With a crooked, shaky finger, Mr. Nelson directed Reagan's eyes toward a Christmas tree adorned in small brass bells and holly and centered along a windowed wall that showcased the entire San Fernando Valley. "Fifty years ago, right over there, I watched Audrey Hepburn share several drinks with William Holding as they looked out over the sparkling Valley."
Reagan's teeth were dry and sticking to her lips after smiling all evening. Most of their gloss was lost to politeness, but having made their way around to the two elderly men who cofounded GRG, the holding company her boyfriend worked for, she'd discovered they were like windows into L.A.'s glamorous past.
"I'll tell you something else----I know Audrey Hepburn was considered one of the most beautiful women in the world, but
wow
... You don't know the half of it unless you've seen her in person." He diverted his gaze entirely from Brandon, who was standing at Reagan's side, and spoke straight at Reagan. "From the minute she entered the room I couldn't pull my eyes from her. I had trouble believing those perfect, nuanced features could exist off-screen." He leaned closer to Reagan in a way that invited her to do the same. "It's a lot like that with you, my dear."
Mr. Nelson's wife patted his back. "You're embarrassing the poor child, Bill."
"Nonsense! Was I embarrassing you, dear?"
"No, no. I know flattery is ninety-nine percent protocol, or least that's what my mother liked to say. So I'll accept that I'm one percent as pretty as Audrey Hepburn." She was aware her cheeks were heating up and must've reddened, which surely revealed her embarrassment despite professing otherwise.
Brandon rescued her modesty. "It's good for Reggie to hear it from someone else, because my opinion has been branded biased."
"Brandon's actually seen what I look like first thing in the morning and didn't run screaming for the door, so his opinion is hardly credible."
Mr. Fillmore, the other cofounder, guided a hand around his wife's waist. "Well the Pimentel has always attracted the most beautiful ladies." His wife leaned against him, drawing a hand over her husband's chest. "
And it's where they behave like anything but
." Her hand then slapped against his chest as she gave him a look.
Mr. Nelson was quick to pick it up. "He's not kidding. His eyes bulged and his finger wagged unsteadily towards the south, cheery wood wall of the hotel's banquet hall, where a lone piano player played a jazzy version of "White Christmas". "Right there is where I spotted Joanne Woodward for the first time." He sipped his drink. "She had on dark sunglasses, but it was her, alright. And she was with Paul Newman." He winked. "But you see, Paul Newman was still married to his first wife at the time."
He then shifted his attention to Brandon, and practically yelled at him, "You need to catch me in the office and bring me up on all the mergers you own." He finished by tilting back the last of his scotch, and Reagan watched his eyes roll about in his head and worried he might collapse. She nudged Brandon to lend a hand, but then Mr. Nelson's pupils finally steadied, and what they focused on were her tits. His wife had been latched onto his arm throughout, and she shook the tweed jacket sleeve to get his attention and suggest they get some water.
"I have to watch this one like a hawk," his wife murmured as she past Reagan, and led her husband to a table full of punch bowls and trays of Asian-themed, finger foods.
"Bill never could hold his liquor." Mr. Fillmore chuckled and touched Reagan on her bare shoulder, in an
I-know-you-understand
kind of way. "But Bill is right," he said to her boyfriend, "Reagan is both gorgeous and delightful. This is where I tell you to marry her, but I trust you'll figure that out on your own. I like to think we hire our men bright."
"You do hire them bright." Brandon tightened his lips, grinning in a way that made light of his eager confidence. But then he looked to Reagan and the stupid grin melted away into total sincerity. "And trust me----I know she's one in a million."
Now Reagan full on blushed. "You're both way too nice."
The aged hand pulled away from her shoulder, and then he leaned in on her. "Don't let it get around, I have reputation to uphold."
His wife then jumped into the fray, seizing Reagan's hand. "I just love your dress. You could be a model in a magazine, darling. And the length is perfect." She stretched out her own sexy stocking covered leg from under a short, black skirt. "I always say, if you have legs worth showing, let 'em know it."
Mrs. Fillmore was in her fifties and still looked fantastic. She was clearly a second wife, or maybe even a third. She then pinched Brandon's cheek. "And they made the right choice hiring you. I dare say, if your date wasn't so drop dead gorgeous I might try to show you what us old gals are made of."
"Ha h
aaaa!"
Mr. Fillmore guffawed, his baritone voice waking up the whole room. "Come on Barb, let's let the kids mingle with the other youngsters."
"Yes, and we should check on Bill. He really didn't look too well," she added, and after a quick peck on the young couple's cheeks, she and the firm's cofounder walked off.
Once alone, Brandon pulled Reagan in for a hug. He embraced her tightly, crushing their bodies together. She squeezed him back, but not quite as tight----they were in the middle of his work party after all. He then moved his lips to her ear. "Fuck was I nervous. You have no idea how those two can be."
"You did great," she whispered back. "They really seem to like you."
"Ha, they've never said a word to me before tonight. I'm pretty sure it was all you, babe."
"Shut up already, and quit selling yourself short."
He stepped back and looked her over. "No, really, that dress is... Well it's hard not to notice the perfection inside."
"
Oh really
? So you no longer think I look like I should be out clubbing?"
He shook his head and laughed. "I know what I said, but look around----this is a very different crowd than at
your
office Christmas party. I mean, that is a form fitting dress and even I can't pry my eyes from your cleavage. I half expected them to drop dead from heart attacks."
"Ha. They were looking at me like a daughter."
"Yeah, the kind of daughter who sends their dad to an early grave."
He slipped a hand over her ass, knowing she was backed close enough to the wall to block anyone's view. "There's another couple of guys I need to show you off to. You ready?"
"More rich old men?"
"Not these guys. They're a couple of young hotshots like me. They aren't part of GRG. They're mainly corporate financiers, but we're merging a few assets together with their group."
As he led her across the banquet hall into the attached bar, she spotted the four gentlemen from clear across the room. She'd actually noticed them earlier----or at least the tall handsome blonde. She'd seen the blonde somewhere before, and his presence came with a very unnerving feeling, like bumping into an old flame.
"Have I met them before?"
"Doubt it. We're just finalizing the merger now. Something wrong?"
"Oh no, I was just wondering if I'm expected to remember names."
"Don't worry----these guys are way easier going than the partners. They seem to love the ladies, too, so they'll eat you up. Honestly babe, the hard part's over and you did fantastic."
When they reached the men standing inside the hotel bar, Brandon shook hands as she displayed her sweetest, warmest smile.
"Doesn't her smile remind you of Jennifer Garner's? She's got the greatest dimples."
