His Perfect, Fuller Figure Surrogate

Max had the marketing of the business down to a T, constantly advertising and launching their new products at the perfect time to make sure the company gets the biggest turnover possible. It made working together that much easier because the business always seemed to pull rank over their competitors. Andre ran the technical side of the business, always checking the prototypes before asking for things to be changed or approving the watch.

It seemed as if they had worked out all the knots in their business over time, especially when it came to work alongside each other. They were in their 4th year of working with each other and they were proud of how far they had come as a team.

“As your older brother, I feel like I’m the one who is supposed to be telling you to eat your food,” Max laughed.

“You may be older than me in years, but I’ve always been the more commanding one out of the two of us,” Andre said.

“Commanding, demanding. What’s the difference, right?” Max teased.

“Well, either way, I don’t see a problem,” Andre replied.

“I suppose people just need to love you or leave you, right?” his brother asked.

“Right,” Andre agreed.

Andre knew he wasn’t the easiest person to get along with. He was demanding and a bit fussy, but he felt that it was only at certain times where he felt it was necessary. He didn’t see himself as a difficult person to get along with and he always tried to do the best thing for everyone. Being single had made him question himself a lot but he also tried to believe that he wasn’t the problem. He didn’t want to think about the fact that maybe he could be chasing people away even when he knew deep down, he just wanted to settle down and have a proper family.

“I’m sure you’ll find someone soon enough, really. Everything happens when it’s supposed to happen and maybe you should wait for things to fall into place a bit more before you think of doing this family on your own,” Max said.

“I appreciate your concern, Max. I really do, but I know what I want and if I want to get there sooner rather than later, I have no problem doing it on my own. I know I’ll be a great father, and I don’t want to wait my whole life for that to happen. I’m ready now,” he replied.

His brother nodded as he listened. Andre knew that he was thinking it through and could still fight him on the idea, but he knew no one could stop him in the end. No matter what his brother said, he would go through with it if it was what he wanted to do because he was the type of person that stuck to their guns.

“Well, of course, you’d be a great father. That isn’t my concern here. I just want you to know that having a baby won’t be easy. Most people struggle with a partner, so that says something. I just don’t want you to get carried away with the idea of a baby and then get completely blind-sighted when it’s not as you pictured it to be,” his brother replied.

“I understand, I really do. I don’t expect things to be easy, but I know I can handle it. Also, I have enough money to hire any sort of help I need,” Andre said.

“I suppose you have a point there. I just want you to make the right choice,” Max replied.

“I know you do. Has anything I put my mind to ever gone bad?” he asked.

“No, it hasn’t,” Max said.

“Exactly. Trust me, I’ve got this,” he replied, “anyhow. I think we’re done for the day, so I best be heading home.”

“Alright, brother. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Max replied.

Andre could tell that he had nothing more to say. The one thing he loved about his brother was the fact that he knew when to stop talking, especially if they weren’t going to see eye to eye about the topic which they both knew they wouldn’t.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early for our meeting. We need some new ideas for our next product,” he said.

“Yes, sir. Bright and early with ideas,” Max said with a mock salute.

Andre gave his brother a quick handshake before he left the table; they weren’t the hugging type of brothers anyway.

They had met at a small diner for lunch because neither of them liked having their normal brother to brother conversations while at the office. They liked to keep everything separated as much as possible which definitely helped their relationship. They were very strong-headed men and so if they mixed their family relationship with the business too much it would make things difficult for them.

Andre paid for the bill before he headed out although he knew it was his brother’s turn to pay, he felt that since his brother had shown so much concern for him, he’d take the bill. He made a quick call to his office to make sure that everything was still running as smoothly as it was before he left the office. He had a pretty good assistant; however, he was a very timid young man who got too scared to call Andre if there were any problems. Andre, being as nice as he could he tried to give the young man a chance which is why he had started checking in whenever he was out of the office.

“Marco how are things there?” he asked when his assistant answered the phone.

“Boss, everything is still good. We’re receiving a lot of great feedback on the new watches and we have a lot more investors interested in getting involved with us. Also, I have already delivered the new demo for you to try, it should be at your house when you arrive,” Marco said.

Andre was impressed with how much Marco had changed since he started working for him. He could remember when Marco would stutter on the other end of the phone as he tried to explain things, but that changed when Andre spoke to him about the fact that maybe he wasn’t cut out for the position. Andre knew the talk could’ve gone two ways, either Marco would’ve left, or he would start to prove himself more. Andre was relieved that he gone with the first choice.

“That sounds great, upwards and onwards from here Marco. Leave the information for possible investors on my desk and I will see you tomorrow,” he said.

“Perfect. Have a good night, boss,” Marco replied.

“Thank you and you too,” Andre said before he hung up.

He didn’t like it when Marco called him boss, but he had never been able to get him to stop, even after telling him repeatedly for 2 years to just call him by his first name. He assumed it was how he showed some sort of respect in a way the youngsters do.

Andre was only 5 years older than Marco, but he could tell he was still too young to fully understand the business world the way Andre understood it. Of course, Andre had been around the business world since he was a child and for him, he didn’t know anything else.