Chapter 6: Recognition and Opportunism
After getting an easy tuna noodle casserole in the oven for dinner, Mary settled into her comfy armchair with a nice glass of white wine and her pilfered porn magazine. She didn't recognize the publisher or the title, but the articles were fluffy and fun, and the pictures were very nice indeed.
She still hadn't identified the centerfold, though she could swear she'd seen him somewhere recently. Not that it mattered. She had about forty minutes before her husband got home to their small apartment. She might as well enjoy her spoils.
The quiz entertained her for a good twenty minutes, but only because she ran through it a few times to see what it took to get different answers. She paused in her reading long enough to take the casserole out of the oven to cool, and quickly returned to her wine and porn.
The white wine made even the silliest erotica stories tolerable. The article on Banora White dumbapples seemed factual enough, but it was pretty boring and she skipped back to the mystery man in the centerfold. Where had she seen him before? She didn't recognize the credited name of Michael Stevens. It was probably fake and yet so unimaginative. Honestly, a spread like that deserved something a lot flashier.
"What's that you've got there, Mary?" her husband asked while hanging over the back of her chair like a vulture.
Mary started. "Oh, you're home already, Eddie?" She glanced at a clock. Almost five-thirty. Whoops, she'd lost track of time. She set the magazine aside and stood up. "Let me heat up some veggies, and we can have dinner."
"Sure."
She went into the tiny kitchen, and out of the corner of her eye saw Eddie drain her wine glass and pick up her magazine. "Don't judge me!" she called. "I had a rough day. Accidentally ran my cart into a freaking Turk, if you can believe it, and knocked him over. I deserve a little treat after that disaster."
"Yeah? And you weren't kidnapped and dragged to their underground torture chamber?"
"Ha ha. I don't think that really happens." She considered the idea for a moment. "Not to peons like me, anyway. He seemed nice enough once I got past the dreadful scarring on his face. But I was pretty scared about it for a while."
Eddie laughed. He flipped open the magazine and of course went straight to the centerfold.
Mary rolled her eyes and braced herself for a lot of teasing. She dumped frozen broccoli into a pan, added water and some salt, and put it on the stove to heat.
"Ifrit's burning ballsack, Mary!" Eddie yelped. "Do you know who this is?" He ran into the kitchen waving the open magazine around.
She shook her head. "I know I've seen him before but I haven't been able to place him. Is he an actor on some show you've watched?"
He gaped open-mouthed at her. "How can you work for Shinra and not know who he is? Mary, where did you get this?"
"He's someone from Shinra?" She peered at the centerfold hanging open from her husband's hand and deliberately didn't answer his second question. She wasn't about to admit to petty theft committed in a fit of pique, not even to her nearest and dearest.
"This is Angeal fucking Hewley! You really didn't know?" Eddie grasped the loose end of the magazine and held it open so they could both inspect it. "He's years younger, but I'm sure that's him."
"A SOLDIER First? One of the really famous ones?" She stared hard at the centerfold's face for a change. "You know," she said slowly, "I think you're right."
"He's the 'dreams and honor' guy, isn't he?"
"You can see the 'dreamy' part," Mary said with a laugh.
"It's dreams, Mary, dreams," he corrected, giving her an annoyed look. "Dreams and honor."
"You forgot pride. The catchphrase is 'Dreams, Honor, Pride.' That's what's always on those recruitment posters and videos that feature him." Honestly, the recruiting ads featuring Sephiroth were more common than the ones for Hewley and Rhapsodos, and were the ones she paid the most attention to. She just loved Sephiroth's silver hair, not to mention his tall, perfect form. That was probably why she hadn't recognized Hewley in the centerfold. Well, that and the fact that she hadn't been looking much at his face.
"Ha. A real celebrity." Eddie's expression turned first thoughtful then excited. "You know what this means? Our ship has come in! It's a windfall!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I bet we can sell it. It's gotta be worth something to someone. I know there's a collector's market for stuff like this." He handled the magazine with much more care than before. "Get a plastic bag or something to store this in. We need to keep it in as good condition as we can."
"Who's going to buy a beat up old porno, Eddie?"
"Doesn't this guy have a pretty big fan club? I bet they'd pay for it."
Mary's eyes lit as she caught her husband's excitement. "Yeah. Yeah, he does." She grabbed her old PHS and did a quick search. "They're called The Keepers of Honor."
"Is there a contact number?"
"Yeah. I'll call it." In the kitchen, the broccoli started boiling over. Mary dropped her PHS on the table and ran to get the pan off the burner.
Eddie laughed. "Forget the food."
"You wanna clean up the mess if it boils over?" she called back.
"No way! But once you're ready, we need to call that fan club!"