Dean was taller than Roman'd assumed. He was also more athletic and toned than he'd expected. Roman wasn't someone that willingly looked at another naked man unless said man was in a porno so he naturally passed on looking at Dean's nude photo shoot for the Body issue. He was with Sydney and that told Roman all he needed to know.
It still didn't explain why the issue of Renee was the elephant in the room. It didn't make any sense why Renee was flapping her gums about a supposed relationship when Dean was in one with Sydney. Maybe Dean – or better yet, Sydney – could share some light. "Is Syd available?"
"Oh, I'm sure you're aware she's not here," Dean closed the door behind him and met Roman in the hallway, "may I ask what brings this visit?"
A slow smile spread across Roman's lips. The younger blond male was actually challenging him. It was kinda cute. Dean reminded Roman of The Little Engine that Could. "Sydney," Roman's eyes danced with delight, "the only reason."
"She's not here," Dean repeated with a little more bass in his voice, "I'll tell her you stopped by."
"Fine," Dean slightly shrugged, "I'll call her later." He began to leave.
"What do you want from her?" Dean's words stopped Roman. He smiled again and pondered if the answer in his head was really one he wanted to give Dean. He used his better judgment and silenced the real answer.
"I just wanted to talk to her," Roman turned around, "that's all."
"About?"
A half-smirk formed on Roman's face. Dean reminded him of a strict parent who had to know everything about a friend's family even though they would probably never meet. "That's between me and Syd."
"When it comes to Sydney, it concerns me as well."
"No, it doesn't," Roman shook his head and Dean walked closer to him, stopping just a few feet away. "I'll give her a call later."
"Look, bro, whatever it is you want with Sydney, you need to handle it with me now." Dean warned, agitated he had to repeat himself. "If you can't do that, don't even bother calling her later."
"Okay," Roman accepted Dean's Pepsi challenge and walked up to him, "I'll ask you instead. Can you tell me why Renee is taking credit for Syd's drawings and you're not stopping her?"
"Syd knows all too well about the drawings and what Renee is doing," Dean defended, "she's well aware of this."
"You didn't answer my question," Roman challenged, "you're not stopping this Renee chick from taking credit. If you cared about Syd, you would put a stop to it."
"I care about Syd enough where she won't know this conversation took place," Dean challenged back.
Roman chuckled and shook his head. "You don't get it, kid."
"Oh? Please enlighten me." Dean folded his arms. "What don't I get?"
"As long as Renee is in your picture, I'll be in Sydney's." Roman flashed a brilliant smile. "Believe that."
Eden couldn't stop shaking her head as she flipped through website after website. She'd never trusted the use of Google to be an important research tool other than just being nosey on an ex or digging up gossip on a celebrity.
Googling Renee Young, however, was proving to be an important tool.
Her background proved nothing remotely close to art. Not a sculpture, not a painting, not even a bad remake of the famous clay-throwing scene in Ghost. She was a well to-do socialite who was pretty much lucky in life. Not a blemish on her record and Eden was pretty sure Renee's smile (along with other assets) got her out of plenty of trouble. Eden naturally assumed some of that trouble had to have been an art class.
She tortured herself to watch and stomach as many episodes as she could of the Real Housewives to see if Renee mentioned anything at all about being an artist. Nothing. It was a well hidden secret. It was deathly private to her.
It was a flat-out lie.
Eden had more than enough evidence to expose Renee but it still left the question on who was the real artist? Eden noticed whoever the artist was, she recently posted a photo of what many would consider to be an engagement. Still, there was no word from Dean's camp and the artist remained purposely hidden.
Wait a minute…
Eden looked carefully at the blog and noticed a contact listing. A phone number and an email address were listed. The name, however, made Eden's eyebrows shoot up to Mars.
The name listed was Bonita Applebum.
Getting through the dinner with Stephanie and Hunter was more challenging than Renee'd imagined. They kept dropping hints about a huge signing bonus as long as Dean was guaranteed to be on the show. With rumors swirling about an engagement, Renee needed the extra publicity to confirm her status on the show.
Furthermore, she needed to confirm her status in Dean's life.
She was about to ask Dean if some big news such as an engagement took place and he hastily cut her off. That was okay. She'll ask him that question later. Since he didn't mention it first, it probably didn't happen. Good. This was real good. It was going to give her time to develop a strategy.
She combed over the mysterious artist's blog again and finally found the contact information she'd desperately hoped to find. She wondered if it was always there and she just didn't see it. It didn't make a difference. She was going to put a call into the woman and get to know her. When all was said and done, she was going to make the woman an offer she couldn't refuse. It was going to be great exposure for them both.
The name on the website was most peculiar. Bonita Applebum. What an awful name for someone who was an amazing artist.
"Do you honestly think Roman would go over to your house?" Jane asked.
"Girl, he's probably there now," Sarah popped a chocolate in her mouth before she wiped her mouth, "I imagine he and Dean are having a nice long chit-chat."
"Fuck!" Sydney laid her head down on the table. This couldn't be her life. She was going to introduce Dean to her family that afternoon before she took him back to the airport. Now she just introduced them both to a fight and a haste exit.
"Maybe Dean will call if things get bad?" Trisha offered.
"Girl, Dean is 22, not 12." Sarah reminded. "I doubt he's going to need his girlfriend's help to fight his battles."
"Her battle," Jane reminded, "Roman is Sydney's problem, not Dean's."
"That could be true," Sarah agreed with Jane for once, causing shock in Jane, "but for now, Dean can handle this on his own." Sarah's phone rang and she picked it up. "Hello? Yes, this is Bonita Applebum. How can I help you?"