Her Younger Millionaire

 The idea was that since the cap’s more or less a part of him, by giving a similar one to her, it would symbolize that she was a part of him too. And it was true – she completed him, in a way. Plus, the cap could be a couple things; while others have couple rings and t-shirts, they’ll have couple caps. Ain’t that cool?

So, the following day, he went over to her house after work. He was really nervous, which was unusual for him since he was usually confident and all, but this was a big deal for him. When he saw her coming to the door through the window, he had half a mind to run away, but then it swung open and hit him in the face.

“Who’s ther- oh my God. I’m sorry. I’m sorry! Are you okay, dude?”

“Mmmph.” was all he could say, because damn, doors could seriously hurt.

She ushered him into the house, and made him lie down on the couch while she searched for an ice pack. While he was lying down complaining about how much it stung, he suddenly remembered why he was in Tina’s house in the first place, and that made him bolt straight up.

“Dude, lie down – I’m out of ice packs, but I’ve got a bag of frozen peas, and that’ll work as well.”

“N-no, I’ve got something important to tell you!”

“I said lie down.”

So he did as she said – an angry Tina would only make confessing harder. After she was done fussing over him, she asked him what it was he had wanted to say. At that point, he was tempted to make up some lame-ass excuse, but decided against it because he wanted to be honest. So, he took a deep breath and told her.

“Here – it’s a cap. It’s like mine, but green, because green’s nice on you. Get what I’m trying to say yet? No? Okay, the thing is, I kinda like you. Or maybe I like you a lot. Perhaps I love you? Yeah, I think I love you. Wait, scratch the ‘think’ part – I do love you. So, uh… Anyway, the point is you’re sorta more than just a friend to me and I’ll be really happy if you would be my girlfriend or something liked that..?”

That jumbled mess of words wasn’t exactly what he was aiming for, and he was worried about how uncool the entire confession had sounded, but before he had time to start freaking out over it, Tina started laughing and donned her cap.

“Oh, dude, you’re about as smooth as sandpaper. But yes, I’ll be your girlfriend.”

There was no feeling as good as having a confession accepted – he was ecstatic. And then he started wondering why he hadn’t confessed sooner. But then he realized that it didn’t matter – what did matter was that he had done it, Tina was his, and if he had his way, she would be his forever.

Being honest was real sweet.

*****

They all met at Dylan and Bruce’s apartment for an afternoon of “fun and games.” After three years, Aiden was not sure what delusion possessed him so thoroughly that he could still bring a bottle of Macallan and expect in all seriousness that not everything would be ridiculous. He must have brain damage.

Dylan and Bruce met him at the door, their PS3 emitting alarming noises behind them.

“Achievement unlocked!” they cheered in that disconcerting sing-song voice they do.

“Achievement what?” Aiden grumbled, then yelped as Dylan snatched his Macallan. “Hey!”

“Lure in a jaded hipster with a pretentious drink.”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Aiden said as he came in. This was supposed to be a serious business meeting following the bombing in Algeria. They needed to move stocks around; buy some, sell others; pick up some land, sell some off…

“Come on; we’re all set up, let’s get down to work,” Dylan said.

Everyone picked up a console.

As they played, Dylan kept sneaking side glances at him.

“What?” Aiden asked in irritation.

“Nothing,” Dylan replied.

“What he means is, how’s the older chick?” Bruce asked.

Aiden smiled, “She’s great.”

*****

“I need this report finished by 5pm this evening or none of us are going home!”

Her boss was breathing down her neck and it made the hairs rise there, a tingle of fear and admiration zinging down her spine.

Denver Adams Jr., was a senior partner in his father’s security firm and definitely heading for even greater things. Tall, muscled and as handsome as hell, Denver was one of those guys – ruthless, ambitious, a man who stopped for no one and a man who did not suffer fools gladly.

She had worked for him for over five years and he still scared the sh*t out of her; six foot five of fueled testosterone, slanting foxy eyes, long chestnut hair and a mouth that rarely smiled. Mr. Adams has fingers in a million different pies and eyes in the back of his head. No one ever said no to him and everyone from the lowliest cleaner to the highest executive was terrified of him.

So when he towered over her and slammed a file of papers down onto her desk she didn’t even hesitate, didn’t stop to finish her lunch or drink her coffee, just turned her computer on and started typing, her eyes on the closed door to Mr. Adams’s office, praying she could do this, because she still needed this job.

Several times she heard raised voices from within; Alex Volkov, one of the personal assistants, was as white as a sheet when he left and his hands were shaking. Carlos Penn, the hotshot security expert, who has made over fifty million for the firm, looked positively nervous as he passed. His eyes asked her a question and her down-turned mouth gave him the answer. Today was not a good day.

At exactly 4pm, Mr. Adams came out of the office to stand over her. She could smell the familiar scent of his spicy expensive aftershave and his musky sweat. He was wearing his best slate gray suit, pants that clung to his long, long legs, a red silk tie and a crisp white shirt. His gaze was intense, his eyes narrowed and cruel.

She swallowed hard and continued to type and he sighed, tapped his watch and cracked his knuckles. The gold of his wedding ring glinted in the late evening sunset and she wondered, not for the first time, what sort of partner Mr. Adams would make.

Speaking of partners, she was gonna be late for her date with Aiden…again. She really had no idea why she persisted in making weekday dates with him. They never worked out. Not that he could understand why. He was always telling her to quit – didn’t seem to understand that not everyone could be geeky billionaires with the secret code of staying in the 1%. And those Louboutins weren’t going to buy themselves. She could just hear him say he would buy them for her in the imaginary conversation they were having and then she would have to administer a beat down he would never forget.

Denver stuck his head out of the office again, “Oh and Richardson, please inform the other sales associates that we have a team building scheduled for tomorrow; bright and early. Nobody be late.”

Tina sighed in resignation.