Chapter 7: Her Sister's Ex, His Ex-Girlfriend's Sister

The shock on both Herbie’s and Kelly’s faces was undeniable it trickled to both Lucy and Mandy. Well, Lucy was more of surprised than shocked while Mandy was worried.

“You know, Herbie, Kelly?” Lucy asked her niece.

“Yy-yes, Aunt Lucy. He - he’s my boss! Kelly said looking for an assurance on Herbie’s face that it was okay to tell her the truth. “Bb-but it’s only now that I’m meeting…ahhmmmm….”  she was waiting for Herbie to fill in her sentence but…

“Oh, that’s his wife, Mandy. Isn’t she pretty?” Lucy filled in.

“Yes, she is. Nice to meet you, Herbie’s wife, Mandy. I’m Kelly, your husband’s secretary.” Kelly said as they both went for a handshake then gave each other kisses on both cheeks.

“What a small world!.. Hey, it’s good that you all know one another! But it’s almost 10 and there are things that I need to attend to so I’ll leave you three to talk about what you need to do.” Lucy told them heading downstairs.

“Small world, indeed.” Herbie said as Mandy and Kelly joined him in producing a nervous laugh.

All three heaved a sigh of relief when Lucy left them.

“You’re married, Boss?” Kelly asked excitedly.

“You’re her niece?” Herbie asked, too.

“Well, yes, boss, niece-in-law actually. Kelly C. Royo. Kelly Cuevas-Royo. My father is Uncle Ramon’s younger brother… Wait, did you get married in a hurry? Is she pregnant?”

“No!” Herbie and Mandy both protested.

“Well, they mistook us for a married couple and we didn’t get the chance to correct them. Long story, Kelly. We are hoping we could tell them the truth ourselves, we’re just looking for the right time.”

“Right!” Kelly was nodding her head, smiling at Herbie looking like she had figured something out.  

“It’s not what you think, Kelly.”

“I said, right, Boss!”

“Mandy, can you just do your thing and I’ll talk to this woman real quick.” he said pulling Kelly on one side of the room.

“Oh, nice meeting you again, Mrs. Molina, I mean, Mandy.” Kelly was hardly audible to Mandy as she said the last part of it, but audible enough for Herbie to hear… “What’s happening, Boss? Let me just say, she is really gorgeous! Even better than the picture on your table.”

“Will you stop that? Can’t you see I’m dying here?”

“Alright, sorry. I’m just thrilled to see her in person.”

“I know. The story about how we met your Aunt and Uncle, I’ll tell you when we get back to the office.”

“All of it?”

Herbie shook his head and scoffed. “Yeah, all of it… but for now will you let her focus on her work?”

“Okay. But let me just say…” Herbie stopped Kelly from making any more comments about him or Mandy or both of them. “Okay, I’ll leave. If you need me I’ll be downstairs, Boss.”

Herbie then turned to look at Mandy who was then busy writing and drawing in her yellow pad paper. He stood behind her and was amazed at what he saw. On the paper she categorized her shots for each part of the event - before, during and after, and then subcategorized some parts as shots that were choreographed and candid. She wrote down shots that she needed to capture and had allotted a number of shots for her categories.

“Herbie, sit here.” she said pulling him beside her.

“Herbie, I will really need your assistance especially in the candid shots, like when they say their vows or when they wear the rings, ‘cause we can not really ask them to repeat those parts.”

Kelly was about to call them for lunch but stopped for a while when she saw the look on Herbie’s face as he watched Mandy. “My boss is in  love!” Kelly was now sure about that.

“Aren’t you gonna ask them to act as they prepare for the ceremony?” Herbie asked recalling the pictures he had seen from the weddings of family and friends he had attended.

“No! I want it to be as organic as possible because then we can really capture the true excitement on their faces and they will not be even aware that we caught that moment.”

When they finished the shots of the preparations, they sat on a bench where snacks were being served. Mandy was so focused on the job she continued to doodle and scribble on her pad paper.

Herbie knew that when Mandy was this focused, she wouldn’t even have time to eat. He then picked a piece of chicken and potato and some noodles with his fork and offered it to her.

Mandy took a good look at the layers of food stuck in Herbie’s fork before taking them in into her mouth. Then he assembled another layer in his fork for him, then for her until they finished the food on their plates. He pratically forkfed her and wiped her mouth with a tissue, assisted her in drinking some water, as she had her hands full.

Unbeknownst to Herbie, Kelly had been watching them. They were quite a sight to behold. Kelly was thinking that if she wasn’t her boss and she didn’t know him, she would really think they were a married couple. Kelly took pictures of the two in her own camera and thought of gifting Herbie with copies of those precious moments she took of them.  

Alas, the event was almost done. Most of the entourage and guests had gone and Mandy was just wrapping up on some shots she still wanted to get. When she finished, she headed to where Herbie was seated and sat on a chair beside him. She leaned her tired body to his side while he automatically wrapped his arm around her shoulder to prevent her from falling.

“Tired?” he asked looking down on her smelling her hair, which he thought still smelled great after a long day of sweating.

Mandy nodded looking up at him. “But happy. Thanks, Herbie!”

“Hmmm. Excuse me, Mandy, Boss. May I join you?”

“Kelly! Yes, please.” Mandy said with her head on Herbie’s shoulder.

“So Aunt Lucy and Uncle Ramon want me to give you the down payment. They said they are sorry they are not able to tell that to you in person but will definitely make up for that one of these days.” she said handing Mandy an envelope.

“Thank you, Kelly!” Mandy said while signing the receipt.

In their hotel room, as Herbie and Mandy prepared to return to the city, Mandy handed over some money to Herbie.

“What is this for?”

“It’s for all the loans you extended to me."

“Loans? I don’t remember extending you loans.”

“Okay. They’re not payment for loans. It’s your salary as my assistant.”

“Mandy, this is more than half of the down payment! I mean assistants don’t get a higher pay than their bosses!”

“Okay, that’s my thank you for everything you’ve done for me!”

“Hey, I know you don’t mean to offend me but I feel offended just a little bit.” Herbie was truthful when he said it. “I mean, we’re bestfriends, Mandy. Bestfriends aren’t supposed to say thank you with money.”

“Not if it’s a loan! And Herb, I don’t want you to think I’m taking advantage of our friendship.” she said pulling him close for a hug.

“I’m not thinking that, Mandy!” he hugged her back one arm around her waist with his other hand caressing the back of her head.

Mandy held on to Herbie in that position. Having his body so close just gave her calm and comfort.

Herbie immediately pushed Mandy back when he felt his arousal. Ever since that night that they still had not discussed, just the thought of Mandy was giving him his dose of excitement.

“Look, I’m gonna go take a bath.” Herbie turned away from her heading to the bathroom.

Mandy actually felt that - his arousal but she refused to believe that she was turned on, too. He was her sister’s ex and she was his ex-girlfriend’s sister. It just didn’t sound right to be feeling that way about Herbie.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom was Herbie’s very same thoughts but he just couldn’t stop falling for his ex-girlfriend’s sister!