I purse my lips to conceal my giggle. Benji is our personal assistant and is hopelessly in love with Leslie. It’s quite cute, really. He’s twenty-three, small bodied with mousy brown hair, and has an awkward, nerdy way about him. He’s not unattractive, but he is the polar opposite of Theo. Theo is large and heavily muscled with trimmed dark blond hair. He’s brooding and intense with a confidence that you can’t fake. And the passion that radiates from him when he’s around Leslie…It gives me butterflies and I’m not even on the receiving end of those looks. Not to mention he pulls off smart glasses like no bloke I’ve ever seen.
“He’ll be fine,” I appease. “Maybe he’ll meet a nice girl?”
“Aw, I’d love that for Benji,” Leslie sings hopefully into the phone. “So you’ll do it then. Yay! Thank you, my love. It means a lot. I gotta run, though. Marisa is stirring and I still have to get in the shower. It takes hours to do anything when you have a colicky baby. I’ll email you the details.”
“Great,” I reply.
“Okay, bye-bye, Vi. Oh look, I made a rhyme! I’m a poet and I didn’t know it!” She snickers like a loon and I can’t help but laugh pathetically back. Her voice grows serious again, “I’m sorry…Mommyhood has murdered my brain cells. Talk later!”
I shake my head as I hang up thinking about just how much Leslie’s life has changed since she’s come to London. At twenty-seven, she’s only a couple of years older than me and I can’t even imagine being where she is currently in her life. I’m still getting dumped by douchey DJ’s for goodness sake.
“Hey, Benji,” I sing merrily as I saunter over to his desk, which is situated behind the designer cubbies.
He looks up, dropping his paperclip on the desk and clumsily tries to cover it up. “Hiya, Vi. What can I get for you?”
Shooting him a cheeky grin, I ask, “Have ya got plans tonight?”
He blinks in confusion and furrows his brows. “Not particularly.”
“Leslie just called and wondered if you and I would be keen to go to a fundraiser she’s a part of tonight. It’s a formal do, I’m afraid.”
Benji shoots up out of his chair. “Leslie called? Are you serious? Did she ask for me specifically?” His voice rises to a high-pitched squeal.
“Benji,” I chastise like a proper mum. “If you’re going to act this excited around her tonight then it’s probably not a good idea for you to go. She’s got a lot going right now with a new baby and all her wedding planning. She really needs a nice evening out.”
His face drops. “No, I just…Oh, bugger. I didn’t mean to…It wasn’t that—”
“I know you’re fond of her. Leslie’s a great mate. Just promise to be cool and we’ll go together and have a fab time, all right?” Benji adamantly promises to be calm and I know I can trust him. He’s harmless, really. Just overeager.
Since Roger is not in the office today, we both decide to scoot out early to prepare for our big night. Benji has to go rent a tux and I need extra time to do my hair. A formal affair requires a bit more effort than my daily long and straight.
“I’ll pick you up in a cab outside your building at seven then,” I say as we clamber out the large swing-open window of our building.
“Sounds lovely,” he replies, his voice rising at the end as we descend down the wrought iron fire escape stairs along the outside of our building. There’s a call centre located on the lower level of our two-floor warehouse, and we look at those employees like zombies who could infect us with a case of “dull and painfully boring.” It was Leslie’s idea we start using the fire escape steps to enter and exit so the drab lower level office doesn’t mess with our creative mojo.
Just as we reach the bottom of the large metal steps, my dad’s name pops up on my phone screen. I wave Benji off and answer as I make my way down the sidewalk. “Hiya, Dad!”
“Hiya, my new twenty-five-year-old daughter. You sound rather chipper.” His warm voice is always a welcome sound.
“Well, I just got invited to a formal do tonight. I was going to call you, actually. I’m afraid Bruce and I won’t be around for tea.”
“What’s the event for?”
“Oh…erm, crap.” I was so excited at the prospect of who might be in attendance that I completely forgot to ask Leslie what the charity was even for. “I suppose I don’t even know. It’s sort of a favour for a friend.”
“Well, have fun. I’ll try and ward off your brothers for ya.”