost to the first resort cottage when she realized she had tears in her eyes, as she grasped how alone and sad Olive seemed to be.
"Well I have to admit that was nothing like what I expected to hear," Luc said, setting down his paintbrush and turning around to look at Franny who nodded her head at him in agreement.
"I was very surprised myself. From her first greeting I thought I was going to get my ass tossed right off her porch," she smiled, seeing how much paint Luc had managed to get onto his hands considering the small painted space on the wall.
"I'm personally glad it worked out and finding out that she's a nice lady. It's good to do things for other people expressly when they appreciate it so much," Zain said, stopping the masking work that he was doing for Luc.
"Well that isn't all; in addition to her now superb living space, she told me her late husband was a collector of emerging artists. From what I saw hanging on her walls well, some of the paintings belong in a museum. They must be worth in the high hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars," Franny told them.
Zain stopped again and openly gawked at her.
"This is sure an unpredicted development bearing in mind how anxious her family was to get rid of her. Moreover, you said she was personable. This doesn't make any sense that her family would want to farm her out like this," Zain considered, remember just how anxious her family had been to get her situated in the cottage and out of their way at the very earliest opportunity.
"I kind of thought so too, and believe me that lady has a head on her shoulders as well. I don't believe much would get past her at all. I threw in the part about Luc being your fiancé and she didn't bat an eye, she only commented the attitudes change and she wanted to have you both over for a chat, as she put it, one evening. She was concerned that you wouldn't want to be bothered with an old woman like her. I’m positive she’s about my age so it was only an innocent exaggeration on her part I’m sure," Franny explained, looking intently at them and mentally daring one of them to make a crack.
"Well she's their great-aunt and you are ours, and we still want to be around you, old woman that you are," Zain remarked diplomatically with a grin, and wincing as he ended up with a sound slap on his arm.
"Old woman huh bitch, keep that crap up and I'll show you what this old woman is capable of," she sneered, seeing Luc trying not to laugh.
"Oh Aunt Franny you know you look young enough to be my sister," he teased, watching her try to keep a straight face.
"Why thank you sweetie, I can't wa
it to tell Claudia the news. Another thing about Olive is that she dresses like an old widow in black weeds. I can tell however there is a beautiful woman hiding under all that as her bone structure is incredible," she returned, winking at Luc with a sarcastic grin.
"Speaking of her, has anyone heard from Claudia this morning? I saw Jake working on one of the last cottages bright and early this morning so she didn't do him in completely at least," Zain snickered.
"As a matter of fact I have; I usually get a call from her before she goes jogging every morning but this time she stopped by for a moment, but I forgot to ask as she was telling me about Olive moving in last night. Maybe he was someone that finally wore her out for a change, after all it has been a short while from what I understand," Franny suggested with an innocent smile.
"Maybe a record," Zain proposed just before they all broke out in giggles at his sister’s expense.
"Claudia also mentioned to me that Jake got a call from Olive last night, and she sent him over there to see what the trouble was and to meet with her before he picked her up. He called her because he wanted an okay to leave the job site before he went home to get ready for their date. It was only a leaky faucet so that was a no brainer, and he too mentioned the extravagant furnishings and was truly impressed by the place. She said that Jake was an Art major in college before he took up construction, and was literally stunned by her collection, and offered to put in a security system for her. He was anxious considering their obvious value, but he made it clear that the security system was solely at her expense of course, “Franny added as an afterthought, making the point that they weren’t paying for it.
"That was nice of him, I have to admit my dealings with him here have been great, he's a real stickler for the details and doing things right and doing them on budget. In a lot of ways he has surpassed what I dreamed of doing and suggested some terrific improvements along the way as well," Zain said.
"Plus he's not too hard to look at," Luc added, getting a poke in the ribs from Franny for his trouble.
"I'd just make sure your eyesight is the only thing that is touching our handsome Jake or you will have a couple of very jealous and extremely possessive siblings after you," Franny informed him.
"I was only kidding Franny, you know that. Zain is the only man for me and he knows that too, don't you Zain," he asked, trying to look innocent.
"It seems the certain thought may have crossed my mind, maybe later tonight you can remind me in detail just how much you like me," he snickered at the sudden redness of Luc's cheeks.
"Or maybe we can reverse our usual pattern for a change, if you get my drift," Luc returned, watching the color roll up Zain’s cheeks.
Later that afternoon Claudia strolled in looking perfect as usual and took a seat at the new bar, checking out her aunt’s usual drink.
"Whatever that is Aunt Franny make it two," she requested, soon taking the long champagne stem from her great-aunt.
"So was it me imagining things, or did Jake do an abrupt about face when you drove in just now? I thought the two of you were a new item and he'd be all over you like," Luc asked, taking a glass from Franny and giving her a kiss on the cheek, while Claudia held up her hand to stop him from finishing his words.
Claudia tried to repress a smile as they all turned to her in anticipation, and then she arched her eyebrow at Franny.
"We had a wonderful delicious dinner at that new Italian place and he was very entertaining and a lot of fun at the restaurant," she began, but slowed her speech a bit with the last three words, ‘at the restaurant.’
"Uh oh; the 'at the restaurant part doesn't sound like things are boding too well for our friend Jake. I just hope you didn't do anything too bad so he'll finish the great job he's been doing around here," Zaid asked.
"I didn't do anything, literally. Moreover, Zainy you don't always have to be so damn suspicious. Like I said we had a wonderful time at dinner, I suggested a nightcap," she started to say but Zain cut her off.
"In other words, let's quit messing around and get down to business," he said, putting up his hand for Franny to slap his palm.
"In other words yes of course. I don't like to waste time and effort unless I'm sure of the outcome. Let's just say however that the promising packaging, and verbal buildup, doesn't do justice to the actual product. When he saw the look on my face, he just said, 'forget it' and stormed out of the house; this time with his pants on of course," she said taking a sip, and winking at Luc.
"At least you left him that. You really are a bitch Claudia, I think he's a actually nice guy and does a fantastic job here as I just said."
"Listen, Mr. Righteous to get graphic here," she began again.
"Oh please Claudia do we have to," Franny pleaded almost with sincerity, and then promptly refilled all the glasses, then gave her a wicked smile.
“Sorry but I felt we all need a little refreshment before we are dragged into the sordid territory,” Franny giggled, and touched glasses with the others.
Claudia hesitated and tried to appear like the wounded party.
"Oh Claudia you are more willing to dish the dirt than we are to hear it, and that is a huge stretch. So now spill it," Franny snickered; pleased to see Luc was barely able to keep his composure.
"Actually he is so good looking, and such a nice guy I was willing to overlook the little things, and make the best of it. But instead of being romantic and sweet while we were warming up, he kept asking me if I was ready for all he had to give, and wanted to know if I thought I could handle it," she said softly, then suddenly she had to cover her face as she started to laugh uncontrollably.
"Oh for God's sake and I thought I could be an insensitive bitch, now Claudia really, it couldn't have been that bad," she said, and then stopped mid-sentence when she saw the look on Claudia's face as she peeked over her hands.
Franny had the decency to look shocked.
"Oh no, it was," was all she could mutter before falling into Claudia's arms as they both were lost in their uncontrollable giggling.
Zain wasn’t impressed by his sister’s comments and decided to speak up in spite of the fun everyone was having at Jake’s expense.
"That's really not fair you know Claudia, as you well know I've been the target of jokes all my life. Even thought you might not have meant it in a bad way, those things hurt and stay with you," Zain said.
As he looked at the others for agreement, he had a sudden sinking feeling when Claudia looked back at him and then quickly glanced over at Luc, who leaned forward in wicked anticipation.
At first unable to form the words, Claudia stopped laughing long enough to take a deep breath and looked again at Luc.
"So tell me Luc, since I don't want to ever hurt my brother's sensitive feelings, does it truly hurt and stay with you," she asked with a straight face, and then completely lost it when Franny howled in delight.
"You are just plain hideous you little bitch," Franny gasped, and then reached over to grab Zain's arm and pull him close to kiss his cheek.
With happy tears streaming down his handsome face, Luc glanced over at Zain and then answered.
"Yes it does stay with you and does hurt a bit, but it's my Zain and I love him, all of him," he emphasized, and then picked up Zain's hand and kissed it.
"Awww now that is so sweet, Zain you are such a lucky man, and so is Luc," Claudia said, wiping her tears from laughing.
"Yes and for adding to this little debacle he's going to find out just how lucky he is later this evening, maybe more than once," he added, watching the sobering look steal across Luc's features, as Franny just covered her eyes and shook her head, finally and completely at long last mortified.
A while later, after leaving Franny and Claudia at the resort, Luc and Zain decided to pay a visit to their new neighbor and as they walked out the door, Luc brought up something that was bothering him.
"You know Zain, that was completely uncalled for; I was just having some fun with Franny and Claudia,
and don't know why you have to bring up the details of our personal life," Luc told him as they walked up the hill toward Olive's house.
"Oh and I suppose it wasn't personal for Jake when Claudia was trashing him for not living up to her expectations, not to mention the ‘staying with you and pain’ thing? Something I might add that like myself, he has no control over," Zain returned.
"It's not the same thing; that's them; this is us," Luc countered, still not understanding what Zain was telling him.
Zain looked at him in frustration, for not getting his point.
"It is the same thing Luc. You were joking about my sister's personal life and I was brought up, so I just thought I'd throw in a reminder, that's all, and you were certainly no innocent in the whole deal," Zain mentioned.
"Well maybe you can remind yourself later when you're sleeping on the sofa Zain," Luc told him, taking a few steps faster.
Zain stopped and stared at him with an open mouth.
"Luc don't be ridiculous, everyone was just playing around and having a good time, including me. You should know I'd never do anything to make you uncomfortable in front of other people," Zain pleaded.
Luc stopped when he grasped that his half-serious statement was having such a profound effect on Zain, and realized that things were going too far.
"Zain I'm sorry to make such a big deal about and I know you didn't mean to upset me. I guess I'm just not used to the way your family kids each other about personal things. Sometimes I take it wrong, as I like to keep my private life just that. Let's just forget about it now that we understand each other better," he said, trying to put an end to the touchy subject.
"Does this mean then that I'm off the sofa tonight," Zain asked with a growing suggestive smile.
"Of course it does, I couldn’t ever get through a night without you nearby," he said, stopping to pull him into a hug.
As they walked up the path to Olive's cottage, they saw Jake standing in her doorway about to leave.
"Hi Zain, I'm here with Ms. Barrett talking to her about the security system I'm putting in today. I don't think a woman should live alone out here without some form of safekeeping, and I know I'll feel better for installing it for her," he explained, sounding a lot more businesslike and somewhat nervous.