A/N: All familiar characters/etc. belong to Janet Evanovich, only my words are my own. I am not making any profit from this.
Thanks to everyone who's been reading along and for all of the favorites and reviews! Also, the next chunk of the story starts with the next chapter, so this is the last of the intro/background stuff and the rest of the plot/flashbacks move the story along at a faster and more exciting clip.
Just a quick clarification, the last flashback of Chapter 7 was to showcase her delivery; everything ends up fine with her and Theo.
Part I. "A man, when he WISHes, is the master of his fate." - Jose Ferrer
Chapter 8
Christopher 'Viper' Ward POV - 11 MAY 2015 (Present Day)
I'd been waiting at the Miami International Airport for about ten minutes when I saw my charge for the day enter the baggage claim area, looking around with without missing a step in some truly impressive black patent leather pointed heels with some gold chain detailing and a mane of curly, chocolate tresses that fell to her halfway down her back. She spotted me right away and rolled her striking, blue eyes before readjusting her attaché strap more securely on her shoulder and heading straight towards me.
"I take it you're my Merry Man for the day?" she sassed, staring sunnily up at me.
I'd never had the pleasure of meeting the infamous Stephanie Plum, porche-icidist extraordinaire of Trenton, New Jersey before, but down in Miami we'd heard about her, the scrapes she managed to get herself into and her very impressive deductive skills since she started at RangeMan in 2012. The fact that she'd been hired was surprising until she managed to cut down on a huge portion of our paper work and streamlined our purchasing to reduce costs. Although the stories of her friendship with several RangeMan Trenton employees, especially members of the Core Team, were the most surprising developments during her full-time tenure at RangeMan. Most RangeMan employees had googled Stephanie Plum and knew that she was the proprietor and designer of w*ish lingerie, but none of us had the balls to run a full background check on her with the more invasive, proprietary search programs we had access to for fear that Ranger, a Core Team member, or one of the Trenton guys would come across a record of our search inquiry and flay us on the mats. Frankly, I was just flattered that of all the employees in Miami, I was the one Lester and Tank trusted to keep an eye on her for the day she spent in Miami. Of course, I was the only one outside of Lester and Tank who knew my client for the day was Stephanie Plum per her insistence; officially, I was chauffeuring around some high society trophy wife.
"Merry Man, huh? I suppose I could pull that off," I commented dryly, grabbing her attaché by the handles, "I'm Viper, Ma'am, I'll be driving you around today," I said, holding my hand out to shake hers.
"Call me Stephanie, please. You're Viper? From Lester's story about convincing a group of cartel members to steal the cartel leader's pet tiger as the opening salvo of a coup?" she asked, a look of surprise on her face.
"Ah, Fofo (Portuguese: Fluffy), beautiful animal but tended to be rather peckish," I replied with a smirk, relieved that she knew me by that story rather than the ones regarding picking up women with her our mutual friends. "So M-Stephanie," I corrected quickly at her drawn look, "where do you need me to take you today?" I asked, leading her out to the Jeep in classic RangeMan black at the curb and helping her into the front seat when she staunchly refused to sit in the back.
"I was wondering if we could walk by a few locations in downtown Miami and then grab some lunch. After that I have a handful of back to back meetings set up at Roho Coffeehouse," Stephanie explained.
I nodded in response and aimed the Jeep towards downtown as Stephanie answered a phone call.
"Hey, how's everything going?" she asked, nodding along as the female voice on the other end replied, "a-and how's Theo doing? He was a little feverish this morning," she added in a whisper while angling her body towards the passenger side window and casting me a furtive glance to check for any eavesdropping.
Shit, I thought as she continued her conversation, I guess those rumors of a relationship, albeit on an extended hiatus, between her and one of the Core Team members was either crap or outdated. Knowing him, it was probably the latter and probably his fault.
And he would definitely be a bear to work for if he ever found out I'd spent the day with her or kept the existence of her new leading man, Theo, a secret. Fan-freaking-tastic.
SP POV - 12 MAY 2015 (Present Day)
"Here you go," I said, handing Ella her mocha latte only to find her already immersed in one of the furniture catalogues I'd brought for our coffee date. We'd made decisions on appliances and hardware after our last Mommy and Me weeks ago and all that was left was furniture and decor. Ella had already asked me several questions and put together a few Pinterest boards for me to figure out what style I wanted, and now we were just making final decisions so everything would be ready for our move in date in 12 days.
"Okay Steph, mija (Spanish: my daughter), I think our best plan is to go room by room and make decision so that we don't forget anything. What room do you want to start with?" Ella asked me, before enjoying a deep whiff of her beverage and taking a long sip.
"How about we start with the downstairs?" I suggested, continuing at her nod as I settled into the wooden seat across from her. "Okay, so I was thinking a different versions of a blue color theme for most of the downstairs. Sky blue, black and white for the kitchen. I'd like to keep the feel warm with maybe an oak table in the kitchen nook," I explained.
"That sounds lovely," Ella said, nodding as she made a few notes in the catalogue she was flipping through. "What about the living and dining rooms?"
"I was thinking cobalt blue and silver for the dining room with a cappuccino or almost black wood table and varying shades of blue and grey for the living room," I explained, looking at a few pages Ella had attached post-it notes to.
"Mhmm. That will look great with the huge windows and all of that sunlight. And you could carry the color theme to the pool area outside," Ella suggested.
The backyard had a grassy area, a rectangular pool and a stone bonfire pit. "Okay, we could do a caribbean or turquoise blue by the pool?"
"Perfect. Okay, so is that all of the downstairs?" Ella asked, taking a small bite of the apple cinnamon scone I'd gotten for us to share. "Mmm, this is delicious. I wonder if they'd share their recipe," she wondered softly, grabbing another catalogue from my stack and flipping through it.
"Well, I was thinking shades of purple for the half bathroom that's right off the living room," I added.
"Hmmm. That sounds good but I think sticking with just an icy blue and white or mother of pearl would keep it lighter and airy," Ella recommended.
"Ooh, I really like that," I replied, nodding my head as I visualized it.
"So, on to the upstairs?" Ella asked.
"Um. Well, there's a guest bedroom and ensuite downstairs, but I'm not sure what to do with it. I was thinking I'd just keep it neutral with dark browns and black or cream and black?" I said hurriedly, my eyes focused on my frappuccino. I could feel the heat of Ella's knowing, motherly gaze on me as she reached out and patted my hand, clearly understanding that I'd intentionally chosen a strong, masculine feel for that room but accepting my decisions without prying until I was ready to share. I cleared my throat and continued with the upstairs rooms. "So, for my bedroom upstairs, I was thinking lilac and silver with some darker accents in like a violet."
"Or perhaps plum?" Ella teased. "That sounds very pretty and reminiscent of w*ish and would go great with walnut or mahogany furniture. What about the office room, that's upstairs, right?"
"I was thinking a pale yellow and white for that room to take advantage of the huge windows and light. What color do you think would be good for the drawing desk?" I asked, contemplating where I'd be doing my w*ish designing from here on out.
"Personally, I think oak would look great. It's airy and will go great with those colors. Ooh, we could get you some romantic, gauzy tie-back curtain," Ella said excitedly, clearly getting into this new, creative project.
"Oh man, I can't wait to go there for work starting in 12 days," I said longingly.
"So, all that is left are the twins' rooms. Do you want to stick to the zoo theme you're using at your apartment?" Ella asked, going back to her perusal of her hardware restoration catalogue.
I thought back to all of the Pinterest ideas Ella had gathered regarding nurseries and all I knew for sure was that I wasn't ready for them to not be in the same room. Several of the themes seemed fun like balloons, the alphabet, fairy tales, Dr. Seuss, space and super heroes, of course. Unfortunately, the decision wasn't any easier the second time around, I thought, as I reminisced about how my current nursery was decorated.
SP POV - 11 MAY 2014 (1 Year Ago)
"Bomber, open up!" I heard Tank's bellow punctuate his sharp knocking as I blearily waddled my way to the front door.
I ripped open the door, my other hand supporting my back as I looked out at most of the Merry Men crowded in my hallway with entirely too much energy given the time of day. "Do you guys know what time it is?" I demanded.
"It's 0600 Beautiful," Lester replied cheerfully, ambling in and walking me into the kitchen with an arm around my neck.
"Damn Bombshell's really fu-freaking pregnant," I heard one of the guys mumble as they got a good look at me.
I tried glaring back over my shoulder at them but Lester just kept pulling me into the kitchen and laughed under his breath when another Merry Man queried if I wasn't indeed having triplets or quadruplets. Jerks.
"I'm over seven months pregnant," I huffed. "Guys, what's going on?" I asked as roughly 15 burly men crowded into my kitchen.
"Well, Ella told us about your baby shower," Tank explained, taking a seat next to me at the dining table.
"Yeah, to tell us we weren't invited," Hal huffed under his breath, scuffing his boots on the tiled kitchen floor.
"And we're here to give you your baby shower gift," Tank finished, nodding his head at all of the guys.
"Okay?" I asked, still trying to blink the sleep out of my eyes.
"Just hang here for a bit and have some of Ella's delicious Greek vegetable quiche," Cal said, placing a fork and glass tupperware container which was wafting a delicious aroma in front of me on the table, "and we'll just get to work."
"Mmmm. That smells amazing," I said, sniffing slightly and still not understanding what they were doing in my kitchen at stupid o'clock. "Wait, what is my gift?"
"You're gonna love it Bombshell," Woody added with his trademark drawl while the rest of the Merry Men nodded in agreement, their excitement palpable.
"Si, Estephania, lo amirs (Spanish: Yes, Stephanie, you will love it)," Hector added, a genuine smile graced his often stoic features and lightened his too-serious, dark eyes.
The early morning haze had cleared a little and I was able to take a better look around at all of the Merry Men crowded into around the table, their eyes focused on me and finally noticed the items they'd brought in. They were holding a few cans of paint, rollers, paintbrushes, some tarp and a toolbox. "What's with all the paint stuff?"
"We're setting up the twins' nursery!" Lester announced excitedly, causing all of the Merry Men to beam at me.
The gravity of their gift hit me like a tidal wave and I slumped back in my chair with a creak, tears streaming from eyes. I'd discussed setting up the nursery with several people and kept making excuses until Calista and Victoria finally sat me down and confronted me about it. According to them and their online research, setting up the nursery and nesting was a way for a couple to prepare for the upcoming changes a baby would bring. I argued that my continually expanding belly were all the reminder of reality I needed, but apparently the reason I was reticent to set up or make any decisions about the nursery was because it was more for the soon-to-be father than the soon-to-be mother and the minefield that things with the twins' father was directly linked to my unfinished nursery.
"Oh shit," I heard of a few of the Merry Men mumble as they shifted nervously, unsure how to react to my sudden waterworks.
"Steph, Beautiful?" Lester asked tentatively, "what uh… what's wrong?"
"N-nothing's wrong," I blubbered, wiping my eyes on the sleeve of my soft, jersey robe, "it's so sweet an-and I… I," I couldn't seem to stem my tears long enough to thank them properly much less assure them that everything was okay.
"Well, we're gonna get started with the paint and putting together furniture, okay Little Girl," Tank said softly, awkwardly patting me on the shoulder in an effort to stave off my tears. "Let us know if we can do anything," he added before heaving himself out of his seat and heading through the living room to the nursery room, nodding his head at the Merry Men to follow him and leave me to emote in peace.
Most of the guys followed suit except Hector who looked up and shook his head in disappointment before rounding to my side of the table and stooping to give me a hug and pressing a kiss to my temple. "Estamos hacienda un tema zoológico," he added.
"You're a… Zoo?" I asked, trying to to decipher what he'd said.
"He said we're doing a zoo theme for the nursery decor," Zip translated for me from the living room where he and Chase were putting together a changing table with an alarmingly thick instruction booklet.
"Really?" I beamed at them, finally getting past the dour phase to fully embrace the excited phase as I envisioned what the nursery could look like and the possibilities for zoo-themed decor.
SP POV - 13 MAY 2015 (Present Day)
"Theo, Serafina, look at this!" I exclaimed as I made a giant, three-foot long bubble, it's iridescent surface bending and shining in the light and delighting in the gleeful giggles it elicited from my raspberries.
After a day spent interviewing potential w*ish franchise owners and checking out available storefronts locations on Rodeo Drive, Reggie, the twins and I decided to relax a little at Zimmer Children's Museum. Presently, we were at the bubble exhibit that had several containers of bubble liquid and bubble wands of various shapes and sizes for people to explore with.
Reggie had spent the time making sure I had all of the applicants' resumes and background checks while she entertained the twins at our hotel, taking a break to meet me for lunch. After I finished for the day, I decided to take the twins to explore sunny California while Reggie went off on her own to do the same but probably with more alcohol and flirting. I definitely needed to recharge before another day of trying to figure out which brown nosing stranger I trusted most to take the help of w*ish along the west coast.
"Bye-bye, bye-bye," Serafina said with Theo providing a chorus after he reached out and gingerly popped the bubble with an outstretched finger.
"Oops!" I chortled, "should we make another one?" I queried the twins, dipping the bubble wand back into the sudsy liquid.
"Mama, Mama, Mama," Theo replied, clapping his hands while Serafina giggled with her arms outstretched to take hold of the wand herself. I let Serafina help me hold the wand and guided her adorable, polka-dot sleeved arm to dip the bubble wand and glide it horizontally through the air to create a 14-inch diameter bubble that wobbled in front of the three of us until Theo reached out to pop it again with another round of "bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye."
Unfortunately, Serafina did not share his glee at watching the bubble burst spectacularly in front of us and pouted at me, her eyes becoming slightly rheumy. "It's okay, Serafina," I said, "we can make another one." This time, I helped Theo wield a different, square shaped bubble wand to create a bubble which caused Serafina to applaud and forget her near teary state just moment ago.
We played with the bubble wands for a bit before I took the twins over to the Rhythms of the World exhibit that featured several types of percussion instruments arranged by their country of origin. The twins were clearly on their way to being brilliant, musical prodigies as they displayed their innate talents (that Mrs. Tune, my piano teacher could confirm they did not gain from me) at temple blocks, a kalimba, crotales and slit drums. Naturally, I ignored the fact that they used some of the instruments incorrectly per their informative placards.
SP POV - 15 MAY 2015 (Present Day)
"Hey ladies!" I announced as I plopped into the empty seat between Mary Lou and Victoria. I'd just gotten back from California after having narrowed the potential candidates down to two that I felt comfortable with, dropped the raspberries off with my father because he missed Mommy and Me time with them (apparently my Mother was helping with some church event) before meeting Victoria, Calista, Mary Lou, Lula, Connie and Camilla at Banzai Sushi in downtown Trenton.
"Well look who it is!" Connie exclaimed, leaning across the table to placing a small cup of what I assumed was saki in front of me, "your Grandma told me you were officially back to drinking!"
"Really? That just made girls' night way more fun!," Calista exclaimed, clinking her glass to mine as we all took a sip.
A few minutes later we'd ordered several rolls of sushi to share and were tasting our way through a majority of Banzai Sushi's menu.
"So skinny white girl, how's your cross country traveling going?" Lula asked amid bites of her Asian Cajun sushi roll dripping in soy sauce.
"Yeah? How is the next phase of w*ish coming along?" Victoria added, nudging me with her shoulder.
"It's going okay. Some of the people were a lot better on paper than they were in real life, but I was able to find at least one or two people in each city so far that I liked and some really great potential storefronts that I can totally picture as being amazing. Hopefully, things will work out in Vegas and then we just have to make our final choices next Thursday," I replied before unceremoniously shoving a bite of California roll into my mouth.
"Oh, Steph, about that. Can we move the meeting to Wednesday? I have wedding stuff on Thursday and I think the wedding stress has finally gotten to my sister. I'm a little terrified to tell her I can't make it," Camilla joked, accidentally dripping some soy sauce onto her white and red striped sweater.
"Sure, just let Tucker know and I'll tell Aeneas and Duncan," I replied with a shrug, swiping a chunk of hair behind my ear.
"Aeneas, huh?" Connie smirked at me before downing her drink and refilling her glass. "What? They're really tiny glasses!" she exclaimed at my raised eyebrow.
"His name is Aeneas. What should I call him?" I snarked.
"It's just a little familiar for referring to your investor is all," Mary Lou explained slowly, as if I was slow for not realizing where they were going with this. Although, they'd implied as much before, so I did have some idea as to how the remainder of this line of inquiry went.
"Makes us wonder if there's some pleasure you're mixing in with the business you two do," Victoria sassed, looking at me expectantly.
"What? No! Guys, we've gone over this," I replied in an exasperated tone, opting to ignore their query entirely. "So Cam, your sister's turned into a Bride-zilla?" Sure, it wasn't the smoothest segue, but it worked, sorta.
"Ugh yeah. Daniella and Olivia were super chill about everything until the day after Mother's Day and now they're making up for their previous apathy with over the top crazy," she replied, her eyes wide in horror as she relieved some memory.
"Brides really are the worst. I remember when my sister Tina was getting married, she wanted pearls on everything, the centerpieces, the cake, the dress. Everything," she explained, her arm gestures becoming more and more exaggerated. "And well, my uncle has a soft spot for the two of us because he's only got sons, so he made sure to cater to her every whim until she demanded crushed pearls be used on her wedding invitations. He tried to explain to her what a waste it was but finally gave in because he, Donny the Fixer, was terrified of her after she threw an epic tantrum and ended up throwing her wedding planning album through the glass patio door," Connie finished recounting with a shrug, as if that level of vandalism was expected of the average bride-zilla.
"Damn, okay. Perspective. Thanks," Camilla replied, "well, at least Daniella hasn't resorted to outright violence. They're more into subtle threats, glaring and expert use of passive aggressiveness which has me taking off from now until the wedding to help out." After rolling her eyes at our humor rather than sympathy at her predicament, she continued. "Steph, will the custom lingerie gifts we talked about be ready in time for the bridal shower on the 21st?"
"Yeah, the'll definitely be ready and I promise they'll love them and you for getting them," I replied, glad at the slight relieved look that lightened her features.
"Perfect, I think that'll help me get back in their good graces. She assigned me the task of calling the stragglers who haven't RSVP'd yet and I still can't get one of my Brothers to reply. I mean, I get that he's stoic but seriously, but the fact that the first time he's chosen to visit since he moved down to Miami like eight or nine months ago is not a state secret!" Camilla huffed, shaking her head at her brother's antics as she dipped a piece of Godzilla roll into her soy sauce and wasabi mixture.
"Your brother lives in Miami?" Lula asked slowly, realizing who she was referring to.
"Mhmm," she relied absentmindedly as she chewed her bite.
"You know what might be worse than bride-zillas? Women getting divorced, right?" Connie interjected after shooting Lula a castigating look.
"I totally agree. I didn't care when it came to my wedding, although that might be because my mom sorta took everything over and it snowballed into a pouffy, taffeta nightmare that couldn't be stopped," I agreed.
"I'm pretty sure tossing Dickie's crap onto the lawn and setting it all on fire after kicking him and Joyce out naked trumps any amount of bride-zilla that you could've been capable of," Victoria chortled, lightening the atmosphere as we proceeded to share divorce stories.
SP POV - 11 APR 2014 (1 Year and 1 Month Ago)
"Damn! I guess I can't be calling you skinny no more, huh? Now you're just white girl!" Lula announcement along with her purple and brown striped hair greeted me as I walked into Pino's and alerting the entire restaurant to my presence. And unintentionally leading credence to the rumors that have been swirling around the Burg over the past few weeks that I had a bun in my oven.
I'd told Lula and Connie about my pregnancy at our last Girls' Night and after the initial shock and affront at my keeping them in the dark they demanded a follow up dinner to get the details. I was just relieved that they weren't holding a grudge at my secrecy as they were prone to. I recall an awkward three months when I first helped Lula to land the filing job at Vinnie's and she froze Tank out with her patented silent treatment because she didn't take his slightly crass appreciation of her bootie. She eventually decided it was a complement of the highest order, but it was mighty frosty at the bonds office while she was deliberating.
I trundled over to their table, surrounded by low murmurs, discrete glances and the aroma of fresh marinara before plopping down across from Connie. "Hey guys," I greeted them and gave a little wave to Eddie Gazarra, Carl Constanza and Big Dog who were sitting at a table nearby.
"Hey guys?" Connie scoffed in her thick Jersey accent, "you get knocked up, spring it on us when almost ready to pop, and then you come in here with a hey guys? Nu-uh. We want details!" She punctuated her statement by strumming her crimson nails on the scuffed, walnut table top.
"Alright, alright. What do you wanna know?" I replied, grabbing a slice of pizza that they'd ordered while waiting for me.
"Well, what we really want to know is who the guy is," Lula said with a pointed look, "but you've already told us you're not sharing that juicy bit of gossip, so, we'll settle on pregnancy details."
"Okay, we'll aside from my hormones going crazy and feeling a little uncomfortable about the baby bump," I said, my hand placed gently on my stomach, "I've actually been doing pretty well."
"Yeah, yeah Steph. That's great, but you know what we really want is the dirt!" Connie added.
"Well…" I began, "when I first found out I was pretty…"
"Shocked?" Connie offered at my hesitation.
"Pissed? Shoot, I'd be pissed," Lula corrected.
"More catatonic than anything else. I was just sort of numb until I realized I needed to get my stuff together and come up with a plan," I explained before enjoying a giant bite out of our warm, cheesy pizza, one of my pre-baby diet staples that I rarely indulged in anymore.
"I can't believe you went through so much change lately between the pregnancy, moving and w*ish," Connie said amid bites of pizza.
"Yeah, but I'm glad you didn't give up on w*ish. Tankie really likes those panties you make," Lula added.
"Well, by the time I figured out about the raspberries, I'd already moved to Newark and figured out financing for w*ish. And," I added, my hands resting on my stomach, "they kinda made me want to work even harder to make my dream come true," I replied.
"Okay, we have to stop with the mushy stuff," Connie demanded, breaking up the moment.
I was explaining the upsides to stretch-top pregnancy pants when we were interrupted by the exaggerated scoffing coming from Molly Tompkins at the adjacent table. Molly and my sister Valerie went to school together and had both graduated from college with MRS degrees and proceeded to procreate. Currently, Molly was what looked like eight months pregnant but was probably only four and had her other three children with her, all under the age of 10.
"Do you need some water?" Connie asked, turning around in her seat and leveling Molly with a sassily arched eyebrow.
"Oh no, I'm alright. It's just… well, this is a family establishment…" she said in a fake, apologetic tone and nodding her head in my direction.
"So what? We all got families. Now get back to yours," Lula snapped, swiveling in her seat and further taxing the stretching capacity of her purple and bronze swirled spandex mini dress.
"I would like to," she huffed, unperturbed that her rant was garnering the attention of other patrons, "but I can't really enjoy my family meal while listening to that… that jezebel is going on and on about her pregnancy. Flaunting her future… future bastards for everyone-"
"Excuse me?" I shouted followed closely by a shout of outrage from Connie, a colorful exclamation from Lula and murmurs from other Pino's customers.
"What? It's the truth and everyone is thinking it," she retorted, gesturing wildly around. "And then you waltz in here thinking you're better than everyone with your fancy new shop when you're really just a disappointment to your mother and having a child out of wedlock!"
"I-wha-you-do-" I sputtered, the anger burning up inside of me at her vitriolic diatribe was apparently preventing me from forming complete thoughts. I was so furious and unfortunately, my thoughts were racing by too quickly for me to pick any one of them to throw at her.
"Hu-uh, you don't come up in here and talk smack about my girl!" Lula interjected when she realized my brain had stalled.
"Damn straight!" Connie added, hands akimbo, "and you should really think before talking trash because you hear things working at a bonds office and I doubt you'd want the fine patrons of this family establishment to know certain truths about your supposedly upstanding husband!"
"Please," she scoffed, "you can't threaten me! Don't you know who I am?"
"Yeah, you're the broad who had a shotgun wedding to Justin Tompkins, the scumbag lawyer who's had a bi-weekly standing date with Pogo-Stik. I knew him at my old job. Where I was a hooker," Lula added with a smirk, not at all bothered by the sharp intakes of breath and muttering that her announcement caused.
"Wha-you're lying! You're just some slutty, fat, lo-" Molly snapped back hotly.
"Oh you did not just call me fat! I'm not fat! I'm… I'm," Lula retorted.
"Voluptuous. She's voluptuous and awesome and you're just a bitter housewife with nothing better to do than gossip," I replied, touched at how ardently my friends defended me.
"And you and your friends should think twice about sharing any more truths," Connie added in an eerily calm, threatening tone, "because Mr. Stik is just the tip of the iceberg." Connie grabbed her overstuffed purse, hooked her arm with mine and pulled me out of the restaurant followed closely by Lula and a round of cheering by fellow victims of gossiping burg harpies.
"So," Lula asked as we headed into the parking lot and trotted across the macadam to where we parked, "are you sure they're raspberries and not bat-babies? Because that was pretty badass!"
"That was just me following your lead," I chortled at her attempt to sneak information from me.
SP POV - 20 MAY 2015 (Present Day)
"Okay raspberries, Mommy's gonna be right over there," I cooed, gesturing at the dining area of our apartment where Camilla Manoso, Tucker Kruger, Duncan Prince and Aeneas Vasiliou were seated. We'd gathered for our final meeting to determine who to select for the new w*ish franchise owners at my apartment due to Camilla's schedule being encroached upon by her sister's upcoming wedding. I'd already emailed them the resumes and my notes from interviews regarding the finalists. Now, we were just finishing up our discussion on my interviews in Las Vegas, having already discussed and decided on a final candidate in New York City, Miami and Beverly Hills. Unfortunately, our meeting was disrupted by the twins waking up from their nap a little fussy so I got them a little snack and set them up in their playpen in the living room while everyone else began discussing and comparing the merits of Lisa Houser and Sophia Wyatt. I dropped a quick kiss to each of their heads and left them to play with a pile of colorful, oversized blocks.
"Okay guys, where are we at?" I asked, sliding into my seat at one end of the table between Camilla and Aeneas.
"We've just been reading up on Ms. Houser," Aeneas replied, his dark gaze focused on the resume in his hands that he was scratching notes on.
"Her resume is very impressive," Duncan added absentmindedly while twirling a highlighter between his fingers.
Lisa Houser had an undergraduate degree in business and experience as a bartender, a host at the Bellagio and the manager of a Tiffany's. She looked great on paper and had just the right question for every question I asked her. Unfortunately, there was just something… off about her and her way too forced smile. Lisa was ambitious, which I appreciated, but it was with an underlying sense of I'm smiling at you, but that's only to distract you from my sneak attack.
"I like her too. Very polished," Tucker added thoughtfully. "Cam?" he asked, his eyes focused on his business partner.
"Ditto. But Steph, what about you. Your notes on her were a bit sparse compared to everyone else you put in the like pile," Camilla replied, tossing her hair as she turned to face me with an expectant look on her face.
"I… well, I liked her, but-" I began before Aeneas' scoff halted me.
"Try again doll. It obvious that you didn't like her. Why is she in the potentials pile?"
I strummed my fingers against the tabletop, contemplating how to answer the question without them thinking I was a crazy hippie who made life decisions based on vibes and auras. "Her resume is pretty perfect and her background check came up clean if a bit scant, but there was just something disingenuous o-or maybe sneaky that I picked up from her while we were talking. I just felt bad crossing her off the list over my spidey-sense tingling when on paper she's such a strong candidate."
"You had a feeling?" Tucker questioned slowly, dubiety written across his features.
"Mhmm. I think my Uncle mentioned your um spidey-sense. Apparently it made quite the impression," Aeneas interjected, a dimpled smile lighting up his features.
"Hey! I thought I was the one who left an impression on him, not my spidey-sense," I huffed, eliciting a warm chuckle from him.
"Okay, why don't we move on to Sophia Wyatt before we decide who we like best," Camilla offered diplomatically.
"Alright, let's see here. Sophia Wyatt, graduated with a B.A. in social work and a minor in marketing, volunteers heavily, worked at a downtown clothing boutique, and currently managing Safe Nest, a domestic violence shelter," Duncan summarized.
"And from your interview notes she was energetic, witty, a huge fan of the buy-one-donate-one initiative at w*ish," Aeneas read from my notes. "But her background is in social work. Why the switch now?"
"She said she liked helping the people she was working with but having her life flooded with the issues she faced everyday was exhaustive and draining. After about 12 years, she's getting a little jaded and burnt out. She thinks she'd be better suited to volunteering at a place like her shelter while her career was something she cared about but just not quite as heavy," I explained.
"Wow, 12 years at a domestic violence shelter. That is definitely heavy," Camilla replied softly, looking over Sophia's resume again. "I like her."
"But is that enough to make a decision? And to turn down Lisa?" I queried, looking around the table.
"Well, Steph, this is your dream, your reputation you're trusting someone with. And a resume gives you someone's experience, but it doesn't give the measure of a person. Plus, Sophia's references couldn't stop gushing about her while Lisa's seem more perfunctory," Duncan reasoned.
"Well, my Uncle swears by Stephanie's gut or spidey-sense or whatever," he gestured in the air "so I vote Sophia."
"Same. She's a great judge of character," Camilla weighed in, shooting me a wink.
"I'm with Cam, though I think you should make sure that you keep in close contact with her and the others as things progress so they know they can reach out to you or even each other, Allegra included, with any questions or ideas," Tucker added.
"So, Duncan? What do you think?" I asked, holding his gaze.
"Hmm," he mumbled, rubbing at his jaw, "initially I was leaning towards Lisa because her resume is so much stronger, but I've learned that personal references are much more than the resume and even the interview because people tend to get nervous or sometimes take a while to warm up."
"So Sophia it is!" I announced excitedly. "Well, I'll just give everyone I interviewed a call tomorrow and we can work on getting contracts signed within the next week and finally get started on getting the new storefronts up to snuff."
"Sounds good. Tell them congratulations from us and you might want to send out an official email to each of them with a little about where you want to see w*ish headed and introduce those of us already part of the w*ish family," Duncan suggested before he and Tucker said their goodbye's and headed out.
"That's a great idea. Especially since everyone is too far away and busy to meet in person right away," I replied, jotting it down on a post-it.
"Oh, and once all the contracts are in you should set up a weekly franchise owner meeting so they can check in with you and get to know each other," Aeneas added before dropping a kiss on my cheek and heading into the living room to play with the twins.
"So?" Camilla asked me after craning her neck to check that Aeneas was too busy rolling a ball around with my raspberries to eavesdrop.
"So what?" I replied, with a confused expression.
"So so many things, really. But first, did you have time to make the customized bridal shower gifts for Daniella and Olivia?"
"Mhmm," I replied, grabbing two large w*ish bags I'd stowed in the laundry room and handing them to her with a flourish. "As requested, two one-of-a-kind Stephanie Plum originals."
"Oh wow, Steph. These are amazing," she replied in awe, peeking into the bags and running her fingers over the beading and lace. "This will more than make up for the fact that I may have unintentionally provoked the bride-zillas."
"Anytime," I chortled, shaking my head and admiring how seamlessly Aeneas could go from charming businessman to babysitter, cajoling high-fives from the twins.
"Are you sure you don't want to come to the wedding?" Camilla asked, snapping my attention back to her. "I mean, my parents love you for helping me get Mod Management up and running and they'd love to meet you, finally. You're practically an honorary Manoso!"
"Th-thanks," I stuttered, "but I'm pretty booked with the move coming up," I added, thankful for my legitimate excuse.
"Oh yeah! I totally forgot that was coming up. Have you seen the place since they did the painting and installed all the hardware and appliances you requested?" Camilla asked.
"I have stopped by a few times. I've never really owned a house and I can't seem to go more than a few days without at least driving by to check it out," I said, smiling at the memory of the last time I stopped by the house as they were installing carpet. The construction workers found my gleeful testing out of the carpet quirky and amusing.
"Well, I definitely want to see the new digs once you get it all set up," Camilla replied. "So, that brings us to the next thing I wanted to talk to you about. What is going on there?" she queried, pointing her eyes at Aeneas who was currently tickling Theo as he tried to crawl away.
Honestly, I wasn't sure how to answer the question. Aeneas and I had been growing closer with every meeting, but it wasn't clear where we were headed, if anywhere. Knowing that answer would annoy Camilla, so I opted to simply shrug at her with a smirk on my face and enjoyed her huff in response.
A/N: Mrs. Tune was my actual piano teacher's name; I know the name is a little on the nose, but I guess reality works out that way sometimes.
Ranger becomes a more active character in the story starting with the next chapter! Hang in there and happy reading!
Oh and sorry this one was a little short and less edited.
