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Stone Creek
Granger Grove Gated Community; Thurlow Residence
It’s been weeks since the couple announced they were having twins. Kirsten, herself, could feel the secret baby growing within her own belly. She wears a flowy floral dress that loosens up just enough at her stomach to give her as much comfort to get through the day without as many eyes on her as possible.
Caitlyn Thurlow, who is nearest the stove to Kirsten’s right, offers a sip of the broth she has been preparing. Once Kirsten gives the approving nod, Caitlyn returns to stirring the contents of the pot.
There’s a silence in the room. Kirsten looks around the room. “What? Twins don’t run in our family tree, and we know that twins are some sort of cult like bargaining chip for the Joplins. I’m just saying.”
Iris opens her mouth to respond, but Caitlyn beats her to it. “I think it’s fair to say these babies won’t be bargaining chips for anyone.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
Diem Joplin, who has been standing nearby with a cup of coffee in her hands, sighs heavily. “Although you’re right about my dreaded family, I think it’s best to focus on Iris and the babies today, Kirsten.”
“Oh, come on,” Kirsten places the half a head of lettuce back on the cutting board, “are we seriously just going to ignore the fact that they abandoned Iris and now that she’s pregnant with golden twins — act like they’re not going to come crawling back? You know they’re one step away from banging on that door —”
“I think that’s enough!” Diem challenges.
Kirsten rolls her eyes. “They could at least acknowledge Iris, is all that I am saying. She deserves that much respect.”
“I —.” Iris musters, with tears in her eyes.
Diem moves over to Iris’ side. “No, you don’t have to respond to such nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense.”
Iris clears her throat. “I’m going to go freshen up real quick, I’ll be right back.”
As she scurries out of the room, Diem chases after her.
“Next time lose the tact, sister.” Marina snips.
Emmet enters the room. “I just saw my wife walking out of here with tears in her eyes. What the hell happened?”
“Ask the ice queen.” Marina responds.
A prickling feeling overcomes Kirsten at the nickname. She knew that it was going to be a risk to voice her opinion but felt it was necessary to bring up. Ever since the revelation that Iris was the baby that the Joplin family abandoned the question was simmering on the edge. Kirsten can feel her brother’s eyes burrowing into her so she turns to face him.
“Emmy, I wasn’t trying to upset her.” Kirsten says, trying to force a smile, “I was just saying that we need to prepare for the inevitable. What are you going to do when they come barging through your doors trying to take those babies away from the two of you? What then?”
“They wouldn’t be able to.” Emmet stands. He looks between the women in the room with a slight bit of worry. “I mean, come on, I’m a lawyer for heavens sake. There’s no way that I would let that happen.”
Kirsten rolls her eyes. “You’re a corporate lawyer.”
“I think that’s enough.” Caitlyn nudges her oldest step-child. “What has gotten into you, Kirsten?”
“I wasn’t going after her!”
The frustration starts to take hold. Kirsten started the day hoping to blend seamlessly into the background in case anyone noticed the change in her body and asked questions, but at some point, her thoughts about Iris and the twins rose to the surface. It began to itch, and with her trying to find something to occupy her mind, it just boiled over and into the room.
Kirsten turns to the window that looks out into the backyard and sees her youngest kicking a soccer ball around with Marina’s husband, Ryan, and his sister, Megan. She thinks back to the conversation she had with her husband at the hospital and knows it would’ve been best for her to be as quiet as ever today.
But there’s no way she can put the worms back into the can. “I wasn’t. Honest! But it’s a question that you need to be asking yourself as well, Emmy. The Joplin family is ruthless. They’re an iron clad family of lawyers and they will do whatever they can to take those babies if they find out about Iris.”
“Nobody is going to tell them anything.” Emmet threatens.
Kirsten shakes her head. “Don’t look at me.”
“But after today, I am.”
“I think that we all need to take a breather.” Caitlyn starts, she keeps her eyes glued on Kirsten as she moves over to Emmet’s side. “Nobody is going to take your children away from you. There are so many people that are on your side. So let’s put that to rest. What you should focus on right now is that amazing wife of yours just ran out of here in tears. How about you go check-in on her?”
Emmet nods, glaring at his sister as he does so.
“I wasn’t trying to go after her.”
“But you did.” Caitlyn snips. “Let’s just get back to preparing the food and remember that today isn’t about us, but about your brother and his wife, and their blessings that are on the way.”
“I can get behind that.” Marina beams, her wine glass hiding the smile on her face as she has just witnessed her oldest sister get a scolding. Marina turns to see her son in the dining area, splayed on the floor playing with his dinosaurs.
Kirsten follows her younger sister’s gaze and wonders how much longer Marina will be able to keep up the guise of calm and collected. She knows she’s been having trouble letting Henry out of her sight.
Stone Creek
Now Town; Stone Creek Apartment Complex
He sits up, the slight curly hairs on his chest hold a few beads of sweat from his slumber. The good thing about today is that he’s not needed in the office, other than a zoom call with his team to discuss their benchmark projects.
After his conversation with James last week he is feeling better about his position within Thurlow Industries, but now he has a different type of cloud hanging over his head. Some of the people on his team are very green and keeping them in-line may prove a problem. If Bentley was reading between the lines correctly then he now knows that James Thurlow doesn’t exactly trust the people they are entering into a merger with… and if that is the case, liabilities can be costly.
It’s a lot more weighing him down than before.
Not only does he feel the need to keep proving his team’s worth, now he must make sure they aren’t the reason why the merger fails.
He can hear the front door to their apartment, and then clattering noises near — what he assumes is the large island that separates their kitchen area from the living room. Bentley thinks back to what Olivia was talking about last night, he knows she had a yoga class this morning and had to stop by the Stone Creek Ledger to double-check some sources…
“Benny,” he hears her voice call out, her voice is heavy like honey, “I got a few things from the grocery store down the street…”
He smirks slightly, and brings his legs over the side of the bed. Resting his arms upon his muscular thighs as he continues to dribble out of drowsiness.
Yesterday he had lunch with his parents and continued to dodge the question about children. He can hear Olivia down in the kitchen, her voice carrying through their apartment — a Norah Jones ballad he has heard her sing numerous times. Bentley knows that Olivia would make an excellent mother, though, he also knows that she is still on the fence on if she wants children.
It’s been a conversation he doesn’t want to push.
He places the palms of his sweaty hands to his forehead and leans against his thighs once again. He can smell that he needs a shower, but he focuses on his breathing instead. Emily wanted to change the world, she wanted children and Bentley wanted to make all of her dreams come true.
“Benny,” Olivia calls to him.
Bentley lifts his head to find her in the doorway. Her hair is high above her head, with curls falling onto her almond skin. He thinks, she looks sexy like this. There’s something about Olivia Joplin that brings him peace. Ever since she arrived back into his life — after her failed marriage, and troubled venture into broadcast journalism they have both re-ignited the small cinders that once were.
Olivia closes the space between the two of them, her legs are long and slender but toned from her days in track, and her current workout routine.
He can feel her warmth as she moves closer to him. “I didn’t want to wake you this morning.”
“But you want to wake me now.” He bemuses.
Olivia looks down into his lap and Bentley follows her gaze. “Someone is awake now.”
He lets out a low primal growl, before scooping her with his right arm and into his lap. The two of them sit in this position for a minute, he can smell the sweet vanilla from the perfume he bought for her birthday last year.
“Careful, Benny,” Olivia gasps as he touches her body, “you still have to get ready for the baby shower.”
“When did they start making those things co-ed?” Bentley grumbles. He thinks about having to show up to Emmet’s house and playing the humiliating baby games just to entertain the expecting parents.
“Are you becoming a traditionalist, Benny Wilkinson?”
He scoffs at the thought.
A flash of Emily plays in his mind and Bentley swears he can hear the brunette’s giggle as he presses his lips to Olivia’s neck.
Olivia pulls away. “You are going to make us later than we already are!”
“What’s a few more minutes?” Bentley pleads.
But Olivia takes his hands into her own and locks eyes with him. “Actually, if you do have a few more minutes there is something that I would like to talk to you about.” She pulls her body off of Bentley’s in a tangled, awkward show of limbs and skin. “The other day, when we had dinner with your parents…”
He can feel where the conversation is going. So Bentley braces for the impact while his mind tries to find the words that Olivia may want to hear. “They did it again, didn't they?”
“They don’t mean to do it on purpose.” Olivia replies. “I know that.”
“But…”
Olivia raises her eyebrows, in a very dramatic, knowing way, “I think that they still don’t understand our relationship. Or at least, where we are within it. I know that they would be happy either way. Greta and Miles are popping out children like a pez dispenser.”
“I don’t need that image in my mind.” Bentley shakes.
This garners a chuckle from Olivia. “I just mean. What you had with Emily and that life that the two of you were creating for each other… trust me, I thought I had it too with Richard before he cheated on me with my best friend…”
“Liv,” Bentley pleads.
But she shakes him off. “I just want you to know that even though I may not want children, or to get married, or to have the white picket fence and the family gatherings during the holidays… it doesn’t mean you have to just box it all up and shelf it. Those emotions just don’t go away…”
With his right hand, he cuffs it under her chin and brings her closer to him. “I am choosing not to get married, or have the children because I understand what our relationship is. We don’t need any of that to be happy.”
This gets a huge sigh of relief from Olivia. “Can you tell your mother that?”
“That we won’t be having children… ever?”
“I didn’t say ever.” Olivia replies. “Even though us having children is unlikely, we don’t know what the future truly holds and if at some point we change our minds — then we change our minds. But I don’t want Daphne Wilkinson to keep holding out hope for a little version of you running around her house any time soon.”
Bentley leans in for a kiss. “Fine.”
“Benny, I’m serious.”
He nods his head as he pushes his face past her defenses and opens his lips to receive her own. He nods it more furiously as he leans her back against their bed, Olivia scooting her body up, he can feel her warmth as he, on all fours, crawls up her body kissing her neck, and then her breasts.
“We are going to be late.”
Bentley looks up at Olivia. “Let them wait.”
Then, he scoots his body lower, undressing the lower half of her body, tossing her clothes onto the floor of their bedroom. With a growing smile, he nibbles on her thighs and causing Olivia to whimper in pleasure.
——————
A few blocks over, the sounds of chatter can be heard over the house band playing a slow jazz tune. Although it’s barely half past noon, Sisyphean’s has managed to hold a busy crowd of patrons above the city of Stone Creek.
The matron’d, a tall brunette with a strong jawline leads Shannon Thurlow through the gathered tables and straight to her great-grandmother’s favorite table. Sitting there, is her old friend, Noah Collier, in an expensive suit and a player's smile.
“You know,” Noah says, “it’s not polite to keep a man waiting.”
This gets Shannon to shake her head in amusement. “Noah, if you keep requesting to meet me here at my family’s table we might as well just have this conversation out in the open — or, invite Vinessa to join us.”
Noah grins, mischievously, “don’t tempt a man with a good time.”
“Have you thought more about my offer?” Noah asks, though she feels it’s less than an ask and more of a will.
Shannon takes the water cup to her right. “I told you my children’s inheritance is not on the table, Noah. You have to know that I am serious about that when I say it is so. Besides, I think asking you to look into the proposal was a bad idea. You were right when I initially came to you about Vinessa, I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,”
Noah exaggerates his movements, a slosh of the martini glued to his hand wets the table cloth. He doesn’t pay it much mind. Instead he continues his warning, “I was looking over the contracts and there is something to be wary about.”
This piqued her interest, but also made her stomach churn. “What is it, Noah?”
“I can’t tell you until we have an agreement, Shan.”
Shannon leans forward, “I don’t like that you call me that. I don’t like how you’ve been treating our friendship, actually. It feels —.”
“Transactional?” Noah scoffs. “We have always been this way. Even when we were in our twenties… anytime you needed something, I was there to help out. Anytime I needed an alibi, you were there with the evidence. Our relationship has obviously hit a wall and you don’t seem to want to budge it, is all.”
“You’re still such an arrogant ass.”
Noah shrugs. “Maybe, but you’re the one investigating your friend.”
“I’m not anymore.” Shannon goes to move from the table.
But Noah waves a hand in the air. “I think that’s a mistake.”
"My only mistake was trusting you with this information, Noah. I should have trusted my instincts more about Vinessa and I wouldn't have to be entertaining you all the time." Shannon says more in realization as opposed to him.
Shannon pushes her chair back to leave, but Noah leans forward. "Vinessa knows who Jack Malinger is."
This stops her.
"They've worked together before in a merger for another company." Noah smirks, knowing he has her attention. "So, like I said before, maybe your children's portfolios are on the table?"
There's a silence between the two of them. Negotiations aren't exactly Shannon's forte, although, she has been known to pocket one or two wins of her own. She makes a move for her glass of water and eyes Noah.
"This isn't how I usually negotiate things."
"She has a working relationship with him, Shan. I think your children will eventually forgive you." He says through a smug smile.
Stone Creek
Sage Gardens; Old Granger Manor
This morning she made it her mission to get the children dressed and ready for her mother to pickup and shuttle to the baby shower so that she could have a few minutes to herself while Miles went to the police station. After the last few months, having that run-in with Gillian at the hospital felt a tad bit desperate with a shake of hope.
“You’d be compensated, I assure you.”
Greta scoffs. “I don’t understand how that would work out.”
“It’s very simple.” Gillian bites back, she shimmies her way around the foyer and towards her Hermes Birkin, rummaging through the bag. She pulls out her phone and reads back what seems like a conversation she had with her aunt, Patsy. “10% commission on the fake listing of the property — all expenses paid. A bonus $10k if she’s able to help us solve the issue.”
“What exactly is the issue at hand?”
Gillian sighs, though, Greta doesn’t know if it is in annoyance at yet another question, or if she was holding it in for the dramatics. “This has to be kept confidential, you understand? There seems to be someone buying up commercial properties in Stone Creek and they’re getting dangerously close to the Adeline Holdings.”
“Not the coveted holdings.” Greta snips sarcastically. It’s a wealth that has been whispered about for eons and although she knows of it’s existence for as long as she has been a real estate agent, it’s worth has been kept a secret.
“This is serious Greta.”
“Do you really think that someone is going to fall for this scheme?” Greta bites back. “The listings in that portfolio have been off the market for longer than either of us have been alive. There’s no way listing one of those properties is going to provide the response that you’re looking for.”
“These building are prestiges. Even mentioning listing one of them will have everyone in the city drooling at the mouth — you know that. There has never been a proposition like this since the beginning of time. You need this opportunity.”
The two women sit in silence for a few beats.
When Greta arrived at the manor there was a chill that ran down her spine. She had never stepped foot in the place, her car has never driven up the drive to the daunting and captivating three story home. So once she stepped through the threshold she has felt this bottomless pit in her stomach. Having had this conversation with Gillian hasn’t eased the feeling.
“Do you know anything about the person you’re looking to trap with this honey pot?” Greta asks, intrigued at the thought. She knows that her uncle Corey is working with a mysterious buyer as well. It could be the same person, though, that seems too much a coincidence. It still leaves room on the table for interpretation.
“Aunt Patsy is blind to the buyer.” Gillian responds. “This wouldn’t even be on my radar if she wasn’t wailing at all hours of the night about this whole ordeal. I’m serious, she makes me want to drown myself in her tears. It’s exhausting.”
“I get it.” Greta grimaces. “That still doesn’t give me any idea of how to market this building. Will I even get to step foot inside, or even photograph the place for the marketing?”
Gillian shoots her a glare. “You’re not going to be touring the place with worthless clients, Greta. For heavens sake, you got kidnapped and held hostage trying to sell that condemned house on St. Peter’s Street… you would definitely be strangled if you stepped foot inside this building.”
Bringing up her kidnapping by Rodney Burnett was a low blow, but it was also to be expected coming from Gillian. Still, the commission alone was worth the bruised ego and if she played her cards right she might even get the identity to her uncle’s buyer in the process.
Greta ponders the offer and locks eyes with Gillian. “You make it really difficult to have a simple conversation with you sometimes.”
“I’m just giving you the facts. You should be lucky that I’m also giving you exclusive rights to this fake listing as well.” Gillian folds her arms, pleased with herself. “So do we have a deal or not?”
Greta nods her head. “We have a deal.”
.: On Concrete Shelves :.
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