Not So Saint Nick

In The Lab -II

Chapter 4B

His face took on a neutral expression, “yeah. They do. It’s the busiest time of the year for the family.”

“Candy sales do go through the roof,” she nodded at his words.

“Yes. My dad, um,” he scratched his temple, “he also runs a factory in Northern Europe which makes toys. It is part of the family’s global empire,” he said with a snort, “and he offered me the choice to take over his job early or run this company when my uncle passed, and I chose this one.”

“Why? Why would you take on a confectionary company with seven factories in the USA and two in Europe and the headache which comes from all of it over the ease in running one toy factory?”

“Dad’s younger brother ran this business,” he waved around him. “I was remarkably close to him. His name was Klaus. He was an amazing man. He was the one who would bail me out of prison when Mom and Dad locked me up for my antics,” he smiled. “Prison is what he called it when Dad grounded me to my room. Uncle Klaus would come and steal me away and once he even took me out of the country when I was supposed to be at school. He loved candy and made this his empire. He gave me my sweet tooth. My grandfather also had a hell of a sweet tooth. We shared it, I guess. Dad not so much. I was more like my uncle than my Dad. When he died, Dad tried running everything on his own, but he couldn’t do it all. He asked me to step in and help. I took over here. It makes me feel I’m close to Klaus but sometimes,” he was measuring ingredients into a pot, “I feel I’m letting him down.”

“How are you letting him down? Santos is one of the biggest confectionary distributors in the world. In the last ten years you’ve hit billion dollar benchmarks every year.”

“True,” he nodded, “but my uncle wanted more in life. He wanted what my parents have. A wife, kids, a family-owned business. When he was a young man, he played the field a lot but as he got older, he complained he was lonely. He would kick my ass for following in his footsteps as closely as I am.”

“Are you lonely?” As she considered it, she realized the man didn’t date or if he did, he was incredibly discrete, and it was happening during very weird hours since she was with him from seven to seven or longer most days.

“No.” he gave a shake of his head. “I’m very comfortable with my own company and I date when I want to.” He answered her question, “I simply never found anyone the way my dad found my mom and I can’t settle for less than what they have. They might be very business focused but they love each other very much. The fact there are only three kids is a miracle. My dad is a bit of a horn dog where my mom is concerned. It’s gross.” He turned the burner on and set the pot on the stove. “What about you? Your family business never interested you? Your dad seems to have a command of your town.”

She snorted, “and Twila is his first born and the answer to his every prayer of succession.”

“Jealous?”

“No. Resigned. My family loves me. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t begrudge them anything, but I can’t bake like Mom. I can cook but my aunt already has the diner. I can’t do the books like Twila and Dad and while I am incredibly organized and efficient, I don’t give a rat’s ass about how many trees were planted last year or which ones will be ready to harvest this year. Twila’s boyfriend since pre-k is a jack of all trades and he helps Dad with the upkeep of the B&B. I was the second kid, but I was also the extra kid. I wasn’t needed. Superfluous. In high school, I thought maybe I could be the office administrator for Bush Enterprises, which is the name of Dad’s company but then things went sideways, and I really needed to move away from town.”

“What happened?” he was stirring the pot now vigorously, occasionally lifting the spoon up to watch the product trail back into the pan.

She was enjoying watching him bring his creation to life.

“Like Twila, there was this guy who was my best friend from pre-k. Everyone said we’d grow up together and get married and have a family. His name is Kash. We were best friends until high school when we started dating. There was a high school party I got grounded from. Twila is a couple of years older than me and takes being a big sister pretty seriously. She caught me underage drinking and tattled. Mom and Dad grounded me. Kash went to a house party on his own. He drank too much. He then proceeded to have s*x with my cousin Candilicious. Nobody told me. It was a terrible mistake apparently. They both regretted it horribly and never wanted anyone to find out but then Candy found out she was pregnant and since her boyfriend was away for a full month at the time she got knocked up, she was forced to come clean. She told her mom. Her mom told my mom and my mom told me.” She shook her head with the memory, “Kash and I were literally holding hands in kindergarten. We did fake weddings every spring under the big willow in my parent’s yard. We played house and named all of our kids. He was the first person I ever slept with. Then he and Candy ruined it with one drunken disgusting mistake. Their daughter is twelve now. She’s beautiful. They tried to make it work. Got married and stuff. I didn’t have to go the wedding which was nice. Nobody expected me to, and they were all kind about it. They filed for divorce when Honey was seven. He said he endured enough of her. Candy kept cheating on him and according to her, it was because he only touched her a few times a year.”

“You never forgave him,” Nick asked quietly.

“Why would I?”

“He was drunk.”

“Not so drunk his d**k didn’t work. If his d**k was still working, he knew what he was doing. His guard might have been down, but you can’t tell me he didn’t know right from wrong. Candy was my cousin, and I can’t hate her forever but he’s not my family. I don’t need to forgive or forget. Also, it was his idea to lie and hide what happened. Coward.”

“We should send him a case of this c*m in a bucket,” Nick leaned sideways and whispered conspiratorially. “I think it should replace coal in a stocking for anyone over the age of nineteen.” He let the product slide off the spoon, “it looks like jizz. The viscosity is bang on perfect.”

“It’s fizzy.” She giggled as she watched him pull the pot off the stove. “I can hear it.”

“Wanna taste?”

“Is it going to be salty?”

“Miss Bush!” Nick feigned outrage, but his eyes danced with glee, “what kind of woman are you?”

She dipped her finger on the spoon and licked it. “A vengeful one I guess because I really want there to be more baking soda and less citric acid in it. More salty, less sour.”

As she leaned over Nick’s shoulder to watch him adjust his product, she was very aware this was more personal interaction with her boss than she’d spent in five years. She was absolutely enjoying herself and their newfound kinship over weird family.

She was almost regretting booking vacation tomorrow because she desperately wanted to see how long this new side of him would last.