Friday evening was family dinner time. Or in the Ramirez's sibling's case, all Eric's boys round for dinner. Tanya had started cooking from the early afternoon, and boy, was it a hefty task. Making dinner for five working men was similar to cooking for five thousand normal men when it came to their appetites, so she always made sure she prepared. Although the rationing limited creativity, she always managed to find things to cook with, even if it meant stealing a few things when she went into the city. With an afternoon of cooking keeping her occupied, she still couldn't take her mind off the man she'd been seeing frequently for the past few months. Jerry Carter. Her secret love. They'd managed to keep it secret for months. She didn't know how they'd been able to do it but they had. Her brother had no idea she was fucking his boss. The thought always made Tanya's skin crawl; if he ever found out she'd be road kill. Bending down with her cooker gloves pulled up over her hands, she took out the rather large dish that had been slow cooking for a few hours, she hardly had time to place it down on the side before the front door slammed shut and a familiar voice bellowed through the house.
"We're home, sis!" The boy's leather shoes made tapping sounds on the hallway tiles, and Eric's voice could be heard over the bustling sound of them hanging up their jackets and fedoras. Penny made a quick leap out of her miniature dog bed in pursuit of some much-needed attention, since her owner had been slaving away in the kitchen too busy to make a fuss of her pup. The kitchen door swung open, and Eric's big bear arms instantly swooped down to pick up his sister's ginger pooch, giving her a kiss on her head between her ears. "Hey, lil' monkey." As soon as the words left Eric's lips, Penny's petite tongue attacked his chin to give him her version of welcome home kisses.
The guys pushed past Eric into his kitchen and began lingering around the stove like a bad smell, they were obviously hungry after a long day of catching bad guys. But, Tanya was focused on someone else. Someone who was yet to come through that tattered wooden door. Eric interrupted her thoughts, joining the three other hungry boys crowding round the scent of their dinner. "What ya' made us, Tan?" Her longing eyes diverted from the door, opening the ceramic lid of the hot dish. "Just some beef stew. I managed to get some potatoes to put in it this time." Rationing made creativity in the kitchen very limited, sometimes Tanya resorted to stealing a few things when she was in the city, a few random veggies and some fruit when she walked past the grocery stand on the corner and the owner wasn't looking. "You're wasted on us, sis." Eric kissed his sister's head and momentarily laid his hand on her hip, he knew she'd worked on this meal. The boys tried to take a look into the dish, but Tanya closed it before they could get a glimpse. "Sit down and you can all try it." Along with Eric, his three crew members eagerly took their usual seats around the kitchen table. Tanya bought the dish over to the middle of the table, placing it down with a large serving spoon for the ravenous group to dig in at their own pace. Penny soon curled up to lie on Eric's lap as he ate.
Then he appeared.
The man Tanya had been waiting to see for days, since their last meeting, she'd been having what she called 'withdrawal' symptoms from him. She made sure her hair was nice and put on pretty dresses in-case he came over unannounced. She'd told some of the girls at work about him, but they'd sworn to secrecy, and Tanya knew they weren't blabber-mouths like the rest of typists she worked with. And now he was stood before her, tipping his head slightly in his usual greeting when women were around. He presented her with a small bunch of wildflowers tied round the middle with a yellow ribbon, her favourite colour. "For the lady of the house..." He gave her his signature soft smirk, and let her take the gift. The pair was constantly weary around others; careful not to show any PDA or remotely give away they were secretly meeting nearly every night. Jerry watched the heathens eating ferociously at the kitchen table, shaking his head at the sight. "Hey, you're not animals. We have a gal present." As soon as their boss spoke, the three men calmed themselves to a better eating manner; of course Eric had already got there before them. He was always well-mannered. Tanya took in Jerry's scent when he grew close to her. Boy, did she want to jump on him right now and kiss him right there and then. He subtly leant his head forward to whisper in his lover's ear, his hand making its way down to her ass to quickly grab a feel. Constantly keeping an eye on Eric to make sure he wasn't paying attention to them. "There's more gifts for you later." Tanya's stomach flipped internally, like it frequently did when she was around him. She looked up to give him a smile that was enough to drive him crazy, yet warm his heart at the same time. He loved that about her. He was rapidly falling for this girl and he knew it, that's what scared him the most.
After the guys had ploughed down their second helpings for Tanya's home-cooked meal, they sat back to relax and chat about their days. They could talk about work around Tanya, as they knew she wouldn't tell a soul about any of it. She didn't need to, she knew they were working to help the community and potentially save lives, and she needed to leave them to it. Jerry kept making eyes at her, those knowing eyes that let her see he was craving her. He reached a hand under the table to rest his palm upon her thigh, coaxing it higher ever so slowly. If his boy's weren't here, he'd be claiming her on this kitchen table, right here and now. Tanya subtly bit her bottom lip, and they exchanged a few more glances of sexual tension.
A sudden loud bang of fists against the table broke their playful silent flirting. "Stop it." The words hissed from Eric's lips like he'd just unknowingly swallowed a snake, his fists shaking as they tried to bury into the wood of the table. Tanya's heart seemed to cut out momentarily as the secret lovers both turned to face their fate, Jerry gulped back his pride, knowing this was about to get ugly. "I've had enough. I know what you two have been doing!" His voice was growing louder each time he spoke. Eric and Jerry's three understudies get up to leave the room, taking that as their cue to make themselves scarce before all hell breaks loose. They'd seen it as well, but they knew to keep their mouths shut when it came to their boss.
Tanya managed to find her voice, it took her a while, but it appeared amongst her fear over this secret she thought her and her lover had been successfully keeping under the carpet. Her words were covered in obvious anxiety. "What do you mean?" Why did she think opening her mouth was a good idea? Her outburst only made Eric's temper worse; he stood up, the chair flying backwards behind him. "You know what I fucking mean!" He launched at his sister, grabbing her arm so she rose up beside him. Jerry instantly stood; his partner's temper was definitely something he'd learnt not to mess with, just like his own. "Let go of her…" The words slipped out at first, but Jerry remained standing his ground. No way would he let someone handle his girl like that, even if it was her brother. Eric looked over at his boss making a bold move, but he was seeing too much red to listen, or even understand what he was doing. His own sister and best friend had betrayed him; it was like his own heart had been cut out.
"Gus!" Eric called out to his understudy, who came rushing back into the room. "Put her upstairs." Tanya was thrown in the man's direction, which was reluctant, but gently grabbed hold of her arm. He nodded over to Eric and began attempting to drag Tanya away. She instantly refused, and shook her arm from his grasp. "No, don't do this. Eric, we can talk about this. I'm sorry… Please?" Her cries were ignored, and Eric turned to Jerry, cracking his knuckles one by one. Jerry was a much bigger build than his right-hand-man, but Eric didn't care, he was angry and upset by his behavior. The man who was supposed to be his boss, and his protector. Instead he'd gone behind Eric's back and slept with his sister, god knows how many times. Eric moved closer to Jerry, who had his fists clenched by his side, ready to swing a blow if it came to that. But, all he could focus on was Tanya, who had now slid in-between the two men. "No.. Don't hurt him." Her voice was broken, as tears rolled down her cheeks; she stared at Eric until he backed off slightly. He couldn't understand why she'd do this to him, his own sister. "Get out my way, Tanya." Uh oh, she thought. Eric only called Tanya by her full name when he was really, really, really pissed off.
The confrontation came to a halt, as much as Eric wanted to shove his sister out of the way and give his boss the beating he deserved, he couldn't bring himself to harm her. Or act violently in her presence, he was bought up better than that. And he made sure his little sister was safe at all costs. "I think you need to leave." He glared at Jerry, who was protectively standing behind Tanya, in case Eric decided to lash out. Jerry nodded and grabbed his Fedora, attempting swallowing back his troubles. "Look, Eric, neither of us meant for this to happen. It just did, we knew we were making a mistake." Tanya glanced between the two most important men in her life, her head moving like she was at a tennis match. "But I can't help that I've fallen in love with her." Jerry hung his head shyly after that line; it wasn't something he ever talked about. The L word. Hell, normally it didn't even exist in his world, but Tanya came along and changed that. Now he would take a bullet for her without even thinking twice. Eric was speechless, what the hell was going on? Did the infamous Jerry Carter just say he'd fallen in love with a woman? No way was this actually happening. Tanya reached a hand up to rest upon Jerry's cheek, persuading him to look at her. She gave him a knowing smile, as the butterflies in her stomach gradually began to calm down. She didn't need to say anything; her eyes always said everything for her. He knew she loved him. That was enough to allow him to realise she was all that mattered to him in this world, the woman standing in front of him was the only one he wanted, the only thing he needed. Jerry's arm slide around Tanya to pull her closer to him, his palm resting protectively on the small of her back, rubbing his thumb there gently to help her calm down. "We know you don't like this, and we understand that. But, I'm never going to hurt her. You have to believe me when I say that. I'd do anything for her…" The butterflies were back, and Tanya was powerless due to his words. She'd never heard Jerry talk like this before; she'd gone from a one night stand to his one and only in a matter of months. It was like her tongue had turned numb; she couldn't speak, or even register what he was saying. Eric covered his eyes with his hand, his fingers rubbing his temples as he tried to make sense of the situation. This wasn't real, surely? He loved her. He really loved her.
