Always a Groomsman

Chapter 7: Visiting Lori Banter

Chapter 7: Visiting Lori Banter

May 25, 20—

“The pictures are spectacular. You do very good work, Cannon. It’s why you work for me,” Lori said about my photographs for her Robindock client. She shuffled through a number of glossy prints, pleased with the results. Once she reviewed approximately twenty photographs of my work, she placed the glossies aside, reclined in her office chair, and said, “May I ask you a frank question?”

“Of course,” I said. “I have nothing to hide.”

“As well as you shouldn’t, young man.” She used a fingertip on the right side of her nose, brushed something white and fuzzy off, and added, “My question doesn’t pertain to your job. Do you still want me to ask it?”

I liked Lori Banter, but we could never be friends, let alone true friends. She was too high-strung for my whatever ways. Besides, I really didn’t enjoy the company of pusses. Rather, I liked men, which was obvious sometimes, and relished their friendship, whether at weddings, the grocery store, or independent bookstores. Throughout the years, I had learned that men were so much easier to deal with. Their dramas were limited, tantrums were scarce, and catfights with extended claws nearly never occurred. Men were dreamboats to spend time with over women. And all my queer friends agreed with me.

“I’m sure your question isn’t insulting, so ask it.”

“As you wish.” She gazed at me with solid and unmoving eyes. “I was told that you were watching a ginger-haired man at the Robindock affair. Is this true?”

I nodded. Why lie? I was never out of line at the wedding, or any trouble. I didn’t have anything to be wary of. I attended the function to accomplish a job and that’s exactly what I did. “His name was Patrick Brogan.”

It was her turn to nod. “I understand that you ogled him like a piece of meat.”

“What can I say, Lori? I like reds. They are a total fetish of mine. I won’t deny that he made me tingle. He was a very handsome man. My apology if I was out of line.”

“He’s trouble,” she said.

I tilted my head in a state of confusion. “Trouble. What do you mean by that?”

“Let’s just say you need to stay away from Mr. Brogan. I’m not at liberty to discuss his past, but I can tell you that he and Wedding Peeks cannot have a connection of any kind.”

I said rather curtly, “We all have pasts, Lori. I’m sure no one is blemish-free.”

She laughed, patronizing me, and shook her head. “I will have to rethink your employment at Wedding Peeks if I find that you’re mixing with that hellion. I’m serious when I say this. You don’t want Patrick Brogan to jeopardize your position here at my company.”

I wanted to gasp with fury, but didn’t. Instead, the outrage struck my insides, but I held my emotions together, and asked in a light and inoffensive tone, “Are you threatening me, Lori?”

“I am. Sometimes I’m not provided with any other options. I’ll have my lawyer draw up an addendum to your contract concerning your current situation with Mr. Brogan. If you fail to sign an addendum, I suggest you’ll have to look for employment elsewhere.”

“What kind of addendum? And what situation do I have with Patrick Brogan? I simply looked at the man and thought him rather handsome at the Robindock affair. We barely had an exchange.”

She huffed and rolled her eyes. “I’d rather not discuss this with you any longer. Robert Hines will speak with you tomorrow and present the addendum for you to sign. Right now, Cannon, I feel that you’re a liability to this company.”

Liability? How was I a liability? What exactly was she saying? I was just about to go off on the woman, but withheld my anger because she was my boss, and I loved my job. Instead, I kept my composure together, faked a cough, and cleared my throat to calm down.

“I’ll look the addendum over when it’s ready, Lori. Until then, I should leave before I say something stupid.”

“As you wish.” She grinned from ear to ear, withholding information from me about Patrick Brogan and his link to Wedding Peeks.

Of course, I wanted to know Patrick’s history because I was attracted to him. I knew instinctively I would see him again at an upcoming wedding event, since I had already recognized him numerous times at previous weddings that we had both worked for. But then again, did I really want to know the man’s sketchy history, keeping him perfect in my mind, flawless, and without any sin whatsoever? Sometimes when I learned too much about a man, they became distorted and not who I thought they really were. Did I honestly want to chance that with the red? And if so, then why?