Chapter 1: Meeting My Other Half - Amory

Simon and I have just finished signing the documents for the purchase of a vacant warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Honestly, after Maxine and Kevin started fostering me, I never thought I’d find myself living back in the city… But here I am, thanks to Spin!

We stop for an early dinner, but I’m still not feeling well, considering everything going on in my life, and have found myself clinging to Simon for support more than I intended. He takes it in stride, and even introduces me to the hostess as his daughter and future business partner. The woman looks taken aback but smiles nonetheless.

Afterward, we drove in his Mercedes to some house in an area of Brooklyn called Sheepshead Bay. It’s already dark but the heat is still substantial as I step out of the car and feel it rise up my legs from the ground. I walk behind Simon and we enter through a six-foot wood fence that swings shut and locks behind us.

“Jonny, good to see you again”, I heard Simon say to someone who I couldn’t see since I was clinging to the back of his dress shirt.

“Hey Sy, I thought you were bringing your new business partner with you”, I heard a male say with an equally deep voice that had a hint of this city's accent to it.

Simon chuckles and I feel him grab a hold of my arm and pull me in front of him. “Jonny Knight, meet my new business partner Amory Williams”, he says. I looked up and almost toppled back at the gorgeous specimen of a man before me. He’s both taller and wider than Spin, with a natural light tanned complexion that suits his dark faded blonde hair and honey brown eyes. His jawline is sharp and angular like his nose and his lips are pale pink and juicy.

“Nice to meet you”, I find myself saying somewhat aggressively, as I hold my hand out to shake his.

He takes my hand in his and lifts it to his mouth instead, placing a soft peck on it. “The pleasure is all mine”, he says, causing my cheeks to heat up. Simon clears his throat and Jonny drops my hand, which I don’t think either of us realized he was still holding.

“So, about the job”, Simon continues. Jonny walks to the back door and calls inside. Three more, almost equally large men exit the house and shake my hand. Bo Washington is a former NYPD officer who was injured on the job a year ago and was unable to continue working on the force. Richard Lenny or Rich is an older gentleman who is a retired lieutenant of the NYPD. Last but not least is Maximus Ontario, who was an officer for the NYPD but quit when he realized he could make more money doing numerous side hustles that involved having a gun permit than he ever could on the force. And Jonny Knight… Active military for another three and half months, US Navy!

Simon walks them through the brief history I developed to tell people. I don’t really know who Spin knows, so I leave his name out of it and just tell everyone my ex… Which he is! Simon also goes through the game plan for the business, the construction, what their job will actually be, and the contracts involved. We are even making a plan to tour the building tomorrow. Thankfully, Simon chose a time before my doctor’s appointment so these people don’t think anything is wrong with me, and I sat there in a lawn chair with my fingers twisted into each other and resting on my unborn unknown baby!

I’ve just laid my head back and shut my eyes on the chair when I hear, “ay dios mío. ¿Quién es esta linda chica?” (Oh Lord. Who is this pretty girl?).

I lifted my head back up and opened my eyes to realize the woman was talking about me! “Huh?” I said in my confusion, causing everyone around me to laugh.

“Amory, this is my mother who thinks you’re beautiful”, Jonny says to me.

I want to be flattered but he said this is what his mother has said about me, not him! I felt myself blush again and said, “oh, tell her thank you for me”!

The woman now laughs before saying, “I understand, but sometimes the Spanish pops out and I forget not everyone around can understand me”! Jonny then says something to his mother as he points back and forth between me and Simon, then him and I. I want to learn to speak in Spanish I think to my self when I’m pulled from by thoughts by her saying, “Amory, your name fits you”.

I swear she’s making me crimson in the face as I say, “oh, thanks”!

“I certainly think so too”, Simon agrees. “Now let’s work out the scheduling. I’ll be handling it for the first few months, then, as Amory’s needs change, she’ll adjust accordingly, but you’ll all be on a contract. Amory and I have written up a very thorough and detailed contract. You’re all welcome to look through them ahead of time. They detail salary, requirements, reimbursements Amory feels you’re entitled to, etcetera. As I have said, Amory is very detailed in her expectations”!

Simon places the contracts down on a lawn table and the guys all pick up a copy and start flipping through it. “I don’t understand, why are we being asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, a consent to video recording, and an agreement for data storage?”, asks Jonny. Very good question! Because I need to make sure you can never ever repeat what you hear, see, taste, smell, touch, or destroy in my presence and for me!

“Although the business is mine, it’ll operate under him”, I tell them as I point to Simon, who is nodding. “I’m currently in a position where I need to make sure my identity is not discovered. But I promise I won’t lie to you guys about anything”!

“I’m in”, he says without hesitating.

“Me too”, the remaining three men echo.

“Are you all sure? You haven’t even seen the building yet”, I said in surprise, but Simon was just smiling like he knew this was going to happen!

“Mi Amor, this is so thorough it doesn’t matter what the building looks like. I’m in”, (my love) Jonny says, causing the men to look at him coldly.

“What he said”, Rich finally says, easing the tension.

“Well alright”, Simon chuckles. “Let’s get back to scheduling, shall we”.

It’s at this point I excuse myself. All of this business talk is making my dinner want to come back up! It doesn’t take them long to conclude the meeting, however, and Jonny decides to walk us all back to our cars.

When I stepped off the back deck, I froze… I didn’t even realize there was a pool there when I came in. A hard body collides with mine. I yelped out in fear of being knocked in as I turned quickly and grabbed onto the shirt of whoever bumped into me. Strong firm arms engulf me and I hear, “¿estás bien” (you okay)?

“What?” I ask as I realize I’m in Jonny’s arms. Completely embarrassed by my irrational fear of the pool, I buried my face in his chest. “What does that mean”?

“Are you okay?”, he says.

“I can’t swim”, I said quietly.

“I can teach you”, he says, causing me to look up at him. He’s being sincere!

“Um, yeah! Maybe one day”, I told him… I think I’d rather die at the moment! I don’t know what’s come over me. I’m married and pregnant! Okay fine, I’m legally separated and pregnant, but I’m still pregnant!

“Seriously”, he pushes. “What are you doing tomorrow after the tour? We can come back here and I’ll teach you to swim! If I’m supposed to be concerned about your safety and wellbeing, I should at least make sure you can do this”! He does make a fair point.

“You don’t work for me yet”, I stated.

“Consider it a trial run”, he suggests.

“Umm, okay! I have a doctor’s appointment after the tour tomorrow. You bring me to the appointment, and afterward, I’ll come back here with you and you can teach me, okay?” I agree.

“Deal”, he states, as Simon comes back through the gate to see what’s keeping me. I told him that after our tour tomorrow Jonny would be teaching me to swim. He laughs about how fine we are already getting along and takes my arm to guide me back to the car as I wave goodbye to Jonny.

Simon drives me back to my apartment and tells me he’ll pick me up in the morning, and that if I need anything his hotel is only a few blocks away. I thanked him and entered my building’s lobby before he pulled away.

I’m so exhausted that I plop onto my new mattress still in my clothes that now smell of a man’s cologne. Is that ToyBoy?! I find myself drifting off to sleep with visions comparing Spin to Jonny in my head, and wondering what the fuck is wrong with me!