You met him on the same day you said ‘yes’ to Jay, the love of your life. He seemed stuck to Jay’s side like his shadow. While he felt like a familiar face, it was difficult to recall ever meeting him all the while Jay chased you all over town.
He was roughly the same height as Jay and gleamed with quiet pride as he watched the lover-boy enjoy the attention of everyone celebrating that you’d finally agreed to be with him. Soon, he faded into the neon lights as Jay’s eyes held fast to yours like there was no one else but the two of you. A tingle of sweetness ran up your feet to your spine, till it got to your head and held your smile in place. You were smitten.
Just then, someone seemed to turn up the heat on your right side. It was him, Jay’s shadow-guy whose name you still weren’t familiar with. It looked like he had caught both of you staring at each other and found it satisfying. It was odd. He smiled at you and your heart leaped. At first, you thought it was the shock of being caught off-guard. But as you returned an awkward smile, you knew.
He could make your heart race just as Jay did.
It got weird, pleasantly weird.
Days morphed into months after that day and it seemed like Jay was comfortable with the growing friendship between you and Cletus. That was his name. At first, you cringed at how corny it sounded, but the growing affection between the two of you made it one of the best sounding names you’d ever heard.
Your fiance ran the family business with his father and was almost always by the side of the patriarch. He had said his father had approved of your relationship and looked forward to when you and he would get married and become co-owners of the empire. His eyes always burned when he spoke of these things that your uncertainties had melted into thin air.
“I gave up my position to chase after you, to have you. You can trust that all I want is for you to be with me forever.” he’d say.
There were never any doubts or fears around him and your heart wished he could be by your side all the time. But when he wasn’t, which was almost always, he delegated Cletus to be your companion in his stead.
Yes. Jay seemed comfortable and even seemed to encourage your relationship with his best friend. He delivered all your lover’s gifts, read you his love notes, and told you stories about him that made you laugh till your sides ached. If you needed to know what was making Jay hurt, you could bank on Cletus to come through with the information, and he’d tell it in a way that squeezed your heart until all you wanted to do was make it disappear.
It was beyond weird. You seemed to have Cletus around all the time. He enjoyed your time together too and became your companion at every event you and Jay got invited to. He’d gleam every time you struck up a conversation with him. You spent so much time together that you’d begun to smell like him, speak like him, and walk as he did. You enjoyed letting him pick the spots for your meetups, and watching people swoon as his pleasant aura held them spellbound as it did you. Yet, no one ever questioned your loyalty. In fact, it almost felt like Cletus’ constant presence with you validated your engagement to Jay. The longer you spent time with him, the more people said you were Jay’s girl.
Then it got serious.
Soon enough, Cletus had begun speaking about your impending marriage with Jay. It seemed like it was all he would talk about. It got him so excited at times, you wondered if it was his own wedding. The brotherhood they shared was beyond words and your heart always ached with love to hear Cletus speak in adoration of your soon-to-be-husband.
Could there be a bride luckier than you?
But it wasn’t just about the lovey-dovey expressions. Cletus began showing you all about Jay’s empire.
Many game nights became a table full of old books as you pored through policies and structural blueprints.
He wouldn’t let you skim through as he showed you between the lines. You began to see how much bigger Jay’s empire was. It seemed like the empire colored so many if not all parts of people’s lives that they didn’t even know. Not many would refer to their products as household names but people owned products they had no idea had come from there.
The legal documents were fascinating. The agreements and covenants were mind-blowing. Your name already appeared on several pages of the volumes. You seemed woven into the existence of the empire.
“The board has a vote of confidence in you. They want you to start before the marriage ceremony” Cletus said gently.
Your heart raced as you saw the wonders of the wealthy reality you just stepped into. It also raced at the immense responsibility you could see ahead of you. What if you couldn’t handle any of it knowing where you’d come from? The empire had been built over generations. Would yours be the generation that failed it? Your mind juggled these questions, and you tried to belly it away from Cletus. But somehow, he knew. He always seemed to know. But this wasn’t just about keeping you company. This was more. This was about the future of the empire and all that is connected to it. This was about living up to Jay’s stellar records.
“You know I’ll always help you with these things,” Cletus had said.
He had the same look Jay always had when he said those deep things. In fact, in a strange way, it felt like Jay had entered the room and taken Cletus’ place when you were lost in his aura, again. You didn’t have time to think about the oddity.
All you could do, and all you’ve done since is hang on to every word you heard.
