Always Belle Ch. 05

The scent of crisping bacon enveloped the kitchen as I walked in. The morning after the pool house affair, Belle was preparing a big breakfast, dressed in dark green yoga pants, which was doing extra wonders for her shapely rear.

"Morning bud, hope your date went well!" Adam greeted me from his seat on the dining counter, right next to Vi.

Belle turned my way, plating foods onto dishes. "Morning Ken. This is Vi, my best friend who lives in Paris. She's the one I mentioned that's staying over."

"So good to finally meet you Ken, I'm Violette!" She extended her hand for me to shake.

So weird that this was officially the first time I was meeting Vi. Felt like I knew so much about her already. When I happily returned her grip, I noticed it oddly felt moist around the edges of her palm.

Belle announced, "Alright folks, breakfast is served! Get it while it's hot!"

"Baby, we should wash our hands first," Vi told Adam.

Adam snuggled close to her ear, responding in a low voice, "You especially, dirty girl."

"That's your fault," Vi flirtatiously whispered back. She rubbed her hand across her boyfriend's face, getting him to retreat in jest.

I heard Belle stifling a chortle. Considering her own petty actions last night, I imagined she was happy Vi had gotten to be intimate with Adam. Then I thought about Vi's sticky hand shaking mine... Gross! I rushed to the faucet to wash up first.

A half hour later, we were all finishing up breakfast when my Uncle Artie joined us in the kitchen, looking groggy and jet lagged.

"Morning sleepyhead." Belle started fixing him a plate.

"Morning B. Hey Vi, Adam. Nice to see you both." My uncle sat next to me, looking desperate for caffeine.

"Welcome home Artie, how was your business trip?" Vi asked.

"Agh, not my best week. I fucked up, deal broke down. My business partner's pissed I flubbed it." My uncle tried to laugh off his work-related debacle, not wanting to saddle others with his stress. "Anyway, what are you two up to today?"

"Thinking about bringing Vi to that Murakami exhibit later," Adam said. "Have you seen it yet?"

"Yeah, Belle and I went last month. You two will enjoy it. You can take my red Benz."

"Appreciate that brother!" Adam bowed his head with namaste hands.

I observed Uncle Artie and Adam's friendly interaction. My uncle might've preferred to drive his red Mercedes into Adam's knees, if he only knew what the latter and Belle had gotten up to last night.

Belle, looking not the least bit guilty, arrived at my uncle's side to deliver him a full breakfast and an espresso.

Uncle Artie kissed her bare shoulder. "Thanks, this looks delicious." He noticed her attire, lingering on her ass. "Yoga today B?"

"Yep. First I'm meeting up with Rita. I'm planning a dinner next Wednesday. Gonna host it at her house."

"Cool. What's the occasion?"

"It'll be a nice thank you to the crew, after my shoot that day."

"My fiancé, so generous," he doted on her.

"What about you babe?" Belle asked in return. "I know you're disappointed your deal collapsed. But don't worry about Viktor, he'll get over it. You shouldn't sulk at home all day."

"You're right. I'll call Ox and Frank, see if they're free later to lift weights or something." Uncle Artie suddenly turned his attention to me. "And how about you Ken, whatcha got going on?"

I was distracted. In my periphery, I could see Uncle Artie slyly groping Belle's ass over her yoga pants.

"Um, not sure," I spoke up. "I was thinking of going to a coffee shop after breakfast to work on my resume. I haven't been getting a lot of responses from companies."

"Babe, massage higher." Belle moved my uncle's wandering hand onto her lower back.

"Sore?" Uncle Artie inquired.

"Hoping yoga today will help. I think I tweaked my back a little last night."

Gee Belle, I wonder how. Images of Belle vigorously riding Adam flashed through my head.

Uncle Artie faced me. "Ken, I'm still kinda beat from my flight. Maybe Belle can drive you to a coffee shop."

"Love to!" Belle smiled my way. "Ken, I'm probably gonna leave in half an hour."

"Make it a full 60!" Uncle Artie chimed in. "After breakfast, I'm giving you the best back massage you've ever had!"

Belle's face warmly lit up, appreciative of her fiancé's loving gesture. She held my uncle's chin as she pecked his lips.

***

Later that morning, Belle had driven me and her to a hip commercial neighborhood, lined with cafes and boutique retail shops. She parked her white Audi on the street. When we exited the car, we spotted Rita sitting at an outdoor dining table, waving to us.

Belle turned to me. "So there are a bunch of coffee spots here you'll love. I really like Griddle," she pointed to the next block over. "They do a good pistachio latte."

"Belle, I think Rita saw me. I should probably say hi really quick."

She notably hesitated, but then quickly acquiesced, a subtle nod of her head.

As we walked over, I slightly trailed Belle, sneaking glances at the sculpting magic of her yoga pants. How I wished I could peep in on her yoga class later, see her taut ass on display in downward-facing dog.

"Ken, what a delight! Didn't know you were coming too." Rita offered me an empty chair beside her. "Please, join us."

Belle interjected, "Ken's just being a gentleman, saying hi." She sat down across from her friend, leaving me standing.

"Um, Belle's right. I'm gonna find some cafe nearby to work at." I tapped the shoulder sling of my messenger bag. "Just wanted to show my face, and say that it was really nice meeting you at Ox's barbecue."

"Aw, what a courteous young man," Rita complimented.

The detective in me wanted to join them at their table, see if I could stealthily interrogate the night of the barbecue. Belle had lied to me, telling me she was with Rita, when really, she was having an x-rated slumber party with my uncle's best friend.

Belle addressed me, "Ken, I'll text you when we're wrapping up."

Sensing I wasn't welcome, I wondered if Belle was thinking the same thing I was. That I could possibly expose her sleepover lie in front of Rita.

In any case, I didn't push the matter. I said goodbye to the two women and walked over to that Griddle spot, ordering myself a pistachio latte and a green tea glazed croissant, reluctantly paying $14 for it all.

I was busy tweaking my resume when I felt my phone vibrate. A text had come in from Devin.

***

Devin sipped on a pistachio latte I had ordered for him when he arrived at Griddle.

"Mmm, better than I thought. Thanks Ken."

"I'm surprised you texted me Dev. Thought you'd be busy with whatever you had to wake up early for."

"Dude, my lazy parents had me drive them early this morning to the mall. They wanted to buy some last-minute travel stuff."

"Oh, where are they going?"

"Greece. I'm going with them too actually. We've got an extended family reunion over there."

"Nice. When are you flying out?"

"In a couple of days. Gonna be gone for a week." Devin leaned forward in his seat. "Which is a perfect transition—we should talk about Operation E-N-Z-O when I'm away."

"Right. So did the bald guy ever show up on last night's footage?"

"Nah Ken, I scrubbed through it. I think you probably misheard."

"Yeah probably. My bad." I feigned remorse, knowing that the 'bald guy' was my invention—an excuse to spy on Belle and Enzo, which itself was in vain.

"It's all good dude. I was thinking though, since I'll be gone for a bit, I should give you access to the Enzo feed. The live feed is also linked to an encrypted cloud site, where recordings are saved up to 24 hours."

"You want to give me access?" I blankly asked, noticing Devin typing something on his phone.

"You're still interested in taking Enzo down right?"

"I mean, yeah, okay," I replied, probably not sounding all that convincing.

"Cool, I just texted you the login info. I'm gonna be in some remote village without internet, so I won't be able to monitor anything. If you see any shady drug deals go down on the feed or the recordings, maybe you can download and clip the footage. Is that cool?"

"Um, yeah man, of course. I can handle that." I was face-palming myself inside but I did my best not to show it.

Spying on Enzo must've sounded like a dream job for any of his demented superfans. I liked the guy's music, but I could've listed better ways to spend my time.

***

After Devin left to pick up his parents, I finished polishing my resume, deciding then to use Griddle's fast wifi to give the Enzo feed a quick spin. On my laptop, I was greeted to live images of his penthouse, but neither the singer nor his girlfriend Lana were present. Unless Belle magically decided to make a cameo, I wasn't looking forward to the week-long chore of monitoring this guy's life in high-definition.

Bored, I checked the time. About an hour had passed since I had left Belle and Rita. I debated ordering another beverage while I waited for them to wrap up. But damn, I had already spent more than $20 here!

On a whim, I decided to start walking back toward the restaurant where Rita and Belle were at earlier. As I got closer, I was surprised to only see Belle there, alone, slumping in her seat. She looked annoyed, agitated.

I was about to call out to her, but I caught a tall man briskly walking her way, eventually sitting down across from her. I immediately recognized him as Rita's husband—Seb.

Impulsively, I slipped behind a sidewalk tree, staying within hearing range, eyes curling around the wide trunk to observe their interaction.

"Hey Belle, my meeting with a vendor ran super long." Seb sounded winded, like he had rushed over from wherever he parked.

Belle gave him a stern look. "I can't make my yoga class anymore."

"Ah, fuck..."

"Rita's not even here anymore to coordinate. She just left to do prep for my shoot."

"I know, she texted me. Angrily I might add."

"Look Seb, just be honest with me. Can I rely on you to deliver on my dinner? Otherwise, I can hire another chef, find another venue."

"You can trust me. Look, I'm sorry. Me being late was unprofessional. I'll make it up to you. I'll comp all the costs for the food, the drinks."

"You don't have to do that, don't be silly."

"No, I'm going to. It's already settled!" Seb clapped his hands together. "So let's get into the nitty gritty. What type of cuisine are we thinking?"

"Sushi," Belle said tersely.

"That's perfect! Let's do it!" Seb tried to lighten the mood with a positive tone.

Belle still looked irked, but she got down to business, naming all of the types of fishes and flavors she had in mind. "I want a menu like the one you served at my fiancé's party, but more colorful and decorative."

"Not a problem. I can definitely do that. Take a look at these and tell me what you think." Seb leaned forward and presented her his phone, the chef swiping the screen from time to time.

Belle's eyes lit up momentarily with something she was shown.

"Is that sorta what you had in mind? ...Food-wise." Seb asked.

Belle nodded with a neutral expression.

Seb continued, "Those images I shared, they're new concepts that I'm planning to debut at my restaurant. But for your dinner, I can't think of a better way to roll them out in advance."

"Roll... Was that a pun?"

"Nope. You're fishing," Seb deadpanned.

"Hey that's a—"

"Fine, you cod me!" The chef broke out in a smile, getting Belle to laugh, finally loosening her up a bit.

"So how's your restaurant coming along?" She asked, her body language more relaxed.

"I've named it Eden. It's having its soft opening next Friday!"

"Whoa, so soon! That's only two days after my dinner." Belle looked worried. "I can't imagine all the last minute things you have to take care of. I feel bad about the timing."

"Don't worry Belle, your dinner'll be a fun distraction. Rita told me she already knows how she wants to arrange our backyard for your crew. She's got the place setting and tableware all in order. Half the work's already done."

"That's promising I guess? But all the food prep will be on you though."

"Eh, trust me, I'd rather be doing this than dealing with my restaurant's vendors. Headaches! I got into a shouting match this morning with one. This asshole upped his urchin prices on me last minute. It was actually why I was late to meet you and Rita."

"Yikes, I didn't know that." Belle then reached across, placing her hand on Seb's forearm resting on the table. "Hey Seb, I'm sorry if I was cold to you earlier. You're probably stressed out of your mind right now."

"You're fine Belle. Tell you what, I'll make you a deal. I'll take care of your dinner next Wednesday. In exchange, you just have to attend Eden's opening that Friday. There'll be free food and drinks, the whole she-bang."

"I get to eat twice? Somehow this deal doesn't seem fair for you," she giggled.

"It's more than fair. Look, I've got some press lined up to attend. And since you're a world famous model—"

"Hardly," Belle interrupted, ever the modest one.

"Come on, you know the photogs will be all over you. Anyway, your pics at Eden will be posted everywhere online. The restaurant would benefit tremendously from the buzz and promotion."

"Well, looking at my calendar, it looks like I'm free. Regardless of my dinner, it'd be an honor to attend your opening."

"Awesome! So I'll do yours, you'll do mine." He smiled brightly, offering a handshake.

She shook it enthusiastically. "Deal!"

Seb left soon after, hugging Belle goodbye.

Belle was now standing next to her table, smiling to herself, typing on her phone, probably circling back with me.

I stared at my Messages app, seeing her text arrive as expected: "All done Ken. Ready to go when you are."

***

The rest of the weekend flew by. I had spent an embarrassing chunk of it in my room, jerking off to my latest video of Belle and Adam in the pool house, loving that it was way better quality than my grainy effort featuring Ox.

When Monday morning came around, I was being a lazy bum, still lying in bed. Devin had texted me that his flight was about to take off. I guess I was officially on Enzo watch now. I set a phone reminder to watch today's recording later tonight.

The memory of Devin and I watching the Enzo feed together suddenly reminded me of how much of an idiot I was, when I had ditched Eva after our concert date.

Oh shit, Eva! Fuck, I realized I hadn't contacted her since our date. I grabbed my phone and shot off a quick text: "Hey!"

A few minutes later, she responded: "Hi stranger. I was wondering if you'd ever text me again."

"I promised I would. =)"

"I wasn't necessarily holding my breath."

"Good. I'm definitely not worth suffocating over!"

"Lol... I did kinda miss your jokes."

"I have more, if you wanna hang out. Are you free today?"

Minutes passed. More than I would've liked. Finally, Eva replied: "Okay! Let's hang out!"

I immediately texted back: "What's a fun thing to do. Beach? I could use some sun. Been cooped up in my room all weekend."

Her response was quicker this time: "Love it! My dad's working though so he can't drive us. But I asked Nina. She has a car."

"Who's that?"

"My best friend! She wants to join us, if you don't mind."

"Sure! More the merrier."

***

An hour later, Nina arrived at my uncle's house driving some luxury SUV, with Eva in the front seat.

On the drive, Eva constantly turned back to tell me story after story about her best friend. It was cute just watching her talk animatedly. If I was being honest, I was more focused on Eva's body language (emphasis on body) than her actual words; her voluptuous bikini bust was overwhelming.

At some point, Nina had pulled up to a gateway, engaging in a friendly chat with a booth attendant as I stared out the window, my eyes distracted by the vast ocean in the distance. After we got clearance from the guard, we proceeded through until we arrived at a parking lot.

Me being unfamiliar with where we were, Nina told me that this was Marityma, an exclusive beach community.

After we parked, I grabbed a tote bag of towels from the trunk. I realized we were standing atop a short bluff, maybe 20 feet above the sandy beach below. A gradual slope of rock formations separated the two planes.

As I trailed the girls down a stairway, I couldn't help but admire their contrasting body types. If Eva's frontside was especially blessed above the waist, then let's just say Nina's backside was equally blessed below it.

Once we reached the sand, we settled into a comfortable spot isolated from other beachgoers.

On her stomach, Nina propped herself up on her elbows. "So Ken, since you're supposedly dating my best friend, I get to ask you a couple questions. You gotta pass my test."

"Fair enough." I was game. Clearly, Nina wanted to have a bit of fun with me.

"Go easy on him please," Eva giggled, sitting between the both of us.

Nina cleared her throat. "Okay, question 1: Why do you like Eva?"

"Easy," I bragged. "She's nice, smart, funny, talented. Great personality."

"That's five!" Nina spouted.

"Five what?" I replied.

"I counted five cliches," Nina jeered, flinging imaginary checkmarks with her fingers, prompting Eva to lightly slap her friend's hand down.

Nina followed up, "You're not wrong though Kenny boy. Alright, on to question number 2: What musical instruments does Eva play?"

"Guitar and piano."

"Wrong!"

"How so!" I cried out.

"You forgot about her voice."

"Well, vocals aren't like a physical instrum—"

"Question 3!" Nina interrupted, cackling before suddenly sporting a serious look. "Let's get real now. The Enzo concert... Why did you abandon my best friend at the end of your date?"

Eva gasped. "Oh my god Neen, you did not just ask that!" She then turned to me. "Ken, you don't have to answer that!"

Ouch. I guess best friends did share everything with one another. I squirmed inside, contemplating how I wanted to respond.

Nina added, "Ken, you gotta answer honestly. You're under oath!"

Nina and her diabolical grin had me cornered. I looked at Eva and she now had her hands over her face, shaking her head in embarrassment.

I formed a half-truthful response. "I admit, it was a dumb mistake on my part. I had to do something downtown for my uncle. In hindsight, I could've just done it another day. I fucked up. Eva, I'm sorry about that." I stared at her, longing for amnesty.

It took a second but Eva's soft eyes eventually met mine. "It's not a big deal Ken. You're okay." She then sprouted the tiniest of smiles.

Nina sat up, dusting her hands. "Well, there ya go. Some tidy resolution, thanks to yours truly. You're welcome you two."

"So I passed your test?" I mockingly asked.

"There's one last part," Nina forewarned. "As penance, you gotta go back up those stairs, then walk past my car. Keep walking along the edge of the lot until you reach the Smoothie Shack. Then order two smoothie bowls for Eva and me. And get yourself a treat too. Something nice for a nice guy," she said sneeringly.

"Ken you don't have to do that," Eva objected.

"Yes he does E!" Nina overruled. "Ken, do you accept the terms of your punishment?"

"I do, your honor," I playfully replied, admiring Nina's loyalty to Eva, as well as to the bit.

"Ken, let me give you some cash," Eva insisted.

I stuck my palm out to waive her off. "No no, I got it. What toppings do you guys want in your smoothie bowl?"

"All of them!" Nina answered for the both of them.

"Got it. Coming right up!" I gladly stood and walked toward the stairs.

Eva caught up to me before I made it up the first step. "Hey Ken, hold on! Um, sorry about Nina. She's just very protective of me."