Her Younger Millionaire

Frank’s eyes darted across the seating area to where Tina was slouched on the couch, apparently giving off the air of someone who could and would judge him no matter where they were. However, Aiden was faintly pleased to see that Claire noticed Frank’s apprehension too and smacked Tina on the arm with the chiding comment, “Don’t give him that face, bi*ch.”

If the tickling hadn’t been enough, that reinforced Aiden’s conclusion that the two of them had known each other longer than the two days they’d been working at the firm, and he made a mental note to find out more about Claire; she hadn’t been at the ‘what are your intentions’ meet and greet so maybe not as close as Jennifer and Hiro – but definitely a contendah. This team building was turning out to be quite the information hub.

Tina raised her hands in self-defense but flashed a reassuring smile in Frank’s direction. “Sorry, dude. I promise, whatever you say can’t be worse than some of the embarrassing crap I did when I was a kid.”

“She’s telling the truth,” Claire chimed in. “She wore a tiara for most of first grade.”

Beside her, Sarah let out a surprised laugh but covered it with a cough when Tina flipped Claire off. “Fu*k you, Neeson.”

Trying to hide his own smile at the thought of mini-Tina in a tiara, Aiden stepped in as peacemaker. “Hey, you’ll get your turn in a moment. Let’s see if Frank’s childhood memories can beat your tiara years.”

Claire snickered and Tina elbowed her in the side, but they both stayed quiet while Frank spoke, “I had this pet hamster when I was a kid. Actually, I had another hamster before that but my uncle sat on it, and so I was really protective of my second one. I used to take her everywhere with me in this little hamster basket that was filled with sawdust and hamster snacks – my mom had to literally pry her out of my hands every morning when I went to school.” There was a nostalgic smile on his face and Aiden was pleased to note that the rest of the group was smiling too as Frank cleared his throat and said, embarrassed, “So yeah, that’s my childhood story. I was awkwardly attached to my pet hamster.”

Aiden nodded. “Thanks, Fr-“

“She was sandy-colored,” he added sadly. “And chubby.”

“That’s-“

“Really chubby. Nearly spherical.”

“I-“

“Her name was Betsy.”

“That’s great,” Aiden interrupted more forcefully, keeping his smile in place. “Thank you, Frank.” Worried that the kid was going to launch into yet more information about his dear, departed hamster, he looked at Tina with the suggestion, “Tina? Do you wanna come take over in the honesty seat?”

Tina raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to force me if I say no?”

Claire gave her a chastising nudge but Aiden shrugged; her stubbornness wasn’t news. “Nope.”

He held back a whoop of triumph when Tina pulled herself to her feet with a sigh to switch places with Frank on Aiden’s beloved beanbag chair – it had been hard to find one just the right shade of purple – and Aiden heard her say under her breath, “Might’ve been more fun that way.”

Momentarily caught up in the possibility that a) Tina intended for him to hear that and b) it counted as a come-on, he almost missed it when he dropped to a seat and did his part to contribute to the group bonding session. (Aiden had found that relating childhood stories was an excellent method of letting his clients see each other as human beings rather than just colleagues. Also, some of the stories were surprisingly cute.)

“I’m guessing that since Claire told you about first grade I need to say something different?” she asked, sounding less than thrilled.

“If you can,” Aiden said, trying to imagine what Tina looked like as a kid (and deciding that she probably fell into the ‘surprisingly cute’ category too.)

Scrubbing a hand across her eyes, Tina grimaced as she admitted, “I used to do modeling when I was a little kid.”

“That explains the tiara,” Claire murmured and Aiden shot her a chiding look as Tina’s cheeks glowed in embarrassment.

“How old were you?” Aiden prompted, half-encouraging and half-curious.

With a flicker of a glare in Claire’s direction, Tina toyed with one of the bracelets around her wrist while she answered good-naturedly, “Six months maybe when it started? I don’t remember much – I stopped when I was old enough to go to school – but my mom’s shown me pictures.”

A smile pulled at her lips and she settled back in the chair, gradually relaxing. (Aiden totally knew what he was doing by using the beanbag for truth time instead of the couch.) “I don’t think there was much skill involved. I mean, from the pictures I saw, it looks like they just plopped me down in whatever crib or playpen they wanted to advertise and let me lay there and flail around for a while.” She pursed her lips ruefully. “The Halloween costumes were pretty bad though.”

“Halloween costumes?” Aiden asked before he could stop himself. He knew he should be moving on to the mandatory mid-morning snack break but the opening was too good to pass up. “What kind?”

Tina met his eyes and smirked. “Well, my personal favorite was the unicorn.”

There were chuckles from the gathered group and Tina’s smirk became a real smile as she used the break to vacate the truth seat and shift back to the couch with the threat, “None of that leaves this room, guys. If Alex starts cracking unicorn jokes next week, I’ll hunt you down.”

Given that Aiden (and presumably Tina’s colleagues as well) were now picturing her dressed up in a unicorn costume, the threat didn’t really have the desired impact.

On the other hand, Aiden’s announcement that it was time for a coffee break was received with genuine enthusiasm.

*****

When faced with a choice of either possible hypothermia or definite candy deprivation, Aiden was disturbed by how often he chose the latter.

The wind was sharp and icy as it swept down the side of the building, and Aiden flexed his cold fingers as he leaned against the railing of the stairs and tried to open the wrapper of the Twix bar he’d been craving since breakfast. He was getting close to success but just as the wrapper tore open to reveal the delicious, chocolatey prize, the door to the Center swung open behind him.

Aiden made a brief attempt at hiding his secret rations but knew he’d been unsuccessful when Tina stopped in her tracks and looked at him skeptically. “You’re on a candy break?”

“No,” Aiden lied, flashing a smile full of false confidence. “No, of course not. I mean, just because we feed you guys apples and granola bars doesn’t mean I’d hide outside to eat candy and avoid sharing. That would be pathetic.”

“Uh-huh.” Smirking, Tina moved to lean against the railing on the opposite side of the stairs and shook a cigarette out of the packet in her hand. “So, I take it you’re hiding outside to eat candy and avoid sharing?”

“Maybe just a little,” Aiden said sheepishly and held out the Twix. “You want some?”