Sloane makes an offer....
Every time I look at you I get a fierce desire to be lonesome.
Oscar Levant
Sloane Simba came up with what he supposed to be a great idea – and it actually was. Not knowing how well he and Caroline Cheetah would actually network in a marriage, he decided to ask her to move in with him for a trial run. However, both set of emotions were raw from the extended pas de deux vis a vis cat and mouse game they had been playing. Sloane took an optimistic bottle of Dom Perignon to Caroline’s apartment, hoping she would accept. She was in a good mood when he got there. She had prepared a meal for them.
“What’s the champagne about, Sloane?”
She kissed him and he fondled a small breast. She was dressed fetchingly and was fresh from the shower. Her fur was scented with her favorite perfume – Joy.
“I have a proposal of sorts, Caroline.”
He opened the champagne, expertly containing the cork as the liquid bubbled slightly. She held two flutes for him to pour. They repaired to her living room where a small but bright fire hissed in the grate. The lights were dimmed, the setting ripe for romance.
“Caroline, I must be in love with you. Will you move in with me so we can see if we do well together before committing to marriage?”
Caroline lit a cigarette and exhaled. She loved him but was leery of his checkered history where marriage was concerned. She had always imagined Caitlin Cougar to be laid back and easy sort and Sloane had made her miserable. She loved her apartment, rented from Lucy Cougar Simba.
“Sloane, why can’t you move in here with me? Just in case we don’t make the grade, you will still have your bush home since you own it, but if I give up my lease, I have no where to go if we fall into a deep shit with this thing you’re suggesting.”
“Caroline, you know how much I love my house. I have just barely moved in and now you want me to move out and live in this place? On top of this, I love your affectionate phraseology regarding ‘this thing I’m suggesting’. It’s a fucking pre-marriage proposal, not some horrendous thought I had.”
“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Sloane. I do have to be careful; you don’t have the best track record when it comes to matrimony. As far as choice of words goes, I simply adored the ‘I must be in love with you’ shtick. In like, I’m not sure or maybe.”
He stood up abruptly, turning over his flute, the liquid spilling on the teak coffee table.
“I said ‘live together’. It’s testing the waters to see how we will both be, get it? It’s not a marriage proposal yet but if this is your attitude you can forget the initial offer.”
He made to leave.
“You spilled champagne on my teak table,” she snarled.
“Wipe it up, bitch,” he roared as he hurriedly went for the door.
Caroline slept badly that night. She tried to reach him on his cell and home phone. He didn’t answer. He was too busy getting smashed at the Watering Hole Pub where he bedded the once elusive Cameron Caracal who was waiting for either Steven or Alexander Simba to show up, released from their wives for the evening. He didn’t take her to his bush home but went with her to her Salt Lick condo where he listened to calls from his brothers on her answering machine while he screwed her brains out.
Sidney Simba was in seventh heaven. He still had bouts of nerves from his former drug usage. He simply had to go to the Simba Garden Center to defray them. There, he would putter among the plants and flowers and be almost magically soothed. His wife, Dr. Cary Caracal Simba, didn’t feel the same way about this new endeavor. She still yearned to practice psychiatry. Lachlan had told her that if she could stay clean for two years he would rehire her at the mental health center. The couple had moved into a new and much ritzier trailer placed just outside the garden center and bought for them by Shane and Roy Lee. Sidney hoped Cary would ease up and begin to enjoy their livelihood. He had found the leopard drug dealer creeping about their new home and accosted him. Apparently, Cary had called him and placed an order. He barely made it from the yard without Sidney beating him to a pulp.
“Cary, if you can’t stay clean, you will have to return to the mental health center. This is a commitment I have made to the pride, you and myself. I plan to hold to it and stay straight. If you can’t do the same, then we have to go our separate ways.”
She had cried pitifully. They had made love in a broken sort of way, akin to coupling on glass shards.
Caroline walked gingerly into Sloane’s office at the State House. She carried a small bouquet of carnations. He was facing the window and turned when she came in.
“This is a peace offering, Sloane. I think I treated your suggestion very shabbily the other night. Can we be friends again?”
“Friends?”
“Well, yes, I love you, Sloane; I want us always to be friends.”
“We could be so much more, Caroline. I happen to love you too.”
“I just fear giving up my apartment in case we don’t make it.”
“Be sure to be upbeat about this, Caroline, but then you were always the practical one – carrying matter-of-factness to new and obscene levels. If I offer to pay your rent for a few months while we test the waters, will you reconsider? Do keep in mind that I am in no way begging.”
She began to laugh.
“You are so proud, I don’t know what I will do with you, but yes, I’d love to move in with you.”
“We’ll celebrate tonight at my house among much fucking and drink.”
She glided from his office on winged feet which a cheetah has for the most part anyway. She would have to be careful not to ever let Sloane see how much she actually adored him. If there is such a thing as the equivalent of a femme fatale in males, three Simba brothers have it out the kazoo: Shane, Sloane and Roy Lee are possessed of qualities that drive females wild.
Leah Simba Lyon had her mayoral office under control now. Carolyn Cape Buffalo was the take over sort and efficient as hell. She was Leah’s new executive assistant and as such took a load of the young mayor. Maude Hyena, as the newly elected deputy mayor, did the same. With these changes in her office and her resourceful secretary, Vonda Vulture, Leah was able to come home at 3:30 each afternoon, welcoming her children from school. She went to the office at 9:00, allowing her a leisurely breakfast with them as well as Ashley. Carolyn and Maude suggested that she take half days on Friday so she could further interact with her family.
That week, the Simba Pride Corporation, headed by Roy Lee, Shane, Chris, Sefu and Sam, appointed Sloane Simba to the board. This was the first son of Leander’s to attain this position. At the suggestion of Betty, Shane invited the pride members to a party to celebrate Sloane’s new board position. It was held at their bush house. I was invited too for some reason as was Lachlan. He had to work late so I attended alone. The bush house is a gorgeous thing. The grounds were brightly lit for the occasion. Present were two of Shane’s former squeezes but you could never have guessed it by his manner. He was easy and affable on greeting Dina Myers who was now pregnant and Steven’s troubled wife. Caroline Cheetah came with Sloane, the honoree. Shane stayed by Betty’s side most of the evening except when he spoke with Sloane for a long time. His mother and Aunt Leander were there also. The most stilted greeting Shane gave that night was to his mother, Sarah Lee, for whom he gave only a perfunctory peck on the cheek. I saw Betty give him a pinch at which point he gave an insignificant pat to his mom’s back. I noticed that his greeting for Leander was warm and enveloping. Sam came with his wife, Allison. I saw Shane give Sam a heartfelt hug. It seems that the tension has greatly eased between the litter mates. It was a lovely party which was made even better by the late arrival of Lachlan, who was greeted like a returning hero. We stood for a bit, speaking with Betty, who remained sanguine despite the presence of Shane’s two indiscretions. The party was interrupted briefly by Dina who had a loud spat with her husband, Steven Simba. It didn’t last too long for Steven grabbed her by the arm and escorted her out. I never saw them again. As for Caroline Cheetah, she followed Sloane around, obviously very much in love with him. Lachlan and I laughed to ourselves as we saw them surreptitiously give pats and squeezes to crotch, tits and rear when they thought no one was looking. They laughed together whenever they had a few moments away from the party crowd. They seemed to be terribly engaged with each other. I wished them luck and couldn’t help comparing them to Shane and the late Catherine as did Lachlan.
If weather is any statement, the moving in of Caroline Cheetah to Sloane Simba’s bush house was auspicious. The sun shone brightly with birds calling and weaving about. Soft breezes wafted, lifting the peasant skirt worn by Caroline to mid fanny. Sloane would pinch when given the opportunity. The couple seemed giddy at the relief they felt at finally making something of a commitment to each other. That evening with Shane, Jr. put to bed by his nanny; the couple enjoyed their first evening as such. They dined on barbecue prepared by Sloane on the grill and a salad and brown rice prepared by the cooking show expert, Caroline. There were two bottles of good wine taken from Sloane’s cellar. They made love that night on Sloane’s oversized bed with the silk sheets.
The following day at the State House it was apparent to all that a profound change had taken place with the couple. They couldn’t keep their paws or eyes off each other when together. Sloane held a press conference announcing some judicial changes in Kenya. They hovered, heads close together, over the arrangements for that. After work, he picked up his daughter; Georgy for it was the beginning weekend. Georgy was delighted to see her friend, Shane, Jr. That weekend was idyllic. Caroline brought out a small box of stick-on gold stars. She stuck one on each day of that weekend on Sloane’s calendar, hanging in his kitchen pantry. He grabbed her and held her tightly against him.
“What are the decorations on the calendar for, Caroline?” he asked, burying his face in the fur of her neck – the place on his love that charmed him most.
“They are our very good days. I want to mark them so we can tell how we progress,” she giggled, wrapping her long legs around him.
“We are going to be just fine. My gut tells me this.”
“How do your other organs feel about it?” she laughed, removing her legs and unzipping his pants.
“Let’s go to our room. Remember, there are children present, not to mention a nanny. I’ll show you there.”
Caroline and Sloane in his bush house, having finally made the partial jump.....
On a stormy evening when Steven Simba had left the home where he lived with Dina, which happened to be her cottage in the bush, he took his cell phone from his belt. He was standing at the bar of the Watering Hole Pub. He dialed a number. After speaking for a few moments he left the pub.
Caitlin Cougar opened the door to see the father of her son for the first time since his birth and Steven’s hospital visit. She welcomed him and took him to the nursery where small Carlin Simba lay sleeping. Steven picked up the sleeping cub and held him in his arms. He held his face to the soft head of his son. The little cub reached and touched his father’s face with a tiny paw.
“He’s beautiful, Caitlin. He looks like a lion, do you mind that?”
“No, of course not. If I minded this I wouldn’t have slept with a lion.”
They returned Carlin to his crib and went downstairs for drinks. Over those, Steven told Caitlin of his unfortunate marriage to Dina Myers. They spoke for hours and over many drinks. Steven poured out his woes for his disruptive and abrupt marriage and Caitlin expressed her sorrow at pushing Steven away. As the sun’s tentative rays peeked through the windows, the couple was still talking their hearts out. Since it was the weekend, Caitlin suggested that they repair to her bedroom and get a bit of sleep before Carline woke up. However, it wasn’t sleep that came but a bout of lovemaking that rocked the bed and ceilings. They were just resting from a stint when they heard the sounds of the awakening Carlin. Steven picked him up and took him to Caitlin to nurse. He watched intently, loving every minute of seeing his son at his lovely mother’s breast. He ended up spending the day and the next night. He was gone just before Sloane brought Georgy home.
The next Monday, Dina didn’t show up for work at Lyon & Associates where she had moved upon her marriage to Steven who headed the firm. Steven had left her at home, supposedly getting ready for work. The atmosphere had been tense between them considering the fact that Steven had been gone the entire weekend, only showing up on Sunday evening. Steven kept calling the house and her cell phone to no avail.
Dina Myers Simba sat in Sam Simba’s office, asking for her old slot as an attorney where she had started. He hired her again aware that she and Steven had engaged in a brouhaha at Shane and Betty’s party. He was slightly wary but in need of an additional lawyer. This produced two crises - one in the already carved up marriage of Dina and Steven and another in Lyon & Associates which badly needed attorneys. The firm had lost Cameron Caracal when Steven had married Dina. Now there was only Steven and three paralegals to hold the fort down.
Luke Leoparde was with Ashley and Leah Lyon in Mombasa. They were barbecuing the catch from the day’s deep sea fishing junket. Ashley was bemoaning the fact that Lyon & Associates was badly lacking in attorneys. Ashley felt slightly responsible since the creation of a pride law firm had been his brainchild when Daniel Lyon was working for Simba Brothers.
“Ash, let me do some calling,” said
Luke, taking a swill from his beer. “I have a brother who is a
pisser but one hell of a lawyer. He works for a firm in England.
Let me give him a call and see if he will fill in until Arlon gets
all trained. His name is Leland and he’s very much the bloke.”
“What makes you think he’ll leave England and come to the Mara and how much of a pisser is he?” asked Ashley.
“He owes me and I know he’s homesick. As for the pisser part, he won’t disgrace you, if that’s your concern. He’s been working for a law firm of old English stuff shirts and they are crazy about him.”
Two days later in the hangar at the safari club, Luke announced that his brother was coming to be interviewed for a job at Lyon & Associates. Ashley informed Steven Simba who was prepared to offer Leland Leoparde a good salary if he was hired - not that he needed it being a Leoparde heir.