by Tara Brent
“For now,” I purr. “Wait ‘til we get to know each other...”
So as we drive over the Coronado Bridge again, the thousands of twinkling lights before us seem to have a more intense sparkle than I’ve ever seen before. And so do I.
Mom’s been uncharacteristically quiet. So far.
I know that’s too good to last.
“So,” she says finally. “Are you seeing anyone special?”
I don’t answer.
I don’t have to, she can always read me like a book.
Chapter 12: Words of Wisdom
I have trouble falling asleep when we get home. My entire being is buzzing. I can’t believe this. I feel like a swooning teeny-bopper who just got a backstage pass to Drake. Somebody ought to slap me. I call Jimmy.
“Oh you scheming little vixen,” he says. “I am creaming.”
“Fuck off,” I tell him. “I’m going out of my mind.”
“No,” he says, “You’re going out of your league. And I think it’s marvelous.”
“You think Judy Garland is marvelous. This is going to be a raging cluster fuck, and I know it.”
“Oh, please. It’s no big deal. Just because you’re shagging a billionaire playboy whose mother is paying us a mountain of gold as tall as three tall men, there’s nothing to get all flustered about.”
“This is going to be a disaster.”
“Well, that’s one way to look at it.”
“How am I going to function?”
“That never bothered you before.”
“Goddamnit, Jimmy! Can’t you be serious?”
“Sure. Sorry.” Jimmy tries to sound serious. “So? How was the sex?”
“Do you have to be such a prick all the time?”
“I do have a reputation to maintain.”
“Don’t worry. You’re a lock for bastard of the year.”
“Thank you. So? How was the sex?”
“Incredible.”
“I knew it.”
“Fantastic.”
“On a scale of ten?”
“You mean, if you’re a zero?”
“That good? Wow. Wowy-Wow.”
I giggle. He always gets me to do that. “No. I’m talking about Wowy-Zowy-Wow.”
“Details. Must have. Spill it all, you slut.”
“Can’t. Mom’s in the next room.”
“You’re never too old for a vicarious thrill. In fact, eventually that’s all we have left in the end.”
“Jimmy. Seriously now. I am going to need you.”
“As always. I am essential to your every move.”
“Not just ‘as always’. You’ve got to have my back.”
“What? He only wants the front?”
“Listen. I’m begging you. I am going completely crazy.”
“About time. Enjoy the ride.”
“Did you hear a ‘beep’ just now?”
“A beep? Like a jeep beep”
“Not a car horn, asshole. A ‘beep-in’ beep.”
Jimmy gives his dial pad a tap. It beeps. “Oh, there it is!”
“That was you, wasn’t it?”
“Me? How do you know it’s not Blake calling, trying to cut in?”
“I am not playing.”
“I know. Sorry. It was me.”
“Don’t tease me. This is agony already.”
“I hear you. It was not a ‘beep-in’, I did it, and it was cruel of me. Really, Kira. I am sorry.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“I guess that means he’s not going to call you, huh?”
“You ASSHOLE!”
“Kira. My love, my sweetheart, my adored...”
“...and your fucking boss!” I cut in.
“Lest we forget. Now. Let’s review. You called me why?”
“Right now, I have no idea why I’d ever call you.”
“Because I am the Master of Love.”
“You? Tell me one relationship you’ve ever had that lasted more than two weeks. Just one. Let’s hear it.”
There’s quiet on the line. Did I poke too deep there? He did deserve it, but... He has such an awful history of bad relationships. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m about to apologize. Then I hear a little tinkling sound. Ice. Ice in a goddamn glass. I hear him slurp now.
“Sorry,” he says. “Where were we?”
“Are you drunk?”
“Do you mean ‘Are you okay to drive’ drunk? Or ‘What did I do last night and who the hell is this person in my bed’ drunk?”
“I mean ‘My best friend is counting on me, but I don’t give a shit’ drunk.”
“Ah. I see.” He clears his throat. “I can never be that drunk. I love you, and I will always give a shit. Just don’t expect me to say it.”
“I expect nothing from you.”
“And you will never be disappointed. Now listen,” he says. And there really is care in his voice. “You just met him. He just met you. There is obviously chemistry, right?”
“Very right.”
“Then there is only one thing I can tell you. Shut up. Leave it alone. Do not over think it. Do not hold a meter up to it. Do not stick it under a microscope. Give it a fucking chance. It will grow. Or, it won’t, but if you try to make it into something, anything, you don’t stand a chance. Okay?”
Jimmy. Such a beautiful person. Kind. Wise. Loving.
“Oh, and one more thing. Remember to suck his dick.”
At nine in the morning, Cici is out there in her limo, ordering the chauffer to honk the horn. I assume. I can’t imagine he’d do it otherwise. Mom is running in full fliberty-jibit overdrive, bustling madly, arming herself with a pen, a notebook, a couple packets of Handi-wipes, Alka Seltzer, Pepto-Bismol, mouthwash, gum, mints, three bottles of water, and a ‘real’ knife, fork, and spoon.
She hates plastic utensils.
“Mom, please remember to bring those back, okay?”
“Don’t I always?”
“Almost never.”
“Oh, pish-posh,” she mutters, and dashes out the door.
Suddenly, I remember I need to tell Cici about putting a deposit down on the Honey Wagons. I always hire these for big affairs. I don’t care if it’s a mansion, a hotel, a restaurant, wherever. If there are a hundred people or more, no place on earth has enough bathrooms. And I’m certainly not going to rent Porto-potties like some half-ass construction site. I go for class. Right to the movie service wagons, with private little compartments for actors to change clothes or take a shit, or whatever, out on location. They’re clean, they’re classy, and they don’t smell like an outhouse.
Anyway, once I fill in Cici, she tells me she has a message from Blake. “He said to tell you he’ll be in touch as soon as he gets back.”
“Back from where?”
“Maui. He’ll just be a day or two, he said.”
I am about to ask why he’s taken off for Maui all of a sudden. And why didn’t he tell me that himself, last night?
But then, the Little Jimmy on my shoulder says: ‘Let it happen. Don’t over think it. Don’t smother it. Don’t kill it.’
So instead of giving his mother the Third Degree, I just smile, and nod, and say “Okay, great.”
And Mom asks Cici “How do you feel about roast goat?” I turn around and go inside before I hear the answer.
I meet Jimmy at the office. Our warehouse is starting to fill up. I know it’s cheaper to have rentals delivered directly to the wedding ‘venue’ on the day. However, I’ve been burned too many times. We have six days to go. If somebody comes up short with the tables, or chairs, or whatever, I want to have time to fix the problem ahead of time. Because there will still be something that fucks up. It’s a law of physics, or something. And I like to have the decks clear when the crash-landing hits the aircraft carrier.
And so far, everything is going like clockwork.
Why does that always fill me with dread?
Jimmy is just getting off the phone as I walk in. “How’s it g
oing?” I ask.
“Like clockwork,” he says.
“You know I hate that.”
“You’re just superstitious. Relax. It’s under control.”
“Music?”
“Covered. String quartet for the actual ceremony. Swing Orchestra for dancing after dinner. And I have a rockin’ D.J. to rev things up for the cocktail and hors d’oeuvre hour. He’s ours for the whole day and night, and he’s got everything you could ever want to hear. Just in case, for back-up if someone flakes.”
“Unless he flakes.”
“Curtis? He will not flake.”
“How do you know?”
Jimmy gives me ‘the look’. The one that says his relationship with this Curtis individual goes well beyond a professional connection. Good enough.
“So. No surprises?”
“Not yet.”
“It has to be something, though.”
“Only if we knew what was going to fuck up, it wouldn’t be a surprise. That’s no fun.”
“The cake?”
“Done and done. Had a tasting with Michelle and her folks. You know, they are really good people.”
“How can you say that?”
“It’s true.”
“I know it’s true. You just never say that.”
“Maybe I should. Occasionally.”
“Oh. Okay. Occasionally is fine, but you scared me there.”
“I am practicing to be emotionally supportive.”
“Really?”
“Try me.”
And I decide Okay. I will. “I talked to Cici when she picked Mom up.”
“...and?”
“She told me Blake flew off to Maui for a couple of days.”
“What did you say?”
“I said ‘okay, fine’. That was that. I didn’t ask... anything.”
“Really?”
“Not out loud.”
“By George, I think she’s got it!” For the record, Jimmy’s Rex Harrison from My Fair Lady is one of his best. Pitch fucking perfect. Unless he tries to sing.
But he doesn’t. What is this? He is passing up a perfect opening to be irritating. Maybe he’s coming down with something. “You’re not going to go into The Rain In Spain?”
“I can’t sing. You know that.”
“Never stopped you before.”
“See? A new leaf.” He gives me the most benign of smiles. He leaves me hanging, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Nothing.
“Did you pull down an image of the Okoye property so we can diagram where to stage everything?”
“Yep.” And he goes clickety-click on his laptop. Shows me an image of the property, and has overlays of possible layouts done already.
This is too good to be true. “That looks great. Really great.”
“I told you. I got your back.”
“Well. Okay then.”
“So,” he says, “Who’s Blake gonna fuck in Hawaii?”
I’m so pissed that Jimmy decides to take an early lunch break. Good idea. I was ready to tear him in half. So he splits, but that question still bothers me. A lot...
For about two hours. That’s when Blake calls. “Hey,” he says. “I’m so sorry. I took off at 5 am, and then my phone battery died on me. By the time I charged it up, I was about a thousand miles west of the closest cell tower.”
“Your mom said you went to Maui?”
“Had to. Honeymoon business.”
“Oh. I didn’t know you got married.”
“Ha ha. It’s Seb and Michelle. Wedding gift. They know I’m paying for the Honeymoon, but they don’t know where. It’s a surprise.”
“It sure surprised me.” I know that sounds pouty, but I was still hurting.
“In fact, I was thinking...” He stops. Changes tack. “But, how’s the wedding shaking out? I mean, you must be running your ass off.”
“It’s been getting a workout.”
“So... You’re too busy to take a couple days off. I mean, of course you are. That’s why I didn’t already ask you, but...”
“Wait, what? Didn’t ask me what?”
“Last night. After you left, and I was throwing together a bag for the trip, I kept thinking about you. I mean, I couldn’t stop thinking... and I wanted to call and ask you if you might be able, I mean, if it’s possible... I miss you already. Can you fly out here? We’d come back tomorrow night.”
“You do know your brother’s wedding is in six days?”
‘Of course. That’s what I’m saying. I mean, why I didn’t ask you, but I’ve been twisting myself in knots every second.” He stops. Something’s coming. “Kira, all this stuff, with Seb, you and the wedding. I don’t know, maybe I’m all mixed up, but...”
“But...Yes?”
“I just hate being away from you. I want you. I want to hold you, be with you. I just...”
“How about ‘I want to fuck you?’ Is that part of the calculus?”
“Well... yes, Goddamnit. Of course it is, but that’s not what I mean. I don’t know what I mean. This is so...”
“Sudden?”
“Different. For me. I’ve never really fallen for anyone. Not like I’m feeling right now.”
“Blake, I don’t... Look, I know I’m crazy about you, but that’s just it. It seems so crazy. Obviously, I felt very... shit, I was horny for you that first night I saw you.”
“I wanted to tear your clothes off right there in the pool.”
“Well, considering what I was wearing, that would have been short work.”
“Kira. I want you. So much.”
And I think about it. I don’t even know what he means by that. I mean, here’s a grown man-child who for all his life has gotten everything he wants. It’s all just there for the taking. “Blake. I’ve always had a rule. Business is business. I commit to it, one hundred percent. And I have never gotten involved with anyone I had a working relationship with. Until last night. I just couldn’t hold back.”
“I was so... stunned, really. I thought I had really fucked up everything, making a pass at you, after that trip to Vegas, and all that shit.”
“I was five seconds from jumping your bones right there, but, like I said. Don’t shit where you eat, don’t fuck where you work.”
“But... You’re not saying I can’t see you again, are you?”
“I could say that, but I couldn’t do it. Not a chance. I can’t wait to... Well. Too many things I can’t wait to do with you.”
“Don’t wait.”
“I can’t go out there.”
“I’ll send the plane back for you.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to, but—”
“The Gulfstream can’t get there for five hours. You can work the rest of today. Then, jump on the plane, catch a nap. When you wake up, you’re here. Then we fly back tomorrow night.”
“Blake, stop torturing me. Really. You know I want to fly out there right this second and fuck you silly, but I can’t. It’s not fair. I can’t just leave Jimmy here, all by himself, with this goat grab we’re...” I stop when I hear a giggle squirting out behind me. I turn.
Jimmy. Standing in the door, trying not to make a sound, but he can’t help it. He is laughing out loud now.
“You know, eavesdropping is about as rude as you can be.”
“Wanna bet? I can be much ruder than that.”
“Can I have a minute. I’m on the phone.”
“Why? You should be on a plane.”
“I heard that,” Blake says. Jimmy hears the tinny sound, and yells “Hey, Blake. How’s Maui?”
“Lonely!”
“Not for long. I’ll drop her at the airport myself.”
Chapter 13: Aloha Means Hello
There’s no way I am taking a nap on this plane. I am not going to miss one second of this. It is too amazing. And this isn’t even Blake’s plane.
His pilot told him that you don’t fly to Hawaii, turn around and fly back to San Diego, then fly right back to Hawaii. It’s not li
kely you’ll wear out the airplane. Not really, but it’s possible to push it too hard. Why?
Why indeed, when all Blake has to do is pick up the phone and charter another private jet to fly me out to Maui. I’m not sure, but I don’t think these planes burn aviation fuel. They just burn money, but if you have the money to burn, what a way to fly.
We go straight to Blake’s room.
Okay. Rooms. Montage Kapalua Bay isn’t that expensive – compared to leasing a twenty room villa, that is. Otherwise, it’s not only the most expensive hotel on Maui, it’s about three times more than the runner-up. And The Four Seasons ain’t cheap. Doing the math, I think Montage must have twelve seasons. All of them perfect, of course.
Blake is not a spendthrift, though. Our room(s) are a beautiful two bedroom suite. It’s only around three grand a night, which is cheap – only when compared to the three bedroom suite, or the four bedroom, or... well, you get the idea. This place is cush. Mega cush.
Well, in a dump like this, they better have a pretty decent bed, right? But I am not willing to leave anything to chance. The instant I run off the rent-a-jet and into Blake’s arms, I have already decided we better get our butts back to that hotel and give those beds a rigorous and thorough test run. Just to make sure we’re getting our money’s worth. Not that he has to give a shit, but I insisted we owed a duty to the vacationing public.
But first, just for consideration, I tell Blake I need to jump in the shower. “Only if you let me undress you,” he says.
“I know that’s not going to work.”
“Why? You don’t think I can keep my hands off your naked flesh?”
“I don’t know how we would ever find out. Before you get me half way undressed, I will knock you down and suck your cock ‘til it runs clear.”
“Sounds like you’ve given this some thought.”
“Damn right, but I do some of my best thinking in the shower.” I pull my blouse off on my way to the bathroom and shut the door behind me.
I start to run the shower as I strip down. That’s silly – of course it’s perfectly hot the instant I turn the water on. I step out of my skirt, remove my bra, and roll my panties off. I see how flush I am in the mirror – it shows what I feel inside. That my blood is racing. I am already so revved up I want to touch myself. That’s completely unnecessary, but I give my pussy just a teeny, tiny, gentle rub, to make sure. I’m dripping wet before I even make contact. I already smell like sex, and we haven’t even started. I want to get in and out of that shower in record time, and not because I’m worried about saving water.