Baby Come Back (20 page)

             
I was restocking the cooler with the help of one of the bus boys.  He had brought a skid of clean glasses and stemware out from the kitchen.  I was hanging the wine glasses when I heard a familiar voice from the bar.

             
“Well, well. I hear you’re a mother now, Gina.  Tell me, does Tristan do all the diaper duty like he promised me he would?”

             
I twisted around and saw that Libby had taken a seat at the bar.  She was giving me a haughty, hateful look. 

             
“Libby,” I greeted her with faux cheerfulness, “Did you stop by to congratulate Tristan and me on the birth of our baby boy?”

             
“Hardly,” she blurted.  “I’m waiting for my date.  I’m surprised you’re working here.  Seems to me like you’d want to be tit-tied to your little bundle of joy; you know, like your friend used to be with her little brat.”

             
(Who the hell was she talking about?)

             
“I’m not following you Libby; do you want something to drink?”

             
“Sure.  I’ll have a ‘Sex on the Beach,’ make it a double.”

             
I mixed her drink and set it down in front of her. 

             
“So I hear your friend deserted her husband and child in favor of living the single life.”

             
I filled a tray of draft beers for one of the waitresses, then went back over to stand in front of Libby.

             
“Are you referring to Tylar?”

             
“Who else?”

             
“I guess I’m curious as to where you got your information; and not only that, but why you seem to care so much about it.”

             
“I really don’t give a shit about it at all.  But my sister seems to be rather entertained by it.”

             
“Who the hell is your sister?”

             
“Amber Stratton.  We’re twins.”

             
(What the hell!)

             
“What?  You don’t look like twins.”

             
“It’s called fraternal twins, Gina.”

             
“I thought your last name was ‘Michaels’?”

             
“It is.  I was married briefly.  One of the few poor choices I’ve made in my life.”

             
“I see.  And your twin sister, Amber, is somehow concerned about Tylar?”

             
“I wouldn’t say ‘concerned’ is the right word, more like ‘relieved’.  I think Amber has pretty much decided that she wants Trey.  She usually gets what she goes after.”

             
“Hmm,” I replied, nonplussed, “I’m fairly certain she won’t this time.  Trey is in Baton Rouge right now with Tylar.”

             
“I know,” she replied, taking a big sip of her drink.  “He only went to take their brat to her.  Amber is biding her time.”

             
“No, Amber is
wasting
her time,” I snapped back at her.  I was getting tired of her smug little attitude.

             
“We’ll see,” she replied, coyly.  “So how has Tristan been these days?  Does he rock your world like he rocked mine?”

             
(Okay, now I just freaking wanted to slap her face!)

             
“Tristan is great, Libby.  He’s working at the other bar over by the dance floor.  Why don’t you go over and say ‘hello’ to him?”

             
“No, I don’t think that would be wise.  My new boyfriend is not fond of me being around an ex-fiancé.”

             
(Ex-fiance my ass!  Tristan would never have married you, bitch!)

             
She scooted closer as I was wiping off the bar. 

             
“But I do have to say, Gina, of all of the men I’ve had, Tristan rated right up there in the top 2% for tongue talent.  I bet I won’t get any argument from you on that one, huh?”

             
“Of course the size of his cock was pretty impressive, too,” she said, almost wistfully.

             
“Yes,” I replied, smiling, “And both of them are all mine.”

             
She shot me a dirty look, taking a larger sip of her drink.

             
“Relax, Gina.  I’m simply taking a walk down ‘Memory Lane,’ no need for you to feel threatened or insecure.”

             
“Neither of which I do, Libby.  Do you suppose your date has stood you up?”

             
I was frankly getting tired of exchanging barbs with the bitch.

             
“Oh he’ll be here.  I’ve been rocking his world now for a while. But hey, I’ll pay my tab and go mingle if that was your not so subtle way of telling me to ‘fuck off.”

             
“Libby I have no problem whatsoever of telling you to fuck off.”

             
She laid a $20 bill on the bar.

             
“Keep the change.  Oh Gina, do me a favor, will you?  Give Tristan a kiss on that cute little devil’s fork birthmark of his.  I’m sure you’re quite the pro at kissing his ass anyway.”

             
She laughed and flitted off on her way.  It took a couple of seconds for what she had said to sink in.

             
(
That was how Amber had known about Trey’s birthmark!  Libby had told her!  Mystery solved.)

             
I shared the conversation that I had earlier with Libby with Tristan as we drove home.  He found it as entertaining as I had.

             
“I think those twins are a bit disturbing,” he said.

             
“I wonder if Libby’s date ever showed up.”

             
“Yeah, he did,” Tristan replied, with a hint of amusement in his voice.  “I saw them on the dance floor together.”

             
“Poor sucker,” I replied.

             
“Oh I don’t know; I think they’re probably a match made in heaven.”

             
“Why?  Do you know who she is dating?”

             
“Yeah.  It’s Ian,” he replied, chuckling.

             
“Are you shitting me?”

             
“That’s who she was dancing with and hanging all over tonight,” he replied.

             
“Hey - I thought Ian was banned from the club?”

             
“I lifted his ban.”

             
“Why would you do that, Tristan?”

             
“Because he stopped by after Reese was born; he congratulated me; apologized for all of the shit he had given you and me and asked if he could come into the club again.  I gave him a probationary period.  He was fine with it.  Is that okay?”

             
“I’m okay with it if you are,” I said, putting my hand on his crotch and groping.

             
“What do you have in mind, Ms. Valenti?”

             
“I think I would like to see what your ‘talented tongue’ can do for me tonight, Mr. Sinclair.”

             
“And what’s in it for me?”

             
“You will see what my talented tongue can do for you.”

             
“It’s a date, babe.”

              Trey and Tylar were on a cruise.  Tristan and I were helping out with Preston while Jean spent some time with her family.  I was so happy when Tylar had come home.  She and Trey were working things out. 

             
Tristan was pulling babysitting duty at our apartment while I worked the upstairs bar on Saturday night.  Trey and Tylar were due back tonight.  They were going to be stopping over the following day to collect Preston and tell us about their cruise. 

             
We didn’t have live entertainment scheduled this evening, so the club was not overly crowded. I was hoping that I could duck out early and go home.  I was pretty sure that Tristan could use some help with the babies.  I was taking inventory of the liquor when Eddie cruised over from the other bar. 

             
He leaned over as I was crouched down counting.

             
“Hey Gina, when you get a second, check out that couple sitting back against the far wall in Booth 7.  That chick looks kind of familiar.  She’s with some old geezer.  I swear to God her hand is inside his drawers and I think she’s whacking him off.”

             
“What?”  I stood up quickly, banging my head on the edge of the counter.

             
“Shit,” I said, rubbing my head.

             
“Sorry,” Eddie said sheepishly, heading over to a table to get their order.

             
I went over to the CCTV underneath the bar and switched it on.  Tristan had installed cameras for real about three months ago.  I pressed the button that corresponded with the area of the bar where Booth 7 was located.  The camera activated from above and the screen showed the couple.  Eddie was right; she was definitely doing something to him underneath the table.  Her hands were out of view, but you could see movement of her upper arms and shoulders.

             
(Holy shit!  That is Amber Stratton!)

             
I adjusted the focus on the camera to zoom in.  I loved this high-tech shit.  I recognized the old geezer as well.  It was one of Trey’s partners at the law firm.  His name was Pierce, I think.  The camera now had a clearly focused view of Amber leaning over and kissing Mr. Pierce; her hands were all over his crotch.  His hands were under her sweater. 

             
This was definitely a photo opportunity that shouldn’t be passed up.

             
(And press ‘record’.  There, that should do it.)

             
I went about my business allowing the bitch to dig her own grave.  I smiled to myself as I hatched my plan against the bitch.

             
They left about an hour later.  I got a new DVD out of the box and put it into the PC to burn a copy of what the camera had recorded.

             
(Voila)

              When I got home later, I put the DVD in to watch.  About halfway through, Tristan came into our room and saw Amber and Mr. Pierce on our flat screen.

             
“What the hell?  Is he doing what I think?”

             
“Yep.  He’s finger banging her pretty good there, isn’t he?”

             
“That’s Amber,” he announced, finally figuring it out.

             
“Duh?”

             
“Gina, what the hell is this?”

             
“Just some lewd and lascivious behavior in a public place caught on security cameras, Tristan.  Nothing illegal about that, right?”

             
“Who’s the guy?”

             
“He happens to be Mr. Pierce of ‘Pierce, Harmon, Richardson & Sinclair.  I believe Tylar told me that he is one of the founding partners.”

             
“What are you planning to do with this DVD?”

             
“I haven’t decided yet, Tristan.”

             
“Will do me a favor?”

             
“What?”

             
“When you do decide, keep me in the dark, please?”

             
“You’ve got it.”

             
I had Preston dressed up in a dark green, velveteen dress, white tights and black patent leather shoes.  I had done her hair up in a fancy little braid with a dark green ribbon intertwined.  

             
“There you go, sweetie.  You look so pretty for Mommy and Daddy.  I bet you’ll be happy to see them, won’t you?”

             
“Uh huh,” she said, “Mommy, Daddy home,” she squealed, clasping her hands together and smiling.

             
Tylar had phoned earlier to let us know they were on their way.  She had filled me in on what had happened with Trey’s credit cards being cancelled; and coming home to find her clothes had been cut up.  How freaking creepy was that?  I had decided right then and there to put Amber’s shit in the wind, as we used to say back in Jersey.