Tommy

“So, what did she say?” asked Laura, always patient.

She had been that way since we were little. I smiled at the memory of the seven-year-old girl sat opposite me. She was nagging her mother to tell her what the surprise was on the day before her birthday. Pouting at being put off, before trotting off to see if dad would tell her.

“What are you smirking at?” she asked, the questions starting to back up now.

“Who?”

“What? You, who else?”

“I’m not a she,” she looked delightful. Confusion followed by frustration, which was followed by a spoon soaring across the table.

“Twat!” Causing us to break down in a fit of giggles.

“Laura, there is one thing we really need to do, one day. There’s no rush, but it should happen at some point.”

“What’s that?”

“Grow up.”

“Like I said, twat! Who wants to grow up?”

“Okay, I’ll defer to my older sister on that one,” followed by more laughter.

As we finished, Laura got up and walked around the table and sat down again. Only this time with me between her and the chair. Was it out of affection or a way to trap me? She was cunning, so I may never know.

With an arm around my neck, she looked me in the eye and ran her finger down my cheek, “So, little brother, are you going to tell your big sister, whom you wish to defer to, what you were smirking about?”

“Do you breathe by osmosis when you talk?” It wasn’t the pinching, so much as the nails digging into bare flesh, that hurt the most.

“Okay, okay!” I cried, trying to contain the little firebrand on my lap. “I was smirking at you. When you were asking about what was said, I remembered the day before your eighth birthday; when you were desperately trying to find out what your treat was going to be.”

“Oh, my! Wow! Just my eighth, though? I was like that for all my birthdays. Talking of which, are you planning any surprise for my next birthday?” I had unleashed the beast.

“Now, what did she say?” I related the conversation I had with Kazumi and could see Laura processing.

“Okay, I’ll wait until she gets in touch then. And Diane, what did she say?” emphasising ‘she’ to tell me this is who she had been referring to all along.

“This is where it gets interesting. She has suggested we apply for Spanish citizenship.” I covered Laura’s mouth overly dramatically because that seemed to be the mood. “Mum always held onto her Spanish citizenship, so we can apply for citizenship by birth. Also, both Spain and the UK are happy for citizens to hold dual nationality with the other country. It’s all a bit bloody complex, but what Diane suggests is we apply for and keep dual UK and Spanish citizenship.

“It’s to do with the laws I spoke about before. Although we are obliged to abide by the law in the country we are at the time, there is potential for us to be prosecuted under UK law even if what we did in the other country is legal.”

Laura was looking very confused now.

“Spain has more tolerance to our situation, okay?” Laura nodded.

“People that have used the Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland, or rather the people that have assisted them, are often arrested on return to the UK. This is because, although the clinic is legal in Switzerland, the actions are illegal here.”

“Oh, so if we travel on a Spanish passport, we would need to abide by Spanish law along with local laws?”

“That’s the one. I take it from the look on your face you want to do this?” Laura nodded.

“How long does it take?”

“She said it can take up to three years, but in our case may well be done within a year.”

Laura hugged me, tightly, then paused and looked at me.

“It’s okay,” I assured her, “this only gives us options, our talk from yesterday is still the most important factor. I made my promise to you. That is paramount.”

“Thank you, Tommy. Where can I find another you?”

“Sorry, some silly fuck dropped the mould after they made me. I am unique.”

“Don’t ruin the compliment,” she said, as she patted my cheek.

“When I found out all this, I found out they broke the other Shelby mould. We’re stuck with each other.”

“Hmmm, nice try, not sure if it’s a full save yet.”

I sent a text to Diane asking her to start the process the next day. We cleared up and relaxed doing our own thing through the evening, before settling down for a film together. Partway into the film, Laura’s phone started to ring. She showed me the number and I told her I thought it was Kazumi. I only heard one side of the conversation.

“Hello.”

“Kasumi, Tommy said you would call.”

“Oh, sorry, Kazumi.”

“Sorry, I hadn’t realised, that’s lovely.”

“Yes, Friday would be fine,” she turned and gave me a thumbs up.

“Is there anything particular you like or don’t like? I was thinking of making paella. Yes, it’s my mother’s recipe. No, absolutely not, just yourself. Well, unless there is someone else you would like to bring. That’s wonderful. I’m looking forward to it. I will, bye.”

When she had finished and put her phone down, she settled back onto my lap.

“She’s coming Friday,” Laura seemed really excited, her next comment explained, “It’ll be the first time we’ve had someone for dinner. In this house or the last.”

“I’m surprised I didn’t hear some of that conversation. I made the mistake of calling her Kasumi once, just once. ‘I’m no video game bimbo!’ She was ready to castrate me. Another time I did point out that she was a woman in video games. We had become good friends then, so she only bruised me.”

“Tommy, you’re waffling. I have no idea what you are going on about. She just said, Kasumi with an ‘S’ means mist. Her name is Kazumi, with a ‘Z’ which means 'harmonious beauty.'”

“Okay,” I said fiddling about on my phone doing some searching, “someone’s already made an impression.” I showed Laura the pictures of the video game Kasumi, “That’s why so many people make the mistake.”

“She’s quite beautiful and I love her outfit. If I remember correctly though, Kazumi makes this one quite dull,” Laura said, tapping her finger on my phone. “The difference in their names is the same as the difference in their looks.”

“Somebody seems a little taken,” I said, Laura blushed.

“She offered to bring a load of extras?” Laura nodded, “She will bring saké. My advice is to be very careful; she doesn’t buy the weak stuff. Now, do you need me to get anything for the paella?”

Laura said we could get it all in the weekly shop. It had now become somewhat of a Wednesday evening outing.

Laura

When I told Tommy of my phone call about the shoot, he chuckled, “Isn’t it amazing the assumptions people make?

“How did he react to your threat?”

“Threat? I didn’t threaten him.”

“Okay, maybe more of a warning shot, the comment about me being protective.”

I hadn’t thought of it in this way, for me, it was just a statement of fact, “Thinking about it, he didn’t laugh quite as boldly as when I said you were my brother. Never hurts for people to have a good impression to start with.”

He was still sniggering when he said, “Could be an interesting time.”

“Don’t ruin it please, Tommy.”

“I won’t go out of my way to be a shit. I will protect you and if that means ruining it, then I will.”

There was only one response to this, I hugged Tommy tightly and said, “I can live with that.”

During the week, along with preparing for Friday, I received the brief and started to work on that. I also did some research on costs of materials to do the partitions in the basement. Before I knew it, Tommy was walking through the door on Friday evening.

I was now getting to the stage of panic. The rice was taking an age to boil, the prawns were not shelling easily, the lobster and crayfish seemed to be more shell than flesh. He walked into the kitchen and stopped in his tracks.

“What can I do to help?” he asked.

I barked out various orders including, setting the table, choosing some wine and getting me another beer.

He drank his beer while carrying out the rest then asked, “Anything else?”

“Yes, come here!” I kissed him, while I kept the rice moving. “Thank you, now go and shower, stinky.”

I heard him coming down the stairs and smiled as I bent to put the paella in the oven, thinking of the first day he stood watching me in the kitchen. Standing, I turned and leant back against the counter with my arms crossed.

“Still gawping at me?”

“Yep. Though I preferred your other outfit.”

“Hmm. Right, I’m going to shower now, keep an eye on that.”

I laughed as he doffed his imaginary cap at me as I left the room. My wardrobe had expanded somewhat since the day that I had been remembering. After my shower, I put on a simple skirt and t-shirt combination. I could imagine Tommy making a quip about being the Polish flag. I was still smiling about this as I returned to the kitchen. With my hair still wrapped in a towel, I checked on the dinner and then set up the chairs for Tommy to do my hair.

“Tommy?”

“Laura?”

“How much do you love your sister?”

“What do you want?” He said as he walked back into the room.

He walked over to me and took the proffered hairbrush. Walking around me as I sat down, he stood in front looking at me.

“Hmm,” he said, nothing more. He could be such a tease, he had to know when he acted like this it started to turn me on.

When he stood behind me, he pushed my head forward and then removed the towel. He then arranged all my hair to hang down the front. Finally tucking the towel around my shoulders, before pulling my head back and my hair over my shoulders.

“Well done dipshit, you got my t-shirt all wet at the front.”

When I looked around at him, he was grinning and said, “Not sure how that qualifies me as a dipshit. Seems like my plan worked. Though…” he ran a finger down the middle of my back making me sit up straighter and arch my back forward, “the results would have been better without the extra layer.”

Tommy worked through his usual routine, massaging and then combing through my hair. This time he went on and parted my hair down the centre. Throwing half over my shoulder to keep it out of the way, he plaited the other half. When this was done, he repeated with the other side, leaving me with two thinner plaits instead of the single one.

When he had finished, he placed both plaits over my shoulder as if he was unwrapping my neck and kissed it. Then he ran his hands down the two braids, which meant his knuckles bumped over my boobs; accidentally of course. Just as accidentally, one by one they each went over the top of my nipples. When they had reached the end, he let go of them and put his hands on my belly, just letting them move in and out with my breathing.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Uh-hmm,”

“That doesn’t sound too certain. Is there anything else we need to do before Kazumi comes?”

“We could…” had I let him into my head, had I dragged him there or had he forced his way in? “We should wait until she comes before doing more. Tommy, you’re not helping.”

“Oh shit, sorry, I didn’t mean, just that oh, bugger, sorry, and…”

I put my hand on his and said, “Relax, let’s get through tonight but I think it’s time to talk again.”

I turned in my chair and kissed his cheek and then got up to see to the meal.

“Set up the table,” I called to him.

Soon after the doorbell rang, and I went to answer it.

Tommy

Just as I was finishing setting up the table, which included the obligatory pile of serviettes and bowls of lemon water, the doorbell rang.

“Got it,” Laura let me know.

I walked into the hallway as she was ushering Kazumi in. She stopped as the door was closed turned and held Laura’s arms, looking her up and down.

“Laura-chan, It’s been a little while since you graced the office with your beauty. How are you keeping?”

I knew better than to hover, so stepped back into the dining area, but not so far that I couldn’t hear what was said.

There was a short pause, Laura’s characteristic thinking pause, “I’m,” she paused again. I could almost picture her searching the wall or ceiling for the right words. “I’m okay,” she finally said.

“You do know you just told me so much more than you wanted?”

“It’s something I seem to be doing a lot lately.”

“It’s fine, we can talk about it. But first, where is Shelby-san?” Laura obviously showed that she was unsure of what Kazumi meant, “Your brother.”

I stepped into the hall and addressed them, “Even Shelby-san outside of the office? Not Tommy or kun yet?”

Kazumi bowed slightly and I returned it just as formally. I watched Laura out of the corner of my eye and saw her surprise. We then greeted each other more closely by holding both hands and she asked, “How are you?”

“I have my two favourite women in the world, under one roof. How do you think I am?”

“You two are as bad as each other. Tommy, you should know better than to try and hide things from me.”

“That’s the thing, Kaz, I know I don’t have to tell you.”

With a smile, she let go of my hands and we showed her through to the dining area. She had brought a bottle of saké with her, which we put on the side to keep at room temperature. The paella was brought out and placed in the middle of the table. While I served moderate portions and Laura poured us each a glass of wine, Kazumi and I explained about the etiquette that we had gone through when she arrived. Laura was concerned that she may have offended Kazumi but was reassured that she had done nothing wrong.

Laura and I then explained to Kazumi that the paella was our mother’s recipe and her mother’s before. It was also a hands-on style, the shellfish were all cooked and served in their shells, mostly requiring fingers to be used. This was the reason for the variety of cleaning aids on the table.

“Of course, this can get a bit messy, so there are serviettes and the finger bowls,” I explained.

“But usually we just lick our fingers until the end,” Laura butted it.

“So much for creating a good impression,” we all laughed.

Kazumi was, as I expected, wonderful company and she seemed to really hit it off with Laura. Laura for her part talked excitedly about the upcoming shoot and other work she had done. Dinner was the typical messy affair that mum’s paella usually was, but it did take a turn I had never seen before.

Partway in, Kazumi picked up her first prawn and shelled it, putting the waste in one of the bowls provided. Then she sat with her fingers in the air looking at the serviettes, then the fingerbowls and then at Laura and me. This brief hesitation was enough for Laura, she reached over and took one of Kazumi’s wrists.

“Here, like this,” she said.

She then pulled her hand to her mouth and looking her in the eye, sucked two fingers in. When they were fully in her mouth, she looked at me before pulling them slowly out. A grin spread over Kazumi‘s face, so Laura took this as a nod of approval and sucked her thumb into her mouth and repeated her moves.

“Personally, I like to do it this way,” I said.

While Laura still had Kazumi’s thumb in her mouth, I took her other hand. Locking eyes with Laura, I licked the length of each of Kazumi’s fingers, front and back. Followed by quickly sucking each, one by one. Laura had paused while I was doing this, Kazumi’s thumb resting on her lips. Then there was silence, I looked at each in turn. Both of them were doing the same looking back and forth between me and the other.

“I like this paella,” Kazumi said, “you’ll have to show me how to make it, Laura.”

She started to smirk and then we started to chuckle before we all broke out in fits of laughter. Laura picked up one of the lobster claws and tugged the meat out. Like she was a queen waiting for her hand to be kissed she held one out to me. I repeated my finger-licking, though did take a little longer and worked my tongue more. Kazumi took Laura’s other hand, there was a little pause as if the pair of them were checking it was still okay. Then she started on Laura’s thumb, before taking three fingers into her mouth.

“My, you’re a greedy one!” said Laura with a grin.

When it was my turn, Kazumi did to me what I had done and Laura did her own. “Hmm, I prefer your technique, Tommy. However, Laura’s skin is so much softer I think any technique used on her would be a delight.”

Laura giggled and turned her head away, and I could see her blushing. Kazumi turned to look at me and raised an eyebrow while I smirked. I think the beer and wine helped us all, but the way Laura and Kazumi were acting was a complete surprise to me. A pleasant one, certainly, but also one that had all sorts of images running through my head. Dinner carried on in this vein, though as was usual with any of mum’s recipes there was far too much.

I thanked Laura and suggested she show Kazumi around the house while I cleared up. They agreed and rose from their seats. I changed the music from the gentle background that had been playing to...