Family Reunion Ch. 02

~*~*This story has SJW undertones. Beware of my political leanings! Without further ado, I hope you enjoy*~*~

So much has happened in a few short months that I missed Zoe moving in. In passing, Alanna tried to get me over or hang out but we have been swamped. America is taking a huge hit with story after story unraveling itself. Corrupt politician here, murder there, another unarmed black person killed everywhere. The media is getting attacked left and right, which admittedly happens a lot. We get daily death threats but there's usually no action. This time is different. A competitor of ours was found dead in his apartment. Some are starting to get so afraid that we had to hire more security.

Tonight was an event with the mayor for some fundraiser that we were going to cover. I put our second best reporter on the it and he was ready and willing to do a good job. Hopefully he kept his eyes and ears peeled because our best anchor is ditching us for an Atlanta job position at a more reputable station. I'm not bitter but I hope she fails. No I don't, I know she'll slam dunk that position because she really does deserve it.

The next day we were celebrating a job well done on asking hard hitting thought provoking questions that the Mayor answered with passing flying colors. Now all he has to do is stick to his word. I noticed our second best reporter, Brandon, was smiling down at his phone.

"What girl has you smiling at your phone like a doofus?" I asked startling him.

"Someone I met at the fundraiser last night. We're meeting for drinks later on tonight. Oh, I think Alanna was looking for you earlier." Brandon pocketed his phone before I could catch a name.

"Thanks and you really did a great job yesterday." I patted him on the shoulder.

Looking around for Lanna, I spotted her with a short dark skinned woman with short hair and pixie like features.

"Heard you were looking for a good time, well here I am." I spread my arms wide.

"Finn." she hit my arm, "It feels like I haven't seen you in weeks. What kind of a best friend are you?"

"Ow. Who is this lovely little lady?" I grabbed her hand and was reminded of Zoe.

"If you were around more, you'd know this is Stephanie, my girlfriend." Alanna said with attitude.

"You sure you want to slum it with this one? I'm much nicer than she is." I say pointing at Lanna. She hit me.

"See, I'm nicer." I smiled down at Stephanie.

"Nice to meet you Finn." she shook my hand with a shy smile.

"I was looking for you because I'm having an official welcome party for Zoe at my place this weekend.

"Sure, I haven't seen Zoe since the family reunion. It will be nice to see her again."

"Mmmhmm, I bet." Lanna smacked her lips.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked a little too defensive.

"Oh nothing. Just last I remembered, there was a Zoe shaped handprint on your neck when we left Virginia."

"Oooo" Stephanie instigated.

I shot her a glare, "Ok that was not even a handprint, it was a rash from using those cheap towels." very plausible, glad I thought of it.

"Whatever you say dude." Lanna brushed me off.

"Whatever, I'll be there." I said a quick goodbye to them both then zoomed off home.

How dare she insinuate that me and her baby sister had mind blowing, earth shattering, toe curling sex. She's right, but she doesn't know that. Unless Zoe told her. That loose lipped hussy. I have something for those lips of hers.

I keep thinking about all the positions that we could have done that night. Who needs sleep? Really. I could have powered through the exhaustion. Goodness it was like fucking the tightest, wettest warmest fist attached to a rocking body. The way her face contorted when she was on the verge of coming was screensaver worthy. Maybe I should get that captured? No, no I do not want someone seeing her on my phone. That face is reserved solely for me.

Finn, get your shit together. You're not even ready for a serious relationship. I'm at the top of my game right now and a relationship would just be a distraction. It might be time to revisit the friends with benefits idea I had.

Pulling out my computer, I tried to ignore the raging hard on that I conjured up with thoughts of Zoe. If I ignore it, it'll go away. Nope can't ignore it and I refuse to masturbate for the childish reason that I should not be masturbating when there is a beautiful woman twenty odd minutes away who rocked my world a few months ago.

I pulled out my phone and waited while it rang, finally an answer, "Yo."

"Jesse, I'm coming over." I ended the call.

I grabbed an overnight bag and headed out. Ten minutes later I'm ringing the doorbell. Jesse opened the door looking haggard.

"What's wrong." he gave me a deadpan look.

"Why does something have to be wrong for me to visit my friend?" I sidestepped him, going through the door.

"You have your overnight bag. You only bring your overnight bag when you're going through some shit so lay it on me before I kick you out and go to bed." he grabbed some beers from the fridge.

"Remember when I went with Alanna to her family reunion?"

"Yeah."

"Well me and her-"

"Fucked? You fucked Lanna!" he cut me off.

"What? No, man get it together."

"Ok sorry, finish your story."

"Well me and her sister kinda..." I gestured, trying to find the right words.

He grabbed a shirt full of beers, "We need more ammo for this."

He gathered the beers, I gathered some snacks, then we settled on the couch.

"I thought you were about to tell me you fucked Lanna." he laughed taking a sip.

"I honestly don't see how that will work out." I said around a mouthful of popcorn.

"It sucks that she likes women. Woo! What I wouldn't give to take that body for a spin."

"Are you done?" I gave him a flat face. The guys are always saying their shoulda coulda wouldas when it comes to Alanna, like she'd give them the time of day even if she was straight.

"Yeah. Back to your thing. So instead of fucking the one that you want, you fucked her twin?"

"What? No. They look nothing alike. And I sure as hell don't want to fuck someone I consider family." he gave me the 'I don't believe it' face. "Seriously they are complete opposites. But we did have a good time and now I can't stop thinking about it."

"Damn I've got to see the woman who has you whipped."

"I am not whipped but I can admit great sex when I see it. Or feel it. Anyways, do you think I should inquire if she wants to be casual?"

"Absolutely, positively...not."

"Why not?" I wanted to stomp my foot.

"Look man, you seem like you actually like her and if she shows interest back, you're gonna chicken out. And I say this with the utmost of love for you. We don't want another Veronica situation."

"What does Veronica have to do with this?" that came all the way out of left field.

"When you were "casual" with Veronica, you both developed feelings for each other but you ghosted her the moment she showed too many emotions. You guys had real potential. But then when she leaves your ass and the second she gets engaged, you throw a hissy fit and come stay at my house for three weeks straight. You can't keep throwing women away like they don't mean anything, you'll end up alone that way."

"I didn't ask for a therapy session." I sneered, opening another bottle.

"Well that's what you got. Look, if you talk to her about it and she says yes, then I say go for it. But you need to watch yourself because you already like her too much. So much so that you came over here so you won't handle yourself tonight, because you would if you were alone at your house. And I don't want to see you like that again, that whole Veronica thing did a number on you." Jesse looked at me with a stern frown.

"Ok, then, what do I do because there's a party for her tomorrow and I'm going."

"Introduce her to me, shit I'm the one ready to settle down." he clicked his glass with mine.

My knee-jerk reaction was to yell no, but that would startle him too much so I just said, "She's not your type."

"Hows that song go? I ain't got not type. Bad bitches, is the only thing that I like." he laughed, slapping his knee.

"Real funny."

He wiped away a fake tear, "I kill me. If you're feeling a certain vibe from her, run it by her. Because you're gonna do it regardless of what I say. Just be careful."

"You act like I'm skydiving without a parachute."

"Technically you are, metaphorically." he shrugged.

Settling into silence, I thought about everything he said. I don't think it's that deep, but I will try to heed his warning.

"All right Finn, I got an early morning and it's already after eleven. You know where the sheets and stuff are."

He walked away mumbling something about asshole better buy him lunch. I better not be the asshole in this equation. I made up the guest room then got under the covers. There was no possible way I was going to touch myself with him next door. I make way too much noise for it to ever be a secret. Drifting off to sleep, I prayed she wouldn't invade my dreams.

Zoe didn't invade my dreams but Veronica did. We were at some park talking when my jaw started to hurt. The next thing I knew, my teeth started falling out. First it was one, then it was the entire back row of my teeth. They started to crumble into tiny pieces in my hand. I woke feeling my mouth making sure my teeth were still in tact. They were all there thank goodness.

The clock read eight forty five. Jesse was already gone and I needed to get to work. I also needed to figure out what exactly I was going to say to Zoe once I see her again. For some reason, I was nervous. Those jitters you get when you go on your first date.

I don't even know why I'm tripping the way I am. It's not like I haven't done this before. On auto pilot, I made it to work. Work always gave me the respite I needed from my thoughts and now that I'm here, I transform into my work persona.

Reporters on air? Check. Cameras on? Check. Mics working, clarity of video, boots on the ground? Check, check, check. Everything was running smoothly as always until I found Brandon in the bathroom having a full on panic attack.

His tie was thrown on the ground, his face looked a little pallid, which was alarming seeing that he's a black man. He was fanning himself and sweating profusely. I've seen this before, nasty things that they are. I guide him to the toilet and shove his head between his legs, instructing him on how to breathe. After a few minutes, he's calm enough to form words.

"Thanks Finn. I don't know what happened there. I was just listening in on what Rachel was saying over the ear piece and..."

We all heard. Our correspondent and her crew were getting shot at by police. Thankfully it was just rubber bullets but at the time, we didn't know they were rubber.

"It's ok man, you just had a panic attack."

"What? I don't have no damn anxiety." he looked affronted.

"Trust me it's ok, this happens all the time." I said trying to calm him.

"No, you don't understand. The new cameraman with Rachel is my cousin. He's out there and black and I did everything in my power to find him a better life than living to go to prison or dead. He's all I got, I can't." he broke off, hyperventilating again.

"Head down. Now breathe. Slowly inhale in the nose, exhale out the mouth with a big breath." he followed my instructions again.

He sat up, shook himself out, dipped to get his tie then walked to the sink to splash his face. He looked at me in the mirror. I could see embarrassment line his face.

"Finn, this is out of my character. I hope this doesn't put in to question my fitness for doing the job because I can do this. I've worked so hard to get here. I'm capable of doing my job." he did look more refreshed now.

I patted him on the shoulder, "You're good man, we chose you for that exact reason. Now get on air before I change my mind."

I placed the earpiece back in my ear after I left the bathroom to hear our correspondent ensure us that the crew was fine and that they got everything live on camera. I could work with that. Our job is to give an unimpeded, unbiased view of the realities of the world and right now, people needed to see what our "protectors" are doing to the citizens unprovoked.

The chaos was cleared up and we panned to the correspondent in a different part of the city. He, thankfully, didn't come face to face with violence. I checked on Brandon and he was doing a fabulous job giving a neutral face to the camera. You have to have nerves of steel to do what he does and not show emotion despite how you feel on the matter at hand. I'm a proud papa bear.

After hours pass by I called it a day and left my notes for the second director to pick up, I head home to get ready for this party. The nerves flood my veins again as I throw on a simple pair of jeans and a crisp white shirt. I check my breath then walk through a cloud of my favorite cologne, heading out the door.

I pull up, meeting Jesse outside and recognize some of the cars out in the yard. A lot of these folks, I work with. I guess Lanna was trying to show Zoe that she now has instant friends on tap because they are also Lanna's friends. A little part of me is giddy to see her.

I walk in searching for Lanna amongst the sea of people. I see her with Stephanie perched on her lap. She really does look happy. And now that I've met her mother in person, she would be absolutely pissed to know her golden child is a lesbian. Personally, I feel like if you can't accept the possibility that your child will come out different from you in any way, be it their sexual orientation, their newfound religious beliefs or their mental disability, then you should not become a parent. Too many people out there having babies to end up throwing them out the house for not becoming what the parents expect of them. It's a damned shame really.

We made it to Lanna, dapping her up and hugging Stephanie. We both joined the conversation about current events but still had my eye out for Zoe. That's when I spotted her curly head thrown back with laughter. I smiled seeing her smile. My smile quickly turned into a frown when I saw Brandon wrap an arm around her, pulling her in for a kiss.

Blinking rapidly, I couldn't believe what I just saw. How long has it been since the- Ohhh, she was the girl from the fundraiser. But that was only a couple of days ago, how on earth are they already on kissing-as-a-greeting terms?

She looked at him with that look that I know so well. There is no fucking way they had sex already. No way. He already looked at her like he adored her. The way he was holding her close to his body was making me curl my lip in disgust.

"What's with the face?" Jesse said leaning over to me.

"Nothing, I just remembered something."

"So where's your girl?" he really needs to learn to read the room.

"Over there." I pointed to where her and Brandon were, now alone in the corner talking to each other.

"Oh damn."

Oh damn is right.

I break from the circle and walk over to Zoe.

"Finn do you think this is a good idea." Jesse walked behind me.

"I'm just going to say hi and introduce you two. You did say you wanted to meet her." I guess I am a good liar.

"Please don't insult my intelligence with that lie." ok I guess I'm not a good liar.

"Fuck off." I toss over my shoulder.

He stays trailing me. Brandon turns to us with a big smile nodding his head at me, "What up boss man."

"Nothing much, just came to welcome Zoe to our city." I looked in her eyes the entire time. And was that a flash of desire I saw, or am I projecting?

"Oh yeah, she told me she knew you. I forgot all about that. How're you enjoying the food?" honestly, who does he think he is?

"The food is great, I love the scallops. You must be the famous Zoe. I'm Jesse, this one's best friend. It's nice to meet another beautiful woman." Jesse pulled her hand to his lips and she blushed.

Brandon eyed him before answering, "I basically forced Lanna to use a friend of mine's catering company."

"You didn't need to force her, the food is delicious." Zoe turned to him giving him all her attention.

"Yeah the food is good. Zoe can I talk to you, alone?" I asked reaching out for her hand.

"Uh sure. I'll be right back Brandon." she called behind her as I pulled her around a corner and out the back door.

"Hi." I looked down at her face with light makeup making her eyes look wider.

"Hi." she tucked a curl behind her ear.

"I'm sorry it has taken me so long to see you. I've been so busy."

"It's no big deal. You have nothing to be sorry for." a reassuring hand was on the exposed flesh of my arm.

"No, I should have been one of the first faces to greet you when you got here. I would like for us to be friends and I wasn't being a good friend to you."

"Apology accepted." she pulled me into an embrace that molded our bodies together.

I could feel the stirrings of arousal as my arms held her close. "Here give me your number and we'll hang out sometime." I pulled out my phone handing it to her.

"Ok, there." returning my phone, she shyly smiled up at me.

"So...you and Brandon." subtle. Real subtle.

"Oh, yeah we met at one of our fundraisers. He was just so cute falling all over himself trying to talk to me, then we bonded over expensive terrible wine." I hated the way her face lit up.

"So you guys are dating?"

"No, we're just friends, well a little bit more than friends but definitely falling short of an exclusive relationship." that was good and bad to hear.

"That didn't look like a friendly kiss to me."

Her head snapped back, then she gave me a face of recognition, "That was an accident."

"How do you accidentally kiss someone?"

"He said something to me that I didn't hear so I turned my head but by the time I turned my head, he was going in for a kiss on my cheek. I turned into his lips on accident. I don't even know why I'm explaining this to you."

I gave her a suspicious look not believing her. She sighed and shook her head. Her mouth opened then closed like she was about to say something but changed her mind.

She took it upon herself to suck her bottom lip into her mouth as her coffee eyes sparkled at me. Not able to control my actions, I placed one hand behind her neck and the other on her hip, tugging her to my waiting mouth.

The kiss started tentatively but evolved rapidly into our tongues battling and teeth clashing.

"Wait, no. We can't do this. Brandon is in there." she pulled away from me, her hands stuck on my chest.

I looked down at her hands clutching my shirt, "It sure seems like you want to do this." I leaned in to steal another peck on her soft full lips.

"Finn, please." her eyes beseeched me.

"You just said that you guys don't have an exclusive relationship. So what is it?" anger skewered me.

"I did say that but, he is right in the house and I think it would be disrespectful to him. So I'm just gonna go." she turned to leave.

I stood there watching her slide through the door. That kiss was life giving. I thought Alanna's body formed perfectly to mine but Zoe fit like a missing puzzle piece. Me resting my chin on top of her head while her arms lounged at the small of my back. The way she was curled against me for a brief second before I left her in the bed at the family reunion.

"You good?" Jesse asked behind me.

I turned and plastered on a fake smile, "All is good in the neighborhood."

"What happened?" he hands me an unopened beer.

"Her and Brandon are a thing but not really. We kissed and it felt right but she pulled away."

"What?"

"I know, it doesn't make any sense. How are you guys just friends but you kiss each other? Well she did say they kissed on accident."

"Wait, wait back up. You kissed her? While ol' dude is standing right in there? You have more control than that Finn."