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“In all my nearly thirty years of being around this company I have never once thought about my crotch in relation to the name of the corporation. I raise my glass to you, Marj. You’re one of a kind,” he said in salute.
“I am the last of a dying breed, I agree. Soon, I’ll be replaced by some hot guy with washboard abs who conducts focus groups with his shirt off.”
“That doesn’t sound very efficient. In fact, I’m fairly sure HR has a policy regarding shirtlessness on the job and it’s directly condemned. We take sexual harassment very seriously at Power Regions,” he smirked.
“You’re thinking it, too, now, aren’t you?” she challenged.
“Yeah, I am. And after my father harassed his way into Lena’s clutches—she was an intern at the time—there was a major push to end any kind of extracurricular relationships especially where there’s a power imbalance. Like when the fifty-five-year old, married COO of a corporation puts the moves on an unpaid intern hoping to get a foothold in the industry. It just looks sleazy.”
“It probably was,” she mused.
“It definitely was. Regrettably I’ve seen the security tapes of them at it in the stairwell. It was fairly damning, and he had to marry her as quickly as possible. It made him look really bad, like a creepy old guy preying on the young interns,” Brandon said.
They moved over to the couches and found a cozy corner where they passed a bottle of Jack Daniels between them. At this point, they didn’t even bother to use glasses. Just drank straight from the bottle.
“So they weren’t in love?” Marj asked.
“Probably not. I think Dad was in lust. Lena was obviously half his age and hot. He indulged her for a while after they were married. I was in school at the time, so I was out of the scandal for the most part. I had to show up for the wedding. It was on the bluffs at Big Sur overlooking the ocean at sunset. It was beautiful. The location, not the wedding. The wedding was a fucking circus. She had free rein with the reception and there were A-list rockers performing on two stages, a custom cocktail bar, stations for sushi and pasta and these little glasses with cold, green soup in them. I thought it was a drink and got a mouthful of cold, vegetable goop,” he grimaced.
“Were there balloon animals? A piñata?” she joked.
“Actually, there were three piñatas. And a bar where you could choose candies to make up a souvenir bag.”
“Was this a lavish child’s birthday party?”
“In a way, perhaps. She was young and had a lot of money at her disposal, and so she threw in everything, I guess,” he said.
“Musical chairs?”
“No, but they started playing musical beds shortly after they married. It wasn’t a happy union . Like I said, he spoiled her until he got bored with it. And she was really competitive for his attention. Like she didn’t even want me to come for the holidays. She always had an excuse about how they were remodeling the floor with the bedrooms or something. She also got rid of my dog.”
“Got rid of? Did she shoot it?”
“No, she said she gave him away because he made a mess on the carpet. I like to think she gave him away, but I’m not too sure. Needless to say, old Pepper meant a lot more to me than Lena ever did.”
“I can understand holding a grudge where a dog’s concerned. It wasn’t hers to get rid of.”
“I can’t say I’ve gotten over it. She took my dog and now she’s going to get my dad’s company away from me if I don’t find a way to block it!”
“I just had the best idea!”
He took a giant swig from the bottle. “What’s that, Marj?”
She grabbed the bottle and took a drink herself. “Why don’t we just get married?”
His jaw dropped. “What? Listen, you’re a beautiful woman, and I’m madly attracted to you, but I’m not looking for a serious relationship right now.”
“And neither am I. But it’s the obvious answer. Dad wanted you to tie the knot to keep your job. So do it. The legal angle didn’t work, so scam the will and follow it to the letter if not in the spirit of the law,” she explained.
He set the bottle down. “So just have a fake marriage?”
“Sure. Don’t tell me it never crossed your mind.”
“It did. But I was hoping to win before having to resort to something so drastic. I don’t want to drag somebody through the mud. It would be hell. How can I put anyone through that?”
“You know it’s the only option left. And where else are you going to find anyone? It’s not like you can put an ad in the newspaper or on a giant billboard. This has to be done very discreetly and not draw attention.”
