November 24, 2024
Boykewich International Headquarters
10:45 AM

Ben has been working hard being his own assistant taking phone calls, and going over reports that needed the attention of the corporation. He was burning the candle at both ends, but he had done this once before only a few short years before, so he knew what he needed. His medication was running low, and he would soon have to replace it, unfortunately the only way to do that was to see a therapist recommended to him by his own psychiatrist. His life was less complicated now since he had left the hotel, to save money. He never intended to stay so long, and until his new personal venture was allocated he had no spare cash to live in the hotel. He moved out to make sure he had enough money to stay in Glenn Valley. He was happy that his father and Grandfather's were all workaholics because the office itself was in reality a hidden studio apartment. The couch folded out into a bed. The office was equipped with a fully functional bathroom, closet, and even a small refrigerator. He was content since he could now work without stopping, and not worry about cab fair. He was also very neat, and tidy, so even when the cleaning service came through no one had any idea he was living in the office. However he was having problems sleeping, because he was constantly plagued with dreams, he thought were over with. He called home every day four times a day, and unfortunately he may have to miss "Thanksgiving", so he was very upset, as were his family.

Chloe: (stood in the doorway watching Ben work) Hey, Big Brother burning the mid night oil.

Ben: Chloe it's 10'o clock in the morning. (shocked at her analogy)

Chloe: I know that, but from what I've seen you have been here since midnight.

Ben: What? Guess I must have over worked. But, these financial reports have to be looked at and I have 48 weeks worth of reports to view from 1200 butcher shop location, not to mention all meat processing reports, and the farm reports from our produce, or producer's, or Farmer's... I don't know how to acknowledge it.

Chloe: Yeah, that is a good excuse. But, I am in charge of internal affairs Ben. I had the security team track, and log every person who enters and leaves this building, according to them you haven't left in the past three days.

Ben: I was busy what can I say.

Chloe: Okay, then explain your suit. (noticing that it is the same dark gray suit he wore 3 days ago)

Ben: What about it? (the suit had been cleaned he did it himself)

Chloe: It's the fourth time I have seen you wearing it.

Ben: Maybe I think it looks good on me.

Chloe: It doesn't, but I want to know why I have only seen you wear four suits in the past two weeks of you being here.

Ben: Fine, (doesn't want to beat around the bush) If you must know Chloe I only brought a few suits with me.

Chloe: Why haven't you bought more?

Ben: Why do I need more suits.

Chloe: Because you are the C.E.O. of a large billion dollar corporation and you should look the part.

Ben: Chloe I look good no matter how many times I wear a suit, so I always look the part.

Chloe: Ben you know that is not what I'm talking about.

Ben: Fine what are you talking about.

Chloe: Ben how much money do you have on you right now.

Ben: What does that have to do with anything.

Chloe: It has to do with you living in your office.

Ben: Chloe, I'm not rich anymore. I don't have much money now. I'm not broke, but right now all my money is tied up taking care of something really important, and I won't have any until the end of next month.

Chloe: So you're broke. Why didn't you say anything.

Ben: Because nothing needed to be said. Chloe I have everything I need, and don't need any help.

Chloe: Ben, you're living in your office.

Ben: Chloe I have lived in a lot of places, compared to the hotel's of Reno, the closet Gram gave me to stay in was better, and compared to the closet, this office is a luxury apartment.

Chloe: Why didn't you just move into the Butcher Shop, when you kicked Ricky out. You should be living there it's your birth right. Your family made their start in that apartment.

Ben: Yeah, I really want to live in a place where Ricky Underwood took every girl he fucked in Grant High. Including my ex-wife, and ex-girlfriend. The place where he started to raise his family. That place stopped meaning a damn thing to me the moment Leo gave it to him.

Chloe: Dad..(looks sternly at him) His name for us is Dad.

Ben: Fine (doesn't want to fight with her) That apartment became corrupted to me when Ricky moved in, and I will never set foot in that place again.

Chloe: (realizes Ben has a point since his return her feelings of protecting Leo had waned. She like Ben and her Uncles began to see Leo's arrogance at helping Ricky) Alright what about your assistant.

Ben: Nora, and I had a disagreement. I decided it would be best to alleviate myself of any distractions.

Chloe: So you a new C.E.O...

Ben: Temporary Acting C.E.O. (correcting her)

Chloe: What ever! You decide to get rid of an assistant of a billion dollar corporation at our busiest time of the year.

Ben: Maybe I didn't think it through, but I have been handling it.

Chloe: That's it. Have all your calls directed to the company calling service, and cancel all your appointment's for the rest of the day. You and me are having a Sibling Day Out.

Ben: Chloe you just bit into me about, how busy we are and you want me to take a day off.

Chloe: Yeah, the best part of being the C.E.O. even a temporary one, you can do what you like. Me being the head of Internal Affairs I can turn a blind eye to it. Besides you owe me a day, and a story about where you went after you left Reno.

Ben: (looks at her, but realizes she would win even if he argued like many women in his life he just couldn't win against them, he thought he had changed that. At least he won against Amy and Adrian)
Fine, where do you want to go.

Chloe: Berterelli's.

Ben: The fashion shop why.

Chloe: To buy you some new clothes.

Ben: Chloe I don't need any new stuff, and I can't afford it. Especially from Berterelli's

Chloe: Yes you can, catch (throws him a credit card)

Ben: What's this (looks at the platinum card with the name Benjamin F. Helen on it, he was surprised she got his name right).

Chloe: It's your company card, and don't lose it. It has a large account limit.

Ben: Chloe...

Chloe: Ben, you are C.E.O. this gives you access to that account, and since you are working for us, you can accept it. Just consider it your payment for the work you are doing, now come on. I have been wanting to dress you for years, and now that you have this new look I can really work with it.

Ben: What was wrong with my look before.

Chloe: Come on Ben.. the sweaters. You dressed like an old man.

Ben: I was cold. I was unusually thin back then.

Chloe: Well now you aren't so come on...(grabs his hand and pulls him out of his chair)

Geoff's Restaurant
11:22 AM

Amy, Adrian, and Grace meet up for lunch. Amy is very upset with everything Ben said to her, and how he acted. She feels that he is a jerk for how he believes that their relationship was meaningless, and that she used him. She feels that he's being unfair to her because she didn't use him, but deep down she feels she did.

Adrian: So how was your plan to see Ben yesterday? (knowing from her own meeting with Ben it wouldn't go well)

Amy: Oh you mean, Mr. Helen.

Grace: Mr. Helen who is that.

Amy: That's Ben's new last name. Stupid isn't it, what kind of name is that Benjamin Helen...(scoffs)

Adrian: (is stunned) Amy what are you talking about you know that name.

Amy: No, I don't Adrian. It's a stupid name, for a stupid jerk. Or some sissy. (gets angry at Adrian for not supporting her)

Adrian: Amy Helen was his Grandfather's name.

Amy: Ben's grandfather's last name is Boykewich

Adrian: How much do you really know about Ben and his family Amy? (looks shocked)

Amy: I know everything Adrian. I was with him longer than you.

Adrian: Apparently not long enough to know that Boykewich isn't even Leo's last name. (becomes defensive)

Grace: Adrian what are you going on about of course Leo's last name is Boykewich, it's well known. It's the name of his company.

Adrian: Just because it's the name of his company doesn't mean it's his last name. The company is name Boykewich, Leo's last name is actually "BOYKEVICH" with a "V" not a "W". He only let's people call him Boykewich because people get confused.

Amy: Why would you know this Adrian?

Adrian: I don't know Amy maybe because I had to share that name with him. As for the last name Helen. If you knew Ben and his family so well you would also know his mom's last name was Helen. It's Irish, and the name of an old Village in Ireland one that even has royal lineage. Ben Helen is the name of his Grandfather, the man who helped create Boykewich Int.

Amy: That can't be Ben told me he was named after his uncle.

Adrian: Yeah, his uncle Benjamin Helen Jr. or BJ. meaning his grandfather was Benjamin Helen Sr. His mom thought it would be a double irony she named him in effigy of his father Leonardo Davincii Boykewich, and in honor of Ben Franklin. at the same time she honored all the men in the family who they lost, as a way to connect Ben to all of them.

Grace: Wow, I didn't know that. So why did Leo name the company Boykewich.

Adrian: The butcher shop was named Boykewich Gracie, it was a play on words. His father did that in the 1950's to get people interested in coming to the shop. They were famous for making sandwiches. There most famous was a sandwich called the BOYKE-WICH.

Grace: (shocked at the catchy name) Oh I get it.

Amy: How do you know all this Adrian.

Adrian: Unlike you I was Ben's REAL WIFE. So I decided to make sure I knew about the family, and business I would be a part of.

Amy: Too, bad that it didn't last long. (becomes spiteful at Adrian so she reminds her of the failure of her marriage to Ben.)

Adrian: True, but at least I did actually, and legally marry Ben, and had sex with him... (sneering at Amy for her last remark.)

Amy: What makes you so sure I never had sex with Ben, Adrian. (looking angrily at her)

Grace/Adrian: WHAT!

Grace: (whispers) Amy you slept with Ben? When?

Amy: (comes to the realization of what she just said and is in disbelief) Never mind about that, it doesn't matter now.

Adrian: (is in shock and angry) Let me guess Amy, it happened a month before you came back and decided to marry Ricky.

Amy: (looks at Adrian in defeat) Yeah, it did...

November 24, 2024
Berterelli's Fashion Shop
12:22 PM

Chloe and Ben arrived at the shop at twelve, and spent nearly twenty minutes as Chloe looked over the jewelry, and new skirts that Mr. Berterelli had just gotten shipped in. Ben was looking at another item's that he just couldn't get his mind off of. In the jewelry section of Berterelli's were a set of identical bracelet's that the clerk explained were the "Sister's Serenade" bracelet's that were a big hit among young women that connected them as friends and siblings.

Chloe: Why are you looking at those bracelet's is there something you should tell me.

Ben: Yeah, you know what happens in three days.

Chloe: Yeah, it will be your daughter's 11'th birthday.

Ben: Eleven years. I just can't believe it.

Chloe: I know it's hard, but at least now you're here to...(didn't know the word to describe this)

Ben: To celebrate what would have been her 11'th birthday. Thank you again for going there when I wasn't here.

Chloe: Hey she was or would have been my niece. I'm just sorry she,...you know.

Ben: Yeah, I know. Did anyone else stop by her grave while I was gone.

Chloe: (knowing he means Adrian) No she never visited. I guess when she and Omar hooked up, she put that part of her life behind her, and that included her child with you.

Ben: (sad to hear it, but he came to that realization on his daughter's first birthday) It's okay something like that can be very painful.

Chloe: Painful or not Ben that was her child, whether she lived or not she should have at least acknowledged her at least once a year. That is what I call a selfish ungrateful bitch.

Ben: Then you would also have to call Dad, that as well. You didn't say if he visited or not, and I know he didn't visit my mom at all in the time I've been gone.

Chloe: How do you know.

Ben: Chloe, you forget I've been around all of them before you, and I know everyone a lot better than you. Dad could never go to the grave yard. Some things are just too difficult for some people. I can't fault them for that.

Chloe: Well they didn't seem to mind faulting you for literally everything.

Ben: No, no they didn't. But that's them, and not us. So let's get this shopping done. I have a dinner meeting tomorrow and I want to look my best.

Chloe: Now you're talking.

Chloe then takes Ben to the men's sections and begins taking out suits shirts, shoes, belts, and anything she thought would look good on her brother. When they come to the changing room she pushes Ben in and begins handing him the clothes. He comes out and performs a modeling show, which has been in several outfits with the music "I'm too Sexy for my Shirt".
As Ben was showing off the clothes Chloe had selected for him she, was marveling at how her brother had changed and become care free as they hung out. To her this felt like the old days when they first met, when they truly got to know one another as individuals.

As Ben was getting dressed she spoke with one of the tailor's named Georgio about getting Ben's measurements down. Unknown to other's Leo was preparing to re-marry Camille for their 10 year anniversary, which was in only two weeks. Chloe thought Ben being back now was a sign from God that things would work out so she deliberately gave Ben a handsome dark blue suit that would look good on him, but was over sized and had the other's that were in his size hidden. That way Georgio could get Ben's measurements for both the suit and the tuxedo that would be for the wedding.

Ben: Chloe the suit looks great, but did you find any a little smaller. This one is way to big for me.

Chloe: That was the smallest size they had Ben.

Ben: Well I guess I won't be getting this one.

Georgio: (a young Italian male that was gay, and knew Ben from long ago) Ben that's ridiculous this is Berterelli's, you know the saying "We have every suit, and if we don't we can make it. If it doesn't fit, we can make it. If it doesn't look good on you, can make it. If you can't afford it we can make it". We can make anything accept our clothes from looking great".

Ben: That's great Georgio, but I don't see how you're going to make this fit.

Georgio: Nonsense turn around, take off the shirt, and jacket and let me get the measurements.

Ben: That's okay Georgio, I'm alright.

Georgio: What are you uncomfortable about a gay man seeing you like that.

Ben: No, Georgio that's not it.

Georgio: Then what are you afraid I won't like what I see, Hmmm?

Ben: Georgio, that isn't it either.

Chloe: What, are you worried about what I'll see, Big Brother? (both trying to make Ben feel embarrassed)

Ben: Fine.

Ben removed his shirt and showed them what he didn't want Chloe to see, the scars he received in his time away. Both Chloe, and Georgio were shocked at the burn on Ben's shoulder, and the large scar that he had on his side where his appendix used to be until that incident in Las Vegas. The only thing that took their mind off the burn and the scar was his tattoo, which both were marveled at. The wolf tattoo was primitive in markings, but could easily be seen as a wolf howling at a star. This mesmerized both Georgio and Chloe because unlike most tattoo's this tattoo didn't jut out in lining against Ben's skin, it went into his body as if it had been carved, and into him.

Chloe: Ben what happened how did all of this happen to you.

Ben: I think that I should start with my stay in Vegas.

Chloe: Vegas, as in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ben what were you doing there.

NOTE FROM AUTHOR: The next few chapters will be chunked to save time.

GUEST STAR APPEARANCE

Georgio ... Neil Patrick Harris (Barney from "How I Met Your Mother)