Chapter 23 – Oh What a Month

Monday nights were dedicated Bonzi nights. Their first one was the night of the Massimo nut allergy incident. They were drinking to forgot the impending disciplinary meeting that was to take place the following day that both Bo and Lauren had been called in for. It was also the moment when Bo shared the full "Lauren and being a Billionaire" story. It was late and they were rather drunk when Kenzi broached the subject.

"Bo, we needed this. It's been a while." Kenzi said. "Now we have polished off most of the vodka, you said before that you wanted to talk to me about Lauren?"

"Yeah, well you know most of it. The only thing not said is that Evony dug up some stuff on her, apparently, her parents own most of England." Bo said matter of fact. Kenzi looked surprised.

Bo continued. "Lauren had kept it quiet as she wanted to know how I would feel about her, without the money. I understand that, as I did the same thing. I was not upfront about my past until I knew how she felt about me. So, we got past that. Made up, she told me she loved me and I told her that I loved her back. And we're happy. I have found my soul mate and I'm hopelessly in love with her."

Kenzi had her mouth open but had not said a word.

"So, besides from me meeting my billionaire, heiress soul-mate, life is the same." Bo smiled.

"Re-e-wind there Bo, a billionaire? I always said she was a good one." Kenzi joked. "Hopelessly in love hey? Not heard that since the movie Grease and that didn't turn out well for John Travolta? He had to join the run team and wear that awful cardigan to get his girl."

"So! what I'm John?" Bo crossed her arms over her body and smiled.

"Yeah Bo Bo, 'cause she's an Olivia. Well, she was until you told me what you told Evony." Kenzi drank her shot and lined up more. Kenzi was surprised at Lauren's antics but stated that you could not judge a book by its cover, you needed to get deep in the layers.

"Oh Kenz, don't please. I feel terrible for that. Lauren will not be happy." Bo admitted.

"Relax. I have your back if Evony says something it will make her look pathetic and desperate. Besides you can just tell Lauren what you told me, you were basically berated into revealing all after she was making nasty comments about her being vanilla. So, do you think she can help us pay off Pavlo? We still have that remember?" Kenzi asked.

"No Kenzi, we're not going to ask her. I'll ask for more shifts or maybe speak to Trick, sell some of my stuff, my car maybe? But we're not asking Lauren." Bo was serious; she would not allow Lauren to pay off her debt. That was not how she wanted to start this relationship. Kenzi nodded.

"Well, it's a good job then that I already have a plan." Kenzi tapped Bo's shoulder. "Leave it to me to fix us, like I always do Bo Bo."

"Should I ask?" Bo said, raising an eyebrow.

"Best not." Kenzi laughed.

The following day Kenzi put her plan in place. She decided to host poker games in the old part of the hotel and was sneaking crates of beer in through a hole in the fence when she met him. A tall, dark stranger stood in the doorway.

"Hello Miss, can I help you." he softly spoke, cocking his head sideways.

"Who are you?" Kenzi stood defiantly, she knew everyone who worked at the hotel, so he was either new or trespassing.

"You can call me Hale. So, what are you doing, I understand this part of the hotel is closed off to patrons." He slowly walked toward her, eyeing up the room. He guessed that it was the old disco room due to the circle building. It had a lowered area in the middle, that he gathered would have been the dance floor, a booth in the corner and to the right looked like what would have been the long bar.

"I'm staff, my name is Kenzi and I'm just relocating stock." she lied.

"Relocating hey?" he repeated her, not believing a word she had said.

"So Hale, are you on holiday?" Kenzi asked, not sure on what yet to tell him and whether to trust him. Kenzi had trust issues with many people, but something about his warm eyes told her that she could.

Ignoring the question, he continued, "Do you need any help, to erm, relocate these crates?" he smiled.

"No, I'm fine." Kenzi walked past him, leaving the crates on the bar and walking back outside. Hale followed.

"Ok then. Take it easy and nice to have met you Kenzi." He held out his arm, which she took, and kissed her palm. With that, he was gone.

An hour later Bo and Lauren had their meeting with the new assistant manager Hale Santiago. He was understanding to both Lauren and Bo's case; however, the procedures had not been followed and Bo had threatened another guest. They left the meeting with a disciplinary each, Lauren a first written warning and Bo her final written warning. One more incident and Bo would be fired. As part of the discussion, Bo was under strict instruction not to be seen in the guest area of the hotel, which included Lauren's room.

Later that night when all three were discussing their day Kenzi realised who Hale now was and wondered why he had not said anything to her or was he simply waiting to jump a disciplinary meeting on her. Regardless, she went ahead with her night, looking over her shoulder the whole time. Understandably Bo did not go to help. It felt like a trap, she asked Kenzi to cancel but she had already filled the spaces and the money she was set to make would pay back her half of Pavlo. After that night Bo had asked her not to host another, and that she would pay back her debt by taking on extra shifts and selling her car.

Four weeks later they were both debt free. Bo had got off the phone to Trick, her beloved car, the Blue Chevelle, had now been sold and Trick was transferring the money to the bank for her. The last $900 to Pavlo would be paid back. Bo had requested extra shifts the last few weeks, however, it meant less time spent with Lauren. Lauren had offered to pay it all off for her naturally, but Bo declined. A decision now she wished she had not made. With both their schedules they had not spent more than a few hours a day together. To make up from the time apart Lauren had moved in with Bo, at least that way they got to spend the nights together. She would stay awake for her at night or sit at the end of the bar until her shift finished. In return, Bo would spend every breakfast with Lauren before her office opened. This meant that they were constantly tired. Of course, it never helped with their marathon sex sessions they had every night.

With the three of them living together in such a small space, it caused friction at first. Bo was a constant referee between Lauren and Kenzi. She felt stuck between a rock and a hard place, on one side her best friend and the other her girlfriend. The main argument was the bathroom situation, with Kenzi walking in several times with either Lauren looking for the one thing or another or her hour-long baths. Finally, they all settled into a routine. Kenzi had started dating Hale so was out most of the time, except Monday's, their Bonzi night.

It was a few days before Lauren's birthday weekend. Bo had got the time off for her and Lauren, Kenzi dating Hale certainly helped the situation. Bo was going to take Lauren away for the weekend. Bo had enlisted the help of Tasmin in the arrangements and had met her in the local travel agent. They had been in the travel agent for an hour already and Bo was nowhere nearer deciding than when they walked in.

"Bo, if you want different then try this," Tasmin said opening the brochure pages and passing it to Bo. It was "Local Flavours Tours" which specialised in the unusual.

"Tam, I said I want it to be special, not different." Bo handed back the book and flicked through the brochure that the travel agent had handed her.

"Bo, Lauren has been to all these places before. She has been to Luxor, sailed down the Nile, seen the pyramids at Cairo and even visited Jordon. Nothing you do will change that, but maybe how she does it with you can be different. You will hate this guided tour stuff and she will sense it. You will both be uncomfortable. Just bring it back a bit, you don't need to spend this crazy money and stay at the Hilton. You don't need expensive boat trips and private guides. You don't need to fly there by helicopter. You only need two standard seats on a low-cost airline, staying in a local hotel and each other." Tamsin walked over and placed her hand on Bo's shoulder. Bo was spending everything she had to impress Lauren when the truth was she didn't need to. Lauren was madly in love with her.

"Really, a billionaire on a budget airline. No way. It's first class all the way for her, she deserves the best and I will work my hardest to give her that." Bo said defiantly making the travel agent smile, after all, she did work on commission and the money that Bo was looking to spend would make her a healthy amount.

"Bo, please. Just put that down for a minute. What do you want to happen the most on her birthday weekend? What do you see you both doing? And I don't mean the after-hours stuff. I mean the normal stuff. What do you see?" Tamsin turned Bo around in her chair and took hold of her hands and crouched down in front of her. "Close your eyes Bo and tell me, what is your perfect date?"

Bo closed her eyes and allowed Tamsin's words to enter her thoughts. What did she want most? An image of Lauren smiling immediately entered her thoughts. "I want Lauren to be happy." Bo blurted out.

"And, what is she doing? what are you doing?" Tamsin continued to hold her hand.

"She's pointing out the Pyramids of Giza to me and rambling on about who it was built for." Bo let out a laugh and Tamsin joined her.

"Sounds like her. Carry on Bo." Tamsin held onto Bo's hand with one of her own and used the other to pull a seat for her to sit on. Her legs were not good at squatting for too long.

"We have moved, we're in a museum and she's excitedly telling me about different things." Bo continued.

"And. Are you having fun, Bo?" Tamsin asked.

"Yes. I'm smiling also. Then we have found a small, local restaurant to eat in. It's just us two and it has a rooftop, we can see the stars and it's magical. We're now back in our room, it's simple, the curtain is open and so is the French patio door and we can see over the rooftops of the buildings below. This is getting weird." Bo opened her eyes.

"Sshh. Close your eyes Bo and carry on." Tamsin encouraged her further.

"Erm, ok, so we slept there. I have skipped the after dark details as you requested and the next day we just strolling hand in hand wandering aimlessly around the city. We venture into the desert on quad bikes and get to see the real, unspoilt areas." Bo smiled.

"Open your eyes, Bo," Tamsin asked, letting go of her hand and resting back on the chair. "Did any of that involve a Mr Grey helicopter ride, or an expensive hotel or a guide following you around? Did it? So, let's go back to what I showed you before."

Bo nodded. Tamsin was right, what she wanted was time with Lauren, trying to impress her would fall flat as she knew that she could never do that with the little money she had. She could only do that by being herself and to ensure that Lauren was adored and left to be herself also.

Tamsin turned to a slightly annoyed travel agent and spoke, "Can you price up two budget airline tickets, a budget hostel in the centre of town preferably with a rooftop restaurant and a trip into the desert like the one in the brochure entitled "Local Flavour Tours".

The travel agent smiled at the pair and typed into her computer.

Tamsin and Dyson had a great month, they had been promoted at work. Hale thought that security needed to be heightened due to the election that was soon to take place. Both her and Dyson had been promoted to Head of Security for the whole Sentido Group. They had a team of staff in each hotel that they were responsible for. They were out of uniform and in their own clothes and loving their new-found status. Dyson and Tamsin had moved into a new place, the hotel put them in an apartment just outside Hadaba Square. All managers were required to live off-site as an additional security measure. It was a small two-bedroom apartment with kitchenette, living space and an en-suite bathroom. Tamsin was reluctant at first, it was a big step to move in together, but at the time it felt natural.

They had managed to get Lauren to have dinner with them the night before she left for the weekend in Cairo with Bo. A party with them all was arranged for the Monday after they returned.

"Hey honey I'm home." Dyson slung his coat on the nearby chair by the front door and strolled into the kitchen. They had been living together for three weeks and things were going well. Tamsin was in the kitchen making dinner, Lauren was due to arrive in just under an hour.

"Hey Dy, don't forget Lauren is coming around tonight. Did you get the red wine I asked for, it's her favourite?" Tamsin asked.

Dyson held up the bags in his arms. "Yes, like the good boy I am."

Tamsin moved closer and took the bags. "We both know you're not a good boy, that's why I'm with you." Tamsin put the bags on the counter and pulled Dyson to the back bedroom, they still had an hour for the roast to cook and Lauren to arrive and she knew exactly how she wanted to spend it.

A few hours later, Lauren had arrived, they had eaten and laughed together. Dyson was telling her stories of when he worked in California and some of the strange jobs he was on. Tamsin would interrupt when she knew of a time when she had to input into those cases and they both wondered why they had never crossed paths before. Lauren watched them and smiled, it was clear to anyone with eyes that they were crazy on each other and she was happy for them both. It was an unspoken rule that they never mentioned the three weeks that he had dated Bo. Now a distant memory, all had moved on, all were happy and that was just a bump in everyone's lives. They were now on post dinner drinks. Lauren had already drunk her bottle of red and was happy to sit and listen to them both all night. A break in the conversation and Tamsin looked over to Lauren who seemed to be in the middle of her own conversation with herself.

Noticing Tamsin looking at her, she spoke. "Tam, that dinner was really nice. And I love my present. Thank you." Lauren lifted her arm and shock her new bracelet. It was a Pandora and Tamsin given her first charm 'Best Friends'. Lauren loved it.

"Good, I'm glad you liked it. You have been quiet tonight, are you ok?" Tamsin put her drink down and Lauren looked up.

"I need to pop out and walk to the shop ladies, we're out of wine." Dyson got up sensing they needed a private conversation. Once he had left Tamsin turned again to Lauren waiting for her to speak.

"I need your help, Tam," Lauren admitted finally. "I had lunch with Crystal yesterday and she told me some interesting news that apparently, Bo has been speaking to Evony about our sex life." Lauren went to explain the story in detail, including the stockings and the table sex, and how Crystal knew it all.

"Fuck Lauren, I don't know what to say. Is it true?" Tamsin asked.

Lauren nodded.

"Out of hours Lauren hey? I was just with Bo a few days ago with the travel agent, she did not mention to me that she had blurted something like that out. But then again, there's no other way that Evony would know those kinds of details. What are you going to do?" Tamsin asked.

"I will talk to her this weekend. In the meantime, I need help with something else." Lauren said.

"With what now?" Tamsin asked.

"Bo," Lauren answered.

"Well, I kinda got that. It's always Bo. What is it?"

"I need to tell you something but you have to promise not to say anything, ok?" Lauren moved from the table and took her wine with her and sat on the sofa, Tamsin followed. Lauren told Tamsin about Bo's past. She had managed to get all the information online about the death but needed the medical records and police records, therefore, needed Tamsin's help.

"Shit Lauren. This is big, you know that the minute she lands on US soil she will be arrested. Her passport will flag on the system." Tamsin stood up.

"No she won't, she's using her father's name, on a Canadian passport. I registered her here with that name on for the Registration of Canadians Abroad. I know what I'm asking is a lot. I need that file so that I can help clear her name." Lauren pleaded.

"And what if you can't? What if she did accidentally kill that boy? What if she spends five years in prison?-" Tamsin asked.

Lauren took a moment to think, then looked Tamsin directly in the eyes, "I will wait for her, I will wait forever, she's my soul mate and I love her unconditionally. I know that makes me sound like a hybristophilic, but I'm not."

"A what?" Tamsin asked.

"Hybristophilic. Someone who is attracted to people who have committed horrendous crimes." Lauren answered.

Tamsin took a gulp of her drink, wiped her mouth and looked back at her best friend. "Ok Lauren, I think I know who can help. I will help you, you will get that file." Tamsin answered. Lauren stood and held her best friend close. After thanking her she left. Tamsin was sat in the corner of the room when Dyson returned. He placed the bottle of red on the counter and opened it. Pulling a chair over towards Tamsin he refilled her glass and asked her to tell him what was wrong. A simple look told Tamsin she could trust him and she told him all that Lauren had said. He agreed to help.

Dyson had not left the department on good merit, he resigned before the Internal Affairs department had a chance to investigate him on charges of misconduct. Dyson explained to Tamsin that he had been protecting a corrupt partner and before he knew it was also being tarnished with the same crimes. The same partner had managed to stay and was still working for the LAPD. Dyson knew he could call on him, he owed him. Dyson took out his phone and dialled the familiar number. It only took a few minutes before the file was sent to his email account and resent on to Tamsin's email account.

Friday 7th June - Later that night

Lauren had just got back to Bo's apartment, it was quiet. Bo was at work and Kenzi was out at Fusion with Hale. She flipped opened her laptop and smiled, Tamsin said she would help and she did, the file was already emailed to her. All the medical and police records along with the crime photos were all in a ZIP file that was simply named DENNIS, MARY-BETH Case Number 7754-24601. Lauren held the cursor over the open button and paused. The contents would no doubt be upsetting; a young man had died. Lauren clicked and one of the folders was named PHOTOGRAPHS, the first picture was of Bo. It was taken for the initial report. She would have been only eighteen and she looked so scared. It showed Bo in the clothes she had been wearing on that fatal night standing by the place it had happened. Lauren continued to look through the files and make notes. She needed to be quick, as she did not want Bo to know in case it was a dead end and any hope was shattered.

"Hey Lo, I'm home," Bo announced as she walked through the door a few hours later. Lauren shut the lid of her laptop and stood up to greet her.

"Hey, baby. Good night?" She asked, wrapping her arms around Bo's waist.

"Not really, just a long arsed day." She smiled.

"Come, let's take a bath together. Maybe it will get better from there?" Lauren said seductively.

Bo needed no further encouragement, she took Lauren's hand and led her to the bathroom. Within minutes the steam was rising from the tub, bath salts had been added and Lauren had lit the candles. They lay silently together, with Bo's back resting against Lauren's chest. Lauren's legs lay loose over Bo's body.

"Just think, this time tomorrow we will be in Cairo and I will have three full days with you," Bo said, breaking the silence.

"I know, I can't wait. Can you tell me now what has been planned?" Lauren asked.

"No, it's still a surprise. I only hope you like it." Bo said, sounding nervous.

"If I'm with you, then I'm going to love it. Just like I love you." Lauren hugged Bo tighter.

Bo wiggled free and turned in the tub, water splashing over the sides as she did. She rested on her knees in between Lauren's legs and kissed her. It was not planned, it was just being told again that Lauren loved her made her so happy and complete, she had an overwhelming urge to kiss her. Lauren loved how Bo's body almost sparkled with the water, bits of soap suds still clinging onto her skin. The bottom of her long dark hair was wet and the ends in the water. Bo looked so beautiful, yet the image of the younger Bo looking frightened made Lauren even more determined to stand by her and get her through this ordeal.

Their kiss deepened, Lauren pulled Bo in more, wanting more. Lips were beginning to swell as tongues clashed together. Lauren pulled Bo even closer, the need to feel her taking over her senses. The images from earlier were still playing on her mind. Lauren felt angry that the town had attacked Bo for that poor boy's death. By all accounts from what she had already read, it was an accident. Yet Bo was still having the finger pointed at her. Lauren pulled harder on Bo's hair and tugged at her hardened nipples, indicating that she wanted more and she wanted it now. There was no time to move this into the bedroom as hands explored each other's slick wet bodies. Lauren manoeuvred onto her knees in front of Bo, face facing the back of the bath, talking Bo's hand to her sex, "I want you - hard." Bo gulped as she entered her from behind. Finger-fucking her until she came repeatedly, holding her blonde locks in her hands as she rode her from behind. Bo had never seen this side of Lauren before and made a mental note to talk about it later, for now, her Lauren needed it like this. Lauren turned, pushing Bo back to the other side of the tub, pulling her legs from under her and laying them down. She sat on her lap and used her legs to tighten her grip, with one hand she reached under the water and found Bo's folds. Making easy work from the slippery bath water, she went deep inside of her, knuckle deep. Looking deep into her eyes as she kissed her. A familiar rise built quickly and more water was splashed onto the floor as Bo crested. Exhausted, and out of breath, Lauren slowly sat back down at the other end of the bath. Missing her closeness already, Bo took one foot in her hands and started to massage it.

"Wow Lauren, is everything ok?" Bo asked, concerned.

"Yes, it is now," Lauren replied.

"Well Doctor, that was amazing," Bo spoke, still massaging one of Lauren's feet.

"It has only just started," Lauren answered. Slowly getting up, and walking naked and wet into the bedroom.