BMB: Version 1-1

Once we'd waved away the final worker, Tommy and I headed inside to unpack the last few boxes. I was amazed at how much had been done and was grateful to a measure I couldn't possibly explain. There was only one thing to put together, and Tommy happily stuck around to build it for me. "It's my job as your partner," he'd quipped.

When there was nothing left to unpack, put together, or keep him there any longer, Tommy stood up and helped me out of my chair as well.

"I owe you one, Tommy," I told him as we slowly made our way to the front door. "You did so much. Someday, you'll have to call me out on it."

"I'll do that, but today, I'm going to go ahead and claim a slightly different payment plan for the help," Tommy told me as he kept his hold on my hand. "Let's call it 'partner business.'" Before I could question him, he leaned down and put his lips by mine. "And objections?" he whispered. I smiled and shook my head as I ran my hands up his shirt. "Didn't think so," he added and led us into a delicious kiss.

My phone began to ring which caused me to jump and pull away from Tommy. "Sorry, sorry," I pleaded and put my forehead on his chest. "Oh, I should probably get this," I noted and pressed on the green button to answer it. "Give me a second, would you?" I asked the person on the phone and hit mute. "It's my best friend," I told him apologetically. "See you on Monday?"

"You bet your ass," he told me with a wink and raised his hand to receive his high five. "Tell Jen I say 'hi.'"

"I will," I told him and waved once he was in his truck.

"Hey, Jen," I greeted her once I'd pressed mute again to turn it off. "Oh, Tommy just left. He says 'hi,' by the way," I added and sat down to continue talking to my best friend of many, many years.

On Thursday, August 17, Tommy was frustrated with a build. He tossed his wrench on the workbench and wiped his brow with his arm. I had finished with my stuff, so I came down to watch him as I often did to try and learn something. There hadn't been a Thursday where I hadn't learned a lot, even when we were at Sturgis over the prior two weeks. I sat in my usual chair and watched him as he ran a rag over his now sweaty arm and all over his head.

"It's freaking hot in here," he complained.

"Let's get out of here," I suggested, not having anything in mind about what we could do, but it just seemed like it would get the ball rolling for something, anything, to get him out of the bad mood which would surely worsen if he didn't do something else.

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Trin, we're working."

"I know, but what's he gonna do? Come in and check on us? You know the man is sitting in front of his fan in his already massively air-conditioned house. He's not leaving to come check on us. We won't be gone long. Let's just, I don't know, get out of here."

"If I get fired for this, you're going down with me!" Tommy quipped and shook his head.

"For sure," I agreed. "But at least then we wouldn't have the rule hanging over us," I teased. It was the most referred to but unmentioned rule ever. We hated it, but we had to abide by it. "Come on," I encouraged and waved at him.

We stepped outside, and he held up his keys to show me he had them so we could lock the door behind us. He began walking around the building, so I followed. "My old high school is over here. I used to play ball. The shed always had extra gloves, bats, and balls. Wanna go see if we can play one-on-one baseball?"

"Sure," I agreed. If it made him happy, I was game. (Ha-ha, get it?!)

Just as he'd suspected, there was still no lock on the shed, so we took out gloves, a bat, and a ball to play. I was relieved to see that there was a lefty's glove in the shed. Most right-handed people didn't consider the differences we lefties had to deal with.

Tommy had me bat first "to see what you've got." I took a few practice swings and then, as if all the sport gods were either playing a joke on Tommy or suddenly feeling overly generous with me, I swung and cracked that ball into the far-left field. I didn't think I'd ever hit a ball that hard in my life.

"What the hell was that?" Tommy yelled and began running for the ball. "Did you play in high school? You only told me about tennis!"

"Only ever in gym class, and all that staring by the teacher usually led to me striking out!" I responded as I jogged around the bases.

"If we ever play as a group, you're on my team!" he told me as he watched me tap the home plate dramatically. "Dad usually makes partners move around to be on opposite teams, but I'm fighting that one!"

"I'm honored," I said in response as I made my way to the pitcher's mound. "Now, let's see how bad my throwing arm is, huh? And, uh, go easy on me, Parker. I usually have a racket in front of my face to block flying balls coming at me."

Tommy swung and missed the first two. I was sure he was doing it just to let me feel better about myself. When I pitched the last one, he hit the ball which rolled over by second base. I turned and ran to get it in hopes that I might catch him. No one was at first, so I couldn't get him out that way. But leave it to Tommy...

"You'd better watch out!" Tommy yelled as he rounded first. "I was trained to keep going if there wasn't anyone to stop me from heading home!"

"Oh, I'm no competition, huh?" I argued and began running toward him. As he rounded second, I jumped on his back thinking I'd take him down or at least stop him. But he kept going! "Tommy! What are you doing?!" He wrapped his arms around my knees to keep me there and kept running toward third. "You're out! I have the ball. I'm literally holding it against your chest!"

"Rules? What rules?" Tommy argued and laughed. "They went out the window when we left work!" He made it to home base and turned to let me down. When he had finally finished laughing, he walked over to me and took my hand. "Thanks for this. I needed to get out of there. We should probably head back, but God, Trin, this was perfect." We put the equipment back into the shed and began walking back to the shop.

Tommy got back to work while I sat in my chair and enjoyed our small talk. I made my way up to my office to get my purse when it was about time to head out for the night. Before I could leave the room, Tommy came in and stood over by the walk-in closet where Doug and I kept spare office supplies. "Can you come here, please?"

"Sure," I answered and left my purse on the desk. He took my hand and led me into the closet. "What's up?"

"It's been a while, and I'm thinking tonight constitutes 'partner rights,'" Tommy declared before cupping my face. "I thought the Fourth was going to be the first of many of our romantic encounters, Trin," Tommy whispered into my ear. "The next day's news was a sucker punch to the gut. But what the boss doesn't know, and what doesn't affect the company can't really count, right? Like on moving day. 'Partner business,'" he quoted and shrugged.

"Can't argue with that," I responded and met his lips with mine. We made out heartily and sighed as we broke apart. "I really hate that rule, but this partner business works for now as an amendment."

"I'd already be calling you my girlfriend if he hadn't come up with that rule, Trin," Tommy told me decidedly. He tilted his head and placed his thumb under my chin. "You'd have said 'yes,' right?"

"With no hesitation," I told him and nodded. I was amazed at my own admission. This was it. This was the one. He was the one, the one I'd been waiting for since hearing the woman's statement at the widow support group all those months prior.

"What if someone at your gym asks you out?" Tommy asked me.

"I'm not into girls, really," I answered and then laughed when he rolled his eyes.

"Stop saying only girls go to your gym, Trinity," he requested and took my hand. "I'm not seeing anyone else. I know it can't be, like, official, but I'm committed to you."

"Same, Tommy," I told him and put my hand up into his hair as I pulled him back to give him one more kiss. "Only you," I whispered against his lips. We made out again and then hugged each other. "Only you, Tommy," I reiterated and smiled as he squeezed me to him.

When we walked out of the closet, we were both shocked and embarrassed to find Dougie had been standing at his desk listening in on our conversation. "Well, what do we have here?" he asked with a smirk.

Truth be told, Dougie couldn't have cared less about the rule Tom had put into place the day after the Fourth of July festivities at his house. Dougie and I had agreed that we both felt like siblings, so it totally didn't matter to us that we couldn't hang out other than in groups. How he felt about it for the rest of them, though, had yet to be decided.

"How long has this been going on?" Dougie asked. "Thursday night special?"

"What? No!" I argued, but Tommy took my hand as an effort to calm me and keep me quiet.

"We met at Gram's right after she came to New York, and sparks flew right away," Tommy explained to his youngest brother. "Only Gram saw it. By the Fourth, we were sure it was the same for the both of us. While there were fireworks going on out there, we were having our own in the house. No one knew, so when Dad announced the rule the next day at work, we were both shocked. We decided that we'd abide by the rule and see how it went."

I hadn't closed my mouth from the shock of hearing him telling Dougie everything, so he addressed me before continuing. "The more truthful we are with him, Trin, the more he'll trust us. Besides, we need someone on our side." He turned back to Dougie. "When she moved into her house, we had a discussion about partner responsibilities when I asked for her house key. She has my truck key." Dougie's eyes grew wide.

"I know, but that's how much I trust her and want to keep her around, Doug," he justified. "Tonight was the first night since then that we've done anything like that," he explained and pointed to the closet. "I was frustrated with a part that wouldn't fit, and Trin recognized that it was probably that I was also hot from the high temps in the building. She suggested that we step outside for a bit to cool off and calm down. I took her to the baseball field, and we played a little one-on-one."

"I hit a homerun. He had a base hit but took me for a ride for the other three," I told him and then realized how awful that had sounded. "OK, that's not the way I meant that to sound. I had the ball in my hand before he got to first, but he kept running because I had no other players to help me, so I charged him and jumped on his back to stop him, but he held my legs and ran with me to home base. Gosh, dirty minds, you two," I accused and pointed, though neither had reacted to my initial statement. I know. I made it worse. Awkward!

"We weren't gone for more than half an hour," Tommy justified. "When we came back, I got back to work, and we were back to normal until she headed up to get her purse. I couldn't just let it go, Doug. I hate this rule. She'd be my girlfriend for sure if it wasn't for that damn rule. I needed to kiss her again. So, I did. And we did. And that brought us to right now." Tommy let out a huge sigh and watched his brother.

"Cool," he answered and shrugged. "You know I won't tell. I just don't want to see you two get into trouble over it. You have to be careful, you know? Are you texting and flirting otherwise?"

"No, not at all," Tommy answered. "Like I said, nothing has happened since her moving day, and everyone had been gone by then. We've worked three Thursdays with no instances. "Tonight, though, with how she got me to calm down and cool off and have a little fun too? I had to do it."

"Hey, if I had someone, I'd do the same as you," Dougie agreed. "Just be careful. You guys are supposed to be waiting a year."

I gave him a weird look. "What do you mean 'you guys?'"

Dougie jumped. "What? I mean, all of us," he amended quickly. "All of us who work here were told a year. It's been just over a month."

"Dougie?" I said slowly with much curiosity. "Explain. I know you well enough, my officemate and little brother. You know something."

"What?" Dougie asked innocently.

"What are you talking about, Trin?" Tommy asked me.

"Dougie? Talk, little brother," I pleaded. "Tommy was more than honest with you. Explain. I promise as an older sister sworn to protect all my siblings, you won't be outed if it comes up."

"You have some explaining to do about that also," Tommy told me as he turned to look at me. "Why are you calling him that?"

"Not the time," I said through clenched teeth.

Dougie sighed. "Dad knows about you two and all the chemistry. Gram told him about your first meeting and her prediction about your future together. The only way he could make it fair was to make it so no one could date. As you're the only girl, it was pretty obvious that none of us was allowed to pursue anything with you. But it really came down to you two."

"He knows?" Tommy asked.

"Well, as far as I know, he doesn't know that you two have been making out. I think he thinks he got the rule in on time. At the rate you're going, you'll never make a year, that's for sure."

"I guess we'll have to do our best," I told him and shrugged. "So, why are you here?"

"I needed my sketch pad," Dougie answered and shrugged back at us. I tilted my head. Dougie sighed. "I had a feeling. I really didn't think you'd be in there doing that, but I wanted to check. Plus, Dad put me up to it. I was told to occasionally check in on you two. That's why I came three weeks ago, but you were busy teaching her about the parts of the bike which thrilled Dad to no end."

"So, tonight's report?" Tommy asked and squeezed my hand.

"'Man, it's hot in the shop,' I'll tell him. I'll follow it up with, 'I can't believe Tommy's so patient with her. She was asking questions, and he not only answered her but went on to show her the parts and the functions of everything she asked about. They work really well together.'"

"Think that would be enough to get him to throw out the rule?" I asked and gave him my best "doubtful but a girl can hope" face.

"Don't count on it, but just be careful, alright?" Dougie answered and held up his sketch pad. "I'm out. See you tomorrow."

"Come on, gorgeous," Tommy told me and pulled me to follow him. I grabbed my purse and turned off the light in the office. When we got outside after locking up, Tommy gave me a high five and winked before he got into his truck. "See you tomorrow." I waved and smiled as I turned on my car.

"That you will," I said aloud once I'd closed my door. "God," I continued speaking as I put on my seatbelt, "I really, really like him. Can I keep him?"

Labor Day week was crazy with the huge bike show in which BMB had become a regular feature the bigger the company got. Everyone was required to go just like at Sturgis. Actually, my place in the show was huge this time because Marketing and Sales had been thriving since I'd joined the company. It was there that Tom was able to really experience my potential. I was in my element - "bring it on" was my mindset!

We were super busy, but we had some free time too. Partners got days off together, so Tommy and I got to enjoy some time to ourselves. In fact, Tommy and I slept with each other in the same bed each night, not that anyone but Dougie knew about it. Well, Jen too. Let me explain.

When the rooms were booked, I was given the room to myself, naturally, being the only woman. Michelle came along on the trip, so Tom was happily enjoying some time with his wife while the rest of us kinda got free reign to go out and do whatever on the off times. Nine guys and I had to share five rooms. Tommy and Dougie got one (with a king size bed), I happened to have gotten the one which was adjoining to that room (also with a king size bed), and the others took on the final three rooms (with two double beds in each). Tom was strategically placed at the other part of the hotel. I may (or may not) have been behind the placement of the rooms, but that's neither here nor there.

Tommy stayed with me, and Dougie got a king size bed all to himself. That was until my best friend, Jen, made a surprise appearance. They had already met through FaceTime. What I didn't know was that they had continued to keep in contact beyond the conversations they'd had while we were at work. And bonus of all bonuses, not only did she show up to surprise us, but she was actually there to meet and interview with Tom for a financial position. She had been hired previously without anyone knowing (not even me!), so her first days were there at the show. As Tom knew she was my best friend, he knew us sharing would be fine. And fine it was since she ended up in Dougie's room.

One added bonus was a surprise planned trip (Michelle took it upon herself to arrange things) to go out as one big group to go roller skating for the evening before. The "couples only skate" songs were nice because no one thought anything of Dougie and Jen and Tommy and I holding hands. We high-fived when we separated each night in the hallway outside one of our doors (when others were around just to make a show of it), but just as quickly as Tommy would gather his things, Jen would do the same in our room and they would quickly switch through the adjoining door. No one was any wiser.

Tommy and I mentioned in passing to Tom that the rule might need to be reiterated for everyone since Jen was new, and more than just one guy (other than Dougie whom we did not mention) seemed interested already. We also hinted that the rule didn't seem to be needed since everyone had been getting along so well. (That was our real intent. Sigh...) He wouldn't hear of it, and soon, new meetings were had to reiterate the importance of maintaining a professional atmosphere. Therefore, on-site employees were to refrain from romantic entanglements.

One Tuesday in the fall, Dougie was visibly distraught by news of the return of cancer in his best friend, Jeremy, which he received while we were at work. I offered to go visit with Dougie in order to meet his friend and to be supportive. Well, we hit it off, and from then on, Jeremy got regular visits from me. At that first visit, when it was clear that we were going to enjoy each other's company, we made a pact to never lie to one another and to be open and honest. He didn't have time for that (kinda literally), and we could find in one another the opportunity to really share and learn and laugh (or cry) with and confide in each visit. And we did just that.

I got to meet a new friend, visit someone who needed some uplifting, and share my life with someone else in my new town. I brought it up with Tommy once about whether it bothered him that I was "seeing this guy," but he thought it was awesome that Jeremy was getting regular visits from a new friend and that I had found someone outside of work to introduce me to more of New York.

Jeremy got a new friend, a way to distract himself from the bogus cancer which wouldn't leave him alone, and an outlet to share with someone things that he didn't regularly share with other people, especially his closest friends and family. He knew that I had experience with death, so he spoke freely about his fears, his feelings, and his concerns regarding those he was leaving behind. But Jeremy's favorite subject was hearing about anything and everything regarding Tommy and myself. One time, he even rubbed his hands together like he was ready to hear the latest "dirt," and he loved every minute of the drama, or lack thereof most of the time.

Thanksgiving was wonderful because the Parker family invited Jen and me to share in their festivities as members of BMB. We fit right in, not to mention the fact that we were crazy about two of the members in the family. And Christmastime was so amazing too. We got to spend time with Gram, our BMB family, and the Parkers who, once again, opened their home to welcome us (and a few others) who had no family around. Gift exchanges were warm and friendly, and time spent together with Christmas music playing in the background, a movie playing quietly in the other room, and a fireplace giving off romantic ambiance just made things beautifully perfect.