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twins & plans

—

I WAS FAIRLY sure about one thing: that Teddy Burke loved his job. In fact, he was in love with it. I guess I couldn't blame him, he worked day in and day out for a big salary, he got to do exactly what he studied for in college, and he — usually — brought good results to the people who came in and asked for his help. He definitely had odd hours in his career life, but they weren't due to spoiled children who disliked you, but wanted you to do everything for them instead of learning a thing or two about self-dependency.

When I made it to Burke & Associates, which was located in a tall building downtown, complete with a sleek, obsidian finish that reflected the sun off of it and into my eyes when I looked up, I just knew it. Everything about it from the exterior to the interior was just absolutely stunning and screamed success. I had to take the elevator up to the fourth floor, which was where the office directory said I should be going. When I stepped off onto the smooth marble floors, I felt a breath catch in my throat. The walls were clean and white, the inside furnishings were sleek and minimalist, and there was a wall that was lined with many plaques and photos, titled the "Win Wall." I wanted to get closer and look at it, but there was a receptionist desk in the way, where a man seemed to be absentmindedly toying with his computer.

I honestly thought he wouldn't look up, but he did, surprisingly, and stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Hi," he said, "welcome to Burke & Associates, how may I help you?"

At this point, I wasn't entirely sure of what to say. I didn't know if he had set aside a scheduled time for a meeting and if I could say something like "I'm Mr. Burke's eleven o'clock," or if I had to sit here and schedule my own appointment at the front desk.

To avoid looking like an idiot and standing there in silence for any longer than I already had, I said, "I'm here to see Mr. Burke, please. I think we had a meeting scheduled for eleven today."

"Right," the receptionist said, scanning his desk before finding a visitor sticker and handing it to me with a purple marker. "Just head on back, Mr. Burke is waiting for you. I didn't think you'd be a brunette because they're usually all blondes who come here, though, but it's okay."

I had no idea what he meant by that last comment, but I felt embarrassed enough just standing here, so I paid it no mind as I walked around his desk and to the back where offices were quartered off by opaque walls but I could see people inside who seemed to be busy at work through the opened doors. Only two doors were closed, both facing each other on opposite ends of the hallway, and I could only guess that one of them were my destination.

Looking to my left, I saw that the door I faced read the words 'T. Burke' on it, so I pushed it open and stepped in.

But when I did, I realized I was in the wrong room. There were pictures decorating the walls of this space with some guy who looked similar to Teddy and many accolades and awards for Theodore Burke, but he was in no way the man in question. There was said man who looked like Teddy who happened to have his shirt unbuttoned in a haphazardly manner, and there was a picture of him standing with Teddy. Of course, seeing he actual man in person is what tipped me of.

"You're not the girl I met yesterday," he said with a frown, scratching his head in thought. "But you're pretty, so it's okay. Do you want me to pay you, or —"

"No, sir," I said, backing up and out of the door just to get some favorable distance between the two of us. What in the world? Did he think I was a prostitute? Was that what the receptionist was talking about as I left. "I'm Marilyn Finley, I'm here to see Teddy Burke today."

The guy frowned, scratching his head. "Well I'm Theodore Burke, but people just call me Theo — you must be looking for my twin brother, Edward!"

This was definitely a conundrum. I had walked in on whatever Theo was trying to do during his work day — which was of a nature that made my ignorance feel rather blissful. Meanwhile, Teddy was in the other room. This could've all been avoided had I entered the right door — literally, the door on the right side of the hallway, in fact — but life just had a funny way of throwing me left sometimes.

"Sorry," I said, turning to leave before he called out to me.

"Hey, Marilyn," he said, "don't tell my brother what I'm doing over here. I don't want him to get on my case."

As he said that, a blonde woman came up to me, from down the hallway a confused look on her face. "You know extra person means extra pay, right?"

I shot Theo a look, asking him to excuse me, because I had no idea how to handle it.

"Oh," Theo said, snapping back into action, "yeah, Marilyn please show yourself out. I have an...appointment to get through. Again, my brother is across the hall. And if you need me, I'll be right here."

I nodded quickly, unsure of what I'd need him for, but if I questioned him, I would have to linger by his door for longer and keep his appointment — if he wanted to call it that — waiting. No, I just wanted to find Teddy and get this over with. Trying to figure out the details of our plan by myself was harrowing, and I needed to hear him explain things to me better in order for me to achieve some peace of mind.

—

WHEN I LEFT from Theo's office, I found that the door to Teddy's was cocked open now, as if he were expecting me. I was thankful for that fact, because I did not want to barge into another office again or open another closed door until the trauma from that experience across the hall had faded away.

Teddy was there in all of his glory, in an office that was almost identical to his older brother's, although there were a lot less awards hanging around. Nonetheless, he seemed quite content with himself in his space which somehow made the beginnings of a smile tug at my lips.

"I see you've met my brother," he said, possibly looking me over and assessing the frazzled state I was in at the moment. "You must've thought that was my office."

"Of course," I deadpanned. "Teddy is short for Theodore — or at least it usually is. So there's no way I would've assumed your name was Edward."

"Well," he said with a chuckle, "some people are just full of surprises." That surely made sense, especially since the way we met was by him trying to dig through my boss's garbage bins. I could only imagine where the surprises would end for me with this guy.

I nodded, taking the seat opposite to him, shooting him a weak smile. "Alright, so let's talk this plan. Like, how are we going to do this."

Teddy grinned. "Okay, so what do you know about them? Like, the Gates family, what are they like? I'm going to need that for my case, that's for sure."

Besides Laney, I didn't really have people who I could regularly trash talk the Gates family to, so I could feel my heart swell at his request. Especially because Laney was — as much as she loved me — was getting tired of me unloading my depressingly bad days at work on her.

"Boy, do I have a lot to tell you," I said as I told him everything I knew, from Sadie not being George and Selena's child to their horrible at-home behaviors. Teddy was definitely intrigued and he wrote down every little detail that left my mouth with a purple pen that he held.

"Wow, that's crazy," he said with a chuckle. "I can't believe you had to clean up after that."

"I know, right! Why does that boy still have internet access," I said.

"Oh my God, it doesn't help my case at all, but I have to write that down," he said, wiping back tears.

Things progressed pretty easily and I came to find that even with his eccentric personality, there was an ounce of simplicity to him. Something I felt I could keep up, something that comforted me about him. Of course, I should've known not to speak too soon, for the moment was only short-lived.

"So, I think the best way to go about this is for you to seduce Mr. Gates," he said somehow with a total nonchalant manner that made me nervous. "Every rich man hires a hot maid or au pair so they could cheat on their wife with them."

If I had water, I would've spit it out over his desk in shock. There had to be another way, because there was no chance in hell that I was going to do that.

But I didn't have water, so my second instinct was to slap him across the face. Not too hard, because I didn't want him to call security and have me dragged out of this place, but enough so that he knew his suggestion was completely off the table.

"Ow," he yelped, wincing as he rubbed his cheek. "You must really have a thing for hurting people — or at least, just me!"

"I wouldn't do that if you didn't put me in compromising positions all the time," I countered. "You were literally dressed like a burglar that night, of course I would've attacked you."

Teddy only rolled his eyes before setting his hands down on the desk and leaning forward so that his face was significantly closer to my own. "Look, Marilyn," he said, "if this is going to work, we're going to have to trust each other one hundred percent. You know that, right? You also know that the minute you go into this, you're my responsibility. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Something about the closeness between us was too intense for me and I needed to take a step back. "I know that, now at least, but I still don't think that's acceptable. We're already playing dirty, but that? That's way more than a tad bit too far."

He nodded, seeming to catch my drift. "I understand that and I hate to make this about me, but I have a lot riding on this case. So I'm willing to do any and everything possible to have it go my way. This could either make or break my entire career."

I sighed. I could tell from the lengths he was willing to go to, that Teddy had something he worked his ass off to get, that he loved his job and needed to keep it more than anything. I admired that about him, especially as someone with the exact opposite. But I wasn't going to sleep with Mr. Gates, that was beyond just regular espionage and I wasn't that kind of person.

"Hey," I said, offering him a weak smile. "How about I go into work tomorrow and I'll be more vigilant. And if I find some kind of lead, then we'll focus on getting to the bottom of that."

"Instead of Mr. Gates getting to the bottom of you," Teddy asked, making me cringe.

"That's one way of putting it," I said with a shudder.

He took my hand in his before I even knew what he was doing and began to shake it up and down. Realizing it was a handshake, I straightened out my hand to reciprocate it.

"We have a deal, then?" Teddy asked, his face lighting up with a beaming smile as his grip tightened on mine.

And had I not felt it coming at the last moment, I would've smiled just the same. "Yeah, we do."

Letting go of my hand, he threw his own up in the air as an act of celebration and letting out a whooping noise that made my eyes widen.

When he calmed down, he said, "you know what? I'm pretty damn sure we can pull this off."

I smiled to myself, looking down into my lap. Because Teddy's excitement was contagious in a way that made me think we could, too.