Always Belle

"Amazing," Belle said, smiling endearingly at me from across the table. "Ate tacos the same way too. With a fork and knife."

"Who?" I asked, my mouth stuffed with marinated pork, onions, and tortilla.

She just continued staring at me, randomly enamored.

"Listen up everybody, grab your shots!" My Uncle Frank got our attention from the other side of the table, his glass raised. "I want to make a toast! To my brilliant nephew, for nailing down his first job after college! To Kenny!"

My uncles, Colin, Belle, and I all clinked our shot glasses, then downed a celebratory shot of mezcal, courtesy of the Mexican restaurant we were eating at.

"Alright Ken," Uncle Artie said, "you've kept us in suspense this whole week, time for the big reveal! So which lucky company will reap the benefits of your labor?"

"A tech company called Seelby," I declared, proud to state my pending employer.

My family rang out in cheers, with my cousin shaking my shoulders, and my uncles slapping me fives.

"Oh my god, that's such great news!" Belle said. "Ken, will you be working under Leon?" she asked, surprising me in that she actually name-dropped the guy, in front of Uncle Artie of all people.

"Uh, yeah, under Leon," I replied.

"Hey wait," Colin chimed in, "Isn't Seelby the company working on that next-level virtual reality?"

"I read something about that!" Uncle Frank said. "They're trying to release a headset more expensive than my mortgage! Are you gonna be working on that, Ken?"

"We'll see, I hope so!"

"Wait B, who's this Leon guy?" Uncle Artie casually asked.

I glanced at Belle, curious to see how she'd describe the man who had railed her multiple times at his castle sex party.

"Babe, Leon works for Seelby! Coincidentally, Sol and I met with him last week. We finalized a deal on a neat little investment for me."

Uncle Artie smiled. "Nice. Model

and

entrepreneur, my future wife!"

"Hey you two," Uncle Frank said. "Been a couple of months now since the engagement. Have you lovebirds started the wedding planning yet?"

"Belle's domain!" Uncle Artie pointed his thumb, deferring to her. "If it were up to me, I'd walk the aisle tonight, stomach stuffed with tacos and all."

Belle playfully tapped her fiancé's cheek, before turning to her future brother-in-law. "Frank, I've actually got a lead on a very exclusive, very scenic venue. If I'm lucky, we might be accommodated there sooner rather than later. Just keep your calendars open in the near-term!"

"Copy that," Uncle Frank said. "Speaking of near-term, the fumigation guys are coming over tomorrow instead of next month. Unfortunately, that means Colin and I will be nomads. Hate to impose, but do you mind if we stay at your guys' house for a couple days? A week at most."

"Of course, Bro. Mi casa, su casa!" Uncle Artie replied. "I just hate I won't be around to host. Gotta fly out to Australia for a week-long convention tomorrow morning. But hey, if you'll be at the house, maybe you can take a look at our master bedroom. Belle's been wanting to do some work on it. Tell him, B."

"I want to carve out a balcony," she said. "One that would face the sunrise."

"Yup, no problem! Piece of cake!"

"Really?" Belle said excitedly. "You don't need to measure stuff first or anything?"

"My mantra as a building contractor:

Always

say yes to the client," Uncle Frank said. He then turned to his son. "Col, did you wanna stay at your mom's instead, or at your uncle's?"

"Are you kidding, Dad? The answer is always Uncle Artie's mansion!" Colin replied.

I tracked my cousin's eyes. He had flashed a quick smirk at Belle, getting her to subtly shake her head, probably reading his dirty mind.

Belle weighed in, "Always a pleasure to fill our home with more loved ones. It'll be fun!" She then stood from her seat. "Colin, bud, can you walk me to my car? I parked far and it's dark outside. I need to fetch a special something for our celebrant here."

A curious Colin escorted Belle outside the restaurant.

I turned to my uncles, wondering what she had up her sleeve for me. They looked genuinely oblivious, not knowing either.

When the pair returned to our table a few minutes later, Belle was holding a white-colored gift bag. She walked up to me and handed me the item, a smile adorning her face.

"Ken, before you open this," Belle said, "I just want to say, I know I haven't known you that long, but it's been such a joy having you around the house—and more importantly, in my life. You've been a stellar assistant, and I'm so happy you'll be moving on to bigger and better things. Hope you enjoy this gift. I'm so proud of you!"

"Thank you, Belle!" I reached into the gift bag, realizing it was a Real Madrid jersey, featuring the latest design for the current season, Enriqué's name printed on the back. I closely examined every inch of the shirt, expecting to see his actual signature somewhere, but it was non-existent.

"Do you not like it?" Belle worryingly asked, probably noting some involuntary expression on my face. "Ken, I thought he was your favorite player?"

"Um, I love it, Belle... Thanks." I stood up from my chair to hug her, knowing I should be unconditionally grateful.

Colin chafed the jersey's fabric between his fingertips. "Cuz, I gotta admit, this new design is pretty fresh! Wish I had myself one of these! Without that overrated guy's name on it, of course."

I stared blankly at Colin, trying to reconcile in real-time the "unjustness" in our respective gifts from Belle. In Swantree Lake, he had received a pair of her personally-worn underwear with

my

favorite player's autograph on it. In comparison, I was given something much less exciting, something that could've easily been swiped off a hanger at a retail store right before this dinner.

"By the way, Dad," Colin said, "You know what, I think I'm gonna stay at Mom's during the fumigation after all."

"Changed your mind?" Uncle Frank asked.

"Well, with Roux having flown back to her college, Mom's been texting me more often. I think she misses us. So yeah, it might be nice for me to spend more time with her."

Colin's change of heart struck me as odd. Some minutes ago, I clearly witnessed the elation on his face, the knowing expression he'd given Belle, basically acknowledging the lewd things they could get up to living under the same roof.

Did something happen when Belle had brought Colin outside? They were only gone a few minutes. Not enough time to do anything sexual of note. More likely, she must've somehow convinced him to no longer stay at the mansion. But what could she have said, or offered, to get him to renege on a lodging situation so ripe and juicy for mischief...

***

The next day, mid-morning, I was in my room chatting on a phone call with my buddy Devin, whom, last week, I had also secured a job for, alongside me at Seelby.

"Ken!!!" Devin's voice blared through my phone's speakers, getting me to momentarily retract the device from my ear. "It's gonna be so dope working together, making real money, working on cool tech shit! I don't know how you worked your recruiting magic, but I can't thank you enough!"

"Honestly Dev, it's the least I can do. Appreciate your friendship, for real, dude."

"Likewise!" he said. "So what's your housing situation going forward? I ask because there are a bunch of decent apartments close to the Seelby offices. Some are offering sweet deals, like knocking off the first two months of rent. Would you, by any chance, be interested in being roommates?"

"Oh, um..." I hesitated. It had nothing to do with Devin. In truth, I had no immediate plans to leave the mansion. Being close to Belle had its perks, to say the least.

"I promise you, Ken, I'm low-maintenance. And I actually

like

cleaning."

"Um, I think I might want to continue saving money living with family. At least for now."

"Ah okay, no worries. That's what I did during college, but now I'm itching for my own place."

Just then, my ear started vibrating, prompting me to check my phone's screen. Eva was calling me.

"Hey Dev, my girlfriend's on the other line. I'll talk to you later."

I switched the call to Eva's, smiling to myself, still in disbelief that I could now use such a label to describe her. After our intimacy in Swantree Lake, we had a warm heart-to-heart, where we openly expressed our feelings for one another. From there, we both decided we'd give a romantic relationship an honest go, feeling more assured than ever that we had a better handle on

us.

"Hi cute guy. Whatcha up to?"

"Just chilling at home," I replied. "How's your Monday been so far?"

"Finished brunch with Nina. Now I'm headed to a practice studio to rehearse some of my songs for tomorrow night," she said with glee.

"What's happening tomorrow?"

"You won't believe this, Ken, but remember Gordon? We both met him backstage after the Enzo concert. He was the guy from Enzo's entourage that I gave my contact info to."

"Oh right, yeah. You even played your music for him," I said, recalling the night.

"Yep, so he messaged me, saying there's this artist showcase tomorrow that he'll be at to scout unknown singers. He wants to see me perform live, know if I'm the real deal. So I've signed up!"

"Real deal meaning what though?" I asked, curious.

"If my voice fits the bill, he said he'd consider bringing me into the studio to collab with Enzo, who's looking for up-and-coming vocalists, for features on his next album!"

"Holy shit, Eva! That's exciting! Wait, so can I come watch you perform?"

"Duh! What kind of boyfriend would you be if you didn't," she replied, being teasing. "It's at 8pm. Are you free?"

"I'll be there! Maybe I'll bring a groupie sign."

"You do that, pal! Then maybe I'll treat my #1 groupie to something

special

, if it all goes well." She giggled. "Okay, gonna start my practice session now! Talk to you later!"

After my call with Eva ended, I couldn't help but feel excited for her and her burgeoning prospects.

A clanking metal sound outside my room suddenly caught my ears, prompting me to check it out...

***

When I stepped outside my room, I realized the double doors to the master bedroom next to mine were propped slightly open. Who was even here? Uncle Artie had already left for his Australia flight. And Belle was supposedly at the gym.

I peeked through the door. To my surprise, I saw Bryan—Uncle Frank's friend and co-worker— standing in the bedroom, staring at the walls, a tool bag on the floor by his feet.

I silently observed him, with question marks galore. Knowing Bryan's pervy history with Belle, I expected him to be fooling around with her possessions, like snooping inside a drawer, stealing a bra. Or reaching into her laundry basket, sniffing her panties. But no, he was stationary, looking like he was just taking stock of the space.

"Whatcha watching?" A voice behind me whispered into my ear.

I jerked my body around, surprised to see Uncle Frank standing behind me, accompanied by Belle, both of them in gym clothes, donning confused looks.

I simply pointed toward the master bedroom, hoping who was inside it would speak for itself.

Belle swung open the double doors, opening the floodgates for us to all enter.

"Bryan?" Uncle Frank said. "What the hell, man!"

"Sup Frank, what's wrong?"

"Why are you alone in my room?!" Belle sharply asked, a simmering look on her face.

"Frank told me to go ahead," Bryan said.

"No Bryan, I said 'go ahead' as in leave your house at 10, so I could meet you outside the client's front door. I already told you I'd be coming from the gym. Jesus, man, come on."

Belle had her arms angrily folded over her chest. "How'd you even get into my house?!"

"It was unlocked." Bryan shrugged his shoulders. "I assumed that that was on purpose, so Frank and I could go ahead and do our balcony assessment."

"This type of shit ain't good for business, Bryan," Uncle Frank said. "You can't be trespassing into a client's home."

"Bro, why do you keep calling her a client? That sounds formal as fuck. She's basically your family." He laughed off my uncle's sternness.

"Frank!" Belle said, "I want him out of my house. Now!"

"Okay, hold on!" Bryan said. "Everyone calm down. This is all a simple misunderstanding. I'm a professional, and this is a serious job to me. Belle, if I offended you, I apologize."

Uncle Frank turned her way to gauge how she wanted to play this.

Belle stared daggers at her intruder. "If I banished you right now, Bryan, for which I'd obviously have good reason to do, you'd probably call me a cunt on your way out, wouldn't you..."

Belle's uncensored language caught me by surprise. Then I remembered Vegas, when Bryan had called her

that

after not taking kindly to a particularly kinky act. It seemed like Belle hadn't forgotten his select choice of words that night.

Bryan stood frozen, unsure what to say now. Then his eyes shifted, landing on me. He gave me a look of disdain, as if it was

my

fault that he was in deep shit.

Uncle Frank stepped forward, looking to mediate. "Alright, why don't we all go downstairs. Bryan, you should head home. I'll assess it myself."

"Frank, I didn't do anything weird here!" Bryan pleaded his innocence.

"Just leave!" Belle replied, coldly gesturing for him to get the fuck out of her personal space.

***

Later on the same day, Belle had cooled off and seemingly moved past the whole Bryan incident.

She told me and Uncle Frank that she was treating us both out to dinner. Interestingly, she insisted we go back to the Mexican place where we had celebrated my new job last night.

At the restaurant, Belle treated herself to a pre-meal margarita, while my uncle and I opted for non-alcoholic agua frescas.

"So Frank, everything good with your guest room?" Belle asked, sipping her extra-large drink. "Need any other accommodations? More pillows, towels?"

"Everything's great. Thanks again for hosting," my uncle graciously said.

"Okay so lay it on me, is my sunrise balcony doable?" Belle asked.

"It can definitely be done, but it might take a while for me to get the permits. Plus, I'd need to work with you on the design, but it should all be straightforward from there."

"Great! The design can match the one in Ken's room. That's basically what I'm shooting for." Belle then turned to me. "And Ken, I apologize for my foul language earlier. With Bryan. That whole situation had me boiling."

"It's alright, Belle," I said.

"It's just that Bryan had triggered a certain, traumatic memory for me..."

"You okay?" Uncle Frank asked her.

She sighed, looking to share more. "On one of my early international shoots, I was staying at a hotel with a lot of open windows. Some pathetic creep recorded me through one of them, from a building across the street. It was a total invasion of privacy. I wouldn't have even known about it, but he tried to blackmail me! Luckily, Sol and I were able to get the cops to arrest him."

"Jesus," my uncle said. "Hope that pervert's rotting in a jail cell somewhere."

Belle faced me. "Ken, when you saw Bryan in my room, was he doing anything creepy?"

"Um—"

"Alright folks, are we all ready to order?" Our black-haired waitress arrived, turning to my uncle. "Why don't I start with this handsome gentleman here."

"Sure," Uncle Frank said. "The carne asada special for me. Does that have to come with rice and beans?"

"We don't usually allow order modifications for the specials, but I'll make an exception for you. Just let me know what

you

want," our waitress said with an interesting inflection.

"Rice and salad it is then," he replied, then folded his menu up.

"Great choice! Love a man who's not afraid to order a salad." Our waitress playfully winked at my uncle.

I was next. "I'll have the carne asada special too, rice and beans are fine."

"And for me, I'll do the chicken mole," Belle said.

Our attractive waitress wrote our orders down on her notepad. "Perfect, so I'll have these right out for you folks. And let me just say, what a delight, serving you all again so soon." She flashed my uncle a flirty smile.

When our waitress departed, Belle sipped her margarita, then turned to my uncle. "She's cute, huh Frank."

"Charming enough to do her job well," he replied.

"She's flirting with you! She didn't see a ring on your finger. And hey, I don't see one on hers."

Belle's topic of conversation felt like something I shouldn't be privy to, a subject matter meant only for my elders. I suspected her margarita had loosened her filter.

"First off," Uncle Frank said, "please don't tell me

she's

the reason why you wanted us to eat here again."

"For the sake of argument, let's say I casually chatted her in private yesterday, somehow found out she was also working tonight..."

"Good god, Belle." My uncle sighed, shaking his head.

"Frank, it's been over a year since Olivia..."

"And?"

"And I don't know, maybe it's time to start putting yourself out there again. Olivia obviously has."

"Just because my ex-wife is dating someone doesn't mean I have to be."

"Okay, that's fair," Belle said. "But I just wanna see you with someone that makes you happy. Don't you miss having that?"

"I have my kids. It's enough to keep me going."

"Sure, but Colin's 21 now. He might decide to move out of your house after he graduates. And Roux, she's away at her college. Not to mention the job waiting for her further away in New York."

"Wow, way to rub salt in the future wound." He chuckled.

"You never answered my question though. Don't you miss having someone?"

Uncle Frank took a moment, probably debating how forthright he wanted to be in this context. "Let's just say divorce has changed my perspective on a lot of things. Now I'm more selective."

"Selective? Or do you mean scared?"

"Easy, Belle," he replied, cautioning her. "This is supposed to be a family-friendly dinner. Kenny's here." My uncle gave me a look of disbelief, reacting to her unsolicited forwardness.

Belle indulged in her margarita, licking some salt off of the rim. "So you don't think she's cute then?"

"Well, I didn't say our waitress

wasn't

attractive..."

"I think we should play a little game." Belle looked giddy.

"What are you talking about?" Uncle Frank warily replied.

Belle finished the last of her drink, then waggled her eyebrows.

Ten minutes later, our black-haired waitress reappeared, holding three plates of food and placing them in front of each of us. "Alright folks, I've been a little curious... What's brought you back here for a second straight night?" She turned to my uncle after asking the question, looking eager to interact with him.

Belle interestingly placed her palm over Uncle Frank's hand resting on the table, then affably smiled at our waitress. "My fiancé here, he really enjoyed the top-notch service yesterday."

"Oh, fiancé!" the waitress said, taken aback. "For some reason, ma'am, I thought the other man last night was your partner."

"Nope. That'd be my future brother-in-law," Belle said all too quickly, referring to Uncle Artie.

"Uh, I see. And is this..." Our waitress looked at me, inquisitive.

Belle spoke on my behalf, "This young man here, this is my future stepson."

Uncle Frank and I exchanged confounding looks, both of us wondering if Belle's beverage had been spiked with something else.

"Well ma'am, I wish you and your family all the best. Congrats on the engagement." Our waitress politely smiled, getting ready to leave our table.

"Remind us your name again?" Belle quickly asked, while squeezing my uncle's hand.

"I'm Jenna."

"Lovely name for a lovely woman," Belle said. "Do you have a family of your own, Jenna?"