Friends With More Benefits (23 page)

"You can be a part of this baby’s life, but what
are you going to do—drop out of school and transfer to Miami? Give
up all your dreams," Victoria said as she stared at him with a sad
expression.

"We could make it work. I could get a job and
support you and the baby. We could be together, but only if you
really want to be with me," he said hopefully.

"I have over four million dollars in the
bank."

"What? Really?"

She nodded. "So I don't need any financial
support."

"I'll say, but I still could—"

Victoria sighed, "Are you hearing me? I know I'd
screw us up. I get bored easily. I'm not built to be someone's
girlfriend or wife. You have one chance with Caroline—don't be an
idiot and blow it."

He turned away as a tear fell from his eye. He
stood, wiped his face, and then looked down to her while
desperately holding back his emotions, "You…you look me in the eye
and tell me you don’t want me, and that you want me to be with
her."

Victoria stared up to him as he waited, his
breathing labored. She realized that all she'd need to do would be
to reach out and touch him and then they'd be in bed together
making love again. He'd move to Miami, they'd have the baby, and
everything would be perfect for her…but what about for him? What
about twenty years from now? No she couldn't do it to him.

He repeated, "Tell me you want me to be with her
and not you."

Victoria shook her head no, but her heart
screamed for her to not say it. It came out anyway as she stared
directly into his eyes, "She's the one for you. I want you to be
with her. I would mess us up. I know that."

Jim breathed out deeply; his emotions were
tearing him inside out, and his gut was churning. He curled his lip
while rubbing his neck with one hand and just stared at her. He
shook his head no, painted a slight smile on his face, and then
gently kissed her cheek. She looked down to the floor as he slowly
walked away. When she looked to the doorway, he was gone. Victoria
slumped on the bed, and silently and completely lost it.

A few hours later Jim was in the lobby of the
hotel wearing his tuxedo and waiting at the front desk. Next to him
were two men talking. The older man, who wore a suit said, "Tim,
just make sure you're in position when she walks down the
aisle."

Jim smiled thinking that this must be the
wedding videographer.

The younger skinny man held an expensive-looking
video camera and said, "Got it."

"If you miss her reaction, it will cost me two
hundred thousand dollars at least." Jim looked at both men closely
and became a little confused. The older man handed over an
envelope. The skinny guy opened it, and Jim spotted a wad of
cash.

"I won't miss it."

The older man said, "Pull it off, and there's an
extra grand in it for you." Jim watched as the men walked away.

Ten minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to
start Jim and Brian stood together talking. The older man Jim had
seen an hour earlier approached and shook Brian's hand. Brian said,
"Albert this is my brother Jim. Jim this is Jillian's agent, Albert
Blair."

Albert shook Jim's hand as he said, "Nice to
meet you, Jim. You're getting quite a sister-in-law." Jim smiled,
and Albert added. "I'd better get to my seat."

As Albert walked away, Jim said, "I saw him
speaking with your videographer earlier today, and it was
stran—"

"What videographer?" Brian looked at him
confused.

"The skinny guy with the video camera."

"We didn't hire one."

"Maybe I misheard them or something."

The hotel's wedding coordinator approached them.
"They're ready for you."

Five minutes later the three-piece orchestra
began playing a slow and romantic song as Brian stood in his black
tux before the outdoor altar, looking down the aisle toward the
crowd of nearly forty guests. Behind Brian, was the gorgeous white
sand beach and perfect blue ocean, and in front of him the striking
profile of the hotel Eden Rock’s breathtaking structure, which
appeared to be carved out of the hill.

Eric, the first groomsman walked down the aisle
with his bridesmaid. Then Lisa followed with her groomsman,
followed by Rob and Laura, and then finally Jim and Victoria. They
all took their places on either side of Brian as the processional
music grew louder. Then Jillian appeared on the arm of her
long-time editor, Rolland Pike.

She looked gorgeous in her tea-length,
strapless, taffeta sheath dress, which was accented by a facial
blusher veil. Jim fought to hold back his emotions as tears
streamed down Victoria's face. Jim watched as Albert signaled to
someone behind him. When he looked back, he saw the skinny
cameraman moving closer to the altar with his camera pointed at
Jillian.

Brian smiled sweetly while also struggling to
hold back his emotions. As Jillian reached the middle of the crowd,
Natalie removed her sunglasses. Brian instantly recognized her and
without thinking, called out, "Natalie!" Jillian's eyes immediately
moved to the smiling witch. Rob looked over as well. The music
screeched to a halt. The cameraman moved in as Albert grinned.

Jillian glared as she asked, "What the hell are
you doing here?"

"I have an invitation," Natalie replied smugly
as she stood.

"There's no way," Jillian cried as Brian rushed
to her. "First you sue me, and now you try to ruin my wedding!"

The cameraman moved in and got a great shot of
Jillian smashing the bouquet of flowers into Natalie's chest.
Natalie lost her balance and then tumbled backwards, taking her
chair down with her as she fell to the ground. Natalie glared up to
Jillian as she struggled back to her feet. "What the hell is wrong
with you, you old bitch?"

Brian was two feet away as Natalie dove into
Jillian, nailing her with a perfect shoulder tackle down to the
turf. All eyes watched the girl fight, mesmerized as they pawed at
each other while rolling around on the white runner.

The cameraman got every second of the stunning
scene. Brian moved to Jillian and pulled her away. Natalie's date,
attorney Josh Roth, helped her to her feet. The two men stood
holding back their women as Brian glared at Natalie. "What the hell
are you doing here?"

"I told you already. I received an invitation."
Natalie gave Jillian a smug look as she continued, "I thought you
brought me here to apologize, you know for all the lies in
your—"

"Apologize?" Jillian interrupted as she stared
at her dumbfounded. Then she noticed the cameraman and pointed at
him. "Get that camera away from me."

Jim headed angrily over to Tim. The skinny guy
put his hand up and then pointed the video camera to the ground.
Jim noticed the wide smile on Albert's face and then the
realization hit him. He rushed to Brian. "That's the guy I saw
earlier. He was talking to her agent. Albert handed him an envelope
full of money."

All eyes went to Albert. He stood and said, "I,
uh…"

Jillian stormed up to Albert. "You hired this
cameraman?"

He stammered, "Remember there is no such thing
as bad publicity."

Tim looked around to be sure
he wasn't being watched and then began recording again as Jillian
stared at Albert in confusion. "But, how'd you know there'd be
something to…Wait. Wait…You
knew
she'd be here."

Natalie yelled out, "Someone sent me the
invitation and plane tickets. Oh and also the book." Brian glanced
at Natalie. Josh put his hand out, "Hello, I'm her attorney, Josh
Roth."

Brian dismissed Josh with his eyes and his gaze
moved to Jillian. Her face was blood red as she snarled, "You set
this whole thing up. You ruined my wedding and for what? To sell a
few more books. You goddamn bastard."

Brian stared at Albert with his anger building.
He rushed over and punched him right in the jaw. Albert went down
hard, taking chairs with him. Jillian gazed at Brian proudly, and
Natalie stared along with her, becoming incredibly turned on as she
once again witnessed Brian's dark side.

Albert looked up groggily to the cameraman.
"Tell me you got that?"

Jim headed toward Tim. Tim grabbed his case and
took off toward the resort. Jillian glared down to Albert. "You
even think about pressing charges against Brian, I'll make sure you
don't see a dime more from this book. I'll even pull it just to be
sure you don't." She turned toward Brian, paused, and then turned
back, "Oh and you’re fired."

Albert stood and brushed
himself off. "I'm waiting on a call back from
The View
I think I can—" He shut the
fuck up when Brian took half a step toward him. Albert put his
hands up to protect himself as he said, "Okay. Okay."

"Maybe you should skip the wedding," Brian said.
Albert straightened his tie and slinked away with all eyes on
him.

Victoria stood directly in front of Natalie and
gazed down to her angrily. Natalie grinned uneasily, grabbed Josh's
hand and they rushed away. Victoria grinned then walked over to
Jillian and glanced at her dress, which was a mess and covered with
grass stains. She said, "It's ruined."

Jillian wore an odd smile as she looked at the
front and then craned her neck to check out the back of the dress.
She spotted a chair and took a seat, looking like she could either
burst into laughter or have a giant meltdown any second. Brian's
gaze slowly traveled from Jillian's face up to the ominous dark
clouds quickly approaching from behind the crowd. Victoria and Jim
spotted the approaching storm just as Jillian chuckled. "I'm pretty
sure the worst is behind us. I mean, what else could, uh…" She
stopped talking when she saw the concerned looks in front of her.
Jillian looked behind her skyward and turned slowly back to
Brian.

"Don't they say rain is good luck for a
wedding?" Brian asked.

Jillian nodded casually as huge drops began to
fall. Everyone except Brian and Jillian took off running toward the
resort. They just stared at each other with silly grins as the rain
began soaking them. She screamed over the rain drops, "Rain might
be good luck, but bar fights generally aren't."

"You're taking this all in stride. I'm proud of
you," he said while nodding casually. He held his hand out to her.
"Shall we?"

Jillian stood and moved to him. The crowd
watched from inside the resort all wearing smiles and shaking their
heads in disbelief. Brian swept Jillian up in his arms, and they
shared a passionate kiss that went on for a good thirty seconds.
When they finally pulled their lips apart their clothes were
completely soaked. They shared a laugh and then they turned toward
the resort and smiled at their audience. Oblivious to the driving
rain, Brian picked her up and carried her at a leisurely pace
toward the building. Jim held the door as they slipped inside.
Brian placed her carefully down and they stood dripping wet just
shaking their heads. Brian announced, "I think we'll, uh, need to
move the wedding inside." He walked to Victoria and motioned for
Jim to join them. "Are you guys okay?" Both nodded and he
continued, "We're going to go change…Can you guys get everything
set up and make sure everyone is comfortable? We'll be down in
twenty minutes."

Victoria pointed to Jillian's completely wet,
drowned-rat hairstyle and said, "Better make it thirty."

Brian nodded, and then he walked to Jillian,
took her hand, and they headed toward the elevator.

Jillian and Brian booked the honeymoon suite for
the night. They had dropped their bags off before the wedding with
the intention of changing midway during the reception, but now
things had changed. Once in their suite, they both stripped out of
their soaked clothes while laughing hysterically.

She glanced down to his groin and then noticed
something a little unusual. "You look different."

Brian covered up with his hands and stared at
her as he said, "I, uh…"

"You shaved down there didn’t you?"

"Not shaved," he said weakly. "It was supposed
to be a surprise for later."

"You look so cute. Let me see it."

"Waxed," he added hesitantly.

"You waxed…show me."

Brian sighed and moved his hands away. Jillian
slipped down to her knees for a closer look. "Oh wow. It looks
great." She glanced up to his face. "When did you get this
done?"

"On Tuesday. Remember that string of a couple
days when I couldn't sit down?"

"Oh, yeah."

Brian said, "Victoria took me to her spa. They
gave me the whole treatment. It was a complete nightmare."

"I wondered what's going on with you. Usually
you're running around the house with you penis hanging out."

He nodded. Jillian returned her gaze to it. She
lifted his penis up and cupped his balls with her other hand. "It
looks huge, and your balls are so clean—just like a baby’s
bottom."

"Speaking of a baby’s bottom," Brian began. He
gave her a smug look as he continued, "They did the back as
well."

"No way. Let me see."

He turned and bent over. She moved close to him
and checked out everything from the back. She parted his cheeks
slightly, felt his balls from the back, and then wore a big smile
as she said, "I just got wet…I mean my, you know."

Brian was getting a little excited himself as
she continued running her hands all over his newly hair free
areas.

"I'm so going to be all over you later. And I'm
not going to drink much. I want to remember it all. This is going
to be fun."

She stood, and he turned toward her with his
erection huge and sticking straight out. They both looked down to
it equally impressed. He said, "It does look bigger doesn't
it?"