Chapter 4

Whew! Might have been worse. In not all cases does the girl in a picture look as good in real life. I knew that some celebrities looked a might cuter on TV or in a picture after hours of makeup and grooming than they looked in person. With Blake I knew what I got. We had been together since she was 14. All the trials and tribulations of growing up had not changed the niceness about her. I remembered shopping when she had her hair up, was wearing only a tee shirt and jeans, she was beautiful then too. So I was not lying, well, not very much; Genevieve was a knockout. She put Monique to shame and Monique was an easy 10 out of 10. I would not trade Blake even for both of them.

Paul getting traded and the subsequent departure of Bobbie made me think of my own future. Actually it was our future since Blake was part of my life. I also asked myself ‘What about ... Brook and Virginia even?’ If Paul’s trade sparked these kind of questions in me, what were the girls thinking?

Jack asked all of us to come up to his place. He was not alone nor was he despondent. It was a bit of a surprise to see Monique there. More of a surprise to see Genevieve too. ‘Damn I was wrong, she looked as good in real life as in her picture’ I thought.

Per Jack. “Hey gang, thanks for coming around. I’ve got some things to say, to do and ask you. You know about Paul and Bonnie, but you should also know why he was traded. He dipped his wick in the wrong place. Pure and simple, he made a big mistake and is paying for it, if being traded to Miami where it does not snow and getting a few more $ million is so bad?”

“Anyway, here are two checks for Brook. You use the money for school or anything else. Paul is not a bad guy and we all have a few Devils to deal with, as he looked at Monique then Genevieve. When Genie got older I began to better understand Paul’s quirks.”

“He’s not sure if he still will keep the penthouse but we want Brook to still look after his place and mine; I’ll pay Brook for upkeep on both of them. If you all are comfortable with everything we can keep things as they are?”

“Gee Jack, Does that mean only Blake and Virginia and Brook can live with me? Damn I was hoping you wanted to me to take one of yours to wear my jersey.”

“Ha, in your dreams. Seriously though, are you guys OK with the way things are?

“We are your friends, all of you; friends accept each other so, yeah no problem by me. What about you girls?”

“Only one, why does she have to be so cute?” From Blake.

“I told you Blake, she looks just like her picture.” Brook remarked.

“Hey, I’m sitting right here ... but thank you.” Mixed French and English,

“I’m the one who should worry about her, not you!” said Monique.

“Until we go to England, Genevieve wants to live here some. If there is no problem, she and Brook or even Virginia can use the Penthouse. It should not be empty. Bobbie may decide to come back from her trip someday; then we can...”

There was some merit to that idea, but it would be up to the girls. Virginia made it easy. “There is someone at work who...”