KIDZ

Chapter 7

“Dad, what’s he doing?” Patrick leaned closer to whisper to his Dad as they watched one of the construction crew set up the cutting apparatus for the new siding that was going up. Patrick was fascinated by all the equipment that surrounded him. Before John had the chance to answer his son, Patrick had more questions.

“Come on,” John said as he brought Patrick over to meet the young man who was about to cut a long section of siding. John “stationed” his son nearby and had Marco describe what he was doing. With Patrick temporarily occupied, John went into the house to supervise the ongoing repairs.

“John,” was heard as his head was stuck under the kitchen sink. Without banging his head on the pipes, John extricated himself from under the sink.

“Yeah?” he replied as he stood up then dusted himself off. He turned to see Claire standing there with a frown on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing really,” she lied.

“That look on your face doesn’t look like nothing,” John observed. He could be just as honest as Brian but with a little more finesse.

“Want the truth?” Claire asked with defiance.

“Yes,” John said as he crossed his arms across his chest. He gave Claire a slight glare. Claire suddenly smirked as she shook her head.

“God, you look so much like Brian, it’s scary sometimes.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Now what’s with the face?”

“I’m jealous.”

“Jealous? Of what?”

“Of you and to a certain extent, of Brian too.”

“Why?”

“You’ve done such a great job raising your son. Patrick is polite and courteous, and from what Mom said, he’s very smart. She took delight in showing off her grandson’s report cards.” Claire said making quote marks in the air.

“I didn’t know. Patrick isn’t related to Joan.”

“No, he isn’t...wasn’t, but it didn’t matter to her. She loved him almost as much as she loved Briana.”

“Technically, Bree isn’t related to Joan either,” John mused softly.

“After a while, blood didn’t matter. She learned that important lesson from you.” John gave Claire a startled look. “All of you,” Claire clarified. “She considered all the kids of your family her grandchildren. It took me a while to get used to that.”

“Joan had a big heart.”

“She didn’t always.”

“Maybe not, but it grew.”

“You make her sound like the Grinch,” Claire said with a laugh. John laughed too.

“Yes, well, it’s true. Brian was a bit like that except we all knew he had a heart. It just took some convincing to make him aware of it.”

“And now he knows?”

“For the most part. We have to remind him every once in a while,” John said with a mischievous smirk.

“It’s working. I am forever grateful for what you, Brian and Claire did for my family. My boys would have been lost without those lessons they learned up at the Farm. Me too. I still have lunch with Karen when I’m feeling confused.”

“Like now?”

“Yes, like now. John and Peter have grown up well. Peter is very content with his life. He’s doing what he likes to do and doing it well. He has a sweet wife who mirrors his personality; they’re very happy.” Claire sighed.

“But you’re worried about John.”

“Yes. Mary is a very nice person but...”

“Not as tolerant as she’d have to be to be a part of our cwazy wittle family?” John suggested.

“You’ve hit the nail on the head,” Claire said with a smile. John groaned at the construction reference. “Do you think we can send Mary to the Farm?”

“I’ll look into it,” John joked. “Seriously, don’t worry about your son; he learned his lessons well. Give it time; I’m sure Mary will come around.”

“If not, we can always sic Debbie on her,” Claire said trying to keep a straight face. She never forgot the chewing out she got from Debbie when her John accused Brian of molesting him.

“Hopefully, it won’t get to that point,” John shuddered, not wishing Debbie on his worst enemy. “But we’ll keep it in mind. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m in the middle of wrestling with an ornery pipe,” John said as he brandished a pipe wrench.

“I get the hint, I’ll leave you to it. Can I bring you anything before I go?”

“No thanks. Any minute a food cart should be pulling up to the curb,” John explained as he crawled back under the sink.

“Okay, see you later,” Claire said as she walked out of the kitchen.

“Later,” John mumbled as he got back to work.

 

*****
 

“Miss Kinney-Taylor, what a pleasure it is to see you again. Kinnetik is so happy you’ve decided to spend some of your valuable time with us,” Ted formally greeted Kinnetik’s newest and youngest intern. Bree greeted her Uncle Ted with a bright smile as she daintily shook Ted’s hand. “Morning, Brian,” Ted greeted his boss as an afterthought.

“At least someone sees me standing here,” Brian murmured. The minute he and Bree arrived at Kinnetik, Bree was surrounded by the staff all wishing her well. Brian, dressed to the nines (and looking extremely sexy) was almost completely ignored. “I’ll be in my office if anyone wants me,” Brian grumbled as Ted whisked Bree away to show her around and give her a list of her duties.

The first two weeks of July flew by too fast for Brian’s liking. He wasn’t looking forward to his daughter joining the rank and file even if it was only voluntary and very temporary. Brian wanted his daughter to remain a child for a little longer. Adulthood would come fast enough, if Gus was any indication. Bree enjoyed her time at day camp especially when she got to see her best friend Ashley daily, and of course, Bree wowed the camp on the soccer field. But camp couldn’t end too soon for Bree who was really looking forward to working at Kinnetik and at the gallery.

And then to irk Brian even further, somewhere along the line, Bree’s taste in clothes took a sudden shift. She still had her older father’s appreciation for 'the label’, but the little girl dresses had suddenly been replaced by sophisticated blouses and skirts. When Brian dropped Justin off at the gallery, Bree decided to take her Daddy’s place in the front passenger seat. Brian noticed the pale pink polished finger and toenails. There was a hint of blush to Bree’s creamy cheeks, and if he wasn’t mistaken, Bree was wearing lip stain. Gone were the pigtails, replaced by one ponytail that was swept up and affixed to the back of her hair with her “B” clip. It almost gave the impression of a French twist. Brian was not amused; he narrowed his eyes but said nothing as he drove them to Kinnetik.

This was going to be a very long summer.

“What’s with the face?” Cynthia asked as she plopped a thick file in front of Brian. He was currently taking out his frustrations on his keyboard. She could hear the pounding from out in the hall.

“My daughter has suddenly turned into Paris Hilton. If she demands a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes, I will shoot myself,” Brian growled as he hit the delete key several times to get rid of a stupid error.

“Fuck!” he yelled then pounded his head against the desk.

“Enough!” Cynthia shouted as she shoved her hand between Brian’s forehead and the desk. She pulled up a chair and sat close to Brian’s desk. “Tell Auntie Cynthia all about it.”

“I can still fire you,” Brian grumbled.

“No you can’t,” Cynthia replied unfazed. “What’s wrong?”

“Bree’s growing up too fast. She’s wearing makeup,” Brian groaned. Cynthia laughed then coughed a couple times when Brian glared at her.

“Brian, she’s becoming a young lady and what little makeup she is wearing has been tastefully applied. Believe me, if she came in here looking like a hooker, I’d let her know. Give her this, Brian. Let her stretch her wings a little. She’s so pretty that she really doesn’t need any makeup. Actually she reminds me a lot of Molly. They both have that same skin and strawberry blond hair. Sheesh, I think I’m jealous of a nine year old,” Cynthia laughed.

“You’re not helping,” Brian said.

“I’m sorry, I guess I don’t see the problem. She wants you to be proud of her.”

“I am proud of her and she doesn’t have to dress like Marilyn Monroe for me to be proud of her.”

“Why not? Justin did,” Cynthia teased, reminding Brian of when Justin dressed up like Marilyn for a drag queen Valentine’s dance at the Honey Bear bar in Bridgeton many years ago. Cynthia had seen many pictures of that night.

“That’s different.”

“Not that much different. From what I heard, it got your attention. Brian, little girls have a habit of growing up and they want their daddies to notice them. You’ve raised an intelligent, independent little girl. Give her the chance to put those brains of hers to good use.”

“Okay, I’ll try,” Brian responded like a petulant child.

“Good. Now if you’re finished bullying your keyboard, I want you to review this file. We’ve been cultivating a new client. He’s a large manufacturer in Canada and he wants to sign an exclusive long term contract.”

“Canada?”

“Yes, I was just as surprised. He says that he was down here for a business convention and saw several of our ads. Needless to say, he was curious and demanded that his PR department do some research. Waldon Industries comes to us knowing all about us and willing to pay our fees. I did some research on him. Ted is enraptured over Waldon’s bottom line; they can afford us.”

“I’m impressed,” Brian said as he flipped through the file.

“We’ll have something for Mr. Waldon by early August.”

“So what do you want me to do? Looks like you’ve got everything under control.”

“Something Waldon said during one of our phone conferences.”

“What was it?”

“He has no issue working with me or with Ted but when it’s time to sign on the dotted line, he wants only you.”

“So what’s the problem? Let me know when he’s in the Pitts and I’ll dazzle him,” Brian said smugly.

“No can do, bossman. This time the mountain goes to Mohammed,” Cynthia said as she departed Brian’s office leaving the file for him to study.

“Fuck!”

 

*****
 

“And this is my office,” Ted said as he ushered Bree into his office.

“I know, Uncle Ted. I’ve been in here before,” Bree said with a sigh.

“Oh, yeah, right.”

“What work am I going to do?” Bree asked bluntly.

“Um, I, um, how about something to drink?” Ted asked quickly.

“I’m not thirsty.”

“Well I am,” Ted said as he ushered Bree towards the break room. “How about a soda?” he asked as they entered.

“My daddies don’t like me to have soda.”

“Well, you’re a little young for coffee.”

“If I hafta have something, I should have juice,” Bree informed him.

“Juice, okay, juice,” Ted mumbled as he looked at the drinks in the fridge. With relief he noted there was a bottle of apple juice. He had no idea who it belonged to, but he’d pay them back later. “Here you go,” Ted said with a smile as he twisted off the cap.

“Thanks,” Bree replied taking a sip from the bottle. “But what work am I going to do?”

Ted groaned inwardly. How come he always got stuck with these situations? Where was Cynthia when you needed her? Or Bree’s father?

“Um, why don’t we go find Cynthia? I’m sure she has your … um, schedule all worked out,” Ted said thinking he had arrived at the perfect escape from the predicament that he found himself in.

“Good,” Bree said as she set her bottle on the counter. “Let’s go.”

Ted headed out of the break room. He would have liked a coffee, but he was much more interested in turning Bree over to someone else than in feeding his caffeine addiction.

“Where’s Cynthia?” Ted asked Cynthia’s assistant as they arrived at Cynthia’s office.

“She went down to the art department to deal with something there.”

“Oh shit,” Ted replied before he realized what he had said. “Um, sorry, did she leave a schedule of work for Miss Briana?”

“I don’t believe so. I have to go out on an errand,” she said as she turned to head out the front door.

Ted heaved a sigh. So much for that plan. “Let’s go find your dad,” he said not being able to think of anything else to do.

Bree trailed dejectedly along behind Ted as he headed for her Dada’s office. “Go on in,” Ted said before they reached the doorway.

“Aren’t you coming too, Uncle Ted?”

“Um, no, I have some things I need to do.” He quickly disappeared down the hall.

“Dada?” Bree said as she entered the office and saw her father sitting behind his desk working on the computer.

Brian raised a finger indicating that she should be patient for a minute. Bree drew in a deep breath of exasperation and went to sit on the sofa. After a couple of minutes Brian said, “Hey, Squirt, how’s it going? Have you had your tour?”

“I met about a million people and had apple juice and looked for Cynthia and Uncle Ted wanted to get rid of me so he brought me here,” Bree said in one long breath.

“You’ve been busy,” Brian replied, but his eyebrow had gone up when Bree started the litany of her activities.

“But when do I work, Dada? I don’t do nuffin but follow somebody around.”

“No baby talk here, Squirt,” Brian cautioned.

“Sorry, Dada.” Bree made sure she didn’t use her patented baby talk, “Sowwy.”

“So, you’re ready to get to work, are you?” Brian asked deciding this might be the best way to approach the problem.

“Yes, Dada.”

“Did you go to the art department?”

“Yes, Dada.”

“Can you find your way back there?”

“Yes, Dada,” Bree said confidently.

“Good, then take this thumb drive to Max in the art department.” Brian pulled the small device out of the side of his computer. “Make sure Max gets it,” Brian warned.

“Is there any message for Max?” Bree asked in her best professional voice.

Brian was able to stifle his laugh in time. He cleared his throat. “Just tell him that I would like his opinion about what is on the thumb drive.”

“Yes, Dada.”

“When that’s done, report to Cynthia.” Brian intended to make sure there were other jobs for his precocious daughter to do when she returned from this mission.

“Yes, Dada,” Bree said before she hurried out of the office in her best sedate fashion.

Brian smiled before paging Cynthia.

“Max,” Bree said. She had walked through the busy art department looking for the person she remembered as Max.

“Yeah,” was the brusque response.

“My Dada asked me to give you this. He would like your opinion on what is on the drive.”

“I see,” Max responded, adjusting his tone of voice to match Bree’s, as he turned to face the little girl. He took the thumb drive and said, “Thank you for bringing it to me.”

“You’re welcome,” Bree said with a sunny smile. Then she skipped out of the office.

Max smiled as he watched her go, and could only shake his head before plugging the drive into his computer.

Bree went back through the corridors of Kinnetik heading for Cynthia’s office. Now she felt like she was actually doing something worthwhile at the company. She had had enough of tours and meeting people.

Bree stopped as she approached the outer reception area of Kinnetik. She had to go across that area to get to Cynthia’s office. There were two people standing at the reception desk. They were talking loudly and did not look happy. Nobody was around including the receptionist, Maryanne, whom Bree had met earlier. She thought for a moment and then stepped forward.

The man was saying, “What kind of a company is this? They don’t even have the decency to have someone here to meet you and direct you to the proper place. Maybe we should reconsider signing this deal.”

“Excuse me,” Bree said politely, “maybe I can help you.”

“And who are you?”

“I’m Briana Victoria Kinney-Taylor.”

“Kinney, are you related to Brian Kinney?” the woman asked.

“He’s my Dada,” Bree replied. “Who do you wish to see?” she asked formally just like she had heard Maryanne do earlier.

“We’re supposed to meet with a Ted Schmidt to sign some contracts,” the man explained as he calmed down.

“I can take you to him,” Bree said confidently. “Follow me, please.”

The man and woman looked at each other wondering how they had managed to step into the Twilight Zone instead of an advertising company. With a shrug they followed Bree.

On the way Bree asked their names and what company they represented. She received polite answers and filed the information away. When she reached her Uncle Ted’s office down the hall, she looked in. Ted was at his desk looking over some papers.

“Uncle Ted,” Bree said. Ted looked up. “This is Mr. Harnish and Ms. Blackmore from the Bright Lights Sunglass Company.”

“Thank you, Briana,” Ted replied. “Come in, please. I was just looking over the contracts.”

The two entered the office and Ted came around the desk to close the door. “Thanks, Bree,” he whispered. Bree nodded.

“You do know that child labor is illegal,” Mr. Harnish said before Ted closed the door.

Bree skipped down the hall proud of herself for getting those people to the right place. She headed for Cynthia’s office. Cynthia was now at her desk.

“Miss Cynthia, do you know where Maryanne is?” Bree asked.

“She had to go pick up her son at school. He’s not well. I’m keeping an eye on reception.”

“Oh,” Bree said. She wasn’t sure she should tell Cynthia about the people she had helped. She didn’t want to get anybody in trouble, including herself.

“Miss Alice in the school was wondering if you would help her set up for some crafts with the children. Can you do that?” Cynthia asked. This was all new territory, and Cynthia wasn’t really sure what Bree could do or would be willing to do.

“Sure,” Bree said with a sunny smile. “Should I go now?”

“That would be good.”

“Should I report back to you when I’m done?” Bree asked.

“I think it will be lunchtime by then. Why don’t you report to Brian’s office?”

“Okay.” Bree set off for the school.

 

*****
 

“Hi, Dada,” Bree said as she entered Brian’s office, her work at the school completed to the satisfaction of Miss Alice.

“Hey, Squirt, I hear you’ve had a busy morning.”

“Huh?”

“Ted came to tell me how you rescued some clients who were disgruntled and got them to his office. Miss Alice just called to say how much you had helped her in the school. And I heard back from Max about the ideas on the thumb drive that you delivered for me. I’d say that’s a good morning’s work.”

Bree smiled one of those megawatt smiles that only the Taylors had. “It was fun,” she said.

“Then let me treat you to lunch.”

“Okay,” Bree said happily as Brian came out from behind his desk. She slipped her hand into his as they left Kinnetik.
 

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