one of them swivels their head in bewilderment and sniffs the air as they pass me. They’re trying to figure out what’s making their eyes water.
A couple of frat bro types, sporting Abercrombie & Fitch shirts and pastel shorts, elbow each other and look at me. I’m holding my briefcase in front of my crotch to hide the stain where the perfume splashed me. And I’m imagining very creative acts of revenge on Winona Jeffers.
“Whoa, dude,” Blond Bro says, fanning the air with his hand.
I scowl. “Yeah, thanks. I know.”
“What the hell happened to you? Let me guess. You got mugged by a bingo club?”
I ignore him.
His friend joins in. “You banged an entire French whorehouse?” He guffaws.
“Charming,” I say tightly, “but no. I met a crazy woman in the back of a cab and she dumped her perfume in my lap.”
Just then, thank God, they spot their luggage on the baggage carousel and trot off to get it.
“Uncle Blake! Uncle Blake!” my niece’s excited shriek lightens my mood a little bit. Alice and Tamara wave at me enthusiastically, and hurry towards me.
Alice and her husband, Steve, live in Florida, and I don’t get to see them often enough. I keep trying to buy them guilt-gifts to make up for my insanely busy schedule and multiple missed holidays. Very, very generous guilt-gifts. When I had to cancel Christmas last year, I offered to buy or give Alice anything she wanted. She keeps turning me down.
When Alice and Tamara reach me, they both scrunch up their faces and wrinkle their noses in exactly the same way. They look so alike it makes my heart swell with emotion. Alice’s black hair is angled in a stylish chin-length bob, with thick dark eyebrows that frame kind, cornflower-blue eyes. Tamara has the same coloring, same brows, same slightly crooked left incisor. They’re both wearing Lilly Pulitzer, and between the neon floral print and their perpetual tans, they might as well have big blinking “I’m from Florida” signs over their heads.
“Uncle Blake, you smell like a lady!” Tamara giggles. “Have you been kissing a girl?” Her eyes widen. “Was it a princess?”
“Tamara!” Alice chides, laughing. She flashes me a grin and leans in to give me an air-kiss on the cheek. “I’d hug you, but I don’t want to smell like you. No offense.”
“None taken. I don’t want to smell like me either.” I grimace. My precious planner is ruined and I’m going to have to shower. If we rush back into the city, I’ll have time for a quick lunch with my family before the board meeting. I’m mentally rescheduling everything, sliding appointments into new time slots as I pull my niece in for a quick hug.
“Did you buy me anything, Uncle Blake? My birthday’s coming up.”
“Tamara, we do not ask people for presents,” Alice says firmly. “And your birthday isn’t for weeks anyway. Cool your jets, tiny terror.”
“But we’re coming back here for my birthday, right?”
“We could.” She ruffles her daughter’s hair. “If you behave.”
“Unlikely,” Tamara muses. “But I bet I’ll get to come back anyway.”
“It’s fine.” I wave away Alice’s objections. “You know I got my favorite niece a present for her seventh birthday!” I didn’t, but the head of our personal shoppers’ department, Thérèse, has a list of birthdays and other special occasions for my family, friends and business acquaintances, and she always gets the perfect gift.
Tamara’s brows pull together. “I’m your only niece. I’d have to be your favorite,” she says in a mildly chastising tone. “Also, I’ve thought about it, and you need a new girlfriend. Whoever that lady is, I don’t like her perfume.”
Alice covers her mouth with her hand to hide a snicker, and I suppress a smile.
“Oh, there’s our suitcases!” Alice starts to move forward, but Henry says, “Allow me!” and hurries over to get them.
“Speaking of girlfriends, how is Sloane?”
“We broke up about a week ago. She was really pushing for a ring.”
I sigh. Sloane was perfect on paper – she looked great on my arm and our families move in the same circles – but we just didn’t spark together. Now, if only I could find someone who lit me up like Winona, but didn’t boss me around and dump smelly things on me, I might actually consider dating again.
Well, it will have to wait until after my big project, and after I convince the board to take us public so we can finance opening up in London and Paris, and then of course